Mt Beauty Gliding Club, Inc www.mtbeauty.com/gliding [email protected] ALPINE FLYER June 2006 President – Andrew Evans Vice President – Mark Bland Secretary – Mike Pobjoy Airworthiness Officer – Manfred Rueff CFI and Treasurer – Ian Cohn World Open Class Champion Michael Sommer Editor - Ian Cohn Contents President’s Column Page 1 Maintenance Matters Page 3 Operations Page 2 Members and Friends Page 4 30th Birthday Plans Page 3 Club Diary Page 5 Treasurer’s Talk Page 3 The Tail End Page 6 A lesson learned on our self drive tour of England, Wales Ireland and Scotland was that if you want your PRESIDENT’S marriage to survive beyond the honeymoon, choose hire cars with satellite navigation installed. After COLUMN getting lost in Dublin and Edinburgh we decided this would be a good decision in our third rental car. Thanks to our Vice President Mark Bland for holding the fort during my absence and congratulations Mark I’m back after a 5 week honeymoon in Europe and on your excellent column in “Alpine Flyer” during my UK following my wedding to Kerrie on 1 April. The absence. trip was fantastic, visiting 14 countries along the way. It has been a season of many records for the club, A highlight was a visit on our last day to the Duxford now that we have officially entered winter. We had Imperial War Museum just north of London where our earliest start to a flying season in August 2005 they have a Mach 2 glider (aka Concorde) on display. and our latest finish with flying taking place well into It was a real thrill to be able to explore the interior of June. We have broken our previous record for total this aircraft and I was amazed at the lack of space in season flying hours in the IS28 also with 210 hours the passenger cabin, which did not appear to be flown compared to the previous best of 179 hours in much larger than a Saab 340. The museum is well 2004/2005. worth the visit for aviation enthusiasts and contains a fantastic collection of British and American aircraft Our syndicate glider Pilatus GCD has had a from the Second World War, as well as more modern successful first season with a total of 91 hours flown. aircraft. Many of the WW2 exhibits are in airworthy I am pleased to be able to boast that I have earned condition and regularly fly in air shows. Restoration the most frequent flyer points in GCD. work on many exhibits can also be observed. Thanks to Mark Bland again for taking on the role of event organiser for our 30th birthday celebrations in November 2006 and I ask all members to assist Mark to make this a real success. Another thankyou goes to Nicholas Cohn who hosts our Newspage free-of-charge on his server in Amsterdam. Nick has been granted an honorary Social membership for the 2006/2007 season. We hope that he will make use of his membership when he visits Mt Beauty in December. Keep warm and enjoy the ski season and I look forward to seeing members on the airfield again when we resume flying for the 2006/2007 season. Andrew J Evans Kerrie Evans and the Concorde display at President Duxford Imperial War Museum UK. Alpine Flyer June 2006 Page 1 Operations Solo pilots are reminded that as of the 31st of August, all pilots are required to have their Annual Check with Circuit Traffic and Launching an MBGC Instructor before further solo flying. When winch launching, there can be a delay between Solo pilots are required, under GFA Regulations, to the “Glider Ready to launch; All Out, All Out” call and provide a signed “Declaration of Physical Fitness” the winch actually commencing the launch. Further, (GFA Operational Regulations Appendix 1) for the the cable can be airborne for up to 45-50 seconds. Club’s records. For these reasons, it can be dangerous to commence a launch if there are any aircraft, especially gliders, in Please also bring your log book for inspection, and the circuit for runway 14. expect to brief the Instructor on matters subject to current GFA Operational Bulletins, general flying So if any aircraft calls downwind for runway 14 or is safety matters, and current radio procedures. observed to be on downwind leg of the circuit the rule is to not start a launch or to halt a launch that has Motor Glider Take-off Performance been started. The glider pilot should release the Recently Manfred and I flew over to Benambra in his cable and radio “Stop Stop Stop” if the “All out” call IS-28M2 motor glider. Our first attempt to take-off has been given but an aircraft has joined downwind. from Benambra did not succeed because we did not Launch Assistants and Pilots - don’t gamble with get to lift-off speed and abandoned the take-off