YGC Blog

Monday 25th.  The  light N’ly flow brought in overcast skies as the pressure slowly rose, preventing any convection and grounding the Northern’s competitors.  There was, however, some club flying, 9 ATs being flown off runway 02 utilising both K21s, 4 of the flights being for Trial Lesson pupils, in addition to 2 Falke flights.  John Marsh and Trial Lesson pupil M Heaven-Roy enjoyed the longest flight of the day, 39 minutes off a 3000′ tow.  Monday was, however, enlivened by the arrival of a smart Tiger Moth in order to refuel as the following photo shows.

Tuesday 26th.  The synoptic situation was little changed and although the pressure continued to rise, a seemingly endless supply of medium level overcast continued to suppress any convection and keep the Northern’s competitors earth bound.  Club flying was restricted to 4 flights, 2 in the Falke,  with John Marsh taking another Trial Lesson pupil, Brian Wilson for a 15 minute flight in the K21. 

Wednesday 27th.  The light flow had veered into the NNE, but the medium level overcast continued to roll in, albeit showing some signs of starting to break up.  10 ATs were flown off runway 02, 2 by private owners and the balance in one of the club’s K21s,  the Astir and the Ka8.  Chris Gill managed 49 minutes in  the Ka8, with Chris Cole having 33 minutes in his Pegase.   John Marsh, who else, had 31 minutes in the K21 with G Wright and there were 2 Falke flights.  The long awaited appearence of blue skies came too late in the day to allow a task to be set for the Northern’s competitors.

Thursday 28th.  Blue skies in a light N’ly had the Northern’s competitors set a 188 km Yoyo with turning points at North Duffield, Pickering and Wetherby.  A large area of overconvected sky caused  a significant number of  the 9 land outs to come to ground near Pickering, but there were 5 finishers.   Details can be found by following the links on the YCG web site starting with ‘Competitions’.  The greatly improved conditions saw 20 club based AT’s, initially off runway 24 before the grid launched off 02, with 7 private owner launches and the club’s K21s, Astir and Ka8 utilised.  Mike Wood took the Ka8 to 5600′ asl in his flight of just over an hour, while David Hill/Dennis Altoft also had a good thermal climb in their flight of 40 minutes in the K21.  Phil Jones, eager for his first cross country after completing his navigation and field landing excercises in the Falke last Saturday,  well done Phil,  found the conditions not condusive to staying up in the Astir so has to wait for a more suitable day.   George Rowden’s attempt on a Scarborough/Goole triangle in his LS8t was frustrated by sea air some 15 kms from Scarborough,  aided by a low cloudbase near the coast. An undeclared Sut, Snainton, Goole, Scunthorpe, Guisborough, Sut task  was then attempted, but the overcast which downed a number of Northern’s competitors near Pickering meant an engine burn was required some 10 km from Sutton on the way to Guisborough in his flight of 3:20.  Albert Newbery and Stuart Heaton, launching after the grid, did an O/R to Scunthorpe in their DG1000t, like George, finding excellent conditions south of York, including a steady 6 kt climb to 6000′ asl.  Nigel Burke in his DG600  visited some of the local turning points while the Falke had a single flight.

Thursday 21st.  A cloudy, moderate, N’ly airstream cleared to sunny intervals and 13 ATs were flown off runway 02 utilising one of the club’s K21s, the DG1000, DG303 and the Discus, while the Falke had a single sortie.  Soaring conditions were not particularly easy, but Nigel Burke in the Discus (1:11), Harry Clark in the DG303 (1:07) and Mike Wood in the Discus (1:00) contributed the 3 flights which exceeded an hour.  Andy Parish/D Thomas just failed to reach the hour mark with 55 minutes in the DG1000 while Alan Dowd continued his early solo flights with another one in the K21 and 2 Trial lesson pupils were flown.

Friday 22nd.  The continuing moderate N’ly brought in a more persistent medium cloud layer which allowed only a few sunny intervals and restricted soaring.  15 ATs were flown off runway 02, including 6 Trial Lesson pupils, with one of the K21s, the DG1000 and the Discus flown.  In the absence of much lift, flight times were typically 20 minutes, but Dave Hodgson gave Trial Lesson pupil P Smith 48 minutes  and Rob Bailey had 46 minutes off the second of his Discus flights of the day.  After the completion of the day shift,  Matt Woodhouse brought along 11 colleagues from Leeds University who were then given flights by Fred Brown, Harry Clark and Graham Evison in the evening.

