June 19th 2005
Club Power competitions. Another slightly delayed start due to fog, but it
cleared up nicely later in the afternoon. Pilots were busy until after
sunset. We also managed to squeeze in 3 glider flights for Chris C. with John
instructing.
June so far 2005
In a word: Fog! No flying possible
Sunday 29th May 2005
The day was forecast westerly with a cold change...which was basically what we
got! John was instructor of the day, and first off with Alistair Forbes and up
into weak wave. This gave plenty of time for instruction as they climbed slowly
up to 7000' practicing turns. Next away was Phil in SJ for an hour or so. Derek
rigged LP and was soon up in the wave for a good 2 hr flight. JW was up again
with John and Nick, another nice wave flight. Adam Robinson took over SJ and
climbed to 10500' before being called home for David to have his go. However
the crud had arrived and the wave disolved. David in SJ, and Roger Gibson in JW
ended up flying around a snow flurry for quite a while before landing along
with Derek in LP.
The fire was soon going, we retired for a beer. Thanks to Russell for towing.
21st May (Big Bay flying trip)
Saturday started with very low cloud. The team headed off shortly after mid day
flying low up following the Clutha to Wanaka. Upon returning most of the cloud
had disolved late in the day.
Click for a detailed report by Roger Sparks
Sunday was yet another foggy day down low...no flying at all was possible.
14/15th May (Five Rivers)
Another excellent weekend of soaring at Fiver Rivers. From our club
were Richard Walsh, Chris Davis, Pete and John. Darren Smith came all the way
from Timaru (and was not disappointed). Karen and Terry came from Balclutha
(also Bill and Peter arrived in Peter's '182). Nigel Davey came from Queenstown
with 'ZA. On Saturday we winched into strong
ridge lift and then into SW wave (the wind was over 60Kts at 10,000'). We all
flew 2-3 hrs, landing at sunset. This was followed by a very nice dinner in
Lumsden (The MayFly) Saturday night.
Sunday looked like more like SW wave and so it was, although the wind at height
was a more acceptable 30 kts
or so. Garth and Woody towed in Tecnam LJW. Pete and John headed west in weak
wave, John got a bit west of Te Anau
before scuttling home. Chris Davis flew Libelle 'IC for a couple of hours, and
Richard flew in 'MO.
Many thanks to Matt, Mo, Noel and the 5R crew for hosting us.
Meanwhile Sunday in Alex was 2 deg and low fog. No flying.
Sunday 8 May 2005
No tow pilots were available, and the winch was still awaiting new cable so no
gliding! However the day was put to good use. We had quite a few visitors
arrive, including Hartmut Kiehns from Wanaka (and Australia). Hartmut has
joined as an associate
member and plans on gliding with us this season...welcome!
Also Chris Davis sat (and passed) the remainder of his QGP exams.
Sunday 1 May 2005
A fabulous Westerly wave day... 30 to 50Kts aloft and some incredible rotor
behind the Dunstans. John was up and away in KG before the rest of us had even
cleaned
the sleep out of our eyes. He got as far as Lake Ohau and the Dobson valley.
Pete was off next in LP and a nice flight to St Bathans and then down to
Kingston. Derek did some instructing of Chris and Ian Clark, Phil went up with
Alan in JW but the wave proved elusive, and David had a couple of hours locally
in SJ.
Roger Gibson went for a punishing check flight in rotor with Derek.
Thanks Derek for instructing and Roger for towing.
Sunday 24th April 2005
Eeek what a freezing cold day! Snow down to the airfield and flurries continued
for much of the day. We arrived late morning and did classroom theory until
it cleared late in the afternoon. Pete took the winch away for some emergency
repairs. We managed 5 winch launches before it got dark, even finding some lift
at times. John instructed new
members Alistair Forbes, and Chris and Ian Clark. Thanks to Pete and Derek for
driving the winch and generally racing about for us all.
