YGC Blog

Tuesday 24th.  A moist, fresh SSW’ly brought low cloud and a little rain, conditions that were not condusive for gliding.

Wednesday 25th.  The airmass had dried out overnight but the wind, starting off as a S’ly and veering into the SW, was much stronger, gusting to around 45 kts so no flying was again possible although Albert Newbery took new winter member Frank Bailey for a flight on the simulator.  Frank flys from Skelling Farm which has closed down for the winter.

Thursday 26th.  A 10-25 kt SW’ly that slowly veered into the W brought the prospects of a good hill soaring day, prospects considerably dampened  by unforecast, but very frequent showers.  3 winch launches were flown in spite of the showers, 2 in K21 JVZ, returned from its CoA, and the other in the DG303.  Bob Beck flying with Andy Peat had just over an hour in the K21, while Albert Newbery flying new member Frank Bailey had 49 minutes.  Dick Cole, flying the DG303 on the last flight of the day, had the flight shortened by a badly misted canopy and, with visibility on the approach made worse by a low sun,  made full use of the  DV panel. Meanwhile, Derek Smith foresook the wet, 4C, conditions on the field for the much warmer and drier conditions in the simulator.

Post Script to Friday 20th November.  Following the writer’s departure from site, Friday’s flying produced a further 2 flights exceeding an hour with Brian Wise in  the club Discus having 1.25 hrs and Dean Crosby in his Standard Cirrus having 1.1 hrs.

Saturday 21st.  A 10 mb drop in pressure over daylight hours was not surprisingly accompanied by a cloudy, wet, SE’ly flow that deposited another 9 mm of rain.  No flying was possible except on the simulator, when a club member and a group of 6 visiting Scouts plus their leaders experienced virtual flying.

Sunday 22nd.  A strong and strengthening S’ly was the order of the  day so it was a 2 seater only operation with the club DG500 and DG1000 in action via 10 ATs off runway 20.  3 Trial Lesson pupils were flown, with one having 2 flights as the first found only strong sink which resulted in an much too early return to site.  Flight times were generally around 20-40 minutes with bits and pieces of lift being found on and forward of the southerly ridge.  Jack McGregor and guest C. Scott found more bits and pieces of lift than most, contributing to their flight of around 1.25 hrs in the DG1000.

Monday 23rd.  A windy and wet night, with a further 6 mm of rain, left the site in a fresh to strong, very gusty W’ly that delayed the start of flying until around 1130 hrs, by which time the wind and gusts had abated. The wind  continued to moderate, dropping to around 10 kts around lunch time before slowly freshening again.  9 winch launches were flown off runway 24, all by single seaters, including 2 private owners.  Those flying early and late found little difficulty in staying up on the hill and well forward of the hill, with wave rotor  present.  Those flying around the lunch time hours found the hill lift marginal, with an erroneously reading variometer in Robin Hutchinson’s Swordfish adding to his difficulties of staying up.  Mr Richardson, flying his V-tailed SB5 managed to survive the tricky patch around lunch time to give himself a flight time of 3.25 hrs, while Conrad Thwaites flying the club DG303 had just over an hour, reaching 2300′ QNH  during the flight and penetrating as far forward as Bagby when the expected lift under the leading edge of the cloud turned out to be strong sink.  Most of the day’s other flights were in the range 25-45 minutes, a time span more affected by the availability of  free 30 minutes flying in club single seaters than the conditions.

Wednesday 18th.  After another 15 mm of rain overnight Thursday/Friday, the day dawned with cloudy skies and a light W’ly.  Hill soaring prospects were uncertain, given the wind strength,  but D Coppin and K Steele, visitors from the Cambridge Gliding Centre, took a winch launch in the club DG1000 to check things out.  A return to earth after 20 minutes demonstrated that the hill was not working, in fact the demonstration was so good theirs was the only flight of the day.

Thursday 19th.  The light winds of Wednesday were  replaced by very strong SSW’lies with an average speed of 20-30 kts and gusts of around 45 kts.  Consequently, no flying was possible although the wind chill was negligible with the temperature up to a very mild 13C.

Friday 20th.  Flying was delayed until after midday as the overnight front with its rain cleared away to the East.  It was a single seater day with Dean Crosby flying his Standard Cirrus and the club’s Astir, Discus and DG303 also flown.  The first period of flying covered a  period of only 22 minutes.  During this time, 4 winch launches were completed before a rapidly expanding CuNim deluged the  site with 5 mm of rain and caused a rapid return to earth for all 4 gliders.  Dean, having taken off last had a grand total of 4 minutes in the air.  With clearing skies, flying resumed at around 1415hrs with a further 4 winch launches into a 15-20 kt WSW’ly, pilots again taking advantage of the free 30 minutes of flying time in the club single seaters to explore the ridge lift.  Les Rayment, flying the DG303 for 38 minutes after lunch had clocked up the longest flight of the day, but this time was always going to be exceeded by Brian Wise in the Discus and Dean in his Standard Cirrus who were still airborne when  the writer left  a very wet airfield.  The water logged state of the site led to the interesting sight of the saturated shock rope generating lines of fine water droplets  in the air as the launch progressed and the tension on the cable and rope varied.

