SEE YOU      season 2001 / 2002

June the 21st,  2002

The weather is still ok. Cold and freezing during the night and sunny by day.
All the painting has been done and the brick layers started this week.

June the 16th,  2002

The Victorian Soaring Association will be the first user of the new accommodation of the ASCC.
From 13 October to 19 October  we will host the " 2002 Basic Airworthiness Course "
Eugene Blunt a member of the Albury Corowa Glidingclub and TO is organising the course.
We expect to welcome about 25 people. The daily program; theoretic information and practice
in our hanger. All the lunches and dinners will be prepared by D'Amicos restaurant who is leasing
our restaurant for the 1st season.

June the 15th,  2002

Today Grietje did 1,5 hour on the Pawnee and made a new picture from the air.

 

 

June the 14th,  2002

The pool is in !!

Yesterday morning H2O Pools started digging the (big) hole for the pool. Today at 7.30 AM the pool arrived
from Sydney and is now on its spot.
In the next week they will complete the filter system, spa, paving  and solar heating.

The clubhouse is going well. Today all the ceilings were painted and on Monday Wayne starts painting the
walls. The air-conditioning and heating are also in.

Grietje and I spend a lot of time in choosing the colours of everything and the type and colour of the floor cover.

We are waiting for the bricklayers to start and finish the outside. Anyway, no doubt the building and the
landscaping will be ready before the end of September.

                                                  

June the 7th,  2002

Grietje and Francesco are back in Corowa to finish the last details of our clubhouse, pool and garden.
Wayne Wilson did a great job. He is on schedule.
We prepared everything in detail before we left in March. The building was designed by the architect
John Warnaar from Albury and Grietje did choose the colours of the bricks, roof etc. It really looks fantastic !!!!
Today we had a meeting with Dick Smith (Narrellan Pools and Spa's) in order to look where and how
the pool will be placed near the clubhouse. Next week we will show you the pictures of the pool.

We are really looking forward to the next season. Our customers will love the NEW location on Corowa
Airfield.

 

                        Clubhouse from NE                                             Clubhouse from SE

 

                       Clubhouse from SW                          Wayne Wilson - Dick Smith - Grietje

View from   BBQ-area into the briefingroom                         Our new office

 

May  the 3rd,  2002

Wayne Wilson, our builder is on schedule !!!!!
The weather is still OK in Corowa. Midday temperatures of 25 grC.
Anyway ,circumstances which are excellent for our builder Wayne Wilson.
The frame has been completed now and you already can see the shape of the building
on the pictures made by Wayne and send by our accountant David Potts.

Thanks Wayne and David for making and sending these pictures !!

April  the 24th,  2002

As promised we did visit today the 2 soaring clubs at Boberg Airfield (near Hamburg ).
We met Andreas Sieber, Klaus Warnke, Helga Pankow and the President of the club.
After a tour around the airfield and a very nice "Hamburg" farmer dinner we left Hamburg.
Thanks for the hospitality.

Francesco and Grietje

Other news.

Fleet

For next season (2002-2003) we have got the conformation of having a LS8 18m and
a ASH 26E for hire.  (see fleet and rates)

Building progress.

The builder in Corowa did advice me this week that everything is on schedule.
Next week he starts erecting the frame.

April  the 16th,  2002

Today we have got a phonecall from Wayne the builder " The slab has gone in today".
Wayne Wilson is very proud, he got the contract for building the Austalian Soaring Centre
Corowa Clubhouse.
The other local company who will be involved in the Clubhouse is the Italian Restaurant
D'Amico. Frank D'Amico designed the kitchen and will provide the meals (until 11.00 PM)
in our restaurant .

The estimate for completion of the clubhouse with pool is September 2002.
 

April  the 15th,  2002

Building activities

After the cleaning up job of the area by the Corowa Shire, Wayne our builder started the huge job.

Fleet 2002 2003

Harm will bring his DG 500M to Corowa. This glider will stay all year round at Corowa. So next year
2 self launch two seaters on the line.
We also got the confirmation of a LS8 18 meter. Together with a new ASH 26E and occasionally
the DG800B, we are able to provide our customers the top of the 18 meter class gliders.

