Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 13th March 2021- Condor

‘Hooligans’ 

Another lockdown Saturday and that can only mean one thing… that’s right, it’s time for our band of intrepid aerial explorers to convene in the virtual skies once more, this time to undertake a lengthy but scenic task from the North of Wales all the way back home to Brent Tor. This week’s fearless competitors were: Rick, Alan, Simon, Richard ‘Sky God’ Roberts, Phil, Matt and proud K6 owners Hugh and Ed.  

Rick was in a kind mood this week and resisted temptation to take inspiration from real-world prevailing conditions, instead giving us a nice 15kt tailwind for the bulk of the task and consistently strong, wide thermals. 

The full task conditions were set as follows:

Task: Denbigh > Grosmont > Nympsfield > Halesland > Bridgewater East > Bovey Tracey > Brent Tor. 

Distance: 361km

Wind: 15kts from the NE

Cloudbase: 4,593ft - Variation: medium

Thermals:  Strong - Variation: low

Thermal Width: Very Wide - Variation: medium

Turbulence: Light, Streeting: High

Airspace: All active including Bristol Airport (Class D) & temporary Class A over Bridgewater East

When it came to glider selection, we were limited to just the Genesis 2 which, given its very short fuselage and overall unusual appearance, looks like it has been lifted straight out of a James Bond film!

So, with everyone logged on and connected to voice chat, and with Rick having spent hours drawing in the clouds (good sky Rick, well done), it was time to set off on aerotow. The short fuselage of the Genesis 2 can make it tricky to handle in crosswinds, but everyone made it off the ground smoothly this week with no re-lights required (that may even be a first?!). 

Almost immediately, however, the field was nearly significantly reduced, as Rick reminded us that to fly solo from Denbigh you need to be Silver or above, so would all of us non-Silver pilots kindly disconnect…

The best thing about gliding, real or virtual, is that you always get a window seat.
Lovely views over the hills of North Wales.

Leg 1 - Denbigh > Grosmont

The first leg was a lengthy one, over 70nm and about 1 hour to the first turning point of Grosmont. I managed a solid initial climb after aerotow (up to 5,600ft QNH) so was keen to get cracking and made it through the start gate first, with the intention of gaining early distance on the inevitable chasing pack. Any ideas of an early lead were soon quashed however as 10 minutes later I decided to take a top-up climb (in hindsight, premature) and was overtaken by a wild Hugh and speedy Simon, both streaking ahead into the distance. With conditions as strong as they were today, it wouldn’t be too difficult for them to gain back their lost height quickly.

It was around this time that Matt (representing our friends at North Hill) realised he hadn’t added water so consigned himself to taking the flight at a more leisurely pace and enjoying the beautiful scenery! Richard was struggling with his connection which made it difficult for him to climb consistently, and only managed to start the task 23 minutes after the rest of the pack, or to put it another way, Richard was kind enough to give us all a 23 minute / 50km head start. 

The field remained pretty close and purely coincidentally, I found myself nearby to Rick and therefore had absolutely no choice but to follow him into each and every thermal that came along, or risk landing out. This upset Rick and I soon found myself berated for unsportsmanlike behaviour and ‘thermal leeching off the competition’!

What’s really great about flying together in Condor is being able to see how different approaches and tactical strategies play out in real-time from the comfort of your desktop. Approaching the first turning point, the ideal task track line (purple) cut right through a danger area that had a ceiling of 10k feet (red circle), and as we weren’t all in K6s (which would of course have had no trouble in defying the conditions and climbing over the top), we knew we would all have to go around one way or the other.   

Phil chose to track to the East, upwind of the danger area, knowing that any thermal climbs would drift him towards the turn-point, and he wouldn’t need to push into wind. Rick, Hugh and I (and others following) tracked to the West instead. I stopped for a climb (as shown by my path in light blue below) which gave me a slight advantage over Rick whose other thermal promptly switched off when he reached it, and so I managed to make it to the first turn point a few seconds ahead, with Hugh and Phil following up a couple of minutes behind Rick. 

