NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
GREYTOWN SOARING CENTRE CENTRAL DISTRICTS CONTEST TASMAN TROPHY YOUTH GLIDE • CLUB NEWS i s s u e 4 5 M a y – J u l y 2 0 16
IMAGES THAT SOAR ABOVE THE ORDINARY
John McCaw – aviation and agricultural photographer
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contents may–july 2016 features 10 Greytown Soaring Centre now in Business 16 Central Districts Contest 22 Auckland Aviation Sports Club 50 Years 27 Flying the Tasman Trophy 32 Beacons of Hope 36 Hydraulic Jump 40 Vintage Kiwi’s Big Southern Adventure 42 Human Factors 45 Youth Glide Soaring Development
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Mini-Camps 48
Kaikohe and Return
regulars 6 Log Book 50 A Question of Safety 51 Airworthiness 52 GNZ Awards & Certificates 53 Gliding New Zealand Club News 58 Classified Advertising
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©SoaringNZ is subject to copyright in its entirety. The contents may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the owners. All material sent to SoaringNZ will be assumed to be publishable unless marked not for publication. SoaringNZ invites contributions but accepts no responsibility for unsolicited material. ISSN 1178-4784 May–July 2016 3
from the editor may–july 2016
A
bout thirty years ago I spent a couple of years in Australia, including a year in Melbourne where I joined the Gliding Club of Victoria which flies from Benalla. I was there at just the right time, to be part of the World Champs that the club hosted in 1987. Being part of a Worlds, even on the peripheries is a great way to get to know people and later in the year when I made the big leap and headed for England and Europe, I had gliding clubs to visit and people to stay with. I logged flights in lots of different countries and was treated to trips and entrance to air shows, all through contacts within the gliding movement. The gliding community felt like a large extended family. It still does. As I write this, we have a young German lass staying with us. She’s a glider pilot of course. I’m not quite sure how she found us, but I think it was through the ephemeral and not really a thing, gliding youth network which happens on social media. It was Alex who asked if she could stay here and Luca has had some great flights with us and others in the NZ gliding community, not to mention balloon flights and a boating trip where she got to meet Hector's dolphins in Akaroa Harbour. I like the thought that we’re repaying the hospitality I received all those years ago. Nights are getting longer. The leaves are turning. I find autumn creates a primal nesting urge that I cannot ignore. I used to gain a great sense of satisfaction from seeing the firewood stacked up, neat and organised and ready to keep us warm through the winter. Our new, modern home in Christchurch has a gas fire which means we no longer need to do this and I miss it. There are other things I can do however to make sure we’re provided for. I have preserving jars of beetroot and smaller jars of pickles stacked up on my shelves. Our new fruit trees did extremely well for only being two summers old, and I had quinces which I made into a lovely translucent jelly and have enough apples to start cooking them up and freezing down for winter eating. Hopefully, next year, we will have enough peaches and plums to bottle. It is very satisfying to be able to feed ourselves from our own produce. I’m extremely pleased that if we run short of anything I can easily buy it from the supermarket down the road, but I reckon that I could have made do, back in my great grandmother’s day, if I’d had to. I bake a mean batch of scones too, by the way.
West Coast ATC visiting Springfield CENTRAL DISTRICTS CONTEST TASMAN TROPHY YOUTH GLIDE • CLUB NEWS i s s u e 4 4 M a y – J u l y 2 0 16
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May–July 2016
Another part of my nesting-for-the-winter routine, is to prepare some indoor projects. I have knitting and sewing (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, they’re both very addictive) but I expect most of my readers are more likely to be working out how they can sneak the aircraft parts they want to work on into the living room, living rooms being much warmer places to work than garages and workshops. I’ll leave it up to you how you go about appeasing the other users of your lounge room but if you want to stay on the right side of the powers that be, you’d better check out Martyn Cook’s Airworthiness column for a few notes on what you should and shouldn’t be looking at fixing yourself. Of course, on a rainy day, nothing beats curling up with a nice cuppa and some good reading material. We’ve got a number of longer articles in this issue which should fit the bill nicely. Our feature article is the opening of the Greytown Soaring Centre which really incorporates several stories in
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NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
GREYTOWN SOARING CENTRE
Luca Rocholl from Germany flies with John McCaw
Photo John McCaw
Next Issue: World Club Class Championship Introducing Simon Gault's Glider Pilot's Kitchen
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one, the Wellington club recognising the need to leave their commercial airport site, co-operation between two clubs and good old Kiwi can do, creating a fantastic facility which will enhance the sport in the lower North Island. Well done to all concerned. The 50th Reunion of the RNZAF Auckland Aviation Sports Club has brought up some great stories and for the more technically minded, we have Bernard Eckey’s look at the interesting phenomenon of hydraulic jump, which is and isn’t like wave. Following the major search and rescue effort at Omarama in February, various people spoke to various people and the Rescue Co-ordination Centre agreed to write a series of articles for us, the first of which, looking at various locator beacons, runs in this issue. We also have the second in our Human Factors series with lots of good reading in there. So settle back, make a cuppa and put your feet up. Stay Safe Jill McCaw
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logbook may–july 2016 GLIDING NZ AGM
James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel, Wellington Programme Friday 10 June Greytown trip – optional visit to Greytown Soaring Centre to see the recent site developments and the new Wellington GC hangar and Skylaunch winch. Saturday 11 June 09:30 am – 11:15 am AGM 11:15 am – 5:45 pm Conference 5:45 pm – 7:30 pm Cocktail Party with guest speaker Awards & Trophy presentations Sunday 12 June 09:00 am – 10:30 am Youth Glide Forum 10:30 am – 12:30 pm Contest Pilots’ Meeting
Solar Impulse Completes its Pacific Crossing
Note the shift of the AGM from the traditional Sunday morning to the Saturday morning. Full details on the GNZ web site. Cut off for registrations: 6 June
Change of Address updates Gliding New Zealand members – Please DO NOT contact the SoaringNZ editor to change your address.
GNZ MEMBERS Have you logged in to the GNZ website? Are your ratings and awards official? Are your contact details right? Are you receiving SoaringNZ magazine? Do you need contacts for club members? http://members.gliding.co.nz
Schempp-Hirth News With the success of their new Ventus prototype the factory announces that they have started serial production of the aircraft. The 200th Arcus has made its maiden flight and some spectacular photos have surfaced of close formation flying by an Arcus and a Discus 2a in Southern France.
Departure: Arrival: Flight Time: Distance: Max Altitude: Solar Energy:
Kalaeloa Airport, Hawaii 21st April 2016 16:15 UTC Moffett Airfield, California 24th April 2016 06:44 UTC 2 Days, 14 Hours, 29 Minutes 4086 km 8634 m 1121 kWh
After a nearly five-day flight from Japan to Hawaii in July, the Solar Impulse had to wait for repairs to the overheated battery system and then for the longer days of the northern summer. As Solar Impulse relies on solar power to charge its batteries to allow it to fly through the nights, longer days and shorter nights are essential when the only other option is a disastrous landing in the ocean. The Hawaii to California leg was leg nine in an estimated 15 legs to complete their circumnavigation of the globe. It and the previous nearly five day flight were the most perilous, not just because of the limitation of the solar power units and batteries, but because the solo pilot had to stay awake and alert for the entire time. However, the flights have proved that the technology is capable of keeping an aircraft flying indefinitely, without the use of a single drop of fossil fuel.
CALENDAR June 11 – 12 July 31 – August 13 October 22 – 24 October 29 – November 6 November 12 – 19 November 27 – December 3 January 2 – 14 2017 January 2 – 21 2017 January 29 – February 4 2017 1st or 2nd Week February 2017 (TBA)
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May–July 2016
GNZ AGM, James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel, Wellington World Club Class Championships, Lithuania Youth Soaring Development Mini Camp, Greytown Soaring Centre (provisional) 1st Competition of Season - Central Plateau Soaring Competition, Taupo South Island Regional Gliding Championships, Omarama North Island Regional Gliding Championships, Matamata Multi-class Nationals, Omarama World Multi-Class Championships, Benalla, Australia Club Class Nationals, Matamata Central Districts Championships, Greytown Soaring Centre
GAVIN WILLS
M O U N TA IN SOARING SCHOOL Learn-to-Fly Post Solo to QGP Mountain Soaring Guest instructors: Uli Schwenk Justin Wills
ADVENTURE SOARING FLIGHTS
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May–July 2016
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logbook may–july 2016 Perlan II stratospheric glider pressurised test flights begin
PIPISTREL ANNOUNCES MOST POWERFUL HYBRID ELECTRIC POWERTRAIN FOR AIRCRAFT Pipistrel’s project HYPSTAIR, developed by Siemens, was powered up in February. Hybrid-electric powertrains are a new breed of aviation propulsion, which extend the range of all-electric aircraft while being environmentally friendly and quiet. The 200 kW propulsor delivers the power equivalent to a typical general aviation piston engine and can run in three modalities: electric-only mode using batteries, generator-only mode or hybrid mode combining both power sources.
Tom Enders
Pressurised flight testing of the Perlan II high altitude glider began in March at the Minden, Nevada testing facility. Airbus Group CEO Tom Enders visited with the group and was briefed on the mission and the custom built glider by Perlan Mission II chief pilot Jim Payne. The Perlan 2 glider is designed to soar to 90,000 feet as it researches high altitude flight, climate change and the potential for wing-borne travel on Mars. “It was a pleasure to meet with the devoted innovators behind a scientific mission that will break the world altitude record for level, controlled flight,” Enders said. “This project began as the inspiration of a small group of talented volunteers, and has evolved into one of the boldest endeavours in modern aviation. We’re proud to support a program that so perfectly embodies the pioneering spirit of Airbus." To reach the record-breaking altitudes necessary for its research program, the team will deploy later this year to a region in Argentina where mountain waves fed by the polar vortex travel all the way to the stratosphere. The test flight program took a significant leap forward with the successful first pressurised flight, validating the system that will keep the crew alive in atmospheric conditions similar to those on Mars. Enders joined Payne inside the pressurised aircraft for ground testing of its life-sustaining systems, though adverse weather conditions during his visit prevented the two from making a test flight. Although the air density at 90,000 feet is just two percent of the density at sea level, the pressurization system will maintain a cabin altitude of 15,000 feet. The system allows pilots to safely operate without wearing the bulky pressure suits that hampered previous efforts to soar to the stratosphere in the unpressurised Perlan 1 glider. The crew of Perlan 2 breathes 100 percent oxygen from a rebreather system similar to what astronauts use in space. “This aircraft will fly in a region of our atmosphere where no other aircraft has operated for sustained periods, and in doing so it will change our fundamental understanding of how our atmosphere works,” Enders said. “But we also hope it will change people’s thinking about what is possible, and inspire a new generation of aerospace pioneers to push beyond their limits.” Interested observers can track the progress of the Airbus Perlan Mission II flight test program via Facebook and Twitter @PerlanProject.
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Following the extensive laboratory testing of components and the integration on a representative airframe at the Pipistrel aviation factory in Slovenia, the successful power up trialled all propulsion modes at low and high powers, driving a specially developed five blade low rpm, low noise propeller. Tests of take-off power were performed using combined output of the generator driven by a turbonormalised engine and the high-performance battery custom developed to support high discharge rates. Pipistrel CEO, Ivo Boscarol, says: “We are proud of what HYPSTAIR represents for the development of electric flight. It demonstrates the possibility for general aviation class aircraft to be electrically powered… Project HYPSTAIR represents a major step in the direction of a hybrid aircraft and an opportunity for Pipistrel and other general aviation aircraft manufacturers.”
FAI Annual Report is out FAI activities include Aerobatics, Aeromodelling, Airships, Amateur-Built and Experimental Aircraft, Balloons, Gliding, Hang Gliding, Helicopters, Manpowered Flying, Microlights, Parachuting, Paragliding, Paramotors, Power Flying and all other Aeronautic and Astronautic sporting activities. Among other things the annual report includes World and Continental records in all disciplines. You’ll find it online. Search: 2015 FAI Annual Report
logbook may–july 2016 2016 FAI Young Artists Contest The FAI international jury selected the winning paintings which every year honours the best paintings from youngsters in three age categories from 7 to 16 years old.
It’s only in the event of a
CL A IM
that you really find out who has the best policy!
The theme of the contest was “Air Sports in Harmony with Nature”. The winners were chosen amongst the best artists of the following FAI Member Countries: Canada, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, India, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, USA. They made some beautiful pictures. You can find them through the news section of the FAI website.
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.
Contact your broker or ring Arden and talk to the people who specialise in aviation insurance. “Kiwis providing Glider pilots with aviation insurance for over 30 years”
TELEPHONE 04 473 5593
May–July 2016
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Greytown Soaring Centre
NOW IN BUSINESS BY ROSS SUTHERLAND AND A CAST OF SEVERAL.
LEAVING AFTER 55 YEARS PARAPARAUMU TO PAPAWAI Anyone who has ever moved house can attest to the emotional and physical work involved in moving. The Wellington Gliding Club (WGC) has just completed the big move and is now based at the Greytown Soaring Centre, Papawai, Greytown. The story is one of highs and lows, dedication and a pulling together of club spirit to actually make it happen. THE BACKGROUND A couple of years back the club, which was based at Paraparaumu north of Wellington, was advised by the airport company that the current 2020 lease would not be extended due to development plans for the airport. This started a quiet search for options for a new home. Various sites were assessed, however the timely purchase of the Papawai farm, which hosted Gliding Wairarapa (GW), by the South Wairarapa District Council (SWDC) for use as an “on land clear water treatment solution” (rather than previous river discharge) led to negotiations for a long term partnership to develop the site as a soaring centre for the lower North island. This culminated in the signing of a heads of agreement. Negotiations were at the same time running on the possibility of an early lease exit from Paraparaumu. The operational restrictions due to the increasing commercial flights into Paraparaumu were starting to impact markedly on operations.
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A heads of agreement was then negotiated with the Airport company for a potential early exit by November 2015 with a final fallback date of June 2016. As with any major proposed change, much work was put into the actual project items that would need to be addressed before going to members with a SGM on a proposal.
THE PLANNING As Papawai itself was well developed, due to the years of effort by Jim Bicknell and the Gliding Wairarapa team, it wasn’t a green field site. However as resource consent requirements had changed a lot over the years, the only land available for new hangars etc. needed to be above the 100 year flood zone, effectively on the terrace on the western side of the airfield, about 1 km away from the current N/S runway. Several streams of work were identified as key for a viable proposal to be presented to members. The first was the negotiations for a site lease with SWDC. The Omarama model of a Soaring Centre, working for the benefit of soaring in New Zealand as a whole with constituent clubs operating under its umbrella was used, ably led by Grae Harrison, Martyn Cook, David Hirst and a small team. Another team of Wellington Gliding Club members was responsible for hangar design, tow plane/winch option analysis and relocation logistics planning. It was determined that the ‘minimum’ to move was a hangar to store the aircraft and clear title and access to runways. The fun then started!!!
Moving the farm transformer - saved $85k Nov 15
Mastermind Martyn Cook with fellow club member Paul Williams
HANGAR DESIGN
THE WINCH/TOWPLANE OPTIONS
It’s pretty common wisdom that if you put 10 glider pilots in a room you are likely to have 20 opinions and next day some of those ‘bottom line’ opinions will have swapped positions. It was no different when we started to design our ‘perfect hangar’. The benefits of the ‘Omarama style’ design are well known, so version one had a beautiful design and layout for club and private owners, stunning, until we started getting the first costings in. $50-60k per hangar slot. Hmmm, club funds certainly didn’t extend that far and there were many deep breaths from potential private owners. Back to the drawing board. Luckily the club had the considerable talents of engineer Martyn Cook, who had taken a personal interest over the years on the strengths and weaknesses of various hangar designs around the world. Research in cheap(ish) kitset box hangars, Omarama style options etc. went back and forward until a design of a hybrid box/Omarama style was settled upon as meeting club needs (generally sequence of gliders in/out, cost effective per glider) and private needs (ease of single glider in/ out). A short list of potential suppliers was agreed and the local Greytown engineering firm selected. Detailed design soon highlighted the benefits of the mixed design. The box section provided lateral structural strength to the Omarama style plus the two usually wasted space ends of Omarama style were then used to provide extra wing spaces for the box end of the hangar plus a winch store at the other. So the hybrid box/Omarama style (forever now known as a ‘Cookie Hangar’) was born, actually a miracle in glider pilot politics in that the 20 odd opinions all merged into a ‘that’s clever’ consensus.
Another stream of work was also started to investigate launching methods at the new site. GW had proved that with 2.4 km runways, good launch heights of 2500 feet were easily attainable. However the GW single drum winch, whilst perfect for the Ka13 etc. wasn’t powerful enough for our heavy DG1000s. Martyn Cook’s engineering expertise was again called upon to research the various winch options and technology around the world. After considerable analysis, including visits to manufacturers, Martyn recommended that the UK Skylaunch Evo winch and combined BGA training syllabus was the best suited to WGC’s needs, if the club decided to follow a winching path. Our current Pawnee, whilst powerful, which is necessary for the relatively short Paraparaumu runways and built up areas, is also quite expensive to run. The opportunities of lower cost winching and its ability to then allow training to be accessible for a lower budget is well known. The various numbers were run through the slide rule and it soon became pretty clear that, even with current levels of utilisation, even a brand new winch could be cost effective and potentially drop the cost of training / launching by 30-60%. The Pawnee could continue for a while as well until options/ cash flow allow ultralight/private owner towing options to be explored further.
