Balaklava Gliding Club

Latest Club News and Overview of Changes on this Site

22 December 2008

Last weekend was very busy, Saturday in particular. First we had a comittee meeting in the morning. During the day Kevin Roberts conducted our biannual Operations Status Review while a couple of students kept instructors and the twin seaters busy. There were also a good number of pilots wanting to fly the '21 which added to the load. Surprisingly the singles did not fly at all. Bernard Eckey and Colin Stauss were the only ones to go cross-country. The ~300km flight was Colin's practical evaluation for his L1 Coach rating. The day ended with dinner in the clubhouse followed by an instructors meeting.

The committee meeting resulted in the dates for the 2009 Flinders Ranges camp and a working bee to upgrade our caravan park being determined (refer to the Events Calendar for details). The decision was also made to start self-insuring our aircraft as hull insurance premiums are getting too much of a finacial burden. Liability insurances remain unchanged. Initially this will mean that the club is exposed to considerably more risk but in the longer run it is expected that the costs will be capped at the current level and possibly reduced.
As most of our instructors and at least a '21, the Mini and the winch will be attending the Coaching Week in Waikerie there will be no club operations at Balaklava on the 3^rd and 4^th of January 2009. Obvious exceptions are independent operators or with an instructor by personal arrangement.

During January we will also be offering flying operations from 8am. Remember - flying before 10am is FREE for members! Only launch fees apply. This is especially aimed at early students to get their instructonal flights cheaper, in more comfortable temperatures, and without turbulence or thermals interfering with getting the feel of the aircraft. However, all other members are also encouraged to attend and reap the benefits.

The last two days of JoeyGlide in Benalla were indeed rained out which left Eric Stauss in 8^th and Colin Stauss in 10^th place thus like last year 7^th and 8^th, respectively, in the Australian ranking (there were overseas contestants ahead of them) - except it is now the younger of the two in the lead by 182 points. The brothers wish to extend their heartfelt thanks to all who helped them in their preparations and lending them equipment.
In this context there is also a recent new arrival to the club to report that slipped rather quietly under the radar: earlier this year Andrew Horton has acquired the Mosquito FQK (formerly Waikerie's Craig Vinal's) which Colin subsequently was allowed to fly in the competition. The "Mozzie" is now hangared at our club and will be seen more frequently, hopefully team-flying with the Mini and/or the PIK.
As Andrew has been issued his L1 Coach rating (Congratulations, Andrew!) it should be noted that the Mini and the Mozzie are a perfect match performance-wise.
Andrew also deserves a special mention for paying half the aerotow fees for all JoeyGlide competitors! Thank you, Andrew for your generous support of the Australian Junior Gliding movement!

11 December 2008

JoeyGlide, Benalla:

13:40	The startgate was opened about 25 minutes ago and they are on task. As yesterday we can watch the race via the satellite tracking system. The task is just over 200km mainly to the northeast. Conditions look good from the ground but it sounds like it may be more challenging out on task due to some high level cloud in the area.
17:30	Despite the tricky conditions the task was underset. The fastest did it in under 2 hours. Colin placed 5^th with 106.1km/h, Eric pushed the Hornet around at 99.6km/h for 9^th. In the overall scores Eric is now 8^th and Colin 10^th. The next two days don't look flyable at this stage so this may be the final result. With high winds and rain forecast we are going to derig the gliders.

10 December 2008

Another JoeyGlide report from Benalla:

13:10	The fleet has been launched and the startgate has just opened. All gliders have satellite trackers with them as a trial. The same system was used for the Soaring Grand Prix in Narromine. There is a link on the JoeyGlide competition web site that allows "live" viewing via the internet.The update rate is slow - only every 10 minutes or so - but it allows us to keep tabs on roughly where they are and how they are doing.
14:15	The tracking seems to work (although you need a Firefox browser - Internet Explorer won't work). We are watching the action on the big screen in the clubhouse.
15:15	They are on the final upwind leg now. Won't be too long until they are back. One of the poms has outlanded. We suspected it before he called. Obviously the conditions are not easy but our guys seem to be achieving good speeds.
16:15	The first finishers are coming in. Always great to watch.
18:30	Both boys are home. There were a few outlandings. The preliminary results have Eric in 7th place - still 8th overall. Colin has made a mistake programming his PDA and turned slightly short of each turnpoint. As such he did extremely well and might well have won the day judging by his average speed. With a technical outlanding near the first turnpoint his score leaves him in 10th place for the day, dropping him back to 10th overall.

