Was it only last Friday that Jim Thompson scored the
day’s longest flight on a pre-solo training
launch?
Well you can wipe that smile off your face, Jim,
because your crown has been taken by newcomer Liam
Burrell, who made an amazing number of 500’
climbs to the ceiling for this Friday’s best
flight of 1:04. And it was only his THIRD glider
flight!
Liam, on the right, was brought out by his
grandfather Daryl to start training with us rather
than trek out to DDSC, where he recently became a
member. Daryl also flew, on GYK's tie down flight,
to get his first taste of gliding (note: not
soaring, the lift had long gone by four thirty).
Second best flight was 0:42 for Barry McCarthy and
Bob Hainsworth in GQA, and we have to say that
Liam’s time was handsomely beaten by Bert
Persson in his self-launcher. But even Bert was
back by very early afternoon as heavy over
development turned the day from a boomer into a
“good day for training flights”.
Other highlights of the 11 mostly short flights on
the day’s sheet included some looooong landings
for Jim as Tony introduced him to ground effect, a
successful Annual Flight Review for Judith Smith,
and the welcome return of John Nestor from
overseas.
And not quite gliding, but we had a brief visit
from Rory Rearden, flying an aerobatic Decathlon
out of Redcliffe.
The day’s stats:
GYK 8 flights 2:39
GQA 3 flights 1:11
And if the lift on the weekend is anything like
today, you’ll want to be out early. The sky was
booming from before eleven!
Big thanks to tuggies John Knox and Mike Grady, to
Tony Sorensen for sharing the instruction load,
and to the other Friday regulars for making it a
most enjoyable club day, even with so many still
away.
