YGC Blog

Friday 14th.  A moderate SSW’ly meant that  a decision was made to AT and not winch and 13 ATs were flown off runway 20 under mainly cloudy skies that supported some convection, some of which turned to showers and eventually more general rain.  1 First Flight pupil had 32 enjoyable minutes aloft, while 4 private owner launches complemented those of the club’s K21 JVZ and the DG1000.  Martin Newbery continued his gliding holiday with Dad Albert, having  2:20 in their DG1000t, while Colin Troise and Diane Thomas had 1:11 in the club DG1000 to complete the 2 flights that exceeded an hour, a good advert for this particular DG product.  Colin also had 47 minutes solo in K21 JVZ while Mark Jerman had 55 minutes in his ASW27.  Cloud base eventually rose to just under 4,000′ asl.

Saturday 15th.  The wind had veered into the SW and increased in strength slightly compared to Friday, so this time the decision was taken to winch and John Marsh was first to launch at 0916 hrs in the DG303.    Flying continued until the last landing at 1742 hrs, by which time, 29 winch launches had been flown, including 6 for a party of Scouts.  8 of the day’s flights exceeded an hour, as 3 each of the club’s 2 seaters and single seaters dominated the launch point with only a single private owner launching.  Bill Payton recorded the longest flight of the day, just over 3 hours in Astir GBK, while others to exceed an hour included Rob and Spencer Bailey who had 1:49 in the DG1000, finding some weak wave to the west of the site, and syndicate partners Colin Troise and Nigel Burke who shared 1:15 in the  DG500.  Colin also had 1:16  in the Discus and Mark Jerman had 1:20 in his ASW 27.  The day also saw a visit from a glider from Pocklington, the disabled pilot then taking an AT back home. 

Sunday 16th.  A moderate WSW’ly led to another winching  day, but a decreasing wind strength as it backed into the SSW, meant that a change to ATing took place around 1300 hrs.  The 9 winch launches and 18 ATs led to 7 flights of over an hour, while 6 First Flight pupils were introduced to soaring, all having flights of at least 30 minutes.  All the  club 2 seaters and 3 of the single seaters,were flown while 2 private owners launched, both by winch, demonstating both their eagerness to  get into the air and to save a few bob.    Rob Bailey had the longest flight of the day, 3:40 in the Discus, off an AT, but the Newbery’s, with 2:24 in their DG1000t and Mike Wood, with 2:06 solo in the T21, showed what could be done off a winch launch.  Conrad Thwaites and Ken Duxbury also had flights in excess of an hour from the winch, Conrad having 1:37 in the DG303 and Ken 1:19 in Astir GBK.    The AT flights in excess of an hour were completed by R & M Beezer who had 1:00 in the DG500 and Jim McLean who had 1:05 in the DG303. 

Monday 17th.  A light SSE’ly that slowly backed to become a ESE’ly saw operations start off runway 24 but then move to runway 20 as the wind freshened slightly mid afternoon.  A high overcast persisted all day but thinned sufficiently late morning to allow some significant convection to develop, this being exploited by Klaus Schneider Zapp, who had 1:47 in the DG303 and by Neil Gregson  who had 1:01 solo in K21 JVZ.  The high overcast then thickened and convection ceased although some dark looking convective clouds were visible to the north and north east.  George Rowden, flying his LS8t took a tow north and via a thermal enroute, reached the said clouds to find they were the result of a convergence lying roughly along the line of  the northern edge of the North Yorks Moors.   A foray past Carlton Bank and beyond the line of clouds found no signs of convection and areas of low tattered cloud along the line of the convergence gave little or no lift, the best lift being on the sunny south edge of the cloud mass, an average of 6 kts  being found there by Phil Lazenby in his Pegase who eventually joined George at the convergence and followed it SEwards to north of Hemsley.  The highest cloud base reported was 4,300′ asl.  George meantime had followed the convergence NW to Northallerton but both he and Phil  found the lift to be quickly dying so a return to Sutton was made where George landed having  completed the day’s longest flight, 2:55.  Even around 1700 hrs, weak thermals were still to be had, this more local convection having been used by Chris Thirkell in his 1:10 flight solo in K21 JVZ.  The day’s flying was completed by a single sortie in the Falke, recently returned from its check.

Wednesday 12th.  A moderate SW’ly meant it was a winching day, although showers in the morning and rain in afternoon restricted flying to just 3 launches, with course member Ian Vickery having 2 of them in the company of John Marsh, this combination putting the  non-flying morning to good use with an hour on the simulator.   John and Ian had the longest flight of the day, 1:39, while the other flight in excess of an hour was by Albert and Martin Newbery, who flew the club DG1000 for 1:06, bravely making do without the engine they have on their DG1000t. 

