Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 3 June 2026

Some things in life are inevitable.  After the sunshine and the heat comes the rain and cooler temperatures.  Well, it is the start of June, so what were you expecting; a blazing start to meteorological summer?

Andy's take on today's weather:

Wednesday Weather.
With low pressure centred off the north coast of Ireland we will be in an unstable air mass with some quite gusty winds.
Wind initially SSW at 15kts then going SW and increasing slightly to 17kts, once the front has passed. There should be some thermal activity going to 2,000ft from about 1300, but it will be very broken in the strong and gusty wind.

Today's synoptic chart courtesy of the Met Office. In sum; Messy!

There was a tiny weather window that Andy mentioned but not long enough to get the toys out.

The greenery says its summer but the amount of water coming off the airfield
 into the culverts says its winter.

Despite the gloom the inside of the clubhouse was looking sparkling thanks to John Smith, and others, for their efforts over the last few days with the paint brush.  Soon we be able to hang the large model glider from the eaves again.

In the mode of spring-cleaning Mike Bennett, aided by DB, set about washing his trailer.  I normally take mine to the hangar apron and use a hose, but the sky was easily provided that level of service for them. 

It was very wet most of the day

The gliders needed some TLC too and this was definitely the day to undertake it.  John Allan investigated the perplexing electrical gremlins in K-8, FXB.  Peter and I looked at the wiring for the Tasman variometer in the Twin Astir 1, DSL and discovered why the rear variometer repeater was intermittent.  Ty-wrapping is good but over ty-wrapping and placing strain of electrical connectors is not a good thing.

John took the K-8 instrument panel out and tracked down the source of its electrical woes.  He also stripped down and repaired the XK10 variometer that had stopped singing its song, caused by a loose connector on the motherboard.

John Allan reinstalling the K-8's instrument panel after repairs

The Chairman and I took the Astir CS77 seat out to reveal a jack plug connection in the cable to the loudspeaker.  Seat removal is never my favourite task in an Astir.  The loudspeaker connection was intermittent hence the fault-finding. The solution was to replace both the 3.5mm jack plug and the 3.5mm socket.  

To keep in our BGA Inspector's good books we hoovered under the cockpit before we started work.  In the workshop Colin was beavering away with the aileron repair on CCY's wing.  He applied Ceconite fabric after the woodworking was complete.  It now needs ironing, dope, undercoat and then topcoat.  The next few days will involve the production of the ARC paperwork and to chronicle what has been done.

The Astir CS77 during the lunch break.  Calm before the seat was removed and loudspeaker wiring connectors repaired.

After the K-8 instrument panel was reinstalled and tested it was Dave Archer's turn to work on FXB.  He replaced the co-axial connector on the radio antenna which was damaged.

Meanwhile, Peter and Steve, during a lull in the rain got the fuselage of the Twin Astir Trainer out of its trailer and refitted the seat side panels and seat supports.  Then Colin and Peter remade the brake cable that needed to be longer to allow full air brake travel. We will have to wait for the arrival of the new brake pads from Saftek Friction to complete the brake system work, but the reupholstered side panels can now be stuck in the cockpits.  Unfortunately rain stopped play.  But there was enough time for Peter to check the main wheel brake disc and clean off any surface rust ready for imminent use.

Some took an early lunch before the event of the day.  A special review meeting to elect our new treasurer, David Osment, as a Director.  The meeting was quick and David was unanimously voted in with no objections or abstentions. Welcome, David.

There was other non-maintenance effort going on.  Returning One Day Course candidate Phil Hayward worked with the Duty Instructor, Mike Jardine, to review Phil's newly issued training card to map his path from PPL (Private Pilot's Licence) to SPL (Sailplane Pilot Licence).  After that he made progress with this ground training card getting to understand how the club works and runs.

The furniture in the clubhouse kept on moving around throughout the day as John Smith, assisted by father and son team Osment, continued painting the interior of the clubhouse.

John Smith has been working his way to the back of the clubhouse. Here he is painting the parachute storage room.

What was the hardest job today?  The smallest of course.  The clip on the radio microphone in the K-8 wasn't working correctly.  It took the combined efforts of three glider pilots to work out what was wrong and rectify it.  Someone, its always him, isn't it?  Someone had resembled the spring clip incorrectly which of course is a much easier task than reassembling the clip correctly.

Concentration, frustration, determination, and then finally, success!

Before the Wavers dispersed we shared a moment of contemplation and remembrance for the three Royal Navy crew members of a Merlin Mk4 helicopter who sadly lost their lives early this morning when their aircraft crashed near Sourton, which is less than ten miles north of the airfield.  Our deepest sympathy to the families of the crew and members of the Fleet Air Arm.  Military flying is never routine.  May they rest in peace. 

So no flying today due to the poor weather conditions but much was achieved despite the sombre atmosphere.  Foolishly before I left the site I checked the forecast for Saturday.  I wish I hadn't!

Skysight's windgram for Saturday.  Oooh!

 Gavin Short