Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 11th September 2024

Monday this week brought a distinctly autumnal feel with cooler North Westerly winds which set the scene for today.  With our many juniors back at school the Wednesday Wavers would have the airfield to themselves. So the day was bound to have a different feel too.

Summer's gone!  The croquet pitch at Cotehele stands empty in the autumn sunshine

I was late on parade as I had to take my son for a doctor's appointment.  At 28yro he should have learnt to drive by now!  When I arrived flying had just started.  The two K-13s were busy at the east end.  The Puchacz had not been taken to the launch point but the K-8 had.  The Astir CS77 however, was ranged in the hangar for its annual inspection.

Peter Howarth was standing in as the Duty Instructor as the Wednesday Waver's normal instructor, Mike Jardine, was on holiday.  Hugh was the duty Introductory Flight Pilot with four visitors to fly. 

Peter and Hugh took a weather check flight to confirm that the conditions were "lively, but flyable".  David Moorley had some training flights with Peter in some challenging conditions that challenged his final approach skills.  Normal conditions will feel like a walk in the park next time.  Later David admitted they the conditions were too lively for him but he learnt a lot from the experience.

In the hangar the inspection of the CS77 was underway.  While the glider was rigged its control surface deflections were measured by Colin and Phil.  Then it was derigged (de-armed as the German's term it) to allow a complete inspection of the fuselage, the wings, and the tail plane.

The resplendent Puchacz belly dolly, constructed by Andy Davey has better wheels and a lifting mechanism, handily also fits the Astir CS77.

Use of the Puchacz's belly dolly in the hangar meant that at Mike Bennett didn't have to bring the Astir's trailer down from the east end, which he was preparing to do.

Andy and Phil examine the wing fittings in the fuselage

Raising the tail made for a much better working height to check the innards of the fuselage.

After their early afternoon flights Peter reported that "Loraine and Geoff made good progress with their coordinated turns and their general flying skills in the testing conditions". 

It was a difficult decision today whether to fly our visitors, as the rain showers gave way to brighter, but gustier conditions which perhaps were borderline for trial flights.  We took care to warn our visitors, and that there was the opportunity to postpone, but all rose to the occasion.

Kevin Duncan, an electrician from Langport, was Hugh's 1100 visitor. His voucher was a gift from his partner.  Hugh reported that Kevin was "a very jolly chap" who thoroughly enjoyed the soaring, which Hugh managed for 14 minutes after an initial very short flight.  Kevin had some prior experience of hang gliding, and seemed quite happy to experience the exciting conditions.

Kevin and Hugh after their soaring flight

Hugh's 1200 visitor was Trish Doyne-Ditmas, a foot care specialist from Ivybridge.  Her voucher was a birthday gift from her family.  On her first flight she experienced an extended soaring flight before Hugh had to push back into wind from Mary Tavy to land at the airfield.  She clearly enjoyed the experience and snapped away with her smartphone.  Wisely, she deferred her second flight to a later date, hoping for calmer conditions.  We look forward to seeing you again Trish.

Trish and Hugh after their soaring flight

Hugh's 1400 visitor was Clare Matthews, a GP practising in Cullompton, living in Silverton.  Some friends had bought her the voucher.  She had three short flights in the choppy conditions.  She managed to enthuse her partner to take a flight, such was her excitement!  Steve Fletcher did the honours later in the day but before then he took a pair of refresher flights with Hugh to get acquainted with the conditions.

Elizabeth and Hugh after their flights

Keeping our pilots and the visitors in the air was Malcolm on the winch and John on the retrieve.  As solo pilots they would have looked forward to flying the K-8, as the Astir CS77 was offline for its inspection.  The lively conditions precluded use of the K-8 and so they flew with the Duty Instructor in a K-13.  Both enjoyed soaring flights of 26 minutes and 36 minutes respectively.  Towards the end of the day David Archer also took a flight with Peter.

Peter watches the "Lift Meister" at work

Brentor Church, St. Michael de Rupe

Peter observes John cloud spotting and choosing a nice street to follow

Liz Kennerley was Hugh's last visitor of the day. She was, at her own admission, very apprehensive so he kept the turns very gentle on her first flight where they managed to soar to 2,000 feet above the airfield.  She appeared to have overcome her concerns and took a second launch and enjoyed another soaring flight.  Afterwards admitted she doubted if she would do it, but was very glad that she had done so!

Elizabeth and Hugh sharing a thermal with Malcolm and Peter (as photographed by Peter)

Elizabeth and Hugh leave the thermal to the north whilst Malcolm heads to pastures anew, to the west, with Peter along for the ride.

