MIDLAND
GLIDING CLUB
NEWSLETTER
Number 90 March 2001
Chairman’s Contribution................................................................................................................. 2
Thank You So Much...................................................................................................................... 2
Foot and Mouth............................................................................................................................. 3
From the Flying Field...................................................................................................................... 3
Subscriptions and Flying Charges for the 2001
- 2002 Season............................................................ 4
CFI’s Bits..................................................................................................................................... 5
Field Landing Courses.................................................................................................................... 6
Security and Safety........................................................................................................................ 6
Rockpolishers 2001........................................................................................................................ 7
Trophy Presentation and Dinner Dance 2001................................................................................... 7
Amy Johnson................................................................................................................................. 8
Office Copy.................................................................................................................................. 8
An East Wind Day, 14th January..................................................................................................... 9
Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th
January.......................................................................................... 10
Officers and Committee 2001....................................................................................................... 11
Malibu Across
The Atlantic.......................................................................................................... 12
Batteries...................................................................................................................................... 15
Courses 2001............................................................................................................................... 16
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Please send Newsletter contributions to: John and Ann Parry Holly Cottage Wentnor Bishops Castle Shropshire SY9 5EE Telephone..01588 650379 Fax.………01588 650596 Email……..John.Parry@Virgin.net |
Club Details: The Midland Gliding Club The Long Mynd Church Stretton Shropshire SY6 6TA Office Telephone......01588 650206 Office Fax.................01588 650532 Members Telephone..01588 650405 Email……………….office@longmynd.com |
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Selected items from this Newsletter will appear on the Club Internet site which is: www.longmynd.com |
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Please could we have contributions for the May issue by 24th April. (Earlier if possible please!) |
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Julian Fack
By the time you read this the soaring season will be just a few days away, at least in terms of the club being open seven days a week, in fact our courses start on 19th March, and a couple of club visits the week before means the seven day operation effectively starts on the 10th.
This time of year always provokes mixed emotions in me, on the one hand there is the excitement of things to come, building on the previous year’s achievements, and on the other, particularly for pilots like me who do very little flying in winter, the apprehension of getting back safely into the swing of things after a layoff.
There are often some very good days early in the season, at a time when many of us are out of field landing practice. The motorglider syndicate are arranging some practice days early on, and surely most of us would benefit from some sharpening up in that area.
This year there is an additional ‘wildcard’ in the pack, namely the Foot and Mouth outbreak. At the time of writing it is not known how extensive it is, but until the situation is in control, I cannot imagine that glider pilots and their retrieve crews will be very welcome on farms. Landing out might even put you on the wrong side of the law. The situation changes daily, so keep in contact with the office or check the website to find out if there are any prohibitions in force.
I am delighted to be able to confirm two new staff appointments. Martin Moss will be our new Number Two Professional this year, and Christine Small will be replacing Liz at weekends at the start of the season.
The AGM went ahead on an icy Saturday at the end of February, and the snow came down quite hard just as supper was served. In spite of this the meeting was well attended, and a useful informal discussion lasted for an hour or so after the formal meeting closed.
The Treasurer had explained how a formal ‘tug engine’ fund was to be set up, based on the fact that these things have a finite life, and a known re-build cost, which caused Martin McCurdie to ask if a similar fund should be established for the fleet as a whole, as a logical extension of the engine fund.
This opened up a further series of discussions, about the state of our fleet, and in particular Paul Garnham was concerned about the cosmetic state of 797, which is close to the end of its official lifetime, and therefore presents something of a problem to the committee in terms of expenditure. There is no doubt that the limit will be extended, but under what onerous conditions (such as regular extra inspections, replacement of metalwork etc.) is not known.
At a very brief meeting of the new committee after the AGM it was thought that a comprehensive survey of the views of the membership would be a good idea this year.
That’s all for now, take care to keep in check, think safety at all times, and make the most of the new season.
