Latest flying reports - 2008

Tuesday 6 May

There was wave mid a.m. which Bo and a visitor flew the first launch, then weak thermals seemed to disrupt the system so we waited till mid p.m. to tow out into a promising cloud street extending from Mynydd buchan towards the firing range.
More streets then appeared and the thermal strength was about 2-3 kt. except for one wave augmented 10 k'tter which was wildly exciting for 2 and a half turns to near cloudbase at 5700' Qnh.
Visibilty at the higher levels was poor so i didn't linger for too long up there. Searching for wave at 16.40 pm proved fruitless so landed at 16.55 through smooth but "firm" sink over the ploughed undershoot field.
Bla Bla

Bank Holiday weekend

Well bit of a disappointing weekend but at least it was warm and pleasant for just relaxing around the club. Not sure what happened Saturday but I did see some gliders being towed into the south bowl when I passed by on my bike! Wind was a fresh SE.
Sunday was a good fettling day and the only flights were 3Nr air experience. Wind was a moderate SSE.
Monday and there was a bit more activity, but still quiet for a Bank Holiday, and we did do about 25 flights all told. Wind was a light 10kt SE. Took some time to start working but there was some weak thermals, wave and convergence at varying times.
Those out incl Ralph Johnson, Peter Thomas, Anna Baik, Gordon Dennis, Bo Nilsson, Gerry Martin, Martin Brock (tugging), John Coward, Richard Robbins, a few others who's names escape me. There were a good number of air ex flights so quite a productive day.
Martin Pingel

Tuesday 8 April

arr tal. @11.30 for Keith to tell me that monday held at least 5 soarable hours but the sky was improving fast which i put down to a "mini" ridge between the trough and the approaching front to the west. Towed out at 12.30 NNW by Keith into good lift at 1100' from which i circled away. Potent shower in the Cwmddu valley avoided and the showers kept fortuitously well away all day. Thermic lift was strong at between 5 and 10 kt with 6kt+frequently seen on the lx1000's averager. The combination of Mike Tomlinson's gizmo audio interfaced to my lx was superb , with supreme sensitivity and a vocal range at least as good as Diana Ross'.

Cloud streets(2) were extremely strong (avoided in the darkest bits due to possible electric discharge) and the valley of dead air between them allowed the opencirrus to fly on for ages in wave like smoothness surrounded by a truly awesome cloudscape from 6200' amsl. Landed at 1530 electing to return to ground after one of the best early spring flights i can ever remember from Talgarth.

p.s. lucifer will try to authorize a further release of heat from the embers to ensure a repeat condition.

Bla Bla

Saturday 5 April

Well what a great day was had by all? Over 25 flights today amassing a total of about 45 hrs! Three greedy pilots, Tim Barton, Mike Codd and me, did over 5 hrs each. The brisk Northerly was quite turbulent on tow and was a sure indicator of wave. Sre enough after a short time Tony Crowden in the K21 got to about 8500ft in the Beacons and then a bit later me and Geville Earl got to 7500ft QNH before it completely clouded over and ended our fun - so we thought. The second part of the day couldn't have been more different, great climbs of up to 5kts and the cloudbase had lifted to 5000ft amsl.

Not sure why the big change but must have been a weak front or trough passing through. I'm sure those with more knowledge will know.

The conditions looked very local however and I only ventured up to 25km from site.

Those out included - tony Crowden, Mike Entwhistle, Robin Howarth, Tim Barton, Tony Murphy, Robbie the Chairman, Greville Earl, Anne Crowden, Mike Codd, Tony Bartlett, Alan Cridge (our man from the north!), Geoff King, Steve Archer, John Horley, Mike Hutchinson.

At the end of the day "Doc" Saundby gave an excellent lecture on instrument flying.

Ahhh now for a beer or two!
Martin Pingel

Thursday 3 April

As mentioned on the 7.55AM Radio 4 weather (Honestly!), mountain waves were present from the word go! Classic bars as far as the eye could see to the NW gave several of us great views from above the tops. It was Geoff Stinchcombe's first flight in the club K6 and in wave..... his face afterwards was a pleasure to see. Also up there was Mike Rossiter, Robin Howarth and Robbie in the K21 with a visiting pilot from Usk.

