Sun 26th February

 It was another chilly start to the flying day this morning, but this didn’t deter a few determined members. Duty Instructor Simon Leeson arranged the airfield set up, with launching from the west end. So it was a long walk with just the two K21’s taken up. Afternoon instructor Mark Courtney stepped in and helped start with the two-seater list.

Both instructors started with check flights, so there was a lot of walking and not much launching going on, however, Simon was soon on to our keen new junior member Lily, who got a 41 min flight, the longest club flight of the day. 

Impressive streets all the way to Dartmoor (Mark Courtney)

 Pete Startup 230 took a launch at 12:30pm and returned two hours later having turned Glastonbury.  "Nice bimble over the Somerset Levels - rare in Winter, but the streeting never seemed to be going in the same direction as me so I decided not to go fast ;-) I wonder why the turnpoint at Glastonbury isn't the Tor?"

There was a Competition Enterprise meeting early afternoon, so launching stalled slightly, when the winch and cable retrieve driver, Rob Hender (thank you for your very long stint) and instructor Mark, left to attend!
Flying continued after the meeting, with everyone on the list flown by 5pm. Thank you to everyone for their help today, and putting up with the cold, windy conditions. - Sally Hender

Sat 25th February

 The morning was as cold as a polar bears fingernail, that didn’t deter the hardy members who turned up though! We set up in the SW corner, traditionally a winter hot spot where only 9 layers of clothing are required to stay conscious. The duty icicle (James Flory) set about the flying list, which was surprisingly long, flights were all short but this was perfect for card and currency checks.

Sally - Queen of Launch Control (Simon Leeson)

Simon Leeson and I proceeded to pull various cunning traps for each other, this enabled us to be truly back in the saddle after a gap in both our flying for various reasons, not least the dismal winter weather.
Simon did find some lift at the tip of the north ridge to claim the longest flight of the day, a dizzying 20 mins, not that impressive you might think, but it was double the flight times of the rest of the flights today.

We welcomed a visitor from Brentor, Alasdair Barclay today, his intention was to have spinning signed off in preparation for his upcoming solo. Unfortunately the cloudbase had other ideas, he did enjoy flying the Perkoz however! (A Perkoz is now on his birthday list)

Started off in the middle of the field before moving to southwest corner (Mark Courtney)

 With 4 Instructors  James Flory, Simon Leeson, Mark Courtney, Stuart Procter taking turns to get warm in the back seat (out of the wind), the two-seater flying list moved on quite well. Dan Hender and Dave Perriam practised their IFP patter and Tom Sides looked after the Trial lesson visitors, who only got a short winch launch each as the Pawnee wouldn't start. The Junior was also kept busy all day. 

A total of 47 winch launches with everyone keeping warm in onesies and thermals. - Mark Courtney & J&P (ed mashup)

Thurs 23rd February

 Some unforecast rain turned up first thing, so the Briefing Room was filled with the Thursday Regulars being treated to a Field Landing briefing led by CFI Mark Courtney.

Field landing briefing (Mark Courtney)

 After a coffee break and a peak out  of the window at the low cloud flying across the airfield in a gusty north easterly, this was followed by  a move into the Clubroom to give more space for the Ted Lys Field Landing training videos.

James Smart - our very own FRTOL Coach and Examiner (Mark Courtney)

 After lunch, James Smart gave a briefing on use of radios in the local area, and explained a bit more on the FRTOL training and exam. - J&P

Wed 22nd February

 Glenn’s prophesy was on the mark, so gliders and field equipment were set up in anticipation of the cold front clearance with the winch centrally at the west end. We had a couple of false starts with low cloud until cloud base rose sufficiently. 

The wind had more north in it than we were hoping for, so the ridge was temperamental. A large dark cloud arrived at a point convenient for a brief lunch stop then flying was resumed until gone 17:00. A combination of ridge and some thermal activity provided extended  flights during the afternoon, but it was always cold on the field as Glenn forewarned us.

Dark clouds on the horizon (Peter Smith)

Everyone flew with a variety of training, refresher and check flights as well as some just because they could. Andy Davey rigged the Libelle and matched Dan Hender’s 45minutes which were the longest flights. Mike Sloggett joined Glenn and Peter for an awayday Wednesday which worked well and between us and solo pilots 42 flights were completed. 