Keith Mansell
Mid-morning on Saturday 24th February Christine collapsed into unconsciousness on the grass verge a few yards from our house in Ratlinghope. Her pulse and breathing were restored by a nurse who happened to be passing. Christine was then whisked into hospital where contrary to the doctors’ initial prognosis she made what to me was an astonishingly swift recovery to be released after two days. Both Christine and I wish to thank all those members who sent ‘get well’ messages, cards and flowers which have been most heartening. Particular thanks to Mark Wakem who alerted me to the situation and to John Parry who brought Rose Johnson from the club to the scene. Lastly our very special thanks to Rose for her expert help and support at the scene and at the hospital.
David Rance
The last foot and mouth epidemic in the UK was in the autumn of 1967 and had as the centre of its epidemic Oswestry cattle market. Apparently a bunch of infected animals were taken to market, infected many of the other beasts which were for sale, which were subsequently bought and taken home to dozens of farms throughout Shropshire and Cheshire ensuring a quick and widespread transmission to many more animals. I believe that something over 400,000 animals were eventually slaughtered in an effort to control the epidemic. Memories of the events still seem to be crystal clear in many farmers’ memories.
The disease is extremely virulent and is easily spread on boots, clothing and vehicles, which in the past led to restrictions on movement. With the amount of news cover on TV, you will all be experts on FMD by now. The effect on the club in 1967 was to close it for two months to everybody but Jack Minshall, who was allowed up to the hill daily to make sure the buildings were still there.
We do not know what the effect on the club may be in the weeks to come if the outbreak worsens. The CFI has already put a restriction on any flying, which might reasonably lead to an out landing. I suspect that if we landed on a stock farm (almost anywhere there is grass at this time of the year) we would not get a friendly welcome and might not get our glider back for a while. The National Trust, which owns much of the Long Mynd, has also posted signs asking the public to keep off the hill.
If the worst does happen and there are restrictions on our operations, we do carry insurance for ‘business interruption’, which carries a specific clause for the inclusion of disruption caused by foot and mouth disease. For the moment, we are closely monitoring the situation, which is changing quickly by the day, and will have to react as the situation develops.
Ann Parry
Welcome to new members Kenneth Powell and John Taylor.
Flying in the new year started on 4th January, with a good weekend on 6th-7th January, and flying every weekend for the rest of the month. John Roberts achieved Silver height on the 6th, in wave. By the end of the week the wind had turned easterly, giving three days of wave flying on 12th - 14th January.
John Stuart reported that in 20 years of flying at the Mynd he has never experienced the east wave going so high. He says that often in east wave the upper wind is light and can be westerly (and he has seen clouds that show this), but for these days the easterly continued at height. Clouds were marking the system on Friday, which JS said looked more like westerly wave than easterly. The wind was 30 knots, and JS got to 10, 000 feet in 797. The next two days were blue. On Saturday the wind was 100° 15 knots. Richard Hinley and Jon Blackhurst reached 8,000 feet in 494. By Sunday the wind was back to 30 knots from the east, and Jon Hall just missed gaining a Gold height, reaching 13,000 feet, while David Rance went touring and didn’t come back. Members were flying in the wave all weekend, mostly aerotowing to it, though some connected from winch launches.
The east wave was first explored by visiting Cambridge pilots on 18th March 1953, when Sigfrid Neumann made the dash from a winch launch in a Prefect to the observed roll cloud west of the hill, in a 25 knot easterly. He connected with the lift at 600 feet above Mynd and climbing away to a best height of 5,000 feet agl. See the account in Gliding Vol 4 (3) Autumn 1953 by Sigfrid, and the following ones by Rick Prestwich and Stan Jones, Mynd members who also then flew the wave.
There were other wave days on 27th January, with Nick Heriz-Smith flying 200 km round North Wales, and John Roberts climbing to around 10,000 feet at Shrewsbury, and on 3rd February, when Keith Laidler was at 11,000 feet, along with David Jones and John Collins. Thermals have started, mentioned in dispatches from 7th February, with JS reporting 2-4 knots on 9th February. The weekend of 24th - 25th was excellent for soaring, with lovely thermals on Saturday. See the pictures on the website.
