NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
EUROPEAN GLIDING CHAMPS ISSUE 58 AUGUST/OCTOBER 2019
WOMEN IN AVIATION STEMME IN NORWAY TEM • CLUB NEWS
IMAGES THAT SOAR ABOVE THE ORDINARY
John McCaw – aviation and agricultural photographer
McCaw MEDIA Tel +64 3 322 5222 Mob 0272 804 082 www.mccawmedia.co.nz
C OMMIS SIONS A ND S T O CK LIBR A RY SP ECI A LIS T S
12 16
CONTENTS 24
28
38
48
FEATURES
32
REGULARS
12 European Championships
26 Yvonne Loader
40 Stemme Horizon Tour 2019
6 Letters to the Editor
16 Sailplane Racing over the
30 Bruce Loader
44 AS 34 Me
7 Log Book
31 GNZ Winch Project Update
46 Competitions are Great Holidays
48 Blast from the Past
Pyrenees
22 Gliding NZ AGM Awards 2019
24 Steve Care – Tissandier Diploma
32 Terry in Nevada 36 Women in Aviation Why Aren’t There More?
38 For the Love of Gliding
52 Threat And Error Management Part 2
50 Instructors Column 49 GNZ Awards & Certificates 60 Gliding New Zealand Club News
66
Classified Advertising
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SOARINGNZ • ISSUE 58
CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR JILL MCCAW
When I first started gliding with the Auckland Gliding Club, back in the early ‘80s, it never occurred to me to think there was anything unusual about being a girl and taking up the sport. At the time that I was training there was another girl from my nursing class, Christine Hicks (if anyone knows what became of her, please let me know – our nursing class has been trying to track her down for years), Rosemary Gatland was one of my instructors and there were quite a few women pilots around: Ann Barbarich, Liz Read, Brenda Tunnley, and much to my surprise, Shelia Alexander, the head tutor of my nursing school. Teenagers Kerrin Williamson and Vivienne Brynner were daughters of pilots and part of the club scene. I think they were both pilots by then. Ann Johnson was doing some amazing flying at Piako and Yvonne Loader was setting records down south. To my mind there was nothing odd about women flying. I remember being quite surprised one time when an instructor told me, “You fly quite well, for a girl.” I didn’t know what to make of that and realised that the instructor meant well but I was left feeling puzzled (was that a compliment?) and quite put out by it. The
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fact that I still remember him saying it, more than 30 years later shows that words can unsettle and stick. After travelling for a few years, I came home, returning to flying at my home club - my happy place. I made friends with Kerrin Williamson and the two of us tripped south to crew for Lindsay Stephens at a South
Island Regionals. I met John McCaw, we married (at Omarama) a couple of years later and produced some awesome gliding kids of our own. Sometime later I became the editor of SoaringNZ. I have very rarely encountered any of the problems that Clare Dickson talks about in her article, but I’ve seen some bad stuff happen to other women.
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the directions to drive around the end of the strip and pulled up at the caravan. There were probably about a dozen people around, all male and all occupied with the usual launch point stuff. No one approached me. I wandered over and looked at a couple of parked up gliders. No one came to ask if I’d like to know more about them. A strange random female hanging around was obviously not seen to be anyone of importance and certainly not a potential club member. Eventually I got sick of waiting to see what would happen and went into the caravan and introduced myself. After that the welcome was very warm. But honestly guys… That was the perfect example of what not to do. Earlier than this, back about the time I came home from my travels I spent some time working for my father, a trenching contractor – mostly driving the digger. I was making a botched job of digging out the end of a trench with a shovel because I was still recovering from the broken leg that had caused the end of my Europe trip. I couldn’t stamp on the shovel with my right leg and was having to try and do it wrong footed. Some burly guy stares at me and says, “Hasn’t George got any sons?” He saw a woman trying to do a man’s job, not an able worker struggling with an injury.
I did have one incident that showed the unconscious bias that Pip Schofield mentioned in her speech at the GNZ AGM. About 10 years ago when I’d just started SoaringNZ and wasn’t yet well known within the gliding community, I happened to drive past a particular gliding club while on a solo trip. Of course, I went in. I followed
And now I’m going to weigh in on what I’ve seen is wrong within the club culture that needs to improve if we want to encourage women into the sport. To start with, it is a lot more than just providing decent and clean toilets near the launch point area, but we do thank the clubs that do that. Most of the problems I’ve seen have been to do with single women. Through most of my gliding career I’ve been a married woman and have missed most of the dodgy carry on that
my single colleagues put up with. Men HAVE TO STOP the sotto voice comments, positive and negative, about any women that crosses their path. I mean the “Whaaar, get a load of that,” or the “Wow, what a dog.” You don’t do that to your male colleagues, don’t do it to women. Women who come to the gliding club to learn to fly gliders come to the gliding club to learn to fly gliders. They are interested in learning to fly gliders and in making friends with other people who fly gliders. They are not there to find husbands. Male club members wives also need to realise this! I know of a couple of very experienced glider pilots who love sharing their experience by taking enthusiastic students for long crosscountry flights – but they won’t take any girls – because their wives wouldn’t like it! I also know some experienced glider pilots who love sharing their experiences and love of the sport by taking enthusiastic students with them on long cross-country flights, the only criteria being that they are keen. Thank you to the good guys out there. I know the good guys outweigh the other. I know that most people have the best interest of all club members at heart but – sometimes – the odd person doesn’t quite put their brain into gear before speaking. Don’t be that guy.
Stay safe team Jill
Growing gliding kids
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August–October 2019 • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
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SEBASTIAN KAWA IN NEW ZEALAND CLUB CLASS NATIONALS YOUTH SOARING DEVELOPMENT CAMP PILOT VS OXYGEN • CLUB NEWS i s s u e 5 6 F e b r u a r y – A p r i l 2 0 19
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EUROPEAN GLIDING CHAMPS ISSUE 58 AUGUST/OCTOBER 2019
WOMEN IN AVIATION STEMME IN NORWAY TEM • CLUB NEWS
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
AUCKLAND SOARING COMP CENTRAL DISTRICTS WOMEN FLY TOO AS34 ME • CLUB NEWS i s s u e 5 7 M a y – J u l y 2 0 19
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CENTRESPREAD PHOTO The last issue of SoaringNZ featured a rather good centrespread shot that was attributed to "Graham Lake flying his ASW28". As flattered as Graham is to be credited with the shot, it was really taken by our esteemed club member, Ian O'Keefe flying his ASW28.
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Graham would like to note he is a Libelle owner and would not be seen dead in an ASW28.
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In response to your query on Trudy Morris in the story on women pilots in the last issue, I knew Trudy well. Trudy (nee Hermans) was a Carterton girl and joined the Wairarapa and Ruahine Aero Club Gliding section. I have her as a pupil in my log book, March 1976. Trudy was a very slight girl and had to carry a lot of ballast, usually turning down any offer of help to carry them as she struggled out to the K13 IJ. Instructors commented on how easy Trudy was to teach. She went on to become a very good instructor herself. Robert Morris, also from Carterton, was already a pilot with us. He was also a very good pilot. As time went on there became an attraction between the two and the inevitable marriage. They bought the Nimbus and did many good flights. I believe Trudy also held the feminine 100km triangle record at one time too! Done from Masterton. Robert worked for Caltex. He later got a job with Exxon in Sydney and they emigrated there. Sadly they did not carrying on gliding. They had three children including twins and often return to Wairarapa to visit family.
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Well done Jill on a very good issue of SoaringNZ.
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PS I was also involved in Dianne Edwards’ first days of Gliding at Jury Hill. Was a great pleasure to read that Dianne is still Gliding.
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LOGBOOK
GRIFFON VULTURE
Contributions to Logbook are welcome from all of our readers within New Zealand and internationally. Email your news snippets to: soaringnz@mccawmedia.co.nz. Please put "logbook" in the subject line. After soaring with the Spanish vulture, Sebastian Kawa remarked that he couldn’t turn nearly as tightly as the bird and that it was a bit more polite than Himalayan vultures, which pay no attention to anything else flying in their thermal.
GRANDPRIX@MATAMATA 2019
As part of the new strategic plan, titled Building Our Future, Gliding New Zealand has created an iteration of the new logo. The logo may be used with or without words. Along with the logo there is a new vision statement: Delivering world class soaring experiences – with skill and passion. These are expected to help with marketing strategy and membership building and to that end a new Membership and Development Committee is being formed. Watch this space.
A GrandPrix @ Matamata contest is to be held at Matamata from 27th-31st December 2019. Grand Prix is a unique international format which has become popular in Europe for exciting racing in two classes with up to 12 entrants in each class. All entrants in each class, including international pilots, must start within seconds of each other over a short course. Watch out for further details to be posted on GNZ and MSC website shortly, where entrants will be sought.
NEWS FROM JONKER SAILPLANES June 2017 marked a milestone for the JS-MD Partnership when the JS1 variant, the JS-MD 1C, was awarded type certification from EASA. Now on the 18th of July the next huge milestone was achieved with the EASA approval of the JS-MD 3.
CHILEAN GLIDING EXPEDITION Jean-Marie Clément is looking for pilots to join him on a gliding expedition in the Chilean Andes Cordillera using Chilean gliders. (Stemme, Arcus M and/or a Nimbus 4DM). From November to mid-December, the group will be based in Calama (1,200 km north of Santiago) and will fly thermals and wave above the volcanoes of Atacama. This would be the first time that gliders have flown over these mythical volcanoes which rise up to nearly 6,000 m, and whose cumulus bases rise to more than 2,000 m above the peaks. The second part, from the end of December to the end of January, could be used to fly large wave tasks from the legendary site of Lake General Carrera, 1,500 km south of Santiago (called Lake Buenos Aires on the Argentinean side), flying the famous Argentinean waves in the lee of the Cordillera.
The amount of resources and effort that goes into achieving this approval is just enormous. As Uys commented on Facebook “Designing a sailplane with the ultimate performance requires you to touch various edges of the certification envelope. Showing compliance when designing on the edge always takes longer as test data must sometimes be verified with the additional observed tests.” Probably the most interesting part of certification, and sometimes the most scary, is the flight testing. Flight tests were done by Uys Jonker and AP Kotze and certain verification flight tests done by Soeren Pederson, our EASA Class 1 test pilot.
The team would be ‘coached’ by experienced pilots from Santiago and Valparaiso.
On 28 September 2017 the structural test of the JS3 wing was also successfully completed. The wing was able to meet the minimum requirement with ease and a considerable load carrying reserve was proven by testing to destruction. Failure occurred at a load 20% higher than the requirement.
The cost of flying is not yet determined but will be in the lower range of the usual rentals, and certainly lower than previous expeditions.
After all the demonstration tests were completed, the process to verify the documentation started.
Interested pilots and accompanying persons are invited to contact JeanMarie through the website www.topfly.aero for more information and expressions of interest.
LOGBOOK • August–October 2019
H55’S ZERO-EMISSION ELECTRIC PLANE TAKES FLIGHT IN SWITZERLAND
•9
FAI NEWS
FAI marks 50 years since humankind’s record-breaking “giant leap”
ANNA PIZZOLANTE
The 16th - 24th July 1969 NASA Apollo 11 mission remains one of the most important achievements in the history of humankind. Its legacy was celebrated across the globe in July 2019, 50 years later. The Bristell Energic, a new zero-emission electric airplane developed by technology company H55, a Solar Impulse project spin off, was unveiled in Switzerland in June. Powered by H55’s electric propulsion system and manufactured by BRM Aero, the two-seater Bristell Energic is “clean, quiet, cost efficient and safe”. It has an endurance of 1.5 hours and sufficient reserves to be used for a typical flight school training programme. H55 chairman – and Solar Impulse project co-founder and pilot – André Borschberg said: “The Bristell Energic is a stepping stone for the development of new aviation transport solutions, where the challenge will be safety and certification.”
The objective of the Apollo 11 programme, set by US President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961, was to perform a crewed lunar landing and return safely to Earth, by the end of the decade. Eight years later Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin made history by making that goal a reality, orbiting and descending to the moon’s surface with the aid of Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and taking the famous “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” During the legendary Apollo 11 mission five space records were set, each ratified by the FAI in liaison with the US National Aeronautic Association and attributed to Commander Neil Armstrong. Official FAI records for Apollo 11: »» Extravehicular duration in space: 2h 31min 40sec
»» Extravehicular duration on the surface of the celestial body by an astronaut: 2h 31min 40sec
H55, founded by André Borschberg, Sébastien Demont and Gregory Blatt, all part of the former Solar Impulse senior management team, produces electric propulsion solutions and works with both existing airplane manufacturers and companies working on future aviation concepts such as VTOLs.
»» Duration of stay in orbit around a celestial body: 59h
“Electric air transport will transform and improve urban mobility,” Borschberg added. “By having our electric airplanes fly and monitoring their performance, H55 will continue to build up big data essential for the development of VTOLs and flying taxis.”
»» Greatest mass landed on the celestial body: 7,326.9kg
27min 50sec
»» Duration of stay on the surface of the celestial body: 21h 36min 21 sec
DG-1001E – THE FIRST DOUBLE-SEATER WITH FES GOES INTO SERIAL PRODUCTION The Front Electric Sustainer (FES) system is becoming more popular in today’s single-seaters. Lots of clubs and private pilots enjoy the benefits of this easy to use propulsion system. Unbeatable when it comes to comfort and easy operation, it’s a system useable by everyone to avoid land outs. DG Flugzeugbau decided to install this system in its DG-1001 family. The well-known FES unit by LZ Design will be modified so it delivers approximately 30kW. In combination with a new generation battery they expect a similar performance as seen in FES single-seaters such as the LS8-e neo. Prototype manufacture will begin late this European summer. The first flight is expected to take place in spring 2020.
Among the documents held in the FAI archive are original photographs and video footage as well as transcripts from the vehicle commander’s report, signed by the three crew.
Left to right Commander, Neil A. Armstrong, Command Module Pilot, Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr.
RED BULL X-ALPS RACE JUNE 2019
Athletes from 20 countries battled across the skies and mountains of the Alps over nearly two weeks. They are some of the world’s toughest, fittest and strongest adventure athletes – all expert paraglider pilots – from the ages of 24 to 59. It is a race from the historic city of Salzburg in Austria to the Mediterranean Sea, via 13 turn points in Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France. The clock was stopped 12 days later and ten of those athletes had made Monaco. Five were eliminated and only one retired due to injury. “It’s been an incredible race and most likely the toughest and most challenging one in Red Bull X-Alps history,” said race co-founder Ulrich Grill. “The performance of the athletes has been phenomenal and stronger than ever before.” For the sixth time in a row, the race was won by Swiss paraglider and adventurer Christian Maurer in a time of 9d 3h 6m. Second place went to French rookie Maxime Pinot, whose brave performance saw him refuse to give up the battle against Maurer throughout the race. He crossed the line in 9d 21h 52m. Third place was shaping up to be an epic duel between Austrian athlete Paul Guschlbauer and the French firefighter Benoit Outters. But in the spirit of the race, they joined forces on the last day and crossed the line together to take joint third place in time 10d 8h 45m Grill added: “I co-founded this race back in 2003 and you cannot believe how much the performance of athletes has improved. Ten years ago, you would have expected a third of the field to pull out with injury or foot problems. These athletes are not just stronger, better prepared but also incredible mountain athletes and runners, not just paraglider pilots.” This year’s race was particularly challenging for the 30 men and two women who started. The course entailed several crossings of the main chain of the Alps and the weather conspired to make it even more tough. A fast start in the air was soon replaced by bad weather in Switzerland, forcing athletes to hike to many of the
Turnpoints, including the highest, Titlis, which was at 3,000 m. For some athletes, this required an ascent of six hours. On some days athletes were hiking up to 5,000 vertical metres, equivalent to the height of Mt Everest every second day. High snowfall in the Alps meant athletes had to use mountaineering equipment in much of the mountains. They also experienced extremes of weather from rain, snowfall and towards the end, a heatwave in France. Aaron Durogati (ITA1), who reached the final Turnpoint of Peille at 5am today in 9th place after hiking through the night, summed up the feeling among athletes: “It was a beautiful race and a great adventure – the best Red Bull X-Alps from the fun side of things and the flying. But the last hours were tough.” The last athlete to make goal was Tom de Dorlodot (BEL) who has competed in every edition of the race since 2007. But this was the most special ending – as it was the first time he made his goal. Wiping away the tears of joy and exhaustion, he said: “Reaching Monaco has been my dream for 14 years. It’s a special moment. It’s a good feeling to be here.”
RESULTS 1 2 3
Christian Maurer Maxime Pinot Benoît Outters Paul Guschlbauer
(SUI1) (FRA4) (FRA1), (AUT1)
9 days, 3 hours, 6 minutes 9 days, 21 hours, 52 minutes 10 days, 8 hours, 45 minutes 10 days, 8 hours, 45 minutes
LOGBOOK • August–October 2019
• 11
TANDEM PARAGLIDER WORLD RECORD In June 2019 FAI received both World and European records claim of 232.68 km made by Stefan Lauth (Germany) flying a Nova Bion 2 tandem paraglider. The claim is classified as Free Distance around a triangle course and the route runs across Grente (Italy) - Kals - Rinau - St Kassian - Grente (Italy). Stefan took up the sport of paragliding in 2008 after a tandem flight during a holiday in Queenstown. He is now German vice-champion xc-paragliding standard class, German champion xc-paragliding tandem class, and holds the German record course around a triangle tandem class.
GOTTBRATH / WWW.NOVA.EU
CALENDAR
check website for details
NOVEMBER 2019
November 3 - November 10 Central Plateau Gliding Competition 2019 Taupo November 3 - November 8 Jerry’s Course 2019 Omarama November 9 - November 16 South Island Gliding Championships 2019 Omarama November 9 - November 16 New Zealand Club Class Nationals In conjunction with SI Gliding Championship Omarama November 24 - November 30 Northern Island Regional Gliding Championships 2019 Matamata
JANUARY 2020
January 4 - January 11 Auckland Soaring Championships Jan 2020 Auckland Gliding Club, Drury
FEBRUARY 2020
February 2 - 15 February National Gliding Championships 2020
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS PRIEVIDZA, SLOVAKIA, 7 – 20 JULY 2019
COMPILED BY JILL MCCAW
SUPPLIED BY THE UK TEAM
Wikipedia says that Slovakia is, “bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres and is mostly mountainous.” Prievidza is in the centre of the country within gliding range of the Lower Tatra mountains which rise to the east with flat land to the south. The topography provides a good range of gliding conditions with thermal, ridge and wave. It is a well-known gliding site and ideal setting for the championship.
HOWARD JONES
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS • August–October 2019
L4 over Southern Tatras, Slovakia
• 13
Clockwise from left: ??, The Great Britain team, the airstrip, G Dale and Tom Arscott, marching girls, the grid
T
HE TOW PLANES for the contest were all Dynamics, a light sport aircraft produced by Aerospool of Prievidza. Canterbury Gliding Club has a Dynamic tow plane and it was great to see them used at this level of competition. When following international gliding contests that don’t have any Kiwi pilots, usually we’ll cheer for the Aussies, but when it’s a European contest with no Australasians then it becomes a case of rooting for the people we know. This report looks at the fortunes of people SoaringNZ has mentioned previously, have spent time in New Zealand or are generally pilots that New Zealanders have met or heard of. Darius Liaugaudas from Lithuania had a great start with a first place on day two. As a paraplegic pilot Darius is a fantastic role model for all pilots and first came to our attention in 2015 after winning an Open title with fellow paraplegic, Polish pilot Adam Czeladzki. At this contest Darius was solo in a Pegase 101 (an ASW 20 fuse variant with new wings, manufactured by Centrair). After his good beginning he then had a disastrous
couple of days and couldn’t catch up, in spite of a first place again on the final day. He finished 12th overall. Norbert Scarlat is a cheerful young Romanian who worked at Omarama the last 2 seasons aftering first coming to Omarama 3 seasons ago. He had a fantastic first four days with two 3rd places in Std Class and looked like he was set up for a great competition before having to withdraw due to family matters. Benjamin Néglais used to be the coach and team captain of the French Junior team. He and his partner Claire have visited and flown in New Zealand and are well known to
followers of Junior World Comps. Benjamin now works for Schempp Hirth. Flying a Discus 2a in Std Class he finished 7th overall with a win on the final day. I’m sure many Kiwis were following our favourite World Champion, Sebastian Kawa from Poland. Flying a Diana 2 in the 15m class, Sebastian once again was the reluctant gaggle and field leader. However, he had a few bad days with placings of 8th (day one) and 12th (day seven) but otherwise remained in the top four and took the 15m title. The Brits were the easiest team to follow on social media and with honorary Kiwi G Dale
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS • August–October 2019
flying for them it felt as if we were cheering for one of our own. The Brits had a team of five spread across the three classes with G flying an ASW 24 in Club Class. His crew were his partner Annie Laylee, who was team captain and Hugh Turner, someone else well known to many New Zealanders. G’s fellow pilot in Club Class was Tom Arscott in an LS7 and the pair became known as G and T and pulled into Tom 1st, and G 2nd configuration about two thirds of the way through the contest. Although G managed to claw closer to the top they maintained these spots for well-deserved 1st and 2nd placings overall.
