As the lyric from a 1979 song goes (with a little bit of adaptation) ‘Didn’t we have a lovely time the day we went to Mendip GC?!’.
Although not ‘all for under a pound’, it was an excellent flying day with a great welcome from all the MGC members that we* met. The Mendip Gliding Club site is also known as the ‘Halesland’ airfield, with the nearest town Cheddar.
The day didn’t start particularly promising with low cloud both at Mendip and North Hill (from where the Eurofox tug was waiting to take off). However, the Bristol airport forecast proved to be correct and by late morning the clouds started to clear allowing the Eurofox to be flown up by Mark C accompanied by Kevin.
Therefore, by mid-day despite the cable on the front trim of one of Mendip’s K13’s breaking (with the glider becoming ‘unserviceable’) gliding commenced. Nb: we are sure this had nothing to do with the front seat pilot so they shall remain anonymous!
Throughout the afternoon, all the DSGC members flew with either James Flory in Mendip’s remaining K13 or with their instructors in a Puchacz. It was good to see several MGC students and pilots also enjoying Eurofox tows.
The scenery around Halesland airfield is magnificent and includes the spectacular Cheddar Gorge. The field, for any budding botanists, has a number of stunning orchids and a restored ‘Dew Pond’.
Most of the group took 3000ft tows which meant we were able to fly to the entrance of the Gorge, a view highly recommended and a few fortunate pilots found some lift along a nearby ridge soaring above seagulls.
A thank you to all DSGC instructors, and to Nick and Terry, the MGC instructors, for making the day possible and so enjoyable. There is reciprocal membership for DSGC pilots with a friendly welcome guaranteed. – Karen King
*Ashley, Paul M, Kevin, Josh, Trevor, Karen, Mark C, James F and Stuart.
