Airborn #202 may 2017 issu

Issue 202; May, June, July 2017

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING

Paragliding Champs Kaikohe Motor Flying Moving Up in Glider Performance 7.50 Including GST

$

9 771170 992006

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any pilots visit flying sites outside their own region. To ensure that you don’t jeopardise arrangements between land owners and local flyers you must ALWAYS check with local pilots BEFORE flying.

That way you won’t upset land owners or pilots, you will be shown all the best sites and will be welcome back. We don’t publish site names and locations

because flying sites have been lost by visiting flyers who have upset land owners. To assist travelling pilots, people wishing to learn to fly or to contact hang gliding and paragliding clubs, here is a list of people who can help you.

Those on the list or wishing to be listed, should contact their Club Secretaries who should keep Airborn and the NZHGPA website updated of changes of contact details.

NORTHLAND H.G.P.C. C/- Guntram Gross 1 Brook Road Whangarei Email: skywalk@igrin.co.nz Pres, Airsp; Shane Gross...............09 436 0268 Sec/Treas; Guntram Gross.............09 436 0268 PGSO; Wolfgang Harder................09 403 7594 HGSO; Stephen Chambers............09 430 3689 Herman Ahrens...............................09 432 9333

MANAWATU H.G.P.C. C/- Andrew Brownlie 11 Hollows Crescent Takaro Palmerston North 4412 Email: flyer.rosscoe@gmail.com Pres, Airsp: Ricky Winduss (Wanganui) .......................... 06 345 7659, or 027 447 4117 Sec/Treas, HGSO: Ross Gray......021 126 0892 PGSO: Andrew Brownlie ...........027 444 8911

AUCKLAND H.G.P.C. PO Box 47813 Ponsonby, Auckland 1144 Email: info@cloudbase.org.nz www.cloudbase.org.nz Pres: Stefan Sebregts .................027 225 2255 Sec: Graham Surrey ..................021 0262 5023 Treas: Malcolm Dawson...............021 052 1568 HGSO: Fraser Bull .......................027 801 4044 PGSO: Reuben Muir.......................09 446 0020 Airsp: Leslie Graham .....................09 579 6485 Stefan Sebregts ...........................021 266 1287 Steve Price ....................................021 781 828 Eva Keim .......................................09 446 0051 Skywings Paragliding ....................09 570 5757 Aqua Air Adventure Hang Gliding.. 027 288 0193 Wings And Waves Paragliding ......09 446 0020

BAY OF PLENTY H.G.P.C. C/-Dominique Le Sellin 41, Ririnui Place, Maungatapu Tauranga 3112 Email: bophangparaclub@gmail.com www.facebook.com/BOPHangGlidingParagliding Pres: Dave Washer.......................0275 992 934 Sec: Dominique Le Sellin...................... 021 617 111 PGSO: Darrell Packe........................027 249 2702 HGSO: James Low.......................021 102 5004 Airsp: Rhys Akers.........................021 177 7563 Sites: Dave Shaw...........................07 575 9560 Kiwi Air.........................................021 1046 208 Mount Paragliding........................027 249 2702

HAWKES BAY H.G.P.C. Inc. 30 Kaweka Place Havelock North 4130 Email: hbhgpc@gmail.com www.soarhawkesbay.co.nz Pres, Rebecca Rae.........................021 605 204 Sec/Treas: Duncan McNab..........027 624 6434 Airsp: Shaun Gilbert.....................022 477 8804 PGSO: Sam Elkink..........................06 824 3123 HGSO: Ross MacKay.....................06 877 2052 Sites Liason; Euan Talbot ..............06 877 8999

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KEY Pres; .............................................. President

Sec; ............................ Secretary/Treasurer PGSO; ............. Paragliding Safety Officer HGSO; .......... Hang Gliding Safety Officer CFI;...........................Chief Flying Instructor Airsp;.................................Airspace Officer

AORANGI H.G.C. C/- Tom Knewstubb PO Box 5976 Dunedin Pres, Airsp; Kevin McManus........021 134 0463 Sec, HGSO; Tom Knewstubb (wk) 027 289 6103 PGSO: Lisa Bradley......................021 156 3256 SOUTHERN H.G.P.C. C/- Mark Hardman PO Box 1122, Queenstown Email: admin@southernclub.co.nz www.southernclub.co.nz Pres, Mark Hardman......................021 809 275 Sec: Melanie Heather...................021 204 0163 Treas: Kat Cerna.................................................

PGSO: Blake Round.....................027 367 7679 HGSO: Ian Clark.............................03 442 3992 Sites: Cathal McLoughlin...........021 024 00350 Events: Dan Pugsley..........................................

IT/Web: Jim Rooney...................020 4010 1926 Airsp: Keri Mapperson....................021 530 950 Craig Smith...................................027 343 3537 Derek Divers...................................03 443 7190 Helen Jeffery................................03 3409 8328 James Mitchell...........................021 0244 7875 Coronet Peak Tandem PG & HG..0800 467 325 Skytrek Hang Gliding & Paragliding.0800 759 873 Elevation Paragliding....................0800 359 444 Extreme Air............................ 0800 PARAGLIDE Infinity Paragliding School..........021 0228 2939 Paraventures Paragliding.............0800 809 275

Photo; Rachel Hunt

TARANAKI FREE FLYERS C/- Dennis Green 38 Kaitake Rd RD4, New Plymouth Pres, Sec, HGSO, Airsp; Dennis Green .......................................................06 752 7618 John H. Morgan..............................06 759 4262

MARLBOROUGH H.G.P.C. C/- Richard Evans PO Box 546 Blenheim Email: evans.r@xtra.co.nz Pres, Airsp: Jason Gluer.............021 0824 7543 Sec/Treas: Richard Evans..............021 648 783 HGSO: John Urlich: .......................03 577 8886 PGSO: Russell Read....................027 448 0888

CANTERBURY H.G.P.C. Inc. C/- Mike Lowe 4 Meredith Street, Addington, Christchurch Email: mike.j.lowe@gmail.com www.chgpc.org.nz Pres: Dan Campbell.......................021 980 635 Sec/Treas; Mike Lowe..................022 411 8014 PGSO; Robert Kennedy...............021 220 7993 HGSO; Max Gebhardt................. 022 159 6101 Sites PG; Jean Brossard..............021 143 9993 Sites HG; Reece Fisher..................021 806 390 Airsp; Peter Taylor........................021 066 9886 Website; Stephen O’Shaughnessy.03 326 7373 Canty HG School; Bill Degen.......021 247 2676 Nimbus Paragliding......................027 432 4874 ParaPro.........................................0800 548 323

Hang gliders at the Paeroa range

WAIKATO H.G.P.C. Inc. C/- Ewen Tonar 23A Brookview Court Hamilton Email: ejtonar069@gmail.com Pres/Airsp: Neil Howe....................07 304 9631 Sec/Treas: Ewen Tonar...................07 855 3969 PGSO: Bruce Vickerman ...............07 868 4991 HGSO: Rick Hawkeswood.............07 868 6250

WELLINGTON H.G.P.C. PO Box 9824 Marion Square Wellington 6141 www.whgpc.nz Email: info@whgpc.org.nz Pres: Chris Connolly ....................022 676 5599 Past Pres: Kris Ericksen...............021 116 4558 Sec/Treas: Grant Firth................... 021 422 698 PGSO: Adrian Watts.......................021 981 855 HGSO: Grant Tatham...................027 636 3491 Airsp: Ian Miller ............................022 176 8205 Communications; Vincent Audebert .....................................................022 186 8452 Oceania Paragliding School.........022 676 5599

TASMAN H.G.P.C. C/- Annett Teichner 1137 Motueka Valley Highway, RD1, Motueka 7196 Email: thgpgclub@gmail.com Pres; Josh Benjamin ....................021 136 5405 Sec; Annett Teichner..................021 0231 0755 Treas; Brian Erasmus .....................03 545 1003 PGSO; Greg Benjamin....................03 545 1543 PGSO; Pete Polansky ...................03 528 7374 HGSO; John King..........................03 548 8263 Site Owners; Tim Percival .............03 548 7397 Site Maintenance; Frog Twissell ....03 538 0339 Airsp; Claus Petry.........................021 250 4836 Nelson Paragliding.........................03 544 1182 Adventure Paragliding....................021 762 769 Hang Gliding NZ.............................03 540 2183 Tasman Sky Adventures...............027 229 9693

ISSN 1170-9928

printed on recycled paper

Magazine of the NEW Zealand Hang Gliding & Paragliding Assn. Inc. Published every three months for hang gliding and paragliding enthusiasts in New Zealand and abroad ● Subscription is by membership of NZHGPA (a

legal requirement for all hang glider and paraglider pilots in NZ) ● For non

flyer and foreign subscriptions please contact the NZHGPA Administrator for current rates, or see advertisement in this issue ● Opinions, claims and advice

expressed by authors and advertisers in this magazine are their own and are

not necessarily shared by the NZHGPA or the editor ● All articles, photos

and graphics are copyright to the author, photographer, editor or designer and may not be reproduced without their permission

N.Z.H.G.P.A. INC., 57 Kingsford Drive, Stoke, Nelson 7011, New Zealand www.nzhgpa.org.nz

Administration and Licensing Chief Executive Officer

Evan Lamberton, 35A Manly Esplanade, Browns Bay, North Shore City 0630, 09 478 0063, 021 407833, ceo@nzhgpa.org.nz Administrator

Nicky Hamill, 3 Ashdonleigh Grove, Stoke, Nelson 7011, 03 547 4845, admin@nzhgpa.org.nz Executive Committee President

Kyla MacDonald, phone 021 056 2320, president@nzhgpa.org.nz Vice President

Derek Divers, 106 Lachlan Avenue, RD2, Wanaka 9382, 03 443 7190, 027 493 1112, vice-president@nzhgpa.org.nz Hang Gliding Operations Manager

Mark Alton, 167 Mahoenui Road, Coatesville, Auckland 0793, 022 195 5746, hg.operations@nzhgpa.org.nz Hang Gliding Training Manager

Grant Tatham, 4 Phillip St, Carterton, 5713, 06 379 7322, 027 636 3491, hg.training@nzhgpa.org.nz Paragliding Operations Manager

Mark Hardman, 021 809 275, pg.operations@nzhgpa.org.nz Paragliding Training Manager

Contributions All articles, photos, news items, press releases, safety tips and letters will be

gratefully accepted for publication ● Articles should preferably be computer text files in any unformatted word processor file. Airborn can use Apple Mac,

or Windows text files. You can send them by email, on flash drive, floppy, CD or DVD disc ● Printed, typed or written copy should be neat and legible, leaving space in margins and between lines. Please print/write on one side of the page

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Please send advertisements, photos and articles to the editor:

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Airborn Magazine

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Appointed Officers National Airspace Officer

Nick Taber, 27 Strathaven Place, Dodson Valley, Atawhai, Nelson 7010. 03 545 0766, 021 420 742, nicktaber@hotmail.com Website Manager

Adriel Kind, 027 964 5397, adriel.nzhgpa@gmail.com Chief Medical Advisor

Paul Brydon, 1431 Main Te Pahu Rd, RD5, Hamilton. 07 825 9161, 021 253 5264, paulbrydon@gmail.com Internal Auditor

Kris Ericksen, 11 Koromiko Road, Aro Valley, Wellington 6012, 04 938 6539, 021 116 4558, audit@nzhgpa.org.nz Disciplinary Committee Convenor

Dean Straker, 35 Seymour Avenue, The Brook, Nelson 7010, 03 545 7511, 021 545 7511, dean@straker.co.nz Bookshop Manager

Ewen Tonar, 23A Brookview Court, Hamilton. 07 855 3969, 021 041 1418, ejtonar069@gmail.com Hang Gliding Competition Committee

Mark Alton, 167 Mahoenui Road, Coatesville, Auckland 0793, 022 195 5746, markalton@yahoo.com Dennis Thorpe, dennis_thorpe@hotmail.com Max Gebhardt, 03 312 7899, 022 159 6101, aerosm@gmail.com Paragliding Competition Committee

Johnny Hopper (chair), 021 056 2275, nzhgpapcc@googlegroups.com Tim Brown, 03 442 5319, 021 182 4243, nzhgpapcc@googlegroups.com Wayne Rohrs, 021 663 383 nzhgpapcc@googlegroups.com

In This Issue...

NZ Paragliding Nationals.............................................................4 Pigeon Island Paragliding Meet..................................................9 Moving Up To The Next Hang Glider........................................12 NZ Hang Gliding Nationals........................................................15 Becoming a NOVA Team Pilot...................................................18 Kaikohe Motor Hang Gliding.....................................................21 Paragliding Ladder.....................................................................24 Cross Country Champs Scoreboards.................................26, 28 Red Bull X-Alps...........................................................................27 Omarama XC Classic ................................................................29 Classified Advertisements.........................................................30 FRONT COVER: Kinga Masztalerz flying Mentor 4 Light in Stubaital, Austria, Photo; Chris Wright

Next issue deadline: 1 July 2017 A

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NZ Paragliding Nationals Rotorua 2nd - 8th March 2017

By Andy Maloney

2017

- the year without a summer, so it was a fairly major miracle that the weather was so good for the Paragliding Nationals in Rotorua, with six flyable days and four completed tasks out of the seven days.

The following week featured floods of biblical proportions over the northern half of the North Island, so I do wonder how many virgins comp director Johnny Hopper had to sacrifice to please the weather gods. Don’t be surprised if the national news features the discovery of a mass grave west of Auckland!

Competition headquarters was at the Rotorua Thermal Holiday Park, and most pilots stayed there - either camping or staying in the overpriced cabins; though the convenience of being a few seconds walk from the morning briefings and the evening entertainment made up for the financial pain.

Registration on Saturday included a sausage sizzle - the copious quantities of available free

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food being a foretaste of things to come. A record 80 pilots had registered - the largest number in a New Zealand paragliding competition ever! It was great to see a large number of women pilots entering - eleven in all - still far from equality, but excellent for a sport where women seem rarer than vegans in a slaughterhouse.