STANDARD CLASS 1 2 3
Pavel Louzecky Robert Schroeder Miloslav Cink
Czech Republic Germany Czech Republic
LS-8 / 15m LS-8 neo / 15m LS-8b / 15m
9,992 9,937 9,849
United Kingdom United Kingdom Germany
LS 7 ASW 24 LS 3
9,907 9,619 9,563
Poland France Germany
Diana 2 JS3 - 15m Ventus 3T / 15m
CLUB CLASS 1 2 3
Tom Arscott Gerrard G Dale Uwe Wahlig
1.031 1.054 1.057
15M CLASS 1 2 3
Sebastian Kawa Maximilian Seis Jan Omsels
10,390 9,976 9,863
• 15
16 •
August–October 2019 • SAILPLANE RACING OVER THE PYRENEES
SAILPLANE RACING OVER THE PYRENEES WORDS BY TOMASZ KAWA TRANSLATED BY TOMASZ CIESIELSKI
How does world champion Sebastian Kawa do it? Does he always make the right decisions? At the Grand Prix final, flying a JS3 Sebastian was up against top class pilots and aircraft including Tilo Holighaus with a factory prepped Ventus-3T. Would aircraft performance be a factor? This report of the 9th Sailplane Grand Prix Final, held in La Cerdanya, Spain in June this year, was written by Sebastian’s father Tomasz especially for SoaringNZ gives some interesting insights into top level competition. SUPPLIED
S
AILPLANE GRAND PRIX (SGP) racing is still a new form of competition on the soaring calendar. It has simpler scoring and is easier to follow for spectators than the traditional form of gliding competition. Grand Prix races have a simultaneous start and simple ‘first one across the line wins’ rule. The points for the day are awarded to the first nine competitors only. The massed start makes it possible to follow the competitors on video or animations created by tracking software. To make it even more interesting, SGP are generally organised in mountain environments. The first race of this new format took place in Saint Auban in the French Southern Alps in 2005. But real time TV broadcasting of the race appeared first time in Omarama, during the practice competition in 2006 and then in 2007 during the SGP Worlds Finals using systems developed for ocean sailboat races. Cockpit cameras combined with cameras on helicopters and fixed cameras installed on some summits and ridges, virtual imaging was used to show pilots positions to amazing effect. The next SGP World Finals in Santiago used the same technology with equal success. When Sebastian flew the first Grand Prix in St Auban, he was already familiar with the
French Alps. In New Zealand he was learning from John Coutts and Ben Flewett. Later in Chile he was closely observing locals Carlos Rocca and Rene Vidal. Apparently, he is a good apprentice; winning these first three SGP World Finals. At La Cerdanya Sebastian would be defending the World Champion title won after Herculean flights over the Andes in 2016 (Santiago, Chile). The route from our home in Poland to Spain takes two days of 14-hour driving. We were sharing the wheel but we were very happy to find ourselves in the beds of La Cerdanya hotel. We drove across Europe under thick clouds, but the Pyrenees received us with the sun and beautiful mountain wave lenticulars. The last portion of the road wound through the deep valley and ended with a wonderful view from the old French frontier fort ramparts over the La Cerdanya valley. There was a strong northern wind blowing over the mountains from France and cold air was sliding down the slopes from the snowy summits. On the first practice day Sebastian overestimated the sun heating of the cockpit
and flew just in a shirt. I still do not know how he survived seven hours wave flight with -20 C outside. The flying conditions are wonderful here, and the proximity of the cold Atlantic waters, warmer Mediterranean and the hot plains of the Iberian Peninsula results in an amazing cocktail of air masses. One should expect everything in the same day: thermals, dynamic ridge lift, wave and plenty of local convergences. The situation is too complex to come out with a logical task plan.
HORRIBLE START The racing tasks were located over the mountains of La Cerdanya county and adjacent the very scenic Principality of Andorra. The first task in a contest is always uncertain. The French team members coached by Eric Napoleon and local pilots were the favorites for the race. Sebastian was doing well despite limited knowledge of the site, remaining in control of the leading group. The conditions were good but overdevelopments appeared early on the last leg of the task producing some showers. The last turn point was located over a rocky high mountain crest
SAILPLANE RACING OVER THE PYRENEES • August–October 2019 • 19
bathing in the sun. It was the place to get necessary altitude before the final glide. In such a situation the seconds matter. Sebastian, lured by Thomas Gostner’s sudden pull up, left the group to join him in the lift. But the leading group found much stronger lift nearby. Sebastian caught them but was some 100m below, quite an important handicap at this stage of the race. Instead of running after the leading group over the northern ridges crowned by overdeveloping clouds and showers, he came up with a plan for a final run along the long slightly bended chain of the lower mountains on the southern side which was still exposed to the sun. Here the lack of the pre-contest training in this area of the Pyrenees kicked back. The path along the sunny hills was a trap. We didn’t know that in these wind conditions the overheated and humid air mass from the Mediterranean Sea was hitting these hills and cutting the thermal activity, while the overdevelopments on the northern ridge were produced by huge convergences of air masses. The first race day finished without any point for Sebastian [and a land out - Ed]. One could predict that given the expertise of his competitors his chances for a decent position were looking grim. But there
are no losers or winners while ‘the ball is still in play’ and the next two tasks saw Sebastian come back to the game.
BACK TO THE GAME On the second day the area was exposed to a warm front sweeping the Pyrenees with thick stratus clouds, limiting the hope of good soaring conditions. Here La Cerdanya’s magic arose. The contest management, familiar with this microclimate specificity, started the pre-start procedures; the gliders weighing and staging on the grid. At the briefing a short 190 km task was presented to pilots still in doubt about any soaring opportunity. The first ‘sniffer’ was not able to stay aloft over the field but slowly the mid-altitude dark grey blanket of clouds started to diminish and in the holes nice cumulus started to form. After tow all competitors managed to stay in the air around the start line. On the upwind side of the mountain the wind, convergence and even wave were lifting the gliders to 3800m (12,500 feet). Lithuanian Gintas Zube had a hard time climbing. He was hugging the slope around 300m (900 feet) AGL. The contest management was about to suggest he relight, but five minutes before the planned start time Gintas found lift, rocketing above
the start gate height of 2300m (7500 feet) MSL altitude. Regardless to the now disappearing holes and dying cumulus the countdown started. At 3:10 pm the flock of gliders slipped through the starting line. One group, including the Polish pilots returned to the ‘service lift’, but combative Didier Hauss with already relaxed Gintas sped straight down to the first turn point. There they caught lift to 3000m (10,000 feet). Didier, followed by Gintas pushed courageously for turn point 2 over ridges on the northern side of the valley. They were preceded by the young ambitious pilot Vladimir Radowski from Russia. Unfortunately, he dared to fly too low and soon was forced to return to mother earth. The dark grey veil of the alto stratus was still hanging above the stage, but some kind of forces were producing weak lift above the mountains with the wind remaining parallel to the ridges. Sebastian, in company with Adam and Lukasz, was fighting to gain the altitude needed to get onto the tops. They were closing the group. Above: Sebastian Kawa pushing his glider with his wing being walked by Tilo Haulighaus, the head of the Schempp Hirth factory.
The gliders’ characteristics were showing their differences. Lukasz was enjoying the qualities of a Ventus 3, perfectly circling in the lift. Sebastian in the JS3 was compensating for the discomfort of circling with his flying technique and the JS3’s wonderful characteristics in straight speed flying. Gintas, in his ASG 29 had difficulties keeping up with Didier in his JS3. Losing the altitude needed for flying above the rocky ridges he was forced to join the group flying below the tops. Sebastian and Lukasz, having taken the time to climb, were reaching the highest summits while Didier had reached the last turn point. At this moment he was about 30 km in front of Sebastian and Lukasz and 20-25 km in front of the main group, with 90 km to the finish line. It seemed like he had the 10 day-winning points in his pocket, but the race wasn’t yet run. Sebastian, flying with a large northern deviation above high summits, was taking advantage of the strong climbs. This allowed him to turn at the turn point at high altitude and immediately return onto the rocky crests. While, on the last leg of the task all the other pilots were fighting in weak thermal and dynamic lift, Sebastian was speeding under the convergence clouds at 200-250 km/h, coming to the last turn point with a large margin for final glide. The victory elevated him to the 4th place overall. Whew! Now we started to sleep better.
THESE MOUNTAINS WILL SURPRISE YOU. There is a Polish proverb, “One will eat the barrel of salted herrings first,” something that takes a very long time, in this case before
gaining full knowledge of the Pyrenees’ soaring secrets. The next day perfect cumulus was teasing the pilots from a blue sky – inviting adventure, but Tilo Holighaus and Jon Gatfield were forced to relight. In the air it was a real mess: wind about 50 km/h, strong thermals culminating at 3900m (13,000 feet), ridge current, rotor, wave and convergences. The start in such conditions requires a high level of concentration on the surrounding traffic with 360 deg scanning of the space. One wind gust and it is easy to exceed the starting speed of 170 km/h. This explains the number of start penalties earned by competitors on this day. Sebastian was a part of this group, when he was limited in maneuvering by three other gliders and pushed straight through the line. From the start the clouds were rare but were giving honest indications of the lift and gliders were quickly vanishing into the blue. On the first leg Sebastian enjoyed the close support of the French team. He succeeded in building a comfortable height advantage and was leading the flock above the highest peaks. An unpleasant surprise came at the crossing of the valley to reach the western turn point. Massive sink reaching 6 m/s consumed 400m (1200 feet) of his margin and the close fight restarted again from this point. With a strong tail wind, the seconds started to matter and fast decisions couple with good luck when picking the climbs above the summit near the next turn point. Fortune smiled on the French team. One turn in stronger lift and a 100m gain gave them some advantage. A nice garland of convergence clouds smiled along a straight path to the final point. Seducing and beautiful - but lazy! The inseparable threesome: Sebastian, Max and Louis chose a different path above the northern crest, one
they’d already positively tested during the first leg. The plan worked well and cruise speeds reached 250 km/h, but Tilo Holighaus, in the company of Pete Temple took advantage of the Polish/French sparring distraction and flew a direct route. Tilo used dynamic ridge lift, while Pete flew just under the convergence and in the last moment switched to rocky ridges. They won the day, but Sebastian climbed to 3rd place overall. The next day a depression was crawling over the Pyrenees. Hurricane force winds triggered gigantic wave. On this day, a pilot flying in a regional contest in a standard Cirrus had an average sped over 250 km/h on an Out & Return task. But wave was rapidly followed by frontal nimbus rain clouds. Local tourism was the task for our pilots and assistants. Next day the cool and humid air was boiling with energy. The cumulus appeared. The ridges worked while strong wind was generating wave. With such a toolbox, unlike the previous days when the flying path was sticking to the high ridges, alternative plans came to play. Some of the pilots took the conventional routes while Sebastian and his closest competitors took the line over the valley under convergence clouds. They were not disappointed. The group rapidly built the advantage over those jumping from one peak to other. In the high mountains just before western turn point Tilo and Sebastian, followed by Gintas, broke off from the leading group. The next kilometres required weaving between the mountains. All three pilots in Above: The polish team
SAILPLANE RACING OVER THE PYRENEES • August–October 2019 • 21
the group were following their individual style. Their vigilance was high, with such strong dynamics even a minor error could be the end of the race. On the long final leg only the Polish-German pair was heading towards the final turn point neck to neck, Ventus 3 against JS 3. The first has better climbing characteristics, but this time Sebastian, tailgating Tilo, was observing the conditions and systematically was building an altitude advantage. The ground speed was reaching 280 km/h. Accelerating before the finish line granted him the 10pts with an average speed of 148km/h. It seemed that a final glide with large margin of altitude should not present major difficulties, but for Polish pilot Łukasz Wójcik that was not the case. He was speeding to the finish line at a lower altitude when an extended zone of strong sink devoured his margin and pushed his glider under the finish altitude limit causing a penalty. Sebastian’s flight along the slope was a master class in gaining height from rocky peaks. He was now in second place overall.
THE GOLD GAME During the next few days Sebastian consolidated his second position overall. A fascinating final was set up. It seemed that Tilo Holighaus’ first place position with an eight point advantage over Sebastian was unassailable. But from the start the final race felt sensational. Spontaneously, a group of the top scoring pilots formed, flying the strong convergence over the southern mountain chain and they were rapidly building an advantage. Some pilots chose the ‘conventional’ path along the northern chain. It seemed that Tilo was
not doing well; he was flying at the end of the second group.
together they were reducing the distance to Giles. The race was far from over.
The live broadcast race commentators started to calculate: what position would Sebastian need to gain a victory over Tilo’s scoring advantage? Sebastian at that time couldn’t appreciate the situation; he was steadily leading the front group through what appeared now as a zone of weak blue thermals. He was the first to turn at the western turn point. He counted on the strong dynamic-thermal lift which formed in the area, but something happened, and it didn’t work. The small icon displaying Sebastian’s position faded and stopped moving, his ground speed was zero. In contrast, my pulse rate had surged along with my anxiety. The other pilots were in trouble as well, fighting in weak climbs to reach enough altitude to jump on to the windward side of the ridge leading to the next turn point.
For the final section of the race the Frenchmen, Louis and Max, coming from above, flew wingtip to wingtip with Sebastian. Sebastian deviated a bit to a small cumulus, gained some additional metres and was able to overtake the French pair who were also flying JS3. The perfectly prepared Ventus 3 showed its worth. A few hundred metres before the finish Tilo had also overtaken the pair coming in second for the day but first overall.
This intermission allowed Tilo and his suite to catch the leading group. Now, when my blood pressure was in the red, Sebastian’s icon finally moved. He was gaining altitude in weak lift, and then he became one of the ones chasing the others. From this point the pace of the race was being directed by Frenchman Giles Navas. Enjoying his knowledge of mountain flying he pushed forward alone, gaining several kilometres. Englishman Jon Gatfield jumped into second position. It seemed that he was in trouble flying low over the ridges, but at a critical moment he found a strong climb and was speeding towards the finish again. Tilo’s fortune improved with several good climbs. He caught up with Sebastian and
Tilo fully deserved the gold for this SGP World Finals and we’re very pleased for him. During this contest he proved that consistent efficiency and combativity win races. Beside the satisfaction of winning the very difficult and prestigious SGP Final he has another reason to celebrate. This is the second time that the Ventus 3, a product of his company, has won in a confrontation with JS3 in 15m configuration. Here I cannot resist and must say, that our famous Diana 2 and now also the new Diana 3 are both competitive in the racing scene. We saw them at WGC in Australia and recently at the European Championship in Slovakia and Poland in the 15m and 18 m class respectively. The La Cerdanya contest was perfectly organised. The real time monitoring system worked well. We enjoyed the hospitality and friendly atmosphere. I would strongly recommend La Cerdanya for pilots wanting mountain flying. There you will find friendly hosts, good infrastructure, beautiful landscapes, good climate and an amazing variety of flying conditions.
RESULTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Pilot Tilo Holighaus Sebastian Kawa Louis Bouderlique Didier Hauss Maximilian Seis Christoph Limpert Pete Temple Gintas Zube Gilles Navas Łukasz Wójcik Jon Gatfield Mike Young Petr Krejcirik Thomas Gostner
Country GER POL FRA FRA FRA GER AUST LIT FRA POL UK UK CZECH ITA
Sailplane Ventus-3T JS3 JS3 JS 1 JS 3 ASG29Es ASG29E ASG29 JS-MD3 Ventus 3 ASG 29Es Ventus 3 JS-MD3 Ventus 3T
Points 49 35 28 23 22 21 19 16 15 12 12 10 10 4
GLIDING NZ AGM AWARDS 2019 THE FRIENDSHIP CUP Awarded for outstanding contribution to the gliding movement during the preceding year.
KIM READ Youth Glide New Zealand (YGNZ) proudly nominated Kim Read for the Friendship Cup in 2019. YGNZ is not quite sure ‘outstanding’ adequately describes Kim’s contribution to the gliding movement in the preceding year or her continued and continuing contribution. Kim is instrumental in YGNZ; she is one of many people who keeps the organisation running in general, and who drives the Youth Soaring Development Camp (YSDC) in particular. Kim, as a registered nurse, a bright and caring woman and an exceptional cook, coordinates the cooking, cleaning and caring for the 40 volunteers and 30 students each YSDC. In the months leading up to the camp, Kim is on the hunt for good-value deals, ferrying items to Omarama and planning the 10-day event. Then, while at the camp, Kim sacrifices sleep, sanity and her free time for the benefit of others. 2018 was no exception. Kim is are a kind, generous, enthusiastic and astute woman and we are fortunate to have her as a supporter of gliding in Aotearoa New Zealand.
GNZ’S PREMIER AWARD
THE ANGUS ROSE BOWL
Presented to the NZGA by Bill Angus, one of the original pioneers in aviation in New Zealand, the Angus Rose Bowl is awarded in recognition of outstanding services to the sport of gliding in this country.
LEX MCPHAIL The worthy recipient of this prestigious trophy, Lex has been scoring contests for 25 years, freely giving at least a couple of weeks of his annual leave every year over that period. Lex has kept the contest volunteers on task, guiding and undertaking the daily administration rituals of assisting the tasksetters, creating and printing task sheets, day winner flight trace replays, notifying local aviation operators of daily tasks, recording launches, starts and finishes, checking the scores and publishing results. At the next morning’s contest briefing, many pilots have been summoned to the scoring office to discuss scoring penalties – usually to the amusement of their fellow competitors! He says being close to the bar and socialising with the pilots as they turn in their flight logs is a highlight of his day. Preliminary ‘automagic’ scoring sometimes yields robust and amusing discussion as the software does
its best to determine start times and airspace breaches. Lex man handles these challenges with aplomb and impartially delivers results after his manual checking processes are concluded, often in the wee hours of the morning. He brings good humour, impartiality, great knowledge of contests and rules, scoring and procedures to every contest. He has become an indispensable part of the Omarama contest scene and we are grateful for his dedication and contribution to our sport.
AIR NZ SOARING AWARD This trophy is awarded to the pilot who has shown the most significant improvement in their personal standard of competition or record flying during the year.
MIKE STRATHERN Mike Strathern cannot, in fairness, be described as a young man. He learned to fly in the 1980s long before arriving in New Zealand. He’s already a three diamond pilot; he’s already a club CFI. He’s already an engineer, and a pretty good one - with a passion for fixing old motorcycles and old gliders. So, even before this season started, he was already an accomplished soaring pilot. But this season, he has had some spectacular success in the New Zealand contest flying scene.
GLIDING NZ AGM AWARDS • August–October 2019 • 23
Clockwise from left: Kim Read, Mike Strathern, MAx Stevens, Mike Oakley, Anton Lawrence, Sam Tullet, Tim Bromhead, Keith Essex. Prizes awarded by FAI President Bob Henderson.
His mission this year has been to encourage other younger pilots by showing that you do not need the latest and greatest hot ship to win a contest - you just need to enter in whatever you’ve got. And he’s proved that this is true by winning multiple contests this year in a wooden glider from the 1960s. Mike won every contest he entered this season and in the process beat a Duo Discus while flying a K6. The most ‘modern’ glider that he used this year, first flew in 1977. He has proven that anyone can do it, in pretty much any glider.
CWF HAMILTON TROPHY This trophy is awarded to a New Zealander operating in New Zealand for the most meritorious flight that is a New Zealand gliding record.