I will add a couple of photos to make you jealous!
Robbie Robertson

Monday 31 March

Average kind of day with Rhona and Mike flying and some visitors with a duo discuss from Hus Bos who rigged then derigged. Jill Banks did aerobatics with Don G in the K21 and managed to fly about a mile inverted! Rhona was concerned to see this glider near her with a peculiar attitude until she realised it was inverted! Jill flew a couple of loops and went solo again yesterday so setting herself up for the season ahead. Clive flew both days and has promised to get his bronze this year!! [again!]
The next few days look reasonable so please keep hurling yourselves in the air--airfield is dry !!
Clive Micklewright

Norfolk GC Easter Exped Week Stats Notes by Ian and Jan Atherton Below are the stats for the NGC exped week. Despite some `challenging' weather which allowed only limited launching on a couple of days the exped was a great success, with all the NGC pilots coming away inspired by the opportunity to experience flying in this beautifully rugged environment.

Good Friday, March 21 - Day 1 3 flts, total soaring 1:24, average flt time 28mins, longest flight 51mins - Tim Highton with John Clarke in K13. There was 1hr 14minutes available flying time.

Saturday, March 22 - Day 2 4 flts, total soaring 3hrs 33mins, average flt time 53mins. Longest flight 1hr 23mins Paul Wilkinson with Ian Atherton in K21. There was 2hr 27minutes available flying time.

Easter Sunday, March 23 - Day 3 10 flts, total soaring 12hrs 47mins, average flt time 1hr 17mins. Longest flight 2hr 34mins visitor from Lasham. There was 5hr 52minutes available flying time.

Easter Monday, March 24 - Day 4 16 flts, total soaring 17hrs 51mins, average flt time 1hr 7mins. Longest flight 2hr 11mins club member Ralph Johnson in Dart 17. There nearly 8 hours soaring available, broken by a heavy shower in the mid afternoon.

Tuesday, March 25 - Day 5 9 flts, total soaring 11hrs 35mins, average flt time 1hr 17mins. Longest flight 2hr 52mins club member Mark Fisher. There was 6hrs 46minutes available flying time.

Wednesday, March 26 - Day 6 2flts, total time 4hrs 26mins. Average flight time 2hrs 13mins. Longest flight 2hrs 42mins Ian in the ASW20. Maximum available soaring time at least 5 hours! Thursday, March 27 - Day 7 There was a total of 21 hours & 5 minutes soaring over 12 flights, giving an average flight time of 1:45. Thermic conditions lasted over 5 hours, with the ridge still soarable well after we'd packed up. What a great day!

Friday, March 28 - Day 8 Only 2 flts, 1hr 10min total flying, average flight time 35mins. Longest flight of the day John Roche-Kelly flying with Ian in the K13. Total available soaring time about 1hr in between showers!

Saturday, March 29 - Day 9 Scrub! No flying due to poor weather.

Sunday, March 30 - Day 10 Ian and Jan flew the K21 for 1hr 20mins flying mainly in thermal, Cloud bases were just over 3000ft QFE. We left in the late afternoon and the club was still soaring with some very long flights to be had.

Overall stats: Stats exclude Day 10 soaring (due to incomplete data as we left well before the end of play), The week provided significant ridge and thermal soaring opportunity. Overall, between Day 1 to Day 9, 58 flights were made culminating in 72 hours and 35 minutes soaring with an average flight time in excess of 1:15 per flight. The shortest flight was 13 minutes due to a rapidly approaching rain shower. The longest of the week was 4 hours 14 minutes flown by local
pilot, Martin Pingel. The longest flight by a NGC member was 3 hours.

