Airborn #211 by NZ HGPA

Issue 211; August, September, October 2019

High Altitude Vol Biv XC Paramotoring New Zealand Kiwis at the Red Bull X-Alps

7.50 Including GST

9 771170 992006

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING

any pilots visit flying sites outside their own region. To ensure that you don’t jeopardise arrangements between land owners and local flyers you must ALWAYS check with local pilots BEFORE flying. That way you won’t upset land owners or pilots, you will be shown all the best sites and will be welcome back. We don’t publish site names and locations

AUCKLAND H.G.P.C. PO Box 47813 Ponsonby, Auckland 1144 Email: info@cloudbase.org.nz www.cloudbase.org.nz Pres: Stefan Sebregts .................027 225 2255 Sec: Graham Surrey ..................021 0262 5023 Treas: Malcolm Dawson...............021 052 1568 HGSO: Fraser Bull .......................027 801 4044 PGSO: Reuben Muir.......................09 446 0020 Airsp: Leslie Graham .....................09 579 6485 Stefan Sebregts ...........................021 266 1287 Steve Price ....................................021 781 828 Eva Keim .......................................09 446 0051 Skywings Paragliding ....................09 570 5757 Aqua Air Adventure Hang Gliding.. 027 288 0193 Wings And Waves Paragliding ......09 446 0020 WAIKATO H.G.P.C. Inc. C/- Ian Manton PO Box 131, Matamata 3440 Email: ian@imatec.co.nz Pres: Mark McDonald...................020 444 9995 Sec/Treas: ................ Ian Manton 027 546 2832 PGSO: Bruce Vickerman .............027 498 9941 HGSO: Rick Hawkeswood.............07 868 6250 Airsp: Neil Howe.............................07 304 9631 HAWKES BAY H.G.P.C. Inc. 30 Kaweka Place Havelock North 4130 Email: hbhgpc@gmail.com www.soarhawkesbay.co.nz Pres, Rebecca Rae.........................021 605 204 Treas: Duncan Macnab.................027 624 6434 Airsp: Shaun Gilbert.....................022 477 8804 PGSO: Ken Beach........................021 191 6388 HGSO: Ross MacKay.....................06 877 2052 Sites Liason; Euan Talbot ..............06 877 8999

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BAY OF PLENTY H.G.P.C. C/-Dominique Le Sellin 41, Ririnui Place, Maungatapu Tauranga 3112 Email: bophangparaclub@gmail.com www.facebook.com/BOPHangGlidingParagliding Pres: Dave Washer.......................0275 992 934 Sec: Dominique Le Sellin...................... 021 617 111 PGSO: Darrell Packe........................027 249 2702 HGSO: James Low.......................021 102 5004 Airsp: Rhys Akers.........................021 177 7563 Sites: Dave Shaw...........................07 575 9560 Kiwi Air.........................................021 1046 208 Mount Paragliding........................027 249 2702 WELLINGTON H.G.P.C. PO Box 9824 Marion Square Wellington 6141 www.whgpc.nz Email: info@whgpc.org.nz Pres: Jeff Lean............................020 4102 0567 Sec/Treas: Grant Firth................... 021 422 698 HGSO: Grant Tatham...................027 636 3491 PGSO: Matthew Williams.............027 552 5205 Airsp: Ian Miller ............................022 176 8205 Communications; Irwin Imhoff..... 22 087 2173 MARLBOROUGH H.G.P.C. C/- Richard Evans PO Box 546 Blenheim Email: evans.r@xtra.co.nz Pres, Daniel Francis .....................027 823 7292 Sec: Shaun McGillivray..............0204 047 0427 Treas: Richard Evans..................... 021 648 783 PGSO: Julie Bousquet.................027 340 0718 HGSO: John Urlich.........................03 577 8886 Airsp: Daniel Francis.....................027 823 7292

KEY Pres; .............................................. President

Sec; ............................ Secretary/Treasurer PGSO; ............. Paragliding Safety Officer HGSO; .......... Hang Gliding Safety Officer CFI;...........................Chief Flying Instructor Airsp;.................................Airspace Officer

TASMAN H.G.P.C. C/- Annett Teichner 1137 Motueka Valley Highway, RD1, Motueka 7196 Email: thgpgclub@gmail.com Pres; Josh Benjamin ....................021 136 5405 Sec; Annett Teichner..................021 0231 0755 Treas; Brian Erasmus .....................03 545 1003 PGSO; Greg Benjamin....................03 545 1543 PGSO; Pete Polansky ...................03 528 7374 HGSO; John King..........................03 548 8263 Site Owners; Tim Percival .............03 548 7397 Site Maintenance; Frog Twissell ....03 538 0339 Airsp; Claus Petry.........................021 250 4836 Nelson Paragliding.........................03 544 1182 Adventure Paragliding....................021 762 769 Hang Gliding NZ.............................03 540 2183 Tasman Sky Adventures...............027 229 9693 CANTERBURY H.G.P.C. Inc. C/- Zak Page 10/42 Mariner St, Sumner, Christchurch 8081 Email: zakpage29@gmail.com www.chgpc.org.nz Pres: Simon Corbett.................... 021 205 0878 Sec/Treas; Paul Conaghan ..........022 414 7377 PGSO; Stephen O’Shaughnessy...027432 4824 Sam Bartholomew .........................021 819 755 HGSO; Warren Simonsen.............021 183 2126 Sites PG; Rob Kennedy................021 220 7993 Sites HG; Don Payne....................027 432 7884 Website; Stephen O’Shaughnessy.03 326 7373 Airsp; Peter Taylor........................021 066 9886 Canty HG School; Bill Degen.......021 247 2676 Cloudbase Paragliding.................027 532 4874 Nimbus Paragliding......................027 432 4874 ParaPro.........................................0800 548 323 AORANGI H.G.C. C/- Tom Knewstubb PO Box 5976 Dunedin Pres, Airsp; Kevin McManus........021 134 0463 Sec, HGSO; Tom Knewstubb (wk) 027 289 6103 PGSO: Lisa Bradley......................021 156 3256 SOUTHERN H.G.P.C. C/_ Tim Brown, 142 Dalefield Rd, RD1, Queenstown 9371 Email: admin@southernclub.co.nz www.southernclub.co.nz Pres; Tim Brown...........................021 182 4243 Sec: Paula Race...........................027 855 8448 Treas: Kat Cerna.........................021 0291 0851 PGSO: Blake Round.....................027 367 7679 HGSO: Pete Helliwell .................021 0284 5170 Sites: Cathal McLoughlin...........021 024 00350 Events: Chris Shaw......................021 051 2905 IT/Web: Daniel Diaz Rizo.................................... Airsp: Chris Streat........................027 485 6236 Craig Smith...................................027 343 3537 Louis Tapper....................................................... Benjamin Kellet.............................021 232 7217 Dean Orton.....................................021 612 998 Coronet Peak Tandem PG & HG..0800 467 325 Skytrek Hang Gliding & Paragliding.0800 759 873 Extreme Air Paragliding School....021 156 3256 Infinity Paragliding School..............021 981 855 Paraventures Paragliding...............021 809 275 G Force Tandem Paragliding..........03 441 8581

Photo; Matias Nombarasco

TARANAKI FREE FLYERS C/- Dennis Green 38 Kaitake Rd RD4, New Plymouth Pres, Airsp, Sec/Treas, PGSO; John Morgan ...................................................... 021 726 183 HGSO; Dave Austin....................021 0283 6797

MANAWATU H.G.P.C. C/- Andrew Brownlie 11 Hollows Crescent Takaro Palmerston North 4412 Email: flyer.rosscoe@gmail.com Pres, Airsp: Ricky Winduss (Wanganui) .......................... 06 345 7659, or 027 447 4117 Sec/Treas, HGSO: Ross Gray......021 126 0892 PGSO: Andrew Brownlie ...........027 444 8911

Emilia and Alex flying new Ozone Spyder 3 along the Matukituki Valley, one of the best scenic spots in South NZ

NORTHLAND H.G.P.C. C/- Guntram Gross 1 Brook Road Whangarei Email: skywalk@igrin.co.nz www.facebook.com/ NorthlandHangGlidingandParaglidingClub/ Pres, Airsp; Shane Gross...............09 436 0268 Sec/Treas; Guntram Gross.............09 436 0268 HGSO; Herman Ahrens..................09 432 9333 PGSO; Wolfgang Harder................09 403 7594 PG; Mike Ferguson..........mferg066@gmail.com

because flying sites have been lost by visiting flyers who have upset land owners. To assist travelling pilots, people wishing to learn to fly or to contact hang gliding and paragliding clubs, here is a list of people who can help you. Those on the list or wishing to be listed, should contact their Club Secretaries who should keep Airborn and the NZHGPA website updated of changes of contact details.

ISSN 1170-9928

printed on recycled paper

Magazine of the NEW Zealand Hang Gliding & Paragliding Assn. Inc. Published every three months for hang gliding and paragliding enthusiasts in New Zealand and abroad ● Subscription is by membership of NZHGPA (a legal requirement for all hang glider and paraglider pilots in NZ) ● For non

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gliders and paragliders must state certification status and meet our standard

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Editing, Graphics; AeroDesign, Bill Degen

N.Z.H.G.P.A. INC., 46 Quail Rise, Stoke, Nelson 7011, New Zealand www.nzhgpa.org.nz

Administration and Licensing Chief Executive Officer

Evan Lamberton, 35A Manly Esplanade, Browns Bay, North Shore City 0630, 09 478 0063, 021 407833, ceo@nzhgpa.org.nz Administrator

Nicky Hamill, 46 Quail Rise, Stoke, Nelson 7011, 027 202 1806, admin@nzhgpa.org.nz Executive Committee President

Duncan Macnab, PO Box 28100 Havelock North 4157, 027 624 6434, president@nzhgpa.org.nz Vice President/Secretary

Mark Hardman, 021 809 275, vice-president@nzhgpa.org.nz Hang Gliding Operations Manager

Carlos Palmer, 38 Milliken Ave, Mt. Roskill, Auckland 1041, 027 487 7654, hg.operations@nzhgpa.org.nz Hang Gliding Training Manager

Grant Tatham, 4 Phillip St, Carterton, 5713, 06 379 7322, 027 636 3491, hg.training@nzhgpa.org.nz Paragliding Operations Manager

Ian Manton, 027 546 2832, pg.operations@nzhgpa.org.nz Paragliding Training Manager

Blake Round, Queenstown, 027 367 7679, pg.training@nzhgpa.org.nz Executive Member

Ross Gray, 021 126 0892, rossajgray@gmail.com Executive Member

Glen Ogilvie, Mt Wellington, Auckland, www.facebook.com/glen.ogilvie 021 684 146, glen.ogilvie@gmail.com Appointed Officers National Airspace Officer

Nick Taber, 27 Strathaven Place, Dodson Valley, Atawhai, Nelson 7010. 03 545 0766, 021 420 742, nicktaber@hotmail.com Website Manager

Adriel Kind, 027 964 5397, adriel.nzhgpa@gmail.com Chief Medical Advisor

Samuel Bartholomew, 3A Dalleys Lane, Lyttleton, Christchurch 8082, bartholomew.sam@gmail.com Internal Auditor

Kris Ericksen, 11 Koromiko Road, Aro Valley, Wellington 6012, 04 938 6539, 021 116 4558, audit@nzhgpa.org.nz Disciplinary Committee Convenor

Duncan Macnab, PO Box 28100 Havelock North 4157, 027 624 6434, president@nzhgpa.org.nz Bookshop Manager

Evan Lamberton, 35A Manly Esplanade, Browns Bay, North Shore City 0630, 09 478 0063, 021 407833, ceo@nzhgpa.org.nz Hang Gliding Competition Committee

Max Gebhardt, (chair) 03 312 7899, 022 159 6101, aerosm@gmail.com Dennis Thorpe, dennis_thorpe@hotmail.com Paragliding Competition Committee

Tim Brown, 03 442 5319, 021 182 4243, nzhgpapcc@googlegroups.com Johnny Hopper, 021 056 2275, nzhgpapcc@googlegroups.com Henry Dumbleton 021 231 7009, nzhgpapcc@googlegroups.com

In This Issue... Kiwis at the Red Bull X-Alps........................................................4 Paramotoring Tour of NZ.............................................................8 Daddy-Daughter Paragliding.....................................................12 Exploring the Craigieburn Range..............................................14 High Altitude Vol Biv in Pakistan...............................................18

Printing; The Caxton Press

NZ XC Milestone Awards ..........................................................22

Airborn Magazine

Cross Country Championships...........................................26, 28

Please send advertisements, photos and articles to the editor:

Safety Checks, Executive Reports, Events........................ 24-25

Classified Advertisements.........................................................30

Post:

Email:

99A Panorama Road Christchurch 8081 New Zealand

aero@xtra.co.nz

FRONT COVER: A magical morning with a layer of low clouds covering hills near Raglan. Photo; Matias Nombarasco

Next issue deadline: 30 September 2019 A

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Kiwis at the X-Alps “

It is becoming difficult to catch up like in the good old days of X-Alps. I made a few mistakes to lose touch with the leaders in the first days (in fact I was in equal last place much of the first day), but what really separated us was late afternoon storms at the third turn point, Kronplatz. If you got through, you could enjoy late evening soaring on the way to the Zugspitze turn point in the Bavarian Alps. But I didn’t leave Italy until late the next day, with the humid airmass and low cloud taking a long time to clear. Later in the race there were more obstacles, such as Titlis, where I was able to push hard with some hike and glides outside of thermal flying hours to get ahead. And on the second last day I managed a long series of flights deep in the mountains where rivals were punished in the heat. Thanks to climate change we can expect more Mont Blanc top landings and sweltering stable conditions in the smaller mountains. Overall there were a lot more turn points this year and not so many challenging (windy) conditions or route choice which is where I might have an advantage. The standard is high and making mistakes comes at a high price. However we had a great time and plenty of adventure, flying every day. I was satisfied with my finish position well within France, having avoided an extended road march through the hot and humid Maritime Alps to the Mediterranean. I always feel better after a few days, so maybe next time I should warm up with a vol biv first. But admittedly I’m feeling lazy and sleepy now the race is over! Check out www.sharemyjoys.com for social media posts and videos.

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1138km course, travelling only paraglider as they

Masztalerz report from the

are tracked to an

2019 Red Bull X-Alps

online audience of millions via Live Tracking.

Above; Ozone gear:The harness and reserve was very light, weighing a total of 2.5kg including back protection. Taking this out there is enough room for my tent, sleeping bag, and some extra food for bivvy trips. It’s a pity you can’t use the space of the inflatable rear for storage, but for lean and mean vol biv trips there is probably just enough storage space. It is however rather fragile (although much warmer than you might expect), so I can expect to be patching up tears after every landing. They rushed this out for the X-Alps so it will probably undergo some modifications. The wing is an amazing 2.99kg, and as a two liner I believe it has the lowest line consumption of any wing. I’m told that due to lightweight construction it cannot have a profile quite so clean so the extra billows etc do sacrifice some performance. But it is a beauty to carry, launch, and fly. Right; Again my brother Ben and Mum supported me, with matching tents and an all black wagon just like last time. Ben drives, organises logistics and is on standby for anything I ask for (although we had an online group that also helped a lot with information), while Mum helps prepare food, and keeps everything well organised - good housekeeping is essential. She also took it on to make sure I always had spare batteries and food and my feet were well attended to. Funding for our expenses was raised via your donations to Givealittle, and cash grants from NZHGPA and EchoX (they make an iPhone app, but the guy flies and just wanted to support us). We all like to be resourceful and efficient but a hot shower on the road was always welcome.

