Wednesday 21st to Friday 23rd June 23.
Posted: 23/06/2023 22:04
Wednesday 21st. A moderate WSW'ly veered into the W as the day progressed, but thermal rather than hill soaring activity was the order of the day, with 20 of the day 26 ATs off runway 24 exceeding 30 minutes, the majority of these, 17, being over an hour. While the day's 31 winch launches contributed 22 flights of 30 minutes or more, with 14 of these over an hour. The 19 private owners who launched provided the majority of the longer soaring flights and while the visitors from East Sussex GC contented themselves with flying locally, a number of cross countries were flown by YGC pilots. Steve Thompson in his Ventus bt flew 235 km with TPs at Beverley, Pickering, Tontine and Wetherby, while Bill Payton in his DG1000t went W to Harrogate N before going E to Scarborough although his return to site required an engine burn some 7 km E of Sutton. Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct flew in the vicinity of Ripon, Pateley Bridge, Tockwith and Tontine. Ripon and/or Pateley Bridge were also favoured TPs by a number of other pilots including, John Ellis in his DG800, Fred Brown in his Ventus ct, Chris Teagle in his Kestrel 19, Martyn Johnson in his DG600, and Jim McLean in his ASW24, with Northallerton and Tontine also on the visited TP list for some pilots. Climbs to 5-5,500' asl were the norm with peak climb rates of up to 5 kts on a day when 4 First Flight pupils were flown.
Thursday 22nd. A light N'ly that veered into the NNE and strengthened to light to moderate, brought another soaring day, although pilots reported good looking clouds providing no lift and tatty wisps strong climbs. As a result, pilots found the going tricky at times, with many a low point, but in spite of this a number of cross countries were flown. Rob Bailey's attempted 300 km in his ASG29t was abandoned en route to Rydal Bridge after turning Malton and Harrogate N, completing 197 kms, while Toby Wilson in his Std Cirrus completed his 233 km task with TPs at Doncaster NW, Knaresborough, Garforth and Tontine, a flight described by Toby as challenging but fun at times. Another pilot to abandon a 300 km task was John Ellis, who flew 192 km turning Tontine, Doncaster NW, Thirsk before abandoning his attempt to get to Goole NE, having suffered 5 low points during the task. Chris Teagle in his Kestrel 19, just couldn't find a good climb and abandoned his original task before setting off on an undeclared 184 km tour of Yorkshire, with TP's at Tontine. Burn and Masham. Martyn Johnson in his DG600, flew a less extensive tour of Yorkshire visiting Tontine, Carlton Bank, Thirsk and Ripon, while Fred Brown flew a mini tour visiting Ripon and Easingwold, with visitor Bryan Taylor flying a similar route in Astir DPO. Late in the day, Guy Hartland/Roger Taylor in the DG500, visited Rievaulx Abbey, Northallerton and Lightwater Valley near Ripon. The day's 26 ATs off runway 24, with landings on 02, yielded 19 flights of 30 minutes or more with 17 of these being over an hour, the visitors from the East Sussex GC contributing 7 of the > 1 hr flights, generally flying locally. Climbs to 5,000' asl were again the norm, with peak climb rates around 3,5 kts.
Friday 23rd. A cloudy start to the day saw low level Cumulus form early at around 800' QFE under a medium level overcast as a light SSE'ly blew. A clearance around midday was accompanied by a wind veer into the SSW and a strengthening to moderate, before the medium level overcast returned with signs of wave. 18 ATs were flown off runway 20, initial operations being off the western side of the runway before switching to the eastern side as the wind veered. Initial thermal activity was followed by limited hill soaring and even a moderate prefrontal wave climb, all leading to 12 flights of 30 minutes or more with 4 of these over an hour. Clive Swain in his Kestrel 19 and Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct both had over 4 hours, Clive using thermal to get close to Ripon before returning to site and soaring the SW'ly facing part of the main bowl at 700-1000' QFE. Bob also got close to Ripon and used his engine 3 times during his flight, the last time climbing up to around 5,000' asl where he contacted wave and climbed to 7,500' asl before also returning to site for a little hill soaring. Bob took the following photo after his wave climb.
John Ellis in his DG800 and Les Rayment in his DG800 flew off on cross countries but didn't get very far before having to resort to their engines, John got as far as Foston. with both pilots having just over an hours flying. Visitor John Hill in his Discus had 52 minutes thermal flying, while late in the day, he had 54 minutes hill soaring and Tim Tennant joined him for 41. The Falke flew an O/R to Selby and 3 First Flight pupils were introduced to gliding.
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.