2013 North Hill
In 2013, Enterprise headed back to North Hill, home of the Devon and Somerset Gliding Club. Here's what happened, in the words of first-time Enterpriser, 17 year old Liam Vile.
My First Comp.
Competition Enterprise coming home to North Hill for it’s 40th Birthday which coincided with DSGC’s 60th anniversary, set the stage for my introduction into the world of gliding competitions. This was quite a leap for me, as I had only completed the final leg of my silver badge a month before the comp. was due to start, and up until then had only done a handful of short cross-country trips with one single land-out after my silver distance flight. I probably should mention at this stage, that I am 17 years old and I have been very fortunate to benefit from the generosity and support of the Ian Beckett Fund and the Friends of HEB, - a small group of people at Devon and Somerset Gliding Club, led by John Burrow who allows his Ka6 HEB to be flown by our club’s juniors for free. This was to be my hot ship for the comp.
Friday night saw the arrival of the majority of the competitors with a welcome supper laid on and the packed clubhouse was buzzing with the excitement of what the week would bring.
Saturday.
The task: ‘The Point of No Return’, was to fly as far as you can away from North Hill and get back. One point awarded for every km flown out and two points for every km flown back with a 50-point bonus for getting home.
The weather forecast was not great for the southwest. We expected a lowish cloud base and the threat of top cover, but with the prediction of slightly better conditions being a possibility to the east. I was offered the back seat in 94, Bob Bromwich’s DG500MB, which I gladly accepted, thinking that the experience would be worth more than a few of my own points. The conditions were difficult with very broken climbs and a low cloud base, with the usual wave interference around the M5 motorway. The clouds ran out around Yeovil where most competitors turned back. Bob however set off on a long glide for the clouds in the distance and the gamble paid off as we were able to work our way north-east turning Honeybourne near Evesham in Worcestershire. We made our way back as far as Nympsfield, before having to fire up the iron thermal to eventually get home at about 7pm and nab 2nd place. Trevor Stuart had also jumped the gap from Yeovil and pulling out a low save, continued east to Ducton near Parham before turning for home and running out of day near Shaftesbury clocking up a very impressive 291km to win the day.
Sunday
Cloud base was a massive 1500’ above North Hill and by 1 o’clock there was no improvement so the day was scrubbed.
Monday
The forecast suggested that a convergence might set up along the South coast, but with some uncertainty of the timing of it’s inland progression, the task setters came into their own and dreamt up the ‘Beaded Breeze’. Ten turnpoints in two lines between Whiddon Down and Salisbury, which could each be turned once and in any order, with the option of including North Hill in-between to rack up more distance. This made for some interesting tactical decisions and I decided to try and just reach as many turnpoints as I could. The convergence did set up, albeit with a base of only 2000’ above North Hill, so after turning Tiverton and Chard, I headed for Axminster which by now was in sea air resulting in my second field landing. The one thing that did cheer me up from my field was the sound of a turbo firing up its engine overhead. Matt Wright in his ASW24 won the day covering 350km and collecting 8 turnpoints with Andrew Cluskey 2nd doing 353km but only 6 turnpoints in his ASW28-18T.
Tuesday.
Lots of rain and no flying - so to the wet weather program of talks and a visit to the University of Wyoming’s meteorological research aircraft, a tooled up Beach King Air, based at Exeter Airport investigating extreme convective precipitation events, Yes in the UK!
Wednesday
Jill Harmer our comp met decoder convinced the task setters that there was a good possibility for wave today and the task was devised to take advantage of this option especially as the wind was going to be strong and cloud base was not expected to be very high. ‘The Compass Rose’ was set, centred on TIE, fly out and back into each of the four quadrants divided by the North-South and East-West axes. Bonus points would be awarded for each 100 feet achieved above 2000’.
Waiting for the cloud base to improve, launching finally started at 16:00 by which time the cloud base had crept up to a whopping 1700’ above North Hill. Five gliders managed to find and connect with the wave over TIE with some achieving the base of the FL65 airway. I however, spent so much time focusing on getting into it that I ended up very low and after a marginal climb I managed to just squeak around Tiverton East. Then giving up in the hunt for wave, I decided to head off downwind as far as I could go. I don't think I ever managed to get more than 1800' AGL and eventually ran out of height just before I ran out of land at Weymouth and arrived in my next field, a beauty - overlooking Chesil Beach, and coming fourth for the day. The winners were Phil and Diana King in Duo Discus DD2. They managed to get into the wave and flew short O/R's into all 4 sectors. It was a day where the nature of Competition Enterprise came clear to me, make the most out of the day and just have a go. The achievements are often greater than the expectation on the grid. I’m not sure that, if at a normal comp, we would have even flown or that the grins would have been quite so cheesy!
