Booker Gliding

Still waving well in the Cairngorms. Today the wind was slightly south of west so we had wave in Glen Tanar as well as behind Morven. We also had the experience of launching into an easterly wind and then flying in westerly wave!  All the Booker pilots here on changeover day took a launch and climbed to between 10,000 and 15,000 ft. Week 2 starts tomorrow.

Looking along the Glen Tanar wave bar, working well from below 2500 ft. 

Another westerly wind day on Friday, and in eastern Scotland that is a guarantee of wave. Sometimes the wind is a little too fierce though.  Wind at 10,000 ft was above 60 knots making climbs above that height tricky.  Dave and Terry Clements made it to 12,000 feet over Mount Keen in 315 and were the last to land. 
One of the fun parts of flying at Aboyne is landing on the narrow tarmac runways, the pic below shows the narrower north runway. The airfield now also has well mown flat grass either side of the runway, so plenty of room.

315 after landing (deliberately) short on Aboyne runway 27 north today.

A very pleasant day at Booker. Lots of training going on. Well done Sam Husband, first flight in the Junior today and Mike Sheppard doing plenty of solo circuits with an eye on the Junior.

Thanks to Andy Monk for spending a day teaching James Clare and Martine and Steve for his enthusiasm to tow with the Robin.

Pete was painting his trailer with a very strange paint. It seems to have created an unusual crop of luxuriant hair. The bad news is, it has affected his memory----so where are the keys to my trailer then?

pete proudly shows off his new hair 

Don Valley looking North from 19000 FtMore wave flying for most of us today. Tricky again to get away later in the day, but most of us made an early start. Most got to heights from 12000 ft to 19000 ft. Climbing alongside some classic very beautiful lenticular clouds added to the enjoyment.

Mega stack of Lennies over the Don Valley

Another low cloud day with blustery winds.

Welcome to max Norfolk who took to the skies for the first time today. Sporting conditions but fun,

Max is in Sales Management and races cars as his other interest.

A good day today with the classic smooth continuous 2 to 4 knot climbs from below 3000 ft right up to above 14000 ft. Bob S T4, Denis C 370, Jane M 118, John H HXH, Dave B & Nick H 315 all getting to Braemar and beyond, Chris R getting to Lochnagar at 10000 ft.  Climbing above 14000 Ft was tricky as the wind increased to 60 knots.  Loads of photos and gourmet updates to follow, but many of us are off for an early night with the possibility of very good conditions in the morning.

Congratulations to Mike Shepard going solo in a proper flying machine. Meanwhile up in Scotland we also had a good day.  Air was a little unstable and the wave moved around a lot compared to a classic good day.  Those that launched early got away from Logie Coldstone just North of the lakes.
Notable flights for Dave in FI, Richard in 315, Denis in 370 and Jane in 118 all going cross country or getting above 16000 ft.  Those that launched late struggled to get away as the wave broke up low down. Some, including Simon Phelps in his ASW20 HUT, took a relight later in the day and had good wave flights.  Between us we had five gold heights, but only for pilots that already had gold!
Dinner report and photos to follow.

10 October and the main body of the club is at Aboyne in Scotland.

Meanwhile back at HQ, cloudbases about 1200 ft and the occasional spot of rain.

Steve stepped into the breach to ensure we have a tow pilot, and Mike braved the weather to bash out a few circuits. So it was solo for Mike today---well done.

 Steve clearing the rain from the wings before getting airborne.
  Mike getting ready to solo after completing his PPL conversion training.

Week 1 of the Aboyne expedition has kicked off well with Sunday and Monday both producing wave. On Sunday we were stuck with a lot of 3500 ft cloud so climbs above that were possible but tricky. The skies cleared at lunchtime on Monday with 370 and 315 visiting Loch Muick, Linn of Dee and beyond.  All of the newbies have now had a wave flight with Simon Phelps experiencing an 8 knot average wave climb in 315. We are getting to grips with the new airspace requirements for flights above 10,000 ft, but with care it was possible to stay under that today.  Terry and Dave took the last launch in 315, and despite a weak looking sky they got high enough to make it to Loch Muick at 6000 ft. Good weather ahead so check back for updates.
And for the all important culinary update that we know our readers find so informative.
Clearfield, last night  - Fish and chips, peas, tartar sauce, fruit cheesecake. Tonight, Spaghetti Puttanesca con Sardinas.
Birkelunn - Fancy Campbell Chilli last night. Tonight; Thai Red and Green Curry courtesy of the CFI.
Restaurant update; La Mangiatora in Ballater has re-opened as the Clachan Grill, fancy steak, but above the average gliding expedition pilot budget (eg dinner costs more than a 3000 ft aerotow).


Monday morning mist above the river Dee. Beats the rush hour view on the M4.
Above Logie Coldstone, Monday.
Terry and Dave take the last launch

A reminder that every Winter, Graham Saw runs aerobatics courses on the first Saturday of the month.  These courses are a great way to brush up your handling skills and increase your confidence.  Suitable for pilots with 5 to 5000 hours. You do not need to be solo as all training is in a two seater with a safety pilot.
The BOOKING LIST IS NOW OPEN so if you are interested in attending one, or more, of these days put your name on the list in the clubhouse, or contact the office.   Smoke not included.

The Vintage Glider Club re-convened today for some more fun in fabric and wood. COnditions were slightly more challenging for light gliders, with a brisk southerly breeze making an unorthodox approach to take off and landing directions necessary.

