Thursday 4th to Saturday 6th August 2022
Posted: 10/08/2022 12:59
Thursday 4th. Sunny skies and cumulus as a moderate W'ly slowly veered into the WSW saw plenty of activity at the launch point and good soaring conditions for those on cross countries. Initially the conditions led to winching off runway 24, this being the case for the morning but it was ATing for the rest of the day with 9 winch launches and 17 ATs. Jesper Mjels was again off early in his DG400 and contacted wave climbing to 8,700' asl over Pateley Bridge before returning to site after 2:25, while Colin Troise in his DG600 had just over 2 hrs with a best altitude of around 4,000' asl. The rest of the day's cross countries were thermal based with two 300kms flown, by John Ellis in his DG800 and Andy Wright in his Nimbus3. John's TPs were Grantham and the Tontine for 341 km, while Andy did an O/R to Belvoir for 303 km. Chris Teagle in his Kestrel 19 set off on a 300 km task but due to the lateness of his take off abandoned the task after turning Kirton in Lindsey and Helmsley to record 191 km, while Martyn Johnson after searching for wave did a 168 km task around Richmond, Ripon, Catterick, Wetherby and Northallerton and Tony Drury visited the Tontine and Thornton Le Beans in his DG303. James Prosser in his Ventus 2t flew west of Pateley Bridge and visited Masham. Cross countries were not, however, the sole domain of private owners, with Guy Hartland taking Paul Leake to the NW of Ripon in K21 FYF and Andy Tyas to north of Bedale and SW of Northallerton in the same glider. Ron Beezer added to Adam Sayer's cross country experience with visits to Thirsk, Northallerton and the Tontine in the DG1000. Pilots reported good conditions with cloud base above 5,000' asl and strong thermals, although this was matched by strong sink at times and 21 of the day's 26 launches led to flights of over 30 minutes with 13 of over an hour.
Friday 5th. A moderate WNW'ly blew all day bringing in some afternoon showers but also providing some good soaring conditions that led to a number of cross countries. Martyn Johnson, flew his DG600 on a 163 km task around Northallerton, Carlton, Rufforth and Pateley Bridge, while Toby Wilson in his Standard Cirrus visited Beverley, Harrogate North and the Tontine to cover 201 km. Chris Teagle in his Kestrel had TPs at the Tontine and Kirton in Lindsey, while John Ellis in his DG800 with TPs at the Tontine and Horncastle fles 306 km the same task being flown by Derek Taylor in his ASW22. A variation on this was completed by Andy Wright in his Nimbus 3 with an additional visit to the Tontine to increase the task distance to 346 km. James Prosser in his Ventus 2t flew to near Hawes, visited Northallerton and Carlton and also flew along the north face of the North Yorks Moors to Ingleby Greenhow. Paul Whitehead in his Ventus 2cxt had TPs at the Tontine and Brigg while Bob Calvert flew to Northallerton and Hawes in his Discus 2t and John Carter took his guest on an O/R to Knaresborough in the DG1000 to have the longest flight in a 2 seater. The 13 flights to exceed an hour were predominately by private owners but also included that by Dave Thompson who had 1:57 in Astir DPO, while an additional 5 flights had between 30 and 60 minutes. The longest flight of the day both in distance and time terms was by Chris Booker in his LS1, with a 509.5 km O/R to Royston to gain his Diamond Distance, total flying time being 8:10. A straight forward and speedy flight downwind to Royston was followed by a into wind return leg that took approximately twice as long as the downwind leg, with some significant shower dodging and a couple of low saves, so well done Chris.
Saturday 6th. The wind remained moderate from the west as the high pressure was centred off the SW of Ireland, so another soaring day resulted, with 20 of the day's 27 ATs off runway 24 exceeding 30 minutes and 15 an hour. The conditions encouraged a number of pilots to fly cross countries with Bob Calvert in his Discus 2t visiting Masham, Bedale, Northallerton and Melmerby, Fred Brown flying 178 km in his Ventus 2t with TP's at Scunthorpe and Pontefract, while Les Rayment flew a 305 km O/R to Grantham. Kelly Teagle in her ASW20 flew 119 km with an O/R to Pontefract with husband Chris taking over later in the day and visiting the Tontine and Dishforth to add 64 kms to the day's total. Darren Lodge in his LS18-18, although on duty, managed to find enough free time to fly the 100 km local triangle with TPs at Pocklington and Rufforth, while John Ellis in his DG800 visited York and Pocklington and west of Market Weighton, and John Marsh visited Northallerton, Masham, Ripon, Boroughbridge and Helmsley in his DG303. It was not, however, all private owners who flew away from the site, Tomer Altman took Astir DPO to Topcliffe and Dalton before returning to site while Sarah Stubbs took Astir DSU to RAF Linton on Ouse and running into a dead area landed there. Climbs to cloud base at around 5,000' asl were relatively common but Bob Calvert took a climb to 6,300' asl and Les Rayment climbed to 5,600' asl. The longest 2 seater flight of the day was by Steve Thompson and J Pickering who had 1:04 in K21 KLW.
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.