Saturday 23rd.  The first day of the Northerns saw the moderate wind back into the NW, a direction that can give tricky take off conditions.  In addition, the medium cloud cover restricted soaring opportunities, so there was no competition task and flying was restricted to 4 flights, one in the club K21, one in the club Falke and 2 by private owners, Bob Calvert having 57 minutes in his Discus.

Sunday 24th.  The NW’ly wind decreased to light allowing the Northern’s competitors to be set a 312 km yoyo, with turning points at Masham, Pontefract, Catterick and Burn.  The less than ideal conditions, areas of good lift being followed by areas of poor lift and inactive clouds, saw a number of land outs and landbacks, but details of the competition are to be found on the YGC Web site under Competitions.  While the Northern’s competitors were busy with their task, club flying clocked up 16 ATs, 4 of which were for Trial Lesson pupils and 8 of which exceeded an hour.  Bill Payton/Andy Darlington had 4:10 aloft in Bill’s DG1000t, while Ron Beezer had 2:05 in the club DG303 and John Marsh/Mark Walton, 1:11 in the K21.  Derek Taylor did a 300 km O/R to Belvoir in his ASW 22, while Les Rayment did an 157 O/R to Scunthorpe, deciding at that point that conditions further south looked unpromising.  Martyn Johnson, one of the 7 private owner launches, landed out in his DG600.

Saturday 16th.   An Atlantic depression brought low cloud and  13mm of rain to the site, the front clearing the site around 1430 hrs but clearing skies not arriving until around 1600 hrs, meaning it was a non-flying day.

Sunday 17th.  A moderate to fresh S’ly that veered into the WSW as the day progressed, brought in frequent heavy showers, depositing another 8 mm of rain and keeping gliders and pilots earth bound.  The opportunity was however taken, for the sunny skies of the simulator to be explored.

Monday 18th.  With the centre of low pressure not far away, the unstable air mass again resulted in periods of rain and heavy showers in a light to moderate W’ly flow, with another 8 mm of rain to add to the steadily accumulating total.  Needless to say, no flying was possible.

Tuesday 19th.  The atmospheric pressure finally staggered over 1000 mb and in a light to moderate WSW’ly, flying commenced at around 1030 hrs off runway 24, landings being on 20.  However, witha trough over NE England, heavy showers and thunderstorms soon developed and flying was halted late morning as a heavy shower deluged the site  with 7 mm of rain.  Clearing skies mean a brief resumption of flying, but more showers led to abandonment of flying by mid afternoon.  In all 8 ATs and a single Falke flight were squeezed out of the day, one of the K21s, the DG1000 and the Discus being flown, but lift was hard to find between the showers and flight times were generally in the 15-20 minute range. Ian Plant/Richard Watson had the best of the day with 25 minutes in the K21.  3 Trial Lesson pupils were flown as well as a BBC cameraman taking location shots for a BBC programme on the activities of the Air Ambulance.   The site also welcomed back the Fournier RF4 and 5 that had called in enroute to a Fournier rally at Husbands Bosworth the previous weekend and had dodged the showers to Sutton for an  overnight stop. 

Tuesday 20th.  Briefing saw the site just in cloud and, with rain setting in shortly afterwards and persisting for most of the day,  another 10 mm was added to the July total.  No flying was possible, delaying the departure of the visiting RF4 and 5, so the opportunity was taken to continue with preparations for the Northerns which are due to start on Saturday, the 23rd July.

Thursday 15th.  In spite of a poor forecast the previous day, the approaching depression lingered in  the Atlantic, providing a good day’s soaring at Sutton.  The wind was a light to moderate W’ly that  slowly backed into the S, so take offs were from runway 24 with landings on 20.  Cu started to appear by mid morning and the first flight of the day saw Andy Parish take Kate Nicholson, who is helping out in the office, for a 40 minute flight in the K21, a flight that included both soaring and aerobatics.  Thereafter, most of the 19 ATs were soaring flights, including the majority of the 5 Trial lessons of the day and eventually cloud base rose to over 6000′ asl, Ken Arkley reaching 6300′ in his LS8t in a flight that lasted 3:25, although conditions were a little tricky at first.  Both K21s, DG1000, Astir, Discus and DG303 from the club fleet were flown, Andy Hatfield having 2 flights in the Discus, the first of which saw him have over 2 hours aloft and the second of which may have resulted in a Silver height gain, so fingers crossed for Andy.  Rob Bottomley took his son for a flight of over an  hour  in the DG1000, and 2 hour, local soaring flights were had by Ken Duxbury in the Astir and Sue Aherne in the DG 303.    10 of the day’s flights exceeded an hour with Sam St Pierre having 1:30 in his DG200 and Robin Hutchinson having around an hour in Fred Brown’s Cirrus.  Powered aircraft movements included the departure of a Fournier RF5, which had arrived the previous day from Millfield, to Husbands Bosworth for a Fournier rally, and the arrival of a Fournier RF4 from Shennington, the pilot advertising his recently published book on aerotowing.  The Sutton based Rotax Falke had a sortie and the ultralight which had crashed on landing the previous week was taken off site on the back of a trailer as  the following photo shows.