Thursday 13th.  A light SW’ly soon strengthened and veered into the W, although flying was initially delayed by showers.  It was again a winching day and 9 launches were flown, with 1 club K21 and the DG303 sharing the launch point with 2 private gliders, the ASW27 of Mark Jerman and  the DG1000t of Albert and Martin Newbery.  The day was initially marked by a combination of good hill lift and thermals, with John Tayler and Peter Frost finding  particularly strong lift along a cloud street in their flight in K21 JVZ.  Albert and Martin Newbery turboed over to the Pennines to contact the wave, but finding none, motored back before spending time soaring locally in their flight of 2 hrs.  Mark Jerman had 1:00  in the first of his 2 flights in his ASW27 and John Marsh and Ian Vickery contributed the other flight in excess of an hour with1:04.  An increase in wind strength early/mid afternoon was somewhat surprisingly accompanied by a decrease in hill soaring height, with 700′ QFE being the best Ian Plant could manage in his 24 minutes in the DG303.  However, the shortest flight of the day was by Chris Gill and David Lynch who, off the last launch of the day as the rain started,  had 3 minutes aloft, courtesy of a launch onto a non-working hill, quickly followed by an abbreviated circuit.

Saturday 8th.  In spite of little change in the synoptic situation, the clear blue skies of Friday were dotted with Cu early on Saturday in a light, predominately ENE’ly flow.  The conditions encouraged 15 private owners to join the launch queue, soon busy with members and the first of the day’s 5 First Flight pupils flying as the majority of the club fleet gathered at the launch point.  BothPawnees were soon in service to deal with the launch point rush.  38 ATs were flown by the time flying finished for the day at around 1715 hrs, the conditions ensuring that every First Flight pupil has at least 30 minutes in the air and 18 flights exceeded an hour.  Albert and Martin Newbery posted the longest flight of the day, 4:57 in their DG1000t, visiting Ripon, Wetherby South, Garforth, Aysgarth and Bedale.  Apart from their cross country, 10 other pilots set out on cross countries, Rory O’Conor and Ian Bullous treating the launch point crowd to a stream take off in their respective DG800’s.  Ian returned after about 2:30 and Rory after 4:18 but neither posted a flight on the ladder.  3 pilots did however.  Phil Lazenby flew a declared 233 km in his Pegase, finding soggy conditions on the first leg , better conditions later on but was then forced into a large deviation in order to complete the flight at Sutton, as sea air  had spread up the Vales of Pickering and York south of the site.  Richie Toon flew a 153 km, Sut/Pct/Mas/Sut task in his LS7 while Andy Hatfield declared an ambitious 300 km task but, having turned Barnard Castle, abandoned the task on the leg to Beverley and landed back after completing 130 km in the DG200.  Back at site, Tony Drury continued his exploration of the club fleet by having a successful first flight in the DG303, liking it so much that he didn’t land until just over 2 hours had elapsed (or was it that he couldn’t get the u/c to lock down?)  Only joking Tony, another well done.  Colin Troise and Tor Tavener shared 1:25 of an uneventful flight in the DG1000, which is more than can be said for Peter Clay who, attempting a similar task to Phil Lazenby, suffered a total electrical failure in his Ventus t  and then has to resort to the engine to get home.  Derek Taylor, flying his ASW22 for the first time this year, found his engine wouldn’t start when needed but managed to find sufficient lift  to get him back to site.  Saturday was also an eventful day for David Latimer who was duty Tuggie.  However, in his case the event was the 1000th tow he has done at the YGC and a rather pleased but nonchalant David is shown on the following photo taken on the day.

Sunday 9th.   The low overcast which had been visible over the North Sea on Saturday had spread in overnight and flying was delayed until the cloud started to lift and break up in the light ENE’ly around the middle of the afternoon.  Flying commenced around 1530 hrs and 13 ATs were flown by the time flying stopped at just after 1700 hrs.  6 of the ATs were for a group of Scouts, their instruction being jointly shared by Brian Wise and Nick Gaunt.  Nick also found time to give one of the 2 First Flight pupils of the day the longest club 2 seater flight, 45 minutes , as the cloud broke sufficiently to allow some thermal activity to develop.  These better conditions were used by the 2 privately owned gliders that launched, to post the longest flights of the day, with Albert and Martin Newbery  having 1:20 of local soaring in their DG1000t and  Derek Taylor  having 1:05 in his ASW22.  Tony Drury continued his new relationship with the DG303 with a flight of 34 minutes.

Monday 10th.  The light ESE’ly flow continued, but again overnight, the low cloud had invaded from the North Sea and flying was again delayed until mid afternoon.  This time however, the break up of the cloud did not result in any thermal activity, so the majority of the flights were circuits, the exception being Chris Gill, who, off  the first flight of the day, managed 43 minutes, although the poor soaring conditions were demonstrated by the multiple engine starts required to achieve this flight time from the Discus t.  Apart from Chris’ flight and another later on, the rest of the 8 ATs were in either the DG1000 or K21 JVZ where Charlie Jessop and A Benjamin managed 25 genuine gliding minutes aloft.

Tuesday 11th.   The decline of the high pressure that had dominated the weather over the last week or so allowed fronts to approach from the SW, so although the day started off brightly, the cloud base soon started to decline  and few drops of rain were felt around lunch time as the SE’ly wind slowly increased from light to moderate.  The brighter period in the morning did allow  3 ATs to be flown, one with Ian Vickery, a visitor from Gransden Lodge who is visiting Sutton in the hope of some hill soaring time.  His hopes could be realised later in the week.    The light and patchy rain around lunch time was then replaced by brighter conditions and 2 more ATs were flown, on one of which Andy Parish and Martin Newbery found some weak wave and posted the longest flight of the day, 24 minutes in the DG1000.  The last flight of the day saw K21 JVZ flown after having had the bearings in the nose wheel replaced by Stuart Heaton and George Rowden.  Albert Newbery, flying P1, reported the complete absence of the rumbling  noise that had plagued those flying JVZ over the past few weeks due to the wheel continuing to rotate in the airstream.  He did however,  note that the flight had been also memorable because of the very poor horizontal visibility as another band of rain approached, terminating flying for the day.  Meanwhile, in the workshop, Dick Cole was busy tidying up the wiring on the Eurofox.

