Sat 16th December

 The airfield is drying out with not much rain for the last few days, but low cloud is still a problem. So some valuable training in the simulator was useful.  JB  took the opportunity to go through a lot of exercises in the sim with various members -  testing trimming, turning, stalls, spins, circuits, basic aerobatics, thermal and ridge lift practice at North Hill. 

Final for Nympsfield (Stewart Henshall)

He asked if it was possible to start a flight at Nympsfield - it was duly arranged. JB expertly guided Connor along the ridge to Bath racecourse and back - all flown at realistic heights in convincing ridge lift conditions.

Final at North Hill (Stewart Henshall)

 Also there was a a long session of launch failures. Multiple options were discussed and flown on a critical height Aerotow failure to the East - All 6 in the room found the exercise beneficial.
And then there were some  simulated winch launch failures… - Stewart Henshall

And well done Stewart for a great run in the Condor World Series despite work meaning he missed a couple of the races.

Thurs 14th December

 We had a situation today: Mike Sloggett was still dealing with a terrible flood situation at his house, Pete Harmer was still playing nurse to Jill, so it was up to Ron Johns to step up and take the helm.

Ron's GG message last night was more of a "look for yourself" regarding the weather. People did, and surprisingly quite a few decided it would be worth a trip to the club! Leaving Plymouth in the dark, just after 7 in the driving rain, I was beginning to question my usual optimism. By the Trago turnoff, it was getting light, and the rain had stopped, however.

By 9:15, the clubhouse was reasonably busy. The Thursday gang, like the Wednesday guys, seem to enjoy each other's company, which was just as well, as the prospect of flying seemed unlikely!

Small patch of blue sky (Mark Courtney)

However, by early lunchtime, there was a small patch of blue sky. This was enough to spur people into action stations. The EuroFox had a new engine management data cable installed by myself this morning, so a test flight was in order. Chris Wool was in the passenger seat. Although we used this as a met  flight, we were under strict orders from the treasurer, who was manning the launch point, that any minute passed five would have to be paid for by us. Unsurprisingly, the flight was a short one. With the weather and aircraft declared fit for purpose, we commenced flying.

Two K21s, the Perkoz, and a Junior were in use for the rest of the afternoon. Only severe misting of the canopies stopped us from continuing, a good call from Ron. Chris Wool and Guy Adams instructed all afternoon as well. Thanks, guys. Tug duty was shared by myself and Simon Jordy, who elected not to wear his usual Hawaiian shirt today (it must be getting colder). Many thanks to Ron for stepping in today to take charge. It was good that his 1.5-hour drive both ways was not in vain. Thanks to everyone today. It was a great team effort! - Mark Courtney

Sat 9th December

Well it has certainly rained a bit since the beginning of the month.....and the field is too wet again to use.

But there were plenty of things going on before the AGM started at 18:00. 

Good turnout for the AGM 2023 (Simon Leeson)

 The Chairman highlighted the massive number of small projects that had occurred in the last 12 months with thanks to all our member volunteers. The Membership Secretary pointed out that we had far more recruits this year than leavers. The Treasurer highlighted that we need to build up our reserves again after our recent large purchase of the Eurofox. The CFI confirmed what everyone knew that  with a couple of exceptions, the weather at North Hill had not been the soaring season that we had all hoped for, but achievements were still noted. The Management Committee were reconfirmed in post.

DSGC Trophies (Simon Leeson)

The trophies were awarded as follows (more details on the DSGC website):

