MIDLAND GLIDING CLUB
NEWSLETTER
Number 94 November 2001
Retrieves............
1
Chairman’s Contribution......
2
CFI’s Bits...........
3
Treasurer’s Notes.............................
4
Rubbish and Litter...................
4
Tibenham Thanks.............................
5
Eastern Regionals - Tibenham 1st to 9th September 2001.....................
6
From the Flying Field..................
11
Christmas Dinner...........................
12
Dinner and Trophy Presentation March 2002......
12
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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
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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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Charles Carter
At the present time Shropshire is classified by DEFRA in foot and mouth terms as an ‘At Risk’ county. This has implications for us not only in the way that we treat our airfield as landowners but also in our responsibilities as glider pilots who may land out in farmers’ fields.
When we returned to the Mynd in July it was on the undertaking to the MAFF’s Chief Veterinary Officer that we would abide by a strict bio-security code. This means amongst other rules that when a trailer leaves the Mynd it is disinfected.
Upon arrival at the ‘landout’ field another disinfection takes place and on leaving the field yet another. It may seem over the top but farmers are having to jump through hoops at the moment.
A recent landout from the Mynd was not handled appropriately within the DEFRA code and the BGA code of practice by which we should act. This code says that after landing in a field every effort should be made to contact the farmer before removal of the glider. Under measures to fight Foot and Mouth it is illegal to enter farmland in Shropshire without the permission of the farmer and all who do so risk a £5000 fine. If you cannot find the farmer you must not remove the glider.
I ask all of you: try not to undo much hard and expensive work
undertaken on the public relations front with our neighbours, and not to risk
each member of your retrieve crew facing a £5000 fine.
Julian Fack
By the time you read this the course season will have more or less finished, and we will revert to the winter schedule. The committee have decided to repeat the same program as last winter, and John Stuart will open the club on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, as well as all day Fridays, weather permitting. The normal weekend operation will prevail through the winter, run by the duty team. Please note your duty days and turn up even though the weather may not look inviting near home. It is surprising how the micro climate at the Mynd can allow for good flying even on the most unpromising days.
Talking of winter flying reminds me that Foot and Mouth is not yet over, and Shropshire is still in the ‘At Risk’ category. This means that if you land out you should try, as ever, to avoid fields continuing stock, but if safety dictates that you do land in a field containing stock then you need to take the utmost care. We fly from an airfield covered with sheep, and we need to look after the biosecurity aspect very carefully or we risk fines of £5,000. Firstly you need to contact the farmer, and be very careful to do whatever he asks, and secondly you need to brief your crew to spray the wheels of trailer and tow vehicle, and only to proceed onto the stock field after specific permission from the farmer. He will probably want to spray again. If you have trouble contacting the farmer you will just have to leave the glider until you are able to make contact.
Martin Moss has been a superb number two to John since we returned in July after the Foot & Mouth closure. He has fitted in right from the start, and I hope he will be able to help us out on next year’s courses. Thanks Martin, and I hope you are able to do some personal flying sometime during the winter.
Apparently there has been some confusion over charges for ‘members’ friends’ trial lessons recently. The philosophy here is to offer a substantial discount to the ‘public’ fees, yet to charge more than a member would pay. The fee for a ‘member’s friend’ lesson is now £45.00 (£10.00 less than the standard fee), either from one winch launch if it is soarable, or two launches if not. Most trial lessons are by aerotow these days, and the charge of £45.00 also applies if a 2000 foot aerotow is taken. If a ‘mile high experience’ is taken, then the figure for members’ friends is £70 (£15.00 less than the standard). Do note that a trial lesson also provides three months membership of the club, so your friends can take any subsequent flights, within the three month period, at normal members rates.
I have often written recently about the lack of members flying at weekends. Since we seem to be moving inexorably towards a ‘public facility’ rather than a ‘members club’, the committee has decided to send out a questionnaire to ascertain your views on future direction. On the one hand we could move more towards the ‘professional’ operation, where members are not required to do any of the work, and people would be paid to keep the log, pack the hangar, fetch the cables and so on, and the fees would naturally be higher. The members could then concentrate purely on flying, and could visit the club for shorter periods if they wished. The opposite direction is to reduce costs by asking the members to do more of the work, for example manning the office, or maintaining the fleet, the buildings and the vehicles. Duty days would then be more frequent, but naturally fees would be lower.
