Boonah Blog
Saturday Wave
Todays southery brought the prospect of wave lift which was a new concept for some of us new guys. The old hands took best advantage of it though with John Feeney using most of the available daylight doing 4 hours 45 minutes. John's flight was limited to 10,000 feet due to his oxygen system but still took him through Cunningham's Gap amongst other places.
John Preimonas made a personal best solo in SK, and Phil Slocombe had a field day in GU in wave above the ridge for 2 hours 20 minutes without contributing much in the way of tow fees. Steve Thomas was having so much fun with his air experience passenger that they had to be called back to the field by the friends and family.
Thanks to Z Man for standing in as the Level 2 instructor and running the day and Andrew for a good days towing in windy conditions.
Same again for tomorrow please.
19 June BBQ
Big night out in Boonah
The 19 June BBQ
Thanks to our GTO who also acts as GEO (ground entertainment officer)
Ron Mc Leay we were treated to another bbq of the best steaks from both cow and kangaroo, in the very cool night air of Boonah.
We also had the use of two very large telescopes one from Brian Gilby and one from Roger Sutton. With the clear cold air and dark night we were able to get great views and with the help of Brian and Roger we also got to know what we were looking at.
Another highlight was an impromptu discussion by John Stockwell on navigation by the stars. John spent 30 years as an airforce navigator long before they had gps units available. This was a truly fascinating discussion.
It was a great night, with a very interesting bunch of people.
Wave Soaring
This is a lenticular cloud caused by South Westerly winds over the Great Dividing Range. These winds cause lift to be generated as "waves" and allow gliders to climb to heights over 20000ft. Pilots wear oxygen masks and thick socks for these flights. The winds reach speeds over 140 kph at these heights but it can be dead calm on the ground. Boonah "wave" happens in winter usually July till September. This photo was taken on 8/6/10 and there have been several good wave flights already this year to 10000ft
Magic May and awesome April
The last week has been some of the best gliding weather I have seen at Boonah. From last Tuesday the sky has been Q city culminating in three oustanding days of the long weekend. On Saturday Steve Bateson had his introduction to X/C flying with a two hour flight around an FAI 100km task Boonah-Beaudesert-Barrney View-Boonah. The first leg took a while as Steve got the idea of flying point to point while assesing the best track to follow to Beaudesert taking about an hour and a bit for a X/C speed of about 30kph but the last two legs were much faster travelling 70kms in about 45 mins or 90 kph. There were some excellent thermals sometimes averaging 7 knots plus. Later in the afternoon the massive streets of cloud allowed pilots to fly from Boonah to Mt Barney and beyond without a turn all the while climbing to 6000 ft. Can'y say I've enjoyed a days flying quite as much for a while. After the next couple of days of rain I expect these conditions will return for the weekend. Can't wait! If you want to try X/C just ask. Mike McLachlan, Andrew Maddocks, others and myself are happy to oblige.
first solo
Another first for Boonah!
Mark Bahr took his first solo flight on Sunday 21 March 2010. He enjoyed it so much he went back immediately for two more solo flights.
Mark's choice of aircraft for most of his training and his first solo was the K13. His comment “I like a plane with character”
