Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 28 December 2022

The Met Office had issued a Yellow weather warning for the South West today; Wind and heavy rain.  They weren't joking.

I arrived a shade before Peter and this was the scene (Ed: See below) at the main gate as I opened up and let him drive in.  Then generator on, kettle on, and wood burner lit whilst we waited for Mike Jardine, the Duty Instructor.

Yesterday, Mike and I cancelled today's visitor flight which was apposite as Philip Bindon was due to travel from Weston-super-Mare to be with us.  Philip, we look forward to meeting you when the weather is a tad more clement.

On Mike's arrival there were no trainees to receive ground school training so the three of us conducted some advanced ground school:  1) Current BGA licences versus the New Sailplane Licences and the significance for instructors; 2) Preparations and experiences of Assistant Category BGA Instructor training; and 3) A discussion, and a show and tell, on the operation of the Centre of Gravity hook (Ed: Or "release" in TOST language) operation, namely a TOST G 88.  The latter topic is worth a lecture in the New Year for operators (Ed: You mean pilots then!) and maintainers alike. There was also a continuation of the discussion held last Wednesday when Don Puttock visited. 

There was a lot of surface water coming off the field

And plenty coming out of the drainage pipes and into the culvert that runs beside the road

Fuselage work.  The new plywood sheets are just visible.

After ground school Colin arrived and co-opted us in to assisting with the annual inspection of K-13, FSD.  The focus was on the fuselage and wings:  A new universal joint was fitted to the base of the rear stick; a new grip fitted to the front stick; discussions on potential modification of the the Total Energy pipework to improve the performance of the variometers; adjustment of the CofG release cables to permit the correct range of movement; insertion of very thin plywood sheets into the sides of the cockpit to protect the fuselage fabric; and many other tasks that I probably missed.

Cleaning continued and the seats and the battery shelf were re-installed. Instruments were checked for accuracy. Mike conducted a squelch (Ed: This is a proper technical term: Squelch is a circuit that suppresses the output of a radio receiver if the signal strength falls below a certain level) setting survey to improve our radio performance. He was partially thwarted as FSD's squelch check would have to wait until the front instrument panel was reinserted to allow electrical power to be routed to the radio.

Peter checks for any play in the aileron hinges of FSD's starboard wing

Colin did allow us a lunch break and we had a chance to speak with an old band member of his, Gareth, who had seen Colin's van on the apron when passing and called in.  Earlier Richard had arrived with his glider trailer and slotted it into the glider rack following some tlc up country.  Before that our Field Treasurer, Robin, had arrived to get the latest data he needed to prepare the flying accounts at the end of the month.  Andrew, our Treasurer designate, and was given a detailed background on the ways of the DGS Committee (Ed: Was Andrew still awake by the end?).  He made an erudite observation on the volume of tasks, many unseen, that had to be undertaken by many individuals to make the club work.  Some are conducted on site, away from the airfield, but many are conducted remotely to keep the gears of DGS turning.

Back in the hangar other gliders received some love.  The battery retaining bar in K-8, FXB was insulated with heat shrink to improve electrical safety (Ed: In the same way you don't want to drop and spanner across the terminals of your car battery you don't want to allow a metal bar to touch a glider battery terminals). CCY's radio microphone bracket was closely examined and a simple, but effective, improvement was agreed.

Obviously the Fleet Manager didn't get the memo on car colour for next year.

Richard rests after giving Andrew, our new Treasurer to be, a Vulcan mind meld to transfer the strategic plans for DGS

Peter continues his wing inspection of FSD; tap, tap, tap!

Peter reaches for that elusive bolt while Colin checks FSD's rear altimeter and ASI for accuracy

By 1500, we had had our fill of jobs so it was time to lock up and wend our merry way home whilst wishing for fairer weather in the New Year. So today it was the Wednesday Whittlers who were, piece-by-piece, getting the jobs done to keep us flying. Bravo Zulu to all involved (Ed: The combination of the Bravo and Zulu nautical signal flags, i.e., Bravo Zulu, also referred to as "BZ," is a naval signal, typically conveyed by flaghoist or voice radio, meaning "Well Done" with regard to actions, operations or performance).

Saturday 31 December will be the last DGS flying day of the year.  See you then.

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 21st December 2022

The winter solstice greeted us with low cloud which according to RASP would be around all day. Despite this there was a degree of optimism as the ground equipment was all out ready to deploy when required. With no trainees at the club today, duty instructor Mike Jardine had no ground work lectures to do and could join in with the tea drinking and conversations.

Christmas greetings at the clubhouse.

