Dartmoor Gliding News – Wednesday 5th March 2014

For those enthusiasts who turn up rain or shine each week, Brentor Wednesdays are always a bit special. But although today might be described as 'extra-special' - it being both Ash Wednesday and St Piran's Day (St. P. being the patron saint of Cornwall) - operationally and weather-wise everything was very similar to a week ago.

We started the day with clear blue skies and our customary crosswind and, as the day went on, the first hints of (sadly unproductive) cumulus deteriorated into practically total cloud cover and life got colder. As per last week we still had to contend with a muddy airfield and only a single working drum on the Guslaunch winch. But by the time the ten or so of us present had all flown, we were prompted to call a respectably early halt to proceedings as shivering set in and the winch ran out of fuel.

The passing cumulus teased rather that delivered

 Not a great day for soaring, with John Bolt scraping the longest flight of just 11 minutes, but we all enjoyed some fresh air and exercise - plus a few laughs. And most of us helped to demolish some 'hand-crafted' (?) doughnuts provided by John Rogers. Although bad for the waistline, at least they helped to fortify us for the coming privations of Lent. Aircraft-wise, we campaigned just the K13 and K8, with the K7(M) held in reserve at the launch point and remaining mud-free. In addition to all the efforts of solo pilots to stay current, Jorg Beasley and John Rogers made real progress towards safe and elegant cross-wind circuits and landings.

Some of the Wednesday gang.
From the left Bob Pirie, John Bolt, Allan Holland, John Howe, John Rogers
Far right is David Rippon sporting a more sensible hat than last week.

So a good day at the sharp-end, but not a bad one 'back at base' either.

For starters, Don Puttock had worked wonders with fettling the cockpit canopies of both two-seaters, which are now useable and safe, but which will benefit from a polishing session being planned for this weekend.
Vice-Chairman Colin ('D'Artagnan') Boyd was on-site early to discuss fencing matters with a specialist contractor, and to meet with a diesel mechanic who had arrived to fit the expensively-but-professionally renovated fuel pump back onto the ML winch.

Colin and Ged getting covered in grease while fitting new wheel bearings.

Little was seen out on the airfield of my fellow instructors, Ged Nevisky and Steve Lewis, because they spent an amazingly productive day resolving technical issues. Both of them, assisted by Colin worked wonders in restoring the collapsed cable retrieve trailer to working order, but probably the most welcome news of all was that thanks in no small measure Ray the diesel mechanic, the engine of the ML winch had been fired up successfully. Therefore things look promising for a two-cable operation this weekend.

Completed cable trailer with 2 wheels and new bearings.

While I made my excuses and left early to indulge in St.Piran's celebrations this evening at our local pub in North Cornwall, a stalwart band of washers and brushers set about washing off what seemed like half of Dartmoor from the underside of our hard-working gliders.

Bob Pirie

Dartmoor Gliding News – Sunday 2nd March 2014

Having read about all the successful flying that our fellow members have been enjoying the last couple of weeks, the Sunday Soarers turned up full of hope and expectation of once again launching into spectacular skies full of fluffy cumulus, thermals or perhaps could we catch some good wave flying to shake off our damp cobwebs.

Dave Parker seems fascinated by woodcutter Puttock

 However the reality of another wet and windy Dartmoor soon kicked in and of the major activity of the day, designed to work off the calories of another hearty Sunday Soarers breakfast, was to attack the large pile of wood that has littered the parking area for several months and to convert this into suitable sized fuel for the wood burner.  Health and safety seemed to go out of the window once Don had adopted his role of Chief Cutter on the circular saw; thankfully the only item that was cut in addition to the wood was a small piece of Don's glove and he was soon able to retire to the clubhouse to begin his usual role of lecturer.

But Jerry just couldn't watch

I was 'persuaded' to have a go at the next part of my own exams and went through NOTAM's as well as weather forecasting (mind you, the forecasting was a waste of time as I only needed to put my head out of the window and could have told him that the weather was awful!!!)  A cloud flying lecture was then lined up for the benefit of our safety officer, Dave Jesty, whilst the rest of the Soarers adopted their usual Sunday pastime of listening in whilst drinking tea and eating biscuits.

