Dartmoor Gliding News-Wednesday 16th November 2022

A small team of seven arrived at the airfield today to fly. The RASP was predicting a lowering of the cloud base and rain around 2pm.

Overcast over a damp airfield

Training commenced with Guy Balmer having first conducted ground briefings by myself and Peter Howarth on Launches and Turning. These were then put into practice by Guy.

K8 was brought out and flown by those looking to keep current. Every opportunity needs to be taken now we have Autumn conditions to contend with.

K8 at the launchpoint

The rain as predicted arrived at the airfield at the east end launch area resulting in Robin’s third flight ending in hangar landing.

Rain approaching

The gliders were cleaned , dried and arranged in the hangar ready for the next outing.

Mike Jardine

Dartmoor Gliding News - Sunday 13th November 2022

As per yesterday’s blog, what would today bring. A moderate cross wind, no rain forecast and clear skies it was disappointing for such a small turnout today. Possibly Remembrance Sunday and family ties had something to do with it.

It was decided to just use the K13 today as the K8 would be out of limits with the cross wind. After several weeks without flying, first up was Ed Borlase for a couple of check flights. A covert organised power failure for the first flight soon got Ed back into his stride followed by a well-executed cross wind approach on his second flight deemed him clear for solo flying.

Ed waiting to get back to flying

Our ODC today was Mark Oswald. Purchased as a gift for Mark, it took two attempts to book in with us, but this was due to less-than ideal weather conditions previously. However, believe it or not today (in November) blue sky and mild temperatures surrounded us on this occasion. With an airline pilot as a cousin, Mark was keen from the start, showing good understanding during the morning briefing. After vocal reaction to the acceleration of the first launch, Richard knew Mark was loving the experience of gliding.

Mark receiving a briefing from Richard.

This was followed by good general control of the glider. Mastering use of the ailerons and elevator by the end of the course.  Well done. During his later flights, Mark was having difficulty feeling the rudder pedals. His trainers had a thick padded sole. For the last two flights he flew without the trainers and had greater control and feeling with his flying. We hope he can find time to return and make use of the three month’s membership over the winter months Mark.

Off Mark goes

And back again

After his recent operation, Steve Fletcher was back at the club undertaking light duties. He wanted to fly to see how he would react to being back in a glider. No reaction and a flight of 20 minutes for flight of the day left Steve very happy to be back.

Steve back in a glider.

Our view of low cloud over the moors

Phil Hardwick came back from the winch and enjoyed two circuits in the K13.

K13 FSD basking in the November sun.

The winch returns from the east end.

An unusually warm November day with a low turn out, we made the most of the day. Everybody left happy. Thank you all who were at the airfield today.

Peter Howarth

Dartmoor Gliding News - Saturday 12 November 2022

Today's forecast was for dry weather albeit with a south-easterly veering southerly crosswind that might be out of limits, but it would certainly be gusty.  Regrettably, not the required conditions to deliver the two scheduled One Day Courses so they were cancelled.  But on the plus side the Saturday crew could get some flying done on one of the few dry days expected in November, albeit in challenging conditions.

I had an errand to run in the morning so when I arrived, a little later than normal, the decision to cancel the two ODCs had already been made.  The winch was out on the field and the other equipment was arrayed ready for use as normal.  But there was a strange stasis about the scene and the members.  After I appended my name to the flying list I was informed that both of the serviceable K-13s had been taken off line.  There were problems with closing the canopy on both aircraft.  Colin, our BGA inspector, had been asked to come up to the club. So there would be a pause...

Freshly laundered glider and canopy cleaning cloths ready to be returned to the club, and the launch point support trailer, following their extensive use by the Wednesday Washers

Gliders are living things and can react to the local weather conditions.  An obvious one being the moisture which can cause a number of effects including changes in the canopy fit (Ed: This also happens with GRP gliders.  The Twin Astir syndicate experienced this recently.  I have also experienced this. A carefully fitted replacement canopy worked well in a continental climate (Mid Germany) but in a temperate maritime climate (Dartmoor) on warm, sunny days the canopy would not close).  On reflection this shouldn't have been unexpected as this was the first time we had operated our two "new" gliders from Eden Soaring in the autumn.  Although we bought them last December we didn't get them on line until the spring this year.

