Saturday 23rd April

Today's forecast was for some "epic" conditions, so it came as no surprise that there were two cars waiting at the locked gate just after 8:10, I arrived with the roof down, sun shining but 3 deg! However the early flurry didn't last long with only a handful of members turning up.

With some of NH "soaring section" AKA Matt's motley mob away at N. Wales it was always going to be quiet, in the nicest possible way :) Paul Summers unpacked the hanger and organised the troops, the usual jobs got done, DI's, canopy cleaning, batteries fitted etc all in typical January conditions, frozen fingers and toes all round.

Meanwhile inside the clubhouse it was much warmer, tea and bacon sandwiches were the order of the day,. We set up in the SW corner with a brisk ENE wind, yellow card conditions, at least to start with.

I flew with new member Fran, previously an Aboyne pilot and cleared her for her first solo at NH, she looked pleased judging by her smile!

Fran solos at North Hill (Mark Courtney)

Steve Westlake took the other K21 and started to work his way down the list. From the first launch there were strong thermals, broken but strong! Cloud streets formed almost immediately pointing both East and West to Cornwall (Ron).

Street to Cornwall (Mark Courtney)

A trial lesson was booked for 11:00 so I changed my hat and flew the Tug whilst Paul Summers took Alan Harris for a fantastic flight, I took no chances and dropped Paul under a 8 knot thermal, we didn't want him to miss out ;)

Ellie Carter flew next and experienced what it is like to get mean with the aggressive thermals, she found them, centred and climbed to cloud base (3200ft) and without cursing! How is it even possible not to swear at least once?? Beyond me.

Meanwhile Roly Clarke gave Ellie's mum Lorna Carter her first flight in a glider, lucky girl ----

An early lunch was called for as numbers were few, Ian Mitchell leaned against the Launch Point Vehicle, coiled like a spring, ready to do J.B's PM duty but was persuaded reluctantly to give a tow to James Flory and Jeff  Taberham (380 Mosquito) as we sauntered off to the clubhouse.

In the clubhouse there was a mixture of  raucous laughter, gasps, and snoring as Roly Clarke relived his sea breeze front flight with anyone unsuspecting, (Fran was one of them, sorry should have warned you). And there my story ends as I had to leave early for Plymouth, what fantastic conditions and what great teamwork. You just got to love North Hill!  - Mark Courtney

Flying resumed after lunch with Ian Mitchell and Steve Westlake instructing, thanks to them for working their way through the flying list. Conditions were initially similar to earlier with good streets in evidence albeit not easy to reach, if you were able to get away the rewards were there. Later it became more difficult to stay aloft.

Jeff Taberham in 380 recorded longest flight of the day and told of being able to fly to and from Tiverton in straight lines. The only other private glider to fly was Mike Fairclough in DFK showing that it was not necessary to take a tow to stay up despite pleas from Simon Leeson to do so, Simon having been persuaded to be tuggie for the afternoon.

By the end of the day we were getting short of members on the ground but were just able to keep going until 6.00pm. Thanks to Allan Mounce for his prolonged stint on the winch and to Richard Davies for successfully (and colourfully!) performing his first session as DLM. A good day. - David Clements

Thursday 21st April

Thursday started with a blustery east wind with a touch of north, this dropped later in the day. With Pete Harmer under the weather it was down to Mark Courtney and Chris Wool to hold the fort.  Recently joined Aboyne pilot Fran continued her winch launch training with Mark Courtney and was seen to be doing well. With initial card conditions being upper yellow, solo pilots were few so the two-seater list was fairly long.
We welcomed back Terry Knights to join the usual Thursday crowd. He had been away for 9 months and was pleased with a small tour of the local area in reduced sink.

Terry Knights with John Borland and John Alcroft (Mark Courtney)

Gordon Bonney found some weak lift over the north ridge but generally there were short flights.

