Sat 30th April

 Good weather was on the cards again today, after a very successful course week, so the names started appearing on the list at 7:45am!!! With the morning Duty Instructor putting out a late call for cover, CFI Stuart Procter stepped into the breach to assist afternoon instructor James Flory, who as always turned up early to help.

Ready at the West end (Sally Hender)

 
The Launch point was set up at the west end with everything but the Perkoz taken out of the hangar, and flying commenced at 10:20am. With the limited instructors, the decision was made to do training flights only, with all check flights held off. This meant the two Juniors were in high demand. 

The DG505, was used by James Smart and Tom Sides for the two Trial lessons, both visitors were suitably impressed.

Gliding is FUN (Sally Hender)

 
However, by 1:30pm we were getting more of a tail wind, and the decision was made to swap ends. Flying resumed at 2pm, but with the second launch being a cable break, flying was again delayed while the splice was made. 

 

Busy launch point at the Eastern end (Sally Hender)

Once repaired, flying restarted with lots of private owners making an appearance. Pete Harmer kindly stepped in to help complete the two-seater flying list checking out Andreas Kraemer who then resolo'd in K21 at the end of the day. Connor Williams enjoyed an afternoon of winch training with James Smart.

All was packed away by 5:30pm, with 57 flights in total. Unfortunately we were very depleted in numbers come the end of the day, so again very few to help pack the toys away, so a plea to all those who take launches during the day, please consider the team work needed to ensure everyone flies.

Fri 29th April - Course Week Summary

 The C1 course at NH was rearranged from the beginning of April to the end. What a bit of luck that turned out to be!

Congratulations to Stewart Henshall - Silver distance with the Club open on a Friday (Mark Courtney)

Cast your minds back to your first day at big school, we also gathered in the “big room” and waited for everyone to arrive. Whilst we waited for the “late students” arrival there was barely a sound, “teachers” at the front, glancing at their watches, helpers at the back, fidgeting, eager to get going.

As for the Students that read the email correctly and were on time, they simply looked downwards, nervously clutching their satchels. When the stragglers arrived (they got 100 lines) we did the usual introductions. We had previously got everyone's wishes and previous experience via email so Steve and I could formulate a plan.

There was a great mix of experience and expectations this year, some wanting bronze qualifications, some wanting currency flights, some returning to NH after a few years gap, thankfully there seemed to be no bossy boots in the group, unlike MY first day at “big school”!

From the very first flights on the Monday the conditions were good, as the day wore on they were fantastic.With long flights everyone made incredible progress, it just shows there is no substitute for time in the air. By the end of day one, all the students were playing together, one even gave teacher an apple (thanks Sandy)

Day two and it was a slow start which enabled Steve and I get our step count for the entire week before lunch performing cable breaks.

Stockland Mast (Mark Courtney)

 After lunch the sky exploded with energy, Spot the gliders revealed what seemed like hundreds of gliders all over Devon and Cornwall, students had trips to Axminster and as far as Tiverton west.

Still climbing 5900ft AMSL (Mark Courtney)

 Wednesday was soarable, and BITTER cold at the west end, by now the students were becoming new best friends with each other and were plotting all sorts of mischief!

Thursday was the worse day of the week soaring wise and still as cold as January! The club members operated seamlessly with the course and I wish to thank them for their help, and also their friendliness to the non-club members on the course.  We all had to be on our best behaviour because as we all know every Thursday the headmistress is on site……..We still achieved a full and packed training day with everyone making rapid progress.

Last day, Gordon H, Mike M and Dave P gave the course members who were also NH members a ground school secession, the two non members helped Steve and I set up at the west, ( AGAIN) taking several walks to get the fleet ready for when the extra curricular teaching had finished.

Fatigue of the legs was setting in, my new Apple Watch even suggested that there may be a fault in the stepcount monitor because “it ain’t recorded me walking that much before 10 am before!”

Another fantastic soaring day, Stewart Henshall arrived at the club, rigged HMS and set off to Glastonbury returning after a couple of hours with his 50k Silver distance complete.