BIG DECISION DAY. 26 MARCH 2015 The planning work culminated in a Special General Meeting called to vote on the various recommendations. - Vacate the Paraparaumu lease early - Move to Papawai, Greytown subject to lease/access issues being resolved May–July 2016
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GREYTOWN SOARING CENTRE
The hanger frame goes up Nov 15
The power trench - Pressie Brian Sharpe Nov 15
GSC Hanger updated build 3 January 2016
- Build a new club hangar - Purchase a new 2 drum Skylaunch winch A full member turn out voted to proceed on all items. The real work was about to begin and the timeline of 30 November seemed tight but doable.
THE HARD WORK Often you think it’s the doing that is hard, however in the current resource management environment it’s actually getting all your ducks in a row in time for doing that is a lot harder. Various delays in approvals/access/fishhooks soon showed that actually building the required infrastructure wasn’t going to allow a November 30 move. A revised project plan from our very able Project Manager, Greg Williams, suggested a realistic 31st March 2016 was possible if the various fishhooks could be dealt with (unfortunately Greg passed away during 2015 and has been greatly missed). The big hang up was access to runways from the terrace (a creek and outside-owned block of land were in the way and therefore signing of the leases). Hangar build and winch purchase were contingent on lease signing, so time steadily ticked on. However interim solutions were found for the access issue (club members to build a bridge). And the various sub projects finally started. Not much to show in the first few months with the hangar or site. Cheques were written for consents, engineering and fire reports, peer reviews on everything and $20k was soon gone. However, the earthworks started, Stewart Barton brought his big digger from the farm and site progress started. It was discovered that there was a spare power pole with a transformer on the farm about 400 m away and the power hookup quote for the site dropped from $100k to around $15k. If club labour did the trenches/laying ... the first of many working bees. Water was also laid in the trenches. October-February was one working bee after another.
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The first of 1000 posts to paint Tom Davies Feb 16
Stewart’s digger was often going dawn to dusk and members soon learnt how to build bridges and trenches/lay cables/fence/ flatten land/do electrics and the myriad of other tasks to make a two hectare rolling site into a gliding base. Jim Bicknell was there most days also helping with his various farm equipment. Over a couple of days, about 300 m of rolling farmland turned into a beautiful flat access way and as a huge welcome surprise, an 800 m E/W runway appeared on the top terrace beside the hangar. Hangar landings to save the one kilometre walk became a viable option. The hangar build was going well and the club end became available for handover around the end of February. That gave a month to actually do the move, if March 31st was to be achieved.
THE BIG MOVE We were really fortunate in that the volunteer summer crew for the season were in boots and all with the move and hard work. Jake Brattle from UK, Laszlo Paszternak from Hungary, Micheal Jahn, Gerhard Flock and Helmut Meyer all from Germany were there at both sites, clearing up Paraparaumu and setting up Papawai. Actually Gerhard and Helmut came primarily for the summer to help the club move. Whilst our German and their English was at rudimentary levels, communication in what’s required in a gliding sense is pretty universal, so jobs like sorting out the engineering workshop and tow plane parts (our guys pretty much threw up their hands on the 55 years of collected tools, parts and junk) were accomplished with German efficiency. Thanks lads. We put together a photo montage and project plan for everything we could find around the site. It was then sorted by keep/ possible/toss. A monumental 89 man days work was fitted into four weeks. It was made even more difficult by ‘toss’ items reappearing out of the junk bin regularly. In fact, we found that a tip load trailer left overnight would often appear half empty in the morning.
GREYTOWN SOARING CENTRE
Bridge building Papawai Feb 16
Stuart Barton and his faithful digger
Tireless worker Jim Bicknell
We soon figured that if we put stuff by the club entrance with a ‘free to a good home’ sign, it actually disappeared within an hour and didn’t reappear in the ‘keep’ pile. The next logistical issue was that even with ruthless culling, there wouldn’t be enough room to fit everything without totally cluttering up the shiny new hangar. A quick purchase of a one trip, high, cube, double door (HCDD) container and Papawai Container village was started. Another one trip HCDD container was ordered privately and has become the ‘show home’ for a wheel-out trailer storage with sofa bed in one end. The Christchurch earthquake did help in showing what containers can do and even after the consent delays and costs involved with building they still seem quite attractive. The trick seems to be the one trips – they’re effectively new and have none of the worn out rust and appearance issues older containers seem to have and are not much more cost. A ‘Last Hurrah’ party at Paraparaumu on March 19th was attended by many current and past members. Fundraising at the event was for the ‘Dunny fund’. Enough was raised prior to the night to purchase a Christchurch Earthquake Portapotty. The mere sight of this as the ‘interim solution’ brought more donations, to the point where we now have enough for a septic tank with hopefully a shed with a loo on top. It’s amazing how much ‘buyout’ of Portapotty cleaning duties raised. That left Easter Weekend as the big move logistics weekend. Tony Van Dyk and his car trailer were invaluable with four trips, hauling checkers (launch point caravan), two club sleeping caravans, one of the field cars (we drove the other two over) plus numerous other awkward bits. A horse trailer full of other ‘essential stuff’ and numerous cars full and with trailers completed the big move. The weather gods cleared a path on Easter Monday and all four club gliders were flown across the main range. Of course, getting the first glider past the ‘pesky problem fencepost’, over ‘the interim bridge’, past the newly sown grass
The Papawai Bridge building team March 16
and into the new hangar was worthy of a celebration. With all four gliders safely tucked away, we realised that Martyn’s four glider club hangar design was in fact most probably capable of storing six to eight with ‘European stacking’. Clever design with the wing extension into the unused private space made all the difference.
THE AFTERMATH In the month or so prior to departure, the airport company indicated that they would not be averse to us removing/selling some of the buildings it didn’t wish to use. This opened up another stream of last minute work to investigate the possible relocation/sale of the clubhouse/accommodation cottage and two of the smaller (ex-private) hangars. As anyone who has tried to sell anything complex on Trade Me quickly finds out, you get a lot of dreamers pressing ‘buy now’ then figuring out how much work is involved. After ‘selling’ the cottage six times with no money fronting (only $2.5k wanted), it and the two hangars ($5k), finally went to people who knew what they were doing. That left the clubhouse. After much hard work investigating options on the relocation/refurbishment costs, the committee decided to take a $3k offer for our much loved clubhouse. So we have no clubhouse or amenities block to offer visitors yet. Basically we ran out of funds. However, the unexpected bonus from selling the buildings has given us a $10k start to the ‘interim amenities/clubhouse fund’. We are pretty shameless on fundraising, so here is a plug for any well wishing gliding type to donate to this worthy cause ($40k is first stage target). WGC Amenities Fund. BNZ Lower Hutt 02 0560 0041898 01 As we said when we started with the Portapotty, “No deposit is too small.” The dream of the Greytown Soaring Centre is that it will be the ‘premier training facility’ in the Lower North island. May–July 2016
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GREYTOWN SOARING CENTRE
LEAVING WELLINGTON
Brian Sharpe, Ross Sutherland, Jim Bicknell
Refurbished checkers on its way to Papawai.
A summer crew for seven day operations in 2016/17 season is presently being recruited in Europe and we hope to host many local and overseas glider pilots as part of the New Zealand soaring season circuit. We see ourselves as a complement, not competition, to the marvelous facilities and service offered by Omarama. So if you’re passing, or just interested to see this beautiful soaring site and its peaceful ambience, by all means call in. You will be hugely welcomed. There is camping on site (and hopefully a loo and shower coming soon, if fundraising goes well.) The first skip of Paraparaumu metal junk Nov 15.
Paraparaumu workshop - prior to German efficiency cleanup Feb 16.
How to get rid of stuff - outside gate Paraparaumu Feb 16.
Hanger sale and dismantling Paraparaumu April 16.
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Remains of Paraparaumu April 16.
Another load of junk to the tip next morning half empty.
GREYTOWN SOARING CENTRE
GRAND OPENING BY ROSS SUTHERLAND
First night in for the fleet March 2016.
After over a year in the planning and execution, the Greytown Soaring Centre was officially opened on April 2nd 2016 by South Wairarapa District Council (SWDC) Mayor Adrienne Staples at a ceremony on site. The rain stopped and clouds cleared just in time for the site blessing, performed by Papawai Marae trust chairman Paora Ammunson, and hangar opening ribbon cutting, attended by over 120 local pilots and dignitaries. Everyone was then invited onto the adjacent Papawai Marae for a traditional Pōuwhiri and afternoon tea. Local oral history has one of the Marae warriors swooping down to surprise his enemies in a kite launched from Papawai Hill so gliding is seen as important to the Iwi. Soaring Centre chairman Grae Harrison and his team have worked tirelessly to build strong partnerships with SWDC (including site visits to Omarama to observe the Omarama Soaring Centre Model) and local community. It is intended the Greytown Soaring Centre manage airfield facilities and SoPs so the clubs can concentrate on operations. Brian Sharp also announced the first $1000 "Dream of Flight" youth (under 25) gliding scholarship which was generously matched by Jim Bicknell. These scholarships will be open to the youth of New Zealand to apply for and demonstrate the commitment of everyone to make the site a great training and soaring facility.
Photo taken at Grand Opening (next article). Max Stevens (Life Member of Wellington GC) was a visitor – not one of the workers doing all the grunt of establishment!! Brian Sharpe is President of Wellington and David Hirst is CFI Gliding Wairarapa.
Opening day ribbon cutting Grae Harrison Jim Bicknell Brian Sharp and Mayor Adrienne.
Opening day red carpet - to protect the grass.
Papawai Marae Po-uwhiri 2 April 16.
May–July 2016
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Photo Trev Terry
JUNIOR WORLDS
CENTRAL DISTRI 2016 Central Districts Gliding Championships BY JASON KELLY
Organised by Gliding Hawkes Bay & Waipukurau, this event was run as a low key, regional championship and used as a training ground for new competition pilots. A World Class (competed for in PW5s) and a combined Open / Club class were tasked and scored. PRACTICE DAY – SATURDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2016
CONTEST DAY 1 – SUNDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2016
Waipukurau airfield was covered in gliders by 11:30 am reminding pilots of competitions of many years ago. With 22 confirmed entrants plus club gliders from Wellington, Manawatu and Hawkes Bay present along with four tow planes, the airfield was busy. The day was hot and humid with an easterly wind. Thermals popped a bit after midday. An informal task was called after an introduction and midday briefing. Aircraft were soon launching into a sky full of thermals and most gliders had launched by 2:30 pm. Some pilots completed the task, some chose to only fly locally for a look see while a couple practiced their land out skills. Vaughan Ruddick had a pleasant flight over to Mount Ngauruhoe in the central North Island, quite an adventure from Waipukurau.
Early morning cloud burnt off to allow launching to start soon after 1 pm. With AAT tasks set for all pilots, this allowed for possible weather variations and pilots to determine the length of task they completed. The day turned out better than yesterday which allowed a slightly larger area to play in. Thermals started late, as they do when there is complete cloud cover until about 10:30 am, but picked up to a good 4-5 knots in places. The resident convergence set up in the mid afternoon to allow most pilots to complete the task including both PW5s. Unfortunately no data log was obtainable for one PW5 but both started and finished close together. The day was completed with a tasty BBQ in the evening and everyone went to bed smiling; except for the scorer Graham White, as his scoring program decided to call it a day and depart for the discarded computer bits and pieces in the rings of Saturn!
CONTEST DAY 2 – MONDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2016
Photo Trev Terry
It looked pretty hopeless at the start with high cirrus coming over the task area after the launch but there were good thermals marked by little wisps of cumulus. Just as it got a bit difficult mid task, the cirrus thinned out and good cu’s developed. So again most pilots completed the task but not without a challenge. There were some issues with data loggers and some issues with three files thanks to the start going through the change of date with UTC time. Overall it was another good day.
Glider on tow
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CONTEST DAY 3 – TUESDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2016 Again, morning high cloud burnt off and the weather played ball to provide another good soaring day. Three pilots shared a paddock at the northern turn point while most other pilots
TRICTS CONTEST completed the task. The task setter experimented with the task minimum time, by setting it at one hour, but didn’t achieve what he’d hoped for, which was for pilots to ignore the minimum time and use the conditions available to fly as far as possible around the designated task area. Thermals of up to 10 knots and to over 6,000 feet were reported with a southern convergence, aiding pilots in that part of the task. Both PW5s completed their task and obtained a valid data log. The scorekeeper was frustrated trying to post the results to Soaring Spot and it telling him he had an outdated version of SeeYou, despite it only being downloaded two days prior and no new updates being available.
DAY 4 – WEDNESDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2016 While morning drizzle and rain had lessened during briefing and more high cloud and a strong northerly wind forecast, flying was cancelled for the day. After watching a “maggot race” of some of yesterday’s flights, the set up and use of the Spot tracking system was explained to interested pilots. The pilots went their own ways for the balance of the day before returning for an evening wine tasting, courtesy of sponsors Alpha Domus Winery and the Noetzli Family Winery. Another superb BBQ followed, thanks to a great team of helpers. The day was finished off with Hugh de Lautour showing a video of his air safari through southern Africa.
called the clearance and useable wave from 2 pm local time. It was actually closer to 3 pm but the wave was there and strong too – 8-10 knots at times with 6 knots average. It was one of those days when the sky east of the Manawatu Gorge was clear and allowed Graham to fly south to Featherston and return and north and return – an OLC distance of 452 km, at an average of 174 km/h. Rob Laskey from Feilding went to over 22,000 feet and others to around 10,000 feet. The evening was rounded off with the competition dinner at a local establishment where thanks were given to the organisers and helpers along with the sharing of a few humorous limericks from Hugh de Lautour.
November Mike is a glider with class It’s neat and it’s clean and it’s fast. But those ‘roos on the wings Are bastards of things With their craving for grazing on grass!
Tango Tango’s fast out of the blocks And its pilot’s a cunning old fox But to get it to race And take out first place, Trev – you must first take it out of its box.
DAY 5 – THURSDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2016 The weather again did not play ball with cloud, rain, drizzle and strong winds forecast from ground level and increasing with altitude. Flying was thus again cancelled with Friday looking possible and Saturday and Sunday likely. The local newspaper, the HB Today, and radio station, CentralFM, ran reports and results on the contest to date which gave the gliding movement some publicity.
DAY 6 – FRIDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2016 With another cold front approaching, a no contest day was declared at morning briefing as the anticipated clearance was expected too late to set a task. However, it duly came and about a third of the field flew and took advantage of some good wave. Graham White, as met man, thought he had better fly as he had
Wellington GC's summer crew member Michael Jahn and instructor Jevon McSkimming prepare for a wave flight in DG 1000 GGR
May–July 2016
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Photo Vauhgan Ruddick
CENTRAL DISTRICTS CONTEST
Thanks HB and Waipukurau Once again you’ve done us all proud. It’s a great little meet At which to compete; We’ll be there when next year comes around. Mount Ngauruhoe crater
DAY 7 (CONTEST DAY 4) – 20TH FEBRUARY 2016 Hugh de Lautour shared more of his talents at morning briefing.
Tango Delta is always a hit To get round the task, follow it. If you lose touch don’t fret It’s a sure enough bet He’ll very soon be back on “transmit”! Well, it would have been nice to end the competition on a boomer day as the forecast was for good conditions in the area from Norsewood north. However the westerly wind was stronger at lower levels than forecast and sheared off the thermals and blued out the Takapau Plains to leave the day to be, ‘not as advertised’, and quite difficult. The conditions after launch were good with 3-6 knots thermals to 5,500 feet. Conditions were similar for the start of the first leg to Kereru but with some big gaps. Then it got progressively harder, although getting down to Norsewood wasn’t too difficult. By then the sky was largely blue except for a long way to the east. Some pilots went that way but the ‘faster’ finishers went directly on track and found a few reasonable climbs to get north again. The next leg south to Ormondville was a challenge with just enough lift about in the blue to get there and then a final glide around the last turn and home. All that effort for a 73km/h flight when it promised to be 100km/h+ task at launch. There were a few finishers in the Open class but neither World class pilot went far enough to make it a contest day despite their best efforts.
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The final overall results saw Tony van Dyk take home the Open and Standard Class trophies, Robert Laskey the Club Class and Richard Keir taking out the World Class trophy. The Club Class trophy was unable to be located. If anyone knows of its whereabouts, please get it to this year’s winner, Robert Laskey. Final results are on Soaring Spot. Thanks again to contest director Neil Faulknor, weatherman, task setter and scorer Graham White, tow pilots and all the helpers. Thanks also to our sponsors Alpha Domus Winery, the Noetzli Family Winery and Centralines. A great thank you is also due to Margaret Keir and helpers, the master chefs, who spoiled all present with two fantastic steak meals which were much appreciated by all who attended. Next year the Central Districts are scheduled to be held in Greytown in the Wairarapa so come and join a friendly, relaxed contest. Start planning now. But there was a lot more to the Waipukurau experience than the competition itself and here, in their own words, are the perspectives of two of the visiting Wellington Club members.
Next year the Central Districts are scheduled to be held in Greytown in the Wairarapa so come and join a friendly, relaxed contest. Start planning now.
CENTRAL DISTRICTS CONTEST
A First Time Competition Experience BY CHRISTOPHER MOSS
If I had to sum the trip up in one sentence, I would say, “A fantastic learning experience, a must to do at any level of experience, JUST DO IT.”
