Thur 27th October

 It was always going to be a slow start after another load of overnight rain, and it was a bit misty with our heads in the clouds at North Hill. The promise of some ground school in the morning from Pete Harmer brought some new members alongside the Thursday regulars. 

Local airspace briefing from Pete Harmer (Mark Layton)

  The initial briefing was on local airspace, and then as the Long Mynders arrived back in trailer convoy, Mike Sloggett took the opportunity to brief on ridge flying. 

The Long Mynders before their trip back down the M5 (Mark Courtney)

Following lunch with no improvement in sight, Paul Harman practised some general handling and moved on to thermalling techiques in the DSGC Simulator followed by a bit of ridge soaring in the Alps. - J&P

Mon 24 October - Long Mynd

After rain over night the day dawned bright with a strong West SouthWest wind blowing at 20kts. Optimism  brought the crew out early only to find low orographic getting in the way. 

Mark Courtney and Stuart Procter in DG505 (Rob Hender)

 The first launch (DG505) eventually got away  at 12:05 and confirmed that the west ridge was working. 

John Borland before his epic 2hrs 31 (Mark Courtney)

Every launch that followed got away with 15 flights many lasting more than an hour and one of two and a half (prize for longest flight -write the blog!) 

The Long Mynd (Mark Courtney)

 Cloud base was never more than 2000ft but there were opportunities to get higher in the gaps and some lovely cloud formations to navigate round. 

 

Rob Rand experienced the "Short West" and some ridge soaring in K21 (Mark Courtney)

Halfway through the afternoon the wind was sufficiently strong and westerly to change to launching on the famous Short West. 

 

Short West (Mark Courtney)

Launching to 400ft and then turning straight onto the ridge. Two heavy rain showers came through on the strong wind which presented a challenge to avoid. Great fun and all safely packed away by 6pm. - John Borland

Sat 22 Oct - Long Mynd Expedition

 As a concerned mum, I was awake early, wondering where ‘independent son’ was, as he was travelling up from Devon on his motorbike this morning. My tracking device failed me, telling me I was at the Long Mynd! Only to have Dan knock on our door at 7am, having ridden up at 9:30pm last night, arriving at 1am when we were all asleep! He even managed to do the trip quicker than everyone else who had been able to use the motorways! 

 

DSGC Grid (Sally Hender)

With the weather forecast looking like it could be the best day of the week (and even that wasn’t brilliant), the DSGC visitors were all up bright and early ready to rig. The briefing was held at 9:15, and rigging commenced shortly afterwards. The DG505 (JZK) was first to the start line, but the duty instructor decided to wait until 12:00 for the cloudbase to rise. The first launch was at 12:07pm with John Borland having a check flight with said Duty Instructor, William.

Dan avoiding the sheep but picking up a tailplane walker! (Rob Hender)

 Flying then went ahead at a pace with the cable retrieve showing its worth, the DG505 was put through its paces by Mark Courtney, Simon Leeson, Steve Westlake, Rob Hender, Stuart Procter and Mike Sloggett. Private owners Dan Hender (JDP), Andrew Logan (FMS), Andy Davey (KCM) and John Borland (FAJ) all took their turns, with Dave Perriam signed off to fly the K23 (LUV) and Rob Rand having flights in the K21 (JGE). No one managed any soaring, Dave had the longest flight at 19 mins for his check flight! Dan was next with 15 mins.

Simon and Mark in DG505 (Rob Hender)

 Flying stopped at 4pm as the cloud/rain was coming in from the west (or east if you had the map the wrong  way up, Mark!) Giving us time to de-rig and pack the hangar before the rain arrived.

Putting the gliders away before the rain (Sally Hender)

 The evening meal was another triumph from Helen and team, followed by my quizzes (and games), which EVERYONE, thoroughly enjoyed!!!!!!! The home Long Mynd team beating the visitors (they know their boats!). - Sally Hender

Sat 22nd October

 Forecast not overly encouraging with a strong suggestion that low cloud could be sitting on the hill, certainly by late morning but possibly from the off. My trip up from the cloud-locked South Hams got suddenly much brighter by Haldon Hill and with blue skies up to the Blackdowns fingers were crossed. But orographic cloud was already clinging to the south ridge and blowing overhead. A small band with Team Batchelor as DLMs were hiding in the clubhouse watching James Flory scour the met reports looking for something positive. Having foolishly  posted on Google groups about flying if at all possible I was honour-bound to be cup half-full and so we did set up the field - more for something to do than real hope. Calling Exeter tower I got a “good luck” and calling the parachute club “ you flying - really?” so the cup started to leak… 

