Very rainy yesterday, but I made it back to Keepit OK in the morning. Found the tug needed an oil change so we did it. Miro Mikus spent a long time on the tractor, aided by Hans Hiltbrenner. If they hadn't we wouldn't have been able to fly today - the grass has grown heaps in just a few days.
Today dawned blue and sunny, but everything was a bit damp. I tried to stir everyone up to get the gliders out early and do a long task, but they all pooh poohed me - thought it would be too wet.
First launch in the Puchatek at 11:30 and it was already possible to soar, but of course we were doing circuits. By the time the masses made it to the flight line, there were cus all over the sky. Jim, my student had to go and have lunch, because the training glider got pushed out of the line! We did 25 launches altogether today.
Hans Hiltbrenner did about 470 km, and long (at least in time) flights were made by Christian Linnet, Garry Speight, John Clark, Nick Singer. Gerhard had a flight for himself in his Jantar, and Allan Buttenshaw and Tony Esler went cross countrly in the Grob.
Yours truly was left bashing the circuit with Jim Thompson and late Karen Sage. After an extraordinarily large number for broken ropes and (prearranged) faulty tugs, both Karen and Jim went solo in the evening. It was Jim's first and Karen's first for quite a long time! Well done Jim and Karen.
Tomorrow I am not working, so I have extracted the Mozzie from the back of the hangar so I can get an early launch!
Jenny
Friday, December 28, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
End of the week before Christmas
Thursday and Friday again had bad forecasts. Thursday was pretty ordinary, but good for training. Friday was the best day of the week.
There was lots of work for Boris and the new tug MRP, and I did heaps of circuits with Nigel Holmes. John Wakefield did an AFR with me, and then flew the Junior. Gerhard looked after John Deutsch and Karen Sage. Thanks Gerhard for taking on some of the instructing. We had all three of the two seaters going some days this week - i.e Puchatek, Twin Astir and Twin II.
Hans Hiltenbrenner flew the LS6 on Friday for about 4 hours and Geoff and Sandra had a decent flight in the ASH. John Deutsch had talked himself out of flying all day because of the lousy forecast, but eventually took to the air in the Junior at about 4.30 pm and had a short soaring flight.
Unfortunately Nigel didn't quite get to solo stage, but I reckon another day would have done it. I hope he will come back in January to finish off. Patricia decided that gliding wasn't really for her, but she was a huge help to everyone on the field retrieving gliders. We'd have been lost without her. She even made sure I had lunch every day - she's definitely welcome to come back.
I had intended to head home today (Saturday) but the weather stopped me. I don't fancy driving for 6 hours with all the idiots on the roads for the holiday, so I plan to depart first thing tomorrow. Lots and lots of rain today, so lots and lots of mowing will be required next week. Don't forget to grease the tractor and fill up the diff oil if you plan to take any of this on!
Merry Christmas
There was lots of work for Boris and the new tug MRP, and I did heaps of circuits with Nigel Holmes. John Wakefield did an AFR with me, and then flew the Junior. Gerhard looked after John Deutsch and Karen Sage. Thanks Gerhard for taking on some of the instructing. We had all three of the two seaters going some days this week - i.e Puchatek, Twin Astir and Twin II.
Hans Hiltenbrenner flew the LS6 on Friday for about 4 hours and Geoff and Sandra had a decent flight in the ASH. John Deutsch had talked himself out of flying all day because of the lousy forecast, but eventually took to the air in the Junior at about 4.30 pm and had a short soaring flight.
Unfortunately Nigel didn't quite get to solo stage, but I reckon another day would have done it. I hope he will come back in January to finish off. Patricia decided that gliding wasn't really for her, but she was a huge help to everyone on the field retrieving gliders. We'd have been lost without her. She even made sure I had lunch every day - she's definitely welcome to come back.
