Thursday 4th to Friday 5th January 2018
Posted: 05/01/2018 19:50
Thursday 4th. A day of low cloud and rain as a slow moving front deposited another 7 mm of rain on the site, ensuring that the run of non-flying days extended to seven. The front crossed the site around 1700 hrs leading to a big veer in the wind direction from E to WSW and a sudden increase in wind speed from light to moderate to fresh.
Friday 5th. Yesterday's front had cleared to the north, leaving the site in a very light W'ly with long periods of calm, while the sunny skies, albeit through a veil of thin high cloud, meant it felt quite pleasant. In spite of the rain of the last few days, the field was suitable for flying, the only problem being a distinct lack of members. However, Steve Thompson and George Rowden were on site and, with Andy Parish, first embarked on determining whether the new 2 seater trailer could accommodate the DG500, the fuselage of which had recently returned from North Yorkshire Sailplanes. The investigation revealed that the new trailer would not accommodate the DG500 due to the latter's fin being too tall, but would accommodate the club's K21s, so the scene is set for the club to have the original 2 seater trailer dedicated to the DG500 and the new trailer dedicated to the K21s. Following this activity the DG500 was rigged in readiness for a test flight which was undertaken by Steve, with Andy flying the Pawnee and George being wing tip runner. Following Steve's landing, George flew the DG500 solo, finding some zero sink along the western edge of some lowish, convective looking cloud which helped extend his flight time to 21 minutes. This completed flying for the day. Meanwhile, at North Yorkshire Sailplanes, John Carter and Jim McLean were busy working on the refurbishment of the instrument panels of K21 JVZ, as indicated from the following photos.
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.