Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 6th March 2024

Today dawned with a clear blue sky.  A normal day in March for most of the south west but a special day for DGS.  We might be able to go flying.  After a miserable three winter months including no flying at all in February (Ed: This is believed to be a first in the forty years that DGS has operated) members were certainly eager to aviate.

We had two sets of trial flights booked today but the duty Introductory Flight Pilot, Hugh Gascoyne, had to hold them off when they phoned in whilst we awaited the Duty Instructor's verdict on the state of the airfield.  Many of us got on with other jobs as the waterlogged runway had become a standing feature and we thought we knew what the verdict on the "pitch" would be.

But no, Mike Jardine declared that we could go flying and so whilst we got the toys out Hugh telephoned our visitors to say "game on".  Tentatively at first with just a single K-13 and to use the centre track as much as possible so as not to churn up the grass.

The south easterly wind meant that we would  be operating from the West end.  So part of the fence was taken down.  The gap presented pilots with an interesting aiming point later in the day as the crosswind built in strength and they had to crab in over the fence.

A large lay off into the crosswind would be the order of the day as the winch was parked on the centre track rather than the upwind corner of the runway as is usual.
An incredible scene at DGS; not a cloud to be seen, no precipitation, and we are going flying
Some privateers took advantage of the pleasant weather and opened up their trailers for ventilation and a little pre-season fettling.
Club trailers arranged at the club house
It was a chance to empty the hangar and air the gliders that weren't going to be used today.
The Astir CS 77 sees the sunlight for the first time in over a month and a half
A multi purpose scene; Scratch models his new foul weather jacket, Richard and a visitor watch a launch, and  a pitch inspection is conducted
Peter readies himself for a flight in CCY
The dance of the instructors began.  Mike flew solo to check himself out.  Mike flew with Peter and then Peter flew Mike from the back seat.  Now the rest of us could be checked out having filled in our respective dance cards. The conditions were very pleasant in the spring sunshine with just enough turbulence on the approach to keep our pilots concentrating. Later in the day Peter eased some of Mike's loading by also conducting some check flights (Ed: Thanks Pete. Obviously the very mark of the BGA's 2024 Instructor of the Year!).
Mike ready to check Peter out
"Take up slack"
"All out! All out!"
And up they go
Broken cumulus and a hazy horizon greet the intrepid aviators
Hugh receives his check flight before flying our visitors

It's March in the south west of UK Hugh not soaring in Siberia!
Coming back home
After Hugh's check flight to speed up operations K-13, FGR, was extracted from the hangar, inspected, and brought up to the launch point.  However, the GRP gliders; the Puchacz and Astir CS77 were deemed too heavy for the soft ground and so were left in the gentle sunshine at the apron.
There is a promise of some energy in those clouds
Meanwhile back at the hangar the annual inspection of K-13, FSD continued.  The fuselage had previously been given a clean bill of health but awaits a new Centre of Gravity release hook from TOST in Germany.  Today the inspection of the wings continued.  Colin gave them a clean bill of health; apart of from a little paint touch up there was little to do.  The tailplane and elevators need a little more checking before FSD becomes the "hot spare" (Ed: With the arrival of the Puchacz we now only have enough space for two K-13s in the hangar in addition to two single seaters). 

Our first trial flight visitor was local Matt Stockman from Chillaton, who arrived with his partner. She had bought him a flight voucher as a gift.  He had attempted to fly with us back in November but the weather had had other ideas!
 
Hugh reported: "The gusty South Easterly wind did not make for ideal conditions; it was pretty choppy especially on the approach. We launched to 1,200 feet and enjoyed a short non-soaring flight where I pointed out the local landmarks. On the second flight I attempted unsuccessfully to make use of some weak thermals at the southeastern end of the airfield."
Hugh with our first trial flight of the day; Matt Stockman (Ed: With his partner looking on from the fence line. She is smiling honest!)
The SF-27A receives it final preparation prior to collection by it new owners on Saturday
This is more like it.  Shadows on the ground cause by cumulus clouds
Mike's view of the hangar and clubhouse (Ed: I know, I know, Sean Westrope's new Libelle is still parked alongside the fence!)
Gavin contemplates the very concept of flight
Our second visitor was Ross Mitchell who was accompanied by his wife Lauren.  They hail from Truro and had recently been taking part in the annual St.Piran celebrations (Ed: He is regarded as the patron saint of Cornwall).
 
