Sat 31st August

 With a significant contingent of regulars away on the club expedition at Brentor (Dartmoor Gliding Society) and, given the poor soaring forecast, private owners electing to direct their efforts elsewhere (accruing domestic credits in advance of the next soarable day, no doubt!), it was a very quiet club house at North Hill this morning. 

Aerotow (Andy Batchelor)

Just a handful of weekend regulars and a couple of enthusiastic, relatively new, juniors waited patiently with one eye looking out of the window, observing the blustery NE wind, and the other on the door hoping that a Duty Instructor would magically appear, with some uncertainty prevailing over instructor availability for the day.  Salvation soon appeared, in the form of Simon Leeson, who was technically on duty as the ‘stand-in’ tuggie.  But, as the only instructor on site, he was quickly ‘promoted’ by the assembled collective to Duty Instructor, Duty Tuggie and Duty anything else that needed doing.  

With Simon Jordy arriving to look after the trial lesson visitors, a K-21 and the DG505 were walked down to the west end of the field.  Simon Leeson and Andy Batchelor took to the skies first on a met flight, and although less boisterous than initially anticipated, conditions were still challenging enough that it was declared a yellow card day.  Thankfully, the 2-seater training list was relatively short, and Simon Leeson bounced between tug duties and working his way through the training list. 

Stuart Procter and Edith Williams (Andy Batchelor)

 

Additionally, and despite having been called out to work earlier in the day, Stu Proctor answered a call to arms and arrived mid-morning to help out with the flying, his assistance being very much appreciated.  He was rewarded by the ‘longest’ winch-launched flight of the day of just 13 minutes, flying with new junior member Edith Williams.  Shaun Dayman stepped in to fly a donated winch launch trial flight too, while Simon Jordy took an extra trial lesson visitor on an aerotow.  

Trial lesson visitors family watching on (Andy Batchelor)

 With those who wanted to fly having flown, and the trial flight guests all leaving very satisfied with their respective experiences, the airfield was all wrapped up by around 15:45.  Despite the small number of people on site, a good day was had by all with some great teamwork from everyone, and we made the most of the day. Particular thanks, though, must go to Simon Leeson for being ‘Duty Everything’ and Stu Proctor for his welcome assistance, as well as Alan Turner and Phil Rowlands, who both spent extended time on the winch but didn’t fly. - Andy Batchelor

Fri 30th August - Dartmoor GS expedition

As an ad-hoc coterie of would-be X-country fliers got together at North Hill for Bumblebee aerotows, at Brentor the first day’s DSGC visitors were being welcomed by the DGS locals. Soon after, DSGC’s G-GNHL Eurofox arrived, flown in from NHL by Stuart Procter with James Hood aboard. 

Meanwhile, instructors Mark Courtney and Steve Westlake supervised rigging of KEK with loads of help from George Sanderson, (who wasn’t really there to be an inspector) but instead was there as one of the day’s DSGC flying squad, along with Tom Gunner, Chris Warnes and Tim Petty.  Karen King and Paul Medlock were also on site, having arrived early for the expedition’s later days but they also helped both DSGC and DGS fliers.

DGS K13 FGR taking an aerotow (Steve Lesson)

The Eurofox, piloted by Stuart and Mark, was kept busy towing aerotow-starved DGS fliers plus planned tows for the DSGC visitors, together with instructors Stu, Mark or Steve. Soaring conditions were inconsistent as Tom and Tim both had around 1hour up to about 4000ft but the same thermals declined to play ball for unlucky George, who managed just over a quarter of an hour. The flight with Tim and Mark was notable for two things: the P2’s inability to centre in a thermal for ages until one was found – at last! - with 10 kts up; and then those 10kts were sustained!

DSGC at DGS (Steve Lesson)

Meanwhile Karen renewed her acquaintance with a  K13 for a launch by DSGC’s old SupaCat winch.
Despite great enthusiasm of the DGS pilots for an opportunity to fly aerotows at Brentor - power is normally limited to 15 launches a month - early on we watched as DGS Junior Jamie was winch-launched for an intensive series of stall and spin exercises in the DGS Puchacz: who needs a tug, anyway? 

