This report appeared in the newsletter of the Association - No 7, Feb '96.
by Mark Stanley. Well our first regatta has now been and gone, I think all who attended had a really good time. The main theme was on fun, there were only basic prior arrangements made with 'doing it- -as we felt like it' being the order of the day. Day one was Thursday,4th January, this also happened to be the first day the Vintage Soaring Assoc regatta were able to fly, the weather was not kind earlier in the week, the wind was still blowing as it had been all week although not as strong, plus there was still a fair bit of cloud around, but we all braved the conditions and rigged the gliders. Peter Raphael and Terry Whitford brought along their WOODSTOCK (VH-HNW), Malcolm Bennett brought along his MONERAI-'P', (VH- HDF),and I dragged along my NYMPH, which is a vintage glider as my WOODSTOCK is still being built. A new member, Kevin Parkinson from Beechworth who is co owner/builder in a DUSTER also attended for the 4 days. Another new member, James Garray form Melbourne also visited for the day, James is also building a WOODSTOCK and is skinning the main wings at present, we look forward to seeing both k forward to seeing both these aircraft in the air very soon. Lots of hanger talk went on first and we didn't fly until the afternoon, Peter flew the Woodstock for 1-1/4 hours with a max available altitude of 3600 feet.Malcolm had 2 shorter flights in his Monerai, I also had two short flights in my Nymph. After I landed, Peter and Terry offered me a flight in their Woodstock, no further prompting was required to get me in the cockpit, after a briefing we(Woody and I) headed for the blue yonder(well, patch's of blue, the rest was grey),this glider is a though delight to fly, the controls are very light and responsive, even at 30-3lkts in a thermal, it is still very stable and responsive, the stall is very docile, it is very quiet, visibility is excellent, you look over the top of the wing in normal flight, and by leaning forward a touch, you can look under the wing, magic stuff! My flight was only 40 mins, but to say I was VERY impressed with the Woodstock, would be an understatement, I am now in a bigger hurry to get my own Woody in the air, so thanks for the flight fella's! We move on to Green lake, about one km down the road after tying the gliders down for the night, a barby was held, and into the photos of everybody's photos from their projects. Then it was bed time for everybody at a 'respectable' hour of the night, sleep followed for SOME of us, there were 3 tents, the one in the middle sounded like a symphony, nded like a symphony, with a bass singer with backup vocals, as I said, sleep for some! Friday was a very good day, breakfast was had with some having had MORE SLEEP than others,(WHAT!, ME, having a shot, not likely mate!)anyway Peter dragged out his R/C flying boat and we headed for the lake front, spent a while blasting around with this model and then headed for the airfield after the normal DI's, talking etc we got airborne. Terry was up first in the WOODSTOCK, the day was magic with CU's all over once it popped, Terry had a lhr 36min and an Alt of 6700ft, then landed to let Peter have a shot at it. In the meantime, Malcolm launched and had a nice time with a 3 1/2 hour flight and 6300ft. Peters flight lasted 2hrs l9min and had a max altitude of 6500ft. I once again flew my NYMPH with 2 1/2 hrs and 6500 ft, my flight was finished with a round of aerobatics - top fun. There were a few occasions when the Monerai, Woody, Nymph and assorted vintage gliders were milling around in the same thermals, all very nice to look at - magic gear. Another new member joined us at the regatta on Friday, Paul Johnson of Wyndhamvale, who is building a WINDROSE, Paul said he has the fuselage 95/ complete and the tail surfaces are coming along nicely, he and his wife are using the tail surfaces as practice runs before tackling the foam cutting for the main wing panels, this seems to be common to most homebuilt projects as it is such rojects as it is such cheaper to throw away a small part than a large bit, the wallet likes it better. Another interesting part of the day was having a flight in a ZOGLING PRIMARY glider, this is a replica built in the early 70's but designed in the 30's,this glider was built by Ken Davies, so it also is a homebuilt, so it was welcomed with open arms! For anyone that doesn't know the Zogling primary, it was the type of glider used to train many of our early pilots and start many gliding clubs in Australia, and the basic design was used worldwide as a basis for similar aircraft. They are naturally fairly basic with just a seat, rudder bar and control column, the pre take off check is fairly basic which match's the glider, the style is sort of varying according to who you speak to, but mine was this,harness, controls, wings still on, wind, rope..go.yes, a fun little machine, but it is very hard for me to imagine what it must have been like to LEARN to fly in this style of