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February 19th

In the mean time in the last few days most of the pilots left.Team PZ, Team JM, team, ILH, team SY, Team N?, team MK and team MD.
Jos and Sonja are on a holiday, Noppies and Elise away for a long week-end to Hilston (by car), team TT still in Corowa
and Pepe & Rodger waiting for some good flying weather.
And we? time for other things.

This morning we woke up and yes rain again. Before the sun appeared at noon we had 25mm rain at the airfield .
When will this stop ???
But we were realy happy we had the containers collected on Wednesday in stead of the planned today. It would have been impossible!!

For the next 5 or 6 days SUN is forecasted !


Wet again
The apron
time for other things

February 17th

Coffee at 10 am with the pilots who are still in Corowa.
After that cleaning the clubhouse, maintenance on LGT and cleaning the office.
The forecast was rain and quite a bit .
And what did we get?????
This.

This in stead of rain !!!

February 16th

Containers are packed and we are waiting for the pickup . Rain, drizzle, Wagga had 12 mm already today.
What is going to happen will we get rain which will make it impossible to drive the trucks on the apron?

We were lucky, only 0.8 mm drizzle and the arrival of the trucks at 5:45 pm.
All containers were loaded and without severe damage on the apron. pfffffffffffffff.
The season is over, except for Rodger who still has ZRD in the hangar.
The containers will wait at B&K until Monday when they will be shipped. ETA R'dam is April 10th.


All three ready
Blue
Green
White
Frank and Phil


White lifted
Green lifted
moving the container on another truck
Elise and Alissa
Grietje and Frank

February 15th

Happy birthday today for Eveline Lange. A small choir today . The happy birthday song was well ment but not very well tuned.
After the happy birthday we had coffee and cake, the last of the season.
The last few days we had some flyable weather, but basically the weather was not brillant with another
40 mm of rain on Friday and Saturday. Flooded again !!
With the forecast in our head and a very wet and soft apron we thought it would be the best to pack 1 container
move this to melbourne and put the other ones on the hard surface in front of the terminal building.
Otherwise we would damage our apron in a terrible way or facing a delayed departure of the containers.

With more rain to come we decided to finish all containers today.
Tomorro according plan 1 (maybe all) container to Melbourne and the others on Saturaday. (ETD wed)

Today was perfect for packing. A cloudy sky, not too hot and DRY!!
A relaxed day as we slowly packed some gliders in all containers in the last few days.
With all the pilots and LADIES! we did a great job today.
By 7 pm we closed the doors and all containers are packed and ready to go.
The hangar is clean and packed for the winter.


Happy Birthday Eveline
Empty hangar
Empty hangar
Empty hangar
packing


Smoko
White ready
Job done
Job done
Job done

February 9th

Finally we were able to get out the hangar and do some flying!!!
The ladies went for lunch at Tulleries, we did some packing in the container
and Werner took Andrea to the skys in FOO.

February 6th

Cold, strong winds with lots of sunshine. No rain!!!
Hopefully it will be dry enough tomorrow so we can fly again.
Lots of other jobs today.

February 5th

As promised, coffee with cake! Thank you all for your birthday wishes and pressies.

Grietje's birthday
Grietje's birthday
Grietje's birthday
Paul (on the screen), singing happy birthday to Grietje

Grietje's birthday
Grietje's birthday
Grietje's birthday

Backswimging 32
The airfield
The airfield
Taxi way
The parking

The West


This morning, you might want to take your boots!

This morning

February 4th

Yesterday evening between 6 and 6:30 pm we had 40mm rain at the airfield.
Foreecast for today israin again.
NEXT BRIEFING IS SATURDAY FEB 5th 10 am. (coffee and cake)


Rain


Grietje making Lasanga for her party
with the help of Sonja and Katinka!
Grietje celebrated her birthday with her aussie friends (since 12 years).

Grietje's party
Grietje's party
Grietje's party

February 3rd

Clear skies ot 8 am.
Increasing clouds followed by rain and scattered storms in the early afternoon.
Possible CB's inour area. NO BRIEFING AT 09:30
12:00 update at the airfield.


The airfield
The airfield
The airfield

February 2nd

ncent left aft
Vincent left after anothe 3 days flying. ( 7 flights in 7 days, 46 hrs and 3500 km cross country) Lucky man !!!
We also said good bye to Goe, Harry & Wendy, Ben and Peter. They all had a good time again in Corowa.
John packed QL and Richard RA.

The weather forecast was not to good and tomorrow does not look good eather.
We kept everything on the ground.

February 1st

Wim left this morning early and Terry Belair had to go home as well.

The weather looked the same as yesterday, with the only difference that the temp forecast
turned out to be the weather. Early start and straight away good thermals cu's
and a cloudbase of over 3000 meter agl. Finally "paradise" weather.
Jos flew almost 800 km adn Ben and Peter completed their diamond distance.


today's temp

January 31st

Vincent 36 yrs young, so we started the briefing with a well tuned "happy birthday".
And of course cake and Italian cookies!
The forecast was perfect. The temp looked good and we expected to be able to launch 11:15.
36 grC was the magic temp for 1000m.
Francesco was the first to launch, but unfortunately the airmass was "strange" and it took 1,5 hrs
before we had good thermals. So not the planne 800 km FAI but 400 O/R and in time for the last dinner of the season
with Wim.
Terry Belair did over 600 km on his DG400 and is now no1 OLC for Australia Pilots and no 3 all over OLC AUstralia.


today's temp

January 30th

Good bye to Bernd and Maria . and to the Slovak pilots "d'akujem, uvidne buduci Rok"
We checked the SK container which was picked up by B&K at 6pm.


SK container leaving
The weather today was hot with local 39 grC and North 42 grC we had a good blue day.
Flights up to 700km were made.
Hangar and tie down were empty so 23 glideer in the air today.

For tomorrow ? 2 grC more! We wait and see.

