TEL AND BOB
GO TO NAPIER
By CJ McCaw
On the 22 February Canterbury Gliding Club pilot CJ McCaw accepted a challenge offered by Terry Delore, to be his co-pilot for an epic flight from Hororata to Napier and back, a flight that involved a double crossing of Cook Strait. Hawkes Bay just prior to northern turn
It is early afternoon, 21 February and Terry is on the phone with
far away. This turns out to be a course eastwards over the flats
a plan for tomorrow and, as usual, it’s not a small one; Hororata –
towards Oxford and the coast. So begins an unexpected low level
Napier – Hororata. He’s been watching the weather and a deep low
tour of the mid Canterbury plains via Loburn and the Ashley Forest,
off Fiordland looks like producing good NW wave over both islands
most of it at around 2,000 feet. I’m getting a lesson here watch-
with the associated moisture hopefully staying to the South and West.
ing Terry work what little lift there is, and how he quietly keeps us
Am I keen? Hmmm, let me think about that for half a second…
moving along. In an encouraging show of optimism I’m asked to
We arrive at Hororata early the following morning to an airfield
check out the airspace which I duly point out starts at 2,500 feet —
partially hidden by fog and dark skies in the mountains to the west.
at least we won’t need to bother ATC any time soon. Arrival on the
By the time Athena is rigged however the fog has lifted and a light
coastal slopes of Mt Cass, east of Amberley, is at 950 feet and I’m
easterly is starting. The appearance of the skipper’s newly fash-
quietly thinking, not for the first time today, how glad I am for both
ionable brown and purple down jumpsuit suggests we’re clearly
our sakes that Terry is in the front seat.
not waiting for the conditions to improve before launching. Quiet
The westerly that could be seen approaching the coast offers
visions of a last coffee disappear and at 0930 we’re airborne with
just enough lift on the low ridges to keep us heading north towards
an all too smooth ride over Coalgate and Russells Flat to the Spring-
Waipara, still below 2,500 feet. With future solo efforts in mind, I’m
field Ridge, where the first hints of the lift appear and the engine is
grateful for the intimate view of pretty much every landable paddock
thankfully retracted.
in Canterbury. Terry, however, is at this point making it obvious, in a
Plan A, the chief explains, is to find a climb in the generally
not very subtle way, that his biggest issue is less one of a chronic
reliable area leewards of the Torlesse Range. Forty-five minutes
lack of altitude, but more an overheating one. The brown and purple
later we have made exactly no height and with rain appearing on
beast, donned with somewhat higher levels than our current one in
the canopy, it is pretty obvious even to me that Plan B can’t be
mind, is now on slow cook. Several manoeuvres to remove it have
10
April 2009
