Heading to Nth launch again today. Goal set for Jugiong 34*49.326
148*20.408
900ft
Jugong 96k
How things panned out…
Nth launch ended up being blown out so we upped stumps and headed down to Geary’s. It was still on the strong side so we ended up sitting around for a while until we an air of optermisim wafted through the crowd. I launched first in a lull and almost bombed. Once I did head north though I was rewarded with 3m/s clb to airspace at 5500ft. The trip past Gundaroo, Murrembateman was fairly straight forward but constantly hitting my head on airspace was frusturating. I got high just before Burinjuck dam which made for ascenic crossing. That was pretty much to end of the flight though and I landed just a couple of km north of Carols range and one of our favorite launches in the area. Barnsie made it over the back and landed near Gundaroo. Ed pulled off a nice one landing at Murrembateman.
Another fun day out!
Heading to Forbes tomorrow and looking forward to running in to all the usual guys out there.
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What a turn out at the lake today! Ed, Barnsie, Jeremy, Micheal T, Geoff, Pete L,, Jon, Allan (Jeremy’s old man from Inverell) hit Nth lanuch for a day of flying fun. Almost everyone left over the back. Barnsie made it furthest landing near foal at Young. Jeremy managed a PB landing at Harden and.breaking the 100km mark. Nice flying all around guys!
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No lift available to Forbes over the next few days… What to do? Well, Dave and I are hitting the lake tomorrow in an attempt to fly in there under our own steam. Wish us luck.
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Check out Barnsie’s blog. One to add to your regular net trawl.
Andrew and I had a real fun flight out at the lake on Sunday. Andrew relives the very memorable flight:
So after missing out on a fly on Saturday, I decided to ignore the part of the weather report that said ’showers turning to rain’ and just saw the bit that said moderate SE in the afternoon…
Trent got in the air first to show me that it was possible. And we found a spot on the ridge which wasn’t raining. It was heaps of fun.
There was lots of lift out over the lake, which was a good thing coz the lower cloud base had dropped below ridge height making flying in the ridge lift it’s self a no go. We had some awesome flying around bands of wispy lower cloud as they came through.
In the end we had to wind down and land at the rest stop below us coz it was raining back at Geary’s so we couldn’t get back. Oh and it was starting to rain to the north too, so yeah, but it was flight I’m going to remember for a long while.
We got soaked to the bone packing up. Thanks to Nick that came and got us.
Flights on Leonardo.
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It’s that time of year again boys… Andrew get us in the mood by letting us know about the first one!
Dave called me at 1230 letting me know a seabreeze was on it’s way in. I was on a course with work and would not be able to make it and told Dave to go for it.
1500 came and my course finished early. I was straight on the phone to Dave who was still waiting for it to come in. I arrived at the lake at 1630 and greeted Dave with a few loud Wilson’s. Dave instantly pointed out that the wind turbines on the eastern side of the lake were spinning in different directions. The ones further east were spinning anti-clockwise and the ones closer to us were spinning clockwise. This told us that the easterly was sitting somewhere in amongst the turbines. After about 45min all turbines were turning anti-clockwise indicating that the easterly was now at the eastern edge of the lake. It was awesome to see the turbines slowly stop spinning rotate then steadily speed up again spinning in the other direction. Out of all of this the point to note here is that when the turbines are spinning anti-clockwise the wind is east. With all the anti-clockwise action going on and the sun now about to set it on the horizon it was time to set up.
Once set up I hooked in and stood on the easterly launch facing west ready for a text book reverse launch as the westerly was still driving through the west lake edge. After a joke and picture of me ready to launch up the hill I sat down in my harness looking east to see the moist haze getting closer. Finally she hit, about 40min after all the turbines went anti-clockwise. Dave raced to hook in and we both launched. I jumped the gap south and came back. Dave stayed playing over launch and as I came back over launch he pulled off a usual perfect top landing. I then made several attempts to top land. For me the break of flying the lake over winter meant my skills at lining up the top landing needed dusting off. I approached too high and couldn’t quite get the angle of the approach correct. As the conditions were near perfect I persisted and adjusted my approach each time until I was happy then moved each approach a little lower each time until I nailed it.
An awesome 30min flight with Dave, both of us snatching the first easterly of the season. This seabreeze hunting season is going to be better than ever thanks to the wind turbines and the fact that from my driveway in Gunghalin I can see 3 wind turbines out at the lake with my naked little eyes when the sun is high up in the sky.
An awesome flight and even better company haha – that’s what the lake is all about!
