This was Colin Turner's last comp as Contest Director. At the dinner, Phil Henderson, Competition Manager, thanked Colin for making the 2 years at Benalla such a success - "without Colin's input, none of this would have happened - the operational success has been due to Colin. Colin soloed at Benalla on 29 Dec 1954. He flew his first comp here in a Kookaburra and won 2 days. Colin has donated his time and has put back into competition gliding what he got out of it. We're eternally grateful".

Phil expressed thanks to the many helpers including Sue Hanley (ground marshal), Norm Sutton (launch master), Bruce Salter (tugmaster) and the tuggies, Deniz Ture (scorer) and Tim Shirley for his assistance.

Colin responded that "working with Phil Henderson and John Switala had been a pleasure. I've never run a comp where I've had such backup from a club - Gliding Club of Victoria has been marvellous. Thanks to them both and to David Wilson (weather), Peter Gray (task setter/safety) and Rhonda Gellately and Sue Kirschner in the office. This sort of backup does make up the success of a comp. I've thoroughly enjoyed working with all the pilots through organising 5 club class and 3 state comps. It has brought me a lot of enjoyment and I will miss it. I'll still enjoy flying and a quick 300 km is my idea of a great afternoon!"

Overall competition results after adjustments for Day 2:

1 - Phil Ritchie - 3991.6 points

2 - Jim Crowhurst - 3946.4

3 - David Jansen - 3637.9

4 - Peter Temple - 3540.4

5 - Alan Barnes - 3382.8

Please see Results page for full details.

10am - a task is set and a decision will be made in 'reasonable time'. The day is likely to be called off. There is a lot of cloud stretching from Adelaide right across us. There is a little bit of a hole but quite a lot of rain, not particularly heavy. There was flash flooding in Mildura yesterday and a lot of rain in Alice Springs. When the main cloud comes down this way, we'll get a lot more rain. The air is very humid, up to almost 40,000'. North-westerlies at high altitudes. Thunderstorms predicted.

Colin Turner suggested launching the first 3 place-getters and timing the trailers as they come in the gate.

11.30am - the day is similar to yesterday. Mid-way through the afternoon could be soarable but impractical for a competition, even if we do get cloud clearing later in the day. The day was reluctantly cancelled.

Photo - a pretty surprise for Colin Turner from the pilots.

Link to file of Alan Barnes comments on ABC radio 12 Jan 07 www.exalander.com/mbgc/mbgcnewspage.htm .

10am - Colin Turner pleaded "what do the weather gods expect - 2 days ago, I sacrificed 27 gliders!".

David Wilson said that it was hoped that the cloud might have moved away, but it's all coming in this direction and Adelaide is now under cloud too. There's not very much happening that is going to move the cloud. The high near New Zealand has been an influencing factor for the whole competition. If it weren't for today's cloud, it would be a brilliant day - unstable all the way up. Only about 60% of the sun's heat is getting through. There will be patches of rain, up to one hour. Winds variable up to 10,000' with north-westerlies at 14,000'. The temperature at 10,000' is 4 degrees cooler than yesterday which brings an increasing probability of hail. De-rigging may be appropriate. The low to the north will move down and intensify. We'll probably get westerlies by Sunday. The prospects of the cloud clearing for the comp are not good.

A task has been prepared but not printed. Colin noted that "we won't be doing anything silly. The worst thing a Contest Director can do is to can a day too early. The final decision is delayed until midday when we'll rebrief. But in the meantime, it's your call on the derigging!"

midday - 27 degrees - south / south-easterly winds are bringing in smoke so that as the weather appears to improve, our visibility will get worse. If this amount of sun stays on the ground for very long, it will result in thunderstorms with hail. We need a 5 hour timeframe to fit in a 2 hour task with gridding, launching etc. This south-easterly wind could be a downflow from thunderstorms in the hills - there is a lot of instability over the mountains at the moment. Thunderstorms may develop in the afternoon around 4 / 5pm. With the combination of high probability of thunderstorms together with decreasing visibility, the day was cancelled.

