INAUGURAL
YOUTH SOARING DEVELOPM OMARAMA, 12-18 DECEMBER 2010 The inaugural Youth Soaring Development Camp was an unqualified success. Twenty four young people from around the country gathered just before Christmas. Alex McCaw (18) got the week off to a fantastic start with a 1000 km flight on the Saturday. (See article pg 16.) It was the first of many successes during the week, including three first solos, three A certificates and one B certificate completed. There was also one five hours, one silver height gain and numerous firsts for the pilots: first time on oxygen, first climb to 20,000 ft, first flight longer than 300 km, numerous type conversions and one landout at Milford Sound. This was not a camp for ab initio pilots. Although some of the participants were pre solo, all of them had been flying gliders for long enough to have a good grasp of the sport. The pilots were divided into two groups, dependent on flying skills. The Advanced group were all capable pilots, with hours of solo flying under their belts. They were treated to the expertise of Glide Omarama’s top mountain flying instructors, as well as flying with, and learning from, some of the best competition and soaring pilots in the world. Justin Wills, Terry Delore, Mike Oakley and Gavin Wills gave freely of their time and knowledge. Trevor Mollard and Mike Strathern flew many back seat hours and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Mike said he felt he’d learned every bit as much as the kids had and the information flowed in both directions. Other instructors working with the advanced group were Bo Nilsson, Phil Plane, Devon De Bargainnier, Gabriel Briffe and Joachim Schwenk. All instructors said they enjoyed their time and
10
February 2011
By Jill McCaw
want to be involved again. It was fantastic to have all these talented people in the same place at one time, youth and experience working together. Some flying was done dual, some was lead and follow. Dane Dickenson made a huge contribution with the lead and follow flying. Roger Read and Yvonne Loader worked tirelessly with the Basic group to ensure they got the best flying and training possible at their level of expertise. Steve Green was a huge help with the ab initios all week. Others were Doug Hamilton, Kerry Jackson and Paul Marshal. Cross country flights with experienced pilots in the back also got this group out and away from the airfield, and showed them what this sort of flying is all about. We were incredibly fortunate with the weather, which was brilliant all week – something not normally seen at gliding events. The camp itself was a huge achievement. The idea was mooted by some of the Youth Glide Canterbury members last Christmas and carried forward by Gavin Wills, Roger Read and Yvonne Loader, who were responsible for organising the funding, aircraft, instructors and expertise required to host an event like this. Justin Wills was the guest speaker at the final night dinner, and pointed out that all glider pilots are special people with unique abilities. The participants shared with family and friends, telling them what the camp had meant to them. Roger and Gavin awarded prizes to pilots who had shown outstanding abilities during the week. Alex was awarded the Lucy Wills Memorial Trophy for outstanding flying by a youth pilot, a National award. The camp was a huge success and there is every expectation that it will become an annual event.
