Fri 12th April - Denbigh

A very positive view on the weather from Chris G at briefing (as ever) with suggestion that the Conwy Valley could give diamonds for those in need of a sparkle. The onsite contingent was now no longer just DSGC with escapee’s from a swamped out Mynd expedition and early arrivals for a G Dale course. A speed rig of DD3 got JB in a position to fly Nick Jones whilst I took firstly John Borland then Shaun Dayman in the DG505. 

Looking down the Clywd Valley (John Pursey)

John (JB2) was able to experience a classic Denbigh tow straight to wave, and with the Southwesterly, the bar formed just up from the club. Wonderful lenticulars formed later on but to start the clouds were less coherent. Topping out around 12000ft to enable some local touring John came back a happy man to let Shaun have a go. 

With John Borland (John Pursey)

The easy cloud markings had all but gone by then, but dropped in the right place the DG505 worked its way back up. Tours out to Conwy and the coast and views from 12000ft+ meant another happy customer.

With Shaun Dayman (John Pursey)

 JB1 flew with Nick who took the Duo up to join the high altitude wanderers who included Pete Startup 230 and Wyn Davies W7. Of course they were off in midst of Snowdonia with I think Pete topping out at 15000ft. He hates wave flying, he says, but seems to force himself to do it well.
The Duo had a second mission with Alan Rappaport, again pushing through 10,000ft. 

Chris Gill keeping an eye on the visitors (John Pursey)

 A close encounter with Chris Gill produced some great snaps and video before the DG505 landed with Shaun doing a great job flying through the cobblestones in circuit.
Another fantastic day at Denbigh with fish and chips to celebrate! - John Pursey

Thur 11th April - Denbigh

 Wednesday was unfortunately a non-flying day courtesy of the all too familiar and seemingly never-ending inclement weather. Thankfully though wave prospects for the rest of the week were looking good. Wyn with W7 arrived late afternoon as did several other pilots throughout the day from Wattisham whose expedition to the Long Mynd had had to be abandoned due the airfield being deemed too waterlogged. Waterlogged airfields not surprisingly seem to have been a bit of a theme this winter! A few other pilots also began arriving ahead of G Dale's XC course next week so all of a sudden we no longer had Lleweni Parc to ourselves.

After a well attended briefing on Thursday, flying commenced with the first launch around 11'ish. 

Chris Gill creeping up on DG505 (John Pursey)

 The wave was a bit on the weak side with 4kts lift at the very best. Most of the aerotows were to around 2,200ft making contact with the wave over Denbigh. Wyn in W7 had a 5hr flight maxing out at 8,500ft. Pete Startup in 230 went out and around the Great Orme topping out at 14,400ft. 

Great Orme (John Pursey)

 JB in JB pushed forward and up to Conway Bridge, flight time 3hrs, maximum height 12,000ft whilst Phil Hardwick had an hour in his DG300. John Pursey and Alan Rappaport in the DG505 made it up to Conway West and a height of 12,000ft before scurrying back to the airfield along with pretty much everyone else as things started to over-develop.

Conwy Valley (John Pursey)

 John Pursey and Shaun Dayman took a late launch in the DG505 as things started to open up a bit, however the wave by this time had started to breakdown with only intermittent and weak lift. A bit of formation flying with Chris Gill in EZE provided for some consolation.

A great day's flying with an improving wave forecast for the next couple of days. - Shaun Dayman

Tues 9th April - Denbigh

The DSGC posse started arriving at Lleweni Parc on Friday, Shaun Dayman with the DG505, Nick Jones with his caravan and under the cover of darkness JB coughing and spluttering (that's JB unfortunately not his campervan!) with DD3 in tow. Thankfully courtesy of his Polish supply of special vitamin C he was soon on the mend. That's farming stock for you - tough as old boots! John Borland with his DG300, Pete Startup with his Discus, Phil Hardwick from Brentor with another DG300, John Pursey and Alan Rappaport all rocked up over the course of the weekend. Storm Kathleen obviously put pay to any flying. Phil Morrison and family with JB's Ventus brought up the rear arriving on Monday. Dinner on Saturday night was at the very pleasant Dinorben Arms and every evening since, courtesy of Masterchef John Pursey. 