Hugh commented "I did not get the opportunity to have a long chat with Ross but he thoroughly enjoyed his flights. The second launch resulted in a cable break at about 600 feet forcing a go-around. Surprisingly for a visitor who had never done gliding before he seemed to enjoy this experience. My Eventualities monologue in the cockpit before launch had obviously struck a chord with him! He thanked me personally by text message later in the evening which was a nice touch. I believe he will make best use of his three-month membership and I look forward to flying with him again."
 
Hugh and second trial flight visitor Ross Mitchell in jubilant mood
We had a further visitor (Ed: Surely that should be a returning visiting pilot?) Paul Davie who flies with the London Gliding Club at Dunstable.  He enjoyed three flights, and an aborted take off (Ed: Just to keep you on your toes!). Since he last flew with us he has moved to Budleigh Salterton and is looking for a gliding club to fly with in the area (Ed: Paul you and your two wooden gliders are most welcome. We hope to see you again soon).
London Gliding Club Paul Davie runs through his pre-flight checks with Mike.
With the cloud cover developing the temperature started to drop: Dave Archer and Mike are suitably prepared.

28 flights today; check flights, some launch failure training, a returning visiting pilot, and two sets of visitor flights.  Since the Duty Instructor is our new treasurer there was an impetus to keep the launch rate up and for all to receive their check flights.

An early March day but there was little lift to be had from the warmth of the sun as our "Men of the Match" Hugh Gascoyne and Steve Fletcher showed with a dizzying flight time of eight minutes a piece.

Pilot's log books would be updated with the check flights made today by Mike Jardine, Peter Howarth, Hugh Gascoyne, Scratch, Phil Hardwick, Mike Bennett, Richard Roberts, Steve Fletcher, Gavin Short, Paul Davie, and Dave Archer.  Eleven pilots becoming current in one day after the washout that was February. Impressive.

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Saturday 24th February 2024

Saturday resulted in another day keeping the gliders under wraps due to a very wet airfield.

However Rick , Mike and Peter travelled to Loughborough University for the Annual BGA Conference to join the audience for a packed agenda from which they were able to take information to share with the rest of the DGS members on their return.

Support and advice was also obtained from Yvonne Elliott women’s advocate for BGA for the forthcoming women’s gliding weekend 27th and 28th of April, further details to follow.

To Peter’s surprise he was one of the first on stage as he had been nominated and was awarded the BGA instructor of the year silver salver , glass plaque and a bottle of the best champagne for his contribution to the club.

Peter receiving his reward from Matthew Day (Gallagher's)
Peter happy with his award.
Congratulations from all to Peter.

Mike Jardine

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 7th February 2024

Another day of low cloud and, after the heavy overnight rain, a very wet airfield mean't the merry band of members set about a series of jobs.

The dip in the rigging area was levelled.

Phil & Steve levelling up.
The scrap aluminium was taken to the scrap yard, the SF27 ARC continued a pace including some minor paint work.

Minor painting SF27 wing,
Masking the other wing.
Final wing inspection.
Fuselage into trailer.
Some members took time to do minor repairs and fettling on their trailers and Gliders.

Privateers fettling.
The weather brightened around 1430 but some low cloud was still present in places and the field judged to still be too wet meant we didn’t fly.

Sky trying to look brighter.
The wet airfield.
Thanks to everyone who turned up today, lots of jobs done by a great team to keep the club running smoothly.

Steve Fletcher

Dartmoor Gliding News - Wednesday 24 January 2024

The forecast was for the cloud base to rise mid morning and lower later in the afternoon.  So there would be a window to go flying.  Yippee!  Those who had checked the weather forecast and arrived early were bemused however, to see clear skies.  So out with the toys and we set up to launch from the east end.  No trainees or visitors today so the Duty Instructor, Mike Jardine, decided to get the Puchacz, the Astir CS77, and a K-8 out for the members to fly.  The serviceable K-13, FSD stayed at the back of the hangar to be later boxed in by the annual inspectios of the wings of its sister, FGR.

The start of the day looked promising

Then the weather matched the forecast.  The low cloud rolled in and it was time to retire to the club house and wait.  Meanwhile work was underway to get FGR back on line following its annual inspection and some titivation.

Peter conducts a Daily Inspection of the Puchacz (Ed: John looks keen with his parachute already on, doesn't he?)
(Ed: Ahh! I see now. John had been selected as the "crash test dummy" to ensure that the replacement seat harness in the front seat of the Puchacz fitted correctly. I stand corrected!)

