Cairngorm Gliding Club
Latest news from the Club
Weekend of 31st August & 1st September
A weekend of great contrasts and superb achievements. Saturday was an almost idyllic summer day with light winds and blue skies, perfect for our star student Reuben Lowe to make his first solo flight. He has reached this milestone after only 34 flights, having joined the Club for lesson #1 around February/March. Watched by his Mum and Dad (Anne and Andy) he executed a perfect first flight followed by a textbook landing. He is pictured with instructor Nick Norman.
Sunday's weather could hardly have been more different. A sky full of tangled cloud, and lots of wind, enough for "challenging" launches and landings. These conditions are not suitable for teaching anything useful to students, so we don't waste their money on lessons, but several experienced pilots including Alan Mossman and our Chairman Pete Thomson managed altitudes of eight to ten thousand feet in the mountain waves. They both brought back stories of remarkable cloud formations caused by the waves and severe turbulence. Pete's photo shows a distant view of Loch Morlich from the south, and curly cloud tops at the peak of a wave.
Last year we reported on a vintage "Prefect" glider that had been stored for many years on the airfield since its last flight in 1986. It had been taken over by an enthusiastic group at the Scottish Gliding Centre between Perth and Edinburgh. We hear the glider has been successfully restored to flying condition and is shown below on a test flight from Portmoak airfield. Mairi Young, the wife of the former owner, was very impressed and said "I can't help but wonder what dear John would have made of it."
Star student pilot Reuben Lowe (15) pictured with instructor Nick Norman after his first solo flight on 31st August.
Pete Thomson was soaring the mountain waves on Sunday at heights up to 10,000 feet and found these steeply sloping clouds with pointed edges, decorated by strange curlicues on the wave crests. Note the distant view of Loch Morlich.
The Slingsby Prefect formerly owned by John Young. The restoration included the authentic original RAF markings, seen here on a test flight at Portmoak airfield. Modern gliders use air brake paddles that slide vertically from the top surface of the wing, but in this vintage design, the brake devices known as spoilers are hinged at both top and bottom surfaces.
Weekend of 24/25 August
Saturday turned out unexpectedly well after an unpromising start. After early rain the hangar doors were opened at 10:30, Reuben took the first flight (as he often does) with instructor Paul Myers. Andy took a couple of very satisfied visitors in the Club's two-seater "Papa Kilo." Una Ramsay appeared on her bike and went for a flight with Phil in the famous DaisyETA (see photos).
John Smyth managed the longest flight of the day at 73 minutes, while Stewart was taking further "patter" lessons towards his forthcoming instructor rating. Paul Maddocks also did spin training in the Puchacz two-seater. Thanks to Bob Forrest (Robin pilot) and all who made the day run smoothly.
Sunday's weather was wetter and unflyable, but a good number of housekeeping jobs were done. Paul Myers was grass cutting, Ian washed the Robin tow plane and was working on it later, and Nick was researching the possibility of buying a different propeller for the Robin to improve its power on takeoff. Andy and John did a bit of pothole-filling on the airfield tracks, and various other domestic chores.
There is likely to be a firewood-cutting session during the forthcoming flying week of 2nd to 6th September. We are looking for ‘posse’ of volunteers to fill the woodshed for the winter. Maybe a couple of guys on chainsaws, a couple on the log splitter and a couple on stacking. And we need somebody to make the tea!
Your weekend reporters were: Paul Maddocks and Andy Farr.
Una's excellent overhead view of Kincraig village, where she lives. The red awning outside the Old Post Office Cafe Gallery is visible, and many other village landmarks are identifiable such as the Community hall, the church hall, the new Anderson Grove housing development and the bridge over the river.
Note the extremely poor visibility on Saturday. Phil is peering through the gloom at around 3,000 feet on the ridge, keeping an eye on the river to check position. Photo by Una Ramsay.
