Wednesday 2nd to Saturday 5th April 2025.
Posted: 07/04/2025 21:14
Wednesday 2nd. The E'ly had strengthened slightly and become gustier, so flying was restricted to 5 ATs either off runway 02 or 06. Useable lift was hard to find, with James Shaw/Rob Bottomley having 30 minutes in K21 JVZ and Andreas Rieder/Stephen Kellerher having 29 minutes in the same glider.
Thursday 3rd. With little change in the synoptic situation and correspondingly little change in conditions at site, there was little enthusiasm to fly and so there was none.
Friday 4th. The centre of the high pressure had shifted a little, with the result that the wind had lessened and backed to become a light to moderate ENE/NE'ly, skies remaining clear and blue and devoid of any significant lift. 7 ATs were flown off runway 02 with the longest flight being that of Fred Brown who took retiring Office Manager Fred Wachsberber for a 21 minute flight in K21 JVZ off a 3,000' tow. All the remaining flights were also extended circuits with James Shaw having two 19 minute flights, first with one of the day's First Flight pupils and then with Steve Morgan, both in JVZ.
Saturday 5th. High pressure continued to dominate, the weather at site being again clear and sunny after the disappearance of some morning Cumulus as the air mass warmed and dried out. The moderate NE'ly slowly diminished in strength to become light to moderate as it veered into the ENE, the day's launch total being 10, including 4 for First Flight pupils. Some limited thermal activity resulted in 5 flights of 30 minutes or more with one of 3:43, this being by Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct. Bob started off flying locally and operating between 2,000 to 3,300' asl before setting off on a cross country. After getting to 4 km SSW of Harrogate North while operating between 1,800' and 2,600' asl, Bob turned for home but had to resort to his engine 3 km SW of Ripon. Returning from there Bob continued to fly locally, climbing to his peak altitude of 4,000' asl just to the north of Thirsk before landing, . Toby Wilson/Jack McGregor had the next longest flight, their 44 minutes in the DG500 being flown locally, with a best climb to 2,900' asl. John March/Duncan Pask had 41 minutes locally flying in K21 JVZ, with a peak altitude of 2,600' asl, while Adam Sayer took one of the day's 4 Frist Flight pupils for 32 minutes in JVZ.
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.