January 6th 2009

We said good bye to Chris Davison, Thomas Wieland and Joachim Doering.
But we welcomed, Lubik, Viliam, Jana, Jan and Mike.
Hans Christiaan and Lubor got their well deserved bottle of wine at the briefing.
 

The forecast for today was ok, but a strong wind and a change in the air mass made
the day not as good as expected.

January 6th 2009

1000 km FAI declared triangle for Lubor.
1000 km flight and 1000 km badge for Hans Christiaan

We welcomed Tohru Ikeda who wil fly his own ASW22 QL. Anders is leaving tomorrow.
Daan prepared his glider and launched at 13.45>
Yesterday was the last flying day of Joachim Doering. We derigged PY in the afternoon.

A very good forecast again for today. Blue conditions with a possible early start."
Hans C and Lubor declared a 1000 km FAI triangle (in blue thermals) .
First launch was for Hans Christiaan at 10:30 .2nd Lubor and after that all the others.
Both completed the task, but unfortunately Hans missed the finish line, but has his 1000 km badge. Congratulations !!
Just before 12 we had all gliders airborne, except a few self launchers.
We had a great day with long and excellent flights.

Hans after 1001 km	Lubor after 1001 km

January 5th 2009

Congratulations Nils and Megan with the birth of your son  Lasse.

Happy Birthday to Francesco's mother who is celebrating her 85th Birthday.
                 """"""""""""""""HAPPY BIRTHDAY"""""""""""""""

Martine Happy Birthday !!

Also happy birthday to Richard Aldous

Now some news about the flying today>

We had a good soaring day again with flights of almost 800 km.
It was the last flying day for Chris Mayhew. He had a great time and did a lot of flying again.
Daan Pare arrived in the afternoon and will fly his own glider "NL"

Lisanne made her first solo flight in the early morning on the LS4.
And ijn the early evening a flight with the Extra 300. Aerobatics optima forma !!

The Extra 300	Lisanne ready for the show

January 4th 2009

A blue day was forecasted, but the temp in the North was high enough to produce cu's
with a cloud base of 3000m and climbs up to 6 m/s.
So that was the way most pilots flew.
Unfortunately we got a huge layer of high clouds which reduced the thermal strength.
Also a bit different air mass in the West did not make it very attractive to go too far to the West.
But no complaints, we had an excellent soaring day.

We first made the site check with Geert and ater that,  Lisanne made her last check on the Duo and tomorrow
morning she will make her first solo in AUstralia.
 

January 3rd 2009

A nice warm day.
Blue thermals up to 2300 meter, good lift, but a working day.

We started with the site check of Gorig Brunner, He flew the LS4.
After the site check Jantine mad a last check on the Duo and after that her first solo in Australia on the LS4.
After that Lisanne flew with Francesco the Duo.

Anna was the first of us (staff) to make a flight with the Extra 300. Her first aerobatics and now she knows
what it means to feel the G's. Brave girl !!!

January 2nd 2009

A very stong wind from 200 made launching very difficult. Only SM, FA and SL flew today
as it was their last day for this season.
Bernd Doernemann also left and we will see him in Grubbenvorst when we unpack the containers.

January 1st 2009

Happy New Year

After the briefing we did a New Year's jump in the pool, not all of us, but it was Cooooooolllllllllllllllllllld !

There we go	Splashh	cold, but fun

The first flying day of 2009.
Cu's all day, but a slow rising temperature. So the first our was just above 1000 meter.
Markku found some wave near Yarrawonga and could climb over 3000 meter and made some nice pics
above the cu's.
A strong wind but flights over 500 km.
It was also the first  Aerobatic day for the Extra 300.

Ivan and Stanislav	FA in the wave	above the cu's

December 31st 2008

The last flying day of 2008.
A good soaring day with good and difficult conditions. Good enough for Harry to fly a 610 km FAI with 97 km/h.
This morning Ivan and Stanislav flew the extra 300 from Yarrawonga to Corowa.
In the afternoon we made the first flight from Corowa.

On the briefing we had a perfect Happy Birthday for Hans Christiaan, our tow pilot.
After briefing (A lot of) cake backed by the " Ladies"

Happy Birthday

Tonight we had a dinner at the airfield with the Staff , Jorgen & Birgitte and Barbara & Angelo.
All the pilots went to the party at the RSL club.

December 30th 2008

We started the briefing with a happy brithday for Max Dolfin (60).
We said good bye to Lukas Benedikt and hello to Elise, the girl friend of Hans Christiaan.

The weather , a cold front with rain and strong wind.
The clearing (3pm) was too late and the wind too strong (30 kts) to do any flying.

Tomorrow the last day of this year and we hope to have a good day flying.

December 29th 2008

Good soaring conditions, strong wind and blue was enough to safe some energy for most pilots
for the next few days.
Only Ilmari,  Markku and Rene & Hans Herbert did fly.
Hans Christiaan went to Melbourne to pick up his girl friend.
We said good bye on the briefing to to Masayuki, Kei and Toshi. They had a great time and will  be back
next season.

December 28th 2008

A good day, but the dew point dropped that fast over Corowa, that we did not get the cu's.
But good lift in the blue.
We started launching at 10:20. Masayuki with "LK" was the first today.
In the afternoon Rene and Hans Herbert "DG" arrived and also Ivan, Stanislav and Lubor.
Ivan and Stanislav will fly the extra 300 and "IZ" and Lubor his own "LK"

We rigged "DG" in the afternoon. so all 5 containers are now empty.

Last wing out	Rigging "DG"	Last glider almost ready to fly

December 27th 2008

The day after.
On the briefing Francesco gave all the 1000 km pilots a bottle of wine.
But also mentioned the golden heights of Mauri, Kei, Toshi, Masayuki and Lukas
and the golden badge of Lukas Benedikt, who is going home with his gold and 2 diamonds.
The weather today was not good enough to fly. Next to the weather, most pilots were tired after the good flying days.

The 1000 km bottles waiting	Jorgen flew his 1000 km badge	The 11  1000 km pilots

December 26th 2008 

11 x 1000 km from Corowa today!!

