KINGAROY NATIONALS OCTOBER 1997 DAILY DIARY NOTES: (1) Heights are some times given in QNH (i.e. from sea level) and some times as above ground figures (AGL). These are usually denoted, but if not will refer to QNH figures. Kingaroy is generally accepted as being 1500' QNH. (2) This diary of events was not written specifically for the internet page, rather for club members who were not in attendance and thus may appear somewhat un-familiar to some readers. Practice Week: Monday October 6: Weather: Conditions today were weak, but soarable with climbs of a few knots to approximately 6000' QNH. Tasks: A few aircraft launched and flew around the local area. Events: Bevan Lane flew to several of the start points and photographed them so that competing pilots will be able to have visual recognition of these points during the contest. Tuesday October 7: Weather: Persistent and solid rain for the majority of the day. Approximately 50-60 mm of rain fell around the Kingaroy area with reports of up to 110 mm in some parts of the South Burnet. Paddocks are likely to be wet for some days to come and it is highly likely that many fallow paddocks will be planted in the next few days. If nothing else, at least the locals are happy about the rain. Tasks: No flying was possible. Events: Very little. Wednesday October 8: Weather: Wet paddocks and wet thermals, but cumulus to 7000/7500' QNH in the South Burnet with strengths varying from 3-7kts. There were reports of approximately 1000' higher base on the downs. Winds were predominately westerly at approx. 5 kts. Tasks: No organised tasks were set, though pilots flew as far as Jandowae to the south and Lake Windera to the north. Events: A "Brazilia" chartered from Flight West Airlines landed with a corporate junket tour. One competitor managed to run his car out of fuel (both petrol and LPG) Scores: No scoring occurred. Thursday October 9: Weather: A blue day with climbs to 6500 QNH and 10 knts of wind from the south west. Some wave was experienced in the primary wave area from the Bunya's and one pilot recorded a climb to approximately 12000' QNH. There were also some reports of weak ridge lift on the southern side of the Bunya's. Average thermal strengths of 4-5 kts. Tasks: No organised tasks were set, generally flew south to the Bunya's. Events: Weak wave and ridge lift on the Bunya's. Quite a few bush fires / burn off's, particularly to the north of Kingaroy, which were already reducing visibility slightly and dampening convection. It is likely that more of this will happen in the next week or so. It was noted that there were quite a few tractors in paddocks, presumably planting and that this trend will continue for the next week or so. Scores: No scoring occurred. Friday October 10: Weather: Early clouds over the air strip burnt off to leave the majority of the task area blue with thermals of 3-6 knts to 6500-7000'. From approximately Wondai north, there was 1/8th cu with 4-6 knt climbs to 7000' QNH. Tasks: No organised tasks were set. Most pilots elected to follow what clouds there were up to the north, some going to Gayndah and return. Events: There were no reports of out landings. It was noted that there were quite a few tractors in paddocks, presumably planting and that this trend will continue for the next week or so. There were a few isolated burn offs throughout the task area. For the majority of the day, launching was performed with only one tug, though just before 2:00 pm a second tug was employed. Gerrit Kurstjens and co. were attempting to fly up from Narromine today in their open class machines, though anecdotal reports suggest that they were not going to make it all the way and that their main aim was to make it as far as Goondiwindi and get a launch from Nick Hunt in the morning. Scores: No scoring occurred. Saturday October 11 (Official Practice Day 1): Weather: Blue day with weak thermals to 4000-4500 AGL. Tasks: Tasks were set, though no pilot actually completed the task, with all aborting. Events: There was one out landing - Dave Wilson - GAE, 7 km away. Being the first official practice day, several deficiencies in the KSC operation were found and noted. Scores: No scoring occurred. Sunday October 12 (Official Practice Day 2): Weather: The Cu Sonde and the aviation weather forecast weak