With at least 14 members on the flying list for both Puchaz and the 2 Astirs plus all the “fettlers”, glider maintenance guys and the motor glider having its` rudder re-fitted, it was truly a very busy day at The Park today.
The weather as predicted was very light winds with the promise of some thermals. It didn`t disappoint! Launching from the club house end on the north side with a wind of no more than 5 knots all day, we still had some very respectable winch launches. Many thanks to our intrepid winchers, who managed 28 winch launches between them. We had one areo-tow. First launch 11.02 and final launch 16.40.
Our two volunteer instructors for the day Stuart North and Steve Lambourne were kept busy all day when finally the light fading and the sun becoming low in the sky the flying came to a halt with all the club members achieving the flying, annuals, check flights, training and solo flying they had wished for. Many thanks to Stuart and Steve for enabling this to happen.
Yes, we had some substantial soaring flights with the longest from a winch launch of 41 minutes with the pilot letting down from cloud base (2,300ft) with air brakes open to enable other single seat pilots to have an opportunity to have a soaring flight (could have stayed up for hours!)Both LPM and JKW had soaring flights as did the Puchaz. Several flights of 20 – 30 minutes with smooth conditions.
Home made Chocolate cake and tea all-round kept everyone going
Chris Chappell
Some very workable thermals today. Great to see so many members around. Plus some delicious home made cake thanks to Chris C 🙂.