The MGC maintains a middle course, we are open for flying seven days a week for most of the year, and members are required to do a minimum of work, such as running the field and packing the hangar at weekends only. The winches are manned by professionals, as is the fleet maintenance operation and the office, and our fees reflect the middle ground.
We keep the wolf from the door by selling courses to the public as well as members of other clubs and our own members, and we make an increasing proportion of our income from trial lessons of various sorts.
The questionnaire will seek your views on this balance so we can plan ahead. The obvious reason is the necessary financial planning in order to allow the fleet and the buildings to be kept up to scratch, both of which are suffering somewhat and require substantial investment in the near future if we are to maintain standards.
One bit of good news is that after several false starts we have finally completed the ‘hangar dangler’ and the K23 is sitting happily in the roof above the rest of the fleet. It looks very secure, and a quick glance will show that there is room for another 15 metre glider alongside it if required. The cost of the apparatus is being borne by the motor glider syndicate, in exchange for free hangarage. This method of increasing hangar space is very common on the continent, and is a very cost effective way of improving space utilisation.
Recently I received the following letter from Ken Markham’s family:
Dear Members,
I am just writing to
tell you about the sad death of my mother, Jean Markham. I’m afraid she died of
cancer on the 8th June which was very sudden and a terrible shock, I
know she had a lot of support from you all after Ken’s death.
She would have wanted
you all to know, also can you let Chris Harris know as he often wrote to Mum,
letting her know about his progress.
Yours faithfully,
Lynn, Ruth, Hilary and
Andrew.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any thoughts on the future direction of the club’s operations, or for any other reason, either by email at jfack@cwcom.net or by leaving a message on 07626 954 208 at any time.
Nick Heriz-Smith
At the recent Instructors meeting on Sunday 28th October a unanimous decision was made to bring the ‘E’ for eventualities to the beginning of the pre flight checks.
The reason for this is that we are finding too many of us are only thinking of cable breaks. By the time the student has reeled off what he will do at all the different height bands, the guy with the rings has fallen asleep or frozen solid.
The ‘E’ is there to make us think about the implications of what we are about to do.
For example, what is the wind direction/strength and what effect will this have on circuit, approach and landing, cable break or not? How wet is the field and might this alter your choice of where to land? What else is happening around you, are there cyclists, horses, walkers or gliders low on the ridge that might change the situation significantly in the event of a sudden decision to land?
The scenarios are endless. The ‘E’ is there to remind you to be switched on, so remember, from now on think about it before you climb in to your glider.
Judging by attendance on some weekend days, the long summer lay-off seems to have had a bad effect on our ability to read the rota.
There are those who do more than their fair
share, but please, all of you who have missed days since we started flying
again, make a special effort to attend, and in particular, arrange a substitute
if you really can’t make it. Sending
e-mails to all and sundry saying you can’t do your day is not good enough
- phone a friend!
David Rance
Trailer Hitch Fee invoices were sent out about a month ago and my thanks to those who have paid up promptly. To those who have yet to find their cheque book (isn’t it amazing how they hide themselves up some times?), the telephone number of the office is 01588 650206, and either Janet or Jane will happily take your payment by credit card!
I know that we haven’t done an enormous amount of flying this summer but checking through the list of flying fees owed to the club, I see that that some folk are even more out of practice at paying their flying fees than they were at winching when we returned to the Mynd. It has been suggested that as well as check flights, we introduce a simulated ‘settle up’ in the office to get members back into the swing of paying for their flying, though concern has been expressed that this might frighten some members and cause serious damage to certain members’ health and mental well being, so the idea has been quietly dropped. Do please check your flying accounts and pay up please before putting your feet up for the winter, or more properly dusting off the Ozee suit.
Our negotiations with the insurance company’s loss adjusters continue with an important meeting held at the club at the beginning of October. The meeting closed with an agreement for the loss adjusters to recommend to the insurance company to make a substantial interim payment to the club, which I am hoping to receive by the end of October. A further meeting at the end of November after the end of courses and autumn flying, should enable us to take a view on our losses attributable to the Foot and Mouth outbreak and possibly agree a settlement. There is much work to do before then. I hope to be able to report good news in the next newsletter.