Comments from NGC pilots: "I have to say that given my previous experiences with flying in Scotland, this was much more challenging & will remain my preferred hill site!"
"I will tomorrow join as a Country Member (£105) and will come back"
"I had frozen feet but fantastic memories. When do we go again."
"A fantastic experience and my thanks to everybody at the club for their hospitality."
"Many thanks to all of the instructors and members of the Black Mountains Gliding Club. Your hospitality was wonderful and I am sure you must know you have a jewel in the crown with a site like Talgarth."
"Thanks to Jan and Ian for the Organisation and Instructing and I'm glad I grabbed the opportunity, it was an experience not to be missed."
For more comments, photos and flight details see the NGC exped blog at: www.flygliders.org.uk/blog

Expedition notes by Ian Atherton and Jan Atherton

Sunday 30 March

Another good flying day as the showers that were forecast for Wales didn't materialise. Light SW wind which allowed the Cwm Du ridge to work, but it was sometimes spoiled by 6kt ave thermals going right up to cloud base which reached 5000' AMSL in the afternoon. We only managed 15 flights as a lot of `the regulars' were missing (you should know by now that Talgarth generates it's own weather so you shouldn't believe the general forecast). Jill Banks managed to get her second bronze leg with a flight of an hour and twenty minutes. Mike Tomlinson and Brocky disappeared for a couple of hours in the K21 to get Mike up to speed in the a/c in preparation for him to start his Xcounty coaching. I risked life, limb and a divorce by giving Anne her annual check! Luckily she passed so our marriage is still in tact!
Tony Crowden

Thursday 27 March

Hay, Builth Wells generally collecting turn points again.
Those out included Robbie, John Coward, Mike Codd, Ian Atherton, Mike Rossiter, Alex Jenkins, Tim Barton, Pete Saundby, John Horley tugging and finally a group from Norfolk trying to work out what all the lumpy bits were (Hills!). Oh, nearly forgot our friend from the north was there as well but didn't fly!!!
Martin Pingel

One flying report's not enough to say how pleasantly surprised we all were by the improving conditions today...... it was still booming at 4 pm. I'll certainly confirm Martin's averager readings of 5to7 kts , and for the last hour i didn't even look for lift - just pointed towards any old vaguely promising section of sky and flew at 60-80kt in the 17 M cirrus without bothering to circle much at all. Hopefully this might just be the forerunner of a a better summer where global warming works for rather than against. Surely there's got to be a balancing factor in the overall equation to make up for all the regulatory Eurocrap we're enduring.

Please note the correct use of apostrophes( c.f.computer americrap)...........oh there i go on my orange box again.
blablablabla (Mike Rossiter)

Tuesday 25 March

Monday 24 March

The thoughts of those resigned to derigging in the cold suddenly turned to soaring. A tug pilot was located and the hangar doors were opened.
4 launches followed in quick succession, and classic evening ridge soaring took place in a magical light until sunset. The lift to about 2500 QFE was gentle and reliable as we cruised between Llangorse and Hay Bluff over snow dusted mountains. Another classic Talgarth event.
Mark Fisher

Easter weekend

There were plenty of visitors around over the Easter weekend, it’s a pity the weather wasn’t more co-operative, but we did get at least one new country member from the flat lands and it all looked very pretty waking up to the white scenery on Sunday morning.
John Clark

Wednesday 19 March 2008

Hi all, well what a great day it turned out and took most of us by surprise. Some really good thermals, some dud ones and some great cloud streets at times. I got a 7.5 average on my computer for about 1500ft at one stage. I flew around collecting turn points at Hay on Wye, Cray Reservoir, Builth Wells and Abergavenny (where I topped out at over 6000ft amsl!) Gerry Martin got to Knighton and back.

Those also out included Robbie, Geoff Stinchcombe, Tony C tugging, Tony Bartlett, Martin Langford (he who must be obeyed!), John Scott, John Horley, John ? oh hell my minds gone blank again, you know John from Rhayader who practically lives on site! and two pilots from Usk enjoying themselves.

Oh, and finally for those interested the K21 is up and running. GAZPA is having no problems getting it airborne so long as the field doesn't get any wetter.
Martin Pingel

Tuesday 4 March

Rushed up to the club after a morning of business meetings, yawn, yawn and was in the air within 45 mins. Straight off the end of Hay Bluff and into weak wave which eventually topped out at around 11,000ft AMSL. Two out from Usk flying their Nimbus 3 with a 25m span, John Horley was tugging, Doc Saunby was in the IS32 and Clive in a K13. Robbie had flown earlier but was leaving when i arrived. Sorry if I missed anyone else off this report. Great couple of hours.
Martin Pingel