Day 9 - 10am Colin Turner noted that maybe we could have started an hour earlier yesterday (Comp Day 5), but there were good reasons not to do so - and it wouldn't have made much difference. There was a major storm at Yarrawonga which just missed Benalla but resulted in a dust storm here. The main track home was in areas that got very wet. "We're here to find a champion and we will by the end of this week!".

Colin expressed gratitude to the ladies in the office for all their work in managing the outlanding retrieves, with particular thanks to Rhonda Gellately. Sue Kirschner went to retrieve Max and Evelyn Turner stepped in to assist. Colin thanked all of the wives who went out on retrieve.

Bill Hatfield said that the organisers should be congratulated on the outlanding sheets and maps "which were superb and should be a model for all competitions".

David Wilson reported that there is a trough line associated with a front which is approaching and is expected to get here at around 10pm this evening. All the cloud is being sucked in a southerly direction and is still over us. There is a 30% chance of storms over our area. It is pouring with rain at Shepparton and to the west of us. The temp trace indicated fairly unstable air all the way up. 70% of the sun's heat is getting through giving us the possibility of a maximum of 35 degrees and 8,000' thermals, but they will be difficult to find. It is unlikely that the cloud will be uniformly 70% everywhere - some parts will be thicker than others. Forecast winds are north-west to 15 knots with westerlies at 7,000'. Today may bring more wave than yesterday. Tomorrow there will be trough lines around in the morning. The weather isn't expected to be any different for the remaining days.

Task for Competition Day 6: a 2.5 hour AAT to the south-west, north, north-east to give scope to move around any thunderstorms - Euroa (30 km radius), Katamatite (25), Peechelba (20), Goorambat (10) - minimum 112 km - max 383 km. The probability of getting a task in today is very low.

Marshalling scheduled for 12.30pm to finish by 1.15pm, first launch1.30pm. Briefing rescheduled for midday.

Midday - day cancelled. There is rain in the task area and lighting strikes. Only 58% of the sun's heat is getting through giving maximum thermal height of only around 4,000'. It is not soarable at all in the direction of the first leg.

Day 8 - Tuesday 16 January Competition Day 5

Provisional winners Competition Day 5:

3rd place - Phil Ritchie (LS4a) - 77.8 kph - 307.7 km - "Like everyone else, I found the first two-thirds of the day ok and was getting 5-6 knot climbs; then the day turned soft. I just touched the last circle and got home. I was 1,000' above the ground 12 km from the airfield."

2nd place - David Jansen (Cirrus) - 80.6 kph - 282.0 km - "Once airborne, I ran with the trough and found myself at Puckapunyal and avoiding airspace. I went north. The trough line had moved through and I got to 10,000' several times. I came in early and am surprised to have done so well."

1st place - Jim Crowhurst (ASW19b) - 83.7 kph - 348.0 km - "It was a funny day. I tried to figure out what it was doing at the start gate and eventually started at 9,000'. Had a good run and then hit the gloom. Stayed on track to Echuca. I kept pushing on as I could see sunlight ahead of the cloud. Got some good climbs of 5-6 knots and at Deniliquin had 5-6 knots to 11,000'. I just hit the circle and did a long glide to Katamatite. A tail wind was blowing 30 knots which helped with my ground speed. I grovelled at Katamatite. Peter Buskens marked a 2-3 knot climb which dissipated when I got there. Then we worked together and grovelled home. My last climb was about 0.1 of a knot."

2 local club members did a 300 km out and return to Condobolin and flew a total of 680km.

Overall results after comp day 5:

1 - Phil Ritchie - 3980 points

2 - Jim Crowhurst - 3946

3 - David Jansen - 3632

4 - Peter Temple - 3495

5 - Alan Barnes - 3323

See results section on the website for full results. 27 outlandings for the day; 16 pilots completed the task.

6pm - a total of 18 outlandings at this time.