Probably the most serious and least obvious impact of the crisis on the club was that we recruited no new members in the spring. On average 35 new members are recruited annually and a similar number of existing members fall beside the wayside leaving our total numbers pretty static. Clearly, the leavers will have left this year but they have not been replaced. This is serious stuff, as new members spend much more at the club while they learn to fly than the average spend of ‘core’ members. It will be essential to have a serious recruitment effort in the spring. As if to illustrate this point, last weekend, which was flyable both days, saw no pre-solo training at the club at all. My wise and experienced syndicate partner assures me that in the ‘old days’ if you didn’t get your name on the list by 7.30am you might struggle to get a flight at all.
Another consequence is that we are not able to renew our business interruption cover for FMD. The insurers regard the risk as too high and will offer no terms to us. Clearly this means that if there is another outbreak, we cannot expect any help or compensation. The good news is that the club moves into the winter in good shape despite all the problems we have faced and we look forward to enjoying the sort of successful year that we had anticipated this year!
Mike Whitton
Would members, particularly those of you who use a caravan on site, please make absolutely sure that you do not put domestic refuse and especially any food substances in the skip that is in the car park. The skip is only intended for workshop waste such as wood, metal or glassfibre. It is not intended for empty tins, bottles etc or any food. This waste should always be put in bags and disposed of in the ‘Biffa’ bin by the new oxygen shed.
Generally would you try to keep the club as tidy as possible.
Remember it is yours, leave it as you would expect to find it!
Ann Parry
Somehow I haven’t flown much this year, a trend worsened by the club’s closure. So it was an unexpected treat to find myself flying with Julian Fack on a task at Tibenham. The advantage of crewing for a two-seater. Usually I crew for him flying his baby Discus at the Northerns, much easier, but harder to get a flight in. My chance came when Paul Garnham went home early. I’m also used to Julian getting back on any reasonable competition day, which this looked to be. What was interesting for me was the airborne hanging around before the held start, something I’ve never had to do at Task Week or Rock Polishers, and the idea of which I find off putting. All those gliders in gaggles. In fact the sky is a big place, and we were soon off to the east exploring the conditions under the good looking clouds, hardly seeing another glider after the whirling carousel of them we’d first climbed in. When the start line opened we were some miles away, and had lost our height by the time we got nearby. We scrabbled to find another climb, listening to all the starts on the radio. No problem, it all looked fine ahead. But we lost a crucial chunk of time as it turned out.
Meanwhile I was happy to be there for the view. The air was clear, and all of the bulge of East Anglia laid out for our delectation. We could see the whole coastline. I grew up in Cambridge, first tried gliding there and gave it up when I was fifteen. So although I had often been in the air over East Anglia, I had never flown cross-country. It was beautiful, and I became entranced by watching the landscape, all the details of field patterns and woods and airfields, both active and long since ploughed up, though the runway patterns were still clear. And we were working our way towards Cambridge, the first turning point. I tried to guess what Julian would do next, seeing if it matched my ideas. Then we seemed to get stuck, circling interminably while I gazed at a huge industrial complex without the faintest idea of what it was. Learnt later it was the sugar beet factory at Bury St Edmunds. Then Julian said, “There’s a big building with a domed roof”, and I said it must be Ickworth, and checking my map indeed it was. A fine sight down the wingtip as we wheeled and wheeled. There was a strong head wind, so all this circling kept on drifting us back.
Eventually we connected with a cloud street leading all the way to Cambridge, now visible under the grey. I suppose that should have given us the clue, that conditions had changed. As novice competition P2 I left all that to Julian. At this point he gave me the glider to fly while attending to other matters. The plan seemed obvious, dolphin to Cambridge, watching for gliders streaming the other way, as we were now actually between the first and second TPs, and use the same street back again. Oops, where did that glider come from? Neither of us had seen it. Thanked the gods and carried on. The canopy was full of reflections, and it was hard to see anything in the murk ahead. Another clue missed. Julian removed his white cap, but that didn’t improve things. “Are you ready to take control again, Julian?” “Err, no” from the front seat. By the time he was, we were near Cambridge and I could get back to identifying landmarks from my childhood.
Then it all happened quickly. Running in to the turning point we lost the lift and it began raining
on us. This wasn’t the plan.
We could see the line of sunshine ahead, upwind a few miles, but even
that didn’t make us realise we needed to dive for that, past the turning point,
and hope to find lift. Instead we turned, hoping to reconnect with
the glorious cloud street that had run along the second leg. That didn’t work. Rain, grey and sink all around.
