NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
NATIONALS ISSUE 60 FEBRUARY/APRIL 2020
AUCKLAND CONTEST SUMMER SOARING ADVENTURES – TERRY'S 1750 KM YSDC • CLUB NEWS
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12
16
CONTENTS 23
23
42
48
FEATURES
32
REGULARS
12 Nationals
42 Feature Club Canterbury
7 Log Book
16 Auckland Soaring
46 Ford vs Ferrari… GP on the
45 Book Corner
Championship 2020
22 Vintage Class sailplane wins Northern Regionals
Kaimais Youth Soaring 48 Development Camp 2019
54 A Question of Safety
56 59
Blast from the Past Crew Corner
23 Summer Soaring adventures
52 Air Sickness
32 Ian Dunkley
55 Maurice Weaver
60 Gliding New Zealand Club News
36 AS 33
58 Flight into a Thunderstorm
66
Classified Advertising
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SOARINGNZ • ISSUE 60
FROM THE EDITOR JILL MCCAW
Twelve years ago, something new hit the New Zealand gliding world; an up-todate fresh and modern glossy magazine. SoaringNZ issue 1 hit the membership’s mailboxes in December 2007. Twelve and a bit years later, here is issue 60. That’s quite a big number. Allow me to become a little introspective. When we hit issue 30, back in November 2012 we created a collage of all the covers as a centrefold. It seemed like a real milestone at the time. We’re not doing anything like that for this issue, but 60 issues is an amazing body of work all the same. If I lay a copy of them all out on the floor there wouldn’t be much space left in the room. Actually, I’m not sure if they’d all fit in my office. I’m very proud of what I’ve done, for every one of those 60 issues. I have a small team that helps. There are the wonderful Max Stevens and John Goddard who have worked on nearly every of our 60 issues. I can’t thank them enough. These two gentlemen simply want to make sure that the magazine you read is the best that it can possibly be. They give their time and grammar knowledge for free. As well as typo spotting and grammar
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corrections, Max quietly points out the odd thing that we really shouldn’t be sharing in public. That’s something thing I’ve managed to become better at myself over the years; no photos of gliders doing a beat up at zot feet or taking the hats off mountain climbers on top of a ridge, even if it is a great shot. I’ve become a lot better at grammar myself,
but I still pay a proof-reader. And I always will. I have worked with four paid proofreaders over the years, the latest is the lovely Helen Cook from Taranaki. Helen corrects every piece of writing before it goes to print. Helen’s been with us since issue 39. The wonderful look of the magazine is due to the talents of Rosalie Brown and Lee-Ann
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news correspondents, photographers, new members, long time members and everyone who has had something to say, however big or small, you’re the ones who have made SoaringNZ such a great magazine. That piece you took the time to write. It was worth it. I’m going to let everyone into a secret. One of the last things I do when I’m putting a magazine together is write the editorial. That’s because I find it really hard. I want the editorials to say something inspiring. I want them to feel personal. This time, I want to acknowledge 60 issues and the people that helped to make them. 60 amazing issues. I think we should celebrate. If you’ve reading this somewhere near a club bar, raise a glass please. Here’s to 60 issues. Cheers Jill
Collins of RGB Design. They’ve been with us right from the mock-up we created for the tender application back in early 2007, before SoaringNZ even started. Visiting the studio to hand over the raw material has become a looked forward to catch up with friends. And of course, if you want a magazine that looks superb, it’s a real bonus to have a husband who is a great photographer. John McCaw’s
pictures are a real feature of the magazine. A magazine that looks great is useless if the content isn’t any good and there are so very many glider pilots out there who have shared triumphs and tragedies and sheer bloody struggles over the years. Thank you, thank you. To the regular columnists, the contest directors, competitors, club
NEXT ISSUE
NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
NATIONALS ISSUE 60 FEBRUARY/APRIL 2020
AUCKLAND CONTEST SUMMER SOARING ADVENTURES – TERRY'S 1750 KM YSDC • CLUB NEWS
Alex White (LS8) and Jono Wardman (Nimbus 2) over the Dingle Burn near Omarama. JOHN MCCAW
Next Issue: Central Plateau Contest
It's all about the soaring
JOHN MCCAW
MAGAZINE DEADLINES
Deadline for Club News, articles and pictures is 14 April 2020 and 21 April 2020 for advertising.
NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
LOGBOOK
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
PERLAN STEMME S12 THE WORLDS HUMAN FACTORS • CLUB NEWS
SUBSCRIPTION FORM
i s s u e 5 5 N o v e m b e r 2 0 18 – J a n u a r y 2 0 19
EUROPEAN GLIDING CHAMPS ISSUE 58 AUGUST/OCTOBER 2019
WOMEN IN AVIATION STEMME IN NORWAY TEM • CLUB NEWS
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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The Evo Skylaunch Winch arrived in the country just before Christmas, but sadly just too late to be used at the Youth Soaring Development Camp. Now on site at Omarama, it got a good work out over Waitangi Weekend with the inaugural WOW, Winching Over Waitangi, long weekend. Congratulations to all involved. Launching costs for those wanting circuit training at next year’s YSDC should be considerably reduced. However, with heights of 2,400 feet recorded over Waitangi weekend it won’t just be those wanting circuit training who will be queuing to use it. From those heights, pilots will be able to make it into thermals and get away.
LOGBOOK • February–April 2020
•7
STRANGE PLACE TO PARK A GLIDER
You can’t get it right all of the time and in gliding, as we all know, sometimes that means landing out. Just because his ASH25 is waiting on a new engine to arrive from Germany doesn’t mean Terry Delore can’t fly it. On the 26th of January he took fellow Canterbury Club member Christine Franke on a cross-country. After crossing Porters Pass and having a play around, they discovered sink where they had been expecting to find lift, the glide to the large landing areas near Castle Hill looked too skinny, and after a last attempt to climb away in gusty thermals they elected to land on the dried out lakebed beside Lake Lyndon. Terry says, “We flagged it away at minimum safe circuit height and positioned for a circuit flying over the lake with jet skiers whizzing about a few hundred feet below. Then it dawned on us that the wind we assumed was a north westerly was not and the wind lines we saw on the lake were now coming from the south west. I’m not sure if I had picked it wrong or if the wind had changed. This made our approach a probable overshoot, so we made our way to the north of the dry lake area in lift from the gusty thermals. (A 15m ship may have been able to work them). We completed a lowish but safe into wind approach and landed on the very soft lush green lake grass, stopping in about 2-3 wing spans and to Christine's delight we were safe and dry.”
Terry says, “We flagged it away at minimum safe circuit height and positioned for a circuit flying over the lake with jet skiers whizzing about a few hundred feet below.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE WOMEN’S WORLDS? Commentary by John Good
Jo Davis on tow
The 10th FAI Women’s World Gliding Championship (WWGC) took place at Lake Keepit in northern New South Wales, Australia from 3 to 17 January 2020. Forty-five women pilots from ten countries competed in three classes, with nine days of flying. The weather was unseasonal with some very difficult days but the Aussie team with their home team advantage were doing very well. Jo Davis in Club Class was leading with Lisa Trotter in Standard Class in fifth when a complaint was laid against the Australian team. On the morning of the last day, a special meeting of the team captains was informed that the Australian team had found a way to access, in real time, the information from the GFA trackers the competitors were using. The trackers had been broadcasting on a 15 minute delay in an attempt to remove the analytical skill of the ground team in assisting the pilots, as has become the case in recent competitions and following a recent international rule change. USA Team Captain John Good reported from the contest, “Along with almost everyone here, I do not believe this was a plan to intentionally do something underhanded. The Australian team position is that they found a web page that required no password or other access restrictions, making the GFA tracking data available there fair game. They further believe that what they were obtaining (real-time positions for all gliders), is the same data available to any team that went to the trouble of deploying private FLARM stations in the contest task area. They thought of it as a clever and easy way to obtain the same information others would be able to get.” None of the other teams agreed. John Good continues, “The initial ruling from the contest organisers was that the receipt of this illicit data was unsporting behaviour, but because the Australian pilots had been told – and sincerely believed – this scheme was acceptable, no penalties would be applied. This did not sit well with the other nine Team Captains. If the data was illicit (as the contest had stated), extra speed and distance obtained from the use of it could not be hand waved away, even if pilots weren’t aware of the underlying problem. The response to this objection was a revised ruling: each Australian pilot would be penalised 250 points. This was protested, both by some teams
MICHAEL ZUPANC
who argued that the correct penalty was disqualification, and by the Australian team (who probably argued – correctly – that there is no specific rule against using the unsecured GFA tracking data). The final determination was that the penalty would be amount to 25 points per day per pilot, so a total of 225 points in this 9-day contest. This is perhaps approximately just – and certainly devastating to our contest. Jo Davis, flying beautifully in Club class, was knocked from first to fourth place; Elena Ferganani now has a gold medal that must always be bittersweet. Lisa Trotter (a good friend of mine) lost her third place medal in Standard Class. The contest organisation here, just at the end of an impressively well-run event representing several years of work, must now digest the fact that the most persistent memory of this contest is likely to be one distasteful to everyone.”
CHAMPIONS 18m 1 France 2 France Germany 3 Standard 1 USA 2 France 3 Great Britain Club 1 Italy 2 Germany 3 France
Mélanie Gadoulet Anne Ducarouge Katrin Senne
8,137 8,123 7,829
Sarah Arnold Aude Grangeray Ayala Truelove
7,998 7,932 7,601
Elena Fergnani Christine Grote Céline Rault
7,859 7,735 7,708
LOGBOOK • February–April 2020
CENTRAL DISTRICTS GLIDING CHAMPS 2020 DAY 1
This is happening as we go to print. Contest stories next issue.
GAVIN WILLS
M O U N TA IN SOARING SCHOOL Learn-to-Fly Post Solo to QGP Mountain Soaring Guest instructors: Uli Schwenk Justin Wills
ADVENTURE SOARING FLIGHTS
Inquiries and Bookings phone +64 3 438 9555 | www.glideomarama.com
•9
WOMEN’S BALLOON ALTITUDE RECORD
Alicia Hempleman-Adams, 30, from Bath, England, flew her hot air balloon (Class AX-04: 600 to 900 m³) to the remarkable altitude of 4604 metres. The FAI is waiting for the record file to ratify this performance as a new world record. If ratified by FAI, she will have broken the female world altitude record currently held by Pauline Baker since 2008 (4272 metres). The flight took place in Calgary, Canada, on 7 February 2020. To achieve this height, she was in the air for 1 hour and 46 minutes, and had to endure temperatures of down to -30 degrees Celsius. Hempleman-Adams follows in the footsteps of her father, David Hempleman-Adams, the famous adventurer and holder of 47 world records, including altitude, duration and distance. “It was pretty frightening up there, I’ve never felt so cold and at that height you feel very alone and a little bit helpless,” she said. “I love ballooning and have done a few flights a year since I got my licence eight years ago. I grew up following my Dad’s incredible exploits and he has been a huge inspiration. He instilled an adventurous spirit in all of us and that has helped me in my life and career.”
I grew up following my Dad’s incredible exploits and he has been a huge inspiration. HEMPLEMAN-ADAMS
LOGBOOK • February–April 2020
• 11
FAI NEWS
2022 FAI World Air Games Cancelled FAI regretfully announces that the 2022 FAI World Air Games, due to take place in Turkey, have been cancelled. The Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK), which had been awarded the organisation of the event, asked the FAI to postpone the Games until 2025, due to the current difficult economic situation in Turkey. Following this request, the FAI Executive Board, after consultation with the Air Sports Commission Presidents, took the decision to cancel the 2022 Games rather than postponing them. The Board further announced that the Federation will undertake an overall review of the FAI World Air Games concept and format before deciding on any future edition of the Games. FAI President Bob Henderson said: “This has not been an easy decision to make. However, it has been taken with all interests at heart and with a long-term and strategic view. The FAI World Air Games is the flagship event of the Federation and, as such, we must make sure that it be held in optimal conditions. The FAI will take this opportunity to discuss internally the future of the Games, taking all FAI stakeholders’ best interests in consideration. Information about the future FAI World Air Games events will be communicated in due course.
NEO-WINGLETS FOR LS6-B AND LS7 The DG Group have announced that, due to customer enquiries, they will now be manufacturing neo-Winglets for LS6-b and LS7 gliders. The winglets can be fitted onto existing gliders and are optimised for the glider’s air foil. The roll out of these winglets follows the success of neo-Winglets for the LS4 and LS1-f. They promise » Reduction of airflow separation on the outer wing
» Reduction of induced drag » Enhancement of roll rate / handling qualities » Less sensitive to yawing » Considerable performance gain in slow flight
GLIDING LESSONS FROM THE SKY Auckland Aviation Sports Club member Fletcher McKenzie has published three books on Lessons from the Sky. His goal is to share 1000 stories to hopefully save at least one pilot's life. He is looking for help for his next book, Gliding Lessons from the Sky, and asks SoaringNZ readers to contact him with stories that could help other pilots learn from other people’s mistakes, rather than making them for themselves. He is keen to collect 50-80 stories. If you have a tale to tell, contact Fletcher by email: fletch@avgasgroup.com
APOLOGIES
JOHN MCCAW
The editor would like to offer apologies to Bruce Cunningham. Bruce is indeed alive and not dead as mistakenly reported in the last issue. Many thanks to Bruce’s myriad of friends who pointed out her error.
NATIONALS
2 – 15 FEBRUARY, TAUPO WORDS BY HUGH DE LAUTOUR
SUPPLIED
Centennial Park was looking a picture for the 2020 National Gliding Championships - albeit more in sepia tones than its usual green due to a hot dry summer. Entries were good - about 28 to 30 gliders so all we needed was some good weather. While we got fine weather initially it was not good gliding weather with strong westerly winds killing all the lift.
NATIONALS • February–April 2020
• 13
P
RACTICE DAY ON Sunday 2nd was flyable but not very inviting, and similarly Monday and Tuesday were not taskable. However, on Wednesday that all changed, and it was all on! Racing tasks were set on Wednesday and Thursday and the pesky westerly turned into a wonderful westerly for a race along the Kaimais to Matamata or the Firth of Thames. Friday was a boomer and we got our first AAT task, setting the tone for the rest of the tournament with big circles, so plenty of options allowing the big wings to do big things and the mere mortals to do smaller portals. Wednesday was also significant for another sadder reason. News came through of the death of Maurice Weaver, one of the stalwarts of competitive gliding in New Zealand. It was suggested at the briefing the next morning that it might be appropriate, although entirely optional, to place a bit of black tape somewhere on the glider. It was felt that if a former rugby or cricket player had died during a national competition the players would all be wearing black armbands, so while that would not work so well for glider pilots, a bit of black tape would show our respects, and I’m pleased to report that there were lots of
bits of black tape visible in many different places on many gliders. RIP Maurice. The contest itself has been exciting. Tim Bromhead, in his newly acquired Ventus, was dominating the Open class early on, but as we know, it’s not over till it’s over. Going into the very last day the places were Peter Hartmann first, Patrick Driessen second, Tony van Dyk third, Keith Essex fourth and Tim fifth, but when Tim won that dramatic and very difficult last day and Tony unfortunately had to land out they swapped places, putting Tim into third behind Peter and Patrick. Because Peter, as a visiting pilot from overseas is not eligible to be actual National Champion, congratulations go to Patrick who earned that title with some consistently good results. The Racing class had its own drama. At the end of the first week Mark Wilson in the Libelle and local hope Trace Austin were within just a few points of each other at the top of the table, and Steve Foreman was close behind, but as time went on Mark was just too good and went on to win the title. Steve flew consistently well to just pip Trace for second. Another big story from the Racing class is the day win by Derek Shipley in the Std Jantar, showing the Taupo Gliding Club just how good their "old" glider really can be
in the right hands, as well as proving the old adage that if you’re not landing out you’re not trying hard enough! For my money, though, the best thing about the 2020 Nationals was the camaraderie. The atmosphere was positive, friendly and relaxed while still allowing for plenty of competitiveness in the air. Many old friendships were renewed, and new ones forged. That atmosphere came from many factors, but started with good background work from the Taupo Gliding Club, continued with Contest Director John Etches and his attitude of being firm, friendly and fair, and was maintained by the huge team of volunteers on the grid, in the towplanes, in the office, in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning, fixing and mixing, towing and mowing, moaning and groaning NO - who said that? - and of course the pilots themselves who are always ready to help others and share a laugh while sharing the sport we all love. Go gliding!
Clockwise from left: The team, Pat Driessen wins Nationals, Mark Wilson takes out the Racing class trophy, Peter Hartmann gets Open class winner award, briefing, tributes to Maurice, Christian Derdd and Ross Gaddes on grid, views from above
NATIONALS • February–April 2020
• 15
CONTEST DIRECTOR JOHN ETCHES REPORTS The Nationals 2020 was the most enjoyable competition I have been CD for. Including day entries there were 30 pilots registered and an average of 24 flew each day. Overall the weather was great with nine flying days. The days missed where due mainly to a low inversion and blue skies. 2000 feet height over ground around Taupo is not fun. A couple of days saw 9000 feet plus heights and great tasks out over the Kaimanawas.
This was a new experience for some of the pilots. A big thank you to all the volunteers: the grid runners, radio operators, tow pilots, kitchen people and office staff who give up their time to make a contest a success. The Open Class champion Patrick Driessen flew a total of 2769 kilometres on task.
