Gliding Queensland’s 2013 Easter competition at Goondiwindi has followed the accepted gliding event weather pattern – when most competitors arrived on the day before practice day to set up, the sky was filled with cu’s. Practice Day itself was not promising at all, with only a few hardened pilots launching.

Day 2 Goondiwindi 2013

Then we had DAY ONE of competition (Saturday 30th March) when everyone took to the skies with weather-person Jenny’s warning that the day would probably finish early. Naturally, the weather did the complete opposite, with conditions improving right through until late in the day. Talk around the bar as the sun set in a clear sky was of overcooked final-glides and excessive height at finish despite Vne runs.

What a difference a few hours can make. We woke to leaden skies on Sunday. Before briefing started, the heavens had opened and we had some very soggy pilots and gliders. So…situation normal for any gliding event. The mood, unsurprisingly, drooped. This was not helped by several short but thorough blackouts that effectively demolished all efforts by our scorers to iron out the last of the scoring issues. Luckily, the rain band moved through quite quickly and a glimmer of sunset raised hopes.

DAY TWO saw pilots waking to crystal clear skies and a light, cool breeze. Task-setters scurried about conferring with weather-people. Gliders were washed, polished and, in one case, bailed out. It was all systems go. Even the Competition Director got in on the act, gridding his glider behind the other 52 competitors and flopping around the 2 hour AAT in beautiful cu-filled skies. There were a couple of outlandings, but all-in-all, a good day.