Waiting for an engine?

February 1st 2010

With the remainders of a tropical cyclone in South Qld and moving South we were just on the south and east of storm lines>
We started the day again with cirrus, but soon the cu's developped and we had a good day.
Unfortunately only 2 pilots enjoyed this day. Both with flights over 500 km.

A litlle bit said, but with a big smile Lubor said good bye and is leaving tomorrow as the new Australian OLC Champion.

January 31st 2010

The Slovak team finished the container today.
All 5 gliders are in and by the end of this week it will be shipped.
We said good Jan, Alojz and Miro. The completed a very successful  Corowa season for the Aerospool team.
We also said good bye to Extra 300  pilots, Ivan, Stanislav and Radim. They are now the proud owners of their own hangar at Corowa airfield.
Next year they will be back to fly VH-CIZ.

Not all the forecasted cu's were there, but a perfect soaring day. 2500 m cloud base and good lift made the day for 15 pilots>
FA was available again and today it was Francesco's turn to fly. 400 km out and return was enough to make him happy
The longest distance was for Hansi with 620 km.
 

Temp trace	View from SM		The moon	the sun in same flight

Rene before	Rene after aerobatics

January 30th 2010

A perfect soaring day with nice cu's , a high cloud base, 37 grC and 21 gliders in the air.
The pilots did enough km today to take over the 1st position on the OLC Airfield competition Worldwide.
Sofar we did over 460.000 km cross country!!
Andy was a bit unfortunate and landed out . The paddock was just too short for an aero tow, so we
retrieved him by trailer.
The Slovak team did a very hot job by packing most of the container.

DUO	LM packed	Lubor happy after 20.000 km cross country and for the moment OLC champion Australia	Miro	Jan making a movie	out landing AS

January 29th 2010

The last flying day for the Slovak pilots. Their container is leaving 3 weeks before the other containers
as they need the gliders for the " Pribina Cup"
Tomorrow and Sunday packing and leaving on Monday.
It was also the last flying day for Markus Ganev, He picked up gliding after 18 years !!.Did first some training with
Borje on the Duo "REX" and flew after that 5 days on the ASG9 "SM".

We had a blue day with perfect conditions. Especially to the NE.
We launched after 12, as we had to wait for the trigger temp. Climbs up to 3000 m wit 5 m/s and sometimes even 6 m/s.
Today 10 gliders in the air who had a lot of fun. 6E, 9E and N? set a task and flew together
More good weather to come as we are looking at 2 good days ahead of us.

January 28th 2010

Grietje left early in the morning to bring Wim to Albury, unfortunately his Quantas Link plane had a bird strike
so he had to wait for the next one. Still in time to catch the intl flight back to The Netherlands.
It was Franks' first day to pre school, so that was dad's job today. Briefing again for Noppies.
After 3 long days flying most pilots already decided before briefing to have the day off.
Markus flew SM again and it was Tina's turn today to fly REX with Borje.
Rene flew FA and Pepe was the last pilot to fly today and did 412 km.
The forecasted thermal hight was not reached as we missed out on 2 grC forecasted temp.

Then just before we launched the gliders it was Steffi (the au pair of the family) who flw the Extra today.
One big smile when she came back after a exciting aerobatic flight.

parachute on	nervous?	ready to go	Frank and Rene

January 27th 2010

A perfect soaring day again.
As Francesco was away today, Hans Christian did the briefing and Werner did the towing.
an early start again and with 25 gliders in the air, a busy day again.
Lubor managed to fly over 900 km and Terry Bellair (who launched irst) did a great job by flying
almost 700 km with his DG400.
Wim did cook his last meal for this season and was a "top" help again. Looking after hsi grand children,
technical and in the kitchen.

January 26th 2010

Greg Dickens who does our welding jobs, was invited by Ivan
to fly the Red Aeroplane, the Extra 300. He was all smiles when he
came out of the aircraft after the aerobatics.

Robert de Muynck was in Melbourne for business and but
he had some time to fly the Discus 2ct IZ (3 days). He left this
morning again.
Harry Medlicott and Peter Buskens left also this morning.


January 25th 2010

Rien Bastiaanse left for The Netherlands, he did great flying on SM.
He flew a 750 declared for his badge.

Wim is not only the chef cook, maintenance man but also fixing
Air conditioning.

It is the year of the tail wheel, FOO lost parrt of the tail wheel today.
Francesco being the tail wheel man, repaired the tail wheel.






January 23rd 2010

We are taking deposits now for container spots for the season 2010 2011

Container news 2010 2011

January 22nd 2010

We started the day with high clouds and a temperature going up a bit slow.
Wind 20 kts and gusts 28 kts. Forecast cloudbase 3500 m +/+.
Fortunately the high cloud cover got 3/8 enough to get a day max of 42 grC local and 44 grC North.
First launch was for Lubor at 11:20 and landed back just before last light 9 pm after completing
his 7th 1000 km flight of the season TODAY 1120 km. The thermals went on to the last moment
at half pas eight he still had good climbs !!
Not all the pilots flew because of the wind . But those who did choose to fly had a great day in paradise.

Francesco was less lucky, he lost the tailwheel of the pawnee while launching Peter in 9E.
WIm and Francesco did the repair and LGT is ready to go again.

January 21st 2010

We had 30 gliders in the air today!!! We expected a good day but it turned out that it was not that good.
Ricard Sohlberg had to leave again. He flew with Borje Eriksson
in REX and today he flew the LS4. Borje flew with Markus Lenev in
REX. Another new pilot arived today, Robert de Muynck. He is here
for business and was able to fly for a few days between work.

Beatiful lenti's today. Pictures soon


January 18th 2010

Same story as yesterday, beautiful sky with lots of beautiful
clouds but the wind far too strong.

We welcome Peter Buskens, he will be flying his LS8.
And Rien Bastiaanse who is going to fly SM.
Lots of gliders, lots of pilots and lots of strong winds.

Alissa and Paul are doing the pilots briefing today

January 17th 2010

It looked beatiful, nice big cu's but the wind was
too strong so a lot of jobs on the ground.

We welcomed Shad, he is here for the second time and will be flying FA.

Steffie made a delicous cake (for desert) together with Frank and Alissa.

