An Almost Diamond Flight

A Gold distance is defined as a 300km flight either in a straight line, or around up to three declared turn points - I guess you can complete it without returning to your original start point. If you do, you can also claim the Diamond Goal flight, which can be done as a 300km flight on an "out and return" basis or around a closed triangular course. I had therefore figured that on the right day, and since I really always want to get back to where I started (because retrieves are time consuming and/or expensive) I would try to do both in one.

With the birth of my first and only child having only occured around two weeks previous, managing to go gliding at all was something of an achievement - but after two weeks stuck indoors essentially on-call 24/7 whilst we all figured out what to do - a bit of a timeout was definitely needed. 

Anyway, SkySight provided a good forecast and basically said "Go south and stay inland" - the usual 300km O/R from Sutton Bank is one of Grantham/Saltby/Belvoir as you can go around airspace, and the route is largely over flat terrain. The forecast I had taken suggested that these turnpoints were not going to be in good air, compared to further inland - and since I had been talking interesting turnpoints with someone a few weeks prior - I had the seed of Alton Towers (one of the UK's most famous theme parks) firmly planted in my head.

Potential Flight Distance (SkySight) - Yellow/Orange is better.

At the morning briefing, the man in charge for the day asked if I was intending to rig my glider; to which I answered "Yes, if someone will be my retrieve!". It was a Wednesday, so my usual mutual crew were at work. There was silence, and hands firmly down by sides - until after a few moments, Steve said he would do it if needed. Much appreciated, Steve!

So I started to make my preparations. Food, Water, North UK Map, South UK Map, glider batteries... Everything was going OK until.... I forgot my handheld camera. OK, so there would be no in-flight pictures, the world will go on.... and I also forgot my portable power brick, so lets see how long an iPhone X battery lasts running a moving map and constantly using the GPS receiver! (Thankfully this device was not my only navigation aid and it wasn't my logger!).

Anyway, the task was programmed into my logger and thus declared. To make Alton Towers into a 300km O/R would require a remote start at SU3 (Sutton Control Point N), and obviously, a finish there too. In my phone app, I programmed Pontefract as a mid-way point on both legs, turning it would give me an opportunity/excuse to turn back if things weren't going well, but more importantly, turning it would get me around the Class A airpsace for Leeds-Bradford, and remind me about the Class D zone for Doncaster to pass under which I would have to remain below 4,000ft on a day offering a 4,000-4,500ft cloud base. I didn't check if the Upton Corridor was open which would have raised the base of the airspace zone to 4,500ft - as I didn't want any ambiguity on my log trace afterwards (how do you prove you were cleared through airspace for a badge claim?).

The Flight

Flying then, and after the usual 'per-twang' of my TE tube on takeoff, caused presumably by the tail skid striking the ground as I pull the glider into the air due partly to a bumpy grass strip and some slight ham-fistedness on my part - I was airborne. It had been about 3 weeks since my last flight so I would just need to get a feel for things again. I headed out to the start line, behind which I picked up a thermal just to around 3,000ft QNH (2,000ft above the airfield). I would have liked to have started higher, but wanted to get underway and over lower ground. I would fly directly back over the airfield anyway, so there was no reason to hang around over the hills. The wind was only a couple of knots westerly and I didn't anticipate it being a major factor in the flight. 

The air seemed pretty crappy over the high ground and I needed to climb again just 6km down track, only at Kilburn. This thermal, and the next one at Sutton Control Point S only averaged 1.3 kts and carried me to around 3,000ft and I was not filled with enthusiasm for the day - but the sky did look good, so I would carry on, at least for a bit. 

Just after Easingwold I got 1.7 kts and, inside the MATZ and staring down the length of RAF Linton-On-Ouse's runway at lunchtime on a Wednesday, I decided I ought to tell them I was there - so I faffed around unnecessarily for a minute or so whilst I tried to think of a way not to sound like a complete idiot over the radio. I pulled it off (I think), announcing my presence, my location, and confirming that I didn't require a traffic service - and on hearing subsequent broadcasts by the station warning other pilots of potential glider activity, I felt like that was a job well done. Another box ticked, and they are really quite friendly. 

Having managed to climb out of the MATZ to 3,800ft and then 4,000ft, confidence was growing. The next thermal was 2.4kts and the one after was a stonking 4.8kt average, to over 4,500ft. I was well on my way.

The ATZ's at Church Fenton and Sherbourne that had caused problems on my previous flight due to having to cross them directly into a strong wind were no issue today, I blasted well over the top of them with more than a 1,000ft to spare and only an hour into the flight I was at Pontefract. I didn't give a thought to turning back, confidence was high, thermals worked, and the sky ahead looked good - so I pushed on.

I was at 4,400ft so I pushed the nose down to trade height for speed and began crossing underneath the 4,000ft airspace serving Doncaster stopping only once to make a few turns in a crap thermal that only served to slow me down. I was out the other side in just 8 minutes and at 3,000ft. I had tuned the radio to Doncater but didn't speak to them. I just wanted to listen out for anything, but all I heard was silence. I guess unlike the RAF, they are much less busy on a Wednesday afternoon.

