SUGC Training Day

After winch problems postponed the first attempt, SUGC finally had a very successful training day on Thursday with 10 SUGC people descending on Shalbourne.  The weather turned out much better than anticipated and there was no rain as forecast. Some great flying was done with 25 launches total.

Two people had their very first flights with Alex J as BI with no throwing up.  SUGC had their very first trial lesson; hopefully there will be more of these in the future.  Four SUGC people flew with Alex throughout the day so he put his instructor rating to good use.  Big asset to SUGC!

First Trial Flight for SUGC with Tim and Alex

The rest of SUGC flew with Stephen or Bob B, with some good progress made by all.  Flights lasted over half an hour – the longest flights yet for some members!  Elizabeth has almost nailed her landings without ballooning while Stan did surprisingly well with Bob B having not flown since October.  Beanie had a good sightseeing flight and found the foot maze after reaching cloud base at around 4,000ft.  After having two good flights with Alex, Oana progressed on to learning the rudder with Stephen.

The highlight of the day was the BBQ at lunchtime – a great way to celebrate the end of the academic year.  All flying stopped as everyone filled up on burgers and hot dogs.  Although some Shalbourne members were sceptical about the cooking standards of students!  This was such a success that we hope to do it again throughout the summer.  Ending a flying day with a BBQ and camping could be the future!

SUGC all wanting lunch while James went soaring with Stephen

The day ended with a quick trip to The Crown before the drive back to Southampton.  Everyone looked completely exhausted by the end of day!
The whole day would not have been possible without the help of Shalbourne members.  Thank you to Paul M and Martin for driving the winch.  Thank you to Stan and Bob’s wife Mary for keeping the log. Thank you to Bob S for helping out at the launch point.  And finally, a huge thank you to Stephen and Bob B for instructing. I t was great to have a day for SUGC to get more people flying!  We hope to organise more days in the future.

Posted by Beanie

Leave a Reply