Trophy	Awarded for	Current Holder 2023
Brian Master's Trophy	Winner of the Task Week	not awarded
Dave Fewings Memorial Shield	Best two-seater flight from North Hill	Phil Morrison & John Pursey
The Kennedy Trophy	Best performance in a BGA rated competition	Dan Hender
The Kelsey Plate	Longest cross-country flight from North Hill	Pete Startup
Tim Parsons Trophy	Earliest declared and completed flight over 300kms from North Hill	Pete Startup
The Wily Old Bird	personal presentation by the CFI for guile or cunning	Sally Hender
The Rose Bowl	Winner of the Club Ladder (flights from North Hill)	Pete Startup
The Ken Andrews Trophy	Best flight in a glider with handicap 90 or less from North Hill	Andy Davey
Tim's Challenge Trophy	First O/R to Lasham in a glider with handicap 90 or less from North Hill	not awarded
Francis Bustard Tankard	Best gain of height	Pete Startup
Presidents Trophy aka The Norman Whyte Shield	Best progress	Dan Hender
Instructor of the Year	Member online vote	James Flory
Les' Tankard	Best contribution to the Club by a Junior member	Joel Roulson
The Dick Wolff Trophy	Best contribution to the Club by helping others	Sally Hender
Des Champ Vachables Trophy	The member who achieved the greatest retrieve epicness	James Smart
Le Magnifique Pissoir	The most flights scoring less than 100pts on the ladder	not awarded
Mike Fairclough's Diamond Cup	The member who has achieved a Diamond leg	Stewart Henshall

 

AGM Supper (Mark Courtney)

Following the awarding of trophies, we enjoyed a great supper cooked by regular paella / risotto chef John Pursey with help from Alan Rappaport and Phil Morrison, with profit donated to DSGC Charitable Trust. - J&P

 

Sun 3rd December

The forecast for today wasn’t as optimistic as yesterday’s weather, and with the overnight rain fewer members arrived this morning. Duty instructor, Mike Sloggett, along with James Flory arranged the unpacking of the hangar. The airfield was still pretty wet from the rain and with so few members the decision was made to aerotow only, which made the duty tug pilot Mark Courtney happy.  

The EuroFox view (Simon Leeson)

A K21 and the DG505 were towed across to the north side. Stuart Thomson took the first flight with Mike, Paul Summers and Dave Perriam shared the next two taking in turns being P1. Peter Warren, Rob Hender, Graham Hawker and myself all got a turn behind the Fox. James Flory and Mark Courtney sharing the tug duties.

By 2pm everyone who wanted to fly, had flown and the decision was made to stop for a late lunch. However as we headed back to the clubhouse the weather was beginning to break a little, so the plan changed and everything was packed away.  A useful days flying with a compact and bijou team! The carrot and coriander soup provided by Julie was thoroughly enjoyed, warming us up after a chilly days flying! Thanks to everyone for a lovely day. - Sally Hender

Sat 2nd December

It was a cold (-5C) start this morning with the windows frozen in the Clubhouse at 8:00. The members that were on site decided given the temperature to wait an hour or so till it warmed up to get the aircraft out. During this time James Flory trialled his new more organised morning briefing by PowerPoint in the clubhouse which was warmly received by those present. 

Mist in the valleys (Connor Williams)

After this a K21, Perkoz and Junior were brought out and the airfield was setup with the launch point in the north east corner and winch in the north west. Flying got underway not long after 10:00 with members taking advantage of the Eurofox (duty tuggy Simon Leeson was in a good mood and so allowed some of the other tug pilots present a few tows). 

James and Andy trying out the new forcefeedback joystick (Connor Williams)

Sadly due to misting canopies we had to pack up about 15:30 however we got pretty much everyone on the list flown - so a good day overall. Once everything was packed away James Flory and Andy Batchelor tried out the new force feedback on the simulator and seemed very impressed. - Connor Williams

Wed 29th November

 Following the very successful Adhoc day held on Tuesday, Glenn’s call out for Wednesday was met with a small but eager crew who were clothed in a variety of insulated jackets, coveralls, woolly hats and gloves. With KEK in the workshop for its annual inspection, we pulled the other K21, the Perkoz and a Junior down a soggy field to the west end. And even though there wasn’t much headwind, those opting for a winch launch still were seeing 1400ft on the altimeter and Robert was able to achieve 3000 ft aerotows. 