David Rance
We have discussed on several occasions via the newsletter and at the AGM the need to raise a greater proportion of our income from a fixed, predictable source and rely rather less on the weather dependent income generated from less predictable activities such as flying and launching income. The Chairman has often used the analogies of golf clubs where members pay a very large fee up front and then notional green fees when they actually play, or health clubs where a single up front payment buys you the right to use the kit as much as you like (can stand?) for the following year with no daily charges at all. For our club, this might be an idea before its time, but these examples illustrate the direction we are trying to move things.
So inevitably, there is good news and bad news. First, the good news. Flying fees are to remain fixed at their current levels for a third year. There are no increases. Winch launch fees will also remain fixed for another year at just £6.00.
Aerotow fees will remain the same except that the minimum fee for a 2000 foot launch has increased from £18 to £19 to offset some of the higher fuel costs that we are having to pay. Higher tows remain £2.20 per minute. (The cunning amongst you, flying single seaters which climb fast behind the tug, might calculate it worth hanging on tow for a few hundred feet extra than the 2000 foot minimum to make the most of your money.)
Subscriptions will be raised from April 1st. For those happy to pay in one go, the standard full flying membership subscription for the new season is now £295, which is due on the 1st April 2001, please. Whilst the majority of members find their cheque books without too much trouble, late payment has become something of a problem in the last year or two and we have never been sure whether this is intentional or just plain forgetfulness. It is certainly tedious and embarrassing to have to keep chasing some members for payment. So from this year, if the club doesn’t receive payment by the end of April, the charge rises to £315 and thereafter by £10 per month. Remember that you can pay by credit card over the phone or by cheque (our preferred option) either when you are at the club or by posting it to the office. So no excuses there!
Country membership will be reduced from £175 to £145 which is about half the full membership fee, the intention being to encourage more visitors and members of other clubs to join. Remember, country members have to live at least 100 miles from the site as the Duo flies. All junior subscriptions remain fixed at 2000 levels, as do subscriptions for non flying members (typically people who have flown at the club in the past and have now stopped flying) and social members (typically people who drink a lot). Additionally, anybody under the age of 25 and in full time education continue to be treated as students and can fly at student rates which also remain fixed at last year’s rates. So none of our younger or educationally challenged members will be affected by these increases.
Now, major change coming up. We have being trying to find different ways of spreading payments for subscriptions to ease the burden of finding a chunk of money for subscriptions in one go. We are negotiating with the bank to introduce a direct debit system, which will enable payment of subscriptions over a period of months rather than in one go. Persuading the bank to grant a small organisation like our club a direct debiting facility is quite an undertaking. We have been working on this for some time, and as long as we don’t trip over any of the hurdles in the final straight, we should have a system operable by May 1st. The deal is that you will be able to pay your subscriptions over six months with payments on the first day of May, June, July, August, September and October. If you wish to pay your subs in this way, the charge will be £52.50 per month for six months for a total fee of £315. The increased charge over a single payment reflects the increased costs of operating this system, collecting payments from your bank account and the club’s loss of interest on your money. We hope this facility will fulfil the wishes of members who have suggested such a scheme and will make paying less burdensome.
The office will send out reminders about subscriptions and details of the direct debit scheme, and what you need to do to pay your fees in this way, later in March.
When we have this payment scheme in place for subscriptions and if there is sufficient interest, it could be extended to flying fees as well. The idea being that you could pay, say £20 per month starting this autumn and build up a bit of a fund over the poorer (allegedly) winter flying months which you can rip into in the summer.
Finally, I mentioned before the winter how helpful it would be, where possible, for members to maintain their accounts in credit over the winter period. More have done so this winter than before and I would like to extend my thanks to you for helping us in this way.
Nick Heriz-Smith
Our flying statistics show that we have just had the best January since 1994 and for some of us the cross-country season has already started, quite something to be current in out-landings during January! So the soaring season is almost upon us, please check the notice boards for posters that should interest you.
