Friday 13th to Monday 16th March 2026
Posted: 16/03/2026 21:05
Friday 13th. A moderate/moderate to fresh WSW'ly blew all day. low cloud, following a period of rain in the early hours, delaying the start of flying until mid-afternoon. 4 winch launches off runway 24 followed, all leading to soaring flights with 3 over an hour and one of 45 minutes. It was a hill soaring day with the main W'ly ridge up to High Paradise Farm and the Forward Ridge flown at heights of typically 500' to 1,500' QFE. Andreas Rieder flew 3 of the flights in K21 JVZ, first with Ian Miskin, 1:25, then with Duncan Pask,1:02 and finally with Bas Sonneveld, 45 minutes. John Forrester was the remaining pilot, flying Astir FSH for 1:25.
Saturday 14th. An initially moderate NW'ly slowly declined to light to moderate on a day with an unstable airmass and scattered showers, the launch point on runway 24 being busy from around 1030 hrs to 1700 hrs with 22 ATs. The day delivered some strong thermals, with cloud base rising to around 6,000' asl locally and elsewhere, and the 5 private owners who flew all attempted XC's with mixed fortunes due to showers. Dean Crosby in his LS10t, completed the first Sutton 300 km of the year with a 305 km YoYo with TPs at Darlton, Burn and Blyth, having to go off track at times to avoid the showers. Steve Thompson in his Ventus 2bt abandoned his 212 km declared task of Sutton/Doncaster NW/Helmsley/Rufforth/Sutton after turning Helmsley due to showers, covering 179 km, while Neil Paveley in his Nimbus 2, landed out at Rufforth having flown Sutton/Tontine/Rufforth.and was on his way back N only to be faced with a line of heavy showers. Retreating to Rufforth, Neil stayed airborne for another 1:40 awaiting an improvement that never materialised and eventually landed there, having an AT back to Sutton later in the day. Kelly Teagle soared locally for a while in her LS8-18t before completing the local 100 km triangle around Pocklington and Rufforth and you can see a video from her flight by posting the following link into your browser. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBEB4_S91OA. Fred Brown in his Ventus 2ct visited Ripon and Leeming climbing to 6,000' asl near Ripon in his 2:54 flight, with the other > an hour pilots being Jamie Quartermaine/Jacob Gray who had 1:04 soaring the DG1000 between site and Thimbleby at 3.800' asl or above. Sarah Stubbs/Ben Dawson in K21 KLW approached within 5 km of Northallerton in their 48 minute flight and at the end of the day as the thermals died, Sarah/Matthew Hill had 38 minutes hill soaring the home bowl at around 1,000' QFE.
Sunday 15th. A initially windy day with a fresh SSW'ly accompanied by low cloud and rain from 1000 to 1300 hrs meant there was no flying.
Monday 16th. A moderate WSW'ly that tended to back into the SW as a bright start was followed by increasing cloudiness, restricted flying to 8 ATs off runway 24, 2 by private owners. Hill soaring was the order of the day but the area around Gormire provided lift to 3,400' asl for Steve Thompson in his Ventus 2bt and to 3,000' asl for Chris Handzlik in his DG300. Both Steve and Chris attempted to penetrate W from the top of their climbs but both ran into heavy sink that meant a quick retreat back to the hill. Both pilots flew the main W'ly ridge as far as High Paradise Farm during their 1:09 and 2,00 hr flights, with Clive Swain being P! in all the other 6 flights of the day in K21 KLW. Clive flew an O/R to Black Hambleton with Stephen Kelleher on their 46 minute, first flight of the day, had a climb to 2,400' asl over Gormire with Ryan Parker, a 48 minute flight with Andrew Bedford and incorporated simulated winch failures with both Ryan Parker and Stephen Kelleher before flying stopped for the day at around 1545 hrs..
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.