Hi from a secret slope newbie!!!!

[matt111]

Well Hi there finally to all Aussie slopers!... d**n we are a unique bunch!!

OK well I finally decided to come out of the woodwork and reveal myself. I have been just watching the forum for some time as others probably are too.

By the way if nobody has been Sloping in Brisbane this weekend with all this SE wind... then I will shoot myself haha!!!

OK sooo, I am definitely not new to sloping haha!... Born and bred in Lismore (LMFClub) I was taught to fly by Gary Watson himself, photographed with my Lucky for Silent Flight Mag... and my uncle who won numerous National Pylon Champs owned and recently sold the Townsville Hobby Shop and was President of TSV Club. I live in Kedron & Narangba & work for Virgin Blue. I have humbly met a few of you on odd occasions and turned up anonamously to an F3F race at Bellthorpe and beat (at the time) the fastest guy in oz (head getting huge haha).

Nealy purchased Von's (vet Andrew's) T bird and Slope Ricochet off him for the sheer love of those things (Southern Sailplanes models.. he will know what I mean haha!) but I haven't flown slope for a year now so keen to hook up an fly again.

Drove up and discovered Pedwell Rd thanks to you guys and this wonderfull site and OMG!!!!!!!!!! This is going to be one of my most favourite sites in Oz I just know it!!! So much easier than driving all the way to Maleny Montville only to feel like a foreigner (or tourist haha) amongst fellow slopers who dont know ya (especially Bald Knob).

My favourite spot though though is a secret one that is actually a bit far away for most but definitely worth it if you are one of those crazy ones that are willing to travel down BEYOND Byron like me!!! (have family down there). It's Evans Head headland and has a massive purpose built landing strip! Used to be for Hang Gliders but they have been banned from there. Give me a bit of time and I will submit photos and a review. It kicks butt over Byron, Lennox etc. and is probably similar to Brandenburg Rd conditions but I think better!

For those who wish to travel with a glider under your arm in Oz, the best place I have "seen" is Denmark in Western Australia.. gees they are blessed! You wouldn't believe it...

Anyway... see you on the slopes most probably at Mt Mee.. or Brandenburg soon.. possibly Shorncliffe sometime... not Narangba though cause of those poison power lines haha! I have posted some of my gliders in the other section..

Look forward to meeting YOU!!!! I really do!

Cheers!!!
Matt Stewart

[nige]

Good to hear from you Matt.
I live just north from Evans Head and I am very keen to know exactly where this spot is . I havn't flown Evens yet but I have flown the other spots you mentioned.
Looking forward to the update.

Nigel

[windsock]

Welcome Matt.

We should organise a fly day at Mt Mee soon. Had them in the past and they were a great day.

Gerard

[thevon]

No need to shoot yourself Matt. If you read the DS update thread there's a short report about yesterday.

I know what you mean about Bald Knob, but don't hold it against the members! (quite a few of us are members). The club doesn't own the site, and the restrictions are due to things imposed by 1) Channel 7 who owns the towers, 2) the landowner, and 3) the guy who leases the land. It's quite complicated. The club has a strict policy that no visitor can fly there without individual permission, which is due to insurance and also to prevent shoot-downs. And yes, the interference can be a shocker! I can't fly my Nemesis up top but it's OK at the gate or the Hump. So yes, it has various complications but believe me, a lot of great fun flying happens at the Knob!

[matt111]

Hi all!

Oh dear.. sorry - reading back over my first post and boy did that sound negative haha Not like me at all I promise.. definitely should have gone to bed before posting that one ..woops! Seemed so polite at the time too, must have been hallucinating! haha!

Hey yeah the Evans site is cool and not too hard to find. I think it works in a Nth & N/Easter. After driving up the big hill near the south breakwall to Razorback Lookout (also a cool spot) go past there and when you get to the sharp 90 degree corner in the road park right there. Walk up the track that goes along in front of those houses about 60 metres and just past the last house is the mowed runway. Launch & land here but you can trek off to the left while flying to a point where you can fly right up to Razorback and as far as you can see in the other direction. The people at the lookout will wonder where on Earth the pilot is haha.. always fun.

