Welcome to the Lake Keepit Soaring Club Website
This site is a resource for LKSC members and visitors wanting to find out what's on, what's been happening, or to know more about the club, or to visit the club for flying or training. Lake Keepit Soaring Club is is one of Australia's best known cross country soaring sites. It's a club… meaning that costs are kept to a minimum, and it's a 7 day a week operation, running all year round… so it is an outstanding place to fly. 
For the latest daily news, check Jenny's Blog from the menu above. Jenny Ganderton is the weekday manager at the Lake Keepit Soaring Club and a fanatical pilot who won't give up on a task until they pull the wings off the glider and put it into the trailer ready for the long drive home.
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Lake Keepit's new winch arrived towards the end of the Easter Regatta. This new winch has been masterminded by Harry Medlicott to offer a low cost method of getting in the air. There are a number of advantages with this new winch, one notable one being that it is fitted with Dyneema rope instead of wire or synthetic rope. Dyneema is lighter and stronger than polyester or nylon and overseas experience has shown that much greater heights can be achieved using this rope. The winch can be it a backup to the aerotow operation by providing 2,000 ft launches from the 5,000 ft of Dyneema rope fitted. Harry is hoping the winch will increase membership by reducing the cost of training. Once a student pilot has the hang of flying the glider, most training flights are concerned with circuit planning and landings where the low cost of winch launching will make a significant difference. Winch launching is the normal method of launching in many countries including the UK.  The new winch has been designed and built from scratch and features a new and more powerful motor than the current LKSC winch as well as a powerful and rugged transmission. The winch has throttle settings which will enable a power to be matched the glider being launched. Tests are expected to begin as soon as the Easter regatta is over.  Harry is concerned that all winch rated pilots are up to date with procedures to avoid and safely handle any winch launching emergency. The British Gliding Association has reduced accidents to very low level through a careful analysis of accidents over many years. It is highly recommended that pilots check out the BGA website and study "Safe Winch Launching" and the associated video." This is the link to The Safe Winch Launching Initiative page on the BGA site. You can download the Safe Winch Launching booklet from the LKSC site here
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4 Day Cross Country Weekends Dates |
Cross Country Weekends.
4 day weekends are held once a month to encourage post solo training and cross country training, or just cross country flying in company. These weekends have proved a great success with a lot of interest from all levels of pilots from LKCS and other clubs. The weekends include morning briefings with weather including temp flights, task setting, lectures and any other help people may require. Tasks will be AAT or RUN Tasks so you can make it as long or as short as you feel comfortable with.  Pilots are welcome to fly their own glider, to fly a club glider, or to fly in a two seater with an instructor. For more details, see the 4 day weekends page. |
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