SAC Eastern Zone Championship - GGC MayFly 2017

Friday May 19th is Day 1 of the Championship. With the cold front/thunderstorms/high wind last night, and low cloud this morning, it was hard to be optimistic, however, they're up and flying. There are four gliders equipped with trackers participating, and two others are flying a fairly long task from Hawkesbury. Here's a picture.

Gliders AT, PG (from Montreal Soaring Council), 84 (from Rideau Valley Soaring, Kars), and RM (GGC club glider) are seen running a short quadrilateral Pendleton, Plantagenet, Fournier, Lemieux; and gliders DB and ST, long-wings from Montreal Soaring are returning from Spencerville.  The forecast for Saturday is very good, and Sunday as well.  We also have a visitor flying from York Soaring.

MayFly is a learning contest, and mentors are assigned to new cross-country pilots; there are briefings as well on various topics; Flight Safety, How to Fly Faster, etc.

To see the live glidertracker, go to http://live.glidernet.org/#c=45.33400,-75.15207&z=10&s=1&l=ar&p=2&u=i .

Mid-afternoon on Friday of the long weekend. Sucks to be at work I imagine. Click on image to make it larger.

Carleton University "Blackbird" UAV Team at GGC

 

Over the last two weeks, GGC has hosted the Carleton University “Blackbird” UAV team as they have been preparing their fixed wing and rotary wing UAVs for the national student competition in Alma, QC on April 28-30, 2017. Check out the links below:

 

http://cedalma.com/en/evenements/competition-etudiante-canadienne-de-drones-organisee-par-unmanned-systems-canada/

https://www.facebook.com/BlackbirdUAV/

 Started in 2009, the Blackbird UAV Team was created to provide students at Carleton University with an opportunity to apply the knowledge they have gained through their coursework by giving students hands on experience in the design, construction and implementation of an unmanned aircraft and its systems. Approximately 30 undergraduate and graduate students have been involved in the development of the Team’s entry into this year’s Unmanned Systems Canada Student UAS Competition.

As an extra-curricular project, the Blackbird UAV Team has relied on the generous support of multiple organizations on and off campus.

GGC is proud to support the Carleton Blackbird team again in 2017 by providing the team a flight test location and we wish them the best of luck at the upcoming competition!

2017 Flying Season Underway at GGC

After a wild winter of dramatic temperature swings and alternating snow and rainfalls, flying finally started on Saturday April 8^th.

The day started with the first session of our annual mandatory “Spring Rust Remover Safety Seminar” in the clubhouse which was attended by over 20 GGC members. A great turnout for the first flying day of the season!
After the briefing, spring flight checkouts started with tow pilots (Jarek, Martin, Mike and Jean-Marc) then shifting to flight instructors (Wolfgang, Karl, Gord and Roger). A stiff cross-wind (exactly between runway 26 and 35) provided an honest challenge for everyone to refresh their skills. Mike also managed to get his glider checkout after the instructor cadre had completed their flights.

 

After flying, everyone retired to clubhouse to get back into the regular summertime routine of completing the daily logbook entries.   

Here’s to a great 2017 flying season!

 

One Last Flight on Skis for the 2016-17 Winter Season

On last Sunday Martin and I took up the Champ for one last ski flight. The snow conditions at Pendleton were perfect but by the end of the day, water and slush was rapidly taking over the field. On the way back from Hawkesbury we had the pleasure of circling with a Bald Eagle. It was a great last day of ski flying!