January 29th

This morning the SK pilots finished packing their container.
We also did put the first glider back. "DB" .
In the afternoon WD flew in from Narromine and we will pack this one early tomorrow morning when it is a bit cooler.
The weather today was much better.
We could launch at 11:45 and with a max temp of 34 to 36 we expected a thermal hight over 2000 meter.
Jorgen (TT) flew the ASH31 "3W" today. And not a bad flight as he declared 500 km FAI.
Elise flew the Duo ZRD with Rodger. They went south to Mt Buller.

January 28th

Another day with extreme stable air.
Only Gabriela mad a joy flight with a friend from Corowa.
They got 1100 meter agl and 45 minutes.

The Slovak pilots started to pack the gliders in their container.

January 27th

We started the briefing with Happy Birthday to mr. Wala. After the English version,
The Slovak group sung the Slovak version.

 

January 25th

Forcast was not too high local, but better up North where we got a max of 40 grC.
Casper was the first to launch followed by the SK pilots.
They had to use the engine 60 km North and called it a day and went probably to the pool.
Not for a few other pilots they still did very good flights.
Casper was the pilot of the day with over 500 km " chapeau"!!!!!


Elise and Alissa doing the laundry
FA rest day
Today's "ZRD" team
LX 9000 in the DUO
Casper " pilot of the day"
pushing "3W" into the hangar.


Today we got an impression of Ilmari's funeral.
The funeral day was very beautiful, sunshine and clear sky , landscape was very snowy.
A lot of Ilmari`s relatives and friends was there commemoration in Monna`s Chapel in Rauma town.
Commemoration was cordial and beautiful like weather. Ilmari was great pilot and Fine Person.
Ilmari is now back home and flying with angels…..
Thank you all of you Ilmari`s friend in Corowa from support and help.
Best regards, Mauri, Ilkka, Pekka, Markku

January 24th

In the morning we woke up with 8/8 and some rain. The end of the cold front.
We expected to be able to fly in the afternoon, which was too late for the pilots.
Only Koi (KB) made a flight on the ASH 31 "3W" as Casper took a day off.


Engine briefing
Ready for his first ASH31 flight
The forecast for the week is perfect soaring conditions.

A pitty we had to cancel the "Corowa Classic". It would have been a perfect week.

January 23rd

A late start, but an excellent day with good thermals up to 8000 ft until late.
The 2 ASH 31's did set the pace and did over 600 km with the best flight for Casper Garrelts eho did 650 km triangle.
Together we did almost 11.000 km !!



Hansi "ILH"
Team "IM"
Haily with the kids
Bernd
werner and Ben
TT

January 22nd

Today is Ilmari's funeral.

The forecast was "some possible storms" and we got some.
The weather was perfect, but for som pilots a chalange to come home.
One of the self launchers outlanded and was able to start again and fly home , but quite a few had to use the engine to fly around
the storms.



Good paddock
But not aero tow retreivable
Peter and Ben
Ben was unlucky (no engine) and had to outland 25 km from Corowa. However he did the best fligth of the day. 510 km !!!!.


Forcast?
South
South
Hail next to tennisball

East
East
East


South

January 21st

Different weather compared to yesterday.
A trough over the West almost lined up with a cold front, which was a bit too much to the North.
A line with possible storms North of Corowa.

First high clouds which caused a wait until 1pm to get the trigger temp for 1000m climbs.
But then we got nice cu's. Almost storms but they stayed North of us.

Not all, but only 8 gliders in the air today, which made very nice flights.

January 20th

"" A paradise day! ""
We expected cu's and a cloudbase of 2000m up to 2500 m. First possible launch at 10:30 and cu's at 11:00.
It worked out that way.
With 2 Pawnees we had all gliders in the air in no time.
First launch of course was for Terry Bellair and Noppies no 2 in TT.
Noppies flew TT and Jørgen and Birgitte were so kind to run the ground. Thanks for that !!!!.
12:30 lunch for the staff and an empty hangar and tie down area.
The day developped into a very good one.
Hansi flew just over 900 km and almost 900 km FAI. With a slightly longer day it would have been " Shiraz" day.
Noppies almost 900 km
Jos, Berry and Ruedi flew over 800 km and all the pilots did 18.000 km cross country today !!
We look back at a perfect day. Now the wait for 1000km.


to the East
to the West
to the North
tie down empty
hangar empty
Elise cleaning the Pawnees

Spot page around 19:00 LT
gliders on track

January 19th

Telling stories from the brain
while preparing NV for transport Frank was not impressed he said
Almost done, just a break



Casper enjoyed flying NV and is now flying 3W for two weeks.
He was only 1/3 times short of his goal.

We welcomed Goi, he is an instructor at Narromine but as Peter is flying his glidere here
he is at Corowa. Today he flew with Roger in the Duo.

Harm left for Melbourne for a short holiday with Pam.
Casper will catch up with Harm in two weeks in QLD.

January 18th

A busy and hectic afternoon.

When our gliders came in for landing, also 4 Benalla gliders came in for landing.
Benalla is running the Club and Sports Class Nationals

A tug from Benalla came to retrieve 3 of the gliders while Noppies retrieved
the fourth glider to Benalla.
It was just one of those days when suddenly all gliders are landing at the same time.

January 17th

We said goodbye to Ton and Willem. They had a wonderful holiday although
they have seen a lot of rain.

We not only sang Happy Birthday in english but the Slovak pilots
performed also the Slovak Happy Birthday in their own language.

Casper did fly with his father Harm in the ASH25. Miro flew the 29.
Also Harry was one of the "sportive" pilots today.

Sonja and Carla showing indonesian food
made by chef Wim

January 16th

Flying again !!
Today we welcomed Rodger Druce.
A good soaring day, blue with cu's SW. climbs up to 1800 m an reasonable climb rates.

The last flying day for Ton who flew with Casper the ASH25 and Willem made his last flight on FA.

