Being a nerd, new stuff interests me.

I’ve steered clear of the Windows Vista beta programs as I just don’t have a computer in the house that can ‘go down’ without impacting other family members. But now that Vista is released and the upgrade pricing (particularly for the Academic version—which is applicable in many home situations) [...]

Watch and be amazed… Reason for crash is revealed – and is very obvious.

Methinks the Hamster still seems a little overwhelmed with just how fortunate he was to get away with this.

When I drove into Camden Airport to drop off a glider after Gliding Camp, I noticed that a new windsock had been installed. Here are a few interesting photos…

This picture shows a general view of the Holdenberg.

Top Gear is back on SBS - Monday nights at 7.30pm. Recommended.

My gliding exploits last week brought home to me very clearly the desperate situation facing farming families during the current drought.

From 8,000’ in the air, you can see a long way (especially from the excellent vantage point of a glider cockpit – much less restricted vision compared to a passenger window in a normal aircraft). [...]

In this post I described my failed attempt to fly a glider 500km around central western NSW. Due to inclement weather, I ended up landing in the ‘front paddock’ at Bergen Park, a property 35km to the south west of Forbes.

I didn’t have a camera with me, but I did take a couple of (sadly) [...]

Today’s weather forecast suggested pretty good flying – we expected (and got) thermals marked by clouds in the area, and storms developing in the afternoon.

We (club member Bill in one aircraft, me in the other) laid in plans for a 500km flight: Coota – Tichbourne Silo – Wallendbeen – West Wyalong – Coota. We took [...]

(Edited and re-posted from the SCGC camp blog…)

Today’s flying proved that looking out the window can sometimes provide a better forecast than looking at reams of charts and diagrams.

The forecasts didn’t look too good – suggesting a blue (cloudless) day of around 6,000’ thermals. A quick look out the window at 1200 showed cumulus clouds [...]

A tough day in the air – hot, hard work.

I set a course for a 500km flight and took off just before 1300.

Two hours later I had travelled less than 100km, and it was obvious that 500km wasn’t going to happen. I picked up a nice line of clouds (at last, some shade and decent [...]

I’ve arrived in Cootamundra for a few days’ flying.

Fortunately, the potential explosion in the town’s silo has been averted, so the locals have moved out of the motels – leaving a room free for me!

Initial reviews of the weather forecasts suggests that the next three days could be pretty good. I’ll post each day with [...]

These two videos show a recent interview with Richard Hammond, the Top Gear presenter who suffered a serious brain injury when he crashed while driving a jet powered car in September 2006.

The little fella is looking really well.

A few weeks ago, I commented about Carols in the Park. Thought I’d share a couple of images (thanks to Max W for the photos) from the event.

First, here’s a photo of your correspondent wearing a subtle disguise…

And here’s one that’s harder to explain…

Let’s just say that the monkey graduated from Moore Theological College – [...]

Southern Cross Gliding Club’s annual Christmas Camp is currently taking place at Cootamundra, NSW. I’ll be there next week.

The club has set up a blog to report on happenings at camp. So far, I seem to be just about the only person posting on it – and I’m not even there! Feel free to visit [...]

I’m sitting here watching the Twenty/20 cricket match from the Sydney Cricket Ground. To be honest, it’s very silly/silly. This is cricket for those with a short attention span. Lots of slogging – but very little finesse, strategy or cunning involved.

Last Wednesday, I was delighted to be invited by a long-time friend to be his [...]