Flying Report 4 Feb 23

“Crumbs Chief” was the cry on our first Saturday flying day of 2023 as a veritable tsunami of cake descended on the launch point and soon found its way into cockpits!  FOD = Food on Demand, and very enjoyable it was!

There was not much relief from the heavy overcast skies, just a brief glimmer of sun late in the day could do little to overcome an icy blast from the west accompanied by the odd light shower bustling through. Under these conditions we were delighted to welcome Martin Pike and Neil Atkin, our RAFGSA Safety Audit Team.  They were undertaking the periodic inspection of the club’s safety processes and procedures, the first such audit since our arrival at RAF Shawbury.  We trust you enjoyed your visit and thanks for pitching in with the instructional duties – always a good way to get an audit team out of the way!

Launching into the overcast there was not a sniff of lift.  It was that sort of up and down day although cloud base eventually rose to c 3,500ft.

But that was good enough for our flying scholarship students Connor and Cameron to get in 4 flights each during the day.  And it was Connor, on the last launch of the day who was the only one to see any sunshine.

Highlights of the day included a low level launch failure practice for new member and ½ Cat instructor Josh who we suddenly saw about to crest the runway heading back towards us on the launch point…..

…..and The Vicar who had evidently raided the collection plate to take 4 trips heavenward during the day.  He also announced that he was “certified” but didn’t expound any further, although many of us have had our suspicions for some time!

It was approaching sunset when we finished a very busy day with 25 launches and 7 hours of flying time.  Not a bad day’s work and thanks to everyone for their hard work.