MAX STEVENS There were two NZ records during the year, both in achieved in November: 300 km Out & Return speed in the Open category – Max Stevens achieved 200.6 km/h in his Ventus 2C, breaking the previous record by 4.3 km/h. 100 km Triangle speed in the 13.5m category – Murray Wardell achieved 37.9 km/h in his PW5 to set the record, which was previously unclaimed.
AIR NZ CROSS-COUNTRY AWARDS
This is a decentralised competition aimed at encouraging cross country flying from club sites, particularly by pilots new to cross country flying. It is a distance event extending over the season and is run in two divisions; one for flights originating in the North Island and one for flights originating in the South Island. OLC handicaps and scoring is used. Any NZ resident glider pilot with a GNZ QGP certificate may enter the contest provided that, on the first day of the contest, no more than 10 years have elapsed since their QGP was awarded and they have not flown a ratified (or subsequently ratified) Gold distance flight.
NORTH ISLAND DIVISION 1st 2nd 3rd
Anton Lawrence Sarel Venter Derek Shipley
Auckland Piako Piako
1,957 pts 1,749 pts 1,365 pts
SOUTH ISLAND DIVISION 1st 2nd
Sam Tullett Colin Winterburn
Taranaki Canterbury
467 pts 336 pts
BUCKLAND SOARING AWARD
This is awarded annually to the highest scoring New Zealand national in the New Zealand division of the Aerokurier Online Contest (OLC) for the previous season. OLC rules and handicaps are used. There are two divisions; one for soaring flights commencing in the North Island and the other for soaring flights commencing in the South Island. The winning pilots stand down for the following two seasons.
SOUTH ISLAND DIVISION 1st 2nd 3rd
Keith Essex Max Stevens Kelvin Flavall
Glide Omarama Wellington Glide Omarama
6,659 pts 3,975 pts 3,222 pts
NORTH ISLAND DIVISION 1st 2nd 3rd
Tim Bromhead Murray Wardell Keith Essex
Piako Auckland Glide Omarama
2,501 pts 2,390 pts 2,378 pts
PAUL TISSANDIER DIPLOMA – STEVE CARE Piako Gliding Club stalwart Steve Care joins the elite group of New Zealanders awarded the FAI Tissandier Diploma. This Diploma, established by the FAI in 1952, is named after Mr. Paul Tissandier, Secretary General of FAI from 1919 to 1945. “It shall be awarded to those who have served the cause of Aviation in general and Sporting Aviation in particular, by their work, initiative, devotion or in other ways.” The following is the citation for Steve’s diploma. STEVE CARE has been a glider pilot for 40 years and during most of that time has served his fellow pilots in various roles at club, regional and national levels. He has been a gliding instructor for more than 30 years, a role in which he has gained a reputation for great rapport with his students. Being extremely safety conscious, Steve was instrumental in introducing start-of-season briefings at his club, which have become a bench-mark for influencing club safety culture. Steve became a Regional Operations Officer, and for several years has routinely organised and
participated in centralised instructor courses that have been of great assistance to all clubs in his region. Steve was then appointed to the role of National Operations Officer (NOO), one of the highest voluntary positions in New Zealand gliding, leading the Operations Committee which monitors the maintenance of operational standards throughout the country. Apart from administrative duties, such as issuing Instructor Ratings, the NOO collects and analyses incident reports and regularly writes a safety column
for the Gliding New Zealand official magazine. Steve has managed to greatly improve the rate of reporting of incidents, and has strived to act on the lessons learned. Steve’s devotion to this effort over many years Above: Steve Care accepting award from FAI President Bob Henderson.
PAUL TISSANDIER DIPLOMA • August–October 2019 • 25
He even ended up on the committee, as a young fella, in 1978, evidence of his willingness to get involved and give back to the sport.
Zealand Hang Gliding Assn in 1990/91. He still did the occasional bit of gliding each year and remained a member of Piako.
has been at the cost of his own personal flying. Despite that, he has been a glider owner, regular competition pilot, has achieved a Gold C with three Diamonds, and been a valuable mentor to many. Steve’s involvement in gliding goes back to 1976 when he first started learning to fly with the Piako Gliding Club. He even ended up on the committee, as a young fella, in 1978, evidence of his willingness to get involved and give back to the sport. While delighted that his work has been recognised, he is adamant that the record be set straight on one thing. The citation is wrong, and Steve says that while he actively supported and promoted the Piako Club’s Start of Season Briefings, he was not the instigator. The credit there must go to Julian Mason and Bob Gray. There have been plenty of other things worthy of note though that Steve has done, and the award is well deserved. Back in his early gliding career Steve bought a share in a Libelle, GX. He was working for the Bank of New Zealand which transferred him to Pukekohe. Hence, he ended up doing a lot of flying with the Auckland Gliding Club, first at Ardmore, and then in the early days at Drury. He was there for the working bees to extend the field into an airstrip, and he was the chief organiser of the air show for the official opening of the Drury strip in 1983. He had also been involved in organising another airshow at Pukekohe previously so didn’t find the gliding club show too difficult. The club gave Steve a plaque to thank him for his efforts which he still has. In 1985 BNZ moved him back to Hamilton and the Libelle came too. Dave Stewart sold his share in it to Ralph Gore. Steve eased up on gliding for a bit, taking up hang gliding in 1987 and going back to square one as far as training. He became the National Secretary/Treasurer of the New
An unreliable car and work restructures started to make time for hang gliding difficult, so Steve got into distance cycling. He had been working in Te Kauwhata but was shifted back to Hamilton and decided to return to more involvement in gliding in 1994/95. Because of a break of several years he found he had to retrain and redo his instructor’s rating. He had a B Cat but had to re-earn a C Cat. The system had changed since his original rating back under CASO 17. He says that other people would have been insulted by this given his experience, but he just got on and did it. He found it more interesting the second time around, possibly due to maturity and increased social skills. In 1998 he ended up back on the Piako club committee and has remained a committee member for the last 20 years. In 2002 Steve and Ralph upgraded and bought VC, an ASW 20. While really enjoying the Libelle which he had owned a share in for 18 years, he says the ASW 20, is one of those gliders that has a really good feel. “You can feel the air really well and I love to fly it.” In 2012 he bought a share in Duo Discus YL and has since amassed several hundred hours in it. He often goes cross-country, sharing the flying with newer pilots. Steve achieved a Gold and one Diamond in 1982 but since has gained all three diamonds. When asked about stand out flights in his career he says the 500 km he did from Matamata that wasn’t the usual thermal trip was a standout. He’d attempted his 500 in thermals, multiple times, but never quite pulled it off, but then he got the idea of trying to work out how to do it on the Kaimai ridge. The problem was because of the distance needed between turn points, most of the tasks he investigated would involve a turn point way out to sea. Starting a long way south wouldn’t work either. He finally worked out a plan that only involved going about a kilometre off the coast and gave his turn points to Alan Belworthy, who then went out and did a successful flight. Steve and Tim Bromhead both did it on the
same day a year or so later and multiple club pilots have now done the same task. An earlier 300 km flight from Auckland was also interesting because he did have to cross quite a bit of the Firth of Thames, arriving really low at Miranda and managing to climb just enough to get over the hills and back home. It was Steve’s friend Gary O’Neill’s idea and it worked. Steve also set a NZ speed record over 100 km in 2007 (Open & 15M) at 168 kph. He was quite delighted that a couple of clubs got involved in setting up ‘the Kaimai speed challenge’ to try and break it. Eventually it did happen but it took three years. It was great that several local pilots managed to hold the record for a while before Peter Chadwick’s outstanding effort in the South Island put to rest any further chance of doing it on a ridge. As a regular competition pilot (and often the Safety Officer) he was delighted to come 2nd in the Racing class in the ASW20 at the NZ Nationals in 2018 (a personal best). Gliding is always an adventure Steve says. “That’s why we do it. Even landing out is an adventure,” and he’s got 70 odd paddock landings to his name, 2,600 hours and a very good safety record. He was Piako’s Deputy CFI 2005-2007, CFI 2008-2011, and President 2009-2011. Safety is very important to Steve and he was happy to move into the role of Regional Operations Officer (ROO) in 2010 after apprenticing under Brian Chesterman for three years. He was ROO for four years and that led to taking on the National role until 2018. He is very big on incident reporting and saw a marked increase in compliance of this within the clubs during his time as NOO. These days Steve is still focussing on the club and doing what he can. Recently he has been given Life Membership. Steve and Genny met in 2016 and have been joint Club Captains since 2017, combining their different strengths to grow the club. Steve will be writing a regular Instructor’s column for SoaringNZ but with his background and knowledge that shouldn’t take up too much of his time and we expect to hear more of him achieving in the air.
YVONNE LOADER MNZOM In the Queen’s Birthday Honours my dear friend and well-known South Island Gliding identity Yvonne Loader was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for Services to Gliding. Yvonne was mentioned in our last issue and we’ve previously run an extensive story on her in Issue 35 but a recap and update is well overdue.
WORDS BY JILL MCCAW
SUPPLIED
Clockwise from left: Yvonne in her Nimbus 1988, in the '70s with multiple aeroclub trophies, being thanked for her efforts for Youth Glide by Roger Read, Bruce and Yvonne, an inspiring instructor.
YVONNE LOADER • August–October 2019 • 27
cloud over Wigram, and I let off from tow and, without any idea of what was happening, was in strong lift up to the cloud base at 7,000 feet. This was beautiful and that started my love affair with gliding. I saw a power plane fly beneath me and thought, ‘You have no idea what you are missing.’ Soaring is so much better than a noisy engine.” Yvonne now had two passions. She would get up early, fly from Christchurch to Ashburton or Rangiora, quickly do four or five different competitions, fly to Wigram to glide and at the last minute, fly back to Christchurch airport before civil evening twilight. “My flying in that era included Air Show displays, dual towing newly arrived gliders from Auckland to Christchurch and towing gliders to various parts of the country for demonstration purposes. There were also occasions where gliders needed to be retrieved from as far away as Gisborne, following World Record flights. When the Gliding Nationals were on at Matamata, I towed two gliders all the way there and back, with one of the wives and all our luggage in the heavily loaded Cessna with me.
S
INCE STARTING this story, Bruce Loader, Yvonne’s husband and the love of her life, passed away peacefully after a long illness. Yvonne would not be who she is, nor do what she has done without Bruce by her side. Yvonne came to gliding in 1975 but she already had a distinguished aviation background. She started learning to fly in January 1972 with the Canterbury Aero Club when Bruce completed his PPL. She was coerced into entering the Club’s Student Pilot Junior landing competition in September 1973. She thought entering a flying competition was a ridiculous idea and was very surprised to come 2nd. So, then she had to have another go the following year. And try a few other competitions. She joined the NZ Association of Women in Aviation, flying and winning in their competitions in spite of competing against more experienced private pilots. Yvonne became very competitive, putting in hours of practice, setting her sights on what trophies
she wanted to win during the year and without fail achieving those goals. She was National Champion three times. “In 1980 I won nine trophies; 1981, seven trophies and it continued for ten years, with the Forced Landing event being my forte.” This was in an era when it was rare for a woman to be competing and she was frequently the only woman competitor. In 1975 Bruce was approached by the Canterbury Gliding Club, then based in Wigram and became a tow pilot. Yvonne says, “I was bored as hell watching everyone else flying and decided to get my towing rating too and so our involvement in the gliding club began. “As part of the towing rating, we were required to do a couple of glider flights and it just didn’t grab me, until I took off one day in a single seat glider. There was a big cumulus
Pilots asked me to ferry their aircraft, retrieve aircraft, re-position, take their staff somewhere – all manner of flying on a variety of types, all adding quickly to an accumulation of hours and experience. I well remember landing a Piper Cub in the Ahuriri riverbed to spend some time sunbathing in peace and on-lookers asking if we had crashed! I loved flying over fresh snow on the mountains in the wintertime too.” After ten years of serious flying competitions, Yvonne had won every trophy and would have been repeating what she had already achieved if she continued. She decided to give up competition flying and concentrate on gliding Yvonne set her first gliding record in 1979, doing a straight distance of 313.47k and in 1981 set three records NZ Single Seat (Feminine) Absolute Height record 29,650 ft NZ Single Seat (Feminine) Out and Return distance 319.3k. (25.01.1981) NZ Single Seat (Feminine) Out and Return speed over 300k 63.54kph (25.01.1981)
“In 1980 I won nine trophies; 1981, seven trophies and it continued for ten years, with the Forced Landing event being my forte.”
In 1982 there were two more records and she qualified as a gliding instructor. Yvonne established a new World Record in 1988, flying from Omarama to Mt Cook, with a Gain of Height of 33,506 feet and an absolute height in excess of 37,000 feet. She tried for about an hour to go higher but it was not to be. Yvonne was the only woman tow pilot at the World Gliding Championships held at Omarama in 1995 and at the two Grand Prix events held in New Zealand, at which the best glider pilots in the world competed. She has been a member of the New Zealand Association of Women in Aviation (NZAWA) for 34 years. Yvonne is one of those people who gives back. She has been on the committee and President of NZAWA, a long serving member of the committee and Club Captain of the Canterbury Aero Club as well as many years on the committees of both the Canterbury and Omarama Gliding Clubs (often simultaneously). She has been a huge, behind the scenes, presence with the Youth Glide organisation and is behind many successful fundraising attempts earning more than
$300,000 for gliding clubs and Youth Glide. It was never her intent, but her services have been recognised. In 2012 she was awarded the Angus Rose Bowl, Gliding New Zealand’s highest award and in 2013 the FAI awarded her a Tissandier Diploma for services to the sport of gliding. The NZ Order of Merit, coming from outside of aviation circles, shows what an extraordinary woman she is. When I met Yvonne in the early ‘90s my initial tongue-tied hero worship quickly dissipated as this warm friendly woman welcomed me into her circle and tucked me under her experienced wing. For many years Yvonne and I had a special date at Christmas
Camp at Omarama. We would have at least one long and awesome cross-country flight together. It wasn’t just about her teaching me; it was about the two of us enjoying each other’s company as we explored the skies. We called ourselves the ‘Ladies Who Lunched’. I had many other flights with Yvonne, including some particularly epic trips into the mountains around Arthurs Pass from the club’s away camps based at Flock Hill. I’ll leave the last few words to Yvonne.
“It was certainly something special being a woman pilot when not many women were flying, and those times will never be repeated. It is good to see women out there in the flying world. I only wish I hadn’t been age ineligible by the time women were accepted as pilots into the airlines and Air Force. However, I am very happy with all my flying experiences and memories and I am very glad that aviation found me. I am very humbled to get this award.”
YVONNE LOADER • August–October 2019 • 29
YVONNE LOADER'S AVIATION ACHIEVEMENTS 1973 First instructional flight (Power) First solo First competition – 2nd placing Junior Landing (Canterbury Aero Club) 1974 The first win – 1st place – Junior Landing (Canterbury Aero Club) First National competition – New Zealand Airwomen’s Association – competing as a Student Pilot. Placings : 1st Collings Trophy (Student Pilot Aggregate) New Zealand Airwomen’s Association 1st Kay Scott Trophy (Non Instrument Circuit) New Zealand Airwomen’s Association – Students & Private Pilots. (Two seconds – Briar Smith Trophy (Student), Navigation Competition (Private pilots and Students). 1st James McDougall Shield (Junior Landings) – Canterbury Aero Club Private Pilot’s licence first RNZAC (Royal New Zealand Aero Clubs) South Island Championships Newman Trophy (Precision Circuits) 2nd first glider flight with Des O’Connor - Omarama 1975 New Zealand Airwomen’s Rally – first National competition as a Private Pilot. Placings : 1st Winter Navigation Bowl (NZAWA) 1st Morane Saulnier Rallye Trophy (Forced Landings – Private Pilot) (NZAWA) 1st Kay Scott Trophy (Non instrument circuits) – NZAWA Awarded Patricia Wright Jewel Casket (top pilot aggregate trophy) (NZAWA) 1976 1st Winter Navigation Bowl (NZAWA) Awarded Patricia Wright Jewel Casket (top pilot aggregate trophy) (NZAWA) 1977 1st Instrument Flying competition (full panel) (Canterbury Aero Club) 1st Rattray Cup (Forced Landings) (Canterbury Aero Club) 1st Aggregate Cup (Canterbury Aero Club) 1978 1st Aggregate Trophy (Canterbury Aero Club) 1st Rattray Cup (Forced Landings) (Canterbury Aero Club) 1st Newman Trophy (Precision Circuits) RNZAC South Island Championships 1979 National Gliding Record Women’s Single Seat Straight Distance 313.47k (25.1.79)
1st Newman Trophy (Precision Circuits) RNZAC National Championships 1st Aroha Clifford Trophy (All Disciplines) Canterbury Aero Club 1st Morrell Gliding Trophy (Non instrument circuit) NZAWA 1980 1st Winter Rosebowl (Navigation) NZAWA 1st Morane Saulnier (Forced Landing) NZAWA 1st Patricia Wright (top pilot aggregate trophy) NZAWA 1st Aggregate Trophy (CAC) 1st Rattray Cup (Forced landings) CAC 1st Aroha Clifford Trophy (all disciplines) CAC 1st Instrument flying Trophy (full panel) CAC 1st G M Spence Trophy – Forced Landings (RNZAC South Island National Championships) 1st NZAWA Gliding Cup 1981 1st Aggregate Trophy (Canterbury Aero Club) 1st Rattray Cup (Forced Landings) Canterbury Aero Club 1st Harry Worrall (Senior Landings) Canterbury Aero Club 1st Instrument Flying Cup (Full panel) Canterbury Aero Club 1st RNZAC Boys Cup South Island Championships (Senior Landing) 1st RNZAC South Island Championships G M Spence Trophy (Forced Landing) 1st NZ Airwomen’s Gliding Cup (NZAWA) 2nd RNZAC National Championship G M Spence Trophy (Forced Landing) NZ Single Seat (Feminine) Absolute Height record 29,650 ft NZ Single Seat (Feminine) Out and Return distance 319.3k. (25.01.1981) NZ Single Seat (Feminine) Out and Return speed over 300k 63.54kph (25.01.1981) 1982 1st RNZAC National Championships – G M Spence Trophy (Forced Landings) 2nd RNZAC National Championship – Boys Cup (Precision Circuits) 1st NZ Airwomen’s Soaring Award – most notable soaring flight in previous year NZGA NZ National Record – Women’s Multiseat – Absolute Altitude 6206m NZ Women’s Multi Seat record - Absolute 6206m NZ Women’s Multi Seat record - Gain of Height 4596m 1983 1st RNZAC South Island Championships Forced Landing (G M Spence Trophy)
1984 1st RNZAC National Championships – G M Spence Trophy (Forced Landings) 1st RNZAC South Island Championships – Boys Cup (Precision Circuits) 1985 NZGA Awarded C W F Hamilton Trophy – Most meritorious flight which is a New Zealand Record 2nd RNZAC National Championships – Boys Cup (precision circuits) 1986 NZGA Awarded C W F Hamilton Trophy – Most meritorious flight which is a New Zealand Record 1987 NZ Women’s Twin Seat Record - Speed over 200k out and return 1988 World Record Women’s Single Seat - Gain of Height 10,212m NZ Record – Women’s Single Seat Gain of Height 10,212m NZ Record – Women’s Single Seat Absolute Height 11,312.3m NZGA Awarded C W F Hamilton Trophy – Most meritorious flight which is a New Zealand Record 1989 Awarded Lores Bonney Award for outstanding record breaking flight Australasia (Australia) NZ Airwomen’s Soaring Award (most notable flight in the preceding year) 1993 1st Morane Saulnier (Forced Landing) NZAWA 1st NZAWA Gliding Cup 1999 1st Patricia Wright Trophy (NZAWA) 2000 1st Morane Saulnier Trophy (NZAWA) Forced landing 2007 1st Morane Saulnier Trophy (NZAWA) Forced landing 2008 1st Morane Saulnier Trophy (NZAWA) Forced landing 2012 Angus Rose Bowl – GlidingNZ – outstanding services to gliding 2017 FAI Tissandier Award – outstanding services to the sport of gliding 2019 Queens Birthday Honours – Member of NZ Order of Merit for services to gliding
30 • August–October 2019 • BRUCE LOADER
BRUCE LOADER 26.12.1938 – 28.07.2019
Bruce Loader passed away in July after suffering from illness for many years. Bruce was the very proud chief supporter of Yvonne’s flying and record attempts and Yvonne is very pleased that Bruce was by her side when she learnt she was being awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit.
