LS7 after landing at Lake Keepit
I’ve had two more days of lovely flying at Lake Keepit.
Saturday had broken thermals in a blue sky – not much cumulus – but I managed 2 hours 43 minutes of local soaring. Sunday was a better weather day so I flew the 100 or so kilometres from Keepit to Manilla to Gunnedah and return to Keepit and was up for just over 2 hours 32 minutes.
I’ve had some great flying, very satisfying indeed, and in a lovely aircraft, the LS7. I’ve learned a lot about thermalling, handling gliders and reading the detailed weather forecasts and thernalling predictions (including the Skew-T Log-P diagram, which as you probably know provides for a large angle between isotherms and dry adiabats). I’ve also learned about GPS loggers which enable you to download your flight and examine it in detail using a program called SeeYou. You can even replay the whole flight track in 3D – that would be good to show your friends at dinner parties!
I said farewell to Lake Keepit on Monday morning and drove home via Tamworth through some lovely scenery. I’ll return to Keepit. It is a five-hour plus journey, but it is a great place to fly and the accommodation is just $29 a night!
Flying over Gunnedah airport.
The wildlife is also good. I saw lots of birds on the ground and a wedge-tailed eagle joined me in a thermal at one time and a couple of swifts in another. While having a beer and a chat outside on Saturday after flying, a curious currawong came close. A mouse approached and the bird ran across and stabbed it, then ate some before flying away with it. Nature eh? Tough!
How was the currawong drinking its beer? Did it pay for it by putting it on its bill?