Airborn #210

Issue 210; May, June, July 2019

Paragliding XC Record Cairns Winter Hang Gliding Mt Cheeseman Regional PG Comp Omarama XC Classic

7.50 Including GST

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9 771170 992006

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING

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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 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 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

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, Airsp: Jason Gluer.............021 0824 7543 Sec/Treas: Richard Evans..............021 648 783 HGSO: John Urlich: .......................03 577 8886 PGSO: Russell Read....................027 448 0888 Kris Ericksen.................................021 116 4558

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; Melanie Heather

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

Kylie Parkes enjoys a spring hike and fly at Lindis Pass, South Island

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

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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Please send advertisements, photos and articles to the editor:

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Airborn Magazine

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aero@xtra.co.nz

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...

Paragliding Cross Country Record.............................................4 Winter Hang Gliding in Cairns.....................................................8 Mt Cheeseman Regional Paragliding Meet.............................10 Omarama XC Classic.................................................................14 40th Hang Gliding Nationals......................................................18 Accident Report Reviews....................................................20, 23 Safety Checks, Executive Reports, Events........................ 24-25 Cross Country Championships...........................................26, 28 Paragliding Comp Committee write-up...................................27 Classified Advertisements.........................................................30 FRONT COVER: Launching at Mt Cheeseman. Photo; Steve Nolan

Next issue deadline: 30 June 2019 A

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Quixadá is dead! Long live Quixadá!

By James “Kiwi” Johnston.

W

hen I first went to the legendary cross-country site of Quixada, in the State of Ceara, Brazil, in the first week November of 2016, it was on something of a whim.

For although I had been hearing about the flying in Ceara from fellow pilots since the early 2000’s, I knew little about the place when I arrived other than the fact that the launch was very windy, that it was from here that the talented trio of Brazilian pilots – Frank Brown, Marcel Prieto, and Rafael Saladini – had first reclaimed the World Open Distance Paragliding

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Record from the tow rigs with their remarkable foot-launched flights of 467 km almost ten years previously (2007), and that Honorin Hamard (and his girlfriend) had broken the World Tandem Record with a flight of 408 km from there just the previous year (2015). That previous season had also seen a new Open World

Record of 513 km for Brown, Prieto, and Donizete Lemos, from Tacima, a far more fickle site further east of Quixada that the Brazilians had discovered shortly after their 2007 flight. These record breaking flights sparked a renaissance of interest in the cloud-rich cross-country potential of the fearsome Brazilian

sertão (outback) – a vast barelyinhabited area of bone-dry ranch lands and cactus-filled desert in northern Brazil that stretches from the Atlantic coast to the edge of the Amazon jungle – that resulted in the arrival of a small army (air force?) of international pilots who laid siege on Quixada for all of October and

Left; The now rare sight of another pilot in the air; Swiss pilot Gregor Sonderegger in his 15th season in Quixada.

Right; The lonely launch at Quixada.

November of 2016, with as many as 50 world-class pilots gathering on the launch some mornings.

Somewhat ignorant of the magnitude of the occasion, I had gone to Quixada on a chance opportunity to join some friends who happened to also be three of the USA’s most legendary XC pilots, (Josh Cohn, Jon Hunt, and Nick Greece), and with little personal expectation of anything other than an exotic paragliding holiday. We arrived in the middle of what turned-out-to-be the two greatest weeks in the history of XC paragliding; a period during which more than fourteen flights of over 400 km were posted by some of the world’s best XC pilots that included Burkhart Marteens (on a Skywalk B wing), Alex Robe (would go onto be the 2016/2017 World XC Contest Champion on the freshly minted Ozone Zeno), and the Brazilian pilot Leonardo Pauda, who set a new site record of 483 km (the day before we arrived) on an Ozone Enzo 2. And while Brown, Saladini, and Lemos having smashed the world record again from Tacima earlier in 2016 with flights of 564 km (!) had somewhat devalued the cross-country gold standard of 400 km, unless you were Brazilian, pretty much every pilot on launch was still seeking to break that coveted distance.

Everyone except for me that was, because when I first arrived in Quixada I honestly couldn’t conceive of flying that far. (My lack of imagination has always been an impediment to my paragliding). So instead I set myself what I thought was the more reasonable goal of 200 miles; a distance which coincided with a small, far-away city on the map our retrieve service provided called Piripuri. To my amazement, on my 3rd flight from Quixada, I flew my trusty Ozone LM6 directly to that very town, arriving on final glide at the end of the day after an eight-and-a-half hour flight, only to realise that to break 200 miles I would have to glide into the city itself... and then as I attempted to fly around it, I landed 198.5 miles (318 km) from where I had started.

Which was the longest flight of my nearly 30 year flying career, and most unexpectedly, the new New Zealand Open Distance record. I had gone to Brazil on a lark, and ended up flying further than a Kiwi had ever flown a paraglider, becoming the first New Zealander over 300 km to my great surprise.

After this flight my attitude about flying 400 km changed quite literally overnight, for as we passed back into Ceara sometime after midnight while driving back to Quixada from Piripuri, and I realised that I had actually flown clean out of the giant State, now that I had tasted the mighty conditions the Brazilian plains offered if you could just survive the early morning hours, I suddenly felt sure that with another seven days of flying left ahead of me, I too could fly over 400 km. All I needed was the right day and the right attitude and 400 kilometers (or at least a flight over 200 miles) was surely possible.

But that didn’t happen. The next time I flew from Quixada I broke my speed bar on launching and was blown over the back, fortunate not be wrapped around the large antenna behind launch in the process. The weather then took a turn for the worst, confounding the plans of some of the best XC pilots in the world as they struggled with the conditions each day, and the only pilot who broke 400 the rest of the time we were there was Nick Greece, who showed both his considerable experience in flying Texas and the vast American West and his equally impressive perseverance with a flight of 422 km. I didn’t go over 150 km again, and I left Brazil with a National Open Record not sure if I was good XC pilot, or just a lucky one.

2017 was made notable by my first 2 liner – a Ozone Zeno – and my sustained return to competition flying with a lengthy winter season in Mexico and Colombia and a 20th place finish in the US Nationals that summer. But in my quiet moments, the Brazilian sertão filled my thoughts as I revisited the incredible cloud streets of my record setting day, remembering both the tremendous hospitality of the local people, and the staggering beauty of the lunar landscape that surrounds Quixada. I was hooked on one of the most unique niches of paragliding and I knew it, so I booked tickets back to Fortaleza and a room at Pedro Dos Ventos (the legendary

pilot’s hotel with its own launch in Juratama), totally sure that with an extra week and the extra advantage of my 2-liner, this time I would break 400 km for sure.

But once again, that didn’t happen.

2017 turned out to be a totally different season to 2016 or even 2015, with only five flights over 400 km, despite similar numbers of world class pilots on launch.

I joined an American contingent that included Gavin McClurg, the USA X Alps pilot, who had come to Quixada in near desperation after tagging along to Tacima with the Brazilians and not flying for nearly two weeks (Gavin finally got a 300+ km flight from Tacima the final day), Jeff Shapiro, the legendary hang glider/climber/wing suit pilot who has become increasingly interested

in paragliding, and Nick Greece, the two time US National champion who had broken 400 km here the year before. But the star turned out to be an up-and-coming young US pilot, Tyler Bradford, who I renamed the Quixada Kid after he pulled off a 412 km flight that turned out to be the longest flight of the year from Quixada, and one of only two flights over 400 km in November (traditionally the windier month). As for me, I had a rough start and lost my nerve, became too concerned about available roads and imaginary dangers to commit to flying well in the difficult conditions, and despite being there three weeks and feeling like I was flying much better the the previous year, I never went over 100 miles, and left wondering why I had gone there at all.

Left; My mostly trusty retrieve vehicle Right; With Romairo aka 5th Gear, my main driver for three seasons now.

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Left; Small town sertão skies Right; My dinner in Piripiri on the way home, in the same restaurant I ate in after breaking the NZ Open record in 2016

As a signal of what was to come, 2017 was also marked by the increased use of another site further east of Quixada called Patu, which drew a number of pilots away from Quixada after Rafael Saladini flew 478 km from there in October, and a group of kilometer-hungry Portuguese pilots had considerable success from there, including a 471 km flight by Eduardo Lagoa, an experienced Ceara veteran. During the same period, in a true example in perseverance, a Swiss pilot Phillipe Leuenberger enjoyed two flights over 400 km from Quixada in late October after having coming there for seven years with the Swiss tour group FlyWithAndy with little success!

One of the few tour operators willing to bring qualified pilots to Quixada, and long one of its greatest advocates, it would be the same FlyWithAndy company that inadvertently drove the final nail in Quixada’s coffin in 2017, when they decided to try an experiment of tow launching still further east from an airstrip in a town called Caico. Within two weeks, and with the whole flying world watching, the reining PWC

champion Michael Siegel flew 521 km, and Chrigel Maurer went 506.

