Thurs 30th June

It looked as though there may be a  morning of flying before some more rain sets in, and so it turned out. A small group of Thursday regulars managed to weave their way to the Club through the Devon County Show traffic, and were rewarded by some unlikely soaring conditions. 

The cloudbase turned out to be higher than it looked with the early flights not reaching it from the winch launch. Well done to Connor Williams  who was signed off checks by Pete Harmer after one of those " close your eyes - I have control" flights. 

Cloudbase rising nicely (Jill Harmer)

 Andy Williams reported  8 knots up and could have stayed up but returned to let others fly the Junior. It was good to see David Clements back after his extended touring in France, and he enjoyed a flight with Peter Smith. Pete Harmer and Gordon Bonny also enjoyed a soarable half hour.

The trial lesson visitor had been asked to arrive early and there was a report of cloudbase rising to more than 2000ft from those airborne. But alas the Trial flight had to be called off amidst a rather large and long thunderclap  (or two) over Honiton. So an adjournment for lunch was called, but the rain then set in and it was packing up in the rain. Thanks all, 9 flights  sorry that some missed out.- J&P

Wed 29th June

 The low cloud over the airfield ensured a slow start to the day, and whilst waiting for the cloudbase to ascend Chris Warnes and myself took advantage of gaining some valuable simulator training time. 

An elite quorum of usual suspects turned up (eventually) after deciding that the optimistic RASP forecast may be close to reality. As the sky began to look more inviting two gliders were deftly liberated from the hangar and once the ground equipment was established Dave Perriam took the first launch in FZF and radioed the news that cloudbase was at a heady 1,450 feet. 

Longest flight (Mike Wilmott)

Another 6 flights launched punctuated by lunch (and a coincidental shower) when CJW gave a couple of us an XCsoar tutorial. I'm pretty sure that, soon, most pilots will have this excellent (and free) app to aid their flying experience, and if you need practice with using XCSoar in flight then it is available in the DSGC Simulator.

XCSoar (Mike Willmott)

I was pleased to achieve the longest flight of the day (33m) a lot of it spent just under cloudbase and even squeezed in some aerobatics  to entertain the crowd. Just as one of the heavy showers hit, it was decided pertinent to get gliders and equipment hangared,   so 14:20 saw the last launch of the day.  Sadly the weather was to curtail any evening flying. - Mike Willmott

W7 in Barcelonnette - June 2022

 Arrived here a couple of weeks ago, to the usual greeting of "you should have been here last week when conditions were perfect!".

I spent the first flight getting back into the mountains, with winds which were upsetting my usually reliable ridges , but once I got my head around it all, I managed to visit the Glacier Blanc. 

Glacier Blanc close up (Wyn Davies)

 The second day brought rain and no flying.

My second flight was fun, visiting the Glacier from wave which took me up to FL185. This time the local ridges were all upset by wave interference and thermals were rough and ragged. Once into wave and viewing the Alps from on high I settled for sightseeing, and a return to the local area, whilst the pundits visited Mount Blanc.

Wave over the Alps (Wyn Davies)

Decided to visit family in Lyon while some very severe weather brought cloudbursts and flooding.

Then clear skies gave a great day for visiting the mountains north of Brianson and thermal streets which developed allowing a high soaring dash south to the Lac St Croix.

Lac St Croix on a thermic day (Wyn Davies)

 With changeable weather we've spent time climbing the Morgan on foot rather than gliding, and the local pundits are declaring that tomorrow will be epic for gliding. Was it ever thus? - Wyn Davies W7

Thur 23rd June

A slightly indifferent forecast which included potential thunderstorms  and torrential downpours and not so much of the 'hot blue', but with an instructor team of Pete Harmer, Peter Smith, Chris Wool and Mike Sloggett leading the way to the West end of the airfield, 15 or so members  got operations going just after 10:00a.m.