So while we waited for Colin's arrival the members' attention, albeit a little half-heartedly, turned to jobs that could be done.

One was retrieving the fuselage of CLT form the east end (Ed: The fuselage lying across the back of the pick-up certainly was a novel arrangement but it was prompted by an unroadworthy trailer. I am sorry it wasn't caught on camera).  The fuselage has been stored in the Chairman's ex- Jantar 1 trailer at the east end for many years.  The wings and fuselage had been scrapped but the fuselage had been offered to a local Scout group for conversion into a flight simulator.  After a lot of negotiations the Scouts didn't want it so its time to dispose of it.

Some were preparing for the Committee meeting planned for the evening. Dave Archer was working on radio antennae.  And of course, there was tea drinking accompanied by a veritable surfeit of jammy doughnuts supplied by various members.

The pause provided an opportunity for ground school training for junior Ella, with her Dad listening in.  The in-flight exercise for Ella today should have been launch failures, but the strong cross wind made it unsuitable for her first attempts at this important exercise.

Whilst waiting, Adam turned his attentions to K-13, FSD's canopy which, with a little cleaning of the operating mechanism and re-greasing, returned its operation to normal (Ed: FSD's canopy locking mechanism is strangely sensitive to the correct level of lubrication).

Then Colin arrived.  FSD was quickly cleared as serviceable and was taken to the launch point at the west end and instruction commenced. FGR's canopy did, as suspected, need some major fettling.  Adam and the Chairman set to with a sanding block, and lots of elbow grease, to achieve a much improved fit.  It took quite a long time to achieve (Ed: Thanks for the perseverance).  When they finished Colin applied a coating of dope to seal the exposed wood of the canopy frame.

A short distance away on the hangar apron Steve Lesson wielded a can of white line paint to renew the "Bourchier line" (Ed: Used for guiding the gliders on to the correct spot on the hangar apron).  He then set about the steps leading down to the hangar.

Adam Hoskin and Steve Lewis fettling K-13, FGR's canopy to ensure a good fit.  Note the "Bourchier line" in its repainted glory.

Winter's coming.  The edges of the hangar steps were also repainted to aid with safety.

Inside the hangar the glider tyre cabinet was receiving a clear out and a drying.  Somehow there had been water ingress into the cabinet which had never been seen before.  A stock take was completed and some replacement tyres and inner tubes will be ordered next week.

Little things.  We have managed to standardise on a single tail wheel tyre size for the K-13s.

During the annual inspection of CCY and GDK it has become clear than we need to order some spare parts; sleeved bearings and aileron hinges.  During the day I was in contact with our supplier in Germany.

This is a K-13 aileron operating rod bearing.  Replacements are being ordered from Germany.

With the hangar empty CCY's wings were laid out and sprayed with UV protection paint and two coats of under coat.  Adam tried his hand at spraying the undercoat (Ed: It looks very smart).  The club compressor initially didn't work until Dave Bourchier discovered that the thermal trip, hidden behind an access panel, needed to be reset.

Post application of Ultra-violet resistant paint and undercoat CCY's are stored upright.  The Chairman and our BGA Inspector discuss the next step to get CCY back in service.

Now to the flying.  First up was Mike Bennett for a couple of currency circuits with Rick, in the turbulent conditions.  It was obviously pretty turbulent as I was duly summoned from the hangar.  An experienced pilot was required (Ed: Why did the Chief Flying Instructor ask for you then?) for a weather check flight in the K-8 to determine if the conditions for were OK for solo pilots to fly the K-8.  After an exciting flight in all sections; launch, downwind leg, approach, and landing, with an accompanying high work rate throughout the answer to the question was a resounding "No"!

