Day 3 of the 40th anniversary celebrations arrived. By the time I arrived at the airfield the barbeque and clubhouse had already been tidied up and rearranged as if nothing had happened. Having checked the weather at home I was expecting a south westerly wind at about 10knts. Instead I was faced with a scenario all DI's hate. A 10-15knt southerly wind which had the windsock dancing around the pole, One minute we had a steady easterly component and the next had changed to a steady westerly component. So which ever end I chose there was a good chance of launching with a moderate tail wind. A cold front was due to pass over the south west late morning so we waited to see a more settled wind.
Based on the forecast the winch was retrieved from the east end and brought to the west end. The aircraft were DI'd and towed to the launch point and we waited some more. Eventually the wind seemed to be settling down so Sean Westrope and myself took a weather check flight. A launch to just over 1000ft just clear of cloud. Proved training could at least commence.
First in the front seat was Matthew Stone. After a couple of weeks away it was time to look at stalls with wing drop. With the exercises complete we were able to go soaring on the third flight with an extended flight time of 21 minutes. This prompted a couple of privateers to take a launch. Phil Hardwick (DG300) and Steve Fletcher (Open Cirrus). Phil only managed a circuit, but Steve stayed up for 11 minutes.
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| Matt climbing well during his 21 minutes. |
The cold front was now above us as the cloud base had lowered and rain was seen on the canopies. So we stood down for about 1½ hours.
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| Should we launch this way |
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| Or this way.... |
Finally we resumed flying at 14:02. David Moult in the front seat had three good flights with general improvement in his approaches and landings. The privateers started to launch again. Phil, Steve and Malcolm W-J. Longest flight of these three was Phil with 31 minutes. After a stirling effort on the winch. Andy Davey took a launch in his Libelle. The afternoon progressed with Sean Westrope and Freddie Colton flying with me. No solos for Freddie due to the gusty conditions, but he did manage a 31 minute soaring flight.
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| Looking down on the winch. |
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| And the launch point. |
The wind had calmed a little so the K6's decided to launch. Ed managed a flight of 23 minutes and Adam 1 hour 52 minutes.
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| Ed's view of Tavistock and beyond. |
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| Ed's view of the K13 (yes it is there below him). |
A delayed start and a short break saw us packing the toys away at about 7pm. Thank you to all at the club to end a very successful 40th anniversary weekend.
Peter Howarth
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