Sunday 8th June 2008
QBday weather was crook, no flying, and the following weekend didn't look
great. We woke on Sunday to several cm of snow and another dodgy forecast.
However there were some fine lennies up in the sky and the winds were billowing
snow off the tops, a wave day for sure.
It took till early afternoon before we had a quorum for soaring. Russell towed
Doug and Al (JW) into the wave, then Pete in LP. They had a good run south to
Ettrick in stong lift from the Old Man. The wind was NW low down but very SW at
height. There was extreme turbulence experienced during decent, perhaps caused
by a combination of rotor and wind shear. It took quite a while to decend from
13000'. Roger Sparks took off in RLS to check out the wave but sensibly turned
back when it got real rough. Although late (4:30p) Phil and John snuck in
another JW wave flight before dusk. They released in rotor at 2500' and quickly
climbed to 13000' then opened the brakes to descend before dark. The whole
flight was just 35 mins! The averager on the vario indicated 1600 fpm climb
much of the time. Phil's new GPS indicaded a ground speed of just 15 kts, but
the track was 180 degs out....hmmm backwards perhaps! NOAA were predicting 73
Kts SW at 10,000' so I guess they were right.
Thanks to Russell for dragging all of us up through the rotor.
Take a look at some of the pics taken by Al, Pete,Phil+JR at the following link:
http://www.4shared.com/dir/7499007/ac57ee43/gliding.html
Just use our members password to access the area.
Sunday 25th May 2008
A dull winters day...but at least we got airbourne! We started late but
managed 10 winch launches. Patrik had 5 flights with John. Pete then instructed
our visitors from Dunedin (Uni students Peter and Charles). Thanks to Phil for
driving the winch.
Sunday 18th May 2008
ERW was busy with Roger Bennett instructing Dion, Stuart, and doing a BFR
review for Gary. Roger Sparks's Tecnam RLS was busy too. Geoff flew circuits
and turns, Roger flew a friend, then John flew Leigh and also Collin Bryan for
some local sightseeing. Collin is a glider pilot visiting from Auckland. He
never got a glider flight but enjoyed his tecnam flight and helping with the
day's gliding.
The gliding wasn't great but Vivienne managed 1.5hrs in weak wave on the Old
Man range in JW. Pete and John took a winch launch each early in the day but
were back within 10mins. Phil also towed over to the OM but the wave proved
elusive.
Thanks to all the helpers of the day including Gary for the tows.
Sunday 11th May 2008
In between Sth Westerly squalls John flew KG, Patrik, Vivenne, Al, two
visiting Australian gilder pilots from WA and Pete managed a few flights in JW.
Not a lot of soaring but a good day had by all. Thanks to Pete for instructing
and to Phil for driving the winch.
Sunday 4th May 2008
It was late clearing but we got quite a bit of aviation done. The big flight
was Geoff and Steve heading to Hokitika and back for the day in Tecnam RLS.
They choose a nice day as it was clear west of Cromwell gorge and their pics
looked wonderful. Also burning gas was Dion and Roger (ERW) and John
also Tecnaming later in the day.
Gliding consisted of a lot of short training flights off the winch. Doug was
instructing, flying were Peter+Jenny from Dunedin, Clinton from Qtown and Al
Forbes.
ANAC weekend 2008
Sunday was wet. No flying.
Sunday 20th April 2008
A cool and fairly stable day. Roger B did some instruction in ERW and RLS.
Peter Mc chain-sawed more wilding pines, making the eastern side of the grass
runway a safer place. Patrik had two instruction flights with John and is
making good progress. Phil and Pete flew but lift was scarce. The only soaring
was the last flight of the day when Vivienne + John took a high tow to chase
wisps on wave cloud above the Old Man range. They released at 5000' and slowly
climbed up in weak wave to 10,000'.
Sunday 13th April 2008
Another balmy Autumn day. Mostly stable, just a little bit of thermal activity
but not enough to stay in the air for long.
Vivenne and Al flew circuits in JW with Pete. Phil got KJ out and did likewise.
Pete & John did a passenger flight each.
Roger was instrucitng early morning in ERW.