There was also a large overseas contingent, with 22 pilots from countries as diverse as Japan, Venezuela, Czech Republic, England, Germany, and Turkey (Yes, Turkeys can fly rather well it seems). Not forgetting seven pilots tempted over from the West Island by Johnny’s marketing efforts while at the Canungra Cup last year. Another West Islander imported from Canungra was launch marshal Col Hjortshoj, the best and loudest in

the southern hemisphere, and familiar to most pilots who have attended Ozzy comps.

Sunday started with the first of the daily 9am briefings, and the first of Johnny’s random prize givings, with a computerised random pilot picker, and lots of prizes from sponsors. The chance to go Zorbing, bobsleighing, or white-water rafting were given away along with more conventional paragliding prizes, eggs (from Hopper’s Happy Hens), and honey from Kinga’s (probably) happy bees. Many pilots with no chance of winning a prize for doing well in the comp went home with a prize (but not me, dammit!).

The weather forecast was great for the Paeroas, arguably the best North Island XC site, so we all went to the base of the hill and arranged cars so as few vehicles as possible went up the hill - a half hour drive up the steep rutted 4WD track to the summit. As it is a sensitive site, gate etiquette was important to ensure none were left open, though one gate had a sign saying it must be closed at all times, which is a little confusing if you think about it.

The air mass was moister than a teenage girl at a Justin Beiber concert, and the cloud was below the summit and took a while to burn off, which was to be the pattern for the whole week, and unfortunately we never got a 7000ft cloudbase, though it did tend to rise later in the afternoons.

The task committee set a 50.2km race to goal task - with the unusual feature of the 3rd turnpoint being the start cylinder - the 1st two turnpoint cylinders were along the ridge to the south and north. The idea was to spread the gliders along the ridge to avoid congestion - though this managed to thoroughly confuse my old Competino GPS (more on this later). The third turnpoint was at the back of the flatlands at the edge of a huge and daunting forest, then turned back into the paraglider-friendly farmland for the forth turnpoint, with the goal satisfyingly close to the Reporoa pub.

Once the cloud lifted above the launch site, the day looked better! There was almost no wind, and some on-hill entertainment was provided by the first pilot to launch - Hamish Barker - who ran off the edge of the hill with no pressure in his glider, disappearing over the edge to a collective gasp

Left; Heading off on the Kaimais Photo; Kris Ericksen

Below; The gate sign on the Paeroas track. It’s impossible to comply with if you want to get through it!

Photo; Andy Maloney

from all the other pilots. Luckily, he was OK, and the potentially grave situation was made into a gravy situation at the briefing the next day, when he received a spot prize of a gallon of gravy left over from the previous night’s spit roast, and inadvertently started a new paragliding tradition of the gravy prize for terrible launches (though packet gravy was used for subsequent prizes).

Back on Task 1, everyone else had incidentfree launches, and thermals the size of Rotorua seemed as abundant as zits on a teenager’s face.

Unfortunately, I discovered after launching that my Competino wanted to send me straight to the start cylinder, and I had to guess where the first two turnpoints were, not helped by my lack of paying proper attention to the map at the task briefing.

With a radio’ed description from Russ Read (thanks Russ!), I did ping the turnpoints before heading over the flatlands to exit the start gate.

Unfortunately, after pinging the start gate, my Competino tried to point me back to TP1, so I had only the vaguest idea about the whereabouts of TP3, so it was probably just as well my flight ended somewhat short of it (thermals, like zits, became less common once the face of the Paeroas was left behind).

In total, eight pilots made goal, with Wayne Rohrs winning the day, followed by Evan Lamberton and Grant Middendorf. Russ Read made goal but was penalised 250 points for forgetting to text in that he had landed safely, which cost him the championship.

There was an excellent spit roast for the pilots in the evening, with a surplus of gravy, and followed by the pilot auction, always a fun event. Punters ‘buy’ the pilots they think might win, and the owner of the winner gets 50% of the pot, the second gets 30% and the 3rd 20%. Some pilots were auctioned in groups, and the ‘guns’ sold

Above; Soaring the Paeroa Range Photo; Kris Ericksen

Below; The normally calm Middy screaming like a girlie in the left of the boat Photo; Kaituna Cascades

Right; Duncan McNab and Johnny Hopper at Paeroas launch, with Kris Ericksen and Nick Taber in the background Photo; Andy Maloney

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Above; Aerial view of Paeroas Photo; Kris Ericksen

individually, some for hundreds of dollars. I was in the ‘Wellington pilots’ group (me, Kris Ericksen and Chris Connolly), who made the record low price of $8 (bid by me - my only bet, which I’m sad to say failed to pay out). Some pilots spent jaw-dropping amounts on pilots, often lubricated

by CH2OOH, which may have lead to poor decisions, such as Dave Washer bidding against himself!

The forecast for Monday was similar, and once again we went to the Paeroas. The sky was 100% cloudy, however, when the task started - a fairly short (38.9km) task via two turn-points which headed south along the line of the ridge and kept going in the same direction.

The first few pilots to take off got above the ridge and maintained near cloudbase in decent-looking thermals waiting for the start gate to open. This encouraged more pilots to take off, as the overcast sky was showing no sign of improvement.

I think it’s fair to say that my experience was shared by most pilots, when I launched, and then almost immediately saw what was not visible from the ground - lots of pilots scratching desperately half way down the hill. I soon joined them, after playing dodge-the-paragliders

for a few minutes I sank out and landed, then watched as another couple of dozen gliders followed me.

Then a few minutes later the cloud cleared, the sun came out, and the sensible pilots who had hung back then took off and shot skyward.

In total, 40 pilots never made the start gate, including many of the ‘guns’ (so at least I was in good company). Only 14 made goal, with the top dogs being Simon Houston (Aus) followed by Russ Read (NZ) and Matts Eliasson (Swe).

Tuesday dawned with some more very similar weather, but with a forecast for overdevelopment later.

As before, we headed up the Paeroas, and once again as the cloudbase rose, it failed to break up, but this time it looked rather dark and threatening. A task was set, then cancelled due to the thunderstorm threat, and a spot landing competition was set instead. No sooner had this been done than the cloud broke up, and it started to look like a beautiful day!

The thermals were so good that I missed the spot landing spot by 15km, landing by the Waikato river. I could have gone further but for a huge storm

Right; Low cloud at the Paeroas Photo; Rhys Akers Below; Lower Kaimai launch panorama Photo; Kris Ericksen

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developing to the south, so the decision to cancel the task had been good. I got a hitch back to Rotorua without getting wet, though I later heard I had missed torrential rain by minutes as the whole flatland area overdeveloped into a whopping storm.

Wednesday seemed like a repeat of Monday’s weather, with the low cloud on the Paeroas gradually raising, but remaining overcast.

However, with no storms forecast, a 36km task was set, which involved going a few kilometres south along the range and back, then over the back to a turnpoint at the north of the

flatland, then south towards the Waikato river, and north again to the goal north of Reporoa. One difference though was airspace - up until now we had enjoyed a 7000ft airspace ceiling, but Johnny called a last minute rebrief and informed us that the air traffic radar had broken down, so we had to stay under 4500ft, which was a tad inconvenient, and meant I had to pull big ears in a couple of thermals.

Like many pilots, I’d learnt a valuable lesson on Monday, and this time I hung back until the sky eventually cleared, and was rewarded with an excellent flight, though the thermals ran out for me 10km short of goal.

Top dogs for the day were Russ Read (NZ), Louis Tapper (NZ) and Andreas Contreras (Ven).

On Thursday, we went to the Kaimais for a change - partly because of the uncertainty of the airspace at the Paeroas, partly as it looked like this would be our only chance to fly there - with increased wind forecast. It turned out to be a fantastic decision - though once again, we all sat in cloud at launch for some time waiting for it to lift.

The task was set 25km north along the range, then back to some 5km south-west of launch in the flats.

It was fairly windy on launch, and care had to be taken not to take thermals too far over the back, as my speed sometimes dropped below 10km/h on speedbar when pushing forward, particularly later in the day. The scenery was absolutely

Above; Four pilots working their way up superb - as we flew over a massive, rainforestcovered plateau with waterfalls flowing off the edge, then further north over impressively spiky, steep mountains, which looked far higher than their actual height of about 900m.

The wind caused some problems for pilots who got low in gullies and caught in the venturi - Eva Keim and Graham Surrey had gnarly landings and long walks out from forestry blocks high in the range, and Anand Srinivasan had a close call kicking trees in a rainforested gully with no glide out, before hooking a thermal which he said was the best of the day! Other pilots avoided the drama by staying well forward of the range, out in the flats, which were also working well (but I think I got the better view over the spine of the range!).

An almost unprecedented number of pilots made goal - 50 in all, and a few more made goal but after the task had stopped. Louis Tapper was first in, and then landed in a paddock a little short of the goal cylinder. Like sheep, just about every other pilot followed Louis into the paddock, which has two main consequences: a) a pissed off landowner (placated by a box of beer by Johnny), and b) a couple of pilots landing without checking that they’d crossed the goal line first.

Without doubt, this was the highlight of the competition, and many goal virgins were given a good old rogering, including Jude Tarr, who had spent a quarter of a century of paragliding foreplay before popping her cherry!

The cream floating to the top today were Louis Tapper (NZ), Dave Snowden (Aus), and Grant Middendorf (NZ).

Well, all good things must come to an end, and Friday brought that end. With high winds forecast, we raced up to the top of the Paeroas, where it was too windy, then back down and to the lower take off, where it was marginal. A task was set, people launched, and the wind kept picking up.

Below; Nationals participants 2017 Photo; Kris Ericksen

Photo; Rhys Akers

I hung back, and got my wind meter out - and it was gusting up to 40km/h. The fast gliders were OK, but definitely too strong for lower performance wings, so I was super-glad when the task was cancelled.

Saturday was blowing a hoolie, and the day was cancelled without going up a hill. Graham Surrey organised a white water rafting trip with a great pilot discount, so a group of us descended the Kaituna river, screaming like girlies down the highest commercially rafted waterfall in New Zealand. More fun than a barrel of bushbabies.

The final event of the week was the prize giving meal at the Rotorua Citizens Club. The buffet was excellent, but the entertainment perhaps less so.

All week Johnny had been making references to the Elvis impersonator, and most of us had assumed he was joking. But not so. And once he started ‘entertaining’, the good citizens of Rotorua, in their Zimmer frames and wheelchairs, started invading our space to watch this truly mediocre act. A good few of us left for an excellent live band at a nearby pub instead.

The final tally for the competition was Grant Middendorf in first place, Russ Read in second and Louis Tapper in third - all New Zealand pilots. A shame the Trans-Tasman trophy was not being decided here. In his acceptance speech, Middy, always the gentleman, thanked Russ for letting him win by forgetting to text in after the first task.

Winner of the women was Kinga Masztalerz, who also managed

Above; waiting for a ride up

Photo; Dom Le Sellin

Below; Hot pool swimming

Photo; Kris Ericksen;

Right; Paeroas launch Photo; Dom Le Sellin

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Getting up at the Paeroas Photo; Erica Caro Dom Touching the clouds for the 1st time.

Toni Getting to goal is always the highlight.

Kyla Racing into goal at the Kaimais... late.

Kinga Flying with a proper gaggle - first Top Places time on NZ comp. And catching up with Pos Pilot Glider Total Task 1 Task 2 Task 3 Task 4 all these Zenos ;-) 1 Grant Middendorf GTO 3095 920 533 829 813 Erica Tagging turn point 1 on my very 2 Russell Read

2872 594 655 969 654 first flight, I had launched late & didn’t 3 Louis Tapper Zeno 2805 886 74 852 993 see anyone in the sky around me, I let 4 David Snowden Enzo 2 2788 724 640 526 898 out a loud “yeah made turn point 1” 5 Andres Contreras M6 2634 738 425 838 633 thinking it was just for me, only to hear 6 Richard Castro Trango 2586 568 569 828 621 a “Waahhhhooooooo” back in response 7 Sedat Kirtulukoglu Lm5 2539 706 585 550 698 from glider within earshot far above me 8= Matts Eliasson Zeno 2530 546 643 633 708 - what encouragement!

8= Mark Hardman Enzo 2 2530 887 554 597 492 Emlyn Making goal after bombing out 10 Reuben Muir Gin GTO2 2523 676 583 639 625 in the first three tasks.

11 Phil Hystek Gin Explorer 2436 444 573 804 615 Louis Surfing next to clouds on a day 12 Wayne Rohrs GTO2 2427 926 74 824 603 when the task was cancelled.

13 Evan Lamberton Gin GTO2 2383 922 443 223 795 Jean After bombing out on the 14 Jack Bailey Ozone Delta 2 2304 647 443 823 391 previous task, I managed to almost 15 Claus Petry BGD Cure 2301 573 520 613 595 bomb out again! At this stage, realising 16 Ziya Hacialioglu Alpina2 2281 568 560 538 615 I’m probably last and with nothing to 17 Toni Skerrett

2280 545 296 817 622 lose, I managed to re-compose myself 18 Simon Houston Zeno 2254 691 665 112 786 and proceeded to try on the dusty warp 19 Derek Divers Carrera 2165 559 418 633 555 drive and hyper focus mode. Usually I’m 20 Robbo Robinson Delta2 2161 567 414 656 524 on slow and conserve all mode... Actually 21 Matt Harrison Carrera 2155 294 443 826 592 always!

22 Jean Brossard Cure 2143 854 75 613 601 Anyway, without knowing it I was in 23 Kinga Masztalerz NOVA Mentor 4 light 1975 483 130 814 548 the lead gaggle! I was pushing still and 24 Elliot RevellNash Mentor 4 Light 1971 304 259 815 593 mistakenly thought the group I’d just 25 Eva Keim Explorer 1952 440 561 660 291 past by the last turnpoint was on final to goal. Unfortunately pushing hard and thinking of catching up, I landed short of goal and a bit confused about what I was witnessing above. Bummer!

Helen Goal! Late though, must fly faster!

Johnny All the days take offs.

