SAFA Skysailor Magazine

16 SKY SAILOR January | February 2022 The summer flying season is in full swing in Australia and we’re in the middle of ‘Big K Week’ out of Birchip, Victoria. It’s an unofficial free flying week where we static ground tow in order to go big... Great practice for Forbes. All the stars lined up earlier this week for some continental triangle record attempts. Monday and Tuesday had relatively light boundary layer winds and good cu’s around 10,000ft. Most importantly, the brains of the operation was there – Wes Hill, our official FAI observer. If you’re not sure who’s who in the above photo, Wes is the one who only wears shirts saying things like ‘FAI Official’. That’s how we recognise him anyway. On Monday we set out to get the Oceanic record for speed around a triangular course of 50km. Having made goal at the required altitude and at the required speed, Vic Hare landed first and was halfway through his celebratory beer when Neale Halsall finally made goal. Some heckler on the ground yelled out that Neale had been gone so long that he’d probably done the triangle twice. Well, the sly dog had done just that, and smoked us all on his first lap. Neale is claiming the FAI record with a speed of 40.8km/h flying a Moyes RX 3.5. Well done Neale! On Tuesday we upped the ante and aimed for the Oceanic record for speed around a Big K Week’s Triangles Trio by Victor Hare Vic, Wes and Neale