I
was very much looking forward to a gliding week with nothing else to think about other than gliding. A big thank you to Brian Sharpe and George Rogers for their committed efforts in the lead up, training and helping at the competition itself. Preparation in Paraparaumu included checking that glider trailers and aircraft were fit for purpose, tyre pressures were all good and a checklist of all items down to wing tapes and cleaning materials. We were very fortunate to have a practice day, four competition days and a late afternoon wave day. With my powered background, an out landing was something I never really wanted to experience. With no engine and not the best glide ratio, there is very little time to get yourself into a good paddock and quite a bit to think about, pending height of course. However, two very successful out landings in the PW5, in the Hawkes Bay area, have given me more confidence along with being conscious of having good options for suitable landing areas, reminding myself of completing good
entry into circuit, approach and landing points, knowing the wind velocity, terrain etc. You only get one shot at a landing, unlike powered aircraft you can overshoot and take off for a second attempt (providing your prop is still turning!). I learnt a lot about rigging and de-rigging, and care of gliders. Towing the PW5 up and back gave me a sense of responsibility to look after it. Handling and attention to all parts of the glider are very important. By helping others, you can also learn a lot. All pilots at the competition were helpful and generally supportive of new younger ones on the scene and we were acknowledged for our achievements. I can see why glider pilots get into the sport of competition flying. There is a lot of self-discipline, plus skills of maintenance and looking after your glider and having the right gear. It is a very tactical form of flying and you need a good knowledge of the energy lines, general weather and of course fun, looking back at your flight and talking through with other like-minded pilots. One of my reasons for going on the competition trip was to complete my QGP licence and I am happy to report I have done so, with pretty much just the paperwork to send off now.
May–July 2016
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Competing at
CENTRAL DISTRICTS BY JAKE BRATTLE
I met Graham White at the Youth Soaring Development Camp Omarama in December and he very kindly offered me use of his Std Libelle HN for the CDs.
T
hank you Graham! I was looking forward to doing my first competition in a fibreglass glider. My main aim for the competition was to experiment with flying a glass glider competitively, to try to find the optimum conservativeness/aggressiveness (changing gears) at the right times around the tasks. On the practice day we had good soaring conditions locally and I used the day to get used to the glider and get used to the area. This flight also showed me how unprepared I was and how much of my flying gear I had left on the ground. Fortunately, this meant I was well prepared the next day with a check list to ensure nothing was forgotten. The first competition day came around and the pre-start gaggles were much less stressful than I am used to, partly thanks to the excellent visibility from the Libelle’s canopy. Once the gate was opened I set myself up for a start behind a few other competitors, with the intention of letting them mark out the first few climbs and me using them as reference on the first few glides. I started alongside Jevon in his ASW20 with a few LS8s ahead and many other gliders around; I thought to myself ‘this is why I compete’! The highlights of this task were scratching away from low near the first turn at Kereru over the ‘small’ peaks there, fortunately not as low as Jevon who did well to get a strong climb from low over the peaks. The highlight of the task for me was following an energy line on the second leg, heading south, right up next to the huge Ruahines which was an awesome sight and an adrenaline rush for someone used to 500 feet and not 6,000 feet peaks. The rest of this task was fairly easy to stay high and find good climbs and with an overcooked
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final glide I ended up taking third for the day in open class, first in club class. The second day I had built a little confidence from my result the day before, as I knew I could do better, and so was really looking forward to a new challenge. All my confidence and hopes were shattered when the glider started vibrating and rattling along the ground on tow … was the ground this bumpy yesterday or was something wrong with my wheel? My wing runner signalled to release and I duly obliged. “Your mainwheel has punctured.” I jumped out of the glider and was helped to practically carry the glider off to the side of the grid. Thanks to the ground crew and my parents, we derigged and I was told the tyre could be replaced at the local tyre store and I’d be back in the air in no time. They were right; an hour later I was back in the glider ready to fly on my new, lower profile, high speed, wheelbarrow wheel. Dennis in SUG towed me straight to what appeared to be the only evidence of cumulus for miles. The conditions were actually very good considering the thick top cover and lack of cumulus. I started 40 minutes after most competitors and tried to fly as aggressively as I could; rejecting the weaker climbs and only stopping for the strongest. I quickly found the main gaggle coming out of the second turn whilst I was heading in to it. Some excellent climbs allowed me to start to catch them up on the final few legs, although I was frustrated when I could not out climb Britt and George in GGR! After a near perfect final glide and a slightly uncomfortable ‘undercooked’ finish, it turned out I had won the day with the highest unhandicapped speed.
CENTRAL DISTRICTS CONTEST
The third day was excellent before start but got very difficult around the first turn up north. I pushed too close to the sea and got very low near beautiful Lake Poukawa. I stuck to what so many Kiwis had told me about flying over their terrain: “Fly right over the peaks of the hills, that’s where the thermals pop off from.” This knowledge saved me when I backtracked along the ridge to the west of Lake Poukawa. The rest of the task was challenging in places, until the final three turns, when a huge convergence set up South of Waipuk. I took a nine knot climb to cloud base and then raced along the line of the convergence as far west as I could to bring up my average speed. I came fourth on this day and was sitting in second overall, behind Tony van Dyk by two points. The next two days were scrubbed due to rain and low cloud. In briefing on Friday we were promised wave and on Friday afternoon, once the final fronts had passed, we found huge wave bars forming to the West of the airfield. I went up with Chris Moss for a mutual flight in the wave. Teaching my wave finding skills learnt from Omarama to Chris, he managed to get us established in the secondary where we got to 9,000 feet and pushed onto the primary. Approaching the rotor clouds from the lee was quite intimidating; I had never seen clouds rotate so aggressively. I knew we were about to be taken for a ride and warned Chris. After being thrown around by the rotor we were reminded why we had headed here in the first place. We saw 16 knots on the average, just as were approaching 9,000 feet, and had to open the airbrakes to await clearance from Ohakea to go higher. Even with the airbrakes out we were still climbing at six knots! Eventually we got clearance and closed the brakes, only to open them again 90 seconds later when we approached 13,000 feet! This flight really hit home the awesome power and energy the atmosphere contains and it’s a flight I will never forget. Finally, the last day came. We were expecting a good forecast, supposedly the best of the week. Unfortunately, it started blueing out in the start zone and got progressively bluer to the west of the airfield as the day went on. Nonetheless, after failing to get into a good start position for when the gate opened I started 15 minutes later and had an excellent run to the first turn, catching all the previous starters up; so far so good! The second leg heading south was more challenging in the weaker climbs amongst busy gaggles with larger glides but was still relatively good for the day. At the southern turn (Norsewood) I wasted a lot of time thinking about how to head north again on the next leg now that the sky was completely blue to the north. Alain kept going south under the cumulus making distance whilst I and some others were still working out what to do next, first mistake!
Approaching the rotor clouds from the lee was quite intimidating; I had never seen clouds rotate so aggressively.
The rest of the task for most of us was very challenging with large glides between weak climbs. I eventually found myself heading to the second to last turn (Ormondville) alongside Jevon and Alain in completely still air. They both climbed up into my view and left me behind whilst I dropped low through the turn point area and back over the freezing works in the hope of finding a thermal to save me from a certain land-out. I found the weakest thermal I’ve ever had the displeasure to circle in, but it kept me airborne, climbing approximately 10 feet per minute whilst the strong westerly blew me back towards the ridges near Waipuk. I was hoping once I’d been blown over the ridges I would find something there to get me onto glide. Unfortunately, this never happened and I was scored as a land-out when I finally gave up and turned onto finals for Waipuk. I came seventh on the final day which dropped me to fourth overall; I was a little disappointed of course but I decided to focus on the positives from the competition which were three and a half well flown tasks out of four. The flying throughout the competition was excellent. Before the competition I had been told of the 6,000 feet cloud bases and assumed the flying must be easy! It certainly was not easy; with unique challenges every day it was very satisfying to get round tasks. I hope I manage to get time off to come back next year and would strongly recommend the competition to anyone who has never flown competitions before. It’s a great place to learn cross country flying in a twin and then get let loose cross country on your own as Chris and Britt both demonstrated very well. I am sure next year will be even better and with the Greytown Soaring Centre organising it, hopefully there will be an even larger presence from WGC!
May–July 2016
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WHAT HAPPENS
WHEN THE WIND STOPS? The Auckland Aviation Sports Club celebrates fifty years BY JONATHAN POTE, AUCKLAND AVIATION SPORTS CLUB GLIDING SECTION
Over the weekend of 19th/20th March 2016 the ASC celebrated fifty years of gliding, originally from RNZAF Hobsonville, latterly from RNZAF Whenuapai. FORMATION OF THE AUCKLAND AVIATION SPORTS CLUB The ASC is an unusual club in many ways, some of which directly contribute to its undoubted success. It was formed by one person rather than at a public meeting, and that person was tacitly at least going against his superiors’ wishes, so it was a great pleasure to welcome back our founder, Air Commodore Len Thompson, to review the progress of his ‘baby’ fifty years on. Len was an RNZAF Medical Officer who gained his ‘wings’ and flew Mustangs whilst at medical school. When based at RNZAF Taieri with 4(T) Squadron, his station medical officer, Dr Peter Renshaw (who had trained at Dunstable, the cradle of British gliding) purchased ZK-GAB, a Slingsby Prefect, from Dick Georgeson with a view to forming a gliding club. Len was recruited as a tow pilot, but took a flight in the Prefect (a singleseater of course) and soared for fifteen minutes. In his own
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words, “I was hooked,” and when Peter’s brainchild was born as the Otago Gliding Club and the T.31 ZK-GAP became their first two-seater a year later, Len qualified as New Zealand’s 38th ‘C’ certificate. Overtaking the field, he soon became the fifth to obtain his Gold ‘C’. Posted to RNZAF Wigram, now in his professional role as Medical Officer, he formed the first Air Force club with Rhönlerche ZK-GBZ, despite official murmurings against the idea of encouraging men from the ground trades to learn to fly. Once established, officialdom relented and approved the club, “provided no more were formed.” Officialdom seemed to have won the day, as Len went to America on prolonged study leave to qualify as the first Aviation Medicine specialist in the Air Force. Whilst there, apart from more gliding, he embraced parachuting and even
Photo Mike Ward
ASC 50 weekend. Many thousands of gliding hours - ASC members past and present
The Clubs Hottest Ship. Schleicher ASW-28 ZK-GHS and Ian O'Keefe.
ballooning, being involved as a Flight Surgeon (the USAF term) in part of the Strato-jump series. This was an attempt to parachute from extreme altitudes in order to develop equipment and techniques. The first attempt resulted in a burst balloon at 23,000 feet, the second in an emergency at 123,500 feet. Nick Piantanida found himself unable to disconnect his pressure suit within the gondola in order to jump so the gondola was cut free from the balloon, the parachute opening at 98,000 feet. Oddly, because things had not gone as planned, the records set were not recognised. A third attempt ended in tragedy, with the gondola again cut away after Nick experienced a sudden decompression of his suit. As Flight Surgeon, Len was airborne in a Piper Cub and was able to land beside the gondola when it reached the ground nearly half an hour later. Nick was still alive, but never regained consciousness despite intensive care.
Photo Mike Ward
Photo Roy Whitby
ASC 50 weekend. Many thousands of gliding hours - ASC members past and present.
ASC 50 weekend. Short finals for Toitoi paddock.
He died a few months later. When Len returned to New Zealand, it was to Hobsonville in order to set up the high-altitude chamber. Once again his infectious love of flying gathered a group of people interested in several aviation disciplines and the ‘Aviation Sports Club’ was formed despite the admonitions some years’ earlier. Anything aviation related was eligible, so apart from four core sections (gliding, power flying, parachuting and model flying) there was a short-lived microlight section and hang gliding and ballooning were considered but did not eventuate. As Len had expertise in most of these fields and the concept is unique, he truly qualifies as the ASC Founding Father; a one-man effort that has borne great fruit. It was thus wonderful to welcome him back although his plan to fly down from the Bay of Islands in his own Titan T-51 Mustang did not work out for purely May–July 2016
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AASC CELEBRATES 50 YEARS
Photo Rex Carswell
Photo Russell Thorne
LET L-13 Blanik ZK-GHA with Rex Carswell & Tony Plinston - Hobsonville (c.1994).
South of Manukau Heads
Photo Mike Ward
Slingsby T.31B Tandem Tutor ZK-GAL ('Snoopy', now at Ashburton) and Slingsby T.41B ZK-GBY (now at Whangarei) at Matamata 1972 (Russell Thorne).
ASC 50 Weekend. 'No Knots'. Toni Thompson and Jack Foote prepare to launch Group Captain Walshe
logistical reasons. Gliding started around September 1966 (the actual first flight has evaded detection despite searching logbooks) and the Aviation Sports Club was formally incorporated on 18th July 1967. The first glider was a Slingsby T.31 Tandem Tutor, ZK GAL, with a performance that led to the generic name of ‘The Brick’ but the individual name of ‘Snoopy’ as the canopy could be removed to return it to its original open-cockpit configuration. It was soon grounded for a complete rebuild ‘in house’, overseen by Brian Farrell (who attended the weekend) and still exists at Ashburton. The tug was a Beagle A61 Terrier ZK-CDG (aka ‘The Bungle Terrifier’ from its reluctance to land where requested). This too survives as a project near Rotorua. Slingsby T.41B Skylark IIB ZK-GBY was soon added to give cross-country possibilities and today is at Whangarei.
AND DEVELOPS ITS CHARACTER One of the tow pilots had a signature response to the glider release, namely a half-roll and pull through (pity the shockcooled Gypsy Major). Once on a twin tow to Matamata ‘Snoopy’ inadvertently released over Campbell’s Swamp. The tow pilot, seeing the T.31 slide beneath him, forgot the Standard Austria was still on tow and immediately rolled and pulled, leaving the glider pilot with little option but to follow him over and under.
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Astir GMP over the Coast.
The Austria remained attached to complete the ferry flight. Another early achievement was to be the first gliding club (probably in the world) to play the bagpipes in the air. The Royal Air Force already had an (unofficial!) contest, first a Canberra and then a Vulcan taking skirling to new heights. Snoopy, sans canopy, proved ideal for the strains of Auld Lang Syne to enhance a Matamata dawn from 1000 feet. Lou Cadman became the backbone of the Club. A vastly experienced wartime pilot he eventually completed fifty years of instruction, much of it in his own Blanik ZK-GHA. The Club later acquired Blanik ZK-GIN in 1975 but it was HA that suffered the ignominy of landing in the mangroves when flown by an early solo pilot. Whilst the landing might not have been the end for HA, the impromptu recovery attempted by an Iroquois was. The wildly gyrating glider returned to the mangroves to then be de-rigged and the attempt was repeated with just the fuselage. The wings were recovered by some very muddy club members. Lou’s name is still spoken with reverence, and the Club hangar (which originated in Whangarei and moved to Hobsonville before the Club relocated to Whenuapai in April 2001) bears his name. Hobsonville had allowed the Harbour Bridge to be included in a trial flight, but the downside of built-up areas saw Peter Thorpe put Astir GMP safely down on the playing field of Glenfield College
AASC CELEBRATES 50 YEARS
The tow pilot, seeing the T.31 slide beneath him, forgot the Standard Austria
was still on tow and immediately rolled and pulled, leaving the glider pilot with little option but to follow him over and under. The Austria remained attached to complete the ferry flight.
A NATIONAL RECORD In 1987, still very much a military sports club, ASC Gliding deployed to the South Island. Prior to that, Roger Read and others had made great use of the very high-altitude chamber that Len had commissioned into service to develop oxygen experience and calibrate barographs. From Killermont airstrip, Cub ZK-BTF towed the Janus aloft, a low-point being set on the barograph before climbing in wave to an astonishing 37,108 feet. Although still climbing at 2 m/sec, glider, pilots, oxygen system and barograph had all reached the ragged edge of their envelopes and it was time to go down. This still stands as the two-seat record for New Zealand and is unlikely to be broken. They were of course over a mile above the summit of Mt Everest, and very much further from the equator.