By this stage of the course Lizzie had, re soloed in the K21 and re-aquainted herself with the Junior, exceeding her original goal of “just getting back into the saddle”

James Dyke made huge progress towards solo and proved to be a fast learner! Many boxes were ticked during the week, his progress was not fast tracked as suggested because of his ability to pull suitable snacks out of his school satchel during the afternoons.

James Dyke enjoyed a trip to Tiverton (Mark Courtney)

Sandy and Chris Woodward also  wanted to “get current” with instructional flights all week, they far exceeded that, both enjoyed long solo flights in the Juniors and many launches, both have now got their red cards back and are ready for the season.

Andrew Pickerell at times had Steve to himself because Lizzie, Sandy and Chris were all flying solo, this enabled him to work through the training card, his last flight of the week saw him do a textbook circuit and perfect landing! Well done Andy!!

James Lambert a visiting pilot from our friends at Mendip Gliding Club came to NH with the primary objective of getting his spinning done in the Perkoz, Mendip as well as other clubs are unable to fulfil this because of the K13 advisory ref spinning. Anything else towards his Bronze was to be a “bonus”. He completed his Bronze by Wednesday morning so enjoyed the rest of the week flying locally in the K21, Junior and Perkoz.

The most enjoyable course we have ever run, made possible by the fantastic weather but also made possible and easy by our fantastic team of helpers, who, at times went way beyond the call of duty.

Steve and I would also like say a special thanks to Pete Startup, who drove from home not once, not twice, but three times to fix the wheels and tyres on various aircraft, enabling us to continue to fly with the full fleet.

What a sport, what a club, what a course!

Weather booked for the same time next year, please note however any students arriving late WILL be reported to the headmistress, an apple every day for teacher is not a requirement but could aid your progress. - Mark and Steve.

Thurs 28th April - Course Week

Another bitterly cold morning with the course members enjoying a lecture  on launch failures by Mark Courtney.  The Club members were hoping it was going to warm up a bit and wind drop, whilst waiting for another fix of a nose wheel (thanks to Pete Startup for mending the tyre and coming up specially to deliver it). 

Mark trying the front seat with James (Tom Sides)

 Eventually the hangar was emptied and all the gliders were walked up the field. 

 Conditions for the day weren't fantastic overall, with the longest course flight of the day at 18 minutes by Chris (showing us all up!)

Using this to their advantage, James Dyke and Andy both had launch failure demonstrations and attempts throughout the day to consolidate what was covered in the lecture.

Lizzie did some out of position circuits with and without the ASI, Sandy got some more air time in the Junior following her conversion yesterday, and James Lambert converted to the Perkoz!

The Course and Club members combined well together with mainly circuits and just a few extended flights with Tom Sides having the longest flight from the winch of 20 mins. By late afternoon, the thick top cover gave way to a little welcome sunshine and some warmth at last. 

Thanks to Barbie and Stuart for providing the aerotows,  In the evening, the course members and hangers-on enjoyed a course supper of fish and chips to celebrate a fantastic week - just don't ask Mark to do the chippy run on future courses!. Here's hoping for a more thermic (and warmer!) day tomorrow to end the week!- J&P & Lizzie Westcott

Wed 27th April - Course Week

 It’s Day 3 of the course and all is going so well, the weather today is not quite as good as yesterday and the day before but …… we are flying once again. The cold windy morning was used for launch failure training and checks, much to Mark Courtney and Steve Westlake’s enjoyment of wandering the airfield far and wide.

Achievements still role on with James Lambert one of our visiting Course members from Mendip GC completing his Bronze exercises with Mark Courtney to complete the award.

Mark Courtney congratulates James Lambert Bronze (Mark Courtney)

 Sandy Harrup completing more solos and getting back in the Junior. 

Steve Westlake congratulates Sandy Harrup (Mark Courtney)

 Lizzie Westcott resolo’d in the ASK21 after some time away from gliding 

Mark Courtney congratulates Lizzie Westcott (Mark Courtney)

 Chris Woodward resolo’d in the Junior.

