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RECENT NEWS

15/12/2022:  CLUB PLANE:
As OUTLINED outlined in the December newsletter,  the club plane is up and running and is now being utilized by some of our members. 
See the HIRE A PLANE page for more information.

NEWS FROM PORTLAND:
Our friends at the Portland Aero Club have advised that they have moved their a regular lunch from Sunday to Saturday.  All pilots are most welcome to drop in for a great feed!
GSA had a great fly away recently to Portland, and will be planning another trip down there in the future.

GSA FLY AWAY TO VISIT PORTLAND AERO CLUB
Another great trip away last weekend, this time to the Western District town of Portland. We received a very warm welcome from members of the Portland Aero Club, who also put on a great lunch in their club rooms.
The weather was perfect [after the fog had lifted] and the flying conditions great. Even spotted some whales in Portland Bay on the way home!

EXCITING NEWS!
Lethbridge Airport now has it's own weather cameras.

 Final adjustments are made to the new weather cameras.

13/05/2018  AVIATION WEATHER CAMERA NETWORK
Now you will be able to view up to the minute images of the runways and the cloud cover from the comfort of your own home, or distant air field.
No more driving out to the field only to discover that thick fog is covering the area, or that the heavens have opened and the skies are dark. The images will be viewable directly on  OZRUNWAYS  and AVPLAN if you click on the photo icon, and can also be seen online at:  http://auswebcams.com/YLED  This site has also been added to our 'LINKS' page.

Weather cameras on the same site are also available for a number of other airports including Tooradin, Latrobe Valley, Yarrawonga and Wangaratta. Look up http://auswebcams.com/ for more details.

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Vale Aub Coote.
One of our longest serving members, and a lifetime member as well, Aub Coote passed away peacefully on 27th August 2017 at Geelong. As well as being an active member of the Club, Aub gave of his time freely to train new pilots at the time the Club ran it's own flying school.
There is a good article about Aub in the October issue of SPORTS PILOT

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26/08/2017:
GSA held a long overdue working bee last Saturday the 26th of August, and the change to the Club rooms has been dramatic. We managed to repaint most of the interior, clean up the outside, and throw away an awful lot of junk! Many thanks to all who helped out on the day.

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Our friends at Bendigo Flying Club are holding an open day on September 3rd 2017.
[NOTE that this date has changed from the 17th]
A number of GSA members will be flying in for the event, so why not come along and support your fellow pilots!

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Sunday 18th June 2017  FLY AWAY to ECHUCA:    A great time was had by all at the recent fly away to join the Echuca Aero Club for their monthly roast lunch.  A total f 10 members in 6 planes flew in for the day, and although we left in low cloud, by the time we arrived at Echuca it was clear skies and sunshine.  The Aero Club put on a fantastic spread, with an extensive range of roast meat and vegetables, as well as some delicious deserts.  Apart from GSA there were about 80 other visitors and members there on the day, so the catering and organising had to be done on a grand scale.

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2nd June 2017 - Fly Away to Nhill: 
Our monthly fly away this time went to the delightful rural city of Nhill. The Local Aviation Heritage Centre were staging their inaugural Military Vehicle Rendezvous, and had invited interested pilots to fly in for the event.  It was also a chance to catch up with our old friend Dave Schofield who has recently relocated to Nhill.
The event was a fund raiser for the Heritage Centre, with all proceeds going towards the purchase of a vintage Wirraway training aircraft, to become part of their memorabilia display.
John Deckert, chairman of the organising committee said: “The Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre has been given the opportunity to buy a magnificent Wirraway of the type flown in training at Nhill during WWII. Borg Sorenson, a Melbourne engineer, collected parts for ten years then spent another eight years meticulously re-building this aircraft. It is reputed to be the best Wirraway in the world and it will become a major tourist attraction for the Wimmera.
A group of twelve aircraft made the trip up from Lethbridge, and some of us had the good fortune to benefit from a slight tail wind in both directions!  We were also treated to magnificent views of the Grampians as we passed by.

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  05/03/2017  
GSA receives an award from the Australian International Airshow in appreciation for their participation in this years event.

Pictured from left are: Alex Brunacci, Bill Dickers [GSA president], Glen Smith [Manager of General Aviation and Air Sport] and Joel Smith.

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GSA members at the International Air Show. 
  Geelong Advertiser  03/03/2017

14/09/16:   GSA Movie Night

Twelve brave members and partners braved the Geelong winter to attend the Village Cinema for the Clint Eastwood produced move Sully his week.
Lots of conversation and laughter preceded the movie after meeting in the foyer and making our way to the cinema where we had our choice of seats.
On January 15th 2009 Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) tries to make an emergency landing in New Yorks Hudson River after US Airways flight 1549 strikes a flock of geese. Miraculously all of the 155 passengers and crew survive the harrowing ordeal and Sullenberger becomes a national hero in the eyes of the public and media. Despite the accolades the famed pilot faces an enquiry and investigation that threatens his career and reputation.
The film saw us in the cabin and cockpit during the landing on the Hudson - Sully insists it was not a crash. The pressure Sully was under both in the cabin during the landing and immediately after was very evident. But this pressure was insignificant to that that followed as we followed Sully immediately after as he was confronted with the media frenzy and later during the inquiry.
Peter C. our member a check Captain with a major airline was heard to remark after the movie that the in flight checks, audio and response by the crew was very realistic and well portrayed.
My take from the movie is that I'll watch more closely when the pre flight safety video and demonstration is run in the future. Well worth going to see or grab a copy when out on video.
Bernie Knight  [GSA committee]