Two old faces arrived at the club today. Don Puttock and side kick Roger Applecrumble (should be Applebloom, but a tribute to Martin Cropper changing his name). Don is visiting a number of gliding clubs as part of a survey he is conducting. 

Old faces Don and Roger

After a rain shower that wasn't in the forecast, the cloudbase could be seen rising and some blue sky appearing. A K13 and K8 were liberated from the hangar and towed to the east end launch point. First to fly with Mike was Mike Bennett to progess general flying skills which included a cable break. The recovery was well executed and showed Mike B was well prepared for any eventuality.

Mike(S) waiting to launch.

Festive headwear as seen by Mike J.

Next to fly with Mike Jardine was Robin Wilson to continue his hopeful route back to solo status.

Robin off on one of his flights.

Low clouds around the airfield.

A wet airfield and low cloud over the moors.

The solo pilots at the club each took turns for a circuit in the K8 to stay current. Most circuits were of similar times, the longest of which was 8 minutes equalled by Peter Howarth and Malcolm W-J. Mike Jardine took time out for a solo flight in the K13.

Roger ready to relive flying at DGS.

Last to fly with Mike Jardine was Steve Fletcher. Steve is enjoying some time in the back seat to further his flying skills. One flight was a straight ahead launch failure which was well executed.

Steve didn't get the dress code memo this week.

Whilst the flying continued, Colin Boyd and Adam Hoskin progressed the ARC on K13 FSD. Also Dave Bouchier was called into action to undertake some remedial work on a jamming cable crimp press.

Thank you all who were at the club today. Only 15 launches on a day that looked like there wouldn't be any flying. Winch driving was shared by Phil Hardwick and Andy Davey, thanks.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Peter Howarth

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 17th December 2022

Murphy's Law states that if something can go wrong. it will go wrong. Step up eternal optimist Mr Finagle who added that if something can go wrong it will and at the worst possible time. Today felt like that.

Overnight rain fell onto the sub zero ground and created a lot of ice. The hangar apron was more suitable for dancing the "Bolero" rather than handling aircraft and as the cloudbase was low it was decided that the first glider in the hangar, K13 G-CFSD, would be derigged ready for it's annual inspection before attempting to remove the rest of the gliders. Normally derigging a K13 takes maybe 15 to 20 minutes. 

All proceeded normally until our friend Finagle made an appearance; the main pins were jammed in the wings and no amount of persuasion was going to shift them. I confidently stated that all we needed was the purpose made extractor and all would be well. After finding said extractor it turns out that the K13 main pins are not threaded to accept the extractor bolt and neither a suitable tap to thread the hole nor a bolt to match was available. Our saviour today was member John Allan who managed to fashion a suitable extractor using 2 fitting plates from an old trailer, a couple of lengths of threaded bar and part of the existing extractor. 

Working on the main pins

Perhaps waggling the wings will help?

John's extractor with the trailer tow hitch it cam from

By now a couple of hours had passed. The advantage of this was that the hangar apron had defrosted and handling aircraft was once more a safe option and the hangar could be unpacked. While all the fun was happening in the hangar, today's Instructor Mike Jardine had used the time to further the ground training for a couple of our pre-solo pilots. After a quick cut of tea it was off to the west end launchpoint for some aviation.

The briefing in the clubhouse

The overcast had evaporated and the SE breeze seemed to be setting up an east west wave system the main bar or which was tantilizingly out of reach, downwind to the north. I contemplated a downwind dash to this wave bar but the landout options are not good to the north until you get to the A30 some 5-6 miles distant and common sense ruled out that option.

The wave bar to the north

The K13 lifts off into a tempting sky

Coming off the launch most pilots found a very narrow wave bar immediately to the south which permitted the flights to be extended somewhat. Best flight today was by John Smith who managed 15 minutes in the K8. Mike put  K13 G-CFGR to good use fitting in as many training flights as possible until the bad light stopped play - it is only 4 days to the Winter Solstice so the days are about as short as they get.

Bad light stopped play

At the end of the afternoon the Twin Astir syndicate arrived complete with their newly refinished aircraft and there was a rush to get it rigged and installed in it's T hangar.  

The Twin Astir being rigged from it's open trailer

We made the best of the day despite the visit from Finagle.

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 10th December 2022

Winter has definitely arrived. Driving to the airfield I could see a little sprinkling of snow on the higher Cornish hills. Dartmoor seemed to be clear but the local radio station was talking about substantial snowfalls almost everywhere except here. The heavy frost lent a certain charm to the runway.

The chilly route to the runway

and a few minutes later- So much for no precipitation

FGR wait for attention

The briefing was suggested light winds and no precipitation ( really ?? ). K13 G-DCCY was taken to the east end and after a test flight ( just back on the fleet from maintenance ) is was game on. 