A post script to Sunday 2nd of June.   I reported that Andy Hatfield flying the DG200 and Bill Payton/Albert Newbery flying their DG1000t had both completed their tasks in the Northern GC Interclub Competition held at Rufforth.  The YGC couldn’t field a team on Saturday the 1st, but were very successful on Sunday the 2nd.  Andy’s flight around the 163.6 km task in the Novice class, was completed at 70.5 kph, the second ranked pilot completing at 57 kph.  Bill and Albert also won their pundit class around a 264.4 km task and Charlie Jessop, flying his Cirrus, came 2nd in the Intermediate class at 64.04 kph, 0.05 kph slower than the winner around their 201 km task.  So well done to our representatives who scored 14 out of a possible 15 points. 

Tuesday 4th.  With the High pressure well in charge, it was another soaring day although conditions were not that  easy in the light to moderate E’ly,  7 of the  day’s 28 ATs providing flights of over an hour.  3 of the club 2 seaters and 3 of the single seaters were flown as the holiday course members continued to enjoy the conditions, while 5 private owners added to the activity that commenced at 1015 and continued until 1830 hrs.   Phil Lazenby, encouraged by the RASP forecast, if not by the look of the sky, declared a 317 km task but had to abandon it as he approached his 2nd turn point at Masham as sea air had penetrated inland along the Tees Valley.  He did, however,  cover  159 accredited National Ladder  kms in his flight of just under 3 hrs in his Pegase.  Stuart Heaton/Albert Newbery had 3:15 aloft in their DG1000t, but I have no report of where they went.  Other 1hr plus pilots were Frank Wilson who had 2:03 in the DG303 and  Phil Westerby Jones who flew 1:02 in the Discus to re-establish his soaring techniques after a bit of a layoff.  Andy Parish and Peter Wright just failed to beat the 1 hr mark with 58 minutes in the DG1000 and Mike Greenacre, repeated his transition to solo flying he accomplished on a 2012 holiday course at Sutton, with 3 solo flights in the K21s, the best being of 44 minutes duration.  4 First Flight pupils were also flown.

Wednesday 5th.    The High pressure had moved sufficiently to generate a light to moderate NE’ly flow at Sutton, the long sea path of the air mass resulting in generally overcast skies, although the cloud broke up as the day progressed.  Flying was delayed until midday, but thereafter continued until around 1745 hrs, by which time 19 ATs were flown, although non generated flight times of over an hour.  Two seater flying was the order of the day for the course members, club members and 2 First Flight pupils, the demand ensuring that all 4 two seaters were flown.  Richie Toon/ D Kermode achieved 39 minutes in the DG1000, one of  4  to achieve flight times in excess of 30 minutes, while Neil Gregson posted the best solo flight time with 26 minutes in K21 KLW.

Thursday 6th.  Subtle changes in the position of the high pressure provided a change in wind direction to SSE, this backing to ESE as the day progressed, but the wind remained light to moderate.  A reduced amount of cloud meant another soaring day, with 3 of the day’s 33 ATs yielding flights of over an hour, out of a flying day that started at around 1030 hrs and continued until around 1750 hrs.  All the club 2 seaters and one of the single seaters were flown, while there were 2 private owner launches, Duncan Pask’s flight in his Ka6 being the longest of the day at 2:57.  Mike Wood/Neil Gregson were the only other private owners to launch, having 1:44 in the T21 and finding that only the Ka6 could match their slow and tight thermalling turns.  Course member Mike Greenacre progressed to  Astir GBK  and enjoyed 3 trips, the last being the longest at 1:21.  None of the two seater flights reached an hour but Andy Parish and course member Peter Dowker came closest with 59 minutes in K21 KLW and Charlie Jessop/Sue Aherne were not far behind with 55 minutes in the DG1000.  A single First Flight pupil was flown, while the day was a success for Peter Wright who resoloed, having 2 flights, one in each of the K21s.