Sunday 2 March

An amazingly good weekend, especially considering the bleak forecast from earlier in the week. On Sunday a fresh westerly provided excellent ridge soaring conditions all the way up to Hay Bluff and back. Cloud base increased to nearly 4,000 QNH with some nice big blue gaps opening up in the afternoon. Later in the day there were also thermals and several cloud streets stretching upwind towards Brecon. Pilots out flying their own gliders included Mike Entwisle, Alex Jenkins, Mike Tomlinson, and Geoff King in his shiny new DG - Nice landing for your first flight on type Geoff.
A happy band of visiting pilots from Usk sampled our local ridges, and provided sterling service launching and retrieving gliders - Thanks guys. Thanks also to Mike Entwisle for taking charge as duty instructor at short notice; and to Doc and Don Gosden for flying the tug. 21 launches in one day should keep the treasurer smiling.
Mike Codd

Saturday 1 March

looking east from Hay Bluff (1 March 2008) RR

What a day....apart from being St Davids day! There was a good turn out at the club with I believe about 20 launches. Westerly winds 25-30kts at 2000ft 7/8ths cloud cover with bases at about 3000ftQFE. The main ridge was working well, the Cumdu ridge was working and also the Llangorse ridge.
no time to get bored, exploring them all, above the ridge line and below....there was so much lift on the Cumdu over the screed that 3000 QFE was obtainable just on ridge lift alone. Not only the ridges but the wave systems were toying with us as well. The weather was cycling very rapidly with wave coming/going and reforming all afternoon.I managed 4200 QFE parallel to the main ridge. It was so nice to get out after such a long winter. 3hrs went .... just like that .... The magic of Talgarth, brilliant.
Tony Bartlett

Saturday 1 March

A decent day which lasted longer than the forecasts suggested , in which all the club gliders were in use (xcept K21) and there were about 22 a/tows.
Shobdon gliders were in wave.....one of them at 6000@ + and in spite of diligent hunting by all of us I believe the best we achieved was around 4-5000 Qfe in a mix of weak wave and thermals in 25kts approx of wnw wind.
This made the final approaches quite interesting for some , as there's not usually too much sink in that direction........our eyes were widened and we are now informed !
All in all a lot of fun was had and it was enjoyable to get few hours in the air at last and from a dry airfield at last.
BlaBla

Saturday 1 March

Saturday 1 March was great fun with a strong westerley and lots of promise of wave. Lots of wild ridge flying on the main ridge, in the Cymdu valley and on the Llangorse ridges but unfortunately no wave to talk of although we could see some lovely lennies over England. Mike Tomlinson got highest but about 6 of us had a great time.

Robbie Robertson

Wednesday 27 February

6 of us out flying today, Geoff Stinchcombe solo in the K13, Martin Brockington, Mike Tomlinson, Robbie Robertson, John Horley and myself.
Don G did the tugging expertly whilst others around the club included Tony and Mike Entwisle, the Crowdens, Doc, and Keith Richards.
Lift was very light at first so much so that half of us had to have two goes at it!
Mike T's antigravity machine was working better than anyone else's as he managed to stay up for 3.5 hrs.
Martin Brock had a few teething problems getting his engine going on his ASW28 but eventually he filled the valley with sound!!!
Not a bad day for February really and quite pleasantly warm in the sun.

Martin Pingel

Sunday 17 February

No wind but cold and sunny. 8 launches today.
Mostly check flights, a trial lesson, a training flight and some aerobatics in the junior courtesy of John Clarke. No lift anywhere but the views with the Beacons sticking up out of the mist in the hollows was gorgeous.
Clive Micklewright

Saturday 16 February

It was a lovely day on site - sunny with clear skies, and despite very little wind low down there was weak easterly wave. 21 launches today.
Anne Crowden

Can't really add much to Anne's report except a few photo's to give you an idea of the sort of day it was. Note the sharp line of the inversion which was at about 1500ft AMSL. Lift was very odd and open to some discussion. We had a light 6kt wind from around 110-120 and yet the turbulence at times was more akin to a 30kt wind. Sink was off the clock at times and the lift was best described as erratic. We were flying the lee side of Ydas and the burnt patch using very weak shifting wave which appeared to be broken up by lee side thermals being triggered by the very cold air descending off the mountain. Most of us struggled to stay up for longer than 45 minutes and had two attempts. But fair do to Mike Codd he seemed to suss it out better than anyone else and stayed up for 1½hrs, which was no mean feat - well done Mike.