Left; Day 1: The Lebanese guy was the first to land and I didn’t last much longer, which made the first day harder than it needed to be. Still it was much better than the 2017 start, with only a shower here and there and a total of three flights.

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X-Alps, 32 athletes race a

by foot and

Nick Neynens and Kinga Nick; A few comments about my race;

In the Red Bull

Above; XC Tracer II FLARM vario. Solar powered so I leave in on the harness and never need to charge it. Functions as audio vario and keeps backup igc/gpx. Also I chose to get the FLARM version which saved me once - since I installed the optional Alps cable database, it alerted me to a long thin unseen cable on the shady lower slopes of Titlis that I had to avoid. FLARM is only licensed for Europe but it was worth it just for that. The next day a sailplane looked like it hadn’t seen me until the last minute, and gave me a fright as it approached head on - unfortunately not everyone uses FLARM! Normally a radio signal is sent and an alarm sounds if you’re on a collision course in the next ten seconds.

Day 2: Cruising along south facing walls on the way to the Aschau turn point. I underestimated this part, failing to get high enough to glide over the valley winds. The sun was starting to get weaker as valley winds began to dominate and although I made a few passes I was unable to find a climb. I soared spurs low on the other side of the valley and had another go but the valley winds made things rowdy as well as making finding a climb seem hopeless. I perhaps could have retreated deep into the mountains to try to connect to a climb but it was risking a lot as it was getting late. The walk wasn’t so bad but I did see a nice cloud in the spot I should have been an hour before, once it was too late. This meant I was unable to enjoy an easy few hours of tailwind in the evening, which in turn meant I got to Kronplatz (in Italy) late the next day.

Day 3: Approaching the main divide on my way to the Kronplatz turn point north of the Italian Dolomites. Many had feared this part of the race due to the exceptionally high amount of snow from the preceding winter and spring. We were able to fly over, although I think I had bad luck with the cycles and it took me some extra time to find a climb and finally make the crossing. I’d flown quickly up until that point and it was frustrating to waste those precious minutes, although it was a nice place to be.

Day 6: The day began slowly with lots of low cloud, and I had a few short flights in weak conditions with a lot more time waiting on the hill. Finally I hiked high up into the mountains - a risky proposition with the potential for showers. My supporters must have been worried as they got drenched in the valley but it just missed me - I was able to take a long glide down the valley an through a canyon into Switzerland. There was a few sprinkles on the way but I landed with a dry wing. The Croatian (SVK) had been near me for much of the day, but he’d opted for the highway. What a great feeling to catch him up, in style, with a long glide.

Day 3: When I finally was within reach of Kronplatz, I spotted another pilot (DEN) who was flying back and forth, evidently with the same problem as I had - the way ahead was blocked by showers (and the occasional rumble/flash of lightning). I opted to land high on a ridge and he joined me there. He disappeared behind the ridge and emerged later after untangling his lines from the rocks (I’d landed neatly on the snow and waited on the grass). I flew down in the next break between showers but still had to be careful of showers and storm activity. I got really high on my way to Kronplatz but decided it didn’t feel right, with the sky very dark (and flashing) ahead, I gave it a bit of time to settle, then ended up landing 800 metres too low and had to walk up!

Day 4: Late in the evening, I took gentle climbs and tried my luck in approaching the high mountains between me and the Oetztal, the western route to Zugspitze. I later retreated and had just enough height to slide over a col and onto rocky peaks to the right of the picture. They had been in sun but went into shade as I glided over, so I was happy to be able to scrape out a few hundred metres of altitude before landing a little further along while I had the opportunity - high on a grassy slope surrounded by high cliffs. From this strategic spot I could take a short walk to a pass, rather than being flushed by the wind, with three more flights ranging from under a minute to just long enough to land before the 9pm curfew and the heavy rain and storms that followed as we settled into a guest house south of Innsbruck, expertly booked by Ben at the last minute.

Photo; Karen Pronk

Day 7: A much lighter pack than in 2017, feeling rather sporty hence the headband. Not really but I found it good to protect my forehead from sunburn. My timing on this day was excellent - heavy rain and storms while I slept in, settled for my hike and glide (first drops of rain just after landing), heavy as I approached this pass, then voila, it cleared for a beautiful flight all the way to the Davos turn point. Rushed up for an evening flight and took a couple, landing just before showers swept down the valley.

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Kinga; The Red Bull X-Alps 2019 is over. It was a demanding route, quite good weather and a strong field of some of the best athletes in the world made for an unforgettable adventure.

“

I started quite well, a highlight being crossing the main ridge of the Alps on a beautiful day with high cloudbase and then being stopped by huge storms and landing backwards in a CB outburst. All the race was like this, only extreme emotions, highest highs and lowest lows. Then the first serious mistake in Innsbruck, listening to a great XC pilot living in the area instead of my own instinct; it was a disaster, heaps of effort and no progress. Another lesson; always follow your guts. Then a week into the race everything became difficult, I was stressed, my team was tired. After an epic chase and overtaking(!) the Korean athlete on the 9th day it all resulted in elimination in the morning of the 10th day. What a journey it was, it took me to places both in the Alps and in my soul, taught me so much about flying, mountains, headspace, friendship, push... It gave me a key to who I can be, opened my eyes to possibilities. Paul Gushlbauer once said that one learns more in a day of X-Alps than in a year of leisure flying and there is something about it. Now I have to digest all these humbling lessons and... prepare for 2021!

Results;

Above; Kinga and Chris hiking through the rain Photo; Amanda Koch

Above; Opening ceremony next to our official race vehicle, the futuristic Audi e-tron Photo: Chris Wright Thanks to NZHGPA, Supair, Garmin, Stodeus LeGPSBip, FlySkin and Fly2Base for making this adventure possible Below; Taking off into a beautiful day Photo; Chris Wright

1 Christian Maurer (SUI1), 9 days, 3 hours, 6 minutes 2 Maxime Pinot (FRA4), 9 days, 21 hours, 52 minutes 3 Paul Guschlbauer (AUT1), 10 days, 8 hours, 45 minutes 3 Benoit Outters (FRA1), 10 days, 8 hours, 45 minutes 5 Manuel Nübel (GER1), 10 days, 11 hours, 26 minutes 6 Simon Oberrauner, (AUT2), 10 days, 12 hours, 5 minutes 7 Gaspard Petiot (FRA2), 10 days, 13 hours, 12 minutes 8 Patrick von Känel (SUI2), 10 days, 13 hours, 46 minutes 9 Aaron Durogati (ITA1), 10 days, 17 hours, 22 minutes 10 Tom de Dorlodot (BEL), 10 days, 22 hours, 33 minutes 11 Toma Coconea (ROU), 78.1km from goal 12 Gavin McClurg (USA1), 206km 13 Tobias Grossrubatscher (ITA2), 212.7km 14 Markus Anders (GER2), 215.8km 15 Nick Neynens (NZL1), 263.3km 16 Eduardo Garza (MEX), 265.4km 17 Evgenii Griaznov (RUS), 270.3km 18 Juraj Koren (SVK), 290.1km 19 Adrian Keller (SUI3), 350.5km 20 Cody Mittanck (USA3), 399km 21 Thomas Juel Christensen (DNK), 423.8km 22 Baris Celik (TUR), 449.1km 23 Willi Cannell (USA2), 471.4km 24 Marko Hrgetic (HRV), 478.3km 25 Kaoru Ogisawa (JPN), 500.9km 26 Helmut Schrempf (AUT3), 503.4km OUT Chikyong Ha (KOR), 530km DNF Antoine Girard (FRA3), 554km OUT Kinga Masztalerz (NZL2), 580km OUT Alex Villa (COL), 743km OUT Dominika Kasieczko (POL), 870km OUT Rodolphe Akl (LBN), 990km

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Right; Kinga preparing for the last evening sledge to Aschau Turnpoint - she landed 3 minutes before the night cut off time! Photo; zooom/Honza Zak

In the Red Bull X-Alps, athletes race a straight-line distance of 1138km from Salzburg to Monaco via turnpoints – their every move tracked and played out to an audience of millions via Live Tracking. The competition field consists of 16 veterans and 15 rookies all trying to beat now 6 times defending champion Christian ‘Chrigel’ Maurer

Above; 1st day above Gaisberg Photo; zooom/Sebastian Marko

Below; The day Kinga fell asleep in the air! Photo Kinga Masztalerz

Above; Crossing the main ridge of the Alps on the way to Kronplatz Photo; Kinga Masztalerz

Right; Davos Turnpoint

Photo; Amanda Koch

Below; Chris keeping Kinga company during monotonous hiking Photo; Guy Bolton

Below; Refreshment on the way Photo; Guy Bolton

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New Zealand - Living a Emilia Plak tours NZ with her paramotor

ew Zealand has been my dream destination to fly paramotor for a few years.

Finally after several years of postponing, I landed there with my paramotor gear for the first time in 2016. Of course the planned 6 weeks were not enough time for me to explore all NZ so I kept coming back. Now after my third visit last (European) winter 2018/2019, I think I can honestly say Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got to know the islands and a little part of its paramotor community. November 2018 was my last time in New Zealand. My journey started in Raglan - home town of Matt Taggart - one of the Ozone co-founders - and till recently this little town was also a base office of Ozone Kitesurf R&D team. Raglan is absolutely one of my favorite spots in the North Island as this place is simply amazing for paramotoring, surfing and kitesurfing. As usual, as soon as I arrived, I quickly assembled my paramotor to be ready to fly. Flying in this area is simply beautiful; amazing coastline, eternal green rolling hills and the Raglan Harbor at low tide is something that blows your mind flying first time in NZ. I really love Raglanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s little soaring spot which works nearly every day as soon as the sun is out and sea breeze kicks in. In addition, Raglan has a really cool surfing and kite surfing community so making friends is really easy and you never get bored. I was happy that during my last visit I had more time to hang out there. What a paradise! This winter I was lucky to have a

Exploring local coast line near Raglan Rob Gillard, Emi and Matias enjoy soaring at New Year 1st January 2019 at a private farm near Ruapuke Beach

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The green rolling hills of Raglan

Photo: Matias Nombarasco

Photo: Emilia Plak

Dream… great partner to travel with – Matias. Thanks to Matt Taggart and Ozone New Zealand who loaned us a fantastic Ozone branded trailer, his paramotor and some kite surf gear, we were perfectly set up for a new paramotor adventure! We had plenty of time, nearly 4 months, so we decided to explore both islands and stay longer in the spots we liked most, like Raglan and Wanaka. There was no any specific route plan because flying in NZ is basically hunting for the weather :-) After a few weeks in Raglan we decided to explore Northland during the most busy days in NZ – Christmas! The beginning of the tour was a bit unfortunate. I lost my exhaust; falling off during flight and we got stuck in in really bad weather. Lots of rain and wind for several days plus waiting for spare parts sent from Spain kept us on the ground. Thanks to a great help from Mike Verhagen, who sent me another exhaust for temporary use, we managed to fly once in the west coast along the beautiful and famous 90 Mile Beach. Our second flight was in the Bay of Islands at East Coast where we also had opportunity to kite surf in amazing turquoise flat water bay where we even spotted a group of dolphins nearby. Soon after Northland we started our journey south. We decided to take it easy and travel to locations where we could visit friends and fly together. Due to the weather we were changing location fast and often. My favorite flights were around Matamata to the waterfall and Wai-O-Tapu hot springs. Another amazing day was a short cross country with Mark and Sam (so 4 of us) flying from Thames to

Amazing colours at sand dunes near Aotea

Raglan coastline farther north Coromandel. We took off way too late due to small technical problems and landed in Coromandel at midday in already quite thermic conditions. We waited a bit hoping that the wind

Meeting to fly at Waihi Beach

Photo: Emilia Plak

would change direction to help us to get back home. Mark testing a new Roadster 3 24 took off first to check the conditions. He climbed high up and we saw him

Matias at Raglan

flying away towards Thames. Sam followed him soon after but on the lightly loaded Roadster 3 size 26 he was much slower. I was a bit reluctant but finally we decided to

Photo: Emilia Plak

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We took of from Matamata airfield for a short flight to Wairere waterfall Photo: Emilia Plak

Matukituki Valley

Low layer of clouds at Raglan. Wai-O-Tapu

Photo: Emilia Plak

Photo: Matias Nombarasco

Spontaneous meeting to fly at Matata

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try. Finally 3 of us landed held back by a strong head wind. We landed near Tapu but Mark managed to get back to Thames and pick us up by car. What an amazing flight! After taking a ferry to the South Island we drove directly to Christchurch with one stop over to stretch our legs – a beach flight. When everywhere else looked a bit windy we found a bay where there was a gap layer between 2 winds circulating where we could safely take off and fly along the beach for nearly an hour. I really love discovering and exploring little spots in NZ which are out of the usual tourist routes, totally empty with only local people hanging out on the beach, having family bbq, finishing, riding their dirt bikes and 4x4 on the endless beach at low tide. That was cool. We were not lucky with the weather to fly in Christchurch so after visiting friends for two days we decided to continue the journey to Wanaka and make it our base camp for another month. Staying in Wanaka we did not waste a single flyable day. A year before I did a pretty amazing paragliding cross country flight;100 km with Stefano by tandem (SwiftMax) so this year I have decided to take my Rush 5 and fly more often. When the weather was not perfect to fly (which was quite often!) we had plenty of other activities around Wanaka, especially hiking all those beautiful nearby mountain peaks and valleys and – of course - kite surfing at Wanaka and Hawea lakes. Thanks to Mal Haskins, we did try canyoning for the first time. I have to say this was quite unforgettable and a little scary experience with high jumps in narrow places and freezing cold water but what a day! During all my visits to NZ I chose to spend my time in the way I love the most: don’t plan too much, chill, drive around in the van (I can sleep in) and have my paramotor always ready to go, chase the weather and visit places a bit out of a usual tourist route. This way I always end up having an amazing flight

and meeting local people. I really enjoyed waking up in the morning at the place I can directly take off from, getting to know new areas from a paramotor seat. I had some really funny adventures, usually related to smaller or bigger “problems” I met on the way, like getting stuck with my car in a soft riverside till the next morning, when I took off and looked for help by air, landed in the nearest farm (5 km away!) to ask for help. Or when I got picked up by really strong wind, had to land out in the rotor behind hills in the middle of a big private farm and I had to walk for an hour (with my paramotor gear) before a local farmer picked me up and drove me back to my van (around 20 km away) in his truck. He had no idea of where I came from! New Zealand has most of the kindest people you can meet, but Alex Nelson flying at the most scenic spot near Wanaka Photo: Emilia Plak it’s important to remember that local farmers really love their land and like their privacy. If you treat them and their property with respect, they will pay you back with a big smile and all help you need. NZ for many European and American pilots is a dream destination. When I get back home many pilots ask me about flying in NZ. Of course, I tell them all beautiful stories but between lines I always educate those who are planning to come to NZ to fly, about NZHGPA and local regulations. When I came to NZ for the first time I was surprised how many rules there are here compared to back in Poland or Spain where we have much more freedom… But getting to know this island country and its aviation community I quickly understood that the rules are set for a good reason. Learnt my lessons, not always in a good way (I am sorry!) now I often fly with an aviation radio, visit airfields to take off from Emilia Near Shag Point (south and fly preferably with local Island) pilots who know the area Flying at favourite Wanaka spot Photo: Matias Nombarasco very well. I enjoy flying in NZ even more! I would like to thank all Mark Mcdonald, Rick Hawkeswood, Morgan Coster, Malachi our NZ friends who host Bruce Vickerman, Tiks and other Templeton, Laslie Bore, us and invited to fly in their local pilots Jeremy, Brad, Josh Alex Nelson, Stefano Gigli, area. Especially Matt Taggart Wang, Dean Remnant, David David Edwards, Richard Van (and Ozone New Zealand), Dennis… I am sorry if I missed some Nieuwkoop, Mike and Aniko Rob and Margot Gillard, names :-) I love you all. Verhagen, Grey Hamilton,

Soaring at Hawea Lake

Heart shaped little pond

Photo: Emilia Plak

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Daddy-Daughter Bonding By Roger Stanford Photos by Phil Kirkman

ue to the pain of jet lag, we were wide awake as the sunlight started to crest the high alpine mountains and flood into the valley. Ensuring all the equipment was packed properly and nothing forgotten, I pulled the tandem rucksack onto my back, tightening the buckles so it sat comfortably on my body. I asked my 3.5-year-old daughter if she was ready for our adventure and she replied with a loud, chirpy “YES!!!“ I then asked her if she wanted to start the hike from the bottom, she also happily replied “Not yet Daddy, you can carry me”. Begrudgingly I lifted her on top of the tandem rucksack and with the use of the tandem compression strap, strapped her legs around my arms, ensuring she couldn’t fall off. As I began the hike and felt the full weight of equipment plus child combined with

the steepness of the trail, I began to realise this wasn’t going to be as easy as I first imagined… The idea of this “Daddy Daughter Hike & Fly” first came to me in October 2017 with the aim to raise money for Spinal Injury Research. I contacted a number of charities in Australia who all loved the concept, but also quickly replied that they couldn’t be involved with a fundraising event which involved lobbing a 3.5-year-old girl off an Austrian Mountain. Disappointed that we couldn’t fund raise, but still excited about the adventure I could share with my daughter, we changed our focus from doing it for charity to doing it for the family, and making it as fun as possible.

