NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
CLUB CLASS NATS WORLD CLUB CLASS CHAMPS WHANGAREI GLIDING YOUTH AIRWORTHINESS • CLUB NEWS issue
33
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contents april/may 2013
FEATURES 12
Taupo Club Class National Competition 2013
15
World Club Class Championships
18
Central Districts Gliding Championships
20
Competing for the Tasman Trophy in Australia
23
Lilienthal Medal Awarded to Bob Henderson
24
Whangarei Gliding Youth
28
Omaka Airshow 2013
30
Vintage Kiwi Rally Taupo 2013
32
Decision Fatigue
34
The Performance Triangle in Gliding
36
Gliding in Indonesia
Pg 12
Pg 15
REGULARS 6
Pg 24
Pg 18
Log Book
31
Book Review
33
A Question of Safety
35
GNZ News
38
Airworthiness
39
GNZ Awards and Certificates
40
Vintage You are History
44
Gliding New Zealand Club News
50
Classified Advertising
Pg 28
Pg 36
Printer MHP Advertising, editorial and subscription enquiries
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ISSN 1178-4784
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from the editor april/may 2013
What I did on my Easter Break Yes, it is that old school essay favourite, what I did on my holiday. I’m not really sorry about that, because our Easter was fabulous. We went to the Classic Fighters Airshow. This is the one at the Omaka Airfield in Blenheim, where all of Peter Jackson’s replicas and rebuilt WWI fighters live at the Aviation Heritage Centre. Most of them fly and I just love them. I know they’re war machines, but they bumble around the sky like a bunch of enthusiastic puppies. And they’re so pretty. The show runs the gamut of warbird aircraft. A brief list included the Spitfire, Corsair, and Mustang, contrasted by the little Piper L-4, the military version of the Cub; all of which were contrasted completely by the Vampire and Strikemaster Jets. The RNZAF was there with the Kiwi Blue parachute team, the Red Checkers, the Iroquois and Sea Sprite helicopters, and their flash new Boeing 757. There was a Messerschmitt Bf108, Nanchangs and Yaks, to make sure it wasn’t only the Allies represented. The star of the show was the beautifully restored Avro Anson bomber. For more information on all of this, look for my article on the show in the next issue of Kiwi Flyer magazine. As well as all the powered and noisy aircraft, also displaying at the show was Doug Hamilton flying Jamie Halstead’s ASH 25. The beautiful aerobatic display, engineless and in complete silence, wowed the crowd. The commentary that went with the display didn’t please me nearly as much. That was because, through lack of any more suitable candidates, I ended up doing it. I found the experience absolutely awful and I never want to have to do that again. I wasn’t too concerned leading up to it, even though there were something like 18,000 people going to hear me. I’d only discovered that I had to do it the day before, but had good notes on the glider and about Doug, and had plenty I could say on gliding. You know me, I’ll happily talk about gliding until the cows come home. In fact, I worried I had too much to say and wouldn’t be able to get it all in. When the time came, my son Robert and I climbed up to the commentary stand, high at the top of a scaffolding tower. I can fly gliders just fine, but don’t do that sort of heights at all well. I just did my best to ignore where I was standing. I introduced myself to the commentary team, was handed a microphone, Doug released from tow, the music started (Enya - Orinoco Flow) and I spoke. To my horror, my voice came back to me (loudly) over the speakers, a very disconcerting moment after I spoke. So naturally I stuttered, while my brain tried to work out what was happening.
CLUB CLASS NATS
Doug Hamilton display at the Omaka Airshow 2013.
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Photo John McCaw
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Pulling myself together a little, I stuck my finger in my ear to try to block it out and started talking about the glider. My amplified voice sounded appalling. Surely I don’t sound like that? I didn’t recognise myself at all. My voice seemed flat, nasal and as if it was coming from someone with a mental impairment who spoke extremely slowly. It was truly horrifying. (My son had already made a comment that my voice drove my family mad, so it was bound to do the same to the audience. I suddenly realised he was right.) Manfully, I staggered through my notes, while attempting not to give in to blind panic. I forgot to look at the glider and comment on what it was actually doing. I did remember to mention that, unlike the aircraft we’d seen the day before bouncing on landing and putting on power to go around, the glider couldn’t do that. I know I said that the best place to find out about gliding was from the GNZ website. Apparently, I didn’t make too much of a fist of it. I got good feedback. I was momentarily famous. John was talking to his brother on the phone that night. They were spending Easter in Wanaka. Donald already knew I’d done the gliding commentary. He’d been up Mt Iron, when someone had sent him a text. Later at the show,
next issue
NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
WORLD CLUB CLASS CHAMPS WHANGAREI GLIDING YOUTH
Robert and I talking gliding to 18,000 people.
Simplifying the sporting code. Giorgio Cialetto - Lilienthal Winner.
Deadline for Club News, articles and pictures is 11 May and 22 May for advertising.
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subscription form Name: ______________________________________________________________
Photo Geoff Soper
Address: ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________ Postcode ______________ Phone ______________________________________________________________ Email ________________________________________________________________ when I was tracking people down for interviews for Kiwi Flyer, several people said to me that they recognised my voice. That is not encouraging. That means I DO sound like that. The worst thing about it was that I had to do it again the next day. Robert had said we needed a youth voice, so I made him do it too. He didn’t talk nearly as much as I had hoped. I found myself even more reluctant to actually speak. Day Two’s glider commentary allowed for a lot more silence for Doug to show the glider off all on its own. It is all about silent flight after all. I’m airshowed out. This is the third Easter in a row we’ve airshowed. We’ve either been GNZ representatives or journalists or both. While I’ve certainly appreciated getting to see all of this without paying an entry fee, and I’ve really enjoyed them - don’t get me wrong - I’m still over it. Next Easter I think you’ll find me with the caravan parked up by a beach somewhere, no aircraft in sight. John can take his cameras and poke them at aeroplanes if he wants, but I’m going to the beach. And, er… just in case I’m wrong and I find myself once again at Wanaka, the one thing I can categorically state is that I will not be doing a commentary on the glider display. You’re welcome. Stay safe Jill McCaw
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OPINION april/may 2013
I have been mulling over the lovely action photo on the last issue of SoaringNZ, featuring BFV towing GMJ in cross wind conditions off runway 27 at Omarama in November. Vintage Super Cub BFV is flown out of Omarama by Annie Laylee (vintage status dubious), operated by Gavin Wills (vintage status confirmed). Almost vintage, (what is STH ISLAND REGIONALS 2012 the definition?) is the glider GMJ, of Polish origin, fondly referred to as Midge by pilot Hugh Turner (vintage definition also needed), and one of only two NZ registered Jantar Std 2’s – the other is operated by the Taupo Gliding Club. The type was the last of the sub 40:1 l/d 15m designs introduced to the skies in the late 70s. Only three came to NZ and all first flew from new in 1981. Max Stevens did the first of type, test flights. The type was immediately eclipsed in design performance by gliders such as the early Discus from the German design houses. New technology in materials, construction and imaginative aerodynamic design that permitted greater stabilising dihedral, multiple edges and compound curves on the wings, with extra ballast capacity. Consequently, the Jantar 2 was never competitive at that time; however, with revised handicapping of the Club Class, it has found late favour with international Club Class contest pilots. The type is currently well represented in the top 10 placings of the last two Club World Contests and won the recent 2013 event. I readily admit I do not have the temperament or liking for contest flying myself, but can report that I am fortunate to have had a long term association with Midge that has taught me much about how to extract memorable cross country flights in NZ mountain conditions, in what was originally categorised as a Standard Class glider. I routinely complete 200 - 400 km thermal/convergence flights, 300 - 600 km wave flights and have collected several 750 km, with two 1000 km flights, one in each island. The extra weight, high wing loading, robust construction, high main wheel for paddock landings and 175 litre ballast capacity offers advantage over the likes of the Libelle and Cirrus from the same era in the often strong or turbulent winds found in mountain flying. Based for some years at Omarama, GMJ is now stationed at Omaka and is flown with the Marlborough and Nelson Lakes Gliding Clubs. Hugh Turner, Marlborough Gliding Club NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
CENTRAL PLATEAU SOARING COMPETITION PERLAN SETTING RECORDS FOR SCIENCE -/5.4!). 3!&%49 s #,5" .%73
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What a refreshing article from Ralph Henderson regarding changing the way Nationals are run. I particularly agree with cutting down the competition to fewer classes, removing the excess of trophies and adopting a finish ring (as much as I like a good beat up). Personally, I feel FLARM in New Zealand isn’t the answer yet, as it is not aviation wide and is another distraction to keep your head inside the cockpit when it should be outside. Some great ideas there Ralph. Michael Strathern, Nelson Lakes Gliding Club
SoaringNZ welcomes letters from readers. You can send letters by email to soaringnz@mccawmedia.co.nz or post them to: The Editor, SoaringNZ ,430 Halswell Road, Christchurch. SoaringNZ reserves the right to edit, abridge or decline letters. Writer’s name and address is required and a phone number is helpful.
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LOG BOOK PURRING PANTHER Pipistrel's new Panthera aircraft had it's maiden flight on 4 April. The Panthera is a revolutionary 4-seat General Aviation aeroplane, capable of fl ying four people for 1000 NM, cruising at 200 kts and burning only ten gallons of fuel per hour. With full composite construction with titanium retractable undercarriage, enhanced comfort and parachute rescue system standard, Panthera can be equipped with the conventional, hybrid, or an all electric propulsion system.
GNZ’S MANUAL OF APPROVED PROCEDURES UPDATED Please see the GNZ website for the new MOAP.
AUSTRALIA TO HOST THE 2016 OPEN/18M/15M WORLD CONTEST The IGC meeting recently held in Holland awarded the 2016 competition to Benalla in Victoria. It was a very close vote between Benalla and Lasham Benalla winning by one vote. This is very good news for New Zealand competition pilots, giving us one of the best chances to attend a World’s in years. However, it will make it harder for our own attempts to host the Club Class World’s, the international community not likely to be happy with the thought of three southern hemisphere competitions in a short space of time.
NZ WORLD CONTEST PILOTS NZ Pilots intending to compete in the next Open/18m/15m World Competition in Poland, please send applications to: Ross Gaddes Sailplane Racing Committee. The SRC is already preparing to put together the best team they can to represent New Zealand.
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LIBELLE POWER MOD. EASILY APPLIED Here’s a photo taken at the Club Class Nationals of Mark Wilson’s Libelle... slightly modified. We had earlier watched a number of low, high-speed passes of Brett Hunter’s JS1 with the jet sustainer out, and these obviously gave Mark the idea for more power. Half an hour later, plus some sterling application of British-expat Kiwi Ingenuity (or should that be Enginuity), as well as some cardboard and duct-tape, here is the result. Apparently, starting it is only a matter of removing the canopy in flight, reaching backwards with a random flapping motion, finding the handle and pulling the cord. What could be simpler? A piece of string tied around the throttle at one end and your head at the other enables precise, if inaccurate control, via the tried and tested ‘lean forward to go faster’ approach that owners of all
under-powered vehicles know and love. The movable air nozzle adds the element of surprise, in that it is only once the motor has started that you discover the line of the thrust vector. Left turns today? No problem! This sustainer arrangement is also intrinsically safe, in that too much thrust activates the rip-o-matic mechanism built into the duct-tape, thereby removing the excess thrust (and indeed the whole motor) from the glider. Once this occurs, the string tied around your head will break cleanly after only a minute or so (as the motor flails around at full power under the glider), providing ample tactile and audio feedback of a clean power-off. No more squinting at small LEDs or flipping of tiny switches! Patents pending. Send no money now.....
REAL JET POWERED LIBELLE MAY BE A REALITY Georg Emanuel Koppenwallner, a German glider pilot with knowledge of fluid dynamics has developed a concept that could see jet conversions for gliders become a reality. “I would like to introduce the principle of an internal blower for propulsion. ‘Internal blowers’ (inside the fuselage or wing structure) are often driven by turbines. Normal electric motors or internal combustion engines are sufficient to overcome the low drag and provide propulsion of a sailplane.” There are several ways to do this. “My proposal … is to arrange several radial blowers, one after the other, so that the air flows are parallel. The air is sucked in from above and is blown out at the side. “The Functional Model FM-10 (standing in for a glider) with a Göbler Hirth F33 engine produced 140N of thrust, sufficient for a sustainer unit. A new blower construction will generate 300-500N thrust. With such a unit, the take-off speed of a sailplane can be reached.” Georg is planning to test this unit in a Libelle. For more information on this project see the article on SoaringCafe.com.
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LOG BOOK MAXIMUM VERTICAL SPEED, EXIT ALTITUDE AND VERTICAL DISTANCE OF FREEFALL RECORDS RATIFIED BY FAI! The FAI has ratified the three world records claimed by Austrian parachutist Felix Baumgartner on 14 October, 2012. Felix, supported by a team of experts from the Red Bull Stratos Mission, took off from Roswell, USA, aboard a pressurised capsule attached to a helium balloon. Wearing a specially designed suit, Felix was carried high into the sky, to the altitude of 38969.4m, where he exited from the capsule and launched himself down towards Earth. While freefalling, Felix achieved a distance of 36402.6m and reached the speed of 1357.6 km/h, before opening his parachute and landing safely. By breaking these world records, Felix adds his names to the list of FAI world record holders which includes prestigious air sport personalities such as Charles Lindbergh, Yuri Gagarin and, more recently, Bertrand Piccard and Steve Fossett. The FAI congratulates Felix on his great achievement. OFFICIAL DATA Sub-class: G-2 (Performance Records) Category: General Group: Speed Records Type of record: Maximum Vertical Speed (without drogue) Course/location: Roswell, NM (USA) Performance: 1357,6 km/h Parachutist: Felix Baumgartner (Austria) Date: 14.10.2012 Sub-class :G-2 (Performance Records) Category: General Group: Altitude Records Type of record: Exit Altitude Course/location: Roswell, NM (USA) Performance: 38969,4 meters Parachutist: Felix Baumgartner (Austria) Date: 14.10.2012 Sub-class: G-2 (Performance Records) Category: General Group: Altitude Records Type of record: Vertical Distance of Freefall (without drogue) Course/location: Roswell, NM (USA) Performance: 36402.6 meters Parachutist : Felix Baumgartner (Austria) Date: 14.10.2012
CHILEAN GRAND PRIX The contest, held 26 January to 2 February, was hosted by Club de Planeadores de Vitacura and saw seven days fl ying out of eight.
GLIDING NEW ZEALAND ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND AGM 8-9 June, James Cook Hotel, Wellington As well as the official AGM the conference comprises meetings of the various GNZ committees and the informative, and open to all members, National Presidents’ Forum. The President’s Forum takes place on the Saturday afternoon and comprises guest speakers and reports and ideas from clubs around the country. It is well worth the price of admission (free). All Welcome.
YOUTH GLIDE NEW ZEALAND AGM A meeting for all those interested in Youth Glide in New Zealand will be held at the GNZ AGM. (Meeting time TBA). While this will be our official AGM there will also be plenty of informal discussion time. Youth Glide, as a national entity is in its infancy and all those involved are still working out exactly what we are, what we do and how we do it. If you would like to be part of the process, I urge you to book your tickets to Wellington and come and have your say. Jill McCaw,President YGNZ
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GREEK PILOT MICHAIL ANASTASIOU REACHED 23,000 FEET OF ALTITUDE IN PIPISTREL TAURUS Strong south westerly winds during the winter (November to April) create a wave system over the mountains of Greece. These are perfect, if cold conditions for high altitude soaring. A Pipistrel is a side by side two seat motor glider.
