Unfortunately the last day was grey and overcast - we had a Q & A talk with Jonny Durand, the Australian National Hang Gliding Champion, for the past 10 years. He is learning to fly sailplanes at Lake Keepit after the Hang Gliding State Titles at Mt Borah have finished.
After some thought a run task was set - 1.5 hours.
I looked at the weather and decided that if I didn't fly home to Cowra on Saturday, I probably wouldn't be able to make it for several more days, so unfortunately I missed the wind up dinner at the Dircks'. Someone else will have to blogg that.
Some gliders launched and did manage to soar, but I don't think anyone made it around the task. I flew with Nick Singer in his and Wendy Medlicott's Jabiru, as he needed a BFR - after which I packed up and flew home. There were a few showers to dodge, and a big patch of rain near Dubbo that I was able to avoid - but blue and sunny back home.
Despite the somewhat less than ideal weather, the Regatta was a great event - and everyone had a good time, and put on kilos owing to the good food. Eating together in the evenings and having a good yarn about the day made it very enjoyable. And we all learned from the experience.
I think Todd Clark and Matthew Atkinson won - they certainly did a good job of staying together.
Signing Off
Jenny
Monday, February 27, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Keepit Regatta Friday 24 Feb
The task set was an AAT Quirindi 30 Baan Baa 40 Manilla 10 LKSC.
The day was slow to get going. Nick Singer in his self launching Pik 20E was first to take off as a "sniffer". Harry Medlicott went next with his Ventus 2CXT. They struggled for quite a while, but once they got a few consistent climbs, the rest of the field was launched. I was lucky enough to go first, and straight into a good thermal, with no-one to share it with.
However it wasn't all plain sailing, and quite a few of the "followers" bombed out. Some took a relight, and some didn't. I was allocated a different follower today - Ben Brooks in Jantar IZV, but before I had a chance to lure him into an outlanding, he landed back at the field and elected not to attempt the task. He did have a three hour local flight later on. My mate Bob Dircks was left on his own today, but sadly was one of the ones who didn't start.
Conditions got better as the day went on, with climbs to 7000 ft, but it was mostly blue. There were a few bits of cumulus later in the day to the north of the area. Dave Shorter deposited his follower Phil Anderton as Kennedy's airstrip, but Phil was able to get an aerotow home from there. Gaineys airstrip was a popular stopping place too - that last Manilla turn caught a few people out.
John Trezise following Ian Mc Phee and Wendy Medlicott in LL had a very good day, and got round the task. Chris Bowman in the club LS7 and Rob Smits in the Duo Discus stayed together very well, but they didn't turn the Manilla turnpoint. Todd and Matthew stayed together well too, and both completed the task.
Garry Speight flying with Graham Holland in Twin Astir IKX, unfortunately visited Gainey's. but his follower Brian Kranz in Cirrus OX made it home.
I had a nice flight - did quite a lot of distance, but as usual pretty slow, and overran the task time by heaps.
All this was followed again by a huge dinner, and amazing dessert, so we will all have a heavier wing loading tomorrow.
The day was slow to get going. Nick Singer in his self launching Pik 20E was first to take off as a "sniffer". Harry Medlicott went next with his Ventus 2CXT. They struggled for quite a while, but once they got a few consistent climbs, the rest of the field was launched. I was lucky enough to go first, and straight into a good thermal, with no-one to share it with.
However it wasn't all plain sailing, and quite a few of the "followers" bombed out. Some took a relight, and some didn't. I was allocated a different follower today - Ben Brooks in Jantar IZV, but before I had a chance to lure him into an outlanding, he landed back at the field and elected not to attempt the task. He did have a three hour local flight later on. My mate Bob Dircks was left on his own today, but sadly was one of the ones who didn't start.
Conditions got better as the day went on, with climbs to 7000 ft, but it was mostly blue. There were a few bits of cumulus later in the day to the north of the area. Dave Shorter deposited his follower Phil Anderton as Kennedy's airstrip, but Phil was able to get an aerotow home from there. Gaineys airstrip was a popular stopping place too - that last Manilla turn caught a few people out.
John Trezise following Ian Mc Phee and Wendy Medlicott in LL had a very good day, and got round the task. Chris Bowman in the club LS7 and Rob Smits in the Duo Discus stayed together very well, but they didn't turn the Manilla turnpoint. Todd and Matthew stayed together well too, and both completed the task.
Garry Speight flying with Graham Holland in Twin Astir IKX, unfortunately visited Gainey's. but his follower Brian Kranz in Cirrus OX made it home.
