Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 10th June 2026

The mission for today was to get K-13, CCY into its trailer ready for collection by Devon and Somerset Gliding Club which is going to rent it to allow their members to fly some "Wood". 

Although we bought CCY from Mendip GC there is a symmetry to this arrangement as Mendip GC had previously bought it from Devon and Somerset GC.   "What goes around comes around".

Forecast:  Pity we didn't fly on Monday.  A showery, windy day with gusty lift in the afternoon.

The morning focus on CCY inevitably took a number of attempts to get the glider loaded into its trailer and everything prepared.  The morning brief was early and then my One Day Course Candidate, Alan Cracknell, arrived and received a brief.

Privateers rigged and made their way to the east end under a less than promising sky.

New member Harley brought his sister, Hollie, for a Friends and Family flight.  A chance for her to fly at a different site to her normal Predannack in the southwest tip of Cornwall where she flies with the air cadets.  Hollie was first up with the Duty Instructor, Mike Jardine, and went soaring.  "It's booming" was the statement when Mike handed over the K-13 to me so that I could start Alan's One Day Course.

Hollie, "This is a bit different to an ATC Viking glider"

Grob Viking T.1s in the 626 Volunteer Gliding Squadron hangar (how, the other half live!)

The pin on Google Earth is wrong.  It's RNAS Predannack!  Look at the size, length, and number of runway options to land on even before you consider the grass.  Amazing.  Has a DGS instructor introduced elder brother Harley to our stub runway yet?

The conditions were challenging with gusty thermals but Alan and I enjoyed some soaring flights.  He tried the controls but was actually happier being flown and taking in the fantastic scenes and sensations.  He was fascinated with how the approaching rain showers appeared from the air and how they engulfed Kit Hill, over the border in Cornwall.

With his first flight under his belt Alan looks forward to a soaring flight with Gavin

Lance was the first trainee of the day with a set of three flights in the Twin Astir.  The third flight included some soaring which allowed Lance the chance to get to grips with a Twin Astir after most of his training has been in a K-13.

Today was the first outing of the CFI-inspired and recently purchased steps to aid access to the Twin Astir that sits considerably higher off the ground than a K-13. I saw 76-yro Alan eyeing them enviously as he clambered into our K-13.  That said, getting in and out of a glider sounds positively routine than Alan's recent experiences of getting in and out the basket of a hot air balloon.  Landing in a glider sounds benign compared with "brace for impact" when you land in a hot air baloon in case the basket topples over.  I had naively thought that balooning was a gentle pastime.

Standard Cirrus, FCN, had its ARC on Tuesday and was test flown today by Scratch and Rick.  The work on the release and cable paid appeared to pay dividends as they now were achieving 1,250 foot launches consistently.  With that out of the way Scratch did some soaring proving that all was well with their glider.  Rick followed suit later in the day.

Alan and I took a break for lunch which allowed Dave Osment to have some check flights and a practice launch failure, with Peter, before being cleared solo in the K-13 in blustery conditions. 

Phil Hardwick readies his DG300 for launch, and a bit of soaring, while Phil Hayward looks on (well it makes a change from everyone at DGS being called Steve!)

Andy and Steve Fletcher launched into promising skies and earned a joint "men of the match" with 48 and 47 minutes apiece.  Steve managed to get to 2,700 ft QFE but had to air brake down before the heavy rain set in from the west.  After his flight Andy spent a while on the winch and introduced visitor Alan to the "Power and the Glory" of winch launching.

Steve Fletcher's rare view today of Plymouth Sound not wreathed in rain showers.

Ian King was the next trainee, but his set of flights were cut short by the next rain shower.  This one was particularly heavy which saw all the Wednesday Wavers and visitors sheltering in the launch bus for 10 minutes while it passed.

It was good to see Robin Wilson back in the saddle (the Twin Astir).  He also took the opportunity to show Harley our defibrillator and conduct the quarterly checks.  All was well.

Harley continued his conversion to gliding the BGA way with a set of circuits as another shower had damped down the thermal activity.  CFI, Rick is keen to get Harley out of his comfort zone of a Twin Astir (Viking in ATC speak) and into a K-13 to start challenging him. 

This morning we welcomed back a lapsed member, Ray Staines, who now sports an impressive white beard.  Ray paid his annual membership fee and got stuck into launching gliders as if he had never left.  He commented on several changes since he was last at the club, especially in terms of standardisation which was music to the Fleet Manager's ears.  He enjoyed a number of extended circuits, with perhaps a smidgen of soaring, with Mike.  Ray we look forward to seeing you more often.

The DCFI, Peter Howarth, moves into the modern age
with a "digital" photo of Ray Staines and Instructor Mike.

