Latest Club News and Overview of Changes on this Site

Latest Club News and Overview of Changes on this Site
28 December 2009	The Waikerie Coaching Week is in full swing. On Saturday Jeff Watson and Ulrich Stauss flew BXC across which will be flown by Ingo Renner. The empty trailer followed on the road, towed by Maureen, Jeff's partner. With the low, solid inversion and several 'interesting' airmasses to cross the flight was challenging to say the least. Roger Cox decided at the last minute that he would also attend the Coaching Week. He roped in Colin Stauss to tow the trailer for him and coached by Bernard Eckey in the ASH25 attempted the 150km ferry flight. However, after having crossed the scrub to Morgan he ended up outlanding on the "Teletrack". Jeff and Ulrich were able to direct the 'search and rescue mission' from the air, having taken the safer although weatherwise perhaps more difficult route via Blanchetown. Andrew Horton who is attending the Coaching Week as practice and lead-in to the Internode Australian Multi Class National Gliding Championships took the easier option and towed the Mozzie to Waikerie as it was already in its trailer. Colin and Jessica Stauss are crewing for him and are generally helping out with both events. Grant Hudson, member of both Balaklava and Waikerie will also be competing in his PIK20. You can follow their progress on the Competition Web Site but we'll try to keep you updated on their progress via this page as well.
23 December 2009	Just in time to send you season's greetings the final Whisper for this year is now available from our newsletter page! Have a Merry Christmas a very Happy New Year and many more safe flights!
21 December 2009	Soaring conditions on the last few weekends were probably below average for this time of year. However, most of our pilots enjoyed the cooler weather for local flights. the most notable flight however was Bernard Eckey's midweek 1100km sojurn north into the Flinders Ranges, then southeast to Lake Cululleraine and back to Balaklava. Well done! Despite the low inversion at around 4000ft on Saturday 12 December Ulrich Stauss faught his way to Orroroo and back for 300km and Roger Cox declared the same task in virtually identical weather conditions on Saturday 19 December, chased by Bernard and Ulrich in the ASH25, but because of the hard work the turnpoint was changed to Caltowie for something just over 200km. Roger admirably held his ground against the ASH but missed a much needed thermal and ended up in a paddock halfway between Brinkworth and Blyth. Nonetheless a fantastic effort. Well done Roger!
15 November 2009	The hot weather deterred the Saturday mob from taking to the skies. Duty instructor John Weathcroft had an easy day in the airconditioned clubhouse. However our Annual Dinner that night was well attended and the club trophies have found their new (in some cases already well familiar) homes. Many thanks to our guest speaker Terry Cubley for an enlightening and inspiring insight into his impressive gliding career.
11 November 2009	Due to the hot weather the Mercedes College air experience day had to be postponed. The new tentative date has been posted in the Events Calendar and will be updated depending on weather.
8 November 2009	The committee is trying to finalise plans for the coming Waikerie Coaching week. As we have committed the winch we need winch drivers for every day. Also, there are very few names on the list and the event might have to be cancelled if nobody else signs up. If you still want to enter please email admin@bgc.asn.au. Saturday was a very busy day and we clocked up a fair few cross-country kms. Congratulations to Colin Langley who flew well over 1 hr on his own having only recently gone solo. Tom Yeatman had a great flight in the Hornet and both '21s as well as the Mini were busy the whole day.
30 October 2009	The latest Whisper is now available from our newsletter page! There are some very pertinent words on glider canopy care from John Hudson, a rundown of coming events and more...
28 October 2009	The Federal Member for Wakefield, Nick Champion will be opening the result of our latest project that was made possible with the help of our Federal Government's economic stimulus grant. The opening will take place on Monday 30 November 2009, 14:00 at the Balaklava Airfield. There will also be a "meet and greet" session in the Balaklava town triangle for about one hour from around 16:30. As part of the GFA's GPC introduction we are renewing our efforts to provide coaching to all our pilots. Please register your interest by putting your name on the list on the noticeboard in the clubhouse or emailing either coach@bgc.asn.au or cfi@bgc.asn.au.
25 October 2009	It has gone a little quiet on this page lately but that doesn't mean there was no flying. In fact the season has started nicely with many good soaring flights although our Bordertown camp had to be cancelled due to the airstrips being waterlogged. All form 2 inspections are complete and the fleet is ready to go. Coming soon we'll host a class of Mercedes College students for an air experience day again which will keep the 2-seaters busy. And of course our hangar - it is now completedly reclad, the floor has been resurfaced and better lighting and power points installed! Our volunteer hangar renovation crew has done a truely magnificent job that will serve us well for a long time to come. Many heartfelt thanks to all who contributed in any way, last but not least the Australian Government for the economic stimulus package grant that allowed us to finance the project!
