Recent News at Waikerie |
|
Club AGM The 2007/2008 AGM was held on Saturday 19th May at Waikerie. This meeting coincided with the celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the forming of the Club. There was a great turn-out for the meeting and celebration. [ The Club Docs have John's President's Report for the previous year. ] I am humbled to have been re-elected President. Peter Robinson and Craig Vinall were re-elected Vice President and Treasurer respectively. Phill Hollick was elected Secretary. Greg Jackson and Peter Paine were re-elected to the Committee. Greg also continues as the Newsletter editor and Craig the SAGA Rep. The 70th Anniversary celebration saw around 110 members - past and present - get together, many making a big effort to get there. We sat 105 people down for a 3 course Dinner (thanks to Jean and Marie) before an interesting presentation by Martin Simons of recent initiatives in gliding in Europe - before lots more reminising. Several of the past members took the opportunity to re-acquaint themselves with the cockpit - with good flying conditions on both Saturday and Sunday. All in all, a great weekend. John Hudson - Monday, May 21, 2007 at 17:06:05 (CST) |
|
WGC Club 70th Birthday Weekend! A few members arrived on the Friday night to be presented with a meal prepared by Phil Hollick. I think it was fair to say the party had begun. Saturday morning commenced with the usual flurry of activity preparing gliders and tug. By first launch around 10:40am the wind was 15 to 20 knots from the West, strength increasing with height, as you would expect. Scattered & rapid cycling Q was consistent all day and cloudbase lifted to around 4500ft. 16 Launches with reasonably high tows made for a good days towing. The tug has just returned from its annual inspection and feels even better to fly. The new Garmin radio very professionally installed is very clear in reception and does a great job when transmitting from the noisy Pawnee cockpit. 
During the afternoon invited guests and past and present members joined in for the AGM; interrupted by a dust storm when we needed to adjourn to put the aircraft in the hanger. After the meeting a group photo and a couple more launches were in order. The clubhouse was packed with well over 100 people staying for dinner. During the event continuous photos of past members and historic 8mm footage was shown. Martin Simons gave us an entertaining presentation during the evening on the latest aircraft and developments in gliding. All in all the dinner was fantastic, the members and guests appeared to enjoy the company with many discussions picking up where we they last left off. Sunday dawned overcast but burnt off to be a flyable day with reasonable conditions to around 5500ft. Over development shut things down around 15:30. Very enjoyable and pleasant weekend at Waikerie. John Hudson again did a mammoth amount of work organising the weekend but still found energy to do towing on Sunday. To John's family, friends and helpers, well done; be proud of your efforts. Jet Greg Jackson - Monday, May 21, 2007 at 16:37:47 (CST)
|
|
April Newsletter The April issue of "Out of the Blue" is here. (PDF, 150 kB) Advising members of the next AGM, calling for executive and committee nominations. Proposed flying days for the rest of the year. Greg Jackson - Tuesday, April 10, 2007 at 09:24:06 (CST)
|
|
Friday's flying cancelled Temp did not get up high enough to break through the inversion - we sat on the grid for 2.5 hours Rumour has it that we may run the last day Saturday 3rd March Greg Jackson - Friday, March 02, 2007 at 18:20:28 (CST)
|
|
Day 4 State Comp Day 4. Run time of 3 hours. Wki - Peebinga - Lindsay River - Loxton - Wki was a tough one, we had good lift until it hit the inversion at around 4900 ft. It was possible to find the thermal again once it had pushed through but a lot of wasted time finding broken reduced lift - some climbs over the scrub went to a little over 6000. The wind picked on the leg back to Loxton which put our previous leader (Craig) on the ground. New leader of the comp Gavin Wrigley - As we have been reminded it is the SA & NT State Comp so we have an NT leader. [update] David & Catherine Conway won the day in the huge Nimbus 4 - It is hard to imagine how you can compete against a magnificent machine like that. Jet Greg Jackson - Friday, March 02, 2007 at 09:24:35 (CST)
|
|
Waikerie Members Week, SA State Competition Waikerie Members Week, incorporating SA State Competition, is running from 26th Feb to 3rd March 2007. 
After three days of hot competition only a few points separate the top 6 places. All tasks have been AAT and have been skilfully shaped by Peter Robinson to accommodate a range of aircraft performances from the Keith Willis pee wee ZAW (as it is affectionately known) to the huge wing span of the 4DM Nimbus. Practice day, Sunday the 25th we did laps of the standard 100k triangle Wki - Maggea - Kingston winery - Waikerie finish. All gliders averaging over 100kph on each lap. Day 1. run time was set at 2hours. Wki - Allawoona - Maggea - Loxton - Wki Won by Gavin at a speed of 98.3 kph Day 2. run time set at 3 hours. Wki - Meribah - Blanchetown - Renmark - Wki Won by Craig at a speed of 124.8 kph Day 3. Run time set at 2.5 hours. Wki - Loxton - Notts Well - Kingston - Maggea Won by Craig at a speed of 111.5 kph Greg was the leader, after two days we now have a new leader - Craig. Greg Jackson - Thursday, March 01, 2007 at 09:33:34 (CST)
|
|
February newsletter "Out of the Blue", the WGC newsletter for February 2007 is here (PDF, 170 kB) Some reports on our summer operations, more about coming events including Members Week and the SA State Comp. Greg Jackson - Friday, January 26, 2007 at 17:14:49 (CST)
|
|
Wednesday at Waikerie On Tuesday evening we had an excellent illustrated presentation by Martin Simons about changes and developments in the European gliding scene. Pilots went to bed in anticipation of some great conditions on Wednesday. The weather forecast for Wednesday indicated a maximum temperature of 40 degrees, with an approaching change and thermals of good strength (14-15 knots) to 12000. We were rejoined by James Cooper, the RTO/Sports WA. No specific tasks were set, so that participants could develop their own tasks using information and experience gained earlier in the week. Various tasks of up to 1000 km were declared. 