Puchacz gets away from the winch for spinning sorte (Steve Lesson)

A great day out with spectacular (and different) scenery and the very hospitable DGS gang. Two conclusions: we must get some working trestles for the K21 trailer; and, if anyone suggests quad-bikes for glider retrieval at NHL, just tell them to shut up! - Tim Petty

Thur 29th August

 Another day when the forecast didn't turn out as expected but was still better than yesterday....but probably not as good as tomorrow. But that's gliding for you! It was meant to be an epic 5 star day but although it didn't materialise it was still pretty good. Congratulations to Junior Member Joel Roulson for completing his Bronze with the flying tests with Stuart Procter.  

Joel Roulson congratulated by Stuart Procter Bronze complete (Stu Procter)

 

It was also good to see  the first Navex in Eurofox, Nicholas Johnson flew his Navex flight with Mark Courtney in the Eurofox.

Perkoz on approach (Mark Layton)

With Mark Courtney, Simon Jordy and Stu Procter doing the tugging between them,  they actually outnumbered the winch launches as pilots took advantage of the cheap (but not for long) aerotows which gave most a better chance of connecting with the thermals. 

Joel being tested by Stuart (Mark Layton)

Instructors Steve Westlake helped by Chris Wool worked their way through the flying list which consisted of early learners, currency flights, bronze tests, instructor training and just those who wanted to fly for fun. Several private gliders joined in but most stayed local as although the thermals were plentiful, they were unpredictable at times. Shaun Dayman  helping out Dave Perriam took his first Trial lesson visitors.

Shaun Dayman (new BI) looking after some of the Trial lesson visitors (David Clements

230 NH2 - LANGPORT -  HEMBURY HILL - CREDITON WEST - CULMSTOCK - NH2  151kms
" Very slow start to the day at North Hill and after my misadventures with sea air convergences a few days ago, I thought I'd play with them rather than them with me. Nice run along one out to Langport and back. Then decided to go West in thermal mode and had a couple of amazing climbs, Nice flight if not very ambitious." Pete Startup

KPA  NH2 - KNOWSTONE -  N TAWTON - HEMBURY HILL - Spreyton Church - NH2 181kms

"Not quite the weather we were expecting, and very hazy at times, but some very strong thermals on the sunny side of the clouds.  I decided on the Club 100Km task.  That went OK, although there was one fairly pushy glide to get past Tiverton initially.  That done and back at NHL, it still seemed pretty good, so set out for Brentor by way of a track to follow - just to see how far I would get :-).  Made it close to Whiddon Down, then decided it was getting harder to stay high reliably, as every other cloud seemed unreliable.  Had to head over to the wind farm to the North to find a climb, no idea if it was the thermal source but did seem like it, and after that good climb I got all the way back without much turning following the cloud streets." John Allan 

Come late afternoon one of the K21's was derigged for the weekend expedition to Brentor and things became very thin on the ground and  unfortunately a couple of members missed out on their flights.

 
Meanwhile Paul Medlock saved the day by giving up a day's gliding to fix the club water supply as the pump in the pump house down the hill failed. With some outside assistance the issue was thankfully sorted by mid-afternoon. Well done  and thank you to Paul and well done Vicki for coping in the kitchen and keeping us fed and watered with limited facilities. - Mark Layton

Wed 28th August

Following the grotty weather on Sunday, and some better (but tricky) skies on Bank Holiday Monday, it was Wednesday. Although the gliders and ground equipment were out nice and early, all DI'd ready to go it was still a bit of a slow start before the first flight at 11:00 hrs. The mixture of old and new members worked well together getting everyone flown but the flights were mainly circuits, extended circuits with the aerotows giving the longest flights, but nothing epic. 

Not an epic sky (Mark Layton)

The conditions didn't help as one minute we were looking at the gloomy low clouds, the next sunny skies with some high cover followed by rain showers that covered the whole sky. All in the space of 20 mins. 

Gloomy low clouds at times (Mark Layton)

 Everyone flew including new Junior member Sam with Dave Perriam and Chris Warnes looked after the three trial lesson visitors. The rain arrived again at about 16:00 hrs so the decision to pack up early proved to be the best idea until an hour later it was bright and sunny again which was typical of the whole day! Still an enjoyable one and a good time was had by all. 

