Thurs 20 November

 Yesterday’s sniff of a good forecast (well flyable) followed by Duty Instructor Mike Sloggett posting positively on What’s app suggested an early arrival time to get to the front of the flying list might be sensible! But when I got there the early crew had already got the ground kit out and DI ed (do you ever sleep??). So following a phone call from Mike, on his way up from Plymouth with permission, we got the K21,s and Junior out and DI ed. During briefing (it was Very very well attended by that point) it was evident that George Sanderson had returned from his visit to Cambridge (taking the Perkoz bits for repair on a private visit (THANKS!)) so a crew was assembled to fit them. 

Perkoz back together (Jack Sewell)

That task was challenging and took a few try’s but by the end of the day, it is now rigged and, in the hangar, again, it only needs a DI and wing tape before its available to use. Shaun Dayman went to get the  Junior LRD back after its repair (just now needs its Annual finished) and Pete Startup repaired the DG505 canopy restraining bolt so it is also flyable. 

 

DG505 back flying (Mike Sloggett)

That means by the end of next week we should be back to a full fleet of aircraft available. Many thanks to the maintenance team you are all much appreciated.

 

Crystal clear visibility over North Hill (Mike Sloggett)

On the flyng side of activities, the rest of the members got four aircraft to the launch point and started flying. Conditions in the Northerly wind were cold but flying progressed, well mainly circuits but some extended by using the north ridge. Following a hunch and some knowledge from the local pundits, I thought that the northerly wave (set off from the Wellington monument ridge) might be there and so took a 3000ft aerotow to the north. It did work with very gentle lift in an east / west band just south of the monument. I was soon joined by Ron Johns and Jack Sewell in a K21  both gliders achieved just over 30 minutes in gentle wave before heading home. From his comments and facial expression, I think that Jack enjoyed his flight. 

The sun is setting (Jack Sewell)

 

A total of 39 flights achieved on a cold day but everyone flew and currency was maintained, all in all a very successful day but it was Cold! On a final note it is obvious even instructors need little encouragement to make the best of the few flyable days as by the end of the morning there were 6 on site, thanks all we really do appreciate your enthusiasm and efforts. 31 winch launches and 8 aerotows - Gordon Hutchinson

 

South Africa with Dan Hender

And news from South Africa - Dan Hender has a a few good flights in the Nimbus 3DM with Steve, just a little 630kms on Monday  https://www.weglide.org/flight/961410 and 400kms today https://www.weglide.org/flight/962732

Sun 16 November

Today was always likely to be a day when some gliding might be possible if the actual weather was slightly better than the forecast 

On arrival at the airfield it was evident that the cloudbase was as forecast - too low to dampen any immediate optimism for flying. And with the wind strength much stronger than forecast it was a straightforward decision to leave the gliders in the hangar whilst members enjoyed food and drink from North Hill Cafe. 

 

Its been a wet week at North Hill

The morning saw various ground briefings completed by James Flory and Mike Sloggett whilst some members fettled gliders and trailers, and with Callum Ellis getting to know his newly purchased glider which arrived on site yesterday 

Around lunchtime it was clear that unfortunately the weather would prevent any flying taking place today, so the day was formally ‘scrubbed’. - Mike Sloggett

Sat 15 November

 I went to the Club today with modest hope that we might fly but also to help retrieve the Perkoz so that the repair can be made to the airbrake mechanism which George now has in hand. Thanks to Chairman Nick and his Discovery  the trailer was pulled out successfully on the wet ground.  Alas  the cloud remained anchored to North Hill and idle hands having been proven to cause mischief I elected to try and find a missing feature in the field. 

Some years ago, I believe my first winter at North Hill, a hopeful crowd assembled at the Club one Sunday morning after a sustained spell of bad weather. Duty Instructor was Ron Johns who inspected the field and came back reporting that something resembling  Quatermass and the pit was erupting on the north side of the field and flying would not be happening. Several of us went to see this hitherto unkown phenomena and sure enough so it was, several metres across and probably half a metre high and water flowing  prolifically from it. We deduced that was a blockage in the piped ditch that runs from the woodland on the north side of the airfield diagonally to the 90 left on the entrance drive to the Club.  It now discharges to a large chamber inside the bend with a  steel grating. (a good indicator of the volume of water coming off the field, heavy flow = too wet). That had blocked and water pressure was lifting the turf off the subsoil.
 