A jubilant Elizabeth at having overcome her initial fears and sampled soaring flight

But that was not all.  You will recall that Clare Matthews had twisted her partner's arm to try a flight.  Paul Mitchell bought a voucher and strapped in with our other Introductory Flight Pilot, Steve Fletcher.  They made the best use of the improving conditions with a fantastic soaring flight that topped out at 2,700 feet AGL as a result of 6-8 knot thermals. It was booming! Sorry Clare, maybe you will be able to soar next time.

Steve Fletcher looks on as the happy couple (Paul and Clare) are reunited after their flying experiences today

Back in the hangar, the annual inspection was wrapping up.  There were no problems just routine maintenance and some TLC needed.  The glider was reigged, Duplicate Inspections made of the critical connections, and Positive Checks of the controls were conducted.  Tape residue cleaned up and the tail plane and wings were carefully taped, as were the undercarriage doors.  A new tyre pressure label was fitted to Andy's recently repaired undercarriage door.  Canopy on and final checks made before putting it back on a dolly for hangar packing.  Colin would work on the paperwork the next day and we should have and Airworthiness Renewal Certificate, to be put in the glider, on Saturday prior to its test flight flight (all club aircraft rigged after disassembly require a test flight).

Hugh took the penultimate flight of the day, at 1713, with John Allan (as ballast!) and they shot up to 2,000 feet straight off the wire.  This gave John a chance to look at the view and take some photos.

Looking South East as the cloud streets that took Hugh and John to 2,000 feet AGL in a trice

Looking to the north; Devon's green and pleasant lands.  The evening light always makes the grass glow greener.

Hugh flies with John clearly enjoying the late afternoon light

After finishing the work on the Astir CS77 I headed to the winch and co-opted Phil, who had an extended stint on the winch for much of the day after working in the hangar with me, to take a mutual flight.

Ready for the final flight of the day. Is that Gavin having a nap or squinting into the afternoon sun?

Alas, a repetition of the flight Hugh and John had just realised was not to be.  A 1,250 foot launch followed by some scratching in zero sink to the north of the airfield had us on the ground in seven minutes.  Anticipating the wind shear the approach speed of 65 knots produced an almost zero air brake hangar landing to stop safely by the cross track.  Fascinating conditions.

Gavin and Phil end the day with a hangar landing

The launch point team then had to walk the K-8 back to the hangar after its outing to the east end for some fresh air, because sadly was too windy for it to fly today.

Gavin toes the "Bourchier line" whilst bringing the K-8 back to the hangar

Today we made twenty-six flights in testing conditions for both our trainees and our visitors.  The passage of the cold front made for a pleasant, if gusty, afternoon and evening.  Thanks to all for making a challenging day enjoyable.  Further thanks to those who were working in the hangar, or running the field, and didn't get a chance to fly.

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Saturday 7th September 2024

The weather today will be controlled by the coming cold front. On arrival at the airfield the sky was already full of the typical pre-frontal clouds, There were lenticular clouds all over the place indicating some strong winds and shears high up. A couple of members even spotted some Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds, again indicating some strong wind shears high up. Gradually the sky became a glowering grey cover with some lower cu to add interest. The forecast was for rain at 2.30pm so it was kit out and on with the show to see how far down the flying list we would get.

Kelvin-Helmholtz louds

This high contrast image shows the complexity of the clouds and...

... how it looked to the naked eye

We welcomed several visitors today. One Day Course candidate Andrew Scowcroft completed 4 out of his 6 flights and Air experience visitors Caroline Audy, Lewis Daw and Elizabeth Miall all completed their flying.

Elizabeth and family

Caroline ready to fly

On the club flying Mike Jardine worked his way through the list but the weather cut this effort a little short. CFI Rick Wiles  managed to fly with Seam Westrope for Sean's Bronze Flying test. Sean has one more flight to do to complete this.

A busy launchpoint

K13 launches again

The view south already showing rain spots on the canopy

As the morning wore on, the cloud darkened and there was some light drizzle and odd raindrops aloft that did not make it to the ground which really was the writing on the wall and around 2.30pm it was raining on the ground and the aircraft were returned to the hangar. We managed 24 flights in total. The longest flight was a very modest 8 minutes by Adam Hoskin in the K8 no doubt using the K8's slow flying and low sink rate to stretch his flight time.

Meanwhile, in the hangar, the technical team completed the reweighing of a brace of K6's.

