Dartmoor Gliding News-Wednesday 27th March 2019

With high pressure still in charge over the south of England, hopefully the hardest decision was which end to fly. The forecast was for light northerly wind backing NNW later in the day. So we left the airfield set to fly from the east end. The K8 and K13 were readied and towed down the airfield for first launch at 10:39. Two private gliders were also rigged, Steve Fletcher’s Open Cirrus and Phil Hardwick’s Astir.

Aircraft waiting under clear blue sky to launch.
First to fly with me was Robin Wilson. The launch was eventful with the speed varying and as it dropped off, Robin rightfully abandoned the launch and treated it as an eventuality. After talking to the winch driver, we tried another launch. Although better we achieved a full launch, but slightly lower than would be usual for the conditions. When we landed it was decided to swap winches. After a short delay, Joe Nobbs was next in the K13 with me to carry on working to get himself current again.

Meanwhile Steve Fletcher and Phil Hardwick had also launched. Steve managed to find some lift and disappeared for 1 hour 43 minutes. Also after re-soloing on Saturday Malcolm Wilton-Jones converted to the K8 and dutifully disappeared for 1 hour 24 minutes. Well done Malcolm.

Steve climbing at 2400
Next in the K13 was John Smith. His second flight was a soaring flight. So we made use of the height to do some spin recoveries and a demonstration of a spin from a failed winch launch.

John climbing through 2300’
Returning ex member Hugh Gascoyne was next. After 9 years away from flying, he was very keen to get back into the saddle. He had four flights including a power failure and by the end was realising what he had missed.

Hugh Gascoyne ready for his first flight.
The last pilot for the K13 was Bob Sansom. Two circuits and a cable break well handled, Bob is on his way hopefully to re-solo ready for the soaring season in the near future.

Thank you to everybody who turned up today to make a good day flying including Mike Bennett and Alan Holland who helped with winching and have not been mentioned above.

Peter Howarth

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