Dartmoor Gliding News - Aston Down Expedition Day Five - Friday 15 May 2026

The forecast was promising. The best its looked all week.

The final breakfast, then rigging and an extended briefing.  Well to be fair it was more of a discussion about the increased granularity of Skysight's wind forecast for the moors.  Which way would be best to go cross-country and up country; to the north of Dartmoor or to the south. Both had their pros and cons.

There was a pause as heavy showers swept through mid-morning that delayed the Expeder's rigging.

Rigging the first red K-6 (EWO)

And the second Red K-6 (DKG). This time in Ukrainian!

And some white "glass" ready for the day (a Libelle and Mini-Numbus)

Rick was first to launch.  A circuit but then Andy got away, and I saw him on Glide and Seek near Launceston.  Sadly I had volunteered to help Colin conduct the annual inspection and ARC of K-13, G-DCCY which is being prepared for rental by another Gliding Club.  We worked on the tailplane and the fuselage.

Earlier during the rain showers Rick had unpacked the new starter motor for the poorly tractor.  He compared the two and confirmed that Saturday's task would be to fit the new one.

Viktor followed Andy and flew for 20 minutes.  He enjoyed two shorter soaring flights through the day.  Allan and Phil followed with some extended circuits as did Sean and Peter with even shorter ones.  So perhaps not the easiest of days to get going.

The fuselage being inspected.

Quietly Ed stepped in to his red K-6, EWO and showed the others what could be done with a fight of 1 hr and 23 minutes.  John Osment followed with a soaring flight.  The day seemed to get going; Rick 1hr 49 mins and Peter 1hr 6 mins.

Colin and I welcomed a walk-in to the club; Steve, a former RAF ground engineer who had recently retired and was looking for a new challenge.  After giving him a tour of the facilities and describing the trial flight and membership options we hope to see him back on a One Day Course.  The cool wind on the airfield when we took a look didn't deter him as he hails from Princetown.

The tailplane, cleaned, disassembled, inspected, reassembled,
and the mylar strips, that cover the hinges, renewed.

The wind from the northeast increased during the day.  Reports of broken thermals and difficulties in wind shear started filtering back to the hangar.  As if to prove the point John Allan made an aborted attempt at a climb over Cox Tor which was down wind of the airfield.  Short on height on the return to the airfield John made a wise choice and landed in the L-shaped field.

KP safely in the luxurious expanse of the L-shaped field.  The cows were yet to arrive.

John called for some assistance as the cows at the other end of the field had become very frisky and were investigating the glider.  Alasdair left the tower and was assisted by Ed.  Between them, they protected the glider and identified a better exit from the L-shaped field that the normal one by the barn.  That allowed John a chance to go back to the club and bring his trailer and set it up in the road for the retrieve.  The other gliders were derigging when he arrived back at the club and had to wait his turn to park his trailer in the "glider rack".  So a land out, but the field wasn't as smooth as the polo field that Adam landed Snoopy in last year.  There certainly weren't any jodphur-clad well-spoken young ladies to mop John's fevered brow!  Perhaps that should be an addition to the mnemonic for in-air field selection "Wind + the six S's".  Suggestions on a post card please ....

John's land out.
Glider position in blue in the L-shaped field that continues to the right of the screenshot.
 The airfield is at the top of the picture and the normal exit from the L-shaped field is circled in red. 
 Note the large South field, in the centre of the picture is a very tempting but it's considerably
 rougher than where John landed.

John's comment.

Yes, that thermal near Cox Tor looked like it should have worked... Thank you to Ed and Alastair for the retrieve from the L shaped field.  

Colin had departed at 1400 to get ready for his gig in Calstock Arts Centre that evening.  I continued with the long list of tasks that Colin had left me.  Colin and I, helped by others, continued on Saturday (which wasn't a flying day) and finished off the fuselage work and inspected the wings.  Here is a look at the finished article. 

A pair of batteries and dedicated charger ready to go away to the new user.

Front instrument panel in after leak checking the pneumatics on the fuselage and the panel.

Rear instrument panel in. GPS antenna positioned on a repainted glare shield. 
Flarm firmware reloaded and Flarm operation proved correct.

An hour and 45 minutes later, with Alasdair back in the tower the launches started again with final flights by Viktor, Sean and Rick before Rick called it a day in the increasing wind.  Viktor was pleased with his three flights in the Red Bear.

The expeders extended their thanks to Alasdair, who you had already heard ran the tower for the day but also to John Smith who winched all day.  Thank you both.

