Gliding 2014 Pictures


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Photos 28th December 2014

A pleasant days' winter flying to keep current. This time I took two aerotows.


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A strong inversion below me after aerotowing to 4000 feet. Preparing to aerotow again from the grass while a jet lands on the runway.

Photos 29th November 2014

Three fun winter flights off the winch with a lovely scenic view to the South.


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180 degree panorama of the launch point with SH3 2nd in the winch queue. The new hangar is coming along nicely. Waiting for a jet to be towed past (not a full scale movement) before launch.

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Spectacular hazy views to the South. Lasham Airfield from the Southeast. To the North it is obvious how strong the inversion is, and how hazy it is below.

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Back in the winch queue. Another great view as the lighting changes. Another view of the airfield from the East before I start my circuit. A K21 launching ahead of me. The sky above could make a pleasant desktop background.

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A K13 being launched by a Robin tug. Continuing to admire the view as the clouds slowly clear. Looking down at the temporary hangar on the South side where the training gliders are stored until the new hangar is complete.

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Looking down at the runway and North side from the Southeast, and beyond to the strong inversion. One more irresistable view to the South. Gossamer coats the airfield grass back on the ground.

Photos 5th October 2014

After a rotten summer's soaring overall, today wasa nice bonus soaring day. Nothing spectacular enough for cross country, but some lovely local soaring. Quite a challenge to stay up at times, but was rewarded with some spectacular cloudscapes later in the flight when a cloud climb took me above the clouds for a bit. I knew this would almost certainly be my last soaring flight for a long time. So I didn't want to come down at the end. 4 hours in October was pretty impressive.


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Thermals starting to form under top cover. Soaring above runway 27. Some nice cumulus over Alton to the South. Some curious wisps of pileus like cloud just above cloudbase.

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A gap in the top cover approaching from the West. Cumulus backlit by the sun. Soaring with a vintage glider. Heading for a nice cloud.

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Lasham Airfield from the Northeast. One of the other Discuses soaring below me. The launchpoint on runway 27 from the North-Northeast. Inspecting the scrappy clouds towards Basingstoke the North.

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Another nice cloud. Soaring with another vintage glider as the top cover gap arrives and conditions improve. A Red Kite above me. I don't normally see them this high. Beggarwood Woodland Park (Southwest Basingstoke) from the East.

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Having fun at cloudbase near Basingstoke. Spectacular views from above cloud after a cloud climb between Basingstoke and Aldermaston.

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More fun above cloudbase. Scotland Farm air strip near Hook. M3J5 from the Northeast. Enjoying the last of the larger clouds before they clear away.

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Fragmented clouds as the day gets late. Another vintage glider flying below me. Lasham Airfield from the Northwest.

Photos 7th September 2014

A vintage plane taking off at Lasham.


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Vintage plane.

Photos 16th August 2014

Compared to the last flight in July it was quite cold today. I wore a longsleeve in the air. It was only about 5C at cloudbase which felt quite cold under large amounts of spreadout. I managed 172km, flying to Membury, then up to Abingdon Bridge before retreating South to Welford then following a cloud street to Burbage before returning to Lasham and having a nose at the Spitfire that was close to the glider's trailer. An otherwise fairly unremarkable flight was made special by the fact that somewhere on the North side of Didcot I passed 1000 hours of total flying experience. That's been 20 years in the making!


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Combining 3 hobbies - gliding, motorbikes and photography. Big grid. And I'm right near the front of it, in front of the competition gliders. Hooked on ready to go as we all get chucked into the air at 11AM. It doesn't take long to reach cloudbase at 3400 feet above Lasham under a big flabby cumulus cloud. Further aerotow combinations streaming into the air below as 8 tugs do their stuff.

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The grid is still huge even after 20-30 gliders have been thrown into the air. Having fun at cloudbase as I set off towards Membury. To the North Didcot Power Station is clearly visible 50km away. With the demolished Southeast Towers missing. Pausing for lift near Kingsclere mast. With lots of spreadout I wanted to stay cautiously high. Following a nice street Northwestwards past Newbury. Looking North to Newbury and lovely cumulus.

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Hungerford from the East-Northeast. Turning MEM, the bridge over the M4 at Membury services. North is just right of down. Membury airfield and services from the North. Peering under a large cumulus full of lift towards Harwell and Didcot. Milton Park and Didcot Power Station from the Southeast. With 3 scars where the Southeast towers used to be.

