The Friday crew is feeling a little displaced in time, having our flying day on Thursday this week. Fortunately, the weather gods continued to make Thursday their fine-weather day – despite a wet start- so we had a day of great flying with CQC and GYK both going back to bed after over two-and-a half hours of flying, each. It was 2.35 for GYK’s five flights and 2.47 for CQC’s four.

 

However the tug is still not a happy little vegemite so we spent almost exactly two hours sitting waiting for it to feel like starting again after the first launch of Barry McCarthy and John Nestor. It was an omen, and not a good one for we held our breath every time SPA was due to start but we got our nine flights in and returned SPA to the hangar so we were grateful for small mercies.  John Knox was the unfortunate tuggie to discover he would have to coax SPA to start so it was just as well we were a small crew because we managed to have both gliders lined up ready to go each time SPA did start.

 

As a late arrival, Dave Crocker was lucky because we were in the process of packing up but he finished the day with two training flights to land on 06 as his hangar flight.  After John Nestor had to leave, Kevin Rodda had a flight in an unoccupied GYK, then in CQC but only by persuading Steve Bowtell to launch him from 06 for another ‘hangar’ flight, this time for over half an hour.  

 

Arthur Mailey took Anne Bradley for a flight early in the day, after the tug decided to cooperate, and scored the best of the day, just missing the hour by a couple of minutes. Of course, the sky was looking fabulous while he sat and waited for SPA and also while they were away.  Then a blue hole emerged as happens at Caboolture - but there were some good flight times still. Bob Hainsworth and Charles Hoch tried to be competitive but the sky was not providing quite what they needed so their times were less rewarding.

 

As usual, our Mr Fix-it team (Bob Hainsworth, Arthur Mailey and Charles Hoch) were at work and the Barina is back in business because it now has a lock securing the bonnet so the new battery has a chance of staying safe from marauders.  Since it is again back in service, our team recommends that it be used to retrieve gliders and that we keep the Magna tidy and clean to pick up passengers. If it is necessary to look at the battery, the key can be found on the Barina’s key ring.

 

Also, the base radio works thanks to some handy work by John Nestor. However, the radio in GYK was not transmitting a message that anyone could comprehend. It was mostly just noise so if anyone with the required skills has some spare time then your assistance will be appreciated.  Maybe tomorrow it will act differently but that is for the Saturday crew to discover. Thanks  to all who do the maintenance we rely on. And while I’m at it thanks to our L2 for the day, Barry McCarthy and our tuggies, John and Steve.

 

After some final tidying and comparing of notes, we departed for home as best the Easter traffic would allow. It was a beautiful afternoon so sitting in a line of traffic should not too depressing. Good wishes to those flying over the Easter weekend.