Tuesday 28 April

A bit overcast in the morning but it cleared up, and we had excellent looking cumulus. It was however rather windy - from the west.

Little Petunia turned up in the home of getting wave but the thermals disrupted it. We debated as to whether to fly from runway 27 and go round the corner, but elected in the end to use 32. First to launch was Geoff in his Pik he flew over to the Kelvin range in search of wave, and was able to ridge soar there. I launched Petunia and dropped him straight into an 8 kt thermal he said. He made his way over to the Kelvins to join Geoff. Then Gerhard took off in his Jantar.

Geoff and Petunia flew to about Narrabri and back. All the flights are on the OLC. If you restrict the list to Australia/Oceania, only Lake Keepit flights are showing at the moment!  Geoff and Petunia also posted their flights from the last few days.

Monday 27 April

Thursday and Friday last week were quite good flying days. Clouds on Thursday looked brilliant, but all I could find was sink! Jim Hackett had a similar experience after self launching in his ASH 26. Gerhard however had a good flight in his Jantar and soared for about 3 hours. He posts all his flights to the OLC, which is great for publicising our club.

On Friday Geoff Pratt from Cairns turned up, and John helped him rig his Pik 20E. Then Geoff went for a fly in it and despite the grey appearance of the sky, had some good soaring. 

Sean and James Davis continued their training, and both are progressing very well. The good news  is that they have joined the club, so we will be seeing more of them in the future - probably school holidays.

Lauren Goddard came out to fly again on Friday and flew with Gerhard in the Grob. It started raining just after we put all the gliders away for the weekend.

On Saturday, John and I worked on my Jabiru, finishing its 100 hourly. We found a few problems so were unable to get away to Cowra. John and Juho had done a fantastic job cleaning it earlier in the week - it's never looked so good. Despite being windy, there were quite a few flights made on Saturday - Vic flew the cirrus and Christian took a passenger in the Grob - Gerhard flew another. Geoff flew his motor Pik. 

Sunday was grey and windy to start with, with a dismal forecast for flying back to Cowra, so we elected not to go. Went to the thermal springs in Moree (by car) instead. Also Moree show was on. Had dinner in Best Western Dragon and Phoenix Motor Inn. The proprietor there says that he'll pick up anyone flying in from the airport - so there's an invitation. The motel has its own hot spa pool too.

Weather improved during the day, and there was quite a bit of flying at Keepit. Jay Anderson flew in from Sydney bringing Southern Cross members Maren, Jaques and Brian with him. They all flew with Gerhard in the Grob, practising their cross winds! Geoff Pratt flew his Pik again.

Today (Monday) was cold but sunny with good cu. Quite a brisk westerly cross wind again. Once again Geoff flew his Pik, and flew west somewhere beyond Gunnedah. As a far north Queenslander, he's feeling the cold! Lauren came out again and flew the Junior for the first time. John Patton flew the Grob with Gerhard, and then solo. I flew the tug. Thinking of getting the winch out for cheap landing practice - would have been ideal today.

Before flying, John managed to fix the yellow portable airband radio - it will be good for using on the winch. I hope I can get him to fix all our other old radios lying around before he goes back to the UK on Saturday :-(

Wednesday 23 April

Quite windy yesterday but sunny with quite good cu. Cloudbase about 6000 ft. We didn't fly until midday as we were waiting for the wind to moderate a little. It did so and turned more along the runway (14) while there was thermal activity.

Sean (father) and James (son) are doing very well, and the soaring conditions enabled them to get their turns more polished and get used to seeing the area from the air.

Juho flew Brads tug back to Armidale, and was met there by Todd, who drove him back to Tamworth. We had a meal in the Tamworth Hotel for his send off. He flew from Tamworth this morning, and by now should be half way home.

Today the wind moderated and was almost straight down the strip, so conditions were better for training. Good cu and streeting. Gerhard took a launch and did a small cross country flight, which he has posted on the OLC  - thanks Gerhard - its good to show the world we are still getting good soaring conditions.

Sean and James are progressing well. Lauren Goddard came out and went solo in the Grob for the first time after a check with me. John Patton had a short solo flight in the Puchatek and learned about drifting downwind! However he did get back to the field OK and finished off with a great landing. We expect nothing less!

Geoff Sim flew in and out again in his Lancair - doing a bit of work on the White Lightning with Bob Dirks and Phil Goard.

Monday 20 April

Cool days over the weekend. John and I kept a low profile, but the competitors flew on Saturday. Not sure who won! On Sunday, there was quite a brisk south easterly wind. Everyone went home surprisingly quickly although the sky looked OK. Only John Stewart and Ken Flower flew. John and I got started on the annual inspection on my Jabiru.