Sunday 17th April 2005
A fantastic day! Sunday started off thermal then changed to wave
off the Old Man. Everyone had soaring flights... Phil kicked the day off
with an hour or 2's thermalling in SJ. Then Malcolm went up and found the
wave (in SJ). So Pete rigged LP in record time and had about 3 hrs... down
to Roxburgh with Darren Smith (MU). Chris D found out what 13000 ft and minus
9 degrees feels like in a T shirt, in a 3 hr solo flight in JW. Darren
kindly landed with enough time for David to have a go in MU who then had a
brilliant sunset flight up to 9500ft.
Darren Smith also did some
aerotow training with Gary Wilson (he just needs a few more hours to get his
rating). And there was a passenger flight by Pete in there
somewhere too. Towing shared by Russell, Gary and Darren.
Roger Sparks arrived later after a nice flight over Cook in light SW wave.
Tuesday 12th April 2005
It looked like some chance of soaring between 2 weak fronts...maybe last chance
of thermals for the season?
Phil, John, Peter (with passenger Cush) arrived at the airport mid day. The sky
looked great but we could see the southerly already over Roxburgh. We were a
bit late in getting into gear and needed to be away much earlier before the
southerly
arrived. We changed ends to "14" and John was away just before 2pm followed by
Pete (JW) and Phil (SJ). The local Cu had now been flattened by the southerly
so we
had to tow out to Chatto creek. The thermals were slowly getting snuffed out
further and further up the valley and the glide home got more and more skinny.
Lift was pretty weak. We all landed back early, John after 1rh 40 in the Ida,
Pete after an hour over Omakau and Phil a bit less scatching about Little
Valley. Meanwhile David was soaring at Omarama in Chris Streat's new motor
glider, last heard of at 8000' over Hugo's as Phil and John were having a beer
back in the clubrooms. Thanks to Richard for towing.
Sunday 10th April 2005
A nice sunny but stable day. Good training conditions! Derek instructed Chris
and Ian Clark, Peter flew a trial flight and John gave new member Adam Robinson
a check flight. Adam joins us from Piako club and already has a lot of gliding
experience.
Terry and Karen turned up mid afternoon. Karen flew SJ and Terry checked Peter
out for his instructors rating (Peter is now a "C" Cat...congratulations!).
Phil, and Chris Davis also flew SJ but found no lift. John decided he needed a
motor so flew Rans KNI and took Chris for a tour of the local airstrips.
ERW was busy in the morning with Roger doing training (Dave Wright, Hayden
Anderson), and Russell towed us in
the afternoon...many thanks.
Sunday 3rd April 2005
Roger Bennett and ERW had a busy weekend flying ATC Cadets on Saturday and much
of
Sunday. Then Roger did a number of aerotows for the remainder of the Sunday
afternoon.
Sunday's gliding started early. We arrived at 10 and were winching
not long after 11. The day started clear with increasing high cloud, the NW
wave arrived late
afternoon. John instructed all day. First off was Alistair Forbes for
serveral circuits, then new members Chris and Ian Clarke each experienced a
winch launch. Malcolm Taylor did a check circuit before taking SJ up. The final
winch launch was a trial flight.
The wave was forming when Roger arrived with ERW. John and Chris Clarke released
into gentle wave for a good hour flight and reluctantly descended to give
someone else a go. That was Chris Davis who also was called
back after an hour. Meanwhile Pete in LP and Phil in SJ were soon up high in
the wave. The wind upstairs was getting pretty strong (over 40Kts) although it
remained calm on the ground.
Also flying was Paul in PL, he had a good 4 hr flight . The last JW flight was
David who had promised Renee a wave flight for some
time. They climbed quickly to 10,000' and raced down again,
landing before 7pm in the very last light of the evening.
Many thanks to Derek for driving the winch and Roger for towing.
Sunday 27th March 2005
A fairly stable day but good for training. Phil flew back seat with Allan
Mitchell, Pete took LP for an hour or so (nothing over about 3,000 ft except on
tow). Chris and Dave flew SJ
for a while and Derek was busy with several instruction flights including new
members Chris and Ian Clark (welcome!). John reports that bad wx prevented SCGC
getting any aircraft to Wardells (first time in 30 years) and Omarama was even
more stable than Alex and the only gliders flying were motorized ASH25's....
