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. 

Issoudun Wednesday 11 July 2012

Bread purchased, breakfast eaten, glider on the grid, work emails started, second ‘petite dejeuner’ eaten, then it was briefing time!

Today the Director admitted his error at yesterday’s briefing, and duly declared today to be the ‘second best day of the week’!  The task set for today was another Assigned Area Task of 1:30 hours and a take-off time of 13:00.  The Met Man declared that there would be no rain, at which point the heavens opened and the rain hammered the tin roof!  We’d left the tent open and the chairs outside, so several items were sopping wet.

Map marked, lunch made, glider programmed, route planned, we were back to grid squatting as the sky was still overcast and dark.

Launching was delayed through 13:30, 14:00 and finally started at 14:15 as the weather brightened up, with the Standard Class and we were stream launched directly afterwards. 

I was able to stay airborne without too much difficulty, in fact the main problem was the sheer number of gliders milling around the start line waiting for it to open, and at times, there were gliders far too close for comfort.  I started at 15:42 with Liz and Ayala starting shortly after me, but they decided to return back to the start and re-start again.

I had no problem flying to the first sector and even managed to fly further into the sector than I’d originally planned, mainly to take advantage of a cloud street.  The potential problem area would be the second sector, but in fact I managed to find suitable thermals, but this is where Claudia and Ayala ended up landing out. 

I flew out of the second sector into a problem area; Liz and Helen ad caught up with me and I followed them out of the sector, but as I was already lower than them, I found myself in an area of poor lift and really struggled just to stay airborne.  The others continued on their way as I drifted inexorably towards the final sector.  Eventually I was able to make my way under a decent looking cloud, and I was able to enter the sector and climb up to 3500ft which gave me more than enough height to return to the airfield and complete the task in 2:21 hours.  At least I’d managed to get back home, but it wasn't a particularly fast time.

I need to keep working on my speed between thermals, because what I’m finding is that the Cirrus is much noisier than the Mosquito and I tend to fly far too slowly.  I guess I need many more hours in the Cirrus before I’ll finally feel completely at home in it.

Issoudun Monday 9 July 2012

Today was overcast when I woke up, and worse than that, the Boulanger did not come this morning!  Michael was so disappointed.

We had breakfast and then decided to rig the Cirrus in preparation for gridding ahead of briefing.  Once at the trailer, it dawned on me that we only had one wing trestle, the second one was not in the trailer, nor inside the car.  We must have left it in the field the night before….This was not a complete disaster, but it would be a loss of a very good trestle that we had only just had professionally made for us in Germany.  So we decided to put the wings and tail on the glider, then Steve would drive back the 65 kilometres back to the field with Michael to search for the trestle.  Whilst they did this, I prepared the glider and Liz very kindly helped me put it in position on the grid with her car.

Back at the camp site, we were all discussing the previous day, and my phone rang, it was Steve, he had been rushing back to the airfield and in the process was caught speeding by the Gendarme and was therefore now following the police vehicle to the nearest cashpoint so he could withdraw 90 Euros to pay the speeding fine.  More haste less speed sprang to mind. 

It was almost briefing time and Steve called me again; he had tried to withdraw cash from 3 cash machines and his card had been refused at all three; great.  We had already had one experience of the card not working, had already phoned the Bank who had sworn that Steve’s Mastercard had not been affected or stopped.  He couldn’t talk anymore and hung up on me.

At briefing an Assigned Area Task of 2:30 hours was set.  Still no sign of Steve.  It was now 11:45 and first launch was due at 13:00.  I had programmed the instruments in the glider and got as much ready as I could, but I would still prefer to know that he was OK before I took off.

A short while later, Steve and Michael arrived at the airfield.  He’d been able to leave his Driver’s Licence with the Policeman and had some strict instructions to meet him again on the A20 near McDonalds where he would be holding the next speed trap.

