Dartmoor Gliding Club News-Wednesday 22nd December 2021

With the RASP forecast giving a 20knt south easterly with gusts of 30knts, I drove to the airfield with little hope of flying. When I arrived we put up the west end windsock which showed a more moderate wind strength which was also confirmed with the windsock at the east end. With the possibility of turbulence on the approach it was decided to fly the serviceable K13 CCY which would be joined later by HXP after Colin had certified the minor airbrake repair.

Mike Bennett all ready.

John Allen preparing to fly.

First to fly with me was John Allen followed by Mike Bennett. Both coped well with the approaches and landings. Meanwhile HXP had arrived at the launch point and was taken for a test flight by Scratch. It was cleared for service and the licensed pilots took turn to fly solo. Malcolm W-J had a couple of extended circuits. Andy Davey claimed flight of the day with 15 minutes in what was thought to be weak wave.

HXP launches whilst CCY returns.

Last into the K13 with me was Steve Fletcher who wanted to get use to back seat flying with the possible thought of progressing onto IFP training in the near future. I flew the first flight for Steve to observe the different view which was followed by two successful flights by Steve. Steve said this was a good confidence boosting exercise.

Steve in the back seat.

Meanwhile in the hangar good progress was made getting the new K13 ready to enter the fleet by Colin and Gavin. Our chairman Steve spent time in the clubhouse getting the necessary paperwork in order for both new K13’s.

Low cloud visible to the east of the moor.

With everybody having flown who wanted to, we packed the toys away until after Christmas. Thank you to all who were at the club today and were glad to have flown when the initial prospect looked poor. All that’s left is for me to whish all at the club a Merry Christmas.

Peter Howarth

Dartmoor Gliding News-Sunday 21st December 2021

There was conflict between the forecasts: the Met Office predicting sunshine throughout the day, whilst RASP foretold of low cloudbase with the dry and dew point temperatures in very close formation throughout.  In the event RASP got the start right: today was much more humid than yesterday, the cloudbase was on the deck and moisture could be seen in the atmosphere.  So nothing else for it but to find some useful activities whilst watching and waiting.

Our new K-13 FSD was given some TLC in the wing taping and canopy departments – with Gavin Short’s dedicated attitude and attention to detail as Fleet Manager this is going to be one tidy glider when it flies for us, and a very useful replacement for one of the current two-seaters.  By about 1145 the pundits were saying “Well, if it hasn’t started to warm up now, it’s hardly worth waiting any longer…”  By about 1215 other pundits were saying: “There’s a blue hole developing, how about an early lunch and see what it looks like after that?”  To which, of course, the answer was “Why not?”  During which time a small miracle occurred, as the blue hole became a patch, and the patch then developed into an expanse until eventually the sky was blue overall.

With only four people in charge, what could possibly go wrong? 
K-12 CCY is wheeled out for DI.

We quickly got K-13 CCY to the west-end launchpoint (the wind being too unpredictably gusty for the K-8) whilst Phil Hardwick and a small team whisked the Twin Astir out of its T-hangar to alleviate the load.  First flight of the day was taken by trainee member Freddie Colton: a launch to 1, 400ft bode well and, after a little searching, a NW-SE channel of rising air was found, varying between 1½-6/8 knots was found which after three or four beats had taken us to a little short of 3,000ft.  The view was of tiny rivulets of cloud clinging the river valleys as they ran westwards off the moor, over which presided a clear firmament – the contrast between brown earth and deep blue sky was breath-taking.  Pressure of time forced Freddie to return far too soon but, at 29 minutes, after his first even wave flight, he declared it to have been his “Best flight ever..!”  Hopefully, Freddie, there’ll be more, higher and longer in the future.  

Trainee member Freddie Colton conducting pre-flight checks…

…and away he goes for almost half-an-hour of wave soaring.

Ray Boundy quickly stepped into the front seat and again found the rising air partway down the airfield, but sadly was given the Spanish Archer (‘El Bow’) by the downside after ten or so minutes: still he has it recorded on video-cam, saying “That was one of the most instructive flights I’ve ever flown!”  Gavin Short then took the K-13 solo, later saying, “After bouncing around in the rotor I had a steady 62 knot launch to 1,700ft.  At 1,600ft I found the line of lift but by then it had decayed to a maximum of 1-and-a-bit knots.  I tried to look elsewhere for lift without success”.

