Saturday 25th to Sunday 26th June 2022
Posted: 27/06/2022 20:00
Saturday 25th. A moderate/moderate to fresh S'ly slowly veered into the SSE as the day progressed, the strength of the wind providing a few problems for those flying cross country in addition to the more usual ones of spreadout and blue holes. Flying got underway around 1015 hrs as Chris Handzlik took his DG300 off on a cross country, the first of 8 private owners to do so. Chris' attempt to fly a 304 km O/R to Grantham was thwarted by a big blue hole south of the Humber, with Chris turning back to site having progressed to the Scunthorpe area, covering 166 km in all. The same conditions also affected Darren Lodge, he abandoning his attempt to get to Scunthorpe at Goole in his LS8-18, with 119 km flown. Greg Corbett in his Kestrel turned for home near North Duffield, flying 116 km after abandoning his attempt fly a 303km YoYo, with TPs at Kirton in Lindsey, Sutton 3 and Burn. However, the opposite of a blue hole was the reason, ie spreadout. Dave Latimer in his Ventus 3M completed 198 km of his 240 km task around Pontefract and Northallerton but had to abandon getting to Garforth due to showers, while Rob Bailey in his ASG29 flew 354 km of his 362 km O/R to Oakham having to resort to his engine just 8 km ESE of site. All the above pilots managed to return home, but Chris Booker in his LS1 and James Prosser in his Ventus ct both landed out, Chris just north of the Humber near South Cave and James at RAF Linton on Ouse. Kelly Teagle, flying her ASW20 did complete her task, a 127 km triangle around Pontefract and Goole, so well done Kelly. Typical peak operating heights were around 4,500' asl, but Rob climbed to 5,100' and Chris Handzlik to 6,100' asl. Approximately half the day's 32 launches off runway 20 resulted in flights of over 30 minutes, with 11 of over an hour, with Simon Altman in the DG303, 2:06, and Sarah Stubbs in Astir DSU, 1:52, being the only pilots of club gliders to do so. The longest flights in club two seaters saw Frank Maczka have 49 minutes with Bruce Grain in K21 KLW, while brother Ivan, this time with Jamie Quartermaine also in KLW, had 42 minutes.
Sunday 26th. The SSE'ly wind had become even stronger and gustier ruling out any hope of flying.
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.