9 December 2008

The sky over Benalla has been overcast since early this morning and there is rain forecast later today. The task was cancelled. Time for the odd jobs and plain relaxing.Internet connection is dropping out every now and then but ok to use now. For detailed daily results check the competition web site.

8 December 2008

Our reports on the progress our Balaklava juniors, Colin and Eric Stauss at the Australian Junior National Championships (JoeyGlide) are a little late because most internet connections in Benalla including the airfield and the Gliding Club were out for the last few days.
Below is our blog on what happened so far and we hope to provide updates on a daily basis from now on.
Colin is flying the Mosquito (FQK) and Eric the Hornet (GHT). With all other South Australian entries having cancelled at short notice for various reasons they are now the only competitors from SA. Andrew Horton and Ulrich Stauss are crewing for them, respectively.

03/12/08	Arrived in Benalla after an 11 1/2hr trip.
04/12/08	Rigged the gliders. Both boys flew to get familiar with the area but weather wasn't spectacular and they didn't get far.
05/12/08	The internet is down in most of Benalla apparently. Some major problem with a Telstra exchange. Colin didn't feel well so Andrew flew the Mozzie for a while. Eric explored the area some more.
06/12/08	Official practice day: Still no internet connection. We wanted to keep everybody updated but Telstra seem to be taking their time. Both boys attempted the task but cut it short in the deteriorating conditions. Eric made it home but Colin outlanded only about 10km from the field. On the practice day this does not matter and hopefully he has the outlanding bug out of his system for the actual competition. The retrieve was uneventful.
07/12/08	Competition day 1: Still no internet. After the briefing and task setting the mayor of Benalla officially opened JoeyGlide 08. On the grid the launch time was delayed as none of the local pilots could stay up in the weak lift. Eventually they were launched into an almost blue sky and the startgate opened at around 1400 for the 3 hour task. Within the first two hours almost half the fleet had either outlanded or aborted the task and returned to the airfield. Our boys started fairly late which gave us a nailbiting wait after the first finishers staggered over the finish line just over task time. Then the call came that Eric had outlanded. By the time the trailer was hooked on Colin came in as one of the last to finish. Eric's retrieve from about 40km out was a simple affair although we had to wait for the property owners wife to bring the key to the gate from the nearest town. Results for Day 1: Colin in 4th place with 644.6 points, just 124.6 points behind the leader; Eric 8th with 343.9 points, 425.3 points down - not impossible to catch up but it won't be easy.
08/12/08	The internet is still down!! There were a few periods where some people had a connection a few minutes to relieve their withdrawal symptoms but this report still didn't make it. Today's task was again a 3 hour Assigned Area Task mostly to the north. Conditions were a little better than yesterday but still tough by the sounds of it. Nonetheless the entire field made it back home. Results for Day 2: Colin 6th - 679.9 points (total 4th - 1325 points), Eric 9th - 582.6 points (total 8th - 927 points).

30 November 2008

The dates for many of next year's highlight events were decided at the committee meeting on Saturday and are available in the Events Calendar. In addition, we are trying to organise things for the Waikerie Coaching Week and need volunteers to help with towing the trailers there and back, driving the winch both ways as well as launching during the event. Roger Cox is the coordinator so please make sure you let him know whether and when you'll attend, what you can help with and which aircraft you want to fly. There will be a list on the noticeboard shortly or register by email. If you have not already done so you will need to book your accommodation and coaching entry directly with the Waikerie organisers - the club cannot do that for you.

Both days this weekend were great for soaring and the number cross-country flights in the club statistics book is growing. A few lucky pilots even managed to get into wave, which was better and went higher on Sunday than the day before.

22 November 2008

Our Annual Dinner on Saturday 15/11/08 at the Balaklava Royal Hotel was quite well attended. After a nice day of flying with several cross-country flights in challenging conditions we headed to the venue for pre-dinner drinks. After dinner the club trophies found their new homes and Peter Temple, our guest speaker, gave us an insight into the preparations for and the flying at the World Championships in Rieti (Italy) earlier this year. Many thanks to Peter and Mandy for a great presentation with breathtaking pictures and videos!

