Another hot day but conditions were far better than those on Saturday so here are a few photos of a 2hr 45min flight with Pete in 383.
Sunday 18th July
Longest Day (ish)
OK, so 23rd June was not the longest day but it was the closest flying day to it and we certainly made the most of it (while others were at work). First launch 11:24 (Wednesdays tend to have a relaxed start) and last landing 21:20. Certainly a long day in which we clocked up 50 launches and over 25 hours of flying. The daytime flyers handed over to the evening “improvers” group around 18:30. At 20:50 Jamie M clocked up 20 minutes in JPC, I guess nobody told him you don’t get thermals at that time of night. The comment in the log sheet said those were the real times and, indeed, the electronic logger confirmed the times.
During the day all the club’s gliders were flying and there were 7 private gliders rigged (and flying) including the blinged up Olly. Of particular note was seeing James H taking a launch from a winch rather than building and fixing winches. He certainly hadn’t lost his touch getting 47 minutes off the second launch of the day.
Historic Glider Takes to the Sky
Olympia 1 Jacob’s Ladder
Built in 1947 (registered G-ALNB) at Elliotts of Newbury – Production No 14 (EoN/0/014)
One of the first batch produced, the glider initially went to the Derby & Lancs Club Camphill Derbyshire.
The glider was built without a wheel and only a skid, but in the late 1950’s a droppable undercarriage was fitted and this made it into a designated Oly 3
As was the custom at the time it was given a name, Jacob’s Ladder, and because the glider was named there are various references to Jacob’s Ladder in S&G over the years i.e.
Gold C distance flight 1957 – (Featured in Sailplane and Glider Feb 58)
The pilot (Michael Stather Hunt (Coventry Gliding Club) landed 20 miles short of his Gold C goal. However, it occurred to him that he must have covered considerably more than 300km on his trip, and a turning point at Gillingham put him well in the distance required. Whilst he couldn’t hope for identification at 5,000ft, there had been some low spots between Devizes and Gillingham and he decided to go down to Wiltshire to investigate. Starting at Devices he located a gentlemen in a pub who positively identified a model of Jacob’s Ladder but was not sure about the date. Remembering that he had crossed the gunnery range on top of the plain just outside Warminster, he was hopeful that if there had been any range wardens on watch there was a fair chance that he may have been spotted. No luck! due to most people being on leave, however the Orderly Officer offered to make investigations. Enquiring at a guard room at another Army Camp, a corporal confirmed that he knew of a fellow who had seen a glider low over the camp, but he was at Earl’s Court playing the pipes and drums for the North Irish Brigade. Worse still he didn’t know his name but he was going bald on top. Further down the road the proprietor of a sweet shop confirmed he had seen a glider flying over recently and went to great lengths to describe it: the length of the wings, the position of the cockpit in front of the wings etc. but when asked the colour it failed to match that of Jacob’s Ladder (carmine and cream). Continuing the search he next spoke to a lad (Brian) in the village who was said to be a keen aircraft spotter. In fact it turns out that Brian was a keep ‘train’ spotter! Back home he dropped a line to Major Mulcahy-Morgan C.O. of the North Irish Brigade at Earl’s Court asking him about the piper with thinning hair who might have seen a glider. Success at last – he received a signed statement from Major Mulcahy-Morgan himself giving all the necessary details for an identification with almost professional accuracy. He had been in the glider regiment himself during the war, and had taken a particular interest in his flight over the camp. He offered to produce a hundred signatures if necessary. Just over 300km was the final distance as checked by Londonderry House (home of the BGA at the time).
Jacob’s Ladder was last flown in 1989 and was then left in a state of decay until rescued by Bill Cook in September 2014 with Ken Reid subsequently becoming half share owner.
Restored over a period of 6 years (would have been quicker had covid and lockdown not interfered!) it is now back to its former glory and was finally launched at Shalbourne Gliding Club on Wednesday 16th June 2021.
Wednesday 19th – Spectacular skies
Considering that Thor was working overtime it was a rewarding day’s flying.
Thanks to Martin S and the other winch drivers who coped well with a difficult wind shear the westerly crosswind did not prevent some surprisingly decent launches into weak thermals that, with patience, turned into strong thermals to 3 000 ft. By late morning it was clear that it was going to be a day of at least two halves and as it emerged it became a day of three quarters. Those who rigged were rewarded with some extended flights between the squalls, including Ken R who managed a tour of three counties in the Duo Discus while I faffed around locally in the Vega.
Flight arrivals provided routine reports of the size, direction and ETA of slow moving heavy showers, thus providing time to park gliders safely and retire intermittently for refreshments. We were uncannily fortunate inasmuch that the worst squalls passed either to the north or the south, thus rendering us little inconvenience and permitting the use of a second log sheet. It was satisfying to get so much out of what could have been a washout.
Stephen O had a leisurely day for a change with Bob B taking the load in the back seat and as I left the field a solitary Puchacz had been parked for what hopefully became a productive evening session.
Next week looks promising:-)