23 August 2009	The AGM was well attended. The only changes are Tom Yeatman taking over Grant Hudson's position on the committee and Andew Horton replacing John Wheatcroft as SAGA representative. Many thanks to Grant and John for their service and welcome to the team Tom and Andrew!
14 August 2009	Get the latest Whisper from our newsletter page! The articles span the spectrum from elation to drama to dissapointment and culminate in the question - "quo vadis?". A snapshot out of the life of a gliding club...
2 August 2009	Grant Hudson reports a pleasant day of flying at the BGC again on the 1st of August. We had 233 minutes of flying from 20 launches using a combination of the wire and rope winches. Roger Cox scraped out 32 minutes for the longest and highest (2500') flight of the day but the story of the day belongs to Colin Langley who was sent solo... Congratulations Colin! ZBG was successfully test flown after her Form 2 and was returned to service. BXC was derigged at the end of flying and is now in the workshop for her Form 2. Another great day!
26 July 2009	With many members lending a hand over the last few weeks out hangar reroofing project is making good progress. With some more concerted effort it should be completed well before our deadline. On Saturday the commttee had the final meeting before the AGM. As the Flinders Ranges Camp is no longer possible it was decided to hold the camp at Bordertown. It was also decided that the Waikerie Coaching Week will be organised as a club event again. However the arrangements this time are a little different. For details on both events have a look in the Events Calendar.
19 July 2009	Grant Hudson enthusiastically reports on Saturday's flying: The conditions required to produce the elusive lee elusive at Whitwarta all came together on the 18/07/09 and gave a few of our pilots a great introduction to this form of lift. Unfortunately we had just de-rigged ZBG for her Form 2 so were down to 1 ASK21 only. Grant & Lou had a short 13 minute flight to kick things off with only 0 - 1/2 a knot of lift encountered but went again and had 38 minutes and a gain of height of 1000' in lift up to 2 knots. Lou quickly got the hang of things beating back and forward along the length of the wave before working on co-ordination and speed control by performing figure 8's in the super smooth lift. Next up we introduced Steve Clements, our visitor from the North Queensland Gliding Club and current owner of our old Hornet VH-GEX to his first taste of wave flying. He quickly got into the swing of things exploring the edges of the system before concentrating on the stronger areas of lift. We worked mainly 2 but up to 3 knots of lift up to 4000' before ending the climb by pulling out divebrakes and spiralling down to give someone alse a taste. Wheaty and Colin Langely and then Wal and Tim had flights together, and while they contacted the wave they found it to be a little scratchy and much weaker than the earlier couple of flights. That was the end of the wave for the day although lenticulars were still evident immediately downwind and the wind speed and direction didn't noticeably change which just highlights the fragile nature of these systems. We managed to get just over 3 hours flying with a number of launches done with rope... another top day!
5 July 2009	Work on reroofing the main hangar is progressing well. Many thanks to all who lent a hand! Every bit helps. Despite all the work and not exactly booming weather conditions there was plenty of flying too - somebody's got to do it... Our student pilots got lot of practice and there were a number of air experience flights. We also have Steve Clements from Queensland and his wife for a visit and some flying with us.
23 June 2009	Details for the upcoming Weight & Balance Course have been added to the Events Calendar.
21 June 2009	The Human Factors talk last week was well attended. It was very informative and all participants gained potentially life-saving insights. A big thank you to Darrell and Sue Ingham for their effort and also to Roger Cox for a great lunch! Whilst the weather wasn't all that conducive to cross-country flights over the last few weekends, there was still the odd soaring flight and even flights in wave. Our student pilots experienced interesting and more difficult conditions which is good practice. In the mainenance hangar the Hilly winch has received an overhaul and modifications to the spreader to prevent wearing out the ropes we are trialling. In addition the Horent is undergoing its annual "form 2" inspection. Over the next two months or so the rest of the fleet will be rotated through the workshop one after the other. Please help our volunteer crew where you can. There are always jobs that anyone can do. Without the volunteer work our costs would be significantly higher. More help will be required for the main hangar re-roofing for which we received a council grant. The materials will be delivered next week and the work has been scheduled for 2 & 3 July. If at all possible, please lend a hand. Unfortunately there is also some bad news as it seems we have come to the end of an era: due to the change in ownership of Arkapena Station we won't be able to go on our annual pilgrimage to the Flinders Ranges. The new owners won't allow us to use the campground and the airstrip any more. The committee is looking to arrange alternatives and open to suggestions.
