An early morning look out the window confirmed what we had expected, the rain had indeed stopped during the night. What remained was solid cloud, but there was the promise of the cloud base rising as the wind backed to the west.
The Expedites have a confession to make to our readers. At dinner last night, we watched the telly as it was put up on the big screen in the clubhouse (Ed: Tssch! Tcssh!). However, there was a reason why we were watching BBC Spotlight to see our very own Val on screen talking about her experiences and advertising the National Womens' Go Gliding weekend on 8 &/9 June. From the chatter on social media, it has proved to be a hit.
More details are on our website Women Go Gliding
Today we would be launching to the west on Runway 27 and that there would be a tug at the start of the day.
We had to rig the gliders after the 24 hours of rain, so we were at the launch point slightly later than normal.
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| Rigging the Cirri |
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| The Kestrel 19 heads out |
I get nominated for an aerotow check flight early on. All was fine, and I was cleared to aerotow on my own.
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| Gavin prepares for his aerotow check flight (Ed: Canny move to be ready for DSGC's Eurofox coming to Brentor) |
Val and Scratch had a chance to aerotow in the DG500.
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| Before Val's and Scratch's flight, Val switches "off" her Go Pro |
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| Val's view of the Eurofox tug |
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| Phil ready to launch |
The Cotswold's Irish pundit whispered in Andy Davey's ear that the ridge was working at Nympsfield so he should aerotow to Nympsfield and drop on to the ridge. Nympsfield was available to land on and get a winch out of, if necessary. Andy got himself prepared both mentally and physically for his flight. He got to the ridge and explored it and made use of some thermals heading up to over 3,000 feet. After a flight of 4 hours 9 minutes, he returned to Aston Down (Ed: Epic flight, Andy!).
John Allan and Rick launched on the winch. John made it to Nympsfield using thermal lift before heading on to the ridge. There was some confusion as to which ridge was working (Ed: Apparently the ridge wasn't discovered until 25 years ago, so it's not that clear). Rick made it to Nympsfield but was then "caught in a tractor beam" heading inexorably downwards as his Standard Cirrus wanted to go home (Ed; The syndicate bought it from Nympsfield). He noticed that Nympsfield had the winch cables out, so he strolled to the office and paid for a launch. Once aloft again, he made it back to Aston Down.
Peter took the Kestrel into the air and soared locally for 47 minutes.
Phil took an aerotow in his DG300 and later a winch launch for some short flights, followed by a flight of 39 minutes at the end of the day when the air became turbulent (Ed: It was thought that this was caused by wave setting up in south Wales). Canny Adam in his K6-CR managed 91 minutes of local soaring.
As to my flight, I ended circling down for a lovely held off landing. Then the main wheel dropped in to a rabbit hole. On pushing the glider out, the tail skid came off. So, a job for the afternoon.
After taking the glider back to the trailers and putting them to bed, Adam and Gavin helped the Air Cadets with their evening flying.
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| Andy on aerotow: Nympsfield ridge here I come |
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| The DG500 waiting for his girlfriend (Ed: do you mean Val?) |
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| The Duty Instructor continues to deliver |
Tonight's culinary extravaganza was a BBQ grilled on the clubhouse balcony: Burgers, sausages, steak, grilled liver, and onions (Ed: There was a little coleslaw and potato salad to try and resemble a balanced diet).
It looks like the wind back further from the west to the southwest and lighten for tomorrow.
Gavin Short
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