“All Out!  All Out!” Gavin Short sets off solo to see what all the fuss is about…

…to find breath-taking rivulets of cloud cling to the moor to the south-east…

…whilst to the north-east all is spectacularly clear.

In the Twin Astir Malcolm Roberts shared three flights with Phil Hardwick, with tentative connection to the wave over the church (suggesting a slight shift westwards).  But, after a sprint rig of Astir FCJ worthy of a grand-prix F1 team, it was Peter Howarth who took today’s accolade: over the course of a 32-minute flight reaching over 3,500ft flying in much the same, north of the boundary mid-airfield area marked by the other contenders.

 Malcolm Roberts ensures that the front canopy of the Twin Astir is well and truly locked…

 …before he too gets away, with Phil Hardwick in the back seat.

By the time Peter landed we had run out of day – but not pilots – and so we apologise to those who, due to the late start, were not able to enjoy the stunning views that were available on this unexpectedly smooth, easterly aligned, but brief wave day. 

  “Watch out for moving cables and approaching” – not aircraft – but full moons..!

Especial thanks go to Rich Roberts who, after some splendid soaring in his Discus yesterday was happy to winch ‘all’ day, and to those who helped-out stoically but were unable to achieve the goal.  There will be other opportunities.

Martin Cropper

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 18th December 2021

 With east in the forecast there was an excitement about the club early on. The rotor clouds over the airfield looked low but very active, The first flight by Mike and Rick to test conditions confirmed that the cloud base was only 1000ft and that the conditions were very turbulent. The decision was made to wait to see if the conditions would stabilise and calm down a little.

The view from the ground did not portray the drama aloft

Meanwhile work was underway in the hangar with preparing G-CFSD one of the new K13's to join the fleet. The instrument panels were replaced as were the wiring and seat belts. In the clubhouse work was underway to print new limitation placards and weight and balance charts for the new aircraft. 

A couple of hours after the first flight another test flight in the K13 revealed that the cloudbase had risen sufficiently to allow a full height 1500ft launch, the wave was working and that turbulance was manageable. Game on.

The Discus passed underneath the Twin Astir

The view south from NE of the airfield revealed the inversion

The next up was the Malcolm and Phil in the Twin Astir who disappeared for 1 hour 28 minutes closely followed by Richard Roberts in his Discus who managed a day winning 2 hours 11 minutes topping out a 5000ft. There were 15 flights in total 12 of which soared in the wave.

HXP climbing at 6 knots

A great view looking north along the wave bar 

The wave formation was interesting. There was just one single wave bar with heavy turbulence down wind. This may very well be the condition referred to as an "Hydraulic Jump" caused by the higher than usual windspeeds aloft. Classic wave systems usually have several wave bars stretching downwind sometimes for great distances.

HXP making the last landing at sunset.
The moon was already well above the horizon

A great way to celebrate the last flying Saturday of 2021

Steve  

Dartmoor Gliding News-Wednesday 15th December 2021

With the RASP forecast flatlined at 800ft AMSL for the whole day there was little prospect of any flying today. However arriving at the airfield the cloudbase was higher than forecast. When enough people had arrived we started getting ready to fly whilst the weather allowed. However with only two aircraft extricated from the hangar we called a halt as the weather was quickly deteriorating in front of our eyes. We retired to the clubhouse to make plans for the day.

With two new K13’s on site a plan was made to check they had arrived safely and start moving the fleet around as required.

Aircraft removed from the hangar.

First task was to de-rig DMX ready to put into storage.

DMX being de-rigged.

DMX in storage.

G-CFSD being removed from trailer.

Wings being checked prior to rigging.

G-CFSD rigged in hangar.

This glider now requires a little DGS TLC to prepare it ready to enter into the fleet.

The old Perranporth K7M that has been hanging in the hangar was lowered to the ground and removed ready for disposal along with the spare wing that had been stored in the hangar.

Perranporth fuselage being moved.

K8 FXB was also removed from storage and placed in the hangar ready for it’s CofA and ARC in the new year.

Finally the hangar was re-packed and everything tidied away ready to head home.

