Dartmoor Gliding News–Saturday 23rd August 2014

Today was designated for club experienced pilots only. This done to allow our instructors a little time to fly for themselves in their own gliders without the pressure to man the back seat of the 2 seaters.

The RASP forecast was suggesting a hopelessly optimistic picture. In reality, with the strong NW wind, soaring conditions at Brentor can be testing with large areas of sinking air interspersed with tight, narrow, and often very boisterous, thermals. This may be due to wave effects from the coast or Bodmin moor but the jury is still out on that theory.

Today lived up to this pattern, particularly early on when missing one thermal would put you on the ground again. My own flight was like this; flying the mighty Jantar 1, I scratched away from 500 feet in what felt like a narrow column of thermal bubbles which topped out at 2000 feet. Pushing forward into the wind from the edge of Dartmoor where the climb had drifted me, I skipped the first couple of thermals ( standard practice flying this glider ) only to find that the cloud I aimed for gave nothing; a few minutes later I was sitting on the runway trying to figure out what had happened.

The Jantar 1 waiting to join the fun

Ged Nevisky did a better flying his Open Cirrus but abandoned his task after taking more that an hour and twenty minutes to reach Roadford Lake which is usually regarded as local soaring in good conditions.

Ged Nevishy and his Open Cirrus

The best effort today by a long way was Rick Wiles flying the club Pirat. Rick managed to approach the M5 52.6 km away where he turned to head back to Brentor. This is where things got even more difficult and he eventually landed out just east of Okehampton. This flight will count as his 50km Cross Country flight and completes his Silver “C”.

Rick waiting to go in the Pirat

After putting away our own gliders, Ged and I, accompanied by Scratch Hitchin, went out and retrieved Rick from his field. I must say he picked a really good field with a great surface. Access was a bit testing but a little hand pushing of the trailer soon sorted that out. We returned the the airfield just as the sun was setting which is disappointingly early these days.

The Pirat's first wing tip is off and being put into the trailer

So what did we achieve.19 launches for a total flight time of over 10 hours. a successful 50 km flight to create a new Silver ”C”  and a successful retrieve. A really good day.

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News–Wednesday 20th August 2014

Suffering rapidly-developing cold symptoms, my personal variometer was stuck on 'sink' to such an extent that by mid-afternoon, having completed a series of ab initio training flights, I handed over to Ged Nevisky for the last couple of refresher flights and slunk off homeward.

A nice view of Roadford Lake taken by Mike Gadd from the Open Cirrus

In contrast, the weather provided a far more cheerful picture, with conditions improving in the afternoon providing plenty of well-formed thermals and some classic cloud streets. These conditions continued well into the evening. Several of the usual suspects were unable to take advantage of these superb conditions in our own gliders, because Steve Lewis had a full training programme with two one-day courses to deliver, Mike Gadd and Ged were engaged in weighing the Open Cirrus, and I was in no state to do justice to the ASW when it (and I) became available.

Weighing the Open Cirrus

One Day Course candidate Malcolm Gibb

Grania Phillips enjoyed her One Day Course

So it was down to my syndicate partner, Martin Broadway, to disappear upwind, returning with a big smile after 1 hour 48 minutes. This was narrowly eclipsed by a later flight by Mike Gadd in the Open Cirrus who flew after finishing the reweighing and managed 1 hour 55 minutes. Other notable flights were Phil Hardwick 1 hr38 in Astir G- CFCJ and Colin Boyd 1:36 in his beautiful K6CR G-DFUB.

Part of today's crowd at the launchpoint 

Other highlights of the day were some great launches (apart from a 'lost half hour' during the afternoon) and a launch point crowded with gliders, club members and visitors. Even with the lost time we still achieved 40 launches

A health looking launch queue.

Always room for some banter.
Here Treasurer Steve Raine is extolling the advantages of using red wing tape.
 "Nobody ever asks to borrow some" he said

It was disappointing that yet again two of our three single-seaters remained in the hangar while there were experienced but disappointed solo pilots at the launch point waiting to fly. If you are in that category and have any concerns about upgrading to one of our 'hotter ships', talk to an instructor and we'll do our best to help you.

Let's get 'em flying!

Bob Pirie

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 16th August 2014

The RASP soaring forecast looked great. This seemed  a little at odds with today’s weather forecast but, never mind, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Even allowing for the fact that Saturday stalwarts Mike and Rick were away at Aston Down  the club was very quiet. In fact we had no club trainees at all so, Instructor Ged Nevisky and I decided to share the flying of today’s planned 5 visitors Michael Dyer, Barry Bowden, Alan Moss, Nick Jest and John King. Everyone seemed to enjoy their flights.