glider, full marks to those who did! During the day, a friend of Terry, Peter, Kevin and Malcolm's arrived in his Lake buccaneer amphibiam, these blokes went into Ararat to the pub for a counter meal, I stayed with the Vintage group to catch up on 'news', later that evening, I shot back to the Lake, had a cuppa and hit the sack, when once again, that centre tent was having a 'JAM SESSION',(honest, I'm not having a go at the centre tents occupants!),sre tents occupants!),so, some of us got more sleep than others,(trust me, I'm not stirring!),anyway, we survived the night, had another few flights of Peters float plane then went to the airfield. Not a lot was happening, so we got our R/C gliders out, which by the way are a very nice design of Peters, being a fibreglass pod, carbon fibre boom and built up balsa wing, so, this means that they are HOMEBUILTS!, Anyway, Peter then pulled out his R/C "Citabria" and we did a bunch of ' 'aerotow' launch's,much to the amusement of some people. Still it is very good fun. The rest of Saturday was a bit of a 'fizza', as the weather threatened to turn foul, with thunderstorms and so on around the place, we felt it was a rather good idea to put the gliders in their boxes and keep them safe, as it turned out pretty well all of the rain missed the airfield, but it was a nice feeling knowing that our pride and joys were safely tucked away. During the morning, assoc member, Tim Berkes and his mother, who is visiting Australia for a short time joined us at Ararat, Tim didn't see any-thing fly that day except some vintage gliders, but got to get an in depth look at the glider he would like to build, the Monerai, so if anyone out there has some info as to the where abouts of a MONERAI KIT, please give me a call on Ph- (085)413 227 or send a letter to Tim at 32 Fawkner Cres, East Keilor 3033, this would make him a very happy man. him a very happy man. The presentation dinner was held in conjunction with the Vintage Soaring Assoc dinner, (as was the Homebuilt regatta itself),a nice, relaxed evening was had by all, with the ladies from the Grampians Soaring club putting on an excellent meal, the catering during the week by these dedicated few was excellent during the week of the Vintage regatta, plus our regatta from Thursday to Sunday. So, thanks ladies, for a job well done. The first batch of trophies for our Assoc were handed out as follows: Best Timber Sailplane' went to Terry Whitford/Peter Raphael with the WOODSTOCK, Best Metal Sailplane, went to Malcolm Bennett with the MONERAI, Best Composite Sailplane, went to Gary Sunderland, with his MOBA- (My Own Bloody Aircraft). I neglected to mention Gary had delivered his MOBA to Ararat earlier in the week but only arrived at the regatta on Saturday, due to competing in the Australian Nationals for Model Aircraft. Gary and his wife rigged and flew the MOBA despite the threatening weather. This is also the first time I have personally seen the MOBA, it is an impressive aircraft, and I think the Composite award was well fitting for this glider, as it is fibreglass, metal and timber! The only other trophy awarded was for "the longest distance travelled to attend" for this one you don't need a glider, just be an association member (current of course). This one went, much to my pis one went, much to my pleasure, to ME - can't say I mind! Some may say that there was no competition amongst the winners of the trophies for the various aircraft types/structures, I say that this is just the beginning, and the quality of workmanship in these aircraft is very impressive and this in itself deserves to be awarded, and so it was, as our group gets larger there will be true competition amongst the owners and their gliders, this will of course be good as it helps to keep the standards at a very high level, and encourages others to get in and have a go. The Sunday arrived looking rather overcast so I jumped in my car and towed my bird home for a well deserved rest, I don't know what everybody did, but I had to get back to the real world and work on Monday some there was no choice, still I feel that I can safely say that our first Regatta was a complete success and we all look forward to next time which at this stage is still to be decided, but will probably be held in conjunction with the Vintage assoc again, as this theme worked very well indeed, with interest from both groups to each others machines, and general 'fly for fun' attitude toward the dual events. I will keep you informed in this newsletter as co updates Re next regatta. In closing, I would like to thank our hosts, the Grampians Soaring Club for their excellent running of things during the regatta, they are a very friendly crowd, so drop in if crowd, so drop in if you are going past. Also,once again, thanks to the ladies with the catering, thanks also to the Vintage Assoc for allowing us to join in with them during their regatta and finally thanks to all who helped make this first regatta a success, I look forward to many more in the future. See you there.