Cloudy skies (Mike Sloggett)

 

The day progressed with four instructors onsite to handle our group, making it easy to achieve check flights. Glenn put Nicholas Johnson through a number of simulated cable failure exercises and Ron flew solo in a Junior (can you believe it) before providing instruction to new member David Gregory.

Timing was key (Mike Sloggett)

A quick break for lunch with Julie and Beth, then back to the field where temperatures had risen to a balmy 7 degrees. As canopies began to mist and the clouds started lowering, a decision was made to hangar fly the ships back home. Timing was everything as Glenn and Sandy found when they took a Eurofox check flight, only to have to make an early release at 600ft to avoid the rapidly lowering cloudbase. But still time to wash the aircraft and close up the hangar before dark.

Increasing orographic cloud (Mike Sloggett)

No rain, warmer than expected and “smooth as silk” air. A much better than expected day. Sorry if you missed it.- Tom Sides

Tues 28th November - AdHoc Day

Given the recent spell of variable weather this week was looking poor for Thursday and possibly Wednesday as well so Mark Courtney spotting a possible for Tuesday put out a call on Google group and it worked. The weather was flyable! Light ENE wind cloud base 2000ft plus with some annoying orographic which kept appearing and disappearing. Visibility was good with Dartmoor clearly visible in the west. A west end launch point was set up and the first flight (Fox aerotow) took off at 10:18.

 Club Eurofox (John Borland)

The Winch was set up but the main demand was to get cleared for  Aerotow behind the new Fox. The Fox launches were impressive despite the soft ground conditions The turnround time was remarkable. The shortest being 10 minutes between takeoff’s and a number below 15 minutes. The Fox can do it if we get our act together team!

At lunch time the very light wind decided to shift to a NW so a quick change of ends was completed and a quick visit to the Café. Thanks Julie for opening.

The Aerotow flights continued but with no demand it was decided to put the winch to bed early. In all we flew 7 launches and 14 Aerotows.

Thanks to Mark for organising the day. We cheated the weather!. Instructors. Mark Courtney, Chris Wool, Steve Westlake, Guy Adams, Tug pilots Simon Jordy,  Mark Courtney and Robert Lee. Nine Pilots cleared to Aerotow Fox. Well over 25 members attended and everyone who wanted to fly did. A nice and successful winters day.

The list of pilots added to the “cleared”   to Aerotow Fox is as follows :-
Wyn Davies, Paul Medlock, Chris Mew, George Sanderson, Andrew Pincombe, Roger Ellis, Nick Harrison, Barbara Fairclough. - John  Borland

Sat 25th November

 My call-out for an early start was answered by quite a few early birds today. When I turned into the gate at 8am, the Fox was out of its lair. The hangar doors were open, the launch point was set up, and the winch was already down the other end of the field! Impressive! 

First frost of the season (Peter Smith)

Mr. Leeson was grooming the Fox, so Pete Smith took the reins with both hands and kick-started the day. The first aerotow was at 09:35 (five minutes late) with Ian checking out Simon Leeson, James Flory was checked next. In the meantime, the Pawnee was used for a 4,000-foot tow for myself and Dave Perriam. Dave is now ready for Mr. Minson to test him for his Basic Instructor rating.

Two tugs in action (Mark Courtney)

The list was understandably long due to the fact that the sky was actually blue for the first time in months! The air was silky smooth and made for perfect conditions for training and checking pilots. At one point, we had the Pawnee, the Fox, and the winch going flat out to clear the list. There were many achievements today, so I’ve listed them below. Feel free to pipe up if I’ve missed anything important!
Pilots cleared to tow behind Foxy:

- Ruth Comer
- Ashley Thomas
- Chris Woodward
- Andy Batchelor
- Paul Medlock
- Dave Perriam

Andy Broderick was nearly cleared but needs simulated rope breaks.

