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)

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

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.

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.

Bronze briefings start on Saturday 4 January

If you are working towards your Bronze, need to revise, want to learn how to give briefings, or just fancy a chat about an interesting topic, come along to the clubhouse at 10am on Saturday for the next few weeks. Here's the programme:

4 Jan  - Navigation - Steve Williams

11 Jan - Principles of Flight - Symeon Economou

18 Jan - Human Factors - William Parker

25 Jan - Meteorology - Jane Moore

8 Feb - Flight Planning and Performance - Bob Smith

22 Feb - Radio Telephony - Ashley Birkbeck

1 March - Aircraft General Knowledge, Airframes and Systems - Duncan Sharp

8 March - Air Law and ATC Procedures - Wayne Aspland

15 March - Operational  Procedures - Mike Gatfield

December sunshine

What a fantastic weekend after (or possibly between) gales, and plenty of people turned out to make the most of the conditions - sunshine and nil wind - ideal for trial lessons, training or just having fun. Let's hope it's nice on New Year's Day, with the airfield closed we might get to fly off the hard runway for a change.

Here are a couple of pics from today, not brilliant as I'd forgotten my proper camera, but you get the general idea.

 

Hambleden Valley

 

View towards Wycombe Air Park

 

This should cheer you up for Christmas:- http://missionhimalaya.com/blog/

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The alternative to shopping

Some really nice weather this weekend, and plenty of people out making the most of the sunshine. The scattered low cloud made for lovely views, here are Glyn and Steve's pics from their tour in the Falke.

Sunday provided more of the same, though it got a bit chilly as the wind strength increased, and the day ended with a sky on fire, the pic below doesn't really do it justice. Red sky at night.......must check the forecast for tomorrow.

Meanwhile at the NEC......

The Sales and Marketing Team had a weekend in Birmingham at the Flying Show, along with the BGA and teams from four other clubs - HusBos, Aston Down, Camphill and Buckminster. There was a steady stream of visitors to the gliding section, mostly people who were pilots already, so we suggested ways they could enhance their existing skills, for example by coming along for a day of spinning - after all, just because their aircraft's flight manuals say they shouldn't spin, it doesn't mean they won't. There was also interest in practising field selection and landing, and some of them were tempted plain straightforward gliding as a change from engines.

 

Waiting for the show to open



Many thanks to Chris Collett (who drove up on Friday to set the stand up and then came back again on Sat and Sun), Hugh MacDonald and Hedda Coture for giving up their time to promote gliding and the Club.

The new face of British Gliding