Winners were: 1st Carlos Rocca, Chile, Ventus 2b. 2nd René Vidal, Chile, Ventus 2cT. 3rd Thomas Gostner, Italy, Diana 2.
Mr Frog was delighted to see his landout in print.
April 2013
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LOG BOOK YOUTH GLIDE INSPIRED INITIATIVE TAKING OFF IN THE US Just over a year ago, Abbey Delore, member of Youth Glide Canterbury, spoke at the Soaring Society of America conference. Laurie Harden of Minden, Nevada was so inspired by Abbey’s talk that she started her own Youth Glide programme at her commercial gliding operation, Soaring NV. The local Minden Soaring Club is also advertising on local radio to solicit interested youth to get sponsored for Youth Glide. Jim Herd, SoaringNZ’s American correspondent and Nevada local, tells us that an article in the local paper has been picked up by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and shared in their newsletter. He is expecting much more interest in Youth Glide in the future.
REPORT FROM AMERICA
Unleaded Avgas update By Jim Herd The decade-long drive to remove lead from piston aviation fuel is picking up the pace somewhat. Three rather major steps have been taken recently, although it is still an extremely complex road ahead, with no certain outcome. Nonetheless, despite scant-to-no evidence that humans are actually being harmed by leaded avgas, the snowball is still rolling down the hill. It is probably past the point of no return. The spearhead for this is in the USA, but it is likely that the implications will be global as they unfold. Yes, your favourite high performance tow plane will eventually be burning different fuel and might possibly need substantial changes to the engine and fuel system to safely accommodate a new fuel formula. Avgas fuel cost may also rise. First, the Federal Aviation Administration in the USA has now defined ‘a plan for a plan’. In other words, they have begun to construct a practical process to identify, evaluate, and decide upon a new fuel formulation - or perhaps several of them. A transition plan will come later. This seems like very modest progress, but in fact it is a big step forward, with a huge number of ‘stakeholders’ - all with competing self-interests. The entire transition process is forecast to take a decade or longer, but some pundits claim it will happen faster. Second, the entities working to develop new unleaded avgas formulations are moving forward, with no show-stoppers identified as yet. So far, several very different formulations from different companies seem to be ‘acceptable’ - but the fat lady hasn’t even warmed up for her song yet. And the ultimate cost and price of such fuel is far from being defined. Also, the front row of contending companies has grown to include some of the conventional global oil companies. This is good, because they have huge resources and expertise, and existing infrastructure. Many companies are still playing it close to the chest, but it is a good guess that there are perhaps a half dozen serious competitors with promising solutions under development and testing. It really
is a huge challenge -technically, administratively, operationally, financially, and politically. Never confuse this challenge as being similar to moving mogas away from lead a few decades ago! Third, the sole worldwide supplier for tetraethyl lead (the TEL additive in avgas) is a British subsidiary of an American company - Innospec. This company has announced that it will no longer supply TEL to the remaining users of leaded mogas, as they finally transition to unleaded mogas in the coming months. This is just six Middle-East countries, but it is the final closing of this chapter of hydrocarbon energy for road transport. Of course, this shut-down generated fear and trepidation regarding the assurance of supply of TEL for avgas around the world. Remember that avgas (100LL) is already unavailable in many countries of the world. Rest easy, for now, because Innospec has made assurances that it has plans to supply TEL for avgas for as long as it is needed by aviation. For now, the primary point for New Zealand soaring is to keep all of this in the back of your minds as you make long term plans and strategic decisions regarding tow planes. My Bonanza engine is at TBO, but I will extend its life (with very careful monitoring) for a few years and let all of this unfold. Dragging feet for a while seems rational, although that may not be legal for commercial operations. During my recent time in NZ, I heard of several successful tow planes that are fully legal and safe with mogas and seem to be quite cost effective. I would enjoy reading more about these new tow solutions in SoaringNZ magazine. This whole topic is also of relevance to motorglider pilots. I urge great care here, due to the potential for ethanol in your mogas fuel - an internal combustion plane of any type that is approved for mogas may or may not be approved for ethanol. Ethanol can cause life-threatening problems! For the next few years, our beloved 100LL should be available for you - and for me!
Contributions to Logbook are welcome from all of our readers within New Zealand and internationally. Email your news snippets to: soaringnz@mccawmedia.co.nz. Please put "logbook" in the subject line.
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April 2013
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TAUPO CLUB CLASS NATIONAL COMPETITION By Karen Morgan
Grid
As South Islanders, Terry Jones and I did something unusual this summer. We went way up north to a gliding competition held at Taupo. I had learned to glide there in the 1980s, so it was a real treat to return. As always, the Taupo club is exceptionally welcoming to visitors, and this year we learned that they run a good competition too. Roy Edwards directed with his normal flair, and with Trev Terry tasking, David Hirst predicting the weather, Bill Kendall keeping people safe and Ed Devenoges scoring, things were well under control. Tom Anderson seemed to fill every other job, with great helpers on the grid, towing and in the kitchen. If nothing else, go to Taupo for the meals! The Club Class Nationals was the main event, and there was a class fl ying the Matamata Soaring Centre contest for those of us who had ‘flash’ gear. Terry entered that, and I loitered, crewed, shopped, ran wings and regularly grabbed the glider to fl y in the stunning conditions whenever Terry brought it back early enough. I even flew the K21, which feels like a good trainer.
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Twenty-two pilots entered the competition, with most from north of Taupo, but Tony Van Dyk and Mark Wilson travelled from Wellington, and Mike Strathern from Nelson. Ten came from Auckland, two from Tauranga, three from Piako and there were two Taupo locals. Skills ranged from ‘newbie’ to ‘gun’ so it was a good mix. The drought had its positive side for fl ying, as we had day after day without rain. Only one day was missed, as it was not expected to develop until it was too late to race – so I flew and found the thermals just great. It was really hot on the ground most days. Trev Terry had negotiated extra chunks of airspace, to make tasking across the area safer, with higher margins over forest land. This was great, but having to deal with airspace added significantly to the workload for me. I have, for the first time, used my transponder (so untouched that I couldn’t find the ‘on’ switch), however I found the PNA helpful, although there is a nag in it that says ‘’Airspace. Airspace,” all the time when you get a good thermal. Tasks were commonly AATs to the north, west and east of Lake Taupo, and, a couple of times, there were turnpoints to the southern end of the lake. Many of the routes were over large areas of forest, but there were good briefings on the available landing
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Photo Mike Strathern
N 2013
Grid - golden ground and thermals just above
Club house from the north.
areas, and the safe ways to cross them. Pilots flew in thermals and convergences and, on one memorable day, a westerly ridge run to Thames and (almost) return. The tasks were challenging and generally achievable, but with enough distance to remind pilots that this was a Club Class Nationals. The seven AATs were generally two and a quarter or two and a half hours in duration, with one for three hours. There were a number of outlandings, so in the absence of crews for most gliders, locals and other pilots drove all over the countryside. Mike Strathern invited Youth Glide to crew, and they were lucky enough to get to retrieve him from south of Turangi, getting dinner and a unique experience together.
Photo Karen Morgan
Photo Karen Morgan
Photo Karen Morgan
Huka Falls. Hanging around waiting to start.
Terry Jones
DAY THREE Winner Steve Wallace was the only finisher, with 344km at 81 km/hr – with Mark in second. Thames return was a real challenge, and although the ridge worked, lack of thermals around Tokoroa put almost everyone on the ground.
DAY FOUR Here comes the south! Mike Strathern won the day, 266km at 106 km/hr. I would say fl ying at South Island speeds, but actually Steve Wallace was a close second.
DAY FIVE DAY ONE Mark Wilson made good use of the Libelle’s handicap, and came back with a win, with 82 km/hr over the 274 task. Tim Bromhead was bridesmaid.
DAY TWO Mark won the AAT task with 302 km at 96km/hr, and Tim was right behind. The next day was a ‘rest’ day.
The Rotoaira turn was tricky, and no-one completed the task, however Mark flew the furthest on handicap, with Steve Wallace close behind.
DAY SIX Another day, another AAT, and Mark was comfortably in the lead, with Steve and Tim not so far behind. Speeds were good for these three, at 96 to 100km/hr. The rest of the field struggled today.
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Photo Karen Morgan
Photo Mike Strathern
TAUPO CLUB CLASS NATIONALS 2013
Photo Mike Strathern
Landout options – um
Photo Mike Strathern
Steve Wallace, winner Club Class
MIke Strathern at Thames, about to turn back to Taupo
Scenic landout
DAY SEVEN
Libelle third and Bob’s DG100 fourth. Pilots flew over 40 hours in hot, often blue conditions. The other class flew the same tasks, launching second every day. I could tell you the day-by-day details, but that would be very repetitious. Suffice it to say that Pat Dreissen cleaned up, only dropping three points from the maximum possible. Overall, we had a fabulous time, with great weather, varied tasks, old friends, nice scenery, really cheap tows and, for the crews, I would say that the shops are good compared to home (Balclutha). Thanks to the organisers and helpers for a well-run competition; I know it is hard work, so we appreciate the grace you all displayed. The round trip was 2,500km, so not for the faint hearted, but it was well worth the trip. To the South Islanders - go north in a drought year and broaden your experience.
Not a good day for Mark, forced into a rough paddock to the west of the lake, with a little wheel damage the result. It took a couple of days to get the Libelle back into action, so this left the field open for Steve at 86 km/hr over 263km, with Tim 2nd at 74 km/ hr. Steve was now in the lead.
DAY EIGHT Things were mixed up today, Bob Gray came through at 83km/ hr over 207 km, and Mike was a whisker behind. Mark drove to Bridge Pa and back to get parts (okay, it was a whole glider), then took the glider apart to replace his damaged gear.
DAY NINE AAT around fi ve turnpoints, passing all sorts of rural views, lakes and power stations – Steve took this one out, with Mark only 2 km/hr behind.
DAY TEN Visit Kawerau, and then race... Mike topped 100km/hr, and got home to win his second day, Mark was a comfortable second.
DAY ELEVEN Bennydale was a long way away, and Bob Gray was the only finisher on the devalued day – with Mark in second. After a solid performance, Steve Wallace from Auckland won the Nationals in his Mosquito, with Mike’s ASW20 in second, Mark’s
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Roy Edwards, it’s hard work running the competition on these hot days.
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WORLD CLUB CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS By Michael Codling
As New Zealand did not have any representatives at the Club Class Worlds SoaringNZ found the next best thing, the Aussie team, to tell us about the contest. The Aussie team consisted of: Allan Barnes, fl ying a PW5 in the World Class. Allan has been a multiple British, Australian and New Zealand hang gliding champion. He switched to gliding in 2002 and has been Australian champion three times. Craig Collings, fl ying an LS4 in Club Class. This was Craig’s first world championship. He has won 9 (Australian) National and 3 world paragliding contests. Tobi Geiger, also fl ying an LS4 in Club Class. He has over 3,300 hours in gliders. Crew people were: Dave Holbrook, Graham Hennessy and Andrew Wright with team captain and author Mike Codling.
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WORLD CLUB CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS The 31st Unflapped World Gliding Championships were held recently at the small town of Adolfo Gonzales Chaves, in the Buenos Aires province of Argentina. Known as the Club Class Championships the competition actually comprises three classes: World Class, Club Cass and Standard Class. Australia was represented by a team of seven: three pilots, their crew and myself as team captain. On the surface, things looked encouraging for an Australian team to Argentina; the competition coincided with our season, they have flatland conditions and blue skies. Just below the surface there were a few concerns; no standard class gliders available, expensive and onerous import conditions, very expensive hire cars, very high inflation rate and challenging government bureaucracy. As it turned out, everything progressed almost seamlessly, and in no time at all we were established in the small farming town of Chaves. The people of the town were fantastic, everyone knew why we were there and they treated us exceptionally well. Language proved only a small hurdle and both groups made big attempts to get the message through. Smart phone apps and photos worked well, along with stick diagrams and, of course, money. At the Otto Ballod airfield, we were greeted with enthusiasm and soon had the gliders assembled in the tie-down area. The next couple of days had us busy getting the gliders ready for scrutineering, with plenty of work required on instruments, wiring, radios, gear doors, ballast weights and the trailers. Allan and Dave had the local blacksmith moulding lead weights for their PeeWee. Then there was a canopy that randomly disconnected itself, not to mention no batteries and charger; Craig and Graham were fi xing gear doors and buying foam to get the seating comfortable, amongst many other issues inside the cockpit. Tobi and Andrew had battery chargers to order, as well as intermittent glide computer/ vario problems and a trailer with no functioning lights. We also had to bring our own parachutes. Meanwhile, the weather was putting us all on notice. All was not well in the campground, with strong winds, storms and rain combining to bring down trees and limbs, tents and gazebos, and fry the WiFi system. Our plan to stay in rented houses (with WiFi) was paying dividends. The organisers worked hard to make things right, clearing broken branches and fallen trees, and bringing all sorts of equipment onto the airfield to try to clear the two large lakes on the airstrip. The countryside for hundreds of kilometres was flat and soaked to the point of flooding. There were more
The Day is cancelled on the grid, Allan
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Tobi Geiger and his crew Andrew Wright
paddocks with standing water on them than without. Locals say it’s been the wettest summer in living memory. With New Year’s fireworks behind us, we went into the practice period reasonably well prepared. The practice period proved quite challenging for pilots and teams, with strong winds, blue conditions and low convection heights. Our guys fared well in these conditions, inevitably outlanding with the rest of the fl eet though. The team learnt good lessons in getting retrieves right; the roads were few and far between, the Tom Tom’s had only major roads in their database and gates were locked into paddocks. We encouraged the pilots to select carefully and land near a road, despite the lure of a few extra km and points.
DAY ONE Conditions weren’t too extreme, blue to 5500ft and 12 knots of wind. Everyone got around and opened their scoring accounts.
DAY TWO Allan in PW5 class made it around, coming in a bit early, but with little impact on the scores. Club class had another mass out-landing, with our guys both less than 10 km from home. The early start strategy paid off though, as many gliders were well behind. Our team swung into action and two retrieves went like clockwork. Other teams struggled and with limited retrieve resources, some had a very long night ahead of them. Our guys consistently started early and whilst others played gaggle and start games, we were out on task making progress before the day died.
BBQ Argentina style, Craig and others
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British camp after a storm
Craig and Graham
DAY THREE
on with gliders low and ahead of him and Craig stayed put, chasing sunny patches and hoping to climb into glide. For me, both strategies were sound and either could have worked; as it was, both guys out-landed, with Tobi only 6km from the fi nish ring. From here a rest day was called and two cancelled tasks followed. This gave everyone a chance to catch their breaths and recover from the difficult first week. A day flying under Cu
From Day 2 onwards, conditions were tough and a headwind first leg did no favours for peewees trying to get a minimum 100 km for the day to be valid. Typical conditions were 1-3 knots, blue thermals to 4000 ft, with a 30 knot wind. In Club class, Craig managed the best distance off the stick for the day, no mean feat given the conditions were very slow.
DAY FOUR By the fourth day, Allan Barnes in PW5 class had worked his way into 2nd position through determination and consistency. Tobi Geiger and Craig Collings were flying well as a team and had themselves in 4th and 6th place in Club class. By contrast, the difficult conditions and testing retrieve logistics were impacting some of the big teams; the highest place Brit was Ian Macarthur in 24th and the highest German was Marco Barth in 32nd.
