BWND Blog

Good evening fellow aviators.

The car park at the club was full today. The weather appears to be improving every week now, and it was terrific to see so many members turn out to make the most of today’s flying opportunities.

26 Winch Launches, and 2 Aero Tows were achieved, including some Full Cat training, BI training, and Annual Checks.

The ridge was working well for part of the day, with one lucky pilot achieving a flight time of 1:07 in a club Astir, and another pilot managing to stay aloft for 0:39 in the club K6.

The workshop team worked busily all day as usual, completing maintenance tasks on club Gliders, and also assisting fellow club members with airworthiness checks on their own aircraft.

A very productive and enjoyable day all round.

Our ubiquitous club cameraman Chris Basham, was on hand to capture some moments from the day. For your viewing pleasure dear aviators, a selection of Chris’s pictures can be enjoyed below.

Thanks.

Kind regards.

Damien.

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

Today resulted in some great flying.

It wasn’t a promising start to the day from a weather perspective. It was raining in the early part of the morning, and bitterly cold, with a windchill that would have given a polar bear “paws” for thought, 🙂 .

However, the spirits of the skeleton crew of hardy aviators was not dampened. The weather improved as the morning rolled on and we took to the skies. Rain paused play briefly, conveniently enough it was at lunch time, and flying resumed again shortly after.

We managed 7 Aero Tow flights throughout the day. Cloud Street formations developed around the Park in the afternoon, resulting in 2 of todays flights having a thermal gain of 500 ft each after releasing from the tug.

I uploaded some pictures of the day to share with you all, please see below.

Kind regards.

Damien.

Todays wind chill was bitterly cold, but nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of the team to get flying.

No caravan comfort for this hardy band of aviation enthusiasts, just a landy and a gator.

Some stunning views were enjoyed of the skies and countryside around the Park.

As the afternoon rolled on we were treated to some Cloud Street formations, resulting in some great flying for those lucky enough to be in the sky at the right times.

The newly installed S80 indicated some respectable climb rates beneath the Cloud Streets.

Yet another overcast Sunday morning – so just passing some time with reconciling Januarys` financial figures for our efforts to fly midweek thanks to all the extra volunteering that is required from the instructors, trusty winchers and tug pilots. This is not an absolute accurate figure, it is a gross figure, but to my reckoning £1,823.99 added to the club “coffers” is not bad going for regular midweek flying, following the weather window where possible  that John (Williams) developed from the odd one or two flying Wednesdays of old! This figure includes winch and aero-tow launches plus time spent in the air.

G-BVUK flew approximately 5hrs .7mins with 16 take offs (this may differ to their personal log in the motor glider slightly.

Chris Chappell

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

Test flight for FUY Wednesday 6th February.

The decision not fly Thursday this week has been made. 
The workshop crew having finished and rigged FUY managed to make use of a weather window today where Nick and Joe were able to have an aerotow and give it a test flight.

Chris C

Private owners please note.  Last week ( before the snow) we replaced the slot number plates on the South side of the trailer park.  S2 to S9, between the trees,  all have an equal amount.  S1, S10 & S11 have their “exclusive residences” bounded by trees. None of the allocations has been changed, so, as soon as possible please, return your trailer to your allocated position. [The plan on the clubroom noticeboard is up to date, if you’ve forgotten your number.]  This is especially important if your trailer has been sited in someone else’s space on the East or West sides, whilst work has been in progress – they want their spaces back now, in readiness for flying.

Last week we also gained a new syndicate trailer, allocated to E2.

Numbering of the East & West rows will be done as soon as we can; again, none of the previous allocations have been changed, so no random guesses please – check the notice if you’re unsure!

Thanks, Phil G.

Good evening fellow aviators.

I visited the Park this afternoon to check on conditions there, and you will be delighted to know, that all is now largely clear of snow.

Most of the snow has melted away, and the early signs of spring can be seen trying to burst their way through to greet us.

The B3095 main road across the Deverill’s is clear, but still has some snow lining the road sides and verges, so must be approached at a cautionary speed.