Martin Pingel

Tuesday 12 February

Back by popular request another talga flight report. Kieth and John Price flew to the midlands to get his paperwork signed off but not until Adrian and Mike bla bla had rigged the big cirrus and Kieth towed me on a wave chase into the cwmddu where 1-2kt of lift to ...eventually.....4200qfe at the scree slope.
On the way back there was 3-4kts over the spine , then 1-1.5 kt all the way along the north run past Hay bluff.
It was all gentle stuff on a good vis afternoon (for an easterly breeze) in spiteof the almost total lack of wind at the airfield.
Once again I enjoyed burning my carbon today
Yours Lucifer !

Mike Rossiter (Bla bla)

Sunday 10 February

So you thought it would be only sledge rides today at Talgarth?
Wrong .... good old BMGC gave us some lovely SE wave today in front of the main ridge and just above the burnt patch in the S bowl. OK, it only went to 3.3K above site but it was there all day and the views to the misty Beacons were stunning. Dave Jefferies and Martin ? from Usk had a great time in Tango 10 ....and you missed it! Shame!
Robbie Robertson club chairman

Wednesday 6 February

What a beautiful day it was. Moderate NW wind dropping throughout day and slightly backing. Blue, yes blue, skies with some weak half knot thermals up to about 3500ft QHN. Although I did get a rogue thermal at 3.5 knots for about 1000ft.

People out included John Horley in IS32, Robbie, Don G doing aerobatics in the K6!!!, Jeff (from Bridgend), and myself who cruised around enjoying the views for nearly 4 hours - ahh what a life!

Keith did the tugging expertly as usual, so all in all a good day but shame so few turned up.
Martin Pingel

Mike flew the k6 also and spent nearly half an hour trying to stall it in what could only be described as an exercise in earth repulsion, Nearly 900 hours flying and it was the first time i've flown a 6..........quite a delightful experience.
Mike Rossiter

Wednesday 30 January

No wind at first and then rain so those that had turned up were looking a bit bemused as it wasn't supposed to be like that.

Any way by mid day it opened up and we all got airbourne into the mod WNW wind. Small amounts of cloud floated around at about 3000ft QNH.

Ridge working well from Bluff all way down Cwmdu and there was some weak wave over Bronllys, which i managed to get into, up to 6000ft

Those out included John Horley, Robbie, Don G, myself, Robin. Keith flew off in his Europa. Others around incl Tony C, Mike Rossitor and Adrian Thomas.
Martin Pingel

Sunday 27 January

Amazing, another flyable day although it wasn't quite as good as yesterday.
Low cloud plagued us for most of day and was rarely more than 2-400ft above the top.
A K13, visiting K21 and me got to around 4500-5000ft QNH before we had to make a hasty descent as the slot closed in. Pilots out incl Mike Tomlinson, Robin, Gordon Dennis, Tony Barton, Tony Crowden, etc (I swear my memories getting worse). The visiting pilots from North Hill were a nice crazy gang who seemed to enjoy themselves and fitted in well with our relaxed atmosphere.
Martin Pingel

Saturday 26 January

Good days flying with wave up to 10,200ft QNH. Quite a few out including Mike Codd, Gerry, The Crowdens, Richard Robbins, Clive, Don G, John H and Some visitors from North Hill. A few of the Usk guys were out and we could all hear the Shobdon pilots in the wave as well.

Martin Pingel

Sunday 6 January

Lots and lots of pilots out enjoying the average conditions. Plenty of check flights, training flights and privateers enjoying the SW light/mod wind which increased to fresh and backed to SSE throughout the day. Got a little crowded on the spine back at times and a bit congested on the airfield on at least one occasion but otherwise everyone had a good day without any mishaps. Many thanks from all to John Price (and John Horley) for the tugging, and especially John Price who must have had an "interesting" flight back through the Beacons in deteriorating conditions.
Martin Pingel

Link here to: 2007 Flying Reports