Sun 21 September

 Peter Field was our Duty Instructor for today, after Briefing, we walked the gliders up to the west end of the airfield. James Flory was also onsite so stepped in to help with the list. It was pretty gusty, but fortunately was straight down the airfield, so launches were a good height, even though the flights were fairly short. 

Gill Morrison took a flight in her new toy (JEU) Libelle. 

Gill converted to Libelle (Phil Morrison)

Flying continued throughout lunch, with Pete Smith also helping to instruct, meaning they could tag team the K21’s to avoid stopping. 

The Trial Lesson was flown by Dave Perriam, he seemed to have fun, (the Trial Lesson not Dave!) Flying was completed by 5:15pm, with everyone training getting three flights each, everything was packed away by 6:00pm, and we returned to the clubhouse for a warming cup of tea. It was a chilly day, but the sun poked its head through the clouds at times, and we had a good day. Thanks to everyone who mucked in and helped. - Sally Hender

Thur 18 September - Portmoak

 With a forecast for 25 knot winds gusting to 40, the Portmoak Duty Instructor said the day would be "sporty". And though the wind direction was supportive of the Bishop ridge, we knew flying today was for more experienced pilots.. A horizontal windsock just told us it might be prudent to wait a bit before launching, but by 11:00 am, the first gliders were launching, and reported back that wave was available. 

 

Sporty (Tom Sides)

Pete Startup was the first North Hill pilot to launch, and he used his 5 hour flight to climb to almost 11,000ft. Simon Minson followed, achieving 13,500ft over 5 hours. 

 

SM at 13,500ft (Simon Minson)

Andy Davey was able to reach 4,600 ft while Stu Procter and I took JZK up to 8,200ft!! Andy Williams and Guy Adams both had long flights, and Stu flew again with James Flory, but the wave had collapsed by then and they were limited to ridge flights. 

 

Tom Sides and Stuart Procter  in JZK

Some of us are heading south tomorrow, but as the weather looks promising, there are a few who are staying through Friday or later, so as to continue enjoying Scottish gliding conditions. All in all,this week was a very good trip and top notch companionship. - Tom Sides

Thur 18 September

It wasn't that long ago that we were all moaning about the hot easterly winds that dragged on for weeks. Now its the south westerlies  bringing gusty, showery days that have been plaguing us! 

Instructors Mike Sloggett and Pete Smith decided on a delayed start whilst the cloudbase slowly crept up to a height a launch could be attempted. All the kit was DI'd and ready to go for the right moment. Meanwhile in the workshop further testing of the Perkoz airbrake control rod was carried out to confirm what we didn't want to hear. There are some very small cracks on the component making the aircraft unserviceable until a replacement can be sourced. Due to the unavailability of a spare in the short term the Perkoz was put in its trailer for the time being.  

 

Thermals, ridge and weak wave today (Mark Layton)

After much pacing up and down Mike and Pete took a couple of met flights before announcing that we'd give it a go with both K21's and the two Juniors. Launches in the brisk yellow card conditions produced decent heights and along with a bit of ridge lift, thermals and weak wave extended flights were to be made if you stumbled into them at the right time.  

Drizzle and low cloud at times (Mark Layton)

 With Vicki being struck down with the lurgy at the last minute and the prospect of many members becoming hungry at some point during the day, stand-in catering guru Barbie volunteered to make sandwiches for everyone with donations to the DSGC Charitable Trust (Please see Sally if you didn't have any cash on you). Having stopped flying to partake, conditions changed on the restart with an amount of light rain in the air resulting in a stop/start afternoon until everyone had flown. By 15:30 the prospect to continue didn't look too great so we packed everything away, happy to have flown on yet another marginal day. Of course, as soon as the hangar doors closed it brightened up!

 

Both Juniors in use again (Mark Layton)

 
 A great team effort from everyone to get people in the air and a special mention for Barbie who saved the day in the clubhouse!  - Mark Layton

Tue 16 September - Portmoak

 Nothing better for a glider pilot than waking up to a sunny day with great weather forecasts. The morning briefing also reinforced that, though adding that more than 25 gliders would be in the local airspace at the same time. 