Richard Harris  ready to try his luck (Mark Courtney)

Mark Courtney had to leave early, so ChrisWool continued until everyone had flown (thanks Chris) coincidently as the forecast rain arrived. Not epic but an enjoyable day.

A lost phone was searched for at the end of the day and eventually found. - John Alcroft & Mark Courtney

Wednesday 20th April

A dry sunny day was forecast and that is what we had, the only problem was the 15 - 20 knot gusty wind that frightened all the thermals away, the two Trial lesson visitors turned up but with the Blue card conditions that we had, it was decided that they would enjoy their flights more on a calmer day.

Roly entertaining a Trial lesson visitor who will return on another day (John Street)

There were plenty of members who wanted to try their hand with the difficult conditions and John Sillett, 

It was pleasantly warm in the shelter from the wind (John Street)

Pete Warren and John Street were kept busy all day, we flew until 5:00pm and everyone flew who wanted to.

The thermals were few and far between but some were lucky enough to have extended flights, Pete Warren had the longest flight in the Junior with 22min. - John Street

3rd round Winter Series 2015/16 - Nympsfield

Lizzie Westcott and Jess Summers attended the Third round of the Winter series at Nympsfield which is an event for Junior pilots across the country, - Jess recounts their story:

" it was an amazing weekend in which we not only got to meet other pilots from different clubs but we got to gain experience flying from a different airfield with new people and got some insight as to how different clubs operate. I had three flights including one aerobatic flight on Sunday evening and gained experience in flying along their ridge on Saturday. Lizzie had two which included her first cross-country flight which was 88Km on Saturday and another local soaring flight on Sunday.

Fantastic sky over Gloucestershire (Jess Summers)

 This was our first time flying from a different club and so learnt a lot about launching, circuit planning and landing in a new location.

Lizzie Westcott and Jess Summers (Jess Summers)

We both feel this was a great opportunity and we had an awesome time both flying and socialising! It is an experience that we would both recommend and we would like to bring together more Junior pilots from North Hill to attend the next Winter Series to share the experience!" - Jess Summers

Sunday the 17th April - A birthday to remember!

Yes it was Ron's birthday today and to celebrate he treated Paul Kane to 4 and a half hours of 1 to 1 cross country gliding instruction or more accurately a damn long moan about the lack of any working equipment in our DG505. Despite this it was still a very good day, in fact it might even be a record  x-country day for North Hill pilots. 

Busy day at North Hill - and a great sky (Will Stainer)

7 gliders completed the 307km trip to Candover church and back Paul and Ron in JZK, Simon Minson in SM, Phil Morrison in 611, John Pursey in HOG, Rowan Smith in CLM, Pete Startup in 230 and Matt Wright in M5. Pete Bennett in the trusty K6 HEB succumbed to peer pressure and set off on the same task instead of his planned club 100 and after a backside numbing 5 hours, landed in a field near Shaftesbury having covered an impressive 226km. 

Pete Bennett and the K6 in a nice field (Fiona Bennett)

This added another couple of hundred miles to Fiona and Martin's already hectic schedule for the day and that was before they found that they also needed to perform a little trailer TLC before they could set off to retrieve him.

The turbo boys Eric Alston in G29 and Pete Smith in 1UP were a little late to get going and so were playing catch up to the rest of the gaggle. Eric ended up turning Salisbury Cathedral  before heading home via Dulverton and Pete ended up in a field near his home in Crewkerne though sheer determination not to give up and use his engine.

Eric turned Salisbury (Eric Alston)

 Mike Sloggett, who finally had ENW to himself for the day mainly because James was recovering from yet another late night and Mark was earning brownie points after a week away at the Mynd, decided to have a bash at the club 100 and romped around the task with Martin Woolner in KMV hot on his heals. Wyn Davies in W7 spent his time whizzing up and down between Exmoor and Dorchester and covering 333km in the bargain and enjoying the brilliant views, sea breeze and high cloud base. James Flory also had his syndicate glider 877 all to himself and he made the most of the opportunity by completing nearly 6 hours in the air and bagging his silver/gold duration badge. unfortunately his electronics were misbehaving so he aborted his attempt at a silver distance at Crewkerne before returning to NHL.

