Our Fleet
Our Fleet
We have a modern and well equipped fleet of single and two-seater gliders, as well as a motor-glider, available for club members and suitably qualified visiting pilots to fly. The club has recently invested in upgraded avionics for our gliders, including standardised 8.33 kHz radios and LXNAV S80 variometers throughout the fleet.
Two-seaters
Two ASK 21 two-seat trainers form the backbone of our training fleet. Docile handling characteristics and good visibility make the K21 a great basic trainer. It's also ideal for the student pilots' first solo, and is certified to perform aerobatics.
The DG500 is a more advanced two seater with a retractable undercarriage. It is perfect for advanced pre-solo training and is very capable of cross-country soaring.
The DG1000 is the pride and joy of the club. From the same stable as the DG500, this beautiful machine is suitable for advanced training, such as spinning, long cross-country flights and aerobatics. Club members often hire this machine for use in competitions.
Two-seat glider simulator
The YGC is proud to have an advanced flight simulator within its fleet. The "sim" is based around a two-seat glider cockpit, and uses its native controls. It enables us to augment our training syllabus and is especially useful for teaching initial aerotow exercises and field selection and landing techniques.
The simulator has been recently upgraded to photo realistic scenery and accurately models thermals, ridge lift and real-world weather. It can even pick up historic weather and can be used by pundits to relive flights, to explore new possibilities or fly competitively against others.
Bad weather? No problem! This aircraft can fly whatever the weather outside, and has proved to be an indispensable training aid.
Single seaters
We have a range of single seaters, suitable for a various levels of pilot experience, from early-solo to pundit.
Three Astirs, generally flown by early-solo pilots to build experience and hours before moving to higher performance gliders. However, they have a fan-club amongst more experienced pilots! The Astir has similar flying characteristics to the ASK21, although it is more sensitive in pitch. Many early-solo pilots have gained Silver and Gold badges in an Astir.
The Discus is a high performance glider with gracile handling characteristics. Excellent flights are achieved in this aircraft which performs equally well in ridge, thermal or wave lift. An ideal cross-country machine.
Powered Aircraft
The Falke motor glider is excellent for various aspects of glider pilot training. Powered by a Rotax engine it provides the right balance of power and fuel economy. In particular, it is good for pre-solo pilots who wish to practise circuits and landings without the hassle of repeated aerotows or winch launches. In addition, the Falke is almost essential for pilots wishing to practice field selection and landing skills. Appropriately qualified members may hire the Falke, for use as a touring motor glider.
Our powered fleet of tow planes consists of Two Turbo Eurofoxes, and a Piper Pawnee. The addition of the Eurofox has reduced the cost of aerotows substantially, it uses a much smaller amount of fuel per tow. They're also less polluting, so we're doing our bit for the environment too!
Winch
We have recently added a Skylaunch Winch to our fleet, replacing an earlier homebuilt design. The Skylaunch allows us to make the most of our Westerly ridge, enabling us to offer economical winch launches following by an excellent soaring flight.