Recording our cross-country flights properly seems to have become a bit of a problem. Probably because many of us just did not know where or how to do so. On the chart? In the summary book? Or maybe even the legendary Blue Book? So, this year we will try something new. In the clubhouse, where the chart used to be, there will be a clipboard headed MGC Ladder 2001 Season, where we expect all pilots who fly a task equal to or greater than Silver distance or height to enter their flights. If we all do this regularly, the benefits are numerous.
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At the end of the season we will be
able to work out who wins what.
· The club will be able to enter its pilots for the National Ladder and trophies. Iain Evans reckons that two national trophies would have come our way this year.
· We will be recorded in our correct position amongst the other clubs for km flown. This year we are down as having only flown 15,700 km, when I know we must have done at least double that.
So, everybody, please record your flights as you do them, and if you want to be represented on the national ladder, flights from other sites also count, so include these as well as your local flights.
If you are interested in being a member of this year’s syndicate add your name to the list. The syndicate has been a great success for the last two years and we plan to run the same agreement this year.
The syndicate year runs from the 1st April for 12 months and the cost remains at ₤750.00 for a one fifth share. You have about three weeks before I start to select the lucky few.
We have booked the BGA DG500 for the two weeks of 28th May and 27th August. This high performance glider supporting John Stuart’s skill will give much greater depth to these courses. To avoid disappointment, get your name on the list now.
We are holding this course at the Mynd once again for the end of the season on the week of 10th September. Places are limited so book early.
We are running a number of motor glider field landing courses, see page 6 for more details.
To reserve a slot please print your name on the list on the notice board.
Chris Ellis
There
was a young man from the Mynd
Who
realised how greatly he’d sinned
When the field
that he chose
Had
potatoes in rows
The
result was his landing gear binned.
Don’t follow his example. Join one of our superb Field Landing Courses. Learn how to pick a good field and land in it safely. Listen to the agricultural words of wisdom from Charles Carter on crop identification. Fly with experienced cross-country instructors. There is no course fee other than the hire of the Motor Floater.
The course lasts one day and has four or possibly five members. There is a lecture and briefing at 09.00hrs after which each member will fly with an instructor for about an hour and a quarter followed by an individual debrief. There is a general discussion and debrief at the end of the day.
Course dates are the weekends of March 10/11 and 24/25, April 7/8 and 21/22. If a day is cancelled due to weather we will attempt a regroup the following weekend.
There is a notice on the board in the club where you can book your slot on the above dates, please add your name. If a particular day is fully booked write you name below the list and if we can fit you in we will.
Navigation exercises coupled with the appropriate briefing and debrief take longer and need to be arranged on an individual basis. We can handle two, maybe three in a day. Contact Paul Garnham, John Stuart or myself.
These courses are not just for aspiring cross-country pilots but also make a good preseason refresher for the more experienced.
Mike Whitton
A yellow metal cabinet has recently appeared in the caravan park. This is the new fire point. The cabinet contains two water extinguishers, a simple fire alarm and instructions as to where the nearest telephone is and other safety information. This is a requirement that the Local Authority, who licence us to have caravans on the Mynd, have insisted on. However for those who have seen a caravan go up in flames (it goes up very quickly), it seems a very sensible requirement.
(Colin would like you all to know that he is not responsible for the painting of the cabinet, which is entirely my own effort!)
Up to now the club buildings have had only the lightest of security applied to them. It is felt that this should be improved, and particularly during the night with the main building. From the start of the courses, to gain access to the main building at night you will now have to punch in a code into the front door. This code will be given to club members, to visitors and to those attending the courses, and will be changed periodically. In the morning when the caterers arrive, they will put the coded lock on its ‘latch’, where it will remain all day. When they leave in the evening they will take it of the ‘latch’. From then on, when the centre of the club’s activity switches away from the main clubroom and office (towards the bar!), you will need to use the code. A bell will be installed by the front door for those arriving at night without the code (or who have forgotten it!).