 

The sun on JZK (Stu Procter)

Flying on the Bishop hill was not for the faint of heart. The lift was steady, but you had to constantly be watching for other gliders. Gradually, gliders moved out from the hill, but the surprise was when both thermals and wave developed to augment the ridge lift. 

 

Wave over Loch Leven (Simon Minson)

We'll start with the big winners of the day: Andy Williams (FUN) achieved his gold height, 

 

Congratulations to Andy Williams Gold Height

while Simon Minson (SM), Andy Davey, (JB), Guy Adams (CEC) and Ron Johns/Chris Wool (711) all had impressive wave flights. Pete Startup (230), Stu Procter, James and Emma Flory (JZK), Mark Wallis and I all had fun flying the Portmoak ridge and the thermals which took us even higher. - Tom Sides

Mon 15 September - Portmoak

 The sky was looking much more hopeful as we headed to the club this morning. Still lowish clouds, but the forecast said they would lift until rain returned early afternoon. Most importantly, solid wind from the west made it almost certain the Bishop would be working. 

Lowish clouds (Tom Sides)

Not many SGC members at the club, but there were enough to help the North Hill group (now joined by Andy Williams  in FUN) . We set up a launch grid, with Simon Minson and  James Flory first off to finish James' site checks. 

Clouds above the Bishop (Tom Sides)

 I took the next cable with Ron in 711 finding not only ridge flying but some light wave in front of the hill.  Pete Startup was up next for an hour-plus flight of hill bashing, joined by Andy Davey in JB. 

Having too much fun (Stu Procter)

 

Stu Procter and James took JZK up while Simon flew his own glider. Guy Adams had over 1/2 hour in CEC and Andy Williams flew a bit over 20 minutes before the rain forced everyone down. 

 

Enjoyable day (Tom Sides)

A really enjoyable day. Or maybe it just seems so when you're flying at a great site.- Tom Sides

Sun 14 September - Portmoak

The group has grown a bit larger with the addition of Guy Adams, but a lackluster morning briefing announced light winds from the south (NOT what one wants to have at Portmoak), so a general decision was made to pass on circuit bashing flights and instead go for an extended walk. 

 

Non-flying day (Simon Minson)

Jules Minson won the distance award with a 16 mile loop of Loch Leven, while James Flory and family headed north to hike across and visit a proper rugged Scottish landscape. The rest of the group hiked some 4 miles around the Loch to a local farm shop for lunch, and then back to the gliding field. No flying today, but enjoyable company. 

 

Andy's Birthday (Simon Minson)

We headed to Kinross for a group dinner, where the highlight certainly was a group celebration of Andy Davey's birthday.  

 

The Muirs Inn (Simon Minson)

Better weather and optimism is forecast for Monday. - Tom Sides

Sat 13 September - Portmoak

 Optimism was generally high that, despite the forecast of heavy showers, we'd be able to fly the Bishop. As it turned out, the wind never did quite make the expected turn from SSW to westerly, and its speed occasionally dropped below what was needed to stay on the ridge. The result was many short flights and circuits, with only one extended ridge flight. That was made by Simon Minson, who found enough lift to stay up for over an hour. 

 

Stu admiring the green grass and blue sky (Tom Sides)

We kept JZK busy with Stu Procter taking Tom Sides on a refresher flight, and then conducting a site check flight with James Flory, a new boy to Scottish ridge flying. Stu continued by giving Emma Flory a F&F flight. After a very heavy shower passed through, Tom and Chris Wool took an abbreviated flight followed by James and Stu making an even shorter circuit flight. 

 

The Bishop is hiding  (Tom Sides)

Andy Davey was able to coax his glider to stay up for almost 20 minutes, but surprise of the day was that Pete Startup was only able to remain airborne for 12 minutes, again a rain shower forcing him down. 

So a day dodging showers and making the best of what ridge lift there was. But it's great to be back in Scotland and the friendly Portmoak members. - Tom Sides

Sat 13 September

The weather forecast must have put members off - but they missed a really good day. The field was set up and one K21 and one Junior taken to the launch point with only just enough members  present to run the field. 

