At the packed clubhouse for the Daily Briefing (boosted by a good contingent of Juniors still on their Easter Break), lone Duty Instructor Mike Sloggett had the look of a Head Teacher on a school trip after discovering that all the other staff members had called in sick! Nevertheless Mike was optimistic for today’s flying but with the prospect of low cloud and possible rain showers it was a case of ‘see how it goes!’ Both interfered slightly with the proceedings but didn’t hamper the flying too much. The first flight proved that full height launches of over 1500 feet was possible in the south westerly wind. Some early flights managed to get away up to the cloudbase at the time of 2400 feet.
By morning play time, Supply Teacher Chris Wool arrived and doubled the Instructor number which helped the flying list to be worked through under the expert guidance of Head Boy (DLM) Mike Rigby who made sure everyone was occupied one way or another, which provided a quick turnaround of any landed gliders.
New Junior member Noah Kilbride had a couple of flights with Mike whilst Simon Jordy took care of just the one First Flight for the day, but had to be content with a couple of winch launches as due to the changeable weather the tug was kept in the hangar. As the day progressed the forecast low cloud drifted in occasionally causing gliders to release early on the launches or land prematurely due to the patchy fine misty rain killing any thermals. But at one point Chris Wool and Benji Pitts managed to explore a sea breeze front that had set up parallel with the motorway towards Exeter Airport – which was unfortunately in the way!
Towards the end of the day the low cloud became less patchy, more consistent and lower than previously, which luckily coincided with the flying list being completed and it being time to pack up and put everything away. Some stayed behind to de-rig the DG505 ready for its Private Hire to Portmoak tomorrow morning.
A good day was had despite an indifferent weather forecast enabling most to have extended flights with some over 40 minutes. There was 30 flights in total. – Mark Layton
