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centralines 2015 juniors worldwide the shark is coming tow planes • club news i s s u e 4 1 M a y – J u l y 2 0 15
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contents may–july 2015 features 12 Centralines 2015 Central Districts Gliding Championships
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16
Juniors Worldwide
22
The Shark is Coming
28 32 33 34
The Effect of Humidity on Thermals
38
The Great Vintage Kiwi Taumarunui Rally
40
A Retrieve from HELL
50 years around Gliders A Tale of a Glider ZK–GJK Tow plane Towing Performance Comparison
regulars 6 Log Book 42 Airworthiness 43 A Question of Safety 44 Gnz Awards & Certificates 45 Gliding New Zealand Club News 50 Classified Advertising
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22
34
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from the editor may–july 2015
I
was visiting a friend the other night and upon her husband learning that I was a glider pilot he mentioned, as many people do, that he’d always been interested in learning how to glide. He started quizzing me on how it all worked. I’ve had thirty odd years involved in the sport and I’ve got the answers to these sorts of questions pretty much off pat. It summarises to something like this: ›› Go out and introduce yourself to your local club. ›› You fly in a two-seater with a qualified instructor. ›› The instructor, tow pilot and everyone involved is a volunteer. ›› It takes roughly eight hours of flying time to get to solo but »» A lot of that time is spent doing circuits – because being able to fly take-off and landings is crucial and »» Getting to solo is only the beginning – that’s when you really start to learn to soar. ›› You pay to join the club and it is the club’s responsibility to make sure that you are safe to fly and that includes giving you the training you need to do so, i.e. training is free. ›› You pay National Affiliation fees, club fees, glider hire and your tow fees. ›› Circuits therefore are the expensive part of training, even though they are the shortest flights. ›› Most clubs own at least one two-seat training glider and a single seater so you don’t need to own a glider of your own. ›› Once you get involved you are expected to play your part in the work required to get everyone flying »» Getting gliders out in the morning and putting them away at night »» Running wings »» Retrieving gliders off the field and helping them line up for the next take off »» Taking your turn as duty pilot (administration, time keeping, general organisation of ground operations) and »» Joining in with Working Bees on aircraft, airfield and clubrooms. ›› A modern training glider has a glide ratio of around 38 to one. ›› Gliders fly by using the energy in the atmosphere. ›› A huge part of learning to fly a glider (once you’ve mastered
Volunteers don’t just fly aircraft. Kim Read and her kitchen team put in an incredible amount of work at the YSDC at Oma rama.
the basics of straight and level) is how to find that rising air – »» Thermals »» Ridge »» Wave ›› Explain the above with large arm movements for maximum effect. Diagrams also help. ›› Explain how it is this ability to read the energy in the atmosphere and use it to pilot your aircraft where you want it to go that elevates gliding into the most fantastic sport – far out weighing power flying. ›› Remind the interested party again that everyone involved is a volunteer and if they want to get involved, they are going to have to commit to more than just turning up every other weekend for an hour’s lesson. ›› Explain that gliding clubs have a special character, a group of aviation minded individuals who love spending time together discussing the arcane art of soaring, and that is why the gliding movement feels, to many of us, like an extended family. If your prospective member’s eyes are still open and starry
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Next issue: Glider Insurance – an issue you need to be concerned about CENTRALINES 2015 JUNIORS WORLDWIDE THE SHARK IS COMING TOW PLANES • CLUB NEWS i s s u e 4 1 M a y – J u l y 2 0 15
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May–July 2015
The Shark – Graham Johnson’s new glider Photo John McCaw
Women in gliding National Award winners
Deadline for Club News, articles and pictures is 10 August and 17 August for advertising.
Photo John McCaw
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when you get to the end of that, you may well have a new club member in the making. I find it good to go through this exercise now and again because it reminds me just how much I love our sport and everything that is so great about it. One thing about last week’s conversation reinforced something else I’d been thinking about earlier – the fact that our organisation is run by volunteers. Yes, we’re used to everyone on the field being a volunteer, CFI, instructors, tow pilots, duty pilot but sometimes we need to remember that the Executive committee, safety team (NOOs and ROOs), airworthiness officer, everyone on the various and very important committees that interact with other outside parties, everyone is a volunteer. Everyone in the organisation, everyone. For heaven sake, be nice to them. They are all fitting what they do for our sport into their busy lives. If your club is audited – be as prepared as possible. If you’re applying to have a badge flight recognised, learn the rules and have everything done correctly so that your OO and the awards officer don’t have to chase you up. Take your turn at being the duty pilot. If your BFR is due, swot up on procedure and make a time with an instructor to get the job done. Be kind to everyone. Help your fellow club members. Stay Safe Jill McCaw
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logbook may–july 2015 American Safe Bailout: Pilot lands on hospital Robert Spielman took off from the MindenTahoe airport on Easter Sunday, in an ASW 27 for a wave flight. Flying over the nearby city of Reno he lost a wing. There is conjecture that he was either caught in cloud or hammered by rotor, but either way he had no choice but to bail out. He managed to parachute safely on to the top of the parking building for St Mary’s Hospital. The glider landed in a nearby alley causing damage to a few cars but no people. Bob was relatively unharmed and released after being treated at the scene. This is a good example of the adage: Be Prepared. The Minden area is renowned for wave.
DG Announces Update to NOAH System It is more than 15 years since DG started offering the ‘air-bag’ like bail out system for all DG and LS single seat gliders with a single canopy but lack of spare parts and materials meant the systems were little used and poorly maintained. The NOAH system is an airbag that fits under the seat and greatly helps a pilot in exiting an out of control glider, particularly if G forces are present. G Dale, following his bail out a year ago spoke of how very hard it was to release the harness under G, let alone get out of the cockpit. The device activates with one lever that also releases the seat harness as it inflates the bag so that the pilot is propelled out of the glider giving the pilot precious seconds and height in which to get his parachute open. Following requests from clients, DG Flugzeugbau started to search for new materials and a manufacturer and developed improvements. The system received an update of numerous parts. New materials and a reliable supplier allow keeping the NOAH seat cushion and its high pressure rubber hose in service for many years. A small manometer is now attached to the NOAH high pressure bottle and displays the pressure inside. As a result, the bottle does not have to be removed from the glider for a weight report during each annual inspection. Additionally the pressure can be easily checked during pre-flight check, which increases system reliability. All existing DG and LS NOAH systems can be modified to take a manometer and systems installed in new gliders will get this feature as a standard. In case you are interested in this update for your NOAH system, please contact the DG spare parts department
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May–July 2015
Solar Impulse around the World flight After making fairly steady progress on its around the world flight which started in Dubai, the Solar Impulse has been held up for five weeks waiting for a weather window to allow it to make its first sea crossing of the trip. The flight from Nanjing in China to Hawaii, a distance of about 8172 km (4412 NM) is expected to take five days (and nights). There are many variables involved in planning flights for this aircraft. There is an optimum day/night cycle to keep the batteries recharged, so flying on days with high cirrus cover is obviously out. The fragility of the craft means take-off and landing conditions must be perfect, making the planning of a days long flight very difficult and any head wind will delay the craft, making the already long, fatiguing flight even more so. The biggest challenge however is the fact that this is a single seat aircraft. This is a test of endurance probably greater for the pilot than it is for the aircraft. Solar Impulse has already successfully flown: Abu Dhabi to Muscat, Oman, Muscat to Ahmedabad, India, Ahmedabad to Varanasi, also in India, Varanasi to Mandalay in Myanmar, Mandalay to Chongqing China, and latterly Chongqing to Nanjing. The leg to Nanjing was more than 20 hours, the longest flight to date. It however is minimal compared to the flight to Hawaii. On the 13th of July an attempt was made to fly to Hawaii but due to deteriorating weather at the destination a decision was made for the Solar Impulse to divert and land at Nagoya in Japan. The team is monitoring the weather in the hope of a window of opportunity to complete the flight to Hawaii. André Borschberg says, “We learned a lot, we’re not in Hawaii yet but certainly going into the right direction.”
Flying With Champions in NamIbia
logbook may–july 2015
If you fancy the idea of flying in Africa, imagine doing it with a World Champion in the back seat as your private coach. Five seven-day courses will be held in November, three from Bitterwasse and two from Kiripotib, both well-known Namibian thermal soaring sites, using a fleet of modern two-seater gliders. The idea is to give the participants the experience to become champions themselves. The European champions who instruct must have a wonderful time.
Breakfast with Richie Alex McCaw and Nick Oakley have made a good start at gaining the funds required for their bid at the Junior World Gliding Championships in December. In the last week of May they held a fundraising breakfast with guest star, Captain of the All Blacks and fellow glider pilot, Richie McCaw. This was the only social event that Richie is doing this side of the Rugby World Cup and ticket prices reflected this ($100 per head) but tickets were eagerly sought after and the event was sold out. Richie, of course, is Alex’ cousin and shared his thoughts on Alex’ success at his 1000 k flight, when he himself, flying the same course on the same day, didn’t make it. He also shared thoughts on elite sport, from rugby to cricket, views on potential career choices for himself (they all involve aviation) and a look at the psychology of building up to a major World event like the Rugby World Cup. He answered questions from the floor. An auction of items with Mike Oakley as auctioneer, was supported by local businesses but the stars of the auction were the signed All Black training jersey and two signed photos of Richie and Dan Carter, arm in arm at the end of the last game they would play together as Crusaders in Canterbury. The auction and breakfast between them netted about half of the funds needed to get the team to the contest. Further fundraising ideas are being developed.
May–July 2015
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logbook may–july 2015 Youth Glide Secretary Enya McPherson receives prestigious award
Grand Prix Racing 2015 The first GP race of the year was held at Worcester in the Cape Mountains of South Africa in January and produced some spectacular races. The fastest race speed was 189.9 kph by Laurens Goudriaan of South Africa during race 4 with a fantastic flight around 475 kilometres. Even the slowest winning race speed was 138 kilometres per hour. The contest was a close match with a battle for first place between Laurens and Uli Schwenk of Germany but Laurens’ last two day wins clinched the first place and this top pair blew away the opposition with their consistent and very fast flying. The race location at Worcester has proved itself to have a great potential as a Grand Prix site and many pilots are keen to fly the another event there. See all the results and event videos at http://www. sgp.aero/southafrica2015 1 Lourens Goudriaan South Africa 2 Uli Schwenk Germany 3 Holger Karow German The 2nd GP was in Santiago, Chile in May 1 Gintautas Zube Lithuania 2 Thomas Gostner Italy 3 René Vidal Chile
JS 1c-18 evo JS 1b evo JS 1b Ventus 2ax Ventus 2ax Ventus 2ax
Young female aviator and active Youth Glide member Enya McPherson was presented with the inaugural Airwomen’s Association, Air New Zealand, Ann Barbarich Leadership Award by David Morgan, Operational and People Safety Officer, Air New Zealand at the recent New Zealand Association of Women in Aviation (NZAWA) Rally. Held over Queen’s Birthday Weekend at Waipukurau, the rally Receiving award from David Morgan, saw a gathering of more than Operational Officer, Air NZ. eighty women from all aviation disciplines, from student pilots to commercial pilots with more than 10,000 hours logged. Competitions were held at all levels and for the first time in many years the two gliding trophies were contested. One was a precision flying exercise finishing in a precision landing and the other a non-instrument circuit – quite a challenge on an airfield that you’ve never even seen before. The crowning event of the weekend was guest speaker David Morgan’s eulogy to member and friend of nearly everyone there, Captain Ann Barbarich. Ann had been a pioneer of women in aviation within Air New Zealand, a glider pilot, parachutist, power pilot and mentor of many women through the NZAWA. She died suddenly at the end of last year. David’s eulogy segued into the awarding of a Leadership Award, created by Air New Zealand in her honour. Enya McPherson is a fitting recipient of this award. She has an aviation history that started in the Air Training Corp, moved into Youth Glide through the Whenuapai Aviation Sports Club and she is now learning to fly power with the North Shore Aero Club. When she is not flying something Enya is a student of Medical Imaging. As she is an active member of Youth Glide I think we are allowed to feel a little proud that we have helped her achieve this aviation success.
And as we go to print the 3rd GP has just wrapped up in Varese in Italy. “On the last competition day an interesting fight was expected for the last qualification place because after race 5, there was not only a tie between Panek and Znidarrsic for second place but depending on the final day’s results, three other pilots still had the possibility of finishing second.” 1 2 3
Sebastian Kawa Poland Zdislaw Bednarczuk Poland Petr Panek Czech Republic
There is one more qualifying event to be held in Poland in June before the final of the round in Varese in September.
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Enya with Ann Barbarich’s family who were there to see the award presented. Husband Michael Bacher, son Alex, Enya, and daughter Bianca
logbook may–july 2015
News News from International Gliding Commission (IGC) Plenary The IGC Plenary meeting took place in Lausanne (SUI) on 27 – 28 February 2015. There were 33 countries represented. As usual, it was an opportunity to renew international friendships as well as to do the business of the Commission. The social highlight was an elegant dinner on Friday night, generously provided by a retiring member whose identity was kept secret until the dinner itself.
NEWS IGC has begun its third formal study of the structure of World and Continental Gliding Championships. A group has been formed that will make recommendations for the number and frequency of Championships, and the number of Classes supported. Earliest change to the championships calendar would be in 2020, and the earliest that new class definitions would take effect would be 2021. At the request of FAI, the sport of Gliding will be represented at the next World Air Games in Dubai (UAE), in December 2015. This will be particularly challenging for IGC because there are no soaring conditions expected, and the competition area is restricted to a 5 km box! Loek Boermanns presented his final report as President of OSTIV, the only scientific organization within FAI. At a special meeting of OSTIV members, Prof. Dr. Ing. Rolf Radespiel was elected as new President of OSTIV.
BADGE AND RECORD RULES The following changes were made to the main section of Sporting Code Section 3: ›› Only the Start Line will be used (no more OZ starts). ›› Barographs will no longer be used at all. ›› The 10 km Turn Point separation rule has been deleted. ›› A Silver Distance claim will require a fix at least 50 km from home. ›› The World Class record category is replaced by the 13.5 Metre Class record category.
As well as Grand Prix events, the European contest season is ramping up with the International Gliding Cup in Klix, Germany just wrapping up.
COMPETITION RULES These changes were made to Sporting Code Section 3, Annex A: ›› The Finish must stay open until sunset. ›› Club Class handicaps will be adjusted for very lightweight pilots. ›› For scoring, the optimum (not necessarily last) Start will be used. ›› The distinction between primary and backup Flight Recorder is deleted. And these proposals will return for voting next year: ›› Increased maximum take-off mass in the 20 Metre Multiseat Class ›› Devaluation of “distance” days ›› Changes to Team Cup calculation ›› Legibility of Contest ID on gliders
FUTURE COMPETITIONS The 2018 World Gliding Championships were awarded to Czech Republic in the Open, 18 Metre and 20 Metre Multiseat Classes; and to Poland in the 15 Metre, Standard, and Club Classes. There was no discussion of whether this re-grouping of classes will be temporary or permanent.
