Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 16 September 2026

The Weather for the Wednesday Wavers: Wind northwesterly.  The cloud base would rise mid-morning.  The air would remain damp throughout the day, with a risk of showers that might lessen as the day progressed. So a day of circuits, perhaps with a few exceptions.

Skysight's windgram for the day.  Perhaps a tad on the optimistic side!

So why the change of weather over the last month?  Those who watch the Met Office's "Deep dive" on YouTube know that our weather is all to do with the position of the jet stream relative to the UK.  In a nutshell, we are now experiencing a "Wavy jet" which is keeping things mixed.

At the morning brief, I was pleased to announce some good news from the BGA: John Allan has had his 500km Diamond Distance claim confirmed.  That, together with the Diamond Goal (300km) and Diamond Height (5,000 metres), which had been previously flown from Brentor, John now has the full set and hence has earned his Diamond Badge.  Many congratulations and very well done.

We had a single One Day Course today.  Mark Hammond sat in the morning brief before Scratch briefed him on his One Day Course.

Mike, the Duty Instructor, had four trainees to fly, and Rick helped out and flew two more.

Mike started with Steve Lesson.  A check flight and a go-around launch failure.  We launched Mike Bennett in the K-8 and then Mark Hammond and Scratch.  Today's weather must have been a bit of a shock for Mike, having just returned from some time in sunny Greece.

While launching was underway, the Duty Instructor turned to Steve Lesson and murmured those magic words, "Would you like to try that again, on your own?"  Steve rose to the challenge and re-soloed, after along lay off.  Congratulations and welcome back! 

Many hands were required to do this.  The bottom of the fuselage of FSD was cleaned, and the main wheel skirt reattached.

The CFI's bête noire, the Fly Navy logo, still looks smart on the fin of FSD.  It looks even better the right way up!

The Chairman and I worked on a "hangar project" today.  The further development of our new tow-out gear.  Members are getting to grips with the new tail dollies and tow-out bars for the Twin Astirs.  We are working on a second wing wheel.

Today, we turned our focus to the Astir CS77.  It came with tow-out gear, but the tow-out bar was unsuited to our field; the Twin Astir tow-out bars should work.  That involved extending the axle of the tow bar and fitting various spacers, large penny washers, and lots of nuts.  Fortunately, we were able to source all the bits we needed that had to be in M10 rather than the larger M12 size used in the Twin Astir's tail dolly's axle, in-house.  Steve and I were permitted access to DB's inner sanctum; his secret stash of parts.  After much spanner-wielding, we were ready to take the finished item to the launch point and test.  After a bit of adjustment, to allow the jaws of the tow-out bars to fit nicely, we had a workable system.

Today's "Hangar project". The tail dolly for the Astir CS77 

Or did we?  The clips on the tail dolly weren't holding it to the tail boom securely.  After much investigation in became clear that one of the threaded adjusting bolts had a stripped thread.  Back to the hangar where we found an old tail dolly and cannibalised the clips.  It was tested again at the launch point, and the proof of concept and repair were demonstrated by successfully towing the glider back to the west end at the end of flying operations.  More progress.

In addition to Steve Lesson, Mike flew with Robin and progressed the training of new member Ivan and returning temporary member Nick Maidwell. 

Rick continued Lance's training and then conducted three BI training flights with John Allan, with John flying from the rear seat.  The mix of glider types (K-13 and Twin Astir) allowed greater training flexibility.  Steve Fletcher took the last flight with John Smith in a Twin Astir to maintain his recency as an introductory Flight Pilot after having made an earlier one with Dave Archer.

The "Clubhouse project" today was the solar panels.  Steve Lewis arranged for the "Night Owl", Andrew Downing, to visit mid-afternoon.  He brought with him a 5KW solar storage battery and a solar power controller that dwarfed our current one.  Steve Lesson and John Allan will work together to get the solar panels wired up.  All ahead full on the solar project!  The only challenge is whether the floor of the clubhouse will be strong enough to accommodate the not inconsiderable weight of the battery and the solar charger.

