Sun 29th May

 The forecast suggested that it would be flyable in the morning but, with high pressure moving away and some wrinkles in the isobars, some rain was due around midday. Optimistic enough for 4 club gliders to be DI'd and moved to the west end of the field.

James Flory started his way through the two-seater training list and was joined by Pete Warren. James Smart flew two Trial lesson voucher flights. 

K6DRE on tow (Stewart Henshall)

 

At lunchtime the south easterly wind changed to south westerly requiring a change of ends just as Ian Mitchell arrived to take over. The wind change, as so often happens, heralded a change in weather with light drizzle forcing a lunch break.  

With no sign of a clearance the decision was made to put the gliders back into the hangar and call an end to the day. 15 winch launches and 2 aerotows was not a bad result.

Many thanks to all those who helped and sorry to those who didn’t fly, there is always next time. - James Smart

Sat 28th May

Another busy day at North Hill with a long flying list and Trial lesson visitors. The forecast suggested soarable weather to the east and west,   and so it proved, - with it difficult to get away from North Hill. 

Busy launchpoint (Mark Courtney)

 The aerotows proved more successful than the winch, until after a change of airmass when better looking cumulus started forming, and the second half of the afternoon became easy soaring. 

Well done Tom (Mark Courtney)

  

 Well done to Tom Sides for his BI revalidation with Mark Courtney.

North Hill on a hangar flight with John Sillett (Connor Williams)

Pete Startup 230, Simon Minson SM and John Burrow JB headed off to the good conditions with Pete and Simon completing 307kms O/R to Candover Church and JB turning at Salisbury. 

 

SM passing Middle Wallop (Simon Minson)

"Difficult first hour escaping from Devon, it improved markedly from Salisbury onwards with a nice run home although I never found today very easy. With SM and JB."  Pete Startup

Thanks to everyone for keeping the busy launchpoint running smoothly,  37 winch launches and 11 aerotows - J&P

Thurs 26th May

After yesterday's low cloud and rain there was a glint of hope that Thursday would be flyable. The low cloud lifted into a flat overcast at 1800ft and with westerly wind the ridge was working.

Overcast but soarable on the ridge (Jill Harmer)

 So after a swift weather check, the club gliders were playing on the ridge all day returning to let others fly. There were a few check flights but most enjoyed the ridge and was it some wave in phase? as the air felt quite smooth in places. 

Exe Estuary (Mike Sloggett)

 Pete Startup 230 had the longest flight (just) just over 2 hours, but had to dash off (as he had only come out to get some sand and cement but had been seen on Glide & Seek!)

North Hill Airfield (Mike Sloggett)

Well done to Ashley Thomas who got his first 1 hour flight signed up and to George Sanderson for converting to the Perkoz.

Well done George converting to Perkoz (Jill Harmer)

 Unfortunately with the forecast for low cloud  / high humidity / fog  the planned evening group from Amulet Hotkey was postponed until next week. 

Thanks everyone - not a particularly warm May day, but at least it was soarable. - J&P

Sun 22 May

 The sky was clear blue early on, but the hangar was being emptied at 9am, by the keen members on the training list. The first launch was taken at 10.20am by duty instructor John Sillett, with Mike Sloggett taking  the other K21, making a start on the two seat list. With limited numbers on the airfield, Paul Summers stepped in to do both winch and cable retrieve all morning, finally being relieved at 2pm by Dave Perriam, (with a final turn from George Sanderson). Thanks also to Tuggie Simon Jordy for towing.

The K21 workhorses (Kevin Fairburn)

Good work was made through the training list, with James Flory being afternoon duty instructor,   interspersed with private gliders launching, Ron Johns (711), Dan Hender / Jack Raybould (DRE), James Smart (877), Pete Startup (230), Mike Sloggett (FUN).

Tuggie Simon chocked (John Sillett)

 A walk in Trail Lesson was given a flight, the young budding pilot went away very happy after his experience, as Jonathon Erskine paid for a second, as it was his birthday, and Paul Summers paid for a third, as he went as a back seat flight!

Flying continued throughout the afternoon, with the flying list being completed by 5pm. Everyone had a good day, thank you to all that helped on the airfield. - Sally Hender

Sat 21st May

 With a plethora of junior members present first thing, the average age of the membership was temporarily halved until a few of the regulars arrived to push the figure towards its normal level, even though things ran as smooth as ever. A number of the juniors undertook most of the airfield ground tasks with some getting signed off by the end of the day.

Congratulations to Connor Williams - first solo (Jill Harmer)

 Flight of the day goes to Connor Williams who was sent solo by James Flory after the normal checks. Now 16 years, having only started gliding ten months ago and completing just over 70 flights it is some achievement - Congratulations.