The K-8 was enjoyed by John Smith and Peter with the latter making two soaring flights. We have done a considerable amount of work on FXB after its test flight recently.  The radio now works well and the instrumentation, including the Total Energy system appears to be OK.  Peter and I have a cunning plan to improve the effectiveness of the trim. Like all good "Blue Peter" plans it involves the extensive use of sticky tape.

As you heard the main effort has been getting CCY ready to go to North Hill.  But there were some other maintenance developments during the week.  I received three sets of brake pads for Twin Astir Trainer, HBK, from Saftek Friction that they made for us.  I also had the news from Navboys that the Twin Astir tow out gear that the club has ordered should be with us next week.

The "top cover" persisted throughout the day.  Without it conditions could have been great.

As the day's flying came to a close glider pilots were instructed to make their last flights hangar landings.  This included Dave Archer in the Twin Astir and Rick in the Astir CS77.  Rick reported that the trimming system needs adjustment.  There's no rest for the maintenance team at DGS.

After observing the winch launches I had a cup of tea with Alan in the clubhouse.  I handed over his certificate and temporary membership card.  He was keen to start his 2 1/2-hour drive back to Chipping Norton which is just south of Bath.  As I bade him farewell I noticed something different near the clubhouse before getting roped into packing the Twin Astir in the hangar, which Alan witnessed.

"There is a disturbance in the Force".  Farewell CCY. Your departure leaves a gap in our lives!

The winch returns to the Motor Transport hangar as the sky finally brightens. Typical!

So a day that didn't follow the forecast and where the showers persisted all day.  When the sun was allowed to work its magic there was some soaring to be had in the strong wind.

36 flights, a One Day Course and normal training delivered, and a young air cadet introduced to real flying.  Not a bad achievement by the Wavers on a very showery day. 

Gavin Short 

Dartmoor Gliding News - Sunday 31st May 2026

A light westerly breeze and dry conditions greeted the Sunday Soarers. The assembled pilots removed a K13 and Twin Astir from the hangar. These were the only club aircraft required today as privateers Andy Davey (Libelle), Sean Westrope (Libelle), Ed Borlase (K6), Viktor Skochko (K6) and Phil Hardwick (DG300) set about rigging their aircraft.

First two flights of the day before things got busy were ultra-low failure demonstrations for Misha Skochko and Aiden Hughes.

All Out and All Stop.

After these launches, eagle eyed Viktor noticed a mark on the front wheel. Inspection found a bubble in the wall of the tyre which caused a delay in proceedings whilst a replacement was sourced and refitted. Throughout the day Aiden received five further training flights and Misha another four (one was a soaring flight). Each also received a demonstration of how to cope with a balooned landing. Some good progress for both.

Aiden and me discussing the next flight.

Today duty IFP Steve Fletcher would have three air experience visitors. First to arrive was Rachel Hirsch from Okehampton who arrived with her partner. Rachel really enjoyed her flights including a slightly extended flight on the second.

Rachel with Steve.

The next to arrive were Sophia Harris-Aldrid and James McInnes-Slegg who were part of an extended family and friends who came to watch. Both enjoyed a couple of flights with Steve.

James and Steve waiting to launch.

Sophia waiting for Steve.

After the Red Arrows passed by yesterday we witnessed our own Red Arrows.

Our very own Red Arrows Viktor & Ed.

Red One waiting to launch.

The other privateers enjoyed flights of various times. Sean Westrope (Libelle) 10 minutes and Phil Hardwick (DG300) 41 minutes to claim flight of the day.

Sean discussing tactics with Phil.

One name missing from above is Andy Davey who realised he had left batteries and Oudie at home so didn't fly. As a self imposed punishment he spent a large part of the day on the winch. Thanks Andy.

Thank you to all at the airfield today A 'wheelie' good day overall.

Peter Howarth

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 3 June 2026

Some things in life are inevitable.  After the sunshine and the heat comes the rain and cooler temperatures.  Well, it is the start of June, so what were you expecting; a blazing start to meteorological summer?

Andy's take on today's weather:

Wednesday Weather.
With low pressure centred off the north coast of Ireland we will be in an unstable air mass with some quite gusty winds.
Wind initially SSW at 15kts then going SW and increasing slightly to 17kts, once the front has passed. There should be some thermal activity going to 2,000ft from about 1300, but it will be very broken in the strong and gusty wind.

Today's synoptic chart courtesy of the Met Office. In sum; Messy!

There was a tiny weather window that Andy mentioned but not long enough to get the toys out.

The greenery says its summer but the amount of water coming off the airfield
 into the culverts says its winter.

