Saturday
looked a little in doubt at one stage as
rostered tuggie Karl Bodi was called into
work at late notice (it happens to us all
sometimes Karl). But thankfully Steve
Bowtell was able to cover the morning which
meant we did not have to cancel the two AEF
passengers we had booked. We also had AAFC
James Moloney booked in to start his gliding
training in earnest. As such, Tony Sorenson
had the PJs off the Blanik before I even
arrived and Kevin Rodda was not far behind
and DI'ed the Twin Astir.
The first two flights were taken by James
and Tony in GYK and with the AEFs
arriving right on time, James was even
shown a wing down take off while Kevin and I
brought the Twin and the guests to the
flight line. James's flights were not long
but were a perfect introduction to the
Blanik and Tony reports James is learning
very fast, even taking control on tow.
Our guests
were husband and wife duo of Adam and Zita
Chester who had decided to try gliding after
visiting our website. Kevin Rodda treated
them to AEF flights each of 21 mins each as
there really was no lift to speak of all
day. Regardless, they enjoyed the experience
and were all smiles for a photo in front of
the Twin.
Garrett Russell joined the flight line to
assist in these launches and retrieves and
sent James on his third flight of the day. After
that however, Steve had to make a move to
his work and as such the duty crew
returned the gliders to the tie down area.
Garrett did however have an appointment with
Rupert Perry and a motorglider and Kevin,
Tony and I watched them depart for a short
flight as we completed packing up.
Following beer o'clock in Kevin's hanger, I
headed down to CAC to check out
Speedy's progress with QA was
pleased to watch as he put the orange paint
on the belly. It looked great despite a
bird which flew over and decided to make it
a s*#t job by adding a personal touch from a
great height. Garrett also joined us to
checkout the paint work and we
also assisted Dave Kingshot put the
vertical stabiliser back on the C47 to give
it a more complete look for an engine run
experience on Sunday.
Stats for the day were as follows:
GYK 3 flights
for 52 minutes
IKW 2
flights for 42 minutes
Here's hoping
for some weekends with a little more lift
and a few more members to use it in coming
weeks.
Till then, safe
flying and happy landings,
