Wed 6th November

After a reasonable start to the day, soon  after members arrived, a cap of very low cloud and drizzle shrouded the field, the more optimistic members had got all the ground equipment out. John Sillett decided to give a talk in the briefing room, by the time he had finished his talk the weather had changed to a very reasonable day so very quickly the kit was positioned for southwesterly run.

All ready to fly (John Street)

Soon as we launched the visibility was outstanding in the mainly blue sky, we kept flying until 2:30pm to take advantage of the slot of good weather until it started to drizzle again.

Sandy clocking up more flights in Junior (John Street)

After a quick lunch the weather had cleared again and despite our low expectations we were able to fly until 4:45pm and even had some extended flights on the south ridge. 

Jonathan on his first training flight of the day (John Street)

Everyone flew and thanks to all involved for the cooperation that enabled everyone to fly despite the poor forecast. - John Street

Sun 3rd November

It is said that ‘gliding is like a box of chocolates’, one never quite knows what the day is going to bring flying wise. And that was the case today - the last few days saw all sorts of weather forecast for today with a wide range of potential suggestions around whether any/some gliding would take place.

The latest forecast at the start of the day suggested that some flying would be possible during the morning, with rain likely to arrive any time from lunchtime onwards.

North Hill launch point (Mike Sloggett)

So with Ron Johns and Tom Sides as the morning Duty team suitably organising the members present both K21s, a Junior and the DG505 were soon being brought out of the hangar. With the wind direction indicating that the West ridge might work and with some evident optimism about ‘wave out in the valley’, and with the field having drained well overnight, the winch was set up in the North West corner of the airfield.

And then with the clouds starting to drift away, suggesting that full height launches could be achieved, it was on with the flying list with the first launch underway well before 10 am - and with only a couple of members on the training list well outnumbered by the instructors present there was no shortage of volunteers for the back seat today.

As the morning continued various gliders and pilots made good use of the lift available on and around the ridge and the day provided continuing opportunities for training, maintaining currency or just to be able to enjoy flying with some lovely views from the good visibility.

Eric Alston in Junior (Andy Williams)

With the anticipated weather front evident to the West and with other members arriving, the decision was made to continue flying through lunchtime with the afternoon Duty team of Mike Sloggett and David Cowley continuing to keep things ‘ticking over’.

The training list was such that by early afternoon there was time for some of the morning fliers to have further launches, those members being rewarded for their optimism and being at the Club first thing. During the day Falke BVG had some local flights and an aerotow Trial Lesson was completed in the DG505 following the return of the Pawnee to service.

JB and JP following in some famous footsteps (Mike Sloggett)

The afternoon saw us welcome a new addition to the private owner fleet at North Hill, in the form of the Slingsby T42 Eagle 2 (Ed: the one that famously won the 1956  2-seater class World Championships with Nick Goodhart and Frank Foster and enjoyed royalty - Prince Philip - in the front seat) and which, after being rigged and relevant weighing and measuring taking place, was soon airborne and seen to be making the most of the ridge lift available.

By mid-afternoon the skies had darkened and full height launches were no longer possible, so with rain clearly imminent it was time to put the gliders and ground equipment away.

As someone said ‘we made the most of the day’ - thank you to everyone for helping others to get into the air today, proving that glider pilots are always optimists as to whether the weather will allow us to fly... - Mike Sloggett

Thurs 31st October

With a lot of rain yesterday, it was mainly just foggy today, and no chance of any flying. Peter Smith led a small team in cleaning the mower before putting it away for the winter.

One of those dirty jobs.....(John Borland)

And this was after giving a briefing to the Thursday Regulars on the work that Peter has been doing on the history of our North Hill Airfield.
And there was a new Eagle spotted at North Hill......

Blue Eagle (Rob Rand)

  ready for inspection in the workshop.  - J&P

October Expeditions Summary

Juniors at Long Mynd

The Juniors half-term trip to the Midland Gliding Club (Long Mynd) just gets better every year.

DSGC Juniors and their mentors and helpers at Long Mynd (Mark Courtney)

As Instructors it becomes easier every year as the Juniors become more experienced at flying at this ridge top site. This year we were blessed with a couple of cracking days, a couple of testing days and a couple of non-flying days, where we went model flying or coffee drinking.