Filling in the mystery hole (Mark Layton)

Meanwhile there was a few things going on behind the scenes such as a hole that had appeared in the middle of the airfield in way of the old hedge line that needed to be filled in, unblocking of the gents urinals and securing the shelves in the launch point. All done by willing volunteers! - Mark Layton

Sun 25 August - Junior Nationals

Well, a decision has been made on safety grounds to scrub the last day due to the continuing high winds at flying height. 

Dan Hender flying JDP in Junior Nationals (Rob Hender)

Not the most successful competition (4 out of 9 days flying) we've been to, but on a positive note, Dan finished 15th overall out of 47. For comparison, I think he was 20th last year. 

Final Task - a pub crawl round the airfield (Sally Hender)

A great effort in trying conditions, and to be honest, I think if there had been more flying days, he would have finished higher.
Overall, an enjoyable time was had by us all. - Rob Hender

Sat 24th August

 For a day that was forecast to start as a definite grey one, on arrival it was good to see that several other optimistic souls had made the journey although admittedly all were taking shelter, from the rain, in the clubhouse.  With the presence of the CFI and the previous CFI this brought the number present to a perfect 10. However, an indicator of the Summer not having behaved as most of the UK had hoped, was that Stuart Procter had decided it was a ‘long trousers’ day. 

Cloud Street as far as you can see (Mark Courtney)

 After most members enjoying a cuppa or two from the North Hill café, the weather improved, therefore, around 11ish the ground equipment, the two K21’s and a Junior were D.I’d in readiness.  However, as the briefing took place dark clouds re-gathered and an early lunch was called. Pleasingly by 1pm, the rain had cleared and not long after Ashley Thomas and Mark Courtney took the 1st launch of the day.
Due to wind strength the day was given a Yellow Card rating later going to Blue Card.  Of the 11 flights flown, and before it went to Blue,  Simon Jordy flew two of the three trial flight visitors.  Both of whom loved the experience.  Solo pilots of the day were John Allan and Pete Startup both with 2hr+ flights. 

230 " Boistrous in the 23kt wind - never thought I'd get to KNO, let alone NTA as the conditions past Tiverton got worse - even got rained on by one rogue shower that I had to go through on the second leg. Stayed high as I thought getting low might prove difficult. Still, got more out of today than I expected!" Pete Startup

KPV "Wet and Rain until a cold front passed through after lunch, nice out towards Dulverton and views of Wimbleball lake.  With a brisk NW wind of around 18Kn getting back from Chard was a bit slow.  lovely cloud streets later, and one of those flights where you just want just "one more thermal" before you call it a day because everyone else has packed up!!" John Allan

Dave Weeks enjoying the vigorous thermals (Mark Courtney)

 Now to the exciting bit well certainly for Dave Weeks, Joel Roulson and Karen King who all had incredibly thermic flights experiencing at times 8-10 up!  Although often broken, the thermals were amazing leading to sufficient height for the fantastic opportunity for Karen (Mark on the controls) of a loop, some chandelles and a careful beat up along the ridge.  Going onto the circuit, the thermals continued making it a very lively experience with glider HCX after an approach of 70 coming to a stop just over an hour after launch.  From such a grey start what a day and thank you to everyone involved! - Karen King

Wed 21st August

It was hard to accept that it was still the middle part of August this morning as shorts were swiftly replaced with long trousers and various forms of added insulation during the day. The forecast thermals only appeared briefly and  intermittently during the day as did any ridge lift. 

Three two-seaters were flown as the DG505 is away at the 2-seater competition in Yorkshire. Both of the Junior gliders were flown and we managed 40 flights before handing over to the evening crew and heading  for the Clubhouse to a welcome respite from the biting wind.

Progress was made on training and card renewals by several members. It was good to see the average age plummet with several school-age members joining the regulars. It may even have briefly dipped below pension age.  John Allan managed the longest flight of 65mins in KPV. 

At morning briefing we wished Glenn bon voyage on his forthcoming sailing trip to the Aegean and look forward to seeing him again, when sadly the days will be much shorter. - Peter  Smith

Evening flying (Lisa Humphries)

A group of family and friends met at a cold and windy North Hill for the last group flying evening of the year. The brisk SW wind gave good launch heights coupled with some Ridge lift meant that all had extended flights. James Flory, Simon Jordy and Dave Perriam shared the flying and a  group five volunteers kept up a good launch rate to complete 12 flights before the light faded. A very happy group left just as the sun went down. - John Borland

Wed 21 August - Junior Nationals

Up early this morning to rig the glider, after the landout yesterday.  Briefing was at 10:15am, Task A was 167k, Task B a more conservative 94k!

