2007

DECEMBER 07

14th, 15th & 16th : Friday - It was another 3 day weekend. A strange weather pattern. All the days saw nearly identical conditions but wildly different results! There were 3 flights, two of which resulted in strong blue wave to about 9000'

Saturday - Full of promise and we thought it would be another wave day. Not to be and despite some fairly lengthy tows, no wave was found at all. This despite steady southerly breezes. In fact the only soaring was done on the Dallas ridge and even it seemed to collapse later on. However, Lots of winching took place and in the end 13 flights were achieved.

Sunday - Blue again and just like Friday, it was beautifully clear and crisp. We started with a bit of winching but it was only after Robert took a tow in the Acro with Ruari and encountered strong wave from only 2000' that things got going. In the end, we launched off half a dozen gliders and everyone stayed up allowing the K21 to bash the circuit in peace. The wave topped out about 5000' and only seemed to be near Glen Latterach. The wave length was extrermely short <1mile. Amazing conditions!

7th, 8th & 9th: Friday - No Flying. Too showery with a cold and strong Northerly wind.

Saturday - No flying. There was a south easterly wind and the strip at the west end was too wet to be usable.

Sunday - No flying. It Rained all day!

30th Nov , 1st & 2nd Dec: Friday - The gods have finally got wind of our Friday flying. No flying due to rain!

Saturday - The weather was not great but there was some flying and Callum topped the day by climbing to 5500 ft in wave over Rothes. Peter converted to the Discus and Robert got a slating for falling out in the Acro with Teresa! 9 flights in all.

Sunday - An absolutely gorgeous day but with no wind, not even remotely soarable. The Tost winch was brought back to life in preparation for some maintenance on the normal winch and the alternator on the landrover was replaced.

NOVEMBER 07

23rd, 24th & 25th: Friday - we managed 4 flights. Not spectacular but soarable and very relaxed.

Saturday - Cold, windy and wet best describes the day. It poured in the morning for 2 hours solidly but robert was determined to be able to carry out the refresher course with Angie and Jim so we grimly hung on. In the end, Angie and Robert launched in the afternoon and manage 1/2 hour. Jim and Robert then went off and spent 1 3/4 hours ridge soaring in 50 knot winds making it down to Ben Rinnes in the end.

Sunday - Cold again with a northerly wind giving bits and pieces of lift on the hill. 9 flights meant that this was the first weekend we flew all three days. Not bad at the end of November.

Weekend 17th/18th:Friday was a beautiful day with gentle westerlies. Three people took a tow to try and find the wave but it did not materialise. The Rothes ridge was working though and there was some soaring on that. 9 flights in all. There were quite a few people out. Today is the third weekend in a row that we have flown on a Friday.

Saturday - The doom mongers were wrong!! Whilst the forecast had been for rain sweeping through at lunch time, it never materialised. Instead, it turned into a cracking wave day. Robert's task of acheiving silver height was carried out by Tom Brennan on only his 7th solo!! He went to 12500'! By all accounts, it was 7 knots all the way up! Lots of people enjoyed the wave in the afternoon but cross country was difficult as it was wet beyond Grantown.

Weekend 10th/11th: No flying on Saturday or Sunday with showers throughout the weekend. Friday flying has now commenced and we will be flying every friday weather dependant.

Weekend 3rd/4th: Not the most inspiring weekend weather wise but flyable nonetheless. Congratulations go to Don Scobbie who went solo on winch and aerotow. Two solo's in less than a month! Watch out Junior pilots, there are others about!!

OCTOBER 07

Weekend 27th/28th: Saturday - What a busy day. Flying wise, maybe not so good although there was some done. The strong southerly put paid to most of that flying. However, there were lots of people and the old portacabin was finally pulled to bits and put on a huge bonfire for the evening fireworks display. Peter has done a fantastic job creating a new office out of the store cupboard so there is no excuse for loose paperwork laying about. In the evening, we had a good turn out for the bonfire party and apart from setting the gorse on fire, everybody had a great time.

Sunday - A different day completely but nonetheless most productive. This time it started with a fairly stiff westerly and the Rothes ridge was working initially. Lots of people were lobbed on to it and stayed up but no one got into any wave. Congratulations to Tom Brennan who went solo after only his 6th booked slot which is most impressive. He nearly got his first bronze leg on his first solo! He also progressed on to the Junior. Watch out Junior pilots! We nearly got him solo on the winch but the rain came on and scuppered that.