Below; clearing the tree line at 1900m

12 A i r b o r n

Selfishly, I quickly realised that the more my daughter Skye could hike, the less I had to carry her. That became the start to our weekly “Daddy-Daughter Hikes”, which involved hiking and bouldering around the bushland that surrounds the Sydney Harbour foreshore. As this became routine, we pushed our distances out to 6.5km, and she loved being in nature and seeing the lizards, birds and other wildlife. Just before our departure to Europe, she completed two 4km hikes with reasonable vertical gain and I thought of myself as a genius, as she would be able to hike the majority of the way to the top of the mountain in Austria. I was wrong… The mountain we chose to hike up is called the BurgStall, which sits at

2606m (it was one of Hillarys’ training mountains in the lead-up to his Everest ascent). Our aim was to start from our amazing accommodation and head directly up a trail to the Starkenburger Hutte, launching at around 2250m. We had just over 5km of distance and 1300 vertical meters to climb. We would try to launch before 0900 and avoid the morning thermals as I would be flying the tandem just inside the weight limit, landing in a small field directly behind our hotel. 25 minutes into the hike, the trail met a forest service road and I put Skye down for her first hiking section. We then slowly hiked the road together for the next 20 minutes until we reached the next section of the trail. Skye had decided it was

Left; Take off below the BurgStall Massif Right; Skye enjoying the flight over the Valley more fun (or more comfortable) to walk rather than to be carried, and we began our next section hiking through deep alpine forest. We continued like this for another 15 minutes, looking at the wild flowers and listening to the cuckoo birds, until the trail became too steep and technical. I realised at that point that I would be carrying her for the rest of the way and mentally prepared myself for another 3km with the added weight (and the never ending chit chat and questions, directly into my ear hole). Our progress immediately slowed down and I was forced to stop every 10-15 mins to rest my back and recover. Anxious that time was escaping our proposed launch time, we attempted to increase our moving speed and shorten our rest stops. It was 9:30am by the time we cleared the tree line and could

Above; Pre flight checks with Skye see the summit of the mountain and the Hutte which was our proposed launch site, still an agonizing 200 vertical meters to climb. The day had already started working and thermals were consistently coming up the east facing side of the mountain. At 10:00 I decided it was too late to make the final push to the Hutte and began looking for a suitable launch spot in our vicinity. After 150m of traversing a steep grassy hill we found a nice take-off with thermals coming up the face. After getting Skye rugged up into warm kit and safely secured in her harness, I made the final pre-flight checks and connected daddy and daughter together. With the help of my good friend Howie holding Skye in the air via her carabiners, we waited for a thermal breeze. We didn’t have to wait long before we noticed the thermal tracking up the grassy slope. It started with a small patch of grass moving and as it came

Photo: Roger Stanford

closer we could see the wild flowers and grass starting to move more violently. I asked Skye and Howie if they were ready for take-off and they both replied, “Ready, let’s go”. As the thermal arrived and I was happy with the strength and consistency, I reverse launched the wing. The wing quickly climbed over our heads and Skye’s weight was supported by the wing, then with a quick visual check of the wing we started running down the slope. 1, 2, 3 steps and off… All the hard work of the hike up was forgotten and our Daddy-Daughter team was rewarded with amazing views from the Stubai Glacier, all the way down to the Inn Valley and Innsbruck. The lightly loaded wing felt unresponsive as the leading edge bit into the first thermal, but after counting the obligatory 3 seconds (I left my vario behind to save weight on the hike), we started to turn and began climbing higher than launch. With a celebratory Yodel from Howie, we headed North and started flying towards the Inn Valley. Skye, who had flown many times with me on the small coastal sites of Sydney, was in awe of the huge landscape opening to us, and kept telling me to, “Look Daddy, snow… Sheep… mountains…” It wasn’t long into the flight that I really noticed just how light we were on the tandem (a wing I fly a lot and am very current on) and how easy the tips were collapsing in the moving air. Wanting her to have an amazing, positive experience of mountain flying, I switched the focus of the flight from XC to just having the most fun we could possibly have together. I turned away from the South East facing ridge line and headed out into the valley. I asked Skye where she wanted to

fly to and she replied, “To Mummy”, so we headed to our holiday apartments Schone Aussicht, where my wife was watching our flight from our designated LZ. I gave Skye the radio mike and she radioed her mother, “Can you see us mummy, we are flying towards you”. After hearing on the radio that mum was watching, Skye was smiling like a toothless toddler in a candy store… “Now let’s fly over the church Daddy”. After a 90 degree turn to the left we started heading over the picturesque village of Neustift and their incredible catholic church (with painted ceiling, a la 16th century chapel)… “I want to do wing overs Daddy”. …Now I am an old school acro pilot so I didnt need to be asked twice. The lightly loaded glider was behaving like a bus and struggled to gain energy. Skye, unhappy with our mediocre acro, kept telling me to go “higher, higher”. I proudly laughed at her boisterous nature and told her we couldn’t go higher (liar) as we had to get ready to land. After another quick radio communication with my wife to confirm our landing intentions, we started setting up our final approach directly behind our accommodation. The small field was covered in knee high grass and we would have to slope land due to its steep slope, and had approximately 100m before the next house. We arrived with slightly more height than desired, so we headed higher up the slope to burn

off the height, and with a smooth progressive flare we landed smoothly in the soft grass. We high fived and hugged, excited that we had completed our little challenge set 7 months earlier. Walking the 30m down the grassy slope to my anxious wife, I let out a very content sigh and thought to myself “Thank f$%k that worked out well”. Absolutely exhausted from the 30 hour international flight 2 days earlier, physical exhaustion and mentally drained from the responsibility of the last 4 hours, I wanted nothing more than to take a nap. On reaching my wife and 6 month old second daughter, waiting for us on the path, My wife asked Skye “How was that?” With a slight pause, Skye replied, “It was good, but I’m ready to go horse riding now…” Oh to have the energy of the youth… As all pilots know, free flight is one of the most rewarding and challenging pursuits to occupy our “spare time”. Unfortunately it is also an incredibly selfish sport, resulting in the pilot spending hours chasing the sky whilst our families either sit at home, or on the ground. Involving your family/friends in paragliding activities allows you to share the adventure, opening their eyes to our amazing sport and potentially increasing our sports numbers. Whether it be hiking up to a launch together, or sharing the skies in a tandem, a family free flight adventure is never forgotten…

Left; WanderWeg trails in all directions \Right; Skye taking a rest at a mountain sheep station

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Exploring the Craigieburn I By Warren & Clare Simonsen

really enjoy exploring countryside that I have never seen before from the air.

There have been many places that I have only seen once and others many times over. To me, a day out flying is never over until you get back home. Gliding over the boondocks and working out your risk management to suit the possible rewards for the day. It could be a walk to the main road if you don’t get a thermal but the reward is great. Nothing is gained if you don’t try. When I was coming up through the ranks, I rarely flew the Craigieburn Range, but over the last few years I managed to have a look around this playground, and it just got better the more I ventured out. The tracklogs show a few flights which pilots flew from the Cheeseman area. Some out & return, some ended in long glides, all contributed to a mind map of being more familiar for the next time you give it another try. Notable past flights from Mt Cheeseman have been Bill Degen’s 58km to Rotomanu on the West Coast way back in 1986 and Mark Nichols record rigid wing flight of 114kms to Hanmer in 2013. More recently quite a few pilots have made it out to the Canterbury Plains too. I’ve made 77.5 kms North to Bell Hill on the west Coast and 32km South to the Rakaia and heading west to the glaciers 30km (60km FAI Triangle) returning back to Lake Pearson with Matt Barlow. A lot of my flights have closely included my better half Clare, so the day value is enjoyable to both of us. A glide to a nice meadow for a picnic can score a few good points if you end up plummeting, or at least look out for a few nice waterfalls or view points that may not be visible from the road.

The Mt Cheeseman ski field is a good place to start, and no matter which direction you go, you’re going to see lots!! Sometimes I like to fly to mountain tops & valleys where it would take many hours or days to see the

Above; Over back of Cheeseman: Can look rather daunting but the west lift is mega strong with a lot of character from sunny faces. You may thermal up on the east side, but often the westerly power thermals rocket over the whole lot, and before you know it, you’re going up thousands more feet again. Mt Olympus can be an exciting diversion taking you away from the back ridge then a run back to the main face behind Porters ski field. This can be a gateway to the Wilberforce valleys, (The sailplanes like using the west side as a race run just below the ridge). From the Porters ski field, the Rakaia river is often a major motorway for the easterlies but when its light you have a chance to glide across to the Three Sisters site to try your luck, or glide over to Lake Coleridge. The big lake is a good indicator how strong the easterly is. Left; On the Torlesse Range looking at Mt Hutt Below; Lake Coleridge viewed from over Porters skifield

14 A i r b o r n

Range – Above; Arthurs Pass: It’s a lot closer than you think, and even better it has a main road under you all the way. Even the first glides to Cass or Klondyke corner can be rewarding and an easy retrieve. I landed on the river bed one day in front of the Devils Punchbowl car park (behind the Arthurs Pass Hotel). Watch it!! the river rocks are much larger than expected, and can change overnight after a good rain. Below; Soaring up the west side of Mt Cheeseman

Mt Rolleston: Crow Glacier. From Klondyke Corner you’re still within retrieve radius and now have a chance to explore into the beautiful deep back valleys. Last time I was there the sailplanes were speeding down just above the glacier. same views. Even if the day gives you a similar glide, look around, you always see something different, like watching a movie, you always pick up something you missed last time. Even when I’m flying with no driver, the inconvenience of staying overnight somewhere is part of the adventure and it’s surprising how often is works out in your favour. We have a passion for flight. It’s not always easy finding the words to

explain to others what we see, what we feel. If you drop into someone’s back yard and explain all the things you have seen, send them pictures of what you see, make new friends, it feels good sharing the experiences of the day. Not everybody wants to fly, our genetic makeup has made us unique compared to others, but our human nature still enjoys sharing the experiences we make. Explore.

More on page 31...

Some tracklogs from Mt Cheeseman

Below; Torlesse Range: Often a target to finish off the day for a nice long glide on the plains (below right) and you can get some great views with many different cloud conditions. It may be a strong easterly on one side and a lifty westerly on the other. When they converge you have good runs along the whole ridge between the Waimak and Porters Pass. Sailplanes are also seen racing along the ridge. If you’re not doing a return flight back to Castle Hill area, then a long final easterly glide towards Chch to your favourite coffee spot or picnic area. If it’s a light sea breeze there’s often a few thermals along the way.

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Skyfloaters

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In Alpinists’ Heaven D

uring their six week expedition to Pakistan, Damien Lacaze and Antoine Girard flew 1500 kilometers in only 14 flying days, achieved paragliding’s second ever highest flight, bivouaced at over 6,000 metres and attempted the ascent of the 7000 metre high Spantik. This was adventure at the human limit.

The start of this expedition at Skardu in the north of the country was exactly what French paraglider adventurers Damien Lacaze and Antoine Girard like to do. Conditions were very good. “We had to remind ourselves not to climb higher than 6800 metres”, said Damien, “otherwise we could not rely on our [oxygen] acclimatisation to this extreme altitude.”

A setback at the beginning The first flight was almost perfect. Then came the first landing. The landing site was actually relatively straight forward; a gentle slope with individual stone blocks. Both pilots carried 35 kilograms of provisions, water and assorted equipment in their harnesses. This took them to 15 kilos over max certified weight for their gliders, and they would be landing at 4000 metres. Low air density with high wing loading make their gliders fast. “Like half my landings in Pakistan I chose the backside landing technique”, admitted Damien. When touchdown speed is 50 kmph, normal running is not an option. Antoine landed not far away, but Antoine Girard is a mountain climber, adventurer and paraglider pilot. Among other things he made the news in 2016 by flying over Broad Peak (8051 m). Alongside this paraglider world altitude record he holds the record for the longest flight in Pakistan. He came third in the 2013 X-Alps, and fourth in 2015. In 2019 he was forced to withdraw due to injury.

18 A i r b o r n

he tried to do it standing up. The loading was too much for his ankles and he was badly injured. “If it had have been me I would have called off the expedition”, said Damien. “I Damien Lacaze is a mountaineer, competition, cross country and tandem pilot. He was Benoit Outter’s supporter in the X-Alps 2017 and won first place in Bornes to Fly the same year. His ambition is to take part in the X-Alps himself once anyway.

told Antoine that he did not have to continue just because of me”. But Antoine Girard would not be Antoine Girard if he had have been forced to give up at the first setback. The alpinist and paraglider altitude record-holder decided to carry on.

It has to be flying Antoine could not hike, so the two pilots adopted a new strategy. “We would always have to land somewhere high, on the west side of a pass, for example”, explains Damien. The evening landing place would then then be close to the takeoff next morning – often only a few metres away. Their bivouacs were often at 5000m altitude, so for long distances they did not see a single human soul. “We were often looking for a landing place at four in the afternoon”,

describes Lacaze about the tactics. By landing early they could avoid landing in valleys, and the long walks up next morning to a take-off. But early landing also meant landing

with active high mountain thermals, Lacaze adds: “If 8 m/s thermals pick you up on the side of a ridge you almost always have to fly in the lee on the shadow side to get down.” The greatest concentration and full-on glider control are required. Once, these tactics didn’t work for Damien, and he had to land far below in the valley, near a small settlement that he had hardly noticed from the air. Immediately he was surrounded by the village, suitably excited because they have never seen a paraglider before. Everyone wanted to feel his floppy fold-up flying machine. After Lacaze had packed up he wanted to set off upwards to find Antoine (who has landed high on the hillside). The

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locals picked up his bag and insist on accompanying him up to the mountain ridge. “I wasn’t allowed to carry my rucksack a single metre,” Damien remembers, and laughs.