 I fetched the Club digger and excavated a hole in the middle of the eruption, cleared the blockage and away it went, but alas not in time for flying.
 
 John Street who many will remember vividly as a very dedicated instructor who sent many members solo (including me), also assumed responsibility for the field. A few weeks later we dug it all out and fitted two rodding eyes (which have never been used) and  a new length of pipe. Alas with the passage of time I haven’t been able to locate them recently so today provided an opportunity. I failed but John Pursey kept at it with a fencing stake and we now know they are. (What 3 words ///holds.costly.vowel.)
 
 A photo taken during the repair aided locating the covers. 

Sorry for the quality of the old image (Peter Smith)

John Street, Tim Johns and me. Completing the crew and acting photographer was Matt Wright, he was never far away from anything out of the ordinary.

 Meanwhile Chris Warnes flew the trial lesson in the simulator which went well, and they are looking forward to the real thing. - Peter Smith

Thur 13 November

2 blogs for a day that surprised everyone!

Thursday's forecast of a damp southerly air mass was always going to cause problems with orographic cloud during the day. With the persistent low cloudbase present first thing there was no immediate rush to ready the glider fleet, which has unfortunately been reduced to half its normal size due to some technical issues. The delayed start gave the Inspector Team time to put the Junior LRD in its trailer for its trip to Tim Dewes for repair (driven there later in the day by Shaun Dayman) and carry out a  precautionary inspection of FZF before it's next flight.  

 

LRD going off for repair (Richard Lean)

With everything checked and readied, flying commenced at 1100 as the orographic cloud cleared enough to start flying, although care was needed, as at times it returned as quickly as it cleared. It was a case of pilots being ready for when the conditions were safe enough for a launch. 

 

Judging the moments with the cloud (Mark Layton)

With only three gliders in operation and flights being barely extended circuits it was a good opportunity for all those present to keep current. The flying list was quite long but everyone managed at least one flight thanks to great teamwork by all those present under the guidanc instructors Ron Johns and Chris Wool.  

 

Launchpoint waiting for orographic cloud to clear (Richard Lean)

It would have been quite easy to have given today a miss as the forecast looked unflyable, but its always worth a try as you never know! - Mark Layton

Today was another excellent example of a case of "you've got to be in it to win it". Weather forecasts had predicted low cloud the for whole day, with humidity not forecast to drop below 95%. I had decided that I would nevertheless head up, have a couple of cups of tea, a chat and a bacon sandwich, and perhaps fly the sim or get a briefing. Driving towards North Hill from Long Lane at 8am revealed that the airfield had its own bespoke cloud fitted, in otherwise good conditions. Vehicles were nevertheless readied and a sizeable crowd awaited the arrival of DI Ron Johns for the briefing. 

 

North Hill's bespoke cloud! (Richard Lean)

Junior LRD requires a composite repair and was put into the trailer while the airfield was set up in slightly soggy conditions.
The fog became broken and yielded to scattered cloud at 600' with a light southerly breeze. And the flying began! 

K21 on winch launch (David Clements)

A flat tyre took one of the K21s out of action, but a concerted team effort saw it return to the flight line an hour later. The low cloud came in again at around 1pm, and following a brief lunch break the afternoon continued in clear skies. 
Unexpectedly Thursday had become a full day and everyone at very least maintaned currency. All on the sizeable list flew at least once, and trainees under instruction had two or three trips with Ron or Chris Wool. 
 

Great photo (David Clements)

A straw poll of participants showed that in the morning very few had expected to fly at all.
Thanks everyone for a very enjoyable day. - Richard Lean

Sat 9 November

 With the weather preventing flying on both Wednesday and Thursday this week, my prediction of a good day today was thankfully correct! The call for an early start was taken to heart by many members today, James Hood and I arrived by 08:15 and the winch was already out with several members beavering around getting things ready.

