May 31st 2005

The ASG29 will fly in time, but together with Uli Kremer (AS) we made the decision to leave
the proto in Poppenhausen this winter.
But we also made the agreement to bring the ASG29E (with sustainer) in the winter 2006/2007 to Corowa.

Next to this all we are still working on the 4th container. Most of the special parts are already ordered.
It will be an high cube (30cm higher than the other ones) which will make it more easy to fit in some of the wings
of the big 2 seaters.
As soon as we are back form the EGC2005 in Nitra, we will start to get it ready in time for the transport in September.

April 5th 2005

Today no news about soaring in Corowa, but just about the Boss and the Boss.
At the Shire Council in Apeldoorn The Netherlands, Grietje and Francesco have
official announced their wedding which will be late August in Schoorl (NH)  NL.

After signing the doc's

April 2nd 2005

The season 2004 2005 has finished.
Today we unpacked the 3 containers. We started at 9.30 am and at 12.30 everybody had his glider in the
trailer ready to head off for the European summer 2005.

first wing out	Fuselages of 1 container	JM right wing out
PI	Team PI	PZ, sunny but cold	Photo's Otto Dumke

March 23rd 2005

Containers are on schedule in Grubbenvorst. So the set date Saturday April 2nd 9 am is ok.

March 14 th 2005

Another excellent day. Max temp of 37 grC and from 3 pm beautiful cu's at about 3000 m.
But no flying for me, as we had the insects control  and treatment in the hangar and clubhouse.
So I could enter the building again  from 4.30 pm. From tomorrow we have a change and the temperatures
will drop to the low 20 grC.

FOO and LGT	All the cars, trailers and Caravans	?!?!	Max temp today	Corowa, March 14th 2005

March 13th 2005

Summer in Australia:
The last few days we had temperatures over 30 grC and today even 36grC local.
At 2 pm I asked the local gliding club of they would like to launch the Duo. Of course.
So the Duo made his first winch launch today. 1500 ft and of I (Francesco) went.
350 km ( 100 km/h average) was the result with a cloudbase over 3000 m agl and the best thermal of the day
was 5.6 m /s integrated.

March 1st 2005

The last flying day for Fred.
Not an early start but an excellent day with a cloudbase over 3000 m.
Fred decided to fly the LS4 today and enjoyed his last day  very much.

March 1 st !!	Nice cu's	Fred happy !! (in DIeters office)

It was also the last day of the Corowa season.
We had a great season and in the next few day we will put all the results on the newspage.

So from now on no daily news any more, only if there is something special to report.

Thanks everybody for this good and safe season.

Grietje and Francesco

February 28th 2005

The temperature went up slowly and we launched at 3 pm. Sometimes good lift up to 3 m/s and the max height was
1600 m. We got 32 grc max today. and for tomorrow the forecast is even more.
Fred flew the Duo again with a very relaxed Francesco in the back. They did about 100 km.
Eugene flew his ASW17 WN .
Before flying we used the time to clean the inside of the field cars (empty bottles, empty tins, empty everything).
Francesco and Fred cleaned with the new high pressure cleaner 50 % of the walls of the hangar. Tomorrow the other 50%.
After that it is time for the pest control, so we have next season again a clean and spider free hangar.

Fred on tow	Fred in flight	Photo's Grietje

February 27th 2005

Yesterday was a cool (28grC) day and we did not get the trigger temp to get thermals up to 1000 m.
Se we did not fly and Fred went for some sight seeing around Corowa.
This morning Francesco mad a temp flight tp 6000 ft, so we did not have to wait for the Wagga temp.

28 grC and a max of 32grC was forecasted. Lift from 1 pm and a max height of 1800 m in the blue.
Fred decided to fly the Duo with Francesco.They launched at 1.10 pm and flew 200 km out and return. We had one thermal near Lockhart which
gave us just over 2000 m agl. The best climb of the day was only 4 m/s !!!
A happy Fred with another cross country of 200 km.

February 25th 2005

Wednesday evening we had an unexpected visit from Stefan Uher and Marcella. After their trip to the East
coast (after flying PI in Corowa) they were heading  to Melbourne to fly back to Europe and passed by to say hello
inquire after the weather of the last 10 days.
Grietje and Francesco drove up to Melbourne to bring Grietje's sister and friend to the Airport.
Fred was looking after the airfield as we had overcast and not flyable weather.

This morning Francesco explained Fred all the in and outs of the temperature trace.
We took off at 3 pm, temp 29 grC and according Fred';s calculation a thermal height of 900 meter.
Fred was making a video and Francesco did the flying.
They flew just over 1 hour with a max height of 898 m. Impossible to make it 900 m.
Hopefully good weather tomorrow after the change.

February 23rd 2005

Yesterday a blue day with a max temp of 30 grC.
In the morning we id  put fred's  IPAQ in the LS4 and in the afternoon he flew for a few hours local.
Everything was working ok, but the thermals were not good enough to go cross country.
Francesco flew the Duo for about 20 minutes, which was enough for the day.

But today Fred launched at 1 pm , after we set a task of 150 km triangle in his IPAQ and the LX5000.
He completed his first triangle with correct start line , finish line and turning points.
This was the last flight he needed for his Silver Badge,  Congratulation Fred !!

February 21st 2005

After thunderstorms and rain yesterday and a cloudy Saturday we had a blue sky in the morning and
from 1 pm cu's up to 1800 m agl. The thermals were not easy to center and very small.
Grietje first flew with her sister Liesje and Liesje's partner Christiaan.
After that Fred flew the Duo and made 220 km, A good performance for today.
 

Grietje and Liesje	Grietje and Christiaan	Fred the wing man

February 18th 2005

A short 2 days off for the Corowa staff.
We spend two days having a look at Mt Kosciusko. Worth driving up there.
From today we stay in Corowa and hope for Fred he will make some good flights in the next 2 weeks
and completes his Silver badge.

Electricity from the snow	FOX going fast	Grietje having fun	Fred chasing Francesco	Snow on Mt Kosciusko

Fred (FOX) ,Eugene (WN)  and Lloyd (MXG) launched just after 1.15 pm.
We had some cirrus but good thermals up to 2000 m agl.
Fred flew about 200 km .

February 15th 2005

A front was passing today.So no flying.
We used the afternoon to have lunch at All Saints and taste the wines for next season. Top as always.
Unfortunately we missed Werner and Andrea, who left today. See you in Grubbenvorst.
Tomorrow we expect not to have a good day, so we are going into the mountains and will be back
on Thursday.

Lunch at All Saints

February 14th 2005

Summer, blue sky and 32 grC and tomorrow a few grC more.
Fred launched at 12.30 and flew with Francesco in the Duo out and return to Lockhart (210 km)
They flew for about 3 hours in blue thermals of max 3,5 m/s and a hight of 2200 meter agl.
 A nice start for Fred's holiday in Corowa.

February 13th 2005

A nice day with nice cu's, but packed containers.
Jan and JJ left early in the morning. Jan is going back home after 12 months in Australia and JJ back to work.
Bert Spreuwenberg from Cycloon Ltd in Grubbenvorst (  the Ultra light field ) visited us today with his wife Wilma.
Francesco flew with Bert for 1 hour and they enjoyed the good lift over 4 m/s average. It was hard work for Bert
to fly the Duo but he did very well.
Grietje made a few joy flights and the last flight of the day was for Liesje with Francesco in the Duo.
Werner (leaving on Tuesday) was happy to do the towing today.

Stefan and Jiri (the last PI team) left  today. Jiri is flying back to Europe tomorrow and Stefan with his girlfriend
Marcella are staying for a short holiday.

Our last customer for this season Fred arrived today and will stay for about 3 weeks. Fred for the second time in Corowa
was smiling all day and is happy to be back.
At 2 pm the trucks arrived and are now on the way back to Grubbenvorst.
 

Trucks arriving	Sideloader ready for the 1st container	Airborne	Francesco supervising	On the way to Grubbenvorst	Fred back in Corowa

February 12th 2005

The last day for our container customers.
We packed the Green container today. So all the gliders are ready for the trip back to Europe.
After packing, The PI team Jiri and Stefan flew a 320 km out and return with the Duo, because their
glider had to go into the container and JJ flew 200 km with the LS4 GOB.
In the mean time Jan cleaned the hangar and Eugene and Grietje finished the containers.
Tomorrow the containers will leave for Melbourne and the ETA for Rotterdam is March 28th.

