Winging it Down the Castlereagh

[old man emu]

12 hours ago, spacesailor said:

Must go there

Spacey,

Check you messages. I sent you a PM about getting a flight.

[old man emu]

I've had a looong day, so this is short.

 

The event went off spectacularly. The only hitch came from a mistake I made in describing the course, but that was resolved before the event. I'll give a fuller account tomorrow after I've had a good night's sleep.

[Carbon Canary]

That is fantastic news OME ! Look forward to getting a full report.

If you had a safe and fun day, that is great outcome.

[facthunter]

Answer.. The Butler did it.   Nev

[old man emu]

The day dawned chilly, but the skies were clear and the wind calm. I'm afraid that I didn't see many of the arrivals as I had a lot of last minute organising to do.

 

The biggest problem was that although I had sent out emails to all and sundry about how to get a copy of the information package and the link to submit an entry, very few did so. In order to make something happen I had to accept entries on the day. That meant that I had to wait until the death knell to organise the starting order. So, next time you hear about an event and the organisers have asked for entries to be submitted by a certain date, make sure you get yours in on time. Failure to do so is really an insult to the efforts the organisers put in so that the event can happen. It's easier to an accept a withdrawal than to be swamped on the day. Rant over. 

 

So, by the time we were ready to start the formalities of the event, 30 aircraft were parked in full view of the massed public. 12 of those aircraft were involved in the event. There would have been four more, but delays in completing maintenance, suddenly sickening relatives and a whack of bad luck caused those pilots reluctantly to withdraw. Some Spacey bloke tried to enter a Hummelbird, but didn't have the wing loading to throw around, so he acted the Ratite.* 

 

The first aircraft was flagged off at 12:01:32. and the 12th at 12:20:29. I reckon that was pretty good. It was annoying that by midday the clear skies were being covered by SCT Cu around 4000 and the wind was SW at 11 kts gusting to 17.  We had asked the Local Member to flag off the first aircraft, and expected him to leave. But he was having a good time and we couldn't wrest the flag from him. Despite the change in wind, most aircraft were home to roost by 1415, and we had the presentation at 1430. That allowed  people to start home with a good bit of daylight left.

 

I had some hard decisions to make in judging the winner. Apart from doing the usual time/distance/heading flight planning, the entry form required pilots to do their fuel calculations and W&B calculations. I was surprised at the number of entrants who either did not do the W&B, or put in weights but no Moments to see if they were within the envelope. Does this indicate a habit of "kick the tyres. Light the fires and flock off"? A safety issue for sure. Some of the fuel calculations showed either a lackadaisical approach or lack of knowledge.

 

So it came down to only four entries that met the desired standard. Although you it is not like me to be pedantic in any way, shape of form, I did set the scenario to be that the entrant was conducting a commercial flight. Therefore I wanted details. The winner, a mere youth of 18 years, gave me those details. He accounted for time and fuel used for take off; he calculated time and distance to Top of Climb and then all the cruise details. I was going to knock him for not locating Top of Descent to Toora, but then I noticed he'd carried out an en-route descent on an earlier leg. 

 

The second-placed entrant came in 33 seconds past his ETI, but hadn't done the TOC.

 

So endeth "Winging it Down the Castlereagh" for 2023. It has done the job of introducing a lot of pilots to Tooraweenah. Many from afar have  indicate that they will return to Toora for a $100 hamburger.

 

* Ratite is the Group birds that contains the ostrich, the cassowary and the emu. They share a common flightless ancestor that lived in Gondwana, whose descendants were isolated from each other by continental drift, 

 

[facthunter]

A lot of short commercial flights spend no time in the cruise. Canberra- Sydney is like that for Jets. Nev

[spacesailor]

I will , happily say ,! 

A great big " thank-you to O M E , for organising this event .

But the previous night we had a frost , that slowed my arrival to the airfield .

I may be only four , ( score ) , but the cold freezes my bones

Then, I missed my flight. 

spacesailor

 

[Carbon Canary]

OME, the wind in the Sydney basin on Sunday would blow a dog off a chain, so I think you were mighty fortunate to get the job done yesterday. Well done, and I’m determined to be there next year !

[old man emu]

2 hours ago, Carbon Canary said:

I’m determined to be there next year

Why wait?  Come up anytime. The aerodrome is all weather. The pub opens for lunch at midday, and has rooms to let.

[old man emu]

I have just received a photograph from the surveillance system. I have identified a certain infamous home builder who made his presence felt, after he defrosted.

 

[Carbon Canary]

18 hours ago, old man emu said:

Why wait?  Come up anytime. The aerodrome is all weather. The pub opens for lunch at midday, and has rooms to let.

Fair point ! But by this time next year I will be focussed on spending rather than earning.