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Mt Beauty Camp Easter 2017

Mt Beauty is situated in the picturesque alpine region of north-east Victoria. It offers a great scenic and mountain flying experience. The highest mountain in Victoria, Mt Bogong, is situated 5km from the airfield, though you have to climb 5,000 feet to reach the summit. Mt Buffalo is to the west, and Falls Creek is to the south. The camp officially runs from Good Friday until Easter Monday but if the weather looks good and there is enough interest from members then the camp can be extended until the following Saturday. Accommodation options vary from camping and caravan sites, to motel suites and house rentals, but book early as Easter is one of Mt Beauty’s busiest tourist periods.

 Our excellent host for this camp for over many years has been the Mt Beauty Gliding Club. They are a friendly mob who host an annual Easter barbeque on the airfield. They also offer a winch launching experience. There are no tasks set for this camp; it is very much a social and family orientated event. There are often meals/barbeques hosted at club members’ accommodation. Within the town’s boundaries there are wineries, restaurants, bakeries, and bike hire. For the more adventurists, there are walking tracks to the summit of Mt Bogong. And the tourist town of Bright, just over 30 minutes drive through the Tawonga gap, is renowned for its Easter markets.

 What to bring? The family; summer and winter clothing; log book; maps; and enthusiasm.

Expeditions / Independent operations

Want to fly somewhere different? As a club member if you want to take an aircraft away to a gliding event as private hire there is not a problem. You need to have fulfilled independent operator’s requirements as per the GFA Manual of standard operating procedures (MOSOP) and VMFG requirements. If you want to organize an expedition at a site and date other than normal club camps involving club aircraft and members, then put the proposal to the ops panel.

Gliding is a labour intensive sport, but the flying rewards are many!

Even with all the technology available – GPS; computer generated weather forecasts; soaring specific analyses of conditions; awesome cockpit technology; aerodynamics etc. - gliders still can’t move on the ground without a bit of old fashioned human effort. This also applies to the moving of equipment and aircraft to the various camps and expeditions. Although at times we ferry a two-seat glider behind a tug to the camp we still require up to four gliders plus the expeditions trailer to be taken to the camp and return by road. There is no sugar coating with this task. Single seat gliders in trailers can weigh up to 1,000 kg; two-seat gliders in trailers can weigh up to 1,500 kg; and the expedition trailer up to 1,000 kg. We do offer several incentives to encourage members to attach a club trailer to the back of their car (taking into account the maximum tow rate of the vehicle). The compensation is having first allocation of the aircraft you towed up to the camp on the day you want, or being reimbursed 0.10 cents per km whilst towing the glider trailer.

Pilot’s requirements for camps and expeditions

To fly as pilot in command in a single seat glider (or in the case of a mutual flight) pilots must be rated and current in the aircraft they will be flying in. As an early pilot, pre-solo, you can still fly and enjoy flying at camps with an experienced pilot. Post-solo pilots who wish to fly at a site other than Bacchus Marsh must have a site check with an instructor. Unless you are cross country endorsed, you are restricted to the local area.

There are no annual checks conducted at Club camps, so pilots must ensure they are:

·       within the 12 month validity for their annual check;

·       current on the aircraft they wish to fly;

·       all documents are current including, a cross country check list, charts, and log book.

ATTEND THE CAMPS AND ENJOY!

Max Callingham

It has been great to see a number of members bringing out family, friends and interested work colleagues for gliding flights lately.

Stay tuned for details of a Family & Friend flying day in April.

This is a reminder to all members that there are two options when conducting a private passenger flight, which may also be known in the club as a family and friend flight. The most important thing to remember is that at least one form MUST be filled in!

The first option DOES NOT allow the passenger to touch the aircraft controls while the aircraft is flying. For this option, the passenger MUST complete the club's family and friend paperwork form ONLY (not the GFA form). 

The second option is to have the passenger complete the GFA form (at a cost to you of $30 - in addition to the flight - as we have to buy these books from the GFA) and fly with an instructor (AEI rated or above). This allows the passenger to be introduced to basic aspects of flying, but the passenger is not permitted to touch the controls when the aircraft is below 800ft AGL.  

The difference between an AEF and private passenger flight is that the AEF has completed the GFA AEF form and the pilot is AEI-rated or above. 

Please refer to section 11.1 and 10.5 of the GFA operations manual for more detail.

Operations are back at Bacchus Marsh for 2017 having recommenced on Saturday. All members are encouraged to get out to the field soon to explore cross-country opportunities from the Marsh during the summer season or to keep current. See you at the airfield!

