Due to weather, the first day of the contest was called off. A complex low pressure system south of Narromine brought rain to the south and strong winds mixed with smoke and dust haze to Narromine. Visibility on the ground at briefing was very bad and a decision on grid time was delayed until mid day. When the briefing resumed, Col Turner announced the decision to cancel the day. The decision was taken for several reasons, including high winds and, most importantly, poor visibility creating a safety risk.

However, at morning briefing, a task had been announced and once again several pilots decided to fly. The task was again an AAT centred on Gular Silo and Mullengudgery for Open and 18m classes, and Gular Silo and Nevertire for 15m, Standard and Club classes.

Adam Gill in a Nimbus 3T 25.5 flew 200km at 90kph. He described the conditions as “difficult but certainly flyable with a cloud base of 8500’ and thermal strength of 6-7 kts”. At the time of writing, Gerrit Kurstjens in a Nimbus 4  and Bob Bucannan in an ASG 29 had just landed, having successfully achieved the task.

THe weather The grid The task setters The scorers 

Adam Gill - Determined to fly