Wednesday 20th May 2020
Posted: 21/05/2020 11:03
Wednesday 20th. The anticyclone had moved further east, advecting some very warm air over the UK from Spain and France, with the result that the day delivered the highest maximum daily temperature of the year so far, 26.8C at Topcliffe. Clear blue skies and a light to moderate S'ly wind made for a pleasant day at site, with convection getting going around midday. marked initially by shallow Cumulus but then progressing to blue thermals. Club President Nick Gaunt was the first to take advantage of the convection in his LS7, the previous 9 launches off runway 20 being circuits. Nick soared for 1:37, cloudbase being around 4,000' asl. Thereafter, 12 of the 14 launches yielded flights of over 30 minutes, with 10 lasting between 1:00 and 3:24. Due to the current ban on cross country flying everybody stayed with 10-15 km of the site, with the longest flights being by Rob Bailey in his ASG29 (3:24), Steve Thompson in his Discus (2:45), John Carter in the DG303 (2:02) and Arthur Docherty in his ASW20 (2:00). Towards the end of the afternoon, with the only Cumulus to be seen over the Pennines to the west, maximum altitudes reached exceeded 6,000' asl, with Rob Bailey getting to 6,100' asl and Chris Teagle, taking the last launch of the day in his Kestrel 19, climbing to 6,500' asl. Chris was the last of the 9 private owners to rig and fly, contributing to the 24 launches on the day, plus a single sortie by the Falke.
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.