A very enjoyable day out!

Had a splendid day over at the HDRCMC club yesterday. I was joined by Ian A and Graham T. The Horsham guys have a huge field with a nicely mown strip near the centre and a new steel cabin as a club HQ. The day started with a detailed briefing given by Pete Glover and Kevin Beale on the do's and dont's of the field and joined by Colin Paddon to offer help and assistance to us novices.

So initially the sky was overcast with light winds but not much sun to be seen. I had my Maxa 4e (F5J) and my Experience Pro (F3J) Ian had his Super Starlight (F5J) and his Nan Shadow (F3J) and Graham flew his Nan Shadow (F3J) and his new Top Flight model (F5J).

Kevin had set out his F3J winch and two bungee's for us all to use. I had never tried a high powered winch launch before so opted for a bungee to start with. I watched Ian winch launch his Shadow and gave it a go. Wow! was that a scary experience but a total adrenaline rush at the same time. Kevin launched it and I just stood there holding the transmitter till you get to the top and with loads of speed you give it a gentle nudge forward on the sticks and then pull up eating up all that speed to gain as much height as possible. I think Kevin said it was a 120m line out to a reverse pulley which gave me a height of 118m on the first attempt. With no sun on the ground and my nervous flying I was soon back on the ground. Myself and Ian thought we would leave the gliders till later and wait for the sun.

There was a great turn out of Horsham club members there also with a wide range of gliders big and small, old and new. Lots of banter and chat going on. Great time just to sit and watch others flying as Kevin and Colin were kept busy all day with fettling, trimming, on hand assistance at the launch point as well as tons of useful advice.

As the sun came out so did the thermals and the Buzzards. Out came the Maxa for several flights. Up so high I was getting a crick in the neck having to keep chucking out full landing flap and crow to get back down to a reasonable height and then try to climb away again. Even with it's 4m wingspan the Maxa is a pussy cat to fly. Floats around gracefully and I found it was better for me sometimes just to point it into wind when in a thermal and just do nothing and it would climb away very happily.

Later we got out the gliders again and me, Ian and Graham took winch launches (I love the bonkers speed these things go up the line!). Graham took it easy with his repaired Shadow nut the repair proved to be very strong and he took the plunge of the winch. Graham was so confident that he even managed a loop of the top of the launch. We were all impressed by that G. My last winch launch I managed just over 140m and pulling up straight into a thermal. Climbed away up over 330m and opted for the prone position (lying down looking skywards) as my neck was killing me. Occasionally having to make a 90 degree dash away from passing micro-lights. I had about 45 minutes flying with Ian and then it was time to call it a day as the sea air came in and killed the lift.

I had a thoroughly good time at a lovely place with great people on a fantastic thermal day. What more could you ask for?

Now some big 'Thank You's'

• Thanks to the Horsham club (Pete Glover and his members) for hosting the day and letting us use their wonderful flying facilities and to the power guys who gave up their flying day to let us attend this event.
• Thanks to Kevin Beale and Colin Paddon for their valuable help and advice. I learnt a lot and realised how much more there is still to learn - Cheers guys!!
• Thanks to all the others that came along and for making us feel so very welcome.

And finally (thank god I hear you cry!)............

Horsham BMFA F5J League Event - Sunday 7 May 2017

Horsham and District RCMC are hosting a BMFA League F5J competition at Lordings Farm, Nr Billingshurst, West Sussex on Sunday 7 May 2017.  We will be running a relaxed and fun competition for both existing competition flyers and new pilots alike. All welcome.

I think Ian and myself will be entering just to give it a try. I will let you know how we get on.