Plenty of thermals at North Hill (John Borland)

 

Steve Westlake had Milo and Toby on the instruction list and the solo list had seven pilots to fly. The wind was variously SW, W then NW with a fairly strong gradient which did give very good launch heights.

From the start, the flights were all extended to some degree during the morning. A heavy shower arrived in time to call for lunch. The sky was a little reluctant to give lift after the rain but by 14:00 the thermals had got going and it became difficult to come down.

 

Blue skies after the showers (John Borland)

 The totals for the day were 9 solo flights 10 dual from 15 winch launches and four aerotows. One booked Trial flight and one walk-in power pilot keen to get reacquainted with gliders. 

A good team effort to get the most out of the day and all kit safely put to bed by 16:30. Thanks to Steve for running the day and Alan Rappaport for standing in as tuggie. There were plenty of opportunities for more people to fly today.  - John Borland (Longest flight)  

Fri 12 September - Portmoak

 Several early birds traveled up on Thursday and took advantage of some mixed weather conditions to test the Bishop ridge. Pete Startup (230) managed 2 1/2 hours, Ron Johns and Chris Wool (711) a bit over 2 hours and Andy Davey (JB) was just short of 2 hours. Mid-day showers put a pause to the morning flights, but smiles abounded. 

The familiar view of Portmoak (Stu Procter)

After an EARLY start from North Hill, Stu Procter, Simon  Minson and Tom Sides arrived on site at 3pm, and with the combined help of the aforementioned early flyers, rigged the club DG505. 

 

...and the Bishop (Simon Minson)

Stu and Simon were anxious to gain some time on the ridge and managed a late afternoon 25 minutes before a threatening shower encouraged a prudent decision to land and put away JZK for the night. James Flory and family arrived safely, having stopped several times to recharge their car battery. No flight today, but tomorrow looks encouraging. - TS

Thurs 11 September

 I think the majority of those who turned up probably thought that with the prospect of the advancing rain in the strong gusty south westerly wind there was little chance of flying today. Then Duty Instructor Mike Sloggett burst through the clubhouse door announcing that he has seen little sign of any rain on the trip up from Plymouth and the wind was not yet as forecast. The aircraft and ground equipment was quickly DI'd enabling the first two flights to be at reduced cost. Mike's plan was to get everyone in the air with at least one flight before deciding on Plan B. 

Shadows are getting longer (Mark Layton)

The gusty yellow card conditions required careful planning on the launch as well as the bumpy approach with plenty of height and speed required on finals. The strong thermals were to be had in amongst the gusty which made things interesting. Shaun Dayman managed to dodge a few rain clouds and bagged the longest flight of the day with 34 minutes before airbraking down due the advancing rain. His only regret was not being able to get his phone out of his pocket to take photos of the spectacular rainbows in the stormy sky (that's his story anyway). The rain showers proceeded by strong gusty conditions appeared at regular intervals, sometimes almost biblical! 

 

Sunny at times (Mark Layton)

After everyone had flown and having wiped down the rain covered gliders for the umpteen time with only the prospect of circuits it was decided to call an end to the day at mid afternoon.  

 

Storms passing by to the south (David Clements)

Whilst the remaining few were still flying those who had already flown derigged the Perkoz to the workshop for an inspection of the airbrake controls as requested by the BGA Technical Officer, the Junior FZF was rigged after having a new canopy fitted and the DG505 was derigged for it private hire trip to Portmoak. 

 

Checking the Bumblebee trailer (Mark Layton)

Also the Bumblebee tug was being test fitted in its new trailer for its forthcoming holiday in North Wales and Scotland. - Mark Layton

 

Fri 5 September - Course Week

The final day of the course started with some blue sky, clouds but a tad windy. The two K21’s were readied along with the Perkoz and moved to the launch point with the first flights off just after 10:00am. The tasks for each of us was as follows.  I continued to polish the launch, circuit, approach and landing.   Elise Turpin was getting to grips with the launch,  trimming and circuits as well as attempting to thermal. 
By Duncan Bardney's own admission, he was mainly trying not to crash but leant a good lesson that three Buzzards are the ones to follow when looking for thermals.

