Saturday 22nd July to Monday 24th July 2017
Posted: 25/07/2017 12:24
Saturday 22nd
Early morning low cloud and heavy rain delayed flying until 14:25 (Wetherby later had to clear up flood damage from the water). With the appearance of a clearance, flying started at 14:25 when Paul Whitehead and guest flew the Falke on its single sortie of the day. There was one trial flight, which, at 25 minutes, was the longest two-seater club flight of the day. However, Steve Ball and Jon May upheld the honour of two-seaters everywhere, by flying their Duo around the RUF/POC triangle. Nora had two check flights with Paul Whitehead before having a couple of solo flights in a K21, the second of which proved to be the longest flight of the day at 1:11. This was one of two solo flights lasting longer than one hour, the other being by Toby Wilson in the Astir at 1:05. Unfortunately, the early rain had deterred most people so there were only nine flights today.
Sunday 23rd
Early low cloud delayed flying until 10:15, and soaring conditions remained quite poor, with short flight times, until conditions improved towards noon. There were only three flights longer than thirty minutes, and only one of the single-seater fleet flew (KJH), Graham Taylor having two flights in it, and Sue Aherne the other, giving Sue the accolade of having the longest single-seater flight of the day at 47 minutes. Meanwhile Colin Troise and Duncan Pask had an aerotow in the DG500 to 3500' in a vain and inglorious attempt to connect with the wave. Having dropped to below cloudbase, at 2000' QFE, they did regain some credibility by using the tight, square, thermals to record a flight time of 1:32. Shower activity to the north saw the aircraft being hangared at 14:00, but a small "treasurer's" clearance at 16:15 had a K21 back in the air for an 11-minute flight with Steve Thompson and Nora, after which the hangar doors were closed for the day.
Monday 24th
The British Summer decided to take Yorkshire to task: low cloud and rain precluded any flying in real aircraft, but three of the people on the week's course were introduced to real parachutes and gliders (in the hangar), and were given some tuition in the simulator as a precursor of what was to come! Meanwhile, Chris Haresnape was briefed on single-seater flying in the hope that the weather later in the week would allow him to use the his course time to experience an Astir.
The low cloud had vanished by 19:30, allowing sunlit views of the Vale of York from the clubhouse, with the Pennines silhouetted against a clear western sky.
CT.
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.