The temp trace indicated a trigger temperature of 34 centigrade, and heating occurred slower than anticipated. Actual conditions turned out not to be as good as forecast, with strong winds and average thermal strengths at the lower end of the predicted range. Most pilots had good climbs to altitudes around 12000.Several pilots managed good flights: - David Conway and Georgio Gaeletto in the Nimbus 4 DM almost achieved 1000 km. - Nigel Zimmerman flew in excess of 600 Km in KYR, the Barossa Astir 77. - Peter Reid in his 26E flew 100+ km back to Waikerie with a ground speed around 270 Km/Hr, having earlier experienced a climb to around 12000 ft at 15Kts. - Ray Lawley flew the Waikerie Discus around a 300 km task. - Anne Philcox flew the AUGC Libelle around a 300 km task. There were a few outlandings. The atmosphere around the Bar at the end of the day naturally was electric, with pilots able to relate their experiences. John Hudson - Thursday, January 11, 2007 at 12:58:12 (CST)
|
|
Friday at Waikerie High level cloud drifted over Waikerie today but under it Cu's developed around 11am with 6kts climbs to 7,500ft and later in the day to 9000ft. No task was set but we did 13 flights in the Twin and the Duo and Mosi flew for several hours each. We received a very light shower around 5:30pm tonight. Jim Hackett arrived yesterday and joined the club, with his new ASH26e awaiting his arrival. Jim has not flown gliders for several years and today did several training flights and finished going solo in the Twin and then in the Astir 77. Brett Potter and Allen Hudson had annual check flights in the Twin. Peter Reed arrived yesterday in his ASH26e from the eastern states and we expect another ASH26e to arrive from Adelaide on Sunday. Performance week starts tomorrow. Peter Robinson - Friday, January 05, 2007 at 21:30:29 (CST)
|
|
Wednesday, Thursday at Waikerie Wednesday had strong easterly winds of around 34km/hr with Cu's to 6000ft with over development. A 540km task was set to Meribah, Burra, Loxton and home. Pilots got close to completing the task - Craig got to Burra and the Duo and Nimbus 4 turned at The Gums and then turned at Loxton. James Cooper did 560kms triangle out to the east getting down to 1000ft at one point. Pilots from Waikerie attended Don Workman's funeral service. The Libelle and Bergy flew in from Stonefield. Thursday: Cu's to 5000ft from 1pm and increasing in height with climbs under Cu to 9000ft late in the day. There was significant over development. Climbs around 4 to 6kts with the occasional climb of 9kts. Task was a 100km speed triangle. Gavin flew the LS7 for the first time, Ray flew the Discus and David flew the LS4. Craig flew the Mosi and Cathy in the ventus. I managed to fly the 100km triangle at 150kph in my Nimbus 2 with only five turns thermalling and finishing just within the 3300ft window. Height band around the task was between 5000 and 7000ft. Bernard arrived in the Ash 25. Friday: Forecast is light rain from 11am turning to showers by 4pm. Peter Robinson - Friday, January 05, 2007 at 10:03:08 (CST)
|
|
Tuesday at Waikerie Day 1 of Maurie Bradney Week Cu's popping at 11am today which got everyone into gear and onto the grid. Temperature was 31 degrees with forecast being 33 degrees The task was a 300km FAI triangle - Start pt A2 (10km north) , Peebinga, Lindsay River and back to either A2 or Waikerie. Ray flew the Ls4, Gavin in the hornet, Craig in the Mosi, Cath in the ventus, Phil in the Ls7, Peter in the nimbus 2, Greg in the discus, Allen in the ASW20 Everyone got around the task with heights of 7,000ft, lots of Cu's and climbs of 4 to 7kts. Well done to Ray Lawley who did his first 300km flight in 3hrs 30min. Speeds around the task were around 118km/hr for Cath and myself doing a FAI speed task (finish within 3000ft of the start height), Craig did 109km/hr - all with water. Those without water, Gavin did 90km/hr, Phil did 90km/hr and Greg 95km/hr. James Cooper from WA arrived yesterday at Waikerie with his SZD55 and is his for the next 2 weeks. Tomorrow looks even better with 37 degrees and Thursday better again with 41 degrees predicted. Peter Robinson - Wednesday, January 03, 2007 at 22:46:58 (CST)
|
|
Monday at Waikerie Today we had steady rain from 10am until midday with the temperature around 18C. The rain and cloud cleared and the temperature quickly increased with Cu popping out to the South. Around 4pm we started flying with David doing a flight in the LS4 then Ray doing his conversion flight to the Discus. Ray had around 2hrs at 7000ft under Cu and was very happy with how the Discus flies. Look out Discus pilots, you now have another person looking to fly it. Dion did the test flight in the Diamond and Nigel did the test flight in the Dimona. The forecast for the rest of the week is getting hotter with 42 predicted for Thursday and Friday. Peter Robinson - Tuesday, January 02, 2007 at 08:35:53 (CST)
|
|
Sunday at Waikerie 35 degrees at Waikerie today with a 1pm start of Cu's popping. Greg launched first and reported a climb to 10,000ft. The Cu's over developed quickly with pilots having to fly through and dodge rain. The lift was still working until the end of the day. Peter Robinson in his Nimbus 2 did 525km at 130km/hr without water. Mark Morgan and Ron Brock test flew the Nimbus 4DM and did around 550km with one street of 100km without turning. 