Siegel would win the 2017/2017 XC Contest title for his Brazilian flights, and with 13 flights over 500 km from various pilots in a two week period in Caico, the word was out... if you wanted to fly 500 km, you went to Brazil in Oct/Nov towing.

Meanwhile my complete failure in 2017 had now completely obsessed me with the goal of flying 400 km from Quixada, since nothing makes me more curious than a challenge. While the year before I had considered the simple things I could have done to actually break 200 miles (basically fly directly down wind at the end, instead of fixating on actually reaching Piripuri as I did – if I had done that I would have easily broken 200 miles in 2016), this time I analysed my lack of commitment and belief in my flying in Quixada in 2017 compared to Tyler Bradford’s carefree dont-look-down style.

On the day of Tyler’s 412 km flight, he had actually gotten stuck lower soaring above launch when Nick Greece and I took off separately from cloud base on the two different main

routes. (We had been in the clouds for a moment and I never saw Nick go, or I probably would have followed him). Despite being behind, Tyler did the correct thing, which was wait till he got to cloud base till he left, and in typical millennial style, he checked Nick and mines respective tracks on his cell phone as he was thermalling above launch, and after deciding that my line looked like the better one, took off after me.

Meanwhile I had been moving along reasonably well, but when faced with the decision to fly directly downwind over an area of no-mans land, or crossing the valley to try and follow a road, I took the safe option (the road) and went down in the venturi.

Tyler then came right behind me, probably never saw the road since he was looking at the sky that was developing in front of him, and then went merrily on his way for another nine-and-a-half hours, most of which I spent by the hotel pool. My failure that day was particularly galling, since I knew that I had been on the right line and had just needed to believe it, and I vowed if I ever got in that position again, I wouldn’t make the less-committed choice again.

First of November 2018 saw me back in Quixada for the third year straight, only this time with a major difference. There were only three other pilots there. With tow rigs running in Caico by the Swiss, and Assu by the Brazilians, and the Portuguese contingent now firmly ensconced in Patu, both the

hotel at Pedro Dos Ventos and the launch above Quixada were virtually deserted. Which meant while in the two previous years I had had the cream of the worlds XC pilots to open launch and follow (and especially for the first 140 km in the light thermals of the early morning) now I was going to have to do it alone, an exponential increase in difficulty that I had entirely not expected.

The first day my retrieval vehicle turned up at 6am, and then ran out of gas at the bottom of the hotel driveway. (I went back to bed). Then the following day I had a late start due to high early morning winds, and was cruising at cloud base on a strong day around the 140 km mark when I got violently airsick and threw up in my brand new full face helmet (twice) before finally calling it a day, spiraling down to a convenient town distraught and exhausted. Even with the late start it would have been an easy 300 km + day, but I had no motivation to be in the air at all, my flying robotic, and that was when I knew that nothing was going to come easy this time at all.

Then the weather turned utterly bizarre... we had no wind some days, (I relaunched at noon in no wind one day after sinking out the first round), rain, thick cloud cover, then there was too much wind to fly, with the only constant being the relentless brutal heat. (It really takes me a week to acclimatise to that). While on my first two visits I had at least had the opportunity to fly almost every day, after the first week this trip was already different, and my chances of a 400 km flight seemed to be evaporating before my eyes. In desperation I took off to the beach for a couple of days and consoled myself with steak and seafood, before returning with renewed resolve. If there was one thing I knew it was that each morning was a fresh opportunity, you just had to get in the air at Quixada to have a chance.

Left; The hotel launch at Pedro Dos Ventos, above Juratama with the main Quixada launch visible in the distance.

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Right; High under clouds

My fresh resolve was quickly tested by the intensity of the wind at 6am in the morning, which was when we were arriving on launch in hope of getting off before the day got too strong. On the morning of the 10th of November, 2018, it was blowing as hard as I could remember, and after sitting in the wind for an hour I really doubted that we would fly that day. Then some time around 7: 15am there was a short lull, and then another... I told Delione, the Brazilian launch monitor who would be calling my launch that I thought I could go, and he looked doubtful, telling me it was right on the edge.

Had I not come to Quixada the previous two years, there is no way I would have thought I could launch, but experience now told me I had a window. But I had to be quick.

The standard Quixada launch technique requires 3 Brazilian teenagers to pull out your glider on the steep somewhat carpeted launch and hold it down in the wind while you take the position. Your spotter – Delione in my case – then scans the trees below you and the small ponds out in front waiting for a suitable lull in the wind, and at 7: 52am, as a thermal blocked the wind, I got mine, pulling my glider up on Dileone’s shouted instruction while I ran as fast as I could at my glider, and then in an instant I was plucked and elevating, and thanks to the glory of modern 2 liners, flying away from the mountain and on my way.

There are two standard routes to 400 km from Quixada - one more to the south and one more to the north – and I was soon on my way along the one I preferred, the more northerly route which was both the direction of my 318 km in 2016 and Tyler Bradford’s 412 the previous year. I had a couple of lowish saves early on, and had just gotten established under a nice cloud street south of the town of Madalena, the first notable landmark at around 60 km, when my speed bar came undone at the bar without warning. Cursing to the high heavens at my own stupidity

(I had changed the speed bar lines out and apparently not retied the bar correctly) I reached around inside my pod and managed to retie the bar, only to realise that I had missed the pulley entirely, and now the speed bar line was eating my harness alive.

Continuing to curse while gliding along in the strengthening thermals, my hands deep in the pod, I retied everything again, this time through the pulley, and then soon caught a thermal which soon took me to cloud base again.

Another 60 km or so along the route I made what was probably the crucial decision of the day. The standard route required me to fly north around a chunk of small mountains and following a road over a town called Monsenhor Tabosa. However that way looked blue ahead, and the previous year my best flight had ended at Monsenhor Tabosa when I arrived there ahead of the clouds.

The only clouds visible to me now were a thin chain of hazy wisps that were appearing dead downwind of me, on a line that would bisect the center of the two known routes, and require crossing in another 100 km or so a large plateau that Delione had warned me the previous year had

no roads. Sage local advice that I now willfully ignored as I carried on downwind, looking only at the clouds ahead and above me.

Fortunately for me it developed into an outstanding day, the kind of day that makes flying in the Ceara so legendary. If I were to strive for a simile, I would say that the sky was boiling, while the steady wind that must have continued to increase as the day went on, each thermal I drifted up with adding another 20 km in distance between glides. Around 11: 30am I got as low as 400m off the ground out in middle of the the first flat plain (ironically near a town called Successo), and then around 12:15, having survived the noon pause, I drifted into a ripper that took me to 2200m over the 50 km plateau of roadless no-mans land safely at cloud base some 1100m above the ground.

During this period I heeded Donizete Lemos advice and just flew full-bar under the clouds for the next three hours. As I reached the second large area of flatlands after the plateau, I realized that I would certainly break 200 miles, and that at the rate I was moving, I actually had a good shot at 400 km, despite starting at almost 8am.

The handful of really long flights I have ever achieved have been marked by the fascinating fact that the longer I flew the easier it became.

Time now passed as if I was under the influence of some time-bending psychedelic drug, the kilometers

ticking by as I flew on towards the setting sun, the immense green and blue horizon punctuated by the rising columns of smoke from the fires below as I moved deep into what the legendary Sun Valley, Idaho, pilot Matt (Farmer) Beechinor calls ‘the Alien World’, feeling like I could keep flying forever.

I was well past my previous best at 3pm, which is when I should have had the last good climb of the day and gone on a 50 km magic end-ofthe-day glide, as happened on my 2016 flight and is the norm of virtually every 400+ km flight, but instead the bottom fell out from under me, and I suddenly found myself 250 meters off the ground and forced to consider my landing options.

Which was when I first realised how huge the trees were below me, the ranches and roads like a spider web amongst the vast swathes of forest, and then I had a low save with the help of a bunch of birds which took me back up to 1700m, where I lost it and carried on.

This was probably a mistake in retrospect, I should have searched upwind and taken that last decent thermal of the day the full way to over 2000m or more, but by now I was dealing with another issue... my pee-tube had come off somewhere along the way, and after eight hours

Left; The white clouds of Ceara, and it’s even whiter colonial churches Right; With the legendary Antonio ‘Almaieda’, the proprietor and creator of Pedro Dos Ventos, the most unique Free flying hotel in the world.

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Foreign Correspondent;

Winter Break September 2018

Above; Smoke rises from the ‘Alien World’ I just needed the right day. ‘All you of flying I was getting desperate need is the right day’. It sounds like for a piss. a cliche, but it really is true in Brazil.