Weekend of 17/18 August
Leading up to this weekend the weather forecasts had seemed fairly optimistic, but the reality was very different. On Saturday several of our new young members including Reuben, Brodie and Robert were able to make training flights, however, under a grey sky with fairly low cloud. Robert (19) has just started working at the SaxaVord spaceport in Shetland (https://saxavord.com), so he isn't able to be here every week, but it was good to see him back. He says the first satellite launch from the UK (into a polar orbit) is probably not far off.
Brief excitement of the day happened when Gaby Telerman had an unexpected launch failure exercise, when instructor Nick Norman released the tow rope while heading away from the airfield at 400 feet. Gaby coped well, landing back on the runway after an "unusual" low approach path, and according to his report later he learned several useful lessons.
On Sunday morning we were greeted with eleven degrees and steady rain. August in Scotland, eh? Attendance at the Gliding Club was understandably low, and by mid-afternoon the hangar doors were still firmly closed. Nick Norman had positioned the monster ASH-25E glider ready for de-rigging, when the sky showed signs of clearing. He took the only launch of the day, with Chairman Pete Thomson in the back seat, thanks to Stewart Hills flying the Robin tug. They floated to the far end of the ridge near Loch Nam Bo, finding enough lift there to venture across the moon country beyond the head of Glen Feshie, heading towards Glen Tilt. They were rewarded by a climb to 13,500 feet in the mountain waves. Pete's photo shows the instrument panel indicating very strong lift at 800 feet per minute whilst passing through 10,000 feet.
Sunday 11th August
Bright and early start with the hangar doors opened around 8.30am. Reuben & Aaryn the young guns got a daily inspection walk around from Dave Weekes, to prepare the gliders for flight, and they strapped in for the first two launches with him.
Gaby Telerman and Dave then had an impressive 47min scrape around an early blue sky. Bill shot up in his Cirrus glider for 16 mins blaming the weather for his early return, while Caroline managed 34 mins in the back seat of DaisyETA with Phil, teaching him how to take a break from his secretarial duties and enjoy life from the air once again!
Dave went up again with a visiting pilot (Karl) from the Black Forest in SW Germany where their runway strip is apparently barely a quarter the length of ours. He really enjoyed it and thanked us for our hospitality. Alistair Scott arrived with his partner in the bright yellow gyrocopter that has visited a few times before, and shortly after took Bill Anderson up for a quick buzz around the sky. His legs were dangling out the side of the reciprocating death trap but he was having a great time!
Reuben's next flight featured a "failed launch" exercise when Dave pulled the bung unexpectedly at 400 feet, but our student pilot responded well to that - well done and great progress! Lee Mitchell flew the big Nimbus, his first flight in it for about a year, and came back with the pundit trophy at 1hr 39min re-affirming the TINSFOS adage (there is no substitute for span).
Aaryn went up again with Dave next. He is learning a lot and is doing very well at age 13! Then Dave flew again with a visitor Angie, who is from Yorkshire and has been visiting the area for 25 years. She was thrilled to have seen the Cairngorms from the sky.
Bill went up for another go about 4.30pm in the Cirrus, and came back 1 min earlier than his first flight but I'm not sure what the excuse was this time!
Three French gents who have been coming to Alvie estate with their family for 10 years were with us for the day, super interested and very nice. Dave flew with them all, talking in fluent French and enjoying the craic. Rumours about a new Committee post namely French Liaison Officer may be premature, however.
CREDITS: Dave for putting in a massive shift with instructing. He did 11 flights between 9.50am and 6.25pm with only a 30 minute break. He doesn't slow down!!
Big thanks also to Stewart for putting in a massive shift with flying the Robin tow plane ~ 16 launches today and he did them all.
Big thanks to Jordan, Bill and Gaby for covering the role of Duty Pilot (ground marshalling) between them, and to Gaby for logging relentlessly all day.
And not least, HUGE thanks to Reuben and Aaryn, two of our keenest new apprentices, for pushing gliders on the ground, retrieving tow ropes, running with wingtips and generally helping all day. Young guns indeed, and we need more of them to drive the future of our self-help Club!
Gaby Telerman wearing the hi-vis jacket indicating that he is the current Duty Pilot. This is an essential safety role on the airfield, ensuring that all flights are logged, establishing the launch queue in a fair manner at busy times, listening on the radio for impending arrivals, and directing vehicle movements. Photo by Jordan.
