Course appraisal - April 2022
Some Course members describe a great 5 day course at North Hill in April 2022.
James Dyke
"Being a new member of the club, I went into the summer course with few expectations. That said, I was hopeful that I would be able to consolidate on some of the progress I had made thus far in the year. Well the course delivered and some! We were very lucky with the weather with flying on all days with most days being soarable. This produced numerous epic moments, such as a 72 minute flight in which we were touching the cloud base at an attitude of over 5000 feet. Under Mark's expert tuition I quicky progressed through a number of tasks. By Thursday and Friday we were flying the club's Perkoz, an amazing machine that had a marvelous propensity to spin with Mark at the controls. The final flight was an hour of non-stop soaring and stall recoveries over the beautiful mid Devon countryside. On the ground, an amazing team of ground helpers kept up an impressive rate of launches and retrievals. Many thanks to all involved on the course and the running of the club that allows such magical memories to be made." - James
Andy Pickrell
"Friday was nye on a perfect day to end the week, especially for me, as the other course members had gone solo leaving me an instructor to myself for the day!
The two first flights were soarable and we managed two half hour flights, one venturing out to Cullompton, the furthest I’ve been away from the airfield, and gave me a peek into cross country flying. After lunch the lift had died a bit and it was back to circuits for me.
Unfortunately we lost some time with a winch issue, the lines had got slack and wound back badly on the drums. It just demonstrated that the all the ground work is just as skilled as flying, and can’t be taken for granted. It was sorted and re spliced and we were off again.
As a visitor I would like the thank ALL the helpers for the week, for their dedication, professionalism and sheer hard work, making it run smoothly and making the best of the week. Thank you, I for one as a visitor, will be back!" - (Silent) Andy
Sandy Harrup
"Wow what a week!! Five full flying, (even soaring!!) days!! What did I achieve? Re-solo, Red card renewed AND back in the Junior!!
After all the gaps in flying because of COVID and the weather, I (and my confidence!!) needed consistent practice and boy did I get it!!
AND an 84 minute, repeated 3300' height gain thermal flight at the end.
Magic!!" - Sandy
James Lambert
"I signed up for the Course Week with two goals in mind, firstly to complete my Bronze certificate which I've been working on over the past few months and secondly to just get as much flying experience as I could, particularly at a field that I was unfamiliar with. Luckily the weather was fantastic all week and the course delivered on both of these with the first few days spent working through the Bronze exercises then some solo time in a K21, Junior and finally the club Perkoz which as a relative newcomer to gliding was an amazing thing to be able to fly. The instructors and course helpers were fantastic all week and gave loads of useful advice as well as a lot of confidence building! I definitely feel like a better pilot coming out of the course." - James
Lizzie Westcott
"This week has been such a good challenge and a fantastic reintroduction to my favourite sport. I've achieved things that I didn't even think were possible after a 3 year break, especially considering my self-confessed confidence issues and anxieties!
I owe a massive amount of thanks to Mark and Steve for their instruction and guidance, and for their - and the course members and helpers - continued support and belief in me. We made a great team this week! Here's to next time!" - Lizzie
Achievements
James Dyke - Huge progress towards Solo
Andy Pickrell - Textbook circuit and landing under training
Sandy Harrup - long soaring flights in Junior, revalidated Red card
James Lambert - Bronze endorsement, solo'd K21, Junior, Perkoz
Lizzie Westcott - resolo'd K21, resolo'd Junior
Chris Woodward - long soaring flights in Junior, revalidated Red card
