This article by David Goldsmith was first published on the Bendigo Gliding Club website.
A pleasant week's gliding was had by the six members of the Bendigo Gliding Club team at Horsham Week from 2nd to 9th February. Club Pilots were Craig Dilks (Super Arrow), Paul Dilks (Astir), Terry Bellair (DG-400) Caleb White (DG-100), Dave Goldsmith (DG-100) and Jenne Goldsmith who shared the Geelong syndicate Janus with John Ashford on two days.
Reasonable conditions with some cirrus cloud on the Saturday and Sunday climaxed with a great day on Monday with thermals to 10,600 feet, and a skyful of large cumulus. On this day Caleb attained his Gold C Distance and Diamond Goal with a flight of 346 k. The next three days were not flyable,and most of our team spent Thursday exploring the Grampians and Halls Gap, and looking for Australia's best meat pie!
Friday was difficult with wind and areas of overcast. Some competitors outlanded but all our team made it home, although Dave flew a special task all of his own and scored no points. Saturday with small scattered cu looked good however the third leg into wind made the going tough, but again our trusty gliders prevailed to get everyone home. In their classes, Terry and Caleb came third and Craig came a very creditable fourth in the Super Arrow. Paul came in ninth and Dave with one scoring day was tenth.
Generally they were billed as the friendly comps and about thirty five gliders competed. Once again Horsham Week had shown itself to be a great introduction for those interested in competition or crosscountry flying, with everything from met briefings, marshalling and tugs through to catering with three meals a day and a bar service laid on. The previous week had seen a cross-country coaching course with twelve students, who were very enthusiastic in their praise for the course.
Like Raywood, plenty of large paddocks available for outlandings take much of the stress out of crosscountry flying. At this competition FLARM was mandatory, and the general feedback was that pilots liked having FLARM, while ensuring they continue to use their main aid for spotting other gliders, and enjoying the view - two eyes!
Caleb shares with Jenne the excitement of winning the Achievement Award at Horsham Week. This award was won by Craig last year