Sun 30th March

 A fine (though blue) day was forecast, and as we assembled for the morning briefing it looked as though it was right. Not very many had shown up (about a dozen in all), possibly due in part to it being Mother's Day, but the K21s, Perkoz and Junior were ready by briefing. Sally Hender enjoyed a flight with Dan Hender as a Mother's Day treat. 

Dan taking Sally for a flight, with Rob at the winch (Rob Hender)

It was nice to launch from the clubhouse end, with the wind from the NW. The wind did keep it rather cool, though the sun made up for it. There was no low cloud to speak of, making thermal hunting awkward, though some was found principally in a line from the Bowl past Forest Glade caravan site.

By 4pm everyone who wished to fly had done so, and all was packed away shortly after. - Chris Warnes

Sat 29th March

 Saturday started with a promise on RASP, of good soaring weather further evidenced by the number of members rigging their own gliders.  It was good to see CFI Mark visiting (just checking up on us) - on the road to recovery after his recent heart surgery.

Steve Westlake, Duty Instructor, took the first launch of the day with Josh Howlett (new to DSGC but who flew many years ago at Nympsfield) using some of the morning thermals achieving a flight time of 30 minutes. As there weren’t many students onsite and low demand for the K21s, Josh later in the day took a 4th launch finding more thermals with a 50min flight.  

 

View from the winch (Rob Hender)

Peter Smith, after a few weeks away, also instructed, flying with Karen King.  Pundit of the day was Eric Alston in an ASG29.  From a winch launch Eric was up and away for over 2 hours, although there was a rumour that Rich Roberts  had made it to Crediton and back. Pete Startup was the morning Duty Launch Marshall meaning he had a late launch possibly leading to the land out later in the day? (aerial shot by Ian Mitchell from the Falke,other photo/comments courtesy of Pete).

 

Another day,  another field (Pete Startup)

 

Simon Jordy looked after our Trial flight visitors after an Instructor renewal check. James Flory was tugging until a warning light came up on EuroFox, but luckily Alan Rappaport was able to take over tugging duties in Bumblebee.

And another (Rob Hender)

 

Rob Hender did another long spell in the winch but when not needed spent the time taking photos.

Although the RASP forecast wasn't as accurate as hoped it was a pretty good day helped considerably by being able to launch from the east end of the airfield, and, due to the quietness of the day, a lunchbreak giving all the chance to warm up on a chilly Spring day (special recognition to Vikki's sausage casserole which fed many grateful cold glider pilots!) - Karen King

Thurs 27th March

 Following the blue skies and a little soaring on Wednesday, as the week progressed the RASP forecast for Thursday got better and better, so that there was a reasonable expectation of a half decent flying day. Well we understand that RASP is just a forecast and doesn’t actually direct the weather but mist, drizzle and the infamous disappearing Beech tree greeted a good number of expectant flyers! 

The boundless optimism of glider pilots prevailed and the ground equipment was rolled out, winch and launchpoint setup, cables run out, two K21’s, one Junior, and the Perkoz DI’d and a briefing conducted. The Beech tree re-appeared, the misty dampness cleared but the cloudbase stubbornly stayed low. An early lunch was agreed so we would be ready for the anticipated improvement (more glider pilot optimism). 

Mike and Dave - weather check (Mark Layton)

 After lunch we had convinced ourselves that there was an improvement so a met flight was prepared. Mike Sloggett launched with Dave Cowley (great to see him back after a long period away from the club).    Well !! now we have the disappearing glider trick. At around 600ft Mike had to pull off  due to low cloud and make a nice small circuit and land. At this point with no prospect of an improvement we realised we were beaten, so all the kit was packed away ready for a better day. Thanks to Mike Sloggett for trying.

However, not all was lost. - Mike conducted briefings for two newer members Ian and Josh, Vicky provided great lunches,  Robert's Astir was rigged and Ian and Josh had a useful session on the simulator. - John Borland 

Sat 22nd March

 The day started very quietly with just a small handful of people on a potentially reasonable flying day. Low cloud meant a slower than normal start coupled with the low number of people attending, but, the cloud lifted and the day improved very quickly  and we started to fly after a walk to the west end.
 