The cups where award to Mike Rix Trophy for the youngest successful competitor: Tim Bromhead Hansells Trophy for the most meritorious flight: Steve Foreman Billy Walker Memorial Trophy for the Racing Class winner: Mark Wilson Dave Speight Memorial Trophy for the Open Class winner: Patrick Driessen
RESULTS OPEN Place 1 GDX 2 GVZ 3 GOP
Name Peter Hartmann Patrick Driessen Tim Bromhead
Glider Duo Discus JS1 Ventus CT 17.6m
Total 8,275 8,193 7,154
Day 1 4 (948) 3 (958) 1 (1,000)
Day 2 2 (978) 3 (957) 1 (1,000)
Day 3 3 (882) 2 (936) 1 (1,000)
Day 4 4 (953) 2 (979) 1 (1,000)
Day 5 3 (917) 2 (925) 8 (699)
Day 6 2 (886) 4 (810) 14 (0)
Day 7 2 (921) 4 (740) 7 (691)
Day 8 1 (1,000) 2 (984) 7 (764)
Day 9 7 (790) 3 (904) 1 (1,000)
Name Mark Wilson Steve Foreman Trace Austin
Glider Libelle 201 LS4 Discus
Total 7,464 6,575 6,512
Day 1 1 (955) 2 (939) 3 (934)
Day 2 2 (937) 5 (850) 1 (1,000)
Day 3 1 (1,000) 2 (877) 4 (786)
Day 4 4 (919) 5 (837) 1 (1,000)
Day 5 4 (822) 2 (918) 3 (892)
Day 6 1 (1,000) 6 (848) 3 (966)
Day 7 1 (831) 4 (440) 6 (360)
Day 8 1 (1,000) 2 (866) 4 (574)
Day 9 1 (0) 1 (0) 1 (0)
RACING Placing 1 GGX 2 GKP 3 GNM
AUCKLAND SOARING CHAMPIONSHIP 2020 WORDS BY ROB LYON
SUPPLIED
The Auckland Soaring Championships – or Auckland Enterprise – has always been a bit of a different style of competition than the norm.
AUCKLAND SOARING CHAMPS • February–April 2020
• 17
E
NTERPRISE STYLE COMPETITIONS are an idea from the UK which first started in the 1970s. The idea is to encourage “flying”, rather than “competing” and the aim is always to make the most of the entire day, rather than just make use of the best part of the day. Enterprise competitions are open to anyone, they don’t have classes and the “rules” are deliberately vague and open to interpretation. Most days, the “task” will be to fly as far as possible and make the most “enterprising” flight. You might think that this would lead to the contest being dominated by one pilot with the best glider, but nothing could be further from the truth. This year’s championship came down to a 4-point difference between an 18-metre super-ship and a 35-year-old 15-metre standard class glider. On the way, we saw some of the most adventurous flying ever done out of Auckland. Or at least, some of the best flying since the last competition.
DAY 1 AN IMPOSSIBLE DAY With a 35 knot westerly blowing and an uncertain thermal forecast there’s no way
you can set a task out of Auckland. For any contest, this is going to be a no-fly day.
north reaching Goat Island, almost level with Coromandel Township.
But wait, this is an “Enterprise” contest. So, we can do whatever we want. And what we want is to go flying somewhere. The choice was to find a ridge somewhere, so gliders were de-rigged, packed into trailers and off to Thames we went. Taupo’s Robin DR-400 flew down to provide towing.
1
Thames airfield hasn’t seen a fleet of gliders for many years but after a quick phone call to the Hauraki Aero Club CFI, some of their members turned up at the airfield to open the clubhouse and help us grid and launch. Todays “task” is “fly as far as you can”. We award points for the longest single leg of the flight, and for reaching bonus turn points along the way. There are no points for repeatedly running the ridge North / South return so this isn’t going to be your typical ridge-bash. 3 DANE DICKINSON LIBELLE Dane flew from KFC Sheds to a point 50 km north of Thames, which is normally considered to be the longest flyable length of the Kaimai Ridge without using the Wave. 2 TIM BROMHEAD DG300 Tim flew from a similar southern turn point but another 15 km past Dane and out over the Hauraki Gulf to the
PAT DRIESSEN
JS-1
Pat flew from almost as far south as Atiamuri (which is well beyond the southern end of the ridge) to the very tip of the Coromandel peninsula, for a single leg straight line handicapped distance of 218 km. Truly a spectacular flight. Finally, after returning to Thames, he took a climb in the primary wave in front of the Thames airfield and made a final glide home to Drury.
DAY 2 IT’S STILL BLOWING WESTERLY With a 35 knot westerly blowing and an uncertain thermal forecast there’s no way you can set a task. Hang on, haven’t we been here before? OK, back to Thames it is. Again the Hauraki Aero Club came down to greet us and long-time gliding stalwart Eric Gosse dropped in to say, “hello”. Today’s task is to collect as many turnpoints as possible from the given list, maximum 8 out of 10, while flying as fast as possible – 1 point for every km/h achieved on task. And in this wind, that’s going to be impossible right? Wrong…
AUCKLAND SOARING CHAMPS • February–April 2020 • 19
RESULTS FOR DAY Place 1 2 3
Pilot Tim Bromhead Pat Driessen Derek Kraak
Aircraft Type DG300 JS1 ASG29.
This was also the day that smoke from the Aussie bush fires reached the North Island. By 3pm, the sky was a dark yellow and temperatures were decidedly “cool” to say the least.
DAY 3 IT’S STILL BLOWING WESTERLY With a 35 knot westerly blowing and an uncertain thermal forecast there’s no way you can set a task…. OK, you get the idea. The Kaimai ridge isn’t the only option available in a westerly. The west coast from Raglan to Muriwai is an unbroken line of sea cliffs. In the right conditions they provide a safe, reliable and spectacular low levels run for 120 kms or more. The downside is that there is no way to get “off” the ridge and the only landing options are on the beach or at a couple of landing strips along the coast. For this reason, it’s not really sensible to try to set a racing task on this ridge. Instead, today was set as a “fun” day, with
Turn points 8 8 8
Speed 107 km/h 95 km/h 87 km/h
breeze does set up and allows several pilots to get down to Pirongia, south of Hamilton. However, the sea breeze blows inland over Hamilton Airport very quickly, forcing pilots to either turn back early, or keep going south and try to get around Hamilton airspace and back over the Waikato.
Of course, since it wasn’t a contest day, Tim Bromhead promptly flew 700 km. Yes – you read that correctly.
The forecast is wrong, because conditions east of Hamilton, in the Waikato are actually much better than expected. And those pilots who either went down the Waikato first, or had to return that way found conditions actually pretty good.
DAY 3.5
Today’s task – free distance. Bonus points for Pukekawa, Glen Murray and Drury Airfield.
some points awarded simply for turning up.
YUP, STILL WESTERLY We gave in and called a rest day. The forecast for tomorrow looks much better.
DAY 4 THE WEATHERMAN LIED Today’s forecast isn’t looking great. The westerly winds have blown themselves out, but the prediction is for a low cloud base with a few scattered showers. We take a punt on setting a free distance day and open up the airspace to the west of Hamilton in the hope that the West Coast sea breeze can keep everyone airborne long enough to make a decent day of it. In the end, the forecast is partially right but mostly wrong. As forecast, the West Coast sea
3 TIM BROMHEAD DG300 Tim “only” flew 396km today. 2 STEFAN LANGER DISCUS 2 Showing us how it was supposed to be done, Stefan flew 546 km in Auckland Gliding Club’s Discus. JS-1 1 PAT DRIESSEN Pat went to Twin Falls south of Taupo before returning back to Atiamuri. At this point he decided that this wasn’t far enough so turned around again and went back to National Park, near Mt Ruapehu. Nobody, could get home from there today? Wrong. Pat did indeed make it home to Drury for a total distance of 700km.
Clockwise from left: The Firth Of Thames, Landout under an orange sky
DAY 5
DAY 6
CAN THE WEATHERMAN REDEEM HIMSELF? After yesterdays flights, there was a lot of late-night discussion in the bar about the contest format. All sorts of ideas got thrown around and lots of ideas of what we could try next. So today we're going to try a bit of a comparison and run the day as a formal AAT. Well, maybe the task area shapes are unusual for a New Zealand contest and the minimum distance is pretty short. If nothing else happens, at least the day will be easy for me to score for a change.
The start looked distinctly average and the sky fell to bits half way through the launch. But fortunately, everything recycled pretty quickly and everyone got away. Since then the weather has been better than expected again, so it seemed like sacrificing the weatherman (Anton) to the gods yesterday was a good idea. In the end however, the weather was the deciding factor for the longer wings who tried to push too far. Today belonged to the shorter wings who got home early. Today’s task – Assigned Area Task. Min 130 km, Max 490 km.
RESULTS FOR DAY Place 1 2 3
Pilot Steve Wallace Stefan Langer Matt Finlay
Aircraft Type Mosquito Discus 2 ASW-20
Distance 271 km 290 km 267 km
Speed 90.3 km/h 90.1 km/h 89.2 km/h
FLY AN FAI TRIANGLE Back to the Enterprise format again. A list of bonus turn points, plus 1 pt. per km from a full FAI triangle. Flying FAI triangles out of Auckland is notoriously difficult because of the open ocean to the west and the open ocean to the east. This has a slight dampening effect on the ability to successfully squeeze in a 28% leg of a triangle. The North island simply isn’t wide enough unless you fly out of somewhere like Taupo, Right? Wrong again … None of this mattered to Stefan who promptly streaked off down to Port Waikato on the West Coast and didn’t stop for another 10 km over the waves before heading back into the West Coast. All the experience from
Clockwise from left: Pawnee power, loading up trailers, on the grid.
AUCKLAND SOARING CHAMPS • February–April 2020 • 21
Day 3 came into play as he spent the next 30 mins scraping away from the sea cliffs next to the beach. A 324 km FAI triangle out of Drury is no mean feat. Unfortunately, NZ's somewhat arbitrary airspace limits dampened what was an otherwise amazing flight. You can see the story of this flight on Stefan’s You Tube channel. Not to be outdone, Pat Driessen managed an even more fantastic 332 km triangle, scaled back only slightly by his better handicap. Who knew - Enterprising pilots can fly 300 km Triangles out of Drury! Today’s task – Fly an FAI Triangle, Bonus Points for Tahuna, Gordon, Okoroire Thames, Hotel De Vin and Home to Drury.
RESULTS FOR DAY Place 1 2 3
Pilot Pat Driessen Dane Dickinson Tim Bromhead
Aircraft Type JS-1 Libelle DG 300
Pat’s flight was an excellent demonstration of how to fly an FAI triangle that looks nothing like a “triangle”. Pat Flew south from Drury to BOP Depot and then turned west and flew across to Te Kuiti. A traditional flight would expect the pilot to return direct from there, but the weather today made it much more sensible to fly back home the same way that he got there. Which is exactly what he did. An FAI distance of 332 km.
both to the pilots and the volunteers who make this contest possible.
FINAL RESULTS 1 PAT DRIESSEN JONKERS JS-1 5378 PTS Success in an Enterprise contest comes from doing the unexpected, and extracting the most from every day’s flying. Its not always the fastest glider that wins – it’s the pilot that does the unexpected and makes the best of the day. 2
TIM BROMHEAD
Tim proved that you don’t need the latest hot ship to win a contest. Success comes from flying what you have, the best that you can. 3 STEFAN LANGER
DAY 6 UH OH. ITS BLUE. Blue days in New Zealand are a task setter’s nightmare. Combine this with the last day of a contest where everyone wants to fly but nobody wants to land out. In the end, we set a flying area relatively close to home, hooked up the trailers and got ready to retrieve. While we did have a few landouts, most of the field did manage to get home in plenty of time for the evening meal and prize giving. Today’s task – Stay flying and get home to Drury. In the meantime, attempt an AAT.
D G300 5374 PTS
D ISCUS 2 5121 PTS
Stefan made some spectacular flights this week. But ultimately an airspace mistake on day 5 proved to be too much to overcome.
CONTEST WRAP UP The Auckland Enterprise contest is also unique for being so well supported by its principal sponsor, Smeg New Zealand. The strength of support shown by the sponsor made for some really fantastic awards for
Pilot Stefan Langer Ross Gaddes Tim Bromhead
Its not just the flying that makes the Auckland Enterprise contest so successful, it’s the sponsorship and the social media advertising that can, and does, bring this contest to a wider audience. If gliding is going to survive and prosper as a sport, then this is exactly the kind of exposure that we need. You can help with this by visiting Stefan’s YouTube and Instagram pages. You’ll find videos and photographs from the contest as well as links to our sponsors page. Please also let our sponsors know how much you appreciate everything that they’ve done for us. Smeg New Zealand - https://www.smeg.co.nz/ Briscoes - https://www.briscoes.co.nz/ Dr Feelgood Frozen Pops www.drfeelgood.co.nz San Pellegrino https://www.sanpellegrino.com/au/en
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
RESULTS FOR DAY Place 1 2 3
On top of this, we were privileged to be visited by Stefan Langer from Germany Stefan is a professional glider pilot with a large following on You Tube and other social media channels. Stefan was able to make some truly spectacular videos of his flying here in New Zealand which are now being seen around the world. And those videos have some really big viewing numbers in the tens of thousands already.
Aircraft Type Discus 2 Ventus 2 DG 300
Distance 216 km 185km 189 km
Speed 98.8 km/h 92.6 km/h 91.4 km/h
Google “Stefan Langer” on YouTube and “stefanlanger92” on Instagram
Above: Simon presents Pat with winners trophies.
22 • February–April 2020 • VINTAGE CLASS SAILPLANE WINS
VINTAGE CLASS SAILPLANE WINS WORDS BY ROGER BROWN
‘Wooden’ it be something if a Vintage Class Sailplane beat all of the ‘Glass Wonders’ at a GNZ sanctioned Contest? This did in fact happen at the Northern Regional Gliding Championships held at Matamata, late November 2019. FLYING A SLINGSBY Dart 17R that was built in 1966, Vintage Kiwi member Rae Kerr took out the Racing Class, winning by some 719 points. Second place was a DG300 Elan, third place was a S.H Ventus Bt. Rae, in recent years, has made a bit of a name for himself by flying the V.K syndicated KA8, achieving some very competitive results and giving the rest of the field a really good run for their money. So, it may have been only a period of time before Rae was actually able to ‘nail one’, although the handicap that was given to the glider was not overly helpful to Rae’s cause. The Dart series were designed in 1963 and were of conventional all wood construction. The 17 metre Dart was developed in 1965. ZKGEZ is the only 17 metre Dart still flying in New Zealand. Weather played a big part in this contest with the first three days being cancelled due to
Clockwise from left: Slinsby Dart 17R, ready to go, on grid, Rae receiving winners trophies.
no one being able to stay up. Very hot stable conditions were not helpful. Then from day four onwards it was all on and some very ingenious tasks were set to take advantage of the conditions that now prevailed. Rae completed every task and won every day. He tells me he felt really ‘in the groove’ and didn't see himself as flying a Vintage Class wooden sailplane. The Dart was of course very good in its day and in this contest, some 53 years later, proved to be the same. It easily out sprinted the ‘glass’ field overall. It’s been said before - it’s not what you have got but it’s where you point it. And Rae did in fact do just that and created a bit of New Zealand history in doing so.
The tasks ranged between 180 - 270 kms so the contest certainly had some substance. Very well done.
SUMMER SOARING ADVENTURES • February–April 2020 • 23
SUMMER SOARING ADVENTURES Here are four adventures that occurred over the summer months SUPPLIED
Terry Delore launching at first light
1730KM
BY TERRY DELORE
SUPPLIED
THE HARDEST AND MOST SATISFYING FLIGHT OF MY LIFE If you try long enough and hard enough, about one in twenty five times you can succeed on the really hard flights! After a perusal of the long-range weather charts it seemed that conditions would be right for a big flight around the beginning of February. After several days of preparation, the ASW27b Romeo Xray and I were ready, and we headed to Omarama in anticipation. On 3 February I declared a 15m 1730 km Out and Return. If I was successful and fast enough, 136 kph or more, this would qualify for a 1500 km Out and Return world record, 1730 km Free Out and Return and a Declared Out and Return world record. Tom Berger towed me at first light from Omarama. I quickly contacted the wave and headed to Clyde Dam for the start. I was lucky. Clyde was very nearly shut down with rain and frontal cloud. If I’d been five minutes later, it would have been game over. My first leg was Clyde Dam to Whanawhana, 18 nautical miles west of Napier. There were
areas of awesome wave mixed in with weak broken wave in places. The airmass was smoky, hot and dry and as I moved up the South Island the day to the north did not look encouraging. At Blenheim I considered abandoning the task as all my usual wave sources failed to produce the goods suitable for a safe crossing of Cook Straight. At Blairich, just south of Blenheim, the weak wave supported a slow climb to around 20,000 feet from where the primary wave over Lake Wairarapa was clearly marked through the smoke from the Aussie bush fires. It was so smoky I had to wear my mask to breathe. The smoke in fact marked the wave reasonably clearly in the otherwise clear blue sky. At 11.30 I was over the middle of Cook Strait and could see the wave off the Rimutakas was working reliably but looking ahead, the Napier area looked near on impossible - blue and unmarked except for two or three tiny wisps
that formed just now and again. My team at home breathed a sigh of relief that I was back over land, but I still had to do it in the other direction to get home. I had flown this area before in hopeless looking conditions and been pleasantly surprised, so we carried on. I took a high climb to cross the usual cloud and moisture coming through the Manawatu Gorge then a top up at Mt Bruce that got me to Kereru, another good wave producing area about 30 kilometres short of Whanawhana. Just as I left this weak wave a text came through from Abbey. She said Matthew Scutter had been studying his SkySight weather and said, “Get as high as possible. It doesn’t look good!!” Too late. We were well on the way. Just then I got a report from Air Traffic Control, the sea breeze had come into Napier from the East. This was not what you want to hear when you are 800 kilometres from home trying to soar westerly wave! Slowly and very carefully I weaved my way
SUMMER SOARING ADVENTURES • February–April 2020 • 25
Clockwise from left: five minutes after starting from Clyde, and the weather had closed in, bee-lining for Wellington coast, up high, smoke from Aussie bushfires, Terry on landing celebrating, messy at the finish with 65 km to go
round the turn at about 2pm and got back to the Rimutaka wave which was now living up to its name, the Lake Monster. It was COOKING! I was coming up to the part of the flight that keeps you awake at night. Ahead was a crossing; 87 kilometres of water, in an area that is notorious for gale force winds and rapid cloud formation. But it wasn’t to be a problem today. I got a nice climb to 27,500 feet, and just as SkySight predicted, the wave went over half way across the Strait. We cruised out, climbing on track and reached the South Island at about 22,000 feet. Yahoo!! By 4 pm I was back over solid ground and on track but wasted a heap of height trying to play it safe. I ended up pushing on through the Kaikoura Ranges in very poor air, most of which was descending. I passed Max Stevens on his final northern leg for a 1500 km diploma and carried on south very carefully, taking anything more than 2.5 knots as high as possible until finally getting back to North Canterbury where conditions were very good. I had to get to Clyde by 8.43 pm and finish above 6,520 feet to claim the 15m World Record. I made Twizel at 6.15 pm with 150 km to run. It was looking good.
