Maybe we should move Friday operations to Monday
more often, because this week’s transferred
flying day was HUGE - 18 flights, and the only
reason we didn’t give Kevin Rodda his
treasurer’s dream of a full flight sheet was
that we ran out of daylight. And all of this
happened with a comparatively small crew, as
several regular Friday faces were missing for
various reasons.
The day began with great activity, but on the
other side of the fence. McNaught and Aerodrome
Roads filled with council crews, fire trucks and
traffic controllers as they prepared to burn off
excess fire fuel in the bush to the south of the
airfield. On our side of the fire line, we
prepared GYK and CQC for flying while moving GJY
and GXQ across to the main tie down area. Here
we figured they would be safer from windblown
embers, and John Nestor more comfortable while
he worked on XQ’s radio.
Amid all this activity, one member demonstrated
that even in the matter of putting on socks for
winter warmth, a good glider pilot is always
aware of being navigationally correct:
The owner of this green-for-starboard,
red-for-port accoutrement being none other than
the aforementioned treasurer:
While Kevin got his Ka-6 GRV down from the
ceiling, the rest of us headed up to RWY24,
where the chill of the south westerly wind was
evident in a rarely seen con trail high to the
east.
The morning schedule was a busy one for Karl
Bodi and me as we set off on currency check
flights for Ken Mitchell and Nick Sheahon,
training flights for Chris Hansen, and a
family/friend flight Arthur Mailey had booked
in. Despite the only other members present being
Judith Smith and Bob Hainsworth, there seemed to
be enough demand to bring GXQ out as well once
John Nestor had finished his work, and we also
added the Club Libelle to what was now a very
crowded flight line.
The early check and training flights were not
really about finding lift, so it was up to
Arthur to open the serious batting with a 50
minute introduction to soaring for his
daughter’s boyfriend (although we’re not
sure whether Arthur’s intention was to
encourage or discourage the young man).
Kevin Rodda, on the very next launch, set the
benchmark for the day with 1:24. He frolicked in
the same mix of thermal and maybe some residual
wave that the rest of us found, and also enjoyed
lift from the bush burning that was less
accessible to the heavier gliders.
The rest of the flights fell well short of the
hour and a half mark. All were under half an
hour except for a remarkably late second best
flight of the day for Judith and Bob: 1:06 in
CQC from a launch at 14:20!
Pleasant conditions and a great Pie Cart
atmosphere kept us all flying through the
afternoon, with seven solo flights logged
between 15:00 and the last launch at 16:42. By
this time the light was fading fast behind a
formation of clouds that seemed to indicate some
kind of wave pattern coming from the west.
And it was so dark by the time we got the
gliders all bedded down that the lights from the
fire trucks were a handy help to finish the day
Stats for a very big day:
CQC 6 flights 2:51
GYK 7 flights 1:59
GXQ 3 flights 0:40
GJY 1 flight 0:24
GRV 1 flight 1:24
With thanks to all the Friday regulars plus the
Monday irregulars for making it such a great
day, and special thanks to Kevin Rodda for some
of the photos.
Garrett Russell
