Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 15 October 2025

Yesterday Andy issued a call to arms.  "There is the possibility of some wave action tomorrow (Wednesday), so it might be worth an early start".  The troops rallied and I was first at the club at 0710 while it was still pretty dark.

I had checked Skysight wave forecast the day before, and it looked promising.

A tempting wave forecast for mid-morning on the edge of the ranges

We had one visitor planned for today; Amy Williams. Phil was the one to fly her whilst Mike Jardine, the Duty Instructor, ran the field.

With the overcast and low cloud, probably due to greater moisture content than forecast, and it was cold in the wind.  Privateers were flying with their coats on.  However, that didn't stop one of Amy William's supporters from arriving on the field in shorts and a T-shirt.  He hadn't realised that the airfield is at 820 feet above sea level and on Dartmoor.  That display of bravery notwithstanding, autumn is very much here.

Lots of privateers rigged in anticipation of wave, and a sole K-13 at the launch point

Andy took the first flight and discovered that "It's definitely waving, but the cloudbase is too low".  With a flight time of only three minutes, we were then in the waiting game for the cloud base to rise.  Phil consulted with Amy and her team, and they agreed that coming back another day would be the best option despite being nice and cosy at the back of Zack's Shack.

Andy returns from his very short flight.

Training and instructor checks must go on, so Peter and Mike took a flight together.  I wasn't sure who was checking out whom.  Mike, after his holidays, or Peter, after our long trip to Yorkshire and back.

Then it was the turn of visiting pilot Chris Morris from Seahawk Gliding Club (RNAS Culdrose) to fly with Mike.  We will probably be seeing more of Chris at Brentor this autumn.

After that, there was a pause.  We watched the sky for two hours, waiting for the cloud base to rise and seeing the wave bars move about the sky.  Occasionally, there was a tantalising light patch and occasionally some sunshine.

I went back to the clubhouse for a cup of tea to warm up and I lit the wood burner.  Colin and Steve Lewis had arrived, and they were getting the Twin Astir Trainer fuselage out of its trailer to continue their inspection.  Later, the "Night Owl came up for a look-see and a chat.

The Chairman supervises getting our new Twin Astir Trainer, G-CHBK, out of its trailer, ready for further inspection and work by Colin and the team

Colin finds potential dry solder joints on the rear stick PTT (push to transmit) switch

The control column grip in the rear has seen better days.

This is the base.  The fixings had broken off, allowing the stick grip to rotate.  White TESA fabric tape was not the correct engineering solution and was summarily removed.

The top fitting was broken too.  A call to Soaring Oxford (UK Grob agent) was made for a replacement.

I packed the seats and the side panels/pockets in the back of my car ready to seek the services of a local upholsterer to recover the seats and make new side panels. 

Flying resumed at two o'clock with Mike making a couple of training flights with Ken.  Malcolm, in his syndicate Twin Astir stayed up for 13 minutes.  Despite the promise of wave he stayed aloft in thermal lift.  Steve Fletcher thought he would try and he managed 23 minutes.  The lift seemed to be consistent over Brentor church but hit and miss elsewhere.  John Alan flew for 17 minutes while thinking "Is this wave or thermal lift?"  Then it was Ian's turn with Mike.  They managed a very tidy 30 minutes, earning Ian "Man of the Match".  Congratulations.  I tried to join them in my Standard Cirrus a couple of times, but without success.  Malcolm's second launch was similarly unsuccessful.  So that just left DB to fly with Mike to round off the day.

Ian found a good thermal climb which set him up for a 30 minute soaring flight.

A tempting patch of sunlight on Blackdown close to Mary Tavy

The sun started peeking through the almost 8/8ths cloud cover

And even some sunlight on the airfield.

Ian heads to the church to find that persistent thermal

The hangar was packed and the private gliders were derigged.  It was time to adjourn to the clubhouse for post flight discussions.

When the Chairman announced to members that the club had bought its first GRP training glider last week, he alluded to another club development that was coming this week.  As we were busy trying to get in the air this morning, and Colin and the Chairman couldn’t make it to the club until the afternoon, the grand reveal of the next club's strategic development was postponed until Saturday.

Two large parcels are ready for the grand reveal on Saturday

For those who can't wait, here is a clue.

Today, the promised wave didn't materialise.  So no waving for the Wednesday Wavers but we tried.  Some thermal soaring was had under a mostly overcast sky.  Six privateers underwent group rigging practice, and most flew.  Mike had two trainees today, who progressed they flying.

