Dartmoor Gliding Society - Wednesday 1 July 2026

Northwesterly 8 knots, max 18C, and partially cloudy.  A pleasant summer's day.  RASP forecast of 1 1/2 stars.  Not brilliant, but flyable nonetheless.  Ops normal for the Wednesday Wavers.  Three club training gliders and two club single-seaters were available.  No privateers rigged following Andy's forecast that showed no cross-country potential.  We had three visitors booked: a one-day course and two single flights.

First order of business was to welcome Dave Osment with CCY in its trailer back from North Hill.  While the normal flying preparations were underway Steve Lewis and Dave coordinated the transfer of CCY from its old trailer to the twin-axle AMF trailer.  This will allow Scratch to re-rivet the aluminium roof panels on the old single-axle trailer. Interestingly all the roof panels were pockmarked with dents from a hailstorm in its past.

After a slightly earlier brief the Wavers set up at the east end.  The first flight got away at 1105 with a check flight and practice launch failure for Dave.

Next up was chef Oliver Gill, from Kingsbridge, who was here for a One Day Course.  He had never been in a light aircraft or a glider before so he was looking forward to the experience.

Chef Oliver ready for his first taste of real aviation.  An entrée perhaps?

Lance takes a pair of flights in the Twin Astir Trainer with Mike.  Lance, with a shirt like that, has Scratch told you when he flew a glider in Hawaii?

Oliver had a set of three flights with me.  The conditions were a bit soggy and not conducive to soaring flight, as predicted.  However, we held our own against "Hot shot" junior Zack in the single seat Astir whose flights were much shorter than ours, and that's not accounting for my demonstration, followed by attempts by Oliver, of the effects of the elevator and ailerons.  We broke for lunch and a chance for Oliver to try the ground handling and launching of the gliders.

Dave Osment after a check flight and a simulated launch failure takes the K-13 solo again.

Interspersed with the One Day Course flights I had a chance to deliver a trial flight each to Georgia Bennett and her father, Chris.  Georgia is gardener in a community garden in Plymouth and Dad is almost retired as a plumber working on submarines in the dockyard.  Modestly he gave me this self-depreciating description of his job.  With insider knowledge I know that he is actually a skilled maritime pipe worker or pipe fitter.

Dave Archer injects some humour into the preparations for Georgia's flight.  Out of picture was her mum looking on earnestly.

While Georgia and I were flying, the second of the "DG boys", Michael Malric-Smith, took a pair of flights in the K-13 with the Duty Instructor.

So where are all Dave Osment's flights; a check flight, a launch failure, and a solo flight in the K-13 leading?  Well, the Duty Instructor had a cunning plan: Type conversion to a single-seater, the K-8.

Dave ready for his type conversion to a single-seater, the K-8. The natural progression from the front seat of the K-13.

Nine minutes later (Note: Three times as long as Zack's first flight) he landed to warm congratulations from Dad, John, and the rest of the Wednesday Wavers.

So, it had been a long time coming, but Dave is now a solo pilot in a single-seater at 35 years of age.

Dave's first flight in a glider, a K-13, at Sandhill Farm (Vale of White Horse Gliding Club) in 1995, aged 5 years.  Who is the youthful looking "Dude" in the front seat?

Just to prove it wasn't a fluke he took a second flight in FXB and soared for 21 minutes.  Welcome to real gliding Dave!  This what it's all about.

While Dave was taking his first K-8 flight canny Malcolm snuck into the sky in the Astir CS77 for 25 minutes of soaring following a circuit an hour before.

Time for Chairman Steve to continue his type conversion to the Twin Astir Trainer.  A 22 minute soaring flight in the back seat, with Peter, allowed him to get his "eye in", before the obligatory practice launch failures; a land ahead and a challenging "go around".  Mindful of the extra performance and weight compared to a K-13 Steve acquitted himself well and was cleared to instruct in HBK and DSL.  Hurrah, and well done Steve.

