Dartmoor Gliding News - Thursday 29th September 2022

The alarm goes off at 6:30 and as I get up to make the tea I noticed that it's almost totally dark outside.  Autumn is here, but what lies in store for the Thursday Tinkerers today?  It won’t be a normal Thursday for the Tinkerers as on the club calendar it's detailed NRI which I'm led to believe stands for No Rated Instructor  (Ed: I know you would have put a more salty word for the middle letter but this is a family blog).

In way of explanation the day is rated NRI as Mike Jardine and Rick Wiles are away on their holidays so Peter Howarth very nobly stepped up and volunteered to instruct on Saturday as well as his normal Sunday for the greater good for the trainees.  So as a result Thursday is NRI and the Thursday Tinkerers will have to make the best of it.

I have time to check the weather forecast, both RASP and SkySight; nothing very promising there but we can fly in a northerly crosswind, which seems to be the normal at the moment.  As Fleet Manager I've got a few tasks to keep me busy, and a few other members too.  So we might not fly.

I unlock the front door and I noticed that although the overnight rain has stopped the ground is quite wet which doesn't augur well for privateers getting their gliders out and rigging to go soaring.  However, the club now has two K-8s rigged in the hangar which are just perfect for those all autumnal and winter days on Dartmoor.  So I don't pack my parachute, my glider batteries, or my avionics in my car today.  In my preparations for autumn I have been cleaning and applying Dubbin to my boots.  Wet feet when flying is just nasty.  We might get some more soaring days this autumn or we might just have to wait for the wave season to start.

The Roberts father and son combo replacing the brake shoes so that the monolith can slip the surly bonds of earth (Ed:  Acknowledgement John Gillespie Magee.  Who would have thought that spaceship engineering was so basic?)

On arrival at the club it was raining again but not for long.  After tea and lemon drizzle cake (from Saturday’s BBQ) had been consumed we started on some tasks.  Peter Howarth removed the fuselage of his Kestrel from his trailer so that he could reinstate a fettled instrument panel.  On completion, he had to call for help as the belly dolly wheels had sunk into the soft ground (Ed: There was quite a bit of rain during the night on the moor).  The extra bodies quickly assembled to assist didn’t work until sturdy rubber sheeting was liberated from a nearby K-6 trailer, EWO, (Ed: Thanks Ed!).

Peter Howarth and Martin Broadway return the Kestrel to its lair.

In the hangar Martin Broadway removed the defective electric vario from FXB and I capped the Total Energy pneumatic line.  He re-taped the turtle deck with wider tape and also sized up the cockpit for a new seat back and new seat belts.

Then the monolith was on the move.  Richard was ready to test drive his trailer, empty at first to be prudent.  It was hooked up quickly and then off it went.

Conditions were improving (Ed: You mean it was no longer raining) but the black clouds and gusty north wind didn’t bode well for the Thursday Tinkerers to go flying.

We have received an interest in our spare K-13, G-CHXP, from another gliding club.  So HXP’s documentation was reviewed and photos of the placards and the weight and balance tables were taken by squeezing into CCY’s trailer which contains HXP’s fuselage and tail plane.  HXP’s wings are in the storage container.  After much searching Peter and I located HXP’s canopy which was under a cover at the back of the storage container.  There is also an interest in the twin-axle AMF trailer so that needed to be surveyed too.

Phil and Gavin checked out the twin-axle AMF trailer at the east end.

Errugh!  That’s not a K-13.  There’s a squatter living in the club’s trailer.  They even have a blanket in there.  Cheeky wotsnames.

After Richard’s test drive of the Discus trailer (aka the “Monolith”) he and it disappeared up to the east end so quickly that I couldn’t capture it on camera (Ed: Was it travelling at warp speed then?).  The dad and son combo quickly transferred V5, the Discus, from the AMF trailer to the monolith.  Job done and there was no longer a disturbance in the Force (Ed: I think you are getting your Sci-Fi genres mixed up).

The bailiffs have been and the squatter has been evicted

So how does an AMF trailer work?  (Ed: These trailers are highly rated and sought after.  The trailer is fitted for a K-13.  It has a nose support, a belly dolly with a swing arm to raise the fuselage (not in the photo), and a floor fitting to secure the under fuselage securing bracket.  See the red mark on the K-13 schematic below.  The system works well.  The belly dolly can accommodate a K-13 fuselage with either a skid or a nose wheel.  The tail plane has a separate cradle that runs along the port floor track and is secured to the floor.  The wings go in tip first, into wing tip dollies that run along the floor tracks, and the roots are clamped in the brackets at the rear.  Simples (Ed: No!  You definitely don’t want Meerkats in the glider trailers).

