The day dawned to the aftermath of Storm Darragh; 300 trees had blown down on Devon's highways alone. That didn't stop the two duty beauties (Peter and I) from making it to our posts. While Peter got the teas and coffees in I tried to complete a few minor tasks without much sucess. We had no visitors booked today and the strong northwesterly crosswind would make for some very lively flying even though the wind speeds had abated from Storm Darragh. This was obviously the thoughts of the trainees as they were no shows too. Obviously, I am going to have to up the stakes as there were no answers to the T-21 instrumentation question I posed our juniors in Wednesday's blog, or maybe they don't like the selection of chocolate that Rick stocks in the tea swindle.
Drinks drunk, we decided to check the launch points and the east end trailer storage for storm damage. I took the opportunity to photograph some of the recent changes in the glider rack. As if on cue John and David Osmet arrived with John's new Standard Cirrus that he and I viewed at Lasham recently.
Where to put John's latest acquisition? Ideally it needed to be near the clubhouse and hangar as, inevitably, the trailer needs some repairs. I knew that there was no space in the glider rack as a voice ran through my head "Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full". However Peter had the idea of moving one of the club trailers, on the clubhouse hard standing, to the other end to free up space.
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The clubhouse hard standing; K-13/K-8 trailer, T-21 trailer, and the future Puchacz trailer
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The only one that was suitable to move was CCY's trailer which is part way through a conversion to take either a K-13 or a K-8. Unfortunately K-8, FXB's wings were inside and the port wing mounting was not secure enough to allow us to move the trailer to the east end.
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Oh. There are some wings in this empty trailer!
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So plan B was to park the Standard Cirrus trailer alongside the right hand fence. It was duly secured in place and with a little bit of a push from John, Peter, and I, David managed to get his car off the wet grass. Newly arrived Steve Fletcher observed our antics.
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Another new arrival at Dartmoor International
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The evolution was profitable as I found a nice looking, but very wet, pair of gloves in the grass. We think these might be the "Liftmeister's" (Malcom Wilton-Jones).
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The hands that fill these gloves can find lift when all the rest of us are on the ground. We are not worthy.
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That done, there weren't any suitable glider maintenance jobs for the now assembled Sunday Soarers so a quick call to the Site Manager, Mike Bennett, saw the team in the car park ready to go fencing. Fence repairs that is. Meanwhile Peter and I checked both launch points for storm damage. At the east end trailer park, where the wind was truly howling, one trailer had swung 30 degrees in the wind and the rear door had opened. Both were secured and we joined the work party in the car park.
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The east end trailer park needed a bit of straightening
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They say a picture never lies but this enticing sky doesn't show the howling, and bitingly cold, northwesterly
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We soon got to grips with the technique and installed four new fence posts after clearing brambles and bracken to allow access. We were pretty pleased with our efforts although whether they will stand up to the critical gaze of Mike, and Farmer Phil, is another matter.
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The DGS fencing team minus the photographer
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Tidying up after the job
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Look at that very smart car park fence
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Tools put away the Sunday Soarers started to depart. I stayed for another cup of tea and a bite to eat with the Osmets before they too departed for home, back to Cullumpton.
We might not have flown but we made some progress and acquired new skills.
Gavin Short
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