Sunday 26th Sept 2015

We dragged the gliders out at 0800hrs to display them at the very successful open day...over 50 aircraft were present. Dust devils at noon indicated an OK thermal day and so it was.

 

We all flew, initially the cloud base was a tad low (4000'), but it reached to over 6000 on the western Dunstans later in the day. Pete drove the winch for the first session, launching John and Phil in their singles and Doug and Wills in JW. After a quick 100 km flight John returned to launch Pete (LP) and JW a couple of times (Pax and Roy). Pete flew til 6pm, and Phil had a well deserved long flight too. Thanks to all the helpers for the open day and later flying.

David Burke adds more about the open day:

Build it; advertise it; and they will come
By David Burke

A quiet invitation went out to friends and family alike, and the Central Otago Flying Club and the Alexandra Airport Authority’s first open day took flight. Hundreds of people and over 50 fixed wing planes, gliders, gyrocopters, micro lights, and home-built aircraft from across the lower south island took time out on Saturday 24th September to join together and share stories and innovations at the open day held at the Alexandra airport. It was a resounding success, with even the weather playing its part. It was a great opportunity to showcase the work that has been done with the buildings, accommodation and hangers at the Alexandra airport and encourage those non-flyers to have look and perhaps spark an interest. There were two display lines of visiting aircraft, which gave free and easy access to the visitors. Many pilots took the opportunity to show off their aircrafts with short displays. In addition to all this, the BBQ sausages and onions were flowing freely, along with tea and coffee. A big thank you to Nigel Forrester and all the members of the Central Otago Flying Club for their help and support in organising this open day. There are high hopes that, following this successful day, we may be able to attract new members who wish to learn to fly.
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Gliding 20th Sept 2015

Spring thermals for all....A strong inversion around 4000' prevent us getting too far away but the soaring was fun. First away being John with visiting German pilot Nadja in JW. Phil winched them up at noon and they soared for hour over the translator ridge. Nadja really enjoyed our mountain views and uncluttered skies. Back home she flies an LS4 near Bonn. Here's her club website:
www.acbh.de.

Meanwhile Phil launched Pete and Roland in their singles. They headed over toward the Ida and Omakau. By now the day was becoming a bit more stable. John took over winching for a while, getting Phil airborne, then Doug and Russell Read.

Visiting German pilot Nadja enjoy her soaring flight in JW

Pete landed back and took over winching, getting John away in KG and finally Doug and Wills.
So a good start to spring, everyone getting some useful thermally practice.

Gliding Sunday 13th Sept 2015

The SW wave was pumping from early morning and there was a cool southerly blowing down 14 grass. John and Phil got the ball rolling before noon. First off were John and Elvira in JW, kindly launched by Phil.

After a bit of thermalling they climbed into the wave and flew off down to Roxburgh and back for a good hour's flight...what a great birthday present for Elvira! Next John winched up Phil in KJ, followed by Doug and Russell Read (good wave flights).

SW wave from the Old Man Range

John got away in KG after Doug landed and launched him directly into the wave above the airfield. He flew done to Millers Flat high above the extensive cloud that was covering Southland and East Otago. Finally it was Elvira's husband Joost's turn to fly. Unfortunately the wave had now shifted so he just got a couple of circuits with Doug instead.
So a great day's flying and we were indeed lucky to reach the SW wave so easily off the winch.

Manapouri for lunch

The weather wasn't great but after a short delay in Alexandra because of low cloud and fog, we were climbing out over Clyde and heading to the Nevis valley.  Setting our heading and holding steady at 8500ft, it wasn't long before we were over Kingston.  There was a solid covering of low cloud over Southland which extended well past Mossburn, but closer to the mountains the weather was clear and calm.  The landing into Manapouri was challenging with cloud covering most of the airport, but by descending to the East, it was just a simple right hand approach onto runway 26.   Once on the ground I was greeted by a charming administration officer who give me a full rundown on the place over a cup of coffee.  After a short lunch break, we were back in the air heading for Alexandra.  What a great days flying and a good destination for our pilots.

Sunday 16th August 2015

Sunday was better than forecast...in fact it was an OK thermal day, especially for this early in the season. Phil kindly winched John (KG) and Roland (VH) into a nice 2 knot thermal. They both flew west to slightly better air doing about 120km XC flights as far as Gibston (Roland) and Tarras (John).  Cloud base was pretty low (4-5000') with wings icing if you got close. The day ended fast as it cooled quickly late afternoon. A great start to the soaring season!

Not too bad for flying on Saturday.  I flew around the Cromwell valley with a couple of touch and goes on the Race course and a check on conditions at the back of Smallburn farm.  Weather conditions closer to Queenstown and Wanaka weren't great but ERW still managed a few hours in the air with Nick also having a busy day instructing.  


Happy flying
Stephen Morton

Sunday 2nd August 2015

ERW and Nick were busy flying ATC cadets all Sunday. Conditions were ideal. It was also a good opportunity to dust off the winch. Aaron Simpson had 3 flights with John in JW. Harry Roberts also flew. Harry often generously lends us his tractor for mowing the airfield  so it was great to take him for a flight. Aaron's first flight included some thermals and he stayed up for half an hour and even did the landings. Phil drove the winch and it ran well, feeling a lot smoother with the added shock rope. Hopefully we get more thermals as summer slowly returns.