Thought I'd let people know my impressions of Waikerie - it's my first
visit here, and its a place I have always wanted to fly from. Oh, and
there's a competition on too!
Left Keepit on 30th December with ASH26E in tow in the trailer :( It
would have been nice to fly it down, but too impractical. 1200 km later
arrived at Waikerie at about 4.30 pm the next day in searing heat. Some
gliders were flying, but by all accounts it was rather stable despite
the heat. Much too hot to rig the glider.
Very good facilities here, including a glider workshop, large
briefing/dining area, and good members kitchen. Heaps of tie down space
and lots of runway space - but rather a lack of water compared to
Keepit.
The weather today has been hot, but overcast, and no task was called for
the practice day. Gave me a chance to get the glider rigged, washed and
taped. Bernie Sizer, whom I met at West Wyalong, and his mate Phil put the wings on for me for which I am very grateful, as they are very heavy. Still have to do scrutineering weighing tomorrow.
Tomorrow's weather is not expected to be good either, with strong winds
expected. Looks from the OLC as if the weather was better at Keepit.
Plenty of people here have remarked about the good flights we have been
putting on the OLC lately, and I'm sure it will encourage more people to
visit.
Cath Conway is here, flying Harry Medlicot's former glider KRJ, and
David Pietch, flying Todd Clark's former glider. Another of Todd's
former gliders is here too - IID, the LS4. Robert Smits is here flying
Astir - comes to Keepit every year to fly the Duo in the regatta.
There has already been a glider collision - fortunately it happened on
the ground, not in the air. Both gliders were damaged quite severely,
but the innocent one, which was tied down at the time, is able to be
repaired in time.
There appear to be 46 gliders registered - which is manageable I think.
However there are a lot of seriously good pilots flying, so I hope I
can learn something from them.
No comments:
Post a Comment