I am always impressed by our youngsters at North Hill, this year was no exception, they are keen, hard working, respectful and above all sensible. Simon and I consider ourselves extremely privileged to be able to take a group of Juniors away to another gliding site. The MGC Instructors were impressed by their standard of flying, a credit to all the instructors at North Hill who put so much time into developing their skills.

This year we were fortunate to have Andrew Broderick (Charlie’s dad, Dave Brook (Jacob's dad) who helped tirelessly to keep things going, and a special mention for the Henders, Sally and Rob were, as usual, fantastic at pulling things together, each evening Sally and Rob presented us with a quiz which went down well.

Thanks also to DSGC members Andy Davey, Andrew Logan, Tom Sides and Ruth Comer and to Mike Sloggett who offered moral support and instructional help without question.

Until next year, thanks to you all and our hosts Midland Gliding Club. - Simon Leeson and Mark Courtney

Denbigh week 1
Nick Jones with the caravan and Phil Morrison with the Duo Discus DD3 ventured up to Denbigh on Saturday (5th). Arriving in the late afternoon they discovered the favourite watering hole fully booked, so had to settle for Fish and Chips (chicken and a sausage actually as the guy was shutting up shop by the time we arrived). The hope was that a brisk NW wind forecasted for Sunday would allow the impressive run from Conway to Nefyn on the NW side of Snowdonia. Unfortunately the damp air and cloudbase denied this so a few brave souls tried soaring the local ridge ..... this faces SW so did not work to our satisfaction in the NW'erly. DD3 and JB had brief "interesting flights very close to base. Despite this, Chris "the Boss" Gill managed to show us all up and not only flew the whole length but jumped onto a NW facing run passing Bala Lake and Cader Idris down to Barmouth in the middle of Cardigan bay.... and back!! He did admit a small "burn" to cross a gap on the way out though.

DD3 at Denbigh

The next day started wet, dried out but remained unattractive for soaring so Nick, Phil and JB went on one of Nick's traditional "drive abouts" when faced with this situation. Off to the NW coast overlooking Anglesey in search of the historic bungee launching site where the first ridge flight; mentioned above, took place. We think we found it, from the description in an ancient S&G article, after a couple of miles of off-road driving along a sheep infested track. Impressive views and encouraging looking hills, if the opportunity arises in the future....... That evening John Pursey arrived with the Eagle hotfoot from finishing work.
(Tuesday 8th -  see earlier blog)
Wednesday and Friday were both wave hunting and soaring days but the big height gains alluded us. Great flying nonetheless. Wednesday JP took a visitor in The Eagle with Nick & Phil in the Duo and JB in his Ventus. Flights to 8,500 or so.  Thursday Nick took the day off probably in anticipation of an extended and cooling flight with JP planned for the next day :-) So JP and Phil flew the Duo with JB in the Ventus whilst the Eagle resided in a splendid new hangar recently erected on the airfield. That evening Phil departed for home to perform a promised baby sitting duty; returning on Sunday to continue the adventures.
(Friday 11th - see earlier blog)
and over to Pete who also arrived on Sunday. - Phil Morrison

Denbigh week 2

On arriving at Denbigh from Portmoak at about 13:30 under low cloud and frequent showers, I wandered into the clubhouse to be greeted  with the question from the only other person there "Where is everybody?" to which I responded that they'd probably been to the morning brief and gone off for the day on some wet weather activity. Turns out he was the tuggie and there was to be another briefing at 14:00!!!
Chris Gill said that at 16:00 the wind would swing from SE to Westerly, the rain would stop, the cloud would clear and the ridge would work. And so it came to pass, although the window was small with such a late launch and 18:30 sunset. Along with Tom(DG100) and Nick(DG200) we were at the front of the grid and got towed straight into weak wave. By 5000' the cloud was very messy (and cold), so we opted for some ridge running as did Nick and Phil (back from babysitting) in DD3, before landing in the twilight.

Ian Mitchell came up from Devon for his first ever visit to Lleweni Parc. Tuesday was a 'nice' day but not great soaring. Phil took Ian for some local area tourism to get to know the area and they disappeared for a couple of hours - I believe some petrol was used..........................

