Wednesday 31st January to Saturday 3rd February 2024
Posted: 04/02/2024 11:31
Wednesday 31st. Storm Ingunn passed to the north of Scotland bringing 100 + kt winds to Norway and Sweden, the wind at site increasing from a moderate SSE'ly to become a fresh SSW under cloudy skies. The airfield was still too wet to permit numerous glider flights but the Falke did a single sortie climbing to 5,200' asl in wave and performing a touch and go at Bagby.
Thursday 1st. A light to moderate W'ly blew on a day of variable cloud, the latter indicating wave activity, which led to some reasonable wave climbs and cross country flying. The day's 14 ATs off runway 24 led to 7 flights in excess of 30 minutes of which 5 were longer than an hour. Peak altitude gained progressively increased as the day progressed, with Steve Thompson's 2:12 in Astir DPO being mainly via hill soaring the main ridge to High Paradise Farm and the Forward ridge at 800-1200' QFE, with a peak of 1,900' (2,800' asl) over Gormire. Andy Evans flying Astir DSU, climbed to 5,600' asl just to the north of Gormire in his 1:15, while Nigel Burke/Les Rayment in the DG1000 climbed to 7.300' asl 5 km to the NNW of Thirsk, having contacted the wave and climbed to 5,200' asl some 6 km SSW of site. After reaching their peak altitude, Nigel/Les flew to 7 km east of Northallerton before climbing back to 7,200' asl just to the NW of site and then landing after a flight of 1:13. Next to contact the wave was Dave McKinney/Neil Amos in K21 JVZ who, in their flight of 1:08 contacted the wave in the Sutton village area and steadily climbed to their peak height of 8,200' asl over Thirsk before visiting the Knayton area and returning to site. Finally, Sarah Stubbs in Astir DSU, climbed to her peak altitude of 8,700' asl over Thirsk and then set off to get within 4 km of Ripon, returning to the Thirsk/Bagby area and then turning Boroughbridge before returning to Sutton after a flight of 2:04. Falke pilots also made use of the wave, with one of the 4 sorties being a first solo flight in the Falke by Guy Hartland, so well done Guy.
Friday 2nd. A combination of a moderate to fresh and gusty W/WSW wind, low cloud at times and a slightly boggy airfield resulted in a decision not to fly.
Saturday 3rd. A moderate W'ly blew all day under mainly sunny skies as this photo taken from the roof of the clubhouse prior to briefing shows.
Flying commenced around 1015 hrs with an AT off runway 24, but ATing was then suspended for a while due to turbulence on the climb out before being reintroduced 1.5 hrs later when George Rowden took the only First Flight pupil of the day for a 30 minute flight in K21 KLW. A further 3 ATs were flown, but the majority of the day's launches were via the winch, with 17 flown. A combination of hill lift and later wave, ensured that 17 of the day's flights were 30 minutes or more, with 6 flights of over an hour and with 8 flights climbing above 4,000' asl. However, a strong wind at soaring heights meant cross country flights were limited. Taking off around 1030 hrs in Astir DSU, Darren Lodge set the wave ball rolling with a climb to 4,000' asl over Sutton village off a winch launch, with Nigel Burke/Sarah Stubbs in the DG1000 next to contact the wave, again off a winch launch. Contacting the wave over Gormire and climbing to 7,200'asl just to the SSE of site, they flew north, rounding Tontine before climbing to their maximum altitude of 9,100' asl just north of Northallerton before returning to site via Thirsk, landing after 2:26. Another pilot to have a >2 hour flight was Andy Wilson in his Skylark 4 who, after a spell hill soaring climbed in the wave to 8,700' asl but lost a great deal of height pushing forward to Thirsk against the strong head wind With ATs resuming, Dan McClean toon Astir DSU for a 2 hr flight, contacting the wave over Gormire and eventually climbing to 8,000' asl just to the SE of site, while Jamie Quartermaine/Ivan Mackza in K21 JVZ, had a similar flight eventually climbing to 8,900' asl just to the north of site. John Forrester in Astir FSH climbed to around 7,500' asl in his flight of 1:51, although a lack of a Flarm trace meant I have no record of where he went, but Toby Wilson/Andy Tyas in K21 KLW visited Black Hambleton in their flight of 1:10, climbing to 4,900' asl enroute. The last of the major wave climbs saw Chris Collingham/Chris Ogden take their second flight of the day in KLW to climb to 7,100' asl over Boltby, losing some 4,000' of their height to fly to the East Coast main line where they were able to maintain around 3,000' asl for a while before returning to site after 53 minutes. A successful soaring day concluded with Toby Wilson giving Sarah Stubbs two simulated launch failures and Jamie Quartermaine/Konrad Kawalec in the DG1000 landing as the light faded just before 1700 hrs. Among all this activity, congratulations are due to Sarah Stubbs on recently becoming a BI, so well done Sarah.
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.