Simon and Cath did a 300km out and return in the Stemme. Simon then flew back to Meningie.Ray flew the LS4 and flew to Copeville and return at 84km/hr. Phil flew the LS7 200km. Best height for the day was 12,000ft and best climb was 13kts on the averager. Peter Robinson - Monday, January 01, 2007 at 08:37:31 (CST)
|
|
Friday's flying Friday 30 Dec - the sky's mostly overcast with an easterly to SE wind. It doesn't look like great cross country weather. Still, a few check flights were flown in the Nimbus 4DM and Duo Discus. The longest flight was nearly an hour. We put everything away before a large rain shower passed over the airfield. Saturday midday - the trough is still sitting west of us, and the wind is stronger today. We're hoping for it to fade a bit in the afternoon. People are doing other jobs until then. Pete S - Saturday, December 30, 2006 at 12:21:50 (CST)
|
|
Thursday 28th December Another beautiful day at Waikerie - Temp over 30 and the thermals going to around 6000 ft - Finished cleaning the tug (WGC) and second briefing called for 12 noon. Peter Paine HP, David Lawley XOK, and Phil Hollick took launches around 1:30 pm. Peter flew for just under 4 hours whilst Phil coached David to head south to Magee. The Duo Discus launched late in the afternoon after the arrival of another syndicate member. Catherine Conway flew from Waikerie to Parafield in an ultralight and returned for an evening meal in the stemme with Simon. Bernard Eckey arrived in the morning and during the they day managed to unpacked a ASW 21 with engine (heading for Boondah) and a new ASW 26 which Mark will fly in a couple of days after it's form 2. Our Japanese visitors appear to be enjoying the beer, wine and food & glider flying of course. Greg Jackson - Saturday, December 30, 2006 at 12:09:38 (CST)
|
|
Full time operations start Tuesday 26th December 06 From a Tow pilots perspective. Good news, I arrived at Waikerie to tow and was informed by Mark that he needed an evaluation launch for the Duo Discus asap. Phil Hollick went along for the ride (another new glider for Phil to be converted to) and the clockwise rotating cumulus clouds were going ballistic at 10.00am Adelaide time. Mark did an evaluation flight. David Lawley had a good flight in the LS4 and Mark did two check flights with our visitors, we then all had a break for lunch. This is very strange for us, but our Japanese friends needed a sandwich and a chance to enjoy some chat in the kitchen. The duo Discus had two more launches staying up for 2 hours on the second flight getting to just over 5 thousand and honestly it has been many years since I have witnessed a more buoyant day. Wednesday 27th December 06 Some further briefings and check flights went on in the morning with Phil doing 5 1200 ft circuits with our visitors - kept me busy in the tug 3 to 4 minute tows. Phil Hollick in the LS7, David Lawley in the LS4 and Peter Paine in the Discus all took a launch at around 1500 but I had been watching this sea breeze frontal phenomenon approaching for several hours and thought that it would be spectacular or a fizzer. Turned out to be rough broken thermals to around 4000 - Peter managed a good effort Magee, Wunkar, Kingston (almost Kingston) and home. It has been a bit hard for me to get in the air again after the sad news of losing one of our dear friends - Don Workman RIP - I am sure those Auster wings will take you to the heaven in the sky, where we will all meet up again one day. Jet Greg Jackson - Thursday, December 28, 2006 at 08:34:32 (CST)
|
|
Weekend of 16,17 December Another busy weekend at Waikerie, with a Committee meeting on Friday evening, a mini-working bee on Saturday morning, and flying on Saturday and Sunday. Kris and Charles Yeates arrived on Friday for a short stay. A few jobs were completed on Saturday - a big thankyou to Mark Morgan who recommissioned the evaporative airconditioners and to Greg Jackson and Pete Paine who completed some minor repairs to these units. Pete Paine also gave the lawns a trim. Another big thankyou to John Vinall, who completed a repair on the Twin Astir trailer - another sterling effort by John. The flying on Saturday was only average - Greg, Pete Robinson and Pete Paine had reasonable flights. I managed 137 minutes in the LS4 followed by Craig who had an hour or so. Cathy Conway completed her "time under supervision" on the tug. A stroke of luck, David Lawley, Craig Vinall and Mark Morgan used some fresh concrete (which was dumped in the area on the western edge of the airfield) to patch open holes in the Igloo hangar floor. A great effort guys. We also installed a new set of storage boxes in the Igloo. These were arranged by David Lawley. Another great meal on Saturday evening prepared by Marie and Jean, with some great Reds provided by Craig. Was great to see Dion and Ray in the Kitchen doing the dishes - no doubt under Ali's influence - hopefully we will see a lot more of Ali. John Hudson - Monday, December 18, 2006 at 08:55:03 (CST)
|
|
Club Newsletter for December A new issue of the Club newsletter, "Out of the Blue" is available here (111 kB PDF). Some operations reminders, the office fire plan, standardising wiring in gliders. Lookout. Coming events. Greg Jackson - Sunday, December 10, 2006 at 13:24:13 (CST)
|
|
Interesting few days (For those who didn't know, there have been bushfires north of Waikerie for the last week. In the end we were lucky with a weather change and they didn't come very close.) Between the smoke, trucks and comings and goings of the daily news choppers from Adelaide over the past week things got a little more interesting when the Water Bombers arrived on field. For the first couple of days they could do nothing as visibility was too bad. Pete Siddall was flying one of the fire spotter planes and could tell you about the flight conditions. (While the northerly winds were blowing, there was too much smoke to fly anywhere near the fires. - Pete) 
Water tender trucks and fire retardant mixing pumps working hour after hour on some afternoons as the water bombers landed, loaded and blasted off down the runway. No mistake about the blast off! Every time the big paddles of the gas turbines powered up, the trucks and filling workers disappeared in a great cloud of dust.I've never seen aircraft use so much of runway 08 to get into the air before! There definitely wasn't much left at the end as they swung north over the trees just after the end fence. (Part of these guys' game is to lift as much payload as they can. If they don't use all the runway, they're going to be asked "why didn't you fill it up?" - Pete) 
All this became rather of less interest as I heard the thocker, thocker of a very large sounding air beater coming in from the east on Tuesday morning. Elvis was arriving at Waikerie. For what ever reason the firies have named this very large Erickson sky crane Elvis, I'm sure because it always made such an entrance and rather large impression.Camera out, best important looking face on and when the real official blokes had left I ventured over to the very big orange bird (if you could call it a bird). The first guy I introduced myself to happened to be one of the maintenance engineers. The two pilots were on mobile phones. The crew were American that had been working in Greece, can't remember now if they were fire fighting or lifting timber logs out of forests for logging companies. Anyway two of these Erickson choppers had been hired out to OZ so they in turn hired an Antonov cargo plane and flew them out to OZ (at a very expensive rate!!) The ship weighs in at 8 tons carries 3.8 tons of fuel ( 4,800 litres) cargo of water is 8.9 tons ( 8,900 litres) In the Pics you can see there are two water pickup systems. The flexible tube on the left is the Pond Pickup ( I think it refers to the fact it can pick up a large pond at a time!) Has an hydraulically driven propeller in the bottom cage that forces the water up the tube and into the bin. The other is the Sea Snorkel, normally used for mobile ocean or lake pickups. They fly low over the water at 45kts, drop this very big tube into the water and the hydrofoil at the bottom pulls it down. Delivery. The tank has a pair of bomb bay like doors the full length of it. They can be opened to release from a slow stream of water continuing in volume up to the whole lot at once in 2.5 seconds! After a few hours the guys cranked up the big orange jinker and thockered off into the western sky headed for Adelaide as the need down there was greater than ours. Soon after the water bombers followed. So now it's probably all back to normal I suppose! Mark Morgan - Wednesday, December 06, 2006 at 16:27:54 (CST)
|
|
Saturday 25/11/06 at WGC Saturday 25th November dawned cool at Waikerie, but soon was warming rapidly. I was opening the hangar doors early as I had some work to do on the mountings I have been fitting to the Waikerie Gliding Club's (WGC) new gliders, the LS7 and LS4. The canopy arrangement and position of tow release on these gliders does not permit the usual WGC camera/GPS mounts. A short gooseneck arrangement and flat metal plate with Velcro solved that problem. Some extra mounting plates were made, and left in the briefing room draw. A mount was concocted for Greg Jackson's large size Garmin. John Hudson and Mark Morgan assisted me at various stages with materials and advice. The LS4 has a Cambridge L-Nav, which can use GPS data to calculate final glides. A pair of 9 Pin RS 232 serial connections fitted to a blank 57mm instrument hole cover. Despite double checking all wiring the Cambridge would not recognize the GPS. As the wiring has been DC tested it is a bit of a mystery. 
