Selena's Soaring Blog

It's Over...

2011-08-22T00:50:00.000-07:00

The final night party was a lot of fun. Then on Saturday morning came the closing ceremonies. I was so proud of everyone who made the top ten in each class. Tim Kuijpers looked thrilled and a little overwhelmed as he stood on the podium and we all listened to his national anthem being sung. And then it was over. People were packing everywhere, and many goodbyes were said. I already miss having breakfast with our Austrian neighbours, briefings in the big hangar, jokes and songs on the grid, flying with my dear Aussies, evenings with the Swiss and their pool, and most of all the flying! It's a little hard to believe that it's all over! So sad... I finished in 41 position (not last yay!). I will take a little while to digest before writing a formal article for Free Flight, but can definitely already say that I learned heaps!

Chris and I have one more day in Germany before we head home. Chris will be helping for duration of the Eastern Junior Camp, and I will be helping a few days at both the Eastern and Western Junior Camps.

Day 8 Cancelled, Contest is over!!!

2011-08-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

Selena was on the front of the grid today. The weather did not look promising but the organizers wanted to wait as long as possible to allow the club class to get another day. Tim Kuijpers from the Netherlands had only a small lead in front of the two German pilots. The sniffer, Brian Spreckley, did not take off until one o'clock and kept delaying first launch. A storm started growing just to the south of us and we felt a few drops but Brian still stayed up. Shortly after the storm passed Brian was forced down and shortly after that the day was cancelled for both classes. The Dutch camp was very excited for their victory. Below is a photo of Tim being thrown into the Swiss pool. Tim is a very friendly fellow and there were many people going up to congratulate him. Tonight is the last night party and many people are getting ready for it. There are many visitors here just for the party including our friend Jonas who is staying in our caravan.

The storm to the south

Tim from Holland in the pool

Day 7

2011-08-18T23:32:00.000-07:00

As Chris said, Club Class was pushed off of the side of the grid to give the Standard Class a better chance to fly. Chris decided to have a nap on the grid.

I really didn't think we were going fly. Storm clouds had moved through earlier in the day with verga, then some altocumulus came in, then dead calm air. Slowly though we started to feel a few thermals move through and they decided to launch the grid. I think people were still skeptical and I heard that one Standard Class glider dumped some water on the grid. Soon enough though they were getting pretty high! Cloud class got pushed on and we launched into beautiful air! I had forgotten what the ground looked like at 8500ft!!

Well, as much fun as it was to be in thermal wave to 2500m, the start gate opened at 2000m so I was forced to lose altitude, and much of the working band, to get low enough for the start. It was tricky because you didn't want to get too much below the working band or it was very difficult to re-connect with the clouds. I managed to find a few other gliders at the start and we flew south along a band of clouds to the first turnpoint. It was pretty fun, and I had to keep reminding myself to fly fast! Along the first leg we met up with some Standard Class gliders flying the other direction, gave them a wave, and kept on going south. As we flew south the clouds kept forming, although they got weaker as we got further south. I flew most of this leg behind Nathan Johnson, and let me tell you, he is an amazing pilot, and is especially great at finding energy lines. It was great to watch him!

We finally joined a gaggle "low" in the first turnpoint (by low I mean 1600m higher than we have been getting most of the rest of the comp!!). I was following behind a group of other gliders, and was hesitant because I was much lower than them. Nonetheless I managed to get final glide partway along the second leg! How cool. I realised I was going to be a bit over time so initially thought I would just clip the second circle. When I got there there was a massive cloud leading right on track into the turnpoint so I followed it further in, gaining altitude, speed, and distance (how sweet!). I then turned for home, still above final glide, and cruising along well. I reckon I still could have flown a little bit faster as I finished 300 feet high. It was a neat finish and I hope someone got a photo or two because I was on final with 5 or 6 other gliders! Just in time for a good landing and a cold beer. I finished the day in 15th place with 74kph (still 20kph slower than the winner, unreal!). I need to fly more consistently. (Although I have never had this problem before...) Unfortunately points from the day were severely de-valued due to the short task time and distance. Tim Kuijspers from the Netherlands has moved into first place ahead of the Germans so hopefully he can hold his lead today! Andrew Maddocks also had a great day finishing in 9th place!

Day 7

2011-08-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Today we started out with a 2.5 hour AAT and were gridded in front of the Standard Class. The contest manager decided to allow the Standard Class to launch first to get in a longer day so we had to push all the Club Class gliders to the side and then regrid after they were all up. The task was also changed from to a 1.5 hour AAT with minimum 69km, max 247km and nominal 154km. The pilots were reporting the highest cloudbase of the contest and some reported wave. The start gate was limited to 2000m to avoid any advantages/disadvantages of getting in the wave. She is at the first turn now and after turning will have a nice tailwind for the second leg.

HOME!!!

2011-08-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

I MADE IT HOME!!!!

The temperature jumped up today and it was definitely the best day of the contest! Chris was kind enough to act as my brolly bitch in the hot conditions.

It was a strange day. A strong line of cu along the Black Forest, a big blue hole that was only barely working, a strong section of cu along the Swabian Alps, back through the blue, and a ripper leg home. I am pretty sure most people got pretty low in the blue. Throughout the flight climbs were sporatic - one time taking a 4kt climb, the next being forced to accept a 1.5kt. I tried my best to stay with the gaggle, but found myself slipping behind, then caught up, and then fell behind again. I ended the day ahead of a few other gliders I spent the most time with. The biggest mistake of the day was leaving too early. All of the best competitors left about 40 minutes after I did. But to be honest, I just wanted to get around, and was absolutely thrilled when I managed it! And Chris being a good crew brought me one of the most delicious beers I have ever had!

Unfortunately one of the other competitors landed out in a poor paddock and is going to the hospital. Hopefully he will be alright!

Also be sure to check out the latest videos from Hubi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUaXK4zFmPQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjoMxNDCfDg

Day 6

2011-08-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not updating earlier, the internet is still not working very well here. Today the weather looks quite good but I have heard it is a bit tough on course. The task is a 235km zig zag. Selena has just rounded the last turn point and I expect her home soon. We will update soon.

Flashback

2011-08-17T00:58:00.000-07:00

The Worlds is making me have a flashback to this year's Nats:
- dodgy weather
- mass landouts (more people have landed out than made it home)
- BC trailer on the field (I keep thinking Bill has come for a visit)
- Winzeln turnpoint is the new Tillsonburg

Land out

2011-08-16T07:14:00.000-07:00

Selena got stuck in a blue hole and landed out shortly after starting. There are already many land outs from other competitors reported. We can now only hope that 25% of the field does not make 100km and the day gets cancelled.

Day 5

2011-08-16T02:31:00.000-07:00

The weather looks good for today but there is a lot of moisture on the ground from all the rain we have been getting. It may take a while to start getting good. We have been given a task which is almost identical to Day 4's task, Bonndorf-Zwiefalten-Winzeln for 258.9kms.

Last night was 'International Night' in the hangar. Many countries brought food and drink from their homeland. We were also warned about a drug/alcohol check today so the pilots could not sample all the different drinks although the team captains and crew did not need to worry about this.

Day 5: Cancelled

2011-08-15T04:06:00.000-07:00

Today has officially been cancelled. This will be our official rest day which I think is good so that later in the week when the weather improves we can fly fly fly. It will also give Chris and I an opportunity to get caught up on laundry and groceries as this has been difficult to do without a proper crew.

We also saw a presentation about the JWGC 2013 to be held in Poland. Leszno looks like a fantastic site and it sounds like it will be a great contest!

Day 5

2011-08-15T02:31:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning to the sound of pouring rain on the caravan. Needless to say the campground is soaking wet and there are puddles everywhere. The Austrians got to work building a trench between them and Italy.

Grid time has not yet been announced. Briefing is scheduled for 1200. There is talk of making this an official rest day, but we won't know for sure until the briefing. The morning has given many teams the opportunity to make repairs. Yesterday during out-landings a few wheels were made flat, gear doors broken, etc. Nick Maddocks has taken his glider back to the Schempp factory this morning (he ground-looped in an outlanding the other day, breaking the tail, and unfortunately putting him out of the competition).

#10

2011-08-15T00:36:00.000-07:00

I was one of the very first launches and the air was cycling upwards, and I soon found myself at cloud base around 1700m. As the launches continued the air cycled downwards and I was drifting further and further away from the clouds with the start in a blue hole. Most other Club Class gliders experienced this too and I found myself in the most disgusting thermal with 25-30 other gliders. The group wasn't really moving down, but we weren't going up much either. And the organisation was terrible, one big jumbled mess of fiberglass floating around the sky. And then someone at the top would decide to switch directions and we would all be forced to turn the other way and re-organise ourselves from the top down (I was near the bottom). One pilot from the Netherlands Tim Kuijpers managed to hook into wave and found himself at 2500m. Then they announced in the air a start altitude cap of 2000m and he had to come back down. Finally the air picked up again and the gaggle got to cloud base and we set off.

When we started I found myself somewhere in the middle of the gaggle. There were many gliders ahead of me and above me, and several gliders also behind me. I was still cautious about the start because the air didn't feel very strong. I decided to head downwind and east of track to avoid the Black Forest. This ended up being one of the best decisions I made all day. I managed to cruise along at cloud base as I heard the Aussies getting lower and lower. They think that they got dumped in the lee of the wave that was created by the Black Forest, and after having the vario pegged at -10kts found themselves in paddocks with several other gliders. The radio got pretty boring after that... I didn't have the heart to tell them, but as they were landing out I joined the Belgium DC Niel Deijgers in a thermal that averaged 8kts to 7500ft. (I definitely owe him a beer for that one!)

I flew along with the now much smaller group along to the first turnpoint. We managed to duck into the circle and head back along the clouds to the second point. I saw DC low around the first point and I was a bit worried that he may have landed out. 10 minutes later he joined my thermal with the group higher than me! The cloud street we followed to the second point was beautiful and we went fairly quickly. A few times we got lower in the working band, but I managed to always stay within it with the group. We all shared times leading out, but when I did I made sure that they were still on my flarm behind me. Nearing the second turnpoint the strong part of the group got about 200ft above me. I decided to continue following them despite my lower altitude in order not to lose them. However, they slowly drifted further and further ahead and I drifted a bit further away from cloud base. It worked out that a few other gliders joined in behing a bit lower, and we stuck together again. We all opted to follow the cloud street back south. Initially this led us 10 degrees off track, then 20, 30, 60... However, going towards Musbach was a huge massive blue hole with a few despairing cu's scattered through. The cold front was moving in, taking a lot of energy, and leaving big areas with no sun getting through to the ground. Eventually I ran out of energy and I landed at an airstrip with 6 other gliders. At least I had company!

The most impressive thing about yesterday is Tim. He flew the entire task by himself and was the only pilot to make it home!! UNREAL! I think the key is that he managed to leave so early giving him more time when the air was still working. However, there were many other pilots that also left early and they didn't make it home so this shows what a good pilot he is.

Three people from the Standard Class made it around, but at this point it looks like it won't count as a day as 25% of the field has to fly a minimum of 100km. Club Class has a day and I finished the day in tenth place. WooT!

Update

2011-08-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

Selena has landed off field at an airport with a few other gliders. It looks like her flight will put her above a few of the pilots ahead of her in the standings. I am just heading out and there is yet to be a finisher at Musbach. There was just some very heavy showers that passed through the airport so it is possible no one will finish.

Day 4

2011-08-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

Today a 238km racing task has been set for the club class. The weather report called for good conditions but also a good chance of over development. Selena is still in the air at the moment with many of the top pilots landing out already. There is some ugly looking clouds over top the airport right now so returning to the airfield could be the biggest challenge today. The last I heard from her she is with the Swiss.