Henry Whipping along cloud base full Emlyn Flying with and learning from to become New Zealand female speed bar following a cloud street to get off experienced pilots. champion by the skin of her teeth the ridge and get a nice line into goal (task Louis Seeing Johnny drunk and naked. her NZ residency had come through 4).

Ken I regained a lot of my lost enthusiasm just a few days before!

Snowy Watching Jonny. for competitions and, in fact, paragliding Full results can be seen at Elliot Task 3. Flying well on my anniversary generally. highcloud.net with my girlfriend almost balanced out the Jean learning new skills by flying with a Finally, a short questionnaire was lost brownie points of not seeing her. great bunch of pilots. sent out to all competing pilots.

Phil JUST making goal on task 3 by 5m Dave Having the comp head quarters at altitude. camp and all the fun around the morning Questions were: Simon The final climb and race to goal on briefings and night functions What was your favourite thing about the Winning task 2 :) Evan The “We are one team” friendly PG Open? environment that Johnny created on day Describe your worst flying moment!

Liz Flying, fun and friendship. one.

Toni Bombing out due to over-reading the Toni Well organised. Nil incidents. Good Graham The way that everyone got on board conditions. international participation. with the idea about working together to help Helen Landing “over the back” and hitching Helen The sense of community that everything run smoothly. As a consequence home before I realised that “over the back” is developed as the comp progressed, low the comp seemed to go really well and where the cars were parked... senior blond stress and fun. everyone had a great amount of fun in the moment!

Johnny Finn saying “I’m small!” process!

Elliot Taking the start with the leaders and Henry 5 great days flying (if you include the Roland Great company and relaxed realising how slow I am. spot landing task). atmosphere, 5 days flying in a row.

Phil Was there one?

Snowy Jonny.

Dave The Craic! best compy fun in a Simon Gravy award for a less than Elliot Great flying and the formalities were decade!! impressive launch. pretty fun too.

Phil The relaxed competitive environment and undoubtedly Johnny.

Simon It was really fun and well organised.

The task calls. The weather. The food. Wing commander Hopper.

Kyla Great camaraderie.

Kinga Organisation was great - Johnny and the rest made an enormous job, everything was clear, briefings were good and funny, tasks were well set, Col did a great job to keep us stress free during launching.

Erica The PEOPLE - The organisers, the helpers, the ‘Top Guns’, the fluffers, the drivers. It was a real sense of camaraderie.

A stand out was the Launch Marshall Col who made my first competition launches a less daunting affair. He had a reassuring calm demeanour and made sure everyone got their “moment”!

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Describe your best flying moment.

Dave Flying with a lot of other pilots into goal.

Evan Despite being one big friendly team it was still very satisfying to overfly the whole Australian contingent and be first in goal on day one.

Graham Making my first goal ever on Task 3 after working with a bunch of other pilots across the flats to make the most of the light and tricky conditions.

Roland Great lift on the day when the task was cancelled due to too much cumulus.

Dave Screaming into goal on full bar chased down by NZ’s best!

Liz Getting to goal for the first time.

Right; Winners at the prizegiving Photo; Kris Ericksen

Emlyn Third day in a row landing in the bomb-out.

Louis Landing in the bomb out.

Ken Looking down on others over the 2nd turnpoint. during task 1. I’d quite forgotten that feeling!

Jean Bombing out on day 2.

Graham Getting rapidly flushed by lee-side turbulence in Task 4 and having to land in the only clear area available next to a pond in the middle of a forestry block. It made for an exciting few minutes!

Roland Dropping at Kaimais whilst almost everybody else had a great flight.

Dave Being nipped at the post by Matts who sneaked in unseen underneath me!

Dave Thinking of taking off in the strong conditions to keep my points up.

Evan My decision to push on to that promising patch of sunshine before the start of task 3. A sunny place to land wasn’t what I wanted.

Kyla 2 bombouts in a row! Then watching loads of other pilots float over me.

Kinga Bombing out on 2nd day - from cloud base straight to the floor - what the hell was I thinking?! When I landed I started cursing in Polish :-D Erica Don’t think I had one ! Maybe picking a too conservative line at the Kaimais? I would have loved to have flown longer, but every cloud has a silver lining - got a pick up from some lovely farmers. Short flight but a cold beer.

Johnny The radio lock out.

Henry Slowly losing grip on the lower ridge in the 2nd task and slipping down to the bomb out after fighting for 35 minutes to hang onto tiny threads of lift.

Snowy Landing before Jonny/Landing after Jonny then landing on his spot.

Dom Big collapse.

If you saw Johnny naked on the Friday night how likely is it that you will need therapy (19 responses)

1 Highly unlikely - but I wouldn’t want to have it repeated 5 Highly likely - I’m highly traumatised Other comments Phil Loved the relaxed, chilled out, low testosterone vibe of the comp. And it was great that so many low airtime pilots could attend.

Kyla Great to share the air with an amazing bunch of pilots.

Erica Can we make a request for other people to be naked next time ? ; ) Ken Enjoyed every minute.

Dom It was perfect.

Toni Great comp lets do it again.

Helen The is an absolutely amazing comp in every way! Well done team.

Henry Let’s do two next year!

Snowy More naked Jonny.

Evan Elvis was great. Let’s book him again.

The zombie invasion of his fans was even more fun. Can we shoot them next time?

Roland Great experience, very tempted to participate again.

Dave Great comp, fun fast and occasionally furious! Right tone/level for a Nationals, seriously good vibe.

Liz Congratulations to all the organising team. It was obvious how much work had been put into this event. Hats off to you all.

Scott The relaxed and fun atmosphere made it so much more enjoyable - THANKS.

Paragliding into Paradise - Pigeon Island

By Rob Gillard Photos by Alan Swann

I

live in Raglan and when I heard about this event I dropped everything, grabbed my gear and jumped on a plane to Queenstown for the weekend. ‘The Pigeon Paragliding Party’ was held on Pigeon Island on LakeWakatipuintheSouth Island and organised by Alan (Swanny) Swann of Infinity Paragliding School.

It is fast becoming legendary within the local scene and attracts some real good sorts. The flying site was on the Richardson Range near the beautiful township of Glenorchy and the after party and campsite was on Pigeon Island, a stunning spot in the middle of the lake.

Driving into the area with Stefano early on Saturday morning, the lake glistened in the Autumn sun which

Top; Rob Gillard gets his Ozone Rapido ready Right; Stefano Gigli launching his Rapido

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Left; The heli team Right; Jack Bailey from Infinity Paragliding

was just the tonic I needed after such a wet week. On arrival Swanny greeted us with a big smile, excited about the programme for the day. After a short walk up to the paddock on the east side of the lake we all gathered for the helicopter to take us to launch.

The morning was dedicated to the pilots that wanted to speed fly down the awesome slopes of Minor Peak or fly acro over the lake. Craig Taylor had arranged some heli laps for this before the main event. As speed flying is very new to me I was quite apprehensive but excited to meet and fly with some of the local Ozone speed flyers. Jamie Lee, Malachi Templeton, Alan Swann, Stefano Gigli and myself all flew the new Ozone Rapido speed wing, an amazing dynamic wing that after flying just left broad grins on all our faces. In the shot of me getting ready for my first flight, my legs were like jelly!

After our speed flying we changed our wings to paragliders and waited in the paddock where now over forty other pilots had gathered, waiting to catch the final ride up with the chopper.

It was a great opportunity to sit and chat with pilots from so many flying

disciplines including the international acro scene. The atmosphere was magic as everyone was buzzing about flying across the lake and over to the campsite at Pigeon Island for the party.

During the course of the day the chopper pilot Eric Scott from Heli Glenorchy made ten trips to the top with six pilots at a time. It was a first for me to ‘ride and fly’ in a chopper and was very exciting to perch on one skid on the edge of the mountain while we all jumped out. Then watching him swoop down the face put my heart in my mouth, his flying skills were just amazing to watch.

So the afternoon and evening was dedicated to flying up and high along the range. After gathering at the top we all took flight and spent a good time flying along and up towards Major Peak and Stone Peak with just spectacular views looking out over Lake Wakatipu and along to Glenorchy. Ozone had kindly given me a glider and harness to try, the Ozone Rush 4 and the new Forza harness. As soon as I stepped off the hill I felt very comfortable in the Forza and the Rush 4 handled perfectly allowing me to immerse myself in some

of the most beautiful scenery I have ever flown over.

A real highlight was flying with my great friend Stefano, we circled together to the top of Stone Peak where we met Swanny cruising around and flew out over the lake and watched some of the acro pilots put on a great show. Blake Round took an infinity tumble to new levels, perfecting his Infinite to Heli skills which was really impressive to watch.

Stefano and I practiced our wing overs and spiralled down as the sun was setting. I could hear the music and beat coming from below. DJ Alias and DJ Foz were cranking out the sounds creating an amazing party atmosphere.

There was a lot of hooting and hollering as pilots swooped in and landed one by one on the island for the party and campsite for the night.

I’d like to congratulate Swanny of Infinity Paragliding School for such a well organised event. I really appreciated that everything was taken care of including helis, safety boats and boat transport across the lake and the great DJs and sounds!

Plus, special thanks to Ozone for supplying wings and equipment and also special thanks to Buz Grant and Amber Frew for their sound system and boat, Heli Glenorchy for their pro heli service, Craig Taylor and Roddy Craggie for the

Eric Scott from Heli Glenorchy lands us on top

Above; Eric sw oops away

Landing at Pigeon Island

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Rob Gillard flying the Ozone Rush 4 with Stone Peak and Mount Larkins behind safety boat and Swanny for bringing everybody together.

I’ll be putting this event in my diary for next time and encouraging my friends to join me. www.facebook.com/ InfinityParagliding/ www.facebook.com/ ozonenewzealand/ http://infinityparagliding.co.nz/tel: (+64) 021 02282939

DJ decks pulsing, camp in background

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The Next Wing Up

“

Looks like you’ve maxed out the performance on that wing!” - magic words that prompted me to move up from my skyfloater - except I hadn’t maxed out it’s performance at all. But who was I to know? I thought a higher performing wing would make me much more competitive. It seemed the right direction to be heading at this stage of my flying. This became the start of a journey full of suspense, intrigue, elation and danger! Where would the journey go?…

The sport of hang gliding has no official training packages after Novice. There’s an Intermediate paper exam which requires a little exploratory study, some flight experience and time sign-off but we fly solo so obtaining coaching and feedback on how to improve our body movements, turn coordination and wing handlng skills is limited, and the skills required to safely handle the next wing up are significantly different from the previous wing.

The most dangerous part; the hidden dangers.

We don’t know what we don’t know, right…?

“Balderdash! We have many highly experienced pilots on hand. You should always be under the watchful eye of one of them when you transition.

Just relax and you’ll be fine mate!”

And here’s where I found another gap. The group of recently transitioned intermediate pilots from whom to learn is very small to non-existent and the experienced pilot wing transition was so long ago, the wings were different, (Lancer to a Kea?) the handling is different (Kea was so stiff!) and they’ve forgotten what information was actually needed in that moment on their first transition flight to keep them safe. Worse was when they finally recall and tell you the story later – their first transition flight wasn’t safe at all!

I had done a little over two seasons on my floater, flown in two Nationals with it, achieved a couple of 15km inland thermal flights, been up to cloudbase several times at home sites (Moirs, Kaimias, Paeroas) although a low cloudbase often prevented me safely getting away. My spot landings were sexy. All seemed well. At the tail end of the season I obtained a Wills Wing Sport 2 and at my next earliest convenience, under the

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Aaron Darby shares what he learned when changing from a skyfloater to an intermediate hang glider

watchful eye of my instructor, a cautious coastal flight on a good day was undertaken. This will make me much more competitive!

If you’re knowledgeable and experienced about these things, you will see the trap has already been set. The words of Rick Hawkswood should be ringing about now; “A higher performing wing will not make you a better pilot. It’s the opposite.

Good pilots have good technique. Johnny Durand will still beat the topless pilots when he’s flying a Gecko (intermediate wing).”

The Sport 2 is an outstanding intermediate wing in comparison to more advanced wings, it has quite a reasonable speed range, a VG to play with, responds quickly and has very forgiving landing characteristics. But remember we’re not comparing it to advanced wings – we’re comparing it to coming off a floater for the first time.

“Holy sh*t this thing is a rocket ship! Everything happens so fast! It’s so much slower to respond!

There’s almost no bar pressure and I keep overcooking the handling! There’s no way I’d go scratching on that! I do a weight shift to turn and my sink alarm goes nuts! (I find out later my turn co-ordination is inadequate and I’m sliding sideways out of the sky) I tried to land and it just went on and on and on and on! I pulled in and instead of diving down it just shoots forward really fast! I had to circle back twice and still over-shot my landing spot three times!” This arguably is a much more accurate depiction of what our inexperienced floater pilot will experience...

I remembered my humble beginnings on my floater – always complaining when everyone

else got away and I bombed – I kept blaming my stupid low performance glider! I thought I figured that out in the end but I hadn’t learnt my lesson.

To reinforce it I smashed the theory with some maths. While studying up on speed-to-fly on different wings, I drew up their glide polars as best I could. Best glide on my floater was 21 knots. Best glide on my Sport 2 was 21 knots.

And a Litesport – 21 knots! Wait a minute! Where was the high performance? The extra speed on high performance wings only becomes useful on strong easy thermal days when you can race fast to the next known thermal or if you have to punch into strong wind. I still struggle to stay up, let alone race to a thermal!

Also, those knowledgeable on-speed-to fly know: when flying downwind the best speed to fly is minimum sink - SLOWER than best glide, let the wind carry you. No high speed glides there! And most of NZ North Island flying is simply lobbing over the back, downwind…

Here’s where Bill Degen chimes in; “Much of this difficulty in adapting can be avoided if pilots fly a skyfloater for longer. Once a pilot is able to fly a skyfloater aggressively and to its’ full performance ability, they’ll have the turn/pitch co-ordination sorted and it will be easier to adapt to the stiffer handling of an intermediate glider.” It was a lot clearer to me now. I was still struggling to stay up, and a high performing wing wasn’t going to fix that…

In this story, I’m the lucky one. Of the 5 pilots I know attempting to fly the next wing up within the last 12 months – Nearly all have done damage to

Left; Ready to launch the Sport 2 Right; Floaters are more responsive so easy to launch too casually. Try running with extra speed their (and others) gliders and themselves. I think we can do this better.