As with all such systems it will require an effort on everyone’s behalf to make it work, but hopefully it will improve the sense of security.
Jon Hall
As I write this the Foot and Mouth emergency deepens and the wires have been hot as the committee has been deliberating all day about the proper response by the club. If the worst happens we may not be flying cross-country at all for several months at least, but we must all hope that this will not be the case. It is likely though that the planned training weekends may be severely curtailed on the flying front, but it gives us an opportunity to do more ground school, talk tactics and get all the gliders and especially instruments into good shape.
The entry list for the squad closed today (28th Feb) and Dominic and I will be meeting shortly to discuss the team selection. It will be even harder than last year as the club now has so many keen competition pilots. Our strategy again this year will be to pick a team that can retain the trophy whilst trying to give every opportunity to those who wish to fly, especially the novices.
As last year we intend to fly the same pilot in each class on every day of each event. This, we believe, gives the best experience, improves performance and confidence and allows for the likelihood of at least one non-contest day. Inevitably this reduces the number of places in the team. So we want to try and have an A team and a B team this year, so that the B team all fly hors concours alongside the A team at each event. We hope that this will enable more novices to gain experience of flying under competition conditions, and provide a ready supply of stand ins in the event of last minute problems.
The whole squad is invited to the training weekends, of which there will be at least two, and attendance may be a factor in selecting the team if all else fails. Look out on the club notice board and the web site for updated postings on dates, etc.
Again we have an embarrassment of pilots but every one needs a crew. Please try and make arrangements with someone to help out well beforehand. Every pilot will need access to a GPS and a compatible data logger. Anyone willing to loan equipment will be much appreciated.
Pilots intending to fly club gliders must get the prior approval of the CFI to remove the glider from the site. You do not need special insurance to fly your glider in an inter-club competition.
Once again thanks for all your support and we will do our best to keep the rock in the bar where it belongs.
Jon Hall
Rockpolishers Team Manager
07801 184668
PS Since this was written the first two events at Nympsfield and Usk have been cancelled.
Alison Rowson & Ann Parry
This is on Saturday 24th March at Ludlow Racecourse, Bromfield, Ludlow at 7:30 p.m. for 8:00 p.m. Vic Carr is the guest speaker.
Music by Studio 1 Discotheque.
If you haven’t yet booked your ticket, please do so! Come and join the party. Contact Janet Stuart in the office for bookings by credit card. £22.00 per person for a 3-course carvery/vegetarian dinner and coffee. Please specify choice of meal (pork carvery or stilton and broccoli bake). Otherwise send cheques (payable to Midland Gliding Club) with stamped addressed envelope to Ann Parry, Holly Cottage, Wentnor, Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire SY9 5EE.
John Hickling
It is now just over 60 years since Amy Johnson made her last flight on Sunday 5th January 1941. She was by all accounts a popular member of the club, joining in 1938 and spending part of 1939 with us. Amy fell in love with the Mynd and found it a pleasant haven following years of an unhappy personal life. She was fond of performing aerobatics in her Kite and would sign autographs for members of the public who turned up when she was around, proceeds going to club funds.
When war really started in the late spring of 1940 she was drawn into the newly formed ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary). This organisation took anyone with an ‘A’ license (PPL) and little else to pilots with very wide experience like Amy, Philip Wills, and Amy’s former husband Jim Mollison. In Amy’s case this started with the legendary solo flight to Australia in a DH Moth at the age of 26, in 1930.
On the fatal day Amy set off from Squires Gate airfield, Blackpool, in an Airspeed Oxford twin-engined trainer after a delay due to bad weather, at 11 am, heading for Kidlington airfield, about 160 miles away. We can only speculate about most of the rest of the flight but she had said she would ‘go over the top’ and probably flew above a continuous layer of low cloud hoping to find breaks (ATA pilots were not allowed to use radio). By 3:30 p.m. with fuel now very low barrage balloons were sighted poking through the low cloud. Thinking they were over land (they were in fact anchored to ships in the Thames estuary) Amy baled out, her first.
