Blue sky, north westerly breeze, rapidly forming cu, should be a good day.
No. The good looking cloud was not supported by any usable thermals. However, this made the conditions good for lots of training and this continued at a good pace throughout the day.
The private gliders ( ASW20, Open Cirrus and Jantar1 ) almost looked forlorn lined up at the launch point waiting for the conditions to chamge.
And at 3pm change it did. The amount of cloud reduced, the breeze swung arount to the west as a new airmass arrived. Game on. Suddenly gliders were soaring. The private gliders launched. Additional gliders were hastily collected from the hangar to join the fun.
The conditions were far from classic with very narrow thermals that were not very well organised. However, most pilots managed local soaring flights and all ended the day with big grins and a rosy glow.
After the toys were put away and most of the members had departed, the committee assembled in the clubhouse for a meeting which continued until well after dark.
Steve
Wednesday 12th May 2010
The day started with blue sky and a moderate breeze mostly from the north. The thermal activity started early and offered plenty of soaring. Pilots were reporting cloudbase at 4200 feet above the airfield.
Alan Ballard made good use of the conditions with a flight of just over 2 hours which will count towards his cross country endorsement. Andrew Beaumont added a flight of 40+ minutes to record his first bronge leg.
Phil Hardwick and Trevor Taylor made an cross country flight of 78 kms with an out and return flight to Eaglescott in the Twin Astir.
Barry Green made an "out and return" attempt to North Hill in his Astir CS. However, after getting to the Exe valley a sudden change in the conditions cut off the thermals and any possibilty of a return to Brentor. A field landing was inevitable. Barry made a good field selection, a good circuit and approach, and as for the landing, a slightly sheepish Barry said "if I had remembered to lower the undercarraige it would have been a cracker!". Even so, there was no damage and the retrieve crew had him back to the airfield by 6pm, just in time to head off to the pub.
Rain eventually stopped play.
Steve
Alan Ballard made good use of the conditions with a flight of just over 2 hours which will count towards his cross country endorsement. Andrew Beaumont added a flight of 40+ minutes to record his first bronge leg.
Phil Hardwick and Trevor Taylor made an cross country flight of 78 kms with an out and return flight to Eaglescott in the Twin Astir.
Barry Green made an "out and return" attempt to North Hill in his Astir CS. However, after getting to the Exe valley a sudden change in the conditions cut off the thermals and any possibilty of a return to Brentor. A field landing was inevitable. Barry made a good field selection, a good circuit and approach, and as for the landing, a slightly sheepish Barry said "if I had remembered to lower the undercarraige it would have been a cracker!". Even so, there was no damage and the retrieve crew had him back to the airfield by 6pm, just in time to head off to the pub.
Rain eventually stopped play.
Steve
Congratulations Martin Smith
Martin Smith has re-qualilfied as an Assistant Category Instructor after a successful test with the regional examiner.Well done Martin
Steve
Steve
Sunday 9th May 2010
Chilly day, with a northerly wind and a hopeful looking sky.
Unfortunately very little in the way of useable lift developed, Alan
Ballard showed us all up by soaring quite happily.
Well done Alan Carter, first flight in the K6.
Lots of instructor training today, briefly interrupted by a flying
visit from our DCFI in the Rotax Falke---gosh that thing is quiet.
Don
Unfortunately very little in the way of useable lift developed, Alan
Ballard showed us all up by soaring quite happily.
Well done Alan Carter, first flight in the K6.
Lots of instructor training today, briefly interrupted by a flying
visit from our DCFI in the Rotax Falke---gosh that thing is quiet.
Don
Saturday 8th May 2010
Today started with very low cloud, occational drizzle and a strong wind from the NE.
The club was busy with members catching up with various projects. Bob,Ged and John were repairing the tracks. Don was in hangar tidying mode and Martin, with juniors Mathew and Simon, made a very good start on the simulator project by cutting the old FHU cockpit from the rest of the fuselage and preparing it for painting.
