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.