DAY FIVE Another particularly challenging day, with over 20 knot winds and convection to 5000ft. Although eventually being called invalid (100km rule), Allan made the 4th best distance of the Peewees, despite pulling brakes to land near a house. In Club class, there were only five finishers, the headwind final glide a tough ask. The point to take the last turn was a diffi cult call, as all the navigation devices showed an under-time arrival up until that turn. Tobi and Craig took differing strategies at this point; Tobi electing to continue
Allan Barnes and crew Dave Holbrook.
followed, where Allan slipped to 4th, just over 100 points off the lead though. With a 4th place for the day, Tobi was up to third, though unfortunately Craig got rolled and dropped to 14th. Poor conditions had the fleet on the grid for two more cancelled tasks. With only two days to go, some changes to strategy were contemplated. Allan was working at bridging the point deficit to get back on the podium. Craig turned his attention to aiding Tobi where possible and, as a result, helped himself into the top ten. The action in Club class held on to the last day, with Roman Mracek from Czech Rep. having a shocker and dropping from 1st to 3rd, and Tobi jumping up into 2nd place and a silver medal. Craig held onto his top ten and Allan fought hard to hang onto 6th, only 42 points off a podium finish. The Aussies celebrated Australia’s best result long into the night/morning. The pilots did a fantastic job and were supported well by their crews. We made some new friends and enjoyed the hospitality of the Argentinians, ate great food and were treated to local music, traditional dancing and tango. ...and yes, two of the pilots are native Kiwis. Further Reading: View the results at http://www.soaringspot.com/wgc2012/results Our Team Blog http://argentina13.ausglidingteam.com/ Official website (check out the results tab for pictures) http://www.wgc2012.com.ar/
Tobi Geiger and Craig Collings, Club class pilots
The team
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CENTRAL DISTRICTS GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIPS
WAIPUKURAU
19–26 JANUARY 2013
The 2013 Central Districts Championships managed fi ve fl ying days. Saturday 19th January was a practice day.
DAY ONE Sunday 20th January – A task was set, with few weak thermals with a weak wave effect. It was a difficult day, with strong southwesterlies. Thermals were only found on the high ground and broken by the wind. Tony van Dyk managed to find a little weak wave and was the only finisher. His efforts were in vain, as no points were awarded for the day.
DAY TWO Monday 21st January - The day’s task sent the field northwest to the mountains, then south along the ranges and home. The northern leg was good but conditions got soft along the ranges the further south pilots went. The strong thermals of the north were left behind and the field scratched back north towards Onga Onga and a turn, after pinging the circle. A better day, but it proved difficult in the southern area of the task. There was only one finisher but should have been two, Tony van Dyk forgot the last turn point had a 5km circle. There were happy faces in the bar.
else struggled. Cloud bases were around 5,000 ft and everyone enjoyed the day, even if landing out or landing back, without the southern turn.
DAY FOUR Wednesday 23rd January – The forecast for the day was not that great, with predictions of blue conditions with thermals until about 4pm. As it turned out, there was some wave effect boosting the thermals and heights of up to 8,500 ft were reported. Mostly the cloud base (and there were clouds), was around 7,500 ft. This allowed fast flights around the task for all, with Tony van Dyk and Graham White coming in under time. As Graham had gone 5km more, that earned him the day’s win. Jason Kelly, in the Grob Twin 103C III SL, mistook the GPS settings for kilometres, when it was in fact set in nautical miles and missed the last turn. Otherwise, he completed the task, a first for him in thermals. There were smiles all round again at the bar.
DAY FIVE DAY THREE Tuesday 22nd January – Nice thermal conditions around Waipukurau allowed a short task to be set, with a view of getting the less experienced pilots around the course. It proved quite challenging in the end, with the leg to Tikokino difficult. Tony van Dyk and Trev Terry found a good climb under a dark overdevelopment to the west and had a good run down to Ormondville, whilst everyone
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Thursday 24th January – Pilots waited on the ground, with a weather front predicted. Thermals were visible at noon but timing was everything, as to whether a task was possible or not. Ultimately, while some local flying on a convergence was possible, with the front arriving and overdevelopment in the task area, the day was cancelled at 1:30pm.
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Graham White, winner Open Class
DAY SIX Friday 25th January – weather conditions were decisively unflyable so the day was cancelled early and pilots had the day off, with some taking the opportunity to visit a local beach.
DAY SEVEN Saturday 26th January – A task was set, with a view of getting the less experienced pilots around the course. After a weak start, some good climbs to over 5,000 ft were found. The task setting proved ideal, with all pilots completing the task. Trev Terry took the day’s win, but weather man, task setter and scorer, Graham White, did enough overall to secure the 2013 title and silverware in the Open Class. Tracy Austin took home the Club Class trophy. With the more normal summer weather, it was another low-key friendly contest, a great opportunity to go flying in various conditions and learn from the more experienced pilots. Thanks must go to contest Director David Davidson, and weather man, task setter and scorer Graham White, along with the tow pilots and numerous ground crew helpers. Hopefully more pilots will come and enjoy this event next year.
Final Overall results 1 Graham White 2 Tony van Dyk 3 Tracy Austin 4 Trev Terry 5 Jason Kelly 6 Jason Price 7 Ian Sheppard
Trace Austin, winner Club Class
Hawkes Bay Hutt Valley Taupo Taupo Hawkes Bay Hawkes Bay Manawatu
LS 8 2956 LS 8 2619 Std. Jantar 1930 Duo Discus T 1859 G 103C Twin III SL 889 LS 4 741 Mini Nimbus 0
The Central Districts Championships have been experiencing a falling number of entrants over recent years. This year there were only seven competitors, which was reduced to five by unforeseen events. The consequences devalue the contest and create financial pressures on the organising club. Discussions to date have helped clarify issues and possible solutions. A discussion document is online at http://cdchamps.blogspot.co.nz/ and this will be distributed to North Island clubs for their comments.
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JANUARY 2013
TASMAN TROPHY 51ST MULTICLASS NATIONALS, BENALLA VIC.,
AUSTRALIA By Tim Bromhead
This article has also appeared, slightly modified in Gliding Australia. Tim Bromhead is a member of Piako Gliding Club, and was this year’s New Zealand contender for the Tasman Trophy, which is contested at alternate New Zealand and Australian National Championships. The representative pilot with the highest points wins the Trophy for his country.
The Tasman Trophy is designed to encourage pilots who have never competed internationally before, and get them to fly somewhere completely different. This is a wonderful thing.
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I didn’t even really consider flying in Australia before fl ying in Omarama earlier in the season, and thanks to a lack of organisation and funds, it looked like this fl ying season was going to be North Island based. Just over two months out, before the Benalla contest, I was asked if I wanted to compete to defend the Tasman Trophy. Without much thinking, I said “Yes”. There are a number of benefits in being selected. A lot of the organisation is done for you, especially sorting out a glider. Entry fee and glider hire is covered, and in my case, airfares were covered by the Mike Rix Trust. This article is a summary. I covered day by day fl ying on Piako Gliding Club’s blog, which can be read here: http://pgc.wordjot. co.nz/posts/tasman-trophy-2013/ Lessons Learned It really is worth having as many practice days as possible in a new glider in the new location. Have a plan. Discussing tactics for blue flying, what areas to avoid on track, or how far to go into circles was a tremendous benefit before flying. When flying in blue, tactics of flying with other gliders are essential. Miss one climb and you can end up too low, and it takes time to get up to the good height bands again. There’s nothing more intimidating, and amazing, than 25 gliders heading directly to you from above, as you scratch away from down low. If they see someone climbing out ahead, they will be swallowed up. So don’t get low. And thus, don’t be by yourself in blue conditions. Final glides are essential. The two days I won, they went well. That’s something I need to improve, as more often than not, I end up 1000 feet too high when I get back. Flying to the conditions is important. Don’t be full of water if it’s not a strong day. Don’t fly too fast if it’s a weaker day, maximise the glides.
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Haze on a hot day
Tim neglects to mention that he won the trophy for New Zealand while flying in unfamiliar territory, in a borrowed glider. Well done Tim, for a fantastic effort.
Knowing when to stop and climb, or to skip a thermal, is important too. I found this easier in Australia, where you actually have height bands to work. Always do your checks from scratch when interrupted. I ended up launching with brakes open, after being interrupted twice. Combined with a low power towplane, full of water, I was lucky it didn’t end badly. It’s amazing how many other pilots have done the same thing. Should brakes really be last in our checks? A lot of folk from Benalla didn’t enjoy fl ying into the hills. Complaints about nowhere to land, even with an airstrip as the turnpoint. I thought there were plenty of landing options. Compared to around Taupo at least… Rigging and derigging in 30 degree heat is not a problem. It’s way better than 43 degree heat. Plastic disposable cups make very good giant iceblocks to put in your drink bottle. Online Contest - a lot of people in Australia use the ‘OLC’. I tried it out for the first time, and it’s very cool. Handy to see what pilots from other clubs got up to, often ones you meet up with while fl ying. The OLC has just sorted out the North and South islands as separate regions. The Tasman Trophy is very heavy.
everyone had one. Having all gliders around you displayed on the map had many useful applications: A glider was coming over the top of me while I was on final glide. Not a good idea for them, but with flarm I was aware he was there, so knew I definitely shouldn’t pull up. When gliders sneak up into your 4 o’clock position between thermals, you know which way to turn. Great for general spotting of gliders ahead on track, often well before I actually saw them. You know when you’re thermalling and lose sight of a glider? With the flarm I could see if they were still in the thermal and in my blind spot, or if they were leaving. Also handy for potential collision alerts! No transponders in any of the gliders. In NZ, all gliders have them, as we are into airspace much more often. Scale: everything was bigger. The tasks, speeds, thermalling heights, number of gliders and the temperature.
Differences from North Island flying and Benalla We had blue conditions the entire time in Benalla. I found this easier than in NZ, as lift is more consistently available due to the flat terrain. If it’s blue in NZ, then you have to try to guess where the sea breeze is, or the localised areas of lift. Actually, having height bands to work was great. Just like textbooks. We didn’t get much above 9000ft on task, so it wasn’t as strong as it can be, but still pretty good. A flarm is like a rear view mirror for gliders, and pretty much The weight checking guys side tracked by the custom air extractor on the Ventus
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VTM basking in the sun
Competition launch procedures were different. Tugs drop ropes once on ground, and connect to rope already attached to glider. Much less running for the ground crew. No cars left on trailers, as many had a crew. No ops normal calls, and no SPOT tracking for the contest. That was weird, no one would come looking for you until you fail to return in the evening. I had a wonderful time, and really want to thank everyone who made it happen:
On track, with some good high cloud
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Everyone who sent me texts, emails, Facebook messages of help, advice and support.
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The Mike Rix Trust, for helping with airfares to Australia.
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Ian Grant, for the use of his glider, and the days spent crewing for me and helping out.
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Ian McCallum, for being such a great opponent.
The racing committees in NZ and Australia, for all their help organising.
Benalla gliding club, for their support, letting me use the airfield cars, sorting out accommodation, and help with all the competition paperwork.
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Bryan Hayhow, Andy Smith, and the Maddocks crew for all their help, and keeping me entertained on nonfl ying days. Thanks again to everyone, and I look forward to shipping the trophy back to Australia for the next contest. Fellow competitors Bryan Hayhow and Andy Smith relaxing on a rest day.
The awards dinner
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The awards table, with the Tasman Trophy closest
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LILIENTHAL MEDAL AWARDED TO
BOB HENDERSON The 2013 Plenium Meeting of the International Gliding Commission awarded the prestigious Lilienthal Medal to New Zealander Bob Henderson. The Medal is awarded to reward a particularly remarkable performance in gliding, or eminent services to the sport of gliding over a long period of time. The Medal memorialises aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal and was first awarded in 1938.
For a small nation, New Zealand punches well above our numbers in the sport, with awards made to: Dick Georgeson, 1985, Ray Lynskey, 1991, Terry Delore, 1994, John Roake, 2002, Ross Macintyre, 2009 and now Bob Henderson. Congratulations to Bob for winning this award. Bob was nominated by Gliding New Zealand. The nomination reads:
Bob Henderson started gliding in 1975. It was only a few years later that Bob started serving the interests of his fellow glider pilots, initially at national level, in many different roles, including that of Chairman of the Technical Committee, Executive Officer and President of Gliding New Zealand. He was Operations Director of the 1995 World Championships in Omarama, and was a member of the International Jury for the World Championships that followed in France, Germany and South Africa. In 2002, Bob became New Zealand’s delegate to the IGC. In subsequent years, Bob’s dedication to gliding at international level steadily increased, with various appointments such as Senior Steward, Jury President (Germany) and International GP Referee (France, UK, New Zealand and Italy), Chairman of the IGC Gliding Rules Committee, 1st Vice President
then President (8 years) of the FAI Gliding Commission. In 2012, Bob was appointed as an Executive Board member of the FAI, with the additional responsibility as head of FAI Air Sports Marketing & Events (FAME). Besides his outstanding dedication to gliding at national and international levels, Bob Henderson provided exemplary service to his country with the Royal New Zealand Air Force for 16 years, before joining Air New Zealand as an airline pilot. For his outstanding leadership as the RNZAF Detachment Commander in the Gulf War, Bob was awarded the Air Force Cross. In 2012, Bob was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to sporting aviation. Bob’s dedication to the cause of sport aviation at the highest level is most noteworthy, making him a very worthy nominee for the Lilienthal Medal. Bob joins a very select band of Kiwis awarded the Lilienthal: 2010 Ross Macintyre 2002 John Roake 1994 Terry Delore 1991 Ray Lynskey 1985 Dick Georgeson
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WHANGAREI GLIDING YOUTH By Paul Rockell
As survivors of a great club membership die off, from economic and social reasons beyond our control, most of our members are all past their mid-fifties. The members would prefer to sit around in the clubrooms drinking coffee and telling stories that we have all heard countless times, rather than dragging out the gear for one or two flights. We remaining members, already economically and socially disadvantaged, could envisage that our future was one of dribbling out the side of our mouths and being slumped back in the sofas with our flys wide open. So, recently, while still partially cognisant of this possible outcome, we have made a concerted effort to attract young people. We were aware of South Island initiatives with Youth Glide, which seemed to attract new blood - beside the obvious pilots' children. We identified two target groups, our local ATC squadron and the high schools in Whangarei who may have students keen on pursuing NCEA credits through the Gateway scheme. Many times over the years we have endeavoured to enthuse ATC leadership with the use of gliding for pilot training and have had camps on the farm for youngsters from the far North to Auckland, giving introductory glider flights at minimal cost. From my bigoted point of view, the leaders of these groups were not interested in flying as an activity, but promoted naturally their own pursuits - being leadership, shoe shining, etc. We decided to make another attempt. Our CFI, Craig Cumming, approached ATC cadets directly, distributing leaflets prior to their meetings, offering free membership, and half price launches and glider time. As crude as that was, four boys and one girl cadet have joined us, as well as two other high school boys. Craig has spent a great deal of time with two Whangarei high schools endeavouring to get ‘Gateway’ established and we are hopeful of this coming to fruition. Gateway means students can achieve up to level four credit from completing their QGP training with us. The possible assistance
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of one thousand dollars for training costs is a great bonus to motivate the youth of Northland to stretch themselves. We believe that up to ten students are very keen to join us under this scheme. It must be said that most weekends we now go home utterly stuffed from gliding, for we soar the good days and fly circuits on the bad days. Our gliding youth have all been so polite, respectful to us old farts and delightfully cheeky at times, in a grandkid way, despite all that testosterone blowing in the wind. They have all melded into a team that works efficiently, with daily inspections, pulling gliders from hangars, laying tow ropes out and retrieves. Of late, there has been a remarkable absence of wheel spin, revving, bunny hopping and gear crunching in the retrieve car, which must be a source of solace to their parents, as they learn to drive in our vehicles under guidance. Jumping in a car to bring cables back to the launch point is still not a chore for them. I am now starting winch launch driver training for some, which really is the big time. All in all, it has been lots of fun, with nearly half solo now and others close behind. Besides, they are a new lot of customers for those stories. We put our organisation to the test on the first weekend of March, when we had Whangarei ATC No. 20 Squadron (combined under the leadership of Auckland ATC No. 3 Squadron), camp for two nights, and all had two or more glider flights. Our club provided over seventy flawless launches, with no cable breaks, under a baking hot sky. An Auckland Cessna gave some cadets extended flights up our beautiful east coast. The Auckland Grob 109 flew in for a visit, while on Sunday afternoon, Bernie gave our students all a STING flip in SLY. They were all wide-eyed after that. Cadets enjoyed river swims, games, and exercises in between flights. In the evening, Flight Sergeant Enya Mae McPherson gave a lecture about her recent experience with the Youth Soaring Development Camp at Omarama. We were so proud of our new students, who would have made a time and motion expert redundant, and how they executed their duties with us in front of their peers. As for the future, we hope a pathway can be found by way of the Gateway Programme, or a national Youth Glide movement becoming available to Northland youth, and that they continue their association with soaring into adulthood.
