Guess who didn't listen to the perceived wisdom "Ne'er cast a clout till May is out"? Having been suckered by the recent warmer weather I foolishly left my thermal vest at home. Boy, was it needed today. It was that cold in the north-easterly breeze I had to fly with my coat on which I very rarely do. There was no rain, the occasional glimpse of sunshine, and cloud base rising to over 4,000ft QNH. Skysight forecast some thermal activity but alas it wasn't enough to change the day from one of, slightly extended, training circuits. Spring will come but perhaps not until after Easter.
Today comprised a number of milestones. The first was our first One Day Course of the year; 14 yro junior Edward Bailey. Edward hails from Bray Shop, Callington, in Cornwall. He goes to school in Tavistock and so the club is very close for him. He was accompanied by Dad, Alex, who is a photographer and later by Mum, Julie. Edward's long-term ambition has been to fly, and perhaps to join the Royal Air Force. Here at Dartmoor Gliding we can help to make those dreams come true.
With the wind from the Northwest we set up at the east end and deployed a K-13, FSD, Astir CS77, DNE, and a Twin Astir 1, DSL. After the morning brief, a video (more details later), and the One Day Course brief for Edward and Dad, Alex, listening in, flying commenced. Peter took Steve Fletcher for some instructor conversion in the Twin Astir 1.
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| Diesel in da house! DSL, the Twin Astir 1, has entered general service at DGS. |
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| Steve Fletcher continues his instructor conversion to the Twin Astir 1 with DCFI Peter Howarth about to initiate a simulated launch failure. |
Meanwhile, the Duty Instructor's focus was David Osment and making sure he was current and could handle simulated launch failures. He obviously was...
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| The Duty Instructor, Mike Jardine, says those amazing words to David Osment. "Would you like to try that again, on your own?" |
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| "K-13, Solo. All out, all out!" |
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Nervous Proud Dad, John, records the event for posterity. |
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| Mike Jardine awards David Osment his glider pilot wings. Congratulations David. |
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| David Moorley ready to take his first flight in the Twin Astir 1... with the Duty Instructor that is! |
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| The Wavers got to grips with the tow out gear for the Twin Astir. It makes manoeuvring the heavy-tailed glider easier, and it is a bit quicker in bringing the glider back to the launch point |
With the Twin Astir now in service first flights were made by Mike Bennett, Ian King, Dave Archer, and David Morley who all handled the aircraft well. Other members will be queuing up to fly DSL, and in due course HBK our second Twin Astir, in the forthcoming weeks.
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| There was a second Astir on the field today, albeit with the rear seat missing. John Smith took two flights in DNE. |
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| Edward and Gavin return from their third flight. A nice "two point" touchdown. |
After a set of three flights Edward and I handed the K-13 back to the
Duty Instructor to allow him to fly with Michael Malric-Smith for a pair
of flights. The first just scraping in to get "Man of the Match" with a
dizzying eight minutes of flight.
It was quite a day for Michael. After surviving the embarrassment of an impromptu showing at the morning brief of an old YouTube clip of "You Bet" with Matthew Kelly and our Michael spot landing his helicopter after an autorotation, it was back down to earth with duties in the launch bus. Michael was making a new strop for glider launching and took the opportunity to demonstrate rope splicing to Edward. Engrossing stuff, so much so that we didn't get Edward in the tower to observe radio communications and take part in the logging of glider flight times. Next time then.
After a lunch break Edward and I went to the winch so he could witness "the power and the glory" of the V8 engine of our auto winch on full song. Robin was the winch driver and gave a doctor's analysis of the procedure. No scalpels were observed, but the precision needed to get the drogue and wire on to the field in the cross wind was evident. After witnessing a number of launches by Robin we returned to the launch point to continue Edward's course.
As well as the Twin Astir we had launched K-13 twice with Christopher Morris. The first with Instructor Peter Howarth and the second on his own.
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| Christopher Morris, Seahawk GC, pleased to be cleared to fly solo, again, at Brentor |
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| Mike Bennett enjoying the delights of the Twin Astir after a good launch |
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| The visibility wasn't brilliant today. Even Mike Jardine's fancy iPhone couldn't focus on the horizon |
Study of the flight log back in the clubhouse revealed that we had another contender for "Man of the Match" with the two Mikes achieving eight minutes aloft too. Great stuff Mike (Bennett), as I think that was your first flight in a Twin Astir.
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| Junior Edward Bailey gets ready for his fourth flight of his One Day Course with Gavin |
Edward got to grips with the three primary controls during the day and enjoyed the encounters with some lift on the north side of the airfield. By the beaming smile on his face all could see that he is well and truly hooked on "free flight", as our Canadian cousins call it. We look forward to welcoming him back as a temporary member over the next three months which is part of the One Day Course (and trial flights) package. His last flight was a hangar landing. It gave him a chance to witness the Astir CS77 doing the same as we cleared the runway and walked our trusty steed, FSD, down to the hangar. Edward helped with the hangar packing. Afterwards in the clubhouse, he received his certificate and temporary membership card.
Today the Wednesday Wavers made 27 flights, ran the first One Day Course of 2026, continued instructor clearance for rear seat flying in the Twin Astir, introduced four Wavers plus a former syndicate member to the delights of the same, cleared a Seahawk GC member solo at Brentor, and of course sent David Osment solo. Congratulations all. What a day!
Gavin Short
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