Dartmoor Gliding News-Sunday 7th September 2014

A quick check of the Met Office and RASP forecasts confirmed it: 040 at 10kts, blue for thermals: fantastic - could be wave. Arrival at the clubhouse gave me the opportunity to deliver clear direction to the horde of members present (Roger Appleboom and Mike Keller): 'We need to change ends!'

As other members began to arrive, we embarked on the process that took an hour to complete whilst I used all my telepathic powers to get the windsock to conform with the forecast. It refused. Whilst the wind was, it must be admitted, very light and was generally northerly, whenever the windsock did move it went to the west, not the east, thus presenting us with a tailwind for launching and landings.

The difference in length of both take off and landing run was significant, but we had a secret weapon in the shape of Dave Parker who delivered plenty of power from the winch, thus getting us off the ground quickly (i.e.. safe), and then keeping us on the wire for as long as possible, such that no-one suffered a launch of less than 1,000ft. Many thanks, Dave. Of course with the wind in the north there was no opportunity for wave to develop, but the first wisps of cumulus indicated the presence of thermals which rapidly developed into classic cumulus all around the site.

Paraglider pilot Andrew Bouldcott exploring the world of sport gliding

The day was busy with at least 5 private owners expecting to soar, 3 club trainees and 4 Trial Lesson students, who were all flown by an Asst Cat Instructor (me!)). As cloudbase lifted towards lunchtime Martin Broadway set off in the ASW 20F for a 2hr plus flight, whilst Chris Owen, flying in K-13 DMX soared for 17 mins, maintaining full control for the first time throughout all stages of the flight. Well done Chris. PPL holder Pete Harvey then took the front seat to show that he can adapt to fully held off approaches, which with a downwind, downhill landing run was no mean feat, and also soared for 9 mins.

Mamdisara Bushell sharing a light moment with Martin

 Bob Pirie took over from Martin Broadway in the ASW 20 mid-afternoon, when conditions were really booming, whilst Mike Keller took his K-8 to 3,000ft for over an hour. Rather embarrassingly, Trevor Taylor needed a re-light in his Jantar before getting away, but then disappeared to all points north, Okehampton, Launceston and Roadford Reservoir, where he found “cloudbase was up and down like the proverbial, the thermals were on the sunny side of the clouds and I even soared up the sides of some clouds” (abridged version).

Sharing a thermal with the ASW20

Eventually, at around 4pm, the wind did finally deign to pick up from the east, thus reassuring my decision first thing in the morning. However with that the conditions rapidly became overcast and murky, such that not long after the last flight had landed we were effectively in IMC.

Dave Stanbury with Martin in the K13

Our Trial Lesson students were Dave Stanbury (pictured), a very happy owner of a 38-tonne Volvo tipper truck, Andrew Boulcott, a product engineer and paraglider pilot who was keen to explore the difference between our two sports (limiting wind speed: 10 mph - you’ve got to run when you hit the ground!) and Mandi Bushell, who spent 15 mins in the K-13 soaring in company with the ASW 20 - a rare and beautiful sight!

Huge thanks go to the ground crew (already named, let’s not make their heads too big!) who made it all happen, and to Bob Pirie who at one point appeared to be permanently seated on the quad bike providing a retrieve service to the launchpoint (although he did manage to collect some sizeable mushrooms en route!)

Martin Cropper