Which is a new record. The old record was of January 22nd 2006
when we did 10x 1000 km flights on 1 day.
it is also the first time we did over 24.000 km cross country on 1 day !!!

 1.  1105 km + 1000 km badge for Jorgen Thomsen on his new LS10t.
 2.  1105 km for Hansi Lange  (122 km/h average)
 3.  1030 KM for Richard Aldous
 4.  1025 km for Ilmari Rintasalo
 5.  1070 km for Max Dolfin
 6.  1030 km for Reinhard Pankow
 7.  1020 km for Berry Fennis
 8.  1085 km for Otto Dumke
 9.  1025 km for Manfred Kasten
10.  1025 km for Peter Zander
11.  1060 km for Thomas Wieland

A perfect day again. A day in paradise !!!
We had trigger temp at 10 am and 1st launch was scheduled and done at 10.30 sharp.
Half way we had a pause of 20 minutes and just before 12 we had all 28 gliders airborne.
We had some high clouds in the South and over Corowa, but they did not effect our pilots in the North, with
a cloud base over 12.000 ft (4000 m) and climbs up to 6 m/s +/+. integrated!!.
11 pilots over 1000 km and 2 just 20 km short!!
Today we launched with 2 Pawnees and the Dynamic. Even with the high temperature of 32 grC
the DYD did well and operated almost as fast as the Pawnees.
It was good to see the hangar empty and only 3 gliders on tie-down , of which the pilots are on their
way from Europe to Corowa.

The forecast	Hangar empty only the three tow planes	To the North	To the South

December 25th 2008

Merry Christmas

An excellent temp trace which forecasted very good soaring conditions.
A cloudbase just over 3000 km and climbs of max 6 m/s.
We started launching at 11:15, which was a bit too late. Within an hour all the gliders were airborne.
Jan Beeke from the "Amsterdamse Club voor Zweefvliegen" flew with Harry today the Duo XLT a 500 km out and return.
All the other pilots made excellent flights  up to 860 km.

Corrie, Jand and Harry	sunset

December 24th 2008

A blue day in the West and Cu's East in the mountains.
We had 27 gliders in the air and everybody was back in time to have their Christmas meals.
Frank and Alissa were surprised by santa "TT".

December 23rd 2008

The weather was not what we expected. It took too long before we got the trigger temp.
But in 35 minutes we had all glider launched. Some gliders came back early, others were happy at 3000 meters.
Also a few pilots working on their gliders.

December 22nd 2008

Welcome to Kai Kawamura. Good bye to Jan Vanrobays, who is back in January.
An excellent soaring day with a cloud base just over 3000 meter.
Results tomorrow

December 21st 2008

Welcome to, Ilmari & Cisko, Ilkka, Mauri and family. Also welcome to Martin Bierhuizen.
It was the  last day for our staff member Gerrit. Not easy to thank people who come to
Corowa to give a hand running the ASCC as a volunteer. Without them it would be impossible.
Gerrit thanks a lot for all the help and company !! and thanks Tonny for letting him go to Corowa.
As it was his last day, he could make the choice for his last meal and it was indonesian.
Hard work for Wim, Jantine, Lisanne and Francesco in the kitchen, but job done for the 6 pm meal.
Welcome back Fer, who is taking over Gerrit's job for the 2nd part of the season.

The flying today was not the easiest day. The temperature finally got its forecasted max of 29 grC
but 1, 5 hour later, which made it long flying in the heat at low altitudes.
Some pilots cancelled the flying for today and the others went for the struggle.
Martin Bierhuizen made his first flight on the DG808 and Werner Kerzendorf used the day to fly with his
family in the Duo.
By 7 pm everybody was back and hopefully a better day tomorrow.

Almost all the gliders out	Masayuki	Gerrit	Martin ready for T/O	808 T/O  SY landing	Gerrit's last meal    (for this season)

December 20th 2008

We welcomed Toshimasa Somenaka today and said good bye to Jos and Sonja Schrier.
Jos and Sonja will be back next season and this is the first time for Toshi in Corowa.

We had a blue day and a for Corowa late start.
Nevertheless a good soaring day.

HC Temp Trace 8 am	preparing for the day 1	Bernd	preparing for the day 2	preparing for the day 3
Jantine	Anders QL ready for T/O	Lisanne	Job done refuel	Wim and Jantine in the kitchen

December 19th 2008

Happy Birthday !!
Francesco his father is celebrating his 85th birthday.
Happy birthday Opa koekepeer !

A beautiful sky with nice cu's, but 20 to 25 kts wind and a lot of low level turbulance.

We launched the DUO with Hans Christiaan and Chris Mayhew  first , but they missed the first thermal and had to land.
Jos Schrier made his last flight of this season and made 470 km .
Francesco decided to stop launching for a while as it was impossible to make safe take offs and landings with the Pawnee
and gliders.
After an hour we restarted launching a few gliders.
Theyhad perfect thermals , wave, but most of all a strong wind.

Pepe flew his DG800 back from Narromine to Corowa  and will spend the rest of the season in Corowa.
A perfect performance , 480 km into the wind!

December 18th 2008

No flying today due to a trough system, a Low developing over Tasmania and a cold front from the West.
At the briefing we cancelled the day, which turned out to be a good decision.

December 17th 2008

No flying due to a trough system with some rain.

December 16th 2008

Just a day in Paradise.
Today Grietje and Francesco did the towing and Hans Christian did fly "SL"
He made the best flight of the day , a 800 km FAI triangle.
After towing Francesco flew with Jantine and Lisanne in the Duo.
 

December 15th 2008

Berry arrived this morning and was picked up from Albury by Gerrit.
Katinka had to stay in NL for medical reasons, so we ( in particular Frank) will miss her very much!!
Yesterday we also welcomed Masayuki Kawamura, he is in Corowa for the 3rd time and will
fly "LK" .
Werner Kerzendorf made his first flight on "SM" and Lukas Benedikt flew the LS4 and will fly "DG" from today.

