March Update
Levelling up…
Exciting times ahead for the club! In the last few weeks we’ve geared up and established some ties in preparation for….
April Autumn Competition (Cunderdin, April 30th – May 1st)
After a recon/contact trip to Cunderdin a few weeks ago, the committee is going to proceed with a mini competition there at the end of April. Details are below:
Program:
Known, Free and Unknown for all categories other than Entry/Graduate.
For those who are interested, we will trial a Super Sportsman challenge flight as an additional sequence to the Sportsman category. It’s an almost-intermediate level sequence with no snap rolls, which should be a bit more challenging that the normal sportsman flying!
Saturday morning may be training and practice, with the comp kicking off after lunch – if you’re going to compete please be there by midday at the latest!
Sunday morning the competition will continue, and we’ll fly home Sunday afternoon.
Cost:
Contest entry fee is $50, plus expenses for accommodation/fuel/food/etc.
Accommodation:
Soarability (see a section below) have very kindly offered to put people up in their on-field dongers for a nominal cost. It’s $35 for a non-ensuite room, and $55 for an ensuite. Other options potentially available are the agricultural college (also on site) and the pub in town.
Hangarage:
Dunn Aviation has a gigantic hangar there that could fit well over a dozen aircraft, and they’re willing to lease it out for the night for a carton of beer. We’d just have to give it a bit of a clean out, it doesn’t get used much so attracts birds and spiders and such.
Soarability have also offered their hangar for any maintenance issues that arise.
Fuel:
The gliding club will have fuel for purchase, we just need to let them know in advance roughly how much we’ll need.
Box:
The box is very easily defined, with the 2 cross runways forming the western and southern edges of it. We will for the first time have portable box markers, including T-s and a centre box marker there.
Facilities:
The gliding club has very kindly offered to let us use their facilities over the weekend. They have a big clubroom (complete with drinks fridge and kitchen), and a briefing room with a TV. There are 2 blocks of toilets on the field, one has showers available.
Please register your interest as soon as possible to myself or by filling in an entry form.
Soarability:
Soarability is a non-profit philanthropic organisation based at Cunderdin set up by Damien O’Reilly, developed to offer those with limited capacity to take control of gliding aircraft using modified controls and training methods. Damien has invested big dollars establishing a hanger, accommodation dongers, and even custom-built motor gliders and a simulator there – and has kindly offered the use of some of his facilities.
Their website does not appear to be ready yet but you can read more about them here: http://www.avonadvocate.com.au/story/229331/oreilly-aims-sky-high-with-unique-vision/
…and in this Gliding Australia newsletter: http://www.glidingaustralia.org/mag/GlidingAustralia-Issue-21.pdf
Gliding Club of WA:
The Gliding Club at Cunderdin has also graciously offered the use of their facilities during the competition, and so far have been tremendously welcoming. You can find out more about them here:
http://www.glidingwa.com.au/
The even have a glider capable of aerobatics 🙂
Memberships
Club membership renewals are due. State chapter membership is $35, national membership is around $97 from memory. You can buy them from the online store at the national website: http://wp.aerobaticsaustralia.com.au/
YOU CAN ALSO UPLOAD COPIES OF YOUR LICENCE, MEDICAL, ENDORSEMENTS ETC HERE! This will take a load of administrative burden away from contests – please check this section out and upload your documents as requested.
WA State Competition
It’s early days yet but we’re pencilling in the WA competition for October again, likely October 7th to 9th. If Cunderdin goes well next month, we’ll likely hold the State Comp there!
Help Wanted:
Running competitions requires the support of many – particularly good judges, and administration/scoring. We do offer a per-diem for the state competition for those non-competing people who help staff the event as an incentive. If you or someone you know might be interested in helping out in either role, please pass their details on to me or get them to send us a message.
Donations/Sponsorship:
The club has geared up a lot over the last few months in preparation for running operations at airfields away from Murrayfield. We now have a complete set of box markers, pop-up tents, deck chairs and an esky. To transport this equipment and anything else we need, it’d be great if we could find a road-worthy caravan or such. That way we can not only use if for transport, but it can be set up as a mobile radio hut, scoring station or promotion stall. If anyone comes across one for free or cheap, please let let me know.
Christen Eagle Share for Sale
There is still a share in the Christen Eagle for sale. It’s a great 2 seat aerobatics plane that is in many ways better and easier to fly than a 2 seat Pitts. It’s got over 1000 hours left on the engine, a good syndicate setup and pricing structure, and can take you all the way to Advanced…plus you can take someone else up to enjoy the ride! Bowe has now dropped his asking price to around $24k – if you’re interested you can call him on 0427474870.
Expressions of Interest – Aircraft Syndicate
There is still some interest among members in acquiring and syndicating a Pitts S1S (around $50-$60k) or One-Design ($70k-90k) aircraft. With a syndicate of 4 that’d be an upfront share cost of perhaps $15k for an S1S each, or $20k for a 1D. If anyone is really keen, give me a call on 0439 468 299.
Super Sportsman:
We will offer an additional flight to the Sportsman program who want a bit more of a challenge. It is an almost-intermediate level sequence with no snap-rolls that should be decent challenge to get around. See the image below:
Safe flying!
Adam Gibbs
President WA Chapter AAC
0439 468 299 |