The first turning point and my track taken to avoid the danger area to the North.

Leg 2 - Grosmont > Nympsfield

The next leg saw us all leaving picturesque Wales and heading over the Severn, South East to Nympsfield. Wondering if I would be able to spot the bridges further south from this height, I was met with the comments, ‘you must be low if you’re worrying about the bridges’ and, ‘the best idea is to get yourself between them and the water’ - classic examples of the friendly banter that forms the weekly soundtrack to our virtual tasks.

In sight of the Severn.
As alluded to in previous blogs, Phil is building a solid reputation as quite the dark horse, often taking a different tact to the rest of us and finding himself right up front at the finish after starting off a little behind. True to form, having tracked further North, he soon made-up ground on this cross-border leg and was first to arrive at Nympsfield. 

Field spread looking back in the direction of Nympsfield.
Our next focus was ensuring we steered clear of Bristol Airport’s Class D airspace, before the familiar sight of Mendip Gliding Club at Halesland came into view. Rick and Phil had built to a 4nm lead over the rest of us at this stage and with Hugh right on my tail and Alan, Simon and Matt closing, we all prepared for the challenging next turning point… 

Leg 4 - Halesland > Bridgewater East

Who put that there?!
Temporary airspace over Bridgewater adds to the challenge of the task.

Having checked the NOTAMs in advance it transpired that, once again, the RAF were to be conducting low level air-to-air refuelling exercises right over where we needed to go (what are the chances?), and so with temporary Category A airspace in place we’d all have to stay either below 2,000ft QNH or above FL45 while transiting the rectangle. 

We’ve tackled this airspace in previous tasks, and it has often become make or break in terms of the race. This time, all of us opted to take the ‘convert height to speed’ approach and zoom down to just under 2,000ft QNH as we made the boundary, steadily slowing up to maintain as much height as possible en route to the turn point that lay halfway through and topping up carefully where we could to make it safely to the other side. 

Fortunately, the clouds beyond the airspace looked promising and leaders Rick and Phil managed to mark a good climb. Having already selected fields, Hugh and I emerged at just over 700ft and 900ft QNH respectively, hoping we had just enough margin to connect with the same thermal that was steadily drifting down wind… 

Hugh’s uncomfortable view at 700ft QNH after exiting the airspace
- field chosen, but that next climb has got to work.

Simon was also making his way through the NOTAM’d area and was about to exit when Matt, exemplifying good sportsmanship, noticed that Simon hadn’t in fact triggered the turn point, so he would have to fly back to it in order to remain in the race - not an easy task given his height and position, but Simon achieved it admirably.     

Leg 5 - Bridgewater East > Bovey Tracey and Leg 6 - Bovey Tracey to Brent Tor (finish)

With that previous hurdle now out of the way, it was all eyes towards the finish with just two legs left to go. Rick found both his best climb of the day (7.3kt average) and, as he put it, the ‘sweet spot of sink’ on the way to Bovey Tracey, and by the time we approached the Eastern edge of Dartmoor there was less than one nautical mile between the top three. 

Heading over the moor on final glide can be pretty disconcerting with no land out options, and with everyone as close as they were it truly was a knuckle-clenching ride home – but everybody made it! The final table shows how close it was throughout the field. Rick took top honours with Phil in 2nd just over 1 minute behind, and Ed 3rd, 21 seconds behind Phil. Matt finished 4th on the road but his land-out and subsequent height recovery penalties dropped him to 7th overall. Hugh took Matt’s 4th spot and the closest finish of all was a mere 14 seconds between Simon and Alan! Impressive all round, particularly given the length of the task. 

Hugh swooping over our accurately modelled clubhouse and hangars at DGS to finish!