Georgia's Dad, Chris Bennett, prepares for his flight with Gavin

The day turned thermic.  This allowed former PPL pilot Phil Hayward to enjoy what must be his longest glider flight to date at 32 minutes.  It's amazing how much training can be done in a long flight.

Phil Hayward on his soaring flight, climbing at 1,900 feet QFE

Then it was time for an old dog to show a young pup new tricks; John Smith soared in the Astir CS77 for a minute shy of an hour... match that Zack!

Colin came up to the launch point and gave me an update on progress on the annual inspection of K-13, FSD.  After some initial work on a wing he will turn his attention to the fuselage.

Oliver and I started the second half of his course.  We made up for a poor launch (800ft) in the fourth flight with two long soaring flights to round off his course.  By this time Dad was in attendance and we chatted.  Meanwhile, Oliver went with the retrieve driver to witness launching from the winch driver's perspective, then we bade father and son farewell.  Hopefully we see them again.  If not then a chef at the Victoria Inn in Salcombe can rustle you up a nice steak, perhaps with a pint of Tribute or Proper Job, for you to enjoy while you visit the South Hams.

It was time for the rest of the Wavers to go soaring.  Ed Nicholson with Mike in the K-13 for over thirty minutes.  With Mike not in its cockpit, old hands Steve Fletcher and Phil Hayward couldn't resist the temptation of shiny HBK and took it aloft for 42 minutes of mutual flying.

The K-13 gives Phil and Mike a bird's eye view of Mary Tavy and John Smith in the Astir CS77 below. Can you see him?

Ed Nicholson and Mike in the K-13 encounter Phil Hardwick and Steve Fletcher in the Twin Astir, HBK

The K-13 obviously revels on looking down on "glass" gliders attempting to soar.  This time its on Oliver and Gavin in the other Twin Astir, DSL.

Not to be outshone by his son, John Osment soared in the K-8 for 38 minutes while Peter flew the Astir CS77 for 25 minutes.  The flight hours were starting to stack up on this 1 1/2 star day.

Phil Hardwick and Steve Fletcher, climbing at two knots, enjoy some soaring together in the Twin Astir Trainer, HBK

Once Zack in the K-8 is launched from the runway the whole fleet will be airborne.  A great sign of a soarable day. If you look very carefully you will see the other Twin Astir and the Astir CS77!

Zack was determined to make his mark on the day.  He chose the K-8 and clocked up an hour and a minute aloft to his "rightful" claim, as he saw it, to the flight of the day.  But he didn't count on canny Malcolm who soared the Astir CS77 for 67 minutes before hangar landing it thereby pipping Zack by six minutes.  See what I mean about being canny and snatching the "flight of the day" away from Zack.

Robin and Phil ready themselves for a mutual flight.  Not in their old syndicate's DSL but in HBK.  Robin sampled how the other half live before returning later to DSL and soaring with Peter.

Whilst the Twin Astirs were being Divas in the air and the field today, the real work was occurring elsewhere with long soaring flights for Raymond Staines and Ian King in the K-13 which added much to their training.  Dave Archer after all the assistance he provided me with the visitors, thank you Dave, made a circuit and a hangar landing in the K-8.

Scratch and Michael M-S took the last aircraft at the launch point, HBK, for an enjoyable soaring flight and hangar landing at 1723.

A summer's day on Dartmoor.  As forecast, it took a while for the thermic activity to get going but when it did, there was fun to be had.  Most of the thermals were a bit "soggy" (as the air mass was still quite moist), but there were some good climbs to be had.

Almost all had had had their fill by 5pm, and we packed up at a reasonable hour.  The Wavers are finding hangar packing easier with "Wood" at the back and "Glass" at the front.

Thirty-eight flights, three visitors, a type conversion, a first soaring flight for one member, the Twin Astir Trainer, HBK, is now in regular use, and training continued.  Seventeen of those flights were soaring flights amassing a total of 9 hours 15 minutes with an average flight time of 32 minutes.  Not bad for the day's one and a half star RASP rating.

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 24th June 2026

Forecast: HOT, hot, hot.  BLUE, blue, blue.  So sunscreen, hats, and water.  Lots of it.