Thursday
The cloud base was far too low even for an Enterprise task, so the day was scrubbed. But wasn't completely wasted, the conditions improved later in the afternoon and crew flying continued till late in the evening, but the highlight of the day was the return of the Eagle BBB that was recommissioned after 11 years of languishing in a trailer.
Friday
The day had looked to be the best for the whole week and the reality didn't disappoint. The task 'Some days are Diamonds' set a range of turnpoints in a line out to the north east of North Hill to cover the various performance of gliders (and expertise of the pilots), The Park, Avebury, Wantage, Newport Pagnell and Grafham Water. Points were awarded for the distance travelled and for each TP reached. The conditions weren't easy, with many people struggling low down soon after setting off. It had been forecast to turn blue to the east of The Park where the climbs were scarce and not especially strong. I had declared my first 300km, Wantage O/R and was expecting to end up in a field but thought, “What the hell, if you don’t at least set off on a 300 you will never do one!” So with little confidence I set out and actually made it to Wantage fairly easily, but it had taken so long getting there that the conditions were really deteriorating. The return flight consisted of many low saves guided by a single line of unreliable clouds which stretched down the south west peninsula and I ended up in a field, a stone’s throw from North Hill. No bonus points for getting back then, but I managed to cross the declared start/finish line, so got my Gold distance and Diamond goal instead, and the Ka6 shared third place with Ron Johns in his ASH25 711. My grin was so cheesy the top of my head was in danger of falling off!
The winner of the day was Trevor Stuart in his ASW27 621 who turned Grafham Water and made it most of the way back scoring a distance of 505km, Ron Johns in the ASH25 made it to Newport Pagnell and back for around 400km. Trevor commented that his average climb rate for the whole flight was just 1.5kts.
Saturday
The High pressure was stabilising out on the SW peninsula, and there was a wish to get all the competitors home early for scoring before the prize-giving and Anniversary party. The task was 'Ever Decreasing Circles' consisting of a series of out and returns to a set of concentric rings round North Hill at 20km, 40km, 60km and 80km. A time limit of finishing within 3 hours of start or before 5pm was also stipulated. The longest flight was 200km by Rory O’Conor in DG800B who won the day, followed by a bunch of 160km flights completed in the blue. I was tired after the long week and didn’t want to miss the Party so I turned back at the 40km ring. Due to logger problems, I wasn't scored on the full distance, the climbs were around 3-4 knots but with a blue sky and another 33C day, it was unpleasant to be in the cockpit. Oh and I landed out again!
The party started with a plaque being unveiled by Gillian Wills and Lisa Humphries (DSGC Chairman) which commemorates the founding of DSGC and the spirit of Enterprise. The awards ceremony saw Trevor Stuart winning The Enterprise Challenge Trophy and also the John Cadman Trophy for his most enterprising flight on the first day, Matt Wright was 2nd and Ron Johns 3rd. The Blunt Nails trophy for the best placed wooden glider went to Lemmy Tanner flying his Ka8, and the Sam Witter trophy went to Andrew Reid for his enterprising flight after using the turbo. I was awarded the John Fielden scholarship.
I really enjoyed the week and from the sound of all the laughing so did the rest of the competitors. I would like to thank not only the multitude of people that made it happen (led by Competition Director Justin Wills) and did such a fantastic job of it all, but also to the pilots that competed. Many new friends were made and it is a reminder of what a fantastic sport this is, with people of all generations and backgrounds coming together to share in the fun. It also showed the spirit of Competition Enterprise, despite the less than stellar conditions we flew 5 contest days and did far more flying than I expected.
I personally gained a lot in my own flying, finding myself being able to determine how to approach the task in a way that suited me, where speed wasn't necessarily key and where I could change the plan mid-flight to take advantage of the weather. From a relatively inexperienced cross-country pilot I would highly recommend giving Competition Enterprise a go, and I look forward to doing more next year at Nympsfield!
I’d like to thank all my friends and supporters for making my first competition achievable – (Junior Nationals next....)
Liam Vile (17) has been flying with Devon and Somerset Gliding Club since he was 13years old. He soloed on his 16th birthday and has been the most active of DSGC Junior pilots, completing his Silver in June this year and competing in Inter-Club league.