B
RUCE STARTED his PPL training on the 24th May 1969, soloing in July. In early August he fell while skiing at Coronet Peak and broke his leg in five places. His recovery was to take twelve weeks and after a few weeks of healing he was suffering flying withdrawal symptoms. He worked out that his plastered leg could fit into a glider, so he joined the Canterbury Gliding Club to take some gliding lessons. Once the plaster was off, he returned to his power flying training and completed his PPL early February 1970. In 1975 he declined the offer to become a tow pilot, but Bruce Drake and Ross Sparks got him over to Wigram and between them he ended up with a tow rating and found he enjoyed it. Yvonne got her tow rating soon after. Bruce enjoyed the challenge of gliding training in the club’s Blaniks and gained his Silver C flying a single seat Pirat from Omarama (Killermont, in the dust) to Windy Ridges to achieve his 50km crosscountry. In those days there were only three
or four private owners so there was keen competition between the pilots to gain access to the club gliders. Bruce and Yvonne brought a half share in Nimbus 2 GKU and often one was flying the glider while the other was towing. Omarama became the destination of choice for the summer holidays. Bruce always gave 110% to any sport he tried, and gliding was no different. Bruce loved flying the Pawnee and did his best to be ‘the best tow pilot’.
now Yvonne was in the sky and Bruce was enjoying the lakes and rivers. A send off for Bruce was held on a Sunday evening at the Christchurch Aero Club. Many tales were told, and we all had a bourbon – on Bruce. It was a great party. Bruce would have been pleased.
Winters saw the Loaders on the ski slopes and Bruce’s Landrover had the reputation of going where no other vehicle would dare to go. After flying for 13 years Bruce suffered his first stroke and within a month was attempting to convince the Doctor he should get his medical back. Sadly, a triple heart by-pass put his feet firmly on the ground but by that time he was enjoying salmon and trout fishing. Omarama remained the summer holiday destination of choice but
Bruce always gave 110% to any sport he tried, and gliding was no different. Bruce loved flying the Pawnee and did his best to be ‘the best tow pilot’.
YGNZ WINCH PROJECT UPDATE • February–April 2019
• 31
YGNZ WINCH PROJECT UPDATE In the current climate of doom and gloom Youth Glide is the good news. Youth Glide is ensuring that our sport will continue to grow and develop into the future. WORDS BY TIM AUSTIN
Carmen Haybittle training on the Greytown winch
Y
OUTH GLIDE will ensure that we see competition pilots representing our country at World level, that our club and executive committees are staffed with people who have the skills and the passion to run them and that there will be the willing wing runners, tow pilots and retrieve crews that you need whenever you go flying. But to do that we need to keep the costs down for young pilots. In the last SoaringNZ magazine, we told you about the Winch Project that YGNZ has launched for Omarama. Here is a brief recap:
»» The cost of launching and in particular aero towing continues to be a big barrier to entry to our sport (for young and old alike) despite the very generous support we receive particularly from GlideOmarama;
»» We are committed to growing youth participation in our sport and we think lowering this barrier will help us achieve that;
»» We have secured agreement from key stakeholders to support YGNZ purchasing and operating the Winch at Omarama; and
»» Having the Winch operating at Omarama, and having it return a modest profit, will allow us to more generously fund a greater number of YGNZ activities throughout New Zealand for the benefit of the whole gliding movement.
WHERE IS THE PROJECT NOW? We’ve made a great start. It is with absolute pleasure that we can tell you that a Skylaunch 2 Winch has been ‘earmarked’ for YGNZ and is BEING BUILT. It will arrive into Lyttelton Harbour in November (all going to plan). This will allow us to have the Winch operating in time for the 2019 Youth Soaring Development Camp. THANK YOU to the generous donors so far – the only reason we have come this far is due to your generous support.
BUT…. To keep this timeline on track we need your help. We estimate the total cost of the Winch Project will be close to $200,000 and we need more financial help. We are currently asking for donations, interest-free loans and otherwise sound advice for the Winch Project. If you think this sounds like you, please get in touch with us!
AND…. We are keeping a record of those who have donated. It’s been suggested that we have two launch queues for those wanting a launch. Do you really want to be lined up on the special ‘Non-Donors’ section of the runway aka the Valley of Gorse, Rocks and Rabbit Holes? In all seriousness, we can sympathise that not everyone has extra money lying around. We’d still like to know that we have your support, even if you can’t do it financially. Please get in touch anyway. If you can afford a financial investment in the future of our sport, please use the bank account details below. YGNZ Account No: 38-9014-0547980-00 please use ‘Winch’ in the reference and email me to be added to our list See you in Omarama, but on which runway is up to you!
TIM AUSTEN PRESIDENT, YGNZ M: 027 7744 957 E: tim.michael.austen@gmail.com E: info@youthglide.org.nz On behalf of the YGNZ Executive
32 • August–October 2019 • TERRY IN NEVADA
TERRY IN NEVADA Terry and Wendy Delore escaped the winter with a trip to Nevada. WORDS BY JILL MCCAW SUPPLIED
A
T THE end of June Terry and his wife Wendy met up with fellow Canterbury Gliding Club member David Tillman and his wife Lynette in Minden, where Terry and David prepared to fly an ASH25 to Ely while the girls drove the F450 tow vehicle and trailer 748 kilometres across the state. Minden had strong winds out of the south with verga and low cloud base so the first several hours of the flight were hard. Terry said, “We flew over all the ground I covered 12 years ago by chopper during the Steve Fossett search. Today we flew from airport to airport or landing place to landing place for the first half of the flight never getting above 11,500 feet and sometimes as low as 7,500 feet. “We eventually landed at Ely in the early evening where Wendy and Lynette were there to meet us after doing the drive across the loneliest road in the USA. We were the first landing on the newly surfaced runway.”
3 JULY Was the first good day. Strong winds dropped and thermals were back to typical Nevada flying with big big areas of lift and strong climbs. Terry and Jamie Halstead flew
together to do a 750 FAI triangle with some great soaring but a few slow areas. On the final leg cloud base was 20,000 feet.
8 JULY Terry and Jamie declared a 1500k FAI triangle but difficulties with the Clearnav vario saw them return to try and fix it. With thermals between 7 and 12 knots Terry described Nevada as Wonderland. They ended up doing a non-declared 1000k in six hours. Terry said, “Jamie and I share the flying at half an hour each and he got the most fabulous cloud street stretching 150 km all the way home." Terry returned to Minden to fly with Todd Roy, the owner of the ASH he was hiring.
21 JULY Terry had the privilege of flying with Tim Gardner (highest glider pilot in the world Perlan 78k) in one of the Arcus self-launch jets to get a jet turbine rating. Todd Roy has a JS3 which he may want Terry to fly, requiring a jet endorsement for insurance purposes. “The jet engine handling procedure is about three times simpler than my ASH25mi engine.
It was a breeze although it was pretty busy in the cockpit on take-off and initial climb. “On take-off we had a 12 knot cross wind component so I was busy keeping it on the ground until flying speed plus a few knots was reached, plus selecting the flaps in the right place and power at 98%. We got airborne with 1800 feet ground roll to breaking ground, similar to my ASH. Minden is 4850 feet and it was hot so pressure altitude density was around 7000 feet. Best climb speed is 85 knots and once at that speed it climbs out at around 600 feet per minute. On shut down and engine stow, it’s just run for a minute at idle and switch off. The rest is automatic so very straight forward.” Terry also got a ride with Tim in his 260 hp Pitts Special. “Tim is off to Argentina for what may be the final frontier of the Perlan project. They plan to go the whole hog this time and shoot for 90,000 feet. Best of luck for them.” Clockwise from left: Jamie Halstead, beautiful cumulus with high cloudbase, Nevada Wonderland, the route from Minden to Ely
August–October 2019 • 33
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August–October 2019 • 35
SIMON RAINER / WWW.SIMONRAINER.COM
WOMEN IN AVIATION WHY AREN’T THERE MORE? Pip Schofield, President of New Zealand Association of Women in Aviation (NZAWA) was the keynote speaker at this year’s GNZ AGM. This is a transcript of her speech.
THANK YOU so much for the invitation to speak.
and for her to be recognised on this level is fantastic.
I have a terrible confession to make, especially to this group, and that is I’ve never been in a glider!! It looks like I’ll be calling in to the Wellington club in Greytown when I’m next passing through.
A little about me. I grew up on a farm in Castlepoint, a small East coast community in the Wairarapa. I had my heart set on becoming a pilot from a very young age and after doing a deal with Dad, over passing my 5th form exams, I did a few flying lessons in Hood Aerodrome as a teenager. In 2004, I started flying school in Tauranga and went on to work at the school as an instructor, eventually completely my multi engine instructors and B-Cat. In 2007 I was given the opportunity to live and fly in Vanuatu, and then, chasing a bit more multi flying, I headed to Australia. In 2010 Jetstar employed me on the Airbus A320 out of Auckland, and in 2016 I made the move across to Air New Zealand. I am currently a Second Officer on the Boeing 787 for Air New Zealand, a position that sees me all over Asia and North America. As the current president of the
The NZAWA has just had its own rally weekend in Omaka, over Queen’s Birthday weekend. Though the weather caused some issues for people flying in, alternative arrangements were made, and we ended up having over 80 people registered, with 60 of those being members. Firstly, I’d like to acknowledge Yvonne Loader, one of your own who was awarded the NZ Order of Merit on Queens Birthday Weekend. It was an absolute privilege to have her with us last weekend and be able to celebrate this phenomenal achievement. She is an inspirational woman within aviation,
NZ Association of Women in Aviation I am passionate about getting more women into the industry. The topic I’m going to speak on, ‘Women in Aviation – why aren’t there more?’, is huge and incredibly loaded. Gender equality in all businesses, the #MeToo movement, the gender pay gap etc., are all hot topics, getting people into hotter water. So, I think it is important that I make my stance very clear from the very beginning. I am 100%, unequivocally, opposed to any form of ‘female quota’! This is in aviation, and any other industry. The moment the requirements are different for men and women the ‘gap’ only gets bigger. The best person must get the position, based on their qualifications, experience and personality, not gender, race or sexual persuasion. So why aren’t there more women in aviation? To begin, I want to discuss some barriers for
WOMEN IN AVIATION • August–October 2019 • 37
The social acceptance of women in all industries has changed significantly from 50 years ago. So many of the barriers I see aren’t just for young women, they apply equally to young men. young people coming in to aviation, and then finish by highlighting some things that I have experienced being a woman in this industry. Young girls these days know very well that they can grow up to be anything they want. The social acceptance of women in all industries has changed significantly from 50 years ago. So many of the barriers I see aren’t just for young women, they apply equally to young men. There are four that I think are important to look at, money, time, accessibility and relevance. In discussing each of these, I also see these as barriers of us, as small GA associations, in getting young people to join and stay.
airfields, no way is Wellington Airport going to allow us to set up a grid and have people walking all over movement areas! This forced isolation can be an added deterrent for young people getting involved. Making our associations more accessible online, through websites/social media, is changing the way we operate. We can get a lot more reach, and with online payment functions we can sign new recruits up on the spot. But this ties in to the previous two barriers. Websites need money to create them, and websites and social media platforms require time to ensure they are up to date and relevant.
MONEY…
RELEVANCE…
Learning to fly is EXPENSIVE!! Even from when I started 15 years ago, costs per hour have nearly doubled. Combine this with living costs in many cities, the average income of newly minted CPL pilots, and aviation isn’t all that attractive.
Why join NZAWA? Why join GNZ? We joined, why aren’t they? Can I honestly say that being a member of NZAWA has made me a better pilot, or helped me in my career? Professionally probably not, personally in terms of friendships and support then one hundred percent it has.
Another aspect of this is parents concern over career pathways for their kids going in to aviation; I’ve seen a lot of this when speaking at careers days. They want to make sure their children are entering a career that will see them making a good income, early on, which isn’t the case usually within aviation. Finally, under money, is us, as organisations. We have running costs, we can’t lower our fees any more than we probably already have. Many clubs are pushed financially as it is.
TIME… No different to many of us, young people are time poor. School days seem longer, homework due is almost incompletable, and sports practices and games take up so much time. This makes it hard for young people to find the time to give up their weekends to be part of our clubs and organisations. On the other side of this is our time. NZ gliding, much like the NZAWA runs on volunteer’s hard work. Yes, we all love being involved but many of us still work full time, have families etc. Finding time to get out and talk in schools is sometimes impossible.
ACCESSIBILITY… Accessibility to our fly-ins, our hubs. The NZAWA annual rally must be held at small
Gliding NZ is in a great position to answer this question, and differently to me. Last weekend I overheard Yvonne speaking to one of the young members about how gliding did make you a better pilot, that it improved your judgement on approach as you can’t afford to miss your aiming point. Powering up for another go simply isn’t an option. This really highlights the selling point of relevance in joining a gliding club. Within our clubs we have a huge amount of experience that can be shared with young pilots, pilots going into any field within the industry. It is making sure we market this to young people entering the industry properly. The next thing I’d like to touch on is some issues around being a woman in the aviation industry. To explain this further I want to bring in the term ‘unconscious bias’. This is the current human resource management corporate catch-phase, with many companies running education days on the topic. To fully explain the term, I want to use a few examples from my own personal life… 1. When people ask me what I do for a living, I generally answer with, “I work for Air New Zealand.” What do you think they immediately assume I do for Air
NZ? Yup, a flight attendant. Never once has someone assumed I am a pilot. Often people then dive to a story about a recent flight where the flight attendants were brilliant/terrible, and I’m left nodding and figuring how to say I’m a pilot, not a flight attendant. 2. I have short hair, I fly aeroplanes, I am in my 30s and not married, and I have a firearms licence and spend the odd evening on the farm stalking deer …… what do you think the next assumption is!?!? Yup, lesbian. The simple truth is I like my hair this way, I love my job, I haven’t found anyone I can put up with (or who can put up with me…) and I grew up on a farm. Hunting is something my family has done for years. 3. Our work carpark is set slightly away from the main terminal, and because of this and the fact that we usually have a suitcase, there is a bus that takes us to the terminal. Only jet pilots can get into the carpark, the gate is opened by scanning our ID cards as we drive in. There are a few times when we are required to passenger for work, so therefore are dressed in normal smart-casual clothing (not uniform). The last two times I have done this, I have been asked by the bus driver, “Are you one of the pilots?” How many of the male pilots, do you think have been asked the same question? I would say none. This is unconscious bias at work, and I am big enough to not get offended by these comments and reply to them is a professional and kind way. What I want you to take away from these three stories, is what assumptions are you making? What conversations are you having that are been heard by young women, or in fact any women? This applies, to women as well as men. Be careful of your assumptions as they can be hurtful, and act as a strong deterrence to women joining your club. It has been an absolute pleasure speaking to you all, and I hope I’ve been able to add some new ideas to the conversations you are already having. Gliding already has a strong female presence, and I only hope to see that grow.
FOR THE LOVE OF GLIDING WORDS BY CLARE HENRY DICKSON
Recently I had the opportunity to try out gliding in Australia, at the Darling Downs Soaring Club [DDSC] during one of their weeklong courses. As well as a gliding adventure, it was an opportunity to see first-hand a gliding club that has made progress in breaking out of the mainly-male-culture, and to have the chance to fly with a female instructor for the first time.
A
T 12.5% THE Darling Downs Soaring Club has a higher percentage of flying women members than any other club in Australia, including three and soon to be four instructors, three coaches, three tug-masters, two women on the committee, and has had three women Presidents in the last six years. There are also national competition participants and three female Australian feminine record holders. Figures are useful to gauge progress. In NZ, credit is due as our gliding members have recently risen to 8.4% female; Australia’s overall were 7% although they had 12% within their junior cadets. [A quick count of our records shows Youth Glide members are 23% female - Ed.] Australia also has ‘womenfriendly’ events to encourage women to participate, such as Women in Gliding Week. I returned to gliding in 2017 and noticed common factors in clubs, some obvious and some ‘invisible’, that make it difficult for minorities, particularly females, to participate on an even basis with the majority-male club members. In the 1960s when I first flew as a teen with Auckland GC,
and when Frank Gatland was CFI, I was ‘under the wing’ of my father and I did not experience such negative factors. But there is a significant safety-culture issue that needs addressing. These comments are intended to be given and to be taken in the spirit of a ‘Just Culture’ and are for everyone, including myself. They are not intended to point at any particular gliding club – it is a world-wide historic issue, in aviation and other sports. Credit is due for all that is being done well, yet we could show true airmanship and do better. Since re-joining, I kept hearing remarks and theories as to why it may be that not many women are gliding. My experience of the Darling Downs culture helped me put together some thoughts on women pilots and what could be done better to encourage them.
NOT ROCKET SCIENCE
An important step has already been made, namely, in acknowledging there is a general problem recruiting and keeping women flying members.
Owning it opens the way to work out how to overcome it, given that it has always been true that females can fly and even fly better than some men and vice-versa. A person’s gender does not prevent anyone from flying proficiently. It may be timely for GNZ to facilitate some discussion amongst existing female gliding members who could report back with constructive suggestions. Obviously, an increase in the number of long-term women members is needed for change to start, but how can that develop without clubs trying out some different approaches?
IT IS PIVOTAL THAT THE CHAPS STEP-UP AND BE GENUINELY WILLING FOR THIS TO OCCUR. 1. It is time to move on. The core business of our clubs is gliding and the fact that women have been in the clubs, supporting them and flying for a long time makes it well past time for females to be genuinely accepted as fellow Above: Clare given the clearance to fly solo by Jenny Thompson.
FOR THE LOVE OF GLIDING • August–October 2019 • 39
Clubs need to actively maintain a standard so that we would be happy for our daughters, sisters or grand-daughters to join and that we could assure them the clubs would be safe for them.
aviators. It is too late to shut females out. We are here. We should all get on and focus on the shared enjoyment of safe and happy flying. 2. People are the most valuable assets to the Clubs. They come in all types, and warrant a universally polite and friendly welcome, and the chance to participate to their ability, regardless of age, gender or other differences. A significant number begin when young, so the clubs need to model and promote consistent social standards throughout their activities that are appropriate for all, including young people, male and female. This is where a significant positive contribution can be made by existing members in the Clubs. I never thought I could come back to gliding but it turns out I could do more than I dared to think. It is potentially the same with every individual who arrives at the gliding field. You and I were given a chance, and in turn we can give others the same chance, regardless of the type of body they ‘wear’. 3. It is important to include females on club committees. This provides role-models and sends a clear message that females are included and have value to the clubs. The committees lead by example and set the tone of the clubs to a large extent. 4. Clubs need to encourage, through pro-active measures and even incentivise if necessary, women to train as instructors. Again, this provides a powerful role-model, and sends a welcome message to females. This comment in no way detracts from the excellent job done by all the male instructors. They are good, having more than one gender instructing would be better. 5. GNZ may be able to liaise with Gliding Federation of Australia (GFA) to share training opportunities for young instructors. 6. Some ‘female-friendly’ club events or camps could promote more females trying gliding. 7. To build a healthy social and safety culture in clubs it is vital that the
majority of males in the clubs show zero tolerance of unacceptable behaviours:
»» even if words or actions may be unconscious and not meant to offend;
»» overt, as verbal comments or published in club-related media;
»» hidden, like omitting to include women in tasks or recognition, while males are included;
»» pointed words spoken when there are no witnesses;
»» a mass of regular minor incidents that have an accumulative effect and affect flying safety; or,
»» disguised as tiresome ‘jokes’ referring offensively to gender stereotypes or body parts.
Such behaviours cannot be accepted and excused if we want balanced healthy clubs. They hurt and upset, and make flying unsafe. Biases and prejudices and other contentious behaviours need to be left outside the gate. Instead clubs need positive team-work, courteous speech, and to look out for one another so that safe and best practices can be carried out to best enhance the gliding business. When a woman is the target of negative behaviours, is outnumbered and of low value in the hierarchy, there is an imbalance of power. The men need to set an example here to other men. Speak up and stand up for the females, and other club members who may not be included fairly or are being subjected to inappropriate comments/treatment. Even small incidents and comments need to be called out so that people will learn what is acceptable and not. Clubs need to actively maintain a standard so that we would be happy for our daughters, sisters or grand-daughters to join and that we could assure them the clubs would be safe for them.