Members of the crew of the trawler HMS Halesmere spotted an aircraft descending at about 500 feet with a parachutist following. The ship moved to the rescue but fouled temporarily on a sand bank, losing vital minutes. There was a considerable swell causing the aft of the ship to move violently up and down. One of its downward plunges caught the drifting body, which never resurfaced. Lieutenant Commander. Fletcher, a naval hero, dived in but failed to find anything and had to be rescued himself, and died five days later.
Amy was positively identified as the pilot by the recovery of her holdall and handbag and pieces of the crashed Oxford confirmed its service number. Her body was never found. Espin Hardwick in an article for Sailplane & Glider in 1946 described Amy as a ‘gallant little lady’. A biography was written with the cooperation of her family and using the findings of inquiries made some years afterwards. This was by Constance Babbington Smith, a WAAF officer and expert on photographic interpretation who discovered the existence of the V1 and V2 weapons.
Janet Stuart
Oxford University will be here the week before the course season starts. So the club will be open for flying all week starting Monday 12th. So far Oxford have had excellent weather!
We are hiring the BGA’s DG500 twice this summer. The first week is the Early Summer Club cross-country week and the second the week after Task Week. Dates are Monday - Friday 28 May - 1 June and 27 August - 31 August. The first week is to get club cross-country task flying going earlier in the season so get your whizzer and other kit (including brain) tuned up and ready. The second is a continuity of Task Week, to catch anyone who’s missed out on cross-country in the summer or Task Week itself and finish any badge legs before the end of the season. Both weeks are in the best outlanding periods of the summer; first silage cuts at the end of May and plenty of cut crop in August. There is no course fee - payment is pay-as-you fly like the weekends. The DG500 rate to be decided, but nothing horrible.
David Rance
An east wind day. A strong east wind day. Stay in bed? Take the kids swimming? Paint the utility room and save up a few brownie points? Normal reactions to the usual Mynd edict that nothing much good comes from the east. But I had been caught out the day before when I sat down to lunch in the club house with no thoughts of flying and somebody wandered in and announced that everybody was in wave. Nonsense. A wind up. A second Ozeed body waddled in and said the same. Really? A quick look out of the window. How long does it take to rig an Open Cirrus?
Today I would be ready early, and rigged under the curious and somewhat bemused gaze of some club members who looked on sympathetically. The sky was clear blue with no cloud and wind about 25 knots pure east on the ground. The motor glider launched and immediately announced the wave was working 2 miles west of the hill down to a height of about 700 feet QFE.
Rigged, checked, food and drink, maps, GPS all on board. There had been a few K21 launches and circuits. Rough. Tuggie not keen unless there was good reason to launch to the east and continued to walk around with hands in pockets. A winch launch then. The plan is to winch launch straight to the east, turn around and dive over the ridge. If we find wave good news, if not straight into a field. A surprisingly good launch to 1450 feet and a U turn to fly down wind. Eeek. I expected sink but a solid seven knots down as I passed the ridge reminded me why I had stood on the ridge and looked at the fields below before launching. Solid sink. But after a couple of miles, smooooth air and the vario gives up its mournful commentary and steadily winds round from “Listen, I’m telling you that you’ll be on the ground in three minutes” to “did you bring sandwiches?” Steady climb, 2-4 knots depending on which bit of sky I loitered the Cirrus in. At 10,000 feet though grateful, I couldn’t really understand how the Mynd which looked small, flat and insignificant and seemed to be almost directly below, could create this wave and push me so high so close to the hill.