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L: Gabe Paff solo pilot A: Enya Mae Mc Pherson ATC Auckland No. 3 Squadron. M: Launch base. R: Left to right are Isaac Taylor, Baxter Von Voneneki, Taysia Knudsen, Gabe Paff, Tim Gordon, and Max Gordon.
EXPERIENCING GLIDING By Basil Areekal Eldo Cadet (No. 20 Squadron) As Leonardo da Vinci said, “Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” That was the feeling I had on the gliding camp at Puhipuhi on 2nd and 3rd of March 2013. The camp was organised by the No. 20 and No. 3 Squadron of Air Training Corps. Even though I had done some powered fl ying experience before, my experience in gliding took me to new forms of fl ying. Experiencing how the glider flies, without a noisy engine and by just using the power given to us by our mother earth, is a beautiful feeling. And, for this camp, there was a visitor,
a Cessna 172 M from 3rd Squadron, and at the end, an aerobatic display of a Microlight put everyone on the edge of their seats. For me, this camp was the best camp I have ever been on. The staff and the pilots of the club were really amazing. They helped us a lot and I would like to say thank you for everyone who made this camp a memorable event. If any one of you are planning to do a different, exciting form of flying, gliding is the best form of flying and I guarantee that you will never regret choosing that option.
ENYA MCPHERSON Youth Glide Whenuapai and ATC Member Enya McPherson also attended Whangarei’s ATC Camp. She is well used to gliding and has recently attended the Youth Soaring Development Camp in Omarama last December. She encourages other Youth Glide members to try flying somewhere new. Whangarei gliding club, a place I’d never been to before. The K13, a glider I’d never flown before and winching, a type of launch still very foreign to me. These things all made a very interesting yet challenging weekend. No. 3 Squadron Air Training Corps travelled up from Auckland on Friday evening. Greeted by 20 squadron of Whangarei, we pitched tents and got ready for Saturday’s flying antics. A lot to look forward to for our 35 very excited cadets. We started gliding about 0800 on Saturday and throughout the weekend every cadet got two glider flights and a flight in a Cessna 172. A great start for Youth Glide movements in the Northern Region! Thanks to Whangarei gliding club for their hospitality and glider flights throughout the weekend, they were all thoroughly
enjoyed by all, even though the thermals weren’t on our side. We flew right up until dusk on Saturday and again until lunch on Sunday, before heading off for the road trip home. A great weekend had by all. To all Youth Glide members: fl ying at a different airfield, in a different glider, makes for a great challenge! I learnt so much, just being in an unknown gliding environment for two days. I highly recommend a road trip, or even book some fl ights to a foreign airfield and see where the journey takes you. Clubs around New Zealand love hosting youth members and do what they can to make your gliding experiences memorable and worthwhile.
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Centre image: Doug Hamilton fl ying the odd one out. Silent fl ight wowed the crowd. 1. WWI era triplanes and biplanes from the Classic Fighter Collection. 2. Harvard - note fl aming exhaust. 3. Airforce 757. Omaka Airshow 2013
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Airforce Kiwi Blue display team. Yak pilot waves to the crowd. Royal New Zealand Airforce Red Checkers Aerobatic Display. Russian Yakovlev 52s (Yaks).
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The Royal New Zealand Airforce's Iroquois Helicopter. Russian Yakovlev 52s - a very capable and aerobatic two seater The Royal New Zealand Navy's Seasprite Helicopter. John Eaton’s homebuilt Model 12 Pitts.
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Photos John MaCaw
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OMAKA AIRSHOW 2013
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8 While SoaringNZ is a gliding magazine,
Omaka airfield in Blenheim is a spectacle
chances to get up close and personal to
we recognise that most glider pilots are,
of aviation history with a fantastic
the aircraft and to meet the enthusiasts
in general, aviation enthusiasts of all
atmosphere and added touches such as
who restore them. John McCaw
colours. The Classic Fighter Airshow at
battle re-enactors camping on the airfi eld,
attended the show with his cameras
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7 and took some fabulous photos. Enjoy. Centre Image: Classic Fighters Collection. The Fokkers are coming.
6 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Corsair. Yak takes off to start display. British Sopworth aircraft. Triplane with biplane. Messerschmitt Bf108 Tiger Moth.
5 6. 7. 8. 9. 10
Harvard from the Roaring 40s display team. Focke Wulf Triplanes. Red Checkers. Avro Anson. Yak Display.
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VINTAGE KIWI RALLY TAUPO 2013
The Vintage Kiwi Rally literally started off with a bang, with Greg Douglas (Slingsby Dart 17) having a tyre blow out on his trailer en route to the rally. Luckily, it was on the outskirts of Matamata. He spent a night there and, with a new tyre fitted, proceeded to complete his journey the following day, in convoy with Rae Kerr, trailering the V.K Syndicate’s KA8. A few hours earlier however, Mike Smith (Slingsby Dart 15) was also having his moments, travelling south, he saw (through his rear vision mirror) his trailer’s spare tyre leave its trailer’s ‘secure hold down’ and successfully bounce its way over two cars, one being an expensive looking Audi, and disappear at high speed into the bush. After a fruitless, extensive, roadside search, Mike had to search Tokoroa, a small timber town a further 15 km up the road, for a new wheel and tyre before proceeding to Taupo. Thus started a week-long chain of mini ‘Murphy’s Law’ issues, to which no one seemed to be totally immune.
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However, the flying side was excellent, with 12 gliders present for the rally. These ranged from NZ’s oldest flying glider, Eon Baby, to Slingsby Darts, KA6s and several of the Classic Class, ASW15, Std Libelle, and the Grob 109 Motor Glider. Members and supporters came from Auckland, Matamata, Taranaki, Rotorua, and Upper Valley/Wellington, with the furthest travelled from up Wellsford way. The weather was fine, blue, and very hot indeed, with a strong inversion which persisted for most of the week. However, everyone seemed to get out and about. Derry Belcher flew his Briegleb 12-16 (often referred to as the Flying Forest), perfectly judging a late-inthe-day final glide from Rangitaiki back to the Centennial Park airfield, on a very difficult blue day, over some very dry, desolate country. Later in the week, a Lake Taupo cruise was organised. Two boats had to be commandeered by Tom Anderson to cater for the much larger than expected group of enthusiastic sailors. All had a really great night on the water, with a very yummy home-made meal cooked by Lindsey Belcher back at the airfield and taken on board at the very last moment, for all to enjoy. It has been some time since a V.K. Rally has been run at Taupo. With the success of this one, I am sure a return to Taupo will be sooner, rather than later. Our thanks to the Taupo Gliding Club for hosting us. VK scribe
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BOOK REVIEW
‘Sky Full of Heat’ by Sebastian Kawa
Reviewed by Gerard Robertson
In the first 50 pages – likely to have particular appeal to Kiwis – Sebastian recounts his early life and sailing career. He makes the convincing argument that good sailors and pilots have in common an appreciation of not only the weather but also the movement of air around natural obstacles and how this can be used to advantage. Sebastian’s early life is interesting, showing that this flying doctor is himself the son of a flying doctor and noting his father’s influence (usually, but not invariably, welcomed) on the progress of his flying career. His father’s involvement and their regular flights together, followed by discussion and explanation, seems to have laid the foundation for the success which followed, aided (though it wouldn’t have seemed like it at the time) by learning to cope with the shortages and limitations of living in the dying days of the communist regime. The quote, “Criticism from a person close to you hurts the most and remains with you forever,” illustrates the double-edged sword of being taught by your parent; though the book’s foreword, Kindling the Heat, is written by his father. When asked if he would like his daughters to fly, Kawa’s reply is “I would like them not to hurt themselves. If they were to fly, they should do it sensibly and at a high level.” It’s interesting to note that, over the page from this, in response to the question “What do you do to fly safely?” he says that he always has in mind a contingency plan against the possibility of something going wrong. With this, he notes the value of reading accident reports and asking what you would have done in the same situation. The uncommon feature of the first part of the book is that it is written in the style of an interview, with questions and responses. As no one else is acknowledged, I can only assume that this is how Kawa chose to present his background. It is very effective, as the personal narrative facilitates Sebastian sharing his thoughts and opinions more readily. Included in these thoughts are some firm views on training, with a slightly acerbic view of the Polish system – held to be complete but quite inflexible – presented. Equally, though, as success in gliding was a means of improving Poland’s image, it was directed at producing pilots much more competent than those who fly just for leisure. In these days when gliding is offered as a leisure sport, achieving the requisite level of discipline has to be done more gently. Alongside this is his observation that the business aspect (i.e. revenue-generation) of training makes it harder to say to someone that flying is just not for them. The successive sections on risk (Why are you still alive?) and the mental approach (A war of nerves, followed by, Winners) are the real meat of the first part of this book, in my view. Sebastian opens up his mind and speaks frankly, offering the views of a champion. This is what distinguishes this book from the very many other recent good gliding texts aimed at the average club pilot, (amongst which, both Bernard Eckey’s, Advanced Soaring made Easy and Flavio Formosa’s, Beyond gliding distance, spring to mind. Clubs would do
their members a service by having copies of each of these available - on long chains). In the course of competing around the world, Sebastian has often had to borrow gliders and his stories of this are very interesting. In the U.S., he was offered a PW-5, after the one which had been arranged became unavailable, drolly noting that it looked as though it was, “only there to be lent to someone who wanted to have a go at gliding,” and was spattered with rust-coloured spots. Apart from these minor details, there is the challenge of getting used to an unfamiliar aircraft, while at the same time getting used to an unfamiliar flying environment and then managing to reach the podium. Lest he be thought ungrateful, throughout the book Kawa makes the point of how willing the gliding community is, at the top levels, to support one another with knowledge and material. He points out that in competitions abroad, these elite pilots are almost a little community to themselves and have the value of being familiar faces away from home. The second section of the book, totaling about 130 pages, contains the sections on flying technique; starting with The Art of Flying. This is the formal presentation, which puts to one side the interview style of the first part of the book. Its sections contain both theory and illustrative anecdote, from countries around the world. As is to be expected, the theory is the theory, no matter who tells it; the real value being the insight provided by the accompanying personal story. A strength of this section is the lovely pencil illustrations by Zbigniew Janik, used to illustrate technique, rather than simply accompany the story, as they do in the first part. While it might at first seem that the proportions of the two sections of the book should be reversed, so that there is more technical material than personal anecdote, this book spectacularly achieves its goal of showing the workings of the mind of gliding’s most outstanding pilot. The first part contains just as much relevant material as the second, just presented differently. This is a book which will reward repeated reading, as one progresses from, This is what he says, to a more personal, This is what he means, as the reader internalizes the content. At the same time, I found it a dense book, which demands full attention to read and realize the most benefit from, as it is a form of ‘brain-dump’ from the world champion to pilots of much lesser skills. It has the potential to improve the skills of experienced crosscountry and competition pilots, while at the same time encouraging neophytes to venture further afield. In that sense, Kawa, the author, is the new Derek Piggott.
SoaringNZ is negotiating to stock this book in the near future. Cost is expected to be around NZ$65. An indication of numbers interested in purchasing the book would be helpful. Please email soaringnz@ mccawmedia.co.nz to leave an expression of interest.
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DECISION FATIGUE By Bernard Eckey
Bernard is the Head Coach of the South Australian Gliding Association and is a regular contributor to SoaringNZ.
The soaring forecast hinted at one of these brilliant gliding days in South Australia. A trough was just slightly to the east of the airfield, and cumulus clouds were forming as early as 10:30 am. I was halfway through the daily inspection of my ASH 25, when a promising youngster walked into the hangar. He was obviously keen to come for a flight and was promptly invited to hop in the back seat. Both of us had an early lunch and just over an hour later we were selflaunching into a promising sky. The day turned out to be as good as advertised. After reaching our start altitude, we had little trouble finding strong lift. At times, the vario was reading between 8 and 10 knots and the only real problem was to stay below the 9500 ft airspace limit. We were sharing the joy of flying the big bird on the way to our first turn point. An unusually light wind of only 5 kts ensured excellent progress and soon we were heading for the next destination, the Flinders Ranges National Park – about 280 km north of the airfield. Oxygen was turned on when cloud base rose to 10,000 feet, and from then on we focused on following the energy lines by lining up the clouds. It worked very well indeed. Just two hours into the flight, our computer was indicating an average speed of almost 120 km/h – not from when we crossed the start line, but from take-off. My co-pilot indicated that he had never been this far north before and he was enjoying the beautiful view of Wilpena Pound and the glistening salt crust of Lake Torrens, from lofty heights. Being more than content with our rapid progress, we decided to turn about 100 kilometres further north than originally intended. While approaching our second turn point I took the controls again, but instead of climbing at 8 to 10 knots, I was suddenly accepting lift of only half this strength. I was not happy but due to the unforgiving nature of the terrain, I climbed back to cloud base, just to play it safe. In addition, my circles were not always in the strongest part of the thermal but somehow I did little to correct it. Instead, I put it down to flying in weaker conditions. No wonder we had a comparatively slow
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patch, but fortunately things improved quickly when we were abeam Wilpena Pound again. From then on, everything was back to normal and we had an uneventful flight home. Good streeting and strong climbs ensured that we completed our 700 km flight in 5hrs 20mins, for an average speed of just over 130 km/h. Back in the car and on the way home, I tried to make sense of our slow spot. This was not the first time that about half way through a flight I found the going quite tough and that my speed dropped, at least temporarily. What had caused this slow spot? Both of us had consumed plenty of fluids during the flight, so dehydration was definitely not to blame. However, by now lunch was almost 3 hours ago and the reason for my average performance was perhaps due to a reduction in blood sugar levels. But that was only a guess. The most likely reason was a temporary drop in my willpower to find the strongest thermals and extract the maximum rate of climb. While contemplating all these questions, I remembered reading an article in The New York Times, dealing with ‘decision fatigue’. I knew that I had filed it away, and when I got home it did not take long to find it again. Let me share the author’s findings with you right now. He points out that extended mental work wears us down. No matter how rational or high-minded we try to be, we can’t make decision after decision without paying a biological price. It is very different from ordinary physical fatigue, where getting tired or becoming exhausted is easily recognised. However, getting low on mental energy is a highly insidious process and we are not consciously aware of it. The more choices we make throughout the day, the harder each one becomes. As our task continues, our brain gets exhausted and looks for shortcuts. One shortcut is to act impulsively, instead of expending the energy of thinking through the consequences. The other shortcut is the ultimate energy saver – doing nothing. Instead of agonising over decisions, we are avoiding any choices. Ducking a decision often creates bigger problems in the long run, but for the moment,
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A QUESTION OF SAFETY GEORGE ROGERS
NATIONAL OPERATIONS OFFICER
ACCIDENTS Ten occurrences / accidents were reported since the last article. Three involved wheel-up, or collapse on landing, at recent competitions. Three involved engine air start problems, with subsequent outlanding where damage occurred. Two involved heavy or stalled landings on the airfield. One involved flutter (elevator) in spin training exercises. One involved (apparently) impacting a tree on approach to an airfield in Australia, having deferred to a tow plane on approach. The pilot was seriously injured.
it eases the mental strain. No doubt, there are plenty of aviation mishaps where these mental shortcuts are a contributing factor. I firmly believe that if we do not learn from such experiences, we are wasting an opportunity. Successful cross-country flying is all about good decision making and that brings us back to the story of the above flight. Surely, it cannot be ruled out that I was getting mentally tired. It was a hot, humid day and after a long drive to the airfield, lengthy flight preparations and after some coaching, I was beginning to suffer from ‘decision fatigue’. As a consequence, it is likely that I did not expend the same mental energy into finding the strongest thermals as I had earlier in the day. In addition, I was getting a little lazy in terms of climbing efficiently. Fortunately, the back seat was occupied by a young but very competent co-pilot. It allowed me to hand the ASH 25 over to him and give my weary brain a little rest. I can honestly say that it made the flight back to base a little easier. The other lesson revolves around food intake. Perhaps my mental slackness could have been avoided by eating some fruit, to keep my blood sugar levels up. Food is partly turned into blood sugar, which the brain needs if it is to perform properly and avoid fatigue. However, the body’s storage capacity for blood sugar is very limited. If we are not eating small amounts of suitable food every two hours or so, we are at risk of making very poor decisions towards the end of a flight. The lesson is obvious and very plain to see! In future, I will take some fresh fruit on every flight that is likely to take longer than three hours. Of course, I always take sandwiches (plus other suitable food) on my long-distance flights, but on this occasion I did not expect to fly for 700 km, and stay airborne for well over 5 hours. And that clearly points to the last and final lesson of this flight: always expect the unexpected!
