Flying the Nationals

By Hamish McCaw

In January Wellington Gliding Club pilot Hamish McCaw was lucky enough to compete in the 2009 National Gliding Championships at Omarama, in his Std Cirrus GJJ. This was after some careful negotiation with his wife and family. As the family were holidaying in Wanaka, competing involved a daily 1½ hour commute each way during the first week of competition.

Recently returned to gliding after a break of seventeen years, McCaw is one of the Hakataramea McCaw clan. He initially learnt to fly in the “Haka” and had previously been a syndicate owner of a Cirrus with his brothers Donald and John. The Mackenzie country and his glider were quite familiar. Competition flying however was not. He tells the story of how he came to win the Club Class.

Before arriving in Omarama I had planned to enjoy two weeks of gliding, flying the competition tasks but not competing too seriously. I had initially intended entering the Standard Class; however, after a discussion with Gavin Wills I decided to compete in the Club Class. When I heard the task on the first day for the Standard Class, which included one turnpoint at Mount Arrowsmith (somewhere up near Mount Hutt), I was somewhat relieved I’d changed class. Fellow Wellingtonian Mark Wilson flew his Libelle in the Standard Class and did very well considering the superior performance gliders he was competing against. Day one he won a bottle of wine for completing 402 km at 95.6 km/h.

There were five of us in the Club Class (great bunch to fly with/against): Bob Martin from Gore, Geoff Gaddes and Hadleigh Bognuda from Auckland (we won’t hold that against them) and Wilson Ellery from Canterbury. Wilson at 21 was highly competitive and was breathing down my neck throughout the contest. A couple of landouts by Wilson made the difference between us at the end.

I managed one flight at Omarama two weeks before the contest started, Ahuriri – Hawkdun Range – Hakataramea Valley – Cattle Creek – Omarama in thermals and easterly convergence following nephew Richard McCaw in his Discus (I think he was following me). The Cirrus didn’t do too badly keeping up with the Discus.

People want to know about how I won the contest. To be honest I flew very conservatively/consistently (some might call this slow) which resulted in me completing nine out of the ten tasks, landing out on the last day 20 km short of the finish.

Below I have described two of the contest days, one not so good and the other a bit better. On day 3 the Task was Oa – Omarama Saddle – Glentanner – Ribbonwood – Simons – Oa, 242 km in a NW wave conditions.

After a good start I climbed straight into wave at the Omarama saddle to 9,000 feet (if only I had slowed a little and climbed to 11,000 feet plus). I then headed direct to Glentanner hoping to get into the wave in the lee of the Ben Ohaus. Of course I arrived a bit low (under 7,000 feet) and missed the wave and ended up running for the ridge on the Benmores where I spent the next 4 plus hours trying to get into wave. I had basically given up as it was after 7 pm, when my cellphone went: my wife in Wanaka asking if I was driving home yet.

‘No I am still on the second leg and I’m about to give it away and go home. I might be a bit late.’

This prompted me back to life and I immediately climbed into No I am still on the second leg and I’m about to give it away and go home. I might be a bit late. “ ”

wave north of the Benmores and completed the last 3 legs (119 km) in just over an hour, landing at 9.05 pm. Perseverance pays as I got 867 points (2 of us completed the task) for the day. As Roy Edwards (Contest Director) said in his blog “At 8.40 I am waiting for the last glider to arrive home (JJ). This man has tenacity in spades ... for 4 hours we have been getting regular “operations normal” radio calls all giving leg 2!!! Leg 2 is 87 kms long ... He thinks he will make the last turnpoint via Simons but might be a “bit late”. End of civil twilight (i.e. end of the racing day) is at 2,159 hours.” Day 9 Oa (Buscot) – Thomsons – Cotters – Stewarts – Tekapo B – Oa, 267.9 km NW wave conditions.

After the start I made my way to the Omarama saddle and established myself in ridge lift/thermals and wave to 9,500 feet (airspace limit) then over the St Bathans and down towards Thomsons. This was my first mistake as I could have continued down the Dunstan wave with an air space height of 13,500 feet and descended under 9,500 feet near the turnpoint. After Thomsons and some slow climbs I made my way in thermals to Cotters (my low point of 4,500 feet) in the Dingle. From there I ridge soared (mixed with rotor from the wave) up the Dingle across to the Barrier range then established myself in wave and climbed to 13,000 feet directly above Stewarts. That comfortably (that’s understating it slightly as I finished relatively high) gave me a final glide home for a speed of 86.9 km/h. This gave me over 1,000 point buffer with one day to go – I could relax and take it easy the next day.

At the completion of the contest I had:

• completed 45 hours for the competition • brought up 500 hours on the last flight of the contest (total glider time)

• completed 9 out of 10 tasks (landing 20 km short of the finish line on the last day) • completed tasks ranging from 160 km to 268 km • won five bottles of wine (winner days prize) and one chocolate fish for taking so long to compete a task.

I had a great time. Would I compete in a National Competition again? Definitely, I have February 2010 (Taupo) circled in my calendar.

What did I learn during the contest:

• Use a flarm next time. As Gavin Wills said on the first day, “If you don’t have one you are a bloody idiot”. I initially dismissed Gavin’s comments but a close call in wave at 12,500 feet convinced me he was right. • Don’t be so conservative. • No need to finish so damn high, maybe I need a final glide computer. • Start tasks early to make most of the day; most days the start gate didn’t open til after 3.00 pm so you need to get going as soon as you can to make the most of the day. • Stay on the tops in light conditions. • Perseverance pays off (day 3). • Know the rules well. • If you want to fly faster, having your 16 year old nephew (who may potentially beat/embarrass you) flying the task is a real incentive.

A big thank you to my partner George Rogers for allowing me to take JJ to Omarama, WGC for the use of the EW logger, Wellington Gliding Club members and all who provided me some good advice during the contest.