AWARDS Lilienthal Gliding Medal: Loek Boermanns (NED) Pirat Gehriger Diploma: Antonio Martinez-Moneo Rico (ESP) Pelagia Majewska Medal: Ritz de Luy (NED)
ELECTIONS President: Eric Mozer First Vice-President: Brian Spreckley Vice-Presidents: Terry Cubley, Christof Geissler, Rene Vidal, Marina Vigorito, Alexander Georgas Secretary of Honour: Peter Eriksen
New Zealander John Coutts 5th on IGC World ranking chart
Following his 2nd place finish in 18m class at the Worlds in Lezsno last year and 1st Place in Rieti the year before, along with good results in various Grand Prix and South African contests John Coutts is 5th in the current World Rankings. Once the IGC sanctioned European Championships are held these rankings will change. Ahead of John on the list are: 1 Sebastian Kawa Poland 2 Michael Sommer Germany 3 Karol Staryszak Poland 4 Bert Shmelzer Belgium
May–July 2015
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logbook may–july 2015 FAI Young Artists Awards
The young artists’ awards this year had the theme of the World Air Games Dubai. The winning artworks are gorgeous. To see them all, follow the link from the FAI website main page. 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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in NZ please contact: 2-seater - with or without engine Theo Newfield 18m Self Launcher L/D = 50:1 71 Penruddock Rise Top Gun in Racing Class Christchurch 18m unflapped glider (also with engine) New Zealand 18m flapped with and without engine Tel: (03) 3388362 May–July 2015 11 new Open Class 2-seater Fax: (03)3388374 Mobile: 0274326015 self Launcher with 18 and /or 21m wingspan
Centralines 2015 Central Districts Gliding Championships By Jason Kelly
Waipukurau Airfield 15 – 21 February
Fourteen gliders took the opportunity to fly in this low key regional championship which is used as a training ground for new competition pilots. A World Class (competed in with PW5s at this competition) and a combined Open / Club class were tasked and scored. The contest organiser Max Stevens put together an experienced team to run the contest.
Sunday 15 February After a non-event practice day due to poor weather, Sunday saw a morning of rigging and preparation. The contest was opened with contest director Neil Faulknor welcoming pilots to the event. After some great weather in the previous weeks, the competition start invited drought breaking weather, unfortunately not with much rain but cool south easterlies. A forecast of overcast skies with patchy drizzle and some clear patches with thermals for the day meant no task was called by task setter Graham White. However, local soaring was possible and a number of pilots launched to view the area with the longest flight being almost two hours.
Monday 16 February The morning weather looked promising, so gliders were gridded
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May–July 2015
Photo Keith Cammock Photo Keith Cammock
The Grid
and tasks set with big circles around the turn points to allow challenges for all pilots. However, the forecast overdevelopment came in at around noon and cut off the heating. A PW5 was launched as a sniffer but was quickly back on the ground. Once the day was officially cancelled, the temperature rose as the cloud thinned which did allow some local soaring.
Tuesday 17 February The weather reverted to normal and a task was set with launch at 12:15 pm. After some hiccups, everyone was on task by 1:50 pm and enjoyed reasonable thermals to 5,000 feet AGL and a challenging task in parts. The sky was best in the east which is not the norm here and was contrary to the RASP forecast. A pair of pilots completed a competition task for the first time which is great as these regionals are for training. A couple of
Photo Keith Cammock
Photo Keith Cammock
Thermals 17 February 2015
GPS files couldn’t be read in the open class but most pilots had a smile on their face and looked forward to another flying day tomorrow.
Wednesday 18 February Lots of happy faces again today after another successful racing day. Launch was delayed somewhat with a wait for the temperature to rise on the ground and then the wind changed so the grid had to change ends. All gliders were launched by 2:30 pm into a largely blue sky but climbs of 3-500 feet/min were there with lift topping out between 5 and 6,000 feet. The PW5s had mostly blue thermals in the east with a little cloud later on while the open class could take advantage of the cloud which formed with a convergence running to the ranges in the west. At Te Aute looking to the May–July 2015
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Photo Keith Cammock
centralines 2015
Heading for home
next turn at Gwavas, the lift was marked with wispy cloud which developed more as the day progressed. Along the top of the ranges another convergence had formed which gave a climb to 8,000 feetand it was possible to run along this south until it ran out west of Ormondville. Some pilots elected not to push in to the ranges and had slower runs as a result. Two more climbs in the convergence over the flats had pilots on final glide from Tikokino back to Waipukurau via Rakautatahi.
Thursday 19 February It was another reasonable day despite a southwest wind arriving to try and spoil the fun. The PW5s found the wind too much to fly the task but the open had a challenging day with thermals broken but workable up to 4,500 feet. A convergence west of Te Aute made the day by making the southern turn possible. Six pilots got round. Due to some misunderstandings about airspace, there were some infringements that had to be sorted. David Hirst won the day at 98 kph, a good effort, with Hugh de Latour second - honours to the two Ventus CT pilots. Obviously wingspan helped today!
Friday 20 February Yes! Four competition days in a row which wasn’t the long term forecast for the week. An earlier start was had as sea breezes were forecast for later in the day. Thermals to 5,000 feet to start then up to 6,000 feet in the higher country to the west had everyone out on track early and around the top turn before the sea breeze effect had arrived there. The sky looked good as far
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May–July 2015
as one could see in any direction, so maybe a longer task could have been possible but would have made it hard at the end as the sea breeze convergence moved well inland. Some pilots ran down the ranges again towards the southern turn where the choice was back up the middle of the plains or deviate to the convergence in the east. As it turned out, the convergence was the better choice although not by a huge margin. Most pilots were on final glide from the second to last turn but the easterly and sinking air on the other side of the convergence was there to catch out the unwary. A group dinner out together in the evening was held today as most pilots were due to depart after flying tomorrow. It was a great way to round off a very pleasant day.
Saturday 21 February We waited on the ground but unfortunately the conditions prevented setting a task. However, most pilots had a flight in the local area. There was a westerly with large areas of overdevelopment and a limited soarable area. This was a pity because thermals in the area were 6-800 feet/min to 6,500 feet for two hours or so. Some pilots found limited wave west of the field with convergence in the east for 20 km or so. Later in the afternoon rain showers pushed through with the front with a late clearance and a temperature still around 25°C. After what turned out to be a great week of flying with at least local flying possible every day, the Keith Cammock and Craig Hunter combination won the World Class contest, Ross
Photo Keith Cammock
centralines 2015
Photo Keith Cammock
Launching into a good looking sky
Photo Keith Cammock
Taylor was the top Club Class pilot and Graham White retained the Open/Standard class titles. Daily Open Class tasks and scores are on Soaring Spot at http://www.soaringspot.com/ cds2015/. With thermals every day and well set tasks resulting in only three land outs in the entire competition over all classes, this shows the great flying conditions available in Hawkes Bay. In the unlikely event of a land out being required, there are many large fields available as safe landing areas. Thanks to contest director Neil Faulknor; weatherman, task setter and scorer Graham White; tow pilots and all the helpers. Thanks also to our sponsors Centralines and New World Waipukurau. A great thank you is also due to Margaret Keir, the master chef, who spoiled all present with two fantastic steak meals which were much appreciated by all who attended. We hope to see more pilots and hangerons for next year’s event. At prize giving, Tony van Dyk challenged all those present to bring at least one extra person next year whether they be a pilot or volunteer to help on the ground. Other Central Districts gliding clubs are also asked to help support the running of their local event.
REsults The Keith Cammock/Craig Hunter combination winning the PW5 contest, Ross Taylor top club class and Graham White Open/Std.
May–July 2015
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Juniors
WORLDWIDE By Jill McCaw
New Zealand has Youth Glide NZ, our evolving and growing movement of young people becoming involved in aviation through gliding. It has been acknowledged that with the predominantly aging gliding population throughout the country, encouraging young people into the sport is vital to its long term viability. The same applies worldwide. Jill McCaw thought she would find out what is happening in other countries to encourage young people into the sport.
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I
t is four years ago that my son Alex first went to Australia to fly at ‘JoeyGlide’, the Australian Junior Nationals and I became aware that the junior gliding movement in Australia was much bigger than ours. It is big enough in fact to be able to host its own competition and is run very differently to what we do in New Zealand. Also about four years ago I met a Swedish visitor to Omarama, Kjell Folkesson, who expressed a great deal of interest in Youth Glide as he was working on a similar project at his own club. A couple of years ago, Youth Glide founding member Abbey Delore attended the Soaring Society of America’s annual conference and spoke about Youth Glide, its aims and achievements and how it worked (see Issue 27, May 2012). Her talk was a show stopper. It was all everyone at the conference was talking about. No one in America seemed to have given a great deal of thought to the issue in the past. So what is the state of youth or junior flying around the world? Is Youth Glide unique?
juniors worldwide So what is the state of youth or junior flying around the world? Photo Eliška Machová
Is Youth Glide unique?
Youth gliding in Sweden
Abbey Delore at the SSA Convention in Reno, Nevada, February, 2012. Her presentation material and delivery were of a high calibre, well beyond her modest years. YSDC participants 2012
South Africa
USA
John Coutts reports that in South Africa, and he thinks it is the same elsewhere in the world, junior gliding is struggling. In our main Johannesburg club (Magaliesburg Gliding Club) there are perhaps one of two members of less than 25yrs of age that are solo and active. The only gliding club that has a strong junior following is the Akaflieg Potchefstroom which is a gliding club of perhaps some 40 members. The club is located in the student town of Potchefstroom and has its roots with the university. Uys Jonker may correct me but I believe that the club was started by himself and Attie (who were both involved as lecturers at the university; Attie still is) and a few other individuals not associated with the university but with a great interest in gliding. I think the club has grown from strength to strength and now has perhaps one quarter of its members from the university. Uys and Attie Jonker obviously then went on to create the very successful JS1 and now the glider factory, gliding club and university have a strong relationship.
I approached Erick Bick, editor of Soaring, the SSA magazine with my questions on youth gliding in America. Apparently there is very little happening there. I am putting your query in the Mail section of the June issue of Soaring magazine with your contact information. This will ensure it is getting to the widest possible distribution. There is considerable interest in the US in getting youth more involved, so I would expect one or more organizations to pick up on your request. In general, I would say there isn’t one single program, but perhaps we’ll both discover whether this is correct or not. I am hopeful that Erick’s ad will bring contact with individual clubs with youth programmes and I will update if this is so.
Sweden Kjell Folkesson, who provided a story on his club’s successful youth camp for SoaringNZ back in January 2012, reports a slightly disappointing story of recent times in Sweden. We do not have a national youth soaring programme but May–July 2015
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juniors worldwide
Swedish correspondent Kjell Folkesson is actively involved in Swedish Youth Soaring and development camps.
last year a long weekend junior camp was organised for the first time in 20 years. Unfortunately it was not a success. It was poorly organised with too many participants and not enough instructors which left most of those there waiting for their turn to fly. Several of them did not even get a flight. There is no plan for a similar camp to be run again for some time. While we have no national youth programme the Swedish Sports Confederation has, in the last 10 years, given around NZ$150 000 to the Swedish Airsport Federation to give out to club activities involving youth (up to 25 years). This can be used for activities aimed at encouraging new members or retaining existing ones. Each project can receive a maximum of NZ$4,000 and one club can receive a maximum of NZ$12,000 per year. It is very sad to see that every year the Airsport Federation has been forced to give money back because there are not enough projects running in our clubs. There are 4-6 gliding clubs doing projects each year and of course it is these clubs that have some youth activities. Fifteen years ago virtually none of our clubs had special
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prices for youth members and the number of junior pilots was dropping. Today, more than 50% of the clubs have special prices for youth and the number of young pilots is increasing but it is still very small. Nationally we have 2232 members, 2057 male, 175 female (that number is also growing). 183/2232 are younger than 21 and 92/2232 are 22 to 25 years old. That is 275 under 25, around 12 percent. I fly with the Borås Gliding club and we are proud that we have many active junior pilots. We dislike the fact that in the Swedish Junior Nationals, we only have Borås pilots and maybe one other from another club. Looking ahead to December and the Junior World Gliding Contest, there will be two or maybe three participants from Sweden and they will all be from Borås. In the past our club has organized a junior camp each year at Västergötlands Flygsportförbund, giving training in thermal and cross-country and our club’s participation in the junior contest shows the results. Our last camp was cancelled due to the failed national camp. It was assumed that it would be
Photo Clement Allen
Photo Eliška Machová
Photo Clement Allen
juniors worldwide
Photos taken from The UK’s Junior Winter Series
successful and that our members would therefore not need our camp. It is two years since we last held our camp and we hope to start it up again. In summary, there exists plenty of money for clubs to do youth activities but there are not many who do it. Borås, Örebro and Göteborg are the most active gliding clubs who organize youth projects through the Swedish Sports Confederation’s funding. It seems a little incomprehensible that with funds available, that the Swedish clubs aren’t doing more.
United Kingdom One country where junior gliding is doing very well is Britain. Steve Pozerskis reports that junior gliding is strong in the UK. He is a member of the Junior Development Team which has the sole aim of promoting Junior Gliding. ‘The Team’ consists of two current Juniors and two recent Juniors (ages at present 22 to 28) and is overseen by Andy Perkins who leaves most of the decision making to us. The
Development Team works at liaising with schools, Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme participants, scholarship, mentoring etc. to bring young people into the sport. As well as this, there are youth initiatives through clubs. Most clubs have a ‘cadet’ scheme with reduced costs for Junior members. Some clubs offer free competition entry for instance, in return for driving the winch or other chores. There are also funds and trusts which provide scholarships and help finance young people into the sport. The movement aims to get young people into competition flying and the British Gliding Association (BGA) has a budget to include free aero tows and cheap entry fees to some contests although this has reduced recently. A Junior Nationals is held every year and after a low point in 2011 with only fifteen entries, the Junior Development Team (JDT) was established. Through the efforts of various individuals the JDT have restored the Junior Nationals back to 50+ entries and 50 Juniors regularly attend the Winter Series weekends. The Winter Series was originally envisioned as a contest but
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juniors worldwide
Joey Glide Australia 2013
instead became a forum to reward effort and enterprise. The Winter Series is a round of three winter weekends at various ridge/wave sites. Often the weather doesn’t suit early solo pilots so they end up as P2, learning and growing with the rest of the team. This has helped build the group of Juniors into a closely knit, friendly group and it continues to grow. People used to drift away from the sport when we had only one event (for juniors) a year. Now we have four or five events and people stay keen and involved. They don’t want to miss out.
