Volume 28 No 2 Apr-May 1977.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

"gliding types" alwayswarmly welcomed hereAlton's Largest and Newest Hotel, 24 ModernBedrooms, Licensed Restaurant and Club Bar.Motel. Terms: Bed & Breakfast from £4.75plus VATALTON HOUS£HOTELAA * * RACHEATED SWIMMING POOLALTON. HAMPSHIRETRY THE SPECIALISTSpho!)u, call or writeTel. 82369GOOD TRAILER PARKINGRun by a "Gliding Type" at LashamAIRCRAFTINSURANCEandAll TYPESOF INSURANCEJ. A. Harrison (Brokers) Ltd."Security House"1,60-161 BROMSGRQV'E Sl'RE'ET.BIRMINGHAM B5 6NYTelephone 021-69'2 1245 (10 j'ines)a Century of SERVICEIPilot & Oaily Position Speed/Distance Points Aircraft Comp FinalNo. Position1 Delafield, J, 81.5km/h 1000 Nimbus2 66 12 lee, D,G. 67.3km/h 900 ASW·17 26 23 Glossop. J.O.J. 66.4km/h 904 Kestrel 19 29 44 Randle, M. 62,1km/h 877 Kes1rel20 79 75 Warminger. A.H. 56.7km/h 842 Kestrel 19 44 176 lysekowski. E.R. 54.6km/h 829 Nimbus 2 120 37 Carlton, M.R., Greaves, C. 51.3km/h 707' C.IifA·21 119 168 Anne Bums SO.3km/h 801 l'limbus2 19 99 Bird, M. 47.9km/h 786 Kestrel 19 800 1010 Garton, C. 195km 528 Kestrel 19 402 811 Garrod, M.P. 181km 480 Jantar 19 600 1312~ Pozerskis. P. lookm 474 ASW·17 260 1512~ Day. e.G. lookm 474 Jantar 19 70 1814 Pope, M.H.B. 177km 464 Kestrel 19 46 2515 Spreckley,8.J. 176km 463 Kestrel 19 590 516 Tul, V.F.G. 166km 436 Kestrel 19 415 2117~ oK,ng, 'P..... 165km 425 Dtamant ~8 530 1917~ Lilburn, m.w. 165km 425 Kestrel 19 173 1119 Robertson, D.J. 163km 418 Kestrel 19 B5 1420 Roberts, D. G. 162km 41'4 Kestrel 19 626 1221 Camp, G.W.'G. 160km 408 Kestrel 19 268 622 Dimock, H.A. 15Bkm 402 Nimbus 2 514 2423 Fool, R.A. 155km 392 Nimbus 2 90 2224 Oocherty, T. P. 149km 369 Kestrel 19 727 2325 Mason, E. 147km 364 Kestrel 19 53 2026 Cousins, A 143km 351 'Kestrel i9 102 26Study of the tabulated results may show interestingpatterns. Some people find it fascinating to look foranswers in a collection of figures. I induded the table forsuch people, but I must admit that I noticed one or twothings which could be significant.To what extent did pure skill play in overcoming thesedemanding conditions? I say skill, because on this occasionluck was less important. The patch of bad conditions prevailedfor several hours for everyone to conquer. It was notjust One patch of good weather which a few pilots managedto utiHse.Is experience the answer?Comparing the final Championship results with theday's results, out of nine finishers, seven finished in thetop ten. Another thing I noticed was the length of time thatsome of the finishers had been flying. Twenty years was anarbitrary figure which came to mind and to the best of myknowledge, at least six of the nine finishers have beenflying for that long or longer. Of the non-finishers, forcomparison, I know of only four that have been flying thatlong. There may be more but even SO., there Is a muchgreater ratio. Is it significant? That's the question. Youcould say that of the f.inishers, six had double f,igtlrenumbers on their sailplanes as compared wHh five of thenon-finishers-a not dissimilar ratio!One outstanding statistic from this table is the 14.2krn/hmargin that John Delafield had over George Lee, and onsuch a day. It gave hint 91 points more than George. At theend of the Competition, the winning margin was 117points.What makes this day so interesting is that it was amicrocosm of Ithe sort of conditions found ,in WorldChampionships. Then, because of the sheer size of thetasks set, there are always patches of poor conditions. It isthe ab1lity Ito change gear from good,. to poor, to good,that sorts the Champions from the rest. Of the finishers,they changed gear for the poor conditions, for one reasonOr another they recognised the deterioration and were ableto keep their options open. None, however, changed gearback to good cond,itions but this was probably because theclimb at Bensoll put them on Hnal glide, plus a bit tospare,so they finished high. After that fright, who can blamethem?57