Wednesday 21st to Thursday 22nd September.
Posted: 23/09/2016 17:39
Wednesday 21st. The site was in cloud to start the day but this soon lifted, as a light to moderate SE'ly blew, this slowly veering into the SSE as the day progressed. 24 ATs were flown off runway 20, all but two in the club 2 seaters, the exceptions being 2 launches by Messrs Bellamy and Baines in their LAK17t, who were visiting from Burn GC. The engine of their mount came in useful on the day, as soaring opportunities were very limited, with only 4 flights exceeding 30 minutes, the LAK17 t pilots claiming 2 of these with 39 and 33 minutes respectively. John Carter contributed the other two, having 34 minutes with course member Martin Clowes in K21 JVZ and 30 minutes with Chris Haresnape in K21 KLW. The day's flying included 4 launches for First Flight pupils and a single sortie in the Falke.
Thursday 22nd. An active front crossed the site overnight, depositing 10 mm of rain, and leaving a legacy of low cloud and a light to moderate WSW'ly flow. While the wind direction and strength didn't change much over the day, the low cloud soon broke up and lifted to provide an interesting soaring day, with good thermals, a 4,000' asl cloud base and some wave. The latter was most evident in the morning, as demonstrated by the first flight of the day, John Carter and Martin Clowes taking K21 JVZ for a 1:09 flight in which they climbed to 6,000' asl. John then repeated the exercise a couple of flights later, this time with Tony Kirkby in K21 KLW, their 1:05 flight including a climb to 5,000' asl. The day's 28 ATs included 8 by private owners, George Goodenough having 2:41 in his Standard Cirrus and Burn visitor David Bellamy 2:10 in his LAK17t. Later in the day, Gerry Murphy had his first flight in Astir KRN, signifying his appreciation of the event by joining the > 2 hour brigade with a flight time of 2:09. 21 flights exceeded 30 minutes with 11 over an hour, the latter including Polly Whitehead in ASW19 JFU with 1:50, husband Paul having previously flown the same glider for 48 minutes. Others to enjoy the soaring were Steve Ogden with 1:22 in Astir KRN, Joan Wilson with exactly an hour solo in K21 JVZ and Mike Greenacre with the same time in Astir KRN. The 4 First Flight pupils of the day included a family of 3 from Australia, Dad Russel, Mum Liz and Daughter Sienna who had booked on-line in February and certainly picked a good day for their introduction to gliding in the UK, they all being flown by CFI Andy Parish.
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.