Yup, this time the Beeb looking to fill one of their 90 second “what is the person in the street thinking about the forthcoming election “. This time the “the street” was “the glider” and the person was yours truly. Once again Phil’s camera mounts for the Puchacz were pressed into service (and much admired). In addition to the GoPro camera’s attached to and in the glider there were two full sized cameras on the ground, another GoPro sitting in the grass directly ahead of the Puchacz and the journalist wore “Pivothead” camera (looks like a pair of sunglasses but delivers full HD recording). After the flying shots it was time for the interview bit – with any luck they will fill the 90 seconds with flying shots and minimise the drivel spoken in the interview.
A great big thank you to Ken R for keeping the instructional flights going while I played at “media tart” and to the “Wednesday boys” for putting up with the distractions and disruption (again). Good news is that Sky haven’t realised they are missing out so that’s probably it for another 30 years. Chris (the BBC journalist) called me on the following day, very enthusiastic about the material they recorded and big thanks to the club and its members.
On to the important stuff (flying). Easterly with just a touch of north didn’t make for an easy day. Totally blue with a clear inversion line – there were those wondering if Bill C and Ken R knew something we didn’t as they had rigged their Duo. Turns out they did. They launched after 14:00 and from that point soaring flights were on offer. Broken lift, lots of drift but soaring nonetheless. That was, until the hangar flights from 16:30 on. The thermals then became consistent and strong. Tony P flew me in the Puchacz and over Shalbourne he rapidly climbed to 3,300′ – which gave us plenty of height for spinning exercises.
Bill and Ken took longest flight honours with an hour and a half. 26 launches with 9.5 hours of flying. A good day.
