{"id":73269,"date":"2014-07-04T02:52:21","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T16:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=73269"},"modified":"2024-07-23T15:58:31","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T05:58:31","slug":"chris-soars-above-the-rest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/07\/04\/chris-soars-above-the-rest\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Soars Above The Rest"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Gliders<\/a>
Chris Woolley was up and down all night collecting awards … he was presented with his trophies by\u00a0Kingaroy Soaring Club president Greg Schmidt and Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 4, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s a fairly common sight to see gliders soaring above Kingaroy Airport, but did you know how far they can travel? Would you believe Victoria?<\/p>\n

The Kingaroy Soaring Club held its annual general meeting and trophy presentation dinner last Saturday night at the clubhouse at Kingaroy Airport.<\/p>\n

And there was one name that just kept on being called out: Chris Woolley.<\/p>\n

Chris put in some outstanding performances over the past 12 months but one particular flight was amazing.<\/p>\n

At 8:45am on January 17 this\u00a0year Chris got a tow from Kingaroy Airport and headed off to the south-west towards Dirranbandi, he then started to climb again and head south … past Tocumwal. A total of almost 1300km, and breaking a number of Australian and international records along the way.<\/p>\n

“I’m still pinching myself that I got that far,” he said.<\/p>\n

The next day he had a rest day and then he flew to Narromine. Unfortunately some stormy weather left him stranded there for a few days. He finally made it home, a week later …<\/p>\n

Another highlight of the awards evening was the announcement that the Soaring Club’s new hangar would be known as the Ian “Aspro” Aspland Hangar.<\/p>\n

Ian, who has been a member of the club since 1956, was described as a “national treasure”.<\/p>\n

“He has broken many records, won many championships and has done a tremendous amount of work for the club over the years,” Greg Cole said.<\/p>\n

“How do you thank a club member who has done so much work? A trophy? We have done that. A life membership? We have done that. \u00a0So … what about if we named the hangar after this particular gentleman?”<\/p>\n

Ian, who was presented with the new sign. said he was “really humbled, really tickled pink”.<\/p>\n

Footnote: Chris Woolley’s son Adam is also making the news, currently competing at the World Championships in Finland.<\/p>\n

Trophy winners:<\/strong><\/p>\n