Long story short, I got back to the finish at Clyde just as the southerly front arrived. I was dodging cloud in the rain and taking great advice from John Robinson who was on the ground at the finish point. Five minutes after I finished it was shut down. I had used the whole day. I made it back onto the ground at Omarama at 8.47 pm, just before CET, having completed the hardest, most challenging and satisfying flight of my life.
pilots from everywhere. Your support is very humbling. The next big one is not a record, it is Bluff to Cape Reinga, the length of New Zealand with my co-pilot and daughter Abbey. And for the record, it looks like the free out and return distance is in the bag but the declared 1730 km o/r and 1500 km o/r speed are in doubt due to missing the start line by 200 metres. I was in quadrant, but the rules have changed! Hard lesson!
A massive thank you to Airways New Zealand for their support and assistance, as Abbey says, dancing around a small yet speedy 15m soaring weapon. Thank you to my friends from throughout New Zealand and around the world for all your kind comments and wishes. I set out to fly as far as absolutely possible on the day and fly to the best of my ability. I did both. There was nothing left.
15M FAI WORLD RECORDS
The fear of failure is what stops most of us, on this flight I remembered my past failures and that helped me succeed.
Out and return declared distance 1730km (TBC)
I am so very lucky to have the support of my family, club and so many top calibre
Out and return speed over 1500km (TBC)
Out and return free distance 1730km
1,500 KM, BUT NO CIGAR The adrenalin rush starts on Thursday 9 January on receipt of Terry Delore’s simple one-liner email, “All you fellas looking for a special flight for 300, 500, 1000, 1250, 1500, or possibly 2000, this weekend has the best set up of the season according to the forecast.” I’m at home in Loburn, having just flown the Cessna back from Omarama the day before – I left too early, dammit! Then the grapevine reveals that Mike Oakley is positioning to Omarama for a 2,000 km attempt in the ASH 25 on Saturday. The temptation is just too great, so back we go to Omarama on Friday to get ready for a big day. I tank the Ventus up full that night, check out the towing arrangements and set the alarm for 05:30 am. Having breakfast, but there’s NO WIND on the ground – bugger. Mike tows to the Clay Cliffs in the ASH 25 and scratches around for over an hour at low level before landing back. The wave sets up later in the morning, too late for a long flight. Tomorrow then! Text received from tow pilot, Tom Berger that evening, “Hi Max, planning on an early start tomorrow?” Don’t you love it when the tow pilot texts you, rather than the other way around? – Gold. I reply, “At this stage yes, say 8 am?” Other pilots are queuing up for an early launch too. I get woken up by Terry Delore launching in his ASW 27 at dawn. That’s got to be a good sign. But alas, no, he is soon back on
the ground. Unfortunately – again, not enough wind. I’m on the grid by 8 am, by which time there is a little bit of surface wind, but not a lot. Graham Erikson is there, seeking another 1,000 km. And Robin Smit is ‘loitering with intent’ as well. We confer on the weather, and all agree it’s not looking that great. The expected front has gone through but is sitting menacingly round about Tekapo. I have decided to go south first, hoping the front moves out of the way by the time I’m up north. I launch despite misgivings. Let’s go and have a look anyway – Graham runs my wing and Tom in the Fatman hauls me off the ground at 08:10 am. I ask him to take me towards the Ewe Range, with the idea of releasing as soon as I can get safely onto the Omarama Saddle ridge. There seems to be a bit of wind at around 5,000 feet AMSL, so I pop off the tow and take a swipe at Hugo’s. There’s nothing there so flop onto the ridge – it’s working, if only softly! However, there are some wisps of rotor Cu, and after 30 minutes of thrashing around I’m in the silky stuff at 10,000 feet,
BY MAX STEVENS
SUPPLIED
just upwind of Omarama Saddle. I climb to 11,500 feet and call Christchurch Control to open G953 and 957. As I head for the remote start line at Ruataniwha the wave is well marked and there is strong lift as I start, 1:15 hours after take-off (brain obviously not woken up yet – more later). The run south is easy, with the Dunstan wave nicely marked. We pass Omakau at 16,000 feet without stopping. I call Christchurch at 14,000 feet over Alexandra to organise a clearance up to FL 170 30NM past the end of G953 for my first turn point, which is Balfour. The controller okays this but says no further west than my current location. I think, ‘that’s not going to work, I’ll try again when I get to the south end of 953. I get there and confess that I need a bit further west as I go south – he grants that, no problem, nice. The wave in the Waikaia Valley is short wavelength and weak, but well-marked, so no problem rounding Balfour at 11,000 feet. Average speed on task at that point is 145 km/h. So far so good. The track out of the Waikaia Valley is wellmarked and easy, passing abeam Roxburgh at 14,500 feet. Hugo’s 13,500 feet. A bit cloudy and confused on the Bens, so I drop over the back to pick up an obvious line in front of Gray’s Hills. Still looking very murky up Tekapo way, however there’s a distinct
SUMMER SOARING ADVENTURE • February–April 2020 • 27
have to spend another 20 minutes scratching back up to 8,000 feet, still with full water ballast. This time, I push upwind over the St Bathans Range and have a reasonable run down the north Dunstans. There’s a good-looking lennie south of Thomsons Track. I’m at 7,500 feet on the west side, so over I go (gulp). Down to 5,800 feet, contemplating a landing at Alexandra, then kaboom into the good stuff – it averages 7 knots to 15,000 feet. I have to dive over the Old Man Range to get Potters, the final turn. This costs 4,000 feet, but as the day is fading fast I need to press on. I’m only 7,000 feet passing Clyde and the lennie has evaporated – but this time I know where the wave is, so a few beats gets me back up to 16,000 feet. It’s 10 past 9 pm.
but tatty looking lennie over Fairlie, so it’s obvious I need to take a more eastern track. The lennie at Fairlie yields nothing worth stopping for, so I call Christchurch again and truck on at around 12,000 feet. Getting very cloudy and down to 10,000 feet in the lee of Mount Somers. I track further east and eventually find myself right over Springfield airfield at 10,000 feet, in a tiny wave slot. It appears I’ve run into the frontal cloud and it looks like the attempt is doomed. But ‘parking’ for a few minutes, working rotor and chasing gaps in the cloud sees a 1,000 feet gain and a better view of what’s going on. Then it’s all on again, 15,000 feet, with Lees Valley looking very workable but also a bit cloudy. It’s a fast run north, 16,500 feet in Lees Valley, then downwind a couple of waves abeam Hanmer to pick up a great looking line in the lee of the Inland Kaikouras. This also becomes a bit cloudy further north, so I drop back to a clearer line behind the Seaward Kaikouras, up to 17,500 feet, then dive forward over the top of the lennie to the turn point at the Coverham airstrip. Average speed on task to this point is 144 km/h. It’s just gone 3 pm. I’m pretty much on schedule but I can’t afford to dawdle! I have a good run to the east of Hanmer, still at 17,000 feet, but I need to work back west towards the cloudy stuff in Lees Valley. I get there at 15,000 feet then it starts to turn to custard. It looks totally blue south of the
Rakaia. Do I follow my northbound track in the lee of Mount Hutt, now completely blue, or jump forward to the front, of the Torlesse Range, to be on the safe side. I choose the latter, but there’s the last of the lennies to jump over first and I burn off 8,000 valuable feet getting there – what a cock-up! I have to fiddle around in rotor for 10 minutes to get back in the wave behind the Craigieburns. Weakening off at 15,000 feet I lose patience and truck on. 11,000 feet in front of Mt Hutt, looking for blue wave in the lee of the Taylor Range – don’t find it – next minute I’m ridge soaring at 7,000 feet, bugger! I float across the Rangitata to Mount Harper, 6,000 feet, then another 10 minutes on the Ben McLeods getting enough height to cross over to the west side of the Two Thumbs. Down to 5,000 feet at Grampian Station and desperately looking for signs of wave. I can see the Dunstan wave is still there in the distance – if only! But, if I can work around to the Omarama Saddle, maybe I can get back into the wave with enough daylight to complete the task. Robin Smit offers to check out the Omarama Saddle for me – he does, and it’s still working! Crikey, what great news, this thing just might be doable after all. I pass Omarama at 18:45 at 5,000 feet and ridge round to the saddle. It takes a 15 minute scratch to get up to 8,000 feet in rotor. I’m impatient, so move on, only to be dumped 15 kilometres down track, so scramble back and
Through the Omarama Saddle at 12,000 feet, it dawns on me that I had started high. How dumb. Just how high was it? I can’t remember, but probably need to be at least 10,000 feet back at Ruataniwha. It’s getting dark so I can’t see a wave line or any rotor Cu. I’m shivering with cold now the sun has gone behind the cloud in the west, and it’s now 20 past 9. Terry has been watching my SPOT and egging me on with encouraging comments for hours. As I pass Omarama at 11,000 feet on the run to the finish, he asks, “Did you get the bottom turn, you old fart?” Whoops of delight as I reply in the affirmative! He tells me there is a crowd gathering, there’s nobody in the circuit (hint), and, “Please land outside the terminal. Somebody will put your glider away.” Then I realise I’m in sink. The sink persists and I get dumped to 7,800 feet at the finish line. Not enough daylight to try and find lift to get back up, bugger! Not sure at this point whether I’d done a legal 1,500 or not – worry about that later. Over the field to do a couple of passes at a sensible height, then I land and roll to up to the crowd in the gloom as ordered. Graham Erikson, who ran my wing 13 hours 40 minutes earlier, is there to catch it as I crawl to a stop. Thanks Graham! 6 minutes to CET. I contemplate a grinning Terry Delore standing in front of the Ventus, vigorously shaking a bottle of champagne. I sit there a bit stunned, shaking lots of hands but eventually manage to extricate myself from
the Ventus to accept the ‘punishment’. I can’t believe the fuss! A cup of tea is thrust into my hand – most welcome. Martin Katschner, my OO, downloads my flight file. I’m whisked off by Grae and Delys into their care, while Jenny Wilkinson puts YD to bed in the hangar. I call Patricia, but her phone is off. I try to sleep, but I’m too hyped up, with vario beeps in my head! I’m a zombie all next day. Retrospect. I should have peeled off at least 5,000 feet while in lift before starting. This blunder and the strong sink at the end resulted in a height loss of 1,650 m, knocking 65 km off the 1,505 km task distance, per the Sporting Code. So, I claimed a 1,250 as a consolation prize. Falling out of the wave on the third leg and having to ridge for 180 km didn’t help, as it reduced the average speed considerably. I’ll just have to try again! This was my 5th attempt at 1,500 km out of Omarama in the previous two years. On all the earlier occasions, the wind turned out to be too light or too far south of west, and/or there was too much cloud in the north. This time, the wind north of the Rakaia was NW at about 40 knots and the wave in the lee of the Kaikouras was well set up. I had never been
there before in those conditions. It’s magic. Now I know how good it can be, I’ll adjust the task to go further north while high in the wave and do away with the remote start. Thanks very much to everyone for the help and encouragement, and especially for the welcome-back on landing. It makes it all worth it. I’ll be watching for the mighty NorWester and Terry’s next “wave alert”!
TAKE TWO
Three weeks later, the wind aligned NW again. Terry Delore set off at dawn for an out-and-return to Napier in his ASW27, and Max set off at 8 am for another go at the 1500k. SkySight predicted that the south end of the Dunstans would be obscured by cloud/rain from a stationary front. So, Max decided not to go south of the Omarama Saddle, instead opting for a double out-and-return to the north. After a deliberately low start at the end of the Ewe Range, he found it easy to get into wave. At 21,000 feet over Rotten Tommy, 1 hour 45 minutes after take-off, the day was
looking good. But, at 17,000 feet, just short of Hanmer at the first turn the average task speed was only 120 kph, caused by a low spot crossing the Rangitata, a little slow for the job in hand. This speed proved to be the order of the day, with the Rangitata being even worse on the second trip north. The Kaikouras were most disappointing when Terry and Max crossed paths at about 4:30 pm, both of them being at only 11-12,000 feet. Max still had 60 kilometres to go to his top turn and, with the wave topping out at only 16,000 feet in the light wind in the lee of Tapuae-o-Uenuku and nothing obvious ahead, it was a slide downhill to the ridges north of Hanmer. He arrived around 6,000 feet and endured a 30 minute thrashing in rotor to get back to 10,000 feet. Fortunately, the wave picked up again from there, followed by a stroke of luck in the lee of Mt Hutt – blue wave (grey actually) enabled a gentle cruiseclimb to 17,500 feet at Mayfield around 8 pm, then good air until about Lake Opuha. This was enough for a final glide to achieve the 1,509 km declared, landing 25 minutes after Terry and 15 minutes before CET. Above: Max on his second landing
SUMMER SOARING ADVENTURE • February–April 2020 • 29
500 KM. YAHOO! In mid-January Robert Laskey of Gliding Manawatu knocked off a big milestone in his gliding career. As you may have heard, I had a successful attempt at my diamond 500 kilometre flight on Saturday 18 January. The day looked promising ... good strong winds forecast with good visibility and cloud base expected. I launched at about 11 am and after a 3500 foot tow was on my own on the way to the ridge. I had popped in 60 litres of water to smooth things out and headed off up to my starting point at the top end of the Umitoi Ridge. Cloud base was a bit of an issue getting to my start point but not too much so. I made it and headed down to my first turn point at Paraparaumu. Clearance was given to cross the gorge and it was pretty easy going down to just past Levin where the wind dropped off markedly and swung round to about 340 degrees at only about 8 knots. It wasn’t enough really. However, there were a few nice looking clouds in the gorge area that I thermalled up
into and headed off to the Waikanae ridge at about 3500 feet. I didn’t lose much height getting to my southern turn point and headed back to the Otaki Forks for another top up before heading north again. After Levin the wind gradually built up again and although I had to wait around for an ATR landing in Palmy, I got clearance to continue north to my top turn point. This time cloud base was good and I had no problems rounding the turn point and headed south again to the Otaki Forks for my last turn point. Again there was a lack of wind but good enough thermal activity along the ranges to get safely to the turn point. With great relief I turned back towards the finish. This time I was cleared immediately and cruised up the Ruahines towards the finish line. The cloud base was lowering all the time and I had a nervous time but finally managed to scrape around just under the cloud and up
BY ROBERT LASKEY
SUPPLIED
to my finish point after a few failed attempts. I was so close but it took three attempts to finally cross the line. That done it was just a fly down the ranges to Wharite again. The cloud was really getting low and the wind was up to about 35 knots. My computer said I didn’t have a final glide, I was about 200 feet low but it was a case of having to give it a go. Vaughan shot past me half way home and made it look easy. I got a few pull ups from some clouds and got back with about 500 feet to spare. It was a great relief to be home with the task completed. Thanks Tracey, for the beer. It never tasted so good! A flight of 6 hours and 13 minutes. Total distance was just over 750 km. Yahoo!!!!
Above: Robert Laskey
500 KM FLIGHT AND DIAMOND HEIGHT A LONG TIME COMING
It’s been a long time between goal flights. My logbook says I did my 300 km flight in 1990. It’s taken me twenty nine years to get my 500 km. Interestingly, both flights were done in the same glider, my Cirrus JK. My uncle John Trotter bought it new in 1974, in partnership with Doug Saywell and Peter Cummins. It was test flown by Bruce Drake in December 1974. By 1990 my brother Donald and I owned it. We sold it in 1995 and my son Alex and I bought it back a few years ago. I have hundreds of hours in it and have flown many long distances; I’ve just never gotten around to actually declaring a 500 k. I’d been rattling around at Omarama and Alex was encouraging me to do it. So, on 28 December 2019 we went to the briefing and the day was going to be South West - not the easiest. Still, you can get a good wave setting up along the Waitaki valley in those conditions, so it seemed worth a try. I declared: OA, Shag Point, Mt Chudney (near
Mt Cook), Campbell Park, OA. It was 530 km, a good margin. I was towed up by Brad Newfield in the Cub BFV. This seemed notable. The cub is historic and Brad is a third generation pilot and the son of long time glider pilot Theo Newfield. I climbed at the south end of Mt Horrible alongside Alex Hewson in the club’s Twin. My start at Omarama was at 4,500 feet and I flew south to Hugo’s before setting off down the Hawkduns to Shag Point. I managed an easy 75-80 knots in ridge lift on the Hawkduns all the way to Ranfurly. At Kyeburn I climbed to 7,000 feet and moved onto the Kakanui range. I passed Keith Essex on the Kakanuis, roaring along the ridge in the opposite direction. Seeing him gave me confidence that the ridge was working down low.