blue conditions to approximately 4000 AGL, though a line of storms were predicted for 1400 immediately SW of Kingaroy. As the day un-folded, it could be seen that this line of instability was drier than forecast, (not surprising) and that just before launch at approximately 1:00 there was a line of high base, developed cumulus abeam Kumbia. These cumulus later developed well to the east of task as well as some isolated ones between Kumbia and Murgon. Lift under these Cu's was reported at 3-9 kts to 10500' QNH. The weather on the Darling Downs though was quite different and variable, with most convection being 3-5 kts to 6-7500' (blue) with many pilots reporting much weaker conditions. Some pilots though in the vicinity of Dalby reported 9-10 knt climbs to 8000' Tasks: Organised tasks were set: Open: KRY - Warra - Dalby - KRY Racing: KRY - Wondai - Dalby - KRY Standard: KRY - Wondai - Bell - KRY All who attempted, bar one completed the tasks, generally at or above 100 km/h with winning speeds in the order of 120 km/h in all classes. Events: There was one out landing - Lisa Trotter - IIC at Kumbia. The two missing Dutchmen and English lady arrived O.K. after several days flying from Narromine. The KSC Crew were able to further refine their operations. Scores: See Scores page or spreadsheet. Monday October 13 (Day 1): Weather: The through went through overnight, much to everyone's disgust and left us with a moderate to strong south westerly wind, which when coupled with the Cu Sonde sounding and temperature forecast, meant that we were likely to only get weak thermals to 4500-6000 QNH' . This is essentially what occurred with the added bonus of heights of 7000-8000 QNH being obtained before the start in the 4th and 5th waves off the Bunya's. As the task was set to the north first, some parts of the task area were affected by wave down washes, which is presumably where people out landed and had difficulties. Tasks: Organised tasks were set: Standard: KRY - Windera Lake - Kumbia - KRY (172 km) ("B" task) All other classes were cancelled due to late convection developing. 16 of 20 standard class gliders made it home. Those who did make it home did some at low speeds with the winner doing only 88 km/h. Events: Of the 5 Kingaroy club pilots flying in the competition, three out landed (including yours truly who stuffed around in the wave too long and left way too long after everyone else) and the other two came 1st and fourth - so much for local knowledge. The competition was opened at briefing this morning by the usual host of political dignitaries, being the local mayor and the local state member, the latter praising his mate Jo Bejelke for his foresight in this airport upgrade. Scores: Scores are as follows. - see spreadsheet. 1st: Tom Claffey 2nd: John Buchanan 3rd: Graham Parker Tuesday October 14 (Day 2): Weather: An early morning complete cloud cover broke up during the morning to leave 4-6/8th of large cumulus with bases above Kingaroy of 6000' QNH and a 10-15knt wind from the east northeast. The temp trace and the forecast temperature indicated that weak thermals to 4000' AGL was likely and short tasks were set. The weather to the northern part of the task area was particularly weak with at least 5 gliders going down around Byee when not having recognised that a change of speed was necessary in the weak conditions. Thermals ranged from 1-4 knts with cloud base lowering to 5000' QNH. Tasks: Organised tasks were set: Standard: KRY - Windera Lake - Kumbia - KRY (172 km) 15M: KRY - Ban Ban Springs - Kumbia - KRY (232 km) Open: KRY - Ban Ban Springs - Kumbia - KRY (232 km) The majority of open class made it home, while the majority of the other two classes landed out. Events: Bevan Lane, who was rank last yesterday, ended up in the top five with a solid consistent performance. Tom Claffey, yesterday's winner landed approximately 30km short. At least three pilots landed in the same grassy paddock near Byee. When Chris Woolley was approaching he asked "is the paddock any good ?" to which the reply came, "it's a lovely paddock, were just moving a glider out of the way for you !" One pilot landed on top of the ridge (in a paddock) approximately 15 km north of Murgon, in the highest paddock around for miles. The radio, 122.50 was full of chatter with