From: Judith Smith [mailto:judithann1939@bigpond.com]
Sent: Friday, 18 December 2009 6:11 PM
To: 'cgclist'
Subject: [cgclist] It's Friday again

Upon my late arrival at hangar 105, it was evident the sparse turnout for the day was hopeful of great flying.  As L2, Barry McCarthy was finishing the DI of 'his' GRS, Col Asher's DI of BJ and Bob Hainsworth's DI of CQC.  Then our small group made multiple trips to runway 30, closely followed by returned tuggie, Laurie Webb.  Welcome back Laurie.  And thanks for being there for us today.

No sooner had Col departed in BJ than our newest Friday crew member, Shane Tuck, turned up to continue his reacquaintance with gliders.  However, such was the sky that all we could do was to launch Barry and Bob in CQC while Kevin Rodda brought QA out to join the fun.

Once they were launched all we had to do was sit and watch and wait until Barry and Bob eventually returned to allow Shane to enjoy a flight in CQC since BJ was still away.   The sunny warmth was broken by fitful breezes gratefully enjoyed.

Out of all this patience came Col's second flight towards his 'C' Certificate at 1:46 for the longest flight of the day.  That's doing it in style!

However the coin has another side and that showed itself with the almost simultaneous return of all three gliders.  The sea breeze swept through and runway 06 was the suddenly preferred runway once everyone ran out of lift!  So much for the fitful breeze!  

Also, so much for car batteries left on charge, too.  With gliders on 06, Bob and I had started the move there, only to be foiled by the Falcon which refused to start, so the piecart had to be moved by the van.  The discarded Falcon was left temporarily in lonely isolation.  Only that didn't solve all problems as the Suzuki would not start for me and a petrol top-up seemed required before we could commence the move.  Bob was under the impression that it was full before we started the day so the cause of our delay is debatable. Meanwhile, the pilots of the three gliders and SPA took refuge from the sun under a glider wing while they waited.  

From then on, the only flights were two short flights by Shane under Barry's supervision to complete a grand total of six flights for the day.  During this time, the Falcon was retrieved as was GRS and, eventually, BJ to complete the day's activity.

Stats:   BJ, 3 flights in 2:19; CQC, 2 flights in 1:19 and QA's sole flight of 1:20.  A productive day, particularly for Col, and for our very small crew.

Bob is hoping to fix chargers for car batteries so we don't end up stranded again in the 'back of beyond'.

Next Friday is Christmas Day and the one after is New Year's Day so Fridays look like being a non-flying day for a while - unless advised otherwise. 

All that's left is to wish everyone a safe and very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all the Friday crew.