I had a nice flight - did quite a lot of distance, but as usual pretty slow, and overran the task time by heaps.
All this was followed again by a huge dinner, and amazing dessert, so we will all have a heavier wing loading tomorrow.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Keepit Regatta - Thursday 23 Feb
Much better day today - very little wind, and cumulus, but cloudbase pretty low, and it overdeveloped and went showery over Kaputar.
We had quite a talk fest in the morning after briefing with Allan Buttenshaw talking about radio procedures, and me waffling on about avoiding airspace. Todd gave us a couple more brief hints about being a leader. As a result, we were probably a bit later than the optimum time taking off.
The task was Manilla 10km, Edgeroi 50 km Merrylands 40 km and back home - circles almost touching. Bob and I managed to stay together for the start and to Manilla. Then we turned to fly more or less parallel to Mt Borah under some clouds and it all went a bit pear shaped. The clouds didn't work very well but I found a good climb eventually. However Bob flew in underneath me - not all that much lower - and did not manage to pick it up. I now realise I should have descended to his level at that point and helped him pick it up, but unfortunately I didn't until it was too late. Bob did a good circuit and a safe outlanding close to the road, and I was able to relay a message to base for him. I really have a lot to learn as a leader. It means you have to know where you are going yourself!
Meanwhile, many others were have an ordinary time of it two. Two self launching gliders surreptitiously started their engines. I heard Todd and Matthew a fair bit on the radio - they seemed to manage to stay together, and Dave Shorter and Phil Anderton - Phil got low at one point and I heard Dave coax him into some lift, and he got up again and made it home after another low save at Tranquil. Allan Buttenshaw and his follower both flying Jantars made it around the course. John Trezise started off following Vic Hatfield and Ian McPhee in the Grob Twin 3 LL, but left them behind when they started their engine. Then he tagged along with Todd and Matthew for a while, then left them behind too, and did the rest of the task on his own. You can see most of the flights on the OLC.
A good many of the pairs seemed to end up in one large gaggle, somewhere ahead of me. I made it across to the western side of the Kaputar range and got flushed down a gully and was heading for a landing paddock before I got a climb. I think it would have been very difficult for Bob in the Libelle to cross all the trees with the high terrain and low cloudbase.
Nick Singer flew with Jacques today, and they seem to have had a reasonable run.
Once again, flying was followed by a sumptuous meal, and much analysis and arm waving at the dinner table.
Didn't take any pics today - sorry!!
We had quite a talk fest in the morning after briefing with Allan Buttenshaw talking about radio procedures, and me waffling on about avoiding airspace. Todd gave us a couple more brief hints about being a leader. As a result, we were probably a bit later than the optimum time taking off.
The task was Manilla 10km, Edgeroi 50 km Merrylands 40 km and back home - circles almost touching. Bob and I managed to stay together for the start and to Manilla. Then we turned to fly more or less parallel to Mt Borah under some clouds and it all went a bit pear shaped. The clouds didn't work very well but I found a good climb eventually. However Bob flew in underneath me - not all that much lower - and did not manage to pick it up. I now realise I should have descended to his level at that point and helped him pick it up, but unfortunately I didn't until it was too late. Bob did a good circuit and a safe outlanding close to the road, and I was able to relay a message to base for him. I really have a lot to learn as a leader. It means you have to know where you are going yourself!
Meanwhile, many others were have an ordinary time of it two. Two self launching gliders surreptitiously started their engines. I heard Todd and Matthew a fair bit on the radio - they seemed to manage to stay together, and Dave Shorter and Phil Anderton - Phil got low at one point and I heard Dave coax him into some lift, and he got up again and made it home after another low save at Tranquil. Allan Buttenshaw and his follower both flying Jantars made it around the course. John Trezise started off following Vic Hatfield and Ian McPhee in the Grob Twin 3 LL, but left them behind when they started their engine. Then he tagged along with Todd and Matthew for a while, then left them behind too, and did the rest of the task on his own. You can see most of the flights on the OLC.
A good many of the pairs seemed to end up in one large gaggle, somewhere ahead of me. I made it across to the western side of the Kaputar range and got flushed down a gully and was heading for a landing paddock before I got a climb. I think it would have been very difficult for Bob in the Libelle to cross all the trees with the high terrain and low cloudbase.
Nick Singer flew with Jacques today, and they seem to have had a reasonable run.
Once again, flying was followed by a sumptuous meal, and much analysis and arm waving at the dinner table.
