Yes, we have at Lake Keepit. The turnpoint list for the Lake Keepit comps in November (from 15th - 22nd) has been updated.
Macca you'll be pleased to learn that elevations have been included for all landing points. All landing points within 120 odd km of Lake Keepit have now been either ground verified, checked with owners or we've flown over (in a Grob) down low, so elevations are accurate to within 100ft or so. Coordinates have also been accurately pin pointed as near as dammit to the centre of each strip. I must say Macca's suggestion of getting elevations with the RAAF Digital Elevation Terrain Data system sounds a lot easier. It was a very worthwhile exercise as we noted a few former strips now under crops, but found others we'd been doubtful about. There are some very nice substantial airfields. And there are others only just faintly distinguishable with all the new growth in the district (countryside looks a picture). A text file (openable in Word) is attached and will be available from the Keepit website shortly. http://www.users.bigpond.com/keepitsoaring/ Alternatively, downloadable files for various GPS formats can be obtained from John Leibacher's Soaring Turnpoint Exchange website. http://acro.harvard.edu/SOARING/JL/TP/NSW03 (Thanks to John for a great service provided to the worldwide gliding movement). Regarding Macca's comment on naming of landing points, we've adopted a local name (Rangiri, Gaineys etc) for those strips that have a common name, and added comments like R/W direction or hazards in the description field, which will show up on a Garmin or Cambridge GPS description field display. (Other GPSs may also load this field). So pilots searching for one of these fields can seek extra information by calling up the display page for that datapoint. For other landing fields without a commonly acknowledged name, we've used a naming code which distinguishes between - quality fields (AF) which look like they're regularly maintained, generally with a windsock and hangar; - and questionable strips, like temporary farm ag strips (AG). + a catelogue number + runway direction (NS, NE etc or XS for cross strip). So AG59NW would be an ag strip running NW/SE, catelogue number 59 in our reference folder. (The reference folder contains photos, runway descriptions, hazard notes, owner names & phone numbers etc) Up till now I've shared Macca's reservations about a coded naming system, but I must say that having the runway direction defined by the name helped enormously in identifying the fields when we were searching for them in the Grob. Some are very difficult to find until you're almost right on top of them, and knowing what you're looking for helped a lot. And this is what the real life situation is going to be like when you're desperate to find a landing spot. We've also taken the decision to eliminate redundant turnpoints, such as silos, rail crossings, pubs etc where nearby airfields exist. As much as possible we've used airfields as turnpoints. So Barraba airport, not Barraba silo, Mullaley airfield not the pub. For this comp our list has a total of 96 points - 73 of which are landable and 41 of which are control points (start, turn and finish points). 12 are startpoints, all separated by a minimum 5km, to ensure safe starting conditions. 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 ----- Original Message ----- From: Ian McPhee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2003 8:21 AM Subject: Re: [aus-soaring] Has anyone coordinated/updated GPS data recently? > Turnpoints/landing places > It would be great if people responsible for their local club turn point data > could add height especially for landing places. I know that it has been > said before but it would be best if we could think of landing places as turn > points rather than the past more popular silo now that we do not use photos > very much. With naming of airstrips I personally prefer "Jacks strip" or > "Rangari airstrip" as this means more to me than a series of numbers or > letters and it also encourages me to use a map or is that a lost art like > the slide rule or log tables!!! What do others think? > Ian McPhee > Box 657 Byron Bay NSW 2481 Australia > Tel +61 (0)2 66 847 642 Mob +61 (0)428 847 642 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > www.mrsoaring.com > >
LkKpt NSWGA 2003 Comp Waypoint-Airfield List.doc
Description: MS-Word document
