Mike Please leave Perth off your short list.
There has not been a Club close to Perth for many years. My driving times, from the southern suburbs in Perth, sitting on the speed limit in cruise control, are: Beverley 1 hour 45 minutes Narrogin 2 hours 00 minutes Cunderdin (GCWA) 2 hours 15 minutes Owen R Jones Mike Borgelt wrote: > At 02:29 PM 18/12/01 +1100, you wrote: > >>From: "Derek Ruddock" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >> > >>What you are overlooking Mike, is that the club scene provides the facility > >>to fly to those of us who neither have the finances, nor the time nor the > >>inclination to spend a very substantial amount of money on a pastime. For > >>those fortunate individuals who are able to buy their own aircraft, the > >>above scenario would probably fit the bill perfectly, but for the rest of > >>us, I'm afraid it's the club, or nothing. > > > >More than that, Derek, Mike wouldn't even be able to start with his > >"...drive to their local airport.." without the GFA and its clubs. I can't > >think of anywhere in the Sydney basin that would be available for soaring > >without SX and its fellow clubs and predecessors who have kept Camden open > >to soaring against very strong pressures at times. A '...few people who own > >gliders...' wouldn't have stood a chance. > > On the contrary, a few people with recognised PPL's doing ONE launch a day > each shouldn't have too much trouble operating just about anywhere. I can > well understand power operations having a problem with people who don't > even have licenses or passed the written exams that PPL's do being worried > about a gliding operation. > > > >Richmond is very controlled and the RAAF, of course, won't deal with > >individuals. The alternative at Mangrove Mountain is entirely a > >co-operative effort with countless 'personhours' of picking stones, rolling, > >weeding and planting before the first glider left the ground. As a field > >where the Council has banned power operations, it still needs the work of > >about 6 people to get 1 glider airborne. > > I guess masochism has its own rewards. > > > >If Mike seriously wants gliding to have a future, he could start by giving > >some thought to the fact that there is no such thing as a Saturday morning > >drive to a local airport (at which gliding is permitted) for 80% of the > >population of Australia. > > Well for me the local airport is 10 minutes across town. There's a > perfectly good airport 45 minutes drive from Adelaide and a few > alternatives, Caboolture is about the same from Brisbane, Boonah not much > further, Bacchus Marsh isn't that far from Melbourne and there are other > alternative locations. There used to be a gliding operation near Perth and > there's no reason why a few private pilots should not do that again. I > think that's more than the 20% you allude to. Don't forget also there's > more to Aus than Sydney and Melbourne and if you really want to fly gliders > you should consider relocating. Queensland is pretty good. > > If I was in charge of a local airport I wouldn't permit the average gliding > club to operate either. A private owner operation with people holding real > licenses using aero tow or self launch where a few people went cross > country and were prepared to fit in by actually getting off active runways > promptly would be a different thing. Don't forget that most gliders are > coming out of the factory with some kind of motor fitted. > Ab initio training could be handled by doing 30 or 40 hours in a Jabiru, > Skyfox or such followed by an aerotow glider conversion at one of the above > locations. Fly with an instructor who is/was a glider pilot and he could > tailor your training towards gliding. The AUF is full of people who used to > fly gliders. You'd get a UL or GA license while you were at it, basically > for free. Those already with GA or UL licenses need only do the conversion. > It seems to take a couple of days in the US. > Only problem is no free flying for gliding "instructors", no vast GFA > structure, fewer rules, more freedom, no make work administrative jobs so > that the GFA hierarchy can put each other up for OA's. > > Mike Borgelt > > Borgelt Instruments - manufacturers of quality soaring instruments > ABN 75532924542 > Box 7474 Toowoomba M.C. > Queensland 4352 > Australia > > Tel 0746 355 784 > mob 0428 355 784 > 0429 355 784 > fax 0746 358 796 > > International > phone: int'l+ 61 7 46 355 784 > Cellphone:int'l +61 4 28 355 784 > int'l +61 4 29 355 784 > fax : int'l+ 61 7 46 358 796 > > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > website:www.ozemail.com.au/~mborgelt > > -- > * You are subscribed to the aus-soaring mailing list. > * To Unsubscribe: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > * with "unsubscribe aus-soaring" in the body of the message > * or with "help" in the body of the message for more information. -- * You are subscribed to the aus-soaring mailing list. * To Unsubscribe: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] * with "unsubscribe aus-soaring" in the body of the message * or with "help" in the body of the message for more information.