Other achievements today:

- Steve Westlake had a five-year Instructor refresher and passed with flying colors, with Simon Leeson in the front playing the devil (he does that far too easily).
- Andy Davey had his simulated launch failures sorted to finally complete his blue card checks (rain had gotten in the way for a couple of weeks).
- Andy Broderick passed his Bronze flying test, following on from his bronze exams, so he is now a bronze pilot! (Not in a suntan way, you understand.) Just navigation to complete for a full license.
- James Flory, myself, Simon Leeson, and Stuart Procter all did some aerotows and are now well and truly at home flying the Fox.

The motor glider VG was on the go with various pilots most of the day. Stuart Procter flew the Cub in first thing, and Malcolm Vest flew it back to its roost at Watchford Farm late in the day. Pete Smith did the lion's share of the instructing today, helped by James Flory, Stuart Procter, Steve Westlake, and the dastardly devil himself, Simon Leeson. Robert Lee flew two booked Trial lesson visitors, both customers left with broad smiles! 

Towing the DG505 back to the launch point (Mark Courtney)

Canopies misting up and low sun called an end to a fantastic day, just the regular winter tasks of washing gliders and tugs before the hangar doors were slammed shut just after 4:30, just as the temperature plummeted!
The work was not yet finished, though, as KEK was derigged and put into the workshop for its annual inspection. And Stewart Henshall and Connor Williams worked late into the evening fine-tuning the DSGC Simulator new force-feedback control system. 

Rarely have I seen a day where so many people worked so hard together to get the best from a rare late autumn gem of a day. So many did so much, and I thank you. I have to thank two people in particular, however, who were pivotal to the day's success, and that is Pete Smith, who started instructing at 9 and was derigging the K21 at 5:30, and Sally, who spent the entire day orchestrating proceedings, barking occasionally, interspersed with her unique laugh.
Roll on the next day like that at NH. - Mark Courtney (not a first-time blogger!)

Thurs 23rd November

Thursday arrived with a strong NW wind and low cloud about 200' above the field. A good crowd of Thursday regulars had turned up more in hope than expectation. Julie had the café open by 8:45 so tea and chat followed for some time. 

Stewart Henshall and Kevin Fairburn arrived and disappeared into the Simulator room to continue the work on installing the new force-feedback joystick with the linkage manufactured by Peter Smith. After a lot of experiments, Chris Wool was invited to have a go and declared it a great improvement. There is more work to do to finalize all the settings but the performance is very encouraging.

The new linkage for the force-feedback joystick (Stewart Henshall)

By lunch time the cloudbase had improved enough to try a winch launch. It was declared a no-solo day due to the wind strength and variable low cloudbase. Mark Courtney and Guy Adams did the first met flight and confirmed the ridge was working with cloudbase around 900feet. 

With the wind on the ridge approx 30kts north westerly, Chris and Guy Adams proceeded to work through the list to get everyone flown -  eleven in all. Big thanks to Chris and Guy for persevering in the challenging conditions. It can't have been that comfortable in the backseat at times. Eleven pilots with currency restored. All kit was safely put to bed by 16:30 however the lights were still burning in the simulator room - Great work Stewart, Kevin and Peter. This is becoming an ever more useful asset to the club especially in the difficult winter months. - John Borland

Wed 22nd November

 It was a borderline forecast but as the days shorten it was worth a try. An early met flight and rapid descent determined cloudbase above 1200ft QFE and possibly higher in the lighter bits, so enough to fly. Mark Layton in a K21 and Dave Perriam in the Perkoz were swiftly away finding some lift along the west ridge. By the time Julian West and I launched the cloud was descending. George Sanderson and Ashley Thomas managed circuits and Tom Sides flew briefly in the Perkoz. Julian and I took a final launch before proceedings were halted, with me in the knowledge that we were never going to reach cloudbase anyway.

We suspended operations until early afternoon and were then well sustained by Julie and her helper. Two more checks confirmed that the ridge was working but cloudbase restricting the ability to use it, so sadly it was toys back to the hangar. 