Pictures takes by Pepe "PG" yesterday.

January 16th 2010

Back to "normal" business after two days in the kitchen
preparing the birthday dinner. Hard work between jobs but worth it.

30 gliders in the air today!

taken by "Storm Rider" RA

January 15th 2010

Today happy birthday Hansi Lange.
The 3 birthday men invited all the pilots and partners for an Indonesian evening.
Before the meal a glass of champagne from Manfred.
A busy day for Wim again, 2 days in the kitchen and the staff, working in the kitchen  and
launching 25 gliders.
We also cleaned 3 of our containers today and prepared them for the trip back.

An excellent soaring day with long flights again.

Later more, now back in the kitchen.

January 14th 2010

Today happy birthday Manfred Kasten
Also welcome to Terry Bellair , he is here for the 2nd time and Jeppe Sorensen, also for
the 2nd time in Corowa. Jeppe will fly C1.
After 1 day rest flying again.
The forecasted cu's disappeared fast, but a good flying day.

January 13th 2010

January 13th, So happy birthday Andy Sieber. A full briefing room and a very loud happy birthday song.
After all the hot days cool !!! Only 28 grC today.
The cool change and the passing trough line brought some rain. No flying to day and a welcome rest
for pilots and staff.
 

January 12th 2010

Very strong winds this morning whilst towing.
No self launcher today.
More records today?
Francesco was  flying FA and landed after 1040 km the 2nd 1000 km today was for Lubor
with 1060 km.
The weather was perfect. First launch was at 10.30 and we had climbs up to 1500 m and 15 minutes later
up to 2000m. Later the cu's and a cloudbase of 3800m.
The trough and cool change arrived at 8 pm in time for Roger and Ralph to get home.
The visibility was sometimes very very bad, due to the rising dust.
Ole was flying 808 again and Ib SM.
Jørgen TT flew another record, 750 triangle with 126km/h.

Thank you very much Peter, for towing.
You made it possible for Francesco to fly a big task
on two days.(800 km and 1040 km)


January 11th 2010

Peter Presneill was towing with Noppies today so
Francesco could fly FA as it is available today.
If the weather is good he will fly tomorrow as well.
We needed at least 38 degrees to be comfortable so it was very
relaxed this morning, waiting for the right temperature as it
rose very slowly.

Jørgen flew a Danish record, 500 triangle with 143km/h.
Ib flew a 500 o/r with 145km/h.
Ole flew
Francesco flew 800 o/r with

January 10th 2010

Unfortunately Cynthia and Maurice left today. They go to Sydney and further north
with a campervan. She took the opportunity to have a go in the EXTRA-300!
She had a ball, all smiles when she came out.

A perfect flying day again.
Cloudbase over 4000 meter and strong climbs.
Unfortunately we could not launch as early as yesterday, but good enough for flights over 900 kM
Richard  "RA" was just a few km short for his 2nd 1000 km flights in 2 days.
Roman on IZ the same 1.3 km short for his 1000 km

Casper is a happy man. 2 days ago he did his 300 km goal diamond, yesterday his 500 km diamond
and today his 3000et hight gain. congratulations gold with 2 diamonds.
S

Cytnhia & Ivan	Ole, FA	Jørgen, TT	VIZ in final
Manfred Kasten	Danish talk		TT team with JG & ML

January 9th 2010

Francesco said on the briefing that it was going to be
a good day, cloud base should go down a little bit to the north (so it did).
They all went out for an early start.
A quarter past 10 was the first launch and by half past 11 we had 28 gliders in the air.
We expect 32 gliders landing tonight. XJS, VRD, CQP and VCS from VMFG will be flying
from Corowa for the following week which is great. Welcome!

Casper flew his first 500 in C1! Well done!
He came 20 meters short for his golden height but we will check that


Ib will have one bottle only! He did 3 Danish records,
Distance 1005
Speed 122km/s
Declared Triangle
But.... it is still early (19:30). Jørgen and Ole are still flying
.
20:00 Ole has landed, will Ib still have his records?

20:38 Rene did 1070, he said it is such a nice glider.
He was flying with 140 km/h average in the first part.

20:57 Jørgen flew a Danish record, so that leaves Ib
with the two other records.

Not sure yet but some of us think .. pilots flew a 1000 km today.

1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6,   7,   8,   9,   10,   11,    12,   13,   14 ?  1000km+

January 8th 2010

We welcomed the 2nd Aerospool group, Jan, Alojz and Miro and had a perfect first day!!
Good bye to Masayuki and a good forecast for today. Blue in the South, maybe local cu's and cu's 
in the NE.Cloudbase 3000 m.
We started launching at 11 am and with the 2 tow planes it was in the air in no time.
All together we had 27 gliders en route today.
Beautiful flights with the ACvZ on top with 2 flights over 900 km and Hansi close with almost 900 km.
A perfect day also for Birgitte (TT) She flew 2 new Danish female records, free distance via 3  free TP and
distance via 3 declared turning points.
Casper Fossing had his best day sofar and flew his declared 300 km FAI triangle on the LS4.
The day max temp was 36 grC and the forecast for tomorrow 40 grC and Monday 43 grC. pfffff

January 7th 2010

On the briefing we welcomed Ib Wienberg and Ole Arndt. Ib will fly SM and Ole 808>
Last flying day for Charles and Chris. They had a greta time in Corowa and on their way back to Canada.
Also the last day for Masayuki. He was flying the ASG29 SM. And already booked for next season.
Only a few pilots in the air and the longest distance by Masayuki today, over 600 km.

January 6th 2010

Only 10 flights today.
TT is still flying, working hard to make it home.
Francesco flew with Maurice, after that with Cynthia.
It was Maurice his first time, flying in Australia.
He already booked a helicopter with instructor as he is working
on his HPPL. But he enjoyed the flight very much, as did Cynthia.
The other pilots did not fly so they will be fit and ready for the
good days to come.

Ilmari said: "it was a nice day today, 2700 meters." 

January 5th 2010

Happy Birthday to Francesco's mother.

Noppies did the briefing so Francesco could pick up his daughter Cynthia and Maurice from Albury.
They will be staying for a few days before exploring the country again.

