Friday 1st to Monday 4th March 2024
Posted: 05/03/2024 11:57
Friday 1st. A fresh E'ly brought low cloud and rain from midday to late afternoon, so there was no flying.
Saturday 2nd. Another non flying day due to low cloud and rain.
Sunday 3rd. A light SSE'ly blew all day, a bright start fading as cloud amounts increased, not sufficient to prevent gliding but sufficient to prevent any soaring. In spite of the lack of soaring opportunities, single seater flights in Astir DSU, numbering 8, exceeded those in the club's 2 K21's, 1 of the 6 flown in the 2 seaters being a test flight by Fred Brown/Eileen Scouthern in KLW following its return from its ARC. The lack of any lift meant flight times were typically in the range 14 to 20 minutes dependent on release height, with the best of the day being Adam Sayer's 24 minutes off a 2,500' tow in K21 JVZ with one of the day's 3 First Flight pupils.
Monday 3rd. A light to moderate SSE'ly slowly strengthened and backed to become a moderate ESE'ly over the day, morning fog in the Vales of York and Pickering not interfering with flying as the fields close to site remained fog free. Flying commenced around 1030 hrs off runway 20 under clear blue skies, but it wasn't long before Cumulus started to appear, albeit with a low base at around 1,400' QFE. The first 4 ATs of the 11 on the day were all extended circuits. with Chris Handzlik in his DG300 taking the 5th AT and managing 24 minutes having found some weak thermal lift. However, the next 3 flights taking off in the early afternoon, Tony Drury solo in K21 JVZ, George Rowden in Astir DSU and Andrew Wilmott in his ASW19, all had between 1:06 and 1:17 in thermals, the best climb rates being 2-2,5 kts with cloud base rising to around 3,900' asl. Thereafter, cloud amounts increased and thermal activity decreased, with flying terminating mid afternoon, although Paul Whitehead/Ian McFarlane took the Falke to Fishburn before returning later in the day.
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.