Saturday in the heat

21-Dec-13

The predicted NE winds were nowhere to be seen so we DI'd the Blanik, IS28 and headed out to runway 30 to get the day running. Our newly refurbished Club Libelle was also Di'd, but left in situ until we figured the winds out.

Neil Schaefer in IS-28 CQC

Peter John was also on hand to complete Neil Schaefer's instructor re-validation, which he achieved without problem. Well done Neil. Neil also brought his lovely wife Lisa out to the flight line and it was a pleasure to have her bubbly personality liven things up around the pie cart. Following Neil's successful flight, he followed that up with a celebratory flight with Lisa, her first in ten years I believe, so well done Lisa. If I have my facts right, she went home with a new member kit, so maybe we'll be seeing a lot more of you at the flight line Lisa? At this point, the predicted change was coming through and a move to runway 12 for the rest of the day.

Two air experience flights were booked for the day. Rod took the first, Michael, for an enjoyable 26 min flight. Not feeling too good, Rod handed the reigns over to Karl Bodi, who took Brendan for a 4500 Ft launch. But along with the runway change came the sea breeze, which turned their flight into a 27 min sink run home. Karl later gave Tony a break from towing duties, so thanks Karl for helping out on both fronts.

Following his flight with Neil, it was PJ's turn for his annual instructor check with David. As always, PJ was a fountain of information and support to us all and it's great to see you back in the air.
With no students present to take advantage of the beautiful day, the instructors got to play. Mark Thompson and yours truly took flights in the clubbie, which was certainly nice to get back into. She's flying beautifully and a credit to the maintenance crew. Good job guys. Dave Higgs was also seen to be the only occupant in the Blanik for the last flight of the day.

8 flights in total for the day, totalling 2hrs 17min.

Longest flight goes to Karl with 27mins.

So thanks everyone for a very enjoyable and safe day. Thanks also go to Tony for dragging us around the skies.

Some housekeeping notes:

1. Club Libelle running out of forward trim on aero tow since it's for two. It's only a small amount and quite flyable.

2. Pie cart is very very fragile. It looks like the sides are coming away from the chassis. The notice board fell through the gap when returning to the tie down area yesterday, so please be careful.
Also be careful of putting your personal belongings near the side wall in case they fall through. Committee is looking at alternatives.

Kind Regards,