John took RLS for a couple of crcuits later in the day.
Mainland visited with a contingent of overseas student pilots in four or five
aircraft, looked like they were on a cross country course.
We bid farewell to John's OQ motorglider, apparently headed back to the chap he
bought it off.
Thanks to John and Phil for driving the winch and to Pete for instructing.
Sunday April 6th
Another balmy Autumn day. Mostly stable, just a little bit of thermal activity
but not enough to stay in the air for long.
Vivenne and Al flew circuits in JW with Pete. Phil got KJ out and did likewise.
Pete & John did a passenger flight each.
Rodger was instrucitng early morning in ERW.
John took RLS for a couple of crcuits later in the day.
Mainland visited with a contingent of overseas student pilots in four or five
aircraft, looked like they were on a cross country course.
We bid farewell to John's OQ motorglider, apparently headed back to the chap he
bought it off.
Thanks to John and Phil for driving the winch and to Pete for instructing.
Sunday 6th April 2008
A busy day with 12 ATC cadets flown by Doug and John, with towing by Garry and
Russell. The day started nicely, then turned a cool southerly later in the
afternoon. Vivienne had a solo in JW and Phil flew KJ. Unfortunately there was
no lift about when they launched.
Late in the day Pete did his BFR, discovering an interesting low-level
southerly wave in the process. This lift was used by Patrik and Doug for the
last flight. They reached 4000' which was high above the low level southerly
crud.
They landed late, by which stage we had the fire going in the
clubrooms...winter is not far way! Many thanks to all the workers who helped on
the day.
Sunday 31st March 2008
A beaut clear day, which looked stable but still delivered enough thermals to
keep the gliders airbourne. ERW was busy AM with Roger Bennett instructing.
Roger Sparks flew RLS to Omarama for the day, and the gliding folk got
organised around mid day. John proved the thermals worked with an hour or so in
OQ. This encouraged the singles to launch (Phil KJ, Brian KD and Pete LP).
Everyone got soaring although 3400' was the top of the inversion. John
instructed in JW, first Vivienne, then Patrik. Both flights where an hour or so
soaring. Patrik made good progress even managing to climb nicely in the poor
thermals while John dozed backseat. That was only Patrik's 3rd or 4th flight.
Thanks to Russell for towing us all up.
Tuesday 25th March 2008
Sunday was Warbirds Airshow, but we flew Tues. The day was late clearing but
as soon as the clouds parted John buzzed off in OQ to check the thermics. It
was soarable from 800' so Pete got rigged and Phil winched him up. The
inversion was firmly clamped on 3500' but there was heaps of soaring below.
Pete had a couple of hours fun. John motored-on again to check the Cu's above
the inversion on the Old Man and Dunstans. These were working OK with 7500'
cloudbases. South of Alex was socked-in all day. Also flying was Steve Whitren
in ERW and it was a good day for his pax scenics.
Sunday 16th March 2008
A Hazy atmosphere but plenty of flying happening. Roger Bennett instructed in
ERW (Stewart, Dion and Brian). John flew RLS. ERW was also busy with Brian and
Dion doing circuits afterwards.
Gliding started about 1pm. John and Patrik had an hours soaring in JW. Phil
(KJ), and Brian (KD), and later John all had pleasant local soaring beneath the
inversion at 5000'. Thanks to Gary for towing.
Easter ideas? There was some interest in making the tuesday our gliding day
(holidays and Warbirds makes sunday difficult). Contact Doug on the Monday
night.
Sat/Sun 8/9th March 2008 (Clubs visit)
Visiting us were Bob and Alex (Five Rivers), Terry and Karen (South Otago),
and John Eggers from South Canty. Saturday was a thermal/wave day with good
flights had by all. Best news was a re-solo by Vivienne. She had a long soaring
flight in JW. Pete had an interesting flight out east to the Rock and Pillar
range. He took a while getting home as each thermal climb drifted him further
away,,,but he eventually found wave to get him home.
Dinner was a BBQ at Pete's house in Cromwell.
Sunday was a blow-out. Very strong southerlies forced a de-rig around mid day.
