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I thought that I was on a roll on duty days – after our last duty being soarable all day. Perhaps my problem was swapping with Tim but he promised he’d booked the weather. Today I was (happily) surprised to find myself not the first person to turn up through the drizzle when I arrived at 9 am – James Hunneman was there already. Martin Hoskins and Rob Jarvis arrived subsequently. The low cloud and drizzle amplified to rain and then sank back into cloud and drizzle again.

But be assured – days like these are not days to miss – you can learn a huge amount on the ground even if you don’t fly. We amused and enlightened ourselves with some trace analysis until 11.30 or so and then in the absence of anyone else to do any groundschool with, we abandoned the day and went home. Hasta la vista, comrades!

Yet another windy day but with it being pretty much southerly, no nasty lumpy bits on the approach.  Starting finals from 500′ just the one hedgerow back it was easy to land opposite the launch point!  There were thermals but they were mainly being ripped apart by the wind but there were a few significant climbs reported.  Some weak wave also found.  Chris K reported the highest launch of the day (2,100′ in a K13) and Peter E took the longest flight honours at 16 minutes.  Half the flights managed double digit duration.

On holiday in Kent so snuck off to visit the nearest gliding club.  Warm (for the time of year) sunny day with little prospect of soaring.  No difficulty finding the club and after signing in at the office made my way to the busy launch point.  Despite it being so busy was made welcome – apparently a visitor from another club is something of a novelty.  Had my site check in one off their K21’s and then took to the sky in their Junior on the last launch before the break for lunch (struck me as an odd thing to do).  My reward for flying into the lunch break was some modest soaring – 23 minutes which, I believe, was the longest flight of the day. After lunch out came a T21 which then attrached a queue of people wanting to experience the wind in their face.
Challock has big club facitilies but with the friendliness of a small club.  Not an obvious expedition destination (airspace ceilings, not far from the coast) but well worth a visit if you are in the area.
One final observation – the lauch point organisation was excellent, thanks mainly to the member of the duty team who managed the flying list and kept things moving without delay.

While looking for High Definition videos of gliding I found this on You Tube.
Three questions:
1. What is the pilots START height registered on his altimeter when he begins to cross the lake
2. What does the altimeter read once he’s landed

3. What colour might his underpants be…….