Any talk of valuing a Janus and what we might do Post 115 certainly generated alot of comments and hits on the blog site.
Thinking outside the square is good...
Change is hard....
Friday, June 29, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
What's a Janus worth?
2 for sale in Europe - EUR$32-38,000
So about $NZ 50k.
Food for thought...post 115.
So about $NZ 50k.
Food for thought...post 115.
Speed Demons
Could be a day for any speed demons. Very strong West to South west winds will make the Kaimai Speed Challange course a ripper. Between heavy showers that is.
The current record is 200kph...that's a beatable proposition in the right conditions.
Plenty of water and plenty of grit and record is there for the taking.
Wave on the Tauranga side but broken up with showers and I suspect the wave bars will move about abit.
The test will be whether the tow pilots are game enough to fly...
I'm busy so I will be watching from the ground...and GNM still hasn't returned yet...
Anyone know what a Janus B is worth?
Guess what? Today's daylight will be the same as tomorrows, which was the same as yesterdays...but the good news is in a week we will get a whole 3 minutes more daylight...summer is coming...inch by inch.
And now for something completely different,
Yesterday afternoon, a man I don’t know, named Ben Mutumba, sent me a kind note. “I represent a group of miners here in Uganda-Kampala and we have a large sum of gold for sale in a cheap affordable price.Please if interested get back to me for more information.”
I am interested, so I replied to him and asked for more information. I then called and spoke with him on the phone. He told me that he’s selling the gold for thirty-eight thousand dollars a kilogram, which seems like a pretty good price. He gets the gold from a mine in the Congo and wants his customers to come and inspect it before they buy. He said that he also has customers in South and Central America and Australia. But no one in the New Zealand. “That’s why,” he told me, “I want a very good customer who can buy something for New Zealand.” He promised a good hotel in Kampala, a meeting with a government official, and a chance to test the gold to make sure it’s real.
OK OK...I didn't call him but Nicholas Thompson from The New Yorker did...
Why Do Nigerian Scammers Say They Are from Nigeria? Because they really only want a contact from the really really naive people. Anyone else will waste their time.
So if you want to get rid of these low life scammers...reply to their ridiculous e-mails and string them a line.
I know of one local who got one scammer to believe he had a dying parent and that he, the scammer, should wire him money...well done...well done indeed.
If you want to read more go -
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/06/nigerian-e-mail-scams-microsoft-research-study.html
The current record is 200kph...that's a beatable proposition in the right conditions.
Plenty of water and plenty of grit and record is there for the taking.
Wave on the Tauranga side but broken up with showers and I suspect the wave bars will move about abit.
The test will be whether the tow pilots are game enough to fly...
I'm busy so I will be watching from the ground...and GNM still hasn't returned yet...
Anyone know what a Janus B is worth?
Guess what? Today's daylight will be the same as tomorrows, which was the same as yesterdays...but the good news is in a week we will get a whole 3 minutes more daylight...summer is coming...inch by inch.
And now for something completely different,
Yesterday afternoon, a man I don’t know, named Ben Mutumba, sent me a kind note. “I represent a group of miners here in Uganda-Kampala and we have a large sum of gold for sale in a cheap affordable price.Please if interested get back to me for more information.”
I am interested, so I replied to him and asked for more information. I then called and spoke with him on the phone. He told me that he’s selling the gold for thirty-eight thousand dollars a kilogram, which seems like a pretty good price. He gets the gold from a mine in the Congo and wants his customers to come and inspect it before they buy. He said that he also has customers in South and Central America and Australia. But no one in the New Zealand. “That’s why,” he told me, “I want a very good customer who can buy something for New Zealand.” He promised a good hotel in Kampala, a meeting with a government official, and a chance to test the gold to make sure it’s real.
OK OK...I didn't call him but Nicholas Thompson from The New Yorker did...
Why Do Nigerian Scammers Say They Are from Nigeria? Because they really only want a contact from the really really naive people. Anyone else will waste their time.
So if you want to get rid of these low life scammers...reply to their ridiculous e-mails and string them a line.
I know of one local who got one scammer to believe he had a dying parent and that he, the scammer, should wire him money...well done...well done indeed.
If you want to read more go -
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/06/nigerian-e-mail-scams-microsoft-research-study.html
Sunday, June 24, 2012
It's almost here...
The LX V7 and Nano. There are installed in GNM but I need to find the time to travel upto the big smoke to collect glider and trailer.
So to get a head start I've downloaded the manual's...good golly Miss Molly....56 pages.
So much to read...so much that can go wrong...so many decisions...
What 2 outputs do I display in the center of the dail??
Arrival altitude, TAS, vario average, speed to fly, the list goes on and on...
The locals had a bash at thinking through Part 115 and its impact on our budget. Lets start by assuming that we won't take up CAA's kind offer to register under Part 115 (cost, paperwork, responsibilities etc etc) and think about the reduction in trial flights.
My guess is a 50% reduction...ie all those flights that will never generate a member...it's probably higher than 50% but you have to start somewhere. That's an annual loss of net income of about $16-17,000. Can we replace that with something else? Youthy glidery types perhaps...problem is we will need to discount their flying to get Youth glide up and running.
More members flying...well your guess is as good as mine but I think you'd have more chance buying a Lotto ticket.
