The day started early with a man coming to dig holes for the new hangar. Peter Shiels turned up to assist with shoveling dirt and hosing water but they were unable to dig the holes because the ground was too hard for the machine.
We spent most of the day rigging and derigging and rigging gliders again. We managed to rig the Grob Twin two again with Garry Speight's help. Then we renewed the tape on the ailerons, measured the wing frequency and control deflections.
As soon as we had finished with the fuselage cradle, it went back into use with Garry's Twin Astir. We had to take the wings off it for Garry to do the 100 hourly inspection on it as well.
We eventually got into the air at about 1600 - John Trezise and I in the Grob. The sky looked very good although it was a cool day. Boris towed us into a thermal at about 2500 ft above ground and we were able to climb up to a good cloud street and fly straight along it in lift. We had a good soaring flight, and John handled his first flight in the Grob very well.
After landing, we helped Garry put the wings back on the the Twin Astir. It was very cool on the airfield.
John and Garry have both gone home and the place is deserted again except for the workers!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday 28 February
Sunny in the morning but bad weather forecast. The TAF for Coonabarabran was already indicating 10 gusting 32 winds so we knew the bad weather was not far away. We decided to have a maintenance day. Bob Emery turned up to help so with four of us we were able to take the wings off the Grob so that we could have another go at fixing the brake. John Wakefield came out and brought two decent oil cans with him, and he and Boris bled the brake again. We believe we have improved it, but are not sure how effective it will be when the wings are back on. John had a good look at the items to be inspected for the 100 hourly and we tried to get the wings back on before the storm came. Unfortunately the job didn't go straightforwardly and we ended up putting the wings and fuselage back in the hangar as the rain poured down.
After lunch, John and Boris installed the shock cooling warning in the tug, while I tried unsuccessfully to find the small R clips I bought from Tom Gilbert for the hotelier fitting on the tailplane. Got my office tidied up a bit in the process, but couldn't find them.
In the evening we had a committee meeting by phone conference that lasted until about midnight. However it seems to work well having meetings in this way, and we are going to have them every month from now on. Suits me better to have the meetings during the week.
Hope we will get more flying tomorrow.
After lunch, John and Boris installed the shock cooling warning in the tug, while I tried unsuccessfully to find the small R clips I bought from Tom Gilbert for the hotelier fitting on the tailplane. Got my office tidied up a bit in the process, but couldn't find them.
In the evening we had a committee meeting by phone conference that lasted until about midnight. However it seems to work well having meetings in this way, and we are going to have them every month from now on. Suits me better to have the meetings during the week.
Hope we will get more flying tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Wednesday 27 February
Rather a grey day to start with, and not a good weather forecast. We had planned that John Trezise would fly the Grob Twin 11 today and he had been studying the flight manual. He noticed that there is a requirement to do a 100 hourly inspection on it - a thing that everyone else in the club including me had missed so far. The 100 hourly inspection was due so we didn't fly it.
John flew the Puchatek instead, solo, and managed two soaring flights, and one straight up and down. There were cumulus about under the overcast, and eventually some blue sky. The rain showers bypassed Lake Keepit, but seemed to sit over Mt Borah.
Now that John has done his five flights needed for his A certificate, he decided to help us to do the maintenance on the Grob. The first necessity was to fix the wheel brake. Boris is now an expert on aircraft brakes, and he was able to pressure bleed it from the bottom. We managed to get some brake, but not enough. Further attempts proved impossible as the oil can we were using fell apart. Looks like more glider maintenance tomorrow.
John flew the Puchatek instead, solo, and managed two soaring flights, and one straight up and down. There were cumulus about under the overcast, and eventually some blue sky. The rain showers bypassed Lake Keepit, but seemed to sit over Mt Borah.
Now that John has done his five flights needed for his A certificate, he decided to help us to do the maintenance on the Grob. The first necessity was to fix the wheel brake. Boris is now an expert on aircraft brakes, and he was able to pressure bleed it from the bottom. We managed to get some brake, but not enough. Further attempts proved impossible as the oil can we were using fell apart. Looks like more glider maintenance tomorrow.
Message to Readers in Argentina
Someone has sent Boris some interesting pictures of a new female "tug pilot" using the tow plane at his club. I was wondering if just to be fair they could send some similar and suitably enhanced pictures of a male tug pilot as well?
Thanks
Jenny
Thanks
Jenny
Tuesday 26 February
Started earlier this morning as I was conscripted to be Boris' secretary in his efforts to get his CASA letter certifying his hours apostille stamped. We managed to get to the proper business of flying by about 1000. Not much in the way of lift and very light winds - perfect for training. We did a few wave offs and cable breaks, and then a pre solo check, by which time the thermals were starting up.
John went on his own for the flight before lunch, and managed 31 minutes soaring on his first gliding solo, followed by a safe landing. Congratulations John.
After lunch he had another go but released a bit too early and was unable to stay up. He preferred me to go with him for the next flight as there were a few hang gliders around and the weather was overdeveloping. So I sat in the back seat as ballast. We soared for about an hour, and did about 55 km according to the flarm trace. We managed to fly through showers and some hail, and there was thunder about when we landed so we put the glider away quickly.
Boris had to go to Somerton Post Office and appears to be famous there. The newspaper article about him was published in the Tamworth paper this weekend, and the people at the Post Office recognised him and gave him a copy of the paper! Argentinean tuggies are obviously big news in both Tamworth and Gunnedah!
John went on his own for the flight before lunch, and managed 31 minutes soaring on his first gliding solo, followed by a safe landing. Congratulations John.
After lunch he had another go but released a bit too early and was unable to stay up. He preferred me to go with him for the next flight as there were a few hang gliders around and the weather was overdeveloping. So I sat in the back seat as ballast. We soared for about an hour, and did about 55 km according to the flarm trace. We managed to fly through showers and some hail, and there was thunder about when we landed so we put the glider away quickly.