Saturday 14th.   12 mm of rain fell overnight Friday to leave the field wet but usable  with care.  The  day dawned with a fresh to  strong, gusty SSE’ly that provided some lift from the S ridge before going into the SW late in the day.  7 ATs were flown, including 5 to provide the visiting Scouts with a taste of gliding,  flight times being around 20-30 minutes.  Flying terminated at around 1300 hrs due to a combination of showery rain and a lack of customers.

Sunday 15th.  The wind had remained a S’ly but had decreased in strength and flying was delayed until around midday due to low cloud.  Thereafter, a single Motor Falke operation and 15 ATswere flown with all the club fleet employed, some of them for 3 Trial Lesson pupils.  John Marsh in the Discus had the  longest flight of the day, 48 minutes, with Albert Newbery/Peter Claes having 32 minutes in the DG1000  and Richard Burghall giving his Trial Lesson pupil an identical time in the air in the K21.  The site operation ran particularly smoothly, with Ron Beezer so impressed he put his thanks to all concerned in an email.

Monday 16th.  Another 10 mm of rain fell in the morning as a front went through, but then the weather cleared around 1315 hrs to leave the site in a fresh to strong W that quickly backed into the SSW and decreased in strength.  A single flight was flown on the simulator in the morning and 2 winch launches in the club single seaters after the weather cleared, before rain returned to terminate flying.  Bill Payton’s 28 minutes in the Astir just failed to make it a soaring day. 

Tuesday 17th.  A 15-20 kt W saw the winch again deployed and 24 winch launches completed before the wind backed into the S late in the day.  4 private owners and all but the Ka8 of the available club gliders were flown although this didn’t include the K21s as one was off site for its CoA and the other is still waiting a replacement rear canopy support strut.  12 of the day’s flights exceeded an hour and pilots experienced boisterous hill soaring, some wave, passing showers (most of which thankfully avoided the  site) and even a flash of lightning over Thirsk around 1100 hrs.  A number of pilots managed to climb in wave, with Conrad Thwaites, Malcolm Winter and Mike Wood all getting to around 5000′ asl, although climb rates were generally low.  Gary Vaughan, flying his ASW 19, was aloft for just under 4 hours.  The continuing clear felling of the trees along the site’s eastern boundary provided interest for those not flying, while an alternative attraction was  John Ellis’ ongoing transformation of the winch cable retrieve trailer in the workshop.

Tuesday 10th.  A murky, damp air mass covered the area accompanied by a very light SSE’ly flow and low cloud.  Consequently, no flying was possible.

Wednesday 11th.  The air was now much drier with visibility in excess of 25 km, but winds remained very light and variable.  There were 2 Falke flights and 4 ATswere flown, all in the K21, with Roy Wilkins having a check flight and then flying solo.   Flight times were generally in the 15-20 minute range but Ian Plant/ A Wainman flew for 22 minutes off the lowest AT of the day. 

Thursday 12th.  The wind had gone into the WSW and increased to around 10 kts at the  start of the day, before backing into the SW and increasing to around 15 kts in advance of rain which arrived on site at around 1430 hrs.  The start of flying was delayed until around 1230 hrs but thereafter, Dick Cole took  the Motor Falke on a Air Frame check and there were 6 ATs with the club K21, Astir and Ka8 utilised and 1 Trial Lesson flown.  Flight times were in the range 20-25 minutes but Chris Thirkell in the Astir and Albert Newbery/M Fenwick in the K21 had 27 minutes each. 

Friday 13th.  The day started with a presentation to Ian Plant on the occasion of his birthday and his last day at the club following the end of his contract as tuggie/instructor for 2009.  The “far from mass choirs of the YGC” nevertheless provided a tuneful rendering of Happy Birthday.  The wind at ground level was a light  S’ly but the forecast winds showed a marked increase with  height and wave was forecast.  With very few people on site and canopy misting a problem, Colin Troise took the first flight of the day in the Discus and promptly disappeared from view as low cloud rolled in.  As the minutes ticked by speculation mounted that Colin had landed out, but after about 45 minutes he reappeared, after finding and soaring weak wave downwind of the site.  After landing after 52 minutes in the air, a break for lunch was undertaken.   After lunch, Jane Beacher, the guest of Winter member Steve Bradford took her first flight in a glider with George Rowden in the K21, zero sink being found in front of a very low level wave cloud (base 600′ QFE) over Sutton village.  A transfer to the wave slot over the site again found some zero sink and even some broken lift before an approach under the cloud was made for a landing on runway 20.  With no other customers around, the aircraft were washed, the hangar packed and the doors closed by around 1500 hrs with the approaching depression well in evidence to the SW.