Steve did make it to the Police Officer and duly paid his fine…  He also called the Bank, who apologised profusely, as they had cancelled the incorrect bank card.  That certainly wasn’t helpful with the predicament that Steve was in at the time!

First launch was delayed as the weather was not very good. 

It was delayed a couple more times before I was launched at 14:45.  At least today, I was able to stay airborne even if the weather was not brilliant.  I climbed to 3500ft, was rained on, but still managed to start at 15:57, just before the rest of the British contingent.  I never quite managed to catch up with them though; they were always just that bit higher than me and further in front.  Today though, I did manage to fly round the whole task; I didn’t complete quite as much distance as the other Brits, mainly because when I got to Area 2, the weather didn’t look that good ahead and I decided to just pop into the sector and turn for the third area.

 I was pleased that I’d made it back, but knew that my speed wouldn’t be particularly fast, probably more average than anything.  Part of the problem was that I didn’t was to overdo it and end up in a field again.

We parked up the glider, scrubbed it down and put on the covers.  I then went into Issoudun town in order to fetch a McDonalds (at Michael’s request) and to purchase fuel.  We first stopped for fuel and we daringly tried out my credit card (same account as Steve’s), which thankfully worked fine.  We then stopped at McDonalds to purchase a meal, however my debit card would not be accepted.  The Bank had already admitted to stopping Steve’s credit card instead of his debit card in error, could they have stopped my debit card as well in error – perhaps cancelling mine instead of the one Steve lost?  (Hope you’re keeping up this this saga).

The end (hopefully) to this case, is that Michael found Steve’s ‘lost’ debit card in the car beneath the passenger seat…

Go on then, hazard a guess, what else could go wrong?  I bet you couldn’t even make up a better story than this.

Issoudun Sunday 8 July 2012

Today dawned cloudy and very windy after an incredible night of thunderstorms with lightening that lit up the whole sky, thunder that rumbled through the airbed, and rain and wind that tilted the tent over sideways.

As usual, we were woken by the horn from the Boulanger Van which drives around the campsite every morning at 06:50 and rather rudely wakes us all up.  I do however get up each morning at this time in order to buy my bread, just like a true Parisian!  Michael has taken a particular liking to the Pain au chocolate and croissants that are made fresh daily.

We decided to rig the Cirrus just ahead of the rain and then went along to the 10:30 briefing.  A triangular task of 209 km was set.  We waited for the last of the incoming togs to land and then placed the Cirrus on the grid – we were the first out on the grid today, not surprising really looking at the windy and overcast skies.  Today I was on the second row at the back of the grid, behind the 18m Class and the open Class, then at the back of the Feminine Nationals, so I knew it would be a while before I was launched even once they started.

Eventually the call came over the airband radio that one of the classes was scrubbed (Open Class) and that they’d be re-briefing the task for the 18m Class.  A short while later, they re-briefed us on the front of the grid; this time we received an Assigned Area Task with a minimum time of 1:30 hours.

It was a late start and I was launched at 15:30, but I had great difficulty in getting sufficient height in order to be able to go through the start line, and frustratingly, I could hear all the other GB ladies starting.  Eventually, 45 minutes later, I gave up and landed for a re-light.  The sky looked better and this time I was able to climb and to make a start at 16:45. 

I headed up a cloud street behind a couple of other gliders and had what I thought was a reasonable run, until I turned in lift and then saw Issoudun airfield not that far away – the wind was so strong I was struggling into wind to gain any distance at all.  I continued on and on, had a couple of low spots and eventually found myself working carefully along a cloud street towards the Western area,  I only needed to clip inside the area, then I could turn downwind and rapidly make it to the second area, then home.  But no matter how hard I tried, maybe I chose the wrong route, maybe I’m not used to the performance of the Cirrus, but I couldn’t get myself into the zone.  I lost more height and along with a Libelle nearby, found myself in a small thermal, struggling at 1000ft as I watched the Libelle land in a field.  I had already picked my field but I was determined to get away if at all possible.  I was so low, I was literally flying around some kind of mast or aerial.  Eventually the lift picked up and I climbed to 1500ft and headed into wind.  Down at 800ft now, I found another area of lift and started to climb, but the drift across the ground was ridiculous and I decided I was being stupid to continue to try and decided to land instead. 