Busy launching gliders and signed off winch driver having a break from the exams - well done Connor (Mark Layton)

 Launches to the west in the light mostly southerly wind were constant all day and those lucky with the timing were able to have soaring flights. It was not easy to get away from a winch launch with the amount of sink around but Stewart Henshall in HMS managed to complete the new club 100 in reverse order (NH2-NTA-KNO-NH2) and Andy Williams in FUN disappeared over towards Tiverton for a few hours both finding the higher cloud base easier to work with than that above the airfield. 

John Sillett also reacquainted himself with a Pilatus B4 sharing it with Alan Turner for a couple of flights each. It was a steady day with 42 launches, a couple of which were aerotows.
 - Mark Layton

Evening soaring on Condor -  after a nailbiting  (live streamed on YouTube) final Race 7 of the Virtual Sailplane Grand Prix 2022  from Zar, Stewart Henshall (GHK) came 2nd in his race, and waits for the final countback to see if he qualifies for the Final.

Thurs 19th May

Thursday was always going to be a busy day with the best forecast for the week. Surprisingly, the flying list for club gliders and training was relatively short, but looking around the field,  there must have been in excess of 15 private gliders in various stages of rigging or uncovering.

Organised grid (Mark Courtney)

Pete Harmer and Chris Wool got stuck in with the training list and the private gliders were organised into a tidy grid line. 

The canopy covers were out at lunchtime (Mark Layton)

 However the hoped-for good soaring conditions were somehow missing from the nice-looking clouds, and the airfield regularly got a bit cluttered with private gliders falling out of the sky in the heavy sink from winch launches. 

Good looking cumulus to the north (Mike Horwood)

 Fortunately Pete Stapleton had arrived as stand-in Tug Pilot and those taking aerotows were better able to find the soaring conditions. 

Chris set off on a small cross-country flight with Ian Hunt  in K21to Tiverton  and Cullompton- a great return to flying experience for Ian.

ASH25 on aerotow (Mike Horwood)

Pete Startup 230, Phil Morrison and Nick Jones DD3, Ron Johns and Martin Woolner 711, Wyn Davies W7 and JB all set off for a task NH2 - Okehampton - Wellington - North Tawton - NH2 201kms.... and with the usual dogged determination Pete completed it "Another low, slow grind around Devon in very variable conditions." the others aborted the task for local soaring.

The DG505 set off in the opposite direction and landed at Mendip GC for another retrieve from the crew. 

Not enough sandwiches! (Simon Leeson)

 Thanks to the small number of members who did the majority of the launching and glider retrieving - a total of 39 winch launches and 9 aerotows with the unusual balance of 34 solo/private launches compared to 11 training flights.- J&P 

Wed 18th May

A reasonable training half-day but with some lowish cloud at times and a bit of a southerly crosswind. The evening flying was cancelled at lunchtime due to the forecast rain. 

The Motley Crew on Matt's Bench (Simon Leeson)

The DG505 team  on private hire made an attempt to get to the cliffs again.......

 

Another field and retrieve (Simon Leeson)

.....but the conditions did not play ball and the DG505 ended up in a field near Ottery St Mary. - J&P

Tues 17th May - Cliffs day?

 Today’s forecast was showing a potential “cliff day”. The early signs were not great, so myself and Dave Weeks took the Falke to Sidmouth to have a peek.There seemed to be little chance of soaring looking at the waves.

Back at North Hill it was decided to wait until the wind picked up. The direction was basically SE and building.

By 12:30 we decided to have a go, Stuart towed us to Farway common where we released.

The main run down the cliffs was not working so we used the east facing cliff at Beer.

Simon Leeson and Mark Courtney (Simon Leeson)

 
Slowly but surely we climbed, we pushed into wind and to our surprise the smooth lift continued out to sea for a considerable distance. Very carefully we teased areas of lift, eventually we could run down to Sidmouth at 3000ft above the cliffs in smooth runs climbing at 1 kt.

Climbing in the smooth (Mark Courtney)

Stuart, Dave Weeks and Jimbob arrived at Farway airstrip earlier in the day with the trailer but could not get in through the locked gates ( we did fill out a PPR form online).

A quick txt from Dave suggested we fly back to NH, by now the upper wind was southerly, and with the forecast heavy rain approaching from the west, we talked to Exeter ATC and set off home.

Over Sidmouth (Mark Courtney)

 The trip back seemed to take about 2 minutes! We arrived back at over 2000ft, the circuit was very turbulent and the approach was “interesting”!

Just as we trundled to the hangar the retrieve crew arrived back with the trailer.

Patience rewarded (Simon Leeson)

 A fantastic day with a flight time of just under 3 hours, lesson of the day was be patient.

Forecast for tomorrow looks even better with a southerly wind on the cards. - Mark Courtney

Sun 15th May

 With only a few people around first thing  the flying list was very small. Two K21's and a Junior were taken on yet another long walk to the west end and after the first boisterous launch, approach and landing it was obvious the Junior was not going to get much use today.

