Subject to final clearance from JB, Lisa today completed her BI check flying with the Regional Examiner Tony Parker who came down from Aston Down to do the honours - Well Done Lisa!
It was calm and overcast until late afternoon - I think yours truly had the only meaningful thermal of the day with one very slow climb in KHA from 650' to over 2000' - and then nothing! Thanks anyway Mr.Buzzard.
Lots of training going on in the ideal conditions and a couple of trial lessons, back for a second time using their temp membership - they had enjoyable flights so let's hope we see them again - I think we will.
There was a crew from the Western Morning News around today flying in the DG and taking lots of pictures so more good publicity should be coming our way.
Several people taking advantage of this dry spell to fettle their trailers ready for the Winter.
Westy spotted doing some more Falke flying with Curly and another Falke payed a flying visit from Dorset earlier in the day.
Thursday 24th September
Cold front cleared to the south east overnight leaving Devon with a bright day with a NNW wind after the mist had cleared. A few small cumulus clouds formed below launch height initially, but cloud base soon rose to 2000ft. Half a dozen private owners had good soaring flights locally and there was a hectic day of training flights and trial lessons throughout the day.
Sunday 20th September
Launching from SW corner with little or no wind, cloudbase was 1300' QFE in the morning but with good looking clouds starting to pop just after 11am. It became very thermic with 3-5 kt climbs to 2100' around midday, but calming down in the afternoon as cloudbase reached 3000'.
There was not a very strong turnout of Club members, but four Trial Lessons helped keep the Pawnee busy, with 15 tows in all.
First single-seat aerotows to Jimbob the K6 (HEB) and Henry in a Junior, and good soaring for most.
A good day indeed for late September. - JS & HF
There was not a very strong turnout of Club members, but four Trial Lessons helped keep the Pawnee busy, with 15 tows in all.
First single-seat aerotows to Jimbob the K6 (HEB) and Henry in a Junior, and good soaring for most.
A good day indeed for late September. - JS & HF
News from Eden
Pete & Jill have returned from a week at Eden Soaring, near Penrith in Cumbria. The persistent anti-cyclonic conditions giving strong winds at North Hill was centred over the Lake District and provided little wind for this exciting ridge and wave site. The Easterly Helm did set up late on Monday evening but launching the Duo downwind was out of the question. On Tuesday and Thursday, long thermal flights over the Eden valley and into the foothills of the Lake District made the trip worthwhile and if the cloudbase had been a little bit higher above the summits we would have explored further.
Sunday 13th September
Sunday started with a moderate N/E wind and promised to be a good day with inviting looking Cumulus appearing about noon but the thermals that did form were poor with a low cloud base at 1300ft. Cloud base rising only to 2000 ft over the site in the afternoon even so the launch point was kept busy all day with many training flights and several trial lessons, all four two-seaters were in the air all day. Dave in AM flew for over 3 hours. Cheryl enjoyed spinning in the DG-505. Gerard resoloed in the Junior after a short break. Well done to Henry for solo aero-tow. - JS & HF
A Hot Air balloon paid us a visit after packing up. Hot air balloons are quite good at herding sheep!
A Hot Air balloon paid us a visit after packing up. Hot air balloons are quite good at herding sheep!
Saturday 12th September
With Easterly wave forecast, 6 members visited Brentor, unfortunately the wave didn't happen as promised only thermals to 2000ft QFE. -Henry
Friday 11th September
Another cracking day the N/E wind was much lighter and the flying much easier all course members had plenty of soaring, all in all a very useful week and an enjoyable and rewarding one to.
The last flight landed at 7.15pm - Robin at the controls after re-soloing - well done Rob.
Thanks to John and Chris for instructing and helpers Dick, Nick, Les & Richard for running things.
The last flight landed at 7.15pm - Robin at the controls after re-soloing - well done Rob.
Thanks to John and Chris for instructing and helpers Dick, Nick, Les & Richard for running things.
Thursday 10th September
The high pressure is still to our northwest, bringing strong blustery north easterly wind with blue sky but warm (out of the wind.) Thursday Club flying mixed well with the course, but in the conditions worthwhile training was limited. In the afternoon the wind dropped and made instructing much easier and a few thermals managed to pop giving most course members some soaring.
Roly and team of adventurers did find his tail 'chute, which was jettisoned yesterday amidst the trees and bracken, half way down the ridge.