Despite the gloom the inside of the clubhouse was looking sparkling thanks to John Smith, and others, for their efforts over the last few days with the paint brush.  Soon we be able to hang the large model glider from the eaves again.

In the mode of spring-cleaning Mike Bennett, aided by DB, set about washing his trailer.  I normally take mine to the hangar apron and use a hose, but the sky was easily provided that level of service for them. 

It was very wet most of the day

The gliders needed some TLC too and this was definitely the day to undertake it.  John Allan investigated the perplexing electrical gremlins in K-8, FXB.  Peter and I looked at the wiring for the Tasman variometer in the Twin Astir 1, DSL and discovered why the rear variometer repeater was intermittent.  Ty-wrapping is good but over ty-wrapping and placing strain of electrical connectors is not a good thing.

John took the K-8 instrument panel out and tracked down the source of its electrical woes.  He also stripped down and repaired the XK10 variometer that had stopped singing its song, caused by a loose connector on the motherboard.

John Allan reinstalling the K-8's instrument panel after repairs

The Chairman and I took the Astir CS77 seat out to reveal a jack plug connection in the cable to the loudspeaker.  Seat removal is never my favourite task in an Astir.  The loudspeaker connection was intermittent hence the fault-finding. The solution was to replace both the 3.5mm jack plug and the 3.5mm socket.  

To keep in our BGA Inspector's good books we hoovered under the cockpit before we started work.  In the workshop Colin was beavering away with the aileron repair on CCY's wing.  He applied Ceconite fabric after the woodworking was complete.  It now needs ironing, dope, undercoat and then topcoat.  The next few days will involve the production of the ARC paperwork and to chronicle what has been done.

The Astir CS77 during the lunch break.  Calm before the seat was removed and loudspeaker wiring connectors repaired.

After the K-8 instrument panel was reinstalled and tested it was Dave Archer's turn to work on FXB.  He replaced the co-axial connector on the radio antenna which was damaged.

Meanwhile, Peter and Steve, during a lull in the rain got the fuselage of the Twin Astir Trainer out of its trailer and refitted the seat side panels and seat supports.  Then Colin and Peter remade the brake cable that needed to be longer to allow full air brake travel. We will have to wait for the arrival of the new brake pads from Saftek Friction to complete the brake system work, but the reupholstered side panels can now be stuck in the cockpits.  Unfortunately rain stopped play.  But there was enough time for Peter to check the main wheel brake disc and clean off any surface rust ready for imminent use.

Some took an early lunch before the event of the day.  A special review meeting to elect our new treasurer, David Osment, as a Director.  The meeting was quick and David was unanimously voted in with no objections or abstentions. Welcome, David.

There was other non-maintenance effort going on.  Returning One Day Course candidate Phil Hayward worked with the Duty Instructor, Mike Jardine, to review Phil's newly issued training card to map his path from PPL (Private Pilot's Licence) to SPL (Sailplane Pilot Licence).  After that he made progress with this ground training card getting to understand how the club works and runs.

The furniture in the clubhouse kept on moving around throughout the day as John Smith, assisted by father and son team Osment, continued painting the interior of the clubhouse.

John Smith has been working his way to the back of the clubhouse. Here he is painting the parachute storage room.

What was the hardest job today?  The smallest of course.  The clip on the radio microphone in the K-8 wasn't working correctly.  It took the combined efforts of three glider pilots to work out what was wrong and rectify it.  Someone, its always him, isn't it?  Someone had resembled the spring clip incorrectly which of course is a much easier task than reassembling the clip correctly.

Concentration, frustration, determination, and then finally, success!

Before the Wavers dispersed we shared a moment of contemplation and remembrance for the three Royal Navy crew members of a Merlin Mk4 helicopter who sadly lost their lives early this morning when their aircraft crashed near Sourton, which is less than ten miles north of the airfield.  Our deepest sympathy to the families of the crew and members of the Fleet Air Arm.  Military flying is never routine.  May they rest in peace. 

So no flying today due to the poor weather conditions but much was achieved despite the sombre atmosphere.  Foolishly before I left the site I checked the forecast for Saturday.  I wish I hadn't!

Skysight's windgram for Saturday.  Oooh!

 Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Saturday 30th May 2026

 A blue day in prospect with a light NW breeze. Soaring potential was sketchy to say the least except if you believed  the RASP 3 star forecast.

There was quite a grid at the east end by the time we started. The club fielded a Twin Astir, K13, K8 and the Astir CS77. The privateers added 2*std Cirrus (Cirri?), a Mini Nimbus, 2*Libelles, a DG300, and A very bright yellow K6.

