Boonah Blog
Kingaroy Week
One week of super gliding with only one day of rain, we needed the rest. Here are the facts, I will keep them brief, because the week was not just about the data, there is always more gained from these trips than data.
- Barry Cook and Graham Witehead completed their 5 hour flights. Barry and Graham flew from Kingaroy back to Boonah.
- Stewart Hamey, a day in the Duo Discus with Mick Sly learning a lot.
- Stewart flew ZAJ over the triangle which was his longest solo x-country and satisfied Silver C distance and height gain.
- Graham, a day in the Duo Discus with Mike, a trip in ZAJ over the Bunyas to Kapunn (past Dalby) and back.
- Brian, a day in the Duo with Mick Sly, a day in the Discus CS, quickest over two laps of the 100km triangle Wondai, Nanango, Kingaroy.
- John Feeney, flew NTT to Kingaroy with Stewart and a mutual with Barry around the triangle.
- Gavin Foster, 10,000ft in a K21 and his first flight in a single seater, the Kingaroy Discus of 3.5 hours.
- Denis Nolan, solo flying their K21 and going off checks at Kingaroy.
- Richard Thresher hours of experience in big thermals and a great big jump in his flying ability and confidence.
- John Stockwell has done it all before and so was able to relax enjoy the flying the location and the camaraderie.
What we gained
An enthusiasm for long distance flying and a desire for Boonah to set its sights further out in our own area. A new understanding of the weather and its effect on long distance flying thanks to daily lectures by Greg Schmidt. A better appreciation of the normality of out landing. And an idea that a whole day away on a single flight is normal and an idea that a daily task is a normal part of club gliding
And now
We are all enthusiastic to get more x-country from our home location.
At Boonah, we may not regularly get to 10,000ft in 8kt thermals, we have to work a bit harder. We don’t have two long and wide strips, we have to be accurate. We don’t have the ability to change take-off and landing directions by 90 degrees to suit the wind, we need cross wind skills. But we do have a great place to fly.
We realized the beauty of Boonah and of Kingaroy both are different, but both are great places to fly and both are great clubs.
We can learn from these away trips, not just the gliding but the club operations and personalities.
Thank-you!
A big thank you to John Stockwell for organizing the trip and helping us fly. Also To Greg Schmidt and ALL the Kingaroy team for the warm welcome and the hard work you guys put in. You made it a very enjoyable week.
I hope that we can return the favor and see you in Boonah soon.
If you would like to see photos the week please use the link below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gavpics01/GlidingWeekAtKingaroy#
Denis Nolan