XCskies was forecasting a 1900 meter cloudbase and winds were from the North around 15 kph. I think I’ve finally managed to think pretty much in metric now.
Rowan (one of my fellow Mentor 2 pilots and new Aussie flying friend) were hoping to get a shot at a longer than usual cross country flight. We were determined to launch as early as possible since there was a risk of overdevelopment later in the day.
We launched just after 11. I managed a low save on the way to the bailout LZ and took it all the way to cloudbase which was only 1590 meters. Rowan and most of the other pilots who launched early sunk our after scratching for a while. I was disappointed that Rowan didn’t get up with me but on the other side of the coin it’s always great to be the only pilot that gets up. You convince yourself that you have a little more skill even though often it is just the luck of being there when the thermal kicks off.
 |
| Down low and search for that thermal to take me up |
Once at Cloudbase I followed the ridge south towards Manilla. The winds were pretty much as predicted maybe a little stronger. Lots of drift in the thermals. The FlyMaster B1Nav is a big help in calculating wind speed and direction and keeping in track with the thermals. Though I guess Flytec’s models do basically the same thing.
At the end of the ridge it’s a few k across the valley to Manilla. I made the jump with plenty of altitude. I was pushing hard with the speedbar doing 63 kph at one point. Once over the town I needed to decide whether to head east towards Halls Creek or go south to Attunga which is something of 27k of XC. You can’t go much further south without getting into Tamworth’s controlled airspace.
I started going east thinking I had the option to go further. But after a few kilometers and fighting a few thermals I turned back to land at the River Gums Caravan park. Too much drift from the north wind and I was going to have a lot of work to do to follow a course along the road. There is a soccer field complex next to River Gums that has a windsock and a few light pole obstacles but is nice and big and easy to land in.
The good part is you get a free ice-cream from the operators if you land there while you are staying with them. Hence the title “Ice-cream run”. They still owed me one from when I was staying there in February. I was hoping I could talk them into another one for Mary Beth even though I wasn’t staying with them. It didn’t work.
Once again Mary Beth came through and was there at the park waiting for me when I landed. She even had a beer for me in the cooler. I opted for ice cream since I thought I might get a chance to fly again. It was still relatively early in the day.
We had our ice-cream and then after picking up a few groceries we headed back to Godfrey’s. Driving back to Godfrey’s the sky was filled with dark clouds over launch. We were done for the day even though the rest of the valley looked relatively good.
Flight statistics:
Launched at 11:10. Max. altitude: 1587 meters
Max. up: 4.0 meters/sec
Max. down :3.4 meters/sec.
Duration: 1 hour 18 minutes
Open distance: 14.4 Kilometers
A couple of the pilots cooked a meal for dinner that we all shared. We provided the box wine. The box wine here is fabulous and even cheaper than in the U.S. I think it’s about the only thing that is cheaper than in the U.S. $14 for a four liter box. Beer on the other hand is expensive. A six-pack costs $16.
 |
| After dinner with fellow pilots. South Africa, Germany, Austria, and Spain |
After dinner and washing dishes we watched the 2011 version of “The girl with the dragon tattoo” on a 40 inch flatscreen in the pavilion and while sipping shiraz.
Short XC flight but a good day all in all. Having fun and not spending a lot of money. Life is good.
More pictures at:
No comments:
Post a Comment