pilots helping each other to find thermals. For the majority of the day it appeared that the competition was on hold and that people's main concern was to make it home and help their mates make it home. Where are the Libelle's when you need them. Scores: Scores are as follows. - see spreadsheet. Wednesday October 15 (Day 3): Weather: An early morning complete cloud cover broke up during the morning (albeit very slowly) to leave 3/8th of cumulus with bases above Kingaroy of 6000' QNH and a northwesterly wind for launch and a weak south westerly wind at cloud base. The temp trace and the forecast temperature indicated that weak thermals to 5000' AGL was likely and short tasks were set with predicted thermal strengths of only 2 kts. The tasks were set on the mathematically predicted weather although the local bet was that the weather would be better and indeed it was, with cloud base on the Downs above 6000 QNH and climbs averaging 4 knts or better. Tasks: Organised tasks were set: Standard: KRY - Jandowae- Bell - KRY (166 km) 15M: KRY - Jandowae - Jimbour - KRY (167 km) Open: KRY - Warra - MacCalister - KRY (212 km) The length of task was also based partly on the high number of outlandings the previous day and luckily there were no outlandings today, with the majority of pilots bettering 100 km/h. Highest speed for the day was 132 km/h in Open Class. Events: When Open Class launched, conditions looked O.K., but merely by watching these slow turning large pieces of fibre glass hovering just above the strip, we could tell conditions were pretty ordinary early on. The Contest Director, being a local and knowing that the whinges of all these top pilots were wrong, commanded the launch for the rest and as the weather improved, this proved to be the correct decision. Today was a day of some unfortunate incidents: One pilot, on launch in his Discus, released while still on the ground citing that his undercarriage had collapsed after hitting a hole on take off. Further investigation could not find a hole, but showed a skid mark indicating that maybe the wheel seized ???? Luckily there was little major damage and the pilot was able to re-grid and complete the task. Further investigation later found a sizeable rock in the area which was delt with in the correct manner. On landing, another pilot elected to land his glider full of water (due to differential dump rates between the wings) and had forgotten to lower the undercarriage. Ouch. The underside of the fuse was heavily damaged, though it is expected that it will be in flying order tomorrow. One pilot was seen crossing the Bunya mountains very low (going from the south to the north) and was given advice from pilots slightly higher (and local) as to where the (very) few grassy paddocks are nearest the mountains. Luckily he did not need any of these and luckily the glider was only of 15 m span, because my memory of landing in a grassy paddocks in that area (not advisable) is that they are very short (watch out for the farm houses at end of ground role) and not suitable for open class aircraft. Scores: Scores are as follows. - see spreadsheet / scores page on the web site. Thursday October 16 (Day 4): Weather: An early morning complete cloud cover broke up during the morning (albeit very slowly) to leave 3/8th of cumulus with bases above Kingaroy of 4500' QNH and a northwesterly wind for launch. Shortly after launching open class (into 1.5 kt thermals) a couple of large thunderstorms were observed brewing to the west. These storms kept brewing until their anvils covered the task area and killed convection. The tasks were cancelled on the grid on safety grounds with two large storms approaching and reports of several more brewing on the western downs, which was in everyone's task area. Tasks: Organised tasks were set and later cancelled with distances between 320 - 370 km set. Events: Open class were again treated as the sacrificial lambs, on the grounds that if they can't stay up, then there is no hope for the others. They did stay up, but only just. Many pilots and crew elected to de-rig their aircraft in the face of approaching storms, though luckily (especially for those who did not de-rig) the storms passed around us. In the face of impending storms, some Jondaryan club members (who are used to fitting