Sailplane & Gliding 1966 - Lakes Gliding Club

ON FLYING THE NORTHERNS
2nd-10th JUly
By STEPHEN WILLS
W
HBN in March our syndic~te
ded to buy a Dart deci­
17R. In plac·e
of our faithfql Skylark 4, I might have
had second thoughts bail I known that
the new ship would be delivered the
day before the Northern Championships
started.
Arriving at Camphill on Friday afternoon
we rigged rapidly; as I climj;led
aboard. I little thought that all the
height I should get was ten feet before
the winch cut. Luckily I was too frozen
with fear to develop any stick twitch
or rudder flap until after touchdown.
And then it dawned: perhaps despite
all the dire warnings of its "slipperiness",
this aircraft (a) flew and woufd behave
itself despite the pilot, and (b) could
withstand heavy landings over the formidable
wall roots at Camphill.
However, it was with considerable
foreboding that I took the air on. the
first competition day to fiy Distance
along a Line through Husbands Bosworth
via Kirton l.indsay. Things were
not improved by having a syndicate
member as crew patting the Dart fondly
just in case . . . !
I found out quite swiftly that a Dart
could scratch with the best of them.
Had it not been a competition, the day
was a day on which sensible pilots might
well have stayed al'Ound the site; but
in the circumstances obviously the best
plan was. to drift away from the site in
whatever lift could be found.. It was
very shortly afterwards that I found
myself in rather better weather, over
Chesterfield, in company with several
others.
One Of two reasonable thermals and
Kirton Lindsay hove in View, with a
lovely cloud just before it sucking like
mad. 0 horror of horrors - to throw
it away jus; to have a look at the
marker! to find on my feturn that the
cloud nad colla~I
I then proved that this was ne day
for getting away from a low altitude.
However, I was happily rescued by ·a
Ka-6, and was later embarrassed by
376
leaving the kindly presented thermal for
another stronger one, thereby beating
the Ka-6 into a cloud which bore me
to 7,500 ft.! On emerging, I glided down
to find that the conditions had. 'sadly
deteriorated on course, and a rather
measly line of cloud departed at right
angles towards the east. "Go with .the
weather" and "Glide it out'" battled
furiously. "Weather" won, and soon
The Wash hove in view. Tea at Boston?
. . . No - littl~ clouds f.armed a
sort of sea-bre.eze effect and I floated
on a south-westerly course quietly back
inland. My anxious crew now underneath,
and on the lookout for at least
3,000 yards .of runway, decided that
Wittering was for me, especially as I
had run out of lift and the fields around
were filled with corn and so I radioed
them to ask for landing permission.
To cut a long story short, I left the
cell block two hours later, having exercised
two fire engines and three police
cars, and provided suitable details to
keep ten R.A.F. bloodhounds busy for
some time checking whether or Dot my
intentions were honourable.
And so the Competitions continued
'with a race to Dunstable, where once
again a splendid cloud to 8,500 it. made
a glide out to Ampthill an easy task.
Had I fully appreciated the qualities of
my Dart, an arrival at Dunstable with
two feet to· spare might well have 'been
on
Ẇith two wins and 400 points in
hand, I began to think thaf Lady Luck
was with me; but nevertheless it was
equally obvious that one bad day could
quickly erase my lead.
After a couple of Camphill specialities,
the weather only clearing after No
Contest had been announced, the next
task, a race Camphill, Kettering, Swanton
Morley, was clearly a No Contest
day but for the fact that the 'organisers
refused to recognise it as tbis, and so
off we all went. Soon 24 aircraft were
happiTy soaring a low wave which
showed how wrong we could be. This