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

Fri 22 August - Junior Nationals

Purr-fect day at 10:00am (briefing), with a fancy dress ‘Shrek’ theme, and oh, the costumes were a sight to behold! An Assigned Area Task awaited, with 3 hours for Task A. Afterward, they all posed for photos on the grid, showing off their feline flair. 

 

"Puss in Boots" - Sally Hender

 The first launch was at 12:20pm, and Task B was called instead, lasting 2 hours and 30 minutes. Our ‘Puss in Boots’ was near the front, sniffing around the first turnpoint while waiting for the start line to open. With plenty of lift around, Dan soared above 3000ft with ease. The start gate opened, and though he waited a bit, he was one of the first to pounce on the Task. 

Fancy Dress day (Sally Hender)

 
 Dan: “I flew the first leg 10 minutes over the time on delta, so I had to venture further into the second sector than I planned, however, the lift in the second sector was better than expected, so it didn’t affect me that much. I returned 1 minute and 5 seconds over the 2.5 hours, and I was thrilled with my timing and speed. Plus, I still haven’t landed out!”

 

The new hat was too big to wear in flight (Sally Hender)

Dan clawed his way to 13th place today, with a fantastic result of 109.64km/h over 276.15km, earning 824 points and 14th place overall (out of 39 competitors). Meow-velous job! - Sally Hender

 

ed: (AAT) Assigned area task is a  fixed time task, where the pilot has to make a judgement for his actual distance into each sector. Has to manage his time round the route to try to get back as close to the set time as possible (penalties for over and under), but bonus for extra distance going further into the sector round the turnpoint. Fortunately, the Oudie helps with the calculations providing you know how to drive it!

Thurs 21 August - Junior Nationals

 After two non-flying days, the briefing was again set for 10:00am, but first thing it was changed to 10:30am, but at least they grid before briefing…. a better start to the day! 

First launch was an earlier start at 1:15pm, and watching them around the task, most stayed at about 3000ft, which made it look fairly easy. 

Dan went off early again, and managed the 105km, in 1 hour 5 mins at 107kph! Rob and I went off shopping and looking around Gloucester, lunch out again😉 so missed his launch and landing!!! 

Team Hender retrieve crew enjoying lunch (Sally Hender)

Dan finished 12th place for the day, with 247 points, 17th place overall. Karaoke this evening, so don’t think it’ll be an early night!!!!! - Sally Hender

Thurs 21 August - Course Week

With the grey skies of the first 3 days of the Course week being replaced by a forecast of blue sunny skies it was good to see that the forecast and actual weather agreed. After a joint Club and Course briefing it was again a question of walking gliders down to the West end of the airfield but flying was soon underway with the Club and Course members sharing the gliders.

As the day unfolded the thermals started to appear and gliders were soon disappearing off into the yonder, some further afield to others - the conditions being so good that with only one Junior, pilots had to be “invited” to land so that others could fly.

Congratulations to Arthur Lean for first Solo (Mike Sloggett)

 

Congratulations to Adam Smyth for first Solo (Mike Sloggett)

The Course members continued to make progress with a double success for two of our junior members - after some final eventuality checks for both,  Arthur Lean, watched by a proud Dad (Richard) and grandparents, completed  his first solo around lunchtime and later in the day Adam Smyth completed his first solo watched by proud parents. 

Well done also to Pete Harmer who soared the Perkoz for over an hour after the extended medical timeout.

 

Well done Pete back solo (Jill Harmer)

Nicholas Johnson was the last to land and achieved his 5 hour flight for Silver duration - well done Nicholas.

The day continued to be quite thermic into late afternoon by which time both Club and Course members were ready to put the gliders and ground equipment away ready for the course dinner.  

Course dinner enjoyed by all (Mike Sloggett)

Many thanks to Vicki and assistant Layla  for another great course dinner- Mike Sloggett

Wed 20 August - TSC Pocklington

 The Northhill nomads started to congregate on Pocklington Airfield from Thursday 14th to set up camp. The Club DG505 travelled on Friday. Saturday was rigging day for DD3, JZK and the Blue Eagle AXJ. 

Sunday started with a long brief, a task was set and all gliders proceeded to the grid. The first launch was scheduled, delayed, delayed, delayed again then Scrubbed! Weather 8/8 cloud NNE wind cloud base 2000ft.

Monday same conditions Scrubbed, Tuesday same conditions Scrubbed again. Wednesday slightly better conditions and a task was set with five options ranging from 31.3km to 200.2km.  

 

Unpromising sky (John Borland)

The Club DG505 was on private hire by Shaun Dayman and John Borland sharing the flights with Mike Armstrong P1 - a high scoring veteran of the two seat competition. Shaun and I flipped a coin and I went first. 

Aerotow to 2,000 at 15:20 into a very unpromising sky. 8/8 cloud NNE 10kts - and the whole task was down wind. Mike worked his magic and we eventually turned Doncaster then decided on turning back taking Task 3 and then the long slog back up wind for 92.1 km. The Drax power station saved the day and we got back with a few feet to spare. Two hours 31 minutes to cover the 120.8 km task in very difficult conditions. 

The Save from Drax power station (John Borland)

The results placed JZK first in the “Hot Ship” class with the Eagle AXJ taking first place in the Wood category (and first place for the whole day) after a brilliant downwind run by John Pursey and John Burrow. Phil Morrison and Alan Rappaport  took DD3 to Pontefract and back.

As I write Thursday has proved worse than Wednesday. For once North Hill has got the good weather. Enjoy!! - John Borland

Wed 20 August - Course Week

 The day started off with quite a cool north Easterly breeze meaning everyone was putting on layers as the day went on! We had a joint briefing with all members and an extremely slow computer to help us along. 

Back to winter clothes (Mark Courtney)

 

Once briefing was over Steve Westlake and Glenn Turpin agreed on getting all club gliders out and towed to the western side of the airfield. After 2 flights set off we then moved the launch point further down south between points A and B. With flights not being much longer than 10 minutes each we were able to get through most of the list before 13:00. We then stopped for lunch and were watching the microlight aircraft arrive into North Hill despite us not telling him about the curl over on the western side of the airfield! The afternoon came along with some flights being able to stay up for longer than 10 minutes. We have Luke Stabb and Benjie Pitts going solo again in the ASK-21. 

Luke resolos (Mark Courtney)

 

The sun was trying to break through as the day was coming to an end. 

 

The sun was trying to break through (Adam Smyth)

All instructors were able to get through all the flying lists with not too many issues. And we had all gliders and ground vehicles packed away for around 18:45. Overall a great day from everyone at the club. Many thanks to Kai Mudd and Jack for making the walk from Dunkeswell just to be here! Written by Adam Smyth