SPREADING THE CLUB’S WINGS The Club has a land-out trophy, keenly reverse-competed for. Many years ago, during a deployment to Matamata, a certain member was first away in the PW-5 for ‘Area famil’. Unfortunately he was completely ‘un-famil’ with Matamata, normally relying on the great triangle of Whenuapai’s runways to find his way home. Around Matamata there are just fields. Lots of fields, all alike. When Isaac Newton and Daniel Bernoulli had finished arguing, our hapless aviator found himself in an unintended
paddock. Due to cattle ‘pugging’ the paddock the previous winter, it was very rough indeed and GVF was out of service for the duration. The paddock was right beside the unseen acres of Matamata’s great soft flat grass runway, so a cup of the appropriate tartan (he was a northern Celt) was duly mounted on a turned wooden mount by Club Captain Thomas O’Rourke and presented. Since then, after each land-out, it has been passed on from the former to new holder, the ‘honour’ duly recorded in ‘Warm Air’. Whilst it is seen somewhat as a wooden spoon, it should not be, as safe land-outs are a positive feature of what has recently become a very successful cross-country club. Sometimes it changes hands several times in a day, in strict chronology. It is to be supplemented by a tome recording each event, which should build into a valuable training asset. In 2000, Steve Wallace ventured onto the West Coast following a flight there by Pat Driessen from Drury. Steve, one of the country’s most skilful pilots, initially explored the Muriwai area before tackling the dramatic scenery (and occasional traps for the unwary) to get across to the Manukau Heads and on to the relatively benign sector to Port Waikato and the harder one to Raglan, a distance of about eighty-five kilometres south. Steve has progressively introduced club pilots to the coast in our Twin II, ZK-GMW, and drawn up the SOPs for a safe adventure in a single. Now a dozen club pilots have experienced the delight of May–July 2016
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AASC CELEBRATES 50 YEARS
a prolonged sortie beside dramatic scenery and over an angry sea (a 25 knot west-souwesterly, a Force 7 moderate gale on the Beaufort Scale being essential). With others developing the route north to Kaikohe under ‘The Long White Cloud’, last year the club logged over one hundred cross-countries to amass over 25,000 ‘On Line Competition kilometres’, the highest figure in New Zealand. Over the years, whilst the laws of physics have not changed, the syllabus certainly has. Fifty years ago, nine items ticked off meant your first solo, and after that there was no further defined training. Now the GNZ syllabus sheets cover nearly two-hundred items. Interestingly, the ASC moved to a much more comprehensive syllabus around 1970, whilst the National syllabus did not expand as much until twenty years later. The documents are undated, their age inferred from log book entries. The Club has operated the same fleet for nearly twenty years, and what was once among the best in New Zealand now looks a little tired. Thought is being given to re-equipment, but the three gliders still adequately serve our training needs and the number of private owners has risen considerably. The tow planes seem a microcosm of gliding – first the Beagle-Auster, then a Super Cub, a Pawnee and a Cessna 172. The unfortunate engine catastrophe of the latter, handled brilliantly by Rex Carswell, led to David Todd buying the first FK-9 Light Sport Aircraft in the country. Gallant ZK-RDW manfully hauls a twoseater to 2000 feet and returns eight minutes later and having used just three litres of MoGas lighter.
THE ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND The Anniversary weekend dawned sunny with just one shower but with a ‘challenging’ cross-wind, a far better ‘actual’ than the grim forecast only two days before. The primary aim was of course to ‘catch-up’, but the obligatory toi toi paddock was set up for all to compete. It was a pleasure to welcome
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Len Thompson back to see what had become of his ‘baby’, and to let him and Group Captain Tim Walshe (Auckland Base Commander) try their hands at paddock landings. Wing Commander Kelvin Read, Inspector General of the RNZAF, also attended and viewed our operations. The Air Training Corps, with which the ASC has a close relationship (embracing their Grob 109 ZK-GNW within our operations and providing two pilot/instructors) also flew and around fifty sorties were logged over two days. Winner of the paddock landing competition was Phil Scarborough, a former instructor who re-joined some months back. Jack Foote, our youngest solo pilot at fifteen, was second. The Saturday evening saw sixty-five eating in the Walker Lounge beside the Base playing fields, with just a few short speeches – there was still too much catching-up to do late into the night. Sunday dawned far calmer, but the competition was over and the flying was purely for individual pleasure and yet more catching-up – the great strength of gliding. As a bonus, to take us back eighty years, early on Percival Vega Gull ZK-DPP and Aeronca 100 ZK-AMW arrived to participate in a film about Jean Batten. Not for them the vulgar hard runway, rather our soft grass strip. As people departed, so the next gathering was under discussion. There will probably be an informal get-together annually, possibly in February. To keep informed, email jonathanpote47@gmail.com PS: And why the title “What happens when the Wind Stops”? At least twice, the first thing said to a landed-out club member by a breathless witness has been, “What happened? Did the wind stop?” “No Sir, but the heart nearly did,” seems a good reply.
FLYING THE TASMAN TROPHY – no land out pictures here – BY STEVE FOREMAN
For some time I had been thinking it would be great to compete for The Tasman Trophy, but I wasn’t expecting it to be anytime soon. However, once I was picked from a small number of pilots it was all on. I started wondering who I would be flying against and what he would be flying. Steve Wallace had the answers. I would be up against Steve McMahon who has got 750 hours and flies a Mosquito in Oz. He would be flying KT at Taupo. Would my 450 hours be enough? I felt like the underdog. Steve Wallace said that if Taupo turned on the 7,000 feet cloud bases with strong thermals then it could be hard for me to keep up with Steve McMahon but if the weather was not as great, it would even things up and be better for me. The pressure also came on from my partner Aida who said if I landed out she would book me into a hotel to live when I got back. There were two practice days. On Saturday I did 89 km with no land out. It was a confidence boost. On the second practice day however I didn’t do so well. I had flown 181 km and landed short of the field by about 10 km. I had a great flight before this, my first time over the Kaingaroa forest and made it through the valley of death (later renamed as the valley of land out opportunities), crossed over Kinleith forest just north of Mangakino and down the western side of
the lake. The western side of the lake was new to me but it was lined with good land out options with strips. Talking to Aida that night, I was off the hook as it wasn’t a competition day and so the land out didn’t count.
DAY 1 I got off to a great start which set me up for the rest of the contest. I had 811 points and placed 5th for the day flying 230 km, 592 points ahead of Steve M.
DAY 2 I landed out, only flying 28km and landing with Campbell and Arnulf. I thought I had blown it but most landed out or back. Steve McMahon flew 72km but it turned out to be a no point day. My 592 point lead was safe and I was still safe from the hotel on my return.
DAY 3 I just couldn’t get away from the field. I had two attempts for 7 km for 1 point. Steve McMahon managed 42km for 7 points, while Lindsey Stephens, Yves Gerster and Patrick Dreissen all got around for 45 points. Once again two land backs, no land out, no hotel.
DAY 4 An AAT task. Task distance: 189.76 km/380.53 km (283.10 km). Task duration: 3 hours This was the best day for me. I flew 316 km. Even though I
May–July 2016
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Not really a land out
Everyone landed out so it doesn't count
Still not a land out
Steve and Tasman Trophy
had a bad start and was scraping around at 1,300 feet before I entered the valley of land out opportunities, I managed to get out of the hole and get around, opening a lead of 871 on Steve who landed out after 180 km. I had a great final glide and a 10 knot climb at Titiraupenga. Having a lead on Steve, my tactics were to just stay in front, or follow him, don’t land out. People reminded me I only had one person to beat. Nothing else mattered. The pressure was on to not lose any points gained. Throughout the comp, my plan was to more than just touch the circles and just get around which was all I had done in previous comps. It was satisfying beating some top pilots on a few days.
with only 200 points separation and as we know the cream rises to the top and places change quickly. Steve M mentioned that he had never rigged and derigged so many times and he felt sorry for us Kiwis who had to fly in these conditions.
DAY 5
It was a 283km racing task. Half way up the first leg I saw Tony and Steve. I decided to follow Tony. Steve had the same idea, so for a while where Tony went, we went. As we went over forest I thought Steve had a lot of guts continuing to follow Tony while he was getting lower. I backed off to get some height then Yves was on my wing, so I watched and followed. At the turn point I couldn’t keep up and was alone again. I ended up getting low over Galatea Airstrip. I could see gliders working their way around the hills at Murupara and had the feeling again that I was the only one going to land out. I flew over Galatea and saw two gliders on the ground. I flew 5 km pass the strip to get extra distance then had to land. Disappointment turned to delight as I touched down. I saw Steve M and KT on the strip. I had 107 km and Steve had 104 km.
It was a day that looked like it was going to be booming but was not. I was still able to get around with 200 km on the clock but Steve gained 96 points on me, having gone 7 kph faster. It was a fun day, meeting up with Tim and flying into nothing side by side. I saw a cloud and turned toward it. Tim followed. I had a strip picked out as I didn’t think the wispy cloud had anything but we both arrived at 1,200 feet to find joyful lift. A few turns into it Steve came and joined us as well. He later said he was happy to see us going around, as he was well lower than us. I was also happy being 5th overall at this stage. I knew this would be hard to maintain as Tony Van Dyk, Tim Bromhead, Lindsey Stephens and Nigel McPhee were in 6,7,8 and 9th spot
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DAY 6 Cancelled so couldn’t lose any points. Steve Wallace texted me and said I would have to be Team NZ to lose from here. With only 725 points between us I still thought Steve M could catch me if I landed out and he got around. I didn’t want to think I had won it just yet
DAY 7
That night Aida said she had booked the hotel and the only way back was to bring the Trophy back …… or else xx
DAY 8
TopFly
Dancing with the wind
Jean-Marie Clément
This turned out to be the last day and I landed out after only 25km. It was a racing task of 332 km and we were sent down to National Park. This would have been the flight of the comp, had I finished it. I got low around Norman’s corner and held on for about 30min at 800 to 1,100 feet before being lured into a paddock. I was gutted. If Steve could get around I would be
Dancing with the wind
Team NZ of gliding. After pulling myself together I looked at my phone to see how everybody else was doing and Steve had landed out at 54 km. I had enough points and got to add my name to the Tasman Trophy. Thanks to Steve McMahon, a good sportsman. The weather certainly wasn’t on his side. I am sure it will be a different story in Oz, trying to keep up with him. There is a lot more to the story that I have missed but the best way you can find out is to fly at competitions. There were so many great people, all willing to help and encourage myself and others.
A BIRTHDAY GIFT FOR PILOTS?
Enjoy and Learn Advanced Flying with the Wind 304 Pages 22x28 cm 391 Colour photos and drawings
• A “must have” book. Sailplane & Gliding (UK). • “The book of the Century… You must buy this book, sell whatever it takes, but buy it.” Gliding International (NZ).
• Unmissable, alongside Reichmann, Bradbury and Moffat. L’@éroBibliothèque (France).
• Will remain in the history of the literature, perhaps more so than Reichmann. Volo a Vela (Italy).
• It reveals to you the invisible treasures of the atmosphere. Alvaro de Orleans Borbón (FAI Vice President).
Jean-Marie Clément
Price €50 plus postage. Order to info@topfly.aero
May–July 2016
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Canterbury Gliding Club's tricked out Libelle "Shrek" is a lot of fun to fly. Photo John McCaw
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May–July May–July 2016
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BEACONS OF HOPE BY STEVE RENDLE SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS & MEDIA ADVISOR MARITIME NEW ZEALAND
The sound is impossible to miss – something between a fire alarm and an air-raid siren. It’s coming from a computer in a building in the Hutt Valley, Wellington. It’s designed to be annoying. It’s not something that you want ignored.
I
t means a transmission has been received from a distress beacon at the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) – it could be a personal locator beacon (PLB), EPIRB (for ships) or ELT (for aircraft). What happens next is prescribed in the RCCNZ’s operating procedures. For a start, someone must push “enter” on the computer keyboard to acknowledge the activation – that stops the alarm - for the time being. At that point, it’s not hard to imagine someone, off the beaten track, or at sea, injured or lost, possibly cold and probably worried, having little or no idea where help is coming from, or when. But when it comes to aircraft, RCCNZ will respond for all call outs, even if no distress beacon is activated. Any report of a missing aircraft, and the resulting search – if required – is coordinated by the team, part of Maritime NZ’s Safety and Response Services group. “While a connection to the outside world is probably not what
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many glider pilots have as a priority when they’re soaring above the Earth, a way of calling for help is something they should have in mind,” says Paul Craven, Deputy Manager Operations RCCNZ Operations. Powered aircraft are required to carry ELT beacons – wired into the aircraft; they are designed to activate after a heavy landing but can also be turned on manually. While they are not required for gliders, Paul says PLBs and/or tracking devices should be top of the list for glider pilots. “Gliders can have an enormous range – often in an unpredictable direction, given they are subject to the prevailing conditions,” he says. “When something goes wrong, it is much more difficult to plan a search when there is no good route information to start with.” Paul recommends glider pilots carry some form of tracking device that sends a regular signal plotting their course as they fly. “The benefit of tracking devices is they don’t depend on the pilot making a decision to turn them on. If a glider is overdue or suffers a hard landing and the pilot is incapacitated, they show the track of the aircraft.”
Carrying a PLB also means pilots can call for help – and Paul recommends activating them early. He says neither pilots nor ground crew should be coy in raising the alarm if they think something has gone seriously wrong. “If a glider is overdue, we would prefer to get an early heads-up that something may be wrong – even if they land safely half an hour later. Getting an early start can make all the difference in the event of a real search and rescue emergency. If we are advised of concerns about a missing glider we can start the process of alerting other aircraft that may be flying over in the area and that can provide valuable information.” And Paul says if a pilot believes they are heading for a serious crash, it makes sense to activate their beacon. “If there is time, it is better to activate it before the aircraft actually hits the ground –you don’t know what condition you will be in afterwards,” he says. “Given the distance gliders can travel, if there is no tracking device, a beacon could be the difference between a quick rescue or a long wait. They really take the search out of search and rescue.” In the case of a beacon activation, the first thing the Search and Rescue Officers at RCCNZ do after receiving an activation is check the beacon database to see if the beacon is registered. By law beacons must be registered and that can make a real difference to a response. Registration includes providing
contact details for the owner – and an emergency contact. RCCNZ will first check with the owner to ensure the activation is not an accident – that call can save a lot of time and money. If the owner is not contactable, an emergency contact can provide important information about whether the activation is likely to be the result of a genuine emergency. Establishing an accurate location for someone in distress is obviously the key to a speedy rescue and there are two ways this happens, depending on the beacon used. All beacons rely on satellites picking up their signal – they need to be able to ‘see’ the sky for signals to reach a satellite and with New Zealand’s terrain, often there is not a lot of sky to see. That can reduce the number of satellites in direct line of sight at any one time. That is all about to change with a new search and rescue satellite system set to go. The current global search and rescue satellite system makes use of two types of satellite - some are stationary above the equator (known as geostationary or GEO satellites about 36,000 km above the earth) and others are low-earth orbiting (LEO) satellites, operating between 800 km and 1,000 km above the Earth. Because of New Zealand’s distance from the equator, the GEO satellites are low on the horizon, which can limit their May–July 2016
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BEACONS OF HOPE
line-of-sight visibility, particularly in mountainous terrain. That makes LEO satellites important, but these are limited in number and pass over New Zealand only every 100 minutes or so. The GPS system, meanwhile, uses medium earth orbiting (MEO) satellites (orbiting at altitudes of around 20,000 km). Without GPS, it takes at least two passes of a LEO satellite to confirm a position for a beacon. At any given time, a LEO satellite can ‘see’ an area of Earth about 3000 km in radius below it during an orbit. The first satellite picking up the beacon signal will give two locations for the source of the signal on either side of its orbit track. The next satellite will also give two locations, but one of these will be in the same area as one of the two previous positions. What this means for someone activating a beacon is that it may take time to establish the precise location and that’s where registration and an emergency contact can make a real difference. Information on a proposed route from an emergency contact can get a search started right away when it otherwise could be stalled by a lack of detailed information. But that limitation is about to change with the introduction of a new generation of medium-Earth orbit search and rescue (MEOSAR) satellites. Construction has been completed on a new search and rescue satellite receiving station between Taupo and Rotorua, built as part of a joint project by Maritime NZ and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). MEOSAR satellites (orbiting at around 20,000 km above the Earth) are replacing the LEOSAR system. The MEOSAR system will begin operation in 2017, and will significantly boost search and rescue (SAR) capability in the NZ and Australian SAR regions, which together stretch north to the Equator and south to the South Pole, east to half way across the Pacific, and west half way across the Indian Ocean. There are currently 18 MEOSAR satellites operating, compared with five LEOSAR satellites. This means beacon signals will be received more quickly and beacon locations identified with greater accuracy. This will further improve over the next five years as the number of MEOSAR satellites is expected to increase to more than 50, ensuring several satellites will be in view at all times from anywhere on Earth. This will dramatically reduce the time taken to detect and fix a position for beacon activations. During testing, the site identified numerous short-length activations – likely to be accidental or incorrectly tested beacons. That has further highlighted the need for beacons to be registered. When the MEOSAR system is fully operational, RCCNZ will follow up every activation – even if the signal is only broadcast for a short period. If beacons are registered, contact information will allow RCCNZ to identify which activations are actual SAR emergencies. Once operational, signals received by the new site will be sent to a new mission control centre in Canberra, which will pass them to the appropriate rescue coordination centre. If a beacon is activated in the NZ SAR region, these alerts will go to the RCCNZ in Avalon, in the Hutt Valley, Wellington.
CARRIAGE Personal locator beacons should be carried on your person. A beacon is no use if you can’t reach it when you need it.
BATTERY REPLACEMENT Distress beacon batteries need to be replaced before the expiry date noted on the label of the beacon. This will ensure the beacon will transmit for the minimum time required once activated. Battery life varies from model to model, usually between five and seven years from the date of manufacture. Batteries should be replaced by the beacon manufacturer or their New Zealand agent. Contact your local beacon retailer or agent to arrange battery replacement and service for your distress beacon.
DISPOSAL Old or obsolete beacons need to be disposed of carefully, to ensure they are not set off by accident. Do not just throw them away, as a lot of time and money has been spent on search operations to dig beacons out of rubbish tips. The battery needs to be disconnected and the beacon disposed of according to local regulations, as many beacons contain hazardous materials. Contact your local beacon retailer, or police station, to arrange appropriate disposal of old, unwanted distress beacons. If you sell or dispose of a registered 406 MHz distress beacon, please let RCCNZ know by phoning 0800 406 111.
