Midland Gliding CLub
Newsletter
Number 79 May 1999

CONTENTS

There has been a lot of excellent wave flying since the last Newsletter, but very little thermal cross country flying, and the weather has reverted to winter mode as I write this note. Our Rockpolishers team managed to round some turnpoints from Shobdon last weekend, starting our competition year on the high note of last year, when we could easily have won the league, had we turned up and just taken a launch at Nympsfield. I was elsewhere last weekend, but I am amazed that any cross-country was possible at all.

The ‘Red K13’, a private operation albeit with club links, is to vacate its hangar space over the forthcoming May Day Bank Holiday, so we will for the first time in many years have the whole fleet rigged in the hangar. It is hoped that this will increase utilisation somewhat. The Committee have resolved to review the utilisation again in three months time, to help decide if further fleet cost reductions are called for. The reason for this is the fact that JGJ, our third K21, was broken early last season, and was not returned until later on, which meant that we did not have a proper period of testing the 3 x K21 fleet in high season. This year, hopefully, will allow such a test, and in July we will make any further decisions based on the situation at the time.

The superb new smooth operating area to the east of the hangar, known as ‘Howard’s Garden’, will be available as soon as the ground dries out in May, and will help with launches and the layout of the field. Howard Bradley’s work in improving our airfield deserves all our thanks, I believe the whole committee would agree that he works harder for the club than anyone.

Experimental short west launches have taken place with the winch just to the east of the Portway, increasing safety on the ground and in the air, because the glider releases well before entering the ridge traffic zone. The takeoff area is a little bumpy, so work may need to be done on the east side to make this a viable long term proposition.

I note in publications from other countries, as well as BGA figures, that our sport is in decline world-wide. In New Zealand, for instance, they did a superb job of promoting the sport during the World Championships two years ago, including an 0800-GLIDING phone number which automatically routed calls to your local club wherever you lived. They also produced the two excellent videos which were shown on national television. The result was a small increase the following year, followed by a decline similar to our own. In France, where gliding has been state subsidised for years, but subsidies are being cut in the current economic climate, the decline is just as bad.

The above suggests that we are in a declining market. The fact that there are fewer ab-initios means that gliding club incomes are reducing, because ab-initios are those who use club launches, gliders and facilities the most. This changing pattern is a problem for all clubs, but I believe that clubs such as ours will be in as good a position as any to survive because we have some special features to offer.

We have a superb ridge, so soaring can take place all year round, we have wave in abundance, we have a mostly glass fleet, and we have full facilities on site. This will allow us to create opportunities for club visits and for courses which, whilst not unique, are rare. To a certain extent this is already happening (take a look at Janet’s calendar on the office wall sometime), but we will have to keep pressing forward within the ‘outside market’ if we cannot recruit more members.

Talking of recruitment, we are holding a membership drive weekend over the May Day Bank Holiday, and if our advertising produces fruit, we will need members to show potential members round and tell them all about gliding, concentrating on the positive aspects, of course. Please contact James Moore if you can help with recruitment and publicity; his home phone number is 01952 820053 and his email is james.moore@btinternet.com.

In the meantime here’s hoping for a better start to the season than last year, and get in as much flying as you can without taking any risks.

Happy soaring.

Evening courses are most useful for ab-initios and early solo pilots. Courses start in mid-May and will run on Wednesdays and Thursdays if we get enough applicants to fill both days. Chris Harris and Bob Williams have volunteered to do Wednesdays, and Thursdays will be run by Keith Mansell and Paul Garnham. Application forms should be enclosed with this newsletter (if not get one from the office), please return them to the office as soon as possible. Please note that evening parties have already been booked on Thursday 17^th June and Thursday 22^nd July, so on these days the evening course will not take place.

The very act of a member going out onto the airfield, whether with the intention of working, helping, flying or just being there, requires at the very least that we have our brains in gear. At the end of the day I would prefer it if we could all honestly say that in some small part we had helped to make the day a safe and enjoyable one. Safety has to be worked at all the time, it must not be a question of luck.

Unfortunately that was not the case one Sunday earlier this month, when as I left the airfield I felt we had been extremely lucky that nothing had gone seriously wrong.

• A winch launch took place while the aerotow rope attached to the tug was lying over the cable.
• A glider being towed out was in collision with another glider parked at the launch point.
• Most pilots landing into a strong westerly were undershooting. Things reached such a point, after two of us who should know better argued with the instructor, that another briefing had to be given before launching continued after lunch.

Any one of these incidents could have been, if not disastrous then expensive, and I consider us lucky that the only damage at the end of the day was minor, to the parked K23.

Incidents are warnings of accidents waiting to happen, it will ever be thus; they are there so that we learn from them. Let us all be vigilant, especially out on the airfield. We are all human, every one of us is about to make another mistake sooner of later. So, whatever you are doing on the airfield, do not be afraid to shout STOP if you see something about to happen that you don’t like, it could stop the next incident from becoming an accident.

Summer must be on the way judging by the number of private owner aircraft at the launch point these past few weeks! We had a very good winter season, take a look at the statistics on my notice board and you will see that the club fleet’s activity is well above the six year average. Private owners though, in spite of the increase in gliders on the site are shown to be flying less and less in the winter, (and missing superb wave because of it!)

One of the results of not flying much through winter is that we get out of practice and I’m pretty sure that reports of three airprox’s this month are indicative of just that. One pilot left a thermal and landed because of the joining technique of another. If you feel you might have been that joining pilot then there is no shame in doing some practice with an instructor.

I am delighted to see our newsletter containing so many stories from pilots about their adventures. It is so good for us all to be able to share and learn from these experiences.

We will be well into the season by the time of the next newsletter, so in the meantime I hope you all have some good safe flying, and more stories to tell.

It is good to see that members are using the tug much more of late, we have done over 300 tows/tow equivalents* since September. Golf Charlie recently spent a week at Shobdon, thanks to Paul Garnham and Chris Harris for helping with this. It returned from its annual looking very good on Good Friday.

Though the figures still do not look quite so good in the annual accounts, this is in part due to the manner in which these are presented. In agreement with the Chairman it is hoped to devise some sort of management accounting system which should present a far more realistic picture.