Lee Mitchell landing in his Nimbus 2 glider after the "pundit of the day" flight of 1hr 39min. Photo by the Club's webcam on the hangar roof, which only clicks once a minute, but in this case was at the exact second to capture Lee's approach.
Alistair Scott's autogyro G-CGNC. .A welcome visitor from Perth, who has been here before in this brightly coloured machine. All powered aircraft have to "give way" to gliders, in the same way that gliders have to give way to balloons, but with sensible airmanship all round we can easily share our single runway.
Last weekend in July
Our flight statistics have suffered from generally poor weather in June and July. However, in terms of new members, things are definitely looking up. Reuben Lowe (15) was awarded a Club bursary to help fund his lessons, and has progressed to the somewhat scary subject of "failed launches" in other words what to do if the rope breaks! His friend Brodie Inglis (also 15) has now had several early training lessons too. Other new Youth members include Robert Kearton, Aaryn Betts, Ruaraidh Fraser, Olivia McManus and Mia Lawson. It would be a real coup to establish an active Junior section of the Club, which has worked to great effect in other Clubs around the UK.
Craig Chatburn's photo shows something we have not seen very often this summer ~ an empty hangar! It was the last weekend in July and every glider was flying. Andy Farr's weekend reports are often detailed, amusing and informative, and I can't do better than reproduce the one from that weekend:
"Early start: Reuben and Aaryn, our two recent youth members, were already eager to get going. I had barely got out of my car when I was approached by a father and son from Kincraig. Ruaraidh Fraser had come with his Dad to join as a youth member. It was barely 9am. I gave them a tour and a safety brief, followed by a flying brief. By that time, the gliders were out of the hangar and had their Daily Inspection by Aaryn and Rueben (under supervision, of course).
"First flight by Reuben with instructor Dave Weekes for 27mins. They were followed by me with Ruaraidh for 20mins. Dave then flew with Aaryn for 39mins. I then flew with Stephen Struthers’ grand-daughter Olivia McManus, who has also joined as a new youth member. It wasn't even 12 noon yet, and already we had flown two recently joined youth members and two brand new youth members.
"Tony and Bill flew their gliders twice, and Reuben flew twice more with Dave who put him through his paces, his last flight being over an hour. I flew two voucher flights, one of whom showed interest in joining, and Ian Carruthers flew his motor glider twice. He had to return from his first flight after only ten minutes because his canopy was not secured properly.
"Two Trial Lesson customers on holiday from Yorkshire were then flown – one by me and one by Dave. They asked if they could pay by card as they had no cash. No problem ~ er, slight problem ~ card machine was dead. Bank transfer? Nope! Don’t do on-line banking. Well, what to do then? To the rescue came Mum with her trusty cheque book, proving yet again that sometimes there is nothing wrong with being old fashioned. Actually, I think it was just a scam to get her to pay.
"John Anderson had over two hours in the Astir and Chairman Pete over three hours in the jet Shark. A total of 21 flights and over 20hrs flying time. Two Voucher flights, two Trial Lessons and two new Youth members. I’d say that was quite a successful day."
Weekend of 1st & 2nd June
Superb flying weekend with thermal lift, wave lift and a memorable visitor.
Saturday was the thermal day, and despite a temporary hiccup with the Robin tug that delayed launches for an hour or two, several members were able to soar with ease under impossibly blue skies. On Sunday the conditions were completely different, with more wind and more cloud but the standing wave systems allowed slightly higher climbs to at least 7,000 feet.
Photos by Stewart Hills and Anne Rogers.
Anne Rogers brought her friend David Johnstone (97) to visit the club, who is pictured here about to take to the air with Andy Farr. David was a member of the Club 50+ years ago and remembers flying with Bill Longstaff and other founder members. For those who may be tempted to joke at Andy's expense, let's just make it clear he is the one on the left!