 

April  the 1st,  2002

Our trip back to Europe was a nice one.
On our way back via Hawaii, Las Vegas and San Francesco, we visited the soaring
operations at Hawaii, Las Vegas (Jean Airport) and Minden Nevada.
In Hawaii we made a flight in a triple seater. A real experience flying base over the ocean.
We thought Australia is flying in the desert, but the Las Vegas is a real desert.
Last but not least we visited our US customers Jim and Jennifer Herd in Minden. 
We went to one of the snow resorts near Lake Tahoe and had a beautiful day.
While we were skiing they flew at Minden in the wave up to 24.000 ft.
We were not able to fly at Minden, but next year we sure will.
Thanks to Jim and Jennifer for there time and spending the best part of our holiday with them.

HAWAII

LAS VEGAS

MINDEN
                  


         Picture, Jim Herd flying his DG 800

Last Friday all three containers safely arrived   (one day late) in Grubbenvorst.
Unfortunately there were some changes in the available space for the containers, but
after some time we managed to get our 4 containers on the new spot.
On Friday we unpacked the red and blue container and everybody left at 15.00 with
their gliders. On Saturday we unpacked Gerrits container .
Pepe Gresa, Frans Caers, Max Kirschner and Hans Wiesental left also at 15.00 back to
Spain, Belgium, The UK and Germany.

In a few weeks all the matters concerning the containers will be on this WebPages ( instead of
http://www.mikefox.nl ) under the button Containers.

 
                    Easy to lift !                                                  Almost done !!!

Last week the builder Wayne Wilson started with the Clubhouse at the airfield in Corowa.
As soon as possible we will put some pictures of the progress on the web.

March  the 11th,  2002

The season is over. Grietje and Francesco are going back to Europe.
On the way back we will visit our friends in Minden Nevada to make arrangements
for the next Corowa season.
We expect to be back in Corowa in the 2nd week of June to have a look at the
progress at the airfield concerning the clubhouse and pool.
Until that time there will be no further news on the web. If you want some additional
info, do not hesitate to send a email.

We like to thank all our guests who had confidence in the new first year operation
at Corowa and  those who visited us from other locations in Australia and made
the booking for next year with the Australian Soaring Centre at Corowa.
They won't be disappointed because we are determined to develop Corowa to
a soaring site, with a relaxing atmosphere and a high quality operation and service.

Grietje and Francesco

March  the 8th,  2002

Grietje went to Benalla today and did her Pawnee endorsement with Max Carpenter.

Later in the afternoon she flew our own Pawnee "FOO" and made some beautiful landings.
Welcome to the "FOO" club.

March  the 7th,  2002

Tonight, Francesco and Grietje are invited by the Rotary Club Corowa.

Francesco will inform the clubmembers about soaring in Corowa, why Corowa
and the plans for the future.

March  the 5th,  2002

today 2 pictures of the new clubhouse.

March  the 4th,  2002

Corowa today. The weather is still amazing.

March  the 3th,  2002

We already mentioned that the containers are on the way back and are due to arrive on Wednesday
in Grubbenvorst. All the pilots are informed by email and I think Thursday will be a busy day, just
because most of the pilots will collect their glider on that day.
No news concerning the building activities. Everything is on schedule, the contracts are signed!

The Corowa staff spend the week-end at the Australian Formule 1. Chris Mayhew took care of the
(champagne / salmon) lunch and we are very happy that the start of the Corowa operation was more
successful as the start of the Grand Prix at Melbourne.

                                Lunch                                                   the start of the Grand Prix at Melbourne

Next week will be very busy for Grietje and Francesco. But they will be back in June to have a look
at the progress of the clubhouse etc.

February  the 28th,  2002

 
                         Congratulations !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today all the work, driving up and down to Albury, study, stress and  flying are rewarded

Grietje passed her test and is now the proud bearer of an Australian PPL !!
Next step will be her tow endorsement.

February  the 27th,  2002

Yesterday Grietje finished her theoretical part of her PPL test, due to the weather the flight was
not possible. This is now scheduled for Thursday morning 07.00.

Some more details concerning the season 2001/2002.

Most of the visiting pilots  entered their flights in the online competition "OLC".
Our customers proved "Corowa"  is an excellent site for soaring.
Long flights were possible due to the early start of the thermals above the airfield
Most of the days 10.00 AM or earlier and close to the ranges (race track).