Wednesday 23rd March 2005
Or was it Tuesday? Anyway Phil soared in SJ for 45 mins. Not the best day
although the whole week was pretty grotty.
Monday 21st March 2005
South Easterly low cloud. However it was a holiday and at least we weren't
fog-bound like the other half of NZ.
Pete, John, Paul, and Chris (JW) all flew. Cloudbase was basically 4000 ft
everywhere. Pete and John got as far as Rough Ridge and Thomson's track, at
times below 3000 ft. Paul did have to restart his motor once and Chris enjoyed
an hour's soaring. Richard towed the gliders, and Jerrald Mathias and Son
Richard called by in Sam's CUG.
Saturday 19th March 2005
Open day. An excellent show too. Awaiting a more detailed report.
Sunday 20th March 2005
A slow start but by the end of the day the thermals were excellent. Several
folk were away but JW was busy with Derek instructing. Also flying was Phil,
Allan
Mitchell and Garry Wilson.
Sunday 13th March 2005
A nice looking day encouraged some longer flights. Pete (LP) and John (KG)
got all the way up to Timaru Creek, and might have made it back on glide
if the Dunstans hadn't been in the way (both landed at Lowburn).
Increasing cloud cover made soaring conditions difficult for the rest of
us in the Alex basin. Chris converted to the PW5... well done! JW saw a
couple of passenger flights done by Pete and Derek and later David took
Renee up.
Exciting to see a Harvard land at the strip, but no-one managed
to get themselves a 600hp tow behind it! Thanks to Russell / Gary for
towing and John / Derek for instructing.
Monday 7th March 2005
The day was looking better than the forecast. A quick flurry of emails and cell
calls saw Pete, David and John fly, with Richard towing. The day was basically
westerly thermals with good wave later on. Initally climbing was a struggle, at
one stage all three of us were committed to McArthurs strip but saved from low
down. John (KG) climbed away early and headed up the northern Dunstan and
across towards Hawea. Too low on the ridge (with wind down the lake) he ended
up in
a paddock under Grandview a couple of hours after takeoff. While John
hitched home David and Peter started climbing and the wave begun to look real
good. After a long fly David in SJ got dumped when searching for the wave and
landed at Alex.
By this stage Peter (in LP) had finally hooked the wave and had a great flight
down the Garvies and Waikaia. Meanwhile John arrived home and he and David went
back to Hawea in convoy to derig KG. Pete landed at 7:30pm after a 5 hr flight
and the sky still looked fantastic.
Sunday 6th 2005
Rain and gale force winds...no flying (but Phil and Kerry completed the SJ O2
installation)
Weekend 26/27th Feb 2005 (Five Rivers)
Our club and Clutha valley club spent the weekend at Southland's Five Rivers.
What a great location...we had thermal, wave and ridge lift!
5R from wave above
On Saturday David (MO) and John (KG) had good flights around the district in
nice wave. On Sunday Chris and John flew in strong ridge lift off the winch.
Petr, Matt, Nigel, and George from 5R, and Terry, Karen, Bill, Lloyd, and Peter
from Clutha also flew over the weekend. Sailplanes attending were 2 x LS8's,
Blanik, PIK, Grob, and Libelle.
Meanwhile back in Alex Phil flew SJ for several hours in good wave.
Tues 22nd Feb 2005
What's this about Tuesdays? This is the 5th tuesday gliding in a row and
they've all been good. We're sure noticing the day is bit shorter at each end
though. Phil (JW) and David (SJ) plus John (KG) met at 12:30 and we begun
launching at 2pm behind Richard in ERW. The forecast high cloud stayed away and
Cu's were forming before noon. Initally the Cu's were low on the tops but
cloudbase slowly lifted.
John and
David managed to break through the inversion
(about 4500 ft) and it was possible to soar above the clouds on the western
faces. Most of the day was spent well below 7000 ft'.