WORDS BY JOHN MCCAW
JOHN MCCAW
After rounding the turn, I returned, and at 7,000 feet crossed into the Waitaki Valley to where Brian Savage and Max Stevens were at 16,000 feet in the wave, but I couldn’t get into it. I followed thermals to Kurow and managed to contact wave above the Benmore Dam to 9,000 feet. Climbing I headed north without turning, reaching Twizel at 11,000 feet. I tried the Ben Ohau wave which was blue with no indicators. The Ben Ohaus were rough and not working very well. Then, at Glentanner I managed to climb in blue wave to 10,500 feet. I was watching all the helicopters coming out of Glentanner like little egg beaters. They climb fast. In this area you have to state position and keep a listening watch on 118.6. I pushed onto the Mt Cook main ridge with approximately 45 knots of wind. I climbed smoothly but had to keep reasonable distance from the face due to the wind speed.
SUMMER SOARING ADVENTURE • February–April 2020
There were heaps of campervans in the Hooker Valley carpark. It was a busy day. I climbed to 14,000 feet with some wave from the top of the ridge then crossed the Tasman Valley and ran downwind 10 kilometres to Mt Chudney. I turned back in the lee of Mt Cook and, worried about turbulence in the lee, flew back onto the main face as fast as I could. Once again, I climbed the main face, getting to 14,900 feet before heading south again. Climbing high probably wasn’t the right thing to do as the head wind was stronger up high. I flew where I thought the blue wave was down Lake Pukaki, at 85 knots to make headway. The wave was only light but helped get me further south. There was a lot of high cloud coming across too which would affect the thermals. I was down to 5,900 feet at Twizel. Onto the Benmores. And I caught a whopper with Vaughan (LA). I outclimbed him and at 8,500 feet headed south over Benmore dam. I ended up below 5,000 feet at the bottom turn point at Campbell Park. The conditions seemed to be weakening. Luckily, I spotted a little cloud indicating convergence in the lee of the Mary Range and trickled along in
• 31
it. I was low, 4,000 feet near Lake Aviemore but the convergence got better at Otematata and I managed to climb to 7,000 feet. There was a head wind as I got over Lake Benmore and I had to take it very carefully to get back to Omarama. I arrived about 3,800 feet, after a flight of 6 hours 43 minutes, or 29 years to achieve a 500 km. The next day I did my Diamond height. We’d been sailing on the lake when a gale came up and we decided to go back to the airfield. I borrowed a Nano logger off Youth Glide. We towed the glider down and took off in strong wind. Mike Till towed me onto the western side of the Buscot ridge. I took a low low point going onto little Ben. I climbed on the main Benmore range and at 7,000 feet pushed into the wave over Lake Ohau. It was beautiful wave running north past Lake Ohau. I headed north past Glentanner, climbing all the way to 22,000 feet. I passed Jono Wardman in the Duo UO. Once I knew I had the Diamond height I didn’t stick around very long. There was fabulous wave above me, you probably could
have taken it to the stratosphere. I was still going up at 8 knots at 22,000 feet. I took photos of Nigel Maxey on the way home. The whole flight was two hours.
Clockwise from left: Climbing Mt Cook, flying down the Hawkduns, Nigel over Lake Pukaki, 500 km – done
32 • February–April 2020 • IAN DUNKLEY
IAN DUNKLEY 11.02.1935 – 12.02.2020 SUPPLIED
WORDS BY JILL MCCAW
I
AN DUNKLEY was an important part of the early years of SoaringNZ. After the first issue came out, I received a phone call from Ian. Would I be interested in a regular column about vintage gliders? He was very passionate. I had no choice but to agree. I’m so pleased I did. From Issue 2 to Issue 23 Ian’s rambling and entertaining stories told us about vintage gliders but also shared his wealth of gliding experiences – from flying from a beach in Ireland, wave camps from frozen lakes in Sweden and Finland, and somehow there was somewhere where people went flying in the dark.
a cohort of fellow vintage enthusiasts here in the Vintage Kiwi Gliding Club.
His prose was always long winded and if I sent something back with instructions to cut something out if it, it would be returned with the requisite number of words deleted but a whole new paragraph added such as the one below.
MY TIME WITH IAN
“Jill McCaw, your esteemed editor, said ‘Your article is too long, cut it down.’ Benjamin Franklin said, ‘’f you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing’. A problem, do I rewrite the article, or take Franklin’s advice, and go flying? (67 words that have increased my problem.)” He had flown a huge number of glider types including a Fauvel Av22 flying wing, one of which is still in his shed and will be up for sale soon. His stories came with large numbers of photos – not all his own, but we used them anyway. Ian was a POM who was happy to have discovered southern skies and
Ian firmly believed that the relatively cheap second, third and sixth hand wooden gliders were the way to encourage more people into what has become an expensive sport. He was instrumental in forming Vintage Kiwi, a gliding club for the owners of wooden gliders (although theoretically Libelles and Cirrus are also classified as vintage – something Ian found amusing). Ian was passionate about gliding as he was about lots of things. He will be missed.
BY ROGER BROWN – PRESIDENT VINTAGE KIWI I first met Ian at the inaugural Vintage Kiwi (VK) Rally at Taupo in about 2002. Ian had sent out a general invitation to attend a Taupo Fly-in to discuss the possibility of forming a Vintage Glider movement here in New Zealand. Something the English and Europeans had had for many years. I decided to fly a Slingsby T61 motor glider down from Drury. Taxiing up to the Taupo Gliding Club’s clubhouse, I spied this larger than life person standing in the doorway. His size and the way he was standing so much reminded me of an Indiana Jones. He did not disappoint! Strong, charismatic, very strongwilled with an immaculate English accent. Behind that ran a very active mind where the impossible can be achieved and “no” was never an option.
With this type of enthusiastic ‘engine’ and a no-nonsense approach, the Vintage and Classic Glider Club of New Zealand was born into a brave gliding world. He really was the pied piper of Vintage Kiwi. Through this dynamo of a person, VK quickly developed into the successful organisation it has become. Ian decided to import into NZ three gliders from the UK. A Fauvel Av22 flying wing, a Weihe and a Skylark 3f. The day before the pick-up of his first import from the wharf in Auckland, he arrived at my place driving this Merc. Ideal, I thought, as these old English trailers can be very large and heavy. After staying overnight, we proceeded to collect the glider. The pick-up was no problem, but the trailer needed instant and serious attention if it was to survive all the way to his home in Akaroa. However, Ian was of the mind just to keep driving south, with no NZ WOF or NZ registration. When Ian was focused, Ian was definitely focused! Needless to say, he only got as far as the end of the southern motorway at Drury. Where he is lucky that there is a gliding club. After some very serious and major work and some four days later – with a brand new rego and WOF, Ian was finally waved off for his big trip South. Unlike others, Ian only saw this as a minor inconvenience, of course! However, for his next two trips he arrived with his rather small BMW roadster. It really was a sight to see such a small car towing such a big, oversized, old-fashioned English
IAN DUNKLEY • February–April 2020 • 33
glider trailer on the motorway. When one overtook the combo, one had to look really hard to find the car towing it. Ian was truly a larger than life character, friend, founder and motivator. The Vintage Kiwi organisation will be his legacy not only here in NZ but also worldwide. All his friends in VK here and overseas will sincerely miss him and he will be remembered by us fondly, as has been shown by numerous emails we have received since his passing.
Roger Brown, President of Vintage Kiwi and long-time friend of Ian says, "Ian was truly a larger than life character, friend, founder and motivator. The Vintage Kiwi organisation will be his legacy not only here in NZ but also worldwide. All of his friends in VK here and overseas will sincerely miss him and he will be remembered fondly."
Clockwise from left: Ian in his Skylark 3f, flying in the snow, Ian in a Polish SZD-8, one of the many types he had flown
FOR SALE
LS6a ZK-GZI
Best handling glider ever made – PU paint – Fantastic Condition 9/10. > Multiple flight computer / vario options. > EDS oxygen system. > Fully sealed throughout for racing / long flights. > Trailer in great condition easy rigging / towing – braked / galvanised steel construction. > $75,000.00 ono (Finance considered). PLEASE CONTACT
Vaughan 027 807 7993 or vaughanandpaula@gmail.com
The top end of the Coromandel Peninsula as seen by Pat Driessen, Day 1 of Auckland Enterprise Competition
February–April 2020 • 35
ROB LYON
36 • February–April 2020 • AS 33
AS 33
SCHLEICHER’S LATEST 15/18 M FLAPPED GLIDER WORDS BY BERNARD ECKEY
MANFRED MUNCH
It was a sunny but very cold winters day in Germany when Schleicher’s Managing Director took the long-awaited successor of the legendary ASG 29 for its maiden flight. Many invited guests braved the cold and the entire development team was also assembled on the little airstrip behind the factory. The tug rolled into position well before lunchtime with Uli Kremer behind the controls of the new AS 33. As the chilly winter air didn’t yield any lift he was back after less than an hour but the broad smile on his face said it all. “Only a few metres into the ground run I had full aileron control,” he exclaimed. We have equipped the prototype with our ‘Es’ sustainer engine, which also worked flawlessly. For the first few flights we are limited to a maximum speed of 160 km/h, so the focus was on the low speed handling and on the testing the aircraft’s agility. I’m very pleased indeed! The AS 33 is not only very quiet and docile but its control harmony is also better than any glider I have ever flown. It even seems to trump the agility of the ASG 29. Our development team has done a brilliant job. No trim adjustments were necessary and at times the glider was flown hands off. Slowly reducing the speed until the stick is hard against the backstop does not result in a sudden wing drop and even during the first landing I was confident to bring the speed right back. This glider is suitable for early solo pilots
and with all the improvements we have made I’m sure that the AS 33 will soon gain pole position in both 18 and 15m class. I’m now very confident that we will soon receive EASA certification. The ground frequency checks and the stress test of the new wing were already satisfactorily completed some time ago.” While Uli Kremer was still sharing his excitement with the many bystanders, Ulrich Simon – the brain behind the aerodynamic design – got ready for his flight in the AS 33. Back on the ground he was also full of praise for the newest 15/18 m glider. “Most pleasing is that the stalling speed is clearly lower compared to the ASG 29”, he said. “It endorses our theoretical predictions and confirms that the new wing is indeed as good as wind tunnel tests and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software indicated. With the flaps in ‘5’ or ‘6’ position the new wing produces 7% more lift compared to the ASG 29. This is pivotal to our design as it allows the new AS 33 to operate at a wing loading of 60 kg/m2 while still meeting
the CS 22 minimum speed requirements. This is quite remarkable, given that the AS 33’s wing area is only 10m2”. While Joschka Schmeisl (head of the development team) got himself ready for
Top: Clear air below the main wheel for the first time Above: Stress testing of the AS 33 wing
AS 33 • February–April 2020 • 39
Left: Cockpit air extractor Below: Fully retractable tail wheel with inside opening door
his flight in the AS 33 Ulrich went on to say: “Right from the beginning we were determined to fully realise what the current material technology permits but we were lucky that we were able to use the ASG 29 as our measuring stick. As many as 350 are already in operation around the world and the readily available performance data allowed us very accurate comparisons. Every component and every design change was analysed and thoroughly evaluated to arrive at maximum possible drag reductions. Central to our design efforts was the computerized calculation of boundary layer behavior as it clearly shows the transition from laminar to turbulent airflow. Especially where complex surface flows exists this is of prime importance as an early transition to a turbulent airflow causes more drag and has therefore a very detrimental effect on performance. In the past various universities provided this service but nowadays we can utilize the company’s own
Above: CFD generated airflow pattern
computer analysis tools, which has allowed us to conduct this work in our offices at the Poppenhausen factory. However, to play it safe we also conducted extensive wind tunnel tests, which confirmed almost all of our theoretical predictions and even led to some refinements”.
flap settings or angles of attack are only some of the variables to keep in mind. In the end we did, however, opt for a slight change of the root rib incident angle. It benefits high speed performance and improves in-flight visibility as a welcome byproduct.
According to Uli Kremer, the CFD review of the basic ASG 29 fuselage indicated an ideal fuselage contraction ratio and showed hardly any options for improvement. The external shape was therefore retained including the much acclaimed safety cockpit. For very tall pilots (and those with extra large feet) the rudder controls were modified for a little extra room. Other internal improvements include a new instrument panel, an upgrade of the adjustable backrest and further crashworthiness advances.
Another obvious drag reduction option was to integrate a fully retractable tail wheel. We did that and even opted for a sturdy and large diameter 200x50 mm wheel to provide plenty of ground clearance. An inside opening door eliminates damage to the little door cover, but we decided to offer the retractable tail wheel as an optional extra. Even minor improvements such as a CFD optimised cockpit ventilation system with air extractor, an improved canopy seal, smaller control surface fairings and numerous lesser changes made a surprisingly large difference at the end of the day. All of them have contributed to an unprecedented best L/D of 56:1 for an 18m glider. A comparison of the polar curves speaks for itself. It shows a noticeable gain over the entire speed range, but especially in the mid to high-speed range the AS 33 will be clearly better than the ASG 29.
Ulrich Simon went on to say: “We did, however, make some modifications to the wing-fuselage intersection after an extensive CFD analysis of six different configurations. A high wing attachment proved detrimental as it increased the wetted area by 0.26 m2. Gerhard Waibel already experimented with a high wing configuration with the ASW 15 and ASW 17 but went back to a mid fuselage wing attachment on the ASW 20 and all his subsequent designs. It is interesting that today’s highly sophisticated flow analysis has verified his decision. It shows not only the lowest amount of drag but also significantly less turbulent airflow around tail boom and empennage. This made us adhere to the mid wing configuration but with changes around the wing-fuselage junction. This part of the work proved especially challenging as changing one parameter can negatively affect other aspects of the design. Different speeds,
Of course, the main performance contributor is the entirely new wing and the ability of the new profiles to generate slightly more lift. The combination of a modified wing planform and a total of twelve different wing sections got us very close to an elliptical lift distribution, which is essential when it comes to minimising induced drag. At first sight the seven trapeze-shaped wing elements give the impression that the leading edge is evenly rounded. However, perfectly rounded leading edges render the use of sanding templates ineffective. Only wing elements with a straight leading edge allow precision sanding in
order to achieve the profile accuracy required for long laminar airflow above and below the wing. This is crucial for fully realising this glider’s performance potential. We also opted against kinks in the outer wing as they cause a small airflow disturbance and hence unnecessary amounts of drag. In comparison to the ASG 29 the wing area of the AS 33 is reduced by about 5%, which has increased the aspect ratio by roughly the same amount. Our 3 D airflow simulations suggested a different shape of the outer wing as well as longer and pointier winglets. These new winglets deserve a special mention as they generate no additional drag at high-speed but significantly reduce induced drag while thermalling. As with all our other models they are detachable for ease of ground handling and trailering and can quickly be re-attached with ‘Snap-On’ fittings. All of this ensures that the excellent climb performance of the ASG 29 is retained and that the aircraft can cope with even the weakest and narrowest of thermals. Equally important is a reduced sensibility to atmospheric turbulence and the aircraft’s ability to provide good feedback from the air. We are now very confident that all these targets have been met. To enhance agility we have further refined the ingenious AS flaperon mixer. It provides greater control deflections at the outer wing and minimizes drag with positive flaps in circling flight. It also sets the ailerons to negative when landing flaps are selected. This ensures full aileron control almost all the way to the end of the ground run. In other words, changing to negative flaps after touchdown isn’t necessary. Finally, we added a paddle to the airbrakes to allow steeper and even safer landing approaches”. Right from the start the AS 33 design
team was asked to implement a rigorous weight reduction program. The results are impressive! The pure 18m glider tops the scales at just 285 kg and with a 75 kg pilot on board the minimum wing loading is as low as 36 kg/m2. When the 15m outer wing panels are fitted the minimum wing loading increases to 40 kg/m2 but both figures are still low enough to provide a definite advantage on weaker competition days. With a total water ballast capacity of 170 litres the maximum wing loading can be increased to 60 kg/m2 in 18m and even to 62.5 kg/m2 in 15m configurations. Both inner and outer wing panels can carry water ballast and the tail tank holds an additional 5 litres. Fully ballasted and flown at a speed of 110 knots (204 km/h) the sink rate should be an astonishing 0.5 m/s lower compared to the ASG 29, making this new glider a truly fearsome weapon in two different competition classes.
As most customers require an engine, the AS 33 is optionally available with the proven 24 Hp (18 kW) power plant, based on a Solo engine. The recent integration of an electric starter motor allows fully automated engine deployments and engine starts – all by way of a single switch. It has all but eliminated “finger trouble” and in terms of weight and range this drive unit is ahead of jet engines or electric drive systems. Although the AS 33 comes with 18 m wings as factory standard owners can tick the box for 15 m tips on the option list if they like to compete in both 15 and 18m class. The outer panels are lightweight and just under 4 m (2.5 m) long and can easily be fitted or removed by a single person. Other optional goodies include LED flashlights in the leading edge of the fin, solar panels on the engine bay doors, a leather interior, an acrylic finish, bug wiper garages and oxygen equipment to name only a few. A tail tank and a second avionics battery are now included in the standard package.
Above: Nathan Montano preparing for a familiarisation flight at Papawai Airstrip. Nathan Montano (left) and Stewart Barton (right).
AS 33 • February–April 2020 • 41
It seems that a very good glider can be made even better and to date as many as 50 customers have already signed up for an early slot on the production line. The initial production rate was set at three gliders per month. It will keep the factory busy for some time but according to management the production rate might soon be increased to reduce waiting times. As a “thank you” to loyal early customers serial production already started prior to the maiden flight to allow some pilots to compete in the new AS 33 at the forthcoming world championship at Stendal, Germany. No doubt, the eyes of all keen competition pilots will be on this newest of 15/18m gliders.