Finally a sunny day and a good forecast for the coming week.
We had an early launch and the towing was done by Hans Christian and Grietje.
When Gerrit went to Albury the girls " Lisanne and Jantine" were running the launch operation.
We had most pilots in the air and Hansi Lange made the best flight with 655 km. (O/R to Forbes)

Francesco went to Melbourne to pick up Wim and Grietje had to sing with the Corowa Community Choir
which made Anna a busy nanny.

So al together a busy day.

December 14th 2008

We made 2 site checks in the afternoon.
And that was today.
Strong wind over 20 kts and a lot of turbulence mad it impossible to do more flying.

After 6 pm the wind was less and the blue sky appeared.
So we went to the RSL park to enjoy the Christmas carols performed by the community choir
in which Grietje is singing.

December 13th 2008

As Yesterday

December 12th 2008

A rainy day.
A low pressure system moved into NSW and is expected to contract to the East by tomorrow morning.
We only got 20 mm rain. At least not as bad as forecasted.

December 11th 2008

An interesting day.
With the approach of a trough an low pressure system, we had just enough sunshine in between the
high AC clouds, to keep the thermals going up to 3000 meter.
A lucky day with long flights. ILH did 775 km and together over 10.000 km again.
For tomorrow we expect rain.

December 10th 2008

The forecasted cu's popped up on time, but disappeared as soon as we had all the gliders airborne.
Today we did the towing with 2 pawnees and the Dynamic. Unfortunately we  had (still) a problem with
LGT, which made Grietje stop after 3 tows. Nevertheless it went smooth and we had all the gliders
airborne within 40 minutes.
Hans Christiaan  finally found after 1 week trouble with LGT the problem and solved it. The test flight
showed a perfect running engine again.
The weather today was not as good/easy as forecasted , but still good enough for Tjeerd to fly over
700 km in IZ.
It was the last flying day for the Danish pilots, Stener, Ib, Morten, Ole, Mogensen and Bjarne.

December 9th 2008

Congratulation Hans Christian Christensen and Morten Nielsen with your GOLDEN HEIGHT and
your Golden Badge today !!!
The forecast of good thermals over 9000 ft today was correct. Even under the 8/8 clouds we got
thermals over 5 m/s and a thermal height of 12.000 ft. Enough to make your Golden height today.

Francesco and Anna flew to Yarrawonga to deliver all the paperwork of the Extra 300 of Ivan.

Anna before her 1st Dynamic flight	Extra 300 VH-CIZ	In Yarrawonga before take off	HC before is Golden flight.

December 8th 2008

 A sunny day with local 25 grC and North 26 grC.
Enough for good blue thermals up to 2400m.
We had all Pilots in the air today and did the towing with FOO and DYD.
Jorgen and Birgitte went to Temora with "TT" to get the new winglets for 15m config
fitted. We expect them back by tomorrow.

December 7th 2008

 A beautiful day, but not for flying.  With wind coming from the south it was
not to warm and we even did not reach the trigger temperature to get thermals above 1000m.

December 6th 2008

7/8 high clouds and later some cu's.
A short day was expected before the front. The front was inactive and gave no rain.
Not brilliant, but still good enough to fly a few 300 km's.
For the next 2 days high pressure.

December 5th 2008

Sinterklaas !! And Saint Nicolas also visited Corowa to bring Frank an Alissa presents.
Thank You St Nicolas !! We really appreciate the presents.

The presents !	Frank unpacking and  Alissa covered under new clothes

The weather briefing was correct, excellent climbs and a cloud base of 2800 meter !!!
The flying pilots did over 500 km !

OM had some technical problems, but due to the help of Bernd and Otto he can fly tomorrow again.
AR is back after a small repair job form Tocumwal. (Quick job Peter Corckery)
LGT is back after the repair of the magneto's. (Quick job Ramsey Aviation Wangaratta)

All planes and gliders ready for the next day.

December 4th 2008

We did not get the forecasted 30 grC, but only 28.
Under the most of the time 8/8 ci we got good climbs. of  2,5 m/s up to 3,5 m/s and a thermal hight of max 2000m.
It is always hard to believe, that you can fly cross country in Australia under ci clouds.
Reason  for a lot of pilots to stay on the ground
.
Due to a technical problem with one of our Pawnees we used the Dynamic for towing today.
It is amazing how easy 100hp can tow 18 meter class gliders at max t/o weight.

December 3rd 2008

A day in paradise !!
We had a perfect day with beautiful cu's to thee West and 60 km North. A cloud base of 2200 meter
good climbs, only the wind was a bit strong 15  to 20 kts.
With 2 tow planes we had the whole lot airborne in 45 minutes.
Again long flights and a total of over 14.000 km cross country today.

Grietje picked Fer up at Albury airport.
Francesco flew with Marian the Dynamic and picked up Hans Christiaan from Wangaratta.
HC flew LGT to Wangaratta for maintenance.

After flying a lot of pilots enjoyed the fish meal . Salmon, with white wine sauce with grapes.

December 2nd 2008

Still not the good weather , but all pilots were in the air.
Distances over 600 km were flown and Ib Wienberg even flew 750 km !!.
Total distance today over 9500 km.
In the OLC Australia Corowa Airfield is no 1 with an average of 455 km per cross country flight
and Narromine no 2 with 295 km per cc flight.

Yesterday Jochem Doering arrived and today we rigged his ASH 26E "PY"
Tjeerd Reitsma also arrived today and Tjeerd will fly IZ for 2 weeks.

December 1st 2008

No flying today.

November 30th 2008

A perfect day.
We had early cu's so 1st launch at 10.45  for 6E.
The towing was done with 2 tow planes and we had all gliders airborne before 12:00.
We had nice flight of almost 700 km.
For tomorrow a few grC more and hopefully another good day.

November 29th 2008

A lot of moist in the air, which gave a low cloud base with 7/8.
Later in the day it dried out a bit and we got 4/8 cu's at 1800 meter. However the wind was still
20 kts due to the low on the East coast.
After briefing we did the site briefing and site checks with the new pilots from Denmark, included Morten Nielsen who
arrived with his father Stener this morning.
Rene Brandsma (NL) completed his silver and golden badge today. Congratulations.