I tried standing up in my harness How good was my day? This would to pee, but couldn’t pull it off and be the best flight of the year from only succeeded in putting my foot Quixada, which would be something through the bottom of my light weight to brag about if not for the fact that Woody Valley pod. Then as 400 km everyone else was off towing. But got closer and closer, I told myself consider the fact that I had a pretty to just go ahead and pee myself, I staggering average speed of 43.91 could always wash my pants and km/h, flying alone the entire day on harness later, and I don’t know why, my trusty Ozone Zeno, and that I but I just couldn’t do it, and the need struggled for the last hour-and-ato urinate began to nag inside my half, which traditionally is the easiest head. Ignoring the call of nature, part of the day. just before 4pm I had another good Two days earlier, Aaron Durogati low save from around 200m agl, and Primo Sousza, two great pilots which I took back to 1100m (850 flying and landing together after agl), and then as I came to a ranch 11 hours on Gin Boomerang 11’s, that seemed to be at the end of the road, and from the my altitude all I could see ahead as I glided straight towards the low sun was a canopy of tremendous trees with no visible LZ’s at all. As I had heard other pilots describe and yet couldn’t really imagine, I had come to the very edge of the Amazon, just 15 km short of 400 km, and that was apparently as far as I could go. (The two main routes north and south Above; The trees at 385kms (240 miles) of the route I took have more deforested areas towards the flew 504 km from tow in Caico, 400 km mark, but ultimately everyone with an average speed of 46 km/h. runs into the jungle. The long glides The following day was the last day directly into the sun, through the of the six-week tow season for smoke of the forest fires and often FlyWithAndy, since the Brazilian with a lack of apparent LZs ahead, military had exercises beginning in is rather harrowing!) the area. I’ve been told that as Andy At the end of my glide I came down packed up the tow rig equipment within 20 meters of the main ranch at the airfield on the 10th – the day house, swooping around a pair of that I was the only one in the air magnificent trees in the center of their from Quixada – he remarked that yard, and landing into the dying wind this was the World Record breaking within a short distance of the wide day that they had been waiting for. shady porch to the astonishment of Having experienced the sky that day, the kids playing there.

I certainly would concur.

Packing up my glider at the 385 Which is why this year I’m going to km mark, after nearly nine hours of have to go try Caico, and go straight flying, I did not feel disappointed for the 500. But for sure, I will have a that I had not made 400 km, but few days in Quixada as well, to spend elated that I had managed to fly some evenings in Pedro Dos Ventos, so far, to the edge of the Amazon and to add some high-wind foot jungle. I had broken 200 miles, set a launching to the mix, for old times new New Zealand Open record, and sakes. Quixada might be dead, but while being the first Kiwi over 400 km it’s still there, and just as much an would have to wait till another day, I adventure as ever before. Do you now knew that I could definitly do it. hear her calling?

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treat away from the NZ cold. Why?... there’s bugger-all flying in Christchurch in the winter, my 60th birthday was coming up, and I’ve been flying continuously since 1981... Well that sounded good enough to treat myself a trip away from the cold.

I chose Cairns since it was close to the equator for warmth, and right then it had 26 degree T-shirt weather before the summer cyclones toasted the area. It ticked all the boxes of relaxing on a warm sandy beach under the shade of palm trees and more importantly the chance of some altitude training, flying on the coast or inland.

I was already up to speed on the Australian wildlife trying to bite & kill you, but this far up north Queensland, it’s the crocodiles that make things a little more interesting.

I thought it would be pretty Dundee cool, soaring above these bad boys on the beach, until I found out that croc’s have been eating a few people each year and they have been seen close on the beach landing area.

The locals said, currently the crocs were still sleeping up the river gullies, but I also know these nasty handbags, tend to watch your daily routine, before taking a snack.

The coastal winds were too light to soar Trinity Bay, so while the tourists went to the Great Barrier Reef, I teamed up with the local pilots, to take me to their inland site behind Gordinvale, called Gillies. This was a good one. The landing area is huge and has a sealed windy highway to

Below; Take-off at Gillies

the top of the ranges through thick gum forest, so I couldn’t see much until we got to the cultivated highland plateaus.

Take off is a nicely groomed scenic lookout, typically covered with gum trees everywhere, (the only good thing about gum trees is they make a wicked fire in winter).

It was so nice to see a good number of keen pilots taking their gliders off cars, the music of battens and sail cloth soon filled the area as pilots rigged and chatted about the morning light air conditions. The local pilots gave me the site debrief.

“You can’t see the landing area, it’s a few kms, that way, and it’s all trees everywhere”... “well... that’s a sure incentive to get up”.

The first pilot led the way above the launch, and we had a play in some cool wispys before going over the back, towards Lake Tinaroo. The dark blue lake covers a huge area with many bushy coves towards the hills, This was very scenic to fly over. A few of us managed the crossing and joined gaggles of birds of many types circling above the flat cultivated fields. A pleasing sign to see, when getting low after a long glide. Above all the birds, was the top gun, a Wedgetail Eagle, which I felt

k

By Warren Simonsen Above; Over the Wind Generator Farm Upper Right; With Kevin near Kairi Right; Croc warning at Ellis relieved not to be a sparring target.

Just reaching the Dividing Range, most pilots had separated and I was enjoying exploring the new countryside... this is just what the gliders are made for. After 2 hours, the retrieve chatter on the radio faded off a bit, so I lingered above a wind generator farm past Atherton, until

another pilot got within glide range.

During the retrieve back to the coast, the crew debriefed their days events, filling in gaps of where everyone got to during the day. It was a good day out with a great bunch of pilots.

A nice spot to enjoy, away from a NZ winter.

Below; Kevin & Warren topping up before Lake Tinaroo

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Mt Cheeseman Regional 1st - 3rd March, 2019

By Tim Brown Photos by Steve Nolan

F

or some time last summer the PCC had been aware that members of the Canterbury Paragliding Club had expressed a d e s i re t o h o s t a paragliding competition at the Craigieburns but nothing had eventuated, then, after a meeting at the Nationals in Nelson in early February, the Canterbury team came good on their enthusiasm to host.

A date for the 1st-3rd March was quickly settled upon and the organisation got started. Michael Talavasek, Jean Brossard and Richard “El Patron” Castro got their heads together and, with assistance from the PCC, the organisation came together. The entire Forest Lodge at the base of Mt Cheeseman was booked for the weekend. It is able to accommodate over 30 people and permission was given for guys to camp/caravan nearby for a fee at a fantastic location at the end of Texas Flat where the road begins to climb steeply to the ski resort at 1530m.

As the weekend approached, as always in New Zealand, pilots diligently watched the weather forecast. It was shaping up to be a cracker with a large high pressure system centering over the South

Island which made for light winds and good lapse rates.

Pilots started to arrive on the evening of the 28th February, some at wee-small hours of the night and by morning, and the first briefing, even though the dates clashed with an Auckland competition’s reserve days that same weekend and no North Island pilots attended, over 50 pilots had registered. Some ‘older generation pilots’ appeared to come out from the woodwork like Stew Karstens and Ross Johnstone. It indicated the special nature of the classic flying conditions that are to be had at the Craigieburns. A competition hadn’t been conducted there since 2011.

The morning of the 1st was cold.

After a morning welcome and brief pilots moved in convoy up to launch

Below; The carpark provides lots of room to set up and launch, Below right; Task setting at Launch HQ

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Above; Climbing out over Mt Cheeseman skifield on the carpark at the Mt Cheeseman Ski Resort. Permission had been given for the top gate to remain open throughout the day.

The first task was briefed: a 67 km task south along the ridge towards Porter Heights, north again and across a rather intimidating valley crossing to the west, back towards the east then returning to land at Forest Lodge. Louis Tapper, the reigning New Zealand champion, had elected to fly a tandem in this competition with Kylie Parkes as his pillion.

Conditions were dynamic in the light prevailing south-westerly and valley convergences made for some active flying and strong thermals. On the glide across to the east a small lateral difference in track made for a make-or-break as far as lift was

concerned: some pilots decked it, others had an easy traverse.

Although a sea breeze did develop it was easily handled and in fact the later pilots had an easier time of maintaining altitude in that breeze.

The last of the pilots made goal three minutes before end of task time and a full two and a half hours after the leaders! Eighteen pilots made goal.

To m a s M a t e j , a re l a t i v e l y inexperienced xc pilot had crashed at an unknown location towards the end of the day and word was that he was somewhat injured. (A subsequent review of his GPS track showed that he was well of course line in a region of potential lee conditions).

The incident highlighted the need for proper pre-flight preparation with consideration for the use of satellite trackers and offline mapping

Paragliding Revisited

phone apps, when flying in remote New Zealand regions. Perhaps they will become compulsory at future competition events!

Though quite late in the day, an emergency rescue was coordinated, but the helicopter pilots were unable to locate him. The following morning he walked out to one of the local homesteads and was delivered to the Forest Lodge where he awaited an ambulance for transfer to a hospital for checking. It turns out he had three damaged vertebrae!

An investigation is ongoing. We wish Matej a speedy recovery.