The only flight was Terry's BFR with John backseat. Russell very bravely towed
them up to 3500 before they all dropped back to 3000 in heavy sink (undertow
under tow?). Needless to say they landed shortly after ERW into a howling gale
and we all packed up.
Many thanks to Pete for organising the weekend, and to Gary and Russell for
towing.
Sunday 24th February 2008
A day of very strong winds, gusting up to 25 knots down the strip. Vivenne and
Alastair flew with Doug. Vivenne did a couple of shorter flights. While
Alastair did a check and he and Doug then managed to hook into the wave (13 up
on the averager) and head towards the Remarkables. Didn't quite get high enough
to make it all the way when jumping forward, but good enough for an 80 min
flight. Extra hands on the ground in the strong conditions were very useful in
putting the aircrfat away. Thanks to Doug for instructing, Pete and Phil for
driving the winch and Leigh and freind for motoring up and down. The Gliding
weekend at Alex 8 and 9th March is all go. Tow plane ERW both days and winching
for the early starters. Dinner on Saturday night (finer details to be sorted).
Contact Pete for full details.
Sunday 17th February 2008
The Gliding folk set up on 32 end and mucked about just long long enough for
the wind to pick up and turn SW, forcing us to move to the other end.
Pete did one half hour flight with Vivienne's son Leigh. They climbed slowly in
fast drifting thermals, and found a general area of 2 up.
By the time they landed the wind had picked up and was gusting 20Knts across
the strip, so we opened the bar early.
Thank to Phil for winching and Brian for the other bits like wing runnery
things etc.
In other flying news... Brian was flying with Roger in ERW in the morning. Barry Cardno took some friends for a flight to Glenorchy etc in ERW, arrived back as the gliding folk were leaving.
10th February 2008
Rain showers on and off. It's not often we get rain affecting our soaring in
Alex! However we did get flying. Doug was instructing and Brian driving the
winch...thanks guys! Vivienne did several winch launches between rain showers.
The sun came out again. John and Leigh in JW stole a weak thermal from the
local hawks. This encouraged John to crank-up OQ to find more. Later in the day
OQ and JW shared the one local thermal climbing slowly togther. Finally Doug
had a blat in OQ but by now the cloud had returned and the day was finished.
3rd February 2008
Phil and John cleaned the club gliders on Friday afternoon, in preparation for
the 6-monthly Engineering inspection on Saturday. Phil and John were at the
hanger early Sat but our Engineer (Kerry) was a delayed with weather issues (he
was flying in). However all got done in time for the club flying on Sunday.
On Sunday the wave down our way was weak but there were OK thermals from low
level.
John instructed and Roger Bennett flew the towplane. Frank Paulin used his
glider flight voucher and enjoyed a nice soaring flight. Also flying JW was new
member Martin (1 aero and a winch launch), and returning member Vivienne (2hr
wave flight).
Brian (KD) and Phil (KJ) had good soaring flights. Also visiting overhead from
Omarama were Pete (LP) and Roger Sparks (VT). Both found it a lot harder
getting home northwards than it was flying south.
Steve Whitren was flying the Cherokee over the weekend, and Dion and others
flew ERW on Sunday morning with Roger. John McArthur was active in his Cub.
27th January 2008
Good thermals and lots of gliding with 4 single seaters and JW busy. It was a
little tricky getting away off the winch, requiring some patience and luck to
break through the local inversion.
Doug was instructing and we had two new members join: Martin and Patrik, both
had good long soaring flights. Pete was first to launch and last to land (7hrs
flying without a pee!). His long flight was into Aspiring, Shotover and
Remarkables. John joined Pete on Mt Aspiring after flying a different route.
Click on the links below to see pics from the day's flying:
http://www.cofc.co.nz/can_be_junked/nw_ridge_s.jpg
(Aspiring NW ridge)
http://www.cofc.co.nz/can_be_junked/lochnagar_s.jpg
(Lochnagar)
http://www.cofc.co.nz/can_be_junked/volta_s.jpg
(Glaciers on Aspiring)
http://www.cofc.co.nz/image_others/alexgliders1.jpg
(Ready to launch)
Brian and Phil also had good soaring, Phil winch-launching KJ for the first time.