A K6 being levelled ready to weigh

Measuring the front point to datum

Flying would not be possible without the considerable efforts of our team of members. Thankyou all and commiserations to the unlucky ones did not fly before the rain stopped play. Better luck next time.

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News - Saturday 31st August 2024. DSGC Expedition Day 2

The forecast was for winds from the east. The soundings suggested some wave was possible but there was an abrupt change of wind direction above 5,000ft which might upset the wave formation.

At this time of the year these conditions can be troublesome. The wave breaks up the thermals and the thermals break up the wave. One way to avoid the worst of this is to launch early and escape into the higher wave before the thermals have started. Two pilots decided that this was the way to go today. Andy Davey ( Libelle) and John Allan ( Mini Nimbus ) launched at 8.32 and 8.40 and disappeared into the 5,000ft wave system for 4hrs 10min and 4hrs 38mins, very enterprising.

John had this to say about the flight:

Andy launched first at 0830hrs, and I followed 9 minutes later.  It was quite a bumpy launch, and near the top the weak link broke, but I had the cloud base at eye level.  Wheel up, and flaps set for an efficient fast glide straight under the wave cloud, went quickly through heavy sink, then hit the wave lift and went up at 4-6knots.  Unusually the wave was extremely bumpy and turbulent, and I only occasionally came across areas of weak wave that were smooth as silk, further upwind of the primary wave.

I had a great time travelling back and forth playing with the clouds, between Yelverton and Sourton Cross, near Okehampton.  Later around 1300hrs the wave system gradually collapsed and turned into a thermal day, so I was able to find a nice climb whilst waiting for a convenient time to land after both winch cables had been used.

The wave clouds approaching the airfield

Strange wispy bits breaking off the clouds

Definitely not smooth looking wave clouds 

This looks more wave like

As does this

The Libelle flying away along the wave bar

The Libelle flying underneath

Back on the airfield it was business as usual with the club fielding two K13s and the Astir. Our visitors, Devon and Somerset Gliding Club, fielded their K21.  The Twin Astir also made an appearance.

After the morning briefings the day became a busy with various training flights from both clubs.  Add to this the two One Day Course candidates Stephanie Crosse and Jason Davies and the launch point was a busy place. Many flights were soaring in either thermal or wave ( or both ).

The Devon and Somerset K21

Stephanie with Scratch

Jason waits for his instructor

K13 returning again

By the end of the day we had completed a total of 43 flights. A creditable number whilst flying from the west end where ever landing aircraft delays the launch.  Many thanks to all those who helped to make this happen.

Was this the end of the day? No, after flying it was time for the end of summer BBQ organised once again by Mike Bennett.  A very superb evening with great food and good friends.  What could be better?

 

A great day.

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 4th September 2024

Forecast: Soarable in a freshening North Westerly.

Manpower: Plenty.  In fact so much that the Duty Instructor, Mike Jardine, declared that he would do sets of two flights a piece to ensure all the trainees had their fair share.  The reason for this influx blithely passed me by until I was later informed that the majority of schools in the local area start the next day.  The last flight of the summer then.  Mums and Dads with children of school age won't believe this but there comes a time when you become complete unaware and free from the shackles of the academic calendar timeline (my son is now 28 years old!).

Today's theme (photo from a Lotus rally in Belgium that I participated in when not flying gliders!)

After an early morning brief, the Duty Instructor's plans were outlined.  A couple of classroom lectures were delivered while the team got two K-13s, the Puchacz, and the Astir CS77 out.  Surely the K-8's time will come as the recently joined members solo (or re-solo).

A gaggle of privateers rigged; Andy (Libelle), Andy (another Libelle), John Allan (Mini-Nimbus), Hugh (Club Libelle), Peter (Kestrel 19), and me (Standard Cirrus) while the club gliders were taken to the east end.

A wily Phil (Duty Basic Instructor and responsible to day's visitors) chose a K-13 vice the Puchacz to deliver his visitor flights, probably mindful of the freshening northerly cross wind and deciding which steed he could get the most out of in the conditions.

And so the flying commenced with David Moorley who then had an extended stint running the tower (thanks David).  The other David, David Osmet, continued his training with a pair of flights.

Phil started the One Day Course with candidate Mark Joyce who had initially envisaged that he would be going hang gliding with us.  Seeing the gliders ranged at the launch point must have been quite a shock!  Mark is currently waiting for a camper van to be delivered as he embarks on the next stage in his life. We wish him happy and exciting adventures on his travels when it arrives.