The solar panels are itching to be wired up

A happy Michael M-S gets ready for his third flight of the day in the Astir CS77

While Michael M-S was enjoying the exclusive use of the Astir CS77 to progress his solo flights, the K-8 was earning its keep with eight flights made by Mike Bennett, as previously mentioned, Peter, Malcolm, John Osment, John Smith, and David Archer. The longest flight of the day went to Malcolm (13 minutes, but he did take three flights to achieve it), with runners-up John Osment (11 minutes) and David Archer (10 minutes).  Well done all on what was really a day of circuits.

One Day Course candidate Mark Hammond and Scatch prepare to launch

In sum, we had a late start due to the rain showers, but we achieved a lot on the field, progressing training and a re-solo in the resulting 37 flights.  We also made progress off the field.

 Gavin Short 

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 9th September 2026

The Wednesday Wavers realised that we are definitely in September; It's still dark when one gets up, and Monday night's extensive rain continues the airfield's "re-greening" programme.  Despite that, Skysight forecasted a reasonable day's flying, with an average of ten knots of north-westerly wind backing slightly during the course of the day, with thermals up to a maximum of 2,900 feet AGL.  Flying under a cloudbase, rather than eternal blue, would make for a pleasant change from recent months.

These should be perfectly satisfactory weather conditions for our trial flight visitor today: Colin Terry, who would make a second attempt to come to the airfield from Looe, having been thwarted last Wednesday by the weather.  

The Duty Instructor deployed a K-13 and a Twin Astir, together with the Astir CS77 and a K-8; with HBK held in reserve.  Would there be enough Wavers to fly them all? 

However, the early low cloud had some moisture in it.  Well, rain, really, which saw the gliders waiting after their Daily Inspection and the Wavers waiting for the forecasted clearance after their morning brief.

Despite the ensuing tea-drinking banter in the clubhouse, the CFI locked Michael M-S away in the tech office and set him his Sailplane Pilot Licence theory exam.  He emerged later having achieved an almost perfect score.  Congratulations Michael.  He then joined the tea drinkers at the table and studied the Astir CS77 flight manuals in preparation for his next type conversion.

Colin Terry and his wife arrived.  After a cup of coffee and rejigging of a planned lunch with old friends at the Mary Tavy Inn, his trial flights were rescheduled for later this afternoon so that he could enjoy the better conditions.

Meanwhile, Colin, Steve Lewis and I, continued work on FSD, refitting the instrument panel and testing it.  Also securing the plywood protection panels inside the cockpit, as we don't want to mark the freshly painted side fabric.  Colin checked both wings.  After a bit of paint touch-up, they will be ready to return to service.  The main job outstanding is the reattachment of the main wheel skirt.  A thankless task.

After a combined weather and instructor check flight by Mike Jardine and Peter,  it was time for the training to begin, with Steve Lesson first up.  Ed followed with a series of simulated launch failures.  Malcolm and Dave Osment made attempts in the K-8 and his K-6, FUB, respectively.  But it wasn't until 1300, when the conditions were visibly improving, that pilots were starting to stay up.  Andy in his Libelle managed 18 minutes in conditions he described as "difficult".

Ray enjoyed the first soaring training flight of the day.  A great milestone for him after many, many circuits in his logbook, he got to see what gliding is all about.  His enjoyment was raised even further with a landing on the stub runway.

Ray on his way to 2,200 feet for a well-deserved soaring flight

It's taking time for Blackdown to return to green

A busy launch point far below

Then it was time for the privateers to try their hands: Rick, Steve Fletcher, Andy, Dave Osment, and Peter.  After a few relights, most enjoyed soaring flights well in excess of an hour.

Steve Fletcher ponders from his Open Cirrus whether the "beach"
 at Roadford reservoir is getting bigger

Ken Basterfield, a returning DGS member and former instructor from way back, enjoyed a very pleasant soaring flight with Mike.  The sky was indeed starting to work.

Back at the clubhouse, during the extended morning tea session, plans had been hatched to progress the solar system upgrade.  The work was now underway.

Scratch and John Smith erect the solar panel support frames

John focused on attaching the carpentry after Scratch welded brackets on the roof of the glider workshop.  Conditions were now very pleasant for the work, dry, sunny, but without the heat of previous months.