The retreat from Spantik In Karimabad the adventurers were greeted by bad weather. Time and again the departure for Spantik (The Golden Peak) had to be postponed. At last a weather window opened up after a week’s wait. The cloudbase was too low at 6200 meters to be able to land on a Spantik plateau. Damien and Antoine tried it anyway. The flight from Karimabad to the

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Spantik mountain is 40 kms, but instead of their reclining harnesses, they dangled in delicate, almost non-existent string versions. “In the thermals, which can get as strong as 13 m/s, this was something of an alarming experience,” commented Damien. At the foot of Spantik the pair battled for altitude. Only a few metres more, and they would be able to land on the one possible place on the 6200m plateau. Finally they succeeded, and set down softly in the deep snow. But the weather got worse earlier

than forecast. Even during the advance to the summit the next day the wind picked up; it began to snow, and their shortage of acclimatisation made itself increasingly evident. They were making hardly any progress and both decided to abandon the attempt. A paraglider take-off was out of the question. Antoine was suffering from suspected cerebral edema (brain tissue swelling which causes a terrible headache). He had to go down, come what may. They decided to take off as soon as possible - despite the heavy snow and thick fog – and prepared their gliders for the blind flight. As soon as the wind briefly reached the right direction they took off, and were in luck: the cloud layer was only 600 metres thick. Soon Antoine called on the radio: he was feeling better, thanks to the denser air. The flying descent by paraglider took an hour, during which they covered 35 kms. Mountaineers take a week for the same journey.

In alpinist heaven And that’s exactly the fascination of paragliding in high mountains, enthused Antoine: “A few lines, a scrap of material, and with a couple of thermal circles you can reach places that alpinists have dreamed about for a lifetime.” A week later Antoine and Damien made their way from Karimabad back to Skardu. They flew over the Baltoro glacier, past the Trango Towers, soared at Broad Peak (8,050m) and waved at the rope teams below.

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XC Milestone Flights from Spring 2017 to Autumn 2019 A

s a way of recognising and thus encouraging cross-country flying endeavours, the NZHGPA awards “CrossCountry Milestone Achievement” stickers the first time a member pilot surpasses the ‘milestone’ distances of 25 & 50, 75, 100, 125, 150 or 200km (open distance) on a hang glider or paraglider in New Zealand. (Flights are declared through the

NZ Cross-Country Championships, or via participation and scoring in National or Regional competition-flying events). There’s one pictured to the right. Paragliding Table 1 lists the pilots who achieved milestone paraglider flights during the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons. In the South Island, 32 pilots achieved

Table 1. Paraglider Milestone Flights from Seasons 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 Pilot Milestone Flight Date Open Site Name Achieved (km) Distance Hamish Dicker 25 21/11/2017 36.6 Moirs Hill Ken Beach 25 16/12/2017 46.0 Te Mata Peak Rebecca Rae 25 16/12/2017 29.8 Te Mata Peak Tipene Wairepo 25 16/12/2017 28.2 Kaimai Lauris Pumpurs 25 17/12/2017 38.8 Kaimai Mark Gilbert 25 17/12/2017 40.8 Te Mata Peak Ken Beach 50 30/12/2017 55.1 Kaimai Leighton Joll 25 & 50 30/12/2017 70.2 Kaimai Lukas Krkavec 25 21/01/2018 26.1 Te Mata Peak Stepan Kubecek 25 & 50 4/02/2018 52.1 Dalefield Road Adam Forbes 25 & 50 1/04/2018 66.2 Te Mata Peak Ross Gallagher 25 22/10/2018 26.8 Paeroa Samuel Leathwick 25 17/11/2018 25.4 Kaimai Eden Radonich 75 10/02/2019 77.5 Te Mata Peak Mike Ferguson 50 3/03/2019 50.2 Tiwakawaka Ross Gallagher 50 3/03/2019 51.9 Kaimai Peter Jones 50 6/03/2019 54.7 Kaimai Leighton Joll 75 6/03/2019 77.0 Dills Hill Jan Zimmermann 25 28/10/2017 33.2 Cheeseman Petr Poboril 25 28/10/2017 30.2 Cheeseman Rob Hughes-Games 75 28/10/2017 83.6 Cheeseman Brian Erasmus 25 31/10/2017 36.0 Mt Murchison Chris Streat 25 31/10/2017 25.9 Coronet Peak Barry Baxter 50 31/10/2017 72.3 Mt Murchison Chris Streat 50 11/11/2017 53.1 Coronet Peak Jan Zimmermann 50 14/11/2017 61.4 Cheeseman Vincent Audebert 25 25/11/2017 33.6 Treble Cone David Cleary 25 1/12/2017 27.0 Treble Cone Helen Jeffery 50 18/12/2017 54.9 Coronet Peak Aaron Ford 75 22/12/2017 77.0 Coronet Peak Mark Hardman 100 23/12/2017 104.8 Treble Cone Brooke Whatnall 25 28/12/2017 39.1 Treble Cone Jan Zimmermann 75 28/12/2017 78.5 Coronet Peak Andrew Ryan 25 26/01/2018 28.7 Treble Cone Hamish Dicker 50 26/01/2018 52.1 Treble Cone Lauris Pumpurs 50 26/01/2018 66.6 Treble Cone Dean Orton 25 & 50 26/01/2018 52.4 Treble Cone Benjamin Kellett 50 27/01/2018 56.9 Treble Cone Rob Gillard 75 27/01/2018 89.5 Treble Cone Cathal Mcloughlin 25 28/01/2018 37.7 Treble Cone Clancy Pamment 25 28/01/2018 38.0 Treble Cone Petr Poboril 50 8/02/2018 51.7 Tainui Peak Michal Talavasek 100 8/02/2018 100.2 Woolshed Ridge Andrew Cavaney 50 23/02/2018 51.8 Treble Cone Tim Notman 25 8/09/2018 25.0 Bealey Spur Fraser Monteith 25 & 50 22/09/2018 55.3 Bealey Spur Jan Necas 25 21/10/2018 32.2 Cheeseman Bradley Franks 25 10/11/2018 27.4 Mt McIntosh Nicolas Sand 25 13/11/2018 47.1 Mt Judah Richard Sidey 25 13/11/2018 30.4 Treble Cone Daniel Francis 25 22/11/2018 40.0 Mt Murchison Benjamin Kellett 75 23/11/2018 91.6 Roys Peak Matthew Thom 25 15/12/2018 46.6 Treble Cone Sanae Noguchi 25 15/12/2018 44.0 Pakituhi Spur Aaron Ford 100 15/12/2018 112.8 Coronet Peak Nicolas Sand 50 & 75 15/12/2018 82.3 Pakituhi Spur Matthew Thom 50 16/12/2018 64.9 Cardrona Thomas Serri 25 23/12/2018 27.0 Treble Cone Carl Horne 25 24/12/2018 33.7 Cardrona Tomas Kristufek 25 27/12/2018 26.6 Grandview Sam Hamill 25 9/01/2019 31.9 Barnicoat Malachi Templeton 25 12/01/2019 27.6 Treble Cone Matthew Thom 75 2/02/2019 87.8 Mt Murchison Aaron Chesterman 25 3/02/2019 33.6 Mt Murchison Marije Jansen 25 3/02/2019 30.6 Mt Murchison Mark Simpson 25 3/02/2019 33.2 Mt Murchison Simon Craddock 25 3/02/2019 33.4 Mt Murchison Leo Chelle 25 16/02/2019 25.2 St Bathans Range Janik Schultner 25 2/03/2019 29.3 Cheeseman Vincent Willcock 25 2/03/2019 29.6 Cheeseman

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NZ25km for the first time, with Dean Orton Ken Beach, Ross Gallagher and Peter Jones and Fraser Monteith going on to bag 50km flying from Kaimai; and Mike Ferguson from milestones in their flights. Others to achieve Tiwakawaka, Northland. Topping the North 50km flights included Barry Baxter, Chris Island milestone list were Eden Radonich Streat, Helen Jeffery, Hamish Dicker, Petr and Joll who joined and even more exclusive Poboril and Andrew Cavaney; By Tim Percival group - the paragliding North Island and achieving NZ75km for the 75km “club”! It has just seven first time were seven pilots: Rob members! They were late 2019 Hughes-Games, Aaron Ford, season flights, Eden flying from Jan Zimmermann, Rob Gillard, Te Mata Peak, Hawkes Bay, and Benjamin Kellett, Nicolas Sand Leighton from Dills Hill, Auckland, and Matthew Thom. for the regional record and its first The longest South Island 75 km flight. milestones over the period were Hang Gliding flown by Mark Hardman, Michal Table 2 lists the pilots with Talavasek and Aaron Ford who have confirmed milestone hang glider joined the paragliding NZ100km “club”! I t s flights from the 2017/18 and 2018/19 membership is now 22! But how about seasons. Mainly these flights are from the Mark’s flight in December 2017 - he was last two NZ HG Nationals competitions based flying tandem!! It was flying southeast from around Mt Murchison, reflecting some good Treble Cone, Otago, with Melanie Heather as long tasks flown and good participation levels, passenger/co-pilot; and finished with the pair intermediate to veteran. landing backwards in strong wind on remote, Recording NZ50km for the first time during rough, high country between Alexandra and the Nationals were Piers Throssell, Tom Middlemarch, only five kilometres short of the Kellner and Viv Clements; while outside the NZ tandem record! Nationals, Adriel Kind and Pete Helliwell Meanwhile in the North Island, 12 pilots bagged 50km flying from Buscot Hill during surpassed NZ25km for the first time, with the Omarama XC Classic meet of 2018. Leighton Joll, Stepan Kubecek and Adam Someone who’s been enjoying the flying of Forbes going on to bag 50km milestones too the Nelson region since settling back in NZ in their flights from Kaimai, Dalefield Road and from the UK has been Brian Russell, and it’s Te Mata Peak respectively. Others to achieve included a great NZ100km flight through the an often hard-to-get North Island 50km were mountains south of Mt Murchison! Table 2. Hang Glider Milestone Flights from Seasons 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 Pilot Milestone Flight Date Open Site Name Achieved (km) Distance Brian Russell 25 26/01/2018 34.4 Mt Murchison Pete Helliwell 25 29/01/2018 41.0 Mt Murchison Piers Throssell 25 29/01/2018 41.0 Mt Murchison Abe Kemp 25 3/02/2018 31.0 Mt Murchison Andrew Sinclair 25 3/02/2018 31.0 Mt Murchison Carlos Palmer 25 3/02/2018 38.0 Mt Murchison Adriel Kind 50 9/02/2018 57.5 Buscot Hill Pete Helliwell 50 9/02/2018 52.2 Buscot Hill Brian Russell 50, 75 & 100 12/01/2019 100.4 Mt Murchison Thomas Mulder 25 29/01/2019 28.7 Mt Murchison Tom Kellner 25 29/01/2019 36.2 Mt Murchison Viv Clements 25 29/01/2019 36.4 Mt Murchison Ian Miller 25 2/02/2019 35.3 Mt Murchison Piers Throssell 50 2/02/2019 60.0 Mt Murchison Robin Campbell 25 2/02/2019 32.3 Mt Murchison Tom Kellner 50 2/02/2019 64.1 Mt Murchison Viv Clements 50 2/02/2019 63.6 Mt Murchison

Good Airmanship New NOTAM APP I would like to remind all pilots that it is good airmanship and your duty to check NOTAMS (Notice to Airman) frequently before flying for your own safety and others. NOTAMS will alert you to any low flying aircraft (especially the increase in Drone/RPAS activity) or unusual increase in aircraft activity like a military exercise in your locality or planned flight route. Airways have developed a very useful NOTAM App called IFIS Mobile making it easy to check any time anywhere, or go on line to check at: www.aip.net.nz/. VNC Charts You still cannot beat a detailed 1: 250,000 Visual Navigation Chart available from your nearest aero club or on line from the Airways AIP Shop at $16.35 (updated yearly around mid November). Due to the ongoing CAA Airspace Review many airspace changes have taken place across New Zealand and I would urge individuals and each HG/PG Club to purchase a copy of the latest VNC chart for their region – especially after the 8th November 2018. Airband Radio The NZHGPA recently introduced its own Aviation Airband Radio Rating (ARO) specifically designed for hang glider or paraglider pilots (or powered versions of either). If you are serious about XC flying and want to open up flight paths into the numerous MBZ’s dotted across New Zealand then you need to carry an Airband Radio and hold either a NZHGPA ARO rating or full FRTO rating. Final thought: Remember through situational awareness and good airmanship; “We can all help to promote and protect the airspace we fly in” Wishing you all many happy flights. - Nick Taber, NZHGPA Airspace Officer, Tel: 021420742

Executive Repor ts

Selected Accident and Incident Summaries from 31 March 2019 to 30 June 2019 T

hese summaries are a selection taken from members reports supplied via the NZHGPA reporting system AIRS.

Date Region Type Aircraft 4/8/2019 Southern Minor Injury accident Paraglider Local recreation. Climbing, 3rd flight of the day. While climbing in a weak thermal shortly after launch, close to the terrain the pilot became concerned they were going to get too close to terrain so tightened up on a 360 turn whilst pointing at the hill. Glider spun. Pilot went hands up after about 180 degrees. Glider started to recover, but there was insufficient altitude and too much rotational momentum. Pilot and glider hit the ground having rotated approximately 360 degrees. Injuries: Moderate (doctor visit or ACC claim); Head; Concussion. Cut to arm. Harness: Basic, With certified back protection. Emergency chute: Carried but not deployed. Helmet: Full face 4/14/2019 Northland Near miss or Minor incident Paraglider Instruction. Ground handling. Whilst ground handling a wing to lay it out, I was lofted and continued to rise. I was unable to gain forward penetration and after attempting to fly away was unable to escape compression. Once I established this and was stable I pulled big ears and top landed. Injuries: Nil. Helmet: None, Not worn. Harness: Pod, with certified back protection. Reserve: carried but not deployed. Wind: West, Strong gusts. Lesson in rushing and not following safe protocols while getting caught up with a larger than expected amount of pilots attending the training. I should focus on the task in hand. Although other pilots had flown before this task was undertaken I did not take stock of weather again prior to inflating the wing. A squall front came through unobserved by pilot. 4/13/2019 Southern Serious Accident Landing Paraglider Misjudged spiral landing. Injuries: Serious (hospital admission, major fracture, internal organ damage) Lower spine. Helmet: Open face, certified for flight. Harness: with certified back protection. Reserve: Carried but not deployed. 3/3/2019 Canterbury Serious Accident Competition Paraglider Climbing. I was flying in a thermal very close to the ground. I let the wing fly with no brake and got a big frontal. I was around 40 meters to the ground at the time and no altitude to throw the rescue. I tried my best to reopen the wing but with not enough time to do it. I landed on a slope with not friendly rocks. There were around 40 pilots flying at the time of the accident so a few pilots saw me on the ground. 1 pilot landed next to me and helped me. I have my GPS and inReach tracker. Another pilot called the emergency services. Injuries: Serious, Head, Lower spine, Chest, Leg, arm. Helmet: Open face. Harness: Pod. Reserve: carried but not deployed 4/30/2019 Southern Near miss or Minor incident Speed Wing Very soon after take-off, the main B line released from the mallion it was attached to. The line had been replaced after a previous accident. The line had been spliced but not stitched. The lines on the glider are unsheathed and have been replaced with unsheathed lines. The lines on the glider are silver in colour and have been stitched with black thread which makes inspecting the glider a lot easier. There were 10 or more lines replaced on the glider stitched with white thread so that is over 20 splices which had been made. There were 3 splices in total that had not been stitched. Two were attached to other lines with a larks foot so they were less likely to release. The one that released was the outer main B line attached to the riser’s mallion, it released at the mallion. 5/12/2019 Canterbury Minor Injury accident Paraglider Instruction Landing. Pilot overturned on landing approach then over corrected and landed heavily without flaring. 37th flight. Injuries: Moderate, Lower spine; compression L1/2, released home for recovery, no surgery. Helmet: Open face. Harness: Basic, with certified back protection. Reserve: carried but not deployed. Wind: Variable. Wind was increasing and student was requested to go and land. 6/30/2019 Bay of Plenty Near miss or Minor incident Paraglider vs Drone I was soaring the east face of the Mount in light winds, flying south to north. I was just above the top of the face and about 50 metres out from the face when I saw a small object directly in front of me, at my level, flying towards me. Initially I thought it was a bird, then looked again a few seconds later as it closed rapidly and realised it was a small drone. I tried to turn right to avoid collision at the last moment, then I felt it hit my left lines. I lost a little bit of height and turned away from the face. I then flew a few passes checking my lines and then flew to the beach and landed without further incident. I have checked my equipment several times and find no signs of damage.

