Wednesday, 29 January 2014

News just in

Adrian took advantage of a spell of dry weather to have a check ride with CFI Richard last Saturday, probably the first time he's been in a K13 for a while.

What could possibly go wrong?

Richard seems to enjoy check flights, as this photo from Talgarth a couple of years ago shows.

Why me?

Also on Saturday we had some happy Trial Lesson customers, here's one of them with his instructor, John.

..and a certificate to prove it

Sunday, 19 January 2014

It's always worth a trip to the airfield

The sun brought lots of people out to play today. Navigation round the airfield required a bit of care, to avoid disappearing into bog, but the air was crystal clear and the views were fantastic, and with hardly a breath of wind it was an ideal day for instructional flights or just having fun.


How to be fit to fly

The briefing room was packed yesterday for William Parker's Bronze talk on the human factors which affect our flying, including how to breathe above 10,000ft, the importance of eating and drinking, not flying when you feel ill, and an in depth discussion of 'in flight plumbing' for men.

The next two weeks will be devoted to weather:

Saturday 25 Jan - Meteorology - where weather comes from, what makes clouds, what a cold front is, and much more - Jane Moore

Saturday 1 Feb - forecasting for x-c soaring, including the mysterious tephigram - Jim White. Bring a ruler and 4 coloured pens (red, black, green, blue)

Friday, 17 January 2014

It's still possible to have fun in January

It's been a bit wet recently, but in the gaps between deluges Jon and Graham, assisted by Richard in the tug, had a very scenic flight today with stunning cloudscapes. We wouldn't get these views if it was blue skies all the time. Just shows that it's always worth coming to the airfield, you never know......

Follow that tug

Saturday, 11 January 2014

How gliders stay up

A lovely sunny day, and plenty of people - some of them aspiring Bronze pilots - turned out to hear Symeon explaining Theory of Flight. Most of us thought it was elves that kept us up there, but Symeon managed to make sense of the coefficient of lift, aspect ratios and why you need to know the square root of 2, without which a glider just wouldn't fly.

No photo, forgot camera.

Next week William Parker will be dealing with Human Factors.

An addition to the programme is Jim White on Met for Cross Country, on 1 FEBRUARY, when he will de-mystify the tephigram.

Saturday, 4 January 2014

How not to get lost

The clubhouse was packed today with members who had made it through floods to attend first Graham Saw's aerobatics session and then Steve Williams' Bronze briefing on Navigation. This comprehensive discourse on the mysteries of lat/long and the difference between QFE, QNH and QNE should ensure no airspace busts by those attending.

Next week Symeon Economou will be explaining why gliders don't fall out of the sky if the wind drops.
Saturday 11 Jan, 1000hrs in the clubhouse.