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Milton Park and Didcot Power Station from the East. With 3 scars where the Southeast towers used to be. The ABN turnpoint, Abingdon Bridge over the Thames, from the Northwest. Another view of Didcot Power Station and part of Milton Park from the North as I reach 1000 hours. More cloudbase fun.

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120 degree panorama at cloudbase North of Didcot. Looking down at the WEL turnpoint, a spire at Welford, from the West-Northwest. Rivar Hill gliding club from the North-Northeast. Burbage from the South-Southeast.

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Views from above cloudbase after a 600 foot cloudclimb near Burbage. Back at Lasham Airfield, a Spitfire is being moved around. They are heavy beasts and need lots of muscles.

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A Yak at Lasham. Views in and around the Spitfire parked up at Lasham. It looks quite cramped in there. And there is no floor. If you drop a pen or your lunch in there it ends up down in the control rods.

Photos 26th July 2014

A slow start as top cover delayed heating and a high 26C was needed to get things going. I finally launched at 2pm. One of the first thermals of the day was a big 7 knotter to 5500 feet above the airfield. After rounding Burbage I wandered North up to Wantage. I was thinking of heading towards Bicester but I was running into the back of the top cover and it looked fairly dead that way. So I went Northwest to Faringdon before retreating Southwards to bigger clouds. In the Andover area it was rather overdeveloped and I struggled a bit before escaping under some epic cloudscapes. I local soared Lasham for a while after that before finishing as the thermals seemed to die off after 5pm. It was a hoit sweaty day on the ground but 10C at height was blissfully fresh and I didn't want to go back down. All good things have to come to an end though!


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Waiting for top cover to clear. Now in the air as the thermals get going. Burbage from the Southwest. The roundabout at the bottom is the BUB turnpoint. Heading North towards Wantage. Membury from the East. The MEM turnpoint is the centre of the services over the M4.

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Didcot Power Station from the Southwest (near Wantage). This is my last picture before the 3 towers to the right got demolished. Wantage from the South. Turning Faringdon. The FAR turnpoint is the roundabout at the bottom of the picture. North is up. Some nice clouds appearing as I head South again. Uffington White Horse from the Southwest.

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Passing another glider. Andover from the East. Spectacular cloudscapes as I struggle under overdeveloped spreadout conditions.

Photos 29th June 2014

Another small cross country area today. I manage to fit a 227km task in with Lasham - Didcot - Overton - Alton - Wantage - Lasham. The cloudscapes were again spectacular and made up for it almost being a no fly month.


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Having fun under big cloud streets as I set off from Lasham. Enjoying lovely conditions as I head North past Basingstoke. 180 degree panorama from wing to wing.

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More nice clouds. Keeping an eye on spreadout to the West as I head past Chievely. Big clouds with good lift underneath. Wantage from the Northwest. The turning point 'WAN' is the roundabout to the mid-left of the picture.

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Spectacular backlit clouds back in the Newbury area. More fun in the clouds before I complete my flight.

Photos 25th May 2014

After a long wait for a competition to launch I had a nice short cross country flight to Oxford and back before having fun in the clouds back near Lasham as lower cloud came in from the South.


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Heading Northwards on cross country. Didcot Power Station from the Southeast. Looking Northwards towards Oxford and Eastwards towards Chalgrove.

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Didcot Power Station from the North. . Super zoom shots of Harwell's particle accelerator from the East. Cloudscape near Harwell.

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Looking Northwards from Didcot. Me somewhere above the Didcot area. An event at Highclere Castle (between Whitchurch and Newbury). A supermarket in the Southwest corner of Basingstoke. Having fun around lower clouds back at Lasham.

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Having fun around lower clouds back at Lasham. 360 degree panorama attempt near Basingstoke. Having fun around lower clouds near Basingstoke.

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Glider gives a sense of scale. More cloud shots near Lasham.

Photos 3rd May 2014

I flew my first 300km flight of the year today. I went North again as far As Northampton South before returning as far as Didcot. The best conditions were to the North with a big blue hole to the South so I headed back North to Buckingham before returning back via Newbury to make up a slow but rewarding 325km.


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A grid forming in the morning with SH2 going for a test flight before I flew it. Northampton from the South. Turning Northampton South. Below is M1J15. Southwest is up. A closup view of Silverstone to augment the pics from 14th April. Approaching Didcot Power Station from the Northeast.