2011-08-13T23:30:00.000-07:00

The launch time was delayed and delayed. They kept saying that it would get better, but it really to me looked doubtful. The sky was covered with low dark cumulus and higher cirrus. Finally the cirrus moved by and the ground got some heating and the bases were able to lift. Club Class was launched. I was near the front of the grid and it felt like a long time before the rest of the fleet was launched. The air was pulsing and cloud bases were no higher than 1400m. A couple of gliders had to take re-lights. I managed to find Johno in the air and we started with a few other gliders as the bases were lifting to 1500m. The first section of the flight out was a huge struggle. Climbs were far between and sporatic in strength, some of them 3knots, others only 1knots. I really focused on staying within the working band. Johno managed to slip above me as we flew, and at one point I decided it was very important to stay within the working band so took a climb that he didn't need to and we were separated. I was still loosely flying with several other gliders, using them as thermal indicators ahead of me. I reached the first turnpoint with a very low airspeed so decided to turn directly for the second circle. On the way to the second circle I found an amazing cloud street. I was flying with two other gliders, but I was cruising at cloud base and they were significantly lower. I reached the edge of the second circle in no time, and realised that I couldn't turn directly for home or I would have been 30 minutes under time. I decided to fly further into the circle. This was the good decision. The poor decision came a few minutes later. I hadn't anticipated flying so deep into the second circle, so forgot to take into account in my pre-flight planning the Stuttgart airspace that was located in the second circle. An airspace warning popped up on my PDA. I pushed the nose down to decrease my altitude. What I should have done at this point is to turn around for home, keeping myself out of airspace and within the working band that was just sucking you in at cloudbase. Instead what I did was keep pushing further into the circle, marginally increasing my distance, but putting myself out of the working band. As I turned to home slightly beneath the working band the air was calm calm calm. I knew immediately that I was in trouble. There was no lift to be found anywhere and I was still 2000 feet below final glide. I did manage to find one climb around Horb am Neckar, but wasn't able to fly much closer to Musbach as the terrain was rising and the outlanding fields increasingly poor. I decided to try to fly towards an alternate airport, hoping to find some lift along the way. I was unable to find any lift, was unable to find any lift, and was forced to land in a paddock only 15 km from the airport.

This was a very simple mistake that I made. The more I fly the more I realise how much of the skill in this sport is directly correlated to how much experience you have as a pilot. I know that if I had more experience I would not have made this mistake. So it is all I can do to learn from this so I can be better in the future!

2011-08-13T23:28:00.001-07:00

Check out the latest movie from Hubi!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCliJ0UUvNw

On Task

2011-08-13T07:16:00.000-07:00

Just like yesterday the weather has improved and the sky is now looking quite good. Selena is now on task with Nathan Johnson, my teammate from the 2009 JWGC in Finland. We were initially worried about another band of cirrus coming over the task area but at the moment it looks like it will clear. The wind is lighter today and we hope it will not be giving the rotor effects the pilots encountered yesterday. The task was reduced to 2 hours and the weather man expects the end of thermals to be later than originally anticipated.

Day 3

2011-08-13T03:39:00.000-07:00

We have been given a 2.5hr 161km AAT. First launch is currently scheduled for 1300. It is still quite cool and the clouds are low and dark. Thermals are forecasted to be weak increasing to moderate throughout the day. Bases from 1000m MSL to 1400m MSL. The day is supposed to shut down by 1630. However, the clouds are starting to break up bringing some warmer temperatures on the ground. Hopefully the clouds will soon start to lift and we can get in a day.

Fun Pictures

2011-08-12T23:31:00.000-07:00

The Austrian team flying kites at 9 am one morning.

How they mow the grass in Klippeneck. (sheep in the background)

The Austrian pirate flag. They have caused many pirate-ish shinnannigans.

The full rainbow over the trailers yesterday morning.

2011-08-12T23:25:00.000-07:00

Contest Day 2 was a very tough day. On tow I thought I back released about 100 feet on tow when the tow plane shot unexpectedly down creating a massive slack in the rope. I focused as hard as I could but tow was very tough, and it almost happened two more times. After release I found the thermals to be incredibly rough and broken. On one side they would be 6knots, the other side minus 4knots. It was very difficult to climb, especially when the gaggles were forming because everyone was low. Winds were very strong, approximately 30kph. It seemed like very strong lift was being produced due to the updrafts along the Schwarzwald. The day was forecast to cut off early, so I felt the need to get started as early as possible. I got up to 1500m and set off on task, roughly flying with a few other gliders. I think the working band was between 1300m-1500m, but finding massive sink in between thermals I very quickly fell out of this working band. Below this it continued to be very rough and broken. I took many thermals that felt strong on one side, but being unable to properly thermal it was very slow to gain any altitude. I circled in one spot for a very long time, but only gained a few hundred meters. When a few other gliders joined me at the same altitude I opted to set off with them. I took a slightly different route staying closer along the Schwarzwald, but keeping them in sight. We re-joined each other further along for another thermal, but this one was also not producing much altitude gain. I soon found myself out of altitude and out-landed in a good paddock.

Day 2

2011-08-12T06:38:00.000-07:00

The weather has improved and a task was set and Selena is currently on task. There were a number of relights mostly in the standard class. I heard that the start of the task actually had some very good lift. We can see some cirrus to the west that is moving in; we are hoping that it does not move in before the end of the 2.5 hour task.

Friday

2011-08-12T00:55:00.000-07:00

Last night the Italians had us over to their camp site for dinner. Not surprisingly we had pasta. It was delicious of course. They also had some authentic parmiagano cheese that I quite liked.

Today the weather does not look very good. There is a rainbow sitting on the horizon at the moment. We expect the day to be cancelled at some point but we are gridding and are waiting to wait.

2011-08-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

This is how the sky looked as I was strapping in for my flight today. Before starting the launches they opted to change from the A task to a 170km nominal AAT task, shortened from 3hrs to 2 hrs. I was partway through the grid and counted 20 gliders in a gaggle together shortly after launch. Right after launch I was quite happy to find a weak thermal that kept me at release altitude a small distance away from the gaggle. It didn't take long for it to die though and I was forced to join a large group of gliders. The discouraging part was that at 1800 feet I was above most other gliders in the group. It continued like this for awhile. They finished launching the Club Class but opted to hold the launches for the Standard Class. We had 46 gliders in two or three thermals around the airport. The centers that people were flying in kept shifting, so gaggles of 25 or more gliders would be centered, then shift. After the first few gliders landed back they had the sense to cancel the task. Many gliders began to land all at once, so being one of the higher gliders I decided to stay airborne as long as possible. An hour or so later the day finally began to build as the temperature increased, and when I finally decided to land it took me awhile to come down. It felt like a better airmass was moving in which made me feel rather optimistic. However, talking to a few of the teams around the field apparently the weather prognosis for the next few days is not terribly optimistic. I also took the time to test out my bug-wipers. Pretty nifty!

Also take a moment to check out the latest movie from Hubi from yesterday's activity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-ABw_AKIdM

Day 2

2011-08-11T02:49:00.000-07:00

A task has been set for Club Class and the grid is made. 167 km racing task. Turnpoints: Start Freudenstadt, Bonndorf, Plettenberg, Finish Musbach. Temperatures are quite cool today. Lift is forecasted to be moderate to weak with tops reaching 1300m-1400m. A layer of high cirrus is moving into the area, but hopefully it will pass us soon allowing the ground to heat up and the thermals to begin.
And a German fighter jet just flew past the contest area. Tres cool.

2011-08-10T23:46:00.000-07:00

This is a small glimpse of what it is like to be at a Junior Worlds when we aren't flying...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_T33Be_rmM

We are set to grid right now so I am hoping for a better day than yesterday.

2011-08-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

The fields were pretty wet this morning. So much so that Johno decided to use his pitot tube as a clothes line to help dry out his socks. Nonetheless the sky built early and they set us off at the scheduled 12 o'clock launch time.

It was a busy start gate. It took me some time to find the Australians and once I did I tried to stick with them. I soon found myself flying amongst several gaggles, at one point sharing a thermal with approximately 25 other gliders (it's hard to count that high...). It was a fun start! Johno set out early because he got sick of the gaggling so Matt and I made our start at a similar time. I tried to follow Chris' advice to stick with a group of people. I was following behind a small group and had a great run out and from the first turnpoint back towards Musbach, only turning a few times. Following others was a great way to learn and I saw how much faster I need to fly in good conditions. Johno was ahead of us and was telling us that the conditions were dying in a blue hole ahead of us. I knew that there was a need to start gearing down as I approached this hole. I found myself in a thermal with a few other gliders. Two of them got to the top before I did, and one of them was Sebastian Naegel. I took a few more turns and left a thermal about 200' below them, hoping that keeping up with the group would be advantageous. I hesitated partway out, hoping to get a climb as I was starting to get low. Unfortunately there was nothing to be found. I saw another glider and tried to find a climb with them, but we were only circling in sink. I decided to set off towards one more solid looking cloud hoping to get a climb there, but was unable to connect. I was the first one to land out today. The biggest mistake I made was not gearing down fast enough for the changing conditions.
Tonight is a German night and they are serving sausages, cheese, and apple wine. Half of the Club Class landed out and all of the Standard Class so hopefully people will be back shortly to enjoy the international festivities.

On Task

2011-08-10T05:31:00.000-07:00

The grid is launched and Selena is on task! I think most pilots are happy to finally be flying. I expect her to return around 5pm local time. You can follow her spot tracker at http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0zXlJxmngDqJ2OMveC4dSU2AkVMigzpf8 The competition also has a tracking page at http://www.way.aero/ but Selena's tracker has not been added yet. We will let you know how she does tonight.

Day 1 Task A

2011-08-10T02:41:00.000-07:00

Task A has been assigned for Club Class as a 276.4 km racing task. If I was able to connect our computer to the internet I would load a map, but instead the turnpoints will have to suffice: Start Freudenstadt, Neuweiler, Kirnbergsee, Grafeneck, Hohenzollern, Finish Musbach.

Cloud streets are already beginning to form so now we are just waiting for the temperature to increase a bit for the bases to lift. Winds are forecasted today to be fairly light. First launch is currently scheduled for 12.

A moment to thank my sponsors...

2011-08-10T02:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Nick Maddocks (Maddog Composites, Australia) took some time to help us fix the gear door on my glider. Within minutes he was able to come up with an ingenuitive solution to something neither Chris or I could figure out. I now have a gear door that closes all the way! Thanks Nick!

A few days ago we also received a gift of a canopy cover from Jaxida (Uli Schwenk). It fits like a glove on the LS1d, and is a little bit less embarassing than the pink one we were using before. Thanks for the gift!

Day 1: Round 4

2011-08-09T23:19:00.001-07:00

GRIDDING IS OPEN!!! We had a lot of rain overnight, but we woke up this morning to a text message saying that gridding and briefings will be held at the regular times. Exciting exciting! Time to get to work!

2011-08-09T11:59:00.001-07:00

Much to everyone's relief the day was cancelled at the 1330 briefing. We spent some time debating with the group what to do for the rest of the day and finally settled on going to the Aussie Camp before going go-carting in Sulz. Much better than staying around the airport all day being bored with Nathan.
Hopefully the weather tomorrow will clear up and we can get a day in. Although there is a lot of moisture around the area and we just got another huge downpour of rain.

Day 1: Round 3

2011-08-09T00:25:00.000-07:00

It's still raining. It's still pouring. And still very very windy. Gridding has been postponed until further notice. Team Captain's meeting is cancelled. And the Pilot Briefing isn't scheduled until 1230. I am hoping that the good weather will finally move in tomorrow.

Opening Ceremonies

2011-08-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

The Opening Ceremonies were held in the neighbouring town of Freudenstadt. A very large stage was set up and a big production was made with speeches, official walk-on of the teams, and a huge concert afterwards. It felt pretty cool to be representing my country at such an event. Chris and I won the award for smallest team representation.

A video has been made by Hubi and it is incredible. Be sure to check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/user/hubhubhurra#p/u/6/I2KL4ov3aCo

2011-08-08T04:47:00.000-07:00

At 1315 we received news that the day was officially cancelled. It was just in time as a huge angry cloud moved in bringing with it very strong winds. Luckily most people were able to get their gliders safely in their trailers before it hit. There are still a few gliders tied out on the field. Winds this evening are forecasted to reach 70 knots. Hopefully things calm down tomorrow.

Contest Day 1: Round 2

2011-08-08T03:39:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning to very strong winds blowing through the camp. The Austrians were launching their kites by 9. Gridding was initially postponed until further notice. At the 1030 briefing we were told to wait until 12 for more news. It is now just past 12 and we have been told to rig and grid and await task information at 1330. Winds are blowing very strong, around 50kph with a direct cross-wind, but the organisers are still optimistic that we will get a task in.

2011-08-07T08:39:00.001-07:00

First day scrubbed. Hopefully the cold front will finish passing us overnight and we will get in a good day tomorrow.