It was a hectic vibrant evening in the Lodge with a helicopter rescue in progress and almost 40 pilots preparing dinner and the scoring to be done on limited power and internet!

Task 2, at 53km, was a little shorter in spite of an epic looking day, but the treat was to fly east at the end of the day on a long effortless glide to Springfield from the Torlesse Range.

Again it was pretty active over the main range above Cheeseman but the traverse to the Torlesse and beyond was a dream!

The leaders, Richard Castro on an Enzo3 and Andreas Contreras on a Zeno completed the flight in just under one and a half hours.

Thirty two of the forty four pilots that flew that day made goal and supped a welcome drink at the Springfield pub.

On Sunday another fair day prevailed and, though it was the last day, a longer more challenging Task 3 was set that forced the pilots to take a line out into the valley before returning to the main ridge, getting high and setting out towards the Torlesse, back to over near Broken Hill and landing near the Lodge again. Once again, in spite of a light prevailing wind, the conditions were strong and the flying pretty active. A clearance for higher airspace over the Torlesse had been approved to facilitate the long traverse back to Broken Hill and goal.

However, about an hour into

Above; Plenty of room to find thermals. Castle hill and the Torlessse Range in background the flight word was received of an accident on the main range. The pilot was identified, their location marked and a helicopter rescue called. The task was stopped at 2:40pm and all pilots landed without further incident. Richard Castro had impacted the ridge high on Mt Izard. He was conscious but fairly significantly injured. Daniel Rizo did a great job in being able to top land and assist. Richard was evacuated to the hospital in Christchurch where, at the time of writing, he is still in recovery.

We wish Richard all the best and for

a steady and sound recovery.

Despite the incidents, a great competition was to be had with three challenging and high scoring tasks.

It was fun flying with lots of lessons to be had! Venuzuela triumphed as Richard Castro won the competition with Andreas Contreras as a close second.

A big thanks to the Canterbury Club and especially Michal, Jean and Richard for pulling together another Craigieburn classic.

We’ll look forward to another epic next year!

Right; launching from the skifield carpark

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OZO

ONE

The new EN B rated Z6 contains several performance breakthroughs in the intermediate category, while taking passive safety to the highest level yet in the Buzz series. With a reďŹ ned SharkNose leading edge, optimised line plan for 20% drag reduction, a new blend of materials to improve durability and reduce weight, the Z6 is the most advanced Buzz to date.

Pilot: Mauricio Orozco Photo: Cody Tuttle

Omarama XC Classic 2019

D

ue to an uninspiring forecast; high pressure, lowish temperatures and the overlapped last days of the Nationals, only three pilots were on Magic Mountain for the first day of the XC Classic.

We’d done some road works on the way up and just myself and Marty Smith flew, Gavin Tweedie taking first turn as designated driver. Having a pilot as driver means you get a great driver who knows their way around and speaks your lingo on the radio.

It works well when you get plenty of flying days and the scoring system allows days off.

Wind was cycling 10-15 knots on the South East launch but it was only 23 degrees with freezing level over 4000m so we wern’t optimistic, leaving launch till 5pm. Fortunately the resident thermal was working which got us to 9000ft. Convergence was setting up over Snowy Top and it was a quick trip there followed by an easy cross onto the Ohaus where the entire ridge was working for the easiest ridge run I’ve ever had.

It was 9000ft again at Ohau ski field and no sink (or lift) past Shingle Hill

Above; Over Cloud Hill, looking at Mt Eric. Mt Cook is above on the horizon then Ram Hill, which was soarable in a south west flow that allowed some distance north up the Hopkins Valley where I could see 4WDs on the way and at Monument Hut. With that area in the lee, it was onto the sunny west side of the Naumann Range, where it was just soarable enough to get to the top. Coming high cloud and lack of lift meant Mt Cook wasn’t likely so it was then back to land on the roadside airstrip in front of Shingle Hill for 46km distance. Marty had meanwhile left the east ridge of Snowy Top heading East but got sea breezed over the Quailburn Road.

Next day Nor’west was forecast and wind appeared soarable at the top on arrival. After rigging, high cloud slowed the wind and cycles down to light. When the sun came out Gav launched his U2 into a cycle but was soon out of sight,

presumed landed, but a long while later appeared climbing above the lower launch. He disappeared and popped up again, but eventually landed after a long and valiant effort.

I launched when wind and cycles picked up, climbed to 8500ft and headed northeast. Cloud Hill had no workable lift till out over Quailburn Road where it was back to 6500’ followed by a grovel on the Buscot ridge. With a light easterly just coming in, it was up to 7000’ and onto the Benmores but with no great height there and high cloud coming, it was off to Twizel where the light easterly kicked off a thermal from a hay paddock to 6000’ which allowed a glide to Pukaki of 47kms. It was a lot of work but it was smooth, light thermals all the way.

Monday was too strong for flying and Tara Hills had a serious fire being

fought with choppers using monsoon buckets. Fortunately there were green fields just downwind which stopped the fire quickly spreading.

Tuesday was also too strong but pilots were arriving for the forecast light winds next day. People who phoned asking about the conditions were surprised we had done well in the stable conditions that had been forecast. We were too, it hadn’t even been hot.

On Wedneday the easterly launch at Magic had a 10-15 knot wind and about 10 or so pilots flew this day. This launch is becoming more popular, it’s usually soarable when conditions at the NW and SW launches are light and switchy. It’s like a coastal site and dust devils are rare. Gavin was first off and made some passes above launch before heading down ridge and

Below; On Shingle Hill(left), with Ram hill and Naumann Range coming up, and view from the Naumann back up Lake Ohau Top flights entered

Pilot 1 2 3 3 flight total Bill Degen 83.8 48.2 47.1 179.1 Steven Blackler 80.3 35.1 34.1 149.4 Derek McKee 82.8 34.5 24.0 141.3 Gavin Tweedie 64.4 21.1 0.0 85.5 Marty Smith 15.9 14.2 13.5 43.6 Rod Stuart 19.3 11.0 - 30.3 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 - - 7.0

14 A i r b o r n

thermalling up. Marty showed how to get really high over launch, then headed upwind toward Snowy Top, soon followed by myself and Steve Blackler who stayed working a thermal on a spur.

We were working the last corner when Steve passed high over us.

Light thermals eventually led up to the convergence on Snowy Top and north along the Ohaus while Marty went East towards Omarama. It was southerly in the Hopkins and I eventually landed at Monument Hut while Steve got to Ohau Lodge then went back to Magic.

Using the Spot Satellite Messenger, I’d sent regular position reports but the Spot failed to send my landing position messages.

I was prepared for a night out, with sandfly spray, food and warm clothes, plus I’d chopped wood and prepared the fire as darkness came, but it was a relief to hear Gav on the radio from Ram Hill. Based on my earlier Spot positions he’d worked out where I’d headed. The road from Monument Hut turned out to be quite a mission with rutted out tracks and washed out riverbeds to cross.

Somehow the car gps was still set to Omarama and had recorded every twist and turn of the track getting there, so it was possible to navigate back in the dark. Me 48kms, Steve 35kms and Pete Halliwell 17kms.

On Thursday a low thermal day with Northerly was forcast at the gliding briefing but it was blowing both NorWest and East at Magic.

Sailplanes were low on Magic and Snowy Top but we opted for the NW launch and were vacuumed straight to base at 7000ft in the only strong punchy thermals of the week. Gavin made Omarama with 21.1kms, Marty not quite there and I went to Killermont then got stuck at the Lindis and wound up just below Magic.

Meanwhile launching from Buscot; Derek McKee got 34.5 and Steve Blackler 34.1kms. They got to the Omarama Saddle but couldn’t get the height to continue South so landed in the Mackenzie.

On the Friday, everyone was up at Magic’s lower launch but it was gusting 30 knots NorWest already.

Usually it just gets stronger so only 5 rigged and just 4 were able to launch.

Derek and Steve were off and quickly away to Mt St Cuthbert. Gav and I didn’t get great height and in fact the lift dropped right off. I hung around in weakening cycles for an hour, twice going to Snowy Top looking for a good climb before finally leaving Magic with 7000ft.

Once out of the sink behind Magic It was up around 8000ft on Mt St Cuthbert then off down the Waitaki with a 10-15knot NW tailwind and the

Above; Steve Blackler over the east launch of magic.

Omarama in background Photo Ned Pitt Knowles seabreeze staying light and low. The Waitaki venturi can be pretty gnarly but it’s a nice route when winds are light and it’s not flown enough I feel.

Gav got 65km, then Steve, Derek and myself landed within a few kms of each other around 80kms before Duntroon. A great day with good distances, easy landings and quick pickups.

Saturday’s forecast was strong NW maybe dropping, so Derek was up early but failed to find lift after leaving Magic. Then his next flight from Buscot was too turbulent.

We went up but Sunday had 40mph gusts on Buscot and with NW clouds building in the mountains, we thought better of it. So that was it for the 2019 XC Classic.

