Booker Rules Competition Day 1

Plenty of action at the launch point today (as there was yesterday with many pilots practising for the comp)  with eleven competitors taking to the sky for day one of the Booker Rules Handicap competition. A task of 160.7km (Stokenchurch, Didcot, Newbury, Bicester, Hambledon Church) was set under a promising sky with a 15kt easterly wind.

Early spread out around Booker prevented a few from starting but the more intrepid set off to better looking clouds on track. There were soon a few calls coming in from landouts, most pilots opting for the easier option of airfields with the chance of an aerotow retrieve (although not all the airfields were receptive to the idea of letting aircraft take off again!).

Honours for the day go to Bob Smith (the only finisher) with a creditable speed of 52.2kph, 2nd place to Nils Wedi (136km) and 3rd place to JimWhite/Jeremy Gilby (96km). Sunday's forecast isn't looking to good but the forecast for Monday is looking good again so there should be some good flying.

Jim and Jeremy at Chalgrove trying to agree who was
 in charge when the land out became an option

MM at Thame on one of its 2 aerotow retrieves

Nils at Thame just before his aerotow retrieve (it has just rained which caused his downfall)

Great couple of soaring days

After the success of the Bronze C course last week, the run of soaring weather has continued with Sunday and Monday giving some exciting soaring.

Sunday was interesting with some good lift to be found but without a very high cloudbase and a very noticeable shear around 2000' where a 10kt westerly became a 17kt northerly. The general opinion was that the thermals were broken and not where you expected them to be under the clouds. This didn't stop Jim in J1M and Tim in Z3 from doing a 260k task under the new handicap task rules format (which can now also be entered on the National Ladder) - hopefully the first of many flights to be flown and entered this way.

Mondays launchpoint - late afternoon

 Monday had a better forecast with a reasonable northerly wind 3/4 knots predicted. Success was had by Stuart Whitehouse doing his 50k O/R to Enstone (for the second time after a logger failure when he did it last summer) and Richard Eaton with his Silver Duration in ECZ. Other flights included 987 and KV both doing Bicester Didcot, 949 and F1 to Hus Bos and Wellesbourne respectively. The good news is that the rest of the week is still looking good if possibly going blue.

987 heading south to Didcot under 5,000' cloudbase

Patience rewarded

Thursday provided a variety of non-aviation opportunities. After some model flying John went trout fishing, didn't catch anything. Simon and Yan went to Ystradfellte where Simon led the way up some hills and Yan took lots of pics of waterfalls. The guitar party went to Gilwern and did a circular walk including the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal and the River Clydach - and sheep - and ended up in a very nice tea shop in Abergavenny. Towards the end of the day the heavens opened, roads ran with rivers of red water (from soil run off - or possibly Sahara dust).

Canal walking

Gastronome report: The guitar school had three types of sausages with onion mash, followed by fruit salad. The Treasurer's party were fed by Chef John who sacked three sous chefs before producing a 3 course feast: steak with tomato and onion bruschetta, pork chops with onion and mushroom sauce, sauté potatoes and glazed carrots, and (half price Co-op) vanilla cheesecake.

On Friday the day dawned grey again but the forecast was for south westerlies and lo and behold it was right. We were treated to an afternoon of sunshine with the ridge working all down the Cwmdu Valley, with thermals to help out.

On tow - Mynydd Troed

Talgarth tug heading for the hills

The reservoir

Castle Dinas ridge

Spot the airfield

All in all a very enjoyable trip, although of course the weather could - as always - have been better. Many thanks to Black Mountains GC for their hospitality and to Richard Crockett for his hard work in organising the trip and for all the flying he did.

Too much weather

Sunny Tuesday ended with some calm evening flying and some rather more exhilarating strap-hanging as Richard practised a few rolls and other figures.

Yesterday was a scrub and the party divided, some setting off for the model shop in Abergavenny where James bought 'something sporty' (a Riot) while the more active group went for a muddy walk to Llangorse Lake.

Gastronome report: The Treasurer's household finished off the honey roasted gammon with potato pancakes , the guitar workshop had fish pie.

Today we have more of the same. James is 'test flying' his new toy, John is planning on trout fishing, the rest are contemplating.

Southwesterly forecast for tomorrow, in which case we will be ridge running to our heart's content.

Talgarth - Day 4

It rained a lot in the night and this morning we awoke to fog, but driving up to the airfield got us back into the sunshine. We had to wait for the valley mist to clear before launching - don't want to be looking for a cable-break field in fog - but then we were treated to a gloriously sunny day with a mix of ridge and thermal. None of it was very strong but it was enough to tempt a fleet of single seaters into the air, locals and Booker members.