I had intended to head home today (Saturday) but the weather stopped me. I don't fancy driving for 6 hours with all the idiots on the roads for the holiday, so I plan to depart first thing tomorrow. Lots and lots of rain today, so lots and lots of mowing will be required next week. Don't forget to grease the tractor and fill up the diff oil if you plan to take any of this on!
Merry Christmas
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Wednesday
Another day with a working tug and tuggie. That's two on the trot - is it a record?
This time the forecast was much the same as yesterday's (ie not good) but this time it was right! However it was perfect weather for circuits, and we did 19 launches all together.
Nigel is progressing really well, and is now able to take off, fly the aerotow, fly the circuit and land with very little intervention from me.
Looking forward to some better weather tomorrow...
This time the forecast was much the same as yesterday's (ie not good) but this time it was right! However it was perfect weather for circuits, and we did 19 launches all together.
Nigel is progressing really well, and is now able to take off, fly the aerotow, fly the circuit and land with very little intervention from me.
Looking forward to some better weather tomorrow...
Tuesday 18 December
At last a day with a working tug AND a working tuggie! The forecast was terrible again, but it lied, and we had a good day.
We started by rigging the Grob 103, which went together quite straightforwardly, but needed a good deal of cleaning. Karen and Gerhard flew in the Grob, Nigel and Patricia flew in the Puchatek with me, and Garry flew with John Deutsch, so all the 2-seaters were going.
Harry Potts flew the LS6, and Jim Thompson, fixed the PTT switch in the Junior, before leaving at mid-day. Thanks Jim.
During all this activity, Sam Clift came out to spray the weeds with a small boomspray on the back of a four wheeler. He has done a great job, and the catheads are looking sick already.
Another visitor from Switzerland turned up, so I gave him a quick check flight.
Nigel had an interesting flight in some convergence (I think) - or was that Monday - where you could just cruise along the street at cloudbase. He is progressing well. Patricia is not too sure if gliding is for her, but I'm trying to encourage her to continue.
We started by rigging the Grob 103, which went together quite straightforwardly, but needed a good deal of cleaning. Karen and Gerhard flew in the Grob, Nigel and Patricia flew in the Puchatek with me, and Garry flew with John Deutsch, so all the 2-seaters were going.
Harry Potts flew the LS6, and Jim Thompson, fixed the PTT switch in the Junior, before leaving at mid-day. Thanks Jim.
During all this activity, Sam Clift came out to spray the weeds with a small boomspray on the back of a four wheeler. He has done a great job, and the catheads are looking sick already.
Another visitor from Switzerland turned up, so I gave him a quick check flight.
Nigel had an interesting flight in some convergence (I think) - or was that Monday - where you could just cruise along the street at cloudbase. He is progressing well. Patricia is not too sure if gliding is for her, but I'm trying to encourage her to continue.
Monday 17 December
Lots of activity at the club this week. Students on a course are Nigel Holmes and Patricia Healy, Jim Thompson wanted some more pre-solo instruction. Karen Sage is getting back to solo flying, and John Deutch booked in to fly with Garry Speight. Harry Potts flew the LS6. Gerhard is staying at the club this week two, which has been great because he has been able to look after Karen.
Now that we've got the new tug, and it is here at LKSC, what could be the problem? Well Ron Cameron, our illustrious president and intrepid tug ferry pilot, took Boris away to Murrurrundi for the weekend, but neglected to bring him back! So we had a tug but no tuggie. What else can go wrong?
Fortunately, John Deutsch elected not to come up until Monday evening, leaving Garry free to come out and fly the tug. Many thanks for saving the day Garry.
After a somewhat late start, we had some reasonable soaring flights, but the wind became quite strong at the end of the day.
Now that we've got the new tug, and it is here at LKSC, what could be the problem? Well Ron Cameron, our illustrious president and intrepid tug ferry pilot, took Boris away to Murrurrundi for the weekend, but neglected to bring him back! So we had a tug but no tuggie. What else can go wrong?
