Wednesday dawned grey and cold on North Hill. 8/8 cloud 10degC. The early members had all the ground equipment prepped and out ready when duty instructor Shaun Dayman arrived. One SZD Junior, Perkoz and a K21 were brought out and D.I. completed as light drizzle decided to arrive. Shaun conducted a leisurely briefing while the drizzle cleared. The field was setup for the light NW wind and the first flight launched into the grey sky at 10:26 lasting 13 minutes.
The morning proceeded with fairly short flights and the temperature stubbornly stayed low. Only 11degC at 12:00. Just after 12 the cloud started to break up, the sun broke through and a Junior that launched at 12:40 got the first good thermal of the day eventually rising to over 3000ft and flying for 1 hour 9 minutes which remained the longest flight until Eric Alston ASG29E disappeared for 2hours 4 minutes. The sky still proved tricky with some short and some extended flights during the afternoon. One First Flight took off just after 1pm and had a soaring flight of 30 minutes.
With the flying list complete the last two flights landed just before 4pm flying for 51 minutes and 47 minutes respectively. The sky still looked good as touring motor glider, VG with Carl Tharme and John Borland took off at 4pm for a short flight which turned into a 2 hour soaring flight to Wimbleball reservoir and back for a total of 15 minutes engine time,( take off and landing). Thermal activity right up to 6 pm.
A total of 29 flights. Thanks to Shaun for running the day and a good team effort from everyone to keep everything running smoothly with limited numbers. There was plenty of opportunity for more flying. Don’t be put off by an iffy forecast.- John Borland