Tonight we had a very nice meal with all the pilots who packed the containers.
Tomorrow, Eva and Otto, Manfred and Hertha , Reinhard are leaving.
We had a great season with all our customers !!!

We also have to say good bye to Jan who did a great job the last 2 months in Corowa. Jan is driving with JJ
to Melbourne tomorrow and is flying back to NL on Monday. Thanks again Jan you were a great help and
well respected by our customers.

enjoying their last Corowa dinner		Jan's last evening

February 11th 2005

8/8 cirrus when we woke up.
Nevertheless we flew a temp trace which gave reasonable soaring weather from 1 pm.
We decided to finish packing the 2nd container. SO today DB, JR, AR, MK and ZY  are in the Blue Container.
1 place left as we decided to leave the Duo in Australia.

When we were packing PI  with Jiri and Stefan used the last day to fly in  the Alpine Area, Mt Buffalo etc.

Early tomorrow we start packing the Green Container.
And on Sunday the containers are leaving after a very successful 4th Corowa season.

Peter Zander and Birgitte left today.

February 10th 2005

The forecast was a good soaring day with cu's up to 1900 meter.
We made some good flights with cu's and later in the day it was blue.
Jan Jaap Logtenberg arrived yesterday and made his site check with Francesco.
They flew 450 km declared triangle in the Duo. But Eva did best with 560 km o/r

Before take off	Not a bad day	Fun en route	the best thermal of today

February 9th 2005

The day started with patchy rain, but at 2 pm it started to clear.
Francesco used the good weather to fly with Jan. They made 2 tows and after that
Jan went solo aero tow and made also his first flight on a LS4. Congratulations Jan !

Jan Solo aero tow (sleep)	Happy Jan	Jan with last instructions	Take off

February 8th 2005

The weather is not really with us. Just 40 km separated us from good conditions.
The cool change was just, just over our area. We packed the red container which is done.
For Friday we planed the Blue one and for Saturday the Green container.
Tonight we said good bye to Hansi (ILH) and Eveline. They are leaving for a short holiday in
New Zealand.
We had a nice meal together and we sure will see Hans en Eveline back next season.
We also got a message from Bernd and Maria Doernemann, Dieter and Adreas Nies & co
they are safe back in Germany.

Table for 8 tonight	Eveline, Reinhard and Hansi	The boss sister Liesje

February 7th 2005

A associated clouds from a trough over SE South Australia just covered our sky with AS and AC. The temperature was high enough, but
also due to the wet surface the thermals were not really ok.
ILH and DS prepared their gliders for  packing  tomorrow.
Andy left today after 3 months and over 20.000 km cross country.

February 6th 2005

After the  rain (the highest recorded ever) we did fly again. Nice cu';s and a cloud base of max 2000 m.
Werner did the towing today. Everybody is happy again.
We also packed AS. Andy is leaving tomorrow after his 3 month stay at Corowa.
This week we will fly until Saturday and finish the packing on Saturday evening.

February 5th 2005

Dry and a sunny day, but we had so much rain that it took all day to dry out a bit.
For tomorrow everything looks ok, so we start flying again.

No flying today, but the last birthday of the season. This time
Grietje who is celebrating her 33rd birthday.

February 4th 2005

Rain for the 3rd day in a row, it's unreal ! The low pressure system is slowly mowing SE and
is constantly generating showers over this part of NSW and snow in the mountains. Summer ?
For tomorrow we expect to have the sun back, but we need at least a day to get rid of the water.

But this morning we had coffee and cake for Jan his birthday (22). Happy Birthday Jan.

Jan and his cakes	All the pilots  with coffee and cake

February 3rd 2005

The weather was not really Australia Standard

February 2nd 2005

On the briefing we said good bye to Norbert, Bernd and Dieter. They had a great time again and will be back next season.
Dieter did almost 25.000 km cross country !!!.
The weather today. When I looked out of the window in the afternoon , it was like autumn in The Netherlands.
Grey, rain and cold.
We had to deal with a low pressure system moving from N to S and a cold front moving SE.
For tomorrow we expect also a cloudy and rainy day. From Friday normal ; sunny and good flying weather.
Tonight we had the last  Corowa dinner of the season with Andreas Nies, Sebastian and Lars.
They had a good time and will be back next year with their own glider.

February 1st 2005

The weather forecast, Trough approaching from NE with possible shower in the afternoon, a cold frond from the SW
and in between good and interesting soaring conditions.
Andy flew in the afternoon the ASW 17 WN and Eugene flew the ASH26E.

Some of our customers are leaving tomorrow,
SA (Norbert Schlafke) , DB (Bernd DOernemann) and D8 (Dieter Schneller) are packed in the early morning and evening.
Today was also the last day for Andreas Nies , Lars Schwarze and Sebastiaan Nies. The flew the FOX for about 100 hours.

All the gliders are in the hangar, just in case the weather turns bad when the cold front and the trough meet each other over
our area.

January 31st 2005

The last day of a very good January 2005.
We used the 2 tow planes to get everybody in the air in time.
Stephen made his site check and  left with C64 at 12.40.
 

C64 waiting	Stephen ready to fly	Ania just relaxing

January 30th 2005

When we went to the airfield to make the temp flight we had mist and 7/8 low (300 ft) clouds.
So we could fly the temp at 9.30 which is not ideal. Forecasted Tmax was 30 grC we we got 32 local
and 33 North which gave a max thermal height of 8000 ft.

PI first to roll out	Grietje in the Ladies plane

Stephen Crabb and Ania arrived in the evening and starts flying tomorrow on the LS8/C64.

January 29th 2005

A grey day. A trough passing with a cool change behind it.
The flying day was cancelled at the briefing. Not the social day.
Tonight we have Chef Jock Davis who is preparing the meal.
Oysters, Prawn Cocktail, Mussel Soup, Stir Fry with veal and chicken, Fruit salad.
The Oysters just arrived, delivered straight from the SE coast.

But we all are looking forward to the good flying weather forecasted for the next days.

January 28th 2005

A forecast which was not easy. We were just on the border of good to excellent flying weather and
the approach of line with heavy thunderstorms with forecasted wind gust of 50 kts.
We decided to put all gliders in the hangar and call it a (safety) day. We even could roll in PI into the hangar
with all its  span.
By this time (8pm) we fortunately did not have severe weather.

Only early in the morning we took the opportunity to let Yufang Fa solo again in the LS4. She is happy
after 4 year of not flying gliders to fly solo again.

Later in the afternoon, Ian de Ferranti arrived with his DG600. Ian (for the 3rd time) is flying next week in
Corowa.
Craig Blunt left in the morning after a month holiday at Corowa. He left happy with good long flights
made in the ASW17 WN.

January 27th 2005

Andreas, Detlef, Wolfgang and Peter left early in the morning. Good flying and a lot of fun was their
Corowa holiday.
Herbert Dressler attended his last briefing and left at 11 am. Herbert will be back next year with HD.

The weather was interesting. A trough with thunderstorms possible in the West and good conditions
North. Just for a while we could see some storms on the radar, but they disappeared at 18.00.
Not everybody did fly today and missed a good soaring day with flights over 800 km (D8, ILH and FOX) 
and 900 km ( Norbert Schlafke with SA).
We also set a new Corowa record today ; Over 140.000 km cross country in 1 month ( with 4 days to go)

Andreas and Lars back after 825 km in the Duo

January 26th 2005

Good flying weather again.
Andreas Nies took the day off and Lars was flying with Eva Dumke's sister Isabelle and after that with
Sebastian Nies.
Craig Blunt flew his first 600 km with the ASW17 WN.
It was also the last day for Andreas, Peter, Wolfgang and Detlef who did fly GOB and 3W for the last 2 weeks.
They had a great time. and could fly all days except the day with the thunderstorms and rain.
Herbert Dressler also finished this season flying at Corowa and we had with almost everybody a nice fishmeal
tonight. (33 people).
 

Craig happy after 600 km	Andreas, Peter and Detlef	Wolfgang	Jock, Herbert and Eveline
--	Waiting for dinner	the Ladies ZY,JM and PZ

January 25th 2005

Good bye to Pavel, Pavol, Ivan and Viliam and welcome to the new PI team Stefan and George.
Site check was made early in the morning as we made the temp flight >
Stefan took his time to prepare everything after the briefing and launched at 12.30.

Forecast another good day with cu's up to 2500 m.
Most of the pilots were gone by 12 am.
 