Being a Swallow trained pilot at heart I was looking at the impossibly
small fields (market gardens?) below us, and was relieved as they became larger
as befits East Anglia. We’re in the
legendary Duo, I thought, surely we’re not going to land out? We saw other gliders in fields, and watched
a Discus, streaming water (wouldn’t he have dumped it earlier if he’d been
struggling?), circuit and land below us.
There’s a marked airstrip with windsock and two gliders pushed to the
side leaving us space, surely that would do?
No, Julian carried on searching for lift. I watched as we drifted away, out of reach of the strip, but now
a landable area presented itself, not a field as such, and then Julian put
the wheel down, and we landed. We
were at Newmarket racecourse, on the practice racecourse by the golf club. Luckily they practise in the morning. I went to find a convenient bush to hide behind,
and as I inspected the blades of grass at close quarters, reflected on the
contrasting, vast perspective I had enjoyed only moments before.
Debbie Bilham
David Rance got an order for 200 fish to be delivered a few miles from Tibenham for the cost of the accommodation so turned up with two big fishtanks on the back of his truck - good for psyching out the opposition according to John Parry.
East Anglia’s quite big isn’t it? I thought it would be a short drive here from Bedford until I looked at the map then, estimated two hours. I hadn’t allowed for the fact that the Norfolk Gliding Club is the best concealed gliding club in England so it took two hours to get five miles away and another half hour to find the airfield. David Rance had trouble finding it too having to stop and ask locals for directions twice while within a couple of miles. Apparently the airfield isn’t much easier to spot from the air as East Anglia is covered with airfields built during the war; all to a standard three-runway format. It’s a bit like looking for a tree in a forest.
The Easterns are normally held earlier in the year but were moved back this year due to the foot and mouth outbreak. One consequence of this re-scheduling is that there are only 24 competitors, giving it the atmosphere of a task week rather than a regionals. The Mynd pilots taking part are Julian Fack and Paul Garnham in the Duo Discus (494), Dominic Haughton in the LS8 (Z19) and David Rance in the Open Cirrus (18). Some of the party recall fond memories of the inclement weather last year which turned the campsite into a quagmire. Stories abound of how the other competitors stood well back and gazed in awe and disbelief at Welsh Git’s enormous erection; a 30 foot high radio aerial which he was putting up as a thunderstorm was approaching.
Forecast for today good, maybe we’ll get something in for tomorrow with Monday and Tuesday looking like a washout.
David, who’s flying his first non task week comp didn’t know about the held startline and so tried to start while they were still launching the grid. He was told the procedure in great detail over the radio (undoubtedly helpful for other competitors as well since no mention was made of it at briefing).
“Whoops!” came the acknowledgement.
The Task was Tibenham, Rattlesden, Sackville, Newmarket, Tibenham - some 246 km. There were 14 finishers, including Dominic. David nearly got back, landing about 5 miles from the airfield and beating the Duo. Although not far away, finding him in the labyrinth of lanes was no easy feat. Dominic came with us and needed some petrol so on the way back we followed him to Diss to see that he got to a garage; once he was OK, David and I returned to the airfield. Dominic got lost on the way back and made it to the airfield, five miles from Diss, about an hour later.
The day was won by Andy Sanderson who was flying Harold Griffiths’ old Vega, 890. So far this year he has done two 500 km flights and come within 40 kms of flying right round the London TMA.
Dominic finished 7th with David 16th and the Duo 19th, which just goes to show that it takes more than two brains and kinky wings!
At briefing David was awarded a NGC clock with no battery fitted so that he can start when he likes. The met briefing is worth a mention, none of this blinding with science or bafflement with bullshit. He simply pinned up the tephigram on the board next to yesterday’s.
“Here is today’s tephigram. As you can see it is different from yesterday’s.”
To be fair, their forecasting methods weren’t quite that crude. They had phoned around other airfields upwind to find out what was happening. The phone at Sackville, the westernmost point on task, was answered by the cook.
“There’s no one else here, love. I’m cooking dinner.”
“What’s the weather like there?”
“Well, there are clouds in the sky.”
A re-brief is planned for mid-day at which a ‘scrub or task’ decision is promised. The Comp Director, Roy Woodhouse -better known as “Woody” didn’t want to scrub too soon for fear of being thrown in the duckpond if it turns out good later.