The positive outcome: With all the excitement I’ve generated some significant discussion with a broad range of experienced pilots which has helped generate a list of competencies to check against so I know when I’m ready to step up.

And before I wrap up: opinions are like wings – everyone’s got one. If your perspective is different, share it! I’m not all knowledgeable, but I do intended to generate some discussion amongst those wanting to move to the next wing without hurting themselves. Common sense only becomes ‘common’ when we share it. Ultimately, you’re the pilot in command – you have to make the decision for yourself and live with the outcome.

“When you do step up, don’t change back and forth between wings or it will bite you! A lot of your movements will be relatively instinctive and it will take about 20 hours to retrain your muscle memory to the new movements required.” - Mark Alton

Essential skills to be competent in flying a Floater before stepping up: Launching: • Running hard through launch until flying well.

Coastal wind allows pilots to develop bad habits like just “stepping off”.

• Good control of angle attack throughout launch.

Even experienced pilots still struggle with this. Higher performing wings are much more sensitive to stalling during launch. Attack angle becomes a lot more critical as you step up. Any slight nose popping will break you. Spend time running your local training slope while someone videos you side-on for feedback.

• One wing stall recovery. Sometimes one wing doesn’t start flying as well as the other. You need to be able to recognise this, pull the bar in and run harder to get the wing flying properly. You need to be comfortable pulling the bar in and skimming along the ground to build airspeed.

You can always use that airspeed to gain a little height to clear obstacles when you have to, but I’ve seen a few people push out too early trying to gain height and then mush down the runway clipping bushes - a recipe for disaster and something you won’t get away with on an intermediate wing...

Flying: • Have good 360 turn co-ordination. Pitch control is much more critical on Intermediate wings and is required to turn effectively. I recommend videoing your 360s from the keel, then watching the wind indicator string on your front wire during the replay to watch for signs of ‘sideways sliding’ during turns. Intermediate wings slide sideways out of the sky very quickly and add a

lot of speed at the same time. Pushing out too much will create a stall. Intermediate wings are more likely to stall and stall more aggressively.

You’ll loose a lot of height again. Your sink alarm will go nuts when you get it wrong.

• Be comfortable flying close to terrain. Advanced wings are slower to respond and occasionally you get thermal activity pushing you towards the hill. You need to be able to keep your head and continue to flying it back out in these situations.

• Be comfortable and experienced flying in turbulent thermal conditions.

Landing: There’s lots happening here and this is where you are most likely to get hurt.

• Be good at identifying wind-on-ground indicators - there’s 30+ different ways. (See the excellent drawing in a previous Airborn) Identification is better than cure.

• Consistently use an Aircraft Approach when landing and be consistently landing on the spot when doing so. This will become much more critical when landing an Intermediate wing with so much extra glide and speed. Don’t rely on S-Turns which will leave you turning sharply too close to the ground as this can bite you when you slide sideways out of the sky as well as adding unwanted yaw - more on yaw later.

• Get comfortable flying much faster (25 knots on a floater, 28 knots on an intermediate) when landing on final approach. This is critical for multiple reasons. It will help cut thorough lift and sink faster that tries to disrupt your “spot” landing, it helps provide better/faster handling/ control through any turbulence that will try to throw you off course. More critically, it negates any loss of airspeed when dropping through

the wind gradient, and the extra energy makes it easier to identify your flare point. You need to be able to pull this speed on while on your uprights.

• Get onto uprights early and be skilled at flying on your uprights. Being on uprights lowers your centre of gravity (for those with harness sliders) which adds to better handling. Thermal activity will push you around so you need to be very skilled at doing well coordinated S-Turns while on your uprights. This skill becomes more critical on an intermediate wing.

• Learn to identify a specific “on final” altitude turn point. Usually a tree top or similar. We’re good at judging angles, and crap at judging height. I usually identify a tree top near the end of my base leg that will set me up on a good angle for achieving a good final glide, and work backwards to identify roughly where I need to set myself up for a good base leg.

Just guessing what height you are to turn on final usually leaves you far too high. You will struggle to recover this on an intermediate wing.

• Practice doing slow curving turns onto final.

Sharp turns add a bunch of yaw to your glider.

This is nothing on a floater, but can interfere with your landing on an Intermediate, and WILL interfere with your landing on a more advanced wing. Slow turns reduce the excess yaw.

• Know how to pull in hard to drop height - you can still do this on an intermediate wing to help achieve your spot, just not quite as effectively as with a floater. With extra speed comes extra drag which also kills energy so you won’t fly off the end of the runway unless you’ve left it too late... Also know when to button off to best glide and use that extra energy to clear obstacles.

You’ll need both these skills on final approach.

• Levelling off in ground effect. Once you’re in ground effect it’s much harder for a thermal to suck you back up and extend your glide. Level off with your bar about a meter off the ground.

Remember an Intermediate wing responds slower so be gently levelling off before you get to the 1 meter mark. This will prevent dropping so low that your base bar gets grass stains (I’ve done it) or ‘adjusts’ your collar bone (John’s

Left; Sting 2XC, more battens and a tighter sail than a floater so better technique is required to control it

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done it) You have speed remember, so you will still have to keep pulling in on the uprights to prevent your glider climbing back up. During ground effect, your hands need to be working their way up to beside your ears - you need them there for Flaring! Note - you can drag your feet to help dissipate excess energy. This is very effective and has been used by many to stop before a fence.

• Know how to find your flare point. This is a very clear point that is clearly identifiable with good technique. Your glider has dive recovery built in, so with the extra speed you have, the dive recovery system will be trying to get the glider to climb back up. You need to pull back in the uprights to prevent this climb. As the glider energy dissipates, this pressure on your uprights will become less and the glider will slow down

sometimes you can do all things right just to find a thermal or dust devil kicking off in front of you (I call this ‘sh*t happens’) the skill of getting you and the glider on the ground in one piece needs experience and it is far better to learn this on a slower, lighter glider than a quicker heavier topless” – Viv Clements “When all attempts at a safe landing fail and you are about to crash; Flare to minimise impact speed. As you hit, let go. Do not hang onto the uprights as this is when arms are broken. As you let go, your body should swing through the A frame dispersing impact.” - Bill Degen Note; Just to clarify Intermediate wings: These are the likes of WW Sport 2, Airborne Sting or Moyes Gecko, not the Advanced Intermediate gliders like the U2 or Litesport.

Above; Taking the Sport 2 over the back to the point where the upright forward pressure is nil. At this very moment, your glider is flying at ‘trim’ (hands off). You have to wait 1 (one) second (count in your head “one-thousandand-one”), then push UP (not out). Flare like you mean it. You’re either flying, or stopping.

A good example here (note – he should be on the uprights much earlier): www.youtube.com/ watch?v=YjHqdmUAAFo • Practice flaring in light wind, nil wind and light cross wind. Any wind less than 10 knots becomes less critical landing into directly wind with good flare technique (wind gradient makes it minimal wind on ground). This is useful for landing diagonally across a short paddock despite not being directly into wind.

• Be comfortable landing in strong turbulent thermal conditions. It’s hard work and will test your skill.

• If you stuff everything up, you can still safely belly land on your wheels - you did get wheels didn’t you? Have wheels - they’re cheaper than uprights... Even the pros struggle some days.

A safe belly landing is still a safe landing, just not as sexy. I always recommend wearing long pants because of this even if it’s a hot day. Much easier cleaning out grass stains than living the next week with bad landing rash.

“There is one skill that I think is right up there also that can make a big difference, that is the getting-it-wrong skill, or how-to-crash. This skill is not talked about much but it can save you a lot of pain both with injuries and in the hip pocket,

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Stepping up to an Intermediate Wing What to expect: • Make sure you have PLENTY of runway to land before you launch.

• There’s a lot less bar pressure. About half of what you feel on a floater.

• With less bar pressure you’ll initially have less feel. It will be harder to feel where your angle of attack is during launching, flaring and landing until you get used to it. Get someone to video your launch from the side to review after flying.

• Make sure your launch is straight into wind, you will not be able to correct as easily as with a skyfloater as Intermediate gliders are less flexible wings and slower to respond.

• More susceptible to stall during launch – not badly but it was noticeably less forgiving than a floater. If you don’t have good launch technique, (nose popping) it will start to show here.

• Slower roll control – it won’t respond as quick when you move your weight across – NB this can vary considerably depending on the wing you have. I had a Sting 2 175 that was quite unresponsive to roll inputs, and a Sport 2 175 that was much better, but both were slower than my floater.

• Side slipping: After your initial weight shift, your sink alarm will go off as you slip sideways out of the sky and you will pick up a significant amount of speed – take care and push out!. Turn co-ordination needs to be much more smooth, connected and “fluid”. Pushing across and out together like writing a “J” (Ask Rick Hawkswood about J Turns). After you get a handle on this,

flying without pitch co-ordination will feel like flying a barge. Note – if you push out too far, your wing will stall suddenly and dramatically.

• Slower turn response – First flights it will feel stiff, slower to respond, and you won’t feel comfortable getting in close to the hill. Turns will require some forward thinking and leaving plenty of room for error/turbulance. Also because your wing can fly faster, stuff will happen very quickly and you’ll cover much more distance in that time. As your muscle memory builds, you’ll find them actually very responsive but you can’t flick them up on a wing tip like a floater.

• Increased yaw. You will notice it a little every once in a while but it won’t feel out of control.

Mostly ignore it and the wing will naturally correct itself.

• Speed. When you pull in the bar, it will initially drop a little, similar to your floater, but then quickly pick up speed, flatten out and whoosh forward without losing as much height.

You’ll love this when you want to cut through some sink or punch into wind, but it can be scary at the same time, especially during landing!

• Stalls – more sudden and dramatic. Intermediate wing minimum control speed is much higher than a floater but stall speed is still very similar.

• Landing. Intermediate wings touch down only a little faster than floater speeds, but have a faster approach and are more sensitive to inputs and turbulence. If you land on a breezy coastal day, other than the extra glide and speed, touchdown will be like landing a floater. If it’s quiet or nil wind the speed will scare you initially but good fundamental landing skills are very effective at getting you down safely.

• Get onto the uprights early – in the downwind leg or base leg.

• Speed – pull in to about 28 knots for good control. (Recommended speed from one of my HG manuals and I agree ) • You will glide about 3 times as far as you think – set up with about half as much height and further back.

• Pulling in to get down no longer appears to work as effectively.

• Upright pressure will feel less but it’ll still be there, response to pitch changes will be slower and you’ll be going faster but the fundamentals don’t change, keep it in ground effect until the pressure comes completely off the uprights, count 1 second, and flare.

• You will glide a long way and slow down a LOT from your initial entry speed into ground effect. Stall speed is similar to a floater so keep your eyes looking ahead while you feel for your flare point.

As you become more skilled and comfortable you will find intermediate wings become more easy and forgiving and have a very useful performance range. I have been very appreciative of its forgiveness for the several times I’ve experienced Viv’s “sh*t happens” moments.

I hope this has been helpful. See you at cloudbase!

NZ National Hang Gliding Champs Rotorua 2017

Above; Mark Alton gets too close over hickeys Bluff

2017-02-19 to 2017-02-25 Site Date Distance Day Quality Task T1 Paeroas Day 1 2017-02-21 15:00 65.7 km 46% Race to Goal with 4 startgate(s) T2 Paeroas Day 2 2017-02-22 14:20 42.8 km 45% Race to Goal with 4 startgate(s) T3 Hickey’s Bluff Day 3 2017-02-23 14:20 57.8 km 17% Race to Goal with 3 startgate(s) T4 Kaimais Day 5 2017-02-25 14:00 72.1 km 100% Race to Goal with 4 startgate(s) Open Class Top places # Name T 1 T 2 T 3 T 4 Total 1 John Smith 329 449 155 990 1923 2 Shane McKay 260 336 91 832 1519 2 Hagen Bruggemann 414 280 89 736 1519 4 Matt Barlow 280 280 73 870 1503 5 Grant Tatham 329 332 74 720 1455 6 Neil Howe 290 281 67 748 1386 7 Mark Alton 237 319 77 724 1357 8 Les Graham 268 234 66 722 1290 9 Derek McKee 318 294 77 501 1190 10 Dave Austin 0 271 97 793 1161 11 Max Gebhardt 124 217 51 638 1030 12 Thomas Kellner 123 171 82 608 984 13 Rick Hawkswood 237 84 44 608 973 14 Carlos Palmer 159 124 58 606 947 15 Bill Fisher 115 84 67 679 945 16 Viv Clements 314 254 89 247 904 17 Geoff Christophers 270 300 96 227 893 18 Glenn Meadows 197 84 44 566 891 19 Ian Bowie 124 124 88 550 886 20 Mark Patton 123 262 44 449 878 21 Dan Campbell 169 189 50 441 849 22 Oliver Derry 0 102 67 607 776 23 John Horgan 115 196 44 300 655 24 Steve Price 115 276 66 113 570 25 John Burton 115 84 48 321 568 26 Shane Morton 122 271 44 113 550 27 Alex Crawford 115 84 44 279 522 28 Craig Manktelow 115 92 48 234 489 29 Robin Campbell 115 84 44 225 468 30 Fraser Bull 115 194 44 113 466 Sport Class John Horgan 1st in Sport Class.

We hope to have a more detailed report in the next issue. - Ed.

Photo; Grant tatham

Above & Below; Rigged at and flying over Hickeys Bluff Photos: christian Penrice

Below; Launching at Hickeys Bluff Photo: Tracy Bull

Below; Competitors at the prize giving

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Skyfloaters

The improved FUN2 by

The slow speed ability of paragliding combined with the safety in CORD 329 kms/205 turbulence, extra top speed (as much as 75kph+) and the glide WORLD RE an miles Dist ce con performance (10:1) of hang gliding.

