Airfield Action

Station News AIRFIELD ACTION

CHILTERNS GLIDING CLUB

EXPEDITION - ABOYNE Martin Langford, CFI, Chiltern Gliding Club

Twenty pilots attended the club’s annual three-week trip to Deeside Gliding Club, Aboyne, in North-East Scotland. We towed up our club Duo Discus high performance two-seater, several club single seater gliders plus several private gliders.

Set in the River Dee valley with the mountains of the Cairngorms National Park to the west, unique weather conditions can be experienced. These produce an effect called Wave where the air oscillates up and down in a gigantic wave pattern. This can produce very strong upward moving air (lift) enabling us to sometimes climb at 1500’ per minute to over 20000’ in air that feels silky smooth.

That might sound nice, however there are other challenges we have to overcome. As we are going high, we have to supplement our breathing with oxygen which we start to use from 10000’. Then there is the cold, which was -25degC the last time I went that high. No heating in a glider and you can’t just get up and have a walk around either, so we tend to wrap up well! Most also use heated socks, heat pads etc to help fend off the cold. As the glider is also very cold, we must be very careful with keeping away from cloud as any moisture will instantly turn to ice. Not great for the glider and a little alarming if the canopy freezes over as you can’t see where you are going! Lastly what goes up must come down; the down part of the wave can be equally if not stronger than the up. It can also be very turbulent. This bouncy air usually occurs over the airfield just where we take off and land. So, we have to plan ahead, be aware of what we might expect and strap in tightly! With all that additional stuff to think about why on earth do we want to do this in the first place? Well, it's the challenge, your own development as a glider pilot, the spectacular views, the satisfaction of doing such a flight. There are multiple reasons which we just find magic; every pilot comes back with a huge grin across their face. Even pilots like myself, who have been flying gliders for over 40 years are still never disappointed or amazed by the experience.

This year was no exception. Even though the weather conditions were not at their best we still managed several flights to 20000’ and had a total of 46 flights across 84 hours.

We usually plan to have a club expedition every year and is open to any club member. We normally take a two-seat training glider. Together with our experienced instructors any pilot can then experience the thrill of flying above the mountains.

EXPERIENCE GLIDING FOR FREE!

As I reported in the last edition of Mainpoint there is an opportunity to experience gliding for free. It is open to all current serving RAF personnel (unfortunately not contractors or civil servants). You could get a day’s flying, either 6 winch launches or 3 aerotow flights. Please apply for 2023 via: https:// modgovuk.sharepoint.com/ teams/25305/SitePages/ SOARING-EAGLE.aspx

You can always come down and fly with us anytime. We are open to all but to give you an idea you can have two winch launch flights for around £35 for Service Personnel. Contact us via our website www. chilternsgc.co.uk

FORCE DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY?

Thinking about a FD activity, then consider a day or half day with us doing gliding. To get a glider safely into the air involves good coordinated teamwork.

The club’s Duo Discus getting ready to launch. An hour later it was up at 15000’.

Up high above the mountains, the river Dee winding its way through the valley.

A happy team of pilots; a rain shower having just gone through.

Our single seaters waiting to launch.