Steve Westlake congratulates Chris Woodward (Mark Courtney)

 James Dyke moved his winch training forward and having observed for some time, then sat in the seat and completed his first set of 8 coached winch launches, and I must say very well in some interesting and testing wind conditions.

A long but very fruitful day (ed:and isn't it great to be shaking hands again.) - Dave Perriam

Archaeology update

Thanks to the great efforts of all, especially Stirling and Nick who drove the digger and the dumper, non-stop, for two long days, we were able to finish the requisite archaeological ground works. Yesterday’s team was joined by David Cottingham and Lucy Williams in rather cold conditions.
I am pleased (a bit!) to say that we have been able to clear the site for the shed construction as we found nothing at all of interest, so now it’s all down to Peter and the building team.
Thank you all, Jonathan

Tues 26th April - Course Week

 Well, what a beautiful day!

April 2022 course

 With blue skies throughout most of the morning, course members and instructors decided to make the most of unsoarable conditions and racked up a hefty step count doing launch failures. These were followed by solos from Sandy Harrup, Chris Woodward and James Lambert before heading off to a late lunch.

Great skies for the helpers soaring at lunchtime (Lizzie Westcott)

Flights after lunch boasted 10kt thermals and over 5,000ft cloudbase, with a few private gliders completing impressive tasks and course members and helpers enjoying flights over an hour long.

Pete Startup 230  NH2 -Lapford - Salisbury - Fordingbridge -NH2 301kms "As Mr Masson forecast, very good in Devon and Dorset today. Sea air was in at North Hill when I got back so nice to have plenty of height in hand for the glide in."

Rowan Smith CLM NHL - Dorchester - Salisbury - NHL 224kms "Last minute decision to take the day off. #worklifebalance Glad I did - best day of the year so far. A very easy ride - consistent thermals that worked more often than not - really nice run down to Dorchester - a bit more challenging going up to Salisbury then an easy ride home. #underset"

Eric Alston G29 NH2 - Knowstone -Crewkerne - NH2 130kms "Started late, under set task, no low points."

Pete & Jill Harmer OL NHL - Tiverton E - Barnstaple - Culmhead - NHL "Also started late and followed the energy"

Geoff Lawrence HES Hembury - Culmstock - Culmhead - Wellington - NH2 - Hembury "At least it's a start for this year!"

Hans Jenssen Stewart Henshall and Stirling Melhuish all enjoyed local flights in HMS, well done to Stirling for getting converted. 

A fantastic day with many visitors to Devon (National Ladder)

Conditions died down later in the afternoon, local thermals becoming far and few between as the sea breeze came in, however soaring continued into the late afternoon before an early finish around 5pm.

The forecast tomorrow looks to be a slow start but looking much better later on.

A brilliant start to the first course of the year! - Lizzie Westcott (+BGA ladder comments)

Archaeology  update

The archaeological strip of the Glider Trailer Store started today. Nick, Tom, Graham and Stirling drove the machinery, while Steph, John Street, Mike F. cleared up the mess and operated the metal detector. Jeanine looked after the tent and made some tea, while Jonathan wore a yellow jacket with matching hat and did very little but line up some second hand launch cable.
To the delight of the committee, amid lots of rock, nothing archaeological was found except an old thermostat, some staples , a nail and a ring pull.
We will finish off on Wednesday, I hope. - JGPE

Mon 25th April - Course Week

 Today was the start of a rescheduled April course and the first of the year at North Hill.

We have a full quota of course members, it is a great mix this week with people wanting bronze testing, returning members, pre-solo and DSGC experienced solo pilots requiring re-currency flights.

After a introduction in the Clubhouse we set up the field at the west end, it was bitterly cold and quite windy. Within a short time Pete Startup was seen rigging, a good day then! 

Perfect sky (Mark Courtney)

 All the course members had soaring flights, James Lambert from Mendip Gliding club had an extensive spin sortie with Mark just before lunch (good job it wasn’t after). Lizzie Westcott had a trip nearly to Axminster and showed that she had forgotten little in the the last 3 years since her last flight.

Andy Pickerell a course member from last year consolidated his experience and skills learnt from last year and demonstrated that he also had forgotten little!