A K-13 schematic showing the securing bracket on the fuselage, in red.

After Phil and I surveyed the AMF trailer we decided that before it is sold the lights and brakes will need to be checked and four new tyres fitted.

Back in the clubhouse there was ground school for Paddy with lectures by Peter which included approach control.  This allowed Paddy to progress his pre-solo card.

Doubtless there was other work going on but I failed to notice it.

We finished early, and although the sky was promising at times it had greyed over by the time we departed.  We didn't fly, but we got a lot of jobs (tinkering) done.

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Sunday 25th September 2022

So on a nice autumn day, with the potential for some soaring, I'm the Duty Basic Instructor.  DGS has a single One Day Course to deliver today.  However, during the drive to the club it’s clear that something is up.  In the boot I can hear my phone pinging and ringing in my rucksack.  As I park in front of the club house the phone there rings too.  I answer it.  It’s the Duty Instructor, Peter Howarth, who unfortunately, at short notice, is unavailable.  I regrettably have to cancel the One Day Course and tell Eden Bennett's mum how to rebook.  I hope we will see Eden in due course.

There is movement in the cosmos.
The DGS monolith now has an axle and wheels.

But in the autumn sunshine it was clear that we were determined to make the most of it.  There was some clearing up to do after last night's BBQ; coloured lights to be taken down, furniture shifted around and put back in their normal places.  After a little bit of final tidying up we are ready to open the hangar.

As we don't have a Duty Instructor today it is going to be a flying day for self authorising pilots only.  But we've just got six people, but then a seventh arrives.  So we had enough people to run the field whilst taking turns in flying.  I inspected the K8, FXB, and taped the turtledeck (Ed: I am sure that will increase the glide ratio by a least a point).

Richard rigged his Discus at the east end whilst Phil got the Twin Astir out of its T hangar.  The remainder helped Adam rig his K-6.

Rigging a K-6 by committee
(Ed: How is this K-6 canopy different from all the rest?)

The non-flying pilots today would be Ed Borlase and Peter Hamilton due to the lack of an instructor to run the airfield.

The K-8 and the K-6 were taken up to the launch point.  At 1010 we had four gliders at the launch point ready to fly (Ed: Not bad for a skeleton crew).  Richard gave a flying brief and detailed how we would operate.

The six amigos plus me behind the camera

Rather than "bash circuits" we decided to wait for the thermals to start.  Also Peter Howarth had told me that we should “eat cake”, the cake that his daughter Paula had made for last night's BBQ.  So eat cake we did whilst sat in the chairs by the launch bus in the pleasant sunshine.

Wot?  No cake for us gliders?

The Discus waiting for its pilot
(Ed: Note the cosmic canopy cover which will match its trailer)

“Woody” gets a polish

Adam applies Turtlewax to all “Woody’s” nooks and crannies

After his mammoth polishing session Adam and I studied a 1:50,000 Ordnance Survey map that I brought with me so that I could identify Cox Tor, Roos Tor, Great Mis Tor, and White Tor.  Later the discussion moved on to trigger temperatures and when the thermals should start.  Meanwhile Phil cleaned the canopy of the Twin Astir (Ed: Is this the first time this year?)

Look at that clean canopy
(Ed: And also the underside of the wing)

Then it was time to fly.  I took the first launch in the K-8 up to a respectable 1,100 feet, considering the northerly cross wind.  I managed to climb slowly at first, at one knot.  Then the thermal increased, two knots, then four knots, then six knots, peaking at seven knots (Ed: That's 700 feet a minute).  All this in serene silence as the electric variometer isn't working in FXB so there was no audio tone.  It was back to the old-fashioned way; feel the lift under your bum and glance at the mechanical variometer from time to time to confirm what you are feeling and check that you are correctly centred.

