Another Busy Sunday

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With fine sunny (if rather breezy) weather and the snow now all gone it was a very busy day for mid-January with plenty of club members and even one or two visitors. We also had a couple of aircraft fly in for lunch as well as the usual Tibenham based powered-aircraft out for their Sunday constitutionals, including the lovely old yellow Tiger Moth. Ben M. was Duty Instructor, and was busy all day. Plenty of useful instruction was delivered to Ab Initios and AFR candidates alike with a little help here and there from Will, JRK, Steve F-H and myself. We launched from near the end of 21 enabling launches in the 2-seaters well in excess of 1500ft on the winch. There were also a number of aero-tows for A/X flights and spinning sorties. The day was crammed with flying until dusk, after which the "Winter Lectures" continued with Jan repeating her interesting and informative lecture from last night on the often dry and bureaucracy laden subject of 'OO' FAI & BGA responsibilities and badge claims which was again very well attended.

Cold But Pretty

Sat in my office at home, I decided that the only thing to do was get out. I gave Ian A. a call and asked if he was available.
90 minutes later we were opening the Hangar and rolling out the Grob 109. Although it was cold (-2 deg C to be exact) it was bright with the sun shining brightly and reflecting off the blanket of snow.
After a pensive couple of minutes the engine started and we were off shortly afterwards once the oil temp etc had risen.

We cruised up to 5500 ft before shutting off the fan then gently soared around for 45 minutes before starting up again and landing.

The views were stunning and there was a clear inversion but vis was still very good. The shadows were long and dramatic as can be seen from the 4 aerials at Talconeston!

Definitely a good decision to get out. Thanks to Ian for volunteering to drive! Wonderful afternoon.

The joys of winter flying

http://picasaweb.google.com/benharker119/WinterGliding3rdJanuary2010#

Sub-Zero: Cold Start to 2010

After a sprinkling of snow last night, several club members experienced the spectacular winter landscape from a variety of aircraft.
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...And Then Came The Snow!

December gave more wild winter weather - and then came the snow! Despite the bitter conditions and short mid-winter days club members have been making the most of the limited opportunities that the weather has provided during the run up to Christmas. Roll-on New Year!

Wild Winter Weather.

Following an unusually mild and very dry October that provided some good flying for the time of year, November's weather turned out rather wild & wet. In fact it was the UK's wettest with multiple fronts and strong winds. East Anglia was fortunate to get probably the best of what was on offer providing us with a number of decent flying days when the rain stopped play further west. Club members made the best of the opportunities taking advantage of our continued 7 day operation to keep current and work on AFRs. Dave Munro & Mark Wright ran a BI course, with a Full Cat course planned soon. Andy V. is taking names for those who want to sample the excitement and skill of aerobatic flight. ALso, thanks to Will Day who has been kind enough to take over the role of Deputy CFI, now that I'm working away so much.

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The G109 is back on line again following its scheduled maintenance, and is particularly nice to fly on those cold winter days when soaring is scarce - plus it has a heater!!!

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Plus, keep an eye out for the upcoming evening lectures which are due to start shortly to see us through the long mid-winter evenings.

Sunday 29th Nov

You can tell its winter from the ski pants and the instructor to student ratio!  At one point today there were 7 instructors, with a total of 2 students for the whole day. 

Bob and myself ran the day, with Brian Kennard towing, and it got off to a pretty drizzley start "its spitting!!"... Will, Brian and myself passed the time labeling up leaflets for giving out in Thetford and Attleborough town centres in the next couple of weeks - thanks guys it would have taken ages on my own.

However the rain cleared about 11am, as the launchpoint was already set up and the K21 on line and ready, the first launch was failry immediate.  We passed the time flinging ourselves up the wire in pairs, to heights of over 2400ft into what must have been a 35knt headwind at 2000ft.  I think Brian must have got bored as there was no towing to be had. 

Bob was quite happily in the warmth of the G109 flying with Ben Magnani.  Andrew Hewitt completed his bronze checks with Will, and later finished off the excercies in the motorglider with Bob - well done Andrew, just the paper to finish.

I flew with returning member Mike Powell and started his AFR, we got 2300ft on one launch, but I think Geoff beat us at 2400ft flying solo, and Will and Paul Nichols also got a high launches later. Others out included Phil Sillett and Steve Flowitt Hill who got longest flight of the day (15mins).

Thanks to all who did a winching stint and helped to make the day go smoothly even though it was bitterly cold.

Club Trophies

NGC 2009 Awards for Flying Achievement:

The Whiskey Cup
For the most points on the Cross Country Ladder. (Only flights from Tibenham)
PETE RYLAND (DG400)

The Club Ladder
Points are awarded for the first solo and badge claims.
SIMON URRY (Mosquito)

The NGC President’s Trophy
For the best flight from a Norfolk Airfield.
TOM SMITH (LS8)

President's Triangle
For the fastest handicapped speed round the "Presidents Triangle",
Diss, North Pickenham Mast, Norwich East .TIB-DIS-PIC-NOE-TIB(117Km.)
RAY HART (Nimbus 2C)

Chairman's Cup
Awarded for the best flight from TIB with a handicap of less than 90 or less.
JAMES FRANCIS (Std Cirrus)

The Spring Task Week Cup
Best flight of May Task Week
PETE RYLAND (DG400)

Harvest Cup
Winner of August Task Week
TIM DAVIES (ASW-27a)

The 2 Seat Cup
The best flight in a 2 seater from Tibenham
IAN ATHERTON + HARRY VDN (ASK-21)

Derek Kitchen Trophy
Best flight for a pilot under 26 (Decided by CFI, Chairman and Sporting Sec.)
TOM SMITH (LS8)

Frank Sayer Trophy
Best flight of the year from Tibenham.
TOM SMITH (LS8)

Youngest First Solo
BEN KIRK

The Oldest First Solo
WARWICK SWANCOTT

The CFI's Cup
Pilot with the best soaring progress: presented by the CFI.
JAMES FRANCIS

Top Ten

Top 10 NGC Distance Ladder Pilots of 2009 (Total KMs XC entered on ladder):
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1 Peter Ryland 3494.4
2 Ian Atherton 2918.3
3 Tom Smith 2055.9
4 Tim Davies 2010.1
5 James Francis 1216.4
6 Tony Griffiths 884.4
7 David Taylor 881.1
8 Chris J Lawrence 837.3
9 Jenny Novak 799.6
10 Simon Urry 697.6
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Check-out who the full ladder at;
http://www.bgaladder.co.uk/DispLadder.asp?Season=2009&ClubID=NGC&Ladder=D&PageSize=200&ExComps=&Log=Y

Portmoak Expedition

Mick Hughes has taken the K21 and a bunch of club members including Paul Woodcock, Jenny Novak, Mike Crook, Phil Hayward and Don Johnson to sample the delights of Scottish whisky, I mean countryside!, as they start their week expedition to Portmoak.

Read how they got on on our NGC Exped blog http://ngcexpeds.blogspot.com/

The NGC XC Ladder – Best Year Ever!!! (Updated)

Well done and thanks to all those who contributed to the club ladder in 2009.