more gliders into a single hanger than is normally thought possible), assisted in stacking the Kingaroy hanger with all the normal gliders, plus a stray ASW27 and 4 extra tow planes ! The murky 8/8th cloud cover in the morning (below 1000' AGL) forced at least two aircraft away: A twin commuter couldn't perform an NDB let down as the cloud cover was too low and the Channel 7 chopper, which had flown from Brisbane to film us wasn't IFR equipped. The main event of significance for the day was that the beer supplies in the bar were topped up with another pallet of XXXX's finest, and a few stray cartons of that foulest of southern brews. ABC TV (from Brisbane) arrived in the morning to do some film work from the ground, in a glider (K21) and from out the open door of one of the Cessna 180 tugs. Scores: There was no scoring for the day. Friday October 17 (Day 5): Weather: All the learned weather forecasters, both civilian and military were predicting some isolated storms in the task area and all were wrong. Some mid morning cumulus to the north of the field with bases eventually at over 10 000' QNH did not impact on the task area (mainly to the south) and we were left with blue conditions with 10-15 kts of wind from the west. Pilots were rewarded after a few ordinary thermal days with climbs to 9500' in the blue with the occasional 8-10 knotter with the added bonus of shear wave before the start taking some competitors to over 12 500' QNH (limit of airspace) and by reports there was still a 3 kt average at that height. Tasks: After a no contest day yesterday, cancelled on the grid due to safety reasons, the organisers were keen to set reasonable tasks, especially with the promise of good weather. Standard: KRY - Warra - Kapunn - Jimbour - KRY (245 km) Racing: KRY - Brigalow - Dalby (A/D) - Jandowae - KRY (283 km) Open: KRY - Chinchilla - Dalby - Jandowea - KRY (313 km) Events: The major event since the last diary update was the 30th birthday party for dear old Val - the Kingaroy Valiant. A party was held in her honour and and ceremonial carton was placed on her roof along with the streamers and empties. In the last thirty years the only acts of bastardry to occur to dear old Val, was a slight arguement with the wing of an Astir, and one of the syndicate owners replacing the cross ply tires with evil modern raidials. Hopefully in the next 30 years, it will still be without all those extravagent extras that aren't really required, like, mirrors, seatbelts and wireless. And no, it's not purple, its deep maroon. On the flying side, everyone made it home O.K., inlcuding Mcfee who forgot to hook up all his instruments this morning and flew on just an altimeter. He finished last, but a great effort anyway. Winning speeds were up in the 120's - low 130's. The use of dataloggers by almost all competitors as primary verification made it easy to determine airspace infringements before the start in shear wave. Yes, we did catch one person 700 feet too high, but the jumbo's aren't really that low here anyway. Scores: See spreadsheet / scores web page. Saturday October 18 (Day 6): Weather: When will the AVFAX service ever get the weather right ? The temp flight and hence task setting (at least "A" task) was set before a clear trough moved through, which was meant to be 150 km south by 6 pm tonight. Actually it moved through immediately after the temp flight and instead of a 15 kt north wester, we had a 20 kt southerly. So very short "B" tasks were set in case. The weather actually turned out very well, with 1,2/8th cu with bases at 9500' QNH and thermals of 4-7 kts more or less throughout the task area. There were also some reports of thermal wave and Bunya mountain wave was evident, but way too far to the south east to be of any real use for our start points. Tasks: Organised tasks were set as follows; Standard: KRY - Chinchilla - Kupunn - KRY (300 km) Racing: KRY - Chinchilla - Cecil Plains (Cecil City) - KRY (345 km) Open: KRY - Miles - Kupunn - KRY (377 km) Events: Throughout the week so far there has been a rash of car sales / upgrades amongst many of the pilots. It started with Tracy Tabart upgrading his VN Commodore wagon for a similar VS model (in town) and was quickly followed by Mach Ichikawa upgrading his XE Falcon wagon for Ron Sanders' XF wagon and