A great competition, with over 10,000 km being flown on just one of the days!
Day 1 - The sky gods had smiled and the competition was underway! The task was based on a compass rose, with pilots flying as far as they could into each quadrant of the compass, before returning to within 2k of SUT to try a different quadrant. Bonus points were available for pretty much everything! After a a slow start for cloud base to rise above Sutton Bank, the day turned out to be very interesting, with a mixture of trips to the sea as well as a good mixture of wave flights, thermal success and close examination of fields. The day was won by Justin Wills, flying a massive (for the day) 266km. Nick Gaunt finished second and Lindsay McLane finished third.
Day 2 was another interesting day, with the met man’s prophecy about it “getting a bit wet around 6” coming to pass! Wave, thermals, petrol, Jet A1 and battery power were all used today, with the best story belonging to Trevor Stuart, I won’t publish the story, but ask him about goats next time you see him! Stop whatever you are doing and take a moment to wonder at the flight by Justin Wills. Not content with flying in the local-ish area around Sutton Bank to collect bonus points for 10k rings, Justin decided to fly north. Quite a way north. In fact Scotland. The map of his adventure is below, but the flight gets even better when you understand that the flight out to sea just north of Berwick was not only to score another 10km ring (the 18th 10km ring) but also to get bonus points for flying out to sea. He then flew south of Milfield to bag another 10km ring and then landed at Milfield just as the storm let loose. The final wonder is that, having arrived at Milfield, in the middle of a storm, with no phone reception and no one around, he used 121.5 to contact a passing Easy Jet, to get them to phone control to let us know he was OK. Very Enterprising.
Day 3 was a task called ‘anyone for tennis?’ which did, in true Wimbledon fashion, have a few rain interruptions, but in the end many kilometres were flown before the covers we put on…(see what I did there?!). Anyway, below are the provision scores, with a few trailers on their way back from fields and at least two electric gliders running out of power, although one made it ‘ohme’ the other one met too much resistance and landed out…….it was won by Diana King and Tony Maitland in their Duo Discus, with Liam Vile coming a very credible second in his K6 Cr, well done to all.
Day 4 was a heady mixture of ridge, thermal, wave, wind and turbulence… Even turbo pilots were struggling to battle into wind to get back to the site (although the K6CR managed to get back OK!). The result was quite a few field landings, including this one by Robbie Rizk, notable because it was his first ever field landing. Excellent pilot decision making and field selection was only spoiled by the tail plane removal tool being locked in his launch-point car, with the keys in the pilot’s pocket. On arriving back at the club to move his car, the same keys were now in the cockpit, which was safely locked away in the trailer! A minor learning point on an otherwise excellent retrieve (and a very welcome pint – thanks!). Diana King and Tony Maitland won with 296km, Trevor Stuart was second with 145km and Robbie Rizk came third, flying 100km before landing out.
Day 5 – wow what a day which required a remote start from Rufforth, but it was worth it – the first 10 pilots all flew over 500km with a total of 10,300 KM being flown! Mike Armstrong was the day winner, flying 634km including two visits to the sea and a trip to Camp Hill! We had a first 300km and two 500km! Well done to Robbie Rizk for the 300 and to Geddes Chalmers and Gareth Francis for the 500s!
Day 6 - A difficult day yesterday, with very hot southerlies making for good drying weather rather than flying weather! Never the less, some very creditable flight with Diana King and Tony Maitland winning with 93km, Mike Pope second and Justin third.
Day 7 we had:
Robbie Rizk got his gold height and had another bottle of wine to give to his crew.
Top distance was – 540km.
Overall results:
The Sam Witter trophy is normally awarded for the best flight after an engine start (or relight). This year it is going to “EF” (Guy Glover & Clive Groves). They started their engine at 600ft 7km away from Rufforth, immediately after launch and after that they did 415km via Downham Market, Saltby and Sutton Bank without burning any more petrol!!! They tried to claim it was a legitimate relight, but they got ZERO points
A HUGE thank you to everyone at Sutton Bank for making Enterprise 2015 so special. Seven days flying out of eight – thermal, ridge and wave, friendly members and excellent catering – Sutton Bank was wonderful! To quote one competitor “I flew further and higher than I’ve flown before plus the most enjoyable flight in a glider I’ve ever had”. That says it all. Thank you Sutton Bank and YGC for Enterprise 2015.