19 October 2008

Congratulations to Grant Hudson and Colin Stauss on gaining their Level 1 Instructor ratings! The course was run by John Hudson and Reg Moore over the last week. Paul Mason came up on Saturday for the final exam and issued the ratings. Many thanks to the club members involved in making this course happen by giving their time and effort.

Also, there is another Whisper available for download from the Newsletter page.

12 October 2008

The season has well and truely started with several good cross country and even thermal wave flights. Although conditions were often a little difficult it was definitely a lot of fun and the little challenges heightened the sense of achievement. This is the time of year to hone our skills for the good things to come this summer. More good news is that we have an instructors course coming so the current team can look forward to a bit of help from the newcomers during the busy season.

24 August 2008

This year's AGM was quite well attended. After the various reports and the unanimous re-election of all previous office bearers discussion centered around the rising cost of insurance and how to mitigate our risks most cost effectively. This will most likely be an ongoing topic for some time. Other issues were our plans for the maintenance of our hangars, the caravan park and the airstrip. In all the club is in a healthy position and we can look forward to another fun-filled soaring season.

11 August 2008

The July issue of the Whisper is available for download from the Newsletter page.

6 July 2008

The small crowd who made the trip to the airfield was rewarded with a few good flights on Saturday, even some weak wave directly off the winch. We also tried synthetic rope for the first time. 1250m of it completely filled one drum of the Hilly winch. The first launch went without a hitch. Earlier launches with the more powerful Bundy winch achieved ~1800-1900ft in the northerly wind. With the rope on the less powerful Hilly winch launch height was just under 2400ft. The ride was much smoother and quieter than on the wire. The second launch ended with a splice giving way about half way up - we obviously have a bit to learn on the art of splicing rope. The third launch was another success. However there were signs of some abnormal wear and the rope piles up in the middle of the drum due to the spreader not travelling far enough and at the wrong speed. A bit more work to do to get the rollers and spreader mechanism right but so far the experiment is promising.

We finally managed to get a few pictures from the Mercedes College visit on 27 May 2008 into our Photo Album. They quite obviously enjoyed the flights and we hope to see them again.

29 June 2008

Get your copy of the June issue of the Whisper from the Newsletter page!

15 June 2008

Congratulations to Tom Yeatman and John Launer, both of whom went solo recently! Congratulations also to our president Steve Shuck who received his Level 2 Instructor Rating and Colin Stauss his Air Experience Instructor Rating!

4 May 2008

Good conditions for this time of year allowed us to give a few visitors some nice soaring flights. Streets of cumulus clouds marked where the lift was until late in the day although below 2000ft it was hard to get away. Bernard and Tim (did I just hear someone call "Don and Sancho"?) did a tour of the windmills of the Mid North. They reported good climbs up to 6000ft. At the field we only got to around 4000ft but most flights were extended soaring flight. After the recent rains the landscape is starting to green up and the good visibility made for marvellous views.

The airworthiness crew was busy in the workshop with the annual inspection of the Hornet. Over the next few months our fleet will be progressively rotated through the mainenance hangar. Even if you don't have an airworthiness ticket, please lend a hand. There is always something to do and under the supervision of our capable workshop leaders there is always something to learn. Also remember that there is a working bee and sausage sizzle next Saturday. Weather permitting we'll still be flying.

The day concluded with dinner in the clubhouse followed by an instructors meeting.