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There were 115 entries on the 2009 Norfolk GC Ladder totalling an impressive 18021.7km between 21 pilots, making an average task distance of 157km per entry. This makes it our most successful year ever for ladder entries with over twice as many as last year.
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Pete Ryland flew the highest number of XC Kms totalling 3494.4 in 19 flights, whilst Ian Atherton accumulated a total of 2918.3km, also with 19 entries, to give him second place on the 'Distance Ladder'. Tom Smith was third with 2055.9km over only 8 entries giving him the furthest average distance on the ladder of 257km!
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The furthest distance in one flight was Tom Smith's 756.7km flight, which is featured in the recent S&G and looks likely to give him the BGA Wakefield Trophy for the longest handicapped distance of 2009.

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Additionally, the NGC Ladder also recorded:
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1 x 500km+ flight By Tim Davies at 522.3km, for Diamond Distance.
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1 x 400km+ flight by Ian Atherton at 458.2km.
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7 x 300km+ flights, including 2 first 300km Diamond Goal flights by James Francis and Simon Urry.
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19 x 200-299km flights.
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53 x 100-199km flights.
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33 x sub-100km flights including a number first XC flights, 2-seat training flights, Silver Distance and BGA 100km Diploma attempts.

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Of course, these are only a fraction of the XC flights achieved by NGC pilots this season. As well as letting other pilots see what they missed(!) the records also help to provide evidence when fighting our corner against airspace proposals, etc. - so why not add your flights in the future?

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Thanks to Pete Ryland for his work as club steward - please contact him soon if you think you have a claim on a club trophy before the annual dinner.

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See more at;
http://tinyurl.com/y8cuhsw
http://www.bgaladder.co.uk/INDEX.ASP
http://www.bgaladder.co.uk/BGAAwards.asp?Year=2009

See how NGC compares to other ladders at;

http://www.bgaladder.co.uk/summary.asp?Season=2009

Cross Country in the K21!

A most un-expected and fun cross country flight on a Friday afternoon, with Will Day as P1. Declared President's Triangle, with NOE first.

After turning Norwich East, we were back at 3,500' and were able to enjoy our picnic sandwiches in the sun. We soon had to abandon Pickenham as the thermals were not as reliable or regular as they looked, so after the first turning point, went towards Diss, abandoning Diss about 3/4 of the way there as it had gone blue with thermals difficult to find.

Anyone interested can view the flight on the NGC ladder.

Our overall speed was rather on the low side, but optimistic Will says:

"... at 26.38kph .. keep up boys!! At least we have won the day for NGC!

Challenging Skies

Soarable for much of the day with most folks getting in some local soaring. Several club and private gliders were out with the longest flight achieving 3hrs 35mins. Most made the best of what was probably one the last few decent thermal soaring days of the season. However, limited cloudbase at TIB (2500ft slowly rising to 3000ft) and strong winds with wind-broken thermals made XC somewhat of a challenge.

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With winds of 030/25kts going upwind to Norwich meant struggling into a markedly descending cloudbase as well as the headwind. I eventually managed to to turn NWI TP after a monumental struggle and several aborted attempts, and despite the tailwind on the way back was picking fields until I hooked into a decent climb at Tacolneston which allowed me to turn Diss and get back to TIB. This took 2 hours, but by now things were improving and seeing Will in T65 release from tow into good lift inspired me and I joined him in a climb to 3000. This was more like it. Off to NWI for a second time and a much more comfortable downwind leg that saw me get quickly all the way to Great Ashfield. Here cloudbase was higher and I climbed to 3500ft and filled with optimism I set off for home...and then the sky fell apart. With a 25kt H/W I was struggling and only found one half descent climb on the way back which turned out to be barely enough, finally managing a somewhat more marginal final glide than I would have preferred resulting in a straight in approach to 03. Home safe and sound - Phew!

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Meanwhile Will had turned NOE and PIC, but wasn't quite so fortunate and landed out on the way home near to the pub at Tibenham village - so at least it was an easy retrieve for Geoff T and Jenny.

Downwind Dash!

It's not often that you can fly a "downwind-dash" for a Silver Distance from Tibenham, but that's exactly what Wade did today making use of the thermic conditions and north-easterly winds for a 66km goal flight to Ridgewell which he completed in just over an hour. Well done Wade!!!

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See Wade's ladder entry at;

www.bgaladder.co.uk/dscore.asp?FlightID=23727

Nice for a NE'ly in Norfolk

True that the weather was not as good as the Midlands where there were a number of 300km+ flights logged, but it was still good enough for a nice afternoon out in the East with a number of XC and local soaring flights. George B & Mike C provided the aero-tows. The NGC Astirs were both out, as was the K21. There were quite a few private owners out including Tim D (ASW27), Jenny (ASW19), Andy (ASW17), Paul Woodcock (Pegase), and myself (ASW20), plus the visitors from Challock with their LS4 and Open Cirrus. I bimbled round Norfolk for 150km, flying for over 3 hours. However, Ben Harker got the highest scoring ladder flight of the day on his first ever XC flight, with his declared task of NWI-ROU 100km Triangle/Silver Distance attempt which he completed 79% of (82km at 85kph!!!) but couldn't quite make the second TP - great effort though!

Team Swift

A bright and breezy day, with Mark running the day. Team Swift, the glider aerobatics team turned up as they were due to fly a display at the Seething Charity Air Day later that day. But first we were treated to a little practice session! For those of you that have never seen this display, you can see it here http://www.swiftteam.airshows.org.uk/videos/team09.html

Showers & Soaring

As the fronts approached Tibenham probably got the best of the weather with winch launching and A/Ts available most of the day. There was even some local soaring with Geoff T getting the longest flight of the day with 48 minutes. The rain finally finished the flying around 3pm.

A great start to September.

T12 was available for club flying whilst Mark W and I set off on tasks. It was rather windy (I saw 27kts at 5000ft) but with strong thermal streets - up to 6kts climb on the averager (most were 3-4kt averages) - it was surprisingly straight forward to make progress into wind following the streets, though 'jumping' across them did cost a lot of height in the strong sink. I chose a conservative task of NMT-GAB-BSE for 156km due to the wind strength and threat of CBs and showers on the forecast from 3pm (plus remote crew), but the showers didn't really materialise until an hour or so after landing. I final glid all the way from BSE (38km) with a stonking tailwind giving a very satisfying ground-speed of 183kph, then local soared for an extra half an hour or so when I got back before pulling airbrake and landing. Time on task was 2:16 and total time airborne 3:08, so I really could have gone a bit further. Mark did NMT-BUN-MEN for 190km, so 150-200km was probably about right for the day.

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Congratulations to Phil Morgan who passed his NFT in the G109 to complete his SLMGPPL. Thanks to Tony G for turning out to tug and Eddie for wing-running.

Local Landout

Attempted a task of BSE - BUN, but after getting past Diss, conditions changed and I turned south to attempt a climb. Unfortunately, early spreadout forced an outlanding just 10.5 km and 42 mins into the task! I landed safely in a parsley field just south-west of Eye airfield. I was rescued by the CFI & Jonathan Abbess in my car, which I had also allowed to get low on petrol so had to fill up on the way home!