The field was a stubble field and I flew over wires and standing crop in order to get low enough to touch down early in the field as there were telegraph poles across the field.  I touched down and rolled to a stop – it was a little bumpy and stoney, but it wasn’t a problem.  I was however bitterly disappointed as I’d heard the rest of the GB women getting home.

I walked around the field to try and find the entrance and after a short while, a white van stopped and a Frenchman asked me if everything was OK.  I tried in my school-girl French to explain that I’d landed my glider in a field, that I was OK and that my crew was on its way, however, gliding, planes, landouts in fields etc. were words that were not a part of the teaching I received at school and I resorted to good old fashioned pen and paper in the end to explain my predicament.  Eventually, as I continued my walk around the field, I came across two entrances over the ditch that surrounded the whole field, made a note of them and returned to the glider.  I gave Jennifer a call on the way back to talk about my situation and she informed me that Andy Murray was in the process of being beaten by Federa at Wimbledon.  Two minutes later and she texted me to say that Murray had lost. 

After an hour and a half had past, Steve and Michael arrived with the trailer and we de-rigged and finally arrived back at Issoudun at 21:30. I learnt on the way that one of the female Libelle pilots had crashed her glider on the edge of the airfield in an attempt to get back to site, and she had been rushed by ambulance to hospital.

Shenington Regionals Sunday 1 July 2012

Last night’s 1940s Hangar Party was a great success!  Many people had taken the opportunity to dress appropriately, there was a 6-piece band as well as male and female dance instructors who bravely attempted to teach us steps of the time.  Some succeeded more than others in achieving this!



Steve took Michael to Badminton training in Thatcham today, so it was up especially early for me today and out for a walk with Django.  The sky was amazing – it was crystal clear and very blue; even the strange orb known as the sun put in an appearance and I managed to capture it on the camera behind a tree.

Worryingly, the wind was still pretty strong, I estimated it to be about 20 knots from the South West and not easing as stated in the BBC weather forecast.  Additionally, wisps of scudding cloud were already beginning to form at 06:30…not a good sign.

Briefing was held at 10:30 and everyone was requested to grid beforehand.  Two tasks were set: Task A was a 113.1km Shenington – Worcester – Cherington – Banbury West – Shenington (EDG-WOR-CGT-BA1-EDG).  First launch was set for 12:30.

Steve and I went back to packing up the tent and caravan in preparation for departure form Shenington whilst we waited for first launch.

The sky darkened as the clouds over-developed, spread-out and whizzed past the airfield.  Rain could be seen at various points on the horizon, yet the Director held on and delayed the first launch time several times.  The wind was relentless – cold and very tiring and it was best to be indoors somewhere out of it; this was concurred by Django who snuggled up inside the caravan.

A Snifter was launched and reported back on reasonable thermal climbs but a cloudbase of 2200; this combined with a wind speed of 27 knots at 2000ft makes for difficult, if not impossible cross countries, especially in the smaller gliders.

Eventually, after much hesitation, the Director decided to scrub the day at 15:30. 

So that was it – one competition day…just like Lasham…

What’s next?  Well it’s back to work for a few days, then re-pack everything again and shoe-horn it into the car with a big tent for a trip to Issoudun in France to fly as a part of the British Team Squad in the Women’s Nationals competition.

Watch this space!

Shenington Regionals Saturday 30 June 2012

I took this photograph last night, looking towards the West at about 19:00.  You can clearly see the formation of the lenticular wave bars due to the strength of the wind.