A couple of safety issues have been raised by recent events. Firstly the need to have the chocks at the launch point, especially in squally weather. On one occasion when I was in charge of the tug it was parked cross wind and across the slope with the tailwheel chocked and brakes on. A squall turned it into wind and started to blow it downhill into the gully. Some quick thinking from those present saved any damage. On another occasion the tug was parked by the hangar at packing time, chocked. The duty tug pilot was not present but another had unchocked the wheels on one side to try and expedite packing before the worst of a squall. This time I was the one to save it and EVV during the ensuing rotation.

So;

1. Chocks should always be at the launch point when the tug is out.
2. The tug should always be chocked in squally weather when nobody is sitting in it. The brakes will not hold it.
3. The tug should be chocked when unattended. The definition of ‘unattended’ needs interpreting with a modicum of common sense. Anyone in any doubt should speak to me.

The other issue is allied to this. On a recent windy day the tug pilot was dutifully sitting in his tug to prevent it blowing into the gully. Launch point helpers had been pulling the rope in for him but on one occasion did not and he failed to notice. A glider was then launched with the tow rope across the winch cable. Fortunately with no dire consequences. All tug pilots should ensure that the rope is gathered behind the tug, if only to prevent it being sliced in two by the skid of a K13 landing across it. If it’s windy, please help them.

To finish on an upbeat note, I would like to introduce a per kilometre charge basis for aerotow retrieves which will hopefully make them more attractive. Also the cadre of pilots should soon be increased by one when David Rance has completed his training at Lasham. I will be off there again this summer to that land where the maidens are fair and the thermals broad, plentiful and well formed. Or something like that. ‘Tigger’ Harris will be bouncing into my shoes to deputise whilst I am away.

*Tow equivalents - minutes of ‘off tow’ revenue earning flying divided by six. For instance, an aerotow retrieve from Sleap which involved a 15 minute outward flight and 21 minute return flight would be flying for 36 revenue earning minutes. Previously this would have counted as one tow even though in this instance earning £64.50.

Members may purchase Trial Lesson vouchers from the office at the special discount rate of £25.00. Note that if a discounted voucher is used for an aerotow , the cost of the aerotow less the cost of a winch launch must be paid in addition.

Members may accompany friends to the office and introduce them as friends to obtain the discount rate.

Discounted vouchers will NOT be sold to non-members who claim to be friends of members.

I tried to tell him. Honestly I did. It was mentioned in briefing and again during the day after a particularly dodgy one. Those westerly approaches. I’ve known for some time there was a big one waiting. You see, after a recent duty day of telling them all, it nearly happened to me. Let me tell you how.

The thing about approaching in a strong westerly is that after you cross the ridge, unless you do the right things, and most don’t, then you are undershooting. And you try and tell them.

"I had plenty of speed on."

"I always creep the brakes away landing the Astir."

"I was trying to land by the parked gliders." In the undershoot?

"I’ve got enough performance to get me out of trouble." (Which I’ll need because my brain isn’t much help).

So I’ll tell you how it happened to me.

The last flight of a duty day, with a trainee instructor. His first flight in the back seat. And my first mistake was not to include a warning about how much more invisible landing areas are when flying from this position. To be honest, I’ve become used to it myself and compensate, of which more later.

Anyway, we’d done all the exercises. Probably better than average for a first patter attempt. The sun was shining and the squall coming in from Wales probably had 20 minutes or so to run. We were at 1200 feet, more height than most people start a westerly approach with.

But as we crossed the ridge, I started to lose that warm and fuzzy feeling. Instructor’s sixth sense said "This might go wrong." We weren’t quite in the right place over the ground for the height we had. That’s how we back seaters compensate, even when feigning nonchalance in the front seat, or so I figured later. As we passed abeam the landing area and over the easterly cut forest still heading straight east, the inner incantations of "He’s cocked this up" increased in frequency and pitch, until at last we turned base.

"I’ve cocked this up", I thought, as P2 increased speed to 70 plus knots, and dived for Howard’s way. The end of it and the fence were moving upwards in our field of view. We were undershooting in the lee sink into a 25 knot headwind.

Now the next bit isn’t in any of the books and please don’t try it at home unless you have a good relationship with your guardian angel. In a serious undershoot in a strongish wind, when all else has failed, you can dive at that which you are going to crash into anyway, on a ‘what have I got to lose?’ basis. If your god and guardian angel aren’t taking tea, then a mixture of kinetic energy, ground effect, dynamic soaring and prayer might just work.

We hit 90 knots and ground effect at the same time, P2 must have said his prayers the night before and we cleared the fence by a good(?) 20+ feet.

Gully rush, or its prospect isn’t enough to put most off. And that wasn’t what got the other guy. He’d just completed his 200 foot final turn, a little overloaded but enough to slide in with his DG4. The trouble with overload is that lookout suffers (along with speed control). Even so Mr DG4 might have got away with the slow, skidding turn, had not the conscientious and properly briefed pre Bronze pilot airbraked a K23 right down on top of him. Neither of them stood a chance.

As for what happened to us? Well I told the story to JS in the bar and expressed gratitude that we hadn’t been in a K13. "You’d probably have thought of some other way out" he said. Me, I’m not so sure.

• Lookout, especially crossing ridge and in circuit.
• Fly downwind parallel to Howard’s way rather than 180 degrees to landing direction.
• Use at least half airbrake. If you can’t then you are undershooting so put it away, all of it.
• Aim to land in the middle of the airfield.
• If overshooting or in doubt then go around.

• Get transfixed by the landing area whilst crossing the ridge.
• Go outside the airfield boundary.
• Creep brakes away whilst on final approach.
• Try and land near parked gliders.
• Think that it won’t happen to you.

As launch marshal I was pleased that this was not going to be a ‘big day’. If I had to be on the ground it might as well be a ridge soaring day, and I settled in for a non flying day! At the morning briefing I listened for the tow out routes, parking area and winch layout. Short west would mean I’d need to have a retrieve Land Rover driver on hand and a signaller at the retrieve winch.