Met Office.  Amber heat warning for Dartmoor and a rare Red heat warning further up country.  Elswhere on t'interweb yr.no predicted a high of 31C.

Met office heat warnings for today

This would be a challenge for the Wednesday Wavers and for our visitors which would include a One Day Course and two trial flights late in the afternoon. 

Unusually, we took the decision yesterday to cancel the trial flights.  During the phone calls I detected a palpable sense of relief.  I wasn't looking forward to delivering a One Day Course in the forecast heat either.  It transpired that our visitors were aged 70, 70, and 75 years old so it was sensible call.  We look forward to seeing them soon in less arduous conditions.

I had first-hand knowledge of those conditions having been at the club on Monday and Tuesday preparing our Twin Astir Trainer, HBK, for her maiden flight; fresh batteries, ARC and placards in the glider, instrument panels labelled up with John Allan's very smart "white on black" dymo tape.

On Monday it was 30C in the clubhouse and 31C in the hangar.  On Tuesday it was 32C in both.  Apart from a sweaty fleet manager getting through a litre of water and three cups of tea each day what was the problem?  Thermal expansion.  Namely, of the perspex canopies.  Getting them open and closed was a significant problem.  As part of the refurbishment we painted the canopy edges of HBK and I needed to carry out copious sanding to ensure the canopies fitted in the heat.  I had carried out the same on DSL earlier in the year as it had been refinished and painted sometime ago by the syndicate.

It wasn't pleasant work.  Hot, sweaty, with hot fingers from using the 80 grit aluminium oxide paper and then regularly hoovering the dust away.  The one upside is that the solar panels were producing plenty of power and could run "Henry the hoover", so I didn't have to run the generator.

After Monday's efforts Rick requested that I checked DSL's canopies on Tuesday.  They, too, were tight, and I had to work on the rear canopy.   I improved it a bit.  However, when I finished on Tuesday afternoon I was not sure whether we would have either Twin Astir available to fly on Wednesday.

It turned out that we could use DSL throughout the day with judicious use of canopy covers but that HBK would require more work (or the temperatures to drop), especially on its rear canopy.  So we could deploy a K-13 (no canopy problems there), a K-8, and the Twin Astir HBK to the east end ready for flying operations.

The first task was to clear the sheep from the field.  It's that time of year.  Despite their efforts the grass is growing faster than they can eat it, so the tractor with the grass cutting deck will be in action soon.  Perhaps on a cooler day!

Stop dawdling. Get eating!

I took the first shift on the winch accompanied by John Osment who was keen to complete his winch launch training.

First up to fly was Michael Malric-Smith who had nobly stepped up.  On the return leg of his Italian holiday he went via the Park (Bath, Wilts, and North Dorset Gliding Club) to collect our belly dolly that was used when I took the Puchacz, HCC, back to Heron Gliding club.  Thank you Michael.

What of today's planned activities?  A test flight for our Twin Astir Trainer, HBK, and the Chairman's conversion to a Twin Astir and flying from the back, and  also clearing John Osment as a winch driver.

The front instrument panel of our refurbished Twin Astir Trainer, HBK,
labelled up and ready to go

The instructor's view from HBK' rear seat

There was a new look to the hangar when the Wavers unpacked it. Two Twin Astirs and an Astir CS77 in front on a K-13 and K-8.

This is a first for DGS; more glass than wood on the hangar!

The first part of the day's plan didn't happen due to thermal expansion, as you have previously heard, but the rest did.

First flight of the day; Mike Jardine and Michael Malric-Smith

Chairman Steve readies himself for his first conversion flight
 in the Twin Astir, DSL, with the Chief Flight Instructor.

Today's trainees were Michael Malric-Smith, Neal Oxley, Ian King, and Lance Whitehead which was probably enough for the Duty Instructor to manage today.

Michael M-S continues his training. 
I suspect he won't get to the top of the launch on this one!