Til next time – the Thief >:-)
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Yes it certainly was a great weekend. I arrived around 730 on Friday night followed shortly after by Trent Deb and Makayla. Once we were all there Dave treated us to a pyrotechnics show that one would only dream of seeing at New Years Eve in Sydney. Without going into to much detail the crackers were crazy and any towns within 100km that were sleeping at the time were rudely awaken by the bangs that could be heard echoing down the valleys! Terry’s dog even had enough and decided to run awy for the night and not return til the morning!
Saturday morning was kicked off with Trent, Steve and myself flying our R/C planes. We have recently all become R/C addicts buying cheap stuff on line and having a ball flying our flying machine wonders! Shortly after we were out on the airstrip setting up for some towing action. The weather looked great with some small cu’s forming around the place with a light wind from the north and 20 degrees. We spent the morning towing and attempting to cut toilet paper with our wings that we dropped as we glided down. This proved to be harder than I thought as I only managed to get within about a meter of the paper once. The main issue was getting the paper to unroll and leave a nice long strand of paper behind. This is something we will have to master at a later date – perhaps at the lake come summer J. Around lunch time we stopped for a short break and filled the tank up in the Trike. I was first to tow after lunch and was dropped a kilometre or so NW of Munjal Hill. I circled around where I was in zeros for a while trying to find where stronger lift was. As Dave was being towed up I decided to head straight for Munjal Hill and was treated to a 250ft/min climb. After a few turns when I had realised I was in possibly the climb of the day I jumped on the radio to let Trent know to tow Dave my way. As they approach an eagle that had attacked Dave and Steve earlier in the day was climbing up from underneath me and making a hell of a racket. As he got within about 10m of me I pulled on speed to head out towards the Trike as I was hoping he would bugger off. Thankfully he did and I turned back into the thermal as Trent dropped Dave off in the climb. We both climbed up working together to get the most out of the lift. We managed to get to about 4600ftasl when we left and head ESE for a bigger range a few km’s away. Dave got there first and nailed another good climb. As I got there I struggled to take hold of the climb. In the mean time Steve had been towed up and released underneath me. We were both finding it hard to grab the lift and in the end being a little lower than I was Steve chose to head back to the airstrip. I eventually grabbed the climb and got myself up to 5200ftasl. When I got there I looked SE to where Dave had gone on glide. He was now a few km’s in front of me which I didn’t mind as I was hoping that he would mark our next climb J. While on glide following the general direction that Dave had flown I managed to find another climb and gain a few hundred feet. This thermal seemed to be broken and every turn I did I was only gaining small amounts of height. Back on glide I got a call from Trent asking me where I was. I looked back and saw Trent towing Steve a few km’s behind me. Steve not long after released and started his flight. He flew slightly west of me on the edge of the ridge that I was flying straight over. When I got to the end of the ridge I saw that Dave had landed and just as I got to the end of the ridge I found some more lift although this time only managed to keep myself at the height I was. As I circled I saw that Steve had found some lift and was heading for the paddock Dave landed in. As he got near me he was lower and unable to climb back up. Trent all the while was buzzing around in the Trike and then got on the radio and said that we was going to fly a few km’s south to and airstrip and say G’day to the guys there. I decided to follow Trent and went on my final glide. I pulled on full VG and got myself into the most streamlined position I could and made it to the airstrip with a few hundred feet to spare. All in all a bloody top flight. I learnt a lot from this flight as in the weak conditions I flew as efficiently as I could and tried to feel every input the glider was giving me. This should serve me well come the summer months!
Back to Munjal we headed for dinner and a few beers. Again Dave treated us to a pyrotechnics display and this time Terry tied up his dog ‘Grumpy’. After the fireworks spectacular we went back to the house when Terry put his hand in the box and said that Grumpy was gone. We all laughed thinking he was joking when in fact the little bugger had broken his lead and once again disappeared for the evening to return in the morning. After hours of chatting it was time for some sleep, although sleeping in the pool room with Dave and Wilson meant I wasn’t going to get much sleep at all bahahahaha.
Sunday saw high cloud covering the sun and a northerly wind picking up. We all set up and began to tow. The first few tows weren’t to bad but this was to change. After Dave released from a tow we saw him near the Munjal Hill being battered by turbulence and landing a paddock short of the airstrip. We all thought he had simply pushed his glide out to much and not been able to make it back. I then towed and as we flew over Dave I could see him on the ground pointing west. I wasn’t sure what he was on about but figured he meant go west. As I reached for my mic button I saw Trent and the Trike drop left all of a sudden in a massive turbulent knock. I immediately released and as I turned right the turbulence threw my wing over and pointed me towards the airstrip. It was at this point that I realised the Dave had encountered the turbulence and was telling us to get away from it. Trent and I landed and that was it for flying for the day. Once packed up and all back together Dave told us that he had tried to soar Munjal Hill and was thrown around like a toy by the turbulence and felt at one point that he was going to tumble and that his goal was to simply stay under the glider. Exciting stuff and certainly a worthy lesson that mechanical turbulence even at a distance can be bloody rough!!!