Harry's new winch was assembled and tested, but something not quite right with the engine. Even so the grob got a 1500 ft launch.

Monday was a bit overcast but some blue patches. Cloudbase not particularly high, and once again a brisk south easterly, fortunately straight along the strip. Sean and his son James Davis are my students for this week. Both are doing exceptionally well for their first day. We flew in the Puchatek and were able to soar on some of the flights.

No one else flew today, but Alan Paulsen is threatening to fly tomorrow, and Gerhard has returned! John and Juho kindly did a lot of cleaning on my Jabiru - have not seen the result yet, but I expect knowing Juho, it will be the cleanest it has ever been.  Thanks John and Juho.

Friday 17 April

Tuesday was a miserable day with low cloud and rain, but a couple of hardy souls took to the air. Allan Buttenshaw got current again after not flying a glider for over a year. There was no task in the regatta.

On Wednesday the sun started shining again, and everyone was much more optimistic. Unfortunatel we were unable to Brad Edward's Pawnee, as there was an excessive maggie drop. Juho cleaned all the plugs and got it running properly again, but too late to launch the field. However we were able to launch the field quite fast with the Callair using two ropes and hooking on at the tug end instead of the glider end.

John McLeod flew in the Grob with John Hoye - sometimes I think you can have any name in our club as long as it's John! Unfortunately they landed out at Rangarai, and it was unsuitable for an aerotow. Robin and Graham Holland went to the rescue.

The rest of the field had quite a good day, although it was not easy by any means. Better conditions prevailed to the west where there had not been so much rain.

On Thursday we rigged the Grob again, but no takers to fly it. Conditions were a bit stable, but a task was called, and most finished. One outlanding - retrieved by aerotow this time.

Friday we had a good forecast and Garry Speight came out to fly. Task was Barraba, Edgeroi Mullaley with largish circles around them. Good clouds but apparently some cirrus to the west put a dampener on things. Two outlandings - no problems. Jay Anderson was retrieved from a paddock so enormous he didnt even have to push the glider back to the edge. Robin had a trailer retrieve - so many went that there was almost no room in his car for him! Must be because he has rescued so many others this summer. I was able to co-ordinate the retrieves from the back seat of the Grob, while John Patton flew it!

After flying everyone went to Bob Dirks house for a barbecue and game of croquet. Thousand thanks to Bob and Jan for their hospitality. Good fun for everyone!

Juho will be leaving us to return to Europe after this weekend - we will be really sorry to see him go. Our tug has never been so clean and shiny before - he has really looked after it well. He is threatening to come back again - but to fly gliders next time!

Easter

Good Friday saw quite a few pilots at the club, but the weather was indifferent. John and I decided to go to Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo! Went on the early morning walk on Saturday - was really good. After that we went to Forbes to look after my garden there and I fell through the planks of a deck and damaged my knee. I should stick to gliding!

Meanwhile back at the club, tasks were flown on Friday and Saturday, but not on Sunday or Monday.

My knee is recovering - I can walk again now!

Thursday 9 April

No flying today - John McLeod from Gympie came again and we spent the morning doing A B and C certificate questions. Then he made himself busy attaching new ropes to the tie down cables. Even the one at the north west end is now visible. Needs some roundup spraying along it though. Chris Carr came out and worked on the orange tractor all day - the runways look really good now. Some high cloud came over in the afternoon, and the sky looked a bit dead, so no one was very keen to launch. 

We had a bit of a problem with the green tractor, but Harry Medlicott diagnosed the problem - there was a lot of sludge and rubbish in the fuel. He and Tim Carr drained out all the fuel, changed the fuel filter and unblocked the lines. Then they gave it a good wash, and its going properly again now. The little slasher is going well again now, having had new clutch plates and a new oil seal in the gearbox. Thanks to Gerhard and John Patton for getting this back together, and Juho and Bart for taking it apart.

Harry, John Hoye and Tim Carr went to see Gunnedah council about the proposed flying school at Gunnedah airport.

Ken Flower flew Brad Edward's Pawnee back from Armidale after spending much of the day working on the Callair with Todd Clark and test flying it. Also yesterday! Juho arrived back with the Callair just before last light - so we have two tugs available for our regatta. 

Justin Smith turned up in his RV6, and made busy with the lawn mower.  Then went in to Tamworth and picked up a new air filter for the green tractor.

It was great how members turned up today and got busy with all the jobs that need doing. Thanks guys and girls.

Wednesday 8 April

Another day in paradise!

A cool night followed by a nice sunny day with great looking clouds. Only Greg Dennis and John Clark flew - I drove the winch for Greg. He got away first go again and had a good flight, which he has posted on the OLC.

