Monday 12th August ad-hoc day

Looking at the weather for the next few days Monday looked about the best of the bunch with the best conditions forecast around North Hill(for a change and they were right), an ad-hoc day was called. We winch launched today as the tug had to got to Bodmin for something or other.

Well the weather did eventually play ball although the clearance was a couple of hours later than forecast but when it did arrive it was worth the wait. Soarable from about 13:30 although tricky to start with it very quickly became very good indeed so unstable was the airmass. The viz was astonishing and from overhead Devon you could see the South coast all around Lyme Bay, the North coast and even the Welsh coast was crystal clear all the way up the Severn to the bridge - all at the same time.

The wind was about 10-12kts and a bit gusty on the ground and up to 17kts at flying height. Pete S in 230 had a task of about 150km round TIV then going East. But before even reaching Chard the Somerset Levels were completely devoid of cloud due to the wind direction and strength. Such was the viz I could see Yeovil reservoir about 25km away(my next turnpoint and where I reckon the next cloud was),  and my gadget told me I'd get there at 2500' - well it would running with a 17kt tailwind but coming back would have been a different matter! So I settled for a circular tour via Taunton, Wimbleball, Tiverton and home and just taking in the views.

Many others enjoyed similar flights with regular climbs of between 4-6 kt averages to  4,000' above North Hill.

HCX  Library pic (Mark Layton)

Dan Hender had a couple of check flights with JB and even though he flew very well the gusty crosswind conditions were just a bit much for any more early solo flights. Still, every cloud.............he got to fly with Phil Morrison, skipper of the MV Calypso, in DD3 for a couple of hours. Dan did most of the flying, landed it too and got to do some proper cross country flying - did he have a smile on his face! I think his Dad Rob is dreading having to ask the 'what would you like for Xmas' question! Thanks Phil.

Also out playing today were Gordon Bonny, Geoff Taberham, Andy Davey, Rob Hender flew with JB and the Faircloughs. Carl and Dave Cottingham flew the Falke( I even saw it with the engine stopped!) and Ian was flying the Rotax Falke all day with some students from Mendip.

Many thanks must go to Gordon Hutchinson for winching, Sally for launch point controlling and Jonathan Erskine for dogsbodying, all very much appreciated.

Chariman Nick arrived late from work, de-rigged DD3 ready for it's trip to the 2 seater comp 'Oop North this weekend, and then bought the Otter debrief beers - many thanks Nick - nice end to a good day!

Sadly given the great viz, nobody took any scenery pics so you'll have to settle for this mugshot of Rob enjoying himself - at least I think he is!

Rob near cloudbase(JB)

Sun 11th August

In 2019 there have been continuing plans made for a key date on which a particular event would happen - for one certain junior member the key date was not centred around Brexit but more importantly the legal age of 14 at which he could fly a glider solo.

Dan Hender - 14th Birthday (Rob Hender)

Unfortunately, the rather unseasonal weather  of recent days meant that the potential plan for yesterday, Dan's 14th birthday, could not be fulfilled. However there was a small amount of optimism that today’s weather might provide a small window of opportunity at some stage during the day - more of which later.....

The day started with bright skies and a fresh but flyable wind strength and direction - with an aerobatics course being run by John Sillett and Martin Woolner for Club members, as well as several Trial Lesson flights to be potentially flown, the day was going to be busy and likely to be curtailed by heavy showers from early afternoon onwards.

With the launch point set up in the North East end of the airfield and all Club gliders taken out of the hangar flying was soon underway with Dan Hender demonstrating his skills at both handling the conditions and making use of the evident strong thermals in and amongst the heavy sink around the airfield - with a flawless approach and landing, a decision was made to leave any further flying for Dan until later in the day when the wind was forecast to reduce in strength.

Simon Leeson and Mike Sloggett continued with Club instruction on the winch whilst the aerobatics course got underway with the Perkoz being towed skywards by Pete Stapleton in the Pawnee - with the resultant  flights enabling the occupants of the Perkoz to see the Devon countryside from all sorts of angles and perspectives.

Guy Adams in a Junior (Simon Leeson)

Nick Redfern and Guy Adams enjoyed taking a Junior to fly in the good soaring conditions whilst Simon Minson (ASW 20 SM) was soon rigging and launching to make the most of the positive sky. We also welcomed some visitors who were flown in the DG505 by Tom Sides.

As lunchtime arrived, then so the wind started to reduce in strength, which provided Dan with the opportunity to demonstrate how to successfully deal with some eventualities - at which point the moment had arrived for Dan to take his first solo flight watched by proud parents Rob and Sally Hender. One should not perhaps be surprised that straight off the launch Dan found a thermal and was soon climbing away! After a textbook circuit and landing there were family hugs all round.

