If you plan to come along to Pt. Vincent or to Waikerie make sure your name is on the appropriate attendance list on the club notice board. Alternatively feel free to send an email to admin@bgc.asn.au.

Also, contrary to the earlier announcement the Tuckerway Hostel is now booked by the BGC due to a cancellation. Accommodation should not be a problem. Put your name on the list in the clubhouse.

The Flinder Ranges Camp is going to be held a month earlier this year and won't coincide with the school holidays unfortunately.

The committee meeting has resulted in a price increase for air experience flights and an update of the Events Calendar. Please check it regularly, either here or on the club noticeboard.

Further, due to strong demand the Waikerie Basic Cross Country Course & Performance Week has been declared an official club outing and all 4 club gliders will be there. As a result there will be no club flying at Balaklava during that time. We are currently investigating the possibility of operating a winch at Waikerie to provide the opportunity for cheaper winch launches rather than aerotows. There will be a list on the club notice board soon to register your attandance. Alternatively send an email to admin@bgc.asn.au giving the days that you will be in Waikerie, whether you are enrolled for the course and which aircraft you would like to fly.
Please note that this does NOT constitute enrolment for the XC Course or Performance Week. The club will simply be operating from Waikerie. You will need to enrol individually for the courses. Contact the club coach / SA RTO Sports (coach@bgc.asn.au) if you haven't already done so.
Also note that one of the ASK21's and one of the single seaters are already allocated to individual club members for the duration of the courses. These members have priority but it may be possible that the aircraft are available at times for others to fly.

We also ask you to indicate your attendance for the upcoming Pt. Vincent trip just prior to the Waikerie event, either on the club notice board or by email as above. The Tuckerway Hostel is unfortunately booked already so you will need to arrange your own accommodation. We are, however, booking for dinner at the Ventnor Hotel on 1 January 2005. Please let us know early whether you will be there to confirm the booking.

Saturday, despite the occasionally thick high cloud cover, turned out to be a fantastic soaring day. Thermals were quite strong throughout the day although at times far apart which required long glides through strong sink to contact the next one. Heights achieved were generally around 6500ft with a maximum of 8000ft up north near Koolunga. Catherine Love took the opportunity to introduce a friend to our kind of flying and then followed through with a 50km flight towards her Silver C. The flight ended in what had to be one of the largest fallow paddocks in the state just north of Redhill. We also had three visitors from the Adelaide Uni Gliding Club who had exteded soaring flights in the ASK21s and the ASH25, respectively. Whilst at it, Mark Newton took the opportunity to add the Mini Nimbus to his list of types flown.

On Sunday Andrew Menzies tried to follow Catherine Love's example with his own 50km attempt but had to be retrieved from Snowtown.

Yes, winch upgrade! Steve Shuck and John Wheatcroft had brought the recently acquired Isuzu Diesel truck up from Adelaide Saturday morning. Over the coming weeks Hilly winch will receive a refurbished motor. Some major cosmetic surgery and TLC are already well underway. The Diesel truck will replace the prime mover of Wally winch. With all this work going on in the maintenance hangar we could definitely use a few extra hands. Please consider giving a few hours of your time to this important project. The more the merrier in the workshop, the quicker the job gets done, and ultimately we'll all reap the benefits of lower our operating costs and more reliable winches.

Congratulations to Andrew Menzies who completed his C certificate by passing his oral test.

The weekend after the camp the gliders were re-rigged back at Balaklava. Whopping thermals to well above 6000ft provided long soaring flights. Lyn Richie re-soloed and Colin Stauss completed his practical C certificate with a second 1hr flight.

As always there are a whole range of upcoming events in the Events Calendar. Make sure you do not miss out and check there regularly.

The day offered great thermals which most attendees used for extended soaring flights. Notably Matt Colwell and Colin Stauss took advantage of the good conditions to complete a 1 hour flight each towards their C Certificates.

As if that was not enough for one day the new Committee held its first meeting which resulted in the election of John Bradbury to Vice President. Congratulations John!
It was also decided that 3 more parachute will be purchased immediately in time for the new season and that our pricing stucture would be changed to reflect "student" rates for all full-time students regardless of age rather than the somewhat outdated definition of "junior" members. A subcommittee was formed to take charge of the future of our winches. As a further result there are now a number of new entries in the Events Calendar.

All club email addresses and mailing lists have been updated. No need to change your address book entries of keep track of who is doing which job.

Finally, a reminder to all club pilots to enter Cross Country flights into the XC statistics book in the clubhouse. Make sure that your entries are filled in correctly and all fields complete to avoid disappointment and disputes as incomplete entries will not be recognised for the trophy awards!

Also, a reminder to all that the Minlaton 'barnstorming' club outing is coming up. Both twin-seaters will be going. Check the Events Calendar for details.

