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Friday
Easter Monday |
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06-Apr-15 |
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With no
flying on Good Friday, the Friday Crew had been
rostered for Monday. After Saturday and Sunday had
both been washed out, I was perusing the skies to the
north of Brisbane this
morning and
thinking/hoping that the tenacity of the Friday Crew (and their lack of flying days over the first three
months of 2015 due to bad weather) might result in some flying at YCAB
today.
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I posted the following photo on Facebook and
commented ... Brisbane:
This morning has the best looking gliding skies for
some time, so off to the airfield with
"high"
hopes!
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After
finishing off the few tasks that stood between me and
an uninterrupted day at YCAB, I headed north ... by then having gladly received
Garrett's email confirming that we were indeed flying.
Upon arrival at the airfield around 10:30 am, I was
greeted with a sight to bring a smile to a treasurer's
face ... every available club glider was missing from
the tie-down area and therefore must have been at the
flight line!
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A
great day of Club flying ensued with Barry McCarthy,
Tony Sorensen, Neil Schaefer, Steve Bowtell,
Judith Smith, Arthur Mailey, Charles Hoch, Chris Weir,
John Nestor, Anne Bradley, Jonathan Manifold (with his
Dad) and Rupert Perry active at the flight line for
what turned out to be a 15 flight
day. I think I also saw from a distance Karl Bodi
dropping in briefly at the flight line late in the
day.
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Judith
Smith and Arthur Mailey shared a flight in IKW.
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The
chairs under the shade of the gazebo were popular ...
Anne Bradley, Tony Sorensen, Barry McCarthy and
Charles Hoch.
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Rupert
Perry and Neil Schaefer also shared a flight in IKW
(Rupert's rugged-up appearance belies what was quite a
warm autumn day).
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A
highlight of the day was John Nestor taking his
first ever passenger-carrying flight (in the Blanik
with partner Anne Bradley in the rear seat). The
occasion was made even more special for John as this
was the same aircraft in which he took his first solo
flight.
Someone
at the pie-cart commented (at the time that John and
Anne were strapped in and waiting to launch) that this
was the first occasion that John had someone other
than "an instructor" in the rear seat when
he flew a glider ... after a brief pause in the
conversation, someone else quipped jokingly
that the comment may not be technically correct as
John actually had "his instructor" in the
rear seat right
now!
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It
doesn't get much better than this - hand in hand with
his two favourite girls
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(John
Nestor's first solo flight on 12-Jul-13)
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The
longest
flight of the day was my first AEF flight in the Twin Astir with
walk-in AEF passenger Luke Amundsen (44 minutes from a 3500ft
launch at 12:48 pm). Chris Weir had a 37 minute flight
in the Libelle (from a 3500ft launch at 11:09
am).
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Steve
Bowtell (current Tugmaster) kept the tows turning over
while receiving on-ground support and encouragement
from Tony Sorensen (ex Tugmaster).
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There
was a milestone achieved today by John Nestor who took
his first passenger carrying flight (with Anne Bradley
in the back seat of GYK -
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The
day's stats ...
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L13 Blanik
GYK - 6 flights for 1:59
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Club Libelle GJY - 2 flights for 1:06
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Twin Astir IKW -
7 flights for 2:43
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Totals
for today - 15 flights for 5:48
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My
passenger Luke Amundsen (a locally based commercial power pilot who flies
Fokkers taking workers into and out of mine
sites from Perth) was driving past, saw us operating
and dropped in on the off chance that he might be able
to get his first taste of
gliding. He took a second flight with me in IKW, and
was excited enough by the experience that he decided to take up the option of having his two
flights today charged at member rates when he signed
up as CGC's newest member. Welcome to the club
Luke!
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Luke
Amundsen with today's Duty Instructor Barry
McCarthy.
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When I
called at Hangar 7 to collect the Tug Sheet for Judith
at the end
of the day, there was another unusual sight to greet
me. I don't recall
ever seeing three people washing down SPA at the same
time ... maybe three there to put her to bed, but not
all with sponges in action at the same time
...
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Neil
Schaefer, Tony Sorensen and Steve Bowtell.
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Apologies
to Judith Smith for getting distracted by conversation
and
forgetting why I had actually dashed down to Hangar 7
in the Barina with such urgency (ie: specifically to collect the Tug Sheet that
Judith was waiting on to finalise
the Flight Sheet). I was more than a bit red-faced
when I looked up mid conversation to see that Judith
had walked down from Hangar 22 to Hangar 7 to see what
had happened to me!
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All up
however, it was a great day of Club flying that could have easily been an
excellent day if only there had been a few more
thermals on offer.
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Kevin
Rodda
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(well
before the hair loss!)
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