Michael Dyer with Ged in the K13

Alan Moss flew with me. The "Rambo style" headgear is a video camera. 

Nick Jest also flew with me

Visitor John King pictured here with Ged

Today’s highlight was Mike Keller flying his syndicate K8 for the first time. His smile showed us how much he enjoyed this glider which always looks so well turned out. He was helped with the rigging and derigging by a couple of us with lots of experience of this glider type and I am sure we will have him fully trained in the black art of glider rigging real soon.

Mike Keller looks pleased with his K8

And the weather? Well, the wind remained straight down the runway all day giving easy flying conditions with great launch heights to 1500 feet. The conditions were cyclic with an area of soarable clouds followed by a line of showers followed by a dead area with no discernable convection and then another area of soarable clouds etc. The conditions recycled four times throughout the day. We saw lots of showers but none fell on the airfield.

The unsoarable conditions overhead following a line of showers with better looking clouds in the distance

So getting a good flight was a matter of timing ( and maybe luck? ). Best flight of the day was visitor Alan Moss flying in K13 G-DDMX with me. We soared for 27 minutes to 2500 feet and only returned to the airfield to free up the glider for it’s next flight.

Many thanks to those members who did turn up and made today the pleasure that it was.

Steve 

Mike and Rick at Aston Down 16th August 2014

To finalise the training to carry out introduction flights at Dartmoor Gliding, Rick and I travelled to Aston Down to meet with Don Puttock.

Early Saturday morning saw the arrival at Aston of two hot air balloons  landing next to the 1 mile runway , next to arrive was Don in the number 89 bus , Aston's mobile launch point. We can pinch e few ideas from that for our project.

The Cotswold Gliding Club, Aston Down

Flying started early and commenced in a PW6U , first was a familiarisation of the airfield and aircraft flight , lovely aircraft and great for the spinning exercises that were to be carried out.  We had fantastic views of the Cotswolds and what a difference to be looking down at a Tarmac runway. After use of that aircraft we moved to one of the clubs K13's to continue our flights and training.

A PW6 2 seat glider

We both had an excellent day at Aston and thanks go to Don for making himself available to carry out the training. Also a thanks to the members of Aston for their welcome and assistance.

Well done to Rick who is now ready to assist our team of instructors and I hope to be joining them shortly.

Mike Jardine

Dartmoor Gliding News-Wednesday 13th August 2014

 Although there were hints of something better to come later on, today started wet... wet... wet.. and with a strong north westerly crosswind blowing. Any thoughts of campaigning club single seaters soon passed, so it was out with the two-seaters, while Martin Broadway and Dick Masters carried out monthly maintenance on the K8. It was not alone in receiving special attention, being joined down at the hangar by the privately-owned K8 of Bob Sansom and Mike Keller, undergoing its annual inspection by John Bolt.

The Hanson's. Kiyomi, Jacqui and Fraser

 Once again we were fortunate to have several experienced Wednesday regulars running the field, but few of our regular ab initios (which was a shame because with two two seaters, our capacity is greatly improved).
Our usual early birds were assisted today by enthusiastic junior temporary members, Fraser and Kiyomi Hanson, accompanied by their mother Jacqui, who are about to rejoin their Emirates captain father, at their home in Dubai. Having missed out on flights over the last couple of weeks, we 'upgraded' them to take the first two pairs of instructional flights in the capable hands on Steve Lewis and Ged Nevisky. They pitched in enthusiastically with various tasks, performed well in the air, and we look forward to seeing them again around Christmas time.

The ever busy Astir syndicate, Ged and Robin this time.

The heavy showers took a while to clear, delaying the start of proceedings. But after the youngsters had flown, I delivered ab initio and more advanced instruction in DMX, while Steve, with some assistance from Ged, put smiles on the faces of Paul Abrey, Nigel Jenkins, Rupert Grantham and Jim Strachan, today’s  trial lesson candidates. The only other glider to take to the air was the Twin Astir, which was once again flown by various permutations of syndicate members. The air was 'lumpy' and soaring conditions not easy, but Ged and Robin Wilson ended the day with a top-scoring flight of 21 minutes.

Paul Abrey

Nigel Jenkins flew with Ged

Rupert Grantham

Jim Strachan and family

We ended the day at a respectable hour, unanimous in our gratitude to the small team of dedicated members who have worked hard to ensure that we once again have two serviceable two-seaters to meet the needs of club members and visitors. All we need now is the weather!

Bob Pirie

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 9th August 2014

The forecast was for a SW wind gaining in strength and getting more gusty. This and the impending arrival of an intense low pressure system previously know as Hurricane Bertha suggested a training day.