At this moment we have 15 gliders flying with the SPOT tracking system ( www.findmespot.com )
This allows us to follow the gliders during the day, but much more important at the end of the day. In case they outland
they can send an ok message so we do not have to start a search and rescue system.
Hopefully we have all glider equipped with SPOT next season.

The track of 1 of the gliders

November 28th 2008

Hopefully the last day of the misery.
Early this morning we cancelled the briefing and flying for today.
Francesco and Jan flew he Dynamic until the rain was too much.
It was the last possible flying day for Jan Vanrobays and he left after 2 weeks with
not too good flying weather.
In the afternoon, Ib, Fahlgren and Bjarne arrived. Ole is still somewhere between Denmark and Australia.
They will fly LK, LM and FA.

November 27th 2008

The forecasted rain and storms were late again, so we had a few hours window with good
soarable conditions. We had 5 pilots in the air.
Hans Christiaan and Gerrit flew 300 km.
Dick Dorrepaal left in the morning. Dick had some good flights in the Duo and is now travelling back
to Melbourne and will fly back to Indonesia .

November 26th 2008

Still low pressure which is dominating our weather.
We started the day with overcast and forecasted CB's developed in the early evening West of Corowa.
We made a joy flight with a friend of Tohru Ikeda and Francesco made a flight with Anna.
After 2 pm we had a window with nice cu's and thermals up to 5 m/s and 2500 m cloudbase.
Our 2 ASG29's were in the air with Jan Vanrobays and Ruedi Herzog. They flew 205 and 300 km.

November 25th 2008

Finally a standard Corowa day!!!
Not as much cu's as forecasted, but reliable thermals up to 2800 meter.
All pilots had a ball today !!
Dick Dorrepaal flew with an instructor of the ACvZ (Harry W.) and 410 km.
Rene Brandsma (NL) flew his diamond goal of 300km (FAI triangle)
Longest flight was for Hansi Lange with 870 km and Pepe flew to Narromineand all the others distyances
over 500 km !!.

November 24th 2008

7/8 high clouds today. With a max temp of 22 grC we had thermals up to 1400m. 0,5 m/s and when th sun
appeared up to 2  m/s. Not really a Corowa day.
Ruedi used the day to familiarize with the ASG29 SM, Grietje did some flying with our 2 staff ladies, Rene Brandsma
and Dick Dorrepaal and Francesco flew with Anna.
In the early evening Max (MD) arrived.

Grietje, who is next ?	LM reday for T/O	Anna & Francesco	Anna's first glider flight

November 23rd 2008

A sky with nice cu's at about 1500m, but we had 44 kts wind in the morning and during the day steady
round 30 kts and in the evening 15 kts.
Too much to fly.
For the next few days we expect good soaring weather and hopefully everybody in the air tomorrow.

November 22nd 2008

A cold front from West to East and a deep low South made it a very windy and instable day.
Max temp 12 grC and snow in the mountains.  brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Hans Christiaan checking all the tie down gliders	39 kts from SW

November 21st 2008

Overcast in the morning, but the expected window came in time to have a nice flying day.

Jan Hrabovsky made the first aero tows with the Dynamic. First AE with Janos and after that the Duo XLT
wit Miroslav.

Dick Dorrepaal flew the DUO with Hans Christiaan.
Most of the pilots took off, but had to be back early before the approach of a cold front.
But we had a good day!!
The 2 staff girls Jantine and Lisanne did the launching together.

Hans C briefing Dick	Erik with his LS8	Bernd preparing his flight	Harry (CT) ready for T/O	Jan with the ASG29 "FA"
The staff girls Lisanne adn Jantine				copyright photo's Jantine

November 20th 2008

The low pressure system still dominates our weather.
Unfortunately another non flying day.
In the afternoon we had a dry period, just enough for Jan Hrabovsky, to check out Grietje on the Dynamic.
More about the towing with this superb plane later this week.

Jan and Grietje	Grietje and Jan	The WT in Corowa	Ready for the first flight

November 19th 2008

As forecasted yesterday low pressure and no possible gliding today.
Thomas Wieland, Peter Zander, Reinhard Pankow and Dick Dorrepaal and his wife arrived today.
We rigged OM, PZ and AR.
Gerrit with the help of a few otthers reorganized  the hangar and most fuselages are now out.
The Slovak team rigged the Dynamic and made just before the rain a test flight.
Bernd Doerneman finish the repaired a small lack damage on the ASG29 FA.

Anna, Jantine and Lisanne in the kitchen	The Slovak team rigging the Dynamic	Bernd working on FA	Gerrit busy	PZ rigged!	The supervisors

November 18th 2008

A complex low pressure system and a trough extending from Qld to Tasmania is responsabble
for not flying today and most likely tomorrow.
The Slovak team was working on the Dynamic.
We will rig the WT9 (Dynamic) tomorrow and start flying and towing on Thursday.

November 17th 2008

A blue day with good conditions.
We started the day with nice cu's, but as expected they disappeared an we had a blue day.
Manfred made his first flight of this season and Jan Vanrobays made his first flight in our new ASG 29E "FA".
In the afternoon Jos and Sonja arrived and we rigged "6E" so Jos can fly tomorrow.
after all the gliders were airborne Grietje test flew the DG808 "VDG" after its annual inspection..

November 16th 2008

A day for fiddling, fixing things and some flying. Manfred Kasten checked his glider after rigging
in the early cold morning. Francesco went to Wangaretta to pick up a 2 mil steel cable. Even it is
on a Sunday, Hamish was so kind to help us out.

November 15th 2008

Francesco went to Albury this morning. His daughter Cynthia and partner Maurice left after a short visit.

Grietje did the briefing and also the airfield briefing for Birgitte, Lubo and Hans Christiaan.
After that she made the site checks with them and also flew with Jantine and Lisanne.

Francesco made the first flight with the new ASG29 "FA".

The soaring condition were ok. Blue thermals of sometimes 4  m/s and 1700 m agl were enough to make
some nice cross country flights.

November 14th 2008

No flying today.
The trough went trough the area and the cold front effected Melbourne in a heavy way.
Thunderstorms lightning and rain were sometimes scary, but no serious damage was reported.

