Sun 16 November

Today was always likely to be a day when some gliding might be possible if the actual weather was slightly better than the forecast 

On arrival at the airfield it was evident that the cloudbase was as forecast - too low to dampen any immediate optimism for flying. And with the wind strength much stronger than forecast it was a straightforward decision to leave the gliders in the hangar whilst members enjoyed food and drink from North Hill Cafe. 

 

Its been a wet week at North Hill

The morning saw various ground briefings completed by James Flory and Mike Sloggett whilst some members fettled gliders and trailers, and with Callum Ellis getting to know his newly purchased glider which arrived on site yesterday 

Around lunchtime it was clear that unfortunately the weather would prevent any flying taking place today, so the day was formally ‘scrubbed’. - Mike Sloggett

Sat 15 November

 I went to the Club today with modest hope that we might fly but also to help retrieve the Perkoz so that the repair can be made to the airbrake mechanism which George now has in hand. Thanks to Chairman Nick and his Discovery  the trailer was pulled out successfully on the wet ground.  Alas  the cloud remained anchored to North Hill and idle hands having been proven to cause mischief I elected to try and find a missing feature in the field. 

Some years ago, I believe my first winter at North Hill, a hopeful crowd assembled at the Club one Sunday morning after a sustained spell of bad weather. Duty Instructor was Ron Johns who inspected the field and came back reporting that something resembling  Quatermass and the pit was erupting on the north side of the field and flying would not be happening. Several of us went to see this hitherto unkown phenomena and sure enough so it was, several metres across and probably half a metre high and water flowing  prolifically from it. We deduced that was a blockage in the piped ditch that runs from the woodland on the north side of the airfield diagonally to the 90 left on the entrance drive to the Club.  It now discharges to a large chamber inside the bend with a  steel grating. (a good indicator of the volume of water coming off the field, heavy flow = too wet). That had blocked and water pressure was lifting the turf off the subsoil.
 
 I fetched the Club digger and excavated a hole in the middle of the eruption, cleared the blockage and away it went, but alas not in time for flying.
 
 John Street who many will remember vividly as a very dedicated instructor who sent many members solo (including me), also assumed responsibility for the field. A few weeks later we dug it all out and fitted two rodding eyes (which have never been used) and  a new length of pipe. Alas with the passage of time I haven’t been able to locate them recently so today provided an opportunity. I failed but John Pursey kept at it with a fencing stake and we now know they are. (What 3 words ///holds.costly.vowel.)
 
 A photo taken during the repair aided locating the covers. 

Sorry for the quality of the old image (Peter Smith)

John Street, Tim Johns and me. Completing the crew and acting photographer was Matt Wright, he was never far away from anything out of the ordinary.

 Meanwhile Chris Warnes flew the trial lesson in the simulator which went well, and they are looking forward to the real thing. - Peter Smith

Thur 13 November

2 blogs for a day that surprised everyone!

Thursday's forecast of a damp southerly air mass was always going to cause problems with orographic cloud during the day. With the persistent low cloudbase present first thing there was no immediate rush to ready the glider fleet, which has unfortunately been reduced to half its normal size due to some technical issues. The delayed start gave the Inspector Team time to put the Junior LRD in its trailer for its trip to Tim Dewes for repair (driven there later in the day by Shaun Dayman) and carry out a  precautionary inspection of FZF before it's next flight.  

 

LRD going off for repair (Richard Lean)

With everything checked and readied, flying commenced at 1100 as the orographic cloud cleared enough to start flying, although care was needed, as at times it returned as quickly as it cleared. It was a case of pilots being ready for when the conditions were safe enough for a launch. 

 

Judging the moments with the cloud (Mark Layton)

With only three gliders in operation and flights being barely extended circuits it was a good opportunity for all those present to keep current. The flying list was quite long but everyone managed at least one flight thanks to great teamwork by all those present under the guidanc instructors Ron Johns and Chris Wool.  

 

Launchpoint waiting for orographic cloud to clear (Richard Lean)

It would have been quite easy to have given today a miss as the forecast looked unflyable, but its always worth a try as you never know! - Mark Layton

Today was another excellent example of a case of "you've got to be in it to win it". Weather forecasts had predicted low cloud the for whole day, with humidity not forecast to drop below 95%. I had decided that I would nevertheless head up, have a couple of cups of tea, a chat and a bacon sandwich, and perhaps fly the sim or get a briefing. Driving towards North Hill from Long Lane at 8am revealed that the airfield had its own bespoke cloud fitted, in otherwise good conditions. Vehicles were nevertheless readied and a sizeable crowd awaited the arrival of DI Ron Johns for the briefing. 

 

North Hill's bespoke cloud! (Richard Lean)

Junior LRD requires a composite repair and was put into the trailer while the airfield was set up in slightly soggy conditions.
The fog became broken and yielded to scattered cloud at 600' with a light southerly breeze. And the flying began! 

K21 on winch launch (David Clements)

A flat tyre took one of the K21s out of action, but a concerted team effort saw it return to the flight line an hour later. The low cloud came in again at around 1pm, and following a brief lunch break the afternoon continued in clear skies. 
Unexpectedly Thursday had become a full day and everyone at very least maintaned currency. All on the sizeable list flew at least once, and trainees under instruction had two or three trips with Ron or Chris Wool. 
 

