Sunday 26th June 2011

Blue sky, very humid and hot with a strong southerly wind.

The day started early with the usual suspects having what can only be described as a gourmet breakfast.

Normal proceedings were somewhat disrupted by the Regional Examiner Simon Minson working with Sean and Steve in the K13 on BI training with, what seemed like, endless practice cable breaks and circuits.

However, in true DGS style the members just got on with it making the best of the available launches. Because of the strong crosswind this was not a classic training day but later in the day the wind went more to the east which permitted some soaring and several members to convert to the Pirat.

The K13 launching into a sparklingly clear  sky

The real highlight of the day was the visibility, the air was gin clear with clear views to the horizon with no haze. Stunning

Steve

Saturday 25th June 2011

Very low cloud to start and the church enveloped. The winds westerly and moderate to start.

The morning started with Martin and his band of volunteers working on the aircraft and hangar. Loads of very good work done here and the K8 very much nearer going back on line.

Other work being done today included the rear sun roof repaired on the Disco by Scratch and Mike Jardine with an aluminium panel. It has been riveted in so it will not come off, whilst Rick, Matt and Simon worked on putting a new joystick and software onto the Simulator.

A lecture in the clubhouse filled the rest of the morning and then we went flying----with cloudbases at 400ft, it was launch failure practice for those who haven’t done it for a while.

Later cloudbases rose to a giddy 1100ft and Mike Jardine converted onto the Pirat. Cloudbases came back down again so the other conversions were deferred to another time.

Thanks everyone for keeping everything going.

Don

Wednesday 22nd June 2011

We knew it wasn’t too windy because the rain was coming down vertically. Not only that but Brentor Church was in cloud.

The morning was usefully used, fixing tractors, weighing gliders and --- a sight for sore eyes, Robin Wilson busied himself jet-washing the Pirat trailer in the rain!!!.

Anyway the front cleared through by midday and we had a great afternoon
flying. Richard Clarke, our new member, flew 9 training circuits and made amazing progress---well done Richard.

Thanks everyone who made the afternoon a great success.

Don

Sunday 19th June 2011

A relatively quiet day with many off doing Fathers day things. The
soaring was limited with a fresh breeze. A short window of
reasonable soaring was enjoyed by the fortunate few.

A big welcome to Dave Bassett from Mendips who took advantage of the
visit to fly with his daughter. Thanks again to the stalwarts who kept
the field operating for us.

Don

Meanwhile Sean, Bob and I made an early start to be at North Hill by 9am to meet with Regional Examiner Simon Minsen to start the next step on the road to becoming instructors.

Initially, the low cloudbase and drizzle meant we started with some winch launches, but as the cloud lifted the Pawnee tug was made ready and we then took it in turns to aerotow to 3000 ft for some stalling and spinning, more spinning and yet more spinning excercises. I think we spent most of these flights with the aircraft in "interesting" attitudes. After completing all the stalls and spins we reverted to the winch for testing of the patter and BI excercises. Phew - this was a busy day.

Many thanks to Simon and all at North Hill who made us welcome and provided a K13 for the day and all the launches we could manage. 

Steve

Saturday 18th June 2011

The “summer” continues in usual style with strong westerly winds and a low threatening cloudbase.

Bob Jones and I spent much of the day practicing with Don for our BI course tomorrow. We probably landed on every inch of the airfield whilst completing seemingly endless practice cable breaks. This continued until mid afternoon when we decided that the now 18 knot wind with 30 knot gusts suggested that discretion really is the better part of valour and we put the toys away and returned to the clubhouse for some additional practice using the simulator.

While all the fun was happening on the airfield, Martin and John continued to work on the aircraft – we owe a real debt of thanks to these two. Lots of people do lots of work for the club but this is exceptional.

On returning to the clubhouse we discovered that Gus, a friend of  the club, had been on site, removed the tatty old awning and fitted a new permanent  porch. to the clubhouse front. This will help a great deal when the weather is less than perfect. Winter BBQ’s anyone?

Steve

Friday 17th June 2011

It was a pleasure to have represented the DGS at the Kelly College CCF dinner this evening. The kind invitation was made by Major Dominic Tomalin in recognition of the college’s affiliation with the Society as part of the Junior Gliding scheme.

Guest of honour, Rear Admiral Chris Snow CBE, Flag Officer Officer Sea Training, presented the awards and it was a surprise and an honour to be asked to accept a college plaque on behalf of the Dartmoor Gliding Society. The trophy now has pride of place in the clubhouse.

The evening was a convivial affair and it was a pleasure to dine in the college anteroom flanked by Lucy Jones and Catarina Bell, looking totally different in their cocktail dresses rather than the fatigue uniforms they have to wear when they glide at Brentor.

Being club secretary can be onerous sometimes – this wasn’t one of them!

Bob Jones

Wednesday 15th June 2011

As so often happens when there’s a pretty grim weather forecast, only a handful of stalwarts from ‘the backbone of the club’ turned up - hopefully to fly, but otherwise to apply their teamwork and good humour to various chores essential to the smooth running of Dartmoor Gliding Society.