Hugs all round (Simon Leeson)

Unfortunately the weather then started to show signs of potential deterioration so a decision was made to stop for lunch and see whether conditions might improve for Dan to complete a second solo flight in the afternoon. Meanwhile Mike Fairclough (PIK DFK) had taken a winch launch and climbed away suitably.

Deep Convection started to build (Emma Kendall)

By the time lunch was over it was clear that the expected rain was on its way with several large weather cells seen to the South and North of the airfield - after a flight by Chris Wool and Tim Petty confirmed back to the launch point that it was only a matter of time before the rain fully arrived the decision was made that the day’s fun had to stop, so all the gliders and ground equipment was put away mid-afternoon.

Well Done to Dan, only one day after his 14th birthday (much better than Brexit!) and a particular Well Done to Rob and Sally not just  for their unstinting support for Dan, but also for how the Hender family have become an integral part of gliding days at North Hill.

Thank You to all who helped get as much out of the day as possible today. - Mike Sloggett

Dan's Day

Well, from the low of yesterday, with Dan’s 14th birthday coming and going without him going solo due to the gods of wind being very unkind, not adhering to his countdown timer and making it un-flyable to all but the birds (and they were struggling) - to the amazing high of today for the entire Hender family, due to all the amazing instructors and volunteers at DSGC and of course Dan, for flying a perfect solo flight. - It really has been a rollercoaster weekend for all of us.

Mike Sloggett congratulates Dan Hender on a perfect solo flight (Simon Leeson)

Early on this morning it looked as though it might hold for him, but soon the winds started picking up again and it looked like his hopes were to be dashed again. Mike Sloggett took Dan for a couple of pre-solo check flights, just in case it became flyable and gave him a good workout with a low-level winch power failure and a 400ft cable break.

I’m sure before you even started to read this BLOG you will have already heard that Dan completed his first solo flight today within a small window of opportunity when the wind subsided enough for him to take a launch at 13:09. The flight was seven minutes in duration and looked perfect from launch to landing.

Dan with proud parents Sally and Rob Hender (Simon Leeson)

Dan’s day was further enhanced when Emma Kendall pointed out that due to the launch time (11th / 13:09) compared to Dan’s actual time of birth (10th / 13:13), he did actually go solo on his birthday!!
A massive thank you to all of the instructors who have trained Dan from two incredibly proud parents. - Rob & Sally Hender.

Sat 10th August

The grand countdown  (for over a year) to Dan's 14th Birthday came and went with some disappointing, horrendous weather, but the party went ahead. 

Dan and Josh (Simon Leeson)

So well done Dan on reaching the important age of 14years. 

Family and friends celebrating (Simon Leeson)

Great party thanks Sally and Rob. Now to get the weather sorted...... J&P

Fri 9th August

Low cloud and a strong southerly wind was forecast, turning into fog in the afternoon and it was all pretty accurate.....

August course members, Instructors and helpers (Jill Harmer)

So lectures on spinning and meteorology were given, followed by some practical work in the DSGC Simulator. 

DSGC Simulator (Jill Harmer)

 It was a good week all round with lots of personal objectives achieved..........

Hans Jenssen successfully completed his Bronze exam and during the week all the flying skills were signed off. Rick Andrews got his Yellow card signed off.  Sam Flory consolidated his solo flying  and got to sit in the Junior in preparation for converting to the single seater. Harvey Skeggs and Rees Edwards-Caulier progressed well through their early training. New member Kevin Smith progressed well in his conversion to quiet flight, and we look forward to seeing him back again to enjoy his new found sport.

Thanks to Instructors Pete Harmer and James Flory and the ground helpers Richard Harris, Aston Key and Jill Harmer for getting as much flying as possible out of the week of changeable weather. - J&P

Thursday 8th August

We were hoping for a half-decent morning before the fog and rain set in later, so we started promptly with Club and Course members flying with the light south easterly wind. 

Early flights got 1000ft cloudbase (MIke Sloggett)

By mid-morning, there had already been some light drizzle  at the launch point and the Exe Estuary  started disappearing in rain / high humidity. 

Lowering cloudbase stopped play (Mike Sloggett)

With a  stop for an early lunch and then an update from the Met Office, it was decided that we had just less than 1 hour to clear the airfield before the fog set in. So the gliders were recovered to the hangar swiftly. 

James Flory gave a briefing on spinning. In the evening there was an enjoyable  Course Dinner held at the Culm Valley Inn. - J&P

Wed 7th August

Another late start due to orographic cloud, and then there were just 6 launches before the first of the two occlusions came through calling an early lunch.