A lot of good work was done around the club today. Thank you to all who were at the club today.

Peter Howarth

Dartmoor Gliding News- At Denbigh to collect the new K13's

 With the successful purchase of the two K13’s at a knockdown price from Eden Soaring all that remained was to collect them from Denbigh in North Wales. The gliders were both in covered trailers waiting for collection but both trailers were heavy and therefore required substantial cars to tow them. Richard Roberts and I both volunteered our services for the 6 hour drive to go to Denbigh with Gavin Short and Terry Roberts volunteering to share the driving. The plan was to drive up on Saturday the 11th December stay overnight in one of the on site pods and return the next day. Richard, ever the optimist said if there was a chance of a flight it would be good to get one in. It was never supposed to be a gliding expedition but glider pilots take any opportunity when it presents itself! I honestly didn’t think we would be flying though. The journey up was ok, lots of traffic and 60mph restrictions in place on the motorway but we arrived mid afternoon to a very wet airfield, light rain and low cloud. Terry and Richard arrived first and had checked the trailers before we arrived making sure the gliders were stowed securely, tyres ok and lights working. After a fish and chip take away in the club house and putting the world to rights we retired early to bed.

At 8.30am we were ready to help the club get the gliders out. I was still extremely doubtful that we were going to fly, 100% cloud cover at about 1100 feet above the airfield very gloomy with little clear horizon and rain in the distance. The sort of day at Dartmoor we wouldn’t even have bothered getting the gliders out.

Gloomy low cloud

….flying? really?

Chris Gill the CFI arrived and confirmed we would be flying, he pointed to a very small hole of blue and said that proves there is wave. Well he knows the local conditions so we duly got the Arcus M and Duo Discus out to the end of the runway and Chris fetched the Eurofox tug.

Getting the Arcus M out

By now a few other club members arrived and the launch point now had a K21, LS4 and ASW20 ready to go in addition to the Arcus M and Duo Discus. After helping to launch them and watch them disappear into the blue hole we were expecting them to be back down on the ground after a few minutes  when Richard tracking them on Glidernet smiled and said they were all in wave and already at 5000’ and climbing.

Gavin was first of the Dartmoor soarers to fly and took off in the Duo Discus flying the aero tow up through the blue hole and into the wave at about 2500’.

Gavin taking off

Next up was me in the Arcus M with Chris Gill the CFI in the back. As he climbed in he said to one of the other members that we would be at least a couple of hours. I then reminded him we had a long drive home so I really needed to limit it to about an hour and also I didn't have my plumbing! The Arcus M had water ballast put into the tail to get the weight balanced perfectly right.

Preparing to launch the Arcus M

We took off under our own power and at 2500’ turned off and put the engine away as we flew into the wave. Weak at first it strengthened but the bars were short. Climbing to a maximum of around 8400 feet, we could see Gavin in the duo and we then formated on a club K21 and took some photos. Chris gave me some great tips on wave flying and helped me hone my skills, I felt very privileged to be flying the Arcus M and enjoying the views. 

Formating on the K21

Doesn’t get much better than this

John Ferrington in the K21 took a picture of us in the ARCUS M.

Me in the Arcus M

After about an hour it was time to return to the airfield so I air braked down from 8000 feet on our way back. An awesome flight and a great privilege to have flown it. We landed shortly after Gavin who had also had a great flight.

Richard jumped into the Duo Discus and had an aero tow to 3000 feet and then caught the wave to 8300 feet  returning after 46 mins in order to start his drive home.

All take off an landings are done from the narrow tarmac runway. On landing you run to the end of the runway to keep it clear.  This requires you to put your reference point about 2/3rds along the runway.

Denbigh from the air. The landing reference is 2/3 way along the runway

Clambering into our vehicles with large smiles all round we set off back to Devon. Gavin and I were first to leave the airfield at 1310. With Richard following a few minutes later. The trailer we were towing started to oscillate badly from side to side at 57 mph, so Gavin and I were limited to just 55mph max. 317 miles home but the traffic was ok. When I tow my glider trailer I normally get 38 mpg at 60 mph. Towing this K13 trailer we were getting just 31mpg on the motorway and 10mph climbing the A30 hill near Okehampton! We arrived at Brentor at 2015, dropped off the trailer and eventually got home at 2045. Richard and Terry were about an hour behind us having got caught in one of the M6 traffic jams.