The launch rate had been OK during the day. Although everyone was soaring from their launches there was always something happening on the ground to keep me busy. However towards the end of the day Paul offered to give my first try at the basic instructor routine. John took a turn marshalling so I could take up the offer. I knew sooner or later I would have a crack at flying from the back seat for the first time, and ‘doing the patter’, however poorly learnt and unrehearsed. I enjoy flying with Paul and guessed that he’d not be too critical, so why not? He’d save me from my mistakes, wouldn’t he!

I’d seen Paul routinely putting P2s through their paces on short west launch failures, diving for the closest point on the ridge over the dew pond. I joked with Paul that he would not do that to a novice back seat driver, but he briefed me and did it anyway. It was not a surprise and I did what felt right knowing I’d be sorted out if I made a cock-up. Approaching the edge of the ridge at 58 knots I was slow to recognise that more speed was needed, after all what speed had I planned to make an approach at? At Paul’s insistence I put on a bit more speed and we slipped over the edge to climb away.

The pattering was a disaster. My sympathies went out to every dumb blonde who ever tried to walk and chew gum at the same time. The stick was going down and the wings were centralised while the nose came and went from view. In amongst that I mentioned to Paul that I was flying a bit slow. I guessed the sight of P1 and all that Perspex ahead and below was fooling me. After I had exhausted the few lines of patter I knew, and made up many more, Paul took pity on me and we turned for home as normal.

I don’t recall anything being different to other circuits. I checked for traffic, two ahead. I planned to set up enough separation as I crossed the ridge, with height in hand, so that they could land while giving me enough time to pick a route between them on the ground. I watched number 2 turn base, maintaining the separation by staying on downwind leg until I saw where they were going. I was thinking a bit about how the patter exercises had gone when I turned base.

Very shortly afterwards I got a bad feeling. I remember saying aloud something like "I wish we weren’t this far back!" Paul had had the same bad feeling for some time. Base leg was given up in favour of final to the nearest point on the airfield, Howard’s Way. I knew speed was needed and aimed for 75 or 80 knots, but it was too slow coming. I saw the aiming point rising, but by now I was in unknown territory without any time to work out an escape route. Paul gave me one more chance to fix it myself by giving me a short, precise instruction for an aiming point at the end of Howard’s Way. And then he took over. The rest, as they say, is history.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing! What hints should have told me I was not fully switched on for this flight? How many times had I recognised my assessment of attitude from the back seat was wrong? Had I really planned the circuit and WUFSTAL’ed or just checked for traffic and landing area? Did I relax in the circuit after completing the exercises?

Take the worst case answers to each of these. Add one more variable, unexpectedly losing sight of the field, and a bad end to the day became a very real possibility. This time I was saved from my mistakes.

On the evening of 24th October Martin Wilshaw, a professional parachute instructor from Tilstock Parachute Club came to the Mynd to talk about parachutes, their construction and use, and why they need to checked and re-packed regularly.

Martin started parachuting in 1976 and has done 4000 jumps on most types of rig. He holds a British Parachute Association advanced packers certificate and is able to carry out all types of repairs. He is also one of the few packers around who is able and willing to re-pack older rigs.

Glider emergency parachutes are not subject to any formal re-packing regime unlike those covered by the BPA. They are generally viewed with disdain by the parachuting community since they are often in poor condition and in many cases will not open. Martin received one parachute from another club which was last re-packed 5 years ago and, surprise surprise!, it didn’t open. He received a further 6 parachutes from the same club out of which 2 opened when pulled; this was considered a surprisingly good result as they were all expected to fail!

Martin started his talk by showing us his ‘Black Museum of Horrors’ which included the following: items:-

Plastic D-Ring These are outlawed by the BPA and have been for many years. Earlier this year a glider pilot was killed after bailing out following a mid-air collision because a plastic D-ring, which had become brittle with age, broke when he tried to open his parachute. Mike Woollard wrote about these in the October/November 1998 Sailplane and Gliding. If you have a parachute with one of these fitted then GET IT CHANGED FOR A METAL ONE!

Cable with a bent pin This is the cable attached to the D-ring which has the release pins attached. The pins are fitted through holes in metal posts. When they are pulled from the posts the pack opens. A bent pin will jam and not pull out of the post. The bottom pins are the most exposed and vulnerable on some rigs, to damage during normal handling, putting in glider cockpits etc. They should therefore be checked as part of the DI.

Pack opening bands These are the elastic bands which are wrapped around the outside of the pack and pull the pack apart on deployment. They can perish with age and if this happens the ejection of the drogue can be impeded and the parachute may not open. This had happened to our syndicate Irvin EB65 and was found and rectified by Martin.

Snap ejectors as used on leg and chest straps on Irvins. These will pull open if the springs are broken. Sometimes these can be replaced but if not a rubber bungey wrapped around will suffice to hold them closed.

Undo flap and check that the pins are all in place, are clean and bright and are not bent. Check that the pack opening bands have not perished and lost their elasticity and make sure that any hook and eye fittings have not chafed through the pack and hooked onto the pilot parachute.

When the D-handle is pulled the drogue parachute is ejected which in turn pulls out main canopy. On some parachutes the drogue is visible as a disc on the back. The drogue is ejected either by a ‘jack in the box’ compressed coil spring or a sprung ‘spider frame’ mechanism found in some of the older Irvins. Martin expressed a preference for the coil spring type. The spring pushes against a circular kicker plate. If this is missing then the bottom of the spring buries itself in the canopy and the drogue will not push out more than a foot or so. Not all parachutes with coil spring type drogues use these; the Thomas types don’t. Over dinner Martin recounted the story of one enterprising owner who found that his kicker plate was missing and decided to make one out of the lid of a large catering size tin of baked beans and thereby save himself the couple of quid a proper one costs. Unfortunately he overlooked the fact that tin openers tend to leave a sharp jagged edge around a tin lid and neglected to file it down. Not surprisingly it ripped the canopy to shreds and he had to buy a new parachute.

Lift the parachute assembly by the pack and not by the risers.

Put the shoulder strap with D-ring on first to avoid accidentally pulling it while fiddling with the rest of the parachute.