Take Off Gliding site	Ranking	Points	name	Glider	CN	Remarks
Corowa	1	9342	Uwe Thiele	Nimbus 3 D	KP	2 x 1000 km
Corowa	2	8348	Christian Cuolt	Nimbus 3 D	KP	1 x 1000 km
OLC Champion Australia
Corowa	3	7146	Werner Niechciol	Ventus CT	SY
Corowa	4	7131	Peter Klose	Nimbus 3 D	KP
Corowa	5	7096	Klaus Warnke	ASH 26	AS
Tocumwal	6	7068	Daan Pare	Ventus 2 CM	NL	1 x 1000 km
Corowa	7	6988	Ruedi Herzog	Ventus CM	DS
Corowa	8	6694	Andreas Sieber	ASH 26	AS
Tocumwal	9	6656	Jan Umlauf	Discus 2
Corowa/Tocumwal	10	6501	Peter Zander	Ventus 2 CT	PZ

February  the 24th,  2002

Our clubmember Chris Mayhew (103) finished his tow endorsement today at Benalla.
Congratulations Chris.

February  the 23rd,  2002

Progress Clubhouse:
Soiltest was ok, so there are no further obstacles to start building.
Next week we have meetings with the Shire and the builder for the last details.
Yesterday Grietje finished all the details concerning the Pool with bubbles.

Some details of the last season:

Cross Country flights
from	up to	#	%
0 km	300 km	62	19
300 km	500 km	113	34
500 km	750 km	123	37
750 km	900 km	22	7
900 km	1000 km	8	2
1000 km		3	1
Outlandings		3	1

 

February  the 21st,  2002

The Corowa Shire Council  agreed to sell a block of land  (10.000 m2) on Corowa Aerodrome
to the Australian Soaring Centre Corowa. They also approved the plan to build a Clubhouse / office
separate computerroom for the customers, bar, restaurant / briefingroom and gauze BBQ area
which will be completed with a garden and swimmingpool.
We start building within 4 weeks and expect to have everything ready at the end of September 2002.

In  October/ November we host a technical conference and workshop of the GFA.

We will keep you informed while building with up to date pictures.

 

February  the 18th,  2002

Uwe Thiele flying one of his 2 1000 km flights           Andreas Nies, testing the ASW 27

Werner and Andrea left today. They were our last guests,
Werner and Andrea were here from the very first moment and were a great help for us.
They cancelled a 2 week holiday in the beginning just to be of any assistance.
Werner was also our stand by tow pilot and Andrea was always there to make the
family evenings (BBq etc) a very nice one. Thank you both !!!!!!!.

This morning I had a pre meeting at the Shire Council Office concerning the development
on the airfield. Tomorrow we expect no problems by getting the approval.
As soon as there is any news , I will put it straight away on the news page.

Chris Mayhew almost finished (45 minutes dual to go) tow endorsement at Benalla and
Francesco did until today 30 TO and Landings with the Pawnee FOO.

The containers are sailing. The blue and the red container are already booked out
for the next trip in September. The green container has left 4 places free at this moment.
In case my containers are overbooked I made a agreement with one of my colleagues
to put one or more gliders in his containers.

 

 

 

February  the 16th,  2002

We are busy with the next season. The last two days we finished the drawings and application
for the new clubhouse and swimmingpool.
Tuesday after the Corowa Council meeting we expect to have the approval and start building within
4 - 6 weeks.

Today Francesco and Chris Mayhew went to Benalla.
Francesco did his type endorsement and went back to Corowa to make his first flights with the
ASCC pawnee the VH-FOO. He will use the time here to make hours and landings on the FOO
and do his tow endorsement after he returns in September.
Werner heard the sound of a Pawnee and thought Francesco must be back from Benalla. He went to
the airfield to congratulate Francesco and have a beer on his first T/O and  Landings on the Pawnee.

Chris will stay at Benalla until he has finished his tow training.
We expect to see Chris somehere next week and do some towing with the Blanik.

February  the 13th,  2002

Unfortunately, Chris Mayhew had to leave for Melbourne. It was an excellent flying day. From 13.00
Corowa was covered with 4/8 Cu's. For tomorrow the forecast is even better.
At 12.00 all our last guest left. So The first season ended. (to early !!! ).