Australia Adam Webb, previous President of the Australian Junior Gliding Club (AJGC), AJGC representative to the GFA and Contest Director for the upcoming Junior Worlds this year, tells us about the Australian Junior scene. The Australian Junior Gliding Club (AJGC) was formed in 2007 as a club to bring together juniors throughout Australia. While anyone is welcome to join the AJGC, membership is aimed at (and cheaper for) junior pilots under the age of 26. The club is run by a committee who are elected annually at the AGM and at least the President, VP, Secretary and Treasurer must be under 26 when elected. The AJGC is also now represented on the GFA Board with an ex-officio junior member nominated by the AJGC committee attending Board meetings. This is a great opportunity for the AJGC and Australian junior movement to have input into the decisions being made at the top level of the sport. The AJGC’s biggest annual event is JoeyGlide which includes the Australian Junior National championships and a coaching week which is run alongside the competition. JoeyGlide’s coaching week aims to bring junior pilots who are solo but without much cross country or competition experience up to a level where they can fly competitions solo. Many of the coachees return in following years to fly in the JoeyGlide
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competition. JoeyGlide has now been running for 11 years and is growing every year. JoeyGlide 2014 was used as the pre-World competition for the 2015 FAI Junior Worlds which will be held in Narromine. Other than JoeyGlide, the AJGC also supports junior pilots’ flying in many ways. The AJGC has its own glider - an Astir CS which is available for juniors to fly at competitions and coaching weeks throughout the year. The AJGC can also support pilots financially to get to the next stage in gliding, whether that’s a State or Worlds competition, or support towards an instructor rating or other qualification. Having said that, one of the most important thing that the AJGC and JoeyGlide does is bring junior pilots from all over Australia together, and the social aspects associated with that. Many pilots come from clubs where they may be one of only a few juniors and to come together with other young people with the same interest can help keep people in the sport and start lifelong friendships. The RAAF and Australian Air Force Cadets have also upgraded their fleet and are introducing hundreds of young people to gliding every year. This is increasing the amount of young people coming into the sport, and we are working hard to ensure that as many young pilots as possible continue gliding outside of the AAFC flying. I don’t know what the numbers are of juniors compared to the overall membership but I’m confident that this number is increasing and that we are seeing an increased number of young people staying in the sport after solo.
New Zealand Here in NZ we have Youth Glide – the national organisation that grew from the seminal work of Tom Shields and Gavin Wills in Omarama and Roger Read in Canterbury. If you don’t know
juniors worldwide
A group of Scouts are introduced to gliding
young people through gliding. I’m very proud to have been a minor part of the process in making this happen. But let’s not get complacent. Youth Glide could still fall over if it doesn’t get the support it needs to keep building the momentum. What Youth Glide has in common with AJGC and JDT is that we are successful at bringing young people into the sport and keeping them involved. The common denominator with these organisations seems to be that there is a strong emphasis on the social side of having young, like-minded people sharing not just the adventure of learning to fly but a great deal of their social time and activities with each other. I would be very interested to learn of youth/junior initiatives in countries we haven’t covered in this article. I have feelers out in a few places but if you know of an interesting programme or would like to have your say, please contact the editor at soaringnz@mccawmedia.co.nz Photo John McCaw
about Youth Glide then visit the website and learn all about it. Youth Glide is quietly growing the national gliding membership, increasing the incoming talent pool of organisers, officers and committee members of the future and adding vitality to the movement out of proportion to their numbers. Youth Glide’s point of difference to the Australian Junior Gliding Club and UK’s Junior Development Team is that Youth Glide pays lip service at least to this mission statement: Using the sport of Gliding to inspire and develop young people’s imagination, character and self-determination with the excitement and possibilities of flight as a lifelong adventure sport or a fulfilling aviation related career prospect. Youth Glide is not supposed to be just about the gliding and in practice that does seem to be the case. We have Youth Glide alumni in aviation careers, achieving in international gliding competitions and participating as instructors and committee members at the club level. We have grown successful confident
Youth Soaring Development Camp 2013
May–July 2015
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Photo John McCaw
The Shark
is coming compiled By JILL MCCAW
Graham Johnson’s new Shark
Something new to New Zealand will soon be flying the skies of Canterbury. Canterbury Gliding Club member Graham Johnson has imported a Self-Launching Shark. (Cue the Jaws music.) The HpH Shark self-launcher is a single seat, flapped, racing class sailplane with a brand new wing design. It is offered with 18m wing extensions and a 15m tip option. The following information is supplied by HpH Ltd. HpH Ltd is a Czech company which has been involved in aircraft and glider manufacture and particularly Fiberglass / Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic high performance gliders. They gained the rights to produce the Glasflügel gliders and the HpH Glasflügel 304 variations have been in production since 1997. The Shark, while built on these foundations (and looking very familiar to someone who used to love a Hornet), is a completely new design. The company says: “this is not a face lift of existing technology, but the very latest in what can only be considered to be state of the art technology. It is a completely new sailplane. Many of the traditional solutions and sailplane standards have been reconsidered, updated, and incorporated into this new design. This results in a distinctly attractive, highly ergonomic sailplane that will satisfy pleasure seeking glider pilots, succeed in contests, and surprise even the most aesthetically exacting customers.” The Shark’s construction allows for various engine installations including Jet Self-sustainer, Self-Launcher and Front Electric Sustainer.
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›› Best OVER LD 51:1 ›› Min Sink 0.8Knots at 36Knots ›› Maximum all up weight (MAUW) 600Kg ›› Up to 240L of water ballast ›› One of the few sailplanes compliant to the latest version of CS22 (Resulting in the best Safety cockpit available) ›› Outstanding build quality ›› Superb ‘balanced’ handling with fast roll-rate The HpH Shark meets the new specifications for contest flying. Equipped with speed flaps, it was optimized for the FAI 18M class and is being certified to a maximum all up weight (MAUW) of 600Kg. The airfoil is just 13.2% of chord in thickness, designed this way to reduce the influence of insect contamination on flight performance. Towards the root, the thickness increases to 16.4% of chord with special care having been taken to the wing root/fuselage transition. The wing planform offers optimal lift distribution and is made possible due to the direct in-house CAD to CNC mould cutting equipment. Very few of the largest sailplane manufacturers are able to achieve this in house. The consequence is rapid mould fabrication, not just for the wings but for the many moulded parts that come together to make a modern sailplane. The wing ends with an elliptically-formed leading edge, the curved wingtips are specially shaped to minimise the induced drag. The wing inner structure and its reinforcement resulted from detailed FEM calculations in combination with numerous stress and destruction tests. The result is a carbon fibre structure that makes the cruising flight very comfortable and offers maximum performance in both strong and weak soaring conditions. Construction shows attention to the highest detail using
Photo John McCaw
Photo John McCaw
Photo John McCaw
Photo John McCaw
the shark is coming
Graham Johnson and his new glider
state of the art CNC technology. Water ballast is located in integral wing tanks with a 240 Litre capacity, 180 Litre in SJ and MS models. Additional tail ballast tanks, and optional fuselage ballast tanks, together with a MAUW of 600Kg allows the maximum wing surface loading to reach 50.8Kg/m2. This combination results in a MEASURED L/D ratio of 51.2. Three paddle airbrakes are provided allowing outstanding approach control and are necessary to achieve this result yet fit inside the thin (13%) wing when closed. Pilots as tall as 6’ 6”, and up to 125 Kg are easily accommodated by the spacious cockpit. Copious space is available in the well-designed seat pan, with a ‘Roger Hook’ for safe emergency canopy jettison integrated as standard in the solid frame.
Would you like an engine with that?
Jet Sustainer, Electric Sustainer or Water-cooled Self Launcher? With purchasing trends leaning towards gliders with engines, all fuselages are prepared for a power unit. Which one depends on your individual preference? Key components to support either the Self Launcher, Jet or the FES are inserted into the fuselage before closure of the two halves of the mould. The glider can be supplied complete with the engine installed or as a pure glider for engine retrofit at a later time. The Tailplane and Wings are identical, regardless of whether the customer chooses the Self-Launcher, Jet Sustainer, FES or pure sailplane.
HpH 304SJ - Jet Sustainer ›› Jet climb of over 3 Knots!
›› Reliable / powerful jet engine with over 700 units made ›› Approaching one hour of high-speed cruising after avoiding a field retrieve (Range 150-200 km) This engine was developed for HpH by former MTU Engineers and is based upon a well proven military power plant currently in service. Its size, weight, thrust and fuel consumption have been tailored especially for use in a glider. 1 Low Weight: Total System Weight of less than 10 Kg (22 Lbs). Widest range of wing loadings. 2 No noticeable drag when engine extended. Glider can be flown normally whilst automatic start sequence runs. 3 Wide Speed Range: It allows speeds ranging from slow climbing (3 knots) to 100 knots whilst maintaining constant thrust throughout the velocities. 4 User friendly operation: Advanced Electronics automatically control the start-up/shut-down sequence, thrust regulation as well as the retraction of the whole unit. There is no need for choke, propeller brake, decompression levers and other controls! Operate with a single switch, power up with a single knob! 5 No vibrations: Cruising with a jet engine is pleasant, you don’t feel any vibrations in the cockpit. 6 Maintenance free and easy to install: Disassemble in 30 minutes using standard tools, servicing utilises full diagnostic interrogation of the internal logging memory for state of the art engine health monitoring. 7 Optimal fuel consumption of 17 litres per 100 Km: A virtually maintenance free engine with reasonable operating costs.
HpH Shark MS - Self Launching Sailplane HpH have developed the Shark MS in close co-operation with Binder Flugmotteren, the acknowledged experts on
May–July 2015
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Photo John McCaw
Photo John McCaw
Photo John McCaw
the shark is coming
the development of self-launching solutions for many of the leading sailplane manufacturers. The main engine unit (Pylon / Prop etc.) comes directly from Binder. The engine controller is supplied by ILEC, continuing the HpH approach of selecting the best quality components and partnering with the best people for its products.
HpH Shark eS - Electric Sustainer HpH have developed the Shark eS in close co-operation with Luka Znidarsic of LZ Design, the acknowledged experts on the development of electric sustainer technology. HpH sent a complete Shark fuselage to LZ design in 2014 allowing LZ design the freedom to implement their technology onto the mature Shark platform. The FES solution, on the Shark eS complements the product offering and brings similar but different advantages to the Shark Jet. HpH remain fully committed to this product roadmap going forward.
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But Wait – There’s More… As well as the single seat version, there is a twin model about to go into production. HpH 304TS – The Twin Shark Design Specifications: ›› 20M Flapped High Performance Sailplane ›› MAUW 800 Kg (20m version) ›› VNE 148 knots ›› Best L/D 49:1 ›› Available as Self Launcher or Jet Turbo Graham Johnson expects to let his Shark fly within a month. We’ll bring you photos of it when it does.
Photo John McCaw
High Flight
By John Gillespie Magee, Jr
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds, – and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of – Wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air... Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark or even eagle flew – And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
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Alex McCaw flying the Omarama Gliding Club’s Discus 2 during the Nationals in January. Photo John McCaw
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The effect of humidity
on thermals By Bernard Eckey, Australian National Coach and author of Advance Soaring Made Easy.
During your basic theoretical training, you were probably taught that elevated ground temperatures are the driving force behind thermal activity. You would have learned that the warm air ascends until the air temperature in the thermal is equal to the temperature of the surrounding air mass.
H
owever, in Advanced Soaring Made Easy, it is repeatedly stated that moisture is a significant contributor to the strength and the height of thermals. Lately some inquisitive readers have asked for elaboration and therefore we will now look a little deeper into the matter with the help of two German specialists in this field, Meteorologist Dieter
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Etling and meteorology lecturer and longtime competition pilot Carsten Lindemann. Research dating back to the first half of the last century indicates that a temperature gradient of 3.4ºC per 100 metres in the super adiabatic layer is sufficient for the generation of thermals. This positive buoyancy appears as a force, which is not only responsible for the thermal’s initial vertical acceleration but also for the usual sink right next to updraughts. It is important to note that a thermal’s ascent doesn’t come to a sudden halt when the acceleration has reduced to zero. The thermal’s vertical speed, however, gradually diminishes due to the everpresent friction along the line of contact with the surrounding air mass. Field research by meteorologist Carsten Lindeman has provided us with real figures. Using a highly sensitive temperature and humidity recording system on board of his ASK 16
humidity on thermals
.... this proves beyond doubt
that thermals don’t come to a halt when the temperature of the rising air equals the temperature of the ambient air. time thermals have risen to half their convection height. One of the reasons for the continuing ascent is the momentum of the huge mass of rising air. Given that thermals contain between 80,000 and around 300,000 tons of air, it is quite plausible that the ascending air masses can overshoot the equilibrium level due to mass inertia. Now let’s consider what role moisture plays in all of this. To start with, we need to remember that moist air is less dense than dry air. If you find this hard to believe just imagine having a long shower and try to think whether condensation will first appear at the top or at the bottom of the bathroom mirror. Yes, condensation first appears at the top as water vapour has a lower molecular weight than dry air. Put another way, the dry air’s higher molecular weight nitrogen and oxygen molecules get replaced by lighter water vapour molecules, which makes the moist air rise above the dryer air. Condensation occurs as soon as the air around the top of the mirror is 100 % saturated. At ground level there is usually a relatively uniform level of moisture in any given parcel of air. This ‘specific humidity’ remains unchanged during a thermal ascent as long as there is no entrainment of ambient air. However, the relative humidity is changing quite rapidly as the thermal begins to rise. The reason is simple and easy to explain. The air gradually expands with increasing altitudes, which leads to a reduction in temperature and in turn to a reduced ability to absorb moisture. The end result is an increased level of relative humidity. Table 1 below shows the maximum possible moisture content at various temperatures and at an ambient pressure of 1000 hPa. Table 1: Maximum possible moisture content at various air temperatures and ∆T (see below)
A good thermal day developing at Matamata.
motor glider in Germany, he compared the temperature differentials between the air within a thermal and the surrounding air mass on a day with 1300 metre (4000 feet) cloud base and with a maximum ground temperature of 30ºC. Even quite large temperature differentials just above the ground shrank to 0.3 ºC at an altitude of 200 metres (656 feet). At an altitude of 600 metres (1968 feet) the temperature difference was down to 0.15ºC and at 1000 metres (3280 feet) a temperature difference could no longer be detected. It must be pointed out that there can be much larger temperature differences in other parts of the world and that the vertical extent of thermal development also plays a role, but this proves beyond doubt that thermals don’t come to a halt when the temperature of the rising air equals the temperature of the ambient air. Other scientists fully agree and believe that on most days, the temperature differences are eroded by the
Temperature (ºC)
-10
0
10
20
30
Maximum moisture content (g/kg of air)
1.8
3.8
7.8
15
28
∆T(ºC) (see explanation below)
0.3
0.6
1.3
2.6
5.1
If we ignore the bottom row for a moment, we can see that at a temperature of 20ºC the air can hold 15 grams of water vapour but at 10ºC it can only hold 7.8 grams or just over half the moisture content. As the thermal ascends, the air cools down and as long as there is no inversion, it will eventually reach an altitude where the relative humidity amounts to 100%. Now the air is fully saturated and the result is an instant formation of a cumulus cloud. The important point to remember is that due to a reduction in temperature, the thermal’s low initial relative humidity (at ground level) has gradually increased to 100% (at cloud base).
