Dartmoor Gliding News-Sunday 2nd August 2020

It’s strange isn’t it: the glider pilot’s irrepressible optimism?  (Some might say foolhardiness.)  Despite MeteoPro, Windy and AccuWeather all telling us that a large expanse of rain was due to arrive at 1000, following a short shower and seeing a blue channel to the west, we confounded the science and decided to get the gliders out.  

 K-13 leads the K-8 in convoy to the launch point.

Talk about false dawn..!  We did at least get two launches away before the really heavy stuff arrived, causing us to ‘stack’ for ninety minutes.  

Rain shower lashing down over Tavy Cleave.

And after the rain, the sun.

The clearance, when it came through, was not particularly buoyant, the sky looking like the inside of a concrete mixer for much of the time, but by mid-afternoon the sun broke through and Steve Fletcher did manage to get away - softly, softly to start with: “On my second flight I took Steve Lewis’s advice and aimed for the dangly bits which weren’t far away when I came off the cable.  I managed a slow inconsistent climb in a bouncy thermal varying between 2 and nothing up.  I stayed with it to 1,500 feet when things stabilised at a constant 2 until I got to Mary Tavy when it started to go at 4 up, eventually taking me to Peter Tavy where I was near to cloud base at 2,550 feet.”  Hugh Gascoyne also managed a soaring flight in his K-6CR.

Steve Fletcher’s view from his Open Cirrus at 2,500ft over Peter Tavy.

All other launches fell into the training category, where much useful work was achieved: Dave Westcott returning to flight after a six-month layoff with circuits and three launch failures, and Karon Matten, Chris Matten and Ray Boundy all making good progress.  

Returning to solo pilot Dave Westcott and Martin Cropper are looking for..?

 K-13 HXP gets aloft with Dave Westcott at the controls.

 The club’s new fleet of four K-13s make a formation landing
courtesy of some photo-wizardry by Ed Borlase
 (note shower clouds in background).

Peter Howarth and Ed Borlase gave the K-8 an airing but, as the afternoon wore on the sky returned to its ragged, concrete mixer appearance with patchy lift giving only extended circuits. By 1800 everyone had flown as so we returned the kit, now thoroughly dried, to the hangar.  

Ed Borlase in the K-8 about to release from the final launch of the day.

So was our optimism justified?  Well it enabled us to make 19 rather than 17 launches, give the gliders a good wipe-down, and was infinitely better than saying “There’s rain in the forecast so we’ll stay in the clubhouse for a threat and error management lecture..!”  Thanks go to Steve Fletcher, High Gascoyne and Ed Borlase for their (in one case trainee) winching.

Martin Cropper