Oh dear – heavy rain as we assembled. More talks, interspersed
with anxious looks at the rain radar at regular intervals. And then there was a
sudden dramatic improvement at around 13.30, which sparked off frenzied
activity. Cloud base never got much above 2,500 feet, but there was strong lift
underneath it and along short stretches of convergence here, there and
everywhere. The ridge worked well. All course members had at least one long
flight and several shorter ones. Morale was now sky high (pun intended) and the course was wound up with
a very cheerful final debrief.
The spells of poor weather meant that the targets set at the
beginning of the week were not quite met, but all course members made very
significant advances in their flying skills.
Final overall stats: 70 launches and more than 15 hours. No mean
achievement, bearing in mind that we had poor weather for so much of the time.
Credit for this must go in equal measure to all concerned: helpers Alan,
Eddie and Dave A, unofficial helpers Wendy and Richard , and to the course members themselves, who were unstinting in their
expenditure of effort, both in the air and on the ground. What a wonderful
team! Oh yes – instructors Stu and Robin may also have made some small contribution
to what by any measure was an outstandingly successful week.- Robin