Up to cloudbase (Peter Smith)

 Everything was washed down and swiftly put to bed so the instructors could excitedly scurry home for the evening Zoom instructor meeting. - Peter Smith

Sun 19th February

 Well that was a busy day! With 8 names on the Flying list by 8:30 we all had a feeling that this was going to be the case. Due to the lengthy Flying list the decision was made to get all the gliders out for the first time in a while and duty instructor Ron Johns then made the call for our standard run from the north east corner. 

Hangar emptied early - it was going to be a busy day! (Karen King)

 The first couple of flights got away before 10:00 (reduced prices). However we then had to wait for nearly an hour due to some orographic that had started forming off the ridge and blowing over the airfield. 

A bit of a delay due to orographic cloud (Mark Layton)

However as soon as this had cleared we immediately got back to launching at pace so as to try and get through the flying list (now with nearly 20 names on each side). 

Playing with the clouds (Peter Smith)

 We had three trial lesson visitors who were looked after by Robert Lee and Peter Smith who all enjoyed themselves and we hope to see again soon! 

 

Launching at pace (Mark Layton)

We also had returning trial lessons Ivor and Alec Starkey who both thoroughly enjoyed there training flights with James Flory and Peter Smith respectively. Around lunchtime we had a brief period of thermal activity which allowed some flights if 40-50 mins to be had by a lucky few. However these thermals promptly collapsed leaving everyone to fall out of the sky very quickly! 

 

Days are drawing out (Karen King)

Thanks to the hard work of all the instructors and ground crew we managed to get everyone on the list flown with 58 flights. Overall a fantastic day for mid February. - Connor Williams

Thurs 16th February

 At North Hill if the weather does not allow flying there is always something to do - today members were doing this and that with ground equipment, using the simulator to good effect and also spending time on briefings of one subject or another.

Mark Courtney, Mike Sloggett and James Flory, having spotted some candidates for some ground briefings were soon in whiteboard mode in the briefing room with Jake and Luke Stabb, soon joined by Alex Sparks a new junior member - all being well the weather on their next flying days will be good enough to allow theory to be put into practice. 

DSGC Club Simulator

 Meanwhile in the Club Simulator, several members completed various training exercises aerotows, simulated rope breaks, spinning and sideslips. After lunch Stewart Henshall and Pete Harmer were investigating the control calibrations and testing proof of concepts for improved trim and wheel brake mechanisms. 

Rob Rand and Jill Harmer ran some maintenance on the Club website, and Cheryl tidied up the front garden. - Another busy non-flying day at North Hill - Mike Sloggett & J&P

Wed 15th February

 A big Thank You to the Wednesday regulars who turned out in force in response to a luke-warm hope of flying and worked solidly throughout the morning and during the promised passing of the cold front which meant most went home cold and wet. 

 

Only 3 posts for the trailer shed remain to be positioned and secured which was a great team effort at all levels, thank you all who helped, very much appreciated. 

 We had a visit from a father and son this afternoon, son is keen to try gliding. Grandad was CFI Jenvey at North Hill many years ago and was fondly remembered by several present including Nick, Pete W and JB. We hope they will return. - Peter Smith

Juniors Winter Series - Denbigh 10-12 February

We travelled up Thursday evening, having an excellent run and checking into our amazing holiday cottage just 3 mins from Denbigh Gliding Club. (Let me know if anyone wants the details of the owners). We arrived at the Club in time for the 9:00am briefing, and Dan put his name on the two-seater flying list with 60 other Juniors.  (having not been selected as one of the eight private owners allowed to bring their own gliders along!)

Dan in the back with Rob Vaughan (Sally Hender)

The airfield was set up at the east end of the field. Dan got his launch at 1:44pm with Rob Vaughan in his Duo Discus Snoopy 2 (FZ). 

Rob and Sally Hender - long weekend at Denbigh

Dan had previously flown with Rob at Enterprise 2022 at the Long Mynd. They had a winch launch to 1100ft, then used the trusty iron thermal to 2000ft, but still couldn’t get away so had to have a second go to 2500ft. They managed to work their way into the dying wave, having a great flight and having a chance to do some ridge running and getting the walkers below to wave, until they were called down after 1.5 hours. Flying only stopped due to the setting sun! Great day. 

 

The Juniors (UK Junior Gliding)

With more Juniors arriving at the weekend and the wind direction and weather not playing ball, Dan settled for just the flight on Friday. - Sally Hender

Sun 12th February

The forecast was just about spot on today, low cloud base, light SE wind and a tad cold! Would we fly? Unsurprisingly few members turned up first thing. However the clubhouse was warm and cosy, and soon we were fed and watered.