Near cloud base it was quite dark and I had to push south, downwind, to the sunny edge of the cloud to complete my climb.  I topped out at 3,400 feet above the ground.  I then headed north into wind, and in sinking air, until I was north of Lydford.  There I tried to break into the sunshine and find some elusive lift.  But I chickened out and turned back at 2,200 feet.  I swept back to the airfield in the now brisk north westerly tailwind.  After scratching for a bit over the scrapyard I set up for a circuit and landing on the stub runway to end a satisfying 42 minute flight, and to take "flight of the day".  While I was aloft Adam had a 12 minute flight.

By this time Peter Hamilton had left us.  Later, we were joined by Andrew Downing so we still had enough people on the ground to operate (Ed: Thank you both for the support).

We broke for lunch and Ed Borlase joined us from the winch.  It was very convivial and a relaxed affair sat in the autumn sunshine.

DGS pilots breaking for lunch

After lunch Richard launched in his Discus.  Richard pushed out over Blackdown but didn't manage connect with any lift.  But that didn't stop him from approaching low over the end of runway and conducting a perfect spot landing and rolling up adjacent to the launch point (Ed: Richard, you weren't aware but Andrew marvelled at your performance and asked how that was possible in a GRP glider).  Perhaps Richard's spot landing prowess was compensation for the shortest flight of the day so far, at nine minutes.

Richard readies for a launch and a spot landing
(Ed: Look at the shape of those wings and the winglets)

Phil and Robin went again in the Twin Astir to be followed by Adam in his yellow K-6 aka "Woody".  The Twin Astir was back on the ground in 12 minutes but Adam managed a respectable 15 minutes.  Alas a later third attempt by Adam resulted in a six minute circuit.

The watery sun and streaky sky say “It’s a circuit for you Adam”

Richard tried again and by sheer perseverance climbed.  The maximum climb rate on his averager was a measly 0.8 knots (Ed: That is just 80 feet a minute).  By the time he had finished his climb he had drifted over the moors to Two Bridges (Ed: That is east of Princetown).  This resulted in a long push back into wind to get back to the airfield after 36 minutes aloft.

The top cloud cover was now complete and not helping the thermal activity.  The occasional glimpse of a watery sun didn't presage an improvement in the soaring potential either.  So it was time to pack up and put the kit away ready for another day.

At the end of the day, after winching throughout, Ed Borlase drove the tractor for the first time and managed to reverse the tractor and the winch into the Motor Transport hangar (Ed: Well done Ed!  And thanks for winching us today).

The eight flights today totalled two hours 27 minutes in the air.  Not bad for an ad hoc team of Sunday Soarers on an autumn day.

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 17th September 2022

 An autumnal day with long periods of pleasant sunshine, a light northerly breeze and a lowish cloudbase gradually improving to 3000ft above the airfield. 

An Autumnal day

Good organisation and not a little pushing by CFI Rick Wiles got the flying programme started at a creditable 10.13. Lots of training progress was made and Mark Elliot added to his solo total after yet another practice cable break.

Mark Accepting a cable...

and moments later he climbs away...

Mark returns after a good looking circuit

The solo pilots made the best of the soarable conditions that developed after midday. As always the tricky bit was finding an initial climb to scratch away in. Once above 2000ft conditions were much easier with strong thermal cores showing 4 - 6 knots. Longest flight of the day was Phil Hardwick on his DG303 with 2hrs 32. there were plenty of flights of in the 1hr + range. The Twin Astir posted 2; Gavin in the Std Cirrus, Adam in the K8, Scratch and Dave Bourchier in a K13 all managed more than 1 hour.

Looking south from overhead Tavistock with the Estuaries in view 
and the sun glinting off the sea in Whitsand bay

Looking down on Tavistock

The Std Cirrus heading west

Gavin's view of a muddy looking river Tamar

The visitor programme today saw Marc Emond flying a One Day Course with me and Wendy Hodgson, Graham Nichols and Adam Richards all enjoying Introductory flying with Scratch ( Dene Hitchen ).

One Day Course candidate waiting to launch with me

Graham Nichols and Scratch

Adam Richards

Last flight of the day ( number 36 ) landed at 5.45.

Our thanks once again to all the helpers.

The view from the winch

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News - Thursday 22nd September 2022

Autumn is here so as I crossed from Cornwall into Devon, passing over New Bridge at Gunnislake, there was mist in the valley and further mist from Gulworthy to Chip Shop.  The air temperature was cold.  I don't know how cold because I don't have one of these new-fangled outside air temperature devices in my car (Ed: But you have one in your glider).