We were instructed to take care of each other in the heat. 
Keep the duty instructor cool before Neal's first training flight

Iced beer (non-alcoholic of course) at lunchtime in 32C heat

After a set of three flights with Steve, Rick took the K-8 and managed to find a thermal and earned himself "Man of the match" with 31 minutes aloft.  To say that he was "cock o'hoop" would be an understatement.  Especially as he had exceeded Peter's 12 minutes clocked up on the previous flight. 

Perhaps a special mention should be made for Ian King in the K-13 (with the duty Instructor of course) of a soaring flight of 12 minutes.  Although when I caught up with them in the K-8, trying to formate on Ian's thermal, who by that time he was intent on thermaling downwards.  That was a tad frustrating but safety separation in thermals is the paramount consideration!

You gotta stay cool.  Michael M-S parasol in action in the tower

Lance Whitehead returns from a sortie which was the penultimate flight of the day.

I know it lovely under there, but perhaps it's time to pack up

DSL's version of the Australian hot weather advice "Slip, Slap, Slop" to keep its canopies cool

Is that FXB casting a glamorous glance at the newcomer to the field;
Michael M-S' trusty 4x4 Fiat Panda?

A jaded Site Manager takes a break back at the clubhouse

The Wednesday Wavers achieved 20 flights today.  Despite the oppressive heat and humidity training continued.  Chairman Steve's instructor conversion to the Twin Astirs is now underway and John Osment was cleared as a winch driver.  Congratulations John.

The weather is due to break on Friday so perhaps the weekend will be back to more manageable conditions.  I hope so! 

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Sunday 21st June 2026

The summer solstice started with another Sunday and various forecasts all giving different wind directions. The winch had been left at the west end from yesterday, but the forecasts gave a slight preference to fly from the west end. So the winch was moved to the east end to start the day.

All aircraft were removed from the hangar as the K13 was at the back and was still required for training. Only the Twin Astir and K13 were initially taken to the launch point, but would be joined later in the day by the K8. Two K6's and a Libelle were also rigged ready to fly.

I would start flying with Ed Nicholson and Rowan Guest in the Twin Astir. Both are getting to grips with this new to them aircraft and were handling it well doing the whole flight. Aiden Hughes and Misha Skochko also had their first flights in the Twin Astir getting them used to it ready for some advanced training in the near future hopefully.

Rowan settling into the Twin Astir.

Duty BI Phil Hardwick welcomed One Day Course student Laurie Rippin to the club. They started the course in the K13, but swapped to the Twin Astir later in the day when the K13 was needed by me for training. Laurie enjoyed the experience of flying different aircraft and left saying he would return to make use of his three month membership.

Phil showing Laurie around the K13.

After Laurie's first flights, Phil turned his attention to our new junior pilot. Thirteen year old Jess Nicholson, Ed's younger sister receiver her introductory flights and some basic control lessons. Welcome Jess at the start of your journey with us.

Jess receiving information from Phil.

Off she goes.

Watched by parents.

The sky started to look a little better which tempted Andy Davey to take a launch in his Libelle. He managed to find some lift and could be seen slowly climbing away. Ed Borlase (K6) and Sean Westrope (K8) were also tempted, but unable to find anything were soon back on the ground. Training flights continued in a similar fashion for the rest of the afternoon. Andy returned after 2 hours 29 minutes when the conditions to the north deteriorated to claim flight of the day.

Andy returns.

Whilst Phil and Laurie swapped to the Twin Astir, I took over the back seat of the K13 to fly with Aiden Hughes and Misha Skochko. Three flights for Aiden including an awkward height launch failure sees him progressing well with his training.

Aiden's hat makes me thirsty on this hot day.

Misha launched and we found some weak lift and steadily climbed to wards 2000ft. When we thought it was time to return, Misha asked if he could practice some stalls to lose height. After three or four stalls, Misha asked "Peter, we are still at 1800ft, how do we get down?" After a little discussion, Misha realised he could use the airbrakes to lose height and they were not just for the approach. We landed after 47 minutes.

Misha's more sober hat.

Whilst we were soaring Ed Borlase was spotted above us in his K6. Ed finally landed after 1 hour 29 minutes.

Ed's view of Brent Tor church.

