Bath, Wiltshire & North Dorset Gliding Club January Update

Monday, 3rd January, 2022.

Not quite the first launches in 2022 – Mike did those yesterday – but a flyable day was forecast, the only doubt being the possibility of the field being too soft.  As they did yesterday, we used the white Landrover as our launch point control.  The headlamps were the emergency stop light, operated from the high beam “flash” stick & not requiring the ignition on to do that – very visible from the winch & easy to line up.

We had to limit ourselves to one Puchacz only, because we didn’t have a full duty team & only two non-duty but experienced pilots turned up.  That was a pity, because the wind had more south in it & less strength than forecast but that meant we had good launch heights & the ridge worked.  George & Graham demonstrated that on their first flight.

The launches  were at or above the broken cloud base of around 1300′.  We did eight in total & most were soaring flights over ten minutes, except for a high weak link break & check flights, including a simulated mid launch failure.  George, with his extensive ridge flying experience, did the longest flight of course, 20 minutes.

Thanks to all who turned out; we could have done with a few more!

Phil G

Mr. Blue Sky was shining on 5th January 2022

After what seems like weeks of blustery overcast & damp conditions, Mr. Blue Sky shined brightly on us on this mid-week flying day. An excellent turn-out  saw  2 x Puch’s, 2 x Astirs & 2 x K6’s (unpacked from their winter slumber) take to the crisp blue skies. The tug was in operation,  &  pilots  were  seen  searching  for  some  wave  which evaded  their  short  desperate  struggle.  Meanwhile  thermals were  spotted  at 150ft,but  sadly  Keith  is  in &orra, so unable to take  advantage.  Temperatures  around  1%,  but  quite  comfortable  with  most  pilots  doing  good  impressions  of  Russian  border  guards  or  in the  case of  Graham, Ernest Shackelton.  A thoroughly  good  day  out.

Mid-week flyers revel in the sunshine…again..

For the second week  in a row, the mid-week flyers experienced a glorious day, with little noticeable wind at the launch point (slight tail/no chill) seeing outer layers removed & silky smooth landings on a field which just stood up to the recent wet weather. All the club gliders as well as the tug & the motor glider were in action, & concurrent activities saw Greg commence his winch driver training (with some others in the wings to join him) & John introducing  3 new syndicate  members to the  delights of the Venture motor-glider  (&y,  Roger  &  Trevor).  Another  great day!

“Honey…somebody shrunk the caravan….”

After 2 successive weeks of sunshine, the mid-week flyers had a more challenging day. Low cloud base led to a late start, but concurrent activity saw a number of members assisting Nick in putting the wings back on FUY which completed its annual, & KAN was de-winged for its annual. Soft ground led to a decision not to use the caravan & the Land Rover took over as the launch point station. Whilst some thought the cloud base would never lift, Mike stood firm & as usual he was correct as gaps appeared & both winch & tug launches took place. To prove the point Mike, accompanied by our new member Ronan, son of our recently new member Roland, managed a 23 minute flight into some wave – Ronan is clearly hooked – welcome Ronan! A good day out with us departing as the sun, which had finally appeared through the gaps, disappeared.