January 15th

A sunny day, but after inspection of the runway, tie down and apron
we made the difficult decision to cancel the day and let the whole lot dry.
In the mean time John (QL) and Bron arrived and also Casper and Harm Garrelts.

But we had a happy briefing with all the pilots singing "Happy Birthday" for Hansi Lange.
And of course coffee and cake!!!

January 14th

Happy birthday for Manfred Kasten.
As we had rain (again) we did not fly.
Manfred offered a " birthday" glas of champagne at 17:30
After that we were treated by Wim, who had worked for 2 days in the kitchen) with a top
indonesian dish. All 46 people present enjoyded the meal.
Unfortunately we all were so busy preparing etc that we forgot to make any pictures. (maybe later)
Just before sunset the sun showed up again ! The end of the terrible Janary Record Rain???

January 13th

NO BRIEFING TODAY.
Still storms today with extreme weather in the West part of NSW and Vic.
Hopefully we stay clear of this.
Clubhouse is open from 9:00 am.
Please join us and have a cup of the new " Nespresso Coffee"
Next briefing tomorrow 9:30,

January 12th

While Qld has the devestating floods we ONLY got 85mm in the last 2 days (45.000.000 li at the airfield)
This made the airfield wet, but not unservicable. We still can use the bitumen rways.
However for tomorrow we expect som more rain and after that it should be ok again.
So hopefully we can commence flying again on Friday.

NO BRIEFING TODAY.
Clubhouse is open from 9:30 am.
Next briefing tomorrow 9:30, unless a messagge on the website will tell you " NO BFRIEFING".

January 11th

No flying as the weather left us for a few days.
Some pilots did choose for a 2 or 3 day trip, as the for cast is not too good.

January 10th

Peter Summersby and Ben Loxton were the hot pilots of the day!
After rigging their gliders they went for flight, however it was short
as storms were developping.
Noppies and Elise got the day off, so we had a voluntarily crew today:
Wendy, Harry (in the back of the limo), Frank and Alissa.
wendy, Harry Frank and Alissa

January 9th

Happy Birthday Peter Presneill.!!
Today we started the briefing with some safety isues.
Then the weather and that was not easy. Flying yes, but how long.
Between 2 trough systems and a lot of moist air it was not easy to forecast.
Anyway we started launching at 1 am and we were able to fly into the afternoon.
A nice sky with cu's and some over development.

Pictures were taken before 0600 (way too early but the sky looked so beatiful).



sun rise

sun rise
sun rise
sun rise

January 8th

A good soaring day again.
We expected to launch at 11:00, but Lubik called at 10;30 for a tow-plane. 10 minuts later
he was on tow and after him all the other pilots.
The cu's 1/8 were early, later 6/8 and in the late afternoon back to 4/8.
Willem Recourt flew a declared 300 km triangle, his 2nd diamond this week. Congratulations!
He landed and took off again for another flight in the afternoon.
Ib made his first flight on the ASH 31Mi.
Steen Elmgaard flew the LS10 TT for a day.After he landed Jorgen took off for his afternoon flight.

Long distances again.
Best performance of the day was for Pepe, who flew a declared 750 km triangle with almost 110 km/h.

Hansi (ILH) had bad luck. Just before take of the throttle cable security broke, so he to repair this first>
After the repair (assisted by Manfred JM and Herbert IM) it was too late to fly.


What a sky again
Frank cleaning up
Unlucky ILH
Harry back

The Danish pilots
Pepe's view
Pepe's view
Swan Hill by Pepe

January 7th

A good bye to Chris Mayhew on the briefing. He did spend three weeks in Corowa and will be back
in the 2012 2013 season.
We had a broad cloudband to pass today.
However we got the temperature to brake the inversion and from 2 pm we had good soarable conditions.
QL, FA and BJ did fly for a few hours and enjoyed it.
Grietje did also make the site checks with Gabriela and Robert.

January 6th

Paradise!! (At least in Corowa)
After a short briefing all pilots went out to the 05.
Terry Belair was the first who launched soon followed by all pilots and just before noon we had
all 26 gliders airborne.
The thermals were ok, but the development in the 1st hours was slow which was a pitty.
As forecasted the cu's developped by 28 grC (local) and we had a perfect sky in the afternoon.
4/8 cumulus and a high cloudbase of 3000m agl.

It was a long day and the last came in by 8 pm. Unfortunately Alojz landed just 10 km short of the airfield.
Hansi did almost 900 km, Birgitte (TT) did a new Danish record on the 300 FAI triangle, which she flew twice today.
Willem Recourt completed his diamond distance with 510km.
With 20 flight over 600km it was a good day.

Ib Wienberg arrived and will take over "3W" from Chris Mayhew, who had his last flying day.
We also welcomed Ole Arndt and Ascal. They all made their site check in the afternoon.


What a sky

January 5th

Happy Birthday dear Mother (Francesco's mother)

High clouds from the West, which we expected to be gone by 12;30.
It took a bit longer, but by 3 pm the sky cleared and we got nice cu's.
7 gliders( NV,FA,AL,AE,BJ,DUO and LM) made a very nice afternoon flight under nice cu's and a 2600m cloudbase.
Noppies and Elise enjoyed their birthday present, flying DUO for a day. They closed the
hangar doors after a 5 hour flight.

January 4th

Happy Birthday "Lasse" 2 yrs!! We miss you (Opa en Oma Grietje)
The weather for today was perfect. We expected not a full day flying as we had high clouds entering from the West.
This was not too bad and the pilots enjoyed a perfect soaring day with, cu's , blue and a cloudbase of 2500 m.
Unfortunately Ton had to return with his glider due to a minor technical problem, but flew afterwards the Discus 2T "BJ".
Pepe did the tour around the Albury airspace and had a nice day in the mountains again.
Flights over 700 km so all together a day in paradise.

