Wot 'as bin goin' on

Tuesday Bob Emery flew three launches in GFP - just to get comfortable in the air again. There was very little lift - just a little zero sink! Ian came out and we started to rig IUO - but we did not put the wingtips on, as Ian decided he wanted to fly it in 18m configuration and it won't fit in the hangar like that.

Tuesday and Wednesday, had a good clear out and filled up the rubbish skip - luckily they emptied it today (Thursday). You can see most of the office floor now!

On Wednesday John Wakefield and Trish came out and worked on the Jantar - last time he flew it the ASI didn't work properly. Ian came out too, and helped John, but also replaced the brake pads on the tug - which was greatly appreciated. The brakes are much better now! Greg Smith and Phil Anderton popped in Greg's Maule - and popped out again later!

Miro Mikus arrived and rigged his Nimbus 2 single-handedly!! He has built a one man rigging tool, and it works! Needs a few minor modifications for optimum performance, but Miro is very happy with the result.

Today (Thursday) was another overcast day, but it was quite warm. Phil Anderton popped in from Newcastle in his RV6 and reported very strong headwinds and turbulence at Murrurndi. Later he popped out again, back to Newcastle!

 I launched Miro in the Nimbus - he was expecting a sled ride, but actually managed to soar for about an hour and a half. Meanwhile Allan Buttenshaw turned up for lunch with a friend in a Lightning light sport aircraft. They also reported strong headwind and turbulence! There was some wavy looking cloud up high too.

The Lightening has a 6 cylinder Jabiru engine and the same propeller as my Brumby, and seems to have similar performance, although the Lightning looks much more slippery.

I filled up the quad bikes and went for a ride up to terminal 1, where I found the rubbish bin strewn all over the lawn. Must have been foxes I should think. Not good to leave the bin full of rubbish up there overnight! Cleared all that up, then the Avgas delivery arrived.

Miro managed to de-rig the Nimbus again almost single handedly, and left to go back to Coffs as light rain is forecast for tomorrow morning.

Greg Nelson arrived to endorse me on the big green tractor and the big slasher - but first we had to get even tyre pressures in the wheels. One of the back ones had 17 and the other 12, while the front ones had 25 and 12 respectively. The two tyres with 12 psi were on opposite corners! He also showed me the gazillions of grease nipples on the slasher that have to be greased after every 20 hours of use - it takes a while to do! Thanks Greg - will you sign off my logbook now please?

At the moment the grass isn't growing very much, so there isn't much mowing to do, but it would be good to get the emergency overruns done.

So that is what happens on quiet days at Lake Keepit!