Skylaunch  (Mike Horwood)

 Early in the day Karen King was put through her paces by Chris by encountering, on the downwind leg, ‘imaginary sink’ requiring a landing across the field and coming to a stop slightly inside the club’s non-official conservation area.   Mike Horwood revalidated his Red card rating and then enjoyed a K21 solo  achieving longest flight of the day 33 mins. John Borland also enjoyed several walks from East to West before converting to the Perkoz. 

 

John Borland converts to Perkoz (Karen King)

Training and solo flights continued in the benign light and variable tending to southerly crosswind.

The line of rain stayed beyond the South coast until finally fizzling out, so another good day  - but you had to be at North Hill - 32 winch launches - Karen King & J&P

Wed 22nd June

 It was blue but good for local soaring,  with John Sillett, Glenn Turpin and Pete Warren instructing  and Chris Warnes looking after the Trial lesson visitor, and Pete Startup 230 as ever tiptoed off for a (slow by his standards) 300kms.

Blue skies (Mike Sloggett)

 NH2 - Calne - NH2 - Molton - NH2

"Bluer than a blue thing painted blue in Devon and Somerset today, until late pm when a few Cu appeared. Tiptoed out of Devon as far as the Mendips where a few whispies started to appear then a steady plod around the task. Should have changed gear for the middle 150km............................... "  Pete Startup 230

Following the master's lead Stewart Henshall HMS completed 107kms  turning Bridgwater and Tiverton East, and Geoff Lawrence in HES also enjoyed local soaring to Wellington Monument and Culmstock.

"Blue day, limited hopes and no XC endorsement, hence resorting to an own TP. Struggled to get away but above 2000’ some of the thermals were a lot better than expected, others less so…" Geoff Lawrence HES. 

Many others had long local flights. - J&P

Flying until sunset (Mike Sloggett)

A dozen or so members gathered  from around 5 p.m. for a sunshine filled evening of flying.  Although there were very few thermic flights, a fabulous evening was had by all.James Flory and Mike Sloggett (back from honeymoon) kindly instructed and after a good number of K21 (dual seater), and Junior (single seater) flights  continued until dusk.

A good day ( Mike Sloggett)

  A total day of 61 winch launches and 4 aerotows . - Karen King

Tue 21st June - Camphill

Vintage Rally Day 4

Camphill - Alton Towers - Chatsworth - Camphill
Set off with high hopes, in company of Mr. Pursey, which were soon to be dashed when we flew into stagnant air from the Liverpool gap. Wasted 700 ft optimistically searching around the inside of a massive quarry before abandoning the first turn-point and tiptoeing back to a hot looking rock face adjacent to a landable field, both of which were obliged to work! Trouble was, nobody told the rock face. so we scrabbled around for 20mins at about 800ft until the rock face got the message and provided the required thermal! 

Chatsworth House (JB)

A visit to Chatsworth on the way home, because it would have been rude not to call in on the Duke of Devonshire as we were passing. 

Many thanks to all our friends at Camphill for organising an excellent rally. - JB

Mon 20 June - Camphill

Vintage Rally Day 3 - A much more encouraging start weatherwise and an upbeat briefing including a task. A modest 80k, down to Carsington Water then back up to Howden Dam and home.

A Slingsby affair (John Pursey)

With 6 Capstans all now rigged, along with the club T21 and our Eagle it was quite a Slingsby affair.
AXJ went off with Alan R in the rear gunner seat and me at the helm. Plan was to have an hour or two then land and do the task with JB. 

Launch the Eagle (John Pursey)

 Plan changed when JB chose to have lunch rather than get jammed in an Eagle. So Alan had to endure 5 hr 26m and a trip round the task in an effort to get the plonk prize! Tricky thermals but was a great day out. 

TP1 (John Pursey)

Plonk won but Alan may not be able to walk for a while…
Next day looking good.  - John Pursey

Sat 18 / Sun 19 June - Camphill

 After a completely wiped out weekend for flying at North Hill due to a combination of rain / low cloud / wind, it was good to get a flying report from upcountry......

