Wed 31st March

 With the CFI taking one of the first flights in the Falke on Monday - the first day after lockdown, the Club was keen to restart flying on Wednesday.

Stuart in VG on Monday 29 March

 

A group of three instructors and seven pilots gathered during the morning for a relaxed day's  solo flying in the most benign conditions. There was virtually no wind and almost summery when the sun broke through the top cover. Everybody enjoyed a couple of short flights on the road back to currency keeping the two K21s busyish.

A special thanks to Gordon H, Nick H, and Sandy H who helped out all day even though they could not fly - thanks it would have been difficult without you. - John Sillett

Fri 26th March

 Condor Racing

It was a 275kms out and return from Samedan, Switzerland to Innsbruck, Austria a rerun of Day3 of the Samedan Cup race with 9  regulars  ready for the airborne start. 

The  wind was southerly and the route followed the Inn River with some easy navigation, but some careful height management was the key to speed. The return leg was into wind and uphill from a low point at Innsbruck of 1900ft to a finish  at 5,600ft at Samedan.

 The scenery as usual was spectacular, with the sun shining in the mountains - a great day out. - J&P

Tues 23rd March

 Condor Racing

A rerun of Friday's task saw 8 lining up on the grid at Agathazel in Southern Germany in a variety of LS4a and  Standard Cirrus  GP2020 Day9 . It was 144kms triangle into Austria with some thermals and ridge running across some tricky terrain. 

Many different routes are possible with a variety of different trackmiles, these 3 tracks completed within 30 seconds of each other!

This time with our previous experience it was hoped that we would follow a faster route, but it didn't all go to plan with the best at 93kph, so some more homework has been suggested before another attempt. - J&P

Sun 21st March

 Condor Racing

With just a few more Instructor recency flights on Saturday and Sunday, the flying experience  for many was in Condor with another expedition to Denbigh.

Stewart had designed another great task - Stalking the Orme!  It was 97 km - LLE (Lleweni Parc)- RHU (Rhuddlan) - GTO (Great Orme) - MNS (Menai Strait) - SWD (Snowdon) - Caernarfon

Wind 344/8kts, moderate thermals to a base of ~4500ft, but there will be a lot of blue.  A tricky first leg, followed by 2 more tricky legs, then a climb to the top of Snowdon.  Height planning and strategy will be important. 

The Sunday regulars lined up in a variety of K21, Blanik and K6s on the runway at Lleweni Park but the ridge wasn't working and a careful tiptoe to a cloud into wind was needed heading north.

Getting high enough to get into wind, out to the Orme in the blue was quite testing in these low performance ships. 

 

After turning,  some tried the coastal hills, and others went further inland - but timing  to catch a Cumulus popping was crucial. 

Mike went exploring and ended up in a field on Anglesey, but most managed to get to the area just south of the Menai TP, where thermals were good and cloudbase reasonably high. Simon managed to get on the wrong side of Snowdon and had to make a hasty retreat round the corner. 

A great task and more attempts were made the next day - J&P

Fri 19th March

 Condor Racing

Friday's task saw 9 lining up on the grid at Agathazel in Southern Germany in a variety of LS4a, Standard Cirrus and Pegase on a rerun of the GP2020 Day9 . It was 144kms triangle into Austria with some thermals and ridge running across some tricky terrain. 

The first leg needed one good thermal and some ridge hopping to get to the turnpoint in the sink on the wrong side of the valley. The second leg was almost straight crosswind withe some quite good almost continuous ridges but needing a couple of into wind ridge jumps which took some height management. The final leg was downwind across the ridge lines to a straightforward final glide. 

 Chris, Simon and Mike selected the best route completing in more than 100kph. David, Pete and Geoff found some alternative slower routes while Stewart assisted John B. Well done to John D who had an internet failure early on, but completed the task in stealth mode on his own. Enjoyable run round that took a bit of thinking about. - J&P

Tues 16th March

Condor Racing

Today's task was a rerun of Day 5 EuroBattle 237 kms starting off in Slovenia and then crossing the mountains into Italy and Austria with a moderate southerly wind. Stewart had flown this in 1hr 16 back in February and was keen to  explore the route of the winners' faster time.

Seven lined up for the airborne start at Bovec, Chris, David, John B and Jill set off on the advance party, with Stewart, John D and Mike following on. 