Straub flying Fal Skyfloaters are light and responsive without being unstable, with By Davis Texas ata Zap complete control authority. They launch easily; even in no wind and from land so slowly that flare timing is barely necessary, you can just run 1st = at 2013 e!! or even walk to stop! www.airborne.com.au Craigieburn Leagu The superior control, manoeuvrability and climb ability make it easy Convert your old Fun to a Fun2 with the new Sail to soar above everybody, they have a great glide and a good dive FALCON 4 Retro kit. Everything supplied. See the review at speed to get out of trouble. They are extremely light and can be www.willswing.com www.hgpg.co.nz rigged in 5 minutes or less! They easily last 10 years or more. Fun, Falcon are the most versatile, enjoyable and Perfex skyfloaters use genuine 7075 alloy tube for superior glide and popular hang gliders by far in NZ. performance and strength as well as lightest weight. As well as being The Falcon 4 has improved handling and performance with full mylar the best first glider, their superior performance in sink rate and climb leading edge inserts and optional short pack to approx 2m. The new ability makes them suitable for more advanced flying too. They can enhancements allow pilots to downsize to a lighter, even easier handling circle in half the space a conventional performance glider needs, size than before. 4 sizes including Tandem. so you can get up in tiny thermals or light lift when others are forced to land! Pilots using skyfloaters for cross country regularly score top Falcon, Perfex and Lightfex can shortpack down to approx 6ft (2m). positions in major competitions. Tandem skyfloaters are also available.

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What it means to be a NOVA Last year Kinga Masztalerz became a NOVA Team Pilot. A few people asked her how it happened - here is her story

I

n May when I went to Europe I was flying a C wing, but I wasn’t 100% happy with it in the rough mountains. So I started thinking about a new high EN B wing.

It was a difficult task as I’m all in below 80kg, I hike a lot so I wanted a light weight wing and also I was downgrading from a C wing so I wanted something as safe as B, but as funny as C. Seems impossible, doesn’t it? I tried a couple of wings but they were all missing something.

Did I want the impossible?

Koessen in Austria holds a paragliding testival every May. There I met Toni Bender from NOVA who gave me a Mentor 4 Light to try. I flew it and landed with a huge smile on my face. It felt fun, agile and safe - I immediately knew I want to fly this glider so I ordered it.

Toni is a paragliding legend and

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he’s also a cool guy so he just... lent me an old demo Mentor 4 till mine arrived. And it became a huge chunk of the season - I took this glider to tens of places, from the Austrian Alps to the Bulgarian flats and never looked back. I restarted flying the way I love - choosing deeper lines, self confident and relaxed. And I also started flying further and further.

Meanwhile Peter Groves saw on my Facebook that I flew and enjoyed the Mentor so he wrote to me asking if I thought of joining the NOVA Pilots Team?. Really, me?! I thought it’s just for the Austrian guns flying at least 250km FAI triangles in the Alps. Of course I wanted to join! I learnt that

Flying Stubaital, Austria

Photo; Chris Wright

Team Pilot

a couple of months earlier Bryan Moore became a NOVA Team Pilot and apparently NOVA was thinking of another Kiwi pilot to join. Ok, I wasn’t a ‘Kiwi’ yet, but once thanks to Pete I got in touch with Till Gottbrath who is NOVA Pilots Team Captain and Wolfi Lechner, the NOVA’s ‘big boss’. It all went quite smoothly - there were definitely good vibes there!

I liked their vision of flying big xc flights on easy wings, sharing knowledge and also their focus not only on their Team Pilots flying results but also being friendly and

helpful towards all other pilots and presenting good sportsmanship.

As Till wrote me, ‘a great pilot but an “asshole” is NOT what we are looking for’! So I got excited with the fact that NOVA Pilots Team is a group of friends who share the same passion and philosophy and as they say - you need to surround yourself with pilots you want to become.

Apparently for Wolfi and Till what I do, how I fly and what I share about my experience and emotions was also attractive enough to welcome me in NOVA Pilots Team. Yeah!

A new wing and a kiss from Wolfi the boss - happy girl

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Afternoon flight with Mentor

Photo; Chris Wright

Flying Mentor 4 Light in Dolomites NPT Meeting, enjoying via ferrata Photo; Thomas Hofbauer

Jacket goes well with the wing! Kaimai Range NPT Meeting 2016, Zillertal, Austria

Photo; Chris Wright

I met other Team Pilots for the first time at the party in Till’s mountain house in East Tirol. We flew, talked, drank wine and had a great time.

However the most important official NPT event happened in Zillertal at the beginning of October - at the annual NOVA Team Meeting.

Team PIlots came from all over the world and we spent a beautiful weekend in Zillertal Valley, flying together on Friday and doing a via ferrata on Saturday. We also had talks about NOVA and NPT history and about future directions and new wings.

It was a special year as NPT celebrated 10th anniversary but also an emotional roller coaster as not long before the event we learnt that one of their long term Team Pilots Steve Nash was robbed and killed during his vol biv trip in Mongolia.

Unfortunately I’ve never met Steve, who must have been an amazing person, but friends who knew him were genuinely heart broken and seeing these emotions I realised I hadn’t just joined a group of people flying wings from the same manufacturer, but a big family whose members are strongly connected and care of each other. I can’t wait to meet them and fly together again!

More about the Nova Pilots Team at: www.nova.eu/en/pilots-team/

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Kaikohe Xmas Camp Sean Oliver goes North for some motor assisted cross country flying

K

aikohe had popped up on my radar as a place of interest to go for a flying holiday. I read Tom Kellner’s article about Northland in Airborne magazine a few years ago inviting all pilots to come up.

We scheduled the trip a few weeks in advance, John Burton (JB) was keen and Aaron Darby too. Our little Karioi/Karioitahi Mozzie contingent was ‘game on’ for Kaikohe. Fortunately the weather forecast lined up very nicely. Setting off at an ungodly hour to dodge the holiday traffic, I was lucky to get past a truck that had rolled in Dome valley before the traffic backed up to Auckland.

I met up with JB at the Kaikohe Gliding Club Tuesday morning, on the last week of 2016. Figuring out a way of escaping the Christmas crass masses and the lead up to New Beers Eve - nightly fireworks displays back in Raglan.

David from the KGC kindly met us and gave us a key for the club rooms and the gate. In return we gave him a humble donation.

The day was cooking so we rigged without further ado. Our first flight was a familiarisation of the surrounding terrain. A conical volcano a few miles away and the geothermal hills of Ngawha Springs were investigated. John hooked the climb of the day just after take-off and his call to head towards the volcano first paid off with a climb to cloud base.

I took off shortly after JB and

Above; Kaikohe camping at the airfield Right; On reconnaissance with Bernie in the Janus VQ on New Year’s Eve managed to hit the sink surrounding JB’s thermal. A mozzie power-unit only climbs at a few hundred feet per minute at best so if you are in serious sink on take-off you are in a predicament. Scratching towards Kaikohe and out east to Ngawha Springs I was very glad of the large Kaikohe airfield to have as a friendly spot amongst rows of mature Totara and Eucalyptus tree lined fields.

I found a slow climb over the Israeli-built geothermal substation.

We were soon to learn from the locals that Ngawha was not only a very good therapeutic, sulphurous, natural hot pools. It was also a constant thermal generator, releasing thermals consistently day and night. I headed south to look for JB toward the volcano along a cloud street that was starting to decay. JB was nowhere to be seen.

I got to the volcano, blown away by what a good hill it looked like for free-flying. A steep grassy 40 degree slope with an ag airstrip below. The ground was shaded out and I had to get the motor started to avoid landing out as I was getting down to 500ft AGL. I stooged around in light bubbles of lift then decided to

Left; Waiotemarama launch/ landing spot for the Kauri coastal run

head back towards the airstrip and sunshine out west...

Wrong move! I ended up in a blue hole west of the airstrip that had some gnarly combinations of strong lift and sink that I could not make sense of. Below me I saw a dust devil swirling through a maize field.

‘Bugger this’ I thought and decided to go back and land.

That evening we were blessed with the arrival of two motor-glider pilots, Paul a salt of the earth retired farmer and Bernie Massey a NZ hang gliding and gliding guru. They were originally the Whangarei Gliding Club, but are now amalgamating with the KGC because they recently lost their airfield at Whangarei. Bernie had xc’d from Dargaville to Kaikohe airfield. They were setting up camp for the week.

Paul told us he had been camping out at this spot for the last 20 years.

Later we were invited to sample some of Paul’s delicious homemade unpasteurised cheese and were given interesting tales and tips about the workings of the Northland

skies. It turned out that the Tangihua Range to the South sets up a regular lenticular wave system. A common sign that you are getting close to the wave is getting smashed around feeling uncomfortable and wanting to bail out - as I had that day. The trick we were told, is to push further into wind to seek the elusive source of lift - usually it is in a small area that you need to try and park up in.

Sure enough as we watched the sunset we were treated to a beautiful display of lenticular clouds setting up for the night. This proved to be a common sight in the evenings.

Aaron arrived that evening, so we had a good group gathered for a few days of motor-assisted gliding, 3 hang gliders, a single and a twinseater motor-glider.

Wednesday was perfect sunny weather with thermals popping off the airstrip from early on. After watching the Janus VQ twin-seater motor glider take-off then circle tightly over the airfield, I figured out this was a local Kaikohe trick to counter the dreaded sink

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Convergence over Ngawha

Photo; John Burton

Morning fog on the Kaikohe airstrip surrounding the airfield. JB went for a mid-morning flight but both he and the Janus VQ pilot struggled to find any good climbs. The sky looked good but the heat of the day wasn’t releasing fully yet.

Around 1pm I took off with JB following soon after, this time I was rewarded with a climb to cloud base and a slow drift over to Ngawha Springs hill. While JB was left grovelling in sink. Gliding north over the Kaikohe golf club, I topped up in another thermal before heading towards another conical volcano and the low range of hills north of Kaikohe township. Lake Omapere was just ahead but there was a blue gap and the lines of cumuli were headed out to the east into KeriKeri Mandatory Broadcast Zone so I turned west and followed the hills bordering Kaikohe.

Below me were a couple of landing options but they were all surrounded by mature eucalyptus trees. So I got the motor restarted to assist my track west through the sinking air.

Getting low, hoping to find a climb

22 A i r b o r n

now, I was west of the township when I felt tell-tale surges, falls and wingtip shoves. Below me was a hill with a look-out, hay paddocks were being mown below it. Hunting round and around I finally hooked into solid lift, got centred, switched off and climbed out over Kaikohe town to cloud base at 3500 ft.

Looking south a cloud-street with a dark base was beckoning, so I straight-lined it that way. Slowing down to climb along the way and speeding up through the sink, I found myself back at the airfield, like a homing pigeon. Setting up a circuit to land... I made it as far as the base leg, but hooked another thermal just before finals! No one else was flying, the radio was silent, the airfield looked deserted...

‘This Kaikohe gliding club experience is the bomb!’. I could see no sign of Paul or Bernie’s motor gliders, Aaron and John had called it a day.... ‘Oh what the hell, why land when the sky is drawing me back to cloud base?’ This time I headed off to

the southern volcano. Another cloudstreet allowed me to straight line it there. Below a river with swimming holes and a waterfall looked enticing.

The day was getting on, so after overflying the volcano I turned and headed back to the airfield to finish a pleasant 80km triangle.

That night John and Paul played their videos. We watched John Burton’s ‘Flying Translator’ Youtube clips (If you search his account you will find clips of this camping trip) and Paul’s Soaring Northland Facebook Page clips. Bernie and Paul are a huge source of knowledge about weather systems and flying, they have a wealth of local knowledge.

We were treated to daily briefings in the morning and break downs of the day in the evening. I felt like a sponge soaking up every drop of information.

That day Bernie had flown up to Ahipara, across the MBZ to Kerkeri and the Bay of Islands, Paul didn’t say much about what he’d got up to in his motor-glider but he was

grinning like a Cheshire cat and he was super happy to have some interested pilots to talk-story with.

The next day a broken front was due from the west. JB and I opted to drive out to Hokianga & the Kauri coast. I had arranged to visit a friend of my father’s who has bought a retirement farm just south of Hokianga. We met him at his new farm and after a coffee he helped us to look around for possible take off areas. Third time turned up lucky as we found both a good flat field and the owner of the farm happened to be there fixing his crayfish nets! He was happy to let us fly, so we rigged up for a coastal run to the Bluff and back from Waiotemarama.

It was blowing SSW so we had a headwind. We got within a few miles of the Bluff but a line of showers was coming in from the sea. The sky went dark and the front was coming in fast.

I turned around and bailed back to the take off. We packed up, but the weather had the last laugh as the rain came to just a few light drops.

Heading back to Ngapuhi country I had a nice long soak at the Ngawha springs before coming back to the Kaikohe Gliding clubhouse to hear that Bernie and Paul had connected with the Tangihua wave and got to 8000ft in the drizzle. There was exciting talk of the next days forecast looking good for a sea breeze convergence day and quite a few tales were told too. Bernie gave us some great stories about his early hang gliding days.

Friday 30th of December started out fresh. The front that passed the day before had brought in a new

Above; Bernie, Yoda of the skies air mass. The sun started early and proceeded to cook us as we prepared for our flight. Waiting patiently for the day to develop, it wasn’t till mid afternoon that we really began to see signs of the seabreeze fronts stirring the edges of the inland air. From early on we could see the Hokianga harbour had formed blue skies out west as it began its push up the harbour.

Out to the east, towards the Bay of Islands, we began to see the tell-tale scrappy cloud hanging below the cumulus formation at the front of the seabreeze wedge.

Around 2pm we took off and flew east towards Ngawha and found the convergence. John cruised around in the different levels of cloud, stoked with his first encounter with convergence. I bailed back inland to Kaikohe and found a thermal with a fire below me. Fire engines were attending.

