Sunday 6th to Monday 7th April 2025
Posted: 08/04/2025 15:51
Sunday 6th. A light to moderate ESE'ly blew all day, early Cumulus soon disappearing to give clear, blue skies and plenty of sunshine although the maximum temperature only reached 14.4C. The day's 11 ATs off runway 20 included 2 for private owners and 4 for First Flight pupils, with K21s KLW and JVZ sharing the club glider flying. Some strength and altitude limited thermals resulted in 5 flights equalling or exceeding 30 minutes with one exceeding an hour. Fred Brown/Ross Kerr shared the longest flight in a club glider, their 36 minutes in JVZ resulting from the use of 2 thermals, one of which was contacted at 700' QFE, their maximum altitude being 2,300' asl. Jamie Quartermaine/Anthony Rose's 35 minutes was the next longest, resulting from a series of climbs in the same thermal which took them to a maximum altitude of 2,600' asl. The 2 private owners who flew were Yuri Kozhevrov in his Pik 20D and Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct, Yuri having 33 minutes and Bob 2:55, during which he flew an O/R to York operating between 1,700' and 3,100' asl, although engine assistance was required to complete the task.
Monday 7th. A continuation of Sunday's weather saw 11 launches off runway 20, 10 via AT and a self launch by Nigel Burke in his DG800. Nigel's landing was not recorded on the paper log and there was no Flarm trace, so the details of his flight are not available. Otherwise, there were 3 flights of over 30 minutes with two over an hour, one by Clive Swain/Steve Morgan in K21 KLW and the other by Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct. Clive/Steve's 1:01 flight was flown locally, operating between 800' QFE (1,700' asl) and their maximum altitude of 3,300' asl, this following their earlier flight in KLW which lasted 37 minutes and reached a maximum altitude of 3,100' asl. Bob flew a cross country, not quite reaching the York TP and then returning to Sutton via Knaresborough, Ripon and Bransby (to the east of Easingwold), with a highest climb to 3,100' asl . Thermal strengths were moderate with 1.7 kts being the best average, with Bob recovering from at or below 1,000' asl 8 times during the flight.
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.