Finally made it back to the USA briefly for the holidays. Spent New Years in Key West with a group of divers from Penn State and Maryland and then visited some friends in Pennsylvania and spent a bit of time with family. As with last year, took an aerobatic flight lesson with Fred Cabanas, this time adding Immelmanns, Cuban Eights, and four varieties of spin to the previous mix of loops and rolls.
For those not keeping track, the UK has been at the mercy of snow for the past several days, delaying my first trip back to the colonies. However, Oxford in general and Wolfson College in particular are hospitable places to wait for the weather to clear. In the mean time, here are a few pictures of Oxford in a festive (if hard-to-navigate) winter motif.
To celebrate the end of full term (the study period for undergraduates), a couple of friends and I took a long weekend in Copenhagen, Denmark to see the sights, get a taste of real snow, and visit the Christmas markets. We visited Tivoli in all of its holiday splendor, took a tour of the Danish royal crown jewels, saw The Little Mermaid and a number of other icons, visited The Marble Church, ogled the Verdensur astronomical clock, and waged battle against the cold weather with warm tea and Gløgg.
At the end of Seventh Week of Michaelmas term (Nov 24-27), Christ Church College holds a regatta for novice crews from each of the College Boat Clubs. I had the pleasure of rowing with the Wolfson Men’s B boat, and though we didn’t progress very far in the tournament, most of us plan to continue on into the Hilary term and get geared up for Torpids in March. The Christ Church Regatta was followed by a traditional post-regatta dinner of formal dress and informal antics.
We were a bit busy rowing and cheering to get too many pictures at the regatta, but here are a couple I’ve managed to scrounge up.
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Today was another day of cycling out to Bicester to do some gliding. This time, I took a few pictures along the way. I got three flights in (practicing winch launch failures — techniques for handling a cable that snaps during the launch) and cycled back to Wolfson before sunset! The ride itself is very nice: the larger roads have bicycle lanes or paths, and the smaller country roads (and their associated animals) are quite charming. More pictures below!
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“A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy.” — Guy Fawkes To celebrate Guy Fawkes Night, Wolfson College put on a fireworks show. It turned out to be a lot larger than I expected. About 200 spectators were about 75 yards from the launch site across the Wolfson Harbor. The fireworks lasted 20 minutes, and saw several minutes with the entire sky lit up. About a week later, a friend of a friend organized the second half of the traditional November celebrations, a bonfire night. In addition to a roaring fire, the night brought mulled wine, some more fireworks, and excellent company. One of the best parts of November in general was that any given night, there was a decent chance of fireworks randomly going off outside my window. Rhyme or no, celebrations here do not last just one night. |
| I’m getting more and more settled into Wolfson, meeting new friends through lab (pictured), college, and rowing, and of course still enjoying the city of Oxford and the English countryside. The weather has stayed remarkably warm and clear so far, but if the BBC can be trusted, the cold is coming! |
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After a rowing outing and tank session yesterday, today it was time for some more gliding. However, rather than take the bus to the Bicester airfield, today seemed like a beautiful day for a bicycle ride. After planning a route along mostly back roads, I set off. This was my first up-close-and-personal taste of the countryside, and I was befriended by a smattering of sheep, horses, hares, and birds. Next time, I will take pictures. In the mean time, have a Google Earth flyby or the map below.
A clear morning at Bicester allowed a 40-minute self-launched motorglider flight to get most of the stall and incipient spin exercises out of the way. Next up: full spins and failed winch launches.
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As the sun rose this morning, a stalwart group of new Oxford University Gliding Club members took the X5 bus out to the Bicester airfield to try our hands at gliding. We all spent about twelve hours out at Bicester, and got in five flights (about half an hour in the sky) and learned how to help out with towing, dragging, and launching the sailplanes. Compared to powered flight, the time in the air was certainly shorter and the very abrupt “takeoff” of the winch launch takes some getting used to. There is a more peaceful feel to the flight, as there is no engine noise and the local air flow and ground features play much more prominently into the flight. I look forward to being able to take longer flights when the weather allows for climbing in thermals. |
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Today, after matriculation, I am an official member of the university. Matriculation is a very brief Latin ceremony in which the senior dean present asks the vice-chancellor of the university to “list the students as members.” About a century ago, this process involved detailed exams (conducted in Latin) to ensure that the individual colleges’ entrance requirements were satisfactory to the university. Now, it seems, being able to haphazardly navigate to the exam schools is deemed sufficiently meritorious to warrant induction. Other activities this weekend include the boat club swim test this evening (to ensure that, should the boat flip, I won’t drown before I reach the shore) and hopefully a first series of glider flights tomorrow! |
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