Gliding north, I headed to the western edge of lake Omapere. On the water was a graphic display of seabreeze convergence. One half of the lake had seabreeze, the other half was glassy. Getting a bit low I had to hunt around to find a climb,

Below; Sean lands at Kaikohe

but soon got back up in the system and headed further north to the head of the Hokianga catchment area.

There was a distinctive gap before another seabreeze convergence system started on the ranges north of Hokianga and continued on towards Kaitaia. I decide not to cross over and turned south following a well developed cloud street. I was able to stay at cloud base all the way down to the Tangihua Range, having to avoid cloud-suck a few times. I got to the Mataraua Valley, looking towards Whangarei I could see the convergence line gently curving down towards Auckland. Paul flashed passed me in his glider on his way south and I floated slowly back to the airfield.

Everything seemed to be going up by this stage and I got back to the Kaikohe Gliding Club with an embarrassing amount of height and a finished triangle of 100km. Clearly I have a lot to learn about making the most of conditions in Northland and some really big distances can be accomplished with the smorgasbord of convergence available on the right day. Bernie flew Kaikohe-KaitaiaWarkworth-Kaikohe; over 200kms!

Next day was New Years Eve, I felt the need to bail before the roads were clogged with holiday sclerosis traffic. So I broke camp and took up Bernie’s offer of a mid-morning flight in the Janus VQ. We had an hours flight to the Tangihuias, got low, scratched back up, headed west then crossed the Hokianga then had another low save at Panguru. It was a tricky day with weak climbs and big shaded areas. No doubt it was a bit too early in the day.

The convergence doesn’t really start to fire until mid afternoon.

Bernie nosed the glider down for a 240 kph run back to the airfield.

I learnt a heap from Bernie and Paul and I am keen to get back to the North - land of the long white convergence cloud.

The drive home was well timed, a smooth run - everybody must have been on the piss already. I mind-surfed the convergence lines from Whangarei to West Auckland and from the Bombays to Waikato.

I got home just in time for the next two weeks of nightly fireworks and parties in Raglan.

Photo; John Burton

Learn to Fly Hang gliding, paragliding schools and instructors that you can contact for qualified flight instruction in New Zealand NORTHLAND HANG GLIDING Skywalk Guntram Gross, Herman Ahrens Phone: 09 436 0268 or 09 432 9333, 021 072 0357 Email: skywalk@igrin.co.nz AUCKLAND HANG GLIDING Aqua Air Adventure Paddy Monro Phone: 09 528 7594, 027 288 0193 Email: aquaair@ihug.co.nz Web: www.gethigh.co.nz PARAGLIDING SkyWings Paragliding Alan Hills Phone: 09 570 5757, 027 498 2345 Email: alan@skywings.co.nz Web: www.skywings.co.nz Wings & Waves Paragliding and Kitesurfing Reuben Muir and Eva Keim Phone: 09 446 0020, 027 472 7013 Email: info@wingsandwaves.co.nz Web: www.wingsandwaves.co.nz WAIKATO PARAGLIDING Wings & Waves Paragliding and Kitesurfing Reuben Muir and Eva Keim Phone: 09 446 0020, 027 472 7013 Email: info@wingsandwaves.co.nz Web: www.wingsandwaves.co.nz OMAHU, THAMES/PAEROA PARAGLIDING Bruce Vickerman Phone: 07 862 4919, 027 498 9941 Email: bruce.v@clear.net.nz HAWKES BAY PARAGLIDING Airplay Paragliding School Barry Sayer, Phone: 027 451 2886 Email: barry@airplay.co.nz Web: www.airplay.co.nz BAY OF PLENTY PARAGLIDING Kiwi-Air Mike & Aniko Phone: 07 929 5807, 021 104 6208 Web: http://kiwi-air.co.nz Mount Paragliding Darrell Packe Phone: 027 249 2702 Email:darrellpacke@gmail.com MANAWATU HANG GLIDING SkyVenture (Manawatu HG & PG Inc. Club School) CFI: Ross Gray Phone: 06 357 8996, 021 126 0892 Email: rosscoe@e3.net.nz WELLINGTON/WAIRARAPA HANG GLIDING Wellington Hang Gliding & PG Club Grant Tatham Phone: 06 379 7322, 027 636 3491 Email: tathams@xtra.co.nz

Tasman Sky Adventures Trevor Leighton, Phone: 027 229 9693 Email: info@skyadventures.co.nz Web: www.skyadventures.co.nz

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Photos: Neil Brown, Ross Gray

Oceania Paragliding School Chris Connolly, Phone: 022 676 5599 Email; school@oceaniaparagliding.co.nz Web; oceaniaparagliding.co.nz NELSON/TASMAN HANG GLIDING Hang Gliding NZ Ltd Kevin Rooke, Phone: 03 540 2183, 0800 212 359, 021 762 769 Email: rooke@slingshot.co.nz Web: www.hanggliding.co.nz Nelson Hang Gliding Adventures Glenn Meadows Phone: 03 548 9151, 027 275 1022 Email: gmeadows@clear.net.nz Web: www.flynelson.co.nz

PARAGLIDING Adventure Paragliding & Kiteboarding Kevin Rooke, Phone: 03 540 2183, 021 762 769 Email: info@skyout.co.nz Web: www.skyout.co.nz Nelson Paragliding Stew and Zanna Karstens Phone: 03 544 1182, 027 446 3930 Email: paragliding@xtra.co.nz Web: www.nelsonparagliding.co.nz MARLBOROUGH PARAGLIDING High Adventure New Zealand Russell Read, Phone: 027 448 0888 Email: russread@ihug.co.nz CHRISTCHURCH HANG GLIDING Canterbury Hang Gliding School Bill Degen Phone: 03 326 6411, 021 247 2676 Email: aero@xtra.co.nz Web: www.hgpg.co.nz PARAGLIDING ParaPro (Paragliding & Powered Paragliding) Dave Dennis Phone: 03 328 8255, 0508 548 323 Email: info@parapro.co.nz Web: www.parapro.co.nz WANAKA PARAGLIDING Lucky Montana’s Flying Circus Advanced over water manoeuvres (SIV) instruction Rob Darby Phone: 03 443 1680, 027 220 1185 Email: lucky_montana@hotmail.com QUEENSTOWN PARAGLIDING Elevation Paragliding School Shai Lanuel Phone: 0800 359 444, 027 224 2121 Email: elevationpg@xtra.co.nz Web: www.elevation.co.nz Infinity Paragliding School Alan Swann & Blake Round Phone: 021 0228 2939 or 027 367 7679 Email: info@infinityparagliding.co.nz Web: www.infinityparagliding.co.nz Neverland Paragliding Dominic Eller, Phone: 021 314 730 Email: neverlandpg@hotmail.com Paraventures Paragliding School Mark Hardman Phone: 0800 FLYSOLO (0800 359 765), 021 809 275 Email: info@paraventures.co.nz Extreme Air Tandem Hang Gliding & Paragliding Lisa Bradley Phone: 021 156 3256 Email: lisa@extremeair.co.nz Web: www.extremeair.co.nz Queenstown Paragliding School Lisa Bradley Phone: 021 156 3256 Email: info@extremeair.co.nz Web: www.extremeair.co.nz Queenstown Hang Gliding School Lisa Bradley Phone: 021 156 3256 Email: info@extremeair.co.nz Web: www.extremeair.co.nz DUNEDIN PARAGLIDING Dunedin Paragliding & Hang Gliding School Lisa Bradley Phone: 021 156 3256 Email: lisa@extremeair.co.nz Web: www.extremeair.co.nz

The PCC Write up S

o the 2016/17 season is over, and you can find the final version of the National Paragliding Ladder here.

Well done, Louis Tapper. · We are no longer happy with the way the ladder works, so we will be revising it. Scoring-per-task will be replaced by scoring-per-comp and the result is likely to be similar to how the WPRS is worked out. · XContest/newzealand is live and working well... we would just like to see more flights on there. Almost 70 pilots logged their flights on the beta version last season, thank you! The generous prize of a Spot Tracker, from MacParaNZ, was awarded to Jenna Hughes-Games of Timaru – congratulations! · The Cross Country Championship has been won by Nick Neynens again.

Good on you, Nick, and best of luck for the X-Alps. · A new rule book, version 19, will be released during the winter months · The first overseas league comp of the season has been announced, with a bunch of Kiwis heading to Macedonia in July. Details are on Airtribune.com · Finally – the PCC regrets that Cameron Kennedy has had to step down due to commitments (learning to fly helicopters, fair enough) but we are happy to have Wayne Rohrs step in to the fill gap.

Thanks Wayne. I am still planning the initiation ceremony but we can’t catch the goat.

See you in the bomb out.

- Johnny, Tim and Wayne at the PCC

Aeronautical Charts Visual Navigation Charts (VNCs) can be purchased from Aeronautical Information Management (a division of Airways NZ) on 0800 500 045, or their web site, www.aipshop.co.nz. VNCs come in two scales 1:250,000 and 1:500,000, and cost $16.35 for a pair of charts printed on a double-sided sheet. The coverage of the 1:250,000 charts makes them handy for planning cross-country flights.

NZ Comp Organiser’s Responsibilities It is the Comp Organiser’s responsibility to; 1. Obtain a list of current members from the Administrator.

2. Ensure every competition entrant is a current NZHGPA member.

3. Sign up any non-members.

Any competitors found to be non-members will be listed and scored as ‘disqualified’.

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2016/17 NZ Paragliding Ladder Top Places

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25

N Ne eww ZZeeaallaa nn dd C rC ross o s s - -CCoouunntr t r yy

g l idding ing PP aa rr aagli CC hh aa mmpions p i o n sh hips ips

April 1st - March 31st. Sponsored by Wings & Waves

April 1st 2016 to March 31st 2017 2016/2017 NZ PG XC Champs Standings

(top 40 placings, provisional) Best 3 flights Pos Pilot Club F1 F2 F3 Total 33 Emlyn Revell-Nash Auckland 115.4 103.7 44.8 263.9 34 Wayne Rohrs Auckland 99.1 83.8 78.6 261.5 35 Rory Devine Southern 109.4 108.4 42.5 260.3 36 Blake Round Southern 116.8 69.5 66.4 252.7 37 Henry Dumbleton Waikato 99.5 94.1 56.9 250.5 38 Kinga Masztalerz Auckland 131.9 109.5 0.0 241.4 39 Steve Bramfitt Other/Unknown 240.0 0.0 0.0 240.0 40 Dean Straker Tasman 150.9 57.6 26.9 235.4

North Island Table (top 20 placings, provisional) (Top scoring from North Island flights).

Pos Pilot Club 1 Evan Lamberton Auckland 2 Bruce Vickerman Waikato 3 Rob Gillard Waikato 4 Mark Macdonald Auckland 5 Shaun Gilbert Hawkes Bay 6 Jeff Ripley Auckland 7 Elliot Revell-Nash Auckland 8 Rhys Akers Bay of Plenty 9 Emlyn Revell-Nash Auckland 10 Wayne Rohrs Auckland 11 Henry Dumbleton Waikato 12 Kinga Masztalerz Auckland 13 Andrew Cavaney Auckland 14 Rob Boyle Tasman 15 Matt Harrison Auckland 16 Roy Tingay Southern 17 Joe Ward Auckland 18 Dave Washer Auckland 19 Doug Patterson Southern 20 Nick Taber Tasman

F1 F2 F3 Total 134.9 106.4 97.8 339.1 111.8 107.9 107.0 326.7 107.9 98.0 93.4 299.3 140.8 83.8 73.5 298.1 156.1 67.6 60.4 284.1 116.1 93.9 71.5 281.5 99.7 96.6 72.8 269.1 119.1 98.3 48.5 265.9 115.4 103.7 44.8 263.9 99.1 83.8 78.6 261.5 99.5 94.1 56.9 250.5 131.9 109.5 0.0 241.4 100.1 73.0 57.5 230.6 98.8 80.0 49.6 228.4 99.4 65.6 58.6 223.6 99.5 56.5 48.5 204.5 79.0 77.5 45.2 201.7 105.1 49.2 40.1 194.4 101.6 51.2 36.2 189.0 100.8 64.0 22.6 187.4

For detailed Paragliding XC Champs flight information and relative rankings of all NZ resident pilots, see the 2016-17 PG XC Champs Table at Leonardo (Leonardo season name: “2016”) www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/league/world/season2016/brand:all,cat:1,class:all,xctype:all,club:0.9 (Note that for the NZ PG XC Champs, the Leonardo table is an approximate table only: international pilots are incorrectly excluded from the NZ ‘club’ competition, while a flight submitted more than 30 days after the day of the flight is incorrectly included). XContest at www.xcontest.org/newzealand is the site for the 2017-2018 NZ XC Champs

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• Airspace files for much of the world also pre-installed • Software fully supports Competition and XC Pilots • Barometric and GPS altimeters • Easy and free software updates • In-flight FAI Triangle Assistant • Customizable data fields • Multiple wing profiles • Thermal Assistant • Wind Assistant • IGC tracklogs • Lightweight • Perfect size • Available in Full or upgradeable Basic versions • And more…

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03 326 6411 021 247 2676

Photo: Ross Gray

Pos Pilot Club F1 F2 F3 Total 1 Nick Neynens Southern 306.6 298.9 170.0 775.5 2 Dave Watson Southern 251.2 243.2 157.8 652.2 3 Bryan Moore Southern 214.8 204.8 173.6 593.2 4 Louis Tapper Southern 210.2 210.1 145.3 565.6 5 Glen Stevens Canterbury 199.3 186.5 137.9 523.7 6 Michal Karnik Southern 202.6 145.9 145.3 493.8 7 Stew Karstens Tasman 161.5 146.6 111.2 419.3 8 Michal Talavasek Canterbury 173.1 140.5 91.0 404.6 9 Nick Taber Tasman 179.3 102.1 100.8 382.2 10 Jean Brossard Canterbury 144.1 126.4 109.4 379.9 11 Peter Groves Southern 167.8 107.1 85.1 360.0 12 Mark Hardman Southern 172.2 99.6 87.8 359.6 13 Doug Patterson Southern 151.8 101.6 98.6 352.0 14 Mark Macdonald Auckland 140.8 114.7 83.8 339.3 15 Evan Lamberton Auckland 134.9 106.4 97.8 339.1 16 Jiri Hanc Other/Unknown 118.2 113.6 98.4 330.2 17 Bruce Vickerman Waikato 111.8 107.9 107.0 326.7 18 Derek Divers Southern 112.4 105.4 104.8 322.6 19 Rob Gillard Waikato 113.8 107.9 98.0 319.7 20 Martin Kraemer Southern 138.7 89.6 89.4 317.7 21 Matt Senior Tasman 160.3 146.4 0.0 306.7 22 Dylan Vickerman Southern 175.0 79.0 38.2 292.2 23 Aaron Ford Southern 146.2 78.6 62.2 287.0 24 Shaun Gilbert Hawkes Bay 156.1 67.6 60.4 284.1 25 Jeff Ripley Auckland 116.1 93.9 71.5 281.5 26 Helen Jeffery Southern 100.4 94.9 85.4 280.7 27 Gert van Maren Southern 101.9 96.9 77.1 275.9 28 Steven Christophers Southern 152.1 71.3 50.2 273.6 29 Rob Hughes-Games Canterbury 109.5 93.1 70.0 272.6 30 Rob Boyle Tasman 98.8 92.7 80.0 271.5 31 Elliot Revell-Nash Auckland 99.7 96.6 72.8 269.1 32 Rhys Akers Bay of Plenty 119.1 98.3 48.5 265.9

T

New Route for the 2017 Red Bull X-Alps to be the Hardest Yet!

he new route has been revealed for the 2017 Red Bull X-Alps, which will be the longest and hardest in the event’s 14-year history.

