Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 9th April 2022

There was an exciting sounding forecast for today. RASP was predicting some good soaring. Skysight was showing lots and lots of convergence lift along the south coast. Wind strength should be fairly light. 

The first flight at 10.40 was  K13-DCCY training flight which delivered a circuit. 10 minutes later it was my turn in K13-CFSD with our One day Course candidate Brian Northmoore. From about half way up the wire it was apparent that we were launching through a thermal and a quick left turn after release saw us climbing. After a little fiddling around soon established us in a solid thermal which whisked us up to the 3000ft cloud base. We returned for lunch after an hour.

Brian and family
( camera shy teenagers must be a rarity)

Our early view of the Tamar and Tavy Estuaries 

I have set up my phone to take photos when I say smile
so that I can have one hand free for the aircraft. 
This is sometimes confusing for the front seater.

Our initial climb gave us time to watch the other gliders launching. Of particular interest was Richard Roberts in the Discus. Based on the forecasts he had set himself a target of 500km. After a couple of restarts he disappeared for just over 5 hours. After his return we learned that conditions were not as good as the forecasts and the wind at flying heights increased to 14 knots but did not produce any streeting ( lines of cloud aligning with the wind which allows gliders to cover may miles in more or less continuous lift). Eventually has abandoned his original task but still completed over 307km. turning at Dorchester out tom Southhampton and back Although he was disappointed this is still a good flight.

Photo from Richard's flight

Photo from Richard's flight

Photo from Richard's flight

Photo from Richard's flight

Richard later tweeted 

"Another great day tasking from @DartmoorGliding 307km in a glider up to #Dorchester then  #southmolton and back, a great way to beat the cost of fuel this summer ! Oh and it’s a great way to fly^

The other solo pilots flying today were Phil Harwick who managed a flight of 1 hr 53min in his recently acquired DG300 and Gavin Short 1 hr 44 mins in his Std Cirrus.

The DG300 flanked by the Std Cirrus

We also welcomed a couple of Air Experience visitors, Darren Builey and Shanie Lang both of whom enjoyed short soaring flights with Scratch. 

Darren and wife.

Shanie and Scratch share a joke before flying

Rick Wiles had a friends and family visitor Mark who he flew in CCY

Mark and Rick

Rick in CCY on approach

Although the forecast proved to be over optimistic, it was still a good day which yielded a total of 36 launches

Steve 

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 13th April 2022

 A forecast for an overcast start clearing late morning to give moderate soaring conditions, I left home optimistic, but the drive to the airfield in thick fog which got worse the closer I got to Brentor. This actually proved beneficial as some of the pilots who are heading to Longmynd could prepare gliders and trailers for the trip.

The first task was to return the open trailer to the east end and bring back one of the K13 trailers so we could transfer K7-M Spirit Of Cornwall from the trailer that was going to be used to transport CCY to Longmynd. This took longer that thought as not all the fittings were in the trailer and we forgot that the trailer for the K7-M required the fuselage to be loaded before the wings. Eventually everything was sorted.

Richard disappeared to the east end to bring back the instrument cover from his Discus as it was causing reflections whilst flying. A job for his dad while Richard is away at Longmynd to paint it matt black. We thought the clubhouse was about to get a new carpet as Richard returned with a carpet on the roof of his wife's borrowed car.

New Carpet Delivery.

It turned out it was for the floor of his tent at Longmynd. It was now lunchtime, but the weather was showing signs of brightening up, but not as much as the forecast suggested. So we decided to have lunch and make a decision about flying after. With sandwiches consumed and teas/coffees drunk it was thought it was bright enough to give it a go, so we got the field ready to fly.

With the aircraft at the east end, the weather decided to close in and prevent commencement of aviation. So we passed the time by cutting up some of the discarded cable along the north fence and put it into a container ready for disposal.

Eventually it was action stations and ready to commit aviation. John Smith and I got ready in the K13. Going up the launch it was evident the cloud was a lot lower than estimated. At about 650ft John abandoned the launch and executed a good launch failure to return safely back to the airfield.