Meteorologists use the term ‘Virtual Temperature’ when they want to compare the density of various air masses with different temperatures and humidities. ‘Virtual temperature’ is the temperature which dry air would have to be heated to in order to possess the same density as moist air at the same pressure. The ‘Virtual temperature’ is always higher than the measured temperature. With this knowledge, let’s now focus on the bottom row of table 1. It shows the additional temperature
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humidity on thermals
(∆T) required to provide a parcel of dry air with the same density as air of the same temperature but containing the maximum amount of moisture. (In other words, just below cloud base, the humidity adds the same amount of buoyancy that you’d get from a ‘dry’ thermal that was delta-T ° [as per Table 1] hotter. This is why swamp thermals often are stronger than thermals over dry land. -Ed) If we consider a dry parcel of air with a temperature of 30ºC, we can see that it needs to be 5.1ºC warmer to have the same density as the same air with 100% relative humidity. In other words, its virtual temperature would be 35.1ºC. I have asked Dieter Etling to come up with tangible figures to explain what this has to do with the strength of thermals. He has based his calculations on the following values for the ascending parcel of air: Pressure: 1000 hPa Temperature: 20°C, Moisture/specific humidity: 6 g/kg (equal to a relative humidity of 40%) To spare you and me the mathematics, Prof. Etling has
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produced Table 2 below. It is based on different temperatures and various moisture contents of the ambient air. The bold figures in italic show the percentage contribution of moisture to the strength of an updraught in percent. Table 2: Contribution of moisture to the strength of an updraught in percent for different values of temperature and moisture of the ambient air. Temp. (°C) Difference in moisture level compared to ambient air in g/kg (or in % relative humidity) 0.5 (4)
1.0 (7)
1.5 (10)
2.0 (14)
19,5
14
26
34
42
19,0
8
15
21
27
18,5
5
10
15
11
Now we have illustrated perhaps the most significant reason why thermals continue to rise even after the initial temperature advantage has been eroded. Perhaps we have
humidity on thermals
Glossary By David Hirst
When the editor struggled with some of the terms and concepts in Bernard’s article she called on her favourite Met Guy, David Hirst to make things clearer. This list isn’t alphabetical, it’s in the order in which the terms appear in the article.
Many Kiwis head to America during out winter to experience thermal flying in Nevada.
also illustrated why thermals seem to be smoother and often significantly stronger on cumulus days and why the effect of humidity on updraughts becomes especially significant when thermals penetrate the usually dryer air of the inversion layer. We need not revise our theories on thermals but it might be a good idea to include humidity in the discussion of thermals in gliding texts. The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance and guidance by Dieter Etling, Professor at the Leibniz University at Hanover and Carsten Lindemann, a lecturer of meteorology at the Free University of Berlin.
Specific humidity: The amount of water vapour present in a volume of gas, expressed as grams (of water vapour) per kg (of other gasses) Saturated: A volume of air at a specific temperature and pressure can only contain so much water vapour before that vapour condenses. Air containing the maximum amount of water vapour is 'saturated'. Anything else is 'unsaturated'. Sometimes you see people refer to "dry" thermals; the air isn't dry but it is unsaturated. Similarly, "dry" wit does not mean "witless". Relative humidity: The amount of water vapour in a volume of air, expressed as a percentage of the saturated vapour content. 0% really is dry. 100% means fog or rain. Super adiabatic: Any layer of air where the temperature decreases with height faster than 3°C per 1000' (about 1°C per 100m) is called a super-adiabatic layer. Buoyancy: Another name for the net force on a (usually) rising object. This is the sum of all upward (pressure), downward (gravity) and resistive (friction) forces on the object. An object will keep moving at the same speed if this net force is zero. Mass Inertia: Friction applies a velocity-dependent force, which will eventually reduce the air's momentum to zero. The air may slowly slide to a stop or overshoot once and then stop, or 'bounce' like this a few times. Molecular displacement: Adding drunk people to a room at a party causes more inter-personal collisions (i.e. pressure). To relieve the pressure, sober people decide to leave the room, so the average room sobriety decreases. Similarly, a given volume of gas at a constant pressure and temperature can only hold a fixed number of molecules, whatever they are. If you add water vapour (18g/mol) to air, the H2O molecules displace some N2 (28g/mol), O2 (32g/mol) and CO2 (44g/mol) molecules. "mol" means a "mole" of molecules; 6.023 x 1023 molecules to be precise. Virtual temperature: Humid air is less dense than dry air. Warm air is less dense than cold air. ‘Virtual temperature’ is the temperature which dry air would have to be heated to in order to possess the same density as moist air at the same pressure. The ‘Virtual temperature’ is always higher than the measured temperature. In other words, any humid air at one temperature can be thought of as a dry air at a higher virtual temperature. ∆T: The difference between air's virtual temperature and its actual temperature. David would like to add a different opinion to Bernard’s concluding paragraph. “I presume Bernard's saying that moister air makes for stronger thermals. I disagree. The difference in humidity between 'blue' days and cumulus days is often not that great. Thermal smoothness should not be correlated with thermal strength.” Thank you David for your input.
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50 years Around Gliders By Fred McKee
I haven’t soloed a glider for three years but I still have an interest in Nelson Lakes Gliding Club and feel I’m an active part of the club. I have now been around gliders for 50 years.
I
t all started for me away back in 1961 when my brother-inlaw Peter Cotton (later President of Canterbury Gliding Club) and I agreed to give gliding a shot. We jumped the fence at Wigram Airport where the Canterbury Gliding club was based. Unfortunately an accident on aero tow had occurred the very day we asked the then CFI, Stewart Cain, if we could join the club. He wasn’t very enthusiastic about having us around. We left it a month then re-jumped the fence and took trial flights. We were both successfully hooked and began training in the club’s old T-31. We loved it and were soon flying the club’s Skylark 2 GBX around the circuit. Soaring the Port Hills in a norwester was the place to be back then. One day the norwester strengthened and I left it a bit late to head back to Wigram. I got caught short and landed in the grounds of the Catholic nun’s training school. I was soon surrounded by a group of very concerned girls in white. After a reluctant farewell, I called up the plane for a tow back to Wigram. We enjoyed many a long weekend camp in places near Culverden, Hororata, Burnt Hill, Mount Cook and Omarama. These camps were usually family affairs and great fun flying in new country. Being based at Wigram in the ‘60s meant we often made happy hour at the Bush Inn (just around the corner), a convenient watering hole after a hard day’s flying. Dick Georgeson was the top gun in those days with his shiny new Slingsby Dart. There was Bill Meaclem Secretary/treasurer, Dennis McKillop tug pilot, Stewart Cain CFI. Among other keen flyers at that time were Errol Carr, Eric van Notten and a very young Bruce Drake. Many of us soloed on the old club T-31. I joined a Skylark 2 - GCM syndicate with Peter Cotton, Des O’Conner, Bert Jarman, Wally Puentener and Andy Yates. One classic day a freak wave right over Wigram took several of us to 13,000 feet.
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May–July 2015
Soaring the Port Hills was always good value. It sometimes included beating up the nurses sunbathing on the roof of the Princess Margaret Hospital on the way home. These were the early days of wave flying but Dick knocked off several world records at that time, including the memorable one from Tower Peak at the bottom of the South Island up to Hicks Bay – 1254 km. It is great to see my old club thriving in their amazing new venue. During my time with Nelson Lakes I’ve gone mountain climbing without boots. It was my wife Pam’s idea to pay for a flight for me with Nelson Lakes Gliding Club’s flight in 2004. After twenty minutes in the club’s Twin Astir with Ivan Evans I was hooked – again – bringing me back to gliding after a yawning gap of 37 years. My logbook proved the point, the previous entry dated 14/3/71 with a check flight in the club’s Rhonlerche trainer Bravo Whisky in Nelson. After all that time, BW and another ex-club single seater FF (now owned by Andy Benton) were still capable of out climbing a lot of others in a good thermal. Soaring up the Travers Valley recently was an amazing experience. I was lucky enough to grab the back seat of the twin Astir with CFI Rob Corlett. Rather than sweating up rock faces with pack and boots as I used to do, I just sat back and enjoyed the views. After a 10 minute aero tow to the upper slopes of the St Arnauds, a light westerly up the face plus the odd thermal popping off a warm shingle slide took us to 6500 feet. From there we had great views of Lake Rotoiti , Mt Travers and beyond. It was great to be amongst it, climbing the mountains the easy way.
A Tale of a Glider
ZK–GJK Juliet Kilo By Jill McCaw
Once upon a time there were three standard Cirrus’ arrive in New Zealand. They were JH, JJ, and JK.
T
he men who imported them were Bruce Drake, Theo Newfield and John Trotter in syndicate with Doug Saywell and Peter Cummins. The first two names are familiar to many NZ glider pilots as they are still active in gliding in the South Island (or in Bruce’s case) active on the periphery of the sport. John Trotter, the owner of JK passed away just over 23 years ago and had been an active member of the North Otago Gliding Club in the ‘50s through to the ‘80s. He took his last flight in the glider sometime in the early ‘80s. John Trotter was the uncle of Donald, John and Hamish McCaw and great uncle of Richie and Alex McCaw - all well-known names in gliding these days. JK was first flown in Germany in August ’74 and test flown in NZ on 15/12/74. Through the years various McCaw family members came to own shares. Donald, Hamish, John and their father Jim all owned bits of it at one time or another – from half shares to something like 6th shares to “I think I had a few thousand dollars left in it for a while,” shares. Back in 1987, when I first met John McCaw he was the sole flying member of the syndicate. Sadly, I never got to fly JK. I was a fairly low hour pilot and an Aucklander to boot. I wasn’t to be trusted flying around the big hills of the South Island in such a ‘twitchy’ machine. The Cirrus has an all flying tailplane and is renowned for pitching if the pilot relaxes on the take-off roll (or at any time really). Donald reported that, “It can be ‘savage’ in a loop,” and he laughed. The tailplane places limits on the airspeed and there has been trouble in the past with Cirrus’ over speeding. In 1993 John and I had been married a couple of years and had baby Alex crawling through our lives. We needed money to do up our home and put down new carpet. With the agreement of the remaining family syndicate members the glider was sold to a syndicate in Waipukurau in the North Island. Donald drove
A champion in the making. Alex McCaw already reaching for the stick 21 years ago.
it to Picton and waved it farewell. It has had two owners since then and been very well cared for. Fast forward twenty plus years. We left the farm 19 years ago and now live in Christchurch. Alex is now a champion pilot. Quite a bit has changed in our lives but gliding has remained a constant. When we, John and I and Alex, decided that the best way to help Alex train for his World Championship aspirations was to buy a glider of our own, well, look what was for sale. JK was owned by Kerry Eggars of Motueka and based at Nelson Lakes. We bought it. It has been an absolute delight to have JK back in the family. Pulling her out of the trailer is like déjà vu. It is just so familiar and yet she is a better glider now than she used to be. Her surface is immaculate. She can land on a dime now thanks to an upgrade in airbrakes. Landing used to be much more problematic. Rigging and tow out gear has been custom made and she slips together easily. Alex and John are thoroughly enjoying trying her out and Alex took her from Nelson Lakes to the Kaikouras on his first flight in her. I’ll be flying her next summer once I’m current again. And the other two Cirrus’? JH was destroyed in an accident in the Waeranga Valley in 1989. JJ is going strong and in fact Hamish bought a share of that glider in 2007. Whose Cirrus is the best? Watch out next Club Class Nationals because that question will have to be answered. The McCaws and their Cirrus’ are likely to clean up. No-one else will stand a chance. May–July 2015
33
Tow plane
Towing Performance Comparison By Glyn Jackson
Several clubs around the country are in the process of investigating options for tow planes as Pawnees age, noise restrictions come into being and the price of towing increases across the board.
Glyn Jackson of the Taranaki Gliding Club didn’t set out to compare tow planes by personally flying behind fourteen different ones. Once he had done so however he realised that he was in a unique position to compare and contrast the various aircraft and their efficiency tugs.
T
wo events occurred during the winter of 2013: (A) the Taranaki Gliding Club’s Pawnee ZK-RWS engine failed it’s annual inspection and was thus declared unserviceable and (B) the glider that I had imported over winter (Ventus-2a GVV) arrived in NZ . To fly item (B) I had two options: (i) fly on the occasions that the Taranaki Gliding Club could secure a third party tug or (ii) make road trips to fly at other gliding club sites. I was pretty keen to fly, so I did both. In the process I was towed by a lot of different tugs. There are still a handful of NZ tugs that I have not yet had the opportunity to be towed by and I am looking forward to this experience in the future. I am hugely grateful to all the clubs that provided me with tows during the 2013-2014 and the 2014-2015 gliding seasons. When presenting this data, I am conscious that it is inevitable that some tugs will appear at the top of a table and others at the bottom, which could please some and displease others. This is in no way an attempt at tow plane endorsement or tow plane bashing. All the tugs are great and I enjoyed each and every tow from each one of them. Please read
34
May–July 2015
this article in the spirit that it is intended – that being the academic sharing of data and perhaps inspiration for further research and study. I did not set out to gather data on tug performance nor write this article, but a very interesting discussion about tug performance on the grid at Omarama in November 2014 got me thinking. It subsequently occurred to me that one objective measure of tow plane performance would be the combination climb rate on tow (feet/min). A scientific way to measure the average combination climb rate on tow is to take two points in time/space using a calibrated instrument and the IGC flight logger that I had been carrying around in my glider for the previous two years was exactly the instrument required. Looking back through my logbook and IGC files, I saw that I had undertaken 39 tows in the same glider (GVV), at an all up weight of 330kg (+/- 1kg), with 14 different New Zealand tow planes. The data set is quite unique in that it only has three variables: tow plane performance, airfield density altitude and time the combination spent in rising/descending air during the tow. The variable ‘tow plane performance’ includes the tow pilot’s flying technique, choice of tug flap settings, choice of fuel carried, etcetera. I initially thought that airfield altitude (more correctly density altitude) would be an important variable but only 2 of the 14 tow planes operated from sea level airfields, and these two tow planes do not stand out as outlying data. Furthermore some airfields (such as Omarama) have several different tugs operating (where density altitude favours all tugs equally). All of the tow pilots would be trying to maximise time in rising air and it is interesting that the data shows that the individual tugs have a fairy consistent and repeatable performance. Where possible, at least three tows were taken from each tow plane so that repeatability
tow plane
Tow from ZK-TUG
LFB at Taumarunui
could be evaluated. In the data set there were no obviously outlying data points. To be truly scientific, one would need to undertake tows in a stable air mass, but this is something that I, like most soaring pilots, go to great lengths to avoid for obvious reasons. Also interesting is that while the data for each individual tow plane repeats well (i.e. similar performance for each tow taken), not all tow planes of the same model perform the same (i.e. some tugs appear to consistently perform better than their sisters). By making the first data point once the combination is airborne and has accelerated, and the second point just prior to glider release, a whole bunch of variables are eliminated (headwind component, runway slope, runway surface (grass length / sogginess etcetera), which from a scientific point of view is elegant. The IGC files also captures the combination ground roll + airborne acceleration distance but no attempt has been made to analyse this data as it introduces a bunch of additional variables: headwind component, runway slope, runway surface with grass length / sogginess, combination stall speed, tug engine/propeller performance at lower airspeeds, etcetera, all of which (with exception of the latter) need to be accounted for, and thus makes direct comparison of the data much more difficult. First principle physics tells us that if all these additional variables are held constant, there will be a strong inverse correlation between combination climb rate on tow (feet/min) and combination ground roll + airborne acceleration distance (metres) and thus the former is much simpler to measure than accounting for all the additional variables in the latter. Tow plane descent performance was not captured. An IGC logger in each tug would have captured this data and allowed it to be compared. This may be something to be considered for further study.
