Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Who took this photo?

Monday, January 03, 2011

Craig Worth Open day 2

After checking the weather in the morning it was looking like we were going to have thunderstorms quite early. A rebrief at noon saw us heading out to the field just in case the weather was going to turn good for a late task.
As we arrived at the strip it was clear the weather was not changing in a hurry as another cell moved by us with lightning and rain. The safety committee decided to cancel the day around 1pm.
Bobby was keen to do some filming so I set up and we went for a tow to try out a new camera mount.
Here is some photos from my side of the story.:)
Cranking up behind Bobby Coming into get close with the camera. Giving the crew a haircut.
Sunday, January 02, 2011

Craig Worth Open day 1

The day started off looking good with small clouds popping infront of a slow moving trough line. A 113km task was set to the NE trying to escape the over clouding that was moving in from the SW.
There are about 65 pilots here and many were off and towing early taking advantage of the blue skies. I waited for awhile before towing and when I towed I was dropped off downwind in light lift. I struggled to climb much until I was about 8kms out from Forbes. I left the climb at 6,600ft asl and glided back for the 1st start gate.
Line 2 is staged and ready for takeoff..
When I arrived there I met another later gaggle coming from the tow field with a bunch more really high. We all headed off on track and Blinky who was just in front of me hit a climb and we all stopped including the high guys. The climb was not great so I decided to head off on track for some good clouds in the sun.
I was rewarded with a strong 6-700fpm climb to 8,700ft asl just at the 1st turnpoint. The cloud I was under was just starting to dump rain to my NW so I was off and out of there. I could see the gaggle coming in below me low and looking for lift as I was leaving at base.
This is looking back towards the 1st turpoint with Forbes behind the rain. I could hear Jacko on the radio and he was about 8kms in front of me after starting before the 1st start time as did many others. I figured out his location and glided for him. Once the saftey comittee saw and herd bolts of lightning coming from the cloud the day was stopped. Jacko cranking up in front of the storm cell.
Jacko and I glided out to the closest town to seek a dry landing field with big Jon not to far behind us. Some pilots continued on and flew the task but there will be no score for the day.
Here is a quick video of the day.