Two Foxes (Mark Courtney)

 

Meanwhile the "skulk" of  Eurofoxes arrived in quick succession as promised, with the new one refuelling and quickly heading off  back to the north, and the yellow one fitted into the tug hangar behind G-GNHL. - Peter Smith

Wed 15th November

What a change from recent days and weeks...  A pleasant start to the day with sunshine and less wind. This brought out many hopefuls, all desperate to get into the air again. Even better, we even found some soaring, mainly in ridge lift but later in some thermals too. High cloud came over fairly early on heralding the next lot of rain for tomorrow, but it only served to keep things on the cool side today.

EuroFox Tug Pilots (Mark Courtney)

  Much was accomplished, with 5 Tug pilots  checked out by Ian Mitchell and now able to aerotow in the Eurofox (Stuart Procter, Mark Courtney, Simon Jordy, Robert Lee and Peter Field) which will probably speed up the transition somewhat. Well done all.

James Flory Full Cat congratulated by Graham Morris (Mark Courtney)

Big congratulations also to James Flory who  passed his Full Cat Instructor evaluation with  Senior Regional Examiner Graham Morris.

In all 45 glider flights took place and even Tom had a smile on his face . Meanwhile Kevin & Stewart  (with assistance from Peter Smith) spent their day in the simulator  room, working on an upgrade to the controls whilst the power supply unit is being replaced. It will be out of action while this takes place.
Thanks also to Julie and Beth on their first day in the Cafe, who produced a very tasty Leek and Potato soup, to warm us up. - Chris Warnes

News from Dan's trip to South Africa

Bit embarrassing at the moment as the gliding weather hasn’t really kicked in yet.

Dan's first flight in South Afica NS4 (Steve Clark)

Our first flight I wanted to be at least 500kms but an inversion killed it and made for a very weird day, now 8/8 cloud and virga, forecast to be thunderstorms . Instead introducing Dan to SA cuisine, sheep’s tails last night, biltong today, bobotie tonight and we are planning on a half a sheep’s head in a few days ! He seems to be coping .... Steve Clark NS4 (ed: watch them on glideandseek)

Sun 12th November

 A weekend of two halves. After the very successful day on Saturday it was a rather different day on Sunday! Low cloud fog and drizzle were the conditions members faced first thing. Unsurprisingly there weren’t many members at the club, apart from a few who stayed the night in the caravans. Despite the forecast Ron, who was on duty in the morning, did the 1 hour 30 minute journey from his home “where there be dragons” in Cornwall. Now that’s dedication! Pete Smith also turned up in the morning ready for his afternoon shift! 

James showing the size of fish he caught in the stream by the Clubhouse (Mark Courtney)

However the day was far from wasted, Simon Leeson spent a couple of hours with Steve Westlake going through the “classroom bit” of his five year check. Simon Minson was on site to complete the theory section of the BI tests for Dave (I was here at 7) Perriam, and Simon (I was  late as usual) Jordy!
Various members dropped in for a bacon sandwich and coffee, Julie and her Sister Beth providing the nourishment. 

The Beech Tree just visible in the gloom (Mark Courtney)

By late lunchtime people started to leave, the BI candidates were still there when we all left. Rumour is that they are still there now!

Now for some maybe good news, looking at the jet stream forecast there looks to be the “potential” for a shift in the jet stream with a large area of high pressure in the Atlantic. This may well give us a period of better weather from the middle / end of next week. Fingers crossed! (ed: be careful what you wish for!) - Mark Courtney (always the optimist)

Sat 11th November

A diamond of a day - The past few weeks have been  testing our patience!
There seems to be no end to the rain at the moment, so when you get a rare good forecast you need to grab it with two hands! This is exactly what members did yesterday! Whilst the members were meeting Julie and her twin sister Beth, who are the new catering team in the clubhouse, others were getting both tugs ready and unpacking the hangar. The field was still very wet, and soft, but we managed to find a reasonable run with care. The launch point vehicle was left down the bottom and the Discovery was parked on the apron and was our communication hub for the day.

