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.
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