Thur 16 October

After walking up to the far end of the airfield, grey cloud was already covering the sky. Launch by launch, clouds formed at circuit height. Sadly today was a day where no thermals were present. However, a few people found wave near Dunkeswell.

 

Massive Mushrooms on North Hill (John Allan)

There was a threat before lunch as to whether we could carry on because of the increasing amount of low clouds, but, by the end of lunch there was blue sky! This didn't last too long though and it was back to grey sky without low clouds.

The blue sky put in an appearance late afternoon (Jack Sewell)

Very few people were on the two-seater list but quite a few on the single-seater list.

Richard Lean, who was training on aerotows received a normal tow and a practice failure, Rob Rand received 3 flights one being a launch failure. Josh Howlett received an immediate power failure, which was fun to request to the winch. Jack, was trying to perfect his takeoff, landings and circuit followed by launch control training.

Those flying: David Sewell, Dave Perriam, Jack Sewell, Ashley Thomas, Aston Key, Robert Rand, John Allen, Julian West, Paul Summers, John Borland, Chris Mews, Peter Stapleton, George Vojtisek, Richard Lean, Geoff Lawrence, Callum Ellis, Robert Lee, Josh Hewlett, Chris Wool, Mike Sloggett 

Massive thank you to everyone helping to get people up into the air and instructors Mike and Chris.
Jack Sewell- junior member.

Wed 15 October

 Twas murky at the Club when we arrived, but improved a little during the morning. So a very early lunch/snack stop then the K21s and a Junior were taken to the western midfield launch point and the field set up soon after midday. Very difficult to ascertain cloudbase visually as a featureless blanket overhead and conflicting Met info.

Glenn, recently returned from Grecian warmth, and I took a launch and he wisely released at about 800ft followed by a shortened circuit.

We waited for a while with much studying of mobile phones and the sky and convinced ourselves that it was higher so I took a launch with Don as P2. Alas the cloudbase was lower - so an early release, unable to land ahead, so a shortened circuit and hangar landing. So the toys were put away....

 

Skylaunch winch (Library picture)

At least we tried and the oil pressure light on the winch didn’t illuminate. - Peter Smith

Sun 12 October

 Another day where the forecast promised a clearance - but it didn't deliver!

 So the day was spent, first with some lectures by James Flory on a number of subjects including circuit planning and instrumentation, and then with a variety of members using the Simulator. 

 

Sally Hender behind the Tug (Jill Harmer)

Steve Westlake went to the cliffs on the South Coast, Josh Howlett headed East on a cross-country, and Sally Hender made great progress with circuit planning, perfect landings and got to grips with aerotowing.

The low cloud did eventually clear late afternoon with a few sun beams striking through the clouds, but even then the visibility was still poor. - J&P

October - Northern Safari Part 2

 After the very rough conditions on the Thursday, with a lot of overcast on Friday, we skipped flying until Saturday.  

On the Friday, Nick took the team to meet his passenger, Penny, from the famous 1974 Eagle flight. She lives near by and has kept in touch. An invitation to fly again was extended and the Saturday was an opportunity to fly some of the local friends who have made this trip possible. 

 

Phil and Nick in DuoDiscus (John Pursey)

With a wavy sky but less wind and much less turbulence, the Duo took Nick then JB flew Jenifer (the partner of Andie the owner of the croft) we were camping at. JB then managed to fly Penny who had been brought down to the field by Nick. She was treated to a recreation of her 1974 flight getting to 8000ft and a sight-seeing trip along the coast. 

Penny with Nick (1974) and JB (2025) to 8000ft (John Pursey)

 Bumble Bee was kept busy giving Jenifer a trip then the croft’s owners nephew a flight. All revelling in the splendid visibility from the Eurofox and the clear air. Phil Morrison then took opportunity to get more Bumble Bee practice with a couple of flights using his FRTOL skills talking to Tain range. 

Looking North from 10,000ft (John Pursey)

And the Eagle? Well Stirling had made a surprise drive up (so unlike him!) and helped push and pull for days so his reward was nearly 7 hours as AXJ’s rear gunner! A great day to show Stirling what wave flying was all about (apart from the rotor) and map reading with the danger area and Moray CTA to negotiate. We had mugged up on TMZs, flight above 10,000ft in Scotland, NOTAMS etc and used a little sliver of free space to dash up to 10,000ft+ spending most of the day above 7000ft. Approaching darkness robbed us of the full 7 hrs, but it was a great flight and the team had everything wrapped up before real dusk! Beer to follow!

Stirling and JP - nearly 7 hours (John Pursey)

Saturday was deemed potentially too damp (by some) so there was a roadtrip out to view airfields near Skye which were potentially on our hit list. The high pressure had robbed us of the wind, but all shades of wavy cloud were to be seen. For next year….

All shades of wavy cloud  (John Pursey)

The Sunday under lovely sunny skies and no wind was a chance to use the Eurofox for a little explore and with the door open I took photos of our croft, local hills and a friend of mines parents house. With the door open I embraced my door gunner from 'Nam in Apocalypse Now moment! 