Phil soared locally for a couple of hours while David and John headed
north. David flew north of the Dunstans and John flew a circuit of the valley
reaching as far as Mt Ida.
Sunday 20th Feb 2005
South westerly conditions set up a nice little wave behind the Old Man
range down to Roxburgh later in the day.
Click for picture
Paul (PL) and Chris + John (JW)
were a little early and didn't hook into it, but David + John (JW) and
Pete (LP) had a nice run down to Roxburgh at around 7000ft. Thanks John
for instructing and Russell for towing.
Tues 15th Feb 2005
Pete (LP), John (KG), David + Chris (JW) and Phil (SJ) all flew Tuesday
afternoon. The day was late clearing and cirrus came in early. There was good
lift at times but mostly pretty scratchy. John and Phil spent 3hrs trying to
break into the wave but it was always just out of reach.
Beats work I guess.
Thanks to Richard for the tows.
Sun 13 Feb 2005
Nice conditions again... light, unstable SW'ter. The usual crew showed
up... Derek (LP) and John (KG) disapeared in the Omakau, Kakanuis
direction, Phil and then David took SJ up, Chris had a 3hr flight in JW,
and Paul was up in PL. Pete took Chris for a check flight then later a
voucher flight. Everyone got away off quite short tows in the strong lift.
Over development mid-afternoon turned off the lift everywhere within a
20km radius of the airfield, except for a small consistent patch at the
leaning rock.
Tues 8th Feb 2005
More mid week Tuesday soaring...Pete (LP), John (KG) and Phil (SJ) were
launched into an average looking sky by Richard. All had slow climbs but things
improved higher up. High cirrus drifted in during the afternoon.
The westerly kicked in sharply at 6000' and it was possible
to climb up the cloud face into wave. Pete and John headed to the Nevis wave
later in the day where it was possible to climb to around 12000' and glide out
over the Remarks.
Phil had a good 2 hrs soaring in SJ reaching 7000' over Galloway.
Sunday 6th Feb 2005
Woohooo fabulous conditions for a change. Just about everyone got in 2hrs
soaring in thermal / light NW wave, reaching up to 12,000ft. Derek was up
in LP for a looong time (4hrs?), Paul in PL, Phil and David each had 2hrs
in SJ. Chris went for a check flight with Pete in JW, and then up on his
own. He was just into the wave at 8,000ft after an hour, but popular
demand for JW called him down, so that Pete could take Adam and then Fred
up. Thanks for instructing Pete/Derek and Richard for towing.
Tues 1st Feb 2005
Pete (LP), John (KG) and David (SJ) all got away off their first winch
launch and scratched their way up through the inversion to the Leaning
Rock. After that it was an easy trip to the Hawkduns and back with an
8000 -10000' cloud base. Thanks Derek and Phil for interrupting your day to
drive the winch and help out.
Sunday 30th Jan 2005
Some surprisingly good soaring was had by all, despite solid high cloud
cover. A new bird has joined the flock... Derek and Pete's LS3 - LP -
purchased on Friday at Omarama... put in some respectable air-time for its
first day at Alex.
Chris had some more solo practice in JW, and Andy got
instruction from Pete. David did his first outlanding (intentionally!) and
out-launch at McArthurs (thanks John McA). John took Chris for his check
flight, and then spent most of the time just boating around in KG.
But flight of the day has to go to Phil (SJ) for
reaching 10,000ft in wave overhead the airfield. Thanks Richard for
aerotowing and John/Pete for instructing.
Tues 25th Jan 2005
Mid week flying! The day proved to be a bit blue so V.high tows were needed.
John flew up to Omarama to join Pete (trialing LS3 LP). They flew to the Dingle
and both returned to their airfields late afty. David had a good flight in JW
past Thomson's to the northern Dunstans. Phil also flew but missed out on the
best of the lift when the southerly came in. Roger Sparks and others flew South
from Omarama and flashed
by as David and John were heading north. Thanks Richard for the high tows.