Camp Hill report

Team Eagle with AXJ travelled on the hottest day of the year to miss a ridge soaring afternoon by an hour or two. “You should have been here earlier, ridge was going like a train” is what I was greeted with after a speedy, sweaty rig. Bother I thought!

A rather indifferent Saturday but some vintage soaring for some with nearly an hour by a K18. Team Eagle went walking…

Launch the Eagle (John Pursey)

Sunday, with a sunny start and after an upbeat brief and a task being set, the clouds didn’t read the script and filled in for a while. By the time AXJ got on the line the ridge was just doing enough to allow weak thermals to keep people up. Dodging the paragliders JB, kept AXJ up with me for nearly an hour.

John Pursey and Phil Morrison (John Pursey)

  With a bottle of plonk as a daily prize the gloves were off. The sky was fairly grey but there was enough contrast to give away the better bits. A flight with Alan R and then a cable break with Phil killed enough time for the sky to clear to proper cumulus allowing climbs to nearly 5000ft !

Great sunset at Camphill (John Pursey)

A fabulous end to the day and a great sunset. Fingers crossed for tomorrow. - John Pursey and Team Eagle

Thur 16th June

The forecast for soaring weather at North Hill wasn't great for Thursday,  but an exclusive (small) number of Thursday regulars turned up and with the wind being mainly light and variable, we opted for the easy option and set up the launch point at the eastern end. 

 

Hazy cloud tempered the heat (Jill Harmer)

Peter Smith, Pete Harmer and Chris Wool worked their way through the two-seater training list with mainly circuits and eventuality flights. The Junior managed to get the longest flights of the day 12 minutes for John Borland and 11 minutes for Pete Harmer and Peter Smith, Robert Lee looked after the Trial lesson visitors, and Barbie Fairclough and Robert Lee shared the tugging.

Andy Pincombe converted to Perkoz and then Junior (Jill Harmer)

 Well done to Andy Pincombe for completing his spin checks and converting to Perkoz and Junior. Well done to Stewart Henshall  for converting to DG505. 20 winch launches and 4 aerotows - J&P

Wed 15th June

 It was a busy day 40+ launches with mainly local soaring of club and private gliders,  and a great media plug from ITV News West Country weather. 

ITV News  West country weather at DSGC (Mark Layton)

 And at 17:00, a small but enthusiastic bunch turned up based on the prospects of a nice summer evenings flying. 

Lisa Humphries was first off  with a couple of launch failures with James Flory before flying solo for the first time in a few months. Connor Williams was next off with a solo in the K21 followed by his first solo flight in the Junior, -well done Connor. 

Connor converts to the Junior (James Flory)

 The next on the list was Andy Pincombe a returning glider pilot and former instructor, who after a few eventualities  with James also went off solo. 

Meanwhile Rowan Smith flew with Dawson Panter-Wray and Stuart Thomson, and the other solo pilots all  enjoyed flights in the Junior and 21. Special thanks to Stewart Henshall for winching for most of the evening. Overall a lovely and very productive evening and another 20 launches! - James Flory

Tues 14th June - Ad-hoc day

 Yesterday's ad-hoc day was scrubbed but Tuesday looked on with RASP showing some hopeful stars. 230, DD3, CLM,  JB, KMV and HMS lined up for aerotows - Thanks to Barbie Fairclough for tugging.

The grid (Rowan Smith)

 CLM

"RASP said yes! Pete Startup set the group task which was the 300km to Wantage out and return. With a cloud-base of 2500 it didn't feel like a 300K day but I'd taken the day off and all my gliding chums were game so I threw caution into the wind and went for it.

Glastonbury being set up (Rowan Smith)

The Somerset levels were consistent in proving to be challenging but I managed to get over them without any low points. Flew over the Glastonbury Festival site that is getting setup for next week. Normally the high ground, going East, after the level is much better. Instead it was blue and low. It was hard going around the task and the thermals challenging to find and inconsistent. After turning Wantage, coming back was even harder than going. I knew it was going to be challenging getting home over the Levels so before I left the high ground I got as high as I could before setting off. I felt I was doing everything right, and was confident I'd get home. Then after Bridgewater the options for home started to look a bit dire. I pushed on but found nothing and before it was too late I backtracked and landed at Westonzoyland fixed and flexy wing airfield.