David Conway took Ann Philcox from AUGC up in the Dimona to do an outlanding check, Ann flew the LS4 later in the day for 40 min, unfortunately missing the earlier good conditions, but seemed to have enjoyed her 40min flight. David flew his Ventus later.Just before lunch time Simon Hackett and Cath Conway arrived in Simon's shiny new all glass cockpit Stemme S10. They later flew to Stonefield to collect the "come and get it" trophy for WGC, returning to Adelaide later in the afternoon. Simon's photos are worth a look. Meanwhile, in the Twin Astir, Bill Mudge flew with Bill Kirk a WGC member and his friend Richard, who came over from Melbourne to visit WGC and have a fly. A German tourist who had some gliding experience also flew with Bill. Greg Jackson (Discus HP) and Craig Vinall (Mosquito FQK) headed East for a 300km task. Greg made it home but unfortunately Craig out landed 8km out from Waikerie, shot down by the incoming strong cool South Westerly which surged in behind the Trough line that was present, spoiling the previous good conditions where climbs to 15,000ft under the sparse cu were available. Greg and I retrieved Craig quickly de-rigging the Mosquito and about 45 min after departure arrived back to the WGC bar. Our erstwhile President and the days tow pilot John Hudson then cooked up yet another of his marvellous feasts in the member's kitchen for those staying over. David Lawley - Tuesday, November 28, 2006 at 15:07:52 (CST) |
|
My First successful 100Km triangle! I finally finished fiddling at about 12:30pm and DI'd the LS4 and looking at the very attractive sky and weather briefing, loaded up with 50 litres of water ballast, and all my flying bits and pieces. A 100km triangle WGC-Maggea-Kingston-WGC planned. It was 38 degrees when the tug started to roll down the strip at 2:50pm and I released the rope at 1850 feet in what felt like good air. A 2 kt climb was established as I felt out the days thermals. At 3000 ft the climb improved and soon a 4 kt average climb came along until about 4,500 feet where the average climb dropped off to 2 kt again. Some judicious re-entering and tighter bank angles soon produced 6 kt average climb and I started to smile. These were obviously wind shears/inversions, but the powerful thermals were pushing thru eventually! This continued to 7,500 ft where again the climb rate dropped off. The relatively close by cu were still another 5,000 ft+ higher so I persisted and soon centred in a smooth 10. A long fast cruise followed, with a couple of deviations allowing me to cruise under the rare cu. There seemed to be various wave systems present associated with the shears. Cruising speed on track was 80-90 kt, with a couple of spectacular pull ups under a lone cu returning me to 10,000 again! Woohooo! As Maggea was approached I was down to 7,500 starting to make significant deviations west of track to avoid patches of strong sink. The wave seemed to be alternatively boosting and suppressing the thermals. The sight of a small cu street 10km on track to Kingston looked promising, but I cautiously took a short 6kt climb back to 8,500 ft at Maggea before making a beeline for the distant cu keeping my track in line with the cu seemed to be the best approach, producing reduced sink at 85kt and soon I was climbing at 6kt under the cu street in a straight line. I headed in towards Kingston at 7500ft, just before reaching the turn point hit a 10kt climb where I spent 3 and a half minutes climbing to 10,000ft again so as to have a nice fast glide straight back to Waikerie. From that point on it was easy to rocket around the Kingston Bridge turn point and head towards WGC. My track was right down the 30 km distant runway 08. I was running at rough air max, 103kt as the angle to home rapidly got steeper. 15km out there was still 5500ft on the altimeter and I was still at max rough air. Wheel down time I thought as I passed 10km reaching WGC at 2,500 ft. I only turned in 2 thermals on course! Continuing east a quick pass over the town followed by a 1300 ft pass over the runway dumping the water ballast then curving steeply towards joining the downwind leg, in notable sink below 1000ft, caused me to move in closer to the strip and a normal landing was made albeit with a pronounced continuous shear effect. After landing I was a little disappointed as the Garmin GPS had switched off the track log after last use, so I have no trace. Total flight time take off to landing was 66 minutes. Time for 100k was 42 min, average speed ~130kmh. Great fun! David Lawley - Tuesday, November 28, 2006 at 15:55:35 (CST)
|
|
Saturday 25 November 2006 "Yes honey I am going flying on Saturday, we have a crew and the weather looks good." My intention was to go to Waikerie and keep Bill Mudge company in the twin and do some more flying towards my instructor rating. On arrival we were all playing around with making up bits of metal to mount GPS to the new gliders and the Mosquito's radio was being reinstalled. Briefing covered the concerns of driving on the airfield - staying on roadways and if possible driving on the green grass areas when towing out. The whole area is very dry and if we drive all over the aerodrome we will destroy the fragile grass cover. What could you say about the weather at 38 degrees convection was expected to go over 10,000 with the possibility of small wispy cumulus. I had a quick chat to John in regard to this instructor thing and he said we would work on the spiel and delivery of things to say when we come up in December. Well by this time Bill had found a couple of guys who had arrived at Waikerie in a piper twin and wanted a few flights. I was left with no option but to get the Discus out (people buzzing around the new aircraft like busy bees). When I saw Craig filling up with water the challenge was on, no way was the Discus without water going to be able keep up with the Mosquito. Putting a 100 litres of water on board was no effort and I was away on tow (Waikerie, Peebinga, Lindsay River, Waikerie 301k). After a start over the airfield at about 8,000 I maintained track and then headed to the East of Wunkar to see if I could contact some high cu. I took a couple of good climbs on the first leg and managed a little down wind streeting in reduced sink. Just prior to the first turn I had a good climb in 10 knots to 11,000ft. From that high I flew along the second leg again deviating a long way towards Renmark following cloud activity. The air around the second turn was sinking, I slowed up and took a couple of broken sloppy 4kt climbs (I wanted to fly around the turn high but that didn't happen) Spent a lot of time going around the turn and then flying towards Renmark getting down to 3,500 and finding not much lift - a couple of slow climbs to gain a 1000 or 2 and move on. Eventually arriving north of Renmark aerodrome at around 5,000 and scratched around getting up to 7,500 and thinking of final glide (checked my final glide slide rule and it said I needed 7000 at 30:1) knowing I was going to encounter a head wind. As I approached Lake Bonney it was all going up, I had a magic 10+ knot ride up the 13,000 and flew back at 95kts arriving Waikerie at 5,500ft. Great 4 hrs flying thoroughly enjoyed myself, didn't see Craig on task but we were able to communicate over the radio for the first time in a while. Anyway; another great day at Waikerie. Jet. Greg Jackson - Tuesday, November 28, 2006 at 14:56:02 (CST)
|
|
Weekend 4, 5 November It was all happening at WGC this weekend with a visit by the Royal Victorian Aero Club on Saturday, followed by Monaro drags on Sunday. I arrived Friday at lunch time as I knew John was there and was going to be available to tow, Phil Hollick test flew the LS4 then I had a go too. 