After 6pm we fired up the gas for an enjoyable BBQ. Pete entertained us with
some loops before landing. Later that evening he showed us his flight-trace in
3D software on his laptop
http://www.seeyou.si
Many thanks to Doug, and everybody else who helped with the winch launching
tasks. Thanks too to the partners who provided some lovely food at the BBQ.
20th January 2008
Despite encroaching high cloud we had OK local thermals. Both Brian and Pete
had friends to fly so JW got good use, and most passengers experienced some
soaring. John (having no friends) flew off in KG to St Bathans, returning via
the OM range before the sun was extinguished by the cloud. Brian and John did a
quick hop in JW around 5pm but by now the southerly was in and the local lift
scarce.
13th January 2008
Most members still away but we did a little flying. Phil drove the winch and
John Instructed Amber + John from Wanaka. No sun so only weak thermals and the
wave remained high above. Brian flew at Wardells in wave.
Xmas-New Year Gliding
There's been little gliding at Alex over the holiday period due to folk being
away. However Pete's been having good flying at Wardells and was joined by John
and Brian on occaisions. Last Sunday saw all the Wardell-based gliders, along
with Kerry Jackson, plus our members John, Brian and Pete all soaring the Ben
Ohau range together.
Remember if you've got a spare day during the week you're all welcome to join
the S. Canty club at Wardells over January. Towing is via Piper Cub, there's
camping on site and the flying is great.
Friday 21st Dec 2007
Pete + John where winched up by Doug mid afternoon. An local inversion at
3-4000 slowed them down but after an hour they reached the good clouds on the
Dunstans and from there it was on to the head of the Dingleburn and back home.
Sunday 16th December 2007
Looked like a good soarable sky and it was till about 3:30 when the lift seemed
to die off. We got in about eight areotows for the day with John, Al, Brian and
Johns friend Patrick.
December 2nd-9th
Pete, John+Brian where away much of this period flying in Te Anau so there was
no club gliding scheduled. They had fantastic gliding weather and flew most
days. Flights were had south to Monowai/Hauroko, west to the main divide at the
heads of lakes Te Anau/Manapouri, east to the Takitimus, and north to Eglinton
etc. On the one stable day we cranked up Cessnas ETL, MAV, and PCJ and did a
good sight-seeing trip over a large part of Fiordland.
Back in Alex on the 9th saw a bit of action with flight training in ERW and
Geoff and Steve taking RLS to Sam Greer's strip near Ranfurly.
Sunday 18th November
Lots happening at the airport today. ERW busy training, plus Tecnam RLS flying
about with Geoff, Steve + John. HQD in and out, plus OQ testing the air, plus a
heap of car filming happening. The day was quite soarable for gliders. Brian
flew JW (pax) and KD, and Phil and John flew JW having a nice trip up the
Dunstans.
Thanks to Gary for towing.
Sunday 4th November
Flying out of Lowburn...
On the weather front,(no pun intended) had a couple of Spring showers to
start, but the day improved from there. Good sunny day and plenty of clouds in
the sky with W to SW wind.
Doug took three young fellas from Alexandra for a circuit flight each
(birthday treat for one I think). They were all suitably impressed, perhaps
we'll see them back a couple of years down the track when they can reach the
pedals!
Alastair had a couple of flights as did Steve, the lift proved ellusive,
though the sky seemed to say that it was there.
Thanks to Doug and Pete for instructing and Pete for driving the winch.
Thurs 1st November
Roger launched Pete about 5PM last night. Climbed OK up to 4,500ft where the
thermals fell off. The southerly was pouring over the end of the Dunstans so he
tried to climb in the valley again. Still couldn't get over 4,500. All lift
died suddenly just after 6PM. JW is still on the ground at Lowburn. Thanks to
Roger for stopping planting his new vineyard to do the launch. There is a party
at Bob Martins place in Mandeville Saturday night if you're down that way.