January 24th 2005

Another bottle of wine for the PI team.  And after the weather forecast for today we have to wait if they
also take our last bottle of housewine. It is now 10 pm and yes they are going to take our last bottle.
Ivan and Viliam flew 1014 km and are also going home with 3 flights over 1000 km. Almost 4 just
because one of the first flights was cancelled after 980 km just because one of the pilots was not
feeling well and had to go to the hospital.
Congratulations to the PI team 6 flights over 1000 km in the last 3 weeks.!!

The forecast was perfect and the temperature went up much faster as the last days.
!0 minutes before 11 am we started launching. Today DS was the first and PI 2nd.
At 12 am we had all gliders airborne.

January 23rd 2005

At the briefing we said good bye to Manfred and Angelika Kasten. After almost 3 months flying in
Corowa they left for a holiday without gliders. MK is already in the container.
Michael Sommer, who is living and working in Melbourne joined us yesterday evening and stayed for the day.

The forecast was a blue day with  storms and cu's  in the NE.
1st launch was at 12. Most of the pilots did fly today.
Flying along the trough was the way to go. Long flights again.
PI with Pavel and Pavol made their last flight of this Corowa season. They did 1020 km, their 3rd 1000 km flight
this season.
Tomorrow Ivan and Viliam are making their last flight of this YCOR season with PI. And after them a new PI team.

January 22nd 2005

The forecast was perfect, But the day was partly spoiled by just the top of
a cold front over our area.
The thermals were ok, but not reeally good enough to go cross country. Of course Dieter went
cross country and made 240 km.
With a few other pilots we only made some local flights.

January 21st 2005

The day after.
The airfield was reasonable dry after all the rain. The big and heavy ships used the 23 bitumen
and the others 23 rwx. grass right.
We had to wait a while until the cu's were at 1000 m. Later on the day the cu's disappeared
and we had blue thermals over 2000 m.
As the forecast is good for the next week some stayed on the ground.

January 20th 2005

Trough line lined up wit a cold front passed during the night and most of the day.
We had some severe storms and 42 mm of rain.
So after 2 excellent days we had a non flying day.

SA at dawn with the lightning	Doors closed today
		Photo's Craig Blunt

January 19th 2005

Another good day, but a few pilots did not fly after the long flights of yesterday.
Sebastian Nies is celebrating his birthday today and of course he got his happy birthday song
at the briefing and a present from Grietje.

We started launching at 11 and after 9 hours PI was back with another 1000 km flight.
 

January 18th 2005

A busy beautiful soaring day at Corowa. Early start nice cu's and good lift.
All together we flew 15.172 km cross country and made 162 hours. A new Corowa day record.

The take off of most of the gliders.

Hangar empty	Tie down empty	Gliders on the 05R	3W	AR	AS	WN
D8	DB	Francesco drops the rope  for refuelling	FM	GOB	HD	ZY
ILH	JM	MK	PZ	RA	SY

January 17th 2005

Today the first day after the change. Temperatures from 30grC local up to 32 grC a bit in the North.
As the dewpoint went up a few degrees in the morning we got some cu's up to 2500 m.
Andreas, Detlef, Wolfgang and Peter used to day to fly all on the GOB and 3W.

Our guest  Yufang Fan  first made a flight with Francesco in the IS28 and after that with Eugene for another
1,5 hours.

All the others went up North with good flights after a few days with not the weather we are used to.
PI launched at 10.45 and flew 910 km.

PI before take off	PI in flight	Ivan preparing his logger	Pavol	Viliam and Pavol	Photo's Pavel Rychtarik

January 16th 2005

The trough and a linked cold front passed today.
At 3 pm it was possible to fly for a while. Andreas and Lars went up with the duo and Andreas Gidde
made his first flight with 3W.
Today our first guest from China arrived.

January 15th 2005

Another birthday!!
Today Hansi Lange (Ich Liebe Hansi) is celebrating his 58th birthday. So for the 3rd briefing in a row
we did our utmost to sing Happy Birthday and of course directed by Francesco.
Grietje offered Hansi a bottle of wine, just because he likes to be kissed by a lady and not by ,,,.
At 11 am we had coffee and birthday cake.

Yesterday evening Heribert Storp said goodbeye. He enjoyed his 2 week stay in Corowa and will be back
next year. Nice to have you and your wife in Corowa.

The weather was not what we like to have. The clouds associated with the trough were just 30 km  North of Corowa.
Detlef made 2 local flights with the LS4 and Wolfgang  managed to stay up a bit in the weak thermals.
Grietje made some training flights with Wim, Sebastian and Jan.
The last flight today was for Mario and Andreas in the Duo. They made a very nice movie of the last 50 minutes of Mario's
2005 holiday in Corowa. His dream to complete his diamond badge is now reality. We hope to see Mario back
next season with his daughter Hedwig, who could not join him this year, due to a new job in The Netherlands.
|

January 14th 2005

Yesterday evening we had a very nice meal to celbrate Andy's and Karsen's birthday.
|
Today, Happy Birthday Manfred !!!   Manfred Kasten is celebratiing his birthday.
On the morning briefing we had this time  a choir  of about 35 people to sing for Manfred.
And tomorrow ? Another birthday.

We said goodbye to Jan Ritsma and Brigitte. They are driving back to Melbourne with
Jan who had to fix his ticket for early February.

We did welcome four new guests,
Peter Gehrig, Wolfgang Meyer, Detlef Heckert and Andreas Gidde. They are flying 3W, GOB and C64 in the
next two weeks.
 This morning, after the general info briefing we made the site checks with all four

The weather turned out to be not the forecasted weather. So after the site checks we did not make
any more flights.

January 13th 2005

Happy Birthday	Andy's new mate	Andy with presents	Dieter's phone by the internet

Happy Birthday Andy !! 56 years young.
On the briefing Francesco directed the choir again. After the song Eveline gave him a new
mate for the lonely hours and Grietje a bottle of wine.
Tonight we celebrate his birthday with a nice meal.

We did not get the forecasted temperature. So a late start andfrom 150 200 km North we had
temperatures over 40 grC (West Wyalong 41grC and Ivanhoe 43 grC) This was enough
for a 4000 m cloubase. But the way back home was only blue up to 1800 meter.
PI flew a new SK record on the 500 o/r.

Jan Ritsma made his last flight of the season and is going back to The Netherlands with
23 new Dutch records. Congratulations Jan. And Brigitte, thanks for your company and taking
care of the flowers in the garden.

January 12th 2005

After a disappointing Tuesday, we were looking foreward to another good day.
But the forecast spoiled the day. A late start and a max alt of 1500m agl with climbs of 2 m/s was all
we could expect.
Most of the pilots were happy after 6 good flying days that the weather made the decision for them to
play golf today and take a rest.
Only PI went for a afternoon flight and did 235 km.
The restaurant does not depend on the weather, so we had an excellent fish evening. Wim surprised
everybody with a special shrimps / avocado on the house entree. Top !!

January 11th 2005

Corowa 09.30 today

An excellent forecast, but a disappointing day.
We launched in time, but the forecasted temperature took to long and the weather turned out to be not that good.
Nevertheless we had a good soaring day with flights between 200 km and 730 km.
 

January 10th 2005

A nice briefing with a new SK record 1010 O/R and 2 Dutch records to celebrate.
And today another good day.
As usual PI took off early. They declared a 1000 km FAI triangle, bud made only 940 km.
By 12 we had all the gliders in the air and the pilots started a difficult first
2 hours, but after that (29.5 grC) it was great. 3300 meter cloud base and climbs over 6 m/s.

January 9th 2005

Peter Presneill is celebrating his birthday today. Happy Birthday Peter!

The 4th good day in a row.
The forecast was a later start as the previous days, but excellent soaring weather with cu's!
PI declared a 1010 O/R and left 10.30 and landed at sunset. So the 2nd day in a row with
a flight over 1000 km.
Some of the pilots left the gliders in the hanger and took  the day off.
After towing Grietje flew the 3W and did 200 km out and return with 126 km/h. A new Dutch female record.
Jan Ritsma did today another record. The 100 km triangle with over 160 km/h.

In the afternoon Andreas Nies, Lars Schwarze and Sebastian arrived. The are flying FOX for the next 3 weeks.

And for tomorrow ? Maybe another good soaring day.
 