Well that was shorter than planned.

The closest Phil got to fly.

Phil and I had rigged our Astir for a couple of re-familiarisation flights as we hadn't flown it for a while prior to taking it to Longmynd. It turned out to be a rigging and de-rigging exercise.

Looks better than it was.

The assembled pilots used the trialed and tested method to help make the decision that discretion is better than valour to abandon flying and return everything to the hangar.

Wet fingers in the air.

A day that achieved a lot of good work, but only one flight. Thank you to all at the club to achieve what we did achieve.

Peter Howarth

Dartmoor Gliding News-Chicklade Out and Return Attempt Sunday 3rd April 2022 Steve Fletcher

Having been watching the forecast for the weekend all week I decided that Sunday looked best for my 300km attempt. Arriving at the airfield nervous but prepared with food, drink chart and 2 charged batteries I went through the flight plan with Richard Roberts. An out and return to Chicklade. 

I took off at 11.44 when the clouds and thermals looked to be developing. I struggled at first to get any height off the 900 ft launch near the airfield but eventually got away and set off towards the North of the moor where the clouds looked better and eventually got a decent climb to over 3000 ft near Lydford. 

Looking up the M5 towards Cullompton

Setting off across the Northern part of the moor with some decent cloud streets I got a decent climb to about 4500 cloud base NW of Exeter. Cloud base was around 4000 to 4500 for most of the flight. The wind was all over the place. NNW at Brentor and NE for the main part all the way to Chicklade. I noticed that North Hill they were launching from West to East, Still I thought, that would help my way back,(little did I know that it wouldn’t) so I tracked on. The route took me North of Exeter and South of Yeovil and Yeovilton. The coast on my right I could see Weymouth and Portland. 

Chesil beach in the distance

I got another good climb East of Yeovil, very turbulent 6 to 8 up and then another one East of Yeovilton. The area around Yeovil was starting to over develop so I was wondering whether I would even get to Chicklade. I pressed on and got a good straight glide to the Chicklade turn point but then struggled again for lift. I was within reach of The Park gliding club and started to track towards it when I noticed a Discus high up to my left. 

Cloud cover was now over 90% so I joined the discus and got another good climb to cloud base around 4300’. The wind was now NW about 9 knots so slowing me a bit. Tracking back south of Yeovilton and Yeovil the sky had over developed and I was running out of height and with little chance of lift started to look for a good field.  I still had plenty of height at this time so looked well ahead. I saw a very large field off to my left when I was at about 2500 ft so I knew I had somewhere to go but it did have a slight slope so I thought it would be better to look for another. 

The viz looking ahead to the east now was pretty awful, not much of an horizon and overcast.  It was at this point that sods law came into force, Battery 1 decided to go too low to power everything, so I switched to Battery 2, but that was completely dead (this turned out to be a loose connection that must have come loose during the flight, probably during one of the turbulent thermals). I turned everything off and just kept power to the Oudie. But my options were now running out, there was no lift so I decided it was definitely time to put my out landing practice into good use. At about 2000 feet I saw a narrow field ahead, clearly grass. It looked to be close to a barn and a minor road and looked quite flat but it seemed to have a track running down the middle of it.  Getting closer I could see that there were no obstacles or stock and it pointed east west so I could land straight into wind which was now a westerly further impeding my progress. Flying around all looked good and I decided to land to the right of what I thought might be a track. On the approach I could see that it was in fact a mown strip but committed to landing on the grass to the  right I kept to plan A. 

Happy to be down and safe

Nice Field

The field turned out to be smoother than parts of Brentor.  On getting out I realised the field was a farmers air strip. At this point I learnt that landing out in the lovely county of Somerset brings you in touch with lovely people. Using 'what 3 words' I quickly informed my retrieve crew (Richard and Gavin) where I was and phoned Susan to say I would be a bit later that planned! 