Back to the K-13 where Steve Lesson made further progress in progressing to solo during two short flights.  The turbulent conditions provided him good practice in both approach control and landings in the cross wind. There was also time for Rick to demonstrate a spiral dive to Steve.  John Allan then flew with Rick twice for some currency in the turbulent conditions. He was followed by Ella who is gaining confidence in handling the controls, able to hold an increased bank angle, and experienced the effects of the air brakes at differing speeds in pair of flights. 

David Archer was moved up the flying list and had to stop his work on VHF radio antennas to guarantee his flights, which were excellent: good circuits and good landings.  But not before he had managed to the check the antenna installation on Andy Davey's and Martin Broadway's Libelle.

The CFI commented "All three pre-solo trainees made excellent progress today in turbulent conditions and coped well with the challenge of the low cloud base"  (Ed: Well done all.  Sometimes the best progress can be made on mediocre days).

Scratch was relieved on the winch by Mike Bennett.  Scratch took a pair of flights with Steve Lesson. Then we moved on to request flights. Ged was given a simulated power failure at 500 feet.  His syndicate's Twin Astir is away in Swindon for re finishing and so, sensibly, Ged wanted to remain current.  He responded to the power failure exercise by conducting an abbreviated circuit to land safely.

Ella had another flight with Rick and then Steve Lesson also took a third flight with Rick to bring most of the trainees up to the optimal "set of three" package of flights for learning.

The day had started out sunny then clouded over, which had brought the turbulence as we started to fly.  When the wind was more easterly there were a few clues that wave might be forming.  A number of pilots thought they found some (Ed: Is this a case of pilots' optimism overcoming the reality which was borne out by the short flight times recorded in the tower?).

Andy and I  then flew.  FGR's canopy was closed and locked easily during our pre-flight checks (Ed:  Thanks Adam and Steve for a job well done),  Andy, in the front seat, acted as a spotter for any sign of lift after a great 1,450 foot launch.  To be different we turned left, downwind, towards Blackdown where we found some reduced sink and we hoped for a longer flight.  However, when we turned back to the airfield we experienced 8 knots of sink as we scuttled home across the valley, and landed after just 6 minutes of flight.

"Man of the Match" was Adam who achieved 7 minutes flying FGR.  Despite the naysayers saying that it was easy to stay up when flying a K-13 solo (Ed: You have big wings combined with a lighter wing loading when flying solo) he proved them wrong by taking a second flight and staying up for 8 minutes.  The last flight of the day was John Allan's third with Rick.

Today the flight times were short.  We made 20 flights; a total of 87 minutes which equates to four and half minutes average.  That's what you get on a south easterly day in November which are arguably our least favourable flying conditions at Dartmoor Gliding.

So faced with the cancellation of the One Day Courses, weather that could be out of limits for crosswind, and potentially no K-13s to fly, a lesser mortal would have headed home.  But, as is often the case with gliding, a unexpectedly useful day's flying in challenging conditions was had by all which increased pilots' experience and maintained their currency for when the wind decides to go round to the east (Ed: The Dartmoor wave season is approaching).

As the day drew to a close the wood burner was lit for Committee members who had started to arrive for their meeting.  The equipment and gliders were packed away quickly and the meeting was able to start promptly at 1700 (Ed: I am sure you were all glad of that as the meeting lasted over three hours!).

Tomorrow's weather forecast was for more of the same but with sunshine.  A fantastic chance for both solo pilots and trainees to take advantage of the break in the November weather; and for Peter and Richard to deliver that training and a One Day Course.  Good luck to all.

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 9 November 2022

Last week no none noticed that the last blog describing Dartmoor Gliding's return to Wednesday midweek flying was titled "Thursday 2 November 2022" (Ed: I hope that DGS pilots' pre-flight checks and lookout are a bit sharper than that!).