This only leaves one question unanswered. Why has Schleicher broken with tradition and dropped the first letter of the designer’s surname in the aircraft’s designation. Uli Kremer has the answer! “It is no longer a single designer but a whole team of specialists who work closely together to satisfy the ever increasing expectations of today’s competition pilots. Yes, Ulrich Simon was responsible for the bulk of the aerodynamic design but Tobias Mörsel, Andreas Storch, Manfred Münch and Paul Anklam also contributed greatly, not to mention Joschka Schmeisl”.
Therefore, it wouldn’t be fair to give credit to only one member of the design team”. It looks like we will have to get used to only an “AS” (for Alexander Schleicher) in front of the running model number. It avoids confusion and - if you ask me – it is also a change for the better!
Clockwise: Inside the cockpit, detail on cockpit, wing tip, most of the brains behind the new design, AS 33 specs, Speed polar of AS 33
TECHNICAL DATA
Wingspan Wing area Aspect ratio Best L/D Max. take off mass Min. wing loading Max. wing loading Max. seat load Min. sink rate (@400Kg) Height of winglet Tailplane span Empty mass
18m 10 m2 32.4 56 600 kg 36 kg/m2 60 kg/m2 115 kg 0.47 m/s 0.585 m 2.3 m 285 kg
15m 8.8 m2 25.6 50 550 kg 40 kg/m2 62.5 kg/m2 115 kg 0.59 m/s 0.585 m 2.3 m 275 kg
CANTERBURY GLIDING CLUB HISTORY COMPILED BY JILL MCCAW
SUPPLIED
with many thanks to Stew Cain and the booklet 50 Years of Soaring in Canterbury 1947-1997
The Canterbury Gliding Club was formed in 1947 (the second oldest gliding club in the country behind Auckland) but due to lack of a glider, flying didn’t commence until 1952. Dick Georgeson, the pioneer of wave flying, returned from England in 1949 having learned to fly gliders at the London Gliding Club. He tracked down the Canterbury club and found two engineering students in the process of designing a glider which they were calling Pathfinder. On taking stock of what the club needed, Dick and his foster brother Jon Hamilton ordered a Slingsby Prefect from England which arrived in 1950. While waiting Dick learnt to fly Tigermoths so as to be able to tow.
An arrangement with the airport at Harewood (now Christchurch International Airport) meant use of a hangar, engineers and permission to auto launch off the airfield. Dick organised a Slingsby Agency for the family firm – CWF Hamilton & Co (of Hamilton Jet boat fame). A kitset T31 was available and ordered for £439 pounds. It was decided to drop the Pathfinder project. With the support of the aero club the T31 GAC took 1500 hours to build. It was test flown on 1 November 1952. The club was away. The club has had many homes over the years, moving from Harewood to Burnt Hill, near Oxford (1958-59), to Wigram Air Force Base (where they shared a home built hangar with the Wigram Aviation Sports Club or Wiggies – 1960-95), Hororata when
Wigram was closed in 1995, and finally in 2013 ending at what is hopefully the club’s forever home at their own glider field at Springfield against the foothills of the Southern Alps. Away camps were a big part of club life and gliders have flown from the Gebbies Valley and Teddington on Banks Peninsula, allowing members to soar Mt Herbert high above Lyttleton Harbour and experiment with the odd bit of wave. The first camp however was in 1952 when the T31 was towed to Irishman Creek in the Mackenzie Basin, childhood home of Dick Georgeson and Jon Hamilton. Canterbury Aero Club’s Tiger ASY was the towplane although a winch was also used. Attempts were made to soar the wave but without much success. 1953 saw the famous camp to Simons Pass, just down the road from Irishman Creek.
FEATURE CLUB – CANTERBURY • February–April 2020 • 43
Clockwise: Dick Georgeson over Christchurch city, Dick Georgeson, Helen Georgeson, Simons Pass camp, soaring in Simons Pass
This was the camp where John Evans and John van Til climbed to an altitude of 19,000 feet in the T31 – a two-seater height record that took many years to break. Exploration of the wave was well and truly underway. The first Christmas Camp to Omarama occurred in 1959 and various sites around Omarama: Wardells’ strip known as Tara Hills, Killermont and later the town strip, which is now Omarama Airfield were all used before the Omarama Soaring Centre was developed in the late ‘80s. Camps to Hanmer, Birch Hill near Mt Cook, Erewhon Station and latterly Flock Hill have allowed members to spread their wings in unfamiliar environments and for some legendary pranks and exploits to occur on the ground. The mention of a non-gliding weekend at the Olympus Ski Club in the ‘90s
can still raise the ire of some members. But it is the people who have made the Canterbury Club what it is. There have been some extraordinary pilots, passionate members and people who have put in lifetimes of work keeping the club running and improving it. The club prides itself in having eight members who could wear the distinctive sheepskin flying jackets awarded to Barron Hilton Cup winners. This prestigious international award which finished in 2009 promoted international friendship through the sport of soaring for over 25 years. In that time, the Barron Hilton Cup was the largest aviation competition in the world. Pilots who completed the longest triangular flights in each of eight divisions from around the world were awarded a trip to Nevada where they sampled the outstanding soaring conditions in the high
The first camp however was in 1952 when the T31 was towed to Irishman Creek in the Mackenzie Basin, childhood home of Dick Georgeson and Jon Hamilton. desert east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, amidst the hospitality that only Barron Hilton could provide. The club’s Barron Hilton winners are: Ray Lynskey 1995, Terry Delore 1997, Mike Oakley 1999, Mike Gray 2001, Derek Kraak 2003, Nick Reekie 2004, Tim Harrison 2006, and Doug Hamilton 2008. No other New Zealander ever got to the Hilton ranch. The Canterbury club has had multiple New
Clockwise: Yvonne Loader, ZK-GAS soaring Mt Cook, Aerial view of Springfield, putting up the hangar at Springfield, Ray Lysnkey 1995 World Gliding Champion, GAS at Harewood
Zealand and World Record holders. Ray Lynskey was the first person in the world to fly a 2000 km flight. See the story of Ray and this flight in SoaringNZ Issue 56. Later Ray went on to win the World Open Class at Omarama in 1995. The second person to fly 2000 km was Terry Delore. Terry gained international renown as the pilot behind adventurer Steve Fossett’s gliding records but already held multiple world and New Zealand records before then. Terry doesn’t sit still and is still chasing records when the conditions are right. See the story in this issue about chasing a 1700 km record which if ratified will bring his total of world records to 21. Helen Georgeson gained New Zealand’s first Silver C, upsetting many of the male pilots who had been vying for that honour themselves. Not long after, in 1961, flying a Skylark 3f she climbed to 18,000 feet which
gave her the New Zealand women’s absolute altitude and a gain of height record of 14,500 feet. Yvonne Loader, after clearing the power flying cabinet of trophies, moved to gliding. She rapidly became a tow pilot and instructor as well as serving untold years on committees. In 1988 she set a women’s single-seater gain of height world record of 33,506 feet while soaring to 37,114 feet over Mt Cook. In more recent years the club has been delighted to see the children of club pilots coming along and giving their parents a run for their money. Mike Oakley had become used to being highly placed at the South Island Regionals and Nationals but was cheering mightily when his son Nicholas along with his partner in soaring Alex McCaw started cleaning up in competitions instead. In 2010 Alex McCaw became the youngest pilot in the world to achieve a 1000 km diploma at the age of 18. Alex and
Nick have since gone on to represent New Zealand in World competitions in Europe. Alex is now the club’s CFI. Some people however have really gone above and beyond in their devotion to the club. Jerry O’Neil and Jon Hamilton were the brains and finances behind buying a farm at Springfield and ensuring that the Canterbury Gliding Club has a home forever. SoaringNZ Issue 23 tells you more of that story. The executive committee of the time and the people who did an extraordinary amount of behind the scenes work are to be saluted. Sadly, there isn’t room to mention them all in this article.
FLYING AT SPRINGFIELD The Springfield Glider field is a few kilometres from the main road from Christchurch through Arthurs Pass to the West Coast, an easy, just under an hour
FEATURE CLUB – CANTERBURY • February–April 2020 • 45
BOOK CORNER
Glidertoons A project to support Youth Glide By Kevin Clark Reviewed by Jill McCaw Kevin Clark has been doodling away for years and has, in his words, produced forty pages of classic nonsense cartoons and the odd yarn. There are some recognisable characters that most clubs are afflicted with and his drawings of things like the consequences of a low round-out, pneumatically inflated gliders and the glider pilot angel will be instantly recognisable to all pilots. There are sections on launch point situations, alternative launch methods, passenger flying and random stuff. drive from Christchurch. Right at the edge of the hills it’s a fantastic site for training with thermals or an easy tow to ridge and sometimes wave. There is easy access into the foothills and on into the higher mountains if you desire. The usual flights involve climbing on the Springfield ridge before moving onto the higher hills around Porters Pass. To the north of the pass is the Torlesse range, leading onto the Puketeraki range which runs all the way to the Hurunui area and allows flights to the Hanmer basin if conditions are right. Turning south onto the Big Ben range allows flights to Lake Coleridge and Mt Hutt and as far south as you can manage and still get home. Terry Delore and Derek Kraak are well known for checking in from Mackenzie basin landmarks and landing back at Springfield before the bar has opened. Further to the west is the Craigieburn range and beyond that, the big mountains around Arthurs Pass.
The club flies weekends and weekdays during the summer. They have a campground and bunks available in the club house so staying a few days is easy. There is a kitchen and new ablution block. An old school room has been developed into briefing room and bar and the barbeque is cranked up most Saturday nights. The campground is great for families with a playground and shady trees for resting under with a view of the airfield. Springfield is a very special place to fly gliders. You’re very welcome to come and try it out.
CANTERBURY GLIDING CLUB www.canterburyglidingclub.co.nz Club Contact Kevin Bethwaite kevin.bethwaite@airways.co.nz Ph (03) 318 4758 Base Swamp Road, Springfield Flying Weekends, Public Holidays
This little collection is a joyful addition to any glider pilot’s bookshelf. And best of all, the money you pay to buy it is being passed on to Youth Glide. $20 including postage. $15 goes to Youth Glide. Can be ordered from the author. He will reply with a bank account number. Contact Kevin Clark: kevin.clark@xtra.co.nz
MATAMATA GRAND PRIX
FORD VS FERRARI… ON THE KAIMAIS
“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, Go Go Go.” Not the normal radio call at the start of a racing task. WORDS BY DAVID JENSEN
SUPPLIED
I
T TAKES A bit of effort not to cross the start line before “zero”, stay below the mandatory maximum start height, not turn right and be no faster than 80 knots across the ground. If you get it wrong, the penalties are severe. And remarkably, at the other end of the flight having flown two to three hundred kilometres, on half of the finishes I found myself on final glide at close to VNE with another glider within 100 metres of me. This was Grand Prix glider racing. The Matamata Soaring Centre ran a ‘trial’ contest between Xmas and New Year for four days to gauge the level of interest, the resources required, to learn how to run them. We wanted to know whether Grand Prix flying really did improve the experience for the non-pilots. What was it like from a competitor’s perspective? Let’s look at Day 4. It was raining in the morning, but the forecast was for improving conditions and a resumption of the westerly winds. Therefore, a short ridge task was set. When we finally launched the wind was blowing 25-30 knots directly onto the ridge, the cloud bases were 4000 feet. Let’s go!! We had a 185 km task which started with a 5 km push-out into wind before a dash across wind of 18 kms. The question was… could you make the glide from turn point
one to turn point two without having to fall back onto the ridge (therefore having to fly materially further)? After that it was a straight drag race up to Hikutaia and back, followed by gauging how much height was required to push out to Te Poi and final glide into Matamata without another top-up on the ridge. The start was tight. All the class were within seconds of each other and all rounded turn point one in less than a minute and within 100 feet of each other. So, the dash to turn point two? There were some clouds on the route and conventional wisdom said that was the way to go. But that didn’t make much difference. In the end it was up to your level of confidence that you could hit the turn point and dive onto the lower ridge (by lower ridge we are talking where the cows are) and then clear the quarry at the radar dome. It was a close-run thing. The run north and then south was at very high speeds but wing loading largely made the difference. Being able to see the glider ahead (by as little as 100 metres) and sensing the glider behind, on FLARM, kept your toes to the fire. By the time we rounded the last turn point the JS3 was about a minute ahead (as you would expect for the extra cash cost) whereas a JS1 and Lak17 were within seconds. The run to the finish line was at close to VNE and only decided in the last 1 km at 150 feet AGL. Average task speeds for the top 3 - all above 160 kph.
The final placings aren’t that important because we were trying to prove the concept, but for the record (shameless plug for JS gliders) JS gliders were unbeatable on any day in the open class and the battle of the Piako Gliding Club Titans in the racing class was a win for ASWs over DGs. Results on Soaring Spot – nz-sailplane-grand-prix-2019-matamata All of that aside, what did we learn? It works and is fun.
» In my view, it worked because we could use the ridge extensively for tasks that were predictable and kept the fleet together. The task setters did add in as many pushouts as possible to provide some variation.
» Given the unpredictable nature of thermal flying in the North Island setting, normal racing tasks (and not on the ridge) that don’t inject a large degree of luck or a large risk of landouts would have made the GP a lottery. This is quite different from the standard contest format.
» We were all essentially flying in similar ‘air’ for much of the day and therefore some of the ‘luck and chance’ were removed. Loitering around at the start-line deciding when to start was eliminated.
» The F1 GP style used on the racing class
MATAMATA GRAND PRIX • February–April 2020 • 47
Can we inject some GP days into a standard contest week? In other words, could we jazz up a normal racing task with the best components of a GP and make it more spectator friendly as well as more enjoyable for pilots? Rob drove each day, Tim slept in his van five metres from his glider - and still struggled to make morning briefing. Alarm clock required. allows for a wide range of glider types.
» The format did provide a real experience for those on the ground. The introduction of cheap reliable cell phone trackers (rather than ‘Spot’) meant those back at base had real time position and height data. Therefore, they could second guess the pilot’s decisions…and were usually correct.
» Also, the real time trackers meant the pilots could keep real time tabs on their competitors. And given it’s a GP format no allowance needed to be made for start-time, AAT decisions, handicaps etc.
» The finishes on many days were very close and once you had crossed the line you knew the result.
» Everyone understood the scoring, whereas the black art of normal contest scoring leaves many bewildered.
WHAT NEXT? The general consensus was that the event was a success. The format is fun and safe and adds some variation from the old contest structure where the biggest debate seems to centre on AATs vs Racing Tasks which gets to be a little tiring. Can we inject some GP days into a standard contest week? In other words, could we jazz up a normal racing task with the best components of a GP and make it more spectator friendly as well as more enjoyable for pilots? I’m not necessarily suggesting a GP only contest week but rather a day or two Clockwise: The grid, Just off tow waiting for the start in Day 2 of the GP, VW clock awarded to Tim
of GP racing when the weather suits, mixed in with the standard AAT/Racing Task days.
And to all the others who helped or flew… thank you.
I would expect a bit of push back from some. It would require the use of the normal black box scoring (i.e. out of 1000 points) and the F1 handicaps being used across the entire fleet. However, we should investigate providing some rule changes to allow things to happen. Doing what we have always done will continue the decline in class sizes and general disinterest. But that’s a challenge for the SRC.
It is worth spending a moment on the BTraced app. Available on both Apple (for those of you on the dark side) and Android.
A big thanks to Rob Lyon agreeing to be CD. The only way I could get this contest off the ground (excuse the pun) was to secure the services of a good CD. That he drove back and forth from home each day (about 90 minutes each way) was a testament to his dedication. Thanks to Tim Bromhead for getting the tracking (BTraced) up and running and helping almost everyone set it up. While
» Cheap…a couple of bucks. » Reliable…seems to be. » Simple…well, I can use it. » Updates very frequently…better than Spot.
» Accurate…yes, position and height. » Largely removed the need for a radio operator in a contest…a plus.
» Links to Gliding NZ tracking site…you bet ya. To those of you who whimper about cell phone coverage, I’ve just watched GVZ in the central North Island in areas miles from a cell phone receiver. It worked just fine. And it is great for watching glider racing (or long cross-country flights) in real time.
YOUTH SOARING DEVELOPMENT CAMP 2019 5 – 14 DECEMBER 2019 FRASER MCDOUGALL
This year’s Youth Soaring Development Camp saw 26 students attending along with one student each from Australia and Japan. We had 24 volunteer support staff - instructors, tow pilots, admin, catering and cleaning. Over the course of the camp 358 flights were made with over 240 hours of flying between eight twin-seat gliders and five single-seaters. 45 hours of towing was completed by just three tow planes. There were multiple achievements throughout the camp. We had six students complete their A-Certificate, six students complete their B-Certificate along with six FAI Silver height gains, two FAI Silver distances and one Gold height gain. A huge thank you to our sponsors and volunteers who made this all possible.
CALLUM DODDS In December I was lucky enough to attend the YSDC 2019, I learnt a vast number of new skills and techniques as well as a lot about myself. It has given me more confidence in my soaring ability. I had obtained my QGP a year ago but had been reluctant to go cross-country solo. Since returning from the YSDC with all of the experience gained on camp my soaring skills have improved immensely.
Before packing my bags and heading down to Omarama, I’d flown Auckland Gliding Club’s Discus 2 and built up a considerable amount of local soaring hours on the type. However, due to my lack of knowledge and confidence I couldn’t realise the full potential of this glider. I ended up just pottering around the local area, not going beyond gliding range in a glider designed for one thing and one thing only…flying cross-country. It was frustrating.
This all changed over the course of the camp. After some intense training and instruction from the very helpful and supportive instructors I was able to do two cross-country flights in the Omarama club’s Ventus 2. On one of these flights I flew right up to the base of Mount Cook. I didn’t recognise the wave influencing the conditions and I ended up landing out at Glentanner airstrip on the north western side of Lake Pukaki. I’d flown a total distance of 80 kilometres from Omarama.
