Waikerie ... we'll be back

The Orange Week in Waikerie is over. Some say the weather turned it into a Lemon Week. I won't comment on the weather. This is something no one can do anything about and we just have to live with and make the best out of it.

Last day was cancelled due to very strong winds and full cloud cover. Not for Jack though. He jumped in his DG400 and decided to make the flight of his life: Waikerie-Bacchus Marsh or to make it sound more serious: Adelaide-Melbourne. And guess what? He made it!

Great effort Jack!

He flew 580 kilometers in 4 hours and 20 minutes and came back to Waikerie on Qantas flight next morning to give us all a presentation of his flight. He admitted he has been thinking about doing it for quite a while. After he launched, he actually wanted to come back and land but the wind kept blowing him further and further away. So he was drifting away at very low altitudes and couldn't make it back to Waikerie. Then he noticed that weather looked much better to the south east and decided to try to make contact with the nice Cu's in Victoria. From then on it was a walk in the park, he said. Still we all think it was a great achievement and of course I wasn't serious commenting that in fact he only flew 350 km ant the rest was a free gift from Fujin the Japanese god of wind.

the trace looks impressive

Before we packed up Mark changed the faulty trim cable in the 55 and I had a chance to have a closer look at Waikerie club gliders. The beast way to put it is: I had a jaw drop.

in Mark's workshop

Japanese Duo Discus guarded by Fujin - the god of wind

The club has about 10 (one zero) active glider pilots and a fleet of: ASK21, Discus, LS4, LS7. All of the gliders look like privately owned and the equipment is better than the one you see in most privately owned gliders. They decided few years back to sell the old fleet they had and upgrade to a smaller number but all up to date gliders. Just have a look:

LS-4

ASK 21

We had a closing dinner that night and headed to Gawler, the base of Adelaide Soaring Club next morning. It is always kind of sad when such a nice event comes to an end. But good news is that we put Orange Week into our permanent event schedule and we'll be back to Waikerie next year.

last evening in the club house