Fortunately, John Deutsch elected not to come up until Monday evening, leaving Garry free to come out and fly the tug. Many thanks for saving the day Garry.
After a somewhat late start, we had some reasonable soaring flights, but the wind became quite strong at the end of the day.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Mañana
Arriving back at Lake Keepit on Monday morning I peeked into the tug hangar expecting to see the new Callair there - but no. Thunderstorms had prevented its arrival. However Ron Cameron said that perhaps it would be here tomorrow.
So out with the winch. After a frustrating day of broken leaders and not working very well radios, we did get a few gliders launched, and some soaring was achieved before the thunderstorms set in for the afternoon.
A call to Casino on Tuesday revealed that the Callair had been put away on Sunday afternoon with flat batteries, and it was too far for anyone to travel 20km from Lismore to Casino to put the battery charger on it. However someone might be able to go there and put a charger on it on Wednesday morning. The plan was that Ron Cameron would fly over on Wednesday morning in his Cutlass with a mate who would fly the Cutlass back and he would fly the Callair back - mañana. Tuesday was not much of a gliding day, so no one was too worried about not flying. We got lots of jobs
done around the place. Harry and Harry planted some more grass seed.
On Wednesday we heard that Ron had made it to Casino a
nd that his Cutlass was back at Inverell - maybe he would be able to get through the storms back to Inverell that afternoon. Then we heard that he couldn't get through and that he had got the tug to Tyagarah - maybe mañana. Another ordinary sort of day at Lake Keepit and no one was interested in winch launching.
Thursday the weather on the coast was terrible, but the time at Tyagarah was well spent, and Ron and Macca were able to make adjustments to the rigging to make the aircraft fly nicely. Ron set off in the evening, and Boris and I planned to fly to Inverell first thing on Friday morning to fetch it. But Ron was unable to get through the weather and ended up at an airstrip on a property near Grafton, miles from anywhere, and had to sleep under the wing wrapped up in a tarp he found in the hopper. Well we knew that would be pretty uncomfortable, so we were sure he would make and early start mañana en la mañana! (tomorrow in the morning).
Friday dawned and Ron made it to Inverell in the tug. But we still couldn't have it because it had a couple of serious oil leaks onto the exhaust manifold which the owner had not been told about by the users at Casino. We had to wait for Paul Mitrega at Inverell to fix them. I flew Boris to Inverell anyway, and left him there as I had to get going with the twin astir trailer to get the Grob fuselage back from Temora.
By about 3 pm Boris finally arrived back with the aircraft - so we hooked the tow rope on straight away. Harry Potts, Harry Medlicott and Dave Shorter launched. It looked like a very good day. I left with the trailer before they came down.
So out with the winch. After a frustrating day of broken leaders and not working very well radios, we did get a few gliders launched, and some soaring was achieved before the thunderstorms set in for the afternoon.
A call to Casino on Tuesday revealed that the Callair had been put away on Sunday afternoon with flat batteries, and it was too far for anyone to travel 20km from Lismore to Casino to put the battery charger on it. However someone might be able to go there and put a charger on it on Wednesday morning. The plan was that Ron Cameron would fly over on Wednesday morning in his Cutlass with a mate who would fly the Cutlass back and he would fly the Callair back - mañana. Tuesday was not much of a gliding day, so no one was too worried about not flying. We got lots of jobs
done around the place. Harry and Harry planted some more grass seed.On Wednesday we heard that Ron had made it to Casino a
nd that his Cutlass was back at Inverell - maybe he would be able to get through the storms back to Inverell that afternoon. Then we heard that he couldn't get through and that he had got the tug to Tyagarah - maybe mañana. Another ordinary sort of day at Lake Keepit and no one was interested in winch launching.Thursday the weather on the coast was terrible, but the time at Tyagarah was well spent, and Ron and Macca were able to make adjustments to the rigging to make the aircraft fly nicely. Ron set off in the evening, and Boris and I planned to fly to Inverell first thing on Friday morning to fetch it. But Ron was unable to get through the weather and ended up at an airstrip on a property near Grafton, miles from anywhere, and had to sleep under the wing wrapped up in a tarp he found in the hopper. Well we knew that would be pretty uncomfortable, so we were sure he would make and early start mañana en la mañana! (tomorrow in the morning).
