Shalbourne Gliding – OLD WEBSITE
A friendly gliding club in Wiltshire
The Shalbourne Local Soaring Society were out in force today with a handful of gliders rigged plus the complete club fleet kept busy. I’m not sure if anyone went anywhere much, but broad grins all round were the measure of the enjoyment. For my part I finally got around to flying the Vega. All in all one of the nicest gliders I have flown and a fantastic addition to our fleet.
Colin
You should have been there – glorious mid-July thermals – actually that’s what we were wearing against the cold howling drizzle that persisted all morning.
At 1pm when the only people there were the Peg-fest crowd and the Puch CofAers (too few to run the field) we scrubbed the day which resulted in an immediate clearance, sunshine and probably some nice thermals we could have gone soaring in.
By then however we’d made good use of the day and done some xc prep, some trace analysis from the previous days flights, map study etc etc – and made friends with pilots from other clubs who say they will be back. So, a useful day – but flying would have been better!
Liz
(posted by Steve)
Chris’s invitation for Pegase owners to come and play at Shalbourne was accepted by a couple of others. Unfortunately, it was a bit of an awkward wind (90deg cross and 15kt) which made it difficult for those not familiar with our site. However, once launched, it was possible to soar away and the usual suspects wandered off – including Ken R taking the Vega to Devizes and back for its first XC. Others decided not to battle upwind, contenting themselves with several hours’ local soaring.
After speaking with some of the instructors, and others who have now flown the Vega, I have decided to lower the limit on who can fly it.
From today the limit is now Bronze but certain members who have not quite gained their Bronze badge as well as Bronze badge holders can now convert to the Vega if they can meet the following conditions:
1) Demonstration of two or three consecutive fully held off landings in the Puchacz (solo or dual).
2) Demonstration of the ability to keep the wings level from “All out” until stopping after landing (wings MUST only touch the ground after the glider has stopped).
3) Must read the briefing notes and have their Logbook countersigned by the Duty Instructor to confirm they have read and understood them and have been cleared to fly following the check flights.
4) It is the members duty to prove to the Duty Instructor they they are current by producing an up to date Logbook. No logbook no fly.
So far all those who have flown the Vega are more than happy with it.
Yesterday I took a launch and released at 1200ft and quickly thermalled down to about 1000ft. I contacted a good thermal which took me to 4,400ft averaging 3 -4kts. A quick flight into wind along an energy line to Burbage followed and I only lost 800 ft getting there, on the return leg I only lost 500 ft. Back over the airfield I pulled full airbrake and maintaining 70kts descended at something like -60 degrees with the speed steady. Also when landing reciprocal (towards the hanger end) closing the airbrakes low to the ground to extend the float did not cause the glider to drop suddenly but just gave an increase in speed, very reassuring! Oh yes, it also has a new battery fitted as well.
So if you are Bronze, or not far off, get yourself checked out to fly the Vega as I’m sure you will enjoy it.
Phil