To extend the season we will bring one container earlier next year en keep at least 1 until the end of
February.

CU ,

Francesco

February  the 12th,  2002

Chris Mayhew flew with his LS6 a 520 km FAI triangle with 110 km/h. The weather was excellent.
Cu's up to 8000 ft with climbs of 3 - 5 m/s.

The  last pilots are leaving tomorrow.
Andreas Sieber after 4 months. Thanks Andy for all the help , the fun, playing the guitar , cooking the meat
playing golf and being a very nice guest.
Uwe Thiele, with 180 hours. 2 times a 1000 km  and more as 10.000 km cross country.
Klaus Warnke who was flying the Andy's ASH 26and who is leaving as a very happy pilot. Klaus told us
to be very impressed with the results of  the first season at Corowa.
Werner is driving them up to Melbourne Airport.

February  the 10th,  2002

This morning at 08.30 AM the 3 trucks arrived to pick up Gerrits container and our  Blue
and Red container. 18 gliders back to Europe to fly there from the 1st of April.
With the trucks Jeroen, our towpilot,  left as wel. He is going back to Europe to tow in Spain
and hopefully to start his professional carreer soon  with the KLM. Thanks Jeroen !!.
Next week our guest Werner wil do the towing.

Tomorrow , the next weeks and months we will keep you informed about all the things happening
at Corowa airfield.
For the moment we look back at a very succesfull start and promising future for
the Australian Soaring Centre at Corowa.

 

 

February  the 8th,  2002

The weather forecast for today and tomorrow, were not to good, so we decided
to start packing the containers.
The red container is ready and we will finish the blue one tomorrow. Sunday at noon
we expect the trucks to pick up the containers.

For your info on the international gliding magazine on line, is an article about soaring
in Corowa, written by our first customer from the USA.

http://www.glidingmagazine.com/ListFeatureArticleDtl.asp?id=182

 

February  the 6th,  2002

Only Uwe Thiele flew today, after Andreas left Chris Mayhew was the co-pilot today.
They made a beautifull flight to the south-west.

Klaus and Andy did not fly.

Francesco was busy today with the builder and the Shire to finilize the last details for
the start of building the Clubhouse and Pool. Everything is on schedule and we expect
to start within 4 weeks.

,

February  the 5th,  2002

Yesterday we had rain all day and the forecast for today and maybe tomorrow is the same.
So no flying yesterday and probably today.
But the forecast from wednesday untill the end of the week is xecellent again.

Tonight we will have a nice dinner with all our guests to celebrate Grietjes birthday.



Corowa this morning

February  the 3rd,  2002

Next Sunday our 2 containers and Gerrits container will leave Corowa for Europe. Today we
started packing the gliders which wont be flying the last week. We derigged
NL, FM, DS. PZ, DG and MK  today and put them   back in the container.
Next Saturday evening and Sunday morning we pack  KP, SY, FF-3W, AS, ML
The weather forecast for today was a reasonable short flying period, so only th KP
took of and flew about 300 km and Francesco did the last aerotow training with Anja who
made her first aerotow solo in the afternoon.

 

February  the 2nd,  2002

Today just a photo impression out  of the Nimbus 3DM. "KP" flown by Uwe Thiele and Co-pilot
Andreas Nies.

February  the 1st,  2002

The start of February was not bad. The surface trough moved to the West and after the trough
we had excellent conditions. Thermals from 10:15 only the Cu's were later as yesterday
We made some beautifull flights.
Uwe tried his 1000 km again, but landed after 965 km. All the orthe pilots flew between 400 and 750 km.

Eugene Blunt, flying his 15 m Cobra flew again over 400 km. Congratulations Eugene you amaze us
every day again with your "" wooden "" performance.

The technical problems with updating the web are solved. Thank you Marcel Koevoet ( Web designer NL)
for helping me out.

January the 30th, 2002

The 3 rd 1000 km !!!!.

Today , Uwe Thiele with his co-pilot Andreas Nies, flew a 1003 km Polygone with The KP .
The weatherforecast: A surface trough moving from the East to the West. This weathersituation
is good for Cu's over Corowa and into the Ranges. Excellent flying conditions.
Today we had Cumulus in the mountains up to 40 km west of Corowa.
we had the first usable thermals at 10:15 AM and the first cu's popped upat 11:00.
Klaus Warnke flew 810 km FAI triangle and Werner Niechciol a 680 km FAI triangle.