So can we cut our costs? Interest rates are coming down...say we save 1.5% on our mortgage...that's $3500 per year. What's next? Sell something...besides we won't need all those bits of glass if the number of flights per year drop by heaps. Tough decision...last time we tried doing this various members had a total meltdown. Interestingly we haven't missed the second Janus since its been gone...
Against this is the overall increasing cost of running the club. As the rate of voluntary effort decreases (me included) then paid people will need to fill the roles...
Raise our charges? Tow fees up to the national average, glider fees up by 50%, annual subs up as well.
Strikes me a combination will be required. Sell the other Janus, raise some charges, pursue extra members flying.
On another subject..does anybody have a direct line to Phil Plane? The Omarama webcam is off line...I'll get withdrawal symptoms soon...
So to get a head start I've downloaded the manual's...good golly Miss Molly....56 pages.
So much to read...so much that can go wrong...so many decisions...
What 2 outputs do I display in the center of the dail??
Arrival altitude, TAS, vario average, speed to fly, the list goes on and on...
The locals had a bash at thinking through Part 115 and its impact on our budget. Lets start by assuming that we won't take up CAA's kind offer to register under Part 115 (cost, paperwork, responsibilities etc etc) and think about the reduction in trial flights.
My guess is a 50% reduction...ie all those flights that will never generate a member...it's probably higher than 50% but you have to start somewhere. That's an annual loss of net income of about $16-17,000. Can we replace that with something else? Youthy glidery types perhaps...problem is we will need to discount their flying to get Youth glide up and running.
More members flying...well your guess is as good as mine but I think you'd have more chance buying a Lotto ticket.
So can we cut our costs? Interest rates are coming down...say we save 1.5% on our mortgage...that's $3500 per year. What's next? Sell something...besides we won't need all those bits of glass if the number of flights per year drop by heaps. Tough decision...last time we tried doing this various members had a total meltdown. Interestingly we haven't missed the second Janus since its been gone...
Against this is the overall increasing cost of running the club. As the rate of voluntary effort decreases (me included) then paid people will need to fill the roles...
Raise our charges? Tow fees up to the national average, glider fees up by 50%, annual subs up as well.
Strikes me a combination will be required. Sell the other Janus, raise some charges, pursue extra members flying.
On another subject..does anybody have a direct line to Phil Plane? The Omarama webcam is off line...I'll get withdrawal symptoms soon...
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
The depths of winter
It's essentially the shortest week...in the sense that the daylight hours will be at there lowest.
I thought it was gloomy here...and then I looked at Omarama...
So to the North we must look for excitement and guidance...
First to the UK where their 15 meter nationals and Lasham Regionals where as successful as the Aussie Nationals last year...not very. The winner won the whole contest with about 900 points...one day in other words.
Off to the US of A...where the 18 meter Nationals are being lead by a ASW27 (which only comes in a 15 meter span)...not sure what this means? Could I enter a PW5 in their Nationals???
Although startling figures suggest that 31% of the citizens of that great country believe God is running their country...not very well I'd suggest...perhaps he/she/it could do a better job in Greece.
But here in Godzone we are not much better when various members of our country believe Cell phone towers are affecting Bees navigation systems. I guess it's believable if the bees are using a Microsoft based GPS smartphone...
As a past contest weather forecaster I can relate with this photo...what's the weather going to do today???
Yip...I need more sunlight...roll on summer.
I thought it was gloomy here...and then I looked at Omarama...
So to the North we must look for excitement and guidance...
First to the UK where their 15 meter nationals and Lasham Regionals where as successful as the Aussie Nationals last year...not very. The winner won the whole contest with about 900 points...one day in other words.
Off to the US of A...where the 18 meter Nationals are being lead by a ASW27 (which only comes in a 15 meter span)...not sure what this means? Could I enter a PW5 in their Nationals???
Although startling figures suggest that 31% of the citizens of that great country believe God is running their country...not very well I'd suggest...perhaps he/she/it could do a better job in Greece.
But here in Godzone we are not much better when various members of our country believe Cell phone towers are affecting Bees navigation systems. I guess it's believable if the bees are using a Microsoft based GPS smartphone...
As a past contest weather forecaster I can relate with this photo...what's the weather going to do today???
Yip...I need more sunlight...roll on summer.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Improving outlook...
Membership is growing, the long term weather prognosis is outstanding, Airways have decided that recreational flying is worth preserving, Part 115 is dead...well that's the report I'd love to give...
However our friends in the US of A are trying...check out this video put together by 2 of their members...
http://soaringcafe.com/2012/06/ssas-new-lets-go-gliding-video/
Excellent start...
I'll bring a copy to the AGM this weekend.
What I'd really really like out of the US of A is one of those Drone/UAV things...
Rather than killing civilians with it we could use it as an unmanned tow-plane. Control it from the cockpit of my glider...a self-launcher like no other...
However our friends in the US of A are trying...check out this video put together by 2 of their members...
http://soaringcafe.com/2012/06/ssas-new-lets-go-gliding-video/
Excellent start...
I'll bring a copy to the AGM this weekend.
What I'd really really like out of the US of A is one of those Drone/UAV things...
Rather than killing civilians with it we could use it as an unmanned tow-plane. Control it from the cockpit of my glider...a self-launcher like no other...
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Omarama...10 hours from where you really want to be...
But my spies tell me that this is what it looked like on the weekend...
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