Next day to fly was Wednesday by which time Wyn had joined us after a stopover in the Lakes to do some walking in the rain - it takes all sorts!
The day, although we were expecting some wave, turned out to be the most spectacular (for October) day of thermal soaring with some cracking thermals to 4,000' - a day that wouldn't have been out of place in the Summer! Many forays out to the Conwy valley were enjoyed routing either via the coast which provides landout options, or straight over the moors which doesn't! As the afternoon wore on and the thermals died, the ridge started working nicely and it was possible to complete the 144km ridge task.

Next day the forecast was for sunshine but with a brisk Southerly wind and the promise of some wave although potentially difficult to access. This proved to be the case with several gliders taking high aerotows behind the Eurofox but none really getting established. Malcolm joined us today hoping to fly but the crosswind launches combined with the lack of any real soaring meant he never got to but his expertise in derigging the Eagle was invaluable as Nick had to leave the day before and he was the only one that had any clue! A big thank you to our hosts at Denbigh - looking forward to the next trip. - Pete Startup

If Malcolm hadn't arrived we were going to use this to derig the Eagle!

Portmoak 

A shortened trip to Portmoak was enjoyed by Ron and Guy (711), Pete (230), Wyn (W7), Andy (M), Doc Mew and Gordon (LRN), Martin (KMV) and Paul (HMS). George V travelled by air to join us.

The Bishop, Portmoak

We flew on 5 consecutive days and the conditions for 4 of them can best be described as boisterous with surface winds of 25 to 35 kts. With the wind being fixed in a SW direction for the week expectations of good wave (or even any wave) weren't high but we managed to get to 7000ft on a couple of days with plenty of ridge and dynamic soaring in the strong winds and occasional showers being the order of the day with 1000ft final turns. Unable to be cleared to fly solo in the testing conditions George enjoyed several flights with Ron in 711 and local Instructor Chris R in the club 2 seaters. Day 5 by comparison was a very balmy 17kts which allowed George to fill his boots in a SGU Junior and he gets the grin of the week award. - Pete Startup
In  the second week after the crew change, Stu took over KMV and Simon Minson arrived with SM, but the decent conditions had largely been used up by the previous party, with just one good ridge day to talk about.
A big thank you to our hosts at SGU Portmoak, next trip in the Spring.

Sun 27th October

A promising day attracted many enthusiastic pilots, with the gliders being brought out and DI'd before 9am.

A moderate NNE'ly wind meant we set up at the far end of the field by the ridge. In the morning the ab-initio pilots got on with their training and by the afternoon the wind had dropped to provide some very smooth conditions.

Congrats to Emma Kendall - converting to Junior (Emma Kendall)

Stu Proctor put Mike Sloggett through his paces in his instructor check, and JB tested Emma Kendall with some simulated launch failures in the K21 before allowing her to convert to the single seater.

There were a few aerotows with claims of weak wave to be found and some 1400ft launches were managed. We were flying right up until the sunset! Wouldn't have been possible without all hands on deck - thanks gang. - Emma Kendall

Thurs 24th October

The forecast for the morning was dire, but some hope for a flyable afternoon meant that a small group of Thursday regulars gathered at North Hill. A few jobs were done with Peter Smith and Ian Hunt leading the work on the tractor, and Ashley Thomas providing some welcome sealing of the front and top of the LPV from the rain. Ashley also had a theory briefing on launch failures from Pete Harmer. A group led by Peter Smith enjoyed a walk in the woods to visit the pump house.

If you go down in the woods.......(Peter Smith)

As if by magic and right on time the skies opened up at lunchtime and with just a little moist orographic cloud to clear the kit was prepared for flying. 

Empty launch point (Jill Harmer)

The 14:00 trial lesson visitor was pleased that he hadn't cancelled as he enjoyed a very pleasant flight with Chris Wool on the ridge and with thermals. 

Meanwhile Peter Smith started on the short two-seat training list, and both Juniors were enjoying long flights.

Nearby showers (Peter Smith)

During the afternoon, the sky kept changing with showers nearby, but was soarable until dusk, with Aston Key getting the longest flight of 1hr 10 and being called down.

