Dartmoor Gliding News – Sunday 1st June 2014

With yesterday having turned into a super Saturday, and regular weather forecasts overnight and Sunday first thing portending 'bright and dry' for Devon and Cornwall until late afternoon, hope was springing eternal that today would prove to be a repeat, if not even better.

So the news on arrival at the club that the crack in trusty two-seater DMX's canopy had opened up again did nothing to daunt the spirits of the Sunday Soarers, although effecting a repair (thanks to Allan Holland) was not quick enough to prevent One Day Course student Alan Roberson from having to return to Padstow, although he is expected to rebook his course for another date in the bear future.

Allan at work on the K13 canopy

So it was, unusually for the Sunday Service, not until after 12 before we got going - however with Junior members Henry Flowers and Luke Botham to get back in the training groove, and less junior members Jerry Wellington, Ray Swinfield and Roger Apfelsaft requiring check flights, there was plenty to be going on with. Which was just as well since the 'dry and bright' failed to materialise and the early morning overcast broke briefly into an early afternoon 'tickle' (10 mins longest flight) before deteriorating into a late afternoon overcast as we wound the altimeter sub-scales down in advance of the approaching cold front.

By 5pm conditions were getting 'parky' and some pretty large drops of rain sent their message: head for the hangar! And so we did, content that 14 launches had been achieved where - were it not for Allan Holland's intervention with a roll of adhesive tape - it could have been none.

Thanks also go to Henry and Luke for their retrieve and quad bike driving skills, all delivered with conscientious responsibility and without which we would have definitely struggled. And we should not forget Dave Bourchier who, in concert with Allan H, spent the day working very profitably on the K-8's airbrakes.

Martin Cropper