Saturday 20th to Sunday 21st June 2026
Posted: 22/06/2026 17:49
Saturday 20th. A moderate SW'ly blew all day with Cumulus filled skies tempting many pilots to fly XC, the conditions providing a challenge for most and landouts at Rufforth for Steve Ogden in his Discus after having turned Pocklington and Beau Basson in his ASW20 on the return leg of an O/R to Blyth having covered 160 km of the 191 km task. The longest XC was by Dean Crosby in his LS10t, 441 km via a YoYo, Sutton/Tontine/Worksop East/Sutton Start S/Retford/Sutton, a flight described by Dean as a struggle, with 8/8 Cirrus affecting thermal activity and strength. Other pilots putting their flights on the BGA ladder were Steve Thompson in his Ventus 2bt, 232,5 km with TPs at Goole N, Kirkbymoorside and Burn, Dave Latimer/Derek Taylor in their Arcus M, 200 km with TPs at Northallerton, Garforth and Beverley, which they extended after returning to Sutton by another 100 + km, the same task being flown by Les Rayment in his DG808, an engine start being required on the return leg to Sutton with 158 km of the task completed. Toby Wilson in his Standard Cirrus flew 172 km, with TPs at Northallerton, Garforth and Rufforth S, having set off on a fast 200 km club task that soon became slow and then shorter, while Darren Lodge in his LS8-18 flew the 100 km Pocklington/Rufforth triangle, struggling to get a good climb between these TPs but making it back to Sutton. Other XC pilots included Chris Teagle in his LS8-18t with TPs at Carlton Bank, Tontine and Retford, Rob Bailey in his ASG29 with TPs at Tontine and Wragby, Fred Brown in his Ventus 2ct, with TPs at Humber Bridge and Scunthorpe, Pete Crawley in his ASH 31M with Tps at Northallerton and Goole, Bas Sonneveld in his LS4 with TPs at Northallerton, Goole and Goole N and Clive Swain in his Kestrel 18 with TPs at Churchhouses and Ripon. The day's 45 ATs and 2 Self Launches off runway 24 included 5 for First Flight pupils, with 34 of the flights leading to durations of 30 minutes or more of which 23 were over an hour. The day also saw Sarah Nolan, flying Astir DPO, gain her Silver height with a climb to 5,500' asl, so congratulations to Sarah.
Sunday 21st. A light NW'ly initially blew, but this soon became a light to moderate ESEly so after 2 ATs off runway 24, the remaining 15 ATs and 2 Self Launches were off runway 20, including 7 for First Flight pupils. The day provided average peak thermal strengths of around 3-4 kts with cloudbase rising to over 4,500' asl in places, although towards the coast cloud base was significantly lower. All 4 Private Owners who launched flew XCs, with Kelly Teagle in her LS8-18t flying the local 100km Pocklington/Rufforth triangle and reporting cloud base down to 1,500' asl in the Pocklington area with weak climbs. Much better conditions were reported by the other XC pilots although Les Rayment flying 123 OLC km in his DG808 had to make several attempts to get to his 1st TP at Northallerton before moving on to TPs at or near Sutton, Ripon, Boroughbridge and just north of Rufforth, but on returning, had to resort to engine power some 6 km S of Sutton. Pete Crawley in his ASH 31M flew 222 OLC km to or near Stamford Bridge, York, Thirsk, Harrogate N, and between Castle Howard and Foston before returning to site, while Bas Sonneveld in his LS4 flew 93 OLC km journeying to between Harrogate N and Knaresborough and then to just N of Rufforth before returning to site. The 4 > an hour flights by the day's private owners were joined by Sanjay Nath's 1:01 local flight in Astir DSU, while the longest flight in a club 2 seater was the 47 minutes flown by Toby Wilson/Stephen Carroll in K21 KLW.
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.