8. There needs to be an expectation of a professional approach for all members such that there could be no justification for a complaint in, say, any contemporary New Zealand work-place.
9. Much of the above could be summed up as “PER” P maintain a PROFESSIONAL standard (attitude, language, behaviour) E act ETHICALLY, following the club SOPs and acceptable standards of public social behaviour R show RESPECT to all participants at the Gliding clubs Given the goodwill that exists amongst gliding members this seems achievable. It is not rocket science.
AT THE DARLING DOWNS SOARING CLUB JUNE 2019 Flying at the DDSC proved to be a truly worthwhile experience. I found flying with a woman instructor made a positive difference to my learning and I gained more confidence, even though I have flown with many excellent male instructors, including one at the DDSC. Jenny Thompson is a great role-model, a true asset to her Club, contributing at all levels. She likes instructing as she enjoys seeing people learning and making progress. Jenny has successfully flown in many competitions and has been selected as one of the Australian team to compete in the 2020 Women’s World Gliding Championships to be held at Lake Keepit in January 2020. Jenny told me, “At first I was the only female. One, and then two others joined, and that was enough to start changing the culture. The makeup of the committee changed. New members were elected and since then the culture of the club has improved so that now men tell me the club morale and culture are far better for having more women.” Several men at the club made a point of expressing to me also their 100% acceptance of women participating in the gliding club and that ‘women enhanced the Club’s morale and atmosphere.’ It is a hopeful sign that I have heard a few similar comments in New Zealand, too. Thanks to all those in the clubs who are making a difference in this regard.
STEMME HORIZON TOUR 2019 WORDS BY MARTIN KROKE TRANSLATED BY THILO HARSDORF
SIMON RAINER WWW.SIMONRAINER.COM
Up in Norway, in the far north, the week long Stemme Horizon Tour 2019 took place in June at Eggemoen (ENEG) airfield. This was a truly international event with pilots, accompanying flight instructors and organisers make their way to Norway from Europe and much more distant locations such as New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and USA. Two participants, recent proud owners of a Stemme S12, flew themselves from Belgium and the Netherlands. Three other Stemme arrived from Innsbruck, each with ‘Mountain Soaring’ flight instructors and finally two more, including the Stemme demo aircraft S12-G, from Germany. Martin shares his experience of this year’s event.
STEMME HORIZON TOUR 2019 • August–October 2019 • 41
T
HE OWNER OF the airfield, Ola Tronrud, and Major General John Steineger welcome us and offer us the use of their modern equipped briefing room in one of the hangars for the whole week. The airfield has great facilities and there is enough space to manoeuvre and park the 25-metre span aircraft. The day of arrival sees several spontaneous short flights as the participants and the Stemme aircraft set out to explore the surrounding area. Jumping straight from the taxi that dropped him at the airfield into the Stemme arriving from Innsbruck, Albert from South Africa makes the most of great gliding weather. Expectations for the week are high. In the evening, people gather for the official beginning of the tour in the Hotel Sundvolden, beautifully situated between Steins and Tyrifjord. The hotel offers the highest level of ambience, accommodation and food, in correlation with this premium flying event. The elaborately prepared dinner
takes place every evening in different rooms: library, a fireplace room and the former kitchen in the oldest wooden building from the early beginnings of the hotel. The glider flying area extends from the south to northwest of the airfield. The weather conditions are forecast for conditions to improve day by day. We actually only had one non-flyable day to explore the surrounding area from the ground, visit the engineering and production facilities of Tronrud Engineering and a military drone manufacturer producing miniature helicopters right at the airfield. The last two days see longer soaring flights towards the high mountain ranges and glaciers. I am flying with Elizabeth from Miami. Right after the start we enjoy the stunning view of the long lake north of the airfield and test the strength of the lift underneath the first cumuli with the engine running. Underneath the third cumulus cloud we find a climb rate of 3 metres per second
and decide to turn off the engine. We enjoy pure gliding from then on. Folding the prop goes smoothly along with settling into the thermal. Cooling, turning off, braking the prop to get rid of wind milling effects, positioning the prop and finally closing the aircraft nose dome hardly changes the aerodynamics from engine to glide mode - an ingenious feature of the Stemme. We continue to climb in the direction of the cloud. Elizabeth diligently circles, finding the best climb and keeping the woollen thread in the centre of the aircraft's canopy, the most important and best instrument for clean flying in gliding. Once at cloud base, we continue on a planned course along the Adal towards the Jotunheimen mountain range in the northwest. The landscape from the air is breathtakingly beautiful and characterised by lakes, deeply cut valleys and plateau-like areas with many small lakes, alternated with lightcovered coniferous trees and rocky areas.
STEMME HORIZON TOUR 2019 • August–October 2019 • 43
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: The airfield, dinner at the Hotel Sundvolden, Waterfall, Mountain Soaring instructor and pilot, the grid, Stemme demo aircraft S12-G, from Germany.
In addition to enjoying the landscape, Elizabeth continues to work to find the best line underneath the clouds ahead of us, ensuring best climb during straight flight. Maximising the proportion of straight flight underneath the cloud street is another important tactic in cross-country gliding. We change course in favour of a very nicely developed cloud arrangement to the west and fly in a fast dolphin-style directly underneath the cloud base towards the mountains. The high potential of the Stemme is now fully appreciated: when it rises, we fly more slowly and set the flaps to positive and gain optimal height, and then accelerate and set the profile to negative, resulting in a high-speed flight, avoiding flying within the sinking air and getting past it as fast as possible.
"Awesome." Elizabeth is happy. "I never thought that we would manage to fly straight without losing height." The closer we get to the mountains, the clearer it becomes that we will not be able to reach the goal of today’s flight - the Sognefjord - Norway's longest fjord. Arriving dust clouds from the west behind the high mountains and several scattered showers prevent us from flying onwards. We enjoy the view of the mountains partly covered with snow and glaciers. Of course, there is a great atmosphere when returning to the hotel for an aperitif and dinner - the experiences of the day are discussed intensively. Some of the group had met in the air and flown together, another
crew landed on the very beautiful airfield at Klanten. Many of them flew past the same fabulous waterfall at different times. Some others have seen a rainbow from the air. After a week together, pilots got to know each other, made friends and appointments. Most of the group is already looking forward to the next Horizon Tour in 2020 and are curious to see where it will be as next year’s destination has not yet been revealed. On the day of departure, the group disperses just as they arrived - in the Stemme on direct flights to Belgium and Innsbruck, others to Oslo for a private extension with additional sightseeing and others simply returning home after an amazing week of magic flying.
Cooling, turning off, braking the prop to get rid of wind milling effects, positioning the prop and finally closing the aircraft nose dome hardly changes the aerodynamics from engine to glide mode – an ingenious feature of the Stemme.
AS 34 ME – THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK There are some stats out there which indicate that our beloved sport is in decline around the world [although NZ seems to be bucking that trend recently – Ed]. How can this trend be stopped or – better still – reversed? We know that a fleet of PW5s or similar aircraft didn’t help. We also know that we have to look much deeper to ensure that our members’ expectations are fully met. Today’s time-poor pilots expect to fly for as long as they want and explore terrain out of gliding range without risking an out landing and missing out on a planned evening activity. In other words, just like power pilots, many of our members prefer total independence and flying with some sort of predictability. Aviating with greater peace of mind is exactly what makes power flying popular and is the main reason why all types of power flying clubs have enjoyed tremendous success over recent decades. Perhaps it would be a good idea to learn from our powered friends and offer our members flying with the individual freedom that only a motorised glider can provide. By now some purists might throw up their arms in disgust but persistent feedback like this has convinced Schleicher to develop an electrically powered glider primarily for
pleasure flying and club operations. It is called the AS 34 Me, designed to allow even less experienced pilots to self launch and fly without the slightest concerns about engine management issues. Conventional wisdom says that combustion engines in gliders are a maintenance hassle but we now live in the electric age where operating a reliable electric motor with the help of a smart controller has become child’s play. Let’s look at each of the AS 34 Me’s main components. The airframe is largely identical with the well-known ASW 28,
popular around the world and winner of quite a few national championships in Standard Class. It is widely recognised as an easy-to-fly glider with pleasant handling characteristics, without flaps and without hidden vices. Because of its slightly larger wing area compared to other Standard Class gliders (originally intended for an optional ballistic parachute system) and its large and much lauded safety cockpit, it fulfills all the prerequisites for an upgrade to an electrically powered self-launcher with 15m or 18m wingspan. The power plant isn’t brand new either. It has proven itself in the hands of clubs and in the 20m two-seater ASG 32 El. The battery capacity is sufficient for several self-launches
AS 34 ME • August–October 2019 • 45
necessary. Even low-experience pilots can safely operate the electric motor as wrong motor management is practically impossible. Following an in-flight familiarisation with the electric power plant, a self-launch should not present a problem either and integrated wingtip wheels make a wing runner unnecessary.
on a single day and the air-cooled EMRAX motor gives the single-seat AS 34 Me impressive take-off performance. At a 35 kW power setting the ground roll is just 260m, and its climb rate of 3.7 m/s (7 knots) will get the AS 34 Me to 2000 feet in just three minutes. Best of all, it still leaves enough power in the battery pack for a further climb to 7400 feet. This trumps most petrol powered sustainer engines and the range of 130 km gets even the most over-ambitious pilot home when thermals quit their services earlier than expected. AS 34 Me - Powered flight performance 3000 Altitude [m] 2000
1000 500
Distance [km] 0 Self-launch
Rate of climb 3,3 m/s with max. mass
Free flight
20 Climb
with 2,6 m/s
40
60
Glide 1:45
80
100
120
140
(15m span)
In other words, the new AS 34 Me combines a proven electrical drive system with an equally proven airframe. Its performance matches it with the best of its class. With the standard 15m wingtips the best L/D is 45:1, and 48:1 when the optional 18m outer wing panels are fitted. Two battery packs are shaped like slender sticks, which slide into safety enclosures in the inner wing panels. Even an optional water ballast system is available for pilots preferring to fly with maximum wing loadings of 48.4 kg/m2 or 50 kg/m2 depending on the choice of outer wing panels. With 18m wings, the empty mass of the AS 34 Me is 387 kg and its maximum takeoff mass is 575 kg.
E=48
AS 34 Me
18 m G/S = 45 kg/m2
Using the electric power plant is straightforward due to its intuitive control system, adopted from the ASG 32 El. Thanks to the degree of automation impossible to achieve with combustion engines, a ground run and a briefing is the only training
The power lever (throttle) is just about the only thing the pilot needs to care about. After activating the master switch it extends the propeller and on pressing the starter button the motor cuts in instantaneously. Advancing the power lever increases the power output and pushing it all the way down promptly stops the propeller. It then rotates into a vertical position and retracts itself automatically – all within seconds and without distracting the pilot at all. Using the power plant is a real pleasure rather than a high workload job. Best of all, the only noise is the humming sound of the propeller.
Lithium ion batteries with a capacity of 8.6 KWh (in 18650-Format with steel casings) power the AS 34. Safety was paramount during the development of the aircraft and the core of this safety concept is the BatteryManagement-System (BMS). It monitors and displays voltages, temperatures, currents flow and remaining battery power. Incorrect operation is impossible as the BMS also avoids deep discharging, over charging or overheating. In case of a problem, (for example mechanical damage resulting in a short-circuit) the individual cell connectors act as fuses and limit a possible short-circuit to a confined area. A totally discharged battery requires charging for only 4 ½ hours but Schleicher is reluctant to quote a service life for the battery pack. The battery supplier has quoted 500 to 1000 charging cycles (empty to full) but more practical field experience is needed to determine the true battery life,
given that usually only a small battery top-up is required. The TBO (Time Between Overhauls) of the motor is 1000 hours. Assuming that the power plant is on average used for only 5 minutes per flight the motor should not need any attention for 12 000 launches. Power plant maintenance is limited to visual inspections and systems checks. If by now you think that this technology has all the potential to open a new chapter in gliding, you are right. There can’t be any doubt that – at least for the recreational aviation sector – the future belongs to electric drive systems. Given that glider pilots only require power for short periods (to get airborne and/or to avoid out landings), electric power plants are ideally suited. Their reliability, their low operating cost, their almost non-existant maintenance requirements and their unrivalled operator friendliness will see them capture an everincreasing share of the market. In short, the list of advantages is simply too long to be ignored. Who wouldn’t like to fly a quiet and environmentally friendly aircraft with very low engine operating costs, with no power reduction at altitude, free of vibration, simple to operate, and – last but not least – with no fuel smell or exhaust fumes. No wonder glider pilots and clubs around the world are excited, partly due to the lower price tag compared to gliders with a conventional two-stroke engine. Just connect the charger at the end of the day and expect to fly a powerful self-launching glider when next you arrive at the airfield. Of course, this doesn’t fully eliminate the initial cost hurdle but in the long term gliders will prevail that require no more maintenance than a mobile phone.
COMPETITIONS ARE GREAT HOLIDAYS I've been helping at contests in Omarama for a little over a decade. What keeps drawing me back is the fun, camaraderie and, most of all, the people who compete and volunteer. Yes, there is some “work” to do at contests but after that, the holiday experience beckons as we avail ourselves of conversation, bonhomie, food, coffee and adventures that Otago and the Mackenzie offer. SUPPLIED
V
OLUNTEERING OR crewing for gliding contests may be a best-kept holiday secret, until now. I think a couple of famous authors have captured the essence of the crew holiday. Julian Fellowes said “Plenty of friendships are sustainable through dinners and lunches, but will not stand a week away. So be careful with whom you go on holiday.” Misquoting Kenneth Grahame: “After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other [pilots] busy [flying].” At the airfield, the Omarama Soaring Centre camping ground is a hive of activity with the outdoor BBQ, dining area and fireplace being an epicentre of tall stories. The kitchen converts to a board and card-games room in the evening where much merriment accompanies The Settlers of Catan or perhaps poker. Immigrant Vineyards have sponsored recent South Island Regional contests and the wine and cheese evening they host is a great opportunity to sample, and buy, their wines. Some at the chalets host fine dinners and/or pre dinner G&Ts. Around Otago there are many things to keep us amused. A semi-regular no-fly day event is to drive over Danseys Pass to indulge in curling on the international grade indoor ice rink at Naseby. This is a cool way to
spend the afternoon and the Danseys Pass Hotel is a perfect watering hole. Wanaka has a range of activities and walks, is close to the venerable Cardrona Hotel, and is another favourite day trip. Oamaru has a great heritage quarter complete with interesting shops, artists, good eateries and Scotts Brewery. Steampunk HQ is a quirky attraction. Duntroon has the fossil centre and various nearby sites of geotechnical interest. Kurow has wineries, secondhand shops and an amazing new-ish 2 lane bridge across the Waitaki River providing access to the Hakataramea. The Waitaki hydro stations are well worth a visit and provide some nice walks, great boating and swimming. Rafting down the Ahuriri River in inner tubes is a popular distraction from the sunbaked days. Although some day trips have included walking up the Remarkables ski area to Lake Alta and then stopping for the obligatory ‘Ferg Burger’ on the way home, there are a plethora of 4WD, walking and tramping tracks much closer to home in the Mackenzie. These complement the Alps2Ocean cycle trail which can be tackled in sections and, conveniently, runs through Omarama providing a pleasant ride to Lake Benmore. Since I’m on holiday, I often treat myself to breakfast at The Wrinkly Rams to get
the day off to a good start. Often there is a small quorum of like-minded pilots and crew already there. Unless you choose to help with the weather forecasting and analysis and/or tasking, the day proper begins at 10 am briefing - a very civilised hour. The Pink Glider cafe provides sustenance, beverages, tasty scones and witty repartee and now has the contest results displayed on a large TV during happy hour. In previous years the bar in the Terminal provided the centre for socialising and interaction with Lex, the long-time Scorer and recipient of the Angus Rose Bowl this year. A contest takes a dozen or so people to run it, some of whom are only needed for about an hour during the launch. The contest director leads the group who provide the important services of weather, task setting, airspace, safety, daily briefing (including fundraising collection of fines), gridding, launching, aero tows, radio, scoring, retrieves and social activities. It will be good to have more people who lend a hand, even if only for a day or two, to build, and widen the experience of, the pool of volunteers. If you’ve helped at a contest before, you enter one for the first time then the daily rhythm of the event will be familiar and your first contest might be less intimidating as you concentrate on flying. A common question
COMPETITIONS ARE GREAT HOLIDAYS • August–October 2019 • 47
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Quailburn woolshed, Four wheel driving over the hills usually seen from the air, Hooker Valley, group outside the St Bathans pub, Derek Kraak cycles the Lindis Pass
is "Why do contest pilots and helpers only see the local sites and activities in poor weather?" so another benefit of more volunteers is the potential for ‘rostered days off’ thus allowing the opportunity to have day trips outside of no-fly days. Sharing a glider entry with a group may be a way to facilitate this for the competitors too. No experience is necessary to help at a contest, so a non-pilot friend or significant other is welcome to join us. While familiarity with club gliding operations is helpful, it is not a requirement as we'll show you the ropes, figuratively if not literally, or a buddy system will be provided. The experienced Omarama Gliding Crew has their own Facebook group to organise fun and adventures in and around ‘Omaradise’. The recent GNZ survey showed there are many pilots who are interested in flying at contests but there are barriers to entry. The Regional contests around the country need not be a big scary thing - some attend the South Island Regionals just to be part of an organised task week which has good ground support and a chance to fly with their mates. Indeed, the SI Regionals follow the week long ‘Jerry's XC Course’ task week and that is an opportunity to get current before the contest. Although we encourage all who are
flying to enter, there are a handful of folks who do their own tasks during the contest but get the benefits of the larger group. The more the merrier, I think. Coaching, including task planning and review, lead and follow task flying, and the front seat of a Duo Discus, has been available at the SI Regionals in recent years. While some folks fly without crews, I suspect new contest pilots may want to enter a Novice class in a club two seat glider with an instructor or experienced cross country pilot in the back seat as well as having a retrieve crew. An option might be to have two pairs of pilots flying alternate days and helping and/or holidaying on their no-fly day. Day entries are available at many contests if you desire a balance of flying and other activities. It is likely there will be sufficient others around the airfield to muster a retrieve crew should one be needed. Many nationalities have been represented at recent contests and this provides some amusing moments when we are divided by cultural idioms - in some countries, those people running the ropes on the grid are called ‘hookers’. Diversity at contests is a Good Thing and at the recent GNZ AGM, the SRC agreed to provide coordination of the contest calendar and noted the need for
some competitions to be during school and university vacations to allow more Youth Glide participation. Contest flying is accessible but requires planning. Volunteering at a contest has a lower barrier to entry, is devoid of entry and tow fees, and delivers a fun and rewarding holiday. Recently I’ve been fortunate to share the best seat in the contest - the radio operator in the Terminal with the other ‘cool kids’, many of whom have been participating at contests for much longer than me. I challenge you to make a contest part of your holiday plans this soaring season.
