Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 4th September 2021

The forecast was not great. The atmospheric soundings made the day look hopelessly stable. The easterly wind was not likely to help. Stable layer with inversion  - no; wind speed increasing with height - no. Oh well even though it looked hopeless the equipment was prepared as there was quite a lot of training flights needed.

K13s ready for a busy day

Mike Bennet was up first with Rick. They few a series of practice launch failures. I launched next with Peter Howard our first visitor of the day. We found some bouyant air over Mary Tavy which consisted of some ephemeral bubbles of lift in a defined area - rotor maybe? Whatever it allowed us to maintain our flight for 13 minutes or so. The K13's were joined by the Twin Astir and several flights were recorded in the 15 to 20 minute range. Steve Fletcher joined the fun and recorded 39 minutes in his Open Cirrus.

Peter Howard after his trail lesson

K13 G-DCCY soring over the south field

he soaring possibilities evaporated and a lot of circuits were flown until about 2.30pm when thermals started to form. As usual these were not easy down but with care and a little luck soaring started in earnest. The best flight during this period was Ged and Malcolm in the Twin Astir with 1 hour 52minutes. 

Malcom's view of the airfield from the Twin Astir

We welcomed Alan Hutchinson and Beryl Trantor for air experience flights both of whom enjoyed soaring flights with me. Also with us today was Milosz Wysocki returning  after his One Day Course to begin flying training.

Milosz training on the quad assisted by John 

Beryl ready to fly

Myself with Alan Hutchinson after his flights

Today was so much better than forecast

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News-Monday 6th September 2021

 Mr Blue Sky

It was through the wonders of WhatsApp (and latterly Emails) that this soaring day was spontaneously organised. Following an initial post by Richard, an 8-man posse was assembled to try and take advantage of the favourable conditions that were forecast for Monday. I enrolled on the basis that Wednesday did not look good and I would try my hand in the Easterly wind. Malcolm was a late attendee to the party – only picking up the email on the Monday morning!

I got the hangar opened and was soon joined by Richard and Steve F. Richard had seen to it that the winch had already been left out from Sunday in anticipation of a Monday gathering. Nice one Richard – that’s one less job to do setting up. The rigging of gliders then ensued in the increasing heat – there was little or no wind, so we were all suitably sweating as we helped each other with every soaring pilot’s obligatory workout!

We had to take a breather when all was assembled at the launch point, to re-hydrate and to await the arrival of the Cu overhead – surely it’ll start popping soon? The motley crew sank into garden chairs in the shade of the launch hut. Water was supped, sarnies were chomped, apples were crunched, heads were tilted skyward. Still no Cu overhead. So we bullied Martin into taking the first ‘sniffer’ flight in the Libelle on the stroke of 1 o’clock. Exactly 7 minutes later our intrepid pilot returned to report back. The flight duration said it all – rather more challenging than it looked.

Andy took the second cable and was back on the ground after 7 minutes. Good consistency from Team Libelle. More gazing skyward then ensued as the next pair of cables were towed out. 

“You see that little cloud just left of the raggedy white one?
I reckon there’s lift under there.”

It was now nearly 2pm, which coincided with the little upward bump on the RASP chart, so we figured 7 minutes could be improved on. Peter donned chute and boarded the Astir - such was his determined demeanour that I chose to put the K6 online to follow him. He immediately departed the top of the launch to the southwest – had he seen something? I kept my eye on him as I prepared to launch.

The launch itself seemed to have a slow point about a third of the way up but I stayed with it whilst the speed was safe. I had the good fortune to encounter half a knot shortly after release, which I scraped around in for a couple of minutes to maintain height at the very least. I could see Peter a couple of hundred feet above and to the west so I tip-toed over to him. We had an engaging few minutes circling and re-centring, gaining a few hundred feet and buying time. Peter then headed over towards Mary Tavy but I stubbornly hung on to what little lift I had. I could see Richard launch in the Discus but he scurried off southwards not to be seen until quite a bit later! For me however, there followed an extended period of scratching around between 1200 and 1800 feet, which in the hot almost cloud-free conditions was pretty demanding and required fairly tight circling. I was joined at various stages by Peter and Steve, all of us battling for height in close formation. There was plenty of head-swivelling going on believe me! I wish I had had a Go-Pro as it would have made quite a spectacle.