Early this morning there was a tremendous, heavy downpour of rain that bounced off the aluminium roof of the caravan and woke us up.  As I walked Django, the sky was around 6/8ths cloud and through the gaps you could again see the wave bars.  I judged the wind to be South West 20-25kts (hence you can see the glider tied down and ballasted).

Briefing was held at 11:00 at which the Met Man gave an interesting overview of Thursday’s weather in that there had been 13 fronts (warm/cold/occluded/trough) across the country during the one day…most unusual.  The cause of all of this appears to be the Jet Stream which is much further South than normal and which is causing many more Lows to be sweeping across the country, bringing the wet and windy weather.

The weather for today was forecast to be very windy, at times sunshine and at other times showery.  A task of 81.2km was set – Edgehill – Watford Gap – Northampton West – Edgehill (EDG-WAT-NOW-EDG).

We were to be gridded in the 8 acre field, but then pulled out onto the short hard runway to be launched.  This was an attempt to launch further into wind and to avoid the curl over problems associated with the previous day, but there’s not enough room for all 30 gliders to be pre-gridded on the short runway.

I elected to go to the back of the grid, and here you can see JEV beneath the rather turbulent looking sky.

First launch was delayed and a Snifter was launched.  The snifter managed to stay airborne, but rapidly drifted away and found it difficult in the gusty conditions.  The launch was delayed and delayed further until a re-brief was called at the front of the grid.  The Director had been informed by the Met Man that there were two troughs approaching us, one just to the South of us and one in Wales heading in our direction.  The plan was to re-task and hopefully launch us after the first and before the second trough.  The new task was now 83.3km Edgehill – Bidford – Deddingtopn – Banbury West – Edgehill (EDG-BID-DED-BA1-EDG).  Launch was duly delayed for 30 minutes, but the Director didn’t take into account the timing for the approaching trough which hit us and dumped a load of rain across the airfield which then created much dead air. 

The launch was delayed, delayed again and again, until eventually the day was scrubbed at 16:00.  A few pilots elected to fly anyway.

Tonight is the Shenington Gliding Club 1940s Hangar Dance.  I’m not much of a dancer at all, but I’m really looking forward to it!  I will report on how it all went tomorrow….

As regards the weather for tomorrow, well we are all hoping the wind will reduce in speed and that it will dry out a little.  Only time will tell…

Shenington Regionals June 27-28-29 2012

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Well apparently, it’s the second wettest June on records, and we are not at the end of June yet – it therefore could be the wettest ever recorded!

Wednesday dawned dreadfully gloomy as I walked Django.

We were told to rig and grid in the ‘8 acre’ field which we all did, but the weather was not to materialise and eventually after many delays, the day was scrubbed.

The best I could make of it was a run that I did around the village and the airfield, so at least I managed to complete 5kms!

Thursday 28 June 2012

It was really, very hot and humid all day today.  A formal briefing was held at 11:00 today.  The Met Man gave his best performance, but the material he had to present was poor from a gliding perspective.  As soon as he’d finished, an inflatable shark emerged from behind the screen and motored its way around the hangar – what a sight!  Highlight of the day as it was scrubbed.  Sadly, the day improved dramatically during the afternoon and it was probably suitable for a short task. 

Friday 29 June 2012

The briefing today was progressively put back one hour after the other.  At 15:00, there was a sudden flurry of activity and a briefing was hurriedly held at 15:10.  You could tell it was hurried as they re-used  the previous day’s task of 84km from Shenington to Wescott and return (EDG-WEC-EDG).  The wind was howling from a South-West direction and we were required to grid at the Northern end of the field.  This would put us in a position whereby the take-off run would be behind the ‘bund’ around the Karting track.

I had already commented to one of the organisers that I thought that the curl-over from the bank and the cross wind would be too near the limits for some of the tugs.

The view on the grid at 16:00 looked terrific – however, what you don’t get the impression from the image above is the wind strength.