2012 – A Review Twenty one (21) glider accidents / occurrences were reported in 2012. There are 347 gliders on the aircraft register, so those 21 represent 6 % of the glider fleet. Two gliders were written-off and 7 suffered substantial damage. The last 3 years have seen 13 or 14 glider occurrences reported annually, so the 2012 figures reveal a significant increase in accidents reported. Most unfortunately, there was one fatality and one serious injury in 2012. Of the 21; Twelve (12) involved the Landing phase. Wheel-up or gear collapse (4), bounce or ground loop (3), heavy or stalled landings (3), impacting tree and loss of directional control featured. Two (2) involved gliders at Take Off phase, one ground loop and one hookup. Three (3) involved problems with air starts of engines, with subsequent outlanding accidents. One (1) ridge impact. One (1) control disconnect. One (1) flutter, and One (1) ground handling. Accidents in the landing phase accounted for more than 50% of reported accidents. There has been an increase in accidents involving engine air start problems, necessitating out-landings where accident occurred. Pilots of motor gliders are encouraged to review their decision criteria and checklists for engine starts. Overall, there is really nothing new in the factors involved in the accidents. The issues have occurred before and are recognised in gliding. I suggest once more a re-read of the series of articles prepared by Arthur Gatland and published in 2010 issues of SoaringNZ on Threat and Error Management (TEM), which provide good advice on techniques to reduce the errors that lead to these sort of accidents. Safe flying
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THE
PERFORMANCE TRIANGLE IN GLIDING By Bernard Eckey
At the recent coaching week in Australia, a fellow glider pilot suggested reading a little booklet on the mental aspects of golf. “It is almost compulsory reading,” he said, and “I can lend it to you if you like”.
At first I thought that golf and gliding have very little in common, but reading through the first few sections, I noticed that many of my suggestions in Chapter 6 of “Advanced Soaring Made Easy” were confirmed and repeated. I liked what I saw, and read on until I came across a section entitled “The performance triangle”. It made me pause and think! After reading it again, I found myself reflecting on more than 15 years of coaching, and many discussions with fellow glider pilots over the years. “Why are you flying gliders” has been one of my frequently asked questions but, with a few exceptions, the answers I received appeared to be somewhat vague and shallow. When I’m asked exactly the same question, I often talk about the satisfaction that comes with flying hundreds of kilometres without resorting to an engine. Often I add that I’m doing it without creating noise and without polluting the environment. But suddenly, there was a much deeper explanation in this little booklet. Best of all, the author isn’t relating it to golf or any other activity. Instead, he expresses the opinion that the vast majority of individuals engage in a sport primarily for the three following reasons:
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The rewards that come from performance The experience and enjoyment stemming from the activity
The learning (or growth) that takes place during the activity. The author calls it the performance triangle, and claims that by focusing on only one or two aspects, we are short-changing ourselves. Then he turns to the competitively minded and asks: “When is the enjoyment happening - after you have won, or during the course of the activity?” Clearly there is satisfaction in both, but those who look for pleasure in a top placing often miss the joy in the activity itself. In any case, the benefits are further limited when the all-important third aspect is neglected. That brings us to learning and growth. To many of us, this may not sound like an appealing aspect of our sport, but isn’t learning what every activity is all about? Learning and performance go hand in hand and are mutually reinforcing. Put differently, when we learn
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we perform better and our enjoyment instantly increases. I have yet to meet a pilot who achieves performance without serious prior learning. After all, what we learn stays with us for the rest of our flying career. Like every other sports person, all glider pilots like to revel in a good performance and it is not hard to see why. Performance equals success and success equals fun. Whether we like it or not, without ongoing learning we will have neither success nor fun. Then it only becomes a question of time until the activity gets boring and loses its appeal. All too often, the result is a drop-out, or at best, a watchingthings-from –the-sideline. This raises the question of whether there is a hidden message for the gliding movement as a whole? I leave the answer up to you, but would like to remind you that we have a steadily declining membership, despite the fact that we attract plenty of new members every year. All of them have put their hard-earned money on the table to join our ranks, but all too often they throw in the towel half way through their initial training, or shortly after. Could a greater emphasis on learning combat our high dropout rate? Again, I let you be the judge, but the questions immediately springing to mind are:
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Are we providing regular ground training?
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Is the club culture conducive to learning and personal growth?
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If the answer is “Don’t know” or “Maybe,” we could be well advised to look a little deeper into the benefits that personal growth and enhanced learning can bring to our sport, our club and to the entire gliding movement.
Is our club library up-to-date? Are we encouraging our members to attend theory lessons? Is our post-solo training as good as it should be? When did the club last provide real practical outlanding training? Is the club management actively initiating learning opportunities other than normal flying activities?
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GLIDING NEW ZEALAND NEWS NIGEL DAVY
GNZ PRESIDENT
NEW MEMBERS Excluding visiting foreign pilots, 86 new members have joined our ranks in the 6 months since the AGM last June. 11 of these are Juniors. Unfortunately, 117 members resigned in the same period! As at mid-January we had 759 flying members.
2012 LAUNCH STATS The numbers are now in – once again, it’s a mixture of good and bad, depending on your viewpoint. Overall there were 17,414 total launches; up nearly 6% on 2011, but 2011 was a bad year due mainly to weather. Youth flights were up 3%, and trial flights were down 11%.
NEW FACES Martyn Cook (Wellington) became National Airworthiness Officer in August 2012, and is already making his mark, with a fresh look at how we are doing things. Martyn has had a couple of very useful meetings with the CAA. Then, in January, Hadleigh Bognuda (Auckland) became our webmaster. Hadleigh has some great ideas for improving services to GNZ members, and to enable more effi cient and prominent marketing of our sport through technology. We await these developments with great interest.
ONLINE MEMBERSHIP SYSTEM After a few fixes and some improvements, this has bedded down very well, with all clubs but one now actively using the system. It has greatly streamlined the administration of the Central database, and I’m sure that clubs are also finding it extremely useful – Laurie Kirkham reports that she is getting less and less membership enquiries, and magazine returns have virtually dried up.
GNZ UMBRELLA TRUST Nearly all of the trustees of the various GNZ trust funds have recognised the clear advantages of transferring their funds to the care of the GNZ Umbrella Trust and the process is well under way. I will report fully on this at the AGM in June.
This column is intended to give readers an ongoing insight into the activities of the GNZ Executive and its Committees. Rather than a detailed report on matters currently under consideration, here are some recent items of significance.
MEETING WITH THE DIRECTOR OF CIVIL AVIATION In February, the Executive met with the Director of Civil Aviation and his senior management team. This meeting was at our request, as a number of issues of concern to us for some time were not progressing. On our shopping list was:
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Reduce the medical requirement for commercial gliding to Class 2.
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Allow RPL holders to tow gliders. A return to full GNZ control of glider aerobatics, as we used to enjoy years ago.
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On-condition maintenance of towplane engines. We also talked about the flimsy justification for proposing to control the Mount Cook airspace above FL 175, and learned that there were 67 submissions against and only one for! It was a good meeting, with the CAA agreeing to take a fresh look at the various matters raised. We now await the CAA decisions with great interest.
NEW ADVISORY CIRCULARS Three new ACs have been added to the GNZ web site: AC 3-16 Notes on Use of Tech 22. This one is for the GNZ engineers. AC 2-06 Aerobatic Flight in Gliders. This one is to try to unravel the complexities of the current CAA rules around aerobatics, which also applies to gliders, unfortunately. AC 2-13 Mountain & Ridge Soaring Safety Principles. This one goes hand-in-hand with a new OPS 11 BFR form, and recognises that accidents in mountain and ridge soaring tend to have the greatest consequences in terms of pilot injury and wrecked gliders.
ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM This is a heads-up that our annual symposium and AGM will be held in Wellington 8-9 June. I always welcome your feedback – contact me if you want to discuss anything here, or indeed anything in previous editions of this column. From the home page, navigate > About > Executive News.
NZ BID TO RUN A WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP There was considerable debate during the multi-class Nationals at Omarama regarding the merits of NZ bidding for another WGC, in 2016, 2018 or 2020. In reality, we were far too late to mount a bid for 2016, and we have since learned that the 2016 flapped classes will be held in Australia, which is really the next best thing for us. Since the WGC for the unflapped classes has just been held in Argentina, any bid by NZ for a further Southern Hemisphere WGC in 2018 seems unlikely to succeed. Realistically, our focus will have to shift to 2020 or beyond.
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GLIDING IN INDONESIA By Stefan Göldner Translation: Elke Fuglsang-Petersen
In November 2011, the Indonesian Air Force signed a contract with DG Flugzeugbau to build three new DG-1001Clubs for their training facilities. One year later, in November 2012, a container with the new gliders was delivered to Jogjakarta.
The agreement between DG Flugzeugbau and the Indonesian Air Force included a fl ight- and maintenance training for their staff in Jogjakarta, and DG engineer Stefan Göldner was elected to travel to Indonesia in February 2013. Jogjakarta (also know as Yogjakarta) is on the southern side of the long and skinny Indonesian island of Java, an area not generally thought of as a gliding site. As Indonesia is not known as a soaring nation, Stefan would like to introduce the soaring community to some Indonesian Gliding. Let’s first go back to the beginning of the story: The trip had originally been planned for January. The container with the gliders had already arrived on the Air Force Base and everybody was dying to unload the new ships. Sadly monsoon rainfalls forced us to delay my travel dates. By the beginning of February, the weather looked better. I drove through Munich to the airport to fly southeastwards to Indonesia through three inches of fresh snow that had fallen from an overcast sky. I had filled my suitcase with summer clothes and left my winter coat, boots, gloves and scarf at Munich’s International Airport. It seemed unbelievable to me that some hours later I would be leaving the plane facing hot summer temperatures. I had never done anything like this before during the German winter time. Some 30 hours later, I arrived at Jogjakarta’s (Jogja) airport. An hour before midnight the thermometer was still showing a comfortable 32°C. Thinking of the grey winter back home, I felt like I was dreaming.
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The following three days then taxed my patience. While all paperwork to enter the Base was supposed to be ready by Monday morning, Bram U. Kusuma, our representative in Indonesia, and I had to wait until Tuesday evening to finally receive all the necessary permissions to be able to enter the facilities. After such a long wait, we used our stored energy to unload the gliders right away. Unfortunately I realized that the conditions for such a job were not the best. 40°C inside the container and 100 % humidity from the rain that had just stopped transformed our late night job into a real torture. This was probably worse because my body was still adjusted to the European winter conditions. But three hours and five litres of water consumed later, we could finally park the de-rigged gliders in the hangar. The next day was already Wednesday, and we were running out of time. We rigged the new ships and everybody was excited about the DG-1001Club, the quick rigging and de-rigging process and the gliders’ nice handling! Nobody in the Indonesian Air Force had ever seen anything similar before. While three Air Force experts approved the two-seaters for flight, I took advantage of the break and had a look around the airfield. The Jogja Airport is used by several parties. The terminal for the civilian customers is to the north of the two kilometre long runway. Smaller aircraft and airliners up to Boeing 737-900s are handled over there. On the southern side there are the Air Force Academy’s facilities. They have squadrons of Cessnas C-172, Beechcrafts T-34 ‘Mentor’ and Pilatus PC-21. Three American built Schweizer SGS 2-33s which had so far been used for glider training would now be able to retire from services. The ships looked pretty old and have
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had thousands of launches. They are now being replaced by the DG-1001Clubs. A huge barracks building and a golf course with sand-pits shaped like aircraft are also part of the airfield’s military facilities. The 300m long grass strip used for glider training is only 80 meters (250 feet) south of the main runway. It started to rain, and some generals came out to visit the Air Force Base, so no more flying on Wednesday. The next day, we were finally able to do the check flights which had been requested by the Air Force. While being watched by the staff, it was my job to fly all three gliders and demonstrate some aerobatics which are part of the Air Force’s requirements. During the tows I enjoyed the views of the unfamiliar tropical landscape. Those thousands of small buildings spread around innumerable paddy fields drew my emotions. I felt like I was in a movie. To the North, the active volcano, Letusan Merapi overlooked the scenery. To the East there are the Ngoro Oro mountains. The Bavarian Forest with its Großer Arber (Great Arbour Mountain) came to my mind. Everything is tinted in dark tropical green colours. Because of the paddy fields there are probably no outlanding possibilities. Regardless of the Air Force’s regulations, I tried to thermal under a cloud. Unfortunately I couldn’t centre it properly. After the first two circles the ground called me on the radio. I think it might have been 3-4 meters (6-8 knots) under a cloud base of 3,500 feet. Not bad! Like every day, between 3 and 4pm it started to pour and no more glider flights were possible on this afternoon. For those wondering why we only did three launches on one day, I have to explain about the procedures. Everything is slower
than our European operations in clubs. Flights are planned during different ‘pre’ and ‘de’ briefings while things happen which were not planned at all. Originally we had considered three flights (for each aircraft), and because of the Air Force’s long chain for decisions which extended our operations, the day ended with just these three launches. Appointments too suffer from similar problems. One or two hours late is considered normal and has to be factored in. On Friday I could finally check out four of the Indonesian Air Force instructors. Like the other day we were towed by a C-172 Rocket. The pilots had no problems getting used to the new twoseaters, and we managed to do ten of the planned twelve launches. A huge thunderstorm then approached and we had to cancel the operations for the day. Everybody was happy with the new high performance sailplanes. Many of them couldn’t believe the new opportunities offered by the ships. They really enjoyed the aerobatic performance which before could only be experienced in turboprop trainers like the Pilatus PC-21. Flying next to the airliners was unusual for me. During one of the check flights I had to land parallel to a Lion Air 737-900, which was only 250 feet away from my cockpit! In Indonesia, this is completely normal and not a problem. A German controller’s hair would stand on end. But things work differently here. I heard that there are some civilian aero clubs in Indonesia. But as far as I know most of them operate micro-light, ultra-light and trike aircraft. Certainly the three DG-1001Club are currently the best gliders in Indonesia. Soaring here would be possible. Although the weather was
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AIRWORTHINESS MARTYN COOK
NATIONAL AIRWORTHINESS OFFICER
STAYING SAFE In this issue we welcome our new National Airworthiness Officer Martyn Cook. Martyn has been flying gliders since 1980, after spending the ‘70s hang gliding. He trained in the Wellington club and later served the club as instructor, tow pilot and engineer. He holds three FAI diamonds and a 1000 km diploma and loves flying from Omarama. He owns a Ventus 2cT glider, rego CK. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering, built a fibreglass microlight amphibian in the 80’s, and has spent a lifetime working in light engineering. Martyn likes to fix anything mechanical, loves aircraft and knowing how they work as machines. What makes a glider safe to fly? Almost all gliders in NZ have a Standard Category Airworthiness Certificate, which means they are certified to a detailed set of design requirements that applies to sailplanes and powered sailplanes, and which has been refined over many years. The current version of these design requirements is called CS-22, and you can find it on the web. It’s well worth a read - all 121 pages. It’s like a building code for what is needed to make a glider safe, and what tests the aircraft design has to pass before achieving Type Certification. Specifications range from requiring that when the control stick is moved right the right wing goes down, to where the seat belt anchor points need to be located, the strength of the airframe under all kinds of loading conditions, flight stability and controllability, freedom from flutter etc. Testing is an arduous and expensive exercise, but it does give the future owner assurance that the aircraft design is ‘airworthy’ – at least at the time of testing. Continued assurance of airworthiness of individual gliders is quite another matter, as that depends primarily on their maintenance.
