Sunday 14th to Monday 15th April 2024
Posted: 15/04/2024 21:33
Sunday 14th. A moderate WSW'ly blew all day with convection, hill lift and some wave providing soaring opportunities, this being reflected in the fact that 36 of the day's 40 launches, 27 by AT and 13 by winch, led to flights of over 30 minutes with 18 over an hour. The day's longest flight was by Darren Lodge in his LS8-18, his 5;46 being flown locally in thermals, the day's best altitude was by Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct, 7,200' asl over the Forward Ridge in wave aided by his engine, while the longest cross country flight was by Chris Handzlik in his DG300, some 70 km to the west facing part of Ingleby Bowl and back via Tontine and Carlton Bank, Chris had to wait some 30 minutes in the bowl at around 400' QFE before gaining sufficient height to start on the journey back to site, with a good climb near Tontine eventually ensuring a comfortable return after 2:39. Others to have >2 hours included James Prosser in his Ventus ct, 3:13, visitor Andy Davey in his Std Libelle, 2:32, Chris Booker in his LS1f, 2:20, and visitor John Cox in his Silent 2 Electro with 2:06. Those flying club gliders also took advantage of the conditions with Adam Sayer having 1:03 in Astir DPO, Fred Brown/Amelia Forrester having 1:38 in K21 JVZ, Clive Swain/Duncan Pask having 1:01 in the DG500 and Paul Whitehead/Naomi Kennard having 1:00 in K21 KLW. Cloud base eventually rose to over 4,000', while hill soaring was generally at 8-1100' QFE with excursions to the northern end of the main W'ly ridge and the Forward Ridge being common and the mixture of thermal and hill lift allowing some pilots getting farther north to Thimbleby, northwest to the East Coast Main Line near Kirby Whiske or west to Topcliffe village. The conditions also meant that the day's 6 First Flight pupils averaged 30 minutes flight time.
Monday 15th. The overnight passage of an active cold front brought 8.9 mm of early hours rain and left the site in a moderate to fresh, gusty and showery NW'ly that ruled out any possibility of 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.