News updates

After the turbulent time behind us, we hope to find the time, to update the news every day again.
We apologize for the missing days.

January 3rd

Happpy Birthday for Miro today. A big strawberry cake and coffee was a good start of the day.

The forecast was thermals up to 1800 meter with 2 up to 3 m/s., but a late start as we needed 28 grC.
Golf? Not for Ton, Willem, Pepe and Herbert. They had a perfect afternoon with very nice flights.
Pepe went to mount Buffelo and spend a lot of time over 2000m in a convergence line.
The others went in all directions.
Noppies found yesterday when doing the DI on the tow plane a problem with an aileron and we were saved
by The gliding Club of Victoria (Benalla) who gave us their spare aileron until ours is fixed.
Next to this the Lamy was willing to check it and put it on, on his day off.

In the afternoon Harry and Wendy Medlicott arrived . Harry will fly his Ventus for a while in Corowa.
After him Terry Belair arrived and his DG 400 is already rigged in the hangar.

January 2nd

The temp told us we would not get the temp to get thermals over 1000 meter, so a non flying day.

In the afternoon Sisko Rintesalo came to say good bye. She left for Finland and hopefully the mortal remains
of Ilmari will follow soon, so he can have his piecefull funeral in Finland.
She was really thankful for all the help, support and comfort from everybody in Corowa after the tragic accident of Ilmari.

January 1st

HAPPY NEW YEAR.
We said good bye th the "Seton family" who ha d a great 3 weeks in Corowa.
A sunny day but not the best for gliding.
Good enough for Willem to make some local flights on "FA".
Pepe flew back from Toc where he had his New Year party with friends.

December 31st

The last day of the year.
Another birthday today. This time happy birthday for Noppies (30). Presents and a cake from Grietje (Towplane with glider on tow).

It should have been a TOP day, but it was only a very good day with 41 grC on the ground and the pilots at altitudes over 3500m agl
in a very nice temp of 4 grC.
Good flights over 600 km, but unfortunately an early end of the day


Singing for Noppies birthday!



Putting sunscreen on Elise

December 30th

Max "MD" birthday The choir is getting better and the "happy Birthday" sounded really well.
A good blue day again. Only 10 pilots did fly and Miro and Alojz did straight away over 600 km.
We started the launch a bit too early but is was good enough for the die hard "Jan Seton" who managed to stay up and did 650 km.
As he mentioned the max out of the day.
Ruedi flew his Ventus for the first time with water and we (tried) to make a photo of this spectacle.


Ruedi "DS" dumping water

December 29th

At the briefing Pepe did read a letter for those th whom it concerns about the possibility for not locked air brakes
to come out when flying or in take-off. It is signed by all pilots and will find its way within the gliding society.
The day was a good blue day. It was the last day for Maarten who flew with Noppies and Kees who did not fly.
All togehter 6 flights over 600 km.
In the afternoon Miro and Aloijz came in and prepared "AE' and "AL".
On the morning briefing we welcomed Herbert "IM" and Conny.


Pepe, safety brief

December 28th

A blue day with thermals up to 1800 meter and 3 meter climbs.
8 pilots in the air.
For tomorrow it looks better and good to very good in the remainder of the week.

December 27th

Max thermal hight 1000 meter, Blue and 20kts gst 30 wind from SW.
Well nobody did fly.

December 26th

A difficult start but it was a start.
Grietje made site checks with Ton and Willem.
After that Ton flew with Maarten "NV" and Willen made 2 local flights with "DUO".

December 25th

We started the day with yesterday.

Also the community sends their condolences to the family.

Although it is difficult today to see beyond the sorrow, we wanted to continue the Christmas dinner and pressies for the kids.

The ladies took care of all the delicious salads. Francesco the 44 peaces of meat and Wim the sauses.




Dinner with everyone.
Dinner with everyone.
Frank was busy calling friends on his mobile.
Dinner with everyone.


Richard and Chris getting desert.
Richard and Chris eating desert.
Frank going (I think) for the 3rd time.
Mauri, on the finnish table,
loves sweet desert.


Jørgen at a dutch table.
Dinner with everyone.
Dinner with everyone.
Dinner with everyone.


Birgitte counting callories but I am not sure in what.
Max and Werner having their desert
Bernd enjoying the company.
Manfred Ringel enjoying his desert.

 

December 24th

The ASCC sadly has to announce, the tragic accident to one of the gliders in Corowa on Friday 24th of December 2010.
The pilot involved was Ilmari Rintasalo.

The accident happened during the self launch during which the glider was unable to climb normally.
After hitting power lines next to the RedlandsRoad, the aircraft came to rest next to the road.

Emergeny services responded quickly, but to our regret Ilmari did not survive.

As soon a further info is available it will be published on the website.

December 22nd

A working day !
We had an early launch and cu's, but as expected it dried out during the early afternoon and the
pilots had to fly in the blue.
No problem. They did again over 600 km with a thermal hight of 2000 meter.
For the next few days we expect good soaring conditions.

December 21st

A nice, not too cold day. The ladies busy organizing the Christmas dinner. Some pilots flying.
The Finn's (Ilka, Pekka and Maury) are back and flying LM this time. Chris Mayhew who has been busy
working in Trinidad this time is flying 3W. First we did a few circuits to get back into it.
Of course it was more the feeling than the flying as it was like he flew yesterday.
NV checking out their R.C. equipment between thermals or during thermals up to 5m/s!
FA enjoyed the "high" cloudbase.

Morning walk
In this picture: Bernd, Peter, Hans, Manfred, Manfred
FOO, Wagga Air 646, Ilmari, Pekka, Illka and Maury


The first Slovak group enjoyed not only flying but also some wine tasting. These pictures
made by Tomas and Gabriella gives you an impression of their holiday.

Single-Click the image to enlarge, dubble click to make it small again.

December 20th

 

Team "NV" Kees and Maarten working on their remote controlled camara.

