Thursday 23rd to Friday 24th March 2023
Posted: 25/03/2023 12:47
Thursday 23rd. There was no flying as low cloud and light rain in the morning gave way to sunny intervals and showers in the afternoon as the moderate to fresh SW'ly wind backed into the south and became moderate.
Friday 24th. A day of occasional showers and sunny intervals with a moderate/moderate to fresh SW'ly that backed into the SSW, provided soaring conditions via consistent hill lift and thermals, with 14 winch launches off runway 24. 11 of the launches resulted in flights of over 30 minutes with 7 of these over an hour, the longest, 3:30, being by Chris Hanszlik in his DG300. Chris used thermal to progress to just west of Masham, climbing to 5.800' asl with a best average climb of 3,9kts, while on returning to site had some fun soaring the main bowl at hill top level. Jesper Mjels in the Discus had the second longest flight, 2,18, climbing steadily from his launch to reach 3,800' asl and maintaining or exceeding that altitude for most of his flight while visiting Thirsk and the forward ridge. A best altitude of 5,200' asl and a best average climb rate of 4,5 kts were features of his flight. Arthur Dougherty had a similar flight in his ASW20, which lasted 1:42 and included a visit to Thirsk and High Paradise Farm. Arthur's best altitude was 4,900' asl, with the area in front of the main bowl giving consistent lift. Guy Hartland/Sarah Stubbs' 1:10 flight in K21 KLW included training on hill soaring techniques, including recovering from being at hill top level while soaring both the main bowl and forward ridge. Other flights to exceed an hour including Dave McKinney/John Forrester with 1:30, Andrew Watson/Paul Frost with 1:06 and Guy Hartland/Steve Ogden with 1:05, all in K21s JVZ or KLW. Later in the day soaring became predominately via hill lift, while operating heights remained consistently in the range of 700'-1,100' QFE.
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.