They were very pleasant and apparently I was the first glider to land there to the members' knowledge. Ian Mitchell kindly can with the Pawnee and after a 20 minute tow I was back at the club. Overall a hard but adventurous day, worthy of a day off." - Rowan Smith CLM

KMV

"Quick couple of hours in the LS, before lunch with the wife -great being on holiday" - Stuart Procter KMV

230
"Another "I got round - eventually" flight. Found it all quite scrappy really with a mix of unreliable Cu and some blue, and while I never had any real low points, it never felt that high either! Nice to be able to cross the Somerset Levels for a change." - Pete Startup 230

DD3
"Egged on by Nick we declared a somewhat ambitious 500k o/r to Grafham Water. Unfortunately the weather or piloting skill did not come up to expectations and after a quick calculation 60k short of Grafham said we would get back to North Hill at 8.00pm! We abandoned and flew home more in hope than expectation eventually making it in the late evening blue. Not sure either of our bones are that enamoured of 6.75 hours in a glider these days :-)" Phil Morrison DD3

HMS
 "A conversation at North Hill, late 2021: Pete S: “I would love you to do a 300 in that”. Me: “Give me the day, and I will do it Pete”. And so it turned out, but this was not quite the day I had in mind! After I landed I was just a melted, dripping pool of a pilot in the seat - I have never been so tired after any flight of any kind. The day was full of challenges. Firstly getting across the Somerset Levels, which nearly didn’t happen - endless scratching under ‘yesterday’s clouds’ for sub 1 kt climbs. Then an almost entirely blue sky across most of Wiltshire and Oxfordshire, thermals that had to be constantly worked to stay in, let alone centre, lines of horrendous sink, and another nerve-wracking transit of the Levels to get home. The club pundits all agreed it was a tricky day. No disagreement here! Very, very glad to have this one done..! Diamond goal ticked off.

Some food for thought: Yes, I do have an aviation background, but there is no way that I would have reached this level of performance with so little actual gliding time without flying and racing in Condor over the last couple of years. This is just my opinion of course, but perhaps the evidence speaks for itself."-  Stewart Henshall HMS

Stewart and Pete discussing the task (Rowan Smith)

Well done to Stewart Henshall for completing Gold Distance and Diamond Goal NH2 - WAN -NH2 306kms 

Sun 12th June

 It was a surprisingly early start after the very successful Club party the previous evening, with Sally and Rob finishing the clearing up, and the first launch at 09:35.

It was soarable with the wind still blowing on the ridge and thermal conditions improving during the morning.

The pundits set off for a 300kms task, but all seemed to find it a struggle getting back into wind. 

 NH2-CRE-MTF-NH2  301kms "The leg home from Mottisfont back to Devon was a slog into the 16kt wind, particularly between Fordingbridge and Cerne Abbas. The shear in the thermals made them difficult to climb in properly and I think there may have been a bit of wave interference too. Still, got round - eventually." Pete Startup 230

Classic Sea breeze front (Simon Minson)

 
NH2-CRE- BLD-NH2  "300 was set, due to my relight I reduced my task to 210Ks ! Good run to Tp 1, great sea breeze along the south coast towards Tp 2. Then the fun started a grind back into 20Kts of headwind, pleased to have got back." Simon Minson SM

"A day which looked pants on arrival suddenly opened up. So, unprepared we had a very enjoyable flight trying some new techniques gleaned for G Dales book. Work in progress :-)" Phil Morrison

Nice field (Stewart Henshall)

Stewart Henshall (HMS) recovered from his 5 hours yesterday and took a late launch for a 100kms, but found it hard-going after North Tawton and made his first field landing near A361, landing 2 hours after the hangar was packed............