.






Move your mouse over the picture to zoom.

December 19th

December 18th

Today we started the briefing with a "Happy Birthday" for Elise who turned ????.
A present was offered by Frank and Alissa.

The weather forecast was not easy, but a nice afternoon was the forecast. After briefing we had some showers
strong wind, but a paradise afternoon.

However we had something to do.
We are in the middle of the 10th season of Corowa and we thought it was the right time to celbrate this with the customers.
Champagne, drinks and bites made it to a nice afternoon.
Francesco looked back and mentioned all the volunteers of the past 10 years who helped to make this paradise working.
Jeroen, Matthijs, Marjan, Eugene, Graig, Jan, Victor,Jan & Chris, Gerrit and Tonny, Fer, Jan Jansen, Anna, Lisanne and Jantine
Rene, Peter Presneill , Angelo and last but not least Noppies (Hans Christian) and Elise.

But also the ladies of all the pilots. they looked after a lot of things, for them a thank you box with choclate.

5 pilots of the first year were also present today.
Three were very special, Werner & Andrea Niechciol, Peter & Birgitte Zander and Manfred & Angelica Kasten.
They did not miss a season.
Next to his flying Werner has always been our assist tow pilot and filled in all the gaps.
The 3 pilots were offered a silver canopy cover.

And tomorrow flying as usual.


The 10th Season.
present from the customers
Beautifull picture
a present for all the ladies
The party


Eveline and Katinka.
The party
The party
Anders and Frank upside down
The party


The party outside


A beautiful present
















Werner, Manfred and Peter
10 years in a row



Elise 's birthday
The cake
Frank and Alissa bringing the present
They can't wait

December 17th

Good conditions again, first a band East West and later also in Northerly direction.
The wind was strong which made the towing a chalenge for Noppies.
Most pilots were in the air and made nice flights.
Francesco made in between jobs a short flight (O/R Deniliquin 270km)
Other pilots flew up to 600 km


Clouds over NSW (not Corowa).
The Slovak gliders enroute.

December 16th

A small band again form East to West.
Blue thermals, but later on the day in the west the cu's popped up>
NV mad a local flight and did some movie work, LM a training flight and Noppies
made his first flight on the ASH31 Mi and did 520 km.


3W back home.
Noppies happy after 520 km
Sunset

December 15th

We have a tidy tie down again after 2 days of mowing it looks great.
Better as the weather today. It looked ok, but a Low in the Bite did spoil it today.
However AE, AL, DUO, TT, and VR went up for a flight.
Most other pilots took a day off after 2 days of over 8 hours of flying.

December 14th

Picnic in the water.
The Murray River
The old Bridge




The 22 boys cleaning big ships


Eveline and Katinka cleaning Francesco's glider
Jan Seton satisfied after a good flight


girls waiting for the boys

 

Paradise today !!
10:30 possible 1st launch with cu's up to 1000m.
Soon after that the cloudbase went up to max 2800 meter and climbs of 5 m/s ++
Almost everybody was gone early and made perfet flights.
Unfortunately a wide band of high clouds moved from W to E over the area, but was not able to shut down the
thermal activity.
Francesco had the chance to fly 3W and flew a 750 km FAI triangle (declared)

While everybody was in the air, Ritz and Dieter Dundee from Toc paid us a visit. More news later.

December 13th

An early start again.
The cu's developped early and we had a possible first launch at 10:15.
The actual launching started at 10:30 and within 1 hour al 20 gliders were airborne.
DUO had bad luck and had to go back in the hangar for a small, but necesarry, repair.
The grashoppers made the towing difficult. We had to clean the wind screens in between the tows and
the cleaning of the tow planes took more time as the towing job.
But we had a good flying day with a cloud base over 2000 meter and good climbs.


FOO after 6 tows
FOO ready to clean

An impression of Masayuki's holiday. Courtesy Masayuki.

Masayuki in FA
Bernd, DB
Peter, PZ
Masayuki, FA
Tomas, DUO
Jozef, AE



Werner, SY
Jan n Grietje, LM
Tomas n Gabriela, DUO
Big ship owners ASW22's having a chat
Jørgen, TT
A few wet spots



Locusts without take off clearance

Ilmari, VR
FRU on final
For the 8th time here in Corowa
Hansi and Eveline, ILH

December 12th

A bit windy in the morning, but cu's from 9 am.
Most pilots did not fly, but it turned out to be a good afternoon with a cloudbase over 2000 meter and lift
of 3 m/s average and more.
Kees and Maarten made their first flight on " NV"
Berry made another flight on "3W", but stayed local this time. He ended his flight with a (Very) high approach
in the landing config. Looked impressive !!
In the mean time Jan Seton arrived and made his site check with Grietje. Jan will fly "FA".

For the next few days we expect higher temperatures and good flying conditions.

December 11th

We are getting there !
A perfect day. We could launch at 10 am, the time we had cu's up to 1000 m>
Later on the day the cloudbase went over 2000 meter and we made flights of 700 km again.

GQL ready for take off,
FRU on final, Mark (from Waikerie)
taking pictures as well as Anders
GQL taking off
GQL
GQL and Locusts taking off runway 23
Reudi in the ASH31
Ruedi in the ASH31
Ruedi Herzog in the ASH31
FRU on final, happy to land over us

December 10th

Welcome Tohru Ikeda, after a year of absence we are hapy he is back. He is flying LM for a week and after that
his own ASW22 "QL".
It was the last flying day for Masayuki Kawamura, After a rainy start he is going home with 6 flying days and today
almost 500 km.
Today a sunny day with cu's and flights of almost 500 km. To the west today.
The airfield is still a bit wet, but we could operate normal.
We started the day with annual checks for Ruedi and Berry, so they can fly VH registered gliders. After that
a site check with Tohru.
Berry flew the ASH 31 "3W" today.



