Off To Get The New Jabiru

It's all systems go for the expedition to pick up the new Jabiru J230 from the factory. Two planes and four crew are going. Alan Dickerson and PW will be taking Alan's Jabiru, while Michael H and Michael S are taking the club's Jabiru. The party will set off on Saturday, subject to the weather of course. The plan is to reach Narromine on Saturday and then on to Bundaberg on Sunday. We can pick up the new plane on Monday and head home on Tuesday, again subject to the weather. If all goes well we will be home on Wednesday evening. So stay tuned for more updates.

Next Dadswell Bridge Weekend

The next Dadswells Bridge flying weekend will be on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th August. Benalla's Pawnee will be providing the towing duties. The Twin Astir will be ferried to Colefield for the weekend. The Briggs Bluff area is a great one to flying around. Depending on the winds there may be ridge lift and of course the ever allusive 'Wave'. So keep the 18th and 19th free for some really interesting flying opportunities.

Annual Dinner and Awards Night

The club's Annual Dinner will be held on Saturday 18th August at the Capital Comfort Motel, Firebrace Street, Horsham (This is the old Commodore, over the road from the swimming pool). There will be no set price menu, so you and your guests will be able to order what you wish from the evenings menu. RSVP for the dinner to Michael Sudholz on 0417 585 747. Pre-dinner drinks will be from 7.00 PM. So its 7 for 7.30. The night is open to all members, their partners and friends of the club. As usual we will be inviting the Dadswells Gang to join us.

Crap Flying Weather...Good For Farmers

PW reports that the weather on the weekends over the last few weeks has been pretty poor for flying with not a lot of flying activity. But the weather has been great for our farmers, and no one really minds that much. So Phil C has been giving the grounds some much required TLC. Well he's mowed the grass anyway. But mowing the grass is not without incident. My trusty reporter tells me that Phil got bogged four times on the ride on. Thanks for all your hard work Phil.

Update Of Fleet Details

There has been an update to the details of the clubs aircraft on our web page. Now that the the Pawnee has been sold and the J230 ordered and almost here, I decided to add basic details of past club aircraft. So after discussions with Max and PW I came up with a basic list of our past aircraft. At the moment its just a list of type with a photograph. I have included photos of the actual aircraft if I have one. Where I haven't got an actual photo I have included a generic photo of the aircraft type. Please let me know if there are any aircraft that have been missed out and also if anyone has photos of any of our past aircraft. Have a look at the page for yourself. It can be found at;

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~wimmsoar/fleet.htm

We've Got A Street Address At Last!

After more than 44 years of telling people the club is at Geodetic Road Horsham we now have an actual street number. We are located at 288 Geodetic Road. This corresponds (so Max Hedt tells me) to the club being 2880 metres from the beginning of Geodetic Road. We assume that the beginning is at the railway crossing. We even have one of those 'bendy' road side markers to indicate were '288' is and its right next to the entrance to our the car park. It also could mean that 288 Geodetic Road is the aerodrome and not us. That could make us 288A, B, C or some other letter corresponding to the buildings on the aerodrome. But let's just say its us. So now its; Horsham Flying Club, Horsham Aerodrome, 288 Geodetic Road, Horsham.

Gary Receives His Pilots Certificate

Gary Allbut has received his full RAAus Pilots Certificate. His next aim is with a little more practice to be endorsed on the club Jabiru. He has already had a number of flights with PW. Gary and partner Viv already flown over 20 hours in a 'Sportstar' on "the Great Air rally" and on a trip to "Natfly" at Narromine. So Gary and Viv have now well and truly passed to the "Dark Side" (U/Ls). Well done Gary and congratulations from all at the Horsham Flying Club.

Mark & Max Bid Farewell to TOJ

With a last crackle of the Lycoming's exhaust and after 22 years of faithful service punching holes in the skies over Horsham, our faithful old Pawnee, Tango Oscar Juliet lifted off from the main runway at 0803 hrs Monday 4th June 2007, bound for Queensland where it will become the glider tug for the 2 Wing School of Aviation of the Australian Air Force Cadets.

The departure was witnessed by a cold Mark Griffin and myself. Mark was definitely displaying a very nostalgic streak and I am sure there was a small tear in his eye as we watched it disappear shortly after lift off behind a small bank of fog, bound for the first stop at Swan Hill. At 0805 heavy fog rolled into the aerodrome from the west. So ends an era.

Submitted by Max Hedt.

Editors Note: Max thought it was the last of TOJ, but she came back a little while later. (Just like a naughty school boy pleading not to be sent to the principals office.) But it was only because of the fog that she returned and later in the morning TOJ finally slipped over the horizon on her trip to Queensland and her new life.

TOJ Makes Her Last Flights For The HFC

On Saturday 2nd of June the club's faithful tug TOJ completed her final aerotows for the Horsham Flying Club. The old girl had at least four launches. Peter Weissenfeld flew the last launch with Max Hedt and Michael Sudholz hanging on behind in the Twin Astir. Earlier in the day PW flew some check flights with Michael in IUM and then Michael flew the last solo launch behind TOJ.

Whose Got Shiney Wings Now?

The Twin Astir went out of service on Sunday 15^th April to have its wings refinished by Composite Components. Gel coat was sprayed onto the wings on Friday 20^th and the wings were sanded back, undercoated, sanded back again, given a top coat of paint and finally lightly sanded back again on Saturday 21^st and Sunday 22^nd of April. The wings have now been finished and are just about to complete their re-weigh before going back into service. The whole project was a massive job with over 100 man hours of volunteer labour contributed by a hard work group. Thank you to all those who got stuck in and helped out.