Derek Taylor, taking off mid afernoon in his ASW22BL declared and completed a Sutton/Ripon/Barnard Castle/Ripon/Sutton task of 150 km, but found the going difficult in the place thermals go to die, Barnard Castle.

Tuesday 12th.  I failed to mention in my previous blog that Mark Robinson re soloed in the K21, so congratulations to  him.

Wednesday 13th.  A medium level cloud sheet covered the site for most of the day slipping away eastwards towards the end of the afternoon to leave a sunny evening that was welcomed by 9 visitors from Leeds University who were introduced to gliding by Brian Wise and Harry Clark, the evening flying commencing at 1845 hrs and continuing until 2025 hrs.   The light to moderate N’ly blew all day and soaring opportunities during the day were limited, none of day’s total of 21 ATsproviding a flight of over an hour, although Andy Hatfield made a valiant effort in the Discus returning to site after 50 minutes.   In addition to the Discus, both K21s were flown as well as the DG1000 and Andy Parish took Trial Lesson pupil M Burns for a 35 minute introductory flight, one of  the 4 Trial Lessons of the day. 

Thursday 14th.  The light to moderate N’lycontinued to blow but this time with sunny skies, a sky that refused to produce Cu and gave very broken and rough thermals that were very difficult to use.  The conditions local to the site were so  unconducive to training that after a single K21 flight the Day course member continued his flying in the Falke and the maximum flight time was 26 minutes by Andy Parish/Mike Wickins in the K21.  Conditions looked much better over the Pennines and a turbo exodus ensued with Albert Newbery /Phil Lazenby first off west in their DG1000t, followed by George Rowden in his LS8t, Peter Clay in his Ventus Ct and John Ellis in his Nimbus 3t.  At first, conditions under the clouds to the  west of Ripon were not easy with weak climbs and strong sink, necessitating a few additional engine burns.  However, conditions improved under a heavy cloud sheet, with some 4-5 kt climbs and a maximum altitude of 5400′ asl.  The best lift was sometimes to be found under a shelf of cloud extending eastwards just in front of a wall of cloud to the west going down around 1000′ from the shelf cloud.  John Ellis took advantage of the conditions over the Pennines to start a flight from Masham, visiting Stanhope to the north and Wetherby South before returning to Masham, although the return to Sutton required an engine burn.  Albert Newbery/Phil Lazenby visited Leyburn and Staindrop, the latter also visited by Peter Clay.  Albert and Phil nearly had to resort to the engine to regain the Sutton circuit but some timely lift along the edge of the hill saved the day.  George Rowden, after visiting Pateley Bridge,  Catterick and Ripon made it back to Sutton but saw his predicted arrival height diminish from 1500′ at the start of the final glide to 700′ at the end due to heavy sink on route.

Sunday 3rd.  The anticyclonic weather continued to provide light winds and good soaring conditions. Today’s wake up call was provided by 7 hot air balloons which, taking off from Thirsk Race Course, were set the task of landing nearest to the Kilburn White Horse.  A few landed skilfully on runway 20 as the following photo shows, some initial consternation by the owners of the parked gliders giving way to appreciation of the skill of  the balloon pilots.