Fourteen flights were made, of which four were soaring flights.  It would be unfair to say that "Jonah", on site, put the mockers on the wave today.  The Wavers look on the bright side, it didn't rain, and we almost all flew.

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Saturday 11th October 2025

High Pressure is in charge. Winds very light from the east. The day started with lots of cloud cover but this was forecast to improve during the day. There was even a short soaring window forecast for mid afternoon.

Mid afternoon view of the winch and blue sky.

K13 rising into a clearing sky

The big news of the day was the arrival of a Twin Astir Trainer which is joining the club fleet and is expected to become a club favourite. Today saw us starting the process of preparing the glider to join the fleet. There was lots of cleaning and some detailed inspection. We have produced a plan to refurbish the cockpit area with new upholstery and send the glider off to have a paintwork blemish taken care of and the Gel coat cleaned and polished. Our thanks are due to Gavin Short and Peter Howarth who made the 2 day trip to North Yorkshire to collect our new glider.

The Twin Astir trailer

Starting to inspect the Twin

Colin watching a soaring glider

The day progressed as forecast with the clouds eventually dissipating to leave a mostly blue sky. Just one visitor today Andrew Bates who flew in Puchacz with Scratch. Rick was busy with the training list with a mix of pre and post solo pilots. This included Zack who converted to flying the Astir. After an extended circuit Zack soared in the mid afternoon thermals for 42 minutes being beaten to flight of the day by John Alan who managed 43 minutes.

Zack in the Astir waiting to go 

Self Portrait while soaring

Zacks view at the 1400ft cloud base

This afternoon saw a family visit to the airfield so that very young son Ben could take some photographs of the gliders. Here are a few of his photos.

Scratch with Puchacz

Scratch with visitor Andrew

Returning to the airfield

K13 FSD on approach

So  A busy day with the arrival of the Twin Astir and Zack's conversion to the Astir.

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 8th October 2026

The Wednesday Wavers had a guest forecaster today.

John Allan posted:

Wednesday 8th Oct 1200hrs chart shows the cold front clearing us to the SE in the morning.  It's normal that as a cold front passes, the wind will fairly quickly veer (change clockwise) around 30 degrees, in this case from WNW 2Kts to NNW 6Kts, with cloud breaking up. 

This should mean some flying early afternoon onwards. RASP indicates the cloudbase may still be a problem, only reaching 1,200ft QNH, but Skysight is more optimistic.

The synoptic chart for 1300 local

Looking good for a day's flying

Skysight's windgram for the day looks quite promising

The Wavers welcomed Mike "Jonah" Jardine back as the Duty Instructor for Wednesday, fresh and eager to go after his holidays.  That soon changed when I handed him a sheaf of new DGS SFCL training cards to sign off on the exercises completed by our students on the old-style training cards.

It was one of those "teas and coffees" mornings in the clubhouse, and time to tackle those non-flying jobs.  These included: Cleaning and polishing of the Astir CS77's fuselage and canopy, the final job after the glider was rigged after its annual inspection; and the glider simulator extension work, which involves opening up the clubhouse wall to accommodate the huge computer screens, to provide that "wrap around" experience.

Later in the morning, we welcomed back Nigel Bray, the peripatetic glider pilot, stopping off for tea and chat as he made his way from Cornwall up country.  I had the chance to quiz him on his experience in operating a FES (Front Electric Sustainer) glider.  He has a Mini LAK FES, which is an electric self-launching 13.5m wingspan glider.  So the question remains, why is it called a FES if it can self-launch?  It needs a new designation.  How about eSLMG (Electric Self-launching Motor Glider)?  But "motor" traditionally describes an internal combustion engine, so how about eSLG?  Mmm, I am not sure.  Let's put it to the test by our tech-savvy juniors.  The best name/acronym for the categorisation mini LAK FES from one of our juniors gets their choice of a choccy bar from the Tea Swindle.  Small print:  The Wednesday Blogger's decision is final!

The Wavers waited for the front to pass through and the weather to change...

The Wednesday Witterers putting the world to rights
Outside, there was lots of work going on; lots of noise from a circular saw, lots of sawdust, and later some clearing up with a broom. 

John Smith continues with the simulator extension project
Just because there was wittering going on in the clubhouse it didn't mean that serious stuff wasn't going on.  The Duty Instructor, assisted by the other instructor on site, Peter Howarth, continued with Ian King's gliding education.