Apparently there were lots of delays in Tavistock caused by multiple traffic jams.  I too was delayed for ten minutes while farmers moved cattle from one field to another for TB testing (Ed: Why didn't you get yourself tested too?).

There were traffic delays on the backroads
as well as Tavistock this morning

So one might assume after the BGA audit on Tuesday that there was nothing left for the Thursday Tinkerers to do, not a bit of it. First the hangar needed emptying as usual.  Then the fuselage of the SF-27A and its rudder, which had been stripped down for its annual Airworthiness Review Check, were put back in its trailer to await Colin's return from his well-earned holiday in the sun.

FGR needed its wheel brake checked which was making a noise.  It turned out to be a grumbly wheel bearing rather than a brake problem. The wheel was removed, fresh bearings fitted, and the wheel was refitted.  Problem solved.

Formula One pit stop Dartmoor Gliding style

Then GDK, our second K-8 was rigged, checked, and the canopy cleaned ready for Colin’s final inspection.  This will allow us to operate two K-8s over the winter as they are better suited to the Dartmoor winter conditions than the low-slung SF-27A.

Freddie strides purposely into the hangar to assist in the rigging of K-8, FXB

After Colin’s final inspection and as the gliders were disappearing to the east end launch point (i.e. after all the work had been done) a lone vehicle arrived in the car park.  Welcome Paddy (Ed: I fear that your name might be too far down the flying list to aviate today).

Meanwhile our resident antenna expert had been to both the east and west launch points, replaced various co-axial connectors with higher quality ones, and checked the integrity of our ground communications as well as the air band radios.  (Ed: Great job Dave Archer).

FXB awaits a full pre-flight inspection,
post rigging, by our BGA Inspector

By now the Thursday Tinkerers were thoroughly tinkered out of jobs so it was time to start flying.  First up was Peter Howarth who had the only soaring flight of the day in K-8, GDK, of 19 minutes.  For the rest of the day several of us, including me in the FSD with a visitor, achieved a heady seven minutes.  All the other flights were of a shorter duration, which in truth was a matter of circling gracefully downwards after a cross-wind launch to a maximum of 1,100 feet.

The conditions progressively worsened during the day and the cloud base threatened to lower.  (Ed: The conditions must have been poor as I see that our “Lift Meister”, Malcolm Wilton-Jones, only achieved a four minute flight in GDK).

The duty instructor, Mike Jardine, arrived and club instruction started.  First up was Steve Lesson who had three circuits with Mike.

First of our visitors was John Hall who was accompanied by his wife.  They were shortly joined by some friends (Ed: Thanks Paddy for ferrying them around).  John, a retired chartered civil engineer was fascinated by the whole mechanism of the gliding operation, the level of safety applied, and how the gliders flew.

A relaxed Jon Hall awaits his trial flight with Gavin
(Ed: Note the baseball cap correctly worn for gliding – to allow a good lookout)

Whilst waiting for our launch I enjoyed a professional engineering conversation about bridge construction: He on how to build them and me on how to destroy them (Ed: You can take the man out of submarines but you can’t take submariner out of the man!)

John Hall and Gavin about to launch

Visitor John Hall receives his certificate
and three-month membership card from Gavin

Meanwhile GDK was further in use by Steve Fletcher, John Allan, (twice), Martin Broadway, and Malcolm Wilton-Jones, but no one exceeded seven minutes aloft.

FXB was brought up to the launch point ready for a flight test (Ed: this is a requirement for club gliders after being rigged).

Both K-8s in the launch queue; a first this year

Fleet manger and the test Pilot (Colin, our BGA
inspector) in deep discussion prior to FXB’s test flight

Our second visitor was Jeremy Williamson, who was accompanied by his wife, for a pair of flights.  Thoughts were shared at the launch point about early retirement options.  Throughout the day the sky was darkening and I had to change my sunglasses back to normal glasses for the visitor flights as the sky was that dark.

Visitor Jeremy Williamson ready for the first
of his two trial flights with Gavin

And Colin is off!

Colin returned to earth with a short list of minor improvements that needed to be made by Adam Hoskin (Adam is Colin’s trainee inspector) and the Fleet Manager, but welcomed an airworthy FXB back to the fleet.

