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Those who arrived earlier in the week to get
in some much needed practice were able to experience the usual pilot
past-time event of hurry up and wait. Evidently Friday saw only 2 launches
for the whole day, due to inclement weather. Chief Judge Judi Jones gave
another grand briefing each morning, with safety being the paramount
feature. The judges, Judi Jones, Sam Mummery, Debbie Bilham and Chris Cain,
thought they would be at a loss without their old pal Dick Happs to help
them out (he was actually flying this time around), but new, young assistant
Kerry was a brilliant star who gave up her weekend to help out.
The forecast for the whole weekend was bleak,
however there is always optimism for the glider pilot. For once, this
optimism paid off. Although low cloud delayed the first flight Saturday
morning until 11:45, while all other areas around the airfield were
experiencing heavy showers, our little oasis seemed to be the only place for
miles with a cloud base of just over 3,200 feet. By splitting the first
program, all 13 pilots were able to complete the full program and in fact
begin the first 5 flights of the 2nd program before calling it a
night. That made a total of 31 competition flights for the. Sunday morning
again gave us bright skies and sunny weather, allowing the rest of program 2
to be completed, plus a 3rd program for all.
The most frequently flown aircraft was the
Fox, with 5 of the pilots sharing this plane. There were 2 Pilatus-B4’s, 2
Luniaks, a Swift, a Puchacz and a K-13. Club members commented that they had
never seen the K13 look so lovely as it did during the comp. A slight glitch
in the computer meant the final results had to be hand-calculated, and then
double checked for errors, but we got there in the end.
Our thanks to all at Saltby, who once again
made this a very enjoyable occasion.
from Cindy Copsey
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