4.30pm - 3 outlandings; total fire ban day so no aero-tow retrieves.

2.45pm Gate opened; 43 gliders launched into skies full of cloud.

10am - there is smoke around today but there was 20 km visibility at the time of the temp trace (at 9.15am because waited for smoke to clear); the top of the smoke is above 8,500'. There is a northerly air stream over Victoria and a band of cloud is coming up associated with a front. A low is forming over Mildura. The southern edge of the northern cloud mass is over Mildura / Temora; it is still moving in this direction, but evaporating as it comes south. There is a chance of thunderstorms in Victoria but not predicted for Benalla or Corowa.

Surface winds are north easterly at 15 knots, with northerlies above also at 15 knots. A maximum of 41 degrees plus will take us to around 12,000 / 12,500'. There may be wispy cu at that height. We should get a late cut-off today; thermals will be weak and far apart after around 6.30pm.

Sea breeze is expected at 9pm this evening. A trough line will be at Horsham around 10pm. A residual trough line will be over the top of us Wed/Thu. Still looks like a northerly air flow for the remainder of the competition so hopefully we won't be affected by smoke.

David Wilson predicts that "today will be largely blue - though the weather bureau is predicting thunderstorms, so there must be clouds somewhere".

Task for Competition Day 5: a 3.5 hour AAT to the west and north - Elmore (60 km radius), Berrigan (50), Dookie (20) - minimum 185 km - max 614 km.

Because today is very hot, we are gridding fairly late. Within 15 minutes of completing the grid, we will launch. Marshalling starts 12.30pm to finish by 1.15pm, first launch is scheduled for 1.30pm - we should be up to 8,000' by then.

Provisional winners Competition Day 4 (Monday 15th):

3rd place - Phil Ritchie (LS4a) - 117.8 kph - 242.7 km - "I got a good start with more than 9,000' - was low over the river but took a good climb. Never really had to stop."

2nd place - Swaantje Geyer (Cirrus Std) - 119.0 kph - 238.6 km - "At the time, I thought that I flew too slowly between thermals, but obviously not. I found cloud streeting in the blue on the way home and had a good run. I ended up doing 2 hrs 20 secs, and I think that made the big difference. It is my fastest speed in a 15m glider and it's my best place ever in a club class competition in Australia. I would have hated to miss a day like that." Swaantje was placed second in the Women's World Club Class Championships in 2005.

1st place - Jim Crowhurst (ASW19b) - 122.5 kph - 256.8 km - "The haze streak was the secret yesterday. Met up with Alan Barnes and we had a good run. I got a couple of good climbs on the second leg - 8 knotters. There was a haze dome streak on the way home - had a 49km glide at 150:1." This was Jim's first day win at a club class nationals.

Colin Turner noted that "it seems energy management was the key yesterday - short sharp tasks are often the best".

Overall results after comp day 4:

1 - Phil Ritchie - 3031.9 points

2 - Jim Crowhurst - 2946.4

3 - Peter Temple - 2838.7

4 - Tom Gilbert - 2726.5

5 - Toby Geiger - 2720.1

6 - Rolf Buelter - 2686.2

7 - David Jansen - 2659.0

8 - Swaantje Geyer - 2646.8

5.50pm - after a late start, it turned out to be a good day and the gliders are landing now.

10am - David Wilson reported 'quite an interesting weather pattern'. The trough line which is east of Shepparton and west of here is moving around a bit. East of the trough there are light northerlies of 5 - 10 knots; on the west side, southerlies. Unfortunately, the wind in the middle of the trough is easterly, bringing smoke from the local fire. The northerlies are bringing smoke from a large fire near Dubbo.

The satellite picture is similar to yesterday. There is a large cloud mass over the Northern Territory and Central Australia. There is no indication that it is moving this way.

There is fairly strong inversion around 2,000' - 4,500'. Today's max will be around 34 degrees; we won't get higher unless the smoke clears. Thermals to 7,000' are expected around 5pm today - assuming that the smoke starts to clear. Could get 3,000' thermals at noon. Winds are variable on the surface with easterlies at 2,000' and northerlies above 2,000'. Fairly light winds at all altitudes.