Boris had to go to Somerton Post Office and appears to be famous there. The newspaper article about him was published in the Tamworth paper this weekend, and the people at the Post Office recognised him and gave him a copy of the paper! Argentinean tuggies are obviously big news in both Tamworth and Gunnedah!
Monday 25 February
A very quiet day at the club. Tim Carr was around supervising the hangar construction but John Trezise didn't turn up until about 11 am. I did some office work, and Boris went to Tamworth to organise a letter from CASA to validate his Australian hours flown, and to do a bit of shopping.
Just when I thought I'd be able to catch up on all the paperwork, John Trezise turned up so I had to go flying after all! After doing a bit about Macready theory and thermal joining techniques, we started to get the Puchatek out. I think I must be going completely mad - I looked in the hangar for the motor bikes and could only see two. Couldn't find the back seat cushion for the Puchatek either! Went riding up and down the runway looking for the third bike and found the towing gear for the Grob in the Bus, which was a bonus! Went back the hangar and there was the third bike - it had been there all along! Made a few phone calls to try and track down the seat cushion, and then realised who the idiot was that had taken it out of the glider and hidden it. Me of course! I had used it for my hangar flight in the Junior on Friday and forgotten to put it back!
The day improved markedly in the afternoon, and I had a few good flights with John, who settled back into it after the first one or two. There is a hang gliding competition on at Mt Borah, and several flew over the field so we had to keep a good look out. One landed on our airstrip - Alistair Bramwell-Davies, who I used to know from hang gliding days. I was going to offer him a beer, but his retrieve turned up so quickly he didn't have time.
I think it would have been a hard day for the hang gliders to get away from the hill at Mt Borah, as the thermals were quite a long way apart, and the wind very light and variable.
Just when I thought I'd be able to catch up on all the paperwork, John Trezise turned up so I had to go flying after all! After doing a bit about Macready theory and thermal joining techniques, we started to get the Puchatek out. I think I must be going completely mad - I looked in the hangar for the motor bikes and could only see two. Couldn't find the back seat cushion for the Puchatek either! Went riding up and down the runway looking for the third bike and found the towing gear for the Grob in the Bus, which was a bonus! Went back the hangar and there was the third bike - it had been there all along! Made a few phone calls to try and track down the seat cushion, and then realised who the idiot was that had taken it out of the glider and hidden it. Me of course! I had used it for my hangar flight in the Junior on Friday and forgotten to put it back!
The day improved markedly in the afternoon, and I had a few good flights with John, who settled back into it after the first one or two. There is a hang gliding competition on at Mt Borah, and several flew over the field so we had to keep a good look out. One landed on our airstrip - Alistair Bramwell-Davies, who I used to know from hang gliding days. I was going to offer him a beer, but his retrieve turned up so quickly he didn't have time.
I think it would have been a hard day for the hang gliders to get away from the hill at Mt Borah, as the thermals were quite a long way apart, and the wind very light and variable.
Sunday 24 February
The day was a bit overcast, and did not look promising for soaring. A few winch launches were done in the morning but most people packed up and left by about mid-day.
I wanted to try to improve the total energy in my glider, which has been non-existent for my last few flights and Harry Medlicott kindly helped me with this, in between helping out with the earthworks for the new hangars.
I wanted to test it to see if there was any improvement, so I asked Boris to launch me at about 1600, not really expecting to soar. To my surprise the lift was quite good to about 5500ft, not strong, but consistent and I stayed up for about 2 hours. Total energy much improved. There was still lift about when I landed.
I wanted to try to improve the total energy in my glider, which has been non-existent for my last few flights and Harry Medlicott kindly helped me with this, in between helping out with the earthworks for the new hangars.
I wanted to test it to see if there was any improvement, so I asked Boris to launch me at about 1600, not really expecting to soar. To my surprise the lift was quite good to about 5500ft, not strong, but consistent and I stayed up for about 2 hours. Total energy much improved. There was still lift about when I landed.
Saturday 23 February
A large contingent of visitors from the Hastings and District Aero Club came to the club. We had an instuctors panel meeting and committee meeting scheduled for the weekend, so I stayed at the club. There were plenty of instructors around to fly the aeroclub members on the winch, and all three two seaters were going flat out. I drove the winch for the morning, and Vic Hatfield took over in the afternoon.
Unfortunately we had an incident on the first winch launch of the day, where the tug tow rope was lying across the winch rope, unnoticed by anyone. At the glider took off the tug rope was lifted up by the winch rope and managed to somehow wrap itself around the glider, causing it to back release. The tug's tow hook was damaged, the leading edge of the wing was dented and there were a few dents in the glider too. Luckily no-one was hurt but the tug was out of action for the rest of the day.
The thermal conditions were not great - it was a bit stable, but several of the visitors were able to have soaring flights.
Boris, Christian, Peter Shiels and Tim Carr went water ski-ing in the afternoon, and I had a swim in the lake.
The Aeroclub members all seemed to have a good time, and finished the day off with a huge barbecue.
Unfortunately we had an incident on the first winch launch of the day, where the tug tow rope was lying across the winch rope, unnoticed by anyone. At the glider took off the tug rope was lifted up by the winch rope and managed to somehow wrap itself around the glider, causing it to back release. The tug's tow hook was damaged, the leading edge of the wing was dented and there were a few dents in the glider too. Luckily no-one was hurt but the tug was out of action for the rest of the day.
The thermal conditions were not great - it was a bit stable, but several of the visitors were able to have soaring flights.
Boris, Christian, Peter Shiels and Tim Carr went water ski-ing in the afternoon, and I had a swim in the lake.
The Aeroclub members all seemed to have a good time, and finished the day off with a huge barbecue.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Friday 22 February
Friday was the hottest day of the summer so far according to Garry Speight.