A couple of new people turned up from Booker. For James the PPL Instructor and tug pilot it was a new experience.

'I'm having nothing to do with the aerotow.'

Bob 279 has been here before but he was pleased to see some dramatic wave when he arrived.

The man with the clipboard kept everything in order.

Relaxing at Talgarth

The Treasurer has gone off to prepare dinner for the CFI and the other members of his household - honey roasted ham is on the menu.

Talgarth - Day 3

Yesterday started misty, which made for pretty pictures.

Springtime in Talgarth

Soon the wind picked up a bit - from the southeast -  and the sun came out, and we got busy launching. Everyone was far too busy enjoying ridge running to take photos, here are a couple.

KCZ checking out the sheep

Glyn enjoying the peace and quiet

For our gastronomic readers, last night a contingent went to Hay on Wye for what was reportedly a very good curry.

Today the ridge was again working well, and there was wave down the Cwmdu valley in which 118 climbed to dizzying heights. There will be photos later on, right now we are too busy.

Meanwhile at Talgarth.............

.........the gang assembled yesterday for Booker's spring expedition as guests of Black Mountains GC.

The day started calm and misty but as the haze cleared the wind picked up and by the time Richard had his check with the locals it was blowing a nicely turbulent easterly which made him work a bit.

'In a K13? Are you serious?'

After that we rigged the K21 and Richard spent the rest of the day putting us through our paces. Considering he had got up at 4am to drive down it's surprising he stayed awake. A number of members on the trip have so far only flown at Booker so they really enjoyed the experience of working out how to fly their circuit at a new site - and in challenging conditions.

Ruth was still smiling when she landed.

Launching towards the hill...

Day's end

After the toys had been put away the team dispersed to their various lodgings. Dinner was slightly delayed for the Treasurer who found himself spending rather longer in his bath than he had planned. Maybe in future he had better take his phone with him.

Sunshine, Southerlies and Soaring at Booker

Jim's forecast of blue thermals was spot on but with the added  benefit of some wave thrown in which when in sync with the thermals gave extremely strong lift of 8/10 knots and was only capped due to airspace constraints. The visibility improved throughout the day and in spite of the challenging southerly wind there were several soaring flights in excess of an hour and pilots only coming in to land to allow others the chance to enjoy the soaring which went on until late in the day.

Karl Bauer in EBZ enjoying the strong lift to be found around Booker

The AGM and some great spring flying

There was a good turn out at the AGM last night. The Treasurer presented a very positive report, then  Geoff Tabbner gave his 5th and final report as Chairman. He reflected on the challenges the club has surmounted in the last few years - stadium, closure of runways, rent reviews - and on the progress the club has made in establishing and developing Booker as a club which has fun in a safe and supportive atmosphere. He also noted the large number of members who give their time and skills for the benefit of the club. He was presented with a particularly nice bottle of wine, and his wife Ann received a bouquet in recognition of her support for Geoff in all the time and effort he has expended for the club. Geoff then presented a bouquet and leaving gift to Hilary Binner who has devoted 8 years to working with Shelagh in the office to keep us all in line and ensure that everything runs smoothly. Four new committee members were elected - John Sugden, Mark Wolff, Hugh MacDonald and William Parker - and then Denis Campbell reported on the changes to the ownership of the airfield and the opportunities this presents for us. The evening ended with wine and beer - is that why not many turned up at the launch point this morning?

Today looked promising for some early cross country so Nils the Weatherman (EN) and Geoff (949) rigged - and then joined the rest on the bus to watch hail hammering down.

Nils drying off

It was remarkably turbulent, an excellent day for check flights and brushing off the winter rustiness, and - if you got the right bit of the cycle - very thermic.

That's more like it....

Ready to go

Chasing shadows

Behind you!

Wave, Thermal, First Solo's - the season has started

With the Spring Equinox only a few days away, the recent run of good weather has seen many faces and gliders coming out of hiberntion. Memories of the wettest winter for many years are probably starting to fade (even though the number of flooded fields and standing water easily visible when flying are a sharp reminder of recent events).

The Bronze C lecture on Operational Performance was given by Mike MiniGat Gatfield and was well received by all who attended and who commented on how good it had been.

The launch point was very busy over the weekend and saw a good mix of wave on Saturday with many members enjoying 2/3 knot climbs in wave around Turvill until the airspace got in the way and then on Sunday there was lots of good thermal soaring to be had with flights in excess of 2 hours being recorded in some excellent visability (there was also a little wave around as well).

Monday produced the first 'first solo' of 2014 with Dan Cash (on a PPL to Solo course) soloing in KLA - congratulations.

Dan Cash being congratulated by Richard after his first solo