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From:
Garrett Russell
Sent: Sunday, 26 July 2009
To: CGC List
Subject: Last Sunday of July at Caboolture |
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| When
you launch 24 glider flights on a Sunday in July you know you’ve had a good winter
day at Caboolture. When you can look up across Runway 12 and see four gliders gaggling in
a thermal almost directly overhead you know you’re having a great winter day! And
when those 24 flights and all that thermalling add up to a total of over 13 hours –
well, what more do you need to say about winter flying at Caboolture? |
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Yet
all this happened with a very small duty crew. Instructors Phil Behnke and Tony Sorensen
could officially only relay on the support of Tuggie Mike Grady and AEI Neil Muspratt to
get the day underway.
Unofficially they had a crowd and a half!
Brian and Anne Wade headed a stellar cast of members who turned up just for the fun of
flying – and to be available to help our dedicated maintenance crew of Lindsay
Mitchell, Vince Everett and Eric Dickeson when they needed to swap some Blanik wings later
in the afternoon. A standout in this department is David Hawes, who managed to squeeze a
check and solo flight in between his primary aim of being on hand to help in the hangar. |
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Other
hangars-on (to coin a phrase) included:
Barry McCarthy, who brought his friend Lyn Ellery out for her first soaring flight ; Peter
John, who served time in the tug as well as taking a mate gliding
Air Cadets Blair Stirling and Jordan Westahouse from Boonah (welcome, guys); David Higgs
and Speedy Gonsalves, who were half of the gaggle referred to above, yours truly, keen to
prove he can actually soar a Club Libelle; Kevin Rodda and Bushy Bill, in the mood to
share their treasured ES-KA6 with other members |
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| Brian
and Barry were in the mood to accept Kevin’s generosity – but by the time they
took off the best part of a great day had already passed. That was between about 1130 and
1430, when no fewer than eight flights of more than half an hour were logged. Speedy and
David flew 2:41 and 1:29 respectively! |
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| Undaunted
by diminishing lift, today’s crew flew on into the silky afternoon, finishing with
yet another instructor check flight (winter must be the season for them) landing at 1700. |
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| Stats
for the day: GBJ 7 flights 2:22; IKW 4 flights 1:59; GQA 4 flights 1:38; GJY 3 flights
2:17; GRV (Kev and friends) 5 flights 2:04; GSR (Speedy) 1 flight 2:41; Bert Persson and
Trevor Mills also self-launched to unknown heights and durations. |
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| But
the day’s most important result was that the flying crew returned to a hangar where
the maintenance men had worked long and hard and have almost completed the Form 2 work on
GYK and CQC. The day’s vibe is best summed up by the scene in the hangar office well
after last light: |
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| More Pics from
26Jul09: |
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| There was
movement at the station ... (setting off for 12). |
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| Not brain
surgery but requires as much concentration (Eric Dickeson, Lindsay Mitchell and Vince
Everett). |
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A thorn
between two roses? ... (Club Libelle JY in a "K6 Sandwich" between RV and
SR). |
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Coaching
Speedy ... as if he needs it! (Bernard Gonsalves in SR with David Higgs and Tony
Sorensen). |
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A very
active winter flight line (IS-30 QA, Twin Astir IKW, Club Libelle JY, ES-KA6 RV, Blanik
L13 BJ and Pawnee SPA). |
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Garrett
Russell in JY. |
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