Wednesday and Thursday: the sun blazed down out
of a cloudless sky. It was very hot, despite the cooling effect of a brisk easterly wind. The afternoons gave us strong, rough thermals to around 3,000 ft,
but also areas of severe sink. These were challenging conditions for the course
trainees, but they all coped well. There was good coordination with the usual
groups of Wednesday and Thursday flyers, and a brisk launch rate made sure that
there was plenty of flying for all. The course dinner on Thursday evening at the
Wyndham Arms in Kentisbeare was a thoroughly enjoyable occasion.
Friday - last course day: we had the airfield
to ourselves again. The weather was much the same as it had been all week:
blazing sunshine. But the wind had abated to a light breeze, providing precious
little cooling, so that at times it was uncomfortably hot. We flew steadily
throughout the day. A de-briefing and card-filling session at around 17:30
brought a hugely successful week to a close. Our grateful thanks go to our
helpers Alan Turner, Dave Albasiny and Eddie Bromwell (assisted by Wendy), not only for their
tireless work on ground operations, but also in providing training for the
course members in those operations.
(ed. And a big thank you to the back-seat drivers - Robin and Stu.)
 |
| The July course |
Achievements: 138 launches for 20 hours and 13
minutes, one first solo early in the week, followed on Friday with Junior
conversion, and five pilots progressing to very close to solo
standard. - RWF