Saturday: Stewart was flying Bill Anderson's "Cirrus" glider and took this stunning crisp view looking north over Loch Einich under scattered thermal clouds at around 6,000ft.
Stewart's Sunday photo. The outlook is considerably duller than the day before, but the sun was being partially blocked by cloud at several different levels, caused by the standing wave systems over the mountains. This view shows Loch Morlich and its surroundings in the shadow of a wave cloud from about 7,000ft.
13th April 2024
RIP John Whyte
Tuesday 26th March
The Club played a small part in enabling the Royal Family to carry out its duties today, when The Princess Royal had two engagements in our area. HRH was visiting the Scottish Wildcat project at the Wildlife Park, and attending a local conference. The helicopter is a Sikorsky S-76C, one of two similar machines operated by the King's Royal Flight based at RAF Odiham in Hampshire. Fully loaded it weighs a maximum of 5.3 tons and is capable of 178mph with a range of about 400 miles.
Our landlords have delegated to us the responsibility for collecting landing fees from visiting aircraft, and the Royal Family is no exception. After HRH had departed by road to her royal duties, the pilots dropped in to the clubhouse for tea and chat, and they duly paid up via the club's card machine!
Sunday 17th March
"Henry and I had a launch in DaisyETA to 2,000ft on the nursery slope but that didn’t seem to be working too well. I did one pass along the back ridge but there was nothing there, the wind was too southerly for that. On the middle ridge the south-facing slope was generating really rough thermals that were drifting back rapidly behind the summit, meaning that on every turn I had to keep pushing forward to regain the lift. It reminded me of the textbook diagram of thermals getting squeezed in front of the rotor, which was presumably a bit further downwind.
"Following that idea I used more and more bank to turn steeply in the strongest bits, and then flew straight into wind through a wispy curtain cloud that I hoped was on the edge of the wave. Luckily that worked, and we were able to ascend slowly through 3000 and 4000 feet, with a trough developing nicely between the cloud tops.
"At one point we were at 5,500ft directly above Loch Einich, still climbing well. Pete Thomson in the Shark was with us here, floating back and forth more or less level with the cloud tops, and I did a slightly nervous traverse across a gap to skim the dome of the next wave upwind. It was a glorious afternoon with classic views of pure blue above and an undulating white desert below (photo by Henry Stott).
"The second climb went a little bit higher to a maximum of 7,500ft before we drifted back downwind where there were more holes in the cloud for identifying ground features. We landed after 1hr 48min and I later chatted to Pete who had topped out around 8,100ft."
Sunday 24th March
Gliding is sadly a male-dominated sport, but we currently have four lady members, and they were all at the Club today. From left to right they are:
Úna Ramsay (Kincraig) ~ joined the Club only recently and has had just four training flights so far, including one today with instructor Alan Mossman, who also took the photo.
Caroline Comfort (Feshiebridge) ~ has been a member for over ten years now, although she has not flown solo for some time. She hopes to do more flying this year!
Fiona Hawkins (Newtonmore) ~ has been associated with gliding for a long time! Her father is an ex Royal Navy pilot who served on aircraft carriers, introducing her to gliding as a child in Singapore. She has never learned to fly solo but loves back-seat gliding!
Alison Myers (Strathtummel) ~ the most experienced of the group, Alison is a gliding instructor, a solo pilot in her “Ventus” glider, and also serves as the Club's Safety Officer and Safeguarding Officer.
Maintenance week 11-15 March
It's maintenance week at Feshiebridge, and the hangar floor is strewn with tools and cleaning materials. Each glider must have an annual overhaul similar to the MOT for a car, and we are fortunate to have accredited inspectors within the Club who can supervise the work. Components of several different gliders have been worked upon this week, supported by trestles and trolleys for convenience.
Moving parts are lubricated and the movements are measured, linkages are assessed for signs of wear and tear, electrical systems are checked and GPS-aware instruments are updated as necessary. Wing surfaces and canopy bubbles are cleaned and polished, airspeed indicators are tested and calibrated, and it's all towards that essential final signature by the inspector, which deems the glider airworthy for another year.