Ian McFee, who's XD sedan had finally been pronounced "dead" by the RACQ upgraded (well he couldn't really down grade) to Mach's XE. All but one pilot made it home and most bettered the 100 km/h mark. One pilot's GPS altitude trace for yesterday showed that he was below Kingaroy ground level (on the Darling Downs) which meant that he was less than 500 ft AGL: a pretty good effort to get away from there. All the pilots and crew enjoyed a free BBQ this evening courtesy of the Kingaroy Shire Council. Scores: Only the top three in each class have been given. These scores are provisional. Standard: 1st: Hank Kauffmann @125 km/h 2nd: John Buchanan @ 124 km/h 3rd: Mach Ichikawa @ 123 km/h Racing: 1st: Tracy Tabart @118 km/h 2nd: Norm Bloch @ 116 km/h 3rd: Matsuru Marui @ 116 km/h Open Class: 1st: Gerrard Kurstjens @127.66 km/h 2nd: Ingo Renner @ 127.08 km/h 3rd: Brad Edwards @ 124 km/h Sunday October 19 (Day 7): Weather: Tasks: Organised tasks were set as follows; Standard: KRY - Chinchilla - Kupunn - KRY (300 km) Racing: KRY - Chinchilla - Cecil Plains (Cecil City) - KRY (345 km) Open: KRY - Miles - Kupunn - KRY (377 km) Events: Last nights free BBQ function was a roaring success, with gliding types comming out of the woodwork. Many had travelled from Brisbane for this and Kerry Claffey doing her trick of communting from Sydney. The only problem was that there were only local pilots hanging around the bar after 10. Is it 10 pm too late for all the southerners? Nick Hunt and Tracy Tabart both gave splendid recitals of their favourite Australian poems Scores: TO BE UPDATED. Sunday October 19 (Day 7): Weather: The scientific weather forecast (i.e. rolling out of bed and seeing the overcast sky) suggested that the day was going to be no good, and just as well that it was as most of the tug pilots had planned to watch the Bathurst race anyway. I suspect that a certain crew / tug pilot member (Robert Bradley), not wanting to mention any names, had conspired with the weather gods in advance and had for the whole week predicted that the Sabbath would be un-flyable and that the religious would harken to the call and watch the big race. A task was set based on the AVFAX and the mathematical forecast, though no-one really expected the task to be flown on account of the cold weather and two layers of low cloud. More importantly though, the weather at Bathurst was fine and the big V8's were able to use slicks instead of those silly treaded tires the rest of us have to use. Tasks: Organised tasks were set with all classes doing the same task of 200 km within the local valley. The day was cancelled at 11:00 am due to impending and prolonged bouts of shittyness and high probability of continuing shittyness. Events: Last nights free BBQ function was a roaring success, with gliding types coming out of the woodwork. Many had travelled from Brisbane for this and Kerry Claffey doing her usual trick of commuting from Sydney. The only problem was that there were only local pilots hanging around the bar after 10. Is it 10 pm too late for all the southerners? Nick Hunt and Tracy Tabart both gave splendid recitals of their favourite Australian poems. Tim Shirley, NCC chairman, took the opportunity to call a "pilot's meeting" to order to discuss various rule changes and / or confirmation of current rules etc.. The results of this can be read through other forums. Scores: Un-changed from yesterday. Monday October 20 (Day 8): Weather: Yesterday's prediction of impending and prolonged bouts of shittyness and high probability of continuing shittyness, were indeed correct and proved correct until about 2 pm, by which time most competitors either had gliders upside down in hangers (never a natural site at the best of times), or off in the local indoor cricket area having a New Zealand Vs Australia match. Radio reports indicate that approximately 50 mm of rain fell throughout the majority of the task area. This means that the Darling Downs black soil paddocks are likely to be landable, but so soft that you would need to carry not only the glider out in pieces, but also the car and trailer as well. Tasking is likely to be to the higher, red and brown soil country to the north for the next day or two. The weather pattern for the next few days looks like being SE stream and moist, which