Remember Soaring?

Found a video from Easter 2017. This is what soaring was like....

More fun at Denbigh

Today was good fun. We started with thermals all along the ridge, then they died and the ridge started working, and we finished the day with some pre-frontal wave with climbs to 8,000ft or so. Here are some pics:

River Conwy

Prestatyn

Moel Famau again

Booker on tour - Spring expedition

Here we are again at Lleweni Parc, near Denbigh in North Wales, where our Duo Discus 315 has spent the winter. Chris Gill the CFI says he has ordered up some nice weather for us and it's certainly be OK so far. Yesterday there was a bit of wave and today the ridge and thermals were working well. Here are a few pictures of the local scenery.

Bob Smith's view of the coast from wave yesterday

Richard's view today from a bit lower down

Jubilee Tower on top of Moel Famau, highest hill in the Clwydian range.
The tower was built in 1810 for the Jubilee of George III

Meanwhile back at Booker we are open, and operating whenever the weather allows, so come along and get out in the fresh air and fly.

Booker's Duo Discus is on holiday in North Wales

Booker's Duo Discus has been stationed at Lleweni Parc - home to Denbigh Gliding Club - for the winter, and various members have taken the opportunity to get some fantastic wave soaring. Below is a selection of pics from their visits.

Any Booker member is welcome to go and have some fun in Wales, as long as you have linked up with an instructor to fly with you. Best way is to join the Booker XC Whatsapp group - ask Richard.

Bird's eye view of Denbigh and the airfield

Ridge running

Wave........

..........more wave....

 

......and more......

......and a perfect wave bar

Graham Morfey, 1937 - 2019

A message from Graham's son Alistair:

Graham Morfey died peacefully at home on Monday 2nd December. His wife, Margaret, and children were with him.

Graham took up gliding in later life. He loved the sport and Booker Gliding Club - he served as Treasurer for several years. Graham also had sailing and boats in his blood, from his first Mirror Dinghy to the Bowman 45 (Flight of Time) that he and Margaret sailed around the world. Graham and Margaret celebrated their Diamond Wedding anniversary in June this year.

His funeral will be at St Mary's Church, Whitchurch on Thames, RG8 7DG at 1.30pm on Monday 16th December. All friend and members are welcome.

Alistair also sent these photos of Graham in happier times.

Farewell with a rainbow

Finally it has stopped raining and given us three days of gliding, though today a slight shower produced a good rainbow.

Today was also Mike Richardson's last day in the tug before his impending move to pastures new in Welshpool. Mike joined Booker in 1990 after learning to fly at Wolds GC while he lived in Hull. As well as gliding, he has contributed hugely to the club as a Full Cat instructor and a tug pilot, in fact he spent 3 years working full time as an instructor. He also provided the bus webcam and supplied the club's branded clothing.

Mike in his natural habitat

One particular memory is the day he completed his first 300k, Yate-Worcester. Here he is having a post-flight drink, hiding behind Nick Hoare, along with Roland Wales (crew) and someone else who had also done the task.

Nick, Mike, Jane, Roland

We wish Mike all the best in his new home.

The end of the Aboyne expedition 2019

As is so often the case, the Aboyne weather saved the best till last, and those who stayed on for Saturday experienced some excellent flying - nice climbs, not too windy, not too cloudy, lots of kms flown.  Here is a sample of the day...

The back of Lochnagar - a bit like the far side of the Moon

Nuff said

The usual view of Lochnagar

Morvern with a sprinkling of snow

Spot the two RAF airfields

It was a week for a lot of 'firsts', in particular for our two pre-solo pilots Andy and Dan, including flying the Duo, wave, height, distance, tarmac runways - and also Mark who soloed in 316 and then converted to the Pegasus, and Maddi who towed it all the way back to Booker. Last words from Dave Byass:

It was a fantastic week, partly due to the wx and also due to everyone mucking in and getting on with it. So: thanks for all the help on the ground, thanks for not flying in airspace, and thanks for not crashing anything! Special thanks to Andy and Dan for being so open to learning in what must have been an occasionally daunting environment. Specially special thanks to Richard, who did a huge amount of organising as well as the flying, which meant I only did fun stuff. Hope next year is as good...

And of course thanks to Deeside Gliding Club for hosting us yet again.

More SW wave

The forecast was for more strong southwesterlies, and the wind at height was 50kts or more, but it was possible to climb, although it required a Duo or similar to make progress into wind. 315 and 316 made it to 17,000ft, where it was very cold indeed, and 315 went on a couple of excursions up the Dee and round Lochnagar.

The Dee past Braemar

Moray Firth from 17,000ft

Confusing day

The wind was still SW but not as strong as yesterday so in theory there should have been some nice wave without too much of the bumpy stuff. The early launches with the two seaters were back on the ground fairly quickly and there was a pause for coffee and other refreshments. Towards the middle of the day the sky settled down and it was possible to climb for short periods - between the times when showers came through and there were no gaps in the black layer at 4,000ft. It wasn't a day for long cross country flights or height gains but still interesting. There's always something to learn.

The view from 13,500ft

An evening view of the fires which were burning on Morvern all day

A bit rough in the circuit

Today the wind was from the south west, which means it was just a tad rough on tow and in the circuit. It was also a bit cloudy. However, it was possible to find climbs up to 15,000ft or so, and some people followed the wave bar to Feshiebridge.

A bit cloudy.....

.......but clear near the airfield