23th Jan 2005
A good turn out for a flying day in memory of Broz. News of the day was first
solo of Chris, well done and thanks for the shout!
Also Paul Ramsay flew his new DG400 motorglider, John flew KG , Phil and Peter
flew SJ. David and Derek shared a flight in JW.
ERW and RLS were busy AM with Roger B instructing.
High cloud scrubbed the lift so we packed up early and started the BBQ early.
Thanks to Roger and Russell for towing.
11/12th Jan 2005...Wardells
Pete, Broz and John joined South Canty club for 2 fine days flying. Tuesday
was a late start (3pm) but we managed 3-4hrs soaring in excellent conditions up
the head of Hunter-Ahuriri valleys. Fantastic scenery.
Wednesday was going well until the tragic incident that claimed the life our
our friend Broz. It's some comfort to know he was really happy enjoying his
soaring at
the time.
Sunday 9th Jan 2005
Wet again. However we had a very productive working bee. We installed the new
transponder in JW plus did the bulk of the oxygen system installation (thanks
Chris, Phil and David). Russell and Gary mowed the whole airport (the borrage
was getting a real hazard), a huge job. Pete, John and Broz replaced all 3
windsocks.
There was some flying...ERW was busy much of the day with Roger instructing
Steve and others. Also we managed 2 glider flights at the end of the day, both
about an hour long in weak wave (Broz and Chris in JW and David in SJ).
Right...now
bring on the good summer weather!
Sunday 2nd Jan 2005
Phil and Derek turned up in the morning to a distinct lack of interest but
managed to persuade Chris and Broz to join them for a 1.30 pm start with
Richard aerotowing. We actually started about 2 pm I guess and Phil flew
for about 1/2 an hour in SJ and then Pete turned up and took her away for a
long while. Broz (under my Derek's eye)
became instructor of the day and flew his Thai sister-in-law first, then
Chris, then Wayne and then was flying Chris again for the last flight of the
day. There
wasn't much lift about, just some small thermals up to an inversion at
about 4,000 ft. Thanks need to go to Phil for the great cleaning job on
SJ, Richard for towing and Broz for "instructing".
Sunday 19th December
The morning started quite nice, almost calm for a change! Geoff Campbell did an
hour in RANs microlight KNI . Steve flew local in ERW, and gliding-wise only
John
flew from Alex. He flew KG to Makaroa and back which with all the detours took
5hrs. Thanks to Roger for the tow.
Thursday 16th December
Broz is back!
Broz had a good fly in IX from Omarama along the Hawduns and back.
Tuesday 14th December
Pete and John turned up to fly but the strong southerly had already arrived.
Pete
wisely went back to work but John did a couple of winch launches before giving
up too. Thanks to Derek and Michelle for helping....we still await summer.
Sunday 12th December
Omarama.
John, Paul, Chris and David turned out. As seems standard for this "summer" so
far we had the stinker SW'er present again. However it was westerly on the
nursery ridge so only a short 6min tow needed. Chris and David had instruction
from Bo in JW. Good ridge/thermal lift to cloudbase at 8000'. Paul flew in the
DG1000. John hooked into the wave on the Ewe range and flew above the cloud at
17000' to Kurow and back in Hawkdun wave. At the same time David flew JW on
his own for a couple of hours on Mt Horrible.
Sunday 5th December
Bad wx, no flying. Sunday 12th we're off to Oamrama, we're meeting at Omarama
9:30am, contact David (027 289-7099)
Wednesday 1st December
A beaut morning but the forecast high cloud steamed in around mid day.
Doctor-plane pilot Brian and Derek helped John rig 'KG early afternoon. Derek
gave John a great launch (1700' into a wee thermal) and that was that. John
had a nice 3 hr fly going Cromwell-Bendigo-Ida, there was good lift at times
despite the thickening overcast. Along the way 'KG met up with ASW20 'KR flown
by Roy Edwards out of Omarama. The day was dying although there was some weak
wave up to 8500'. They both landed at Alex about 6pm and Russell kindly
aerotowed Roy home behind ERW.
