Author: StephenO

It would appear the government looked at the weather forecast before deciding in the day on which to start lockdown.  Wednesday was forecast as a good day for flying so lockdown started the following day.  For the time of year the day was a cracker.  20 members got there bums off the ground.  Aliaksei gave SU (aka JRL) a good airing of 1:13 before it was derigged and put in its trailer making room for the K8 to make its return.  The K6 “boys” (Ken/Bill/Ken) clocked up 2:26 between them.  Also rigged for the day was Alan P’s Skylark.  Just to make the day even more special, Simon Z re-soloed.  Ten and a half hours flown off 42 launches and then we derigged a Puchacz ready for its 100 hour check.  Good memories for us to take into lockdown.

It was only a few months ago that a number of club members joined Geoff, during the first lockdown, on Zoom to celebrate his 90th birthday.  It was great to see Geoff in such fine form so it came as a shock to hear he is no longer with us.

Geoff was one of the “founding fathers” of the club and passed on his passion for and joy of our sport to so many.  As an instructor he had the knack of getting whoever he flew with to achieve more than they thought they could.  As chairman he was instrumental in increasing the airfield from 20 acres to 70 acres enabling much higher launches and many more landing options.  Geoff also started the mid-week operation.

Here are some memories from club members:-

Richard Dann

There are two stories I remember from when we first had the Bergfalke and took it to the Western Regionals at Nympsfield. Geoff and Jonathan alternated being P1 in the Bergfalke and flying EEF. There was a day when we when we were summoned to the competition director having submitted a landing certificate for the previous day signed by an I Wakeham of the Old School House, somewhere or other, the director had miss read this as I Wack ‘em and thought we were taking the piss.

There was another story from the same week where after a landout Geoff and his P2 were looking for the landowner. The garden of the farm house has a substantial hedge around. it but P2 noticed that the farmer and his wife were working on a full body sun tan (naturists). Geoff strode on regardless to ask for a landing certificate etc….

Chris Keating

Such very sad news.

Geoff was my pilot on my first flight at the club in 2000. An evening organised for my colleagues after I visited following a burglary.

I joined the club on retirement the following April. I was mainly a Wednesday flyer with Geoff instructing until I was encouraged to fly at weekends as well so other instructors could also appraise my progress.

I have fond memories of those Wednesdays and Geoff’s quiet but thorough instruction.

Stan Oram

There are two things I remember about Geoff. Both events when flying from the South end of the field and both in the Ka7. The first was when Geoff was testing my reaction to negative g. As we came down the downwind leg, on the Oxenwood side of the field, Geoff said, ‘Put the nose down’, ‘Farther’. Soon we are pointing at the stubble and Geoff says ‘Pull up. ‘Keep it going. We are now pointing at the sky and Geoff says ‘Push the stick forward’. After we’d gone over the top then sorted ourselves out and landed Geoff did a debrief. ‘You didn’t handle that negative g very well’ says Geoff, ‘Your hand flew up in front of your face and you were gasping’. ‘I was just trying to get the crap that flew up in front of me out of my eyes and my face’ says I having seen all this muck float up in front of me and then got a mouthfull as well both eyes. I learned the importance of keeping the gliders clean that day.

The other event was in exactly the same circuit  but we’d got very low.  Geoff takes over and lands diagonally across and half way up the strip, very narrow in those days, and heading towards a fence on the far side. That day I learned just how well Geoff could judge and handle the glider.

The other, non flying thing I remember was going over to Geoff’s farm and everywhere you looked there were little ‘Geoff mods’ just as he used to come up with extraordinary solutions to problems at the club. I can’t remember precisely what impressed me but I remember it was some arrangement to lift or fold the barn door as it was pulled open.

I’m pleased I met him again on one of his visits to the club,  probably a couple of years ago since it was not last year. His hair was by then pure white but his eyebrows were still just as bushy (if not more so!).

I flew quite a bit with Geoff and have nice memories of it.

On Geoff’s 90th Birthday the Brind Family shared these memories.

We just wanted to share some memories with you on your special day.  You were always very encouraging as we were learning to glide and Andrew remembers that you sent him solo in July 1987!  You were always working hard to improve things at the gliding club and we found a photo of when you were seeding the newly acquired field at the south  end of the airfield.

You organised a great trip to Sutton Bank in October 1987 and introduced us to the delights of flying in Yorkshire.  We remember that we took one of the K7’s the weather improved and we both had our first solo aerotows there.  How we have all changed since then!  We still go most years as we love it up there!

 

This was the first time (in 30+ years of flying) that I can recall the morning briefing including a rendition of Happy Birthday.  But then it was Tony P’s 86th and the birthday at which he had decided would mark the time to hang up his flying boots.  Tony came armed with a large home baked cake which the Wednesday crew demolished with ease.  No candles as they might heave proved difficult to light.  Tony has been a stalwart of the mid-week flyers and will be much missed – and not just for his fabulous baking (particularly his brownies) but also as log keeper in chief.  With Tony on the logs I knew I would have not only a log I could read afterwards but also accurate.

The north easterly wind held the promise of high launches and a working ridge.  Launches were between 1,400′ and 1,700′.  However, the ridge only seemed to work for those flying a Duo Discus or a Sport Vega.  Ken R returned after an hour declaring the ridge was working – to the east of the gibbet.  Second longest flight honours went Martin S with 40 minutes in the Vega.  The day was cut slightly short when the rain arrived from Newbury and cleared up by the time we had the hangar packed.  Still managed 33 launches.

As no one has posted anything about last weekend and I can’t let such an exceptional weekend pass without comment.  25 launches on Saturday with Pete Smith in the back seat for 13 of them.  Sunday clocked up 40 launches and over 10 hours of flying with Andrew P and Phil M working their butts of in the back-seat.

Soaring in October – happy days.  Well, for some at least.  With the wind due west launch heights were modest so not a lot of time to catch that elusive thermal.  Stan B did and took it to cloud base at 2,400′ for a 28 minute flight.  Only 2 minutes behind that was new member Michele R, closely followed by Paul P in the K13.  Tony P made his penultimate trip to the club (hanging up his soaring boots on his 86th birthday next week) memorable with a high-key at Vernham Dean and just making it back to the field.  With no head-wind landings were long so retries took more time.  However, we still manage to clock up 31 launches.

Particular thanks to Bob S, Rowland P and Paul P for the efficient launching service.

A mid-week soaring day but no sign of the three amigos (Ken, Bill, Ken)