The low in South Australia will move east fairly quickly. Tomorrow should bring a pronounced northerly flow - the high is in the Bight and the trough line hasn't got to us yet - it is expected to be here on Wednesday.

When the northerlies kick in, it will take around 10 hours to clear away all the smoke - providing they don't bring smoke from Dubbo. Tomorrow should be clear of smoke.

Temora is completely clear of smoke and had a good day yesterday and another is expected today; but there is a smoke haze to their south. Narromine is clear. Corowa is smoked in as we are.

Task is as for Day 4: a 2 hour AAT to the north - Tocumwal (35 km radius), Burrumbuttock (60), Dookie (20) - minimum 157.0 km - max 562.6 km - to give us distance range for plenty of options if we do get in the air later in the day. The probability is low.

First launch is scheduled for 1pm; grid noon.

12pm announcement - gridding rescheduled for 1pm.

1pm - gliders towing out to grid; still smoke over the airfield but it is expected to blow away.

2.40pm smoke diminishing; 6 gliders have been launched; visibility 15 km; launch proceeding.

Some pilots went home Monday morning, anticipating continuing no-fly-days due to smoke and weather.

Day 6 - this morning's temp trace indicated that the smoke tops out at 8,000' and below that is barely IFR. Temora has had easterlies which have blown yesterday's smoke away from their area. There is 5km visibility at Euroa and even less further south. Winds are high and variable with a drift from the south / south-east, from the direction of the fires.

Rather than grid and cancel in the afternoon for the third day running, the organisers have decided to call today a rest day - leaving the week available for flying without having to concern ourselves with a rest day.

Amongst the pilots, Colin Turner welcomed Christine Grote, former World Women's Club Class Champion and Michael Somer, current World Open Class Champion. David Jansen recently broke 14 Australian records and 1 world record (500 km out and return at 212.85 kph in a DG400) in Argentina, South America and will give a talk on his experiences. We've just heard unofficially that Kerrie Claffey won the Tasman Trophy in New Zealand - congratulations Kerrie!

David Wilson gave a rundown on expected weather. There is a large high pressure system in the Bight at the moment which will move east in the next day or so. There is a large mass of cloud to the north and if it did happen to come down this way, it would influence us, but it's not anticipated to do so. The weather should improve. The high is established to the west with a north-east air flow expected over our area, which should blow the smoke away. By Tuesday, there should be a strong northerly to move the smoke; it will be very hot and probably very soarable.

Day 5 - 1.45pm day cancelled - smoke turned out to be a problem - not only the local fire at Tatong but smoke from fires in Gippsland.

10.30am It definitely turned out to be the right decision to cancel Day 4. The trough line affecting us yesterday is now well east of Sydney and we're in post-frontal air stream which typically damps down thermals. Southerly winds are having an effect on the bushfire at Tatong nearby and we can see the effects here. A little bit of cloud in Swan Hill is not going to affect us. There is cool air low down and there is a large area to heat up before we get to high temperatures. Maximum predicted is 31.5 degrees which would get to 6,000' - if we didn't have strong subsidence. However, with strong subsidence we won't get more than 5,500' above ground. The further west, the cooler it will get. Wind forecast is southerlies at 15 knots even on the ground, with strong gusts. On a day of southerly winds, there is usually a sharp cut-off in the Benalla area around 5pm because of cooler air coming in from the Mansfield valley, plus there is cool air today coming up from Melbourne. These 2 factors will kill the day.

Smoke could be a problem tomorrow - not only the local fire at Tatong but smoke from all the fires in Gippsland.

A 2.5 hour run task is set to the south west/west/north west.

A run task is similar to a racing task except that you repeat the sequence until your time has expired which gives your distance. Note, Benalla is not a waypoint.

