I had the distinct pleasure of having Heather Hull reading a
passage from my Oz Report article above to the assembled pilots in the pilot
meeting this morning a little after 9 AM. She read (in part):

It seemed that there wasn't a really great reason to call off the
task, given that similar conditions prevail in LA and Bassano. About a half hour
after we landed (and before many others did) the winds out of the east picked up
to 20 km/hour and brought in the smoke that had been on the other side of the
ridge line. The visibility in the valley dramatically decreased.


Seems to me that we could have easily run a task today, and pilots would have
been on their own as they wouldn't have had much depth perception and they
wouldn't be able to see pilots thermaling way ahead. They just aren't used to it
here.

As I recall her response reading this out loud to the pilots was
that "...but not safely run a task."


I was at first unsure whether she read these portions of my article because she
approved of them or disagreed with them or whether she found them to be accurate
or not. I'm still not quite sure.


It was quite clear from the pilot response that the majority of pilots were
happy with Heather's decision to call the day. Today, I heard reports (from
Heather and others) of pilots becoming ill because they could not see the
horizon, or perhaps because of the smoke. So those pilots would of course not be
too happy about having to fly the course (some pilots did parts of or the whole
course, even though they knew the day was cancelled).


Today, I asked all the members of the safety ("advisory") committee (the fact
that it was an advisory committee was not emphasized until today by Heather),
and they unanimously stated that they did not advise that the task be cancelled.
Gerolf (who resigned from the safety "advisory" committee today) stated that
while flying he encouraged Heather to get the pilots launched and in the air to
do that task. He also stated that he was asked four times by Heather regarding
any safety concerns and he stated every time that it was safe to fly the task.


Heather was contacted by and contacted other pilots, some on the task committee,
and some, most or all of those pilots felt that they didn't want to fly the task
given the reduced visibility and the likelihood of of further reductions in
visibility later in the day.


While there was no consensus, it is clear that the majority of pilots did not
want to fly the task. But that the safety committee felt that the task was safe.
Heather canceled the task due to safety concerns.


It is a tough situation to be in as a meet director. She's not up there flying
and checking out the situation. Gerolf mentioned that he wanted the meet
director in the air flying with the pilots to help assess the conditions in the
Bogong Cup and in the upcoming Worlds. He feels that meet directors are out of
touch with pilot concerns.


While I would have loved to have flown the task yesterday, I certainly don't
disagree that it was a marginal day and that the decision could have gone either
way. I wanted it to go toward having a task, but more others did not.


Today we went to Mystic Hill in a light southerly, which according to Brian
Webb, who I met on top of the hill, is the best condition for Bright. The air
was still full of smoke, and the thermals were coming right up the face, with
paraglider pilots launching and getting high. Hang glider pilots were doing well
also.


The day was cancelled when the safety committee and task committee felt by a
majority that they didn't want to fly or wait for better conditions, again,
given the limited visibility.


Jeff O'Brien and Jeff Shapiro, first time to Oz American pilots, flew, got high,
and easily made it over to Mt. Beauty. Flying in the smoke makes for smooth
thermals.