At 05:36 PM 28/09/03 +1000, you wrote:
>We at Lake Keepit have been concerned for some time at the potential damage
>to Club gliders and pilots from inappropriate paddock choice. While we agree
>with the comments about teaching pilots how to assess paddocks (and continue
>to pursue this) there's no doubt than finding an airfield or ag strip is
>normally a much safer option.
>
>Over the last couple of years we have accumulated a register of airfields
>and ag strips, including upper air photographs and GPS coordinates. A
>loose-leaf book of these outlanding airfields is maintained by the Club with
>as much pertinent data as can be assembled - photos, runway direction(s),
>owner name and phone, condition of field, cautionery notes etc. Study of
>this file by intending cross country pilots is encouraged.
>
>The Club's turnpoint database for downloading to data loggers/GPSs
>incorporates the coordinates for all these known airfields, with as much
>descriptive info than can be fitted into GPS data fields to assist pilots
>make sensible choices.
>
>Within a rough semicircle of 150km radius we have a database of 90 points,
>of which 66 are landable airfields or ag strips. (We have adopted airfields
>as turnpoints, rather than silos or other features, wherever available.)
>Most cross country soaring within this area can now be performed without
>losing glide slope to a suitable strip.
>
>This will be a feature of the upcoming NSWGA State comp in November and will
>be another safety initiative of the Lake Keepit comp.
>
>The club is indebted to Harry Medlicott whose initiative this has been, and
>who has collected the lion's share of the info on these fields. This has
>been an important part of his drive to improve safety in gliding, which will
>be strongly empasised in the forthcoming State competition in Nov at Keepit.
>
>Dave Shorter
>email [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note no ".au" in address)
>11 Lighthouse Crescent,
>Emerald Beach,
>NSW 2456, Australia
>Phone (02) 6656 1979
>Fax (02) 6656 2983
I believe Ron Geake has done this at Gympie also. They can now fly cross
country while in glide range of suitable airstrips.
One resource you might consider to do this with is the AOPA Airfield guide.
Mike
Borgelt Instruments - manufacturers of quality soaring instruments
phone Int'l + 61 746 355784
fax Int'l + 61 746 358796
cellphone Int'l + 61 428 355784
Int'l + 61 429 355784
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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