The new ASK-21 , VH-GBW , was towed up to Bathurst by Graeme Cant on Friday night 25-11-05 in its new trailer . The fuselage of the K21 was removed from its trailer on Saturday morning 26-11-05 in the tug hanger , to reveal that the elevator had come out of its mounting in the roof of the trailer during transit , and had itself sustained minor damage , as well as damaging the fuselage down towards the tail section . The fuselage damage is not structural , but will require repair , as will the elevator . Most of the inspection work was carried out under the supervision of Aaron Stroop , and later in the day the K21 was rigged and pushed into its temporary spot in the hanger , replacing the DG300 which was to be derigged and loaded into its trailer for the trip to Leeton . The K21 impressed all who saw it with its engineering excellence , and the quality of the workmanship in its construction . Aaron took the paperwork to attend to later in the week , but the registration and other requirements will mean that the K21 is unlikely to fly until Saturday the 10th of December .

Thanks go to Colin Turner who did all the work in ordering the glider and its trailer from Germany , and the transport out to Sydney , and to Graeme Cant who organized the trailer registration and towed the K21 up to Pipers .

Matt & Colin supporting the left wing on the fuse

Keith & Aaron fitting the right wing onto the fuse

Aaron in the front seat of the K21

Damaged elevator

NEW CLUB COMMITTEE

President - Peter Hanneman
Vice President - Bob McDonald
Treasurer - Graeme Cant
Secretary - David Olivier

Ordinary Members   
Margaret Jones, Janine Humphrey, Colin Turner, Eddie Pahic
Peter Newcomb, Ian Shepherd, Peter Edkins, Brian Bailey

A large turnout of the membership was good to see and all gave hearty welcome to the new and thanks to the outgoing committee members.

Reports were given by the treasurer Alan Taylor, Chief Flying instructor Phil Jones; tug Master Ray Humphry, membership secretary Ian Shepherd and Armin Kruger for flying ventures.

A resolution by Tim Galvin to delete references to NSW state law that was included in the new BSC Inc. rules recently adopted at the Extraordinary Genera Meeting was passed.

The clubs trophy presentation took place with Geoff Sweeney being the star for the night. Geoff won the Crossan Wave Flight Trophy for the best Wave Flight from Pipers for a 15200’ wave flight on December 2004. He also received the Tiger trophy for the best cross country flight from a BSC club camp as well as the Wally Wood Trophy for the same flight and the Sportavia Shield for Decentralised Competition. Vaughan Sweeney also picked up a gong.

Fill list of trophy winners below.

Crossan Trophy; for the best cross-country flight from Pipers.

Awarded to John Simpson & Martin Wookey, for their flight of 420km on 22 Dec 04 in XQK. Pipers, Narromine, Parkes, Pipers

John Maggs Trophy;  Relatively inexperienced BSC pilot completing a badge leg from Pipers. (eg Silver C, height or 5 hours)

Awarded to Martin Wookey  5 hour flight towards Silver C

GFA Trophies Presented
to members of BSC at the AGM

The Wally Wood Trophy for the Greatest Distance.
Presented to Geoff Sweeney for his 801.36km flight on 10 Jan 05 in Pik20B, GVF with a points score after handicap of 793.35

Due to his growing commitment to rowing coaching, Mike has decided to retire from gliding and has resigned from the club.

Over the years, Mike’s contribution to the club has been outstanding. He was a Committee member for many years and until several years ago, he was the club’s Ground Engineer. It was in this role that we benefit from his efforts every day at Piper’s field.

When the first T-hanger appeared in the early 80’s, Mike immediately set about improving what was a fairly crude glider hanger. The first 20 or so were designed by Mike, with improvements being introduced as experience was gained.

Until 1989 the club’s glider hanger had no doors. Our gliders sat partly covered and unprotected from driving rain and wind. Mike designed and installed the rolling doors that now protect our aircraft.

The extension to the tug hanger was his next major project. Being short of funds, Mike scoured Sydney and found a second hand set of roof trusses. A design was commissioned and columns were fabricated to suit.

Chris Bennett was seconded to prepare foundations and lay the slab. A Saturday morning working bee of approx. 20 members placed 25 cu meters of concrete. Over a period of a week, Mike and Chris then erected the frame and fixed the cladding.

For many years, the runways at Piper’s were mowed with our Fergie. This was quite a time consuming task and the Fergie was starting to become unreliable. Mike set about finding a bigger tractor capable of pulling a 12’ mower.

The Fiat tractor was subsequently purchased from a local dealer, while the mower was purchased at auction in Sydney. Mike took the mower home (not an easy task) stripped it down and rebuilt it.

Suddenly we had a large tractor and mower, but no where to house them. So Mike, with the help of members, erected the tractor shed. Since we were going to build a shed, it was decided it should be big enough to house the club’s glider trailers as well.

Mike then turned his attention to the glider tow vehicle. As well as mowing, the Fergie was used to retrieve gliders after landing. It did the job for many years but again reliability was becoming an issue.

Mike suggested and was given approval to find a better tow vehicle. He purchased the Suzuki (with a seized engine) took it home and started the rebuilding process. Mike reasoned that an automatic transmission would better suit our operation, so a Corona engine with auto gearbox was purchased from a wrecker. The gearbox was overhauled and Mike set about getting it all together. It wasn’t easy because the Corona engine was bigger then the original and it took a lot of time getting engine mounts correctly located. His perseverance paid off, as the Suzuki has been eminently successful as all members can attest.

I think Mike’s last project was fitting the curved roof to the Pie cart. Prior to that Duty Pilots were dodging the leaks on rainy days.

Given Mike’s skills and dedication, it’s not surprising that anything he has built has worked flawlessly and will continue to provide robust and trouble free service for many years.

Mike has been a valued member of the Club and we thank him for his contribution and wish him well in the future.

Does anyone have pictures of Pipers from the time when the first T-hangars were built? Please let me know. thermal@bathurstsoaring.org.au

BENDICK MURRELL

The Bendick Murrell Camp took place 25-29 August. Following are a few pictures. The weather was fantastic for growing grass. Not too good for ridge soaring.