Peter then decided to exercise his privileges as the newly appointed Deputy Chief Flying Instructor (Ed: Congratulations) and also took a test flight in FXB to confirm Colin’s findings that FXB was indeed airworthy.  Meanwhile Mike was working his way down the flying list and moved on to fly with Freddy Colton for two flights.

Duty Instructor Mike delighted to fly with Freddie
before Freddie heads off to Swansea (Ed: Croeso i abertawe)

On Mike’s second flight with Freddie it was clear that the cloud base was now dropping dramatically.  So Mike initiated a practice cable break on Freddie that forced him to land up the field.  An impromptu hangar landing in effect.  (Ed: These instructors are very cunning.  But look on the bright side Freddie; you are in date for launch failures when you come back to fly with us during the Christmas University break).  Mike then declared a cessation of flying operations due to the lowering cloud base.

The gliders return to the hangar as
the lowering cloud base stops play.

As Mike and Freddie walked FGR down the track to the hangar they met Takara Dover who was scheduled to be our third visitor today.  Mike was able to explain why we had stopped flying and how Takara could rebook her flight (Ed: Takara we look forward to flying you soon).

So it was time to pack up and walk the other gliders back to the hangar after just 16 flights.  We were sorry that Mark Elliott, David Archer, and Paddy didn’t get to fly, that’s the Dartmoor weather for you. But thank you for your support in helping me fly our visitors.  It is much appreciated.  It was also time to say farewell to Freddie and wish him luck with his Engineering degree course (Ed:  Electrical and Electronic Engineering; a wise choice).

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Sunday 18th September 2022

A light north-westerly with the possibility of some soaring during the afternoon greeted the Sunday soarers. Two K13's and the K8 were given their daily inspection (DI). As part of this they were hoovered ready for the BGA audit on Tuesday.

Vital training on use of the hoover.

A steady stream of trainees arrived. The final count was eight, so the difficult decision, agreed by all was that only two flights each would be possible. First to fly with me was Sean Westrope, His two flights were enough for him to get used to trimming the aircraft at various stages of the flight. Next up was Peter Hamilton who improved his general judgement and circuit planning by making sure he starts his circuit in the correct high key area.

Peter receiving initial flight feedback.

Our first couple of visitors had arrived. Duty IFP Phil Hardwick eased them through the process of paperwork and relevant briefings ready for their flights. Michael Brown was first to fly.

Mike Brown with Phil.

Next to fly with Phil was Simon Masterman. Simon arrived with his family who watched as he enjoyed his experience with us.

Simon and family.

Our last visitor arrived with her family. Beverly Urbans had two flights with Phil who managed to extend the second to nine minutes.

Beverly and family.

Training continued with Riley and Ollie. Both had demonstrations of the zig-zag circuit to help with their judgement and circuit planning. (Ed. Must be getting through this flying list by now). Next into the front seat was Yiannis Houlis. Two flights, one of 14 minutes, saw Yiannis get used to using the trimmer as he progresses well with his training. Next trainee to fly with me was Freddie Colton. His flight of 29 minutes was the first time he had seen the north coast, south coast, Torbay and climbed to above 3000ft. This height was used to practice stalls including stall with wing drop. Freddie said it was a brilliant flight which may be his last soaring flight until he returns during his university breaks (Ed Mike no pressure for Thursday).

Freddie climbing well towards 3000ft.

Following K6 EWO in circuit

My last trainee was Andrew Downing, who managed to complete his first unaided landing. Next steps, more refinement and make it tidier. Keep going Andrew.

The only solo pilots today were Ed Borlase and Adam Hoskin. Both had rigged their K6's and enjoyed soaring flights of 1 hour 1 minute and 1 hour 56 minutes respectively.

Ed's view of Burrator and Sheepstor behind.

Adam's view of Roadford and A30.

Some of you may have counted only seven trainees. The final trainee was retuning member Dick Masters. Dick had spent most of the day giving the clubhouse a good clean ready for the audit alongside Gavin Short who was getting the paperwork ready as well. They both arrived at the launch area and Dick was happy to just have a flight with Gavin at the controls. My daughter, Paula, was also at the airfield and was a great help all day at the launch point. As a reward and also a more relaxing flight for me, I took her for a hangar flight to end the day.

Whilst packing the toys away, it was chance to give them a quick wash ready for the audit.

Pilots and pink cloths washing the K13's

Thank you to all at the club on a very busy flying day ang getting things ready for the BGA visit.

Peter Howarth