The Slovak pilots rigged "AE" and had a first look at the dynamic .
We rigged FA and did put a fuselage (the first to arrive) in every container.

For tomorrow we are not sure about the weather, but Sunday until Wednesday should be ok again.
Anyway it is November when you can expect some instable weather situations.

Gardening	Planting trees	I can do it myself

November 13th 2008

We had a little bit of hope that the cool change would arrive late in the afternoon, but the high clouds
were early and spoiled the day.
We got 32 grC, enough for a few cu's under the high cirrus, but not enough for cross country.
An attempt to fly with the staff was unsuccessful due to gusty wind with too much cross wind component.
In the evening the first group from Slovakia Jan, Miro, Marian and Lubo (aerospool) arrived.

For tomorrow we expect the frontal system to pass and from Saturday it should be ok again.

November 12th 2008

Grietje got her medical yesterday (after pregnancy check) and made her first aerotow of the season.
On tow? Francesco , test flying the LS4 after the form 2 and new refinished wings.
After that Hans Christiaan took over.
An excellent day with higher cloud base and better thermals as yesterday.
after 3 days training with Harry Wondergem and Francesco, Herman de Jong went cross country
with the LS4 after an absence in soaring for 25 years. He did an out and return of 425 km !!!
Hansi Lange was the winner of today with 700 km.

Francesco went to Albury to pick up his daughter Cynthia and partner Maurice. they will stay
for two days before travelling trough Australia. It was also the first time Cynthia could hold her newborn
little sister Alissa.

LS4 ready for test flying	Jantine (staff)	Gerit (Staff)	Hans Christiaan (staff)	Grietje 1st tow of the season

November 11th 2008

An excellent air mass, only too much cirrus in the North but later also top conditions.
An early start today and most of the pilots went first south .
With a max distance just over 800 km it was a good start of the season.

November 10th 2008

Hans Christiaan made his first tows today.
Francesco flew with Herman the Duo and most pilots were in the air.
The weather forecast was ok, but started later as expected.
Finally we got over 2000 meter thermal hight with good lift.
Tomorrow a few grC more and hopefully cu's. ( and some photo's)

November 9th 2008

A few cu's in the morning and later blue local and still some cu's in the North.
The conditions were not easy, but we also did not get the forecasted temperature.

Hans Christiaan did some T&G with the pawnee and will start towing tomorrow.

November 8th 2008

The day after the front.
We had almost 30 mm rain yesterday.
Today the cloud base was most of the day 300o ft with 15 kts wind and 25 at 2000 ft.
No flying today. The forecast for the next 4 days is good with temperatures up to 32 grC.
We rigged Harry his glider CT and the 2nd Duo LM.
This morning Herman de Jong arrived. He his from Western Australia, but started his gliding in the same
club and the same time as Francesco.
He will do some training this week in the Duo.

Next to the flying, we finished our play center for the kids.

The new play center

November 7th 2008

The forecast for today, A very active front moving fast to the East with a reasonable amount of rain.
This was correct !!.

We spend the day building a play center for the children. A big puzzle, but we managed to get most of it
together. Tomorrow we will put it on the right place and finish it.

Pepe was the chef today. His famous paella was on the menu and it was delicious !! Thank you very much Pepe !!!
Harry Wondergem arrived just in time to join the meal !!.

The puzzle starts	most of it together	Chef "Pepe"	Top Paella !!	"Chefs" table	table "2"

November 6th 2008

The first flying day.
We had the first launch at 1 pm. Erik van der Heul with his LS8 2H was the first real flight of the season.
Pepe and Jorgen were the other 2 pilots.
Erik did 190 km, Jorgen made his first flight with his new LS10 and Pepe flew about 4 hours.
Thermals up to 2200 m agl, but blue.
For tomorrow we expect a front over NSW.

At 6 pm Hansi and Eveline arrived after a 2 day trip from Germany.

November 5th 2008

The weather forecast was patchy rain during the day, but it was dry all day.
No flying, but enough time for other work.
Both towplanes have now Flarm, which complete the total Corowa fleet having Flarm this season.

In the afternoon Hans Christiaan arrived. He will be our tow pilot for the season.

Hopefully some flying tomorrow.

November 4th 2008

A busy 2nd day.
We rigged "DUO" and "TT". and used DUO to make 2 chscks. Erik site check and Anders his annual check.
Tom Gilbert did the annual inspection in the DG808 and the LS4.
All the other pilots were working on there gliders and are ready to fly.
Grietje went to Albury to pick up our 2 new staff members Lisanne and Jantine.
 

November 3rd 2008

At 8 am mr Ray Vassallo (AQIS) arrived and we started unpacking the containers for inspection.
It was a huge job again to get the fuselages (29) out.
Not only 29 fuselages, but also 29 tow bars, 29 wing walkers, 29 tail dollies and an Extra 300 and Dynamic.
This job is always done by the early arrivers.
Werner, Andrea, Otto, Eva, Bernd, Erik, Pepe, Anders, Angelo( Corowa), Curtis (pilot bank plane) plus staff Gerrit
I think they deserve a big Thank You from all the pilots.

But before that we had a quick inspection of the 5 containers and we could smile again.
Not 1 scratch on one of the gliders !
In the afternoon the last (6th) container arrived with the Dynamic and the extra 300  .
The Dynamic is in the hangar and the extra is in Yarrawonga for rigging, inspection and VH registration.

We did put all the fuselages in the hangar, so we have only the wings in the container.

After the inspection we rigged 2H, DB, SY, ZY and PG.

Today Pepe  and Jorgen Tomsen and his wife arrived.

Tomorrow we will rig TT and DUO.