Summary table of tow plane towing performance is presented below. Tug Registration
Aircraft Type
Average combination climb rate on tow feet/min
Number of tows taken and averaged
TPO
Pawnee
967
3
CEB
Pawnee
854
3
OMA
Fatman
817
3
CNG
Pawnee
803
3
BZA
Pawnee
798
2
PPA
Pawnee
674
2
LJW
Tecnam
614
1
TGC
Eurofox
606
3
BNM
Piper Cub
571
1
MAV
Cessna R172K
558
1
TUG
Eurofox
555
4
JTA
A22 Aeroprakt (Foxbat)
555
7
BFV
Cub
521
4
LFB
A22 Aeroprakt (Foxbat)
469
2
Notes
Sea level airfield
Sea level airfield
Tugs with less than three consistent tows to average are shown with greyed out background. All tows towed GVV Ventus-2a dry + 70 kg pilot (= 330 kg all up)
May–July 2015
35
As a second aspect, it was realised that by reconciling against the tow charges paid, the tug economic performance could also be compared. This comparison however is less straightforward than comparing tow plane towing performance as some clubs choose to subsidise aspects of their operations to greater and lesser degrees from other parts of their operations (i.e. towing fees) thus the relationship between towing fee charged and the actual tow cost to the club becomes non linear. In the few cases where third party tug cost or internal allocation of cost is known, this data is also presented. Tows during glider competitions in which the towing fees are averaged across all competitors bear no relationship to the individual tug cost and are thus omitted. Summary table of tug towing economic performance is presented to the right.
Aircraft Type
Cost to PILOT per 1000 feet of tow (before landing fees and ferry costs) $(GST incl )/ 1000 feet
Cost to CLUB per 1000 feet of tow (before landing fees and ferry costs) $(GST incl)/1000 feet
Number of tows taken and averaged
TUG
Eurofox
19.8
9.2
4
TGC
Eurofox
22.5
8.3
3
CEB
Pawnee
22.7
22.7
3
* 2013 prices
LFB
A22 Aeroprakt (Foxbat)
24.8
2
Third party tug
BSA
Pawnee
25.6
2
LJW
Tecnam
27.5
11.4
1
Third party tug
JTA
A22 Aeroprakt (Foxbat)
27.5
20.0
7
Third party tug
CNG
Pawnee
29.9
19.5
3
OMA
Fatman
49.1
3
PPA
Pawnee
49.4
2
BFV
Piper Cub
51.0
4
All tows towed GVV Ventus-2a dry + 70 kg pilot (= 330kg all up)
TUG 9 January 2015
36
Tug Registration
May–July 2015
Notes
Tow up time
Combination climb rate on tow
Cost per 1000 feet to CLUB before landing fees and ferry costs
Cost per 1000 feet to PILOT before landing fees and ferry costs
(hh:mm:ss)
(min)
(feet/min)
($/1000 feet)
($/1000ft)
23:59:37
1.733
591
8.5
22.5
23:42:27
23:44:03
1.600
639
7.8
22.5
23:29:38
23:31:14
1.600
589
8.5
22.5
2077
00:13:30
00:17:18
3.800
547
2673
1955
22:42:51
22:47:51
5.000
391
968
3593
2625
01:04:13
01:09:05
4.867
539
20.0
27.5
Stratford
1020
3523
2503
23:41:29
23:46:13
4.733
529
20.0
27.5
Eurofox
Springfield
1232
5140
3908
23:16:44
23:24:04
7.333
533
8.4
16.9
OMA
Fatman
Omarama
1405
3659
2254
02:12:28
02:14:52
2.400
939
TUG
Eurofox
Omarama
1390
3739
2349
01:40:52
01:45:24
4.533
518
8.9
21.3
5-Jan-15
TUG
Eurofox
Omarama
1479
3379
1900
01:24:03
01:27:03
3.000
633
12.6
26.3
1-Jan-15
TUG
Eurofox
Omarama
1394
3113
1719
00:48:36
00:51:48
3.200
537
7.0
14.5
21-Nov-14
MAV
Cessna R172K
Omarama
1406
3378
1972
00:52:34
00:56:06
3.533
558
SI Reg
20-Nov-14
OMA
Fatman
Omarama
1421
3855
2434
01:03:30
01:06:38
3.133
777
SI Reg
19-Nov-14
BFV
Cub
Omarama
1541
3546
2005
00:31:59
00:35:50
3.850
521
SI Reg
18-Nov-14
OMA
Fatman
Omarama
2895
4968
2073
23:19:04
23:21:53
2.817
736
SI Reg
16-Nov-14
PPA
Pawnee
Omarama
2789
4945
2156
01:08:09
01:11:27
3.300
653
SI Reg
14-Nov-14
BFV
Cub
Omarama
1526
3336
1810
00:57:54
01:02:06
4.200
431
50.2
10-Nov-14
PPA
Pawnee
Omarama
1421
3321
1900
00:12:38
00:15:22
2.733
695
49.4
9-Nov-14
BFV
Cub
Omarama
2811
4485
1674
00:17:26
00:20:19
2.883
581
51.9
26-Oct-14
BZA
Pawnee
Matamata
225
2689
2464
23:57:07
00:00:37
3.500
704
26.4
25-Oct-14
BZA
Pawnee
Matamata
245
3339
3094
00:53:21
00:56:49
3.467
892
24.9
26-Aug-14
LJW
Tecnam
Stratford
966
3137
2171
01:30:36
01:34:08
3.533
614
11.4
27.5
17-Aug-14
JTA
A22 Aeroprakt (Foxbat)
Stratford
1075
2814
1739
00:23:40
00:26:28
2.800
621
20.0
27.5
17-Aug-14
JTA
A22 Aeroprakt (Foxbat)
Stratford
1095
2842
1747
02:36:28
02:39:21
2.883
606
20.0
27.5
23-Mar-14
JTA
A22 Aeroprakt (Foxbat)
Stratford
1020
3062
2042
01:37:13
01:40:50
3.617
565
20.0
27.5
10-Mar-14
JTA
A22 Aeroprakt (Foxbat)
Stratford
1095
5365
4270
01:00:29
01:08:57
8.467
504
20.0
27.5
2-Mar-14
JTA
A22 Aeroprakt (Foxbat)
Stratford
1045
2745
1700
23:20:01
23:23:17
3.267
520
20.0
27.5
20-Nov-13
BFV
Cub
Omarama
1422
3075
1653
01:23:17
01:26:17
3.000
551
SI Reg
18-Nov-13
BNM
Cub
Omarama
1404
3461
2057
00:03:40
00:07:16
3.600
571
SI Reg
17-Nov-13
CNG
Pawnee
Omarama
1418
3672
2254
00:59:01
01:02:13
3.200
704
SI Reg
12-Nov-13
CNG
Pawnee
Omarama
1424
3264
1840
00:36:29
00:38:53
2.400
767
19.5
29.9
10-Nov-13
CNG
Pawnee
Omarama
1523
3525
2002
00:44:48
00:46:56
2.133
938
19.5
29.9
4-Nov-13
TPO
Pawnee
Taupo
1539
3672
2133
01:28:08
01:30:28
2.333
914
Taupo
3-Nov-13
TPO
Pawnee
Taupo
1566
3403
1837
01:38:47
01:41:10
2.383
771
Taupo
2-Nov-13
TPO
Pawnee
Taupo
1558
3665
2107
00:08:30
00:10:14
1.733
1216
Taupo
7-Jul-13
CEB
Pawnee
Drury
184
2051
1867
00:49:52
00:52:04
2.200
849
23.6
6-Jul-13
CEB
Pawnee
Drury
105
3179
3074
02:13:46
02:17:38
3.867
795
20.8
6-Jul-13
CEB
Pawnee
Drury
138
3382
3244
23:46:40
23:50:12
3.533
918
23.7
Date
Rego
Tug
Location
Height 1 Height 2
Tow height
Time 1
Time 2
11-Apr-15
TGC
Eurofox
Stratford
(feet)
(feet)
(feet)
(hh:mm:ss)
977
2001
1024
23:57:53
11-Apr-15
TGC
Eurofox
11-Apr-15
TGC
Eurofox
Stratford
973
1996
1023
Stratford
970
1912
942
17-Feb-15
LFB
A22 Aeroprakt (Foxbat)
Taumaranui
697
2774
16-Feb-15
LFB
A22 Aeroprakt (Foxbat)
Taumaranui
718
27-Jan-15
JTA
A22 Aeroprakt (Foxbat)
Stratford
24-Jan-15
JTA
A22 Aeroprakt (Foxbat)
9-Jan-15
TUG
7-Jan-15 6-Jan-15
The raw data for the 39 flights is referenced above should you wish to undertake your own analysis of the data. Please contact me should you wish to get a link to the IGC flight files. It would be a really interesting exercise to repeat the analysis for a
25.6
49.1
heavier glider, such as a Twin Astir or Duo Discus (flown at a constant all up weight), should anyone have access to an itinerant heavier (two seat?) glider with a IGC flight logger and be interested in collecting, and presenting the data. May–July 2015
37
The Great Vintage Kiwi
Taumarunui Rally By the Vintage Kiwi Correspondent
FebRUARY 2015
Having discussed the possibility of holding a VK rally at Taumarunui for a few years now, the Vintage Kiwi team thought that it was now time to just go ahead and do it. And so we did. The dates were set for 14– 21 February 2015.
T
he King Country topography is not known for flat paddocks and benign landscape; it is made up of steep, high rising hills and narrow valley floors and extends to the large areas of high rolling wasteland that make up a major part of the North Island’s Volcanic plateau. No one had operated gliders/sailplanes from Taumarunui for some 45 years, so for the Vintage Kiwi supporters that were going it would be an adventure into the unknown. We were about to live up to the VK motto of ‘Come Join the Adventure’. To the west is Mt. Egmont, to the east - Lake Taupo, and to the south east there are the three big mountains - Mts. Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu. Taumarunui airfield itself is situated in a valley floor on the edge of town. It is the home of the local aero club whose club house and facilities were kindly loaned to us for our stay. The grass airfield is 650 feet above sea level and 3,100 feet long with a single runway vector of 01/19. This was certainly more than ample space and length for the mighty Wilga tow plane that we were to be
38
May–July 2015
using. Everything seemed ready but in the blink of an eye, all of our Vintage Kiwi planning would be sorely tested. The Wilga had aero towed a Grob Twin Astir to Taumarunui the day before, returning back to its home base at Inglewood with a return trip planned the following day towing an ASW15 before commencing it’s towing duties for the Vintage Kiwi week. For some reason they found the aircraft would not climb above 3000 feet on the initial trip and after leaving the glider, the return trip over the same rather inhospitable landscape found the engine was well down on power. An initial diagnostic once safely back on the ground found a cylinder was ‘out’ and further investigation found the conrod in that cylinder was failing (or had failed). Obviously the Wilga was going to be US. This was less than a day out from the start of our rally with everyone due to arrive the following day. One complication to the trip was removed. The oil companies had removed the Av. Gas bunker from the airfield a few years earlier due to low volumes being sold. The local but very small aero club members now have to fly off site to another airfield to fuel up. The Wilga support crew were to bring, by a 3 hr road trip, a ‘mini tanker’ with enough fuel to support the Wilga but that was no longer needed. We all decided to go to a plan B instead and use a Recreation Light aircraft that can run on 98 car fuel (mo gas). One was available from Auckland and after a few frantic phone calls a deal was made
vintage kiwi
with its owner/distributor to fly it down so it could be used for the week. Luckily all of the gliders were of sufficient weight and no real heavies and were able to be successfully launched, but we had to make sure that we operated it within its performance parameters as there was none of the ‘give and take’ one can get away with in the much more powerful tow planes. As such we could have no out of wind take offs, needed to use every piece of the runway and fly very accurately whilst on tow etc. The recreational light plane that we used was a Fox Bat A22LS powered by a 100 hp Rotax. It did the job, giving the towing combination around 400 - 500 feet per minute climb rate, plus or minus. The airfield had a ground temperature of 28- 30° C with no wind for the whole week. The aircraft was utterly reliable. The Rally turned out to be a great success with 14 gliders, a combination of both Vintage and Classic and a single seat Jodel arriving to discover the area’s hidden secrets. Intimidating - a little. Exciting – yes. Scenic - amazingly so. What a week it turned out to be. The weather gods were very kind and gave us six days of pristine hot dry weather with cloud base as high as 8000 feet QNH. The thermals were amazingly strong with a number of climbs leaving you blinking as the vario hit its stop, trying to bend the needle. Vintage Kiwi supports a syndicated KA8 which is getting a reputation of achieving some great performance flights. The week before at a Regional contest, Vintage Kiwi member Rae Kerr did a
thermal cross country flight of 320 kms. ‘Elle’, as she is affectionately known, did not disappoint when, with Russell Jones in command, she flew all the way to Mount Ngauruhoe and back over some very rough, volcanic, waste land using a ‘sea breeze’ from Lake Taupo to achieve the flight. A late model SH Ventus that had flown down from Auckland on an extended cross country could not believe his eyes as he flashed past the KA8 on his way to the same mountain turn point. “Thought it was the Wright Brothers,” could have been his comment. All in all, every one certainly stretched their own limits investigating this rather unique area to achieve some really great individual flights. Taumarunui is a famous railway town. It’s not very big, but very hospitable. A local service club opened its doors to Vintage Kiwi which then became an easy after hours HQ for us all. Although the restaurant only serves on specific days they made an exception for us one Tuesday night for a Rally Dinner. Cheap food, cheap beer and great company really set the tone for the rest of the week. Breakfast in the club house was another favourite pre flying ritual for some, with plenty of bacon and eggs being an energising and social way to start the day. Shall we return? Apparently we are, according to the unanimous vote of the attendees. Mark into your Soaring Calendars January 2017. However, it’s Taupo next year and that, no doubt, will be another story. An around the lake flight accompanying ‘Elle’ anyone? May–July 2015
39
A retrieve from
HELL by Rae Kerr (pilot)
Day 7 – NZ Nationals club class championships 27 January 2015
Flying the Vintage Kiwi syndicate’s K8 mighty flying machine.