28th November
Some westerly forecast but with extensive high cloud. Chris and John met at
10am to get things ready. We also did some prelim work on the transponder
installation for JW.
Phil, David, Paul and Richard B arrived and we were soon flying with Roger
towing. First flight was Chris and John in JW. They played about in weak wave
for 1.5hrs reaching only 8000'.
Paul, David and Phil Phil each flew PW5 SJ throughout the day, each getting some
soaring done in patchy conditions. Next Richard and John for an hour or so in
rotor thermals. Last flight was a Chris and John again doing 30 mins soaring
practice before beer time.
Next Sunday we'remost likely flying from Omarama. We've hired JW to Southern
Soaring for a week or so to help them out and earn us some dollars. JW is
available for club members to use Sunday but also mid week. You'll have to pay
for your tows but not the instructor...a great opertunity to fly at Omarama.
Contact Peter Newport at Souther Soaring before heading out if going mid week.
Phone (NZ Only) 0800 SOARING (0800 762746)
Mobile + 64 027 248 8800
or email: peter.newport@soaring.co.nz
You can also check out their website at www.soaring.co.nz
Mid November
Yekes everybody seems to be away! Derek in Thailand, Phil in Blighty, David
(Fiji?), Broz sailing the Pacific, John and Roger S. at South Is Regional
Gliding champs. Things return to normal 27/28th.
Sunday 7th November
Sun and wave early morning but the sky clouded over as we got the gliders
ready. John + Chris released in gentle NW wave climbing to 7500'. They flew for
a
couple of hours and managed to get through plenty of Chris's training syllibus
including spins and stalls. Paul Ramsay and David took turns in SJ. David had a
couple of good flights reaching 8000' in wave.
David Berkett also flew his PIK20e. John and Chris did some further flights in
JW. The wind died off later in the day but there was weak lift about keeping SJ
airbourne.
Longest tow of the day was Blanik MV which towed over from Tapanui looking for
the wave we were enjoying. MV landed and did a couple of flights behind ETL
before the long tow home.
Sat/Sunday 30/31st October 2004
The Rally was a success despite crook wx on Friday preventing some flying in
that evening.
Sunday was a nice day. We started early, driving to Lowburn, derigging JW and
bringing to
Alex, re-rigging again! SJ was still in Methven. We had good thermals all day.
Above
that there was good SW wave. Pete was busy sharing JW with David and Chris,
they had good soaring flights. Derek also took a trial flight. John flew to
Omarama and back in KG in wave + thermals.
Monday 25th October 2004 (Labour Day)
Many winch launches and difficult soaring at low levels only. We couldn't
contact the better looking thermals off the winch so most flights were 5-15
mins only. A small turnout. John instructing Chris and Charlie with help from
Pete. Roger G had the best flight of the day but found the tail wheel missing
off SJ when he landed. We hope to get SJ repaired ASAP.
Sunday 17th October 2004
Rain, rain and...no flying anywhere! Gliders still at Lowburn. Hope to bring
back this week!
Sunday 10th October 2004
More Lowburn action! A very promising post-frontal day proved impossible
to hook into... off the winch at any rate. Chris D got some more
instruction from Derek and John and is progressing well, and our new
member Les also got a flight or two with JR.
A rain squall early afternoon
spat JW out of the sky in no time, but John (KG) and David (SJ) managed
soaring flights afterwards in the vicinity of the airstrip.
Roger G and
David were both getting good height off the winch (close on 2000ft) in the
strengthening southerly.
Thanks to Derek for driving the winch and JR for instructing.
Thurs 7th October 2004
Mid week flying off the winch at Lowburn. A sunny but stable day.
Pete+David first up (Roger winching). Little lift. Next up was John in KG. He
lucked out on a thermal above the winch and struggled as far as Thomson's
mostly in week thermals for 2.5hrs. P+D suffered a few winch tangles on the
next attempts...Later on John relaunched P+D in JW and some
soaring was had.
Thanks to Roger for comming up to help.
