From amanda at dd.com.au Fri Oct 10 09:52:50 2008 From: amanda at dd.com.au (Amanda Penrose) Date: Fri Oct 10 09:52:55 2008 Subject: [Airflow] Gliding Club of Victoria - Airflow September 2008 Message-ID: <705D85D7-925E-46FF-B353-B8B1F0010BEE@dd.com.au> Dear Airflow Subscribers Airflow is now available at http://www.glidingclub.org.au/airflow/live/2008_09/index Due to technical difficulties, the PDF version for printing should be available from http://www.glidingclub.org.au/airflow/ within the next couple of days. Thanks again to Scott Penrose for organising the online edition and to all of our regular and new contributors. We'd like to get the next issue out reasonably soon (with photos and information about the Annual Dinner), if you have articles, stories or photos you'd like to include. Amanda P. From amanda at dd.com.au Mon Oct 13 10:46:16 2008 From: amanda at dd.com.au (Amanda Penrose) Date: Mon Oct 13 10:46:20 2008 Subject: [Airflow] Radio Operators Endorsement - Expressions of Interest Message-ID: All, Paul Barber, Chairman Instructors Panel, has asked me to consider providing pilots with training towards a GFA Radio Operators endorsement. GFA regulations require that all pilots using CTAF frequencies must hold a Flight Radiotelephone Operator's Licence or a GFA Radio Operator's logbook endorsement. That is, XC pilots, if not all pilots, should hold this endorsement or the corresponding licence. This training only requires a few hours, but fitting it into existing commitments at this time of year might be difficult. I am therefore calling for expression of interest in such a training course. Delivery during November 2008 might be a possibility, but that will depend on interest and my availability - no promises at this stage. Thanks, John Millott -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.dd.com.au/pipermail/gcv_airflow/attachments/20081013/52599afa/attachment.html From john_switala at ptp.com.au Thu Oct 23 01:04:07 2008 From: john_switala at ptp.com.au (John Switala) Date: Thu Oct 23 01:04:12 2008 Subject: [Airflow] Khancoban away camp Message-ID: <002c01c934ab$3ff5dfe0$0300a8c0@JOHN17> The Khancoban away camp is slated for Saturday the 1st November to Saturday 8th November. Tuesday the 4th is Melbourne Cup day so it's a holiday for Melbourites! This is a great opportunity to fly around the Australian Alps enjoying the scenery while being based close by. We are in the final planning stages so would like to know if you're coming up! If you haven't put your name on the list in the clubhouse then let me know now, by email, if you're intending to come up for the whole time or perhaps just until Tuesday. Also, we are in need of pilot/s to ferry the IS28 up there and back so if you can help us out let me know. The ferry flights usually leave on Friday, but Saturday morning is a possibility also. One of the tugs will need to return on Wednesday or Thursday so that's when the IS28 will need to return as well. Regards John Switala -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.dd.com.au/pipermail/gcv_airflow/attachments/20081023/68b08b21/attachment.htm From john_switala at ptp.com.au Thu Oct 23 06:15:46 2008 From: john_switala at ptp.com.au (John Switala) Date: Thu Oct 23 06:15:53 2008 Subject: [Airflow] Answers to a few questions Message-ID: <00b801c934d6$c98b8720$0300a8c0@JOHN17> I have been quizzed by a few members on a few items around the club, so to dispel misinformation I'll set the record straight: Our mid week tug pilot arrives in Australia on the 28th of October. He's from Canada so speak slowly!! He's requires some check flights which will be perform on the 1st of November. All being well, he should be available for mid week towing after that. One of our tugs, BXP, has been unavailable for a number of months. This was due to some "glazing" of the cylinders which required replacing. Glazing is something that occurs with age and also can occur when an aircraft is idled too long. So if you're ready on the grid when the tug arrives the idling problem can be reduced. The replacement was all planned well ahead of this season so the cylinder replacements could be performed during the off season. Here's where Murphy came into the picture. The replacement cylinders, delivered about 3 months ago, were the wrong type - thick shouldered ones instead of slim shoulder, or something like that! Anyway they didn't fit and the only source for the correct ones was the USA. I believe they actually had to manufacture them! They have now arrived and Graeme and Doug are working on BXP as you read this. All things being equal and Murphy does not pay another visit, the tug should be operating this weekend! Some members are concerned about the cost of the new ASK21 two seat training glider. Being sourced from Germany and with the poor performance of the Aussie dollar against the Euro a few are getting fidgety about the potential extra dough this will cost us. Don't panic! When we placed the order for the K21 we opened an account in Euros, in Australia, to protect ourselves from the movements in currency. The club converted $100,000AUD at .585Euros, not bad compared to now. The original deposit of $10,000AUD was converted at .600 Euro. The remainder we paid prior to the Aussie dollars taking its plunge. So, the K21 is entirely paid for and at a very good rate, we paid $125,000AUD. I did a quick comparison about two weeks ago when the Euro plunged to .49 and the additional cost of the glider at that rate would have been an extra $22,000AUD!! We've done well! The current status of the K21 is; it's on the container ship Cosco Ningbo, 3rd largest container ship in the world and is currently in the Mediterranean Sea just South of Greece. It's going to stop off in Singapore for a little holiday before arriving in Melbourne on (or about) the 15th of November. The club has also invested in 10 SPOT tracking devices. Spot is a small (mobile phone size), internal battery powered device that has a GPS for position and communicates back to base via satellite, so no black spots! They report position every 10 minutes. The use of these devices is two fold. One use is for competitions so we can see on the "big screen" at the club house where pilots are. This facility can also be used to admire some of our touring pilots as they trek out on tasks on non competition days. The positions can also be viewed from the internet - so the whole world knows! The second use is for our early cross country pilots. Many a time an Instructor is anxiously pacing the club house or airfield wondering where his fledgling is. This should help ease some of those concerns. The SPOT has the ability to also send SMS messages to a phone for "I've landed and I am OK" to "Help I'm in trouble". The Spots cost $160AUD each once off and have a $150AUD annual charge for using the satellite and internet services. Three years ago similar devices cost $1,800 each and still had annual charges. We are getting some addition gliders to use over this season! They aren't ours but aircraft from the Corowa Club that are being cross hired to us. They include an IS28, a Mosquito and a single seat Astir. The rates for these aircraft will be the same as GCV's aircraft so there's no difference in price for you. The hours required to fly them are also the same as for GCV aircraft so it's nice and easy. Some "paperwork" regarding formalising the agreement still needs to be complete but they should be on-line in a week. Some of the Corowa Club members have also joined the GCV as GCV members so make them feel welcome! The Corowa Club is still a going concern; this is just a way for them to get greater utilisation on their gliders and for us to have available more aircraft, especially the single seaters, for our new solo pilots. That's about it, I hope that clears up any questions you may have had. See you at the GCV Annual General Meeting on 15 November 2008. John Switala President -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.dd.com.au/pipermail/gcv_airflow/attachments/20081023/087da8dd/attachment.html