Thursday evening all the course members and quite a lot of club members attended the course meal at the Keepers Cottage. 25 in all came - a record for a course meal and everybody had a good time. Roly and team of adventurers did find his tail 'chute, which was jettisoned yesterday amidst the trees and bracken, half way down the ridge.
Roly and team of adventurers did find his tail 'chute, which was jettisoned yesterday amidst the trees and bracken, half way down the ridge.
Thursday evening all the course members and quite a lot of club members attended the course meal at the Keepers Cottage. 25 in all came - a record for a course meal and everybody had a good time. Roly and team of adventurers did find his tail 'chute, which was jettisoned yesterday amidst the trees and bracken, half way down the ridge.
Wednesday 9th September
A cracking day today working closely with the Wednesday club we managed 80 flights in all most of these were soaring flights, a brisk N/E wind made the flying interesting. Pete (230) ventured out nearly as far as Cheddar until he hit a blue hole. Cloudbase struggled up to 3300ft locally at the end of the day but most of the day was at 2500ft with thermals not always going to the top.
Tuesday 8th September
Whilst large parts of Devon experienced wave slots, the moist south-westerly blowing straight up the Exe Estuary meant that the airfield was in orographic fog most of the day but we managed to get a few flights in at the end of the day. - JS
Monday 7th September - Course week
Foggy start turned into a warm and dry day, but flying was hampered by the intermittent orographic low cloud. The South ridge worked at times with a little bit of wave.
Sunday 6th September
Very good day after the bad weather forcast! 15/20kt southerly wind made the south ridge soarable, after lunch thermals were popping and streets were forming all over our area! Good day to practice cross-wind landings as they were challenging at times! James had an aerotow 'cable break' with Mark so he's all signed off solo aerotow. Young Liam had a few flights in these testing conditions and is progressing well. It's also very good to see instructors trying to build their solo hours as it's coming to the end of the year!
Roly's caravan is now in place, with Steve moving further up the plot.
A good day out! - Jimbob
Following a kind invitation to attend, the DG505 was put on display at an Open Day at Dillington House, near Ilminster, today. We were allocated a fantastic space on the lawn in front of the house, large enough for us to display the DG505 in her full wingspan, and with room behind to park and display the trailer. Arriving at 1030, we promptly got down the the business of causing an obstruction on the drive (sorry!!!) and rigging in our spot. Thanks to John S, John S, Muggles, Cheryl and Graham for their help in being there to ensure this happened as smoothly and quickly as possible. Having set up in good time, including erecting the precautionary weatherproof gazebo, we set out in search of tea and cakes in preparation for the start of the event.
After a relatively slow start, interest soon picked up in our very impressive display - probably the best of all those attending the event - and as the picture demonstrates we soon had good crowds around us wanting to know more. There were many people who showed an interest in trial flights, and a few who also showed a strong interest in membership. Thanks to Simon for giving us a couple of hours of his time to help us out, and to Mandy for being official photographer for the team.
Whilst it's always a little difficult to judge immediately the effects of attending these events, I think we all feel that it was a very successful day, and it will hopefully bring us a few trial flights and maybe even a member or two. - Muggles
Roly's caravan is now in place, with Steve moving further up the plot.
A good day out! - Jimbob
Following a kind invitation to attend, the DG505 was put on display at an Open Day at Dillington House, near Ilminster, today. We were allocated a fantastic space on the lawn in front of the house, large enough for us to display the DG505 in her full wingspan, and with room behind to park and display the trailer. Arriving at 1030, we promptly got down the the business of causing an obstruction on the drive (sorry!!!) and rigging in our spot. Thanks to John S, John S, Muggles, Cheryl and Graham for their help in being there to ensure this happened as smoothly and quickly as possible. Having set up in good time, including erecting the precautionary weatherproof gazebo, we set out in search of tea and cakes in preparation for the start of the event.
After a relatively slow start, interest soon picked up in our very impressive display - probably the best of all those attending the event - and as the picture demonstrates we soon had good crowds around us wanting to know more. There were many people who showed an interest in trial flights, and a few who also showed a strong interest in membership. Thanks to Simon for giving us a couple of hours of his time to help us out, and to Mandy for being official photographer for the team.
Whilst it's always a little difficult to judge immediately the effects of attending these events, I think we all feel that it was a very successful day, and it will hopefully bring us a few trial flights and maybe even a member or two. - Muggles
Saturday 5th September
Wet and windy mid-week, so no flying, Saturday looked promising early on with nice blue sky, but low cloud and drizzle soon took hold and just a few hardy souls managed some circuits whilst others watched a game of musical caravans.
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