Tuesday 16th to Friday 19th July 2024
Posted: 20/07/2024 11:34
Tuesday 16th. After rain in the early hours, the day dawned with a low overcast that slowly rose but limited flying to 2 ATs off runway 02 into a light to moderate N'ly. Both flights were for First Flight pupils, being bought as birthday presents, the first being on the day of the pupil's 60th birthday and the second following a recent 65th birthday, both flights having Guy Hartland as P1 in K21 KLW.
Wednesday 17th. A light to moderate SW'ly blew with the forecast of a good thermal soaring day encouraging 17 private owner launches out of a total of 38, with 5 of the latter for First Flight pupils. The day did not fully live up to expectations, as large areas of spreadout developed, disrupting a number of cross country flights, with many pilots of engined gliders resorting to them. Nevertheless, there were 24 flights of over 30 minutes, with 12 of these over an hour, the longest, 5:08 by Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct, using thermal to get into the Dales, his flight including a cloud climb that took him to 6,600' asl. However, this was not the highest of the day as Fred Brown in his Ventus 2ct flew down to Goole NE but with conditions deteriorating, took a cloud climb to 7,300' asl and then another to 6,500' asl in order to get back to site in spite of large areas of spreadout. Pilots who had to resort to their engines included Steve Thompson in his Ventus 2bt who set off south but abandoned his task at Gainsborough and returned to Sutton, Les Rayment in his DG800 who flew near to Foston, Pocklington, Malton and Pickering with the help of 2 engine burns, John Ellis in his DG800 who flew an O/R to Kirton in Lindsey with engine use on the way back near Pocklington, Bill Payton/Stuart Heaton in their DG1000t whose trip around Helmsley, York East and Rufforth included 2 engine burns and Peter Goodchild in his DG400 who flew out to the vicinity of Ripon and Boroughbridge. Steve Scothern, on the other hand did not use the engine of his Discus t in his flight around Northallerton and Thirsk and neither did Rob Bailey in his ASG29t who also stayed relatively close to site in his 2:40 flight. Those flying club gliders made the most of the cycling conditions, with Konrad Kawalec having 2 flights in Astir DPO of 60 and 59 minutes, while the longest flight in a club 2 seater saw Clive Swain/Bill Bishop have 56 minutes in K21 KLW, Konrad and Clive/Bill staying local.
Thursday 18th. A better soaring day at Sutton, with less spreadout and cloudbase eventually rising to around 5,000' asl, average peak thermal lift being 3-3.5 kts. With the wind continuing to be light to moderate and from the SSW, the day's 34 ATs were off runway 20, resulting in 22 flights of over 30 minutes with 14 of these over an hour. Compared to Wednesday, engine use was minimal, with Bill Payton, flying his DG1000t solo being the only pilot to fire up his engine, having to do so twice as he flew 130 OLC kms around Linton on Ouse and Hutton Le Hole. Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct used thermal to get to the Leyburn area via Knaresborough/Harrogate and it was at Leyburn where he contacted some weak S'ly wave which took him to the day's best altitude of 8,300' asl, his 5:42 flight continuing to Aysgarth, Masham and Ripon and covering 163 OLC kms. Fred Brown in his Ventus 2ct initially went to the south of York in his 5:35 flight before going NW via Boroughbridge and Ripon to the area around Leyburn before returning to Sutton via Masham and Ripon to cover 162 OLC kms, while John Ellis in his DG800 did 2 O/Rs to south of York, surviving two low points on the first visit before returning to do some local soaring and covering 141 OLC km. Clive Swain in his Kestrel 19 and Martyn Johnson in his DG600 both flew 152 OLC kms, Clive taking in York East and areas around Castle Howard/Malton and Ripon/Boroughbridge and Martyn doing a Garforth/Northallerton/Tontine task. The second longest distance flown on the day saw Nigel Burke in his DG800 cover 194 OLC kms visiting Conisborough Castle and Thirsk while Peter Goodchild landed at Blackpool before returning to Sutton in the Falke. Most other > an hr pilots stayed local, but Rob Bailey in his ASG29t flew 80 OLC kms with an O/R to near Foston and Tomer Altman in Astir DSU flew 63 OLC kms doing an O/R to the SSE of Sutton on Forest. All 3 club Astirs were flown on the day with the longest flight in a club 2 seater being the 51 minutes by Bruce Grain/Naomi Kennard in K21 KLW.
Friday 19th July. Another sunny, warm day with a light to moderate S'ly blowing, the temperature at site reaching 25C and early Cumulus fading away to leave blue conditions with patchy Cirrus. 29 ATs were flown off runway 20, including 8 for First Flight pupils, with 11 giving flights of over 30 minutes of which 7 were over an hour, all by private owners, 10 of whom flew. Peak altitudes were generally around 4,500' asl, but Clive Swain in his Kestrel climbed to 5,500' asl flying locally for 5:14 and Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct used his engine to get to the Leyburn area where he contacted weak wave and reached 7,100' asl. On his journey back to site, Bob found some more weak wave near Thimbleby and maintained 5,000' asl for a while before returning to site in his 5:28 flight. Later, Bob flying with Bob Beck in the latter's Ximango, also utilised weak wave north of Pateley Bridge. Most > an hour pilots stayed relatively local, including Darren Lodge in his LS8-18 and Paul Whitehead in his ASW24, but Fred Brown in his Ventus 2ct visited Linton on Ouse and areas around Ripon and Harrogate, with John Ellis in his DG800 having to use his engine at Linton before returning to Sutton and then doing an O/R to Dishforth. John Marsh in his DG303 visited Helmsley and Black Hambleton in his 2:04 flight, with the only flight in a club glider to exceed 30 minutes being Guy Hartland/Logan Briiggs' 39 minutes in K21 JVZ . Thermal conditions were generally weaker than Thursday with average peak rates around 2,5 kts
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.