Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 22nd April 2017

The early cloud cover was definitely uninspiring. On the south coast there was 8/8 high Cirrus cutting out the sun altogether. Over the airfield there was some sort of transition with 8/8 cumulus cloud and away to the north a thin line of blue sky as the sea air drifted in from the coast. The wind today was 8 knots directly across the runway from the north. As the day wore on the cumulus separated to allow sun onto the ground and the soaring possibilities improved.

The view to the SE was uninspiring to say the least

Looking NW gave some hope of improving conditions

By mid to late afternoon the sky looked great. I am often asked what good conditions look like. My normal answer is to look for a "Simson's" sky; ie. a bright blue sky with individual cumulus clouds with flat bottoms. This afternoon looked just like that.

A "Simson's Sky"

We welcomed several visitors today. First up was David Archer who had one of our Introductory flight vouchers. David is quite keen, having visited us earlier in the year when we were sheltering from the rain in the clubhouse. I hope this is the start of his learning to fly.

Visitor David Archer looks happy

Next came the 6th Plympton Scouts. Earlier in the year they had visited as a group but the wind had strengthened to the point that we had to stop flying. No problems with the weather today though and  Connie, Carrie, Dylan and Jack all completed their gliding badges.

Connie received her Gliding Badge from me after our flight

Jack was the joker of the pack

Carrie looks pleased to get her Gliding Badge from Rick

Dylan shares a moment with his Dad while waiting to fly

Longest flight of the day was flown by Allan Holland in the K8 who came back after 1 hour and 1 minute to let others have a go. The other interesting flight in the K8 was by Tony Tayler, our Shennington visitor, who was keen to fly this aircraft. He took the last flight of the day and managed a short soaring flight under an absolutely blue sky.

A nice day.

Steve