Roger and Dave were at least able to give Roger's trailer a good clean ready for his forthcoming expedition to Talgarth to experience the delights of ridge soaring.

We are looking forward to some sun.

Jerry Wellington

Jerry Wellington

Dartmoor Gliding News–Saturday 1st March 2014

Blue skies, light SW breeze backing to southerly later. There was even enough warmth in the day to suggest that spring really is on the way. Great.

There was a full complement of trainee and pre-licence pilots to occupy CFI Don and the K13 all day. The K7m G-DDAK was out ready for some air experience flying and the K8 entertained the solo pilots.

Karl awaits his first solo flight. Excellent 

Big news of the day was a first solo flight by Karl Andrews. Well done Karl; a major step towards your licence completed.  He and the other recent solo pilots were all presented with glider pilot wings by Don. It remains to be seen where they will wear them.

Stapling it to your forehead  may well sting a little bit Stefi

Andrew thought he may need to grow a bit to wear it on his chest

Another highlight today was our growing cadre of junior pilots. They kept themselves busy around the launch point, and they certainly kept the aircraft busy. They are a great asset to the club and fun to have around.

Peter with Andrew in the K8 

Stefi watches a soaring glider.

Peter and Don watching a glider in circuit 

The day remained soarable for several hours and enabled our visitor Simon Daniels to experience a couple of soaring flights with instructors Steve Lewis and Ged Nevisky. He is keen to return for some more and begin his flying training. Longest flight of the day was 28 minutes by our youngest solo pilot Andrew Swann in the K8 but most pilots managed some soaring.

Visitor Simon Daniels with instructor Steve Lewis in K7M G-DDAK

Elsewhere, John Bolt  along with Mike Jardine and Steve Raine completed the ARC renewal and C of A on the Astir. Showing great determination to get a job completed, pilot Ray Swinfield made a special effort to come to the airfield specially to check out the Pirat trailer, getting it ready for the coming cross country season. He completed checking out and fixing the electrics so it now has a full compliment of lights, all of which are working. The Pirat trailer fixtures have been rounded up and are in the trailer. We all owe him our thanks.

K8 returns to the hangar at the end of the day

So, lots going on today, all completed with good humour and not a little banter. As has become a tradition the day ended with a beer and chat in the clubhouse in front of a roaring log burner.

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News – Wednesday 26th February 2014

Faith in the forecasters' predication that early showers would dissipate (or at least become 'occasional') encouraged a dozen or so regulars to set aside thoughts of tea and log fires to get the show on the road early(ish). But one of our first tasks, while the winch was being prepared and gliders DI'd, was to help Andrew and Phil roll their trailer down to the hangar for that glider's annual inspection by our senior engineer, John Bolt.

For most of the day the sun shone and sufficient cumulus appeared occasionally to keep us interested -  if not airborne. But as has been the case for the whole of the winter, the main challenge was the fence-to-fence mud which, combined with some much rawer air that rolled in during the afternoon, was a real challenge to our resilience.

The cloud bases remained low most of the day but offered some entertainment for the pilots

 We started and continued the day using just two gliders; DAK with me instructing and the Zugvogel which Steve Lewis once again persuaded us to excavate from the back of the hangar. Apart from a brief 'hop' to test the airs, Steve spent the whole time on the ground, running the launch point and helping to keep spirits up. He had plenty of experienced helpers - the usual crowd, so I won't name them all - but two of our most determined ab initio students, John Rogers and Jorg Beasley, deserve a special mention. Thankfully they managed to get some air-time today, but otherwise they worked hard and competently along with the rest of the team.

Many hands make light work.
Bob Pirie, Phil Hardwick, and David Rippon (he must be wearing that hat for a bet).

Throughout the day DAK was kept busy with refresher flights and pre-solo training for Jorg and John. Meanwhile practically everyone had a trip in the Zug, with Robin Wilson achieving the longest flight of 12 minutes. (At this time of year we must be grateful for small mercies!)