We welcomed Ivan, Stanislav and Radim who are here to fly the extra 300.

Thomas Wieland took over CD from Hannes Maier.

Richard (RA)'s birthday with beautiful cakes again. All home made by the ladies.
And they were very nice I can tell you as I tasted them.

Noppies doing the briefing

Birthday cakes for Richard	Richard cutting the cake

January 4th 2010

Happy 1st Birth today for Lasse ,our grand son. unfortunately too far away for a hug.

Lasse 1 yr

We welcomed today, Casper Fossing (C1) , Herbert Dressler (IM) and Lubik, Roman and Brano (LM).
Kei Kawamura made his first flight today on a flapped glider. He enjoyed flying the DG808 "DG".
It was also the first flight today of harry Medlicott on his Ventus 2 ct.
A nice day with cu's from 10 am and good lift. Later on the day it became blue between Wagga and Corowa, but
still good climbs.
Today we had 27 gliders in the air and the forecast for the next days is good with temperatures up to 40 grC.

January 3rd 2010

We started the briefing with a "Happy Birthday " for Masayuki (Jan 1st) and Kei today.
The forecast was Blue thermals up to 1400 meter.
Golf was the game for the glider pilots today.
We did the site check with Charles Yeates and after those 40 minutes he
flew for two hours with his wife Chris on DUO.
Lubor made a nice afternoon flight and landed after 270 km. 

January 2nd 2010

Forecast at the morning briefing was CB and storms.
But also a big ??, so a 2nd Briefing at 12:00.
At 12:00 We cancelled the Cb warnings etc and the new forecast was good soarable weather.
We had nice cu's and a quiet afternoon.
However everybody was gone and missed a nice afternoon flying.

January 1st 2010

Happy New year

We welcomed Charles and Chris Yeates. They will be flying
the Duo for a week.
We also welcomed Harry and Wendy Medlicott again.

We had Peter, Jack and Meds for dinner tonight.
They will come back next week for some flying.

December 31st 2009

Noppies was celebrating his birthday today. He got
two presents, something he really needed and a
day off (in a glider).

Lukas went to Sydney as his son will be training
there for three weeks. He might be back this season
but for sure next season.

Frank handing over the present

Noppies ready for take off in FA	Francesco towing in FOO

December 29th 2009

He did it again !!!!

Never done before in the history of Corowa, but Lubor did it.
4 times a 1000 km flight in only 1 week on his ASG29 18E !!!!!!!

An early start again.
Lubor, Kei, Masayuki, Richard and Lukas launched again before 11 am.
Worth it? Yes absolutely. Not always easy, but that's gliding.
They made nice working flights.
But the crown on today's flights was Lubor.
After landing he handed over his 1000km bottle of wine from this morning to the staff
people and said thank you for all the help.
He will have a new bottle tomorrow for himself.

December 28th 2009

Lubor flew his 3rd 1000 km flight within 1 week !!!

A difficult day  to forecast. A few systems were so close and we were just lucky we could fly
in a wide band NE with sometimes and in particular later in the afternoon very good conditions.
Long flights again for most of the pilots.
It was the last flying day for Klaus Mueller. He enjoyed 5 perfect days in paradise.
On the briefing we welcomed Chris Davison, he is flying FA for 2 week and Vincent Dolfin (with Willemijn)
who will fly MD.

December 27th 2009

A quiet day.
Nice cu's, but a late start  and  no big flights today.
Klaus, Masayuki and Kei, were the only pilots in the air.

December 26th 2009

A cloudy start of the day, but soon it cleared and the cu's popped up.
After the very nice Christmas evening, we had a bit of a slow start.
All day cu's and some nice flights by a hand full of pilots. (Wine?)

In the morning Lukas Benedikt called in and will fly "DUO" tomorrow and in the afternoon
Masayuki and Kei Kawamura arrived.
They will fly SM and AE.

December 25th 2009

Merry Christmas

 

We started with the pilots briefing
but it was different. The ladies had decorated all the tables
with home made cookies, candles and decoration.
The Christmas tree was hard to see behind all those gifts.
A lot of Santa's this year, it took Frank and Alissa the whole
day to unpack them. First Frank handed the pressents out
and when I asked him whether he wanted to unpack the pressies
himself as they were for him after all. He said "later mummy".
Once again, we'd like to thank all the Santa's.

Wim has been busy in the kitchen all day, with the help of
Fer, Noppies and Rene. Steffie was busy with the kids as they
love to help in the kitchen which is not always handy
Francesco has been busy preparing and cooking the meat for 44 people.
It was very nice to have everyone and it is very much appreciated.

We also have done some flying, llmari, Maury and Klaus took the skies
a few hours.

Frank sharing pressies	Frank handing out (his) pressies		Santa arrived in Wagga	Hence glider REX in the backround

Wim making entree's	the Ladies preparing decoration			Kids playing with(on) Steffi
before dinner	Paul (and Reinhard)	Alissa loves Brigitte's bag	Steffi with kids
Dinner			Finnish table
Francesco making desert	Fer managing everything	Dutch table	Done!!!	Cleaning for tomorrow!

 

December 24th 2009

Raining, strong winds, raining. A well deserved rest day
for pilots, crew and certainly for the volunteers.
It is hard work, on the strip in the heat.

Tonight Pepe will cook for some friends in the
Golfers Retreat Motel.

Tomorrow we will have diner all together
at the airfield. Francesco and Wim will cook
some nice Christmas diner with the help of
Fer, Noppies and René. Over 40 meals again and served
at the same time. Quite a challenge I must say.

Although it was raining, pilots were happy with
yesterdays results.

MD		LK	ILH	René

MD		RA	AS	ALL

			VR	bottles on table

Christmas in sunny hot weather (house around the corner)

December 23rd 2009

Francesco had the pleasure to fly 9E. The glider of Peter
Gerretse as he and Joke are on holidays.
Francesco took the oppurtunity and flew a new Dutch record 18m and open class.
He did 134km/h on a 600 Out and Return.