Friday 7th.   There was little change in wind direction and strength compared to Thursday, but the sky remained completely blue over the site all day.  Isolated Cu, initially over the Tees valley to the north, slowly moved S but never got close enough to Sutton Bank to be exploited, except by the private owners who had turbo or self launching gliders.  Ian Bullous, flying his DG800, connected with what looked to be an isolated area of convergence stretching from the Tontine to the east coast along the northern edge of the North Yorks Moors.  However, there was little lift to the north of this and Ian found himself low near Roseberry Topping on an abandoned attempt to get to Guisborough and returned to Sutton.  George Rowden used the engine of his LS8 t to get a high enough start from Sutton to reach the clouds to the north  and thereafter enjoyed 2 hours of local soaring over the Moors where cloud base was just under 4,000′ asl, but attempts to fly north, west or south were frustrated by a lack of clouds and lift.  However, after watching Phil Lazenby in his Pegase struggle to reach the lift and then have to land out at Bagby after 1:42, saw that the convergence had extended to the NW and followed it all the way to Barnard Castle before returning to Sutton in his flight of 3:20, at no time descending below 3,000′ asl.   After turning Barnard Castle George was treated to a grand view of the convergence curving gently SE around the SW edge of the Durham Tees Valley Class D airspace and then E along the northern edge of the North Yorks Moors.    Back at Sutton, Mike Wood, flying the T21 solo, took a AT to 4,200 ‘ in an attempt to contact the clouds to the north, but had to return to site, where at around 500′ above Hood Hill he contacted a thermal and used it to regain some of his lost height in his flight of 1:16.  The best from more normal release heights, were 46 minutes by Andy Parish and Diane Thomas in K21 KLW, while Neil Gregson flying the Discus and Mike Greenacre flying Astir KRN shared the honours for the longest flight in  a club single seater with 21 minutes each.  it wasn’t just glider pilots who found staying up over the site difficult.  Ben Potter, who owns a Falconry display business, was an site to have his activities photographed for publicity purposes and chose to fly his Sea Eagle from the cliff overlooking Hood Hill.  This activity was however observed and objected to by a pair of Perigrene Falcons who, obeying the laws of natural predators, rather than those of the air,  literately knocked the unfortunate Sea Eagle from it.

Saturday 1st.  An establishing High pressure allowed a gliding but not a soaring day, as initially overcast skies delayed the start of flying until after midday and then prevented any thermal activity from developing.  The late start was not wasted however, as a number of Durham University GC members spent some time on the simulator with Charlie Jessop.  Once flying started, 14 ATs were flown all in the three available 2 seaters, but none provided any flights of over 30 minutes.  However, the 5 First Flight pupils were able to get their first experience of motorless flight.  Closest to the 30 minute mark were Charlie Jessop and R Brodie in K21 JVZ with 28 minutes followed by John Marsh and Tom Sutton in K21 KLW with 27 minutes.  Colin Troise, the only private owner to fly, had 26 minutes in his DG600.  The reason there were only three 2 seaters available was that the DG1000 was at the Club Class competition at Lasham, being flown by Messrs Parish and Tanner. 

Sunday 2nd.  The now established High pressure provided a good day’s soaring in a light to moderate NW’ly, with 22 of the day’s 44 ATs yielding flights of over an hour.  Flying commenced at 0945 hrs and continued until 1845 hrs.  The majority of the club fleet were flown and 16 private owners took advantage of the good thermic conditions.  Chris Garton logged the longest flight. A 6:14, 500 km O/R to Royston in his Ventus, this being the longest, but not the only notable  cross country of the day.  5 pilots exceeded 300 km,  Dave Latimer in his Ventus with 350 km, Andy Wright in his Nimbus 3t with 334 km, Martyn Johnson in his DG600 with 328 km, Chris Teagle in his LS6C with 304 km and Peter Clay in his Ventus with 303 km. Nick Gaunt in his LS7 flew an O/R to Skelling Farm, 207 km, observing what appeared to be a Vintage glider rally in progress there.  The Northern GC’s Interclub League held at Rufforth, also had a good day, with YGC competitors, Bill Payton and Albert Newbery completing 265 km in their DG1000t and Andy Hatfield completing 164 km in the DG200.  Bill and Albert, arrived at Rufforth in style by flying there off the first launch from Sutton.  A number of other cross countries were flown but have not been entered on the National Ladder or their details provided on the back of the log sheet.  It was, however, not only a day of significant cross country flying,  Tony Drury, flying Astir KRN completed his Silver/Gold duration leg with 5:08 and Mark Walton completed a Bronze C duration leg with 1:10 solo in K21 JVZ. Our congratulations to them.   Among all this  activity, there was also sufficient time for 8 First Flight pupils to be flown.

Monday 3rd. The High Pressure remained in charge, a light WNW’ly backing into the SE later in the day.  Cu developed early over the Pennines and N Yorks Moors but when they did appear over the Vale of York late morning, pilots reported broken, difficult to centre thermals with a corresponding struggle to get to cloudbase,   This started at around 3000′ asl but gradually improved over the day, reaching over 5000′ asl by late afternoon/early evening, the thermal strength and consistency also improving.  27 ATs were flown, a number for Fred Wallace, Mike Greenacre, Peter Dowker and Ann Harland, the 4 members of the Holiday Course who looked to have chosen a good week to glide and soar under the tutelage of Roger Burghall and John Tayler.  Solo flying was mainly the forte of the 16 private owners who launched, club solo flying being confined to Astir KRN and a single flight in the DG500, the latter by Frank Wilson.  The longest fight of the day was by Chris Garton in his Ventus who flew to Camphill and Hexham and returned to do a local little triangle in 7:10.  The most meritorious flight of the day was by Chris Gill who flew an 500 km O/R to Royston,  having to negotiate some tricky conditions early on and then blue conditions south of Nottingham.  Some nicely placed cloud streets on the return helped.  Chris’s successful flight came off the second of his day’s flights, the first flight coming to a abrupt end when Chris went to to do a  check start of the engine of the Discus T and realised he hadn’t connected the battery, leading to an early return to Sutton. So well done Chris on your Diamond Distance.  Other cross country pilots included Derek Smith who abandoned a 500 km attempt short of Bletchley due to sea air ingress but nevertheless flew 460 km in his Ventus  and Peter Clay, also a Ventus pilot, who completed his 2nd 300 km in 2 days.  Bill Payton and Rob Bailey in Bill’s DG1000t flew a 300 km around the Doncaster zone, getting good views of both the Red Arrows and an AWACS when near Horncastle.  Phil Lazenby flew 284 km in his Pegase and George Rowden, after abandoning a declared task, flew a 179 km FAI triangle, followed by a trip up to the Tontine, finding the best thermal of his day, a 6 kter, on the way back.  

