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SEQSA Aerotow October 2020

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BrianF
Posts: 111
Joined: 19 Mar 2018, 09:36
Location: Brisbane AU
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SEQSA Aerotow October 2020

Post by BrianF »

Hi, some of you may wonder about about our operations at this time. We have zero community spread of COVID in this region so initial tight government restrictions were eased, this allowed us to go out and fly again. There are limitations, however as we are a small group we fit within them, we do still have some hoops to jump through and are all very COVID aware.

A great day yesterday, mainly because I managed to get out of the house for non medical reasons and I flew a model.
The weather was very good, warm but not hot, with very active air mostly from South East to East. While it never got too windy, there were occasional strong horizontal inflows from random directions. Evan did a quick "field drag" with the big mesh screen to take away the bovine and equine paddock pavlovas. The effort to dress the runways constantly earlier has paid off with only occasional touch up needed now. We setup a "pie cart" as we needed to operate far from the newly completed shelter. So I sat on the sidelines in shade and watched for the day. I took some videos, I'm still getting used to the new camera, but it takes great footage, I don't, it does. A bit restrictive trying capture models in a 360deg sky while seated in a cast. Flying was constant from 1000 until 1430.

A couple of weeks ago, it looked like we might have been short of tugs, we ended up with Evan's 1/3 111cc Cub, David Vels 53cc Pawnee and Karl's 3m 170cc Yak54. All were used.
Towards the end of flying, Evan's Cub got caught by a gust just before touchdown making it pirouette on its tips causing some damage. It will be back. David's Pawnee hasn't been in the air for some time, so good to see it again, he towed some of the lighter models. Karl's Yak has previously towed with a 100cc Frankenstein motor I made from different manufacturers, assembled with a bit of mill work. It now has a DLE 170 and is a much more potent beast to tow with. A little more tweaking and it will be a solid towing platform. He has just taken delivery of a nice new trailer, so will be able to bring out more models.

We had a new pilot, Nigel, come along, he has a very broad aviation background in full size and modelling. He bought along a nice 4m LET Habicht to fly and flew it well. He has a turbine powered 4m Blanik, he might bring out next time.

So what other models did we have? David Morgan had his pristine 5.2m Slylark4, Jilles flew his distinctive 1/3 Short Brothers Nimbus (for sale) and 5m Ka6, John Dac had his molded ASW27 (a flight I didn't video), David had the 1/5 Pawnee and his restored 1/4 ASK18, JD brought along his LET 3.0m ASW28 and 3.9m Discus, Karl and Evan only had their tugs this time. I can't manage my larger models at the moment, so took out my little 2.2m Parkzone Ka8. David towed me behind the Pawnee, I forgot how flexible those wings are. I had two enjoyable flights with it, but already miss my "heavies".

Thank you JD for the lift out and back, thank you Karl for the shade, thank you everyone for another great day out scale soaring.

A video of the day


Note, it just loaded, so may be processing or only be lo-res for the next few hours.

Next tow day is Saturday November 7, hope you can make it.

Regards
Brian
Der Himmel ist blau und die Luft ist gut!
www.seqsa.net
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Peter Balcombe
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Re: SEQSA Aerotow October 2020

Post by Peter Balcombe »

Looks as if Jilles made it out of his workshop for a flight or two :)
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BrianF
Posts: 111
Joined: 19 Mar 2018, 09:36
Location: Brisbane AU
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Re: SEQSA Aerotow October 2020

Post by BrianF »

Since I've known him he only seems to do these things.
- Pump plans out of his drafting computer.
- Be very productive in his workshop.
- Travel (to go flying)
- Fly models (he flies at two fields)
- Always be one of the most pleasant individuals you could meet.

I have to suck up, I need him to do some more plans for me. ...... :mrgreen:
Der Himmel ist blau und die Luft ist gut!
www.seqsa.net
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Cliff Evans
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Joined: 29 Dec 2019, 15:13
Location: Bristol
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Re: SEQSA Aerotow October 2020

Post by Cliff Evans »

I have to agree with you Brian. Jilles and his lovely wife are a joy to be with.
https://lasercutsailplanes.co.uk
https://patteaklegliders.co.uk
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