May has been an incredible month at Wolds Gliding Club, with fantastic soaring conditions, major achievements for our members, visiting clubs, junior successes and the return of our popular evening visits. As we head towards summer, the season is well and truly underway!
Club Visits Continue
Following the visit from Derbyshire and Lancashire Gliding Club members last month, several of our members returned the favour with a visit to their club this May. Everyone had a fantastic time enjoying new scenery, great flying, and excellent hospitality.
WGC pilots visit Derbyshire and Lancashire Gliding Club
A big thank you to everyone at DLGC for such a warm welcome - we’re already looking forward to the next visit!
Congratulations, Captain Milner!
A huge congratulations to long-term WGC instructor Tim Milner, who recently became a Training Captain at KLM. Tim has spent many years sharing his experience and knowledge with members at Wolds and we’re delighted to see him achieve such a significant milestone in his professional flying career.
Junior Successes
It’s been a brilliant month for our junior members.
Massive congratulations to Callum, who achieved the big milestone of his first solo flight, sent by Dave. A moment every pilot remembers!
The success didn’t stop there. Callum followed up his first solo by staying airborne for an impressive 42 minutes on only his second solo flight. An outstanding effort and a sign of exciting things to come.
We’re also celebrating fantastic progress from Freya and Matt, who both completed their first solo flights in the single-seat junior glider. It’s fantastic to see so many young pilots progressing so well this season.
Callum sent solo by Dave. Freya and Matt sent solo on the single-seater Junior glider
Cloud Streets and Cross Country Flying
Saturday 10th May brought some of the best soaring conditions we’ve seen this year. Cloud streets stretched in every direction and cloud base climbed to around 5,000 feet, creating perfect conditions for cross-country flying and long soaring flights.
Congratulations to Alfie and Fin, who both completed their first 5-hour flights towards their Silver Badge. Even better, Fin also achieved his Silver distance and height - a huge milestone in any gliding journey.
Junior member Alfie after his 5 hour flight and cloud streets over Pocklington
Pilots of all experience levels enjoyed excellent cross-country flights, with routes stretching from Pocklington to Sheffield, Nottingham, Newark-on-Trent, York, and Hull.
Standout Flight of the Month
The standout achievement of the month came from Steve, who completed an incredible 500km task in his ASG 29 glider.
The Route: Pocklington > Bakewell > Pickering > Bottesford > Fridaythorpe > Pocklington
Total distance: 505km | Flight time: 6 hours 13 minutes | Average speed: 81km/h
Steve commented: “Wonderful view of Chatsworth on the way to Bakewell, however I didn’t get back to The Plain of York quick enough, on the run to Fridaythorpe, to miss the forecast clag north of The Humber. I couldn’t see a route through, hence the enormous diversion to Cumulus near Hull, though I wonder if I had tip-toed along track I might have been a little quicker and done less sight-seeing. Nice convergence after finishing allowed an additional 50km O/R to Sutton-on-Forest.”
An absolutely fantastic achievement. Well done, Steve!
Steve’s 500km flight: Pocklington > Bakewell > Pickering > Bottesford > Fridaythorpe > Pocklington
More Cross-Country Highlights
There’s been plenty more brilliant flying this month:
Martin & Derrick flew the new Arcus on a 384km task: Sheffield → Pickering → Newark → Pocklington
John took on a similar route in his LS8 (and reckoned the task was a bit underset!)
Derrick and John also squeezed in another cracking flight to Sheffield and Saltby - getting back just in time for tea and an evening flying visitors.
Later in the month, Jonathan and Robin set off on an ambitious flight which ended with a land-out at Burn Gliding Club. Thanks to Burn for the warm welcome - and to Bob for retrieving them with the Pawnee!
Jonathan and Robin landing out at Burn Gliding Club with Bob in the Pawnee coming to tow them back to East Riding
Evening Visits Return
Our popular evening visits have started once again for the summer season.
Kirkella Scouts kicked things off, followed by a visit from 24 Cubs from 1st Melbourne Cubs. The groups had the opportunity to explore the airfield, sit in our gliders, learn about how gliding works, and get up close to the tug aircraft that launch us into the skies.
It was fantastic to see so much enthusiasm and curiosity from the young visitors, and we hope we’ve inspired a few future pilots, engineers, and aviation careers along the way.
A huge thank you to all the members and volunteers who helped make these evenings possible. Do you have a group of ten or more? Find out more about booking an evening visit here: Group/Evening Visits — Wolds Gliding Club
1st Melbourne Cubs evening visit
Congratulations Hayley for her SPL completion!
Congratulations to Hayley, who successfully completed her SPL skills test with examiner Steve!
This is the first SPL completion at Wolds since the recent rule changes. A brilliant milestone, and hopefully the first of many over the busy summer ahead.
40th Annual Two Seater Competition – Entries Now Open!
Entries are now officially open for the 40th Annual Two Seater Competition at Wolds Gliding Club, taking place from Sunday 23rd August to Sunday 30th August 2026.
We already have lots of teams signed up and it’s shaping up to be an unforgettable week, with evening entertainment planned throughout and plenty of prizes generously donated by our sponsors.
For the first time ever, we’ll also be introducing the Directors Challenge, which will run on days when the British weather prevents us launching a full competition grid.
Throughout the week we’ll also be raising money for two fantastic charities: Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Dementia UK
Don’t miss your chance to be part of this milestone event - it’s going to be bigger and better than ever!
Find out more and secure your place today: TSC2026 — Wolds Gliding Club
Welcome to Our New Members
A warm welcome to our newest members: Nico, Shaun, Matt and Xander
We hope you’ve felt at home at Wolds and are already enjoying your first flights with us!
Looking Ahead to Summer
We’ll leave you with a stunning image of Pocklington Airfield, captured beneath the wing of a DG1000 - a perfect reminder of why we love flying here so much.
With longer days, stronger thermals, and busy weekends ahead, summer at Wolds is only just getting started…
Come and Fly With Us
Whether you’re looking to try gliding for the first time or take the plunge and learn to fly, we’d love to welcome you.
Book a voucher flight or find out more about becoming a member and learning to fly.
