A pretty conservative lot, glider pilots? Well, for some of us that’s a given: instructors in particular, but for others well, opportunities are there to be exploited and discoveries found. For instance, with the right wind surely Blackdown, to the north of Brentor, should generate ridge lift – but who is going to be brave enough to try it? Run out of guesses? Step forward Richard Roberts (who else?) who decided that now was the ideal time to take a K-13 over the hill. Actually, the K-13 was used for a ‘proof of concept’ flight to see if any lift lurked before deciding to use his own Discus as the test-bed (in order to avoid any eyebrow raising/jaw-dropping among club elders at the use of a K-13 for the purpose). Here’s what he had to say: “In a north westerly it’s logical that with the orientation of Blackdown should work as a ridge. However, as it is more dome-shaped than a traditional ridge the question has always been how low do you need to go before it will support a glider? Whilst being cautious I found that in a 10-14 knot wind, 15 degrees from the optimal direction it will (just about ) work at a height between 600-750ft. However, the angle back to the airfield from the other end of Blackdown looked uncomfortable so my best guess is to wait for a 15-20 knot wind and try again”. Uncomfortable? The summit of Blackdown being 300ft above that of Brentor means that Rich was something like 450ft above the ground directly below, some 2-3km away (and with a valley to cross) from home. So on the basis of that evidence are you prepared to soar Blackdown in a NW’ly? Are you feeling lucky?? (We were turning finals at 500ft in the training K-13!).
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| Rich Roberts prepares his Discus (V5) for its flight of discovery. |
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How low can you go?
Rich Roberts prepares to descend in search of the ridge lift over Blackdown |
Back on the conservative benches we ran two lines of K-13s, one for solo pilots, the other for trainees. Taking turns on the winch and in the cockpit were Peter Howarth, Gavin Short and Phil Hardwick whilst our junior trainees were Riley Powell-Thomas and Ollie Hunt. Although conditions were far from ideal for training, both Riley and Ollie demonstrated the benefits of their home simulators and managed to move on from elevator to aileron, with further consolidation to come. Some narrow thermals also developed, which enabled Riley to get a feel for buoyancy in the air and gain height on his second flight, thus achieving just a few minutes more than Ollie. Returning to solo/currency members Ray Boundy and Ed Borlase completed the training line.
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| ‘All Out, All Out!’ The K-13 accelerates… |
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| ..and rotates into the climb. |
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| And, after Riley’s training flight, begins its round-out to make a safe return. |
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| Riley Powell-Thomas and Martin Cropper conducting pre-flight checks in K-13 HXP. |
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Can nothing get him down?
After early spell on the winch Gavin Short waits his turn to get aloft in K-13 CCY. |
So with everyone flown, and in the face of a relentless ‘stiff breeze’, it was a relatively early ‘wrap’, but hopefully everyone got what they wanted/needed. Thanks go, of course, to Rich Roberts for his pioneering and enterprising spirit, but also to Peter Howarth who took time out to impart vital ground skills to our new members that will enable them to contribute more to the day-to-day running of the club.
Martin Cropper
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