A really pleasant surprise for such a lovely afternoon, with 17 winch launches and 3 aerotows (although it did get quite cold in the air). - Thanks all -J&P 

Expeditions- Long Mynd

We started the day early in hope of the strong ridge flying day we’d been looking forward to all week. After a quick briefing and getting the hangar unpacked we were at the launch point and ready to fly by mid morning. Unfortunately Mike Sloggett’s weather prediction turned out to be correct, and low lying cloud and mist engulfed the airfield therefore stopping all flying before the first launch. We returned to clubhouse and Mark and Simon flew their models (surprisingly with no crashes!).

Getting going (Mike Sloggett)

After lunch. flying commenced fully with Charlie Broderick taking the first launch of the day with Mark Courtney and enjoying a 30 minute ridge running flight. Jacob Brook was next, enjoying a similar flight with Simon Leeson. Charlie S and Josh had shorter flights but enjoyed lots of ridge runs and the strong ridge lift. Dan Hender flew the K6 DRE for over an hour, making it his longest solo yet. Ross Pratt took 4 launches in the K6 and enjoyed having the most launches out of all the juniors. 

Mike Sloggett in FUN enjoying the Long Mynd ridge (Mike Sloggett)

The North Hill private gliders DG1 (Tom Sides), M (Andy Davey), FMS (Andrew Logan) and FUN (Mike Sloggett) all enjoyed soaring flights along the ridge and demonstrated a few high speed passes to those on the ground. 

Well done to Ruth Comer - solo at Long Mynd (Tom Sides)

Ruth was sent solo in the K13, an excellent achievement. Thanks to Mark Jerman, the MGC instructor.

Packing up by headlight (Mark Courtney)

The day ended with JZK and DRE de-rigged and prepared for the long journey home. It was an excellent day to end the junior week at Long Mynd. - Thank you to our hosts Midland Gliding Club - Charlie Broderick

Wed 23rd October

The forecast was for a bright start, followed by low cloud expected later in the day, we walked the three available two-seaters and a Junior to the northwest corner, most of Somerset and part of Devon was blanketed with thick fog but it was clear over the high ground of the Blackdown Hills.

Heavy dew (Mark Layton)

Some flights managed a full height launch, the low cloud drifted in and out at times - this situation was ideal for simulated launch failures.

Great looking sky (Mark Layton)

 After lunch and after a couple more launches, it was decided to call it a day because of the deteriorating weather conditions. - John Street.
 
Expeditions - Long Mynd

After a briefing at about 9:00am, optimistically unpacking the hangar and setting up the ground equipment, the mist which had been in the valley made its way up onto the airfield. This put a stop to any idea of flying, so it was a quick run back to the clubhouse to grab a coffee, before we experienced the planned power cut at 10.00am.

Long Mynd in the mist (Mike Sloggett)

The morning was then spent by the experienced modelers, fixing and prepping their model aircraft......

Fixing the towplane (Tom Sides)

.......leaving most of the Juniors playing around on the simulator and laser tag! After lunch a group headed out for model flying, which as is common ended up with at least two  crashes and breakages. Back to the clubhouse for another coffee to warm up!

Model Flying (Mark Courtney)

Charlie and Josh visited Church Stretton for coffee, later they enjoyed “laser combat”.
A good day for the Juniors to bond as a group. Forecast tomorrow is 50/50. - Sally Hender

Tues 22nd October - Long Mynd

The day started early with the hangar unpacked and everyone briefed by 9:30. With the wind from the southwest we experienced some weak ridge lift at the start of the day with weak wave developing to the west.

DSGC Juniors at the Long Mynd (Mark Courtney)

Charlie Stuckey and Josh Funnell enjoyed some gentle ridge flights and Dan Hender got a wave flight just before lunch.

Good to see Ian King's K6 DRE flying at the Long Mynd again with DSGC Juniors (Tom Sides)

Ross Pratt flew over lunch and got to enjoy the wave too, however not to the full extent due to the sheer amount of turns he put in. The wave unfortunately died and the ridge wasn't as strong as hoped so extended circuits became the norm. Mark Courtney and Charlie Broderick's handywork in breaking the cable put an hour-long delay in proceedings, however some gentle sunset flights were enjoyed by Charlie Stuckey and Simon Leeson, who had spent most of the afternoon on the retrieve winch due to being very experienced in the matter.....

