Jeepers – it’s been a bit hectic again/still!
Wednesday 3/10 and Saturday 6/10 were canned but Sunday 7th had some action finally. Captain Brown in command of the day for his inaugural turn on the roster came up against it immediately when I removed the backboard and paper flying sheet and said, “Sorry Pres – but we don’t do it that way anymore!” His initial professings to being digitally challenged were soon put one side as he rattled up 13 flights on the score sheet with only 1 error – caused by an errant entry being extinguished in a manner the pc didn’t like. Great job Roger and a big thanks for becoming an avid supporter of doing it digitally – sorry folks but if the president is on my side it’s pretty much a done deal!!
Turning out on the day and flying first up was Darren Smith, a keen ex RN lad 1 day off a plane from UK seeking a new life for himself and family here in godzone – with his gliding credentials and personality he will be an asset to any club he joins here and a welcome addition to our NZ fraternity, I am certain – keep a look out for him as he has promised to return on a ridge day! Members who flew were, Tim Bromhead, Jamie Pirrit and daughter, Carl Henderson, Will Kamp, Jacopo Detti, Edouard Deveonoges, Paul Knight, Mark Shrimpton, Dave Dennison, and me, practicing rope breaks with Rob Owens – but that’s another story!
Wednesday 10th was not high on action as Iggy reported:
Two tows today. The high cover cut off the promised thermal activity but Neil Raymond did 30 minutes WW and Phil Cox in PK managed 35 minutes. Bill gave Phil a bit of a workout on tow, having him boxing the wake, levelling off into cruising flight and then establishing a descent while on tow. I found out how much rudder and elevator it takes to counter the wayward glider!
Good to see we are keeping the Chief tow pilot entertained whilst at work!
Then the week got very short as the Instructors Course arrived ……….. Friday 12/10 there were 52 launches in 4.5 hours – none on Saturday (phew!) and 30 on Sunday, which as you can imagine kept the laptop humming. It was a great experience to be a part of the event and to see the number and quality of people coming through the system. Some great presentations on Saturday, while the rest of the world blew on by.
Club members Ian Finlayson, David Muckle, Robin Britton and Ralph Gore managed to squeeze a flight in, but the rest was strictly business!
Ralph has asked me to put out a call to all private owners who might want to have their parachutes re-packed, to give him a call or email as he has arranged for a packer to come to the airfield for a weekend (I don’t know which!), to get the job done for you.
By the way - old mate and ex club-member Gerald (thanks for your help on the grid at the course - deserves another plug), has his beautiful motor-glider for sale on Trademe:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=515813530
Hopefully we get a great long weekend! See you there!
PC