Todays 1000 km + pilots:
René de Dreu
Andy Sieber
Berry Fennis
Andy Sieber
Ilmari Rintasalo
Max Dolfin
Lubor Kuvik
Richard Aldous

Another excellent day? We started with the bottles of wine.
Lubor made the longest distance flown from Corowa in an ASG29.
But as Max said, DG is in the majority with Otto also flying
a DG. However, this did not last long as Ilmari did fly a 1000km +
in an ASW22. Hans and Peter were representing Ventus.
Max experienced hail when he was very high, 4600 meters.

1000kms pilots with the 1000 kms bottles			LK

René, flying high

 

December 22nd 2009

Gerrit left early this morning. Fer brought him to
Melbourne so he did not have the hassle of trains, busses
or short flights. It is a long trip. The ladies made some
yammy cookies and cakes to thank him for the good work.
Gerrit has been here from the beginning of the season
to get everything started. Thank you Gerrit, you have
done a great job!

Maury Taponen started flying FA yesterday. He flew
FA last year as well so he is very familiar with the glider.

Klaus and Marianne Muller arrived today for a week flying
on SM, the other ASG29 E. He started today with a site check
after 160 km he still did not want to go "home". After all,
it was an excellent day.

Between towing, work and site checks, Francesco flew
Tango to Shepparton, via Toc back home. Some x-rays
and picking up some stuff from Toc.

Last but not least, the day today flying wise.

LK landed with a big smile, see the picture from the LX8000.
I think this is the longest distance flown from Corowa! Well done Lubor!
Max flew 1010, Peter flew a 1000+, so did Ilmari and Otto.

#	name	km	km/h
1	Lubor Kuvik	1,208.54	125.98
2	Ernst-Otto Dumke	1,060.83	119.06
3	Hans-Juergen Lange	1,035.38	118.59
4	Peter Zander	1,018.67	113.55
5	Max Dolfin	1,021.49	117.66
6	Ilmari Rintasalo	1,023.53	109.25
7	Berry Fennis	939.18	109.86
8	Pepe Gresa	968.18	110.78
9	Werner Niechciol	928.99	111.86
10	Jos Schrier	926.89	108.39
11	Richard Aldous	927.35	105.63
12	Andreas Sieber	924.83	109.29
13	Johannes Maier	854.19	103.5
14	Reinhard Pankow	724.85	104.83
15	Mauri Taponen	757.19	103.44
16	Anders Olsson	660.53	119.87
17	Karl Wittig	616.42	92.28

1000kms bottles	ILH	tie down	LK	LK 1206

The greatest distance			PZ, AS	AS

6E	MD	MD	As in que for the hangar	All glider to bed

December 20th 2009

We said "see you in two years" to Andrea and Anton.
They come every two years for two weeks of flying.

Although it was a good flying day,
the pilots were busy otherwise.
So were the ladies

December 18th 2009

We said "see you next year" to the Aerospool team I.
Gabriella, Jozef, Marian Sr and Marian Jr
will go back to work so the next team can come.
Along with Lubor's wife they left in the afternoon
for the long flight back home where it is snowing!

It was René his turn to fly today but
the wind was too strong.

Happy birthday Elise

December 17th 2009

Yesterday we had 25 pilots flying. The biggest and longest flight
was,,,, LK with 975 and AE did 935.
They were flying for 10 hours so today we expect rain
in the afternoon, just to give them some rest.

AE, Jozef Snric	LK, Lubor, his wife helping him

Also Francesco and Gerrit were flying again.
Gerrit made a declared 500 for his badge

We already have strong winds (>30knts), and a very
hot one as well. 40 degrees and that at 1300.

View from ILH		ILH 410km away from home	funny looking green lake
courtesy by Hansi Lange

December 14th 2009

The new pilot Hannes for CD arrived today. He will do
a site check tomorrow morning.

LK	RA	FOO	Big glider, small car

 

December 13th 2009

A difficult day.Strong winds no clouds..
IZ made it interesting for the people on the ground
but also he landed safely on Corowa airfield.

December 12th 2009

Only 21 gliders in the air.
It looked better than it was.
Gerrit flew GB and Francesco FA.
Tomorrow it is Noppies turn to fly FA and Gerrit's turn to fly GB again.


I did fly this beauty today

December 11th 2009

Such a beautiful day, lots of cu's but a very cold wind.
We were thinking about the temperature 4 weeks ago.
It was 43 degrees! Today only 22.

All gliders flying, even Francesco went for a flight between jobs.
Andrea (C1, the LS4) made time to make some pictures.

Arjan Mooij visited us for a day.
Always difficult for pilots to pass an airfield
so he flew the Duo today with René.

GQL	FOO	Not flying? Today?	LK	TT Birgitte	Team SY
Launching	FOO	Noppies flying FOO		FOO	FOO

TT on tow

December 9th 2009

Another trough today and most likely tomorrow.
However, a ridge of high pressure made it possible to fly today.
Not everybody had the spirit and only 6 gliders went out.
René de Dreu (ECC Club class) made a move today into the 18m class.
He made his first flight in the ASG29E  "FA". Big smile !!!

December 8th 2009

A Deepening trough moving from SW to NE made it a cloudy and very windy day.
We cancelled the day at the briefing.

Yesterday we did put the declared task of FA in the tracking page, which was great.
From tomorrow we will put 2 or 3 declared tasks in the tracking page. (only triangles)

December 7th 2009

Today a early start.
The air mass was promising and 1st launch was  at 10:25
By 11 we had 3 m/s climbs and 1600 meter hight. The possible cu's didn't show up.
A perfect flying day with 940 km for Jorgen Thomsen with TT.
Francesco found also some time and flew a 775 km triangle (declared).
ZY was the last glider to land at 20:15 .
A perfect day with 25  happy faces at the end.

December 6th 2009

A late start today. Blue conditions , but good lift an a thermal hight of 2200 m.
It was the last flying day for Hans Christian Hoeck and Stener Nielsen. They had 2 good weeks, not always
the easiest weather, but still long flights.

December 5th 2009

High cirrus clouds, almost all day.
However in the afternoon the sky cleared and we got some nice cu's
Hans Christian (Noppies) arrived at 11 am in Albury and 3 hours later he was flying in the Duo with Rene.
From Monday on he will take over the towing.
Only 4 gliders were in the air. mmmmm they did a 300 km triangle with over 100 km/h.
 

