gransden times
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Magazine Cambridge Club - Jan 2010TRANSCRIPT
Shortage of winch drivers threatens launching
January 2010
Gransden times
Gransden times - the magazine of Cambridge Gliding Club - www.glide.co.uk. Editorial contact: [email protected]
John Bridge’s Guide to Sisteron
ClearNav – the new dimension in soaring displaysThe NK ClearNav Flight Computer with IGC approved Recorder
An integrated cockpit navigational instrument and display providing full situational awarenessfor glider pilots.
ClearNav takes the potential of cockpit navigation to new heights. State-of-the art display Sophisticated software functions A full-function remote keypad Multiple installation options A simple user interface Integral GPS & secure flight recorder Airspeed/wind input compatibility Near unlimited memory and easy data transfer Vibrant, bright display eliminates squinting- easily readable in full sunlight Single screen and Glide-Amoeba makes viewing alternate landing spots simple and
straightforward Focus on flying with the Turn Area Task Management feature – stop making
distracting, constant adjustments and inputs in the air
Bright, Sunlight readable display Mounting Option 1 – on panel
Mounting option 2 – Tunnel mount Mounting Option 3 – RAM mount (Cockpit side or off-panel)
For more information and pricing contact the UK agents Airplan Flight Equipment Ltd, 01865841441 or e-mail [email protected]
Travel broadens the mind: this aerial abomination was spotted (as if you could miss it) by George and Robert while collecting our new Robin tug - pages 6 - 7 and 14 - 15
If you are missing the snow (assuming it has gone by summer) get yourself down to Sisteron. John Bridge’s guide tells you all you need to know - pages 8 - 11
The DIary room - 2010: The new soaring season is less than two months away. We have a comprehensive guide to courses and events through the year covering flying and club management - pages 4-5
Plus: Richard Brickwood’s roundup of the last year and plans for 2010 and an appeal from Steve Kazak, roster manager, for help at the launch point and driving the winch: pages 14 15. Finally, there is a new interactive racing calendar on page 16 - just click on a comp and apply
GT 3 January 2010 www.glide.co.uk
CGC is flying seven days a week until 4th October. From 5th Oct we are changing to winter operations and will fly Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Flying on Tuesday and Thursday will be by arrangement, please contact Rob T or the office. Motorglider flying will be available every day, Please phone the office to book. 01767 677 077
Paul Harvey, Editor, Gransden times
the point of the issue is...
Winter 2010
Contents
Gransden Times is produced by Moltenlight.com for The Cambridge Gliding Centre Ltd. (www.glide.co.uk) All material is the copyright of contributors. The views expressed in Gransden Times are not necessarily those of the Cambridge Gliding Centre Ltd or its editor. For more information contact: [email protected]
flyWithCE
Winter, and finally, with the days growing longer, we can look forward to a new soaring season. After last year’s sea-son the club is in good shape
with a growing membership and a new tug. You can read about how we got the new Robin on page six. There’s no shortage of people to drive the new Robin, tuggies actually pay a premium membership for the privilege. With the winch however, the situation is getting desperate with only 15 winch drivers on the roster - see page 15. I have lost count of the number of times plaintiff emails came through over the summer pleading for a winch driver to step in to help out on a trial flight evening. You can read my comments on page 15, but, in short, the winch makes the club a lot of money and is exempt from EASA nonsense. I am sure it’s not as much fun to drive as a tug, but pilots really do appreciate a good winch launch: with aerotow there are only complaints when the launch is less than perfect. However, if you go to Sisteron, you will need to be current on aerotow.
John Bridge has provided an engaging and stimulating account of how he came to fly in the southern French alps. Sisteron is also a regu-lar haunt for many CGC members and regulars include Richard Maskell, Ariane and Martin Whitehead. His piece also includes some excel-lent pictures and a list of useful web sites which, if you are reading this online, you can access on page 11.
Our chairman, Richard Brickwood, gives us his annual roundup on page 12 but also high-lights on page five that as the club grows, we must be more aware of the image we present to visitors and the care we need to take of club kit. Steve Kazak, who manages the rosters, also provides a reminder of the need for launch mar-shalls and assistants.
Finally, don’t forget the Kelman Cup - there’s still time to win it.
ClearNav – the new dimension in soaring displaysThe NK ClearNav Flight Computer with IGC approved Recorder
An integrated cockpit navigational instrument and display providing full situational awarenessfor glider pilots.
ClearNav takes the potential of cockpit navigation to new heights. State-of-the art display Sophisticated software functions A full-function remote keypad Multiple installation options A simple user interface Integral GPS & secure flight recorder Airspeed/wind input compatibility Near unlimited memory and easy data transfer Vibrant, bright display eliminates squinting- easily readable in full sunlight Single screen and Glide-Amoeba makes viewing alternate landing spots simple and
straightforward Focus on flying with the Turn Area Task Management feature – stop making
distracting, constant adjustments and inputs in the air
Bright, Sunlight readable display Mounting Option 1 – on panel
Mounting option 2 – Tunnel mount Mounting Option 3 – RAM mount (Cockpit side or off-panel)
For more information and pricing contact the UK agents Airplan Flight Equipment Ltd, 01865841441 or e-mail [email protected]
www.glide.co.uk January 2010 GT 4
Tuggies have feelings too - please don’t upset themTug upsets happen when the glider
gets excessively high, pulling the tug tail up uncontrollably. Sometimes the glider suddenly zooms above the tug in an unstoppable manner after an initial pitch-up, putting the tug into a steep dive requiring as much as 400 feet to recover. The sequence of events occupies only 2-3 seconds, giving little chance for either the glider pilot or tow-pilot to recognise the problem and pull the release in time.
Some years ago the BGA ran a successful campaign to stop the resulting fatalities to tug pilots, but several years without incident now appear to have ended. This year there have been two reported upsets and at least one other not reported. Fortunately none resulted in crashes.Six factors make upsets more likely. Three or more together should be considered unacceptable:
Lightweight glider, low wing-loading.and C of G hooks intended for winch launching. The light weight makes the glider more prone to gusts and unintended control inputs whilst the C of G hook effectively reduces the power of the elevator: basically a component of the tug’s ‘pull’ acts vertically.