A glider certificated to CS-22 needs a Maintenance Manual (MM) detailing the actions required to maintain the airworthy status that the manufacturer has achieved. It’s worth noting that there are other forms of certification issued by glider manufacturers, such as those in the microlight category, which have different (and usually less stringent) requirements. If you are buying a glider, consider what the certification really means. Older gliders have rather brief MM’s, but for modern gliders these are very detailed. To bridge this gap, Gliding NZ has its own maintenance program called Tech-22, which has evolved over many years as a reliable and economic way of maintaining gliders built to CS-22 standard. A glider owner in NZ can elect to apply either the manufacturer’s maintenance program or Tech-22, and the chosen program needs to be identified in the log book. Tech-22 comprises four different inspections: Daily Inspection, Annual Inspection, Supplementary Inspection and Abnormal Loads Inspection. Tech-22 can be downloaded from the GNZ web site, along with AC 3-16 Explanatory Notes. Persons performing maintenance on certificated gliders need to have an appropriate rating for the work done. A Qualified Glider Pilot (QGP) can perform the DI, so all glider pilots are already Class 1 engineers, in a sense. A Class 2 is required for Supplementary and Abnormal Loads Inspections, and a Class 3 or 4 for Annuals. Engineer ratings last for 2 years and are renewed in June. The National Airworthiness Officer (NAO) is responsible for the training and certification of engineers, and is overseen by the NZ Civil Aviation Authority. Clubs are invited to consider their future need for engineers and anyone with an interest in obtaining or upgrading their rating should notify the NAO promptly, so that training needs can be assessed and courses run during the upcoming winter. Email to nao@actrix.co.nz
GLIDING IN INDONESIA Continued very hot and humid, the thermals were not bad. I had the chance to do some circles in 3m/s. The problem is that there is heavy rain at around 3 o’clock which does not allow long flights. There were lots of ridges around Jogja (have a look on google earth). But most of them are blocked with restricted areas for the military. I did not have the chance to fly further away so don’t know what it would be like to fly anywhere else. After just one week, I had to leave for cold Germany on a Sunday. The temperatures in Indonesia were much more enjoyable! On the whole, the trip was a very interesting and varied experience. Many people might know Indonesia as a touristy place, but having the chance to go gliding there was even better. I would like to especially thank our representative Bram U.
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Kusuma. He had everything arranged in the background and the first days in particular with the authority’s issues were hard for him. ‘Terima kasih!’ (Thank you very much!)
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GNZ AWARDS & CERTIFICATES FEBRUARY 2013 – MARCH 2013 GNZ Awards Officer, Edouard Devenoges gnzawards@xtra.co.nz 40 Eversham Road, Mt Maunganui 3116. QGP No 3201 3202 3203 3204 3205
Pilot’s Name Milan Kmetovics David B. Smith Iain Baker Michael Jahn Sheena Naughton
Club Wellington GC Taupo GC Glide Omarama Wellington GC Otago & S’land
Date 24 1 2013 24 1 2013 3 2 2013 24 2 2013 24 2 2013
Glider
SILVER DISTANCE Ken Montgomery Steve Foreman Gary C. Patten Stuart Cawood Peter D. Mundy
Nelson Lakes GC Auckland ASC Auckland ASC Gliding Manawatu Nelson Lakes GC
26 1 2013 9 2 2013 27 2 2013 26 1 2013 19 2 2013
LS4a PW5 Astir DG 1000 s Std. Cirrus
SILVER DURATION Steve Foreman Campbell W. McIver Gary C. Patten
Auckland ASC Auckland GC Auckland ASC
9 12 2012 9 2 2013 2 1 2013
PW5 PW5 PW5
SILVER HEIGHT Robert Laskey Ken Montgomery Steve Foreman Gary C. Patten David Muckle Stuart Cawood Peter D. Mundy
DG 1000 S LS4a PW5 Astir Club Astir DG 1000 s Std. Cirrus
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Gliding Manawatu Nelson Lakes GC Auckland ASC Auckland ASC Piako GC Gliding Manawatu Nelson Lakes GC
27 10 2012 26 1 2013 9 2 2013 23 2 2013 23 2 2013 20 1 2013 19 2 2013
SILVER BADGE 1155 Ken Montgomery 1156 Steve Foreman 1157 Gary C. Patten 1158 David Muckle 1159 Peter D. Mundy
Nelson Lakes GC Auckland ASC Auckland ASC Piako GC Nelson Lakes GC
5 2 2013 26 2 2013 27 2 2013 27 2 2013 17 3 2013
GOLD DURATION Steve Foreman Bob Martin Campbell W. McIver Gary C. Patten
Auckland ASC Gliding South Auckland GC Auckland ASC
9 12 2012 20 12 2012 9 2 2013 2 1 2013
PW5 Discus 2b PW5 PW5
It’s only in the event of a
GOLD HEIGHT Thomas Dantoft Bob Martin Andrzej Konarzewski
Glide Omarama Gliding South Glide Omarama
25 11 2012 20 12 2012 5 12 2012
Discus CS Discus 2b Twin Astir
CL A IM
GOLD DISTANCE Bob Martin
Gliding South
20 12 2012
Discus 2b
GOLD BADGE 323 Bob Martin
Gliding South
26 2 2013
DIAMOND HEIGHT Denmark Thomas Dantoft Canada Andrzej Konarzewski
Glide Omarama Glide Omarama
25 11 2012 5 12 2012
Discus CS Twin Astir
NZ RECORD 300 km, O&R, Speed Peter Chadwick
ASW 20 c
12 1 2013
196.35 km/h
Will be supplied ready to use fully loaded with software and maps Contact Jerry O'Neill jerryo@xtra.co.nz for more information
AIR NZ CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Glider NORTHERN DIVISION Neil Raymond Club Astir/Discus David Hirst Discus David Muckle Club Astir Steve Foreman PW5 Neil Harker PW5 Philip Dunlop PW5 Gary Patten Std. Astir Stuart Cawood DG 1000 s Roy Innes ASW20
Distance
Points
677.33km 332.43km 232.74km 127.10km 123.23km 112.16km 90.39km 91.81km 65.04km
694.33 334.94 268.54 156.09 151.19 135.83 98.39 88.40 65.76
SOUTHERN DIVISION Bob Martin Jason Kelly Ken Montgomery Peter Mundy
Discus 2b LS4, G103 LS4a Std. Cirrus
720.70km 507.25km 195.14km 126.38km
708.03 505.53 201.09 133.90
GNZ FIRST COMPETITION AWARD 025 Ken Montgomery 026 Steve Foreman 027 Gary C. Patten 028 Stuart Cawood 029 Peter C. Mundy
Nelson Lakes GC Auckland ASC Auckland ASC Gliding Manawatu Nelson Lakes GC
soaringissue33 copy.indd 39
5 2 2013 26 2 2013 27 2 2013 28 2 2013 17 3 2013
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TELEPHONE 04 473 5593 admin @ aviationcoop.co.nz w w w. av ia t i o n c o o p.c o. nz April 2013
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VINTAGE & CLASSIC
YOU ARE HISTORY By Ian Dunkley
You, and all of your fl ying up to today, are now history. You, and possibly your club, will only be remembered in future gliding years, if you or they, did something significant, that someone bothers to record. By significant, I don’t mean something like joining the ‘Mile High Club’ in a Duo Discus with the CFI’s wife, although it would get you remembered. No, I mean flights that are ground breaking (a poor choice of words) and have not been achieved before. Remember that Silver, Gold and Diamonds were all flown pre-war, in gliders with a performance that would only interest a vintage enthusiast today. Three diamonds are no big deal, unless you have yet to achieve them. Today, internationally, we are losing gliding clubs and, in time, they too could be forgotten. Similarly, gliding sites can also fade away, like the sites used by the many small clubs that sprang up in the ‘20s and ‘30s. Some of these old sites have been lost to housing, e.g. Wigram and chunks of the Port Hills, or to shopping malls, or less destructively, reverted back to sheep and cows. Others sites
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will, for all I know, have been rediscovered by hang glider and paragliding enthusiasts, flying craft with similar or better performance to their larger forebears. There is another form of history. Folklore remembered, passed on and repeated but more easily forgotten than the printed word. Not all advances are measured by a pilot’s flights, some have been - and others will be - remembered for design, or other services to gliding. Like Chris Wills, founder of the Vintage Glider Club, and a leading light in New Zealand gliding post war. Fred Dunn also comes to mind, for his work in kit building many Slingsby gliders that got the gliding movement going in the early post war years. There is really no need to mention Dick Georgeson and his contemporaries, who in the ‘50s and ‘60s made New Zealand the envy of the gliding world. In the UK, Doc Slater recorded pre and post war gliding activities in Europe and the UK, and through much of the ‘50s and ‘60s gave gliding reports in each issue of the ‘The Aeroplane’. He was also known for his penny whistle recitals, that livened up gliding events including the 1956 World Champs. We must not forget the editors of gliding magazines, in which much of gliding‘s history was recorded and is therefore available
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VINTAGE & CLASSIC
today. SoaringNZ and its predecessors are a very good example and provide a valuable source of information. I must mention ‘Club News’. I think these must be the hardest things to write, but often they are the only record that can be found of what was going on at a club years ago. Jill and her Club News contributors are doing a great job, in not only making the section interesting, but also a providing informational tidbits for future researchers. My target is photographs; for today we have a big advantage over our predecessors, digital cameras. These make it much easier for photos to be taken and passed on, or sent to, the editors. No longer is it necessary to order two prints, put one in your shoe box and post the other; it’s all done with a few clicks. Great, but did anything go in the shoe box today? Sure you have saved them on your PC, they are now hidden in a file system that has grown like Topsy, or less frequently stored on CD/DVD’s in that shoe box. That just about describes my operation, I hope yours is better. What happens when you become a predecessor? Who knows or even cares about someone’s old file system, let alone be able to get into it? Shoe boxes have the advantage of size and this means
some may be saved and passed on, many more are probably lost. Despite this, many old photos have survived. Will you leave a stock of photos that can be easily be seen and identified? I think not. A further advantage of the old shoebox was that the back of a print could easily be written on to identify the event or the people involved. Captioning digital photographs can be a bit of a pain. Although technically easy, many rely, as I do, on memory or good intentions. This is not intended to mean that pictures without captions are worthless, for ‘every picture tells a story’. The ‘old’ photos that illustrate this article, with only one exception, the heading picture, are uncaptioned. This is quite deliberate, as I want to show that you can deduce a lot about ‘old gliding’ in all its forms from just a few pictures. I have captions for some of these, others I can only guess at. That is where you can help - caption these pictures, and perhaps provide more photos. Send them to Jill or to me, and in the next issue we can recount a ‘Probable History of Gliding’ from just these few pictures. I hope I have convinced you that a shoe box of old photos has much importance. Would a computer, password protected and full of gliding pictures, be able to tell you much?
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VINTAGE & CLASSIC
I will now end with a plea: Could all clubs, who have not done so, appoint someone to collect old photographs, digitise them and pass the CD’s to someone who volunteers to be the archivist for
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GNZ. If you think I should take on the role that would be a mistake. I am well past the age when someone could say, “He died too young.” We need someone who still has that chance.
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Sailplane Racing Committee Notes 2012 – 2013 season The season has been quite active with good weather helping to give many valid competition days with Taupo the standout competition.
Trans Tasman Trophy The NZ representative to challenge the Tasman Trophy this year was Tim Bromhead. Tim has shown considerable ability when competing in the North Island and was a worthy participant in the historic event. This year the challenge was to be held in Australia at Benalla in the Multi-Class Championships where Tim was offered the use of VTM a Ventus C 15 metre glider. Tim had an interesting competition from a competitor’s point of view as he would either place mid field, or even lower, then take out the occasional day. They had seven valid days and Tim won the 4th and 7th days which we felt was very commendable considering he was flying against pilots that had been to the Worlds, in Uvalde. He has never flown in Australia in a competition and was able to beat his Aussie counterpart Ian McCallum in a worthy dual.
penalties and the majority voted to review and increase penalties when entering controlled airspace after there were nine airspace issues during the Contest. The SRC would welcome comment about this important issue that has been highlighted by occurrences in the last two major North Island competitions. There is mixed view within the SRC itself so a solution will undoubtedly be contentious. We want input on this subject please. There will be a remit submitted to the AGM for a change to the rules regarding violation of airspace.
Club Class An historic period of great soaring weather allowed the Taupo Club Class Nationals to run valid tasks on 11 of 12 days. Those who entered were privileged and the standard of competition was high. The changes in the club class means more higher ranked pilots are entering club class, certainly in the North Island and last year in the South Island it was well received.
Poland 2014 Worlds (15m, 18m & Open Classes)
General
The SRC will soon be asking for Nominations to represent NZ in the above world event in 2014. We will need both competitors and managers alike so please start to consider if you are interested in either position.
The SRC would like some more input with ideas concerning attendance at NZ competitions. I have had informal discussions with many pilots over the gradual decline in contest entries. Of course the sport is struggling to grow so it is to be expected that contest numbers are declining. However maybe the two problems are similar in that we are not “selling” the idea of gliding as a sport that is accessible. Certainly there are many that feel we (the movement) are too much “competition” oriented and that focus should come away from the racing side of gliding. Are we selling winning at the expense of isolating pilots who just wish to better themselves in an environment that supports XC flight, or can we do both.
Pilot Meetings Omarama – Minutes can be read on the GNZ website but an important discussion was the use of Flarm technology in Omarama. By far the majority voted to make Flarm mandatory in competitions and Gavin Wills proposed that he will not tow any glider unless they are Flarm equipped. The use of Flarm needs to be discussed fully, the facts presented and some decisions made. Some questions need answering – i.e. is it really any different in the North and South Islands or is it that the Southern group of pilots are finding them useful and the Northerners are blissfully ignorant. Taupo – the discussions here centred around the airspace intrusion
Ranking The competition rankings are out and are available for viewing on the website.