Berry with the ASH31
Corowa from the air
Brrrrrrr wet
Corowa
Corowa
Wet airfield
Birgitte left a few days ago for Denmark. She says hello to everybody.
No rain over there, but snow !!


snowy Denmark

December 9th

We woke up with some sun and some cu's, but when we saw the airfield we were not happy.
Only the bitumen runway was servicable.
We made a site check with Yoshihiro Inoue and Noppies made his annual check so he can fly VH gliders. (Guess why?)
After the checks we launched FA, BJ, DUO, AE and AL.
They had a good flying day with flights of 3oo km,

December 8th

Today we welcomed mr Yoshihiro Inoue. He will fly BJ for a few days.
The day was wet. The total of 35mm rain was nof fun.
During the day it was still ok, but at 9 pm we got 15mm in 10 minutes.
Rain in Mc Donald, Rain in Target, ain in the Bottle shop and even rain in our house.
Worst, no flying.


Brrrrrrr Rainnnnnnnnnn

December 7th

We had set a go or no go decision date yesterday for the Corowa Classic.
Unfortunately there are not enough entries, so we decided to cancel the comp for the 2010/2011 season.

It was the last flying day of Ed Marel and he left after a few good flights on "3W".
Kawamura was the 2nd brave pilot today.
A strong wind and overcast with a few cu's made flying not easy.
For tomorrow some rain and most likely a non flying day.

December 6th

A bit difficult to forecast this day.
In between 2 systems with rain and storms we should have a flyable corridor.
It turned out to be a good day for the pilots who went in the air. The local forecasted sorms didn't show , so we had a dry day again.
Ed had to use (he could have made it) the "3W" enigine 10 km out. A perfect "turbo" was his comment.
All prievidza gliders were in the air as well as Ilmari and Kawamura.

December 5th

A perfect day. Cu's, no storms and a early start.
We had to work a little bit around the wet spots at the airfield, but within 1 hour we had all 20 gliders airborne.
The day develloped very well and with a max temperature of almost 34grC local and 36 grC NW we had a cloudbase
of approx 2900 m agl.
The pilots flew together 11.835 km today. WIth 3 flights over 700 km and 10 over 600 km I think we had a good day.


Finally.
To the North
The farmers start to burn the paddocks again

December 4th

The weather was a bit better as yesterday. A possible storm in the afternoon which stayed away.
It was nice and sunny (31 grC) and the cu's popped up at 10:30 . We had 6 gliders in the air today

We were very happy for the Prievidza team, that they finally could go into the air.
Tomas with Gabriela in "DUO" and Jozef and Lubos in the Discus2.

The longest flight of 388 km for the day was for Kawamuea Masayuki on the ASG 29 and Hansi Lange got the most
points for the day. Ed Marel enjoyed his flight in the 31.

In the evening we had an old fashioned " family evening" togehter. The ladies made the salads and
Francesco cooked all the meat on the BBQ.
We started with champage, salads veggies and meat and for desert
cakes, spekulaas, Weihnacht Stol and ice cream, yammi
The salads did not only look beatiful, they were delicious.
All organized by the ladies. They did a wonderful job.
A lovely evening, beatiful food, good company and even the cleaning up
was done by the ladies.

Toast
Antoher toast.

Can I have one too please?

The meat
The meat
The meat

December 3rd

A few hours between all the rain systems.
Ilmari and Kawamaura were in the air for about 3 hours and made flights over 200 km.
Not the paradise weather, but finally a soarable day
In the afternoon Ed MArel arrived. Ed is going to fly for us for a few days.

December 1st

A beatiful afternoon.
We had a visit from Sinterklaas. He brought something for the "team".

Presents. Put in the shoes by Sinterklaas.

November 30th

There is always work to do.

Discus 2ct's.
Tomas ready for take off.
Tomas landing DUO
Gabriella and Jozef putting DUO in his pyama's
DUO

November 29th

The weather was really nice, unfortunately it was only local.
We took this chance to do some site checks.

Jos flying site check.
Thomas flying site check.

November 28th

The ladies made some nice cakes for morning tea.
Another day of rain, more fiddling on gliders.

It was nice to catch up with Jan and Corry. They are touring with their camper and called in
to say hello.

Staff of this season. Wim will be here coming week.
Morning tea with cakes.

November 27th

Duo to a cancellation, we have a ASG29-18e available from the 31st of December until the 9th of January.

November 22nd

Sorry for any inconvenience caused by not having the web page available for the last few days.

In the last few days Hans Christian Hoeck and Stener Nielsen, Peter Zander and Birgitte, Manfred Ringel and Hertha
Berry and Katinka, and Bernd Doernemann and Maria arrived.

We had some paradise weather for 4 days now.
Best flight on the 18th, ILH 630 km
Best flights on the 19th, PG 525km and VR 620kmFlight
Best flight on the 20th, N? 525 km
Best flight on the 21st, ILH 750 km with a cloud base over 300 m AGL.
Today we had a perfect day again. 32 grC and nice cu's.
1st Launch was at 11:30.

We also set a task today, 600 FAI triangle HAY, Pyramid Hill.

November 17th

Today we started with rigging Ruedi's "DS".
After flying we rigged "DUO" and "LM"

Mogens made his first flight on 3W today and Jos Schrier his maiden flight on 31
Jos came back after 700 km triangle.
Hansi also made his first flight of this season.
A good day with cu's in the beginning and becoming blue in the afternoon.
It seems the weather is slowly coming back to the Corowa "standard"

November 16th

Every day will start now with rigging gliders.
Today it was the new ASH31 from Jos Schrier. He worked all to to prepare it for his
maiden flight tomorrow.

Nice cu's to the West today.
Francesco made his first flight on the ASH31, 2 hrs was enough to do 200 km with an average
of 107 km/h.

