Gliding: Diary 2010

Diary 2008

Welcome to the diary page. If you want to see what I have been up to lately with my gliding then this is the place to look at. Every time I go gliding I will add an entry to this page. Note that Lasham is about 600 feet above sea level, so for example 2000 feet QNH / ASL is 1400 feet above Lasham.

2009 <- | 2010

2010 Gliding Pictures

Saturday 30th January 2010	I woke up to a dusting of snow on the car and road from an overnight trough but this cold artic air was forecast to produce some rare winter thermals. So I went to the airfield to try to catch some of them. I would have got SH4 out but the peri track was icy and nobody was around. (The deep snow from earlier in the month had all gone though.) SH2 was in the front of the hangar so I bagged that glider instead. It was covered in ice as apparently yesterday it had been snowed on which refroze on the wings and fuselage. That took a while to remove. Then after a DI got it towed to the launch point on the South end of the short runway. After a while Colin Short gave it a test flight (just had an annual). That was all fine. Then I winch launched at about 12:40pm after a brief delay because of issues with the straps. I got to 1100 feet on the short run but got away in thermals. It was a struggle. But there were 1-1.5kts of lift to be had at times. Much of the flight was spent below 1500 feet but I did spend some time as high as 2100 feet. I landed after 1 hour 47 minutes with rather cold feet (-3C at 2000 feet) and made a beeline for the clubhouse for a cup of tea. Then after collecting my gear and my down time from the launch point I washed the glider and put it baqck in the hangar before helping put other gliders and gear away. Then stayed for supper before going home. A very nice day for the time of year.
Saturday 2nd January 2010	A fairly standard crisp sunny winter's day today. No soaring to be had. I took Discus SH2 for 3 hops off the winch to stay current and practiced. After feeling rusty on 27th December I felt much sharper and current today so that was good. I also paid my annual membership which included the caravanage now that I own one. Was a cold day but the snow that was around in December had melted. (Of course more was to come the following week! A LOT more. Over a foot at Lasham. Shame I missed that...)

Saturday 30th January 2010

I woke up to a dusting of snow on the car and road from an overnight trough but this cold artic air was forecast to produce some rare winter thermals. So I went to the airfield to try to catch some of them. I would have got SH4 out but the peri track was icy and nobody was around. (The deep snow from earlier in the month had all gone though.) SH2 was in the front of the hangar so I bagged that glider instead. It was covered in ice as apparently yesterday it had been snowed on which refroze on the wings and fuselage. That took a while to remove. Then after a DI got it towed to the launch point on the South end of the short runway. After a while Colin Short gave it a test flight (just had an annual). That was all fine. Then I winch launched at about 12:40pm after a brief delay because of issues with the straps. I got to 1100 feet on the short run but got away in thermals. It was a struggle. But there were 1-1.5kts of lift to be had at times. Much of the flight was spent below 1500 feet but I did spend some time as high as 2100 feet. I landed after 1 hour 47 minutes with rather cold feet (-3C at 2000 feet) and made a beeline for the clubhouse for a cup of tea. Then after collecting my gear and my down time from the launch point I washed the glider and put it baqck in the hangar before helping put other gliders and gear away. Then stayed for supper before going home. A very nice day for the time of year.

Saturday 2nd January 2010

A fairly standard crisp sunny winter's day today. No soaring to be had. I took Discus SH2 for 3 hops off the winch to stay current and practiced. After feeling rusty on 27th December I felt much sharper and current today so that was good. I also paid my annual membership which included the caravanage now that I own one. Was a cold day but the snow that was around in December had melted. (Of course more was to come the following week! A LOT more. Over a foot at Lasham. Shame I missed that...)

2009 <- | 2010