Tea duly drunk, the cloud base seen to be rising and so the two Assistant Category instructors took to the skies for a weather check.  On completion the green light was lit so Andy Davey had a go in the Astir CS 77 for the first time. As previously mentioned with no trainees and no visitors today, flying continued seamlessly with solo flying only. Astir CS77 (DNE) and K-8 (FXB) saw solo pilots flying them to maintain currency.  The club single seaters were joined by Mike Bennett and Hugh Gascoyne with their club Libelle (DVM).  Concerned that the new Centre of Gravity release hook may have been releasing early their launch heights were subsequently found to match those of the Astir CS77.  So it seems that the Club Libelle syndicate are getting used to their new glider.

Hugh Gascoyne landing his and Mike Bennett's Club Libelle
Proof that the launch point can be busy without visitors or trainees using the two seaters (Ed: I am surprised that the Duty Instructor didn't just put his feet up and have a cup of tea)
The Wednesday wavers who flew solo today were Andy Davey, Mike Bennett, Steve Fletcher, Malcolm Wilton-Jones,Hugh Gascoyne, Peter Howarth, John Smith, and David Archer.

A single seater grid at the launch point
Dave Archer leaps into the air in the K8
Were the single seaters huddled together for warmth? (Ed: I think its a bit more sinister than that. Look how they have arranged themselves into a wooden glider line and a GRP glider line)

Malcolm hangar landing the Astir (Ed: Just to be clear that his spot landings are better than this!)

Sadly Colin and I didn't make it to the launch point but by late afternoon I was able to call for "hands" to rig K-13, FGR, after its annual inspection, so that it could be flown on Saturday (Ed: Timely having two K-13s while you sort out the Puchacz!). So hangar flights were organised and the day ended with the finishing touches being made to FGR ready for it to re-enter service.

After an inordinately long time FGR was rigged and the rest of the hangar could be packed.  With the dew point starting to match air temperature the underside of all the gliders' wings were wet.

Colour-coordinated glider rigging
FGR being rigged after its inspection getting ready for the weekend (Ed: I thought that "anything for the weekend Sir?" meant something completely different)

The rest of the gliders parked waiting to be packed into the hangar at the end of the day's flying
Astir CS77 "I am bored. How long does it take this lot to rig a K-13?"  K-8 " You haven't seen anything yet!"
More hanging around! More talking!
The Puchacz on the naughty step for littering in the National Park
The new Treasurer takes a close interest in the flight logs
With the hangar packed, and the Club Libelle back in its trailer, pilots and workers started to slide away except for a few stalwarts who put the world to right in the club house.

Its still January and we are in the Met Office's "Stormageddon zone" but we managed 21 flights and ensured that the Wednesday Wavers were current.  The Club Libelle obviously  flies well as Hugh was "Man of the Match" with 12 minutes aloft.

Hugh's jubilant reaction on being told he was "Man of the Match"

Gavin Short

Dartmoor Gliding News - Saturday 13th January 2024

Early morning the weather looked hopeless. Cloudbase was just 500ft. Winds were light and variable NE. there was a lot of activity with gliders getting clean and inspected. Someone obviously knew something I didn't. It turned out that there was a forecast clearance of the cloud.

Two seaters at the launchpoint
The plan was to initially use the low conditions to provide launch failure practice for anyone that wanted or needed that. Personally I gave myself a practice launch failure in the K8. Could be a first? Today we were using both winches. The "new" manual Supercat is working well, Hopefully the dirty fuel issues are now a thing of the past.

The Puchacz launches again
We had a couple of Naval visitors, Jamie Steel who flies with us from time to time and Jonny Mion who is the Secretary of the Royal Navy Gliding and Soaring Asscoiation and an Ass Cat Instructor. 

Our most patient potential member must be Viktor Skochko. He has been with us for several weeks through the poor weather. Unfortunately the cloudbase did not improve in time to start his One Day Course today but we did manage to get him flown in the Puchacz as a taster of things to come.

Viktor flew in  the Puchacz with Scratch
Even though the cloudbase did eventually improve to allow full height launches there was no lift to be had and circuits were as good as it got. 

K8 launches
So by the close of play we had completed 28 launches, completed lots of practice cable breaks and allowed pilots to maintain some currency.

Steve