CARE AND DISPOSAL Just as registration of your beacon is key, and a legal requirement, so is appropriate care and eventual disposal of beacons. Tony van Dyk uses a Spot Tracker to show his position
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NZ Agent: Roger Sparks 0274 956 560 r.sparks@xtra.co.nz
Photos John McCaw
CANTERBURY GLIDING CLUB'S ANZAC MINI CAMP
May–July 2016
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HYDRAULIC JUMP BY BERNARD ECKEY
FIG 3 A pseudo lenticular
I introduced the concept of a “Hydraulic Jump’ in the Dec/Jan issue Soaring Australia. I’m very grateful to the surprisingly large number of fellow pilots who have provided feedback and passed on their practical experiences which had allowed me to expand on the concept.
L
et’s start with a little recap and a definition. A hydraulic jump occurs when a medium travelling at high velocity transitions into a zone of lower velocity. When this medium is abruptly slowed, its initial kinetic energy is converted into potential energy by piling up on top of itself. The spillway photo serves for illustration purposes but interested readers can easily create a hydraulic jump at home. By fully opening the tap above the kitchen sink the effect can be observed on a small scale. Another even more impressive photo was found on the Internet. It shows fast flowing water draining off a reef on the far left and by doing so it is forming a hydraulic jump on the right of the picture. (Figure 1) Although the density of air is only about 1/800 of water, scientific papers and practical experience suggest that the vertical extent of such a hydraulic jump can be even more substantial in the atmosphere.
This article is also being printed in Gliding Australia
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FIG 1
FIG 2
DELVING INTO RESEARCH LITERATURE As part of my research into this phenomenon I obtained a copy of Jean-Marie Clément’s new book Dancing With the Wind. It contains 26 pages on the subject and highlights that the scientist Giorgio Bidone had already provided the theoretical basis of the hydraulic jump in 1819. Although it is a regular occurrence in mountainous terrain or hilly areas, it has not yet found its way into gliding literature after almost 200 years. Back to more practical matters now and onto the question; how we can identify the hydraulic jump and distinguish it from the much better known lee wave? Clément provides a few clues, allowing us to recognize a hydraulic jump by ground or airborne observations alone. To start with, it is almost always accompanied by an upper level cloud formation, which – at its leading edge – can appear similar to a lenticular cloud. Clément uses the term ‘pseudo lenticular’ when he refers to this high-altitude condensation cloud. It gives its true nature away by a serrated leading edge with comb like ‘teeth’ extending hundreds of meters or even several kilometers into wind. (Refer to figure 3) By way of an example he has kindly made the following picture
Classic lenticular clouds are usually bulging at the top and can often be identified by the Foehn gap as well as their arrangement in rows
running parallel to the obstacle on the ground.
FIG 4
FIG 3 A classic lenticular
available and he believes that the hydraulic jump can even be encountered over relatively flat ground. In this case, the initial trigger would be an air mass (cold and/or dry) flowing across a convergence. To allow readers a comparison with classic lenticular clouds I have included a photo taken while flying in New Zealand. (Figure 4) Glider pilots with practical hydraulic jump experience know that – compared to conventional lee wave – the hydraulic jump up draught extends over a larger area but generally provides more moderate climb rates. Classic lenticular clouds are usually bulging at the top and can often be identified by the Foehn gap as well as their arrangement in rows running parallel to the obstacle on the ground. The pseudo lenticular of the hydraulic jump, however, is mostly flat and can extend over tens of kilometres downwind. The by far, most important characteristic, however, is an almost total absence of downwind secondary or tertiary airflow oscillations. But Bidone is not the only scientist who has studied the hydraulic jump in detail. The American Meteorological Society published two scientific papers by L. Armi & G. Mary in 2011. The most relevant one is titled: “The descending stratified flow and internal hydraulic jump in the lee of the Sierras”. The authors investigated a westerly airflow across the Sierra Nevada ranges in California including the downslope flow into the Owens Valley which is located just to the east of it. Feel free to contact me on: Eckey@internode.on.net if you are keen to wade through 17 pages of scientific papers and require a copy. The following is an attempt of an abstract with an emphasis on practical implications and without naming any topographical features of the area:
The research states that air density differences upstream and downstream of a mountain barrier are crucial for a development of a descending flow into a downwind valley. Even a strong cross-barrier flow is not sufficient to cause air to flow towards the valley floor on the lee side. Although the air overflowing the barrier is typically colder, it only descends into the downstream valley if its temperature has fallen to match the potential temperature of the downstream valley floor. (For an explanation of ‘potential temperature’ refer to the insert [next page].) Air creeping through various mountain passes prior to the onset of the hydraulic jump is referred to as ‘gap overflow’ but it was found to have no bearing on the subsequent event. Only when the bulk of the air mass – the substantially thicker ‘jump layer’ – crossed the barrier, the hydraulic jump was triggered and was subsequently confirmed by soundings and observations. Simultaneous airborne measurements from within the University of Wyoming’s research aircraft (King Air) found that the hydraulic jump only occurred in a single location and provided up draughts of up to 7 m/s (14 knots). The ‘waving aloft’ extended to an altitude of around 22,000 feet. Lower down, the air was moist enough to form clouds whose thickness and extent was recorded by the aircraft’s cloud radar. Subsequent evaluations also confirmed only a single airflow oscillation and a gradual downwind collapse of cloud patterns. These findings are in line with the practical experiences of Jean-Marie Clément and indicate that the visible effects observed with fluids can be directly applicable to the atmosphere. Meteorologists use ‘potential temperature’ to compare the properties of various air parcels located at different levels in the
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HYDRAULIC JUMP
troposphere. Temperatures normally decrease with altitude and to allow proper temperature comparisons they bring air parcels adiabatically to a standard level of 1000 millibars.
PRACTICAL EXAMPLES By now it would be obvious that the hydraulic jump is caused by a fast flowing, downslope airflow and gets triggered when it is slowed to a critical velocity or when it collides with an orographic obstacle. With conventional lee wave the likely area of lift can be determined by a rule of thumb, which states that it is normally located around ½ wavelength from the summit. This is clearly not the case with the hydraulic jump! According to Clement it is found much further away from the mountain range and can be located downwind as much as 5 to 10 times the wavelength of a classic lee wave. The meteorological conditions for lee wave are also vastly different. Now to reports from fellow pilots who have responded to my request for feedback. The first response was received from Alan Patching who reported on a flight downwind of the escarpment at Bacchus Marsh. He stated that, “Derek Reid – a very good Meteorologist and glider pilot – had a winch launch which
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broke the wire at about 200 feet and he climbed away ‘zigzagging’ long enough to give us a reason for the flight which he called Hydraulic Jump.” Barry Hendy provided feedback on a flight in a Super Dimona over the Yarra valley. The flight was accompanied by severe turbulence and variometer indications of ± 1000 feet/ min. Quote: “I tried to ‘push forward’ thinking I was in the rotor but I could not engage any wave either forward or backwards of the buoyant but turbulent lift area”. John Gwyther submitted another valuable contribution. His airfield is in the lee of the Great Dividing Ranges in Gippsland, from where he operates a self-launching ASH 26 E glider. He has taken video clips of cloud formations and believes that one of them shows the underside of a ‘hydraulic jump’. He writes: “I’m now looking at my memories of wave-like clouds down here….. and believe that the hydraulic jump occurs relatively frequently. It shows up on radar with strong NW winds and showers on the main range. …..” Terry Jones – a New Zealand based glider pilot – pointed out that the phenomenon is often encountered in the area around Mt. Cook. Colder air often pours over from the West Coast and
HYDRAULIC JUMP
descends close to the steep slopes into the valley floors below – a drop between 3000 to 4500 feet. Terry goes on to say that the resulting lift is quite reliable, but due to the rather special topography the air bounces back very close to the descending air mass. (I have witnessed this downslope flow of clouds myself but have never been game to get close due to a total lack of out landing options in the area.) Richard Geytenbeek, a highly experienced glider and power pilot, has provided by far the most extensive input, which is reprinted in full below.
HYDRAULIC JUMP OBSERVATIONS, RICHARD GEYTENBEEK I have observed what I believe to be hydraulic jumps on a number of occasions along the Mt Lofty Ranges in South Australia. I have for many years lived within the zone of strong down-slope winds (known locally as gully winds) that blow over the Eastern suburbs of Adelaide when cooler maritime air spills over the range with winds approximately from the South East. These are strongest at night, aided by surface cooling, but can begin before sunset and persist into the next day. I have sometimes observed a line of ragged standing clouds that develops several kilometres to the lee of the ranges, at the point where strong surface winds abate beneath the clouds, an indication of a possible jump. Further south at Aldinga Airfield, I photographed a similar cloud line (fig 6). The surface wind was 15-20 knots and the internal cloud motion was very turbulent. The cloud free gap from the range was approximately 3 km, significantly greater than the gap observed for classic low level lee waves that I have soared, along similar low ridges near Burra to the North. The most convincing example of an atmospheric hydraulic jump that I have seen was in a layer of maritime air in Backstairs Passage between the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island, SA. This layer was made visible by sea fog (fig 7). The fog approached from the SE as a smooth layer visible to the horizon, converging to pass through Backstairs Passage. Where the layer slowed as Backstairs Passage widens, it jumped abruptly into a smooth hydraulic jump that maintained position for more than an hour. This was the smooth undular form (having a smooth surface below), rather than the turbulent form seen in the spectacular Owens Valley photo taken by Robert Symons. There were several downwind oscillations, similar to undular bores in tidal rivers (try Google images). In this case the rapid flow and subsequent slowing resulted from the lateral constriction of the adjacent coastline, a common occurrence in rivers where hydraulic jumps can occur as constricting banks widen. I took photos, temperature and wind observations to the Bureau of Meteorology in Adelaide where Dr Warwick Grace confirmed that this was a hydraulic jump. Warwick subsequently prepared a paper on this event, having previously conducted extensive research on hydraulic jumps in the down-slope winds of the Mount Lofty Ranges, including the use of a motor glider and sounding balloons to gather data. I
would like to thank him for kindly providing papers and texts to further my interest and for reviewing my annotated diagram for this article. The sea fog example supports the possibility of atmospheric hydraulic jumps forming or being accentuated where a cool surface layer spills through saddles in ridgelines, or emerges from larger valleys.
CONCLUSION AND OUTLOOK Hopefully this article is helping to shed light on a phenomenon that has so far attracted little interest amongst the wider aviation community. Surprisingly, even the worldwide gliding fraternity has almost completely overlooked this very valuable source of soaring energy but nearly 200 years after Giorgio Bidone first established the theoretical fundamentals, this topic is finally creeping into gliding literature. Bidone might have based his theories on fluids but thanks to his scientific groundwork we can now explain some mysterious encounters with large-scale areas of lift. Perhaps we would be well advised to replace the name ‘hydraulic jump’ by another term that better reflects this near vertical air mass deflection and one that glider pilots around the world can better identify with. Let’s learn from each other and freely share our experience with this very interesting phenomenon. Ongoing feedback would be most welcome, as it will help to identify areas where hydraulic jumps are frequently encountered. My sincere “THANK YOU” goes to all fellow glider pilots who have already done so. May–July 2016
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Vintage Kiwi’s
BIG SOUTHERN ADVENTURE to Springfield and Nelson Lakes
A
little while ago, there was a bit of a discussion amongst the Vintage Kiwi team as to ‘where to from here’ as far as rally venues were concerned. By tradition, we have generally chosen to go to Taupo and Inglewood in the North Island and support both of these clubs but it was felt it was now time for a change. Taumarunui in the North Island’s King Country was one of the chosen possibilities and that’s where Vintage Kiwi went last year, in February 2015. 15 sailplanes arrived which made it the highest attended rally ever. The plans then went ahead for an assault to the South Island which was the second destination of choice. If the English can ‘pop across the channel’ to attend and fly in Vintage Rallies in all parts of Europe, so why couldn’t we cross Cook Strait and do a similar ‘mass invasion,’ to meet up and fly with some of our South Island members? And so, we did just that. The plan was to spend nine days at Springfield, home of the Canterbury Gliding Club and add a further five days flying at Nelson Lakes on the way home for those who wished to do so. Seven gliders from all parts of the North Island were securely tucked up in their trailers and made the big journey south. Not
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since the very active competition scene of the 1970s have so many gliders journeyed in mass from north down to the south. The Canterbury Gliding Club hosted us at their Springfield property which is about 45 minutes’ drive west from Christchurch towards the mountains. Several of their senior members took a week away from work and family to support our stay and acted as an instructor and tow pilot so that we could fly every day. Most of the V.K attendees stayed in the very comfortable converted farm house that was the original residence when the land was acquired some years ago. A meet and greet BBQ was arranged by the local club on the second evening which really helped to set the scene for the very active flying days that were to follow. The Canterbury Gliding Club now tow with a couple of microlight designated aircraft, their big, powerful Piper Pawnee having been retired and sold on. Most of the Vintage Kiwi team had never towed behind a ‘microlight’ before but had no issues in doing so. We all experienced their famous North West Wave, great thermals and a small amount of limited ridge flying, as and when the conditions allowed. The Vintage Kiwi syndicated KA8 landed out one day on the airstrip at Porters Pass.
Photo John McCaw
The South Island weather gods were obviously kind to us on this trip. Some very good hours were enjoyed by everyone with only two days lost because of weather related issues. One nonflying day the mountain winds turned on a spectacular display of wind gusts up to 40 knots + at the airfield. A couple of cars were required to be used as a wind break, to stop a tent from being bowled over by the conditions that lasted some 14 hours or so. The gliders and the trailers were very well secured (South Island style) and survived. On the last Saturday night, we all went out with some of our new Canterbury friends to the local Springfield Pub for a ‘bit of a session’. The following day we reluctantly all headed off. And so, onto Nelson Lakes. This was a very scenic road journey through the mountains via the famous Lewis Pass. This is a winching only club which was a good change, both in venue and launching system. We flew five out of five days which was very satisfying for the Vintage Kiwi group. Again we experienced their wave, thermals and ridges in a pot-pourri of conditions. We had a number of social get togethers down at the local pub after flying which again created a great atmosphere for the week. Nelson Lakes has a great winch site and is a
club well worth a visit. The Saturday saw us journey off to Picton and the ferry to take us back home to the North Island with some great memories. It was a big trip and a great scenic road trip of NZ for some with a lot of very good flying involved. Next year? It’s back to Taumarunui in the North Island it seems. However, now that Cook Strait has been ‘reconquered’ by the North Islanders, it will be interesting to see if we might be able to prise some of our South Island members out of the security of their mountains and to join us on the ‘rolling flats’ of the King Country, as it were.
May–July 2016
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HUMAN FACTORS Part Two:
PERSONALITY AND THE BRAIN IN GLIDING BY JONATHON POTE
Last issue we introduced the updated text of QGP Human Factors Syllabus and the idea that the way we have evolved can have a major influence on our ability, or lack of ability in complex situations such as soaring.
ground whilst at a gliding field. It includes the ability to cope when things are not as planned and being able to think outside normal procedures if necessary. Whilst a person’s knowledge should always be increasing, good airmanship can (and must) be displayed from day one.
THE IDEAL PILOT
A mix of long term and short term memory is used to process information. Information is received from the senses, sorted by priority, compared to information retrieved from the long term memory, and a decision is made. Surprisingly, the brain can only work towards one solution at a time, be it an action or a decision. It only seems like a person is doing several things at once when for instance, a trained pilot scans the instruments whilst talking to air traffic control and deciding whether it is safe/not safe to continue with the approach, all in bad weather. However, he is reading just one instrument at a time, or talking, or listening, or deciding, all in rapid sequence. Try this. Sit in the cockpit and ask a friend to give you a new radio frequency and different barometric pressure. Try switching the radio to that frequency whilst at the same time adjusting the subscale on the altimeter to the new barometric pressure. This is almost impossible to do, even in an unpressured situation on the ground. So what happens when for example, on approaching controlled airspace and contacting the controller, you may be given a new QNH to set, a specific ‘squawk’ to set, a course to set, a place to report and so on? Air Traffic Controllers are trained to give information in ‘digestible chunks’ of (usually) three items at a time but you can help yourself immensely by being ready to add figures to a pre-prepared kneepad with subjects (squawk etc) already marked and by already knowing as many details (e.g. frequencies, reporting points etc) as possible pre-flight. Be prepared and humble enough to use “Standby,” or, “Say again.”
No doubt we would all like to be – and many of us think we are – the Perfect Pilot. But are we? To quote the late Ross Ewing, a widely respected Kiwi pilot and aviation physician, “In addition to flying skills there are other attributes of the perfect pilot that can be learned and developed. Such attributes are seen in a pilot who is consistent, dependable, flexible, safe, knowledgeable, who flies accurately, who never flies dangerously, is confident but not overconfident, who can be relied to fly the aeroplane well, to make good decisions, to do the job and to keep out of trouble. A perfect pilot is someone who learns by experience and by the experiences of others, and who knows his or her capabilities and never exceeds them. A perfect pilot is one who always tries to improve his or her piloting knowledge and skills, and endeavours to know and achieve the highest standards in aviation. Perfect pilots will always set a good example, especially to those less experienced and will often go out of their way to assist other pilots to achieve higher standards and aim for perfection.” Note that experience per se is not the sole answer to good flying; a person who is a bad pilot at the outset will almost never become a good one. The key to success is our mental ATTITUDE. Fly safely, always attempting to learn and improve.