 

September Course

Paul Warren, like myself following a long period away from gliding, was also perfecting the launch, circuit and landing  in addition he practiced a high level cable brake to good effect. 
Rob Adams (following a very long break away from gliding for a few years having previously been at Silver standard), continued to make superb progress and the old skills were soon remembered after the week long course.    

 

Nice sky (Andrew Chisholm)

Glenn Turpin offered to take some course members up flying the Perkoz so giving us a ‘third’ instructor after lunch and they experienced a different gliders handling characteristics. 

Not so nice sky (Andrew Chishom)

The weather for the day did hold though a few light showers passed close by but ominous black clouds were building by the end. The final flight of the day in the K21 with Duncan under instruction from Steve Westlake trying to beat the approaching rain suffered an actual low level cable break.  So that concluded the course! 

 A big thank you goes to our flying instructors Peter Field, Steve Westlake and all the course helpers. Their work meant the course ran smoothly on the flyable days and on the non flying day when lectures along with simulator work, they were on hand to be ready incase the weather changed for the good. - Andrew C Chisholm (first-time blogger)

Thurs 4 September - Course Week

 The day has been much better than forecast with good thermals to a cloud base of 2500ft, some streeting and the ridge working some of the time. The westerly veered slightly north in the afternoon and a few light showers drifted through. 

Launching into a moody sky (Rob Adams)

Due to bad weather over the last few days all course members felt practising various circuit scenarios and spin recovery was very useful and all agreed they felt more confident today and made good progress. - Rob Adams - New member and first time blogger 

 

Gaggles (Rob Adams)

Pete Startup was one of the private owners who struggled upwind and almost made it to Knowstone and got  blown back to North Hill, but most were happy to stay local in the really strong turbulent lift. And a busy day with 39 winch launches and 3 aerotows.

Wed 3 September - Course Week

Most of the day was spent in the DSGC simulator due to the weather conditions, however it gave me and many others a much better grasp of how the controls work as well as the use of the rudders. 

More Simulator time (Karen King)

Our instructors gave us informative lectures throughout the day which was a massive help when flying was an option. Elise Turpin - New member and first time blogger.

Tues 2 September - Course Week

 Day 2 started with less favourable weather conditions so instead of flying we had a series of lectures regarding lift, drag, the causes and effects of positive and negative g, and the perils of flying with wet wings. We were educated about parachutes - how to put them on, how to deploy them, and how necessary it is to keep them dry, we even deconstructed one that was due and inspection. 

The Club Simulator -so useful  (Karen King)

 

We went on to gain useful experience on the flight simulator which  certainly proved useful for those with less flying hours. We were hopeful after lunch that we might be able to do some flying, so the winch was set up and the gliders were readied. 

Practicing winch launches in the Club Simulator (Karen King)

 

In the meantime we had a lecture regarding winch launches - how to do it safely  and how to recover then we were able to put this into practice again on the sim. 

At 3pm the final call was made, that there wouldn’t be any flying today but tomorrow is another day. - Duncan Bardner (new member first-time blogger)

Mon 1 September - Course Week

Day 1-  (Following the duff weekend) After nothing but doom and gloom per the Met Office weather forecast and the clubs own RASP the day dawned surprisingly brightly and the intrepid course members made there way to the club to be pleasantly surprised with high cloud and blue skies.

 

Soarable at times (Paul Warren)

The course was split with three new members, and three with some experience and after a little bit of further weather checking and a briefing the gliders were brought out and we were away!

The first launches went well, and there was even lift in the sky giving a early flight of over 30 minutes, and we got into a steady rhythm where no glider was down for very long before it was launched again, thanks to sterling work from the volunteers.  

 

A bit more rain needed to make the grass grow (Paul Warren)

The day continued like this, with only a few small moments of rain, the first of which forced into a very well-timed lunch break and the others merely needing a few minutes of shelter and some use of the squeegees to clear the water from the wings before the next launches.

 

Occasional splashes of rain (Paul Warren)

After a full day of flying we all ended up with multiple flights, a large quantity of added experience and eagerly awaiting day two!