Contest Day 1

2011-08-07T06:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in posting. Internet access is very difficult to connect to. I will update photos from the Opening Ceremonies from last night ASAP.
We woke up this morning to the sound of pouring rain on our caravan. Team Captain's meeting was scheduled for 10am. Pilot's meeting was scheduled for 1200 then pushed back to 1300. Standard Class has been scrubbed for the day. Club Class is currently sitting on the grid. Initial launch time was scheduled for 1515, but has been pushed back to 1545. Right now we have been tasked a 1.5hr AAT. The day still is overcast and dark, although I have seen glimpses of blue sky and have had the occasional shadow.

Practice Day 3 (Cancelled)

2011-08-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

Today, the last training day, was cancelled due to the weather. We gridded and some pilots launched but after a number of gliders were circling low over the airport they decided to hold launches.

Today I think was the first day we did not have anything to fix on the glider which was a nice change. At the Team Captain's meeting this morning there were complaints from the campsite of noisy guitar players late at night. Tim, a pilot from the Dutch team, and I may have had something to do with it. Those in the hangar bar certainly enjoyed themselves.

Mandatory Practise Day

2011-08-05T03:59:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning to a warm front passing through and drizzling rain. It is forecasted to continue throughout the day and as a result the mandatory practise day has been cancelled. We have spent the morning fixing the undercarriage (it is rather stiff and when Andrew Maddocks had a look at it last night he found a bolt without a nut) and updating some things on my PDA and colibri.

Internet access is quite poor here so uploading pictures etc might be difficult. We will try to keep you as updated as possible. General information about the contest can be found at www.jwgc2011.de and some pictures can be viewed by clicking on the Gallery link.

Arrival in Musbach

2011-08-05T00:49:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Musbach Wednesday afternoon and the field was busy and full of life. We went for dinner with the Italian team in Freudenstadt and I met many familiar faces in the main hangar in the evening.

Thursday morning we completed our registration and technical inspection. After a long morning briefing the contest began to grid. Selena flew the day and made it around a 3 hr AAT task. We had some difficulties transmitting with our base station radio so I was not able to assist her from the ground. We will hopefully be borrowing a radio from the Australian team until we can get this fixed.

In the evening we had speeches from the local town and evening live music. I also attended the team captain's meeting. There have been a few hiccups in the preliminary organisation of the contest such as water ballasts for Standard Class and aircraft movement around the field, but hopefully these will get smoothed out before the first contest day on Sunday.

We have limited internet access here again so please be understanding if any updates are delayed.

Day 2 cont

2011-08-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

Selena made it back today and the weather was even better than what we expected. She flew the 180km task at 77km/h which was better than one of the experienced pilots flying an LS-8. We do not know any other speeds at the moment because the scores are not being published. She had another radio problem today and was unable to transmit. When she got back we found the push-to-talk button not working and were able to get it fixed before too late. Neither of us were enthused to take the instrument panel off again. We will be leaving to Musbach in a day or two and will keep you all updated.

Selena's words:
At the morning briefing the group was still very upset about the accident. Many pilots have left, and the grid was significantly smaller today. The contest was officially cancelled, but they decided to continue with morning briefing and task-setting. However, they made it very clear that if at any point a pilot decided the weather was weaker than anticipated that they could return home to the field at any time and no one would think anything of it. They put a huge emphasis on making safe decisions. You can also tell by the small task that the committee is hesitant.
Standard Class was put at the back of the grid again and we were given a 180 km racing task: Klippeneck, Bad Ditzenbach, Hayingen, Klippeneck. Cu's were popping all around the air field, with booming cu's to the northeast (in the task area), but still they held the grid as cloud bases were low (one of the downsides of having a contest on the highest point around!). By the time Standard Class launched the conditions were phenomenal and I was getting to 2400 m at the start! Matthew and I had been intending to try to stick together today, but unfortunately by radio wouldn't transmit. We still managed to leave the field around the same time, and I caught up with him and a few other LS4s in the first thermal after the start. The long run with a slight tailwind to the first turnpoint was fantastic. The group was flying fast, energy lines were easy to pick (especially with three other gliders in front of me showing me the best path!), and we only took a few climbs. As the sky began to blue out the group kept pushing, and I missed one critical climb and fell a bit behind. I did manage to meet them again as I was going into the first turnpoint, but they were already on their way out.
The way to the second turnpoint was a little bit slower, but haze domes were still forming leading to good popping cu's. I met up with an LS8 along this leg, kept up with him for awhile, lost him as he sped off, but in the end managed to beat him home. The direct path home from this turnpoint was through a blue sky, with a line of cumulus tempting the pilot to the West, but not before a significant detour! I started out high so thought I would try to stick in the blue. In Australia good climbs can still be found in blue! However, I soon realised that I was not getting the same kind of climbs that could be found in the cu and decided that the detour was worth it. I talked to many other pilots on the ground who went through this exact same process, all also opting to detour for cu's. When I left the second turnpoint I was 4500 ft below final glide, and without any significan time spent thermalling I soon found myself only 2000 ft below final glide. Pretty cool! However, the final stage of the flight was spent stepping up into the Schwaebische Alps with fewer land-out options and rising terrain. I didn't want to get stuck low here so I took some good climbs before coming home.
Overall, it was a really fun flight! Conditions were way better than anticipated, and everyone made it safely around! I need to focus on increasing my speed in my glides, but otherwise was fairly pleased with the flight. I am feeling much more comfortable with the terrain, fields, thermal triggers, airspace, and the climb into the Alps which is great as that is exactly what I was hoping to accomplish in this pre-contest prep period! Now to get comfortable flying in the Black Forest...

Day 2

2011-08-02T06:10:00.001-07:00

Selena's addendum:
In the morning Johno, Chris and I gave the glider a good wash and polish. By the time we were done I was afraid that I would drop the wings when we were de-rigging they were so slippery! Then we got to work on the instrument panel. This picture demonstrates a bit of Chris's dedication.

We also spent some time hanging out around the trailers, and Chris was working on his "On the grid again song". Together with one of the Swiss pilots we started getting some pretty good ideas flowing and some funny verses were sung. Unfortunately no one had a pen so they have all been forgotten and I am left with one verse stuck in my head. At one point the Swiss guy kept coming over to offer ideas while Chris was singing, and his son very politely came up to Chris and said in a very cute 5-year old Pommy accent, "Excuse me, could you please stop that? I am trying to play tennis with my daddy."

Chris's words:
Last night we were up late getting Selena's instrument panel sorted out for the contest. Her radio and GPS are now working reliably. One of the problems of renting a club class glider is they rarely come well equipped.
The contest has been canceled at least officially because of the accident two days ago. They are still giving tasks and launches but no scores will be made available. Today the weather looks good and Selena is on task at the moment. We will update you on how she does later in the day.

Klippeneck

2011-08-01T07:06:00.000-07:00

Klippeneck is an interesting airfield. Located on top of a hill that is one of the highest points in the Schwaebische Alps, the field is 1000 feet above the valley below it. Matthew, his dad, and myself were given an aerial tour of the local area in a power plane by a pilot named Hans Peter. He was very kind to do so, and had a good time giving us a demonstration of what happens if you come to the field low on base. "If you are turning right like this on base, and suddenly realise that you are below the ridge and all you can see is trees, just make a hard left turn away and you will see this off-field landing option here at the bottom of the valley." He then proceeded to do a low fly-by of this off-field landing option, just in case we missed it.

The Klippeneck airfield is quite long and runs 05-23. However, the middle of the field has a huge dip and the threshold of 23 curves around the mountain and becomes runway 20. I have to say that a flat-lander like myself found this to be quite surprising. Needless to say I found my first landing to be a little bit intimidating, but have since realised that it's not so bad. There are also four huge hangars at this airfield filled with more gliders than in all of Southern Ontario combined.

And we thought Derek Mackie drinks a lot!

The first few days before the Klippeneck contest began the airfield was very, very quite. In retrospect this was understandable because the weather was quite poor. However, slowly the gliding field came to life, and the pre-contest prep began. First a few people showed up at the airfield, and the next thing I knew the beer trucks were pulling in and one of the hangars was quickly turned into a briefing room, dining area, and disco/coctail bar. Soon after the glider trailers and caravans started pulling in and the field came to life. Over 90 gliders are registered at this contest! All of these pilots, plus crew, families, and some fans make it a very active place to be! You can follow the Klippeneck website with this link: www.klippeneckwettbewerb.de

First day gridding. Photo credit Chris Gough.


Photo credit Chris Gough.

The Klippeneck contest has five classes: Standard, 18m, Open, FAI, and Double Sitter. Unfortunately this puts Matthew and I in our LS1s in a tough position. We have found ourselves in the same class as LS8s, Discus 2s, and the like. Luckily our class voted to be handicapped, but it won't matter too much as Matt and I will be leaving early to go to Musbach for the World Juniors.

The first day a task was set of 160.5 km and the grid was made. We sat and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally at around 1530 we commenced launching! Matthew found himself at the very front of the grid, leading the way of the Standard Class. I was launched shortly after and found the initial conditions to be quite good. The start line was opened, and I made my way to the start. The 10 km return to the start with the gaggle was a struggle, and before I made it across the line I saw two other gliders that had landed out. Back over the field I found myself in a gaggle at 900 feet with 12 other gliders. Needless to say we were not able to get away, and the unofficial day "winner" flew 65 km out and return.

The second day a task was set for Standard Class of 131.6 km. You can tell that the conditions aren't stellar because of the short distances set on the tasks. We made the grid, and waited, and waited and waited. Finally we were launched. With the Standard Class at the back of the grid we didn't make a start until 1500. Before the start the area around Klippeneck was booming. I found myself able to climb above cloud bases riding the front of a cloud which was heaps of fun! It is interesting in Klippeneck as they have a start altitude and speed cap. I tried to follow Chris's advice to stick with the gaggle, but I soon found it difficult to keep up with LS8s and the like.

The whole day was a huge challenge. After the initially great conditions I was frustrated to find myself drifting further and further away from cloud base without finding good climbs. I flew most of the course between 1500-2000 ft AGL. Luckily, most of our course was across friendly landing options (I almost found myself in a few of them!). At a couple of points along the course I found other gliders in my course, and even found Matt (also struggling with the conditions) around the second turnpoint. The path between the second and third turnpoints was across rising terrain, so I tried to make sure that I had enough altitude to get into the third turnpoint. I had enough altitude to climb along one ridge, and was hoping to find some lift along the sunny-side of the hill. I was quite surprised to very quickly find myself go from 1500 ft AGL to 450 ft AGL! Unfortunately the ridge produced no lift and I was forced to land on top of the hill. I landed 8 km short of the third turn-point. Chris and Nathan Johnson (another Australian competitor) were kind enough to come and retrieve me. I managed to find a very kind farmer who helped me pull the glider to the edge of the field, and we were de-rigged and on the road within 10 minutes. Along the way we saw many other trailers picking others out of fields.

When we returned to the field after a late meal we found out some pretty awful news. One of the competitors named Alex was flying a self-launching motor glider. We don't know any of the details of the accident, but he died. This is the most terrible thing to ever happen at this contest, and the entire group is quite devastated. Scores from yesterday are all 0 and today was declared a no-flying today. The have decided to continue with the contest, although the contest director has resigned as he was quite close with the pilot. Understandably we saw many people pack up their gliders and head home today.

Introduction to Germany

2011-08-01T06:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in updates to this blog. I have not been able to get internet access at all for the last 10 days. Today is a non-flying day and so I will finally take the opportunity to give you all some updates!

I landed in Germany and within a few hours was at the gliding club in Ober-Moerlin. Within minutes of that I was in a plane having a scenic tour of the local area. Unfortunately I don't have the camera that I captured some good shots from. Except for two days, the weather was absolutely terrible for the two weeks after I got here. I made a visit to the German Aerobatic Championships and was able to enjoy two delightful days of constant rain (rain, not drizzle). However, I did get to visit many gliding fields in Germany and Switzerland.

Ruedi and I in front of a commonly used tow-plane, a Robin.

After two long days on the train and in a car I managed to retrieve the VW Golf from Ulm, kindly lent to me by Ruedi and Uschi Benz, and the glider from Frankfurt, kindly rented to me by Gerald Salzinger. (Many thanks to all these people who have helped me!!) Two days after that I picked up Chris and our caravan from Stuttgart, and everything seemed to be coming together. The only thing that is mildly embarrassing is that the rego on my glider is pink. (It's already bad enough that I'm a girl that flies...)

When I picked up the car Ruedi took me for a short 20 minute flight of the area around his club, FSV Gerstetten. Cloud bases were pretty low, but the area around Ulm is beautiful. On our short flight we were able to see seven different gliding clubs with a cumulative membership of around 1000 people (roughly the same amount as all of Canada!). It was pretty crazy. I felt like the small-town girl who suddenly found herself in the big smoke.

