Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 14th March 2015

Arriving at the airfield a little late due to my work commitments three things were immediately apparent. There was more than enough members to fly, the day was deemed too challenging to fly with a strong gusty northerly wind and there was some protracted negotiations underway for the formation of a new syndicate.

The Astir 2 negotiations

The new syndicate seems to be Colin Boyd, Adrian Irwin and Tony Dean and is based around a nicely presented Astir 2 previously owned by the Greens. By then end of the morning the deal had been done. We look forward to seeing them flying their new toy.

The Astir 2 in it's very smart lift top trailer

The weather was definitely improving but there was time to rig the K8, which is now ready to re-join the fleet sporting a very smart replacement canopy bubble and a reworked front skid, before changing ends and attempting some aviation.

The K8 on final approach

The first order of the day was for me to test fly the K8. This glider always surprises me with it’s nice gentle handling, I even managed to find an embryonic thermal which supplied a couple of minutes of entertainment.

K13 G-CHXP on the launch.

The wind was swinging towards the North East but the strength was reducing quickly and became almost smooth. This is probably not the stuff that great wave days are made of but there was some signs of rotor and even a wave bar giving a short beat of zero ( no lift or sink ) in nicely smooth air. Great fun.

Everyone who wanted to fly flew, most attempting to soar or at least prolonging their circuits.

Great fun

Steve