| Col has flown 20
to 25 comps over the years and has run three previous
championships at Temora. The job entails a variety
of tasks, starting with the formalities of preparing
pipeline notes and liaising with Regional Technical
Officer - Operations to ensure that the comp is
a Sanctioned GFA Competition. Content must be arranged
and prepared for the web site, entry forms issued,
turn points, budgets, tugs and registration set
up, the rules of the competition established, the
director's report presented and much more.
In setting the rules of the competition, Col says
safety is the primary concern. Rules are crucial
in making a safe flying environment. The NSW State
Competition rules can be downloaded from the GFA
website. Importantly, the local rules are also incorporated
into the comp rules. Temora is a busy, mixed use
airfield with parachuting, ultralights, war birds
and aero club flying as well as gliding taking place.
So, for safety reasons, competition or low finishes
(beat-ups!) were discouraged.
In recent years, the general tasks set are Assigned
Area Tasks (see insert for details), which prevent
a number of gliders converging at the same turnpoint.
Multiple start points are used to make the starts
less crowded and safer. A safety radio frequency
is set for mutual traffic information.
The Temora comp had the largest number of entrants
for years and Col believes it is because the new
rules have made competition flying inherently safer.
He also thinks the handicap system is working well
in club class.
Col had to put together a team to help run the
event as well. Tim Shirley, Col Vasarotti, Daryl
Connell, Sue Hanley were all on the team. Evelyn
Turner was a great help, too. Col also worked with
Geoff King at the Temora Gliding Club, which hosted
the event.
Putting all this together before the comp is a
lot of work, but you then have actually to run the
event, marshalling around 50 contestants. Each morning
started with weather and task briefing. One highlight
of the briefing sessions at Temora was the help
with planning that experienced pilots, in particular
Hank Kaufman, gave to other pilots, dropping the
occasional 'gem' of advice as well.
Task setting can be quite difficult when the weather
is marginal. The comp flew on four out of seven
days. Two days were unflyable but one day was blue,
although it was still difficult to predict how it
would turn out. Once everyone was on the grid, they
patiently waited for the temperature to rise enough
to enable soaring to a safe height of 3000’.
After launching a couple of sniffers, the rest of
the gliders launched. However, no one climbed above
4500’, so the day was called off.
Returning gliders complied with the no low flying
rule, which is just as well. One day, Armin Kruger
and David Olivier were on finals in the BSC Orion
when a parachutist flew down in front of him.
The event was a great success. Col said, “Club
members are missing out on a great experience by
not taking part in competitions. The experience
teaches good preparation and flying discipline and
will really improve your flying”.
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