28 April 2008

Despite the weather we had a great time at Waikerie on the weekend. John Hudson reports:
Following the invitation from the Waikerie Gliding Club, a number of Balaklava Club members visited Waikerie during the weekend 26th and 27th of April despite the "Anzac Day" forecast change in the weather which predicted wet and windy conditions. It was great to see Dene and Jean Newton, Judy and Peter Goodale, Steve Shuck, John Bradbury, Ulrich, Jess and Colin Stauss, Tim Lacey, Merv Lindner, Tom Yeatman, Dean Hill, Wal Mayger, Andrew Horton, Roger Cox and Peter Oldfield at Waikerie. Andrew Horton towed a BGC ASK21 to Waikerie - and after rigging this a Morning Briefing was held to update the BGC members on the operations at Waikerie and to brief pilots on the various gliders to be flown. With the cloud thickening in the west, flying operations got underway with Peter Siddal in the Tug. Dene Newton flew first in the Duo-Discus, enjoying a flight of 24 minutes. Ulrich had 21 minutes in the LS-7, Colin 12 minutes in the Discus and Peter Oldfield, Peter Goodale had flights of 8 and 16 minutes respectively in the Duo-Discus before the squally wind and rain arrived at around 1400 Hrs. This resulted in a quick departure back to the Hangar and, unfortunately, a cessation of the days flying activities, as some BGC members who were visiting for the day and were unable to fly. This allowed a visit to Allen Hudson's hangar to see the ASW20 conversion to jet engine power. This project is now well advanced with most approvals in place. It is expected testing will be able to begin in late May or early July to enable the first flight soon after. A look was also taken of Allen's Glassair 2 light sport aircraft before we ventured to the Bar. Jean Hudson provided Dinner on Saturday evening. Rain during Saturday night didn't propose much hope for flying on Sunday, however with a short break, the gliders were DI'd and prepared. Greg Jackson was the Tug Pilot for the day. Dean Hill, Tom Yeatman, Merv Lindner and Jess Stauss had flights in the Duo-Discus of 17, 17, 14 and 24 minutes respectively. Colin Stauss flew the LS-4 and LS-7 with flights of 35 and 43 minutes respectively, Andrew Horton flew the LS-7 and LS-4 for 23 and 15 minutes, Peter Goodale flew the LS-7 for 9 minutes and Ulrich flew the LS-4 for 17 minutes - before the weather again looked threatening and flying operations abandoned. After the gliders were put away, the BGC members departed for home and Greg Jackson departed Waikerie for Parafield in the Pawnee. All in all, despite the weather, an enjoyable weekend at Waikerie where it was possible to experience some different sailplanes in a different flying environment.
On behalf of the Waikerie Gliding Club, our thanks for making the effort to visit. John Hudson

And on behalf of the Balaklava Gliding Club, many thanks to the Waikerie Gliding Club for extending this invitation to us and sharing their gliders with us. Special mention must go to John and Jean Hudson for making this event happen. Thank you for the tremendous effort on and behind the scenes. The tuggies, Peter Siddal and Greg Jackson also deserve our gratitude for their services and good company.

10 April 2008

The SAGA Winter Lecture Series has been planned out and the topics and dates along with a few other entries are in our Events Calendar now.

6 April 2008

Grant Hudson reports on Saturday's flying:
Lovely cu day with consistent smooth lift up to max height of 7000'. Bernard and Peter Oldfield headed north in the ASH25 and turned approximately 25km south of Orroroo and headed towards Mt Remarkable where they connected with the sea breeze front which they flew along back to Crystal Brook. Meanwhile Grant in the Pik and Peter Goodale in the LS3 launched around 14:00 and climbed locally to 5500' before heading off to Clare and Farrell Flat. They met the ASH25 at Farrell Flat late in the day and all headed up to Burra together before turning and heading back to Whitwarta in more scattered but still quite reasonable lift. Bernard and Peter O. covered approximately 390km with Grant and Peter G. covering just shy of 150km.
Meanwhile the rest of the crew were enjoying local soaring 'till quite late in the day with Hilly in the ASK21 and Wal in the Mini Nimbus landing together after 17:00. A number of passengers also had a flight in the beautiful conditions.

31 March 2008

Despite the weather there were some decent flights on both days of the weekend. We also had a committee meeting on Saturday which resulted in a few more dates in the Events Calendar which has been a bit sparse lately.

