The summer solstace started with another Sunday and various forecasts all giving different wind directions. The winch had been left at the west end from yesterday, but the forecasts gave a slight preference to fly from the west end. So the winch was moved to the east end to start the day.
All aircraft were removed from the hangar as the K13 was at the back and was still required for training. Only the Twin Astir and K13 were initially taken to the launch point, but would be joined later in the day by the K8. Two K6's and a Libelle were also rigged ready to fly.
I would start flying with Ed Nicholson and Rowan Guest in the Twin Astir. Both are getting to grips with this new to them aircraft and were handling it well doing the whole flight. Aiden Hughes and Misha Skochko also had their first flights in the Twin Astir getting them used to it ready for some advanced training in the near future hopfully.
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| Rowan settling into the Twin Astir. |
Duty BI Phil Hardwick welcomed One Day Course student Laurie Rippin to the club. They started the course in the K13, but swapped to the Twin Astir later in the day when the K13 was needed by me for training. Laurie enjoyed the experience of flying different aircraft and left saying he would return to make use of his three month membership.
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| Phil showing Laurie around the K13. |
After Laurie's first flights, phil turned his attention to our new junior pilot. Thirteen year old Jess Nicholson, Ed's younger sister receiver her introductory flights and some basic control lessons. Welcome Jess at the start of your journey with us.
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| Jess receiving information from Phil. |
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| Off she goes. |
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| Watched by parents. |
The sky started to look a little better which tempted Andy Davey to take a launch in his Libelle. He managed to find some lift and could be seen slowly climbing away. Ed Borlase (K6) and Sean Westrope (K8) were also tempted, but unable to find anything were soon back on the ground. Training flights continued in a similar fashion for the rest of the afternoon. Andy returned after 2 hours 29 minutes when the conditions to the north deteriorated to claim flight of the day.
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| Andy returns. |
Whilst Phil and laurie swapped to the Twin Astir, I took over the back seat of the K13 to fly with Aiden Hughes and Misha Skochko. Three flights for Aiden including an awkward height launch failure sees him progressing well with his training.
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| Aiden's hat makes me thirsty on this hot day. |
Misha launched and we found some weak lift and steadily climbed to wards 2000ft. When we thought it was time to return, Misha asked if he could practice some stalls to lose height. After three or four stalls, Misha asked "Peter, we are still at 1800ft, how do we get down?" After a little discussion, Misha realised he could use the airbrakes to lose height and they were not just for the approach. We landed after 47 minutes.
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| Misha's more sober hat. |
Whilst we were soaring Ed Borlase was spotted above us in his K6. Ed finally landed after 1 hour 29 minutes.
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| Ed's view of Brent Tor church. |
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| And to the north. |
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| Ed looking forward to his flight. |
A hot busy day at the club today. Thank you to all at the club today. Some good flying and progrees made with one new junior member joining.
Peter Howarth
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