The Australia Day weekend has come and gone.  We only had one day rostered for instructing: Australia Day itself. We had a big day with both 2-seaters fully utilised for the entire day.  The other three days (Friday was a flying day) were independent operations with only a couple of check flights.  Wally flew more than 12 hours total for the weekend.  There was even a bit of cross-country distance done. 

Mark Rowe got checked out on the tractor, thanks to Jeff Hunt.

This is an example of the soaring conditions.  Note the trace goes lower than the ground level we flew over later in the flight. These were just the foothills; we never got as high as the top of the main range.  The flat valley floor is also obvious.  We kept a safe glide back to the valley in sight at all times. I would not expect to see any of the club gliders below 3000′ over the hills, but the private owners might be seen this low occasionally.

On the 17th of February 2008 we are planning a Fly In to Warkworth by the Royal Newcastle Aero Club. At this stage we have no indication of numbers but we are offering the pilots of RNAC an opportunity to take a flight in a glider for some local soaring or aerobatics. We might just attract some new members! RNAC have recently diversified into RAA and acquired a brand new Jabiru for training and private hire. This was a move that I initiated when I was on the board of RNAC 2 years ago and has proven to be an extremely popular direction. Pilots of RAA aircraft do not require Aviation Medicals and can fly at significantly less cost than GA.

We plan to have a BBQ on the day of the fly in, and we will have the local RV team on display, and hopefully the Dimona will be flying too!

I would like to invite members to come along and help out on the day and make the RNAC pilots welcome. I am sure they will also be keen to show off their aeroplanes and it is a good opportunity for anyone interested in RAA or GA to come along. 

We could do with some volunteers on the day to ensure everything runs smoothly, including Duty Pilot, Instructors, back up tug pilot, ground crew, BBQ drivers, aircraft marshallers etc.

Nick Wills

This summer does seem to be a bit slow.  The weather conditions have not co-operated with our gliding ambition.  Despite the lack of Blog postings, we have been flying every weekend.  There just haven’t been any epic flights to report, although Ian’s 6-1/2 hour flight to Lake Keepit just before Christmas deserves a mention.

The new-year’s trip to Narromine seems to have gone well.  Have a look at the flights the boys logged on the OLC (link at right.)  We will have to ask them to contribute an article for the Blog.