From ‘das Wasserkuppe’
TO THE WAIKATO The travels of Schleicher Ka-6BR ZK-GLX BY JONATHON POTE
Sunday 11 December was a great day for the Coast, the anticipation of which had been building since the ‘high’ first appeared on the charts a week before. The Aviation Sports Clubs' ‘usual suspects’ were there. From around noon, five launched for the coast, Hawkeye in KP, Gary in MP, Tony in VF, myself in LX and Steve W plus Rudolf last as the whippers-in, flying MW.
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t was the expected wild ride to the coast from Whenuapai, with both tow pilot Graham in RDW and myself being dragged along, wishing we were not there at times. Eventually we reached the coast – it seemed to take forever – and I cast off to run out over the gannets, pristine white dots below, and a very angry sea. My plan was a cautious one: stay high, proceed slowly and backtrack whenever more height was on offer. For much of the flight I was at 2000 feet whenever the airspace allowed, watching the others way below. Off Muriwai things were not great, and at one point I was even contemplating a beach landing but after I struck south, things improved a lot and I could relax as I learnt which sections of cliff were producing ‘the elevator’ that day. The Manukau crossing still has a pucker factor although you know it will end happily, and that first lift on the far side is a very happy moment.
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February–April 2017
The falling tide against the gale made it no place to go for a dip, even with a lifejacket. The Awhitu section between the rivers is always pretty dependable and thus I relaxed. Auckland Gliding Club was operating a winch at their Douglas Road strip, I think for the first time. It was very nice to see one of their gliders ready for launch, straight into the lift. With Kariotahi below, I turned back as per plan, again having a brief chat with the AGC crew, and headed for the Waitakere. The cliffs between the Manukau and Kare Kare are spectacular and I have walked the many paths frequently, so it was wonderful to beat back and forward along that stretch looking down at familiar spots. I did perhaps six cycles along that area before heading for Piha and the wartime radar site at which (just after the War) radio astronomy had its first faltering
