Like looking for gold at the end of the rainbow, a four-leafed clover, the holy grail or the ark of the covenant, today’s search was for a patch of sky which would allow us to launch without going into cloud. Whilst we peered to windward, IFP Rich Roberts explained to newly joined Junior Member Riley Powell-Thomas that, amongst other things, there’s “A lot of waiting around in gliding”. Ah yes, but does this mean glider pilots are patient? Not a bit of it! They simply stand and seethe whilst forcing themselves to acknowledge that no, conditions have not actually improved: that bright edge you saw 5 minutes ago has now become a curtain of grey cloud as low as the one that was there before.
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| Panorama looking NW – with rainbow over Roadford Reservoir. |
“It’s all in the orographics,” cautioned Peter Howarth, our sooth-sayer of the sky: “As it [the cloud] approaches it’s being forced upwards by the rising ground, which is causing it to condense into cloud and, er, rain”.
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K-13 G-DCCY viewed from the safety of the launch bus
as (yet) another shower passes by |
And so it was: four times we squeegee’d the K-13 wings and tailplane before, having got the glider (and Riley’s family) to the launchpoint a full two hours earlier, a gap appeared that remained large enough for aviation to take place. Two moderately short flights later (one extended by “bumping into little bits of lift” as Rich Roberts put it), and Riley was returned to the hangar end of the airfield (and his long-suffering family), looking very happy with the entire experience.
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| Riley Powell-Thomas being briefed by IFP Rich Roberts. |
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| A confident looking Riley is ready for his first flight. |
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| Both faces are a study in concentration as Rich brings CCY into land. |
Our approach to flying today was affected significantly the weather forecast: last night it said, ‘don’t bother there’s an occlusion on the way’ but this morning RASP had changed dramatically to ‘cloudbase rising rapidly to 2,200ft agl, 6° C difference between surface and dew point temperatures, good sprinkling of cumulus and no rain, so get out there!’ And so we did, only to find that this morning’s prediction was a product of the most rose-tinted glasses available from any optimist. Suffice to say that, in the reality of today’s conditions, at the conclusion of its second flight we swifted CCY back to the hangar for a final wipe down.
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| And away they go..! |
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| Then kept “bumping into little bits of lift”… |
Over both launches of this frenetically compressed day, it must be said that the Supacat winch performed impeccably, as did our winch driver Phil Hardwick! Thanks are also well deserved to the support team: Ed Borlase (not least for his superb photography) and aforesaid cloud conceptualist Peter Howarth. A minimal, but happy band: sometimes the smaller successes feel more satisfying than the greater victories.
Martin Cropper
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