"It's the final countdown, the final countdown" with apologies to the rock band Europe... It's the final day of the expedition. What about the weather? Well, soarable. The wind direction would be a challenge. South-westerly veering to westerly and increasing in strength in the afternoon. A decision to launch on the long Runway 20 was made with the direction to "lay off", something that DGS pilots are well able to do.
After the morning brief, it was time to vacate the bunk rooms, have a final clear up of the kitchen, and take the tents and caravan awnings down. Also, to confirm the arrangements for paying our flying accounts.
The most important task was carried out by Mike, namely booking the dates for next year and ensuring that they are clear of the bank holidays so we don't get snarled up in the Bristol M5 traffic jams when going home.
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| "Oyez, Oyez, Oyez. The dates for the 2026 Aston Down expedition are Sunday, 10 May to Friday, 15 May. Oyez, Oyez, Oyez. God save the King.," |
It wasn't far to get the gliders from the trailers/rigging area onto the runway, and then one could, in a relaxed manner choose one's time to get on line. There would be two winch launch lines and a separate aerotow line. The CGC pundits were going to head downwind to Saltby and come back when the wind had veered to the west. That was too large an undertaking for most of us on the final day. I chose Adam's task from a few days back; Aston Down, Devizes, Worcester, and Aston Down.
The grid started launching, but then there was a hold-up in proceedings. The winch "blew up" and was taken off line. Most of us switched to the aerotow line. Unfortunately, Steve and Peter aren't aerotow current and pulled off the line, decided to leave for home early, and went and de-rigged. Maybe they should have waited because after an hour, the second winch was brought out ready, but the first winch was fixed...
Rick and Andy took an early winch launch. Andy clocking up just shy of two hours in the air. John opted for an aero tow and enjoyed 3 hours 22 minutes before landing in the afternoon as he was having to dodge rain showers aloft.
The conditions were challenging to say the least, bumpy, thermals that were difficult to find and centre. The westerly wind was a challenge for me. After my first aerotow, I found myself low and being pushed up against the Kemble ATZ by the surprisingly strong wind. Not good for one's stress levels. I headed back to the airfield and decided to land on Runway 02, i.e the opposite direction, in the south field after 36 minutes. Needless to say, my task didn't happen. Phil however, who launched after me, showed me how it's done with a 2 hour 10 minute flight.
I had a chat to the winch driver who was up and running again by then. One of the CGC course members kindly brought the buggy and towed me back to the launch point. I was ready to walk back and get my car and the glider's tow-out gear.
I was put online in the winch queue. There was a CGC Standard Cirrus in the aerotow queue. Two Cirri lined up at the front of the grid! After talking to the tuggy (tug pilot) and establishing that he was happy to launch me from where I was lined up, I decided to take another aerotow to ensure currency. I managed over an hour in the difficult conditions and then came in and landed near the trailers.
Scratch, Val, and Neal were doing a great job keeping the launch point going. Rick was aloft in his syndicate's Standard Cirrus, FCN, and regularly called down to check if the launch point needed more manpower. However, with the majority adopting aerotows, less manpower was needed. So our CFI clocked up another, all-important for his instructor's rating, 2 hours 23 minutes of solo flight.
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| Val's view of the Eurofox tug |
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| Scratch's intense concentration writ large while he ensures that he can see the tug past Val's hairdo! |
Val and Scratch had two flights in the curiously registered G-EENK, K-21 training glider. The first flight was an aerotow to 2,000ft AGL, they experienced weak
broken lift and heavy sink, producing a flight of just 25 minutes. The second flight was a winch launch. There were very turbulent, bumpy thermals, often at 6 to 8 up and the same down,
cloud base just over 4,000ft AGL and they completed an hour and 10 minute flight.
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| Proof that Val took the K-21 to 4,000 feet. "It was all my own work, honest!" she said. |
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Scratch is looking a little more relaxed at altitude, and no Eurofox tug to worry about.
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Almost as if in some form of stealth mode, Snoopy had taken a winch launch, and together, Snoopy and Polo Boy spent five hours soaring within four miles of Aston Down. Most of the time seemed to be spent overhead the polo fields, but wisely from 4,000 feet AGL this time. Was there something, or someone perchance, that caught your eye yesterday, Adam?
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| CNN parked up after my second flight, ready to have the wings washed to get rid of any bugs, and then to be de-rigged for the journey home. |
The original plan was to go back to Brentor in convoy after some supper to wait for the inevitable traffic jam around Bristol due to the Bank Holiday and half-term traffic to subside. It didn't happen that way. Mike had to go back early to be ready for a commitment that he couldn't break on Saturday. Steve and Peter departed early when the winch went offline, and Rick headed off to Oxford to stay with relatives. Scratch and Val headed off later. John and Sean stayed the night and headed back in the morning.
I was smooth-talked by Phil on the logic of being ahead of the traffic from London and Birmingham, and he, Andy, and I left by 1630, but we were staggered in our departure. In hindsight it was probably better that we didn't go in convoy rather than generate negative PR for the sport by causing any extra road blockages. As expected, the traffic was heavy. Fortunately, we weren't going northbound as the M5 was blocked on three occasions with accidents.
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| CNN parked up at 2045, ready to be pushed back into the rack on Sunday. It was starting to spit with rain. We are back on Dartmoor after all! |
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| Not all the Expeders had returned, or had they had headed elsewhere, and so the glider "rack" still had plenty of holes in it |
The feedback to Mike on the expedition was universally positive. Andy summed it up:
"Can I echo all of the above?
Fantastic Flying,
Fantastic company,
Fantastic food.
Overall, a fantastic week."
What had been achieved at Aston Down?: a 50 km distance flight, a 100 km diploma flight, a five-hour duration (Sean), various cross country adventures, many long flights, a successful land out and retrieve (Polo Boy), winch and aerotow launches, thermal flights, convergence flights, and a wave flight (Andy). DGS pilots also avoided any unexpected audiences with the King! Overall, the DGS Expeders flew (including Sean's flying at Nympsfield and an early start at Aston Down by John) a grand total of 137 hours 14 minutes of flight. It was indeed a very good week with no non-flying days!
Finally, our thanks go to our genial hosts from the Cotswold Gliding Club, the permanent instructor, Ryan, whose laid-back, competent approach was much appreciated. In addition, the winch drivers and the tug pilots who kept launching us into the air. Also, to the long-suffering Susi, the Office Manager, for keeping us in line. Thank you. "We'll be back" (no, that's not meant to be an Arnie Schwarzenegger quote).
I am already looking forward to the expedition next year. With that, I sign off on the 2025 Aston Down blog. I hope you enjoyed our adventures, albeit vicariously. Come and join us next year.
Gavin Short
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