SAFETY CULTURE Risk is inherent to all flying, and gliding is no exception, especially when pilots advance to competition flying. The key attitude is to continuously assess risks, seek ways to reduce them, and assess whether the potential results justify the risk. All glider pilots have the responsibility to try to improve safety. For example, the wing runner only (once they have ascertained that both tow and glider pilot are ready, and that it is safe to launch) can initiate a launch but everyone present has the duty to watch out for unseen danger and shout “Stop,” if necessary.
AIRMANSHIP Good airmanship is the display of common sense, good aviation practice and high standards whilst in the air and on the
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May–July 2016
HUMAN INFORMATION PROCESSING
THE LEARNING PROCESS We learn to fly a glider, or other fairly complex activity, by learning through repetition. When starting to learn to glide, each landing involves concentrating on flaring whilst keeping a straight course, perhaps with the into-wind wing slightly lowered (plus opposite rudder to compensate) and having to listen to the instructor. As time progresses and the actions are repeated often, the glider seems to have learnt to land itself. What has happened is that repetition and learning have moved many actions to ‘lower centres’ of the brain and they are now automatic responses, freeing up your conscious mind for other
Remember the sequence used in each item of an individual check in a list: locate the item, identify, touch, confirm and operate it and finally check operation complete.
In summary, LOOK; IDENTIFY; OPERATE.
decisions/actions. Thus in a land-out, once an experienced pilot has calculated his safe speed near the ground (always a conscious decision, weighing up the facts at the time) he probably barely thinks about it again, whilst his conscious levels instead monitor the approach, continuously checking angles to the aiming point and look for new hazards. This is very different to an inexperienced student who might be ‘chasing’ a safe speed to the detriment of circuit pattern, lookout and a lot more.
OVERLOAD If too much is asked of the conscious mind, it becomes overloaded and dumps not only decision making, but also some recently acquired information, often with poor prioritising. Thus even information, such as a course to steer confirmed by read back, might be dumped rather than transferred to long term memory if some small crisis intervenes. If overloaded, recognise the fact and ›› 1) STOP ›› 2) THINK ›› 3) PRIORITISE
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES (SOPS) The most prominent SOPs in gliding are the checklists; pretakeoff, HASELL, pre-landing and so on. Even when they have become automatic it is very easy to omit items if there is a break in the sequence, due to interruption, or discovery of something that requires action before continuing the list. The only safe response is to start again, even if the tug is positioning in front of you. If someone speaks to you and breaks your concentration, or you realise a harness strap is twisted and have to untwist it, start checks again at the beginning. It is very poor airmanship for any person to interrupt a pilot during his checks. Wait patiently until the pilot has finished. Finally, once a checklist is complete, do not go back to an item. Having checked the undercarriage is down in your pre-landing checks, if you check again there is a fair chance you will actually raise it rather than make doubly sure it is locked down. This happens from time to time. Remember the sequence used in each item of an individual check in a list: locate the item, identify, touch, confirm and operate it and finally check operation complete. In summary, LOOK; IDENTIFY; OPERATE.
STRESS AND STRESSORS Stress may be defined as ‘the non-specific response of a human to any demands for change’ or ‘an excess of environmental
demands over an individual’s capacity to meet them’. That said, a degree of stress is not only normal, but necessary. Some people thrive on stress and produce their best output when put to the test, whilst others crumble. A good pilot will perform better under a degree of stress, but will not actively seek out stressful flying situations. Likewise, one who does not tolerate stress well is not likely to cope well with an unexpected emergency. Gliding has direct stressors such as air traffic control or navigational problems, temperature extremes, dehydration, hypoxia, disorientation, fatigue, visual illusions, weather, turbulence. Learning to cope with these stressors builds our capabilities. Indirect stressors are more insidious; this is the ‘baggage’ we may bring with us to the gliding field. Such things as financial problems, relationship problems, fatigue from overwork and so on. Indirect stressors tend to be cumulative and also have a nasty habit of rearing their ugly heads at the worst moments (This is going to be a tricky land-out, and with my current financial position I cannot afford to damage my glider). When going through the “AM I SAFE?” checks before flying, be honest about your stress levels. Too many indirect stressors and you should not fly (although a pleasant day at the field, possibly with a dual flight, might be very helpful).
STRESS AND FATIGUE MANAGEMENT If there is too much stress in your life, then gliding should cease temporarily whilst you sort things out. By fatigue, I do not mean simple tiredness but a long term build-up of stress (see appendix 1). Neither damaging stress nor fatigue can be overcome quickly, certainly not on the day you intend to fly, so do your ‘AM I SAFE?’ checks before you leave home, and plan accordingly. Once you arrive at the field, it is hard to be objective.
A particular hazard concerns those have recently qualified as QGPs. It may be perfectly legal for them to fly together but authorising instructors must clearly brief them as to who is in command and perhaps politely suggest that they are not a suitable pair to fly together if he feels both are overconfident and likely to spur each other on. PIC is Tim Austen an instructor.
May–July 2016
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HUMAN FACTORS
Crew Resource Management (CRM) has become a buzzword that sounds politically correct but of little use. Far from it. Many years ago, ‘The Right Stuff’ was typified by the bombastic, ‘seen it all’ pilot who could cope with any scrape whilst others cowered abjectly behind him. This has been seen in tragic action when junior pilots made no attempt to take the controls from an incapacitated veteran in the 1972 crash of a Trident G-ARPI from London Heathrow. In 2008, a Boeing 777-200 G-YMMM of the same airline suffered an instantaneous, simultaneous, double engine failure at an altitude of 700 feet on approach into London Heathrow. The failure happened thirty seconds from touchdown with no warning and there were no options other than to make the runway or impact a built up area. The Captain, Peter Burkill, elected to leave his First Officer as the handling pilot to free up his own capacity to trouble shoot the situation (advantageous load shedding). All three pilots discussed the effects of reducing the flap setting (initial sink versus improved glide angle) and the Captain made the selection approximately seven seconds after the failure (rapid decision outside of normal procedures). The Captain then instructed the handling First Officer to complete the forced landing of the heavy jet on to grass while he continued to trouble shoot (maintaining free mental capacity). The reduced flap setting was instrumental in allowing the jet to clear the last obstacle, Hatton Cross tube station, by approximately twenty feet, saving the lives of all on board. The Multi Crew Cooperation of the three pilots was the instrumental factor in preventing a far more serious accident. That is real progress in airline safety, but what is the relevance to gliding? Those in two seat gliders must have that authority gradient, but the senior person must equally listen to his junior who may have noticed a hazard unseen by the pilotin-command. In the case of an instructor and pupil, there is
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APPENDIX 1
RECOVERY FROM FATIGUE
1. NORMAL PATTERN
PERFORMANCE
CHAPTER THREE: CRM, AND ‘CROSS-COCKPIT AUTHORITY GRADIENT’
no argument as to who is in charge, even if not actually on the controls. However, consider two people of similar seniority where confusion may exist. In 2010, a glider crashed in New Zealand as each pilot left it to the other to start the engine when it became essential. On another occasion, two very experienced instructors (one giving the other a Biennial Flight Review) both thought the other was in his personal comfort zone in an extreme outof-position tow exercise, but actually both were very unhappy. Luckily only a broken tow rope ensued, but it could have been a lot worse. A particular hazard concerns those have recently qualified as QGPs. It may be perfectly legal for them to fly together That is real progress in airline safety, but what is the relevance to gliding? Those in two seat gliders butmust authorising instructors must brief to who is have that authority gradient, but the senior clearly person must equally them listen to as his junior who may in have noticed a hazard unseen by the pilot-‐in-‐command. In the case of an instructor and pupil, there is command and perhaps politely suggest that they are not a no argument as to who is in charge, even if not actually on the controls. However, consider two people suitable to flyctogether if he feels both arein Noverconfident and of similar spair eniority where onfusion may exist. In 2010, a glider crashed ew Zealand as each pilot left it to the other to start the engine when it became essential. On another occasion, two very experienced likely to spur each other on. instructors (one giving the other a Biennial Flight Review) both thought the other was in his personal Something similar may happen on the ground: A gliding comfort zone in an extreme out-‐of-‐position tow exercise, but actually both were very unhappy. Luckily only a broken tow rope ensued, but it could have been a lot worse. A particular hazard concerns those club was on its annual visit to a neighbouring club. Both clubs have recently qualified as QGPs. It may be perfectly legal for them to fly together but authorising setinstructors up bases fiftybrief metres keep of they their must clearly them as to apart who is in cto ommand and pseparate erhaps politely slogs uggest that are not a suitable pair to fly together if he feels both are overconfident and likely to spur each other on. launches. The wind was light and variable before veering to a definite 5 – 10 knot tailwind. For several landings neither Something similar may happen on the ground: A gliding club was on its annual visit to a neighbouring club. Both clubs set up bases fifty metres apart to keep separate logs of their launches. The wind was duty instructor ordered a change of runway direction although light and variable before veering to a definite 5 – 10 knot tailwind. For several landings neither duty instructor had ordered a change of runway direction although if there had been ocertainly nly one team, they almost if there been only one team, they almost would certainly would have done so. have done so. This article article has been abridged. Please find the original on the GNZ website. This has been abridged. Please find the original on he next issue we look at OFOR rientation and Disorientation. Pilot Training>Training theIn tGNZ website, Pilots>Glider Syllabus In the next issue we look at Orientation and Disorientation.
RECOVERED WORK
TIRED (normal) SLEEP
TIME
2. FATIGUE DEVELOPS
PERFORMANCE
We learn best when younger. Sadly, the prime for Homo Sapiens is around twenty-two years of age (where Olympic records peak) and risk assessment is at its prime by the age of twentyfive (ask a motor insurance broker). From twenty-five onwards it is downhill all the way. For those who learn young and continue throughout life, the lucky few amongst glider pilots, experience, judgement and skills improve with age and to a large extent compensate for the ageing process (several pilots have continued solo over the age of ninety). Most glider pilots, however, either come to the sport when they retire (or at least have raised children) or learn when young but leave the sport until financial and family responsibilities ease. They may have thirty years of experience, but only a hundred hours spread over those three decades. All of us, regardless of age should ›› Know our limitations ›› Prepare well for every flight ›› Maintain good situational awareness ›› Prioritise ›› Write instructions and figures down ›› Shed loads not associated with the impending flight – delegate or ask for assistance ›› Consciously relax
FATIGUE
WORKING TOO HARD NOT ENOUGH SLEEP
2. FATIGUE OVERCOME
PERFORMANCE
THE AGEING PILOT
NOT ENOUGH SLEEP TIME
NOT WORKING SO HARD MORE SLEEP
NOT ENOUGH SLEEP
TIME
Ours 22/4/16 10:00 AM Deleted:
YOUTH GLIDE
Soaring Development Mini-Camps
Mike Oakley and Tim Austen - flying near the south end of the Haast Range
WAITANGI WEEKEND MINI-CAMP BY TIM TARBOTTON - GREYTOWN
Roger Read and Tish Telford - instructor and student smiling after a successful training circuit
The first three day YGNZ Mini-Camps for 2016 hit the ground running and took place at Omarama during Waitangi weekend. Six YGNZ members attended the camp from all around New Zealand. The weekend began with a Mexican evening, which consisted of sombreros, ponchos, Mexican music and dirty moustaches - unfortunately none of the boys could grow their own. The campground cookhouse was transformed into one of Omarama’s finest restaurants, serving gourmet nachos with a strict “no sombrero, no entry” policy. All attendees, including the GlideOmarama team and other campsite residents, embraced the Mexican theme making the evening fantástico! Over the entire weekend, fifteen hours of flying was completed which included a type rating by myself. GlideOmarama generously allocated instructors and gliders to the camp, allowing the YGNZ members to take advantage of every flying opportunity possible during the weekend. Tim Austen was also very lucky and was treated to a flight in an ASH 25. It wasn’t long before the camp was over; everyone said their goodbyes and the planning began for the next mini-camp. May–July 2016
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YOUTH GLIDE
Uma Tuffnell and Tim Austen, flying in wave over Ewe Range Omarama
Easter Weekend attendees at Warbirds over Wanaka. Left to right - Jake Bevan, Uma Tuffnell’s arm, Tish Telford, Sam Tullett, Daniel Town, Tim Tarbotton and Nick Moore
The Omarama kitchen played host to a Youth Glide-run Hawaiian night for the instructors, other campers and locals - Jake Bevan (left) Cameron Hoare (right)
EASTER WEEKEND MINI-CAMP
Over the four days of the camp, there were 13 attendees who made 37 launches and totalled 40 hours flying. Four friends of attendees had never flown before and had their first glider flight ever. This is a promising number for the future of these mini- camps. We can only hope that they will continue to grow in popularity so that more young pilots get a taste of what these camps have to offer. Other YGNZ Mini-Soaring Development Camps are being planned to be hosted at the new Greytown Soaring Centre over the upcoming Labour weekend and hopefully in Taupo sometime soon. Big thanks to GlideOmarama, private glider and caravan owners for their support.
BY SAM TULLETT OF TARANAKI, CURRENTLY STUDYING IN CHRISTCHURCH
On Good Friday this year YGNZ kicked off a four day Mini Soaring Development Camp at Omarama. While Friday’s weather was not suited for flying, the tropical climate of Omarama played host to Hawaiian Night. Here Nick Moore, Youth Glide’s very own, one-man pizza restaurant, was in his element, churning out dinner in record fashion. The weather on Saturday was no better so we made the call to travel down to Warbirds over Wanaka for the day. With more than enough sun, fast planes and real-fruit ice cream to go round, we were not let down. Sunday morning came and the day was looking no better than the last. Dressed in shorts and T-shirts, we took off expecting tricky flights. Soon after there were five cold Youth Glide pilots in wave at 10,000 feet, wishing they had packed their cannulas. Luca, a visiting pilot from Germany, had her first flight in wave soon after, and Daniel Town and myself both made type conversions that day. Monday was also good flying and a few managed flights to Mt Cook. Tim Tarbotton ran away with Justin Wills for the day, first flying down to Lake Hawea and then up to Mt Hutt and back.
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May–July 2016
Roger Read and Fraser McDougall debrief after some C-Cat instructor training
The YouthGlide Tug Consortium
NEED YOUR HELP for the young learner pilots on whom YouthGlide focus their efforts
WHY ARE WE COMING TO YOU?
WHAT IS BEING DONE?
We are part-way through building a low cost, economical operation tow plane for the youth which needs a little extra cash to finish the job. Your modest donation will be acknowledged on the donors list, and may even be refunded if it should happen that commercial success is achieved (but that is not the primary aim).
Some YouthGlide Volunteers are now building a high-power, Class 1 microlight as a productive, economical tow plane for Youth Glide Camps. The basic airframe is a Zenair Mono Z (100) now sitting fully assembled in a hangar at Rangiora, fully paid for, awaiting the completion and fitting of its engine. This is a very robust, lowwing aluminium structure, with doubled steel cross-spar, rated at 9g and will deal very well with the conditions experienced in tow-plane use. The engine is a 1.5L Honda Jazz (the basis of the Viking aircraft engine and the Honda outboard motor range) which is being fitted with an Autoflight 200 hp reduction drive down to 2,400 propeller rpm. An Aerocharger turbo (self-contained, self-lubricated) is being imported as the best match for the power range required. When complete, this aircraft will have between 150 hp and 200 hp (depending on test-flight findings) and more than adequate thrust to get the heaviest of gliders up in very respectable roll distances, and with a very good rate of climb at 65 – 70 knots. Fuel usage will be very low compared with Continentals and Lycomings, the engine will be free of leaning issues and with its thermostat will have no cooling problems at all.
WHAT IS THE NEED? YouthGlide have been making gliding tuition more affordable for over 100 young glider pilots each year, with camps, subsidies and volunteer tuition and support. Among the main charges, every tow, even subsidised, remains one of the most significant costs that the learner faces. Glider towing requires relatively massive thrust, hence horsepower, and usually that means GA workhorses such as the big Pawnee, but that also means high running costs. Some tows are done with the more expensive microlights, up to 115 hp, but to provide a better margin of safety, and faster turn-round times, they need much more power than that. Using luxury-class microlights as work-horses is not their best use, because much of the expensive capital is, in effect, wasted and just adds nothing except cost.
WHAT IS NEEDED? A very strong, very powerful, gutsy, robust work-horse of a plane, with its performance optimised exactly to glider towing in New Zealand.
HOW IS THIS BETTER? We expect to finish the plane and have it into use for about 15% of the cost of the luxury, Class 2 microlights now being May–July 2016
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YOUTH GLIDE considered for the role. It will use a very well proven power plant (Honda make huge numbers of engines compared with, for example, Rotax). Parts and maintenance will be very many times cheaper than for any alternative now available, large or small. This will be a very robust, basic, simple plane and power plant. It will accept either mogas or avgas. The prop will be fixed in flight, thus removing another source of weight, complexity and failure. None of the parts will be timed, maintenance will all be ‘on-condition’. The reduction gear ratio is being chosen to ensure that even on full power the engine runs in a lower-stress part of its range. And the propeller size and speed are being specifically chosen for low sound level and to minimise noise nuisance.
KAIKOHE A RETURN – no la
YOU'RE CONVINCED AND WISH TO SUPPORT US? WHERE DO YOU SEND THE MONEY?
