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

Dartmoor Gliding News - Saturday 22nd August 2026

 A generally good forecast for today. Winds light from the east becoming variable later. RASP was indicating some good soaring conditions with a possible convergence in the area later.

K13 off on the first flight of the day

We set up to launch from the west end with a Twin Astir, K13, Astir CS77 and K8 representing the club and a DG300, Ventus C and a brace of K6's added for good measure. K6CR G-DDJR was making it's first appearance at Brentor after moving to us with it's syndicate from Culdrose.

The "new" K6 with Chris Bryning.
All 3 members of this syndicate are called Chris

Right from the off it was soarable. The 2 seaters got on with their tasks. Unfortunately, the Twin Astir suffered a main wheel puncture. Step forward an add hoc team led by Scratch ( Dene Hitchen) who lifted the glider onto a belly dolly to allow it's removal from from the runway and to facilitate the wheel change. Thankyou everyone.

How many pilots does it take to change the Twin main wheel.
Count the legs for an answer

We had a couple of pilots on cross country flights today. Phil Harding took his DG300 around the task Launceston.  Bampton.  Roadford.  Knowstone.  Brentor. for a total of 257km. This task was declared and achieved. Great work Phil. The other flight was an attempted 500km by Andy Davey in his Ventus CT. He got low a one point and had to take a slow climb back up to the good conditions. This delay slowed him enough to need a change of task and he ended up covering just over 401.6km.

Phil's view approaching his furthest turnpoint

Andy looking pleased with himself

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we welcomed Eleanor Hattersley who attended for a One Day Course and enjoyed soaring in the bouyant conditions in the Twin Astir. 

Eleanor ready to fly again

Eleanor's view to the South

Today also saw Michael Mairic-Smith continue his solo progress by converting to the K8 with a 31 minute soaring flight during which he achieved his silver height ( 1000m height gain ). Way to go Michael.

A relaxed Michael before converting to the K8

A great day

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News - Sunday 23rd August 2026

A light easterly breeze, a 6 star rating on Rasp, Privateers rigging, would the weather read the forecast and live up to expectations for once. The field was set up to fly from the west end and club gliders, K13, Twin Astir and K8 were taken to the launchpoint. Right from the first launch with Scratch taking returning member for a 31 minute soaring flight it looked like it was going to be a good day.

I launched with Ed Nicholson for the first training flight which only lasted for a 10 minute circuit. A second launch resulted in a soaring flight to 3400ft and 24minutes.

Ed Nicholson soaring away.

Next was sister Jess Nicholson who was keen to do better that Ed. Passing 3400ft caused great delight which was only surpassed as we topped out just over 5000ft. A bit of sibling rivalry is always good. The height was put to good use with different stalling exercises. Overall plenty of stick time which is great in her early stages of flying.

An emptying launch point.

Meanwhile Andy Davey had launched in his Ventus on a 500km attempt. Also Ed Borlase had launched on a 5 hour silver duration attempt. More about these later. Duty BI Gavin Short welcomed one day course student Barry Richards. Barry, who had a short drive to the club from Crapstone. One should note that former naval officers and residents pronounce it differently (with a long "a" and a silent "p")!  Interested in everything that went on, he had some great flights with Gavin, extensive discussions on nuclear engineering, and an extended session on the winch talking to George.  So much so that it was difficult to get him back to the flight line.  Barry thoroughly enjoyed his day with us.

Barry happy after his first landing.

Barry receiving his certificate.

Training progressed throughout the day with Steve lesson, returning after a break and Rowan Guest. Also after 12 months away, Toby Irons returned to restart his training. All had soaring flights and all received upper air exercises with the available height.

What about those who had launched on their various tasks. Andy's account is:-

The weather this weekend look very similar for both day, with thermals starting fairly early especially so today (Sunday).  I put the task I had tried on Saturday in my Oudie and launched at 1030 and joined Scratch in a thermal which gave me a climb to 4000ft. There were good conditions down to Bodmin and then all the way to Ashbury which I turned at 1430. Just 200km back to Brentor again all went well till just north of North Hill where some sea air had come in I turned towards North Hill thinking I may have to land there but found a few weak thermals which allowed to creep towards Brentor just past Okehampton I found a good climb which gave me an easy glide back to the club.

This was the first 500km flight from Brentor. Well done Andy.