The 4th

January 8th 2005

Another good soaring day. The forecast was an early start, cu's and good lift.
So PI was the first to launch just before 10 am . They landed after 10,5 hours flying and a 1070 km flight.
The cu's started to pop up at 10.30.
Francesco flew in the afternoon with Jan 200 km o/r and after they landed Wim and Grietje flew the Duo
for 1,5 hour and did 125 km o/r.
Edelgard packed, but the day was that good, that she took AR for a last season flight. 400 km o/r in
3 hours and 10 minutes.
Mario van Bree completed his F badge with a nice flight of 520 km with C64. Congratulations !!!.
 

January 7th 2005

Strong winds again. But early cu's and an early launch.
PI was the first today  just after 9.40 am followed by Edelgard with the AR.
PI flew almost 11 hours !! and 910 km.
Edelgard made the last flight of this Corowa season for the Weber team.
Edelgard and Bernd Weber are leaving tomorrow.

Manfred Kasten completed his 5000 hours of gliding. Congratulations !!

Manfred 5000 hours !!	Bernd with DB	Andy	PI in flight	A typical Corowa sunset	Enjoying our meal

January 6th 2005

A blue sky at 7.30 am when we made the temp flight. The first cu's started at 8.30 to pop up
and we had a beautiful sky by 9.45 when we towed PI with Ivan and Pavol. They reported straight
away 1250 meter cloud base and 3 m/s climbs. They landed back at Corowa after a flight of 960 km.
During the day it dried out a bit in the North but still nice small cu's. The West was excellent.
The only problem was the strong SW wind with 20 kts with 25 kt gusts. Fortunately straight on
runway 23.
Mario prepared C64 and made his first flight on the LS8. After a few hours he came back, happy!

Jan Ritsma first flew a 300 km o/r (new Dutch record) with 112 km/h landed and took off again
this time for a 100 km o/r which was flown with 134 km/h, also a new Record. Well done !!

All together today over 11.000 km cross country.

January 5th 2005

Two birthdays today, First of all Francesco's mother in The Netherlands. Happy Birthday .

And Richard Aldous is also celebrating his birthday today.

The weather should be ok, but we were all day under 7/8 of clouds. So no flying.

Anja Kohlrausch left today. She had a good time again and flew 3 new German female records.
 

January 4th 2005

Dieter brought a new guest ( for the 2dn time) into the office this morning. We called him JJ. (Jumbo Junior)
Grietje and Jan kept JJ busy for 2 hours and gave him back to Jumbo who brought him back home.

Jumbo Junior	JJ	The sky in the afternoon

A weak trough passed during the night with sandy rain. In the morning everything was brown and dirty.
Good business for the car wash.
In the morning we had a hugh storm and 18 mm rain within no time.
After that the sky cleared and the first cu's developed. At 4 pm we did not have to much wind
which was the moment for Dieter to launch.

January 3rd 2005

Our friends Ilmari and mrs Rintasalo, Pekka and Markku left yesterday evening.
The were our first customers from Finland and we really enjoyed their stay (and humor).
In the afternoon Mario van Bree arrived. Mario is in Corowa for the 3rd time and is this time
flying the LS8/18 C64. Hopefully this time his 500 km diamond.

The weather was a little bit complicated. A surface trough NE and a trough moving from W to E.
The temperature went up slowly and the trough was about 1 hour earlier as forecasted over our area.
We had 16 pilots in the air, but not everybody went further as gliding distance from Corowa.
For tomorrow we might be under the trough, but after that we have a few good days forecasted.

January 2nd 2005

We had some high clouds in the morning which slowed down the temp increase in the morning.
From 1 pm it was blue as forecasted with a lower temp max as expected.
Not an excellent day, but flyable.
Ilmari Rintasalo flew for 1.5 hour the Duo with his wife and a few others went up and struggled to make over 200 km.

 January 1st 2005

A sky covered with high clouds when we woke up.
So no temp trace,
The forecast was still high temperatures. In that case good conditions if not maybe a little bit of
local flying. The last was the case.
Peter Presneill was the duty tow pilot today after he joined us at new years eve.

Francesco made a local flight with Coby in the Duo and after that 2 aero tows with Jan Creemer.

Illmari and Pekka made their last flight in PI today (2 hours local) and Markku waited but decided
not to fly.

And of course Dieter flew 125 km with D8.

A Happy 2005 with many nice and save flights

December 31st 2004

An excellent last day of 2004.
The temp looked perfect, we only had to wait until a layer of cirrus clouds moved to the east.
We started launching at 10.45.
It was a blue day with strong thermals and a height over 10.000 ft.
Long flights again mad by most of the pilots.
Jan Ritsma flew again some Dutch records. Today, a 15m, 18m and open 700 km FAI triangle.

In the evening we had an nice meal with special guests :

- Coby and Ieske (the neighbors of Grietje and Francesco in The Netherlands)
- Pepe (AV)
- Peter Presneill

Today we had:

The last Temp trace of 2004
The last briefing of 2004
The last aero tow of 2004 by Grietje with FOO
The last self launch by Eva Dumke in ZY
The last calls at 18.00 pm
The last thermal by Herbert Dressler
The last landing by Herbert Dressler with his "HD'
The last time we closed the hangar doors
The last meal with 43 people

And we hope a lot of good  and save flights in 2005.

And tomorrow? Another flying day??

December 30th 2004

Not always 2 excellent days in a row.
Forecast, blue all day and thermals up to 1200 m until 1pm. Later up too 2200 meter.
After the long flights of yesterday, some  stayed on the ground hoping for a good last day of the year.
Jan Ritsma flew his 10 Dutch records since he arrived in Corowa.

December 29th 2004

First launch 10 am last glider in the air 11.55
Nothing special, just a beautiful soaring day with nice cu's  and blue thermals and some climbs over 5 m/s.
Results of the day; 150 gliding hours, 2 new records and over 10.000 km cross country.

SY in take off	Eugene ready !	the boss and the boss	Jan	Corowa 09.30

December 28th 2004

We started the day with a joy flight at 7.30.
After that we only towed PI. and then blowing turbulence on low altitudes and a gusty wind of sometimes
35 kts again. Another day without taking any risk.
 

The wind Graph of the last 2 days	Two friends

December 27th 2004

When we made the temp trace flight we already had 20 kts wind.
Weather forecast was cu's up to 2000 meter but strong winds.

By the time we had some of the gliders out the wind 25 kts and gusts up to 30 kts.
and later on gusts up to 38 kts.
With a beautiful sky filled with cu's it was not easy to stay on the ground, but it sure was
the safest place.

December 26th 2004

Boxing Day. Still a day off for a few, but most went up in the good weather.
The first cu's popped up at 10 am and we started launching just before 11. To late because the cloud base
was already 1300 m with climbs over 2,5 m/s.
Anja was the first to launch with 3W followed by Bernd Weber in the AR.
Jan Creemers made his first cross country in the Duo. He made o/r 175 km.
 

December 25th 2004

December 25th 2004

Blue and thermals up to 1800 meter. Only Dieter and Ilimari with Pekka went for a flight.
All the others enjoyed Christmas day at home or on the Murray.
Wim arrived yesterday evening and does not have time for a jetlag as he is already in the kitchen
preparing Christmas dinner with Grietje, Jan and Francesco.
The 3 ladies Eveline, Eva and Andrea are a great help with decorating the tables, working on the table setting
and cutting all the fruit for the desert tonight.
An impression of the Christmas dinner with all the customers will be on the net later on the evening (day).

Andrea working on the decoration	Eveline preparing the desert	Eva 34 x everything	Jan the perfect cook	Wim and Grietje	The entree

December 25th 2004

December 24th 2004

The trough was still over our area this morning and cleared the sky at 5 pm.
Only Markku  in the LS4 and Illmari and Pakku in the Nimbus4 made local flights.

Grietje left in the afternoon for Melbourne to pick up her father Wim, who will stay for he next 4 weeks.

December 23rd 2004

An early start of the two ladies, Edelgard and Anja . They went for a long distance.
At 10.45 the thermals started up to 800 m, but after that is stayed that way for about an hour.  Unfortunately
Anja out landed early at the Oil Tree Lagoon and was retrieved by Grietje. She could continue the day and flew still 650 km!!
The NE was blocked by huge thunderstorms and the in the West a trough was approaching
but not disturbing the soaring fun of today.

Daniel Dumke made his last flight of this Corowa season and made some nice pictures.