Great photo (David Clements)

A straw poll of participants showed that in the morning very few had expected to fly at all.
Thanks everyone for a very enjoyable day. - Richard Lean

Sat 9 November

 With the weather preventing flying on both Wednesday and Thursday this week, my prediction of a good day today was thankfully correct! The call for an early start was taken to heart by many members today, James Hood and I arrived by 08:15 and the winch was already out with several members beavering around getting things ready.

The clubhouse was full by 08:55 ready for the brief briefing at 9, by 09:10 everything was covered so the gliders were towed to the NE fence in expectation of a launch before 09:30.
Unfortunately despite blue sky’s above, the fog in the valley decided to engulf the west end of the field as soon as the westerly wind picked up. 

 

The fog rolled up the  ridge at the west end (Mark Courtney)

The first launch was therefore delayed until 10:30, which was a shame as we were all ready by 09:25. Small areas of lift enabled some extended circuits, this provided extra time for the trainees to polish their skills. Stuart Procter was tug driver today, and was pleased that a few members decided to keep current on aerotow.

Great sky, with  new member Christian Sheer (Peter Smith)

I was helped today by several instructors, Pete Smith, Steve Westlake, James Flory, JB, and Shaun Dayman, Tom Sides looked after the only booked trial lesson visitor.
The day ran like clockwork, mainly due to the  duty  launch marshals, the morning shift was Kevin Fairburn with Trevor  Russell kindly stepping in to cover the vacant slot in the afternoon.
With the large number of people on site it was easy to continue through lunch with instructors “slipping off” separately for a bite to eat. The clubhouse was positively buzzing over lunch, Ian Mitchell’s trial flight saw several members of the family attending, booklets and information was taken away, we hope to see at least two of them back, for a flight soon. 

Pete Harmer about to launch as the sun started sinking (Simon Minson)

The lucky few had extended circuits under a some wispy street-like clouds that appeared for a while. Joel Roulson went on a practice field-landing exercise with James Flory in VG.

We managed to get through the flying list somehow before darkness fell, - 43 flights in all. Lots of smiling faces could be seen at the hangar despite the fact the gliders had to be washed and  thanks to the team for derigging LRD ready for Annual inspection.

 

End of the day view to the west (Mark Courtney)

After flying the clubhouse still remained busy, the last of us heading home at 19:45! 

A fabulous autumn day which proved to be extremely enjoyable thanks to a great team effort by everyone.
Hope the next one is not too far away! - Mark Courtney

Sun 2 November

 Duty Instructor, Mike Sloggett, put out the instructions how to set the airfield up last night, so the early birds on site set up the Launchpoint and winch. The gliders were also DI’d and everything was ready to go by 9:15am straight after briefing.

James Flory and Shaun Dayman helped out with instructing, and with a fairly long single seat list the whole fleet of club gliders was put to use. 

Sally Hender with Mike Sloggett (Rob Hender)

 DLM Dave Clements, kept everyone in order, and flying was achieved all morning (between showers).
A short break was taken at lunch for a passing shower, an easy decision to make, with the enticement of a warm clubhouse, and tasty food! 

Flying through the rainbow (Josh Howlett)

 
Flying resumed, I took over the mantle of DLM, with Jill Harmer kindly stepping in to log. James Flory needed to leave by mid afternoon, however Guy Adams kindly helped with a few of the remaining names on the list. One of which being returning Trial Lesson Jayden, mentored by Arthur Lean, who kept him busy on the field all day! 

A total of 41 flights today, the longest being 37 mins by Pete Startup. Lovely to see all the available Club gliders in action, and thanks to everyone who helped on the airfield. - Sally Hender

Sat 1 November

New month and first of all the thanks to our wonderful Volunteers - I daren't list them individually in case I miss someone out - so let's just say the whole team of DSGC Members who removed the damaged winch drum transported it to Supercat, got it fixed, transported it back, put it back on the winch, and then cleared up the old rope (for selling) and spliced in some new rope. And all in time for a full weekend flying with 2 cables. - WOW! great team effort everybody. There are opportunities for volunteering throughout the Club so if you have a particular skill and would like to get more involved - please make it known to a Committee Member.

 

Irritating orographic cloud at times (Stuart Procter)

Flyingwise - it was slightly better than the expected weather with extended circuits around the rain breaks - but a total of  25 winch launches. - J&P

Thur 30 October

 With the forecast predicting 40mph southerly gusts, few members turned up. The gliders were out and ready by 9am followed by the briefing.

After the briefing, launches commenced from the far easterly side of the airfield. With the winch only having one functioning cable every member made a great effort to keep the launch rate up. (Thanks to Peter Smith and the team for removing the winch drum for repair.)

 

Towing back (Jack Sewell)

With the southerly wind hitting the  south ridge, pockets of lift were picked up making flights longer, the longest flight today was Kai Mudd with Mark Courtney, each adding 26 minutes to their logbooks.
 