Weekend 20th/21st: Saturday - What an interesting weekend it was. We all thought it was going to be waving and were towing away madly into it. The compensation was the thermals. They were cracking 3 knoters up to 3500'. However, it was only at the end of the day that the really got going and we ended up flying until dark. Poor old Mike ended up doing 22 tows and we did a bunch of winch launching to boot. It was one of the busiest days we have seen for ages but was a lot of fun. Phil and Martin managed to make it to Cairngorm and back. Congratulations to Jules who went solo on aerotow.

Sunday - Another day with high hopes for the wave and Robert started with a high tow down to Ben Rinnes in the K21. Unfortunately the tug was out of action for a while due to an engine problem but in the meantime Robert managed a first by taking a winch launch in the K21 with Don Scobbie and making it on to the Dallas ridge! So it is possible although his supply of burnt boats must be getting thin by now!! The tug came back on line and was used and abused again lots before the end of the day. Billy finally got into the wave for the last hour of daylight. Another crackingly busy day!!

Weekend 13th/14th: Saturday - By all accounts it was a cracking day. Wave was the order of the day and Callum climbed to 10000' to claim his silver height. Martin turned Aboyne. Not sure who else did what but lots of soaring was achieved.

Sunday - Turned into another wavy day. Robert clocked 5 1/2 hours in the K21 with 10000' the highest I achieved. Stuart took the Duo down to Loch Muick and came back up via Grantown I think. It was not the easiest of days though and did require some highish tows to get to Ben Rinnes. There has also been flying on all this week but so far the weather has not been too kind. It has been flyable but not terribly soarable.

Weekend 6th/7th: Saturday - The Grob Tug demonstrator actually turned up on Friday lunchtime. Jim Tait promptly jumped in it and went to Aboyne where they tried it out with a Puchatz. In the evening, it came back to Easterton and we hooked Martin on in the Junior. Robert jumped in the front and they took off. The combination lifted off about the normal place and by the end of the runway we were higher than we would have been with the Chipmunk. Most impressive. On Saturday, there was absolutely no wind at all and not a very high cloudbase but we managed a few tows with the Grob. In particular, we did a couple of tows with the Duo 2 up in nil wind. Again, we lifted off at about the normal place and were higher at the far end that the chippie was managing. All in all, a good test.

Sunday - The grob departed for feshie and beyond and we had a lovely day until later on when the low cloud rolled in and spoilt things again.

SEPTEMBER 07

Weekend 29th/30th: Saturday - Geddes stayed up in thermal all day but did not do the task that robert set for the day (Dufftown, Bridge of Avon and back).

Sunday - There was a classic seabreeze front which Tom and Robert soared for the best part of an hour. Cloudbase was 3500. In the afternoon, quite unexpectedly a Super Dimona arrived complete with tow hooks (yes plural!). For those of you who have been gliding for a very long time, the name Bob LLoyd might mean something.

Weekend 22nd/23rd: Saturday - A typically wild southerly day. It took a while for the very local low cloud to clear and then became a strong southerly (75 to 80 degree cross wind). We did one winch launch first thing but thtat was that. Both our students flew. We managed to make the hill work later on in the afternon

Sunday - Was a good day according to Andy. Lots of flying, lots of new members. Welcome to Jules and Scott Napier and their kids. Welcome also to Tom Brennan who has just joined.

Weekend 15th/16th: Saturday - It was rainy wet and miserable in the morning which put people off. By the time it cleared up, there was no one around.

Sunday - We did fly but only intermittently due to annoyingly persistent bands of rain that kept coming through. A frustrating day unfortunately.

Weekend 8th/9th: Saturday - there was a little flying later on in the afternoon but there was no soaring. Sunday - There was a good westerly wind which after a poor start made the Rothes ridge work well in the afternoon. There was some gentle soaring but no one got into any wave. We were joined by a visitor from Romania who is a student here for the next 4 months.

Weekend 1st/2nd: Saturday was superb and Phil used the wave to good effect, completing both the Saturday and Sunday tasks Robert had set in one flight! He turned loch Muick, came back then went on to turn Ballater and Feshie!

