Saturday 20th to Monday 22nd May 2017

Posted: 23/05/2017 21:42

Saturday 20th.   The  forecast of a  cloudy, showery afternoon was borne out in reality, with flying coming to a halt just after 1400 hrs, but not before 17 ATs had been flown and some soaring done during the sunny morning.   The soaring was principally down to Martyn Johnson in his DG600, who rigging early, fitted in a 110  km cross country with TPs at Boroughbridge, Ripon, Masham, Northallerton and Carlton, getting back to Sutton and derigging just at the first few drops of rain fell.  While Martyn was busy traversing parts of North Yorkshire, the launch point was busy as 8 Scouts and 3 First Flight pupils were flown, Jon May taking Mile High aspirant B Middleton for 42 minutes in the DG500 and Mike Smith taking one of the Scouts, H Houlton, for 32 minutes in K21 KLW, with only one other flight exceeding 30 minutes.  The Falke fitted in 2 flights before the weather turned while conversely, the simulator came into its own for some of the remaining Scouts as the rain fell in the afternoon.

Sunday 21st.  The club welcomed its familiar visitors from the Stratford on Avon GC as a moderate SE'ly blew and the generally cloudy skies still managed to provide some soaring opportunities.  33 ATs were flown, with 4 private owners rigging and a further 4 Scouts and 4 First Flight pupils ensuring that all 4 two seaters were pressed into service.  The soaring potential of the day was illustrated by the 8 flights to exceed 30 minutes duration, with 3 of these exceeding an hour.  Visitors Barry Kerby and Barry Monslow flew their Duo Discus for 1:19, with YGC's Duncan Pask having 1:02 in his LS10.  Malcolm Morgan completed the > 1 hr list with 1:05 solo in the DG500.   Graham Taylor had 40 minutes in the Discus and John Carter and Chris Booker had 37 minutes in the DG1000.  The Falke had a particularly busy day, with 6 flights.

Monday 22nd.  Monday was again a cloudy day with a moderate SSE'ly wind, as the club welcomed Chris Booker's corporate group to the site.  The flyable, but not significantly soarable conditions, meant that the vast majority of the day's 44 ATs yielded durations of less than 30 minutes. However, there was one notable exception, with Colin Troise flying the DG1000 solo for 1:09 while the corporate group and their instructors etc were at lunch.  Colin did not put down his  soaring flight totally to his superior skill but mainly to the overcast opening up over the lunch period and then closing again as the visitors resumed their flying.  Colin was not, however, the only soaring pilot as John Tayler and visitor Andrew Schofield had 42 minutes in the DG1000 and David Campbell and Gwen Diagram 32 minutes in K21 JVZ.  During the afternoon, Dick Cole entertained the visitors with an aerobatic display 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.

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