YSDC 2019 • February–April 2020 • 49
Unfortunately, unbeknown to me, my Nano stopped picking up the GPS signal shortly after release so I was unable to claim my silver distance. However, on my return to Auckland, on my first flight back, I completed a 50 km out and return in the Discus 2, finally completing my 50 km FAI Silver distance! Without the help and support of the instructors and all of the lessons learnt I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this flight so early in my training, and for this I am truly grateful.
Over the camp I had my first experience in wave which for someone who has never experienced such a thing, was very spectacular. I also completed a fair amount of my aerobatics training in the Grob 103. Throughout my whole gliding career, I had never been inverted nor done any proper aerobatics so this was something I thoroughly enjoyed and greatly benefited from. I feel it has greatly improved my stick and rudder coordination.
My favourite part of YSDC was being around like-minded people of a similar age. We learnt a lot from each other as well as making new friendships which I’m sure will last a very long time. I would like to say a huge thank you because none of this would have been possible without the incredible Clockwise: On the way to Mt Cook, James Mitchell on the Barrier Range with Fraser McDougall, Crosscountry flights were a highlight of the camp, Harvey Watson about to be dunked after his first solo
input from the instructors and volunteers, especially to Kim and Roger Read who put countless hours of their time into the organisation and planning of this camp.
JOHN ROBERTSON How lucky we are. There is just nothing like making the trip down to Omarama for the Youth Soaring Development Camp. Arriving in town, the weather looked grim. It was and had been raining heavily for the last two days, with the forecast predicting at least patchy showers every day of the next week. Luckily, by the next afternoon, things had cleared up and it was time to go flying. My first flight of the camp was one of the most epic flights I have ever had. We set off down the still damp runway in the Duo, UO, planning to complete the couple of items I had remaining on the QGP syllabus. Instead, after finishing the training we headed straight for Hugo’s elevator, where a swift climb to 23,000 feet and a run up to Pukaki at VNE ensued. In only an hour and a half, we were back at the field. I made it my goal to do the same in a single seater, and on the second to last day of the camp the wave was looking promising. Once the rain cleared, we got Omarama Gliding Club’s beautiful Ventus 2 out of the hangar and lined up on the grid. However, conditions had changed – the wave was still there but the sky had gone completely blue. After what felt like forever searching in the
blue around the Benmores and Mt Horrible, I finally caught a whiff of incredibly fresh air – I was in the wave. Slowly, I made my way up to the Ben Ohaus, treading carefully to stay in the invisible line of incredible lift. In the distance, I saw a solitary cumulus on the lee side and knew it was time to make the jump. The transition was violent but quick, at times the glider was completely uncontrollable with airspeed variations of +/-50 knots. Once in the smooth air, the flight north towards Cook and back to Omarama was incredible. With not a single cloud east of the Main Divide, the view below me was simply spectacular.
including doing a bit of power flying, learning some basic aerobatics, starting my instructor rating, and getting rated in a Discus 2, which has to be the best single I have ever flown. Thanks to everyone who helped out in so many ways, especially Trevor, Graeme, Ray, Todd and Peter for instructing and helping me with everything flying related. Roger and Kim, you are both amazing with all the work you put into this camp, and I cannot thank you enough. It was awesome spending 10 days flying with people as passionate as I am about gliding, and I hope I’ll be back again soon!
I can’t wait for the next visit.
ISABELLE BURR In early December 2019 I was lucky enough to head down to Omarama for my second YSDC. Once again, the camp was a huge success with so many people achieving type ratings, passing exams and several first solos. Personally, I wanted to get more confident flying further away from the airfield. Although I’d had had my QGP for a couple of years, I had never gone further than glide distance while solo. Omarama proved to be the perfect place, with so many land-out options and different types of lift. I completed my 50 km badge flight and first out-landing, undoubtedly my highlight of the camp. On top of that I was able to take advantage of so many other opportunities,
LOGAN HOSKIN Ten days with 25 other enthusiastic pilots, all who were eager to learn more about gliding. Although the weather wasn’t so good at the start of the camp, multiple students still had some fantastic flights around the ridges of Omarama and in the wave. The highlight of the camp for me was when I got to follow the wave to Glentanner with Graham Erikson. We eventually made it to 15,000 feet where the outside air temperature was -19°C. We landed back at Omarama after over two hours in the air. I certainly won’t forget that flight. After a few days, we got some great soaring conditions and more soaring flights were achieved along with many badge flights.
YSDC 2019 • February–April 2020
Throughout the camp, many students got to achieve the goals they set plus some more. Some achievements I made were the completion of my QGP, a rating in the LS4 and learning to fly on oxygen. Overall, the camp was a great success for everyone. Thank you very much to Glide Omarama for letting us use their facilities and to all the instructors and volunteers who gave up their time to help. Most of all, thank you to Kim and Roger Read who do an amazing job organising and running the camp. I’m already looking forward to the next camp.
• 51
PRIZES AND AWARDS Isabelle Burr
Airways NZ $500
Laura Wagstaff
Day Work Experience with Air New Zealand
Simon Hay
Aviation clock; G Dale's The Soaring Engine Book Vol 1
John Robertson Georgeson Trust $500; Thompson Family Trophy for Best Task Flown at YSDC Callum Dodds
G Dale's The Soaring Engine Books Vol 1 and 2
Logan Hoskin
Day Work Experience with Air New Zealand; Georgeson Trust $500
Ben Carlisle Day Work Experience with Air Safaris; G Dale's The Soaring Engine Book Vol 1 Hunter Masfen
Airways NZ $500
Andrew Mead
G Dale's The Soaring Engine"Book Vol 1; Leather GNZ Logbook Cover
Callum Wakefield
Day Work Experience with Air Safaris
Mackay Wakefield
GoGyro Intro Lesson; G Dale's The Soaring Engine Books Vol 1 and 2
Air New Zealand
Henry Hope-Cross
Spider Tracks NZ $500
GNZ Umbrella Trust (funds from the Dick Georgeson Trust)
Sondre Langvik-Owen
Georgeson Trust $500
MAJOR FUNDING SPONSORS
CAA
Emma Derold NZAWA Top Female Student prize pack; Airways NZ $500; Fly Girl Lanyard
Z Energy
Felix Harper Georgeson Trust $500; Flight Experience with Ballooning Canterbury; Scholes Trophy Most Enthusiastic All-rounder
PRODUCT SPONSORS
Stephanie Redepenning Day Work Experience with The Helicopter Line; NZAWA runner up prize pack
Oakley’s Premium Fresh Vegetables (a variety of fresh veg) Sacks of Onions from Greg Tucker Meadow Mushrooms (6 trays of mushrooms) Sanitarium Health Food Company (a variety of breakfast cereals) 100% Pure NZ Honey Fotorama (Milan Kmetovics’ soaring art pictures for auctions)
AIRCRAFT, SERVICES AND SUPPORTING SPONSORS Glide Omarama Omarama Gliding Club South Canterbury Gliding Club Canterbury Gliding Club GMT Syndicate Omarama Airfield Limited (discounted landing fees) Omarama Soaring Centre (discounted camping fees and reimbursed bulk cleaning fee during camp) Avon Technical Solutions (Neil Allison) A mid week fund raising dinner for 34 non-YSDC pilots and visitors raised over $1000 The final night dinner and soaring art auction raised over $ 1500
Harvey Watson
Day Work Experience with Milford Sound Flights
Oban Hansen
Airways NZ $500
Liam Finer
G Dale's "The Soaring Engine" Book Vol 1
Oliver Fletcher
G Dale's "The Soaring Engine" Book Vol 1
Harrison Burns
Day Work Experience with Milford Sound Flights
Alexandra Lehmann
Day Work Experience with The Helicopter Line
Ric Springer
I'd Rather Be Flying Lanyard
Lenny James
G Dale's The Soaring Engine Book Vol 1
Tim Tarbotton
Soaring Adventure Flight with Justin Wills
PRIZES Of note, Airways NZ provided 4 prizes of $500; Spidertracks provided a prize of $500; all prizes were based on the money being used by the recipient to further their soaring during the year on a “dollar-for-dollar” basis, i.e. the student also has to pay $500 towards what ultimately is $1000 worth of flying. The Day Work Experience prizes with Air NZ, Air Safaris, The Helicopter Line and Milford Scenic Flights are great for encouraging pilots to broaden their experience and understanding of the role of flying in our tourism industry (second biggest income earner for NZ) It also acknowledges that many YGNZ pilots go on to do power flying or other aviation related work.
G Dale’s books The Soaring Engine, Vol 1 and 2 are always well received and we are sure they help inspire up and coming cross country pilots who receive them. The NZAWA prizes continue to be well received and this year’s recipients were Emma Derold and Stephanie Redepenning. We hope they can both get along to compete at this year’s NZAWA Rally in Canterbury in June. The leather GNZ logbook cover was donated by Fraser McDougall and the novelty prizes from long time supporter Ross Marfell were well received.
Clockwise: Andrew Mead explores the wave with Fraser McDougall, Stephanie Redpanning with Yvonne Loader, Logan Hoskin receives his award from Roger Read, Roger Read
AIR SICKNESS WORDS BY FLYING OFFICER GARETH IREMONGER AEROSPACE PHYSIOLOGIST
SUPPLIED
Flying Officer Gareth Iremonger is an Aerospace Physiologist at the Royal New Zealand Air Force Aviation Medicine Unit. He trained under the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine and now instructs on Aviation Medicine and manages Human Performance Research and Development activities for the unit. THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN ISSUE 23
Photo composite of Terry Delore by Geoff Soper
AIR SICKNESS • February–April 2020 • 53
Air sickness or motion sickness is something that I am sure we have all experienced at some stage in our life. Most of us know the characteristic feeling of stomach discomfort, usually accompanied by symptoms such as belching, a feeling of bodily warmth, salivation, pallor, drowsiness, headache and apathy. With sustained exposure those symptoms can progress to nausea, sweating and eventually, but not always, vomiting. It can be highly debilitating to the physical, cognitive and emotional performance of a pilot or passenger and we must therefore be aware of the significant implications for flight safety and general performance. So why do we get sick? Well, air sickness, a form of motion sickness is a common physiological response to unfamiliar real or apparent motion. For us humans, we evolved sensory systems to orientate ourselves on the ground and not up soaring. Orientation and movement through the environment is inferred by two principal sensory systems: the visual sense and the two components of the vestibular system of the inner ear. This system includes the semicircular canals, which detect angular acceleration, and the otolith organs, which sense linear acceleration (other proprioceptive sensations have a minor contribution to motion sickness). It is generally considered that conflict between different sensory cues, as an explanation for motion sickness, has been in existence for more than a century. However, it is only in recent years that the definitive neural mismatch theory has become established and widely accepted. The fundamental basis of this theory is that air sickness is the result of contradictory sensory cues. A "central conflict" may occur between different sensory inputs to the central nervous system; this may be either visual-vestibular, visual-proprioceptive (seat of the pants), or between any other two or more sensory systems involved, irrespective of the possible origins of the sensation. In addition, a connection between anxiety and air sickness can combine to augment and
some in cases, through conditioning, initiate sickness even in absence of motion or flight [3]. Some people can also start to feel sick by association of certain smells, such as fumes or even just the smell of the inside of an aircraft. Thermaling, high G and the multi-axial accelerations of soaring creates a highly provocative environment for air sickness to develop. It is common for pilots to experience some form of air sickness during initial training. But it is not uncommon for air sickness to continue to be a problem in some qualified and experienced pilots [1,2,4]. So, what can you do to combat air sickness? It is considered that the most important factor to build adaption to the environment is frequency of exposure. You might have noticed not feeling the best after a few months off. Gradual introduction to the environment is very important. As acclimation increases, the number of manoeuvres causing the sickness can also increase. A gradual introduction will increase confidence in your ability to control the progression of symptoms while providing positive closure on a flight. Proper pre-flight preparation will also help decrease anxiety associated with learning new manoeuvres. Keep a positive mental attitude and make up your mind that air sickness will not shake your determination to fly. As always it is essential that you maintain a good diet and hydration level. Individuals operating in the flight environment require a long-term energy source for optimum performance. Complex carbohydrates provide the energy source the body needs over an extended period of time. Do not over-indulge; eat enough to satisfy hunger and hydrate the body. The initial focus should be on foods that are spongy and porous, such as breads or muffins, which absorb gastric juices and promote digestion. Avoid greasy, fatty, and acidic foods/beverages (i.e. oranges, tomatoes, or grapefruit), caffeinated and carbonated drinks along with dairy products, (coffee, tea, chocolate milk or sodas). Eat meals and consume a water/sports drink combination (50/50 water/drink mix). Get enough rest – 7-9 hours of peaceful sleep is recommended. Adequate rest improves tolerance to G, heat, and psychological stress. What about in-flight management? If air sickness symptoms begin to appear, you can adopt several measures. Perform deep but slow diaphragmatic breathing. Maintain visual focus on a static point on the horizon. Direct air vents towards your neck or wrists. Ask for control of the glider if you are a
passenger. Otherwise, after asking the pilots permission, keep your fingertips on the stick when the pilot has control. Be careful of rapid head movements. With turns, first move the eyes to a reference point, and then follow with your head. Maintain situational awareness and don’t be caught surprised by rapid turns. What about medications? Treatment of air sickness with medication should be avoided unless under prescription from a qualified Aviation Medicine Doctor. Anti air sickness medications can be highly sedating and can reduce your performance. Alternative medicine remedies are becoming increasingly popular and many have been recommended for treatment of motion sickness. The most popular herbal preparation for nausea is ginger root given in candied form, powdered in capsules, or as a tea. Although there is much anecdotal evidence that ginger is beneficial, controlled trials have found no anti-motion sickness activity. There is a plethora of over the counter homeopathic preparations (Cocculus, Nux Vomica, Petroleum, Tabacum, Kreosotum, Borax and Rhus Tox). These preparations have not been found to be consistently effective and the scientific evidence is confusing at best. There are also various forms of acupuncture therapy available as alternative treatments for air sickness. Commercial acupressure therapy devices have not been found to be effective at reducing motion sickness. At the end of the day the most important lesson is to remember that air sickness is not a reflection of your skills as a pilot and is a normal physiological response. If you do get air sickness, tell your instructor. They may be able to help you through it. For others, make sure you support them and look after one another out there. Till next time, safe soaring. For more information on the Aviation Medicine Unit, or general inquires please contact the Aviation Medicine Unit on (09) 417 8932 or email AKAMUTRAINING@nzdf.mil.nz 1 Benson AJ. Motion sickness. In: Ernsting J, King P. Aviation Medicine. 2nd ed. London, Butterworths, 1988. 2 Cheung B, Hofer K (2002-2003). Lack of gender differences in motion sickness induced by vestibular Coriolis cross-coupling. J Vestibular Research;12:191-200. 3 Fox S, Arnon I, (1988). Motion sickness and Anxiety. Aviation Space and Environmental Medicine 62:7768. 59:728-33. 4 Gillingham KK, Previc FH. Spatial orientation in flight. In: DeHart RL. Fundamentals of Aerospace Medicine.
54 • February–April 2020 • A QUESTION OF SAFETY
A QUESTION OF SAFETY MARTYN COOK NATIONAL OPERATIONALS OFFICER
INCIDENT REPORTS Incident reporting is catching on in most clubs, with 17 incidents from nine different clubs submitted to Regional Ops Officers in December and January. Some clubs do not submit any incident reports at all, which may be an indication of lack of flying or just lack of reporting. Some clubs respond positively to feedback from the Ops Team, which takes the form of a brief commentary circulated to all instructors. Others . . . not so much. Consistent and diligent incident reporting is a strong marker of the safety culture of the club. It implies an open culture where mistakes are acknowledged without blame, and underlying causes are sought in an honest way. Incidents are inevitable in aviation - it's how they are managed (and not disguised or concealed) that counts. We can all learn something from these incidents - let's not deny others the benefit of our experience. The first type of incident arises from simple errors of omission or 'failing to notice'. Included in these 17 incidents are: failing to lock the airbrakes, accidentally landing with a tail wind and losing directional control, not plugging in the oxygen tubing correctly and not allowing the water ballast tanks to drain completely after flight. A second type of incident arises through no direct fault of the pilot, such as a battery coming loose in flight after a demonstrated winch launch pushover - because it was only retained by an ageing bungee cord. Sometimes an instrument fails to work, or the tow plane does not climb as expected, or the weak link breaks. A third type of incident arises when a pilot does not apply an essential skill that he
has been trained for, such as keeping the speed up on final approach and not letting it decay, even when sink is encountered on short final. In the last two months three heavy landings resulted from this, including one where a tow plane on a glide approach landed heavily and broke its undercarriage. The natural human reflex when encountering increased sink close to the ground may well be to pull back on the stick to slow the rate of descent. But what is really required is to maintain the airspeed and reduce the airbrake (or advance the throttle in a tow plane) the moment the sink is recognised. The competent pilot must be able to over-ride his 'instinctive' reaction, and instead access the aviator part of his brain and fly the aircraft. There's another type of incident where the pilot is loaded up with more information than he can cope with, and becomes confused (see cartoon). You may laugh - but some enthusiastic instructors are often guilty of this, feeling the compulsion to impart all they know on the assumption that it will all be absorbed. It won't. But wait - it gets worse. To survive the onslaught of information the poor pilot's brain simply
dumps what it doesn't consider immediately relevant, which may mean that vital actions are not carried out - like neglecting to open the airbrakes and land straight ahead after an aborted take-off, and running right off the end of the runway. Another potential overload situation is when an action is performed for the first time, like converting to a different aircraft or trying out a new oxygen system. There are lots of new things happening. This type of overload shows up in accident statistics: in the UK fully 10% of all winch launch accidents are where the pilot is flying the glider type for the first time. A type conversion should be treated like a first solo - with as few other distractions as possible. In the last two months there were two heavy landings - one resulting in damage - that were first flight on type. Most training gliders are not fitted with flaps, and despite the ‘flaps’ item appearing in the pre-flight and pre-landing check lists some pilots may have no experience with camber-changing flaps until converting to a flapped single. It is a mistake to try and help such a pilot with their type conversion by suggesting that the flaps be left in neutral
IAN DUNKLEY • February–April 2020 • 55
setting for the first flight. In one of our incidents the attempt to land a flapped glider with zero flap setting on first flight on type may have contributed to the heavy landing - with damage and minor injury. A flapped aerofoil is designed to operate efficiently over a wider range of speeds than an unflapped aerofoil, and often has a thinner section which generates less lift (and therefore less drag) at a comparable speed to a glider without flaps. The neutral or zero flap setting is a cruise mode, and is not normally used for landing, launching or thermalling. If operating the flaps is too great a burden then the flight should be conducted with +1 or +2 flap setting, but best of all would be to always set the flap as prescribed in the Flight Manual for the different flight conditions. A number of reports illustrate the "swiss cheese" model in which a sequence of individually benign events cascade into a more serious incident. For example, the tow pilot is having radio problems and can't hear calls clearly. A hand-held radio is being used by the wingtip runner to control the launch. A person runs in front of the glider to speak to the glider pilot while the tug is taking up slack. The tow pilot hears a further radio transmission and assumes this is "All Out" but in fact is "Hold Position". The tow pilot applies full power with a person standing in front of the wing and the glider rolls forward, forcing the bystander to dive under the wing. No "Stop" command or stop signal was given. Did I mention the frozen rudder incident? On a wave flight the rudder was unable to be moved for 10-20 seconds, and the cause was attributed to water from a leaking tail tank freezing around the rudder hinge line. Carrying water ballast at temperatures below zero degrees C is warned against in most glider manuals, particularly in tail tanks. One possible compromise is to add a benign chemical that lowers the freezing point of water. Do not use automotive anti-freeze - a better alternative is propylene glycol which is non-toxic and will lower the freezing point by about 9°C when used in a 20% aqueous solution. A near-miss mid-air collision will be discussed in the next article. Above: Cartoon by Kevin Clark, from his recently-published collection 'Glidertoons'. Reprinted with permission.