Today's "ace" Robin Wilson waiting for a launch in the Zugvogel

With only one winch cable available, a slick launching and retrieving operation was needed - and delivered - and by the time the late pm drop in temperature persuaded us all that gliding was longer fun, we had achieved 20 or so launches plus a couple of cable breaks. As with last Saturday, this again proves that even with a single cable, provided members get their act together, and provided there's a sensible ratio of gliders and people to operate them, a satisfying day's flying is achievable. Had we had more gliders out on the muddy field today, it would have been chaos.

Apart from couple of instances late pm when the subtle wind-shift from south west to south caught out pilots and cables fell over the fence, the aftermath of one cable break caused us concern for a while. Having retrieved the cable and parachute from among the gorse on the north slope of the hill, when the team returned to the launch point it was discovered that Phil the Farmer was missing. A search by glider and ground team was initiated, but he then reappeared having been attending to some other task, so all's well that ends well.

One additional bit of good news. Apparently while we were all at the far end of the field, Colin Boyd dropped in at the clubhouse to deliver a new vario for the K8.

A really worthwhile day with a great group of people - but there must surely be an end to all this mud, cold and damp soon.

Bob Pirie

Dartmoor Gliding News–Sunday 23rd February 2014

With high winds and a low cloud base forecast, today was always going to be a no-fly day so Don quickly set about organising a list of things for us to do.

Top of this list was moving DMX's canopy into the safety of Roger's van ready for him to transport up the line to see about making the necessary repairs.  This was considered heavy work so obviously when we got back to the clubhouse there were plenty of sausage sandwiches waiting for us to make sure we were able to keep going.

Colin intently searching for a good field

 Don then organised a really interesting lecture on cross-country flying which everyone got very closely involved with; as you can see in the picture Colin Boyd was practising his field landing recognition skills and how to spot the difference between sheep and cows from high up.

Dave's cake

Apparently this lecture was also classed as heavy work, so thankfully Tony Dean had brought in some Cornish pasties for everyone to have at lunchtime, followed by a delicious cake made by Dave Parker, which again managed to just about keep everybody going.

Pasties for lunch

Another lecture followed lunch, and what else could the subject have been other than 'Maximum weight limits and stresses acting on a plane'.  Very appropriate considering the Sunday Soarers had turned into the Sunday eaters.

I could have been a model. Dave and Roger in flying outfits.

Roger and Dave were keen to show off their stretchy outfits, Dave looking particularly fetching in his new waterproof (and occasionally very high visibility) onesie.

Dave posing in his "onesie" 

Tony did manage some physical activity after his pasty and added a coat of paint to the inside of the Gus Launch.  The tin has been left in situ so there is no longer any reason for the winch driver to be bored between periods of activity, they can literally add the next layer and watch paint dry.

Lots of training card activities were signed off and everybody left really happy and looking forward to the days when we can regularly go flying again.

Jerry Wellington

Dartmoor Gliding News–Saturday 22nd February 2014

The forecast was suggesting a gap in the storms with fairly good conditions deteriorating towards the end of the day.

So gliders out and on with the fun. The members took the muddy conditions with typical good humour. The K13 was busy throughout the day. Training highlight today was junior member Michael Larkin’s first unprompted flight; CFI Don was in the rear seat but said nothing. This is an important milestone. Very well done Michael.

The winch driver's view of an interesting sky

The solo pilots were all desperate to fly. The K8 was busy as usual and the Zugvogel was on line for the first time in several months allowing some pilots the chance to convert to it and the more experienced to reacquaint themselves with it’s delightful handling.

Andrew Swann in the K8 made a good attempt at the longest soaring flight
but was eventually beaten by Allan Holland in the Zugvogel

 The air was interesting. The strong southerly crosswind was lifting little bubbles off the southern side of the airfield. These could be used to sustain flights up to about 15 minutes with some low level soaring. The K13 managed to find a thermal to the dizzy heights of 1400 feet. Great fun.

Ray Swinfield had his first flight in a Zugvogel

As the afternoon wore on the cross wind got stronger and stronger as the temperature dropped dramatically. With typical DGS grit and determination we stuck to the task in hand to make sure that everyone who wanted to fly had done so. In fact it was 6:45 by the time we had washed the gliders and repacked the hangar.