Thursday 30th.  A moderate to fresh N’ly deposited 9 mm of rain overnight and continued to bring in overcast skies with a cloud base that was low enough to keep the site in cloud.  Consequently, there was no flying.

Friday 31st.  Clear, blue sunny skies in a light to moderate NW’ly promised a good soaring day, with Cu soon blossoming over the Pennines, the North Yorkshire Moors and the Yorkshire Wolds.  However, by the time Cu started to appear over the Vale of York,  areas of spreadout were evident and throughout the day consistent good lift was hard to find, even big, good looking Cu failing to deliver good climb rates.  32 ATs were flown between 1030 and 1730 hrs, principally in the club 2 seaters, although Tony Drury tried manfully to balance the score by having 3 flights in the Discus, the shortest 14 minutes and the longest, 1:07, one of the 8 pilots to exceed an hour in the air.  11 private owners were tempted by the apparently good conditions, with Chris Garton in his Ventus 2 having 3:52, while Ken Arkley had 2:28 in his LS8t, the t being called into play once in order to permit a return to site from the Pocklington area.  Andy Wright set off on an 300 km O/R to Belvoir but abandoned the task south of Doncaster and reverted to the engine of his Nimbus 3t under overcast skies north of York on the way home.  David Campbell and Sue Aherne registered the longest club two seater flight of the day with 31 minutes in K21 KLW, just beating Albert Newbery and Mr Caygill, a Learn to Fly package pupil, who had 30 minutes in KLW.   Jon May should have registered the longest 2 seater flight of the day with 2:06 in his Duo Discus, but flew it solo, having had no response to his offer of a seat in the back.  The difficulties of the day were illustrated by George Rowden, who in flying the 5 First Flight pupils of the day, failed to find a good climb for any of them.  The day’s flying activities were completed by 2 Falke flights and a visit by an RF5 which landed on 02 after having been advised that gliders and tugs were landing on 20.

Wednesday 22nd.  A light to moderate NWly backed into the WNW as the day progressed andstrengthened, the initially low cloud base delaying flying until around 1100 hrs but then rising to nearly 6,000′ asl by late afternoon.  22 ATs were flown, split 12/10 between the club’s dual and single seaters and private owners, with the visiting Stratford GC members making the most of the improving conditions.   It wasn’t all plain, or should that be plane sailing, as both visitor Barry Kerby in his LS8 and home grown Phil Lazenby in his Pegaselanded out.   In Barry’s case, a foray to enjoy soaring the NW/N face of the North York Moors ended when he found the lift non-existent and with zero on the altimeter 6 miles out,  decided to land on the  private airstrip at Felixkirk.  Phil Lazenby on the other hand landed out at Bagby, putting himself in the running for the  YGC’s Aux Vaches trophy, presented to the pilot who made the closest field landing to Sutton.  A quick AT retrieve soon had him back in the air and soaring, this time utilising the thermals to contact some wave, which took him to around 7,000′ asl in a total, first take off to final landing, time of 3:48.  Rob Bailey also found  the wave in the Discus and reached a similar altitude in his flight of 3:15.  They were 2 of  the day’s 10 pilots to exceed an hour, being joined in the > 3 hour echelon by Pete Thelwall in his Standard Cirrus who had 3:10.  Andy Parish and Peter Wright made sure the 2 seaters were represented in the duration roll of honour with 1:13 in K21 JVZ, while those flying at the end of the day enjoyed the ability to hill soar, thus adding to the thermal and wave opportunities of the day.  4 First Flight pupils were flown, one enjoying a thermal which peaked at 10 kts, but probably not as much as his instructor, while a visit by an RF 5 from Bridlington added to the day,s flying activities.

Thursday 23rd.  Thursday turned out to be a very showery day in a moderate to fresh NW’ly.  This initially gusted to around 30 kts and only started to abate late in the day, too late to allow any flying.

Friday 24th.  Another non-flying day as a low moved in off the North Sea keeping the site in a cloudy, cold, wet and fresh to strong NNE’ly that initially gusted to around 40kts before slowly moderating as the day progressed.