And to the north.

Ed looking forward to his flight.

A hot busy day at the club today. Thank you to all at the club today. Some good flying and progrees made with one new junior member joining.

Peter Howarth

Dartmoor Gliding Society - Wednesday 17 June 2026

It rained heavily overnight, and cloud base was low when I left my village. Up on to the A390, and I was then into the cloud.  No view of the Hamoaze or Plymouth this morning.  On the back roads to the club the cloud/fog got thicker and thicker and then the rain started.

This is the road to the club.  You can't see, but there is a tractor coming!

When Ollie Riggs, today's One Day Course candidate, phoned in from Plymouth he was not surprised when I told him we wouldn't be flying.

So much for a flaming June.

Resigned, the Wednesday Wavers started to work down the to-do list.

One of the ground radios was not transmitting.  I suspected a setting, one of 42, had been changed.  After a half hour stepping through and comparing the suspect radio with a good one and my own radio the job was done.

The Twin Astir 1, DSL, needed its wing tape renewed, and we took the opportunity also to tape the tailplane and put fresh a fresh yaw string on the front canopy.  Phil adjusted the wheel brake.

Dave Archer investigated the quiet radio transmission from the Astir CS77. 

Cattle and countryside noises were eerily loud in the fog.

It was still drizzling, and foggy of course, so we had to wait to be able to commence outside jobs.  A few tried the simulator whilst others debated the social media ban for under sixteen-year-olds.  The weather clearance never came. 

However, other jobs were underway including on private gliders.  Viktor came up to say hello and work on Red Bear.  The weather in Launceston was nice, but not so at Brentor so he left.  If anything the fog was getting thicker.

Three pundits standing away from the noise of Mike and John cleaning the patio
with shovels and a leaf blower

Club planning continued into the afternoon.  Then we received some great news.  One of our parachutes had a damaged thigh strap safety clip.  I sent it back to Thomas Defence Systems yesterday.  It arrived in Bridlington, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, before midday.  They finished the repair work in three hours and its on way back to us. That's outstanding customer service.  Thank you.

The last of the Wavers left the site and disappeared into the fog.

Saturday looks much better!

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Sunday 14th June 2026

Who would be a Duty Instructor? No matter which forecast I looked at, everything looked different, and the wind could be anything from North easterly right around to South Westerly, even the wind sock was not much help, just hanging limp and pointing nowhere. So the choice was the safe one with more options for eventualities, and we would fly from the east end. Five privateers would rig and after a general leisurely start, the first launch was at 10:54.

After only three launches, it was obvious the forecast that turned up was not the one I used and the tailwind forced a change of ends. This presented trainee Aiden Hughes with the problem of launching in one direction and landing the other way at the opposite end of the airfield.

K13 waiting for a clear airfield.

With only two trainees today, Aiden had five flights and managed to nail the circuits and approaches in the benign conditions.

Looking down on the launch point.

Duty BI Phil Hardwick had two visitors today. First to arrive was Andrew Simmonds. Andrew had last flown in a glider back in 1992 and was visiting his son in Yelverton. He enjoyed two flights with Phil, one an extended soaring flight.

Andrew and family with Phil.

The second visitor was Anita English from Plymouth and also enjoyed her two flights with Phil.

Anita waiting with Phil.

The Twin Astir returns.

Whilst I stopped for a bit of lunch the five privateers started flying. Scratch decided not to fly and allowed Viktor (K6), John Osment (Cirrus), Sean Westrope (Libelle), and Ed Borlase (K6) to have their turns to fly. Viktor thought his 30 minutes would earn him flight of the day, but he was topped by Ed Borlase with 50 minutes. The second trainee Ray Staines had three flights with me getting back into the swing of things after being away for 12 months with a 26 minute soaring flight.

K6 thermaling with the K13.

And seen from the ground.

I took the last flight of the day and Aiden decided to sit in the back seat of the K13 to get a different view of things.

 

Aiden watching over my shoulder.

Only a small crowd at the airfield today, but everybody got something from the day. Thanks to all.

Peter Howarth