Exploring in BumbleBee (John Pursey)

A final mass derig and ready for the return with Phil heading off with the Duo with an overnight at Tebay planned. For us, more sightseeing round Scotland’s north and for one of us, a swim in the sea! Colder than Cornwall… 

A cold water swim (John Pursey)

So, Northern Safari over, Nick was right about Dornoch’s potential and plans are already in place for next year! - John Pursey

Sat 11 October

 There was very low cloud at North Hill this morning, however with a keen group of members, the gliders were out at 8:30am already DI’d before the 9:00am briefing. We even managed two flights before 10:00am (cheap rate), from the west end!
The first few launches pulled off early with an 1100ft cloudbase, but conditions improved as the morning progressed and launches became increasingly higher. 

Which way is the wind blowing? (Sally Hender)

James Flory (duty instructor) ably assisted by Steve Westlake and Simon Leeson (duty tug pilot, with no takers!) worked their way through the two-seater list. 

 

Congratulations to Richard Lean (Sally Hender)

Richard Lean had his first flight in a Junior, nicely done! New member, and Assistant Cat instructor, Dan Hayday, took flights with Simon Leeson, learning the site and being put through his paces.

Strange Cloud formations (Sally Hender)

We flew through lunch, however at about 2:00pm the oil pressure warning light came on at the winch, which unfortunately meant an end to winch launching (much to Simon Leeson's delight)! Flying continued with Aerotows until 4:30pm when the list was completed. Thanks to everyone who helped, a good day with ever improving flights! - Sally Hender

October 2025 - Northern Safari

Two years in the making with the purchase of “Bumble Bee”, Chairman Nick’s long-held dream of returning to Dornoch with a glider to recreate a North Hill trip in 1974, with a lovely wave flight to 8000ft. Bumble Bee and importantly a trailer were the key ingredients to facilitate the self-launch capability needed for expedition flying. The trailer came together this year and was essential if bad weather was likely. Storm Amy showed exactly why the trailer was a godsend! 

With a pre-planned Denbigh trip, the notion of heading on to Scotland directly appealed as it broke the journey in two. Denbigh started slack but gave two good days with the Eagle wearing out the ridge in one spot to wait for wave which finally obliged. Nearly six hours and a good start to the soaring. Another good day was over shadowed by Storm Amy planning with the weather sources changing on her track. 

Portmoak wave (John Pursey)

The Jones Flying Circus of Eurofox, Eagle, Duo and SF27 finally opted to scuttle to Portmoak on the Friday to ride out Amy. Grace at SGC was very accommodating and the team battened down on Friday night with rooms for Alan and Phil rather than tents… It was a very wild night for the van dwellers, especially the one on the windward edge of the parking… That wasn’t where I thought I was when parking, but Nick and JB sneakily moved when I wasn’t looking! All safe on the airfield, 

Storm Amy damage on the Bishop (John Pursey)

 ....the woods on Bishop were matchwood in a few places. Sunday had a great forecast so we stayed and had a fabulous wave day with people at 20,000ft and locals doing fast 300kms. A Duo-only day for the flying circus, JP and JB enjoying 10,000+ off the ridge. 

The trip to Dornoch was pushed to the Tuesday and with an early start we were able to get to Dornoch, meet the airfield operator and have a rigged Eurofox and Duo by 3:15pm. We managed two flights into a wavy sky but the gaps kept filling. On the second one JP and JB were lucky enough to get the sky to open up and get to 7,500ft in the evening sun. It was working well but with an airway to contend with and the day getting on, a quick descent to a landing just ahead of sundown. 

Today’s (Thursday) forecast was very encouraging if a tad windy. The Eagle was dragged out and a scene from the original 1974 trip recreated with a part-rigged Eagle positioned next to the original firestation shed with Nick, rigging pin in hand sauntering across! 

1974  Dornoch with BBB

 

2025 Dornoch with AXJ

 Two flights were done, Duo and Eagle, but with some of the most gnarly rotor ever it was clear neither pilot would like a second! 

 

Stunning cloudscapes at Dornoch (John Pursey)

The nearby Tain range had incoming Typhoons for live fire at 2:30pm so we had a cut off to back. The lift was epic, as was the windspeed. 60+kts as we got higher the Eagle was in unfamiliar territory flying at 70kts! Still going up with a TAS of 100kts this was epic! We hit 10,000ft with ease and struggled to get down! We flew until the Typhoons were due and were rewarded with some  stunning cloudscapes. Nick was right about Dornoch all along… Beer o’clock and hopes for another good day tomorrow if maybe less wind. The flying circus has the Isle of Skye next in its sights but maybe the forecast high will stop our run of good luck with the wind! - John Pursey

Thurs 9 October

 Thursday's forecast looked promising for a nice October day and it was with a good turn out. Intially flights were just circuits but the promise of things improving as the cloudbase went up was a possibility. Duty instructor Ron Johns assisted by Chris Wool, Guy Adams and Andy Pincombe worked through the two-seater list with only the odd check/card renewal flights to deal with. 