Sorry guys - yeah the times I used to fly Bald Knob (magic place!) was about 4 years ago so before all the uneasy feelings about access started. Anyone could go up there and the land owner was fantastic as long as we shut the top gate which everyone did. I dont think there was a bottom gate then? Great memories of flying there and the soft grass is incredible.

A gathering at Mt Mee soon would be awsome! I'm thinking of heading out tomorrow or Monday to see if I can get my little Fling to fly properly.

Hey has anyone tried night sloping? Imagine that haha! With multi coloured lights would look out of this world! Would that be a first I wonder?

Matt S

[chamm37]

yerp we did for the Xmas party at SC....we put glow sticks on our planes and flew them around down at Sc and it was a really kool experience and it worked so effectivly with the glow sticks ;D

[matt111]

XMas party!? Sweet!! Oh man that is awsome!.. I'm so jealous, I've just got to try that sometime!... also awsome is I just discovered I can edit my hideous posts haha! Phew!

Matt S

[chamm37]

yer it was pretty kool ;D i personal messaged you about something....do you know where to read your messages

[knoxie]

Hey Matt

What to you do at Virgin??

Knoxie

[matt111]

Hi there Knoxie,

I work at the Brisbane Hangar in the office section - Virgin Tech (Aircraft Operations). Hey did you know Brissy is the head office for Virgin Blue? I didn't know that till I started working there a bit over a year ago . Also a Captain in the making if all goes to plan.

You guys are gonna love hearing about some of the fun we have there. Man they're a top bunch.. great to be a member of the VB cult haha!

I think there is a Qantas Captain amongst us too isn't there? Howdy neighbour!

[thevon]

Yes Cran's a Captain I think - he flies the 737's and Gerard's been up in the c0ckpit with him on his way to Cairns recently. But he's not often on Windsock.

[chickenman]

hey guys
Just found this site and joined - I'm on the gold coast and fly at Rosins when I can. flew north burleigh on wednesday with a couple of mates from work.
Good to see so much activity around here.
Matt's post caught my eye because I'am also from lismore LMFC.

Hey Matt - when did you fly at lismore? btw Gary is my cousin and we flew pattern for years before he got into heli's. Also if you realy want an old T-bird I've got for sale.

[windsock]

Jan 20, 2009 20:26:57 GMT 10 thevon said:

Yes Cran's a Captain I think - he flies the 737's and Gerard's been up in the c0ckpit with him on his way to Cairns recently. But he's not often on Windsock.

Here is the link from that trip: windsock.proboards76.com/index.cgi?board=archived&action=display&thread=780

Welcome chickenman, hope you find the forum useful.

Gerard

[matt111]

Welcome Chickenman! ;D I haven't seen Gary since about when he started to really get into helis, and I moved to Brissy. Gees those were the best days of my life! Strangely enough I got right into the helis as well..

Gary will remember the good old days when a few of us lived at Evans Head, ..."Bunny" Burrows, James (local policeman's son) & myself, we used to trek up to LMFC to meet with Gary for lessons - was sooo worth the drive. How could I forget the way he used to throw that Super Hots around!! Hey wasn't it yourself and Gary who used to fly those things around like crazy? Man that was cool!!! Some would run for cover but we all loved it haha ;D

And gees Dallas looked after us all didn't he ...what a top bloke! Still speak with him ocassionally.

Hey by the way shouldn't take too long to sell that T-Bird... there are a few T-Bird fans in Brissy I hear.

I look forward to catching up with you all (was looking for Gary at QRCHA XMas party, but he mustn't have gone)

Regards Matt S

[chickenman]

Hey Matt - did you used to fly at the airfied at evans head with Tomo?

And did you work for Dallas for a while? I used to work for Dallas around 1997 to 2000.

I heard that Gary is now into go-carts not sure if he is still flying much. And yes I remember the superhots well.

Looks like the wind is swinging around to the SE so trying to get up to Rosin Lookout tommorrow afternoon.

Cheers
Shane S