Dartmoor Gliding News - Denbigh Expedition - March 2025

Readers will recall that some of the Wednesday Wavers were missing from Brentor on Wednesday 19 March.  So in the style of of Law and Order; Special Victims unit: "This is their story", as told by Richard Roberts.

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Andy, Phil, and I had booked a week in North Wales at Denbigh.

The trouble with booking gliding and accommodation, a long way in advance and early in the year, is that the weather can be a bit of a gamble. 

Denbigh Gliding at Lleweni Parc is well known for its adventurous flying conditions, but so early in the season you just don’t know what you will get. 

As we got nearer our planned leaving date for Wales the weather was uninspiring.  So we didn’t leave on the Friday but delayed our departure until Sunday lunchtime.  Our gamble paid off as the weather got better each day while we were there. 

Day One - Monday 17 March 2025

We all rigged and flew.  Local soaring up to about 3,000 ft but climbs were unreliable and the cloud coverage was near total with the odd bit of sun trying to shine through.

The DGS team's gliders rigged but still in their "pyjamas"

Day Two - Tuesday 18 March 2025.  Wave was forecast and the feelings were all positive but in reality the day was a bit more difficult than predicted.  The experts launched early but were soon having to top up height with the big iron thermal (engine) they had onboard.

However, once they found which parts of the sky were working they managed a few rounds of the local task that they had set.  Andy made the most of the day of the Dartmoor Gliding Society pilots by climbing to 11,000ft.

Andy’s view of the west coast of Wales from overhead Lake Bala (a suitable reference point for a canoeist)

Chris Gill, the CFI at Denbigh Gliding, had bigger plans that involved travel through several other countries.  See Dartmoor Gliding Society Wednesday 19 March 2025 blog for details) Chris Gill's tour of the four countries of the United Kingdom

Day Three - Wednesday 19 March 2025.  A very localised forecast showed a weather window of just a few hours, however, it also showed a convergence line in the blue along the north side of the airfield.

We all flew and tried to make the most of it.  Andy and Phil both managed to explore the local area and then returned to the airfield after some good flying. 

Phil arriving back at Lleweni Parc

I decided to be very committed and push out to explore the area.  The end result was me picking fields in a very hilly area not far from the airfield.  The choice of landable fields was further reduced by the not insignificant population of sheep in many of the fields (well, it is Wales). 

 

Good choice of field for my outlanding - (uphill and into wind. It worked out OK)

On the upside, the airfield was only 15km away

Day Four - Thursday 20 March 2025.  The day forecast was flyable locally and this was proved by some of the Southdown Gliding Club contingent from West Sussex who were also on site. The conditions focused the mind and patience of James in their club DG-505, G-CKOW, getting low and stuck on a small ridge for 120 beats until a thermal allowed them to get the height required to return to the airfield!

Note, even the local place names are not helpful

Having had a better than expected spell of weather already, our sights were fixed on the wave that was forecast for tomorrow.  So today we all opted to stay on the ground and prepare ourselves and our gliders for tomorrow. 

Last day - Friday 21 March 2025

This was the wave forecast on Skysight.

Yellow and red mean strong areas of wave lift - blue means descending areas

A task was set similar to earlier in the week;  300 km running up and down several times from Corwen, past Lake Bala, and down to Barmouth station on the west coast.

 

We all took a long aerotow to the area and got established climbing generally to 7-8,000 ft

Above this height the visibility was intermittent.

7,000 ft and still climbing 

Fires on the moorland adding to the hazy visibility

Phil and I enjoyed the wave flying but Andy really went for it, achieving a flight of 256 km and a maximum height of 15,000 ft.

Andy's BGA ladder score.  Third highest for the day.

After landing we all made the long trip back to Devon. 

A great week, a great advert for early trips away to other clubs. We agreed that we all benefited from team work and all managed to gain knowledge from one another.

We now feel ready for the summer season.

Thanks to all who went, and all at Denbigh Gliding for the warm reception, great local knowledge, and weather forecasting/task setting.

Richard Roberts

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 Gavin Short