Saturday 7th.  A busy flying day was had, with 23 ATs and 4 Falke flights, although occasional low cloud in a light SE’ly flow suspended operations for a while.  The evidence of wave tempted 2 private owners to rig and Steve Ball/Jon May in their Duo Discus contacted some weak wave and slowly climbed through a slot which then closed prompting a descent through cloud to regain clear air in front of the forward ridge.  Their efforts resulted in the longest flight of the day, 1 hr, with the other private owner, A Wilson, having 30 minutes in his Skylark 3 and Brian Wise/Mr Finch having 28 minutes in the club DG500.  All the available club 2 seaters and the DG303 were flown on  a pleasant if not particularly exciting day, the excitement being reserved for the  evening with the Firework party.  A large body of members, visitors, wives, partners and friends gathered for a hot ( in more ways than one) meal courtesy of Brian and helpers, followed by a splendid firework display supplied and ignited by Nick Davies and David Latimer.  Thanks to them and to John Ellis and helpers for the very impressive  illumination of the scene.  The onset of the firework display coincided with the onset of rain which resulted in the segregation of the attendees based on wimpeyness.  The brave or foolish, depending on your point of view, stood out in the rain to view the display while the real wimps stayed in the clubhouse.  The semi wimpish, but they would claim sensible group, found shelter under the clubhouse overhang thus enjoying an unrestricted view of proceedings, including the brave/foolish wet souls, while staying dry.  The fact that by far the best spot for dry viewing was, surprisingly, directly outside the men’s loo, only added to the ambiance (and ribaldry).

Sunday 8th.  The passage of the rain overnight left the site in a cool NNW’ly that slowly diminished in strength during the day.  Flying was hampered by a combination of low cloud and a lack of customers so that only 5 ATs were flown off runway 02, with only the  K21 utilised.  3 of the flights were with Trial Lessons with Graham Evison taking his pupil for a 25 minutes saunter around the local area.

Monday 9th.  The wind had become a light N’ly so operations were again off runway 02 with some  evidence of wave present both upwind and downwind of the site.  Expert opinion concluded that soaring was however, unlikely as the long wavelength and light winds suggested very little usable lift.  Undeterred,  Colin Troise took the first flight of the day solo in the K21 and proceeded to remain airborne for 51 minutes, finding lift just off the winch end of the ridge when down to around 1500′ QFE.  The other 3  AT’s of the day, 2 withTrial Lesson pupils, failed to find anything in the way of such consistent lift, if any lift at all, while the sky alternately filled in with low cloud at around 7-800′ QFE and then cleared, a clear case of cycling according to today’ s pundit Colin.  In addition to the gliding flights, the club Falke had 3 flights with Albert Newberry taking a member of the Millfield GC for a Bronze C and Cross Country Endorsement check on one of them.

An apology is also due to Jesper Mjels from the writer.  Having encouraged pilots to  provide details of  interesting flights on the back of the daily log sheet, I failed to see Jesper’s’ note of his O/R in wave to Eden Valley and back late in October.  I will try to do better in future, so please don’t be put off  recording your notable/interesting flights by the above failure on my part.

Wednesday 5th.  A light S’ly saw operations start off runway 20 just before 11am and 5 ATs flown before rain spread in, flying terminating for the day at around 2-30 pm.  Mike Wood flew Mr Sriskanda, the only Trial Lesson of the day,  for 25 minutes in the K21, while Peter Belcher, visiting from Gransden Lodge with his ASW19, had 26 minutes. 

Thursday 6th.  A day of light winds, that eventually went into the SE, and generally sunny skies, produced 12 AT’s off runway 20, Peter Belcher making the most of the available flying time by having 3 launches in his ASW19 and being joined by 5 club members taking advantage of 30 minutes free flying time when flying the club Astir and Discus.  Chris Thirkell stayed up for 31 minutes on the first flight of the day, off a 3500′ AT, and for a time cumulus were visible and within reach, but their associated lift was at best weak and sporadic.  Consequently, flight times were generally in the 15-20 minute range.