NEIL ALLISON CANTERBURY GLIDING CLUB
BLAST FROM THE PAST PETER LAYNE HISTORIAN
IT COULD be said Mafia stands for Marvellous Auckland Flyers In Automobile. Anyway, the siblings (Hungarians and a Canadian), included the ‘Godfather’ Ferenc ‘Frank’ Koszegi. I believe he escaped from Hungary at the time of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. Some of you will remember Frank; short, stubby, big silver moustache, a touch of remaining wispy hair. He could look fearsome but really he was a bit of a softy and fondly regarded by all, including spouses and children. Frank was the first of ‘the family’ to emerge at Ardmore but in time more Hungarians and (Larry Bruin) joined ‘the family’, about 1970. So why were they known as the Mafia? Picture the scene; a glider would land; oft too far for anyone to seemingly be bothered to walk out and help the pilot. Frank, being a kind hearted soul, would climb into his 1956 Chevrolet Bel-Air accompanied by ‘the family’, which included Les Kopiari, Gabor Karoly, Tony Slimo, Larry Bruin, Carl Mueller and Fritz Prem. Fritz was a late ‘sibling’ whereas Larry, a Canadian who was renowned for socialising, was eager to be part of any social activity. Frank’s eyes, barely visible below a large towelling hat, could only just peer over the top of the dash while the rest of ‘the
COLIN ROSS
When I wrote up the Auckland Gliding Club’s first fifty year’s history in 1981 I forgot to make any reference to the ‘Mafia’. Disappointment was expressed at that time so with another 38 years having gone by, a recall on the “Mafia” is long overdue.
family’ sat bolt upright. Off they would set to retrieve the glider. Sadly, I do not have a good photograph of his actual car or any of the Mafia in action. That’s probably because they were part of the club’s institution and simply got on and did their…call of duty. On reaching the glider they would climb out, hook up the tow rope then all pile back in to the Bel-Air for the return leg while the poor ol’ pilot (often bathed in sweat) was destined to walk the wing. Years later the Bel-Air was traded in for a Chrysler Station wagon. Newer car…same (lack of) visibility problem! In real life though, they were a great bunch. Frank had the heart of an ox. He owned a
leather business in Avondale. He started a trend whereby he would make nice leather covers for the cushions in the club houses at Ardmore and Matamata. Many a pilot had their logbook housed in a handy leatherbound cover with the owner’s name in gold braid. Colours were generally shades of brown and green. Grahame Player recounts how Frank made luggage for the 1972 World Championship pilots and support team. He still has his suitcase. Such was Frank’s generosity. For many years Frank somewhat commandeered the club’s K6E GEL and in time completed his Silver and Gold C badges. One Wednesday afternoon he came out to Ardmore with his daughter, who
PETER LAYNE
BLAST FROM THE PAST • August–October 2019 • 49
PETER LAYNE
Clockwise from left: Frank Koszegi (in typical pose). Slingsby Falke ZK-DOI (early 1981) Frank’s Chrysler used as towing vehicle. From left: Frank, Don Spencer, Keith Lewis, Maurice Vickers and Sheila Alexander. Don was flying when the motor glider experienced a serious oil leak and landed out. Mosquito GKK at Ardmore 1980.
lived overseas. She was a nun and was here on holiday. He was taking her, complete in habit, for a flight in the Blanik, GFS. She was full of smiles on observing the multitude of willing helpers offering to strap her in, while expounding to her the virtues of gliding. I tend to recall seeing her a few days later at Matamata armed with a bucket, water and cloth cleaning the K6E ’EL, no less, ready for Frank. Evidently she learnt the art of essential glider flight preparation quickly! In May 1977 Frank’s brand new Glasflugel Mosquito, GKK, ordered through agent Ian Pryde, arrived and so ended his long association with GEL. He would disappear, sometimes for hours at a time. Much later in the day, with another impressive cross-country under his belt, a call in his soft spoken Hungarian accent “Kelo Kelo”
would signal he was soon joining the circuit. [I remember hearing “Kelo Kelo, coming home.” – Ed] On the odd occasion though, Frank was the only ‘family member’ at Ardmore. On one of those days, well past beer o’clock, the club house phone started ringing. Ardmore Tower was calling revealing that, “there was a glider and pilot sitting all forlorn on 03 left grass. Please remove the glider ASAP” (or words to that effect). A quick check of the time book revealed we had turned the page, a new time keeper had been on duty, and no gliders were still showing as up… We check the previous page? “Oops, sorry about that Frank; just that you’d been gone so long (Tokoroa and back maybe).” There were other stories too of how he
GNZ AWARDS & CERTIFICATES MARCH 2019 – MAY 2019
EDOUARD DEVENOGES GNZ AWARDS OFFICER gnzawards@xtra.co.nz 40 Eversham Road, Mt Maunganui 3116
QGP No Pilot’s Name
Club
Date
3434
Nelson Lakes GC
7 5 2019
Wellington GC
28 4 2019
Alonzo H. Kelly
SILVER DISTANCE Kieran Cassidy
Glider
DG 101
would disappear in all sorts of weather (an occasional touch of cloud flying perhaps?) then, true to form, come safely home. Goodness knows though where he had been! With the passage of time the ‘family’ members went their separate ways or passed away with Gabor probably the last survivor after Frank’s passing and so the Mafia retrieval ritual ended. Gabor was a hard working club committee member, ably serving for many years as Secretary. Like with so many things, time brings change but ‘the Mafia’ association was good while it lasted and it certainly brought a good measure of humour and affection. Thanks to Rae Kerr, Grahame Player and Seamus Breen for additional information.
SILVER DURATION James Mitchell
Wellington GC
28 4 2019
DG 100
SILVER HEIGHT Kieran Cassidy
Wellington GC
28 5 2019
DG 101
SILVER BADGE 1191 James Mitchell 1192 Kieran Cassidy
Wellington GC Wellington GC
1 5 2019 6 5 2019
GOLD DURATION James Mitchell
Wellington GC
28 4 2019
GNZ FIRST COMPETITION AWARD 057 Kieran Cassidy Wellington GC
6 5 2019
DG 100
50 • August–October 2019 • INSTRUCTORS COLUMN
INSTRUCTORS' COLUMN STEVEN CARE PIAKO GLIDING CLUB
WING RUNNING Often the role of wing running is left to anyone who happens to be standing around and the prime purpose appears to be just to hold the wing off the ground. Most of us know there’s a little more to it than that, but can familiarity breed contempt? The truth is, it is one of the most important parts of a safe launch and there have been plenty of incidents and accidents at clubs in New Zealand and around the world, where lack of vigilance played a part. Many treat running the wing on aero tow and winch much the same, but in fact there are differences. The ground run on an aero tow is much slower and it may be safe for a pilot to pick up a wing if it touches the ground, if the grass on the runway is short and the pilot is skilled enough. During a winch launch everything happens much faster. A wing touching the ground can end in disaster, no matter how skilled a pilot is or thinks they are. An important aspect of wing running is to make sure the wings are truly level at the start. It is not just a case of looking about level. The wings must be balanced to the point where there feels to be no up or down pressure on the wing. It can be harder in a cross wind, but that is when it is most important. Some wings must be held much lower than others, i.e. ASW 20 (low) versus Duo Discus (high). It is even more critical for a pilot with water ballast on board or even worse, half water ballast. Even a slight imbalance will lead to the water sloshing to the outboard of the lower wing and the inboard of the higher wing. As the launch progresses the lower wing will go down further, creating an imbalance that is impossible to correct.
For an aero tow the wing runner, should do just that (run). Be aware that if you are unable to do this, then it can affect a safe outcome. We do get quite casual with our training gliders as the wings are easier to keep level. If a lot of up or down pressure comes onto the wing, then let the wing tilt that way slightly, so the pilot knows to counter with aileron. If a lot of pressure is resisted and you (the wing runner) suddenly let go, the wing will (for the pilot) unexpectedly drop. Often the pressure is because the wing wasn’t level in the first place, but there can be other reasons as well i.e. cross wind or off-centre belly hook (ASW 15). The wing runner must never hold a wing back or push it forward during the launch. Doing so will cause the glider to deviate off the centre line and potentially could result in a full loss of directional control. This is much more critical in gliders with aero tow belly hooks to avoiding ground loop problems. The wing runner is responsible for ensuring that there is no conflict with other aircraft. This means a good look out for aircraft approaching on base and finals (often GA aircraft are a long way out and very low). The pilot/(s) waiting for launch cannot see behind, so this responsibility is critical to safety. A casual glance doesn’t cut it. It is also a good idea for wing runners to see the glider brakes and canopy are closed
properly. Some pilots launch with partial open airbrakes (not a practice I recommend) but they should tell you beforehand if that is what they are doing. For aero tow, use the bat and make launch signals clear for the tow pilot. If anyone around the launch area sees any potential conflict, yell, ‘Stop stop stop.’ If you are the wing runner you should yell, ‘Stop stop stop,’ and hold the bat vertically above your head, until the pilot releases. I have found this doesn’t work once the ‘all out’ signal is given, but suggest you try anyway. For winch, the system does not give as much control to the wing runner if the radio in the glider is being used. Therefore, it is even more critical that the launch does not proceed until the wing runner has called that it is, “All clear above and behind.” Before the ‘take up slack’ call is made the wings should be kept very level. You could say that we haven’t had any problems, so why write about something that doesn’t seem very important. We have a lot of newer pilots and others who can get complacent, so info on processes is a good thing for our safety culture. Safe launching!
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THREAT AND ERROR MANAGEMENT PART 2 CROSS-COUNTRY SOARING In the last SoaringNZ issue, I introduced Threat and Error Management (TEM) as a simple yet powerful technique for assessing threats affecting any and every glider flight. Recognising threats allows pilots to predict situations where they might make errors or forget something, which increases the possibility of accidents. WORDS BY ARTHUR GATLAND
SUPPLIED
As I said in the last issue, our accident rate in NZ is high and yet none of our spate of accidents has been the result of structural or mechanical defects – all have resulted from pilots unnecessarily putting themselves in a situation that for various reasons have resulted in a crash. Ridges, rocks and trees do not suddenly leap out and hit gliders – yet we manage to collide with them on a regular basis. This series of articles applies to every glider pilot in New Zealand, regardless of experience. In this article I will continue the theme of TEM as it applies to cross-country flying, an area in which we suffer a disproportionate number of accidents, many involving injury or death. Remember that to assess what constitutes a threat, we use the concept of a Pristine Flight and look for anything that introduces a variation to this theoretical flight. Let’s look at a Pristine Flight in the cross-country context.
PRISTINE FLIGHT (CROSS-COUNTRY) This is a ‘straightforward’ cross-country soaring flight where everything goes exactly to plan. You are a current, relatively experienced cross-country pilot who has completed a number of good flights, and also have completed several successful outlandings. You arrive at the airfield and your private or club glider is available. The battery is fully charged, and other pilots are readily available to help you rig the glider and complete the duplicate check. You are prepared with drink, food, hat, sunglasses, maps etc., and you have a retrieve crew available if required. At the launch point, helpers are readily available to help you line up and a towplane is waiting. You are current on type and have flown cross-country recently. On your last flight you practised a short landing. There is light wind and it looks like a great soaring day. The weather is pleasant; not too hot. You aerotow to 2000 feet and easily find good
lift. You have set yourself a relatively short task for the great conditions and your route will not go through any controlled airspace. There are many wide flat paddocks available en-route and with very light winds you have a choice of landing directions if required. During your three hour thermal flight there is good lift everywhere and you never get so low that an outlanding is a real possibility. On return you decide not to do a ‘final glide’ and rejoin the circuit area at 1500 feet, followed by an uneventful circuit and landing. This is a Pristine Cross-country Flight – good fun with no real challenges for an experienced pilot and there are no real interruptions to your simple plan.
THREATS Now let’s talk about likely threats or variations to your planned flight with a hypothetical example. You are running late and rushing because you are concerned that the best thermals may die out within a few hours. You need to rig your glider, but
THREAT AND ERROR MANAGEMENT • August–October 2019 • 53
You are running late and rushing because you are concerned that the best thermals may die out within a few hours. You need to rig your glider, but no-one is around to help, so frustratingly you have to muster a few helpers.
no-one is around to help, so frustratingly you have to muster a few helpers. During your daily inspection and rigging check, another pilot interrupts to ask you where you are planning to go. You had forgotten to check your battery charge level, but you think it will be okay for a three hour flight. Because you are short of time, you must hurry to get ready and you are annoyed there is a queue for takeoff. While strapping in, the duty instructor asks if you have a retrieve crew organised and criticises you when you admit you haven’t. You are annoyed that he has questioned you in front of other people as you don’t like criticism from anybody. You also realise you have left your cellphone in the car, but don’t ask someone to get it because you will look even more foolish. You forget to do your pre-takeoff checks as a result of this incident. The flight proceeds satisfactorily for the first hour, but then a moderate wind develops (you hadn’t checked the weather forecast so this is unexpected). There is some over-development with a few light rain showers, resulting in some water
on your wings. You decide to try to head back towards home base, cursing your glider’s deteriorated performance and annoyed that your late departure has spoiled the day a bit. You think you might have to land out so try calling home base by radio to organise a retrieve crew, but your battery is low and you have trouble contacting anyone. Distracted by this, you suddenly realise you are at 1,000 ft and haven’t even started looking at possible paddocks. However, the sun is shining on the ground a few kilometres ahead and you are sure that if you can just sneak over a ridge ahead, you should find lift. You take a chance and luckily it works out and you find weak but consistent lift and climb away. After a slow climb you make it back to home base, where you do your usual landing, halfway down the strip so you can stop by the trailer.
Cross-country flying by its very nature has a significant number of threats, including continual possibility of landout, weather changes, unpredictable lift, different terrain with changes in height above sea level, often areas of partly unlandable country, or flat but very small paddocks, use of unfamiliar hills to find ridge lift, navigation challenges, and so on. As flights are often of longer duration, dehydration and hunger are always present to some extent, and have an insidious effect on your decision-making. Wave flights introduce a specialised range of threats that require careful management. It is the presence of these threats that form part of the challenge and satisfaction of cross-country flying. However, you must not underestimate the risks that these challenges present.
This hypothetical example illustrates a number of Threats, some external and some self-inflicted – and there are potentially many more. All of these variations to the Pristine Flight (threats) will increase the likelihood of you making a small slip, or an error in judgement, or forgetting something – regardless of your experience.
MANAGING THREATS All these threats increase your likelihood of making an error. In this context we are not talking about errors in speed-flying, like not picking the strongest thermal, or incorrect speed-to-fly technique. We are discussing errors that result in reduced safety margins,
Let’s review what these Threats might include: Time pressure
Frustration
Impatience
Procedural uncertainty
Heat discomfort
Interruptions
Weather changes
Poor preparation
Overconfidence
Outside interference
Inexperience
Lack of currency
Fatigue
Other traffic
Poor training
Poor health
Inexperienced crew
Launch delay
Turbulence
Unfamiliar airfield
ATC / airspace
Technical issue
Dehydration
Hunger
Difficult terrain
Rising ground
Few landing areas
Risk of landout
Navigation
Water ballast
Ridge flying
Cloud flying
High altitude
Use of oxygen
Cold temperature
Icing
Motor gliders
Pressure to get home
No retrieve crew
Overdevelopment
Sea breeze
Wind changes
Rain
Blue thermals
Ironically, carrying food/drink to mitigate dehydration and hunger introduces another threat: managing these items in the cockpit.
or ultimately could contribute to an incident or accident. Most pilots can very easily recognise all threats if they think about it, but a superior pilot will implement a
strategy to prevent an error resulting from any of these threats. In Part One of these TEM discussions, I discussed threats occurring on local flights. Cross-country
THREATS
STRATEGIES
There are many common cross-country threats as listed above that can be mitigated by one thing – Good Preparation.
Good preparation:
flights have all of these, plus the additional considerations discussed above. Some examples how to manage the threats might include the following:
»» Glider – careful rig, DI/duplicate check, batteries charged, clean canopy, clean wings, no dirt/grass in cockpit, etc.
»» Personal – rested, healthy, fed and watered, correct clothing, sun protection, warm clothing if required, take drink/snacks.
»» Flying readiness – current on type, current on short landings, BFR current, complete routine skills training, appropriate confidence in ability for the elected task.
»» Obtain a reliable weather forecast, but regardless of the forecast, be alert for weather changes at all times. Time pressure
Any time you feel pressure to hurry – for whatever reason – you should be aware that this is a major cause of errors, particularly by upsetting the important s discussed above, or missing procedures (takeoff checklist) etc. Always give yourself plenty of time when preparing for cross-country flights. If you have hurried to rig and get your glider to the launch point, ask another pilot to double-check everything for you – the 2 minutes could save you from embarrassment and potentially save your life. If it is essential that you get home after your planned cross-country flight, stay local, give yourself a 3 x 40km triangle task within range of the airfield.
Procedural uncertainty, e.g. ATC, airspace heights, procedure for transit of controlled airspace, unfamiliar airfield, any operational procedures.
Ask for advice from instructors or experienced pilots. Pilots respect other pilots who make sure they know what they need to know and are not afraid to ask.
Wave flying – threats include terrain, use of oxygen, cold, higher winds, glider limitations including IAS to TAS relationship, icing.
Good training and preparation is essential to mitigate these threats. Decompression training is extremely beneficial – if you use oxygen at all you should make an effort to experience this training.
Example:
My parents (Frank and Anne Gatland) used to crew for Ray Lynskey at several World Champs. They were always first to have the glider on the launch grid, fully prepared and ready to go, and then go back and have breakfast or early lunch, which not only beat the rush but also removed all the time pressure, and ensured Ray was relaxed.
THREAT AND ERROR MANAGEMENT • August–October 2019 • 55
SOME SPECIFIC THREATS AND ERRORS There are two particular threats that I will concentrate on briefly, since New Zealand glider pilots have suffered more than their fair share of injuries and death in these situations. 1. R idge Soaring; particularly in high country. A number of very experienced cross-country pilots have crashed while ridge soaring. Why? By definition, if you are ridge soaring there will be wind, and ridges are never totally symmetrical, which means there will be areas of stronger lift, turbulence, and sink. And hills do not move – we effectively fly into them by getting too close and/or failing to allow for wind effects. Let’s dig a bit deeper into this area of gliding.
THREATS
POSSIBLE STRATEGIES
Irregular ridge lines
Be aware of the probability of unexpected ridges and spurs appearing in front of you. Irregular ridges are guaranteed to produce strange wind effects. Always have a safety margin in distance from the ridge, and always fly at a minimum of your “safe speed near the ground.” Trim for this speed and always have an escape route away from terrain.
Inconsistent winds, giving stronger and weaker lift, windshear, turbulence
There will be instances of loss of airspeed, one wing lifting unexpectedly, possibility of stall. Expect this to happen and allow safety margins. Remember, unlike the car ads – in gliding it is Lack Of Speed that Kills!
Stronger winds due to funnelling etc.
Recognise this as a serious threat! Often you will find yourself closing with the ridge faster than expected. Never fly directly towards the ridge, but close on it obliquely so you can always turn away when required.
Difficulty in depth perception
Ridges – particularly in the South Island – that do not have vegetation (trees) make it difficult to assess how far away you are. The rock you can see might be 5 metres wide or the size of a house – you really can’t be sure. This has probably resulted in several pilots flying too close and dying as a result. Allow more margin than you think necessary!
Any nagging doubts or uncertainty about what you are doing ...
Get out of there – pronto!
Over-confidence (This includes a level of confidence higher than your level of experience.)
Every pilot must acknowledge that we are all human and we do all make mistakes. Ridge flying is very unforgiving and over-confidence has proven repeatedly to be fatal.
2. Outlandings: Fact: All cross-country pilots are quite capable of landing their glider in a paddock. Fact: As a generalisation, there are sufficient landing spots anywhere we fly, although in some areas extra height and gliding distance might need to be maintained to
reach them. Fact: In the 11 years prior to writing this we had 33 major outlanding accidents with 4 fatalities and 1 serious injury. Many of these were unnecessary and were caused by pilots leaving their decision to land too late, or failing to select landing spots until too late, or
pushing on hoping things would work out. Contributing factors may have been dehydration causing poor decisionmaking. Let’s discuss some of threats around outlandings.
THREATS
POSSIBLE STRATEGIES
Outlandings in themselves are a threat, since they involve landing on unseen paddocks that can usually only be assessed from the air.
Nevertheless, it is easily possible to adequately assess paddocks, including approach obstacles, slope, surface etc. – IF this is done diligently. Unfortunately often it is not until too late, when alternatives may be few.
Circuit planning for unfamiliar paddocks.
This should be easy, IF you have practised at home base. The skill is to not use your altimeter, but assess angle to the landing strip, and do not use ground features for base turn and finals, but always make your turns by reference to the landing point. Thus you are continually practising for a paddock landing. Instructors – take this important point on board when teaching!
Requirement to carry out a short landing.
The strategy is to ensure that this is normal. Every landing you do should be the same type of approach and short landing, especially if you only fly once a month. If you are one of those pilots who always lands halfway down the airfield near the hangar or trailer, then quite frankly you are an idiot!
Motor gliders – attempts to extend the motor to avoid an outlanding.
There is a serious skill required to extend and start the motor, with all the extra drag, while also flying a circuit and approach into a paddock. You must assume that the motor will not start – and on several occasions this is indeed what happened, resulting in accidents, some fatal. You must practise this skill at home base, with engine starting and simulating failure to start. Priority is always to fly the glider first.
Error in judgement, or wind shear, or sink leading to loss of height or speed.