The committee meeting also marked the completion of our Pilot Development Program which was made possible by a grant from the
Under the grant we installed FLARM collision warning and data logger devices into all our club gliders. Most private aircraft owners of our club also followed suit due to a rebate Grant Hudson was able to secure by arranging a combined order. In addition and also under the grant we obtained the StrePla task planning and evaluation software package which is installed on the new club computer in the office area and available for use by all members as is a video projector which allows us to use PowerPoint presentations and other electronic material for our theory lectures, daily briefings, promotional and club events. All of these have been used regularly over the past few months while teething problems had to be ironed out. Notably the new equipment allowed two of our youngsters to participate in the Junior Nationals at Gawler (coming in at respectable 7th and 8th places), one of our members to fly in the SA State Championships (which has not been the case for many years), and in particular has made possible this year's participation in the Waikerie Coaching week (which was an all-time success for our members). FLARM was mandatory for all of these events. In the lead-up to the competitions StrePla was very useful in combination with the loggers by allowing proper task planning and post flight analysis which led to good learning outcomes, particularly in the areas of thermal selection, centering, leaving thermals, inter-thermal cruising and speed to fly. Several of the recorded flights were entered into the world-wide Online Contest (OLC), achieving very respectable placings and putting the Balaklava Gliding Club onto the world map.
In addition to the added safety from the collision warnings it is now possible for all our pilots to download their flights and analyse them on the club computer or share them with others whether via OLC, a "maggot race" on the video projector in the clubhouse or on their PCs at home. For more andvanced use and help with post-flight analyses please talk to the coaches or instructors. The video projector is also available for playing DVDs and showing photos to a lager audience in the club house.

Many thanks to the South Australian Government Office for Recreation and Sport for this grant. The equipment will no doubt be put to very good use over many years to come.

23 March 2008

Saturday was yet another good soaring day although a 5500ft inversion set a definite altitude limit. Jeff Watson and Colin Stauss took off early in BXC to fly to Stonefield and retrieve the 'Come and Get It' Trophy. After struggling a little at first they got underway. With temperatures in the mid twenties it was quite pleasant at the pie cart. The rest of the club fleet was busy with 1 and 2hr 'strolls in the park' as far as Auburn, Clare and Snowtown until around 16:30 when the thermals started to die rapidly. Just about then our "trophy getters" returned with the liberated goblet, expressing their triumph in a nicely executed competition finish. Balaklava is again the rightful home of the 'Come and Get It' Trophy. Given the lovely weather over the Easter long weekend there are rumors that a swift retaliation is being planned - well, come 'n' get it!

13 March 2008

The latest issue of the Whisper is available for downloading from the Newsletter page. Good stories and news from around the club. Make sure you get your copy.

9 March 2008

Unseasonally good soaring conditions resulted in some nice long flights this weekend. Bernard Eckey had already used the great weather on Friday and shown New Zealand visitor Theo Newfield the Mid North and Flinders Ranges. On Saturday they went to Parachilna and back. Andrew Horton took the Mini to Cradock and home again in good time, and Leigh Bunting gave the Grunau a very respectable run "around the block" - Clare, Redhill, return. Peter Oldfield achieved his personal goal with another flight of over an hour - well done! Most of the students also got a flight, for some the highest they'd ever been in a glider.

Today was similar albeit with the small crew a little more difficult to manage on the ground. Everybody got a good flight. Notably Jim Vella soloed on the winch, having had his first solo in Gawler on aerotow only a few weeks ago. Congratulations!

A training note on how to use FLARM prepared by John Hudson is now also on the Members page.

2 March 2008

The Pylon Race last Saturday was well attended and 10 flights went around the slightly shorter than usual task. Great fun in the air and on the ground. Andrew Horton and Peter Oldfield took home 1st prize helped by a very "lucky dip".
Note: The "lucky dip" originally consisted of picking a number from 1 to 6 out of a container which is deducted from the flight time. In more recent events "The Dip" has been replaced by rolling dice which has reduced the number of cheating accusations but alleged bribery attempts seem to be on the increase ;-).

20 January 2008

Saturday really brought the true Balaklava Gliding Club spirit to the fore: everyone helping together. Due to a string of unfortunate break-downs (see below) both winches were out of action. Shortly after lunchtime the Hilly winch was back in service albeit still in need of further tuning as the day progressed. Later in the afternoon the Bundy winch also joined in again. Great effort by the winch maintenance crews!! Thank you very much guys! Thanks to you everyone got a good day's flying in reliable thermals to around 4000ft.

At the instructors meeting following the day's operations John Hudson presented notes on the recent airspace related procedural and some coming boundary changes that under certain circumstances give us more sky to play in. The notes are available in the Members section.