The Duty Instructor's forecast was for showers and gusts so the two One Day Courses were cancelled the night before.  But despite that the Wednesday Washers (Ed: More of them later) did fly but to be fair the conditions would not have supported the two One Day Courses.  (Ed: We hope to see our One Day Course candidates with us soon but on a better flying day.)  But we didn't know that when we assembled this morning.  The wind was cross, from the south and not from the west as forecast. The dark clouds all around the site did not bode well and those initial conditions did not look promising.  After I made tea there seemed to be a understandable reluctance to leave the club house.

 

Over tea we welcomed back Guy Balmer who flew with me on Thursday 13 October.  He is keen to make the most of his three month temporary membership so we furnished him with a pre-solo progress card and I and the Duty Instructor, Mike Jardine, signed off a few items that he had already completed.  Then Mike gave Guy a lecture on the pre-flight check list mnemonic CB SIFT BEC.  Guy intends to learn to fly gliders as a stepping stone to getting a PPL (Private Pilot licence) for power aircraft.

However, Richard and I had a project to attend to and we headed to the east end; finalising a chart of all the glider trailers on site. This will help the committee understand the number of trailers on site and the annual income due to trailer parking fees. More importantly from the perspective of the Treasurer and the Field Treasurer is to determine who have paid and who have not paid their annual fees.

Richard replaces the front door of the dilapidated club K8 trailer (Ed: Due to be scrapped when the K-6 wings that are currently squatting in it have been removed)

Activity in the hangar was under way with the K-13s being removed and inspected.  But the the hangar doors were then shut to allow John Smith access to loose panels on the inside of the hangar wall that had been noticed last week.

John Smith securing the corrugated iron sheets on the hangar wall from the outside with a hidden helper on the inside

Whilst those hangar doors were temporarily closed a replacement electric variometer  was being fitted to K-8, FXB, to replace the defective Cambridge Aero.  After trawling gliderpilot.net John Allan had bagged us a pair of XK10 variometers.  Now the club fleet is fitted the same model of electric variometer throughout.  Hurrah for standardisation (Ed: Some things learned at NATO never fade!). Once tested I raised the supporting paperwork, printed it, and filed it (Ed: Ohh, look at you! Who has just undergone a BGA maintenance and glider audit?).  Then I uploaded the paperwork to the cloud, well not quite yet;  our new maintenance team member Yiannis (Ed: And our first under 30 yro in the team) is working out how we can achieve that simply in the near future.

October's flying accounts had obviously already been issued to members as Robin was not in the club house slaving over a laptop but sweeping the hangar of leaves and debris (Ed: Bravo!).  The new rubber skirts at the base of the hangar walls and door prevent most of the leaves coming in but that Dartmoor wind can be persistent...

 

Then the hangar doors were opened again and FXB was moved out of the sunshine, wings cleaned of leaves and debris. It was then washed and dried after a Daily Inspection and a set of positive control checks.  With that the sun promptly went behind the clouds and FXB got a second wash by a sharp downpour.  So out with the drying cloths again by a pair of Wednesday Washers.   Fortunately that was the only one to hit the field today despite rain showers and squalls being present all around the local area.

  

A double washed K-8, FXB (Ed: Are those clouds starting to look thermic?)

At the east end following the heavy shower other Wednesday Washers got on with cleaning and drying the two K-13's prior to flight.

The plan was for Mike to provide instruction for those who needed it. Following a turbulent test flight it was decided that Peter would act as a safety pilot in the rear seat for the qualified pilots, as it had been a while since some had flown. The Basic Instructors and Introductory Flight Pilots would have to fly from the front seat for a change.

Although the K-8 was ready to go to the launch point the message was passed down the line that just the K-13s would fly today due to the gusty conditions and also not to damage the damp field any more than we had to.

The workhorses raring to go

At the launch point Mike was first up with Treasurer Steve Raine for a pair of circuits.  Then Guy Balmer made a set of three flights; 5 mins, 9 minutes; and 22 minutes soaring with Mike. Appropriately with Guy's Naval Service connection they were flying in FSD with its "Fly Navy" sticker (Ed: You really are determined to get the new CFI's dander up, aren't you?). At 1300 it was definitely thermic as I witnessed both K-13s soaring together, clearly visible from the hangar.  John Allan was with Peter in the second K-13 achieving a 20 minute soaring flight after an initial circuit.

