21 May Day 1 of course 10 and Aim Higher group
Posted 22-05-18, 06:40 byLight winds 060/05 few clouds at 4000ft QFE, thunderstoms and heavy rain and grains of snow predicted later in the day.
The course gets off to a good start with good introductory soaring flights, james getting to grips with controls and trimming, while David converts to a K21 from his accustomed K13 (Dartmoor).
The Aim Higher group emerged from their morning briefing to attempt to put some of the ideas into practice.
It was good to see jules flying his "duvet" . The visitors from Burn enjoyed flying their LAK in new surroundings.
2 grass cutters going today, thanks to Jules and Grant, the lawn is beginning to take shape again.
Many thanks to David Hart, Chris Power and Steve Purkiss for their help on the ground.
Visibility became very poor with towering cumulus until the heavens opened, can you believe rivers running through the hangar.
The picture shows james flying towards a developing CuNim
Sunday 20th May
Posted 21-05-18, 07:17 by Mike RAnother very good day.
Perhaps the pundits were exhausted by their previous day's efforts but tasks so far posted to the National Ladder were more modest.
The beginners continued to enjoy more soaring and upper air exercises, so are now realising what gliding is all about.
Two visiting Australians who dropped in were highly delighted to experience the joys of soaring, saying they would look up a suitable place to take up the sport when they got back home.
Saturday 19th May
Posted 21-05-18, 07:11 by Mike RLight winds and strong thermals with cumulus provided an excellent day for both pundits and beginners.
Two tasks over 600 km were completed and two over 500: -
668 Km by Andy Smith, 655 by Jonathan Huband.
505 each by Doug Gardner and Mike Weston, Doug in his 15 mtr LS3 without water.
The UWE members were astonished by soaring to 4-5000 ft on every flight, when all their previous experience had been 7 minute winter circuits.
Congratulations to Craig Mustoe on achieving his Silver Height and Silver Duration, and to Adam Mayo for getting Silver Height and his 2 hour flight for his XC endorsement.
18 May The last day of course 9
Posted 21-05-18, 07:00 bylighter winds, cumulus and strong thermals.
The 8.15 morning briefing was well attended.
The course finished on a high note with Chris Owen completing his 2nd qualifying flight for his cross country endorsement. All 3 pilots achieved their goals this week.
For a change the K21 flew mini triangles while Pete Harvey polished his soaring skills and inter thermal techniques.
Another very busy day at the launchpoint, thanks everyone who pitched in and helped.
The picture is Pete Harvey starting to climb away near Kemble.
17 May Blue, Soarable and very busy
Posted 18-05-18, 07:28 byWinds 060/10, visibility 40K, blue conditions and thermic from around 10am
Day 4 of the course, and the team are doing well. Well done Chris Owen to be soaring a good 45 minutes before the pundits got going.
Another landing area has now had a grass trim, thanks to Grant Needham.
Andy Smith took a little trip down to Parham, not bad for an afternoon jaunt.
As you can see from the picture, the launch point became very busy, with both aerotow and winch operations, thanks to everyone involved in trying to unravel the logsheet muddle.
Rumour also has it that a silver 5 hour was completed today , more news on that as soon as I have an update.
Chris Power arrived to lend a hand and was rewarded with a flight in the K21, easily climbing away to 3500ft before practising stalls and general handling, a pretty fair job for someone who hasnt flown since October!
Tomorrow promises to be another good day.
16 May Busy club day
Posted 17-05-18, 08:02 byWinds 030/15 visibility 15K and some isolated rain showers
Kemble class D until 9.45 am
The Parham boys took themselves off to the Yeovilton Air Museum for the day.
Well done to Chris Owen resoloed in the K23.
Robin Birch stood in as duty instructor and found himself busy and that was before the 5 UWE students arrived! between us we managed to complete all the training, and a good day was had by all.
Once again many thanks to the regular Wednesday crew for helping us run a slick launchpoint .
The instructor team took over at the end of the regular flying day and undertook their own aerotw refresher training with Gerry.
Should be a reasonable soaring day tomorrow, fingers crossed.
Tuesday 15 May Blue day
Posted 16-05-18, 08:05 bywinds 360/10 CAVOK, blue thermals from around 12 noon.
It was good to see Jules and his flying duvet this morning, a splash of colour brightens everyones day.
The Parham group had a good time once the thermals started to burst into life. Adrian Irwin,on the course, completed his aerotow training and went off solo in the K23--well done to him.
Grant started the grass cutting in the hangar field, many thanks to him, and thanks to Steve for volunteering to help out at the launchpoint.
Evening flying started today
Caption for the picture---Ok then, where are the thermals exactly?
14 May Blue thermal day
Posted 15-05-18, 07:28 byWinds 350/10, CAVOK, strong thermals from 11 am.
Kemble Class D airspace restricted activity during part of the afternoon, but otherwise a quiet day
Course No 9 started today. Welcome Pete Harvey, Chris Owen and Adrian Irwin. All 3 are now solo, and we are hoping the ASW19 will be back on line for them sometime during the week.
Andy Smith managed the Mynd and back, well done in blue conditions. Mostly pilots stayed local with lengthy soaring flights.
Looks like more of the same tomorrow.
Chris Owen is seen here packing up after a productive first day of the course.
Tuesday 8th May
Posted 09-05-18, 08:25 by MikeWestonTemperatures were much more pleasant today after the searing heat of the previous few days. Robert, Richard and John, all from the IOW are progressing well on the course. The farmer dropped in and cut the grass today (hurrah!) so after removing grass from ENK's nose wheel a few times we opted for runway landings. Hopefully the grass will be picked up today. Tony Parker conducted some refresher training with Shobdon's CFI, giving the tractor driver a scare in the process!
1 May Silver distance, a first solo, and bronze exam completed
Posted 02-05-18, 07:49 byWinds 220/25, good visibility and a few showers later in the day.
Well done to Stephen Fletcher, a pilot from Dartmoor GC who has completed his silver distance flight, well done to Rex Lampier on his first solo, and Martin Capps a pilot from Usk who passed his bronze C exam.
It was good to see a bunch of club members who decided today would be a better flying day than Wednesday , smart move! Thanks for all your help guys.
The K21 (LRT) was delivered back today, the workshop has more steelwork on it, and the motor gliders were out in force giving themselves an airing.
Picture shows Steve having a senior moment, putting little bits in a bin with big holes in it?