The clouds then started to part and a low sun made a pleasant late afternoon and evening as various people came to say hello, have a chat and offer help, about 9 visited me with their dogs whilst out walking. The owner of the field came over and introduced himself, a lapsed pilot himself with a Robin in the Barn which actually wasn't a barn but a small hangar!.  

I was really cold at this point, although I had 2 jumpers on, I had left my coat behind, he quickly offered me a spare coat he had in his truck and after pleasantries disappeared only to reappear 45 minutes later with his lovely wife who had made a flask of hot coffee for me. Such lovely people. 

Total flight time was 4hrs 3mins and a distance of 210kms.  

The Retrieve in pictures

Trailer in position

The Open Cirrus looks peaceful

Hold the windtip Richard

You should be working not posing for photos

One wing down

Attaching the wing handling device

Ready to go

And like all good westerns they ride off into the sunset

My thanks to Gavin and Richard for the help.

Steve Fletcher

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 2nd April 2022

Looking at the RASP forecast for today, things were going to be promising. Looking out of the window the cloud cover was 8/8ths highish with scattered cu lower, so maybe not. The wind was light northerly, which became westerly for a while before finishing the day as a southerly.

The only way to sort out the possibilities of a day like this was to get flying. So this is what we did. After the first couple of K13 circuits Mike Bennett launched in his K6 and promptly stayed aloft for 30 minutes hanging about under the darker parts of the cloud cover. After another K13 circuit, Scratch launched in his Std Cirrus and disappeared for 1 hour 12 minutes. So it's soarable then. 

Looking north over the airfield just after 11am

Tavistock looking picturesque in the clear Artic air

Later flights by Malcolm Wilton-Jones solo in the Twin Astir, a day topping 2 hours 2minutes, and Adam Hoskiin reported much stronger conditions to the north where there was sun on the ground. Adam actually found what looks like a convergence of some sort which allowed him to soar well above the local cloud base. Interesting.

Adam playing amongst the clouds

Another view from Adam in the K8

Malcolm's view of the estuary towards Plymouth

Conditions were stronger to the north.
Malcolm's view over Meldon Reservoir 

We welcomed 2 One Day Course Candidates today. Tom Bunn from Bristol and Martin Jackson both of whom enjoyed a full flying day with plenty of soaring.

Martin waiting to start his One Day Course 

Tom Bunn and family

All through the day, showers were apparent just to the west over the river in Cornwall and further south in Plymouth. By late afternoon this became very light drizzle at the airfield which lead to the end of the flying day by 4.30. but not before we had completed 32 launches 11 of which were 30 minutes or longer. 

The wind was westerly for a while

An excellent club day.

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News - Sunday 3rd April 2022

A light north westerly wind with a RASP forecast of 5 stars I was expecting more solo pilots to be at the club. Although Richard Roberts was at the club, he sacrificed his own flying to encourage other pilots to plan their own targets. More later.

First into the K13 with me was Paddy Cosgrave. The first two flights were short giving him chance to practice circuit planning and the early stages of the approach. The third was a soaring flight to over 3000ft and gave Paddy his longest flight to date with 37 minutes.

Paddy all smiles after his longest flight to date.

Next into the K13 with me was David Moult. Two flights including a soaring flight of 29 minutes. With many shouts of "Rudder" from the back seat the soaring flight gave David plenty of opportunity to improve coordination of controls.

We were joined today by visitor Andrew Pooley. Andrew's trial flight voucher was a surprise gift from his wife Anna who came to the airfield with their two young children.  He only suspected what was afoot when they turned at the DGS "learn to fly a glider" signpost on the Tavistock to Sourton road.  Andrew currently works in the health care provision industry and had in the past been an infantryman. So it was a pleasure to fly him to 4,000 feet in our "Fly Navy" Glider, G-CFSD.

Andrew Pooley with IFP Gavin Short.