Denbigh specialises in cross country and wave flying. It's a great place to hone those skills. You need to be Silver C or above but they do sometimes do training flights for non qualified pilots.

I cant say I enjoyed the journey but having two drivers and someone to talk to helps pass the hours away. The great news is the club now has 2 more K13s so definitely worth the trip.

Steve Fletcher

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 1th December 2021

 Arriving at the airfield it was obviously going to be a non flying day. The cloud base was way below the airfield. In fact, from the clubhouse the north fence was hidden in the fog. talking about being hidden there were quite a few cars and therefore members around but where were they? The only people in view were David Archer and Heather who were attacking the Jeep with a pressure washer and soap and water.

Heater and David' car cleaning enterprise

Wandering up to the runway in search of the missing members I could hear an engine running in the distance but there was nothing to see. Eventually, the outline of a tractor could be seen. A minute or two later the missing members came into view. They were repairing pot holes in the track using some previously untried stone, sand and clay mix as our normal road planings are just no available in our local area.

No. Nothing in view 

Finally a track appeared from the mist

Three our our finest navvies

By about 1pm the rain had set in and prevented further road repairs, so back to the clubhouse for lunch. Apart from the usual topics of conversation our thoughts drifted to the "away team" who have travelled to North Wales to collect out 2 "new" K13's. More news on that soon.

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News-Sunday 5th December 2021

From the outset it was clear that conditions today actually were matching that which was forecast ie. wind 17-19 kts gusting 34-37 kts NNW (90° crosswind) and so, despite being sunny, it was not surprising that attendance was meagre.  

Q.  How many glider pilots does it take to lower a windsock? 
 A. In these conditions, probably more than three..!

That did not prevent trainee Freddie Colton, however, from using the time to good effect to get some valuable briefings signed off on his progress card.   We then gave the hangar a good eyeballing with our Sunday Sherlock  magnifying glass but couldn’t find anything untoward and so decided, with a clear conscience, that snooker and the grand prix could rightfully take priority and therefore to depart.  

Thanks go to Rich Roberts for providing the tea and core subject for the clubhouse discussion: ‘Did you know that the last RAF fast jet pilot has already been born..?’  It made some (one) of us glad that we failed the medical and turned instead to gliding..!

Martin Cropper

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 4th December 2021

The weather is still not playing ball. Strong, gusty winds with very frequent showers was enough to discourage even the most keen glider pilot.

Pot of gold anyone?

There was plenty of activity at the airfield though. In the Vehicle Hangar rick and scratch were repairing the fuel tank retaining cradle on the Jeep. This seemed to require them having very dirty faces all day. 

Rick and Scratch at work

In the clubhouse Heather was leading the spring (winter?) cleaning efforts. Several Committee members spent some hours discussing the Exeter airspace change proposals before encouraging Gavin to write our response to the consultation. He is attending a meeting with them next week.

Hoping for flying weather soon.

Steve

Steve  

Dartmoor Gliding News-Wednesday 1st December 2021

Probably due to the forecast there were only six members at the club today. So we settled down to put the world to right over teas and coffees. Gavin used this time to update the glider log books with the flying hours for the last month. Andy Davey disappeared to his trailer to fettle and measure his new one man rigging aid with the assistance of Phil Hardwick.

At about 10:30 we ventured up on to the airfield. Here we found that the wind didn’t appear as strong as forecast which was optimistically backed up by readings on the weather station. So after consultation with the gathered few we decided to get a K13 out and fly those that were keen to fly the conditions.

K13 awaiting pilots at the launch point.

John Smith and I got ourselves ready to do a weather check flight. With only a light crew careful ground handling was required until we were strapped in.

John and I getting ready.

Although the launch was relatively smooth the upper air conditions were found to be rather turbulent. We could also see a number of showers in the surrounding area so I made the decision to land long and return the glider to the hangar. This decision was also vindicated by a rather lively approach which John appreciated that it was me doing the flying.

One of the approaching showers.

A lively windsock.

Everything was safely packed away by 12 O’Clock and we retired to the clubhouse for more tea and lunch.

