It rained quite heavily during the night according to those camping and those sleeping in their vans. The rain was caused by the trough of low pressure passing through.
However, the forecasts for the day were all over the place. In Uckers terms (Royal Navy version of Ludo), it was a definite "mixy blob".
Time to rig, but that was interrupted by a shower. We got to launch point on Runway 02 launch point by midday.
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| Rick with his instructing hat on readies to take Val to the skies |
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| Mike's Club Libelle, Snoopy, and a CGC K-21on the grid |
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| The mighty ASH 25 Mi comes out for a check flight and an introductory flight for one of the CGC weekly course candidates |
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| Rick getting comfy in the Club Libelle to test fly it |
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| Phil delighted to be back in the air again after a day off |
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| DGS gliders gridded ready for the off |
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| Adam in Snoopy, happy to go flying again |
It did get thermic and we flew. Several relights and several shorter flights than earlier in the week, although Andy managed a couple of flights over 30 minutes. The only longer flights were Steve in the Open Cirrus (2 hours 2 minutes) and me in the Standard Cirrus (2 hours 11 minutes) - A Cirrus kind of day then.
Back at the airfield the DGS ground crew had sprung into action. Although it was a club flying day those who had looked at the forecast stayed away or perhaps stayed in bed. Scratch saw the need and leapt into action; taking charge. Neal did a stirling job marshalling and ground handling the gliders while Val, after her two short flights in the K-21, ran the tower expertly and liaised with the winch. Apart from the occasional "Brentor base" call, by a well known voice to DGS members, radio operations seemed to go well from my monitoring at a distance. Thankyou all three for keeping things moving. It is appreciated
I spent quite a while in the vicinity of Highgrove house at 4,000 ft or more, so clear of the airspace. After a dog leg out to the Severn Estuary to look at the bridges, I came back on a long leg with no lift. I had to dog leg away from Highgrove as I didn't want an unscheduled audience with the King! I found a scrappy thermal that gave me 0.9 knots. I moved to a different promising looking cloud and was rewarded was a stonking, turbulent thermal that took me up 2,000 feet with an overall average climb rate of 6 knots (the averager was peaking at 7.7 knots on occasions). I then headed back at speed to clear the wall of cloud, then out into the better air, and headed back to Aston Down.
During the afternoon, there had been frequent showers in the local area. One passed close to Aston Down and the increase in wind speed, gusting 33 knots at one point) and bumpiness made for a challenging approach and landing for Rick, Steve and Peter (who managed 56 minutes in total). When I returned to the airfield it was much calmer and allowed me a gentle wide circuit and landing in the south field (Runway 02). So a great end and "man of the match" for me!
Mike cooked a superb Malaysian curry and Val produced an extensive cheese board. All were happy campers!
And a final look at the mighty ASH 25 Mi (which dwarf's Peter's Kestrel 19).
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| The pilot having a check on the ASH 25 Mi gets strapped in |
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| Winch launch. Look at the bend in those wings! |
Gavin Short
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