Bank Holiday Monday 26th May

Firstly a big 'thank you' to Colin Sword who, despite having been on duty over the weekend, volunteered as tuggie for the day. Without him we would not have flown.

A rather nondescript forecast seemed to indicate some patchy thermal activity with the possibility of some weak wave in the afternoon. The first launches all got away in thermals which, starting rather narrow, got better as the day went on. There were some showers around at first but they died out later and by then there were some quite strong thermals. Flights stayed fairly local although some went out towards Carter Bar (rain stopped play !) and beyond Coldstream. There were also some fairly fast local triangles flown. Later in the day there were some signs of wave at the mouth of the valley but only enough to keep the thermals going as it got slightly overcast. All in all a good days flying.

Barry Lytollis took these snaps of Coldstream and Holy Island.

 

16th, 17th & 18th May

The weekend of the 16th - 18th May gave some great flying. On Friday wave set up which enabled climbs to near 17,000' and flights across the Tweed Valley into the Lammermuirs. Congratulations to Ken Sangster who reached around 15,000' to claim a Gold Height. As the day went on we were treated to some wonderful lenticulars which Stuart Black managed to capture.

Friday's Lennie

Saturday also produced good wave, although not so high, "only" working to around 12,500' Some used the height to spiral down around the local triangle but Barry Lyttolis showed how it should be done by romping around the triangle 3 times without any significant net height loss. At over 100km/h on the first triangle and then over 115 km/h for the other 2 he made a significant points gain ! Again flights went out across the Tweed Valley to Duns and South beyond Thropton.

Saturday's Sky

DG300 Climbing

Sunday, sadly, didn't experience any wave. As the day progressed however, despite a fairly strong wind, thermals gave some good flying. We watched the Ka21 drift off downwind and wondered if the trailer was going to be needed but it re-appeared overhead still at a respectable height. The end of a great weekend !

Saturday 3rd May - Our EuroFOX arrives at Milfield

After successful first flights on Friday, Robin brought our EuroFOX to its new home at Milfield. It was quickly surrounded by interested members, including many of our tug pilots who were keen to get in and see what the cockpit was like! 

Member inspection!

Apparently the number of dials, switches and cubbyholes were enough to satisfy most of our Tuggies! The rear view mirror was considered a neat touch too.

Lots of dials, switches and cubbyholes!!

First impressions were of outstanding build quality and attention to detail, a real credit to the builders. 

The EyroFOX requires at least 5 hours and 15 flights to complete the testing phase so various observers (aka ballast) joined Robin throughout the day whilst some of these flights were performed. The Chairman was particularly impressed with the downward visibility from the cockpit.

Our Chairman inspecting the site from the air.

Landing

First Solo

Congratulations to Nick Stone who went solo at the end of the day on Saturday. 

Nick being congratulated by instructor Graham Micheson 

Friday 2nd May

Whilst the hardy crew worked to get the Eurofox flying, back at the site, members enjoyed some good thermal flights. Barry Lytollis took this shot, looking towards Lindisfarne, showing some nice clouds.

The conditions were still looking good late in the afternoon when, on the return from Midlem, there were gliders still thermalling under a high cloudbase.

Lindisfarne from cloudbase