With the small numbers the day was restricted to aerotow only on the grounds of maintaining safe operations. The days flying started with the normal MET flight, and for once North Hill was in a big whole in the cloud.

Tuggie Stu took a glider flight (Stuart Procter)

We had a total of fourteen flights which provided for a number of training requirements to be fullfilled and all pilots to fly in some interesting conditions.

 
 

Interesting conditions Stu landing (Simon Leeson)

A good day was had by all, with a visit from Andy Aveling and Gary Coppin from Lasham in a Super Cub, and the Rotax Falke doing its usual thing.

A good enjoyable flying day was had by all those that attended, those that didn’t lost out !! - Dave Perriam

After flying, it was all speed ahead to prepare for the evening entertainment for International Francophonie Day. 

 

A French theme (Jill Harmer)

40 members, partners and friends  squeezed into the Clubroom for a super 'all things French' evening. 

A fantastic French spread (Jill Harmer)

 

Vicki put on a fantastic buffet including the snails and froglegs that some enjoyed! Jonathan and Jeannine Erskine ran a fun French quiz. 

Snail Racing (Rob Hender)

 

Then the main event was the snail racing with flying snails designed and crafted by Ivan Roulson.  A great evening and we raised £137  for the DSGC Charitable Trust.  Thanks all for supporting Vicki and the DSGC Charitable Trust.

Thurs 20th March

The uninspiring forecast of a dry south easterly wind was exactly what we got today, the only surprise was the strength of said wind. Typically the east end of the field was relatively calm whilst the west end was entirely different with the new windsock in the triangle permanently stuck horizontally like someone had superglued it in place. 

Aerotow into the blue sky (Mark Layton)

With Mike Sloggett assisted by Andy Pincombe and later by Chris Wool the shortish two-seater list was quickly worked through as flight times were in single digits for all the winch launches and only slightly better for the aerotows (including the two trial lessons). In fact I think we all spent more time walking the gliders back to the launch point than in the air!

As the day went on, the already blustery and turbulent conditions gradually increased making both the launches and landings interesting. Flying in challenging conditions is great experience but there's a limit and come mid afternoon after everyone had flown it was decided to quit whilst we were ahead and everything put away by 1600 hrs. - Mark Layton

Wed 19th March

 The small  group of  Wednesday flyers were greeted by a welcome mild  light South Easterly wind but high cloud cover suggested little chance of thermic activity. With Glenn off ill and Peter Smith away it fell to Guy Adams to run the day. The ground equipment, two K21’s and a SZD Junior were all DI'd and ready for Guy’s daily briefing at 9:30, then off to the West end to set up a NW to SE winch launch run.

The launch heights were decent into the SE wind but the first five flights were all quite short. RASP had predicted some thermic activity around mid-day but with 8/8 cloud cover it didn’t look good for that prediction. By late morning the clouds started to organise themselves into crosswind  lines south of the field indicating low level wave. Guy with Jonathan Erskine were the first to make use of the weak wave with a 31 minute flight. Jeff Taberham in the Junior then launched as an early  lunch break was called. Jeff landed just as the small team reassembled after lunch two hours later. The afternoon progressed with more long flights as the wave lift continued, eventually proving difficult to reach after about 15:30. A strong inversion at about 2,300ft limited the height gains and the wave could be difficult to locate as the cloud markers merged and the best lift kept moving.  

A quick hop back to Dunkeswell for R151 (Stu Procter)

 

Stu Procter came in via the Cub R151, jumped out and took a glider flight with Peter Warren, and then flew off again. A slow puncture in the Gator was spotted at lunchtime and thanks to Ashley and Dave it was taken to Honiton by Ashley and should be ready for the Thursday crew. 