Grietje retrieves Anja	Impression of thoday	View over Corowa	Richard in flight with RA
			Photo's Daniel Dumke

December 22nd 2004

The temp trace was promising. !st possible launch with climbs up to 1000 m was 11 am.
Bernd Weber with the AR was the first to launch. He declared a 1000 km out and return but unfortunately
missed out on 40 km. 960 km was the result. Nevertheless an excellent performance. All pilots made nice flight
and 7 of them flew over 800 km. Together we made over 13000 km cross country today and flew for about 140 hours.

Jan Ritsma flew with his Ventus 2/15m a new Dutch Record over the 600 km FAI triangle with 122 km/h.
and Anja Kohlrausch flew 3 new German female records with  the ASW 27 3W.

In the late afternoon we had two pilots from Benalla who landed at Corowa. Francesco towed them
halfway and they were home within 45 minutes.

December 21st 2004

The forecast for today was blue, max 1500 meter and thermals max 2 m/s.
PI, GOB AR, 3W and ZY were the only ones who flew as the forecast for the next few days is much better.

On the briefing we said goodbye to Tomas Suchanek and Lubor Kuvik. They flew over 10.000 km cross country
in the last 3 weeks.
As Tomas is celebrating his birthday tomorrow we had a happy birthday song at the briefing by all the pilots
and a birthday present was given by Grietje .

After briefing Grietje left and went to ALbury to pick up Jan Creemers. Jan is a glider pilot from the Netherlands.
He is flying with the Gliding Club in Venlo.
As the activities are getting more and more at Corowa. Grietje and Francesco needed  an extra hand next to
all the help of Eugene.
Jan is staying at corowa for about 5 weeks.
 

Jan doing the dishes

December 20th 2004

Early in the morning we made the site checks with Ilmari and Markku.
After briefing Ilmari and Pekka left with the PI and Tomas and Lubor flew their last day on the Duo Discus.
After Noon Markku started his flying holiday on GOB .
Only a few are flying today, the others safe their energy for the next good days.

December 19th 2004

Happy birthday. Today Francesco's father is celebrating his 81st birthday.

The cool change and a passing trough. That's the weather of today.
A strong wind of 20 kts with gusts up to 28 kts and blue sky.
Only PI with Tomas and Lubor flew for about 2 hours and handed the PI over to the Ilmari and Pekka.

December 18th 2004

The temp trace gave us a possible launch time of 10.45.
PI was the first followed by AR, FOX and 3W. The first hour was not easy, but after that the climbs became
4 m/s average and sometimes over 5 m/s. It was a blue day again with climbs up to 2800 m.

Team PI	Tomas and Lubor taking off

December 17th 2004

31 grC local but the pilots had to work to stay up and make reasonable flights.
Even up North where we had a few degrees more we had to wait untill the inversion was broken.
After that we had good conditions with strong thermals and a thermal height of 2600m.
Anja made here first flight today on 3W.
Jan Ritsma declared a 600 km FAI triangle, but he had to use the urbo 30 km from the airfield.
In the afternoon our new guests from Finland arrived. The will start flying on Monday.
And markku is flying the LS4 for the next 2 weeks and IImari Rintasalo will fly the Nimbus 4dm PI together with his friend.
 

December 16th 2004

Yesterday evening Anja Kohlraush arrived. She is in Corowa for the 2nd time and will fly the ASW 27 3W.

We had the same weather as yesterday. Blue and thermals up to 2400 m..
Only 6 pilots did fly distances between 200km and 765 km/.
For tomorrow we expect temp over 30 grC.

December 15th 2004

We needed  26,5 grC for cu's. We only got 25gr C, which made the day difficult. Weak thermals and a low
height of the thermals. Nevertheless we had reasonable distances wit PI 775 km.
For the next few days the influence of the high will dominate and improve the soaring conditions.

Dieter upoloading his flight

December 14th 2004

Finally high pressure and dry conditions.
In stead of less wind we got more. Up to 50 km/h in the afternoon.
PI declared a 530 km o/r and made it easy. After the were back in Corowa they flew another O/R to The Rock
which gave them a total of 800 km.
Bernd Weber made his first flight of this Corowa season and did about 450 km in the Ventus AR. Tomorrow it is Edelgard's turn to fly AR.
Herbert Dressler prepared his Ventus HD and made a check flight in the afternoon. He is also
ready for the next weeks.

December 13th 2004

Monday the 13th.
In stead of high pressure, a trough meeting cold air in the south.  Thunderstorms all around.
Fortunately we did not get any rain at the airfield again, but strong winds and  storms from Wangaratta
over Lake Mulwala contracting to the NE.
PI was the only one who took off, but was back within an hour.

For tomorrow we expect high pressure over the area and good flying conditions.

On the briefing we said goodbye to Jan, Chris, Frank and Alfons from Belgium.
It was really nice to have them here . We will see them back next year.
We also said goodbye to Oswald Stoll and his wife Rosemary from Switserland.

December 12th 2004

A nice flying day again.
The forecast gave a reasonable day. Possible storms in the east and a possible one in our area. But as we hoped the
small ridge of high pressure was pushing into the NE which gave a good soaring day with no storms.
Due to all the rain of the last weak the thermals were not to strong in the first part of the day , but still an average of 2 m/s.
Later thermals up to 4 m/s were normal.

Reinhard Pankow left in the afternoon. He will be back in January.
The AR will be flown now by Edelgard and Bernd Weber who arrived in the afternoon.

Yesterday evening Patrick Fallon arrived from Sydney. He will fly the Duo together with Richard Aldous for 2 days.

Today also Herbert Dressler arrived. Herbert in Corowa for the 2nd time and he will fly  his own Ventus cm HD.

Today was also the last day for our Belgium friends Frank, Jan and Alfons.
Alfons was very happy because he could make his first flight on the LS8 today. Unfortunately they lost a few flying days
due to the weather of the last week. But we will see them back next season.

 

LD in flight	Alfons happy !	Back after flight

December 11th 2004 after dinner

A unique family evening. We were used to have nice evenings with good food, but tonight we had a first class
meal prepared by Chef Jan Vercammen and his wife Chris and Alfons Ceulemans.
After a flying wise terrible week it was nice to start the new week with an evening like this.

A photo impression of the evening

	All the entrees	The entree			The main	Ruedi the bartender
	The fam,ily doing the dishes	Birgitte	Alfons	The winning team Jan and Chris	The Boberg team

December 11th 2004

The day started with full sunshine. Nice ? yes for a while because the forecast was thunderstorms in the afternoon
again. At 2 pm the first severe storms develloped north and south of the airfield. The ranges triggered them and they
got the full load.
So far 6pm we only saw the rain but the storms went just around Corowa, so the wind and the sun could do their drying job.
The day was to short for a reasonable flight, so all stayed on the ground.

For tonight we have a family evening of which we will put the photo's later on the news.
Jan, Chris, Alfons and Frank have been busy for a few hours, but the result is amazing.
 

Corowa yesterday evening after 20 mm	Jan prepared for the worst	Francesco tries to explain the weather	Jan and Chris preparing the entree

December 10th 2004

We have had better weather. The whole of NSW is under a very active trough, which is supposed to be gone by Sunday.
For today the forecast for our area and the whole of the Riverina was rain and thunderstorms with possible hail.
As we learned from the past this type of weather can be very surprising and dangerous. So on the briefing it
was clear that nobody, even PI with Tomas and Lubor were  going to fly.
In the early afternoon all of a sudden the storms developed again and with wind gusts of 30 kts and stormy rain we
were happy we had the gliders in the hangar.
For tomorrow we are still under the influence of the trough but we hope from Sunday the weather will develop into
the weather we are used to. Good thermals and safe flying conditions.
Sorry I can't give a better picture of flying in Australia at the moment.

December 9th 2004

Unreal this weather!!
Low pressure systems all over Australia!! At this very moment we have tropical weather.
Thunderstorms all over NSW !!

The lightning map from 20.00 local time.

Until 6 pm we had not one drop of rain and the last 30 minutes we got 20 mm !!!
The forecast is also not optimistic. Sunday will be the 1st reasonable day.
 

December 8th 2004

The day started sunny, but the forecast cb in the afternoon was right.
Tomas and Lubor were the first to start, followed by Dieter.
PI was flying within a reasonable distance from Corowa in order not to be surprised by the CB's.

Hopefully the low pressure system will leave our area tomorrow. This is enough!

For tonight we have our weekly fish evening. 26 people to serve tonight.

Grietje	Table 1	Table 2

For Saturday we have a family evening. Our Chef Jan Vercammen and his Wife Chris from Belgium
are going to surprise us with a high level meal.