December 4th 2009

The day after the cold frond and a few exhausting days was enough for everybody to call it a day
after the briefing. A day off for staff and pilots.
But our fresh married couple still found some time for a cuddle.
We said good bye to Rasmus.   
Peter Pressneil arrived again in the morning and will do the towing until Monday.

Team "TT"

December 3rd 2009

A perfect temp, but the trough was unfortunately a bit too close, to make it a long day.
But an early launch was possible. 10:30 TT with Rasmus on tow and after that all the other gliders.
By 12:00 we had all 22 gliders airborne.
A good day without the promised cu's. Berry made the longest flight of 725 km.


December 2nd 2009

    A very special briefing today.
After the regular weather info etc. Francesco introduced Kerryn Alexander. Kerryn attended the briefing
for a very special reason and a well kept secret;

The marriage of Jorgen Thomsen and Birgitte Orskov.

The Ceremony	Now the serious stuff	The rings	The kisssssssss	Dinner prep	43 people for dinner

In front of all Corowa pilots, they got married in our Clubhouse. After we had coffee and cake.
In the evening  the offered all the pilots and family a wedding dinner, prepeared by Wim and the whole
staff.

For flying is was a short day, because the fire brigade, planned to burn all the high stuff at the airfield.
Therefore the airfield was close from 6:30 pm.
For security reasons we got 24 gliders in the hanger and 5 away from the fire.

The boss	Frank the fire fighter	watching a few late thermals	close to the clubhouse	The center of the airfield

December 1st 2009

On the briefing we welcomed Reinhard Pankow "AR". and Peter Presneill, who is doing some towing for us.
On Saturday we expect Hans Christian (Noppies) to arrive. He will be our tow pilot for the season.
In the afternoon Grietje went to Albury to pick up her father Wim and Peter and Joke "9E".

Hans Christiaan and Rasmus launched from Tocumwal today, after the late landing yesterday evening.
All togehter we had 22 gliders in the air. Local we did not get the cu's as forecasted, but a good gliding day.
Tomorrow we expect our 2nd tow plane "FOO" after a major overhaul.

The SPOT tracking system is perfect no SAR stress in the evening and all day info where everybody is flying.

SPOT tracking this afternoon	The beginning	Peter towing today	The first du's	SY home

November 30th 2009

A difficult forecast.
Still the 2 Lows and very cold upper air. Enough to develop storms during the day. And we had some storms
with a total of  8.2 mm at the airfield.
But between 10 and 12 we had good soarable conditions and FA, TT, VR and SM took off and flew to the good
area in the West. TT and FA declared 1000 km polygone and did run out of time and landed after 950 km at Tocumwal.
Gerrit and Nils flew the DUO in the afternoon and enjoyed 4,5 hour of very nice flying.

a hughe storm	pff wet	the end of the day

November 29th 2009

Still under the influence of 2 low pressure systems>
For today poor conditions and we kept the gliders in.

November 28th 2009

An excellent soaring day.
We were a little bit afraid yesterday, that the Low pressure system in the South would spoil the day.
However it was exactly in the right position to provide us with perfect weather.
At 8:30 the first cu's started to develop and by 10 am we were ready to go.
First launch was at 10:15 and we had a cloud base of 1500 meter and good climbs up to 3 m/s.
Later we got 2500 meter good climbs but also the forecasted strong wind of over 50 km/h.
Good enough for a lot of flights over 600 km. and the toppers were Rasmus Orskov in TT with 960 km !!
and Hans Christian Hoeck in FA with 910 km.
On the briefing we were invited by Jorgen and Birgitte ( Jorgen 40 year celebration of wing, 20 yr captain
and more)  for a dinner on Wednesday evening.

Self launchers waiting	More self launchers	TT take off	Francesco flying LGT

November 27th 2009

We welcomed this morning the first Aerospool team, Jozef, Gabriela Marian Szabo jr and sr.
and also Rasmus Orskov Birgitte's son and he will fly TT.
After briefing Grietje went trough the local procedures with the new pilots and when the sky cleared we did the
site checks.
The weather forecast was clearing after 12 and reasonable conditions in the afternoon.
We were just between 2 low pressure troughs and enjoyed a good flying afternoon.
FA, SM, TT, CD, DUO and AE had a beautiful afternoon.
Max and Carla arrived (MD) also and we rigged Max's DG808.

Rene and Chris  with "SM"	Hans Chr Hoeck with "FA"	?????	Johannes back	Containers almost empty

November 26th 2009

On the briefing we discussed the tow out procedures to runway 05.
We also used our flat screen for the first time for weather maps.
The weather forecast for today were heavy storms moving from West to East.
The day was too short to go out. By 2 pm we had wind gust up to 38 kts and after 4 pm rain.

Radar picture	Briefing	We don't care about the weather

November 25th 2009

The forecast for today. Cu's up to 2500 m but also a warning for isolated afternoon storms.
The storms didn't develop, the pilots enjoyed a full good flying day.
Hansi Lange and Hans Christian Hoeck flew over 700 km and all the other flights between 500 and 700 km.
After all a perfect day.
In the clubhouse we now have a big (32") screen to display the SPOT/SAR map.
In the next few days we also try to use it for the briefing.
Tomorrow hopefully the same weather, we will see.
 
November 24th 2009

Not really a good day, but the die hard's went out.
VR with Ilmari did need 3 hours to fly 75 km (with an ASW 22) so everybody will understand
it was marginal, but at least they did fly.

November 23^rd 2009

SM, LM, Frank's plane and Alissa's plane were rigged today.
 Hans Christian and Stener arrived for twee weeks of flying.

Alissa with her present plane from Stener	Frank with his present plane

November 22^nd 2009

after the rain, Mulwala

A lot of thunder and rain last night. Windy and a lot of rain in the morning
but in the afternoon the sun came through. Nice cu's but low.
With the strong wind (a steady 25knots), everything dried up pretty fast.
We expect better weather for the coming week but to help
the weather chiefs we will do a dance tonight.

Johannes Kammerer "CD" prepared his DG800. He will be the
pilot flying CD for three weeks.
Jos Schrier "6E" is ready, now the weather.

November ^21st 2009

A few little jobs today as we have done most of them.