For once the epic conditions connect to NHL (Tim Peake)

Finally on the XC front the mighty Eagle BBB, piloted by JB and a friend of Nick Jones's went to Yeovil Reservoir and back without the usual pit stop in a farmers field. There were even wild unsubstantiated reports that John Street was seen flying FZF out over Tiverton, we await the logger evidence to corroborate these heinous accusations. M5Matt

A Proper Grid

It was indeed a fantastic day, Roly actually flew four BI aerotows all three turned up plus one extra, while Guy Adams and Peter Field worked their way through the flying list. I spent all morning helping getting everyone in the air and helping the the three launch lines run smoothly.

In the afternoon there was a Junior sitting doing nothing so I took a quick launch after a bit of messing about at 900ft I managed to get into a decent thermal and climbed to 5,000ft above site I bumped into Matt over Tiverton on  his way somewhere I think he had already completed a quick 300k. Most people had good soaring flights we finished flying about 5.30pm and it was still soarable.
Robert worked hard as tuggie with a bit of help from Mitch in the Rotax falke. There were a hang of a lot of smiling, slightly sunburnt faces at the end of the day! - John Street

Saturday 16th April

A dismal morning under threatening, black clouds,  heavy with showers, and the afternoon developing, as forecast, to give us sunshine. There was never any really good lift anywhere, but it proved an excellent opportunity for yellow card checks – the brisk northerly wind veering and backing, gave everyone some challenging flying. 

Thanks must go to Duty Instructors Peter Smith and Rowan Smith for their patience and stamina: endless simulated cable breaks and launch failures of varying heights, with the associated long walks back to the launch point. 

There was a fair amount of solo flying, but mostly circuits or extended circuits. The exception was Matt Wright in M5 who clocked up around 90 minutes. 

All in all, a satisfying club day, with the long flying list well organized by Barbara and Mike Fairclough in their role of Duty Launch Marshall. - Wendy Willis-Fleming

Thursday 14th April

Low cloud to start with a light south easterly wind and prospect of rain arriving late afternoon. By the time the gliders had been walked up to the end of the field, the cloud had lifted sufficiently to start launching. In general the flights were all quite short, except the first Junior launch with Paul M getting the prize for 33 minutes and Rob R converted to K13.

After lunch,  John B consolidated his solo flight of two weeks ago, and then the southerly crosswind started to pick up significantly although the south ridge didn't seem to work.

The rain looked as though it was arriving just after 16:00, but it was another hour before the big drops appeared with everything safely tucked up in the hangar. - J&P

Wednesday 13th April - Long Mynd

The day began with the usual site and weather briefing, predicting a good start, with the possibility of thunderstorms later.  All gliders were already rigged, so they were towed to the launch point nice'n'early before most members took the trip to Mark's favourite coffee shop in Church Stretton.  The opportunity was also taken to have the usual photograph by 'the bench' on the high street. 

Great view of Long Mynd (Mark C)

First to fly was Chris M followed by Nick Ha and Mark L.  Conditions could be challenging lower down with thermals getting more predictable the higher you climbed.  This seemed to mean the more experienced pilots had more success.  The wind wasn't enough to make the ridge work.  Nick Ha and Mark L got away for two hour flights.  Simon L and Nick Hi went for a pleasure flight - 1hr 20m in the DG505.  The DG100 syndicate took turns with Ray B up next managing well over an hour and a half.  Mark C was very happy at feeling better and celebrated with over two hours in ENW. 