There's a clue in the registration (Mark Courtney)

A thoroughly enjoyable yet cold day and much anticipation for more flying tomorrow. - Charlie Stuckey

Mon 21st October - Expeditions

 Juniors at Long Mynd

With the wind being a strong north-easterly and the prospect of low cloud all day, we decided to not fly and instead some members chose to take a trip to the newly rebranded coffee shop Heather & Batch (formerly Ginger & Green). The Juniors had a well deserved lie in and made their own way down to Church Stretton, in order to avoid the visit to the antique shop.

The 'oldies' collecting antiques (Mark Courtney

Our entertainment for the afternoon was watching experienced modellers Simon and Oscar Leeson wreck their beloved RC models.......

Experienced modeller Simon Leeson (Mark Courtney)

......which in turn led to an afternoon of repairs for the Leeson pair. 

Repairs needed (Mark Courtney)

Ross Pratt spent the afternoon doing bronze exam practice, with the help of Dave Crowson, Rob Hender and Ruth Comer.

Long Mynd sunset (Charlie Broderick)

A very relaxed day all round, and the day drew to a close with a spectacular sunset to top it all off. - Josh Funnell

Sun 20th October

The forecast was pretty well spot on.  A light north northeasterly wind to start and increasing during the day with some sunny spells. We had a good turnout and initially a K21 and Junior were made ready and dispatched to the South West corner. James and Emma Flory arrived and generously agreed to abandon their plans for noisy flying in VG for the delights of silent flight  so the second K21 followed on.

North Hill in the sunshine (Peter Smith)

Circuits were the order (at least to start with) but that worked well for Martin Bennett who after checks flew HCX solo. Mike and Harry Rigby  practised circuits with some rivalry over the landing spots. John Sillett helpfully stood in at short notice and brought the Perkoz out for the trial lessons followed by Club flying.  JB and Roy Boddy went looking for wave (unsuccessfully).   Ian Mitchell took over the afternoon slot and set off with Jonathon Erskine relieving him from logging duties all morning and completing some cross-field landings. 

James Flory flew with Matt Howard and Andrew Norris who was returning after a Trial lesson and keen to progress, and both Dick Stevens and Chris Woodward got hangar flights.

JB reported a smack on the wrist for driving past the caravans at excessive speed and said that the caravan owner observed that the younger members drive much more considerately! You have been warned!

Maybe not the most rewarding flying today but as the days get shorter we have to grab every opportunity, which we achieved with 40 flights in total. Thanks to everybody for making it work. - Peter Smith

Expeditions - Juniors at Long Mynd 

All well at the Mynd! After the soaring success of yesterday's flying all hopes were for a repeat. However the wind was due north and a morning briefing confirmed flying would be from the southern launch point. The Mynd's K13 and  K21 and DSGC's DG505  and K6 were taken out. 

Towing out the gliders (Mike Sloggett)

Josh  Funnell gave Dan Hender and Jack Raybould a walkthrough of a K6 DI and pointed out some key areas of interest. With all 4 aircraft ready to go at the very chilly southside, everyone was determined to fly.

Mynd launch point (Mike Sloggett)

Simon Leeson flew the DG505 first and immediately it was clear that flights were not going to be much more than 5 minutes. Nearly everyone had a flight in the DG taking in the very murky landscape. 

Jack flies K13 (Jack Raybould)

Jack got to fly in the Mynd's K13 on a check flight and then a solo afterwards. Nice to finally fly a K13 since the retirement of R37. The flight was brief like the rest. Even though it was a 1300ft launch, the 4 down reading on the vario made it clear soaring wasn't going to happen. 

Occasional drizzly showers (Jack Raybould)

After warming up in the cafe with some lunch it was back to circuits. The wind now turning west slightly extended the flights. Ross Pratt was given an interesting cable break and Jacob Brook completed his first full landing in the K21. Charlie Stuckey got some back seat experience in the DG505. 

Finally two of the 'Dads' got a well deserved flight for all their hard work on the ground. The 20 knot wind made a cup of tea very inviting. - Jack Raybould