Ray Vassallo inspecting N/?	Clean !	Deputy inspector Frank	Gerrit , top!	all fuselages out
Inspection on the way	Time for a rest, Anna, Frank and Erik	Time to feed Alissa	Extra 300 >>	to Yarrawonga
Most fuselages in the hangar	2H was the first glider to rig	A perfect packed WT9

November 2nd 2008

A quiet day.
Gerrit prepared all water ballast places for the gliders and did most of the work for the
annual inspection of the DG808.
Anders was working on his ASW22 all day.
But from tomorrow "full on"

November 1st 2008

At 9 am sharp 5 trucks from B&K  Melbourne  were in front of the gate.
Great to see the drivers every time. Dedicated and nice people !!!
45 minutes later we had all 5 containers on the new Quarantine Area.
Unfortunately, we are not allowed to break the seals until Monday, so we could not do any check.
The last container will arrive Monday 10 am.
after the containers were unloaded, we made a check with the Cu-sonde. 100 % spot on.
A nice day with 2 up to 4 m/s and a cloud base over 2500 meter. This turned out to be correct.

In the afternoon Bernd Doernemann arrived safely in Corowa. Welcome back Bernd.

containers arrived	Red is no 1	Last container in position	B&K trucks top!	Aerial picture	Job done

October 31st 2008

We are getting there.
We did a lot of small jobs today.
Office ready, Hangar ready, tow planes ready, tie down ready, kitchen running.

Tomorrow morning we still expect the containers !!??.

Today Anders (QL) arrived after he picked up the glider from Peter Corckery at Tocumwal.
We expect some more pilots tomorrow, so for the unpacking we have enough people, but
we need them as we have to unpack the Extra 300 and WT9 on Monday and the AQIS inspection.

nice flying day	the new antenna's made by Garry	Office work	Charging for a test	Gerrit ready for today

October 30th 2008

Grietje almost finished the office.
Internet is running again and we try to find a new daily routine.
Gerrit and Francesco put new tyres on FOO. Francesco also test flew FOO and we
did some radio test with the new antenna's.

The restaurant is open for the 6pm meal and tonight the first eye fillets and lamb backstrap
were served. mmmmmmmmmm!

October 29th 2008

This morning Francesco went to Wangaratta to pick up Gerrit from the railway station.
The first staff member is there. 3 to go.
Gerrit arrived yesterday and was fit enough to clean the BBQ area and all the tables and chairs
for outside and a lot of other things.

Grietje used the day for organizing the office and busy being mother of 2 two children, together
with our au pair Anna. Its always a lot of work and we have to finish it tomorrow.

Our air compressor died yesterday and we got a new (more capacity) one today.
Tonight, we also had our first meal of the season cooked by Grietje and Barabara (Angelo)

Containers:
All containers are cleared by tomorrow and AQIS tailgate on Friday.
Inspection is on Monday.
The Extra 300 and WT9 will be delivered on Monday. Then we have to unpack for AQIS and empty the
container. This container is going back to Melbourne , as it is a rental.
1st Flying day on Tuesday Nov 4th.
 

SAR watch?	Anna and Frank	Tie down ready	Field cars running
The sun is there	Staff caravans	1st meal cooked by Grietje and Barbara

October 28th 2008

The first customers are already here.
Last week Thursday Werner and Andrea arrived. On Sunday Otto and Eva and today
Erik van der Heul.

All the containers arrived on Sunday.
Like every year we have some problems, They are unpredictable.
The planning is still to get them all on Saturday and on Monday 9 am AQIS inspection onsite.
Rigging and the first flights on Monday or Thuesday.

In the mean time we did a lot of work.
Angelo and Garry worked on the antennas for the base station. When we got the new CTAF freq 132.45
the existing antenna was out  of tune and we had to do something about it. Now we have 2 polls with
1 antenna optimized for the 122.70 and 1 antenna for the 132.45. We use J-pole antennas which should
be able to make 150 +/+ km.

Yesterday Steve from Wodonga brought 2 staff caravans. We took out The other two and after the Camping area
was mowed, we did put all the vans on the spot. The staff quarters are ready !!
We also mowed the tie down area and a few extra spot along the runways. It all looks great.

Today we moved the ASCC office from our home to the airfield.

Tomorrow we will pick up Gerrit (staff) from Wangaratta.

And all off a sudden the show is running full again.

October 21st 2008

The latest on the container transport.
Still on time and the containers are expected to be discharged on Monday 27th in Melbourne.
Then we have customs, transport to Corowa on Friday or Saturday and AQIS clearance on Monday 3rd of November,
which will also be the first possible day for flying.
Again a lot of work has to be done on the back ground and as always, Jodie plays a key role on that.

October 19th 2008

Yesterday evening , Francesco did test fly LGT.  A few touch and go's between the sky divers
and a 100% LGT. There were still some cu's at 11.000 ft !!

Today, yes it is still spring, we had a maximum temperature of 34 grC !!!
Wind from the North, a trough line East, a typical top day weather situation.
In the afternoon nice cu's with a cloud base 13.000 ft !!

synoptic today

The containers with all the gliders are still on schedule and are due to arrive in Melbourne next Sunday.

October 3rd 2008

We took off the safety screens of the clubhouse and had outside ( 29 grC) our first coffee of the season.
As usual some good thermals released .
Francesco and Angelo did weed spraying around the hangar and apron.
Slowly the season is approaching !!

October 2nd 2008

Today Francesco's parents (85 years young)  celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary !!!
We had a very nice lunch at All Saints.

63 years of Marriage

October 1st 2008

Congratulations to Fan Yufang and Reinhard Pankow.
First of all, they got married and second Yufang gave birth to their son Paul Fan on September 28th.

Paul Fan

September 26th 2008

We safely arrived yesterday evening in Melbourne.
We stayed in a motel and left this morning. After a 20 km drive Berry his Holden (which I was allowed to use)
all of a sudden stopped. After some phone calls we were towed back to a Holden garage in Sommerton. Not as
good as Jaspers in Corowa!!!. They were not sure when the car was ready, so we decided to leave for the airfield
again and drove to Corowa in an Avis car.
Next week when I bring my parents to Melbourne I will pick up the car and drive back to Corowa.
What a day !

n?

September 24th 2008

The trip back to Corowa.
Today Francesco left for Corowa with his parents.
The containers are all cleared by customs and will leave Rotterdam on Thursday morning.
The ETA Melbourne is as scheduled, October 26th.