There were 10 passenger flights on Saturday, one of which extended over an hour, including some aerobatics and was most enjoyed by the passenger, who was pumped up when he got out!Early in the day Mark Newton took the LS4 for a blast, as I also did later on, having enjoyed it so much the day before (see below). Sarah Allen and Nick Gilbert arrived, taking the Discus and Astir CS77 respectively for a fly, and John Mudge also had a brief flight in KYS. Peter Paine as usual disappeared for the day once launched in the LS7 and flew WGC/Maggea/Kingston/Blanchetown. Despite my efforts time constraints prevented John Hudson from having a fly of the LS4, as he had to go and welcome the visitors from RACV. As usual John and Jean put on a great meal on Saturday night. Sunday there was no flying due to the drag racing and John Hudson, Ann Woolf, Graham Francis, Peter Paine and I brushed up on our car park attendant skills, having a very successful day of fundraising for the club, in fact the whole weekend was very good from a financial point of view. Dave Lawley - Wednesday, November 08, 2006 at 22:03:31 (CST)
|
Pilot review of LS4, XOK
After hearing the LS4 had arrived from Tocumwal with President (luminous) John on Thursday and was ready to test fly, I could not resist the temptation to go to WGC on Friday and have a fly.The glider is in great condition, with excellent finish all over. It has a tinted canopy, (more later) and has recently been fitted with a new tire and undercarriage rubbers and seatbelt webbing. A Cambridge LNAV (no GPS) is fitted as main vario, Winter 57mm ASI, Winter 57mm mechanical vario and a Becker radio. The canopy opens forward hinged, and is best opened once inside by placing a hand on the canopy above ones head and pushing up and back at the same time. 
Trim is accomplished with a lever on the stick and a sliding green knob on the left side, the trim lever also has the cruise/climb switch mounted at the top of it. There is a good cobra trailer.The seat back is adjustable both in rake angle and forward backwards via a pull cord behind the seat. The effective wheel brake is operated by heels on the rudder pedals. Up to about 160 litres of ballast can be carried. First impressions were a very good looking machine with a large cockpit space, much larger than any of our other High performance single seaters; I could actually move sideways whilst sitting in the glider, a unique experience for me! The undercarriage retract lever is on the Left side, and requires little force to operate. VNE is 151kts!!!! Let's get down to flying. For the first flight I did not have any cushions beneath me and seemed to be peering just over the instrument panel, however visibility was still OK. On advice from Phil who had just test flown the glider I started with somewhat less than full down trim. On ground roll the elevators had a pronounced effect as they unstalled, pitching the nose down a bit suddenly, but easily controllable. Once climbing with the tug the glider tracked easily and was very stable. Upon release it was time to try the machine out. Fortunately I released into a 2kt thermal and was soon climbing happily. The aileron response at low speed is excellent, making fast centreing a breeze - I have never flown a glider that can level its wings from 45 degrees to level so quickly, and with so little stick movement at 50kt! The LS4 seems happiest thermalling at this speed, and that brings me to another unique characteristic - the trim range is huge. If one applies full up trim the elevator is at about 40 degrees up, this allows trimming to a zero stick load at even the steepest bank angles, though as the trim lever on the stick will not apply full back trim, one has to pull back on the knob whilst holding the trim lever in to get the last part of the travel. Some care is required as at full up trim the glider is right on the stall in wings level flight! A bonus of the large trim range is the feel thru the ailerons whilst thermalling is great due to the zero pitch loads. In fact feel is almost overwhelming with this glider, it seems to smack you on the head and say the thermal is over there you idiot, where the LS7 gently taps you on the shoulder and whispers excuse me I think the thermal might be over there, and the Discus just beeps its vario, I found thermal centreing very easy due to the feel of the air that this Sailplane provides. Compared to the other gliders I have flown the LS4 seems to thermal with a pronounced nose up attitude and this is also noticeable at 80kts as one does not feel they are looking downwards steeply to obtain this speed. Acceleration is good too; not needing too steep a dive to get going is a plus! It is commendably quiet at speed as well. As some of you would know I have difficulties retracting the undercarriage in most gliders but the LS4 was easy, with the added feature being the retracted undercarriage lever blocks the use of the airbrakes, at least without skinning ones knuckles! The tinted canopy has a bit of a quirk however, as when wearing polaroids a brown/yellow band of tint is introduced down the centre of the canopy, leading me to think I could see haze domes all the time in front of me! Powerful double blade Schemmp Hirth airbrakes make descent control a breeze and a gentle touchdown is easy, except there is some limitation of forward visibility, due to the nose up attitude at flaring speed. More cushions below my butt the next day improved this somewhat. After reviewing the above, I realized I shouldn't be so complimentary, or everyone will want to fly it dammit! (But you will have to get up early to beat me to it!!!!) All up: a bargain for us as a club Dave Lawley - Tuesday, November 07, 2006 at 21:54:12 (CST)
|
|
Robbo's weekend, 28/29 Oct Greg forgot to mention that my first launch I climbed to 4,500ft off tow and headed off towards Blanchtown. I didn't find any lift and at 11kms at 1,750ft I turned back towards the airfield with a very marginal final glide - Winpilot was indicating arrival height of 60ft. Didn't find any lift until I was 2kms from home at 550ft which was too broken to climb in but enough to give me zero sink to enable a normal circuit onto 20. On my second flight I managed to fly along a convergence line late in the day when the wind increased and killed all the lift ground thermals. There was two lines of cloud running NE SW, with one over the airfield and the other over about 10kms East of Morgan. Managed to fly 50kms between 5,500 and 6,000ft without turning then after getting down to 3,500ft I got back up and flew another 35kms without turning between 5000 and 5,500ft. I was freezing cold with the outside temp at 2C and only in shorts and a shirt. I then finished the flight with a final glide from Maggae with a 25km/hr tail wind at 100kts in still air. Peter Robinson - Monday, October 30, 2006 at 14:04:01 (CST)