Chris decided on a routing not quite as briefed, but it seemed to work ok to achieve the western point at Dobbiaco-Toblach, 

The next leg was straightforward along the ridge to the east with the turnpoint in the sink behind the ridge. The final leg took some more thought, into wind and round and over ridges to approach the finish in the most efficient way.  Chris was fastest at 171.5kph but followed not far behind by Jill, John B and David, with Stewart assisting John D and Mike - (who managed to find a scenic route). Great scenery, good task and a good chat keeping the grey cells working. - Come and join us. - J&P

Sun 14th March

 A few more instructors took advantage of the Instructor Recency flights this morning before the rain arrived, thanks to the local helpers for running the field.

 Condor Racing

The sky was a brilliant blue with white puffy clouds in Condor (as usual), The 189kms task set by Stewart was a downwind dash from Lands End to North Hill via Bodmin. There was a reasonable northwesterly wind and variable thermals and all the normal airspace with Dartmoor danger areas active.

The Sunday team was a little depleted today with some on family duties but 6 +spectators lined up for an aerotow  out over the Atlantic Ocean. Not long after the start a couple of technical glitches meant that Pete completed in stealth mode, Mike restarted completely and Geoff had a battery failure of Quest.

The Cornish peninsular gives striking scenery and very easy to navigate with sea fairly close on both sides. There was only an odd cloud at the start so close to the sea, so some pressed on quickly, while others milled around a bit. 

The conditions were variable (just like for real) with some getting good climbs to cloudbase  and others missing the cores and struggling to get up into the working band. Passing the claypits at St Austell decisions on whether to go north or south of Dartmoor were being stated.

It just depended on timing as to which route looked the most tempting and so the field was split although upwind would normally be the choice. Final glide was straightforward with a minimum of 2000ft at Hembury Hill set, but plenty of clouds to route via. 

Nice task - great scenery and good company for those waiting to get back to the real thing. 

In the evening Stewart and Dan competed in a 250kms AAT in the Alps for Race #20 of the Condor World Cup, AATs are tricky at the best of times,  both achieved more than 800points  so still well-placed in the top section of the leaderboard with 4 more races in total (best 17 count) - J&P

Fri 12th March

 Condor Racing

The task selected for today was a rerun of  Day 1 of the Samedan Cup with 284kms  across Italy and Switzerland with virtually no thermals and a southerly wind. 

 Stewart described the technique as tiptoeing to get maximum height at the right moments, (having looked at the winner's flight compared to his own low level version).

 8 regulars lined up for the airborne start with a couple of spectators joining in. The first half of the first leg was crucial for gaining height to achieve the turnpoint at Como and the next downwind leg. At turnpoint 2 Locarno, fortunately, a thermal kicked off the brown rocks giving a good climb to enable crossing a col and a valley back onto a working ridge.

After TP3 at Tirano, the route turned downwind again, and some into wind spurs were needed to climb to be able to cross the mountain lake in the valley bottom at 7,400ft before the downhill final glide following  the valley back to Samedan. A good task that took a bit of thought - J&P

Wed 10th March

 Condor Racing

It was a first trip to Greece for most, joining a Condor cafe flight on Wednesday, with 6 DSGC  regulars joining the 16 multinational cafe pilots (we had our own English-speaking channel).

The task looked a fairly straightforward 148kms ridge run with the option of some thermals, however it was clear from the start that the weather had been carefully selected with large Cumulus clouds forming on the ridge at the start. DSGC decided to wait until the clouds had cleared - but they didn't!, so it was a dirty dash through / round / over / under  to get past the very moist area.

 With the ridge not playing ball on the first leg, the first turnpoint was tricky to achieve, with thermals that weren't getting very high the only method. 

For the second leg some low hills by a lake were used and then thermals seem to be more helpful popping up to allow a final glide, although some preferred the foothills. - A tricky little task with Stewart coming 3rd overall. - J&P

Tue 9th March

Condor Racing

Tuesday's alpine trip was 215kms rerun of the Eurobattle Day 7 race in Northern Italy with a moderate southsoutheasterly wind. Stewart briefed everyone on the winners' fastest route.  The regulars were a little depleted as this was the last decent gardening day before the forecast rain and gales. 

