Sunny and blue. Another lovely day at Aston Down. The morning brief had us operating from Runway 02. There were no NOTAMS that would concern us. Get your gliders to the launch point by 1000. So let's go flying.
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| Do you think anyone will notice if we took the Eurofox home? |
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| DGS gliders abound at the launch point |
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| The DG 500 ready for Val and Neal's delight |
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| Andy's Ventus CT ready to find some wave |
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| Adam gets ready for his one way flight |
Steve, was today's "crash test dummy", or more politely the "sniffer" to see what the conditions were like. They were obviously good as he flew for 3 hours 2 minutes.
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| Steve's view of a great sky as seen on his 3-hour flight |
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| This is as close as Steve dared to go to the Severn Estuary |
Val and Neal 3,000 foot aero tow with Scratch, consecutively, obviously. Each enjoyed an hour of local soaring each. When not flying, they helped out again at the launch point.
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| Val's view from the front of the DG 500 on a cross county jaunt |
I had a great flight, albeit getting low at one point on the far side of the Kemble ATZ and discovered a great general aviation strip. After scratching, I connected with a weak thermal over a solar farm that eventually bloomed to over 6 knots. I encountered an amazing line of lift for over three miles of three knots up whilst flying in a straight line. I subsequently discovered a possible reason for the amazing lift. Sean managed over 2 hours on his second attempt. John flew for 3 hours 48 minutes and a locally declared 100 km task.
Adam called the WhatsApp group, which makes a very weird sounds on a group call. "It's Adam. I seem to have landed out a bit!"
"Where are you?"
"At the polo club."
He subsequently sent a three words reference: Tune/joked/deflation
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| A Ka-6 CR with the Polo Club's emergency response vehicle to the rear (an Aston Martin) |
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| The smoothest field that Snoopy has ever landed on |
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| Derigging with the polo ponies in the background |
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| Adam assured me that no Polo ponies were harmed in his land out |
Neal arranged a retrieve crew: Neal and Peter. Adam said that no more would be needed as the field at the Polo club was flatter than that at Aston Down. A very easy retrieve. How the mighty fall from grace after his performance earlier in the week.
Andy had an adventure. While flying some 8 km north of the airfield, he spotted a wave bar. Whilst thinking of whether to start his engine to get to it, his vario started beeping. He was already in lift. After an hour he had managed to climb to just over 10,000 feet AMSL before he descended as the cloud gaps were starting to close.
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| Andy in the wave above the clouds |
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| The wing of the Ventus CT cruises above the clouds |
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| Note where the all important wave gap is |
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| The front edge of the lenticulars |
The host club were running an evening flying session for local CCF cadets. Two K-21 gliders, two Basic Instructors, a winch driver, and the obligatory Flight Instructor (Sailplane). Unfortunately, they were light on helpers. Andy, John, and Polo Boy stood up and helped out. Dinner was delayed a little but very tasty when it came; Neal produced burgers with all the accoutrements, chips, and coleslaw.
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| Burger, chips, and coleslaw |
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| Happy campers |
So a day that overdelivered when so little was promised. What a great result.
Gavin
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