  After this excitement, the Enterprise competitors were set a 3 legged race, one with a line of turning points to Kettering, one line to Millfield and one line to Monmouth resulting in another 6000+ km being flown with 9 pilots exceeding 300 km.  Outside the competition, Derek Taylor in his ASW22BL and Andy Wright in his Nimbus 3t, both flew a 322 km YoYo turning Market Weighton, Staindrop and Pontefract.  Les Rayment flew a 194 km O/R to Gainsborough in his Ventus Ct, while Marian Stanley flew her first cross country in the blue turning Tontine and Castle Howard before returning to Sutton.  The 43 ATs of the day generated 40 flights of over an hour with the Enterprise competitors logging flights of up to 7 hours. Outside the competition YGC member Heindrik Hoeth had 5:37 in his Club Libelle .  5 Trial lesson pupils also enjoyed the day as did Chris Gill with his 1:17 in the club Discus and John Marsh/M Walton with 58 minutes in the K21.

Monday 4th.  On paper the conditions appeared similar to Sunday, but soaring conditions were more difficult as demonstrated by the later starting times, around 1300 hrs, and the  6 Enterprise competitors who landed out while attempting a Cat’s Cradle task with18 turn points.  Nevertheless, over 3000 km were flown with 4 pilots exceeding 200 km each and the day’s 37 ATs generated 27 flights of over an hour.  The soaring opportunities locally were enlivened by an active sea breeze front that was utilised by competitors and club pilots alike.  Giving climbs to 5000′, and allowing pilots to explore canyons in the front provided an exciting gliding opportunity that was described by one of the Competition Enterprise entrants as the most exciting gliding experience she has had in the UK.   Outside the competition there were no cross countries flown, but Stuart Heaton/Phil Lazenby had 1:40 in their DG1000t, Ken Arkley had 1:30 in his LS8-18t and Jack McGregor and Sue Aherne shared a flight of 1:05 in the club DG1000.

Tuesday 5th.  Generally cloudy skies and some showers as the anticyclone declined, led the task setters to draw a series of concentric circles around Sutton, each circle having a radius 20 km bigger than the previous one.  Flights between circles generated points.  The first competitors launched around 1230 hrs with most returning by around 1500 hrs, although there was one land out.  16 of the 25 ATs exceeded an hour with the longest flights being just under 3 hours.  Some 1000 km were flown in total on a tricky day in the air.  Outside the competition club flying was limited to 5 flights in the K21, one of these being a Trial Lesson pupil who,  courtesy of John Marsh, had 36 minutes aloft of a 3000′ tow. 

Wednesday 6th.   A light to  moderate SW’ly flow around a low pressure system  brought rain and then sunny intervals and heavy showers that deposited 10 mm of rain on the site.  Flying was delayed until around 1430 hrs and the first launch in the competition did not take place until 1600 hrs, the competitors being set the task of flying self selected O/Rs into any one of 4 quadrants to  the N, S, E and W of the site.  Flight times were generally low with the longest around 3 hours, with only 6 flights out of  the 20 ATs exceeding an hour.  In spite of the conditions, around 1000 km were flown in  total.  There was only a single club flight with John Marsh taking Trial Lesson pupil E Mee tor 23 minutes in the K21.

Thursday 7th.  With low pressure in control of the weather, the initially fresh S’ly  changed to a light W around 1600 to 17oo hrs with the day’s sunny intervals and heavy showers depositing another 3 mm of rain on the site.  The start of flying was delayed until around midday and some competitors launched then, others launching around 1500 hrs as a drier slot appeared among the showers.  12 of the 22 ATs generated flights of over an hour, but the total kms flown declined to around 700 as the pilots flew self selected O/Rs into a 4 leaf clover task, the leaves having the orientations of NE, SE, SW and NW.  The less than ideal conditions meant that only 2 pilots flew more than 100 km and there were 3 land outs.  Bob Bromwich, with YGC member and passenger Sue Aherne in the back seat of Bob’s DG5ooM, landed back at 18:37, after a flight of 2:31.  Club flying was restricted to 5 flights in one of the K21s, including 3 with Trial Lesson pupils, John Marsh and TL pupil T Bean having 27 minutes in  the air. 

Friday 8th.  With low pressure in charge, the light SE’ly wind brought in a succession of  slow moving heavy showers that prevented any flying.