Congratulation to all the pilots.

January the 28th, 2002

I am not able to update the daily results due to tech problems.
Today , we were still under the influence of a surface trough passing from West to East.
So no flying today.

Gerrit, Pam, Pepe, Hans and Max spend de day with packing the container. So the 1st (of3) container
is packed with the VW, PM, AV, II and 5Y. the last glider.  Max's Nimbus arrives next week.
The Blue and the Red containers will be packed on Saturday the 9th of February and leave on Sunday the 10th.

For tomorrow we expect good soaring conditions again.

January the 25th, 2002

The 2nd 1000 km !!!!.

Today , Uwe Thiele with his co-pilot Andreas Nies, flew a 1050 km FAI triangle with his
Nimbus 3D "KP", the second of the KP  this season at the Australian Soaring Centre at Corowa.

Congratulations Uwe, good job after a 960 km and 985 km.

January the 24th, 2002

Yesterday, our guest Dieter Schneller left Corowa after a 2 months visit.
Dieter was the co-pilot of Peter Klose, Christian Cuolt an Uwe Thiele in th "KP".
All together he flew 295 hours and 22.000 km X-country.

Next year he will be back with his own DG400.

January the 14th, 2002

Yesterday we had a difficult but good flying day. Uwe and Dieter flew 800 km with their Nimbus.
Today it was a blue day again with flights between the 300 and 550 km.
Jim and Jennifer Heard from Minden USA arrived today and will fly at Corowa for the next 2 weeks.

Manfred Kasten had his birthday today and after flying he invited all the pilots for a champagne
party.

Tomorrow it will be warmer , so we are waiting for another good flying day.

January the 13th, 2002

After a non flying day we were invited by Andreas for his birthday dinner. Harm was the cook and
Andreas his assistent.
We had a excellent 3 course dinner at the airfield.
This morning at the briefing Andreas got his birthday present and the "happy brithday"  conducted
by Francesco.

January the 6th, 2002

After 2 blue days the forecast for today was blue again, only with a very high (cloud) base.
Most of the pilots took a (very good) day off.
Tomas was still ill and decided not to fly. Tomorrow he will bring the ASW27 FF to Narromine
and Marek will fly the 3W up to Narromine, so they can do some training for the nationals.
Christian Cuolt is leaving tomorrow after two excellent weeks. His shortest flight was
550 km and his longest 1005 km. His job, flying the KP, is taken over by Uwe Thiele.

 

                                                                                        The Tjech team, Tomas (FF) and Marek (3W)

 

January the 1st, 2002

Happy New Year with many nice and safe flights to all the glider pilots in the world.

Yesterday evening we had the last 2001 dinner together.
At 00.00 sharp, Manfred opened the bottles champagne and we celebrated the
start of a new year in soaring.

2001 was the first year of the Australian Soaring Centre at Corowa. A year of preparation
hard work and with the help of our customers a smooth and succesfull one.
Thank you Werner, Andrea, Andreas,Jeroen, Matthijs for the extra effort you did put in
our new operation. 

Untill the end of december we flew 1000 hours and 85.000 km cross country.
The best flight was made by Christian Cuolt and Dieter Schneller. They flew
1005 km.

Photo. Christian about his 1000 km flight

December the 29th, 2001

Today we had the first 1000 km flight ever flown from Corowa.

After a 10 hour flight Christian and Dieter landed at 20.15. after a flight of 1004,6 km
The weather forecast was ok . The critical factor was the Tmax. I turned out to be OK.
But the pilots did the job.

CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!!!!!

 

December the 28th, 2001

Today Jeroen and Francesco went to Benalla with the Pawnee VH FOO and the ASW 27 FF.
After 2 months towing Jeroen had to do his paddock retrieve endorsement.
Francesco made 6 outlandings in extreme paddocks and Jeroen had to do the retrieves.
He did the retrieves as it was his daily work. Congratulations Jeroen, you did a great job.

Tomorrow we expect the Tjech pilots, who are flying the 2 ASW27, FF and 3W for the next 5 weeks.

 

December the 26th, 2001

Christmas in Australia.

