April – May 2007

If you’re interested in the latest 18-metre racing sailplanes, in becoming an instructor, or in trying aerobatics – if you’re inspired bybeautiful local soaring over the Yorkshire Dales or a rip-roaring 1,000km in South Africa – or if you simply want to refresh your airspace knowledge before heading off on a UK cross-country – then the April-May S&G is what you need.

We start with not one but two flight tests of new-to-the-air 18-Metre Class racing sailplanes. During the European winter, Jochen Ewald tried out the HpH 304s “Shark” with its distinctive and perhaps slightly menacing-looking upturned wingtips (well, where else did you think its name came from?). A potential winner to watch, he says. In the sun of South Africa, meanwhile, twice World Champion Andy Davis took the JS1 Revelation for a test flight – of 500km. (As you do…) He shares his impressions of this glider – which has won the South African Nationals – exclusively with S&G readers.

If competing’s not your first or only love, what about instructing? Adrian Lyth of East Sussex GC describes in clear and entertaining prose the path he took to becoming a full-rated instructor – and what he finds rewarding about it. Or have you considered another way of competing: glider aerobatics? Charles Baker of Lasham explains why it’s not as daunting as it might sound.

This is also the issue where we report on the British Gliding Association’s annual general meeting and the presentation of awards for the best flights of 2006. Put faces to names for BGA trophy winners, learn more about the new BGA Executive Committee or just appreciate Paul Morrison’s gallery of excellent photos from the BGA weekend. Other features include all you need to get your gliding going in the UK this year, whether you want to extend your cross-country horizons (we’ve a review by John Wright of free NOTAM software as well as Carr Withall’s annual airspace brief) or simply try out a different site (why not pull out the map in the centre spread and keep it in your car so you can find your nearest club wherever you happen to be?). And on a serious note, make sure you read the important BGA information about task finishes and approaching to land, on page 63 of this issue. It’s a must.

Last but by no means least come two very different articles, both of which I love. Polly Whitehead of Clevelands GC took a launch into an unpromising February sky – to find herself soaring blue wave, marked only by thin ribbons of heather-fire smoke from the Pennines and, at the end of the day, a glorious sunset. Her text is the stuff of poetry. At the other end of the scale, Kim Tipple and Iain Baker roared round a 1,000km out-and-return in South Africa: an unusual and fun flight with an unusual and fun write-up.

Enjoy your flying and your S&G and remember: when you have a special flight, we’d love to hear about it.