The clubhouse was full by 08:55 ready for the brief briefing at 9, by 09:10 everything was covered so the gliders were towed to the NE fence in expectation of a launch before 09:30.
Unfortunately despite blue sky’s above, the fog in the valley decided to engulf the west end of the field as soon as the westerly wind picked up. 

 

The fog rolled up the  ridge at the west end (Mark Courtney)

The first launch was therefore delayed until 10:30, which was a shame as we were all ready by 09:25. Small areas of lift enabled some extended circuits, this provided extra time for the trainees to polish their skills. Stuart Procter was tug driver today, and was pleased that a few members decided to keep current on aerotow.

Great sky, with  new member Christian Sheer (Peter Smith)

I was helped today by several instructors, Pete Smith, Steve Westlake, James Flory, JB, and Shaun Dayman, Tom Sides looked after the only booked trial lesson visitor.
The day ran like clockwork, mainly due to the  duty  launch marshals, the morning shift was Kevin Fairburn with Trevor  Russell kindly stepping in to cover the vacant slot in the afternoon.
With the large number of people on site it was easy to continue through lunch with instructors “slipping off” separately for a bite to eat. The clubhouse was positively buzzing over lunch, Ian Mitchell’s trial flight saw several members of the family attending, booklets and information was taken away, we hope to see at least two of them back, for a flight soon. 

Pete Harmer about to launch as the sun started sinking (Simon Minson)

The lucky few had extended circuits under a some wispy street-like clouds that appeared for a while. Joel Roulson went on a practice field-landing exercise with James Flory in VG.

We managed to get through the flying list somehow before darkness fell, - 43 flights in all. Lots of smiling faces could be seen at the hangar despite the fact the gliders had to be washed and  thanks to the team for derigging LRD ready for Annual inspection.

 

End of the day view to the west (Mark Courtney)

After flying the clubhouse still remained busy, the last of us heading home at 19:45! 

A fabulous autumn day which proved to be extremely enjoyable thanks to a great team effort by everyone.
Hope the next one is not too far away! - Mark Courtney

Sun 2 November

 Duty Instructor, Mike Sloggett, put out the instructions how to set the airfield up last night, so the early birds on site set up the Launchpoint and winch. The gliders were also DI’d and everything was ready to go by 9:15am straight after briefing.

James Flory and Shaun Dayman helped out with instructing, and with a fairly long single seat list the whole fleet of club gliders was put to use. 

Sally Hender with Mike Sloggett (Rob Hender)

 DLM Dave Clements, kept everyone in order, and flying was achieved all morning (between showers).
A short break was taken at lunch for a passing shower, an easy decision to make, with the enticement of a warm clubhouse, and tasty food! 

Flying through the rainbow (Josh Howlett)

 
Flying resumed, I took over the mantle of DLM, with Jill Harmer kindly stepping in to log. James Flory needed to leave by mid afternoon, however Guy Adams kindly helped with a few of the remaining names on the list. One of which being returning Trial Lesson Jayden, mentored by Arthur Lean, who kept him busy on the field all day! 

A total of 41 flights today, the longest being 37 mins by Pete Startup. Lovely to see all the available Club gliders in action, and thanks to everyone who helped on the airfield. - Sally Hender

Sat 1 November

New month and first of all the thanks to our wonderful Volunteers - I daren't list them individually in case I miss someone out - so let's just say the whole team of DSGC Members who removed the damaged winch drum transported it to Supercat, got it fixed, transported it back, put it back on the winch, and then cleared up the old rope (for selling) and spliced in some new rope. And all in time for a full weekend flying with 2 cables. - WOW! great team effort everybody. There are opportunities for volunteering throughout the Club so if you have a particular skill and would like to get more involved - please make it known to a Committee Member.

 

Irritating orographic cloud at times (Stuart Procter)

Flyingwise - it was slightly better than the expected weather with extended circuits around the rain breaks - but a total of  25 winch launches. - J&P

Thur 30 October

 With the forecast predicting 40mph southerly gusts, few members turned up. The gliders were out and ready by 9am followed by the briefing.

After the briefing, launches commenced from the far easterly side of the airfield. With the winch only having one functioning cable every member made a great effort to keep the launch rate up. (Thanks to Peter Smith and the team for removing the winch drum for repair.)

