Monday 18th to Thursday 21st July

Posted: 28/07/2016 12:46

Monday 18th.  While the wind continued to blow from a generally W'ly direction it had declined in strength to become light to moderate.  This, however, did not mean that there was no wave, with at least a  couple of pilots getting above 9,000' asl, but it did mean that the 24 launches of the day were by AT.  Martyn Johnson  in his DG600 and Steve Thompson in his Discus were 2 of the 6 private owners to launch and get into the wave, with Martyn getting to 9,200' asl in his flight of 2:28 and Steve getting to 10,500' asl and also  covering 131 OLC km during his flight of 4:14, the longest of the day, with Lindsay McLean in his Ventus getting close with 3:55.  Rob Bailey, on the other hand, relied on thermals in his flight of just over 2 hours to visit Ripon, Snainton and Harrogate North, covering 183 kms in his flight of just over 2 hours , while Ken Arkley in his LS8-18 also breached the 2 hour mark with 2:19.  Chris Stothard,on the other hand found the thermals to be unreliable and landed out in his Vega.  In all, 9 flights exceeded an hour and a further six 30 minutes, the club also welcoming 3 First Flight pupils, while John Carter and Chris Ogden had 1:10 in K21 JVZ and Baz Sonnerfeld had 1:35 in the Ka8, with Tom Dale posting 1:24 in Astir KRN.

Tuesday 19th.     The wind had now become a moderate SE'ly, this providing some thermal activity that allowed 15 of the day's 34 ATs to lead to flights of over an hour, a further 13 exceeding 30 minutes.  2 of the 8 private owners to launch recorded cross country flights, Rob Bailey flying 232 km in his ASG29t with TPs at Tontine, Eastgate and Haltwhistle, his overall flight time being 4:12.  Steve Thompson in his Discus stayed more local visiting Carlton, Guisborough SW and Tontine in his flight of 50 minutes, covering 70 km.  The club 2 seaters were kept busy with members, 5 First Flight pupils  and 5 RAF pilots from Linton on Ouse, all of the latter enjoying soaring flights of between 34 minutes and an hour.  The day also saw 4 of the club single seaters flown, with Graham Taylor having 3:10 in Astir DPO, and Phil Lazenby 1:26 in the Discus, while  Albert and Martin Newbery had 1:26 in their DG1000 and David Watson and R Cheyme had 1:01 in the club DG1000.

Wednesday 20th.  A light and variable wind to start the day progressively increased to become a moderate W'ly, but with extensive cloud cover, staying up proved to be a challenge, with only 2 of the day's 21 ATs yielding flights of 30 minutes or more.  The lack of any soaring opportunities meant that no private owners launched and the club single seaters stayed in the hangars.  Flying continued into the evening however, as a number of members took advantage of the low cost, 1000' tows behind the Eurofox to practice their circuit planning and landing skills.  John Carter and A Evans in K21 KLW and John,  this time with Chris Haresnape in the same glider, were the only pilots to resists the force of gravity for 30 minutes or more, the former combination recording a flight time of 33 minutes and the latter 30 minutes.

Thursday 21st.  The light to moderate WSW'ly progressively backed into the SSW over the course of the day, morning thermal activity tempting 3 private owners to launch before more cloudier conditions ensued, resulting in declining flight times.  Nevertheless, the 3 private owners who did launch all had flights of over an hour, with Steve Thompson in his Discus having the best time of the day, 2:23, as he flew a 124 km O/R to Beverley in his Discus.  Paul Whitehead in his Ventus had 1:42 and Colin Troise in his DG600 had 1:27, while Tony Drury, flying the club Discus recorded 1:16 and Mike Greenacre had 1:23 in  the  club Ka8 to complete the list of the 5 pilots to exceed an hour.    Four 2 seater flights exceeded 30 minutes with David Watson taking  Mile High pupil Jeraldine English for 42 minutes in K21 JVZ and Andy Parish and Chris Haresnape having 40 minutes off a 1000' tow in the same glider.

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.

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