When I arrived in Klippeneck I was happy to see that Matthew Scutter, an Australian competitor at the World Juniors, had also already arrived at the airfield. We tried to get some flights in all of last week, but unfortunately many days it was overcast and raining. I did manage to get one short flight in, and Matthew did manage to get in one two-hour flight.

Unfortunately Matthew found some problems with the aileron controls of his glider. Initially he was intending to take it to the DG factory, but I managed to convince him that my friend Jonas Schwengler (who I met in Australia my first year) should have a look at it first. Jonas is a member of the Akaflieg Stuttgart, and knows an incredible amount about fixing gliders. Sure enough Jonas and his colleagues were able to diagnose and fix the cause of the problem! And Chris and I also were given a tour of the Akaflieg. Some of the prototypes that have been designed by this Akkaflieg are the FS 24 "Phonix" (the first fiberclass glider), FS 29 "TF" (with variable wingspan in the air), and the FS 31 (the cockpit was used for the ASH 25).


Akaflieg Stuttgart Hall of Fame.

Jonas and I.

Canadian Nats 2011 Overview

2011-08-01T04:43:00.000-07:00

Chris told me that it's pointless to write about a contest weeks after it's finished, so I will give just a quick summary and some photos from the contest. If you want to hear more you can talk to me directly and I will be happy to give you some stories.

Canadian Nationals 2011. Photo credit Maria Szemplinska.

Overall the contest was really fun. The weather wasn't the best (an Australian friend sent me an email asking whether we were having the Canadian National Gliding Contest or the Canadian National Land-Out Contest), but good times were still had! Throughout the contest I tried to focus on flying consistently. I learned a lot about being patient while flying, and was able to stick it out on some pretty weak days and made it home. Of course, there were also days that I landed out, but always in safe paddocks, and never before giving some hard work in the air. One day in particular that sticks out in my mind is the day I had to take two re-lights before making it around the course and having my first day win (tied with Jim Fryatt).

I will let the pictures tell the rest of the stories.


Day 1 cancelled.At the waterfall with Jay Allardyce. Photo credit Chris Gough.

In the air.

First day win.

Late evening retrieve.

Pep talk on the grid with Chris. Photo credit Maria Szemplinska.

Chris and his crew Emil Kaminski getting ready. Photo credit Maria Szemplinska.

Final day land-out.

Canadian Nats - Practise Days 1 & 2

2011-07-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

On tow with the Scheibe SF 27. Photo credit Kareem Shehata.

Well since you all now know that I caused damage to the glider I was meant to fly at the Nats, you are probably wondering what I was able to fly! Words cannot express how grateful I am to Bill Cole who was willing to lend me his glider for the duration of the contest, despite the off-field incident that had just happened. (As one friend pointed out to me, I didn't have a very good sales pitch when I called Bill. ¨Hi, Bill, can I borrow your glider, I just damaged another one...¨)

With MX. Photo credit Martin Brassard.

Anyways, enough about awkward phone calls. Bill was incredibly generous to me! The day before the contest started I got a ride to the Toronto Soaring Club with Dave Cole (Bill's brother). There I was given some bonding time the Scheibe (gave her a good washing!) before heading out to the flight line to have some flights. The Scheibe is a beautiful ship! She is a delight to thermal, easily outclimbing other gliders. Her favourite days to fly are days with no wind and she will do well on any day with weak conditions (of which we had many during the contest). I also think that it is pretty cool that I can now say that I flew a vintage wooden glider at a National contest (ya, I'm old school). I also need to thank the Toronto Soaring Club for giving me free tows on this day and an old school TSC pull-over (donation to the Junior Team :p).

MX landing. Photo credit Kareem Shehata

The first practise day I took a few more flights at SOSA to practise some short-field landings. A task was set for all of the contestants. However, by the time I completed my short-field landings, the day was beginning to decay. Rather than risk an off-field landing I opted to stay local. This still gave me an excellent opportunity to make friends with the Scheibe, getting used to her flying characteristics, and enjoying her outstanding thermalling capabilities. As the day collapsed I decided to land as I was hearing more and more about off-field landings. After I tied down the Scheibe I went out on a retrieve for Pierre Gavillet! Although I had no clue who he was at the time, I thought it would be a great opportunity to meet someone new. This turned out to be a great idea as he is really a delightful pilot, and he even had cold beer for us to drink in his trunk after we finished de-rigging the Libelle. What a guy! It turned out that about 25 people landed off-field this day (including the 505 which landed out TWICE). Needless to say I was quite glad that I didn't opt to go cross-country.

On the grid. Photo credit Maria Szemplinska.

On the second practise day another task was set. We all pulled out to the grid. And we waited. And waited. And waited. Finally the day was scrubbed. I had a great adventure with Chris Gough and Jay Allardyce as we went to a beautiful waterfall in Hamilton to cool off with some blueberries and beer. Just think you guys, in thirty years...

Canadian Nationals 2011

2011-07-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

The grid. Photo credit Martin Brassard

This year's Canadian Nationals was one of the biggest contests we have had for many years with 38 pilots registered! The field was divided into three classes: FAI Class (Open, 18m, & 15m ships), Club Class 1 (Standard and higher performing Club ships), and Club Class 2 (lower performing Club and World ships). There were also four Juniors competing at this year's Nationals, a huge improvement from previous years! Needless to say there was lots of action on the flight line with this big of a group, with people bustling about in pre-flight preparation and hanging out on the grid. There were also many good laughs shared by all with evening dinners (thanks to Virginia Thompson and Lynne Gough for organising these meals!), beers, and even a few campfires! I hope that everyone found it to be a positive environment, and next year we will have another huge competition!

Briefing tent. Photo credit Maria Szemplinska.

June Training

2011-07-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

This year the Canadian Nationals were scheduled to be held at SOSA. This is one of the largest gliding clubs in Canada, and they fly full-time during the summer. For this reason I thought it would be a great idea to join this club this year so that I could get as much practise in before the start of the Nationals.

Dave Springford was kind enough to make arrangements for me to borrow a Club Libelle from Craig Muir. Thank you so much to Dave for making this arrangement for me! And also a huge thanks for the generosity Craig showed me in being willing to lend me his glider for this preparatory period and for the duration of the Nationals!

I also made contact with another friend of mine, Luke Szczepaniak who very kindly allowed me to live in his trailer while I was at SOSA. He also lent me his bike. Very nice.

Unfortunately the plan to fly lots during the month of June did not come to fruition. I was able to very quickly get my annual check-out and a few short training flights in the Libelle. Unfortunately, the weather was really truly quite disappointing. It seemed that rain was always in the forecast.

I did however manage one cross-country flight in the Club Libelle. Although the day was very slow to start, it soon turned into beautiful weather to the north. I enjoyed a delightful and fast run along several groups of cu's on the way up, and in no time at all found myself north past Arthur. However, I was very mindful of the fact that the days in this part of the world tend to end much earlier than in Alberta or Australia, and as such turned back towards the field around 3pm. It was at this point that a very fun flight turned into a great challenge. I had a relatively strong headwind (at least for a Libelle), and it seemed that all the good clouds that were taunting me were in restricted airspace! It was a slow grind back south. Unfortunately I was unable to make it back to SOSA. In one last attempt to get final glide I opted to try for lift over a plowed field. Unfortunately this field did not give me much of anything. I was forced to land off-field. This small decision turned very quickly in a big mistake. The field was not as flat as I had thought from the air, and in landing up-hill I hit a rock and caused some damage to the fuselage.

I learned several important lessons from this incident. First of all, I gained a new understanding of what it means to prepare for flying in an area with fewer land-out options. (In the Prairies and in Australia where I have done most of my cross-country flying most any field is a good option.) Solid pre-flight preparation in a new flying environment is key. I am very glad to have learned this important lesson before beginning my flying in Europe where off-field landing options are even more restrictive. Another big lesson I learned was not get tunnel-vision on a situation. I was intent on finding lift over this field and did not properly consider back-tracking to a better landing option. I was also so focused on the obstacles that were present around the field that I didn't take the time to look at the slope of the field. Safety in flying is the most important thing. I also learned some important things about filing an insurance claim!

I have decided to write about this incident so that others can hopefully learn from what I did and not repeat my mistakes! Fly safe!

A moment to thank my sponsors...

2011-07-13T05:12:00.000-07:00

I would like to take a moment to sincerely thank the following sponsors:

Sears Optical West Edmonton Mall was kind enough to donate for me a pair of Ray Bans (Polarised). Thanks so much for helping have good sunnies to use for the contest!

WestJet donated two tickets for anywhere they fly through their ¨Caring for our Community¨ Program. These tickets were used as the grand prize for my raffle which was a huge success (tickets sold out!!). A huge thanks also to John Mulder for arranging for these tickets to be donated.

Stacey Camp was kind enough to donate two paintings which were used as the second prize for the raffle. Thanks so much Stacey! You are an amazing artiste! Check out her website at www.staceycamp.com

Blacks Photo Southgate donated three 100 Print Cards. Thanks so much for your support boss!

And also a huge thanks to everyone who purchased raffle tickets or made personal donations. A huge part of me following this dream is a financial cost and I am so grateful to everyone who has given me support in this part of my adventure!

Final Australian Stories

2011-06-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

I left Australia a few months ago now, but there are still a few last stories and photos I would like to share before moving on to the flying adventures which this summer holds.

Mountain Flight with Tobi Geiger

On February 26 Tobi and I decided to go for a flight together in the mountains, him in his LS4 and me in the GCV's LS4. With equal performing gliders Tobi was adamant that this would not be a coaching flight, but rather a fun team-flying adventure. Although I know he is the stronger pilot, I was determined to have fun, take the lead at times, and enjoy a fun flight! In this picture Tobi is blue and I am red. As you can see we flew very close together for most of the flight.

We set off on the first leg towards Mt Buller, not really expecting to get on the peak. Along the first leg Tobi took a track further west than I did. It didn't take long for him to get quite low, scraping for a good climb. I couldn't resist getting on the radio and saying, "Now Tobi, if you only get to cloud base there are 5 knot climbs!" He managed to climb back up and we continued onto Mt Buller. Surprisingly we even managed to make it on top of the peak!

From Mt Buller we continued on, past some breathtaking waterfalls on top of Mt Cobbler, past the townsite of Mt Beauty, towards Mt Bogong. On the northwestern side of Mt Bogong is a ridge that extends out. I knew from talking that it is best to approach the top of a mountain at ridge-top height. When we got to this mountain we were below this height, so it was to my great surprise when Tobi turned his glider dead towards the ridge and started flying quickly towards it! Next thing I knew he was climbing, climbing, climbing, so I decided to get on his tail and follow along! Sure enough, 2kts, 3kts, 8kts, 11kts of lift! What an incredible sensation! Before I knew it we were on top of the highest peak in Victoria! I was still keeping a very close eye on what Tobi was doing to learn and mirror his actions. He was cruising along the peak, not very high, but still climbing, and even stopped to wave his wings at the climbers below us. I dipped my wing just long enough to see that my shadow was indeed very big!

We continued past Mt Bogong a little ways, but were mindful that we still had a long distance to cover to get home, and the day was forecast to cut off early. Shortly after we turned back I got a little bit lower than Tobi. He started circling in a strong bubble, but I was having a hard time hooking into the source of lift he had found. I wasn't losing height, but I sure wasn't climbing as fast as he was! He decided to open his spoilers to come back down to my height. Just then I hooked into the bubble and started climbing! Unfortunately Tobi wasn't able to re-connect and he had to fly further down the valley to find some lift. This wasn't much of concern as the Mt Beauty flying club operates out of this valley with a beautiful landing area.

On our way out of the valley we decided to take the southerly route past Mt Buffalo as I had never flown this path before. I was following along at this point, a little bit unsure of how to head out of the mountains. We passed over the saddle of Mt Bogong with little height but plenty of energy. What a thrill!

We then began to head out of the mountains back towards the flats. At this point I decided to stop following Tobi and make my own way, which was, of course, a mistake. Although we were still flying relatively close, all the difference was made when I got forced to take one poor climb to get back up. The ten minutes that I spent in this thermal were the ten minutes where Tobi managed to make it home on final glide, and I landed off-field, cut off by high cirrus cloud.