The simulator complete with its new tweaks is gaining popularity, latest fan was our duty instructor Peter Field. With guidance from Stewart Henshall, Peter flew aerotow rope breaks and tried to simulate wing drop on launching. Using the replay function it was fascinating to analyse the options available from outside the aircraft as well as inside. We are steadily encouraging our Instructors and B.I’s to use the simulator, I would encourage all members to have a try.

Tom Sides welcomed our trial lesson  visitors today and showed them our fleet, he then took them into the simulator to have a go, we explained that conditions were not ideal for the real thing today, however they left happy and are looking forward to returning when the weather improves.

In the MT hanger lots of tinkering could be witnessed on the mower and tractors by Pete Smith and Dave Perriam, mower blades now sharp and ready for the spring!

After lunch Peter decided that with a few hardy members wanting to fly, we would take a K21 to the “warm end “ of the field (NW corner, it was freezing!) 

A cold scene (Mark Courtney)

 All flights were restricted by the cloudbase, but there was some south ridge lift,  the fourth flight turned into a quick hangar landing. 

Waiting to launch into a grey sky (Tom Sides)

Paul Summers was joined by his daughter Caroline today who is extremely keen on leaning to fly, her two previous visits were dogged by bad weather. She loved her aerotow, and despite the flight being short is even more enthusiastic about our sport. 

Another small team today (Mark Courtney)

With everyone flown we decided to call it a day, everyone returned to the clubhouse to enjoy the banter and story telling, it really was a lovely atmosphere today, probably because we know better weather is around the corner! Soon be spring!

Thanks everyone for a very chilled, social Sunday!  - Mark Courtney & Tom Sides (ed mashup)

Sat 11th February

 Although the forecast for the weekend suggested that Saturday would be the better day, attendance was unusually low with only 10 or so members present.
Kevin Fairburn did a good first stint as Duty Launch Marshall, with the instructors on duty Martin Woolner and James Flory, and what we lacked in numbers we made up for in enthusiasm and focus. 

Launchpoint ready (Karen King)

 Therefore, as soon as cloudbase lifted the launch point was quickly set up with two K21’s and a Junior.
Karen King was first to fly (just after mid-day) with a currency check flight, courtesy of Martin, leading to a solo.  The club’s youngest member, Tom, was next on the list and had enjoyable flights with James. Other notable moments were Chris Woodward, and Stewart Henshall (following a few hours working on the simulator) successfully renewing their card rating.

 

James Sydney back  visiting North Hill (Karen King)

We welcomed visitors James Sydney and family, James last flew at North Hill in 2018, he came along with his 3-year-old son.  As the photos show his son took an instant liking to golf buggies and bucket hats! 

Hats and Golf Buggies (Karen King)

 Thank you to those who have brought the second buggy into operation. By sunset everyone who wanted to fly had flown with the log showing a very reasonable (given the weather-delayed start) 24 winch  launches and two aerotows. - Karen King

Thur 9th February

 There was a light wind with a hint of north meant the launch line was set up along the northern boundary.

The Cold front had left a bit of cloud behind, and some orographic nuisance cloud, but Ron Johns  reported back that he thought it was a convergence. And so it was, and soaring was plentiful for most of the day with the higher cloud turning into cumuliform and  streets setting up.

Pete Startup (who else) was offered a K21 whilst Instructors were having lunch and followed a street to Tiverton, Only to find it disappeared behind him, and a radio call started a frantic search to see if the K21 trailer might be serviceable after some maintenance. Fortunately, Pete picked up a thermal just after the motorway and managed to get back - a great low save!

Junior LRD (John Allan)

 New member John Allan from Dartmoor GS converted to the Junior and took the longest flight of 2 hours after being invited to stay up over lunch. Chris Wool flew the two Trial lesson visitors with Simon Jordy tugging. We also had two aircraft fly in from Mendip including Ron Perry surprising  Andy Williams with his new acquisition - Super Emeraude.

Lovely February day  - 25 winch launches, with pristine clear air, brought to an end with the difficulty  of landing into the low sun, but the wind was light so downwind was good. Thanks to all (sorry to Mike who didn't get to fly). - J&P

Wed 8th February

The weather forecast was settled if likely to be a cold start, that certainly did not dissuade the Wednesday early squad from getting the ground equipment out sharp and ready for Glenn’s field inspection. The considered outcome was to get the rest of the toys out and set up for a gentle southerly wind with expectations of the ground thaw leaving both winch and aerotow possible, once the cloud lifted and broke a bit. 