Short ropes transmit tug movements quicker and glider fluctuations affect the tug more quickly, giving less time to react. Pilots with little aerotow experience are likely to respond more slowly or over react, and are less likely to see a ‘situation’ developing. An aft C of G also reduces elevator effectiveness and combined with use of the C of G hook spells trouble. Turbulent conditions of course throw the glider around more and that can mean above the tug.C of G hooks are the worst factor but the presence of any of these factors increases the danger.
Of course, winching has it’s own challenges but the issue of C of G hooks does not arise. There is a refresher course on 31 January and any instructor would be moret than happy to explain the issues.
New Aerobatics course at GransdenGliding offers many challenges that
allow pilots to develop their flying skills. The majority of our training is aimed at helping you become safe soaring and cross country pilots. Aerobatic flying offers a different set of challenges and requires a different skill set. There are various levels of aerobatic manoeuvres ranging from the basic “loops and chandelles” through to inverted flying and rolling manoeuvres. Teaching the more advanced manoeuvres requires an additional instructors rating, however learning to do the basic manoeuvres doesn’t and can provide a good reason to keep yourself flying over the winter though I acknowledge it might not be every one’s cup of tea.Julian Bane has been doing some flying with Buckminster GC at Saltby where they have dedicated facilities including having the Fox - a fully aerobatic two seater, based there. Julian is now very interested in helping others start basic aerobatics. Initially training will be in the K-21s but will probably progress to include the Puchaz as people get more proficient.
We have scheduled some “Basic Aerobatic” training days over the next few months, the idea being to make a fun day with several pilots learning at the same time, sharing briefings etc. Anyone interested in having a go should initially contact Julian ([email protected]) and then book a training slot with him in the normal way through the web site. He hopes to be able to take some volunteer slots over the winter too and will continue to do regular instruction during his rostered duties. To make best use of the booked time he will run briefings beforehand but check with him for details. This is primarily aimed at solo students who want to expand their horizons. Also be aware that virtually all training flights will be by high aerotow.
The Bronze AgeIf you’re a solo pilot (or close to solo)
but you haven’t got your Bronze badge yet, you should be thinking about doing the Bronze exam this winter. The club will be running a four-evening exam
preparation course at the clubhouse at 7:15pm on Tuesday evenings starting on 9th February, leading up to a sitting of the Bronze exam on Tuesday 9th March.If you’re interested in attending, please contact Andrew Watson <[email protected]> or Julian Bayford <[email protected]>.The course emphasises self-study, largely based on the excellent book “Bronze and Beyond”, written by John McCullagh. The club usually has copies in stock, or you can order it by email from the author:http://www.mccullagh.demon.co.uk/bronze.htmOr from the BGA:http://www.gliding.co.uk/shop/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=45Julian and I will be setting our homework reading from the book, so if you plan to attend the course and don’t already have a copy, you might like to order one now.
It’s that time of year alreadyThe Gransden Regionals 2010 will
be run from the 21 August - 29 August 2010. The entry fee is £205.00 (inclusive of BGA fee).This is arguably the most fun, and challenging, Regional’s competition the UK can offer. The 2009 Regional’s produced some of the best competition days in the country and with no significant changes planned to the set-up for 2010 this is likely to be a very popular competition.We have decided to make some improvements to the entry system this year.All entries can be done on-line here and you can apply from the 1 October 2009 to provisionally book your place.There is no need to pay a deposit until 31 January 2010. Your entry will be secured when you pay your the first instalment (the £75.00 deposit) in January 2010. An email will be sent to you at the beginning of 2010 explaining the payment options.The 2nd instalment of the remaining amount (£130.00) must be paid by the 15 June 2010.The Regionals team will be largely unchanged and we hope to have as much fun in 2010 as we did in 2009.
Club news and events
‘If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.’ These were some of the last words Bambi’s mother said. Our Chairman concurs
January 2010
8
Tug pilot’s meeting
18 Rec and Ret Sub Committee
20 Committee meeting
22 Child Potection briefing and curry night
24 Basic Aerobatics Available
29 Evening Lecture (tbc)
31 Refresher course
February
9 Bronze Course §1
16 Bronze Course §2
17 Committee Meeting
21 New members forum
23 Bronze Course §3
March
2 Bronze Course §4
9 Bronze Course §5
10 Committee Meeting
11 Director’s meeting
12 AGM
April
7 Consultative Committee
17 75 year anniversary dinner
May
9 Open Day
August
21-29 Gransden Regionals
GT 5 January 2010 www.glide.co.uk
For some time the CGC Management Committee have been concerned with the
apparently cavalier way in which so much of the Club’s assets are treated by the membership.
Gliders, winches, ground vehicles and aircraft cleaning facilities such as hoses, buckets and brushes, are regularly damaged through a lack of care or misuse. The consequent bills can be pretty eye watering if we have to go for repairs or replacements. If we don’t, the kit deteriorates, presents a poor image of the Club to prospective members and visitors, until we incur the capital cost of replacing it.
A formal and detailed complaint from a member over the state of the Club House kitchen and other items was considered by a rather horrified Committee at their September meeting.
The Committee recognise that a vibrant esprit de corps is to be encouraged as it is good fun and makes CGC the great place it has come to be but there are limits and the regular use of foul language and four letter words in front of visitors, our female members, younger members and children certainly exceeds this threshold. Some of our members have found it so offensive that they have ceased to use the indoor club facilities.