Snowing at the launchpoint

The cloudscape was dramatic all day

CCY launching ahead of the next showeer

Interesting clouds

Steve Lesson, Yiannis Houlis and Dave Archer took advantage of  Rick Wiles to push their training forward. This had to be done between the very wintery showers. So much for no precipitation then. 

Getting ready again

In the hangar, K13 G-CFGR had it's final fettling before returning to the fleet after an impressively efficient C of A / ARC. Team working seems to be paying off in this area.

I made my way to the launch point and after drying the gliders again thought that I would have a quick circuit in the K8. The next snow shower was not too far away. In fact, I released from the winch at 700 ft to avoid the next snow shower. Interestingly there was a band of lift just in front of the shower. This gave me several minutes of entertainment before I headed off to circuit timing it so that I did not need to approach through the snow. Great fun.   

K8 on approach

Ice on the cleaning cloths

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 14 December 2022

Today Skysight forecast wave to the south east of the site.  The big question was would we be able to connect with it as the base of the wave was predicted to start at 2,500 ft AGL. (Ed: Never say never at Dartmoor Gliding. The conditions at Brentor can often surprise one).  On site, the conditions corresponded to the forecast with the wind from the north-north east veering to the east at altitude.

CCY heads to the launch point

No wave action today for FXB due to the expected strongish crosswind

With a chilly start we got the gear out and the newly inspected K-13, FGR, was test flown by the Duty Instructor, Mike Jardine.  That first launch of the day, to 1900 feet, signified that today would be special (Ed: Who said you can't kite on a Supacat winch launch?)

Mike Jardine test flies FGR and conducts a weather check

Mike reported rotor on the start of the launch and also on the down wind leg. Consequently, it was decided that the K-13s would be flown dual today which added to a fun family group feeling to today's flying).

 After that first launch a lone sheep was discovered on the field which was quickly shepherded back into the top field before we could resume launching. (Ed: That's life on Dartmoor for you).

Moving that errant sheep into the top field

A wintry runway

On the next launch Mike Bennett  and Mike Jardine encountered one knot of lift in wave and that the rotor on their downwind leg was not severe.  The game was on!  CCY was bought on line.  Soon both gliders were in wave up to 4,000 feet AGL and 6,300 feet AGL.  The latter was the flight of the day in both length (57 minutes) and height achieved by Malcolm and Richard.

Mike Bennett at 1,900 feet in search of wave.

The moors seen from the back seat of FGR

A 3,000 foot view of the runway from the west

A happy Steve Fletcher in wave at 3,000 feet.

Above the rotor clouds

Here's looking at you CCY!

Both K-13s heading over Blackdown (Ed: The one place where the wave wasn't working!)

In amongst the fun Colin and I managed to measure the control deflections on K-13, FSD in the hangar which is currently off line for its annual inspection and Airworthiness Review Check.  Later Colin enjoyed a 32 minute soaring flight with Mike Jardine.

FSD about to have its control surface deflections measured (Ed: Ohh err missus!)

Gavin's view to to Peter Tavy and the south east

All thirteen members on site flew in the wave conditions and enjoyed extended views over the moors.  The moors to the east had been lightly dusted with snow. But to the west it was clear that Bodmin moor and most of Cornwall that was visible had received much more snow.

Tavistock and snow in east Cornwall

Pushing into wind at altitude. The wind at height was from 050 (Ed: Glide and Seek showed speeds over the ground as low as 10 knots due to the strength of the wind!)

During the day the medium and high cloud cover exhibited no indications of the wave that was happening beneath it.  But the visibility was clear in the wave conditions, but on the south coast and the north coast less so. Hugh and I couldn't determine if the water level in Roadford Lake (reservoir) was recovering or not, as it was that hazy. We had a great flight, notable for the final turn onto the approach at 1,250 feet AGL (Ed: High energy approaches used in wave conditions give a strange perspective of the landing area).

Looking East

It was cold today! The winch driver spent as much time as possible in the retrieve vehicle warming up with the powerful heater.  With the long flights today there were plenty of such opportunities.

Hugh and Gavin having fun in the wave

Richard and John Allan landed the last flight of the day nine minutes before sunset after a 28 minute soaring flight (Ed: I had to check my watch to confirm that really was the 14 December and we were soaring).

At the end of the day the hangar was packed so that FSD could be accessed during the remainder of the week and prepared for de-rigging on Saturday.

In summary, 6 hours 8 minutes of flying across 13 flights and lots of smiling faces overcoming their cold toes and fingers. #WinterFlying #Dartmoor.

Gavin Short