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

Thurs 9 October

 Thursday's forecast looked promising for a nice October day and it was with a good turn out. Intially flights were just circuits but the promise of things improving as the cloudbase went up was a possibility. Duty instructor Ron Johns assisted by Chris Wool, Guy Adams and Andy Pincombe worked through the two-seater list with only the odd check/card renewal flights to deal with. 

 

Lovely October day (Mark Layton)

From lunchtime onwards until the end of the day, thermals although weak were there to be had. Most members had a least one flight with some opting for a second or third depending on how successful the intial ones were! 

 

Barbie in the Pik20 (see S&G article) (Mark Layton)

With plenty of flight times near the half hour, Pete Harmer used all his experience and won the day with a Junior flight of almost an hour.  

 

Weak thermals under the clouds (Mark Layton)

It was a pleasurable day in the October sun with 39 flights including 7 aerotows. Let's hope there's still a few more before the winter sets in! - Mark Layton

Sun 5 October

 We spend a lot of time each year, whether driving or as a passenger. sitting in cars at traffic lights, roadworks and general traffic jams - but maybe not as much time that glider pilots spend looking at weather forecasts trying to work out what a tomorrow or today will be like for flying.

Today’s forecast was for showers and a brisk Westerly wind, and as it happened that is pretty much what we had as actual weather today so we did not have to spend too much time trying to second guess the forecast.

The gliders were left in the hangar whilst the briefing was completed and as part of which, discussion between those present focused on various Threat and Error Management aspects - should we fly including the importance of  looking after canopies and making sure that gliders were parked carefully. With ridge flying likely the opportunity was taken to discuss and remind re ‘ridge rules’.

 

Ridge Day 

With Mike Sloggett, James Flory and Peter Smith all in agreement that it was flyable the winch run was set up for the ‘traditional’ launch run of the winch in the NW corner and Launch Control next to the trailers.

And progress was soon being made with the flying list, with the morning’s conditions providing continuing opportunities for pilots of all levels of experience to have fun trying to work the ridge - with the longer flights delaying the eventual return into circuit and to fly the approach in ‘interesting conditions’.

 

North Hill Airfield from the ridge (Peter Smith)

Around lunchtime an imminent shower suggested that a stop for food and drink would be good use of everyone’s time and with all suitably fed and watered the afternoon’s flying continued.

By now the showers had disappeared with more and more blue skies appearing and some thermic clouds too - but as is often the case in gliding some clouds promised more than they could provide so the ridge provided a good ‘fall back’ for some pilots.

The wind was forecast to reduce in strength as the day progressed but this did not happen to the extent that late afternoon with everyone having flown that wanted to, a decision was made to put everything away. 

During the day Dave Perriam took a Trial Lesson visitor for a couple of flights in the DG505 and we welcomed Dan Hayday, as a reciprocal member from Cotswold GC, who had a couple of flights with Mike Sloggett.

Great teamwork today, thanks to all for a really good day from start to finish. - Mike Sloggett

Sat 4 October

Today was never likely to be a flying day, not due to rain but the strength of the wind!
Storm Amy certainly rattled the windows in the clubhouse, however we were safe in the knowledge that our new roof would not blow away! 
The log burner was fired up “just to test it” you understand, and the clubhouse soon warmed up. I was covering for John Pursey today who is away with the rest of the North Hill nomads exploring Brave Heart territory way up North!

There was still some admin tasks for our record keeping now we are operating under SFCL, James Flory was soon seen beavering away in the lecture room preparing pilot records. The task would be shared later by Jill who spent the whole day with Pete labelling the pocket folders that will be housed in the new filing cabinet under the launch point. Thanks all!

 

Steve Westlake showing Sam the South coast run (Mark Courtney)

We had new temporary members join us today dad Shane and son Sam, they plan to join us when their 3 months membership runs out, so they were given the “full treatment”.  Firstly some short lectures and then into the simulator, both made incredible progress, but Sam was outstanding!
Steve Westlake took over from me and continued training dad before heading to the coast to ridge soar in 25kts of southerly wind. - We simply must do this again for real soon! 

Meanwhile Paul Medlock headed up a lumberjack team, James Hood, Ashley, Joel and dad Ivan, they spent several hours chopping wood and stacking logs in the clubhouse ready for colder days, (or when the log burner needs testing again).