The EuroFox launched at 08:15 so more tug pilots could build experience. It was very calm conditions with a rare blue sky, ideal for learning the skill of a  aerotow. Steve Westlake was the duty instructor for the day, helped by Glenn, and James Flory. With so many tows required the tuggies shared like grownups (well almost).
Ian Mitchell  managed to squeeze in a check flight with Stuart before leaving to fly at Dunkeswell for trial lessons and a flight to issue a pass for navigation and field landings for Andy Bachelor. Well done Andy! 

Simultaneous taxiing (Mark Courtney)

Stuart now with chest puffed out started to help the Pawnee with the club tows before Robert got in the EuroFox again for more landing practice. Ashley got checked out for aerotow by Steve Westlake but missed out on actually flying his first solo aerotow. Conditions were perfect for the sort of flying we wanted to do today with lots of members glad of the reduced rate for aerotow training.

Aerotowing from the Eurofox (Stuart Procter)

The Falke VG was in use for most of the day with various pilots. A long, but very enjoyable day, gliders, tugs and people were washed and hosed down by about 4:30, misting canopies stopped flying about 30 mins before. 

Somerset levels are wet from VG (Carl Tharme)

 It’s great to be able to have a nice coffee and something to eat again after what seems like weeks. Julie and Beth are now up and running on flying days, reduced menu to start, but the promise of an expanding menu soon! - Mark Courtney

Thurs 9th November

 The members at North Hill today had their optimism and patience suitably rewarded. After an email late yesterday from Mike suggesting that flying might be possible (but with a number of whether / weather caveats) it was always going to be a day when the rain from the last week or so might leave the airfield unusable and whether the forecast rain today would arrive and when, and finally whether the  wind strength and direction would thwart any plans to get into the air. An early look at the airfield indicated that, surprisingly, the airfield was useable for aerotowing provided suitable care was taken with take off and landing runs, and with wheel brake usage to be very cautious.

The field was usable for aerotows (Mark Layton)

Mark Courtney was soon heading down to get the EuroFox ready for continued focus around it’s integration into the Club fleet, meanwhile both K21s were brought out of the hangar. No sooner was everything ready to go the first of the showers arrived which delayed the first flight, but mid-morning the Pawnee was soon getting the first of several aerotows underway.

New toy getting wet ! (Mark Layton)

With Ian Mitchell then arriving the EuroFox was able to be brought into use - Chris Wool and Peter Smith firstly taking a K21 on tow behind Ian and Mark to establish ‘what good and not so good looks like’ so that the relevant learnings can be shared with DSGC Instructors. And in and amongst breaks for showers the flying continued with the EuroFox taking Chris and Peter for another opportunity to explore the do and do nots when flying behind our new tug. 

Eurofox ready (Mike Sloggett)

During the afternoon Mark Layton became the first solo pilot to be signed off for EuroFox aerotows and everyone present, who wanted to, got into the air - with misting canopies and more flying completed today than anyone had anticipated it was decided to put everything away.

A good day's flying (Mike Sloggett)

 The wind strength and probable thermal/wave rotor made for interesting climb outs to the West and in turn circuits and landings in what were evidently (very) Blue Card conditions - not quite the weather for trying out the EuroFox in some ways but on other hand today may just have been the right conditions! - Mike Sloggett

Sat 4th November

 Well another non-flying day at North Hill today, due to the rubbish weather and the airfield remaining quite waterlogged. That said, we did notice that Ian managed to find a couple of dry spots to get Sierra Charlie off the ground for a quick fly down to the Jurassic Coast. So it turned out to be another day of a few people doing some jobs around the club.

Paul Medlock fitted a new heater in the glider workshop, Nick Jones was working on the Eurofox dolly, Sally and Dan Hender (Onions) were preparing food for the evenings entertainment. Later in the day Sally’s friend Bev arrived as planned, with the Kenniford Farm sausages for the hotdogs. Thankfully she also cooked them! (We know what Sally’s cooking is like).

Just before it got too dark, Dan and I went out and set up the fireworks that everyone was coming to see. We set up towards the East end (not so far East that we would upset the horses) but, unfortunately it was not possible to go to the West end where the bonfire should have been, due to the state of the field, (so no hedgehogs were harmed).