BY STEVE FOREMAN
Please make your deposit to "Rangiora Tug" account 03 0674 0009407 000 with your name and "donation" and email that you have done so to peter@peter-collins.org You will get an email in reply, with thanks, when your deposit comes through. Regular status and progress reports on the project, will be emailed to you thereafter.
YouthGlide New Zealand...creating opportunities for our future pilots
VENTUS C TURBO L SO
EXCELLENT CONDITION
D
$105,000
> Standard instruments plus Cambridge 302, Mountain High EDS oxygen system and transponder. > Four sets of winglets/tips. Standard 15m, Maumuer 15m winglets, Standard 17.6m tips and 18m winglets (CAA approved). > Sailplane Services PU finish and all equipment necessary for competing. > Totally reliable and trouble free Solo engine. > No damage history. > Proven performer can fly head to head with Ventus 2s and ASG29s at a third of the price. > Great handicap – very attractive for competitions. > NZ made trailer also in excellent condition.
Phone: 027 486 6441 Email: patdriessen21@gmail.com
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May–July 2016
Once upon a time, the Auckland Aviation Sports Club, based at Whenuapai, didn’t tend to do much cross country. Times have certainly changed. They now have a group of keen cross country pilots who embrace the challenges of a gliding club on a skinny bit of land with lots of sea breezes. Their West Coast runs have become legendary but there are options to fly over the land as well. Kaipara airfield is roughly 50 kilometres away and Steve Foreman and others have attempted flights to Dargaville, with and without land outs. A 300 km Diamond flight to Kaikohe seemed a bit of a stretch however.
T
he weather forecast was not looking too bad – light winds and good thermal strength for much of the area north of Whenuapai. For a good trip north, it would have been nice to have a convergence up the middle. That was not the case as RASP showed it too far to the east to be of any good. I got in touch with Wingman, Al ‘Captain’ Ian and decided to make an early start. Dave Todd arrived as well and it was now three of us attempting to go to Kaikohe.
All the pictures are of the flight to Kaikohe.
There was no time on way back for photos. Next time should be easier. Right?
E AND N – no land out pics here –
I had declared the flight via the LX9050: Riverhead, Kaikohe, Riverhead. 322km – which could be a 300 km Goal Diamond. I was first to launch at 11.15 am and was going to go to 2500 feet but the tow pilot thermalled into some good stuff so I popped off at 2000 feet. By the time Ian had released, I was at 3200 feet and had gone through the start. It was a fairly easy run to Springhill at approximately 4000 feet. It got a bit soft from here with some ‘average’ climbs but I managed to stay between 2700 and 4500 feet and all of us kept together until 10 km short of Kaikohe. Dave’s battery was failing so he decided to land at Kaikohe. Looking back down south it was very blue and I wondered if I would be joining him. I was stuck in a valley at 1300 feet, didn’t have enough to glide to the field and could not see a place to land, but then I found a concrete strip. I couldn’t believe it, it was right under me. That meant I could concentrate on getting out. I climbed up 3000 feet and headed to the turn point over Kaikohe, climbed to 4200 feet, giving a wave to lonely Dave. By this time Ian had been to the turn point and was heading back the way we came, west of Whangarei. I wasn’t too sure which way to go. I thought west was best, the clouds east looked too far away while the clouds west were pretty wispy but looked doable. I liked the flatter ground if I got in trouble, so west I went. I got a climb at Titoki and called Ian over. He arrived at 2400 feet. I glided about 25 km hoping to hit lift but there was nothing. I called Ian and said I was changing to 119.1 and was most likely going to land at Dargaville. To my surprise, as I headed to Dargaville at 1600 feet, a nice
wispy cloud was just starting to form and I climbed to 3300 feet. The cloud didn’t get going and was gone as soon as it appeared so it was on to the next one. At this stage I couldn’t get Ian on the radio. It was 4 pm and I still wasn’t sure that I would get back. I just wanted to get as close as I could for a shorter retrieve. I gave Ian a call and was surprised that he had landed out but it was a good, safe, short landing. I was just catching the wispy bits. As I saw one I jumped to the next. I took a couple of 10-15 km glides to get to them, just taking my time and staying high. At 5.15 pm,I was at Springhill again and thought I may be in with a chance to do this. There were some clouds that looked good but soft. I didn’t want to get too excited just yet. Heading south and in familiar terrain again, I got low at 1300 feet, just south of Burnside Rd, North East of Makarau. I had flown over a nice strip a couple of minutes earlier and decided to go back to it and prepare to land. I told myself I have done well to get this far. From Wellsford to base leg for the strip, I didn’t get over 3200 feet. 4600 feet was my highest altitude of the flight. Boom. What was that? It was a 2 knotter. I gained 700 feet and now I was saying, I can do this. Then another to 3000 feet north of Wainui which was enough for a final glide. I landed back at 6.15 pm. Seven hour’s flight time. 356km. 385 OLC points. But the biggest thrill for me is to say that I had flown to Kaikohe and returned.
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a question of safety AC 1-04 Trial Flights By now all clubs should have in place all of the requirements under the above AC for Trial Flights. To summarise:
STEVEN CARE National Operationals Officer
Club constitutional rules should show the provision for ‘Short Term Members’. It should also allow for those wanting Trial flights to become Short Term Members immediately prior to their flight, upon signing an application for membership and the duty instructor signing approval of the membership. The flight is promoted as a bona fide ‘Trial Flight’ (the person should have at least some interest in the possibility of taking up the sport) not a scenic or joy flight. Club web pages and advertising must reflect this. The flight must not involve any aerobatic flight (including steep turns or dives). A pre-flight safety briefing must be given. The flight is planned to return to the same airfield and is done by a currently rated, suitably experienced, instructor.
Photocopier for Club Records
Accidents and Incidents The following table shows the number of accidents/incidents over the last 5 years: Fatal Accidents Incidents 2011/12 1 18 2012/13 16 2013/14 2 8 36 2014/15 2 12 64 2015/16 1 4 46 so far The statistic that matters most are those in the left hand column of course, but the reduction in the number of accidents is very pleasing trend and is the lowest it has been in at least 14 years. There has been a steady increase in incident reporting which is really fantastic. There are, at the time of writing, still a dozen or so reports to come in from the recent Nationals at Taupo and I am aware of others still due. Club statistics for incident reports so far this year: Tauranga 10, Piako 10, Auckland 7, Nelson 4, Canterbury 4, Omarama GC 3, GlideOmarama 3, Aviation Sports 2, Taupo 1, Wellington 1, Marlborough 1, Gliding Wairarapa 1. The clubs near the top of the list have a heathy safety culture and resources to be able to improve safety.
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Editors note Sadly there has been a further fatal accident since this article was written.
Near Misses At the time of writing, this is again at the top of the list of reported incidents. The first thing to do when one of these incidents happens, is to preserve a copy of any available GPS traces. It gives a huge amount of information and often an understanding of how not seeing another aircraft can happen. Sometimes the ping rate of the GPS is set very slow, meaning the information is almost worthless. It is understandable for very old equipment with limited memory, but most can now easily handle rates of one ping every couple of seconds. It’s a good idea to check your GPS settings and set it as high as the equipment comfortably allows. I am still very much in favour of FLARM, despite its significant limitations. It is compulsory for all gliding competitions in Australia, UK and Europe. My feeling is that we are lagging behind the rest of the world and it is only good luck that we have not yet had a major mid-air glider collision in NZ. It could still occur with FLARM, but it does reduce the odds.
When a student completes their A Certificate syllabus training, the club must retain a copy of the completed A Certificate syllabus sheet MOAP appendix 2C. The same also applies to B, QGP, Tow Pilot, Instructor, Winch Driver sheets, and they must be available for inspection at the time of the club audit. It is quite easy to see who in your club has been issued with recent ratings and often they are missing. Part of the issue is in the people receiving the ratings overlook photocopying them for the club. A logical solution is to make sure the club has both its records and a photocopier in the clubrooms. A photocopier is inexpensive (less than the cost of an aero-tow) and it can be used for copying other important documents such as medical certificates, BFR’s as well. If your club does not have a photocopier on site, please consider it as an important part of your club equipment list.
Club Signage It is a good idea to review your club signage every few years. It helps to direct visitors to the right area in a safe manner and makes it clear what restrictions or dangers there are around the airfield.
airworthiness used in automotive applications. They are easy to obtain, easy to inspect and clean, and it's simple enough to squeeze the female connector with pliers to increase the grip and hence the quality of connection. A light spray of CRC and a bit of wiggling helps remove light corrosion and improve the connection. Expect a maximum voltage drop of 0.2 Volts between battery and instruments when everything is switched on and the radio transmit button is pressed.
MARTYN COOK National Airworthiness Officer
If you are installing a moving map display or other additional instruments, then do increase the size of your batteries. If you have two batteries (eg 2x 8 Amp-hr) then it is better to connect these in parallel, rather than a Battery A / Battery B configuration. The radio draws a lot of current when transmitting (typically 1 Amp), and having two batteries in parallel provides capacity to keep the voltage up during transmit. Batteries that are discharged in parallel can also be charged in parallel.
Tips on Winter Maintenance With winter approaching fast, it's time to give your glider some loving attention rather than leaving it to languish in the trailer or hangar. The starting point is the list of minor defects listed in the DI book. These are items which don't render the glider unserviceable, but can be a nuisance if not fixed, or can lead to bigger problems later. Also review the Gliding NZ MOAP (Page 120) for a schedule of maintenance items that can be carried out by the owner/operator without needing a GNZ Engineer. GLIDING NEW ZEALAND
INC.
res Manual of Approved Procedu Part 3 - Airworthiness
Appendix 3-C Pilot Maintenance
ENANCE OWNER/OPERATOR MAINT
without holding a GNZ Engineer be carried out by owner/operators The following maintenance may a current QGP certificate: Approval, subject to their holding Log Booklet te in the TECH 19 DI & Tech Certifica Service to Items requiring a Release 1. shoes. landing gear tyres or tailskid Removal and replacement of (a) brake pads. Removal and replacement of (b) repairs if – Simple or temporary fabric patch (c) flying control surface; and the repair is not applied to any (i) or structural removal of any control surface the repair does not require the (ii) part; and rib stitching. or g restringin involve not the repair does (iii) n of preservative decorative coatings and applicatio – Restoration of damaged or worn (d) nts, if the work does not involve or protective material to compone any primary structure; or the removal or disassembly of (i) system; or the disturbance of any operating (ii) or or protection of a control surface; the restoration, preservation, (iii) a significant repaint of the glider. (iv) tural cover plates. non-struc or fairings to repairs Simple or, temporary (e) d maintenance inspections inspections between schedule Completion of repetitive AD special tooling or (f) complete the inspection and no if the AD states that a pilot may special equipment is required. plugs. spark and filters, oil pressure Replacement of engine oil and (g) F. Appendix 43 Part test in accordance with Installed ELT inspection and (h) to Service Certificate g or Items not requiring a Release 2. disassembly other than de-riggin require not does that n Greasing and lubricatio (i) removal of access panels or fairings. fuses and lights. Removal and replacement of (j) s. reservoir in hydraulic Replenishment of hydraulic fluid (k) equipment if – Installation or removal of role (l) ; and r equipment has been approved the installation of the particula (i) information for manual incorporates the necessary flight aircraft balance the approved (ii) t installed, including weight and equipmen the with operation safe data for each configuration. the equipment the installation and removal of the applicable information for (iii) and ; available tely is immedia required. t, or subsequent inspection is no special tooling, special equipmen (iv) glider batteries. Removal and replacement of (m) manufacturer to be nce that is intended by the glider required. Performance of routine maintena is t (n) equipmen no special tooling or performed by a pilot provided ment of oxygen cylinders oxygen cylinders, or replenish Removal and replacement of glider cylinders is (o) bulk compressed oxygen into in situ. (Note that decanting of appropriate training.) potentially hazardous and requires
Electrical problems can ruin an otherwise good flight. If your batteries are older than three to five years then they could be at the end of their life and have very little capacity left. To test capacity, connect a 12V 12W lamp (which should draw 1 Amp) to a fully charged battery and see how many hours the voltage stays above 11.1 Volts under load. Compare with the rating on the battery, which could be anything from 7 - 18 Amp-hours. If it is less than two thirds of the claimed rating when tested at room temperature, then replace. Note that many batteries do not achieve their claimed capacity, even when brand new. Speaking of charging, the new C-Tech Switch-Mode chargers are a great buy. I recommend the XS 0.8 Model which will recharge most glider batteries overnight. Keep the leads from battery to charger as short as possible so the ‘intelligent’ charger can accurately determine the state of charge. If batteries are charged in-situ this length needs to include the wiring inside the glider, perhaps back to the fin battery.
Pneumatic plumbing deteriorates with age. The neoprene tubing hardens and can easily leak at connections. It can be frustrating when the vario plays up on a nice summer flying day, and leaks can be hard to trace. Leak testing of pneumatic lines can be done with a syringe and a pressure gauge. Don't use silicone tubing (except for very short joining pieces) as it moves around during flight and gives false vario readings. If a transponder is fitted: transponder, altitude encoder and altimeter checks must be carried out every two years by a qualified person. If no transponder is fitted then a 2-yearly altimeter check is not required, but the altimeter still needs to be ‘operative’ (CAA Rule Part 104.101). Radio checks are not required.
Batteries need to be anchored securely in a glider. Bungee cords are not an acceptable means of restraint - the battery can come loose in even a minor impact and cause injury. Connectors are another source of unreliability. I recommend spade terminals and connectors as
120 29 October 2011
May–July 2016
51
GNZ awards & certificates
MARCH – APRIL 2016
EDOUARD DEVENOGES GNZ Awards Officer
gnzawards@xtra.co.nz 40 Eversham Road, Mt Maunganui 3116.
QGP No 3319 3320 3321 3322 3323 3324 3325 3326 3327 3328 3329 3330 3331 3332
Pilot’s Name Paul Jahn Neil Dunn Jeffrey Banks Rolf Wasén Julian Stevens Christopher R. Moss Brittany B. Grieve Charles Linton Jonathan De Waele David McIver Kai Wing Wong Hugh Colton Roger Wey Stephan Hughson
Club Taupo GC Tauranga GC Glide Omarama Glide Omarama Kaikohe GC Wellington GC Wellington GC Glide Omarama Glide Omarama Auckland GC Taupo GC Omarama GC Omarama GC Auckland GC
Date 14 2 2016 16 2 2016 19 2 2016 28 2 2016 13 3 2016 13 3 2016 13 3 2016 13 3 2016 13 3 2016 16 3 2016 24 3 2016 30 3 2016 7 4 2016 13 4 2016
Silver Distance Jonathan De Waele Glide Omarama 12 2 2016
Grob G 102
Silver Height Jonathan De Waele Glide Omarama 12 2 2016 Grob G 102 Gold Height Robert J. Laskey
19 2 2016
LS 3
Diamond Height Robert J. Laskey Gliding Manawatu 19 2 2016 423
LS 3
Photo John McCaw
Gliding Manawatu
Diamond Goal 328 Steve Foreman Auckland ASC 20 2 2016 LS 4 Air NZ Cross Country Championships Northern Division Points Jevon McSkimming Wellington GC 1208.84 David Muckle Piako GC 1051.56 Glyn Jackson Taranaki GC 989.49 Jason Kelly Hawkes Bay GC 888.50 Alain Marcuse Wellington GC 857.74 Michael Cooper Tauranga GC 812.56 Noel Bayley Piako GC 380.62 Dougal Wickham Taranaki GC 301.90 Andy Mackay Auckland ASC 252.71 Karl Barrie Tauranga GC 238.83 Robert Laskey Gliding Manawatu 232.61 David Austin Taupo GC 221.61 William Kamp Piako GC 220.02 Jason Williams Auckland GC 145.58 David Dennison Piako GC 59.40 Will Hopkirk Taranaki GC 51.53 Southern Division Ken Montgomery Nelson GC 1614.26 Taranaki GC 551.75 Sam Tullett Central Otago FC 474.92 Brian Savage
52
May–July 2016
s 84 56 9 50 4 6 62 0 1 83 1 1 2 8
26 5 2
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 Bruce Graham bruceandstell@xtra.co.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
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
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
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
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 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 Masterton Soaring Club Club Contact Michael O’Donnell modp@missionkayaking.com Ph (03) 473 1721 Base Masterton Aerodrome Flying 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
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 Adrian Cable adrian.cable@xtra.co.nz 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 Brian Sharpe bwsharpe@xtra.co.nz Ph 027 248 1780 Base Greytown Soaring Centre, Papawai Airfield, 5 km east of Greytown Bookings Ph 027 618 9845 (operations) Flying Weekends and Public Holidays 7 days a week December through to March
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 110 August 2016.
