Wednesday 24th to Sunday 28th April 2024
Posted: 29/04/2024 15:06
Wednesday 24th. The N'ly flow continued, bringing in low cloud and light rain at times, so there was no flying.
Thursday 25th. Snow and hail showers brought in on a moderate NNW'ly wind that slowly veered into the NNE delayed the start of flying until around 1430 hrs, when the first of the day's 6 ATs off runway 02 took place. I don't have access to the day's paper log so some pilot's names are missing from this report, but the 3 private owners who flew, Bob Calvert and 2 visitors, all had 2 or more hours soaring. Bob in his Discus 2t had 2:06, spending some time soaring the north edge of the North Yorks Moors at around 1600' QFE having previously arrived there via a cloud climb over Easingwold to 5,900' asl, Tontine and Carlton Bank, returning to site via Tontine having covered around 95 km. The visitor flying his LAK17 AT covered an estimated 115 km visiting Helmsley, Ingleby Bowl, Tontine and getting close to Castle Howard and Kirby Moorside while generally operating between 2,600'/3.600' asl with a peak altitude of 4,600' asl. His compatriot, flying his Discus bt, stayed more local during his 2 hr flight after taking a 4,000' tow. The 3 other ATs were flown in K21 JVZ with flight times of 13-21 minutes with the day's flying rounded off by a 29 minute Falke sortie.
Friday 26th. A light to moderate N'ly that slowly veered into the NE brought in a few isolated wintry showers that had little effect on flying, with14 AT's flown off runway 02, 3 of which were for First Flight Pupils. The day's 6 private owner launches included 3 for Martin Newbery in his newly acquired Ventus ct as he acclimatised himself to the glider and engine operation, his final flight being the longest at 57 minutes aided by some weak thermal activity. This was one of the 4 flights to exceed 30 minutes, with 2 of these being over an hour. The longest flight of the day was by Dan Batchelor in Astir DPO, who, attempting his 5 hours, landed out after 2:13 some 5.5 km NE of Northallerton, having spent most of his flight in thermal between Northallerton and Tontine while also recovering from a number of low points. The other > an hour pilot was Bob Calvert in his Discus 2t who had 3:06 soaring in an area bounded by Helmsley, Topcliffe and Northallerton, climbing to a max altitude of 5,000' asl. Visitor Douglas Johnson in his Discus bt, had 59 minutes soaring locally to the NE of site, mainly between 3,200' to 3,700' asl with a peak of 3,800' asl. The longest of the 2 seater flights saw Nigel Burke take his First Flight pupil for a 21 minute flight in K21 JVZ.
Saturday 27th. A mainly cloudy day with isolated showers, brought in on an light to moderate ENE'ly wind, resulted in 15 ATs off runway 02. A lack of any significant lift meant most flights were back on the ground after 10-18 minutes, although Neil Paveley in Astir DPO and Kelly Teagle/Mark James in K21 KLW both had 21 minutes as the result of finding a weak thermal.
Sunday 28th. Active fronts from a low pressure tracking northwards over the North Sea brought a day of low cloud and rain from 0600-1500 hrs, with 21.3mm of rain recorded locally. Consequently, there was no flying.
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.