Saturday 9th.  Rising atmospheric pressure brought less showers on Saturday and a light to moderate W’ly flow.  Flying commenced around 1100 hrs and the grid was launched from around 1230 hrs on a task that was described as another Spider, the competitors having to fly a Sutton, Tontine, Ripon, Sutton triangle with optional self selected O/Rs from any turning point.  The improved soaring conditions saw around 1700 km flown in total, with 7 pilots exceeding 100 km and 21 of the 26 ATs exceeding an hour’s duration.    Most competitors had flights of around 3-4 hours, but Bob Bromwich, again flying with Sue Aherne as P2 in his DG500M, had over 6 hours aloft arriving back at Sutton at 1951 hours.   Club flying was restricted to 5 launches in one of the K21s, the DG1000 and the DG303.  Mike Wood had 53 minutes in the DG303 while Robin Hutchinson/Fred Brown had 1:15 in the DG1000.  Competition Enterprise then concluded with an enjoyable evening soiree, the competition having been won by Justin Wills in his Antares 18, with David Masson 2nd in his LS6c 15m and Rod Witter/Mike Marshall 3rd in their Duo Discus T.  The highest placed YGC pilot was Lindsay McLane in his Ventus bT in 4th place so congratulations to him.

Sunday 10th.  A light S’ly that slowly veered into the SW saw flying commence just before 1100 hrs off runway 20.  Only the 2 K21s and the Discus were flown from the club fleet and there was a single private owner launch, the lack of soaring opportunities meaning that flight times were in the range 15-20 minutes.  The honour of the longest flight of the day was a close run event between Ron Beezer in the Discus and Colin Troise in his DG600, both recording 23 minutes, but they were pipped by John Marsh and Day Course member B Lambert who had 24 minutes in the K21. 

Monday 11th.  The pressure continued to rise as the low moved away, but the air was still quite unstable as evidenced by the growth of some big Cu, strong lift, strong sink and a few isolated showers.  A light to moderate NW’ly that veered into the N saw 5 private owners launch with the club’s DG1000, one of  the K21s, the Discus and the DG303 also utilised, yielding some 16 launches.  Martyn Johnson, flying his DG600 had 2:50 aloft, visiting some local turning points, while Andy Hatfield had 1:25 in the Discus and Ian Plant/Tom Banfield, a Trial Lesson pupil, 31 minutes in the DG1000.  5 of the day’s flights exceeded an hour and 3 Trial Lesson pupils were flown. 

Tuesday 12th.  A moderate to fresh NNE’ly blew all day, bringing in some low cloud at around 800′ QFE, but providing some big gaps under a medium level overcast that led to a chilly launch point.  8 ATs were flown off runway 02 before the launch method was switched to winching and a further 9 launches flown.  The recently returned Ka8 was rigged and flown by David Lynch with one of the K21s and the DG1000 providing the rest of the launches.  3 Trial Lesson pupils were flown, with Julie Hopwood and Graham Hawkshaw being treated to some unexpected wave flying in the company of George Rowden in  the K21 andMike Smith in the DG1000 respectively.  George and Julie left a 1-2 kt climb at 5000′ asl just downwind of the site to record a 37 minute flight, with Mike and Graham recording the same time and reaching 4000′ asl.   The winch launches generated heights of around 1100′ giving the pupils launch, circuit and landing training in rapid succession.    The AT climb out from runway 02 allowed a good view of the rather dejected ultra light that had landed in the undershoot area of runway 20 the previous week and nosed in, destroying the propeller, shock loading the engine, snapping off the tail and severely damaging the underside of  the nose.  Fortunately, the pilot walked away.  With the gliders, tugs and winch safely back in the hangars and workshop, Andy Parish and Ken Arkley prepared to meet 20 Cubs who were visiting the club as part of an fact finding mission for a aviation badge.

The lack of news from Sutton Bank has not been due to a lack of flying, far from it, but due to the author’s absence on holiday.  So this blog is a catch up, a brief summary of what has been a busy time at the Bank.

Sunday 26th.  A light to  moderate SSE’ly brought some limited soaring conditions in the afternoon, althought theairfield was busy with 38 ATs, 2 Day course pupils and8 Trial Lesson pupils.  In addition to the club gliders, 9 private owners launched, John Shaw in the DG200 having the longest flight of the day, 1:36, while Andy Hatfield was close behind in the club Discus at 1:31 and Albert Newbery/M Walton had 58 minutes in the K21.

Monday 27th.  A light and variable SSE’ly veered into the W and strengthened to moderate as the sky clouded over from late afternoon but not before 19 ATs had been flown, mainly in club gliders with only1 private owner launch.    Lift was hard to come by with flight times typically 20 minutes, but Ian Plant gave Simon Ward , one of 8 Trial Lessons of the day, 39 minutes in the DG1000  off a 3000′ tow.  There were only 3 solo flights, one of which saw Alan Dowd go solo in the K21 on the last flight of the day, so congratulations to him.  The day also saw the start of another weeks holiday course.