Rick Wiles was one of several experienced pilots queuing to reacquaint themselves with the Zugvogel

The warm clubhouse and a cold beer was a great way to finish a satisfying day.

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News – Wednesday 19th February 2014

Today was another Wednesday washout with low cloud, fog and eventually rain. But you don't have to probe too far among all the mud and crud of Brentor to find something resembling a silver lining, which today took the form of a healthy turnout by more than a dozen of our most enthusiastic members intent on resolving some of the technical challenges associated with our launching equipment, which threatened to keep us grounded - whatever the weather.

All action at the workbench in the hangar. The GusLaunch gets some urgent repairs

I arrived to find that Colin Boyd, Steve Raine and Dave Rippon had already dismantled the Guslaunch winch's cable roller mechanism out on the airfield. They then lugged it back to the hangar and, with the arrival of Allan Holland and the assistance of several others, most of the morning was spent filing out grooves, fitting new bearings and then returning the whole assembly to the winch.

Meanwhile another team consisting primarily of John Rogers, Jorg Beasley and John Howe set about curing a serious disability which had beset the cable retrieve trailer. Then finally, Phil the Farmer fired up the tractor and we towed the recently-deceased grey Land Rover Discovery from pride of place at the front of the hangar to a less prominent position out the back.

"One wheel on my wagon?". Not with these guys on the job

So, all in all, ''Job well done!' And here's hoping that the team's efforts will be rewarded by some decent flying this coming weekend - and maybe the odd pint from grateful weekenders..

What other news? John Howe, obviously suffering following the recent death of his brother-in-law, raised our spirits by bringing along a nice 'thank you' letter from the Plymouth charity to whom the club recently donated a load of warm clothing. The arrival of Bob Sansom with a Transit-load of dry firewood was a most welcome sight, and it was good to have Andrew Beaumont back on-side following his winter migration to sunnier climes. For a change John Bolt was not freezing his fingers off in the bowels of a K-13 in the workshop, but performed well as Duty Stoker for the log burner.

Just as the rain set in, John Blaskett arrived with a working party consisting of his son-in-law and grandson, intent on fettling his glider and trailer.   But after a stint of trailer-washing, they called it a day and joined us in the clubhouse for tea and tall stories.

John Blaskett ( centre ) supervising his work party.  

Just to get us all thinking about improving safety and efficiency when we once again start doing some serious flying at Brentor, I gave a talk on Ground Radio Procedures. (You'll find the notes among the training materials for members on the club's website,and I do urge all members to read them.)

Bob Pirie

Dartmoor Gliding News–Sunday 16th February 2014

Today promised to be a good day, forecast sunshine, light winds, Cold weather passing through the day before and the prospect of a hearty Breakfast to start. Initially icy, the slippery stuff disappeared around 9am. But it was still cold.

K13 and K8 waiting at the launchpoint

The K13 was out and the K8. Don kicked off the proceedings with currency checks with Leith Whittington and training for Mike Swann, Mike Larkin and Andrew Swann while myself and Roger Appleboom managed the winch and retrieve.

The light S-SW forecast made most of us think it could just get going thermally (I know!!!), and on the grass we had Pundit predictions of between 11am and 1pm. for when thermal activity might start. Thermals actually started at 11 am over on the moors to the south in the nice winds and started 1 pm over us. But by then the light winds soon became the DGS norm and we had a crisp southerly x wind. The field was very soft and muddy. Despite the sunshine it was cold.

Thermal activity over dartmoor

Actually though, this was a great day to learn something, in these very variable conditions. It was hoped that the thermal activity would be better developed and allow for a ½-1 hour flights to get Glider Pilot Licence (GPL) durations in reasonable conditions. But, apart from the 20minute flight managed by Don and Mike Swann thermals where extremely narrow and affected by strong winds to the degree that thermalling and monitoring your gliding range in the light K8 became the main flight management task. In the K13 this was not such a problem apparently because of extra ballast taken on board in the form of hobnobs.

In the K8 though as the Southerly wind srengthened during the day it was very easy to find yourself after 3 or 4 nice turns in 3-4 up well over Brentor Church being whisked away in a northerly direction. In the K8 at 1400ft you would think not so much of a problem, but the moment you headed back into wind towards the field and you hit ‘blue 6-8 down’, it made it very interesting when you opted for a north circuit and found a classic grabbing hand as well rapidly changing your comfortable thoughts of a nice parallel landing alongside the launch point.