 

Peter's view of the rainbow over Michael de Rupe church at Brentor

A showery view south to the Hamoaze

Rain stretching from Plymouth Sound to Kit Hill

An unhappy Hugh: "The Duty Instructor cancelled my visitors; I've got wet knees from hooking cables onto gliders; I am cold; and to cap it all my soaring hat fell in the mud."

 Back in the hangar, after the heavy shower, wings were being moved around the hangar to allow for a detailed inspection.  Colin also showed off a new instrument panel he had made for the front of  CCY. (Ed: Very Gucci!)

 

Colin cleans CCY's wings ready for a post-repair inspection, prior to painting

One of the hangar elves in action providing Colin with tea (Ed: That will be milk and two sugars)

K-8, GDK, wings ready for a later annual inspection whilst CCY's wings are cleaned.

Robin then took a set of three flights with Mike and then a fourth with Guy, whilst Peter flew with Phil, Richard, and then Andy who snuck in a quick soaring flight of 17 minutes.

 The afternoon skies are darkening

After I had finished my tasks in the hangar and clubhouse I proceeded up to the launch point.  Whilst strapped in the front seat (Ed: Did you remember how to fly from the front?) I thought I might get a thermic flight but at 1500 on a November day, after much rain during the week, and then the wisp of cloud that held much promise, faded on me one can but dream (Ed: Get real).

And still those workhorses keep on cracking out the launches

Care was taken to ensure that all had at least one flight to retain currency.  OK, in reality Peter sat in the back as a safety number but apart from "try that cloud over there" the extra ballast was quiet!  After Mike had flown all the trainees he then flew with Malcolm.  The thermal day was ending as Malcolm only managed six minutes even after enlarging his circuit and approaching over then farmer's gate on the rear boundary fence. Hugh flew with Peter for two circuits.  Then, emerging from the hangar, John Smith and Colin flew the last flights of the day.

 

As we start packing up and the last pair of launches are lined up, the sun comes out

The sun peeks through the clouds in the west

K-13, FGR, mud hosed away, washed, and dried and then moved sideways into the hangar

Followed by K-13, FSD, ready to be put to bed in the hangar (Ed: Smart hat Hugh!)

In total we made 22 flights today and a total of two hours and 36 minutes of flight time.  All flew which ensures that the Wednesday Washers are current despite the recent run of poor flying weather.

All the kit was put away by 1640 and we could go home in the daylight, although the light was fading fast.

In summary the Wednesday Washers did do quite a lot of glider washing today but most importantly they flew and some lucky pilots even soared in November.

 

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Thursday 2 November 2022

Today was the new Thursday as Dartmoor Gliding reverts back to Wednesday for its midweek flying with an instructor available all day.  Welcome to retirement Mike!

The select group of "Wednesday Windies" set about doing good stuff today: Peter Howarth; Mike Jardine; Phil Hardwick; Gavin Short; and Colin Boyd (Ed: We haven't decided on the title for the fliers on a Wednesday so initially each Wednesday blog will have a thematic name and today it was windy!). 

Following the departure of the Twin Astir from the site the Red Disco is put back in its normal parking space

Autumn has arrived at Dartmoor Gliding

In the clubhouse Maintenance Work Orders were handed over to Colin and a Certificate of Conformity for glider consumables filed.  On Monday Colin I made a trip to LAS at Okehampton to pick up 75 metres of rudder cable and the associated ferrules and "thimbles". The intention is to replace various swages on the rudder cables in the four club gliders which do not adhere to the latest BGA direction on the crimping of rudder cable ferrules.  (Ed: The existing swaging is satisfactory, but we are determined to ensure that DGS gliders are maintained to and compliant with the highest standards).

Work continued on getting K-13, CCY, back into service.  This including preparation for paint on the elevator and tail plane. The annual inspection in the fuselage was completed. Also Colin is getting ready to paint the wings but he could do with some heat in his workshop (Ed: Do we have a sparky in the house who is able to move the electric heaters from the storage container to the glider workshop?)