My First Comp.
Competition Enterprise coming home to North Hill for it’s 40th Birthday which coincided with DSGC’s 60th anniversary, set the stage for my introduction into the world of gliding competitions. This was quite a leap for me, as I had only completed the final leg of my silver badge a month before the comp. was due to start, and up until then had only done a handful of short cross-country trips with one single land-out after my silver distance flight. I probably should mention at this stage, that I am 17 years old and I have been very fortunate to benefit from the generosity and support of the Ian Beckett Fund and the Friends of HEB, - a small group of people at Devon and Somerset Gliding Club, led by John Burrow who allows his Ka6 HEB to be flown by our club’s juniors for free. This was to be my hot ship for the comp.
Friday night saw the arrival of the majority of the competitors with a welcome supper laid on and the packed clubhouse was buzzing with the excitement of what the week would bring.
Saturday.
The task: ‘The Point of No Return’, was to fly as far as you can away from North Hill and get back. One point awarded for every km flown out and two points for every km flown back with a 50-point bonus for getting home.
The weather forecast was not great for the southwest. We expected a lowish cloud base and the threat of top cover, but with the prediction of slightly better conditions being a possibility to the east. I was offered the back seat in 94, Bob Bromwich’s DG500MB, which I gladly accepted, thinking that the experience would be worth more than a few of my own points. The conditions were difficult with very broken climbs and a low cloud base, with the usual wave interference around the M5 motorway. The clouds ran out around Yeovil where most competitors turned back. Bob however set off on a long glide for the clouds in the distance and the gamble paid off as we were able to work our way north-east turning Honeybourne near Evesham in Worcestershire. We made our way back as far as Nympsfield, before having to fire up the iron thermal to eventually get home at about 7pm and nab 2nd place. Trevor Stuart had also jumped the gap from Yeovil and pulling out a low save, continued east to Ducton near Parham before turning for home and running out of day near Shaftesbury clocking up a very impressive 291km to win the day.
Sunday
Cloud base was a massive 1500’ above North Hill and by 1 o’clock there was no improvement so the day was scrubbed.
Monday
The forecast suggested that a convergence might set up along the South coast, but with some uncertainty of the timing of it’s inland progression, the task setters came into their own and dreamt up the ‘Beaded Breeze’. Ten turnpoints in two lines between Whiddon Down and Salisbury, which could each be turned once and in any order, with the option of including North Hill in-between to rack up more distance. This made for some interesting tactical decisions and I decided to try and just reach as many turnpoints as I could. The convergence did set up, albeit with a base of only 2000’ above North Hill, so after turning Tiverton and Chard, I headed for Axminster which by now was in sea air resulting in my second field landing. The one thing that did cheer me up from my field was the sound of a turbo firing up its engine overhead. Matt Wright in his ASW24 won the day covering 350km and collecting 8 turnpoints with Andrew Cluskey 2nd doing 353km but only 6 turnpoints in his ASW28-18T.
Tuesday.
Lots of rain and no flying - so to the wet weather program of talks and a visit to the University of Wyoming’s meteorological research aircraft, a tooled up Beach King Air, based at Exeter Airport investigating extreme convective precipitation events, Yes in the UK!
Wednesday
Jill Harmer our comp met decoder convinced the task setters that there was a good possibility for wave today and the task was devised to take advantage of this option especially as the wind was going to be strong and cloud base was not expected to be very high. ‘The Compass Rose’ was set, centred on TIE, fly out and back into each of the four quadrants divided by the North-South and East-West axes. Bonus points would be awarded for each 100 feet achieved above 2000’.
Waiting for the cloud base to improve, launching finally started at 16:00 by which time the cloud base had crept up to a whopping 1700’ above North Hill. Five gliders managed to find and connect with the wave over TIE with some achieving the base of the FL65 airway. I however, spent so much time focusing on getting into it that I ended up very low and after a marginal climb I managed to just squeak around Tiverton East. Then giving up in the hunt for wave, I decided to head off downwind as far as I could go. I don't think I ever managed to get more than 1800' AGL and eventually ran out of height just before I ran out of land at Weymouth and arrived in my next field, a beauty - overlooking Chesil Beach, and coming fourth for the day. The winners were Phil and Diana King in Duo Discus DD2. They managed to get into the wave and flew short O/R's into all 4 sectors. It was a day where the nature of Competition Enterprise came clear to me, make the most out of the day and just have a go. The achievements are often greater than the expectation on the grid. I’m not sure that, if at a normal comp, we would have even flown or that the grins would have been quite so cheesy!