|
|
Weekend 28, 29 October Looking at the forecast for WA and Victoria many places were hammered with wind and rain but the weather was great at Waikerie all weekend. On Saturday we had 8 launches in mostly overcast conditions and you did need to pick the cycle times to get the best lift to over 4500ft. Peter Robinson (Nimbus IUS) worked a convergence zone which had formed in a south easterly direction, landing just before 6pm. Sunday started slow (adjusting to daylight saving). When the temperature moved above 20 degrees it was possible to find hot spots and thermal triggers that set off some good thermals in the 6 to 10 knot range, topping out at about 5600ft. I took the opportunity to have my first flight in the LS7. I am impressed; very responsive controls even at slow speed. I had been warned it may all of a sudden start to fly during the ground roll and leap off the ground, holding station on tow is easy and the wheel just glides up and down - I did pull the bung when I saw a large loop in the rope appearing but as both the tug and glider were on a 45 degree thermaling turn to the left it was quick and easy to roll right and continue thermaling. The glider is stable when thermaling and goes around nicely at 47kts. I needed to set the trim manually as the green lever on the control stick did not move the trim enough to totally take the load off the elevator control. Anyway a slow Kingston Wunkar Morgan Waikerie was a good opportunity to get to know the aircraft - great days flying thanks to Tim for the launch and Phil our diligent duty instructor for the day. Jet Greg Jackson - Monday, October 30, 2006 at 12:16:42 (CST)
|
|
Weekend at Waikerie The past weekend at Waikerie was planned as a Coaching Weekend. Coaches - Andrew Wright, Frank Johan (ASC), Peter Temple (ASC), Sid Nankivell (ASC), Peter Robinson and Craig Vinall were on-hand to coach David and Ray Lawley. Bill Mudge was the Instructor of the day, with David Schenke in the Tug. The temp trace for Saturday looked better than the conditions provided, but allowed a task to be set - Waikerie Airfield, Maggea, Kingston Winery. After a late start, the gliders were launched and headed for Maggea - with Craig Vinall (in KYS leading Ray Lawley and Frank Johan leading David Lawley in the LS7. While Ray got low and was able to make it back to Waikerie, David outlanded and was retrieved by road. Peter Robinson also outlanded and was retrieved by aerotow. The day was no doubt of great benefit to both Ray and David. The group sat down to a 3-course meal before a debriefing session after tea. Unfortunately, a change during the night saw a S-W change move through, with strong S-W winds. No task was set. Peter Temple and Sid Nankivell elected to fly their gliders back to Gawler. Leaving Waikerie at a little over 6000, they made it successfully back to Gawler. John Hudson - Monday, October 09, 2006 at 13:35:57 (CST)
|
|
October long weekend Things have been busy at Waikerie during the last 5 days, including 3 days of the Labour Day Long-weekend. 
On Thursday 28th September, a group of 9 students from Riverland High Schools were given the opportunity to fly in a glider as part of the Riverland High Schools Sports Expo. David Conway and John Hudson flew the Twin Astir while Don Workman flew the Tug and Shirley Mudge arranged things on the ground. A great group of students made for a very pleasant day. David Schenke took the opportunity to do a few circuits in the the Auster with Don.A group of members were then on hand to fly on Friday, with a group of 3 Dutch visitors having flights and a number of members also taking the opportunity to fly. David Schenke flew the Pawnee and was made current for aerotowing. Great to see David back at the front end of the rope. Early on Saturday morning, members of the Sport Aircraft Club of SA began arriving for a planned weekend at Waikerie. Around 15 aircraft arrived, together with Chris Wise in the Yak. We were treated to some impressive flying demonstrations by these pilots and their aircraft during the weekend. The Sport Aircraft Club members visited Blanchetown and the River Murray Flood re-enactment in Waikerie on Sunday before the weather deteriorated. The opportunity was taken to brief the Sport Aircraft Club pilots on gliding activities - at both winch and aerotow Clubs - in what turned out to be an interesting and informative discussion. Meals were arranged throughout the period and the Sport Aircraft Club members booked all the Clubs accommodation - with another sterling effort from Marie and Jean. Several other WGC members were on hand to assist. Cath Conway got to spend two days in the Tug. We test flew the LS7 and got it back on-line, quieter and more responsive (especially in roll) than it previously was. Pete Robinson, Peter Paine, David and Ray Lawley all enjoyed some good flying. We were also pleased to see Phil and Lyn Ritchie and Terry and Vicki Cubley from the Adelaide Soaring Club who visited Waikerie with their gliders for the weekend. The visitors departed during Monday morning and the Clubs facilities were cleaned up in preparation for the Coaching Weekend next weekend. John Hudson - Tuesday, October 03, 2006 at 13:37:46 (CST)
|
|
September Newsletter The September issue of the Club newsletter, "Out of the Blue" is available here (110 kB PDF). News from the AGM. Winter activities included a working bee and (of course) some flying. Greg Jackson - Sunday, September 03, 2006 at 22:42:45 (CST)
|
|
Weekend 12-14 August I arrived somewhat later than planned Friday afternoon (due to the death of my old car) to find Phil Hollick and John Hudson well into the form 2 on the LS7, which we had planned to work on over the weekend. A few minor bugs were found and most sorted out, in fact John, Nigel and Phil are still working on it today (Monday). On Saturday, a good days flying was had in very pleasant conditions 22c with light winds, with several pilots completing annual review flights with Bill Mudge and Phil Hollick finishing his instructor revalidation. 