Friday dawned and Ron made it to Inverell in the tug. But we still couldn't have it because it had a couple of serious oil leaks onto the exhaust manifold which the owner had not been told about by the users at Casino. We had to wait for Paul Mitrega at Inverell to fix them. I flew Boris to Inverell anyway, and left him there as I had to get going with the twin astir trailer to get the Grob fuselage back from Temora.
By about 3 pm Boris finally arrived back with the aircraft - so we hooked the tow rope on straight away. Harry Potts, Harry Medlicott and Dave Shorter launched. It looked like a very good day. I left with the trailer before they came down.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Friday 7th December
Another cloudy start to the day. First flight was Peter in the Junior. He managed to stay up for about 30 minutes - whereas Graham Davis in the Libelle, who launched next only managed 16. I don't think he went as high on the tow though. Peter did an excellent landing in the junior and was favourably impressed by it.
The sun came out, and I checked with Gen if she wanted the Junior, and suggested she might like to go for a flight in the Twin Astir with me. She agreed and we sent Peter off again in the Junior. He came down two hours later!
Alan Murdoch flew the LS7, Josef Strassl the LS6, and Graham Davis had a much longer flight in his club libelle.
Gen and I had a girls afternoon gliding, and mooched out towards Manilla. We got slightly low at the airstrip, but not down to the circuit planning stage before we got up again. None of the clouds on the way back offered much. I told Gen I thought we could glide back to the field, but I don't think she believed me. But I was right, and we did! Just when we were thinking of landing, she hooked into the best lift we found all day and cored it up to cloudbase. We followed a cloud street towards Gunnedah, but it did not offer much so we turned back an once again had a long glide back. I think Gen was a bit surprised at how far you can go in the concrete swan! Anyway she landed it nicely on runway 14, and we put it away for the day.
After a beer or two outside the club house, John Wakefield decided it was time to teach Boris how to play cricket. He and Josef found it all somewhat mystifying but they joined in anyway. Using a tennis ball, and as the gust front of a storm hit, the bowling was somewhat eratic, and the fielding not much better. I have to admit, that this time, the Poms got the better of us.
Thursday 6 December
15 tows today - but all in MIE. Thanks very much Ian Barraclough for helping us out this week.
Alan Murdoch and Gen Francis came back, and we thought they had brought the Pommie weather with them. I woke up at 6.30, heard the thunder crashing, and went back to sleep again. It was grey and miserable at briefing and the aviation forecast was abysmal BUT I thought it was referring to the weather that had already passed through during the night. We re-briefed at noon, by which time the sun was shining and the cus were popping.
I had a couple more flights with Peter in the Twin Astir, and then persuaded Boris to go gliding for a change. He flew the twin perfectly on aerotow, and then thermalled up to cloudbase. I asked if he had done much XC gliding and he said not, so I thought it was a good time to start.
Gen and Alan were trying to do the Manilla Gunnedah milk run, so barrelled off towards Manilla in the twin. Boris did the flying, and kept saying "not good enough- that next cloud looks better" so we were quite low when we got to Mt Borah. However the cloud that was there was good enough and we climbed back up to cloudbase - about 6000ft QNH. Off around Manilla Silo where we found another ggod thermal, and then back along the hills under the clouds. After a number of not good enough thermals, we got back to the airfield quite low. I couldn't help it, I had to take over because I couldn't talk us into the themal! However I managed bank the concrete swan up into a tight 6 knotter, and we got back up to cloudbase again. Then off toward Gunnedah. Unhappily there was a blue hole over Gunnedah, so we chickened out before we got to the airfield and turned back.