Sensibly, Scratch co-opted Steve Lewis and I, to remove CCY's wing from the container.  We wouldn't want any hot welding sparks making contact with a wooden glider, would we now?

CCY's poorly Port wing safely out of the glider workshop while Scratch is welding on the roof.

During Steve Fletcher's local area soaring flight, he enjoyed cracking climbs of "6 up" on his averager for most of the climbs. The average for some climbs hit 8 knots.  His flight duration was just pipped by the CFI, Rick, in his Standard Cirrus.

Steve approaches Launceston

 Following Ken's flight, it was Lance's turn to go soaring with Mike.

Lance watches Dave Osment, in FUB, roll into a thermal and prepares to follow him

Dave, well established in the thermal 

Dave continued to soar and comfortably achieved his one-hour soaring flight, part of his progression towards gaining his Sailplane Pilot's Licence.  Congratulations.

Mid-afternoon, Colin Terry returned to the airfield, and we made preparations for his flight in Twin Astir, DSL, that looked very inviting in the sunshine.  The first flight was an orientation flight in "scratchy" conditions, but the second flight was a great soaring flight with Terry trying out the elevator and ailerons to fly the aircraft. 

Terry had flown with us thirty years ago to celebrate his fortieth birthday.  It was clear that he hadn't forgotten everything.  However, the gliders were certainly different.  Steve Lewis and I worked out that he probably previously flew in a K-7M.  So today, with a voucher bought by his grown-up children to celebrate another significant birthday (I'll let the reader do the maths), he could see the performance increase in our gliders.  This was particularly evident when the K-13, piloted by Ian, entered the circuit behind us and landed on the south side before we did so on the north side with a much more generous circuit.

Colin and Gavin before their second flight

As I escorted Terry back to the entrance after his flights the fun continued for the trainees.  Ian, Robin, and Dave Archer both went soaring with Mike.  Malcolm continued to try and get the K-8 to soar, which he only achieved on his fourth flight.  An unusual occurrence for DGS's very own "Liftmeister".  Dave's Dad, John, took their K-6 aloft only to find that his son had used up all today's lift for FUB!

Sadly, we had to tow the Astir CS77, DNE, back to the hangar.  None of the Wavers had thought the conditions good enough to try it, although the privateers had shown the way earlier.  Use it or lose it, chaps!  Its ARC is due on 17 September!

In a day that improved dramatically, after a soggy start, the Wednesday Wavers achieved 30 flights.

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Saturday 5th September 2026.

Today started as a fairly ordinary late season day. The gliders were removed from the hangar and prepared for the day with workman like efficiency. This included diagnosing and rectifying a wiring fault with with battery one in Twin Astir DSL - thanks Scratch. 

The weather forecast seemed favourable with light NW breezes backing southerly later. RASP showed some definite thermal potential in what was forecast to be a blue sky. This is interesting as there was some overnight cloud cover which was eventually replaced with cumulus cloud marking the days thermals. I suppose RASP is only a forecast. The forecast ended with a celebration of Val's birthday including a cake and a rendition the traditional birthday song. I think club singing lessons would be beneficial.

The club fielded both Twin Astirs,  a K13, K8 and Astir CS77. We were joined by a Libelle, DG300 and Std Cirrus from the private fleet.

K13 G-CFGR being readied for flight

We welcomed 2 visitors today both with 2 flight vouchers. Martin Finch was up first and he enjoyed a couple of soaring flights with me. Later in the afternoon Denise Joll attended and was treated to an extended soaring flight.

Martin with me hiding in the back sesat

Denise and Husband

By 1:30pm it was obviously quite thermic and this lead to Phil Hardwick launching in his DG300 and disappearing for 2hrs 10 for the longest flight of the day followed closely by Mike Jardine in his Std Cirrus who achieved 2hrs 8mins. The club single seaters both managed the maximum time flights - set at 1 hour today in fairness to the other pilots waiting to fly.

Single seater grid ...