Monday was thankfully flyable, but only sufficient for John Borland, Shaun Dayman and Phil Hardwick to have check flights. Lleweni Parc presents a few challenges when it comes to take-offs and landings not least of all there's currently wetland either side of the very narrow tarmac runway! Prospects for Tuesday were thankfully looking more promising, in fact as it was to turn out very promising. - Shaun Dayman

The Nyfin Run (John Borland)

Tuesday dawned with heavy rain and a howling gale from the NW. At the Monday briefing, Chris Gill had suggested that the forecast was good for the locally famous Nyfin run. As we gathered for the briefing there was not much optimism in the room however Chris arrived full of optimism that there would be a clearance about mid-day. The forecast was for NNW 40kts with a 4000ft cloud base. The rain stopped on cue at 13:00 but the wind strength was causing some concerns with the tuggies. Chris remained optimistic and the plan was confirmed that Chris Gill and John Borland would fly in Denbigh's Arcus M LEW, John Pursey and Shaun Dayman would fly in the club DG505. The plan was to lead and follow. The Nyfin run consisted of a 30k NW run to Conwy West then a 60k SW run to Nyfin and return via  Conwy West before a 30k run back to Denbigh. 

On tow to Conwy (Shaun Dayman)

 

The Arcus launched first into a turbulent 45knot WNW wind with Chris at the controls (thankfully). Then a long slow tow to 5000ft to release about 10k from Conwy pushing forward at 90kts to arrive in lift at Conwy West at 2800ft. We then waited for the DG505 to arrive to start the lead and follow run to Nyfin 60k to the SW.

Trying to keep up with the Arcus (Shaun Dayman)

 As Chris predicted the run was awesome with a mixture of Ridge and Ridge assisted thermal ranging from 4000ft (cloud base) to a low point of 2,600ft  as we turned Nyfin. On the return run the Arcus had sufficient height for a run in to soar Snowdon which lived up to it’s name, covered in snow. 

Snowdon heading South (Shaun Dayman)

We arrived back at Conwy West and topped up on height for the return run back to Denbigh leaving at 3,900ft and arriving at Lleweni Parc at 1600ft. Flight time 2:14.  The DG505 followed us home to arrive a 17:24. The "led and followed" having worked brilliantly.

Looking down the Menai Strait (Shaun Dayman)

 The wind had moderated during the afternoon and Jules (Tuggie) was happy to do a second tow so Phil Hardwick jumped in the Arcus with Chris Gill for a second circuit, this time faster, arriving back in 1:37 at 19:30.  An epic day. - John Borland

Sun 31st March

 There wasn’t a great deal of hope that we would fly today given the forecast, and indeed looking out the window the forecast appeared to be correct, at least for the time being….

A very grey sky, low cloud base and a wind from the East, the only thing different from recent normal was the wind direction!

There was an impromptu meeting about how we could get the Pawnee back into the tug hangar for its annual inspection, the two Eurofox aircraft currently occupying her old home.

The glider hangar had to be completely emptied to get the Pawnee out from the back of the glider hangar, and with the sky now starting to brighten we decided to DI a couple of K 21’ as they were out on the field “just in case”.

Ian Mitchell was keen to use the yellow Eurofox (Bumblebee) for aerotows as it hasn’t  flown for several weeks. 

Backup Tug Bumblebee providing some aerotows (Mark Courtney)

We had a couple of visitors today one from Brentor Phil Hardwick and one from Kestrel (RAF Odiham) junior solo pilot James Bartlett both very keen to fly. Only one private glider flew, Andy Davey in his Libelle who had a couple, of tows to shake the cobwebs off. 

Phil Hardwick visitor from Brentor (Mark Courtney)

Incredibly the field had dried enough in the sun yesterday to winchlaunch  operating from the West end, Paul Medlock (being the only member capable of driving the winch apart from James and I who were required for back-seat duties) unfortunately got stuck in it all day! - Thanks Paul

There was small pockets of broken lift near Broadhembury ridge which enabled some extended circuits, flying continued until 17:15, total of 17 winch launches and 4 1500ft aerotows. 

Discussing epic gliding adventures (Mark Courtney)

After flying, several members gathered in the clubhouse chatting about epic gliding adventures, all of us dreaming of what might be round the corner....... Thanks to everyone today for making it worthwhile. - Mark Courtney

Junior Dev Squad -Easter - Lasham

The Junior National Development Squad first training weekend for Dan Hender was held at Lasham  over the Easter Weekend. Like most DSGC members, Dan has had very little soaring preparation time this season although  JDP was aired last weekend. 

It was an early start for the road trip to Lasham on Good Friday, left at 5am, but we successfully avoided all the Bank holiday traffic and arrived at 7.30!!! Dan then spent the day studying the theory of competition flying with the Junior Team and rest of the Development Squad. We then rigged the glider ready for Saturday flying, and tried to pitch his tent for the weekend, only to find one of the poles was snapped! So there was a frantic scramble to try to fix it, but fortunately one of the bunk rooms was available, so Dan managed to bag it for the weekend. 

