The forecast for Saturday had changed constantly during the week, leaning towards a cool, damp, unpromising, autumnal day. This, together with seasonal illness, probably explained the thin attendance at the daily briefing. Alan Turner had already checked and fuelled the winch, but the sparse attendance raised the question if we had sufficient members to run the field.
The Duty Instructor, James Flory, decided that we would try to winch and aerotow. While stretching the team, it meant that the student pilots present could progress, with assistance from instructors Simon Minson and Steve Westlake. The students included Sam, Ainsley, and Isaac; and also Khristian and Misha from Exeter University’s nearly formed Aviation Society.
We also welcomed Viraj and Shane on their First Flights. Viraj had recently had some experience of power flying at Dunkeswell, and was interested in exploring the challenge of unpowered flight. Both he and Shane enjoyed clear views and lively aerotows in the day’s fresh northwesterly.
The conditions improved markedly after lunch. As the showers diminished, and the west ridge became soarable, flight times increased. Late in the day, an exceptional convergence enabled Connor, on his third flight, to climb unassisted to nearly 3,000 feet in mid October. The views of the sun setting over Dartmoor were spectacular! His instructor reluctantly heeded the call from North Hill Base to land, but at least this allowed an opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of the airbrakes when needing to descend in a hurry.
This was a reminder that a weather forecast is only a prediction, and not a foregone conclusion, and that reality can sometimes surprise on the upside. Finally, congratulations are due to juniors Arthur Lean and Joel Roulson for completing their navigation exercise with Ian Mitchell, a key milestone on their SPL journey. Well done! – Josh Howlett
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