Day 1 - The sky gods had smiled and the competition was underway! The task was based on a compass rose, with pilots flying as far as they could into each quadrant of the compass, before returning to within 2k of SUT to try a different quadrant. Bonus points were available for pretty much everything! After a a slow start for cloud base to rise above Sutton Bank, the day turned out to be very interesting, with a mixture of trips to the sea as well as a good mixture of wave flights, thermal success and close examination of fields. The day was won by Justin Wills, flying a massive (for the day) 266km. Nick Gaunt finished second and Lindsay McLane finished third.
Day 2 was another interesting day, with the met man’s prophecy about it “getting a bit wet around 6” coming to pass! Wave, thermals, petrol, Jet A1 and battery power were all used today, with the best story belonging to Trevor Stuart, I won’t publish the story, but ask him about goats next time you see him! Stop whatever you are doing and take a moment to wonder at the flight by Justin Wills. Not content with flying in the local-ish area around Sutton Bank to collect bonus points for 10k rings, Justin decided to fly north. Quite a way north. In fact Scotland. The map of his adventure is below, but the flight gets even better when you understand that the flight out to sea just north of Berwick was not only to score another 10km ring (the 18th 10km ring) but also to get bonus points for flying out to sea. He then flew south of Milfield to bag another 10km ring and then landed at Milfield just as the storm let loose. The final wonder is that, having arrived at Milfield, in the middle of a storm, with no phone reception and no one around, he used 121.5 to contact a passing Easy Jet, to get them to phone control to let us know he was OK. Very Enterprising.
Day 3 was a task called ‘anyone for tennis?’ which did, in true Wimbledon fashion, have a few rain interruptions, but in the end many kilometres were flown before the covers we put on…(see what I did there?!). Anyway, below are the provision scores, with a few trailers on their way back from fields and at least two electric gliders running out of power, although one made it ‘ohme’ the other one met too much resistance and landed out…….it was won by Diana King and Tony Maitland in their Duo Discus, with Liam Vile coming a very credible second in his K6 Cr, well done to all.
Day 4 was a heady mixture of ridge, thermal, wave, wind and turbulence… Even turbo pilots were struggling to battle into wind to get back to the site (although the K6CR managed to get back OK!). The result was quite a few field landings, including this one by Robbie Rizk, notable because it was his first ever field landing. Excellent pilot decision making and field selection was only spoiled by the tail plane removal tool being locked in his launch-point car, with the keys in the pilot’s pocket. On arriving back at the club to move his car, the same keys were now in the cockpit, which was safely locked away in the trailer! A minor learning point on an otherwise excellent retrieve (and a very welcome pint – thanks!). Diana King and Tony Maitland won with 296km, Trevor Stuart was second with 145km and Robbie Rizk came third, flying 100km before landing out.
Day 5 – wow what a day which required a remote start from Rufforth, but it was worth it – the first 10 pilots all flew over 500km with a total of 10,300 KM being flown! Mike Armstrong was the day winner, flying 634km including two visits to the sea and a trip to Camp Hill! We had a first 300km and two 500km! Well done to Robbie Rizk for the 300 and to Geddes Chalmers and Gareth Francis for the 500s!
Day 6 - A difficult day yesterday, with very hot southerlies making for good drying weather rather than flying weather! Never the less, some very creditable flight with Diana King and Tony Maitland winning with 93km, Mike Pope second and Justin third.
Day 7 we had:
- – 18kts on the ridge which worked a treat
- – nice strong thermals and streeting
- – and it waved big time, easy to get into
Robbie Rizk got his gold height and had another bottle of wine to give to his crew.
Top distance was – 540km.
- 3rd Mike Armstrong 460km, 501 points
- 2nd John Williams with 560km, 540 points
- 1st Phil King/Tony Maitland 560km, 550 points
Overall results:
- 3rd Mike Armstrong, 1900 points
- 2nd DD2 (Diana King, Phil King & Tony Maitland), 2106 points
- 1st Justin Wills, 2262 points (Congratulations – this is for the 14th time – we just counted)
The Sam Witter trophy is normally awarded for the best flight after an engine start (or relight). This year it is going to “EF” (Guy Glover & Clive Groves). They started their engine at 600ft 7km away from Rufforth, immediately after launch and after that they did 415km via Downham Market, Saltby and Sutton Bank without burning any more petrol!!! They tried to claim it was a legitimate relight, but they got ZERO points
A HUGE thank you to everyone at Sutton Bank for making Enterprise 2015 so special. Seven days flying out of eight – thermal, ridge and wave, friendly members and excellent catering – Sutton Bank was wonderful! To quote one competitor “I flew further and higher than I’ve flown before plus the most enjoyable flight in a glider I’ve ever had”. That says it all. Thank you Sutton Bank and YGC for Enterprise 2015.