Nonetheless it was a great flying adventure, and one of the best flights I have ever had! I never would have flown the route I did unless I was with a more experienced pilot. In choosing to do so I was greatly challenged, learned a lot about mountain flying, and enjoyed the beauty and thrills of the mountains in a whole new way!!

Bacchus Marsh Vintage Glider Museum and Avalon Airshow

On Saturday, March 5 I enjoyed a great drive out to the gliding clubs in Bacchus Marsh with my friend Kah Chong on his motorcycle. We enjoyed meeting many members from the three clubs that operate together out of this airfield. Kah even got a flight in the Zephyrus! The highlight of my day was visiting the Australian Vintage Gliding Museum. For me it was incredibly cool to catch a glimpse of the roots of the sport I love so much. I think it's easy today to get caught up in the fancy schmancy ships while forgetting all the amazing feats that were accomplished in gliders with much lower performance. I even got a chance to sit in a primary glider! If you don't know about those, Google it!

On Sunday, March 6 I was given an opportunity to volunteer at the Gliding Federation of Australia's booth at the Avalon Airshow. I had a lot of fun talking to people of all ages about gliding. It was interesting to hear the various levels or response towards the thought of actually getting in a plane, everything from "I would love to do that!" to "You would never get me in one of those!". And of course, it was great to be able to catch glimpses of incredible fly-bys of a wide range of airplanes. The glider demonstration consisted of a Salto with jets!

GCV Goes to Mount Beauty

The very last weekend that I was in Benalla the club took a bunch of gliders to fly out of Mt Beauty. I also managed to convince all of my favourite people at the GCV to come along for the weekend (what luck!). As a result we had a good collection of private and club gliders available for flying that weekend. My friend Craig Collings was kind enough to host me at his house for the weekend. Unfortunately, the weather did not co-operate and I have to admit that more coffee drinking was done that weekend than flying. I did manage to still enjoy a flight with Craig, and had two flights off the winch in an ASK 21 with Tobi, one of which turned into a reasonable local soaring flight at the end of the day. We finally decided that we needed to come down to pack up for the weekend, and so (unfortunately) Tobi was forced to do a sweet beat-up over the field! He increased the airspeed to 90kts, pushed down over one valley, up the other side, down the next valley, came back up and around, set up for the field. On the final part he pushed it within metres of the lake at the end of the strip, causing some people walking along it to duck (even though, silly them, there were trees right beside them that were much taller than them that we had to pull up for)! Then we passed low over the field before pulling up to set up for a circuit.

Queensland Flying

The last adventure I had in Australia before I left was a quick trip up to Queensland. During this trip I got to see many of my JoeyGlide friends which was great! My mom was also in Queensland during this time for a work contract so we were able to spend a few days touristing around the area together. I dragged her along for an opportunity I was given to fly in a motor-glider thanks to the generosity of Phil Behnke, a man I had met at the Avalon Airshow. (I think she loved it!)

Although the conditions weren't phenomenal on the day we went flying, I still got to see some pretty incredible views along the Queensland coastline. With the pilot I also got to practise going through the shut-down and start-up procedures. I was greatly inspired by the presentation Diane Davey gave at the WIG week, and learned as much as I could about motor flying in hopes of one day pursuing it further to chase the Morning Glory!

I also had the opportunity to meet with Lisa Trotter, top Australian Glider Pilot and Sports Psychologist. We talked about my strengths and weaknesses as a pilot, mental aspects of the sport, positive self-talk, and many other things. It was a great opportunity to reflect on the many things I had learned while in Australia, and to begin the mental preparation for the World Juniors.

I was also invited by my friend Mike Codling to go to his gliding club. I had an LS3 lined up, kindly on loan by Graham Hennessy, and we planned to go dual in the Duo Discus the following day. Most unfortunately the weather did not line up, and although we made the drive to the field, we spent most of it debating whether cloud bases were at 500' or 300'.

Overall though it was a great last adventure in Australia, filled with a bit of flying, and some great times with my mom and Queenslander friends!

Australian Summary

Paper airplane contest at my farewell barbie.

While in Australia this year I learned an incredible amount about flying and contests. A summary includes:
- 2 contests
- 3 new glider types (Speed Astir, LS7, Standard Libelle)
- great mentorship from Tobi Geiger
- new skills flying in a mountain environment
- first participation at a Women In Gliding event
- aerobatics flight
- motor glider flight

- experience as an Operations Manager at the GCV
- 100hrs+ total time

I am really appreciative of all the friendships I deepened and the new ones I made. Many thanks to everyone who spoke with me about gliding, allowing me to learn new tid-bits along the way. I am also very thankful to the GCV for allowing me to fill the role of Operations Manager. This allowed me to learn new leadership skills and gave me more time in a thriving flying environment.

Turning my World Upside Down

2011-04-26T22:55:00.000-07:00

One friend I made in Benalla just happens to be one of the most amazing aerobatics pilots in Germany. This summer David Friedrich will be representing at the Advanced Class Worlds in Poland. One night I managed to convince him to take me for a flight! Not only was it incredibly beautiful, but it was also a great learning experience! It was also really neat to see another side of what amazing things people can do in a glider. David was intent that this flight would not only be a fun ride for me, but also a great learning opportunity. He drew out the pattern we would fly, explained to me all of the sequences, and ran me through the typical pre-flight preparation that an aerobatics pilot does. Tres cool. Then we took our launch to 5000'. I think the pictures and video can better tell the story than I can in words from here...

Video on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=186739084699527
(only works if logged in)

Mountain Meeting

2011-04-26T16:59:00.000-07:00

This flight will definitely go down as the coolest way to meet up with a friend...EVER.

Friday night I called up Craig Collings to make arrangements.
Me: Hey Craig. Planning to fly tomorrow?
Craig: Yup.
Me: Sweet. Wanna meet halfway between Benalla and Mount Beauty?
Craig: Sounds good. I'll text you when I launch. See you in the air!

Sure enough we managed to find each other somewhere in the air about halfway between our two launch points. This location also happened to be on the edge of the hills, so luckily for me I didn't have to do too much navigation by myself. Craig ended up being a most excellent tour guide. "On your left in Mountain." "See that river on the right? That's the River." And so on. It was an excellent opportunity for me to get aquainted with the landscape from the air, learning what the mountains really looked like, not just from the map. We ended up venturing past the Mount Beauty town site and got on top of Mount Feathertop! A few people were hiking on the peak and gave us a nice wave. It was exhilarating to experience the mountains in this new way! Such beauty and energy which can be captured! Plus the increased danger of mountain flying brought a new focus to my flying. I think at this point I had begun to be a little complacent in the flats. A new challenge was just the thing I needed! Eventually I found myself task-saturated learning to fly in the newly-felt mountain air and pulled the pins on Feathertop. I didn't want to put myself in a dangerous situation. Craig safely led me away from the peak and flew with me back out of the hills. On our way out we gave Mount Buffalo a greeting. We were a little low over the peak, and finding a good climb Craig turned into a tight thermal. I followed, not quite realising how low I was as I turned away from the top. However, coming around the turn I was startled to be greeting by big massive CLiFF and an absolutely gorgeous waterfall!

Women In Gliding Week

2011-04-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

The Women In Gliding Week was a really great week. I finally had the opportunity to interact with a large number of female pilots! We could sit and discuss "womanly" topics. Attendees of the week had a large range of skill levels. We also had the opportunity to be coached and instructed by some key people. Another neat thing was that I was surrounded for a week by a group of individuals who were very focused to get out to the field and fly every day, and were optimistic about taking advantage of every good bit of available flying weather! Some very cool gliders made their trek to the field that week including a Ka6! The one aspect of the week that I found challenging was that the group mentality stood in stark contrast to what I had just experienced at the Nationals. What I mean by this is that at the Nationals I constantly felt inexperienced and positively challenged by better pilots. In contrast during the WIG Week I felt as though I was the one challenging others. An interesting turning of the tables. However, I would most definitely encourage any female pilots who find the male world of flying daunting to take an opportunity to attend a Women in Gliding Seminar in the near future!

The first day of WIG was my best flight. Despite having just finished the Nationals, one day off of flying left me feeling energised and keen to fly! I knew that it could potentially be the best day of the entire week, and I wanted to make the most of it! I launched around 1 and set off on the task that was agreed upon by the group consensus from the WIG girls. The task was set as Urangeline-Conargo-Benalla. Initially I had been preparing myself to fly with some other pilots. Unfortunately, with my keeness to set out, I found myself flying alone for the duration of the flight. The first leg to Urangeline was slower than I had hoped, and I didn't get above 4500'. The second leg to Conargo was a struggle and I soon found myself quite low before finding a corker climb all the way up to one of my highest altitudes of the season, 7500'. Despite the killer climb the day was coming to its end and I didn't want to be caught landing out on the first day so I turned for Benalla early near Urana and had a great run home from such a high altitude. This turned out to be the best flight by anyone for the duration of the week.

I also had the opportunity during WIG to have a coaching flight with Tobi Geiger. We took an ASK 21 for an afternoon flight into the mountains. This was my first foray into the hills beyond what I had experienced at Nationals. It was great to be in the cockpit with a pilot who loves mountain flying and is so experienced with it! I learned a lot about the general rules of mountain flying. I was also shown how big of a safety margin I should have when flying close to the hills, and what my safe outlanding options and choices were. We were reluctantly allowed to take the glider for a short three-hour flight. Unfortunately the conditions were not stellar. Despite our most valiant efforts (okok, Tobi's most valiant efforts), we were forced to land out at Wangaretta where we patiently waited for an aero-retrieve from Jeremy Birkbeck.

Overall, WIG was a great experience! Thanks so much to Louise O'Grady for putting in so much work to organise the week, instructors, gliders, and our awesome PINK shirts!

Club Class Nationals - Days 4, 5, 6

2011-04-08T23:12:00.000-07:00

I am always surprised when people comment that I haven't updated my blog for awhile. I never realised how many people looked at this! I am sorry that I have not been keeping up-to-date with my flying adventures, and will be endeavouring to have everything updated within the week.

Day 4 - January 19

The task for this day was set as a triangle task with Rennie and Balldale Silo as the two turnpoints. The nominal was set as 210 km. It was another low day and several groups of gliders met up at various points along the flight. Once again I encountered difficulties getting over the Murray River, getting caught up low and north of the river for quite some time. I was very pleased this day to make it home and enjoyed a relaxing poolside evening with friends.

Day 5 - January 20

As the task was being set at the pilot meeting I began to shake in my boots: the task for this day was by far the biggest task I have ever encountered in a contest (nominal set at 417 km), and that was not even the scary part! The first turnpoint was set at Mt Buller, a mountain known to be difficult to find a direct route towards. At this point I had not yet flown in the mountains at all! For a flat-land pilot this was quite intimidating. Luckily for me my mentor is an avid mountain pilot, and took the time to go over the map with me before we left the briefing room, highlighting safe routes and outlanding options.

The first leg into the mountains went surprisingly well. Although cloud bases were quite low, I found a nice street going down along the range above Mt Samaria, just enough to clip me into the first turnpoint! As I turned towards the second turnpoint towards Euroa things quickly began to slow down. I got caught low just west of Mt Strathbogie, and was not confident that I had enough altitude to get safely over the peak (although in retrospect, I definitely could have made it). This portion of the flight cost me quite a bit of time and made me determined to become comfortable in a mountain flying environment. However, as I came safely out of the hills I realised that this challenge had been an incredible learning experience! Although the task into the mountains had seemed intimidating when it was first set, I had conquered it!

From this point the flight going back into the flats seemed quite straight-forward. I caught a pretty good run between Euroa and Tocumwal before turning towards Corowa, Winton, and home! Although my standing in relation to other pilots was not particularly great this day, looking introspectively I was quite stoked with my performance!

Day 6 - January 21

Ahhh! The last day of the contest! What a bittersweet kind of day! The task was set Oaklands-Rand-Moyhu (Yay! No Winton!) with a nominal of 294 km. Given the conditions of the day, it was quite the task. We sat on the grid for a long time and I truly did not believe we were going to be launched. The sky started to over-develop early. Eventually we were flung into the sky, and the last day of the contest got started!

I travelled slowly along the first leg of the task, being cautious of the conditions and aware of the growing storm to the north. I did not want to repeat a mistake from Canadian Nationals where I under-estimated the energy a storm sucks in and the amount of sink encountered in rain. As I approached the first turnpoint I had to make a decision to turn upwind along a cloud street or downwind along another. I opted to turn upwind, which for a good portion of time truly seemed like a poor decision as I got stuck in one place for a time without gaining a significant amount of altitude. However, eventually I realised that the winds had pushed me into the area I would have flown directly to had I gone downwind, and I realised again the importance of turning upwind.