Martin re-iterated the MGC policy of doing up leg straps first to avoid getting the chest strap caught around the neck in a strong wind. He added that you should face downwind, then you will know if the parachute deploys before it drags you away.

Tighten the leg straps and tuck the loose ends into the elastic retainers otherwise they can work loose.

Although the odds of ever having to abandon your glider are pretty remote it is worth spending some time considering what you would actually do. Have you ever tried getting out in a hurry on the ground? Bear in mind that in a real emergency the glider is unlikely to be flying along upright and straight and level so you may become disorientated. A first taste of inverted flight is a mind blowing experience even when you’re expecting it.

Having made the decision to jump for whatever reason, get rid of the canopy first, before undoing the straps, to avoid being thrown around the cockpit.

After getting out Martin’s advice is to pull the handle straight away; don’t wait or count 5 seconds.

When the drogue opens it pulls the main canopy out with a snatch force of 180 pounds.

The Thomas canopy has vents at rear and sides to give forward speed of about 15 mph. Limited steering can be achieved by pulling on rear riser of direction you want to turn. It is possible to fit toggles to pull on particular lines to give improved steering capability. This modification can be done for about £10.00. Some parachutes have these already fitted. It is interesting to note that when Martin asked the question "Is your parachute steerable?" nobody in the room actually knew.

If it is not steered the parachute will tend to turn downwind, if you can, turn into wind for the landing. For the landing keep your feet together, face into wind, feet up and flat to ground, and elbows up and out of the way.

Look out and not down as the ground rush tends to affect height judgement.

Theoretically the Thomas will open at 200 feet so you would need to get out of glider at 400 - 500 feet. In practice bale outs from less than 1,500 feet are rarely successful. The descent rate will be 12 - 18 feet/second depending on your body weight.

After landing if it is windy then let go of one steering riser and pull on the other one to collapse the canopy. Run round the parachute to turn out of wind. If you release the canopy by means of a release mechanism then cover your face to protect it from the pieces of metal that will be flying past it.

Before landing undo the chest strap or remove the covers from the canopy release clips, if fitted, ready to jettison the canopy as soon as possible after landing as it will fill with water and sink. Military parachutes are fitted with pockets designed to speed up this process to reduce the risk of detection and capture if landing behind enemy lines.

Keep your feet together and knees bent as for landing on solid ground; the water may not be as deep as it looks.

After landing get rid of canopy by means of release clips or by undoing the leg straps.

Keep your feet together and put your elbows and hands in front of your face to protect your face and windpipe.

Once down stay put until you know where you are. There have been several cases of parachutists surviving the jump intact only to be injured or killed falling out of trees afterwards.

Don’t leave your parachute exposed to sunlight for example in glider cockpits as this bleaches the nylon packs.

The ripstop nylon will absorb moisture from damp air and sweat (Martin says that handling canopies when packing them dries his hands out). This is more of a problem with glider parachutes than with those used for skydiving since ours are rarely opened and often worn for hours at a time by pilots who sweat and wriggle about. Therefore they must be stored somewhere dry.

Martin once found one which had been damaged by battery acid; It had been kept in the boot of a mini.

A parachute can be presented packed or unpacked. If you have never pulled your own parachute before then it is worth doing so. Find somewhere clean, dry and spacious to do it. The resulting confusion can then be put into a dustbin bag and sent to Martin. Don’t forget the D-handle and wire which will now be a separate entity.

The canopy is hung up to dry out first of all. Then Martin carries out an acid and alkaline test and a tensile strength on the canopy before checking the whole rig and then re-packing it.

He is prepared to guarantee any parachute he re-packs for six months from the date of re-packing or as he says "If it doesn’t work then just bring it back!"

Martin will turn around a parachute within a week so if you give your parachute to Chris Harris on a Sunday, with a £20.00 note, it will be ready the following weekend.

If you suffer from an uncontrollable urge to jump out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft then you can do a tandem jump with Martin for £170.00. This involves a jump from 10,000 feet with a freefall of about 35 seconds before opening the parachute at 4,500 feet.

It is some time now since I put pen to paper to inform members of what is planned and where we are going regarding the airfield and all of the associated problems.

At the present time all you hear via the grapevine or other means is the word grants. You can change the word grant into help. We are working with MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), English Nature and the National Trust. This means that there are specific plans and management of land agreements that we must adhere to.

The Long Mynd is an ESA (Environmentally Sensitive Area).

The spraying and control of bracken, cutting certain areas of heather before the end of March, we are controlling and managing our site, conforming to agreed plans. We cannot cut, dig holes or make roads without agreement with the appropriate controlling departments.

The area that has been de-stumped south-east of runway 18L has to be put back to heather. So how do we do that, with sheep ready to destroy any germination of heather that we sow? After long hours of consultation with the Forestry Commission and Shropshire County Council we are now in a position to divert the two bridle paths that cross 18L and 18R, the diversion will take the public from the bottom path up to the southern path via the Forestry side, across the top path and then down the west side. This diversion will probably last for about two years. The area will need to be fenced to keep sheep off. This will require labour, I shall be looking for volunteers to keep the cost down.

On the south-west side we have 10.5 hectares of land that will be de-stumped and put to heather this summer. This area will also need to be fenced.

This now needs repair and stone laid at the south and north ends. Many people use this route for the improved views, and we need to keep it in good repair and encourage its use.

Runway 18R will be returned to operation with its threshold painted on May 1^st.

There is now a shuttle bus service bringing visitors from Cardingmill Valley as far as Pole Cottage. So be prepared for many more visitors to our site, who will want use the Portway and Starboardway.

Considering the likely increase of walkers along the airfield we have to think about safety and stoppage of launches. The first of May will see the fence surrounding the cultivated square being removed, giving a large area for operations. Tests have been carried out by John Stuart with the winch being situated just east of the Portway. The advantages of this would be:

• Cables no longer cross the Portway.
• The glider releasing just before the road allows more time for the safe arrival on the ridge, hence more time to avoid existing ridge traffic.
• After landing it is easier to push the glider down hill back to the launch point.
• The winch could be situated just north of the hangar line, in line with the windsock, allowing cars and equipment to be parked south-east of the launch point. So a private owner could tow out, park his car, fly, and on return collect his car and tow back to his trailer.