Friday 6th.  A light but slowly increasing SSE’ly wind and a medium level overcast ahead of an approaching front, saw a number of club gliders taken out to runway 20, but this didn’t include one of the club K21’s as the DI revealed a crack in one of the rear canopy support arms.   However, just as everything was established at the launch point and ready to launch,  low stratus started to form over and downwind of the S’ly ridge.  The start of flying was therefore delayed to determine whether the problem was temporary or not.  While waiting, the launch point crew joined John Ellis and Andy Darlington in the preparations for the fireworks party to be held at the club on Saturday 8th November. After a relatively short while it became obvious that the stratus problem was not temporary but getting worse.  Consequently, the gliders and tug were all returned to the hangar, Peter Belcher was assisted in derigging his glider in preparation for his return home  and the members retired to the clubhouse just in time to escape the start of the rain.

Monday 3rd.  A 15 kt W’ly with broken medium level cloud saw the winch in action and 2 private owners plus the club K21s, Discus and Astir contribute to 12 launches.  As well as consistent  hill lift, weak wave was in evidence.  Garry Vaughan in his ASW 19 had 3 hrs aloft, Paul Whitehead and Eric Preston had just under 2  hours in the K21 and Derek Smith just under 2 hrs in the Discus.  Derek was one of 4 club pilots to take advantage of the Board’s decision to offer the first 30 minutes of club single seater flying free over the winter months, with 2 pilots each having 2 such flights each.  Well done to Ian Plant who drove the winch all day in the absence of any other driver.

Tuesday 4th.  Early morning rain and the hill shrouded in cloud must have put off potential pilots for when the rain stopped, the cloud lifted and the wind became a soarable SW’ly around lunch time, only the writer, Andy Parish, Ian Plant  and Office Manager Josephine were on site.  The site remained very wet with today’s rain adding to Sunday’s downpour and with such a distinct lack of bodies, the writer left site early afternoon, leaving Ian Plant setting up a production line to modify the tables used for competitor briefings at the Northerns.

Thursday 29th.  The day started withthe Vale of York filled wi fog so flying was delayed while this cleared to leave a generally bright day with a lot of medium level cloud in a 10-15 kt SE’ly.  12 AT’swere flown in the club’s K21s, DG1000 and Discus with 6 of the flights by  returning Trial Lesson pupils from last weeks scrubbed  government sponsored “Learning Revolution Festival”.   Flight times were generally in the 15 minute range but Les Rayment/Trial lesson pupil in  the K21 and Dick Cole flying the K21 solo managed 21 minutes.  The real excitement of the day was provided when one of the undercarriage assemblies failed on the Pawnee as it landed on runway 20, the incident being due to a mechanical failure of one of the undercarriage components.  Quick thinking and good piloting  by John Ellis prevented any further damage to the tug. 

Friday 30th.  The continuing 10-15 kt SE’ly airstream brought in lot of low cloud which first of all delayed the start of flying to around 1440 hrs  and then returned to stop  operations  just after 1500 hrs, limiting flying to 2 AT’s, both of which were with Trial Lesson pupils.

Saturday 31.  The passage of a front  left the site in a light but moist SE’ly airstream that initially produced a great deal of low orographic cloud that prevented flying .  However a wind change to the SW brought drier air and flying commenced at around noon with weak wave and hill lift leading to extended flights for a group of Scouts and a number of visitors.  35 ATs were flown off runway 24 with the majority of landings on runway 20 and there were 2 Motor Falke flights.  The pleasant flying conditions tempted a number of private owners into the air with Mike Wood having a couple of flights in the T21 of around an hour each, while Robin Hutchinson had just over an hour in his smart Swordfish.   Jon May/Steve Ball towed out west in their Duo Discus and after struggling around Dishforth eventually climbed in the wave to 6500′ and visited Rufforth before completing a straight glide return to Sutton.  In addition to the 8 Scouts and Leaders who flew, there were flights for 4 Trial Lesson Pupils.  The club also welcomed some visitors from Husbands Bosworth plus Heinrich Hoeth & Klaib Schnieder, German glider pilots from near Dusseldorf, who are now working in Durham and have joined the YGC.  Heinrich joined the growing band of Discus pilots, enjoying a flight of just under the hour.  After packing the hangar as darkness fell, activities continued on the site with an instructors/tug pilots meeting, followed by a meal, followed by a lively members forum.  Finally, for those of you who haven’t yet seen it, Ken Arkley’s video of his aerobatic flight with Paul Conran last week can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5nshJ4GwL8

Sunday 1st November.   Very heavy rain, low cloud and strong winds made their presence felt on the site during the morning with the  winds peaking around 2-3pm as the clearance arrived and then slowly decreasing .  However, wind speeds remained too high for flying during the remainder of the day.    Gusts of up to 55 mph were recorded at nearby RAF Topcliffe.