This article by Bradly Gould was first published in the Adelaide University Gliding Club Inc Newsletter, Vol 17, April 1992.
From the 1st to 7th of February, David Conway and myself went to Horsham Week, a traditional gliding competition that has been held for the last twenty-five years. We left on the Friday, with David's Libelle, Tango X-ray, in tow behind the Commodore.
The Saturday arrived and David flew TeX on task. He outlanded 100 km from the field on the way back, in a farmer’s paddock, with Allan Ash, another of the competitors. He did not call the airfield until about 8:30 pm. Two hours later I got him, I still had not eaten and was slightly annoyed due to the fact that two hours in the car with no one to talk to and no operative stereo tended to be a bit boring. After derigging the Libelle (about ten minutes) we headed back to the airfield and did not find a place to eat until we were all the way back to Horsham at about 1:45 am. We then went back to the airfield to drop off the trailer and since I had not yet put up the tent we slept on the ground next to the trailer.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention, Saturday was my birthday. David came 8th in his class.
Sunday dawned and we were up bright and early to rig TeX and it was my turn to fly. My first flight in TeX involved an aerotow behind an underpowered tug, on a short runway, from an airfield I had never flown at before, in strange country. I got to the last turnpoint and gracefully flopped into a paddock only 25 km from home. A couple of S.A. pilots could not find the turnpoint, even though it had two silos, two railway lines, a main road and an oval in it. They wasted the better part of an hour finding it, as I fly in under them, take the photo and head off, vainly giving directions as I go. They got home (slowly) while I outlanded, there is no justice. I came 11th.
Monday was a good day with David completing the task at an average speed of about 100 km/hr and finishing 8th again.
Tuesday was called off, due to bad weather. David flew Citabria and got his tail dragger endorsement whilst I went off to the Grampians with a few of the South Australian pilots. At the camping ground there were a lot of tame kangaroos, all very hungry. One eager kangaroo stuck its head into Dan Kilgaraths car and Scott Percival cleaned its teeth with a convenient toothbrush i.e. the one Dan used that morning. At one lookout we saw a forested valley, with large mountains surrounding it and whilst eating lobster chicken we watched tailed eagles playing in the ridge lift in front of us.
A task was set on Wednesday and it turned out to be an interesting day. On the start grid the weather to the west looked ominous, with rumours of a big storm in Adelaide. I launched and at fifty feet in the air still behind the tug I got a good look at what was coming our way. I decided that I would continue the launch, play around in the wave and pre frontal lift before landing and putting the glider in its box to protect it from the approaching storm. Sports class had not left, it was ordered to land. With about five minutes to spare as we were taking the wings of TeX, a minute the rain hit and rained very heavily for about five straight hours dumping more than an inch. The tent we were staying in suffered a structural failure and was awash. But it was alright as most of our clothes were on the airbeds floating clear of the water. Scott decided that they should go check the gliders and took Dan's car. To get to the gliders you must go on a track that says 'Dry weather only'. Scott managed to bog Dan's car twenty feet the other side of the sign. He then made a valiant attempt to get to his glider in his Subaru 4WD, but decided, after heading in a barely controlled slide towards Dan's bogged car, to give it in. For the rest of the trip we stayed in a caravan park.
Thursday was called off and a group of us went sightseeing to Mt Arapiles, a big rock in the middle of nowhere, like something out of Close Encounters. We went rock climbing and looked in a few caves. David and I left the group to have a look at the Grampians. The drive up there in David’s car was a lot of fun, with good stoop winding mountain roads. We went to the lookouts and McKenzie falls, where we went exploring like little kids.
Friday did not look promising, a task was set, but both David and I decided that it was not worth it and headed home. Friday was eventually called off, as was Saturday, so we missed very little.
Horsham was a great club to visit and it was one of the most friendly comps I had been to weather permitting, I hope to be back next year.