Wendy Medlicott flew her LS8 early on in the day for an hour and a half, before handing it over to Harry just when the conditions were getting good. There was quite a westerly wind blowing, so I did another check flight with Kurt before letting him loose on his own again. I covered the altimeter, but he did an excellent circuit without it.
David Sieb had his first flight in the Jantar Standard, and had three hours and 14 minutes. The takeoff and landing were faultless! David is a highly accomplished hang glider pilot, and seems to have taken to sailplane flying like a duck to water.
Kurt did four solos in the Puchatek but was only able to soar on the last one - but managed just over an hour on that one.
Roy Worthington flew the Junior, and Al Giles his Jantar. Geoff Neely flew his DG400.
Roy landed the Junior on Runway 20 and I was helping him to tow it back to the hangars when I thought it was a pity not to fly it back as the tug was just waiting! So I hopped in and took a launch. Boris found me a thermal over the lake and I released in it - apparently only about 1000 ft. I climbed up to 6500ft and had to airbrake down again to put the glider away and go back to work. Nice sort of lunch break!
Our visitors from the Hastings and District Aerotow started to arrive, and I took one of them, Carolyn, for a trial instructional flight in the Grob. Despite only having flown aeroplanes from the right had seat a few times, she flew very well.
Wendy Medlicott flew her LS8 early on in the day for an hour and a half, before handing it over to Harry just when the conditions were getting good. There was quite a westerly wind blowing, so I did another check flight with Kurt before letting him loose on his own again. I covered the altimeter, but he did an excellent circuit without it.
David Sieb had his first flight in the Jantar Standard, and had three hours and 14 minutes. The takeoff and landing were faultless! David is a highly accomplished hang glider pilot, and seems to have taken to sailplane flying like a duck to water.
Kurt did four solos in the Puchatek but was only able to soar on the last one - but managed just over an hour on that one.
Roy Worthington flew the Junior, and Al Giles his Jantar. Geoff Neely flew his DG400.
Roy landed the Junior on Runway 20 and I was helping him to tow it back to the hangars when I thought it was a pity not to fly it back as the tug was just waiting! So I hopped in and took a launch. Boris found me a thermal over the lake and I released in it - apparently only about 1000 ft. I climbed up to 6500ft and had to airbrake down again to put the glider away and go back to work. Nice sort of lunch break!
Our visitors from the Hastings and District Aerotow started to arrive, and I took one of them, Carolyn, for a trial instructional flight in the Grob. Despite only having flown aeroplanes from the right had seat a few times, she flew very well.
Thursday 21 February
Not a fantastic soaring day, but Roy Worthington managed 2 1/2 hours in the Junior and David Sieb did an hour and a half in the Grob 103. He must be the first pilot to fly the Grob for the first time solo! He had flown Garry's twin astir before though. He said it was a nice comfortable easy to fly glider - and it is!
I flew with Kurt in the Puchatek. The tug was rather unreliable and kept waggling its wings. The rope kept breaking too. After coping with these emergencies, Kurt went solo for the first time since about 1995. He had done a course here then and done two solo flights, but hadn't done much since.
Well done Kurt.
I flew with Kurt in the Puchatek. The tug was rather unreliable and kept waggling its wings. The rope kept breaking too. After coping with these emergencies, Kurt went solo for the first time since about 1995. He had done a course here then and done two solo flights, but hadn't done much since.
Well done Kurt.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wednesday 20 February
Winching again. I'm getting much more adept at setting up the winch, but today I lost the whip antenna for the VHF radio. Must have fallen off towing the winch out.
Roy Worthington is at the club again, and once again, is doing heaps of mowing. We will have to call him Mr Tractor! The strip is looking great again thanks to his efforts.
Kurt and Garry were the only ones to fly, but it looked like an excellent day. I could hear hang glider pilots on the UHF radio. Kurt had Garry had 5 winch launches, two of them being one hour soaring flights.
During the day, the tug arrived back. The engine problem has been fixed, the EGT probe replaced, and the engine instruments are all working properly now. The fuel tanks no longer leak when the tanks are full! The fluctuating power appears to have been caused by loose spark plugs and leads. Thanks to Country Capital in Tamworth. Garry and Kurt did three aerotow launches.
Hopefully now Kurt will be able to continue his training by aerotow!
Roy Worthington is at the club again, and once again, is doing heaps of mowing. We will have to call him Mr Tractor! The strip is looking great again thanks to his efforts.
Kurt and Garry were the only ones to fly, but it looked like an excellent day. I could hear hang glider pilots on the UHF radio. Kurt had Garry had 5 winch launches, two of them being one hour soaring flights.
During the day, the tug arrived back. The engine problem has been fixed, the EGT probe replaced, and the engine instruments are all working properly now. The fuel tanks no longer leak when the tanks are full! The fluctuating power appears to have been caused by loose spark plugs and leads. Thanks to Country Capital in Tamworth. Garry and Kurt did three aerotow launches.
Hopefully now Kurt will be able to continue his training by aerotow!
Tuesday 19 February
Andrew Brumby arrived at the club at 0530 to fly the tug to Tamworth - a very early start.
Another winch day. Garry Speight kindly agreed to come and instruct again, and I drove the winch.
David Sieb of hang gliding fame renewed his membership of the club, and took the opportunity to get a winch endorsement with Garry. By the end of the day he succeeded in this.
Al Giles attempted to winch IZT twice, but his back release kept releasing prematurely so he gave up. Garry and Kurt were able to get away for one soaring flight, but most of the flights were quite short. By the end of the day we had showers, and there was a lot of overdevelopment.
Al Giles wanted me to publish pictures of the paddy melons growing on the runway he was mowing! See how big they can get very quickly.
Another winch day. Garry Speight kindly agreed to come and instruct again, and I drove the winch.