November 15th

A nice flying day.
Before lunch we did a lot of work and after it was nice.
A cloudbase of 1800 m agl and lift of 3 m/s.
Pepe and Manfred made their first flight and Grietje had the honor of making the Australian maiden flight of
the ASH 31 Mi. After 1h:45 min and 125 km she landed with a big smile.


Grietje ready for the maiden flight of "3W".
Ready for T/O.
"3W" airborne.

November 14th

We had our first briefing of the season, but unfortunately not flyable as we are still under the influence
of a trough system blocked by a high pressure system over the Tasman Sea. For tomorrow it looks better.

Some rigging today. "MK" "TT" and "NV" are ready to go.
Also a repack day as Frank Smith of Sky Dive Corowa, did repack all the parachutes.


Frank repacking the parachutes.
First briefing of the season.
"NV" almost ready to fly.

November 13th

As promised, B&K delivered the containers at 09:00 am sharp.
So lucky that AQIS was willing to do the inspection on saturday, which gives us 2 more flying days.
After that we were lucky as the forecast was rain during the day, but it took alsmost until
late afternoon before we got the first shower, which was 12 mm in 5 minutes>
We managed to get all fuselages out and rig, SY, CW, PG, VR, ILH and 3W.


Arrival of the containers.
My 10th time in Corowa.
Elise.
Grietje and "FA".
The nes ASH31 Mi "3W".
The 22 boys! .

November 12th

At 09:15 we got the message that "3W" was cleared and we could pick it up in Melbourne.
So Noppies and Francesco left with the trailer and after 4 hrs and a flat tire they arrived in Tottenham (Mel)
packed the glider in the special prepared trailer of the ASG29 and drove back to Corowa,where they arrived
at 19:15. So "3W' is home!!.

In the mean time the Grietje and Elise runned the show in Corowa.
Grietje also did the initial briefing with the 3 fresh arrived Danish pilots, Tove, Jens and Mogens.
They will start flying on Sunday twith the 3 Discus 2 ct's.

A final confirmation again on the other 4 containers.
They will be delivered in Corowa tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. Quarantine was so nice to do the inspection at 10 am.
After that we can start unpacking rigging etc, not an easy job and hopefully a day without rain.
From Sunday on ,briefing at 9:30 and flying.

November 11th

What a stressfull day !!
Nothing went as planned.
But we just got the confirmation "cleared" of the containers.
The 4 containers with the gliders will be delivered on Saturday morning 9 am and AQIS inspection at 10 am.
So hopefully we have all the rental gliders and those of the present pilots rigged on Saturday evening.

For the new 31 we have to wait until tomorrow as this one is scheduled to have a random X-Ray check.

November 10th

A Complex weather system of 2 troughs does not bring good flying weather.

The containers arrived this morning in Melbourne.
We have a slot time in the warf tomorrow morning 6 am, which means we expect the containers tomorrow
lunch time in Corowa. AQIS on Friday morning and unpacking and rigging the first gliders after that.
Noppies and Francesco will leave early tomorrow for Melbourne to pick up "3W" by trailer.

November 6th

Today we had a beautifull sky, good climbs and a reasonable cloud base.
Anders flew his QL and Noppies FA.


Frank "big help"" .
Ilmari "wing man" .
FA take off" .
To the West .
To the South" .
To the East .

November 5th

Anders made his first flight of the season. A brave release at 1500 ft and a nice 2,5 hr flight.

November 4th

Nothing much happened today, Office work, finilizing the local procedures ver 11/2010 and web site pages.
No flying today, though it looked good in the afternoon.
"CW" Karl and Christel arrived and have some time to go on a short holiday, before the containers arrives.

November 3rd

A sunny start of the day, but soon we got 7/8 of cu's and the temp did not get above 18 grC.
The soaring conditions were marginal, so we did some repair jobs on the field cars.
Anders arrived back with QL and we rigged it, so he is ready to fly.
A complaint with the shipping company did ( as expected) not help and we have to wait until Tuesday next week.

The shire started to mow runway 32/14 which is (most of it) ready to use. Tomorrow we will go on with mowing the dry parts.

The water level in the Murray did not get that high as expected, but still hig enough to let our small beach disappear.


Water level last week" .
Water level today .

November 2nd

Melbourne Cup day !
The sky looked ok, so francesco launched at noon. Struggle struggle ! We got eventually 1100 m cloudbase (7/8) with sometimes
good lift but very hard to find with a wind of sometimes over 40 km/h.
It is still very wet and it was strange to see Lake Urana as a lake "Full" !
After 2 hours it was enough for today, but at least we did fly again.

"VR" Ilmari called in today. He has to wait a day before he can go into his appartment.

November 1st

After the wet week-end we had a cool sunny day.
Anders "QL" arrived and did some work on the "QL" equipment. The glider is still (with the DG808 VDG) in Temora for
anual inspection and maintenance.

October 31st

A wet, very wet Saturday! The very active trough gave about 40 mm of rain. Enough to worrie a lot of farmers in the Riverina.
The water level in the Murray went up by approx 0,5 meter in stead of the forecasted 4m.

The airfield is wet and has to dry before we can start mowing.

The containers have a total delay of 1 week and will arrive on Tuesday November 9th 6 am. So we have to move the whole
time table a little bit more up.

October 29th

With the change coming tonight today is normally the best day.
However, no clouds except pre frontal cirrus, so no flying today.

The Hume Weir is declared full !. Only 3 years ago it was at 17% .
Because we expect some severe rain tomorrow they decided to release 25.000 mega lieters which is 25.000.000.000 liter
into the Murray river. This will cause a rise of 4 meter water level in the river. So some flooding aside the river
but not in the urban area. We will make some photo's and put them on the web in the next few days.

October 28th

Grietje spend most of the day doing her preparations in the office.
Internet is working troughot the building ! Time sheets etc etc.
After some domestic work we cleaned FA and it was Noppies day to fly. He did over 400 km !
Werner and Andrea came in and that was a good opportunity to ask Werner to do the Aero Tow.
In the afternoon, while Noppies had a good day in the air and see Lake Urana with water, Francesco, Grietje and Elise
put the new trampoline together. More fun for the kids!