Mark Joyce and Phil discuss the meaning of life with two gliding pundits

Having been suitably enlightened by our pundits, Mark Joyce is ready to fly

John Osmet, David's dad (do keep up at the back!) continued his "back to solo after 30+ years" training with Mike Jardine. He had a pair of flights and must be well on the way to remembering it all and be ready to solo again soon.

And so the canopy closes on John Osmet and Mike

Our first trial flight visitor was Graham Stone who took a flight with Phil.  Phil enjoyed Graham's tales from Dousland.  However, Phil was frustrated that the conditions didn't allow him to prolong the flight for Graham.  Such is gliding!

Graham Stone, suitably equipped with his take on a natty soaring hat, is ready to fly with Phil

Then Matthew went up with Mike for a 27 minute soaring flight.  Andy had already taken off and soared for 1 hour 27 minutes, although he reported that it was hard work.  Hugh tried his hand too.

Matthew at the start of his climb to 3,000 feet

The airfield from the south

Our second trial flight visitor was Kerry Morgan who Phil flew for two flights.  During the second flight, where they managed to soar, Kerry had the chance to take the controls, but Phil felt that today's conditions fell short of her fascinating ballooning experiences.

Kerry Morgan looks excited to be flying with Phil

Sean took a launch in in his Libelle and broke a blue weak link.  Then followed a run on blue weak links by the single seaters; John Allan, Mark Elliott, and John Smith.  It was clear that there was a significant wind shear as the wind speed increased rapidly with height.  This required a careful balance between pulling back and and managing the speed on upper part of the launch to convert it into height.

Promising skies

Mike then took Geoff aloft for 26 minutes which allowed him to continue to work though the syllabus.

Tavistock from 3,000 feet

Phil was by then flying our third visitor, Barbara Wilson, who also enjoyed an extended flight.  Phil would like to thank Barbara for her serenade as she visited her "happy place".  He would have liked to have broadcast her singing but he felt it was an inappropriate use of an air band radio, especially as earlier this year the Civil Aviation Authority had allocated DGS our unique radio channel (129.965).  We don't want to lose it!  Mike then flew David Bourchier on another extended flight.

Phil cracks a joke, but Barbara Wilson doesn't look so convinced with his farmer's sense of humour

Today it was a runway of two halves.  At the winch end it was sunny and pleasant.  The windsock sometimes hanging down whilst at the east end there was a considerable breeze, cloud cover, and it was quite cool.  I had quite shock when I came back to the launch point from from my stint on the winch and had to don my fleece!

"I wandered lonely as a cloud".  John Smith in contemplative mood at the sunny end of the airfield

After an initial circuit John Allan tried again later and managed to soar for 1 hours 43 minutes to take today's "Man of the Match" award.

John's view of the River Tamar, the Hamoaze, Plymouth Sound, and the sea as he flies west

Peter and I then launched.  I managed to postpone the inevitable by scratching around in a weak thermal at 1,100 feet until I decided to do something positive with the flight; I called downwind for a landing on the stub runway.  Treating it as a field landing and setting up the circuit, where the downwind the leg crossed the main runway, I made a great approach and landing.  I stopped just at the start of the recently cut grass of the main runway.  What should have been disappointment at my measly ten minute flight turned to elation at a perfectly conducted "field landing".  The favourable wind direction for the stub runway encouraged others to try their hand at a stub landing during the day.

The Standard Cirrus parked up after its successful field landing

A soaring glider in the background as the Kestrel 19 makes its approach

Behold the Kestrel's mighty wings

Neal then flew a pair of flights with Mike while Phil flew Hugo, Matthew's brother, who had a trial flight voucher while their dad, an associate member, looked on.  Fun for all the family!  Phil reported that Hugo was full of the exuberance of youth, fun to fly with, and already pre-briefed and informed.  I think there could be family flying competitiveness in the future with Matthew, and perhaps his dad if we can entice him into the air again.  Zack then continued his training with Mike.

Hugo getting ready for his trial flight with Phil

We had some good news from earlier in the year from our Expedition to Aston Down, in the Cotswolds. Sean Westrope's Silver height claim (a climb of a 1,000 metres/3,281 feet) in  Cotswold Gliding Club's K-23 had been approved by BGA badge claims assessor.  Now he has to do it in his own glider at DGS to show us that he can really climb, not just waft about aimlessly in central England's big booming thermals.

Steve Lesson's view from the winch of the privateers returning to base after flying

The privateers derig

The Wednesday Wavers made 33 flights today and delivered a "back to school" package. They appeared to seamlessly manage without the six privateers who had rigged to go flying.  Thanks to those that winched.  Well done all.

Gavin Short