April 2012
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CLUB DIRECTORY Link for club info www.gliding.co.nz/Clubs/Clubs.htm Auckland Aviation Sports Club Club Website www.ascgliding.org Club Contact Peter Thorpe pbthorpe@xtra.co.nz Ph 09 413 8384 Base RNZAF Base Auckland (Whenuapai) 021 146 4288 Flying Weekends, Public Holidays
Norfolk Aviation Sports Club Club Website http://www.geocities.com/norfolkgliding/ Club Contact Kevin Wisnewski wizzbang@xtra.co.nz Ph (06) 756 8289 Base Norfolk Rd Flying Weekends and by appointment
Auckland Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingauckland.co.nz Club Ph (09) 294 8881, 0276 942 942 Club Contact Ed Gray info@glidingauckland.co.nz Base Appleby Rd, Drury Flying Weekends, Wednesdays, Public Holidays
Omarama Gliding Club Club Website http://www.omarama.com Club Contact Yvonne Loader loaders@clear.net.nz Ph (03) 358 3251 Base Omarama Flying 7 days a week by arrangement
Canterbury Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingcanterbury.co.nz Club Contact Kevin Bethwaite kevin.bethwaite@airways.co.nz Ph (03) 318 4758 Base Swamp Road, Springfield Flying Weekends, Public Holidays
Otago/Southland (YouthGlide Omarama) Club Website www.youthglideomarama.org.nz Club Contact Tom Shields tom.shields@century21.co.nz Ph (03) 473 1721 Base Omarama and Dunedin Flying By arrangement
Central Otago Flying Club (Inc) Club Website www.cofc.co.nz Club Contact Phil Sumser phil.sumser@xtra.co.nz Base Alexandra Airport Flying Sundays, and by arrangement
Piako Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingmatamata.co.nz Club Contact Steve Care s.care@xtra.co.nz Ph (07) 843 7654 or 027 349 1180 Base Matamata Airfield, Ph (07) 888 5972 Flying Weekends, Wednesdays and Public Holidays
Glide Omarama.com Website www.GlideOmarama.com Contact Gavin Wills gtmwills@xtra.co.nz Base Omarama Airfield Flying October through April 7 days per week Gliding Hutt Valley (Upper Valley Gliding Club) Club Contact Wayne Fisk wayne_fisk@xtra.co.nz Ph (04) 567-3069 Base Kaitoke Airfield, (04) 526 7336 Flying Weekends, Public Hols., Mid week by arrangement Gliding Manawatu Club Website www.glidingmanawatu.org.nz Club Contact Ron Sanders Resanders@xtra.co.nz Base Feilding Aerodrome Flying Weekends, Public holidays Gliding Wairarapa Club Website http://www.glidingwairarapa.co.nz/ Club Contact Diana Braithwaite Ph (06) 308 9101 Base Papawai Airfield, 5 km east of Greytown Ph (06) 308 8452 or 025 445 701 Flying Weekends, or by arrangement
Rotorua Gliding Club Club Website http://www.rotoruaglidingclub.blogspot.co.nz/ Club Contact Mike Foley roseandmikefoley@clear.net.nz Ph (07) 347 2927 Base Rotorua Airport Flying Sundays South Canterbury Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingsouthcanterbury.co.nz Club Contact John Eggers johneggers@xtra.co.nz 33 Barnes St Timaru Base Levels Timaru & Omarama Wardell Field Flying Weekends, Public Holidays & by arrangement Taranaki Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingtaranaki.com Club Contact Peter Williams peter.williams@xtra.co.nz Ph (06) 278 4292 Base Stratford Flying Weekends and Public Holidays
Hauraki Aero Club Club Website www.flyhac.co.nz Club Contact Ron Bergersen d.rbergersen@xtra.co.nz Ph (027) 277 4238 Base Thames Airfield Flying Weekends and Public Holidays
Taupo Gliding Club Club Website www.taupoglidingclub.co.nz Club Contact Tom Anderson Tomolo@xtra.co.nz PO Box 296, Taupo 2730 Ph (07) 378 5506 M 0274 939 272 Base Centennial Park, Taupo Flying 7 days a week
Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau Gliding Club Club Website www.skyhigh-photography.com/Main/ Aviation_and_Spaceflight/HB_Gliding_Club.php Club Contact David Davidson Dhcd@clear.net.nz Ph (06) 876 9355 Base Bridge Pa Airfield, Hastings 0272 887 522 Flying Sundays. Other days by arrangement
Tauranga Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingtauranga.co.nz Club President Alan Belworthy a.belworthy@xtra.co.nz Ph 0274 960 748 Base Tauranga Airport Flying Weekends and Public Holidays, Wednesday afternoons and other times on request
Kaikohe Gliding Club Club Contact Peter Fiske, (09) 407 8454 Email Keith Falla keith@falla.co.nz Base Kaikohe Airfield, Mangakahia Road, Kaikohe Flying Sundays, Thursdays and Public Holidays
Wellington Gliding Club Club Website http://www.soar.co.nz Club President Philip Milne milnelaw@gmail.com Ph 021 803 37 Base Paraparaumu Airport Bookings Ph 04 297 1341 (clubhouse) Ph 027 618 9845 (operations) Flying Weekends and Public Holidays 7 days a week December through to March
Marlborough Gliding Club Club Website http://glide_marl.tripod.com Club Contact bmog@paradise.net.nz Base Omaka Airfield, Blenheim Flying Sundays and other days by arrangement Nelson Lakes Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingnelson.co.nz Club Contact Frank Saxton franksaxton@gmail.com Ph (03) 546 6098 Base Lake Station Airfield, St.Arnaud Ph (03) 521 1870 Flying Weekends and Public Holidays
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Whangarei District Gliding Club Club Website www.igrin.co.nz/~peter/gliding.htm Club Contact Paul Rockell rockelkaym@xtra.co.nz Base Rockelkaym Ridge, Gibbs Road, Puhi Puhi Flying Weekends and Public Holidays
GLIDING NEW ZEALAND CLUB NEWS The club news is your chance to share with the rest of the country and abroad, some of what makes your club the best gliding club in the world. Club scribes, please watch the deadlines (but we'll make allowances for special circumstances so contact the editor before you panic) and likewise, the word count is supposed to be 300 words to allow everyone to have a say. If you need more words than that, you probably should write a real article about that special event. Deadline for club news for the next issue 11 May 2013. AUCKLAND AVIATION SPORTS CLUB Our summer has continued its early promise and we have been able to enjoy some great soaring. The highlights have included two Silver C badges, the first for us in over 10 years. Both Gary Patten and Steve Foreman did their 50 km flight to Springhill on the same day, about an hour apart. Gary landed at Springhill Airfield and waited for an aero tow retrieve, while Steve, in the PW5, got there and came back to Whenuapai. His trace showing his low and high points also gave him the required height gain to complete the Silver C, an excellent effort in the Pee Wee. A couple of weeks later, Gary Patten got an Airways clearance to 5000 ft and below and achieved his height gain too, the second Silver C in as many weeks. Well done to both. These may seem trifling achievements, until we remember that our general height limit is 3500ft and we need sustainable lift and an Airways clearance to go higher‌. or we go 18 miles North. All this cross country has also led to a number of our students getting retrieves signed off. One member was heard to wish one single pilot luck, then promptly booked herself on his retrieve, before he even got off the ground. Our Youth Glide members and ATC fl ying continue to thrive, with relatively few sled rides. Our friend, the sea breeze convergence, has given lengthy rides to many of our members, with Graham Lake in the Libelle and Ray Burns in the Ka6 both going around four hours each. We would probably have been joined by Lionel Page in Mosquito ON, if his rudder had not been assisting Steve Wallace in his successful Club class Nationals. Club spirit was very much to the fore when we cleaned, prepped and painted the roof of our hangar over the course of three weekends. The final coat only took a couple of hours, as we had lots of members, lots of equipment, had figured out how to best do the job and had one guy cracking the whip. A very good effort that saw pretty much every member turn up at some stage. GL
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Auckland: Our team at Whitianga.
AUCKLAND The season up in Auckland has been great. To the detriment of the local farmers the soaring has been quite superb on many days and exceptional on others. I am sure not so many outside our club see Auckland as a great soaring site but it can be pretty good on the right day. The highlight of the XC flights this year has to be Pat Driessen’s attempt at a 750km FAI triangle. This took him to Kimbolton just north of Fielding then across to Galatea and resulted in him falling short by one thermal only a few kilometres from home. This is certainly one of the best efforts out of Auckland in recent times and maybe ever. For the rest of us, the flights have been great as well and there has been lots of activity over the past few months particularly down the rugged and beautiful western side of the North Island. The Omarama Multi Class Nationals saw six AGC members attending. It is a huge effort and cost to travel so far so it was nice to have such a good contingent to represent the AGC in Omarama. The Club Class Nationals in Taupo were well attended with four of our members contesting the
Our young pilots.
National trophy and another three attending the MMSC competition. Congratulations to Patrick for winning the MMSC event and to Nigel McPhee and his South Island partner for his close second placing in the 18 meter Nationals. The club again visited Whitianga for a weekend which was very successful. The relationship with the local aviation enthusiasts in Whitianga has been strengthening and we are starting to enjoy a long term friendship there. It is a beautiful place to fl y so it will not be hard to preserve that friendship. An interesting visitor in the form of the twin seat Spitfire dropped in on the way to Ardmore last Monday. Some engine issues caused it to shorten its flight and luckily for our club members we have a real museum piece in our hangar for a short period until the parts arrive. I’m not sure if we can afford the tows but it would look great with a tow hook. We have acquired quite a few new members and they are quickly finding their way around the local area. We welcome them all and would like to invite more members and visitors alike to
Convergence to the West on a nearly blue afternoon.
AGC's recent visit to Whitianga over the AKL Anniversary weekend, photographer Colin Bell.
share our amenities, enjoy the weather, utilize the excellent facilities that we are so fortunate to own for ourselves. RG CANTERBURY The anti- cyclone that has been plaguing us for several weeks has provided low cloud, preventing nearly all fl ying during late February and early
Canterbury: L: Best Soaring spot. R: Chef Scotty, Rob and President Kev. Mike going for next paddock.
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CLUB NEWS
Gliding Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau: ZK-GHB ready to fly.
March, but before that, there was plenty of activity. Two members found a paddock nearby to practise out-landings and the farmer was happy to oblige. Several pilots were given an afternoon of intensive paddock landings and all proved satisfactory. One of them has ‘cased’ paddocks within 50 km, with a view to getting his Silver distance. Two members who have been quietly planning cross-country trips were most successful earlier, when George Deans and Oliver Winkler completed their Gold C’s by fl ying 500km. Well done to them both. Terry Delore has partaken in another record, when he and Greg Tucker winch launched a twin Astir late in the day and managed to land a few miles away. It was not a record distance, but the retrieve of 20 minutes is a record retrieve time for the club. Terry said he had nothing to do with the land out as he was in the back seat! Much discussion has taken place regarding the placing of the Hororata clubhouse when it is transported over to Springfield, and the consensus is for it to be placed next to the existing house. To this end, a member has been asked to be the Project Manager, to see this job done. Several members have been quietly busy mowing grass and clearing weeds from around the many young trees that have been planted. The place is looking better all the time because of their efforts. Stewart
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GLIDING HAWKES BAY AND WAIPUKURAU With the return of ‘normal’ summer weather, the club has seen considerably more fl ying than last year, from both our Waipukurau and Hastings bases. While good fl ying has been had from both sites, it has been noted that on some days better soaring has occurred from Hastings. Hopefully the fl yable weather continues well into autumn and we get the usual wave. Our self-launching Grob 103C Twin III SL (GHB) has been fl ying from both sites, with members fl ying from Hastings to Waipukurau and back, both with only thermals and the aid of power. We are planning to use this glider to help train pilots further in cross country fl ying. It can also be used in training pilots to obtain selflaunching ratings. Our students: John Plymers and Richie van Overeem have both gone solo, while Dick Ryan, Dion Sloan and Mike Richardson are working towards this goal. Craig Hunter has rejoined the club as an associate member and is planning to base his Open Cirrus at Hastings. The Central Districts Championships were held from Waipukurau in mid-January, with a disappointing number of entries. After a pilots' meeting on the future of the event, a discussion document has been drawn up by this year’s contest director, David Davidson, and this has been distributed to all North Island clubs for their comments. It is also available on the web, see cdchamps on
blogspot, for any others who wish to comment. Congratulations to Graham White, who was not only the weatherman, task setter and scorer, but also won this year’s competition. The club executive has seen some mid-term changes, with Rod Wellwood appointed Chief Tow Pilot, replacing Steve Holder, who is currently spending more time throwing people out of a perfectly serviceable aeroplane, hoping that their rag will open and stop them bouncing, and Jason Kelly as Club Secretary, replacing David Davidson. David has been a stalwart of the club for many years, having acted as President, Secretary, and Contest Director at different times. It is great to see new blood in the club and great to have the seasoned advice of people like David to assist in ensuring the club remains successful into the future. KAIKOHE The long hot summer has provided us with lots of great gliding days, although early January was challenging - launching on the short runway, as the constant easterly cross winds were too strong to use the main runway. Our latest acquisition, Discus GTZ, is much appreciated, as it gives our members the opportunity to fl y a higher performance machine and having an extra glider means everyone can have longer flights, as there are more gliders to go round. One benefi t of being a small club is that
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CLUB NEWS
Nelson Lakes: Mt Owen – Middle Earth
we can generally choose which one we want to fl y and as the members have different favourites, we are not all waiting for the same glider and of course some pilots don’t care what they fl y as long, as they are fl ying! We have new members receiving lessons, but membership remains steady, as we lose our young members. It is unfortunate that being located in the Far North means they have to move south to further their education. As the fair weather continues into autumn, we look forward to the thermals remaining strong and long flights for a few more weeks.
NELSON LAKES It’s been ripper weather lately, and now the area is as dry as a chip, like most of the country at the time of writing. The club has been busy with normal clubs days, an ab-initio week and the club fl ying week. The ab-initio week was well run by instructors, and organised by Nick White, and has received rave reviews. Kelly Rankin and Alex Rutherford both went solo, so congratulations to them and the rest, who have a jolly good foundation to continue on. The conditions allowed them all have good mountain-soaring flights. The fl ying
week followed and again was well supported from locals and visitors alike. They were rewarded with most of the week being very soarable, and much of the area explored, like Tapuae-0-Uenuku, Molesworth and Lewis pass area, Victoria ranges, Mt Owen and further afield in some cases. It’s been busy on the club front, with many making the most of the great soaring weather. Mike Strathern has come back from the Club Nationals with a hard fought second place. Both Ken Montgomery and Pete Mundy did their Silver distances, which complements their season of pushing their cross country skills. Marc has had
Kaihoke: L: Salto GIZ landing while Twin Astir GTA is prepared for launch. R: Discus GTZ getting a wash.