Boris did a beautiful flare and landing, - except a foot too high! Power pilots for you. As we were towing the glider back up to the take off he said - that was my second glider flight in thermals - the first was with Ian Barraclough in the ASH 25 a month ago! Well he is used to finding thermals in tug.... What it is to be 23.
After that I did three more circuits with Peter in the Twin Astir, after which I thought he was ready for the Junior - but we left that for Friday.
Alan Murdoch and Gen Francis came back, and we thought they had brought the Pommie weather with them. I woke up at 6.30, heard the thunder crashing, and went back to sleep again. It was grey and miserable at briefing and the aviation forecast was abysmal BUT I thought it was referring to the weather that had already passed through during the night. We re-briefed at noon, by which time the sun was shining and the cus were popping.
I had a couple more flights with Peter in the Twin Astir, and then persuaded Boris to go gliding for a change. He flew the twin perfectly on aerotow, and then thermalled up to cloudbase. I asked if he had done much XC gliding and he said not, so I thought it was a good time to start.
Gen and Alan were trying to do the Manilla Gunnedah milk run, so barrelled off towards Manilla in the twin. Boris did the flying, and kept saying "not good enough- that next cloud looks better" so we were quite low when we got to Mt Borah. However the cloud that was there was good enough and we climbed back up to cloudbase - about 6000ft QNH. Off around Manilla Silo where we found another ggod thermal, and then back along the hills under the clouds. After a number of not good enough thermals, we got back to the airfield quite low. I couldn't help it, I had to take over because I couldn't talk us into the themal! However I managed bank the concrete swan up into a tight 6 knotter, and we got back up to cloudbase again. Then off toward Gunnedah. Unhappily there was a blue hole over Gunnedah, so we chickened out before we got to the airfield and turned back.
Boris did a beautiful flare and landing, - except a foot too high! Power pilots for you. As we were towing the glider back up to the take off he said - that was my second glider flight in thermals - the first was with Ian Barraclough in the ASH 25 a month ago! Well he is used to finding thermals in tug.... What it is to be 23.
After that I did three more circuits with Peter in the Twin Astir, after which I thought he was ready for the Junior - but we left that for Friday.
Wednesday 5 December
A very busy day - but not all of it flying.
A man came to install a fuel bowser, only to find that nothing was prepared for it, and the tank which needed to be empty for the job, was full of fuel. I had a frantic morning organising a load of sand for the pipes and a backhoe for the State Park to lift the tank.
The bowser man did a huge amount of work, but also bashed into a club members' car.
As far as the flying was concerned the day looked unpreposessing, but it was OK for training. The Holden man came and installed new fuel filters and plugs in the E-tug, and adjusted the throttle setting., and Boris did the tows in it. Peter Robinson did another couple of solos in the Puchatek, and I did the A certificate test flight with him. Then an AFR for Louis Solomons in the Twin Astir.
Louis wanted to test a new TE probe in his Ventus and as Boris tried to start the Tug, it wouldn't go again. Neither fuel pump would work. We peered inside for a few minutes and then he tried to start it again and it went! Not game to fly it again though until this intermittent problem is solved. Once again Ian Barraclough stepped in and towed with his C185. Then Peter had a flight with me in the Twin Astir.
At 7.30 pm the committee had a phone meeting and decided to buy another tug. We sh
ould have it by Monday!
It was Boris' birthday, so we all went into Manilla for a meal. Lots of club members turned out to help him celebrate, which he really appreciated.
What a busy day!
A man came to install a fuel bowser, only to find that nothing was prepared for it, and the tank which needed to be empty for the job, was full of fuel. I had a frantic morning organising a load of sand for the pipes and a backhoe for the State Park to lift the tank.
The bowser man did a huge amount of work, but also bashed into a club members' car.