I flew as deep into the first turnpoint as I dared before turning towards Rand. At this point I was flying away from the storm and was determined to go as fast as I possibly could! I came to the conclusion afterwards that I should always fly as though a massive wall of rain and lightning were coming towards me! I flew very fast along this leg, and kept complete focus on being very selective about which climbs I took: anything less than 4 knots was not good enough! At the same time I found energy lines which allowed me to stay within the working band, and relatively near cloudbase. Along this leg I spotted a few other gliders, but no one was really near enough to join up with. I realised I was flying further and further south away from Rand, but due to the wall of rain did not have many options! At one point I tried to make a turn towards Rand, but a huge burst of lightning in the storm convinced me to keep tracking a bit further south.

Eventually I decided I was high enough to make a quick mad dash into the circle. I mentally marked my thermals and flew in and out of the rain (and turnpoint) as fast as I could! Although I got wet, I felt that I was in fine form! However, as I went south away from the storm I encountered dead air and then sink sink sink. Once again I found myself scraping above a field just north of the Murray. I was determined not to land out! I fought and fought and eventually caught a climb strong enough to get me over the river. With the help of some other gliders I found the good parts of several clouds and had a good run to the Moyhu turnpoint. Worried that I would encounter a strong headwind on the way home I took more altitude than was perhaps necessary. I really didn't want to land out on the last day! I finished with a solid run home.

Contest Summary:

Overall I thought that the Club Class Nationals was a great contest! Although it was disappointing not to fly in the first few days of the contest, it gave me a great opportunity to make some great friends and have a few adventures. The rest of the contest went well and I learned an incredible amount about flying both by myself in the air and through my mentorship and instruction from Tobi. I did a much better job at pacing myself mentally and physically through to the end. Nats also gave me a very clear idea of what I wanted to work on to improve my flying during the rest of my season. Thanks to everyone who made this contest a blast! And lastly, to everyone who shared their wine on the final night : )

Club Class Nationals - Day 3 Take 1 & 2

2011-01-23T00:32:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 17 - Take 1

The day was forecasted to be decent so we all pulled out to the grid and got set to go. The Sports Class launched first and it didn't take long for them to struggle hard. Benalla was stuck in a blue suckerhole. Launching for Club Class was held, and soon the day was scrubbed. However, a ways off to the West we could see a new air mass moving in, so several of us sat tight on the field, watching out for "grid rash" as the grid dismantled. Tobi and I decided to go for a short-ish local flight so he could actually see me fly to better mentor me. A "local" flight soon turned into Tobi dashing out at 2500' feet towards the first turnpoint. Although I thought he was crazy, I followed along. As soon as we hit the new air mass the day was booming. We did a lead-and-follow, mostly with Tobi leading and me following. As we neared the first turnpoint Tobi suggested that we complete the rest of the task, so that's exactly what we did. It wasn't quite as legendary as that story I hear of Jerzy Szemplinski going to fly a cancelled task without even turning once, but we made it around! I learned a lot by watching Tobi flying off in the distance, faithful that a thermal would come up when he needed it. I saw him being very selective for only the best part of the cores. And hopefully I can start reading clouds better and better, picking the strong energy lines. Due to the outstanding handicap of the Libelle against the LS4 I ended up "winning" the day, and was given my first daily prize bottle of wine the following morning.

Tuesday, January 18 - Take 2

This day was a struggle all the way around the task. Lift didn't get any higher than 5000' ASL. Gaggles were prevelant throughout the entire task. By the first turnpoint at Dookie four pilots in the Club Class had landed out. I was 1000' over the first turnpoint, but managed to hang on as I watched another glider land in a red field. My goal from the start was to fly the minimum task distance and make it home. Things were going pretty well along the second and third legs, and I managed to stick with a slow but moving group of people. I got stuck again on the north side of the river, and lost quite a bit of time there. Along the Warrabie ranges I met up with lots of other gliders, and started to get excited for home. I took the highest climb I could north of Lake Mikoan, and was hoping that would be enough to take me home as the south side of the lake was dead due to lake shadow. Unfortunately I didn't make it home, but I managed to make it to the final turnpoint, the Winton Racetrack. Coming in I cleared some high trees on final and did my best to bring that Libelle down. Without a working wheel brake I was forced to intentionally ground loop to avoid running into the fences at the end of the raceway. Luckily my glider and myself both had no damage. I managed to find some employees of the racetrack to open the gates, and my retrieve crew was there very quickly. Although I was disappointed to landout, I was still very happy with my flight. I made it around the course much further than many of my fellow competitors. I also took the final climb available right to the top, but the Libelle just couldn't make it home with the low height and strong headwind. Plus, it makes a great story to say that I landed in the middle of the Winton Racetrack! After we de-rigged we pulled the top down on the convertible and enjoyed a cold beer in the middle of the racetrack before driving home towards the sunset.

Nats Day 1 & 2

2011-01-18T04:10:00.000-08:00

I am terribly sorry to anybody who has been following my blog that I have not been diligent at updating it. For more up-to-date information from the contest directors please check out this website:

http://www.soaringspot.com/ausclub2011/

I will attempt to update the first few days, but it's already late so I will see how far I get...

Day 1 - Saturday, January 15

The best way to describe my flight on the first day was cautiously. My main goal was to stay up and get around the task. I had never flown a Libelle cross-country, and was very conscious of the fact that the performance and flight characteristics would be very different than the LS4 I had just been flying. As a result of this caution my speed was very conservative, 72.4 km/h. I made a large tactical error in the first turnpoint, making a huge deviation in an attempt to follow the clouds which in fact did not add any distance to my score. Lesson learned. Another thing I did this day was second-guess myself on several occasions and allow the flying of other pilots to influence my decisions. As Tobi said to me after, "Have a little self-confidence Selena." Otherwise the flight was alright, I came in just slightly over time. It was really good to be back in the air!

Day 2 - Sunday, January 16

I was determined to set out this day and fly my own flight. Although I would obviously pay attention to what others were doing, I didn't want to allow them to undermine my own decisions. The first leg went really well, and I was pretty stoked about my flying. I flew about 65km in about 45 minutes, so I decided to cross over the river and keep going deep into the first sector. Although this may have been a good decision at the time, it probably is what cost me at the end of the day. The second leg was much slower, and I found myself low. Luckily I had other gliders in sight, and used them to stay out of trouble. I realised that it was crucial to stay well within the higher working band as the lift was much stronger. At one point I found a killer climb to 7000' and soon found many other gliders underneath me. Boosted with confidence I carried on to the second turnpoint and started to head for home. It didn't take long before I found myself slipping out of the working band and was moderately low. I was anticipating a lot of sink while crossing the river, so decided to search for a climb before heading over. This resulted in me scraping north of the river between 800'-1500' for about 30 minutes. Brutal. Once I managed to climb away from this I was incredibly happy. Although I was still very cautious along the way, home was within my sights! I caught up with some other gliders along the way and had a good run until I got to Lake Mikoan. Just before I hit the lake I found the same two gliders in a mediocre climb. At this point I did the maths (I have no reliable flight computer) and thought I was on final glide. The previous day I had seen a glider circling at almost precisely the same point when I thought I had final glide and ended up being glad I trusted myself to leave them and head for home. No such luck this day. In doing my final glide calculations I neglected to sufficiently account for the wind and for the fact that I had drifted downwind from the final turnpoint. I landed myself in a paddock 8 km from home. Lucky for me I have made some great friends here. My text instructions to the retrieve crew were: "Grass is very high but field is dry. Bumpy. Bring a big vehicle if possible." Apparently they didn't believe me when I said the grass was high, they just thought I was short. Pictures will follow, but needless to say I am very glad that four people came to pick me up. Around the area where I landed there were grazing fields for livestock, a major highway, and lots of trees. I turned into a field with crop, and only on final approach did I realise how high it was. I will describe my stop into this field as a hockey skate stop, an analogy which goes over the head of most Aussies, but one that I hope my good old Canadian friends will understand. Luckily the grass absorbed most of the abrupt stop and both myself and the glider stopped in one piece. I was very frustrated with this outlanding as I was the only one to landout and I feel that had I been smarter it could have been prevented.

Goodnight for now.

Nats Day 1 - Take 4

2011-01-14T02:54:00.001-08:00

RAIN.

There was a pilots meeting today discussing rules. It quickly turned into a heated debate. It was interesting to be a part of, mainly because I was mostly sitting in as a spectator.

Nats Day 1 - Take 2 & 3

2011-01-12T12:39:00.000-08:00

The contest yesterday was scrubbed due to the rain. I went with several other pilots on a delightful bushwalk (hike) in the southern part of the Strathbogie Range. Walking through Australian forests in the rain is wonderful. It is warm so the sensation of raindrops on your skin is delightful. Also the rain brings out some of the smell of the gum trees so you are constantly inundated with fragrances. We even saw two kangas!

Today I am rather skeptical that a task will be set as I have woken up earlier than normal to the sound of pounding rain on my caravan. I am part of the task-setting committee so I guess the official decision will be made soon. At this point tomorrow is looking like a possibility (Friday), but we are all anticipating that Saturday will be the first official contest day.

Nats Day 1 - Scrubbed

2011-01-10T20:48:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning to rain. The day was cancelled. The positive part of this is that I now have a fully-functioning audio vario and my glider is all set for the contest.

Contest information can be found at:

http://deltaone.soho.on.net/Benalla2011/

Club Class Nationals - Practise Day 1

2011-01-10T12:48:00.000-08:00

The weather for the practise day looked marginal and rainy, but a task was set. I didn't spend too much time thinking strategy for the task. Shortly after briefing I headed to the "glider hospital. It was time to get to work on the instruments. The audio variometer wasn't working and I was missing a Flarm, both necessary instruments for this competition. After some time we were able to get the audio variometer working. If you talk to me at some point I would happy to give an oral impersonation of it, but I am afraid that typed letters will not do justice the unbearable nature of the sounds that were streaming out of it. After making some phone calls we finally found several working Flarms in the club's workshop. To track down a working variometer we had to drive to Bright, about 1.5 km away. Fortunately the day ended up being as marginal as predicted, and I didn't miss out on any good flying. Several competitors landed out, and several others did not set out very far on the task.

Right now the rain is pouring down on my caravan roof. The weather for today and the next few days looks pretty bleak. That being said I am going to go get ready for the day, anticipating the start of Contest Day 1.

Contest Countdown

2011-01-08T03:39:00.000-08:00

The atmosphere here in Benalla started out nice and quiet at the beginning of the week. Since then it has been humming, then buzzing, and now the volume is at a minor roar. Many competitors arrived at the field quite early in the week, escaping the flooding in Queensland, to get in a bit of practise flying before the contest. Tobi Geiger flew 780 km the other day! By today most of the pilots have arrived.

With one of them came my glider. I am quite excited to rig it tomorrow and take it for my first fly! I will be flying a Libelle with the rego TX. Everything I have heard about Libelles is quite positive for a Club Class contest, but I am sure it will require an adjustment in my flying tactics from the LS4. Tobi has agreed to mentor me for the contest. We spent most of the day faffing with colibris and PDAs. We also talked about contest preparation and psychology while in the air, among other things.

For those who may know them, Adam and Patricia have been in Benalla for the past week flying around and doing some very impressive flights in the ASK 21. They seem to be enjoying themselves immensely, and are the most pleasant and laid-back people to have around! Many jokes have started about Canadians over-running Australia, a trend which I think ought to continue!

Tomorrow I plan to do a short flight with my new equipment and get to bed early. Hopefully the rainy weather forecasted for early in the week dissolves so we can get off to a good start to the contest.

Just putzing around the skies...

2011-01-06T02:50:00.000-08:00

I haven’t found the opportunity to get myself into a single-seat glider since JoeyGlide. The first few days after the contest I really needed a rest, the following few days the weather was poor, then I crewed for a friend for a gliding safari, and this past week the club’s aircraft has been booked solid.

So I was very excited this morning after briefing when a club member casually asked me if I would care to fly his aircraft today, a Speed Astir. Did he actually think I would say no?? His glider needed a minor repair and to be re-rigged and washed after yesterday’s landout. I also would need to land it at least once before going cross-country. I knew it was going to be a short day, but I was excited to be back in the air and having fun! I really wanted to enjoy myself in the air today before the pressure of the Nationals contest set in (contest starts on Monday!).

