The Star of this chilly Friday would have to be John Nestor who took GJY for a 1.02 flight – more than twice the length of the ‘next best’ flights of the day, all this after fitting in an annual check with Barry McCarthy.

  

The day started as IKW, GYK and JY were readied and towed to 12 where the light traffic was already active. Jessica Bellamy and Tony Sorensen, our L2 for the day, set off in GYK behind John Knox in SPA to commence our aviation exploits in somewhat rough conditions.  

  

Although we had no AEF to cater for, we had a busy list with Sean Ward, Bob Hainsworth’s guest from last week, back to fly again and consider joining us regularly. They had spent some time earlier peering into the Magna’s engine before teaming up to take IKW for a flight.  Later, Sean got serious and took a flight in GYK with Barry.

  

We appreciated Garrett Russell’s return to more normal activity as he undertook many of the retrieves, enjoying the brisk walk back and checking his pedometer periodically to see if he was reaching his target. This allowed those with time on their hands to appreciate sitting in the sun for once - and very pleasant it was beside the van watching the passing parade. As the day progressed the winds eased and the landings became less a focus of attention.

  

Before John Knox deserted SPA, Tony and Steve Bowtell took IKW for a spin, literally, again adding to the interesting events for those enjoying a moment’s rest after which, Steve took over towing for the remaining flights. About this point, John Nestor had stood aside while Jo Wooler took JY for its first flight of the day before he resumed his accustomed place in this glider and headed west to earn his latest good flight.

 

Barry and Arthur Mailey fitted in a flight in IKW while Ken Mitchell’s plans for his flights in IKW were basically focused on his circuits before he and Tony brought it back to 06 ready to settle it in for the night. Thanks go to our L2 Tony and his assistant, Barry as well as to tuggies, John and Steve.

 

GYK had sat deserted after its three flights so Garrett and I returned it to 06, ready to be towed back to its spot beside the containers by Kevin Rodda who had been an intermittent visitor through the day. With last landing at 16.15, we were busy attending to the gliders and any paperwork as the airfield settled down for the night. 

  

Stats: GYK, four flights for 1.27; IKW, seven flights for 2.04; and JY, three flights for 1.28 making a total of 14 flights for the day.