How to Get Vector Magazine Vector Magazine is the Civil Aviation Authority’s bi-monthly publication of aviation safety related articles and CAA news. Because NZHGPA is a CAA - certificated organisation (Rule 149), its hang glider and paraglider pilot-rated members can apply for a free Vector subscription. There is a simple form to complete and then send to Vector Subscriptions. The form can be obtained online at: http://www.caa.govt.nz/search/Forms/24149-02.pdf or by writing to: Vector Subscriptions, Civil Aviation Authority, PO Box 31 441, Lower Hutt; or fax: 0-4-569 2024; or email: info@caa.govt.nz. Alternatively, Vector Magazine can be downloaded online from the CAA’s web site: http://www.caa. govt.nz/safety_info/publications.htm

How to report an accident or incident What to report?

You must report as soon as practical anything that is defined as an “Accident” by CAA rules. That is anything that caused significant damage or serious injuries while the aircraft is being used. Club safety officers and other pilots can help out here by reporting even basic information about an accident for pilots that are unable to do it themselves. We also want reports for incidents or accidents that aren’t so serious. The biggest benefit comes from the reporting of the smaller incidents and near misses. How small? Well, if good luck is all that saved you from an accident then it’s probably worth reporting it. Your personal details will be kept confidential.

How?

We have our own reporting system called AIRS. Accident and Incident reporting System. It uses a simple Google form to gather the information we need and transfers this to a secure database. The data then has identifying information such as names and contact details hidden before being shared online for others to see. To make a report go to the NZHGPA website and click on ”Safety”. www.nzhgpa.org.nz/safety Then the button to hit for starting your report looks like this

Your description of what happened is the most important part and makes up the majority of the reports we publish but other details are used to help with statistics that show trends so please complete as much as you can. Please include the location so we can send the report to the local safety officer and the club president for any follow up they need to do. Don’t worry, our policy is that we do not use the reports to lay blame or for any disciplinary action. They are for safety and learning.. Finally if you want to see other reports then click on this button

Duncan’s Column

uongiorno, Bonjour, Hola, Ola I am privileged to be missing winter this year and am in various parts of Europe. I have just been at Piedrahita where I spent time with the NZ pilots who are flying in the Pre Paragliding World Cup. Piedrahita put on a good opening show with a parade complete with a brass band and all the flags of the competitors being flown - and the Australian flag was flown upside down! We had a speech by the mayor and a number of others along with fireworks and it was a good evening. Paraglider and hang glider pilots are an interesting bunch - we all have one thing in common - we fly - and so in the midst of all the different personalities and different ways we see the world we come together and it is neat to see people helping one another, enjoying each other’s company and doing their best to beat everyone at the same time. I managed to get a loan of a wing and had a lovely evening glass off flight at Piedrahita. There is something special about flying at sunset, landing in a medieval town and then going out for a Spanish meal with the NZ team. On the Exec we are giving thought to next years budget and the upcoming AGM. Just as a thought - have you thought about putting yourself forward for Exec or assisting with your local club. Our sport’s future depends on having good people giving time and making good decisions - apathy never brings good results and there is the story about 4 people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought

Anybody could do it, but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have. That said there is some good work going on. The team working on the Nationwide DOC concession are working hard and are making progress. It is amazing just how much detail comes out for the woodwork when one works on a project like this. As this is published you will be getting ready for the flying season so keep safety at the front of your mind and both stay safe and fly far. See you at the AGM or maybe in the air. - Duncan Macnab

Aeronautical Charts Visual Navigation Charts (VNCs) can be purchased from Aeronautical Information Management (a division of Airways NZ) on 0800 500 045, or their web site, www.aipshop.co.nz. VNCs come in two scales 1:250,000 and 1:500,000, and cost $16.35 for a pair of charts printed on a double-sided sheet. The coverage of the 1:250,000 charts makes them handy for planning cross-country flights.

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Want a better mag?

Mont Blanc gets up to 200 paragliders in mass top landing

Syride pilots on Mont Blanc from left to right; Gael Lafond (Syride sales/support), Olivier Laugero, Antoine Girard, Roland Wacogne and Martin Beaujouan. Photo; Gael Lafond

O Airborn magazine needs your articles and photos. We’d like to read about your flights, frights, sites, experiences and techniques. Anything that’s of interest to pilots and educating or enthusing to pilots is especially welcome. Airborn can’t afford to pay you but does post contributors a complimentary copy which you should receive a day or so before everyone else. Just email your text to; aero@xtra. co.nz or put it on CD, DVD, Flash drive or even floppy disk. Most text programs such as Microsoft Word (Windows or Mac) are fine. Please do not put photos in MS Word files as this reduces the resolution, supply photo files separately. If it’s not digital, clean laser or typed copy helpsif its printed on one side of the paper only. INCLUDE photos, of the people, place or gliders involved and even one of yourself to make the article more interesting. It’s now all in colour and with digital photo editing, it’s amazing what we can do to enhance ordinary snapshots. Digital images need to be high resolution. Contact me if you want help sending large files. Photos for the cover should be eye-catching, colourful, sharp, and high resolution. You can also send transparencies or prints for scanning. Anything marked with a return address will be returned with your complimentary copy. Help promote or make our sport safer, and Airborn will present your contribution in the best way possible.

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n 26th June, the heatwave in Europe combined with a higher than usual cloudbase resulted in up to 200 paraglider pilots flying over and landing on top of Mont Blanc, the highest peak (4,810m/15,780ft) in the European Alps. The last mass landings were in August 2012 when 50 pilots landed there and some pilots say it is possible a few times each season, but these days a combination of hotter temperatures, better

forecasting, better equipment and social media, meant that more pilots were aware of suitable conditions and able to do it. Unfortuneately this time a French pilot died while launching and his body was found on the Italian side. Authorities then banned top landing within 600m of Mont Blanc’s peak. Ironically, Mont Blanc has the most climbing accidents in the Alps, due to about 30,000 people climbing it each year. It is often crowded, but with

climbers rather than with paragliders. Of concern is that some pilots are not experienced enough or adequately equipped for flying there. Dangers are Hypoxia, Cold and boots/ crampons are required to relaunch. YouTube has videos of the day www.youtube. com/watch?v¿1fI_uPa3c Syride has photos and tracks of many of the pilots flights; www.facebook.com/syride. news.en/

Safety Checks Tow Release GS-SSK 01

DHV 06-0041-11 The towing release SSK 01 approved for step towing has a factory setting of too high release forces. This towing release for step towing has a setting that causes an automatic release at forces between 250N -450N (about 25-45 kg) with an inclined pulling force. It has been shown that this setting is clearly too high and also the manual operation of the ratchet lever is only possible with great effort (> 25 kg). In two cases, the ratchet lever broke.

Picture: Tow release GS-SSK 01 DHV 06-0041-11

The manufacturer orders the following safety advisory: : 1. The factory setting of the release force for

an inclined pulling direction must be reduced to a value between 80 and 120 N. This change cannot be made by the owner himself. The towing release must be presented to a specialist dealer of the manufacturer or the manufacturer himself. 2. It must be checked whether the manual release force of the ratchet lever is situated in a certain magnitude (about 50 N +/- 20%), which allows easy releasing. This safety advisory must be carried out before the next flight with the towing release. 16.04.2019 Aircraft Concept GmbH Dormannweg 48, 34123 Kassel info@aircraft-concept.de www.aircraft-concept.de Telefon 0 561 57467010

Lines on Gradient Avax XC 5

Gradient Avax XC 5 gliders produced between January 2015 and April 2017, all sizes. Status: Urgent & Critical Facts: A confirmed French pilot’s A lines (high

Reporting Dangerous Drone Activity Drones must give way to all manned aircraft which includes Hang Gliders and Paragliders. Once a Drone Operator spots an aircraft the Drone must land immediately. If you see Drone Activity at or around the launch or landing area prior to flying, common sense prevails and talk to the drone operator about your flying plans. If you have a near miss or an accident with a drone or you think someone is flying a drone contrary to the rules found at www.airshare.co.nz/rules then take the following action: If the drone presents an immediate danger, call 111 and ask for the Police. To report other safety or security concerns, please email the Authority: Email: isi@caa.govt.nz or telephone: Freephone 0508 4 SAFETY (0508 472 338) Answered during office hours (voicemail after hours) It is important to help CAA and collate as much information as possible of the incident: • Date, time and location of the event • Your contact details • Identifying details of the drone operator • Name and address of drone operator (where known) • Car registration plate number and identifying details • A photograph or detailed description of the person flying the drone and the drone If you make a report or there is an incident contact your Club Safety Officer ASAP.

and intermediate) ruptured on one side of his Avax XC5 during a manoeuvre with a strong load shift (tight 360°), forcing him to use his rescue parachute for safe landing. Findings: Following the incident, we ran some tests on a same model glider (with several dozen hours of flying) at an independent “control centre”. Results showed that the resistance values were inferior to the minimal required. These tests highlighted a scenario in which the high lines would shear the intermediate lines thus provoking a premature rupture of these lines. Despite the rupture test values of every line being within the requirements of norm EN 926-1: 2006, the lines juncture can become a major issue. As a reminder, norm EN 926-1: 2006 evolved in late 2015, a few months after this glider passed the certification test, which saw the lines rupture minimal values increase (from 8 times the maximum flying weight to 14 times). Follow-Up: In order to ensure the safety of pilots and honest customer service, Gradient will replace all the lines of affected gliders, free of charge. These new lines set will comply with the latest version of the EN 926-1: 2015 norm. Procedure: If you own a glider concerned by this safety note, we ask you to follow this procedure thoroughly : 1. Do not fly with this glider again.  2. Contact your reseller or Gradient directly: by e-mail: info@gradient-gliders.com or gradient@gradient.cx (for the Czech Republic) by phone: +33 4 50 45 75 29 or +420 608 816 319 (for the Czech Republic) 3. Give the serial number of your Avax XC 5 to receive new revised line set. 4. Change or have a professional change your lines on your Avax XC 5 to fly safely again. Our main concern is the safety of all pilots. If you have any questions, we remain at your disposal to give you further information. 5 June 2019 Laurent Chiabaut - Director, Gradient S.r.o Riegrovy Sady 1901, 440 01 Louny - Czech Republic Tel.: +420 608 816 319 Email: gradient@gradient.cx

EVENTS Omarama Hang Gliding Cross Country Classic Saturday 1 February to Sunday 9 February 2019

n again, this summer during the week that has Waitangi Day. This time of year gets the most flying days with least strong winds and turbulence so gives the most cross country flying opportunities. Flying in the Mackenzie is spectacular; expect to get 9 or 10,000ft and an easy 20km to over 100km depending on your skill and luck. You’ll probably beat your Personal Best; height, distance etc, and move up the XC Champs table, or maybe fly to Mt Cook! It can be hot, maybe windy and sometimes with strong thermals but the landing areas are massive and the competition format is stress free; No queues, tactics or waiting. Fly the whole week, just the weekends or just the days you want. It’s up to you, only your best 3 flights count. Unlike in conventional comps, you can decide where and when to fly and an unlucky flight won’t ruin your score. THE MISSION; Fly open distance, in any direction from any site in the Omarama area. Enter any number of flights. Take any days off, just your best 3 flights get scored. Required; Advanced rating with mountain/ XC skills. Pilots with lower skill ratings may fly if under supervision and if conditions are suitable. Printed site briefings are available. The track up Magic Mountain is limited to 4WDs with low ratio gearing for safe descents. To help maintain the track we ask everyone for a donation but the competition is free. This is mountain high desert country so essential equipment is; a 2.5m rope for securing gliders during dust devils (Magic has tie-down stakes), radio, cellphone, maps, GPS, water, survival gear (days can be over 30°C with frosts at night), basebar wheels, spare uprights, glider fully checked and a repacked chute. An Emergency Locator Transmitter is a good idea or a satellite messenger such as a Spot or inReach is recommended for pickups as phone reception is often not possible. A sim

2020 NZ Hang Gliding Nationals

High at Ohau, on the way to Mt Cook (centre distance) Photo: Bill Degen

card for the other phone network ($10) will improve phone coverage in the area. Airtribune is a useful free tracker for Android cellphones that can allow your pickup crew to follow you (within cell coverage). Bring a brave but careful 4WD driver, and a spade for clearing slips off the access track. Or bring your aerotow or car tow set-up. Airband radio (118.6 Mhz) is required for flying North of Ohau if you want to head for Mt Cook as there is a Mandatory Broadcast Zone. All types of accommodation are available; free camping, cabins, caravans, motels and luxury hotels. The gliding airfield campground welcomes hang glider pilots and has weather briefings at 10am each day. There’s hot pools in Omarama for after flying too. For more information, site briefings etc; contact Bill Degen aero@xtra.co.nz or check www.hgpg.co.nz for updates.

NZ Comp Organiser’s Responsibilities It is the Comp Organiser’s responsibility to; 1. Obtain a list of current members from the Administrator. 2. Ensure every competition entrant is a current NZHGPA member. 3. Sign up any non-members. Any competitors found to be non-members will be listed and scored as ‘disqualified’.

hird time lucky??? Yes indeed! Shane McKay and Matt Barlow are are pleased to confirm that the NZ Hang Gliding Nationals will once again be conducted in Murchison in the last week of January 2020. And why not when for two years in a row now we have all experienced such awesome flying and camaraderie. Record combined distances flown, record airtime, record number of pilots, and for the second year in a row a record for longest NZ task set and achieved at 137km! Well done too by the way to the six legends who successfully completed this task; Ollie Chitty, Steve Blacker, John Smith, Shane McKay, Tom Kellner and last but not least Les Graham you legend! The 2020 NZ Nationals will be the same format as the last couple of years i.e. Two Practice Days on the 23rd and 24th of January then the competition days being Saturday 25 January to Saturday 01 Feb. Sunday 02 Feb will be a reserve day in case we have had bad weather and need a final day to have a valid competition. HQ will once again be the Riverside Camping Ground - get in early if you want to book any of the huts. There are plenty of tent sites so these do not need to be booked early. Registration details and a full article on the 2019 Nationals will be posted in the next couple of months once we return from the World Champs in Italy! All pilots including Novices are most welcome. Novices will be permitted to fly under the supervision of an instructor only if conditions are safe for them to do so. Lastly, former World Champion Christian Ciech has expressed an interest on coming over, so if he does this is even more of a reason to come along and be part of all the fun and action. Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Forbes Flatlands 2020 The dates are set for the Forbes Flatlands 2020, registration is open! www.forbesflatlands.com/ Trophies for Open, Sport and Women’s Classes Come on out and experience first hand what all the hype is about! Whether you are a Sport class pilot looking to set a new PB or a seasoned XC pilot chasing the elusive big flight! Forbes can offer all and more in a super friendly environment. Our posse of volunteers together with the most experienced competition organisers on the Aussie calendar make for a great fun, safe and challenging competition. You will not be disappointed! Practice flying Friday the 3rd of January Registration: Friday 3rd from 10: 00-12: 00 & 1600-1800 at HQ. 1st Competition day Saturday January 4th, 2020 8th (Last) Competition day Saturday January 11th, 2020 We will overlap with the Elvis Festival happening in Parkes so be sure to book your accommodation early. To give you a taste of our Forbes flying check out Petr Polach’s video as he shows us his captivating Aussie sojourn story. www.youtube. com/watch?v=tnzACXj-8OE&feature=youtu. be&fbclid=IwAR0iOEl67cd8T0gIeNdi18Mq F11I6P_fYyw78in0555Hwg_7SsqUIUrJDyQ - Vicki Cain Moyes Delta Gliders Pty Ltd Unit 4/5 Clerke Place Kurnell NSW 2231 T: +61 (0)2 9668 8686

Site Notices Kaimais The Kaimais is closed for lambing until further notice. Contact Rick Hawkeswood 021 682 766

Site Closures

In Springtime throughout New Zealand, farms are expecting newborn sheep, cattle, horses, deer and other animals. Your presence on or flying over farmland could frighten or injure pregnant or newborn stock. Even at places that you usually fly without problems, please check with the farmer if it is OK to fly. This is a difficult time for farmers and they do appreciate your consideration. Not asking has resulted in the loss of many flying sites while asking has earned their friendship. If in doubt or if any stock are present DO NOT FLY without asking.