 

Towing back (Jack Sewell)

With the southerly wind hitting the  south ridge, pockets of lift were picked up making flights longer, the longest flight today was Kai Mudd with Mark Courtney, each adding 26 minutes to their logbooks.
 

A ghostly image for halloween tomorrow (Jack Sewell)

Fairly early on, the wind started to pick up and provided some challenging crosswind landings. By 11:30 am, Chris Wool decided that the difficult approach  meant it was time to call it a day. 

 

Hangar packing (Jack Sewell)

Most members had an early lunch and left but some decided to stay. Kai and Jack headed to the simulator to practise their cable breaks and circuits  and a bit of soaring cross-country, under the watchful eye of Pete Harmer. 

Setting off from NH2 to Cullompton (Jill Harmer)

 Most members managed to fly at least once thanks to the speed everyone was working at to make up for the broken winch drum. Overall a difficult but exciting morning of flying.- Jack Sewell & Kai Mudd 

Wed 29 October

 As members started to arrive from 8:30 onwards they were greeted with the sight of Pete Smith (who was almost on site before Ashley) dismantling the damaged cable drum of the winch for repair with a small gang of helpers. It was quite a task due to its size and weight but once removed it was taken away to Dunkeswell for repair and hopefully returning sometime on Friday. Luckily the winch was deemed still operational with the one drum remaining. After the washing of oily hands and drinking of tea it was back to weather watching out the clubhouse windows. 

The low cloud and drizzly rain persisted during the morning, but the prospect of it clearing up by two o'clock kept people's interest. After an early lunch was called for Pete Smith gave the go ahead to get two K21's and a Junior out and readied for the clearance. The initial flights played with the low cloud base which drifted across the airfield at launch height and there was a short halt as a rain shower passed through.  

Early flights played with low cloudbases (Mark Layton)

As the flying lists were worked through with everyone having one flight each including Glen Turpin flying with his granddaughter Elise and Shaun Dayman returning with his new instructor rating. With the lists completed and another rain shower approaching the decision to pack up whilst we were ahead was made. In true gliding fashion the sky cleared and the sun shone as we washed the gliders and packed the hangar.  

 

The sun came out while packing the hangar (Mark Layton)

Well done to all that stayed on and made the most of the day, which are now a bit shorter than the ones last week! - Mark Layton

Sun 26 October

 We had a extra hour in bed this morning, and this seemed to provide a positive attitude in the clubhouse, with a good number of members in the clubhouse ready for the 9:15am briefing from Duty Instructor Ron Johns. It was another iffy forecast for the day ahead, but with the early conditions looking favourable the hangar was emptied and airfield set up quickly, and the first launch taken just before 10:00am.

 

Sally Hender with Ron Johns (Rob Hender)

Ron did an excellent job on the airfield, working as the only instructor, so restricting the number of flights for the trainees, but efficiently getting through the list. We had a slight snag when we had a cable break, with the winch drum suffering a little damage, which meant we were using a single cable, but we carried on regardless! 

Paul Summers - still in shorts!! (Sally Hender)

 Private owners Pete Startup (230) and Simon Minson (SM) took flights but couldn’t manage any great distance due to the conditions, but Pete stayed up for just over 2 hours. We paused for a quick lunch break, to give Ron a rest, but on resuming flying it became apparent the cloud and rain were moving in on the airfield quickly, so the decision was made to end flying early while all the Kit was still dry! Unfortunately, this meant two of the trainees didn’t get to fly. We managed to get everything packed away by 2:30pm and hunker down in the clubhouse with the log fire/coffee and cake before the rain came in. Thanks to everyone for a great effort. - Sally Hender

Sat 25 October

With a dubious forecast and strong winds, it was surprising how many members were in the clubhouse first thing. To Be Honest there were probably more instructors than there were pupils, but it wasn't a bad turn out. 

