However, this year the bar and the food were hit rather harder than on earlier such occasions. The story begins with the CFI taking off into a beautiful early afternoon sky with thermals abound - "For a leisurely 'stroll in the park' - only an hour or two" he had said. "I'll be back in time for the party". This soon changed into a seeminly routine retrieve story from a paddock some 20 odd kms away. President Steve Shuck, Dene Newton and Colin Stauss set off in the Hilly winch which freshly out of the workshop needed its new motor run in. In no time at all the glider was located and loaded into its trailer. Barely back on the road the Hilly winch had a major breakdown and a comedy of errors soon had a search party consisting of the Bundy winch crew and a significant proportion of the club membership swarming over the Mid North to locate the broken down Hilly winch with the Mini Nimbus trailer in tow. The mission was eventually accomplished and the Hilly winch towed home, just in time for the party. There are now strong demands from amidst the membership that from now on the CFI should be grounded on the day of the Christmas party.

Saturday was another thermally active, although cool, windy, and cloudy day with nice long flights for both students and solo pilots. Rough and turbulent, hard-to-work climbs low down often turned into vario-on-the-stop vertical torrents, rewarding the persistent with exhilerating rides up to 6500ft. Roger Cox added a few more cross-country kms to our book with a sightseeing tour over the Clare valley in FQB.

By now all pilots should have received the official material on the new "Procedures for Operations at non-towered Aerodromes" which will come into effect on 24 November 2005. John Hudson has destilled the points that affect our club operations down into a set of notes that are available here. Please make sure you are familiar with these procedures as you will be required to comply with them!

At the instructors meeting that followed CFI John Wheatcroft officially announced his retirement from the job after having held the reigns for six accident-free years. John has truely done a magnificent job, leading the club's operations through a number of changes, most notably the introduction of the spin-kit. Thank you, John, for your dependable, faithful service to the club!
The instructors panel confirmed Ulrich Stauss as the new CFI.

Andrew Horton reports the following from the Sunday operations: "[...] we managed a total of about 10 hours flying in 10 flights, starting around 10:40 which was pretty early. Thermals were scrappy for the most part but we managed to get near the inversion at 4,000. Roger [Cox] got to Blyth in the '21 when the sea-breeze came in and [...] got back OK after we thought he might land out somewhere.
Some model-aero lads rolled up to try their models out; they occupied an area well away from the gliding ops. Pity we couldn't get any of them to try their hand at the real thing!"

The committee meeting resulted in another update of the Events Calendar. Please note the coming working bee on Saturday 26 November. We received a council grant for doing up the maintenance hangar and our end of the deal is to supply the labour for reroofing it. We are asking all members for a few hours of their time to get the job done. Remember, these kinds of activites keep our costs down. So come and give us a hand! (Bring chordless drills, screwdrivers etc. if you can.)

Outlanding training for those who want their cross-country rating in time for the coming soaring season has commenced with Roger Cox having been the first cab off the rank. Congratulations Roger, and thanks to the landowner for allowing us to land in and winch our of his paddock! Talk to the CFI to arrange your turn.

The bad news from the latest committee meeting is that in the light of increasing fuel and other costs the price of a winch launch is now $6.00, up from $5.00.

Congratulations to James Kingham who went on his first solo flight today! Merv Lindner took the picture in our Photo Gallery.

Those who want to improve their cross-country performance or simply improve their flying skills beyond the circuit area will be glad to know that a series of coaching weekends will be held at variaous clubs around South Australia. The first 3 are now in the Events Calendar.

News just in from the GFA: This year's Flight Safety Seminar will be held in Murray Bridge. Please check the Events Calendar for details. There is a link to the flyer sent to us which contains a map with directions to the airfield.

Please remember the upcoming AGM. We need nominations, particularly for a new Secretary. Please consider volunteering some of your time to help run your club.
We have also been approached to host a gliding competition for the Australian Regional Masters Games in 2007. This would require a significant number of volunteers to organise and run. The committee would love to hear from you.

As usual the Events Calendar has been updated again. Remember to check it regularly so you don't miss out.

The rest of the afternoon was spent learning about weather patterns and weather forecasting for glider pilots. The main aim was to give especially those of us who have to invest into a long drive to the airfield the knowledge and tools to judge whether the weather conditions will be worth our while on the given day. Thank you, Bernard Eckey, for two very interesting and informative lectures!

There is also an opportunity to have a say in the future development of our club. Find out more in the Events Calendar.