Oktoberfest (Jill Harmer)

Vicky was busy preparing food for the evening event, Oktoberfest, whilst Sally and Rob decorated the clubhouse with German flags etc. The evening was a great success, a wonderful spread of German style food, Lederhosen and Bavarian Tavern girls, Sally's quiz, Pretzel tossing and Stein holding (won by Paul Medlock 9mins 2 secs), and £80 raised for the DSGC Charitable Trust. - Mark Courtney

Thur 2 October

 Driving up to the club today all you could see was mist however, arriving there the mist had not made it to the field's height.

Cloudbase started low so an hour waiting in the clubhouse solved it. The first flights were; Chris Mew, Jack Sewell, Dave Perriam all launching through a few wispy clouds. The ridge was just about working with an average flight time today of 16 minutes. 

 

Waiting to launch (Jack Sewell)

The southerly wind proved a little challenging  but there was some wave around to help extend flights. Junior LRD,  the 2 ASK21s and the DG505 were all kept busy and longest flight prize went to John Borland - just short of half an hour.

Thank you to instructors Mike Sloggett, Mark Courtney and Ron Johns. - Jack Sewell

Sun 28 September

 After a non-flying day yesterday, Saturday 27th September, (although there was extensive ground schooling and use of the Simulator), there were a lot of pilots eager to fly at the briefing this morning. 
Further information was supplied regarding the new rules for non-SPL pilots and the way they will be monitored from next week, before setting up the airfield by the trailers at the east end. 

The first launch was taken just 7 mins before 10:00am by Paul Warren with the Duty Instructor, James Flory. Followed by Lily with Pete Smith stepping in to help, squeaking it in at 9:59am. 

 

Clear visibility (Richard Lean)

Phil Taylor took a flight off aerotow, and enjoyed surfing between the clouds and gaining height from thermals along the way. A loop several years after the last one was an added treat.

Most flights were circuits until 11:40am when Richard Lean took a solo launch and had to be called down after 27 mins (sorry!). Then there were a series of longer flights, Richard Roberts getting the longest flight of the day with 126 mins.  

 

Rob and Dan took a flight at the end of the day in the DG505, and had some fun in the air….

For the first time for over a month, we managed a full set (+1) of Trial flights with a variety of BI's looking after our visitors, and a lot of interest in joining the Club. Flying continued, with Shaun Dayman and Simon Minson standing in to help James with the two-seater list. The final launch landed at 5:45pm, and we had everything packed away fairly shortly afterwards. 

Last flight  (Richard Lean)

Thanks to everyone for helping, it was lovely to see so many staying until the very end and assisting everyone to get a go. - Sally Hender

 

Thur 25 September

 The day started with a light breeze and clouds travelling towards us. The first flights of the day were Paul and his daughter, Helen Medlock, and Richard Lean doing his card checks  then a solo flight afterwards.

 

New Instructor Shaun Dayman with Jack Sewell 

Shaun Dayman having received his new instructor ratings yesterday (Well done Shaun) took Jack Sewell up for a few flights achieving a total time of 88 minutes in the air. 

 

Sparkling visibility (John Borland)

After lunch there was strong thermals and a mild headwind pushing us away from the field.

Tom Sides was in charge of the trial visitor Claire in the 505, Claire had won her donated winch launch in a raffle at the Plymtree Country Fayre. Towards the end of the day the thermals started to disappear and all the gliders came in within a few minutes of each other!

Thank you everyone who helped out today. - Jack Sewell, Junior member

Wed 24 September

 The misty / low cloud on arrival soon dissipated by 10 and the long walk to the west end was undertaken shortly afterwards. With only Pete Smith instructing initially and Stu joining in for the afternoon the training list was worked through until the end of the day. 

Gridding under a street (Mark Layton)

By late morning decent looking clouds appeared and thermals were to be had for the lucky few. The sky looked better than it was in reality as the thermals in amongst the sometimes heavy sink were short and narrow and not very high. At times it all switched off locally and the flights were reduced to extended circuits.  

 

Hangar landings (Mark Layton)

A small number of private gliders came out to join in, 230, V5, 380, JDP and 477. With Pete Startup (home to get a change of clothes in-between trips to Portmoak and Denbigh) managed to get to just short of Glastonbury before turning for home. 

A good day for the end of September before everything was packed away by 1800. - Mark Layton

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