 

Towing to the launchpoint (John Pursey)

The Falke with Ian Mitchell and JimBob scurried off to Dunkeswell at about 300ft which didn’t help James and me one iota with the cloud height - but it didn’t look great. The only way was to try it and strangely James thought me more the type to have a go so let me take Joel Roulson for a Met ride. Luckily we caught a well timed gap and though out of sight of the winch we were in clear air to 1500ft. Great winching by Batchelor Snr! Joel pointed out we passed the low stuff around 600ft, so we were definitely in a hole. Good demo of how to keep a safe station with lower cloud but a good strong hole upwind.  Keeping good speed we had a spectacular cloudscape around us (sorry no pics) and as the strands of cloud upwind closed in, we airbraked down to a closein high key at 650ft. Clearly the ridge was working but being a responsible adult I took us back! Landing I sensed that maybe it was a good decision as the cloud filled in. 

A break for coffee and James to give some good “how gliders fly” chat allowed the day to make its mind up and we had the last glider away just as the rain really started.
Big thanks to all for pitching in to get Joel flying and especially Team B for winching and putting away kit in the rain! Well at least we flew. - John Pursey

Thurs 20th October

 With yesterday wiped out, there was hope for an afternoon of flying at North Hill depending on how the forecast rain moved away. 

The morning was busy with new members learning about the Safe Winching Initiative and experienced members refreshing after the latest safety bulletin release. In between times, the DG505 was derigged ready for it's trip to the Long Mynd with Mark Courtney.

Another burst of rain soaked the gliders that were outside the hangar which were speedily put back in the dry. 

Sky cleared nicely for aerotows (Mark Layton)

 After lunch, there was a positive looking clearance with the humidity showing signs of the air drying out and the gliders were readied. To avoid any risk of a muddy winch run, it was decided that aerotow-only would be best. So with two K21s and a Junior, and Chris Wool, Pete Harmer and Mike Sloggett taking turns in the back seats, and Robert Lee tugging it was all go.

Making the most of the flyable weather (Mark Layton)

The light southerly wind started to increase a bit, but not enough to make the south ridge work, but last flight of the day Andrew Logan in the Junior managed to find a bit of lift (maybe weak wave) for 20 mins.

So just 11 launches on a short afternoon but at least we flew - thanks everyone - J&P

Tues 18th October

Yesterday I sought help to move the glider trailer shelter project forward and am pleased to report that it was well supported and we made good progress today.

Digging the first hole (Peter Smith)

We managed to excavate for the first 3 of the 9 major supports and erect the substantial posts therein without mishap using bespoke methods to cope with the strata which is hard packed flints and chert.  Jonathan Erskine was present in his official role as observer of things archaeological, and fortunately his knowledge was not called upon.

Erecting the second post (Peter Smith)

  Chairman Nick kept us in order from the digger cab and Ashley Thomas, Trevor Russell, Brian Knight and George Sanderson divided the tasks between them and made it all happen, thank you all.

First 3 posts all in a line (Peter Smith)

 We hope to fix another day in a week or so to continue the progress. It’s always nice when things start going up, not down. - Peter Smith

Sat 15th October - Juniors Winter Series Long Mynd

The morning briefing, announced for 9am, was pushed back to 9:30am as three showers and 100 young people doesn’t quite add up, and allow for an early start! Due to these numbers, the briefing was held in the hangar by Rose (CFI) with full attendance, and a minutes silence for Oliver Summerell.

Junior Gliding remembering Oliver Summerell (UK Junior Gliding)

It was then a bit of a race to the launch point! Dan was very grateful for having his own glider at this point, the two-seater list was three pages long! 

Flying started at about 10:00, Dan getting his launch at 10:46, he started on the ridge, scratching to stay up, but managed to get some height using thermals. 

JDP with a long lens (Rob Hender)

The ridge then turned off, which meant everything else came back to the airfield, except Dan, who luckily had the height in hand to push out to some known wave spots and caught some very low weak wave. He maintained his height for a total of 2 hours 40 mins, coming back only to avoid the crowds who would want to de-rig at the same time, when the forecast rain came in. 

JDP returning before the rain (Rob Hender)

 Therefore, the glider was away and we were safely in the clubhouse enjoying coffee, by 3:30pm when this happened.

