After a successful couple of years producing the Alice Springs Aviation Newsletter, I decided an interactive platform would be more effective. I founded the Aviators of Alice Springs Facebook group, which has more than 100 members and can be found HERE. 

The group is strictly for pilots and other people associated with aviation (mostly recreational) in Alice Springs. It enables us to share news, thoughts and events. 

I'll leave you with my favourite picture I've ever taken on an airfield: a Central Netted Dragon watching proceedings at Alice Springs Gliding Club....

Make sure you tune into "Outback Pilots" on Tuesday June 6 and 13 to catch Scotty Anderson. 7Mate 9pm. 

I had a lovely time in the tower at Alice Springs Airport, learning about how air traffic control works. Many thanks to Maranda (pictured) for helping us to have that opportunity. Picture: EMMA MURRAY at the Centralian Advocate. Article below, as a PDF. 

A chance meeting at the Avalon Airshow (between Andrea Johnston from Alice Springs Gliding Club and Les Mitchell from Gove Airport) prompted news of Alice Springs Gliding Club to filter back to Les Mitchell (senior), who was a member in the 70s.

​He put pen to paper and recalled those days….

​A letter from Les Mitchell, Chipping Norton, NSW, dated March 23, 2017

I joined the Alice Springs Gliding Club in 1971, having taken my discharge from the RAAF after the construction of the Tindal base. The then Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) offered me a nice house if I took up a position as an Airports Safety Inspector / surveyor in Alice Springs. While at Tindal, a DCA and club member who was establishing runway lighting at Tindal suggested I join the club when I settle in Alice. Ron Mitchell (no relation) was an instructor at the club.
Once settled in Aluce, Ron was back in town and kept asking me to come out and have a glider flight with him. All the while I was apprehensive about a flight in an aeroplane without an engine. One day I plucked up the courage and went to Bond Springs, Ron wasn’t there and I took a flight with another member. I later realised that instructor taught me the best lesson he ever taught anyone: he demonstrated to me what NOT to do with a first time flyer! He frightened the living daylights out of me. Ron came back and talked me into having a flight with him. I had that flight and although I knew little about aeroplanes I handled the controls, we landed and Ron said “what do you think?” I said “can I have another flight?” and joined the club. I attained my instructor rating in 1972.
The club’s fleet consisted of two Blaniks, Pirate, Palatus, BG12, Libelle and a private Phebous. Our tug was initially an old Auster which could hardly pull the hat off your head. Later we purchased a Piper Super Cub. It was like being towed behind a jet.
When the tug went down we would employ reflex launch. The method consisted of an old Ford V8 car with the top cut off and a small winch to wind in about 2500 feet of tow rope. The launch procedure was to lay out the rope with sufficient slack so the Ford would take up the slack when the car was travelling at about 65mph, beyond the runway end and through the bush. Instant flight. We would release normally, the parachute would drift down and the winch would wind in the rope. We would have a little competition guessing the cloud base and one day I decided to fly up and check the base.
At around 10,000ft orbiting close to a large CB with 900ft of lift close to the CB and 400ft away, I suddenly felt like a large hand was pulling me into darkness, into the CB. With full spoilers and nose down doing 80kts I was still going up at 900ft per minute, when just as quickly I was thrown out of the cloud almost inverted. I was shivering I reckon from fright and cold because the Blanik didn’t have a canopy – it was removed for repairs.
The club had many members. We had to be on the field around 8am to get a flight. I would spend up to 10 hours there for one 20 minute flight. The climate was great for soaring, long flights up to 12,000ft with no oxygen. I think we even attempted night flights on a moonlit night.
We had several members from the space base. Our president was Earl Martin from the base. One time the base was disposing of several demountable buildings. Earl and I managed to secure one building for the club and another for our airport club at the old terminal area. I also arranged for the club to purchase (at the best price) a dismantled hangar which was at the airport. I don’t know if it was ever erected.
Other members at the time were our CFI, Tom Bird, and my aerobatic instructor, Bert Persons. Tug pilot was Doug McCutcheon. We had a great club but unfortunately almost no social activities.
I left the club in ate 1973 when I was transferred to PNG as the Islands District airport safety inspector/surveyor. I did my restricted PPL with Aussie Watts of the Aero Club to fly arund the islands. I feel I would not have had the confidence and skills to operate into one way 600m strips with a 10 per cent slope if I did not have gliding experience. One day I had to ditch an aircraft with three passengers into the ocean due to a catastrophic engine failure. Fortunately there were no injuries. The accident investigators believe my gliding experience saved us that day.
After PNG independence I was posted to Sydney. I spent 18 years with the RAAF Richmond club as an instructor and tug pilot. I now fly with Southern Cross Gliding Club.  
I hope your members find some interest in this.
Regards, safe and enjoyable soaring,
Les Mitchell

Our aviation friends are active in all sorts of areas of the community: from Scotty the "flying plumber" playing lawn bowls, to Bob Vigar volunteering with the Salvos, people turn up in all sorts of situations. 

Tom Bird, who was born at Adelaide House and has all sorts of stories, told the Advocate about a few memories from the time of the bombing of Darwin, while Rob and Angel from APAS provided the paper with the love story for Valentine's Day!

I took a behind the scenes look at some of the volunteer roles which make up the massive task of hosting a Gliding World Championships: CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FACEBOOK ALBUM

I also asked a variety of pilots why they fly: ANOTHER ALBUM LINK HERE

Payment for volunteers takes the form of opportunity; to see some amazing things and meet some amazing people. In my case, the highlight was another chance to catch up with Sdn Ldr Dan Kehoe, formerly the leader of a Air Force Roulettes, and now CFI at Central Flying School in Sale. I'd previously met him when the Roulettes came to Alice Springs in 2015. 

The two of us, plus Junior World Gliding Champion Matthew Scutter, will appear in a promotional film about gliding later this year. Dan has recently taken up gliding, and predictably went solo in just an hour!

He performed a brilliant "Roulette Solo" display to kick off closing ceremony proceedings at Benalla on Sunday January 22. 

Sqn Ldr Kehoe is reasonably new to gliding, and said he was keen to elicit some tips from the world’s top glider pilots. 

“I’m enjoying it. I like the challenge,” Sqn Ldr Kehoe said.

“I find it just as challenging to do low-level aeros as I do to hold a thermal!”

“It’s raw flying, and gliding teaches fundamental skills every pilot needs,” the 36-year-old said. 

“I’ve noticed you feel the aircraft a lot more. I’ve never felt myself move in the seat so much.”

The show will last approximately five minutes, and there will be good views from the clubhouse, as well as from the airfield in general. 

The general public are welcome to come along and watch, and everyone is advised to gather by about 10.30am for the show at 10.45am. 

Teams are reminded to hand their flags into the office, and winning teams also need to provide their national anthem. 

Contest director Terry Cubley said he was looking forward to the aerobatic display, and explained what would happen at the ceremony. 

“Well obviously have a podium there for first, second and third place,” Mr Cubley said. 

“We’ll go through awards for each of the winners and the first 10 places get a prize in each class. 

“A few dignitaries will hand out the prizes, including a team cup, and we’ll have a few speeches of course.”

The Roulette Solo show takes place at 10.45am, and the closing ceremony starts at 1100.

It will be streamed live via www.wgc2017.com.