Sunday 3rd October 2004
Another busy day at Lowburn! Conditions were a bit stable with lots of
high cloud and a light northerly. A combination of aerotowing and winching
gave some people soaring flights and others circuit practice.
Flight of
the day was John R and Erik (from Holland)... climbed in weak NW wave over
northern end of Pisa, limited by airspace and still climbing 3-4Kts at
7500ft, then over to Thomsons Gorge and back. New member - Les - came
along for a trial flight, and is now joining the club. Pete got in some
instructor practice with Chris while David learned to drive the winch.
Thanks to Keith for instructing and Russell for aerotowing.
Sunday 27th September 2004
Gliding from the Sugarloaf airstrip at Lowburn... what a great site! We had a
very good turnout and a total of 22 winch tows (with only 2 cable breaks right
at the start). Quite changeable conditions throughout the day... mostly light
thermal / rotor with some wave much higher. Richard Brunton, Charlie Hughs,
Merv, Chris Davis all had a couple of instructional flights each, some of them
soaring. In SJ, Phil had the first soaring flight of the day and Paul Ramsay
went solo off the winch - well done! Roger Gibson very kindly drove the winch
most of the day, and also got in a couple of flights. David in SJ, and Pete and
Derek in JW made it out to Bendigo (no lift) and back. Thanks John and Derek
for instructing, Roger for doing most of the winching, Chris for plugging the
oil leak.
Saturday 26th September 2004
We met at Alex to fly the 2 clubs gliders across to Lowburn (for Sunday's
flying). John had the first flight in KG but found very little lift despite the
sky looking pretty promising. Roger towed to over 5000' in SJ and descended
straight to Lowburn. In JW Derek and Charlie simply towed up the gorge and into
Lowburn with no lift found. John landed Alex after only 30 mins and drove over
to bring the crew home. Thanks to Roger B for towing.
Sunday 12th September 2004
Southerly gusting to 20 knots across the strip alternating with lovely calm
warm patches. Chris, Derek and Paul waited for the
wx to improve...It didn't but the time was spent usefully with theory. Paul
completed his QGP exams and Derek explained all about gliding to Jeremy
Robinson from the local newspaper.
Roger G. arrived for a "fly" but took the winch home anyway. Bill Grant called
in for a chat and
we all went home at about 3 pm.
Sunday 12th September 2004
With a maximum temp of 21C Sunday had to be a good spring soaring day. Thermals
started about 1pm and later in the day the wind got up and NW wave was present.
Malcolm instructed in JW, Chris Davis had 3 instruction flights. Also training
where Richard Brunton and Charlie Hughs. Phil had a couple of flights in PW5
'SJ at the beginning and end of the day. Roger G. had check circuit in JW and
then a good soaring flight in SJ.
John flew 'KG to Naseby and back in good wave. David Berkett had a good fly in
his PIK20e 'SF. John did a few circuits with Roger Bennet in Rans microlight
KNI.
Thanks to Roger Bennet for towing.
Sunday 5th September 2004
Sunday begun with an unstable SW'er which slowly moderated as the day
progressed. John and Chris were off early in JW, getting dumped badly
before climbing away in a decent thermal. From cloud base it was possible
to ridgesoar the cloud face into good wave which was abandoned at 12000'.
Phil took SJ up next and had a great flight, over 3hrs as no one else
arrived to fly it.
Next in JW was a trial flighter (an ex airforce pilot from Miller's Flat).
John + John had a good thermal + wave flight, again reaching 12K over Fraser
dam.
Derek then flew young visitor Christian and John flew Jordie (both
overseas students at NIWA).
So the first decent soaring sunday for a while. Thanks to Richard for
towing.
Sunday 29th August
Lotsa welcome new faces this sunny Sunday. From the "Intro to Gliding" course
we had Robert, Don and Charlie, also Chris Davis and Richard Brunton were
present and all flew with Keith.
Paul, Phil and David each flew SJ, no lift yet but can't be far away. John and
Pete used 100hp of lift for a pleasant flight to Middlemarch and back
via Ranfurly etc in Tecnam RLS.
