MALCOLM WALLS By Jill McCaw
I have known Malcolm Walls since I first joined the North Otago Gliding Club in 1988. His cheery face was as welcoming as his precision towing. No tow with Malcolm was ever longer than it needed to be and if there was lift to release into, you could be sure that Malcolm would have you in exactly the right position to use it.
Malcolm’s wife Roseann was also a valued member of the team. Roseann ran radios and start and finish lines at contests, co-ordinated outlandings and club activities with ease and made sure Malcolm, and quite a few of the rest of us, were fed and watered. This article was originally printed in Pacific Wings in 2007 but due to Malcolm Walls’ recent decision not to renew his pilot’s license we felt it was worthwhile to update it and remind people what an exceptional tow pilot he has been.
of soaring. He became a vital part of camps and contests as soaring
The first day of the 2007 Nationals marked an amazing mile-
on rocks, old fence posts or whatever else can be found. Shorten-
stone for tow pilot Malcolm Walls. Walls, a familiar part of the gliding
ing the tow rope to as little as thirty metres can help the combination
scene at Omarama, flew his sixteen thousandth glider tow. In New
to climb out of a short paddock with obstacles at the end, but the
Zealand where towing is done predominantly voluntarily, this is an
glider pilot has to be capable of the close formation flying required.
astounding number of tows.
developed in the area. Much of Walls’ towing, and in his mind the most enjoyable parts of it, have been club flying and Air Training Corp camps. The World Gliding Championship held in Omarama in 1995 was an exciting highlight with seventeen tow planes (with pilots of all experience levels) launching one hundred gliders daily for three weeks. Some of the retrieves were pretty interesting too. Retrieving gliders from unfamiliar paddocks is always a challenge. Obstacles, wind direction, paddock surface and slope must all be taken into consideration. If a farmer can’t be found and briefed on wing running it may be necessary to prop the wings of the glider level
During the World Gliding Championships Walls flew a Cessna
Walls, a farmer from Twizel, first gained his tow rating in 1986
182 borrowed from Drake Aviation. He spent his mornings flying
but had been flying his own Piper Cub in the mountainous region for
visiting pilots out to look at the contest area, spotting landing areas
many years. Initially a member of the Upper Waitaki Aero Club he
and pointing out airstrips. The afternoons were spent towing the
received his PPL in 1971. His familiarity with tail draggers and knowl-
contest gliders, followed by what were often long retrieve flights into
edge of the mountains made him an ideal candidate for a tow pilot for
mountainous country. One day two-thirds of the field landed in the
gliding clubs visiting the area. Most of his twenty-plus year’s towing
Ashburton Lakes area, in Walls’ words, “Real interesting terrain.”
experience has been based in and around the Mackenzie basin. He
Fifteen towplanes flew out, launched the gliders back onto the ridges
has come to have a vast understanding of the area and of the sport
and hoped they would all make it back home. There were gliders and
14
June 2009