November 20th 2009

Red dusty air again, strong wind some rain drops and hot, very hot.
We do not expect to be flying tomorrow so some people go to Sydney
to do some sightseeing.

Our volunteers Chris, René and Steffi went to Albury.
Gerrit looked after the gliders when we had gusts to make
sure they did not get airborne.

Peter Summersby called in and had a relaxing chat with Francesco.

Watching Winnie, a Christmas movie	42 knots 40.3 degrees

November 19th 2009

We have had a lot of dust devils and the expected thunderstorms are
delayed until further notice.

Francesco thought is was time to buy a professional antenna as the other one
went x country without a spot. It looks very impressive but the sound is
very clear. Even miles away, it is clear.

Next project is to organize a screen in the briefing room so everybody
can watch the spot page. Of course it will be used for the briefing
as well which will be very convenient showing maps and satellite pictures.

The new antenna		Anders, GQL	41.3 degrees only	Steffi, she takes care of Frank and Alissa

November 18th 2009

Patrick with René	in the DUO

November 16th 2009

Yesterday Patrick arrived for a weeks flying in the DUO.

Pepe flew to Narromine as he does that every year to catch up with friends and have some fun.

As today was not a x country day it was a perfect day for
take offs and landings for Patrick.

Also a few arrivals,
Sonja and Jos. We will rig 6E tomorrow early in the morning as it will be hot again
or should I write still hot. And Megan Nils and Lasse "our" grandson arrived today.

The weather experts are talking about 41 degrees for Thursday.

Only MEN in the kitchen allowed	Steffie and Francesco	Corowa airfield	Lasse & Alissa future bosses?

November 13th 2009

A blue day with difficult conditions. Blue and small thermals, a lot of sink , but sometimes lift of 4 m/s +/+.
Thermal hight 2300 m.
Today  Andy Sieber and Manfred Kasten arrived, so tomorrow 2 gliders more.
Gerrit Lapin flew the Extra 300 OM_WXE to Yarrawonga for inspection and a OZ airworthiness certificate.
It will return as VH-CIZ.
Tomorrow we will do the form 2 of the LS4 and DG808.

November 12th 2009

A perfect air mass, but the high clouds associated with a southerly cool change spoiled the day.
Berry and Katinka who arrived yesterday used the day to rig N? and also the Red containers is empty now.

REX with Bosse and Tina made their first flight in the afternoon, just to check everything in their DUO.

Gerrit  went to Albury to pick up Rene de Dreu, one of our staff for this season.

November 11th 2009

We start this season with the same weather as we ended last season.
High temperatures, today 38.4 grC, and excellent soaring conditions.
We could have made the first launch by 11 am, but the pilots waited a bit longer , so they
had straight away a higher base and get out of the hot weather.
We got the excellent climbs of 5 - 6 m/s and a cloudbase of 3600 meter AGL !!.
The longest flight today was made by Hansi Lange, He did almost 800 km  with 117 km/h average.
The weather will be the same in the next few days.

November 10th 2009

The first flying day of the season. With a max temp of 37 grC (still Spring) and a thermal hight of 3800m
we made the first flight over 500 km and with a amazing speed of almost 130 km/h>
Higher temp tomorrow and most likely another good day!.

November 9th 2009

Quarantine inspection this morning was ok.
Not one glider had any scratch, so 100% safe trip again.
We rigged 10 gliders.
We are exhausted, so more tomorrow

November 8th 2009

Today Anders came back from Temora, where he did some maintenance on the glider.
We used the cool early morning (max temp today 34 grC) to rigg QL and the first glider is ready to fly.

We also have the SPOT TRACKING of all the Corowa gliders on line from today.
Flying with SPOT is mandatory at Corowa and we will use it for SAR reasons.
Now we know in the big flying area of Corowa all day where our gliders are (in the air or on the ground).
We like to thank Mark Hawkins for all the work to get this done before the season.

November 7th 2009

Today all 5 containers arrived safely at Corowa airfield.
As always the trucks of B&K arrived in time and with 2 side loaders the job was done in no time.
So now we wait until Monday morning for the new AQIS officer . After the inspection we start rigging straight away
some gliders, as the pilots of , VR, SY,ZY,UG, REX, TT, ILH, N?,GB, FA are already here.

side loader	from 1 trailer on the side loader one	on the spot	Green on its way down	All on the spot
				(I know JP)

November 6th 2009

Today we finished the last jobs in the hangar. LGT was polished (again) en we also
polished the 2 cobra trailers.
We have the confirmation, that all containers will be delivered tomorrow morning 9 am>
AQIS has still to be confirmed, but most likely on Monday.

tHE SKY TODAY	LGT polished	the trailers polished

November 5th 2009

After a very cool night it was good working in the hangar in the morning.
Gerrit did a GREAT job. All the pre work for the form 2 of the LS4 and DG 808 are done.
The trailers are clean the hangar is clean basically everything is ready for the season start.
Werner did some flying on LGT and landed with a big smile.
In the afternoon Karl and  Christel Wittig arrived and will enjoy a few days before the flying starts.
Jorgen and Birgitte are also in Corowa and Hansi and Eveline arrived in Melbourne yesterday evening.
Slowly Corowa is taken over by the glider pilots again.

Werner after his flight with LGT	Gerrit working on VDG	and more work

November 4th 2009

Yesterday Victoria was closed because of  " Melbourne Cup day" Horse racing ??
But the problem was that everything was closed until noon today.

Reason that we will have the containers not tomorrow, but Saturday morning.
Disappointing, but that's life. Now we will have AQIS inspection on Monday and start flying Tuesday,
2 days behind schedule.
 

November 3rd 2009

Yesterday Gerrit finished all field cars. Clean, tyre pressure, oil, etc. Ready to go.
We also made a nice Yellow line on the apron, marking the exact position of every container. ( 1 line)
and in a way that we can open two doors.

for every container a fixed spot

Today we changed the hangar doors . new guiding pins with teflon rollers. We also fixed new stoppers
for the doors.
Gerrit made a start with the form 2 for the LS4 and DG808.
Tomorrow we will know when the AQIS inspection will be .

