At the age of 18, Alex McCaw is probably the youngest person ever to complete a solo 1,000 kilometre flight. He has now joined the elite ranks of only 560 pilots who have claimed that gliding distance with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).
GOING THE
DISTANCE By Carrie Miller
Alex is congratulated by his mentor Terry Delore.
Alex is part of the McCaw clan, a family of pilots and gliding The plan was to try to stay between 10,000 and 20,000 feet, enthusiasts. Born in the Hakataramea Valley he grew up in using wave, thermals and ridge soaring to get around the task. Christchurch. “I’ve been coming to Omarama on holiday all my life Alex spent the entire day before preparing for the journey, pulling and I really enjoy it,” he said. “It’s a cool location, surrounded by together everything he’d need for a long cold flight, with every all these mountains, and it’s really good for flying. If it’s not a good expectation of a landout. flying day, all the young people go swimming or water-skiing, and Two other pilots joined Alex in the attempt, setting off in we sit around the fire at night.” weather conditions that were less than ideal. “It was blue wave, Alex started gliding at the age of 14, quickly becoming involved so there weren’t many clouds around,” Alex said. “We started in with Youth Glide Canterbury and youth gliding camps at Omarama. Omarama, climbed over the Ewe Range, got into wave and flew to “It took me a month to go solo,” he said. “I camped down here the start point, which was halfway up Lake Pukaki.” (in Omarama) with Roger Read and flew every day. I love gliding: From there, the circuit led down the lee of the Dunstan Range. there’s a lot of skill involved in staying up. It’s cool to be able to use “That part was quite difficult,” Alex said. “The wind was coming from the atmosphere to get you these great distances, rather than using the West and I couldn’t quite work out what the clouds were doing. thousands of dollars worth of petrol. There’s also a big advantage I flew down to Clyde, pushed upwind to get into wave, which ran to having a group of young pilots around to down the Waikaia Valley. It was really diffifly with and be competitive with, like Toby cult; there weren’t any clouds, but I hit the Alex spent the entire day before Read, Nicholas Oakley and Abbey Delore. turn point in Waiparu and flew exactly the preparing for the journey .... with We push each other along.” same route back past Omarama and up.” every expectation of a landout. It wasn’t long before the passion for After that, Alex said, it got fun: “From gliding eclipsed everything else. “Alex told Omarama to Mt Cook the flying was the me he was going to quit rugby because he wanted to focus on easiest of the trip. I was beating everyone going into the Ben Ohau gliding. He wanted to become a world champion glider pilot,” said Range and the view is always amazing up there. I got to 22,000 Jill McCaw, Alex’s mother. Last season Roger Read asked Alex to feet and it was very cold. I hit the second turn at Mt D’Archiac, write down his goals for the summer (2009/2010). Alex wrote down pushed back into wind and followed wave all the way down to ‘a 500km flight’. His mother was sceptical. “Yet in January 2010, Magic Mountain, then back into the lee of the Dunstans.” after two or three attempts,” she says, “he just did it. Alex just puts The most challenging part of the journey was the mental his mind to something and quietly gets on and does it.” preparation to concentrate for the better part of 12 hours. “You’re On Saturday, 11 December 2010, nearly a year after his 500km constantly watching the weather, looking ahead, trying to figure flight, Alex completed his 1,000km flight in Canterbury Gliding out where to go and how you’re going to get there,” Alex said. “If Club’s LS4. It took him 11 hours and 40 minutes. you lose your concentration for a moment, you can end up making “I wanted to be the youngest person to do it,” Alex said. “We mistakes and just one little mistake during these long flights can set set a task flying a circuit between Lumsden and the top of the you back an hour, and then you don’t have enough time to finish.” Rangitata River, and we were going to do that twice.” Alex almost became unstuck when he returned to Clyde and
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February 2011