Thank you to both the instructors and volunteers for making this all possible! - Paul Warren

Thurs 28 August

 The forecast was for a changeable gusty day with rain showers and that was what we got, although the wind strength was less than expected. Everything was readied early as the plan was to get everyone flown before the rain arrived, we almost made it but four unlucky people unfortunately didn't get to fly. 

The Thursday regulars surprised themselves as the first few launches were before 10 am giving reduced launch fees! Flights were slightly extended up to 11 minutes and quick turnarounds were achieved thanks to  the junior members willingness to retrieve the gliders without delay. As the first lot of rain fast approached from the South West, Paul Summers (solo in the K21) had to cut short his potential longest flight of the day as he air braked and side slipped down from 2000ft as he attempted to beat it back to the airfield.

 

The morning showed promise (Mark Layton)

With an enforced early lunch and much gazing out the clubhouse house windows to determine if we should restart to fly or not. Even the combined gliding experience of about 500 years (a rough guesstimate) of those present, couldn't work it out. After one failed attempt to restart it was decided to pack everything away in the dry before we all got soaked in the next rain shower. 

Interesting cloudscapes (David Clements)

 

The lucky few got to keep current but unfortunately some didn't get the chance, but that's gliding for you!Thank you to everyone for helping others to get into  the air today, particularly those members who did not fly. - Mark Layton & Mike Sloggett 

Lily and Benjie supervised by JB in the DSGC Simulator (Richard Lean)

 

Once the flying was called off for the day, Lily, Benjie, Arthur and Francesco decided to put into practice some of the theory about spinning that JB had gone through earlier in the day. As well as spin recovery, and practicing different scenarios it could occur in - they also did some launch failures and practised the recovery as you would in today's wind direction and conditions. It was a very fun and useful session in the simulator; it was ended with a few celebratory aerobatic demonstrations by Benjie! - Lily Sanders-Page

Wed 27 August

 Well the forecast wasn’t far adrift from what it delivered – overcast at first followed by brighter bits to try to tempt us out late morning, which it succeeded in so doing after midday, only for the first flight (Gordon Hutchinson and me) to be  able to review the approaching shower clouds from a similar height. Meanwhile Glenn Turpin and Chris Warnes sat patiently in the Perkoz hoping to see enough blue to do spin checks. It was over an hour before it cleared and then the blue became prevalent and Junior LRD,  K21HCX, and the Perkoz were then in use until everyone had flown.

 

Brown parched North Hill airfield (Peter Smith)

Chris completed spin checks and Karen likewise with some additional soaring. At least we flew with some strong lift when it eventually chose to appear.

 

Strong lift (Peter Smith)

Meanwhile, before the sky cleared we investigated some of the Club’s more dubious drainage, and Josh Lucas, our helper in times of need, crawled most of the length of the Clubhouse beneath the floor to identify and remedy a long-standing  problem. Probably least said, soonest mended – quite literally. - Peter Smith

Sun 24 August - Junior Nationals

What an end to the week…

Woke to a welcome change, gridding on the north end, so nice and close to the campsite! ⛺️ 
Briefing at 10:00am set Task A of 193.9km heading south first for a change. One of the turnpoints set at ‘Far Far Away’ very appropriate!

Forecast had it to cut off fairly early today, which meant Dan actually planned to start early off the start line. Launching began at 11:40am with the Start line opening at 12:57pm. However, Dan seemed to have a change of mind, and didn’t go immediately. Waiting for 10 mins or so before heading off. 

 

Dan with a new hat (Sally Hender)

We headed to the pub for lunch in the sun, while Dan made his way around the Task. The first turnpoint seemed to be tricky for everyone, most looking like they were getting low. Dan got to 900ft just after we ordered lunch at the pub!!! Fortunately it was a Ploughmans so we had decided we always had the option of a doggy bag! Dan however, had other ideas, and although later told us, “the cows seemed to be getting quite large”, he managed with his usual dogged determination to work his way back up to a reasonable height. 

The rest of the task seemed to be pretty straightforward, and he landed back after a 2 hour 13 minute flight, over 229.68km, at 103.08km/h, achieving 10th place for the day with 617points. His best result this week!