Ian's autumn alfresco lecture on the winch launch
After lunch, I received notification from the BGA that our BGA Quality Assurance non-compliance report (detailing the required follow-up work on the Puchacz and the Astir CS77) was accepted and that the BGA considers that all the follow-up actions following the audit three months ago have been satisfactorily completed.  Well done, the DGS maintenance team.

I took Neal Oxley's final iteration of the 3D-printed sunshade for the front Flarm LED display in the Puchacz into the hangar.  It fitted perfectly, and I look forward to feedback from front-seat pilots when the glider is next flown.  No photos, unfortunately, as my smartphone camera couldn't hack a black display, housed in a black sunshade, mounted on a black glare shield, in a dark hangar.  I must remember to take a photo when the glider is in the daylight.  If successful, the design and code for a glare shield-mounted and an instrument panel-mounted (i.e. on a vertical face) Flarm LED display sunshade will be posted on  gliderpilot.net to allow the wider gliding community to make use of them.

Regular checks of the sky bore out that the front was passing through much slower than expected.  We came to the conclusion that unless the Wavers wanted some evening flying, it wasn't going to happen today.

Late afternoon, the front started to pass through, but the cloud base was still too low

I checked the hangar and admired John Allan's and Ian's handiwork on cleaning and polishing the fuselage of the Astir CS77

Peter and I finalised our plans for our road trip over the next few days, which hopefully will be one of the next steps on the DGS strategic development plan.  Details to follow.

So no flying for the Wednesday Wavers today, but training continued, jobs were undertaken, and of course, the world was put to rights. 

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Sunday 5th October 2025

After storm Amy swept through yesterday, the Sunday Soarers were presented with a moderately strong breeze today with a cloudbase of around 2000ft. Only two visitors were due today, but we initially cancelled the one from Falmouth to save a wasted journey as the conditions were not suitable for trial flights.

The field was set up and a K13, Astir CS77 and K8 were taken to the east end launch point. First flight was myself in the Astir for a test flight after it had been rigged after the annual inspection.

Me getting ready for the test flight.

This flight proved conditions were indeed bumpy and beyond the K8. It was also decided that as the Astir pilots were mostly relatively new to type, only the K13 would be flying. Steve Fletcher took Phil Hardwick for a flight to get back into the air after his holiday.

Steve and Phil ready to fly.

Each of the student pilots gained valuable experience in flying in the conditions with steeper full airbrake approaches through the bumpy air. It was obvious that winter is on its way as several members were adorned in thick winter coats today.

George and Richard in winter coats.

One of the days visitors, Nicola Macrae did come to the club. This was to see if she could get in and out of a glider due to physical weaknesses. All was well and we hope to see Nicola soon.

After everybody had flown it was decided to pack the toys away and head home to earn some brownie points were applicable.

The Astir last into the hangar.

Some valuable experience was gained today. Thanks to Sean and Phil for winching. Also to all at the airfield today.

Peter Howarth

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 1 October 2025

A new dawn.  A new day.  A new era.  The Wednesday Wavers took their first tentative steps into the new world of British Gliding.  We would no longer be operating under the auspices of the British Gliding Association; we are now operating under UK Law, specifically, Sailplane Flight Crew Licensing (SFCL).  A lot of regulations and a lot of words, but in general terms, if you want to fly a glider, you have to have a Sailplane Pilot Licence (SPL).

If you haven't got an SPL, which includes most trainees who have recently gone solo, you will have to be supervised by a Flight Instructor (Sailplane), a FI(S).  A new name for an Ass Cat or Full Cat Instructor, but basically no change.  However, experienced solo pilots who don't have an SPL, for whatever reason, will also have to be supervised.  Ohhh!  Had our normal Wednesday Duty Instructor planned to be on holiday on the changeover day?  Peter Howarth had been covering for him in his absence last week and had generously agreed to open the field today and supervise those solo pilots who hadn't yet got their SPL.  Those who needed flight checks or some instruction would have to grease his palms with silver... to coax him into the back seat of a K-13 or the Puchacz.

So life goes on, right?  I was today's Duty Basic Instructor; however, although I have an SPL, so I can fly, I am waiting for my SPL to have the privilege of Basic Instructor (Sailplane), BI(S), added before I can fly any of our lovely visitors.  Sadly, the post lady hadn't delivered anything by the time I left for the club.  PMN: She did so mid-morning. Yipee!  Fortunately, we didn't have to disappoint any visitors as none were booked.

