Slightly Soarable

Another busy day, and slightly soarable for a while despite the broken layer of cloud around 3000ft AAL which didn't let much sun through. Andy V ran the day which turned out to be quite busy and a popular one for the club Astir. Operating off RWY 33 we both winched and aero-towed. Sunset is at last becoming noticeably later (around 17:30), so the most was made of our cheap winch launches after 3pm winter offer which ends soon!

LAA Fly-In

Matt Cooke was around the club about to test fly his newly assembled Tipsy Nipper and agreed to authorise flying to start the days operations. The usual suspects were around and organised launching at a respectable 10am start. I turned up around 11am to take over as duty to an airfield begining to fill up with light aircraft. John Cooke had organised an LAA fly-in and by lunch time its was in full swing.

We were operating on 26 and were able to winch up to around 12pm when the big rush started. It ran very well and the power visitors were fitted in very happily with the gliding operations. Between 12-3pm we went to aerotow only as aircraft were landing at a rate of 1 every 3 minutes. Tibenham International Airport was definitly open for business!! In total we had around 40 visiting aircraft and some had flown from as far away as Sleap, Enstone, Tatenhill, Rochester, Stapleford, Elstree and North Weald.

It was soarable - with Geoff Tilley and Josie Briggs both getting soaring flights over 20mins from the winch. Gary Marshall rigged and flew his newly polished B12 on aerotow, Oliver Bloomfield had an exciting flight doing spin training with Matt Cooke, John Roche-Kelly flew a visitor on a trial lesson, Dave Taylor helped out by operating the winch for a few hours in the morning, others out were Tim Highton, Steve Flewitt-Hill, Nick Owen, Jenny Novak, Dave Allen and Jim Carter. Mike Tate and Josie Briggs helped man the radio. Steve Catermole and Steve Banyard were tuggies.

Thanks to all club members who pitched in and made this a very enjoyable day for gliding members and visiting pilots.

That was the trial run, roll on 20th June!!!

TRY TIBENHAM!

To launch our “Golden Jubilee Season” Norfolk GC invites all members of approved BGA affiliated clubs to fly at Tibenham at normal club rates on a FREE reciprocal membership during March 2009. Visiting pilots pay only for launches with FREE AIR-TIME in club gliders, just like our club members, and we’re open 7 days a week.

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A/T or winch launch. Large airfield with tarmac and grass. 3x2-seaters, 2xSingle-seaters, Grob 109 motor-glider.

If you would like to visit, organise an exped, etc, please contact our full-time instructor Mick Hughes at; manager@norfolkglidingclub.com or call 01379 677 207

Surprisingly Soarable

Light winds and the first half-decent thermals of the year enabled the first bronze leg duration flight of the year. Tim Davies ran the day. As well as the gliders, there were several of the Tibenham based powered aircraft out to play, including the club G109 motor-glider.

Still No Snow in Norfolk

Another snow free day in Norfolk.

Phil Sillett ran the day and everyone was out early to make the most of the fine weather. Winching was off the main runway and despite little wind, we were still achieving launch heights of up to 1900ft. As a result there was lots of fun with aerobatics, spinning and instructor checks.

Snow Free

Despite much of the country grinding to a halt with heavy snowfall, Norfolk remained mostly snow free with beautiful blue skies and crystal clear visibility allowing flying as normal at Tibenham. Winching was off 33 (our mid-length runway) achieving around 1500ft in the two-seaters. There was even a little gentle soaring around lunchtime with Art eeking out the longest flight of the day. Mark Wright ran the day with Nick Owen assisting as BI. Others out included Jenny, John K, James F, Ben K, Geoff T, etc. Paul Wilkinson and I finally managed some BI patter training in the Grob 109 for an hour and were very glad of the cabin heater! We also got a good view of the edge of the snow-line which started roughly at the Suffolk boarder, just a few miles to the south of the airfield.
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Brilliant Blue...

Brilliant clear blue skies and light winds provided a very pleasant days flying. Mick H and Andy V provided instruction off the wire with both the K.21 and K.13 working hard. Phil M, flew the club G109 motor-glider, and after lunch Nick Owen and I used it for simulated A/T failure refresher training to complete his BI Annual Checks. Others out included Paul Woodcock, Clive P, Wade, Berkley, Dave A, Brian K, Mike T and Mike L. Tonight's clubhouse meal was an ample portion of cottage pie and veg, which many of our neighbours from nearby Priory Farm partook before their monthly Breckland Strut meeting which they hold in our clubhouse during the winter.

Tales of Summer

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Snow Flurries...

Another sub-zero flying day with intermittent light snow flurries gradually increasing in strength and frequency as the day wore on. Even so, a number of hardy souls were out lead by Will Day. Those out included, Bob G, Ben M, Phil S, Andrew H, Chris L, and John K, with Jonathan Abbass manning the tug. There was even a bit of soaring with the longest flight of the day being 40 minutes from an aero-tow and the longest off the wire being 13 minutes. Winch Master John R-K (he of newly acquired S&G fame page 50 & 51 Feb/March issue) performed some annual winch driver checks. Paul Wilkinson and I tried to brave the elements in the Grob 109 in what looked like a gap to start work on his BI patter but this was cut short by an approaching snow shower and the motor-glider was quickly put back to bed! Shortly afterwards a heavier snow shower curtailed flying for the day and we all retired to the clubhouse for a winter warmer!