Wave at Tibenham!

A miserable looking morning quickly turned into a soarable afternoon. Jenny, Adrian, Pete R and I got our gliders out and I set off for NMT-BSE and back. Jenny stayed local, Pete R had a go at the President's Triangle and Adrian set off on DIS-ROU. As I reached BSE the day rapidly went blue and the thermals became trickier as wave bars formed along the East coast from Ipswich to Yarmouth so I climbed well above glide just to make sure I'd get back. As I reached TIB I saw that Mick had found the wave in the K21 and had climbed to 5500ft (cloudbase - what was left - was 4000ft) with his student enjoying a taste of East Anglian wave, but despite trying for an hour I just could't contact it. Later Pete and I retrieved Adrian who had landed out at ROU.

Mucho Scorchio & Grande Breeezio

Hot, windy and almost entirely blue! Will flew the Vega, Bob flew his LS8 and Ray was gifted a go in the CFI's ASW27 (he's still grinning). There was soaring to be had and those that flew made the most of it, but XC was not an attractive prospect battling against 30kts+ at 4000ft. The second day of the fly-in was quieter - the breezy conditions were undoubtably a factor for the vintage Austers - but we did have the pleasure of having a WWII P-51 Mustang join in the fun!

Big X-C and Vintage Fly-In

Day one of the Auster Fly-In Weekend. Tim D ran the day with what turned out to be an all Aero-Tow day. There were a number of A/X flights and lots of local soaring. Good organisation for the fly-in meant it gave no interference with gliding ops (thanks to John C, Phil M and Mike B). A number of private owners rigged and set off XC. Ian was first off trying a 500 with Bob (fresh back from the Std Nats) soon following on a 300 triangle. Jenny, Simon, Tony, Mark and Norman all set tasks and joined in later. The weather was rather trickier than it looked with scrappy thermals at times, then monster climbs of up to 8kts on the averager. Both Ian and Bob had to dump water early to stay airborne, then found themselves wishing they still had it when the conditions improved as they pushed into wind. In the end there were a couple of landouts as the day deteriorated. Bob completed his 300km task, but Ian was running just a bit too late and couldn't quite make the final TP (CAX) as the day died to the west, though having had to abandon just 20km short of CAX he did manage to claw his way home with the aid of a tail-wind and the last remnants of the day (which unusually lasted longer in the east) for a creditable 458km and 7 Hrs 24 min airborne. All totalled over 1500km was flown from TIB today.

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Tonight there was a club BBQ for the Fly-In folks.

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Tom Smith, Chris Lawrence and James Francis are all at Dunstable flying the Juniors - Tom won day one! Follow the action at: http://juniors.onglide.com/current-day.xml

Scorchio!!!

Will ran the day and we flew off 'RWY 26' with a moderate Westerly breeze. Most pilots had soaring flights with cloudbase eventually rising to around 3500ft and just enough small Cu to mark the broken thermals as the day blued out (but not enough to lower the cockpit temperatures). X/C was hard work with 22kt Westerly winds aloft and few climbs above 3000ft. Even so, in addition to the numerous local soaring flights several modest X/Cs were flown as Ray, Pete R, Wilko, Mark W and I 'tip-toed' our way round East Anglia. The furthest away any of us managed to get was Newmarket, but at least nobody landed out. (The Open and Standard Nats pilots at Lasham all failed to get round 300km tasks!) Ben Harker completed his Bronze GFT with Will and several A/X's were flown. The longest flight from TIB was over 4 hours, with 6 hours plus soaring available.

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Well done to Bob G who came 9th overall at the Std Nats which finished today at Lasham.

Mainly AEI's

Ray ran the day and I assisted (covering for Jan). A slow start with overcast skies and low(ish) cloudbase. Gradually more club members turned up and the cloudbase slowly rose and broke up. It even got soarable as the sun broke through, though the thermals were broken up by the moderate breeze. A number of flights were made - mainly Air Experience flights. Longest flight was 53 minutes. Thanks to those who contributed and helped get the A/X's flown.

Ben Fogle takes a flight at Tibenham

Only available for the next few days, this was broadcast last Sunday and filmed at Tibenham a couple of months ago

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00m3z94/Country_Tracks_Thetford_Forest/

Ben Fogle goes on an East Anglian journey, starting high in the skies over Tibenham, and ending on race day at Newmarket.

Summer Soaring Fortnight - Summary

Overall, and despite the sometimes fickle British weather, I think we can honestly say that the NGC SSF has been an unqualified success. A quick reckoning from the BGA ladder, etc. has lead me to conclude we flew well over 5000km between us - though it was probably almost double that in reality. Please do put your flights on the ladder it helps us so much with club stats, publicity and the fight against controlled airspace!! The longest duration and distance flown in one flight was Will Day's 6Hrs+ / 400km+ flight on 2nd August.

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Other achievements include Adrian Prime completing his 100km Diploma, Paul Woodcock's 5Hrs to complete his Silver, Wade Leader's very first solo cross-country, my personal best time round a 300km task and Tom Smith's amazing 115kph around a 298km task!! Fred Hill visited us from Nympsfield with his ASW-20 and extensively explored the flatlands of East Anglia including a fllight where he soared right round the North coast - we hope to see him again in the future. In addition to the usual local soaring the club has gone XC crazy with Mike Crook, Adrian P, Tim H, Simon Urry, James F, Jenny, Barry, Ben M, Steve F-H, Jim L, Norman, Jan A and particularly Tony G really getting the bit between their teeth, whilst other regular X/C pilots including yours truely, Pete R, Mark W, Bob G, Tom S, Tim D, JRK, Wilko, Phil H, and Dave T continue to go from strength to strength (apparently we won the ICL at Wormingford over the weekend). There were inevitabley a few landouts during the fortnight (if you don't land out occasionally you're probably not trying hard enough), but all were without incident.

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Also, best wishes to Bob G who is flying in the Std Nats at Lasham this week.

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Well done all, and thanks to all those who provided launches and participated in any way.

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So now you've all got the bug please keep it up - there's at least another 6 weeks of summer soaring to be had (fingers crossed)...and don't forget that there's the NGC Autumn Exped to Portmoak that Mick is organising.

Summer Soaring Fortnight, Day 16

A misty morning which promised little brightened into an interesting day. Andy V in charge with Steve F-H as BI with a seemingly endless stream of customers. Members gradually arrived after the usual team had got the kit out (usual moan). Those out included Will, who launched early, got away and spent a couple of hours crossing the county before returning for the other JRK to do the same. Also going cross country; Jim who scraped away from Long Stratton after completing the President's Triangle and then spent 4 hours plus in the ASW 20; Mark, who shot out to Ridgewell and back, missing out RAT; I took two attempts to winch, taking 45 minutes to get to a start height, then completed the President's Triangle at a reasonable speed (but it felt much slower). Ian and Jan returned, Ian hogged their ASW 20 but Jan seemed not to mind.

