"Waving" goodbye to 2017

It's been a while since I posted - something to be expected I suppose - since it's the back end of the year and this is a blog that's mainly about gliding and soaring.

It seems that Golf Oscar Delta (GOD) had decreed September 2nd to be the end of summer because the weather hasn't been up to a great deal since (on weekends, anyway). The prevailing southwesterlies have been anything but, and there has been much rain.

We have a year-round operation however, so there has been some flying - just nothing really notable, the odd 20-30 minute flight to maintain currency, maybe something a little bit longer on a half decent ridge day. I did get to enjoy couple of hours of hill-soaring cross country with an experienced pilot, which was an eye opener - making it all the way out to Guisborough SW and back at around 1000'.

I've been waiting for some of the famous North Yorkshire wave though; although it only ever seems to show itself midweek - but finally, the conditions looked promising for a flight on Saturday 23rd December.

At around 8:30am; driving up the A1(M) towards the airfield, there were some seriously well defined cloud formations to be seen - not the high level lenticulars, but the much lower stratocumulus(?) bars with smooth, rounded tops.

As we experience the best wave on a windy westerly/southwesterly day, it coincides with the conditions we need to be able to use our winch, so if nothing else, there would be an opportunity to keep current on a launch method we don't often use.

The first glider launched, struggling to maintain any decent height on the ridge - possibly due to some downdrafts, the wind didn't seem as strong as forecast. Another glider tried an aerotow, taking 3000' and not encountering any significant lift. We took the opportunity to re-rig one of our K-21's which had just returned from ARC and instrument fitting.

I readied myself to go in Astir DPO; and proceeded to sit on the end of the runway for about 15 minutes, waiting for some stubborn cloud at around 500' to move, since I didn't like the idea of encountering it at the top of a winch launch. Eventually, I decided I was too cold and went to get a cup of tea.

Another 15-20 minutes did the trick for the cloud; and as an added bonus, the DG-303 returned from some ridge soaring and became available, so I got myself comfortable. I considered rigging the GoPro but decided it was too much hassle - I later wished I had.

I took a launch and turned onto the ridge as normal; the situation with cloud seemed pretty dynamic, but from 500' I could see a definite line forming, I continued to soar to gain some more height and after about five turns, I was high enough to be level with the formation and positioned myself on the windward side - at which point I was able to start climbing away without turning, with the vario registering anything from 2-6 knots in places; although mostly on the lower end - still, lift is lift. 

At around 2,000', I became aware of other gliders in the area having contacted the wave as well. Flying into wind, I wasn't far from the airfield despite flying in a straight line for some time - I couldn't see Sutton Bank, but I could see Thirsk, and I had the airfield programmed into the GPS.

I headed back downwind for a short time to stay close to the airfield. It didn't take long, which clearly demonstrated the strength of the upper winds because there were no gusts or turbulence to give the game away.

I climbed to a maximum of around 3,000' QFE. I then made one attempt to jump to another bar, following a K-21, but we both turned back when it was clear that we weren't going to make it.

The views were amazing (mainly of fluffy cloud tops), it was peaceful and enjoyable flying and I wish I had taken photos, but my phone was clamped into the cockpit and acting as secondary GPS just in case I'd been able to push a little further out. I must buy myself a little handheld camera.

You'll just have to be content with a photo I took during the summer, of similar conditions.

Having retreated from the other wave bar, and lost some height, the cloud picture started to look different. From lower down, there was only one gap and it appeared to be closing. I was flying alongside the DG-1000, which continued to soar, but I decided to play it safe. I pulled the airbrakes, and dived into the gap, and with my eyes on stalks, I noted four other gliders doing exactly the same thing.

This is where things got exciting.

One glider radioed that it was heading into cloud; it's pilot not confident that there was enough room for everyone to descend through the gap simultaneously. My own preference was to stay where I could see and hopefully, be seen. 

There was low cloud on the ridge at around 500'-600' and this made things tricky for a full circuit. Evidently, everyone else thought the same and dived under the descending cloud to get on the ground as quickly as possible. I did the same, quick checks - wheel down, straps tight - I called right base and noted the glider ahead of me, and headed back toward the end of the runway. 

Before turning final, I noted that there was already an aircraft on the ground, and not one ahead of me in the circuit, but two. I thought better of it and declared a 'go-around' (somewhat of a novelty for a glider pilot) before turning 180 and heading back to the ridge.

The problem was the cloud; low, and covering the top of the ridge itself, but the wind was constantly trying to push me up into it. I could see the one other glider manoeuvring around the murk, and I was doing the same. 70-80 knots for safety and to kill some of the ridge lift, but tight s-turns to stay in it so that I could remain airborne as long as needed with three landed gliders now blocking the runway. I operated the airbrakes to try and keep the vario needle around zero and waited for what seemed like an eternity for people below to push their aircraft out of the way. I became fairly comfortable doing these tight figure 8's in a small patch of sky, and it was definitely great handling practice.

Eventually, enough of a space opened up below so that a safe landing could be made; 70 knots, right base (again) with a fairly long landing so as to leave some room behind, and turning as much as I could off the runway once the speed had decreased. I was buzzing with excitement. Eventually, a couple of helpers appeared and with the buggy otherwise engaged, our daily exercise quota's were met pushing the glider back down the 400m track whilst we exchanged stories of descents through small gaps.

And so the day continued; that terrifyingly low cloud had gone as quickly as it arrived and new arrivals to the airfield strapped themselves in to make the most of what daylight was left.