Well done to John Bolt for his ongoing efforts to repair the Zugvogel, and to Chris Kaminski for continuing to spruce up the Pirat and the K7/13. But the greatest effort of the day was expended by Phil Hardwick who, after three hours of mowing the airfield, then a couple of hours on the winch - followed by a brief flight of his own - ended the day leading an hour-and-a-half long fence repair project (see below).

Between the early low cloud and rain later in the day, a paltry eight launches were achieved in total; the majority by Mike Keller in the K13 (followed by Martin Broadway), then Andrew and Phil exercising the Astir, and Ged getting familiar with the Pirat.

But just as Bob Jones and I were about to engage in some preparatory antics for his BI course, a message came from the winch driver pleading for help after a cable which had drifted in the crosswind had destroyed a section of fence. At the same time the rain started to fall.

The worst of the rain skirted the airfield, but once the fence had been rebuilt no one had much stomach for flying and the toys were packed away.

Fingers crossed for the weekend, after which Carol and I will be in sunny Portugal while no doubt Brentor will enjoy the best three weeks of the 2011 soaring season.

Bob Pirie

Sunday 12th June 2011

Even lower clouds and driving rain.

After the post-Culdrose party, what better way to start the day than with the Big Brentor Breakfast to line the stomach and lift the spirits! Shame Bibendum Puttock forgot the fresh sage; we're going to lose a Michelin star if it happens again.

Parts refreshed, Chris Kaminski & Martin Smith did some more maintenance work on the Zugvogel & Pirat. I started on the Great ML Paint Job and Don worked on a "speed to fly" presentation for the future edification of cross-country pilots.

Flaming June with the emphasis on the flaming!

Alan Ballard

In case you are wondering, the name 'Bibendum' comes from an ode by the poet Horace (1st Century BC), celebrating Octavian's victory over Antony and Cleopatra.

The Latin phrase "Nunc Est Bibendum," means "Now is the time to drink (or celebrate)".

 

Today "Bibendum" is associated with Michelin standard dining.

Steve

Saturday June 11th – Culdrose Expedition

The day started early to get to Culdrose on time so Don wouldn't hurt us. Chris was the earliest to arrive as, when we pulled up, he was lying down in his 'RV' (which was actually his little blue van.) Ever seen a 6 ft. 3 grown man laying in a little blue van? Believe me, it's funny!!

Then came the security clearances and we all got pretty little badges with our nice little photos on. Sure to say most were taken off when we were out of sight of the security.

We were given a briefing of where we can land as we had to contend with hidden lights, search and rescue helicopters and air traffic controllers watching us. It was nice to know that if we did have a launch failure there were 101 places we could land, even though the runway was so long we would have been able to land ahead anyway!

As Culdrose is a Navy airfield flying was delayed until about 11 due to 2 helicopters taking off, showing off a bit before flying out to show us glider pilots how to really do cross country! We were then transported out to the runway we were using (they have an option of 3) by a double decker bus - now that's what I call style.

Don was quickly cleared to instruct and all of us who came got 2 very successful launches on the auto tow. It was a very different experience from the winch launch as it was a lot slower to 'get going.' The hardest thing to get hold of was the transition to the main climb. We all launched in the Puchacz, a polish dual seater glider which is very nice! This was because the DG505 was too heavy to launch on the wire. By the end we all agreed that DGS should replace the K7m with a Puchacz, Do you think the committee will agree? Hmm..

We were so close to the sea and the wind was just right to set up a sea breeze convergence the whole day only reachable by aerotow. Chris Kaminski decided to take the challenge by flying the DG505 over to it on aerotow. After 52 minutes he was called back by radio. After his landing he was happy to tell us all of his expedition all the way up to Falmouth and nearly down to Lands end before being called back. Then all he could moan about was that his big feet didn't fit in the rudder position so they were uncomfortable!! Was he moaning just to show the rest of us what we were missing? The rest of us kept up the DGS tradition of getting 5 minute circuits.

All in all it was a great day. We really enjoyed ourselves and I think I speak on behalf of all of us when I say a big thank you to Don for setting this expedition up and members of the Seahawk gliding club for making it so enjoyable. Seahawk is a very friendly club and if you have a chance, head up there and give it a go! Make sure you call first though otherwise the navy people get very angry.

Matt

Saturday 11th June 2011

Low cloud and showers.

The club members had the gliders and airfield ready waiting for a clearance. In the event they rushed up to the launch point as the weather looked to be improving and managed 2 launches before the rain closed in a sent them back to the clubhouse to continue their flying in the simulator.

The clearance did come but only in time to ensure that we drove home looking at a beautiful sky

The usual suspects were busy at work on the single seaters. The Pirat had the instrument panel cover painted matt black, the battery system wired up and fitted,  the controls painted the appropriate colours, the canopy ejection system refitted, the canopy fit improved and the wheel brake adjusted. The Zugvogel was rigged, taken apart again, and  minor repair work was started on the wings.

Martin and Ged adjust the Pirat canopy while Chris supports it for them.

Bob is a study in concentration as he paints the instrument panel cover

The other big event today was Chris Matten and Colin Boyd's fitting of the new floor in the glider workshop which is undergoing quite a transformation.

Chris looks suitably proud of the new workshop floor.

Our numbers were a little depleted  today as Don and 6 members were away on a visit to the Royal Naval gliding club at Culdrose. we wait with baited breath to find out how they got on.

Steve