... needed a wider angle lens today

In the afternoon it was hot enough to need the
Twin Astir's new heat reflecting canopy cover.

Early afternoon I noticed that 15 year old trainee was being given a series of practice launch failures initially by FI Steve Moore and then by CFI Rick Wiles. The arrival of Elliot's dad at the launch point confirmed my suspicions. Elliot then launched for his first solo flight - a nicely flown circuit. Congratulations Elliot.

A relaxed Elliot with FI Steve

Elliot flying a modit=fied circuit from a practice cable break

Elliot and Dad before the solo flight.

Elliot receiving his Wings from CFI Rick

Well what a day.  A birthday celebration followed by a First Solo all wrapped around a pleasant soaring day. Excellent

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News - Sunday 6th September 2026

A forecast for a 10 to 15 knot south-easterly wind which may increase and veer southerly during the day caused thoughts of how long or if we would actually fly today. However the ever keen Sunday Soarers set about getting the gliders out of the hangar and setting the field up ready to fly.

With six trainees, two returning trial flight students, a one day course and a couple of pilots wanting recency checks it was going to be a busy day for the two seaters, myself and Bi's today. Richard welcomed the One Day Course Student, Alysia Maciejowska to the club. After the necessary paperwork and briefings, Richard introduced Alysia to the world of gliding.

Richard ready to take Alysia flying.

And off they go.

My trainee list started with retuning member Toby Irons. After his set of flights he was please to have completed a full flight including launch and landing.

Toby ready to fly.

Phil Hardwick would step in to fly with the two returning trial flight students. Eleanor Hattersly and Brett Makinson were introduced to the controls and also helping launch the gliders throughout the day. Hopefully they are getting a taste for gliding and may join as members in the near future.

Eleanor and Phil ready to fly.

Bret ready to fly again.

Throughout the day I steadily worked through the trainee list. Jess Nicholson, Steve Lesson, Ed Nicholson, Aiden Hughes and Misha Skochko all continued towards their individual goals. I also had a recency flight with Viktor.

Ed looking cool in the front seat.

Twin Astir returns.

K13 launches again.

While one of the Twin Astirs was not being flown Steve Fletcher took Steve Lesson for a fly around to maintain back seat recdency.

Steve and Steve all smiles.

John Osment had flown the K8 earlier, but after returning saying that was a bit rough, the K8 was parked up and not flown for the rest of the day.

John ready for his flight.

Due to time and the conditions some pilots were unable to fly today. Sean Westrope, Ed Borlase and John Smith all did their part by winching for those who did fly. Also George Purkiss helped out winching and retrieving cables for us.

Meanwhile down in the hangar, Colin was busy giving K13 FSD a coat of white paint. This glider will be looking great after the hard work when it returns to flight soon. A long hot day with 30 flights with no soaring was enjoyed by all at the club. Thank you.

Peter Howarth

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 2nd September 2026

There were no blogs from the weekend.  After all the heat and dryness, the United Kingdom enjoyed a traditional Bank Holiday weekend: rain, heavy showers, blustery wind, and thunderstorms.

That didn't mean that the Saturday crowd was absent from their place of duty.  Fuelled by Wendy's latest baking extravaganza (Bakewell cake), and my wife's banana and chocolate cake, the traditional doughnuts were scarcely touched.

Mike Jardine stood in for the CFI, who had ventured up country on the Bank Holiday weekend (brave or foolish?), and organised several training lectures delivered by Scratch and him to two of our juniors, Ed and Rowan.  In between lectures they were kept busy with glider work and learning how to fit a tyre and inner tube to a 200mm x 50mm brand new tailwheel hub.  And if you haven't tried doing it, it is not at all easy.

The morning was, as forecast, wet.  But I had delivered various goodies to the clubhouse.  First was the pair of Vertigo canopy covers for the Twins for use in very hot weather (I am sure the supplier had a sense of humour when he shipped them to me in time for this wet Bank Holiday weekend).  We will continue to use the bed sheets when the Twins are in the hangar.

John Allan and Steve Lewis check the fit of the canopy covers
while I shorten the trailing edge elastics to achieve a suitable tension

John Allan demonstrates his technique for removing and then fitting the canopy cover
without it touching the ground.  Cue drum roll, then Abracadabra!

