Day 3 of Devon And Somerset Gliding Club (DSGC) expedition to Brentor was greeted with clear blue skies and a light easterly wind. Instructors Mike Sloggett and James Flory along with visiting pilots Nicholas Johnson, Christopher Woodwood, Trevor Russell and Stirling Melhuish headed off to the east end to prepare their K21 and bring it to the launch point.
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| K21 ready to launch. |
First to fly with me was David Moorley. David was keen to fly again after a month away and get used to controlling the glider ready to progress with his training. We found some small areas of smooth lift and were followed around the sky by James Flory and Nicholas Johnson in the K21 also exploiting the same smooth patches to extend flight times to 30 minutes and 38 minutes respectively.
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| Busy launch point seen from the air. |
Duty BI Phil Hardwick would also be kept busy with a steady stream of visitors. First to arrive was 13 year old Alex Alagna with his family. Because Alex was very light we had to put him in the back seat of the K13.
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| Alex all smiles ready to go. |
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| And after with Phil. |
The smooth patches of lift were soon replaced with more thermic air as the sun heated the ground. Training continued with Sean Westrope and Matthew Stone. Both had soaring flights of 27 and 30 minutes respectively.
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| Sean climbing in the K13. |
DSGC pilots Chris Woodwood and Nicholas Johnson experienced flying the K13 with Mike Sloggett. All DSGC pilots experienced soaring flights in either the K21 or K13 during the day.
Our next visitor arrived to fly with Phil. Peter Smith arrived with family and had two short flights and enjoyed the experience.
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| Peter Smith with family and certificate. |
The final visitor Poppy Ferme arrived also with her family and enjoyed two flights with Phil.
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| Poppy and family. |
The last trainee to fly with me was David Moult. His second flight gave him the experience of thermalling with two other gliders. The 43 minute flight gave David plenty of time to have hands on the controls and maintaining a good lookout whilst still flying the glider. Also achieved his highest and longest thermalling flight.
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| K21 above us. |
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| K13 below us. |
After some shorter soaring flights earlier in the day, Andy Davey (Libelle), Adam Hoskin (K6), Ed Borlase (K6) and John Smith (K8) decided to take later launches. John managed 24 minutes. Ed managed 1hour 40minutes. Adam managed 1hour 58minutes and Andy achieved longest flight of 2hour 34minutes. Adam was last to land at 18:59.
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| Ed's view over the airfield to the south. |
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| And to the north. |
And so the three day visit by DSGC to Brentor came to an end, with everybody agreeing what a successful and enjoyable time all had had.
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| K21 lands at the end of a successful visit. |
Thank you to all at the club today and over the weekend who made this success happen.
Peter Howarth
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