A very odd day, but great fun.

Summer Soaring Fortnight; the third weekend. Chapter 1

Mark, the CFI, in charge with only a small number of members turning up. A merry band none the less. Capt. Wilco conducted trial flights and was busy all day. Ben H. had a couple of good flights as he practises for his Bronze completion flight. Art probably won't be pleased with his day, nor will Mike L who landed out at Great Ashfield and then had to wait until the tug was free to tow him out! The other JRK, Jo, Warwick and Alan were also out, others may have gone before I got back so my apologies for missing you out.

Tony and Jenny opted for TIB-SIL-TIB for 300k. Unfortunately Tony's elecrics malfunctioned and he returned from Newmarket. Jenny found a field near Silverstone to land in. My crew, Adrian, went to rescue her with Keith. I am sure more details will follow.

I opted for a cat's cradle, TIB-RAT-NOE-ROU-PIC-TIB for 231k which I succeeded in completing.

A very good day; so where was everyone?

Summer Soaring Fortnight - Day 14

Scrubbed.

The front trapped in the centre of England for the last couple of days started to move east so it was rather poor at TIB today.

However, further west the weather had started to clear and both Jan & I managed got some fun soaring in at Shenington, where the annual Bowland Forest GC Exped was in full swing.

www.bgaladder.co.uk/dscore.asp?FlightID=22609

Right Directions (is up)

Although useless for going cross country there is always an opportunity for something. On Wednesday and Thursday the club hosted groups of teenagers from Thetford and from Gorleston. Their lively but polite personalities put smiles on the faces of most of the members who had come out to get them flying. It was great to see them enjoying themselves and they were effusive with their gratitude. One or two soaring flights of 30 minutes were achieved and a good time had by all. We hope to see you next year, if not before.

Summer Soaring Fortnight - Day 13

Scrubbed due to hot, muggy & stable conditions

Summer Soaring Fortnight - Day 12

Tasks scrubbed - however, club flying still took place.

Looking at the weather ahead, it gave poor soaring predictions for the east for the next couple of days, but better prospects to the west. Thinking laterally (literally) I rang up Shenington to see if we could improve the odds of getting some soaring before the weekend and they were happy to accomodate some more visitors, in addition the BFGC exped already there. In the end only Jan and I could manage to re-arrage things and make the trip - Mick helpfully agreed to brief the next couple of days should things improve, so tonight I hitched up and set off west.

Summer Soaring Fortnight - Day 11

Scrub.

Summer Soaring Fortnight - Day 10

An unexpectedly good forecast for the East allowed for another days good soaring, though the best weather seemed to be confined to Norfolk.
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Paul Woodcock had most success soaring in his Pegase for over 5 hours to complete his Silver, whilst Mike Crook had some good soaring in a club Astir. With the weather getting poorer as you pushed West Tony G fell back from a 300km task to complete NMT-MEN-BSE for 160km and I abandoned my ideas of pushing past Cambridge and turned back at CAM to explore Norfolk and Suffolk. Having gone round Bungay and Norwich East I turned South for Claydon to lengthen the task out to 275km, but I couldn't quite get to the TP. Then the sky collapsed in Essex and Suffolk and my final glide fell apart so I landed in a large stubble field South of Diss for 227km. Jan retrieved me and we went for an excellent meal at a nearby pub.

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. ....Tony's Task

Fred Hill (from Nympsfield) continued to explore Norfolk flying out to the East coast then right round to Kings Lynn and back to TIB in just over five and a half hours. Mark W flew his 27 for 3hrs 29. Simon Urry (Mosquito) and Phil Hayward (DG) managed to get here after lunch and had, respectively, 2hrs 35 and 3 hrs 19.

..... De-rigging in the farmyard next to the field - ideal!

Only 9 flights but the average flight-time was 3hrs & 27mins. Just a pity more pilots couldn't get out and enjoy the good soaring.

Summer Soaring Fortnight - Day 9

Bob & Ben ran the day with help from Jan. There was lots of soaring and lots of XC with a wide range of gliders gracing the field from the homebuilt "Woodstock" (soaring for 2hrs 30) to high-spec racing gliders. A variety of tasks were set to suit different experience levels and glider performance - and most were completed. There were some very good climbs to be had and I saw 6-7kts on the averager with cloudbase in Norfolk over 4000ft, and 5000 plus near Cambridge.

Will Day went furthest racing round a 300km in his Vega - after which he went round the President's Triangle to push the K's to well over 400 and flying for around 6 hours! Tim Davies (ASW-27 at 98kph) and Tom Smith (LS8 at 115kph - wow!) went round CAX-DIS-SMB but used 'barrels' handicapping the task to just short of the 300.8km that 'sectors' gave. After falling out from my first tow (Doh!!) I followed in my ASW-20 starting off over an hour behind and (using TP sectors) managed to saunter round at 73kph. By the time I got back Tim had handed the 27 over to Mark who flew down to Ipswich and back. Jenny flew her ASW-19 and completed GRF-EDE-BUN-GAB (160km) and Steve F-H went round GRF-EDE-NOE (125km). Visitor Fred Hill from Nympsfield had the required Cx-flts then explored the flatlands soaring for nearly 4 hours and went to Cambridge, Norwich and back in his ASW-20 '81'.

All in all there were 44 lauches and 60hrs & 26mins flown giving an average flight time of 1hr & 23mins!!! A great fun soaring day. Thanks to all who provided launches.

Summer Soaring Fortnight - Day 8

Only a short soaring window so no tasks today but there were a couple of short soaring flights in the middle of the day. Dave Munro ran the day and renewed/refreshed some visiting instructors, including Chris Pollard from Rattlesden. CFI Mark Wright did some prep work with JRK for his imminent Ass Cat Course. Also, Brian McClean completed his Field Selection & Landings in the G109 with me for his XC Endorsement. Looks like it might be good soaring tomorrow.

Summer Soaring Fortnight - Day 7

Ian set a variety of tasks to chose from including a 5 pointed star, a hero task to Towcester and some 100k flights towards Rattlesden and Norwich. The weather was expected to cut off from the west at around 4pm, however some good soaring and cross country tasks were completed;

Tony Griffiths won the day completing a declared TIB-GRF-CAX-TIB for 188k, Simon Urry and Mark Wright chose the pentangle with Simon completing around 190k (CAB-FRW-THE) and Mark doing 146k FRW-THE-WRM before landing at RAT (again!!) Bob Grieve did WRM-NWI. I did 122k GRF-NWI-ACL, Jenny completed BUN-GRF.

Congratulations to Mike Crook on completing 111km NWI-RAT for Silver. Adrian Prime also went round this task in a speed of over 75kph to complete his 100k dimploma. Wade did his frst cross country flight but unfortnuatly landed back after turning NWI.

Ian took some club members on a couple of mini cross countries in the K21. Firsly Andy Blowers to NWI, then Harry van de Noord (a friend of Warwick's and instructor in Holland) to Rattlesden - I understand they watched Mark landing there before beating a retreat back to TIB. Harry subsequently joined as a full club member - welcome Harry, we can't guarantee every flight will be like that!

