Thursday 7th to Wednesday 13th November 2019
Posted: 14/11/2019 13:58
Thursday 7th. Overnight rain continued until mid afternoon with showers following in a moderate ENE'ly wind, so there was no flying.
Friday 8th. A moderate to fresh NNW'ly soon decreased to a light to moderate N'ly but rain until the early afternoon followed by a brief dry period meant there was again no flying.
Saturday 9th. A dry day with a light to moderate ENE'ly blowing saw operations of runway 20 commence late morning and continue until just before 1600 hrs, with 11 ATs flown. Only the 2 K21s were utilised and in the absence of any useable lift, flight times were in the range 14-22 minutes, the latter time being achieved by John Carter and then Fred Brown, each with one of the day's 5 First Flight pupils.
Sunday 10th. Another flying, if not soaring day, under high cover, as a light to moderate NW'ly decreased to light and backed into the SSE late in the day. 24 ATs were flown off runway 02 with the occasional landing on O6. Flight times were generally in the range 13-28 minutes depending on launch height, but Steve Thompson and Mike Smith in K21 KLW managed 35 minutes off a 4,000' tow and a couple of pilots elected to have tows to 1,000' as they practiced circuit flying. The vast majority of the day's flights were in one of the club 2 seaters, but Steve Ogden and Mike Collins both flew Astir HVK and Toby Wilson rigged and flew his Standard Cirrus.
Monday 11th. Overnight rain, amounting to 5.1 mm, had stopped by 1000 hrs, but left a legacy of orographic cloud covering the site as the initially light SW'ly wind veered into the WSW and increased to become moderate to fresh. The orographic cloud cleared by early afternoon, with ATing off runway 24 commencing just after 1400 hrs. Thereafter, 5 additional launches were flown, mainly in K21 JVZ, although Mike Collins did fly the Discus, only to be back on the ground after 25 minutes to record the shortest flight of the day. Steve Thompson and Keith Barclay had set the ball rolling with 1:08 off the first flight of the day in hill lift, with this time being bettered by Ian McFarlane and one of the 3 First Flight pupils of the day with 1:16 and Colin Troise and Dave McKinney who shared a flight of 1:15.
Tuesday 12th Blue skies and a light SSW'ly led to operations off runway 24, but lowering cloud led to this flight, Bruce Grain and First Flight pupil Marianne Otterson in K21 KLW, being restricted in launch height so they were back on the ground after 12 minutes. The lowering cloud presaged a period of rain which lasted for around an hour before brighter skies returned, this time, however, with a moderate NW'ly wind that meant there was no more flying for the day. The opportunity was, however, taken to fly Pawnee EV down to Bagby for regular maintenance work.
Wednesday. A transient ridge of high pressure produced a day of pleasant, if unspectacular gliding off runway 20, as a light SE'ly slowly backed into the ENE and became light to moderate. High cover diminshed whatever warmth the sun was capable of and the maximum temperature reached was only 5.1C. The day's 11 ATs behind John Tayler's Super Cub, were all in one or other of the club K21s, with Peter Guest being the only pilot to fly solo. Brian Wise and Paul Frost had the lowest launch, 1500', and the shortest flight of the day, 11 minutes, while George Rowden with his Mile High pupil, Russel Gee, had the highest launch and the longest flight of the day, 41 minutes, aided by some weak wave the produced some cloud at around 3,500' QFE during their flight. Otherwise, flight times were generally in the range 17-25 minutes as pilots enjoyed quiescent flying conditions and good visibility. 6 First Flight pupils were flown including Marianne Otterson who had had a truncated flight the day before due to lowering cloud. There were no such problems today with Marianne having 23 minutes with Brian Wise in K21 JVZ The low sun towards the middle of the afternoon, led to some pilots choosing to land on 02, a direction favoured by tuggie John Carter all day.
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.