A Snifter was launched and he and the tug pilot reported back that the launch was extremely rough due to the curl-over from the bank.  Shortly after that, the Director scrubbed the day.

So all in all, a pretty awful three days. 

I’ve spent all the time that we were not rigging/gridding/de-gridding, completing the knitted tank top that will form a part of Steve’s fancy dress for the 1940s Hangar Party that will be held on Saturday evening.  I never want to see a knitting needle again for quite some time…..

Shenington Regionals – Tuesday 26 June 2012

As I walked Django first thing this morning, the first thing you noticed was the temperature – it was already a very warm 12 degrees Celsius.

The sky however, was already 8/8ths strato-cumulus.

And the view towards the hill to the West of the airfield did not improve matters.

At briefing at 10:00 the Met Man described an oncoming warm front which would only thicken the cloud further and therefore reduce any opportunity for thermals.

The Director therefore scrubbed the day.

Shenington Regionals Sunday 24 & Monday 25 June 2012

Sunday 24 June 2012

Sunday’s weather was declared unsuitable for flying by the Met Man and the day was duly scrubbed.  Other forecasts I had seen all indicated that it would brighten up in the afternoon, and sure enough it did and it was glorious….But once a day has been scrubbed that’s it, there’s no going back.  I’m certain there were several pilots cursing under their breath, but I did speak to one pilot who flew who said that he anyway, was unable to stay airborne without using his engine.  So maybe the Met Man was forgiven after all.

Monday 25 June 2012

It was my turn to fly and we duly placed the Cirrus on the grid as requested by the Director of the competition.

At briefing, the Met Man described a lot of top cover with the possibility of a 3500ft cumulus cloud base and potentially 3 knot thermals.  He stressed that the weather would cut off very early in the day at around 15:00 – 16:00, so it would be important to get started early.

The Task Setter set an Assigned Area Task from Shenington to Tewkesbury, Silverstone and home, with a 20km radius circle around Tewkesbury and a 70km ‘wedge’ at Silverstone.  The time set to complete the task was 2.5 hours.  The idea behind this was that the task would be ‘even’ for the large spread in handicap of the gliders…I was not too sure, because the weather was not all that good, I felt that it would be advantageous to the ‘big ships'.

Maps marked, instruments programmed and I was ready on the grid, but the ‘Snifter’ was not reporting back particularly good thermals at all.  I therefore made the decision with Steve to pull out of the 6^th row of the grid and go to the back.  This would hopefully allow more time for the better weather to develop.

I launched behind a powerful Cub tug at midday and released at 2000ft.  It was hard.  The cloud base was 2200ft and thermals very weak.  However, I managed to stay airborne and eventually the cloud base rose to 2800ft and I decided to make a start at 12:55.  I could see other gliders, all be it big ships ahead of me and I took the best route beneath the darker areas of cumulus.  I was getting 1.5 – 2kt thermals and the working band was 2500 – 2000.  I tip-toed my way to the West, over the ridge and out towards Evesham.  I suddenly got my best climb of the day – a 4 knot thermal and took it to 3500ft before heading further West, before finally turning back inside the first sector to head Eastwards just South West of Evesham, in the hope I could pick up the same thermal on the way back; no chance, it had gone.

I continued in straight lines getting lower and lower, only finding small climbs and found myself back at Shenington.  I could have easily landed there, but decided to carry on to the East to try and get into the second zone.  But it didn’t look good ahead at all as it was completely overcast and therefore little heat on the ground.  I flew over Banbury and found a small climb and continued East of Banbury.   I could see a hopeful line of some lift, but it was in the direction of Hinton in the Hedges which was a prohibited zone for the competition.  I pushed on, but realised that there was nothing ahead and that I’d have to turn back to try and get some lift.  I picked out a couple of fields, one of which was next to a road, but had cattle in it, but it still looked the most promising.  The fields at the moment are fully cropped and the only hope is a cut silage field, and with all the wet and windy weather recently, there’s not many of those.  Additionally in this area, there is a huge amount of ridge and furrow fields which are unlandable.