from local knowledge means reasonable conditions, though plenty of "wet" thermals and regardless of how high and strong the thermals are, some unlucky people will outland anyway. Tasks: KRY - Ten Pin Bowls Centre - Indoor Cricket Centre - all five pubs in town - KRY Events: One of the saddest sights in gliding is to see 40 or so gliders, tied down in a tie down area, with persistent rain. We had plenty of this today. Many pilots and crews made use of a lay day to see some of the sights, the Bunya Mountains and local wineries etc.. In the afternoon, there were a few launches, mainly training flights in our K13's with 3-4 kts of lift to 3500' AGL, which gave the instructor (also Operations Director) a chance to see the condition of the paddocks. It had been widely noted that the rain that fell, only fell in our task area, i.e. a circle of 200 km radius centred on Kingaroy. Most of us are now convinced that when we apply to local councils about hosting nationals, we should first extract "rain money" as there is a pretty good chance that we will induce large amounts of rain and break their drought. Our LS4 spent most of the day in pieces and upside down, trying to get a wheel brake to work - lost cause. Scores: Un-changed from yesterday. Tuesday October 21 (Day 9): Weather: The weather today was pretty much as expected: lots of cumulus, some overdeveloping, "wet thermals" and bases of about 6500' QNH (5000' AGL). As there appeared to be a significant risk of over development, many of open and racing class set off early, to be safe, which proved to be the wrong decision. Tasks: Organised tasks were set as follows; Standard: KRY - Nanango - Kumbia - Lake Windera - KRY (200 km) Racing: KRY - Nanango - Bunya Mts (T.V. towers) - Lake Windera - KRY (232 km) Open:KRY - Nanango - Bunya Mts (T.V. towers) - Lake Windera - KRY (232 km) Tasks were kept reasonably short and close although the conditions would easily have allowed longer to keep the number of outlandings to a minimum due to the amount of surface water lying around and the state of some of the paddocks following heavy rain in the preceding two days. Events: The majority of competitors made it home, with 4 either landing back at he air field or in paddocks. The short task meant that those who performed well were those who managed to get the good streets of clouds and catch the cycles at the right time. The short day and the high average speeds, provided for a good afternoon at the bar, with competitors racing back in to watch the scores and the 3D maggot racing using GPS data. Tim Shirley, scorer, is the Australian agent for this maggot racing programme. Scores: The following scores are only provisional at this stage. For full / final scores, please see SCORES page from the web site or scores printout. Standard: 1st: Mach Ichikawa (Japan) @125 km/h 2nd: Mike Oakley (New Zealand) @ 116 km/h 3rd: Miles Gore-Brown (NSW) @ 115 km/h Racing: 1st: David Jansen (NSW) @116 km/h 2nd: Matsuru Marui (Japan) @ 114 km/h 3rd: Arnie Hartley (NSW) @ 111 km/h Open Class: 1st:Brad Edwards (NSW) @129 km/h 2nd: Harry Medlicott (NSW) @ 123 km/h 3rd: Gary Brasher (Vic) @ 120 km/h Wednesday October 22 (Day 10): Weather: The weather today was pretty much as expected and similar to yesterday: lots of cumulus, some overdeveloping (though less than yesterday), "wet thermals" and bases of about 6000' - 7000' QNH. Conditions just after launch were between ordinary and shitty and many pilots, including many of the top contenders headed off very early as there was again a risk of overdevelopment and if the conditions stayed that shitty, then it was going to be a very long day. Conditions did improve, particularly once on the downs with 5-7 kt thermals to 7000' QNH and some minor streeting. The development of the weather is looking quite good for tomorrow, which should see the wind swing around to the NE, meaning hotter temps, a later start and higher heights. Tasks: Organised tasks were set as follows; Standard: KRY - Byee - Brigalow - Macalister - KRY (300 km) Racing: KRY - Byee - Chinchilla - Warra - KRY (310 km) Open:KRY - Byee - Goombi - Warra - KRY (342 km) The second leg of all tasks took pilots west of KRY over large scrub patches with only very few, small paddocks. At the time we were only getting a max of 4000 - 