Introduction to Germany

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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.