The Committee debated the introduction of “Club Rules of Conduct” (a bit like a golf club perhaps) but were of the opinion that we really didn’t need to be so draconian, any such rules would be impossible to enforce and, anyway, if we are all aware of the problem we would all help to make it go away - so here are the outline issues:-• If you are having a good time at the Club, or in its environs, – please ensure that you are not causing offence to someone in the vicinity. If you are, do the civilised thing - stop.• Visitors – be aware of them and act accordingly – they may be a
prospective member – lets not lose even one prospect (or an existing member) through boorishness.• Ensure that you know what you are doing before you try to do it – whether that is rigging/de-rigging a glider or “fettling” a malfunctioning piece of Club equipment. If in doubt seek advice. We do have lots of experienced people around who will help you.• Dogs – not everybody likes them – especially if they have just trodden in a pile of faeces.o If you bring a dog on site please consider if it is appropriate to bring it into the Club House – if other Club members are eating in there it probably isn’t.o If you “take it for a walk” ensure that you clean-up any mess that it makes. There probably isn’t a piece of the airfield on which members don’t walk at some time or another. Coming across your dog’s poo is not very nice. We’ve found it on the paths, the runways, the Diamond and Rigging areas. Pretty yucky really. Especially if you step in it.o Keep dogs with you and under control at all times whilst on the airfield – they can be a distraction and could cause an accident.o Is it appropriate to take them to the launch point? – you will know and act accordingly. But having several there at the same time? - Probably not. Visitors’ dogs? – definitely not.
Experience tells me that I am likely to take grief for these suggestions but there is nothing in here that I am not prepared to do myself, I do own a dog, a glider, eat at the Club and I’m proud to be a member of it. I just hate it when it takes on the appearance of a neglected, untidy, unsanitary and unsafe place with junk and rubbish scattered all over the place, overflowing waste bins, a sink full of dirty coffee cups and dirtier saucepans and Toyotas which are unsafe to drive because of the mud on the windows – and sincerely hope that it offends you too.
If you use any of the Club facilities, from gliders to coffee cups, please clean up after you - and everyone else who “forgot” or who “didn’t have the time”.Let’s all strive to change our public face for the better; it will be worth the effort.Richard Brickwood, Chairman
The Diary Room 2010
We went as high as possible as rumour has it that George can’t swim
The only problem was Zurich Airport being in the way. “Tongue in cheek” we filed to go directly over the top
We have a new Robin tug. Robert Bryce-Smith recalls how he and George Knight dodged mountains and storms to bring it home
Parachute drop aircraft at Flensburg. CGC committee refused this as the new paint scheme for the Robin!
www.glide.co.uk January 2010 GT 6
This journey began 4 years earlier when I became Chief Tug Pilot. Andy Jude, my predecessor, had a
Robin DR400 at the top of his wish list. In a bid to convince me to do the same he organised a day flying Norfolk’s example. After 3 hours of effortless flying, impres-sive towing, exploring its envelope and, most importantly, finding out how little fuel it consumed I too was bought in.
I suppose it came to an end at 6,400’ (just 100’ below controlled airspace) mid-channel in cloud, occasionally nudging the controls on this extremely stable aero-plane to maintain altitude whilst eating the sandwich George had kindly got me 3 hours and two countries earlier.
In between a mixture of circumstanc-es, with an in-depth Committee decision to one day purchase a Robin, the Ral-lye suffering a marginal insurance write off and much work, especially by Dave Howse and Andrew Hulme in finding the right aeroplane, got us to that Chan-nel crossing at the end of 4 busy days, 12 flights, 12.4 hours in the air, 433 litres of fuel and 1200 nm.
Once we found the right aeroplane in Switzerland one small detail remained - how to collect it. As negotiations pro-
gressed we hit on the idea of importing it into Denmark. I remember Andrew call-ing me saying how about it – and as Lon-don Geneva London Copenhagen London represents a straight forward day with my low cost employer – I said yeah - OK. Once it became apparent that we’d miss the summer (long days and good weather) and I’d be without a large Flight Plan-ning Department, I wanted help, so I head hunted George Knight. Amongst his attri-butes he’s retired and so switched on with aviation legislation that even the CAA ask for his advice.
Flying VFR (Visual Flight Rules) across so many countries (seven includ-ing the UK) required much thought and planning. Having no autopilot meant the handling pilot would find it hard to fly, navigate, keep an eye on fuel and on di-
version options enroute, so a second pilot was very necessary.
We believed the aeroplane had a safe range of 180 nm when burning 40 litres/hour. In fact it was greater than this because it consumed only 35 litres/hour – but run-ning out of fuel on Day 1 would have been embarrassing. Then crossing bor-ders required cus-toms notifications and flight plans to be filed. These re-quire approved air-fields. Hence most flights were under 180 nm.
We needed various items of safety equipment, chocks, tie-downs, three GPSs, spare radio and maps. Having chosen the route, printed off the airfield charts, checked their availability, NOTAMs etc. and cho-sen a good VFR met briefing package (www topmeteo.com) we were ready.
Day 1 (Thursday) We caught the (very) early Luton to Geneva flight; we
then went by tilting train up to Neuchatel (just over an hour) and met the club’s President at the station. Neuchatel town sits between
the lake and mountains. Somehow they’ve prised a small airfield in there too! The 15 minute drive through the town gave us a chance to get acquainted.
We arrived at the airfield around midday. A large group of club members greeted us and proudly presented their Robin DR400 tug HB-EYO to us. They had bought it new in 1979 and looked after it really well. They had all been having their last flights during the previ-ous few days and you could sense a degree of emotion about los-ing their precious aeroplane. I felt slightly uncomfortable telling them we were tak-ing their wooden aircraft to Scandinavia in October.
The morning mist was lifting to be a
very warm day. We were aware that this was to be the last decent day in the Alps for a while and that the further we got away from there that day the better! How-ever, this sadly meant passing up on their kind offer of lunch. We worked through the paperwork and had a guided tour of the Robin with their engineer.