I
t started out as a nice looking day. I had a good run down the west side of the Pirongia airspace towards the southern end of Mt. Pirongia where the sea breeze then became somewhat ragged. The only option was to reach out to a lovely solo cumulus over Kawhia Harbour. With only five minutes of slow glide left to reach it, the cloud started to fragment and within minutes it had all but disappeared. Turning back towards the western flanks of Pirongia, it was evident that the wisps of the sea breeze had moved further up the mountain side and were now at the bush line. Crikey, what now? Two uphill airstrips, about two kilometres apart, appeared to be my saviour. No sweat, I thought. While still looking for lift, I also spotted two in line E to W small paddocks deep in a narrow ravine which were probably also in reach of the airstrips. On low approach downwind to the first airstrip, about halfway down (what I thought would be) a long final, it became obvious that I would dramatically over-shoot. I pulled full brake and a maxed-out side slip and was still not getting the descent I needed which caused me a large dollop of alarm! Obviously I had under estimated the wind strength. I closed my brakes, cancelled the side slip, did a steep turn into wind, briefly straightened up and then went back round for another go. This time, aiming for the very bottom of the strip, I repeated the side slip and full brake with no more luck than
40
May–July 2015
before. A second aborted overshoot approach bought beads of sweat trickling down my brow. With one eye on the airspeed, the recovery from the side slip left me in a tight turn into wind and gave me a straight (very long) final into the gully where my small paddocks awaited a delicate arrival (and a relieved stop). As soon as my heart rate passed back through 100 bpm, I opened the canopy with a thankful silent prayer. Calmness descended upon me, only to be interrupted by the urgent need to pee. I was fortunately able to get clear radio transmission to Tony Van Dyk in GTD and he transmitted the land out message and coordinates back to Drury. With hills all around, the issue was how to contact civilisation. With no cell phone signal, the immediate course was to climb the nearest hill to sight a road or farmhouse. No luck there. Making a total guess I tramped north, leaving the glider all alone. I eventually established a route over a fodder paddock which had a very large, unmovable bale of straw lying on the track. This was only one of many obstructions to a smooth retrieve. When reaching the road there was still no mobile service, so I had to make a 50/50 decision to walk in any direction with no farmhouses in sight. Uphill was the decision, and I trudged for about two kilometres, where I found a house occupied by a family entertaining overseas visitors, which gave me the problem of getting assistance while interrupting their party. A very weak mobile service signal produced broken conversations with Dion Manktelow back at Drury. I received the
When reaching a the road there was still no mobile service,
so I had a 50/50 decision to walk in any direction, with no farmhouses in sight.
message that my crew were on the way with my car which would have had no show of pulling the trailer over the undulating paddocks or the fodder paddock down to the glider. A powerful four-wheel drive vehicle would be essential. So I called my friend Neil Harker who happily offered to come with his 4WD. He later related a story about my crew which bought on another anxiety attack. The story goes something like this: - the trailer’s wheel came loose and crunched the wheel studs as it did so. The tyre disintegrated at Rangiriri, so Maurice Honey was already on the way from Drury with another trailer and would hopefully complete a makeshift repair to the wheel hub. Unfortunately I knew that the second trailer would not be suitable as the K8 would definitely not fit, so that idea had to be cancelled. While the wheel repair was taking place roadside at Rangiriri, the airconditioning was mistakenly left on which flattened the battery in my car. Jumper leads eventually get it going and the car was left at Taupiri and the trailer was re-hitched to Neil’s 4WD and the journey began again. Meanwhile, I managed to phone the landowner of my paddock and all was happy there. The neighbours offered some consolation in that I could have some dinner and that I would be prayed for, that all would go well. As darkness settled on the mighty Mt. Pirongia, Neil’s vehicle was seen flashing by the entrance gate. Panic ensued, as obviously the detail of how to find me had not connected with the crew. A desperate phone call miraculously connected to Neil who managed to turn around and meet me at the gate.
All retrieved pilots know it is a great moment of relief when you spot the incoming car/trailer. So off we went into the gloom of a very rolling paddock, through the fodder paddock, circumnavigated the straw bale and through a few more gates to eventually line up in front of GLE in total darkness. Under torchlight, Neil, George Bliss, Brian Riddle and I took one hour to get LE snug in her trailer. Time from touchdown at 3:30 pm to hook up was only 6.5 hours! On the way back the additional information was relayed that a stone had chipped my car windscreen and that it may have to be replaced. We picked up the car at Taupiri and arrived back at Drury at about 1:15 am to devour the warm meals kindly left by Marion and her happy helpers. Last task was to drive Brian into the city where he was staying which was not a problem as I live nearby. Cruising towards the Symonds St. off-ramp we were detained by a car with bright flashing red and blue lights. The officer’s opening comment was “Good evening, sir” (what the hell was good about it?). “Why were you doing 101 kph in an 80 kph zone over the Newmarket flyover?” “Guilty as charged,” was my reply. A $170 fine and 35 demerit points was the penalty to end what must go down in history, as the retrieve from hell!
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airworthiness martyn cook National Airworthiness Officer
Adapt Your Inspection It’s always a good idea to adapt your inspection to the age and use pattern of the glider. This applies to the Daily Inspection as well as the Annual Inspection and Abnormal Loads Inspection (refer to Tech 22 Maintenance Schedule for Gliders). A club aircraft flown by many pilots should be approached rather differently from a privately-owned glider with just one regular pilot. If you are doing a Daily Inspection on the club two-seater, for example, then keep a lookout for damage caused by passengers getting in and out of the cockpit. Some older people do struggle to get in and out of gliders and easily push in the wrong places or kick the instrument panel accidentally. Always check the DI book for minor issues that others have picked up, and confirm they are not getting any worse. Wear and tear mysteriously occurs a lot faster on club two-seaters. If you are lucky enough to have a brand new glider then keep a sharp lookout for small assembly errors such as incorrectly-adjusted undercarriage down-latch, incorrect control surface deflections or the control stick not centred when the controls are in neutral. Also look for bolts and screws not tightened correctly, and binding
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May–July 2015
or rubbing in the control linkages. As the road safety sign says, “Other people make mistakes!” Watch out for them. Some gliders fly for many years with original assembly errors. Older gliders normally have their manufacturing discrepancies sorted out, but wear, fatigue, hangar rash and abnormal load damage is far more likely. Gliders with high hours may have issues with worn bearings and sloppy connections or linkages and this kind of problem sneaks up gradually. At some point, you will need to decide that the wobble in the tailplane is simply too much and get it repaired or adjusted. Gliders that are used infrequently have different problems: corrosion due to dampness and salt air, seized brake cylinders, mice nests, old batteries - to name a few. Never leave food items (or even food wrappers) in a glider or a trailer and you shouldn’t have a mouse problem. Mylar seals that become unstuck are a nuisance, and can sometimes be salvaged by ironing back down with a warm domestic iron to reactivate the adhesive. Avoid storing a glider with its control surfaces deflected (especially easy with the elevator) to minimise this problem. And don’t forget the Abnormal Loads Inspection. There is a guide on the last page of Tech 22. This is required after
every abnormal flight or ground load and an entry should be made in the glider’s log book by the certifying engineer if no damage is found after inspection. This list includes ground loops, wheel-up landings, heavy landings, overspeed, flutter, any banging or cracking noises when flying above Max Rough Air Speed, a tail slide or any suspected overstress while recovering from an aerobatic manoeuvre gone wrong. Take good care of your glider and have a great soaring season!
a question of safety STEVEN CARE National Operationals Officer
Hazardous Aviation Activities Our decision making during a flight and around the airfield is affected by our attitude. The US FAA has identified five attitudes that are hazardous to aviation safety. The scary part is that most of these attitudes exist in all of us to some extent; it’s just that we don’t always recognise that they are in fact hazardous. MACHO – None of us wants to be seen as having a weak personality. Being brave, being able to handle anything; give it a go no matter the odds type personality is something to be truly admired. Most glider pilots have this type ‘A’ personality, which is why we probably became glider pilots in the first place. However being Macho can fool us into believing that our flying skills are well ahead of where they actually are. It is the overconfidence in our ability that can lead us into situations that get ahead of where our actual knowledge and skills lie. If you find yourself saying ‘yes I can do it’ without really having studied, analysed and anticipated possible risk factors you could be taking far greater chances than you should. Antidote: is to set personal minimums before you fly and never exceed them. INVULNERABILITY – Nothing bad will ever happen to me, it will only happen to other people. The reality is that the GNZ accident stats are not good. Next season you have about a one in seven chance of having an incident, a one in seventy chance of having an accident and a one in 750 chance of having a fatal accident, yet we buy Lotto tickets in hope when the odds are infinitely more than this. A sense of invulnerability can sometimes be reinforced when pilots take a huge risk and get away with it. It is easy then to overlook that there is still a huge risk when they face the same situation next time. Antidote: think, ‘Don’t take unnecessary chances/risk. Something bad could happen to me.’ ANTI-AUTHORITY – Some don’t like the idea of being told what to
do, whether it is right or wrong. The lines between ‘anti-authority’ and the right ‘to challenge authority for the betterment of safety’ can be easy to blur. Those in authority are not always right but they are also not always wrong. Rules and procedures are not there without purpose and are intended to protect us and others. Often they are there as a result of accidents, so some could be looked at as though they are written in blood. Hazards occur when people are not following or knowing rules and procedures, as it jeopardises safety for everyone.
have the confidence of being able to deal with the next step. For most pilots it changes as the situation changes and/ or thinking changes. It can be affected by our physiology and psychology on the day. Again, it applies not just to flying but all safety issues around the airfield. Seeing a pilot who does something unsafe or noticing a possibly dangerous procedure has developed in the club and yet doing nothing because it seems too hard, no-one seems to care or similar. (This bears a startling resemblance to an out landing accident I had years ago. I was so overwhelmed with the thought that I was ‘going to crash’ that I stopped flying the glider all together. It eventually put itself down in a fence with minimal damage to myself and a bit more to its fabric. There had however been at least three paddocks I could have safely landed in. – Ed.)
Antidote: follow the rules as they are usually right.
Antidote: don’t give up, you can make a difference.
IMPULSIVITY – It is quite normal to sometimes feel the need to do something, anything, immediately. With this attitude pilots do not stop to think about whether their first choice is in fact the best choice. The feeling that there is a need to hang on to the first thought that comes to mind can seriously cloud our judgement. I remember flying with an experienced solo student who was also a new PPL Power Pilot. We were getting lower than we had been on a ridge day and I asked what paddock he would chose if we had to land out. His answer came within a millisecond and after a bit of discussion, we both concluded that the paddock was in fact unsuitable. After a bit more discussion we found at least two other paddocks that were suitable. This is not just about paddock landings but all facets of everything we do.
It can be difficult to change bad attitudes, because we all come from different backgrounds and have had different upbringings. However, being aware of our own vulnerabilities can go a long way towards making our sport safer and fits in with GNZ’s commitment to safety at the beginning of the MOAP.
Antidote: slow down, think decisions through carefully. RESIGNATION – This is where a pilot reaches a point where they have finished, given up, or decided that whatever they do it won’t make a difference. A good example is the occasional student learning to land where they touch the ground, breathe a big sigh of relief and let go of the stick while still doing 40 knots. It is hazardous if the pilot is facing a difficult situation and has not perceived the importance or doesn’t
Club Training Records A common feature of some recent audits is club maintenance of training records. You should have a club file (hard copy or electronic) of all ratings issued in the last 3 years. See all of Appendix 2 of the MOAP. It includes A, B, QGP, Advanced, Instructor, Power Glider, Tow Pilot and Winch Driver ratings. All club pilots can help their CFI by making sure that a copy of the completed training syllabus is filed as soon as it is completed. I have to say that there are also some clubs that are setting an excellent example.
Atc National Gliding Camp It was very unfortunate that this year’s ATC camp at Matamata had to be cancelled due to a lack of suitable Instructors able to commit to a full week of flying. It’s the first time this has happened in the very long history of this camp and hopefully we can get a better response for the next course. It is an important course for us to get new members and instructors benefit immensely from the very intensive nature of the training.
May–July 2015
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gnz awards & certificates
February 2015 – April 2015
Edouard devenoges GNZ Awards Officer
Instructors Wanted – Omarama
gnzawards@xtra.co.nz 40 Eversham Road, Mt Maunganui 3116.
