Dartmoor Gliding News-Wednesday 13th May 2015

The weather forecast looked favourable with plenty of sunshine and a light SE breeze. The only negative was an approaching front due to deliver rain over night. The soaring conditions were difficult with a lot of high cirrus with only random thermal bubbles low down needing patience and a fair bit of skill ( or luck?) to exploit.

An organised launchpoint with a weak looking sky 

We welcomed 2 new people today,  David Downton who flew with Ged and One Day Course candidate, kite surfer Alex Payne who flew with me and will hopefully be returning to make gliding his second hobby. The K13 was kept busy all day.

David Downton

One day course candidate Alex Payne

There was a good turnout of single seaters with the club K8, 2 Astirs , a K6, and the Open Cirrus. Soaring conditions were somewhat tricky low down but once above 2000 feet thermals were more organised and the 4500 foot cloudbase was within reach. The best flight was Robin Wilson’s 1 hour 25 minutes in his K6. Other notable flights were Mike Gadd in the Open Cirrus who flew for just over an hour before returning to let his syndicate partner, Ged, have a go and Martin Broadway who soared the club K8 for 3/4 hour.

Today's "Ace of Base" Robin Wilson with his mighty K6

 Meanwhile in the hangar, John Bolt completed the C of A and ARC renewal on the club Zugvogel 3A which is now ready for club service again. Allan Holland spent several hours in the hangar repairing the fuselage dolly from Robin’s K6.

And this season the best dressed glider pilots are wearing !!!

Apart from the usual thanks for all the helpers. special thanks must go to David Rippon who came to the club early and, single handedly, changed ends i.e. towed the winch to the east end, brought the launchpoint up to the west end and towed out the cables ready for use, all without the chance of flying as he had to leave straight afterwards to attend to family matters. Now that's dedication

Steve