As far as the flying was concerned the day looked unpreposessing, but it was OK for training. The Holden man came and installed new fuel filters and plugs in the E-tug, and adjusted the throttle setting., and Boris did the tows in it. Peter Robinson did another couple of solos in the Puchatek, and I did the A certificate test flight with him. Then an AFR for Louis Solomons in the Twin Astir.
Louis wanted to test a new TE probe in his Ventus and as Boris tried to start the Tug, it wouldn't go again. Neither fuel pump would work. We peered inside for a few minutes and then he tried to start it again and it went! Not game to fly it again though until this intermittent problem is solved. Once again Ian Barraclough stepped in and towed with his C185. Then Peter had a flight with me in the Twin Astir.
At 7.30 pm the committee had a phone meeting and decided to buy another tug. We sh
ould have it by Monday!It was Boris' birthday, so we all went into Manilla for a meal. Lots of club members turned out to help him celebrate, which he really appreciated.
What a busy day!
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Tuesday 4 December
After raining all night, the sky cleared and it looked like a reasonable day - however we had tug problems again.
Ian Barraclough stepped in and did the towing this afternoon. Josef Strassl flew the LS7 and visited Gunnedah, and Manilla in his travels. He took the pictures below.
Harry Potts had a nice flight in the LS6. Peter Robinson and I had about an hour in the Puchatek where I tried to teach him to join another glider in a thermal. We also did a bit more on spinning, and varying the bank in turns. After that I sent him solo again, with the expectation that he would have a soaring flight - however a storm was looming close so he decided to land before conditions got exciting - a good call.
The storm passed and after an afternoon tea of fresh bread, Peter went for another two solos, which will give him his A certificate after he has answered the questions.
It is Boris's birthday towmorrow - he will be just 23! Lets hope he will be able to get his feet off the ground!
Ian Barraclough stepped in and did the towing this afternoon. Josef Strassl flew the LS7 and visited Gunnedah, and Manilla in his travels. He took the pictures below.
Harry Potts had a nice flight in the LS6. Peter Robinson and I had about an hour in the Puchatek where I tried to teach him to join another glider in a thermal. We also did a bit more on spinning, and varying the bank in turns. After that I sent him solo again, with the expectation that he would have a soaring flight - however a storm was looming close so he decided to land before conditions got exciting - a good call.
The storm passed and after an afternoon tea of fresh bread, Peter went for another two solos, which will give him his A certificate after he has answered the questions.
It is Boris's birthday towmorrow - he will be just 23! Lets hope he will be able to get his feet off the ground!
Monday, December 3, 2007
3 December 2007
Another first (and second) solo flight today. Congratulations to Peter Robinson. I can't take full credit for this one, as Peter started his training in England on the winch, but managed to double his airtime in his first four flights in Australia. He also flew with Vic Hatfield and Peter Shiels over the weekend.
Arrived back at LKSC by Jabiru at about 9.15 am. The forecast again was terrible, but the view out of the window was not too bad. Ian Barraclough arrived in MIE, and Josef Strassl, a visitor form Austria, Harry Potts and Graham Holland were here as well as Peter Robinson, this week's student visiting from England
We got the gliders out - Puchatek was first to launch. I told Boris that I would do a hook up procedure with Peter and then he would try it. This was Boris' first flight in E-tug since the engine failure. Imagine my consternation after the second "hook-up" when he waved us off! I wasn't expecting this and thought it was another real emergency. However it was just a misunderstanding, and we had a good laugh about it afterwards. We managed to soar on this flight so were able to practice stalls and spins.
The single seaters launched, trying to ignore a large black rain cloud at the end of the runway. It looked OK towards Gunnedah. Josef thought better of it and put the LS6 away again without flying, but spent the rest of the day running the wing and retrieving the Puchatek.
By the time we launched the Puchatek again, the rain had reached the airfield, so we just did a circuit and landed back at the hangars, and had lunch.