David Sieb of hang gliding fame renewed his membership of the club, and took the opportunity to get a winch endorsement with Garry. By the end of the day he succeeded in this.
Al Giles attempted to winch IZT twice, but his back release kept releasing prematurely so he gave up. Garry and Kurt were able to get away for one soaring flight, but most of the flights were quite short. By the end of the day we had showers, and there was a lot of overdevelopment.
Al Giles wanted me to publish pictures of the paddy melons growing on the runway he was mowing! See how big they can get very quickly.
Monday 18 February
Flew with Kurt Wiesman my student for the week on Monday morning. Didn't get going until 1150am so consequently had an hours soaring flight. Kurt has been solo before about 10 years ago, but has done very little gliding since then. He was a bit tense to start with, and needed a break after the long first flight.
Dropped my glasses in the hopper of the tug, and had to climb in to get them. Fortunately it is possible to climb out again - but its a long way down Of course they had to photograph me trying to climb out!
Al Giles flew Jantar IZT.
After lunch we attempted another launch with Kurt, but the rpm in the tug fluctuated badly on take off, so Boris aborted the launch. Good practice that one! It seemed all right again after that and he flew a couple of circuits to test it. Just as we were going back to the launch, the right brake failed again - so that was that for the day.
After many phone calls, we decided to send it to Tamworth for maintenance.
No more gliding today.
Dropped my glasses in the hopper of the tug, and had to climb in to get them. Fortunately it is possible to climb out again - but its a long way down Of course they had to photograph me trying to climb out!
Al Giles flew Jantar IZT.
After lunch we attempted another launch with Kurt, but the rpm in the tug fluctuated badly on take off, so Boris aborted the launch. Good practice that one! It seemed all right again after that and he flew a couple of circuits to test it. Just as we were going back to the launch, the right brake failed again - so that was that for the day.
After many phone calls, we decided to send it to Tamworth for maintenance.
No more gliding today.
Sunday 17 February
A rather quiet day at the airfield. Garry was the instructor for the day. We had another scare with the tug as Tim Carr spotted a broken bolt in the engine bay. It had come from the generator. With much difficulty it was replaced, and the tug was able to fly.
The problem with the tug brought Andrew Brumby to the airfield with a replacement bolt, so while he was here he did some solo flying in the Grob 103. Despite having hours of tug flying under his belt, he has not done all that much glider flying, but I think he's getting keen on it.
Bob Sprague also flew the Grob, Peter Shiels flew XQV (cirrus - that aircraft gets a real work out with 3 of the 4 syndicate members being very active pilots) and I flew the Mosquito.
It was reasonable windy from the east, and the thermals not all that easy, but I managed to do the silver C milk run of Manilla, Gunnedah and back. Cloudbase was all over the place but the maximum height I got was 6700ft.
Garry spent most of the day working on the Junior. He did its 50 hourly inspection, and was concerned about the rudder, and dismantled and lubricated it. Thanks for that Garry.
The problem with the tug brought Andrew Brumby to the airfield with a replacement bolt, so while he was here he did some solo flying in the Grob 103. Despite having hours of tug flying under his belt, he has not done all that much glider flying, but I think he's getting keen on it.
Bob Sprague also flew the Grob, Peter Shiels flew XQV (cirrus - that aircraft gets a real work out with 3 of the 4 syndicate members being very active pilots) and I flew the Mosquito.
It was reasonable windy from the east, and the thermals not all that easy, but I managed to do the silver C milk run of Manilla, Gunnedah and back. Cloudbase was all over the place but the maximum height I got was 6700ft.
Garry spent most of the day working on the Junior. He did its 50 hourly inspection, and was concerned about the rudder, and dismantled and lubricated it. Thanks for that Garry.
Saturday 16 February
Had to do an oil change for the Jabiru this morning, and Geoff Sim was kind enough to help me. Actually I think he did all the work! By the time that was all done and I had got the Mosquito out it was nearly 4.00 pm before I launched.
Bob Sprague did an AFR with Tim Carr. Trevor West flew his Ventus Little Petunia, Christian Linnet flew Cirrus XQV and John Hoye flew the LS6 KYL. Bob Emery flew the other Cirrus IUZ. Christian and John Hoye did about 300 km, Quirindi, Tambar Springs and somewhere near Mullaley, and posted their flights on the OLC. Not sure where Trevor went. I headed for Quirindi, but turned short, nearly went down while drifting the west and eventually scratched back home. Last to land as usual.
Boris flew the tug.
Bob Sprague did an AFR with Tim Carr. Trevor West flew his Ventus Little Petunia, Christian Linnet flew Cirrus XQV and John Hoye flew the LS6 KYL. Bob Emery flew the other Cirrus IUZ. Christian and John Hoye did about 300 km, Quirindi, Tambar Springs and somewhere near Mullaley, and posted their flights on the OLC. Not sure where Trevor went. I headed for Quirindi, but turned short, nearly went down while drifting the west and eventually scratched back home. Last to land as usual.
Boris flew the tug.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Friday 15 February
Looked as if we would have a good day. Garry came out again to instruct on the winch - what would we do without him? While he was briefing John and Ian Sawell about thermalling, I got the winch ready. We had left it at the top of the hill, and fortunately didn't have to move it. However the dune buggy had a clutch problem, so we had to use the old statesman to tow the rope out. However it seemed to work OK
We didn't have all that many launches as the gliders kept staying up and soaring. Peter Robinson was second to launch in the Junior at 12.30 pm. He succeeded in doing his silver C duration flight of five hours. Garry flew with John Trezise and Ian Sawell throughout the day. The sky looked brilliant, however the wind increased later in the afternoon, and the sky went blue. Peter managed to stay up in the more difficult conditions fortunately.