Steve loaded Friday’s Waitaki flights to Ayvri so we could compare them. We took different routes and got to almost the same place.It was interesting that both Gavin and Steve separately picked up a nice leeside thermal behind Magic in almost exactly the same place. Steve and I took routes mostly well south of the highway going down the Waitaki, but Gavin and Derek were close to the highway. They seemed to get longer higher climbs there than we did without having to worry about getting out. It showed you don’t

really need to go too deep in the right conditions.

It’s a great flight down the Waitaki when it’s not too windy and once past the hydro dams and powerlines there are unlimited flat grassy paddocks past Kurow. Check out the flights at https://ayvri.com/ scene/7ykx0pr7k9/cjs25dj4t00043 g6axehg2m3a#fullscreen My vote for the driver award would be to either Gavin who successfully retreived me from the Hopkins Valley or to Marty, who was rigged at launch on the 80km Friday but couldn’t take off as everyone had left. He packed his glider and chased us down the Waitaki, staying in radio contact.

The weather this year was mostly not as hot with more stable conditions, but less turbulent and fine flights were possible for those who got lucky or put the work in. Six days out of the nine possible were flown and watching the weather in the weeks before and after, I think we got the best week. I didn’t hear of any broken gliders or injuries and nobody spent the night out. For those who rang asking about the conditions and didn’t come, well you probably should have.

I t ’s s p e c t a c u l a r f l y i n g t h e Mackenzie. Perhaps we’ll see you next year.

Right; rigging on Buscot Photo; Geoff Blackler Below; Choppers work at putting out the Tara Hills fire. understandablely the farmer didnt want us flying there while it was still so dry.

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40th NZ Hang Gliding Nationals

- Mount Murchison 2018

(Part 2)

Above; Looking for sink! Booty heading home through some spectacular thunder heads.

Photo; Dennis Thorpe

Below; Mark the best score keeper and Rod who flew in the 1st and 40th nationals receiving thank you gifts. Photo Chris Hogan The photos from the 2018 Hang Gliding Nationals shown here were accidentally ommitted from the selection shown in the last issue. Apologies to our contributers.

A report on the 2019 event has been promised for the next issue - Ed

Above; 4th place - Evan from Canada with Victoria shooting him. Photo Chris Hogan Below; The Tutaki bombers - Rod, Booty, Peter and Don. Photo; Rod Stuart

Right; Maya - prize for best female pilot.

Photo Chris Hogan

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By Matt Barlow

Above; Morning Briefing at Riverside Camp, Murchison.

Note the beautiful swimming hole in the background.

Photo Chris Hogan

Above; Organiser Matt explaining the 94km task three.

Photo Chris Hogan

Right; Steve blasting off with 4 GoPros recording his flight!

Photo Chris Hogan

Below; Mementos made by Rod were given to all Pilots and Drivers. Photo Chris Hogan Bottom; Prizes - Adrial 1st sports class, Ollie 3rd, John 1st, Matt 2nd, the late Muzza who presented the prizes and our favourite director Kevin who made the beautiful wooden trophies. Photo Chris Hogan

Below right; 2nd place - Matt flying in for a perfect landing at goal.

Photo Chris Hogan

Below; Mementos made by Rod were given to all pilots and drivers.

Photo Chris Hogan

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19

Safety Advisory Group A A s part of its tasks, the members of the Safety Advisory Group review accident reports throughout the year and try to detect trends and come up with advice on how we all can prevent and learn from our mistakes.

Reading through the accident reports shows that, as usual, almost all accidents are caused by pilot error. Pilot error either because the pilot underestimates weather or wind conditions or overestimates his or her own abilities.

This then leads to accidents because there is simply a lack of knowledge or experience how to deal with situations that may occur during flight. The only way to resolve this is to improve knowledge about paragliding techniques in general and, maybe even more important, be a fair judge of your own abilities.

We all know nothing much can hurt you in the sky. It’s the ground that can hurt, either at or just after take-off or during landing. The accident reports reflect this as most accidents happened at those moments.

The Safety Advisory Group would like to present some general advice for all pilots to take on board. The advice below probably sounds like common sense or completely logical to most, but if it doesn’t it means you need to review your technical knowledge and maybe adjust your own view of your skill level.

Let’s start at the beginning:

Take-off Before taking off, make sure you have a plan in your head. Review the weather conditions, ask more experienced local pilots about the conditions, don’t underestimate wind strength and don’t overestimate your own skill level. Remember: It’s better to wish you would’ve flown that day than wishing you had not.

Simple as that.

Front-stall What to do when you have a front-stall? Instead of just giving advice, let’s try to reason about this situation and come to a conclusion on what to do.

So, what happens when you get a front-stall? Let’s take a step back and describe the situation just before the front-stall. In this normal flying situation, your wing and you both have an airspeed of ~35 km/h. When the glider front-stalls, or front-tucks, the leading edge of the wing comes down and folds under, usually after an uncontrolled dive (but not always). Now imagine what happens to your glider speed. All of a sudden, this massive big area of wing folding down and under is momentarily right in the airflow, acting as a massive brake. Your wing-speed very quickly reduces to 0 km/h.

In this situation, do you think pulling brakes would help?

The wing is already very close or past the stall speed, so reducing its speed further would very quickly result in a full stall of the wing. Due to the kinetic energy of the mass of your body, you will still go forward at 35 km/h for a while, further deteriorating the situation. You are now in front of your wing with your wing on an angle behind you at very slow speed.

So, just by thinking about it and understanding what happens in this situation, you will now know what to do when you experience a front-stall; hands up! Let the wing fly, let it dive to regain speed! Remember, a wing needs speed to fly, so the dive is necessary to regain speed. In almost all cases I’ve seen when instructing SIV and Acro courses, getting another front-tuck because of the dive

20 A i r b o r n

after the previous front-tuck is very rare, so it’s better to not brake (control) the dive after a front-tuck to prevent getting into a cascade of problems (brake the dive too hard, stall again, etc.). When you are in trouble and you go from one problem to another because of wrong or delayed input, just put your hands up for 2 seconds. If you get a front stall, it usually means all your troubles are over and normal flight resumes.

Cravat The same method of reasoning can be used to come to a conclusion as to what the best course of action is when you experience a cravat. A cravat is the situation where part of the glider tip fabric is in between the suspension lines. The difference between a “normal” asymmetric collapse and a cravat is that the wing folds under in an asymmetric collapse and does not cause a lot of drag.

With a cravat, the wing gets stuck in the lines and just like with the frontal collapse you then have a big area of wing right in the airflow, causing massive drag.

The most common technique taught to resolve a cravat is “keep course, pull or wiggle the stabilo line on the cravatted side to get the cravat out”. This technique will work for very small cravats but will become very difficult with a larger cravat. First of all, keeping course with a big cravat is difficult and can very quickly lead to spinning the non-cravatted side of the wing or stalling the entire wing. Second, fiddling with your stabilo line takes too long. The longer it takes, the bigger the chance you get into a violent nose-down spiral dive caused by the massive drag of the cravat.

To get to a better solution, we first need to understand why a cravat doesn’t come out easy and what it needs to come out easier. The main reason why a cravat doesn’t want to come out is because the airflow pushes the fabric against the lines. So, if we could reduce, stop or even reverse the airflow a bit, it would come out much easier, right?

So, to stop or reverse the airflow we could stall the wing completely, but a full stall is considered scary by many pilots (and rightly so because it often leads to a cascade of problems). It really is a last resort “reset all” manoeuvre and is a bit overkill for a simple cravat.

We still have one side of the wing that is perfectly fine, so instead of full stalling or even trying to keep course and potentially stall (spin) the good side of our wing, let’s focus on the bad side.

The way to stop or slightly reverse the cravatted side of the wing, we can spin that side of the wing. Brake it so hard that the cravatted side of the wing goes negative.

You only need to do this for a second, no longer, and it is almost guaranteed the cravat will come out. But (there’s always a but), you need to be quick and make sure you brake it deep enough for it to go negative!

See a cravat; don’t think twice; take a wrap if needed and IMMEDIATELY spin the cravatted side. The longer you wait, the bigger the chance you get into a violent nose-down spiral caused by the cravat. If that happens; reserve, reserve, reserve!

Of course, the above technique is only possible if you are not flying too close to terrain. At all times during your flight you should be fully aware of your height and distance to terrain so that you can act quickly at any

By Michel Verhagen on behalf of the Safety Advisory Group Michel is a paragliding instructor with expertise in acro, towing and powered paragliding. He has been instructing for 15 years, in both Europe and New Zealand.

The Safety Advisory Group recommends all pilots invest in an SIV to practice safety manoeuvres.

Accident Report Review March 2019 time. If you are too close to terrain for a quick negative spin then you could try to set course away from terrain so you have enough clearance to execute the above described technique. If you are close to ground with landing options and you can keep course with the cravat in, then it’s probably best to try to land with the cravat.