Sandy Harrup  and Chris Woodward had soaring flights exploring the local area both showing their experience and skills as solo pilots to Steve Westlake.

“New” member James Dyke continues to impress, his skills beyond a pilot with so few launches, landing the Perkoz perfectly every time.

The conditions today were probably the best I’ve experienced on a course, particularly an April course, Pete Startup 230 and Wyn Davies W7 will no doubt write of their cross-country flights.

 Pete Startup NH2 - Dorchester - Molton - North Tawton - Chard - NH2 284Kms

 "A few kms, just not the ones we'd planned! Nice conditions in the afternoon with a bit of convergence around Lyme Bay. With W7 - sorry I took us the wrong way, too early and nearly put both of us into a field Wyn!"

Devon countryside in the Spring sunshine (Mark Courtney)

Many gliders could be seen to the south, obviously from gliding sites far away, all were going “like the clappers” trying to get home before the forecast over-development appeared. And appear it did, for an hour and a half the sky was dead, later in the day just before packing up things picked up again enabling Andy to have his longest flight.

Many thanks to our team of helpers Dave Perriam, Gordon Hutchinson and Mike Meatyard.

Tomorrow’s forecast looks even better, fingers crossed they have got that right! - Mark Courtney

Sun 24th April

With Saturday lost to the gusty winds, the duty instructor email for Sunday, was for a good forecast, so there were a lot of members at the club first thing. Connor wasn’t even first on the list! With windier than predicted conditions setting up the airfield was delayed, the first launch finally being taken at 11:30am. With fifteen names on the two-seater list the challenge was on. A blue flag was put out, with the gusty conditions, which disappointed a number of pilots.

Brentor pilot, Mark Elliott had his spin training with Mark Courtney, Paul Summers took the Trial Lesson, Phil, when the conditions changed to yellow card, and a mixture of training flights and card checks were completed by Mike Sloggett, James Flory and Peter Warren.

Blue Eagle defies the easterly wind for over 2 hours (John Pursey)

 At 1:13pm John Pursey and Alan Rappaport took a launch in the Eagle AXJ  not to be seen again for another 148 mins. By 3:30pm the flying conditions colour has changed again, to red, as the wind died down. The Junior was put to good use by the solo pilots all afternoon. Everything was completed by 6:15pm thanks to everyone who helped today, especially Gordon Hutchinson and Paul Medlock who winched all day between them. - Sally Hender

Thurs 21st April

The sunny forecast was spot on this week for the Thursday regulars, and a moderate easterly wind gave some turbulent air in the circuit.

Training and check flights in the two-seaters with the solo pilots using a Junior was the order of the day, During the morning, flights were between 5 and 10 minutes depending on whether the sink was present.  The wind picked up more gusty at lunch time some cumulus formed and lenticulars were briefly visible. 

W7 on aerotow (Mike Horwood)

3 private owners took aerotows - Wyn W7, Pete 230, Jeff 380 and Geoff HES winched  and all had good local soaring flights with the sea breeze convergence passing through.

Pot luck dictated that some club gliders also got some short soaring flights from the winch, but it was rather tricky to get away. We missed Mike Sloggett today, but good luck for the wedding tomorrow.

Another pleasant spring day with 28 winch launches and 4 aerotows. Thanks team for making it happen. - J&P

Wed 20th April

 A howling northerly wind greeted the Wednesday Crew first thing, causing a delay to the start of flying.  The Crew put that time to good use by rigging the club's DG505 following its annual inspection.

The wind started to ease mid-morning, but was still sufficiently fierce that Duty Instructor Peter Smith elected to set up the launch point in its traditional south west location, with gliders pointing more or less straight into wind.  Despite this shorter run than current usual practice, we still achieved launches of around 1600 feet.  Around lunchtime some weak thermals started to pop, but there was plenty of heavy sink to keep everyone on their toes.  Through the afternoon the thermals got stronger and the wind got lighter, allowing the yellow flag to be swapped for red and more eager solo pilots to take to the skies. 