Just before 5pm club members,  friends and families all started arriving. By 6pm when the food was ready there was around 70 people in and around the clubhouse, so Sally had a captive audience to sell hotdogs, doughnuts, toffeeapples (thanks Jane) and drinks. She even bought sparklers to sell to the kids (small and big)!   Hopefully we will have raised a few more pounds for the DSGC Charitable Trust. It was really great to see so many people at the club for a social event. Just eating, drinking and chatting. (And kids waving their sparklers around). 

Watching the Fireworks from outside the clubhouse (Nick Jones)

 

At 7:15pm the first rocket was launched, then we were off, with me and Dan lighting the various rockets and fireworks and Gordon directing the proceedings.  

Great displays (Nick Jones)

 When I got back to the clubhouse and spoke with a few people I got some really great feedback about the display and the feeling that we had done a pretty good job. Some even said they didn’t expect anything as good as that. So all in all a very successful evening. - Rob Hender

Toffeeapples  going well (Nick Jones)

(ed: ) Big Thanks..........
To Sally, Bev & Dan, great job in the kitchen (it looked a bit busy there fore a while)!
To those who came and enjoyed the food and entertainment, thanks for making it a great success.
To Nick Jones and Rob Hender, a massive thanks for sponsoring the fireworks, and Jane for the toffeeapples
To Sonic Fireworks at Uffculme, thanks for supplying great fireworks and your great advice.
And to those who couldn’t make it, unfortunately, you missed a good show. 

Profit to DSGC Charitable Trust £273.19 - Thanks everyone

If you enjoyed the evening and missed out on the donation box for the DSGC Charitable Trust - it's not too late, please see the link on the website for all the details. (For the second year running, the DSGC Charitable Trust has paid the annual insurance for the K6 DRE.)

Sunday 29th October

The rain yesterday afternoon and evening (after a couple of flights) had left the airfield rather wet again and with more rain forecast for later today it was therefore a question of whether the airfield condition would allow any flying before the next rain arrived - and the forecast wind direction and strength was also a possible blocker to any flying taking place. On arriving at the Club an airfield inspection identified that surprisingly the rain had drained away well leaving a damp but flyable surface to allow aerotowing to take place - and with blue skies and a light wind the small group of members were pleased to find that some gliding might just happen.

North Hill Weather Station rainfall

 With all eyes focused on an ‘interesting’ weather cell with evident rain which decided to kindly slide to the South of the airfield both K21s were brought out of the hangar with Launch Control left at the MT hangar to avoid unnecessary damage to the airfield. As the weather cell moved to the East the sun started to appear which helped the misting canopies to clear and then it was on with the flying.

The first couple of tows, with a freshening South South Westerly wind, provided the handling pilots with good experience of flying in such conditions as did the approach over the trees at the East end of the airfield. So it was no great surprise that after a couple more tows, and with more rain not that far away to the West, the decision was made to put the gliders and Pawnee away. The opportunity was then taken to complete some ground school briefings.

A day when with enough enthusiasm from the small group of members at the Club today some flying was done when none was perhaps expected - thank you to those members who helped others to get into the air but did not fly themselves. - Mike Sloggett

Thurs 26th October

 On Wednesday the airfield was still recovering from the 30mm of rain on Monday and a further 10mm on Tuesday, but surprisingly, by Thursday the field had drained sufficiently to even winch launch. 

Eurofox was busy all day (Dave Clements)

 

Familiarisation and training in the Eurofox  for several tug pilots continued all day.  The sun was out, and soon as the high humidity had cleared a few cumulus started appearing and cloudbase rushed up to 2000ft.

Chris Warnes revalidating IFP with Chris Wool (Dave Clements)

 

For a while, and in some directions, the sky looked quite nice, the rain showers were cooperative and stayed either to the south, north or west of the motorway. 