MAURICE WEAVER SUPPLIED
WORDS BY BRETT HUNTER
M
AURICE WEAVER was one of our better imports from Australia. Originally from Geelong he met Sarndra in Gisborne on one of his surfing OEs in the early ‘80s. A Civil Engineer, he project-managed major construction around Australia and Asia before settling in NZ with his young family in the early nineties. Maurice found gliding about 20 years ago – he was the successful result of one of the night school scholarship programs that the Tauranga Gliding Club was running at the time. As was his style, he was in boots and all – he held various positions on the committee and was proactive in attempting to guide the club to secure its future. Something of an adventurer he was also into tramping and sailing, but in the last twenty years gliding took over from surfing as his primary passion. In the past 15 years he enjoyed competing in a number of Australian National and State competitions in Kingaroy and Darling Downs along with
several expeditions to Omarama. As recently as October he and Trev Terry enjoyed some great flying in a Duo Discus at the Australian Nationals at Kingaroy. He had recently purchased a Ventus 2cxT and was a member of both Tauranga and Piako Gliding Clubs. Maurice lost his brave fight against cancer on February 4th and will be sorely missed by all who knew him.
May you long rest in peace Maurice No more worries or struggles will worry you You are flying free now And we are wondering how Our white wings will ever keep up with you Above: Maurice at Kingaroy
BLAST FROM THE PAST PETER LAYNE HISTORIAN
When club scribes send their club notes into the editor (Jill McCaw) few would be aware they are carrying on a tradition which originated nearly 90 years ago. One of the leading clubs back then was the Dannevirke Gliding Club. Intermediate type glider after bungee launch. Early thirties. At Dannevirke. Photo by courtesy Arnold Wright.
A FEW months ago, Russell Thorne, CFI of the Auckland Gliding Club, found some notes of the Dannevirke Gliding Club reporting to the New Zealand Gliding Association on their recent Christmas Camp of 1931. Russell kindly forwarded these notes to me to share with the readership. Dannevirke in the 1930s was the centre of New Zealand gliding. On reflection, these were the days before the discovery of the wave system. Flights were measured in seconds and height attained would be a foot or so. No need for oxygen or spin training! The club seemed to be a very progressive club and was chosen as the venue to form a governing body. Delegates from several clubs met in Dannevirke to form the NZGA. There were several men who were, or became, very prominent in aviation circles. Lord Bledisloe, the Governor General was elected Patron, Squadron Leader T Wilkes - President (who went on to control, for a time, Civil Aviation in his capacity as a highly ranked RNZAF officer), Sir Francis Boyes – Vice President (later President of the Royal New Zealand Aero Club), Sir Cecil Leys - Vice President (Director of NZ Newspapers Ltd), Sir Henry Wigram – Vice President (‘The father of New Zealand Aviation’, patron of the New Zealand Aero Club and a founder of a flying school at
Sockburn named Wigram in his honour), M H Oram (later Sir Matthew) Vice President (founder of the Manawatu Aero Club and later a politician). The executive comprised Dr C S Williams, E R Perkins, E C Dearman and L C David. The Secretary Treasurer was Major A R C Claridge. P O Box 38 Dannevirke 10 February 1932
REPORT ON GLIDING CAMP HELD IN DANNEVIRKE FROM 26TH TO 30TH DECEMBER 1931 A gliding camp arranged under the auspices of the New Zealand Gliding Association was held in Dannevirke from 26th to 30th December 1931, for the purpose of instruction and also to foster interest in the sport of gliding. Representatives of the Dannevirke, Masterton, Napier and Heretaunga clubs were present as well as enthusiasts from other districts throughout New Zealand. It was intended in the first place to hold
the camp on semi-military lines, but the Defence Department declined the Association the use of tents etc. at the last minute owing to shortage of supplies. Under the circumstances, the Association was fortunate in being able to make arrangements with the High School Board of Governors for the use of the Boys’ hostel for accommodation purposes. The Dannevirke club used their Dickson glider during the meeting and the Masterton club brought their Zöegling through, while the launching rope was supplied by the Dannevirke club. Mr L A Willicombe of the Dannevirke club carried out the duties of instructor and his report on the work carried out, submitted to the Association is as follows; “On the whole the weather was good during the period of the camp, but was at times, hardly suitable for primary training. The whole time, however, was utilised for training of some sort. Flying operations were commenced on Saturday 26th December and continued until Saturday 2nd January. During this time local members were given intensive primary training and five visitors from Masterton were given in instruction from ground training to flying, in their
BLAST FROM THE PAST • February–April 2020 • 57
Dannevirke in the 1930s was the centre of New Zealand gliding. On reflection, these were the days before the discovery of the wave system. Flights were measured in seconds and height attained would be a foot or so. No need for oxygen or spin training!
own machine. Eight visitors from Hastings, although not afforded flight training, had the opportunity of witnessing the methods used and taking part in ground crew work. Two members of the Dannevirke Gliding Club, resident in Napier, were given elementary training, with a view to commencing gliding operations as a part of the Napier Aero Club. Other visitors to the training field during the period of the meet were representatives of Dunedin, Palmerston North and Wellington. I believe the meeting has achieved its object in starting those clubs represented on the right lines of primary training, and demonstrated the necessity for an abundance of practice in balancing and skids prior to commencing actual flight. As an example, the Masterton visitors came to the camp without previous training and were given plenty of training and were given plenty of practice on skid flights, power towed. Actual flights were undertaken during the last day of their stay at the camp and under the supervision of M Perkins. In these flights the visitors put up a very good performance and the landings were very good with the exception of one which could be described as fairly hard. After reviewing the training carried out at this camp, I have formed the opinion that some further form of training is required between the stage of towed skids and actual flight, as the present training does not prepare the pupil for the sensation produced by his early flights. Although I have no suggestions to offer at present, in
this connection, perhaps affiliated clubs will, after gaining experience, be able to suggest a more advanced form of ground or elementary flight training”. At the conclusion of the meeting a new type of secondary glider with faired-in fuselage was tested and showed great promise. The spirit of co-operation and comradeship was evident throughout and all visitors expressed their appreciation of the value and benefit derived from the meeting. That no damage to the gliders was sustained during training operations speaks volumes to the system of training followed. In view of the fact that this was the first gliding camp held in New Zealand the meeting from every point proved an unqualified success, and all pilots benefited greatly by the intensive training. Ground engineers gained valuable knowledge as regular discussions were held regarding inspection repairs and rigging. Motion pictures of the training activities were taken and will be a valuable record of the meeting. Now that the first step has been taken and the value of these camps from an instructional point of view, proved, clubs are urgently requested to consider the advisability of attending future camps. The Association intends to make an early start with the organisation of the next meeting and invites the co-operation of all clubs. It might be mentioned that Messrs M V Wilson Coy of Auckland and the Dominion Aircraft Coy of Dannevirke, have both donated valuable cups
for competition at the next meeting. The Association again urges all Clubs to affiliate as soon as possible. It is evident that the sport of gliding has a big future before it and it is vitally necessary to have a parent body to properly direct its growth. A copy of the Association’s rules are enclosed herewith. Yours faithfully L F ALLEN Secretary
FURTHER NOTES: Cloudcraft Dickson Primary gliders were among the ‘Top of the range’ gliders in their day – the 1930s. At least Dannevirke and Auckland operated the type. The Auckland example went into storage in Manukau Road, Auckland during 1941 when the club stopped flying in war time. It never flew again and I have never heard what became of it. A modern day example, VH-GJI, was flown in Australia in 2013.Video footage https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=uYhFRBI0jGU shows it in the air. Footage (or foot) may well be the operative word. The Dominion Aircraft Company was formed by members of Dannevirke Club to make aircraft components but went out of business during the Great Depression of the mid 1930s.
58 • February–April 2020 • FLIGHT INTO A THUNDERSTORM
FLIGHT INTO A THUNDERSTORM A CAUTIONARY TALE WORDS BY CHRIS WILLS
SUPPLIED
Chris Wills, son of the legendary glider pilot Philip Wills was brought up and learnt to fly in England. On moving to New Zealand, he became a member of the Canterbury Gliding club, became secretary of the NZGA and had many gliding adventures. A spectacular and nearly fatal flight into a thunderstorm in 1957 was particularly interesting. Flying in thunderstorms was a common method of gaining height in the UK at the time. After this particular adventure Chris told Dick Georgeson that he should never have tried it here. The following is from a letter Chris wrote to Dick Georgeson, not long after the event.
M
Y FLIGHT in the Weihe was on 1.12.57
and lasted 4 hours and 30 minutes. I had started at Burnt Hill without a weather forecast, in an attempt to make Gold C distance to the south. Wave did not develop as hoped for and I was unable to get any more than 7-8,000 feet. I remember seeing you in your Eagle somewhere near Lake Coleridge. The wave seemed to lead into some bad weather coming from the south. Coming from England I thought that this might be a little bad weather which might be got through and so I resolved to push on below cloud. However at a point near Methven I was down to 2,500 feet and it was raining. As there was no sign of a weather improvement, I resolved to take photos of a canal and then to try to return to Burnt Hill. On the way back I did find some weak lift which steadily took me to cloud base. I thought that perhaps I could continue with it into cloud and that if I could get to 4,000 feet I would have a chance of returning to Burnt Hill. Unfortunately, after a moment in cloud the
Weihe got into a spiral dive. I opened its air brakes and felt that I would be out of cloud in a few seconds. However a quick look at the Slater Cobb vario indicated that this was not to be. Its green ball was hard against the top of the tube. Then followed a frantic eight minutes during which the Weihe was corkscrewing with one wing hard down at 80 mph and refusing to answer its ailerons. The G (always positive) was tremendous and I felt as if I was being forced down to one side of the cockpit, with the skin on my cheeks being pressed downwards. I could not imagine that any aircraft could survive this, especially a wartime built German Weihe. I felt that I might have to abandon ship but took comfort that I need not do this as the Weihe was still climbing and therefore must be still capable of flight. The noise of the hail and the darkness seemed to redouble with every turn. Again and again I tried to level its wings but only managed to make things worse. At 11,000 feet the front of the canopy started to break. The hail was mostly caught by a curtain which was fitted to
the top of the canopy as a sun shade. At about 16,000 feet it started to get light and I felt as if I might be going to come out of cloud. Then there was a great explosion from a wing tip and I received a slight electric shock from the stick. We had been hit by lightening but the Weihe was still climbing and did not seem to be on fire. Then everything became dark again. I was not going to be delivered from the cloud and the descent began. Probably it was still spiralling. The height reached was 16,500 feet in eight minutes from 3,500 feet. The descent took five minutes until the Weihe broke cloud at about 3,000 feet. I was in clear air but above a layer of cloud which seemed to have a gap in it which I thought was on course. The Weihe seemed to be flying but it was a little heavy on its controls. I expected the aircraft to be damaged but thought that the heaviness on its ailerons might be due to ice. I resolved to gently fly her towards this gap in the lower cloud for a “let down”. Chris and his gallant glider eventually got home safely.
CREW CORNER • February–April 2020 • 59
CREW CORNER JILL MCCAW AN INFREQUENT COLUMN FOR PIECES ABOUT THINGS ON THE GROUND
TOWING GLIDER TRAILERS Let’s start with a cautionary story. The club is going away on camp and you’ve volunteered to tow one of the trailers. That’s great. Good on you. Camps don’t happen without the volunteers who are willing to put themselves out and make things happen. You roar out to the club, back up to the trailer, hook it on and take off. You’re off! All is fine until 10 kilometres up the road when you have to brake hard, the trailer fishtails and the whole unit rolls. Fortunately, you’re okay, but that is a very expensive piece of kit that just crashed itself to pieces in its box. The club is going to hate you but there was no way it was your fault. Was it? It very possibly was. Let’s back up a bit. Trailer towing is a skill. It’s not terribly hard to learn how to do it, but a good briefing and type rating can make all the difference. You need to physically learn how to drive the combination. This is not something you’ll manage in the distance from the trailer park to the road gate. Expect it to take several trips. More about that in a minute. But first, back up even further. Before you can tow you have to have a car that is capable of towing. Warrant of fitness and rego up to date? Insurance is void if they’re not. Is the tow bar rated for the weight of the trailer? Does it have the correct size ball? Do you have the correct fittings for the electrics? Are your tyres and brakes up to scratch? Is the size and CC rating of your car up to the job? I’d like to suggest that Ford Escorts, even if they are turbo charged, aren’t really up to towing twin trailers. A previous Ford Escort owner once tried to kill me while passing with a trailer on a blind corner. I mention these things so that
others can learn from these mistakes without trying them for themselves. Fill up with petrol.
that the lights actually work! Check your mirrors, you need to be able to see behind the combination.
Check the trailer. Is it the correct trailer? Warrant of fitness, Rego. Tyres pumped up. When was the last time it was out? Do the wheels actually go around? If it’s got a warrant then it should be okay but it does pay to check. It is a good idea to note whether there is a spare tyre with the trailer and how it is stored. You may have to carry it in the car.
As you head up the driveway, note how long the thing actually is. Don’t forget this, ever; not at the petrol station, not when you want to pass a campervan on the open road and especially not as you get to your destination and turn in through what is nearly always an awkward farm gate. A glider trailer will not fit through a fast food drive in!
Next step, check the glider. It may be that you have to de-rig it into the trailer before you can take it away. That is great. Make sure there is someone there who is familiar with (or knowledgeable about) the way it is secured. If it is already de-rigged, open the trailer up and check that everything is as it should be. Check that wing stands and any other loose pieces are safe and that nothing will work its way loose or damage anything. Check the other gear for the glider, the batteries, parachute, ballast, tie downs etc. Who is taking those? Is it you? Have you got them?
It goes without saying that you will obey the road rules. I quote from the official NZ Road Code, “The maximum speed for a light vehicle towing a trailer on the open road is 90km/hr.” And, “Remember, you will be slower and less stable than other traffic when towing. Check behind often to see if other vehicles are held up behind you … stop at a safe place and let them pass.” And, “Leave more space between your vehicle and the one in front, so that others can pass you.” And finally, “Remember that the added weight behind you means you will need more space to stop. Increase your following distance from 2 seconds to 4 seconds.” I would also like to add that for some trailers and tow car combinations 90km/h may still be too fast. It msy increase your stability when towing glider trailers to increase the car's rear tyre pressure by 5-10 psi above normal. If the combination feels unstable or as if it is driving you, slow down! You don’t want to wreck the glider or even kill yourself or others. Take it quietly and learn how the trailer responds behind your car. Learn how to drive it. Just remember how much money it is all worth and take care of it.
If you’re taking the trailer empty, i.e. you are off on a retrieve or the glider is being flown to the camp, make sure you have all the bits you need, wing stands etc. It pays to open the trailer and check everything is secure. It pays to check too that you actually have the right trailer and it hasn’t already got a glider in it. That has happened! Very annoying to open a trailer in a paddock to find it is already occupied. If it is a retrieve and you are using the pilot’s car, give it a quick once over too. Check all the things already mentioned, petrol is important. Next step, hook up. Murphy’s law says that if your car has a square trailer fitting the trailer will have a round one. Know this in advance and get an adaptor. Your club may even have one for each trailer. Don’t forget to check
And when you do arrive safely, make sure someone shouts you a beer. Above: Not all tow vehicles are as flash or as suited to the task as George Deans’ Porsche 4WD, seen here collecting Canterbury’s LS4. Make sure your tow vehicle is capable of what you are asking it to do.
60 • February–April 2020 • 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.canterburyglidingclub.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 April 2020.
