Wednesday 29th October to Saturday 1st November 2025
Posted: 03/11/2025 10:58
Wednesday 29th. A moderate SW'ly blew, slowly declining to become light by the end of the flying day with 24 AT's and a self launch flown off either runway 24 or 20, seven of the ATs being for First flight pupils. It was another soaring day, with 15 flights over 30 minutes and 9 of these over an hour. hill and wave lift being the main sources of energy and the wave must easier to contact and stronger than on Tuesday. In all, 7 pilots climbed above 5,000' asl with 5 climbing to between 8,300' and 15,000' all asl. Peter Goodchild also climbed to 9,400' asl but his trace indicated it was with significant engine assistance. Most of the wave soaring pilots contacted the wave shortly after launch just to the NW of site and then proceeded westwards, but it was not a straightforward day's soaring for some. Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct took an initial climb to 8,800' asl near site but his progress westwards resulted in a steady descent and after turning back near Masham arrived back at Sutton at around 2,000' asl. Some local soaring and engine use got Bob back into the wave with a climb back to 8,000' asl near site, followed by visits to the Bedale and Easingwold areas. Chris Handzlik in his DG300, after a series of climbs near Ripon, Pateley Bridge reached 11,700' asl near Aysgarth and then flew to Kirkby Stephen Station, but on returning eastwards lost all his height and landed out just to the NW of Thirsk. Fred Brown in his Ventus 2ct had an altogether more relaxing visit to Kirkby Stephen Station via Ripon before flying on to Garsdale Head and returning to site having flown 173 km and climbed to 13,900' asl near Hawes, while Martyn Johnson in his DG600 had the best climb of the day, reaching 15,000' asl between Ripon and Masham. The other wave soaring pilots were Dean Crosby in his LS10t who climbed to 11,100' asl and covered 310 OLC km visiting Ripon, Masham, Leyburn and proceeded past Kirkby Stephen Station to Appleby and Steve Thompson in his Ventus bt who climbed to 8,300' asl after initially losing the wave near Topcliffe but then recontacted and visited the Ripon area. Steve Scothern in his Discus t was the other pilot to climb over 5,000' asl, getting to 5,600' locally and doing slightly better than wife Eileen who had earlier climbed to 4,700' in the same glider.
Thursday 30th. Thursday saw a front advancing from the W with the light SSW'ly slowly increasing in strength and backing to become a moderate SSE'ly and the already cloudy skies thickening and lowering. It was a day of circuits off runway 20 with only 3 flights exceeding 20 minutes and none over 24, all for the day's First Flight pupils off 3,000' tows.
Friday 31st. A windy, cloudy day with bits and pieces of rain, the wind being from the SSE meant there was no flying.
Saturday 1st November. A moderate SSW'ly slowly increased from light to moderate on a generally cloudy day with isolated showers. The change in wind speed meant the first 5 launches were via AT off runway 20 , including 3 for the day's First Flight pupils, before winching took over, a further 7 launches being flown off runway 24. Some hill and weak thermal lift was available in the afternoon, resulting in 3 flights of over 30 minutes with one of these over an hour, while the morning's ATs led to 3 flights of around 30 minutes due to high tows. Dave McKinney/Andy Wilson in K21 KLW and Les Rayment/Colin Troise in the DG500 both utilised the available lift to have 48 and 50 minutes respectively, with the main W'ly ridge flown up to High Paradise Farm with operating heights of 300-1,100' QFE. Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct had just under 3 hours searching for, but failing to find wave in the local area as far north as Northallerton, in spite of resorting to his engine, with hill lift being his fall back option.
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.