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Caboolture Gliding Club

Soar like an eagle on silent wings in a friendly, cooperative club atmosphere from our base at Caboolture Airfield on Queensland's beautiful Sunshine Coast. New members and visitors are always welcome.

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First "post-105" storm

08-Oct-11
  

After vacating Hangar 105 last Sunday afternoon (02-Oct-11), it didn't take long for us to experience our first storm with the gliders tied down in the open ... 
    

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After the storm ... a wet pair ... the Club Libelle VH-GJY and the IS-28 VH-CQC ... 

   

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... and a lonely-looking wet L13 Blanik VH-GYK. 

         
An early morning SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING for southeast Queensland that included predictions of DESTRUCTIVE WIND and LARGE HAILSTONES resulted in the Duty Instructor calling off today's gliding operations at Caboolture at around 0730.
   
There could have been no argument with this decision since the strorm warning included the following ...
  
Destructive winds and large hailstones are possible.
A wind gust of 139 km/hr was observed at Oakey at 5:30am
Emergency Management Queensland advises that people should:
- Move your car under cover or away from trees.
- Secure loose outdoor items.
- Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
- Avoid using the telephone during a thunderstorm.
- Beware of fallen trees and powerlines.
   
At 0905 a report from a member (who had been at the Airfield when the storm first hit) indicated that he had ... "made a mad dash to the shelter of a shopping center car park to protect the car in the event of hail".... and that ... "the radar is still showing heavy rain outside".    
  

After returning to the field to see how the gliders had handled the storm, he reported ...

"As can be seen from the accompanying photos, the only problem was the blue tarpaulin covering the nose of the Blanik.  It had clearly been loosened by the wind and, while I tidied it up a bit, it will need some further thought to provide greater security in the future. Apart from us, the only things moving on the airfield while we were there were the kangaroos! When we left YCAB at about 0945 the rain had eased considerably and would probably have cleared completely by 1030 or so.  With no rain forecast for the remainder of today or tonight, I would think that the field will dry out sufficiently to permit normal operations tomorrow."