Didn't take any pics today - sorry!!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Keepit Regatta - Wednesday 22 Feb
As you can see from the pictures, the sky was grey and not much happened. However we did have a very interesting talk from Bruce Taylor this morning, who took questions from the floor - mostly about trying to find patterns and energy lines.
Another run task was called, and most pilots did grid, but although there were some wispy cu under the overcast, the air felt very dead on the ground,
Allan Buttenshaw and Dave Shorter took a launch each - they didn't come straight down, but they did come down. I think Dave managed about 40 minutes but didn't venture away from the field.
However the winch came out, and there were lots of launches in the Puchatek. Harry Medlicott drove the winch all day.
Not sure who flew but I think Vic, Allbuts and Bob Dircks were among those who threw themselves up into the sky.
I would have joined them, but instead, spent the afternoon fixing a slow puncture in my plane - at least actually Geoff Sim did all the work, and I assisted by making cups of tea. Many thanks to Geoff - I am very grateful to him for his hard labour!
When all the tools were put away, I went up to the winch and watched the last launch - its a while since I drove it and I wanted to refresh my memory. Its been left out in case anyone wants a go in the morning.
Nobody would have bothered flying on aerotow - but I think we had plenty of winch launches. It's good to keep current just in case - and fun too.
Well I have to go and have yet another superb three course meal now, so won't write any more until tomorrow!
Jenny
Keepit Regatta - Tuesday
After all the rain last night, nobody thought the flying would be much good. There was a low overcast and it all looked soggy and miserable. So we had a talk by Harry Medlicott on safety - not just the normal things, but what to do if you stuff it up! And a talk from Garry Speight entitled "My Brilliant Career" complete with statistics!
After that, the sun was coming out, and things seemed to be drying out, so a half hearted, not scoring "run task" was called - Gaineys, Ag45, Gunnedah Lake Keepit as many times around as you could do in 2 hrs. I elected not to fly, as the sky looked to me as if it would overdevelop and rain again, and I had plenty of jobs to do. However a few brave souls took to the air.
Those of us who didn't fly looked a bit silly later on, because the sky got better and better, and it looked really good. In fact Todd and Bruce Taylor went to Merrylands Edgeroi and back - but they are flying JS1s. Others who flew early said it was rubbish, but it definitely got better later on, and Bruce said there were good climbs out to the west.
Ian Downs flew with Johnny Durand Jr in the Duo Discus after it returned, and they spent a couple of hours soaring visiting Mt Borah and Gunnedah aerodrome, where they had a low save. I notice this flight has NOT been posted on the OLC - tsk tsk. Ian said he only had to do the take off and the landing and John did the rest. An awsome start to his sailplane flying career.
I was endorsed on the club's new Toro ride on mower - was over-controlling to start with - had to practice my speed control and co-ordination! Managed to mow around the new hangars on the North side, David Bull did the south side. Harry Jacques, Ian McPhee and Allbuts did glider maintenance.
After a nice dinner in the club house, some of the boys did the washing up - but not all were willing to be photographed in case their wives got wind of it!
After that, the sun was coming out, and things seemed to be drying out, so a half hearted, not scoring "run task" was called - Gaineys, Ag45, Gunnedah Lake Keepit as many times around as you could do in 2 hrs. I elected not to fly, as the sky looked to me as if it would overdevelop and rain again, and I had plenty of jobs to do. However a few brave souls took to the air.
Those of us who didn't fly looked a bit silly later on, because the sky got better and better, and it looked really good. In fact Todd and Bruce Taylor went to Merrylands Edgeroi and back - but they are flying JS1s. Others who flew early said it was rubbish, but it definitely got better later on, and Bruce said there were good climbs out to the west.Ian Downs flew with Johnny Durand Jr in the Duo Discus after it returned, and they spent a couple of hours soaring visiting Mt Borah and Gunnedah aerodrome, where they had a low save. I notice this flight has NOT been posted on the OLC - tsk tsk. Ian said he only had to do the take off and the landing and John did the rest. An awsome start to his sailplane flying career.
I was endorsed on the club's new Toro ride on mower - was over-controlling to start with - had to practice my speed control and co-ordination! Managed to mow around the new hangars on the North side, David Bull did the south side. Harry Jacques, Ian McPhee and Allbuts did glider maintenance.
