Thursday 18th to Saturday 20th December 2025
Posted: 20/12/2025 17:33
Thursday 18th. A generally cloudy day with rain from 1300 hrs restricted flying to 2 ATs off runway 20 into a light to moderate S'ly wind, both flights releasing at 1100' QFE and, with no lift available, were soon back on the ground.
Friday 19th. The rain had cleared away, eventually leaving the site in a moderate and at times, moderate to fresh WSW'ly, although early flights, via AT, were off runway 20. The day's 10 other launches were off runway 24 via the winch, with all but one of the day's flights exceeding 30 minutes, 4 lasting longer than an hour. It was mainly a hill soaring day, with the main W'ly ridge being flown to its northern end at High Paradise Farm, but there was some wave assistance, with most pilots climbing to at least 3,000' asl (2,100' QFE). John Marsh/Stephen Kelleher in the DG1000 had the first hour flight of the day via an AT, with Dave McKinney/Nigel Burke also having an hour in K21 KLW off their winch launch. Dave/Nigel mainly used hill lift, with a low of 300' and a high of 1,000', both QFE, while soaring the two southern most bowls of the W'ly ridge. Chris Collingham flew Astir DSU for 2 hrs, during which he climbed to 3,700' asl between Kilburn and Sutton Village following a period of soaring the home bowl at 900' QFE. Martin Newbery, flying Astir DPO for 1:16, initially hill soared at 750-1,000' QFE before climbing to 2,500' asl between site and Bagby, while Bob Calvert in the Discus, climbed to 2,700' asl above the home bowl before climbing back to 2,800' asl between Felixkirk and Boltby in his 51 minute flight. Clive Swain's 55 minutes in the Discus, included a climb to 4,500' asl some 6 km SW of site after an initial slow climb over the home bowl, his 4,500' being the best climb of the day.
Saturday 20th. A murky day with fog in the valleys a low cloud shrouding the hill as a light to moderate SE'ly blew meant there was no 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.