Hutter and Kite with a passing vintage car - an MG?
Hutter on tow
Transparency
Nick set up his mobile café and kept everyone going with hot drinks and biscuits.

Nick's tea barLuke Bishop went for a more modern approach and converted to the ASW19 - nicely flown in the cross wind.

Looking confidentMeanwhile in the trailer park Rob Turner was plodding up and down pushing a motor mower, tidying up the grass for us all - thanks very much Rob!

One man went to mow........

Day 1 of Whispering Wardrobes, aka International Rally of the Vintage Glider Club, saw a fine array of colourful flying machines rigged...... and flying. If you missed it, there will be more today, well worth a visit. Here is a sample.

Graham peering out of the improbably Hutter
Colourful Skylark 4
Goofy the T21

The morning started grey with Booker firmly in the clouds. Paul took cadet Luis off to the hangar to learn the art of glider polishing. Those left in the clubhouse passed the time 'helping' James Giles mug up for his Bronze paper. He read questions out and the combined brains of 4 instructors and an airline pilot attempted to come up with a consensus on what the right answer might be. After a while we looked out of the window and decided that flying might be more fun, since blue sky was starting to appear.

As well as a handful of trial lessons we welcomed Clive who took 3 flights as part of an IntroPlus course, he thoroughly enjoyed himself so I think we will be seeing more of him.

Eventually a heavy shower put paid to flying and it was time for tea and biscuits.

Last flight - Mike R setting off into the dark
Paul and Clive planning their next flight before thinking better of it

Busy day a little breezy with a relatively small soaring window and shower dodging.

We welcome Andrew Barrett onto day 2 of his PPL conversion course. Andrew flies a Piper Tomahawk from Booker and has done for a number of years.

 Andrew enjoyed exploring the differences between power flying and gliding, including our rather different approach to circuit planning. Needless to say he adapted very quickly.

The airfield was generally busy with pilots taking advantage of the pleasant conditions and Jan permanently sat in the Robin.

We are expecting a windy night and breezy morning.

The weather decided to be kind to us today and we managed to get some training done in the morning. As a mark of respect to Geoff, flying ceased at midday.






Huge numbers filled All Saints Church in High Wycombe to say a sad farewell to our friend Geoff.

A celebration of Geoffs life was then held at the farm of Pete Wells,a  spectacular air display and fireworks and very moving speeches from Geoffs wonderful family and close friends.

Another cloudy and wet day.

The bus saga continues, removing the thingemyjig from the bus was proving problematic. graham could be quoted as saying "we dont know what it is called, or indeed what it does---but it is broken"

After some discussion Graham was heard to say " O give it here, I will have a go" the next thing he is under the bus like a ferret.

Its that funny looking thing there.
Ok I will take a look.
The next stage will be to figure out how it works, and then fix it----straightforward really. When it is fixed we will be able to use the bus at the launch point---so a big vote of thanks to the team.

Low cloud all day, a weather front sitting over the country bringing dismal conditions.

but it still all happens at Booker GC.


 A very grey sky at Booker

Vic said he thought the bus repair would be futile if the track in the storage area, this because the air valve is very close to the ground and the track is very undulating. Fix the valve and damage it again he warned.

It turns out barry has a bulldozer, and professor Mike could help get it running. So a belch of black smoke later and the bulldozer is up and running, 



 Barry filling in the holes on the track Mmmm thats a lot better, thanks guys. Just tramp that down and we are done.
Now thats what I call teamwork---another good job completed. One of the hundreds of tasks completed by the silent few.
mike was last seen trotting off to pick black berries and Barry returned to his Alladins cave of aircraft stuff.
Part of the collection in Barrys yard.  

It was a busy day today, with instructors kept very busy flying students while the single seaters set off on a Handicapped Distance task.

Meanwhile the marketing team was at White Waltham with the sim, invited by West London Aero Club to take part in their Members' Day, a charity fundraising event. We spent the day introducing power pilots to use of the rudder, and to spinning.

Start 'em young
We had a grandstand view of the various displays by interesting aircraft, rounded off by our own Emily Collett flying aeros in her Extra (Emily started her flying career in gliders at Booker).

A clutch of Tiger Moths Back at Booker, the evening was enlivened by a Virgin balloon 'landing out' the wrong side of the airfield hedge.

Ooops! The customers had to get out and push.....

The retrieve

A day for dodging showers. Towering cumulus aooeared as soon as the sun got to work.

A busy day on the airfield with one serious downpour at lunchtime.

Bob Smith made many trial lesson visitors very happyas they flew with dramatic cloudscapes. Tobi O'Brien and his family all flew as didGraham langley and Martine Hutchinson.

Welcome back to Terri Clements, who spent time today getting back into the groove.

 Well done Maddi, solo today---perfect landing too!
 Mike Shepherd preparing to get to grips with that dang aerotow, if only the tug would keep still.

Meanwhile Jane and John Wood spent the day with us, enjoying the sun and Richards attention as their instructor.
 Wilf explained that his Blue fronted parrot enjoys "scrunched up" cuttle fish. Its amazing the things you learn on a sunny airfield.  Wilf has now realised the parrot is able to scrunch the cuttle fish up itself--saves a job!

Lets hope September (thats tomorrow) brings some more good weather.

Low cloud and light rain dominated the weather for most of the day.

That didnt put off James Giles who is determined to complete his bronze C this year (and about time say some). The classroom work included exam preparation and a review of the oral test for the bronze C.

The afternoon session was focussed on field selection and field landing
Richard acting out the field landing during his fascinating talk.

Weather is set to improve tomorrow----hooray