Roger Sparks demonstrated the internals of his Ventus to our new members, and
Derek flew our 4th course member Merv. Thanks to Richard for towing.
Sunday 22nd August
A blustery Sou'Wester day. Chris Davis and Richard turned up for some
instruction from Derek while Phil and David spent most of the day holding
SJ onto the ground. Some well formed wave about, but too far away from the
airfield. Wave off the Old Man range was scrappy and no-one connected with
it despite some highish tows. Thanks to Derek for instructing and Russell
for towing.
Sunday 15th August
Despite the low snow Paul arrived from DN, and David and Chris from Wanaka. We
lit the fire and regrouped in the clubrooms while a few snow flakes blew about
outside. David and Paul sat 2 of their QGP exams with John. Later in the day
Derek and Keith prepared the winch and gliders.
We did 8 winch launches into a moderate southerly. David flew SJ while Paul and
Chris trained with John in JW.
Thanks to Keith for winching and Derek for running the tow car.
Sunday 8th August
Much of the weekend was spent helping Kerry Jackson do Annual checks on the
local glider fleet. The weather was pretty gloomy although Sunday
was unstable enough for a few thermals amongst the showers.
During Sunday morning Roger Bennett has 2 students training
in ERW. In the afternoon Russell took over ERW for towing and did 6 tows.
Chris Davis of Queenstown flew with Keith and is signing up for the solo
package. Derek flew Michelle's Paul in JW, and Paul Ramsay had the best flight
of the day managing an hour's soaring in SJ. John had a short thermal flight in
KG and
Keith did some further instruction.
At the end of the day Geoff and Keith did some flying in microlight KNI. It's
great to see everything getting used even on a dull winter's day!
Sunday 1st August
Stable, no gliding but Geoff flew RANS 'KNI. This microlight is now available
for hire and instruction.
To arrange a flight please contact Roger Bennett on
448-9969.
If you need more information on becoming a microlight pilot, please contact
Geoff Campbell on 448-8951 or go to the Recreational Aircraft Association of
New Zealand (RAANZ) website on
www.raanz.org.nz
Sunday 25th July
Quite a few people turned up for a stable winter's day flying, on a very
boggy airstrip. John and Derek got started in the Tecnam to eye out and
photograph potential winch sites in Bendigo. Paul (from Dunedin) did a
couple of check flights with JR before going solo in JW and then
converting to SJ. We hope to see him back for some more flying this
summer. Phil and David each took a long tow in SJ to around 5000ft enjoy a
gradual descent. David did a simulated no-instrument flight in JW. Roger
(Gibson) arrived in the nick of time for the last flight of the day with Broz
backseat.
Thanks to Chris Jackson for driving over from Queenstown to operate the
tow plane, and John for instructing.
The day ended with a pot-luck dinner... yum, and the AGM. Welcome to our
new club president, Russell Anderson, and other members of the new
committee.
Sunday 18th July
Retrieved JW from Omarama and re-rigged. Fog all day.
Sunday 4th July
A sunny still day but no lift of course! John and Geoff clocked up a few hours
local flying in Tecnam RLS during the morning. After lunch we got the winch out
for John and David who did paddock landing practice in SJ + KG. Many thanks to
Derek, Keith and Bill for winching and winf running etc.
Sunday 27th June
Rain all day! Damn.
24th June (thursday)
The first mid-week flying for a long while. A reasonable wave forecast saw
John, David Walden and Bros assemble at the airport early. Chris arrived from
Queenstown to tow us and we were airbourne before 11am. We all climbed away in
wave off tow. John headed north in KG and Bros (IX) and David (SJ) flew
locally. John had a quick trip up to Lake Pukaki but a slower trip home
(SW'er). There was little sun so it was damn cold. David quit after 2 hrs and
we were all back on the ground by 2pm. We retired to the Courthouse Cafe to
warm up over a hot drink.
Many thanks to Chris and Derek for their help.
