Now that the entire club fleet has FLARM fitted, we are learning.

Some of us have been concerned to see gliders near by, but without any light illuminated.
Here is an early lesson: it isn't radar.
Those lights indicate threats, not other gliders.
so -
- a glider nearby that is not threatening you = no light
- a glider at some distance, but heading for you = light

Saturday fair zipped along.
Although overcast for much of the day, the sky underneath was nice and clear, 4 cables were on the go and plenty of members around to do 60 launches.
Later on, the cloud rolled back to reveal sparkling skies and promise a great Sunday.
It didn't quite work out that way.

Sunday's weather was certainly gorgeous: utterly blue sky and lots of thermals.
Trouble is, we broke a winch cable*, then the tug tow rope, then one winch, than another.

Oh well, next weekend should be better - although we will only be flying on Sunday.

Welcome Back
Two members have returned from active service in Afghanistan - Jim and Nikolaus.  Wonderful to have you back with us, safe and well.

* Older readers will be puzzled by the reference to a cable breaking: they used to be routine and rarely held us up for more than a few minutes.
These days, however, our superb equipment makes them very rare indeed.  Sunday's first hiccup involved remembering how to go about mending it.

The Falke's back!
Wednesday afternoon's flying was livened up no end by having the Falke back in action, both towing and providing general fun.
It has taken quite a while, and we are grateful for support from a widely spread selection of engineers.

Saturday looked like an absolutely brilliant day for soaring, however the petrol-heads were using the airfield for motorsports so we were unable to fly.  However, with some spare time Oscar spent the day working on the winches and the other MT vehicles to ensure that when we do fly that everything is running smoothly.  I’m sure that he would very much appreciate some help if anyone is looking for something to do.  Also, the Discus (547) is now sporting a LX7007 vario system with FLARM, there are manuals available for anyone wishing to learn to use these systems to their advantage. The K18 (R32) has now been fitted with a shiny new tailskid with a hole in it, thus the tow out kit can be used once again.

Sunday proved to be a glorious day for the time of year with flights exceeding an hour, with good cloud streeting and the cloud base eventually reaching in excess of 2,200ft, it was good to see the buzzards soaring again.  The Janus was rigged and flown after its annuals and the turbo tested.  We also had a trial lesson who entirely enjoyed the experience especially with the brilliant visibility on the day.  During Sunday we also had a couple of conversions, Andy L converted to the K18 and Ken B converted to the Discus, obviously there were some conversion beers afterwards.  In total we flew 48 flights with plenty of training and soaring, a good day in all.

Don’t forget it’s the AGM next Saturday and if you are attending and wish to eat please let Ali Arnold know, food is £10 a head.  We will also be having a short briefing for all those attending the Portmoak Expedition prior to the AGM.

The hunting debate did not generate the same emotion within Bannerdown as across the rest of the county.....
.... until this weekend.
Excluded from the airfield on Saturday afternoon so that the hunt could have sole use, the weather was gorgeous with crisp blue skies and sparkling air.  It is hard to think of anything more likely to turn glider pilot into hunt saboteur.

Still, with launch point set up and ready to go before dawn, we salvaged a fair bit of flying & very nice it was too.

Sunday was more overcast, but at least we had all day.

Nice weather - but on Saturday the hunt will have exclusive use of the airfield from noon.
Flying will still be available during the morning, but two things are needed:
- an early start.
- tell the duty instructor if you intend to join in (Ali A). She will stay in bed unless there are enough to make it worthwhile.

Sunday - let's fill our boots.

Thanks to Bob B for this report:
Today, with good weather all day, we achieved over 60 launches, with many satisfied pilots having more than three flights each. A lot of training flying and much solo flying was carried out. The good launch rate was achieved because we had both winches working, this means four cables at a time were brought down to the launch point only 15 times to serve 60 launches !  Many thanks to Oscar for prepping the winches, and to the winch drivers for the consistent launch rate !

Just four club gliders were flown today. An important message to all pilots is that now is the time to get current, to be ready for the new season - the  LS8 and the Janus could have made a good start to your 2010 logbook entries - but today were Hangar Queens  - so come out and use the excellent opportunities provided for you - and then you will not miss out on really exciting flights when the thermals really get going .... .

By the way, there was an EGM on Saturday: our annual policy discussion.  If anyone there can tell your correspondent what happened, it can be published here.

Normal?
Slightly damp, but distinctly flyable weather.
Lots of launches (33).
Brian P & Dave Pos making good use of quite a few thermals.
Plenty of training, but not quite enough instructors.
A C130 air drop later on made us put everything away in good time.
Even the deer are back on the airfield.