CANTERBURY There’s been a surge of competitive sporting energy breaking out at the Canterbury Gliding Club. We have seen some notable flights by members of all levels of experience, particularly lower time pilots increasing their capability step by step. The club camps at Omarama post-Christmas and, although the club tug and most of the fleet remained at Springfield this year and Australian smoke shaded what might otherwise have been some good days, people made the most of their chances. Alex Hewson completed a 5 hour flight making everything possible of the day and landing after the last of the lift was fading. Tim Hughes completed his Silver badge, Brent Schroeder also completed a 5 hour flight, Rob Kerr completed his 50 km flight and Gold height gain, Edwin Oude Vrielink completed a Diamond height gain, and after many decades of accomplished gliding John McCaw also formalised his 500 km and Diamond height gain achievements. In other aviation news, Alex Hewson, who is a world level competitive model aircraft pilot, flew a model glider to 510 mph, the fastest speed ever achieved outside the USA. Flying behind a ridge near Tekapo he used dynamic soaring to achieve the record. Topping off the achievement scores Terry Delore completed a massive 1730 km out and return flight between Clyde and Hawkes Bay, potentially scoring three world records, whilst simultaneously Max Stevens successfully completed his second 1500 km attempt within the South Island, just two weeks after doing it the first time. Several instructors and other hands helped out at the Youth Soaring Development Camp in Omarama in December. This was followed by Brent Schroeder running the first of
probably four mini camps this season at Springfield on a weekend in January. This was attended by ten keen young enthusiasts. Pilot and instructor development continued with a week-long cross-country course for gold-level pilots by G Dale during February, unfortunately the ongoing fickle weather did not help. The club continues through the rest of the summer with up to 7 days/week operations, thanks to visiting instructors and tow pilots from the UK, Bruce Cooper and Jonathan May. We have also enjoyed the company of Matthew Scutter of SkySight who has been doing a little bit of fine-tuning of the forecasts whilst enjoying the delights of gliding and New Zealand for three months over the summer.
Canterbury:
CENTRAL OTAGO Down south, our January weather was a marked contrast to that prior to Christmas. The New Year has delivered hot temperatures (30°C) plus lighter winds which equals better soaring. We've had some excellent Sunday soaring and even a couple of mid-week days. Club glider Twin Astir GJW has had a number of good long flights including an cross country flight with Doug and Nick who flew into the Dingleburn from Alexandra. Our Cessna has had a bit of a workout with some recent high tows to the hills, short-circuiting the struggle through the local inversion on a couple of days. It's great seeing Phil having long flights in his Hornet after a few months off and Ross Davidson recently did his second solo at Alexandra after first soloing with GlideOmarama a while back. Meanwhile the single seaters have flown out east to the Rock and Pillar Range and westward to the Main Divide on good days where cloudbases have reached 10,000 feet at times.
Canterbury:
JR
GLIDING HAWKES BAY AND WAIPUKURAU Frustration was the key feature of flying pre-Christmas with wind, rain and Australian bush fire smoke resulting in a number of non-flying days. Despite the challenges, some flying and soaring was achieved. In early November, members of the No 13 (City of Napier) Squadron of the Air Training Corps were treated to a gliding experience. Conditions varied from calm to a few bumps with strong lift and sink evident at times and in places. The clear conditions gave fantastic views of the area while the lift available allowed some cadets to see how gliders can use the energy in the sky to climb and stay aloft. Conditions did deteriorate later in the day which saw flying finish early for the day.
Canterbury:
Canterbury:
A mid-November Sunday started with the club tow plane out of the air for routine maintenance. Grounds maintenance was started but then the Skylux was called into service and a launch was made into an energetic sky. Soon after getting established in broken, messy wave and into controlled airspace, the glider battery failed which meant the flight had to terminate. The sky was changing rapidly and later launches could not get established. However, the day was not wasted with the area around the glider trailers cleared, work on the annuals of a number of club gliders and the monthly committee meeting completed. A Christmas BBQ was held at the aero club bar with a good attendance of members with Jason Price again starring as the chef.
Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau: ASH in Omarama January 2020
January saw Graham White, Jason Kelly, James Foreman and Alex White travel to Omarama where they enjoyed some good soaring days and plenty of winter weather along with bushfire smoke. Neil Faulknor arranged club t-shirts for members while Brian Kelly had promotional t-shirts printed for trial flight members and also had the club caravan re-painted. As always, we look forward to some classic Hawkes Bay thermal, convergence and wave days.
PIAKO
Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau:
The MSC North Island regionals at Matamata, weather wise, were either a week too early or late. However, there were four flying days and Brett Hunter managed 2nd in the Open class. Long-time Auckland resident Rae Kerr has moved to Matamata and joined Piako. His first course of action was to annihilate the Racing class by more than 700 points in his almost half a century old wooden Dart, against Ventus’ and Discus’. Norman Duke (another Auckland ex pat), ran this years’ ATC National gliding course. It was well supported by Piako equipment and instructors and went very smoothly. The MSC ran the inaugural Grand Prix competition for the North Island and Matamata’s ridge proved a real asset for this type of contest. Brett Hunter was first and David Jensen third in the Sailplane GP class. In the F1 GP class Steve Care was first, Tim Bromhead close second and Tony Davies third. Only one competitor had flown a GP before, so it was a steep learning curve for everyone.
Piako: Rae Kerr
Our decamp to Raglan ran smoothly, with one west coast ridge day. Tim Bromhead managed a 700 km OLC, as part of the AGC Enterprise Contest, although distance didn’t count on that particular day. He missed out on overall first
CLUB NEWS • February–April 2020 • 63
place in the contest by only 4 points. Sooo close, yet again! We had to leave Raglan a couple of days earlier than expected and had no other option than to fly at Matamata alongside the Walsh Flying School, (lots of aircraft and a control tower). Things worked out better than expected, with our lot making good radio calls and the weather some of the best this season. Luke McPake flew a first solo on 26 Dec. He had flown with us at Raglan as a 13-year-old and only waited a couple of decades before deciding to take up the sport. Recently Mark Shrimpton completed his Silver 50 km distance and Patrick Lalor (our Secretary) his 5 hours. Dave Dennison (our Treasurer) completed 5 hours, Silver height, 50 km and 300 km all in one flight. All are awaiting confirmation. Tim Bromhead has sold his DG300 (BA) to Sarel Venter and bought a Ventus CT (OP), so should be able to cover even more ground. Piako is currently leading the NZ club OLC, with members flying 30,000 km cross-country so far this season.
Piako: Raglan double tow
SC & GH
TARANAKI I suppose if you wait long enough things are bound to improve. So it is that I can report some improvements during December and January which is rather different to the lugubrious accounts I’ve often had to write (about time I hear you say). We-ell first off, Liam Finer took himself off to Omarama, took part in the Youth Glide course down there, came home, had three or four flights then was sent solo by John Tullett. Good stuff Liam! He has done a few solo flights since then.
Piako: Luke McPake first solo flight
Welcome to Julie Langford who has commenced training, to Dylan Miller a Youth Glide pilot and as well, John Carter, who has returned to the sensible way of flying. John was a tow pilot during the 1980s and 1990s as well as a single seater pilot when we had the Standard Astir GNG. We hope you all enjoy your flying with us. In mid-December there was a three day expedition to Taumarunui. Clinton Steele was towed there on Friday morning and back to Stratford that evening. He joined John Tullett and Dennis Green in having flights out of Taumarunui during the day. Nathan Whitleston, not to be out-done, had a flight or two in the PW5. On Saturday a party from Taupo came across to join them. Peter Cook had a good flight with Trevor Terry in the Duo Discus. There were more cross-countries for John Tullett, Dennis Green and Les Sharp. Another cross-country for Les Sharp on the Sunday and all happy, they all went home. A successful trip. Taranaki: Liam Finer first solo flight
Since then there have been several quite active days including a trip around the mountain by Dennis Green in the PW5 and then another in the Janus with John Spence. They teamed up well on the 26th January in a sea breeze front that was better than it looked. Tim HardwickSmith has had to watch all this from home having done a barrel roll in his Gator and has, as a result, been wearing a neck brace. A cautionary tale for young and old players. Glyn Jackson took our tow-plane off to the Drury comps for a week to haul gliders aloft. A sterling effort went off all right I believe. And as well we had a couple of visitors from a Yorkshire gliding club – Trev ‘n Bev Chimes who both had good flights and to my surprise a next-door neighbour of mine, James Hastie was treated to a nice flight on the 26th January. I can’t end without mentioning the smoke from Australia. It is quite observable here, with striking dawns and sunsets but minimal effect otherwise. PJM
Taranaki: Around the mountain, Les Sharp and Dennis Green
CLUB NEWS • February–April 2020 • 65
TAUPO Happy New Year everyone! Since the last club news, there have been some exciting times in Taupo and surrounds. In November we had the Central Plateau Competition. Although the weather was beautiful it wasn’t soarable every day, but everyone enjoyed the week. In the lead up to Christmas, members from Taupo and Taranaki clubs met up in Taumarunui for a fantastic weekend of flying and fun. We had great weather over the course of the weekend and all of those that attended enjoyed the flying and socialising. It is intended to make this an annual event. Once again Dennis (our favourite Czech) graced us with his presence for a short period and gave Tom a hand sprucing up the place and working on projects. We look forward to seeing him again next year. Congratulations go to Henry Hope-Cross for achieving his ‘B’ Certificate and to Bill Kendall for finally (wink) getting his Silver badge. Well done both of you.
Taupo: above Taumaranui
Our latest member to join the club is the spouse of another club member. We welcome Bec Simmonds to our ranks and look forward to seeing her progress to become another QGP. Of course, we’re hosting the Nationals, which will be over by the time you read this but I’m sure we all had a great time. We have experienced some awesome summer days and look forward to the rest of the season. Fly well and have fun. Trace
Taupo: Club at Taumaranui
Taupo: A nice place to spend at weekend
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GLIDERS ASW 27a. GKW • s/n 27117, yr 1999 with 1239 hrs, paint finish wings. Cambridge 303, Becker AR4201 com, Micro T2000 Transponder, Mountain High Oxygen System. KW is a high performance sailplane in very good condition. Good metal trailer and tow out gear KW is a high performance glider LD 1 .48. $105,000. Contact George Scott. Phone 027 270 3205, email grscott@xtra.co.nz 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. Ben Stimpson, email: bstimpson@xtra.co.nz Phone: 027 555 5485 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 0204 118 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. My partner is very keen to sell his share. Contact Ross Gaddes phone 64 274 789 123, email rsgaddes@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. Jamie Halstead phone 021 409933, 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
Multiple 1000k flights & National winner. $75,000. 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. 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 7 348 6640 or 027 494 794 ASW 20 CL # 20823, 1985 • TT 1655 hrs with 811 launches. In great condition. Price by negotiation, make us an offer. Piako Gliding Club in pvt Hangar. Price includes new instruments and radio. 2 pot finish. Instruments: Ditter KRT2 Com, Terra TXPDR, Flarm. Recently added LX Navigation, EOS Vario (GPS IGC LOGGER) with Remote Stick Controller. Water bags all good in wings. Mountain High oxygen System. Homebuilt Trailer. Also Hangar at Piako by negotiation. Contact Sandy Griffin, email: oldbuick@hotmail.com, phone 027 595 5191 Mini Nimbus C • ZK-GKS - 15m flapped carbon wings. 1500 hours approx. Large cockpit and superb handling characteristics. Original condition with no repairs, but gelcoat showing its age. Standard instruments, twin batteries, Terra mode-C transponder, Oudie, Zander S800, oxygen, good tow-out gear and dust covers. All ADs complied with. New Gadringer harness and Tost release hook; upgraded American GQ Security parachute. Spare wheel doors, Tost wheel assembly, spare transponder. Licenced German Pfeifer trailer in as new condition after body-off restoration 2014. Glider and trailer always hangered. $40 000.00 firm. Based Auckland-Drury. Contact Peter Wooley email wooleypeter@gmail.com, phone 021 170 2009 Ventus 2cxT • GBZ, 2007. Immaculate 18m glider with only 615hrs and 7hrs engine. Upgraded with LX9000, remote stick and hydraulic disk brakes in 2018. It has all the accessories, komet trailer, full covers etc. No damage history. Option for half share or full share available. Half share glider could be based at Auckland and/or Matamata. Half share in hanger at Matamata optionally available. Contact Brett Hunter email bretthunternz@gmail.com, phone 021 927 626 Alisport Silent IN Self Launching Sailplane • with retracting Alisport 302efi FADEC 28 hp engine driving a monoblade propeller. Airframe 890hrs, engine and propeller less than 4hrs (new 2013) Removable winglets, tinted canopy, usual instruments plus Trig TT21 transponder (with Mode S). Wing wheel, tail dolly and one-man rigging gear. Excellent open trailer. $42,000. Contact Edouard Devenoges, email: devenoges.e@xtra.co.nz
Discus B • 1/3 share. $25,000. Contact Paul A O'Neill-Gregory, email: oneillgregory@xtra.co.nz, phone 021 194 5065
ASW 20 CL, ZK-GOO • Half share. Based at Springfield. 15m glider with additional 16.6m tip extensions. 42:1 performance, increasing to 45:1 with tip extensions. Brand new PU paint on ailerons and flaps. Recently re-wired cockpit. Fitout, ClearNav vario, Nano Flarmview, EDS oxygen system, SPOT, Transponder. Also included:Parachute, Tow-out gear, Clam-shell trailer, Water ballast system, Half share in spare canopy. Contact David Palmer, email: ddg.palmer@gmail.com, phone 027 251 8339
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.
Mini Nimbus HS7 • ZK-GLO. Terra mode C transponder, Becker radio, Cambridge GPS navigator and L-Nav glide computer. Distress beacon, parachute. Last ARA October 2019. Good trailer. Glider hangered. Great flyer with flaps to optimise glide ratio at all speeds. Total flight time
CLASSIFIEDS • February–April 2020 • 67 GNZ members are eligible for one free non-commercial classified advertisement per issue. Deadline for receipt of advertising for our May 2020 issue is 26 April 2020.
1455hrs. $30,000. Contact Russell Richardson, email: richpond@xtra.co.nz, phone 021 118 3239
$30,000. Contact Peter Wooley, email wooleypeter@gmail.com, phone 021 170 1009
ASW 27a • GKW, S/N 27117, yr 1999, 1239 hrs paint finish wings. Cambridge 303 302, Becker AR4201 com, Micro T2000 Transponder, Mountain high Oxygen System. KW is a high performance 15m sailplane in very good condition. $105,000. Contact George Scott, email: grscott@xtra.co.nz, phone 027 270 3205
One Man Rigger • Brand new, never been used before one man rigger for a sailplane, glider and some micro lights with the detachable wings. This is a perfect aid in the set up to have fun and fly as it can be done by just one person. $1,000. Contact Mel, email melroseh2@gmail.com, phone 021 202 4246
Ventus 2B (15m with flaps) • 1995 model, 2475 hours, oxygen, transponder, LX vario, Cobra Trailer. I will have equipment list and panel/glider photos shortly. $100,000. Reason for sale, OGC purchased a second Duo Discus recently. Contact Chris Streat, on behalf Omarama Gliding Club, email streatcg@xtra.co.nz, phone 0274 856 236
Camper tow vehicle • Nissan Elgrand campervan fully fitted out and certified for Freedom Camping and used by me over the last few years to tow my Nimbus 2C. $18,500. Contact Paul Marriott, email paul-marriott@ hotmail.co.uk, phone 027 526 3659
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 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
Chalet for rent in Omarama • Chalet available for rent on the airfield at Omarama $600 for 6 nights. Get in touch if you want a shorter or longer rental period. Contact Annie Laylee, email annlaylee@aol.com
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
ELT, used, type ACK E-04, 406MHz • $200. Contact Christian Derold, phone 027 602 0111, email christian.derold@me.com
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. Contact Mike Packer, email mikelpacker@gmail. com, phone +64 21 059 8648
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
Written off Glider for Cockpit Simulator • Looking to convert a disused glider cockpit into a flight simulator for training. Please contact me with offers if you have something that may be suitable. Contact Cameron Stewart, email cstewart000@gmail.com, phone 022 402 0550
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
Gliding Museum Seeks Exhibits • Can be absolutely anything remotely related to gliding. Maybe consider clearing out the club hangar or maybe your cluttered garage! Think of it as an opportunity to bring into new light all that has been forgotten! Maybe a retired, damaged or derelict glider? Maybe a rusty old winch or other field equipment. Pictures, photographs, memorabilia and books can all do their bit to illustrate the history of the sport. Really any donations, regardless of condition, will be most welcome. Contact Mike Crymble, email: michaelcrymble@hotmail.com, phone 022 617 8778
Garmin GNS-430W GPS/NAV/COM, PN: 011-01060-40 • This is a 14V unit and includes the mounting tray, connectors and shells, new Garmin GA35 Antenna, new manuals, new navigation data card, It has the latest software (Main 5.30, GPS 5.0) $6,800 Email chriscjgillettelaw@gmail.com, phone 323 813 9585 Tasman Variometer In kt • Stand alone vario. Fully functioning. Removed to be replaced by s100! $300. Contact Gavin Wrigley, email gavinwr@hotmail. com, phone +61 4 1884 4014
OTHER FOR SALE 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. Drury hangar spaces • Two spaces in shared four-space private hangar. Enough room for glider and trailer together. Lights, water, electricity and concrete floor. Rail system for easy glider access. $30 000.00 for both together as one unit. Sale contingent on prior sale of resident glider.
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.
ARE YOU ADS-B READY? Upgrade your transponders today TRIG
By 31 December 2021 it is proposed all aircraft flying in New Zealand controlled airspace will have to have operational ADS-B OUT on board. ADS-B will provide 45 percent greater surveillance coverage compared to the current system. Sailplane Services are New Zealand's soaring specialist agents for Trig. Buy once, buy right! Important: Be wary if buying from the US, UAT systems advertised as ADS-B may not be useable in New Zealand.
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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 +64 274 789 123