David Bourchier is just the right height to balance the wingtip on his head while rigging the K13

The day started with K13 G-DDMX being re-assembled after it’s recent C of A work. For the last 2 days a small army of members led by Inspector John Bolt have taken the aircraft through all of it’s annual inspections and I must say it was looking nice with it’s freshly painted wing tips and chip free leading edges. Thank you everyone who was involved.

Do you recognise this man? It me doing rudder pedal adjustments

Chief Flying Instructor Don Puttock was on duty today and he and I shared K7M G-DCLT until the K13 and Instructor (and club fleet manager) Ged Nevisky joined us at the launch point in the early afternoon.
We flew several Air Experience Visitors between us in the buoyant and sometimes soarable conditions. The solo pilots made good use of the K8 until the gusty conditions dictated that it would be better left on the ground.

Air Experience visitor Elizabeth Page with me in K7M G-DCLT

Visitor Pietar De Wilde and family

Visitor Miles Redhead was flown by Ged

Visitor Marie Lashbrook flew with Don in the K13

 Highlight of the day was the first visit by James Brown who has joined us as a junior member. Currently studying for his A Levels James is an ATC glider pilot ( grade 2, I think ) who will now undergo additional training to help him convert to Sport Gliding and study and practice for his Glider Pilots licence.

New member James Brown started his sport gliding career with Ged in K7m G-DCLT

A good club flying day

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News-Wednesday 6th August 2014

Plenty of our more experienced members – plus ab initio student Chris Jones – responded to my call for an early start. The K-8 (still on its trailer from Sunday’s field landing) was cast aside initially, with emphasis placed on getting both two-seaters airborne and earning their keep. With training flights underway, the K8 was rigged and then test flown by Martin Broadway, before providing plenty of fun for solo pilots, and more than earning its keep in the process.

With a light WNW wind and the winch in the end field, launches up to 1,500 feet were the norm, with a whole succession of winch and cable retrieve drivers sharing the workload .

Chris and I started the day with a good soaring flight in DMX, facilitating a useful programme of ab initio exercises, followed later by a series of dual flights with John Rogers. For the rest of the day, I focused mainly on my undeclared personal objective of getting three of our lapsed solo pilots – Mike Keller, Dick Masters and Chris Fagg – up and away on their own once again in the K8. This involved a fair amount of spinning, and several simulated launch failures, including one straight ahead from a great height into the empty bit of the sheep field. (Well, we do say ‘If it is safe to land ahead, do so’, don’t we?) John Bolt and Bob Sansom also soared this popular little glider.

A "flock? or squadron?" of K8 pilots. From left to right
Bob Sansom, Chris Fagg, John Bolt, Mike Keller and Dick Masters

Trial lesson Instructor Steve Lewis was busy as usual in CLT, flying with trial lesson candidates Ian Greening, Malcolm Roberts and Vernon Smith, as well as Junior Member Ross Pratt

Malcolm Roberts took his air experience flights with Ged

Vernon Smith in K7M G-DCLT

Junior member Ross Pratt waiting to go after Dick Masters helped him strap in.

The only other gliders in action today were the Zugvogel, which Alan Holland extracted from the back of the hangar during the afternoon to go soaring, and the Twin Astir, which was campaigned enthusiastically by various permutations of syndicate members under Ged Nevisky’s supervision.

A pity that there were no private single-seater gliders in action, but an upside to this situation was that several of their owners were with us today, keeping the field running and taking to the air in club gliders, including Mike Gadd introducing his father-in-law, John Wheeler , to our sport. Our ab initio ranks were slimmer than usual due to holidays.

Mike Gadd with his father-in-law John Wheeler

Operationally, it was a pleasant and productive day, overshadowed only slightly by the prospect of our having to de-rig DMX ready for its annual inspection before we headed homeward at the end of the day. In fact, the club’s favourite workhorse suffered from a punctured main-wheel tyre during the late afternoon, causing extra aggro for Vice-Chairman Colin Boyd and a small team of helpers who carried out a repair to enable the glider to be towed back from the far end of the airfield to the hangar.

Changing a K13 main wheel is a spectator sport appartently.

Usually as the end of the day nears, members tend to drift away to engage in nocturnal pursuits, but this evening a dedicated crowd remained not only to put the kit away, but to get DMX de-rigged and ready for John Bolt and David Bourchier, along with various volunteers, to carry out essential C of A inspection work tomorrow and on Friday prior to the revalidation of it’s ARC ( Airworthiness Review Certificate ). Hopefully, we’ll then have two two-seaters available for the weekend. Such voluntary effort is well and truly ‘above and beyond the call’ – and we thank you both, as well as all those other members who have committed to help you to make it happen.

Many hands make light work

Positioning the parts in the hangar ready for the workers.

