Club news 2010s
Extracts from S&G February 2010 to date
February - March 2010
CONGRATULATIONS to Alex Schmarsel on being sent solo and to Henry Ford on passing his Bronze written exam. Members had a great trip to Portmoak in October with some fantastic flying. Matt Wright did his usual trick of launching in the morning and not landing until it got dark. Our DG-505 spent a month in Talgarth with members attending for some very interesting flying due to the weather - one instructor claimed he had had his 'hairiest' aerotow in over 2,000 hours of flying! Unkind weather has given us time to strip out and renovate our glider workshop. Many thanks must go to Peter Smith who has organised this, and to the club members who have put in many hours of hard toil. Our old winch has now been sold to make way for a new Skylaunch.
Cheryl Smith
April - May 2010
CONGRATULATIONS to Rowan Smith, who was sent solo in January. Also to James Hood who has passed his Bronze exam. Our AGM saw a good turnout with a packed clubroom. Peter Smith has taken over as chairman from Mike Fairclough, and Pete Harmer has eagerly taken on the duty of CFI from John Burrow. Amongst the many awards given this year were Paul Summers for the most improvement, Dave Reilly for the club ladder, Henry Ford for the best flight in a wooden glider and Peter Field for best performance in two-seater competitions. The Wily Old Bird trophy was awarded to retiring treasurer Peter Callaghan. A special award from club members and original caricature by Matt Wright was presented to Mike Fitzgerald in recognition of his achievement of 50 years' dedicated instructing with the club.
Cheryl Smith
June - July 2010
EASTER Sunday saw Pete Startup, Simon Minson and John Pursey complete a 100km triangle, the first good cross-country day for a long time. An instructor training course held in February was very successful and, despite the snow, Matt Wright and Mark Courtney managed to climb to 8,000ft in wave. We are enjoying smooth launches with our 'borrowed' Skylaunch. Many members have been trained as winch drivers (thanks to Les Hill) and we have added rope splicing to our skills. We were sad to hear that Dr Gordon Peters, one of our founder members, had passed away in February.
Cheryl Smith
August - September 2010
THE weather has taken a turn for the better and so have club members. Congratulations to Jonathan Stoneman and Mark Layton on their solos and to Rowan Smith and Ed Hirons for converting to single-seaters. Ernie Perrin and John Sillett have both become Assistant Instructors. Nick Harrison gained five-hour duration and Silver height during our trip to Portmoak. Kaye Alston has gained Silver height. Henry Ford got his 50km with a flight to The Park, Peter Smith gained both 50km and 100km and Daniel Johns gained his 100km during a cross-country week organised by Ron Johns. Our Bronze pilots are rapidly increasing with Paul Summers and Joao Leitao passing exams in May. An amazing start to the season!
Cheryl Smith
October - November 2010
CONGRATULATIONS to David Stevenson on going solo. Rowan Smith has passed his Bronze paper and completed his first solo aerotow - all within his first year of gliding! Well done to Fred Marks for winning the novice class in a recent inter-club competition. Many members enjoyed a trip to Long Mynd, where Paul Summers achieved his five-hours. Matt Wright and John Burrow have both been flying at La Motte Du Caire, with Jacques Noel and his team. We had a surprise visit from the 'Swift' Display Team who dropped in for breakfast en-route to RNAS Culdrose Air Day.
Cheryl Smith
December 2010 – January 2011
CONGRATULATIONS to Roland Clarke, our newest Basic Instructor. He has been relishing his role with a good number of trial lessons. Well done to both Nigel Everett and Peter Stoker on their first solos. The weather has brought some mixed fortunes, but September saw some good cross-country flying, including Steve Westlake, Pete Startup, Mike Fairclough and Matt Wright. A fantastic party was enjoyed to say a fond farewell to 'H' (Hilary Evans) who has catered for us over many years, and provided an endless supply of tea and bacon butties. She was presented with many gifts including an original cartoon by Matt Wright, and honorary life membership of the club.
Cheryl Smith
February 2011 - March 2011
CONGRATULATIONS to Dylan Davies and Will Bond, who both went solo within a few days of their 16th birthdays and, not to be outdone, Dylan's father, Wyn, was sent solo at the beginning of December. Andrew Mugleston and Lisa Humphries have both now achieved Assistant Instructor ratings. Well done to both.
Recent trips have seen us at Portmoak and an icy Talgarth, where some great ridge and wave flights were had, including Henry Ford's landing into a field newly spread with manure! The arrival of snow has not hampered us too much and a stalwart band has been braving the icy blasts with aerotows.
Cheryl Smith
April 2011 - May 2011
CONGRATULATIONS to Heather Clarke (our first solo of 2011) and to lan Foster (re-soloed). January has given us some decent days - along with ice, wind and wave, as James Hood, Heather Clarke, Simon Leeson and Wyn Davies found out. A successful course week has been held for those wishing to start Full Cat training, with thanks to Simon Leeson and Mark Courtney for organising this. We have welcomed new members from Exeter University gliding club. The winter gave us time for maintenance and inspections and thanks go to Pete Startup, Andrew Logan and lan Mitchell and a band of helpers for their long hours in the workshop.
Cheryl Smith
June 2011 - July 2011
CONGRATULATIONS to newly-solo David Clements. Dylan Davies, Wyn Davies and Will Bond have all converted to single-seaters and are enjoying the start of the season. Members are having a superb week at Portmoak, experiencing wave, most days to around 9-10,000 feet. Congratulations to Rowan Smith and Paul Summers for completing their 5-hours, Henry Ford for Silver height and James Hood a 50km, (fractionally missing his 5-hours with 4hrs 58mins on the logger).
Mike Fitzgerald has been presented with a framed diploma from the BGA in recognition of his services to gliding for over 50 years.
Preparations are well under way for our open weekend at the end of May.
Cheryl Smith
August 2011 - September 2011
CONGRATULATIONS to Rhodri Davies (the third of the Davies clan to be sent solo at North Hill) and Peter Dugdale (a power convert), who have both soloed, and to Mike Sloggett on his Bl rating. Ron Johns organised a cross-country week, which was a great success. One weekend bought us the rare opportunity to aerotow to the coast for stunning soaring of the South Devon cliffs, entertaining golfers and coast path walkers from West Bay, Branscome, Beer and Sidmouth (see p38). Our open weekend was successful with 150 people experiencing their first ever glider flights over the two days.
Cheryl Smith