Returning to terra-firma once more I was surprised to find I had clocked up 46 minutes – seemed more like 20 to me. It was around this time we started to have issues with the winch. Something to do with the fuel system drawing in air causing a reduction of power. In the launches that followed there were several slow launches and two aborted take-offs. At the time of writing, I believe Scratch is investigating this – let’s hope it’s nothing too crucial.

From the Northeast, the line of Cu inched towards us but was never in reach.

Due to either deteriorating conditions or the winch issues (or both), the last six launches of the day were short flights or aborted take-offs. There were valiant efforts to rectify the winch fault (heroes, you know who you are!) but the soaring conditions were beyond our control. All things considered, not a bad day given the circumstances. Richard claimed flight of the day with 1 hour 38 minutes – he later told me having reached the line of energy (3100ft C/B) to the northeast he was able to traverse up and down it. The minor places were claimed by Peter (38m), Andy (21m) and myself (46m) before circumstances intervened. Congrats to all other combatants.

The flight log bears out the degree of challenge thrown down by Mr Blue Sky!

With eight of us now on the “Good 2 talk Better 2 Rig!” WhatsApp Group for Licenced Pilots, I believe it’s a useful tool to enable flying (and revenue for the club) where it would otherwise not have happened. There must be other pilots in the DGS membership who should be in this group? Roll up, roll up!

Hugh Gascoyne.

Dartmoor Gliding News-Sunday 5th September 2021

 Today we were under no illusions – there would be next to no cumulus, and RASP gave only a small soaring blip mid-afternoon.  The wind, however, was due to be light, SE’ly and the weather sunny – so water and sun lotion were the watchwords for today’s members.  

Robin Wilson and Martin Cropper get the show on the road.

Surprise of the day came from Stacey Walker, a ‘nervous prospective flier’ who, with husband James, dropped in to have a look around prior to her trial flight booked for 6 November.  Meanwhile (and to provide illustration whilst Chris Matten led the charm offensive), returning-to-solo member Robin Wilson and Martin Cropper got the training operation going in the K-13.  After three fairly uneventful circuits, it appeared that the Sunday Soarers had worked their magic and Stacey was persuaded to fly now, rather than wait!  And so she was treated to two short soaring flights by Peter Howarth - you can judge for yourself how nervous she remained from the accompanying photos…

Nervous flier Stacey Walker being briefed by Peter Howarth.

 Peter gets the K-13 balanced on the mainwheel…

…and away they go!

 Look who’s a nervous flier now..!

 Stacey is presented with her certificate by Peter.

As the aforementioned blip time approached, and with the occasional cumulus beginning to form (not pop) in the usual suspect locations, Peter decided to swap mounts and take his own Astir into the sky.  After 42-minutes aloft he reported that “It was hard work: if the viz down here isn’t brilliant the higher you go, the worse it gets!  And with the vario showing no more than 2 up trying to peer through the murk makes it all very tiring”.  (Good job that Rich Roberts was already rigging at the other end of the airfield and thus didn’t hear that..!)  

Peter Howarth waits for the All Out in Astir FCJ…

…and transitions smoothly into the climb.

Ray Boundy hopped into the front seat of the K-13 for a trio of flights, the last of which he aborted early in the launch as the winch did not seem to be (well, definitely wasn’t) delivering full power.  The simplicity of landing ahead with full airbrake under actual conditions did, however, do wonders for Ray’s self-confidence.  He wasn’t to know that a real ‘eventuality’ was around the corner, and nor did Karon Matten, after a longer than anticipated lay-off, expect to find herself in a thermal with the vario wailing straight off the wire!  Her maintenance of composure and instant recall of centring technique was admirable as she completed two soaring flights of around ten minutes each, followed by a more traditional circuit and (well held-off) landing.  In one of those flights she shared the air with Ed Borlase in his cherry red K-6CR; Ed managing 27 minutes total of ‘character forming’ hard work..!  In the end, however, Flight of the Day went Rich Roberts who was able to use the performance of his Discus to cover distance whilst not losing height during a 1 hour and 7-minute sojourn over the western region of Dartmoor.

: Portrait by Ed Borlase of his superb K-6CR DQS.

Ed’s view of the airfield from the NE gives a vivid illustration of ‘gloop’ at height.

Thanks go to all those involved in welcoming and cajoling Stacey into the sky – she genuinely enjoyed her time with us and there’ll be some tales to be told in Okehampton tonight!