CCY's port wing ready for paint

During the first tea break a request to have a winter lecture on the Self-Declared Maintenance Programme was made.  This would help the pilot/owners i.e. privateers, understand what is required and its implications (Ed: I am sure you have worked out who they expect to give this lecture).

Meanwhile, the Assistant Category Instructors were practising their ground-school lessons prior to their five-yearly review.  (Ed: This would have been an ideal opportunity for pre-solo members to progress their "progress cards"). However, there was only one "student" present and that was me.

After lunch we set about de-rigging K-8, GDK, ready for its annual inspection, but we did it inside the hangar with the doors shut because it was that windy outside. This involved opening one hangar door, manoeuvring the glider onto the "dead man" support, by poking a wing out if the door temporarily, and then shutting door again prior to derigging.

The quad bikes were excluded from GDK's de-rigging

Peter and Gavin un-tape the turtledeck prior to its removal

Mike and Colin secure GDK on the "Dead Man" whilst Phil readies himself to remove the main pins

The innards of GDK laid bare

The wings came off!

What have we done?

When the glider was in its component parts the wings were stowed in the hangar. The fuselage, elevator, turtledeck, and canopy were stored in the storage container.  The windage on the fuselage, mainly the fin post and rudder, when we moved it outside, was very strong (Ed: Are you sure it wasn't you being wimpy on the rear fuselage lifting handle!).  It was a relief to get it safely into the storage container.

A few "farmer's knots" will hold the fuselage upright in the storage container

After the derigging the wind continued to increase throughout the afternoon.

One of the sheets of corrugated iron on the hangar wall was banging in the wind

The missing securing bolts were the cause of the banging.  Some maintenance required here methinks

The next step was to remove one of the ailerons from GDK as some play in the aileron hinges had been identified in the recent BGA audit.  Colin (Ed: Baldrick?) had a cunning plan to replace the barrels that the hinges sit in, rather than the hinges themselves.  Unfortunately, this approach proved to be more challenging than anticipated.  The maintenance team retired to the club house to come up with a "Plan B" over yet more tea (or coffee). By now the rain had properly set in.

Two instructors and an inspector discuss how to remove the"flappy thing" from the wing

While the aileron work was under way (Ed: Identified by the sound of much hammering emanating from the hangar) I was in the club house where I sanded the tatty paint on CCY's canopy locking bar, applied Kurust where required, and then grey paint.  On Sunday Ed Borlase had made a good job of restoring the colour coding to the various release handles so I decided to make a "proper job" of the canopy licking bar.  A small amount of further work remains to adhere to the CS-22 glider standards which covers many items including how the canopy release handles should be marked in the cockpit for the pilot: Red for emergency canopy jettison and white with a red band for normal, and emergency, canopy opening (Ed: I learned something new during the recent BGA audit).

Spotted in the club house.  Adam had bought an uprated Flettner wind-powered ventilator for his trailer

Adam's Flettner ventilator spinning merrily whereas the standard model on the trailer two places down is turning at half the rate  (Ed:  "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten" - Benjamin Franklin)

Whilst waiting for the Kurust to dry and as the generator was running I got the Hoover out and cleaned the clubhouse floor (Ed:. Your secret us safe with me, providing Mrs S doesn't read the Blog).

Spotted! (Ed:  You had better stand by for recriminations as Heather does read this blog)

After the teas and coffees were consumed, at 153O, we unanimously agreed that we had done enough.  We drove off into the murk and quite violent wind, as the rain came down harder and harder.

The hangar secured we say goodnight to the fleet

So this was the first outing of the Wednesday Windies.  No flying, but much maintenance work was achieved, due to the continuing poor weather (Ed: The Met Office is hinting that there might be a change in the weather as the jet stream experiences retrogression and the onset of higher pressure following mostly continuing wet weather with mild temperatures).

Gavin Short