Making the most of the holidays

The frosty sunshine and calm skies provided an ideal opportunity for Richard to send Matthew Porter off on his first solo today.



The grin says it all
 

Don't forget that the first Bronze briefing is on Saturday 3 January - Steve Williams on Navigation.

Not just Bronze Briefings 2015

Here is the timetable for the 2015 series of Briefings, all at 10hrs on Saturdays, which will cover topics covered in the Bronze paper as well as other fascinating subjects. All welcome - aspiring pre-Bronze pilots, trainee instructors mugging up on briefings, anyone feeling a bit rusty - come along and join in.

December newsletter..........

.......read it here.

 

 

 

Sunny Saturday

A day of clear sky, sunshine and light winds - ideal for the aerobatics enthusiasts and other club members to get airborne.  Many folks were about with the the FI(S) and BI course taking place in the morning, with the opportunity to get flying in the afternoon.

Booker pilots score again

This week the (powered) World Intermediate Aerobatic Championships 2014 have been taking place in Mossel Bay, South Africa, with teams from 13 countries competing. The 7-strong British team included 3 current and former Booker members: Paul Brice, Emily Collett and Mike Collett. The pilots have had a pretty tough week with less than ideal weather, in particular some strong winds, but the British team did brilliantly, coming away with Silver - the South Africans won Gold, and the Czech Republic Bronze. The full results can be found here. And below are some pics shamelessly pinched from the British Team's Facebook page.

Congratulations to all!!

Flyable Saturday

Some reasonable weather encouraged a flurry of activity at the launchpoint, with the promise of some sunshine, light easterlies and warmer than average temperatures.

Meanwhile, the XC debrief session took place in the clubhouse, attended by many members, with some stretching their legs afterwards to grab a bit of fresh air at the launchpoint. 

A thorough glider and tug cleaning session at the end of the day was preceded by a reminder that canopy misting can be a significant hazard at this time of year!

XC debrief session - Saturday 29 November

There has been huge enthusiasm this year for xc racing, thanks to the new Handicapped Task method pioneered by Booker. This has generated a momentum that has lead to us bidding for, and getting, a Regional championship for next summer.  In order to learn from this year's activities - what we got right and an honest appraisal of what we got wrong - and apply lessons learned to next year's flying, there will be a debrief session on Saturday 29 November at 10am in the clubhouse.  

Topics to be covered will include:

• What gets you motivated to fly / what demotivates you from flying
• General communications
• Feedback on the task setting
• Feedback on briefing/debrief
• Preferred types of task (GP style or held start line: the new distance task, old style tasks, AATs)
• Facilities improvements we would like

Come along and join the discussion.

 

Booker cadet in British Team

Former cadet Mike 'Minigat' Gatfield has been selected for the British Team to compete in the 9th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships in Narromine, Australia in 2015. Fantastic news, congratulations Mike!

The only way is up!
Photo: Cotswold Gliding Club

Booker's newest member

Crockett Junior finally made her entrance early on Saturday, weighing in at 9lb 5oz. Nameless as yet, suggestions include Amy and Amelia, just to get her thinking along the right lines.

Congratulations to Sarah and Richard on the safe arrival.

 

 

November Soaring

Ready for the last tow of the day

Morning mist in the valleys, 2kt climbs by lunchtime and a beautiful sunset - a fantastic day was had by all on Sunday.

Why it pays to get up early

There were some fantastic views to be seen today by those who took the first launches, before the mist had cleared from the valleys. Don't turn off your alarm at the weekend, get up and get down to the airfield.

 

 

 

Where’s Winter?

Even though the clocks have gone back, there was much activity at the club today, with pleasant blue skies and sunshine on the airfield - great conditions for Graham and Alun’s aerobatic sessions.  Richard was also running an Instructors course, bringing together those following the FI(S) course, budding new Basic Instructors, and the useful individuals who will help out by instructing in the simulator.  Practice briefings followed, in groups, in the hangar and then in the sim, allowing many to experience and enjoy each other’s instructing attempts in an airborne situation at the same time.

Mr Bloggs being instructed on the primary effects of the controls

Aboyne finale

The weather gods finally got their act together on Saturday and blew a fine southerly, which started off quite rough but eventually settled down into an excellent wave system. Southerly wave produces added interest because the rotor sets up over the airfield, making circuits a bit character-forming, but our remaining pilots - Richard, William and Roland - were quite capable of dealing with this and spent a fantastic afternoon up at 18,000ft enjoying the cloudscapes and sunshine.

Aboyne and the Dee Valley

 

Scotland

Getting high

After this excitement it was time to hitch up and head south after yet another successful Aboyne expedition.

You can take the boy out of Essex.......

 Many thanks to Richard Crockett for organising the trip and instructing throughout, also to Dave Byass and Graham Saw who did their fair share of instructing, and to the members who helped by towing club gliders up and back.  Next stop Talgarth.



One final airfield sunrise

Trailer Convoy

Watch this space for news of some great Southerly Wave and photos from the last day of the Aboyne expedition.
In the mean time a rather boring shot of vehicles lined up at the Southbound Tebay Service Area awaiting Jeremy Clarkson and Co for the next Top Gear Challenge.

Comings and goings at Aboyne

It has to be said that the weather this week has not been ideal, but we are still having a good holiday, with a bit of gliding thrown in - and quite a lot of cake. New arrivals included Steve W and Roland, while Graham S left with KCZ and Capt Byass disappeared saying he had to go to work, while Chercher set off for Aberdeen and a flight to London.

Richard has been kept busy in 315 with Graham, although he did take time out to fly the model he broke on Day 1, now repaired with a new wing.

Waiting for the tug

Doing the walk round

Thursday was a bit damp, but Denis entertained us by wiring us up to demonstrate how stress stops the brain thinking and analysing - ever seen anyone coming in to land with the wheel brake going up and down? That'll be high workload preventing the pilot thinking 'hang on a minute, this isn't working, which lever is it?'

Last night involved an excellent dinner in Ballater cooked by Richard at the very smart house he's sharing with Steve and Roland, and a rather late night.

Chilli night

Duo Landing

An interesting view of 315 landing on runway 09 S at Aboyne; starring William Parker and Steve Williams.  

Aboyne week 2

The weather yesterday was ideal for circuits, and for exploring the local area.

Glen Tanar

Fishing lake

Today the sky looked good and did deliver some weak wave for the early birds, it then turned into an excellent thermal soaring day with off the clock thermals. Denis 370 went off up to Braemar and beyond, the rest had a good time slightly closer to the airfield.

 

 

 

315 is out there somewhere

Aboyne Friday

The morning dawned bright and sunny, with promising looking clouds and a moon which had forgotten to set, however observant readers will note the almost complete lack of wind

Morning moon

Undeterred, the two-seaters were soon waiting to launch, and were soon exploring the weak wave left over from the previous evening.

Davy Crockett and his son Richard

 

Chercher determined to crack this business of landing

 

All out

 

 

The ground crew then took part in another team building exercise, helping Rolf, who was temporarily uncertain of the location of his trailer keys, to get at his glider. Various methods were attempted and the problem finally yielded to the use of a hacksaw.

 

Successful break in

After lunch in the sun it looked as though the thermals were setting up so there was a rush to rig, but the instability produced rain showers, so all that was achieved was very clean gliders.

 

 

The day ended as usual in the bar, followed by some entertaining model flying which was a bit difficult to capture in a photo, and a colourful sunset.

 

 

 

 



Some more Aboyne

Aboyne views

Spot the rabbit

Where's Wally

Locals

A nightcap perhaps?

Rolf's Goulash