After the rain shower, there was no more lift, but conditions were ideal for training. We got the Puchatek out again, and did heaps of circuits, emergencies, aerotow exercises etc, culminating in Peter's first solo flight in the evening, closely followed by his second!
Arrived back at LKSC by Jabiru at about 9.15 am. The forecast again was terrible, but the view out of the window was not too bad. Ian Barraclough arrived in MIE, and Josef Strassl, a visitor form Austria, Harry Potts and Graham Holland were here as well as Peter Robinson, this week's student visiting from England
We got the gliders out - Puchatek was first to launch. I told Boris that I would do a hook up procedure with Peter and then he would try it. This was Boris' first flight in E-tug since the engine failure. Imagine my consternation after the second "hook-up" when he waved us off! I wasn't expecting this and thought it was another real emergency. However it was just a misunderstanding, and we had a good laugh about it afterwards. We managed to soar on this flight so were able to practice stalls and spins.
The single seaters launched, trying to ignore a large black rain cloud at the end of the runway. It looked OK towards Gunnedah. Josef thought better of it and put the LS6 away again without flying, but spent the rest of the day running the wing and retrieving the Puchatek.
By the time we launched the Puchatek again, the rain had reached the airfield, so we just did a circuit and landed back at the hangars, and had lunch.
After the rain shower, there was no more lift, but conditions were ideal for training. We got the Puchatek out again, and did heaps of circuits, emergencies, aerotow exercises etc, culminating in Peter's first solo flight in the evening, closely followed by his second!
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Saturday 1 December - Mission Accomplished!
Showers at Keepit first thing this morning delayed my departure in PPC until about 7.30 am.
Boris and Robin left with the trailer containing the Grob fuselage before I took off. Tom Gilbert has the new canopy, and it will take about a week to fit he says, so with luck we could have it back in the air by the beginning of next week i.e about 10 December.
It cleared up at Keepit a bit, and after taking off in the Pawnee, I could see that the rain was an isolated shower and I was able to fly around it. I did discover that the cockpit is not watertight! I had an easy run down to the Liverpool ranges but there was low scud on the other side. There appeared to be plenty of gaps in it, so I went over the top as far as Mudgee. After Mudgee, the low stuff appeared to be thickening up so I descended through a hole and continued at about 4000 ft and made it into Pipers Field with no trouble. 1.7 hours flying time, and used 70 litres of fuel - about 40 litres per hour. There was a decent tail wind, but fortunately next to none on the ground for the landing.
After a much appreciated cup of coffee and piece of fruit cake at the Bathurst Soaring Club, I flew the Jabiru to YBTH to get fuel (no avgas at Pipers Field), and from there to Cowra. Got to Cowra just before the thunderstorms started, and it has been grey and showery ever since.
Hope they managed to get some gliding done at Keepit.
Boris and Robin left with the trailer containing the Grob fuselage before I took off. Tom Gilbert has the new canopy, and it will take about a week to fit he says, so with luck we could have it back in the air by the beginning of next week i.e about 10 December.
It cleared up at Keepit a bit, and after taking off in the Pawnee, I could see that the rain was an isolated shower and I was able to fly around it. I did discover that the cockpit is not watertight! I had an easy run down to the Liverpool ranges but there was low scud on the other side. There appeared to be plenty of gaps in it, so I went over the top as far as Mudgee. After Mudgee, the low stuff appeared to be thickening up so I descended through a hole and continued at about 4000 ft and made it into Pipers Field with no trouble. 1.7 hours flying time, and used 70 litres of fuel - about 40 litres per hour. There was a decent tail wind, but fortunately next to none on the ground for the landing.
After a much appreciated cup of coffee and piece of fruit cake at the Bathurst Soaring Club, I flew the Jabiru to YBTH to get fuel (no avgas at Pipers Field), and from there to Cowra. Got to Cowra just before the thunderstorms started, and it has been grey and showery ever since.
Hope they managed to get some gliding done at Keepit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)