In all other cases; reserve, reserve, reserve!

Wingovers Wingovers are by far the most underestimated manoeuvre in paragliding. They are without a doubt the most difficult to completely master because they require you to completely understand the dynamics of your wing.

Doing wingovers (higher than 45 degrees) wrong can very quickly lead to a cascade of very bad situations. Turn too early and the high side of your wing will collapse. Turn too late and you will run out of energy, causing the lower tip to fold in between your lines (cravat) and, because of the momentum of your body at that moment, the wing will immediately and violently enter a nose-down spiral dive giving you very little time to react.

Mastering big wingovers without supervision and instruction from a good instructor is very difficult and potentially very dangerous. Don’t underestimate wingovers!

Landing Speed to land What is the right position of your hands on final? Again, here we can reason to come to an answer. You should know that a paraglider (or any type of airplane) can transfer speed into height, and to gain speed you will have to lose some height. You can check this yourself; when flying hands up (at full speed), pull the brakes and the glider will momentarily climb (gain height) and lose speed in the process. Now fly slow and release the brakes in one go; the glider will dive (lose height) and speed up.

So, what happens if I come in to land deep in the brakes, flying slow? As I’m getting close to the ground, I have very little speed to transfer to height and smooth out my glide ratio, resulting in a high vertical component and thus a hard landing.

If I come in to land at full speed, I have all this speed to transfer slowly into height, thereby reducing my vertical speed (and because I’m braking also my horizontal speed), resulting in a super smooth and professional looking soft landing.

The most beautiful landing is one where you come in with a lot of speed, skim over the ground for a couple of meters and use the last bit of remaining speed to flare and have a stand-up landing.

Flare Just remember: Once flared, remain flared! This holds true even if you flared a little bit too high. Again, we can use reasoning to understand why we say this. Imagine you are coming in to land, nice speed, all is good but you flare too early and too hard at 1.5 meters above the ground. Due to speed being transferred into height, you all of a sudden find yourself at 3 meters above ground with very little or no speed at all. Now what happens when you release the brakes? The glider will regain speed and therefore dive, but 3 meters is not enough room for that dive resulting in you crashing into the ground, face forward with lots of speed. Not good!

The alternative is much better; stay flared. Yes, it will

be a hard landing, you may even break an ankle or leg, but it is better than the high impact crash if you release the brakes after flaring without sufficient height for the resulting dive.

Butterfly landing Also called “flapping”. Another much underestimated manoeuvre. Butterfly landing requires you to know exactly where the stall point of your wing is, and be able to recognize when your wing is about to stall without fail. Add to that wind-gradient (either reversed gradient when top landing or normal gradient when landing in the valley), and you have the perfect recipe for an accident to happen.

SIV The Safety Advisory Group would like to stress that following an SIV course regularly is recommended for all pilots of all skill levels, preferably once a year but definitely every time you purchase a new wing.

There are many different companies offering SIV courses so it can be a bit daunting task to find the right one. Here are some pointers to look for: • What is the experience level of the instructor?

• What is the experience level of the launch master?

The launch master should have final say whether or not to launch. Doing an SIV is very exciting and sometimes even stressful for some pilots, so not having to think too much about whether or not conditions are right to launch or fly at all is a big bonus for most.

• Height above water when you will start your manoeuvres?

• Dedicated fast boat in the water with 2 people on board?

One to drive the boat and one to pull you out.

• Self-inflatable (on contact with water) life vests available?

Doing an SIV with a bulky non-self-inflatable life vest is dangerous; it gets in the way during launch and landing and can break your jaw and/or neck if you hit the water hard. If you have to choose between no life-vest (but with a dedicated fast boat) or a bulky non-self-inflatable life vest, choose the former. The boat should be fast enough to prevent you from drowning.

• What are the manoeuvres and techniques taught?

It should include: - When, how and where to throw your reserve - Full check of gear, including practice reserve pull - Spiral dives (including proper recovery) - Front stall recovery (off bar and on bar, self-induced and through dolphins) - Asymmetric collapse recovery (left and right, off bar and on bar) - Finding stall point - Back-fly / steady-state - Spins (left and right; 90 degrees, 180 degrees, 360 degrees) - Wing-overs - Full stall • S t a b i l i t y o f t h e w e a t h e r a t t h e l o c a t i o n ?

In other words; chances you will get good weather during your SIV course?

• Number of days training? Number of flights?

The Safety Advisory Group hopes the above will help prevent at least one accident next year.

To all; stay safe and have fun!

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21

Executive Repor ts

Selected Accident and Incident Summaries from 1 January 2019 to 31 March 2019 T

hese summaries are a selection taken from members reports supplied via the NZHGPA reporting system AIRS. More detail on these and other reports can be found at www. nzhgpa.org.nz/safety The information collected by AIRS is used only for safety purposes and is not used to apportion blame or responsibility. Please continue to report accidents and incidents for the benefit of all pilots. An incident is anything where luck is all that saved it from being an accident.

Date Region Type

Aircraft

22/12/2018 Taranaki Near miss or Minor incident Paraglider PG2 Pilot flying along a 200 foot high coastal ridge in smooth 11 knot winds, flew into rotor turbulence, attempting to round a promontory while only 10 feet above the cliff top. Glider’s left wing collapsed and the pilot used excessive right brake to counter steer. This initiated a full stall that the pilot maintained to avoid contacting the vertical cliff face. Descent rate was very slow, allowing a safe landing on a sloping plateau 80 feet above beach.

I was flying above and behind the pilot, so after witnessing the incident landed above the pilot and called 111. The Fire Service safely retrieved him from the accident scene, using expert climbers and ropes.”

23/12/2018 Southern Minor Injury accident Hang glider Landing. Low, slow turn on landing approach resulting in left wing tip contacting the ground.

Pilot swung through A frame resulting in a broken upper right arm from contact with the right down tube.

Injuries: Serious, Upper limbs. Glider damage: Significant (glider requires repair before flying), bent down tube 24/12/2018 Southern Minor Injury accident Paraglider Cross country, Landing. On landing I did not flare, aiming to get over a hump, however I misjudged my height and did not clear the hump, resulting in me landing at full speed which made me lose my footing. I put an arm out to catch my fall and broke my wrist.

Injuires: Moderate (Doctor visit or ACC claim) Upper limbs 25/12/2018 Southern Near miss or Minor incident SIV training: Reserve thrown due to twisted glider during stall.

Injuries: Nil.

Paraglider

03/01/2019 Northland Serious Accident Paraglider Heavy Landing onto rocks. Due to light conditions, pilot had to land on rocky beach below launch, misjudged the landing and landed heavy . Glider ended up in water Injuries: Serious (Hospital admission, major fracture, internal organ damage) Lower limbs.

4/01/2019 Canterbury Minor Injury accident Paraglider Visiting German pilot arrived at Taylor’s Mistake take-off with suspected broken wrist. He had been flying below and in front of take-off in strong conditions. We packed away wing, while another person drove the accident victim to hospital. Estimated wind on take-off 26-35 km/h with strong lift and moderate turbulence. Other pilots soared to Scarborough Cliffs and landed at Sumner Beach (LZ3) rather than fly in the gut, top land or land in the gut (LZ2) due to venturi in gut and possible rotor. This pilot appears to have failed to familiarise with the site and chose to fly in strong conditions that may have exceeded his skills.

Injuries: Moderate (Doctor visit or ACC claim) Upper limbs.

08/01/2019 Southern Serious Accident Paraglider Visiting USA pilot launching at Treble Cone, glider suffered large collapse and pilot impacted ground suffering spinal injuries.

Conditions reported: Wind speed light, variable, direction NW, thermals, turbulent.

Injuries: Serious (Hospital admission, major fracture, internal organ damage) Lower spine, T12 burst fracture, no surgery.

16/1/2019 Southern Accident with damage Paraglider On approach to landing, glider suffered big frontal collapse on cross wind leg prior to landing, low to ground, I was not able to recover control. Wing stalled and I fell 5m onto asphalt, straight onto my airbag. Airbag was amazingly effective, with my only injuries being to my arms where i instinctively put my hands down to catch my fall (broken left arm and right wrist). Site: Skyline Queenstown.

Wind: Variable, Calm conditions at take-off and landing, but W wind coming in, visible on lake.

Gusts from incoming west wind arrived just as I was approaching landing.

21/01/2019 Canterbury Serious Accident Paraglider Pilot under Instruction. Student pilot had done around 45 flights and was practicing soaring, top landings, and reverse launches. He drifted into the front of the launch area , contemplated to top land but decided not to. He tried to clear the hill but his foot hit a rock which was probably not that obvious being partially hidden among some tussocks.

Injuries: Serious, Lower limbs, fracture to the ankle.

Wind: North east, Steady.

