Saturday 8th to Monday 10th April 2023.
Posted: 11/04/2023 19:40
Saturday 8th. A light to moderate SSW''ly slowly backed into the SSE over the course of the day, thermal activity leading to generally cloudy skies. 18 ATs, initially off runway 24 but later off 20, led to 9 flights of over 30 minutes of which 8 were over an hour. 5 of these were for private owners, ranging from the 3:29 flown by Bob Calvert to the 1:20 of Thomaz Rusin, while those flying club aircraft pitched in with 3:04 for Dave Thompson, 2:22 for Sarah Stubbs, both flying Astirs and 1:01 for Toby Wilson/M Burton-Thordale? in the DG500. Bob Calvert in his Discus 2t struggled in weak thermals to start, but eventually got a good climb and flew around 170 km, visiting Rufforth/Pocklington/Sutton/Ripon and Knaresborough and reaching 4,400' asl with a best average climb rate of 3.7 kts. Just before reaching site on his final glide, Bob had a low point at just 500' QFE, but found a climb to make his return more straightforward. Fred Brown in his Ventus 2t also found the thermals weak and of limited height to start but, like Bob, eventually found a good climb and stayed generally local, while having an excursion to near Sutton on Forest, climbing to a best altitude of 4,200' asl and having a best average climb rate of 3,1 kts. John Ellis in his DG800, taking off later in the day, had 2:22, going some 15 km north and twice to some 25 km SSE of the site and climbing to 4,500' asl with a best average climb of 3,7 kts. Sarah Stubbs, flying Astir DSU flew mainly local but did visit Easingwold to the south and to within 3,5 km of Northallerton to the NNW, while not quite getting to 4,000' asl. Chris Handzlik and Thomaz Rusin, both flying their DG300, and Dave Thompson in Astir DPO all had flights of over an hour but I do not have Flarm traces for their flights to know where they went etc.
Sunday 9th. A moderate SE'ly brought in a low overcast that prevented any flying.
Monday 10th. A moderate WSW/W'ly blew, its accompanying low cloud and periods of rain ruling out any flying.
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.