I want my money back...this isn't summer, it's a poor excuse for winter but with extra daylight hours...so you can watch it rain for longer.
The real dichotomy is the difference between here in the heartland of gliding and that small outpost in Omarama, where they have had endless days of thermals and high bases...bugger bugger bugger.
Oh and a belated Happy New Year...
I took time out to visit the CAA poster boy and his Part 115 operation in the Coromandel.
He seems to think it was a good idea (as did an itinerant Air NZ 767 pilot who turned up for a chat...as pilots are want to do)...but my observation was not much had changed...joy rides were proceeding as usual, and the safety was dependant on the pilot...
Does paperwork and fees payable to CAA improve safety??? Would 115 have prevented the disastrous balloon accident yesterday...we'll see (in 12 months as that's the current response time to an accident by CAA inspectors).
As you might of detected on this blog I have a slight degree of difficulty accepted the logic for applying Part 115 to gliding. In short...it's total bollocks...but it is here to stay...(but who ever said logic plays any part in the life of a Gov't bureaucrat).
2012 will be the year we have to debate how our local club responds to this overt imposition of paperwork, cost and lunacy on our trial flight operation.
We will also need to keep debating our long term tow-plane strategy. This will, no doubt, be a long and protracted debate. But tow-planes are the biggest expense we have and we have changed significantly as a club (smaller, less trial flights, more private owners etc).
The Duo will continue to pose challenges...both from a usage point of view, and from a technical angle. It would appear we should remove the turbo and replace it with a very very large battery...
And we have the Nationals to look forward too. I debated entering the Duo instead of my little Discus...but the on going technical challenges with the aircraft have softened this enthusiasm...
And the big IF is....will this weather improve by the end of the month?...NIWA and Metservice don't think so....so it'll be great.
And lastly, I spent 4 days on Slipper Island and my worst nightmare didn't come true...that being I'd spend 4 days looking back at the mainland watching stunning skies being underutilised. Under utilised by me that is....as it was we watched the mainland get constant grey skies and showers while we were sunning ourselves in beautiful weather...catching fish and watching a Cessna 180 come and go on the little airstrip.
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