We had commissioned London GCs licensed engineer and tug pilot to survey the aeroplane before agreeing the price back in July. But before signing the pa-pers, I got the chance to take it around the block with their “instructeur”, to finally agree what we’d bought. Thankfully it
was exactly as advertised. We then signed the sale papers (for
which we received Swiss Army knives - hopefully as mementos rather than as essential tools for the trip), loaded our baggage, programmed the GPS and were ready to depart ... except for customs! An anxious 30 minutes followed waiting for a call from Swiss customs saying we had our T1 and that it was being e-mailed to the Neuchatal club. This T1 had caused us (especially Andrew) much stress over the previous few days. This was the tran-sit form that got “opened” to allow us fly over and land in the EU before formally importing the Robin into the EU in Den-mark. (Remember Switzerland isn’t in Europe!) A mistake here would have cost us the full German VAT of 19% (circa £9,000).
We had agreed with customs to exit Switzerland from Grenchen (a small air-field 25 nm up the road). So a quick good-bye and we were away at around 14:30. The sky was now completely blue and a very easy flight along the lake and into
Having convinced George the previous evening that we should go for it, with this improbable weather window, I looked out of my window to see the seagulls still walking
Fort at Bourtange, Netherlands. http://home.kpn.nl/armeagle/eng/frameset.html http://www.bourtange.nl/site/
Grenchen took under 20 minutes. The flying, at an airspeed of 110 kts was, in the main, the easy bit. George had prepared flight plans that we simply had to add the date and time to and file from the opera-tions office in each airport. With no fuel needed, a quick customs clearance (writ-ing our names on a sheet of paper) and the flight plan already filed at Neuchatal we were quickly away.
The next leg took us 99 nm to Men-gen (South of Stuttgart). George was fly-ing since we had agreed to alternate roles between being handling pilot and naviga-tor every leg. The only problem was Zu-rich Airport being in the way. “Tongue in cheek” we filed to go directly over the top of this busy airport to save time and dis-tance but sadly, on first contact with Zur-ich, realised we’d failed. “Remain below 3000’ and clear of controlled airspace” was the answer, followed by: “What are your intentions?” Most of the terrain was above 3000’ around there so – the only way to get out of Switzerland was to pick our way through the passes. It reminded me of the scene in the “Great Escape” when James Garner and Donald Pleas-ance were trying to get to Switzerland in a stolen Luftwaffe aircraft and safety – only we were going the other way. Then over Shaufhausen and the edge of Lake Con-stance and into Mengen (a fairly quiet airfield with a concrete runway, fuel and customs).
Our original plan was to night-stop there but our weather package advised us
of “Alpine grot” the next morning. A ritual was taking shape with one of
us refuelling and prepping the Robin for the next leg whilst the other visited the control tower to pay and file for the next leg. We had planned to fly to the Wassek-uppe on the first leg of Day 2. I’d always wanted to visit this home of gliding. They even have a gliding museum for crew en-tertainment! But it was also on a 2000’ hill. I called a colleague who flies his glider from there – who said no way – 300 m visibility in hill fog.
So a real quick change of plan was needed. Following a rough calculation of how far we could fly in the remaining 90 minutes of daylight we set off for Wurzburg. In fact we had a weak moment on our way back to the aircraft when passing an extremely inviting bar with veranda and late afternoon sunshine. It also felt like passing up the last of the summer warmth – being October 1st and knowing the weather up north.
Still, to get another 100 miles in such benign weather was too good to pass up. We ran into the rain of an approaching cold front about 20 nm short of Wurzburg but managed to landed 10 minutes before they shut in failing light. I had to ask George to check on the GPS at 1,000’ on the approach to confirm we had the right airport (as there were two very close to
each other) and we could barely see the one we were landing on.
By the time we’d unpacked & se-cured the Robin for the night, the taxi and darkness arrived simultaneously. We were dropped in town, and took the first avail-able modest hotel that did not require us to share a bed. A schnitzel and a couple of beers went down well at the end of a very long day. Then a tiny bit of re-planning for the next day before bed – a tactical re-route was needed due to forecast simulta-neous low cloud with high terrain ahead!
Day 2 (Friday) – The rain had cleared,
decent breakfast and the first minor issue – trying to get our cab driver to take us to the right airfield! The first leg (to Eddesse near Hanover) was probably the hardest. We ran into a weak front which coincided with rising ground. Not the most helpful combination in an aeroplane unequipped for airways flying.
We passed a suitable diversion air-field which looked a safe bolt-hole just before the high ground. Then a run of choosing the best valley along with high-est cloud/least rain began. Go to page 14
GT 7 January 2010 www.glide.co.uk
“Turns must be tighter; ridge-lift is rarely smooth and rotor can be truly stomach-churning. Storms can
be intense and violent...”
Photo courtesy of DG
www.glide.co.uk January 2010 GT 8
Love on the Rocks
“Turns must be tighter; ridge-lift is rarely smooth and rotor can be truly stomach-churning. Storms can
be intense and violent...”
Photo courtesy of DG
GT 9 January 2010 www.glide.co.uk
Love on the RocksIn the early eighties, when I was a wet-behind-the-ears Silver C pilot with a mere 150 hours to my name, two of my then syndicate partners got married (yes, to each other) and, while on honeymoon, they ‘just happened’ to pass by the French National Gliding Centre at St Auban. On their return, a plan was formed, and the following spring we took our limited experience to an unforgettable two-week course at the centre, flying immaculate French gliders amongst the most stunning scenery I had ever seen. We returned with a pair of Diamond Heights and some unforgettable memories.
The next few years were spent in the UK developing my cross-country skills (still work-in-progress) after which I felt better equipped to understand mountain soaring. So, in 1987, a couple of friends and I trailed our gliders down to Sisteron for another go at scaring ourselves in the mountains, again with great success. My love affair with the mountains had begun and now I wanted more. Ariane and I have returned to the Alps every year, ever since.
There are no fewer than ten gliding clubs in the southern French Alps, from Fayence near the Mediterranean, to St Crepin in the north. Sisteron is about 650 miles from Calais and fast autoroutes are available for most of the way, so it is possible to make the journey from Gransden Lodge in one (admittedly long) day. Sisteron airfield is a 1200m x 100m strip handily placed 1800ft above sea level in a wide valley bordered by the lower foothills of the Alps. The local
hills rise to around 7000ft asl and their rocky, south-west facing cretes act as excellent thermal generators. Not that far east of site lies 80km of loosely connected ridges, famously known as the parcours du combattant, while 50km to the north lie Ecrins and the start of the proper high Alps.