I turned to fly over a small village and was able to find small amounts of lift.  But no matter how hard I tried, it became obvious I was going to have to land out.  I finally chose a field that looked like silage, but with a slightly rougher texture.  On the approach, I’d have to overfly the pylons, descend, fly the approach over a road and roundout slightly uphill.  I touched down, opened the airbrakes fully and rolled to a stop.

The field turned out to be a set-aside field, I think it was last year’s oilseed rape which had grown a huge amount of thistles and when I spoke to the farmer he said that he’d cut the field recently and sprayed it with weedkiller.

I called Steve and he set on his way to retrieve me with the Land Rover and trailer.

As I waited, a large wedge of blue sky arrived, the temperature rose and beautiful cumulus clouds developed…..if only I could have stayed up long enough for that patch to arrive.

There was a very pretty poppy field next to where I landed, from which you can also see the development of the cumulus cloud.  So the Met Man was wrong in his prediction of the day ending early, it did in fact continue well into the evening.

On perusing the day’s results later, it was as I expected; the conditions were better for the big ships and those gliders with flaps able to glide larger distances.  The highest placed ‘small wings’ came in 12^th place and I finished in 16^th place. 

So, here we are on our second Gliding Regionals of the year.  It is at Shenington which is an airfield near Banbury in Oxfordshire.  We’ve already pre-sited the caravan and tent, so it was a relatively easy arrival late Friday evening.

Saturday morning we rigged the Cirrus and went to briefing at 10:00.  It was already windy, though not raining, well not raining yet anyway, and the forecast was not particularly hopeful. 

The competition consists of 30 pilots and the handicap spread is from 89 to 116 points, with the cirrus at 90, we are second from lowest.  The problem may be that the handicap spread is too large for one contest group, which is how the organisation has arranged it (rather than splitting it into two groups).

Never-the-less we were called to set up a kind of ‘pre-grid’ on the disused runway, from where we would formally grid the gliders when the Director declared it time to grid. 

A short 90km task from Shenington to Northampton West, Northampton South and back to Shenington was set, with large turning sectors at both points to give pilots a chance to avoid the forecast showers.

The first launch was scheduled for 12:30, then 13:00, then 14:00, but the sky was progressively turning darker and looking more menacing, and eventually, the day was scrubbed.  Many gliders were left rigged and parked up, and we put the covers on the Cirrus because heavy rain was forecast overnight.

By the time we’d packed up all the gliding kit, it was 15:00 and I decided to go for a quick run through Shenington Village and around the airfield.  I did just over 5km, but it was very pleasant. 

The Club Members at Shenington are great at arranging events, and in the evening, they had a pig roast which was very good indeed. 

From the weather forecast, the weather looks slightly brighter for tomorrow, so fingers crossed, we should get airborne.

Lasham Regionals - Tuesday 5 June 2012

I’ve discovered that it’s very difficult writing a flying blog when there is little flying….

Today’s briefing was delayed until 11:00, at which point the organisers scrubbed the day for all classes.  The photo below shows the weather conditions on the grid where the Open Class had left their gliders out overnight.

Considering we are not flying, we are still managing to spend money like it’s gone out of fashion.  So far we purchased a new phone for Steve (as previously mentioned), and today, a new airbed for the tent (the last one went down every night even though it is less than a year old), and we also purchased a new leisure battery for the caravan because a cell went down.

How do you spend your time when not flying?  Well besides shopping for replacement goods, in my case it’s making fancy dress items at the moment.  We will be flying in the Shenington Regionals at the end of the month at which they are holding a 1940s Hangar party.  So it has been fun trying to find the necessary fancy dress items to match.  I’ve sorted a 1940s style dress, purchased some shoes from a charity shop and today I managed to finish knitting a maroon beret which will have to do for a hat for me. 

