Tuesday 17 November, Comp day 8

Eight days flying on the trot was a bit too much for some to take, and a few of competitors wisely decided to have a rest today. For those that flew it was quite a wild ride!

We started off by setting the task for yesterday's weather as usual! We set 3.5 hours for both classes and sent club class off first again as otherwise the grid shuffling meant that some were either right in front or right at the back, but never in the middle. Competition pilots worry about these things! We picked a task to the west and one to the east so we could pick on the grid the one that went in the direction that the storms weren't. At least that was the theory.

In the end we picked west, because there was a strong westerly. I think in the event it was the better choice, although a big storm did build up to the west of us, but it eventually moved eastwards and was clear of the field before the gliders came back.

It must have been very difficult for the club class battling against the wind, but surprisingly only 3 outlandings.

Tim Carr's comments (flying Duo Discus with Ross Edwards)

"Another magic Keepit day. Launched at 1300 into a booming sky. Started at 1410 at 8000ft and followed an energy line west to Coonabarabran. Edged into the circle and then driften north in the 20 kt winds looking for our next clumb. Had a great run north of Kaputar, so turned for home at 12000ft for an 80km final glide through the last two sectors. Magic!

Garry Speights comments (Twin Astir with Mary Gordon)

A very difficult day - unable to get high before the start. Gradually got higher as made way to the south west. Long glide with no lift to touch the circle and come back to the clouds , which were not really on the way to the second turn. Lot of smoke in the atmosphere from a fire burning in the Pillager Scrub. On the way back from the second turnpoint there was good lift at Emerald Hill, but the constant warnings about strong winds at Lake Keepit distracted me from making a proper final glide decision and we arrived back much too high.

Tim Wilson also found very little lift in the vicinity of the first turn point and after that proceeded north along the edge of the Pillager. At one point his computer read winds of 48km/hr - very slow flying into the wind. Got to 11000 feet near Mt Kaputar. Rough!

Brian Heyhow claimed height of 14500 feet in thermal lift - that was cloudbase he said - yes he WAS using oxygen.

We had a bit of a dilemma on the ground when the gliders started arriving back because runway 20 was much more into wind than 14, but no briefing had been given for runway 20 being the preferred one. Also a couple of non competition gliders had landed there and found it very turbulent. In the end we warned the pilots that there was a strong and gusty wind from the left and fortunately they mostly came in with enough height for a circuit on 20. A few did land on 14, but it would have been a nightmare if all had done so with such a strong cross wind. One glider had a very nasty looking ground loop on runway 20, but no damage appears to have been done.

The trouble will start tomorrow morning as there appear to have been several incursions into the Tamworth airspace, which incurs a penalty of zero points the first time, or complete disqualification if it occurs a second time.