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April 1st - March 31st. Sponsored by Wings & Waves

April 1st 2019 to March 31st 2020 Top scores as shown on XContest on 16/7/2019 Pilot, flight date/time Site Distance Points Total Evan Lamberton [firefly] 97.47 p. 1 20.04.19 12:51 Kaimai 42.11 km 52.64 p. 2 19.04.19 13:14 Paeroas 24.07 km 24.07 p. 3 18.05.19 14:02 ? 16.61 km 20.76 p. Bruce Vickerman [Bruce.V] 80.11 p. 1 15.04.19 13:49 Kaimai 33.05 km 41.31 p. 2 19.04.19 13:16 Paeroas 17.93 km 22.41 p. 3 07.04.19 13:43 Kaimai 16.39 km 16.39 p. Sam Hamill [Samhamill] 62.62 p. 1 19.04.19 12:50 Barnicoat 26.41 km 26.41 p. 2 30.06.19 12:48 Barnicoat 13.56 km 20.34 p. 3 16.04.19 12:12 Takaka Hill 10.58 km 15.87 p. Doug Patterson [dougpatterson] 61.80 p. 1 06.04.19 13:57 Treble Cone 13.66 km 27.32 p. 2 14.04.19 14:04 Treble Cone 24.52 km 24.52 p. 3 15.04.19 14:00 Treble Cone 9.96 km 9.96 p. Barry Sayer [boomer] 55.04 p. 1 04.04.19 13:01 Te Mata Peak 44.03 km 55.04 p. Dave Washer [bopflyer67] 52.72 p. 1 19.04.19 13:17 Paeroas 20.62 km 20.62 p. 2 18.04.19 14:30 Kaimai 13.99 km 17.49 p. 3 20.04.19 13:17 Kaimai 9.74 km 14.61 p. Peter Jones [jonesie] 52.13 p. 1 17.04.19 14:42 Kaimai 18.44 km 23.05 p. 2 19.04.19 13:29 Paeroas 15.49 km 15.49 p. 3 20.04.19 13:13 Kaimai 13.59 km 13.59 p. Ken Beach [ken.beach] 48.12 p. 1 19.04.19 13:18 Paeroas 27.68 km 27.68 p. 2 20.04.19 12:10 Paeroas 20.44 km 20.44 p. Ross Gallagher [Redwings] 43.60 p. 1 20.04.19 12:34 Kaimai 19.35 km 19.35 p. 2 07.04.19 13:31 Kaimai 15.70 km 15.70 p. 3 05.05.19 13:57 Kaimai 8.55 km 8.55 p. Björn Striebing [bjoern.striebing] 43.17 p. 1 19.04.19 13:41 Paeroas 27.36 km 27.36 p. 2 11.05.19 12:47 Dills Hill 12.65 km 15.81 p.

Pilot, flight date/time Site Distance Points Total Anand Srinivasan [Anand] 42.02 p. 1 19.04.19 14:01 Paeroas 24.61 km 24.61 p. 2 05.05.19 14:05 Kaimai 13.93 km 17.41 p. Mark Macdonald [Brick] 39.77 p. 1 15.04.19 13:49 Kaimai 22.37 km 27.96 p. 2 17.04.19 15:31 Kaimai 6.98 km 8.73 p. 3 17.04.19 13:37 Kaimai 3.08 km 3.08 p. Bruno Metz [Tigroun] 39.39 p. 1 20.04.19 13:10 Kaimai 15.79 km 19.74 p. 2 15.06.19 10:54 ? 13.10 km 19.65 p. Andrew Mclauchlan [flyingkiwi001] 33.33 p. 1 28.04.19 13:49 Takaka Hill 9.73 km 19.46 p. 2 11.05.19 12:47 Barnicoat 13.87 km 13.87 p. Martin Kraemer [Skysegel] 32.65 p. 1 14.04.19 13:31 Roys Peak 8.01 km 16.02 p. 2 06.04.19 14:18 Rock and Pillar 9.82 km 12.28 p. 3 13.04.19 15:24 Pakituhi 4.35 km 4.35 p. Fraser Monteith [Icemaneli186] 30.23 p. 1 13.04.19 14:31 Mt Potts 16.68 km 16.68 p. 2 06.04.19 16:36 Mt Ida 9.16 km 9.16 p. 3 13.04.19 17:45 Mt Guy 4.39 km 4.39 p. Andy Spierer [aspierer] 28.45 p. 1 19.04.19 13:44 Paeroas 28.45 km 28.45 p. Craig Miller [craigm] 27.73 p. 1 19.04.19 13:25 Paeroas 27.73 km 27.73 p. Rick Hawkeswood [RickH] 26.72 p. 1 07.04.19 14:26 Kaimai 26.72 km 26.72 p. Sarah McRae [smcr]♀ 23.22 p. 1 22.06.19 15:58 Mt Oxford 6.43 km 8.04 p. 2 13.04.19 14:09 Mount Bradley 7.72 km 7.72 p. 3 06.04.19 16:36 Mt Ida 5.97 km 7.46 p. Dominique Le Sellin [Frogiwi]♀ 22.63 p. 1 19.04.19 13:34 Paeroas 17.53 km 17.53 p. 2 20.04.19 13:26 Kaimai 5.10 km 5.10 p. Rob Gillard [rob_gillard] 22.28 p. 1 20.04.19 13:07 Kaimai 17.82 km 22.28 p.

2018-2019 Season Site Best Flights (from entries) Pilot Mike Ferguson Leighton Joll Evan Lamberton Mark MacDonald Mark MacDonald Samuel Leathwick Adam Forbes Barry Sayer Nick Taber Stew Karstens Matthew Thom Graham Surrey Louis Tapper Fraser Monteith Benjamin Kellett Jan Zimmermann Nick Neynens Matthew Thom Aaron Ford Benjamin Kellett Rory Devine Nicolas Sand Nick Neynens Bryan Moore Dave Watson Mark Hardman Bryan Moore Glen Stevens Nick Neynens Nick Neynens Benjamin Kellett

Date Take Off SR 03/03/2019 ** 06/03/2019 ** 19/02/2019 11/02/2019 (Kaimai) 28/12/2018 (Hospital Hill) 11/03/2019 02/11/2018 03/02/2019 09/01/2019 (Barnicoat) 19/09/2018 02/02/2019 02/02/2019 14/11/2018 (Mt Robert) 22/09/2018 (Bealey Spur) * 23/02/2019 02/02/2019 (Cheeseman) * 07/12/2018 * 16/12/2018 15/12/2018 13/11/2018 (Mt Judah) 07/02/2019 * 15/12/2018 (Pakituhi Spur) 13/11/2018 (Shotover Saddle) 06/02/2019 (Sawyer Burn) 23/12/2018 28/12/2018 13/11/2018 23/12/2018 (Pukekowhai) 10/11/2018 (Moke Lake) 23/11/2018 (Sugarloaf Pass) 23/11/2018 *

Region Otago Otago

Dist. Pilot Date Take Off 38.2 Aaron Chesterman 16/02/2019 85.7 Glen Stevens 23/02/2019

SR *

FAI Out-and-Back Region Site/Site Group Waikato Kaimai Range Nelson Inwoods Lookout Canterbury Craigieburn Range Otago Isthmus Peak Otago Mt Alfred Otago Mt Maude Otago Pisa Range Otago Roys Peak Otago Treble Cone

Dist 57.0 50.1 64.7 95.4 127.7 85.1 33.1 68.4 85.2

Flat Triangle Region Site/Site Group Otago Hawea Eastern Ra. Otago Mt Alfred

Dist Pilot 53.4 Glen Stevens 150.5 Dave Watson

FAI Triangle Region Nelson Canterbury Otago Otago Otago Otago Otago Otago

Site/Site Group St Bathans Range Treble Cone

Site/Site Group Dist Mt Murchison 50.1 Craigieburn Range 89.8 Hawea Eastern Ra. 46.0 Mt Alfred 120.8 Mt Maude 110.1 Richardson Mountains 34.8 Roys Peak 95.3 Treble Cone 156.2

Pilot Henry Dumbleton Stew Karstens Fraser Monteith Bryan Moore Dave Watson Bryan Moore Kat West Dave Watson Louis Tapper

Date Take Off 19/02/2019 (Kaimai) 09/09/2018 02/03/2019 (Cheeseman) 25/02/2019 23/12/2018 13/11/2018 15/12/2018 (Pukekowhai) 15/12/2018 15/12/2018 Date Take Off 27/12/2018 (Grandview) 23/12/2018

Pilot Date Take Off SR Aaron Ford 03/02/2019 * Fraser Monteith 21/10/2018 (Cheeseman) ** Glen Stevens 18/10/2018 (Pakituhi Spur) Dave Watson 23/12/2018 * Bryan Moore 13/11/2018 * Nicolas Sand 23/02/2019 (Moke Spurs-Ben More) * Dave Watson 15/12/2018 Louis Tapper 15/12/2018 * Site Record ** Site and Regional Record

The web site for scoring and uploading your track logs is now XContest at: www.xcontest.org/newzealand/ranking-xc-championship/

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* ** * *

Photo: Ross Gray

Open Distance Region Site/Site Group Dist. Northland Tiwakawaka 50.2 Auckland Dills Hill 77.0 Auckland Moirs Hill 62.3 Waikato Kaimai Range 69.4 Waikato Waihi 40.8 Bay of Plenty Paeroa 34.6 Hawkes Bay Burma Road 13.1 Hawkes Bay Te Mata Peak 82.8 Nelson Barnicoat Range 35.5 Nelson Inwoods Lookout 35.6 Nelson Mt Murchison 87.8 Nelson Sherry River 27.1 Nelson St Arnaud 113.2 Canterbury Black Range 55.3 Canterbury Buscot Hill 30.2 Canterbury Craigieburn Range 97.4 Canterbury Mt Hutt 33.3 Otago Cardrona 64.9 Otago Coronet Peak 112.8 Otago Glenorchy Eastern Ra. 56.6 Otago Brewster Hut 124.4 Otago Hawea Eastern Ra 82.3 Otago Matukituki 69.9 Otago McKerrow Range 34.7 Otago Mt Alfred 66.5 Otago Mt Ida 31.5 Otago Mt Maude 45.6 Otago Pisa Range 71.4 Otago Richardson Mountains 30.0 Otago Routeburn 65.6 Otago Roys Peak 91.6

2019 New Zealand Paragliding Cross-Country Championships - April 1st 2018 to March 31st 2019

Tim Percival looks at last seasons XC flying 2018/2019 NZ PG XC Champs Final Standings (top 50 placings)

ere’s the confirmed standings and wrap up of the 2019 competition! Weather-wise, the season was a bit of a mixed bag, and I think some who thought they’d wait until after Christmas before taking their holidays for flying, found out that they had left it a bit too late for getting the best days. Eight out of the ten best scoring flights were flown before Christmas, and of those flights, six were flown on two just days in December! One pilot who was all prepared and geared up earlier in the season was this year’s XC Champion, Louis Tapper. By December 23, Louis already had the rewards of a trio of long flights that comfortably placed him at the top the table, and he was never overtaken. Well done, Louis! Louis says: “Nice to have won finally. The process of progression is still however the most fun part for me, not the trophy or winning... The new wings/online contests are making flights more accessible and visible than ever, however planning and preparation are key for those aspiring to fly big or deep in NZ”. Here are some highlights from the season: • A 150+km FAI triangle flight, NZ’s fourth longest (Louis Tapper, 156km, Treble Cone) • A 125+km out-and-back flight, NZ’s third longest (Dave Watson, 127km, Mt Alfred) • NZ’s longest FAI triangle flown outside of Otago (Fraser Monteith, 89km, Cheeseman) • Three NZ100km open distance flights • Three North Island 75km open distance flights • Twelve flights over 100km, when measured with up to three turn points • A new regional open distance record for Auckland (Leighton Joll, 77.0km, Dills Hill) • A new regional open distance record for Northland (Mike Ferguson, 50.2km, Tiwakawaka) • A new regional out-and-back record for Canterbury (Fraser Monteith, 64.7km, Cheeseman) • The long standing (Nov 2000) open distance record for Roys Peak, Otago bettered (Benjamin Kellet, 91.6km). For details of other site records flown during the season, look for asterisks in the right hand column of the Season Site Best Flights tables.

2019 NZ XC Champions and Category Winners Title/Category

Pilot

Notes

1st place and 2019 NZ XC Champion

Louis Tapper

After consistently placing in the top four of the Champs in the last five seasons, Louis this year wins the competition with flights that included the longest ‘free flight’ category (3 turn point) flight (168 km); and a superb 156 km FAI triangle flight, 30% further and higher scoring than the next best of the competition!

1st Runner Up

Dave Watson

Dave’s 120 km triangle flight on December 23 was the second highest scoring flight of the season and really puts take off Mt Alfred on the paragliding map (if it wasn’t on it already). When measured as an out-and-back, the flight ranks as NZ’s third best ever!

2nd Runner Up

Fraser Monteith

In his second season of the Champs, Fraser really demonstrated how to navigate through the mountains of the Arthurs Pass area with time to get back again - just commit and go deep and direct! And proving that you can fly big triangles away from Central Otago. Fraser’s flights broke the Canterbury Regional records for both FAI Triangle and Out-and-Back task types!

2019 Women’s XC Champion

Sanae Noguchi

Sanae’s flying included an open distance best of 44 km, and XCs in three South Island regions - Otago, Canterbury and Nelson!

Best Rookie (first-time PG2 competitor)

Nicholas Sand

Nicholas’s flights included an open distance best of 82 km, which was mountainous back country flying from Pakituhi Spur, Otago, all the way through to the edge of the MBZ (mandatory broadcast zone) of Mt Cook!

North Island Champion

Mark MacDonald

One of Mark’s flights was the season’s best open distance from Kamai (69 km). (Also notable was a great late season triangle attempt, from Kaimai again, that was so close to doubling the distance of the North Island FAI triangle record!)