After a non flying day, we had our first Christmas dinner with the visiting pilots of the
Australian Soaring Centre Corowa.
Andrea, Grietje and Francesco prepared a very nice christmas dinner and Andy was responsable
for cooking the meat.
Everybody enjoyed themselves and we can look back at a very nice and warm christmas
evening.

December the 21th, 2001

Yesterday Rene arrived and made his first flight with Francesco today. (225 km out and return).

Peter Klose left after 6 weeks flying. He flew about 180 hours and about 14000 km cross country.

December the 19th, 2001

We think the summer has started, the temperature is rising ( 2 days above the 30 grC in a row).
Reason for the tow pilots to visit the barber shop.

 

Last days we only had blue days, but good thermals and high climbs. Tomorrow we expect a cold front
and hopefully the weather will be real Australian.
Tomorrow Rene will arrive and that completes the whole Corowa team.

December the 14th, 2001

Matthijs arrived on Wednesday and will assist the Corowa team for 2 months.
Matthijs is a manager with AKZO Nobel. His expierence in marketing is very welcome to
help to improve the Corowa operation. His wife Emilie will join us at Chistmas.
She is working for Unilever and is responsable for the introduction of new products and
therefore also a good help for the  devellopment of  the Australian Soaring Centre at Corowa.

Matthijs a a  glider pilot, instructor and tow pilot. Yesterday he got his Australian PPL from CASA
and today he flew our 2nd towplane the VH-APC in, so we are now able to tow all the gliders in a very
short time.

 

December the 8th, 2001

The statistics.

November                                         87 starts    325 hours    27.200 km cross country

December ( untill the 8th )               48 starts     226 hours    17.350 km cross country             

December the 1st, 2001

Today, Daan came with Christel and Brutus to pick up the NL.
Manfred Kasten, Peter Zander and Rudi Herzog arrived just after each other.
Manfred already made his site check and flew with his ASH 26 200 km.
Peter Zander went to bed after his trip and Rudi and his wife arrived in the evening
and joined the meal at the club.
Harm is the cook for tonight.

November the 29th, 2001

Today, the Australian Soaring Centre Corowa was visited  by the  Consul of
the Netherlands Mr. Hans Nieuwland.
As he was advised about the new soaring centre he made a appointment straight away.
This morning he arrived by plane from Melbourne. We showed him the site and the plans
for next years, he was very impressed. After a cup of coffee we made a flight with the DG505
His first flight with a glider and he enjoyed it very much.
After that flight we were supprised by the arrival of a very luxury Gulfstream.

The weather was special today. Lots of cirrus clouds in the beginning and beautifull Cu's
Later on the day. Max Dolfin left at 12.15 and managed to fly 835 km at his last day with
our centre.

November the 24st, 2001

After a excellent flying day, with flights between 200 and 900 km (Max Dolfin with the
NLflew the 900 km), we finished the day with a very nice BBQ together.
Andrea took care of the salads and Andy did a good job at the BBQ.
Simon Brown came in to join us and will stay at Corowa for the next few days and fly his
Cirrus GSM.

November the 21st, 2001

Today we received a present from Sint Nicolaas. The Corowa crew was surprised
to get COROWA in  characters from  chocolate .
Sint Nicolaas, his real name is Matthijs de Haan, will come over after his birthday
in Holland  ( the 5th of Dec) and stay at Corowa for 6 weeks.



Saturday evening we will have our first family evening at the airfield with a nice BBQ.
Andreas is the "fleischmeister" and is responsable for the meat and our salad Queen
Andrea will surpise us with one of her excellent salats.

November the 16th, 2001

After bringing in the last truckloads with gravel, Peter Wallisch finished all the roads around
the hangar and to  both runways. C&C fire protection finished the water supply so we can fill
at least 12 gliders at the same time with water.
The chief engeneer Jeff Lewis from the Corowa shire came to see us today and was surprised
about the progress and the way we organised and finished fase 1 of the
Australian Soaring Centre at Corowa Airfield.
High cirrus clouds blocked the sun for a while , but after 13.00 we had very good thermals
and most of the pilots flew along the track Corowa - The Rock - Young. After the first two weeks
of flying we already call it "" The Race-track ""

November the 15th, 2001

Today we had a very warm day with high cirrus clouds. All the pilots decided not to fly.
In the afternoon we made site checks with Chris Mahyew an Jeroen and the anual spin check
with Jock. Max (NL) cleaned the DG 505 and Werner made his first tow with the Pawnee.
Tomorrow we expect a very good soaring day.

