Your Chairman’s report on the glider weekend.

Well, yet another great weekend,

The field is looking great: This year’s spring has been so dry that the grass is already starting to dry up. I don’t think I have ever seen it so dry this early.

Saturday morning: I have only ever seen our car park that full on one other occasion. That was our jet meeting in 2009. On that occasion, John Veasey and I spent almost the entire day supervising the car park. But this time the car park and the pit area were full. There was lots of stuff for sale, and hopefully most either made a few quid or left with a bargain.

During the late morning, the committee interviewed some prospective new members, so with any luck we will soon have eight or so new flyers at the field.

On Saturday afternoon we held a great BBQ. Given the turnout, we were a little concerned that we wouldn’t have enough food to go around. Fortunately, quite a few left after the boot fare, and we had enough food to serve everyone, but with almost nothing left. Perfect.

We then held a simple “Free 4 All” glider event: Based on the best four out of six rounds in difficult conditions (no lift). It was well received and gave a little focus to the rest of the afternoon.

There were quite a few camping on Saturday, so I’m sure a sizeable quantity of alcohol was consumed.

The weather on Sunday stayed overcast all day. However, there was still a good number of gliders on the patch. Dave Napper and James Gordon were kept busy with their glider tugs towing up scale models. There was also a small “Piggyback” launch setup that was entertaining to watch.

We held another “Free 4 All” comp around midday. We allowed any model glider to have a go and had two classes: One for two-metre models and another for the rest. This time it was best 6 out of 8. The lift obviously got better as the day went on, and that was reflected in the scoring.

The last event of the day was an “All up Last man down. High-powered models got a 20-second climb while less powerful ones were given a 30-second climb. Almost everyone was down in 5 minutes but Gordon Loomes and Stewart Keeble, both found themselves in some really strong lift. The models were so high that they were beginning to become difficult to see. After about 25 minutes, with both of them suffering from a stiff neck, it was decided to call it a draw. Well done to them and well done to all who took part and who helped organise it.

Just a little postscript: As I said earlier, it remained overcast and cool all day at the field. However, as I arrived home the sun broke through and within no time the cloud had all gone. Not that it mattered as it was a great weekend.

I think I’m just recovering and it’s now Tuesday!

See you at the next one.

Regards,
Bob Ryan