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Appleford from the North. Looking West across Buckingham as I turn BUC. A closeup of the buildings at Calvert Junction. An experimental wide angle panorama of Newbury from the North.

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Newbury Race Course from the North and the West. Heading back towards Lasham and into the blue.

Photos 18th April 2014

A day of tricky thermals and lowish cloudbase. But a busy one and I took this 360 degree panorama while in the winch queue from 3rd in the queue.


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Photos 14th April 2014

Today was my first cross country flight of the year, and my first time taking the FZ200 cross country with me. I flew as far north as Towcester before returning back.


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Soaring near Lasham Airfield. Lasham Airfield from the West. In cockpit view as I prepare to set off on XC. Basingstoke from the South. Looking East across Basingstoke.

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Basingstoke town centre from the Southwest. Another glider flying low near Kingsclere mast. Lovely conditions as I head Northwest towards Newbury. Greenham Common and Newbury from the East. Aldermaston from the Northwest. A closer look reveals Brimpton air strip from the Northwest.

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Chieveley services from the East. Another in cockpit view as I carry on Northwards. Nice to be back at Didcot Power Station and Milton Park. Seen from the Southeast. Oxford University from the South.

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Bicester from the Southeast. Calvert Junction from the West. The Corinthian Arch from the East as I pass Buckingham. Silverstone Racetrack from the East-Southeast.

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Turning Towcester (the turning point is the roundabout where the A43 crosses the A5). South is up. Soaring my way back home and sharing the thermal with another glider near Buckingham. Looking South towards Didcot from the Oxford area.

Photos 23rd - 30th March 2014

I spent this period at Aerodromo Santa Cilia near Jaca in Northern Spain. These pictures are on their own page. Click here to see the Jaca pictures.

Photos 15th March 2014

I didn't soar today but after a bit of a gap it was good to fly ahead of the Jaca trip (see next section above). The cloudscapes were rather pretty today which made for additional experimentation with the FZ200.


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Robin tug ready for action. K13's in the winch queue. K13 being aerotowed. Lasham cloudscapes.

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K13 aerotow and winch launch. Discus being launched for a test flight. Another nice cloudscape. Airborne K13 and K21.

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Incoming Superfalke. The Discus in the air. Incoming Imperial College Grob103. The Discus back on the ground waiting for me to fly it. Swirly cloudscape over the launch point. Virgae to the North.

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Spectacular long line of virgae drifting past overhead. Another pretty virga seen from the air. More views of Hampshire as I fly North towards Basingstoke after a 3000 foot aerotow.

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Cockpit view at 2200 feet QFE Lasham. Another view of that exquisite virga cloud. More viegae to the North after landing. Imperial College Grob103 on the winch launch. More virgae.

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Long range shot of the launch point from near the clubhouse. The next pilot winch launching in the Discus. A passing jet. The next pilot landing the Discus. One last virgae shot.

Photos 9th March 2014

During a non gliding trip to the Dunstable Downs I took these pictures of London Gliding Club activity, including a circuit from K21 FBV, the glider I had my very first solo flight in back in 1993. I also took other more gliding pictures on the downs which can be seen in the General 2014 gallery.


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LGC Robin tug on circuit. LGC launch point from the Chiltern Gateway visitor center on top of the downs. K21 FBV on circuit.

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Looking down at LGC launch point from Five Knolls. Glider 566 on circuit. Another shot of the LGC Robin tug.

Photos 2nd February 2014

A nice day on the airfield on medium runway 23, and my first soaring flight of the year in a Discus. This was also my first time gliding with the new FZ200 camera. So plenty of experimentation to be had.


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Launch point. Glider being rigged. Classic car driving along the peri track. Robin tug. K13 being towed back to the launch point after landing.

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Winch launch queue. K13 being winch launched. T21 being towed to the launch point. Grob109 motorglider. In the glider ready to winch launch.

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In the glider ready to winch launch. Sunny cloudscape. First FZ200 airborne shots. Cumulus hints of thermals in the air. Another glider soaring up ahead.

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Lasham Airfield from the Southeast. A jet taking off from Lasham. Closer view of the launch point from the Southeast. Bigger cumulus forming.

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Flying above the T21. Gliders towing back to the launch point fown below. Cloudscape panorama. Lasham Airfield from the East. Vintage glider back on the ground.

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A halo showing up some passing top cover. Robin tug coming in to land. Grob102 and another single seater being towed back to the launch point. iPhone shot of a leaflet containing 3 of my photos from the past.