November the 12th, 2001

From today you can find the daily flying results under the new button Daily results.
We also added the button  Downloads for turningpoints and IGC files of special
flights, flown from Corowa. For all the other news we will use the News and photo gallery
button.

November the 11th, 2001

The weather: 6/8 Cu, 8000 ft base. climbs  5 up to 6  m/s, strong south westerly wind, thunderstorms
in the late afternoon. Freezing level today at 5500 ft !!!

Jeroen made his first tows in the pawnee today. Now we are now longer alowed to touch the Pawnee.
It is his plane!!

Flights:

Peter Klose, Nimbus 3DM, KP, 870 km triangle,but unfortunately he had to use  his engine after 790 km!
Frans Caers, DG 800, II, 690 km goal to Lake Keepit and from now, he will travel around Australia .
Max Dolfin, Ventus 2CM, NL, 650 km triangle.
Andreas Sieber, ASH26, AS, 180 km out and return
Werner Niechciol, site check and with the Ventus CT, SY, 200 km out and return
Andrea Niechciol, site check.

November the 10th, 2001

The weather: 5/8 Cu, 6000 ft base. climbs up to 5 m/s

Flights:

Peter Klose, Nimbus 3DM, KP,737 km triangle
Frans Caers, DG 800, II, 550 km triangle
Max Dolfin, site Check and with the Ventus 2CM, NL, (left at 4.30 pm) 200 km out and return
Andreas Sieber, site check and with the ASH26, AS,   (left at 5.00 pm) 150 km out and return
Francesco and Grietje, local with the DG505, DG
Hans Wiesental,  took his glider out of Gerrit's container and flew with his LS6, 5Y, 400 KM
out and return and landed at Tocumwal.

Jeroen and Werner went to Benella and Albury for the validation of their Australian PPL with
tow endorsement on the pawnee. So from tomorrow we have 3 tow pilots.

November the 7th, 2001

Yesterday Jeroen, our tow-pilot arrived after a long flight via Hong Kong. Jeroen will stay with us
until mid February.



At 12.00 we already had a beautiful sky.

Gerrit Kurstjens left at 13.15 and phoned me 3,5 hours later that he was at Narromine, 480 km
north from Corowa.
From Corowa up to Temora  (200 km) he didn't  make any turn at all!

Peter Klose left at 12.30 and flew 570 km with hist nimbus 3DM / KP

Frans Caers was the last who left today  and flew 450 km with his DG 800 / II.

 
November the 5th, 2001

Today   at 09.00 am, the Supervising Quarantine & Inspection Officer Mr Raymond Vassallo
came to our centre to check if the gliders  were ok to unpack and to use the Australian soaring
paradise.
The temperature went up to 32 degrees C, so it was quite a job to unpack an inspect 12 gliders.
At 3 pm mr. Vassallo left after a pleasant day and gave us some instructions how to improve
the quality of our transport down under.
After that we rigged the DG505 DG, the Discus FM, the VW and Frans's DG800.
Tomorrow we are going to pick up Jeroen our tow pilot at Melbourne.

November the 4rd, 2001

Today Peter Klose was the first customer who made his check flight with Francesco.
Is was an nice warm day with climbs up to 2,5 m/s and a cloudbase (under the 8/8 cirrus)
of 8000 ft.
But after a very  exhausting  Saturday, Werner and Andrea worked on their glider SY in the hangar
And Peter Klose spent  the rest of the day preparing his Nimbus 3DM "KP".
Tomorrow we will start unpacking the red container and give Gerrit a hand with his container.

November the 3rd, 2001

Today the second (red) container and Gerrit's container arrived at Corowa.
They have to wait until Monday for quarantine inspection before we are allowed
to unpack them.
Together, Grietje, Andrea, Werner, Peter Klose, Peter Reed, Jock and Simon
we unpacked the blue container and riggged all the gliders.
At 4 Pm Francesco had the honor to make the first flight at Corowa with the new
Australian Soaring Centre Corowa.
He was towed  by our Pawnee the VH FOO and flew for about 1 hour with climbs
up to 4 m/s .
After the first flight we did put all the gliders in the huge hanger and took our first
drinks in front of the clubhouse and office.
AT 6 PM Gerrit and Pam arrived.
We finished the day together with an excellent dinner at D'Amico's restaurant.

