Thursday 6th to Monday 10th February 2020
Posted: 11/02/2020 10:27
Thursday 6th. A light S'ly that slowly backed into the ESE by the end of the flying day resulted in 13 AT's off runway 20, all but one of which were 2 seater flights in K21's JVZ or KLW. The exception was Duncan Pask's flight in the DG303, a 24 minute affair, the lack of any lift meaning it was one of only 6 flights to exceed 20 minutes. Bruce Grain and Tony Kirby in JVZ had 27 minutes, the longest of the day, with Paul Whitehead and J Pearlman, one of the 3 First Flight pupils of the day, equaling Bruce and Tony's time of 24 minutes. Paul was also busy flying the Falke which had 4 flights, Jan van de Hook re-validating his motor glider licence on one of these and Bruce Grain having a refresher on another.
Friday 7th. A moderate to fresh SSE'ly blew all day, its gustiness and accompanying low cloud meaning there was no flying.
Saturday 8th. The initially light to moderate SSW'ly increased in strength to moderate to fresh as it backed into the S, so operations were again off runway 20, with 25 launches flown. Both K21s, Astir DPO and the DG303 were flown, with 2 private owners, Toby Wilson and Arthur Docherty rigging and flying their own gliders. Arthur in his ASW 20 had 32 minutes, one of the 6 flights to exceed 30 minutes, with Bill Payton in the DG303 having the longest flight of the day, 53 minutes. The balance of those achieving or exceeding 30 minutes was made up by Steve Ogden with 42 minutes in Astir DPO, John Marsh and Konrad Kawalec with 31 minutes in K21 KLW, Jamie Quartermaine and Charlie Atkins with the same time in K21 JVZ and Chris Booker with 30 minutes in the Astir. Flying activities were completed by the Falke having 2 flights.
Sunday 9th. Storm Ciara brought strong winds with gusts approaching 50 kts, low cloud and 17 mm of rain, all accompanied by of a pressure fall to 768 mb, so there was no flying.
Monday 10th. The aftermath of storm Ciara was a fresh SW'ly and frequent showers, a gust of 70 kts being recorded at RAF Topcliffe as a band of large showers passed in the mid afternoon. Consequently, there was no flying.
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.