Dartmoor Gliding News–Wednesday 26th March 2014

A day of three parts really.

To start with, the usual early risers had got the airfield set up by the time time the murk lifted and two privately-owned gliders, the Open Cirrus and Astir G-CJSK, were soon rigged and ready. People-wise, we were well down on numbers, with Phil and Andrew at Talgarth, and Jorg away on a course. However, we enjoyed the company of Angela  Banfield returning for a second attempt at her one day course (bringing with her a bag of chocolates etc. to sweeten us up), and also temporary member Andy Davey, from Wadebridge. (Gastronomically, standards continue to rise, with bigger and better packets of doughnuts provided by John Rogers, and yours truly fulfilling orders for steak and kidney pies from the butcher in Holsworthy.)

Bob avoiding the hail storm in the K8

Part 2?  Well, the weather improved and 'cycled'. Visibility was pretty grim for most of the time, but between showers (including some heavy hail) there were clearances followed by strong thermals and cumulus with bases of 3,000 feet or more over the airfield. The ML winch worked superbly and despite a light cross- (occasionally tail-) wind, delivered launches to well above 1,000 feet in most cases. Best flight of the day was by Ged in the Open Cirrus (achieving 55 minutes and a climb to above 3,000 feet), while John Bolt and I each enjoyed half an hour or more  in the K8.

Today's "ace of the base" Ged after nearly and hour in the Open Cirrus

Late in the day the Zugvogel was extracted from the hangar, but sadly rather too late for pilots to use it to its full potential. At this time of year it is particularly important to get the gliders prepared and to the launch point at the start of the day. But with so few people around, some were working 'above and beyond the call' getting the show on the road and helping others,and consequently missed out on the best soaring opportunities.

Today's launch queue

And now to Part 3. During the afternoon we suffered several cable breaks (possibly due to cable on the ML nearing its sell-by date?) and also some problems involving the interface between the winch and the retrieve vehicle during cable tow-out. Ways of improving performance in this area are now being explored. Not only were we on the verge of hypothermia while things were being sorted out, but we lost an hour or more's worth of launches. With things back on track, we eventually we wrapped things up at around 1800 hours after achieving 26 launches. (This was in contrast to a fortnight ago when - through slick and energetic operation - we managed more than 30 with only one cable.)

Angela waiting to get her One Day Course off the ground

Flying-wise, after a 'hesitant' start (not helped by thermic conditions), Angela enjoyed her flying with Steve and will come back to complete her course next week. Meanwhile Andy flew with Ged, proving that he had not lost all of his skills gained in the dark and distant past, when he trained and soloed both at North Hill and with the RAF Gliding and Soaring Association. Reflecting on the performance of members present, it was a pleasure to observe how competently - and safely - they flew, taking poor visibility, a cross-wind and occasional launch failures failures in their stride.

I just hope that more members seldom seen during the winter turn up soon to start regaining currency.  And I stress 'start', because a couple of launches and a simulated cable break do not a current pilot make. 

Bob Pirie