Gordon Hutchinson and Chris Warnes test-flew the DG505 by aerotow and winch respectively.  Rowan Smith and Eric Alston rigged their gliders and, after initial suspicion that that was a mistake, were rewarded with a couple of hours of soaring each. 

Great to see John Street back in the air (Peter Smith)

 It was great to see John Street, who kept us all in line with his mischevious banter and enjoyed a soaring flight with the Duty Instructor. - Ruth Comer

Tues 19th April - Ad-hoc day

 A late call was made on Monday evening for an Ad-hoc day for today. With enough volunteers to help winch launch (no tug pilot available) the day was agreed.

 DRE ready to go at 12:00 (Nick Jones)

 
Dan was up early, keen to get going! With Phil Morrison kindly stepping in as Duty Instructor  and doing the briefing, with support from Graham Barden, Rob and myself, we were able to get Dan Hender (DRE) in the air at 12:00 on the dot.  Launches followed by Ruth Comer (FZF), Pete Startup (230), Eric Alston (G29), Geoff Lawrence (HES), and Stewart Henshall (HMS). 

The Ad-hoc WhatsApp group promptly jumped into life, as a large number of members (ed:more than 30 members watching from the comments on WhatsApp) followed Dan’s track on Glide and seek. Thank you for all your support and comments. Pete Startup followed Dan’s progress from the air, but he couldn’t catch up that slippery K6!

Nice field Dan (Dan Hender)

 
Dan finally picked a great field with superb access after 2 hours flying and  a 70km journey. Pete (230) made it back to North Hill, after reaching Sherborne with a low save. Thank you to everyone who helped on the airfield and made this opportunity happen.

An ambulance..... (Sally Hender)

and air ambulance .... (Sally Hender)

The retrieve was quite eventful, shortly after getting the trailer into the field next to DRE, an air ambulance, then ambulance arrived to assist, as a concerned local had made a call.

Lesson learned, ideally you should call D&D (Distress & Diversion) 01489 612691, with your registration letting them know you have landed in a field safely. This would have stopped the emergency services visit. (ed: with thanks to Martin Woolner who recently completed his FRTOL course and James Smart of course)

We have one happy boy in the back of the car! - Proud Mum Sally Hender

The other stories - Conditions were a little tricky with that strong northerly wind and cloudbase quite low at times.

Eric  in G29 completed Tiverton - Chard - Dulverton 124 kms

Pete (230) flew for over 3 hours, turning Sherborne with a very low save. "Sent a Silver distance candidate off so thought I'd see what conditions were like. Pretty grim as it turns out, especially around Yeovil/Sherborne, lurching from one low point to another until getting back on to the high ground at Beaminster. Very well done to Dan Hender on his Silver today, he made the correct decision to head South and the (very slightly) better conditions - a great flight."

Geoff (HES) struggled with the difficult conditions but kept the winch driver busy.

Ruth (FZF) enjoyed an hour of local flying.

Stewart (HMS) collected local turnpoints  for a few hours expanding his range from North Hill.

Congratulations Dan  - Silver Distance and thanks to all who helped make it his special day. - Chairman Nick

Bank Holiday Monday 18th April

 With an Ad-hoc day arranged, there were a fair few members at the club early on. Everything was set up at the east end of the airfield, with the first launch taking place at 9.51am, with Connor and Stuart Procter. The two-seater list seemed to then grow, as more customers arrived, with Simon Leeson and James Flory working with Stuart to get through it.

Circuits were the norm for the first few hours, then Connor managed 25mins, which encouraged Dan to pull the K6 forward, ever hopeful of another achievement, but the 50km was out of reach, so he had make do with the longest flight of the day with 28 mins instead.

Junior in demand here with  Ruth Comer (John Pursey)

 Flying continued through lunch, as there were no facilities to distract! Martin Woolner then flew with Stuart, but a quick break was then taken for coffee, at 2pm, to avoid the showers. Tara Ashwood had two friends and family flights with James Smart.

Connor Williams completed his training in the Launchpoint, well done for spending the afternoon with me nagging in your ear! The list was finally completed by 5pm, with one of the final flights being by Stirling Melhuish re-soloing, well done, now you just need to get into one of your own gliders! 