This is unfortunately a common outcome in outlandings for a number of reasons – late decision, lack of awareness of wind, misjudging altitude above high terrain etc. The most important strategy is maintaining flying speed at all costs. It is infinitely better to land short, or land somewhere unplanned, with safe approach speed, than to try and stretch the glide, or to try to thermal at low altitude, which has led to stall/spin accidents which are often fatal. However these can normally be avoided by making the landing decision in good time.
Push-on-itis, or “must get home at all costs”. This is very common with glider pilots – it is not uncommon for a number of pilots to head off on a cross-country and not one has organised a retrieve crew. Additionally pilots often have evening commitments (family, dinner engagements) with all the pressure to get home that this provides. A resulting error from this threat is making the decision to land far too late.
Your thinking should be as follows – every time I fly cross-country I am prepared to land out. I warn my wife/husband of the possibility, arrange a crew, ensure my car is full of petrol, take warm clothing for the cooler evening drive home – and if I have an important dinner engagement, I don’t go cross-country! Being mentally prepared to land out is 90% of the strategy to achieve a safe outlanding.
Outlanding nervousness or under-confidence, leading to stress and often poor judgement.
Maintain flying currency and make all landings practices for paddock landing. If unsure do a quick circuit and landing before starting cross-country flight (as Ray Lynskey used to do). The less confidence or experience in outlandings, the earlier you should make the decision and commit to carrying out a safe landing.
INEXPERIENCE AND INSTRUCTOR RESPONSIBILITY Once again, instructors and experienced cross-country pilots must help us lift our game. They should be aware that
To avoid making a late decision, you must have decision heights set in your mind. As an example, you might have the following Rules: “Above 2,000 ft AGL I am always aware of general landable terrain, and I know the wind direction. Below 2,000 ft AGL I have specific landing areas in sight. Below 1,500 ft AGL I select a specific paddock and decide landing direction. At 1,000 ft I have a circuit planned, while continuing to try to search for lift. At 600 ft AGL I make the irreversible decision to land and join circuit, lower the landing gear and turn the audio vario off so I am not tempted to try to climb away.” A surprisingly powerful strategy is to say out loud, “I am now going to land.”
inexperienced cross-country pilots may not recognise all threats existing on any particular day. Even if a pilot is fully trained and cleared to fly cross-country without supervision, he/she can still learn from discussions with more experienced pilots. A short helpful chat to ensure they are fully prepared, and have a plan, and are mentally
prepared to land out if necessary, may save their life. As I said previously, the main ways that new pilots can gain experience and knowledge is by instructors or experienced pilots passing on these thoughts, OR learning by making mistakes! Which method is better??!!
THREAT AND ERROR MANAGEMENT • August–October 2019 • 57
CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS In Part One, I said that an important part of Threat and Error Management (TEM) is to understand the consequences of possible errors, and to make doubly sure the most consequential errors do not occur. Forgetting your map or not having the correct map loaded on a local flight may not be important at all, but doing the same on a cross-country flight could lead to navigation uncertainty, infringing controlled airspace etc. Stalling while pulling up into a thermal might be slightly annoying, but stalling on base turn or while trying to thermal from very low altitude will be the last mistake you ever make. When flying cross-country, the most common safety-related errors – that of late paddock selection and/or pushing on below a safe height to join circuit to land in a paddock, and speed maintenance when ridge flying – have consistently proven to have serious implications including major damage, injury or death. Yet collectively we persist in committing these errors. To be blunt – why are we that dumb? I don’t know ... but I suspect it’s gross over-confidence, or ignorance, or denial – “It’ll never happen to me.” All I can say is that if this applies to you, then YOU need to wake up and realise how illogical your attitude is. Just ask your wife/husband what they think about your attitude to survival. A number of years ago, a top overseas competition pilot who was well-known for pushing on at low altitude, was heard to say “I’m a lucky pilot, I’ve damaged 13 gliders and never been hurt.” That was not too long before his fatal accident.
WHAT ARE THREATS?
»» Any variation to our straightforward Pristine Flight is a Threat
»» Every Threat increases the likelihood of an Error being committed
»» Every Threat requires a positive strategy to manage it and prevent errors USEFUL STRATEGIES: A reminder that the following are just a few examples of TEM strategies that should become automatic to be a skilled and safe pilot.
TEM STRATEGIES
»» Use SOPs / Procedures diligently »» Don’t succumb to time pressure »» Always fly the glider first »» When fatigued be more careful and
TO EVERY GLIDER PILOT Acknowledging your vulnerability to mistakes is actually a sign of strength. In flying, you never stop learning. Every flight, whether you have 50 hours, 500 hours, or 15,000 hours, presents us with the same threats that must be recognised and managed. On every single flight you need to ask:
»» What are my threats today? »» Am I taking unnecessary risks here? »» How will I manage and mitigate the threats I identify?
conscientious
»» After interruptions, say “Where was I?” »» Always carry out a Situation Awareness review after a period of high workload
SUMMARY Every flight involves some threats, and all pilots must ensure they recognise these and have a strategy to manage the threats and prevent errors, and/or have a process to catch errors or slips that may have occurred. Remember we ALL make some mistakes on every flight – the important thing is to ensure they are not critical ones, or that they are captured before they lead to an undesirable position.
»» Set limits and stick to them – particularly with respect to landout decision making
»» Don’t “see what you expect to see” – look for errors
»» Listen to “that little voice” that questions what you are doing
»» Take advice from other pilots, especially experienced glider pilots
IN THE NEXT ARTICLE I will continue the theme of Threat and Error Management into competition and other specialist flying – which is an area that has resulted in a major number of serious accidents.
KAIKOHE GLIDING CLUB WORDS BY JULIAN STEVENS
The Kaikohe club is based at Kaikohe airfield, which is five minutes’ drive from the township of Kaikohe in the country’s far north. There is a small amount of power traffic in the area, but usually we have the airfield to ourselves. We are a winch only club, but the main runway is 1,600 metres long and we usually get around 2,000 feet AGL from the winch. The airfield is quite free draining, enabling us to fly all year round. The club flies on Thursdays and Sundays but we occasionally fly on other days, particularly if the weather has been poor on the usual days of operation. We’re only small with a membership generally between 12 and 15. However it is normal for the majority of the members to turn up on flying days. The Whangarei club amalgamated with us after they lost their site at Puhipuhi. The club fleet consists of: Discus B Standard Cirrus Salto Twin Astir Janus There are also a few privately owned gliders.
Due to the small membership the club finds it unaffordable to insure its gliders. As a consequence, cross-country flying is not permitted in the club aircraft, therefore the only cross-country flying is done by the private owners. There are reasonable cross-country flying conditions with thermal and convergence conditions being the most common and usable. We also get some wave if the SW is blowing strongly enough. Doug Lovell and I have both done 300 km cross country flights from Kaikohe, and there is definitely potential for more. We have both only been flying cross-country for a few seasons and are extending our range each year. Bernie Massey used to do a lot of cross-country flying up here and Paul Rockell will fill you in on what he gets up to. There are reasonable land out options, but there are also large areas of rough rolling country
with limited safe land out options. This isn't too much of a problem provided you know what direction to fly in to get to safe landing if you get low. We do have a reasonable database of suggested suitable land out paddocks which we can make available to visiting pilots. The airspace is very free, being uncontrolled below 13,500 feet north of Kaikohe and below 9,500 feet just south of Kaikohe, stepping down as you get closer to Auckland. Of course, there are the Kaitaia, Kerikeri and Whangarei MBZ's, but these are no problem to operate in. The club rooms is the old terminal building from when the airfield was used for commercial operation in the ‘50s to ‘70s. There is plenty of room for camping on the airfield for visiting pilots and we’d love to see you.
FEATURE CLUB – KAIKOHE • August–October 2019 • 59
SOARING IN NORTHLAND For those glider pilots fortunate to have self-launching gliders or are signed off for independent operations and have a partner willing to auto-tow a sustainer motor glider, I highly recommend the North. It’s an area of New Zealand that is worth experiencing if you’ve never flown here. The Kaikohe airfield offers several lengthy vectors with few users other than the local gliding club that winches on a Thursday and Sunday, weather permitting. Three years ago, the Whangarei gliding club gave their assets and gliders to the Kaikohe Gliding Club after our airfield farm was sold. In recent times it has become increasingly difficult to sustain the operation with a shortage of instructors and many members having to leave Northland to search for work in Auckland or Australia. Few New Zealand glider pilots have ventured to the North although I do my best with posts on social media about how fantastic soaring is up here and occasional articles in SoaringNZ. Sure, we have a reputation among glider pilots for fearsome topography within the confines of a peninsula which is actually unwarranted. In the late 1970s and early ‘80s Auckland Aviation Sports Club held Xmas camps here which were well attended. Mind you, little has happened since the halcyon days when the airport departure lounge (clubrooms) were painted for the Queens visit in 1963. For the most part the soaring skies are mine to use except for around the arrival and departure of the Air Nelson Link to Kerikeri. There are four other cross-country pilots besides me in Northland while the local gliding club gliders stay within gliding distance of the airfield. Helen and I have camped many summers at Kaikohe airfield. Above: The author
WORDS BY PAUL ROCKELL
PAUL RODELL
his Speed Astir was tossed inverted by a sea breeze front base this summer. It is possible at times to ridge soar the front in a westerly. Regardless, it is terrific fun soaring in these monsters.
The vista towards the 2,000 foot high, seventy kilometres long volcanic plateau of the Tutumoes with its bush covered slopes generating early morning or evening westerly wave is superb. I see RASP predicting wave to 30,000 feet at times. Many days of the year, when the prevalent south west wind blows a gale in from the Tasman, wave will occur along the entire seventy kilometre length of the Tutumoe range, often with the secondary wave and rotor over the airfield.
See the You Tube video: Soaring the Northland New Zealand East Coast Sea breeze.
On non-flying days, the Ngawha hot springs for two dollars is the place to go. It is much frequented by Russians who have bought many houses in the village next door and appreciate the health values of mud and sulphur in a down market setting.
I always fly with a camera and photograph skyscapes so as to share the beauty up among the clouds with others via Facebook. To date about 1,300 people follow me, mostly Europeans who are interested in gliding in New Zealand in places other than Omarama. I also do this to promote Northland gliding conditions in New Zealand, but it seems Kiwis are not particularly interested. We had two motorised hang gliders here last year and a Russian self-launch glider this summer for two days but I do not think I need worry about our sky filling up with gliders any time soon. For some nice soaring photos of Northland NZ, you are most welcome to inspect the FB site below.
I only fly on the best of days or days of interest. Blue thermal days hold no joy, nor do I launch much before 2pm, a time when the sea breeze fronts are just getting organised. On blue days the fronts are almost invisible until very late in the afternoon. The best of the summer days are indicated by convection over the sea early in the morning coming on to land by 9am and slowly heading inland until the Northland peninsula is one long continuous convergence cloud from Kaitaia to Northern Auckland city and often beyond, but the devil lives there. Once the fronts get organised, the lift can be too strong and rough air speed limits exceeded in order to stay out of the cloud. An eye watering thrashing is possible requiring a climb up the wall cloud where it is calmer. Gerold, in
If you check RASP in December and January for the North Island, NW of Hamilton and most days will present with a soarable sea breeze. Take cognisance of the easterly sea breeze front being situated for a time in the transponder mandatory airspace of Kerikeri and Whangarei, also there are parachute operations occurring over Kerikeri airfield, high above the cloud.
https://www.facebook.com/ Soaring-Northland-NZ-112320485461226/ Now retired, Helen and I spend three months of the winter in Europe checking out our family history. I will still look forward to sharing a few beers and our handmade cheese with the boys at Kaikohe GC next summer.
60 • August–October 2019 • CLUB NEWS
CLUB DIRECTORY Link for club info www.gliding.co.nz/Clubs/Clubs.htm AUCKLAND AVIATION SPORTS CLUB Club Website www.ascgliding.org Club Contact Peter Thorpe pbthorpe@xtra.co.nz Ph 09 413 8384 Base RNZAF Base Auckland (Whenuapai) 021 146 4288 Flying Weekends, Public Holidays
NELSON LAKES GLIDING CLUB Club Website www.glidingnelson.co.nz Club Contact Frank Saxton franksaxton@gmail.com Ph (03) 546 6098 Base Lake Station Airfield, St.Arnaud Ph (03) 521 1870 Flying Weekends and Public Holidays
AUCKLAND GLIDING CLUB Club Website www.glidingauckland.co.nz Club Ph (09) 294 8881, 0276 942 942 Club Contact Ed Gray info@glidingauckland.co.nz Base Appleby Rd, Drury Flying Weekends, Wednesdays, Public Holidays
NORFOLK AVIATION SPORTS CLUB Club Website http://www.geocities.com/norfolkgliding/ Club Contact Kevin Wisnewski wizzbang@xtra.co.nz Ph (06) 756 8289 Base Norfolk Rd Flying Weekends and by appointment
CANTERBURY GLIDING CLUB Club Website www.glidingcanterbury.co.nz Club Contact Kevin Bethwaite kevin.bethwaite@airways.co.nz Ph (03) 318 4758 Base Swamp Road, Springfield Flying Weekends, Public Holidays
OMARAMA GLIDING CLUB Club Website http://www.omarama.com Club Contact Bruce Graham bruceandstell@xtra.co.nz Ph (03) 358 3251 Base Omarama Flying 7 days a week by arrangement
CENTRAL OTAGO FLYING CLUB (INC) Club Website www.cofc.co.nz Club Contact Phil Sumser phil.sumser@xtra.co.nz Base Alexandra Airport Flying Sundays, and by arrangement
PIAKO GLIDING CLUB Club Website www.glidingmatamata.co.nz Club Contact Steve Care s.care@xtra.co.nz Ph (07) 843 7654 or 027 349 1180 Base Matamata Airfield, Ph (07) 888 5972 Flying Weekends, Wednesdays and Public Holidays
GLIDE OMARAMA.COM Website www.GlideOmarama.com Contact Gavin Wills gtmwills@xtra.co.nz Base Omarama Airfield Flying October through April 7 days per week GLIDING HAWKES BAY AND WAIPUKURAU Club Website www.glidinghbw.co.nz Club Contact E-mail: info@glidinghbw.co.nz, Ph 027 2877 522 Base Hastings Airfield (Bridge Pa) and Waipukurau Airfield (December & February) Flying Sundays and other days by arrangement GLIDING HUTT VALLEY (UPPER VALLEY GLIDING CLUB) Club Contact Wayne Fisk wayne_fisk@xtra.co.nz Ph (04) 567-3069 Base Kaitoke Airfield, (04) 526 7336 Flying Weekends, Public Hols., Mid week by arrangement GLIDING MANAWATU Club Website www.glidingmanawatu.org.nz Club Contact Ron Sanders Resanders@xtra.co.nz Base Feilding Aerodrome Flying Weekends, Public holidays GLIDING WAIRARAPA Club Website glidingwairarapa.co.nz Club contact David Hirst Ph 021 493 349 Base Papawai Airfield, 5km east of Greytown Flying Weekends, or by arrangement KAIKOHE GLIDING CLUB Club Contact Peter Fiske, (09) 407 8454 Email Keith Falla keith@falla.co.nz Base Kaikohe Airfield, Mangakahia Road, Kaikohe Flying Sundays, Thursdays and Public Holidays MARLBOROUGH GLIDING CLUB Club Website http://glide_marl.tripod.com Club Contact bmog@paradise.net.nz Base Omaka Airfield, Blenheim Flying Sundays and other days by arrangement MASTERTON SOARING CLUB Club Website www.nzsoaring.solutions Club Contact Michael O’Donnell modp@inspire.net.nz Ph (06) 370 4282 or 021 279 4415 Base Hood Aerodrome, Masterton Flying By arrangement
ROTORUA GLIDING CLUB Club Website http://www.rotoruaglidingclub.blogspot.co.nz/ Club Contact Mike Foley roseandmikefoley@clear.net.nz Ph (07) 347 2927 Base Rotorua Airport Flying Sundays SOUTH CANTERBURY GLIDING CLUB Club Website www.glidingsouthcanterbury.co.nz Club Contact John Eggers johneggers@xtra.co.nz 33 Barnes St Timaru Base Levels Timaru & Omarama Wardell Field Flying Weekends, Public Holidays & by arrangement TARANAKI GLIDING CLUB Club Website www.glidingtaranaki.com Club Contact Peter Williams peter.williams@xtra.co.nz Ph (06) 278 4292 Base Stratford Flying Weekends and Public Holidays TAUPO GLIDING CLUB Club Website www.taupoglidingclub.co.nz Club Contact Tom Anderson Tomolo@xtra.co.nz PO Box 296, Taupo 2730 Ph (07) 378 5506 M 0274 939 272 Base Centennial Park, Taupo Flying 7 days a week TAURANGA GLIDING CLUB Club Website www.glidingtauranga.co.nz Club President Adrian Cable adrian.cable@xtra.co.nz Base Tauranga Airport Flying Weekends and Public Holidays, Wednesday afternoons and other times on request WELLINGTON GLIDING CLUB Club Website http://www.soar.co.nz Club President Brian Sharpe bwsharpe@xtra.co.nz Ph 027 248 1780 Base Greytown Soaring Centre, Papawai Airfield, 5 km east of Greytown Bookings Ph 027 618 9845 (operations) Flying Weekends and Public Holidays 7 days a week December through to March
GLIDING NEW ZEALAND CLUB NEWS The club news is your chance to share with the rest of the country and abroad, some of what makes your club the best gliding club in the world. Club scribes, please watch the deadlines (but we'll make allowances for special circumstances so contact the editor before you panic) and likewise, the word count is supposed to be 300 words to allow everyone to have a say. If you need more words than that, you probably should write a real article about that special event. Deadline for club news for the next issue 14 October 2019.
AUCKLAND AVIATION SPORTS CLUB So here we are mid-July and I have just had a 101 minute thermal flight with the entire club fleet all getting flights of an hour plus. Now that’s pretty good for winter flying…. Since we last wrote, the soaring season has naturally dwindled for the club due to weather. Some members have continued to pop out and conduct training flights. The weather has not always been conducive to soaring, but it has certainly tested our members with some boisterous conditions for circuit bashing. Unfortunately, we have not had any conditions to allow for our coast runs. There were a couple of days that were tempting, however significant squally rain on the horizon suggested it was better to stay home and keep warm. To offset the reduced club flying, we have had a number of Air Training Cadet sorties over several weekends which has been great for them and kept our treasurer even happier. We welcome Kris Pillai back into the fold (after a short absence of two years or so) – he is enthusiastic to be back soaring. Andrew Fletcher has received the back-seat rating and demonstrated this was no problem at all with a flawless flight and spot on landing. The fleet has received its annual inspection with Derry diligently checking everything meticulously and all was found to be in great working order. Of course, a valiant team of members were involved in the derigging and then re-rigging of the fleet which always brings great amusement, physio treatment and sometimes some ‘precious’ language and words of wisdom. Ian
AUCKLAND The weather has stayed remarkably good and our field has only been out of action during some heavy rain in late July early August. Despite this the duty team have had pretty easy days as many members have elected to get other stuff done instead of coming out to play. While the soaring opportunities are slim (but there are still some thermals about) the opportunity to train in anticipation of next summer is great. We have been giving successful weekend lectures for pre QGP students. We are well underway towards hosting two summer instructors who will again be staying onsite to assist our seven day facility.
Auckland Aviation Sports Club: ASC fleet one rare fine winter weekend day
Canterbury: John's trace
Drury has been the focus of several government and private initiatives which see the area as being a satellite city. The evidence of this is now fully transparent as work less than 5 km south of us clearly attests to. Auckland transport has now revealed their preferred route for a four lane road which is near, if not on, the northern part of our airfield. While this is a 20-30 year plan and is far from being approved by either Local or Central Governments (not withstanding local resistance) it is now a real initiative and has moved from rumour to reality. As such, our current committee has been active in assessing the situation by gathering expert opinion to see if, what and when there will be any effect on our flying activities. These are important issues that may not affect many of us older members but the younger and upcoming ones will be affected and we can start working on a plan of some sort. As always, the AGC is planning a great summer and in the meantime we are operating weekends and most Wednesdays weather permitting. We will venture to the airfield on the west coast to do some ridge running in the near future. RG
CANTERBURY The warm yellow globe has continued to be kind to pilots flying from Springfield who have enjoyed flying wave in the lee of the nearby mountains while looking back to the low cloud and fog that created a dull day for everyone on the plains. In late May and again in June we had ATC cadets from Westland enjoying wave flying experience in lighter norwesterlies. One highlight of the winter season was a single day with a monster arch wave that built directly overhead and spanned the length of the plains. This gave those airborne some awesome climb power after a fairly wild tow. John McCaw registered a sustained climb at 3000 feet/min. Later in the month we had a ‘fun’ day with non-instrument circuit and precision landing Canterbury: Paul and Greg in the wave
competitions followed by a social evening at the Sheffield Hotel restaurant. In addition to the competition prizegiving, congratulations were given to Yvonne Loader for her well-deserved Queen’s Birthday honour. Winter has seen non flying tasks completed. In June a working bee knocked off plenty of winter maintenance and refresh tasks. Paul Schneider and Mike Marra have been fully occupied during the winter adding value to the fleet by refinishing the wings on the club’s Janus. Several students gathered on Friday evenings for a study group at the home of Tim Hughes, which culminated at the end of June with a bunch of passes in the Aviation Law exam, and oxygen ratings ready for those wave flights at altitude.
