Wednesday 11 March

Tuesday was rather windy from the east - only Rowland flew in the Junior. He soared for an hour or so but got a bit far down wind so came back and landed. Wind speed increased as the day went on so no one else flew. John Trezise and Gerhard worked on reinstalling the Jantar radio which has been repaired and installed another boom mike.

On Wednesday the forecast was for more strong winds from the east but we thought they would moderate later. As it turned out, the winds were not too bad but the thermals were excellent and good cu. Lift everywhere.

Rowland took off first in the Junior at about mid-day. His aim was to do his five hours for silver C and also the 50km distance. Geoff Neely came out to help out with outlanding practice retrieves as Juho is not paddock rated. I managed to prize John Trezise away from his work installing a new radio in the Grob to do an outlanding check. It was a first time landing in a new paddock for both of us, but it went quite well. Geoff came and towed us out again, and we practiced flying level and descending on aerotow as well.

Ken Flower came out to start the form 2 on his Pik 20E, and he did a couple of training flights with my friend John while he was here.

Gerhard flew today, and did over 300 km - a good day.

1800 came and went and still no sign of the Junior. No radio contact, but some static led us to believe it was still airborne. Eventually I became worried when it didn't turn up, and went to search in the Jabiru. Flew to Gunnedah and back - no sign. Landed just before last light getting very worried about having to tell Rowland's wife that we had lost him! However just as I was putting the Jabiru away, a car drove in and it was a gentleman from Gunnedah bringing Rowland back safe and sound. He had flown for 61/2 hours, not sure if hes got the 50km yet till we see the logger. What a relief! Robin Rowland and Al Giles went with the trailer to retreive the glider as it wasn't tied down. Thanks Robin for another retrieve, and thanks Clayton for driving Rowland back all the way from Gunnedah.

Monday 9 March

Flew back from Cowra on Monday morning - head wind again - arrived about 10.15 am, expecting a very quiet week. However Rowland Ogden, visiting from England turned up - I had forgotten he was coming - and another chap Michael, turned up wanting an air experience flight.

Michael was travelling around making his way down to Victoria to offer his help rebuilding after the bushfires. I flew him in the Grob and he had very good aptitude for gliding. I only took over for the landing just as we went over the fence!

Then I flew with Roland also in the Grob. It was just to be a check/orientation flight, but conditions were so good that we flew the Manilla Gunnedah milk run to show Rowland the way. Cloudbase at about 7000ft, good cus. A bit windy on the ground, but very little up high.

Todd Clark flew in IID the LS4 and Geoff Neely in DG400 HDB.

At the end of the day, Rowland had a flight in the Junior. He is aiming for silver C while he is here.

1st Week of March

I see it is a long time since I last blogged but Robin and Peter Shiels have filled in some of the gaps.

With March here already things are quieter mid week. My friend John from England has been learning to glide, Bart Hellemens made his debut in the Junior - he does just fit in! Rod Loder has been here doing the form 2 on the DG 400 HDB, and then flying it.

Friday 6 March was busier, with Dave Shorter, Gerhard Stuck Peter Shiels and Ray Tilley all flying as well as John, Bart and Rod. Quite a reasonable day, but I had to leave early to fly to Cowra to participate in the Great Air Ralley in Victoria over the weekend. 

I usually fly the Jabiru in the air ralley, but this year decided to be a passenger in a Cessna 210 - nice to be flown for once! It went from Deniliquin to Echuca to Bendigo to Shepparton, with food at each place.

No reports of the weekend, but I see flights from Lake Keepit posted on the OLC so I guess it was OK. Looked good on Sunday down south anyway.

Club ops Sunday 1st March - by Peter Shiels

I arrived at the Club on Sunday morning under grey skies - high cirrus as far as the eye could see.

 

There were a number of members present but no one was showing much enthusiasm or urgency. Wendy and Marga were just landing in the Jabiru after doing a temp trace flight. Surprisingly, with the weather forecast aided by the temp trace and dew points, Harry Medlicott was able to predict reasonable soaring under the overcast provided the temp exceeded 32 degrees. Area met forecast was for 34 degrees so despite the covering cirrus, there was some enthusiasm.

 

Members there to fly included Harry & Wendy Medlicott; Ray Tilley; Chris Carr with a an old school friend from Sydney; Maurice Pont as well as regular on site members - Robin Walker + Juho Rossi and Bart. Geoff Neely was the tug pilot. Rod Loder  - Geoff's partner in the DG 400 was up from Tasmania but was engrossed in form 2 work on their DG. Nick Singer was around and annouced his intention to fly his Pik 20 but disappeared without flying - back home I suspect?

 

Chris Carr had flown on Saturday and reported problems with the ASI on the Grob. First order of business was to find the obvious blockage in the system. This proved harder than first estimated. There appeared to be a blockage somewhere between the pitot head and the T piece under the rear cockpit seat pan.We were advised against using the air compressor to blow out the obstruction lest we end up with a "blow out" somewhere in the tail fin that would require cutting a hole to get at it for repairs. A phone call to Tom Gilbert suggested that a flexible metal cable (such as a bike's brake cable) be inserted and spun using an electric drill. This did the trick and after a couple of hours in the heat, the Grob was reassembled and ready to fly.

 

In the mean time Harry had launched and found initial conditions rather bleak but this improved by 2 pm. Ray Tilley followed by Chris Carr and friend were next to launch at about 2 pm, followed by Moose Pont in his first flight in the LS6. They all managed soaring flights of up to 3 hours. The less than exciting apperance of the weather together with the hot, humid conditions, dampened the enthusiasm of the others and they remained earth bound. I too remained on the ground engrossed in attempting to find why the radio in our Cirrus refused to work.( I eventually gave up and removed it for delivery to the radio doctor for treatment.)

 

All in all, a generally forgettable day.

 

Cheers

Peter Sheils