This article by Craig Dilks was first published in the Soaring Australia magazine, May 2004.
It's a pilgrimage, or maybe it's a habit formed by glider pilots for the past 40 years or so to make the annual trip to Horsham Week.
The first Saturday in February, is, traditionally, the start of this competition run by Wimmera Soaring Club. Last year the pilots, as a group, stepped in to have a go at running the event. In 2004 thy came back agin to do the same, also incorporating the Victorian State Championships.
Pilots, from New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, the United Kingdom and Europe, competed in four classes - Club, Standard, Racing and Open. A total of 45 gliders were present, ranging from a Boomerang, a PW5 to LS8s and Duo Discus.
DAY 1:
After a long briefing, which normally happens on day one, 35 gliders gridded up on tre short strip and waited for the first tug to pull in front. Sports Class led the opening day's flying with a l94km task ahead of them. Standard Class set out on a 222km task, while both l5m and Open Class went out on a 279km task with a 20km AAT. One of the main highlights for the day was Peter Buskens' climb to 12,000ft in his ASW 24, when pushed further north.
DAY 2:
This started with everyone gridding and the commencement of Sports Class launches. After six aerotows a strong 30kt westerly came in which cancelled the day for competition flying. Most of the gliders which were already airborne climbed to 10,000ft, and a few even contacted some weak shear wave.
DAY 2 (ATTEMPT TWO):
In a few words - 'it rained', but strangely enough more gliders turned up, taking the fleet from 38 to 45 in total.
DAY 2 (ATTEMPT THREE):
There's nothing sadder than glider pilots who have to stay on the ground. All around Horsham, in shops, pubs or coffee lounges one would find pilots and their crew looking for something to do to just fill in the time. The rain just had to go away so at least give us one more day of competition.
DAY 2 (ATTEMPT FOUR):
We were told thar there might be a window of time to get the task in which was set for Goroke, Dimboola with a 20km AAT around each one. After the morning briefing the day was cancelled due to the fact that the weather was not its best and the task would have been nearly a straight out-and-return with AAT. Putting 45 gliders into such a tight task had some safety concerns.
DAY 2 (ATTEMPT FIVE):
It was on, day two for real this time, and the first day where the organisers had smiled since Sunday. Forty-five gliders and three tow planes all lined up on the runway was an inspiring sight. When you set yourself up to 7,000ft at the start point, push out towards the first turnpoint and keep hitting lift, you know it's going to be a good day' And it was for most. Claire Rudolf in her Libelle did the Sports Class l77km task in two hours to win the day.
DAY 3:
After finally getting day two in everyone was really looking forward to heading out on a task. But it wasn't to be. After launching Tony Tabart in the Janus as a sniffer flight the whole field watched him struggle around for about half-an-hour only reaching a bit over 2,000ft, md not much higher. The day was finally cancelled at 2:30pm because of the low heights. Some pilots took to local flying and late in the day, about 5:30pm, reached 3,500ft.
THE FINAL DAY:
The ones who flew only two days now had to make today's flight to really be counted. In the morning briefing David Wilson gave his met report which showed it was going to be a scorcher - 45C for Horsham and 48C in Mildura. The rest of the state was going to be just as hot. At 12:15 all 45 gliders gridded up and waited for the day to start. At 1:00pm Jeff Vincent went up in his Pik 20 for a sniffer flight. It looked harder than the day before, so David Wilson launched in his ASW 24 and confirmed that it was difficult. In the extreme heat, keeping the water up and keeping in the shade was a must. Some clouds slowly marched towards us on the horizon, but not fast enough. The day was cancelled at 2:00pm, making it a non-competition. At 3:30 the conditions arrived and a few pilots had trouble closing canopies through heat expansion. Those pilots who did fly said that the sky was great and the best way to get away from the heat.
The weather is the only thing that we can't control! Although it was not the best, the whole week would not have happened without the following People - Noel Vagg as Contest Director and Jan, who ran the bar; Operations Director was shared between Colin Adams and Colin Gamble; Safety Officer for the week was Joe Luciani; David Wilson kept us up to date with the weather. Bruce Cowan did the scoring, Tony Tabart the task setting, and the morning briefing was run by Terry Bellair. And, what would a competition be without Brian Wood as the tugmaster. I m sure that I have missed some people who also put in a huge amount of effort so to those, a big thank-you. The host club, the Wimmera Soaring Club, once ' again ran the kitchen, putting on the high standard meals that they serve every year.
Next year's competition will commence on 5 February. Hope to see you all there.