Shalbourne Gliding – OLD WEBSITE
A friendly gliding club in Wiltshire
What a cracking late october day for gliding. Stephen o decided to bring mid week flying forward a day because wednesdays forecast was c—. It turned out to be a brilliant decision because soaring wise it turned out to be as good a day if not better than some of the mid summer days. Best flight of the day went to Darren mc.c in the k8 of just over an hour and loads of flights in double figures and climbs to 3000ft plus. All in all a very good day.
With the forecasted NE wind Carol and I felt the need to rig the Janus to see if the ridge was working and with only about 10-12 knots at 020 we were a little sceptical but it was worth a try.
The ridge was working but the lift was being broken up by thermal activity which made it quite interesting in places. As the day went by the thermal influence subsided and the ridge gradually started working better. Our flight times were 23mins, 35mins and finally 44mins, here is an overlay of our last flight which was mostly between 900ft and 700ft QFE.
We were both surprised that the ridge was actually working in such light conditions and even though some of the time we were low and a fair way away from the club the lift was (luckily for us) consistent.
With the wind from the north (with just a touch of east) the favourite place proved to be on the south side of the launch caravan – enjoying the sun and sheltered from the cold wind. Correction that was the second favourite place – the favourite was in a glider looking for ridge lift. Some scraps of ridge lift was to be found but better were the thermals triggered by the ridge. Those launching between midday and 13:00 were rewarded with the longest flights of the day. Colin B in his LS3-17 clocked up 45 minutes but that only gave him second place in the soaring stakes. Top spot being taken by Ken R and Bill C in their Duo Discus with 1:02. 25 of the 31 launches achieved double digit flight times – mind, when the K8 was getting launches to 2,100′ that gets you off to a good start.
21 members flew – pretty good turn out for midweek in October.
The grey sky looked unwelcoming, with low clouds scudding across an amorphous vault in the brisk east wind. So those present set to, ever hopeful, washing gliders and cleaning canopies. But when airliners inbound for London were seen beneath a high overcast it emerged that there was at least some clear air. The weather check flight launched to 1400 ft through an opportune gap, leaving the winch cable dangling from the cloud deck. Conditions above cloud were smooth and clear and flying between the ‘cotton wool’ one encountered broad tracts of wave-like smooth lift. The strong crosswind made it more interesting, holding station close to the airfield whilst planning the best route back to the circuit between the clouds.
And so flying proceeded with check flights for all but the most seasoned aviators in these unusual and challenging conditions. I think it is fair to say that much was learned about keeping clear of cloud and cross wind landings in a strong wind gradient, but most particularly by the driver who demonstrated an accomplished slow roll with the cable trailer.