We were then able to derig quite easily (for the first time this week!), ready for the journey home tomorrow. 

 

Final position for the week 9th place, out of 38 competitors - a fantastic result, will done Dan. - Sally Hender

Sun 24 August

 A fresh start to the morning with quite poor visibility down the valley. All club gliders and ground vehicles had their daily inspection and were ready for the long day ahead. Briefing was at 9:15 where we decided to set up launch point to the North West corner. All gliders were towed up and ready for launch at 10:30. The wind had died down through the morning allowing for some really nice flights. 

Lily Sanders-Page was given 4 practice  launch eventualities which she had to deal with. Shortly after she was ready for her first ever solo! She did so well in fact that we had to tell her to come back down. She went again for the second time landing beautifully and waiting next to the glider with a smile that we could see from launch point - Congratulations Lily. 

 

Well done to Lily for First Solo (Mike Sloggett)

James Flory and Mike Sloggett worked hard to lunchtime where we stopped for 45 minutes. Thanks to Vicki for making perfect food as always. The wind started to pick up over lunch which meant we had to change the card colour to yellow. Simon Minson took over from James Flory for the afternoon where there were some nice thermals but people weren’t able to stay in them unfortunately, however we pushed through the two-seater list and the single seater list. We continued through until 17:30, when we began to pack up all the gliders and ground vehicles. We were finished for just before 18:00 resulting in a successful day at the gliding club. 

Many thanks to Mike, James and Simon for instructing throughout the day and to everyone that helped around the club today. Finally another congratulations to Lily for her first solo! - Adam Smyth

Sat 23 August

 A positive forecast for good weather and some good potential for cross-country flying saw a fairly busy Clubhouse for morning briefing.  The first dilemma to solve was one for James Flory who, in addition to standing in at short notice as the Duty Instructor, was also the rostered duty tug pilot.  A brief discussion ensued, at which it became apparent that even the multi-talented James Flory cannot be in 2 places at once.  Luckily, help was on hand in the form of Peter Smith, who kindly volunteered to bear the brunt of the morning instructional duties, and Robert Lee who, after enjoying 70 minutes soaring in his own glider, took over tug duties for some of the afternoon.  

K21 (Arthur Lean)

 

The triumvirate of James, Peter and Robert were ably assisted by some excellent teamwork on the ground, resulting in a great days gliding.  The two-seater  flying list was relatively short, with a mix of spinning, currency flying and training for new member Christian Sheer, a returnee from a recent trial flight.  Christian enjoyed an extended soaring flight of 54 minutes with Peter Smith, followed by 2 shorter flights with James Flory.  It was obvious that he had retained a lot of his skills from an Air Cadet gliding scholarship completed around 12 years ago, and we look forward to watching his progress now with DSGC.  

A number of members enjoyed extended soaring flights with private gliders, some flights exceeding 3 hours.  To the amusement of a small audience of club members, Andy Batchelor emerged from a soaring flight in the Junior rather wet, having sat on a soaked cushion for about 75 minutes due to a very leaky Camelback.  Luckily, it was rather warm in the cockpit so conditions were akin to an airborne jacuzzi rather than a glacial lake!  

Simon Jordy looked after the trial flight visitors and helped out with some friends and family flying – happy customers all round.  All in all, an excellent days’ gliding enabled by some great supporting teamwork on the ground. - Andy Batchelor

Sat 23 August - Junior Nationals

 Gridding again was set before the 10:00am briefing. Most pilots expecting to grid squat for a few hours....then for the task to be scrubbed. The Competition Officials (and Treasurer) had other ideas!!!!!

JDP ready to launch (Sally Hender)

First launch was at 1:17pm, and Dan was more than happy to be near the back of the grid today, as we stood and watched every consecutive glider head towards what looked like the only thermal in the sky…. that gaggle looked pretty full on.

 As the grid shrank before him, Dan was heard to mutter, “I don’t think I’m getting back!”
The start gate opened at 14:10, after another efficient grid launch by the eight tug planes.
Rob and I then took a stroll to the Farm Shop at the end of the road for coffee and cake, while watching the proceedings on Glide and Seek again.
Dan got back to the airfield just before 5:00pm, and was very relieved to do so!

