Dartmoor Gliding News - Saturday 28th March 2026

Saturday was a somewhat difficult day with a strong north westerly wind and due to this, visitor flights had to be postponed and unfortunately some people were unable to fly the Astir. 

Despite this, some good flying occurred with Scratch having the flight of the day at 45 minutes in the Astir. However some were not as lucky. For example, Jamie came off the cable straight into 10 down and had to enter circuit shortly after this. 

Final Approach view of the runway

Looking south towards Plymouth from under a dark cloud

Overall though, the flying was fairly good with some strong (but tight) thermals with the risk of being blown to the southerly side of the airfield if you weren’t careful. Airfield operations were fairly smooth also with only one aborted take off. It was however very cold due to the wind chill so wrapping up warm was very important. 

Steve and Phil enjoying a flight together in a K13

Now that's a thermal - 8 knots up

Rick and Phil also managed a hanger landing in the new Twin Astir “DSL” at the end of the day so hopefully soon enough Rick will be able to fly some of us trainee members in it to get us used to the aircraft as well. To conclude, Saturday was a good day of flying despite the challenging conditions and we are exited to see the Twin Astir become gradually more integrated with the fleet!

In the hangar the progress on the G103 Twin Trainer continues and K8 FXB is undergoing work for it's ARC/CofA prior to re-joining the fleet.

FXB's wings inspected and ready

The Twin Trainer rear panel with the new 
microphone fitted

Elliot Flannery