Meanwhile John Wakefield came out with the repaired brake parts and fitted them to the tug. We had new brake linings sent overnight from a place in Archerfield, so the linings were replace in both wheels. By the end of the day Boris was able to do taxi trials, and we now have a working tug again. John Wakefield is an absolute marvel when it comes to keeping the aeroplane flying.
John Trezise went home this afternoon, but has promised to return soon. He didn't solo this week, but learning to find and work thermals was a more important priority for him this week. He could have had no better instruction that flying with Garry! I think he's hooked!
An article about Boris was published in the Gunnedah paper yesterday, so now he feels famous! Thanks Geoff for writing the article!
We didn't have all that many launches as the gliders kept staying up and soaring. Peter Robinson was second to launch in the Junior at 12.30 pm. He succeeded in doing his silver C duration flight of five hours. Garry flew with John Trezise and Ian Sawell throughout the day. The sky looked brilliant, however the wind increased later in the afternoon, and the sky went blue. Peter managed to stay up in the more difficult conditions fortunately.
Meanwhile John Wakefield came out with the repaired brake parts and fitted them to the tug. We had new brake linings sent overnight from a place in Archerfield, so the linings were replace in both wheels. By the end of the day Boris was able to do taxi trials, and we now have a working tug again. John Wakefield is an absolute marvel when it comes to keeping the aeroplane flying.
John Trezise went home this afternoon, but has promised to return soon. He didn't solo this week, but learning to find and work thermals was a more important priority for him this week. He could have had no better instruction that flying with Garry! I think he's hooked!
An article about Boris was published in the Gunnedah paper yesterday, so now he feels famous! Thanks Geoff for writing the article!
Thursday 14 February
Not able to fly the tug so we had a winching day. Garry Speight very kindly agreed to help out with the operation - he is much more experienced with winch instructing than I. In addition to which I was on the mobile phone practically the whole day trying to get the tug sorted out.
Geoff Sim and Boris flew to Inverell to take the brake parts to Paul Mitrega so he could see exactly what was needed. As luck would have it, Telstra cut off his three land lines and internet service, and he could only get mobile coverage by climbing up a ladder to the roof of the hangar! However even under these difficult circumstances, he managed to do a lot of ringing around to try and source the brake parts. The problem is that they date back to about 1965 and are no longer made - but there are parts available in the US. We could have got them by next Wednesday.
Bob Emery came out to fly but we had no tug. He does not like winch launching, but luckily he was able to take the brake parts into Tamworth (Geoff and Boris bought them back again) where John Wakefield was able to organise a repair to be done.
Meanwhile after a lot of stuffing about in the morning, we got the winch going, and Garry did numerous training flights with John Trezise, Ian Sawell and Peter Robinson. After a lot of false starts we eventually managed to winch Peter in the Junior satisfactorily. It appears you have to back of the power to about half when winching the Junior. Despite the sky looking very good, no one managed a soaring flight. Geoff Sim took the ASH out to the launch point, but had a problem with the engine so did not fly it. Hope he can get it fixed soon.
Boris drove the winch most of the afternoon - I gave him the flight sheet in a pink clipboard just to annoy him, and sure enough he took the bait!
By the end of the day, I thought we had the tug brake problem reasonably under control thank goodness. We all had dinner together and had a pleasant evening yakking about gliding.
Geoff Sim and Boris flew to Inverell to take the brake parts to Paul Mitrega so he could see exactly what was needed. As luck would have it, Telstra cut off his three land lines and internet service, and he could only get mobile coverage by climbing up a ladder to the roof of the hangar! However even under these difficult circumstances, he managed to do a lot of ringing around to try and source the brake parts. The problem is that they date back to about 1965 and are no longer made - but there are parts available in the US. We could have got them by next Wednesday.
Bob Emery came out to fly but we had no tug. He does not like winch launching, but luckily he was able to take the brake parts into Tamworth (Geoff and Boris bought them back again) where John Wakefield was able to organise a repair to be done.
Meanwhile after a lot of stuffing about in the morning, we got the winch going, and Garry did numerous training flights with John Trezise, Ian Sawell and Peter Robinson. After a lot of false starts we eventually managed to winch Peter in the Junior satisfactorily. It appears you have to back of the power to about half when winching the Junior. Despite the sky looking very good, no one managed a soaring flight. Geoff Sim took the ASH out to the launch point, but had a problem with the engine so did not fly it. Hope he can get it fixed soon.
Boris drove the winch most of the afternoon - I gave him the flight sheet in a pink clipboard just to annoy him, and sure enough he took the bait!
By the end of the day, I thought we had the tug brake problem reasonably under control thank goodness. We all had dinner together and had a pleasant evening yakking about gliding.
Wednesday 13 February
The day dawned dry and reasonably sunny. The weather improved more than the previous day's forecast suggested. The strip was still a bit boggy in places, but usable.
First to launch was Miro in his nimbus 2 OH. Then Garry Speight flying with William White. Peter Robinson launched in the Junior, which he now regards as "his" glider - at least for the time he is here. I took off with John Trezise, and later Geoff Neely self launched in HDB, the DG300.
Although the clouds looked very good, the thermals were ordinary. Garry and William had the longest flight with 2 hours 7 minutes. John flew very well - only his fourth flight in a glider and we covered the tug emergency signals. Boris waved us off in a thermal and we had 40 minutes or so of soaring flight, followed by a decent landing in a reasonable crosswind.
The bad news was that one of the brakes on the tug broke, and on disassembly we found that the linings were badly worn, the piston completely u/s and the cylinder was scored. The rest of the day was spent frantically on the phone trying to get spare parts so that we could get the plane back in the air as soon as possible.
First to launch was Miro in his nimbus 2 OH. Then Garry Speight flying with William White. Peter Robinson launched in the Junior, which he now regards as "his" glider - at least for the time he is here. I took off with John Trezise, and later Geoff Neely self launched in HDB, the DG300.