The second delivery was a new TOST TOG brake hydraulic brake calliper for the Twin Astir Trainer, HBK.  A set of piston seals and a calliper seal were included in the delivery to allow the original brake calliper to be rebuilt as a spare.

After lunch, the weather brightened; there was even some sunshine, and we brought HBK to the hangar from the T-hangar at the east end.  The glider was filthy, and Rowan, DB, and I washed and dried it as best we could before the next band of rain showers rolled in.  After a bit of hangar shuffling and installation of the recently repaired hangar belly dolly (we can't call it the Pucahcz belly dolly anymore), the elite brake fitting team swung into action.

John Smith offered up the rebuilt original calliper and checked its operation; all correct and no leaks - this will be held as a spare.  Then John Allan and John Smith, aided and abetted by others, offered up the new brake calliper.   This is a first-generation brake system, not the latest blue anodised Brembo-style brakes as fitted to £200,000 plus new sailplanes, so it inevitably needed some fettling to fit.  After some fine tuning and adjustment, the brakes seem to work well, and the glider is ready for a test flight and release to service.

The new TOG brake calliper as delivered from TOST.  The hydraulic brake pressure is checked in the factory to 120 bar (1,740 psi!).  However, can the eagle-eyed readers spot a quality control error that would become apparent when trying to mount the calliper to the mounting bracket?

For those who ponder these things.  TOG stands for Teil O-ring Gehäuse (Teil meaning split (i.e. two halves of the calliper), O-ring to join the two parts of the brake calliper, and Gehäuse meaning the body of the calliper), all very logical and Germanic!

Last Friday we received some welcome publicity from Harry Buckingham, who flew with Phil on Sunday 13 August.  Here is a clip from the ITV weather forecast.  Thanks Harry.

Hopefully this is the last we will see of the airfield in this parched state.  When we brought HBK to the hangar from the east end, the grass had already started to green up in many areas.

Now moving to today.  The Wednesday Wavers could expect ... well rubbish weather really.  Autumn has come early.

Skysight's windgram sums up the weather for today

I warned our two visitors off on Tuesday afternoon that we would probably have to cancel their flights.  At 0830 the Duty Instructor confirmed the worst, and I made the calls.  When they have rebooked, we hope to see Colin Terry, from Looe and Patricia Udall, from Newton Abbot, very soon.

So what should the Wednesday Wavers do?  The first day of school for many meant that there were no juniors needing training lectures. So we flashed up the simulator and conducted some Alpine flying for Mike Jardine, John Allan, and Steve Lesson!

Elsewhere, John Smith, and Ray set about making the support frames needed for the solar panels in the long-awaited upgrade to the DGS solar set.

John Smith takes a break from cutting the wooden support frames for the solar panels.

Peter and I insulated the battery retaining bar in the Twin Astir 1 for improved safety.  Peter then applied stainless steel mesh to the rear bulkhead holes so that the shelf behind the rear pilot could be used without the risk of items sliding back into the fuselage.

Surprisingly, the mesh on the rear bulkhead holes of the Twin Astir Trainer, HBK, was intact.  This meant that the new Vertigo canopy covers can be safely stored on the rear shelves to await the reappearance of the sun!

Peter loads the Vertigo canopy covers into the Twins

The shelves could also store "Rick's lumbar cushion".  On that note, we are looking for a handy volunteer to make a second lumbar or sausage cushion.  There is some Royal Blue faux leather material left that could cover them.  Are there any budding seamstresses out there?

The Twin Astir wing wheel is orange.  That's not normal for tow-out gear.   I rectified that, and now it's a highly visible signal red.  I have sourced vinyl labels to apply once the paint is dry.  I received news from IMI in the Czech Republic that the second Twin Astir tail dolly has been made and will be shipped to the UK this week.  Also, the defective Flarm unit from K-8, GDK, is being investigated by Navboys.

Colin asked for assistance to get K-13, FSD, off its support ropes and upright following spraying the lower flanks blue.  It was placed back on a belly dolly and prepared for the top half to be sprayed white, probably on Saturday when the weather should be drier and warmer.