Labour weekend, October 2007
Pete flew Saturday, very cross-wind. A bit more action Monday with Pete, Bob
Martin ('IC) and Brian ('KD) all getting some soaring.
Saturday 13th October 2007
Lowburn again. Another crap forecast but Kerry was kindly coming down to do a
quick inspection on JW (recent mandatory AD...all OK). It was blowing a
miserable and very strong northerly on the ground but we did a few flights.
John and Pete shared the instruction. Pete found a little soaring on the higher
terrace just downwind of the field but that was about all. The day changed fast
as the front approached and Sunday was washed out.
Tuesday 9th October 2007
John sampled the thermals in 'OQ tuesday afternoon. He reported good lift and
an 8000' cloudbase.
Sunday 7th October 2007
No gliding (folk away) but ERW was kept busy flying saturday and sunday. Gary
Wilson also flew ERW over to the "new" lake up the Young river near Makarora
over the weekend.
Sunday 30th September 2007, Lowburn
Just a small crew, I guess the forecast wasn't up to much. However the day was
nicely sandwiched between fronts and the flying was good. Three winch launches
and three good flights. John was away early in KG and thermalled into the Pisa
wave, then the Hawea wave to The Neck and back. Pete (LP) also had a good
flight in the other direction (Dunstans and then OM wave). Finally Doug flew JW
taking Steve (the airstrip owner) for a fly. They started a bit later in the
day and unfortunately missed the wave, but still managed a nice 2 hour flight
on the Dunstans.
Many thanks to Phil and Hamish for launching and helping out.
Sunday 23rd September 2007
Flying off the Lowburn strip; the rain held off and the clouds hung around the
hills. We did 9 winch launches. Circuit flights, for Peter, Michaela, Doug,
Alastair and Pete M. There wasn't much lift about, maybe a hint of ridge lift
off the terrace at the 36 end with the light Southerly blowing. The strip
appears to be in good "nick", and they've installed a couple of wind socks.
Pete has filled in a few holes. Steve (brother of the landowner), came along
later in the day and had a couple of flights and a couple more 1/2 flights as
we had rope breaks (some wear at the joins Pete reckoned). Figured that we
would leave JW and the winch at Lowburn for at least next weekend, possibly a
while longer. Thanks to Pete & Doug for instructing.
Friday 21st September 2007
Late afty Pete+John tried to get JW across to Lowburn (drag races at the
airfield Sunday so we escape!). The sky looked hopeless and thick smoke
obscured the sun but we thought we'd have a go anyway. John found weak therms
in OQ so he then winched Pete in JW. No luck as expected. Fortunately Roger B.
was able to aerotow Pete down the gorge late in the day. John followed later in
Tecnam RLS to return Pete to Alex.
Sunday 16th September 2007
ERW had a busy day, with Roger instructing in the morning and nine glider tows
in the afternoon.
On the Gliding front, there was a bit of lift about, but not really strong
enough to get soaring. Phil in KJ found it (a bit higher) on a second attempt
later in the day, for a couple of hours. John instructed Peter, Michaela,
Alastair and Karl in JW but didn't really get established. Alastair had a short
flight in SJ too.
Thanks to John for instructing and Russell for towing.
Sunday 9th September 2007
A nice day with lots of aviation happening. Early AM saw Dion training with
Roger in ERW. Dion helped John rig OQ which got a short airing soon after.
Steve W exercised his new PPL (congrats!) and Geoff Campbell flew Tecnam RLS.
On the gliding front it was an OK day with variable thermals to the cloudbase
of 4500'. Pete M and Doug instructed Michaela Robinson in JW with some soaring
being had. Brian (KD) and John (KG) soared about for a couple of hours
reacquainting themselves with thermals (instead of wave).
Sunday 2nd September 2007
A great wave day. Doug was instructing, first a flight with Peter R, then with
Mesa in JW. This flight was about 2.5hrs long hooking the SW wave off a winch
launch and then travelling way south towards Tapanui then up north to Omarama
saddle and back (with a squeaky moment battling the head wind on the way back).
Also having found his wings was Brian in KD. Again into wave off the winch and he was away the whole day down south and up north. Peter R had a brief flight in SJ, and at the end of the day Phil and Doug did another soaring flight in JW.