 

Everyone was gridded quickly for a possible early start time. But, again we waited! First launch was announced for 11:50am Task A, there was an audible groan from the airfield as the WhatsApp message was received. However, further feedback from the sniffer was received, and a quick change of plan, first launch 12:15pm Task B!! There was much relief from the pilots.
Dan was at the back of the grid again today, so didn’t get his aerotow until 12:55pm

Dan:
"The Start gate opened at 1:20pm, and I went early, along with a group of like-minded competitors. The whole flight was hard work, but I’ve had worse. I definitely played it safe, getting low over an airfield on the last leg, and seeing another glider on the ground, I considered joining him! Took about five climbs in one position trying to gain height!
When I went for the finish I was a thousand feet over glide! But just couldn’t make it, gutted when I landed in a field 700m short of the finish ring. "

JDP joined by X4 (Sally Hender)

This one was a much more challenging retrieve, even though Dan landed so close to the Husband Bosworth airfield. He struggled to find an unlocked gate, and while on the phone to the very helpful farmer, had another glider X4 join him in the field! 

Double derig (Sally Hender)

 

So two trailers were taken into the field, with both crews helping get the gliders carefully across the freshly-prepared soil to the trailers by the hedge! Back by 5:15pm, just in time for the Cocktail tasting!!! - Sally Hender

Tue 20 August - TSC

 JZK with Mike Armstrong and Shaun Dayman was on the front of the grid alongside Phil Morrison and Connor Williams in DD3.

Front of the grid for DD3 and JZK (Shaun Dayman)

 

 Launching commenced at 13:20, the sky overhead looking much more promising than yesterday. With a no held start both set off straight away. BBB with JP and JB further back on the grid were already making the call to get the trailer hooked up!

Hook up the trailer (Connor Williams)

 

The conditions were bordering on the lower end of booming save for the strong wind which obviously didn't favour the wood class.

Lower end of 'Booming' conditions (Shaun Dayman)

 

Task set was POC-NDU-BRN-DON-CHD-NWK-BOT-POC 262km.

DD3 and JZK set off straight away and both made good progress ahead of pretty much the rest of the field JZK getting a bit low on occasions whilst DD3 managed to keep above 2,500ft. JZK managed a task time of 3hrs 32mins beaten to second place in the hot ships class by DD3 who finished in 2hrs 56mins. 

Connor was keen to check out the Sheffield University campus (Connor Williams)

 

Meanwhile BBB managed to get to the first turn point before landing in a field just north of Drax Power Station having managed to stay aloft for about an hour and a half .... as well as secure 3rd place in the wood class.

Lovely field (Connor Williams)

 

Connor - How we did it  1st and 2nd place (Shaun Dayman)

A Chinese banquet for supper with enough leftovers in doggy bags to last us for the rest of the week! - Shaun & Connor

Tue 20 August - Junior Nationals

After a gusty night for the campers, the briefing optimistically set a AAT task of 2.5 hours but this was quickly changed back to the 2 hour ‘B’ task when the grid wasn’t able to start early enough. Launching finally commenced at 1:45pm, Dan (JDP) was on the fourth line of the grid today, so had an early start with his aerotow at 1:57pm. The start line opened an hour later, at 2:55pm after a Backstreet Boys rendition of ‘I want it that way’ over the airways was stopped! (No unnecessary radio chat here then!!)

On the grid (Sally Hender)

 

Dan: "I went fairly quickly 10/15 mins after the gate opening, as did most of the rest of field. It was such an easy day, with climbs of 7 knots, but I just never felt like I connected with anything at the right time.  

I had some good climbs, but then had to fly slower than I wanted to, before the next climb, I just couldn’t get the flight to flow, I felt like I was saving myself each time I got into lift, even though I was in 7 knots climbs!

After turning the third turnpoint it continued to go wrong, and I just couldn’t recover. However, there were lots of fields to choose from! I still managed to find the one with a locked gate though!

