Sunday 21 May 2023
Today was a long and exciting day and lots was achieved given the few people we had on the ground. The weather played an interesting role, gusting to 24.3 knots and broken thermals lasting throughout the day. The wind was straight down Runway 02, with one reported winch launch of 1,800 feet!
We had 4 UCL students, 3 Berkhamsted cadets, 5 service - everyone flew, with an average flight time of 31 minutes.
We had 3 gliders (one per instructor!) - UCL’s ASK 21 (EDW), the ASK 21 (R28) and the Duo Discus (26).
A few outstanding contributions that made the day a success:
Brian Gough for filling in at the last minute, flying for the whole day without a break - 9 flights, mostly soaring!
Luke Hornsey in the back of 26 for 4 hour 30 minutes with the Berkhamsted cadets.
Greg Weeks and Arthur Barfield, who were the only 2 winch drivers, sharing it all between them.
Tony Disbrey for his super organisation of the flying list as duty pilot.
Taff Williams for towing UCL’s ASW 19B (HXU) and the Discus 2cT (R6).
The hog of the day was Greg Weeks, who took R6 to Enstone and back for 96km at 85.7kph and a total flight time of 1 hour 31 minutes.
It was the first time flying for 3 of the UCL studentsmm and they were still enjoying it after being thrown around in the air for 30 minutes.
The total flight time was 13 hours 17 minutes (20 winch launches and 3 aeratows).
Thanks to everyone involved, especially the people who contributed almost non-stop!