Preparing for the day (Rob Hender)

 Saturday 30th, after a decent nights sleep in a proper bed, Dan was ready for the day ahead. He was on the grid by 9.30am, with the briefing advising of the task for the day afterwards. It was an AAT,  2hr 30, Basingstoke - Sixpenny Handley - Basingstoke - Didcot - Lasham, giving plenty of scope for the likely forecast showers.

Halfway back on the grid - gives time for cloudbase to rise...(Rob Hender)

  It was a proper grid at Lasham with Dan about halfway. Dan launched at about 12:00, and headed west towards Compton Abbas, nipping into the first turnpoint following Tom Arscott (current World champion), and feeling very grateful to find lift of 4 knots as the cows were starting to get bigger! 

A proper grid at Lasham (Lasham weather webcam)

 

Back via Basingstoke then North, turning the last turn point at Didcot, Dan found himself flying alongside Andy Holmes into wind for the return leg. Landing at about 3:30pm,  and a difficulty downloading the flight, he then attended the debrief to find out what he should have done! Then off to a group bbq for the evening.

Sunday 31st, there was a final chat with the group first thing, but all decided to derig, with the weather forecast not looking promising for Monday. We then made the decision to pack up. So lots of learning points for Dan (check the tent as well as the glider!) and a decent day's flying while all at North Hill were looking at a  waterlogged airfield. - Sally Hender

Sun 24th March

The first name on the flying list appeared at 7am! The gliders were DI’d by 8:30am, and by this time the list had nearly reached the bottom of the page! With everything set up, the first launch took place at 9:42am, unfortunately with a miscalculation of the wind setting, Peter Smith didn’t make it to the top of the launch! Duty Instructor Guy Adams was ably assisted by volunteers, James Flory, Peter Smith and John Pursey, however it was still pretty slow going with so many members needing currency and card checks.

W7 in a field near the North ridge (Wyn Davies)

Pete Startup (230) and Wyn Davies (W7) took their gliders out, Wyn managing to bag the first trophy of the year, with a land out just north of our north ridge, so close he was able to walk some of the way, after a lift from a local farmer!
Flying continued throughout lunch, with Dan Hender (JDP) and Ron and Dan Johns (711) taking launches.

Well done to our DLM’s Dave Weeks and Carl Tharme, for organising a challenging airfield. With a flying list of 21 members the list was finally completed at 4:45pm. With another land out, 711 Ron and Dan Johns ending up at Smeatharpe, being recovered by Pete Startup after he had completed the first Club 100 of the season. - Well done Pete.

711 at Smeatharpe - sky looking better than it was? (Ron Johns)

A very productive day, with about 47 launches/flights. Thanks to all that helped, it’s great to be back to ‘normal’ operation and even 'soarable'. - Sally Hender

Thurs 21st March

 That the two-seater flying list was into double figures by just after 8:30 was a reflection of general optimism as to flying happening today. The forecast suggested a day where patience might be needed first thing but that the weather would probably improve as the day unfolded.

An inspection of the airfield surface identified suitable launching and landing areas and so with an element of confidence the hangar was unpacked and gliders prepared for flight - all under a low cloudbase but with glimmers of blue skies here and there suggesting that the forecast might just be turning out to be reasonably correct. The launch point was set up on the North boundary with a landing area designed to minimise delay in launching gliders - and a morning brief completed by Mark Courtney to explain the preferred normal landing area to reduce damage to the airfield surface. 

Lined up and ready at the Launchpoint (Mike Horwood)

As the skies continued to brighten the launch point was soon as full as it has been for some time with all four two-seaters and a Junior lined up ready to be launched. 

Skies breaking nicely (Mike Sloggett)

 All that was needed now was for the cloudbase to improve and late morning the first flight of the day was a met flight finding that cloudbase was around 500’ so a good opportunity for launch failures to be practiced if nothing else. Then slowly but surely the cloudbase continued to improve and soon the launch point was busy with gliders being launched regularly and progress starting to be made with the (by now) very long flying list. 

46 winch launches today (Mike Sloggett)

 There were odd bits of lift here and there which meant extended circuits from early afternoon onwards. Apart from a short lunch break flying took place all day and by shortly after 5 the flying list was completed with most members having had a couple of flights whether to maintain or regain currency.

 

Currency  for most (Mike Horwood)

A good day had by all, thank you to everyone for the teamwork today. - Mike Sloggett

Wed 20th March

 Sitting in the warm evening sun, beer in hand, it is hard to believe how foreboding the weather was this morning.  Dark and dank, with the mist in the treetops.... but we persevered.