Saturday 25th.  The low, having departed south, left the site under a ridge of high pressure, this providing light to moderate winds from the northern sector and good soaring conditions.  Flying started just after 1000 hrs and continued until the last landing around 1930 hrs, by which time 37 ATs had been flown, 18 of which exceeded an hour.  Private owners were particulary anxious to take advantage of the good conditions, contributing around 60% of the launches.  Jon May and Steve Ball in their Duo Discus xt were aloft for just over 8  hours, turning Normans Cross and just failing to make it back to Sutton, having to resort to the engine at Easingwold, to record a >400 km flight.  Les Rayment was another long duration flyer with 6:36 in his Ventus ct in which he did an 300 km O/R to Grantham.  Some of the visitors from the Stratford GC decided that the conditions were good enough for a flight back to their home base, while Peter Goodchild, Rob Bailey and Phil Lazenby declared cross countries.  However, while they all enjoyed long flights, Rob Bailey having 3:25 in the Discus, the subsequent absence of their flights from the National Ladder suggests that conditions were a little more tricky than appeared.  This was certainly the case for Pete Thelwall in his Standard Cirrus who landed out at Rufforth.   Conditions did however, continue to be soarable until late in the day, with John Tayler/A Flather having 45 minutes in K21 KLW off the penultimate launch.  The 6 First Flight pupils of the day certainly received a good introduction to the possibilities and pleasures of gliding.

Sunday 26th.  The ridge of high pressure was still in place, the wind being a light NW to start and then slowly increasing to a moderate W’ly by the end of the day.  This time the 49 ATs of the day were split 67% club gliders 33% private owners, 20 of the launches leading to flights of over an  hour, with 8 of the day’s flights exceeding 4 hours.  Private owners disappeared to all points of the compass, with the Pennines being a favoured area and  Pontefract being visited by 7 of the day’s cross country pilots at some point or other.  Paul Whitehead in his Ventus ct,  flew the longest distance, courtesy of an O/R to Belvoir, the 306 km being covered  in 3:40, followed by 100 km around the Sut/Poc/Ruf/ Sut triangle, which he covered in 1:01.  Andy Wright also flew a 300 in his Nimbus 3t, visiting Staindrop, Wetherby South and Selset Reservoir before returning to Sutton.  Phil Lazenby in his Pegase, Andy Hatfield in the DG200, Martyn Johnson in his DG600, Jesper Mjels in his Pik 20 and Derek Smith in his Ventus ct all completed tasks of 250 -272 km, while visitor Richard Maskell in his ASW 27 and John Carter in the DG303 completed similar 240 km tasks that included visits to Stanhope, Eastgate and Pocklington.  Other pilots to be in the 200-249 km band included Steve Ball/Les Rayment who flew Sut/Barnard Castle/Pontefract/Sut  in Steve’s Duo Discus xt and Peter Clay who flew the same task in his Ventus B.  John Shaw flew an undeclared 132  National Ladder credited kms in his LS7, his less than direct route between Sutton and Barnard Castle, returning 194 kms on OLC.  The thermal conditions of the day were tempered by wave effects close to the Pennines as demonstrated by Kelly Teagle who landed out near Leyburn as a result of wave induced sink.  Kelly sent me a couple of pictures of the field and her retrieve crew which follow.  The first, which is of her retrieve crew, clearly demonstrates Kelly’s insistence on getting your crew into shape at an early age.  (No, not Chris)

The second picture shows some unexpected hazards to be found in a young wheat field.  Kelly reported that the boulders only became visible when she was committedon finals, as from higher up they blended in with the bare patches on the field.  Fortunately, she was able to steer around them on landing after covering 141 km of her declared flight around Sut/Pontefract/Leyburn/Wetherby and Sut.  Kelly also asked viewers of these photos to ignore the nice looking Cu in the distance and remember the blue hole over Wensleydale. 

Paul Whitehead recorded the longest flight of the day, 5:35 sharing this time with Rob Bailey who disappeared somewhere I know not where  in the Discus, having declared Millfield as a turn point.  Meanwhile, back at Sutton, 8 First Flight pupils chose a great day for their introduction to gliding and David Hill and Peter Wright recorded the longest flight in a club 2 seater with 1:25 in the DG500.  The day’s flying was completed by 2 flights in the Falke as soaring continued into the early evening, the last flight landing at 1830 hrs.  The writer would like to thank those pilots who provided me with notes on their flights via the back of the day’s log sheets and those who entered their flights on the National Ladder.  In among all this activity Tony Drury spent some time with Bob Beck getting the outstanding theory and practical aspects of his Bronze C badge sorted out.
Monday 27th.  A slowly approaching front from the west meant a day of slowly increasing S’ly winds and steadily increasing cloudiness.  The result was an entirely club 2 seater day and a limited, but not  zero, chance of soaring.    17 ATs and a single Falke flight were completed during  the flying period from 1037 to 1715, 5 of the former for First Flight pupils.  Initially it was a circuit day, but, as the wind picked up, soaring became possible withFred Brown and A Melia having 46 minutes in K21 JVZ and then Paul and Polly Whitehead had 55 minutes in K21 KLW.  However, the best was kept until last when, of the last flight of the day, Mark Walton had 1:20 solo in K21 JVZ  to record his first Bronze C duration leg as the result of finding and utilising some weak southerly wave.  Well done, Mark.

Tuesday 14th.  A day of frequent and heayy showers in an unstable and moderate WSW’ly flow meant there was no flying, the wind easing and backing into the SSE over the course of the day as a  depression approached.

Wednesday 15th.  A moderate to fresh NW’ly gusting to around 30 kts  with accompanying rain, kept the gliders and tugs in the hangar and the pilots in the clubhouse.  The rain was replaced by showers and the wind decreased to light to moderate as the front moved through late in the day, too late to allow any flying to take place.

