Wednesday 26 November 2014

Tuesday 25th November

Fortune favours the brave.

Weather-man John Orton had a new concept to avoid being blamed for the weather (and then being set upon by the mob) - set the task first, fly the task, then present the weather briefing. Good idea but not for today, so he braved one more forecast then launched near the front of the grid and tried to stay in front of the mob for the whole flight.
   
Excellent conditions with strong climbs to 6500' and good streeting under Cu for nearly all the task. Pilots reported passing up 4.5 knot climbs in favour of 6 to 7 knots.
The cloud which had been forecast to dissappear before launch did eventually blue out about 30 kms from home on the last leg.
Terry Cubley obviously made the best of the Cu with a circling percentage of 18% and 21 km average glides at a mean L/D of 59.
Pilots were very happy to be flying in such great conditions after spending the last few days on the ground.
The weather-man is in the good books again.
Club Class to Steve Jinks (wether-man John Orton second!)
18m Class to Terry Cubley





Monday 24 November 2014

Monday 24th November

Yesterday's tomorrow wasn't another day!

A somewhat difficult day. Difficult for the weather-man (John Orton) but easy for the task-setter (Terry Cubley) to abandon any hope of a State Championship task. There are still some pilots who blame the weather-man for the weather so the hanging-noose was out at briefing. There had been talk of the traditional sacrifice but instead it was proposed to sacrifice the nearest Western Australian pilot.

Sunday 23 November 2014

Sunday 23rd November

Tomorrow is another day!

The Contest Director, weather-man and task-setter (the others involved deny any responsibility) again broke bread at an early hour, immersed in a world of technology and local knowledge.

The day looked promising (the computers said so) and a modest but appropriate task was set - a 3.0 hour AAT for 18m class/Fresh Grade and the same task but 2.5 hours for Club Class/Juicing Grade.
AAT distances were 155km minimum, 256km point-to-point, and 364km maximum.

They should have looked out of the window!

Pilots gridded at 1130 under thick pre-frontal cirrus with no noticeable sun. They soon started looking for the weather-man and task-setter.
Even task "B" didn't allay fears of a violent revolt.
Sanity prevailed when all tasks were abandoned.
The good news is that the weather-man and task-setter escaped unscathed, and after all, tomorrow is another day. 

Friday 21 November 2014

Saturday 22nd November

No Guts, no glory!

The day went well until the organisers met at 0730 for weather analysis and tasking.

There looked to be potentially exciting areas to fly between large areas of thunderstorm activity surrounded by "no fly" patches. Unfortunately there was no discernible pattern to where the flyable areas would be and when they would be there.
No glory for weather-man John Orton today!

Conventional tasking would likely have resulted in pilots abandoning the task or landing out.
The day was abandoned for the State Championship however Orange week was tasked and flown. 
No glory for task-setter Terry Cubley today!

SA State Championships rescued:


At the eleventh hour, after the SA State Championships were not able to be staged at Bordertown-Keith Gliding Club this year, Waikerie Gliding Club offered to hold the championship concurrently with Orange Week. This has resulted in some adaption of the Orange Week rules such that organisation and tasking satisfies GFA state competition rules. The event has also therefore become a GFA sanctioned competition.

With the combined list of entrants the following State Competition classes and Orange Week grades will be flown -

State Championship - 18m class / Orange Week - Fresh Grade

  • Marta Najfeld, ASG29E-15
  • Haidyn Dunn, ASW28-18
  • Gordon Trollip, Ls6
  • Terry Cubley, Ls3
  • Sid Nankivell, Ls3
  • Adam Howell, Kestrel 17
State Championship - Club class / Orange Week - Juicing Grade
  • Peter Paine, Discus b
  • William Mudge, Discus b
  • John Orton, SZD55
  • Greg Jackson, Ls4a
  • Steve Jinks, Standard Cirrus
  • Peter Champness, Foka 5