December 7th 2004

This morning the trough was West of our area  and moved to the East.
On the moment the instability  triggered the CB's, they were just East of us and did not bring much rain.
The complex low pressure system is still responsible for the weather tomorrow. However the low is filling
up a bit, so maybe another flying day tomorrow.

December 6th 2004

After an excellent Sunday a non flying Monday
A deepening trough over NSW triggered Thunderstorms and rain.
It was flyable for about3 hours, but everybody did choose not to fly.

On the briefing Tomas, Lubor and Norbert got their 1000 km bottle of wine.

New guests arrived yesterday.
We welcomed Oswald and Rosemary Stoll from Switzerland.

December 5th 2004

A new record 1190 km flown from Corowa !!! and 2 flights over 1000 km

A beautiful soaring day.
Together we flew from Corowa over 13.000 km cross country today and made a total of 155 hours.

Briefing was short. Forecast ok possible 1st launch with climbs up to 1000 m 10 am.
PI was late and started at 10.30.  From that time we had cu's and 11.10 we had  20 gliders in the air.

Everybody made beautiful flights and enjoyed the day.
After launching Francesco left at 2 pm with the Duo and flew a 200 out and return with 126 km/h.
Frank landed out after 720 km, just 3 km out. We retrieved him by car.

RA 100 km out  on final glide	Frank happy ?	Yes happy after 720 km

December 4th 2004

Yesterday evening the 3rd Dumke arrived. This time Eva and Otto's son Daniel. Daniel is going to share the DG 800
ZY.
Jan Vercammen is celebrating his birthday and on this morning briefing we had a bottle of wine and a happy
birthday song by all the pilots.
The 2nd bottle of wine was for Tomas and Lubor. They completed a 3rd flight over 900 km in one week!!!

The forecast was overcast and breaking cloud by 1 pm.
PI left (as always in time) and flew 667 km.

Daniel was briefed by Francesco and made his site check in the Duo. He flew 210 km.

Happy birthday Jan	Lubor and Tomas	Eva helping her son Daniel	Daniel	Final glide

December 3rd 2004

The briefing room was full this morning.
Everybody was there and eager to fly. With a good forecast we had almost al gliders on the 05R.
Jan Ritsma flew his 3rd Dutch record yesterday, so time to offer Jan a bottle of All Saint Shiraz
Unfortunately Frank landed out after 25 km. Just unlucky.
Jan Vercammen flew his first 500 km and got his diamond distance today.

PI with Tomas and Lubor flew over 900 km again. The 3rd flight over 900 km km a row!!

wine for his 3rd record in one week	Team JM, Manfred and Fritz	Team SY with mystery guest	PZ waiting for his launch	Launching

December 2nd 2004

The first day after the cool change. 24grC was really nice after all those hot days.
Jan Vercammen made his first flight on the LS8 LD and Frank flew the ASW27 for the first time and
Alfons went cross country with the LS4.

Jan Ritsma flew his 3rd Dutch record from Corowa in the last week. Today the 600 km out and return.

The forecast for the next few days is good again.

December 1st 2004

Today the cool change! So no flying today.
We (Eveline, Eva, Bernd and Alfons) used the day to bring our clubhouse in a Christmas mood.
It looks nice again and it still very strange to have Christmas  in summer time.|

Just because it was Wednesday we had our weekly fish evening.
Salmon in white wine and dill was on the menu.
It was a very nice and pleasant (Corowa) family evening.

Grietje installed today the wireless LAN (max 250 users). So now where you look in the clubhouse everywhere
somebody is working on his computer and browsing the internet.
we are waiting for the booster antenna, so the pilots can upload the flights from everywhere on the airfield.

Fons our "sparky"	Enjoying the salmon	Enjoying the wine	Enjoying the evening

November 30th 2004

Today Alfons made his first flight on the LS4 and that will be his glider for the next 2 weeks.
Jan is going to fly LD from tomorrow and Frank is flying the C64 (LS8).
Late in the morning Dieter (Jumbo) arrived and his Nimbus D8 is with the help of the Belgium team
and Bernd already rigged and in the hangar.

PI was the only one to fly today. But after one hour he had 70 km/h  wind and rising dust on the ground
so time to return to Corowa.
Within no time we had the same wind speed at Corowa and did put all the gliders in the hangar.

The Belgium Team	Again Jan, Frank and Alfons	A happy Bernd	Richard and Dieter	Most of the gliders in

November 29th 2004

The last day of an excellent cycle.
10 perfect soaring days in a row on which we made about 40.000 km cross country.
We started the day with a perfect weather forecast again. However we already had some cirrus in the morning
and the forecasted time of the front approaching was not quite right.
PI left for a 1050 km O/R but due to the  approaching front they had to run the last 140 km on the engine.
But 910 km was not bad for the day.
The other pilots flew between 460 and 640 km.

November 28th 2004

Frank, Eugene, Jan and Alfons left at 7.30 to get GOB out of the paddock.
We rigged the glider and it ready to fly again.
At 8 am Lubor and Thomas arrived. They are going to fly the PI for the next 3 weeks.
After briefing we rigged PI and they were airborne at 1.30 PM and flew a 760 km FAI triangle with
an amazing final glide of 180 km !!!!

In the beginning the weather turned out not to be as good as we expected. We had to wait a while, but
then it was perfect. The pilots who went North made long flights but had to fight back into the strong head wind.

November 27th 2004

Yesterday in the afternoon Frank van Putten, Jan Vercammen en Alfons Ceulemans from Belgium arrived.
Today we made the site checks and Frank (LD) and Jan (GOB) enjoyed the high cloud base and strong thermals.
After a few good soaring days and long flights in a row some of the pilots decided to take the day of and not
to look to the sky.
Jan Ritsma flew his 2nd Dutch record this week . Today the 300 km FAI triangle with 138 km/h.

But Norbert Schlafke was the winner today with his flight of 980 km with his ASW 22 "SA"

November 26th 2004

The max temperature forecast was between 32 and 35 grC. Later in the day we finally had cu's and excellent climbs.
4,5 m/s was normal.
Ruedi made his first flight of the season and Grietje after a lot of problems with her back tried carefully with an 100 km out/return
with 112 km/h. So 3W is in the air again.
Fritz made his first flight in the JM.
Unfortunately it was the last flying day for Tommy and Lars. They are going home with 5 new Norwegian records !!!
 

November 25th 2004

The forecast climbs up to 2500 meter with 3.5 average and 5 m/s max.
The first launch was 1t 10 am. Fritz made his site check and we already y had climbs of 1,5 m/.s up to 650 meter.

We started launching at 11 am with Peter Presneill as guest tow pilot.

Jan Ritsma flew a new Dutch record on the 400 km out and return and Tommy Kristiansen flew a new Norwegian record
on the 300 km FAI triangle.

November 24th 2004

It starts to get hot. Forecast for Corowa was 27 grC and we got 30 grC.
Blue with good thermals up to 2500 m.
A good flying day, but unfortunately blue again. Lars flew back from Narromine ./ Tommy and Lars are leaving
on Saturday and have 2 more good days to go.

Fritz Wech, a friend of Manfred Ringel arrived today. Fritz will share the JM (Ventus 2cm) for the next 2 weeks.
Reinhard Pankow also arrived in the afternoon and his Ventus AR is already rigged in the hangar.
 

November 23rd 2004

Another blue day.
27grC with a forecast for the next few days into the mid thirties.
Before the temperature was to high, we rigged the ASW22 SA.
Jan Ritsma spend the morning to do some maintenance on the glider and prepared computers etc.
Later in the afternoon he made the first flight with JR. 320 km o/r was the result.

Andy and Lars did fly to Narromine.

Eugene left  last and flew 415 km o/ and almost return. He had to outland 3 km from the airfield.

.November 22nd 2004

Forecast 200 meter blue thermals. After 2 days of long flights most of the pilots did not fly.
Only Lars and Manfred Kasten mad nice flights.
In the afternoon Norbert Schlafke arrived, so tomorrow the SA (ASW22BLE) to rig.

November 21st 2004

Late yesterday evening Richard Aldous arrived. We rigged his glider in the morning and he flew in the
afternoon a 330 km o/r.
Jan Ritsma made his site check with Francesco and they did a 300 km out and return in the Duo with 120 km/h.
Lars flew his first 500 km FAI triangle.
All the others looked very happy after long flights between 300 and 750 km.
Otto was the winner today with 750 km.!!

