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.

Adrian Connor has been doing some work on one of his local sites followed by and fun flight. Can’t wait to get down there and join him.

Hey Trent and crew,

Done some major clearing of site Sunday to make it much safer for launching. Conditions were looking good, so launched into ridge soarable thermic lift. It pumps when sun bakes granite cliff face. Within 3 min was thermaling to low base of 3800ft.

To cut the story short, went cross wind towards Moruya. A few more very easy thermals to town flying over river and town, just a short milk run, could have flown for good while but landed at highway near the bridge for beer at pub nearby. You guys are going to have to check this site out. awesome views.

Heres some pics.

Cheers Adrian.

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We’re heading home, making a rather major detour because of an accident on the Pacific Hwy. Barnsie takes the oppertunity to fill us on on the last day of this very fun comp:

After a week of great flying (regardless of controversy and lost points) the last day was upon us. In the briefing it was announced that it was one of those Beechmont record days.

There was a strongish south easterly on launch and the field got off quickly.
Trent and Dave got there tickets early but it took me a few tries which put me behind the eight ball.
But my day turned up all Barnsie with a thousand up climb over the chicken ridge, which gave me glide past the turn point at Beauie and caught up to the other guys at Mohammed.

Our next leg was down to Rath. This really sorted the men from the boys with a lot pilots getting flushed. After quite some time scratching the tackle in the tree tops I get a call from Trent "everyone survive the flush?" we all were still in the air… Go the Dusties!

With a 20k final around the last turn point Trent calls he had a 10/1 glide. A few more turns and I was also on final. My numbers were starting to get worse as I rounded the last turn point but then Trent was calling an 8m/s climb on glide. We’d hit the convergence from the sea breeze. So stuffed the bar and held on. What a way to finish the comp.

Dave placing him 10th overall. Trent 16th, and me just scraping in to the teens in 19th (dam airspace).

Andrew

Same old, same old…

Beechmont > Boonah T > Boonah Airstrip > Lake Moogera

Really quickly, the main points of interest…

Rough day with really choppy climbs and an especially wild ride through the wind sheer at 3600-4000ft

I managed to get real low at Mt Mohammed. things weren’t looking good as I was down to 960ft asl. I managed to climb out and had a fairly easy run to goal after that. The 40mins it took to get out of that hole meant that I was quite slow around the course.

Barnsie, and Dave scorched around the course and should now be in the top 18 in the overall scores.

Jonny did not make goal. This will mean that either Ricky or Rohan will now be leading the comp. Quite a coop for AirBorne. Great flying guys!

Tomorrow looks like being great weather and I’m sure we would be heading ove the range if it wasn’t the last day. I assume it will be a BBQ task finishing at the model feild or somewhere similarly close by.

Day canned due to dodgy conditions on launch.

Dave few regardless and had a nice little flight around the valley while enjoying the sea breeze convergence.

There has been some controversy regarding yesterdays task. It will be up to the protest committee to decide if the day will be scored.

With moderate to fresh winds predicted for today is was in doubt that we would be able to get a task in today. Our fears were compounded when we arrived on the hill to be greeted by a fair wind blowing slightly across launch from the north.

We setup anyway and to our amazement the did not increase and alternate launch were able to get underway without any problems. It seemed that we would get another task in today.

Tamborine > Rathdowney > Hillview > Lara vale

Lift was very prevalent around launch. My upper harness zip was undone as I launched but a quick climb at 3.8m to base gave me enough time up high to sort it out. Phew.

The main gaggle were set to take the second gate at 12:00. I left with these guys but snagged real nice climb just outside the start. Jonny, Rohan and many others were also in this climb. We gained a lot of altitude in this one and by the time we reached the top we were only 2km from the start circle with only 2mins to go to the next start gate. Jonny, Kiero, Cam, Enda and I went back for the next gate.

A buoyant glide back to the start and back on course meant we caught the gaggle in front within the first glide before we crossed Beaudesert. An awesome start!

Then things got interesting. A Cu Nimb had developed on course line over Mt Mohammed. The angry looking cloud was dropping rain and the Cu Nimb just to our north was shooting out lightening. Not a place I wanted to be. I stuffed the bar in order to get down to the ground as fast as I could. Once I was low enough, I ventured closer to the black siething mass  before turning back with my tail between my legs to look for a safe landing paddock. Apparently, at this stage the task had not yet been stopped. I didn’t care, surely sooner or later someone on the ground would look up and see what we were being sent through. 

The task was eventually stopped at 1:30pm. I believe the task should have been stopped at 12:45pm as do many of the other pilots in the air at the time as this was the time that lightening was first observed near course line.

Let’s see what happens tomorrow and if the current timing of the stopped task stands there may be sufficient interest in lodging a protest. We’ll have to see what happens in the morning.

Another fun day in Canungra regardless and we might even get to go over the range tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Beechmont > Boonah T > Maroon > Lake Moogera

Launch conditions at Beechmont today were somewhat average. The wind was blowing from over the back for the half hour or so after briefing. Speculation was rife that we were sitting on the wrong hill and that Tambo would have been a better option.

Luck was on our side though. it started to blow up and alternate started to launch. A few of the guys managed to get up straight away and enthusiasm grew.

As the first of the guys in main launch got into their harnesses there was a flush and pretty much everyone was forced into the bombout

Obviously, this dampened the enthusiasm somewhat. As the few remaining gliders tracked for the bombout only a couple seemed to find something worth turning in. Raef and Birgit gave it a good bash but to no avail.

Then, Bruce pushes.