AUGUST 07

Weekend 25th/26th: Saturday was certainly productive. A good turnout but the weather was rubbish. The weathers timing was perfect and just as we finished the mechano set the sky cleared and the wave opened up giving us a soarable late afternoon and evening. Martin and Robert soared the motorglider to 7500' and Angie and Robert Ince stopped at cloudbase at 4800'. All in all, a splendid day. Sunday was very busy but slightly frustrating in the number of times the wave appeared to set up and then collapse into light rain showers. We flew all day though clocking up 11 aerotows and good use of the motorglider.

Weekend 18th/19th: On Saturday it rained all day and night depositing 1.5 inches of rain on us. Funnily enough, there was no flying!

Sunday - it was dry and in fact turned out to be soarable. The motto is, look out the window and then decide to go flying!! It was a busy day in the end and we managed to fly all the Trial Lesson people and may gain a couple of new members as a result. There was some soaring in thermals a little later on although cloudbase never got above 2500'. All the flying was done from the West end of the airfield despite the huge lochs of water everywhere.

Weekend 11th/12th: Saturday - Was just one of those days I think. Only 4 short circuits were had before the weather turned wet again.

Sunday - Rained all day. However, Steve Pybus and Euan's Tuesday evening went off well with six RAF trial lessons. There are more of these days to come and we will keep you posted on dates.

Weekend 4th/5th: Saturday was an interesting if windy day. We had to stop temporarily to allow the wind to drop a bit in the middle of the day. However, the thermals were going quite well and there was lots of soaring, particularly in the afternoon. The wave only really started working for us later on and the only people to take advantage of it was Martin and Helen in the K21. They got up to 12800 feet.

Sunday - The first part of the morning was dry enough to fly and there were a few winch launches but the inevitable rain gods ruined the day again and flying ceased.

JULY 07

Weekend 28th/29th: 2007 Inter-club League Weekend: Saturday - Stuart and Robert were so optimistic that they set 100k, 200k and 300k for the Novice, Intermediate and Pundits respectively. The persistent rain soon put a damper on that plan! Just as they were about to scrap the day, the rain stopped and it looked like there might get an opportunity for a height task. This was duly set and people were allowed to launch at any time up to 6.45pm. A few gallant pilots had a go and believe it or not, the winner for the day (Although it was declared a no contest day) was Santiago in his Libelle. He gained 200 feet! However, the barbeque was a big success and there were around 60 people for it! Helen organised a superb spread with lots of help from Catherine, Lydia, Glenda, Teresa and others roped in on the day.

Sunday - The forecast did not inspire so the same height task as the day before was set and an 11am start time with a 2pm last launch. A minimum of 1000 feet had to be gained before a pilot could score. As the day wore on, pilots started packing up but the weather perked up a bit at about 1pm and Robert took a launch in the Acro. With a low point of 600 feet and a high point of 2400 feet, Robert managed to score. At that point there was a bit of a rush for launches so the last launch time was extended by 1 hour to allow all those who wanted to launch an opportunity to do so. The net result was 4 pilots manage to score, 2 from Highland and 2 from Feshie. Highland won the Pundit and Intermediate classes (Geddes made the best of the day reaching 5000 feet). This left Robert with a difficult task. How to score the day! After discussion with an independent party, Robert gave the maximum possible score as 200 points for the winner of each class. So, although Highland won the second leg, it was not enough to claim the overall winning position. The final placings were: 1st. Portmoak, 2nd. Highland, 3rd. Feshie, 4th. Deeside, 5th. Angus.

Weekend 21st/22nd: Saturday - Yet again, the worlds worst summer lived up to its reputation and the lowering cloudbase precluded flying. The Duo was rigged.

Sunday - As forecast, the weather was appalling. Heavy rain all day. As Angie said, we now have a swimming pool!

Weekend 14th/15th: Saturday - No flying, miserable weather yet again. Sunday - There was flying finally. It was quite a nice day with some good thermals. Please note there is a burst drain on the track next to the Green hangar so do not attempt to drive on it or your car will disappear! It is currently barriered off with tyres.

Weekend 7th/8th: As far as I am aware there was no flying. Sunday - only a couple of people turned up mainly we guess due to holidays and the number of people away at Comp Enterprise at Sutton Bank. We have had five comp days, mostly showery which has produced some interesting and challenging flying. The Final results of Comp Enterprise are Stuart won the last day of the comp and came in 8th position overall, thrashing Robert in his Acro or 'ASHcro' as it was re-named, along with Geddes in his LS8!

