Wednesday December 20;
When we were cooking yesterday evenings dinner I looked outside. Easy as this wonderful machine cooks salmon asparagus and pears in ONE go. I NEED one!!!!
Chris Zippel baptized this tool ,” THE MONUMENT.”
This is how looking to the West looks normally.
Far in the West I could see red sand, which means a STORM. I called Jamie and George , still busy in the office, to see if this was scary. They called it a gust front, walked back to the office and that was that,…for them.
Not for me I grabbed my camera,with the idea that the front would pass by to the SW.
Passing to the West direction South and you see the red sand going higher and higher.
But then it came fast very fast to the hangar.
In a few seconds it was grey outside and the men got into action as the doors from the hangar had to be closed totally and 2 gliders were outside.
The IS 28 was hooked up but still moved,the Blanik which just had his annual inspection and normally lives in the hangar, only was outside for a check flight with Ingo. It seems he was not able to do the check, so the Blanik waited out side hooked on the Range Rover.
You would think that is pretty strong, but it was not, it moved, but not too bad. Wind here ,some called it a SUPER CELL, blew like hell.
Jamie and George went out after the high-point of the storm was over, to check both gliders.
They had to sit on the wing to not get the gliders move further.
Jamie, George and later I, when George got tools to secure the gliders even better, sitting on the Wing tip.
Me sitting there with my “new ” asthma and allergies for dust and grass. I was in the middle of it, with sand between my teeth and grass flying around my head. I had later some problems, but not too bad!!!
Luckily no damage, only the wing walker from the IS 28 got a bend wheel and will be repaired by Corkey.
Some pilots rushed after the worst, from their homes to the airfield to check their gliders/belongings. Trailers had danced around but no damage, 2 other gliders out, but on the tie-down, were ok.
Neil Burns and Chinese mate Harry, came to see if we here needed help, so did Lumpy, who I had heard of and written about, but never met before.
He was straight in the good-book with me , when he said the tree from Kees and Dennis would always stay there.
In between sirens of search and rescue for all kind of help. Lot’s of trees unfortunately did not survive . I photographed a few of them at the airfield.
All in all an interesting evening with later a thunderstorm and a good drop of rain. This morning, between 7 and 8, the last lightning, thunder and rain passed and it was back to normal, HUGE difference though to the last days; only 23 dgr. C. GREAT.
A good morning to go with Dundee to the cemetery to prune the oleander and rake all old leaves.
A bit too much excitement for me. The 2d bad storm in 25 Toc summers. Not as bad as the one 15 years ago on 2-2 -2002,; a down burst with huge rain and the roof of the sun room at Sportavia collapsed then and one LS 4 went flying without a pilot.
Not good,…. a 30.000 dollar damage bill was the result.
All pilots stayed then in the air on advise and had no problem, this pilot just made it home in time, but though the crew was ready AT the field to get the glider in, it was just too late.It turned up side down hooked on the car.
Later yesterday, we found out that MELBOURNE has been hit badly!!! Flooding, hail-and storm damage!!!!
And that just before Christmas,….?!
I also heard that Corowa, just 2 hours before us here, got another “rotten-cell/down burst”, but also they escaped the huge hail which moved more S.!!
Gliders have been inspected by Colin this morning and all is fine.
Also this morning, yes a lot is happening, a big truck arrived full of gravel to uplift the taxi track from the Sportavia hangar, passed Georges hanger, to the runway.
and one of the men is scraping the grass from the platform the last picture shows the result. All those who have flown in Toc, know that huge iron cables were there to perfectly, tie down the gliders, when around 50 pilots with different Nationalities [I remember the Dutch , Italian and Finnish team] practiced here for the WGC in Benalla.
This part of the Tocumwal airfield is getting more beautiful which is good.I believe , have to check though, that Lumpy is the one behind this.
After my walk I photographed some nice native bush and flowers for those interested.
Enough for today. Next time I ‘ ll share some pictures from the planes at the road to the main entrance of the airport, which have flown here in the past of course the LIBERATOR as most imported one as this was a LIBERATOR base, that’s why the hangars are so big.
Cheers Ritz