November 20th 2004

We started the day rigging DS.
Werner did the towing today and Grietje and Francesco went to Albury to pick up FOO. So
both tow planes are now in Corowa with fresh 100 hrly inspections.
In the afternoon Manfred Kasten and Jan Ritsma with Brigitte arrived. They were still fit enough to rig
their gliders. So JR and MK are also in the hangar. Tomorrow they will prepare the gliders and start flying on Monday.

The forecast for today and the next few days are good due to a slow moving high in the Byte.

Peter Zander and Manfred Ringel made their first season flights.

November 19th 2004

We had an cloudy day. The trough slowed down a bit.
Briefing at 12.00 But still overcast, but we were just on the edge of the blue sky.
At 4 pm it was clear and nice cu's at +/- 2500 meter. Unfortunately no flying today.

November 18th 2004

Forecast trough and cold front passing in the afternoon with strong and gusty winds ahead of it.
Tmax of 33 grC.
After briefing we rigged JM and PZ.
Everybody took the day off !!

In the afternoon der Ruedi (Herzog) arrived. So for tomorrow DS to rig.

November 17th 2004

A blue, but excellent soaring day.
Francesco was the first to launch today with the Duo, after that everybody was in  the air soon.
Nice flights between 150 km speed task for Tommy with 130 km/h and 500 km .
Peter Zander and Manfred Ringel arrived safe in Corowa in the afternoon. So tomorrow another
two gliders to rig.

November 16th 2004

From today  the temp traces (when made) are published on the web page temp traces 2004 2005,
The forecast was good, but it took a while before we got the right temperature. Local we got a max of 25 grC.
Francesco and Bernd worked on the ASW28 to get everything ready for the season. After the they flew for
about 2 hours.
The two ladies, Eva and Andrea did fly and the men Otto as ground chief and Werner as tow pilot did well.
For tomorrow we expect 32 grC with Northerly a wind.

November 15th 2004

The weather is improving.. Today we got 22 grC and nice cu's up to 1800 meter.
Bernd made his first flight with his new ASW28E and flew 200 km.
Andrea Niechciol and Andreas Sieber made their  first flight of the new Corowa season.
Lars filled up his LS8 LD and flew a 300 km declared FAI triangle.

November 14th 2004

The weather improved, but due to a SW airflow we had 7/8 of sc at low altitude.
We used the day by rigging the new ASW28E from Bernd Doernemann. It will have the first flight tomorrow.
We also rigged Hansi Lange's Ventus ILH.
The forecast for the next few days is good. Wednesday we expect 34 grC !!

November 13th 2004

The weather today was a bit unusual.  A cold front passed and we had a trough NW/SE which was moving
SW. We had all day strong winds and some showers.
Andy spend the day with replacing his flight computer by the new Zander system and Lars did some work on
the LD.

November 12th 2004

Rain yesterday. The result was 25 mm rain in Corowa.
But this morning we woke up with a blue sky. A light breeze and warm weather.
Lars and Tommy went sight seeing yesterday and came back at 1 pm. We took out both LS8 and the were in the air by
3 pm. After them Otto left with the DG800 ZY for a local flight o f 185 km.
Eveline and Hansi  Lange arrived in the morning and Bernd and Maria Doernemann in the afternoon. Tomorrow we start
with the rigging of ILH and the new DB.

Tonight was the first night we had the restaurant open. A nice meal and happy customers.
 

November 11th 2004

We have to deal with a very wide cloud band. Rain from 9 am.
The Bureau of Meteorology expect  a lot of rain with possible flooding in Victoria.
 

November 10th 2004

Last night we had some severe storms .
But in de  morning it was blue and from 11 am we had nice cu's and a max temp of 24 grC.
Lars and Tommy went cross country and flew the Rock out and return. 2500 m cloud base and max climbs
of 4 m/s was really exciting.
Werner made the first flight of the season with the SY . He flew  an easy 450 km.
In the afternoon Andy AS arrived. Jetlag ?? His glider is already rigged and in the hangar !!
 

November 9th 2004

We started the day with moist and instable air. The cu's developed fast and we had some rain, but
the weather improved from the West. 2000 meter cloud base and lift of 4 m/s .
Lars and Tommy made their site checks. After that Lars flew LD for about 2,5 hours and Tommy was still
enjoying his jet lag. Both start flying tomorrow the real cross country. Lars on LD and Tommy on NL.

Later in the afternoon Otto left with ZY and went sight seeing to Benalla and flew about 235 km.

For tomorrow we expect a good day, so the 1st temp trace will be flown early in the morning.

November 8th 2004

A busy but most of all a excellent soaring day. At 10 am we had beautiful sky with cu's.
Otto and Eva prepared their glider after the trip from Europe. They are sharing their DG800 ZY.
Today both flew. Otto was the first to fly and after 320 km he handed the glider over to Eva. She
flew almost 2,5  hours and 190 km.

Eugene collected the LS8/18 LD on Sunday. Tom Gilbert delivered the other LS8/18 NL.
After rigging both LS8. Francesco did test fly them and the LS4 GOB as well.
The last test flight was only one hour in which he flew 135 km out and return !!
So all gliders are ready to go.

Later in the afternoon Lars and Tommy arrived. After the site checks tomorrow they will fly the NL and LD
for the next 3 weeks.

Werner and Andrea prepared their SY and start flying tomorrow.
After the towing Werner took the opportunity to fly the Pawnee, FOO. He was impressed by the 250 hp engine.

From today we  have every day daily news and the daily results.

November 5th 2004

Rain all night. We got 16 mm and just at the moment Mr. Ray Vassallo arrived it stopped raining so we were lucky
we could go on with the inspection.
With his well known accuracy he checked 3 containers. It was good to hear that he was very happy with everything
and cleared all three containers.
After a few hours he left and we could start rigging gliders.
SY, ZY and 3W are in the hangar as all the wing walkers, tail dollies and tow bars.

Eugene and Deirdre are on the way to Narromine to pick up NLD the LS8.

Fuselages waiting	Werner lifts the 1st fuselage	Mr Vassallo waiting to get under the fuselage	Nex one	Job done

November 4th 2004

The Blue , Red and Green container are in Corowa.

With only 1 day delay on the schedule the containers arrived this afternoon. Tomorrow at 9.30 am
we expect Mr. Ray Vassallo from the Australian Quarantine Services to inspect all the gliders.
After his approval we start rigging the first gliders.
We had a quick look in the containers and it is all 100%.

Eugene and Deidre are leaving early tomorrow morning to pick up the 1st LS8/18 at Narromine. On Monday
the 2nd LS8 will arrive at Corowa and in about a week the third one.

November 3rd 2004

Eugene finished the annual of his ASW17 "WN" and flew it in the afternoon for about 2,5 hours.
Otto and Eva arrived yesterday and made both their site checks today. Good climbs of 3,5 m/s average and
a cloud base of 2000 m agl. surprised them. They and their son are going to fly their DG808 ZY for the next 3 months.
Werner and Andrea are back from a short holiday and are moving into their Aussi home.
From Monday on we are full in operation again.

October 31st 2004

A busy week.
Eugene and Francesco spend most of the week with the form 2 of GOB. But today we finished the job
and GOB is in top condition waiting for his first flight.
In the mean time Grietje spend 2 days in the workshop in Albury to get the 100 hourly of FOO finished.
On Friday she flew FOO back and yesterday we made the 1 st aero tow with the new 260 hp engine.
It is good to have FOO back. She is a beauty to fly.
LGT is now in Albury and we expect it back on Wednesday.
Today we cleaned the clubhouse and the hangar and Grietje is finishing the last things in the office so
we are ready for the season.

What a job	Francesco refitting the aileron	Eugene in control	GOB ready for mass balance

October 25th 2004

Francesco's daughter Cynthia is celebrating her 25th birthday on the 25th. Happy Birthday !!

We also have the info that the containers will arrive tonight in Melbourne and be delivered in Corowa in the week-end.
Quarantine and the start of unpacking is planned for next Wednesday Nov 3rd, after the Melbourne Cup week-end.
 

October 23rd 2004

Jock arrived late in the morning and we prepared the VY for his 1st flight of the season.
At 2.30 pm Jock started followed by Francesco in the DUO.
Jock was happy and he could not  remember making his 1st season flight in October.

