Thank goodness for cake!  With a very full flying list we were thankful for a second tug and cake, and there was plenty of the latter kindly provided by Sophie.  Although it was cold, the cloud-base lifted to c4,000ft, about 3,000 ft higher than yesterday’s dismal forecast.  And whilst the runways at Ternhill were snow covered we were surprised to see that ours were clear.  In the distance the Welsh hills were well covered in snow but only a light dusting on the top of The Wrekin.

Given the large number on the airfield we welcomed the arrival of the ex-Marham tug; it was pressed into service at the start of the day and it really was a bonus that enabled us to make full use of three two-seat training aircraft.  It is going to prove a fantastic asset.

With a number of both MEF scholarship and Go Solo students on the airfield we were grateful for the services of instructors Mike Fox and Nick Peatfield who wanted to get a much needed change of scene from a waterlogged Seighford to a hard tarmac surface.  Thanks guys for your help, it was much appreciated.

Welcome to new member Kyle who has swapped the world of extreme gliding for the more leisurely pace of Shawbury’s finest. You’re very welcome and, who knows, your Paramedic skills may come in useful one day!

The new tug is Yellow – Very Mellow Yellow!

Flying continued all day without a break.  Our young students all got three trips each and in the benign, albeit cold, conditions it was gratifying to see the progress that they are all making.  Howevs, coaxing them out of the relative warmth of the launch point caravan and away from their socials, on to a cold launch point did prove to be a challenge at times! We did have a brief discussion as to whether new member Algimantas was related to the Grand Duke of Lithuania and father of Ryngold, but when he told us he was known as Silky from Durham we thought the latter probs wasn’t correct.

As we approached the end of the day, and with canopies beginning to mist up there was just time for a Gallacher/Fox trip with launch only delayed because of an argument as to who was paying.  No one has any idea what they got up to but the trip back from 3,00ft took only 17 mins and the word “Mad” was heard in the debrief.

The last launch was at 16:15 by which time the cold had set in.  All the chocolate cake and banana bread, bar one slice, had been eaten so there was no point in going on!!

32 launches (never accomplished before at Shawbury) and over 8 hr 30 mins flying time.  Not a bad day’s work and thanks in no small part to the arrival of the second tug (and cake!).