Scrubbed at noon. Some of the locals got out various land-yachts to race along the runway. Julian got excited when he spotted a Wind Skate, a model which he designed about 25 years ago and which was manufactured and marketed by his brothers.
We went off to Bressingham Steam Museum which we considered fell short of justifying the entrance fee.
Later we visited The Old Ram restaurant in order to book for this evening. Julian had received two independent recommendations and felt it was worth a try. We had initial misgivings as it seemed to be very commercial and somewhat “roadhouse”. It was also busy, even during mid afternoon. David and I arrived first in the evening and the atmosphere was rather frenetic. Fortunately our party was seated in a quiet corner and the food was very good. It made a change to find real chips and scampi made from - well, scampi.
The day began overcast and started to clear. The forecast was for showers later so it was questionable whether we would get a task in. At the second briefing at 11.30 a small task was set so we rigged. While waiting on the grid, some big showers started to form to the north and west. The sniffer reported cloudbase at 2,300 feet and a 1/2 knot climb at 2,000 feet. They scrubbed at three o’clock, which meant that it was too late to visit Duxford, as David had wanted to do.
The following extract is reproduced with kind permission from the Brockdish and Backofbeyond Gazette dated 23rd September 2002:
MISSING MYND MOTORHOME FOUND
On the night of Monday 3rd September 2001, 8 glider pilots went into the Brockdish area in search of a restaurant.
A year later their
motorhome and laptops were found.
The following account
was recovered from the hard disk on a home-made 386....
I cursed Julian for phoning me in the middle of The Archers. He’d found a hopeful looking nosebag in the
Good Food Guide.
“De La Pole Arms? Got
that. Where is it?”
“Wingfield. Go down to the Diss
Roundabout but go left - you can’t miss it”
“Is that Wingfield as in “Hooray, Hooray the First of May...”?”
“That’s right. We’ll have a
look but if it’s no good, we’ll go on to the next village. Dominic says there are several pubs along
there. Meet us at the airfield at ten to eight, we’ll go in one vehicle.”
“OK, Thanks. See you later”
Meg had a bad feeling about this trip right from the beginning and
really didn’t want to navigate.
We drove along the A143 for several miles with Dominic and Ann behind
us and David bringing up the rear with his mobile fishpond. There was no sign of the right turn that
would take us to Wingfield: the
roundabout we came to was too far to the east.
After checking the map we went right and followed signs to Wingfield for
what seemed like miles. The strange
thing was that each sign said “Wingfield 2” until we came to one that said
“Wingfield 3”. We drove through Brockdish,
a hamlet comprising about three buildings and a post box, whereupon John Parry
made some remark about eating badgers.
At one point we opted for the preferred route for heavy goods vehicles,
a single-track affair where we had to pull over to let another vehicle
past. We didn’t dare think what the
route for light vehicles was like.
Suddenly we came to a “T” junction and there was no sign for Wingfield. We had been dumped. This happens a lot with Norfolk
signposting. We went left and
eventually found ourselves back in Brockdish.
Julian drove over a rat.
“Did you see that? It was huge!”
By now it was getting a bit late so we abandoned all hope of finding
Wingfield and set off for Harlesden, Dominic’s village, following the signs and
ended up in - you’ve guessed - Brockdish.
I suggested that we might scrape the rat off the road and make a curry
out of it. The “rat and badger curry”
banter continued as we rounded a few more bends. Paul Garnham joined in:
he must be getting hungry. We
rounded another tight bend and suddenly dead ahead of us was a blinding white
light, shining at us through the trees and lighting the sky up like daylight.
“What the hell’s that?” cried Julian.
“Well whatever it is, they seem to be open,” replied Meg, seemingly
unfazed by whatever lay ahead of us...
(The abrupt end of
this account may have been brought about by premature battery failure.)
OK I admit that there is a bit of artistic licence being exercised here - but not a lot. We did get lost, we did drive through Brockdish several times and we didn’t find Wingfield. The bright light turned out to be a floodlit hockey pitch in the unlikeliest of locations. Stories of people disappearing in the outback and being found months later came to mind. Eventually we found Harlesden. The first pub we found weren’t doing food but suggested “The Magpie”. When we got there the barman said that the chef was about to close the kitchen but may be able to do us something; he’d go and check. He came back with a list of basic items. We decided to go for it and soon found ourselves installed in a rather luxurious conservatory eating very well prepared fish and chips, sausage and mash etc. It felt surreal.