All in all a great weekend and a bucket load of fun. I would like to say a big thankyou to Terry for letting us come out for the weekend and enjoy ourselves. Terry and Trish’ hospitality is always second to none and I can speak for us all to say that we are more than grateful. I would also like to thank Anet for cooking meals up for us over the weekend to kept us going. A big thanks to all those that I enjoyed my weekend with for the laughs and good times. Hang Gliding is not only about the flying it is also about the people that help us fly in many different ways and enjoy sitting down and having a few good laughs along the way. For me this is what makes the sport of hang gliding all the more appealing and enjoyable. See you all again soon!
Thief >:-)
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It was that fun fun fun time of year again where Terry generously lends his trike & Trent gives up his towing skills and time for a weekend of landing practice, a possible XC, some flying footage and most of all, great fun with great people.
The weekend started on Friday for me as I drove to Forbes to meet Steve who was already at the air strip doing some minor repairs to the Dragon fly. Steve’s wife Anet & son Blake where also in town for a bit of fun and sun.
With cumulus clouds starting to form 50km away in all directions, it was looking good for a nice XC in winter.
Unfortunately they never closed in so would have to try and make the most of the blue hole. Steve gave me a great smooth tow
looking for lift everywhere but at 3000ft/agl I released realising the lift was sadly not rising this high. After a nice smooth glide back to the strip I found a 50ft/min climb which I stayed in to base which was 1800ft. The noise from my vario reminded me of a submarine sonar but a least it was making a happy sound.
A bit over an hour, a few short glides and a couple more climbs later I landed 20k or so away towards Eugowra. It doesn’t take much of a flight to put a smile on my face so I was stoked. Steve picked me up and we headed to Munjal to have a beer with Terry and wait for the others to arrive.
Trent, Deb and Makayla were on the way and the Thief was almost here. Andrew will fill the details of the exciting weekend to follow.
Weekends and times like these wouldn’t happen without the good wil, help and generosity of the friends and family involved and I can’t thank enough- Terry, Trent, Steve, Anet and Deb for everything they did to make this weekend so farken Awesome!!!
Dave
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Andrew’s still getting over the weekend. His therapy is aided by letting the worl know how good flying around Canberra is – even in Winter!
Sunday 2 August saw Tman, Dave, Barnsy, Nicos and myself tear it up at Binalong. We left Canberra at about 11.30am and got to Bineos at around 12.20pm. The weather looked perfect on the way as we drove through rain shower after rain shower. This only excited us more as our gliders all needed a wash and Trent just can’t get enough of flying in the rain of late after enjoy his last flight at the Lake in misty conditions 
So we arrived at the bombout to discuss our options and decided to drive up the hill and assess the conditions and the cloud base that was forming below hill height! We get to the top and to our amazement the rain had disappeared out in front and the cloud had lifted we above lunch. Without any thoughts we all set up and got ready to go. Just before we all took off Trent’s oldies turned up to say g’day on their way back home. A big thanks to Terry for driving Dave’s car down to the bombout for us once we had all taken off!
The conditions were perfect as it always seems to be at Binoes no matter what the forecast says and what the conditions are like on the way out there. We all enjoyed over an hour flying in the silky smooth air before all having hot landings and a enjoying a few beers back at the Harcourt on our way home.
On the way back from Bineos we discussed the fact that Canberra has to be one of the best inland places in Australia to live if you fly a hangy. If you live in town there are 4 launches within a 30min drive including Lake George which is a 30km long ridge! Further afield and within a 1-3 hour drive you have Binoes, Carrols Range, Tumut, Tongara, Mt Cambawarra and the list for hill launches goes on and the best of all spot and only 3 hours away we have areotow mania out at Forbes.
Anyway enough from me…
Thief >:-)
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We drove through rain to get there. All the BOM observations said it would be NW but still it blew up the face. One big note to self… It’s always on at Binalong.
Dave, Andrew B, Andrew L, Nick and I. 5 Gliders turn up in winter. Imagine what we’ll be seeing in a couple of months when things warm up.
OK, so maybe I got a little enthusiastic about the single digit temperatures…
A spot landing to top off the hour or so in the air by all involved. Dave won the comp incidentally. If only my running approach went unnoticed.
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Nic made another cool video of the action at Binos last weekend.
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