Racing a straight-line distance of 1,138km from Salzburg to Monaco, 32 world class athletes from 21 countries (including NZ’s Nick Neynens) will hike and fly via 7 turnpoints in 7 different countries - including Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France and for the first time; Slovenia. This will make the world’s toughest adventure more challenging and more unpredictable than ever before.

The new Slovenian turnpoint will lead the participants to race along Europe’s largest mountain range and traverse it four times between the northern and southern fringes.

The race starts at the historic Mozartplatz in Salzburg, Austria. From there, the athletes will run through the city and up the Gaisberg to Turnpoint 1. The scenic view above the Salzburger Land region will attract thousands of fans who will be there to support the competitors as they set up their paragliders and embark on their first flight of the contest.

A gruelling 157km straight-line journey south through Austria will take them to Turnpoint 2, the Mangart paragliding launch in Triglav National Park in Slovenia. Triglav is the country’s highest mountain at 2,864m ASL. Travelling northwest from Slovenia, they will traverse the Austrian Alps for a second time to reach Turnpoint 3; Aschau-Chiemsee in Germany.

Above; NZ’s Nick Neynens launching

Photo ©; Harald Tauderer-Red Bull Content Pool

Turnpoint 4 is the second Austrian turnpoint in the race at the village of Lermoos, in the shadow of the Zugspitze, the almost 3000m mountain which connects Austria to Germany and offers the athletes huge flying potential.

Back south through the Alps to Italy, they will find themselves at Turnpoint 5, nestled close to Lake Garda by Monte Baldo.

Turnpoint 6 lies 251km west at the Matterhorn in southern Switzerland and in a final push, the hungry competitors will battle it out over the remaining 246km to reach Turnpoint 7 in Peille, southeast France.

Finally, the timer will stop, leaving the athletes to make the 2km victory flight over Monaco to the warm Mediterranean.

The new route for Red Bull X-Alps 2017 will be the most demanding in the race’s 14-year history. From now, the athletes have less than three months to prepare for the enormous journey that lies ahead. Studying the geography of the route will go a long way, but to emerge victorious will take a whole new calibre of endurance and determination.

There’s no telling who will take the title, but with some of the greatest athletes in the world, it will certainly be an adventure to remember.

To meet the athletes and learn more about the race, head over to redbullxalps.com and facebook.com/redbullxalps.

ABOUT THE RED BULL X-ALPS The world’s toughest adventure race returns July 2, 2017 for its eighth edition. Starting in Salzburg, athletes will race a straight-line distance of 1,138km across the Alps to Monaco via 7 turnpoints in 7 different countries.

Travelling only by foot or paraglider, their every move is monitored by advanced Live Tracking technology and broadcast to an audience of millions. With constantly changing weather conditions, tactical planning is as important as the extreme endurance required to participate. For this reason, each athlete has a supporter to help with strategy, nutrition and everything in between.

Before the main event, the one-day Leatherman Prologue race takes place in Fuschl am See. The top three finishers will each win an additional Ledlenser Night Pass, allowing them to race through the mandatory rest period. On day two of the main race, the usual 5:00am start will be delayed for each athlete by the time in which they finished the Leatherman prologue race behind the prologue winner.

However, there’s only one question on everyone’s mind; could 2017 see athletes like Sebastian Huber or Paul Guschlbauer end Maurer’s reign as Red Bull X-Alps champion? Only one thing is certain – anything could happen!

N Ne eww ZZeeaa ll aa nn dd C rC ross o s s - -CCoouunntr t r yy

HHAA NN GG gli g l idding i ng CC hh aa mmpions p i o n sh hips ips

January 1st to December 31st

W

ell it wasn’t a good summer at all but still we have some great flights entered.

There’s some great flights from the Kaimais and the Omarama XC Classic resulted in a number of new cross country flights, including Derek McKee’s wave flight from Magic Mountain which is the longest so for this year.

Airtribune Live tracking For those who want quicker retrieves, get the Airtribune App for your Android or Apple smartphone.

Airtribune will track your flight and let your retrieve driver look you up on their smartphone to see exactly where you are. It is limited to cell coverage but apparently satellite trackers like Spot work with it too. It’s not power hungry but it would pay to have a backup battery as well.

The IOS app can’t do personal tracking yet (only in Airtribune comps), but Android users can register and have free tracking any time. You can also replay your flights later in great detail with the ability to pan and zoom around your glider in flight. Note that Airtribune doesn’t calculate FAI Open Distance from the 2 furtherest points of your flight. You still need a tracklog for that as explained in the entry section.

ONLINE RESULTS Latest results are posted as they come in at www.hgpg.co.nz and at www.nzhgpa.org.nz/ competitions/hg-competitions/hang-gliding-crosscountry-championships (but check if it’s been recently updated).

Online scoring? Not yet, but if you have a 3D GPS you can enter any of the online contests as well. If you do this, just let me know by emailing me a link to your online entry and I’ll copy the data to the NZ HG XC Champs. It should have all we need to enter your flight.

TO ENTER...

It’s free and simple; fly anywhere in NZ before midnight on 31st December, email or post in your flight details (and tracklog if you have one) before 30 days has passed and you’re entered. Enter as many flights as you like. Your shorter flights are automatically replaced by your longer ones. Only your longest four flights are scored.

For each flight entry, please supply; • Your name, email address and contact phone number.

• Flight date, take-off/release place, landing place, and flight distance in kilometres and 10ths.

• Tracklog file from a GPS that can be read by GPSDump, such as an IGC file. Best is a kml file processed by GPSDump.

• That’s all, unless you don’t have a GPS tracklog, then please also supply; Start and landing witness/s name & contact details.

A GPS instrument has many advantages for XC flying, but for pilots who don’t have GPS, you can still enter the NZ HG XC Champs without one, you’ll just need to give take-off and landing witnesses.

GPSDump works on Windows or Mac and reads GPS tracklogs from just about any instrument, then works out the best start and finish points for you automatically. It also works out if the flight fits any other FAI criteria such as out and return, triangle etc.

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The 2017 Cross-Country Championships Table

Name Derek McKee

Flight 1 116.0

Flight 2 96.0

Flight 3 56.0

Flight 4 20.7

Total kms 288.7

Neil Howe

109.2

69.2

67.3

39.8

285.4

John Smith

108.0

98.0

36.5

31.9

274.4

Rick Hawkeswood

106.5

70.2

48.6

38.2

263.5

Leslie Graham 81.7 47.2 39.7 34.9 203.6 Geoff Christophers

113.7

67.6

181.4

Steve Bankier 56.0 30.0 8.0 94.0 Oliver Derry 56.0 19.5 9.0 84.5 Rod Stuart 27.4 19.5 19.0 12.7 78.6 Bill Degen 28.2 17.9 14.6 12.2 72.9 Eddie Pearson 30.0 12.6 10.6 53.2 Cris Lawry 30.0 10.0 8.0 48.0 Marty Smith 20.8 10.0 9.0 4.0 43.8 David Martin

* 15.8 15.1 12.8 43.7

Robin Campbell 8.0 7.0 2.6 17.6 Dan Campbell 9.0 7.0 16.0 Reece Fisher

12.0 ** Class 2 (rigid wing), * Skyfloater

You can export it for viewing in Google Earth in 3D. Download GPSDump for free at; www.gethome.no/stein.sorensen

12.0

flown in this class too. As long as it has exposed crossbars.

Don’t forget to point it out on your entry if you have an exposed crossbar glider or rigid wing. You can enter in as many classes as you like. Skyfloater flights can be entered in a separate class and/or included in your Class 1 score, whichever you prefer.

Let me know if your flight is a site record too.

SCORING The pilot with the best total of four flights is the NZ Hang Gliding Cross Country Champion for that year and gets first choice of prizes followed by pilots with second and third best totals. The pilot with the longest single flight gets fourth choice, then prizes go from fourth best total onwards.

Flights for each years XC Champs must be flown between 1 January and 31st December and entered within 30 days. This ends one contest while pilots have good weather and starts the next the contest while everyone’s still keen.

SEND YOUR ENTRY TO; aero@xtra.co.nz (Please write “XC Entry” in the header and please keep your entry separate from other emails) or post entries to; NZ Hang Gliding XC Champs, Bill Degen, 99A Panorama Road, Christchurch 8081

Rules You must be a paid up NZHGPA member during all flights or you do not score. Entries must be postmarked or emailed within 30 days of the flight or do not score. This helps ensure accuracy, prevents pilots holding back flights until the end, and we all want to know how everyone’s doing.

Please DON’T phone, txt, or tell me in the pub, all entries must be in writing (email preferred) with all flight details (and GPS tracklog if using remote launch and/or landings), or do not score. Don’t assume that because someone else was there or you were in a competition that your flight has been entered. It is each pilots’ responsibility to declare and enter full details of their own flight entries.

Measure your flights in kilometres and 10ths of km, straight line from take-off to landing. Optimised flight distances with a Remote Start and/or Remote Finish are welcome, provided you send in a valid, GPS track log to prove it. Out & return, triangle or multiple distances are not eligible at this stage.

Aerotow launched flights are permitted, but your release altitude must be less than 5% of the flight distance (current FAI ruling) or does not score. Tow release position (not take-off) verification should be witnessed by the tug pilot, or confirmed with known landmark photo or GPS tracklog.

Note: If you don’t follow the rules by providing all relevant flight details, (including valid tracklog for remote start or finish flights) you DO NOT SCORE. GLIDER CLASSES Same as FAI rules. Flex wings including kingpostless gliders are Class 1. Rigid wings such as the Atos are Class 5 and Swifts are Class 2 or Class 5 without the pilot fairing.

There’s a special prize for pilots flying skyfloater gliders such as such as the Fun, Falcon, Malibu etc. 30% double surface gliders such as Buzz, Above; A happy Rod Stuart after flying Gyro, Mars, Target, Ventura, Malibu etc can be 27kms from Cheeseman to Springfield

Omarama XC Classic 2017

T

his years event was windy and we didn’t get the usual glut of flyable days, however there were some great flights to be had.

Pattersons had organised the Magic track to be cleared again while they had a bulldozer on the property so the track was not at all scary. Luckily we soon had almost enough in the kitty to pay for it. 25 odd pilots attended and most put in a donation.

The first day was too strong and it

Top Places Pilot Derek McKee John Smith Steve Bankier Oliver Derry Eddie Pearson Cris Lawry Rod Stuart Bill Degen Marty Smith

3 flight total 268.0 201.0 86.0 75.5 40.6 40.0 38.5 38.7 34.8

Above; Derek gets real high over the Waitaki, Kurow is the town at centre left was forecast to continue. Not happy with sitting about for another blown out day, Derek McKee enthused a small group up Magic at the ungodly hour of 7am. Though some thought it too strong to launch, at 9:15am Derek, Steve Bankier and Marty Smith were vacuumed straight up to 10,000ft.

I was at the glider briefing in Omarama when I got a text saying there were hang gliders overhead at 12,000ft. The glider soaring forecast for the day wasn’t good according to the briefing; if only they knew!

Ground speed of 167km/hr was recorded coming out the back of a wave and heading for the next. Marty landed at the Omarama airstrip but Derek and Steve continued down the Waitaki where, while setting up for landing, Derek picked up another wave and got high again, eventually landing at St Andrews, at 116 kms, the longest flight of the event. Steve made 56kms. Derek is writing a report for the next issue.

More blown out conditions followed, then the Tuesday had light winds but poor conditions. Also a cross wind easterly on launch at Magic. John Smith took best flight of just 17kms to Omarama and everyone else was further back.

The following day was much better

Left; Wave over Omarama on the evening before Below; 33 knots on the wind meter. We should have been there earlier Photos; Bill Degen

Inset below; Derek gets his name on both trophies

with John making the Flight Park at Coronet with 95kms, Derek & Olli Derry at Wanaka with 56kms and others around 30kms in the Lindis.

Next day most went to Buscot, dust devils threw gliders about there but no serious damage was reported.

Thermals were rough & broken, the same at Magic and on the St Bathans but they were smooth out on the flats, if you could find them.

Mark Nichols broke his leg landing his Atos. Rod and Marney were there and I was nearby in the air radioing for help when police, doctor, fire all arrived. Mark had to give instructions on how to pack his Atos before he would leave for Timaru hospital.

John flew to Alexandra with 106kms, Derek to Moa Creek and everyone else was near Omarama.