4300' AGL which made it look very daunting. Events: Every one made it home, which not only surprised me low over the scrub, but also the Discus that was much lower than me and Tom Claffey who allegedly had to ridge saw (the lowest part of) the Bunya Mts to find a thermal in order to get home. Optus Vision arrived today with a camera man who staid for the whole day and now fully understands gliding and hopefully will produce a good segment. The local newspaper also sent a camera man out, so there should be another article in this. Dave "Dodgy" Donald was the winner of the P51 Mustang joy ride raffle and instead of the standard 20 minute joy ride (value $350), he was lucky enough to get a full 75 minute ride. Needless to say that he was impressed. Being the only copper (police officer) amongst the pilots and crew, perhaps they were discussing old parking tickets for all that time ????? We are now two pilots shorter in standard class. One left due to possible medical problems (??) and the other, well we haven't actually asked him yet. Scores: The following scores are only provisional at this stage. For full / final scores, please see SCORES page from the web site or scores printout. Standard: 1st: John Buchanan (Toowoomba, Qld) @103 km/h 2nd:Miles Gore-Brown (NSW) @ 103 km/h 3rd: Mike Oakley (N.Z.) @ 102 km/h Racing: 1st: Tracy Tabart (Vic) @116 km/h 2nd: Ian Finlayson (N.Z.) @ 116 km/h 3rd: Bruce Taylor (NSW) @ 116 km/h Open Class: 1st:Gerrit Kurstjens (Holland) @128 km/h 2nd: Gary Brasher (Vic) @ 126 km/h 3rd: Brad Edwards (NSW) @ 125 km/h Thursday October 23 (Day 11): Weather: Early morning crud came in from the east, but the forecast was still for a standard south easterly day with 4-6 kts to 5000' AGL, more or less. As it turned out, the conditions at the start again were somewhere between poor and ordinary and pilots were taking climbs of 1-3 kts to 5000'QNH (3500' AGL) and the conditions didn't really improve much until well on task when the expected conditions eventuated with 7000' QNH base on the Downs. With the expected reasonable conditions and a slightly later finish to the day (and most previous days being underset) tasks were set slightly longer in an attempt to get 3 hour plus tasks from the winners. Tasks: Organised tasks were set as follows; Standard: KRY - Goombi - Macallister - KRY (300 km) Racing: KRY - Miles - Macallister - KRY (353 km) Open:KRY - Miles - The Gums - Dalby - KRY (433 km) Events: The Great Australian Car Swap (where an old dead XD Falcon wagon was being traded up for another competitors XE wagon, which in turn was being traded up for another competitor's XF wagon) isn't now likely to occur: The owner of the XF has gone home early ! Today also saw one of the two female competitors, Lisa Trotter (Vic) gain a third place, in a aircraft thought not to be quite as competitive as that of some of the other more fancied (male) competitors. Great work Lisa, it shows that the sport really is a true equal opporunity sport where females can compete on equal terms. Our Kiwi friends (four of them competing and associated crew) announced at briefing that they were going to throw open the bar from 4:30 pm for an hour (or until those kiwi dollars ran out.) Perhaps it was this early start to festivities (and free beer) and not the shitty conditions early that encouraged most pilots to start fairly early and hopefully finish early. Yours Truly though, started rank last by a long margin and was at many stages in serious danger of not making happy hour., which for those of you who know me is a grave problem. On the flying side, all but one made it home, the unlucky one (surprising that there were not more, with the difficult conditions early) landed on a homestead airstrip after about 70 km. Conditions early were difficult with many of us not getting anywhere near cloud base until Chinchilla, some 120 km from starting. Why are all the paddocks in the scrub so bloody small and where did all the Libelle's go from the competition scene ? Scores: The following scores are only provisional at this stage. For full / final scores, please see SCORES page from the web site or scores printout. Standard: 1st: Mark Laird (NSW) @112 km/h 2nd:Mach Ichikawa (Japan) @ 104 km/h 3rd: Peter Sheard (U.K.) @ 103 km/h Racing: 1st: Mitsuru Marui (Japan) @115 