Monday 20th to Friday 24th April 2026
Posted: 25/04/2026 21:17
Monday 20th. Low cloud coming in off the cold North Sea delayed the start of flying until around 1230 hrs when Chris Collingham/Ian Miskin took off in the Falke for a 30 minute flight under the overcast from runway 20, the wind being light to moderate ESE which backed to become ENE. The cloud then rose sufficiently to allow the first glider flight around 1345 hrs, which was also by Chris, this time with the day's only First Flight pupil, their 3,000' tow providing a 30 minute straight descent. This turned out to be the longest flight of the day, as most of the remaining 6 tows off runway 20 were 1,100' tows for circuit training and practice with typical durations of 7 minutes, although 2 tows to 2,000' QFE returned flight times of 12-14 minutes.
Tuesday 21st. A moderate E'ly blew all day with a cloudier morning giving way to sunnier conditions in the afternoon, with the morning/early afternoon providing reasonable thermal soaring conditions with cloud base around 5,000' asl and peak average climb rates around 4 kts. The day's 10 ATs off runway 06, with the occasional landing on 02, produced 3 flights of over 30 minutes, with 2 of these over an hour. Andreas Rieder/Ian Miskin set the ball rolling with 1:54 in K21 KLW off the first flight of the day, exploring up to 14 km to the NE and 6 km to the SW of site. Andreas later had 1:06 with Tor Taverner, also in KLW, while remaining more local and he also sandwiched in a 57 minute flight in KLW with Roger Burghall between the above two flights. Thereafter, nobody exceeded 30 minutes, although the day's 4 First Flight pupils had between 23 and 30 minutes due to their 3,000' tows.
Wednesday 22nd. A light to moderate ENE'ly blew all day with sunny, clear blue skies after the disappearance of early morning stratus. !5 ATs were flown off runway 06, but with high pressure centred near the UK, thermal conditions were weak with a few flights finding some lift over the gulley to the east of the site. This was used by Bob Calvert with two of the day's 8 First Flight pupils to extend their flights in K21 KLW to 31 and 30 minutes. the longest of the day. Andreas Rieder/Mark Croston in K21 JVZ had 28 minutes, the longest of the day by a club member, again by virtue of weak lift over the gulley.
Thursday 23rd. A day of unbroken sunshine and a light and variable wind led to 20 ATs off runway 20, but with the high pressure still in place thermals were weak, with most being encountered over the gulley as on previous days. Tows to 3,000' QFE for the day's 3 First Flight pupils led to durations of 22-27 minutes, but Ian McFarlane/Rob Harris in K21 JVZ had 41 minutes over the gulley at 1,100' - 1,400' QFE, while Martin Newbery used the engine of his Ventus ct to climb to 6,000' and, with the help of the weak thermal activity over the gulley extend his flight to 50 minutes.
Friday 24th. A light to moderate S'ly blew all day under sunny, blue skies as the high pressure continued to dominate the weather. The day's flying included 4 Falke flights of which 3 were XCs and 18 ATs off runway 20, the day again being one of weak thermal lift with only 2 of glider flights managing 20 minutes or more. These were by syndicate members John Marsh and Tony Drury in their DG303, with John securing bragging rights with 21 minutes off a 2,600' QFE tow compared to Tony's 20 minutes of the same release height. The next best were the 4 flights of 18 minutes each flown by Paul Whitehead with 4 different P2s each in K21 KLW. The 3 Falke XCs were flown as follows: an 142 OLC km triangle with TPs at Barnard Castle and Trimdon flown by Clive Swain, a 98 OLC km triangle with TPs at York East and Harrogate N flown by Ian McFalane/Ian Miskin and a 100 km triangle with TPs at Pocklington and Rugfforth again flown by Ian but this time with Vivienne Dutton.
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.