Wave bars (Mark Layton)

Despite a big wave bar sitting over Hembury Hill it was just out of reach in the strong southerly crosswind especially as the gliders were being launched straight into the rotor. The areas of smooth 'upness' were there but it was difficult to make much use of it. Ron Johns with Mark Layton as ballast in KEK managed to climb a few hundred feet and with James Flory and Emma in HCX also trying their best - but the elusive wave continued to be just too far away. 

Ron and Mark on approach (Mark Layton)

 After a series of exciting, challenging or character building (depending on your point of view) flights it was deemed that the conditions were becoming too much so the decision was made to walk the gliders back and put them in the hangar over lunch and reassess. The rain then arrived which then made the decision easy.

Unfortunately only two on the list flew and the trial flights had to be cancelled. Thanks to all those that helped the lucky ones get it the air. - Mark Layton

Sat 14th May

 The hangar was emptied and the Club gliders were joined at the launch point by a number of private gliders. 

 

Still waiting for grass to grow on the seeded area (Stewart Henshall)

A task was created  by Pete Startup and Phil Morrison for the Pundits,  to make the most of the short day and limited area available  NHL - HOL - WIM - TAU - NHL 198kms With Pete 230, Simon Minson SM and  Phil Morrison and Nick Jones DD3 all completing the task.

"It was never going to be a strong , high or long day, or fast. This task was about right for the conditions. Bit of a messy sea air convergence between HOL and WIM. Nice day out with fellow NH Nomads SM and DD3. And anyway, speed points are so last year.................."  Pete Startup 230 

 

A really nice afternoon (Stewart Henshall)

And back at North Hill it turned into a really nice afternoon with many gliders local soaring. 36 winch launches and 5 aerotows. Thanks to Josh Funnell for looking after the Trial lessons and some Family and Friends flights. - J&P

Fri 13th May

 The second half of the Exeter College Aerospace Students enjoyed another glorious soarable Friday afternoon at North Hill. The wind was on the ridge but the thermals were too tempting  and with Instructors Pete Harmer, Ron Johns and James Flory guidance the Students were able to learn the pleasures of soaring up to 2500ft.

 

We hope to see some of the Students joining us as Junior Members in the future. - J&P

Thurs 12th May

"A nice but not spectacular day" was how Pete had described the forecast for Thursday, and on the western side of the country that was pretty much spot on. 

 

Low cloud has cleared (Jill Harmer)

A slightly delayed start due to fairly thick low cloud, but as it warmed up, the low cloud cleared, and we got underway with Pete Harmer conducting check flights for Gordon Bonny and Chris Wool training flights with John Davis.  There was an early lunch called due to a little drizzle, and then the soaring began and the second Junior was brought out, with an empty launch point at times.

Still no grass -8mm of rain should have helped (Mike Horwood)

 Tom Sides looked after the Trial lesson Visitor Tracey who was rather nervous to start with but went away beaming. 

Trial lesson visitor Tracey beaming after her flight with Tom (Mark Courtney)

Pete Startup  230 was calling the position of the convergence  as it passed through North Hill with the longest flight of over two hours. The Junior pilots might have competed for the longest flights but were called down to ensure everyone flew. 

Top cover (Stewart Henshall)

Thanks to everyone for a "nice day" 22 winch launches and 3 aerotows by tuggie Mark. - J&P

Sun 8th May

The day started slowly with a few members on site, rigging the airfield and getting gliders out and inspected.

First flight of the day, Hans Jenssen flying with Ian Mitchell in the Rotax Falke, heading off into the wide blue yonder to look at fields and the possibilities of landing in them, well, reality was Hans doing his field selection training and test which resulted in congratulations to Hans for passing his field selection assessment, (one step closer to passing cross-country endorsement.)

 

Hans after passing his field landing/selection (Ian Mitchell)

As the day progressed the weather improved slightly, enough to bring out a few private owners, and with club flying as normal. Expectation from some members,  namely Connor  Williams who wanted to throw himself around by undertaking his spin training in the Perkoz.

A reasonable days flying with three of the club two-seaters and a Junior in use, with a mild amount of soaring midday, and aerotows available as well.

Disappointment however for Connor as when he was strapped in waiting to go, a minor technical fault was discovered during pre-flight checks which then meant the Perkoz was grounded and disappointment followed for Connor and others that wanted to fly the Perkoz. There is always next time!

During the day trial lessons took place and were very successful with the visitors thoroughly enjoying their flights, along with a couple of temporary members returning having completed their first flight and yes ……. They are back for more !!!

Even with slight disappointment a good and enjoyable day was had by all. - Dave Perriam

Sat 7th May

 Only a few members were on the Flying list first thing, but they successfully set up the airfield by 10:50, with Dave Herbert taking the first launch of his 1:1 training with James Flory, congratulations on successfully resoloing. 