John Clark self launched in his DG808 and flew to Bingara and back. He has promised to post on OLC tomorrow.

John Patton some mowing with the Deutz tractor at the northern end of the strip - he had a nice smooth bit done for Greg's launch.

Juho is back at the club having visited Darwin Cairns and Sydney - over 8000 kms. He is going to Armidale tomorrow to pick up the Callair from its 100 hourly. Ken Flower is going up to pick up Brad Edward's tug for our Easter Regatta. Todd Clark has been working really hard to get our tug finished before Easter - we owe him a lot of thanks for the time he has spent on this.

The soaring conditions have been really good so far this week - pity so few have been flying.

Monday and Tuesday 6 & 7 April

Greg Dennis came down from Mt Isa for a second fix for the season. Greg had no problem getting used to winch launching again. Al Giles was around and drove the winch for Gregs first two flights, with John as wing man. Then I drove the winch and launched Al in his Jantar and Greg solo in the Grob. Both got away first launch, and Al did a good cross country flight - cloudbase around 8500 feet, but lower further west.

Today I launched Greg again in the LS7 - once again he got away first launch. The sky looked fantastic during the middle of the day, even though it was a bit overcast first thing.

Ken Flower gave John Clark, Al Giles and I a briefing on flying motor gliders, and later flew with Al and John in his Grob 109. Later John Clark made his first self launch in his new DG808. Well done John!

Juho is coming back tomorrow (Wednesday) and will be towing for our Regatta. We have to organise to get Brad Edward's Pawnee and our Callair back from Arimidale in the next couple of days.

Club gliders are not all booked for the regatta, so they will be available for non competition pilots to fly over the holiday - weather is still good!

Week ending 5 April

The tug went to Armidale on 29 March for its 100 hourly, so we have been using the winch since then - should be back in the next day or two.

Brian W turned up on Tuesday to fly. He went up with Gerhard on the winch - they got away for a good soaring flight. Brian is from Germany but works in China - he flew from China to Melbourne then drove to Lake Keepit for two days flying with us, and then had to return! What dedication! Brian is presolo, so flew with Gerhard on the two days he had. I drove the winch, and John pulled the rope out and ran the wing. Plenty of soaring available and good cumulus.

John and I visited Coffs Harbour on the weekend - driving not flying. Another exciting trip along windy roads with the occasional flood to negotiate. Miserable weather on the coast - sunny back at Keepit!

Melbourne Grand Prix

John Patton is now fairly well hooked on gliding, but is also keen on F1 motor racing. While he is here in Australia he thought it would be a sin to miss the Melbourne Grand Prix. Gerhard stood in for me for the Friday and Monday, and we took off to Melbourne.

Flew the Jabiru to Cowra, stayed the night, then off to Melbourne the next day. Stopped for fuel at Corowa - absolutely deserted now - not a glider in sight. Then to Lilydale via the lane of entry from Kilmore. Weather was perfect - no clag at all on the coastal side of the divide. Managed to negotiate avoid all the airspace and got to Lilydale with no problem.

Lilydale is a grass aerodrome and has a busy flying school and parachute operation. We were made really welcome there, they gave us hangarage for the plane for the weekend, and even lent us a car, which was great. We used it to drive to the station. Train to Melbourne - ticket covered all the trams and buses too. So easy to get around in Melbourne on public transport - we were really impressed with it.

Grand Prix and Who Concert on Sunday night were great, and we had an easy trip back to Cowra on Monday - still great weather

Cowra to Lake Keepit on Tuesday morning was another story! Could not get over the Liverpool range at Coolah due to low cloud and ended up going to Coonamble with 145kt ground speed! Was quite glad to get on the ground safely at Coonamble in that sort of wind! Had to stay in Coonamble over night and made it back to Keepit on Tuesday morning. Slow trip as there was still a strong easterly wind.

All quite exciting!

Rest of March

Another long time between blogs!

What has happened since the last? Our visitor Rowland Ogden from England did not quite manage to get his silver C distance with his marathon flight in the Junior because he towed up too high! However a couple of days later he graduated to the LS7, and did it with no problem.

Meanwhile I was continuing to train my friend John, and he has now done 4 solo flights in the Puchatek.

John McLeod from Gympie has visited us a couple of times - he has discovered a way of getting here by bus. He is trying to build up his hours and get his silver C.

John MacGregor from Scotland visited us on his way to a wedding at Byron Bay. He stayed a week and managed to do his silver C distance and height, but missed out on the duration. He liked flying the Grob, but we got him into the Jantar for the cross country flight, and he came back grinning!

We had a couple of big weekends, with good flights posted on the OLC.