September 2018 - After a five month break I had to have a couple of check flights. Felt very rusty. OK.
April 2018 - Up at Keepit for a week. Some good flights.
March 2018 - Basically the whole of the season has been lost due to weather. I could not pick the right week to be at Keepit.
October 2017 - Found myself in "wave" at the north end of Lake Keepit. This is the first time I have been in wave and it took a little while to figure out what was going on. I had just left a thermal at 8,000ft on a very bumpy day, and suddenly everything went absolutely smooth. A most beautiful experience.
A video of my trace showing the wave flying is on youtube here!
February 2017 - Weather not great. Large bush fire (Sir Ivan fire) caused very smoky air and no horizon. Got my AFR done.
December 2016 - Spend a few days flying. Big storm and micro-burst caused two aircraft to be written off (GFP featured on the previous page & IUO my favourite single seater Discus 2). Quite sad really.
November 2016 - Had some good flights, but the weather wasn't great.
September 2016 - Had a great week flying. Good flights everyday.
April 2016 - Got some great flights. I redid the old Silver "C" circuit (Keepit - Manilla - Gunnedah - Keepit) and did the ideal flight. Pity that circuit is no longer recognised.
March 2016 - Managed a couple of days at Keepit, but weather not great. Just got a short flight in. Worked with the Simulator that we've built. Looking good.
January 2016 - Got AFR and really nice flight in PW5. Made a short video at https://youtu.be/DpJiVmmJRCc
November 2015 - Came up for the week prior to the Nationals, but weather was crap.
September 2015 - Up for a few days, but windy and showery. Got a couple of 20 minute flights.
August 2015 - Came up for the maintenance week. Always good fun.
July 2015 - Awards night and official opening of the simulator I have been involved with.
May 2015 - Weather was ordinary so just flew a check flight for backseat passenger rating and flew a couple of local flights in PW5.
April 2015 - Had spin check. In four days I flew three different aircraft (Puchatek, Dicsus2c & PW5). Only weak thermals so local flying only.
March 2015 - Some pleasant flights in the Discus 2c.
February 2015 - At last a chance for a few nice days at Keepit. All club aircraft were booked out except for the PW5, so had to fly it.
December 2014 - Spent a few days at Keepit.
November 2014 - Back to Keepit at last. Got annual review completed.
August 2014 - Up at Keepit for Form 2 week
May 2014 - Up at Mangrove and flew K13 with Rob. First winch launch for 6 years.
May 2014 - Weather ordinary at Keepit. Only the Junior was available, so just a short flight.
March 2014 - Great flying at Keepit. 3 hours on one day in the Jantar Junior and 4 hours the next in the Discus 2c. Could have done over 6 hours. This is what soaring is all about!
February 2014 - Up at Keepit for a week. Converted to the Discus 2c. Lots of great flying!
October 2013 - Did my Annual Flight review with Ian and then had some good flights in the LS7.
August 2013 - Up at Keepit for Form 2 Week (all the aircraft undergo their annual inspection).
April 2013 - Flew the Junior and then got cleared and flew the LS7.
Conditions not great so mainly local soaring.
March 2013 - Quite a few overseas visitors at the club. Got myself current again, but just local flying.
December 2012 - On the first day we had to return quickly as a massive storm developed. The following day did the Silver C again, but we did not have an Offical Observer present so again no claim made. The last day there I did another short cross country flight - nearly had to outland!
November 2012 - Got a couple of good days flying. Flew the Silver C course (Keepit - Manilla - Gunnedah - Keepit), but computer problems stopped the claim.
October 2012 - Went up to Keepit for a few days, but only managed to fly one day (2 hour flight) in average conditions.
September 2012 - Back at Keepit for a few days after the winter. Got current again, and finished Annual Flight Review.
May 2012 - Up at Keepit for a few days before the working bee. Not great thermalling weather, but pleasant enough. Flew the Jantar Junior (HNY) and was going to fly the Jantar, but it was in for some repairs after a wheel-up landing (not a good idea!)
April 2012 - Drove up to Keepit on the Monday afternoon for the week. Tuesday was wet, so drove to Manilla for something to do. Had a check flight with Ian on the Wednesday in the Grob103 (IUR) and then flew the Jantar Junior (HNY) for a couple of hours. Perfect flying weather. On Thursday had a three hour flight - starting to feel as one with the aircraft again. And Friday was another great day - just one and a half hours in the Junior as I had to head home.
January 2012 - Had planned to stay 5 days, but the weather turned nasty. Will have to wait for the next trip for good summer conditions.
December 2011 - Dropped by at Keepit for a few days before Christmas. Flew the Jantar Junior (HNY). Good to be back in a single seater again.
November 2011 - At Lake Keepit for a few days. Flew the Grob103 (IUR). Had planned to convert to the single seater, but rain stopped that!
October 2011 - Up at Lake Keepit having joined the club. Flying the Twin Astir (IKX) with Jenny (Saturday) and Peter (Sunday). Went solo again.
June 2009 - Not flying much as I've been chasing work and need to save some money.
January 2009 - The club was running the summer camp again at Temora, but as I had changed jobs, I had no leave so had not planned to go. However, the Global Financial Crisis intervened as I was made redundant, so decided to go down for a couple of days. The flying was great with strong thermals to 11,000 feet. 2 hour flights each day.
September 2008 - The winter has past and I still haven't been able to get a fly. In fact thank God for Condor! I've been working weekends and then on the weekends often the weather has been ordinary or other commitments have come up. I tried to get to Keepit in August for a few days, but basically that is the time they have their holidays so now I'm looking at the end of September.
Got up to Keepit for a few days arriving on the Monday - to rain, but rest of week was OK. Not great thermaling conditions, but good for me as I wanted to get my Outlanding Check done to obtain my C certificate, and at last I got it done after trying several times at different locations over the last 20 months when every time there was a problem, such as total fire ban, tuggie not paddock rated etc. Thanks Gerhard!
May 2008 - Planning another trip to Lake Keepit.
April 2008 - I haven't been flying recently - just working, so I think I'll have a few months off for a break.
27 January 2008 - Down at Temora for the Club Camp there. Very hot (37c), great thermals. Got off the tug at 1,600ft AGL straight to 9300ft QNH at 5kts. Here is a photo of the airport. This could spoil you for flying at Mangrove Mountain. Some of the guys from the Multi Class Champs were still
there and the "Women in Gliding" were there the same week. They had some nice equipment!More photos - Click here
16 December 2007 - We had Martin Freeg give us a one day workshop on Xcountry. It was great day and valuable.
17 November 2007 - back from Keepit. The weather was great with pilots complaining that they only got 8kts to 9,000 feet!