Final roll call – close finishes throughout the field! 
Traditionally, as soon as we each cross the finish and land safely, we switch from task mode to ‘Battle of Britain’ mode, and this week was no exception. With wingtip smoke on, the skies soon resembled the summer of 1940 as gliders wheeled and dived and zoomed, pulling off such feats as inverted formation landing approaches and synchronised spinning. 


As always, this was fun way to end another great task and huge thanks goes to Rick for organising once more. Hopefully we’ll soon be swapping our virtual cockpits for those with truly realistic graphics, but until then, we look forward to getting our next flying fix courtesy of Condor2! 

Edward Borlase

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 6th March 2021 - Condor

 The Large Blue Hole

This week's condor event went ahead with the usual social distancing rules, the task set by Rick was take off (Winch) from Shennington.

Turning Points:

1 Olney 

2 Market Harborough 

3 Husbands Bosworth

4 Husbands Bosworth West

5 Stratford

6 Shipston-on-Stour

Finish Shennington.

Thermals were set strong and variable with 10 knots of wind from the east. Aircraft and pilots were Simon - Antares (18m and flaps.) Matt - standard Cirrus Myself, Hugh and Ed in the K6cr And Rick in a Blanik. (17m and flaps).


Ed had refinished his glider to the colours and decals we are familiar with at Brentor, so the flying cherry was in the air again.


Unlike Rick in the Blanik, which had adopted a colour scheme that looked closer to the Black Knight.

After a little trouble for some (Hugh!) selecting the start gate, we were away heading east into the wind and the performance difference soon showed the advantages of fibre glass with Matt and Simon leading the way, this leg seemed never ending.


Poorer thermals and cross winds after the first turn point kept giving us problems albeit at different times.


But eventually we turned at Olney with the wind on our backs so we made time and distance, with the exception of a strange 180% switch back to Husbands Bosworth West testing our preparation and navigation and more missed turn points for some. Now downwind to Stratford, the plan was to stay high and turn into wind with final glide.

But as they say if you want to make god laugh tell him your plans and laugh at me he did as a large blue hole and two failed clouds later I was low in a poor thermal drifting downwind past Stratford and out of the race.

By now Simon and Matt were finished but the team k6 waited to support Rick and his rusting rocking chair and shepherded him safely back home.


As you may have gathered Rick has had the habit of setting and wining the tasks frustrating but true, at least till Matt and Dan from North Hill came and joined us. Winning could also be the people like Simon that can achieve the task without penalty points, or the sense of belonging and camaraderie of ‘Team K6’.


Enjoying the company and banter is the reason we have friends and make us long for a return to the real thing. And in the meantime, we would love to have more of you join us as even virtual gliding is full of highs and lows.

Phil Hardwick

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 20th February 2021 Condor Racing

 The One That Got Away

Task: Brentor, Bovey Tracey, Hembury Hill, North Hill, Shepton Mallet, Chivenor, Cadbury Cross, Brentor.

Distance: 349km or 217 Miles.

Aeronautical Chart with Task-setter’s supplementary airspace!
Conditions: Wind 10 Knots from 305, Thermals Strong Variation Medium, Width = Very Wide variation Medium, Turbulence Strong. Cloud Base 4600ft. Aerotow to 2500ft. Aircraft: Any 18-metre glider

Combatants: Dan D, Rick W, Ed B, Phil H, Matt S, Simon V, Alan C, Hugh G

“8 return tickets please!” - Launch point bus becoming increasingly submerged in the mud.
Welcome to another Condor Lockdown Epistle penned by yours truly. Our little virtual soaring group continues to provide aeronautical jousts from the comfort of our living rooms, so it was good to see such a turnout on a Saturday morning. It is the only form of aviation that you can participate in still wearing your slippers and sipping cups of tea! Rick once again provided the hosting server and were joined by Matt and Dan from North Hill – both of them formidable opponents.

The fast boys all out of the blocks together
– Simon and myself give chase!
I created this task and forwarded it to Rick to host, who added his own criteria for aircraft and weather conditions. To my dismay he had elected to set Strong Turbulence – no doubt a response to my whinging the previous week! With gliders restricted to 18-metres, the only choice was the Antares 18S, unless you’d forked out for the Ventus – so the launch queue had only two types.