So a good day and everyone had fun. Tomorrow looks doubtful for task flying but should be OK for local soaring before the rain comes through.

Summer Soaring Fortnight - Day 6

A day of sunshine and showers with lots of wind (15G25kts). The task was eventually scrubbed but several pilots managed short soaring flights off the wire between the showers. Fingers are crossed for a better day tomorrow.

Earlham Right Directions fly at Norfolk G.C.

Wednesday 29th July

A group of teenagers from the Earlham area of Norwich were treated to a trip around the skies. The weather was not as good as it could have been but a number managed flights in excess of 30 minutes from a winch launch of 1500'. There was a weather window which lasted about an hour and a half when the sky was very active in streets in the strong wind. A great time was had by all and many conquered personal demons. They would like to thank Ann and James for bringing them and all the club members for giving their time. Thanks guys; come and have another go some time.

Summer Soaring Fortnight - Day 4

With the weather predicted as unstable with over-convection likely and breezy conditions (220/10-15kts @SFC) I briefed that there was likely to be a 3-4 hour soaring window with a 4000ft cloudbase and 'challenging' SW winds for XC. Tony G (DG300) and Berkley (K21) took off early and made the best of the day both doing just under 3 hours soaring. Tony managed to complete the 122.7km task of TIB-THE-MEN-BSE-TIB to 'win the day'. Jim Lawn relieved me from the tug and I decided to have a tow (about an hour and a half after Tony) and I got round Thetford but the day went splat as I got half way down the second leg and I turned North for TIB. Adrian flew his 19, and was not far behind me with a similar story. Still at least no-one landed out. Mick instructed in the K13. Over all I think that we got quite a lot out of a day that didn't really promise too much. Well done Tony!

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In comparison the Dunstable Regionals A Class set a 112km task with only 4 competitors getting round!

Summer Soaring Fortnight - Day 3

Scrub.

Summer soaring fortnight - Day 2

A slow start, with conditions not looking too promising, top cover and a strong southerly wind with low cumulus forming below. Club flying began with Will running the day. and some lucky club members getting half priced launches before 11am. After midday the top cover started to clear and the cumulus rose to around 2500ft. Pete Ryland set a number of local turnpoints as a fall back task.

I launched and went for a local bimble around TIB-DIS-GAB-TIB, I was tempted going towards Rattlesden but could see the front approaching from the south and into a 22knt wind it was all a bit slow progress. Cloudbase at 4000ft and the streets being much more reliable that yesterday, Pete decided to land to re-brief the new task TIB-RAT-NOE-TIB but then unfortunately missed the weather window.

I dont think anyone went anywhere but it was a reasonable local soaring day if you were prepared to battle into wind up the cloud streets, and it made the landings more interesting especially for spectators!

Congratulations also to Andrew Hewitt in flying his first flight on the winch in his ASW17.

Summer soaring fortnight - Day 1 Sat 25th July

A mixed day with some good cross country flights, and some who struggled. There appeared to be some wave influence causing strange mixing of thermals, combined with a stronger than forecast wind most who flew found the clouds were not working as expected. Still, with cloudbase at 4000ft and some thermal strengths reportedly 9knt who can complaint!

Pete Ryland won the day with a 330km flight in his DG to Sudbury, Silverstone. Well done also to Jenny completing the briefed task of TIB-RAT-SMB-TIB, Norman Clowes completed the extended task TIB-RAT-SMB-NOE-TIB but forgot to have his logger on. A number of outlandings included JRK, Mark Wright (who popped in for a cuppa at Rattlesden) and Dave Munro (who had a long aerotow retrieve from Sutton Meadows), both Tim H and Chris managed NMT return.

Thanks to Ray Hart for helping cover the airfield after we sent Tim D home for having flu! Also thanks to Paul Wilkinson who stepped in to help out with rather a lot of trial lessons, and all the other crew who pitched in running the airfeld, winch and tug.

Bright & Breezy

The warm weather made it very pleasant to be out on the airfield despite the breezy conditions. Consequently there was a significant number of members out enjoying the day with the hope of catching a thermal. Breezy winds were the order of the day, giving around 30kts at 2000ft! The wind broke up the thermals low down and made it a challenge to soar away off the wire. Nevertheless, several pilots did manage to get away and a number of soaring flights of up to an hour were achieved in thermals of up to 5kts. Cloudbase was over 4000ft QFE.

Results from the ICL at Tibenham

Saturday was a non scoring day – the task was not scrubbed and though the various pilots who launched never found enough under the overcast to attempt Framlingham – Thetford (96km)

Sunday dawn grey and overcast - though the satellite pictures showed a clearance in the west that was following the remains of the front. Briefing was delayed until 11am and tasks set. Novices – Thetford, Honington (65km); Intermediates – Thetford, Bury St Edmunds (83km); Pundits – Thetford, Newmarket (113km).

The conditions lived up the forecast and streeting was quite obvious leading John Gilbert to launch on the Pundit task in his Skylark – he later commented that it was only possible due to the streeting and that at times his grounds speed was 25kts.

Paul Wilkinson (TIB – Novice) was an early finisher having been first to launch, closely followed by Vernon Bettle (WRM – Novice) and then Tom Smith (HC - Pundit). A few land backs and relights took place before there was a long wait for Pete Ryland (TIB - Pundit). Who had started late after a relight.

Eventually all pilots were accounted for and scores were available.

Novice:
1st – Tony Bartlett – RAT – Pegase – 74.22kph
2nd – Vernon Bettle – WRM - ASW19 – 63.48kph
3rd – Ian Macrow – ROU – SZD55 – 59.18kph
4th – Paul Wilkinson – TIB – Std Cirrus – 52.66kph

Intermediate:
1st – Richard Crockett – WRM – Nimbus 2 – 62.3kph
DNS – Jenny Novak – TIB – ASW19
DNS – Andy Howells – RAT – Pegase
DNS – Chris Reed – ROU – Open Cirrus

Pundit:
1st – George Green – WRM – Discus – 79.56kph
2nd – Peter Ryland – TIB – DG400 – 63km
3rd – Richard Maison-Pierre –ROU – Speed Astir – 19km
DNS – Andy Howells – RAT – Pegase

This leaves the overall scores as follows after 3 competition days

WRM – 18
TIB – 14
ROU – 14
RAT – 13

Hot and Sticky!

A foggy start, which quickly burnt off, then a blue morning waiting for it to pop in the hot and sticky atmosphere that didn't inspire you to fly. Mick flew with new member Alan in th G109 and later provided aerotows. In the end only Jenny and I launched. Taking off later than originally planned (just after 2pm due to an unforseen fettling requirement) and realising I'd have to make a long final glide from inland, I abandoned my original task of CAX O/R (180km) in favour of following the weather and getting the best out of the next 2 hours.

....