                                           

October the 27th, 2001

The season at Corowa started, yesterday Chris Mahyew dropped in at Corowa.
Francesco took care of the transport of his trailer and his  LS6/18 to Australia.
One of Chris's friends will fly the glider in December with some friends at Benella,
while Chris will assist us at Corowa by flying the second towplane.
In  January Chris will join us with his LS6 and some friends to fly at Corowa.
Yesterday Werner and Andrea arrived and had a look at their SY, which safely
arrived in the Blue  Container.
Today they are moving in to a beautiful holiday cottage in Corowa an will spend
the summer with us at Corowa.

Simon will fly the Pawnee to Benella tomorrow for its 100 hourly, so the   "FOO"
will be ready for the season as soon as all the gliders are out of the containers
and in the hangar, or at the huge tie-down area.
We are ready to fly.

Who will win the magnum bottle of champaign and dinner for two for the first 1000 km, flown from Corowa ???

On the page airfield, you can find some downloadable turningpoint files.
We will put them on a separate page "downloads" later but I hope it will do for the moment..

October the 26th, 2001

The first container arrived this morning. We planned to have him on the 26th and
he did arrive on the 26th at 09.00 AM. We made a quick inspection and everything was OK.
So the FF  3W  NL  SY  DS and KP are save in Corowa.
Next thursday we expect the second and third container and we will provide photo's of that event
and most likely the first launches wih the Australian Soaring Centre at Corowa airfield.

October the 20th, 2001

The hangar is ready. Yesterday the hangar floor got his last layer of asphalt .
and outside the hangar they made a gravel road to the runways.
We also were busy with cleaning the terminal building in order to put in the desks etc for the office
and the fridges for the bar. Telstra finished his job on Friday, so from now on you can reach
the Australian Soaring Centre Corowa by phone + 61 (0)2 60335036 and fax +61 (0)2 60335042.

Next week-end we expect the first container in order to fly on Saturday.
The other 2 containers will arrive one week later and the container with the trailer and glider of
Chris Mahyew is due to arrive on the 4th of November. So everything is ready for the start of
the first season which is expected to be a very good one.
All the long term forecasts are going for a very hot summer.

  

 

 

October the 9th, 2001

Some news from Corowa.

Grietje, Francesco and Jock have been very busy the last week to finalize
things necessaryfor the start of the season.

Grietje went to Albury to get her PPL and got solo after 4 hours.
She will be busy to get her PPLin the next few weeks and will go on training to get her tailwheel
and tow endorsement.

The Australian Soaring Centre Corowa Pty Ltd has been founded. The soaring activities
will be done bythe Murray Valley Soaring Club Ltd. The club has been approved by the GFA
and Francesco is the GFI.
The club has three options to get a second towplane for the season.
News about this item will be mentioned in the next two weeks.

The hangar is ready. The road is to be done on Thursday  and next Monday the electrician
is expected to do his job.

Harm joined us today and will drive back on Friday. On his way back he will drop Simon at Lake Keepit.
Simon will fly our Pawnee home on Saturday, so next week the VH FOO is at its homebase Corowa.

Today I also did welcome Andreas Sieber.Andreas's glider the ASH 26E "AS"
is on its way in one of the containers. Andy was really impressed with the improvements
at Corowa and was a welcome help for the electrician making the last arangements ..

September the 28th, 2001

After a very good flight we arrived yesterday evening at Melbourne International.
We did stay in Melbourne for the night.
The drive to Corowa via perfect roads took us about 2,5 hours. After we arrived
in Corowa we directly went to the airfield to have a look at our new hangar.
It is huge and it it beautiful. At the end of this week the hangar and the area around
the hangar will be ready.

                                                          Jock did an excellent job !!

In the evening we had dinner at D'Amico's Italian restaurant. A very warm welcome by Frank D'Amico
and excellent food in a friendly atmosphere, indeed

 

September the 19th, 2001

We called him the " Green Container " and the other two the " Red Container " and the
" Blue Container " just because they have green, blue and red kangaroos painted on it.