Thursday 16th.  A light to moderate SSE’ly brought some reasonable soaring conditions that brought out the members who collectively amassed 15 AT’s and individually explored the countryside, Albert Newbery and Nigel Burke demonstrating the possibilities with a flight of 59 minutes in the DG1000 off the first flight of the day.  5 of the club fleet were utilised and 3 private owners took advantage of the conditions with Lindsay McLane going furthest in his Ventus ct, visiting Newark before returning to Sutton in his flight of just over 4 hrs.  Ken Arkley followed the better weather in a flight of 3:04 in his LS8 that covered a significant proportion of North Yorkshire, while Steve Ball and Les Rayment explored the Wolds towards Scarborough for 2:50 in Steve’s Duo Discus.  Those who stayed more local also enjoyed themselves with Tom Foulcher having 1:49 in Astir GBK and Resh Khodabocus having 1:09 in Astir KRN, while Rob Bailey had 2:06 in the Discus.  A sea breeze front added to the soaring interest of the day which was appreciated by the day’s only First Flight pupil and those who flew the Falke on its 3 sorties.

Friday 17th.  The wind was now a moderate to fresh N’ly and extensive low cloud delayed the start of flying until late morning. Subsequently, 6 ATs were flown, complemented by 2 Falke sorties.  Only one flight exceeded an hour, with Rob Bailey keeping the Discus up for 2:27 as he explored Wensleydale, but Mike Wood, who had 55 minutes in the DG303 and Andy Parish/Nigel Burke, who had 56 minutes in K21 KLW, came close.

Saturday 18th.  A light to moderate WNW’ly was accompanied by rain to start the day, not a good prospect to welcome our visitors from the Stratford GC, and although the rain did stop later in the day the conditions only improved sufficiently to allow a couple of Falke flights.  The weather also meant that the Interclub League competition at Pocklington also had a non-flying day.

Sunday 19th.  Flying was delayed by low cloud and poor visibility but John Carter took a weather recce flight just before 1300 hrs and that did the trick with conditions improving from then ,on as indicated by the fact that 5 of the 18 launches of  the day exceeded an hour.  The improved conditions also allowed 3 First Flight pupils to take to the air.  The Stratford visitors made the most of the day with Barry Kerby having 1:30 in his LS 8 and Sharon Kerby having 1:19 in her ASW 24, 2 of the 4 private owners to launch.  YGC members also joined in the fun, with Roger Burghall/Alex Mahnke having 1:11 in the DG1000 and Tony Drury having 1:04 in Astir KRN.  The organisers of the  Interclub League competition at Pocklington decided to scrub the day before conditions improved, so many of the pilots from the competing clubs, Yorkshire, Wolds, York, Derby and Lancs and Burn took advantage of the improving conditions and flew locally, including YGC’s Rob Bailey who had 1:30 in the Discus.

Monday 20th.  Monday again started with low cloud in a light to moderate N’ly but unlike Sunday, the conditions did not improve, the only flying being of the virtual variety on the simulator.

Tuesday 21st.  Overcast skies in a light to moderate N’ly/NE’ly occasionally broke to allow an AT, but the breaks were infrequent as judged by the fact that only 4 ATs were flown in either K21 KLW or the DG1000.  The overcast also ensued that there was no lift to speak of so it was a circuit day.

Friday 10th.  A moderate WSW’ly was initially accompanied by low cloud but not low enough to prevent the winch launching of Bob Beck and course member J Halliwell in K21 onto the ridge where they remained for the next 1:30, the first of the day’s 20 flights, 11 of which exceeded an hour.    All  the 2 seaters and 2 of the single seaters were flown on a day that also had the Shallbourne GC members having 4 winch launches in their Puchacz and Janus, 2 of which exceeded an hour.  A weak occlusion brought a little rain over lunch time, preventing flying, but clearer skies then prevailed, allowing flying to recommence and the wave that had been evident in the morning to be more readily utilised.  Thus Ian Plant’s climb to 2,500′ with Gordon Wallace in K21 JVZ in their flight of 1:03 in  the morning was bettered by that of Rob Bailey and son in the afternoon who reached 7,500′ asl in the DG1000 in their flight of 2:40, the longest of the day.  Gordon then went on to have 1:10 with Andy Parish in the DG500 off the last flight of the day.  Bob Beck and course member Andy Gibbins enjoyed 1:26 in K21 KLW in the afternoon, while Colin Troise, 1:17 in the Discus, just pipped John Tayler, 1:12 in Astir KRN, for the longest single seater flight of the day, again from afternoon take offs.

Saturday 11th.  Overcast skies and rain delayed flying until the middle of the afternoon when the winch was deployed in the moderate to fresh W’ly and 5 launches ensued, 2 for First Flight pupils under the tutelage of Martyn Johnson, flying terminating around 1830 hrs.    The other 3 flights all equalled or exceeded an hour with Rob Bailey having just over 3 hours in the DG1000, John Marsh having 1:39 in the DG303 and Colin Troise having and hour solo in K21 JVZ. 

