Wally WORKS!
The weekend began, once again, on Friday - with Kevin Mitchell getting airborne by 18h00 and flying with his beautiful DG400 to Mitchell’s Pass and to Nuy and back to the airfield and landing at 19h00. This makes the rest of us envious, especially since some of us were caught in the traffic- jam on the Rawsonville side of the pass until late and this also had a knock-on effect when the authorities cleared some of the wreckage on Saturday morning. June telephoned to say that they were delayed in the traffic pile-up and, by the time she managed to get to the Startwagon, we had hooked up the first glider for launching. Wally, who was instructing, had two more launches before Nina and helpers packed the tug away due to the strong NW which made the tugging risky. On his last flight he had a member of an Austrian gliding club on board and they had a wonderful wave flight overhead Slanghoek to 8000’ and stayed up for 1hr 45min. Axel, the other pilot, was beaming from ear to ear for a long while after that.
Unfortunately for the rest of us that was the end of the day’s flying and many retired to the Clubhouse for a beer. Peter Wooley, who came out especially to polish his motorglider was unable to do so due to the airborne grit flying around. Rudi kept himself busy with the tailwheel mod for his Ka7 and in various hangers various work was done. A disappointing day for many. I think that the roaring wind, the dust and the heat made quite a few of us a little more grumpy than usual.
Sunday dawned with a moderate NW blowing and many of us were holding thumbs that it did not blow out again.
Sven arrived and together with the duty pilots – Kelvin, Demi and Brian Dean, got the show on the road. (I think that next time I do duty I am going to request that Kelvin is my duty partner – we always get Demi as a bonus!) We had expected about 5 ot 6 intro flights but this was boosted with 3 of Wally’s as well as the expected KLM pilots. (No, Andre, they did not bring their flight attendants along so you would have stayed over in vain!)
Ed, who was flying with Otto (welcome back) in TR, reported that the south side of Vic Peak was working and a few tried this route. Otto remarked on landing that he returned because he was bored. Come on Ed, where’s you in-flight entertainment! Jacobus flew GUC and then landed so that Helmut could fly. He had a wonderful flight for close on 2 hours in GUC. The conditions were definitely improving and Tom had a good flight in his glider.Adriaan launched in his Lak and stayed up for just under an hour. We missed Adri this weekend – we’ll have to wait until next weekend for her regular early morning circuits in the Lambada.
As the wind had calmed a little and the queue for GOK was lengthy, Wally took GHB out of the hanger and continued to help Sven as he was the only instructor on duty. Thanks VERY much to Wally and Sven for a great job done yesterday! The last glider to land landed at 18.50. I think Wally gets the prize this week for doing two duty days in a row!! We totaled 10 Air Experience Flights yesterday.
Jacobus had an amazing flight with Brendon O’Brien, and was reported doing some breathtaking aerobatics.
Rob Kakebeeke was also seen taking to the skies in his DG400.
Generally a very quiet weekend for members – everyone must be interpreting the weather better than I! Unless I am the eternal optimist!
See you all next weekend.
Alison
Unfortunately for the rest of us that was the end of the day’s flying and many retired to the Clubhouse for a beer. Peter Wooley, who came out especially to polish his motorglider was unable to do so due to the airborne grit flying around. Rudi kept himself busy with the tailwheel mod for his Ka7 and in various hangers various work was done. A disappointing day for many. I think that the roaring wind, the dust and the heat made quite a few of us a little more grumpy than usual.
Sunday dawned with a moderate NW blowing and many of us were holding thumbs that it did not blow out again.
Sven arrived and together with the duty pilots – Kelvin, Demi and Brian Dean, got the show on the road. (I think that next time I do duty I am going to request that Kelvin is my duty partner – we always get Demi as a bonus!) We had expected about 5 ot 6 intro flights but this was boosted with 3 of Wally’s as well as the expected KLM pilots. (No, Andre, they did not bring their flight attendants along so you would have stayed over in vain!)
Ed, who was flying with Otto (welcome back) in TR, reported that the south side of Vic Peak was working and a few tried this route. Otto remarked on landing that he returned because he was bored. Come on Ed, where’s you in-flight entertainment! Jacobus flew GUC and then landed so that Helmut could fly. He had a wonderful flight for close on 2 hours in GUC. The conditions were definitely improving and Tom had a good flight in his glider.Adriaan launched in his Lak and stayed up for just under an hour. We missed Adri this weekend – we’ll have to wait until next weekend for her regular early morning circuits in the Lambada.
As the wind had calmed a little and the queue for GOK was lengthy, Wally took GHB out of the hanger and continued to help Sven as he was the only instructor on duty. Thanks VERY much to Wally and Sven for a great job done yesterday! The last glider to land landed at 18.50. I think Wally gets the prize this week for doing two duty days in a row!! We totaled 10 Air Experience Flights yesterday.
Jacobus had an amazing flight with Brendon O’Brien, and was reported doing some breathtaking aerobatics.
Rob Kakebeeke was also seen taking to the skies in his DG400.
Generally a very quiet weekend for members – everyone must be interpreting the weather better than I! Unless I am the eternal optimist!
See you all next weekend.
Alison
posted by CGC Reporter at 26.2.07
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