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Aprilia
SportCity 200cc |
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| Upon
my arrival at around 9:30 am, I found David and Mick
disrobing the Blanik (GYK) and Steve Chapman doing
the daily inspection on the Pawnee (SPA). Bernard
"Speedy" Gonsalves and Bert Persson were
at second breakfast but I had already been talking
to Speedy and knew he was keen to get the Kookaburra
(GLM) out for a fly. |
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| Mick's
"Lets go gliding" email had obviously
snagged one fish ... when Jacob Mason came wandering
across from the Aero Club car park and greeted us
with ... "wasn't sure if I should come out
today, but read the email and thought I'd drop
in". |
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Mick
Moloney with Jacob Mason |
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| With
not much wind (however what wind there was made the
windsock look like a ribbon in a maypole dance ...
XTMT would remember maypole dancing) and the powered
aircraft playing "pick a runway ... any runway
will do", we headed for 30 for the first launch
at 11:30 am. Soon after we headed to 06 for the
second launch, and there was the Kookaburra at the
06 flight line waiting for us! |
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Kookaburra
GLM at 06 with (from left) Bernard Gonsalves, David
Higgs and Rupert Perry. |
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| While
Mick concentrated on Jacob's training flights in
GYK, David did two mutual flights with Speedy in
GLM. There was therefore a fair bit of ability and
experience in that cockpit ... but alas, the flight
times clearly show what a thermally-challenged
day it really was ... 15 mins from 1500 ft at 12:13
pm and then another 15 mins from 1500 ft at 1:58
pm. |
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Steve
Chapman in the Pawnee (SPA). |
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| As
Steve Chapman lined the tug up for the first of the
Kookaburra launches he reminisced over his aviation
career commenting ... "my earliest experience
as a tuggie was towing Kookaburras with a Pawnee at
Benalla 30 years ago ... and look how far I've come
... I'm still towing a Kookaburra with Pawnee". |
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| The
second and third of Jacob's training flights with
Mick were simulated outlandings using the very start
of grass left in the 06 undershoot area as the
field. Jacob's second "outlanding" was a
gem! |
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"Speedy"
and "Higgsy" in the "Kooka" -
these smiles were before their two flights! |
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| We
had the pleasure of Rupert Perry's company for part
of the day, and, despite being lined up on a couple
of occasion to dart off into the blue with Speedy in
GLM, he ended up not flying at all. On one occasion
the Gonsalves/Perry flight was so close you could
taste it ... and the "FriXion" pen came in
handy when we had to change the time sheet from
Perry to Higgs at the last minute! |
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| The
last flight of the day was Mick and Speedy doing a
mutual in the Kookaburra at 2:29 pm ... and with a
(by now) not surprising result ... 11 mins from 2500
ft! |
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Mick
Moloney at the controls of GLM pushing back into a
stiff northerly on final into 06. |
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| Meanwhile
I had spent most of the day in the retrieve car
(mainly because I was founding it far too difficult to get in
and out) and the heat was oppressive. So much so
that Speedy brought a big plastic container of water
from his hangar to the pie-cart and I did a run to
the servo on my scooter to get a bag of party-ice. |
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Speedy
and Mick in GLM - taken from my "office"
for the day ... the front seat of the Magna.
Note
the rescue crews "practicing" in the
background ... the only lift found all day is
suspected of having been triggered from one of their
BBQ sausages ... there was due speculation as to
whether the trigger formed pre or post digestion! |
