The week of 11 to 19 December was planned as an introduction to cross country flying for Boonah gliding club pilots visiting Warwick Gliding Club based at the aerodrome. Sadly, this had to be put on hold by the gliding club due to the recent deluge.
The Warwick region has had 190mm rain in November, and already 118mm rain in the first week of December, which has turned the surrounding paddocks into temporary tributaries before the water eventually flows into the Condamine River.
These are not ideal conditions for gliders, who use rising air to stay aloft.
Even the nearby Clifton airfield has been closed due to the runway being waterlogged.
Luckily, the Warwick airfield has remained high and dry but under these conditions’ glider pilots cannot venture too far away from the airfield.
However, the Gliding Club is still able to offer air experience flights.
The views from up above just show how much water has moved through the landscape.
However, every cloud has a silver lining.
Warwick glider pilots have welcomed the return of Leslie Dam back into the landscape, which now sits at 100 per cent capacity after years of drought.
The glider pilots use the dam as a visual triangulation and navigation point when they are flying back to the Warwick aerodrome, and for over three years it disappeared from view when the dam got down to four per cent capacity.
The lack of a visual reference meant that the glider pilots had to rely on satellite navigation to orientate themselves on a safe bearing back to the airfield after a day of flying above the Darling Downs.
The Southern Downs are a magnificent region for gliding and it attracts many people to move to the region as well as visit every weekend from Brisbane.
With the water gradually moving away and the skies clearing good gliding conditions should soon return.
