Friday 14th to Monday 17th March 2025
Posted: 17/03/2025 19:57
Friday 14th. With little change in the synoptic situation, the light to moderate N'ly flow continued to bring in patchy low cloud and although shower activity was limited, there was no flying.
Saturday 15th. The wind direction was still N'ly but its strength had declined to light, and a drier air mass resulted in a higher cloud base, allowing flying to commence off runway 02 around 1015 hrs with Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct taking the first AT. It was a thermic day, with cloud base around 3,000' asl but the conditions were a little tricky and although there were some low saves, no one landed out, although that was sometimes due to engine use. Charlie Tagg in his Ventus 2cxa FES and Neil Paverley in his Nimbus 2 had no such problems, Charlie covering around 120 OLC km visiting Thirsk, Ingleby Bowl on the N'thern edge of the North York Moors and the area between Helmsley and Churchhouses in his flight of 2:37, while Neil stayed more local and operated mainly between 2,600' and 3,200' asl, in his 1:48 flight, both pilots having climbs to around 3,600-3,800' asl. Dean Crosby in his LS10t, went W/SW visiting Boroughbridge, some 5 km W of Ripon, Harrogate N and 10 km W of there before returning to Sutton, via Boroughbridge, covering 96 OLC km and also reaching 3,800' asl. Bob Calvert and Steve Thompson, the latter in his Ventus 2bt, had more eventful flights with both having to resort to their engines at times, while Steve had an engine free recovery from 800' asl to the SSE of Kirby Moorside, followed by two more with engine assistance, one NE of Helmsley and the other near Bagby in his flight of 2:06. Bob ventured south to near Sutton on Forest and took a cloud climb to 6,200' just to the south of Sutton in his 2:09 flight. Bruce Grain/Sarah Nolan in K21 KLW has just over an hour soaring locally, while Malcolm George in Astir DPO and Sam Batchelor in the Discus also soared locally for 58 and 56 minutes respectively, Sam climbing to 4,200' asl during his flight.
Sunday 16th. The wind remained light to moderate from the N but then slowly backed into the NNE, accompanied by overcast skies. The base of the cloud was high enough to allow flying to take place, but thick enough to prevent any useable convection so the day's 5 ATs off runway 02 were all circuits, with Peter Goodchild/Resh Khodabocus's 16 minutes in K21 JVZ off the first flight of the day being the longest. The Falke, with Ian McFarlane/Sanjay Nath on board, visited York and Harrogate North, indulging in a simulated field landing on the way back to Sutton.
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.