The forecast was for it to be DRY but cold in a NEly brisk airflow and so it was. The cold start was being felt by the equipment (battery boost needed) as well as the early squad who were as usual, well organized and active before some even got to the airfield! The three gliders (K21, DG505, Junior) and Pawnee were moved out west to where the launch point had been set up, well into the field to reduce exposure to the expected curl over due to wind strength.
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| Huddling behind Launch Control (Mark Layton) |
The fashion parade of the day was for the variety of padded romper suits on display, from posh to farmers and all types in between, the one common factor was they were needed and kept us all warmish in the strong easterly.
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| Keeping the canopy from misting up (Mark Layton) |
The initial met flight did confirm blue card conditions as expected. We all managed to get a flight either side of a 12:30 lunch break (needed to defrost). Conditions were challenging and character building? varying from smooth to fractured wave and ROTOR. But with the wind down the field at least predictable for what felt like vertical landings.
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| Long shadows (Mark Layton) |
We managed to get 17 winch launches (some to over 2000ft) and one aerotow in, getting everyone at least one flight, before the decision was made to do hangar flights and put the toys away. A good day’s flying making the most of the day and keeping both the CFI and Treasurer happy while maintaining our currency. - Gordon Hutchinson
News from Dartmoor GS Blog
I had always thought it should be possible to get to the top of the wave box at Brentor and today was the proof. I had a good winch launch to 1700 feet (thanks Gavin for winch driving) and was straight into reduced sink. I pushed forward and contacted weak wave. Initially the climb was quite slow but the higher I got the better it become.
I nearly abandoned the flight at about 14000ft as the inside of the canopy started to freeze up but some vigorous rubbing left me with a view out the front so carried on. Could have gone higher but with the top of the wave box approaching and the outside air temperature at -26C started my decent back into Brentor. Epic! - Andy Davey