Sunday 12th.  A moderate W’ly meant the  winch was again in use,  but flying was terminated around midday as the rain arrived and wind backed into the south and became lighter.    16 winch launches were flown during the 2.5 hr window with all the club 2 seaters and 2 of the single seaters flown, Martyn Johnson in his DG600 being the only private owner to launch, recording 1:10 aloft.  4 other pilots exceeded an hour, with who else but Rob Bailey having the longest flight of the day, 1:40 in the Discus, just beating Jim McLean’s 1:37 in the DG303, while Martin Joyce had 1:06 in Astir GBK.  Colin Troise and John Ellis made sure the 2 seaters were represented in the >1 hour list with 1:04 in the DG1000.  3 First Flight pupils flew on  the day, averaging a flight time of  29 minutes, but this would have been 4 if the rain hadn’t intervened around 1225.

Monday 13th.  A moderate to fresh and unstable WSW’ly brought in a number of hail showers, but in between the showers, 7 winch launches were flown in either K21 KLW, the DG303 or by 3 private owners.  All but one of  the flights exceeded an hour, with 5 pilots having between 1:36 and 1:43 in the air.  Chris Gill/Hugh O’Neill had 1:43 in their first flight in the  K21,  following this up with 1:41 on their second, the same time being recorded by Martyn Johnson in his DG600.  Bob Beck clocked 1:39 in the DG303 and Don Austin had 1:36 in his Mosquito.  Ian Johnston, never one to go with the crowd, was the odd one out of the >1 hour brigade with1:18 in his DG300 and just to be completely different, Ian Plant and Glyn Jennings had 32 minutes in the K21 off the last flight of the day.  Chris Gill supplied me with a couple of photos of conditions on the day, which I have included below.

The long break in the Blog is due to the author being on holiday, but thanks are due to those members who provided information on the back of the log sheet to flesh out the log sheet data.   The first instalment of the catch up follows. 

Sunday 5th.  An initally light S’ly soon freshened to moderate and veered into the W, allowing a mixture of winch and aerotowing, 23 of the former and 9 of the latter.  5 of the winch launches yielded flights of over an hour while the ATs yielded 3.  12 private owners and virtually all the club fleet took to the air, the visitors from the Shallbourne GC continuing to enjoy the conditions at Sutton with the Janus in the hands of Messrs Basset and Pike having an hour off a winch launch and then in the hands of Morgan and Pike having 1:08 off an AT.  Jesper Mjels in his Pik 20 and Martyn Johnson in his DG600 both contacted wave off a winch launch when the clouds parted sufficiently to allow the wave to be exploited.  Jesper flew 181 km, Sut/Kirby Stephen Station/Harrogate North/Sut and reached 14,000′ asl, while Martyn flew Sut/Aysgarth/Sut, 99 km, finding a steep faced cloud that took him to 8,500′ asl before returning to Sutton and having to descend through cloud. Jesper’ s flight of 5:50 was the longest of the day, while Rob Bailey, flying the DG303 for 3:48 off an AT,  just pipped Martyn’s time of 3:41.  Other winch launch pilots to exceed an hour were Jon May and Steve Ball in their Duo Discus with 1:38 and  Ron Beezer with one of the day’s 5 First Flight pupils, Mr Archer, who had 1:14 in the DG500, while D Park  had 42 minutes in Astir GBK.  AT claimants were Tony Drury who had 1:12 in Astir KRN while Nick Gaunt and David West had 42 minutes in the DG1000.  In spite of all this activity there was still space for the Falke to have 2 flights.

Monday 6th.  A light to moderate WSWly  was initially accompanied by cloudy skies, but these cleared later, allowing the temperature to reach the dizzy heights of 19C.  Flying started around 1030 hrs and finished around 1820 hrs, during which time 42 ATs were flown, with 14 private owner launches and the majority of the club fleet flown.  The Shalbourne GC visitors continued to enjoy some good flying with their Mr Ellison posting the longest flight of the day in his ASW15, 2:49, and Messrs Morgan and Pike having 2:09 in the Janus.  The club’s BIs were busy with 6 First Flight pupils, while other members contributed to the 7 flights to exceed an hour, Rob Bailey having 2:32 in the Discus, Tony Drury 2:24 in Astir KRN and John Marsh/Naomi Kennard1:07 in K21 JVZ.    The Falke had 4 flights on what was another busy day at Sutton.   The first of the year’s holiday courses with Andy Gibbins and James Hall certainly had a good first day gliding.

Tuesday 7th.  A light SSE’ly soon backed into the ESE and freshened to  moderate, low and extensive cloud preventing any flying.

Wednesday 8th.  The morning’s  light E’ly progressively veered during the day, eventually becoming  a SW’ly, the low cloud and drizzle eventually clearing sufficiently around 1530 hrs to allow the 2 course members to use the Falke for an hour each of circuits and field landing exercises.

Thursday 9th.  With an approaching  low out to the west,  a moderate S’ly that slowly freshened allowed  three hours of winching onto the southern ridge before the rain arrived and the wind gusted to over 35 kts.  The ridge lift was accompanied by some strong thermals with returning pilots all reporting off the clock lift.  Flying was confined to 3 of the club’s 2 seaters with Bob Beck and Andy Gibbins enjoying the longest flight of the day, 1:21 off the first flight of the day in K21 KLW.    Rob Bailey and Mr Reed followed with1:13 in  the DG1000, while the following 3 flights were all around 36 minutes, Albert Newbery and Bill Payton having the last flight of the day with 37 minutes in the DG500.  The gliders and winch were then put away just before the rain arrived.