Team Hender to the rescue (Stewart Henshall)

 .......Well done to Team Hender for volunteering for the retrieve. - J&P

Sat 11th June

 The forecast was for soarable weather, but still with a rather strong westerly wind, but the ridge was working and there were thermals. Most flights were at the very least extended circuits with club and private gliders enjoying some long flights but all very local. It really wasn't the day to be trying to go anywhere.

Congratulations Stewart Henshall - Silver complete (Jill Harmer)

Flight of the day goes to Stewart Henshall  (HMS) who took off at 14:58  and 5 hours later whilst everyone was enjoying the club party, he just managed to squeeze the last thermals out of the day and took a little bit of insurance along the ridge to complete his Silver Badge. Congratulations to Stewart.

Club Party (Jill Harmer)

 So in the evening there was a  Club party to thank members for their volunteer contributions throughout the year (after a gap of 2 years). A very big thank you to Sally and Bev and Team Hender for all the preparation work, cooking and serving. It was a great evening with many members enjoying the social banter, complete with a Who am I? quiz naming various members for notable events. - J&P

Fri 10th June - Course Week

 Well, that was a pleasant surprise!

A course week flying every day with weather either better or more extreme than forecast, with blue card squally conditions midweek, allowed course members to achieve most of their personal targets set for the week.

From the start on Monday, members Mike Meatyard and Andrew Broderick flew solos in the Junior, interspersed over the week with launch failures galore and other training with John Sillett in KEK. Both achieved extended soaring flights: over an hour - actually 69 minutes - in the Junior for Mike Meatyard on Friday after Andrew flew 55 minutes in KEK with CFI Stuart Procter. Mike also ticked off his red rating card by the end of the week. 

June Course members (Karen King)

 

Mike Rigby, new member Paul Jobin - experiencing winch launches for the first time - and Tim Powell started with a full set of training flights on the Monday with more on Tuesday afternoon after a late start due to the AM weather. Tim Powell with Guy made the late longest flight of the day with 29 mins, which was just as well as Tim unfortunately had to miss the rest of the course from Wednesday onwards having tested +ve. Similarly-gusty Wednesday continued in the same vein, with Mike Rigby having 82 mins soaring with Guy, greatly exceeding his previous longest-flight at North Hill. Paul also enjoyed a good look around the local area for 57 minutes with John Sillett.

On Thursday Paul had to take a day away to work but the remaining 4 course members flew a full set each of mixed training flights with Guy and John. Friday saw Mike Meatyard and Andrew Broderick spinning in Perkoz NH2 with John Sillett, with at least one returning looking a little pale! The writer's week culminated with launch failures to follow a week-long series of out-of-position and similar tests with Guy, all part of getting back into gliding after nearly 2 years away. Paul Jobin and Mike Rigby will be back for more on courses later in the summer - so watch out for how they progress - and we hope to see Tim Powell back at the Club again soon.

Thanks from all of the course members to instructors John Sillett and Guy Adams, plus some flights with CFI Stuart Procter, and to course helpers Andrew Logan, Karen King, Dave Perriam, George Sanderson and Stirling Melhiush. - Tim Petty

Thurs 9th June

 The Thursday forecast was decidedly poor, but a few of the regulars arrived to share the day with the June Course. For once the weather was better than forecast, meaning it looked flyable  with full cloud cover and a strong gusting South to South West wind and a cloud base somewhere below 2000ft. 

Empty launchpoint in the overcast skies (Jill Harmer)

John Sillett (course captain) roused the tea-drinking members to action and 2* K21’s , 2* Junior’s and the Purkoz were DI’d and taken to the North East launch point. The launches were good and lumpy with most reaching 1500-1600ft. Most flights were extended circuits (10-15 minutes) under full cloud cover in the gusting wind. The longest flight (John Borland) a lucky 31 minutes. There were some interesting approaches in the increasingly southerly wind. After a brief period of heavy drizzle in the afternoon the cloud base lowered to around 1000ft limiting the flying still further although the course continued with low circuits / eventualities. All in all better than expected. - John Borland (lucky blogger!)