Tuesday 28th.  The light and variablewind was again in evidence, this time from a northerly quarter, and again lift was hard to come by.  12 ATs were flown with only the 2 K21s, the DG1000 and the Astir in action.  4 Trial Lesson pupils were flown and the Falke had a single flight with average flight times being around 15-20 minutes, although Duncan Pask, flying the Astir notched up  27 minutes and Andy Parish gave Trial Lesson pupil J Mitchell 28 minutes in the DG1000.  John Copplestone, a regular on Sutton’s holiday courses, resoloed in the K21, so congratulations to him.

Wednesday 29th.  A light to moderate W’ly brought a better day’s soaring and 30 ATs were flown, with the majority of the club fleet utilised and 11 private owners  launching.  The latter included some early arrivals for Competition Enterprise, due to start on the 2nd July.  One of the early arrivals, David Masson, made the most of the day with a flight of just over 7 hours in his LS6, with Eric Preston flying the club DG303 for just over 2 hours and visitors J Norman/J Blackburn having 1:20 in the DG1000, 3 of the 15 flights to exceed an hour.  4 Trial Lesson pupils were flown and there was a single Falke flight.  7 launches were added to the day’s total by a visiting group of Scouts in the evening.

Thursday 30th.  The light to moderate W’ly flow continued but soaring conditions did not get established until early afternoon and then were affected by  encroaching sea air later in the day as well as by showers.   16 ATs were flown, principally in the club’s K21s, Astir and Discus while there were 3 private owner launches.  From one of these Martyn Johnson, flying his DG600, completed a 189 km cross country, his original declared task having to be abandoned on the Pontefract-Beverley leg due to the aforementioned sea air.   Martyn clocked up the longest flight of the day, 2:31, one of 3 of the day to exceed and hour.   David Hill and course member G Caldwell just failed to beat the hour barrier with 54 minutes  in the K21 and Joe Westwood had the longest flight in a club single seater, 31 minutes in the Discus.   The Rotax Falke was kept busy with 4 flights.

Friday 1st July.  A light and variablewind and a favourable air mass provided a good day’s soaring with 48 ATs, 19 private owners taking to the air and virtually the whole club fleet utilised.  The good soaring conditions led to 23 flights of over an hour, and 4 Trial Lesson pupils chose a good day to experience gliding.  Pilots departed to various points of the compass, Martyn Johnson in his DG600 covering 165 km in a flight that was changed from that declared due to spreadout.  Steve Ball flying his LS8 completed a 305 km out and return to Grantham and so achieved his Gold Distance and Diamond Goal, so well done Steve.  Derek Taylor flew a 427 km YoYo with turning points at Grantham, Helmsley and Pontefract.  Bill Payton had just under 7 hours in his Ventus cxt while visitor Joe Westwood had 2:21 in the club Discus and course member G Cardwell had just over an hour in the K21 with instructor Bob Beck.  Among all this activity, the Rotax Falke had 2 flights.

Saturday 2nd.  A very light SW’ly brought good soaring conditions for the start of Competitions Enterprise with its 23 entrants.  They were set a “Spider on Speed” task involving flying a Sut/Market Weighton/Pontefract/Masham Quadrilateral in any direction with an O/R to Sutton from any turn point.  Over 6000 km were flown with 3 pilots gaining bonus points by flying over the North Sea.  Justin Wills flying his Antares 18 flew over 600 km, David Masson flew over 500 km in his LS6c 15m and 2 of the Sutton based entrants, Bill Payton in his Ventus cxt and Lindsay McLane in his Ventus Ct flew over 400 km.  Outside the competition, Andy Wright in his Nimbus 3t flew a 333.5 km task, Sut/Saltby/Malton/Sut as did Derek Taylor in his ASW22BL while Peter Thelwell proved that his fast time around the Sut/Ruf/Poc/Sut triangle in June had not been a  fluke by repeating the task at a handicapped speed of 99.4 kph in his Standard Cirrus.  This time he made use of turning point sectors not barrels and so put himself firmly in the driving seat to win  the  Roy Watson trophy.  The day’s 60 launches produced 42 flights of over an hour, with Justin Wills having 7 hours in the air.  Sutton pilot Andy Hatfield had 4:24 in the club Discus while Andy Parish and Rory O’Conor had 1:10 in the club DG1000. 

To be continued.