Friday is a rest day for the competition and many people fly off to Sydney for Steve’s funeral. I head out to the paddock with most of the Club Class pilots to help get them in the air for a little more flight time. Blaino and Leeroy will be towing them up. We discuss a task and talk about them going out to West Wyalong about 93km but conditions that way are not looking the best with most of the clouds forming off to our east. In the end they are talking about little out and return etc and will decide once they are airborne.

We are just about set to tow and I see a dusty over near the hanger, straight away I look left towards where the tugs are parked and there is one on it’s nose. Leeroy was just about to get airborne and was taxing off the tie down area and saw the dusty pop up right beside him about 20m off. He has to turn back to the west as he is too close to the fences to just take off, as he turns around it is too late and the right wing comes up and as easy and slowly as you could hope for it rolls around the left wing and over onto its nose. From 5-600m away I can here Leeroys anger F@@@@@@@@@@RRRRRKKKK!!!!!!!! . He is alright there only scratch is when he releases his seat belt and falls to the ground: more screaming profanities.

Very little damage is done with a busted chute container and slightly bent vertical tail fin and a small hole in the right wing tip. It is flying again already.
In the end we get the crew in the air and pretty quickly and they have a nice fly around, some go about 45km or so. I get two people with my pre flight check in the dolly’s (one Topless Pilot and another Club Class Pilot) who have not put there leg loops in… 2!!!!!! They are ready to launch none the wiser until I ask…
Saturday I am real keen to get back in the air after running dollies and helping pilots out. It is not to be; by 1230 the day is canned with rain and thunder storms in the area. There is some hope for tomorrow but it could be similar just more isolated than today. Here is hoping. It has already cleared quite a bit

The long task the Open Class did on Thursday was an amazing flight under the conditions with Blay telling me he was in the air for 6.5 hours and did the task in 4.5. He never got higher than 6000’. Tim Howells just beat his Dad Keith in by 40secs on our 74km task even though they took completely different routes. Only one day to go and Classes; Open, A-Grade, and Club only have about 40 points in between the top placements – I still have my 800pt lead against my nemesis the lime green Litespeed ;O) A two pilot comp, I am pretty embarrassed but I will take the trophy as it has like a ¼ oz gold coin in it. SWEET!