By 0900 the early morning rain had cleared and RAFGSA sister club Cranwell reported that it had arrived up there!

However, we had been well prepared with the repair of the “Colin” window in our super mobile control tower.

Unfortunately the weather did not live up to the forecast with the cloud cover lingering for much longer than expected and only clearing late in the day.  Upper winds were gusty and thermic activity was scrappy; the mantra was to hang on if you found one.  There were various comps going on. At one stage we saw LEW from Denbigh above R22 and we saw various gliders from the Mynd, who were holding a comp, landing out at Sleap.  Against a murky background the newly applied dayglo panels on R22 certainly stood out.

It was a delight to welcome two of our new MEF students from Cosford, Emily and Harry.  Whilst Harry has done some previous gliding, for Emily it was all a new experience. Welcome to the club and we hope that you enjoy your MEF course with us.

It’s always good to see a Myndy pop over and this time it was former Shawbury based pilot Richard Head.  Richard has a wealth of flying experience so we paired him up with Geoff Matthews for a couple of trips but first, having checked the new EASA Easy Access Rules for Sailplanes and Powered Sailplanes (CS-22) para CS 22.241.  This new regulation rightly sets a limit on the combined age of the occupants of a 2-seat glider and, thankfully, at a combined age of 143 years Geoff and Richard were just inside the 150 upper limit.

Eventually, and late in the day, the sun appeared but it all got a bit much for some.

Another enjoyable day at Shawbury, albeit challenging at times in the conditions.