A day of two distinctly different flavours. Flying took precedence but hanging over all was the shadow of the need to complete the vacation of Hangar 4 for the Station 75th Anniversary activities.

With heavily overcast skies it was decided to delay the first launch so, whilst one team set up the airfield for a r’way 23 launch, the other commenced the move of kit and equipment out of Hangar 4. The private aircraft having been boxed last week we took out on to the airfield what remained of the fleet, the two ASK21’s and the Astir. The first launch was at 11:20 and the aim was to get everyone a trip but, although cloud base eventually rose to c3,500ft, there was only limited thermic activity and no one really got away

It was a delight to welcome back Cameron, an Air Cadet who had visited on a previous, non-flying day. He enjoyed a trip in R35 with Nick who remarked that Cameron is a very competent pilot. Cameron’s ambition is to become an RAF pilot and we hope to see him back to fly on another occasion.

We also welcomed visitor Steve who had decided to take the plunge and see how this gliding malarky compared to hot-air ballooning! Steve took a trip with Laura in R22 who impressed Steve so much that he may come back for another dose!

The Astir R66 was kept busy indeed, Norm claimed Hog-of-the-day with a trip of 48mins. Elsewhere Laura provided our entertainment with aeros practice overhead and some of the club elder statemen paired up in the ASK21s including Richard and Nigel in R35. However, the accolade must go to the 243 syndicate members who decided to share the cost of a trip in R35. Between them they have inhabited the planet for 158 years and that coloured the “Eventualities” brief that included “Jink left at the Control Tower ” and a check that both life insurance policies were valid for flying together.

With evident showers around and Jack reporting light rain spotting on the canopy……

……we called it a day at 1400, by which time everyone had flown. Attention then turned to the completion of vacating Hangar 4. The three remaining aircraft were boxed, the two TMGs flown to Seighford and the vehicles parked in the MT yard.