The winch went up to the west end fairly easily, keeping a few meters away from the really damp south boundary.  And the tow out along the center ridge was dry enough.  It was a still-wind day, so lots of power required to achieve the required torque for launches. 

North Hill airfield, lush and green after all the rain (Peter Smith)

 First flight was about 10 am, into a 1,100 ft cloudbase, that lifted very slowly throughout the day. The sun broke through to the south and west, but not over the site.  Nevertheless, everyone had two instructional flights, to get back into check, while many practice launch failures were sprung upon unsuspecting (or not) students.  Best flight of the day was only 12 minutes, but it was good to get the feet back into the air, and good to give all the equipment an airing.

Thanks to Peter Smith and Glenn Turpin, for checking everyone out. So we will all be ready for the brilliant 4-knot summer’s day we expect for next Wednesday….. ;-) - Roger Ellis (first-time blogger)

Sat 16th March

 North Hill Airfield is still waiting for the rain to stop, so that the waterlogged pitch can drain, (100mm since 1st March on top of the 224mm in February!!) but in the meantime, jobs, lectures and the Simulator are keeping the Members busy. The Gator now has 4 new mirrors, the EuroFox was polished and the wifi extender was refitted on the tug hangar after the cladding work. Potential new member Chris enjoyed some time in the Simulator with Steve Westlake.

Mike Benson RSO GASCo (Simon Leeson)

This evening we welcomed Mike Benson  - volunteer Regional Safety Officer from GASCo who provided a GASCo Safety evening presentation. Many thanks to Mike for an entertaining evening and to Pooleys and Haywards for sponsoring the event. 

A good crowd gathered for the safety presentation (Simon Leeson)

 Members very nearly filled the Clubroom  despite the foggy night for driving and a certain rugby match on TV. The safety messages were well-presented interspersed with audience participation 'clickers'. Pooleys raffle prizes were won by James Hood, Paul Summers, Stuart Procter and Dave Perriam. 

Evening supper (Simon Leeson)

 Following the talk, a good number stayed on for the dinner from Julie and Vicky.  - J&P

Wednesday 6th March - Dunkeswell

 After far too many flying days lost to weather so far this year, today was hopefully, a sign of the good flying days ahead. That we flew today was down to the persistence of various people working behind the scenes to see if we could perhaps work together with our fellow aviators at Dunkeswell and use one of the tarmac runways to aerotow whilst North Hill airfield continued to dry out. And so it was that a ‘call to arms’ saw quite a few members turn up at North Hill bright and early under nice blue skies and lovely sunshine with a plan worked out to allow some gliding to happen.

Mark Courtney and Ian Mitchell took the EuroFox across to Dunkeswell to talk though the final plan for the day and to check that the wind direction and strength would allow aerotowing, whilst both K21s were brought out of the hangar and daily inspections completed - Mark and Ian returned shortly thereafter to declare that the plan was on! With the airfield still quite soft in many places it was decided that the K21s would be flown solo by Glenn Turpin and Mike Sloggett for the ‘hop flights’ across to Dunkeswell, with the wind having developed some Easterly component both were walked down to the West end of the airfield which took longer than the ‘hop flights’ to our neighbours’ airfield!

Eurofox and K21 at Dunkeswell (James Hood)

 

And then after a suitable briefing by Mark at the Dunkeswell ‘launch point’ to add to the information messages provided yesterday to Club members it was on with the flying list which by now was rather long, unsurprisingly after the past few weeks. 

Dunkeswell Aerodrome (Mike Sloggett)

 

With great teamwork manoeuvring the K21s and the EuroFox in and amongst a very busy airfield with both visiting and powered aircraft. and helicopters, all keen to take advantage of the lovely weather. The day saw everyone present get into the air, regaining currency as well as invaluable experience from flying at a different airfield to usual. Instructors and tug pilots shared the opportunity to fly and whilst members only got one flight each the smiles and enjoyment of doing so were evident throughout the day. 

A busy day at Dunkeswell (James Hood)

 

As the flying list was completed late afternoon the K21s were ‘hopped back’ to North Hill and the success of the day readily discussed by all.

Getting Ready (Shaun Dayman)

 
A big Thank You to Mark and others for this initiative which went well and provided experience as well as learnings for when we all being well visit again (and Thank You to Nick for kindly transporting a golf buggy to/back from Dunkeswell) - and of course a particular Thank You to our neighbours at Dunkeswell Aerodrome without whose help and support today would not have been possible. - Mike Sloggett