|
--------------------
From: Garrett
Russell
Date:
Sat, May 26, 2012
Subject:
Sky clearing Saturday @ YCAB
To:
members@glidingcaboolture.org.au
The
sky did not clear as early as forecast at Caboolture
today, resulting in a late start for the small group of
members who braved the initially grey and forbidding
sky.
It was not until 11:20 that we launched the first of
seven flights from RWY 30. According to the forecasts we
should have been on 24 in the teeth of strong SW gusts
– yet further proof that flying at Caboolture is more
a matter of sticking your nose out at the airfield than
staying at home on advice from the weather soothsayers!
However the day’s intrepid flyers were not rewarded
with great servings of lift. Flight of the day was 24
minutes, recorded by Mike McCluskey who came out to take
his wife Kim for an afternoon flight.
The other six flights were all pre-solo training or
post-solo check trips, which kept instructors Tony
Sorensen and someone named Russell fairly busy until the
last landing at exactly 16:00. Recipients of this
instructional intensity were duty pilot David Guzzwell,
week-old member Hide Ogawa and brand new 3 month member
Lars Wijsman:
Lars is from Holland, working short term in Brisbane and
keen to start his career as a glider pilot under the
Southern Cross. Please make him welcome while he’s
here.
All seven flights were towed by Karl Bodi, once
again stepping into the breach for the rest of us (he
was actually rostered as AEI) and Speedy Gonsalves was
also a Pie Cart visitor as he took a break from some
serious maintenance work. And the fact that he didn’t
look at all unhappy about not flying tells everything
you need to know about the day’s lift!
Net result was three minutes short of two hours flying
in CQC in a remarkably sunny and dry sky. Despite the
gloomy morning and previous day’s drenching, the field
was also remarkably dry. In fact, it took us all the way
until the last landing to find the little bit of surface
water on the runways. And for certain of us to pay the
price for that discovery:
Note the nice clear water in the bucket!
Weather for tomorrow should be even drier and may bring
much more lift, so see you there.
Garrett Russell
|
