Sunday 7th to Monday 8th June 2026
Posted: 09/06/2026 14:29
Sunday 6th. A moderate to fresh SSW'ly blew all day under mainly cloudy skies, the conditions providing some early wave and later hill and thermal lift. The ready availability of lift meant that 15 of the day's 19 launches, 6 early ATs and 13 later via the winch, exceeded 30 minutes with 10 over an hour, ranging from 1:02 to 3:03, and while most flights remained local, there were 3 XC's. The day got off to a good start as Clive Swain/Logan Briggs in K21 KLW contacted wave over Bagby and eventually reached 9,100' asl over Kilburn. Other wave contacting pilots included Dean Crosby in his LS10t who reached 7,600' asl NW of Masham during his 3:03 flight, during which he oscillated between Ripon and Masham before visiting the Catterick area and landing back. Unassisted, Dean's flight covered 144 OLC km, but his trace suggests use of his engine near Ripon. Others to contact wave, to a similar or lesser extent, included Beau Basson in his ASW 20 who climbed to 8,600' asl S of Topcliffe and then visited the Ripon/Masham area, Kelly Teagle in her LS8-18t who climbed to 5,900' following a spot of hill soaring and some thermal climbs that got her into the wave. She was followed on the winch by Les Rayment/Duncan Pask in the DG1000 who reached 5,800' asl over the Forward Ridge, also via a hill/thermal/wave transition, while later, Martin/Albert Newbery climbed to 6,000' asl between Ripon and Masham in their DG1000t. The other > an hour pilots all stayed local, mainly using a combination of hill and thermal lift, although Conrad Thwaites flying the Discus had a smidgen of wave that took him to 4,200' asl over Cowesby. Hill and thermal lift was, however, the order of the day for Pete Goodchild/Joshua Jackson in K21 KLW, 1:02 and two of Sarah Stubb's flights in K21 JVZ, the first with Becca Fletcher, 1:06 and the second with Christina Griffiths, 1:08, their best climb being to 4,000' asl.
Monday 7th. Rain and low cloud from midnight to late morning delayed flying until around1245 hrs, with the 11 ATs off runway 24 into a moderate W'ly generating 7 flights of over 30 minutes, with 3 of these over an hour, as the clearing skies were characterised by cloud bases of around 5,000' asl, thermal climb rates of up to 4 kts and even a touch of wave. Dean Crosby in his LS10t took most advantage of the conditions, covering 215 OLC km while flying 3 Sutton area based O/R legs in his 4:08 flight , the first to the Aysgarth/Masham area, the second to Harrogate N and the third to Carlton Bank. Andreas Rieder/Andrew Bedford had 1:08 in the DG1000, including in the flight an O/R to Helmsley and a 700' climb in wave 3 km to the NE of site that took them to 5,500' asl, while Andreas/Aman Tam had a 1:04 thermal based flight in K21 JVZ off the last flight of the day, their best climb taking them to 4,200' asl. Rob Bottomley's 49 minutes in Astir DPO was flown locally with a best climb to 5,100' asl.
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