Sunday 26th August 2007
Westerly wave day (wave didn't organise itself as well as the day before,
usually the way though).
Pete, Peter and Brian made the most of it though. Brian in KD was away first,
but didn't quite make it, with similar results for Pete and Peter in JW. After
a relight for both they hooked into the rotor and with a bit of work they were
last seen at about 6000' over Earnscleugh playing in the wave.
Sunday 19th August 2007
Turned out not a bad day after all with a bit of sun making some soaring
possible. Seven launches for the day (I think) in calm conditions. Pete and
Peter and Brian did a few circuits and managed to stay up for a little longer
on a couple. Thank goodness it's getting a bit warmer (Summers coming... even
if you're reading this in Antartica, John)
Thanks to Pete for instructing.
Sunday 12th August 2007
Just not enough folk to get flying on Sunday. Phil D and John when for a walk
in the snow showers instead!
Sunday 5th August 2007
Annual glider inspections and maint work, but some flying too.
Phil D and Brigitte flew JW, John and Pete have a couple of winch flights
each. There was a little soaring but it was a pity the sun only came out at the
end of the day. Thanks to Doug+John for instructing, and Phil S, John and Kerry
for maintenance during the weekend and the days leading up to it.
Sunday 22nd July
The first sunny day after 2 weeks of freezing fog! The southerly airstream
cleared out the Alex basin and also gave us a day of wave. Al winched John+Carl
for a circuit before Russell arrived to aerotow. Russell towed Brian (KD) into
the wave over the Fraser. Next up was Chris Streat and Carl in JW, and after a
check circuit Al took SJ up. John buzzed off to the wave in OQ. Al found the
wave illusive but the others trucked down to Roxburgh in the usual Old Man
wave. KD+JW moved forward to wave over the Umbrella range. But it was too damn
cold cold at 13000' and we were all lasted about 2 hours before descending to
land and thaw out.
Sunday 15th July
The hottest day of the week (+1 deg C). Like the rest of the week it was foggy
and freezing. We agreed to meet late and do a few chores. Al swept out the
hanger, and Phil worked on JW. Roger S arrived hoping to fly to Chch but it
never really cleared. John did a cloudbase measurement in GOQ (300'). We
huddled around the clubhouse fire to warm up and looked forward to seeing the
sun next week.
Sunday 8th July
A damn cold morning...hence the late start. Blue + still, nil soaring likely,
however we got quite a bit done. Pete Mc, John, and Brian did
blanked-instrument circuits in JW, and Pete R, Brian, and Athol had winch
driver training. Also flying were Pete R and Athol. We quit before sunset and
tried to warm up around the fire with a beer.
Sunday 1st July
Low cloud and fog in the valleys but a moderate NW'er was forecast above (with
wave). John was up mid morning to find the wave in OQ. He reported 8Kts lift in
bright sunshine at 13,000 feet in the Dunstan wave. See pic below and note the
fog still shrouding Cromwell to Wanaka. More members turned up early afternoon
and after some maintence we got a few JW flights in. John instructed Debbie and
Phil D in JW, then Phil D did his 3rd-ever solo flight in JW.
Gary, Adam, and Greg flew ERW, and Roger reacquainted himself with his Tecnam
by flying to Omarama and back.
Thanks to Phil + Phil for working on JW, and Al for driving the winch.
Sunday 24th June
The airport road was impassable til about mid day when the thaw set-in. We
started late. John launched Pete + Sarah (JW) for a quick circuit, then Pete
and Athol. They climbed away into the terrific-looking SW wave and disappeared
down to Roxburgh. Doug arrived and launched John for a circuit at the end of
the day.
Sunday 17th June
Very similar day to the previous Sunday. John flew some circuits in RLS. Roger
B did some training circuits with Dion in ERW. Athol and Pete did circuits in
JW. Al did a circuits with John and Pete and a solo circuit to finish up. Brian
came over for the day too and kept his hand in with a few more circuits in KD.
Brian let John have the last circuit of the day to check out if KD flies as
good as it looks!