Today we showed that the gliding spirit was alive at DGS. Good effort for only one flight, but at least we tried. Thanks to Gavin, Hugh, Phil, John and Andy who made this possible.

Peter Howarth

Dartmoor Gliding News-Sunday 28th November 2021

Yesterday’s Storm Arwen brought winds of 45+ kts, bringing down trees and power-lines locally (one advantage of the club being ‘off-grid’).  Today the contrast was astonishing and those who spotted that prediction were rewarded with an almost completely benign NNW’ly airflow: just right for our busy visitor schedule, trainees and those who needed to get back into the single-seater domain.

In the distance the once dormant Great Mis ‘volcano’ appears to have erupted back into life…

First of our visitors to arrive were father and son team, Frank Buttery and Paul Kershaw: Paul having driven down from Birmingham THIS MORNING (now there’s faith in the weather forecast).  Paul enjoyed his two trial flights whilst father Frank also revelled in the views of Roadford lake, and Shebbear (where he now lives) whilst revealing that he had achieved his ‘C’ badge (ie. had gone solo) three times, initially with the Air Cadets.  Subsequently becoming a powered pilot, he took a keen interest in the use of the rudder pedals to achieve balanced turns, and also in being able to fly with us, not necessarily on his own account, but in company with a safety pilot.

Visitor Peter Kershaw (from Birmingham – today!) prepares for flight with Gavin Short.

Former Air Cadet ‘C’ pilot Frank Buttery is ready to get back into the air!

 Three-way handshake between Gavin, Peter and Frank.

Next up was Margaret Hellyer, only 80 years young, who came to us from Plymouth with her daughter and granddaughter for a birthday surprise (the nature of which, although on her ‘bucket list’, was not revealed to her until two hours prior to the event!).  She certainly enjoyed her two slightly extended flights taking in the Dartmoor scenery and views to Plymouth Sound.  Thanks are due to club members for helping to ease Margaret out of the cockpit in dignified style after her second landing!

Margaret Hellyer receives her certificate from Gavin.

Our final visitor was Chrissie Edwards who arrived with her husband, Paul, and extended family.  Chrissie works in a dental practice in Plymouth and particularly enjoyed the clear views of the Saltash rail and road bridges which are within sight of her home.

Chrissie Edwards is the happy recipient of her certificate from Gavin.

On the singles front, John Allan eased himself into our second K-8, GDK, in order to compare its handling and performance against sister-ship FXB (all seemed well: without rising air they both deliver 6, 5 and 4-minute flights!)  Rich Roberts converted onto the SF-27, with its all-flying tail (a feature unnecessary in his much more modern Discus…)  As the afternoon drew on those who flew later seemed to gain the advantage in the form of some reduced sink to the north: thus Peter Howarth, Phil Hardwick, Ed Borlase (K-8), and Steve Fletcher (SF-27) vied with each other to make use of that pool with as little use of the control surfaces as possible: Peter Howarth and Steve Fletcher gaining first-equal honours.

’Praying or Planning?’ 
Peter Howarth surveys the sky prior to his award winning flight

…and away he goes!

“Hey, you, get orff my cloud!” K-8 and K-13 pass over the Launchpoint.

Trainees taking advantage of the calm conditions were Mark Elliott, Freddie Colton and currency stay-in-toucher Ray Boundy.  Using our revised Supacat winch settings all trainees were able to gain 1,200ft+ on their launches (Ray managed 1,300ft!) thus giving them plenty of hands-on-stick time: in Mark’s case for circuit planning and for Freddie to move onto slip and skid exercises as part of his upper-air handling competency, whilst also trimming at the beginning and end of each flight.

Trainee Mark Elliott spots an item of interest (incoming cake) prior to flying with Martin Cropper

Ray Boundy looks ready to go with his new installed ‘Go Pro’…

…to record the excitement of the launch!

Freddie Colton running through his pre-flight checks.

A busy schedule that we were able to meet by careful balancing of the launch queues and quiet, seamless musketeer-like teamwork on the ground, which was to the credit of all (“All for One and – hey, where’re you going..?!”).  With thanks from a very grateful Duty Instructor for making his life and our visitors’ experiences enjoyable and trouble-free, it was a worthwhile and very successful day.

Martin Cropper