This blog is used to report on activities that are happening at and around Booker Gliding Club.
Booker's annual expedition to Aboyne, home to Deeside Gliding Club, has got off to a good start with three days of wave. Veterans have enjoyed seeing familiar sites, and new members Simon and David have been seen grinning from ear to ear after being introduced to the magic of wave.
Take a look at what we have been getting up to.......the newsletter is on the website with plenty of news and pics from our temporary base at Chiltern Park. Click here to read it.
As from 29th March we have been able to fly again, although only solo - two seater flying returns on 12th April. We were unable to go on our usual Spring expedition to Lleweni Parc because of the latest lockdown, but we are currently enjoying a mini expedition to Chiltern Park, near Wallingford, as guests of Dennis Pearson of Chiltern Airsports. This is because we are being prevented from flying at Wycombe Air Park because of a commercial dispute between the airfield manager (CEO of Heliair) and the airfield owner (Bucks County Council), where we are caught in the crossfire.
While we attempt to get the situation resolved, we are making the most of our time at Chiltern Park - getting current again and exploring the local area, as can be seen from the pics below.
Greetings to all our readers.
It's been a difficult year, but despite it all we have kept going, doing what we enjoy. Members have gone solo, and gone further and faster, we have run competitions, been on expeditions, and hosted events, all while doing our best to keep our members and visitors safe and secure. So now is the time to look back at all the good times, and to look forward to a better 2021. This month's issue of the newsletter is a compilation of 2020 activities with as many pics as it was possible to cram in.
Christmas Eve 2007 - Shep with some model flying members - John Tournier, Mike Collett, Steve Brown, John Herman
Every year Booker goes on an expedition to Aboyne in Aberdeenshire, home to Deeside Gliding Club, and this year was no exception, although it was all a bit different this year, with restaurants closing early and no shared accommodation. However, we made the best of every opportunity to fly, and several members achieved firsts - first solo at Aboyne, first solo at a different airfield, first wave flight. Nils provided an excellent weather briefing every morning with some very pretty graphs from the comfort of his campervan. And when we weren't flying there was plenty of beautiful countryside to explore. We are grateul to Richard and Dave for keeping us in order, and to Dave for his time in fixing some towing damage.
Here is a selection of pics from the trip.
A view towards the east coast past the airfield
Morven
Dave spent a day on repairs
Nils and William enjoying a walk from Crathie
We have converted another power pilot to the joys of gliding - fixed wing instructor Jag Nahar did his first glider solo last week.
And then on Saturday it was time for the 17th International Easter Egg Cup Aerobatics comp. The conditions weren't the best - a freezing north-westerly making take offs on 06 quite interesting - but the field of 9 made some creditable performances - that is to say, their figures were recognisable. Their expertise ranged from 'never even done a loop before' to 'practised a bit'. British Aerobatics judge Charles Baker sat out in the cold all day gazing and the sky and tuggie James Roland kept us safe - completing his 3,000th hour of tugging in the process.
The trophy went to visitor Will Jones, with recently solo Leo Sentinella in 2nd place and Jane Moore 3rd. Many thanks to Graham Saw for sitting in as safety pilot on 8 flights, finding Easter eggs in September and organising the whole thing.
Maybe next year we will hold the comp at Easter for a change.
We are now firmly established back home at Wycombe Air Park and the past few weeks have been busy as we have re-started trial lessons and courses. One of our course members, Jim Pearce, who has had a bit of practice flying things like Learjets, went solo after a few flights, converted to the Pegasus and promptly did his Bronze 2 hours. He came down buzzing with the thrill of the newly discovered delights of thermalling.
This weekend has been hectic with vintage gliders on display and flying. Sadly we had to scale down the event because of covid considerations but there was still plenty going on. And today we had another solo - 14 year old Leo Sentinella, who joined us from Bicester almost ready to go solo, has been working really hard on the final steps and today was the day.
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