How many times has Stirling resoloed? (John Pursey)

 Thanks to all for your assistance in getting everyone airborne that wanted to today, especially Tim Petty who winched for five hours in the afternoon. A good day, with the usual banter and chat - 37 winches and 1 aerotow. - Sally Hender

Sun 17th April

 The weather forecasts for the last few Club days have been a tad challenging for instructors trying to guess as to how accurate the forecasts would be against actual weather at North Hill. And today was no exception with various forecasts suggesting a limiting cloudbase to start and end the day albeit the updated forecast this morning indicated that the actual weather might be better than initially thought.

With members on family commitments, egg hunting or not sure whether flying would happen at North Hill today, there were only a small number of people at the Club first thing.  After discussion as to who could do what and whether we had enough to start with winch launches the eventual decision was to take a K21 and the Perkoz down to the West end of the airfield pending the expected arrival of a tug pilot to allow some flying to take place and maybe more members to allow winching. Duty Tug Pilot Peter Stapleton arrived as scheduled (prayed for!) and by mid-morning flying was under way.

Cloudbase was not a problem as had been expected and visibility was reasonable so several members took advantage of the reduced price aerotow launches until the arrival of a few more members and another instructor meant that the winch could be set up at the East end. Carefully avoiding the seeded area - but no sooner had we started to make progress with the flying list the wind, which had been an ‘interesting’ Southerly cross wind, started to become a tail wind! 

The new seeded area just waiting for some rain - looking forward to matching stripes (Mike Sloggett)

 After suitable discussion the only correct decision was to change ends - with an even better decision being to have lunch and let the wind settle down. By early afternoon it had, which meant that the decision to change ends was a good one and as the afternoon developed so the flying list progressed - with various members making good use of some weak lift to the South of the airfield and with Dave Perriam keeping Junior FZF aloft for just over an hour for the longest flight of the day before being ‘invited to land’ to let others fly.

By late afternoon the list had been completed for those who wished to fly and so it was time to put the gliders and ground equipment away - as ever we made the most of the day through great teamwork from the members present, Thank you to all involved (and a special mention to Pete Warren for helping out in the back seat for most of the day). - Mike Sloggett (ed: thanks to Mike for covering both am and pm Instructor duties today)

Sat 16th April

Another south easterly day with limiting cloudbase  was forecast and that was pretty well what we got, although it was pleasantly warm and a bit brighter than expected.

Numbers were few to start with but the K21s and a Junior went to the west end. The routine for setting up to miss the cultivated area again worked well. As the day went on numbers increased and we put the Perkoz to good use as well during the afternoon.

Pleasant day at North Hill (Stewart Henshall)

Ella Penny was first away enjoying some lift and more stick time on the second flight as well as starting to deal with the launch. Tom Sides took Tom Gunner and found better lift and the longest flight at 37minutes. Tom also did the booked trial lesson flight. CFI Stuart self-isolated in the Junior and didn’t quite make Tom’s target time. James Flory was tuggie and helped on the instructing front with Connor Williams. Robert Lee helped with walk in trial lessons. Tom also did a F & F flight with Gina Rand who clearly enjoyed it as she also had an aerotow flight. Mike Wilmott was put through his paces with Peter Smith for a welcome Red Card renewal.

 

Perkoz ready to go (Stewart Henshall)

It was a very pleasant day and well after 6pm by the time the doors closed on the hangar. Thank you to all who helped, Peter March on voluntary Launch Marshall, Andrew Logan and Tim Petty who did turns in the winch but didn’t fly and Stewart and Sue Henshall logging and DLM in the afternoon. Apologies to anyone I missed.

 Not a record breaking day but very enjoyable. - Peter Smith (ed: and thank you to Peter for covering the Duty Instructor duties today and writing the blog) 

New member Dawson Panter-Wray enjoyed his prize flight in RF5 with Simon Jordy flying down to Torbay. 