I have dealt with some of the changes; remember changes cost money. We must do some of the work ourselves in order to keep the cost down. I am about to put up a request for volunteers, please put up your names and take the load off me a little by working for the club.

At last the Summer is here, well so they tell me. With the summer comes thermals and Rockpolishers, the Interclub League with teams from Usk, Shobdon. Talgarth, Nympsfield, Aston Down, and of course the Mynd.

The morning was grey, with freezing temperatures, with the dividing line for the good and bad weather being directly over the top of Shobdon. 50% chance of getting a task. At 14:00 the cloud started to break from the west. And yes, sunshine, it is summer after all. A frantic rigging, and launching started about an hour later. Many thanks to the crews who rigged ‘Her Highness’s’ glider while she buggered off elsewhere!

The weather window was short and launching slow, so either you got lucky and managed to get away on task or you slid back to earth! I was lucky enough to be launched at the right time and tiptoed round a massive 85 km. Unfortunately the Nympsfield intermediate tiptoed round a bit faster leaving me in second place.

The morning was grey just like Saturday but not quite so grey (bright bits).

Tasks were set to the east, and we knew from the weather forecast that today was going to be a real race - not against each other but against the weather! The airmass was very unstable with no inversion. This would probably mean that no sooner would it become soarable, than the lovely little cumulus clouds would turn into monsters and throw airliners about.

Releasing off tow into a good 3 knot climb it was time to go, calling start and heading east towards Bidford (the first turn). Taking about 6 turns to Worcester, all seemed to be going well. Parked up at Worcester for about 15 minutes until I could get past a storm at Evesham.

I took another climb into the turn, so I had a good start back into wind. Looking back towards Shobdon looked hopeless, one massive black storm, heading north skirting the edge of the Birmingham CTA. It became clear there was no way round. Why hadn’t I started half an hour earlier? I knew this was going to happen. Taking a climb on the edge of the storm to stay airborne, 20 nautical miles to run I needed 3600 feet to get home. Cloud base was only 2900 feet. Decision time - take a cloud climb or land? Into cloud in a nice steady 4 knot climb, deciding to climb to 4500 feet to allow for the sink on the back of the storm. At last I was on glide and I’d be home soon. Feeling rather pleased with myself, I set off in cloud, but somebody thought different. First, both varios failed, followed closely by the ASI! "Beam me up Scotty". I don’t know what happened then, but I lost 1000 feet in 30 seconds. I broke cloud at about 1700 feet above the ground, still with a frosted canopy and no ASI. Before I knew it I was in circuit into a field. Yes Mr CFI, I did do a proper one. Just as well - the field I had picked was on a 45° slope!

Moral of this story - Don’t play in freezing clouds and Do fly proper circuits - it might save your life or the shape of your glider at the very least!!!!

Jon Hall won the day for the novices, and Rose setting off despite being rapidly washed back down to earth, was enough to see us into second place over the whole weekend. Jon Richards winning Day 1 flying Hors Concours also deserves a round of applause. Not a bad start after all!

Pundit: Rose Johnson

Intermediate: Iain Evans

Novice: Jon Hall

Hors Concours: Jon Richards

Crew: Richards Langford and Paul Shuttleworth

Usk: 6 points

Mynd: 5 points

Talgarth: 4 points

Nympsfield: 4 points

Shobdon: 2 points

Aston Down: 0 points

Well you’ve all heard about my exciting cross-country, now it’s time to bore you with my five hour Silver leg.

The weather forecast was a bit iffy, which caused a bit of a last minute dilemma, Bowland Forest or the Mynd? But Chipping was still going to be wet. So it was destination Long Mynd again.

When I pulled into the Mynd car park shortly after 08:00 it struck me as odd that there were already at least twenty cars. I soon found out that it was Task Week. After enquiring what this meant I was told that all the club gliders would be taken off us (normal club members) around mid day. Hmm. Well instead of packing off home I thought I’d see what a task day involved, so hung about.

The met briefing was not very promising; Cu was forecast all day with 3-4 knot thermals early afternoon and a surface wind of 15-20 knots WNW veering to N by the end of the day. First comment was "what cumulus?" but I thought there was enough strength in the wind for the ridge to work so remained eager, till I realised I was on top of the hill and not at the bottom, as at Chipping, hence the wind probably wasn’t strong enough.

The day starts early as some AEI flights are booked for 10:00. Hang-gliders and paragliders seemed to be oozing out of the hill and ridge soaring successfully. I found myself yet again in a K8 (CLX), more through choice this time around, as I planed on hour building and possibly getting a cross-country endorsement soaring flight in.

My first flight (11:00) was not very eventful and cut short by a line of squall showers sweeping down from the NW. Half an hour later we were flying again, but by the time I got CLX (K8) to the front of the launch queue (approx. 12:30) the winch driver had packed off for lunch.

During lunchtime the task pilots start bringing over their gleaming glass ships to the launch point and amazingly queue behind CLX. Having had a quick pee, Mars, and Lucozade I’m ready to go (13:42). The first notable point about the flight was the launch. It was crap! The cable seemed to die on me shortly after I rotated into the climb, nearly causing me to pull off, but eventually I manage a height of about 800 feet. From here I set about local soaring with a mix of hill lift and thermalling giving 1000 - 1500 feet ceilings.

The major event of the flight was another set of squall showers tracking down from the NW, 30 minutes or so into the flight. There was a slight glimmer of hope though as the squall was not a blanket rain line, but separated into two main areas one of which was going to capture the Mynd. As the shower moved closer so my K8 started to get wet, I was not very hopeful of surviving, but the shower was creating lift so I persisted along with others hoping somehow to survive. My first passing attempt just got wetter and wetter. When I turned back to survey my options the squall seemed to have moved off the ridge presenting a slight gap along the ridge between the two showers, other gliders were already going for it and some had already made it through. This bolstered my confidence and soon I was also through and in the sunshine, the problem now was the dead sky.

