Wave day

Despite pretty strong winds aloft we managed to get a day in today. We had to wait on the grid for some time and Tim switched to Task B which was 230 km triangle to the north (Tocumwal - Corowa). I think it was a good move cause the last clouds passed the river were exactly connecting Tocumwal and Corowa airfields. Surely there was lift in the blue as well but we just started running out of time and task had to be shorter. Everybody got back and had good fun and a nice run.

I got a special treat before gate opening and managed to contact the wave.

above cloud base

The cloud base was around 5000 ft and after reaching it I decided to move up wind and search for the wave I was hoping for. And there it was. Nice and smooth, very weak but it took me up to 7500 ft above the cloud bases and even tops. Luckily I had my camera with me this time and managed to take a few pics. 

kissing clouds

Unfortunately it didn't last too long and I couldn't use the additional altitude for task start. The place was just too far away from any of my assigned start points and I used all the altitude up before I have reached them. I enjoyed the most beautiful views though and this made my day real fun. Fun was something that I was missing last days...

Tobi gave me a motivational talk this morning on the grid and cheered me up. I had some time to think about what he has told me while riding the wave. I had a nice day today. Thank you Tobi!

Today's results:

http://soaringspot.com/ausclub2012/results/club/daily/day7.html

and total after 7 days:

http://soaringspot.com/ausclub2012/results/club/total/day7.html

Day 8

Winds just kept increasing during the day yesterday and in the end all classes were cancelled. Smart decision. We also had showers during the whole day. It was nice to get a day off. We had nice lunch with a glass of wine in the Art Gallery and basically spent the day doing nothing, which is really good every now and then.

changing covers to prepare for showers

hmmm...something is different here

lucky him

gliders tied down tightly

We are now waiting for today's morning briefing and it's sure we will be flying. Winds on the ground are light but we can see that the Cu's popping already are moving very quickly in the northerly direction - so winds up there are really strong again. It's gonna be a challenge for us in these little and light gliders. Interesting what the task setters have for us. Both gliders are prepared and ready for gridding ;-)

Day 7

Waiting for today's briefing I found some yesterday's pics to post. This is how windy is was on the grid:

clouds look good but what about winds?

Zig checking out Brad's JS1

nice and tidy instrument setup

D1 ready to go

smile!

We were invited by Jarek and Iza for dinner at the place they are staying. Barbie was great and we met up with other pilots staying there. Lots of bullshit and fun. 

men cooking

funny crowd

We just had a short look at the weather and listened to the club's morning briefing. Winds today are much stronger than yesterday and it looks like they are gonna be the ones to kill the day. They are calling 30 kts at 6000 ft. We'll see what our CD and the task setters will have to say in one hour time.

another day of hard work

Although the forecasts were pretty bad we managed to fly a task today. It was an AAT and it's not new that I just don't like this type of tasks. We had to fight very strong winds aloft ... and the only gaggle that I met on my way was the one on the pic (only visible when zooming in).

But tomorrow will be another day ...

Results from yesterday:

http://soaringspot.com/ausclub2012/results/club/daily/day5.html

today:

http://soaringspot.com/ausclub2012/results/club/daily/day6.html

and total after 6 days:

http://soaringspot.com/ausclub2012/results/club/total/day6.html

Monday - here we go again

After a weekend off it's time to go back to work. We had a visitor over the weekend but unfortunatelly he already took off and won't be able to help us out during the week.

helping Peter put up his tent

How do you realize that you already have a problem? The day is called off and you still don't have enough. Zig tested club's new flight simulator on Saturday.

setting up for landing at Benalla

Instead of going to the wineries we ended up in a cheese factory and then in Bright for beer testing.

which cheese board do we need?

other goodies in the cheese factory

great weather ...

Swaantje took us to Bright for ice cream and we met other crazy pilots down there.

Tobi checking colorful weather radars

is it gonna quit today?

no, they didn't drink all of this

I helped out

We are now waiting for the morning briefing but we know that we'll certainly be flying today. Gliders are already out there all ready for gridding. Since yesterday the word "gridding" has one more meaning not really related to flying but it should be kept secret for the time being ;-)

Sunday - one more day off

It's raining like crazy and the day has been called off. A cold front will pass today and give us a nice day tomorrow ... maybe even with rarely seen clouds :)
We are going to the Brown Brothers Winery for lunch and possibly some wine tasting.