K21 Library photo (David Clements)

With two K21’s, a Junior and the Perkoz DI 'd we moved into check flight and currency flights, mainly circuits and launch failure exercises. The low cloud mainly stayed away from North Hill,  but did encroach all round from time to time. 

About 2pm the forecast occasional lift appeared, but under a confused low cloud base, was it thermal? Wave? Ridge?  lift not sure!! ( it was trying to be all or nothing) but the best was made of it with extended flights for a lucky few with the longest of the day being 29 minutes. 

So a total of 38 flights both winch and low aerotow made it a great day to keep current and get check flights done, with great enthusiasm from both club and returning visitors on a slightly chilly February day. - Gordon  Hutchinson

Sun 5th February

Welcome back to gliding! While still cold, the Sunday sun prompted a large turnout to refresh their currency. Simon Minson kept both JB and John Pursey busy with their 5 year instructor checks,  

Busy weekend for Simon Minson Regional Examiner

 while James Flory, Ron Johns and Ian Mitchell worked their way through the flying list. 

JB and JP completed their 5 year Instructor checks (Simon Minson)

 Short flights were the theme of the day, so even though only three of the two-seater gliders were in service, almost everyone had at least two flights. Sorry for those who weren’t able to get a flight but we continued flying until shortly after 5pm to get as many members as possible back in the air.

Sun setting at North Hill (Simon Minson)

We had two temporary Junior members return after their Trial flights, and both not only enjoyed their flights but put in their applications for permanent membership. Plus to top it off, we also had a booked Trial lesson visitor.  A total of 50 glider flights on Sunday (a level not seen since last August). Thanks particularly to everyone for the hard work on the ground to keep operations moving along.  - Tom Sides

Sat 4th February

 Towards the end of the week, RASP and the Met Office forecasts had indicated sub-optimal conditions for Saturday, with a high humidity and a potentially low cloud base, which probably explained why there was just a handful of keen folk at the club on Saturday morning.  With the winch and vehicles ready to go by 0815, the half-dozen assembled club members sat in the clubhouse, drinking tea and eagerly awaiting the arrival of the duty instructor for a ‘go/no go’ indication. As it happened, the day was better than expected with a good cloud base and a gentle breeze from the south west and DI James Flory declared the field fit for winch launching. 

 Both K21’s, a Junior and the Perkoz were readied for service, with Stu Proctor and Glenn Turpin (afternoon DI) arriving early to support James (who was also doubling up as duty tuggie) with instructor duties.  Simon Minson was also on site to put James Smart through a robust day of Basic Instructor Qualification flying ability tests.    Despite the limited number of club members on site qualified to undertake winching, logging and retrieving, an ‘all hands to the pump’ mentality resulted in some fantastic teamwork, in particular from the Junior cohort, which resulted in a successful, rewarding days’ gliding.  

Simon Minson congratulates James Smart IFP to BI (Andy Batchelor)

 There was a little around in the way of lift, but a combination of good winch launches and some patches of zero sink near the ridge resulted in flight times of around 11 or 12 minutes,  and all those who wished to fly did so several times each.  The jewel in the crown was James Smart successfully achieving his BI qualification.  To those of us watching, it looked like hard work, with James having to make safe landings from all manner of imaginative launch failures from aerotow and winch as well as the upper air work, but James was heard to say that he actually enjoyed the experience…!  Well done James. 

A rewarding day (Simon Minson)

 With 31 winch launches and 4 aerotows, flying was complete by around 1600.  A very rewarding day with some great teamwork evident from all throughout – thanks to all who contributed to make the day possible. - Andy Batchelor

Wed 1st February

Responding to Glenn’s hopeful GG post that flying might be possible on Wednesday, a large group responded early only to find an insufficiently high cloudbase. Promises of things to come kept the till at North Hill's cafe ringing until mid-morning when the call was made to pull out the two K21s and a Junior for winch launching. Glenn and Pete Warren’s initial met flight turned into an extended ridge run so a call was made to also bring out the Perkoz and the second Junior.

The ridge was working for most; not epic but enough for soaring flight times not seen since November. Everyone had at least one flight which helped currency and a Day Trial flight was given to a returning lapsed glider pilot who showed he had received instruction at North Hill in 1979 from an instructor named N. Jones.....

230 and M with good ridge running flights (Tom Sides)

 
Pete Startup and Andy Davey inaugurated the 2023 soaring season by rigging their gliders and Pete (surprise) took the honours for the longest flight of the day at 188 minutes.

A pleased treasurer - Tom Sides