Wednesday 11th 2019
Posted: 15/09/2019 08:55
Wednesday 11th. Early low cloud that delayed the start of flying until late morning cleared to leave a good soaring day, with hill, thermal and wave lift on offer, although the latter not to all. A moderate W'ly meant it was a winching day, and 26 were flown, including 8 by private owners. although problems with the winch cable meant a slow start to the day. The soaring conditions on offer resulted in 3/4's of the flights exceeding 30 minutes with 2/5ths exceeding an hour, Indeed, 2 of the visiting pilots from the Stratford GC had over 5 hours with Phil Challans in the DG303 achieving his Silver duration while Bob Quill in his LS8 climbed to 15,500' asl in wave to acheive his Gold height, so congratulations to them both. A number of other pilots climbed to over 10,000' asl including Martyn Johnson in his DG600, 17,100', visitors Barry Kerby and Barry Monslow, 15,500', in Barry K's Duo Discus, Paul Whitehead in his Ventus, 11,200', and Jim McClean in his ASW24, 11,200'. A number of cross countries were flown with Paul Whitehead visiting Ripon, Durham NE, and Garforth to cover 257 km, Bob Quill visiting Knaresborough, Leyburn, Carlton and Northallerton, while the 2 Barrys visited Newton Aycliffe, Catterick, Bedale, Northallerton and the Tontine. The Tontine and/or Northallerton were also visited by Martyn Johnson, Bill Payton and Robin Hutchinson in Bill's DG1000t while Jim McLean visited Leeming. The hard luck story of the day saw Steve Thompson's plans for a 300+ wave cross country come to naught as the wave proved to be elusive for all of his 2:27 flight confined to the ridge. Two seater pilots John Carter and Adrian Flower joined the > 1 hr list with 1:04 in the DG1000 while later John and Ian Johnston had a vertical O/R to 5,800' asl during a 35 minute flight in the DG500.
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.