Time to go somewhere. Off to Shelton first and see what happens. North of the Mynd the lift turns to a steady 2-3 knots sink. Significant crabbing to offset the easterly and the usual even sinkier hole turning Shelton. (I have never been round Shelton Tower in less than four knots down, does it suck the very air into it or is there something about it that makes me fly sideways?) Back to the Mynd and I have lost 6000 feet. Straight back to 9500 again and off to the south. Motorglider reports Radnor Forest is working well. Where’s Radnor Forest? Look at the map and then out of the window. Oh, just over there. Everywhere looks so close. Twenty odd miles. Wales is very small today. Off we go. Drifting along, high, rock steady, relaxed, extraordinary views. Study the map and look down. Pleased to see the ground agrees with it today and the GPS agrees with the map. Shobdon to the left and Radnor to the right. Strong climbs reported on the radio at Talgarth with contact only a thousand or so above their site. That’s where we’ll go, climb back to altitude there and back to the Mynd via Radnor. I should have stopped and topped up at Radnor but having lost only about 1500 feet in the first 20 odd miles I decided to keep going. Ten miles north east of Talgarth and the little hand on the altimeter is still pointed at the six. Piece of cake. Happy as Larry. The plan was to arrive up wind of Talgarth so that I could drift back over the site to find the lift rather than have to push up wind into 30 odd knots if I contrived to get too far down wind. Cross the Wye, I used to fish there. Fields the size of airfields. Closer to the hills now and the vario groaned to let me know that what goes up is definitely starting to come down. Push on faster. Others running into Talgarth have reported heavy sink before contacting strong wave over the site only minutes before. Keep going. Faster. Six miles NE of Talgarth the little hand is still pointing at the five but the vario is now pointing at the ground. Uneasy feeling. Keep going. Five thousand. Hell, the hill is starting to look a lot bigger now, wish I had topped up at Radnor. Four thousand, six down and decision time, turn down wind towards Talgarth, along side the down wind edge of the hill, in known heavy sink, along an area that looks rough and unfriendly or turn towards the east a bit and dive onto the east facing ridge and buy some time? Easy decision. Tap the vario, has it actually jammed on six down and we are really in rising air? No. Three thousand, a mile or so to the ridge which was clearly rising up towards me at an impressive rate. At this point I should have done a 180 and flown back to the Wye valley with its huge, flat fields. The thought didn’t even enter my head. Was this the right plan, broadly east facing ridge with 25 knots easterly? Should work. It didn’t. It faces north easterly and the wind had moved around to south easterly. Rough, rough, rough. Heavy sink. Eeek squared. Two thousand and I was looking for a field. They were all horrible and tiny and out of the wind, still sinking, keep going, below ridge height now. Extra rough. All the fields seemed to go along the slopes and cross wind and then one field appeared, uphill, long enough, grass, the sun shone on it and it shouted me, me, me! I looked closely and after running through the several S’s agreed. Landing checks. Seventy knots approach, just like a windy westerly day at the Mynd and we touch down too far up the field, sunk in to the soft grass and stopped in ten metres flat leaving an impressively wide and deep divot behind me. Down here, tension gone, in the calm and still of the field, looking up at the cliffs of Hay Bluff and reliving the last few, too exciting minutes, there is not one solitary breath of wind. And there, high, high above glinting in the sunlight was a tiny white glider hanging in the sky. Damn.
Jon Hall
I hadn’t intended to fly this particular weekend as the forecast was for a howling easterly and we all know that it is virtually impossible to fly at all in those conditions. But Helen Evans, editor of Sailplane & Gliding, was staying the night on her way back from a journalistic appointment in North Cheshire. She had expressed a wish to visit the Mynd and maybe get a site check so, ever the gentleman, I offered to show her the way.
Saturday dawned bright, clear and very cold. The wind was indeed in the east though at ground level at Chester it was barely moving the stiff leaves. We left early and arrived at the club as launching was about to begin. At field elevation the wind was much stronger, around 25 knots, but the sky was clear and the sun bright. The met suggested 4 knot thermals. John Stuart the previous day had climbed to 10,000 feet amsl in east wind wave and it looked as though the wave might still be there. On with the Ozee suit and out to the launch point.