At 1330 I had my first launch and the day was booming! I decided to use spoilers so I could land as fast as possible and set out on task. I had in mind to fly a 2.5 hour task, focusing on flying the proper distance for time given the day’s conditions and practising my final glide. I set off to fly Corowa, Tocumwal, Benalla, about 220 km. I got to Corowa very quickly, about 35 minutes in. I think the strongest part of the day would have been to continue in this direction, but heaps of other pilots were out in that direction and I didn’t want to have to be constantly worrying about other gliders without a working Flarm. I opted to turn towards Finley, slightly north of Tocumwal. I felt the sky was getting weaker in this section so I turned early and headed towards Shepparton before heading home to Benalla. In all about 250 km.

Throughout the flight today I really tried to focus on extending my glide distances and only taking the best thermals. I think I managed to do this much better during first stages of the flight when I was flying in the strongest air, but out near Shepparton I started to get low and the lift was weaker so I was forced to take weaker climbs. Another thing I focused on was really relaxing throughout the flight, both while cruising and climbing. I think sometimes I tense up which prevents me from truly feeling the air. I felt relaxed and un-stressed throughout the flight, and really enjoyed myself! ANDNDNANDNDNDNADND I successfully flew my first flight at 100 KPH!! I am very excited about this!

Tomorrow I have a glider booked and the day is looking good. I am planning to fill up with water and go hard!

JoeyGlide 2010 - Final Summary

2010-12-25T16:05:00.000-08:00

JoeyGlide is over for another year. Overall I think it was an incredible contest to be a part of and I am very glad that I made it out. The opportunity to fly with other pilots who are the same age and have a similar level of experience provides young pilots with a fun contest to be a part of and a good gauge of your abilities. I hope that one day we can have a similar kind of contest in Canada.

The comraderie between competitors at JoeyGlide is fantastic. In the air everyone flew safely and fairly giving the safety officer and penalties committee an easy job during the contest. The positive atmosphere continued on the ground. Before launches more experienced pilots were willing to discuss strategic plans and perceptions of the upcoming day. In the evening you could count on the fact that everyone would get together and share tales of the air over a beer, talking about decisions that were made, both good and bad. These stories evoked a lot of laughter, but also some serious learning.

There were many times that you could tell we were at a junior contest. Although some may perceive the radio chatter as unprofessional, it helped make an entertaining and friendly contest. Webbsi Max FM was on the airways all week, providing us with good jokes (Hey Johno, niiiice cirrus!) and quality music (Top Gun theme song!). On the ground many practical jokes were played, including giving some gliders new call signs (MC Hammer and Canada 4) and the furniture from an entire room being moved outside. Although not typical of a gliding contest, these friendly antics created a fun atmosphere that will keep young people coming back for future contests.

JoeyGlide also had a serious side to it. I think everyone who was involved in the coaching clinic greatly benefited from the knowledge the coaches brought to the contest. Morning briefings also gave new pilots information about strategy and safety.

Through the eight days of flying I learned a lot about myself and about contest flying. One thing I learned is about the importance of a good start. It is important to find a balance between flying with the rest of the field on some days, having patience to start when the day is good, and not starting so late that you miss the best part of the day. Reflecting on each day of flying I can see how I could have improved my start. Another thing I learned about is flying with other pilots and using them to mark thermals, particularly on Day 3 when a large portion of the field flew together for most of the day. Watching other pilots and how far they travel on their straight glides has taught me that this is something I need to improve on. Part of this is being more selective about which climbs I take, which requires discernment. If I am able to improve on this aspect of my flying I will increase my speed. One of the biggest aspects of my flying that I need to improve on is learning how to read the sky, understanding where the good air is, and being aware of the changing weather as the day progresses. I can see that each of the things I have learned and hope to improve on will only improve as I gain more experience and fly more! I am looking forward to it!

I would like to give some huge thanks to several people who helped me during the contest. First of all to Tobi Geiger: thank you so much for being so generous to lend me your glider and all of your equipment! Your glider is definitely the most beautiful glider I have ever had opportunity to fly! I really appreciate your generosity and all of the help you gave me throughout the contest. Thank you also to Swaantje Geyer for lending me your vehicle: without it I would not have been able to get to the contest. Thank you to everyone who sent me notes of encouragement and constructive criticism during the contest, especially to Chris Gough. Every little bit of information that I can gather will make me a better pilot. Thank you also to Internode and all of the personal sponsors who helped provide funding for JoeyGlide. As a young person with limited money I cannot properly express how much all of the support means to us! I would also like to thank the Australian Junior Gliding Club for being so kind to award a foreigner like myself a scholarship!

Now for a cheesy sentimental moment: thank you to each and every pilot who was at JoeyGlide this year. I had a great time getting to know all of you better and racing around the skies with you. I had a few moments where I looked around the room and thought how incredible it would be if we were all still flying in 40 years and could sit around drinking beer and laughing about the good old times of flying JoeyGlide. Keep enjoying the thrills of the sky!

JG - Contest Day 6

2010-12-24T19:33:00.000-08:00

Saturday, December 18

Playing around at cloudbase before the start.

WoW! An entire contest flown: 2 practise days and 6 contest days! This is the first time this has happened in a contest all year in Australia! The conditions for the final day were looking similar to the previous day with extensive cumulous, but slightly better. The task was set as a two-hour Assigned Area Task with a nominal of 220.6km. Winds were forecasted to be very strong out of the west. I knew it would be another day where it was important to stay at cloud base. I was also determined not to let my poor performance from the previous day prevent me from being optimistic about the final day. However, I was very cautious throughout the flight. I know that I could have and should have flown faster, being more selective about the climbs I opted to take. However, I also thought it would be better to stay up and get around than to land out again.

Waikerie from the air: scrub to the north, fields, and the river.

I started the task around the same time as other competitors, but from another start location. Although I saw a few people out on course, they were often much higher than me so I didn't stick with them for very long. I decided to go quite far north in the first circle, often making detours in an effort to chase the clouds. The first leg was very slow. I picked up speed towards the end of the second leg, and flew a cloud street towards the third turnpoint, picking up speed along the way. I decided to just hit the south side of the third turnpoint so that I could avoid the river as much as possible on the way home. I knew I had flown a very cautious and slow day, but I was incredibly happy to be successfully home back at the airport! I flew my first ever high-speed approach, coming short of the clubhouse, but safely going from 200 feet back up to 600 feet to have a solid circuit. A good fun end to the contest! Andrew Maddocks smoked the field flying an incredible 118.63km/h!!

JG - Contest Day 5

2010-12-24T18:58:00.000-08:00

Friday, December 17

The weather today looked very marginal, and even at grid time we were not certain we would be set off on task. As a result of the poor conditions the task committee opted to keep us close to home, setting a run task of 83.1km and a task time of 1.5 hours. They launched the first few competitors, then opted to hold the launches as they were all struggling and quite low. After a delay the rest of the grid was launched and the start gate opened. I found the conditions incredibly challenging, and was unable to effectively read the sky and the clouds. I knew it would be important to get started early before the massive over-development set in. I also knew that it would be important to get to cloud base and stay there to have successful day of flying. Despite my efforts I was unable to get higher than 4000' (cloud bases were at approx 6500'). I finally decided to make a go of a start despite my low altitude, but by the time I got over to my start gate I was back down to 1800'. I continued to try to look for lift, but was unable to find anything substantial. I opted for a re-light. By the time I re-launched a huge wall of rain was downpouring enroute to the first turnpoint. Also by this point the rest of the field had already made it around the course once. Although I did attempt to start, hoping the day would cycle and I would find lift behind the storm, it was not looking good. I opted to land back at the field rather than facing an almost certain land-out. I have never had such a frustrating day in the air, being unable to set out on course. I hope that I will learn from this experience.

JG - Contest Day 4

2010-12-24T18:48:00.000-08:00

Several people have commented that I did not update my blog near the end of the contest. This is mostly due to the fact that I am terrible at sustaining anything written, but also in part because I was not flying as good as I felt I could be. Here is how the rest of the contest unfolded:

Contest Day 4: Thursday, December 16

The weather conditions today were looking to be fairly decent. The task was set as an Assigned Area Task with a nominal of 277.1 km and a task time of 3 hours. I knew that the day would likely die early, so getting started shortly after the start gate opened would be key. At the same time, I did not want to leave too early before other competitors. I left my initial start point at the same time as the other competitors, but couldn't find any of them in the sky. The first 15km of my flight were very slow, and I found myself much lower than I would of liked. Luckily I found a good thermal that drifted me into another potential start point. At this point I opted to re-start. This put my start time about 10 minutes behind that of the other competitors. I flew well on my first and second leg despite flying alone. I feel that I made a good decision of when to turn in the first circle, leaving myself plenty of options further on in the task. I flew my second leg very well with a speed of over 100km/h. This put me in a position to make a difficult decision: I could turn for home before getting caught up in the river, following some of the others home, and certainly coming in under time. Or I could opt to fly a little bit further and longer and risk flying over the river (which I had experienced to be an area full of sink, but which others had reported was working well later in the day). I decided to fly further hoping for the supposed good lift over the river. Although I tried to stick to the scrub that should have been working, I did not find any good lift. The forecasted early cut-off was correct for once. With very few field options in the area I targeted a good looking field off in the distance, making a safe off-field landing decision. I was very frustrated at the end of this flight because although I felt I had made several good decisions throughout the flight, it did not pay off for me in the end.

JG - Contest Day 3

2010-12-15T17:15:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, 15 December.

We woke up this morning with very marginal conditions. I was very skeptical during task setting that the day would actually improve as forecasted. I also have been battling a cold the entire contest, and I woke up this morning so congested that I was feeling nauseous. Needless to say, I was hoping the day would end up being scrubbed. My wishes were not to be fulfilled as the day improved, and the start gate was opened. Although conditions were good for a short period, they ended up being rather good. The task was set as a fixed racing task of 163km.

I started slightly behind a few other competitors at an upwind start point. The tactical error of the day happened right here as I should have waited a little bit longer before I started. On the grid someone mentioned that it might be a gaggle day, and this is exactly what happened. Halfway through the first leg I found myself in a gaggle with 8/10 competitors. Through the second leg we flew pretty fast as a group. At one point I pushed on ahead of the group and found a killer climb that earned me a few beers in the evening. I flew this leg with an average speed of 100kph. However, I think it was due to the over-confidence of the group that several competitors, myself included, found ourselves a bit low at the second turnpoint. Heading for home I was still flying with some other competitors, but it was due to one mistake in a climb that I ended the day 2kph slower than the 5th place pilot. I finished the day in 7th place, still earning 780.5 points for the day.

A direct quote from one of the competitors is, "This was the funnest competition day I have ever had." I would definitely agree.

JG - Contest Day 2

2010-12-15T16:59:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, December 14.

We were launched under slightly marginal conditions and increasingly strong winds. Once in the air the task was modified and set as a 1.5 hour task with a nominal of 155km. I flew the first leg across the wind with a few other gliders in sight. The second leg I managed to fly a relatively good section of good lift over a line of trees. My tactical error of the day was following this line too far and I ended up heading home too late finishing 21 minutes over time. Despite this I still finished with one of my fastest raw speeds ever, 94kph. This was enough for me to finish 6th on the day.

JoeyGlide isn't just about flying. There is a really good group of talented young pilots here. Evenings are filled with plenty of jokes and laughter. One of the best things is that people aren't afraid to talk about their tactics and theories. This is incredibly helpful, especially to pilots who have lower levels of experience. Some of the pilots here have 900+ hours in comparison to my 150. In good old Aussie form there is also usually an evening cricket match played.

JoeyGlide - Contest Day 1

2010-12-13T04:20:00.000-08:00

This morning we were awoken bright and early to the sound of jet engines launching an ASW 20. The morning went smoothly and I had everything organised well ahead of grid time. So much so that I was beginning to get convinced that I had forgotten to do something. In the words of the Contest Director the day was set to be a "corker" (really good). Although I think they may have slightly over-judged the day, it was set as a fixed point 317.2km task.

