Weekend Report: A Gauntlet, a solo and missed opportunity!
Saturday morning was VERY frosty but that did not deter June Sterling when June and Mark Siegelberg took GZF out of the hanger, DI’d her and went flying. THEN JUNE WENT SOLO!!! Well done June , those landings were awesome!
Briefing for the gauntlet got underway at 10.00am and, as usual, was very interesting and informative – thanks to Alan O’Regan. I would advise anyone, not only the gauntlet pilots, to attend these “lectures” as they are not always pertaining to competition flying but also issues of safety and airmanship. A great lighthearted atmosphere prevailed which continued at the launchpoint. Strong winds were predicted and, although nothing happened on the ground until about 1500hrs, at Vic Peak Adriaan and Adri, who ere flying their Lambada confirmed that the wind to be very strong at altitude. Turbulence was experienced at Slanghoek Valley. Definitely wave!
The Gauntleteers were P Farrell, G Milne, A Cotton, R Cullen, A Hepburn, W Whittaker,S Olivier and Ian Forbes. Reinhold and Gerhard Waller also launched and flew to Saronberg in the Janus but did not have a logger or Flarm so did not take part. Martin Grunert and Hubert also flew in the DG500. and Rico with (stranger) Trevor Johnson in GWU. Although Rudi did not participate, he flew his Astir for over 2 hours. As did Bill Griffiths in his Astir.
As there was only one student, Craig Hopkins, he was fortunate enough to have GHB and the instructor, Mike Pascoe, for the entire day. They flew in wave for 3.25 hrs!
When Garth landed, he dropped his cellphone unnoticed on the runway. After much searching it was discovered the next morning, fortunately, by Bill Griffiths who was out walking his dogs. You were very lucky, Garth. (especially after MDF’s early morning circuit training)!
I do not have the results of the gauntlet yet but I am sure Alan will publish them soon.
Sunday had similar conditions to Saturday but with the wind reaching the ground and, by 3.00pm, was gusting 55-60kph.
Again we had only one student (lucky Craig) and this time he flew in wave with Wally for another 3 hours! (This was after someone locked him in the bunkhouse overnight and he telephoned me to get out – Gerrie did not know that he was there!)
Jacobus Hartman was observed looking purposeful with GUC and the Logger and launched at 11.00 and landed at 16.35.!
Mike Pascoe had a long flight, also in wave, for almost 3 hours. Later in the day the 2 DG 400’s with Rob and Kevin had long flights too, accompanied by Martin Grunert and Rico Suter in the DG500 for over 3 hours.
Both Phil Surridge and Wally Tamsen had brought introductory flights with them and these lucky people were also introduced to our wave conditions!
I must mention here that our Sunday Tug Pilot – Nina – certainly handled the VERY strong windy conditions exceptionally well.
Again – missed opportunities. Where is everyone? If anyone is concerned about the weather, please remember to phone me for a forecast – you are more than welcome!
Briefing for the gauntlet got underway at 10.00am and, as usual, was very interesting and informative – thanks to Alan O’Regan. I would advise anyone, not only the gauntlet pilots, to attend these “lectures” as they are not always pertaining to competition flying but also issues of safety and airmanship. A great lighthearted atmosphere prevailed which continued at the launchpoint. Strong winds were predicted and, although nothing happened on the ground until about 1500hrs, at Vic Peak Adriaan and Adri, who ere flying their Lambada confirmed that the wind to be very strong at altitude. Turbulence was experienced at Slanghoek Valley. Definitely wave!
The Gauntleteers were P Farrell, G Milne, A Cotton, R Cullen, A Hepburn, W Whittaker,S Olivier and Ian Forbes. Reinhold and Gerhard Waller also launched and flew to Saronberg in the Janus but did not have a logger or Flarm so did not take part. Martin Grunert and Hubert also flew in the DG500. and Rico with (stranger) Trevor Johnson in GWU. Although Rudi did not participate, he flew his Astir for over 2 hours. As did Bill Griffiths in his Astir.
As there was only one student, Craig Hopkins, he was fortunate enough to have GHB and the instructor, Mike Pascoe, for the entire day. They flew in wave for 3.25 hrs!
When Garth landed, he dropped his cellphone unnoticed on the runway. After much searching it was discovered the next morning, fortunately, by Bill Griffiths who was out walking his dogs. You were very lucky, Garth. (especially after MDF’s early morning circuit training)!
I do not have the results of the gauntlet yet but I am sure Alan will publish them soon.
Sunday had similar conditions to Saturday but with the wind reaching the ground and, by 3.00pm, was gusting 55-60kph.
Again we had only one student (lucky Craig) and this time he flew in wave with Wally for another 3 hours! (This was after someone locked him in the bunkhouse overnight and he telephoned me to get out – Gerrie did not know that he was there!)
Jacobus Hartman was observed looking purposeful with GUC and the Logger and launched at 11.00 and landed at 16.35.!
Mike Pascoe had a long flight, also in wave, for almost 3 hours. Later in the day the 2 DG 400’s with Rob and Kevin had long flights too, accompanied by Martin Grunert and Rico Suter in the DG500 for over 3 hours.
Both Phil Surridge and Wally Tamsen had brought introductory flights with them and these lucky people were also introduced to our wave conditions!
I must mention here that our Sunday Tug Pilot – Nina – certainly handled the VERY strong windy conditions exceptionally well.
Again – missed opportunities. Where is everyone? If anyone is concerned about the weather, please remember to phone me for a forecast – you are more than welcome!
posted by CGC Reporter at 3.7.06
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