Yes, it was quite windy today with gusts showing 48kts. But it allowed more fettling of the club gliders and now LPM, JKW, FUY and KAN (front only at the moment, rear next repeater week) have S80s installed.
This run of weather means we have only flown on four Saturdays this year, but you have my word that the weather is changing now…….
Alastair
No flying (again) today, so I sat in on Gordon McDonald’s Inspector Seminar that the BGA held at the club today. This was for me an interesting and informative session and something I think most glider owners would have learnt a lot from.
Alastair
No flying today on a Wednesday for a change, but I have attached a couple of pictures of a parachute being inspected and repacked, in case you ever wonder what is inside the pack.
Lots of the usual glider maintenance and fettling in evidence as well.
Alastair
Only two launches today due to low demand and an even lower cloud base until midday. But well worth the wait as the wind backed and increased with the ridge working well in 20/25kts of wind.
Alastair
Well, the side of the hangar now looks smarter and many thanks to Sue and Mick for their help with this. Mick meanwhile continues the work on the power project.
I think though perhaps we need a checklist with a “W” and a “T” for the last out at the end of the weekend……..?
Alastair
Another Saturday, another rainy day, but the excellent winter lecture season continues with John Garland today giving the first of a series of talks to around 25 members and visitors on the subject of the RT licence exam. An RT licence is becoming more of a “must have” for glider pilots nowadays and I would encourage all of you to go for the licence. It really isn’t as daunting as you might think.
We have had a skip delivered and the plan is to use it to clear the junk from alongside the hangar when it stops raining.
Wednesday is the day planned for flying next week.
Alastair
I have changed the blog theme to help identify the posters more clearly and to show any post comments. I hope it works for you. If not, and you know of a better theme do please let me know.
Alastair
I see it’s still snowing at the club and the temperature is around zero, so I think it’s very unlikely we can fly tomorrow due to the snow on the field and the difficulty of getting up the hill. I will take another look later today at the webcams.
Also I should add that the Bronze lecture is cancelled at Mendip tonight and the BGA Inspector seminar at the club tomorrow has been postponed, probably to March.
Back to working on my glider SDMP then…….
Alastair
Probably the best thermal soaring day in January I have seen. For a while in the afternoon there was some impressive streeting as in pics below. Best flight time was 29 minutes in a Puchacz.
Alastair
With much help from Graham today, JKW and FUY have been fitted with S80 varios. They are very easy to use and will really help with soaring. For ease of use there is a simple user guide in JKW.
Sorry about the photo but the contrast of the bright display against the workshop was too much for the camera.
Alastair
As Wednesday’s weather is looking to be much better than on New Year’s Day, the decision has been made to fly on Wednesday, not Tuesday this week.
Alastair
Another no fly Saturday, but the flying stats show we are lucky to fly one day in four in December, so it can only get better now.
Plenty of Hangar action though. LPM is rigged but the mice have had a chew of the straps, which will need to be replaced. Mark Player has been working on the Pawnee’s Annual and is nearing the end of the task now.
We are expecting to fly on New Year’s Day.
Alastair
No surprise about the lack of flying today, but we had a good attendance for the first of the Bronze lectures. It was great to see a contingent from Mendip at the club for the course.
Steve Lambourne set everyone thinking about how wings produce lift – and it’s not the way many suspected. Mark Player gave a talk on Human Performance. (Not sure what he would say about Steve’s beverage though……)
The hangar and workshop of course were full of fettlers. Graham and Stuart I noticed were installing some fancy electronics in FUY’s radio microphone which will improve its operation.
Alastair
Request from the Chair:
We expect the concrete floor to be finished by Tuesday and will then be in a position to rig the Astirs, BNH and the Venture. We will also put the lockers etc back in place. We would welcome help from anyone able to be there on Wednesday. Nick will also want to bring in FUY for its ARC, and he says that the workshop needs a good clean out first.
Another unflyable Saturday, but as my last four duty days have been the same, there was no surprise there.
Plenty of activity around the hangar though with a planning meeting and glider fettling in progress.
The hangar concrete has been sealed, so I think it should be OK for rigging of gliders tomorrow.
Alastair
The second half of the hangar was completed yesterday and looks really good.
No flying today, but the second half of the hangar is nearly ready for concreting, which should take place next week when hopefully the weather has warmed up enough to allow it to set.
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A lovely sunny day with the wind down the strip giving launches to nearly 2000 feet.
Although we did nearly 30 launches, Sunday was quieter than Saturday, so if you need more launches try Sunday flying.
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