November 1st 2009

Pff it was hot today.
Early in the morning Gerrit prepared the tie down area, all waterhoses are there, the power
point are switched on and the water supply is working.
Before it was too hot we did some work outside. Even the sky was covered with cirrus clouds
the cu's started to develop and at 1 pm it was beautiful.
Ilmari arrived also in Corowa and we expect the team "REX" and "ILH" in the next few days.

For Jantine	perfect, but too early for the pilots	West	37.5 was the day max

October 31st 2009

Gerrit arrived this morning in Wangaratta.
We did put his caravan in place and switched on the airco.
At 2 pm we had the first lunch of the season. ( Turkisch bread with camambert, salad )
As this is our last free week-end , we had a family afternoon together with the kids.
The temperature was over 34 grC and the sky was mmmmmm. The nice cu's gave us enough shadow
to go in the pool . and a cool beer (1) and ice cream for the kids.

It is only Spring !!	Not too bad	Field cars ready	The best place to be	Family day	Ice cream for the kids

October 30th 2009

Werner and Andrea's arrived safely in Corowa.
We are working now from the office again.
All the computers are working and the internet is ok.

The containers are a little bit ahead of schedule and will arrive Sunday evening 8 pm in stead of Monday 8 am.
We have to deal with Melbourne cup on Tuesday, but Jodie did a lot of pre work and we are most likely looking
at delivery of the containers on Wednesday (evening) and Quarantine inspection on Thursday/Friday.

October 29th 2009

Last week Anders arrived and took his glider QL to Temora to do some maintenance.
he will be back next week.

The weather yesterday was absolutely TOP. Early cu's, high cloudbase. All the ingredients for
a 1000 km flight. The days however are still a little bit too short.

Today Otto and Eva arrived and they have some time to settle before ZY is here.
4 days to go and then the containers are in Melbourne.
We also tested the Flarm in LGT and GOB withnew OZ-Flarm antenna's.The first test with GOB on the ground and LGT
flying at 1000 ft gave a better result, but we do some more tests when Otto is available.

Tomorrow Grietje and Francesco move the office work from home to the airfield and from Saturday on our life is at the airfield again.


October 23rd 2009

The containers are still sailing on time and are expected in Melbourne on Nov 2nd 7:30 am.
It is the Melbourne Cup week, but we still hope to have them in Corowa by Friday.
The first Staff member Gerrit is arriving next week and then we have daily, daily news.
I hope ( but I doubt it) to have the same amount (and quality) of pictures as last year when
we had our pro Jantine looking after, making and preparing the pictures for the web site.
You can see a movie clip of Jantine on YouTube about "one day of my life in Corowa". have fun !!

Today we flew to Wangaratta for a  minor repair on LGT and a check on FOO.
As mentioned before both wings have all new ribs and tip bows.
They were busy putting the new fabric on the fuselage. The right wing was ready  and the left wing
a false spar and tip bow.
All together on (a tight) schedule.
 
In the afternoon George Schuit (former owner of Sportavia Tocumwal) came to say hello.
Good to see George again after 5 years.

Approach Wangaratta	FOO fuselage new fbric	Right wing waiting for new fabric	Left wing all new ribs

October 22nd 2009

Today we made the first flight with LGT. Running fine !
Tomorrow to Wangaratta to do a little repair, pick up some spare parts and a check on FOO.
After all the draught last year it was very strange too see a green Australia again.

LGT before its 1st flight of the season	A green Australia

October 18th 2009

The sky on Tuesday	Frank with VH-CIZ

An interesting week (weather wise).
Saturday started with a beautiful sky, but over development in the afternoon brought  rain and hail.
The whole week was pretty unsettled with storms and cu's and cloud streets.

Spare power station	The day started beautifull	In the afternoon rain	and more rain	and hail

October 10th 2009

October 9th 2009

A nice and sunny day.
We used the day to clean most of the concrete around the clubhouse. It was brown/orange after the storm, which made
most of NSW orange. http://laughingsquid.com/massive-dust-storm-turns-sydney-orange/
Later in the afternoon we had a power failure at the airfield and we had to stop.
The sky looked not too bad.
After work we had our first swim in the pool (water temp 29 grC)

11:30	Cleaning the concrete	The afternoon sky

October 8th 2009aan

The weather today

October 7th 2009

Spark plugs of LGT are in again and the engine was running in a second. So 1 tow plane ready.
More work was the pool at the airfield. For some reason the Chemigem control unit did not work during the winter
and the water was dark black and it was impossible to clean the wall with a brush, so a big job with satisfying result.

The weather of the last 3 days was just perfect. No ASH 31 here yet, otherwise we would have had the first flights!

The containers are still sailing on schedule:
Today they will leave La Spezia in Italy.  http://www.arcelormittal.com/sheetpiling/uploads/files/ACRPS_La%20Spezia%20-%20Italy.pdf

black black	empty	a huge cleaning job	fresh pool	the weather today

September  30th 2009

 The first news from Corowa.
Our trip with Frank and Alissa went very well. Frank loved the take off and landing and when we arrived in
Melbourne (after 24 hrs) he wanted to make another flight. But our priority was a meal and a bed.
On Sunday morning we drove home after a good sleep near Melbourne.
Grietje checked the airfield and found everything in perfect shape. Only the pool need some extra attention .

Like last year, Angelo looked after the mail. We collected the 6 months mail ( private, business and customers) and had lunch
with Angelo and Barb  at "BROCK'S" in Sangerstreet. The kids could play and the new owner (used to work at L&B) looked very well after us.
The only change in Sangerstreet is a max parking time of 1 hr ,still at NO charge.

Yesterday, we went to Hamish Aviation, as we were very eager to see FOO.
The fuselage was ready to put the new fabric on and the left wing had all new ribs, wingtip bow, false spar for the flaps and ailerons
and was free of corrosion. Next week the right wing and FOO will be ready as scheduled, before November 1st.
From what we saw, it was a very good decision to do the (not cheap) job this winter.

Yesterday evening I also got the confirmation, that the containers left Rotterdam on schedule.
Now we are looking at a comfortable 4 week period for all the preparations for the season 09/10.

