Monday 9th to Wednesday 11th September 2024
Posted: 13/09/2024 12:43
Monday 9th. Low cloud, light rain and drizzle brought in on a light to moderate N'ly eventually cleared as the wind became a light to moderate W'ly, allowing flying to commence around 1430 hrs when Guy Hartland took the first of the day's 3 First Flight pupils for a flight in K21 KLW off runway 24, landing back on 20, as did most of the day's 10 flights. Five of the Stratford GC visitors took the opportunity to fly, with 4 of them posting flights in excess of 30 minutes and both flights of over an hour, with hill, thermal and even a touch of wave utilised. Ed Syston's 1:23 in his LS6 was the longest of the day, his best thermal climb being to 4,000' asl, with the flight also including a spell of hill soaring the main bowl at 7-900' QFE. Andy and Catherine Balkwill climbed to 4,500' asl in their Janus C mainly using the day's moderate thermals, but also encountered a touch of wave north of Easingwold in their 1:11 flight, while Ian Roberts also contacted a touch of wave near Felixkirk during his 44 minute flight in his DG300. Bruce Grain, flying K21 JVZ, had 44 minutes with Logan Briggs and 40 minutes with Dave Yerbury, the former including finding weak wave over Sutton village and the latter including a visit to Boltby before returning to soar the main bowl down to 500' QFE off the last flight of the day.
Tuesday 10th. An active cold front crossed the area in the early morning leaving the site in a cold, and initially cloudy Arctic air mass that quickly cleared to sunshine and eventually heavy showers as the light to moderate wind backed from the WNW into the W. The day proved to be a good soaring one, with hill, thermal and wave lift on offer and 20 of the day's 28 winch launches off runway 24 exceeding 30 minutes and 13 an hour. 3 flights exceeded 5 hours, one of which was by Steve Ogden in Astir DPO completing the duration portion of his Silver/Gold badge by mainly hill soaring the main bowl but climbing to 5,300' asl in a thermal and visiting the neighbourhood of Northallerton and Tontine, so well done Steve. The other >5 hr pilots were Bob Calvert and Clive Swain who both contacted wave and climbed to 10,400' asl and 13,800' asl respectively, reporting climb rates of up to 9 kts. Both spent some time soaring locally in hill/thermal before contacting the wave some 7/8 km SW of site. Bob subsequently flew around 263 OLC km visiting at or near Barnard Castle, Darlington, Pateley Bridge and Grassington, whlle Clive flew to or near Ripon and Masham in covering some 159 OLC km.
The other high flying wave flight was by visitors Barry/Sharon Kerby in their Duo Discus, their 14,400' asl climb being near Ripon after spending a couple of hours soaring in hill and thermal lift and contacting the wave west of Leeming, They then visited Rufforth and York. No one else had any significant wave climbs, but visitor Ed Syston in his LS6 did a cloud climb to 7,100' flying locally. Most of the other > an hour pilots stayed local in mainly thermal, with climbs to between 5,5-5,900' asl, while Andy/Catherine Balkwill in their Janus C included an O/R to Northallerton. Bruce Grain/Dave Yerbury with 1:25 in K21 JVZ and Sarah Stubbs in the Discus, 1:31, were the pilots with the longest flights in club gliders, both mainly using thermals and getting as far north as Black Hambleton.
Wednesday 11th. A moderate WNW'ly slowly declined to light as a sunny start led to some sharp showers in the afternoon, including some producing hail, the showers leading to cessation of flying around1400 hrs. 10 ATs off runway 24 led to 7 flights of over 30 minutes and 4 over an hour, as hill and, thermal provided soaring opportunities, although large areas of weak/zero sink helped to sustain flights. The 4 >an hr pilots had durations from 1:12 to 3:17, the latter by Martin Joyce in his DG600 who found large areas of zero sink/ weak lift in the local area and also had a thermal climb to 5,000' asl. This was bettered by Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct with a cloud climb to 7,300' asl while visiting the Ripon area 3x and Tontine twice wave hunting during his 2:51 flight, Thermal climbs to between 4,200 asl to 4.600' asl were common, as average peak thermal strengths reached 3,5-4 kts and while local soaring was the choice of most, Andy/Catherine Balkwill in their Janus C visited Northallerton. Guy Hartland/Dave Yerbury in K21 JVZ also visited Northallerton, taking advantage of a thermal climb to 4,600' asl near site and being aided by areas of weak lift/zero sink referred to earlier on the way back. Visitor Philip Challens in his club's LS4 was another > an hr pilot, with 1:12 spent exploring the main westerly ridge as far north as Black Hambleton complemented with thermals, a similar combination of thermal and hill lift helping Derek Smith/Logan Briggs to have 58 minutes in K21 KLW off the last flight of the day to head the > 30 minutes < 60 minute list.
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.