Nothing has been said here about the Waikerie Performance/Coaching Week so far. Well, the Balaklava contingent was probably a bit smaller than in previous years but this was more than made up by pilots from Gawler and even interstate. We were going to provide winch launches for the week but on the way to Waikerie the prime mover engine of the Bundy winch broke down. Thanks to Tim and Sam Lacey the problem was diagnosed late at night on the roadside in the middle of nowhere (between Kapunda and Truro actually), the winch towed back to Balaklava and spare parts ordered. The Hilly winch had developed a problem with the distributor and thus couldn't be used either - so the whole week was aerrotow only. Thanks to the Waikerie club's powerful tug and Gawler bringing theirs as well this worked out fairly well and not overly expensive. Most of the participating pilots achieved personal bests either under the guidance of the coaches (including 4-times world champion and many times Australian national champion Ingo Renner) or simply spurred on by the great atmosphere and the conducive Waikerie weather. The names on most of the Balaklava club trophies for this season have probably been determined during this week.

And last but not least here is Leigh Bunting's report on the Bordertown Vintage Rally:

Departed home in Adelaide at 0520 on the Sat 5th, because it was too hot to drag the trailer up through the Adelaide Hills the day before. Arrived 0830. Rigged and ready to go by 1000. The weather was potentially crap but hot. By early afternoon frontal cloud approached and some Cu's popped, so a bunch of us launched. A circuit in all my gear just about killed me. Took another launch and swore that if I flopped down, I'd park it as the heat was getting to me but 18 minutes later I was at 12000 and loving the coolness. Tried to push up the road to Keith but with 15kts on the nose, I wasn't getting far and the sky was clagging in. Joined a Kooka back over the field under a huge black threatening cloud base that must have been 10km across, but it had lift everywhere under it. Bit concerned about potential sparklers but only a few drops of rain occurred. Toured the local turnpoints from 10000. The wind had increased by the time of circuit entry and I had some concerns about landing. Over the field, I established that it was approaching 30kts and entertained the troops on the ground by hovering - well, I had 1kt groundspeed on the GPS but the landing worked out OK. 2hr17 and 72.4km XC.

Sunday was blown out and no oldtimers bothered to fly.

Mon, Tues, Wed had a southerly breezes and inversions. Flying was stay-uppable but difficult. Couldn't go anywhere. Put up 7½hrs.

Thursday was gonna be HOT and the forecast wasn't looking good with only 5-6000 possible. We sat around until after lunch. Ken Brierley and wife, one of the GB builders had come for a look, all the way from Sydney, so felt that I should fly. There had been a couple of huge whirlies earlier, so thought something must be happening. I dragged out and only put a light sweater on. Launched and was bumbling around in shitty lift at 800. Then whammo! Got hit by a biggy with the vario screaming it guts out and I could barely control the GB. The averager was showing >12kts and I rapidly departed the surface, but boy, the turbulence in it was violent! I didn't really need the vario as I just stayed in the cloud of straw. I was expecting hay bales to appear out of the gloom and maybe a cow or two that were still grazing on the straw. This went on to 9000. Worked other lift to 11300. Needless to say, the forecast was wrong and my rapid departure created a bit of excitement on the ground and the launch queue quickly grew from nothing. 3hr 50 and 135km XC. Ian Patching did 371km in a Boomerang. Horsham/Warracknabeal/Beulah/Yaapeet/Rainbow. It was blue at Bordertown but Ian got under Cu north of Warracknabeal.

Friday was blown out again and no oldies flew.

Saturday wasn't going to be very spectacular, so swapped aircraft with David & Jenne Goldsmith's ESKa6, formerly owned by Clare Soaring Club (as the BGC was called at the time) member John Reid. Had to have a second launch to stay up. Thermalled with David in the GB. Gee, it really does look nice right there in a thermal. Now I know how other pilots see it. Had an hour. Landed and we all de-rigged.

Noel Matthew's pics of the rally can be found at http://www.aus-soaring.on.net/pixgaly.htm (box at the top of the page).