Drying  all the gliders (Jill Harmer)

Once all the gliders had been dried, it was full steam ahead with launching, with both Course members and Club members using all the Club fleet. The wind direction varied throughout the day,  there were occasional thermals particularly late on. Flights were also extended  with some ridging and weak wave. 

Tim Johns  completed his checks in Perkoz (Tim Johns)

Rick Andrews and Tim Johns completed their currency checks, Chris Warnes was checked out for DG505 and several new members continued their basic training. 

Lovely evening (Lisa Humphries)

It was another lovely evening for Club member flying. 66 winch launches  in total. - J&P

Tues 6th August - Course Week

There were some showers in the forecast for lunchtime, so there was some urgency to get going quickly to make the most of the morning, but some low cloud had other ideas. 

So after a quick weather brief, the kit was all prepared and then James Flory gave a lecture on The Circuit and Pete Harmer went through the local airspace rules. 

Low cloud initially (Jill Harmer)

The cloud was still a little low with the first launches, but Rick Andrews and Hans Jenssen both needed simulated launch failures for their respective check flights. 

 Pete completed a full height launch with Hans but they saw  completely surrounding rain, so as the wind had picked up, it was a speedy retreat to the safety of the hangar for all the gliders. 

The forecast had been a bit too optimistic  as the showery horizontal rain continued through to about 15:00  so the DSGC simulator was used for a while.

Late afternoon a nice clearance came through and the field drained very quickly, and the remaining course members all got some extended circuits with the ridge sort of working and some broken thermals. So we made the best of what was available today - J&P

Mon 5th August - Course week

The rain cleared through overnight, and the low cloud lifted during the Course introductions. It was soarable from the first launch,  and the good looking sky and cloud streets worked well all day. 

Good looking sky (Jill Harmer)

There was just a very light shower after lunch and a reasonable westerly wind so emphasis today was on practising soaring and centreing, helped by plentiful strong thermals and little sink.

Rick Andrews and Hans  Jenssen took it in turns in Junior, and Sam Flory consolidated a solo flight in K21. The newer members  Kevin Smith, Harvey Skeggs and Rees Edwards-Caulier practised the ground ops in between their flights. - A good start to the week. - J&P

Sat 3rd August

Despite having to set up at the far end of the field, the day started promptly with the first launches before 10am. 

A South Easterly wind prompted some tricky crosswind conditions and lively approaches.

A mix of activities with members, visiting pilots, friends and family and trial lessons making a total of ten aerotows and 33 winch launches.

For a time there were two female pilots flying,  a female instructing, a female logging and a female driving the winch - some great girl power!


JB and Ruth Comer took a winch at 5pm and managed 62 minutes.......

JB and Ruth Comer took a winch at 5pm and managed 62 minutes....... (JB)

"Ruth, flying with the sensitivity of an angel, slowly teased the Perkoz into the weak wave and climbed to 1800ft in the gentle South Easterly wave"......JB

 Rowan went up to join them with new junior member Jaydon.

A successful day in all, special thanks to the members that really kept it all going right up until 6pm and to Karen King and James Smart for being great DLMs. - Emma Kendall

Thurs 1st August

Wind was always going to be a problem on this busy day... with the forecast  showing  a variety of random directions throughout the day. There was a long flying training and solo list, 3 booked trial lessons, a 1:1 day booked with John Sillett and almost a dozen private gliders getting ready. We also welcomed Shona Fenion  a visiting pilot from Parham.

It started off with a strong enough easterly to mean a walk to the southwest corner. The clear blue sky soon filled in with relatively low cumulus clouds which enticed the private owners out of the Clubhouse. It was reasonably easy soaring providing you found the first thermal!

Chris Wool looked after the Trial lesson visitors (Mark Layton)

The clouds cycled at lunchtime and it became easier to get away, however a sharp southerly breeze developed and winching became impossible with the winch in the north east corner. A change of ends was completed and flying recommenced. 

The afternoon queue of gliders (David Clements)

Towards the end of the afternoon, a strong tailwind sprung up, and winching had to stop again, with less enthusiasm for changing ends again on the winch, a couple of aerotows were launched  from the west end into the  convergence to the south, and it was decided that for once the wind had beaten the flying list. So sorry to those who helped launch gliders all day and didn't get to fly.

Peter Smith in the back of the K21 all day (Mark Layton)

Pete Startup in 230 completed a fallback task Dulverton-Chard-Sherborne but with a very low working band, and Wyn Davies W7 enjoyed tea and cakes with the farmers 'Brian and Mary' at Crediton.

Ron Johns tried out the back seat of DD3 with Phil Morrison and was reported to say "it was boring because it was so easy to fly!"

A rather frustrating day flying for all. In the evening, Pete Bennett gave a cracking interview about gliding at DSGC on BBC Radio Somerset. -  J&P