Longest North Island Flight

Barry Sayer

82.8 km from Te Mata Peak, Hawkes Bay.

Longest South Island Flight

Rory Devine

124.4 km from Brewster Hut, Otago.

Well done all of the above! (Especially Louis) :) Thank you to all who submitted flights so we could see where there was good flying to be had.

For detailed flight information and relative rankings of all NZ resident pilots, see the 2019 PG XC Champs Table at XContest (XContest season name: “2018/19”). (Note that for the NZ PG XC Champs, the XContest table is an approximate table only: some ineligible coastal soaring flights may be incorrectly included). Pos Pilot Club F1 F2 F3 Total 1 Louis Tapper Southern 312.5 168.1 141.5 622.1 2 Dave Watson Southern 241.5 190.5 105.8 537.8 3 Fraser Monteith Canterbury 179.6 173.3 129.8 482.7 4 Bryan Moore Southern 220.2 146.8 113.4 480.4 5 Matthew Thom Northland 209.4 109.7 99.7 418.8 6 Glen Stevens Canterbury 159.4 107.2 92.4 359.0 7 Aaron Ford Southern 141.0 100.3 88.6 329.9 8 Rob Hughes-Games Canterbury 177.1 76.9 55.3 309.3 9 Nick Neynens Southern 135.7 87.4 82.0 305.1 10 Nick Taber Tasman 103.3 94.8 94.7 292.8 11 Benjamin Kellett Southern 114.5 88.8 88.7 292.0 12 Jan Zimmermann Canterbury 121.7 78.2 77.9 277.8 13 Nicolas Sand Southern 102.8 89.3 78.0 270.1 14 Mark Hardman Southern 112.7 89.0 64.0 265.7 15 Henry Dumbleton Waikato 91.7 88.5 77.5 257.7 16 Mark MacDonald Waikato 87.7 86.7 83.1 257.5 17 Doug Patterson Southern 88.8 83.9 78.1 250.8 18 Michal Karnik Southern 90.5 70.7 70.2 231.4 19 Jan Necas Canterbury 76.5 72.2 70.8 219.5 20 Barry Sayer Hawkes Bay 103.5 62.8 52.8 219.1 21 Stew Karstens Tasman 77.4 70.6 60.3 208.3 22 Tim Brown Southern 78.0 67.4 59.7 205.1 23 Tim Notman Canterbury 67.4 66.2 64.1 197.7 24 Eden Radonich Hawkes Bay 96.8 54.3 46.4 197.5 25 Shaun Gilbert Hawkes Bay 73.7 70.3 47.3 191.3 26 Leo Chelle Southern 77.0 59.4 54.4 190.8 27 Evan Lamberton Auckland 77.9 66.9 45.9 190.7 28 Elliot Revell-Nash Auckland 67.4 67.1 55.9 190.4 29 Aaron Chesterman Hawkes Bay 79.2 55.9 47.7 182.8 30 Ross Gallagher Bay of Plenty 64.9 63.7 53.9 182.5 31 Bruce Vickerman Waikato 74.5 60.3 47.3 182.1 32 Peter Jones Waikato 68.4 55.1 54.6 178.1 33 Claus Petry Tasman 67.7 61.6 46.9 176.2 34 Blake Round Southern 91.8 46.0 31.2 169.0 35 Vincent Willcock Canterbury 78.2 53.8 31.6 163.6 36 Jean Brossard Canterbury 67.9 49.4 45.3 162.6 37 Rory Devine Southern 155.4 0.0 0.0 155.4 38 Bradley Franks Southern 55.9 53.6 41.8 151.3 39 Simon Craddock Auckland 73.1 45.4 30.8 149.3 40 Dave Washer Bay of Plenty 55.3 49.9 43.1 148.3 41 Adam Forbes Hawkes Bay 82.8 31.9 30.2 144.9 42 Leighton Joll Auckland 96.3 45.3 0.0 141.6 43 Samuel Leathwick Waikato 62.3 43.2 35.7 141.2 44 Michal Talavasek Canterbury 59.3 42.6 34.6 136.5 45 Emlyn Revell-Nash Auckland 68.4 34.8 32.7 135.9 46 Sam Hamill Tasman 53.8 39.9 38.8 132.5 47 Sanae Noguchi (F) Southern 55.0 37.2 36.4 128.6 48 Jeff Ripley Auckland 63.0 33.0 32.4 128.4 49 Rob Gillard Waikato 56.9 38.2 32.6 127.7 50 Eva Keim (F) Auckland 66.8 41.5 15.4 123.7

North Island Table (top 20 placings) (Top scoring from North Island flights). Pos Pilot Club 1 Mark MacDonald Waikato 2 Henry Dumbleton Waikato 3 Barry Sayer Hawkes Bay 4 Eden Radonich Hawkes Bay 5 Shaun Gilbert Hawkes Bay 6 Ross Gallagher Bay of Plenty 7 Bruce Vickerman Waikato 8 Peter Jones Waikato 9 Evan Lamberton Auckland 10 Dave Washer Bay of Plenty 11 Elliot Revell-Nash Auckland 12 Adam Forbes Hawkes Bay 13 Leighton Joll Auckland 14 Aaron Chesterman Hawkes Bay 15 Jeff Ripley Auckland 16 Rhys Akers Bay of Plenty 17 Ken Beach Hawkes Bay 18 Samuel Leathwick Waikato 19 Rob Gillard Waikato 20 Emlyn Revell-Nash Auckland

F1 87.7 88.5 103.5 96.8 73.7 64.9 74.5 68.4 77.9 55.3 67.4 82.8 96.3 55.9 63.0 77.0 51.3 43.2 56.9 34.8

F2 86.7 77.5 62.8 54.3 70.3 63.7 60.3 55.1 45.9 49.9 55.9 31.9 45.3 47.5 33.0 24.6 38.7 35.7 32.6 32.7

F3 83.1 64.0 52.8 46.4 47.3 53.9 47.3 54.6 37.7 43.1 24.9 30.2 0.0 36.6 32.4 22.4 29.0 31.9 19.2 32.2

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Total 257.5 230.0 219.1 197.5 191.3 182.5 182.1 178.1 161.5 148.3 148.2 144.9 141.6 140.0 128.4 124.0 119.0 110.8 108.7 99.7

N Ne eww ZZeeaa ll aa nn dd C rC ross o s s - -CCoouunntr t r yy

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January 1st to December 31st

on’t let winter conditions put you off, if you can handle a little cold, there’s still good ridge flying to be had and some areas produce wave better in winter that can make for a good XC flight. XC Champs records show there’s been site records set in August to October so it doesn’t have to be the height of summer to get a good flight. In some areas, convergences can keep usable lift alive for much longer and residual moisture can produce great thermal clouds to signpost the way. Spring often turns on some epic days as sun heating is slower and though lapse rates are high, sea breezes don’t come in as fast to kill thermal activity. Flights done in winter/spring will get you a head start on the rest of the season. TO ENTER... It’s free and simple; fly anywhere in New Zealand before midnight on 31st December, email or post in your flight details (and tracklog if you have one) before 30 days has passed and you’re entered. Enter as many flights as you like. Your shorter flights are automatically replaced by your longer ones. Only your longest four flights are scored. For each flight entry, please supply; • Your name, email address and contact phone number. • Flight date, take-off/release place, landing place, and flight distance in kilometres and 10ths. • Tracklog file from a GPS that can be read by GPSDump, such as an IGC file. Best is a kml file optimised by GPSDump. • If you don’t have a GPS tracklog, then also supply; Start and landing witness/s name & contact details. A GPS instrument has many advantages for XC flying, but for pilots who don’t have GPS, you can still enter the NZ HG XC Champs without one, you’ll just need to provide take-off and landing witnesses. SCORING The pilot with the best total of four flights is the NZ Hang Gliding Cross Country Champion for that year and gets first choice of any prizes followed by pilots with second and third best totals. The pilot with the longest single flight gets fourth choice, then prizes go from fourth best total onwards. Flights for each years XC Champs must be flown between 1 January and 31st December and entered within 30 days. This ends one contest while pilots have good weather and starts the next the contest while everyone’s still keen. Distances are measured using GPSDump which is free software that comes in Windows, Mac and other versions and it reads GPS tracklogs from just about any instrument. It works out the best start and finish points for you. It also works out if the flight fits any other FAI criteria such as out and return, triangle etc. It enables you to export it for viewing in Google Earth in 3D. Download GPSDump at; www.gethome.no/stein.sorensen Airtribune Live tracking For those who want quicker retrieves, get the Airtribune App for your Android smartphone. Airtribune will track your flight and let your retrieve driver look you up on their smartphone to see exactly where you are. It is limited to cell coverage

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The 2019 Cross-Country Championships Table so far...

Name

John Smith

Flight 1

Flight 2

Flight 3

109.7

64.8

40.1

Flight 4 34.4

Total kms 249.0

Bill Degen 83.8 59.3 48.2 47.1 238.4 Rick Hawkeswood

111.5

25.3

20.5

157.3

Steven Blackler 80.3 35.1 34.1 149.4 Derek McKee 82.8 34.5 24.0 141.3 Tom Mulder

33.6

20.9

105.2

Brian Russell

100.4

28.7

22.0

100.4

Tom Kellner 64.0 34.3 98.4 Gavin Tweedie 64.4 21.1 85.5 Geoff Christophers

79.6

Rod Stuart 33.1 19.3 11.0 63.4 Marty Smith 15.9 14.2 13.5 43.6 Stephen Fergusson 15.2 10.5 25.7 Pete Halliwell

17.7

4.4

22.1

Andre van der Elst

7.3

4.0

11.3

Dan Campbell

7.0 ** Class 2 (rigid wing), * Skyfloater

but apparently satellite trackers like Spot work with it too. It’s easy on the phone battery but it still pays to have a backup battery as well. Note that Airtribune doesn’t calculate FAI Open Distance from the 2 furtherest points of your flight. You still need a tracklog for that as explained in the entry section. The Apple IOS version is hasn’t been updated for a few years and currently only works at Airtribune contests. Rules You must be a paid up NZHGPA member during all flights or you don’t score. Entries must be postmarked or emailed within 30 days of the flight or don’t score. This helps ensure accuracy and prevents pilots holding back flights until the end, so we all to know how everyone’s doing. Please DON’T phone, txt, or tell me in the pub, all entries must be in writing (email preferred) with all flight details (and GPS tracklog if using remote launch and/or landings), or do not score. Don’t assume that because someone else was there or you were in a competition that your flight has been entered. It is each pilots’ responsibility to declare and enter full details of their own flight entries. Measure your flights in kilometres and 10ths of km, straight line from take-off to landing. Or for often a few more kms, optimised flight distances with a Remote Start and/or Remote Finish are welcome, if you send in a valid GPS tracklog. Aerotow launched xc flights are permitted, but your release altitude must be less than 5% of the flight distance (current FAI ruling) or does not score. This prevents super high tows followed by a downwind glide from scoring against pilots thermalling for xc. The flight scores from tow release position (not tow take-off) and verification can be witnessed by the tug pilot, or confirmed with known landmark photo or GPS tracklog. Out & return, triangle or multiple turnpoint distances are not eligible at this stage, however if a enough pilots enter them, I’ll table them as well. Note: If you don’t follow the rules by providing

7.0

all relevant flight details, (including valid tracklog for remote start or finish flights) within 30 days of the flight, you DO NOT SCORE. GLIDER CLASSES Same as FAI rules. Flex wings including kingpostless gliders are Class 1. Rigid wings such as the Atos are Class 5 and Swifts are Class 2 or Class 5 without the pilot fairing. If there are enough entered we have a special class for pilots flying skyfloater gliders such as such as the Fun, Falcon, Malibu etc. 30% double surface gliders such as Buzz, Gyro, Mars, Target, Ventura etc can be flown in this class too. As long as it has exposed crossbars. Don’t forget to point it out on your entry if you have an exposed crossbar glider or rigid wing. You can enter in as many classes as you like. Skyfloater flights can be entered in a separate class and/or included in your Class 1 score, whichever you prefer. Classes can be scored separately if multiple entries are received. Meanwhile they will appear in the table above. Let me know if your flight is a site record too. ONLINE RESULTS Results are posted as they come in at www.hgpg. co.nz and linked to the NZHGPA website at www. nzhgpa.org.nz/competitions/hg-competitions/ hang-gliding-cross-country-championships. Online scoring? Not yet, but if you have a 3D GPS you can enter any of the online contests as well. If you do this, just let me know by emailing me a link to your online entry and I’ll copy the data to the NZ HG XC Champs. It should have all we need to enter your flight. SEND YOUR ENTRY TO; aero@xtra.co.nz (Please write “XC Entry” in the header and please keep your entry separate from other emails) or post entries to; NZ Hang Gliding XC Champs, Bill Degen, 99A Panorama Road, Christchurch 8081

Updates at; www.hgpg.co.nz/nz-hg-xc-champs.html

N Z H G P A BOOKROOM Hang Gliding Training Manual by Dennis Pagen. Ultimate guide to Beginner to Advanced hang gliding flying skills $80 Understanding the Sky by Dennis Pagen. Sport aviation weather and micrometeorology for hang glider, paraglider and microlight pilots. $60 PARAGLIDING, BEGINNER TO CROSS COUNTRY by Sollom Cook. From basic techniques to competition flying $60 A PILOTS TRAINING MANUAL (PG) Includes zone free, 80 minute DVD with 9 chapters including; forward inflation, reverse inflation, manoeuvres, soaring, flying thermals to landing methods. Only $65! NZ Hang Gliding Training Handbook Essential Beginner/ Novice instruction information for NZ hang gliding students learning to fly. $5 NZHGPA Hang Gliding Tow Manual All aspects of towing with clear photographs and step by step instruction $15 NZHGPA Aerotow Manual In depth detail of aerotow procedure as authorised by MAANZ and NZHGPA $15 NZHGPA Paragliding Tow Manual This manual outlines requirements and procedures for towing $15 NZHGPA Logbook With rating record $10 or $5 each for orders of 5 or more incl postage.

NZHGPA MOVIE LIBRARY FLYING OVER EVEREST, DVD, Angelo D’Arrigo and the story of his flight over Mt Everest. PLAY GRAVITY, DVD, Extreme paragliding, snowboarding, BASE jumping, freeriding and speedflying in the most awesome settings. EAST WIND, DVD, German pilots fly hybrid recliner bike/ paramotors 1632 kms across eastern Europe; Hanover to the Black Sea. DYNAMIC DECISIONS, DVD, Shows how different DHV paragliders react when flying the most dangerous manoeuvres. THE RACE, DVD, A race between climber and pilot in the Italian Dolomites. Winner of 4 world film contests. Paragliding Learn to Fly, DVD Tutorial for PG Performance Flying, DVD by Jocky Sanderson Never Ending Thermal Pura Vida Flying Security in Flight & The Speed to Fly Birdmen of Kilimanjaro The Red Bull X Alps Managing Risk in Aviation CAA Red Bull X-Alps 2005  Check the NZHGPA web site for the latest special offers In order to cover the high cost of importing HG and PG DVDs, cost of hire and postage is $10 for 10 day loans   Postage and GST is included in price.

