Johnblog

Saturday was another windy day, but the wave was working well. It was the turn of our young (22) club colleague to take the DG303 and he did very well, climbing to 20,000 feet in the wave. Others made it to 24,000 feet.

I was offered a Canberra Club two-seater aircraft, but by that time the wind was so strong and rough the launching was cancelled.

The gliders coming down after their wave flights had some rough landings in huge gusts (48 knots recorded – 89 km/h). Humans (including me) were needed to hold them down before they were tied down to stakes in the ground.

That was it for the week. We took the glider apart and put it into its trailer for the journey back to Camden. We gathered at the local Chinese restaurant in the evening and a trophy for the best climb went to Frank Johann from South Australia – he went up to 24,500 feet.

He also appeared in a pic in the Cooma Express. According to that article, there were 35 pilots at the camp – that sounds about right!

A great day of soaring for me in the DG 303 on Friday.

I achieved a personal best height of 9200 feet in difficult thermals with several climbs to that height and a great view of the white caps on the Snowy Mountains in the distance.

On oxygen at 9,000 feet near Bunyan, NSW.

It was my first time using oxygen (mandatory above 10,000 feet but recommended a little lower).

I had a cannula in my nose and a special little electronic box giving me the correct flow from a bottle of aviation breathing oxygen.

There was wave lift about and one pilot went to 20,000 feet. I got into the wave and climbed a few thousand feet but it was difficult to stay in the lift.

I didn’t feel so bad about that because lots of other more experienced pilots couldn’t get into the wave. The sky was completely blue with no clouds and this made life a little more difficult. The clouds help to mark the positions of the thermal and wave lift.

A view of the Snowy Mountains in the distance.

I had a lovely three-hour flight with some great views. Very satisfying.