June – July 2008

From bungey launching to better thermalling, from circumnavigating London to completing a long-awaited badge flight, there’s something for everyone in the June-July issue of S&G.

Our front cover shows one of the intrepid band of Dutch pilots that visits Shropshire each year, hoping for a strong westerly and lots of launches from the Mynd’s bungey meadow. This year they were rewarded with nearly 60 of those – and local Bronze pilot Helen Johnson describes how she did her first bungey solo. S&G’s thanks are due to Paul van der Zwan for letting us use his evocative photos of the Mynd’s T-21.

If your focus is on going further and faster, then Gavin Wills’s article on a holistic approach to thermalling will be right up your cloudstreet. Soaring in thermals, he says, is a lot like fishing: a game of probability, skill and judgment. It’s a fascinating comparison, written in his usual lucid style, and his practical tips will appeal to anyone who, like me, wants to learn to soar more effectively.

Reading an article by Trevor Stuart always makes me smile. Not only because he tries such inventive tasks but also because he writes about them in such an engaging way. In the June-July issue, he explains how he banished the post-winter gliding bluesthanks to a 300km check flight, a challenging set of TPs – flying around London from Nympsfield – and a little help from a friendly magician.

When you’re starting out in gliding or struggling to go cross-country, Trevor’s 600km seems like an impossible goal. But we can all aim for our personal bests and, says Ian Easson, if at first you don’t succeed, try again. No less an achievement for Ian, and the kind of flight we can all aspire to or remember with pride, is the 50km that completed his Silver. Perseverance, he adds, really does pay off.

Also in this issue: BGA Chairman Patrick Naegeli focuses on Mode S proposals from the CAA. Afandi Darlington describes how one of the UK’s oldest clubs is preserving its past on the internet. BGA Chief Executive Pete Stratten cuts a path through the British and European regulatory maze by explaining how the rules affect you. Frank Jeynes, now the owner of an ASG 29, gives his first impressions of this competition-winning glider. Don Puttock analyses what motivates club members; Hugh Woodsend outlineslessons to learn from recent Airproxes; Andy Perkins introduces this year’s Air League Gliding Scholarship winners; and Jeremy Hamill-Keays extols the delights of flying from a club set amidst Sweden’s fields, forests and lakes. Finally, do check out Ian Atherton’s fantastic photo of the lagoon at Petrola in Spain. It’s in the June-July Gliding Gallery, along with other striking and unusual images.

I’ll sign off here from this issue – and from editing S&G, too. Thank you to everyone for all your contributions – words, photos, and feedback – over nearly nine years. They’ve been appreciated more than I can adequately say. Susan Newby is our editor from now on: I’m certain she’ll value your support as much as I have, and you can contact her at editor@sailplaneandgliding.co.uk.

Fly safely, have fun – and may all your soaring dreams come true.