AUCKLAND AVIATION SPORTS CLUB We have enjoyed a busy summer with many activities. Steve Foreman and Yves Gerster both competed in the Nationals in the racing class. Steve successfully represented New Zealand in the Trans Tasman Trophy and will get the chance to defend it in Australia later in the year. Yves Gerster, our Swiss Glider pilot, used Libelle 201 GIV to great success, coming first in the racing class. Yves leaves us shortly with one major objective not fulfilled as we have not had correct weather conditions for a West Coast run since he arrived. He is very sad about this turn of events. A farewell dinner for him saw a turn our of well over 60% of our club members. Three of our newbies have managed to solo, Rahul Bagchi, Phil Scarborough and Toni Thompson. The last two had previously soloed and are coming back to the sport. We have continued to host ATC cadets both in our twin glider and in the Grob 109 motor glider. We have a small cadre of cadets learning to glide with our club dedicating Sunday morning to them. Steve Foreman, David Todd and Ian O'Keefe have all had a crack at Whenuapai to Kaikohe and return. On their most recent attempt they all reached Kaikohe, with Steve Foreman making it all the way back, Ian out
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
Yves farewell dinner
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CLUB NEWS
Auckland Aviation Sports Club:
landing near Whangarei and David landing at Kaikohe with a fading battery. That meant a couple of decent retrieves, although Dave fetched himself the next day. Well done Steve, especially as it blued out as they headed for home. Our big event was the celebration of our 50th anniversary. Superbly organised and hosted by Jonathan Pote we were honoured to be able to host our founder Air Commodore (RTD) Len Thompson, our Base Commander, Group Captain Tim Walshe and a good number of past members. Well done to Jonathan and to all our members who helped in so many ways GL
CANTERBURY In early April we were part of a very successful Scout Aviation Camp. Ballooning and other aviation adventures were part of
Canterbury: Kev on the Hustler
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May–July 2016
Auckland Aviation Sports Club:
the camp and we managed to give everyone a glider flight with fifty winch launches over the weekend. Easter weekend was a little fickle at Springfield but many members were flying at Omarama and attending Warbirds Over Wanaka where it was very pleasant. Hopefully by the time this is printed we will have sold our Eurofox. The Dynamic continues to impress everyone with its great performance. We are still getting tow pilots skilled up to fly it and renewed interest in flying means the club is increasing the instructor pool to spread the load. A visit from the West Coast ATC group kept us busy one weekend. They all flew in our two twin Astirs. We have a new private owner in the club with David Palmer buying Peter Chadwick’s ASW 20, keeping the glider in the club. North Islander Tim Bromhead has been visiting
Canterbury: Jordan cleaning up after the day's towing
and explored the local area with some good soaring flights. He’s really been enjoying himself. We are hoping to organise an away camp at Flock Hill for Labour Weekend, probably winching only. Alex McCaw and Nicholas Oakley are planning to attend the World Club Class Champs in Lithuania in July/August this year, representing NZ. John
CENTRAL OTAGO We’ve had good flying during the latter part of summer, although not all of it from Alexandra. February and March are months when some of us head away on holiday and this year members have flown at Springfield (the VK rally), Omarama, Nelson Lakes and Lake Manapouri. Autumn is here so we’ve probably enjoyed the last of the Otago thermals for this season
Canterbury: Coming home for a beer
CLUB NEWS
Central Otago: Looking up the Clarke and Landsborough Rivers, just west of the main divide.
and the last few Sundays have delivered wave. The winter will provide good conditions for training, and we have a couple of students to take advantage of this. It’s going to get cold so the flying kit will change: Long johns, woolly hats, socks and a thermos of hot tea! JR
GLIDING HAWKES BAY AND WAIPUKURAU After a slow start, the summer has been a good one for soaring with the club flying every Sunday in February and March along with the occasional mid-week flight. February saw the club host the largest Central Districts competition for many years. With some typical soaring weather, it was highly successful with 23 entrants plus the Wellington and Manawatu clubs visiting for the week. The club has been kept busy with trial flights and its largest contingent of students for many years with most of them being youth. Allie Thompson and Mads Slivsgaard have both progressed to the PW5 and enjoyed some great soaring flights. A mid-March Sunday saw a cold morning give way to a fine, mild, clear blue day. The RASP predicted blue thermals which would be pushed back by the sea breeze and this is what happened. Allie Thompson flew the PW5 for over an hour mid-afternoon while Jason Kelly and Graham White towed to 2,000 feet, south west of the airfield, in the AH25M around 3:15 pm before finding a reasonable climb in the blue. From there it was upwards and westward, reaching over 6,300 feet over the ranges before returning to the airfield to land after 5 pm in a flat local sky.
On Easter Monday, Graham White and John McConville, in the club's Grob 103C III SL GHB, launched into a poor looking local sky but found good lift out east which took them to a little over 4,000 feet. It looked good towards the west and they eventually ended up west of Kereru at over 6,000 feet. As they had been up for over two hours they headed back to Hastings. Approaching the airfield it was obvious the convergence in the east had re-established with some vigour and they could have played in that for another half hour if they had felt inclined. Most of the climbs were 2-4 knots but there were a couple of thermals of a good 5 knot average. April started with a thermal and wave day and we look forward to more as Autumn progresses.
GLIDING MANAWATU Gliding Manawatu has had an awesome summer. We started the summer with the DG1000 3000 hour check completed. Paul Buchanan at New Zealand Soaring Solutions in Masterton together with the help of Ron Sanders, our club engineer, and a lot of our members did a fantastic job of completing all the work and giving it a big tidy up. Paul fixed all the gel coat cracks, put new mylars on all the control services and gave it a good cut and polish and all new cockpit stickers etc. It looks a million dollars now. Over the summer the club has done heaps of cross country flying - a lot more than any other summer that I can think of. Rob Laskey bought an LS3 (ZK GLK) at the beginning of the summer and has been flying the wings off it with flights up to Mount Ruapehu and plenty of flights up and down the ridge. Our DG1000 has been giving the ridge a good work out as well. We have also been flying a lot of ATC cadets and have had a really good
Central Otago: The head of Lake Dunstan, Central Otago
turnout from the club to help out. We were unable to use the Kawhatau camp homestead this year so we decided to base ourselves at Waipukarau Central Districts Contest for our Christmas camp. It was a huge success with Rob Laskey, in his LS3, winning the club class and getting third overall. A great effort in his first competition. We entered the DG1000 which Stuart Cawood flew on most days, taking club members in the back seat for a ride. Rob Laskey got his gold and diamond height gains on one of the no contest days. Our Twin Astir also flew some of the tasks. Everyone really enjoyed it and had a great time. For a lot of our members, it was their first taste of competition flying and it certainly won’t be their last. Al Park is doing a great job of the Club Captain’s role and all the rosters are now organised like clockwork. The club has just purchased a Single Astir CS77 ZK GMA to put another single seater on the line. It hasn’t flown for over 10 years so the test flight will be in the next few days. We now almost have one glider for every three active club members - a pretty good ratio I think. On a sad note, I have just learnt that Ossie Fargher has passed away. Ossie has been a long time member of our club and was our chief Kawhatau air traffic controller. Ossie was a real down to earth bloke and a great club member. He will be sorely missed. RIP Ossie.
GLIDING WAIRAPAPA It's been a busy few months for Gliding Wairarapa. Summer is like that here. The sunny days and lack of rain have produced the usual unhappy maunderings from farmers and the ensuing good conditions for lots of trial flights, with a few new members as a
May–July 2016
55
Wairarapa: FY waiting impatiently
Wairarapa: FN Landing
Wairarapa: Wairarapa locals greet the Wellington Gliding Club and prepare to make ‘used grass’ for their gliders and towplane
Wairarapa: Keziah Stonnell in FN, experiencing a long flight along a spectacular front that wafted in from the south one day.
result. We had a visit from ATC No.2 (Hutt City) Squadron who had a good day before returning to their traditional gliding home of Upper Valley. The winch has had a few hiccups but is now back to its state of raw, untamed power, at least as far as launching ASK13s is concerned. Justin Bain and Regan Tuck now have their solo ratings. Many smiles all round but we didn't soak them; water is a scarce commodity. There has been a lot of work behind the scenes preparing for the arrival of the Wellington Club. Jim has turned a dark brown hue, not so much from the sun but more from all the dust that he's acquired whilst ploughing, harrowing and levelling vast swathes of land around their new hangar. As you get older, the sandpit just gets bigger. The grand opening took place on April 2nd, just in time for some much-needed rain. Speeches were made, people were thanked, ribbons were cut and then sandwiches were consumed after a warm welcome onto Papawai Marae. Lots more smiles. The following day saw the first official flying day of combined (WGC and GWR) operations. A wave day. Variable winds on deck, rotor above and a couple of 300 km flights but you'll read about those from the Wellington missive. ‘Learnings’ from the day included the confusion between vectors "03" and "30", the fact that 'used grass' sticks to
Pawnees without mudguards, and the fact that yes, two clubs can co-exist very happily. Now the real fun begins. DH
56
Photo Patrick Hipgrave
Photo Patrick Hipgrave
CLUB NEWS
May–July 2016
NELSON LAKES Pictured below are our three youth glide members, all now solo. Two are just 16, the other just 18. Left to right they are: Ben Rumsey (April’s son), Jarod Barton (seated in the glider) and the smiling joker on the right is Lars Stephenson. Ben and Jarod attend colleges in Nelson and Lars is an apprentice mechanic from Motueka. Captain Sink
Nelson Lakes:
Wairarapa: Sunset on 3 April, the first day of combined operations mentioned in our column.
PIAKO Our winch has been getting a lot of use over the last couple of months with several ATC and Scout groups making the most of this low cost method of launch. We have also run a five day ab-initio winch course and which resulted in two more, new enthusiastic members for the club. It is very likely that we will run more courses like this in the future. We have had some great news in that Tim Bromhead (current committee member) has been selected to represent NZ at the World Gliding Champs at Benalla next year. Well done Tim! There seems to be a bit happening around the airspace in our area. Like last year, it’s
Nelson: Youth Glide Easter
CLUB NEWS at the provisions in the Constitution. A shiny hard cover book is now at the launch-point with names in it, entered as the various Trial Flighters show up. Our flying has become quite dependent on RASP forecasts with decisions about weekend flying left until Thursday or Friday. Flying notices are now posted on the website for people to search out and work out if they can get to Stratford. Our Timesheet is now of the all-singing, all dancing variety and calculates the various flying fees. Also newly developed are the Pilots’ accounts which track what is owed and what is paid and the amounts paid in. This is all very good for the Treasurer’s peace of mind. Papa Mike Taranaki: John Tullett in his newly acquired K6 and ready to roll.
TAUPO up in the air again (excuse the pun) and we just hope that we don’t end up with more restrictions. Coming up, we have our annual farmers’ land-out barbeque on the 25th April. It’s our way of keeping on good terms with farmers that have had a glider land in one of their paddocks during the last season. We usually get a good response and it’s a fun day for all involved. Lastly, our AGM has been set for the 25th June.
TARANAKI This summer’s flying can be described as a ‘steady as she goes’ period with flying on any one day of the weekend. The private owners have been doing most of the flying, though the PW5 and Dougal Wickham have been chasing things along. We have a new kid on the block in the shape of the K6 EH from Nelson, being flown by the Tullett partnership. There has been some agonising over Short Term Membership, prompting a look
It has been a great summer in Taupo and the club has been exceptionally busy. We hosted two contests – the Central Plateau in November and The Multi-Class Nationals in January, although it has to be said that the latter coincided with about the worst two weeks’ weather in Taupo for the whole summer, as reported so well by David Hirst in the last issue. Actually, one of the best days was the practice day and Trev Terry had a great flight around Lake Taupo. We have also been busy with ab initio
Taupo: Trevor Terry round Taupo flight
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57
CLUB NEWS
F OR S A L E • WA N T E D • S E R V IC E S • E V E N T S
Wellington: Brittney Grieve after her first flight in her new ASW 15
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GLIDERS DG 400 Self Launching Glider • ZK GOM first flew in December 1984. 1,793 hours and 247 hours on the engine. 15 and 17m tips, tow out gear, hanger covers, 2 canopy covers, EDS and A8A oxygen with quick connect refill. Cambridge nav and Winter mechanical varios. Dittel FSG60M radio and Terra transponder. Trailer has cobra fittings and ability to charge batteries via an external socket while glider is in the trailer. Ideal syndicate glider – fly any day of the week! Mark Aldridge mda@308.kiwi.nz ph 0274 508 505. $83,000.
Wellington:
ASW 28 15m ZKGSS • LX8000 flight computer, Mountain High oxygen, Wingwalker & towout gear. Kerry Greig kerrygreig@hotmail.com ph 021 857 066 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. Ph Paul 021 331 838 P_Marshall@xtra.co.nz
Wellington:
training, both with our own students and some visiting pilots. Congratulations to Nick Simmonds and Wong Kai Wing on their first solos, and one of our youngest students, Akira Petersen, is poised to go solo any day now, at the age of thirteen. Thanks must go to our regular UK visitor Sid Gilmore for once again seeing us through our busy summer schedule - we would have been hard pressed to fill the instructor roster without him. We have also had valuable help from long-term visitors Paul Marriott and Tony Budd who we hope to see again next summer. Our CFI Bill Kendall has branched out and bought a beautiful little Discus B, so no doubt he will be joining the growing number of cross-country competition pilots in the club. We hope he will still have time for lots of instructing as well. In our last Club News contribution we reported the sad news of the death of our Patron, John Curtis. It is therefore again with much sadness that we report the passing of another of our stalwarts and Life Members, Tom Orr. Tom was a long-serving and much valued member and instructor and will be sadly missed.
WELLINGTON Our main news is of course our move to Greytown, covered in the main article. After a fantastic opening and marae welcome on Saturday April 2nd, we started operations in conjunction with Gliding Wairarapa on Sunday April 3rd with a great westerly wave day. Stuart Barton did the first launch which was very apt considering the huge time he’d spent on ‘digger tasks’ to get us this far. It was a full on day. There were two 300 kms, Brittney Grieve soloed in her new glider (ASW15), a new member signed up and flew in the DG1000, at 85 knots full brake and still going up past 9000 feet. Mark Wilson did the first hangar landing on the top terrace E/W runway proving the evening put away (it was nearly dark) actually works well. And we found a cute frog... A beautiful place to fly and just be... RS
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May–July 2016
DG 300 Elan • GOZ (3E-99) 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. Apply to Errol Shirtliff. Ph 03 526 8724 or email shirtliff@xtra.co.nz Lak 12. ZK-GRR • 20m Glider. 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. Price reduced to $35,000, negotiable. May sell half hangar share. Contact Bill Mace 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 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 Ph 027 470 8915. Hauraki-ac@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 Class 1 microlight. Neville Swan nswan@xtra.co.nz ph 09 416 7125 Nimbus 2. ZK-GKV • A well known glider and glider type. I am sad to have
GNZ members are eligible for one free non-commercial classified advertisement per issue. Deadline for receipt of advertising for our May issue is 22 July 2016.
• EVENTS
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 ph 021 642 484 – price reduced. $35,000
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 ph 027 374 1059
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 ph 0274 960 748. $195,000
OTHER FOR SALE
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. $10,000 Michael Furniss email: jnmfurniss@gmail. com ph 022 611 4565 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 ph 0044 1244 325 730 Springtime Promotion – reduced to $190,000
SO
LD
HANGARS Omarama Hangar space(s), 20m or 35m available in eastern hanger • $1,800 per metre. Contact Garry Wakefield ph 022 060 8381 or garry@ walaw.co.nz 18m hangar spaces in the Omarama Hangar • $30,000 ono. Contact Mike Hamilton ph 03 962 1530 or mike.hamilton@hamjet.co.nz
Becker ATC 4401-175w. One 2nd hand Becker Transponder ATC 4401-175 complete with encoder for sale. Works mint. Paul Buchanan info@nzsoaring.solutions 0210730021 $1,950 Parachutes Blue Parachute. Australia Slimpack. Manufactured July 1998. Case due for renewal in 2018; canopy service life unlimited. Manuel available. Open to offers. contact robin McRae 027 448 3704 robin.mcrae@ aon.com 0r Robin Britton after 4 December 027 281 2969, rbritton@ wave.co.nz
WANTED Icom handheld radio for use in vehicle • I’m wanting a second hand airband (118-135 mHz) transceiver, to mount in a vehicle, while towing gliders on the airfield. Ideally I would like to be able to transmit, and power from cigarette lighter. Old models are fine, as long as they work. Would consider panel mount radios, as well as handheld. This is for use in Australia where icom has exemption for ground use. Possibility of pickup or postage to Nelson or Auckland. Am willing to consider higher prices, would prefer not to buy new unit. Andy Benton barneyk6cr@gmail.com $150 Cobra Trailer to fit 18m Glider (DG808b) • Needs to be the able to fit full length wings as they are not sectioned. Email doug@waipapaeyecare.co.nz or ph +64 940 71065 Instructors Wanted • Omarama Experienced Instructors required at Omarama from October through March in one of the three following categories: 1. BCat Instructor, 1000 hrs, 500 hrs at OA 2. BCat Instructor, 1000 hrs, tow rating, 200 hrs tail-wheel 3. BCat Instructor, 1000 hrs, 500 hrs OA, German speaking. Extensive cross-country coaching as well as basic instruction experience is required. Email Guy@glideomarama.com ph 03 438 9555
OMARAMA CHALET FOR SALE
Hangar space, 15m, east hangar at Omarama • Asking $1,500/m or reasonable offer. Contact Linda vindaloulou@gmail.com ph 03 348 7009 or 021 071 8402 Omarama 20M Locked Hangar Space (first row) • with water, power and painted floor. Great neighbours and very secure. D P Laing ph 0274 340 074 email david.p.laing@gmail.com Price reduced to $42,000
TOW PLANES 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,
Built for Dick Georgeson in 2009, fully furnished and equipped, dishwasher, Sky TV etc. Enquiries: Anna, 03 322 8190 wilson.georgeson@gmail.com
May–July 2016
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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