Dawson won the flight in the Christmas raffle in support of the Juniors (Simon Jordy)

 

Thurs 14th April

 Well that was an unexpected surprise! the weather forecast had been rather pessimistic with a cloudy southerly wind. But North Hill's microclimate came up trumps with just a very high overcast layer of cloud, and some orographic cloud mainly to the east.

Occasional orographic cloud appeared nearby (Mike Horwood)

Winch launches were generally about 1500ft and mostly just circuits, and then just after lunch, the overcast layer cleared and the sun came out. John Borland found the best lift above the south ridge and won the prize for 19 minutes. 

The sun came out (Jill Harmer)

Tom Sides looked after the 2 Trial lesson visitors Oliver and Tyler who enjoyed their flights - we look forward to seeing them again to continue their gliding journey.

North Hill was really blessed today being in a 10 mile radius hole in the cloud, there was sea fog on the south coast all day with a waterfall effect over East Hill.

There were 30 winch launches and 3 aerotows, thanks to Pete Harmer for filling in for the absentee tugpilot! -  Thanks everyone another lovely spring day in the sky. - J&P

Wed 13th April - Portmoak

 Everyone was at the airfield fairly early, (well by 10am) ever hopeful of good conditions, and RASP being wrong??! Team Hender rigged the K6 ably assisted by James Smart. We then all stood around watching the Bishops ridge slowly reveal itself from behind the orographic. Dan was first to pull up to the winch line, which then encouraged the other pilots to move forward!
Pete Startup (230) took the first launch at 12.40, followed by Dan Hender (DRE), James Smart (877), Eric Alston (G29) and then Ron and Dan Johns (711, or ?BE) after a quick look in the bushes at the Scottish flora!

Congratulations to Dan Hender for 5 hours at Portmoak (Sally Hender)

They then proceeded to spend the afternoon soaring the ridge, each occasionally having a sniff further afield, but promptly returning to the ridge. 

Playing with the clouds (Dan Hender)

In the meantime DD3 was packed back in its trailer, Phil and Nick hopeful that Denbigh may provide better opportunities for the end of the week.
711 and G29 came down after a good two hours flying, with Pete Startup next after four hours!

Congratulations to James Smart for 5 hours at Portmoak (Sally Hender)

 But congratulations go to Dan Hender and James Smart for both doing their five hour flights!! Well done to you both x - Sally Hender

Sun 10th April - Portmoak

 Well Team Hender and James Smart were there for the 9:30am briefing! Dan had managed to squeeze in his site check Saturday afternoon, so James got on the list early to sort his out.

James and Rob sorting out the covers on 877(Sally Hender)

 
Meanwhile DRE and DD3 were rigged for the day, all the others were already under their covers.
After finally managing to sort out the ‘click and glide’ facility, gliders were pulled on to the line for the winch launches. 

Pete Startup (230) took the first launch of the North Hill visitors at about 11am, followed by Ron and Dan Johns (711 otherwise known as ?BE)! Then Dan Hender DRE, James Smart 877, Phil Morrison and Nick Jones DD3 and Eric Alston G29 respectively, followed them. All did local soaring within approximately 20km of the airfield enjoying ridge and thermal flying, while avoiding the duvets, all doing around 2.5 hours. 

Rob missed out on the ridge lift (Sally Hender)

 Rob Hender meanwhile, finally got a launch at 14.40, just as the wind died, and managed three circuits! But enjoyed the sights over the loch and experiencing a new airfield.
We all packed up and headed for the pub after an enjoyable day on the airfield. - Sally Hender

Sun 10th April

A brighter start to the day than the forecast lead us to expect, but the forecast for wind was on the spot all day. Given the crosswind we put the winch close to the old cattle grid and a vehicle on the north east corner of the seeded  area and used it as an aiming point for the cable run and launch position, thus enabling the winch drivers to keep the cables away from the fences and trees.

 We started fairly short-handed, Gordon Hutchinson did the winch and retrieve, Paul Medlock the launch point. First away was Ashley Thomas completing a card check. Simon Minson did a first flight with Ivor Starkey, followed by a delay because of a deflated nose wheel which our multi-tasking Treasurer was able to resolve. Meanwhile Dave Perriam enjoyed winch and aerotow launches in the Junior with Pete Warren in the tug.  Ella Penny was next in HCX getting some good stick time to smooth out handling skills and managing the longest winch launch flight of 39 mins. 