Locked gate! (Sally Hender)

Sonny Rising’s (JNG and fellow competitor) dad, was watching on glide and seek and was 5 mins away when I landed, so came to check on me. Fortunately he had a friend of a friend of a friend, who knew how to unlock the gate! Not an enjoyable flight!"

A good field (Sally Hender)

 A fairly easy retrieve from Team Hender, and we were back in time to cook gammon and fried potatoes for tea!
Dan still managed get some points for the day 32nd for the day, but still 17th overall.  - Sally Hender

Mon 19th August - TSC

 If you'd looked out the window and seen a sky like that over the Wolds today the last thing you would have contemplated doing was going gliding let alone going cross-country. The task setter thought optimistically otherwise, setting a 182.5km task - whilst no doubt his arm was being twisted by the club Treasurer! JZK being towards the front of the grid launched into the overcast murk around 12:45pm. 

After about a quarter of an hour scratching around and gaining virtually no height (max. start height 5,000ft - in our dreams!) we drifted off towards the first turn point at Fridaythorpe, all of 13.6km downwind of Pocklington. This is pretty much where we stayed for the remainder of the flight except for occasionally drifting a little bit further downwind towards the coast all at not much more than 1,000ft AGL. Plenty of opportunity to practice field selection. 

Field Selection (Shaun Dayman)

 We did manage a half decent climb to just shy of 3,000ft in an attempt to progress the task only to lose it getting back upwind before eventually throwing in the towel and landing in a field just south of Sledmere - retrieve crew already on route. Kudos to Mike Armstrong for his persistence and determination. The last third of the grid couldn't even be bothered to launch and most of those that did launch landed back having gone nowhere! 

Many chefs (Shaun Dayman)

Italian meatballs tonight.- Shaun Dayman

Sun 18 August - Junior Nationals

Day two at Husbands Bosworth, another early start with JDP on the grid by 8am, this time in the eleventh row. Briefing at 10am with Task A, a 287km, four turnpoint task, trying to avoid airspace! With potential for a later cutoff with the weather. Everyone was ready on the grid for the 11:40am first launch. 

Dan launching (Rob Hender)

 

Dan was in the air at 12:10pm and the start gate opened about half an hour later.
Surprising his parents, Dan actually didn’t head off as soon as possible, he waited for over 1.5 hours before crossing the start line! 

 

Dan:
"Speaking later to the pilots that started early, they found the first two legs easy. Whereas I struggled for the first 100k flying in blue, and had to just straight line it. It picked up at the start of the fourth leg, with good cloud base and actual clouds.
The final leg home was bombastic, with a 40k final glide. " 

Currently in 10th place, and in 9th overall!!!! - Another 300kms at 93.1kph.

Meanwhile Hender’s Senior were on a retrieve of their own, having been volunteered by Hender Junior to collect Portsmouth Naval Gliding Club's Duo Discus (KPE) from its home club and taking it back to Hus Bos for the two-seat juniors. We left at 2:30pm, had to help de-rig it and finally arrived back at 9:00pm. 

Collecting a Duo from Middle Wallop (Sally Hender)

 

Longest retrieve we’ve done yet, 300 miles, at least it wasn’t to collect Dan!! He had however, kindly got the Cafe to put back two roast dinners for us, that was very much appreciated. There was also a promise of ‘many beers’ being provided!!!  - Sally Hender

Sun 18 August - TSC Pocklington

The day began with a briefing from the local standup comedian/competition co-director Alan Rands. After seeing RASP we thought the task set was a bit optimistic with Mike Fox opening the met briefing with "I'm not really sure what the weather's going to do today". 

Two-Seater Comp Briefing (Connor Williams)

 

First launch was initially set to be 12:00 but kept on getting pushed back until a sniffer finally launched around 13:15 followed by the rest of the grid not much later. 

Unfortunately, not an Eagle day today (Shaun Dayman)

BBB (JB and John Pursey) was near the front of the grid but was back on the ground by the time the other two NHL gliders launched. 

JZK on the grid (Shaun Dayman)

 

We were very lucky to have Mike Armstrong (Camphill) who had kindly offered to provide two-seater training to Shaun and myself. Mike and I in JZK finding the first leg incredibly difficult (very nearly landed at York Racecourse) but not long after Rufforth we managed to contact wave climbing at about 6 knots all the way to 10,000ft. 