Colin and Neil taped the underside of FSD ready for spraying.

By 1600 the rain finally stopped, although the cloud base was still low so no late afternoon flying was possible. With that, the Wavers departed early, having achieved much.

 Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 26th August 2026

After all the excitement and glory of Sunday's achievements comes the paperwork.  Well, for the club's Official Observer (OO), that is, following the witnessing and downloading of flight traces and flight analysis, there is the filling in of the British Gliding Association (BGA) claim forms.

We have come a long way since smoking a barograph foil, sealing and signing the barograph, fixing the resultant trace using hair spray, unloading the 35mm film from the turnpoint camera, and getting it developed.  Now GPS loggers record every second of the flight and clearly demonstrate whether the turnpoint sector has been correctly entered. We've moved on from that initial digital step in terms of convenience.  No longer does the OO have to hook his laptop to the logger in the glider and download the .igc file.  SD cards or USB sticks are the norm.  Downloading by Bluetooth to one's phone is now an option too.

For example, obtaining Andy's trace was simplicity itself.  Andy removed his Oudie N IGC from its cradle in his Ventus CT and handed it to me. I entered my email address and pressed send.  The .igc file was sent to my inbox for later analysis.

So what are the outcomes of my Official Observer analysis and form filling?

Ed - Silver/Gold Duration (5 hours).  He already has his silver height.  Just the 50 km distance to get to complete his Silver badge.

Andy - Diamond Distance (a 500 km flight).  He already has his gold badge and two diamonds (Height - a 5,000 m climb and Goal - 300 km round predeclared waypoints).  He now has a full house of three diamonds, a tremendous achievement.

Scratch - Silver Height (a 1,000 m climb).  He didn't get to North Hill; he was at 4,900 ft, just shy of Credition, facing a huge "black" hole and turned back.  He had covered 32 km of his 50 km. In hindsight, with the glide angle of the Standard Cirrus, he could have glid well over 30 km towards North Hill and made to a field to get his 50 km.  Next time.

Elsewhere, John Allan flew his Diamond Distance (500 km) on Saturday, thereby also getting a full set of diamonds.  Bravo!

Freddie managed a two-hour flight in the K-8, so achieving his first hour-long flight as part of his Sailplane Pilot Licence.

On reviewing the flight traces of FXB while trying to work out why it wasn't communicating with the Atom base station, John Allan and I found that Michael's first flight in the K-8 on Saturday had netted him Silver Height.

Well done all. Now they pays their money and send off the forms to the BGA.

Moving to today.  What would the Wednesday Wavers find at the club?  A change in the weather was on the cards. There had been some rain on Tuesday, more than had been forecast.

Strangely, there were no visitor flights booked for today, so Duty BI Phil had an unexpected opportunity to rig his DG300 and go flying on his own.  We welcomed friends Ken Basterfield and Paul Ives.  Paul hails from Exmouth.  Ken had flown at Brentor with the Albatross club and then DGS in the past.  He decided to return to the gliding fold and joined the club.  Paul, a microlight pilot, had completed most of his pre-solo training elsewhere and was keen to see what DGS had to offer.

Mike Jardine was absent from his place of duty (pre-planned), so Peter was the Duty Instructor.  At the morning brief, he counted up to 12 members who may need training flights, and so he co-opted Rick's help.  With that step, they then made short shrift of the flying list.  So much so that returning temporary member Simon Wood flew with Rick at 1300 and enjoyed a fantastic 37-minute soaring flight in the Twin Astir.  Simon, now you can see what all the fuss is about.

Rowan kicked off the training flights with a practice launch failure and circuit before handing over to Team Nicholson; Jess in the K-13 with Peter and Ed in the Twin Astir with Rick. Then Peter took returning member Steve Lesson through his paces, also with a go-around practice launch failure.  It was approaching midday, and so the solo pilots went soaring; Jamie in the Astir CS77 and John Smith in the K-8.

