Wednesday 11th December 2019

XC Activities:

• Andy has been busy this week with his X Country Coaching with flights from 300km up to nearly 900km. Andy and Ian Steventon took to the skies for three coaching flights starting on the 5^th where Ian reported having awesome coaching days with a 550km, 607km and a great 817km flight in the Duo Discus.
• Andy and Jason Kath had a brilliant flight of 871km with an average speed of 110km/h. The first leg produced lots of rough bubbles resulting in tough climbs, when after 300km near Burren Junction, the sky delivered as forecast. The flight was both frustrating and rewarding for the pilots.
• Dave Fagan had a couple good flights averaging around 500km mark with 100km/h speeds. Both days provided the blue, one with no hurdles and the other flight had a challenging end.
• Jason Kath scored himself a nice little 350km flight on the 11^th as did James Dutschke who made it home just before the storms hit. Ivo Kalushkov meanwhile wasn’t quite as lucky, having a hard run due to overdevelopment and thunderstorms. He had a very challenging landing in 20-25kt winds seconds before the rain/gusts and hail, but managed to land safely, well done Ivo.
• All in all, it has been a very busy week X Country with the majority of the flights around 500km and average speeds of 100km/h.

Trainees:

• We welcome our friends from Indonesia here on Wednesday. Every two years our Indonesian visitors come here to fly for two weeks, some to expand their solo flying skills further and others are Ab-Initio having not flown before. We hope they enjoy their time here at LKSC.

Other Visitors:

• Club regular and gliding legend Harry Medlicott has been here this week hoping to get some good flights in with long distances and great heights predicted.
• Elizabeth Sparrow flew in from the UK late last week and is settling in well, acclimatising to the harsh Australian heat. Liz is a member of the British Team in the WWGC and has been busy familiarising herself with the local area.
• James Dutschke is visiting from Queensland and is a returning visitor here to do some X Country flying which he describes as “Awesome”.
• This week we extend a warm welcome to our newest recruit to the Tuggie family, Nina Burkardt. Nina is from Gympie in Qld and is here until mid-February. She is only 19 years of age and is already proving herself to be a very competent tow pilot and will be towing in the WWGC.
• Chris Bowman is here this week busily adding the final touches to the organisation of the WWGC. Chris has been working tirelessly on this event and I’m sure everyone appreciates his efforts.

Other Activities:

• Our new water tank is finished and is filling up nicely, the tanks capacity is 240,000 Lts which will hopefully ensure we have an adequate supply for the comps.
• Steve Stewart our groundsman has given the donga a fresh coat of paint and what a difference it makes.
• Lake Keepit Soaring Club is starting to get busy with the lead-up to the WWGC with competition pilots arriving, visitors and trainees as well as our regular members which will ensure there will be very busy but exciting times ahead.

Next weekend 14th December:

• This weekend’s forecast is for very warm to hot conditions which will make for some great flying conditions. There may be some areas of smoke haze. Weekend Instructors are father and son duo, Greg and Nick Edwards and the pilots on the noisy end of the rope will be the Smith brothers.
• If you are looking for that unique Christmas gift but can’t find what you’re looking for, why not give your loved one a Gift Voucher for an AEF (Air Experience Flight) at LKSC. This will be the gift that they will remember forever.