JZK in wave at 10,000ft (Connor Williams)

 

From this height we managed to ride the wave round the TPs all the way up to Tontine Inn. We were looking at Snainton hopefully but XCSoar was suggesting that if we went for it we weren't going to make it home.

DD3 (Phil Morrison and Alan Rappaport) also struggled early on but managed to contact wave after York, but only made it to Sutton Bank before turning back.

Le Chef but  I'd rather be flying (Connor Williams)

We all enjoyed a lovely Pork Belly for dinner as cooked by Chef Pursey. Overall a brilliant day (how often does a club glider do 150km and get to 10,000ft?) - Connor Williams

Sat 17th August

 A strange sight greeted us this morning, what seemed like big seagulls suspended off the ground, they were in fact White Storks! And lots of them, estimated to be around 40, a bit later they all took off and formed a “big muster”  and skillfully worked a thermal before heading off towards the coast.

A big muster of Storks thermalling over North Hill (Simon Leeson)

 

Some of the Storks landed on the airfield (Simon Leeson)

The forecast was very good but it didn’t turn out as advertised, however a reasonable amount of club members were present and it turned out to be a very enjoyable day.  

The long list of pilots, but thankfully we had the instructors to cope, Stu Procter was main man, aided by Simon Leeson, Mark Courtney and James Flory. Tom Sides looked after the Trial lesson visitors,  the first was Joanne wearing our new wrist band to secure smartphones during flight, she loved the experience, the flight as well as the wrist band!

Trial lesson visitor Jo Forkan  with Tom, modelling the new wriststrap (Mark Courtney)

 

We did miss the DG505 however which is away being flown in the Two-seater competition at Pocklington, Connor Williams and Shaun Dayman are being coached by a very experienced competition pilot, good luck guys! 

We were soon working through the flying list, the skies  were grey and it felt a bit like early October! however that didn’t dampen people’s spirits.

Joel Roulson was put through his paces by Simon, getting him prepared for the  next rung on the ladder, his bronze test, “he flew very well” according to Simon. 

Well done to Stuart Thomson - converting to Junior (Andy Batchelor)

 Well done to Stuart Thomson who converted to the Junior, Lisa Humphries who was back in the Junior  (and then in the winch retraining with Hans Jenssen)  and Chris Warnes for completing his IFP revalidation checks with Stuart Procter. 

In the Briefing Room, it was well done to Ashley Thomas and Mike Meatyard who both passed their Bronze theory exams supervised by Pete Harmer. 

Graham and Cheryl are now enjoying their new freedom from the toil of working in the kitchen, sat outside the clubhouse they chatted to visitors.

Graham showing off his appropriately designed mug (Mark Courtney)

 

Richard Roberts flew two friends and family in the Perkoz towards the end of the day, keeping the tug busy till the very end of play.  It was lovely to see Ella and her brother again, she will be with us until her university course starts in September in Newcastle and hopes to be back during the Uni holidays. 

End of a long day (Mark Courtney)

We managed to get through the very long list, however I must emphasise that this was only possible because of the hard work everyone put  in.  I think a special mention should go to the Junior members today, Ella Penny and her brother Alex, Arthur Hier, Joel Roulson and George Lee, they worked tirelessly retrieving gliders, hooking on and everything in between, I would also like to mention Andy Batchelor who organised everyone from the start of play, I did hear him say he was looking forward to work on Monday for a rest!

Thanks to everyone else that made the day a success (fathers David Hier, Ivan Roulson and Grandfather Robert Lee), it really was a huge team effort. - (ed mashup) Lisa Humphries and Mark Courtney (50th time blogger - and doesn't know the difference between Cranes and Storks! - Sorry Jonathan no Ciceronian triplets and no split infinitive, I’ll try and do better next time.)

Sat 17 August - Junior Nationals (Hus Bos)

 The day started early with gridding starting at 8am. Fortunately, Team Hender had traveled up Friday and rigged JDP ready for the week ahead. At the 10am briefing a 264km task was set, with 5 turn points. Launching would start not before 11:30am. Dan was placed in the fourteenth row (of fifteen) of the grid, which he was more than happy about, meaning he wouldn’t have to wait behind the start line for the rest of the grid to launch.