September 22nd 2008

The 4 Grubbenvorst containers arrived safely in Rotterdam and paperwork was done before 12 o'clock.
The 2 Prieviedza containers arrived on Friday in de railway terminal and were transported by truck to
the terminal where the are loaded into the vessel.
However with the paperwork of these 2 containers we have been busy until 9 pm yesterday evening.
With a lot to thanks to Erik van Geffen of Wikalmar and the people from Railco.

September 21st 2008

This morning I checked all containers. A few minor adjustments were made.
I hope everything goes well again and the gliders (30) will arrive safely in Corowa.
When I parked the "FA" trailer at the airfield and checked the inside I found the winglets
of the ASG29 still in the trailer. Hand luggage !!!
I am really looking forward to Wednesday and travel back with my parents to my family in Corowa.
But first tomorrow, the birthday of Grietje's mother and a nice dinner with my daughters Megan and Cynthia !!!

September 20th 2008

The last day of the container packing was the same as the previous days. Perfect !!!
At  8:30 we started again as most of the pilots were already waiting.
By 10:30 all the wings were in. With the experienced help of all pilots things went fast.
Francesco was working in Green and Nils in White (which wasn't an easy job).
By 1:30 pm all pilots could leave as all the fuselages were in Green and we only had to adjust
the fittings in White to get all 6 fuselages in. Joachim (PY) and son stayed a bit longer which
was handy with the fuselages.
To get those in with the big DG505 fuselage was quite a job but we managed.
After that it was a matter of cleaning up and fixing the last wing walkers etc in Green and White.
By 5:30 pm Nils and Francesco closed all doors. JOB DONE !
Tomorrow morning we will make a final check of every container and then off to Corowa.
I like to thank everybody for the help and good atmosphere in which we did the packing.
A special thanks to Fer and Nils Thanks mate !!!
But we also missed 1 person. Grietje!!!. Yes dear we missed you !!!! We did the job, but,,,

Blue ready	Red ready	Green ready	White ready	Joachim cleaning!

September 19th 2008

A productive day !
Nils and Fer were there today to give a hand packing the containers. Top!!!
The "AE" from Aerospool was there early. We started to pack the Discus at 8:30 and by 9:30 they were on the
way back to Slovakia.
Gerrit arrived (also pneumonia) to deliver his luggage and he was so kind to drive to Rotterdam to deliver the Slovak Carnets by Erik van Geffen, who will look after them.
Berry, Stener and Iep were also in time and by 1 pm we had all the wings in. Stener and Iep were already on the way
back to Danmark.
In the mean time Jorgen arrived with his new toy the LS10 "TT". We did put that one straight away in Green.
Berry stayed until late in the afternoon and was a great help !!
By 3 pm we had the red container ready!!.
In the mean time Hans Raske arrived with "PG". Time enough to put the DG808 in the White container.
A bit later Reinhard arrived with "AR" . We packed it also.
So all together a  very productive day. And only 7 gliders to go tomorrow.

The beginning of White 3 pair of wings	The wings in Red Lined up !!

September 18th 2008

At 8 am we could pick up the carnets with customs.
Fer was also there to give an experienced hand.
8,30 Manfred Kasten was the first to arrive, soon followed by Erik, Otto/Eva and the others.
Harry brought Daan with him and we had a really good team today. Wings and tail planes
were in in no time. In the time Eva fixe all the luggage in the back, Francesco and Fer fixed
the wings.
Fitting the fuselages was easy as 5 of the 6 gliders were the same as last season.
By 1 pm the Blue container was ready. "6E" "PZ" "ZY" "CT" "NL" and "2H" all ready to go.
After that we did put "MK" and "MD" in Red, so 4 to go tomorrow, but we will make a start
with Green as well.
After everybody was gone, Francesco painted all the container numbers and weight info on Green
as they were disappeared in the Australian sun last year. Ready by 6 pm.

Daan and Harry with CT	Eva busy with the luggage	Blue ready	1 :05 pm job done

September 17th 2008

We started the day with cleaning and organizing the inside of the White and Green container.
Carnets are delivered with customs and are ready for pick-up tomorrow morning. When I told him I am not in a hurry.
He said a good job for the night shift. The will be ready 8 am tomorrow.
As planned we started with the packing at 2 pm.
"DG" was the first glider, which is completely on the spot and fixed. "FA" wings and tail plane were no 2.
both planes in the White container.
"6E" was number 1 in the Blue container . Tomorrow we will finish Blue.
Manfred Kasten arrived also in the afternoon, se we pack "MK" tomorrow in Red.

The first wing of this year	DG and the FA (wings) in !!	"6E" on the spot

For those who drive tomorrow to Grubbenvorst and arrive from the direction Nijmegen.
The Horsterweg via the exit " Horst Sevenum " is closed. You have to use the exit
"Grubbenvorst"

September 16th 2008

All containers have been cleaned today.

Cleaning the bottom and outside of all containers

The safety inspection  was done by Asply so ok for another year.
Blue and Red are also clean and organized in the inside, so ready to pack.
Tomorrow morning we finish white and green.
Also customs tomorrow morning and then the first gliders to be packed  in the afternoon.

The good news is that the weather forecast is DRY for all container packing days.

September 15th 2008

Francesco left Corowa last Wednesday. Unfortunately het got sick (pneumonia?) during the trip and
had to keep his bed for 2 days. Antibiotics etc helped him up again. A slow recovery, but hopefully
fast enough to pack the containers.
At the same time Grietje is working in Corowa with her own pneumonia and a feverish Frank and Alissa.
Yesterday Francesco picked up "FA" and completed today all the preparations.
Tomorrow he will be in Grubbenvorst for the safety inspections and the cleaning of the containers.
On Wednesday morning we start organizing the inside of the containers and in the afternoon we start
packing the first gliders.

The packing of containers is not just a random operation, but well planned and organized.
Before we start packing all gliders have their container position. Place of wings, fuselages and tailplanes
are all fixed.