30 May 2009	If you are serious about safety in our sport please join us on Sunday 14 June 2009 at 10:00. Darrell Ingham will talk to us on "Human Factors in Aviation" and gliding in particular. Details are in our Events Calendar. Members of other clubs are also most welcome to participate! Please spread the word.
3 May 2009	Beautiful soaring conditions gave a relatively small crowd the opportunity to enjoy the greening countryside with some extended flights. the attending student pilots had plenty of opportunity to learn and Tom Yeatman continued his roll by completing his outlanding training. Another "well done" to Tom, and many thanks to duty instructor John Wheatcroft for his great effort!
26 April 2009	Congratulations to Tom Yeatman who has completed his A & B certificate! Well done. We also had a working bee a last month some pictures of which have finally made it into our Photo Album. Thanks for the hard work 'fellers'!
1 April 2009	Regular as clockwork we have the new Whisper on our newsletter page thanks to Tim Lacey's - our editor's - efforts. Please help him in his job by submitting your articles about anything of interest in, around and about the club and gliding in general.
29 March 2009	Good day's flying for the Pylon Race on Saturday, although the thermals started rather late and only went to 3500ft. They were also accompanied by big areas of sink. The task was Balaklava town - Balaklava golf course clubhouse and return, 23 km total distance. Peter Oldfield and Wheaty came first, couresty of a ripper flight which had them scream around the course in 19 minutes and then roll 6 on the dice. They pipped Bernard (ASH25) and Andrew (Mini Nimbus). Four teams in total were able to be placed. Shucky and Merv were another team (came last), and Tim and John B, who came third. 'Twas a good day!
19 March 2009	The dates for the SAGA winter lecture series are now in our Events Calendar. Very interesting topics coming up by competent speakers. Make sure you put these in your diary.
15 March 2009	Thanks to John Hudson we have a few more endorsed radio operators. The session lasted for much of the day and John did a great job keeping it interesting and relevant. The weather presented us good soaring conditions but the wind made ground operations, launches and landings very difficult and we ceased flying early after only a few soaring flights. Only Bernard Eckey with Eric Stauss in the backseat of the '25 used the day to the full, returning well after most people had left.
7 March 2009	Andrew Horton and Terry Neumann have taken a few pictures of the C130 visiting Balaklava (click here to have a look). Terry reports: "Well they finally made it. The Herc has been and gone. Eight minutes earlier than promised, they did two into wind ( Rw16) precautionary/missed approaches and one down wind (Rw 34) and then on to Edinburgh - no landing here unfortunately. [...] There was a reasonable spectator gallery, and I know of one bloke who drove from Whyalla to have a look! [...] It's a big beast!"
3 March 2009	Note to all aviation enthusiasts: On 5 March between 14:15 and 14:30 the RAAF are using our airfield for loadmaster training with a C130 J!
28 February 2009	Good news for those who do not have a Radio Operators Endorsement yet: John Hudson will be holding a seminar on 14 March 2009 after flying. Remember, this endorsement is required to fly solo at Balaklava and the seminar is part of our theory training syllabus. Please make use of this opportunity, whether to gain your Radio Operators Authorisation or simply as a refresher. Members of other clubs are also most welcome to participate!
15 February 2009	We've had some good flights again on the weekend, some in excess of 400 and 500km. Our students also had plenty of air-time to practice.
3 February 2009	The latest Whisper is available on our newsletter page. As some of the nonetheless very interesting stories are a little dated relatively speaking members are reminded that our editor (and readers) appreciate contributions. With some great soaring weather and a few fun filled events over the last few weeks there should be plenty to write about so please send your articles to whisper@bgc.asn.au.
5 January 2009	A very Happy New Year to all. As in previous years we had our entire club fleet and the Bundy winch in Waikerie for the Coaching Week. There are several interesting stories to tell this year and hopefully we will learn the gory details at the bar or from Whisper articles in the near future: how BXC's (Jeff Watson / Ulrich Stauss) ferry flight to Waikerie ended prematurely in a paddock near Eudunda, Merv's mother of all winch wire tangles, how Roger ("Moses") Cox parted the red sand dune (sea) after nearly getting the winch bogged to retrieve Wheaty and Jeff after their breath-taking outlanding just across the highway, Roger's Mini outlanding, the Stauss boys' epic return out of a dead eastern sky just before SAR time, Jeff's escapade as a stand-up comedian, the broken canopy hinge arm and gas strut saga, the Bundy winch gear shift cable conundrum and shredded tyres on the return trip, BXC's return journey to Balaklava and more... This week our very own Andrew Horton is competing in the South Australian State Championships at Waikerie in his Mosquito FQK, crewed by Jessica and Colin Stauss. Go Andy!!