Tuesday 19th to Sunday 31st December 2023
Posted: 02/01/2024 11:16
Tuesday 19th. A cold front cleared the site in the morning, allowing flying to get underway around midday as a light to moderate W'ly blew. The afternoon saw 6 ATs flown off runway 24, including 3 for First Flight pupils and 3 which exceeded 30 minutes, one of these being over an hour. The latter saw Bob Beck/Y Kozherov in the DG500 have 1:22 soaring the main bowl, initially at around 750' QFE and later at 1100' QFE. Others to soar the main bowl included Dave McKinney/Steve Morgan in K21 KLW who had 47 minutes and Bob Beck with an First Flight pupil in the DG500 who had 31 minutes. Guy Hartland with another First Flight pupil had an initial foray to High Paradise Farm before returning and landing after 25 minutes.
Wednesday 20th. A sunny start was soon replaced by cloudier skies as Storm Pia approached, the wind being a moderate and at time moderate to fresh W'ly. 3 ATs were flown off runway 24, before flying came to an end in early afternoon, 2 of the flights exceeding an hour. Clive Swain/John Forrester had 1:30 in the DG500, mainly hill soaring as far north as Black Hambleton and generally maintaining 900-1500' QFE, with a maximum climb to 1,600' QFE at Cowesby bowl. Bill Payton in Astir DPO was the other pilot to have a >1 hr soaring flight, his 1:18 resulting from hill soaring similar areas to Clive/John, while generally maintaining 800-1200' QFE, although Bill had a couple of low points of 500' QFE and included a trip to Thirsk. The remaining flight of the day saw Guy Hartland take a First Flight pupil for a 25 minute flight in the DG500.
Thursday 21st. Storm Pia brought strong and gusty WNW'ly winds to site so there was no flying.
Friday 22nd. A generally cloudy day with showers as a moderate WNW'ly slowly declined to become light, resulted in a single winch launch off runway 24, Bruce Grain/Andrew Bedford having 33 minutes in K21 KLW as they found a patch of lift just north of Lake Gormire that they used to climb to a maximum height of 1,400' QFE..
Saturday 23rd. A moderate to fresh and gusty W/WSW'ly blew under cloudy skies so there was no flying.
Sunday 24th. An even windier day with the WSW/W'ly gusting up to 55 kts kept the hangar doors firmly closed.
Monday 25th. The wind continued to blow from the WSW/W and had moderated to become moderate accompanied by cloudy skies, but Christmas Day is traditionally a non-flying day at Sutton, so there was no flying.
Tuesday 26th. The WSW'ly wind had decreased further to become light to moderate, again accompanied by cloudy skies, but there was no flying due to the waterlogged state of the airfield.
Wednesday 27th. Another Atlantic storm, Gerrit, brought heavy rain from 0600 to 1400 hrs, the moderate SE'ly veering into the WSW and increasing to fresh, so there was no flying.
Thursday 28th. More morning rain and a moderate to fresh SW/WSW'ly that gusted into the high 40 kts meant another non-flying day.
Friday 29th. A sunny but windy start to the day, with the moderate to fresh and gusty WSW'ly slowly declining to become moderate as the skies clouded over and a few showers developed on another non-flying day.
Saturday 30th. A cloudy start with rain arriving around midday and the initially moderate SE'ly increasing to fresh and gusting into the mid 40 kts, extending the run of non-flying days.
Sunday 31st. A nearby low pressure maintained a cloudy, light to moderate SSE'ly flow with rain at times during another non-flying day.
As the Blog comes to the end of another year, may I wish all readers a happy and flying filled 2024.
This blog describes a snippet of life at the Yorkshire Gliding Club. Why not take a flight and try it yourself, or we can teach you to fly as a full club member.