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Old 11th Sep 2011, 21:03
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mary meagher
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Oxford, UK
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Sugar beet fields in East Anglia not bad, when young. I used to follow the rule if you can see the ground between the plants, just land along the rows....this worked for maize in the midlands, but one year some plants were taller than others, and one grabbed my wing - spectacular ground loop, but no damage.

Another time, confusing appearance of conjoining fields, picked the wrong one which was rape stubble. Ground loop again, in an astir. No harm done, but it is an interesting maneuver, the seat belts keep you safe, and you are merely there for the ride as there is not a thing you can do about it!

Lots of rain can spoil your options; getting low near Didcot, everything looked like a swamp, so went in to Chalgrove, Friday afternoon. Nobody there, all locked up, but the tug came to get me, no problem.

And that reminds me of another yarn; flying in Lasham regionals, getting late in the day, ended up Haddenham/Thame, and the farmer was locking the gate.
Jobsworth, his day was over, and if we wanted to take a trailer to the glider it would have to be the next morning! Two more gliders landed there as well, so we crept through the hedge, and phoned Lasham, who sent three tugs to come and get us.

Fourth glider then landed, while we were off site finding the phone, he had one of those fancy new gadgets, a mobile phone, so he called his crew, and they set out. When we got back after finding a phone in the village, we told him that a road retrieve would not be an option!
He tried to contact his crew - but they didn't have a mobile; he accepted gratefully an airtow back, leaving a note on the gate. History does not record whether or not they agreed to crew for him the rest of the week.

Those were the days!
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