Special Interest Flight Cape Reinga

Approaching Cape

by Bernie Massey of the Whangarei Gliding Club

Convergence

Approaching Kaitaia

On Tuesday 13 April 2009 Bernie Massey flew a Mini Nimbus (KR) from Whangarei to the tip of Cape Reinga, returning to land at Kaikohe Airfield. What makes this such a special flight is that numerous unsuccessful attempts had been made previously. The only successful attempt recorded was by Tony Timmermans in 1984 where he rounded the cape at 2,500 ft in his DG400. Bernie himself has had four aborted attempts over a number of years. Other notable efforts are Mike Millington’s flight in the ’90s when he flew a K6 to Te Karo and in early 2000 Eric Gross in his LAK landed just short of Te Paki.

Flying to the cape is so difficult because of the lack of land mass. Exposure to the surrounding sea makes soaring conditions very challenging. For Bernie to make this flight successful he needed more than just an unstable day. After monitoring forecasts for some time he noticed an approaching weak front travelling up the North Island. This condition might be the key to unlock the door. A plan was set for an attempt the next day.

Arriving at the Whangarei Gliding Club airfield at 9:00 am to no wind and 7/8 cloud cover was not encouraging. Bernie took a launch at 10:30 and at best could only just stay airborne with a cloud base of 2,500 ft. He spent the next hour flying locally waiting for conditions to improve.

Finally reaching 3,000 ft he set off at 11:30 am. Cloud cover was

Last climb

still 6/8 and there was a slight indication that there was an easterly convergence. It wasn’t long before he found himself at 1,500 ft, struggling in weak broken climbs. After two and a half hours of what felt like a cat and mouse game Bernie had only covered 100 km. This placed him close to Kaitaia and it was now 1:00 pm; there was still another 100 km between here and Cape Reinga. Fortunately, conditions had improved significantly with a convergence running towards Cape Reinga with a 3,500 ft base. Kaitaia was the last time Bernie stopped for a climb, dolphin soaring along the convergence for over 200 km.

He rounded Cape Reinga at 2:00 pm at 3,200 ft and stopped only long enough to get a few pictures. The 100 km run back to Kaitaia proved to be just as straightforward. At 3:30 pm Bernie took the last available climb over the Mangamuka Range to 4,500 ft. The approaching front had taken hold and now the sky had become totally overcast. The remaining 40 km involved a slow glide to Kaikohe Airfield landing 4:10 pm.

Total Distance covered 345 km. It was a great feeling to land on the lonely field knowing something very special had just taken place.

It’s worth mentioning the people behind the scenes; without their help the flight would not have been possible. To Helen Rockell (wing runner), Bill Rossiter (winch master), Mike Austin (retrieve) and Peter Mulhare (glider owner): a very big thanks.