With the thermals set to Strong and Wide, this was clearly going to favour those with a speed-flying mindset – and so it proved. My customary caution in the Start quadrant soon resulted in my flying the first leg well away from the main gaggle. So I was in catch up mode until I got my first solid (i.e. not too untidy!) climb at Dunkerswell airfield.

Good climb at Dunkerswell
Compared to other gliders available in Condor, I have been less enamoured with the Antares. I could never seem to get it to settle in trim, always having to keep nudging the stick forward or back to maintain attitude. But on this 18-metre only task it was the only glider available. With hindsight, I think the problems I was having getting the aircraft to centre in thermals in the turbulent conditions was because I was flying it the way I fly a K6; 45-50 degrees of bank with airspeed near the stall. It’s a difficult habit to break but I persevered with some limited success.

The next challenge after this was to transit Rick’s Big Red Rectangle at Weston Zor at under 2000ft AMSL, so I teetered over to the boundary at best glide, watching the altimeter wind down to 2000ft. It was then a case of flying conservatively until clearing the boundary on the far side but hooking up to any thermal (on track or off track) was the big priority!


About to transit Weston Zor airspace at 2000ft or below.
Having gotten past the WZ airspace I found myself scampering around low looking for a thermal to get me to the turnpoint at Shepton Mallet – I could see some of the leaders, having bagged the turnpoint, hurtling back in the opposite direction. Disconcertingly, they all looked to be at good altitudes! I turned Shepton Mallet then hurtled off after the pack.

 Scraping at 500ft with ‘Dan Dare’ nearly 15 miles ahead.
I guess I’d have to admit to being too focused on catching the leaders rather than concentrating on flying accurately, and having barrelled towards a dissipating cloud, I found myself at 500ft with no thermal to save me. So, it was wheel down, set the flaps and approach speed and find a field into wind. 

Approaching first land out - Phil 9 miles ahead.
Of course, in the real world you should have your field picked by at least 1500ft AGL, but Condor is forgiving in as much as it does not surprise you with previously unseen cables, fences, livestock and high crops just when you’re committed to the approach!

Reminds me of a real cross country some years ago where I was nicely lined up to land in a field somewhere near Lutterworth, approach speed set, brakes open half, only to become aware of the surface waving back and forth in the breeze as I drew closer. It was a corn field with 1.5-metre-high stems – but I lived to tell the tale!

With the glider safely on the virtual ground I had a look at the Classification (below) thus far. It was clear that with 150 penalty points against me for landing out, this was turning into a “Can I Get Back” type task, rather than a race to the finish, so I set about the job in hand.

My Guilty Secret
Hitting “Q” whizzed me back up to 1500ft. Remember to put the wheel up! I soon found a good climb – but here I must make a belated confession to my fellow competitors. Buoyed up with a good climb rate and the prospect of at least getting around the task, I took my eye off my position in relation to the WZ airspace. The Flight Analysis screenshot  contains the damning evidence that after I “relaunched” I had climbed above 2000ft AMSL inside the zone. At the time I was unaware – probably because I had the PDA display zoomed out. Sorry guys – Guilty as Charged!

Classification after my 1st land out - Chivenor still 47m away
You can see from the Table there is a distinct difference in average speed from the leader as compared to the rest of the field. In terms of average speed, I was pleasantly surprised to see I was still amongst the mid-order runners at this point. However, this was achieved at the expense of altitude!

I had previously decided that I was going to skirt around the WZ airspace to the north staying high, then pick up a climb to take me over the ATZ at Bridgewater Bay. I should have considered a Plan B at this point, and not doing so led to my undoing. So, having taken my (illegal) climb I headed off to the North-Eastern corner of the WZ airspace. I could still see Phil ahead and his track indicated he had decided on the same strategy as myself. However, the exchanges I heard over the headset showed he was having trouble finding any lift. I soldiered on after him, doggedly adhering to my Plan.

