Friday 29th April to Tuesday 3rd May
Posted: 05/05/2016 00:00
Friday 29th. A northward moving occluded front associated with a low over the North Sea meant it was a cloudy and damp day at Sutton although the rain was light and patchy. Nevertheless it was sufficient to prevent any flying as the initially W'ly wind veered into the N and decreased from moderate to light to moderate.
Saturday 30th. The light to moderate WNW'ly steadily decreased to become light as the early morning Cu soon developed into towering showers that deposited hail at times. In spite of this the showers didn't impinge on the site until late afternoon with the result that 35 ATs were flown before flying stopped at 1530 hrs. The sight of early morning Cu led to 11 private owners launching and the launch point was soon busy with private owners, other members, 4 First Flight pupils and visitors from Shalbourne and Husbands Bosworth. The thermic conditions meant that 24 of the day's 35 ATs exceeded 30 minutes with 13 exceeding an hour. In spite of the showers, Rob Bailey in his ASG29 and Andy Wright in his Nimbus 3 completed cross countries, Rob turning Snainton and Stamford Bridge to cover 106,5 km and Andy visiting the Tontine and Beverley on a task of 165.4 km. although both pilots had to resort to some shower dodging. John Marsh in his DG303 and Lindsay McLane in his Ventus both recorded flights of over 3:30 while Les Rayment, also flying a Ventus had 2:45. Those flying club gliders also made good use of the conditions with Tom Dale having just over 2 hours in the Discus, while Steve Ogden and later Phil Lazenby had 1:20 each in the DG303. Saturday was the first competition day of the local Interclub League, held at Rufforth, with the YGC represented in the Intermediate, Pundit and 2 Seater classes but not in the Novice class. Competition was affected by the showers that developed, but David Latimer flying with Mark Newburn as P2 in the DG1000 won the 107km, 2 seater race, while Chris Gill, flying his DG202 won the Intermediate class who were set a task of 110.3 km. John Ellis, flying his DG800, was forestalled by showers from turning Garforth in the Pundit's 158,2 km task.
Sunday 1st May. The showers of Saturday were replaced by cloudy skies and light rain that persisted on and off for most of the day in a moderate S'ly wind, with the result that no flying was possible.
Monday 2nd. A southeastwards travelling cold front delayed the start of flying until just before midday but the moderate W'ly that developed shortly after the clearance meant it was eventually a day of winch launching, although the first 2 flights of the day were by AT. 19 of the day's flights exceeded 30 minutes with 7 beating the hour mark, Shalbourne visitor C Bessent having 2:35 while YCG member, Andy Hatfield, had 2:11 in the DG303, during which time he climbed to just under 5,000' asl in wave over Byland Abbey. The day also saw the start of the first holiday course of the year with course member Peter Whitcombe having 1:19 in K21 JVZ with course instructor Ian Willows. Shalbourne visitors C Pike and P Morgan had 1:48 in their Janus while YGC members Brian Wise and Colin Troise successively flew the Discus for 1:05. The Interclub League competition at Rufforth came to an end with only Saturday being a competition day, the final result having YGC in joint second place.
Tuesday 3rd. The moderate W'ly continued to blow so it was another winching day, 40 launches being flown with flying starting around 1000 hrs and continuing until the last landing at 1827 hrs. The soarable nature of the day can be judged by the fact that 32 of the day's launches exceeded 30 minutes with 15 exceeding an hour, the majority of the latter accomplished by private owners, 12 launching on the day. Martyn J0hnson in his DG600 and visitor G Bell in his Discus both exceeded 3 hours, while visitors P Morgan and C Besent in their Janus and YGC's Duncan Pask in his LS10 each had around 2:22. KND's DG1000 syndicate members Bill Payton, Albert Newbery and Stuart Heaton made the most of the day with Bill and Albert setting the ball rolling with 2:43 before Albert and Stuart had 2:03. Course member Jane Tocher, under the supervision of Ian Willows had 2 flights of over an hour, and the club single seaters were well patronised as Ron Beezer and David Mckinney each had around 1:30 in the DG303 and Phil Lazenby had 2 hours in the Discus. Pilots attempting cross countries found the strong wind somewhat of a problem, this contributing to Steve Thompson landing out near Pocklington.
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.