Sisteron is an aerotow-only visitors’ club and gliding is the primary activity here, with a light sprinkling of power before glider-launching begins.
M a n d a t o r y briefings are held every m o r n i n g , during which w e a t h e r forecasts are p r o v i d e d ,
along with Notams and any other business of which pilots should be aware. Flying generally starts around lunchtime, when reliable thermals begin to form over the local hills, or sometimes earlier if it is an exceptionally good thermal day, or if the mistral is blowing (good for ridges and wave). It is not unusual for flying to continue to 8pm and beyond during the summer, giving a satisfactorily long soaring day.Airfield facilities are all what one would expect at a visitors’ club. ‘Le Janus’ restaurant offers meals and the club has its own, separate clubhouse, ‘Le Pegase’. The club also lays on weekly aperitif evenings and excellent-value monthly barbecues.
Peak visitor periods tend to be during March/April, when the wave-hunters appear, and July/August, when one can expect the strongest thermals, although it must be said that wave, ridge, thermal and convergence lift can occur here at any time of the year. We generally go during June, when the days are at their longest but before the European holidays have started.
Anyone can fly here, but some advance preparation is essential, at
least until pilot licensing becomes harmonised (if that is the correct word). The club also appreciates advance notification of visitors’ intentions by means of their on-line registration page. See the links, page
We returned with a pair of Diamond Heights and some unforgettable memories
For nearly 30 years John Bridge has
been gliding at Sister-on in southern France. What is it that draws him back?
...it is essential for mountain pilots to have an intimate understanding of how their gliders behave, and to fly them accurately and with ad-equate safety margins.
Duo 220 following in the foorsteps of Attila leaving the Queyras
220 near Gap (photo Martin Whitehead)
11, for more information.Soaring in the mountains is
interestingly different to soaring over the UK. The mountains here are three times higher than they are back home, the lift is three times as strong, and so is the sink. Turns must be tighter, ridge-lift is rarely smooth and rotor can be truly
stomach-churning. Storms can be intense and violent and are not to be underestimated – landing out at another club is the best option when our base airfield is stormed out. In short, it is essential for mountain pilots to have an intimate understanding of how their gliders behave, and to fly them accurately and with adequate safety margins.
And there’s more: field landing opportunities are limited, especially in the higher mountains, although if one flies conservatively, it is almost always possible to reach an airfield from anywhere in the southern French Alps. An out-landing book is available for purchase at the club; it lists a few dozen field possibilities of varying degrees of usefulness, and is well worth detailed pre-flight study.
Given the above, I can guess that mountain flying is not for everyone,
but most who have tried it keep returning for more. So, what do we enjoy about it the most, and why Sisteron?
For a start, thanks to the warm, dry, Mediterranean climate, almost every summer day is soarable, which is distinctly un-British. Even the northern French Alps can suffer from
maritime conditions so it is well worth driving the extra few miles to the south. On the good days it is easily possible to reach the snow and ice of the northern Ecrins, while local pundits press on to
the Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn, making occasionally forays deep into S w i t z e r l a n d , along the Sion valley to the Furka Pass. C l o u d b a s e s over the higher m o u n t a i n s t y p i c a l l y 12,000ft and more – the best that I have seen was 16,000ft near the Matterhorn. And on the few occasions when the Ecrins are stormed out, it is often still possible to head south for some lowland
flying over the Valensole plateau and the Gorge du Verdon.
Of course, there may be wave, too. The mistral is a north-westerly wind that gives good ridge- and wave-soaring, although I personally dislike wave because of its negative and disrespectful impact on normally well-behaved thermals. There are also some irritating airspace issues for prospective high-fliers; FL115 is the limit over the club, and FL195 a short distance to the north, although upper airspace windows may be opened under the right circumstances. It does amuse me to hear that one recommended way of getting a Diamond Height from Sisteron is to launch onto the house ridge, Gache, than descend to la Baume, a lower mountain near Sisteron town, until the vario reads zero. And then climb away to FL195.
Ultimately, what draws us back time and time again is the breathtaking scenery, aptly referred to by Cambridge-based writer Robert Macfarlane in his excellent book Mountains of the Mind as the “unspeakable beauty of mountains”. Whether we are racing at high-speed along the parcours, or soaring through the Ecrins in sparkling visibility above the whitest snow on the blackest rocks, or hovering high above the Queyras looking down onto 8/8ths over the Italian plains, or threading ourselves through high mountain passes, or rocketing skywards in off-the-clock wave at the pic de Bure, or savouring the
www.glide.co.uk January 2010 GT 10
Chavs go gliding too: Ariane with friend in Duo in wave over Cheval Blanc
CGC relaxing before breakfast briefing
UsefUl websites:Sisteron Diaries: http://www.aircross.co.uk/sisteron Bureaucracy: http://www.aircross.co.uk/sisteron/Sisteron Club Website: http://www.aeroclubsisteron.fr/ Sisteron Town Website: http://www.sisteron.com/index.php Accommodation: http://www.latoupine.com
La Toupine: John and Ariane’s hideaway in Sisteron is for rent (See useful websites)
impossible colours of the lac St Croix, or simply relaxing in gentle evening ridge-lift against the western face of the Vercors, the southern French Alps is a magical playground for anyone eager for a new challenge
in gliding. But what if you are
all glid-out?Well, it’s France!
Apart from swimming, hill-walking, horse-
riding, via ferrata, rock-climbing, mountain-biking, karting, kayaking, white-water rafting, canyoning, fishing, paragliding, touring, restaurant dining, wine tasting, visiting markets, reading, sunbathing and ‘other stuff’, there is absolutely nothing to do.