As we launched the sea air was moving in fast and after a climb under the Cu on the sea breeze I reached the lowering cloudbase of only around 2800ft and had incredibly bugged up wings after only 10 mins! Cloudbase was higher at Diss and I climbed to over 4000ft with the extaordinary sight of a Cu forming below me as well as above as the sea air leaked in under me. I knew staying local would mean a short-live flight so I ran SW along the edge of the sea air and got my best climb with a buzzard near Great Ashfield - 6kts average to over 5000ft. From here I rounded RAT and set off west, turning NMT before setting off back towards ROU - it was relatively easy in the 'good air' further inland. Rougham TP provided another good climb (my last), and I needed a good one for the 35km final glide was into the dead sea air. In the end the day took a long time to really get going, and it was not as good as I'd hoped, but certainly worth flying. If I'd launched an hour earlier I reckon around 200km could have been achieved.

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www.bgaladder.co.uk/dscore.asp?FlightID=21738

Norwich Aviation Enthusiasts

A whole day of local enthusiasts to fly, but many did not come out to play until after lunch. The temperatures reached nearly 28degrees C and although there was a slight easterly flow it was still soarable. Mick and myself aided by tuggies Dave Munro and Jim Lawn, with Phil Morgan manning the winch and Mike Bean on the radio, we launched around 10 trial lessons in total. Conditions were a little difficult low down, however at the aerotows did some good soaring with cloudbase getting to about 2500ft. Later there was an aerobatic display by a visiting aircraft and a BBQ followed.

Paul Woodcock flew his new 'french mistress' the Pegase reg "EB". You will not miss him - the glider has luminous pink tips and has been nicknamed 'pinky' by the other club members.

Others out also included Jenny flying her ASW19, and Bob P. doing some ab initio training in the K13 with me, and Ratty took the hangar flight in the K13.

Thanks Dave Masson and Ian.Yes it would have been a 5, if there was no wind

24th June. Easterly wind - fun and flatulence
Declared Honington (remote start)- Evesham -Honington 376 km, but outlanding at 246kms.

Today I should have flown to Perranporth. Unfortunately I could only skive off one day from work andI have to be in at 8 tomorrow.
Ian said "go to Talgarth today" and yes, this was probably possible in an Astir today.
My remote start at Honington was for speed and an achievable return point, but for a straight goal, tib start was ok as long as you don't mind cutting the "umbilical" at 2300 feet. By Garbodisham it was possible to find 3 knots to 3000 and I started at Honington at 3100.
What a run downwind!! Guess where my first thermalling turn was after start............... No try again!
It was Towcester, just north of Silverstone. 129km at 141 kph.
I really enjoyed watchingCambridgshire, Bedfordshire, Bucks, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire pass beneath. Shennington GC at Edgehill looked very attractive in the sunshine.
But as I passed into Worcestershire a change seemed to be afoot. I was unable to top up height going in to the turnpoint, even though good looking clouds were on track. First lift on return leg was rough and difficult and took me almost back to Evesham. The sky pattern had changed. There were no easy streets any more and progress into wind was painfully slow. Most of the thermals were smashed to bits. Wave influence was forming them up across wind.
I sruggled on to Turweston, but could not get high enough to pick the best path, and with wings covered in greenfly had to use the iron thermal.Flatulence!
If the earlier conditions had kept the same the task would have been possible, but on the way back sea air had killed most lift east of Cambridge and the inversion was noticeably lower. So maybe not.

Peter

50th Anniversary Weekend - Sunday Longest Day

The day started with Mick Hughes and Steve Flowitt-Hill being winch launched in the K21 by Paul Thompson at 5:13am after the early morning rain had passed. This stunning photo that Steve took is now on Weatherjacks site http://s214580749.websitehome.co.uk/soaring/soaring.html.

Other early morning pilots enjoying the rare opportunity of a before 9am launch were Keith Panton, Norman Clowes, Mike Crook, Dave Taylor and Art Kerkhoff flying the K21 together and Nick Owen. Others helping included Grum, Berekely and Jenny, thanks guys a great start to the day.

The day shift lead by Will Day took over at 10am after a prolonged weather break from 7am, with Jonathan Abbas tugging and John R-K, Steve F-H and myself helping out instructing. The weather definitly improved during the day and brought with it many former members for winch flights. Jane Flowitt-Hill was running the sales desk again and we took another 16 trial lessons during the day - many of these during the evening.

The Kirby Kite was out flying again and we had a flying visit from Dave Rusbridge!

I flew with Lynda Green and Nigel Hall who were members during the early 1970s and who had not flown for 35 years, and I flew my 1000th launch with former member John Ranson - they all had a great time and they seemed very keen to come back to gliding - we look forward to welcoming them back to the club. We also flew former members J Wilkins, S Wilkins, J Neary, J Cordiner, B Lockwood, Colin Sheild and Graham Parker (the weatherman!).

Andy Vidion took over the late shift at 4pm, and flying continued until the last launch at 9.26pm as Andy and Roy Colman aerotowed to 3700ft to aerobat down, landing at 9:46pm.

I understand Mark Wright is very happy as he had no paperwork to complete for the entire event, so thanks again to everyone who helped out in however small a capacity - we could not have done this without you!

50th Anniversary Weekend - Saturday

A successful day despite the mixed weather. Thanks to all who helped, we saw many former members and several members of the public took trial flights.

The duty instructor team included myself and Ray ably assisted by Steve Flowitt-Hill and Tim Davies (although not sure Tim got airborne, I think he got distracted when the bar opened!!), tuggies were Steve Cat and Tony, winchies and airfield helpers appeared as if from no-where - there are too many to mention but thank you everyone who pitched in.

Visiting VGC pilot Tony Maufe flew his Kirby Kite up the wire a few times, and Simon Urry got his Ka6 airborne (many comments of 300k in wood today etc) and Ben Harker completed his Bronze Navex in the Grob109 with Ian Atherton. Special congratulations to Jim Carter on going solo again after a long break from gliding.

In total we did around 30 launches, including 8 trial lesson aerotows and 2 trial winch launches for our former members, and we sold 5 vouchers to return another day.

We had around 30 visiting aircraft on the Saturday including the East Anglian Air Ambulance, and the Mustang from Hardwick that did a beat up along the runway before landing.

Thanks to the 'power' team Mike Bean, Phil Morgan, John Cook, Mike Crook, and Jim Lawn it went off without a hitch. One pilot told me he was so impressed with the friendly atmosphere he was definitly going to come back again!

Saturday we had the local vintage tractor group arrive in convoy, vintage cars and a traction engine as well as a very well used gliding simulator set up in the briefing room. Keith and Sue Panton did a great job selling clothing and other merchandise, and their NGC archive display was interest to many including our newer members.





Jane Flowitt-Hill manned the flight sales office and did a fantastic job at drumming up business. We'd managed to get the tractor group to loan us a tractor trailer fitted out with passenger seats and so Berekely had fun ferrying people to the launch point and back!

The evening bash was a real hoot, with the 'oldies' partying hard!! Graham Ashworth made a lovely speech celebrating the 50 years of the club and the support of the club members, and Ivan Estgate got a special mention for being the person who instigated the club buying the airfield many years ago. After the sumptuous steak buffet served up by the 'food' team Rachel, Eddie, Danielle, Pauline (sorry may have missed few here) The band 'wacscallions' did a great job at getting people on the dance floor.

