Friday 5th to Monday 8th July 2019
Posted: 09/07/2019 14:26
Friday 5th. Friday was a generally cloudy day as a intially light SW/W'ly wind blew, increasing to become moderate as the day progressed. The day's 12 AT launches off runway 24 inlcuded 6 for First Flight pupils, shared between Bruce Grain, Les Rayment, and Robin Hutchinson, while 4 pilots had over an hour inlcuding some early visitors preparing for Competition Enterprise. YGC pilot Jesper Mjels used the engine of his DG400 to contact wave, eventually climbing to 16,000' asl and visiting Tindale, a TP between Hexham and Carlisle, covering 253 km in his flight of 5:20 . Visitors Chris Gill and Phil Westerby Jones in Chris' DG1001 and YGC's Martyn Johnson in his DG600 each had 3 hrs, while visitors Bob Bromwich and David Masson in Bob's DG505 had 2 hrs, all using a combination of hill and thermal lift.
Saturday 6th. Competition Enterprise commenced today as an initially moderate WNW'ly decreased in strength as it veered into the NNW. The task setters, influenced by Wimbledon, set a tennis court task with pilots set the challenge of alternatively flying to TPs on either side of an imaginary net running E/W through Sutton. A combination of thermals and wave were used by pilots with maximum altitudes being between 6 and 7,000' asl but some find it hard going with 7 landouts from the day's 50 launches. One of these was Steve Thompson who landed his Discus at Bagby. An AT retrieve was quickly organised but soon after take off Steve was waved off and landed back at Bagby but eventually was provided with another tug which allowed his to return to site. Bob Bromwich and David Masson in Bob's DG505 had the longest flight of the day, 6:26, as they flew 256 km, going NW to near Carlise, with a further 10 flights exceeding 4 hrs. Away from the competition, Darren Lodge flew his LS8-18 around the 100 km Sutton, Pocklington, Rufforth, Sutton triangle, finding some wave enroute in his flight of 2:44, with Bill Payton flying his DG1000 solo, Paul Whitehead in his Ventus, Steve Ogden in the DG303, Albert Newbery and T Altman in K21 JVZ, Les Rayment in his DG8oo and , Martyn Johnson in his DG600 all having over an hour's soaring flight.
Sunday 7th. A very light and variable wind resulted in runway 20 being used for launches, of which there were 43 on the second competition day of Enterprise. The task setters had provided a task requiring the pilots to alternatively visit TPs in any one of 4 sectors. and with generally cloudy skies 6 land outs resulted in places as near as Kilburn, as far away as Burn and as isolated as a moor top field near Chop Gate. Cloud base was around 4,500' asl, but the top altitude of the day was 8,690 by Mike Armstrong in his Ventus, thus earning some bonus points. Chris Gill and Phil Westerby Jones posted the longest flight of the day, 314 km, in Chris' DG1000, with a visit to near Connisbury as well as Goole and Pontefract, although an engine burn was required to make it back to Sutton. YGC pilots taking part in the competition included Steve Thompson in his Discus who did an O/R to Doncaster NW as part of his flight and Nick Gaunt in his LS7 who visited the Tontine, Pocklington, Ripon, Rufforth and Boroughbridge. Outside the competition, Toby Wilson flew his Standard Cirrus around the local Pocklington/Rufforth 100 km triangle and Nora van Genugtenin her Ka6 who visited Northallerton and Thirsk. John Marsh and Tony Dury took it in turns to fly their DG303, while Mike Collins flew Astir HVK for 42 minutes and John Carter and Mike Smith had just under an hour in K21 JVZ.
Monday 8th. Another day of light winds, this time from the south, saw runway 20 again in use, 45 ATs being flown by the end of the day. Enterprise competitors were given a Starfish task with the objective being to fly to each of the designated TPs at the tip of each arm of the Starfish, as well as up to 4 TP beyond. The presence of a high overcast with a forecast of this thickening as the day progressed suggested a tricky day was in prospect, but in reality the thickening of the overcast did not become noticeable until the end of the day, and thermal development under the overcast was quite good. In addition, a convergence developed to the east of the site during the afternoon that provided some excellent soaring opportunities. Most competition pilots spent over 3 hours on task, with Bob Bromwich and David Masson in Bob's DG505 posting a 323 km flight, with TPs at Boroughbridge, York East, Beverley, Humber Bridge, Tockwith, Rufforth and Market Weighton. YGC competition pilots Steve Thompson visited Kirbymoorside, Helmsley, Malton, Boroughbridge, Harrogate North and Doncaster NW in his flight of 4:43, Nick Gaunt visited Helmsley, Carlton Bank, Boroughbridge, Burn and Pocklington during his flight of 3:31 in his LS7 and Peter Clay flew his Ventus to Northallerton, Burn and Rufforth in 4:16. Outside the competition, Derek Smith in his DG800 made contact with the convergence and made use of it as he flew 314 km with TPs at Beverley, Guisborough South West, Market Weighton and Carlton Bank. Over the course of the afternoon, the convergence approached the site allowing George Rowden and his First Flight pupil to have 40 minutes around 4,000 ' asl in the DG1000 the convergence then weakening and eventually disappearing. Collin Troise flying the DG1000 had started off the day with 1:03 before the launch of the Enterprise pilots, and following their launches Bill Payton and Dave McKinney had just over 3 hours in Bill's DG1000. John Marsh's second flight in his DG303 was much more successful than his first, with 10 minutes and then 2:46 to add to his log book, while Jon Hart had 3:21 in his Vega, Rob Bottomley, 1:28 in the Discus and Chris Knapp 1:20 in the same glider. Bruce Grain and visitor Kate Ashley had 53 minutes in K21 KLW, while Sue Aherne did some stalling and spinning practice during a 1:20 flight with Andy Parish in the DG1000.
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.