Keepit Regatta - Monday 20 Feb - Day 2
There was quite a bit of rain during the night, and we had thunderstorms predicted for early afternoon. However the weather forcast on Lookoutthewindow.com didn't seem too bad, so our intrepid task setter Dave Shorter set a task. Tambar Springs 40km, Narrabri 50 km Manilla 15 km Lake Keepit - making the minimum distance a modest 137 km. There was a lot of whinging at the briefing about Bob and I on the radio, so we determined to try not to talk so much and stay closer together!I had a distastrous morning, as you do sometimes - nothing seemed to go right, the end result being that I was late gridding so was right at the back. This turned out to be quite fortunate in the end because it gave Bob a good chance to get established before the start, and it wasn't easy - there were a few relights and one or two dummy spits!
Cloud base was pretty low, and once again the clouds did not seem to fulfil their promise. If you were lucky enough to find a good thermal, the cloud often formed above you. It was quite windy too, so progress was slow. There was a lot of difficulty even reaching the start points, but things did start to improve.
I found a thermal over start point C1, and waited in it for Bob to join me. Meanwhile Dave Shorter and Harry Medlicott set off toward Tambar Springs. Dave's follower elected not to attempt the task. Vic and Ian in LL had a stab at it, but didn't get far, and didn't submit a trace. Their follower gave it away. Garry Speight flying with Graham Holland ventured away from start and got to the hills just past Gunnedah before beetling back home. Garry Ransby and Geoff Sim went a bit further - I didn't hear either of them on the radio. Tood Clark and Matthew Atkinson were the standouts for the day - getting into the Tambar Springs circle and heading north for the Narabri one.
I thought Bob might want to give away, but undaunted, he got the start, and followed me over the Carrols. We managed to be at the same height in the same thermal for once and headed off toward Gunnedah. I encountered no lift before getting to Gunnedah aerodrome, unfortunately Bobs Libelle just didn't quite have the glide to get to Gunnedah aerodrome, and he landed at a small airstrip quite close to it. Dave Bull and Luke went to fetch him.
There was a huge big black cloud brewing to the south west, and it seemed to be advancing on our area fairly quickly. Sparks were coming out of it, and the conditions fell apart past Gunnedah. Dave Shorter and Harry Medlicott elected to give up and come home. Todd and Matthew almost didn't make it home but in the end Todd deposited Matthew in a paddock and climbed away from about 500ft and made it back. He did go on the retrieve though.
Matthew landed in a ploughed paddock - the retrieve team were just driving through the gate on the way out with the glider in the trailer when the rain started - and boy did it rain!! From about 4pm right through half the night it poured down. We had to have our delicious three course meal inside the club house.
Jacques scored the traces that were put in - but since nobody did the task, no points were awarded. But if you look at the OLC for Monday, you will see Lake Keepit was the only site in Australia to submit any flights!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Keepit Regatta - Sunday 19th February- Day 1 by Jenny Ganderton
First day of the "comp". As this is a fun friendly event, all the pilots are paired up, one being a leader and the other a follower. The score for both is the slowest pilot's score, so it does you no good to race away from your follower. I have been designated as a leader for some reason, because I feel I am more cut out to be a follower! And Bob Dircks, my follower, is a very independent person!!
This leading and following business is a skill in itself, and both leaders and followers had a lot to learn. We had a talk about in in the morning, and then into the fray!
Harry Potts was resplendent in Orange Dayglow vest, and did a sterling job of marshalling gliders and tugs at the launch, capably assisted by Peter Shiels, Lou, and an Australian Japanese visitor whose name escapes me (sorry). Harry has such a perfect radio voice. The tugs going, with Phil Anderton towing, then leaping out of his tug and into his glider to take the last launch. Ian Downes and Luke are flying the others.The task set was Manilla 10km, Kaputar Tower 40 km, Mullaley 30 km and back to Keepit. Bob and I upset everyone by talking too much on the radio, but we did manage to find each other after a bit of leap frogging and flew some of the way together. Todd and Matthew Atkinson had their moments too, as Matthew somehow managed to turn his radio down, and Todd thought he was ignoring him. However they got it sorted out, and then seemed to manage very well. Vic Hatfield flying in LL with Ian McPhee were paired with John Trezise, and they said he was the perfect follower, always there in the flarm radar! Dave Shorter flew with Phil Anderton, another very successful pairing by all accounts.
The day was not totally straightforward. There were clouds, quite low only about 6000ft max, and not always reliable. There were huge areas of sink around Mt Borah, and huge areas of air containing paragliders and hang gliders - none of which seemed to be in any lift that I could find, but somehow at least some of them managed to go up! Jacques Graells, Matthew Atkinson and I had a somewhat "interesting" time in this area, but we did all manage to get up eventually.