Our next expedition will be in June 2010. If anyone is interested in joining us, please get in touch, either at the club, or at the following addresses:
John Bridge :[email protected] or Ariane Decloux:[email protected]
GT 11 January 2010 www.glide.co.uk
www.glide.co.uk January 2010 GT 12
Chairman’s report
Before anything else – a Happy, Prosperous and Enjoyable New Year to all members of Cambridge
Gliding Club. I hope that everyone has a terrific season, that you each achieve the goal you set yourselves for 2010 but, above all, have a great time launching from Gransden Lodge, or further afield, throughout the year.
Overall 2009 was the best year that we have enjoyed for at least five as a number of initiatives by the Committee and mem-bership began to come together although it was marred by the tragic loss of Douglas Brookes in the accident to HOM in July. His presence will be greatly missed in the Club House and Launch Point as will his skills as a tuggie. He loved flying and our thoughts are with his family especially at this time of the year. We are still awaiting the AAIB report and, until that is pub-lished, there is little that we know about the cause or could say at the moment.
Major contributions to this success (apart from having some very decent flying days) came from the Recruitment and Re-tention sub-Committee who were respon-sible for laying the ground work and thus contributing to attracting 38 new members overall by Sept 31st (including a number of re-joins who are particularly welcome back) and the Regionals Organisation who ran a terrific competition in August.
I am pleased to report that this trend has continued with six new members so far this season; actually make that seven as another joined yesterday, subject to Committee approval. The overall aim, allowing for the inevitable churn (which we are also pleased to note appears to be quite low) is to end 2010 with a member-ship in excess of 200 and, ultimately, a stable number slightly higher than that. On current form this is perfectly attainable and, as it to everyone’s long term benefit, please keep introducing, encouraging and nurturing new members. We are beginning to be a lot better at retaining and motivat-
ing new members and will be doing even more work on this throughout this season, commencing with a New Members Con-ference on February 21st. Fuller details, and focussed invitations, will be available in due course. Many of our new members have joined following one or more “Day Membership” experiences with Robert Theil, Andy Beattie and the rostered mid-week instructors - not least because they are so enthusiastic – but there is nothing like a good soaring flight to get you bitten by the gliding bug!
Financially the granite heart of the Treasurer may even be softening a bit; al-though he tells me that it is early days yet, but that the answer should be available in time for the AGM on March 12th.
In January 2009 I announced that Paul Harvey was taking over as editor of Gransden Times and, thus, this will be his fifth edition. The previous four were superb, each better than the last and so I would especially like to thank him for all his efforts on our behalf – long may they continue. The edit dates for 2010 are in the calendar which was circulated via traka on Saturday 2nd January and I know that Paul values your contributions as much as we all look forward to reading them. A number have also been forwarded to S&G and, generally, published there too, which helps keep CGC in the wider public eye. It all helps brand recognition and subsequent growth.
Short term calendar dates are also posted under the Airfield Status page of the web site
Following the successful re-intro-duction of Cross Country and Five Day courses in 2009 these are being retained for 2010 and dates are in the cal-endar. Please look out for the sign-up sheets as soon as these are posted in the Club House corridor as it helps us to assess demand and plan ac-cordingly. In addition there will (almost certainly) be an unofficial, yet organised, expedition to Jaca in April and a more of-ficial expedition to a wave site in the Au-tumn. Dates and details will be circulated as soon as they are available.
The Open day is set for May 9th and, as usual, PLEASE be prepared to lend a hand if at all possible. This a major show case for the Club and directly leads to re-cruitment to the evening classes and Five Day Courses; so by helping out you will
also be helping to keep the Club in good health and contribute to that goal of 200+ members and that is definitely in your own self interest as more members equals a better revenue base. It’s as simple and directly related as that.
Subject to membership approval at the AGM, Neil Goudie has agreed to re-join the Committee with specific respon-sibility for the Operations Manager role which he will take over from John Birch to whom the Club owes an immense debt of gratitude for helping to ensure that so many things have run so smoothly for many many years. One of Neil’s aims is to ensure the smooth integration of the Re-gionals and Club flying during the Region-als competition in August for the direct benefit of non-competing Club members. In doing this he has relinquished running the Single Seat Scheme to Joe Westwood. Thanks Neil, welcome Joe!
At the Strategic Planning Day in November the Committee and Directors agreed to seek a replacement for HOM, either a Discus or an ASW24 as recom-mended by the Flying Safety Committee. A sub-Committee for this purchase is ac-tively seeking a suitable machine so watch this space. Meanwhile CUGC have kindly offered to make their ASW19 available to CGC members for 2010 and details by which this can be flown are being fina-lised. Watch for further announcements on the Single Seat scheme as soon as details are finalised – you will need to act quickly as it has been a sell out for each of the past two years and, with an increasing mem-bership, demand is bound to be high.
Last year we averaged 28 winch
launches per flying day overall; (55 on one exceptional evening – which just shows what can be done). If we can in-crease this average by only 10% to 31 we will add over £5,000 to Club funds (equal to a further 10 Full Flying Mem-bers). The introduction of Launch Point Assistants and improved Launch Point ef-ficiency are already showing signs of what can be achieved but much remains to be done - and is in hand, so watch this space. There will be a joint Launch Marshals and Winch Drivers meeting on Sunday March
After a successful 2009 the new decade is looking good with ambitions for over 200 members by the year end. Richard Brickwood reports
...the Committee and Directors agreed to seek a replacement for HOM, either a Discus or an ASW24...
GT 13 January 2010 www.glide.co.uk
No more winching?
28th at which Launch Point efficiency will be a major topic. If you can contribute to that you will be more than welcome – but if you can only ensure that your time wait-ing for a launch is used efficiently by, for example, fetching cables if no one else is doing that, helping to retrieve a glider blocking the runway, or simply running the aerotow log until it is almost your turn to go you will get in the air that much quicker and, again, we will all win.
We always need more Launch Mar-shals, winch drivers and Assistant Launch Marshals so if you are not on one of those rosters (or are not otherwise fulfilling the implicit volunteer obligation at the Club in some other way) the winter is a good time to volunteer and get trained in time for the new season; so why not contact Janet Birch or Bryan Hoosan right now and make their recruitment life just THAT much easier!