We headed off at 5pm to retire to the Pub, and drove past at least an hours worth of launches! There were 68 launches yesterday in four hours, and 118 launches today. - Sally Hender

Sat 15th October

With a poor forecast from most of the mainstream media it was not surprising to see few members first thing. Three Juniors turned up because of a promise of lectures and some simulator practice. From the start after studying the rainfall radar is was clear that we would fly at some point in the morning, probably sooner rather than later.

Alan Turner woke the wildlife up early in the morning to get all the ground equipment ready, with all the vehicles inspected and full of fuel by the time the first blackbird opened its eyes, thanks Alan! The three Juniors Joel, Tom and Jack had lectures on “controls and instruments” and “how a wing works” they had obviously been studying and at times I was almost redundant! Well done boys.

A beautiful sky ( Mark Courtney)

 

The small keen group decided (wisely) to get the field set up and the aircraft inspected  ready for the anticipated weather clearance. With a brisk SW wind the winch was set up nearly in the centre of the field at the west end (next to the dark green bit) and the launch point way back against the fence near the trees in the NE corner. This run works brilliantly, keeping gliders away from the Beech tree during the launch, and allowing pilots to land on the run next to the trailers and therefore not hindering launching. (ed: hidden message from CFI !)

Launch point in NE corner (Mark Courtney)

 

Launch heights from the start were up to our current approved height of 2000ft above site, enabling pilots time to explore the somewhat turbulent conditions and confused lift.


Stu Procter got the tug out so that James Flory could have a solo aerotow in the Perkoz. We had a visitor from Brentor today Mark Elliott, Mark seemed to enjoy the challenging conditions flying the K21 and managed a second in the Perkoz with Stuart  who helped out with the flying list.

Trevor Russell enjoying the challenging conditions (Mark Courtney)

Glenn turned up early for his afternoon duty and grabbed a solo in the K21 having been away in the sunshine for several weeks.

By now the wind was strong, the Juniors all managed two flights and treated the second as an exciting experience in the difficult conditions, they were grinning!  By 3 o’clock everyone who needed to fly had filled their boots so we put the kit away for an early finish. A great day with some great conditions with a mixture of lift sources and well worth turning up, several flights near the 30 min mark and every flight extended. Thanks to everyone who made it happen, and thanks James and Stuart,  for helping Glenn and me with the flying list.

Another example of “turn up you may fly, stay at home and you won’t”! - Mark Courtney

Fri 14th October - Juniors Winter Series Long Mynd

Leaving home at 5am, we arrived at the Long Mynd at 8.30am in time for the declared 9am briefing, which was promptly put back to 9.40! Dan attended, and after speaking nicely to Rose (CFI), was given clearance to rig and launch without check flights (he was only here recently at Enterprise, and was memorable for being the only junior).

Dan Hender ready to launch in DG200 Long Mynd (Rob Hender)

We then rigged JDP, and towed it out to the launchpoint at 12pm, Dan managing just 9 and 6 mins, only finding sink as the wave was out of sync with the ridge.

Long Mynd (Rob Hender)

He then pulled it off-line, and watched as others slowly took longer and longer flights! He then rejoined the queue at 2pm getting to the front at 3pm, only for flying to be stopped just as he reached the front!

JDP landing (Rob Hender)

 The day was then scrubbed, with everyone returning to the clubhouse for tea and coffee. Helen and Dave then provided meals for 74 people for the evening.

An enjoyable day, catching up with friends from the summer Junior Nationals, and meeting new ones.  - Sally Hender

Thurs 13th October

One of those Autumn days starting with North Hill in glorious sunshine over the fog in the valleys below, and light winds.

The fog disappearing in the valley (Mike Sloggett)

 Some of the Thursday regulars had returned from holidays, but it was still a depleted group that got the kit out.

Some orographic cloud to the southwest, (but clear skies to the northwest) (Rob Hender)

 

Winch launching to start  and then cumulus clouds started forming just above launch height that spoilt the view of the fog tops. Even with plenty of cumulus around, it never got very soarable (even for Pete Startup) with just extended circuits for most. 

 

Mark Courtney flying the Pawnee (Rob Hender)

It was a good day for training and card checkflights, and mid-afternoon the top cover arrived to save the problem of landing into-sun.

CFI Mark Courtney with Dave practising back seat (Mike Sloggett)

 A glorious Autumn day, thanks to all for mucking in - 35 flights in all. - J&P

Wed 12th October

 The day started with debating how few members we could operate with. Fortunately before we reduced it to the fingers of one hand our numbers doubled and it was thunderbirds are go. The wind was light south westerly as forecast with cloudbase higher and brighter than expected. Given just the K21s and a Junior to operate we set up for the longest run possible NE – SW and were rewarded with 1750ft for the first launch by Andy Davey, getting back to currency after an enforced layoff. We had good launches all day.

