Wednesday 26th March 2025
Posted: 27/03/2025 16:15
Wednesday 26th. A day of broken cloud to the west and light to moderate SW'ly winds led to 22 ATs and 4 Falke flights off runway 24, with virtually all landings on 20. The day's 14 flights in club 2 seaters and a single flight in Astir DPO led to 5 flights of 30 minutes or more, with 2 of an hour or more, while the 7 private owner launches yielded 5 flight of an hour or more. Hill, thermal and wave lift were the energy sources, all but one of the day's soaring flights being flown during the afternoon, with the day also giving 4 First Flight pupils an introduction to gliding. Some of the soaring flights were predominately hill lift based, these including Dean Crosby in his LS10t, 2:18, Tony Drury in his DG303, 1:09 and Les Rayment/Duncan Pask in K21 KLW, 53 minutes. However, limited wave lift in the local area featured in the flight of Neil Paveley in his Nimbus 2, who climbed to 3,600' asl between Bagby and site before retreating to soar the hill at 900-1100' QFE. Similar mixtures of wave and hill were experienced by Martin Newbery in his Ventus 2ct who climbed to 4,700' asl near Boltby, while Bruce Grain/Logan Briggs had a very slow descent from their release altitude of 3,000' asl to 2,800' asl on a NNW/SSE beat centred between Felixkirk and Boltby before indulging in a spot of hill soaring and landing after an hour. Clive Swain/Neil Amos went a little better in the DG500, gaining to 4,300' asl on a similar orientated beat to Bruce/Logan but this time extending from north of Gormire to Kilburn in their 1:05 flight. Bob Calvert in his Discus 2ct, after a little time hill soaring, proceeded westwards via a short engine burn and then via a series of 5 moderate climbs to 4-5,000' asl from the east of Thirsk to the west of Topcliffe to stronger lift 5 km south of Masham that took him to 10,100' asl. From there Bob flew to Kirby Stephen Station before returning to site, after a flight of 4:40, via Pateley Bridge and Wetherby South, covering an estimated 225 km. Bob supplied the following photos.
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.