Thursday August 31st and Friday Sept 1st 2017
Posted: 03/09/2017 16:06
Thursday: Andy Parish led the briefing for both club members and the Slingsby attendees suggesting that the day would be soarable but showers might stop play at times.
Early starters were the club K21s with instructional flights. Will flew the first of the days trial lessonists. Father and son Newberys disappeared in their DG1000T for almost three hours exploring bits of Yorkshire they had not visited earlier in the week, dodging showers and probably having an engine burn or two on the way. Mike Wood was third to launch in the Ka8 flying for his usual hour which he appears to achieve regardless of whether it is soarable or not. Another early launch was the Rhonbuzzard giving CFI Andy Parish a taste of real gliding. Justin Wills then took a launch ( in the rain!) and flew his glider for 2hrs 45 mins disappearing into cloud for quite a while at one point. Astir DPO continued to earn its keep with another three launches to add to the week's tally. Club DG1000 DS2 flew for an hour and a half with a distinguished duo on board, the Chairman and CFI presumably thought this was the safest place to discus club policies out of earshot of nosey club members.
Slingsby Weeks tradition of wife glider swapping continued, this time Nick Gaunt having a long soaring flight in Bill Longstaff's Dart. Angela Veitch in Sky G46 (Gertie) yet again demonstrated that a skilful pilot in a classic glider from a previous era can outdo the plastic brigade with a flight time of 75 mins. Towards the end of the afternoon, as conditions improved, several of the older gliders graced the skies including the T21, Capstan, Skylark 4 and Olmpia 463. Last to land after 6pm was Justin in the Rhonbuzzard having taken off a couple of hours earlier.
Friday: Andy Parish briefed those present that yet another soaring day was in prospect - six in a row - is this a record?
Another bottle went to Angela Veitch to recognise her lengthy soaring flight the previous day coupled up with bagging a few Abbeys the day before that. Phil Lazenby emphasised that VGC members were doing a great job in preserving our gliding heritage and complimented all who had lavished hours of TLC and dedication keeping the older gliders flying and looking great. He singled out two in particular, both of which attended the rally for the first time. The restoration of the Meise by Russ Hardcastle had taken almost five years in his "spare" time; the result is a tribute to his craftsmanship and attention to detail. Similarly Bob Lloyds Capstan was admired by all. Countless hours had gone into its restoration and thankfully Bob's aim to have it ready for the rally was realised. They each received a bottle of wine as a token of appreciation by the Yorkshire Gliding Club and Slingsby Week attendees for allowing us to be the first to see these wonderful gliders at a rally. We hope to see them again next year.
Club members and rally attendees took advantage of a soaring day by recording over 30 launches in all, 12 of these in the older gliders. Private owners Peter Clay (Ventus T), Duncan Pask (LS10) and The Newberys (DG1000T) all had lengthy soaring flights in very reasonable thermic conditions. John Ellis self launched his DG800 flying x/country; destinations unknown. Dave Campbell had a couple of flights in Astir DPO and Mike Smith flew the DG303 so the club singles had time in the air. Of the 12 flights by Slingsby gliders three flew for over three hours, Angela Veitch logged 3hrs 15, Russ Hardcastle a minute over that mark and "Corny" Cornelius in his K6CR racked up 3hrs 3 mins. Justin Wills in the Rhonbuzzard launched at 1pm and was not seen again. We later heard that he had landed at Darlton some 110km south of Sutton Bank.
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.