Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th May 2026
Posted: 26/05/2026 12:54
Friday 22nd. A moderate S/SSW'ly blew all day, with plenty of sunshine and a high of around 26C, so the launch point being busy all day from around 1030 hrs to 1815 hrs with 46 ATs off runway 20, 18 by private owners, and a single Falke flight. Thermal conditions were generally weak to moderate with cloud base rising from around 3,000' asl to around 3,800' asl, so XC fights were limited and sometimes aided by engine use. This was the case with Barry Kerby/Katharine Balkwill's otherwise 110 OLC km flight which took them to near Sutton on Forest, Boroughbridge, Boltby and Thirsk, included a cloud climb to 5,800' asl, with the engine coming out near Helmsley at 1,200' asl. Paul Kaye's 1:30 local flight in his LS8t included 2 engine starts, while Pete Crawley also used the engine of his ASG29t during his 2:43 flight which saw him visit the area between Ripon and Boroughbridge before flying to near Guisborough W and then returning to Sutton. Visitors Andy Balkwill/Ed Syston in their Janus initially soared locally but then took a climb to 4,700' asl before setting off NNW'wards and turning back to Sutton when some 5 km ENE of Northallerton. Other local flying >an hour pilots included Martyn Johnson in his DG600, 1:41, Ian Walker in his ASW24, 1:03 via a series of short climbs, Andrew Kitchen in his DG200, 147, Keith Springate in his Mosquito, 1:03 and Des Tait in his ASW24, 1:34, Ian McFarlane/Nigel Alred in the DG1000 and Charles Frenchville flying Astir DPO both shared the longest flights in club aircraft with 54 minutes each.
Saturday 23rd. A light to moderate WSW'ly blew all day and with sunny intervals it was another busy day at Sutton as the club hosted the local interclub league competition. In the event, the wave that three pilots contacted interfered with thermal distribution, resulting in 4 outlandings all in the Borougbridge/ Wetherby/Rufforth area for those going XC using thermals. The wave soaring pilots were Darren Lodge in his LS8-18, who climbed to 8,600' asl east of Ripon after a period local thermal soaring before contacting the wave S of Thirsk, Samuel Batchelor in the Discus who climbed to 9,800' asl during his 180 OLC km flight which visited Ripon, Wetherby S, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge and Garforth and Martin Roberts in his Discus who reached 10,400' asl but also had some low points as he flew for 5:15 generally locally after an initial venture S that got within 5 km of Rufforth. Compared with the wave soaring pilots, those using thermals had much more uncertain flights as mentioned earlier. Chris Booker in his LS1F got stuck near Rufforth for a while before making it to Pontefract but then landed out at Rufforth, as did Beau Basson in his ASW 20 after turning Wetherby S. The other 2 land out pilots were Toby Wilson in his Std Cirrus and Andrew Kitchen in his DG200, both turning Wetherby S before landing out, Toby near Boroughbridge and Andrew near Wetherby. Added to this list is also Kelly Teagle who in her LS8-18t used her engine when low SE of Wetherby S and made it back to site. Most of the other pilots who had > an hour thermal soaring stayed local, including John Marsh in his DG303, 2:05, Nigel Alred in his Ka6, 1:48, Keigh Springate in his Nimbus B, 4:13, Martin Newbery in his Ventus ct, 3:37, Bas Sonneveld in his LS4, 2:54, Owen Brown with 2 flights in his ASK18, 3:23 and 1:52 and Sarah Nolan in Astir DPO, 1:23. Paul Jackson in his Std Cirrus and Pete Crawley in his ASG29t both survived O/R's to Boroughbridge.
Sunday 24th. The anticyclone controlling the UK's weather had intensified, bringing a light to moderate SSW'ly, mid level cloud until mid morning and a local temperature maximum of 25C. The resulting blue thermals were usually weak and broken, with the inversion around 4,000' asl but some pilots recorded peak average climb rates around 3 kts. Only 10 of the day's 34 ATs off runway 20 led to flights of 30 minutes or more, with 2 of these being descents from 3,000' QFE tows for 2 of the day's 7 First Flight pupils. Flights over an hour numbered 3, with most of the >30 minute flights being from mid afternoon onwards with local flights being the norm, although Andrew Kitchen in his DG200 did get to Ampleforth in his 1:13 flight and Toby Wilson in the ASW18 did an O/R to Thirsk, indulging in a bit of pre landing hill soaring during his 50 minute flight. The other 2 > an hour pilots were Sarah Stubbs/Johnathon Thorpe with 1:13 in the DG1000 and the 2:20 by Keith Springate in his Nimbus B, while the longest flight in a club single seater was Sergio Cazador's 41 minutes in Astir DPO.
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.