Saturday 5th September 2026
Posted: 06/09/2026 11:13
Saturday 5th. The W'ly continued to blow, but had declined to become moderate on a day of sunny intervals, so the day's operations were off runway 24 with a mixture 14 winch launches and 12 ATs, 5 of the latter being for First Flight pupils. Cloud base reached around 4,500' asl with climb rates around 3 kts, with most pilots using thermals rather than hill lift, and some finding wave with a couple of climbs to moderate altitudes. 24 of the day's 26 flights exceeded 30 minutes, with 15 of these over an hour, with all the 12 private owners who launched having flight times ranging from Jim McLean's 1;02 in his ASW 24 to Darren Lodge's 5:16 in his LS8=18. Most pilots stayed local, with only Fred Brown in his Ventus 2ct and Chris Teagle in his LS8t-18 travelling more than 100 OLC km, Fred covering 109 km, including a trip to the East Coast Main line and taking a cloud climb to 6,200' asl, and Chris, 123 km, as he soared within a rectangle bounded by Sutton, Northallerton, Catterick and Masham. Les Rayment in his DG808 would have joined this group but had to resort to his engine when at 1,000' asl near Dishforth. The wave soaring pilots were Sam Batchelor in the Discus who climbed to 7,000' asl in the Thirsk/Knayton area, and Andy/Katharine Balkwill in their Janus C, who reached 6,700' asl in the same area. Conrad Thwaites in the Discus explored the ridges as far north as Thimbleby in his 1:24 flight, while Ian Pattingdale/John Neave's 1:05 flight in K21 JVZ was the longest of the day in a 2 seater.
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.