COMBAT AND COMPETITION.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

COMBAT AND COMPETITION
17 miles north of Edinburgh, on that classic opening day, using a
combination of thermal, cu-nim and wave. It was an outstanding
flight. Those of us in the leading group behind him ended up around
Darlington and Newcastle. Less than 250 miles from Lasham to his
358.
"Never 1 - as it was said at the time - "have so many flown so far
to score so little."
For myself, lying 4th, the position improved after the second day's
race to Kidlington and back. I managed to avoid the showers and
heavy sink near Basingstoke, made a fast time, and moved up to
second place.
On the critical third day our race to the Long Mynd was set into
an area of supposedly increasing instability. But the thunderstorms
forecast over Wales never materialised. Most of the field ground to a
halt around Leominster. But for Tony D2 and myself, who almost
reached the goal, our failure to do so was dreadfully frustrating. It had
been cloudless all the way, and I caught my last blue thermal at
Tenbury, 19 miles from the Mynd.
Tony joined me on the climb, in his yellow and white 419, and we
squeezed every last foot out of the gently rising air. 4200 ft and that
was our lot. Reluctantly we set course again, in wide line abreast,
flying for maximum distance, hardly daring to touch the controls. To
the west of Ludlow a range of wooded hills slipped beneath our wings
- sunlit slopes and quarries - a perfect thermal source - and nothing!
absolutely nothing!
The landing area and the blister hanger beyond were clearly
visible, within easy gliding range, except that the Long Mynd is 1400
ft high. Just one more thermal, even the merest fraction of a thermal,
would have been sufficient.
We reached the east face level with the top, not enough wind for
slope soaring, just a last few thermal bubbles to prolong the agony.
Tony landed first and I followed him into the same field. We stood
together looking up at the hill, two solid miles of Mynd separating us
from our goal. And as we watched, the silhouette of a Skylark III slid
silently overhead - Philip Wills on his final glide. Later that night we
learned that Geoffrey Stephenson who started early and Philip soon
after him - more than half an hour before us - had been the only ones
to make it. Another 500 ft and we would have beaten them both.
Poor Tony, it was much worse for him, he had won the second task
after a disaster on the opening day which had put him right down the
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