October 20th 2004

Today we started with some cu's, form13.30 is was blue with good but hard to find climbs.
Francesco flew Corowa-Finley-Jerilderie-Corowa.(210 km)
For tomorrow we expect 28 grC, so who knows. So far not a bad start for October.

October 19th 2004

After the office and garden work Francesco made a short flight (275 km) with FOX.
The weather was not as good as yesterday and blocked by a low NE of Jerilderie-- Oil Tree Lagoon.,
Cloud base 2500 m and some climbs of 3 m/s.

October 18th 2004

On Sunday we went to Benalla where Grietje had to do her instructors level 2 and she passed, so  Grietje is now
a fully licensed Dutch and Australian instructor. Congratulations.

Today Francesco made the first flight of the season. a 400 km triangle was the result.
At 10 am we already had some cu's. The cloud base was max 2300 m agl. and the best climb was 4.5 m/s integrated.
Anyway a good start of the season.

October 15th 2004

Today Werner and Andrea (SY) arrived. They will stay again until mid February.
They arrived on a perfect soaring day. Nice cu's, but a strong SW wind.
Eugene also finished the weight and balance of his ASW17 after a top overhaul of the fuselage and
tail plane.

ASCC	WN	WN

October 13th 2004

Another birthday. Happy 61st birthday Ruedi (DS).

October 11th 2004

Eugene is celebrating his 66th birthday today

October 9th 2004

Tom Gilbert moved his business T&J Sailplane Services from Camden Airport to Temora .
Today was the official opening at Temora and the Corowa team went to Temora to attend the party.
A few weeks ago Tom did also the annual inspection of our Duo Discus and today he flew the Cirrus 2 of the Gilbert family.

Tom	The T&J cake	The party	The Cirrus 2

October 8th 2004

Last week we have been busy preparing the office for the upcoming season> We also managed to move all our
furniture from the clubhouse to our new place.
But today we got FOO in the air again. After some not foreseen problems we fitted the engine in today and
after a few test runs on the ground Francesco went up and flew a few circuits with FOO.
A totally different aeroplane!! 250 HP is fun to fly.
Tomorrow Grietje will fly FOO to Albury for the 100 hourly. So mid next week FOO is ready for the season.
 

Working on the enigine	The new engine	Hamish the engineer	The prop is on	Francesco after the test flight

October 2nd 2004

We arrived yesterday in Melbourne after a good flight. Eugene was waiting at Melbourne Apt and drove us
Back to Corowa. After a nice cold VB we went to bed and and woke up at 9 am.
Everything looks ok. John did a great job with the lawn around the clubhouse, Eugene finished the fabric repair
on FOO  and together with Tom Gilbert the annual on FOX, and last but not least Jocks company "Davis Sanders" 
finished our new house in Corowa. A beauty !!.

We had a nice day with cu's all over the place, but I had to respect my own rule (which was not easy);
do not fly the first day after a 22 hrs flight and a jet lag.
For a swim I also have to wait another day until we have a water temp of 23 grC.  Now we have only 21 grC but
the solar heating is doing well.
 

September 26th  2004  

We have a slight change in the schedule for the trip to Corowa. The vessel is leaving on the 1st of October and
the estimate for Melbourne is October 25th. So we have all the time to get the containers to Corowa for unpacking.

We are leaving for Corowa on Thursday. So the next news from down under .

September 25th  2004  

What a lucky day again.
All day dry and when we closed the container doors at 7 pm it started raining again and until now ( 9 pm ) it is still raining.
We are now enjoying a good glass of " Yellow Tail". Thanks Richard !

But all the containers are packed again and ready for the pick up on Monday morning.
17 gliders and the household of Grietje and Francesco are on the way to Corowa.
Later in the afternoon Andreas Nies passed by  to say hello to all his friends. He will probably bring some German
friends to fly FOX in January

September 24th  2004  

After a week of rain we were treated by a sunny day.
All the gliders for the Blue container were in Grubbenvorst at 9 am included Bernd with his brand new ASW28-18E.
Also PI 1 (day to early ), ILH and JM were there already. Later in the afternoon Andy with Bettina and Ruedi arrived
with AS and DS.
The packing job was a fast one. At 2 pm the Blue was packed and we also had PI, ILH and JM in the green container.
With Ruedi and Andy we did also  their  wings on the spot. 11 packed gliders was the score of today !!!
So for tomorrow 6 gliders to go.

September 20th  2004  

This morning we started with the preparation of the containers for the trip to Corowa.
We moved the containers to the same spot as last April. But before that we cleaned them and made
some changes in all 3 containers. Now we can fix the wings in 3 positions and in stead of 12 wings we can fit
in 14 wings next to each other and we also improved the way of fixing the inner wings on the front bar.

Eugene and Tom Gilbert finished the annual inspection of the Duo Discus "FOX" and Hamish confirmed that
the engine for FOO already has the new Cylinders on and the new engine has 260 HP!!!!

August 24 th 2004     

A 3rd LS8/18 for Corowa.
We now have the availability of 3 LS8/18m until January the 8th 2005 and 2 LS 8 for the whole season.

After 3 weeks EGC in Lithuania and 2 weeks instructing in the Netherlands and 2 nights of 13 hours sleep we
start today with the preparation of the container transport.

Tomas Suchanek, who was training Marek last year will be back to fly with Lubor on the PI for 3 weeks.
 

August 8 th 2004     

The EGC 2004 in Pociunai, Lithuania have finished.
It was good to see our customers: Tomas Suchanek, Marek Pechanec, Tomas Rendla, Lubor Kuvik and Fratrik Tibor
competing at that level with good results.

We also managed to get a 2nd LS8 18 on line in Corowa. So we have 2 LS8/18 during the whole 2004/2005 season
available for cross hire.

For the next 1,5 week Grietje and Francesco are instructing in the Netherlands and then the final count down will start
again for packing containers for the next Corowa season. A season with most of the customers of last year
and a lot of new pilots who are going to experience the Soaring conditions in Corowa.

July 20th 2004     

After a week of traveling from Corowa we arrived yesterday in Pociunai, Lithuania.
We will assist the Dutch team during the European Championships for the next 3 weeks.
Today, most of the pilots enjoyed a good soaring day, which was not easy in the beginning, but later good climbs and
cloud streets.
For more information about the EGC2004   http://www.egc2004.lt
The Dutch team                                                http://www.knvvl.nl/zweefvliegen/ek2004/

SEI and XT	over Lithuania

July 8th 2004     

Cold, but a beautiful morning. Frost, fog and a nice morning sun.
As we are going back to Europe on Tuesday  Francesco took the opportunity to fly the Duo before the
next cold front. For 1 hr 40 minutes he enjoyed this day.
The skydivers were busy certifying a new parachute. Today the dummies were dropped at 400 feet !!!.
Encouraging to see that all dummies landed safely.

July 4th 2004     

After their visit in March, the staff  from the Corowa Tourist Office decided to have a day with the
Australian Soaring Centre Corowa.
Today was the 1st option and straight away an excellent day.
First we had to wait a while until the cloud  base went up above 1500 ft. But after that  we had a very good
day on which we were able to promote gliding to the Corowa people.

Eugene, Grietje and Francesco flew the Duo and had only very enthusiastic first time glider pilots on board.
On the ground we were very happy with the help of Ross and Bruce from the Albury Corowa gliding club

Francesco was tow pilot for the first 10 tows and after that Grietje took over.

Eugene with Kathryn ready for the first flight of the day

.June 19th 2004     

Grietje and Francesco are in Corowa for a few weeks.
So far we are busy with preparations for the next season and  some maintenance on the (tow) planes.

The ZS1 variometer system is back in the Duo and working 100%. WinPilot Pro / SeeYou mobile is running from the
front seat and there has been made a provision for 12V and data at the back seat.

Today Grietje and Eugene started to do repair on the fabric of FOO and Francesco polished LGT.

Eugene	It is that cold

May 30th 2004     

Gerrit did make his final decision concerning his container.

At this moment Gerrrit has two places available in his container. Gerrit was so kind to give those two places to Corowa.
So instead of having people waitlisted, we have two extra container positions.

April 27th 2004     

We changed the layout of our webpage a little bit.
The old news, daily results and temp_traces files are transferred into a history folder.

The next season will be the 4th Corowa Season.
The containers are already fully booked and we are happy to welcome a lot of customers of the first hour.
But next to them we already have a lot of bookings for the line_gliders by new customers.
 

News:
Unless there is anything very special, there won't be any news on this page until the packing of the containers in September.