Mike and David overhead Shrewsbury in DG505 (Mike Sl)

After lunch a launch by Mike S and David C who were heading for Shrewsbury in the DG505 topped out at 5000ft much to David's delight.  Paul S finally wrestled his glider back from Mark L but conditions were deteriorating slightly making it more difficult to find usable lift.  Showers were spotted in the area, and the sun was starting to be blocked by the increasing cloud.  Tim P and Paul K were taking it in turns in the Junior.  After a couple of circuits, Tim P was berating himself for lack of skill before Nick Ha launched at a similar time and ended up with a similar outcome. 

People slowly stopped launching as the energy reduced along with flight times. A mixture of pub/kebab shop/tapas bar were populated for evening food followed by a return to the clubhouse to enjoy Mark C firing on all cylinders again ;). - Tim P

Wednesday 13th April

Most members were greeted by thick fog at home but North Hill was bathed in warmish spring sunshine with every prospect of some good soaring conditions and the Swallows are back in force flitting, about getting their nesting sites ready for the summer.

Tim J 877, Pete St 230, Dave C CVV and a member from Dartmoor GS Rich R K6, all rigging with the prospect of a good day, by 11:30am the thermals started popping and a little early soaring was had, but the sea air came in quickly from the South, and soon put paid to that but all was not lost - a large convergence started building to the North.

Pete St in his Discus, after a very quick winch launch decided the only way to reach the convergence was an aerotow (cheating) he managed a Club 100km Yeovil - Tiverton east although with a track further north.

Rich R from Brentor showed up the North Hill pilots with two good soaring flights in his K6.

William made good use of the Falke and Peter F was the tuggie for the day.  - JSt

Tuesday 12th April - Long Mynd

The weather forecast was looking reasonably good for today, with RASP giving a '5 star' rating in the local area for an hour or two.  The view out of the window first thing in the morning looked good, but the mist hanging in the valley soon rose up to the level of the club and took an hour or so to clear.  Tom S was busy planning a cross country task while others began the task of rigging gliders - all eight of them!  

Rigged and ready to go (Mike Sl)

Mark C who had spent the last couple of days being ill, was finally looking slightly better and helped the Mynd pilots empty the hangar before putting in a monumental retrieve winch stint.

Simon takes over retrieve winch from Mark  (Mike Sl)

Simon L and Paul K took the first launch in the DG505 in the quest to get Paul K 'checked' to fly the Junior solo at the Mynd.  The private owners hung around waiting for someone to stay up for longer than a circuit.  Simon L got busy flying with Chris M and Ray B.  An hour later, Gordon B caved and took a launch in DG100, but the ridge still just wasn't quite working.  Mike S found a similar problem a further hour later in his second trip in ENW this year, followed by Tom S DG100 an hour later again.  Things started to perk up just before 3pm when Nick Ha DG202-17......

Nick in DG202-17 (Mike Sl)

   .......timed his launch to perfection (weather skillz obviously) with what turned out to be the longest flight of the day (2hr 30m).  Following him was . . . well . . everyone - Paul S,  Gordon B, Tom S, Simon L and Tim P.  From this point onwards the ridge got busy with most gliders airborne and the same number of paragliders.  Ridge lift was weak, but unmarked thermals were being generated by the warm slopes taking some up to 1800ft. 

The Long Mynd (Mike Sl)

Paul K got a couple of flights in the Junior and Chris M and Ray B both had their first Mynd solos in their glider DG100 LRN.  Once Mike had finished reacquainting himself with ENW, he finished the day by flying with Paul K, David C and Nick Hi in the DG505.

There were multiple flights of over an hour with grinning faces slowly returning to the launch point around 5pm by which time the energy had reduced.  

ASW20 ENW  and JZK DG505 (Simon L)

We were treated to a great Mynd sunset after eating fantastic food cooked by Faye and Jane.  

Great positioning for this lightning shot just before sunset  (Paul K)

There's a buzz of optimism in the air after the poor forecast earlier in the week.  Tomorrow is currently looking like it could be acceptable too . . . happy Mynd days - Tim P