September  21st 2009

07:30 the trucks arrived and we could start to lift them, The first step of the trip to Corowa.
By 09:00 all trucks were loaded and went on their way to Rotterdam.
Customs was perfect this time and all 5 containers are now waiting to get on board the Vessel
tomorrow or Wednesday.
We like to thank everybody for the perfect packing job of this season.!!

Red, the first to be lifted on the truck	3 containers loaded	Green the last one	Safety seal	Francesco ready to go home

September  20th 2009

Hans Christian and Elise left this morning for Denmark.
It was great they came to Venlo to give a hand with packing the containers.
After they left, Francesco spend a few hours to do the final check and some cleaning work on the containers.
A useful inspection!
And after that we had a very last look at the containers and closed the doors.

Red     -->     Blue     -->     White     -->   Green

Sepetmber  19th 2009

Today we finished packing our containers.
We completed the white container. It took a bit more time, because we had to adjust some fittings
for the Duo Discuss and the ASW 22 BLE. But after that it was done in no time.
Treated by perfect weather the last few days we had a great time together and .
It all went perfect with the help of the Corowa Staff and Nils.
The average time we needed to pack the container was 5 hours!!!!.
On Sunday Francesco will perform a very last step by step inspection in the containers to be sure we did
not forget to fix anything.
On Monday morning 8 am the containers will be on the way to Rotterdam and join the Prievidza container which is
already waiting in Rotterdam after a trip by truck and train.

The wings of the ASW 22BLE	Noppies  fixing a wing	Tailplane REX	all wings in	Thank you !!!	4 containers ready to go

Sepetmber  18th 2009

Day 3: A sunny day again!!

Yesterday evening Hans Chr  and Elise arrived from Denmark just to give a hand packing on Friday and Saturday.
Nils was there as well, so Fer could go to his gliding club today to give  an hand over there.

Karl Wittig was already waiting when we started packing. The packing today went ok, but not as organized when Grietje is
around. Everybody did miss her !!
We almost finished the red container and tomorrow we hope to complete the packing job for this season.

After packing red we went again to the new location and did meet with the owner of the new airfield.
The area is big enough to pack 10 containers in the same way as where we are now, so next year again a better place.
After a nice hot shower, the Corowa staff ( a pity Gerrit was not there ) enjoyed a cool beer at the terras and had a nice
meal togehter in the evening.

No pictures of the containers today, but the people who did (most of) the job in Venlo and in Bergen.

Grietje with the kids	A well deserved beer	mr and mrs Christensen	Fer	Nils	Francesco

Sepetmber  17th 2009

Yesterday we started the packing job of the 2009/2010 season.
The inspection of the containers went as we expected. " Good "

In the mean time Fer and Francesco did put "FA" in the container and changed the "FA" trailer into
the storage.
Jos with  6E and  Peter with 9E arrived in time and we could pack 3 gliders. Later Hansi and Evelin delivered
ILH and we did put ILH in the Green container.  Eveline brought a nice cake perfect for the hungry group.
By 3 pm we were ready for the day and Francesco went to customs and as always problems, because they
did not want to cooperate like the last 10 years. After contact with customs Rotterdam everything is (hopefully ) ok.

Today all pilots were in time and the Corowa staff (Gerrit and Fer) did a great job. The Blue container was ready by 12:30
luggage was backed by Eva. Thank you!
While Francesco finished Blue, Fer and Gerrit did put all the wings in Red. By 1 pm everybody had left and were
on the way home.
After that we completed the Red container by 4 pm Fer and Francesco went to the new packing location for next year.
Perfect !
Tomorrow the green container !

The Wednesday group	6E ready to be packed	ZY first arrival on Thursday	Enjoying the cake of Eveline	and tomorrow, Green

Sepetmber  14th 2009

Just a few days before packing in Venlo.
In the mean time the Prievidza container has been packed and will leave Slovakia on Wednesday.
We start with the safety check of the containers on Wednesday and will pack a few gliders.
And then the big job on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The sad news is that Grietje is not able, due to her condition, to be in Venlo, but the good news is
that the Corowa staff will give a hand.
Fer, Gerrit, Noppies, Elise and Nils are all in Venlo to do the job.
See you all in Venlo !!

Sepetmber  5th 2009

Today was the day of their life.
Hans Christian (Noppies) and his Elise got married and of course after the ceremony they flew away in a plane.

Hans Christian and Elise

August 31st  2009

We are very happy that LX Navigation will supply the Australian Soaring Centre with a complete
spare LX 7007 and LX 8000.
We like to thank the LX agent in The Benelux Maurits Dortu for his help.  http://www.gliderpilotshop.nl/

August 8th 2009

Congratulations Rene de Dreu with your European Championship Clubclass !!!!

Our staff member Rene the Dreu is the new European Champion in the club class.
He flew at a very high level and every day in the top. Tim Kuijpers also a young
Dutch pilot ended no 2 only with a few points behind Rene.
Hans Christian, our last  year and next year tow pilot ended 19.

July 10th 2009

We are happy to introduce the staff for the upcoming season.

Fer Bergmans Netherlands
Gerrit Bouma  Netherlands
Christopher Cough (tow pilot) Canada
Rene de Dreu Netherlands
Au pair ???    Germany

Fer	Gerrit	Chris	Rene

We all know Fer and Gerrit from the last 2 seasons and again we are very happy that both will be back.
Chris and Rene are both young glider pilots who did compete in the WJGC in Rayskala.
Chris was towing at Benalla last summer and for Rene it is the first time in Australia.
Rene will also be a good help on Meteo matters.

Unfortunately Hans Christian (Noppies) was only available for 2 months, but for
next year we already agreed that both, he and Elise will be in Corowa for the season.

July 4th 2009

The European summer is still going well with a lot of successful competitions.
Some of the ASCC pilots and staff are competing in European and World comps.

In the mean time we are working on the upcoming season.

The container setting is published on the container website and all packing dates are set.
One off the Slovak gliders cancelled the trip and therefore we did put AE in the Slovak container.
Now we have 1 container spot available in 1 of the Venlo containers.

Staff is almost set.
Gerrit and Fer are coming back like last year. We are very happy with that. Two very experienced
staff members back makes life much easier.
This week-end we will make decisions for the tow pilot and field staff.
So next week we will introduce the complete staff 2009 2010.