After 17 flights on what was a difficult day for some of today's none pilots the expedition came to an end.  The gliders returned to the glider rack more quickly than if they had travelled home from Aston Down.  Of course one glider trailer got some mileage, and John Allan had to buy the beers in the clubhouse when the hangar doors were shut.  Normally the retrieve crew is well rewarded for their efforts.  We must have had a first - John's retrieve crew were all teetotal!

I almost forgot about silent Andy.  No feedback from his flight or where he went, but he did fly for 3 hours 24 minutes earning him "flight of the day".  Perhaps we, and our readers, could hear the story of his flight next time.

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Glding News - Aston Down Expedition - Thursday 14 May 2026

It was wet, windy and there were heavy showers, so there was no staycation expedition at DGS today.

Instead, for our readers, here is a look back at last year's expedition (2025) to Aston Down in the form of photo essay with their captions of the time (and an explanation if needed).

"Breaker, Breaker, we have got ourselves a convoy."

Gavin dancing with his Standard Cirrus.  Around and around we go. (He is actually swinging his fluxgate compass and calibrating the electronic artificial horizon).

The launch point on runway 08 viewed from the parking area

A busy launch point

Are you ready for a cable madam?  (offering a cable to Val, and Scratch)

Nympsfield airfield.  Look closely, and you can see a sole glider; an Aston Down cross-country pilot who didn't make it back home.

Gavin gets his Standard Cirrus, CNN, ready

Waiting for the cumulus and the tug pilot to arrive

Those gliders with water ballast keep their wings level

Walking the T-21 down the runway.  Goggles and flying helmet anyone?

Rick waiting in style

Looking good.  Notice CNN's shorter wing when compared to Peter's Kestrel 19

John's second turn point, Grafham water

Rick with his instructing hat on readies to take Val to the skies

Adam in Snoopy, happy to go flying again

Phil delighted to be back in the air again after a day off

The smoothest field that Snoopy has ever landed on (Adam landed out at the local polo club and was apparently taken good care of by the "young ladies in jodphurs")

Do you think anyone will notice if we took the Eurofox home?

The wing of Andy's Ventus CT cruises above the clouds (when he found wave to the north of the site)

Val's view of the Eurofox tug

Scratch is looking a little more relaxed at altitude, and no Eurofox tug to worry about.

Happy campers

Adam's view of the Severn Estuary

Proof that Snoopy was there

#

CNN parked up after my second flight, ready to have the wings washed to get rid of any bugs, and then to be de-rigged for the journey home.

Not all the Expeders had returned, or had they had headed elsewhere, and so the glider "rack" still had plenty of holes in it

The feedback to Mike on the expedition was universally positive. 

Andy summed it up:

"Can I echo all of the above?

Fantastic Flying,

Fantastic company,

Fantastic food.

Overall, a fantastic week."

Let's hope we can make it back to Aston Down in 2027. 

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Aston Down Expedition Day Three - Wednesday 13 May 2026

The title might be a bit misleading because it was a club day at DGS as well as a staycation expedition day.  Who would have thought that taking a staycation would throw up such complications when blogging.

What wasn't complicated however, was the weather.  I didn't need to check the forecast.  It was very blowy and showery at home when I put the bins out first thing this morning.  Mackle the cat was shooting in and out of the front door and zooming round the garden like, well like a cat on speed.  He could detect the change in weather and that it might be stormy today.

At the club there was no cooked breakfast as it was a normal club day.  Mike Jardine was the Duty Instructor and Steve Fletcher the Introductory Flight Pilot. Yes, as Mackle the cat had sensed, it was blowy and as expected the windsock was horizontal.  The wind was down the strip and whilst it might have been possible to fly the strength of the wind was forecast to increase.  The Aston Down expeders weren't rigging their gliders and the Wednesday Wavers declined to get the club gliders out of the hangar.  Later in the morning the heavy rain and hail showers sealed the deal.

The "DG boys" (Michael M-S and Lance) were busy in the clubhouse going through, and starting to understand, the extensive documentation of their new toy.  Their interest in the airworthiness of their glider and understanding of the documentation is praiseworthy.  If only other pilot/owners took such interest.

The new Treasurer was busy dealing with expense claims and working with the Membership Secretary on the enrolment of a new member. Yay!  Further details anon.  The Company Secretary was making preparation for the voting in of a new Director.  All this normally goes on behind the scenes, but it was good that members were exposed to it.

 When not dealing with membership Neal continued sorting the clubhouse and getting rid of old "stuff" that we no longer needed. Spring cleaning in May!

I took a moment to update my pilot and glider log books.  Always worth prioritising when the Chief Flying Instructor is "in da house" before working on the silver height claim for Jamie Young from Saturday.  All the evidence was clear he had achieved it by a large margin.  Unless Richard Roberts can counter the claim then at 15 years old he is the youngest DGS pilot to gain Silver height (1,000m/3,281ft gain in height).  Congratulations, Jamie.