2/02/2019 Marlborough Injury Accident Paraglider Take off run. When I started to inflate my wing, a strong wind blow me up when I was still in reverse position. When I was pulling the brakes to stop it, my arm hit the hill and I broke my wrist, then I’ve been dragged by my wing for few meters. Finally I’ve been able to stand up and go to the hospital.

Injuries: Moderate. Upper limbs, Broken wrist.

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07/02/2019 Tasman Near miss or Minor incident Paraglider Competition flight at Mt Murchison. At the time: I had just started to turn in a thermal to the left and had another pilot brush over the top left of my wing which made a pop sound as the wing reinflated.

After reviewing the flight logs: The other pilot had started to circle before I flew under them. I entered the same thermal underneath the pilot and as I turned the pilot above tightened their turn. This was when they touched the wing. Neither of us had seen each other. If I had paid closer attention to what they were doing before I entered the thermal I would have seen them climbing. With that information I should have waited to enter the thermal because where I entered was too close to the same height.

07/02/2019 Tasman Serious Accident Paraglider Competition. After losing height in a transition glide I decided to return to the previous thermal. Strong sink was encountered trying to cross a ridge and I sank into the trees. While initially holding onto a branch in the canopy trying to secure to the tree with the reserve I fell approximately 20 meters to the ground. Reserve opened during the fall. Cell phone service was available to call emergency services.

Injuries: Serious, Lower limbs, Broken Tibia and Fibula on impact.

Wind: North east. Moderate gusts, Thermals, Some ridge lift.

Further comments from another pilot/instructor (edited): 1. This was a reasonably experienced pilot of over 90 hours, and international experience. The final crash site was on gently sloping ground on the 700m contour. This was only 50-100 ft below the crest of the ridge, on the wrong side to glide out to farmland. But it should have been possible to cross the ridge, attain the correct (eastern) side for the glide out over steep terrain to farmland, until a couple of minutes before landing. Speed bar was not employed. Further, the track shows no evidence of attempting to fly east until the final seconds before landing.

2. Pilots need to be conscious of their locality and their height at all times to factor in the point where they must decide to glide to safe landing. This is complex, as both are always changing. But even more critical is the current rate of descent, which will rapidly change this computation, and must also be factored into their calculations. This is not easily done in the heat of competition- this pilot admitted to being very focussed on the task, and attaining the next turnpoint. The fact remains the main ridge offered more than adequate height to glide to landing, even in sink, had the pilot chosen to do so.

12/02/2019 Southern Near miss or Minor incident Miniwing Paraglider Launch. Either a cascade has caught or a knot was in the C & B lines on launch. I have flown away from take off and realised the problem. Right side of wing was vert deformed and my glide ratio was about 2-1. I had no option but to make an emergency crash landing in shallow trees I was able to pick the glider out.

20/02/2019 Southern Injury accident Paraglider Approach to landing. An eye witness said the pilot was coming in on approach deep on the brakes, potentially the glider pre stalled or was close to it when he released the brakes. It pitched forward and he dove into the ground.

Injuries: Serious (Hospital admission) Lower spine, Not sure of injuries he was taken from the accident site by Ambulance.

23/02/2019 Canterbury Injury accident Speed wing After a good strong wind soaring session and successful landing, I lost my balance as I was bringing the wing down, accidentally pulled one brake hard to keep balance and got taken for a small ride as the wing spun around.

Injuries: Moderate, Upper limbs. Fracture of radial head in right arm.

23/02/2019 Southern Serious Accident Paraglider Climbing out of valley shortly after take-off in strong thermal. Experienced major frontal collapse, negative spin, wing recovered but caught rock ledge with trailing edge. Heavy impact backward, left hanging in harness on rock face with wing fully inflated overhead, hooked on by trailing edge. Able to get footing on ledge, release risers, remove harness. Phoned 111. Rescued on long line by local SAR. Flown to hospital in rescue helicopter.

Injuries: Serious. Upper limbs, Lower limbs, Chest, L Pneumothorax, L 11th Rib Fracture, L Femur, Greater Trochanter Fracture and Skin Lacerations.

Glider damage: Significant (glider requires repair before flying). Fabric torn, lines cut.

2/03/2019 Auckland Near miss or Minor incident Paraglider Approach to landing. I lost height suddenly on approach to top landing and got caught between a concrete building and a tree. Thought I could save it and tried to land on the path but got an extra inch of lift just at the edge which took me down the slope, and the wing onto the tree.

Minor graze to shin, wing damaged whilst recovering from tree.

Injuries: Nil Glider damage: Significant (glider requires repair before flying). 30 cm tear along seam on bottom.

2/03/2019 Canterbury Serious Accident Paraglider Competition. “I was crossing from the Craigieburn Range towards the Torlesse Range via Broken Hill. I reached the Torlesse Range at 3/4 of the way up to the ridge top. I found a thermal to climb up along the ridge, which was leading to the Torlesse ridge top. I was 15 meters above one of these side ridges when I lost my thermal and I accidently flew into some descending air, which led to my glider pitching forward. I caught this, saving myself from frontal collapse, then I sank into the ridge with a crash landing onto steep rocks. After that I contacted the competition organiser, but my phone was extremely damaged from the impact and I lost reception.”

Executive Repor ts Injuries: Serious. Lower limbs, middle spine (7,8,9 vertebrates).

Glider damage: Significant (glider requires repair before flying). Ripped lines, hole in the glider.

3/03/2019 Canterbury Serious Accident Paraglider Approach to landing, “Coming into land from a paragliding flight at Little RIver, I experienced some turbulence. As I got closer to the ground approx 4-5 metres I had a major assymetric collapse which spun me around & dropped me to the ground on my back with some force. I immediately felt lower back pain.”

Injuries: Serious. Lower spine. “After visiting the After Hours Clinic & getting an xray, I was sent to Christchurch Hospital with a fractured T12 vertabrae. After CT scan & MRI I was fitted with a back support brace & released on 05 Mar 2019” 5/03/2019 Overseas Injury accident Paraglider Landing. After completing siv training flight, I made an approach to spot land and was flapping to come down when my wing shot forward, I over braked dive and stalled the wing falling from approx 3m. landed heavily and dislocated shoulder.

Injuires: Moderate: Upper limbs. Dislocated shoulder.

11/03/2019 Southern Minor Injury accident Paraglider Landing. I took off from Gondola south west take-off. Had a nice flight briefly soaring the hill of take off, then made way over town. Come into approach as normal, headed down Robins Road, then right turn onto crosswind leg over the edge of the rugby field. Had slightly too much height so did a figure eight. Got to correct height and turned onto final approach where I unexpectedly hit sink and fell approx 5 meters landing on my butt on the rugby field. Club member suggested I may have been on brakes too much also. Someone watching called ambo as I tried to get up and fell down and had lower back pain and numbness in leg. Got xrays and scans etc and all clear. Just deep bruising and pain thankfully. Very thankful for harness with back protector.

Injuries: Moderate (Doctor visit or ACC claim) Lower spine. Bruising.

12/03/2019 Hawkes bay Minor Injury accident Paraglider Launch: “Risers twisted and locked during launch, induced turn, downwind landing on ridge.”

Injuries: Serious, Lower limbs, major fracture.

Further comment from another pilot: After seeing video of the incident shortly after the accident and speaking with the pilot in hospital it would appear he has had a failed launch which resulted in being dragged at speed into a fixed farm gate.

Conditions at the time of launch were in the pilot’s opinion and from what I’d observed prior to the failed launch within the pilots ability. The video shows no issues with the initial phase of the launch, however it was noted by the pilot and seen in the video that too much brake input was applied after the pilot had turned into wind after the reverse launch. The pilot has then been lightly lifted into the air a small distance before touching down again which caused the left side of the paraglider to lose line tension. The wing has then dipped significantly on the opposite side and caused the pilot to be dragged at speed across the launch. The pilot has ended up contacting a farm gate at speed and been swung under the wing before coming to rest a short distance down the back of launch, a few witnesses where quickly on the scene soon after.

18/3/2019 Southern Near miss or Minor incident Paraglider Aerobatic manoeuvre: Flying on a familiar site, Coronet Peak, weather conditions were light winds, bright sunny autumn day. Intention was to practice wingovers, got into position flying along, performed some wingovers follow by spiral dive, spiral had more momentum than previous attempts and unable to recover the glider and landed on a tree. Climbed down the tree assisted by another pilot. Wing was recovered undamaged. Went to hospital for a check up, released with no injuries identify further physio needed for calf muscle.

Injuries: Minor.

Glider damage: Nil.

Software update for 6020/6030 Compeo+ Competino+ and IQ Motor+ We just released a new version of the software for the Flytec 6020, 6030, Brauniger Compeo/Competino and Brauniger IQ Motor+. This version fixes a bug in the GPS date rollover handling, and stops the newest OSX system files added to the SD card from showing up.