The farm track up to Park is clear, and the main body of the airfield is also clear. The ground is of course still very wet, with a heavy mist hanging in the air whilst I was there, with some occasional light rain also, to moisten matters more.

For your viewing pleasure, some pictures from my visit below to share with you all.

Kind regards.

Damien.

The path to be taken is clear dear aviators. The track to the Park now almost completely clear of snow, and very easy to drive up.

A little snow remains at the top of the track, at the Park entrance. But it’s very easy to drive over.

The farmers crop has returned to full colour, cheerily shrugging off its snowy adventure.

Indeed, the whole of the countryside around the Park appears to have bounced back vibrantly.

The main body of the airfield looks in great shape. But is of course still very wet.

Where once a mighty 3ft snowdrift once nobly stood, only a light dusting of snow remains to remind us of cooler times.

The Club Hangar, the beating heart of our aerial ambitions, completely clear of snow. Free once more from natures wintry embrace.

I don’t know about you dear reader, but I’m starting to feel Springs eager approach.

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

Hi Mike,

That looks fun – winged suit next?

Chris C

Well the round out is fairly important otherwise you can end up eating the beach, which we didn’t .  Might just have to give this another look but my heart belongs to gliding  

 

Mike T

There may be a possibility of flying if the weather improves. Whilst the forecast is not great, we do have instructor and winch driver cover for Wednesday and Thursday – whichever day looks to be the better. So it will be a last minute call.

Chris Chappell

Fantastic Aerial photographs from yesterday.

The fourth image is my favourite, what a view!

I also wonder Mike, who is our anonymous in house artist?

Could it be Banksy?

No Mike, it was Chris Teasdale. You can see his name on the RSS feed, please pay attention dear fellow. A little too much Tenerife sun perhaps, for our esteemed former Chairman.

Thanks.

Kind regards.

Damien.

Nice photographic post for Sunday showing the snow. Who posted it?

Viewed fron sunny Tenerife.

Mike Thorne

Good evening fellow aviators.

I simply couldn’t resist the temptation to visit the Park today, and experience its snow covered splendour.

The park is still inaccessible by car, but is of course perfectly accessible by the intrepid adventurer who enjoys a good walk.

I took some photos of my visit to share with you all.

Hope you enjoy them.

Kind regards.

Damien.

The track leading to the park, is passable by only the most capable of 4×4’s.

The track up to the park feels much steeper on foot than it does in the car!

The view from the top of the track, was well worth the effort made walking up it.

The photograph below is of a snowdrift. On this short section of the track the snow has built up to 3ft deep! Thats the club hangar you can see in the distance, it’s well clear of the snowdrift fortunately. 

The club house / hangar was surprisingly clear of snow. The snow around the building perimeter only a few inches deep.

The airfield was literally gleaming in the winter sun, and was breathtaking to see. It felt more like a mountain plateau than an airfield. 

January 2019 midweek flying saw a much need boost to club flying with only 3 days flyable on the weekends for the whole month.

5 midweek days:  100 winch launches.  13 aero tows.   14 motor glider launches                                        14.59 hours gliding                                                                                                                                  5.07 motor gliding

Chris Chappell

 

 

Good afternoon fellow aviators.

Mere is resplendent in a thick blanket of crisp white snow. Mere is approximately 3 miles South West of the Park. It has snowed here all day, and is still snowing as I type this blog update.

The B3095 Road used to access to the Park is closed due to the snow. I spoke to a highways officer at the Mere entrance to the B3095  at 16:30 today, and he confirmed the snow was  up to six feet deep in some places, due to high winds blowing snow across the fields, and much of this snow then building up between the hedge rows and fences that line the B3095.

A snow plough is en-route, and the road is expected to be clear by the morning. However with low forecast temperature tonight and tomorrow, driving conditions in this area are likely to be challenging.

Wonderful weather for bracing walks, and building snowmen, but not weather best suited for travel.

Picture below is St Michaels Church in Mere, I took it this afternoon while enjoying a very pleasant amble in the snow. Hope you all managed to keep warm and comfortable today, and also made the most of the days seasonal snowy treat.

Kind regards.

Damien.

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