Part of the grid

Rick had a full list and worked through it from 10.15am (Elliot Flannery cable break practice) until last flight at 6pm ( Haarley Brockhouse cable break practice). Bit of a theme there maybe.

Sheltering from the sun under the "new" awning

Soaring today remained difficult to say the least. Most times all there was was the odd thermal bubble which you needed to be in the right place at the right time to make use of. there were a few soaring flights the best of which was Malcolm with 1hr 3 min ( it was a K8 sort of day ), Jamie followed close behing with 53min in the CS77.

Top of my first climb in the K8

and my view to the south

Visitors today were Cory Jones, Bogumila Gostlin, Maria Brookes, John Stewart and Andy Stamp all enjoying Air Experience flights.

Boggumila ( Millie )

Cory and family

Maria

John

Andy

A hot challenging day with 45 launches.

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 27 May 2026

After a spell of hot sunny Bank Holiday weather the forecast was a bit different for today.  Stronger winds from the East South East.  Is the Skew T graph going to be set for wave?  Will we get a hydraulic jump from the Mary Tavy Valley or would it just be gusty?  Several of the weather models were forecasting a number of options some indicating that it would be too windy, too gusty, no wave, and any thermal activity severely suppressed.  Not very promising.  What wasn't in doubt was it was going to be hot in the sunshine but with a breeze for the first time.  At the morning brief members noted that Andy wasn't at the airfield - that means NO wave!

Our visitors today were John Hodder for a One Day Course, Sarah Dawe with a two flight voucher, and Steve Fletcher for some Friends and Family flights with his sister, Julie, and his brother-in-law, Peter Jones.

While the launch point was set up John Osment started changing the TOST release hook in his Standard Cirrus, overseen by Colin.  As is often the case it turned into an all day effort with a new release cable needed to be made up.

A tranquil glider rack remains after the club gliders were moved to the launch point

Club gliders at the launch point ready for a day's flying

"The early bird catches the worm"
David Osment and Mike Jardine return from the first flight of the day. 
 "It's working" was the report. Game on!

John Smith took that signal on board and soared for 32 minutes in the Astir CS77 before taking over driving the winch.  Dave Osment launched again and enjoyed 32 minutes in the wave.  Then Peter had 35 minutes and Rick 29 minutes.  Despite expectations there was wave.  The southeasterly breeze meant the glider could exploit the wave without having to go near the firing ranges that were active today.

The morning saw a large, strange-looking lenticular cloud over the site
with some thermal activity further south of the airfield.

Jamie's take on the unusual looking lenticular with perhaps thermal clouds, or rotor underneath.

Is that rotor? Only one way to find out.

Zooming in at the bottom of the "lenticular" reveals Mammatus clouds. 
These are normally associated with the base of Cumulo-Nimbus clouds.

Several members had seen a Cu-Nim on the way to club towering over Plymouth.  Late in the morning there were reports of lightning in Plymouth, but none was visible (or audible) from Brentor.

Lance's first flight didn't find much lift

Rain to the south in the direction of Plymouth

Lance's second launch was a soaring flight of 22 minutes.

Lance readies for a second flight of soaring in the wave.

Away from the big "Lenticular" more conventional clouds appeared

Steve flew with Julie, his sister.  He was amazed at achieving a launch height of 1,997 feet, his personal record in a K-13.

Brother and sister enjoying a shared experience

Sean took a flight in the Astir CS77 and enjoyed 53 minutes in the wave before Rick took off in his Standard Cirrus for an hour and 15 mins.  He then handed the glider to Mike who had 55 minutes aloft.  Rick kindly picked up the instructor duties for the duration of Mile's flight.  This system is working well in allowing the Flight Instructors to increase their solo hours.  Rick claimed the second-longest solo flight and Mike the third longest.  Answers on a postcard as to whom clocked up the longest solo flight in a club glider later in the day.  We don't often get photos from the CFI so enjoy them.

The moors from the east of the runway.  Can you spot "Bushman" Sean in the Astir CS77?

Tavistock, the Hamoaze, and Rame Head.  

Rick at 2,750 feet climbing at 1.5 knots in the wave. Shame about the Flarm not working!

Rick's suitably elevated view of Tavistock.  All traces of Cu-Nims and rain over a Plymouth have gone.

Fleet Manger duties, in particular getting the Twin Astir Trainer, HBK, ready for service had prevented me converting to the Twin Astir.  There was no avoiding it now.  First a flight from the front seat with Peter and then a flight from the rear seat.  Flying from the rear seat, in its very recumbent position, wasn't as challenging as I thought it would be.   With in excess of 1,500 ft launches in the wave it took a while to get back down as the launch and landing in a new glider type were the object of the training exercise.  As it was reasonably busy, and members we keen to get into the wave, launch failures were left for another day

Gavin flies DSL for the first time.
It was 15 years since he last flew a Twin Astir (II Acro) in Keiheuvel, Belgium.