Turning the fuselage upside down 

Bob Pirie

Dartmoor Gliding News–Sunday 3rd August 2014

Most glider pilots take an interest in the weather. Some, like myself, out of a sense of duty, as would be expected from the Rostered Instructor, and others to help them in their decision about whether the club/flying wins over the barbecue/beach/seasonal sporting event.  Well today was a day when, had you studied the blues on the chart, the low vertical fpm and almost 100% cloud cover predicted by RASP, you might well not have bothered.

Fortunately, the Sunday Soarers are built of more dedicated - if not perhaps more ignorant - stuff, and hence provided a flight line of three privately owned K-6s, plus the club K-8 and two seater K-13, but not before a welcome return of the Soarers' Sunday Sizzler, and more...

Chris Owen at 2,800ft, just below cloudbase, looking towards the Tamar and Cornish Coast.

Getting the airfield set up in time for One Day Course student Brian Rickard proved no problem with the number of members on hand, however with only one instructor on site it was not possible to accommodate some speculative 'walk in' potential Trial Lessons who appeared during the day.  Nonetheless, by 1030 Brian was in the air and instantly it was apparent that the pessimistic forecast given by RASP was wrong, as by his third flight at midday it was possible to catch a ride to 3,000ft and give him an insight into flying the glider using all three controls together.

Roadford Resevoir from the South West from 3800 feet

The afternoon enable the K-6 pundits to plaster themselves all over the sky, and also the winch (for which many thanks: no known launch less than 1100ft) and those without the privilege of owning a K-6 to use the club's K-8: Tony 'Dixie' Dean managing almost 90 mins in our example, before ending just a little short of the launch-point in 'Dick Toop's' field.

Looking south from 3200 feet. The Tamar estuary at Plymouth top left

Returning solo pilot Karl Andrews gratefully took a flicker on  the vario that delivered him to cloudbase at around 2,800ft 10 minutes later, and 12 year old Eliot Acton was able to experiment with his new K-13 'booster' seat - no, not one of Martin-Baker's - they're ejection seats - it was time to return the K-13 to the hangar.

Karl Andrew, having scratched away from 800ft above Mike Stacey's farm, at 2,800ft ten minutes later.

Later, the  retrieve of the K-8 proving tiring, but uneventful', although it did highlight some deficiencies in the rig/derigging kit, which landing out pilot Dixie Dean has promised to rectify.

The K8 resting peacefully in "Dick Toop's" field

Ready to return to the club

Altogether a day exceeded all expectations, could easily have led to some interesting cross countries, both west and easy bound, and was the first time that I have ridge soared Brent Tor itself (the perceived wisdom being that the wind goes round, rather than over it - no, it can be used, today producing 4 up between 800-1000ft).

As for those who studied the weather forecast and decided to let it stop them going to the club, the photos here tell their own story. 

We are all grateful to Dave Parker, Scratch, Robin Wilson and Roger Applebeezer for their tenacious handling of the Guslaunch through the 'flat spot', thus delivering some very useful launches, never less than 1100ft

Martin Cropper

Dartmoor Gliding News–Saturday 2nd August 2014

I think that our members sometimes look at the national weather forecast and abandon their hope of flying. Today’s national forecast was full of dire warnings of gale force winds and torrential rain. A little careful searching of the local forecast revealed that most of today would be perfectly flyable.

Today's tempting sky

But the national forecast had done it’s damage; the club was quiet with just a small band of experienced members in attendance. Although there was enough of us to start flying immediately we decided to complete some jobs first.

Not exactly an F1 style wheel change. It took 3 of us an embarrassingly long time.

The first task was to replace the K13 rear wheel tube and tyre with brand new parts. This simple sounding jobs required quite a bit of wrestling with such a stiff tyre on the one piece rim. But we were up to the task.

After a much needed tea break, which was encouraged by a torrential shower, it was on with the main job. K7M G-DCLT had it’s maintenance completed and the aircraft assembled ready for a test flight prior to returning to the club fleet.

Finishing off CLT

The arrival of Paula Howarth, today’s Air Experience Candidate,  prompted us to get on with flying. Paula enjoyed a couple flights in K13 GDDMX with me during which we soaring easily in the windy but very buoyant conditions.

Today's visitor Paula

By the time we landed, K7M G-DCLT was ready to go and Instructor Ged Nevisky put it through it’s paces with a test flight that seemed to include every aspect of it’s flight envelope after which it was pronounced ready for club service. Wasting no time, Mike Jardine jumped in a took it soaring.

CLT after it's successful test flight

Mike Jardine ready to go soaring in CLT 

Elsewhere, Allan Holland completed the minor repairs to Pirat tailplane, which, once signed off by John Bolt, was reassembled ready for club use.

We achieved a lot today.

Steve