Robin climbs through 2,000 feet

The K-13's wing takes a "swipe" at the airfield

Peter and Robin share a thermal with Jamie in the Astir CS77 on his way to clocking up another hour of air time. 

After Jamie's flight, John Allan took the Astir CS77 aloft for an hour. He shared the sky with Steve Fletcher and Phil, who flew for over two hours each in the local area in the Open Cirrus and DG300 respectively.  The trainees were getting extended flights too; Ian 29 minutes in the Twin Astir with Rick, and Robin 43 minutes with Peter in the K-13, as the photos show.

And seemingly far below is Steve Fletcher's Open Cirrus

Back at the hangar, after the weighing and the deflection measurements of Mike's Club Libelle, Colin resumed working on FSD.  Surfaces were cleaned, prepared and taped up; he sprayed the lower half of the side panels a spiffing blue.  The top half and the nose will be painted white next.

Visiting Pilot Paul Ives gets to fly with Peter.

Visiting Pilot Paul flew with Peter for 42 minutes and thoroughly enjoyed his flight.  I think he might be hooked.

In May, the tyre on the jockey wheel on the front support of my trailer was looking tired (pun not intended), and so I ordered a replacement wheel from the Bay of Eels.  Ten days ago, when we rolled the trailer out of the glider rack for CNN's Annual Inspection and ARC we found out what the heat over the last couple of months could do. 

And that's a big split!

Once bitten, I decided to do it right and go back to the source, Knott, a well-known engineering and trailer supplies company in Germany.  The support arm was also past its best.  So I ordered a replacement that had a longer throw and was heavy duty.  Steve Lewis and I removed the old one and fitted the new one with fresh Nyloc M12 nuts, and tested it.  Perfect and an improvement on the original.  Job done.

The new support wheel with increased load capacity and extended stroke (Peter, stop sniggering at the back!).

After my planned work was complete, it was time to go flying.  There were few candidates for the club single-seaters today.  Unusually, we were able to set a one-hour limit on flight duration.  Michael M-S made his second and third solo flights in FXB, extended circuits in the morning before handing it over to John Smith, who flew for 48 minutes as the conditions became thermic as mentioned above.  Then it was Malcolm's turn. After a flight of exactly an hour, he handed the glider to me.

It looked good at the launch point, and I was able to climb reasonably easily.  Alasdair in the Astir CS77 was trying to join me and make use of my marking the thermal near Mary Tavy.  My goal was Princetown, but that was in doubt when I was in the air.  I couldn't pick out the radio mast for a long time in the murk.  Also, the cloud base was lower than I hoped as the moors rose in height.  A 2,200ft cloudbase wasn't enough to make the push to the prison, so I headed into the wind and made Horrabridge and then looked at RAF Harrowbeer at Yelverton.  I could see that it had been cleared after the big WWII nostalgia event last weekend.

The low cloud base thwarted my trip to Princetown,
so I headed towards Burrator reservoir.

But even that route was hampered by low cloud

So I headed towards the River Tavy estuary and the Hamoaze to loop around Tavistock

There was still plenty of time in the day, and CFI Rick was able to take Ed, and sister Jess, and Rowan on some soaring flights. Or was it the other way around?

Alasdair made his one hour, and since there were no other takers for the glider, he was told to stay aloft, much to his delight.  With a similar situation with the K-8, Michael M-S flew his fourth single-seater flight and went soaring for over half an hour, only coming down because he ran out of lift.

After exploring and investigating all parts of his new club, Ken flew with Peter in the K-13.

The day delivered more than the Wednesday Wavers dared to believe, from the low cloud and damp start to the day.  Soaring was enjoyed by almost all the pilots today.

Today we made 28 flights, welcomed a new member, a visiting pilot who may join us, a returning temporary member who had a great flight, lots of training, a glider weighing, and other maintenance tasks completed.  There was soaring to be had as well.

When I returned home, a parcel from Vertigo was waiting with the two reflective canopy covers for the Twin Astirs.  A cynic, or maybe a realist, would say they were just in time for the wet weekend.  Well, of course it's going to be wet; it's the August Bank Holiday weekend, but intrepid DGS members would still make it to the club.

Gavin Short