First thing this morning, one could see that the assembled members were balancing the potential of flying in a nice blue sky against staying inside the warm Clubhouse away from the evident Easterly, and no doubt chilly, wind.
In the end there was only one decision to be made - how many items of warm clothing to be worn before getting gliders and ground equipment ready for the day’s flying.
A K21, the DG505, the Perkoz and a Junior were then all taken to the South West corner of the airfield where the launch point had been set up for the day.
In the end there was only one decision to be made - how many items of warm clothing to be worn before getting gliders and ground equipment ready for the day’s flying.
A K21, the DG505, the Perkoz and a Junior were then all taken to the South West corner of the airfield where the launch point had been set up for the day.
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| DG505 at the launchpoint (Mike Sloggett) |
And then by mid-morning, with everything ready to go, it was on with the flying list with various members taking it in turn to maintain currency in the fresh Easterly wind. All the gliders were kept busy all day - but with no lift sources available gliders were soon into the circuit with good planning needed to take into account the wind strength on the approach.
With enough Instructors and members available to keep flying going through lunchtime the decision was made to make the most of the day allowing our Trial Lesson visitors to all complete their flights.
Both Falkes completed some local flying and James Flory enjoyed his first flight in the Pawnee.
With enough Instructors and members available to keep flying going through lunchtime the decision was made to make the most of the day allowing our Trial Lesson visitors to all complete their flights.
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| Sunset (Mike Sloggett) |
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| Congratulations to James Flory converting to Pawnee (Mike Sloggett) |
A rather pleasant day in the air, thank you to everyone who helped others to get airborne today. - Mike Sloggett
Dartmoor
With Easterlies forecast all weekend Steve Westlake and I decided to visit Dartmoor Gliding Society at Brentor. For those who do not know, Brentor is a small club on the edge of Dartmoor just north of Tavistock. Steve and I arrived at the club earlier than expected and we were pleasantly surprised to see a few members already there, drawn by the lure of wave no doubt!
Launching started just after 9:30 with myself and a Dartmoor member doing a met flight, with a launch height of 1800 ft it was easy to step into the wave that had set up just in front of the winch.
Young Dan Hender from North Hill flew with me to 6000ft only returning to fly other members after 30 mins or so, he had a rather large grin on his face! The views across Dartmoor/Plymouth and Cornwall were spectacular.
Members were quick to launch and they all contacted the wave immediately, Andy Davey joint member of North Hill and Brentor climbed to 12000 ft above site in his Zugfugel closely followed by chairman Richard Roberts, every training flight aborted the climbs at 6000ft to return for the next member.
Steve Westlake had a high cable break, as he pushed forward to position for a circuit bumped into the wave and went straight to 8000ft!
Richard Roberts was tempted to head for Lands-end from 11000ft but was unsure about his retrieve! next time Richard!
Wind on the ground was at times very calm but wind at 2000ft was 40 mph! this made for careful circuit planning!
A truly amazing day, made special by the hospitality of the Brentor members and a very accommodating CFI ;)
Just like trips to Mendip, DSGC intend to visit both local and not so local sites during the winter with a club two seater, so please keep your eye on GG and get your name down as soon as you see a chance!
Dartmoor
With Easterlies forecast all weekend Steve Westlake and I decided to visit Dartmoor Gliding Society at Brentor. For those who do not know, Brentor is a small club on the edge of Dartmoor just north of Tavistock. Steve and I arrived at the club earlier than expected and we were pleasantly surprised to see a few members already there, drawn by the lure of wave no doubt!
Launching started just after 9:30 with myself and a Dartmoor member doing a met flight, with a launch height of 1800 ft it was easy to step into the wave that had set up just in front of the winch.
Young Dan Hender from North Hill flew with me to 6000ft only returning to fly other members after 30 mins or so, he had a rather large grin on his face! The views across Dartmoor/Plymouth and Cornwall were spectacular.
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| Mark Courtney and Dan Hender - needed a cushion! (Rob Hender) |
Steve Westlake had a high cable break, as he pushed forward to position for a circuit bumped into the wave and went straight to 8000ft!
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| CFI Mark Courtney at Dartmoor Gliding (Rob Hender) |
Wind on the ground was at times very calm but wind at 2000ft was 40 mph! this made for careful circuit planning!
A truly amazing day, made special by the hospitality of the Brentor members and a very accommodating CFI ;)
Just like trips to Mendip, DSGC intend to visit both local and not so local sites during the winter with a club two seater, so please keep your eye on GG and get your name down as soon as you see a chance!