Approaching the Bristol Channel
As I neared the Bristol Channel coast  I searched for that thermal that I had expected would be there as defined by my Plan A, but the conditions were not being sympathetic to my plan. However, Phil was not on the ground yet so I decided to press on with my search.

Now flying away from the landmass, I scoured away underneath a series of sparsely distributed clouds, losing 1000ft in the process.

I eventually arrived at that point that we aviators have all experienced at some time in our experiences, the one we talk about over a beer or two in later years. That dry-mouthed moment of clarity. That moment when all your preconceptions must be ejected from the cockpit. That moment where you just fly the aeroplane and keep it flying.

Pressing on 3000ft above the sea, I suddenly realise my mistake.
The screenshot (Above) is deliberately left full width to better illustrate the magnitude of my error in judging the conditions! This was not a good place to be in a sailplane with no visible source of lift anywhere nearby. What the hell was I doing? Nowhere near enough height to clear the ATZ (which itself was over the sea) so I had no other option but to scurry back underneath the WZ airspace. The screenshot (below) of my track shows the exact moment of realization. Don’t try this at home, kids!

The moment of realisation
I was by now pretty low anyway, so there was no need to dramatically lose height to get under the WZ airspace. I just pegged it back to Best L/D and held course for the southern boundary. Something will turn up.

It seemed to take an age to cross the airspace North to South, but then I had been used to flying at 90-100 knots a fair bit of the time in my efforts to catch the leaders. By contrast 52 knots seemed positively pedestrian – but keep the faith and head for likely looking clouds. One of them will be working…

…none of them were working…

Scraping away at 1200ft near the WZ airspace boundary…
…my thermal peters out at 1350ft…
…those trees look awfully big out of the window…
…but mercifully my chosen field has no wires, livestock or fences!
So that’s two out landings in one day – a first for me. My fellow competitors were all very sympathetic but urged me to carry on in the true spirit of soaring flight. So, I resorted to use of the “Q” button again and headed off towards Chivenor (no longer an active turnpoint in the real world). I don’t whether it was because the track was near the coast but the clouds seemed pretty sparse.

The PDA shows 28 miles to run to Chivenor, as Phil rounds the turnpoint.
It was on this leg that I got my best climb of the day – a real corker all the way up to 6050ft. I seemed to be having more success thermalling by turning flatter and faster, but it was definitely outside of the K6-CR Mindset!

Best climb of the day
However, once again the clouds were sparse (Right) near the coast, so I inevitably arrived low at Chivenor. By this time some of the leaders were on final glides.

Arriving low over Chivernor.
Last turnpoint of the day for me - just before resorting yet again to use of the “Q” button . This had been a fairly long task – any further ones I submit to Rick will probably be below 300k. Once again it was all done in good spirits (with some minor K6 heckling) and everybody recharged their cross-country mindsets. Really looking forward to the next one – might have to get myself a different 18-metre glider though. Will have a look and see what Condor have got in stock!

No really loew
I didn’t get any screenshots from the leaders so can only submit the Classification at the point where I decided to leave the Task (Call of Domestic Duties!). The honours go to ‘Dan Dare’ (as he will be known from now on), on this task – we DGS boys have a challenge on our hands - doubtless we will rise to it.

At the point of this last screenshot (Below), three competitors were still to finish – Ed, Matt and Alan please let me know how you got on.

As for me – well, somebody’s got to come last!

Hugh Gascoyne.

Not quite final positions
Addendum – Condor Blogger

By the way, the post of Condor Blogger is open to all competitors – and not just those based at Dartmoor Gliding Society. Could I therefore extend a cordial welcome to any combatant who will take up the pen on one of our future thrilling tasks to describe  the camaraderie, skulduggery, heroism, doggedness, fortitude, tactics and calamity that are always a part of our Condor virtual soaring experiences.