Gransden Club Class Nationals 21 - 29 July 2012

Gransden Club Class Nationals – 21 – 29 July 2012

Steve came out to Gransden Lodge Airfield early with Michael and his girlfriend Natalie in order to place the caravan and pitch the tent and the plan was for me to go to work, leave in the evening and bring the glider trailer.

When Steve arrived at Gransden however, the grass in the camping area and across the airfield generally was flooded, and it was still raining.  I arrived at 23:15 that evening and promptly got the car and trailer stuck in the normal parking area.  I had to ring Steve and ask him to rescue me with the Land Rover.   In the morning I could see just how bad the grass surfaces were …. Really bad!

I later found out that Steve had managed to puncture a long, wiggly hole in the caravan side.  He’d been instructed to put the caravan in a small area between too old, ramshackle farm buildings, and as he drove through the narrow entrance, the caravan wheel had dropped into a hole, tipping the caravan to one side directly onto the corrugated iron.

Steve has also managed to rip the rear step off the back of the Land Rover because of the acute angle he was forced to back the caravan in at.  He also poked a tent pole through the large tent!  We also discovered that the large gas fridge that we use in the tent was not working properly AND the new airbed we bought in France had a leak….All of this and the competition hasn’t even started yet!!!

The Club Class Nationals runs until Sunday 29 July and it is just myself flying in an attempt to achieve a good position for the British Team.  However, the entry list reads like a ‘Who’s who’ in gliding and I don’t hold out much hope.

On the weather front, we are being promised better, warmer weather, but the evening closed overcast and pretty cool.  I’m not even sure if the weather does improve, whether the Club will allow us to fly because of the poor state of the airfield; that would be such a shame if the weather at last becomes soarable or even raceable, and we can’t even launch because of the water-logged grass.