I scraped away from this dead point as only a K8 can, and had to again on three other sub 1,000 foot occasions, with a mixture of hill lift and thermal. The afternoon now started to open up a little but cloudbase remained between 2000 - 2500 feet so most task men stayed local, which made thermal spotting a little easier if busy at times. I got this feeling I was pissing off the glass pilots, but hey what was I to do! I’m in a K8 after all.

Two hours soon turned into three. After 3½ hours I started thinking about my five hour Silver duration leg, it was going to require a landing time of around 19:00 to be safe, which was nearly two hours or so away and the discomfort was already starting to seep in!

The final event of mention in my Silver duration leg, happened in the crucial fourth hour. Apart from singing hymns aloud to myself and trying to shift every few minutes because I was hurting like **** I’d also got out of gliding range from the club with little lift about in the dying hours of the day. I remember thinking "Sod the five hours I just want to get back" (and save face) or it was going to be that nice silage field down there for me! I headed off down a dark cloud street, and two minutes later field selection was taken a little more seriously, one without 200 sheep in for a change. A minute later the vario started to bob, nothing spectacular (zero in fact) but while turning noticed an LS4b (HKX) circling behind me and so got my thermal and back to base.

I spent the final 20-30 minutes creeping up and down the ridge getting a final thermal (with HKX) at the south tip to secure the five hours. Yee Harr! Afterwards I learnt I’d actually done 5 hours 18 minutes. I also found it very difficult to walk. You see my bum had gone numb around the 3½ hour point and for some reason my left foot felt like a hot coal. I can tell you five hours duration in a K8 hurts! I was congratulated more for doing the duration in a K8 than achieving the Silver leg or doing it on such a difficult day with low cloudbase and tight thermals, hummph.

I rode my luck just a little too much though when asking CFI Chris Harris (flying an ASW 17) for a Silver badge claim form, by getting some advice on my thermalling technique. He wasn’t too hard on me, passing comment was "Who’s to say where the best lift was and that you weren’t already in it!!" Yerrsss.

A brief reminder early in the course season that we are continuing the successful policy of offering a 50% discount to members for the flying element of our courses, on a standby basis.

This means that you can book at any time, but you need to confirm by phone on Friday afternoon for a whole course the following week. If the course is full, you lose your place, if not you get it for half price.

Janet is also operating the scheme for odd days, so if your booking requirements are flexible, give her a ring, she will be delighted to fit you in whenever there are spare places.

John Stuart will be running a Mini Task week May 22^nd - 31^st (overlapping with Rockpolishers at the Mynd). Contact John or Janet if you are interested.

This is a good time to get into practice for Task Week!

Welcome to new members John Bux, Andrew David D’Arcy, Charles Page and Michael Wood, and welcome back to Richard and Sarah Platt.

Congratulations to George Bongartz and John Chapman on going solo, Colin Calderhead on achieving Bronze C, and David Rance on gaining Gold height.

It has been a busy two months, with much wave flying and cross countries well under way (including land-outs), as is the course season, which started on 15^th March. Strong winds have featured, and wintry showers with hail and snow in the last week. The airfield is still very wet. There have been some lovely spring days as well.

Most of the stories seem to involve strong winds and wave flying (and strong winds and tug handling…). A strong wind bungey day on 21^st February was filmed by some American visitors for a TV programme to be shown daily for two weeks in the Nantucket area. The weather conditions for 27^th February prompted the comment from John Stuart that the day was "on the limits for Number One control". Among other things it was then the tug showed a desire to revisit the gully.

If you look on the wall chart in the club you will see a significant number of recent wave climbs well above 10,000 feet. 19^th March was a "really triffic wave day" (JS again), with a 300° 20 knot wind. Nick Heriz-Smith and John Stuart went wave touring with a best height of 17,000 feet for Nick, while David Rance climbed to 16,500 feet for a Gold height, having practised the day before but without oxygen so had to break off the climb. David Crowson also flew in the wave that day, and landed out, as he relates in this issue. 7^th April was another excellent wave day, with the wind WNW at 30 knots, dropping later. This was despite it being Martin McCurdie’s day off. It seems the climbs were good just off the ridge, and were enjoyed by Martin, Nick Swales, Jon Hall, Paul Stanley and Nicola Claiden, Julian Fack and Paul Garnham as well as the course members. The Duo Discus did two Gold climbs that day. Martin found no oxygen mask, so had to abandon his climb, Jon’s EW barograph failed to record his Gold climb, and Nick returned from a Gold height to fetch a barograph and try again, but couldn’t climb high enough the second time.

There was more wave on 11^th April, this time at a weekend. Keith Laidler and Steven Lewis explored the wave to the north, while Paul Stanley and Ken Screen were off in it down south. Keith and Steven both landed out, Steven managing it twice as he parted company with the aerotow retrieve from Cosford, where he first landed after descending through a gap while unsure of his position. He reports that the lift and rotor at that point, wherever it was, was the strongest he’s experienced in this country.

The first Rockpolishers weekend was at Shobdon on 17^th and 18^th April. We sent a full team, and there were tasks on both days.

Want to fly a real glider? Ray Stoward will be bringing his Fox to the Mynd sometime in mid July. The date is yet to be confirmed. Watch this space for further details.

There will be training camps at Lashham during the weekends of 15^th - 16^th May and 17^th - 18^th July. Aerobatic training will be available at all levels and hopefully there will be a Fox available.

The National Championships will be held at the Buckminster Gliding Club at Saltby once again from Thursday 9^th to Sunday 12^th September.

Tuesday afternoon and after two hot sunny days the first course of the season was off to a good start.

The forecast was for cold fronts to move through Thursday and Friday leaving possibly unstable north-westerlies in their wake. This was looking too good to miss, a quick call to Janet and I’m booked in on a half price bargain; three days in the Discus for £87, does life get any better?

The weather was just as forecast, hot and sunny Wednesday with soaring in the afternoon. The first cold front passed through overnight leaving north-westerlies as promised, giving broken thermals and wave, difficult to recognise and equally difficult to get into, perhaps tomorrow!

Friday and another very weak front has passed, the winds were now WNW and a touch lighter at about 15 knots.

