Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 18th April 2015

Another blue sky day but with easterly winds forecast there was great excitement among the handful of experienced pilots on the airfield. Would there be wave? Thoughts of Gold Heights and oxygen use were discussed.

The good news was that there was definitely wave in the area with some lenticulars and rotor clouds making brief appearances locally. So we rigged, flew to great heights and had a wonderful day, did we? Well no. In the morning the wind was very strong and gusty. Base wind speeds at  21.2 knots with gusts up to 48 knots.

The windsock had a good workout today

So the gliders were left in their trailers, we changed ends and waited for the forecast, early afternoon, reduction in wind strength. By mid afternoon the wind had indeed reduced to about 15 knots but it was still very gusty as witnessed by the almost constant gust alarms from the weather station and by 3:30pm we abandoned any thoughts of flying today.

The weather station showing the wind at 21.2 knots from the east ( top right quadrant ). 

While we waited expectantly, Rick Wiles and David Bourchier were working away on the various defects afflicting our Land Rover Discoveries. By the end of the day various parts had been added to the wanted list and several faults fully investigated. Well done chaps.

Ever wondered what a broken Discovery CV join looks like?
Neither have I but just in case here's one

A disappointing day. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.

Steve