Over the weekend of the 24th and 25th March the cadets and Officers of the Manly Squadron of the Australian Air League an Air Activities Class 3 Gliding Camp at the Tony Onions Airfield near Goulburn NSW with the Southern Highlands Gliding Club.

With 19 cadets, 3 officers and 9 parents air the camp, the cadets undertook a detailed safety briefing followed by training on the required tasks such as cable retrieval and wing walking (glider retrieval). The Cadets were allocated to their respective glider and flying commenced in great weather conditions.

Using a winch for launching, heights around 1200 feet were achieved and the duration of flights averaged around 15 minutes. Cadets were shown the effect of controls and flew the glider for a period of the flight. The highlight of the flight was the winch launch with the glider climbing at around 40 degrees. A number of Parents from our “Support Crew” also managed a flight. With well drilled crews we were enable to accomplish 28 launches during a six hour period.

Despite the very basic conditions every one managed to be fed and participated in a cricket match (no ball tampering!) and were tucked up in bed before a storm swept briefly over the area.

Following breakfast on Sunday morning the Gliding and Soaring Class 3 course was conducted by one of the gliding club pilots who is also a TAFE Teacher during the week and examinations were completed just in time for lunch. We were impressed by the way the Club Staff got swept up by the enthusiasm of the Cadets and participated as a team in the activities. We must thank the mothers, fathers and grandfathers of our “Support Crew” who attended the camp and helped cater to the Squadron needs.

This was the first time the majority attending had been associated with gliding and they really enjoyed the experience!