Duty Instructor Steve Westlake, supervised getting the kit out, then we all retreated back to the warmth of the logburner, while keeping an ever-optimistic eye on the quickly moving clouds. 
At 10:45am, Steve Westlake and Mark Courtney took a met flight to check out the conditions, and quickly made the decision on a blue card day. James Flory and Alan Turner took a currency flight, followed by myself and Steve taking a launch and achieving what would turn out to be the longest flight of the day at 17mins, with the ridge working just enough to maintain our height. 

 

Wash and brush up now the field has had some rain. (Mark Layton)

Stuart Procter then flew with Simon Minson for SPL Instructor validation, Simon Minson was then authorised, so took Benjie Pitts for a flight. James Flory took Paul Harman for a launch in the ever increasingly challenging conditions. Dan Hender then took his dad for a flight, but couldn’t manage to out soar me!!!! 🤣

Thanks also to Peter Smith and James Hood for spending most of the day servicing and fitting new blades to the mower.
 

Stuart did a currency flight with Wyn, followed by Mark Courtney and Josh Howlett in what turned out to be the last flight of the day. The wind was becoming stronger and more gusty, and to compound the problem a shower came through! 

Team Hender using the simulator (Rob Hender)

 The decision was made to pack everything safely away for the day, as everyone had flown, in a variety of combinations! A small but efficient team, ably assisted by Fred Marks on the winch! Vicki was then kept busy over lunch, with the simulator being utilised in the afternoon by the Hender’s, Steve Westlake and Josh Howlett. - Sally Hender

Wed 22 October

When I rang Exeter Airport control tower this morning to inform them that we would be flying until it rains at four o'clock, the man on the other end of the phone laughed. 

On the grid (Mark Layton)

 Maybe it wasn't the normal conversation he expected, but it was a truthful one on my part. 

 

Note to Treasurer - 2 Juniors in use (Mark Layton)

With the autumn conditions in full flow, it was a cold start and even though the cloudbase was higher than predeicted it was the misting canopies that caused a bit of a delay. It was also particularly calm, almost zero wind day before the arrival of the expected storm tomorrow. With Pete Smith as Duty Instructor helped by Ron Johns and Guy Adams the longer than normal training list, elongated by a handful of youngsters enjoying school half term, was worked through to ensure at least everyone flew.  

 

Fantastic sky before the arrival of Storm Benjamin (David Clements)

With accurate flying in the benign conditions, pilots could stretch the circuits out to 7 minutes or more in the steady slightly negative sink. Despite the greyscale landscape the views were spectacular as ever and the stillness of the air made each flight magical. 

 

Queuing to get cleaned before hangar packing (Mark Layton)

After flying through lunch, the names on both flying lists slowly got ticked off  (41 flights in all) until you guessed it, the rain appeared at four o'clock!  - Mark Layton

Thur 16 October

After walking up to the far end of the airfield, grey cloud was already covering the sky. Launch by launch, clouds formed at circuit height. Sadly today was a day where no thermals were present. However, a few people found wave near Dunkeswell.

 

Massive Mushrooms on North Hill (John Allan)

There was a threat before lunch as to whether we could carry on because of the increasing amount of low clouds, but, by the end of lunch there was blue sky! This didn't last too long though and it was back to grey sky without low clouds.

The blue sky put in an appearance late afternoon (Jack Sewell)

Very few people were on the two-seater list but quite a few on the single-seater list.

Richard Lean, who was training on aerotows received a normal tow and a practice failure, Rob Rand received 3 flights one being a launch failure. Josh Howlett received an immediate power failure, which was fun to request to the winch. Jack, was trying to perfect his takeoff, landings and circuit followed by launch control training.

Those flying: David Sewell, Dave Perriam, Jack Sewell, Ashley Thomas, Aston Key, Robert Rand, John Allen, Julian West, Paul Summers, John Borland, Chris Mews, Peter Stapleton, George Vojtisek, Richard Lean, Geoff Lawrence, Callum Ellis, Robert Lee, Josh Hewlett, Chris Wool, Mike Sloggett 

Massive thank you to everyone helping to get people up into the air and instructors Mike and Chris.
Jack Sewell- junior member.

Wed 15 October

 Twas murky at the Club when we arrived, but improved a little during the morning. So a very early lunch/snack stop then the K21s and a Junior were taken to the western midfield launch point and the field set up soon after midday. Very difficult to ascertain cloudbase visually as a featureless blanket overhead and conflicting Met info.