The fields down towards Broadhembury were spectacular in colour and pattern in the early sun. (Peter Smith)

 More members steadily appeared and Robert volunteered to do the trial lessons, enabling me to start tackling the list. The booked trial lesson was well impressed and is hoping her son will join the junior ranks. Numbers were increasing steadily and Peter Warren left the tug in its box and brought out the Perkoz to fly with Ashley Thomas. He handed it over to Ex CFI Stu Procterwho we were delighted to see, definitely more relaxed with the weight off his shoulders. He flew with Taunton Peter L Smith while Pete Warren completed the afternoon with Jonathan Erskine.

All was going well until the lingering cloud and murk in the west made a rapid approach across the valley bringing my last flight with Paul Harman to an abrupt end as indeed it had to Stu in the Perkoz. Sandy missed out on flying after being in the launch point all day which we will address next week, but as promised we made the most of the day. - Peter Smith

Sun 9th October

 When I came out of the caravan this morning it looked like it could be another lovely day…. until  I realised that the wind was pretty much straight across the field, from the South at about 20 knots. The cloudbase wasn’t great either, so I began to get the feeling that I wouldn’t be getting any solo flying today.
When I got to the clubhouse Graham and Cheryl were busy cooking breakfasts, one of which had been bought for me! Thanks Bev.
Somebody else clearly got to the club early and got all the ground equipment out and DI’d, Thanks Dave (I think).

Whilst waiting to see how the weather panned out, Dave Perriam, in preparation of his BI training, got a short notice request from Mark Courtney to think up and present a minimum 20 minute briefing about any subject he liked. Dave was then asked to brief Mark, Simon and Dan on that subject. He chose "General Airfield Safety" and by all accounts gave a very good briefing, (Mark was even heard to say he learnt some new things)!

Even though it looked like it was going to be challenging and there were only a few club members on site, with the usual glider pilot optimism ,we decided to give it a go.
The winch was set up at the West end and the launch point in the North East. The Perkoz, KEK and LRD were readied and taken to the launch point.

Dave Perriam took the first launch in LRD at 11:02, followed by an aerotow for Paul Summers in the Perkoz. Paul was having B.I currency check flights with the AM duty instructor Simon Leeson. Dan Hender had check flights with Mark Courtney and Mark has now signed Dan off as a blue card pilot. Well done Dan!
Chris Wool and Pete Warren braved the conditions and had the longest flight of 46 minutes.

Peter Warren with Chris Wool (Chris Wool)

 As I feared, I had no chance of flying solo as the conditions were considered to be “upper blue” by the CFI, which also meant that today's trial lessons had to be cancelled.

Total flights, only eight, but a productive use of a very challenging day. Thanks to those who came and tried, but couldn’t fly. It's always appreciated. - Rob Hender (birthday boy)

Sat 8th October

 As the forecast was that it was going to be a calm (mild Westerly) warm day, the launch point and winch, under James Flory’s tutelage, was set up early becoming operational by 9:30 a.m. meaning that the 3 pilots that took off before 10.00 a.m. enjoyed reduced price launches.

 

Congratulations to Emma Flory with proud Dad James ( James Flory)

Joining James on Saturday’s instructor team were Peter Smith and Simon Leeson.  The latter looking after the day’s Trial lesson visitors, a friends and family flight and a second launch for Jacob (aged 13) who is a temporary member.

 

Congratulations to Mike Rigby with Peter Smith (Mike Rigby)

As the photos will show ‘3’ turned out to be the number of the day as Emma Flory, Mike Rigby and Stuart Thomson did their 1st solos!  

Congratulations to Stuart Thomson with Peter Smith (Stuart Thomson)

 Congratulations to all three and as Emma and Mike soloed before it became thermic, they had relatively short flights whereas, Stuart who soloed in the afternoon was able to enjoy a 20 minute flight.   James Flory sent Emma solo, and Peter Smith signed off Mike and Stuart.

For the rest of the students that were there on Saturday it was a beautiful Autumnal day, and truly wonderful to be around for three ‘1st solos’. - Karen King

Thurs 6th October

 It was a bright morning, with a long flying list (16 for the two-seaters), but there were plenty of instructors and gliders available. 

K21 with Glyn Bellerby back at North Hill after 6 years (Daveid Clements)

 The launch point was set up at the east end for a forecast west-southwest wind. The surface wind was very light but the first launches showed a significant wind gradient achieving 1600-1700ft launches.

