Johnblog

Wednesday. The soaring forecast is not brilliant so I talk to the instructor here, Bill Nixon, about getting checked out to fly the top-of-the-range two-seat aircraft, the Glaser-Dirks DG1000. It’s an elegant aircraft with long, slender wings which give it an extremely good glide ratio of 46 to 1. We had a fun flight in nice easy thermals.

Bill in the back of the DG1000.

I had to be checked out with spinning the plane and (more importantly) recovering from the spin.

Then we had a little cross-country flight up to Parkes and Bogan Gate when Bill talked me through the workings of the complex and rather old-fashioned flight computer fitted to this aircraft. I managed a safe approach and landing so passed my check. Now I can fly all the fleet in the Southern Cross Gliding Club. Yay!

Day 5: Tuesday. Losing track of time, what day is it? Life is different out here in western NSW. Last night in the pub we saw a guy riding a horse down the main street in Forbes. You don’t see that much in Concord! I had a rest day yesterday.

The soaring forecast is not terrific so I plan a modest 180 k task Forbes – Grenfell – Parkes-Forbes in the DG303. There are shifting winds aloft and the thermals are rough and the lift is broken up. There aren’t any clouds to show up the thermals or give shade from the scorching sun.

Grenfell.

I struggle down to Grenfell getting banged around in rough thermals and jolted up and down in gusts. This is not for wimps! Grenfell looks good and gives me a terrific thermal up to nearly 9000 feet.

I head north to Parkes, shifting my course to pass near Forbes in case the lift runs out. I  make it past Parkes airfield – one I know well having flown many aerobatic competitions there in the past.

I face a headwind on my return to Forbes and the lift is weak, so I struggle for a while and contemplate a landing at Parkes. Then, thank goodness, a decent thermal gives me the height to get back to Forbes. A tough  flight but a good experience. Dinner and three schooners in the pub. Tooheys Old!

(Stop Press! The Gold C and Diamond Goal flight were approved)

Saturday: Day 2 Really hot 42 degrees. Launched at 1.40 . Buckles on the parachute too hot to touch after being in the sun. Water in camelback tube almost boiling – must blow it back before drinking!

I’ve set a 300+ kilometre goal flight of Forbes – Lake Cargellico – Parkes – Forbes.
Blue conditions at first – clear skies no clouds. Climbed to 6500 then headed west. Some good lift so kept pressing on. I could see cumulus in the distance promising big climbs.
As Forbes retreated I was in the middle of nowhere – no towns or hamlets ahead, just the Lachlan river winding its twisty tree-lined path below. This gliding lark is not for wimps, if the lift runs out, there are just paddocks to land in, no airfields or farm strips. I have to forcibly relax my muscles to fight the tendency to tense up while circling in thermals the concentration levels are so high.
The GPS helps keep me pointed in the right direction.
Then I reach the cumulus – wow, a big climb to 12500 feet gives me confidence to press on. Now I can see Lake Cargellico in the distance.
I have to keep shifting to stop my bum cramping up and remember to drink water. It’s cooler up high of course, but it still feels hot as the sun shines through the canopy.

I round Lake Cargellico and set course for Parkes. But it’s a struggle, I’m beginning to tire and lose heart so I head for home at Forbes. I’ve done 300k but not my declared task.

Sunday: Day 3  After much discussion about the soaring forecast, I declare a task 300k Forbes – Lake Cargellico – Bogan Gate – Forbes. Flying the DG 303 I start at 12.34 in blue
skies – no clouds. I climb to 6500 feet and set off on course. It’s a bit of a struggle for the first hour, not huge lift and I’m not making very much progress. Then I reach some puffy cumulus and get some real lift that shoots me up to 12,500 feet. I have oxygen in the DG 303 and turn it on passing 9000 feet. It gives reassuring puffs of gas into a nasal cannula each time I breathe in.
I press on, although there’s a big gap in the clouds between me and the lake that doesn’t look promising . I race across that gap losing a lot of height, turn around the airport there and dash back toward a friendly cumulus on my track to Bogan Gate.

Lake Cargellico

This is scary stuff again, though I can see cumulus along track that look promising.
The cumulus are delivering good lift and I can quickly circle and climb under them then dash onwards. One big cloud gives me a huge thermal so I chase it up to nearly 13,000 feet. Then the cloud turns unfriendly and tries to suck me up into its base so I lower the undercarriage, open the airbrakes, point the nose down and dash away to escape its watery clutches! Whew! As I’ve said, this is not for wimps.

(Technical note: if you open the airbrakes without first lowering the undercarriage, a very loud buzzer sounds – it is intended to stop you landing with the wheel up.)

I race towards Bogan Gate at 90 knots, then turn for home with lots of height in hand to make it back. It’s a warm fuzzy comfortable feeling when you have lots of height in hand. A wonderful day of soaring with a flight of four hours 27 minutes.

The flight has been logged electronically so I can claim a gold distance badge and a diamond goal badge. Unfortunately the rules are incredibly strict for these and it seems I might have missed going through the start point by a few metres. Bugger! Still, I have achieved a gold badge for height gain of more than 3000 metres (I gained 10,377 feet). Later, another official says he thinks the flight may be valid, so I now have to wait and see.

(Success! The Gold C and Diamond Goal flight were approved on March 14)

It was very hot at the start but now I’m wiser and make sure my camelback water bag is kept in the shade till the last moment and the parachute is not left in the sun. I had a muesli bar, some mentos and plenty of water to keep me going. While flying, I have to remind myself to relax my muscles, not to tense up, and keep sipping the water.

There’s a big, big sense of achievement up there with the clouds at 13000 feet. Sometimes I look at the ground and think, jeez, that’s a hell of a long way down there and I’m riding along in just this tiny thin fibreglass shell!