Steve has already purchased a couple of WWII gas masks (genuine articles!) and today we purchased a flat cap for him.  I am now knitting him a tank-top to go over a white shirt.  Hopefully when I’ve finished, we’ll look like a couple from the lower classes attending the dance.

Here’s hoping for some knitting time if there's no flying tomorrow!

Lasham Regionals - Monday 4 June 2012

Yet another rainy night ensued, but at least mobile phones were safely stored.  This was the view on my morning walk with Django:-

mmm…not particularly hopeful, but at least the weather forecast was giving some hope that it might brighten up during the day.  Surely it can’t be as bad a yesterday can it?  I felt sorry for the Queen as she sat aboard her boat gently cruising down the Thames yesterday for her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in all the rain. Anyhow, it didn’t seem to bother Django too much this morning as we walked around the Peri-Track.  He refuses to walk through puddles and rarely will go out in the rain, so it can be a battle to get him to walk in the rain at all!  However, this morning it had ceased to rain as we walked and it gave me the rare opportunity to take a photograph of him on the ‘piano keys’ on the Lasham runway 27.

Briefing was delayed until 11:00 and all gliders were requested to grid in preparation for a possible launch.  With a temperature now around 10 degrees Celsius due to the Northerly wind, we were all feeling the cold.

At briefing, two tasks were set for the B Class Regionals:- Task A - 156km Marlborough, Kingston Bagpuize, Lasham West, Lasham (Start LA4-MAR-KSB-LA5-LAS). Task B – 106km Four Marks, Andover SW, Hungerford, Lasham West, Lasham (Start LA4-FMA-AND-HUN-LA5-LAS).  We then proceeded to Grid-Squat.

Whenever we can take him to the launch point Django comes with us, and he’s pretty well behaved.  I have noticed that he is perfectly happy wandering around the gliders looking for scraps of food… (I keep a wary eye on him to make sure he doesn’t tiddle up the fin of an expensive glider), but he is reluctant to sit on the runway as I presume it makes his delicate bottom too cold!  He’s the same at home and won’t sit on the kitchen floor and prefers to sit on the Dining Room carpet watching me prepare the meals.

13:00 went by, 14:00 went by and then we were called to the front of the grid at 15:00 for a re-brief.  All the tasks were changed.  The Regionals B Class now had the minimum permissible, an 80km task from Lasham to Newbury south, Yattenden, Lasham West and back to Lasham (LA4-NES-YTT-LA5-LAS).  The map was duly re-marked and instruments re-programmed just as a huge darkening cloud approached and proceeded to dump a load of rain on us all.

As we were wiping off the wings, the Director scrubbed the 15m Class Nationals for the day.  Curiously, they then decided to move the A Class Regionals onto the grass to launch.  20 minutes later they scrubbed the Open Class Nationals and we were still sitting on the runway awaiting our fate as they started to launch the A Class – it was now 17:00!!!  Sure enough, the B Class Regionals was eventually scrubbed for the day.

Believe it or not, some of the A Class Regionals completed their 108km task – well done to them all – a real achievement.  Results can be seen at this link:- http://www.soaringspot.com/lasreg12/

Lasham Regionals - Sunday 3 June 2012

It rained and rained overnight, not heavy rain, but a steady drizzle, the type of rain that you walk in and become really wet without realising it!.

I climbed out of bed in the tent and spotted a puddle on the floor of the ground sheet in the external part, complete with Steve’s Blackberry phone sitting in the bottom of it.  I picked it up and it miserably dribbled water from the case; pretty much a lost cause. 