Bob and I did manage to get round the task - just nicking the circles - but it was decidedly iffy on the last bit between Gunnedah and home, as the sky just fell apart. Those who were earlier and faster had a better time of it I think.
I managed to get up to 5000ft in about 1-2 kts near Kennedy's airstrip, Bob did not quite get as high. Meanwhile Jacques had a booming 0.4 of a knot near the airport, which eventually turned into a screaming 1.4 kt thermal. I managed to squeak over the Carrol range, but needed another 500ft to make it back to Keepit. I found the necessary thermal over a ploughed paddock, with a nice white glider sitting gracefully in the centre of it. I was able to mark the thermal of Jacques, and climbed up high enough to try to go back for Bob - but he made a miraculous low save just west of the Carrols, and made it back under his own steam.
There was only the one outlanding for the day, and better and faster pilots did not grovel as much as we did!
Jacques is scoring, and he will only take a pilots trace from the OLC. So everyone has to learn to do it. He is being very stern about not downloading traces for people - he says they just have to learn! And they are learning - look how many Keepit flights there were on the OLC for Sunday!!
The day was rounded off by another excellent meal and abundant good company.
Keepit Regatta - Practice Day 18th February - by Jenny Ganderton
This was a club day as well as being the practice day for the Regatta, and there were heaps of people wanting to fly. Tim Carr was duty instructor and, as well as having an AFR or two to do, there were four passenger flights and an ab-initio student. Then there was a phone call to day that there was a paraglider pilot coming over some time who probably wanted a flight sometime - all very vague.
It turned out that the "paraglider pilot" was Johnny Durand Jr, Australian National Hang Glider Champion for the last 10 years, and pretty much unbeatable. He's thinking of crossing over to the dark side so all the other cross-over hangies will have no place to hide!! I think the rest of us had better look out too. Not sure who he ended up flying with, but heard on the grapevine that whoever it was didn't need to touch the controls. John did confess that he had been flying the Dragonfly tug so had some prior 3 axis experience.
It had been a long time since I had seen young Johnny on a hang gliding site. He used to tag along with his dad at the age of about 10, and carry peoples harnesses, and stuff battens in gliders for money!!
All that aside, there were at least 19 sailplanes wanting to launch, and some of them more than once so it was a busy day. The weather was good and the task was an AAT to Quirindi Mullaley Edgeroi Manilla and back to Keepit with quite large circles except for Manilla.
Weather started brewing up a bit to the south, with a few showers toward Quirindi so most only just nicked the Quirindi circle. Dave Shorter was boasting climbs of 11 kts, but the best I got was about 6 to 8. As we progressed past Mullaley, there was a radio call that there was a thunderstorm warning for Tamworth Keepit area, and many turned for home. Not your intrepid writer however who thought she knew better than to believe in thunderstorms, and was stranded out at Edgeroi when it arrived! Luckily by the time I got back to Keepit it had all dissipated, and the sun was shining again.
Saturday night we had a welcome dinner, with everyone sharing a delicious meal prepared by Joy Bartrup, Ann Bull and Lou Ransby. This is a great feature of this regatta - the fantastic dining experience, which is pretty much compulsory!
It turned out that the "paraglider pilot" was Johnny Durand Jr, Australian National Hang Glider Champion for the last 10 years, and pretty much unbeatable. He's thinking of crossing over to the dark side so all the other cross-over hangies will have no place to hide!! I think the rest of us had better look out too. Not sure who he ended up flying with, but heard on the grapevine that whoever it was didn't need to touch the controls. John did confess that he had been flying the Dragonfly tug so had some prior 3 axis experience.
It had been a long time since I had seen young Johnny on a hang gliding site. He used to tag along with his dad at the age of about 10, and carry peoples harnesses, and stuff battens in gliders for money!!
All that aside, there were at least 19 sailplanes wanting to launch, and some of them more than once so it was a busy day. The weather was good and the task was an AAT to Quirindi Mullaley Edgeroi Manilla and back to Keepit with quite large circles except for Manilla.
Weather started brewing up a bit to the south, with a few showers toward Quirindi so most only just nicked the Quirindi circle. Dave Shorter was boasting climbs of 11 kts, but the best I got was about 6 to 8. As we progressed past Mullaley, there was a radio call that there was a thunderstorm warning for Tamworth Keepit area, and many turned for home. Not your intrepid writer however who thought she knew better than to believe in thunderstorms, and was stranded out at Edgeroi when it arrived! Luckily by the time I got back to Keepit it had all dissipated, and the sun was shining again.
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