So that left jobs underway on the site.  First up, which had been planned a while ago was the annual inspection and ARC of Mike Bennett's Club Libelle, G-DDVM.  The trailer was manoeuvred out of the glider rack and then paused before bringing it on to the apron.  This allowed space to be made in the hangar by removing the Astir CS77 and K-8, FXB.  The later which needed work on its total energy system.

The annual inspection went well with a few minor pickups.  However, the Air Speed Indicator on test was found to have a leak.  It was so severe that Colin asked me to check with our back-up test equipment; a calibrated ASI and syringe.  It confirmed Colin's diagnosis using his electronic test equipment.  A replacement ASI will be ordered.  A half share (£4,000) is available in this great GRP glider, please see Mike Bennett for details.

Inspecting, cleaning, and "lightly" regreasing the trailing edge air brakes.
 The Port wing is upside down in this photo.

The Starboard wing, the right way up, showing the aileron and trailing edge air brakes in the foreground.  The tailplane in its cradle awaits inspection

The fuselage and trailer when the sun came out and made the work light superfluous 

A wet apron after another heavy rain shower

What wasn't visible was the work that was going on in the Motor Transport hangar.  On Tuesday the tractor with the winch wouldn't start.  After much noisy banging and grinding the culprit was the starter motor.  However, when opened up it was a mess.  It was well beyond a simple clean up of the rotor commutators and brushes.  After living on Dartmoor for many years it was scrap!  The directors authorised the purchase of a replacement.

After his recent tour de force on the centre and cross tracks the Site Manager surveyed the east end with a view to establishing a glider paddock (where gliders could be let rigged overnight) for the summer months utilising the now redundant hurdle fence panels.

The recent test flight of the K-8, FXB threw up some instrumentation problems that needed sorting.  Previous testing revealed a mechanical variometer working incorrectly and leaks in the Total Energy system.  John Allan got stuck in to the faultfinding.

Tailplane removed and a small trestle to raise the fin to John's height,
 while DB looks on.

The test gear allowed the leak to be narrowed down to the fin tubing,
fin connections, or perhaps but unusually the Total Energy probe itself.

A high-powered maintenance team (Chairman, Deputy Chief Flying Instructor, and a Flight Instructor) refit the tailplane after the work was complete (I just greased the mounting spigots!)

The rudder will go back on after the access hole made at the rear of the fin is made good with an aviation plywood patch fixed with Aerodux glue.

After lunch, I coerced the "DG Boys" to install the remote speaker for the Tasman Variometer in the rear of the Twin Astir 1, DSL.  This was designed to be a training exercise for them to get used to working on gliders before they laid hands, apart from with a polishing cloth, on theirs.  They did a good job and Mike Jardine was pleased with the results (he had previously opined that the audio tone from the variometer in the front panel wasn't audible in the rear).  Lance also drafted the Form 205 for Colin's approval.  Great work guys.

After the pundits studied the weather forecast for Thursday the CFI made the call "No flying tomorrow".  To compound my disappointment I received a message from home that I had received a Penalty Charge Notice.  Southampton City Council's notorious "Bus Gate" scheme had claimed another victim.  My pain was lessened slightly when I read that Southampton City Council had collected £160,000 in fines from the "Bus Gate" whilst making the city moredifficult to navigate.  So I wasn't the only one confused by the signage.  My nephew's wedding at the weekend was great, but I won't be going back to Southampton any time soon.  Airspace is easier to understand than Southampton City Council's traffic measures.

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Aston Down Expedition Day Two - Tuesday 12 May 2026

The order of the day was a cooked breakfast; Full English with mushrooms.

While waiting to start flying John fitted a better loudspeaker for the electric vario in the Twin Astir Trainer.  It arrived yesterday at my home, but we didn't find it until late in the evening. The postie had popped its through the cat flap in the back door into the utility room! 

Ten gliders gridded.  Then after the obligatory tea break back in the clubhouse it was time to go flying.  Andy winched initially then the rest of the grid was launched by John Allan.  Neal came to the field to help and ran the tower throughout the day.  Many thanks Neal, it is much appreciated.

The grid, currently seven in the photo that increased to ten.
 It proved to be a very efficient method of launching the privateers.

The wind was from the north-west as it was yesterday, but the darker clouds made way for lighter, white, almost promising looking cumulus.  It was time to go flying.

The grid started to launch at 1145.  Those who were at the head of the grid got the best flights; Rick, 1 hr 41 mins, and Phil 1 hr 18 mins.  Both admitted that the conditions, including wind shear were challenging. 