A radio call was heard from G-CEWO (Ed Borlase) "What was my take-off time?". It was soon confirmed that he had 10 minutes to go, so with another climb and a gentle float back to Brentor and landing, 5 hour silver duration complete. Well done Ed at last.

K13 climbing with Ed.

Catching up with Ed after 5 hours complete.

These were not the only great flights today. Steve Fletcher soared around west Devon and east Cornwall. Steve's words:-

I flew a square (ish) Brentor, Princetown, Okehampton, Launceston, Kit Hill, Yelverton Burrator, Princetown, Brentor. 120k. Max ht 5500ft. Some Pictures from his flight:-

Launceston.

Princetown.

Roadford Lake.

Burrator

Phil Hardwick visited the north Cornwall coast between Bude and Padstow.

Nr Bude.

Nr Padstow.

Scratch did attempt an out and return to North Hill, but turned the flight into a 3 hour flight around the local area and totalled a distance of 147km according to his trace. Sean Westrope managed a 1 hour flight in his Libelle. Freddie Purkiss was the only pilot for the K8. After 1 hour he radioed down to see if anybody wanted the aircraft. After confirming there were no takers, he stayed aloft for 2 hours 16 minutes, his longest flight in a glider. Unfortunately for him it was later confirmed that he had missed out on his silver height. Better luck next time.

Jess helps Freddie get ready.

Well, what a day. I think I have covered everything. Only 22 flights, but an average of 1 hour 20 minutes per flight. The first 500km from Brentor, a 5 hour silver duration, a missed silver height but a longest flight in a glider.

A special thanks to the winch drivers for the day who swapped and kept thing going, Steve Lesson, George Purkiss and Ed Nicholson.

Peter Howarth

Dartmoor Gliding Society News - Wednesday 19th August 2026

There was an autumnal feel to today's weather, with a stiff westerly breeze increasing throughout the day, early morning showers, and leaves falling onto the ground. It looked a lot more like a day in October.

Gavin’s view on the way to the club.

After a parade of showers, there was eventually enough enthusiasm to fly. 

With a late start at 11:34, Duty Instructor Mike Jardine took Michael M-S for a check flight and was then suitably cleared to fly 2 solo flights to add to his total of 9.

First flight of the day, Mike takes Michael for a check flight  

Ivan and Richard strapped in, ready for their first launch. 

We welcomed one-day course candidate Ivan Foster, who used to fly with the Cornish Gliding Club at Perranporth 27 years ago. After his first flight with duty BI Richard Roberts, it was evidently clear that he needed to fly with an FI. Peter Howarth stepped in, and by the end of the day he was flying the whole flight with only a few prompts. Ivan hopes to be able to return and join as a full member to satisfy his 27-year itch.

Ivan managed to find his way into a more familiar K13 

Ivan and family 

David Osment rigged his K6, as did Dave Archer. Michael and David Osment each had their first experience of flying solo in stronger wind conditions. 

A blast from the 1960’s? This photo was taken today

David ready in his K6 

Duty instructor Mike Jardine flew with Ray Staines, Rowan Guest, Robin Wilson and Neal Oxley. Rowan's second flight saw him soaring for 19 minutes to claim flight of the day and looked at spin recognition and recovery. We also welcomed back Steve Lesson, who had 2 flights in the Twin Astir.

The view to the north

The view down the Twin Astir wing to the launch point below.

Rowan climbing nicely in the Twin.

Solo pilots Steve Fletcher (K8), Mike Bennet (K8), John Allan (Astir), Jamie Young (Astir), Gavin Short (Astir), and John Smith (Astir) each had their turn. The only real success was Steve Fletcher with 16 minutes. Mike Jardine also took the K8 up at the end of the day and achieved 18 minutes. 

Despite good-looking cloud streets surrounding the airfield, it remained a blue hole for the majority of the day, and most thermals were being broken by the 20+ knot wind at flying height. 

The strong wind straight down the strip made way for great launch heights for flying from the east end. I achieved a 1500ft launch flying the single Astir, my personal best for flying from the east end. 

Back at the hangar, work continued on K13 FSD for its annual inspection, and the single Astir had its undercarriage door fitted. 

Colin recovering K13 FSD's fuselage

The Astir with refitted undercarriage door.

So despite a late start, we managed 33 launches, some soaring, and a happy one-day course candidate.

Jamie Young