Because it was a short two-seater list, everyone was able to get multiple flights, or at least a lengthy single flight.  A total of 6 solo flights and 14 dual. Eight hours of flight time and all back in the hangar by 5 pm. Big thanks to Guy for running a successful day.  What an excellent day, and sorry if you missed it. - Tom Sides & John Borland (ed mashup)

Sun 16th March

 With a chilly day (North easterly) forecast, the list was half the size of last weeks!
James Flory and Steve Westlake stepped in to cover the empty Duty Instructor slot for the day, but both needed to leave mid-afternoon, so time was of the essence. First launch was at 10:24am, with steady progress made throughout the morning. Tom Sides taking the Trial Lesson flight, which was enjoyed. 

Another super sky (Jill Harmer)

 Pete Startup (230) and Simon Minson (SM) also took launches and headed off to the East for 2-3 hours - must have been a bit chilly!

At 1:15pm we all stopped for lunch, with the draw of a warm clubhouse and the temptation of Roast Pork on offer from Vicki, I can definitely vouch for it!

We were all back on the airfield by 2pm, with Martin Woolner kindly stepping in to fly with the post-solo pilots. The donated winch launch  visitor from Axminster Young Farmers took their flight with Tom but with only 6 mins, Tom generously took them again on a friends and family. Thanks to Rob Hender for winching all morning and Geoff Lawrence all afternoon.

And then with conditions changing, the card colour went up to a blue! At 3pm James left us, and further flights were achieved completing the list by 4pm. Thanks to everyone who braved the cold wind and helped today, another successful day flying.  - Sally Hender

Sat 15th March

 Just another sunny but biting cold north easterly windy day  and a little bit of soaring, ......

Devon scenes (Simon Leeson)

 

......with Stuart Procter Duty Instructor and Simon Leeson tuggie. 

 

North Hill sunset (Graham Barden)

Another pleasant day - Thanks to all. - J&P

Thurs 14th March

A bright cold morning greeted a good crowd of Thursday flyers accompanied by a strong gusty NE wind. The wind chill reducing the apparent temperature further. The early arrivals had worked hard to prepare the ground equipment and a welcoming log fire was warming the clubhouse. 

Mike Sloggett (Duty Instructor) made an  initial assessment of the conditions and decided on a SW to NE cable run and to prepare two ASK21’s  leaving the SZD Junior in the hangar until a met flight to assess  the flying conditions. There was no difficulty assembling everyone in the warm Clubhouse for the briefing. Andy Pincombe joining  Mike to tackle a long training list. 

Dartmoor visible to the West (John Borland)

 

Following the briefing the gliders were walked to the west end. Cloud base was initially under 2000’  with approx. 7/8 cover but varied throughout the day. Following the met flight a yellow rating flag was raised  and Mike decided the Junior was safe to fly. 

Occasional glimpses of warm? sunshine (John Borland)

 

Mike and Andy continued working through the training list and given  the good turn out it was possible to keep flying through lunch and warmup breaks in the club house. Flight times were generally short in the gusty conditions. Roger Ellis taking the longest flight at 35 minutes having launched straight under a large dark cloud which he exploited to good effect. The North ridge area provided another source of intermittent lift but in general it was just a good day to maintain that all so important currency. 

Aston's back (John Borland)

 

It was good to see Aston re-solo after his break in sunny Cornwall. Big thanks to Mike for running the day, Andy Pincombe for helping with the training and a special thanks to Vicky for the hot meals. 

A real team effort day. 21 dual flights, 9 solo flights and all kit safely stowed away by 5 pm. - John Borland

Wed 12th March

 The day dawned bright but slightly chilly, and by the time of the briefing, the K21s, a Junior and the Perkoz, were ready for action. Regrettably Vicki, was otherwise detained! and so we had to walk the gliders to the West end of the field without our normal sustenance. Hope you are on the mend Vicki.

Flights were mainly short until by late morning, a series of showers, with hail mixed in, made us stop for an early lunch. Well done to Callum Ellis (new member joining us from Pocklington) getting cleared solo at North Hill.

Nice sky - time to rig the Mosquito Jeff ? (David Clements)

 

Afterwards, flying resumed and we found some lift in the afternoon, making for a few longer flights. Although only 23 flights were taken, the 13 that turned up had all flown, and so ended a good and mainly sunny day quite early at about 4pm. - Chris Warnes