Although the clouds looked very good, the thermals were ordinary. Garry and William had the longest flight with 2 hours 7 minutes. John flew very well - only his fourth flight in a glider and we covered the tug emergency signals. Boris waved us off in a thermal and we had 40 minutes or so of soaring flight, followed by a decent landing in a reasonable crosswind.
The bad news was that one of the brakes on the tug broke, and on disassembly we found that the linings were badly worn, the piston completely u/s and the cylinder was scored. The rest of the day was spent frantically on the phone trying to get spare parts so that we could get the plane back in the air as soon as possible.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Tuesday 12 February
It started to rain last night, and rained the whole night and through into this morning. No flying again. The forecast looks as if it might dry up tomorrow afternoon. I did a lesson on how to get and decipher aviation forecasts.
Jim, Al Giles and Ian Barraclough all went home because of the weather, but once they had gone, it started to dry up.
Miro Mikus phoned to ask what I thought the weather would do. I told him I thought it would be better tomorrow afternoon, and OK on Thursday. "Are you sure?" he asked! Of course not. Miro turned up anyway - he must be an optimist!
Managed to update the software in the flarms in the Junior and Grob Twin ll. Can't replace the tail wheel of the Jantar because we don't have the right tube - so the glider is out of action until I can get one with a different valve stem.
At about 1530 this afternoon, there was a small patch of blue sky and the rain had stopped. I checked the runway, but it was still too wet to use. We don't want to bog any more gliders! By about 1900, the grass around the clubhouse had dried, so I took the opportunity to slash in front of my residence so I don't get soaked with long wet grass every time I go outside!
I think it will be flyable tomorrow (or do I mean today?)
Jim, Al Giles and Ian Barraclough all went home because of the weather, but once they had gone, it started to dry up.
Miro Mikus phoned to ask what I thought the weather would do. I told him I thought it would be better tomorrow afternoon, and OK on Thursday. "Are you sure?" he asked! Of course not. Miro turned up anyway - he must be an optimist!
Managed to update the software in the flarms in the Junior and Grob Twin ll. Can't replace the tail wheel of the Jantar because we don't have the right tube - so the glider is out of action until I can get one with a different valve stem.
At about 1530 this afternoon, there was a small patch of blue sky and the rain had stopped. I checked the runway, but it was still too wet to use. We don't want to bog any more gliders! By about 1900, the grass around the clubhouse had dried, so I took the opportunity to slash in front of my residence so I don't get soaked with long wet grass every time I go outside!
I think it will be flyable tomorrow (or do I mean today?)
Monday 11 February
Arrived back at Lake Keepit by Jabiru on Monday morning a little late after an emergency unscheduled stop at Coolah. Not problem with the plane, but the pilots on board both needed a water drain!
It was overcast at Keepit, and the air was very smooth as we flew in. After consulting the blipmaps, Garry (who was going to fly with William White) decided it wasn't worth going cross country and went home.
My student this week is John Trezise, who used to be a pilot in the airforce years ago. William White is still here this week, as is Peter Robinson and Jim Thompson came out again.
Peter flew the Junior again, and now regards it as "his" glider. He says the new vario is a great improvement, but the mechanical one is still not working properly. We might have to dispense with it, which will make the plumbing simpler.
After a check flight Jim Thompson flew solo again in the Puchatek, flying it when John needed a break - which worked quite well.
Al Giles and Ian Barraclough were both at the club, but only flew the tractors! There was quite a bit of mowing done over the weekend, with runway 20 being cleared, but 14 was still pretty overgrown. The grass is really growing thickly. Al and Ian managed to make inroads into runway 14, but there is still a lot more to do.
John really had not forgotten how to fly, and was able to do the aerotow quite well on his first flight. On the second one he handled the take off as well (wing down), and he hasn't forgotten how to land either! We managed an hour soaring on his third flight, which was excellent practice for turn co-ordination. I find I have completed most of the syllabus already!
It was overcast at Keepit, and the air was very smooth as we flew in. After consulting the blipmaps, Garry (who was going to fly with William White) decided it wasn't worth going cross country and went home.
My student this week is John Trezise, who used to be a pilot in the airforce years ago. William White is still here this week, as is Peter Robinson and Jim Thompson came out again.
Peter flew the Junior again, and now regards it as "his" glider. He says the new vario is a great improvement, but the mechanical one is still not working properly. We might have to dispense with it, which will make the plumbing simpler.
After a check flight Jim Thompson flew solo again in the Puchatek, flying it when John needed a break - which worked quite well.
Al Giles and Ian Barraclough were both at the club, but only flew the tractors! There was quite a bit of mowing done over the weekend, with runway 20 being cleared, but 14 was still pretty overgrown. The grass is really growing thickly. Al and Ian managed to make inroads into runway 14, but there is still a lot more to do.
John really had not forgotten how to fly, and was able to do the aerotow quite well on his first flight. On the second one he handled the take off as well (wing down), and he hasn't forgotten how to land either! We managed an hour soaring on his third flight, which was excellent practice for turn co-ordination. I find I have completed most of the syllabus already!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Weekend of 9 and 10 Feb
Had to drive home this weekend, as the plane was still in Cowra. Boris shared the driving, as he was going to the Temora Aviation Museum flying days. I dropped him off at Temora in the Jabiru on Saturday morning, and picked him up again on Sunday afternoon.
Fantastic gliding weather at Temora, but no gliding as their tug was out of action. It is difficult to go gliding there when the museum days are on anyway, but not impossible!
Meanwhile at Lake Keepit there was a huge weekend of flying. 26 launches on Saturday and 27 on Sunday. Christian Linnet and Sam Clift flew cross country on Saturday but Sam landed out at Gunnedah. Christian flew 283 km in the Cirrus, with a flight time of over five hours. I have posted their flights on the OLC.
