Sutton Bank had been in use as a glider launching site for 25 years before the YGC was formed and had also been used by Slingsby Sailplanes to test their aircraft. The first official recorded use of the site was in 1911 when Erik Addyman launched his self-built glider off the edge of Sutton Bank. The Yorkshire Gliding Club was formed in April 1934 as an amalgamation of the Bradford Gliding Club with the Ilkley and District Gliding Club by Phil Wills, Fred Slingsby and Norman Sharpe. The club moved to Sutton Bank in the second half of 1934 when they negotiated a lease on the site from the land owners (it was owned by the Church of England) with the site being perceived as second only to one at Dunstable in the development of British gliding. However, in the early days of gliding the airspace at Sutton Bank was deemed of far greater value as its launch site was above the ground level at the bottom of the cliff compared to Dunstable's clearance.