The wave system that developed that day was magnificent, the like of which I had only seen before in photographs. A lower short wavelength system and an upper system of considerably longer wavelength with impressive bars some stacking up like dinner plates!

Someone mentioned the word ‘Diamond’ and it was straight to the office for portable oxygen and a barograph, help Nick rig the Ventus and get him to brief me on the use of oxygen, then track down Bob in the workshop for OO signature and barograph sealing.

Things were going well, a little too well perhaps! Up at the launch point a few adjustments to the oxygen bottle after I discovered that I couldn’t read the gauge with the canopy down.

Then checks done I launch, only just over 1000 feet so cautiously push out towards Corndon and the leading edge of the wave bar. Finding zero or reduced sink arrive just short of the leading edge at 950 feet and it all goes to worms, suddenly 6 - 8 knots down everywhere so nose down and run for home. Back at the ridge with 550 feet to find nothing doing so wheel down and land, there was certainly no danger of the oxygen running out! Even John Stuart was soon down so I didn’t feel so bad and it’s time for lunch.

I spent time during lunch poring over the map as I needed to cross under A25 to open airspace to give enough headroom for Diamond height. Did I fail to mention that I forgot to take the map first time?

Back at the launch point and the sky looked even better, the lower level wave was generating a good deal of cloud but now cycling 4/8 to 6/8 rather than 5/8 to 8/8 as it had done earlier in the morning.

John Stuart launched first, then it was my turn. A good launch this time, then straight down a cloud street to the leading edge of the wave bar, needless to say John was straight into it while I spent fifteen to twenty minutes getting established.

Once in the lower system it was an easy climb to cloud top at 4,500 feet from where you could see the whole system laid out in distinctive bars, a great relief map of lift. There were also generous slots revealing plenty of ground for navigation which was vital as I was relying on the map as I have still to buy a GPS. (I didn’t know it then but GPS was soon to move up from the wish list to the shopping list!)

The now uninterrupted view of the upper system was spectacular, a massive bar over the Mynd stretching far out to the west with many more sculptured lenticulars painting a clear picture of the upper air flow.

Meanwhile my plan was to reach Newtown, sliding along the lower level bar taking me north-west towards Montgomery. A real hot spot had built up, 6,000 feet and going up at 6 knots, the best lift I’ve ever been in and I have to leave it to cross under the airway. The bar had been curving westward and now ran straight to Newtown, tailor made or what! This Diamond business was looking easy-peasy.

Things were a little odd at Newtown. Two bars, one of which I was following, ended in a massive hole. I was on the northern one so jumped to the south to edge around the south side of the hole. This was where things started to change.

Nothing seemed to be working. I pushed on as far as I felt I could around the hole but it was all slowly sinking. I turned back towards the line of lift that brought me here so easily and it all looked very different.

Where there had been two slots I could now only see one which was considerably narrower giving fewer clues for the map work on the way home. My sense of well-being began to fade and the Mynd now seemed a long way away (shows how wrong you can be.)

With all thoughts of Diamond now gone I decided to head back to the Mynd. I could see a line of clear air in the right direction and was soon back in lift. I began to feel more comfortable again, just above cloud tops at 4,500 feet, the trouble was all I could see on the ground was a road, not a town or village anywhere though even if one had appeared it would have been pretty useless on its own. I was rapidly becoming lost, was Newtown still under that hole I could see behind me?

This is where the curious part of the flight begins, never underestimate your ability to convince yourself that you know where you are when you don’t. Unfortunately this was one skill I began to excel at.

My sense of well-being began to improve still further, I even felt elated as I reached an area of strong lift which must surely be the one I encountered earlier on in the day. What a flight, out and return to Newtown with my skilful map reading getting me out of trouble as I successfully navigate in difficult conditions, a natural, etc etc.

My skills for self delusion were now reaching new heights - I had even seen a distinctive lake and because it didn’t appear anywhere near where I knew I was, wondered why such a good landmark had not been put on the map!

It was a short while after this that I began to notice how flat the land was, odd that, I thought. The slot was now slowly widening confirming a distinct lack of hills. Then came the realisation that I had been guessing since Newtown. I was still trying to convince myself that my guesses were probably right when I saw a large hole a little further along the slot I was following with another large hole the other side of the bar.

The ground now looked very flat and as I circled the only thing I could confirm was that I didn’t recognise anything! One last chance, jump the bar and look down the other hole, this merely confirmed that I was lost so following the rule "If lost, land" I descended through the hole.

After being in bright sunlight it was like the black hole of Calcutta under there, it would have been helpful if I had taken off my sunglasses but it would be fair to say that a certain level of reason had left me by then.

After a few moments I began to see features that were familiar; that town on the river with the striking new bridge and bypass, surely could not be Bridgnorth? Then at last I saw the Clee Hills, no mistaking them but it would have been a great deal more comforting had they appeared on the other side of the glider! So that really was Bridgnorth! How was I going to explain this?

Luckily I was current in the Discus and the prospect of a field landing, even though it was my first proper one, was no problem, just one of the advantages of flying at the Mynd.

So the landing was fine, loads of fields to choose from and as I stood no chance of getting back, plenty of height and time to choose one. I found a lovely grass field, smooth, level, no animals, into wind, alternative areas - everything you could want, what a fantastic feeling.

Next to find the farmhouse, and a telephone and a cup of tea and a pen and a piece of paper and a road map and "could you tell me where I am please?" "You don’t want much do you?" The family were great, even wanted me to stop for tea.

So thank you Nick and George for coming to fetch me, and sorry to John Stuart for raising the stress level of his day as my radio was not transmitting.

Oh, by the way Nick, does this mean I can have a yellow card now?

They say if you can’t do it teach it and if you can’t teach it then criticise others doing it. Having recently moved house and therefore not having flown for a long time I felt that I would be better placed on the judging line than in a glider for this one. That’s why I spent last Saturday (March 27^th) sitting at the top of Dunstable Downs staring at the sky.

The competition is open to pilots of all levels and involves flying two known (previously published) and one unknown sequences. All flying is in a K21. The Dan Smith Memorial Trophy is awarded to the highest placed sports level pilot.

