Birchip - Flatter than the Flatlands

Flatter than the Flatlands - Birchip Easter Comp 2005

From the Red Faces Competition: Let's do the whole thing again
Wesley's story here

by Ian Rees

The north west Victorian township of Birchip welcomed over 60 pilots from Victoria and South Australia back for the 12th annual Flatlands tow competition over the 2004 Easter long weekend. Pilot briefings were held at the RSL hall in the centre of town each morning. It was here that Hugh Alexander presented the daily prizes to the day winners and also told stories of misadventure. Wesley Hill provided the scoring and Ian Rees was the weatherman.

DAY 1
The winds were predicted to be out of the south at 20 knots. We went to the paddock and waited for the winds to abate during the afternoon but it didn’t happen. The day was called due to the strong winds with many very large dust devils ripping through.

Later that day a well known SA pilot was to be seen converting his car number plate from ULG332 to ULGY332 with a black texta while unaware that the long arm of the law was watching. The polite Sargeant asked the pilot if he was defacing a numberplate to which the pilot was too shocked and unable to offer a reply. However, this was Birchip and so only a good laugh was had.

DAY 2
The winds calmed to light and variable with a pressure ridge extending through the area around 4:00pm. We decided to tow from the eastern end of the paddock. Tow cars were triggering thermals in the paddock and the winds often sucked tail. Many pilots waited on the towline for up to an hour for the winds to enable a tow. Some were not patient enough and gliders took the punishment of poor technique. Mark O’Keefe tried the hardest to plough in during a blown launch attempt. Those that managed to get a tow got away and did well. The task was called to Beulah, 53km to the WSW. The South Australians showed that they had come to kick some arse and thump the VIC’s. They filled 3 of the top 4 places for the day with only Wesley Hill standing up for the VIC team. Steve Blenkinsop won the day and was presented with the superman costume the next morning. The day was worth only 271 pts.

DAY 3
The weatherman had finally brought good news. The winds were forecast to be 10 knots out of the WSW. The task was set to Lake Boga, 64km downwind. Many of the pilots had flown this task over previous years and the route to take was well known. It was to be a race, which saw 21 pilots into goal. Alan Beavis and Trevor Sangster both launched together at 1:58pm, about half an hour after the first pilots got way. They both used the slower pilots to their advantage and Beavo won the day with a time of 1:29 getting in 5 minutes before Trevor in second place. Overall, Beavo, Trevor and Wesley were in the lead. The VIC’s had some catching up to do in the team challenge and they did it well. Only one SA pilot got into the top 10 for the day. The VIC’s were back in front.

In the evening, the tow teams performed in the Red Faces competition back at headquarters. The Berrigan Blow Ins performed the story of a cross-country flight using Andy Philips as the pilot in a simulator. The story followed the flight from the tow launch through mishaps along the way such as a broken tow release system causing tomato sauce to spray Andy’s face in a simulated re-coil. Our guest judge from the local paramedic’s team was a bit shocked when she saw what hang glider pilots get up too after a few beers.

DAY 4
The weather was forecast to be 10 knots from the SSE, no clouds and thermals to about 5000 feet. We set a task to Nandaly, 62km to the NNW. The scores were close and the winner was going to have to go fast. Pilots launched between 1:30pm and 3:00pm and 20 made goal. Steve B had nothing to loose after blowing day 3 and he won the day in a time of 1hr40. Wesley Hill managed to stay one thermal in front of Steve and finished 2nd for the day, which was good enough to hold onto first place overall. It was Wesley’s first win at Birchip after 12 years of trying. Well done Wes.

The Results and BBQ
The last day finished off with a BBQ back at the RSL where prizes were awarded from 1st down to 24th overall. Thanks to Vanessa for running the BBQ. The overall 1st place went to Wes, followed by Peter Lissenburg and Alan Beavis. The Kingpost class was won by Peter Davies flying an Aeros Discus, followed by Nick Fletcher on an Xtralight 147. Since Peter also owns a Topless, the prize of $2500 off a Topless glider from Airborne Windsports went to Nick. Congratulations Nick. See you at goal again next year. In the Floater class, Helen McKerral won in her first ever comp followed closely by Andrew Taylor. Helen also won the Skypig award for clocking the most hours. The lucky 13th prize of a new ICOM radio went to Adam White. The teams trophy was won again by “Show Me the Money” consisting of Wesley Hill, Steve Blenkinsop, Trevor Sangster, Migel DeJong and Ian Rees followed by team Clown. The VIC vs SA challenge was won by the VIC team with a score of 7073 versus SA with 6006. Ian McLelland (the landowner) received a nice 21-year-old bottle of port and a gift for his wife Anne from the pilots as thanks for the use of the paddock and his preparation of the tow strips.

Special thanks go to all of our sponsors including Moyes Gliders, Airborne Windsports, Dynamic Flight, Peter Holloway, Peter Lissenburg and Peter Davies.