Please send your order with payment to;

Evan Lamberton, 35A Manly Esplanade, Browns Bay, North Shore City 0630 Ph 09 478 0063, 021 407833 ceo@nzhgpa.org.nz

Hang gliding, paragliding schools and instructors that you can contact for qualified flight instruction in New Zealand NORTHLAND HANG GLIDING Skywalk Guntram Gross, Herman Ahrens Phone: 09 436 0268 or 09 432 9333, 021 072 0357 Email: skywalk@igrin.co.nz AUCKLAND HANG GLIDING Aqua Air Adventure Paddy Monro Phone: 09 528 7594, 027 288 0193 Email: aquaair@ihug.co.nz www.gethigh.co.nz

MARLBOROUGH PARAGLIDING High Adventure New Zealand Russell Read Phone: 027 448 0888 Email: russread@ihug.co.nz

Sean Oliver Phone: 027 670 8301 Email: skyriderag@gmail.com FaceBook: @Skyrider PARAGLIDING SkyWings Paragliding Alan Hills Phone: 09 570 5757, 027 498 2345 Email: alan@skywings.co.nz www.skywings.co.nz Wings & Waves Paragliding and Kitesurfing Reuben Muir and Eva Keim Phone: 09 446 0020, 027 472 7013 Email: info@wingsandwaves.co.nz www.wingsandwaves.co.nz WAIKATO HANG GLIDING Sean Oliver Phone: 027 670 8301 Email: skyriderag@gmail.com FaceBook: @Skyrider PARAGLIDING Wings & Waves Paragliding and Kitesurfing Reuben Muir and Eva Keim Phone: 09 446 0020, 027 472 7013 Email: info@wingsandwaves.co.nz www.wingsandwaves.co.nz OMAHU, THAMES/PAEROA PARAGLIDING Bruce Vickerman Phone: 07 862 4919, 027 498 9941 Email: seehigh@slingshot.co.nz HAWKES BAY PARAGLIDING Airplay Paragliding School Barry Sayer, Phone: 027 451 2886 Email: barry@airplay.co.nz www.airplay.co.nz BAY OF PLENTY PARAGLIDING Kiwi-Air Mike & Aniko Phone: 07 929 5807, 021 104 6208 http://kiwi-air.co.nz Mount Paragliding Darrell Packe Phone: 027 249 2702 Email:darrellpacke@gmail.com WELLINGTON/WAIRARAPA HANG GLIDING Wellington Hang Gliding & Paragliding Club Grant Tatham Phone: 06 379 7322, 027 636 3491 Email: tathams@xtra.co.nz

Tasman Sky Adventures Trevor Leighton Phone: 027 229 9693 Email: info@skyadventures.co.nz www.skyadventures.co.nz PARAGLIDING

Oceania Paragliding School Chris Connolly, Phone: 022 676 5599 Email; school@oceaniaparagliding. co.nz www.oceaniaparagliding.co.nz

NELSON/TASMAN HANG GLIDING Nelson Hang Gliding Adventures Glenn Meadows Phone: 03 548 9151, 027 275 1022 Email: gmeadows@clear.net.nz www.flynelson.co.nz

Nelson Paragliding Stew and Zanna Karstens Phone: 03 544 1182, 027 446 3930 Email: paragliding@xtra.co.nz www.nelsonparagliding.co.nz CHRISTCHURCH HANG GLIDING Canterbury Hang Gliding School Bill Degen Phone: 03 326 6411, 021 247 2676 Email: aero@xtra.co.nz www.hgpg.co.nz PARAGLIDING Cloudbase Paragliding Grey Hamilton Phone: 027 532 4874 Email: cbparagliding@gmail.com www.cloudbaseparagliding.co.nz ParaPro (Paragliding & Powered Paragliding) Dave Dennis Phone: 03 328 8255, 0508 548 323 Email: info@parapro.co.nz www.parapro.co.nz

WANAKA PARAGLIDING Paraventures Paragliding School Mark Hardman Phone: 0800 FLYSOLO (0800 359 765), 021 809 275 Email: info@paraventures.co.nz QUEENSTOWN PARAGLIDING Infinity Paragliding School Alan Swann & Blake Round Phone: 021 0228 2939 or 027 367 7679 Email: info@infinityparagliding.co.nz www.infinityparagliding.co.nz Extreme Air Hang Gliding & Paragliding School & Tandems Lisa Bradley Phone: 021 156 3256 or +61 45 728 7200 Email: lisa@extremeair.co.nz www.extremeair.co.nz DUNEDIN PARAGLIDING Dunedin Paragliding & Hang Gliding School Lisa Bradley Phone: 021 156 3256 Email: lisa@extremeair.co.nz www.extremeair.co.nz

i r b o r n

Photos: Neil Brown, Ross Gray

NZHGPA

BOOKROOM

Learn to Fly

■ Paid up NZHGPA members may run one advertisement per classification for free in each issue ■ Please email or post your advertisement to the editor, quoting your NZHGPA PIN number ■ Commercial operators, dealers, and non-members must enclose payment of $0.50c per word with their advertisement ■ Advertisements are deleted for next issue unless repeat request received ■ include your email address for the online issue ■ Buyers are advised that all used hang gliders and paragliders should have a NEW fitness check (WOF) when sold ■ It is dangerous to fly a glider or with equipment that is above your rated ability ■ PARAGLIDERS PHI Gliders - www.phi-air.com - the revolution continues. Hannes Papesh and Mike Kung create the latest revelations in gliders - Maestro new high B is here. Symphonia - high B performance certified EN A. Also, the EN A Sonata and light weight Viola. Tenor and Tenor light, class B gliders with better than class performance and handling. Exclusively from SkyWings - email alan@skywings.co.nz PHI SONATA 12 & lightweight version Viola are proving to be our new best miniwings - lots of sizes, unbeatable flight qualities - check our website and contact us for special introductory offers - alan@skywings.co.nz or www.skywings.co.nz MAESTRO is out - the PHI Maestro from Hannes Papesh is here and leads the high B class. Finally a perfect handling feel and C performance is available in the B class - exceeding all expectations - ask anyone who is flying one - contact SkyWings for unbeatable introductory prices - alan@ skywings.co.nz NOVA Paragliders - www.nova.eu - exclusively by SkyWings - www.skywings.co.nz - email alan@ skywings.co.nz SPEEDFLYING specialists - and dozens of great XC wings - happy to trade - all kinds of harnesses in stock as well - www.skywings.co.nz or alan@skywings.co.nz MOTOR Paragliding PARAPRO - For all your paramotor requirements: Paramotor sales, parts and training. www. parapro.co.nz PARAMOTORING - exclusive Miniplane and PAP motors - SkyWings for courses and equipment - www.skywings.co.nz or alan@skywings.co.nz BLACKBIRD Paramotor. NZ designed and made. High performance & comfort. $9850 email: paradynamics@xtra.co.nz www.paradynamics.co.nz Phone 03 325 4540. HANG GLIDERS KIWI 170 mint/new condition. manufactured mid 90’s unused. Test flown - Good Nov/Intermediate first 70% double surface lower aspect ratio glider, No VG new WOF, $2000. email - skyriderag@ gmail.com WILLS Wing Spectrum, excellent condition low hours (precursor to the Sport 2) higher aspect intermediate 70% double surface glider - no VG, test flown, WOF, $2000. email - skyriderag@ gmail.com, phone 027 670 8301 1991 Rumour 14.5m, Intermediate/advanced double surface. Airframe and sail in good condition, has Insignia cloth repairs to its leading edge mylar due to delamination. Spare upright, test flown, WOF, $1500. email - skyriderag@gmail.com, phone 027 670 8301

Keep in touch with the NZ hang gliding and paragliding scene, the latest developments, events, new and used equipment... M a g a z i n e All hang glider and paraglider pilots in NZ are required by law to be members, and receive Airborn magazine as part of their membership but non flyers and overseas pilots are welcome to subscribe. For Airborn SUBSCRIPTIONS please contact; NZHGPA Administrator, 46 Quail Rise, Stoke, Nelson 7011, New Zealand

A4 size issues $4.- each Feb/Mar/Apr May/Jun/Jul Aug/Sep/Oct Nov/Dec/Jan 2019 issue numbers 209 210 211 2018 issue numbers 205 206 207 208 2017 issue numbers 201 202 203 204 2016 issue numbers 197 198 199 200 2015 issue numbers 193 194 195 196 2014 issue numbers 189 190 191 192 2013 issue numbers 185 186 187 188 2012 issue numbers - - 183 184 2011 issue numbers 179 180 181 182 2010 issue numbers 175 176 177 178 2009 issue numbers 171 172 173 174 Feb/Mar Apr/May Jun/Jul Aug/Sep Oct/Nov Dec/Jan 2008 issue numbers 165 166 167 168 169 170 2007 issue numbers 159 - 161 162 163 164 2006 issue numbers 153 - 155 156 - 158 2005 issue numbers 147 148 149 150 151 152 2004 issue numbers 141 142 143 144 145 2003 issue numbers 135 - 137 138 139 140 2002 issue numbers 129 130 131 132 133 134 2001 issue numbers 123 124 125 126 127 128 2000 issue numbers 117 118 119 120 121 122 1999 issue numbers - - 113 - - 1998 issue numbers 105 106 107 108 109 110 1997 issue numbers 99 100 101 - 103 104 1996 issue numbers 93 94 95 96 97 98 1995 issue numbers - - - - - 1994 issue numbers 81 82 83 84 85 86 1993 issue numbers - 76 - 78 79 80 1992 issue numbers 69 70 71 72 73 74 A5 Issues below $1.- each (Prior to issue 69 all are the smaller A5 format) 1991 issue numbers 63 64 65 66 67 68 1990 issue numbers - 58 59 60 61 62 1989 issue numbers 51 52 53 - 55 56 1988 issue numbers 45 46 - - 49 50

For Back Issues; send your order with payment to; Airborn Back Issues, 99A Panorama Road, Christchurch 8081, NZ

30 A i r b o r n

THE COUNTRY CODE

We are all dependent on good relations with the farmers who own the land we fly from. Here are some guidelines to ensure that you and other pilots will be able to continue to enjoy flying there.

- Sorry issues marked with this symbol are no longer available

RX3 for sale. Carbon & Zoom frame. Very low hours sail. It’s the second sail on the frame. Light green front, dark green strip & teal back. Code zero swish sail, can be checked with Moyes. Glider is currently in Newcastle Australia, can be brought back to NZ for costs. $6,500 ono. Phone Tish 021 280 241 email tishtheflyingfish@gmail.com T2C 144 fully optioned with transparent Technora upper and lower sail, speed battens, raked tips, black uprights, faired carbon keel stinger, keel fairing etc. 1st at 2019 XC Classic. Review and pix at www.hgpg.co.nz/page/458644 Phone 021 247 2676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz AEROS Combat L12 09 with tail, (can be flown with or without) 30 or so hours in very good condition, all white undersurface with see through top surface, 2 speedbars, 1 round with wheels and 1 alloy aerofoil, 2 spare uprights, goes like a cut cat!. $4000.00 phone 021 220 8302, ashswin556@ gmail.comKIWI Flyer 170, US 6061 tubing, low hours, great condition, phone 021 247 2676 email aero@xtra.co.nz SKYFLOATERS; New and used; Fun, Falcon, fully strip checked, test flown and trimmed, trade-ins considered, contact Bill at 03 326-6411 or aero@xtra.co.nz U2 160. Dacron sail, Mylar/Hydranet LE/TE, speed battens and raked tips. 2012, great condition, has flown approx 300 hours. email - skyriderag@gmail.com, phone 027 670 8301 RESERVE PARACHUTES RANGE of reserve parachutes for hang gliding and paragliding including the tried and trusted Revolution, Second Chance and now the compact DiamondCross in optional steerable PG versions and HG versions. Bridles, Front containers, Maillons, Swivels, Hook knives etc, in stock at HG & PG Supplies, Phone 021 247 2676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz REVOLUTION parachute for sale, for up to 120kg, second hand but never deployed, just inspected and packed. Phone 021 247 2676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz INSTRUMENTS SYRIDE SYS’Nav V3, Tiny Vario/Alti/GPS that can fit on your wrist. Perfect Hike and fly instrument. Just 83gm. As new in box with cables etc. Only a couple of flights. Info at www.syride. com/en/instruments Phone 021 2472676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz AIRCOTEC XCT Dual. Great reliable GPS alti vario instrument, Limited supply at big discount. Info at http://www.aircotec.com/cms/front_content.php?idcat=37 Phone 021 2472676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz ACCESSORIES Helmets, No Limit (visor option), Insider, Loop (visor option), Breeze (adjustable) Range of colours & sizes, phone 021 247 2676 email aero@xtra.co.nz EMPLOYMENT CORONET Peak Tandems Ltd, Queenstown, are looking for tandem hang gliding and paragliding pilots. Call 021 220 5932 SKYTREK Tandems Ltd, Queenstown, are seeking tandem hang gliding and paragliding pilots to join our growing tourism business. Please call Ian on 027 4301 741 or email ian@skytrek.co.nz INSTRUCTION HANG Gliding/Skyfloating. Experienced instruction in Christchurch using the latest skyfloater hang gliders and equipment, Phone Bill 021 247 2676, 03 326 6411 a.h., email aero@xtra.co.nz and www.hgpg.co.nz

ALWAYS CHECK with local pilots before flying at new sites. ALWAYS ask permission to fly unless you are absolutely certain that the owner allows use of the site without asking. CHECK AGAIN at Springtime as most farms have pregnant and newborn stock that can easily be frightened and injured. DO NOT show displeasure or abuse an owner if permission is refused. This could hamper getting permission in the future. ALWAYS GET PERMISSION to take a vehicle onto a property. Ensure that vehicles without gliders are not taken onto the property. Put all gliders on one car rather than have a convoy crossing the property. If stock is near, drive slowly. LEAVE GATES as you find them, gates may be closed to keep stock in or open to allow stock to feed. Ensure that all pilots and drivers understand. USE STILES and gates where ever possible, if you must cross a fence, cross at a post or strainer post. AVOID hay standing or cut unless permission has been given to cross it. AVOID landing in paddocks containing crops or stock. Carefully move off crops to avoid damage. DO NOT LIGHT FIRES at any time. DO NOT SMOKE during fire risk times. DO NOT TAKE DOGS onto any farm or property. DO NOT disturb plants or machinery, move around it. LEAVE NO RUBBISH.

FLIGHT PIX

Lake Pearson (Craigieburn Range): A nice place to boat around waiting for driver to arrive, great views following the Waimak river into the alps and a chance for a swim below in the lake. This is a good spot to observe the road networks to Mt White, Avoca and a few back roads from Flock Hill to the Torlesse. Nice picnic spot to relax before heading back. - Warren Simonsen

XXXX

Everything you need • Ready to fly – no setup • Extremely responsive & accurate Vario assisted by inertial sensors • Sunlight readable LCD with Touch panel optimised for gloves • Long lasting battery with quick charger • Vector maps for the whole world pre-installed (towns, roads, rivers, lakes etc.) • Airspace files for most of the world pre-installed and updated • Software fully supports Competition and XC Pilots • Barometric and GPS altimeters • Easy and free software updates • In-flight FAI Triangle Assistant • Customizable data fields • Multiple wing profiles • Thermal Assistant • Wind Assistant • IGC tracklogs

New BLADE HG version with airspeed pitot

• Lightweight • Perfect size • Available in Full or upgradeable Basic versions • And more…

www.naviter.com/oudie-4 http://www.naviter.com/oudie-4/ aero@xtra.co.nz aero@xtra.co.nz

03 326 6411 021 247 2676

nzparagliding.com Email info@skywings.co.nz - Ph 0274 98 2345

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The new leading high B! The MAESTRO is the much awaited comeback of Hannes Papesh in the High B class.This wing exceeds the very high expectations.

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New Brand - Dream Team Hannes Papesh - world top designer Mike Kung - world top test pilot and their team are shattering everything with their new range of revolutionery gliders

Symphonia - high A Sonata- A Viola - A Tenor - B Tenor Light -B Maestro - New high B

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