Wed 8th June

Wednesday started out with a series of downpours and many cups of tea in the clubhouse. There was a reduced number of the Wednesday regulars due in part to the weather and by lack of an available DI who was otherwise engaged with those of us on the course.
By late morning the rain had stopped and the cloud started to lift so we keenly headed over to the east end of the field to make the most of the day. The wind now became the biggest challenge with a persistent 20 knot W/NW wind making conditions challenging though this of course meant that the ridge was working well. 

Launchpoint  (Karen King)

Andrew Broderick was first away with John Sillett in a K21 managing 23 mins followed by Mike Rigby and Guy Adams in the other K21 who did rather well with 54 minutes.
Peter Warren enjoyed a 58 minute flight in the Junior before Pete Startup pulled up to the line and took off for 2 hrs. The rest of those in attendance on the course all had instructed flights and tested and honed their skills in circuit and approach planning under blue card conditions.
Pete Warren flew with Nick Harrison for 37 minutes and then Stewart Henshall for 26 minutes in the Perkoz before handing it over to James Flory and Glenn Turpin (who was keen to get back in the air after his trip to Greece).
All in all an enjoyable day of flying with some interesting conditions to focus the mind. Thanks to all the helpers who didn't get to fly. - Andrew Broderick

Tues 7th June - Course Week

 The theme of Day 2 was lots of milling, willing and filling in time with the usual numerous cups of tea. The willing worked, and the log was kicked into action around 1.30 p.m. with various members being treated to eventualities practice.  All successfully dealt with.

Heavy clouds today (Karen King)

 
Each of the course week students got to fly at least 2 flights, with Mike Meatyard having an additional solo K21 flight. Guy Adams and Tim Powell had the longest, and last, flight of the day (c30 mins) being able to enjoy a landing on an empty airfield.

In the morning there was also an opportunity for Paul, who is new to the club, to have a briefing, by John, on winch launching focusing specifically on the safety aspects. 

On return to the club room at around 6.30 p.m., it was noted that, despite initial adverse weather conditions, 18 flights were flown (several simply to the end of the airfield) so an OK 2nd day. - Karen King

Mon 6th June - Course Week

The second course of 2022 got underway at around 8:30 a.m. with a full complement of students: Andrew Broderick, Mike Meatyard, Mike Rigby, Tim Petty, Tim Powell and one non-member Paul Jobin (who last went gliding a few decades ago). The abundance of Mikes, Andrews and Tims making it a little easier for Paul to get to know everyone’s names.

Course members (Karen King)

Instructors for the week are Guy Adams, and John Sillett with the helpers Andrew Logan (full week), Dave Perriam (4 days), Karen King (2 days), George Sanderson (1 day) and ‘bird flu’ permitting potentially Stirling Melhuish.

Day One, with the first flight just after 10:00 a.m was very successful with all participants having at least 4 flights, along with Mike Meatyard having the good fortune to have several solos taking his count to 9. In addition MM, at 38 minutes, had the longest flight of the day.
The hangar doors were closed at around 5:45 p.m. so despite mediocre weather it was an excellent first day. - Karen King

Thurs 2nd June

 It was an interesting day up at North Hill on Thursday. With many members onsite first thing, all of the club gliders being brought out of the hangar and then quickly being walked up to the launch point in the northwest corner. 

All the club fleet being prepared (Jill Harmer)

 Pete * 2 looked after the 2-seater training, Mark and Stu tugging, and Tom  - the Trial lesson visitors including a solo pilot  Richard Lean from the 90s returning to North Hill with his son Arthur.

Cumulus to the north (Mike Horwood)

Despite the first few flights just being circuits, we saw several private owners rigging - they'd seen the cumulus to the north  but out of reach even from the aerotow. Fortunately it became soarable in the blue with the usual pundits managing some cross-country flights. 