If you land out before your time has expired, this is a normal outlanding. If you outland between your last point at timeout and Benalla, you lose 10% of your total distance.

Once your time has expired, you are no longer racing - return to the field and do a safe landing. Note that gliders returning to the field will come from all directions.

There are no parachute operations at Euroa today but there could be gliding activity at Locksley, just south of Euroa.

First launch 1pm.

Peter Gray's address at Day 4 briefing following analysis of logger traces of the gliders involved in the incident:

The logger traces were good indicators of what happened. We need to raise our situational awareness and our screening techniques - these are the lessons to be learnt. We all have blind spots and need to be aware of our own and other pilots' blind spots. Pilots should be using cruising scan + full scan to keep situational awareness high - maintain full scan + concentrate on targeted scan. Assume that the other pilot has not seen you. LOOK OUT is the message.

Pulling up into thermals is a highly dangerous manoeuvre. Don't do high speed pullups into thermals and keep a good lookout.

Day 4 - 3pm - the front came in earlier than expected and the day was cancelled.

1.30pm - launch delayed - temp reached 30 degress about an hour ago and then dropped back a degree.

Day 4 - 10.30am

There is a trough line to the east of Benalla and a front has gone through Melbourne. Northerly winds are coming down the trough line with westerlies following later in the day. A trough will get to us around 2pm today. There will be an increase in winds with height; up to 55 knots at 14,000'. There is more air to heat up low down, so it won't heat up as quickly as yesterday. 38.5 degrees is the predicted maximum with cloud influence coming in this afternoon. Wave may well happen again, earlier in the day. The cloud coming in will cut things off. A short task is set so we can get home early before the weather cuts off again. South-westerly and north-westerly winds mean that smoke from fires won't affect us here.

The task is basically the same as yesterday - first launch scheduled for 1pm:

A 2 hour AAT is set to the north - Tocumwal (35 km radius), Burrumbuttock (60), Dookie (20) - minimum 157.0 km - max 562.6 km.

Colin Turner's address at Day 3 briefing on yesterday's accident:

The incident occurred at approx 6,000' around 3pm. There were two aircraft involved - Alex Kreti in a Standard Cirrus (GOX) and Phil Eldridge in an ASW19B (UKD). Both gliders had been thermalling together in the previous thermal; we assume that they lost sight of each other momentarily.

At the point of collision, Phil lost half of his port wing and the tail boom broke. The glider kept a flat projectory which gave Phil time to bail out. He suffered muscle and ligament bruising.

Phil gave Mayday calls after impact and telephoned me on landing. I applaud Phil for all his actions and admire him for getting out as he did.

Alex had control of the glider though the canopy was broken. On approach to landing, he was not able to get the undercarriage down, which had been damaged in the collision. Alex suffered minor facial cuts from the canopy.

Because of wind noise from the broken canopy, Alex was unable to radio that he was safe and we were unable to work out who was the second pilot involved for about 15 minutes.

This was the best possible outcome from the worst type of accident.

There were 3 aircraft in close proximity at the time. Thanks are due to several pilots.

Peter Gray who is Safety Officer for the competition returned to the field and coordinated procedures. Peter is also Chairman of the GFA Ops Panel. Because there were no injuries, ATSB handed the matter over to the GFA and the aircraft were moved back to Benalla.

Ray Humphrey was above the incident and he landed immediately adjacent to Phil and gave him assistance.

Tom Gilbert was in the same thermal. He elected to return to the field and then went to retrieve Phil's glider.

Bill Hatfield and Simon Brown weren't flying on the day and went out and helped Alex put his glider in his trailer.

The Safety Committee comprises 3 very experienced pilots. One aircraft was fitted with Flarm and the other was not. We will download the loggers and hope to learn something from the accident which we will communicate.

We've again shown the need for lookout, see and avoid + look into the airspace that you are going to manoeuvre into before you manoeuvre.

We did consider not flying today but feel that Phil and Alex would wish us to fly.

Thanks to Jo Pocklington for keeping the GFA community advised thru our website.