Martin Cropper

Dartmoor Gliding News-Wednesday 1st September 2021

A few exchanges of emails yesterday suggested that there may be an early opportunity of wave today.

Interesting sky viewed at Buckland Monachorum

At the airfield the only signs of wave were just too far away to get to.

Elusive wave just too far away.

Today we were joined by DSGC member Mark Worsfold. A solo pilot who hasn’t flown solo since the start of the pandemic. Other than flying at a new club and in unfamiliar K13’s, Mark is deaf which presented other problems for both himself and me. A well places mirror which enabled him to lip read me in the rear seat and explaining that a couple of taps on the stick meant I needed to take control we were soon off into the air for his first flights at Brentor. After getting used to the K13 Mark was flying the launch and most of the circuit, He hopes to return in the future and continue his progress back to solo, both at DSGC and Brentor.

Mark alongside K13 CCY.

Also visiting us today were husband and wife Graham & Sylvia Street, who popped in to see what happens before booking Sylvia’s voucher flights. Due to a non-show of today’s one day course we were able to offer Sylvia a chance to fly today.

Sylvia all set to fly with Richard.

After her flights, Graham was offered a chance to fly as well. After parting with the correct fee and signing the paperwork was soon off with Richard.

Thumbs up from Graham before his flight.

Trainees John Smith and Mohammed Khouribich both had three flights with me. John had a couple of launch failure practices and Mohammed experienced his first stalls and continued improving his control coordination.

K13 launches again.

Solo pilots Andy Davey (Libelle), Martin Broadway (Libelle), John Allen (K8), Roger Green (K8) and Malcolm Wilton-Jones (K8) all had flights of varying success. The longest was Malcolm with a heady 19 minutes.

A day that promised a lot more, but all who flew enjoyed the day. Thank you to all for your help, especially Gavin who did a double stint on the winch without flying.

Peter Howarth

Dartmoor Gliding News-Monday 30th August 2021

The weather watchers will have noticed the almost stationary high pressure to the northwest of Scotland which has given us a protracted period of settled weather, a blessed respite at the end of a damp August.  So it shouldn’t have been a surprise as I headed from east Cornwall to Brentor to see wave clouds and majestic lenticulars stacked two deep in the Tamar Valley (or Borden Valley to be more accurate) which is way back from the lee of the hills of Dartmoor.

The photo doesn’t do justice to the size of the cap cloud
that appeared at times as a massive roiling wall spread
across the full width of Dartmoor.

At the club a huge cap cloud dominated the moors and wave bars abounded overhead the club.  But alas the delicious promise of wave flying didn’t materialise as the forecast 8/8th cloud cover built throughout the day.  Although for some there was some soaring (or perhaps more correctly scratching) to be had.

The lack of soaring was probably a good thing as today was planned as (hopefully) a final training day for the trainee Introductory Flight Pilots (IFPs), namely Phil, Scratch and I.  So routine pre-solo training would not be available but licenced solo pilots were welcome.  Sometimes, just sometimes, we have to put a focus on other areas of pilot development.  Apologies to our pre-solo pilots.

Hugh was accompanied by his teenage son, Harvey, who came up to gain a taste of ground operations.  Welcome Harvey, we hope that this is the first of many visits.

K6 rigging. 
 (Ed: Not sure if Harvey realised the reason that he was
invited to the airfield was to help his Dad rig his glider!)

Following its annual inspection and airworthiness review we welcome back CCY.

HXP ready for extensive IFP training as the wave bars are stacked back across the airfield.

I took the first set of three flights with Rick: Low launch failure – land ahead; Awkward height launch failure – land ahead; Blip in the power delivery of the winch – land ahead.  But that wasn’t the exercise planned by the instructor.  It was meant to be a high launch failure followed by a modified circuit: Ooops! 

Phil took the next set of four and was put through a similar set of exercises.  But before Phil’s first launch Malcolm tested the air (at the top pf the launch) in the Twin Astir but was rewarded with a circuit of 5 minutes.  No thermal activity yet (not that the IFP trainees would have a chance to notice!)

The long walk up the field of an IFP trainee accompanied by instructor “27,000 steps today” Rick.

Meanwhile after the test flight of CCY by Peter, following its annual inspection and some work, Hugh and Peter then took a further test flight of 16 minutes to prove the accuracy of the airspeed Indicators (ASIs) in the front and rear seat.