Enough of the admin and paperwork.  The Wednesday Wavers were here to fly, so let's get to the meat of it.  There was a heavy morning dew.  Time to dig out the wellie boots.  We are definitely in autumn now.  A southerly wind becoming a little more westerly during the day, with some mild thermal activity, and a cloudbase rising sufficiently for us to be able to fly forecast. 

Skysight's Windgram facility provides an easy-to-understand summary.  For those who haven't mastered it yet the Y axis (vertical) is height above sea level in feet. The X-axis (horizontal) is local time in 24-hour format.  The red line indicates the condensation (dew point) level.  The black line shows the boundary level is between the atmospheric layer closest to the ground, where surface friction and heating directly influence air properties. It's a zone of rapid changes and turbulence, unlike the more stable air above it. i.e. it's where the soaring magic happens.  The clouds are marked by grey.

Thermal strength is marked in varying colours and there is a decode up the right-hand axis, whilst wind direction is shown by feathered arrows pointing in the direction that the wind is blowing toward.  The top of the windgram is a northerly direction for the wind. The barbs on the arrows indicate 10 knots of wind strength; multiples and half multiples are used.

Skysight's windgram for Brentor

Andy's take on Wednesday's Weather: The ridge of high pressure will still be over the area tomorrow, giving us a light southerly wind. There may be some weak thermal activity early afternoon, but it will only go to about 1,500ft AGL.

So the windgram matched Andy's forecast.  Let's see what happens in the real world.

After a slow start due to the misty conditions, it was decided to take a K-13 and a K-8 to the launch point at the east end.  Neal and Peter launched for a weather check and confirmed that the cloud base was indeed low, 600 feet AGL.  The Wavers returned to the clubhouse for an early lunch before trying again.  Mike Bennett took a series of three flights on the K-8 whilst Neal continued his training with Peter.  Mike was "Man of the match" with a heady eights minutes of just about soaring.  The conditions were much more pleasant than forecast, with sunshine almost all day.  However, despite the presence of the sun, there was very little thermal activity.

 

Mike ready to launch

Neal's flights were Peter's "return to flying" package that he devised especially.  The flight package inevitably included a launch failure and also some soaring to the south of the runway over a barn that is a local hot spot.  He managed eight minutes too, but what he didn't recognise was that Peter was deliberately letting him get out of position, and Neal had to modify his circuit as he was getting low.  Neal, these instructors can be sneaky!

 

Robin flew two flights with Peter, enjoying the freedom of being "hands on" for the launch and landing, something he can't do in his syndicate Twin Astir.

 

Then it was Ken Hamblin's turn with a set of three flights, allowing him to make progress with his general flying skills.  John Smith managed to wrestle the K-8 off Mike for long enough to take a flight.

 

At this point, if readers are confused, it's understandable.  With the Wednesday Wavers' normal instructor, Mike Jardine, on holiday, as you have already heard, there was no instructor scheduled today.  So no visitors were booked as the Duty BI, without portfolio, I concentrated on work on the Astir CS7 back in the hangar.  So how come instructing was going on?  Well, Peter is a bit of a softy.  Having planned that today was a flying day for him and he wanted to rig the nighty Kestrel, the forecast didn't support his plan.  So he softened and took first one, then another, and then another trainee.  The result was a full dance card of five trainees.  You old softy!

 

The fourth trainee was Ian King, who, on his third flight, flew the whole of the winch launch.  Congratulations Ian.  Then we had a visitor appear at the hangar apron.  It was Paul Priscott who flew with me on Sunday, 20 August.  The hangar gremlins directed him to the winch so he could get a lift with the retrieve to the launch point.  Peter took Paul up to explore the effects of the elevator and the ailerons.  This was Peter's final instructional flight of the day.  

Mike checks that returning temporary member Paul Priscott is strapped in and ready for the "Duty" instructor

The Waver's started packing up and returning the aircraft to the hangar.  There, they witnessed the final assembly of the Astir CS77 after its annual inspection, before it could be moved out of the hangar to allow them to pack the hangar.