Congratulations to Stewart Henshall for passing his Navigation test with Ian Mitchell in Rotax Falke completing his Cross-country Endorsement.

Well done to Stewart Henshall (Sue Henshall)

 There was lift about pretty well exactly as RASP predicted but broken by the wind. Tom Sides had the longest flight of the day at 49 minutes from an aerotow. Simon also flew with Alec Starkey, also with Tony Unwin, a gilder pilot returning to the fold after some while away from gliding, welcome back! Guy Adams in the afternoon slot completed card checks with Gordon  and also flew with chief archaeologist Jonathan Erskine. Ashley did the honours in the winch. Thank you to all who made the day work. - Peter Smith

Sat 9th April

After another wipe out during the week for rain / wind, it was a bright sunny morning following a cold frosty night with a cold northwesterly airflow set the scene for some really good thermal soaring flights. 

The two-seaters were in high demand, and thankfully James Flory was able to cover for Mark Courtney who is sunning himself in Lanzarote. In the afternoon James was pleased to see Steve Westlake arrive for his duty and the two of them managed to get through the flying list with lots of check flights, cable break practice and some good soaring flights as well.
It was good to see Lukasz back to gliding after his DLM duty in the morning, following a temporary cross to the dark side (Power flying!)
The single seaters and a K21 solo were equally in demand with Chris Coville surprised to get in 40 mins soaring so early in the day, followed by George Sanderson, Paul Medlock and Chris Warnes, Charlie Stuckey, Josh Funnell, Andrew Broderick and Mike Harris, all having soaring flights. 

Lovely Devon sky (Stewart Henshall)

 In the afternoon, the Juniors were less in demand, Ruth Comer enjoyed over an hour, and Stewart Henshall was able to fill his boots for over 3 hours, venturing out to Tiverton and Wellington.  Hans Jenssen with his turn in the DG 100 also clocked up 3 hours - cross-country endorsement beckons...... 

Chesil Beach (John Burrow)

 Cross-country pilots were a little depleted with many private owners up at Portmoak but JP in his SF27 went to Crediton, Wimbleball, Sutton Bingham and return. JB bimbled round Whidden Down, Dorchester and Knowstone  but Wyn was the winner of the cross-countries with a 300kms to Okehampton, Salisbury and return. OL made its first appearance of the season with a late shakedown flight following the energy to nearly Molton (sea air had come in), and Yeovil. The BGA ladder is full of visitors to Devon - some came down twice!

Sea breeze on the south coast (Wyn Davies)

 Thanks to Paul Summers and Chris Warnes who looked after the Trial lessons visitors.  Thanks also to Stu for tugging although only 3 were needed as most got away from the winch launches - 40 in total.

A busy gliding day (BGA Ladder)

WOW! what another great spring day in the sky and the swallows have been sighted.- JB & J&P

Fri/Sat 8/9 April - Portmoak

 First couple of days for the advance party - Summed up as pretty chilly but with some great soaring.

Day 1 - started with some ridge flying on Benarty hill in the brisk NNW wind until the thermals kicked off up to a cloudbase of 4000ft which enabled a bit of a wander West along the Ochills to Alva then North to Methven before returning to fly on the Bishop hill for a while.

West Lomond hill with Loch Leven beyond (Pete Startup)

  Day 2 - Another chilly day in the NNW wind with Bishop hill working very well. Cloudbase to 5000ft but with snow showers scattered around. Some shear wave above the cloud streets enabled Eric in G29 to climb to c.9000ft and Ron and Dan 6,800ft in 711.

Snow showers North of the Ochills (Pete Startup)

 Pete in 230, unable to resist a jaunt somewhere declared the Club 100, Stirling - Methven with plenty of snow shower dodging around the last 2 legs.

Looking East across Perth and the river Tay towards Dundee (Pete Startup)

 Remaining North Hillers arrived today and had site checks ready for tomorrow. - Pete Startup