There were very few people wanting to fly and the day was set as yellow card anyway. Lots of check flights for newcomers to this wind direction, and John Stuart demonstrated the correct circuit and approach in a K21 for us all to witness and remember. Gliders were indeed soaring the east wave again and Whacker even got into it from a winch launch to the south, the entry point seemingly over Wentnor from anything above 1000 feet. At this point I decided it would be a good day for my annual check.
After lunch I was first in the queue to fly in the front with Chris Alldis but deferred to Helen, still keeping up the pretence of being a gentleman, claiming the next one as mine. She soared for an hour and came back with a beaming smile. As I climbed into the seat she had just vacated I told her I would be back shortly.
We aerotowed out to the east over the gully keeping everything crossed. A failure in this direction would be a real test of skill and nerve. Chris asked me to box the tow which reminded me how long it had been since I last did this exercise and I resolved to do it more often, if only to save any further embarrassment. We were soon over Wentnor and released straight into 2 knots of smoothly rising air. Above us we could see John Blackhurst and Richard Hinley in the Duo doing long beats NW-SE so we set off to try and catch them.
The wave was still going when we reached 8,000 feet but I had my exercises to do and there were others wanting checks, so reluctantly we went home.
Sunday, with my annual check completed I decided to rig the Hornet and have another bite at the wave that was still out there, only today it looked better. Felt might be a more accurate word as there were no clouds but the wind strength was around 35 knots and almost due east at field level. There was still foggy cloud in some of the valleys, which stayed all day. The day was declared a blue card, so it didn’t take long to get to the queue for the aerotow. I had it in mind that this could be the first Gold height in an easterly so had the oxygen onboard and the EW running. Same tow out to Wentnor and pulled off into 4 knots. From there on it was a steadily decreasing climb rate finishing some 2 hours later at 13,000 feet asml and zero sink. I was just 400 feet from the Gold height but this wave would not lift me any further. The wave seemed to be very narrow, very shallow and very steep and at the top the only way I could stay in it was by doing quite tight circles.
I had a theory that this was not the primary and to test it out pushed into wind toward the Clee Hills. Steady sink all the way until about three quarters of the way there and the vario went up to zero once again at about 11,000 feet but nothing better. I glanced at my watch noting that there was only about an hour of daylight left and decided on my first cross-country of the year. Ludlow - Ironbridge - Shrewsbury - Mynd wings level all the way. I found no other lift anywhere until getting back to the Mynd where it was still working. I suspect that the generator was the Clee with the air mass rushing across the valley floor and hitting the Mynd at exactly the right wavelength for it to be amplified by another couple of thousand feet.
I flew for three hours with a maximum rate of climb of 4.5 knots, averaging 2.1 knots overall. On the way I heard Dave Rance land out near Talgarth and John Stuart and Rod Hawley get to Radnor and back in the Falke, mostly engine off. Many others got to around 10,000 feet near the Mynd. Subsequently I discovered that on Friday, Saturday and Sunday the Mynd enjoyed easterly wave as good as anywhere else in the UK, including Aboyne. Who says you can’t fly in an easterly?
James Moore
In this year’s election for our committee the number of nominations exactly matched the number of places, so there was absolutely no need for extensive electioneering and expense associated with a parliamentary election.
The new committee is largely unchanged from last year. After many years on the committee, tasting Ian Butt’s cooking, cleaning the pipes in the bar and entertaining us with his oompah band playing dambusters while dressed in lederhosen, Eddie Humphries has stepped down. His level headed contribution will be greatly missed.
Joining the committee for the first time is Dominic Haughton, who will be looking at grants and development. This is an important area that needs new focus if we are to gain external funding.
The Committee for 2001 is:-
|
Chairman |
Julian Fack |
|
Vice Chairman |
Charles Carter |
|
Treasurer |
David Rance |
|
Secretary |
James Moore |
|
Airfield & Grounds |
Howard Bradley |
|
Buildings |
Mike Whitton |
|
MT |
Iain Evans |
|
Grants & Development |
Dominic Haughton |
|
Membership & Marketing |
Jon Hall |