Tuggie Andrew Brumby was coerced into a glider again and did and AFR. Peter Robinson flew the Junior on both days.
Stephen and Paul Tridgell came out for the weekend and continued their instruction, and so did Ian Gostelow and Max Clothier.
In the end there were three first solos on Sunday Paul Tridgell in the twin ll, Stephen Tridgell in the Puchatek and Ian Gostelow, also in the Puchatek. As far as I know no-one took any photos!
I don't think Paul Tridgell's was really a first - I believe he is returning to gliding.
Lets hope all these pilots will continue on to get their C certificates and get into the real business of flying cross country!
Fantastic gliding weather at Temora, but no gliding as their tug was out of action. It is difficult to go gliding there when the museum days are on anyway, but not impossible!
Meanwhile at Lake Keepit there was a huge weekend of flying. 26 launches on Saturday and 27 on Sunday. Christian Linnet and Sam Clift flew cross country on Saturday but Sam landed out at Gunnedah. Christian flew 283 km in the Cirrus, with a flight time of over five hours. I have posted their flights on the OLC.
Tuggie Andrew Brumby was coerced into a glider again and did and AFR. Peter Robinson flew the Junior on both days.
Stephen and Paul Tridgell came out for the weekend and continued their instruction, and so did Ian Gostelow and Max Clothier.
In the end there were three first solos on Sunday Paul Tridgell in the twin ll, Stephen Tridgell in the Puchatek and Ian Gostelow, also in the Puchatek. As far as I know no-one took any photos!
I don't think Paul Tridgell's was really a first - I believe he is returning to gliding.
Lets hope all these pilots will continue on to get their C certificates and get into the real business of flying cross country!
Friday 8 February
Garry Speight came out to assist with the instructing as we had quite a few student pilots to look after. However we made two of them sick, and the rest were solo so he ended up with not a lot to do.
It was quite a reasonable soaring day. Peter Robinson shared the Junior with Michael Murphy, Max flew with Garry in the Twin, and I flew with Ian and William in the Puchatek. After three flights in the Puchatek, William had got it together again (he hadn't flown for 8 months) and I sent him solo. He had 25 minutes soaring and did an excellent landing - another ex hang-glider pilot. Actually it wasn't really his first solo, as he had done one in 1982 at Tocumwal.
I flew with Ian Gostelow a couple of times. He is an ex GA pilot, so can handle the aircraft OK, but had never really done any thermalling. Unfortunately I managed to make him feel sick, and he spent the rest of the day on the tractor! Meanwhile Garry had managed to make Max feel sick and he spent the rest of the day retrieving gliders and running wings!
We had a ground loop incident during the day, due to the very long grass on parts of the strip. Getting the grass mowed is really getting to be a high priority, but you can't do it when the strip is boggy. Fortunately the glider was not damaged, and neither was the pilot.
It was quite a reasonable soaring day. Peter Robinson shared the Junior with Michael Murphy, Max flew with Garry in the Twin, and I flew with Ian and William in the Puchatek. After three flights in the Puchatek, William had got it together again (he hadn't flown for 8 months) and I sent him solo. He had 25 minutes soaring and did an excellent landing - another ex hang-glider pilot. Actually it wasn't really his first solo, as he had done one in 1982 at Tocumwal.
I flew with Ian Gostelow a couple of times. He is an ex GA pilot, so can handle the aircraft OK, but had never really done any thermalling. Unfortunately I managed to make him feel sick, and he spent the rest of the day on the tractor! Meanwhile Garry had managed to make Max feel sick and he spent the rest of the day retrieving gliders and running wings!
We had a ground loop incident during the day, due to the very long grass on parts of the strip. Getting the grass mowed is really getting to be a high priority, but you can't do it when the strip is boggy. Fortunately the glider was not damaged, and neither was the pilot.
Thursday 7 Feb
It finally stopped raining, but the strip was very soggy.
In addition to Michael Murphy, getting current again in gliders after a 3 year lay-off, I had Peter Robinson and William White from England, and Ian Gostelow and Max Clothier, pre solo club members to train. Vic Hatfield came out to assist with the instructing.
We got the gliders ready but postponed flying until after lunch. It was still a bit wet, but we thought it would be OK to fly, and that we would be able to land into wind in the triangle. WRONG! I had the first flight with William White. He was here last year and flew with Garry and myself, but didn't quite get to solo. He had done another course in England before coming back to Keepit. He flew very well, and landed perfectly in the triangle, into the SW wind as planned, but the glider pulled up very short. I thought he had used the wheel brake, or not kept the stick back, but no - the glider wheel had ploughed a deep
furrow in the mud, and was totally bogged.
We warned Vic and Michael Murphy in GFP (Twin ll) not to land in the same place, so they stayed up for an hour and a quarter. Meanwhile it took two motor bikes, the dune buggy, a large shovel and lots of people to extract the Puchatek from the mire!
Vic flew with Michael Murphy and Peter Robinson, both of whom flew solo again by the end of the day.
I flew with Max Clothier and managed to make him feel sick and Ian Gostelow. Neither had done much thermalling before as they had always visited in the winter before.
Because of the late start, we kept flying until it got dark - last launch at 2000! After that Vic got on the tractor for a bit of mowing, but soon had to give up due to lack of light.
In addition to Michael Murphy, getting current again in gliders after a 3 year lay-off, I had Peter Robinson and William White from England, and Ian Gostelow and Max Clothier, pre solo club members to train. Vic Hatfield came out to assist with the instructing.
We got the gliders ready but postponed flying until after lunch. It was still a bit wet, but we thought it would be OK to fly, and that we would be able to land into wind in the triangle. WRONG! I had the first flight with William White. He was here last year and flew with Garry and myself, but didn't quite get to solo. He had done another course in England before coming back to Keepit. He flew very well, and landed perfectly in the triangle, into the SW wind as planned, but the glider pulled up very short. I thought he had used the wheel brake, or not kept the stick back, but no - the glider wheel had ploughed a deep
furrow in the mud, and was totally bogged.We warned Vic and Michael Murphy in GFP (Twin ll) not to land in the same place, so they stayed up for an hour and a quarter. Meanwhile it took two motor bikes, the dune buggy, a large shovel and lots of people to extract the Puchatek from the mire!
