Easter at Griffith. The only thing that come close is Easter at Leeton. The good news is we get to do both on alternate years and it was Griffith for 2007.
This weekend was special for a number of reasons. Not only was the whole gang there (so many Galbraiths, a few Barrows and too many others to mention by name) but the weather mostly behaved it's self and all things flying worked well and yet again returned to earth.
My most recent student pilot did her last solo on Friday morning with a running intermediate where I hopped out as we dragged down a field. The next day she did her check flight and then won the Hare and Hounds while on the solo - very good effort considering she was so focused on the check ride that she did not even know there was a Hare to follow!Well done Camilla, have fun with that certificate when it turns up in the post.
With one down, it was onto number two student for the weekend. A few more great flights from Gretta including a nice and windy afternoon launch with running take off. Too much fun even if we did get the Honda stuck on a rice field levy bank in the dark. Thanks to John Wallington and crew for the winch to safety.
The remote control plane survived a number of flights (and heavy landings) and it is every bit as much fun as I had hoped. Even a tree could not keep it out of the air for long.
The high point though was the last flight where a Skydiver offered the best swap for a drop yet. A ride in a high performance RV8, single engine, two seater sports plane. This little puppy has fantastic visibility with a bubble cockpit and is rated for +6/-3 G's so it is good for aerobatics although a little too fast for full blown competition.
Poor Gretta got bumped from the student seat in the balloon as I pushed us up to 5000'ft in the ever reliable "Tweety" to drop our skydiver out. In his words, we could not have punched the smile off his face when he landed - skydivers just love balloon jumps.
It was then a a quick trip back to the airport for the ride in the RV8 after the typical Griffith landing at 20km/h. Adam (the pilot and skydiver) indicated that you could take off in the RV8 like any other plane but it just felt wrong - instead I got the full works with us screaming down the runway a few feet of the deck until we hit 140 knots at the far piano keys and a gentle pull back on the stick launched us to a few thousand feet at what felt like about 60 degrees.A few loops and rolls later I was not sure if I would have been better with breakfast first or not but it was a hoot. A dive down to the runway for a missed approach a few feet of the deck at 200knots was fantastic fun. His phone number is now locked into my phone for future reference as I think we both got a blast from the mornings adventures. Thanks to Adam for a memorable flight in a special little plane.
All this fun comes at a price and if there is such a thing as Karma then this was it with teeth.
With the weekend over and time to get back to work, I had the long drive home ahead of me. Over tired and in need of a sleep I pulled over in the middle of no where for a few hours kip. When I woke up and started driving again, the fuel light was on....don't remember seeing that before, don't remember even looking at the gauge before. oh oh.
How far is the next town I wonder. Damn I must have been tired. As the "30km to Temora" sign rolled by, the car ran out of fuel. The last litre of fuel in the inflator fan got me another few kilometers down the road but that was it. Hitching from a broken down car was pretty easy and in fact the second car picked me up for the drive to town. A can of fuel later and it was a hell of a lot more cars driving past before I got a ride going back towards the thirsty car.
They were the best people I could have hoped to meet, they were from near Leeton and Griffith and loved seeing the balloons at this time of year. I did what anyone else would (should?) do in the situation, I pulled out my wallet and gave them a card so they could call or email me to have a flight with me some time.
I then did what you should not do and put the wallet on the rear seat of their car rather than in my pocket.
We finally got to my car, they waited to make sure it would start and then disappeared over the horizon in the opposite direction to me. Soon after I realized there was a problem. I had five dollars worth of fuel in the tank and about 500km to drive with only another eight dollars in 5cent pieces scattered through the car. They had my email address but I only had their first names. The thought of canceling all those cards and things you have in a wallet turned me grey.
I got a tank of fuel sorted thanks to a very trusting petrol station owner (The BP in Temora gets my vote for best servo ever!) and was on my way home hoping like mad that my rescuers, Peter and Jacqui were every bit as nice as I felt they were - having known them all of 15 minutes.
As I was pondering the fate of my wallet, I saw a bunch of guys with a car on a jack and a thumb sticking out in an all all too familiar way. I pulled over to offer any help I could that was not financial or fuel related.
They had a shredded tyre and needed a wheel brace as they did not have one. They had spent an hour trying to get someone to stop (it was dark now and they were on the motorway). By luck I had packed my trusty 4 way folding tyre brace which had them underway in about five minutes. They were relieved, I felt good, there was hope that the world may balance out again.
I got home and gingerly fired up the email just in case the fairy tail could happen and there it was. A wonderful email asking what address would be best to send my wallet to. You have no idea how well I am about to sleep. Thanks to Peter and Jacqui for a great end to a great weekend. See you soon and hope you like heights.