We had yellow card conditions to start with, so training flights were delayed to begin with, but with improving weather and more members appearing the list was started in earnest.
We had three Trial flights booked and two friends and family experiences, which Chris Warnes kindly completed, with very happy faces leaving the club. 

Mike Harris after 5 hours (Sally Hender)

A number of private gliders pulled up to the line, Mike Harris (CEC) - congratulations on achieving your 5 hours.

Stewart Henshall (HMS)  NH2-TIE-YEO-NH2 - congratulations on your 100kms  Diploma Part 1 and 2. 

Running east, south of Wellington (Stewart Henshall)

 "The day turned out to be better than many had thought, especially later into the afternoon. Base was quite high and there were good climbs if you were persistent. On advice from PS I declared the old Club 100 and went and did it. It's been seen virtually a few times before! A very pleasing run East under some dark stuff was tempered by a bit of a gap near Yeovil and a more pressing need for a climb. Final glide would have been on from Crewkerne had I slowed down enough (not possible!). Very nice to get out and fly a declared task at a decent speed." - Stewart Henshall

 

Wyn Davies (W7), 

"The sky looked promising to the East, RASP was saying go West. I went and completed the old club 100 to Yeovil reservoir and after completing the task took a strong street to Wimbleball Reservoir. Strong climbs all round."  - Wyn Davies

A lovely day out (Wyn Davies)

Phil Morrison and Nick Jones (DD3 Okehampton and Crewkerne declared and achieved), 

"A day which turned out better than expected though the RASP forecast was surprisingly accurate except it turned out a little better locally than expected. Setting Oakhampton to the West was probably far enough the cloud base dropped dramatically and some sort of fron or convergence parked itself about 10k short. Tricky passing back by Exeter (as predicted by RASP) the cloudbase recovered and the rest of the flight to Crewkerne was probably an underset; but the two old men in the glider were happy to get back in time for a quick libation at the clubhouse."  - Phil Morrison

John Burrow (JB Crediton and Cerne Abbas),  and Robert Lee (DKU). All disappeared off into the unexpected increasingly good conditions.

By 3pm we had very limited numbers on the airfield, and with only two trained winch drivers left, Nick Redfern and Dan Hender had to alternate between winching and flying, thank you to both.
Thanks also to our very effective DLM’s Pete Startup and Ian Hunt. We completed the list by 5:45pm thanks to all on the list for their patience.

The late afternoon sunshine was enjoyed by a group of happy flyers with tea and cake. Thanks to all for a very enjoyable day. - Sally Hender

Fri 6th May

 The first group for 2 years, we welcomed Exeter College 1st year Aeronautical Engineer Students to North Hill along with their tutor Dick Masters. 

Exeter College 1st year Aeronautical Engineer Students (Jill Harmer)

  It was quite cloudy but the ridge was working well to 1500ft (which was cloudbase) with the help of a few thermals. A second tranche of students are planned for next Friday.

  All the students enjoyed 20-30 minute flights in the capable hands of Stu Procter, Pete Harmer and Chris Warnes. Thanks also to the helpers for a successful afternoon. - J&P

Thurs 5th May

 Following a slightly soarable Wednesday and a well-supported first of the season members evening, the Thursday flying list was busy as usual.

Heavy clouds to the north (Mike Horwood)

 There was a slight delay to start whilst waiting for the low cloud and humidity to clear and then Pete Harmer and Mike Sloggett started check flights and training, with the solo pilots flying the Junior. Ron Johns arrived to help with the two-seater list and at lunchtime the launch point was congested with private owners. 

Grid lining up (Mike Horwood)

 Conditions were tricky to get away from the winch apart from the favoured few, and several took an aerotow. DD3 and 230 managed some small tasks under the high cover and low cloudbase in places.

North Hill airfield still waiting for grass to grow on the seeded area (Mike Horwood)

Dave Perriam converted to Perkoz and Stewart Henshall continued his list of weekly achievements with a shiny new yellow card and winch driver signed off.

Thanks to everyone for keeping things moving and Robert and Stuart for helping out Mark with the 7 aerotows. 40 winch launches in total. - J&P

Wed 4th May

 A delayed start by low cloud, a met flight had to release slightly below the full launch height but at a safe height to operate and it improved as the day went on. Not a big flying list so just the K21s and a Junior to start with, but after lunch when a few more faces appeared the Perkoz was also pulled out. We even had areas of lift  and some extended flights. The three Peters (Field, Warren & Smith) covered the full flying list with training and check flights before handing over to the evening crew.

Glorious views of Devon (Peter Smith)

 During the afternoon when the sun broke through for a while the airborne views of Devon countryside with the trees and colours were magnificent.

The first club members Wednesday evening flying of the season was well supported with James Flory and Rowan Smith instructing. - Peter Smith