Paul polishing the wings using a buffer wheel. It's much harder work than it looks!
Chairman Pete Thomson uses internet research to check paperwork is up to date. The Acro two-seater and the Robin tug belonging to the Club are in the background.
Henry and Nick are using a laptop to update the airspace data files used by a Kobo moving map display on the glider's instrument panel.
Weekend 24/25 February
A fine spring-like weekend on the airfield, with virtually zero wind for both days. Some of the instructors and a few other keen members were taking short flights to regain their ‘currency’ for the season ahead. Unlike car driving, you need to be in current practice for solo flying (or instructing) otherwise you will be temporarily relegated to ‘check flights’ with an instructor. Current practice means at least three flights in the previous 90 days.
Saturday’s flying was restricted to some extent by low cloud over the hill, but the sun shone all day on Sunday. Instructors Dave Weekes and Andy Farr were flying on Sunday with two visitors who had phoned the day before to ask about availability, and new member Úna Ramsay was there with husband Colin. They stayed all day and had a great time helping out on the airfield. Úna did a short training flight with Dave, and later on Colin was persuaded to take a guest flight with Andy. It was an absolutely perfect day for basic training but sadly none of our other new members were able to make it.
Oscar Mercer also had a good weekend with three flights, not having flown since September. Several members joined the crush in the Suie bar at Kincraig on Saturday evening to watch the England/Scotland match, prompting Andy to remark later that once the match had ended and half the crowd left, space was reduced to standing room only!
Thanks very much to Stewart Hills and Ian Carruthers for manning the Robin tow plane this weekend. Photos by Fiona Hawkins and Úna Ramsay.
Colin Ramsay (right, big smile) with instructor Andy Farr just after landing.
Several pairs of hands are needed to manoeuvre gliders in and out of the hangar. Note the castoring trolleys on the concrete ramp, to enable the aircraft to be moved sideways as required.
On tow behind the Robin tug, heading towards the white stuff. Úna's high-viz jacket is reflected in the instruments!
Andy demonstrates how to daisychain the tow rope neatly at the end of the day (photo by Fiona). We are slowly getting used to the skeleton-like appearance of the forest.
Weekend 6/7 January
Benign weather with a good deal of sunshine on the airfield. No gliding operations, partly due to lack of wind, but largely due to the fact that repairs and rubbish clearance after the storm are still continuing. The green caravan, a tough old bird, had been righted back onto its wheels and was undergoing substantial repair and re-furbishment. New Perspex windows were installed, segments of the exterior skin were re-attached as necessary, leaks were cured, and many of the old internal fittings will be replaced.
Repairs to damaged glider trailers were also ongoing, using a variety of techniques such as panel-beating, re-sealing of joints and glassfibre work. Trailers that had been imprisoned by fallen trees at the south end of the airfield have now been recovered, happily revealing no further damage to gliders.
Fallen trees along the airfield perimeter track have not yet been cleared, although club members have done a fair amount of work to improve safety in that area. This includes trimming branches and trunks that had ended up closest to the runway, as well as a methodical hand-picking exercise to remove debris from the airfield surface.
On Saturday we had a very colourful visit by five autogyro aircraft from Alba Airsports Flight Training. This is a group operating from the airport at Scone just northeast of Perth. We are always happy to welcome fellow fliers, even if they just want to drop in for a chat or a coffee! Photos: Phil/Fiona Hawkins and Stewart Hills.
These are two-seater machines, with Rotax engines to give forward speed. The autogyro concept uses a freewheeling main rotor to keep the aircraft airborne. Steering is achieved by tilting the rotor in the fore/aft and sideways directions. Power is only applied to the rotor during the early stages of the ground run prior to takeoff.
Aftermath of Storm "Gerrit"
The month of December was relatively inactive for us (apart from the enjoyable Christmas Dinner in the clubhouse) because the weather kept us grounded from the end of November. However, things suddenly became a little bit too exciting this week with the arrival of storm “Gerrit” on Wednesday. Wind speeds at the summit of Cairn Gorm exceeded 100 knots, and our airfield weather station was recording peak gusts of at least 65 knots around midday. It seems likely that rotor winds in the lee of the mountain caused localised down-bursts of tremendous force, which were responsible for a good deal of damage on the airfield.