Finding our way back wasn’t the problem it might have been as we were in fact very close to the main Diss road and were back home in ten minutes.
A belt of heavy rain and strong winds blew through last night, giving way to clear skies early this morning. However by breakfast time cloud had built up indicating that we would be in for a showery day. By 10 o’clock we had seen the first shower. The task setter remained optimistic that conditions would improve sufficiently this afternoon to allow a task to be flown. A re-brief was set for 1 o’clock. The wind picked up to the extent that rigging would be dangerous. The conditions were clearly not going to improve and the day was eventually scrubbed. We would have preferred a scrub decision a couple of hours earlier, which would have given us time to go to the museum at Duxford. David did that but by the time he got there, had only three hours to look round.
Went to Norwich with Julian and Meg. I have to say I was disappointed. From the remnants of the city wall and the castle it is clearly a city with a great deal of history attached. Unfortunately it was sacked and destroyed by a marauding band of town planners in the 1960s and the ubiquitous post globalisation pre-packaged ‘town centre’ of the usual assortment of retail chains and fast food outlets has been stamped on what’s left. There are few local businesses to impart some character, apart from Norwich Union which occupies several buildings. I could have been in Bedford or any other big town; they all seem to be the same these days.
Later we dined at The Crown at Pulham Market, a pub with a pillory outside.
The forecast is for a fine start with a warm front arriving during the afternoon so there is a good possibility of an early task. With that in mind we all arrived and rigged early, however to the north-west the first signs of the front could be seen. While we were rigging the cloud was clearly approaching a lot faster than had been forecast. A bit of drama; another competitor hurt his back and fell while manhandling the wing root of his LS8. As David put it, he did it in the true spirit of a glider pilot in that he put the wing down first before falling on the ground and wincing with pain. He was taken to hospital by ambulance. While this was going on, the front was getting close.
We had the “proper” met man at last in briefing, Graham Parker, who works for the BBC. He gave a well presented forecast and with the aid of synoptic charts, tephigrams and satellite photos, explaining how the warm front would come from the north west and that he expected soaring conditions until a cut off in early evening. Unfortunately a glance out of the window would have told him that his timing was a little optimistic. All the same we gridded, but by noon the front had arrived and we had total cloud cover, we just about got the Cirrus back in its box before the rain started.
Later David went into the clubhouse and got talking to Graham Parker and a couple of others about forecasts. He asked Graham how far ahead they could produce a reasonably accurate forecast. He replied that it was three days adding that they could sometimes get a vague picture up to a week ahead. David then commented that Jack Harrison’s website was good for a couple of days ahead but his five day ahead forecasts weren’t so accurate; at this point one of the other two men in the room stepped forward and introduced the other.
“This is Jack Harrison!”
Isn’t it encouraging to see our treasurer upholding the tradition whereby senior officers of our club fail to recognise key figures in the gliding movement and then put their foot in it?
During the afternoon I accompanied Julian and Meg to Banham Zoo, home to Foster the vulture who hit the headlines earlier this year by taking a few days unauthorised leave.
Good news, the pilot who hurt his back had returned having suffered only muscular damage. The doctor advised him to rest in a semi-reclined position, moving his arms and legs a bit. Sounds like sitting in an LS8.
In the afternoon we went to find the De La Pole Arms in Wingfield by daylight. It is well mentioned in several good food publications and deserves another attempt to find it. This time we were successful and it was well worth the effort. I went for fish and chips, a dish which I can whole heartedly recommend in this part of the world. Not only is it near the coast but the inhabitants have held onto the otherwise lost art of cooking proper chips.
The morning was grotty but Graham forecast that a clearance would come through during the afternoon giving three or more hours soaring so a re-brief was set for 11:15 with instructions to rig beforehand.
An assigned area task routed around Newmarket, Rattlesden, Tibenham - 128 km was set. This was a first for many including Julian and David. Nobody seemed totally sure how they are scored or what is the best approach tactically but from what I could glean from snippets of conversation it goes something like this:
Each turning point has an area beyond it which is shown as a splodge on the map. Depending on the whim of the task setter this can be anything in size from a rugby field to the Home Counties. A time such as three hours is specified and you have to try and cover as much distance in that time as possible, so if it’s a good day you should venture as far as possible into the areas. You don’t want to finish before time so it is better not to get back. (Was this devised by somebody with a vested interest in repairing or selling gliders?)
