Wednesday 13th to Saturday 16th July 2022
Posted: 17/07/2022 18:38
Wednesday 13th. The high remained in charge of the weather, so it was a day of blue skies, Cumulus and a light to moderate W'ly, the latter determining that ATing operations were off runway 24 with 35 launches, 13 by private owners. Soaring conditions were good with cloud base rising to 5,500 to 6,000' asl and peak average climb rates of up to 5.6 kts and a couple of 300 km tasks were flown, there was even some wave for a few pilots to climb in. The 300 km pilots were John Ellis in his DG800 who visited Kirton in Lindsey, Tontine and Pocklington, finding it hard going south of the Humber in blue conditions, while Chris Teagle in his Kestrel 19 abandoned his task going south of the Humber and turned Goole, Northallerton, Pocklington and Catterick finding very good conditions over North Yorkshire. Martyn Johnson in his DG600 declared 250 km around Pocklington, Burn. Northallerton and Garforth but abandoned it as a big blue hole developed on his way to Garforth and he had to recover from a low point at Easingwold to make it back to Sutton, having covered 209 km. Paul Whitehead, flying his newly acquired Ventus 2ctx, flew the Sutton/Pocklington/Rufforth 100 km triangle at a handicapped speed of 95.6 kph and followed that up with an O/R to Pocklington at a handicapped speed of 112.4 kph. George Rowden in his LS8-18, flew a 101 km FAI triangle around Northallerton and Harrogate North, managing to escape a low point near Harrogate North. Jesper Mjels in his DG400 climbed to 6,300' asl during his 279 km flight around Northallerton, Masham, Humber Bridge and Catterick, while Bob Calvert in his Discus 2t, climbed in wave to 8,700' to the NW of Ripon as he flew 221 km with TP's at Ripon, Shap and Dufton. Clive Swain in his Kestrel 19 had his usual long flight with 7:36 as he toured North Yorkshire while Ron Beezer and Diane Thomas took the DG1000 for a 121 km flight with TPs at Rufforth and Northallerton. Later Bruce Grain and John Dore flew to north of Leeming and Dishforth in the DG1000 covering 72 km. Other pilots flying club aircraft to have more than an hour included Chris Jones/Steve Morgan with2:09 inK21 FYF, Laurie Clarke/Ben Haslam, 1:06 in K21 KLW, Adrian Bennett, 1:11 in Astir DPO and Janson Bartson, 1:14 solo in KLW. The day produced 18 flights of over an hour, with further 5 of between 30 and 60 minutes.
Thursday 14th. Light rain and low cloud in the early hours had cleared away by the time operations usually started so the first launch off runway 24 as a light to moderate WNW'ly blew was around 1030 hrs. Early morning showers and a high overcast restricted soaring opportunities at first with the best conditions arriving later in the day as the sky opened up. Rob Bailey in his ASG29t did an undeclared 196 km around Guisborough West, Bedale, Rufforth and Pocklington, one of 5 pilots to exceed an hour flying time. Rod Brister flying Astir DSU for 1:18 took off just prior to Rob, but the other 3 flights to exceed an hour were much later in the day. Clive Swain/Stuart Wallace in K21 KLW had 1:04 as they ventured as far as Topcliffe, Guy Hartland/Adam Sayer in the DG1000 had 1:11 visiting Northallerton, while Chris Coleman in Astir DSU flew south to Easingwold. To round out the day, Bruce Grain/Andrew Bedford climbed to the best height of the day, 5,200' asl, locally in K21 FYF off the last launch of the day. Later in the evening, following a meal, a GASGO safety talk was given by Niels Jamiesal to members and a few visitors.
Friday 15th. A morning of light showers and low cloud delayed the start of flying until after midday, with 6 ATs following off runway 24 as a moderate W'ly blew. The day's two Day Course members accumulated 1:14 and 1:42 off their two flights with Bruce Grain/John Dore having 57 minutes in K21 FYF and a single First Flight pupil completing the list of ATs. Lift was mainly via the hill with flights getting to Boltby, but some thermal activity allowed Bruce and John in FYF to visit Thirsk.
Saturday 16th. A light S'ly blew before veering into the W late in the day, so operations were off runway 20 with 40 launches accomplished. Thermal conditions were soon established, the early Cumulus slowly fading into blue conditions for most of the remainder of the day. All the available club fleet and 17 private owners launched, resulting in 19 flights of over an hour and a further 9 of >30 and < 60 minutes. Cloud base rose to around 5,400' asl in places but peak average climb rates were modest, in the range 2,5-3.5 kts. A number of cross countries were flown with 4/300 km the aim of a few pilots. Derek Taylor in his ASW22 achieved 300 km covering 324 OLC km with TPs close to Humber Bridge, 11 km NNW of Scarborough, 7 km ENE of Beverley, and 6 km NW of Northallerton. John Ellis in his DG800 had to abandon his 300km attempt, resorting to his engine just north of Newark while Rob's attempt at a 425 km task was abandoned on the penultimate leg to Pontefract as an engine burn was required resulting in 332 km being covered. Most pilots found climbs restricted to around 3,000' asl at first but in spite of this Bob Calvert in his Discus 2t flew 150 km with TPs at York, Kirbymoorside, Pickering, almost Scarborough and Malton, while Bill Payton/Stuart Heaton in their DG1000t flew 154 km around Snainton, York and Tontine. Those flying club gliders also enjoyed the day with Simon Altman having 1:07 in Astir DSU, Andy Tyas having 1:37 in Astir DPO, Martin Watt having 1:43 solo in K21 JVZwhile late in the day Bruce Grain/Amelia Forrester had 49 minutes in JVZ.
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.