Sunday 1st: Yet again, the rain came down. This has truly been one of the worst summer periods we can remember. All down to the positioning of the jet stream you understand throwing endless lows to the south of us. The net effect is continuous Northerlies or easterlies and lots of damp cloudy air. Is there going to be a marked change any time in the future? There appears to be no sign of the jetstream moving further north so we have to say no at the moment. Robert is running an evening course on the 23rd to 27th July which is immediately followed by the Inter Club League at Easterton. If you can help with either of these, please get in touch with Robert.

JUNE 07

Saturday 30th: We did do some flying and also mnaged some soaring! Robert Ince had 2 flights, the second for 28 min and 2 thermals. Daniel MacLeman had 2 very short flights and then we had to stop soon after as the wind became more SE and there was oceans of sink around but no lift so no point in continuing. It was a nice day but we could only use the winch due to the soggy state of the field - the west 1/3 was a no no for anything as it very soggy.

Weekend 23rd/24th: Rain again for the whole weekend!

Weekend 16th/17th: Rain, Rain and more rain so no flying!

Weekend 9th/10th: There was no flying on both day's due to low cloud, mist and rain - let's hope some more summer weather is on the way! Although there was no flying saturday was a productive day as the haar rolled in at about 7:30 and stayed in for the rest of the day, the windsock was replaced whith a brand new shiny orange one that can now been seen for miles around! Martin replaced the pump on the diesel tank and we tested it by filling the red tractor to the gunnels ready for grass cutting. Geddes and Helen went on a trip for some victuals and we are restocked for end of day debriefs. R1 was rigged and taped up (Quote - 'Using stuart's scabby tape...'). A good use of a day when we would have liked to have flown.

Weekend 2nd/3rd: Saturday was an interesting day. Interesting enough for Phil to declare a 500K. Luckily for him he did not do it because he left his logger off! Still, he got as far as Cairngorm and encountered lift under an overhanging cloud that showed 19.3 knots on the averager and because he had to leave to avoid being sucked into the cloud, he says it still felt like he was accelerating upwards! Boy, we have had some pretty spectacular wave this year. It was reputedly pretty rough at Easterton and launching had to cease a few times because of it. Lots of soaring though but not neccessarily easy to use.

Sunday - Nobody even turned up! Yes, it was one of those grey days with a North Easterly wind so no surprise there.

MAY 07

Weekend 26th/27th: Saturday was a cracker, both for those taking part at the Inter club League at Portmoak and those at Easterton. We knew it was good at Easterton because we could hear Jim Tait's dulcet tones all over the radio! In essence, we all had very strong thermals with showers developing later on. Lots of good soaring had by all. Robert went round the first two TP's of the pundit task hors concurs in the Acro with Ian. It is now officially renamed the ASHcro as they seemed to overtake everything!! Highland did well at the ICL with John Thomson getting to Balanluig and back in 753, Phil landing out near Cupar Angus in 767 and Stuart landing R1 at Edzell.

Inter-Club League 2007 First Round Results

We are Second place at the moment and the second round is at Easterton at the end of July so we are in with a good chance.
Weekend 19th/20th: Saturday - Blimey. It was a bit windy! Too windy to fly in fact. Sunday was a busy day. We had no less than 5 trial lessons booked and a sixth was flown as well. These were so successful that we received the followintg comment from one of our visitors: "Robert, thank you so much for replying with such speed. (My) Robert and I are so impressed with the efficiency of club members....All our questions have been answered with patience and alacrity and all the members that we met recently on Robert's trial flight day were friendly and welcoming. What more could one ask?"

In addition, another of the trial lessons has resulted in a booking on the evening course in July. So a highly successful weekend!
Peter has been attempting to wear out JYC by staying up for 5 1/2 hours on his first flight in her! I think he won the task hands down which was to gain the most cumulative height. The afternoon looked really good with cloud streets and lots of soaring.

Weekend 12th/13th: Saturday - It was a miserable unflyable day but we had a great turn out to lay concrete for the new fuel shed. We would particularly like to thank Lydia Lunnon Wood for all her efforts cleaning the clubhouse and toilets. It was VERY much appreciated by all!

Sunday - Started off miserable with low cloud but we manage to keep people hanging around long enough for the weather to perk up. There was some thermal soaring. We were only winching.