Nice looking sky (David Clements)

The sky looked good for an autumn day but the streets were a little bit out of reach initially from the winch launch, and it was lunchtime before the soaring started (although not everyone was lucky). Aston Key was the first one to get away in the Junior, followed by Mark Layton in Cirrus who had the longest flight of 90mins.

JZK waiting to launch (Mark Layton)

 The sun started getting a bit low for the approach by 16:30, but fortunately the clouds helped with a bit of shade, and everyone flew. A busy day with 38 winch launches and 8 aerotows, but a really pleasant day - thanks to everyone for mucking in. - J&P

Sun 2 - Thurs 6 October - Denbigh

Sunday 2nd  (with extracts from BGA Ladder)

"After yesterday's epic wave day, not many seemed inspired to fly in the benign conditions today. However, when the thermals started it became quite good for a couple of hours with steady climbs to between 3 and 4 thousand feet. A convenient sea breeze convergence set up for a while which could be run out as far as Abergele, otherwise it was just nice local area soaring". - 230

Monday 3rd

DEN Bodelwyddan - Snowdon - LLE
The forecast was for South Westerly wave when the weather cleared at around lunch time and it was spot on!  The tow was pretty choppy but the Eurofox made light work of it and dropped us in the wave southwest of Denbigh town. When the Eagle and DD3 launched the wave had shifted and weakened lower down and they had to use all their skill and experience to climb up.

Great views (JB)

Flying into a 45kt head-wind can make for slow progress, especially in an Eagle! But using the wave bars as stepping stones DD3 and JB headed west to the Conway valley where they were rewarded with a 6 kt climb to about 16,000ft. 

Sightseeing in DD3 (Nick Jones)

 With all that height and Snowdon snuggling out of sight under the clouds 12,000 ft below it would have been rude not to nip around it so having turned Snowdon Phil and Nick in DD3 went on a little sight seeing tour via Blaenau Ffestiniog and Balla lake on the way home for some extra k’s and JB went home to thaw out! JB

Bodelwyddan - Snowdon - Blaenau FFestiniog - Bala - Denbigh
"Another epic flight from Denbigh. late start and slow initial climb but we contacted the stronger wave (thanks Chris) we went for a pleasant scenic tour of North Wales keeping lower ( 13,034ft) than previously to avoid frostbite". DD3

Wednesday 5th

"Two shower affected laps of the Denbigh ridge task, neither of them quick. Should have re-started after the last shower went through like everybody else!" 230

"After a very wet morning the clearance finally came through in the afternoon- still interspersed with some monster showers - so we took to the air. Played in a bit of wave while a massive rain shower went through then went for a romp on the ridge. Great fun! Thanks Chris and all the Lleweni pilots for a great evening". JB

Thursday 6th

Forecast as a wave day early in the week, come the day itself the look out of the caravan window didn’t look so exciting! Chris Gill was off early in the Arcus to RAF Valley for some bonding with his neighbours but his reports on the sky didn’t impress. 

View from the front seat (John Pursey)

 Nevertheless activity at the launch point started the moment a route to some hill soaring was obvious. Lasham’s Duo was first away and slowly worked itself into some wave precipitating a rush to push out. Talking of precipitating, the sky looked ripe for it and with a few gliders in a shrinking gap over Denbigh, by the time BBB went off, a dash to the ridge was followed by a good washing in a line of showers. 

Altocumulus lenticularis (John Pursey)

 The ridge was rough with obvious rotor influences and the Eagle required two hands to keep right way up at times! Classic Denbigh wave though with roll rotor clouds down near Ruthin and with care pushing on and out allowed contact with the smooth stuff. With shower delays and sheer numbers on the grid, the Northhill team took a while to all be airborne but they all connected with the wave. Depending exactly where you got in the climbs were modest at best unless you slipped forward a bar. Performance does count on these days and Pete 230 and Phil / Nick DD3 were eventually at FL170 whilst the Eagle stayed closer to home and managed to scrape close to 11,000ft before a rapid descent to derig and hit the road home.

Wave gap (John Pursey)

 Denbigh’s famous rotor circuit was in action and very high Stuka approaches the order of the day. Landing on the narrow runway and rolling right to end whilst a bevy of your peers watch is challenging but the NH team didn’t let the side down!