Example of White container

Per container, we start to put all the wings and tail planes in. After that the 2 two front R and L fuselages
and fitting the middle one. After that all the luggage in the front. Then we secure the front middle fuselage, followed
by the three back (door side) fuselages. To complete the lot we put on the back wing walkers etc.
A check of all wings, fuselages etc and then we can close the door. Job done!!

More during this week.

September 7th 2008

We relocated the fuel shed today. Because of the new apron we had to take it away from its old spot.
With the help of Angelo, his brother John, Wim and Frank we  placed on the new spot.
A few little fittings and silicone kit tomorrow and all the fuel and oil will be back in the shed.

The weather for the last 2 weeks is like summer in Corowa. Only Saturday a week ago we had a cool change with
rain. All the other days temperatures up to 21 grC and nice cu's.

3 days to go before Francesco is flying back to Europe to pack the containers.
All the preparations are done. In Prievidza they already started packing the WT9 and Extra 300.
Next week-end the gliders and those containers leave Prievidza on Sept. 16th.
We only have to pack 24 gliders in 3 days. Easy !!

Lift on the trailer	drive carefully	New Spot	Done Frank with a new red gap from Barbara	The cu's today	Barbara made me also a nice gap

September 3rd 2008

After our new born "Alissa" The Australian Soaring Center got her new baby today.
At Alexander Schleicher the new ASG29 18E "FA" was handed over to the ASCC.
It was already ASG 29 no 100 which was delivered by Alexander Schleicher.
A top glider which is of course flying at Corowa. The only Soaring center in Australia where you can rent and fly this top glider.
Nils and Erwin (Amsterdamse Club voor Zweefvliegen, NL) were so kind to drive to Poppenhausen to pick it up.
The first flight of "FA" will be in Corowa.
And it will be flying during the whole season as it is fully booked like he other ASG29 "SM".

"FA" Instrument panel	The new ASG29 "FA"	ASG 29 no "100"

August 30th 2008

First of all " Happy Birthday " to my oldest daughter Megan in The Netherlands.

Alissa is now 3 days old, but the first 3 days were not that easy for her .
Straight after she was born she got air/gas between the chest and lunges. (pneuma thorax).
She was put on a drain and in a 100% oxygen area. After 12 hours no improvement, scary !
But the following night she started to recover and on Thursday they could slowly reduce the amount of
oxygen to 25%. New x-rays showed a huge improvement and the gas/air between lunges and chest started to disappear.
Yesterday she slowly went off oxygen and the drain was reduced to a minimum.
In the mean time Grietje started brest feeding and this morning the drain was off as well, So Alissa is finally doing it all
by herself. She is a beauty !!!(but that's what all parents think)
 

Doing it myself	My sister Alissa	finally a normal bed	Stupid tube in my nose

August 27th 2008

The 2 ladies Grietje and Alissa

August 26th 2008

Last Thursday, Francesco went to Melbourne to pick up Wim from the Airfield.
Wim will stay until Francesco is back from container packing.
It is still winter in Corowa. On Sunday we had some frost (- 3 grC) .The cars and lawn were white when
we woke up, but the day developed into a beautiful soaring day.
No gliders yet and no spark plugs in the Pawnee, so we spend the day looking at the cu's and enjoy
the playground with Frank.
Monday was the same . Perfect soaring weather with the sky full with nice cu's.
And today (Tuesday) it felt like summer. We did some work at the airfield in our T-shirts with an outside temp of 16 grC.

-/- 3 grC	A beautiful day	The playground	Wim

August 17th 2008

The last few weeks were not that good for Grietje. A viral pneumonia made it all very hard.
Exhausted from all the coughing, there was not too much energy.
Nevertheless she did every day her work; email and all the other matters concerning the upcoming season.

The container transport is organized now. We are definitively on the vessel the Monday after packing.
The containers from Prievidza will come by train to Rotterdam and all 6 containers travel together.
So this season all 6 together in Corowa in stead of all the hassle from last year.
The final container setting and packing dates are on the website.

The new ASG29E (ASG29/18 world champion in Luesse) F of the ASCC will be ready in time and is almost fully booked for the season.
We are really proud to be able to offer our customers the top of the line gliders for hire again.
2 x ASG29E, 3 x Discus 2 ct, 2 x Ventus 2cxt, 2 DuoT, 1 x DG808 and the LS4 with new finished (PU) wings and tailplane.

We expect a full and busy season enough to go for a bit more staff:
The staff for the season:
Fer (1/2) season), Gerrit(1/2 season), Hans Christiaan from Denmark (tow-pilot) , Jantine from The Netherlands and Lisanne also from The Netherlands.
As soon as we have all pictures, we will introduce them to you.
No "chef" this season as Francesco and Wim will look after the restaurant.
 

The weather the last few weeks was not to bad. Cold nights but nice and sunny days. Warm enough have lunch with Angelo and Barbara
on the terrace of Lunch and Brunch. The rain is far from enough to build up any buffer for the summer.
 

July 18th 2008

Fighting for places on the Vessel to Melbourne.
We try to get 6 places on the vessel on September 22nd, which is not easy this time
as Andre Rieu with his music show from the Netherlands booked halve the Vessel
to get all his equipment to Australia.

It is Andre Rieu his 1st time and we are sailing for the 11th time with Hapag Lloyd.
So we try to convince them, that we have priority ! But that's probably not the way it works.
Anyway fingers crossed that we get our positions on the vessel.

July 12th 2008

The first 2 weeks in Corowa we re cold, very cold.
Everything at the airfield looks ok. Not much rain at all but enough to fill our waterballast
storage with 5000 liter.
The clubhouse was ok and even the pool was still clean and full.
We checked all the cars and batteries and tow planes. top !!
The grass at the tie down starts to grow and the new taxiway is in the right spot.
The shire only has to seal the surface and that's it.

Angelo looked after the mail. While we were in The Netherlands, he scanned and mailed all
mail and back in Corowa it was a piece of cake to get that all out of the way. Thanks a lot.

The weather this week was not to bad, and even flyable on some days.

The container setting on the website is now official and the packing days firm.
We also look after the Slovak Containers with gliders, WT9 and Extra 300.
So all 6 containers will be in Melbourne at the same time.