Dartmoor Gliding News - Saturday 15th November 2025

After yesterday's visit from Storm Claudia, the first order of business was a pitch inspection. The runway was in surprisingly good condition given the prodigious amount rain over the last couple of days... With the wind in the east there is always a possibility of wave and today was like that. The signs were good from the start. There was a cap cloud covering Dartmoor. The were several stationary lines of clouds laying more or less north - south. Game on.

The early view to the east - wave clouds on view

And later. The clouds have dissipated but the wave is still there

The conditions early on were somewhat challenging with the wave moving around / coming and going. This did not stop Andy Davey flying the club Astir CS77 for 53 minutes returning after he had explored the local wave system.

By lunchtime, the wave was really established and entry to the system was an easy, short, jog east from the top of  the winch launch to the edge of the cloud where a right turn had the glider climbing in smooth lift. Climb rates varied but typically 2 knots low down building to 4 knots a few hundred feet higher. Occasional patches of 6 - 8 knots were reported. The local wave system topped out at 4000ft QFE ( or 4800t above sea level). 

To the north there was a large active looking cloud which produced much stronger and much rougher lift giving entry to the wave again which topped out at 6000ft above sea level north to Sourton just downwind of Yes Tor.

Mike and I ready to launch and ...

.. a couple of minutes later established in the wave and sharing a joke

Val enjoying the view

The view to the west as we rose above the cloud

The wave later in the day

This view never gets old

Rick progressing along the primary with 6 knots on the vario

Can you spot the K13 on the secondary wave bar?

Our One Day Course candidate was Daryl Vickery who was treated to several forays into the wave.

Daryl with Scratch

Elsewhere, Adam and I spent several hours replacing the complete rudder pedal assembly in the K8. It will return to service after certification from Colin.

A fantastic winter flying day with 17 launches with an average flight time of 32 minutes (flight times were curtailed by mutual agreement to ensure everyone could fly).

Steve