Sunday 6th to Wednesday 9th October 2019
Posted: 10/10/2019 15:48
Sunday 6th. A day of low cloud and rain, 30 mm of the latter, meant it was a non-flying day.
Monday 7th. The low cloud persisted and althouth the rain had become light and patchy, it was another non-flying day.
Tuesday 8th. A moderate to fresh SW'ly provided of day of hill, thermal and for some, wave lift, that resulted in a mix of 5 ATs and 14 winch launches off runway 24, with all but 2 of the flights exceeding 30 minutes. 5 private owners flew, including 2 visitors, and provided the majority of the longest flights of the day, ranging from 4:18 by Steve Thompson in his Discus, 2:48 for Albert Newberry and Bill Payton in their DG1000t, 2:32 by Fred Brown in his Ventus and 2:04 by visitor Bob Crump in his DG202. The top of the flight time list wasn't totally populated by private owners, however, as visitor Steve Codd had 3:30 flying the DG1000 solo. Most pilots had to be satisfied with a mixture of hill and thermal lift with only Steve Thompson in his Discus contacting the wave, albeit off an AT, and using it to good measure to fly the Club 300 km wave task, with TPs at Ripon, Eastgate, Pateley Bridge, Eastgate and Ripon. Steve did consider extending the northern leg to Millfield, but cold feet and hunger put a stop to that idea. Steve used a single wave bar for the flight and also climbed to around 14,400' asl. Three of the club single seaters were flown, with Tor Taverner having 1:35 in the DG303, Ron Beezer having 1:L30 in the Discus and Steve Sanderson having 58 minutes in Astir DPO. Two seater pilot Keith Davey also made the most of conditions, having 1:19 in the DG500 with John Carter and later 1:04 in K21 KLW with Andy Parish.
Wednesday 9th. A moderate, to at times moderate to fresh SW'ly, meant another day of hill soaring, the forecast wave being noticeable by its absence, although there was a times some smooth, height augmented hill soaring to around 2,000' QFE as well as some thermal. Operations were a mixture of ATing and winching (11) off runway 24 with 4 private owners launching, all by winch, most of the 6 ATs being for the day's 5 First Flight pupis. The morning was characterised by a number of showers that meant suspending flying for a while, although they also produced a very colourful and bright rainbow close to the site that was appreciated from the air by George Rowden and the first of the day's First Flight pupils. Flight times in excess of an hour included Martyn Johnson in his DG600, 2:57, visitor Bob Crump in his DG202, 2:00, visitor Jones in his Speed Astir, 1:51, visitors Paul Shelton and Paul Whitters with 1:40 in the DG1000 and Paul Whitehead with visitor Ken Goosen with 1:40 in K21 JVZ. In the absence of any wave or significant thermal activity, no one strayed too far from the site.
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.