Glide Omarama requires Experienced Instructors for the next season: October through April. Minimum requirements B Cat, 1000 hours total time, 500 hours mountain flying, preferably at Omarama, but consideration will be given to someone who can prove international mountain flying experience. Tow pilot's license with 200 hr min tail wheel experience would be a plus, and we would especially like to hear from someone who is German Speaking Extensive cross-country coaching as well as basic instruction experience is required.
free phone 0508 58 55 88 | phone +64 3 438 9555
Now Available for sale
Latest Technology Sunlight Readable PNA Device
> Suitable for running SeeYou, XC Soar, LK8000 and other soaring software. > Latest GPS technology – precision less than 2.5m > 5" Sunlight readable LCD touch screen Brightness 800 - 1000 nits. More than twice as bright as the best PDAs or Oudie > Operating system: windows ce 6.1 Or 6.5
Will be supplied ready to use fully loaded with software and maps Contact Jerry O'Neill jerryo@xtra.co.nz for more information 44
May–July 2015
QGP No 3281 3282 3283 3284 3285 3286 3287 3288 3289 3290 3291 3292
Pilot’s Name Club Kishan Bashyan Auckland ASC Makoto Ichikawa Canterbury GC David Palmer Canterbury GC Gabor Pacz Glide Omarama Rodney Witter Glide Omarama Scott Percival Glide Omarama Jan Wozny Glide Omarama Wojciech Sredniawa Glide Omarama Sandra Sobczyk Glide Omarama Fraser S. McDougall YG Omarama Anthony F. Budd Taupo GC Paul N. Marriott Taupo GC
Date 25 2 2015 26 2 2015 1 3 2015 1 3 2015 6 3 2015 10 3 2015 15 3 2015 16 3 2015 16 3 2015 22 3 2015 24 3 2015 26 3 2015
Silver Distance Patrick Richardson Gliding Manawatu 15 12 2014 Jason M. Kelly Gliding Hawkes Bay 5 2 2015 Alex Boyes Omarama GC 4 4 2015
Glider LS 4b LS 4 LS 8
Silver Duration Patrick Richardson
Gliding Manawatu
15 12 2014
LS 4b
Silver Height Patrick Richardson Alex Boyes
Gliding Manawatu Omarama GC
15 12 2014 4 4 2015
LS 4b LS 8
Silver Badge 1164 Patrick Richardson 1171 Jason M. Kelly
Gliding Manawatu 15 12 2014 Gliding Hawkes Bay 20 3 2015
Gold Duration Patrick Richardson
Gliding Manawatu
Gold Height Jason M. Kelly Hadleigh Bognuda Alex Boyes
Gliding Hawkes Bay 5 2 2015 Auckland GC 4 4 2015 Omarama GC 4 4 2015
LS 4 LS 8 LS 8
Gold Distance Ray Burns
Akl. Aviation SC
6 2 2015
Std Astir
Gold Badge 328 Hadleigh Bognuda
Auckland GC
7 4 2015
Diamond Height 416 Hadleigh Bognuda
Auckland GC
4 4 2015
LS 8
Distance
Points
348.11km 292.49km 259.57km
380.18pts 300.55pts 287.25pts
303.90km
303.90pts
Air NZ Cross Country Championships Pilots Name Glider Northern Division Ray Burns Std Astir Jason Kelly LS 4 Roy Whitby Std Astir Southern Division Nick White Discus 2B GNZ First Competition Award 041 Patrick Richardson Gliding Manawatu 042 Alex Boyes Omarama GC
15 12 2014
22 3 2015 14 4 2015
LS 4b
gliding new zealand CLUB news
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 Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau Club Website www.glidinghbw.co.nz Club Contact E-mail: info@glidinghbw.co.nz, Ph 027 2877 522 Base Hastings Airfield (Bridge Pa) and Waipukurau Airfield (December & February) Flying Sundays and other days by arrangement 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 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 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 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
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 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 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 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 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
Guidelines for the compilation and contents of club news articles are now available on the new SoaringNZ website. Visit www.mccawmedia.co.nz for all you need to know. 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 10 August 2015.
Auckland You would be forgiven for thinking nothing much was going on at our club but the AGC has actually been quite busy enjoying the fortunate weather up this way. Since the Club Class Nationals, which we consider a success, we have been back to the normal duties of any gliding club and good weather has made sure that each flying day is a busy affair. We also have quite a few new members who are showing lots of potential and enthusiasm for our sport. During the last few months Greg Balle, Peter Wooley, Stephan Young, Uma Tuffnell, John Turnbull, Domenico Petrolino and Cody Calder have joined. Cody Calder (also a Piako member) proved to be a most useful and proficient young tow pilot as well as showing some good gliding skills. Jason Shields and Simon Gault have re-joined the Auckland gliding scene after long breaks. We had a few members supporting the Vintage movement taking our ASK 21 down to Taumaranui. This proved to be a lot of fun and the good weather provided some great soaring for those who attended. By all accounts the K21 provided many with great soaring in the King Country high cloud base thermals. The last few months of summer have been so suitable we have almost grown used to the stories from our keener pilots when returning from cross country flights as far south as Taupo and Te Kuiti. We did have an unfortunate accident in which we lost our best single seat Discus CS but a fatality was almost certainly avoided when the pilot parachuted to safety. The actions of this pilot in making a decisive and critical decision and then successfully
May–July 2015
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club news CANTERBURY
Auckland: Club winners
surviving what could have been a terrible disaster, outweighs by far the loss of our glider. We have all learnt a lot from this incident. It has been great having the use of the Wilga ZK-PZM as a backup tow plane from time to time. The Wilga was moved from AASC to help support our Club Class competition and has been used sporadically since then and as recently as last week helped us out of a spot when our Pawnee tail wheel failed for a short period. There are some excited owners eagerly awaiting their new gliders which are due to reside (mostly) on our South Auckland field. Congratulations to those involved and we all are eager to see them in our sky and see the smiles on the faces of those who have made the commitment. Due largely to the enthusiasm and hard work from Paul Schofield and Paul Knight, we are very close to being able to operate off a west coast airstrip just north of Waiuku
Canterbury’s new airfield vehicle is proving very popular.
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May–July 2015
on the Awhitu peninsula. This airfield is almost 800 metres long and, after some hard work, is now very usable. The strip is about 600 feet above the beach and only a few metres from the cliffs so access to the ridges will be very easy when the right winds blow. We are now in the final throes of taking our equipment out and familiarising instructors and pilots with the intricacies of flying such a different site. We have had great support from the landowner and especially the neighbours who have been really enthusiastic. This is something of a milestone for our club and west coast soaring will be an interesting addition to our normal operation (westerly winds permitting). With the season now quickly ending, I would finally like to thank all those members and many others who have worked hard all year to assist our club in providing service for our members and visitors. RG
The long dry summer spell has come to an end and the noise of mowers compete with aircraft once more. Recent activity has included another very successful Scouting Aviation Camp weekend, again organised by Mike Oakley along with the help of other leaders and parents. The weather was uncooperative but they got one full day’s flying using the winch and tow-plane. Early on the Sunday morning they managed to get the helicopter flights in before the weather packed a sad and the rain set in. Once again many club members attended to provide a successful experience for these young people. There was much good soaring during March with many members getting airborne and soaring over large parts of the South Island. Several pilots spent the Easter weekend at Omarama enjoying the flying there before the arrival of the colder months. A working bee at the Springfield airfield was very well attended and much work was done tidying up the complex including getting rid of junk from the different sheds therefore making more room for club vehicles and equipment. Lastly, the tale of a very special man. Rob Sherlock joined the club several years ago in middle age. He took a while to solo because he and his wife would take off on a big walk somewhere but then he would return to the club and carry on training. He eventually went solo and slowly consolidated his flying skills. What he wasn’t slow about was getting stuck in to help the club run smoothly. He became the Treasurer, doing a very efficient job and later he spent huge hours developing the Glide Time computer programme which has made things much easier for the club to operate. A couple of years ago he bought a Libelle from Terry Delore and enjoyed many nice flights in it but as time rolled by, like many of us he decided
club news that he should stop flying. He advertised the Libelle for a while until one day he told the club that he was giving it to them. Not just the glider but all the gear in it plus the trailer. What can you say about someone like that? He not only worked hard for the club but then does a thing like that? Thank you Rob. You are a beauty. Stewart Nelson Lakes Marc five hours
Central Otago Well, I guess that’s summer done and dusted. And what a good season it was. Winter has now arrived early, with low snow sitting on the hills mid-April. The thermals have largely gone but we’re lucky having a string of high mountains upwind to produce wave for our winter months. In summer, it’s usual to thermal/rotor into the wave from low level but in winter it does require a longish aero tow, perhaps to 4000 feet AGL or more. April 19th was our first winter wave club day. Upper winds were exceedingly light, less than 20 knots, yet wave in the lee of the Dunstans peaked at 15 knots. We reckoned the wind was vertical! We have a couple of new members to train over the winter so I expect we’ll be pretty active..... JR
Gliding Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau: Hastings and beyond
Gliding Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau February’s Central Districts Gliding Championships held from Waipukurau Airfield were a great success and saw an increased number of entrants over previous years. After an initially poor weather forecast for the week, the weather largely co-operated with flying possible every day of the contest. Several former members also came and helped out on the ground which was most appreciated. We hope to see even more pilots and helpers at next year’s event. The club has operated from both its Hastings and Waipukurau sites during February and March with a number of flights between the two sites. Two days of classic Hawkes Bay wave in early February saw club secretary Jason Kelly clock up over 1,200 OLC kilometres in three flights while also claiming his Silver 50 km distance and gold 3,000 m height gain. Club Treasurer John McConville joined him in the club’s Grob 103C III SL GHB for a morning flight of over 300 km when they soared south to almost Woodville and north of Hastings. Travel has claimed Club Captain Mike Richardson who has resigned and he has been replaced by Craig Hunter.
Gliding Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau: Mt Ruapehu
Gliding Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau: North of Napier
Gliding Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau: In the wave
Gliding Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau: Wave cloud
Tow planes are becoming an interesting issue with a local home builder of aircraft close to having an auto engine aircraft certified to fly while new Club Captain, Craig Hunter, an aircraft engineer, has purchased the Pawnee from the Taranaki club and plans to get this flying again. The club tow plane CPD is back in the air after some minor damage on landing in cross winds. The club has gained two keen youth members in Ryan Maney and Allie Thompson. They are making good progress and enjoying their flying.
We are working on a submission with regards to the air space area NZM507 to enable gliding use. This area covers part of our main wave flying area on the east coast of the North Island. The Air Force wish to have full use for training purposes Monday to Fridays above 9,500 feet. Any such restrictions could affect record, badge and recreational flying. The club looks forward to some great autumn soaring with thermals, convergences and wave all possible from our Hawkes Bay sites at this time of year as was evidenced over Easter weekend. May–July 2015
Hawkes Bay: Returning to Hastings.
47
club news Gliding Wairarapa The Wairarapa summer was a little slow in arriving but that didn’t matter since we were a little slow in getting our ASK13 back in the air. Having emerged from many hours surrounded by nitrate and butyrate fumes, FN has now clocked up lots of hours in its new (mostly silver) finery, with our instructors now able to enjoy the view from the rear seat. It is definitely roomier than our K7. Our instructors have also emerged from the same fumes largely un-painted. The summer heat has given us some great days where students were able to thermal up beyond 5000 feet and explore the convergences to the north and south for some good long flights. Our Kuranui College students are making good progress. The winch now has a reconditioned motor and brand new 6 mm Dyneema, so launches to over 3000 feet are possible with a 10-15 knot headwind. Work is also well underway in clearing a LOT of willows to make a parallel strip, with the piles of dried wood proving very useful for ‘generating’ 5 knot thermals. We have also hosted the Wellington club for three weeks where the weather duly delivered a mixed bag. Down here in the South Wairarapa we often hear Wellingtonians extol the virtues of their city by saying that “You can’t beat Wellington on a good day”, to which we respond by politely asking which day they’re referring to. In an equally brazen manner, we will state (to any who will listen) that “It’s always sunny in the Wairarapa”, neglecting to mention that such solar appreciation is often only possible whilst sheltering from the howling nor-wester. Such banter is likely to be more frequent next summer with the news that the Wellington club will be making the Papawai airstrip their home too so the field is about to get busy. Very busy. Not sure how the cows will cope. DH
Nelson Lakes We had a wee flurry of five hour duration flights around the Christmas period. Carter Cree and Nick White did theirs just after Christmas. Nick had a practice in Omarama but forgot to claim it so he waltzed out and did another. Carter got away late and hung in there until fairly late evening on the St Arnauds range. A couple of weekends later Marc Edgar and Mark McCulloch did theirs. The best bit was it was Marc Edgar’s maiden test flight after all his hard work on getting the K6-e GET back into the air. He launched, got away and had a great flight
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Feb–April 2015
Gliding Wairarapa:
on the local mountain in ridges, thermal and wave lift. Ken Newkumet has been working hard on his post solo flying in NH and also recently flying the little Astir is Robin Whalley. There has been some good flying during the flying week and club days by others as well. April Rumsey has bought Kerry Jackson’s Cirrus HY and looks pleased as punch. We have great little bunch of students chipping away too. There have also been some good flights around the traps which are often recorded on our blog. Ken Montgomery and Frank Saxton were nearly undone during the flying week, by the famous and very sneaky sea breeze that races up the Molesworth valleys
but with hard work and skill, they managed to climb out of trouble and away from a probable night in a fertilizer bin. Talking about doing well, we are chuffed for Mike Strathern who did damn well, running really close to the local Steve Wallace during nine days flying up in the Club Class Nationals. We have recently snapped into winter mode which makes it a bit harder to get away, and colder of course, flying from Lake Station but with the snow on the mountains, it’s mighty pretty. Happy flying Captain Sink
club news
Matamata: the Tower on top of Te Aroha
Taupo It has been a fantastic summer here in Taupo, long hot days with convergence, streets and booming thermals, just what we glider pilots like. We have had 300 km plus cross country days, students 8500 feet over Lake Rotokawa in booming thermals while I have been looking at a paddock in Reporoa!! We had our Pawnee TPO out of action for a few days right over our busy time. Thank you to Tauranga for the loan of your Pawnee but it did struggle with the Twin Astir ME! We have a Robin in one of the Hangars now and believe it or not, Trev is a part owner with three other club members. They plan to fit a tow hook so it will make a great backup for TPO. Our ASK 21 is now fully debt free and we are now looking at a replacement for the Twin Astir ME, hopefully something with some good cross country characteristics. Our club looks a bit like the walking wounded at the moment, Tom has had a hip replacement, Bill is in a splint after jumping down off the tow plane, Rod broke his Achilles putting his plane away and Peter snapped his on a hunting trip with Trev! We have assisted another Oxfam event at the Gliding Club. We had a team of thirty three altogether made up of club members, family, friends, and eight from Hospice to help out. Thank you Martin for organising this year’s event and of course, all the helpers. The Club has raised $20,000 over the years so it is certainly worth the effort. We had a quiet Christmas Camp with Lionel Page and family who came from Auckland Aviation Sports Club, Peter
Williams and family from Taranaki Club and our own member Peter Cook and wife Helen (who live in Taranaki) also camped for their summer holiday. Fifty Grab One training vouchers were sold and all were redeemed resulting in two continuing with extra flights as possible new members. Returning again for their annual summer visit we had instructor Sid Gilmore from the UK & club helper Denis Filgas from the Czech Republic. Both have been coming back for the last 12 years. Their help over the summer has been invaluable and we are looking forward to their return next summer. Our ‘Solo in a Week’ course had 4 students from Hong Kong who all gained the A certificate, staying on site for 14 days. Mathieu Turquier and David Bickner also gained their A certificate with a few more getting close. New QGP - Tony Budd and John Hudson New Members Ivan Booth New Tow Pilots - Rueben Dredge and John Carswell Members re-joining after eight years absent - Wayne Earley & Paul Henson. Both are C Cat instructors. UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) are becoming an issue and due to a near miss over Taupo Motor Sport Park with TPO on final, the club have made a submission to CAA with regard to Part 101. The operator was fined $500. Brett (taking over from Trace)
in time to help Ross Sutherland handle our second busiest January since 2005. We managed just over 330 launches, a very healthy proportion of which were instructional flights. The summer has also seen three students make their first solo, one complete their QGP with several pilots converting to the PW5 or the DG 101. On the Competition front, WGC pilots have competed successfully in the NZ Multi-Class Championships, the National Club Class Championships and the Central Districts Championships. Martyn Cook’s monthly Cross Country workshops are attracting increasing numbers. We’ve had three members return from Gavin Will’s Mountain Soaring Course (with rave reviews) and we have participated in or held summer camps at Kawhatau (thank you Gliding Manawatu) and Greytown (thank you Gliding Wairarapa). All in all, a summer fitting for what is very likely to be our last summer at Paraparaumu. Operational considerations associated with sharing an airfield with Air NZ and no long term security of tenure have led us to take the difficult decision to leave our home of many years. Consequently, and with the support of the Kapiti Coast Airport Company, we are in discussions with the South Wairarapa District Council and our colleagues in Gliding Wairarapa which should see us operating jointly with Gliding Wairarapa from the Papawai airstrip near Greytown by next summer. As many will know, shifting airfields is one thing to say and quite another to do but we are excited about our future and will be working hard through the winter to make the vision a reality. WGC Ed
Wellington It’s been a very busy summer! Tim Belchior arrived from Canada just
May–July 2015
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f or s a l e • wa n t e d • s e r v ic e s • e v e n t s
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 Hadley 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.