Near the back of the grid (Rob Hender)

 

Launching started at 12pm in the end, with Dan launching at 12:32pm. The start line then opened and the race was on. 

264kms polygon

Dan: "First two turn points were great fun, then I got further into the flight and thought… I just want to get home!
I messed up on the long leg and got really low and then went slow when I didn’t need to, which affected my speed.
So even after all the Junior Development training I still went early and was second back!
At one point I even saw OEL (Arcus based at Denbigh Gliding Club) in the sky, and did a double take!"

Dan made it back at 4:10pm, after a great flight, the scores then came in and he was placed 12th overall out of a grid of 32. He is still disappointed with his flight, but that’s his competitive side coming out!! Well done Dan, same again tomorrow? - Sally Hender

(ed: watch the action on glideandseek and  Junior Nationals )

Fri 16th August - Course Week

The Fifth Dawn of the Celestial Odyssey

At the hour of nine, as the fifth day of the C3 summer saga began to unfold, the morning whispered of skies unmarred and the promise of endless ascents. The heavens, having been consulted the day prior, held true to their word. With the first light, the air was filled with anticipation, and all were poised for the day’s lofty quests and the honing of their aerial craft. 

Course Members, Instructors and Helpers (Martin Cook)

 

 

KEK, HCX, and Junior were readied with skilful precision, and soon the horizon gleamed with the arrival of more club members, each bringing forth their radiant and unique vessels of flight. 

 

Launch grid (Dominic Mercer)

Following the council of the morning, a resolute choice was made to establish the Launch Point within the bounds of section E, with the Winch positioned in noble opposition at section A, and the Aerotowing station nestled near the heart of section E. The weather, a benevolent guardian, graced us with its gentle touch, revealing a sky of breath-taking beauty. The air was alive with the promise of rising thermals and the steady caress of tailwinds, growing from 4 to 6 knots as the day matured. Above, the clouds floated at regal heights of 3,000 to 5,000 feet, as if inviting us to soar amongst them.

 

Winching into the inviting skies (Dominic Mercer)

 
 Throughout the day, the air buzzed with a myriad of challenges and marvels, each designed to sharpen our gliding prowess. A series of trials unfolded, from the meticulous art of securing towing ropes to gliders of diverse temperaments, to mastering the graceful ascent by Aerotow. The evolution of every soul was evident, as knowledge deepened and skills flourished, transforming precise practices into steadfast habits, ensuring that each glider launch was executed with safety and grace. 

Graceful ascent by aerotow (Dominic Mercer)

As the sun journeyed across the sky, our abilities were further tested through simulations, such as the sudden silence of a winch engine's failure, demanding that we land with unwavering composure and skill.  
 
An additional marvel graced our day, beyond the steadfast winches—the Aerotows, which could swiftly elevate anyone to heights where the majesty of our planet unfolded beneath us. The day brimmed with awe, as we honed our skills, deepened our bonds with fellow club members, and forged a profound connection with the ethereal beauty of gliding. All this unfolded in the exceptional company of our fearless and patient instructors, whose unwavering encouragement and passion for the skies inspired us to continually refine our abilities and embrace the boundless love that comes from soaring through the heavens. 

Watching the clouds (Dominic Mercer)

 
I humbly seek pardon for any unintentional missteps that may have found their way into my words. My deepest gratitude extends to all who have made this journey so extraordinary, and to the remarkable souls who ensure that out experience and skills continue to flourish with each passing moment. - Dominic Mercer (new member and first-time blogger)

 

Cross-countries

KP - NHL -  DULVERTON - CHARD - TAUNTON -  CREDITON - NHL  164kms

"Cloud base improved after a while. Initially planned on Dulverton Taunton and back, but was better than I'd hoped but couldn't make Taunton the first time as it looked very blue.  Had a second go later after Chard."  - John Allan

230 - NH2 - MOLTON - BEAMINSTER -  CREDITON - NH2  213kms

"Conservatively set and conservatively flown. Ok in Devon with a mix of Cu, haze caps and blue. Totally blue east of the Blackdowns. Went way off track to the North of Dunkeswell to avoid the sea air coming in from the South coast." - Pete Startup