The new trampoline and "what a sky" .
Werner towing Noppies .
SY and Grietje having a chat .

October 27th

The first flying day of this season.
Francesco had the honour to make the first flight of the 2010 2011 season.
After Noppies prepared both tow planes we were ready to go.
1/16 cu's and later blue. Not an easy day, but with sometimes good thermals.
After 3 hours flying and 240 km it was enough for today.
The area is green but compared to Dalby landable paddocks and here and there already some brown spots.
Even some farmers already burned some paddocks.

October 26th

After a very wet stay and poor comp in Dalby Qld, we started the final preps in Corowa.
Clubhouse, hangar, cars, internet etc .
In the mean time Noppies and Elise arrived and went for a short holiday to Sydney.
Jorgen, Birgite, Werner and Andrea also arrived.

We had quite a bit of rain in Corowa, so we still have some wet spots at the airfield, especially
the North tie down area. We have to wait another week before we can start mowing there.

The containers are delayed by 3 days, which is not that much as they arrive in the Melbourne Cup week.
We still expect them (like last year) in the week-end after Melbourne Cup and AQIS on Monday Tuesday.
"3W" will be most likely cleared on Friday.

October 3rd

We arrrived last Sunday (26) in Melbourne.
Only 1,5 day in Corowa and en route to Dalby. 1300 km and well behaving
kids in the Car.
After solving internet problems etc we are now online en ready for 2 weeks
flying at Dalby. Australian Nationals 2010
We have to get used to the time frame. Early start final glide 4 pm and sunset
at 6 pm.

September 23rd

The last glider packed at Alexander Schleicher Poppenhausen ! ( http://alexander-schleicher.de )
The ASCC's new ASH 31 MI "3W" with 21m and 18m span was packed today at the factory.
It will join the other containers on Friday and they will sail together to Melbourne, where they
are due to arrive on November 4th.


3W .
3W .
3W .
3W .
Security Seal .

September 21st

The new "Boys" "Girls" house style


House style 2010

September 20th

The containers left Venlo today.
We had to move quite a bit as the Red stays in Venlo.
It is always amazing how these people move containers like they are carton boxes.
However, when the truck drivers arrived at customs office they had to wait for over 1 hour
before the could go to the wharf. But when they arrived at the wharf they
were send back to customs who did not complete the paperwork in the right way.
After another 1,5 hour they finally could deliver the containers in the wharf.
Unnecessary 6 waiting hours added to our bill. A good start of the trip !?
Anyway the Aerospool container is on it way from Bratislava by train and will join
our containers in about 2 days followed by the Alexander Schleicher container with "3W" on
Thursday and then they will leave R'dam together on the MS Mimosa of Hapag-Lloyd.
Extra thank you to John van Houten of Aspley who was so kind to to drive to the wharf and fix
the safety stamp on the White container
and Erik van Geffen of Wikalmar who got some extra work due to the custom problems.


Security stamp .
Safety seal .
lifting magician .
reorganizing the containers .
That is what is left .

September 19th

Today Francesco stayed in Venlo and had a final check of every glider in all
containers.
Sill a few hours work, but everything looks ok.
The safety seals are on and the containers ready to go.
But we still have to change all the paperwork from the Red
into the White container.


Red empty again .

September 18th

The final packing day was a challenging one! At 09:30 we had almost all wings in Red and then found out that the wings of WD
did not fit. So we had to change to the White container. What a job.
But with the help of everybody we managed to finish Green and White by 7pm
2 Containers in 1 day. "Chapeau" for everybody involved.
Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice cool beer !!


Red empty again .
Start packing White .
green ready .
White ready to go .
packing area .

September 17th

Yesterday we started the new Corowa season.
Safety inspection and cleaning the containers.
Pepe and Jos did part of the cleaning job and finally ,in between the showers
we got both gliders in the Blue container.
In the mean time Hans Christian and Elise arrived to give hand with the packing job.
Today we finished the Blue container (NV, N?, 31, DB, PG, and PZ)
We also finished half the Red container with MK, IM and DS (welcome back Ruedi!)


Jos Cleaning .
Pepe about to clean .
Noppies and Elise .
Blue ready to go .
Blue .

September 15th

Tomorrow we start the day with the safety check of our containers by Aspley Cargo Surveyors.
After that cleaning and organizing the containers.
In the afternoon Pepe will bring his DG and Jos his brand nee ASH 31 Mi.
Karl his new 31 was already delivered and next week AS will send 3W in a separate container.
All together 3 brand new flag ships of AS in Corowa.


3W final assembly .

September 14th

Only 2 days to go before we start packing our containers for the season 2010 2011.
All the preparations are done and now we are waiting for some reasonable weather
for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
We whish everybody a safe trip to Venlo.

July 10th

One container spot left.

July 8th

Both tugs are ready for the coming season.

The new look from 2010

June 29th

From The Soaring magazine in Australia.

Move your mouse over the picture to zoom in.

June 28th

Frank and Alissa are making Freckles with Jo in the Chocolate Factory.

We went back today with Frank and Alissa for lunch. Frank and Alissa made a Freckel. A huge one.

June 24th 2010

The Licorice, Chocolate & Whiskey Factory .
One of the rooms where you can enjoy coffee, lunch or dinner.
Dawn, Frank and Francesco.
Frank, Grietje and Francesco having a coffee.
.

We are proud to announce that we have another coffee facility.
And more than that, lunch and soon restaurant. And if you like chocolate or whiskey,
this is the place to be. Of course we needed to check this out, so we had a coffee
there today and were surprised to see Dawn and Frank. No surprise the quality and
service was good!

June 2010

We now have a waiting list for the next container.

 

 

© Australian Soaring Centre Corowa 2010