THREE GLIDERS FROM
PIPISTREL
TAURUS New Zealand now has two Pipistrel gliders, a Taurus and a Sinus. Their owners are thoroughly enjoying them. Alan Clarke, our local Pipistrel agent tells us a little about the gliders and Pipistrel’s new Apis Bee. The First Taurus is flying in New Zealand The first Taurus is now flying in NZ, a side-by-side two seater 41:1 with a retractable Rotax 503 engine. Alan Clarke, the NZ Pipistrel dealer, has flown with the new owner and says “it is everything they say it is. The new owner is just loving it, so we are leaving him in peace to enjoy it.” The Taurus is now available in 3 versions – No engine, Petrol Rotax 503 engine or Electric engine. Pipistrel Sinus Kerikeri to Omarama and back last January The NZ agents Alan and Donna Clarke live in Kerikeri and recently they flew in the Pipistrel Sinus to Omarama. They stayed for 4 weeks and flew most days, which Alan says was “simply awesome”. Alan’s report: we got to Omarama on December 28 and set up camp on the airfield. Omarama seemed to have a 20 knot westerly almost every day but the camp was so sheltered that the tent didn’t flap even once; in many ways I think it’s the best campground in New Zealand. What great foresight the man from Queenstown had – he built the camp, airfield, irrigation systems and so on – what a great job he did for gliding and NZ tourism alike. I learned to fly in South Canterbury in 1964 and towed gliders in an Auster at Timaru and Omarama in 1965/1966. I went on to become a flying instructor for two years at Canterbury Aero Club and then became an ag pilot. In total I flew 6,000 hours fixed wing and 4,000 helicopter hours from 1966 to 1986. Then I had a break from flying for 18 years before taking up gliding in 2004. None the
10
August 2009
less I came to Omarama with a healthy respect for the Southern Alps and no experience of wave flying at all. My experiences... Day 1 I found a nice thermal at Twizel to 9,000 ft. Day 2 I took Don from Canterbury with me who showed me around the area. Day 3 I motored up to wave at 9000 ft. Day 4 I found Grant who used to be a gliding instructor and got a lot more local guidance from him, over several flights. And so it went, gently feeling my way around a new area, so very different to gliding in North Island where thermals and ridge lift stop at 5,000 ft. Eventually I found I could motor up to 4,000 ft and shut down, and work my way into wave at about 9,000 ft, sometimes taking up to an hour to get there. With no oxygen my wave flights were limited by altitude but none the less it was a great experience. Using my Omarama experience I have now found local wave at home – in mid winter at 6,000 ft over the Hokianga harbour in a 35 knot SSW wind. I have no experience at competition flying or in a 45:1 glider but these are some of my observations.