Tom van Blaricum - for stepping up and flying three AEF passengers and three F&F flights for another member on a recent weekend. Six consecutive flights in warm conditions. Thanks for your assistance that day, Tom.

Steve Coulton - for agreeing to be the MGC representative for the soon to be established aerodrome Hangar Owners Group (MGC has a vote as an owner/tenant of the North Hangar).

And changes at BMAM have seen some new people join and others take on new roles. So, thank you to Steve Trone (Chairperson), Roger Druce (Aerodrome Manager), Dermot Coleman (Secretary), Ben Loxton (MGC delegate) and Tighe Patching (MGC alternate delegate) for agreeing to take on these positions at such an important time. The first meeting of the new BMAM Committee was held last week and was positive.

Best of luck to one of our junior members, Jackson Keogh, competing at Joey Glide (the Australian Junior Nationals) at Temora this week. Follow his results here. Safe and speedy flying, Jackson!

And congratulations to a couple of members for their glider conversions over the weekend: Colin Gamble into the Discus CS and Jason Tang into the Junior.

And Ian Northey recently achieved his family and friend rating - well done! (Next stop: AEI/Level 0 instructor!)

Thank you to all who transported the aircraft and equipment to Raywood for the Melbourne cup weekend.

With only a month to go we need to start organising the transport of gliders and equipment to the camp.

We have 2 seat and single seat aircraft also the expedition trailer to transport, any offers?.As always you can claim 0.10 c per kilometre travel with the trailer following behind or the option to choose the day and the aircraft you have towed up to fly.

If there is Tug pilots who are going up specifically to tow on set dates, it would be neat if you could register via the online system and advise dates so we can plan ahead.

If you can help with the transport of aircraft and equipment please contact me direct.

Best Regards

Max Callingham  max@optusnet.com.au  or text / talk 0416 237 672

Digital locks will be installed in the club house, MGC workshop and Sth hangar this summer.

The Sth hangar is the most obvious place that needs to be secured as it is home to most of the GGC and MGC fleet, and is readily accessible by anyone at any time.

Securing the sth hangar is a little more time consuming than just installing a lock on the hangar door, as restraints need to be installed on many of the sliding doors, so they wont open.  If you can help with this please let Steve know via steve@techexecs.com.au or 0457 513 239.

Once the restraints and digital locks are installed, all sliding doors will need to be locked / unlocked from the inside, and you will need to enter / exit via the door at the nth end of the hangar.

Note: the door code will be the same as the one for the club house and workshop.

This is a reminder to all members that when conducting a private passenger flight, which may also be known in the club as a family and friend flight, they are not permitted to touch the aircraft controls while the aircraft is flying.  During AEF flights the Air Experience passenger is not permitted to touch the controls when the aircraft is below 800ft AGL  The difference between an AEF and Passenger flight is that the AEF has completed the GFA AEF form and the pilot is AEF rated. Noting the GFA AEF forms cost $30 each.

Please refer to section 11.1 and 10.5 of the GFA operations manual for more detail.

Running a gliding club takes many people and a diverse range of skills, everyone needs to do their bit. The club has just published a central list of roles and responsibilities on the members web site.  If you know of any roles that may not be listed please email info@vmfg.org.au so we can add them.

The club is currently looking for people to help with Grants, Bacchus Marsh Airfield Management (3rd representative), and a Bacchus Marsh Gliding representative.  If you are able to help please contact the one of the committee members

Around 50 hours of flying by approximately 20 club members took place at the Bendigo GC in Raywood from 29 October to 1 November, making it one of the most successful camps for MGC in recent years.

Although the weather could have been slightly more cooperative, we flew on three days out of four, with many members achieving good early season cross-country flights and gaining much needed currency. Of note, Richard Traill flew 226km on the Saturday (in his new ASG 29, Caleb White 204km on the Monday (in the White's new DG-200/17), and many members cracked 100km multiple times.

Best of all was the great social atmosphere (only slightly dampened by the mosquitos!) and seeing members working together to make the weekend a success. On that note, thanks to all who towed gliders there and back, to Ben and Paul for ferrying the tug and NDG, to Ben, Steve and guest tug pilot Peter Summersby (who visited in his RV-7) for the towing over the three days. And a special thanks to the crew at the Bendigo GC for their hospitality. We look forward to being back there for Christmas.

All gliders and equipment are now back at Bacchus Marsh (tug and NDG arriving Thursday) so please get out there on Saturday if you can to help rig. There's only 7 more weekends until the Christmas camp, so get out to the Marsh to keep (or build) your currency.