Vic flew with Michael Murphy and Peter Robinson, both of whom flew solo again by the end of the day.
I flew with Max Clothier and managed to make him feel sick and Ian Gostelow. Neither had done much thermalling before as they had always visited in the winter before.
Because of the late start, we kept flying until it got dark - last launch at 2000! After that Vic got on the tractor for a bit of mowing, but soon had to give up due to lack of light.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Monday Tuesday and Wednesday, 4,5,6 Feb
On Monday I left Cowra to fly back to Lake Keepit in my Jabiru, but the rain showers got worse and worse, and I had to turn back. Once back on the ground at Cowra, I called Geoff Sim at LKSC to see what the weather was doing there. Not much good, so I drove back to work - got to Gunnedah about 3.00pm
Fortunatley Boris looked after the visitors, and no one was too concerned about my absence since it rained heaps during the day.
Tuesday and Wednesday there was rain rain and yet more rain. I have been baking bread to cheer people up! Brian Du Rieu, a club member who lives in Luxembourg was visiting, but gave up and went back to Sydney. However my student pilots are all hanging in, waiting for the rain to stop.
We managed on flight this morning (Wednesday) with a storm just to the east of the field. It
seemed to be fairly close, and it rumbled a bit, but I thought it was going to miss us. Boris thought we could manage a couple of tows so we gave it a go. Peter Robinson was the lucky pilot. He did his A certificate here last December, returned to England and did some more gliding at his own club, and now has 17 solos. The flight was quite smooth, but the storm did look very close. When we saw the tug land and head straight back to the hangar, we thought we had better do the same. Just about managed to get everything put away before the rain started, but we were trapped in the glider hangar in a deluge unwilling to get soaked walking back to the flight centre.
Later in the day, we moved the Junior into the tug hangar to install the new vario. Impossible to work on gliders in the glider hangars because the dirt floors are a sea of mud!
Fortunatley Boris looked after the visitors, and no one was too concerned about my absence since it rained heaps during the day.
Tuesday and Wednesday there was rain rain and yet more rain. I have been baking bread to cheer people up! Brian Du Rieu, a club member who lives in Luxembourg was visiting, but gave up and went back to Sydney. However my student pilots are all hanging in, waiting for the rain to stop.
We managed on flight this morning (Wednesday) with a storm just to the east of the field. It
seemed to be fairly close, and it rumbled a bit, but I thought it was going to miss us. Boris thought we could manage a couple of tows so we gave it a go. Peter Robinson was the lucky pilot. He did his A certificate here last December, returned to England and did some more gliding at his own club, and now has 17 solos. The flight was quite smooth, but the storm did look very close. When we saw the tug land and head straight back to the hangar, we thought we had better do the same. Just about managed to get everything put away before the rain started, but we were trapped in the glider hangar in a deluge unwilling to get soaked walking back to the flight centre.Later in the day, we moved the Junior into the tug hangar to install the new vario. Impossible to work on gliders in the glider hangars because the dirt floors are a sea of mud!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Sunday 3 February - by Peter Shiels
Yesterday was a very quiet day at the Club.
The sky was completely overcast when I arrived to find Paul Hunt & Bob Emery studying the day's blipmap. They weren't smiling! Rain and thunderstorms were predicted early in the afternoon.
Jim Hackett packed up his ASH 26 after assistance from the rest of us.
Charlie Szpitalek turned up ready to fly the tug. However, Paul Hunt decided to return home leaving only Bob Emery wanting to fly.
We also had a pre arranged (birthday present) joy flight. She turned up on time at 11 am and with her family assisted in towing out to the runway. We launched into some cumulus that was developing under the higher cloud cover and although we found some lift, we were back on the ground within a half an hour.The birthday girl was nevertheless very happy with her experience.
Bob Emery toook off shortly after into what appeared to be a better sky, however, he too was back on the ground after 30min.
With no one wishing to fly, we put the gliders and tug back into hangars and had lunch.
Conditions got worse and by 3 pm, there was rain nearby and thunder. We gave it away and left for home.
I felt sorry for Charlie who had driven all the way from Walcha for 2 launches.
By the way, if any one is looking for the hand held vacuum cleaner from the Grob/Puchatek hangar - I have it at home. It was not working and I was going to take it to get fixed. However, I found that it was simply blocked and is now working OK. I will return it when next at the Club.
Peter Sheils
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Friday 1 February
No flying today - very quiet at the club.
Vic came out to do some mowing and gave Jim Hackett his orange tractor endorsement, but in the afternoon it poured with rain.
I found the blue grease gun in the old Statesman after a week long search!
Spent most of the day doing a few more little jobs on the Puchatek - vacuumed it out replaced the rear seat and extracted a redback spider from the cushions! Glued down the vinyl around the canopy seal, and repaired (I hope) a couple of little canopy cracks.
Can anyone think of a way of directing the water from the downpipes away from the hanger instead of into it? We really should get another rainwater tank!
Vic came out to do some mowing and gave Jim Hackett his orange tractor endorsement, but in the afternoon it poured with rain.
I found the blue grease gun in the old Statesman after a week long search!
Spent most of the day doing a few more little jobs on the Puchatek - vacuumed it out replaced the rear seat and extracted a redback spider from the cushions! Glued down the vinyl around the canopy seal, and repaired (I hope) a couple of little canopy cracks.
Can anyone think of a way of directing the water from the downpipes away from the hanger instead of into it? We really should get another rainwater tank!
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