A further reminder goes to all those who have put their names on the list for the Waikerie 'Basic Cross Country Course' and 'Performance week'. As this is not a club event, if you want an aircraft you will have to apply in writing to the committee to 'take an aircraft away'. Ask a committee member for the correponding form. BXC and GHT are already spoken for. There is also the opportunity to hire aircraft from Waikerie at their going commercial rate. But be quick with your bookings! Indications are that numbers will be up significantly.

Please note that two aircraft have already been allocated to go to the Waikerie "Basic Cross Country Course" and "Performance Week". There are quite a few members who have registered their intention to attend but no further "Requests to take aircraft away" have been lodged with the committee. If you don't know how, please contact any committee member or instructor.

It was also noted that with one exception the club has not had any new Official Observers since almost 10 years! With the list of Official Observers in the club shrinking due to age-related attrition it might become increasingly difficult to find an OO to witness and sign for your badge and other such flights. We are looking for volunteers. Please contact the club coach!

With the AGM coming up soon it is also time to think about nominations (and volunteering) for club positions such as the president, treasurer, and serving on the committee. What can you do to help with running the club?

For the first the two winter working bees earlier this month we had quite a good turnup and with so many eager hands to help all scheduled jobs were done in no time at all. Flying started around lunchtime. The weather played along and rewarded most of the attendants with extended soaring flights.

We are also going to have a lecture for our early solo pilots covering the theory required towards the "Silver C".

Congratulations to Andrew Menzies on his first solo on Saturday, 29/05/2004!

With some excellent soaring weather over the last few weekends we have been missing out on flying time due to the briefing at 11:00 whilst thermals were already going strong. It was therefore decided by the committee that the briefing for each flying day will be held at 10:00 from now on. Remember it is a MUST for all pilots who want to fly on that day.

This is also the time where our aircraft are rotated one by one through the workshop for their annual "Form 2" inspections and much needed maintenance. Come along and lend our airworthiness team a hand! You might be surprised about how much fun it can be in the friendly, relaxed atmosphere and the sense of achievement and satisfaction derived from keeping our flying machines in good nick. Please do not forget that every hour someone spends in the workshop is keeping your club and flying fees down.

And let's not forget the theoretical knowledge that makes you a better pilot. With Bernard Eckey, our club coach, the new South Australian RTO - Sports we can look forward to the continuation of the very interesting winter season lecture series instigated last year by the RTO Sports at the time, Catherine Conway.

Check the Events Calendar and/or the club noticeboard regularly for dates and details.

A map is now available that shows how to get to the original Clare Soaring Club site.

The Celebration will start with a convoy from Whitwarta airfield to the site of the original launch. One winch and at least one ASK21 will be along. During the day there will be opportunity to fly from (near) the original paddock followed by a meal, film(s), photos, stories, and liquid refreshments. (Further details and a map to be announced closer to the event. Watch this space!)

Having just returned from the AUGC Regatta it is hard not to be exuberant about it! It was great fun and an extraordinary learning opportunity for participants. There were 11 gliders from 4 SA clubs competing and several more gliders soaring locally. Entries ranged from the Grunau Baby 2 to the Mini-Nimbus. Due to weather (what else?) an official task was only set on Sunday (AUGC-Redhill-Blyth-AUGC, 119 km for the higher performance gliders and AUGC-Snowtown-Bute-Nantawarra-AUGC for the Grunau and Arrow). All but two gliders outlanded, most finding the first turnpoint too hard to crack. Retrieve stories aplenty. Winners: Keith Willis - PW5, Derek Spencer/Alban O'Brian - the mighty Bergfalke!, Derek Eilers - Boomerang. Catering was superb with webbered roast lamb and beef on Saturday, and a BBQ on Sunday - David Hichens raised the bar to an unprecedented level! This event highlighted the need for more competitions at this level as an entry into the art of competition and cross country soaring for the "next generation". Club committees take note!

We have also received an invitation from the Adelaide Uni Gliding Club to their regatta 21-22/02/04 and decided to shift operations on both days to Lochiel. One winch and all club aircraft will be going there.

The Christmas break was yet again an eventful time for our club. We had members participate in the Gawler week (congratulations to James Doman who flew the Mini Nimbus on winning one day) and the Waikerie Performance week is in full swing with several members involved. The mob that took the two ASK21 twin seaters to Port Vincent for the Gala Day festival had a good time flying well over 50 Air Experience Flights, enjoying the breath-taking view, admiring Bert's antics (in the air) and joining in the festivities (the band that had the entire town rocking, the fireworks, the dinner at the pub, ...).

Last years' news are again archived as a chronicle of what's been going on at the club over the years. The links are at the bottom of this page.

Resulting from the recent committee meeting our prices will increase as from 1 January 2004 as follows:

• ASK21 70c/min (solo or dual!)
• Mini Nimbus 50c/min
• Hornet 40c/min

Juniors pay 2/3 of these rates. Bulk flying scheme increases to $900 p.a.

The Christmas party was another well organised event and a very enjoyable night, especially for the retrieve crews of our two outlanders that day.

The Events Calendar is now up to date again and our prices have been corrected.