Canterbury: the wave
Looking ahead, in September Mark Aldridge will be hosting the annual flying week residential ab-initio course, and the club will host the Youth Glide AGM and Meet & Mingle. November 23-30 is set for this year’s Springfield Gliding Championship – a contest designed primarily for fun, with opportunities for less experienced pilots to get contest flying experience including buddying up with champion aviators in twins.
GLIDING HAWKES BAY AND WAIPUKURAU
Canterbury: Nor West
The club has had a number of typical Hawkes Bay winter days, with hard morning frosts followed by pristine clear and calm days which are ideal for ab initio training and trial flights. Soaring weather has been somewhat elusive although some weak wave did form late one Sunday afternoon. Weekdays on the whole have not been much better. Club flying statistics for the last six years show a fairly constant rate of non-flying Sundays of around 33%. These are mostly weather related but have also been equipment and people related. Bryan Malcolm has decided to retire from gliding after 45 years in the sport. He was a member of the Waipukurau club prior to amalgamation and has held various club positions over the years. Bryan’s experience and knowledge will not be entirely lost as he has made himself available to help with the Central Districts Gliding Championships which will be held from Waipukurau Airfield from Saturday February 22nd (practice day) to Saturday 29th February 2020 inclusive. This is an ideal competition for new pilots with well set tasks and plenty of safe landing areas if required. Further details will be available closer to the time. Another long-time member, George Lane, was granted active life membership status for his many services to the club over the years including President, tow pilot, A Cat instructor and CFI.
Canterbury: PR in the wave
CLUB NEWS • August–October 2019 • 63
Gliding Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau: Bryan Malcolm
Gliding Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau: George Lane in his younger days
Youth flying continues to be a large part of current club operations. Cameron Steed has taken advantage of the ideal winter training conditions to progress to the PW5 and looks forward to progress as soaring conditions improve. Hazel Hatcher is working diligently towards her first solo. Proposed local airspace changes have been deferred for another year but ADS-B continues to be a substantial potential cost issue. As always, we look forward to some classic Hawkes Bay wave days during Winter and Spring.
PIAKO
Gliding Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau: PW5 glider
We can all remember the day of our first solo and we congratulate Greg Wills on achieving his on one of our calm winter days. Our AGM, Club Dinner and Awards night have been held where other notable achievements were recognised and Awards given. Notable were a couple of 500km - Tony Davies and Bob Gray (who now has his 3 Diamonds) as well as Sarel Venter getting his Gold 300km. Steven Care was issued with a Life Membership after many decades in the club and on the Committee. After 12 years of being our Club Secretary Joan Wine has retired and Patrick Lalor, one our new QGP’s has stepped into the role. Joan was not a glider pilot but did a fantastic job of very capably looking after the team. Bill Mace has
Piako: Greg Wills solo
also stepped away from gliding after many years of dedication and involvement. He served in many roles on the committee, including President of the Club and Matamata Soaring Centre. His drive and enthusiasm will be missed. We have had quite a few winching days with ATC cadets and our winch has been performing well. We are looking forward to our Annual ‘Start of Season Briefing’ on the 5th Oct. Any members of other clubs are most welcome and we have a free lunch available.
G&S
TARANAKI Piako: Wave flying Greg Wills
Piako: Matamata from Te Aroha
There is hardly anything to write about this time. We’ve only had one real flying day and that was for a Stratford Scout Group with a few ATC members thrown in. The day went well and the organisation functioned with practiced ease. After that was the advent of Mike Strathern paying his attention to glider annuals and any needed repairs and maintenance. This all went fine and nothing untoward was found. One thing though, the weather was much more clement this year which made things rather pleasant for everyone. After Mike had finished, a couple of days work saw all the gliders re-assembled and back in their right places. Congratulations to Sam Tullett for winning the South Island section of the Air NZ CrossCountry Award with an impressive 300km Flight. Add in Glyn Jackson’s flight to Centennial Park A/F at Taupo and Peter Cook’s OLC tally our club pilots have been doing well during this past season. We will look forward to the 2020 season with interest. A one day foray to the Te Wera airstrip has provided off-airfield experience, so hopefully there is more of that too. PJM
TAUPO We have all felt the colder weather and winter is definitely here in Taupo. As such there has not been a lot of flying in the late June and July period. We have however been busy. We had our AGM and Awards night, the Hobby Expo and regular working bees around the club.
Piako: Winching one of our monthly ATC groups
The Awards night which was held on the 15th of June was a quiet affair at the club house. A great evening was had and congratulations to all who received prizes. The AGM was held on the following day with the majority of office bearers remaining the same. It was reported that the club is in good shape although membership is slightly down from the previous year. We have had seven new members join the club this year
CLUB NEWS • August–October 2019 • 65
Taupo: when I grow up
Taupo: on display
Taupo: winter flying
and look forward to seeing them progress. As for achievements, congratulations to Mathieu Turquier for achieving his QGP. Mathieu has continued to progress and is now happily flying the ASW28. In July we once again participated in the annual Hobby Expo where we had the ASW28 on
display. A small number of people showed an interest and asked for more information about our great sport, so with luck we may have a few more new members.
with a new roof, a new Infinity hot water system fitted to the amenities block plus numerous other smaller jobs.
Maintenance around the club has seen the ASK21 completing a 3000 hour inspection, all set for another 3000 hours, the club veranda
Trace
Roll on summer.
FOR SALE • WANTED • SERVICES • EVENTS
We take our classifieds list from the GNZ website and from ads detailed with us personally. To update your ad, please go online or advise our webmaster. Ads notified to SoaringNZ will appear on this page but we are unable to make changes for you on the web page. Please contact the webmaster if your item sells.
GLIDERS Std Astir CS77 ZK-GMC • 1820 Hours total time. Recent annual and ARA inspection. New nose hook. Becker AR3201 radio Terra TRT 250 transponder. Good trailer. Can be viewed at the Tauranga Gliding club. May consider a syndicate. $20,000 or make an offer I can’t refuse. Contact Ben Stimpson, email bstimpson@xtra.co.nz, phone 027 555 5485 PW6-U. ZK-GPK • Constructed 2002. s/n 78-03-01. In very good order cockpit paint re-furbished. Normal instrumentation i.e. 2 x Altimeters and ASI's. Microair 720 Com. Borgelt B40 electric varios front and back seat. 2405 Total Service Hours in service. Full service history with Sailplane Services. Fully hydraulic disc brake Mod. (CAA approved). Currently no transponder or trailer but these can be supplied if required. Contact Ross Gaddes, email ross@sailplaneservices.co.nz, phone 027 4789123 Schleicher ASH25e, GOA • 1210hrs, Engine 4.04hrs not currently fitted but can be refitted easily, Cambridge LNAV, Cambridge 25 GPS, Sage mechanical vario, T&S, EDS Oxygen, FSG71 radio, Transponder, 26.5m wingtip extensions with winglets, 2 parachutes, tow out gear, Cloud dancer all weather covers, Trailer. Phone Jamie for more details. $100,000. Contact Jamie Halstead, email halstead.joinery@xtra.co.nz, phone 021 409 933 Homebuilt self launch • 18m 4 piece wing flapped modern airfoil all glass, disk brakes, 28hp Hirth motor, with trailer. Mostly ready for paint. Ring for more details. Contact Garry Morgan, email gkmorgan54@gmail.com, phone 020 4118 7493 or 03 572 5409 Ventus 2a • s/n 10. Equipped with LX9050 with Flarm and control column unit. Maughmer winglets - Refinished in 2008. Has a Dittel FSG71M com and Trig TT21 Mode S (ADS-B out capable). Has an Aluminium top Cobra trailer, wing wheel, tail dolly and tow-out bar. Re wired with LiFePo4 batteries. My partner Malcolm wishes to sell his share as he is no longer based in Auckland. I will either keep my 50% share or sell outright (#2 choice). This aircraft is one of the best performing gliders in 15mtr class yet is a delight to fly, even when tanked, and exceptionally easy to handle. They land short and rig in minutes. Contact Ross Gaddes, phone 64 274 789 123, email rsgaddes@gmail.com Glasflugel Hornet 206 GKJ • s/n 22. 2543hrs, Borgelt B400 vario, Mountain High oxygen, reliable King KY97A radio, original gel coat all in good condition, good quality ground handling gear, tidy steel framed aluminium clad trailer. Roomy cockpit, 38 L/D and powerful trailing edge air-brakes make this glider an excellent club or first-time owner aircraft. Reluctantly selling as I am retiring from gliding this year. Hangared at Alexandra Airport. "Softie" parachute, in excellent condition, included. Price reduced – now $17,000. Contact Phil Sumser, phone 03 448 5411, email phil.sumser@xtra.co.nz Grob Twin Astir GJW • The Central Otago Flying Club is down-sizing its gliding operations and is seeking expressions of interest in the purchase of its Twin Astir GJW. S/N 3009, Built 1977, Hrs 4400, Mountain High oxygen, Microair 760 radio, Borgelt B40 Vario, new aerotow hook. Overall good condition and includes well-made steel open frame trailer. Contact Phil Sumser, phone 03 448 5411, email phil.sumser@xtra.co.nz Share of LS4 • ZK GMT. Serial 4129. Omarama. Third share in LS4. Includes hanger space at Omarama. Excellent condition and well run syndicate. $19,500. Contact Paul Murphy, phone 027 249 4122, email paulmurphy@ netvigator.com
Schempp-Hirth Standard Cirrus GHD • Based at Whenuapai, Auckland. Trailer tows well and is braked, with rigging equipment to make rigging easier. Glider is fitted with Funke mode s transponder, Kingair radio, basic instruments and Oudie GPS trackers. Glider will be sold with Annual and ARA. $18,000. Contact Nathan Graves, phone 211 862 781, email gravesn101@gmail.com Grob Twin Astir GTU • 4026hrs, usual basic instruments plus radio, Transponder, Cambridge electric vario with rear seat repeater, retractable undercarriage and trailer. $32,000.00. Contact Jamie Halstead, phone 021 409 933, email halstead.joinery@xtra.co.nz Glasflugel Mosquito • 40:1 performance, equivalent handicap to Discus. LX Nav S80 with AHRS, Nano 3 flight recorder, Becker radio, Microair Transponder, A&C. Electric Turn and Bank, Oxygen system, serviceable parachute and trailer. Tinted canopy, no cracks. Easy two man rig, automatic control connections. $30,000. Half share available if based at PGC, $15k. Contact Andy Mackay, phone 021 174 4719, email andymacfly2002@yahoo.com ZK GOP Ventus CT • s.n. 981987, 3600hrs, flights 1160, engine 38 hrs, prop 19 hrs. 15m Maughmer, 17.6m, 18m Borowski tips. Polyurethane finish. Clear Nav digital vario with cross country license. Oudie 2. Nano logger. Dittel VHF radio. Microair transponder. Mountain Air EDS O2. Flarm mouse and Flarmview. Tail dolly and towbar. Wingwheel. Metal clad trailer. Well known glider resident at Drury. Serviced by Sailplane Services. $95,000 Contact Andrew Campbell, phone 027 295 6103, email andy@eastwoodortho.co.nz Discus B. 1/3 share. $28,000. Contact Paul A O'Neill-Gregory, email oneillgregory@xtra.co.nz, phone 021 194 5065 LS6a - Z1 • PU Paint - by Sailplane Services. Fantastic condition 9 out of 10. Number of Vario options, you choose: S80 with A/H Stick remote - Flarm – Oudie, SN 10, LNav GPS, Becker 4201 Radio, Becker 4401 Transponder, EDS Oxygen. Z1 is in brilliant condition and is race & long flight tuned. Multiple 1000k flights & National winner. $85,000. Contact Vaughan Ruddick, email vaughanandpaula@gmail.com Discus 2cT 18 Metre Turbo • ZK GFR. 2004. Total Airframe - 275 hours. Total Engine time 9.5 hours. LX9000 with V9vario and stick remote. Flarm, Trig S mode Transponder, Microair M760 Com, Winter mechanical Vario, Disc Brake, Tinted blue canopy, Clear Carbon/Kevlar cockpit trim, Cobra trailer. Excellent condition. Hangared at Drury. $165,000. Contact Jonathan Cross, email jonathanc@xtra.co.nz, phone 274 984 962 STD ASTIR II ZK-GMM • in excellent condition. Instruments just done and will have new annual and ARA done before delivery. Comes complete with Microair 360 Radio and Terra Transponder. Gel coat in good condition. Retractable wheel and water ballast. Ready to fly. Has trailer that needs a little work but roadworthy. Selling because lack of use. Ideal first glider for someone or as an extra club aircraft. $15,000. Contact Don Grigg, email don.grigg@xtra.co.nz, phone 07 348 6640 or 0274 947 948
AVIONICS LX 9070 with AHRS used, no FLARM and new V8 • The 9070 has been used for 1 year and is in excellent condition. The V8 and the EAGLE speaker are new. Associated cables come with it. $7,000. Contact Christian Derold, phone 027 602 0111, email christian.derold@me.com Winter 80mm mech vario in KTS, used • New face and glass. Scratch-free glass, new face. $300. Contact Christian Derold, phone 027 602 0111, email christian.derold@me.com Winter 80mm ASI • Used, in excellent condition, new face and glass, LXNav FlarmView with 4 push buttons, used for 1 season, scratch-free surface. $250. Contact Christian Derold, email christian.derold@me.com, phone 027 602 0111
CLASSIFIEDS • August–October 2019 • 67 GNZ members are eligible for one free non-commercial classified advertisement per issue. Deadline for receipt of advertising for our November 2019 issue is 26 October 2019.
New BUTTERFLY Flarm screen 8.1x4.2cm • Flarm screen display, length 8.1mm, width 4.2cm with push dial. $500. Contact Christian Derold, phone 027 602 0111, email christian.derold@me.com ELT • used, type ACK E-04, 406MHz. $200. Contact Christian Derold, phone 027 602 0111, email christian.derold@me.com Mechanical instruments • 80mm: ALT, Vario, VSI/ASI. 57mm: compass. Make an offer. Mechanical instruments for sale, individually or together. 80 mm Altimeter (serviceable) 80 mm Winter Variometer, knots (serviceable). NO FLASK. 80 mm Winter Combination Vario + ASI. (ASI needs repair). 57 mm Compass southern hemisphere (serviceable). Send a specific offer if interested. Postage costs borne by buyer. Contat Dane Dickinson email dane@xtra.co.nz Borgelt Instruments B400 variometer • (57 mm version.) Excellent condition. Great vario. No speaker included. $500 ono + postage. Contact Dane Dickinson email dane@xtra.co.nz Terra TRT 250 transponder • Altitude encoder included. Fully serviceable. Make an offer contact Dane Dickinson email dane@xtra.co.nz MGL Electronic compass • MGL AV-1 air-talk computer and compass module. Screen can be used for multiple purposes. Fully serviceable, but buyer takes all risk. $300 ono + postage. Contact Dane Dickinson email dane@xtra.co.nz Flight Computer • This is an Oudie Clone I have owned 5 (?) years. Comes with a powerpack as the actual unit won't last 30 minutes on its internal battery (these clones never did). Performs okay. It is not IGC approved so you cannot use the saved trace for Badges but it will get you around a Comp Task. Loaded with both LX8000 & XCSoar software. Supplied in original Box with mains Charger, lead to connect to Power Pack, Window Suction Mount, Stylus Pen. A new Oudie just cost me over $2K so this is a steal. $140. Contact Neil Harker, email neil@eAccounts.co.nz, phone 021 921 188
contact the seller to discuss. Contact Phil Sumser, phone 03 448 5411, email phil.sumser@xtra.co.nz Sailplane Grand Prix in the Andes Blue-Ray Disk • In perfect condition. It was used once and has otherwise remained in its packaging. $24 including shipping to NZ. Contact Tim Bromhead, phone 021 217 9049, email tim@ pear.co.nz
WANTED Wanted - Damaged/broken Oudie. Oudie1 (or Oudie2) to use as parts for repair. (cracked screen OK as I have a working screen). Contact Glyn Jackson. Email glyn@glynjackson.com, phone 021 0250 4646 Blanik L13 nose cone and front cockpit canopy in reasonably good condition for a non-flying project. Please make contact if you have any of these available for sale. Mike Packer. Email mikelpacker@gmail.com, phone +64 21 059 8648 Instructors Wanted, Omarama - Experienced gliding instructors required at Glide Omarama, October through March. Minimum requirements are a C Category instructor rating and cross-country mountain soaring experience. Applicants will be required to undertake a flight test prior to acceptance. Special consideration given to instructors with fluent German, a tow rating or tailwheel experience. Email info@glideomarama.com or phone 03 438 9555
Cambridge 302/303 • 302 Direct Digital Variometer, GPS, IGC approved FR. 303 Navigation Display. Good condition, working perfectly. Temperature probe & GPS Antenna & data cable included. $900 plus shipping. Contact Dane Dickinson email dane@xtra.co.nz
OTHER FOR SALE Tost High Powered Winch • Up for grabs is a high powered winch, on the back of an Izusu truck. Perfect for any club that needs a new winch. Comes with 2 new reels of wire each 1500m long, three new parachute assemblies, cable splices, crimping tool etc. V8 small block engine rated to winch up to 750kg gliders. $45,000 Contact Bruce Drake, email Drakeaviation@hotmail. com, phone 03 313 4261 Windsock for your gate, club rooms or control van • Length: 800mm, Inlet Diameter: 250mm. Come with a wire hoop to hold open. Great for assessing wind strength and direction for many activities. Put one at your flying field gate, hanger, clubroom, control van etc. Light enough to take anywhere. I have sold these to Fishermen, Hunters, Emergency Services (for helicopter rescue) Pilots, Paragliders, Microlights you name it. Great product made from Ripstop Nylon like paragliders are constructed from. $14. Contact Pilot Pete, email pete@pilotpetes.nz, phone 0274 559 449 Copies of G Dale's The soaring engine Vol 1 Ridge thermal flatland mountain and Vol 2 Wave and convergence • are available from info@ thesoaringengine.co.uk Cost per book is $66 plus $5 postage and packing. Winch • High quality professionally built winch. Single drum, V8, Auto, Dyneema rope about 5200' long. Tost parachute. Generally launches a 2-seater 1500' AGL no wind. Selling because our gliding operations are down-sizing. Price is negotiable but expected to be north of 10k, please
OMARAMA AIRFIELD MAINTENANCE MANAGER Omarama Airfield Limited have a vacancy for an airfield maintenance manager. The position is seasonal with up to 120 hours work per month between late October 2019 and the end of April 2020. Daily working hours are generally split between morning and late afternoon. There is a possibility that the workload will expand to full time five days a week and there is the potential for job sharing over seven days per week. Responsibilities are for the maintenance of the airfield and its infrastructure so experience with tractors, mowers and irrigation equipment is an advantage but not essential because the company will have a full induction process for the successful candidate. The position is ideal for any glider pilots who want a season of South Island soaring combined with a job. A full description and sample contract is available. Apply to : Clive Geddes phone +64 27 229 4860 or email clivegeddes@xtra.co.nz
SAILPLANE SERVICES LTD Specialist Composite Aviation Engineering
NZ agents for Schempp-Hirth Sailplanes, LXNav Soaring Equipment and Trig Avionics all state of the art equipment for soaring aircraft. Ross Gaddes email ross@sailplaneservices.co.nz phone +64 9 294 7324 or +674 274 789 123
