Tuesday 7th to Wednesday 8th October 2025
Posted: 09/10/2025 16:06
Tuesday 7th. A light to moderate W'ly blew all day, with 21 ATs and 1 self launch off runway 24, skies being generally cloudy with high level overcast and low level lenticulars on what proved to be a good wave day. 13 pilots reported climbs to over 6,000' asl or more, with 9 climbing to between 10,000' asl and 16,200'asl, CFI James Shaw taking the club Discus to 10, 300' asl near Barnard Castle and covering 162 OLC km while visiting Masham, the Aysgarth/Leyburn area and Barnard Castle. James was on of 5 pilots to put their flights on the BGA Ladder, the others being Fred Brown in his Ventus 2ct, Chris Handzlik in his DG300, Martyn Johnson in his DG600 and Steve Ogden in his Discus. Martyn posted a climb to 15,400' asl just to the NW of Topcliffe after visiting the Dales and covering 153 OLC km, while Steve climbed to 12,200' asl west of Masham, spending most of his time in the Masham/Pateley Bridge area to cover 109 OLC km. Fred and Chris flew long XC's, Chris's 265km taking in TPs at Garsdale Head, Alston and Hawes, aa as well as a climb to 14,900' asl at Garsdale Head, while Fred flew 377 km turning Kirby Stephen Station and Knaresborough, climbing to the day's best altitude of 16,200' asl in the same area as Chris and noting a thick overcast at this altitude that that was responsible for a sunless day. The other wave soaring pilots were visitors David Gill in his Discus, 15,800' asl north of Masham, 193 km, Bob Wood in his Ventus, 13,700' asl 8 km NW of Sutton, 151 km, Barney Crump in his DG200, 12,300' asl in the Dales, 180 km, Richard Brown in his Ventus 2cxt, 8,400' asl, 9 km SW of Sutton, Paul Whaters in his Std Cirrus, 7,400' asl, Peter Brown in his Ventus 2 cxt, 6,400' asl and Paul Shellow in his Ventus 2 cxt, 6,000'asl, the latter 3 pilots all locally. Bob Calvert in his Discus 2 ct, flew 400 OLC km via Harrogate N, to 8 km north of Penrith where further progress was blocked by a cold front slowly advancing from the W, Bob returning to site via Sedbergh, Settle, Kirby Stephen Station, East Keswick, Barnard Castle and Ripon. The rest of the > an hour pilots used wave enhanced hill lift on the main W'ly ridge as far north as High Paradise Farm with typical operating heights of 1,200 to 2,400' QFE.
Wednesday 8th. A day of sunny intervals, some thermal activity plus wave and a light to moderate W'ly wind resulted in 19 ATs and a self launch off runway 24, 2 First Flight pupils and 15 private owner launches contributing to the day's total. The available lift led to 10 flights in excess of 30 minutes, with 4 of these over an hour, although Francis Russel in his Ventus 2cxt, Steve Scothern in his Discus t and Peter Goodchild in his PIK 20D owed more to engine than thermal power to remain aloft for 54, 56 and 56 minutes respectively. Martyn Johnson in his DG600 and visitor Peter Brown in his Ventus used local thermal to extend their flight times to 2:23 and 2:04 respectively, average peak thermal strengths being 2 kts and cloud base 3,000'-3.500' asl. Bob Calvert used thermal to get to the Masham area where he contacted wave and eventually climbed to 10,100' asl between Aysgarth and Leyburn. Two attempts to get to Barnard Castle were abandoned and Bob returned to site after covering 222 OLC km during his 4:31 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.