John Pursey and Alan Rappaport in Eagle BBB (John Pursey)

 
For me, 6 days and flying on 4 of them was a great result, roll on next year ! - John Pursey

LLE - Conwy Bridge - Conwy South - Denbigh
"Another fine day at Lleweni, once the showers passed through. Steady height gain to 18,000ft. With best climb near Abergele. Pushing forward we were probably too late for the main show at Conway valley so, after a bit of searching about, returned home to a fine Lleweni approach and landing using all of the runway in either direction" - DD3

"Totally undeserved points total. 'Completing' the ridge task was a complete fluke! I was sort of attempting it, giving up and then by just messing round in low level wave after the height gain, managed to complete it! The ridge was so rough low down and bedecked with showers at the South end, a conventional ridge run would not have been possible and I'd given up on it. No one was more surprised than me when I ran the trace in SeeYou and it said task completed! It wasn't planned that way! Nice up in the wave though, best bar at Abergele to 19,650', Conwy disappointed - another great day at Denbigh. And more Diamonds for those that needed them - well done. Lively approach." - 230

Sun 2nd October

 Well, any Pre-Solo pilots really missed out on a great opportunity today. The clubhouse was pretty empty first thing, but Duty Instructor Mike Sloggett arrived bright and early having offered ground school in his email last night, while waiting for the front to clear. However, there were no takers, so we patiently waited for the weather to improve.

Dan -longest flight of the day (Sally Hender)

 At 12:00 the decision was made to set up the airfield, with limited, but experienced members wanting to fly (consisting of: Dave Perriam, Chris Warnes, Hans Jenssen, Stirling Melhuish,  Dan, Rob and Sally Hender, and DLM Carl Tharme). Dan Hender decided to rig JDP, with the first flight of 7 mins! Chris took the Trial lesson visitor (donated winch launch).

Cheryl driving the golf buggy (Sally Hender)

 We had a great afternoon of flying, everyone having a go, Cheryl and Steph came along and helped / spectated as well. Dan had the longest flight of the day with 63 mins.

DLM Carl Tharme gets a flight in K21 (Sally Hender)

 Graham and Carl both had a go in the K21 with Mike, nice to see them both back in a glider, even for a short flight.

Graham in a K21 (Sally Hender)

Thanks to a great small, select, efficient, but perfectly formed team, for a lovely afternoon. Everyone mucked in, and stayed until the end. - Sally Hender

Sat 1st October - Denbigh

 Annual autumn trip to Denbigh for the “North Hill Nomads” as Chris Gills calls the mixed DSGC crew that appear every year started with a classic day. Eagle BBB , Duo DD3 and Discus 230 hit the grid in amongst a keen group from Buckminster. Denbigh really is going from strength to strength under Chris Gill and getting a visit slot is now a question of booking early.

RASP was all “wave” “wave” and Chris typically buoyant! And so it was - tow straight into wave and away. BBB was first off and climbing through 10,000ft after a modest climb as the team came up. JB was already being whizzed around in Rod’s Arcus and heading up the Conway Valley as the mere mortals contemplated the wave jumps, (ed:The Arcus was forced to return early with an oxygen problem.)

Eagle BBB from Chris Gill in Arcus (Chula Rupasinha)

The Eagle stopped midway to Conway for photo opportunities with Chris at around 10,000ft. Alan and I slipped into the Conway wave having seen Chris Gill’s line round the end of the wave bar.  For the first time in all the trips the Eagle has to Denbigh made the Conway wave! 

 

North Coast of Wales in BBB (John Pursey)

DD3 and 230 slipped in much higher and I believe 22,000ft  was seen by both.  Alan and I with our cabin oxygen system kept to more modest 15,000ft. A trip out towards Anglesey (Pete turned Menai Bridge) and the team enjoyed some fantastic views. A day spent mainly above 10k did get chilly but it was fantastic! Alan, having learnt the lesson with me on previous trips, wore just enough to not shiver uncontrollably but as Phil mentioned when the Duo temp gauge failed at minus 25 C “ it was cold!”

The Buckminster team were having a great day too with 3 Diamond heights! The day was “diamond” in all aspects and even though included a Denbigh classic approach to make you head straight for beer, it was fantastic! - John Pursey

"Absolute classic Denbigh day! Good wave which was cold and a ridge run which was bumpy - doesn't get any better! Used the height to get out to Menai Bridge and take a pic(which I missed) - hard going in the 60kt wind! Congrats to those who got their Diamonds today." Pete Startup

"Aerotow to 3,000ft (I like to pretend it's a real glider sometimes :-)). Slow start, but once going excellent wave and visibility. Had to break off at 22,000ft from cold." - Phil Morrison