Tuesday 15th February 2021
Posted: 15/02/2022 20:43
Tuesday 15th. A southwards travelling cold front cleared the site mid-morning, the brightening skies allowing launching to commence around 1130 hrs, Mark German taking the first winch launch off runway 24 in his ASW27 into a initially moderate SSW'ly. This quickly veered into the W and increased to moderate to fresh, before declining to moderate by the middle of the afternoon. The day was primarily a hill soaring day, but with some thermal and even some weak wave, with the majority of flights getting to between 1,000' and 1700' QFE. The exception was George Rowden who found some localised weak wave over Cowesby Bowl and crept up to a maximum height of 2,800' QFE in the Astir. Mark German's flights were not recorded via Flarm so although Mark had two flights, one of 1:38 and the other of 59 minutes, I do not know where he went or his maximum altitude. Traces from the club gliders showed that Black Hambledon was a popular destination, with Fred Brown/Tony Kirby in K21 JVZ, George in the Astir, Guy Hartland/Laurie Clarke in the DG500 and Nick Gaunt solo in JVZ off the last of the 15 winch launches of the day, all venturing that far north, while Albert and Martin Newbery in K21 KLW visited the Kepwick ridge. The forward ridge was also a popular destination, as was High Paradise Farm at the northern end of main westerly ridge. The good soaring conditions meant 6 of the day's flights exceeded an hour, with a further 2 exceeding 30 minutes. Following the clearance to blue skies in the morning, the afternoon saw the skies clouding over as thickening high frontal cloud signaled the approach of storm Dudley.
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.