Sea air to the south (Mike Horwood)

 Cross-country flights

The task was set as NH2 - Molton - Launceston - Shepton Mallett - NH2 304kms

"I really don't know what to say about this - the 300 that felt more like a difficult 500 and probably the slowest 300 I've ever done. Just couldn't get a grip of the day. Had to make some huge diversions off track to avoid the sea air in South Devon. Really didn't think I'd get back to North Hill from Shepton Mallett due to some high cover that appeared but one small patch of sun in the lee of the Quantock hills gave me the climb and height I needed to cruise home while breathing a huge sigh of relief!" - Pete 230

"Hell …. New instruments , glide out to convection , sea air at NHL …worked out though . Slowest ever …" -  Ron 711

"Always going to be a tricky one. Early rise, late start and pub night for the "old Farts", followed by a barbeque meant task abandoned at Wimbleball.......should have carried on really".  - Phil DD3

"With a promise of Sea Air later, I chose to head to Launston for my first turnpoint. Very challenging to leave NH from the winch and had my first good climb north of Tiverton. The run to Launston was fairly straightforward with the cloud base improving all the way, and an extra strong thermal at LAU. Followed the clouds back to WEG and then decided to head back as needed to be home early." - Wyn W7

 Meanwhile late launcher Stewart Henshall HMS decided on another Club 100, 

"The long hundred.. The sea air was threatened later in the day, and indeed forced the return route far downwind to the North. After a bit of a struggle to get up, the first two legs were straightforward and reasonably quick. Then the fun started - what looked like clouds just evaporated at the second TP and blueness prevailed. A slow crawl followed with at least two low saves and a number of (quite good) fields were inspected for rather too long. Eventually a decent (but still blue) climb over Tiverton got me onto final glide. I'm still not quite sure how I made it back. Looking forward to a good day!" - Stewart HMS

Group evening for Amulet Hotkey (Mark Courtney)

Once club flying was over for the day Nick Redfern's  group from Amulet Hotkey arrived for their evening flying. Thanks to all of the instructors and helpers, everyone went away grinning and we hope to see some of them back soon. A busy day with 62 winch launches and 6 aerotows - Connor Williams

Queen's Platinum Jubilee Beacon at North Hill (Jill Harmer)

Following the evening flying, preparations  began for the Platinum Jubilee Beacon lighting, various local people arrived to enjoy the festivities with the members. Thanks to Mark Blackwell for playing the Bugle "Majesty", and to Cheryl and Jane for making the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Beacon Tarts. Chairman Nick raised the Toast to the Queen, and the pyromaniac Peter set about lighting the well constructed Beacon at 21:45. The North Hill Beacon could be seen for miles from the west ridge of the Blackdown Hills. - J&P

Wed 1st June

 The forecast suggested that it would be another good day at North Hill but sadly there was a relatively poor turnout of members. The wind was forecast to be a nice north-westerly however having looked at the windsock it appeared to be a north-easterly. Therefore it was decided that we give it half an hour and go and have a cup of tea. We then emerged rehydrated with the wind now behaving, the winch was set up at the west end and John Sillett made a start on the flying list. 

Initially it was just circuits but as some cumulus appeared some private gliders started to rig. Ruth Comer got lots of exercise by practicing many launch failures with John. 

 

Aerotow (Stewart Henshall)

Pete Startup 230 and Phil Morrison with Stirling Melhuish DD3 used the soarable  afternoon weather to breeze round the Club 100. NH2 - Knowstone - North Tawton.

" Frustrated by the weather clearing late and having scrubbed the planned 300, by about 14:00 it was worth launching and by 16:00 it was rather good so I went for a couple of laps of the recently introduced Club 100, one in each direction." Pete Startup

 "Another day which didn't live up to early expectations so we did the club 100 anyway. Some spectacular and complex convergences right at the end." Phil Morrison

Sadly we had a shortage of instructors for evening flying so most people only managed to get one or two flights (thanks to Emma Flory for logging all evening and Stewart Henshall for doing a long stint on the winch). Overall a good days flying, those who weren't here missed out! - Connor Williams (first time blogger)