HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 27 March | April 2019 W e left from Queensland at 4am on the Friday, to get to the airfield in the afternoon, for Phil to prepare the hangar and club house as much as possible for the arrival of the students and crew. Most attending pilots arrived by evening from Sydney, Brisbane and Tamworth, including Roger, Julian and the essential winch. Unfortunately, the airfield’s water tank proved empty, so after an evening meal and cold drinks, most settled in for a sweaty night’s sleep. An early morning water delivery was most welcome for showers, as the forecast was for a hot day and we were planning to get as many tows in as we could. With the last attendant in just in time for the morning session, we gathered in the club house to be briefed and tie weak links, before heading to the airstrip and setting up. Phil was first up to demonstrate technique and check the conditions, then everyone lined up to make the most of the day. We managed to get four to five tows in each before the excessive heat defeated us and most pilots were trying to maintain hydration and body temperature between tows in the hangar shade. After Julian announced a temperature of 47ºC measured from the car after midday – and since our extensive bottled drinking water supplies were diminishing fast – Roger called it a day and instead we retired to the club house for the theory endorsement. For the remainder of the day, everyone recovered as best they could – a trip to the local warm and shallow river for a ‘swim’ offered only slight relief. Fortunately, the next day’s forecast was cooler and allowed for an early start to complete our required 10 rounds of tows. A little drizzle during the night refreshed the air and allowed for slightly better sleep and morning greeted us with low cloud, but much cooler temperatures. Revived, we got ready to continue where we had left off. The light and much smoother conditions allowed us to practice our front launches and everyone took turns making radio calls, connecting pilots to the towline and joining Julian in the car to control the tension. Everyone was organised and the only hold up we experienced was the occasional drizzle that required us to seek shelter or cover our canopies. Anticipating our 11- hour drive home, I was keen to finish my remaining tows and skill checks as quickly as possible, and thanks to the smooth running of Roger’s operation, Julian’s reliable tows, Phil’s launch assistance and everyone else’s commitment to be ready and help when necessary, we managed to complete the weekend despite the inclement weather on both days. Smooth operators: Winch tech, Julian, turns the car around quickly, and Roger gets the towline ready to hook Lucas up next Matt reverse launching