Gliding: Diary 2012

Diary 2012

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.

2011 <- | 2012

2012 Gliding Pictures

Thursday 2nd February 2012	I picked today to go as the forecast soundings looked interesting with the possibility of 0C on the ground giving thermals to over 3000 feet. I woke up to unusually dry air for the time of year. Crystal clear and no frost despite it being -2C. I had a nice smooth drive to the airfield where it was -3C on arrival and a fresh icy cold breeze. Brr! 6 layers of clothing kept me cosy though. I picked SH4 in the ballot as it was in its trailer (not in the hanger buried this time) and SH7 was U/S too. Another pilot helped me rig after breakfast and we shared the glider. We were launching from the medium runway 23 as it was a brisk 15kt Northeasterly wind. The other pilot had a go first and found weak lift to the East of the launch point just beyond the wood. I then took the glider and managed 1500 feet on my first winch launch at 11:48. I went to the area where the other pilot had soared but found no useable thermals although there was a definite hint of instability. I landed after 6 minutes. I launched again at 12:13 to 1550 feet and went to the same area. This time I found weak lift in a street along the line of a small ridge aligned into wind, downwind of a dark field. There were 2-4kt gusts and I was able to surf my way slowly to 2200 feet from about 1300 feet, turning tightly to stay in it as the lift was very narrow. At flying height the wind was a gale force 31kts according to the ClearNav, and indeed I did drift rapidly. When I started to get downwind of the launch point I pushed upwind along the line of the ridge, staying in lift. Eventually though the lift died and became heavy sink, and I came down fairly rapidly to land after 20 minutes. The other pilot then took over again and had a similar flight, landing after 17 minutes. Then there was a break for lunch. I was first up after lunch at 14:20, launching to 1650 feet, where I found weak broken lift, and managed to gain about 50 feet before falling down after 10 minutes. So a pleasant day despite the raw conditions, and good to practice in a stronger wind too. I then handed the glider over to another different pilot and headed home to warm up at 15:30.
Friday 6th January 2012	The roads were quieter than normal today. That was nice. Although I haven't missed getting up before dawn. I got to the airfield around 7:40 and went to the caravan to attach the solar panel before returning to the clubhouse. It was good to check all was ok after the recent storms too. (I heard some trailers got blown over even despite being tied down!) At breakfast time I was happy to get SH7 out again but another pilot wanted to rig and fly a Discus. So we paired up and got SH2 out. Having paid my membership renewal after breakfast, I flew it first while he got a check flight done. Nice to fly a Discus again! Although the 2 winch launches were only to 900 feet (short run for some reason) leaving me with just 4 and 5 minutes in the air respectively. I landed nicely on the runway, rolling to a halt right by the launchpoint. I then took an aerotow to 3000 feet to get some more time aloft. The vis was surprisingly poor but it was silky smooth aloft down to 6-700 feet. I landed after 25 minutes, after which I handed the glider over to the other pilot. I then headed to the clubhouse for lunch. Some scraggy cumulus formed but never looked that convincing. By 2pm it clouded over anyway as a warm front approached. After lunch I spent time cleaning the caravan before heading home as it got dark.

Thursday 2nd February 2012

I picked today to go as the forecast soundings looked interesting with the possibility of 0C on the ground giving thermals to over 3000 feet. I woke up to unusually dry air for the time of year. Crystal clear and no frost despite it being -2C. I had a nice smooth drive to the airfield where it was -3C on arrival and a fresh icy cold breeze. Brr! 6 layers of clothing kept me cosy though. I picked SH4 in the ballot as it was in its trailer (not in the hanger buried this time) and SH7 was U/S too. Another pilot helped me rig after breakfast and we shared the glider.

We were launching from the medium runway 23 as it was a brisk 15kt Northeasterly wind. The other pilot had a go first and found weak lift to the East of the launch point just beyond the wood. I then took the glider and managed 1500 feet on my first winch launch at 11:48. I went to the area where the other pilot had soared but found no useable thermals although there was a definite hint of instability. I landed after 6 minutes. I launched again at 12:13 to 1550 feet and went to the same area. This time I found weak lift in a street along the line of a small ridge aligned into wind, downwind of a dark field. There were 2-4kt gusts and I was able to surf my way slowly to 2200 feet from about 1300 feet, turning tightly to stay in it as the lift was very narrow. At flying height the wind was a gale force 31kts according to the ClearNav, and indeed I did drift rapidly. When I started to get downwind of the launch point I pushed upwind along the line of the ridge, staying in lift. Eventually though the lift died and became heavy sink, and I came down fairly rapidly to land after 20 minutes. The other pilot then took over again and had a similar flight, landing after 17 minutes. Then there was a break for lunch. I was first up after lunch at 14:20, launching to 1650 feet, where I found weak broken lift, and managed to gain about 50 feet before falling down after 10 minutes.

So a pleasant day despite the raw conditions, and good to practice in a stronger wind too. I then handed the glider over to another different pilot and headed home to warm up at 15:30.

Friday 6th January 2012

The roads were quieter than normal today. That was nice. Although I haven't missed getting up before dawn. I got to the airfield around 7:40 and went to the caravan to attach the solar panel before returning to the clubhouse. It was good to check all was ok after the recent storms too. (I heard some trailers got blown over even despite being tied down!)

At breakfast time I was happy to get SH7 out again but another pilot wanted to rig and fly a Discus. So we paired up and got SH2 out. Having paid my membership renewal after breakfast, I flew it first while he got a check flight done. Nice to fly a Discus again! Although the 2 winch launches were only to 900 feet (short run for some reason) leaving me with just 4 and 5 minutes in the air respectively. I landed nicely on the runway, rolling to a halt right by the launchpoint. I then took an aerotow to 3000 feet to get some more time aloft. The vis was surprisingly poor but it was silky smooth aloft down to 6-700 feet. I landed after 25 minutes, after which I handed the glider over to the other pilot.

I then headed to the clubhouse for lunch. Some scraggy cumulus formed but never looked that convincing. By 2pm it clouded over anyway as a warm front approached. After lunch I spent time cleaning the caravan before heading home as it got dark.

2011 <- | 2012