Phil Hayward had started a One Day Course on Wednesday 6 May.  With his previous power experience and three flights with me, where the last one was an extended soaring flight, I had to hand him off to a Flight Instructor to finish his course.  He did so with a wave flight with Mike and then another with Peter.  So now he can make use of up to three months temporary membership of the club from today's date

Former power pilot Phil Hayward, and Mike,
 enjoying the "Money for nothing" moment of soaring in wave. 
However, I did have to air brake down to allow Peter to take the photo!

While Phil was flying this was Mike's view out of the DV panel to the left,
away from the Twin Astir.  The weather had cleared up in the afternoon wave

#

Peter observes the almost empty runway while we wait for Steve Fletcher
and Brother-in-Law Peter to come up and join us in the wave.

Peter obviously enjoyed his extended soaring flight with his brother-in-law

Reports from various pilots revealed that the wave seemed to top out at around 3,100 feet above airfield height.  Nobody seemed to mind as we were having fun and even that height the temperature was very pleasant compared to the Bank Holiday weekend heat (did I just say that about a UK Bank Holiday weekend?).  Not to miss out Ian King racked up 25 minutes in the wave with Mike.  This was turning out to be an impressive day with the wave persisting well into the afternoon.  The relative lack of rotor (turbulence) was also welcome.

"In the belly of the beast".  After his training flights Lance takes a stint in the tower.

Jamie, ready to disappear for over an hour in the Astir CS-77

And away he goes into the blue

John Hodder and family had a fine day with us.  A retired naval engineer with a sailing background he could make some interesting comparisons.  John enjoyed a number of extended flights with Phil. His wife, a martial arts instructor, and John lead an eclectic life.  We were glad they could travel from the east of Dartmoor to be with us today.

John Hodder and his daughter Zoe with the Twin Astir after John's flights in the wave

Group photo after receiving his certificate with his wife and instructor Phil

Phil's trial flight visitor, Sarah, came to the club with her partner.  Gliding had been one of the things on her list to experience.  She had been inspired by her grandfather who had lived locally and flown a trial flight with DGS, albeit about 30 years ago.

A family record of Sarah's grandfather flying with DGS.  Colin recognised the glider. It's a K-7, the predecessor to the K-13s; note the separate canopies.  But who is the instructor and the launch marshal?

Sarah had two flights with Phil.  The wave was starting to be broken up by afternoon thermals which made understanding what the control movements were doing to the aircraft difficult.  She certainly enjoyed the excitement of the launch and the landing.

On one of Sarah's flights Phil was able to follow the route of the old railway line and identify her grandparent's house on the edge of Blackdown, close to Brentor village.

Phil and Sarah finished in time to allow Sarah's partner to take her to work in Plymouth for 1800 where she works as a beautician.  Sarah we hope you enjoyed your afternoon with us. 

Sarah and partner after her flights

A souvenir photo for Sean (a Wavers private joke)

Neal receiving an extensive debrief from the CFI after their second training flight.

Being half French it was inevitable that "Bushman" Sean would get the Churchillian salute wrong when flying with Peter for a bit of back seat training in a K-13.

But what of our most recent member?  Harley Brockhouse a former ATC instructor, now without home to fly from, had been introduced to the club by his friend Adam Hoskin.  After being strong-armed by Adam and the Chairman Harley expected a day of orientation and getting know us.  Not likely with the Wavers;. You are going flying; an extending circuit with Mike followed by a 25 minute soaring flight as the wave gave way to more classical thermals in the late afternoon.

CFI, Rick conducts a daily inspection of the K-8 so that I might fly solo.  Thanks, Rick.

So I launched and connected with mixture of wave and thermals landing after 37 minutes. The last landing of the day.  Dave Archer made the last flight of the day, just seven minutes.  Dave, you should have got your name earlier on the flying list!

Vital supplies were waiting for me at home.  Two cans of colour-matched cellulose paint, to allow Colin to complete the work on CCY before it goes to North Hill.

Peter summed up the day : "A day that promised so little, but delivered so much."

In figures the Wavers made a modest 30 flights today.  The reason for the low launch total was evident in the average flight time of 31 minutes, even when including Dave Archer's flight!  A total of 15 hours 31 minutes of flying today.

Faces that had caught the sun were very happy putting the gliders away.  All in all, a great day's flying for the Wednesday Wavers, who could live up to their name, and our various visitors. 

Gavin Short