WTF, I swear there is some sort of collusion going on between Bruce and Big Jon who pushed me off last year in the same sort of conditions. hmmm

Not one to pull out, off I launch but there’s not much going on out front. I do manage to get just above launch but I’m barely maintaining as I drift over the back. By this time there are 10 or so gliders in the air.

All at once, everyone else gives up on the climb to try for something on the ridge off to the south near the bombout. ‘All these good pilots can’t go down’ I think to myself as I follow cautiously.

The gaggle finds nothing at the spur. A couple of guys throw in a turn or two but no one is able to maintain in the light lift.

Before launching I had removed all of my ballast to give myself the best chance of staying in the air in these light conditions. This, coupled with the fact that I am now flying the Moyes Litespeed RS, the nicest climbing glider I have flown, meant that I still gave myself a good chance of getting back up.

So from 370m below launch. I worked the zeros until eventually it turned into positives. At this point Jonny joined me after everyone else before him pulled out of launch because i just looked to sketchy. We climbed out together back to reasonable height before he took off to the first gate but I stayed around for more friends.

Jonny showed real balls launching into the very uninspiring panorama that he was presented with. He had only little to gain by performing such a brave stunt and a lot to lose. His firmly founded confidence is why he makes such an incredible competition pilot. I have much to learn from guys like him.

The course from the start gate on was quite easy. Local knowledge did not play such a big roll as it was just a day to fly the clouds.

Jonny took the first start and flies the course 10mins faster than the next quickest pilot thereby cleaning up all the arrival points for a 200 point over Rohan in second place.

Dave and I make it in but unfortunately, Barnsie is caught in the many flushes at launch and does not get away.

One impressive thing to remember, 6 of the pilots that reflew today after the 1.5hour turnround trip to the bombout made goal! You should remember this next time you are driving back up hill for a second go!

Goal virgin, Dan Shaw, sports a grin from ear to ear after making his first ever goal after recently purchasing his new Litespeed 5. Nice work mate! First of many goal beers for you.

Tracklogs

Results

Mount Tamborine > Beaudesert Abattoir > Hillview > Rathdowney > Lara vale

Oopsie…

Charged hard today. Took the last start gate with the top guys (Rohan, Ricky and Jonny). We caught many of the guys that started in the start gate in front by the first turn point. Barnsie and a few other good guys were still in front so we continued to charge on.

I got slow and Jonny managed to lose me on the way to Mt Mohammed. Adam Parer was real low at this point but managed a great save just before reaching the mountain. I joined him as we flew down the length of the Jim Broken Range at cloud base to the second turn point.

Still making great time to this point I joined the tail end of the gaggle in front just after the TP. I found a great core to take me back to base which gave me glide to the next TP.

A gaggle was turning only a km or so past the TP. Because the wind would be blowing us in the right direction for the next leg I pushed on low to join the gaggle.

Much to my dismay, and not at all to plan, the gaggle dispersed as I approached. The lift was gone. I searched the hills to the left of course to no avail and landed 10km short of goal.

All my hard work at the start, pulling out a fast time around the track all amounted to nothing. I didn’t make goal so no speed points for me. Oopsie

Barnsie remained in front of me the whole time and made it in in good time. Dave, after having a pretty arerage start also managed to make it in. Atleast two Dusty’s make in it to wave the flag at goal. Nice work guys, keep it up!

Tracklogs

By 8:30 the clouds had popped and it was blowing up the face at Beechmont. After a fairly frantic collection of our flying paraphernalia for the day we set off up the hill.

A couple of punters and a hangie were already in the air by the time most of us arrived at launch. With no time to stuff around a task was promptly set and alternate launch opened.

Beechmont > Boonah T > Croftby > Moogera was set. 88km.

The Dusty’s all scored great launch positions in the top 20. We all launched early which gave us the opportunity to take the first start gate high. Many of the top guys were suck over launch after not picking up the easy ticket out that we scored.

Sitting out at the start gate, I was in great position to see who was taking the first gate and who was planning to wait around for the second. Rohan, Ricky, Conrad, Kiero, Cam, Neil, Warren, Barnsie and Dave are nicely setup to take the first. After hanging back for a while to ensure that there were no false starters among them we charge off for the Kerry Valley.

We bounce along until the other side of Mohammad (Mount) where Rohan and many of the other guys dive in low into a big shaded area. Barnsie, Dave, Conrad, Kiero and I stay further north to try and get around the shaded area that was now covering all of the “Locked Gate Valley” which lies right along course line.

This diversion took us almost 10km off course line. This proved to be a very slow option as the guys we had just bypassed had now climbed out and were able to track directly for the turn point as the clouds along course were now starting to disperse.

We were also a little coursious in this area as both Canrad and Kiero were forced to pul out gret saves in order to stay in the air. I took the safer option by staying high but paid the price by being very slow up until the turn point. The other gaggle overtook us.

Barnsie, Dave and I were still together up right to Boonah T. I headed off early an picked up a slow climb over town. Barnsie, climbed higher at the turn point and passed over my head to join a sailplane climbing further along course. Dave, pushed a little hard at this point and was forced to land at Boonah. This was a bugger as Barnsie and I only needed one more climb to 7000ft before we set off on glide 10km to turn point 2 and all the final leg into goal at Moogera Dam.

Lots of happy faces with 20 something in goal. Barnsie should manage about 10th for the day and me in at 16th (or there abouts).

If the first start gate won the Rohan won the day with ricky second. If the guys in second gate were fast enough the Jonny won with Flocky second.

Nice work either way guys!

Tracklogs here

Task 1 Results

Jonny’s also posted a video of the day

Shut down by the wind today. Hoping for a big task off Beachmont tomorrow.