 

Lovely October day (Mark Layton)

From lunchtime onwards until the end of the day, thermals although weak were there to be had. Most members had a least one flight with some opting for a second or third depending on how successful the intial ones were! 

 

Barbie in the Pik20 (see S&G article) (Mark Layton)

With plenty of flight times near the half hour, Pete Harmer used all his experience and won the day with a Junior flight of almost an hour.  

 

Weak thermals under the clouds (Mark Layton)

It was a pleasurable day in the October sun with 39 flights including 7 aerotows. Let's hope there's still a few more before the winter sets in! - Mark Layton

Sun 5 October

 We spend a lot of time each year, whether driving or as a passenger. sitting in cars at traffic lights, roadworks and general traffic jams - but maybe not as much time that glider pilots spend looking at weather forecasts trying to work out what a tomorrow or today will be like for flying.

Today’s forecast was for showers and a brisk Westerly wind, and as it happened that is pretty much what we had as actual weather today so we did not have to spend too much time trying to second guess the forecast.

The gliders were left in the hangar whilst the briefing was completed and as part of which, discussion between those present focused on various Threat and Error Management aspects - should we fly including the importance of  looking after canopies and making sure that gliders were parked carefully. With ridge flying likely the opportunity was taken to discuss and remind re ‘ridge rules’.

 

Ridge Day 

With Mike Sloggett, James Flory and Peter Smith all in agreement that it was flyable the winch run was set up for the ‘traditional’ launch run of the winch in the NW corner and Launch Control next to the trailers.

And progress was soon being made with the flying list, with the morning’s conditions providing continuing opportunities for pilots of all levels of experience to have fun trying to work the ridge - with the longer flights delaying the eventual return into circuit and to fly the approach in ‘interesting conditions’.

 

North Hill Airfield from the ridge (Peter Smith)

Around lunchtime an imminent shower suggested that a stop for food and drink would be good use of everyone’s time and with all suitably fed and watered the afternoon’s flying continued.

By now the showers had disappeared with more and more blue skies appearing and some thermic clouds too - but as is often the case in gliding some clouds promised more than they could provide so the ridge provided a good ‘fall back’ for some pilots.

The wind was forecast to reduce in strength as the day progressed but this did not happen to the extent that late afternoon with everyone having flown that wanted to, a decision was made to put everything away. 

During the day Dave Perriam took a Trial Lesson visitor for a couple of flights in the DG505 and we welcomed Dan Hayday, as a reciprocal member from Cotswold GC, who had a couple of flights with Mike Sloggett.

Great teamwork today, thanks to all for a really good day from start to finish. - Mike Sloggett

Sat 4 October

Today was never likely to be a flying day, not due to rain but the strength of the wind!
Storm Amy certainly rattled the windows in the clubhouse, however we were safe in the knowledge that our new roof would not blow away! 
The log burner was fired up “just to test it” you understand, and the clubhouse soon warmed up. I was covering for John Pursey today who is away with the rest of the North Hill nomads exploring Brave Heart territory way up North!

There was still some admin tasks for our record keeping now we are operating under SFCL, James Flory was soon seen beavering away in the lecture room preparing pilot records. The task would be shared later by Jill who spent the whole day with Pete labelling the pocket folders that will be housed in the new filing cabinet under the launch point. Thanks all!

 

Steve Westlake showing Sam the South coast run (Mark Courtney)

We had new temporary members join us today dad Shane and son Sam, they plan to join us when their 3 months membership runs out, so they were given the “full treatment”.  Firstly some short lectures and then into the simulator, both made incredible progress, but Sam was outstanding!
Steve Westlake took over from me and continued training dad before heading to the coast to ridge soar in 25kts of southerly wind. - We simply must do this again for real soon! 

Meanwhile Paul Medlock headed up a lumberjack team, James Hood, Ashley, Joel and dad Ivan, they spent several hours chopping wood and stacking logs in the clubhouse ready for colder days, (or when the log burner needs testing again).

Oktoberfest (Jill Harmer)

Vicky was busy preparing food for the evening event, Oktoberfest, whilst Sally and Rob decorated the clubhouse with German flags etc. The evening was a great success, a wonderful spread of German style food, Lederhosen and Bavarian Tavern girls, Sally's quiz, Pretzel tossing and Stein holding (won by Paul Medlock 9mins 2 secs), and £80 raised for the DSGC Charitable Trust. - Mark Courtney

Thur 2 October

 Driving up to the club today all you could see was mist however, arriving there the mist had not made it to the field's height.

Cloudbase started low so an hour waiting in the clubhouse solved it. The first flights were; Chris Mew, Jack Sewell, Dave Perriam all launching through a few wispy clouds. The ridge was just about working with an average flight time today of 16 minutes. 

 

Waiting to launch (Jack Sewell)

The southerly wind proved a little challenging  but there was some wave around to help extend flights. Junior LRD,  the 2 ASK21s and the DG505 were all kept busy and longest flight prize went to John Borland - just short of half an hour.

Thank you to instructors Mike Sloggett, Mark Courtney and Ron Johns. - Jack Sewell