Day 3 provisional winners are:

3rd place - Andrew Huggins (LS7) - 93.2 kph - 207.7 km "I did the same thing as Peter Temple, but not quite as quickly!".

2nd place - Peter Temple (DG200) - 97.0 kph - 201.1 km "All I can say is that I did it quite a bit slower than Phil Ritchie!".

1st place - Phil Ritchie (LS4a) - 103.1 kph - 211.4 km "I could say that I just did it faster than Peter and Andrew! I started in wave south of the airfield at 10,000'. I started cautiously. Saw a glider thermalling - it was Peter Temple - and we pretty much stayed together for the task. My last climb was to 11,000' which got me final glide. It was a good day for me".

10.30am - on Day 3, the trough line is over us now and the front is expected in Benalla at around 5pm this afternoon. There will be strong northerlies with westerlies after the front. Winds west of the trough are expected to be 25 knots at 2,000' and 60 knots at 10,000'. There is a possibility of high based showers and thunderstorms and areas of cloud and strong downdraught are predicted. We should get a reasonable window of time before the front arrives - today's task is short. First launch is scheduled for 1pm.

A 2 hour AAT is set to the north - Tocumwal (35 km radius), Burrumbuttock (60), St James (20) - minimum 149.8km - max 530.5km.

6pm All aircraft are home except for 4 safe outlandings.

See the Photos section - pics courtesy our scorer, Deniz Ture.

8.30pm Phil has been released from hospital with the all-clear but has some bruising.

4pm Two gliders had a mid-air collision north of Shepparton.

Alex Kreti landed his glider safely, with minor canopy damage.

Phil Eldridge parachuted out and landed heavily. At 4pm, Phil is on his way to Shepparton Hospital with possible minor back injuries.

The authorities have been notified and we have approval to pick up the aircraft.

More information when it comes to hand.

Results for Day 2

No pilot will be penalized for returning to the field as a result of the incident and no pilot will be penalized who feels that his performance was affected by the incident - the day will be treated as a lay-day.

Provisional winners for Day 2 are:

3rd place - Toby Geiger - 100.4 kph - 352.5 km "It was a fairly uneventful flight until the incident and then I was a bit preoccupied for about 15 minutes. I decided to stay high and safe. I tried to avoid other gliders and flew mostly by myself and never got low. It turned out to be not a bad tactic after all".

2nd place - Jim Crowhurst - 105.8 kph - 370.3 km "I had a PDA failure in the briefing and managed to get it up and running. It ended up putting me somewhere in the middle of Germany with no airspace. I managed to get it up and running again. I then got into wave and started at around 9,500' which gave me an edge on the first leg. At the end of the second leg I got an 11.5 knotter. But then I was coming in under time - but that didn't hurt too much, obviously".

1st place - David Jansen - 106.9 kph - 376.5 km "This is the first time that I've flown Club Class. I found 50 - 60 gliders going in the same line quite daunting. Being in a Cirrus, I decided to start early and wait for everyone else to catch up with me to lead the way. My worst thermal was 6 knots; everything else was 8 - 10. I was coming in under time, so went to the very bottom of the last circle".

Day 2 forecast and task

Northerly winds are predicted for Day 2 ahead of a trough line. It is anticipated that the front will move through quite quickly with not much effect on us north of the Divide.

A 3.5 hour AAT is set to the north - Echuca (50km radius), Berrigan (50), Peechelba E (15) - minimum 197km max 531km. First launch is 12.30pm. No cu are predicted but there may be a few wispy ones towards Temora.

The task is into the area where 10 knot northerly winds are predicted, which will blow fire smoke back south. As convection develops, the smoke will thin out so won't be a problem for the competition. The day will start earlier than yesterday - 3,000' predicted at noon - and a maximum up to 9,500' above ground at about 4.30pm - when there will be a brief patch of good convection.

Unexpected wave at the start on Day 2 gave many pilots a good start and northerly winds ahead of the trough line were weaker than predicted.