Dramatic sky (Mark Layton)

 

There were a few spots of rain allowing a quick late lunch and then by 16:00 the sky started getting blacker, but it was soarable. Longest flight of the day was JB (with Stewart Henshall) in K21 of 28 mins just pipping Pete Startup in the Junior 24mins. 

 

Funnel cloud developing (Jacob Bond)

We had rainbows, and a funnel cloud nearby, and as the black mass became closer, we made a decision to pack up, and the airborne gliders were called about the deteriorating  weather and cloudbase. 

20 winch launches in total on a day when we hadn't really expected to be able to fly. Thanks all, (and thanks to the grass-cutting team  for looking after the pitch.) - J&P

Sun 22nd October

 Another wiped out midweek - thanks to Storm Babet this time (although Devon missed the worst of it thankfully). 

At the start of the day, only a few folks were around, but as the weather looked good, we got the gliders ready - the DG505, both K21s, and a Junior.

The first flight of the day took off just after 10 am, -missing out on the discounted rate! Some of the solo pilots ventured south and found some weak wave leading to reduced sink rates and extended circuits. 

The familiar view from the Pawnee..... (Stuart Procter)

As more instructors arrived, we brought out the Perkoz. Simon Minson and Ashley Thomas went for a spinning sortie (sick bag remaining empty). 

...and from the rear seat (Simon Minson)

It turned out to be a good day at the North Hill, and we owe a big thanks to Peter Smith, Simon Minson, James Flory, and Guy Adams for their instructing skills.  They made sure everyone had a safe and enjoyable day in the air. 29 winch launches and 10 aerotows in all. - Connor Williams

Sun 15th October

 Another morning with no catering, and again an empty clubhouse and everyone helping set up the airfield!!! Our new caterers start in the next few weeks, it was nice while it lasted! However, with the promise of locally sourced good food, I don’t think anyone will mind!

Flying started at 10:30am, with Duty Instructor Mike Sloggett starting work on the two-seater flying list. The first Trial Lessons were a couple, so Tom Sides and Dan Hender shared the flights, the husband enjoyed the flight so much he took a second flight trying a winch launch. 

James Flory arrived late morning, so helped out with the list taking on some aerotow refresher training with Andy Bachelor. A lunch break was called at 1:30pm, all stopping, as there were so few of us on the airfield.  

Stuart checked out to fly Eurofox (Stuart Procter)

After the break the second Trial Lesson arrived, two young siblings, who both required a lot of lead weights, but both thoroughly enjoyed their experiences. Flying continued until 5pm, when we packed everything away as the temperature dropped along with the sun. 

A great day was had by all, thanks to all that stayed and helped until the end, it was quite a struggle to get everything away with so few of us. - Sally Hender

Sat 14th October

It was good to see several members back on the airfield after a bit of a break, and  so training and check flights were in full swing with a multitude of instructors. 

To start off the day there was a light north-westerly. This allowed some early solo pilots to get in some flight time. With a fantastic opportunity it was all-round good for training with 18 training flights.

At about midday, the day started to become thermic as the sun came out. Giving some excitement for everybody with comments such as “where was this weather in the summer”. The longest flight of the day was Pete Startup with 196 minutes and the longest club flight going to Simon Leeson and Rob Hender with 74 minutes at the end of the day (to the annoyance of some).

Around 3pm the conditions started to become horrible with a band of rain, turbulence and high winds coming through where it was put up to blue card where 3 people had to land within five minutes with the horrible conditions as it was beginning to become challenging.

After the rough weather, it calmed back down to red conditions for the rest of the day, with a successful day of flying with 28 winch launches and 5 aerotows.

Simon Leeson was the latest tug pilot to convert to the Eurofox, and then Peter Field and Stuart Procter both took the opportunity for more familiarisation flights. It became quite soarable locally and several private owners also enjoyed the conditions in the north westerly wind.. 

Karen King with Peter Smith aerotow training (Peter Smith)

Simon Minson started the IFP revalidation with Chris Warnes, there were 28 winch launches in all plus 5 aerotows with the Pawnee.  - J&P + Joel Roulson (mashup)