The runway and the main hangar were luckily unaffected, but one glider trailer, fortunately empty, was deposited upside down onto the lower meadow without damaging the fence on the way. It must have been airborne. Another clamshell type trailer had its roof torn off completely, but remarkably the glider inside it suffered only minor damage to the rudder. The canopy of another glider was smashed inside its trailer when the trailer roof was broken, but these issues will be covered by insurance.
Two corrugated roof panels were detached from a small T-hangar building in the yard opposite the clubhouse, but these were quickly replaced by club members on Thursday, and the glider inside was unaffected.
The main hangar and clubhouse building appears secure, and all aircraft parked inside it are OK. The broadband antenna mounted on the bank at the rear of the hangar was toppled, however, and we also lost mains power for a couple of days. Components of other gliders whose trailers suffered damage are currently using up leftover hangar space.
Further damage occurred at the south end of the runway where glider trailers are stored long-term. At the time of writing we don’t know if any gliders were affected there, or if it is merely trailer damage.
Long term, the most lasting effect of the storm will be the big change in the view of the mountain as seen from the runway, due to the large number of trees which have been flattened. At least 70 trees on the mountain side of the runway have fallen across the airfield fence and perimeter track, and some of these are really hefty trunks. The total number of trees down in the Inshriach forest, Feshiebridge and Ardgeal is impossible to count, but must be in the thousands. Further away from the mountains, the winds were not so damaging and the number of trees lost is correspondingly smaller.
A good deal of clearing-up work and even temporary repairs had already been done by members the day after the storm, and we are told that our landlords (Alvie Estate) will send heavy machinery to clear fallen trees from the airfield periphery. No doubt the relevant insurance claims will be submitted in due course, and operations will gradually return to normal. Photo credits are due to Phil & Fiona Hawkins, and Stewart Hills.
The new normal ~ our radically changed view of the mountain as seen from the runway. Note that many trees were snapped off rather than uprooted.
The roof of the ASH-25 "Cobra" trailer where it came to rest, narrowly avoiding damage to the airfield weather station. Remarkably, even the glider tailplane which had been stored inside the roof was undamaged, and safely retrieved.
The ASH-25 canopy and other components were left open to the elements but survived, apart from minor damage to the lower corner of the rudder.
Ventus 979 had a broken canopy, sustained while inside its trailer. We suspect the trailer roof was trashed by contact with another trailer.
The shape of this dent suggests a curved surface such as the roof of another trailer, but who knows?
Club members Miles and Stewart tightening up tie-down straps on trailers that had moved. Notice the skeletal nature of the remaining forest. The undergrowth visible along the far edge of the airfield consists of fallen trees.
Bill Longstaff's old green van, which has been used as a launch point control vehicle for many years, was apparently rolled or skidded by the wind until it came into contact with the trailer park. The repair team are seen here recovering it, but we don't yet know if it will still be in a useable condition.
The final resting place of the empty Cirrus trailer. Tony is recovering any useful items from inside it such as cushions.
The U9 tee hangar on the yard facing the clubhouse lost two roof panels, which were themselves more or less undamaged and could be re-fitted.
Tony and Bob in the process of repairing the roof. Very interesting to note that this roof is lower than the earth bank behind which it shelters, suggesting that down-burst winds were responsible rather than just a strong horizontal blast.
Our broadband aerial was toppled from the top of the hangar bank, but was repaired within a couple of days.
Damage to trailers occurred also at the south end of the runway, where only a skeleton forest remains.
This trailer was thought to be empty but will need substantial repairs. Other trailers may have been occupied and will need assessing once the heavy timber has been removed.
Club member Miles making a start, although most of the heavy trunks will be left for the professionals from Alvie Estate to clear away.
Photo by Stuart Naylor (Highland GC, Easterton) a couple of days after the storm, showing patchy nature of the devastation in the forest, probably due to isolated down-bursts.