Saturday 11th to Monday 13th April 2026
Posted: 14/04/2026 15:14
Saturday 11th. A forecast of bands of rain crossing the area with limited flying opportunities between, led to the day being scrubbed.
Sunday 12th. A moderate to fresh SSW'ly slowly declined to become a moderate WSW'ly, with 8 ATs starting from the early afternoon from runway 24 and landings on either 24 or 20. A mixture of thermal and hill lift led to all but 2 of the flights exceeding 30 minutes, with 3 of these over an hour. Dean Crosby flying his LS10t and Sarah Stubbs/Mark James in K21 KLW, both had 1:25, with Dean using thermal to fly an O/R to just ENE of Ripon, returning via Boltby, having climbed to 4,500' asl with average peak thermal strength of 4,8 kts. Sarah/James used local thermal to climb to 4,700' asl and also hill soared the home bowl at 700'-900' QFE. The other > an hour flight was by Charles Frenchville in Astir DSU, his 1:08 also being a mixture of local thermal and hill soaring the home bowl. The day produced some large but isolated showers, with some pilots using the strong lift under the large clouds to maintain height without circling.
Monday 13th. The wind had become a light to moderate/moderate SSE'ly, so operations were off runway 20, with the day's launch total being 19 ATs plus 2 Falke flights. It was another day of strong thermal conditions with average peak climb rates of 5-6 kts, although they took a while to develop, and a cloud base of around 5,000' asl with some pilots taking advantage of the vertical development of the Cumulus to indulge in some cloud climbs. A number of pilots set off on XC's with mixed results due to the weather. Rob Bailey in his ASG29t completed a 321 OLC km flight with TPs at Tontine and Alfreton (just N of Nottingham) surviving a low point just before reaching Alfreton. while Clive Swain in his Kestrel 19 stayed within N Yorkshire but covered 198 OLC km when visiting at or near York, Tontine, Ingleby Bowl, Helmsley, Castle Howard and Sutton on Forest, having a cloud climb to 8,600' asl near the latter TP. Fred Brown in his Ventus 2ct was another pilot to take a cloud climb, this time to 9,200' asl near Tontine, having abandoned his declared task near Goole due to showers and spent his 3:42 flight returning from Goole and visiting Tontine and York. Fred was one of the pilots to find initial thermal conditions weak with low climb rates and cloud base limited to 3,500' asl. Dean Crosby in his LS10t was another pilot to turn back from a declared task, this time near Doncaster, returning to site after covering186 OLC km. Chris Booker flying the Discus, flew the local 100 km triangle with TPs at Rufforth and Pocklington, nearly landing at the latter but recovering from 900' asl, while Paul Whitehead's trace from his flight in his Ventus 2cxt recorded his turning of Tontine but ended near Drax, an incomplete trace also being recorded by Chris Handzlik in his DG300, this time as he made his way NW from Sutton at Thimbleby. Steve and Eileen Scothern both flew extended local flights of over an hour in their Discus t, with the other over an hour pilots being Ian Miskin with two flights, the first being a 1:23 solo in K21 JVZ followed by 1;40 in Astir DPO and Andrew Bedford, 1:21, solo in JVZ.
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.