the wind was perfect, nnw 15kts, for our local coast run. The run goes from Cape Jervis to Lady Bay, about 23km as the crow flies. It coveres some of the most picturesque coastline in the state. Six pilots showed up. We dropped a car at the landing paddock on the way and continued to the the take off. It was a bit fresh in the compresion but fine once in the air. I was first to launch and hung about over launch until we were all in the air.
The first part of the run is over some rugged cliffs and past a wind farm. There are a few isolated beaches with the odd house along the way. After the wind farm the coastline gets more rugged and landing here would be a long walk out.
After about 11km the coast take a right turn and heads SW for about 2.5km. There is a small town, rapid bay, set along this peice of coastline. To get accross the bay we gaind as much height as we could, which was only about 1100' amsl, and set off accross the sea, passing accross the end of the long jetty at rapid bay and rejoining the cliffs on the other side.
There is a little more habitation on the remainder of the flight. A few km after rejoining the coast is second valley boat ramp and breakwater. And another couple of kilometers is a new marina at Wirriana. The run is quite straightforward from there with no more gaps to jump and a simple glide to the end of this section of the coastal cliffs.
We all flew the last few km's of cliffs for another hour before landing. The landing paddock is quite tight with tall trees and a main road along the downwind edge and scrub and the sea on the upwind edge. By the time we landed the wind at sea level was almost nil, which lead to some interesting landings, including one broken upright. Fortunatly I had a reasonably good langing and could enjoy the entertainment.
I also managed to finishe my intermediate rating with this flight, so that was doubly good.
Ciick Here for a video one of the pilots made of the coast run a couple of days after we did it.