Gliders Libelle 201b, GIU • #579 out of 601 made. Approx 2400 hours 1688 launches (20 August) O2, Transponder, 6 channel Tait radio, Borgelt B40 vario, Chute, Trailer. Good original finish. Annuals currently underway. $18K. Phone Paul 021 331 838 P_Marshall@xtra.co.nz 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 ASW15, ZK-GGO • S/N 15069. Microair radio and transponder. Cambridge 302 DDV and 303 nav screen. $15,000 ono. Phone 027 497 2723, g_ gaddes@xtra.co.nz. DG 300 Elan • GOZ Full panel. Road trailer. Excellent full capacity water bags made in the USA bring glider up to all up weight of 250kgs. Near new electronic oxygen system and good sized bottle. 750 channel Dittel Radio. Very good with 4 pre-set channels. Borgelt Vario with average and glide computer. Winter Vario and Altimeter and excellent compass.$45,000 or near offer. Apply to Errol Shirtliff. Phone 03 526 8724 or email shirtliff@ xtra.co.nz Lak 12. ZK-GRR • 20m Glider. $35,000. Open/18m class flapped glider. 50:1 performance with a wide range of wing loadings. A nice glider to fly with no bad vices. Always hangared, no crashes. Price includes trailer, Australian Parachute, Tow out gear. Just had 1000 hr and 20 year check done and came through perfectly. Contact Bill Mace phone 027 541 0948 Ventus ct ZKG-OP • Excellent condition. C302/PNA, EDS oxy, 4 x sets of tips from Maumuer 15m winglets to 18m wingtips with winglets. All towout gear. Good trailer. $105,000 price reduced. Contact Patrick Driessen phone 027 486 6441 patdriessen@clear.net.nz Janus ZK-GSH • Very tidy two seater training, cross country, completion glider. 3164 hrs. Built 1977. Retractable undercarriage, water ballast, winch or aero tow. Tow out gear, wing covers and trailer. Reluctant sale due to lack of use. For sale from the Hauraki Aero Club, gliding division. $50,000. Phone 027 470 8915. Hauraki-ac@xtra.co.nz Grob Speed Astir 2B, ZK-GUB • Flapped 15metre; 40:1 glide ratio; approx. 2300hrs; oxygen (A8A); Terra Transponder; 2 varios; good trailer plus tow-out gear; gelcoat in amazing condition; slim-pack parachute; excellent first glider and competitive club-class machine, hangared Omarama, reluctantly selling her after 20+ yrs of fun, best value per LD point glider in the country. $25,000. Phone 03 318 1331 (evenings) paullinda@xtra.co.nz SILENT IN • Self Launching Sailplane $55K. Alisport (Italy) self launching sailplane with retracting Alisport 302efi FADEC 28hp engine driving a monoblade propeller. For full details, Google ‘Alisport Silent In’ or alisport. com. Airframe 890hrs, engine and propeller less than 4hrs (new 2013). Removeable winglets, tinted canopy, usual instruments plus Trig TT21 transponder (with Mode S). Wing wheel, tail dolly and one man rig gear. Excellent open trailer with current reg. and WOF. Currently registered as
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May–July 2015
Class 1 microlight. Neville Swan – nswan@xtra.co.nz phone 09 416 7125 Nimbus 2. ZK-GKV • A well known glider and glider type. I am sad to have to part with this wonderful glider but needs must so I have reduced the price.Brand new PU paint on the fuselage and wing PU only 5 years old. Double bladed air brakes. New Schempp Hirth canopy, new mylar seals on wing, good road trailer. Steve Barham - barham@xtra.co.nz phone 021 642 484 – price reduced $35,000 Puchatek KRO3A Duel Trainer ZK-GXO • Manufactured 1991. 2866 Hrs. Becker Radio. Spare brand new tinted canopy plus frame. Refinished surface. Ex Auckland Gliding Club, currently owned by the Mark Ford Estate. This is a first rate training glider looking for a new home. A new annual will be provided. Paul Knight – paul-knight@xtra.co.nz phone 027 628 8077 or 09 238 9827 Ventus 2cT 15/18m – ZK-GRY • Finished in PU paint from new and has every factory option available at the time including 15m Wingtips, Mountain High 02 system, Nose and C of G hooks, On board refuelling system, Tail tank etc with Anschau Komet trailer. Full panel including 57mm Winter Altimeter, ASI and vario, Microair radio and Txpdr, CAI 302DDV with Oudie2 flight computer and Tru Track A/H with GPS heading. Alan Belworthy – a.belworthy@xtra.co.nz phone 027 496 0748. $195,000 Tauranga Gliding Club Puchacz and PW5 gliders. Puchacz two seat trainer good hours left all ADs completed polyurethane finish, transponder, electric vario, no trailer. PW5 low hours with transponder electric vario and total energy probe with good clamshell trailer. The Tauranga Club is looking to refresh its fleet and wishes to sell these aircraft. Adrian Cable phone 027 473 8321 email: adrian.cable@xtra.co.nz Grob 109 Motorglider + Hanger 1/8 Share • The Grob 109 is a comfortable two seat side by side touring motor glider. It has recently undergone airframe refurbish inside and out which includes leather seats, rebuilt instrument panel, new seatbelt webbing etc. Normal cruise is between 85 - 100 knts, burning 13 -15 litres and hour. 80 litre fuel tank. Gliding performance angle 27:1. Equipment includes a 720 channel Becker comm, Terra transponder, Cambridge audio vario, Kennard fixed ELT plus the usual set of analogue instruments. Nominally a glider, with a very reasonable gliding performance, it has a beefy ninety horses up front to push it along at over 150kph. I’m selling my one eighth share, including the hangar space to store, for $10,000 Michael Furniss email: jnmfurniss@gmail.com phone 022 611 4565 Ka6CR Glider GEH • Excellent condition, with Borgelt vario, average and speed to fly. Terra 760D radio. PLB. Wing walker, fuse stand, clip on tail wheel. Parachute. Recent Annual. Recently painted trailer, spare wheel, new registration and warrant. Based Nelson. Offers considered. April Rumsey email: april_rumsey@yahoo.com phone 027 220 3306 Duo Discus X • ZK-GRW presently at Omarama. Serial No 541 (2007 build, first in service 2008). 1070 hrs and 232 launches. Immaculate condition. PU finish. Never watered. Cambridge 302/303. Front and rear. Cambridge LNAV. Winter mechanical vario front. Becker Radio, Funke TRT 800 Transponder. Flarm. Mountain High oxygen system. Four fuselage batteries. 2x Turn and slip. Jaxida Covers. Always hangared in her covers. Accident free history. Superb COBRA trailer (single axle) with one man tow out gear. Serious enquirers may inspect the glider at Omarama by prior arrangement with Justin Wills. Rod Witter email: Rodney.witter@btinternet.com phone 0044 124 432 5730 $210,000
GNz members are eligible for one free non-commercial classified advertisement per issue. Deadline for receipt of advertising for our August issue is 17 July 2015.
Hangars 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 $1500/m or reasonable offer. Contact Linda vindaloulou@gmail.com, 033487009 or 021 071 8402 Omarama 20M Locked Hanger Space (first row) with water, power and painted floor • Great neighbours and very secure. D P Laing david.p.laing@gmail.com $52,000 Omarama Hangar space • 15m hangar space available in the western hangar on the side near the terminal building Long/short let available Annie Laylee/G Dale annlaylee@aol.com
Tow Planes Pawnee • 180hp Pawnee tow plane. Fresh engine, all ADs completed, ready to go. Tauranga Gliding Club. Contact Adrian Cable email: adrian. cable@xtra.co.nz phone 027 473 8321 Eurofox Tow Plane • Aeropro Eurofox 3K Tow, Advanced Microlight. 100 hp Rotax 912 ULS engine, DUC Windspoon 3-blade propeller, tricycle undercarriage, tow hook, Dynon D1000 Skyview glass cockpit, Flarm display, Transponder, Garmin Aera 500 GPS, SL40 VHF Comm, Aircraft is only 2 years old with 180 hours TT and in “as new” condition.Will be sold with new annual and a 200 hour inspection. Asking price NZ$103,000 plus GST ono. Warwick Bethwaite email: warwick.bethwaite@gmail.com phone 027 374 1059 Pawnee ZK-CNG • offers wanted. Engine was running well on condition prior to aircraft being retired May 2014. PA 25-235 serial number 35-3624 mfg August 1968. Engine Lycoming O-540-A4A5 (250 HP) TTIS 7736 TSO 2109. Propeller Hartzell HC-C2YK-1BF constant speed TTIS 5225 TSO 1161. The aircraft has been owned by CGC since 1974, operated only as a glider tug since then, and normally hangared. Earlier agricultural ops were limited, and no structural corrosion from agricultural chemicals is evident. Kosola modification installed. The ailerons and flaps in good condition - overhauled and recovered in 2007. Other fabric and paint is in fair condition only David Tillman email: treasurer@glidingcanterbury.org.nz phone 027 201 7120
Other For Sale Winter Variometer • Bought new in 2000. Model 5 St VM 5-3. This Winter vario has the small hole diameter of 57mm. Complete with capacity flask and is in perfect working condition.The face is in pristine condition and it’s about half replacement cost. Top right corner modified to fit a tight panel. $490 Roger Sparks phone 027 495 6560 r.sparks@xtra.co.nz Sailplane Instruments • For Sale due to panel re-organisation; offers sought. LX100 vario, 80mm, serviceable, A8A Oxygen regulator, adjustable constant flow, servicable, 200 bar max inlet pressure, certified to FL25 by Avox, 12V Gyro Turn and Bank, servicable with new release note
from Liviu Avionics, Terra Mode C Encoder, status unknown, purchaser can inspect and trial with no purchase obligation. All items in Auckland, can take photos on request. Contact Andy Mackay – andymacfly2002@yahoo. com phone 021 174 4719 Volkslogger 1.0 Make an offer • Laurie Kirkham email: laurie.kirkham@ xtra.co.nz Selection of Instruments from a wooden Glider • Altimeter, Vario – Winter, Vario – Electric Altriss, Airspeed Indicator-to 130 Knots. Compass, Radio, Microair M760 with boom microphone – can switch between frequencies during flight. All the instruments were removed in working order from glider that had current ARA. These units are all being sold separately so any reasonable offer for each of them will be considered. Paul Clarke email: paul_clarke@clear.net.nz Selection of Instruments • Oudie with Sunlight Screen Update. Like new well looked after, never dropped. This has the upgrade to the sunlight readable screen. Includes Carry case, Ram mounts, USB to Serial cable, etc $600 80mm ALT. Selling due to upgrade. Make an Offer. 80mm ASI. Removing due to upgrade. Make an Offer. Borgelt B2000. This came in the glider and worked for 2 flights, now does not. Not wasting any time or effort on it replacing with LXNav Flight computer. So if this is any good for parts or if you want to try and get it working contact me. Includes serial port, GPS, Remote control etc Douglas email: doug@waipapaeyecare.co.nz 021 118 5797 Parachute for Sale or Swap • I’ve inherited this parachute with a glider, but due to my height need something slimmer. Labelled “Southern Parachutes Service Fleet Hants”. Made March 2002. Supported weight 254lbs/ 115Kg. Blue cover and carry case. Built in blow up lumbar support. Sheepskin liner. Obviously very well looked after, and clean. About 4 inches thick. Very comfy to sit on. No bulges or uncomfy bits. Tested on a 4 hour flight. I’m happy to have it re-packed before sale to ensure canopy is in good condition. Willing to swap for a good condition slim parachute (2 to 2.5 inch would be ideal). $2.500 ONO or swap. Tim Bromhead. email: gliding@pear.co.nz phone 021 217 904
Wanted Wanted good serviceable parachute, needs to be good for 100Kg • Havelock Nth - Email jason.price@nz.hjheinz.com phone 021 977 240
For Sale
JS1C Due to a cancellation I have an extra delivery position available in 2015 for a JS1C at a special price. Or buy my new highly optioned JS1C which is arriving NZ in November 2014 which has both 21m and EVO 18m wingtips and jet options, and I will take a 2015 slot for myself. Contact me for further details Brett Hunter email: hunter.b@ihug.co.nz phone 021 927 626
DG 400 Self launching glider ZK-GOM first flew in December 1984 and has completed 1,793 hours and 247 hours on the engine, spare motor available. Comes with 15 and 17, tips, tow out gear, wing and tail plane hangar covers, 2 canopy covers, EDS and A8A oxygen with quick connect refill. Cambridge GPS and Winter mechanical vario. Dittel FSG60M radio and Terra interior lights and ability to charge batteries via an external socket while glider is in the trailer. This glider would be ideal for a syndicate, finance can be discussed if necessary. $89,000. Contact: Mark Aldridge 0274 508 505 or email mda@308.kiwi.nz
May–July 2015
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Sailplane Services Ltd Specialist Composite Aviation Engineering
NZ agents for Schempp-Hirth Sailplanes, LXNav Soaring Equipment and Trig Avionics all state of the art equipment for soaring aircraft. Ross Gaddes email ross@sailplaneservices.co.nz phone +64 9 294 7324 or +674 274 789 123