As Lasham were providing text information to the ‘first pilot’, which in this case was Steve, we called in at Lasham Control to report the problem and have the text service transferred to my phone.  The briefing was moved from 10:00 to 12:00 and we set off to Basingstoke in an effort to purchase a new phone.  In the meantime, the drying out of the phone by towel, blow heater etc. appeared to have worked and the phone temporarily returned to life, only to die again just as we were called to the 12:00 briefing.  We returned to Lasham just as the briefing was moved to 13:00.  So a further dash to Basingstoke in an attempt to purchase a new phone again.  Why so anxious to buy a new phone?  Well it’s so that Steve could call me directly should he land out in a field.  Not quite sure why he was so desperate; in the ‘good old days’, the mobile phones never existed and we used to have to firstly search for a house, then a house that was inhabited with a tenant that would let you use their phone to call base.  It was much more exciting in those days, you used to get special treatment from the farmers and householders with tea and cakes!

Anyway, second attempt to purchase a phone found us in a shop as I received a text message to say that the day was scrubbed.

Steve is now armed with a new (well second hand) phone that he’s going to have to learn how to use…

The weather was so rubbish today that I didn’t even bother to take a photo outside, I did however take one of Django chilling out inside the caravan.  Clearly he needs more walks……

A return back to home once more after picking up Django from the caravan yet again, enabled me to go out for a run of 5.47km (my new hobby) to get some ‘me time’ and hopefully to get me fit too.  I was pleased with my pace time as I hadn’t run for over a week due to work travel (this was the positive for today!).  Now all we can do is wait and see what tomorrow brings.

Lasham Regionals - Saturday 2 June 2012

It’s the gliding competition season yet again and I’m kicking it off by competing with Steve in the Lasham Regionals this year alongside the open Class Nationals and the 15 Metre Class Nationals.  There are a lot of glider pilots!  We’re hoping for some great weather following last week’s high temperatures, looking at the BBC Weather however…. it doesn’t look at all promising.

As I’d been travelling on business in the USA the previous week, Steve had already set up our base at Lasham with the caravan and a small tent to sleep in that we’d borrowed from Michael. 

We arrived on Friday evening and rigged the glider in preparation for the competition.  We now have a Cirrus 75, which is a 16m standard glider that we’d purchased directly after the end of the Women’s World Gliding Championships in an effort that I could fly in a similar handicapped glider as the other world-class pilots in future competitions.  We’ve managed to fly the Cirrus on a few occasions this year, but this would be the first competition that we’d have the opportunity to really push it (and us) to the limits.  When we bought it, the surface finish was in a particularly poor state, so we decided to pay for the whole glider to be refinished in paint, however, this could not be completed in time prior to the competition season, so just the top surface of the wings was completed in an attempt to provide a smooth, drag-free surface.  Not even the ailerons were re-finished because that would have entailed re-weighing of the glider, so it does look rather peculiar at the moment.  But we shall have to live with it until the end of the gliding season now.

Saturday dawned rather misty and certainly not flyable as I walked Django.  Briefing was delayed until 10:30 and a first-day briefing was provided.  The Met Man gave us all an unpromising forecast for the day; we all left the briefing rather demoralised. 

A shout over the tanoy had the Open Class and 15m Class scrubbed and the Regionals (Classes A and B) scurrying to the grid in what still appeared to be rather unlikely conditions.  At briefing, they set an 80km task for the Regionals from Lasham to Petersfield, Whitchurch, round LA5 and home (LAS-PTW-WH2-LA5-LAS). 

Still with grey skies and a cloudbase barely reaching 2000ft, class A was launched.  After a 20 minutes gap, Class B were launched into an even less promising sky.  There were a few relights, not as many as I’d expected and I returned back to the caravan to listen to Steve on the radio. 

I managed to do the washing up and blow up a few balloons (for the Jubilee decorations!) when Steve called up to say he was landing back on the airfield.  He wasn’t the first, nor the last.  There were a handful of landouts, but everyone else returned to the airfield; it was a non-comp day.

So a scrub-down of the glider and refitting of the covers took place.  That evening, we decided to eat in the restaurant at Lasham where we both had a very enjoyable roast beef dinner - there are positives in every day; you just have to find them!