To help with a number of regular suc-cession planning issues the Committee are currently creating an organisation chart which will show pretty much everything that needs doing, and who it gets done by, at CGC. It will not include rostered positions as these are already well understood and organised. What it has already highlighted is that there are number of jobs which do not have a clear owner or manager. Once this is completed we will be crating a reg-ular “Sits Vac” column in GT and on the Club House notice board to advertise the vacant voluntary positions. These are all are pretty vital to the smooth running of the Club but in themselves range from the “not a lot of work” to “blimey”. If you are NOT already involved in helping to run CGC we really would appreciate your of-fer of help for any of the SitsVac. Please contact me if you are willing to volunteer for one of them and we can discuss the role more specifically.
Lastly – April 17th 2010 will be the 75th Anniversary to the day of the first flight by a member of Cambridge Gliding Club (that is correct “University” was in-serted later) and CUGC and CGC will be marking the occasion with a joint formal reception and dinner in Main Hall at Jesus College. Tickets, which are £45 a head for current members of either Club – or £50 for non-members – are available from the office and on line.
I hope to see you at many of these events – or at least on the flight line.
Have a good season – I intend to.
Weekend Rosters. Your club needs you!
With the ground currently an unusual shade of white, Summer may seem particularly distant, however behind the scenes, planning for our Summer op-erations is well underway.
Can you help? We are in need of new recruits to the Winch Driver, Launch Mar-shal and Launchpoint Assistant rosters (particularly the Winch as we have had a couple of long standing members retire, and others achieve BI status). Gliding clubs are traditionally crewed by volun-teers, and really all club members should participate in helping to run the airfield by being on one of our rosters.
Solo pilots generally start by driv-ing the winch or by launch marshal-ling – training for both roles is provided. Pre-solo members can help by acting as Launchpoint assistants. Launchpoint as-sistants work with the launch marshal to run the launch points efficiently. We roster crews on weekend days and bank holidays (not weekdays). More information can be found at http://www.glide.co.uk/ops/MemberRosterFAQ.aspx (Sign in with the same username and password as you use for the Two Seater bookings).
If you are able to help, please contact me at [email protected] by the end of January. The Summer rosters will be pre-pared mid February and will cover the pe-riod April to September (inclusive).
Your AvailabilityFor those members on a roster, the
availability page on the rosters website is now open and you are invited to record any prior engagements there so that I can try to avoid allocating you duties on those days. The availability page will remain open until I begin preparation of the Sum-mer rosters, mid February (the actual date is to be confirmed, but will probably be 11th Feb).
As usual, I ask that you only block out dates that you are actually unable to attend the airfield, and only to block af-ternoon duties if you have other commit-ments outside of gliding, that prevent you from staying on until 6pm. Blocking the
whole of either Saturdays or Sunday does not normally cause a big issue, as long as the other day is left available.
Please do NOT attempt to use the availability options to “preselect” your du-ties by only allowing a handful of days. I’ll totally ignore such availability patterns.
Certain roles have restrictions placed by their duty chiefs (LMs- no blocking of PM duties, Instructors - No per day avail-ability). Please respect those restrictions.
Members attending university, and who are only available either within or outside of term time can have a duty load set to represent the time they are in the Cambridge area. To qualify for this you should set your availability as normal in-cluding the periods that you not around AND email the rosters manger with the actual dates that you are away (which may be less than the unavailability you’ve set).
Steve Kaszak, Rosters [email protected]
Ed’s note:
Winch driving is not the most glamorous job in a gliding club; some people even become in-
structors or living organ donors to avoid it. However, it is the most important day-to-day job on site. Flying can continue with-out a tuggie, without a launch Marshall and without instructors. Not a sustainable situation, but for a short while we can fly. Further, without a winch driver there can be no evening flying as we cannot aerotow after 18-00, and even if we could it would be prohibitively expensive. Also, in no small part, much of the growth of the club has been down to the availability of winch launching in the evenings. Currently we only have 15 winch drivers. The greater the load we put on them the more likely they are to sacrifice their cor-neas or become BIs
Learning to drive the winch is not dif-ficult and the worst part of the job, sorting cable breaks, has been alleviated by good maintenance. I won’t go through the train-ing sylabus here but I will say that good winch drivers are appreciated as pilots realise that a good launch (winch drivers can affect the launch) saves them money - about £20 in fact over a 2,000ft aerotow. Winch drivers also get retrieved faster af-ter a landout, and winch launching is a moneyspinner for the club. What is there not to like? You will also earn the eternal gratitude of the members.
CGC is short of winch driv-ers and launch marshalls. Steve Kaszak sends an SOS
George and Robert on approach to ‘22’ at Gransden
Robert filing a flight plan - it’s not all fun, fun fun
www.glide.co.uk January 2010 GT 14
(Continued from page 7) Our knowledge of gliding was well used – avoiding the orographic cloud. We passed close to the Wassekuppe. That diversion airfield was well in mind as it looked increasingly un-likely we’d get through. We were literally about to give up when we got to the high-est terrain. Then, of course, it got progres-sively easier, that diversion field went out of range and we had an easy run into Ed-desse.
Eddesse was a peculiar airfield, set in a clearing within a large forest. Ours was the only aeroplane in sight. Still, a quick refuel and turn around and we were back in the air.
We soon ran into the next front – a cold front with a few imbedded thunder-storms. This gave us an interesting choice not having weather radar. We could fly low in sight of the ground (in places too close to it!) and in the rain, or sit above the lowest clouds at around 4000’ between layers. This was like looking through a letter box with dotted cumulus nimbus clouds but with a backdrop of really invit-ing clear blue all the way to Flensburg. So the second half of this leg, North of Ham-burg, was extremely straight forward.
Flensburg is right on the Danish border, only 55 nm from our Danish des-tination - Odense. The weather was very clear with just scattered heavy showers. We were back to dealing with customs
and flight plans, re-fuelling and calling our Danish agents with an accurate ETA. The airfield had a pleasant feel with nice people, proper aviators and hangars! So, aware of some dreadful weather approach-ing the region the following day, we both had one of those “light-bulb moments”... let’s try to get back here to-night.