I left on course pretty early, following shortly behind several of the top contenders. I was also anticipating a long day and didn't want to be caught away from home late in the day. The first leg went well, but I was unable to catch up with the people who had left before me. Shortly before the first turnpoint the winner of the day (also flying an LS4) caught up with me. Coming out of the first turnpoint we were flying together. On the second leg we managed to catch up with some of the other gliders, playing a game of leap-frog between thermals. The second turnpoint was located on the other side of the flooded Murray river, so I made sure to come in with lots of height which paid off as there was lots of sink in the area. I set of on task to the third turnpoint with 3 other gliders in sight, and enjoyed some strong climbs with them. I came up to the third turnpoint strong riding a good cloud street. However, I grossly underestimated the amount of sink that would be found around the third turnpoint. I came into it lower than I should have as the area was surrounded by flooded river on three sides, and leading up to this heavily irrigated areas of fruit crops. I had to duck back out of the sector before reaching the sector to gain some extra altitude. At this point two of the gliders I had previously been flying with overtook me at much higher altitudes. I gained some height, and thinking I had enough, went back into the third turnpoint. I came out once again very low, but this time was not able to climb away. Although I scratched above a field being plowed for a few valiant minutes, I soon found myself sitting frustrated in a paddock. I was soon joined by another glider.

Overall, the contenders agreed that it was a much tougher day than anticipated. Many flew large sections of the course around 2000'. Many also came in very low on final glide. I am determined to focus on my flying, not letting the spirit of competition push me faster than I should be flying. I am hoping that this will prevent me from landing out another day this contest.

JoeyGlide - Practice Days 1 & 2

2010-12-12T04:02:00.000-08:00

JoeyGlide is the Australian Juniors National Soaring Competition. It has been successfully held annually since 2004. In 2005 Australia sent it's first two representatives to the World Junior Soaring Competition which is an indication of the competition's success in prepare young pilots for the world stage. Although the number of contenders varies from year to year, there is always an enthusiastic and skilled group of pilots that come together for the competition. At this contest you will find that morning briefings give pilots a lot more detail in terms of weather, strategy, and safety than at a more senior competition, as suited to the lower level of experience of some competitors.The junior flying movement in Australia is inspirational as a model we could follow in Canada as it is still in it's beginning stages and growing stronger each year.

Often held alongside the competition is a coaching clinic for new or lower time pilots. Participants in this coaching clinic are part of the competition atmosphere, gridding behind the contest, and flying all or part of the task with an instructor. Coachees also participate in daily briefings which explain in greater detail cross-country and competition flying and strategies. The coaching clinic is intended to be a stepping stone for those who so desire to prepare them for competition in future JoeyGlide competitions. I myself participatied in this clinic last year.

The weather the past two days has not been typical Australian booming conditions. The first of the day of the competition I struggled to properly read the sky. Winds were very strong out of the west, at times reading 28 knots on my computer, a factor which I did not sufficiently account for. I went deep into the first circle which was a good strategic decision. As I made it into the second turnpoint I thought that I was undertime and as such opted to continue downwind to get some extra distance. This was the strategic shortcoming of my day. Heading back into wind turned out to be a lot slower than I had anticipated. Although I soon realised I would be coming in well over time, I still felt I was in a good position, and started to focus on flying fast. I found myself in a really poor section of sky, and all too quickly found myself in a paddock. Although I was initially incredibly frustrated, (did I really fly all the way around the world to land out in a field??), I soon picked up my spirits remembering that it was only a practise day. Practise days should be used to make mistakes not to be repeated for the rest of the contest and to scrape the rust off my flying bones. When I looked at my trace later I also realised that I was not effectively centering my thermals, staying in the strongest part of the core.

Practise day two and I was sent out as the sniffer. Although I initially found a good climb, I soon found myself at 1300', looking down at other competitors around the field area. However the day soon improved, and I thoroughly enjoyed my flight. I focused on remembering Joerg's advice from Nationals: stay up, get around, fly fast. I am proud to say that I made it home with an average speed of 87.5km/h, one of the best speeds I have ever had. However, I also came in 25 minutes under time. This brought my speed down to 71km/h. The tactical error of the day (coming in under time) could have been prevented had I continued further in the second circle rather than heading home when I did. The reason I opted to do this was because I did not clearly understand in my head how the distance was measured for an AAT task. Another mistake made and lesson learned! And another one not to be repeated during the contest. All in all, a day full of great day! I came in with a great final glide, pushing myself faster and lower on final glide than I ever have, coming in at 450'.

All the competitors have arrived and the first contest day is tomorrow. The weather is looking good for the next couple of days. If you would like to track the contest live I do have a spot. I believe the link is:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0bV2lYBY14XWdPZZm6iMfRjWQ3S25EvP5

The contest scores and updates can also be followed at:

www.joeyglide.com.au

Flooding and Locusts

2010-12-10T14:05:00.000-08:00

It's absolutely mind-blowing to me how an entire continent most often plagued by drought can right now be so submersed in water. Benalla, the town where I am staying, has been flooded most of the winter and spring. Farmer's crops are completely ruined, the fields flooded and the seed starting to germinate on the stalk. JoeyGlide was initially supposed to be held in Narromine, but due to the flooding we have moved the JoeyGlide contest to Waikerie. Here in Waikerie the locusts are terrible! I have never seen them like this!

I have arrived here and have my glider organised and ready to go. It's still pretty wet around these parts, but definitely much better than other areas of Australia. Practise days are now today and tomorrow, and the first contest day is Monday. More to follow!

A recount of my Australian Adventure December 2009-March 2010

2010-12-06T02:08:00.000-08:00

It’s always hard when you return from an extended trip to explain to people the breadth of experiences you have had, the sights and smells, the people you met, the impact they had, and how you have grown as an individual. Although family and friends are interested, they often ask questions which precipitate one-word answers such as: “How was your trip?”, “Did you have fun?”, or “Do you want to go back?” (The obvious answers of course being “Good.” “Yes.” and “Yes!”) Even creative answers yield little more than “Fantastic!” Although I could easily delve into the myriad of flights I had in Australia, the incredibly cool people I met, the beautiful scenery which abounds, or the time I almost ran over a koala, I am going to try in this text to articulate some things which I learned while abroad last winter and some of the people who taught them to me.

When I first tangibly made it a goal of mine to represent Canada at the 2011 World Junior Soaring Competition, the first thing I realised is that I had very little airtime compared to many others who would be at this competition. In order to gain this experience I would likely need to do what Chris Gough did the previous year and travel south to fly as much as possible. After making the decision to take some time off from my undergraduate degree, I realised the next obstacle would be having enough fiscal freedom to accomplish this goal. With a summer’s wages under my belt I turned to working in the fall before my trip’s departure at the end of November. I was lucky to find two jobs in addition to the work I already did through the Air Cadet Program. I soon found myself working 65-80/week which was awesome for my bank account but dreadful for my sleep levels. Through this I really learned what it meant to work hard to achieve my goal. Money doesn’t come easily, but the pride I felt in actually saving my target goal was huge.

One of the first people to mentor me in Australia was a man named Paul Mander. Paul is one of Australia’s finest pilots as demonstrated through his numerous wins of the Club Class Nationals and appearances at World contests. However these accolades aren’t Paul’s greatest flying achievement. Paul strongly supports the youth flying movement in Australia, and I had the incredible opportunity to have three flights with him during last year’s JoeyGlide Coaching Clinic. JoeyGlide is Australia’s National Junior Soaring Competition. On the ground Paul equipped us with the knowledge we needed to succeed in the air. On my first day of flying with him he discussed aspects of cross-country flying with me, teaching me how to effectively center thermals and some aspects of reading the sky while also physically demonstrating some flying techniques. I quickly learned how to properly “chuck a turn!” That day he skillfully equipped my tool belt with the necessary basics. The second opportunity I had to fly with Paul, he was already forcing me to make decisions and practise the skills he had taught me. Although he answered questions we had not already addressed, he forced me to begin to think for myself and to put into action what I had learned. Our third flight Paul came along for the ride and told me soon after take-off that he was planning to have a nap. When I asked him for advice on matters I should know he stayed silent, telling me one time that I ought to be able to make such a choice by myself. Paul did not allow me to exhibit typical “girl” flying characteristics. In three short flights I went from a pilot who had little concept of cross-country flying to one who felt confident in the decisions she was making in the air. Although it would have been much easier for Paul to make decisions and take control of our flights, he instead infused me with his knowledge then empowered me to make strong decisions. When I think back on how he guided and mentored me I am still in awe.

Chris Gough is the man who inspires my current dream to go to the World Juniors. When he came back from Worlds in 2009 with his stories of the contest, I was filled with the desire to follow a similar path. Without Chris I would never be taking my current steps towards next summer’s contest. Chris has been the most patient mentor and guide I could ask for. He has sat with me for hours, tirelessly explaining the intricacies of contest flying from information about various types of gliders to classes to every random question imagineable. Chris always makes himself available to help me out, although I did push the limit one morning trying to learn how to properly fill a water ballast on a day he was trying for 750km (sorry Chris!). He patiently puts up with my endless technical difficulties, understanding that computers and I will never get along. In the air Chris helped me fly my furthest distance and one of my funnest flights thus far with some amiable competition. Chris is there to push me further in flying than I knew possible, insisting that I will fly 500 km, and soon. And he was there with his muscles on hand the day I declared the day would end in 500 or a field (I was in the field). He has also become one of my closest friends.

My tale about Australia would be lacking if I neglected to tell you about Angela Comer, my best friend that I convinced to join me on my Aussie adventure. She soon became just as excited as I was to embark on a winter of gliding. Angela helped me learn a lot of personal things. She taught me what it is like to live in close proximity with someone else. We planned groceries and adventures across the countryside. She reminds me not to be too serious and remember to enjoy myself (in the air and on the ground!). She taught me that it’s much more pleasant to be with someone who isn’t so grumpy in the morning. Because of Angela I learned better how to compromise. She helped me learn how to pursue my dreams without being selfish along the way. And Angela is always there to give me some tough love when I am facing insecurities about gliding. I have grown up a lot in the past year, in large part due to my incredible friendship with Angie!

I must also mention all of the incredible people I met from Australia and around the world who took the time to talk with me about flying last year. Nathan, Andrew, John, Lars, Brendan, Graham, and so many others. Each of these people answered my questions, looked over flights with me, and taught me a myriad of things about flying. Thank you!

I have learned a lot of things from other people, but my own personal flying and preparation has been teaching me heaps as well. On the ground I have been learning self-discipline before flights, ensuring I get proper sleep, hydration, and diet. In the air staying completely focused on the flight teaches me self-discipline of the mind. When I get low during a flight I learn about the qualities of perseverance and tenacity. The endless decisions that must be made in the air teach me to be decisive, as well encourage clear and logical thinking. My dream of flying at the Junior Worlds has taught me that it is possible to have lofty dreams, and that through hard work and dedication I can succeed at what I set my heart on. It is hard to articulate how these qualities have grown in myself, but hopefully this can be seen when people meet and talk with me. Sometimes I struggle with thinking that flying is a selfish sport, but then I realise that in growing as an individual I will have more to contribute to society and to pass on to others.

If you talk to me for long you will hopefully quickly see that I am absolutely in love with the sky. Addicted even. But I am equally passionate about getting more young people involved in this sport. Why? I dream of seeing other young people grow and learn positive personal attributes the way I hope I am through the sport of gliding which will carry with them for the rest of their life. Is there a young keen pilot at your club? If so, take the time to invest in them. Enjoy the process of watching them learn and blossom.

A little background info...

2010-11-30T15:58:00.001-08:00

How did I start flying and why do I continue to be empassioned by it?

In 2000 I joined the Royal Canadian Air Cadet Program with the hope of one day receiving my pilot's license. In the summer of 2005 I attended a scholarship course where I earned my glider pilot's license. Since that time flying gliders has become a very important aspect of my life. I have continued flying with the Air Cadet Program, and received my instructor's rating in the summer of 2008.

In the fall of 2007 I joined the Edmonton Soaring Club. Although my preliminary interest was to be able to take friends and family flying, I soon developed a keen interest in the soaring and cross-country aspects of gliding. In the summer of 2008 I attended SOSA's Canadian Junior Soaring Camp.

In the summer of 2009 I decided to follow my dreams and made it my goal to represent Canada at the World Junior Soaring Competition to be held in Germany in the summer of 2011. Putting my studies on hold, last winter I travelled to Australia to improve my cross-country flying abilities. This past June I flew at the Canadian National Competition. Although I did not win the contest, I performed well enough to garner the support of the Canadian Committee to represent the Canadian Juniors next year.

This winter I will be returning to Australia to improve my contest flying experience. I will be flying at the Australian Junior Gliding Contest (Joey Glide) and the Australian Club Class Nationals.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my post! I hope you will enjoy the stories and photos that make their way here. I look forward to your comments!