I was surprised on arrival to find two club gliders and the Tug, all inspected and ready for flight. I was greeted by a fair number of pilots, all prepared to take to the skies in the hope of reasonable mid-winter soaring.

Those at the briefing included: Andrew White (a Sydney-based member); Grant Nelson (our resident Keepit GliderTech man); Miro Mikus (a regular flying member from Ballina); Natarie Tsu (an air cadet, visiting from Hong Kong - Natarie  is an ab initio student who has been at Keepit for the past two weeks. She went solo for the first time during the week and is now keen to return to Hong Kong with at least her A Certificate);  and Andrew Mead, a new, 15-year-old  ab initio student from Brunei (Andrew is at Keepit with his father Col – an expatriate Kiwi based in Brunei where he is a B 787 Captain with Royal Brunei Airlines).

Our tow pilot for the day Charlie Szpitalek phoned in to advise he was leaving home to fly in from Walcha.

The weather forecast was reasonably optimistic, with soaring conditions predicted, despite a brisk wind from the west. Just as we finished the briefing, we were joined by Phillip Snook - a member of Narrogin Gliding Club WA (150km east of Perth). Phillip was on his way by car back to WA and, when he realised he was on the Oxley Highway (on his way to Broken Hill) and passing a gliding club, decided he would call in and check us out.

We commenced operations shortly before midday with Miro Mikus launching in his Nimbus into a sky with developing cumulus clouds.

We followed with a check flight for Natarie. She handled the cross-wind conditions well and I cleared her for further solo flights.

Andrew White was the next to launch, flying the club’s PW5. He reported later that he was able to climb in good lift to 6000’ and was able to fly upwind to the Carroll Range and enjoy another good soaring flight. Andrew has now compiled a total of 20 -30 flights in the PW5 and is looking forward to progressing to the LS7 and Discus over the coming soaring season.

I was then able to fly with Andrew Mead. He had a few flights back in New Zealand before coming to Lake Keepit and had flown a couple of training flights on Saturday with Matthew Atkinson. Despite Andrew’s relative lack of training, he was able to demonstrate that he has probably inherited his father’s flying skills.

We did a total of four training flights during the day.

In between flights with Andrew, Natarie had a 45 minute solo soaring flight and qualified for her “A” Certificate. Well done Nat!

I flew two flights with WA visitor, Phillip Snook. Unfortunately, the earlier buoyant conditions had gone and our flights were cut short. Although we weren’t able to enjoy an extended flight, I was able to impress Phillip with the local scenery and the features which we enjoy every day at Lake Keepit.

All up, we did 12 flights. In summary, another exceptional mid-winter’s day at Lake Keepit.