Special thanks to Eric for sorting out the marquees, dancefloor and band amongst other things, Tony Griffiths for sorting out logos, merchandise and also vouchers at short notice, Paul Thompson for sorting out membership forms and more progress cards, and to Berekely and Eddie for their tireless efforts over the last 2 months in getting the clubhouse and facilities looking great again - You can get some sleep now guys!

Youngest 750k!!!

Just a bit of an update on Tom's remarkable flight on the weekend, the BGA have just confirmed that he is the youngest ever to make a 750k claim.
We think there have also only ever been two other 750's from TIB, and only around 100 claimed ever, so he really does join an elite group of pilots.

...Well done Tom and good luck in Finland for the Junior Worlds next week!

300Km Diamond Goal

I had been following the weather forcasts and RASP while Offshore the week i was due to return home, by Tuesday it was starting to indicate that the weekend was going to be promising. I had also arranged to meet a chap called Jon at Bicester either Saturday or Sunday to look at a trailer he had available for sale fitted out for a Mosquito. I returned home Thursday and by now the forcast seemed like the weekend would be to good to miss out on either day so i called Jon and asked if he would be about Friday, he was but not until 6pm. So we arranged i would go over to Bicester and meet him there at 6pm Friday evening that way i could get the trailer and bring it back to Tibenham and stay in the caravan ready for the weekend.
I arrive back at Tibenham around 11pm friday night with my new trailer.
Saturday weather wise was a bit of a disapointment although I flew for 3 hours which was all quite local soaring but at least it gave me more time under my belt with the Mosquito. I left the Mossi rigged over night and Sunday morning I was up and about around 8.30 am I had not had chance to check forcast or RASP and my initial thought at that time was that it was going to be much like Saturday. I wondered over to the glider and wiped off the condensation, fitted the batterys etc, then lent a hand to James and Tim rigging the Cirrus. Tim asked me if i was going to go for a 300Km today I repiled that i didnt think the conditions where going to be that great! Tim replied no its going to be a stonking day im planning a 500, Tom Smith a 750 and James a 300. Hmm...If Tim Davies and Tom Smith are planning such long XC flights its going to be good for sure!..I better get planning.
Tim advised me that the best bet was Silverston out & return. That seemed a good idea only the one turn point and heading west into the better conditions.
I ended up faffing around for quite some time with one thing or another and then when i was ready we switched runways which took a bit more time. By now it was getting late and i really didnt want to still be on the ground.
I eventually launched at 12.30pm iwas towed up into some decent lift and released early at about 1800 ft. I minced about for a while until contacted some better lift and got a good climb which took me to around 3500 ft enough to start pushing out to the west on track.
Conditions soon became better en' route, climbs much stronger and the cloud base lifting.
It seemed slow going and the wind direction more westerly at altitude. I was keeping an eye out for Chris Lawrence, James Francis and Dave Taylor who where also doing the same task but they where almost an hour ahead. As i arived near Bedford i stopped for a good climb and i think it was here i spotted Dave Taylor in his LS4 in the thermal below me. I took the climb until the lift started to reduce at around 4200 ft and set full negative flap and pushed out again on track through a bit of a blue patch. Time was getting on now and i was very aware that i could be heading back into the sea breeze front. I tried to pick the pace up a bit and not take unnecessary climbs.
I eventually arrived at Silverstone TP at 16.30pm 4 hrs after launching. I was rewarded with the best climb yet right over the track. I hauled into the thermal turn and set full pos flap the altimeter wound up to 5600ft until i was in the whisps of the freshly developed cloud. Just what i needed to set me on my way back as there was now quite a large gap of blue between Sivlerstone and the next climb on track.
The home run was much quicker and i was lucky to find most lift on track. As i passed Cambridge conditions seemed to be getting more stable clouds less defined and climbs weaker. I was looking out in the distance to the east to see if i could make out the blue line of the sea breeze front approaching and my immanent land out, but for now I seemed safe.
The Km's dropped down on the GPS and before long i found myself at Lakenheath / Mildenhall. I took a climb which was looking to be my last. I could just make out the smoke rising from the Maltings from here. I had 30 Km to go and 4500ft. the next climb was in the direction of diss which would take me off track when i was quite close to home. I started to head out that way but it soon became apparent that it was going to be no problem making it back home so i pointed the nose back towards the airfield for the final glide, arriving overhead at about 2600ft. No flashy Racing finishes but at least i had the 300k in the bag.
It was now 18.45 pm so the task took me 6hrs 15 mins.
5 mins after i landed Tom Smith arrived dumping water on a low racing finish to his 750 Awsome!

Mike Crook's Silver duration & height

Sunday 14th June

I had planned to go flying on Thursday but a quick look at the forecast weather soon put me off. However the forecast for Friday looked pretty good and in particular the RASP charts showed a potential cloud base of 5500ft with a reasonably long period of good thermals possible do I thought that the Silver C height and endurance might just, with a little bit of luck , be on.

Friday morning was a beautiful blue day with virtually no cloud around except a few small cumulus over the distant coast. After some discussion a launch at about 1215hrs was planned. At the appointed time we were still in a large blue area centred on Tibenham although the coastal cumulus was starting to build and so at 1255hrs I launched behind the Tug thinking that even if I didn't get the endurance time I would get a decent flight anyway.

Climbing through 1700ft we passed through what seemed a decent thermal so I took an early release and turned back to find it. The immediate sky was still blue but I manged to get into, and of course out of the thermal, and spent the next hour floating around between 1400ft and 2700ft. At this point 5 hrs seemed a very long way off. Over in the east the sea breeze front had started to take a more positive form and lumps of decent cumulus were starting to develop.

Eventually I got a good contact and a decent climb up to cloud base at about 4700ft. I set off touring the towns and turning points in the immediate area of Tibenham very conscious of the fact that I wanted to keep as high as possible rather than go for distance. As the cloud developed and the sea breeze front moved further towards me eventually I was able to troll up and down the edge for some time without too much of a struggle. The cloud base steadily increased and I eventually moved up with it getting to 5400ft. I was reasonably confident that this would give me the required height climb not withstanding any convoluted calculation that might be involved.

The sea breeze front continued its march westwards passing over Tibenham where I set up what amounted to be a holding pattern over the field at about 5000ft +/- 200ft for what seemed like an hour although it was probably less. This was far more reminiscent of my commercial flying days but it did pass the time and the last two hours passed quite quickly.

By about 1730hrs the front had started to dissipate and with it the cumulus also started to disappear. I had one of those sinking feelings that I was going to drop down just a few minutes short! Luck however was on my side and there were enough residual thermals around for me to hover around 3000ft to 4000ft until finally 5 hrs airborne arrived. I made good and sure I had a reasonable excess to allow for for the tow time and then made a high speed dart for terr firma, by now my backside aching and feet that felt as if they had gone to sleep. According to my GPS, 241 track miles and all within 10 miles of Tibenham and as someone remarked an awful lot of circles! Nevertheless, a great flight.

