October brought an abrupt end to the cross-countries posted on the British Gliding Association’s National Ladder by Yorkshire Gliding Club pilots, but that didn’t mean that it was a non-soarable month. While the weather prevented any flying on 8 days, 65% of October’s flying days were soaring ones, with at least one pilot having over an hour in the air. Thermals were available on 9 of the soaring days, mainly during the first half of the month, with hill lift and wave also utilised to crank up personal flying hours. Wave, present on 5 of the flying days, generally gave climbs between 5-8,000′ als. The non-flying days were also put to good use by Junior pilot Chris Gill, who, flying an Antares on the club’s gliding simulator, set a challenge to other club members by flying the local 100 km Sutton/Pocklington/Rufforth/Sutton triangle, at 159.8 kph.
The month was, however, one for visitors, with pilots from the a number of UK Gliding Clubs spending time at Sutton Bank to sample Yorkshire style hill soaring and wave . Thus, pilots from Gliding clubs at Stratford on Avon, Lasham, Nene Valley and Bowland Forest, together with their gliders were welcomed, adding their own brand of camaraderie to that existing at the Yorkshire Gliding Club.
The Vale of York to the west of the club’s site contains a number of Royal Air Force bases including one on Linton on Ouse, where the RAF’s fast jet pilots receive their initial training in Tucanos, a 2 seat, single engined turboprop. Over the last couple of years a good working relationship has been fostered with the RAF at Linton with an emphasis on safety. Thus, YGC pilots have attended joint safety courses at Linton while Chairman, Graham Evison, seen below, and Chief Flying Instructor, Andy Parish, have flown with the RAF in their Tucano’s.
Conversely, the RAF now include a day’s gliding at Sutton Bank for all their fast jet pilots under training, plus their air traffic control personnel and one such group visited in the middle of the month on a day when the southerly ridge was working, thus giving the visitors a taste of hill soaring. The following photos show one of the group being briefed by instructor Mike Smith before take off in the club’s DG1000, while the second photo shows the whole group after having all had a flight.
With visitors still in mind, a group of Junior pilots from all over the UK visited the club for a National Junior training weekend. This was the first weekend of 3 planned over the winter where Junior pilots, many of whom fly from flat land sites, have the opportunity to sample flying from a hill site, with the Yorkshire Gliding Club’s Sutton Bank being the first venue, with weekends at the Mynd, the site of the Midland GC and Nymsfield, the site of the Bristol and Gloucestershire GC to follow. Around 20 Junior pilots duly arrived, already showing their potential formation flying skills , as the following photo shows.
However, although both days of the weekend were flyable, with a hill soaring day on Sunday, it was a decidedly cold weekend, particularly for those who chose to camp, as an airstream straight from the Arctic provided the first snowfall of winter. This first covering didn’t last long, however, as the air temperature soon moved to the positive side of zero.
The variablility of the UK’s weather was well illustrated in October as, on the previous weekend, the disappearence of early morning fog allowed pilots to sample hill, thermal and wave soaring on a day of glorious sunshine and excellent visibilty, as this panoramic view from the launch point on runway 24 shows.
The day was also glorious from the point of view of club member Tony Drury who took advantage of the conditions to go solo and receive his wings from intructor John Marsh.