Glenn, recently returned from Grecian warmth, and I took a launch and he wisely released at about 800ft followed by a shortened circuit.

We waited for a while with much studying of mobile phones and the sky and convinced ourselves that it was higher so I took a launch with Don as P2. Alas the cloudbase was lower - so an early release, unable to land ahead, so a shortened circuit and hangar landing. So the toys were put away....

 

Skylaunch winch (Library picture)

At least we tried and the oil pressure light on the winch didn’t illuminate. - Peter Smith

Sun 12 October

 Another day where the forecast promised a clearance - but it didn't deliver!

 So the day was spent, first with some lectures by James Flory on a number of subjects including circuit planning and instrumentation, and then with a variety of members using the Simulator. 

 

Sally Hender behind the Tug (Jill Harmer)

Steve Westlake went to the cliffs on the South Coast, Josh Howlett headed East on a cross-country, and Sally Hender made great progress with circuit planning, perfect landings and got to grips with aerotowing.

The low cloud did eventually clear late afternoon with a few sun beams striking through the clouds, but even then the visibility was still poor. - J&P

October - Northern Safari Part 2

 After the very rough conditions on the Thursday, with a lot of overcast on Friday, we skipped flying until Saturday.  

On the Friday, Nick took the team to meet his passenger, Penny, from the famous 1974 Eagle flight. She lives near by and has kept in touch. An invitation to fly again was extended and the Saturday was an opportunity to fly some of the local friends who have made this trip possible. 

 

Phil and Nick in DuoDiscus (John Pursey)

With a wavy sky but less wind and much less turbulence, the Duo took Nick then JB flew Jenifer (the partner of Andie the owner of the croft) we were camping at. JB then managed to fly Penny who had been brought down to the field by Nick. She was treated to a recreation of her 1974 flight getting to 8000ft and a sight-seeing trip along the coast. 

Penny with Nick (1974) and JB (2025) to 8000ft (John Pursey)

 Bumble Bee was kept busy giving Jenifer a trip then the croft’s owners nephew a flight. All revelling in the splendid visibility from the Eurofox and the clear air. Phil Morrison then took opportunity to get more Bumble Bee practice with a couple of flights using his FRTOL skills talking to Tain range. 

Looking North from 10,000ft (John Pursey)

And the Eagle? Well Stirling had made a surprise drive up (so unlike him!) and helped push and pull for days so his reward was nearly 7 hours as AXJ’s rear gunner! A great day to show Stirling what wave flying was all about (apart from the rotor) and map reading with the danger area and Moray CTA to negotiate. We had mugged up on TMZs, flight above 10,000ft in Scotland, NOTAMS etc and used a little sliver of free space to dash up to 10,000ft+ spending most of the day above 7000ft. Approaching darkness robbed us of the full 7 hrs, but it was a great flight and the team had everything wrapped up before real dusk! Beer to follow!

Stirling and JP - nearly 7 hours (John Pursey)

Saturday was deemed potentially too damp (by some) so there was a roadtrip out to view airfields near Skye which were potentially on our hit list. The high pressure had robbed us of the wind, but all shades of wavy cloud were to be seen. For next year….

All shades of wavy cloud  (John Pursey)

The Sunday under lovely sunny skies and no wind was a chance to use the Eurofox for a little explore and with the door open I took photos of our croft, local hills and a friend of mines parents house. With the door open I embraced my door gunner from 'Nam in Apocalypse Now moment! 

Exploring in BumbleBee (John Pursey)

A final mass derig and ready for the return with Phil heading off with the Duo with an overnight at Tebay planned. For us, more sightseeing round Scotland’s north and for one of us, a swim in the sea! Colder than Cornwall… 

A cold water swim (John Pursey)

So, Northern Safari over, Nick was right about Dornoch’s potential and plans are already in place for next year! - John Pursey

Sat 11 October

 There was very low cloud at North Hill this morning, however with a keen group of members, the gliders were out at 8:30am already DI’d before the 9:00am briefing. We even managed two flights before 10:00am (cheap rate), from the west end!
The first few launches pulled off early with an 1100ft cloudbase, but conditions improved as the morning progressed and launches became increasingly higher. 