At the end of the day you hand your logger to the scorer who feeds it into a computer which runs the data through some mysterious algorithm, along with your handicap number, date of birth, national insurance number and last Saturday’s lottery numbers, eventually spitting out some figure which leaves you scratching your head and wondering how the bloke in the same type of glider who didn’t get as far as you managed to get more points.
By midday the sky was still cloudy, as was our team’s knowledge of the workings of assigned area tasks. At one o’clock we all piled into the motorhome for lunch and maggot racing on Dominic’s laptop. At two the sky started to clear, the first launch was at 2.20. The Duo was positioned near the back of the grid and while they were waiting it was becoming apparent that those in the air were struggling to stay that way. Just before the tug arrived Julian opened the canopy and suggested that it might be worth a bet on when the first re-light would be back. A minute later the Duo was airborne. John Parry called me over. “What did Julian want?” I told him.
“Oh yes it’s over there,” said John, pointing to the Vega 890, now sitting on the runway.
Conversation overheard on the radio:-
“What are we going to do with Woody tonight boys?”
“The duckpond sounds a good idea.”
“The North Sea sounds better.”
After lots of scratching Dominic and the Duo landed back unable to see any way forward. David set off and got about five miles before landing in the same field that he landed in on Saturday. I decided to try an easier looking route on the map - and got lost again. While searching a bystander came over to tell me about another glider in a nearby field. He turned out to be an ex-neighbour of ours who moved to Norfolk some twenty years ago to set up an antiques restoration business. Meanwhile David got chatting to one of the locals. He’d had trouble finding the De La Pole Arms too.
The day was scrubbed from the start since there was a deepening depression moving south east and we were caught between two warm fronts. In addition we were advised to tie everything down as strong winds were expected during the coming night. The weekend forecast wasn’t good so Paul and David decided to go home. Dominic went to Cambridge for a college dinner. During the morning Jack Harrison gave a briefing on getting met information from his web site.
Julian, Meg and I went to Southwold for a couple of hours in the afternoon. As we strolled along the seafront, adorned with rows of beach huts, the diverse array of colours reflecting the individual tastes of their owners, the conversation revolved around two topics. The first was the purpose of the ropes slung over many of the huts; initially we thought they were to hold the roofs on in strong winds. Closer inspection revealed that the ropes were tied to substantial eyebolts which in turn were set into the concrete promenade. It was clear from the sand deposits around the footings that the ropes were to stop the whole hut from floating away at high tide. The other topic of discussion was the report in the previous Sunday’s newspaper that on some parts of the coast beach huts are changing hands for £65,000. We couldn’t work out the reason for that one except perhaps that it’s cheaper than a broom cupboard in Kensington. On the pier Julian found a “What the Butler Saw” machine. He tried it (admittedly egged on by Meg and me) but it didn’t work. A telescope on the pier provided a chance to admire the breathtaking coastal scenery - Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station about 20 miles to the south. Later we drove around the fishing port and found a ramshackle hut selling freshly caught fish “straight from the trawler”. There followed much commiserating that the motorhome fridge icebox is barely big enough to hold a brace of sardines.
Back to the De La Pole Arms for dinner.
A busy day; in addition to the Regionals the Anglia Trophy was being flown giving a total of 44 gliders. The task was Cambridge, Rattlesden, Tibenham, 153 km. It was overcast initially, clearing later but the challenge would be the 25 knot NW wind. Ann flew with Julian in the Duo with John crewing for them. I was to crew for Dominic. In our competition 22 gliders launched with 20 passing Y giving a 486 point day. The Duo landed out near Newmarket having run into a shower so I asked John to help me hitch up before he left - just in case! Then I glanced up to see an LS8 finishing with what looked like Z19 on the fin. That’s the type of retrieve I like. Meanwhile back at Newmarket Ann was failing miserably in her attempt to get into the clubhouse of the golf club they had landed next to - she was wearing jeans.
The traditional party was a 40s evening with a Glen Miller style big band to commemorate the anniversary of the genuine article having played at the airfield in September 1944. Tibenham was home to the 445th Bombardment Group during the war. The actor James Stewart was based there and returned to visit in 1975.