Weekend 5th/6th: Saturday was gorgeous. Warm, sunny, thermic. Lots of soaring with 9 knot thermals. Phil won the day with 10 bridges task, ranging from the old railway bridge at speymouth getting round to the footbridge at Carron.

Sunday - My forecast was dead accurate except for one tiny detail. The 55knot winds rather spoilt the day and not surprisingly, we did not fly! However, Monday was a holiday and we did fly off the winch successfully between the showers. The thermals were OK and the Rothes ridge was working reasonably well. The task of Loch Muick was maybe a bit unrealistic though!

APRIL 07

Weekend 28th/29th: The longer evenings mean Wednesday evening flying is back on now so you can get that fix during the week as well! It is useful for getting those annual checks out of the way.

It is a bank holiday weekend next week (Monday 7th May) so there will probably be flying on Monday. The forecast is quite good as well with westerlies and sunshine so it is worth keeping in mind.

Saturday 28th - It was windier than expected and completely blue so we had high hopes for blue wave. In the end, it turned out not to be the case and despite numerous attempts, no wave was found but it was thermic and the Dallas ridge worked after a fashion. So in the end, there was quite a bit of soaring and I am pleased to report that Martin had a serious stab at the CFI's weekend task (O/R to Bridge of Avon). He did most of it on tow!

Sunday 29th - was less windy, still blue and thermic again. Robert spent the morning checking out Alan Nicholson as a tuggie and he very kindly tugged for the rest of the day.

Weekend 21st/22nd: Saturday - A productive day because the weather kept throwing annoying little showers at us. Lots of derigging went on!

Sunday was much nicer. Just a gentle ridge day really. There were some thermals on the go as well and robert had quite a bit of fun at 900ft hoping Ben Aigan would improve! There were some good thermals later in the afternoon.

Weekend 14th/15th: Saturday - Phils course ended with 5 days out of 5 flying. It was very successful and we hope to have gained two new members out of it.
I thought I had cracked it with my forecast. The wind appeared, the thermals appeared and for a while, it looked and was fantastic with well marked thermals and lots of lift. However, the visibility was atrocious and the thermals ended quite abruptly. I think Teresa and Robert went the furthest making it up to the back of Glen Livet at 5500'ft.

Sunday - Started off southerly and then went right round to the west and was quite strong. The wave could be seen high up but no one found anything. So we sat around a bit. Eventually, Peter took the K8 to the ridge and finally managed to complete his 2 hours for his bronze cross country. Callum took a short aerotow and did his hour for the bronze in thermals which had suddenly become very good. Nobody got into the wave but it turned out to be a good day.

Weekend 7th/8th: Saturday - only Geddes managed to get into the wave proper and everyone else spent a hard day in the thermal rotor washing machine. I believe Geddes clocked up a respectable mileage in his LS.

Sunday - Hardly anybody turned up on Sunday so there were only three launches. Stuart and Callum took the Duo first thing and after an exciting start above cloud, manage to head south. Peter and Robert took the Acro later on.Forthose of you who did not turn up, you missed the bestday ever seen in Scotland. Stuart clocked an impressive 420 kilometers zig zag that took him down to Pitlochry, up to Golspie, back down to Feshie and home. In all he was up for 7 1/2 hours! Peter and Robert initially only went up so that they could demonstrate how to get into wave off the ridge. This tookall of 5 mins and they soon found themselves drawn south so decided they had better do the out and return task to Ballater that Robert had set for the weekend. Once their, Stuarts reports egged them into going on to Pitlochry. Further reports saw Robert (click image for gallery) and Peter heading further south until they finally turned for home just shy of Callander. They came back via Dalwhinnie and at Grantown, encountered lift the like of which Robert has never seen before. In fact, looking at the logger trace, the Acro sustained a climb rate of 19.4 knots for over 1 minute!!!! Robert and Peter completed 321k in just over 4 hours without even trying off a 1500' aerotow on to the ridge! It was awesome!!! Just to give you a final idea of how good it was, John Williams did 1100km from Portmoak in a flight that stretched from Cape Wrath to Jedburgh (He crossed the Forth East of the Edinburgh Zone)!!