Everything continued to be uneventful until I reached my home city of Sheffield; I was now in uncharted territory with regards to the personal best distances from the airfield. Thermals were still good, sky was still good. The hills looked a bit big - unlandable urban sprawl to my left, and the aptly named Peak District to my right made me consider my progress. I paused to contemplate the situation but decided to carry on having eyeballed one or two half decent looking fields, built up a mental picture of where Camphill's runway was, and with confidence that there were some good clouds down track. I would try to stay higher than usual, although at one point I did drop to 2,800ft over a 1,500ft high hill top - not much above circuit height, but I was able to climb straight back away in a solid 3kt thermal to 4,500' again. (Note, I didn't appreciate the height of the hill at the time, just the closeness of it!).

Overall, I spent about 2 hours soaring over the peaks working my way to the turnpoint just beyond - which was not as impressive from the air as I'd hoped. More impressive were the many quarries and standalone factories dotting the peak district, although after dropping to that low point once, I made sure I was observing them from a distance. The thermals averaging 4+ knots were helpful in this regard.

I went largely back the way I came, with Sheffield being about the point where my iPhone decided to run out of battery completely, before the return airspace crossing - but it didn't cause any more than a minor inconvenience. I used my S100 screen to see the extents of the zones, stayed below 4,000ft and eyeballed the cooling towers which marked Pontefract, and further across, Burn Gliding Club.

This was also about the time when the sky decided to start taking a turn for the worse. I guess there are two ways it can go - one involving overconvection and a build up of cloud cutting off heating, and one where presumably the suns influence weakens as it gets lower, and it stops being able to send warm air to the heights at which clouds form - causing everything to go blue. It chose the latter, so there should still be thermals, but with less strength and far fewer markers to know where they might be.

And so my strategy was to 'airfield hop' - I got on glide to Burn, but didn't go there (once again considering the power station but rejecting the detour), instead I followed the wispiest slivers of cloud that appeared to be leading North, picking up some weak climbs under some, whilst others were not so good. I slowed down a little to maximise my glide range.

I passed York and Rufforth, with climbs weakening to between one and two knots and the sky continuing to look uninspring, at Easingwold I tried to make a final glide having taken a 1.4kt thermal to just under 3,000ft - according to post-flight analysis - I needed a glide ratio of 19:1 to finish the task, and I was flying a 38.5:1 glider - but in the cockpit, my variometer said I would arrive at Sutton Bank with a couple of hundred feet and no further. 

I pushed on, and possibly threw the task away at this point - I slowed down to 51/52kt - near min-sink territory, when maybe I should have stayed at 55+, somewhere between best glide and MacReady 1. Looking ahead, I was comfortable to getting home and that was confirmed by my vario, which was less enthusiastic about taking the last turn point. There was also a line of cloud along the ridge top which suggested thermal activity, but I traded a direct route home for a slight course deviation to see whether I could pick up the final climb needed to be victorious. I probably would have still made it in anyway, but might have found good air and been able to complete the task, and the diamond. Instead (according to post flight) I achieved a final glide ratio of only 22:1 and so arrived back at Sutton Bank after 296.8km at 5:50pm. I would later find out that another glider had been soaring locally until 6:30pm. 

Anyway, a good flight, smashing my personal best distance and at a reasonable speed of 62 kph handicapped and scoring a good haul of points, the highest of the day from a launch at Sutton Bank, and second longest distance (with the leader in an 18m span glider). 

Reflections and post-flight analysis:

What have I learned? A mix of both positive and negative. 

1. I can do it. 

2. Perhaps fly a little bit faster; I was using McReady 1 for the flight, with a speed to fly of 58kt, I think I could comfortably have notched up to 1.5 or 2 and flown between 60-65 for at least the middle part, when the day was at it's best. That might have meant getting home under a slightly better sky, if nothing else. My averages for the task were 1.8kts, and that includes the final 50km in weak conditions. I had 2.2 kt averages outbound, and 1.5 on the return leg. 

3. I'm still largely happy with thermal selection when I choose to stop; I never took a long climb in a weak thermal unless I was lower than I wanted to be - and would quickly exit something that didn't look so good. 

4. I'm taking too many thermals, I could have taken longer glides on the day, I have a number of sub-2kt top-ups of a few hundred feet which are a waste of time, when there are better thermals in a reachable distance down track. Of course I don't necessarily know that they're better, but maybe I can operate in a wider height band on a day like this - maybe 2,500 - 5,000 rather than 3,500 - 5,000 (excepting over high ground). This should also speed me up, and mean less scratching around at the end of the soaring day.

5. More care needed exiting thermals on the correct heading rather than just the general direction (although I can't be sure that it wasn't purposeful due to where the next good cloud was) and more ruthlessness needed in leaving a thermal at the top, as soon as the lift starts to drop off - too many turns taken where I wasn't climbing wasted a few minutes. 

You can review my flight (and download the IGC) via the BGA Ladder.