The cloud lifted a little after lunch and gave our trainee pilots and visiting instructor Tim a chance to tackle the cross wind conditions.
Steve
The club was busy with members catching up with various projects. Bob,Ged and John were repairing the tracks. Don was in hangar tidying mode and Martin, with juniors Mathew and Simon, made a very good start on the simulator project by cutting the old FHU cockpit from the rest of the fuselage and preparing it for painting.
The cloud lifted a little after lunch and gave our trainee pilots and visiting instructor Tim a chance to tackle the cross wind conditions.
Steve
Junior Gliding
It is with great excitement, and not a little pride, that I received the news today that Dartmoor Gliding Society has been accredited as a Junior Gliding Centre by the British Gliding Association ( BGA ).
The aim of this project is to encourage more juniors into our sport. We will be publishing more details on the new "Junior Gliding" page on the club website in the near future.
Many thanks to Bob Jones, our Junior Gliding Coordinator, ( as well as Club Secretary ) for his work on achieving this accreditation.
Steve Lewis ( Chairman )
The aim of this project is to encourage more juniors into our sport. We will be publishing more details on the new "Junior Gliding" page on the club website in the near future.
Many thanks to Bob Jones, our Junior Gliding Coordinator, ( as well as Club Secretary ) for his work on achieving this accreditation.
Steve Lewis ( Chairman )
Wednesday 5th May 2010
A light northerly all day with broken thermals to 2600 QFE.
Farmer Phil, assisted taking the old trailer full of old scrap metal
to the dump first thing---over £100 for the old rubbish, we need to do
that again!
Winch training continued today with Bob patiently sitting
in and keeping our trainee drivers out of trouble. A steady training day today with the 2 seaters busy all day, lots of bronze C stuff completed.
A warm welcome to Colin Boyd who we all hope wil decide to rejoin us.
Don
Farmer Phil, assisted taking the old trailer full of old scrap metal
to the dump first thing---over £100 for the old rubbish, we need to do
that again!
Winch training continued today with Bob patiently sitting
in and keeping our trainee drivers out of trouble. A steady training day today with the 2 seaters busy all day, lots of bronze C stuff completed.
A warm welcome to Colin Boyd who we all hope wil decide to rejoin us.
Don
Monday 3rd May 2010
Guy massey showed us the way by opening the hangar doors before 8
am----almost caught me out.
An awkward cross wind all day, but strong thermals at times. One 2 seater was out of action with a minor defect, this made the remaining 2 seater busy. Some useful flying training,
Stuart celebrated going on the fixed price to solo scheme with athermal climb to almost 4000ft over the airfield---good fun.
Don
am----almost caught me out.
An awkward cross wind all day, but strong thermals at times. One 2 seater was out of action with a minor defect, this made the remaining 2 seater busy. Some useful flying training,
Stuart celebrated going on the fixed price to solo scheme with athermal climb to almost 4000ft over the airfield---good fun.
Don
Sunday 2nd May 2010
Weather grim, low cloud and drizzle in the morning.
A good day for a weather briefing and some more tidying up.
The weather brightened later, but too late to usefully use the window.
Don
A good day for a weather briefing and some more tidying up.
The weather brightened later, but too late to usefully use the window.
Don
Saturday 1st May 2010
The forecast today looked promising. The early weather was not as the forecast had predicted with very low cloud and drizzle.
The faithful were rewarded with a break in the weather just after midday. Toys out of the hangar and soaring by 1:30pm.
Dave and Daryl, the two trainees on site took advantage of the situation to get in lots of training flights with CFI Don.
Also taking advantage were Ged and David who were using Don’s expertise for some Instructor Preparation flights.
Steve Lewis
The faithful were rewarded with a break in the weather just after midday. Toys out of the hangar and soaring by 1:30pm.
Dave and Daryl, the two trainees on site took advantage of the situation to get in lots of training flights with CFI Don.
Also taking advantage were Ged and David who were using Don’s expertise for some Instructor Preparation flights.
Steve Lewis
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