Thursday
The cloud base was far too low even for an Enterprise task, so the day was scrubbed. But wasn't completely wasted, the conditions improved later in the afternoon and crew flying continued till late in the evening, but the highlight of the day was the return of the Eagle BBB that was recommissioned after 11 years of languishing in a trailer.
Friday
The day had looked to be the best for the whole week and the reality didn't disappoint. The task 'Some days are Diamonds' set a range of turnpoints in a line out to the north east of North Hill to cover the various performance of gliders (and expertise of the pilots), The Park, Avebury, Wantage, Newport Pagnell and Grafham Water. Points were awarded for the distance travelled and for each TP reached. The conditions weren't easy, with many people struggling low down soon after setting off. It had been forecast to turn blue to the east of The Park where the climbs were scarce and not especially strong. I had declared my first 300km, Wantage O/R and was expecting to end up in a field but thought, “What the hell, if you don’t at least set off on a 300 you will never do one!” So with little confidence I set out and actually made it to Wantage fairly easily, but it had taken so long getting there that the conditions were really deteriorating. The return flight consisted of many low saves guided by a single line of unreliable clouds which stretched down the south west peninsula and I ended up in a field, a stone’s throw from North Hill. No bonus points for getting back then, but I managed to cross the declared start/finish line, so got my Gold distance and Diamond goal instead, and the Ka6 shared third place with Ron Johns in his ASH25 711. My grin was so cheesy the top of my head was in danger of falling off!
The winner of the day was Trevor Stuart in his ASW27 621 who turned Grafham Water and made it most of the way back scoring a distance of 505km, Ron Johns in the ASH25 made it to Newport Pagnell and back for around 400km. Trevor commented that his average climb rate for the whole flight was just 1.5kts.
Saturday
The High pressure was stabilising out on the SW peninsula, and there was a wish to get all the competitors home early for scoring before the prize-giving and Anniversary party. The task was 'Ever Decreasing Circles' consisting of a series of out and returns to a set of concentric rings round North Hill at 20km, 40km, 60km and 80km. A time limit of finishing within 3 hours of start or before 5pm was also stipulated. The longest flight was 200km by Rory O’Conor in DG800B who won the day, followed by a bunch of 160km flights completed in the blue. I was tired after the long week and didn’t want to miss the Party so I turned back at the 40km ring. Due to logger problems, I wasn't scored on the full distance, the climbs were around 3-4 knots but with a blue sky and another 33C day, it was unpleasant to be in the cockpit. Oh and I landed out again!
The party started with a plaque being unveiled by Gillian Wills and Lisa Humphries (DSGC Chairman) which commemorates the founding of DSGC and the spirit of Enterprise. The awards ceremony saw Trevor Stuart winning The Enterprise Challenge Trophy and also the John Cadman Trophy for his most enterprising flight on the first day, Matt Wright was 2nd and Ron Johns 3rd. The Blunt Nails trophy for the best placed wooden glider went to Lemmy Tanner flying his Ka8, and the Sam Witter trophy went to Andrew Reid for his enterprising flight after using the turbo. I was awarded the John Fielden scholarship.
I really enjoyed the week and from the sound of all the laughing so did the rest of the competitors. I would like to thank not only the multitude of people that made it happen (led by Competition Director Justin Wills) and did such a fantastic job of it all, but also to the pilots that competed. Many new friends were made and it is a reminder of what a fantastic sport this is, with people of all generations and backgrounds coming together to share in the fun. It also showed the spirit of Competition Enterprise, despite the less than stellar conditions we flew 5 contest days and did far more flying than I expected.
I personally gained a lot in my own flying, finding myself being able to determine how to approach the task in a way that suited me, where speed wasn't necessarily key and where I could change the plan mid-flight to take advantage of the weather. From a relatively inexperienced cross-country pilot I would highly recommend giving Competition Enterprise a go, and I look forward to doing more next year at Nympsfield!
I’d like to thank all my friends and supporters for making my first competition achievable – (Junior Nationals next....)
Liam Vile (17) has been flying with Devon and Somerset Gliding Club since he was 13years old. He soloed on his 16th birthday and has been the most active of DSGC Junior pilots, completing his Silver in June this year and competing in Inter-Club league.