ASH Week (2nd - 6th April): Monday & Tuesday we did not fly due to the weather. By Tuesday evening the weather cleared and on Wednesday the ASH flew up the spey valley in wave and thermal. Others enjoyed some time on the ridge and some attempted to join in the wave in the spey valley with some but not all being successful! Thursday was magnificent with off the clock lift from circuit height up to heights that people wished they'd turned on the oxygen! Phil and Callum took the ASH over to Feshie in thermal climbing to 12000 but unable to climb higher with no oxygen! Stuart and Billy both took R1 over towards Aviemore and Kingside and had a well deserved trip. Plenty others also took advantage of the great conditions. Martin and Anne took the K21 to 10,000 feet. Friday looked great to begin with but cloud cover increased and wave collapsed. In the end plans to fly the ASH down to poartmoak weren't pursued. In the (click image to view gallery) afternoon the ridge turned on and P50 and the Duo managed a couple of hours soaring the ridge.

Sunday 1st: Sunday was Blue again, almost identical to Saturday but Geddes managed to get as far as Cromdale. He missed out on all the excitement on the ground though. There was an incident at the fish farm which involved floods, helicopters, an air exclusion zone and multiple emergency vehicles. It was one of the most bizzare accidents, but has thankfully turned out well. View news article on the incident here.
There has been a slight change to the evening course to be run in July by Robert - these date changes are now reflected in 'Diary Dates'.
For those of you who are unaware, the upper level airspace took a significant drop in height on March the 15th. It has come down from FL 245 to FL 195. We now have special areas overhead that are called TRA (G) which will allow us to climb as high as FL 270. However, this is only open at weekends and as far as we can gather at the moment, we have to phone to open them as well. So, if you want to do your diamond height and stay under FL 195, you really need to tow to no higher than 2000'. (2500' if the pressure is above 1013). However, we should take every opportunity to open these wave areas which are substantial and we would like to see it as the first thing done on any morning. Instructions on how to do it will shortly be posted on the notice board in the clubhouse.

MARCH 07

Saturday 31st: Saturday was as forecast, it was blue, blue, blue with typical blue thermals later on. There was some soaring.

Weekend 24th/25th: Saturday was as forecast, it was blue and warm with a light southerly wind. The thermals were working but were broken and did not go very high. Geddes showed off in his new toy Z5 by staying up the longest. There was no wave.

Sunday - Wow. It was stonking, especially later on in the afternoon. The thermals were working well from lunchtime on and the wave really got going later. The only fly in the ointment was my forecast about the cloud was wrong. There was none! Martin managed to fight his way to just shy of Loch Morlich at 10000' and Jim Marshall climbed to 12800' to claim his silver height. The thermals were working till at least 5.30pm. This was followed by the AGM which was well attended and the meal afterwards I thought was very good.

As Robert said at the AGM, we need people to volunteer their services, whatever they may be. What we need is for people to commit to doing something that they know they can and will do. Then they can assume responsibility for specific tasks. This is for the future of the club so if you can possibly help, please do. Some jobs can be done from home such as running the rota so distance from the airfield is not necessarily a barrier to helping.
So what areas are there?
Admin - Rota maintenance, filing (Electronic and Paper), library, training records and anything else you may have thought was needing done.
Housekeeping - Clubhouse, Hangars etc
Maintenance - Ground Equipment, Aircraft, buildings, grounds
Instructing - Training, planning

Please let Robert know what you could commit to, no matter how small. Nobody should end up doing too much. That is the whole point of the exercise.

It is the ASH week next week followed by Phils course the week after. If this high pressure moves south, there will be big opportunities for long distance wave flights so keep a close eye on it!

Weekend 17th/18th: Saturday - No flying. Sunday - No flying but plenty of activity. There has been a great deal of maintenance going on during these bad weather spells so a lot of progress has been made. The K21 is finished and just needs rigging. The LAK is back and Terry Slater did its C of A on Sunday. The next aircraft in the firing line is the Duo and it is expected to be offline for a couple of weeks after this weekend.

Weekend 10th/11th: Saturday - Robert's forecast of wave was precise and accurate except for one tiny detail. The wind was 20 knots too strong, no flying!

Sunday was productive. After a drizzly start where we managed to put the wings back on the motor glider, then retired for coffee. The weather perked up and for a while, the ridge worked with a few of us soaring on it. Then it died and and the wave kicked off. Stuart and Callum took the Duo to 9000' and Jim and Robert took the Acro to 8000', landing just before the rain came on. Then we finished the day by de rigging the K21 for C of A. It should be rigged again this weekend.

