HGFA Skysailor Magazine

26 SKY SAILOR July | August 2019 T he first course that came up was held just before the Forbes 2018/19 comp, but I was unable to attend due to work and family commitments. Still, I kept looking throughout summer and finally saw a Facebook post for a tow course run in Queensland with Canungra Sky Sports. After a quick call to Lisa Bradley, I was booked in. My plan was to make a week of it: Travel to Queensland on Saturday, relax and prepare Sunday, tow course Monday to Wednesday, fly locally at Canungra until Saturday (weather permitting) and head home Sunday, ready for work Monday. I couldn’t have foreseen how plans changed… Friday, 29 March After work, I headed home to load the ute with gliders, harness, camping equipment and supplies. The forecast for Saturday looked terrible: Heavy rain from the early hours of the morning, continuing all day, all the way from Sydney to the Gold Coast. I wrapped the two gliders on the roof with a tarp before strapping them down. One last check to make sure I’d packed everything, then off to bed. Saturday, 30 March I awoke to rain at 2am and was on the road by 3:30am. It was bucketing down. Five hours into the trip I stopped for fuel and a stretch during a brief reprieve from the rain. On to Coffs Harbour for lunch, and back on the road again. I arrived in Boyland, QLD, home of Canungra Sky Sports around 3pm. After a quick stop in Canungra for supplies, I headed out to meet Lisa at the ‘Sky Ranch’ accommodation. Here I met the other pilots: Tony Cross, Roger Pyrke and Keith Lavers had driven up from South Australia together, Craig Manktelow and Piers Throssell had flown in from New Zealand and our tow pilot Steve McCarthy from NSW. My Big Inland Adventure After years of watching YouTube clips and listening to tales of epic flights and inland flying, I decided I was missing out only flying coastal. I’d been asked to go to Forbes, NSW, a few times, but didn’t have a tow endorsement to enable me to. The only way to get in on the action was to get my aerotow endorsement. I went on the lookout for the next available course. by Peter Tolhurst Accommodation Peter gets ready to tow Piers Throssell