The Sunday Soarers were greeted with a thick mist over the airfield, but it was due to clear mid/late morning. This enabled a leisurely start to the day setting the airfield up and getting the gliders out of the hangar.
 |
| K8 & K13 waiting for first launch. |
With only one student and a couple of solo pilots requiring check flights, it was going to be a lightly loaded day for me. Before our visitors started arriving it was chance to get the check flights out of the way. A couple of launch failures for Freddie Purkiss and Viktor Skochko saw them both cleared to fly the K8.
Duty BI Gavin Short would be kept busy today with four visitors. First to arrive was Derek Scott. Derek came from Bideford with his wife. The voucher was a present from her "for the man that had everything". Conditions were weak at the start of the day, but the last flight was an extended soaring flight. Derek works in the field of complex medical support.
 |
| Derek and Gavin ready to fly. |
Second visitor was Jane French. This was an ambition that should have happened 15 years ago for her fiftieth birthday. But as they say, life gets in the way. Accompanied by her husband from near Looe she also had friends from Plymouth to watch her flying. Jane used to work for the NHS blood transfusion service; fortunately, her services weren't required today. She was apprehensive about the flight, but in Gavin's hands, she found that the straight flight, the approach, and the landing were the best bits of her soaring flight.
 |
| Jane all smiles after her flights. |
Next to arrive was Colin Farrell. Ex Royal Navy and now a plumber. He works part-time at Dartmoor Prison in Princetown before its closure. He was accompanied by his wife. The voucher was a birthday present. He, too, enjoyed a soaring flight and then a short circuit as the conditions changed. Sadly, his flight wasn't high enough to be able to see the prison where he works.
 |
| Colin ready for his flights with Gavin. |
The final visitor was late addition to the list, Olena Vlasiuk. Olena was accompanied by her young son Andri, She had been to the club before for a look around and had met some of the Sunday Soarers. She lives in Mary Tavy but has only been in the UK for eight months, having left the nightly bombing of her home city of Kyiv. Rural life in Devon is very different, but she is embracing it. She works from home managing a Ukrainian charity, but wants to integrate into the local community. Olena you will be very welcome at DGS. She enjoyed two flights, one of which was a soaring flight.
 |
| Olena with resident interpreter Viktor. |
The only student pilot today was Misha Skochko. He enjoyed seven flights with me improving circuits. experiencing mushing stalls and stalls in a turn and an unexpected launch failure practice. He later flew a hangar flight with me and then another with Gavin in the Puchacz. We were also joined today by regular visiting pilot Nigel Bray. Nigel had two flights with me including an extended soaring flight.
 |
| Nigel's view of the launchpoint. |
 |
| Tavistock and Plymouth sound beyond. |
The only privateer today was Ed Borlase and his K6. Ed had two short flights, but at the end of the day had a third which was flight of the day with 1 hour 1 minute. Freddie and Viktor enjoyed flights in the K8, the longest by Freddie with 35 minutes. Despite regularly flying his Libelle and the Astir, Sean Westrope had not flown the K8. Today that was put right with two conversion flights.
 |
| Sean converting to the K8. |
Thank you to all at the club. A small crew today, but all enjoyed their flying today.
Peter Howarth
No comments:
Post a Comment