Ray Stoward, the white haired chap who looks like Monsieur Alphonse the undertaker in ‘Allo ‘Allo and flies my Pilatus, had been asked at the last minute to act as Competition Director as Jim Duthie, who normally does it, had had to pull out.

The London Gliding Club carry on with their normal flying activities while the competition is in progress which works surprisingly well with very little disruption to either operation.

My brother in law Mark mentioned at Christmas that he would like to watch the competition so I invited him to act as my scribe. The scribe’s role involves sitting next to the judge and writing down scores and remarks about the figures since it is impossible to watch and write at the same time. "Don’t forget to bring some warm clothes with you." I reminded him last week. I forgot to mention the factor 40 sun cream. Mark forgot the warm clothes.

The sky was clear and there had been a light frost the previous night. The wind was a light westerly, not enough to cause problems for the pilots but enough to make it feel a bit chilly up on the hill. There was rain forecast for the following day so Ray was keen to complete all three sequences on Saturday.

To describe the orientation in simple terms the box was to our west and the sun to the south, in other words our left. Funnily enough it stayed on our left all day.

Having the judging position located in the middle of a busy public recreation area has its advantages and disadvantages; a loo and tea shop nearby are welcome but kids, footballs, kites, dogs, car stereos in the nearby car-park and a couple behind us having a snog could be a bit distracting.

We had a lot of interest from members of the public. Fortunately we had some spare scribes who were able to answer their questions and do the PR bit.

They flew the first sequence fairly quickly. The standard was generally very high. The loops were mostly round with the occasional variations, i.e. egg shaped, comma shaped, and in the case of one power pilot, "Oh s***t! Where’s the throttle?" shaped.

The caterers at Dunstable know how to look after judges’ vital needs. They sent up superb packed lunches which were followed later in the day by hot cross buns and hot tea and coffee.

Progress seemed slower through the second known, the standard of flying remained high.

By mid afternoon we realised that we had caught the sun. Remember my earlier comment about the relative position of the sun.

"Stop complaining Mark. People pay £300 to go to Lanzarote for a tan like that."

"Yes," he replied. "But they don’t pay £150 for half a tan. I’ve got a sales meeting on Monday. It’ll be dead embarrassing."

After the second known had been flown Guy Westgate, who is the Unlimited National Champion, went up in the Fox to give a demonstration flight. He started with his party piece the ‘explosion off tow’ which involves a spectacular series of tumbling flick manoeuvres. To the uninitiated it must look some sort of catastrophic structural failure. "Wow! that’s mad," exclaimed Mark. "I must have a go at that."

Mention must be made of ‘Lace’ who is rapidly becoming the unofficial mascot of glider aerobatics. She is a highly intelligent and affectionate black Pomeranian (a form of genetically modified nightie case) who travels to most events and training camps with Cindy Copsey and Chris Cain.

She enjoys chasing cats which takes some guts considering that there are very few cats over twelve weeks old which are smaller than she is.

Her ability to manipulate humanity means that she inevitably collects scraps of lunch and other treasures which she will guard with the tenacity of a tigress protecting her cubs.

During the afternoon an alsatian got wind of a piece of sausage roll in her basket and decided to investigate further. An exchange of canine vocal and body language followed. The apocryphal story goes that the alsatian was last seen disappearing over the horizon in agony with a black fluffy pom-pom firmly attached to his knackers!

If the launch rate was slow for the second known it was virtually stagnant for the last sequence, or did it just seem that way since the sun had sunk behind a ragged remnant of the day’s cumulus which drained its rays of whatever vestiges of warmth they once had. Or put another way it was getting bloody cold!

We must have looked a bit odd sitting in pairs staring at the sky so we were quite relieved at the end of the day when the sun was getting low to see the local Tai-Chi club doing their stuff on top of a nearby mound. A collection of animated ‘Hindu’ statues moving in slow motion silhouetted against the horizon made us look almost normal.

Mike Woollard brought a video taken from the rear seat of the Fox showing some intermediate manoeuvres being flown. Mark was particularly keen to see it so he showed it in the briefing room.

"Wow! that’s mad. I must have a go at that." (Repeat to fade at end of video).

I think we may have another convert.

There followed the traditional meal in the restaurant. The Billington family, who hold the catering franchise at Dunstable, did us proud once again. Guy demonstrated that it is possible to eat vast amounts of food and retain the figure of a pipe cleaner. I was reminded of stories told at Saltby of the days when he was resident tuggy and of a clubhouse freezer full of rabbits in various states of dissection.

Down in the bar Lace was hard at work recruiting new members to her fan club. At half past nine the barman announced that he would be shutting up shop in ten minutes. (Sounds like a candidate for the dewpond!). He relented after howls of protest and unfavourable comparisons to a certain well-known club in Hampshire who don’t keep their bar open unduly late.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day and Dunstable managed to lay on some ideal weather. Hopefully I’ll be a bit more organised (and current) next year and competing.

The overall results were as follows:-

• Tim’s Triangle: Rose Johnson.
• Neill (for the best ab-initio): John Chapman.
• Tony Spicer Barograph (for the person most likely to use it): David Rance.
• Bill Hardwick (for a male flying achievement): John Stuart and Richard Langford for the K13 flight to Cader Idris as described in the January Newsletter.
• Ozee Winter (for contribution to winter flying): Richard Langford.
• Maxam (for services to the Club): Derek Platt has been a tower of strength doing so many jobs that nobody notices if they are done but everybody notices if they are not. His work on the water supply is particularly noteworthy.
• Daisy Hardwick (for a female flying achievement): was not awarded this year.
• David Bailey (for the most promising young pilot): was not awarded this year.
• Golden Shovel: was not awarded this year.

Instructors and helpers are required for evening parties which will be taking place on Thursday and Friday evenings. The following dates have already been booked:

Friday 6^th June

Thursday 17^th June

Friday 18^th June

Friday 25^th June

Friday 9^th July

Friday 16^th July

Thursday 22^nd July

We need 2 or 3 instructors and at least 4 people on the field. If you can help please let me or Liz know in the office as soon as possible.