Tail end Charlie's view of the back of the grid. Let's get going!

Peter had a couple of attempts in the mighty Kestrel.  I soared for over an hour and shared a strong thermal with Rick.  Cloud base was almost 4,000ft QNH.  Soaring flights were enjoyed by Andy and Sean.  Steve Fletcher shook off the winter cobwebs in his Open Cirrus with a long flight.

My view of the Hamoaze, Plymouth Sound, and Tavistock in the foreground. 
No one tells you how difficult it is to take a photo through the DV panel with a smartphone.

The K-6 boys found the strength of the wind and the gustiness in the thermals a challenge.  Today's K-6 King was John Osment who managed 17 minutes.

With the wind strengthening and dense cloud cover shutting down most of the thermal activity, all had their fill by 1400.  Viktor managed ten minutes in his Red Bear on his third flight in difficult conditions.  Well done.

Viktor and the Red Bear return

Phil and I helped John Osment derig K-6, FUB, at the east end of the airfield.

Meanwhile, CNN waits patiently to return to its trailer at the west end of the airfield.

Throughout the day there were discussions on what we could do during the week.  Another gliding site might be an option perhaps for aero tow instruction and practice.  The weather might deteriorate during the week; the weather forecast for Friday was initially bad and then came good.  Should we go elsewhere on Friday or stay at Brentor?  Decisions, Decisions! 

In fact in all boiled down to "Should I stay or should I go now?" (with acknowledgement to The Clash).  Yes we are an old bunch for that song to come to mind. The single was released in 1982 and was a number one hit in 1991.

Fourteen flights on day two of our staycation.  What will Wednesday, which will also be a club day, bring?

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Saturday 9th May 2026.

The forecast for several days had been suggesting wave. Looking at the atmospheric sounding it was clear that today would not be a super high day possibly 4-5000 ft. Wind was just south of east. Mike Jardine had jumped in to provide instructor cover as the others were getting ready for their Aston Down adventures.

Right from the off it was obvious that there was wave ( more accurately Mountain Lee Wave ) and not just a single hydraulic jump but a proper wave system with bars showing up down wind of us.

Wave clouds over the airfield

One of our pilots, John Allan, had this to say.

First off, straight after the morning briefing, and into an optimistic sky showing signs of wave activity was Andy Davey.  Almost immediately he released the cable, we heard him call on the radio to say he'd contacted wave at the top of the launch.  A few minutes later I followed with a nice 1600ft launch.  I could feel the rotor earlier in the launch, but towards the top, the smooth feel of wave was immediately present, giving 2 knots of lift on release, then quickly moving 4.  

The wave was interesting and changed quite a lot as time went by.  It was sometimes a puzzle to reach the next layer of lift, but 8200ft above sea level was the maximum we found.  I was pleased to find young Jamie Young enjoying a wave cloud that was much more like a convergence at 6000ft or so.  Quite bumpy at times, with hot spots of turbulent lift.    With around 8000ft it was an easy glide with not much sink to Hatherleigh, then after regaining height again, to Plymouth, Okehampton East, looking down on the huge array of tents at the Ten Tors encampment at Okehampton Camp, and then finally going back to Saltash.  

What a great day, where almost everyone managed to find wave, or at least some soaring when the wave finally died around 3pm onwards.

Plymouth looking across Devonport and the Hamoze

View across the Plym

Tavistock

Soaring the wave clouds
(like a bird soaring a cliff)

Flying up the side of clouds never gets old

Looking east over Plymouth from Saltash

Thanks to Mike Jardine, in the back seat of the Twin Astir, many of our trainee / early hour pilot had a chance to sample wave flying for the first time. He completed 7 flights all together until the wave stopped. This is a tremendous effort given that he would have had to contend with the rotor ( read heavy turbulence ) during each flight. Thank you Mike.

All together there were 5 privateers totalling 13:23 hrs the longest of which was John at 5:07.

Club flights were controlled to 40 minutes each to allow as many as possible experience the conditions. 15 year old Jamie managed to bag his Silver height during his flight in the Astir CS77.

These are Instructor Mike Jardine's notes

Ian and Lance both managed heights of over 5,000 in the wave, new heights for their log books. The conditions also gave Michael M-S the opportunity to gain the necessary height to complete his spin training.

Air brakes were required to descend through today’s wave and thermals. 

Lance still climbing at 5000ft QFE ( 5820ft AMSL )

The club fielded the Twin Astir and the Astir CS77 today. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time we have fielded all fibreglass aircraft. That's progress. The second Twin Astir will join the fleet soon.

What a fantastic day.

Steve