Volume 32 No 4 Aug-Sept 1981.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

P iclure
OPEN/STANDARD CLASS NATIONALS
RAF Greenham Common - May 16·25
SUE HINDER reports on "the wettest Nationals ever" which gave only
two contest days for the Open and none for the Standard Class.
,if YOll cana large airfield in the
south of England. It has an enorm­
ous sllndrenched east-west runway with
a central clusler of shiny white gliders
glistening in the sun waiting to take-off.
To one side a. ring ofmulti-coloured tents
and caravans and adjacent, another circle
of white trailers.
Unfortunately compel,jtors at
Greenham Common know the real
story: grey skies, drumming rain 011
caravan roofs and tents awash, encircling
vas.t lakes of water. Sad sodden sailplanes,
their covers dripping tears of
despondency. May 1981 .at "Rainham
Common" must now enter the record
books as the wettest Na'tionals ever.
As we looked forward to ten competition
days at a sUlperb site who could have
anticipated onfy three flying half-days
for eaoh Class giving rise to two contest
days for Open and nOne for Standard.
At the end of the competititm John
Delafield emerged .as Open Class.
Champion and for the first time there
was no Standard Class Champion.
The formal opening was by Air
Vice-Marshall M. G. Beavis, president,
Royal Air Force Gliding aljd Soaring
Association.
The 'first four days were rained offas a
low over Ij'eland tracked slowl'y northeas,t
sending several fronts and troughs
across the area wilh strong S-SW winds
and heavy showers.
Wednesday, May 20, seemed no more
A viell' ofGreenlUlm Common,
promising but rain eased earlier as a
trough passed through by noohrs giving
high humidity and low cloudbase in the
afternoon.
The Open Class was set a 'L55km
quadrilatel1ll, Didcot railway station,
Blakehill Farm aerial, Bullington crossroads
A3031A34 and the Standard Class
a .l35km triangle, Blakehill Farm, Bullingtoncrossroads.
The Open Class launched firsl, with
the startline open at 1524. Dave Watt left
straight ,away, got low at Didcotand
landed at Abingdon. Twenty-three pilots
landed within a ten mile radius of Wantage
in very muddy fields. Alistair Kay,
Chris Garton and Ted Lysakowskl were
late starters and flew furthest. Chris did
not enjoy his flight - "One long scrape
punctuated by OCcasional thermal.s.·'
Ted found difficulties staying up locally
but once starled, 110 rea'l problems,
although he never climbed higher than
2oooft. They arrived together at South
Marcston with no chance of further progress
because of high cover approaching
fFOm the SW. With everyone e'lse
already on the ground and thus no prospect
of a competition day, both decided
to join Alistair on a safe airfield in preference
to a muddy field and a difficuU
retrieve.
The Standard Class was scrubbed as
time ran out to fit in a task ill the weak
conditions.
Thursday was another non-flying day.
A cold front had passed through during
the night. A small trough arrived after
which the wind veered from S to SW. A
clearance expected around 1500hrs
tinally arrived at 1700hrs.
Day 1, (Open), Friday, May 22
Sun and showers - some thunder
expected. Wind still SW. Cloudbase initially
3800ft asl increasing to 4100ft as" at
Oxford, but down ,to 3200£t asl in rain.
There was %cu locally with rapidly
increasing cover and a belt of rain and
showers north of Upper Heyford.
Open was a 218km O/R to altemative
TPs A45/M45 Thurlaston or Pitsford
reservoir, while the Standard was set a
l72km O/R to alternative TPs - Towcester
A5/A43 Junction or Newport
Charles Bridges of Sedgwick Aviation Ltd, whose firm awarded Ihe daify prius. preseming the Sedgwick Pagnell Service Station.
trophy to John Delafield. Open Class Champion. The Standard Class was launched first
152 SAILPLANE & GLIDING