Hugh and Peter returning from their test flight in CCY.  “Both ASIs are working perfectly”.

Then Scratch had a set of four IFP training flights.  Intensive training is good but the myriad thought processes crammed into the minute or so of a flight with a launch failure, that you know is coming, can scramble the brain.

Scratch runs through his pre-launch checks with “Bloggs” who is sitting in the front seat.

A tourist from Haarlem, the Netherlands, turned up enquiring about the chance of a flight.  Unfortunately we couldn’t guarantee one so after a long chat he wistfully left the airfield to continue his holiday with his family.  Vaarwel.  Tot ziens!

Colin surveys a changing sky as the visiting Dutchman looks on
before returning to his family in the car park.

Malcolm then took his new toy (to him) for a second launch and the longest flight of the day at 1 hr 25 mins.  It was also the highest flight of the day at a dizzying 2,100 feet above the airfield.  Persistence and flying very slowly is the name of the game.

Thoughts of a dejected-looking ground crew:
“I just know I won’t see Malcolm again for hours!”

And to prove the height of the day from the cockpit of the Twin Astir
(Ed: The rest of us use GPS data loggers to show the
details our flight rather than multiple panel “selfies”)

Malcolm’s view of the airfield that records the IFP trainees’ long walk back
 to the launch point (at the bottom of the picture).

Inevitably launch failure training leads to delays in the proceedings, as gliders and cables are recovered, sometimes from over the fence (Ed: the cables that is unless you are talking about DMX on Sunday’s outlanding in the “L”-shaped field), and cable tangles at the winch drum.  All of which leave gaps in the proceedings just big enough to slide a private single-seat glider into the launch queue.  Mike filled that gap in his K6 and flew for 13 mins before Hugh just topped that with a 15 minute flight in the same glider.

Mike considers his options before a well-deserved launch.

After three sets of IFP launch failures Rick took a break and had a couple of flights, just circuits, in the newly-syndicated Standard Cirrus.  It put a smile on his face.

The start of the day with the Standard Cirrus almost fully rigged for later action. 
Sadly the wave bar had dispersed by then.

Meanwhile, Peter Howarth took our “hangar technician”, Dave, for a couple of well-deserved flights in CCY.  That left just enough time for a further IFP training flight a piece for me and then Scratch.  My expected high launch failure went perfectly and after the long day of training I was rewarded by the words “You are ready”.

The gliders and equipment were put away before we retired to the club house for “reflection” and the signing of the paperwork.  A total of 24 flights today which was an achievement considering the amount launch failure training that was conducted.  Thirteen of those flights were IFP launch failure training flights with a giddying 16 minutes total flight time.  In the club house it was a joy to watch my fellow IFP trainee’s “1,000 yard stare” start to dissipate as they relaxed.

Finally, on behalf of the IFP trainees, I would like to thank those members who turned up on a Bank Holiday Monday to help get our training done.  Thank you, it is much appreciated.  The IFP examinations are planned for September…  Wish us luck.

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News-Sunday 29th August 2021

Waiting for the wind to settle into its predicted NE’ly direction was, well, like watching the proverbial.  Having DI’ed the club K-13 and rigged all the privately owned single-seaters that wanted to fly, by 1131 there was nothing left to do but…launch!  And by 1134 we had a glider in a field.  Launching into the northerly crosswind, Martin Cropper and Ray Boundy were lured by a cloud downwind which failed to deliver and, on turning back to the airfield found nothing but 5-6 kts sink, making a return to the home airfield impossible.  Martin therefore decided to make use of the height available to land the K-13 in the field just south of the airfield boundary, with no damage or injury caused.  

Ed Borlase launching in his K-6 for a Silver C duration attempt.

"That glider's very low..."
Ed's view of K-13 DMX having landed out in "Dick Toop's" field.

Three hours later, and thanks to retrieve crew Phil Hardwick, Chris and Karon Matten the glider was back on the hangar hardstanding re-rigged and ready to go…  Meanwhile other members of the team kept the operation alive, notably by getting Ed Borlase into the air in his K-6 for a potential five-hour Silver C duration flight.  His first attempt lasted 9 minutes, so was only 4 hours 51 minutes short of the goal (subsequent launches being slightly shorter), which probably says more about the weather (actual) versus weather (forecast) than Ed’s flying ability.  And with K-13 DMX temporarily grounded, instructor Peter Howarth stepped into the breach to fly our visitor, Angus Allen in alternative K-13 airframe HXP.

