Thursday 25th to Sunday 28th September 2025
Posted: 29/09/2025 20:47
Thursday 25th. A sunny start with scattered Cumulus later, allowed 3 flights to exceed 30 minutes, with 2 of these over an hour, the day's 13 ATs off runway 02 into a light to moderate breeze including 6 for First Flight pupils. The pilots having >an hour airborne were visitor Graham Morris in his ASW27 who had 4:12 while staying within 20 km of the club, mainly concentrated to the NE, with a peak altitude of 4,700' asl and a average peak climb of 3 kts. Andrew Watson/Paul Ellis in K21 JVZ were the other > an hour pilots having just under 2 hrs of local soaring with a peak altitude of 4,300' asl. The highlight of the day was however David Scufor's re solo after 40 years, a photo of a pleased pilot and instructor being shown below.
Friday 26th. A generally cloudy day with a moderate SSE'ly bringing in cloud from the North Sea, limited soaring flights to 2 from the 11 ATs flown off runway 20, with 4 of these being for First Flight pupils. I was not able to access the Flarm data for Friday or Saturday so correspondingly the day's report is based on the paper flight log details. 3 of the club's 2 seaters were flown, with the longest flight in these being by Andrew Watson/Mark James in K21 KLW, recording exactly an hour. 3 private owners flew, with Andrew Wilmot having 28 minutes in his ASW 19, Rob Bailey in his ASW 29t having 1:06 and Bob Calvert, now flying his Discus 2ct, 1:13.
Saturday 27th. The wind had become a moderate and at times moderate to fresh S'ly, as a slowly advancing front over the W of the UK brought cloudy skies and little in the way of lift locally. Consequently, only 3 of the day's 15 ATs off runway 20 exceeded 30 minutes and none an hour, with the 3 > 30 minute flights all being for 3 of the day's 8 First Flight pupils the result of 3,000' tows in the DG500, Adam Sayer and Bob Calvert (2) being the P1s.
Sunday 28th. Yesterday's front to the W made eastward's progress overnight, with 7.3mm of rain falling locally from midnight until around 7 and hill fog not clearing until late morning, delaying the start of flying until around midday. Thereafter, sunny skies with Cumulus allowed 31 launches to be flown off runway 24 into a light NNW'ly, with landings on 20. 5 First Flight pupils were flown, while there were 6 private owner launches, with 3 of these leading to flights in excess of an hour, although 2 of these required engine use. Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct had 3 engine starts as he flew first to the Boroughbridge area before spending most of his 2:24 in the area between Ripon, Harrogate N and Pateley Bridge , his final engine burn being near Ripon on the way back to site. Rob Bailey in his ASG 29t resorted to his engine after struggling to get a climb after take off and then flew east to the Helmsley area, north to Kepwick and then W to Leeming before landing back after 2:42. Derek Taylor in his ASW 22 flew to the NE of site before visiting the Leeming area and returning to site after 1:18. The longest flight in a club glider was by Jamie Quartermaine who took one of the day's First Flight pupils for a 29 minute flight off a 3,000' tow in the DG500.
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.