The first of the solo pilots, Steve Fletcher launched in his Open Cirrus CGY for a 300km out and return flight to Chicklade. Steve landed out at Crewkerne having flown 210km in just over 4 hours. More detail will follow in a separate blog.

Steve safely down near Crewkern.

Ed Borlase also took off in his K6 EWO for an attempt at 5 hours. He managed 2 hours and 39 minutes, landing as he was feeling cold and starting to get tired. Better luck next time in the warmth of the summer.

Ed's view north over Blackdown

Ed’s view south with paragliders.

Next to fly with me was Freddie Colton. His three flights culminated in two complete flights with no input other than verbal prompts from the instructor. These were his first complete flights. Well done Freddie.

A very happy Freddie

Returning junior pilots Oliver Hunt and Riley Powell-Thomas. They both flew with BI Richard Roberts to bring the both back up to speed after their absence.

After a couple of flights with Malcolm Roberts in the Twin Astir, Phil Hardwick was joined by his wife Jackie. Despite having flown for several years, Phil was going to take Jackie for her first ever flight in a glider.

Jackie and Phil Hardwick ready to fly.

Colin Boyd popped in whilst out for a drive. With a bit of spare time he had a couple of flights with me on his road back to solo. After a failed cycle ride we were joined by Paula Howarth who helped run the log while Freddie flew. As a reward I took Paula for a hangar flight at the end of the day.

Paula happy to fly again.

A day that promised a lot more than it actually delivered. As we packed up Richard and Gavin departed to go and pick Steve up, returning at 21:30 after a safe retrieve. Thank you to all at the club today.

Peter Howarth

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 30th March 2022

 The forecast for a light north westerly with a 3 to 4 star rating on RASP gave hope for a good day. The assembled owners were soon pulling fuselages out of their trailers and rigging.

Frantic activity at the trailer park.

Unfortunately the weather hadn't read the script and the airfield became enveloped in fog which looked that it was set for a good while. Unperturbed the gliders stayed out, as ever glider pilots are optimistic that the weather forecast would have an element of truth in it.

Shrouded in fog.

Eventually at about 11:30 there was evidence that the weather was brightening up, so we began towing the gliders to the east end launch point. First into the K13 with me was John Smith. This was a dual purpose flight to check the general visibility and a condition check flight for John to fly the K8. A good flight deemed both aspects to be OK.

Next into the K13 was David Moult. David was introduced to his first stalls and continued practice with coordinated turns.

David ready to fly,

We were joined today by Trevor Williams who was here for a one day course. Richard Roberts was duty BI and after initial briefings took Trevor for his first flights.

Trevor and Richard all smiles.

Due to a poor horizon it was deemed no advantage to continue with Trevor's flights. Richard took Trevor to the clubhouse and simulator for some confidence boosting flying. After some good benefit, Trevor is looking forward to returning and putting his improved skills into practice. We look forward to seeing Trevor back soon.

K13 G-CFGR appeared at the launch point for it's inaugural test flights at Brentor. Colin Boyd and Jamie Steel were tasked with these important first flights.

G-CFGR getting ready.

And off they go.

As it was discovered G-CFGR was the glider that Jamie was first sent solo in, Jamie relived that moment with another solo flight after everything was deemed OK after the test flights.

What about all those private gliders that were rigged at the beginning of the day. K6 FUB was flown by John Allen and Mike Bennett, DG300 HME - Phil Hardwick, Twin Astir DSL - Malcolm W-J, Steve Fletcher - Open Cirrus CGY, John Smith and Gavin Short - K8 GDK and Ed Borlase - K6 EWO with varying degrees of success. The longest flight was claimed by Steve with 23 minutes.

K6 pilots John & Hugh.

ED in K6 EWO

A day that promised a lot more, but we made the best of what we could. Dartmoor Gliding now have three serviceable K13's to be used as required.

DGS K13's queued for launch.

Thank you to all at the club today who achieve 29 flights in a shortened day due to the weather.

Peter Howarth