Weekend 3rd/4th: Saturday - All that is know is Jim talking about 6 knot thermals and suspicions about the whole sky going up!! The tug made it back across thanks to Ben Nicholson. Sunday - No flying due to the strong wind.

Firstly, a huge thankyou to Allan and Ben Nicholson who have been working on the tug over the last couple of weeks. Ben flew it back over on Saturday.

The next piece of news is the implementation of the on line Booking system for trainees. This has now gone live and is available on the website

If you are a trainee, to get a login, contact Anne Burgess, Helen Chalmers, Martin Knight or Robert and you will be set up with one. Please read the user guide carefully once you are in. This is the only way to book lessons so you will need to use it. You can get help at the club an book then if you do not have a computer.

For the instructors, you will be sent you an e-mail with your login details so that you can see who has booked what. It is very easy to use.

The Trial Lesson booking system will be up and running shortly as well. More on that when it appears.

Martin has put a huge amount of effort into this and he cannot be thanked enough for the work he has put into developing the system.

FEBRUARY 07

Weekend 24th/25th: On Saturday the wind was south easterly and just enough to make winching unsafe so there was no flying. Sunday was too wet in the morning so again we did not fly

Weekend 17th/18th: Saturday - Stuart got the beer after completing the task for the day to gain 1000ft in a thermal and provide logger evidence! Yes, the first genuine thermals of the year did indeed appear on Saturday and quite a few enjoyed them. Billy was put through his paces by Stuart and I in preparation for a BI course next weekend.

Sunday - No thermals and no wind meant it was not soarable. However, I had a final flight with Billy in the Duo who has gone away with a head full of patter! Good luck Billy. Mike Cryle and I flew the tug over to Aboyne and stripped it down for its Annual Inspection.

Weekend 10th/11th: Saturday was horrible. Sunday was even more horrible. No flying!

Weekend 3rd/4th: Saturday; was gorgeous. The wind was as forecast, the wave was there, Stuart and Billy declared a 300k and to quote Billy, they tried to get past Grantown 300 times!! We had 9 gliders up for most of the day and both Diana and Ted from the BGA had good flights. Peter managed to do his 5 hours and silver height but not get his 2 hours! How you ask? For the 1 hour and 2 hour duration flights, you are not allowed to tow to more than 2000'. For the 5 hour flight it is 1000m. Remember that all you budding Bronze pilots! After flying, Ted and Diana did an excellent presentation on what the BGA is doing and a lot of very useful points were raised. It was also gratifying to note that a lot of the changes we are putting through just now are reflected in future plans by the BGA.
Sunday; we did some limited flying with some soaring on the ridge but the showers got us

JANUARY 07

Weekend 27th/28th: On Saturday the Duo was taken to 12000 by Martin and Jim. Other flights tried and failed to get the Rothes ridge to work. After flying we held an instructors meeting. Sunday wasn't flyable in the end but very productive nonetheless. The hangars were completely re arranged and the motor glider was de rigged for its annual inspection.

Weekend 20th/21st: There was no flying on both days due to the weather although there were a couple of accidents involving model aircraft!

Weekend 13th/14th: There was no flying on Saturday. On Sunday we did fly, it was sporty and the strip was very wet. However, there were a few launches, both aerotow and winch and some soaring on the Rothes ridge. The wind was strong which made for some bumpy tows.

Weekend 6th/7th: Saturday; was a very productive day. Lynne made herself dizzy doing spins in the Bocian all day with Peter, Steve Pybus and Stuart for bronze and instructor annual checks. Chris, Teresa and Stuart also completed their annual field landing checks in the motor glider. Teresa converted to the Discus and instantly fell in love with it. Steve Pybus and Peter both completed their Bronze with Peter having done both of them over the Friday and Saturday. Meantime, there was lots of soaring going on with the Rothes ridge working well and the ASH and Duo getting into the wave further south and west. The ASH has now left for its C of A but we have made good use of it whilst it has been here.

Sunday; was equally as productive as Saturday with Peter doing all the air work for his cross country endorsement. Robert is now suffering from Vibration White Motor Falke syndrome after having spent a total of 4 1/2 hours in it over the weekend! However, now we are into the new year, remember all you cross country pilots, you need to get your field landing checks out of the way. It is quite fun and good experience in the mouse and only takes an hour. Again there was lots of soaring.