Friday brought rain in the morning and strong winds after, so by Saturday most had left. Warren and I went up Magic on Sunday morning but by the time we were rigged it was too strong to launch. I guess we should have been there at 9am!

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■ Paid up NZHGPA members may run one advertisement per classification for free in each issue ■ Please send your written advertisement to the editor, quoting your NZHGPA PIN number ■ Commercial operators, dealers, and non-members must enclose payment of $0.50c per word with their advertisement ■ All advertisements are deleted for next issue unless repeat request received ■ Buyers are advised that all used hang gliders and paragliders should have a NEW fitness check (WOF) when sold ■ It is dangerous to fly a glider or with equipment that is above your rated ability ■

UP Trango XC 2. 2012. EN C. Small 60-80kg. Well loved. 116 hours. Blue/White. This is a really nice wing to fly. Sporty and responsive. Owner upgrading to the new Trango X Race. $990 o.n.o. 021 182 4243 tjbro137@gmail.com NOVA Paragliders - www.nova.eu - exclusively by SkyWings - www.skywings.co.nz - email alan@skywings.co.nz

NOVA Phantom - www.nova.eu/en/gliders/phantom/- a new class in paragliding - top end Triton 2 performance with low B safety - 99 cells - very expensive, very special - phone Alan 09 570 5757 NOVA Mentor 5 - https://www.nova.eu/en/gliders/mentor-5/EN B - first sizes are here - email alan@skywings.co.nz OZONE Paragliders www.flyozone.com - Awesome new models - 25 years bringing you the best wings - email alan@skywings.co.nz

SPEEDFLYING specialists - and dozens of great XC wings - happy to trade - all kinds of harnesses in stock as well - www.skywings.co.nz or phone Alan 09 570 5757

ADVANCE paragliders by Infinity Paragliding. Check out the new Advance Epsilon 8 - mid range EN-B, the Iota - high performance ENB, and the new PI 2 and Easiness 2 lightweight mountain kit. Also an exceptional range of harnesses - the new Lightness 2 lightweight POD harness, the Axess 3 Air and Progress 2 reversible. Go to www. infinityparagliding.co.nz or www.advance.ch for all the specs or call 021 0228 2939 MOTOR Paragliding BLACKBIRD Paramotor. NZ designed and made. High performance comfort. Intro pricing $9350 email: paradynamics@xtra.co.nz www.paradynamics.co.nz Ph. 03 325 4540.

PARAMOTOR wings - Macpara has it covered from multipurpose free flight wings Muse and Eden 6, to dedicated reflex paramotoring with The Charger, Blaze GT and Paradox Racer. Tandem Pasha 5. Trike flying T-Ride. For more information on your next paramotor wing phone Nick tel: 03 5450766 mobile: 021420742 nick@macpara.co.nz PARAMOTORING - exclusive Miniplane and PAP motors - SkyWings for courses and equipment - www.skywings.co.nz or phone Alan 09 570 5757

HANG GLIDERS FUN 220, excellent condition. Ten hours airtime. Used with trike. Keel has been sleeved.

Unused for 4 years. $2500. Also have single seater Rotax 277 trike in excel condition. $2500. phone 027 292 3928, email trevvvster@gmail.com ENTERPRISE Wings Desire 151; Has WoF from last year and happy to gain one this year if I find a buyer. Good condition for age and well looked after, includes manual and wheels on base bar. Two spare uprights $600 ono. Phone 021 806 390 Reece, or email Reece Fisher r_fisher33@Hotmail.com

WANTED to buy: Beginner glider for 65-68 kg pilot, Phone 027 670 8301 e-mail skyriderag@gmail.com

WILLS Wing U2 160 Excellent condition glider. Great handling and performing intermediate/advanced wing. Has had one careful owner, flown approx 150 hours since purchased new in 2012. Recent WOF. Dacron sail with Hydranet trailing edge, sail is tight and flying in perfect trim. Well looked after, sail is still crispy with UV/weather coating application, Phone 027 670 8301 email skyriderag@gmail.com

SKYFLOATERS; New and used sales; Fun, Falcon, fully strip checked, test flown and trimmed, trade-ins considered, contact Bill at 03 326-6411 or aero@xtra.co.nz for more info.

LIGHTSPEED S4 Parts; White PX inlaid Mylar sail in very good condition, Near complete set of 7075 alloy battens for sail, 1x pair carbon outboard leading edges with alloy dive struts fitted (large diameter ones). All reasonable offers considered.

Guy Williams 027 242 8328 Kiwi Flyer complete apart from 2 damaged leading edges. Everything else in good condition. To sell for spare parts. Make an offer. Phone 03 326-6411 or 021 247 2676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz.

MOTOR HANG Gliding AIRTIME motor harness, late model, fit larger pilot, 8 hours airtime, Folding prop, Tiny tac, Tuning lights, 2 owners, contact 03 326-6411 or email aero@xtra.co.nz for info.

MOSQUITO NRG motorharness, very tidy with very low airtime, all the usual features such as electric start, plus folding carbon propellor, stainless auto carabiner, extra fuel tank, and reserve parachute if required. Phone 021 247 2676, email aero@xtra.co.nz

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INSTRUMENTS Flytec/Brauniger, Digifly, Aircotec, Oudie flight instruments, basic varios to full GPS flight computers. Large range and new models in stock now. Phone or txt 021 247 2676, email aero@xtra.co.nz RESERVE PARACHUTES RANGE of reserve parachutes for hang gliding and paragliding. Bridles, Front containers, Maillons, Swivels, Hook knives etc, in stock at HG & PG Supplies, Phone 021 247 2676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz ACCESSORIES Helmets, No Limit, Insider, Loop, Breeze (adjustable) and PlusMax. Range of colours & sizes, No Limit visor option, PlusMax chinguard option, phone 021 247 2676 email aero@xtra.co.nz EMPLOYMENT TANDEM Pilots wanted for 115 Operation. PGTC preferred. Professionals only please.

CV2 wanakaparagliding@gmail.com.

CORONET Peak Tandems Ltd, Queenstown, are looking for tandem hang gliding and paragliding pilots. Call 021 220 5932 INSTRUCTION NELSON Hang Gliding Adventures HG training course Beginner and Novice rating.

Call Glenn to register interest. 03 548 9151 or 027 275 1022, gmeadows@clear.net.nz HANG Gliding/Skyfloating. Experienced instruction in Christchurch using the latest skyfloater hang gliders and equipment, Phone Bill 021 247 2676, 03 326 6411 a.h., email aero@xtra.co.nz and www.hgpg.co.nz

Lost & found AIRCOTEC XC-Trainer Easy vario/GPS, serial number 1473. Went missing from the Blenheim area approx two years ago. Phone 03 577 8886 or email john.urlich@nzdf.mil.nz

Keep in touch with the NZ hang gliding and paragliding scene, the latest developments, events, new and used equipment...

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All NZ hang glider and paraglider pilots are required by law to be members, and receive Airborn magazine as part of their membership but non flyers and overseas pilots are welcome to subscribe.

For Airborn SUBSCRIPTIONS please contact; NZHGPA Administrator, 3 Ashdonleigh Grove, Stoke, Nelson 7011, New Zealand

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A4 size issues $4.- each 2017 issue numbers 2016 issue numbers 2015 issue numbers 2014 issue numbers 2013 issue numbers 2012 issue numbers 2011 issue numbers 2010 issue numbers 2009 issue numbers

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Feb/Mar/Apr May/Jun/Jul Aug/Sep/Oct Nov/Dec/Jan 201 202 197 198 199 200 193 194 195 196 189 190 191 192 185 186 187 188 - - 183 184 179 180 181 182 175 176 177 178 171 172 173 174

Feb/Mar Apr/May Jun/Jul Aug/Sep Oct/Nov Dec/Jan 2008 issue numbers 165 166 167 168 169 170 2007 issue numbers 159 - 161 162 163 164 2006 issue numbers 153 - 155 156 - 158 2005 issue numbers 147 148 149 150 151 152 2004 issue numbers 141 142 143 144 145 2003 issue numbers 135 - 137 138 139 140 2002 issue numbers 129 130 131 132 133 134 2001 issue numbers 123 124 125 126 127 128 2000 issue numbers 117 118 119 120 121 122 1999 issue numbers - - 113 - - 1998 issue numbers 105 106 107 108 109 110 1997 issue numbers 99 100 101 - 103 104 1996 issue numbers 93 94 95 96 97 98 1995 issue numbers - - - - - 1994 issue numbers 81 82 83 84 85 86 1993 issue numbers - 76 - 78 79 80 1992 issue numbers 69 70 71 72 73 74 A5 Issues below $1.- each (Prior to issue 69 all are the smaller A5 format) 1991 issue numbers 63 64 65 66 67 68 1990 issue numbers - 58 59 60 61 62 1989 issue numbers 51 52 53 - 55 56 1988 issue numbers 45 46 - - 49 50

For Back Issues; send your order with payment to; Airborn Back Issues, 99A Panorama Road, Christchurch 8081, NZ

- Sorry issues marked with this symbol are no longer available

PARAGLIDERS ELAN light Macpara - End of season special available at half price. As new with only 25 flight, 90 -112kg ENC beautiful well mannered performing XC wing that took me on a personal best flight, a logical step up from an ENB wing, buy with confidence from Nick Macpara AU NZ distributer Tel: 03 5450766 Mobile: 021420742 nick@ macpara.co.nz

NZHGPA BOOKROOM The art of Paragliding by Dennis Pagen. Instruction manual for beginner to intermediates. Large format 374 pages $80 Hang Gliding Training Manual

by Dennis Pagen. Ultimate guide to Beginner to Advanced hang gliding flying skills $80 Performance Flying by Dennis Pagen. Hang gliding for intermediate to advanced flying skills, includes competition, cross country, towing $80 Understanding the Sky by Dennis Pagen. Sport aviation weather and micrometeorology for hang glider, paraglider and microlight pilots. $60 PARAGLIDING, BEGINNER TO CROSS COUNTRY by Sollom Cook. From basic techniques to competition flying $60 A PILOTS TRAINING MANUAL (PG) Includes zone free, 80 minute DVD with 9 chapters including; forward inflation, reverse inflation, manoeuvres, soaring, flying thermals to landing methods.

Only $65!

NZ Hang Gliding Training Handbook Essential Beginner/Novice instruction information for NZ hang gliding students learning to fly. $15 NZHGPA Hang Gliding Tow Manual All aspects of towing with clear photographs and step by step instruction $15 NZHGPA Aerotow Manual In depth detail of aerotow procedure as authorised by MAANZ and NZHGPA $15 NZHGPA Paragliding Tow Manual This manual outlines requirements and procedures for towing $15 NZHGPA Logbook With rating record $15

NZHGPA MOVIE LIBRARY

EAST WIND, DVD, German pilots fly hybrid recliner bike/ paramotors 1632 kms across eastern Europe; Hanover to the Black Sea. DYNAMIC DECISIONS, DVD, Shows how different DHV paragliders react when flying the most dangerous manoeuvres.

THE RACE, DVD, A race between climber and pilot in the Italian Dolomites. Winner of 4 world film contests.

Paragliding Learn to Fly, DVD Tutorial for PG Performance Flying, DVD by Jocky Sanderson Never Ending Thermal Pura Vida Flying

Security in Flight & The Speed to FLYING OVER EVEREST, DVD, Angelo Fly D’Arrigo and the story of his flight Birdmen of Kilimanjaro over Mt Everest.

PLAY GRAVITY, DVD, Extreme The Red Bull X Alps paragliding, snowboarding, BASE Managing Risk in Aviation CAA jumping, freeriding and speedflying Red Bull X-Alps 2005 in the most awesome settings.

Check the NZHGPA website for the latest special offers In order to cover the high cost of importing HG and PG DVDs, cost of hire and postage is $10 for 10 day loans Postage and GST is included in price.

Please send your order with payment to;

NZHGPA BOOKROOM Ewen Tonar 23A Brookview Court Chartwell Hamilton Phone 07 855 3969 ejtonar069@gmail.com

Visit our webpage for our weekly special and list of gliders and harnesses in stock.

Don’t see what you want? We’re ordering all the time.

www.skywings.co.nz

www.nova.eu

Exclusive Importers

We stock all Ozone Miniwings - Ultralite 4 - Zero - Litespeed - Firefly 3 - Rapido - Fazer 3

ION 4 EN B Once again, Nova bring the most performance you can get to a School safe glider. And also the most dynamic handling you can have in a first glider.

NEW MENTOR 5 IS HERE!

MINI WINGS Twice the fun, twice the flying, half the price!

Perfect your groundhandling skills. Huge fun for soaring and strong day thermalling. We are the specialists with 20 years on the smallest wings

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The Nova Mentor story is simple: it has led the class by delivering EN C performance with EN B safety. And now the best gets even better!

For many years the Mentor has been setting the standard for XC-intermediate wings. It combines impressive performance with a high degree of passive safety.

The Mentor 5 shows a marked performance increase over the class leading Mentor 4 with excellent precision and agility in the handling.

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Early indications - performance may be on the level of the Phantom!

PARAMOTORING SPECIALISTS Miniplane - under 20kgs NZ’s most popular motor

NEW NOVA PHANTOM EN/LTF B PHANTOM – the most advanced EN B glider ever created! The PHANTOM offers the safety of a basic intermediate with the performance of a top-end wing.

This has been made possible through probably the most complex construction ever used in a serial-production wing.

The Phantom is a new, completely revotionary paraglider with a similar aspect-ratio to the ION and with 99 cells, it combines the safety of the Ion series with the high-level performance of the EN C Triton 2.

Exceptional directional stability as well as unique precision and simplicity with excellent handling.

27 years motoring & teaching Our level of experience means everything when you learn to motor www.papteam.com www.miniplane.net

HARNESSES Importer of Sup’Air, Nova and Ozone harnesses like the Ozone Ozium - 2.5kgs

MENTOR 5 EN B

Ph: 09 570 5757 Cell: 0274 98 2345 email: alan@skywings.co.nz

www.skywings.co.nz