Five made it to the airborne start at Belluno, and there was a bit of wave around before having to drop down to 5,900ft for the start. The first leg was a reasonable ridge run as briefed, although at times some of the green ridges all looked the same!

On the second leg, a good climb to cloudbase and some careful routing and use of intowind ridges  was needed to cross the higher mountains to the north. The third leg south was a retrace the route initially, and then get high enough for the dash out in the plains to the southern turnpoint at Aviano. 

A quick run back to higher ground  and get some more height to be able to jump the ridge on the final glide. Thanks to Stewart's guidance it was  a very pleasant run for all, great scenery as always and good company. Come and join us - J&P

Sun 7th March

Condor Racing

The North Hill Soaring Group (Condor) set off on an expedition to Nympsfield on Sunday to explore the ridge to the north.

113km NYN (Nympsfield) - BIR(Birdlip) - LCL(Lower Clopton) - BIR(Birdlip) - NY1(Nympsfield Finish) with the wind set at 300 / 20 kts.

 

Ten Condor Racers lined up for a winch launch mainly in Discus2a's and then set off with a start height below 1500ft. The height needed to be carefully managed with gaps to cross into wind and jumping ridges, but coached by Stewart, everyone completed the out and return successfully. Dan was fastest in 1hr 2mins, but the next batch weren't far behind, although some did have to top up on the home ridge to make the finish height. Great company - Well done everyone - J&P

Fri 5th March

Condor Racing

Another attempt at the Parcours 300kms fast ridge run in the Alps that we last attempted on 6th January. 

The early starters were keen to improve on their previous attempts / times, and with some newbies who benefited from the escort and advice from Stewart, it was a good field of 9 who set off from Annecy. 

The key to this task was picking the best ridge to use for each leg, and as we found last time, making sure of optimum height after TP6 to run on top of the dark-shadowed ridge and making the cols.

 The first 4 home led by Chris Warnes were in excess of 225kph (complete with some tidy parking), and the second batch  completed around 200kph. (In fact so fast that Condor Club analysis had issues with some flights passing through the TP sectors.) Well done to all. - J&P

 

Thurs 4th March

Condor Racing

On Thursday evening a few of the DSGC Condor regulars ventured into the world of the UK Virtual Soaring Club which is open to real life glider pilots from around the country. Thursday was the first of a 10 race series restricted to Cirrus gliders.

 The task was Devon based starting at Brentor, with turn points at Holsworthy and Crediton West before returning to Brentor. Geoff L, John D, and DC joined the task to be faced with about 40 gliders jostling for position, it being a regatta start.

All got away successfully but conditions proved to be quite tricky with light thermals. Only 20 made it to the finish, all 3 DSGC contenders being amongst the landouts. We were made welcome by the regulars and it was good practice for those of us who need to improve our thermalling.

Next race Thurs 11th March, servers open 19.40 for a start at around 20.00, all welcome, you will need to join the UK VSC discord group.-  DC

Wed 3rd March

Condor Racing

On Wednesday, we used the  final day task from the UK Junior gliding series ,  268kms in New Zealand. There were some rare weather conditions giving access to Haast on the west coast and a run back along the ridges above Lake Wanaka.

For once the thermals were good and easy to centre around Omarama, Dan led off showing the best route to cross the ridges to Haast, whilst Stewart decided to try a low-level fast route from the back of the pack.

 

After the turn at Haast, it was a bit tricky to find the best valley route and thermal climbs were needed, the field spread out a bit with Dan marking the best col to aim for. Having crossed the col it was an easy run down the west side of Lake Wanaka, and just one more thermal was needed at the turnpoint for the final glide. Great scenery. - J&P

Tue 2nd March

Condor Racing

The task on Tuesday was from Day 7 of the GP2020 , with 238kms from Muenster via Zermat and Gruyeres, an area in Switzerland that we have flown quite a bit recently, but this time with a moderate northerly wind.

The first leg was a straight ridge run  to the first turnpoint, but just after the turn everyone got a good wave climb near the Matterhorn and headed off straight to Gruyeres high over the ridges.

After the second turnpoint, a variety of  low routes were explored both north and south of track,  but another wave bar formed up and Stewart called everyone to the good area and another high climb made it an easy final glide back to Muenster. - Great fun - J&P