A ghostly image for halloween tomorrow (Jack Sewell)

Fairly early on, the wind started to pick up and provided some challenging crosswind landings. By 11:30 am, Chris Wool decided that the difficult approach  meant it was time to call it a day. 

 

Hangar packing (Jack Sewell)

Most members had an early lunch and left but some decided to stay. Kai and Jack headed to the simulator to practise their cable breaks and circuits  and a bit of soaring cross-country, under the watchful eye of Pete Harmer. 

Setting off from NH2 to Cullompton (Jill Harmer)

 Most members managed to fly at least once thanks to the speed everyone was working at to make up for the broken winch drum. Overall a difficult but exciting morning of flying.- Jack Sewell & Kai Mudd 

Wed 29 October

 As members started to arrive from 8:30 onwards they were greeted with the sight of Pete Smith (who was almost on site before Ashley) dismantling the damaged cable drum of the winch for repair with a small gang of helpers. It was quite a task due to its size and weight but once removed it was taken away to Dunkeswell for repair and hopefully returning sometime on Friday. Luckily the winch was deemed still operational with the one drum remaining. After the washing of oily hands and drinking of tea it was back to weather watching out the clubhouse windows. 

The low cloud and drizzly rain persisted during the morning, but the prospect of it clearing up by two o'clock kept people's interest. After an early lunch was called for Pete Smith gave the go ahead to get two K21's and a Junior out and readied for the clearance. The initial flights played with the low cloud base which drifted across the airfield at launch height and there was a short halt as a rain shower passed through.  

Early flights played with low cloudbases (Mark Layton)

As the flying lists were worked through with everyone having one flight each including Glen Turpin flying with his granddaughter Elise and Shaun Dayman returning with his new instructor rating. With the lists completed and another rain shower approaching the decision to pack up whilst we were ahead was made. In true gliding fashion the sky cleared and the sun shone as we washed the gliders and packed the hangar.  

 

The sun came out while packing the hangar (Mark Layton)

Well done to all that stayed on and made the most of the day, which are now a bit shorter than the ones last week! - Mark Layton

Sun 26 October

 We had a extra hour in bed this morning, and this seemed to provide a positive attitude in the clubhouse, with a good number of members in the clubhouse ready for the 9:15am briefing from Duty Instructor Ron Johns. It was another iffy forecast for the day ahead, but with the early conditions looking favourable the hangar was emptied and airfield set up quickly, and the first launch taken just before 10:00am.

 

Sally Hender with Ron Johns (Rob Hender)

Ron did an excellent job on the airfield, working as the only instructor, so restricting the number of flights for the trainees, but efficiently getting through the list. We had a slight snag when we had a cable break, with the winch drum suffering a little damage, which meant we were using a single cable, but we carried on regardless! 

Paul Summers - still in shorts!! (Sally Hender)

 Private owners Pete Startup (230) and Simon Minson (SM) took flights but couldn’t manage any great distance due to the conditions, but Pete stayed up for just over 2 hours. We paused for a quick lunch break, to give Ron a rest, but on resuming flying it became apparent the cloud and rain were moving in on the airfield quickly, so the decision was made to end flying early while all the Kit was still dry! Unfortunately, this meant two of the trainees didn’t get to fly. We managed to get everything packed away by 2:30pm and hunker down in the clubhouse with the log fire/coffee and cake before the rain came in. Thanks to everyone for a great effort. - Sally Hender

Sat 25 October

With a dubious forecast and strong winds, it was surprising how many members were in the clubhouse first thing. To Be Honest there were probably more instructors than there were pupils, but it wasn't a bad turn out. 

Duty Instructor Steve Westlake, supervised getting the kit out, then we all retreated back to the warmth of the logburner, while keeping an ever-optimistic eye on the quickly moving clouds. 
At 10:45am, Steve Westlake and Mark Courtney took a met flight to check out the conditions, and quickly made the decision on a blue card day. James Flory and Alan Turner took a currency flight, followed by myself and Steve taking a launch and achieving what would turn out to be the longest flight of the day at 17mins, with the ridge working just enough to maintain our height. 

 

Wash and brush up now the field has had some rain. (Mark Layton)

Stuart Procter then flew with Simon Minson for SPL Instructor validation, Simon Minson was then authorised, so took Benjie Pitts for a flight. James Flory took Paul Harman for a launch in the ever increasingly challenging conditions. Dan Hender then took his dad for a flight, but couldn’t manage to out soar me!!!! 🤣

Thanks also to Peter Smith and James Hood for spending most of the day servicing and fitting new blades to the mower.
 

Stuart did a currency flight with Wyn, followed by Mark Courtney and Josh Howlett in what turned out to be the last flight of the day. The wind was becoming stronger and more gusty, and to compound the problem a shower came through! 

Team Hender using the simulator (Rob Hender)

 The decision was made to pack everything safely away for the day, as everyone had flown, in a variety of combinations! A small but efficient team, ably assisted by Fred Marks on the winch! Vicki was then kept busy over lunch, with the simulator being utilised in the afternoon by the Hender’s, Steve Westlake and Josh Howlett. - Sally Hender