5 January 2008

More from Andrew Horton on the SA State Championships:

5 Jan 08	The final results still hadn’t been posted, but I’d’ve come either 9th or 10th out of 11. At least I didn’t come last (which was my aim)! Some lessons learnt though, including about sea breezes and their effect on lift beforehand, and troughs and which side of them to be on, and also to have more faith in weather systems… Thus ended a memorable State Comp. My first where I’ve remained there the whole time, and in fact a comp where I hadn’t outlanded at all. (In fact, no one did!) Meantime, we’d decided the previous night to head back to Balak to fly the remaining aircraft to Waikerie. In the end, with the prevailing weekend program, we flew only one 21 and the Hornet across. The other 21 would be boxed on Sunday. Colin and I launched in BXC to start with, and found only very narrow thermals, mainly unworkable. Best lift was in fact on final! Meantime, Eric launched in GHT and smashed straight into a ripper thermal and got away. Our second attempt worked, and we trudged along after Eric. Then the trough line which was to be our bugbear loomed ugly ahead of us – had we departed too late? – and gave us pretty poor and narrow lift short of Eudunda, with Eric marking thermals for us and not going up very well. We got down to around 3500 near Eudunda when we found something that might work, then it got better and allowed us to move to a more promising part of the sky. Ten minutes later we both had final glide to Waikerie. Colin, flying at this stage, decided to trust the PDA running XCSoar a little too much, with the result that an outlanding just short of Waikerie looked guaranteed, until he then found something usable, and gained about a couple of thousand feet to guarantee arrival at Waikerie, which we did after just under two hours since take-off. Nigel Zimmermann of the Barossa club very kindly came with us in the car to Balak, to drive it back, towing the Hornet trailer. He arrived at Waikerie about an hour after we did. Ulrich was to drive the winch, towing an empty 21 trailer, an event that proved much more challenging than intended as the winch broke down around Eudunda! Sam and Tim went out to retrieve him, and fix the winch. So far I haven’t heard more than that…
4 Jan 08	Final day of the comp – day 5 in fact. The task was Lindsay River – Morgan – Alawoona. Around 370 km raw. Forecast was for great conditions to 9000ft or a bit more if the temperature really got up. As things happened, I managed an indifferent thermal to 8000 or so, and hunted around for something better, and losing 3000 ft in the process before even starting. Eventually found something reasonable, and started, then found only rubbish for some time afterwards. By now Bernard was competing, and I managed to latch on to a good thermal he found on the way to the first turn point. I decided to turn early as mostly the thermals remained indifferent. Came back, on the way to Morgan, then noticed a huge Cu forming just behind me, and off to one side which was why I hadn’t encountered it earlier. To go back to it would have delayed me unacceptably, so I pushed on, to more promising Cu’s nearer Morgan. And found more less-than-optimal thermals. This continued for quite a while, to near Alawoona, so I turned early and risked returning home under time to avoid the possibility and ignominy of outlanding. Then found a good thermal, which whisked me up really high, so went back, towards Alawoona to gain some extra distance, and then get on final glide home. As a result of this, and not being properly in competition mode to start with, I achieved the inevitable, and came last.
3 Jan 08	OK, so today there was a task set. As I’m writing this a few days later, I’ve already forgotten what the task was, as it was cancelled at launch time. (No, not lunch-time!) A sniffer was sent up first – the Duo-Discus owned by the Japanese contingent – and reported marginal conditions up to 3000 ft and no higher. Not boding good at all. Then a couple of competitors were sent up to try things out – they fared no better. Then one struggled to 4000 ft. The third competitor was hooked on, with Cathy (contest director) hum-ing and ha-ing. Then she cancelled the day. Then it boomed! I decided to take a launch anyway, and flew locally. Two or three people attempted the task anyway, and mostly got around, although they reported soft conditions at the extremity of the task.