 

Dan: "I’ve never worked so hard on a task, at one point I was pleading with the glider to go up! It was not fun at all!!!!"

The winner for the day was actually flying, B19, the ASW19, Ruth used to own!!!
Dan, took 2 hours 16 mins to fly 127.43km, at 55.97kmh, (slightly slower than yesterday!!!) came in placed 12th with 428 points. Now up to 13th place of 38 pilots for the week. (One more day to go and all to play for) - Sally Hender

Fri 22 August - Course week

The final day of course week started bright and early, with vehicles out of the hangar by 08:30, HCX and KEK DI'd by 9 and a morning briefing from Steve Westlake shortly after. The 2 K21s and a Junior were towed out to the North Eastern end of the field.

The first flight was away by 10:00, which was Steve instructing Martin Cook in KEK: impressive cumulus clouds already forming to the North allowing for 22 minutes. Mike Sloggett and Adam Smyth jumped into the other K21 for checks, in which he pulled an awkward height launch failure. Before long, Adam was off on his second ever solo, thermalling all the way to cloudbase until he was a tiny spec at over 3300ft. He was called down and sent away again for another, this time managing 23 minutes. 

 

Benjie Pitts taking a launch into a great sky (Arthur Lean)

Having soloed the day before along with Adam, your humble scribe Arthur Lean had a similar check flight with Mike, before being sent off solo. Frustratingly, the cable broke on the ground run accounting for a DNF, but after a splice from Paul Summers the winch was back up and running, and I launched straight into lift, reaching 3700ft. Thermals seemed to be set to the Condor 'Bombastic' pre-set, because on the next flight I encountered +11 knots up. What an amazing experience for 2 newly solo pilots.

Steve Westlake flew checks with Benjie Pitts who also secured a solo flight, staying up at cloudbase for 31 minutes. The sky was highly populated in all directions with large relatively flat cumulus clouds, which had vast areas of lift - ideal for local soaring. Benjie and I were called down for lunch break - Paul Summers then taking KEK towards Cullompton for an hour.  

 

Congratulations to Luke Stabb converting to Junior (Mike Sloggett)

Luke Stabb flew a  simulated launch failure with Steve Westlake before getting sent off solo in the Junior. Manual read and with plenty of solos in the K21 under his belt, Luke launched confidently and flew a great circuit. If that wasn't enough, he experienced a genuine cable break on his second flight in the Junior, reacting quickly and landing ahead. He was back flying soon after the cable was fixed. 

Paul Medlock got out JDD, however missing the best pre-lunch conditions as  a Sea Breeze appeared to be coming in from the South. Lily Sanders-Page, on the brink of going solo, flew 3 flights with Mike Sloggett. Had the wind not swung around to the South, she would've gone solo too - fingers crossed for fair weather so that it can finally happen in the coming days or weeks. Mike also took Lily's Mum Hayley for her first flight in a K21, who came back with a large grin on her face.

Benjie got the last flight of the course, launching into dead air thanks to the sea breeze and into the circuit. As the gliders were packed away, Richard who had been driving cable retrieve came to Luke with a souvenir from his launch failure - the broken section of cable with the end entirely melted. 

 

Great course for all (Angie Pitts)

What a day it was to finish of an amazing week's flying. Of 6 trainees, 5 were under 18s - with 2 re-soloing, including a first solo in the junior, and 2 first solos - soon to be 3 when Lily gets hers. Weather allowed for flying every day of the course, beginning with wave, then low cloud but finishing off with an excellent soaring day at the end! A huge thank you to all of the course helpers who enabled this to happen, and a special thanks to Julian West who was helping all week! And to the instructors Mark Courtney, Steve Westlake and Mike Sloggett for their excellent training and for giving so much of their time to the 6 trainees. Mike Sloggett even pitched his tent on the downslope at the edge of the field, where he camped for the entire week. With all the steps he clocked up on launch failure retrieves, I’d say Mike has practically earned himself a Duke of Edinburgh Award!

Thank you and well done to everyone involved for an awesome course week. - Arthur Lean