km/h 2nd: Bruce Taylor (NSW) @ 113 km/h 3rd: Lisa Trotter (Vic) @ 106 km/h Open Class: 1st:Brad Edwards (NSW) @122 km/h 2nd: Gary Brasher (Vic) @ 120 km/h 3rd: Gerrit Kurstjens (Holland) @ 119 km/h Aggregate Scores Standard Class: (possible max: 8000 points) 1st: John Buchanan (Toowoomba Qld) 7557points 2nd: Mach Ichikawa (Japan) 7359 points 3rd: Mark Laird (NSW) 7369 points Racing Class: (possible max: 7000 points) 1st: Mitsuru Marui (Japan) 6652 points 2nd: Bruce Taylor (NSW) 6552 points 3rd: Grae Harrison (New Zealand) 6437 points Open Class: (possible max: 7000 points) 1st: Brad Edwards (NSW) 6762 points 2nd: Gerrit Kurstjens (Holland) 6652 points 3rd: Gary Brasher (Vic) 6473 points Friday October 24 (Day 12): - final day Weather: The day was hoped to be a step better than the previous two and the temp trace and the Cu Sonde calculations agreed. The only trouble is that the weather did not actually agree and the conditions before the start was no better than the last two days, which was somewhere between shitty and lousy. Conditions during the day again were no better than previous days, which was indicated with similar or slower average speeds than for yesterday. Conditions also cycled somewhat forcing some of us to the ground quite early. Tasks: Organised tasks were set as follows; Standard: KRY- Miles - Dalby - KRY (370 km) Racing: KRY - Miles - Condamine - Warra - KRY (370 km) Open:KRY - Drillham - Dalby - KRY (410 km) Events: Who said the classic gliding car was white. A quick look around the club house car park before briefing saw 12 of the 15 cars there as white. The author of this article thought that he was the victor and was the first to out land, but alas, Chris Woolley in another LS4 had apparently said on the radio "I've stopped" before this, which for a change didn't actually mean he'd stopped to thermal, but had literally stopped. At least the paddock I landed in had been tested two weeks earlier, by none other than my retrieve crew - it's a small world. There were six out landings in total, mostly in the "quiet" areas on the first leg. The standard class winner later said, "that was a quiet patch. Perhaps I shouldn't tell you about the 10.5 kt thermal we had at Miles" It seemed like a day of changing gear depending on the conditions. A racing class competitor was heard saying, that they had just left an 8 kt thermal and were cruising in a pack at 120 kts, when, without talking to each other, they all slowed down progressively to 70 kts with impending overdevelopment ahead of them. The final glides from the south west have been through poor air all week, but today really proved it with one competitor landing within walking distance of the finish. Unfortunate luck. Going into the final day, there was a serious possibility of two Japanes and a Dutch pilot taking out the three classes, but luckily, for the pride of the Australian frontrunners, all three classes were clinched on the final day by Australians. In Racing Class, Bruce Taylor (NSW) had quite a margin to make up to overtake Mitsuru Marui (Japan) and did this in the best possible way by not only winning the day, but also having Mitsuru finish down the order. The foreign pilots, who made up a quarter of the competitors this year provided some great competition for the Australians. There is likely to be one more final update of this diary tommorrow, which will wrap up the conclusion of the comp and stories from the night before' from the final night dinner. Final Scores: For full / final scores, please see SCORES page from the web site or scores printout. Day Scores Standard: 1st: Tom Claffey (Brisbane Qld) @ 104 km/h 2nd:John Buchanan (Toowoomba Qld) @ 103 km/h 3rd: Mark Laird (NSW) @ 101 km/h Racing: 1st: Bruce Taylor (NSW) @ 111 km/h 2nd: Grae Harrison (N.Z.) @ 110 km/h 3rd: David Jansen (NSW) @ 102 km/h Open Class: 1st:Brad Edwards (NSW) @ 114 km/h 2nd:Gerrit Kurstjens (Holland) @ 114 km/h 3rd: Gary Brasher (Vic) @112 km/h Final Aggregate Scores and Overall Champions (in bold type) Standard Class: 1st: John Buchanan (Toowoomba Qld) 2nd: Mach Ichikawa (Japan) 3rd: Mark Laird (NSW) Racing Class: 1st: Bruce Taylor (NSW) 2nd: Mitsuru Marui (Japan) 3rd: Grae Harrison (New Zealand) Open Class: 1st: Brad Edwards (NSW) 2nd: Gerrit Kurstjens (Holland) 3rd: Gary Brasher (Vic)