We returned to the airfield after supper to find the floodlit area set aside for parking was nearly full with lots of people wandering around, many of them in wartime uniforms and costumes. Outside the hangar were parked several military vehicles, both American and British. Inside, the hangar was decorated with the usual life-expired parachutes and in one corner was a restored Piper Cub in United States military livery. There must have been a good 200 people in there, maybe more, with about half in period costume. One couple in particular held everyone’s attention, in fact it was worth the entry fee just to watch them dance; they were fantastic. Later Julian found out that many of the locals, including the dancers, follow the band around to different venues and that there is a thriving 40s movement in Norfolk. Their presence certainly made an occasion of the evening.
We returned to the cottage just after midnight. Julian’s phone bleeped -a text message from Paul to say that he’d been to 12,100 feet above the Mynd.
Although a task was initially planned the low cloudbase didn’t offer much encouragement. From the 14 gliders on the grid it was clear that many had voted with their feet and at 12 o’clock the day was scrubbed. Prizegiving took place at one, after de-rigging.
Andy Sanderson in 890 finished second overall with John Wilton
from the Four Counties Club at Syerston winning in his ASW 20. Dominic finished 9th and Julian finished 18th.
Ann Parry
Congratulations to Steve Collins, Andy Davis and Alan Marshall on going solo. On September 4th Ian McArthur flew to Nympsfield for his Silver distance, and then flew most of the way home (having landed and launched again) getting as far as Craven Arms. 3rd October was a good wave day, with John Stuart flying almost to Aberystwyth and back, climbing to 10,000 feet. Then 11th October was a very wavy day, with JS again at 10,000 feet, and Roger Andrews up to 17,000 feet in 154.
The weekend of 27th and 28th October was a treat, with flying in ridge, wave and thermal lift and the bonus of a wonderful day of sunshine on Sunday. Not time yet to put away the new outdoor benches for the winter. It was good to see so many members out to fly, along with our visitors. Some forty people dined on Saturday evening and the bar was packed out on Sunday evening. Some of us got involved on Sunday in helping extract a paramedic’s Freelander from the bog at Boiling Well. He’d been involved in the afternoon’s events of looking for a missing child on the hill and dealing with an injured person (I never did get the full details), and became an event himself. It took one of the National Trust’s huge tractors to pull the car out (with Julian Fack driving the car), as it turned out the gathered convention of four wheel drive vehicles couldn’t easily reach the car, even with all our bits of cable and rope. Apart from anything else it is a reminder of how wet the hill is.
Courses have been reasonably busy, and are booked to the end of the course season in November. Trial lessons are doing well. Chris Harris and Martin McCurdie (494) climbed in wave at Milfield to around 20,000 feet on their recent trip, and also found themselves over the sea during another wave flight. Those of us (Dominic Haughton, David Rance, Julian Fack and Paul Garnham plus assorted crew) at the delayed Eastern Regionals at Tibenham had a disappointing flying week.
Sal, the club dog looked after by Roger Andrews and Liz Platt
for some years, died recently.
Jo Beadman
Saturday 15th December, 7 pm.
Melon Rose with Berry Coulis
Cream of Stilton and Leek Soup
~
Roast Turkey and Stuffing
Pork and Sage Loaf
Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Tartlet with Mozzarella Cheese
all served with
Creamed and Roast Potatoes
Seasonal Vegetables and Condiments
~
Christmas Pudding
Sherry Trifle
Apple Pie
Cheese Board
~
Warm Mince Pies
Coffee and Mints
Price £15.50
Please choose one dish from starter, main course and dessert options. All bookings by 10th December please. None accepted after that date. Phone us in the club kitchen (01588 650592) or at the Crown (01588 650613) or book in person.
Watch the notice board by the kitchen or contact us for details about our winter opening times on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Ann Parry
The annual formal dinner and trophy presentation will be held at the Feathers Hotel in Ludlow on Saturday 23rd March 2002. It will be a three course dinner, with choices from three dishes for each course, set in the function room with adjoining bar. Our guest speaker will be Ann Welch, a well-known figure in gliding and power flying.
There will not be any music at this dinner, which is a change from recent years. Thus the idea is to enjoy a good dinner in pleasant surroundings; I suppose essentially a more formal Saturday evening party than we have at the club. As mentioned in an earlier newsletter, both Alison Rowson and I have found support waning for the dinner-dance format. The cost of a ticket will be around £22 to £25. So please book this date for your diary. I will be producing details of menu choices, price and a booking form for the next newsletter in January.