A few web links you may want to add to your favourites list for the next few weeks are as follows:
http://slash.dotat.org/womens-worlds-2005/ - Lisa Trotter and Lisa Turner representing Australia at the Women's World Championships in Klix, Germany.
http://www.users.on.net/~mwilson/vinon2005/ - Peter Temple representing Australia at the Clubclass pre-world championships in Vinon, France.
http://www.joeyglide.com/juniorteam/ - Adam Woolley and David McManus representing Australia at the Junior World Gliding Championships in Husbands Bosworth, UK.

And if you think there won't be any flying during this time - think again. This is the season when we do get the occasional wave conditions in Balaklava and the thermals, although not overly strong and high, are generally more reliable and often easier to find. This is good training for the summer. There is still an instructor rostered on every Saturday and Sunday. We hope to see you at the club soon.

To all members and anyone interested this is another reminder of the extensive smorgasboard of lectures offered this winter both at the BGC and the SAGA lectures at Adelaide Uni. Details can be found in the Events Calendar. Come along and improve your piloting skills!

Last night (Wednesday 11 May) there was a public meeting organised by Airservices Australia where they introduced their new web site feature 'Flying Around'. It is well worth a look for any pilot! Good graphics and interactive maps, photos and more! All geared to make flying in and around controlled airspace easier and safer. CASA also presented their new DVD and CD-ROM package on flying in and around controlled airspace - it's free - your tax dollar at work! The surprisingly small crowd of attendees got a chance to see the air traffic control room in action. It was good to personally get to know the faces on the other end of the radio and in front of their computer displays. It definitely takes away any anxiety that some may have talking to ATC to get an airways clearance or ask for airspace and other info. They are a great bunch, eager to help and provide a good service. If you ever get a chance of a visit - don't hesitate!

Conditions on Saturday looked quite good with thermals to 6000ft forecast. A small crowd trickled in and there were a number of long soaring flights. Most notably Leigh Bunting returned just shy of 4 hours in the Grunau Baby with a big grin on his face. Catherine Love set out cross-country in the Mini Nimbus, turning at Yacka, and Colin Stauss managed to fly to Blyth and back in the Hornet.

Saturday with the start of the airworthiness course saw a good crowd tinkering on gliders in the maintenance hangar and in the clubhouse for lectures. During the week-long course the participants will learn all about glider inspections and maintenance. Jean Newton deserves a medal for taking on the huge task of feeding the troups. Thank you Jean, you are a legend!!

Flying and weatherwise the day was almost a repeat of last week although the forecast looked a bit better. Very high winds and only a small crew made for only few flights. Grant Hudson in the PIK20 and, after a relight, Ulrich Stauss in the Mini Nimbus fought their way into wind as far as Booleroo Centre and Gladstone, respectively. Conditions were not quite as good as forecast especially with a few "soft" spots in places but both made it back after 31/2-4hrs in the air. Meanwhile two visitors experienced a day at the gliding club including their first flight in a glider and Eric Stauss, despite not being solo yet, impressed his instructor by chauffeuring him around in the challenging conditions for almost an hour.

The forecast for the day did not look too promising and 25 to 30kt winds greeted the die hards who came to the airfield anyway. Despite the blustery conditions the 21s and the 25 were launched into a very murky sky. The air was literally brown from the churned-up dust and soil. Thermals were very visible for once. Ground operations soon had to be discontinued but the two gliders still in the air ventured cross-country into wind and had very interesting flights. Bernard Eckey with Eric Stauss in the backseat made it as far north as Laura. Tim Lacey and Ulrich Stauss made it to Snowtown "arriving" there 4 or 5 times before turning back. The pilots agreed that they felt like "carps in the Murray" with the "brown-out" reaching to over 6000ft and a blue sky above with Cu's at around 9500ft. A very unique experience.

As a result there are a few more entries in the Events Calendar. We can look forward to several outings this year and during the winter months there will be a number of lectures on radio procedures, airspace and a variety of other topics from the GFA's advanced training syllabus to make our flying safer and more enjoyable.

Please note that some of these lectures will be compulsory for those members who have not gained 'independent operator' status yet.

If there is sufficient interest some gliders may be taken to the Gawler Easter Regatta, and given the overwhelming feedback on the Performance Week in Waikerie perhaps even the entire operation shifted to Gawler. Apart from the fun and the experience gained from flying at another field (especially becoming familiar with the airspace situation at Gawler) this would be a great opportunity to become current in aerotow and further improve your cross-country skills. Coaching will be available. Details to be announced soon.

Coming up later this month is the Dawn Patrol as yet another highlight in our Events Calendar for the year. Make sure to mark it in your diaries.