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CLUB NEWS
Rotorua: Mike getting checked out by Don.
some good flights in Skylark BX, including overseeing the proceedings at 9000 feet and now knows his way to the Robert Ridge. Kerry Greig has recently removed the iron ballast from his DG800 and claims it climbs like a mountain goat. Rob Corlett, the CFI, had a ripper flight in his Nimbus KU during the fl ying week, as well as many others. I could go on! It’s been busy time and I would like to stop to say a massive thank you to all of the instructors of the club, for their tireless efforts on the field. Cheers guys. Captain Sink
TAURANGA It has been a great gliding season in Tauranga, with the long dry summer. Most recently, we have sent our oldest and youngest students solo. Brian Crook, age 74, of Tauranga, who had some power
fl ying when he was younger, and 18 year old Emma Brooks of Hamilton, who had done an ATC camp at Matamata two years ago, both went solo in February. This made for a good article in the B.O.P. Times paper. At present, we are running twilight to solo fl ying – Mon-Thurs evenings from 5-7.30 pm for members who have been in training but not yet solo. In our first week, we sent Rob Benge (Architect, age 66) solo and have four others in the process of going solo. CONGRATULATIONS to all these members. Mark Tingey and Maurice Weaver competed at Taupo in the National Club Class and the Matamata Soaring Centre contests, in club gliders. Brett Hunter also represented Tauranga, in his JS1. Several members also flew at Taupo in the Clubs Duo Discus, XLT, during the first week. This gives members valuable insight into contest fl ying. Our club is also involved in the set up of our (ongoing/new) Youth Glide Scheme, and with the MSC in its first regional Youth Glide camp at Matamata in April. We have had a few visiting glider pilots stop in to fl y at Tauranga and their comments remind us that we have a great fleet and club rooms, and a view to die for.
Photo Bay of Plenty Times
ROTORUA For a variety of reasons, we have managed just one flying day in Rotorua since our last update, despite weeks of near perfect conditions. To be fair though, it was an epic day, with the tow pilot from Tauranga kept as busy as the Minster of Education dodging the Novapay issue. Some of our members made the trip to Taupo for the Vintage Kiwi rally at the end of January. It was a fantastic sight to see so many immaculately kept vintage sailplanes in one place. Rotorua club instructors, and partners in EON Baby GAF, Don Grigg and John Currie, were among those making the most of the brilliant conditions. Between them,
they had four flights of up to an hour and a half. GAF was originally built in 1949 by Elliots of Newbury, the design being an improved version of the Grunau Baby 2b. Don has restored GAF to its current condition much more recently than that, and it is often seen in the skies above Rotorua. This is the oldest flying glider in New Zealand. A full cockpit canopy is used most of the time, although there is an alternative open cockpit faring that can be used if the pilot has the appropriate attire. The reported glide ratio is 17:1 which, Don jokes, means that if you can see the runway, you’re not going to make it. Despite low performance when compared to more modern sailplanes, it can circle very tightly and both Don and John report it is a delight to fly. Callum has begun adding some photos of the club’s history to the web page, which includes a picture of GED on the cover of NZ Wings magazine. This has been possible, of course, thanks to the diligence of other club members, creating scrap books during the years. Thanks guys. CT
Emma Brooks solos.
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CLUB NEWS
TAUPO What an awesome summer! Not so good for the farming community but, for we glider pilots, flying conditions at Taupo have been outstanding. So, what has been happening? We have had the NZ Club Class Nationals and the Matamata Soaring Contest, where Club Class flew 11 out of the 12 days. Congratulations go to the winners, Steve Wallace Club Class and Pat Driessen in the Open Class. Thank you to all contest pilots for attending and making both competitions enjoyable events. A huge ‘thank you’ goes out to all the volunteers, for making the competitions possible. Without your support the competitions would have been impossible, so thank you again. As for visiting trainees, we have had the pleasure of Roddy Burgoyne and Adrian Faulkner. Roddy came down from Northland to do some training and stayed on, achieving solo status, and Adrian has come up from Nelson to complete his QGP. Congratulations go out to both of you and we hope to see you again. We would like to welcome two new members to the club; Mark Stefanelli and Nathan Brierley. Also, we have had the pleasure of having David Bailey from the UK stay for a couple of weeks. David came out last year and again has assisted in instructional duties. How time flies; in the last edition I mentioned that Sid and Denis had arrived and already, three months, later Denis has returned home. Sid returns home at the end of March. Thank you to both of you for all your time and effort in assisting the club. We look forward to seeing you again at the end of the year. Club member Brent Griffin has been in Taupo with the Giles 202, where he has given a few members the opportunity to do some aerobatics with him. Brent will be flying in the NZ Aerobatic Championships at Waipukurau in mid-March, so we wish him good luck. Happy flying. Trace
The Grid
Photos by Roddy Burgoyne.
Were are we going?
This is what I want
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F O R S A L E • WA N T ED • S ERV I C ES • E V EN TS
We take our classifieds list from the GNZ website and from ads detailed with us personally. To update your ad, please go online or advise Hadleigh Bognuda, our webmaster. Ads notified to me will appear on this page but we are unable to make changes for you on the web page. Please contact the webmaster if your item sells.
DG 300 Elan • GOZ Full panel. Road trailer. $45,000 or near offer. Apply to Errol Shirtliff. Phone 035268724 or email shirtliff@xtra.co.nz
GLIDERS
Discus B, ZK-GPV • NZ$78,500 includes oxygen, C transponder, Ilec vario with speed to fly, rate of turn indicator, mounts for two extra batteries, blue tint canopy, ‘chute, ground handling gear and good trailer for easy two person de-rig/rig. Superb handling characteristics with 41/1 performance. Please contact John Bayliss 092781760 or baylissj at pl.net
ASH 25M, ZK-GRJ • in top condition, possibly the best available. Schleicher self-launching two seat motor glider, complete with German trailer. Fully equipped, re-finished by Sailplane Services in Autocryl, in very good condition. Low hours. Annual just completed. Always hangared. Fully instrumented. Contact Brian Kelly, phone 06 876-7437, e-mail: Erinpac@xtra.co.nz
DG200, GNA 15M • 40:1 L/D $27,000 or near offer. Current ARA. Tidy condition just finished cut and polish. Cambridge GPS, Mode C transponder, Radio, parachute, wing covers and ground handling equipment. Oxygen system available. Good trailer with recent new galvanised subframe. Best value L/D and ideal XC performance suit low time pilot. Total 2400hrs Contact: Mike gdg200@gmail.com Tel: 04 904 0651
Ventus b Turbo, GSP • NZ$74,000, but his arm can be twisted a little bit if you have a good story and he takes pity on you. 15 and/or 16.4 metre. You can fly it as a 15 metre ship or wack on the winglets to grow the wingspan to 16.6 metres for those not so strong days. Includes trailer, oxygen and parachute plus GPS. In good condition and competition ready with trailer. We could say its never been raced or rallied but that would be a lie as that is what it is good at...competitions.... Phone Auckland 09 478 8858 or email tony.timmermans@paradise.net.nz
Libelle 201b, GIU • 2358 hours 1688 launches (20 August) O2, Transponder, 6 channel Tait radio, Borgelt B40 vario, Chute, Trailer. Good original finish. Annuals currently underway. $20K. Phone Paul 021 331 838
ASK 13 • Fresh annual inspection. King KY97A com, Borgelt B40 electric vario with rear seat repeater. New winch hook and tailplane fittings installed at last annuals. Further details, please contact Alan, 0274 960 748 or a.belworthy@xtra.co.nz Std Cirrus, GXA • Will also consider ½ share based in Matamata. Best performing Std Cirrus in NZ, re-profiled wing, all Std Cirrus 75 mods done (reshaped nose, wing roots, double-blade airbrakes). 2800 Hrs logged, gel coat in good condition, tinted canopy. Fibreglass clam-shell type trailer. M-nav computer, Terra mode-c transponder, Icom radio. Genuine 37:1 performance. $28K ono, Contact Karl on 0274 999 183 or karltht@ yahoo.co.uk
FOR SALE
ASW 20F, ZK GYR • Equipped with Cambridge 302 and IPAQ loaded with Seeyou Mobile. Parachute (2004 new) and repacked Feb 2012,radio, transponder, oxygen system, wing covers, wing extensions and winglets, recently upgraded trailer with internal winch, insured through to 31/10/12. Price $52,000, to view check out http://discuscs.blogspot. co.nz/2012/01/gyr-looking-really-clean.html Contact Paul 0274 409462
2 SEATER MOTOR GLIDER GROB 109 Total Hours 2546 – Engine Hours 1272 Since overhaul 272 Propeller since new 615 hours Fitted with 720 Channel Radio. Transponder Asking Price $55,000 or will consider any offer if taken as is
Contact Bill 09 437 2807 Brossiter37@Gmail.Com
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Cobra 15, ZK-GJE • In good condition with a refurbished trailer. Easy to fly and fully aerobatic with a 38:1 glide ratio, comparable with a Libelle or Standard Cirrus. Includes tow out gear, Borgelt B40 vario and a parachute. Price now dropped to $9,995! Contact Russell Jones on 09 575 9788 or email:prismconsult@gmail.com ASH 25, ZK-GXZ • Placed 1st and 2nd in Open Class at last two Omarama New Zealand nationals (with a little bit of help from the pilot) 1,700 hours. Serial no: 25016, the lightest Ash to come out of the factory. Instruments: Glide computer Ilec SM10B, Becker radio, O2 EDS, 25.6 winglets, transponder, 4 water ballast bags, 1 parachute. Trailer: Aluminium Top Cobra Tandem wheel, tows extremely well. Cobra lifting tail dolly. NZ$150,000. Hangar space also available in Omarama to fit the ASH (35m) - right next to the airstrip. Contact: Garry Wakefield, phone +64 3 357 8995, or email garry@investment.co.nz TeST 10-M • Self launch microlight glider 15 mtr single seat self-launch glider. Rotax 447 UL retractable 40 hp engine. Brauniger ALPHA MFD digital instrument panel for flight & engine management. XCOM VHF 760 Transceiver. Becker ATC 4401-1 Transponder with mode A plus C. Glider is finished in epoxy paint and has tinted canopy, winglets and HI high performance air-brakes and ground-handling equipment inclusive canopy and wing-covers. Asking price: $67,500 emailgeraldv14 squiggle gmail. com LS4a, GKP • $55,000. Imported by and maintained by Sailplane Services. Only 1069 hrs since new. Really nice condition with very good Komet trailer and tow out gear. Strong parachute, Colibri secure logger, Mode C transponder, Borgelt B500 vario and B2500 Glide Computer. Located at Whenuapai. Contact Peter ph 02102251470, 094737979 or email petercove@ihug.co.nz ASW 20CL, ZK-GRA • 1984.Serial Number: 20772. 15M & Optional 16.6M Tip Extensions, Tinted Canopy with Tilt-up Panel, Disc brake & Tailwheel, Blow Turbulators, Factory Ballast Bags, Transponder & O2 System, Cambridge 302 DDV & 303 Nav, Full ‘Tow-out’ Gear, Annuals due Nov 2013, (also have ASW 20 Winglets for this glider available, price negotiable) 1600 Hours, asking $59,000. Trailer locally built, Clam-type (composite top) in tidy overall condition. email: richard.downer@xtra. co.nz ph 06 3645767
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GNZ members are eligible for one free non-commercial classified advertisement per issue. Deadline for receipt of advertising for our April issue is 22 May 2013.
Ka6-CR L/D max • 31:1 at 80 kph /43 kt. GLR annuals and new paper work completed on 20/12/2012. Basic instruments and excellent road trailer. $6,850 or near offer. Call Simon Lillico Phone 04 4797 123 or email slillico@gmail.com
Hangar spaces for sale in Omarama • 20m and or 15m next to the runway. $1,800pm ONO. Both in the most eastern hangar. Contact: Garry Wakefield, phone +64 3 357 8995, or email garry@investment.co.nz
ASW15, ZK-GGO • S/N 15069. Microair radio and transponder. Cambridge 302 DDV and 303 nav screen. $15,000 ono. ph 0274972723, g_gaddes@xtra.co.nz.
OTHER FOR SALE
Speed Astir 2B, ZK-GUB • Flapped 15m; 40:1; approx 2000hrs; Oxygen (A8A); Microair radio; transponder; 2 varios; good trailer; gelcoat in good condition; slim-pack parachute; excellent first glider and competitive club-class machine; hanagared Omarama; reluctantly selling after 20yrs; reasonable offers; email Paul Barrett at paullinda@xtra.co.nz or phone 03 3181331 (evenings) Grob Twin Astir, ZK-GKX • With retractable gear - the less wealthy man’s Duo. A bit dated, but has been well set-up with O2 and transponder. New tyres on the trailer. Ready for inspection in the CGC Springfield hangar. 3085 hours from 3011 flights. 1 x chute. Best offer over $29,000 finance available. Contact John on 021 2234 911. Sagitta, ZK-GDO • All wood & rags, built for performance not for comfort! Keeps up with anything wood, plus PW’s and Astirs on a good day. For the vintage enthusiast - $5,000 with current rego and annuals. Come on then, you know you want one, and I need to finance a Duo share ;-) Email robert@smits.co.nz ASH 25m, ZK-GYJ • $210,000 ONO. Extension wing tips, 26m Cobra alloy trailer, self-rigging gear and all tow out equipment inc 2 wing wheels. All weather wing and tail covers, engine time 54hrs airframe 1350 hrs 15 ltr. wing fuel tank. Two parachutes, MH dual oxy system, standard instruments plus SN10 computer/vario 2 15amph batteries + 2 engine batteries. Leather upholstery, tinted canopies, always hangared at Omarama. Contact david.mairi@xtra.co.nz 03 409 8380
HANGAR: Two adjacent 18m hangar spaces in the Omarama Hangar • $30,000 each or near offer. Contact Mike Hamilton Phone: 03 962 1530 email: mike.hamilton@hamjet.co.nz. Hangar space, 15m, east hangar at Omarama • Asking $2000/m or reasonable offer. Contact Linda vindaloulou@gmail.com, 03 348 7009 or 021 071 8402.
Free. HP iPaq HX4700 with faulty charge socket • Has USB cradle and battery that lasts for approx 1 hour. Has been used previously with XC Soar software. Free to a good home, ideally someone else with an iPaq that needs parts (e.g. battery, screen, cradle, memory card etc), so they can make a working one. The stylus is missing, but the hx4700 is ‘meat stylus’ compatible. Interested parties should e-mail pete@fiberphone.co.nz. The editor of the Canadian soaring journal has available some old issues of S&G magazine • The issues are: 1948 Jan to Jun, Sept to Dec; 1949 Feb; 1950 Jan, Feb, Apr to Aug, Oct; 1951 Jan to Sep, Dec; 1952 Feb to May, Jul to Oct; 1955 Jan/Feb, May/June. If interested, e-mail Tony Burton at t-burton@telus.net Omarama Chalet • Partially built. Make an offer. David Craill raymar@ vodafone.co.nz Becker Transceivers And Transponders - ICOM Handhelds • We guarantee to be the cheapest source in New Zealand - John Roake Ltd avionics@johnroake.com
FOR SALE
OMARAMA CHALET Get a syndicate together – make it more affordable – enjoy a rental income when you are not using it. Under construction now – Act fast to choose your layout
Available as completed shell to allow buyer to finish or completely finished to buyer specs. No more sites available
PHONE 0274 774 885
Photo John McCaw
Hangar Space 15 m at Omarama • We need the cash for new toys so here’s the deal, $1500 per metre. First in gets a bargain. Call Paul on 021 1622396 or Nigel on 027 2741624 or email pchisnall@xtra.co.nz
Second hand Accusat MT410 406/121.5 Mhz Personal locator beacon (Non GPS type) • Battery due replacement July 2014. $350 o.n.o. Contact Lionel Page, Aviation Sports Club, 021 333031
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QUINTUS BETTER BY
design
Sailplane Services Congratulate the winners of the NZ Nationals: Grae Harrison, Champion in Open and 18m Class in his Ventus 2xT, Geroge Wills, Champion Std Class in Discus 2c and Vaughn Ruddick, Champion Std Class in the LS6.
Please contact us for servicing onsite at our Omarama workshop.
Sailplane Services Ltd email sailplaneservices@xtra.co.nz phone 09 294 7324
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