NEW FUEL BOWSERS AT LETHBRIDGE AIPORT

The new bowsers are now officially open for business.
In celebration of the NEW fuel facilities at Lethbridge Airport management are offering any pilot that purchases fuel the opportunity to receive free fuel to the value of their original purchase between the dates of 8th October 2016 until 1:00pm on the 29th October 2016 when the winner will be drawn and notified.
To be eligible you will need to write your name and contact phone number on the reverse of the original receipt and place it in the tin beside the credit card machine, original receipts can be returned if required after the draw.

Government Press Release

In The News
This interesting article about Lethbridge Airport recently appeared in the WEEKLY REVIEW. The full story can be read here: https://issuu.com/theweek…/…/gee-greatergeelong-20160721-iss   [pages 14-15]

July 2016:   Fly away to Bendigo

On Saturday July 2nd the Club held the first fly away for the year to Bendigo.  Despite the low cloud and cool weather a group of 9 planes made the journey, and were shown some true country hospitality by members of the Bendigo Flying Club.

May 2016:     Recent events 

The club members have had a very busy and informative first quarter hosting visits from a CASA's safety representative and Recreational Aviation Australia's CEO Michael Linke and Board President Michael Monck on day 12 of their road trip.
CASA's safety visit and presentation gave both GA and RAA pilots an insight into accidents and the investigative process that follows to prepare a brief for the Coroner in the event of fatal accidents.
Whilst the theme was accidents are preventable with preparation, the advice on planning with a focus on flight plans, weather were the main points look at.
The 40 members attending left with a better understanding that things can go wrong or conditions can change, but with prior preparation most accidents can be prevented.
The numerous handouts that CASA brought along saw all leaving with some great reading material.
Many thanks to Michael Pendergast at Alphi aviation for providing his hangar for the visit from RAA a few weeks prior.
RAA's Michael Monck and CEO Michael Linke were joined by just over 20 members whom listened to the direction that the RAA was endeavoring to achieve with the changes to the constitution.
The voting and Proxy voting opportunity was clearly explained and all members were asked to look at the changes proposed and participate in the vote.
Recreation Aviation Australia's CEO spoke in detail about the visits they were making and their aim in wanting to meet and listen to as many members as possible. CEO Michael spoke in detail about changes being made in his office and his desire to get more members into RAA and to fully keep members briefed on changes within.
President Michael Monck then reiterated the CEO's words adding the RAA Boards desire to both grow member numbers and give value back. Some discussion took place on member numbers and if numbers were declining - if so why.
Particular emphasis was placed on making the organisation even stronger and shoring up the future.
The issue of safety and maintenance was a direction that all Board members saw as important and our need to keep good records.  Michael spoke about the need to have good records in the event of an incident when our records may assist in determining the cause.
The message here was that we will be given some support to assist in keeping good records - this was a big part of the Presidents report on page 7 of the May Sport Pilot.
On the Sport Pilot magazine both RAA members took questions from members on the value of printed magazine versus 'on line' and having been asked the same question time and time, they had a well prepared answer with numerous stats. being presented.
Both RAA representatives then took a number of questions after the meeting prior to heading off to their next whistle stop visit.
Bernie Knight [GSA committee]

Gerry Pearson . .

Gerry Pearson, a much respected long serving member of the Geelong Sports Aviators passed away last week, 5th February, 2014.
Having been a charismatic club member from very early days, Gerry was involved with all aspects of starting the club and airfield, including fence building.
Being one of the earliest to hangar his aircraft at Lethbridge, Gerry will be sadly missed by all club members and visitors to the airfield.
Funeral arrangements are yet to be announced.

Spot Landing Comp.

On Saturday the 22nd of June, 2013 we held a Spot Landing Competition, which was conducted under bright blue sunny skies and very light easterly breeze.
With a total of 12 competitors there was a lot of fun had by all, both spectators and pilots.

The landing box was positioned just over the hump on runway 11, which did make it quite awkward to get a good result. However we did see two people score 10 points for landing in the box.

Competitors received 3 free landing tries (free for free) with a couple of people paying for extra goes. We ended the day with 3 people scoring 21 points with their 3 attempts. Paul Fallon (Thruster), Jeremy Miller (Cub), Pip Robertson (Jabiru).

With the fly off between these 3 guys we saw Jeremy Miller score a 9.5 on his final try, Paul Fallon with a close second & Pip Robertson coming in third.

Congratulations to everybody that had a go, the number of comments I have received from people that enjoyed the day should see more competitors at the next event.

Thanks to Andrew Westland for the photos.