before aircraft safety. we ran out of runway. Don’t Land with the Undercarriage Retracted Why was this so? Pilots are again reminded that they are required to Well, there are many factors that produced this result. In thinking about this, I came up with the following: (a) Conduct a pre-landing FUST check. • Benambra is at 2300 ft above sea level so the (b) Physically check that the undercarriage is down engine did not produce full power. Engine and locked before/during doing the “FUST” pre power is directly related to atmospheric landing check. pressure and at 2300 ft the pressure is 8% less We have sometimes seen that a pilot will just change than at sea level. the undercarriage position for landing. This may work • On our first attempt there was no headwind. most of the time, but, if the undercarriage is already extended for any reason, – it doesn’t work. • Manfred and I are not exactly light weights (sorry Manfred) so we were near maximum We also sometimes see some pilots flying around take-off weight. with their undercarriages unintentionally extended. This may be eliminated by doing a “FUST” check • The long runway is laid out on a dry lake bed immediately after launch since you usually have to but had had some rain the day before and so action all the FUST items after launch anyway. The was a bit soft. only difference is that in this case the flaps and Subsequently, on the second take-off attempt, undercarriage have to be placed in the flying position, Manfred used the slightly raised side of the runway not the landing position. which appeared to be drier and harder, and we had IS-28 Flap Positions for Take-off and Landing an increased headwind component of about 3 knots, so we managed to lift off OK. Pilots are reminded that the standard flap positions for the IS-28 are The lesson here is that motorgliders are not exactly home sick angels when it comes to take-off • Take-off Flaps position 2 performance, and you should plan very carefully • After Take-off Flaps position 0 where you land, if you want to take-off again. The enemies of good take-off performance are high • Thermalling Flaps position 1 pressure altitudes, elevated temperatures, uphill • Ridge soaring1 Flaps position 1 slope, weight, increased ground rolling resistance (soft surface and long grass), and tailwinds. • Cruising2 Flaps position 0 These same factors affect all powered aircraft and • Landing Flaps position 3 should be considered for all new landing (take-off) situations especially where the runways are short 1 - below 55 knot. and/or there are significant obstacles in the area 2 – 55 knot or above. beyond the end of the runway. Annual Checks GFA Operational Regulations “6.3.5. A solo pilot shall undergo an annual Ian Cohn Chief Flying Instructor competency check in accordance with the GFA Instructors Handbook.” Alpine Flyer June 2006 Page 2 30th Birthday Plans Treasurer’s Talk Easter Aerotow Charges Extract from: We have now paid the bill for aerotows conducted www.visitmtbeauty.com.au/history/airport during both the 2005 and the 2006 Easter holiday periods. In general, the charges came in at a little “The first use of the strip was by the Glider Club less than previously estimated so some members that of Victoria which saw flights recorded as far away took aerotows will find that their next accounts may as Mount Kosciusko. The Mount Beauty Gliding include a minor credit amount. Club began flying from the airfield on October 22, Payments 1976 and members of the club have been active in the general maintenance and all developmental The best way for members to deposit money into their work since that date. Notable amongst them Ray MBGC accounts is via internet banking or by direct Addinsall and Manfred Reuff. Manfred Reuff, in credit. This saves the Treasurer a trip to the bank to particular, providing strip maintenance and grass deposit cheques and cash. When doing this please cutting.” remember to add your name to the deposit details so that the Treasurer knows which account to credit with In late October, the 30th Anniversary of the the money. The Club’s bank account details are commencement of gliding operations at Mt Beauty listed on your account statement sent out by the comes around. The Committee has decided to Treasurer. celebrate this anniversary by inviting all members, Hours and Launches former members, Friends of MBGC, and members of other clubs to fly with us over the 2006 Melbourne At press time we had done 210 hours on the IS-28 so Cup holiday weekend from Saturday 4th of November far this season, and we were 31 hours ahead of last to Tuesday 7th of November.