Tom Bradbury RIP

This doesn't appear to have been mentioned, but Tom Bradbury, a
leading light in gliding meteorology, died on 2 February.

He was a remarkable authour and communicator having written countless
excellent and highly understandable artices in Sailplane & Gliding,
many of which have been reprinted elsewhere in the world. Tom was also
the authour of the seminal Meteorology and Flight. If you've not read
it but have an interest in the weather, I highly recommend it.

Tom was also a very good competition weather forecaster. I believe he
was mainly active in the 1960s and 1970s. I've seen some of his work
in old S&Gs and it's remarkable what he could forecast given the tools
of the time (i.e. almost none!). I've also seen accounts that his team
forecasts for the British at various international Championships were
instrumental in their victories.

He'll be sorely missed.


Dan

On Feb 19, 5:11*am, Dan G wrote:
This doesn't appear to have been mentioned, but Tom Bradbury, a
leading light in gliding meteorology, died on 2 February.

He was a remarkable authour and communicator having written countless
excellent and highly understandable artices in Sailplane & Gliding,
many of which have been reprinted elsewhere in the world. Tom was also
the authour of the seminal Meteorology and Flight. If you've not read
it but have an interest in the weather, I highly recommend it.

Tom was also a very good competition weather forecaster. I believe he
was mainly active in the 1960s and 1970s. I've seen some of his work
in old S&Gs and it's remarkable what he could forecast given the tools
of the time (i.e. almost none!). I've also seen accounts that his team
forecasts for the British at various international Championships were
instrumental in their victories.

He'll be sorely missed.

Dan

Tom was calling the weather at least into the 1990's. I was on the UK
Opens staff in 1993 and 1994 at Enstone. Tom was at Husbands Bosworth
for the 15m Nationals that was run at the same time one of those years
and forecasting for the Opens also. I recall noting that he called
last usable thermal within ten minutes each day. But the really
stunning call was on a day when CD Ken Sparkes called a task on a day
when at the pilots' meeting at 10am it was raining steadily. THe
pilots were unbelieving, thinking they would get a rest day, but Ken
told them to grid for a 12:30pm launch. Tom had told Ken that there
was a gap coming and it would be soarable in the gap. We had an
reporting observer at Nympsfield who reported when the gap arrived
there. We also were tracking sequential images via a Meteosat
receiver. The gap slowed a bit and the launch was delayed by about 30
minutes, but went off okay. If there was a re-light, I don't recall,
but certainly not more than one or two. Ken sent the task into the
gap, dogleg to the southwest along the ridge, back up the ridge and
dogleg back into Enstone as the gap moved out of the area. It was
raining again before they could put the gliders away. I believe it
was Brian Spreckley that commented it was the gutsiest call he'd ever
seen. It was Ken's faith in Tom's forecasts that really made it
possible. Not everyone made the task but most did, we had a contest
day.

Frank Whiteley

Thanks for that Frank. Meteosat receivers -- those were the days!!
They still provide better imagery than is publically available via the
web, but few bother now.

Does anyone else have any recollections or tales of Tom?


Dan