3 January 2008

Andrew Horton reports from the SA State Championships (a pilot's perspective):

2 Jan 08	A howling southerly gale (courtesy of the cool change which ripped in yesterday) resulted in a rotten temp-trace, and likely rough conditions allowed the comps director to can the day. Which provided some welcome relief from the stinking heat of the previous days. Went sight-seeing in the air-conditioned car (and some sand-dune bashing too). Managed to lose everything off the PDA when changing batteries in it. Just as well it wasn’t a comp day!
1 Jan 08	Day 4 of the comp. The temperature on the ground got to at least 44 degrees, resulting in more thermals to great heights. But the presence of a trough rolling in from the west resulted on the task being set well to the east ahead of the crud, and the lift wasn’t all that fantastic out there. Fortunately the sink wasn’t bad either, and the few good thermals (usually very narrow and embedded in weak surrounding lift) allowed height lost in super-long glides to be regained. The task was Meringur (50 km) – Maggea (30 km) – Renmark (30 km). Hardly anyone dared venture as far as Meringur, as not finding a thermal the other side of the scrub would result in an outlanding there, or worse, in the scrub. But on the way back west to Maggea, the trough resulted in massive lift, and climbs to over 13500 ft. I headed from there to Renmark, but elected to turn short an head home as the southerly buster was raising plenty of dust from several paddocks. Big J had radioed everyone that the wind was now SW at 20+kts. Of course, I’d turned short on the pretext of finding only junk; however I’d forgotten, or ignored, that the front was going to produce even more skyrocketing lift on the way and came home under time yet again! Another lesson learnt... First: Graham Parker. Second: The Conways (Nimbus 4DM). Third: Haidyn Dunn. Overall first: Graham Parker (3832.9 points); second David Pietsch (3701); third Haidyn Dunn (3685.2). I’m 8th out of 11 with 2381 points.
31 Dec 07	Day 3 of the comp. Repeater (60 km) – Alawoona (20 km) – Peebinga (50 km). Some good Cu’s today – about time too. I’m not yet used to the idea of assigned-area tasks, and turned at the repeater as though it was a standard turnpoint (nice wingover), then travelled at right angles to the next leg to use a big Cu. Lesson – I could’ve headed to the Cu in the first place! Then I deviated somewhat from the track to use another good Cu. Then a run to Alawoona, but I was ahead of schedule and so went past before turning. By now there are good Cu’s everywhere, and I could get fantastically high, so a run well past Peebinga is called for, almost to Murrayville. Then things went pear-shaped, and the very long run home required working a few patches of crud, and a significantly longer run than I’d wanted. Damn. First: Graham Parker (ASG29). Second: David Pietsch. Third: Haidyn Dunn.
30 Dec 07	Day 2 of the comp. Lake Cullulleraine (50 k) – Alawoona (40 k). Lousy conditions to start with saw the task shortened from 3 hrs to 2 ½ hrs. But then the conditions improved. I turned well short of Lake Cullulleraine as the task didn’t warrant going the whole distance and then headed for Alawoona. Miscalculation of the final glide resulted in me coming home too early again! First: Haidyn Dunn. Second: David Pietsch. Third: Gavin Wrigley (LS7).
29 Dec 07	Day 1 of the comp. Copeville (30 km) – Meribah (40 km). Something nice and easy to start with. It got stinking hot and there was good lift everywhere. Having gone around Copeville as though it was a standard turnpoint then meant I had to go well past Meribah; even so I came home early and copped a time penalty. Ah well... First: David Pietsch (ASW20). Second: Craig Vinall (Mosquito). Third: Haidyn Dunn (Pik 20B).
28 Dec 07	Day 0 of the comp (well, if the first day is Day 1 then the preceding day must be Day 0). The second practice day. Eric helped me set up the PDA with XCSoar on it, and I tried a short task of 150 km to see how it worked. Learnt a few things about it; hopefully in time for the comp. Getting hotter. Some good heights, and I could well have gone further. Still, the idea was to try out XCSoar and if necessary do another flight after fixing anything that needed fixing.
27 Dec 07	Day -1 of the comp (OK, first practice day). I collected Colin and Eric, who very kindly offered to crew for me, from the club, and took them and FQB in its trailer to Waikerie, getting there in time to drop the trailer and raise the tent. It was warm, and likely to get hotter.

2 January 2008

Happy New Year to all. Last year's news and changes have now been archived but are still available via the links below.

The SA State Championships are in full swing and our own Andrew Horton is currently 8th overall after 4 days flown. Conditions were very hot so far and last nights cool changes is very welcome although it may mean that gliding conditions will be less than ideal. And next week of course there will be the Coaching Week here. For those who have not put their name down on the list it is high time or you will miss out.