First 500 - finally

A late night text from Tom Smith saying "Planning 750 tomorrow, west forecast to be mega. Getting to TIB at 8:50" was enough to send me to SeeYou thinking a 500 might be a sensible compromise. Dave Masson's forecast was short and to the point "possibly the day of the year" was more than enough encouragement. RASP and wind forecast suggested that getting west of BSE was the first challenge, staying west would be a good idea and that the final stretch back to TIB was going to be compromised by a wind swinging round to the north and a probable sea breeze from the East coast. A high cloud base and a final glide in from Newmarket was what I was hoping for ... so let's try EDGehill - Cambridge West - Silverston (520km).

Sunday morning brought me a text from Mark saying that the glider and trailer were serviceable, I didn't notice he had sent it late the night before and his response to my call at 7:45 was surprisingly free from expletives! Having rigged and watered all that was left to do was suggest to James Francis that it would be a good day to try for 300 - "but I've only flown it once" attracted the response "good - so you know how it works then ..."

Tom left at 10:00 and as I decide 11 was a sensible launch time I was glad to see that Tom had got away when I climbed into the 27. A tow to just shy of 3,000 gave me a good start height to push out into the west where the cu base was already up to around 2,500.

A REMINDER TO ALL ... when flying badge flights the start options are 1) a 45° sector 2) a 1km line or 3) a 500m radius barrel NOT the 12km line ... I did manage to get 1 logger point in the sector - phewww, and James F is relieve the sector is infinitely large or we would both have missed out on the claims!

Progress out of Suffolk was slow and I was relived to get to Newmarket where the weather was picking up and 3000 was achievable at 3kts. A low point at Oakington led me to dump my water before picking up 2.6kts got me going. It was now 12:30 - 90mins for 90km - not fast but hopefully it was going to improve.

Cloud base after St Neots so was up to 4,500 with regular 3.5kt climbs and the rest of the run to Edgehill was at about 90kph with a light headwind. I was reassured that Dave Masson and RASP had been right by the number of gliders I saw, perhaps a FLARM should be on this years early Christmas present list.

The run back down wind to Cambridge was rewarded with a 6.5kt climb just short of the TP to give a tactical high downwind TP before turning at
14:50 and having dragged the task speed up to 80kph I now had a chance of finishing earlier than I'd first feared, at about 17:30, so hopefully the conditions east of Newmarket would be OK.

Back to Silverstone was another breeze, lots of gliders marking climbs, some unusual sights like the Super Dimona G-LIDA doing as its name suggests with the engine off!
I tried to contact Tom a couple of time but was rewarded with Radio Cook on full bore each time so mostly flew in blissful radio silence. Having turned SIL at 1540 the next 100km was uneventful and reasonably paced, approaching Cambridge the main concern was to get up to cloud base which was now above 5,200.

A final climb at 17:00 at Red Lodge on the A11 took me to 4500 with a 44km glide - the sky ahead was still looking good so off I went ... alas none of the cloud on track gave any indication of lift and I squeaked onto the end of the Grass on 08 with 100' to spare.

All over in a mere 6:13 for 84kph - a task I've attempted whenever I and a glider and the weather have coincided since 2004!

Flight on ladder: http://www.bgaladder.co.uk/dscore.asp?FlightID=21133

Tibenham's New Fantastic Four!

It was an amazing day of achievement which concluded with 2 first 300km Diamond Goal flights by James Francis (Cirrus - it was only James' second flight on type!) and Simon Urry (Mosquito), 1 first 500km Diamond Distance by Tim Davies (ASW-27) and an outstanding 750km flight by Tom Smith (LS8-15m)! So Tibenham has a new Fantastic Four - with a new motto: "Younger...Faster...Further!"

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Well Done guys.

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Toms' Flight at: http://www.bgaladder.co.uk/dscore.asp?FlightID=21143

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The forecast said it would be fabulous west of East Anglia, and those who went for it were rewarded with excellent conditions once they got past Newmarket. The conditions locally were soarable but by no means special with broken thermals that were difficult to centre (pretty much as RASP, etc. suggested). In addition to the Fantastic 4, Dave Taylor flew to Bedford and back, and Will Day landed back early at 2pm to let his syndicate partner, John Kinley, have the Vega only to find he had gone soaring with me in T12 - Doh! Others out included Jenny, Andrew H, Ben H, Jo Hoy, Ben M and sveral others plus the duty crew; Andy V (Full Cat), Steve F-H (Basic) and Steve Cat flying the tug who kept everything running smothly.

Fabulously Fun Friday

A great fun day. A blue start that improved dramatically once the thermals punched through the inversion. When I arrived Mike Crook was preping the Astir for a Silver duration attempt, whilst Wilko and Peter R were already rigged. Mick instructed some A/X flights in the K21 and later flew with Ratty in the Grob109. Jo Hoy was also out and Brian K. flew the tug.

...

I decided to join in the task of the day with Pete and Wilko and we all went round the new "President's Triangle", then played about in the sea breeze front for a while. Once the inversion burst it was very good and we should really have gone further (2-300km was definately on) but the high crops and lack of landable fields meant I was satisfied with a quick(ish) 117km! I took off last, around 2:00pm BST. Cloud base eventually rose to 5,500ft and there was 4-6 knots in places, but some big sink too! Mike Crook was successful and got his 5 hours and Silver height (just distance to do now) - well done Mike!

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President's Triangle

http://www.bgaladder.co.uk/TaskBrief.asp?SP=TIB&TP1=DIS&TP2=PIC&TP3=NOE&TP4=&FP=TIB&Sector=F

Surprisingly Soarable Saturday

Cool ENE winds (15-20kts at altitude) made it feel more like early spring than summer. However, by lunchtime usable thermals were popping and those that flew were treated to some decent soaring whilst much of England was exposed to the front lying out to the west.

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..

Dave Munro ran the day aided by Paul Wilkinson doing the BI flying. Others out included Art, Jenny, Geoff T, Ratty, Mark W in his ASW27, Andy and Tom Smith flying their LS8 (Tom completed the new President's Triangle) and me. But the man of the moment was Ben Harker who completed his XC Endorsment Field Landing Cx with Dave Munro in the G109 this morning and then flew a club Astir for 2Hrs plus to push himself further towards his Bronze and XC ticket - Well done Ben! East Anglia certainly seemed to have the best of what weather was on offer today. Longest soaring flight of the day was 3:46. Silver duration was possible!

Where there's an Will...

With Mick off sick (though on the mend and hopefully back soon) Will Day stepped in to instruct and keep the club airborne...and a good job he did too! We didn't get the big weather that was forecast further West, but despite a lot of cloud and the sun having difficulty penetrating it was surprisingly soarable. Due greatly to Will's enthusiasm there were a number of soaring flights in both club and private gliders. I didn't arrive until after lunch but was encouraged to get the '20' out I still managed an enjoyable couple of hours despite the 15kt+ NW'ly wind at 2000ft and the NOTAM'd Mil-Ex to our immediate West which made going anywhere except downwind difficult! Others out included Ratty, Mike Crook, Geoff T, Steve F-H, Grum, Mike W. and George B'ski.