Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 17th August 2019

Setting off to the airfield under a low looking, cloudy sky was not the most encouraging. Crossing the southern part of Dartmoor there were a few gaps, some even had a little sun shining through. Good. On the other hand there were large areas of orographic cloud obscuring many of the tors. Bad. Arriving at the airfield the cloudbase was barely above the church. There was even some drizzle in the air. Still bad.

The forecast was for improving cloud and visibility so we did what we always do. The gliders were got ready, the morning briefing was done, the Trial Lesson Safety Briefing was done with today's One Day Course Canidiate, Allen Lee, and then we waited. 

Allen Lee with me waiting to go

Allen and I launch under a  promising looking 

The first flight, at midday, showed some promise with the air feeling "bubbly". Half an hour later and the thermals had started. Not easy, with tight narrow cores, and, initially it was hard work to gain altitude but this rapidly improved as did the cloudbase. Within an hour the 2000 ft cloudbase had become 3000 ft and streets had formed giving very reliable lift The cores were showing between 4 & 6 knots. Excellent. In exactly the right place to enjoy all this was Allen Lee, who was flying in HXP with me. We romped around the local area for more than an hour before deciding that it was lunch time and airbraking back down to the runway. 

Our view early in the flight looking SW
over Tavistock towards the Tamar Estuary at Saltash

Also in the right place to enjoy all of the was trainee pilot Rita Smith who flew with Mike in DMX. Their flight was 43 minutes giving plenty of time for Rita to practice her basic handling skills although the lively conditions would have been a bit of a challenge.

Mike & Rita's view of soaring with HXP

At 2pm the soaring switched off, the wind, which had become westerly during the soaring, moved back to the SW. It took about 3/4 hour for things to recycle. The wind, once again, became westerly, the streets reformed and it was game on. During this phase of the day Steve Fletcher flew his Open Cirrus for 1hr 12 minutes to record to longest flight of the day; Allen Lee had c couple of flights with Mike to complete his One Day Course with a soaring flight of 32 minutes. Phil Hardwick got the Twin Astir out and he had a couple of flights with Rick Wiles for a best of 33 minutes.

Steve Fletcher found  a convergence. Here he's at 3000ft

With the wind strengthening still further,and the day going blue, we called a halt at about 4.30 andreturned to the clubhousse for tea and medals.

The sky going blue with definite signs of wave in the strengthening westerly

Flying was only part of the today's story. There was a group working on moving the T21 trailer. Sadly this trailer had succummbed to the Dartmoor conditions and the axle sub frame needs to be replaced before it can be moved. The space where this trailer resides is earmarked for use as a winch and vehicle storeage facility. By the end of the day the old subframe had been removed and  the chassis  prepared for the new one. Well done

 

The T21 fuselage taking temporay shelter in the hangar

A special mention must go to Scratch. Apart from rushing around in his usual style, he came to our aid when the winch, engine stop cable broke, rendering the winch inoperable. He left the job that he was doing repairing the mower assembly and quickly diagnose and replace the engine stop cable for us. Thanks mate.

The mower at the hangar for repair by Scratch.
He is missing from this photo because he moves around so fast.

Steve