Windy and blue day. Weatherman called inversion at 600 meters this morning, and probably no lift above 1000 meters. It was a 35km/t wind from the south west this morning, but it calmed down a little. We got a nice and easy start with a 182km task to Ivanhoe :-)

I towed up and got out of a windy and turbulent paddock without much drama. I hung around the start circle for a while with Jon and Robin. Taking the first start gate we got lifts to 1800 meters, and got going. The timing was not the best, but it was too windy to wait more.

I flew with Nils Aage and Jon for a while, and we met up again before goal. Jon was first in, me second a minute behind, and Nils 5 minutes later again. Robin came after one hour, and Otto was the last pilot to goal. Johnny landed 45 km before goal.

Me towing up in Deni, photo shot by Carol Binder.

We had a nice relaxed day in Deni after the comp, driving to Echuca for some shopping and see the movie “Meet the Fockers”, very funny! The day after we drove to Hay, and got our stuff packed out into the houses we have rented. Our driver Carla showed up today, and we managed to get another driver sorted when Tish who originally was driving backed out.

Yesterday was a pretty good day, Rohan Holtkamp flew 456km to set a new Australian record from Hay!
Today is no flying as it is a rest day for the tug pilots. We have the parade through the streets tonight, and a welcome dinner.

Nils Åge was out cycling into town, and was stopped by the police for not wearing a helmet, and cycling on the sidewalk :-) The police here have a roumour for beeing very strict with the rules, but he managed to talk his way out of it without getting a fine.

The comp seems very good organized so far, with 8 pilots per tug it should be quick to get everyone in the air. There is a early bird option for 20 pilots each day.

There is wireless internet at the HQ so I can probably upload some better pictures than in Deni.

It was nice and blue this morning, but driving out to the briefing we saw lots of high clouds move in over the area. The weatherman forecasted a front coming in from the west, with some embedded storms and higher winds. We got an earlier task than ususal, with window open at 13:30, and first start 14:30. It’s been possible to start before first start time in this comp, then your earlier start get added to your goal time. It’s mainly used by kingpost and floater class pilots, but it’s possible to start early for the open class too.

As we set up today the cloudcover became tick, and the thermal activity on ground died out. We quickly got ready and towed up at first possibility. It was dead calm and a very relaxing tow. Grant towed me into a gaggle and I released at 400 meters, to thermal up to 850meters in very slow lift. We averaged 0.3 for a long time. Gradually we drifted out and away from the paddoc, and seemed to stay at around 800 meters. The few brave pilots who went on glides came back to the gaggle quickly finding nothing but dead air.

After spending 45 minutes in the start circle the lift died out completely, and we all glided out to take a 10 minute early start. Even stopping in everything that felt like lift we got lower and lower. I had Steve Moyes below me for a while, it’s very good training to study his technique in the weak lift. Beeing outclimbed by Steve is a good refresher on how much concentration and work it really is to fly efficiently. Looks natural to Steve though, but that’s what 15000 hours in a hangglider will do to you :-)

I landed around the first TP, with Nils Åge just down the road, and Otto landed in the start circle. Robin and Johnny got to the TP, don’t know how far they went. It’s presentation night at the Golf club where we stay later tonight, should be nice with 100 pilots present.

All in all the comp has been a nice warm up for me, it was not until the last two days I felt relaxed and comfortable in the air again. It takes some hours in the air to get used to flying and the heat after the long fall and winter in Norway with no flying. I’ve done about 15 hours in the air this comp. It was fun flying both last days, even with shitty conditions. The earlier days felt more like a struggle to do anything. The real comp starts with the Worlds, I feel a lot more motivated and ready than when we first came down here.

The new Litespeed S
The new glider is different than the last one, it feels more solid in the air, but the handling is still very good. It has more progressive bar pressure but this will probably change as I get more hours on it and move the hangpoint. The performance feels extremely good, escpecially at high speeds, but there is a lot of new Litespeed S’s out here so it’s more the pilot skills that makes a difference. Compared to Robin and Johnnys C2’s we seem to have a distinct advantage on glide.

The glider had a new sailcut, tips look really good now, and the upper surface is tighter compared to earlier, while undersufrace tension is relaxed to keep the handling good. We got some carbon battens and transversals to keep the weight even lower at the tips. The rest of the hardware is the same as always.

We will spend the next two days here and relax, wash clothes, etc. Probably we go to Exhuca tomorrow and do some shopping and see a movie. We drive to Hay on Wednesday, and the first Worlds day is on Friday.

Yesterday was a grey and windy day, it was a delayed day, but at the briefing 11:30 we got the message to go out and set up at Conargo. We were told the lift would go to 1800 meters, and got a 157km downwind task over some quite remote areas.

At first nobody got up, but eventually some pilots managed to hang on to the weak lift and drift with the wind. I was undecided about flying, felt too weak and windy to be fun. I took one tow, and got some very weak lift that I did not want to drift in, landed back at the paddoc, and decided to pack up and stay in the pool instead.

Robin got withing 20 km from goal, Nils Åge just behind. Otto did not fly and packed up, Jon and Johnny got 30 km away from start. Nils Åge said he never got above 1300 meters.

Today looks better, with blue sky and light winds.

A quick update before we go out flying again. I’ve found a Internet access point and can write a little more than when using my phone.

We arrived in Deni driving directly from Sydney after picking up the gliders. My bag was of course delayed in Hong Kong, and it had to be sendt with the next flight to Wagga Wagga, and then by car to Denni. I had my harness and most of the flight gear so I could fly the first day. But it was too windy and no flying anyway. Good for us with jetlag and all.

Day 2 we got a 187km task north via Hay to Booligal. All on the team except me made goal, I got low and alone in a slow period just east of hay, after drifting in zero lift over the highway for 10 minutes I had to abort and land to avoid powerlines. 100km flight was a good test flight on the glider, it was pulling left making my glides very poor, and thermaling efficiently was hard. Some clouds in the beginning, but only 1700 meters height.

Day 3 was a 138km task around the area and back to Conargo. I had a good start and flew fast and stayed with the gaggle for a long time. I had probably not drunk enough water earlier in the day, because I got sick and extremely tired during the flight. I was in reach of goal, but I was too tired and sick to take the last thermal. I gave up and glided out to land 15 km from goal. Blue day with around 1800 meters height.

Day 4 saw a 133km task to Tocumwal. I got a bad start time, making a detour to a gaggle in the start circle that left when I came. Lost 10 minutes there. The conditions were very good, strong climbs to 2600 meters in the beginning. The cirrus grew and slowed down the conditions more and more. Nils and me flew togehter and got to goal after struggling in some weak lift around the last TP. Jon also made it in, Johnny Robin and Otto landed out.

Nice small New Years party with barbeque at the pool in the Tocumwal airport that was goal.

Today was forecasted strong winds, but it’s no wind outside now. We have a delayed briefing at 11:30 at the Golfclub.