Greetings I hope you have managed to get some flying in since the last newsletter. I think the way to approach it is to look at the weather for the next day and if its ok and you can get to the field go and fly. The weather struggles to string a good spell of days together especially with regard to the wind, you can get a day with hardly any wind then the next day 20mph very frustrating. I did manage to find one such day and had a splendid afternoon gliding with one flight topping out at 650ft, the glider was getting was small in the sky, even with some crow braking applied it did not want to come down, I had to apply full crow braking and push the nose down to try and get down, the thermal was also very wide so trying to fly out of it was not an option. Deploying the brakes and pushing the nose down is always a bit nervy as you here the whistle of glider even at that height as it increases velocity and your thoughts turn to ‘how strong is the wing joiner and spar’. Of course you then have the problem of pulling out of the dive you have just instigated, you can only gently pull up elevator.
I remember years ago John Higgins having a three channel glider with no braking on it, he got in a similar situation and pulled up elevator to do a loop at the top of the loop John then applied full up elevator and because the wing was a flat bottomed section the glider gently descended out of the thermal. This does not work with a section that is not flat bottomed !!!
Return Of Our Friend
I was at the field recently I noticed that our friend Adrian Mole has returned or friends of Adrian. Jason and Justin sent Adrian on his holidays a few weeks ago.
I suspect the mole traps maybe going out again soon these will be marked so that you see see them. Don’t stick your fingers in them or stand on them because they will hurt you !!!!
Club BMFA Examiner
Thanks to the combined effort of Kev Watson and Dave Hindley we now have Dave Hindley as our own BMFA Achievement Scheme Examiner. Dave can take pilots for their A certificate on his own but for a B certificate there has to be two examiners present.
Well done Dave.
As part of Dave’s assessment he had to do conduct an A & B examination whilst being observed by Kev Watson. Two candidates kindly volunteered for this and I am pleased to say the following pilots were succesful.
Emily Ollerton who according to eye witnesses absolutely nailed her A certificate.
Dave Murray passed his B certificate, I spoke to Dave a few days before and he was a bit nervous about it all but again did a great flight and answered all the questions.
Well done to all involved
Flying Field News
Justin Goldstone was flying a lovely scale Chipmunk plane when I was down there the other day. It turns out he purchased the model second hand locally.
It looks and sounds really good in the air, it is fitted with a GP38 four stroke petrol engine and sounds so right, Justin flies as it should be flown.
It is traditional built and has novel pilot whose head turns via the rudder servo I think
Another model that took my eye was a C17 Globemaster which belongs to Matt Holderness.
It was a foam model but the detail on it was fantastic. Love them or hate them you have to accept that foam models have transformed the choice of available models.
It was impressive in the air and when it landed it even had the ability to reverse taxi like the full size.
I once had the opportunity to see the full size one do that, very impressive indeed.
We have a few potential new members appear at the field , I noticed on Facebook a couple of people asking when the beast time would be to come down and a have trial flight.
Sunday 20 th July Fly In
This was our annual fly in day. The weather was damp with showers on and off.
The turn out from our club was very poor, there were more flyers from other clubs than our members, yes the weather did not help but its disappointing for the people who organize these days.
When the heavier showers arrived refuge was sought under the club hut veranda and Jake got the BBQ going and we all enjoyed the food and solved the world whilst sat around.
Trainers/Trainees
The list of club trainers has been refreshed and their names are below.
A couple of the trainers are of an age where work does not get in the way and if contacted may be able to accommodate mid week sessions.
As a trainee get to know these trainers if needed ask for their phone numbers or use the Clubs messenger group to make contact with them.
Don’t rely on the same trainer all the time, all the trainers will offer the same amount of training and to the same standard/goal.
Training sessions are Wednesday evening and Sunday mornings weather dependant of course
Trainers :
Chris Vernon, Jason Reid, Jake Reid, Mark Conlin, Andy Harrison, Anthony Ollerton, Dave Hindley, Kev Watson
Upcoming events:
Keep an eye on the club chat lines, email and social media for upcoming events.
Regards Chris V