VISITING PILOTS

Hunter Valley Gliding Club address is

115 Comleroi Road, Warkworth, NSW

GPS coordinates: 32° 32.951' S 151° 1.448' E

Operational details

All operations:

Airfield Altitude: 250ft; CTAF: 126.7Mhz Runway: 10/28

Ultralights, GA and anything else that flies will be welcomed.

All our gliders listen to 126.7MHz around the airfield. Announce your arrival approximately 10 miles out to "Traffic Warkworth". The gliders probably won't reply to you unless a conflict appears imminent but they will be listening. The preferred circuit direction is Left Hand however gliders may at times use Right Hand circuits.

If unsure whether gliders are operating you should over fly to check. If no operations are apparent a precautionary circuit is recommended to check for kangaroos on the runway. Be aware however that a glider in circuit is very likely to be in the same area as your precautionary circuit.

Private operations and private pilot training:

No approval is required for recreational operations including navigation training flights by student and private pilots. Emergency operations by organisations such as RFS etc. also do not require approval.

Commercial operations:

Commercial operations require prior approval and are subject to a landing fee of $10 per engine. This should be paid to the club by bank transfer to Westpac Bank BSB: 032-167 Account: 344776. Specify "Landing fee, date & registration".

Mine Blasting - Operational considerations

From time to time the mines that are close to us need to carry out blasting operations. Sometimes blasting occurs close enough to the airfield to create a potential hazard to aviation. Also on occasions, a mine may need to temporarily erect a tall structure that may penetrate the obstacle limitation surface around the airfield. Specific details will be displayed on the home page of this web site and pilots should review that when planning a flight.

Note however that scheduled times are indicative only and the actual time of a blast my change at short notice for various reasons. The schedules are maintained by the individual mines and their contact details are shown below.

Pilots should remain at least 1000 metres clear of the blast area when a blast is imminent. Note that this may affect approaches to 10, departures from 28 and overflying in either direction but any restrictions are likely to be of short duration. (See Communications)

Communications protocol:

The mines will use callsign "Blast Control:.
The mine will maintain a listening watch on the CTAF (126.7 MHz) from at least 10 minutes before a scheduled blast until the all clear is given.
The mine will transmit a warning 10 minutes, 5 minutes and 1 minute before the blast.
The mine will transmit a notification when the area has been declared safe after the blast has been completed or the blast has been delayed.
The mine will respond to any aircraft that calls in the area and may have missed previous warnings

The mines and their contact details:

The coal mine adjacent to Hunter Valley Gliding Club is operated by Hunter Valley Operations. Recorded blasting information is available on 1800 888 733.

The coal mine located to the southwest of Hunter Valley Gliding Club (south of the Golden Highway) is operated by Glencore - United Wambo OC Operations Pty Ltd. For further information on blasting, pilots can call the Environment & Community Manager on 0429 306 208. The mine maintains this information.