John Mudge and Stuart Skevington seem to have come out of hibernation from this winter. John had an hour in the Hornet and Stuart, David Lawley and Peter Paine flew an hour each in the Discus, getting to around 4000 feet at 3-4 kts average eventually, though in my case I was down to 800ft before I could get away, I really must stop releasing so low!Later in the day Cath Conway arrived with Peter and Michael in a Diamond Light aircraft, it seems Cath has to put up with flying it around the countryside for work! Nigel Baker arrived around the same time to supervise the fitting of the tailwheel kit to the LS7, taking time out first for some circuits with Cath and sons in his Dimona. 
After flying it was back to Al Hudson's hangar to go on with the form2 on the LS7, followed by yet another sumptuous meal by chef Hudson.(He cooked Friday Saturday and Sunday tea, leaving me waddling along due to the huge amount of great food weighing me down still today, phew!)There was no gliding Sunday but John converted Cath Conway into the tug, and form 2 activities continued, followed by yet another banquet. I enjoyed helping on the Form2 and learned a lot- a very worthwhile experience I would recommend to all pilots that I shall try and be more involved in. Hope to see you next weekend (John is cooking again!) Dave Lawley - Monday, August 14, 2006 at 10:37:51 (CST)
|
|
Weekend flying 29, 30 July Another busy weekend at Waikerie. Great to see Phil Hollick being put through his paces by Bill Mudge as part of the revalidation of his Instructor Rating on Saturday 29th July. Despite the weather forecast, there were some reasonable flights, with Ray Lawley having 49 minutes in the Hornet, David Lawley had 45 minutes in the Discus (beaten by Ray again) and Craig Vinall had his first two flights (34 and 55 minutes) in the LS7, providing some positive feedback on the glider. Pete Paine did a great job mowing the Clubhouse lawns and generally tidying up around that area. Following dinner on Saturday evening, a discussion took place around the Bar on glider lubrication. On Sunday 30th, with a steadily increasing wind strength, a few gliders were prepared for flight. Graham Marsh flew a passenger in the Twin, reporting a climb of around 5 knots. Phil Hollick took off in the LS7 and flew to Morgan and back into a strong headwind. Pete Paine did likewise in the Discus. Ray Lawley had 46 minutes in the Hornet, Dion Baker had 23 minutes in the Hornet before Ray and Dion had a 23 minute mutual flight in the Twin. Graham Marsh had a few flights with Nigel in the Dimona as did Cathy Conway. On Sunday afternoon, Ruth Wilson, from Canberra, arrived with her ground crew to prepare for a world record hot air balloon flight early on Monday morning. The balloon basket was prepared - with many LPG bottles strapped to the basket for the 750 km attempt. With a planned take-off at 0100 Hrs Monday morning (31.7.06), a detailed weather briefing was prepared and a crew briefing held at 2300 Hrs Sunday night. Conditions certaily looked favourable for the flight, with 35 knot winds from the west forecast at most levels to 7000 Ft. Unfortunately Ruth landed between Overland Corner and Berri. Hopefully we will see her back for another attempt at this record. John Hudson - Monday, July 31, 2006 at 14:40:32 (CST)
|
|
Weekend at Waikerie Another busy weekend at Waikerie. On Friday evening, 6th July, the first meeting of the new Committee took place. A breif outline of this meeting will be prepared for the next Newsletter together with the Minutes of the AGM. On Saturday, another working bee was held. A considerable number of jobs were completed. To all those who assisted, a big thankyou for your efforts. The opportunity was taken to celebrate 40 years in gliding by Bill Mudge - well done Bill and may there be lots more years. After a meal on Saturday evening, a presentation and discussion was held, around the topic of AEROTOW RETRIEVES - FROM THE TOW PILOTS PERSPECTIVE. Prepared notes for this discussion will be included in the Club Documents section of the Website. This turned out to be a lively session with considerable discussion. On Sunday, with a north-westerly breeze steadily increasing in strength, flying ops got underway. Peter Paine in the Discus had 137 minutes, with climbs to around 5000 Ft. New members David and Peter Schenke both flew. David was a very active member in the past and returns to gliding after a long absence. David had a few flights before resoloing - well done David. Son Peter had a couple of flights with Cath Conway. Graham Francis had 25 minutes in KYS. Others to fly included David and Ray Lawley, Dion Baker with a friend of his in the Twin Astir, and Bernie Konopka. The opportunity was taken to complete Sarah Allen's towing endorsement. All in all, another busy weekend at Waikerie. John Hudson - Sunday, July 09, 2006 at 22:19:56 (CST)
|
Last weekend's flying
It was a very cold weekend at Waikerie, with only Pete Siddall, Graham Marsh, Pete Paine and myself attending on Saturday.Cold cloudy weather on Saturday did not seem to deter passengers, we flew 5 in total and Peter Paine and I did a mutual flight in the twin, with the highest average climb achieved .1 of a knot. Nigel flew some of his friends in the Dimona. Dave Lawley - Tuesday, June 13, 2006 at 11:19:23 (CST)
|
Megafauna Flyers
The Megafauna Flyers. 28 of these flew in yesterday, pilots spent the night and tonight on the houseboat, flew off to Gawler and other places today. They're back this evening and leave tomorrow.Another lot fly in tomorrow. Ann Woolf - Wednesday, May 24, 2006 at 22:07:10 (CST)
|
|
Sunday 21 May Following the AGM on Saturday and a very interesting presentation given by Martin Simons on Saturday evening, which was followed by considerable discussion around the bar until late into the night, Sunday dawned with a high overcast. The forecast and temp trace indicated the cloud would break up as the morning warmed and with a forecast maximum of 15 C, the temp trace suggested climbs to 5000 Ft would be possible. Bob and Sue Martin flew with Richard Geytenbeek and Nigel in the Dimona before Pete Paine took off in the Club Discus. Pete had a flight of 2 hours, Aiden and Dion Baker both flew the Diamant UV, and Ray Lawley-Sinclair had a couple of flights after converting to the Hornet. Another good day at Waikerie. John Hudson - Monday, May 22, 2006 at 11:08:42 (CST)
|
| Waikerie Gliding Club AGM - 2005-2006 The Club's Annual General Meeting was held in the Clubrooms on Saturday 20th May. A good number of members, including several "older" members attended the meeting, which briefly interrupted flying operations. 