Which way is the wind blowing? (Sally Hender)

James Flory (duty instructor) ably assisted by Steve Westlake and Simon Leeson (duty tug pilot, with no takers!) worked their way through the two-seater list. 

 

Congratulations to Richard Lean (Sally Hender)

Richard Lean had his first flight in a Junior, nicely done! New member, and Assistant Cat instructor, Dan Hayday, took flights with Simon Leeson, learning the site and being put through his paces.

Strange Cloud formations (Sally Hender)

We flew through lunch, however at about 2:00pm the oil pressure warning light came on at the winch, which unfortunately meant an end to winch launching (much to Simon Leeson's delight)! Flying continued with Aerotows until 4:30pm when the list was completed. Thanks to everyone who helped, a good day with ever improving flights! - Sally Hender

October 2025 - Northern Safari

Two years in the making with the purchase of “Bumble Bee”, Chairman Nick’s long-held dream of returning to Dornoch with a glider to recreate a North Hill trip in 1974, with a lovely wave flight to 8000ft. Bumble Bee and importantly a trailer were the key ingredients to facilitate the self-launch capability needed for expedition flying. The trailer came together this year and was essential if bad weather was likely. Storm Amy showed exactly why the trailer was a godsend! 

With a pre-planned Denbigh trip, the notion of heading on to Scotland directly appealed as it broke the journey in two. Denbigh started slack but gave two good days with the Eagle wearing out the ridge in one spot to wait for wave which finally obliged. Nearly six hours and a good start to the soaring. Another good day was over shadowed by Storm Amy planning with the weather sources changing on her track. 

Portmoak wave (John Pursey)

The Jones Flying Circus of Eurofox, Eagle, Duo and SF27 finally opted to scuttle to Portmoak on the Friday to ride out Amy. Grace at SGC was very accommodating and the team battened down on Friday night with rooms for Alan and Phil rather than tents… It was a very wild night for the van dwellers, especially the one on the windward edge of the parking… That wasn’t where I thought I was when parking, but Nick and JB sneakily moved when I wasn’t looking! All safe on the airfield, 

Storm Amy damage on the Bishop (John Pursey)

 ....the woods on Bishop were matchwood in a few places. Sunday had a great forecast so we stayed and had a fabulous wave day with people at 20,000ft and locals doing fast 300kms. A Duo-only day for the flying circus, JP and JB enjoying 10,000+ off the ridge. 

The trip to Dornoch was pushed to the Tuesday and with an early start we were able to get to Dornoch, meet the airfield operator and have a rigged Eurofox and Duo by 3:15pm. We managed two flights into a wavy sky but the gaps kept filling. On the second one JP and JB were lucky enough to get the sky to open up and get to 7,500ft in the evening sun. It was working well but with an airway to contend with and the day getting on, a quick descent to a landing just ahead of sundown. 

Today’s (Thursday) forecast was very encouraging if a tad windy. The Eagle was dragged out and a scene from the original 1974 trip recreated with a part-rigged Eagle positioned next to the original firestation shed with Nick, rigging pin in hand sauntering across! 

1974  Dornoch with BBB

 

2025 Dornoch with AXJ

 Two flights were done, Duo and Eagle, but with some of the most gnarly rotor ever it was clear neither pilot would like a second! 

 

Stunning cloudscapes at Dornoch (John Pursey)

The nearby Tain range had incoming Typhoons for live fire at 2:30pm so we had a cut off to back. The lift was epic, as was the windspeed. 60+kts as we got higher the Eagle was in unfamiliar territory flying at 70kts! Still going up with a TAS of 100kts this was epic! We hit 10,000ft with ease and struggled to get down! We flew until the Typhoons were due and were rewarded with some  stunning cloudscapes. Nick was right about Dornoch all along… Beer o’clock and hopes for another good day tomorrow if maybe less wind. The flying circus has the Isle of Skye next in its sights but maybe the forecast high will stop our run of good luck with the wind! - John Pursey