Southern circuits were not much better. You still managed to find 4-6 down and the need to increase speed to 60+ making for fast base leg and final turns.

The day was really interesting and fun, all but one of the trainees flew and Dave Parker got his ARC done on his far too clean K6 (examiners words). Roger Appleboom, myself and Allan Holland flew the K8. And young Andrew Swann in the K13 got the first of his ‘interesting attitudes’=‘you have control’ training. This
picture said it all, after just being announced

Is Andrew ( on the left ) really worried? I don't think so.

Our Gus winch did what our Gus winch seems to want do…. Show its displeasure on a cold day and threw loops at the last moment on the last flight. Meaning Dave , Alan, Andrew and myself where hand clearing loops and repairing an end of the day cable break in the dark (the strain of having to drag far too many Hobnobs Into the air!) and the K13 being dragged back by torchlight.

Sadly Luke didn’t fly but spring must be around the corner because Trevor popped up to show his medical is all in order.

Tony Dean

Dartmoor Gliding News – Saturday 15th February 2014

Yesterday’s storm was the worst of a very bad winter. With this in mind it was not surprising that the club was quiet today.

Arriving at the club, Rick Wiles was already hard at work on the club computers. We tested the new online booking system that he has been writing. This will go live soon.

After this we made an inspection of the airfield and equipment which all seems to have survived very well. The Guslaunch winch started easily, the launch hut was where we left it and all the trailers were in the correct places. As expected, the runway is very,very wet.

Landrover repair man Rick Wiles

 Rick continued his day by fixing the driver door locks on the Gold and Green Discoveries and the drivers window on the Grey one. In his usual ( keep busy ) style, he and Allan Holland then proceeded to replace the header tank  on the ML winch. The news for the ML winch’s injector pump is not good. The unit has now been sent to a specialist for rebuilding. This is always an expensive undertaking.

Rick and Allan working on the ML winch.

Outside, in the lee of the hangar, I could have believed that spring had arrived. The sun shone in a deep blue sky, it was pleasantly warm and even the birds were singing. What a difference a day makes.

Looking forward to the new season.

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News – Wednesday 12th February 2014

Probably the worst day of the year (so far!) both deluge and gale-wise, justifying decisions by fellow-instructors Ged Nevisky and Steve Lewis to focus on domestic DIY projects.

However, Steve Raine having e-mailed me complaining of serious Brentor withdrawal symptoms, and knowing that there would be one or two other members seeking refuge from the storm, I decided that non-attendance was not an option, and drove down from North Cornwall (with my wife’s cries of ‘****** idiot’ ringing in my ears).

Bob pictured with his ASW20 taken when the weather was much nicer.

After an 'interesting' journey I arrived at the club to find the facilities unlocked, the generator chugging and Steve, Dave Rippon and Colin Boyd trying to coax life into the wood burner. In fact Steve had got there so early that he claimed already to have attempted a short cross-country flight via the simulator, followed by an impeccable landing.

As any dedicated Field Treasurer would do on a tempestuous day like this, Dave Rippon made his excuses and left on the grounds that ‘numbers needed to be crunched’. A little later Sandra Buttery and Alan Carter arrived to undertake a ceremonial hand-over of the 'Tea Swindle' kitty to Vice-Chairman Colin.  Then, after catching up on all the DGS chat, they scooped up their bedding (?) and pointed their 4 x 4 in the direction of Aston Down.

A phone call back to base persuaded me that with hurricane-force winds forecast for Lundy-Fastnet, it would be prudent to call it a day and return home. However, in the few hours that I had been on-site, an amazing amount of rain had fallen. Water pouring off the fields blocked my route between Milton Abbot and Launceston, necessitating a back-track to Tavistock, followed by a run along the north side of the moor and then a final leg home via Okehampton.

The forecast for the next few days is pretty appalling, but let's hope that by next Wednesday things will have improved sufficiently to stimulate a good turnout of members.

Bob Pirie