John Hudson welcomed members to the meeting. The various reports were presented before the Committee elections were held. In accordance with the Club Constitution, all the executive positions were declared vacant. Moss Potter took over the chair to conduct the election, which resulted in John Hudson being re-elected President, Peter Robinson being elected Vice-President, Craig Vinall being elected Treasurer. A Secretary could not be elected at the meeting. Committee members elected / re-elected were Allen Hudson, Peter Page, Peter Paine and Stuart Skevington.Following the election of the Committee, General Business was discussed. Items included the long term storage of the Pelican glider, member responsibility and liability for payment of insurance excess ($1500) in the event of an accident or incident. Those older members attending during the day included Michael and Meredith Arnold, Rom and Bev Barratt, Richard Geytenbeek, Bob and Sue Martin, Martin Simons, Bill and Barbara Tapp, John and Helen Thompson, Max and Carol Pennyfield, Moss Potter and Denby Thompson. It was great to meet and reminisce with these members - many of whom had a long association with the Club, one member having joined in 1939. In 2007, the Waikerie Gliding Club will celebrate it's 70th year and an even larger celebration is being planned to coincide with the AGM - so put Saturday 19th May, 2007 in your Diary. (The President's Report is available in club docs - 40 kB MS Word doc) John Hudson - Monday, May 22, 2006 at 11:02:11 (CST)
|
|
Saturday 20 May The weather forecast for Saturday 20th May was for a high overcast with the possibility of showers. The day dawned with thick fog, which lifted as the morning temperature rose, to reveal a clear blue sky. The gliders were prepared, with the first launch by Peter Robinson in the Nimbus at 1110 Hrs. Pete flew until 1350 Hrs, when he landed to sit in on the Club's Annual General Meeting. Others who had good flights, with climbs to around 4000 Ft were Pete Paine in the LS7, Ray Lawley in the Astir, Phil Hollick and Dave Lawley in the Twin Astir (capturing some great video footage), Bill Mudge in the Discus and Bernie Konopka in the Astir. The Clubs AGM was held at 1400 Hrs. More about that in a later posting. Some long term members - past and present - were invited to the Club for the day, with ten members, many accompanied by their wives came along to renew aquaintances and see what was happening around the Club. It was great to see Michael and Meredith Arnold, Rom and Bev Barratt, Richard Geytenbeek, Bob and Sue Martin, Martin Simons, Bill and Barbara Tapp, John and Helen Thompson, Max and Carol Pennyfield, Moss Potter and Denby Thompson. We hope you all enjoyed the visit. Following the AGM, flying operations again got underway, with Peter Robinson flying for another 74 minutes and Bill Mudge with several Air Experience flights. The gliders were hangared and the bar opened, allowing members old and new to talk gliding. About 40 people sat down to a 3 course dinner before Martin Simons made an impressive 2 hour presentation on the learnings of glider design and construction over the years. (If you get the opportunity to hear Martin's very authotative presentation, take the opportunity, it's well worth it). Martin's presentation was titled "How We Learnt about Sailplanes From Our Mistakes" - or (considering the assembled audience) "You Must Remember This". Another great day at Waikerie. John Hudson - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 10:11:03 (CST)
|
|
Waikerie Happenings 6 May 2006 On Friday Mr Yamada and Mark Morgan had a good flight in the Nimbus 4DM, riding the lift associated with a strong front, which produced some local heavy rain. Great to see Mr Yamada at Waikerie again, flying his great looking glider. Following the heavy rain and a Committee Meeting on Friday night (5 May 2006) at Waikerie, Saturday 6 May dawned very calm and shrouded in thick fog. The weather forecast for Saturday was less than exciting - from a gliding perspective - with winds forecast to swing into the north and strengthen before a strong south-westerly change late in the day with associated strong winds and possible thunderstorms. The particular weekend was to be a busy weekend in Waikerie, with the annual Rock & Roll festival attracting a lot of visitors to the town and to the Gliding Club. After a few jobs around the Club, the gliders and Tug were DI'd and briefing held. Before the expected change, the forecast indicated lift to around 6000, but with strong winds. Nigel Zimmerman, from Barossa Valley Gliding Club visited and successfully completed an aerotow endorsement. Mr Yamada and Rudi Gaissmeier had a flight of several hours in the Nimbus 4DM - great to see Rudi at Waikerie again. Peter Robinson flew his Nimbus 2, reporting a climb to 6000. Other Club members flew, Ray and David Lawley and Graham Francis had flights of varying durations. As forecast, the wind changed from an eastly to a northerly and eventually to a westerly, and progressively increased in strength as the day progressed, resulting in an early conclusion to the days flying activities. John Hudson - Saturday, May 06, 2006 at 21:45:29 (CST)
|
|
WGC on TV... BKN News G'day Fellow Aviators. Rob Thompson, Richard Geytenbeek and I went to Broken Hill to fly AEF's a few weeks ago. The Broken Hill TV station, GTS BKN4 ran an article on the occasion: video clip on youtube.com This was great free advertising for the Club and this news service goes into Broken Hill and surrounding areas as well as the Mid North of S.A. like Jamestown, Port Augusta etc etc and parts of the Riverland. It was also great to watch Rob sweating it out on the other side of the camera for a change. I have dial up and it took about 15mins to load so I warn you now. Of course broadband would be a breeze. Cheers. Nige. Nigel Baker - Saturday, May 06, 2006 at 12:09:26 (CST)
|
|
Notices for upcoming AGM Some information on the call for executive and committee nominations (form here). Independent operators permit and Ops requirements. Greg Jackson - Wednesday, April 26, 2006 at 14:39:58 (CST)
|
|
|
April 2006 Newsletter The April issue of "Out of the Blue" is available here. (PDF, 220 kB) AGM and club 70th anniversary are approaching. Morgy's flights, the SA State Comp. Greg Jackson - Thursday, April 06, 2006 at 14:48:03 (CST)
|
| There's also news from this season,, 2006/2007, 2005/2006, 2004/2005, 2003/2004, 2002/2003 and 2001/2002 seasons. |
INTRODUCTION / LEARN TO FLY / SAILPLANE HIRE
AIRCRAFT / ACCOMMODATION / BOOKINGS / CONTACT US
RECENT NEWS / PHOTO ALBUM / EVENTS CALENDAR
CLUB DOCUMENTS / AG CONTENTS INDEX / OTHER WEBSITES