Back from Bathurst were I attended a Form 2 course. I’m now authorised to conduct annual inspections on fibreglass sailplanes. As the GFA system requires specific endorsements for metal (e.g. Pilatus B4) and wood & fabric gliders (e.g. Bocian, ASK 13), I will have to do some futher training before I can sign off these types.

Rob Moffat has developed a back release tester for Tost CG releases, and he made one for the Bathurst Soaring Club were these RoC and Form2 courses are run for NSW. I took the original version to Bathurst last year when I did the RoC part of the Form 2 course. For this year, Rob had made a new version with same functionality but executed as a really professional-looking piece of gear, which I handed over to Richard Dowling, Bathurst Soaring Club Airworthiness Officer, and Nick King RMA NSW. They were highly complementary and appreciative of Rob’s effort.

Here’s Ed Connellan, who did the RoC course at Bathurst, demonstrating the back release tester. It facilitates easy checking of the angle of the rope at which back release occurs. As we have another one at MVM, this will come in handy for KYU when Tost Test #4 is required.

We fitted the new polyurethane bumpers into the undercarriage guides, which act as stops for the u/c fork. The original steel retainers for these bumpers are somewhat worn and will be replaced with exact replicas.

Finally the day had the right climatic conditions (min 15 degC and <70% humidity) to allow Laurie to use his mini spray gun to finish off the blue details on the fuselage, i.e. the nose and tip of fin.

Looks great!