So what had the hangar gremlins (Colin, Steve Lewis, DB, and I) been up to?  Earlier in the week, Andy had effected a minor repair to a GRP fillet on an elevator hinge on the tailplane.  The elevator L'Hotellier ball was replaced.  The nappy pin on the L'Hotellier of the port air brake was replaced by the correct R-clip. The centre fitting of the canopy locking bar was moved 10 mm forward, so that the canopy now locks correctly.  The tailplane and wings were cleaned and polished. The seat was reinstalled. The glider was rigged, taped, and positive checks were conducted.  We ran out of time, so cleaning and polishing the fuselage is a job for Saturday, most likely with the hangar doors shut as Storm Amy hits us.

So why do we engage in this sport?  This picture might explain why.  Topically, it should also serve as an encouragement for our trainee pilots to work towards getting their Sailplane Pilot Licence.

"I have a dream", with acknowledgement to Martin Luther King's famous speech

But why do we love gliding and not power flying?  There is a simple maxim: "Powered aircraft have a fan in the front to keep the pilot cool. If it stops, he tends to get very hot and bothered."  Or to put it another way, in a glider, there isn't that noisy engine to detract from the enjoyment of our wonderful, serene flights across Dartmoor.

 

Today we made 16 flights in benign, pleasant, sunny conditions.  The "not-on-duty" instructor clocked up 12 training flights.  Thank you, Peter, but you are still a softy! 

Gavin Short 

Dartmoor Gliding News - Sunday 28th September 2025

The Sunday Soarers were greeted with a thick mist over the airfield, but it was due to clear mid/late morning. This enabled a leisurely start to the day setting the airfield up and getting the gliders out of the hangar.

K8 & K13 waiting for first launch.

With only one student and a couple of solo pilots requiring check flights, it was going to be a lightly loaded day for me. Before our visitors started arriving it was chance to get the check flights out of the way. A couple of launch failures for Freddie Purkiss and Viktor Skochko saw them both cleared to fly the K8.

Duty BI Gavin Short would be kept busy today with four visitors. First to arrive was Derek Scott. Derek came from Bideford with his wife.  The voucher was a present from her "for the man that had everything".  Conditions were weak at the start of the day, but the last flight was an extended soaring flight.  Derek works in the field of complex medical support.

Derek and Gavin ready to fly.

Second visitor was Jane French. This was an ambition that should have happened 15 years ago for her fiftieth birthday.  But as they say, life gets in the way.  Accompanied by her husband from near Looe she also had friends from Plymouth to watch her flying.  Jane used to work for the NHS blood transfusion service; fortunately, her services weren't required today.  She was apprehensive about the flight, but in Gavin's hands, she found that the straight flight, the approach, and the landing were the best bits of her soaring flight.

Jane all smiles after her flights.

Next to arrive was Colin Farrell. Ex Royal Navy and now a plumber. He works part-time at Dartmoor Prison in Princetown before its closure. He was accompanied by his wife.  The voucher was a birthday present. He, too, enjoyed a soaring flight and then a short circuit as the conditions changed.  Sadly, his flight wasn't high enough to be able to see the prison where he works.

Colin ready for his flights with Gavin.

The final visitor was late addition to the list, Olena Vlasiuk. Olena was accompanied by her young son Andri, She had been to the club before for a look around and had met some of the Sunday Soarers.  She lives in Mary Tavy but has only been in the UK for eight months, having left the nightly bombing of her home city of Kyiv.  Rural life in Devon is very different, but she is embracing it.  She works from home managing a Ukrainian charity, but wants to integrate into the local community.  Olena you will be very welcome at DGS.  She enjoyed two flights, one of which was a soaring flight.

Olena with resident interpreter Viktor.

The only student pilot today was Misha Skochko. He enjoyed seven flights with me improving circuits. experiencing mushing stalls and stalls in a turn and an unexpected launch failure practice. He later flew a hangar flight with me and then another with Gavin in the Puchacz. We were also joined today by regular visiting pilot Nigel Bray. Nigel had two flights with me including an extended soaring flight.

Nigel's view of the launchpoint.

Tavistock and Plymouth sound beyond.

The only privateer today was Ed Borlase and his K6. Ed had two short flights, but at the end of the day had a third which was flight of the day with 1 hour 1 minute. Freddie and Viktor enjoyed flights in the K8, the longest by Freddie with 35 minutes. Despite regularly flying his Libelle and the Astir, Sean Westrope had not flown the K8. Today that was put right with two conversion flights.

Sean converting to the K8.

Thank you to all at the club. A small crew today, but all enjoyed their flying today.

Peter Howarth