Visitor Angus Allen in K-13 HXP.

As the afternoon drew on it appeared that the upper air had taken the hint, but the windsock stubbornly refused to settle into an easterly sector, creating turbulence in lee of the trees and frustratingly uninspiring launch heights.  Through sheer perseverance and a bit of luck solo pilots Andy Davey (Libelle JEU) and Peter Howarth (Astir CFJ) eventually won through, in Peter’s case to an astonishing 3,000ft agl in 55 minutes airtime.  In the two-seater Ray Boundy also struck lucky (only partly by using the thermal marked by Peter) with a commendable 26-minute soaring flight to 1,800ft, providing much needed and justified compensation for the unexpectedly foreshortened version earlier in the day..!

 Ray Boundy in contemplative mood prior to a 26-minute soaring flight.

 Pete Howarth in his Astir surveys the sky as Malcom Roberts gathers the cable...

 ...and launches for a 55-minute flight.

 Pete's view of the airfield as he approaches 3,000ft.

Andy Davey  launching his Libelle...

...and away he goes!

Today was a day when although the forecast (especially RASP) was very promising (5 Stars by 1300), the weather failed to match that potential, leaving those who flew grateful for achieving what they did against, rather than with, the odds.  In addition to the retrieve crew, thanks go especially to Phil Hardwick and Malcolm Roberts who assisted but did not fly (due to the crosswind vs. Twin Astir) and to Peter Howarth for taking our visitor to 2,800ft and giving him a go on the controls, whilst the Duty Instructor was fending off a herd of heifers in a nearby field!

Martin Cropper

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 28th August 2021

 The forecast was suggesting some possibilities for today. Cloud bases would remain relatively low but local soaring should be ok. The breeze was a little east of north occasionally swinging more to the east. The west end launchpoint was likely to be busy with two K13's and a K8 from the club fleet and the Twin Astir and two Standard Cirrus's.

Today' two One Day Course Candidates Milosz Wysocki, an aspiring Military Pilot and Steve Cook would keep me busy in K13 G-CHXP all day. At the end of the day, both left with smiles have enjoyed some great soaring and having flown the aircraft all around the local area.

Milosz

Steve enjoying his briefing from Scratch

The first flight was at a very creditable 10.15am. I followed at 10.27 and found little bits of lift to extend the circuit a little; more "falling with style" than soaring but fun never the less. Conditions improved from there, climb rates improved and the cloudbase gradually raised from an initial 1700ft above the airfield to a dizzying 2500ft by mid afternoon. The Twin Astir did report climbing to 3000ft at one point.

The cloubase was low most of the day

There were several notable flights. Mike Jardine recorded the day's longest flight of 1 hour 23 minutes on only his second flight in his "new" Std Cirrus. There were plenty of flights over 1 hour.  Normally I am excluded from the longest flights list because of the requirements of Air Experience and One Day Course flying but today I think I can claim a moral victory for the best soaring effort of the day, my total time soaring with the 2 One Day Courses totalled 3 hours and 11 minutes. 

A Std Cirrus joining above

Sharing thermals was common today. 
Here HXP ( flown by me) joins underneath DMX

Mike Jardine's view from the Standard Cirrus

Although the cloud base was relatively low that did not stop Gavin Short from a little local cross country flying in his Stand Cirrus. This is how he recalls it

"After launch, having worked zero sink over the church for a while (at 600ft!) it rewarded me with a 5.4kt ave thermal.  Although cloud base was 2,200 ft (QFE) I went cross country to Tavistock, Calstock, Cotehele, Harrowbarrow, and Kit Hill.  The final glide back to Brentor was interesting as three of my chosen clouds did not work! But I got back.  Gavin"

Gavin's view down the Tamar estuary

Safely back after a nail biting final glide.
(Interesting that his photo cuts off his very stylish winglets)

Sometimes we forget that the gliders are spotted by people away from the airfield. These photos were supplied by Martin Cropper while over at Roos Tor

Twin Astir G-DDSL circling over a party of hikers at Roos Tor.
And to prove it...

Here's a zoomed in close-up!

A very satisfying day

Steve