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NYMPSFIELD EXPEDITION by Nathan Hanney (November 2000) During the weekend of 3-5 November Gerry, Steve, Rob, Pete and myself (Nathan) took three gliders, K6, Sky 4 and the Cirrus to Bristol and Gloucestershire gliding club (BGGC) to hopefully try a bit of ridge soaring. "What would you guys like to do your site checks in, the K13 or DG505" said the instructor. Obviously this took some thinking about K13 or DG505? A nano second later both Gerry and I were trying very hard to sound as casual as possible "I’ve never flown a DG505 it would be good to get another glider in the log book!" Half an hour later I was strapped into the DG and running along the grass behind BGGC’s Pawnee, the instructors advise ringing in my ears "Its just a glider. Pull the stick back and the nose goes up, push it forward and the nose goes down". That’s easy for him to say, I’d never flown a glassfiber machine before let alone one with a 20m wingspan with winglets and the capability to do just about every aerobatic manoeuvre in the book (winglets removed of course).
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| As the tug climbed away from the field
I was slightly caught out by its performance and allowed the DG to get a
little low, however a small adjustment on the stick and the DG responded
respectfully to the expert inputs of its obviously very talented pilot?! Trimmed
out, the DG was very stable (in the calm conditions) requiring very little input
to keep station with the tug. Having reached 2000 feet I pulled the bung and
retracted the undercarriage (cool!). The instructor was kind enough to sit in
the back pointing out a few local towns and reference points while I got on with
familiarising myself with the DG and local area. Never having flown anything
more complicated than a K6CR I was a little intimidated by the DG, however any
of the preconceptions I may have had were quickly dispelled. Apart from being
heavy on the stick especially in roll, the DG was a delight to fly. I was lucky
enough to contact a couple of thermals and managed a very enjoyable 40-minute
flight.
Following my flight both Gerry (I won't mention the landing if you don’t) and Pete both had their check flights and we were cleared to fly. (Steve & Rob had both flown from the site before) That evening we spent an excellent evening in one of the local pubs, enjoying a good meal and a very moderate amount of beer. The following day we were all up bright and early (except Steve) and enjoying an Olympic breakfast in the local little chef. (You can't fly on an empty stomach you know, anyway bit of ballast helps with penetration, don’t titter madam!!). Back at the airfield we were all rigged and ready to fly by about 11am. |
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| However being true pundits and not wanting to look to keen we all stood around for a bit shaking our heads and looking skyward. Having run out of excuses I was finally pushed by Gerry on to the flight line, hooked on to the winch wire and catapulted (strapped to the K6 ) into the Gloucestershire sky. Wow…the views over the valley were spectacular and with a westerly wind blowing, (lightly) the ridge should be working. This was the reason for our trip to the site. With the vario indicating about 2 down I edged my way over the ridge. Slowly the beeping began to rise, –2, -1, 0, +1 and at times +2. The lift was not strong and most of the time I was just maintaining height, however I was ridge soaring. After about 25 minutes of cruising up and down the ridge I was down to about 800ft and turned for home. What a great flight. Although it had only lasted about half an hour the combination of a flying from a new field and ridge soaring for the first time made it one of my most memorable flights, and encompassed everything I enjoy about gliding, personal challenge, adventure, and the opportunity to talk about it in the pub later. |
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| Following my flight all the other
members of the expedition enjoyed good soaring flights with top honours going to
Steve who managed a good hour on the first day. The last day was a wash out so
we returned home early, however a good time was had by all. Even if I did have
to sleep in the same room as Gerry!
Nympsfield is a great site with excellent facilities, not overly expensive flying fees and good accommodation. If anybody is interested I will definitely be returning in the New Year, we could even make up a club expedition? Thanks to Gerry, Steve, Rob and Pete for making it such a good weekend. Nympsfield can be contacted on: 01453 860342 (see Dec/Jan issue of S&G for more details) , their web site is here. |
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PS: I haven’t forgotten the stink bomb incident!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! by Nathan Hanney
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