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Hi folks, Drew McKinnie (Canberra GC)
here
I had the pleasure of attending Avalon airshow
yesterday and today
Lots of good business done... but a real pleasure
to watch Manfred weaving his aerial magic in the Salto yesterday
For those (like me) who have never seen him do his
stuff before, it is a MUST if you have the chance
Yesterday was cool, overcast, overdeveloped Cu at
low level pushed along by damp SW wind
Typical Melbourne stuff
Trade day airshow performances by Super Hornet,
C17, F16, Tornado, Apache helo, were real good from my perspective
Hang glider made a creditable display in the windy
weather - but Manfred Radius stole the show, got the best applause!
On takeoff and initial climb behind a Pawnee,
Manfred waggled his wings left and right to good bank angles - and I had to
assure one spectator that most launches are not like that, and no, he was not
having trouble staying behind the tug!
Half an hour later, he announced his intentions
over the radio, broadcast over PA, the music began...
and it was lovely :-)
Despite the overcast and cloud canyons, which made
for less contrast than we would normally like, you could see his smoke trails
and graceful turns, spins, rolls and loops, so fluid and tidy - and a few tailslides, stall turns, cubans and cloverleafs -
more dramatic in effect as he decended. He did very well to manage his
routine within the confines of the encroaching clouds. I saw more and nore
crowd members crane their necks upwards, and even a couple of "knucks" nearby
were making appreciative noises. Manfred spoke again over radio - "Now for
a vertical 8" or words to that effect - and it was brilliant to watch - a nice
wide round inside loop diving straight into a fast outside loop for the bottom
of the 8. Then more outside loops, getting lower... At circuit
height, he then accelerated along the runway centreline, climbed steeply into a
hammerhead stall, the glider pitching beyond the vertical - and he then
accelerated in an inverted dive, punching through the turbulence, making
inverted turn corrections to line up on the streamer between the poles over the
runway - and sweet as a hot knife through butter, he was through the streamer.
Oh so precise :-] and loud was the applause. He then pushed forward and up into inverted climb, rolled out, swooped
low for a chandelle onto base, low again, another chandelle onto finals, popped
the drogue, and landed the Salto right in front of the clapping crowd, stopping
right next to the crew. A very impressive display!
A few minutes later, I met Manfred and his crew,
and had a great chat! He has a great sense of fun and understated pride in
what he does, and like many real professionals, he was effusive in his praise
for his support team in the Pawnee and on the ground. The guys from
Benalla and Bacchus were real cheerful and proud of their support role - well
done! His Salto, close up, was real interesting in terms of the mounting
arrangements for the pyros, the ignition circuits and switchgear, all set up to
reduce his workload when operating them before and during his
aerobatics.
Unfortunately work now has me back in Canberra, so
I will miss his Friday night show - and I will be gliding at Bunyan during the
weekend displays - but seriously folks, the Avalon airshow is great, and the
sailplane aerobatics just brilliant. You shouldn't miss it - too good for
words!
I feel happy... :-)
Drew
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