So (as was the theme of this trip) we were back in the air again with haste, albeit this time with life jackets and PLBs. The hop over to Denmark was easy, avoiding the odd shower. We parked on a jet stand next to the Passen-
ger Terminal and called the agent again. “We’re here, but don’t be offended, we don’t want to stay long”. We didn’t need fuel – so we went into the terminal for a cuppa – only to find the Danes haven’t joined the Euro either! Another reason to get away – as we forgot to bring any Krona. Still the phone went (half an hour after our arrival) and our Danish agent in-formed us that the aeroplane had been of-ficially imported and we were free to de-
part again. This all seemed a bit surreal. It was a very easy hop back into
Flensburg to refuel and park the aircraft. We knew of an approaching deep depres-sion and believed flying the next day would be unlikely. Luckily Flensburg air traffic had also received these weather warn-ings – so our request for hangar space was sympathetically dealt with. They rang the local flying club who, knowing there’d be no flying that weekend due to the weather, allowed us to squeeze our tug into their hangar. We spent the next hour finding the right key, repacking their hangar and sliding our Robin in. It was quite a relief. Then into town.
We found another modest hotel, that had much to be modest about – but re-served the rooms for an extra night just in case. More beer and German cuisine. We reflected on two busy but successful days, the fact that we’d not seen any aeroplanes in the air after Grenchen and pontificated how long we’d be stuck. Flensburg is an old harbour town with character and things to do and our Robin was safe indoors– so not a bad result.
Day 3 (Saturday). I’m not sure the Sun came up that day! Wet and very windy, clouds passing by the hotel bedroom win-dow. The seagulls were grounded. We did some flight planning, then once the rain abated (a bit) popped around the corner to the old town centre. Commercial pi-lots have to be able to order beer in every language – so we practised our language skills with great success.
The following day’s forecast wasn’t much better – but there was a tiny chance of window. A huge front would clear in the morning leaving strong winds (40 kts)
Look familiar? The Swiss answer to hanger packing a T21
We found another modest hotel, that had much to be modest about – but reserved the rooms for an extra night just in case.
George Knight being the Englishman abroad
and showers behind. The later we left de-parture the better – except this made get-ting home less likely. The problem being that fog was forecast the following day! We took the decision to go for it first thing in the morning in the hope that this win-dow would open.
Day 4 (Sunday) – Having con-vinced George the previous evening that we should go for it, with this improbably weather window – I got up and looked out of the window to see the seagulls still walking. It looked horrible and so I went straight back to bed. George, who had the internet access, banged on my door a few minutes later saying, “It might just be on.”
So a quick breakfast, cab ride out to the airfield, prep. and load the Robin. All the while it was getting clearer, if only slowly. We were able to make a judgement on the possibility of dodging these show-ers. Our first leg was to Bremerhaven and luckily the strong wind was forecast to be straight down their runway. We got ready, and took off in a lull between showers.
That leg down to Bremerhaven was OK. The weather was going to improve and the wind abate as the day progressed and we got closer to Holland and Belgium. So setting off early was extremely handy.
By now we had our turnarounds well sorted. Launching out of Bremerhaven coincided with the last significant shower. We dropped down to 1,200’ as we ap-proached the Dutch border (we could not legally fly above 1,200’ in Dutch airspace) and ahead was improving convective soar-ing conditions. Our main focus was on the clock and whether we could we make Gransden before dark? We passed a glid-ing club, routing around their winch and avoiding a cloud street with thermalling gliders. However we also got to test our FLARM with an unsuspecting glider in the sink. Then, after nearly two hours, into Hilversum, near Amsterdam, for fuel and more customs etc.. This was the only place where we attracted the attention of customs who sent three of their officers to enquire why two Englishmen, flying a Swiss aeroplane, should be flying from Denmark to Holland. Still I got pleasure in getting one to help me top-up the oil before they wished us a safe onward jour-ney.
It was now looking like Gransden
was on. Nowadays international flights can go into airfields like ours – but only with 4 hours notice. We had the form al-ready prepared – so I called David Howse to lodge this request. In addition I asked him to see what chance Marshalls would
stay open for us if we arrived after dark.
Then a run along the Dutch and Belgium coast into Oostende closley fol-
lowing an Airbus. This was where the real fun started! This was the biggest airport we visited all trip and whilst the flying was easy – we had to mix with terminals, security, nonsense, yellow tabards, late fuel bowser, more nonsense and the usual Belgian efficiency. Meanwhile, David in-formed us that Marshalls would not stay open for us. So I reckon the most stressful spell of the whole trip was dealing with this lot. Still, it suddenly came together and we were back in the air.
A cruise climb along the Belgian and French coast to Cal-ais got us up to 6400’ for the channel cross-ing. We went as high as possible as rumour has it that George can’t swim and we got the occasional view of fer-ries in the gaps in the cloud. Then we had the fun of London ask-ing us to call Manston Radar, who requested us to maintain 6400’ due to coordinated jet traffic underneath us.
On landfall - and once clear of this con-
flicting jet - we descended into the clear weather. Our routing took us past Canter-bury over the Thames estuary, (descending all the while) round the M25 and up be-tween Stansted and Luton, below 2400’.
In the event we arrived at Gransden a good 45 minutes before sunset at the end of a good late season soaring day, to quite a large welcoming committee with time for Andrew Hulme to take David Howse up to show him what had been bought. Overall a very pleasant and memorable trip. The Robin was easy to fly, but the weather made decision making the hard part.
By the time you read this article in the Gransden Times the Robin will have been re-registered as G-OCGC, some cosmetic work been completed and the process of checking-out our tug pilots started. Being less thirsty than the Pawnee it is intended that G-OCGC will be our number one tug most of the time. The Pawnee will be used on busy days and when the airfield is excessively wet and muddy.
GT 15 January 2010 www.glide.co.uk
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