The software is available on our website: 6020 and 6030/Competino+ and Compeo+; www.volirium.com/en/ volirium/support/software-maintenance-for-flytec-6020-and-6030/ Brauniger IQ Motor+; www.volirium.com/en/volirium/support/braunigermotor-varios/ It will also soon be published on the official Flytec page.

If you enjoy the fact that we are keeping your vario alive, consider donating us a cup of coffee. www.volirium.com/en/product/donation-for-flytec-6020-6030and-brauniger-iq-competino-compeo-software-maintenance/ Happy Flying!

- Joerg, Volirium AG

NZ Competition Organiser’s Responsibilities It is the Comp Organiser’s responsibility to; 1. Obtain a list of current members from the NZHGPA 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’.

How to report an accident or incident…and why First, Why?

For as long as people have been taking to the skies, aviators have been studying aircraft accidents to find out what went wrong and prevent it happening again. Reporting accidents and incidents starts the process of preventing them, benefiting not only people who fly but the general public. In the interest of public safety some reporting is mandatory but we can learn so much more from voluntary reports that we encourage this. No report will ever be turned down.

What to report?

Basically you must report 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.

You have to do it as soon as practical. That’s not the same as when it’s convenient, it means as soon as you can. 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.

The NZHGPA also wants reports for accidents that aren’t so serious but caused injuries requiring medical treatment and possible ACC claims. The biggest benefit comes from the reporting of the smaller incidents and near misses, the sort that can happen to anyone. How small? Well, if good luck is all that saved you from an accident then it’s probably worth telling us about it.

These reports are the ones that other pilots relate to, that instructors and safety officers can use to see trends and that we can all learn from.

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 .

The report first of all asks for information about the people involved. That’s you as the person reporting, the pilot (if it’s not you) and any tandem passengers, other pilots or a student. Then it asks for details of the incident such as when and where it happened, what was going on at the time and what happened. 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. It’s important for us to know 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. The last two sections ask questions about the glider, the site and the conditions. Finally there is a place for you to add further comments and a “Submit” button. Once you submit your report you will get an email back confirming it has been received and a link that lets you go back and make changes.

A PDF copy of the report is generated by the system and sent to the NZHGPA CEO, the local club safety officer and the club president. One of these people might get in touch with you for more details or if there is anything we need to clarify or that needs to be followed up such as a safety warning or site notice. 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

FAI joins with ITA to support its ‘Fly Clean’ programme The World Air Sports Federation (FAI) has signed an anti-doping service agreement with the International Testing Agency (ITA), a non-for-profit foundation which provides independent expert anti-doping services. Within this agreement, the FAI will retain under its scope the global management of its anti-doping plan and the management of TUEs (Therapeutic Use Exemptions), while the ITA will be responsible for the in-competition testing at FAI air sports events and the out-of-competition procedures.

The Fly Clean Campaign Taking substances in the hope of improving performance, also know as doping, is contrary to the FAI’s principles of fair play, and potentially damaging to athletes’ health, safety and even results.

FAI therefore condemns the use of substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Anti-Doping: Testing Anti-Doping procedures incorporate two core testing methods: In-Competition and Out-ofCompetition Tests. The purpose of the testing is to identify those who cheat by trying to illegally improve their performance. Cheating is generally a greater concern in sports where muscle strength and endurance is a major factor to success. However, the analysis of samples conducted by the accredited laboratories is an all-or-nothing process, designed to detect all substances on the WADA Prohibited List* regardless of the sport that the individual athlete practices. *FAI uses the WADA Prohibited List valid at the moment of testing.

There is information for competitors and for event organisers on the website. Competitors that use recreational drugs can put themselves and others at risk and will be disqualified if drugs are found in tests. Athletes can be tested at or outside of the competition.

Athletes who are on prescribed medication are responsible to check if their medication is on the prohibited list and must get a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) if necessary.

Further information on the FAI’s anti-doping policy and procedures: www.fai.org/anti-doping

A

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23

Want a better mag?

Airborn magazine needs your articles and photos. We’d like to

Safety Checks Charly Quick-Out Carabiner Release button Check April 1, 2019 When setting up production of the Quick-Out release buttons in January 2015, about 20 release buttons of one side were produced incorrectly.

Some of these release buttons were accidentally mounted and at least one such faulty Quick-Out carabiner was put into circulation.

The error eliminates one of the 4 security levels: To open the faulty carabiner, it is sufficient to press only the correct release button instead of pressing both release buttons simultaneously.

At the final inspection, every single Quick-Out carabiner undergoes a load test of 2,000 DaN. However, the error was not noticeable, since the stress test is also passed with only one release button intact.

If the Quick-Out is operated in accordance with the current version of our operating instructions, which are available for download on our homepage, the error will be noticed immediately. There it is described that the insert of the Quick-Out must click into place by strongly pressing it down (without pressing the release buttons simultaneously).

A faulty release button (or incorrect assembly) prevents the insert clicking into place.

We urge all Quick-Out users to check the carabiners before the next use. We have introduced additional testing procedures for the final inspection of the Quick-Out carabiners to reliably prevent such errors in the future.

Link to download the operating instructions: finsterwalder-charly. de/en/downloads.html

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.

SUPAIR Acro Base harness

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

the following points to check are as follows: Conduct a main carabiner release test during a hang-test. Hang the harness in a hang-test device. Adjust the device’s bridles length for a 10cm space between the bottom of the harness and the ground.

Pull the Base’s reserve parachute handle. You will find an adapted extraction force for an automatic release of the maillons, and for the system to function properly. By falling only 10 cm to the ground, the Base’s Mousse-Bag foam protector makes it possible to conduct a low elevation test without the reserve parachute pocket opening on impact, but only releasing the carabiners instead.

Soften the main bridle at the carabiner connections to the paraglider risers. Omitting that step, will lead to the stiffening of the release system’s bridle and potentially prevent the glider from being jettisoned if needed.

The Acro Base handle cable must be cleaned with a clean dry cloth and lubricated with silicone, but NEVER with oil or any other greasy product. It would be detrimental to your safety and dangerous.

Check all cables for any asperities (on the entire length, including the extremities). An asperity could lead to an improper functioning of the release mechanism and elevate your safety risk factor. Check the flat loop (see illustration) which must not have any defect or fraying as it could lead to a sudden unwanted and unilateral jettisoning of the paragliding wing.

Conduct a dorsal opening sequence by pulling the pod bridle (red bridle).

Close the Base reserve parachute pocket, and the 3 ring system to its default setting. Detailed information can be found in this manual, pages 12 to 14.

The inspection must be done immediately.

- SUPAIR, 34, rue Adrastee, 74 650 Chavanod, France Tel: +33 (0)450 457 529, e-mail: info@supair.com

The picture on the right shows a Quick-Out carabiner with a faulty mounted release button: - Finsterwalder GmbH Pagodenburgstr.8 D-81247 Munich Phone: +49 89 8116528 Mail: office@finsterwalder-charly.de www.finsterwalder-charly.de

SUPAIR Acro Base harness parachute release system and Base handle Handle solidity Check 12/12/2018 Problem description; Incident while pulling the Base parachute handle.

Concerned products: Acro Base harness All Acro Base harnesses. Mandatory monthly maintenance Handles BS ind A1 et A2

Lateral adjustment straps tear 12/12/2018 Concerned products: Acro Base harness Indice A1 a B4 Problem description; Caution, the side backrest adjustment strap (higher one) may be damaged in the adjustment buckle.

Facts: The upper lateral backrest tilt adjustment strap might start to tear during use. This tear can lead to a complete rupture of the strap.

This specific strap does not affect the harness’ structure but might impact the support of the pilot, making the harness uncomfortable especially if the second adjustment strap is not set properly.

This can also lead to a lack of position awareness and support of the pilot and might have consequences on certain phases of flight.

Procedure to follow:

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.

24 A i r b o r n

Facts: A pilot could not pull the Base parachute handle using one hand. Then, a two-hand pull tore the handle.

The second parachute was released without any problem by the pilot and no injury occurred.

Procedure to follow 1. Conduct monthly tests of the BASE system.

See user’s manual 2. Change the parachute handle Contact Supair at sav@supair.com to replace the Base BS ind. A2 handle with the BS ind. B1 handle. Mention your harness’ serial number 3. Destroy the old BS ind. A2 handle Page 30 of the user manual; It is imperative to check the release system at least once a month:

The inspection must be done immediately.

- SUPAIR, 34, rue Adrastee, 74 650 Chavanod, France Tel: +33 (0)450 457 529, e-mail: info@supair.com

Neo Body Speedriding Harness

This safety notice applies to the Body speedriding harness only.

It does not apply to the Body Picture 1.0 or 2.0.

A series of occurrences or incorrect handling can in very exceptional cases trigger an unintentional opening of one of the two leg straps of the Body harness.

Continued next page

Executive Repor ts Duncan’s Column

H

ere we are at the end of the summer flying season. The thermals are not as strong or going as high as they were, but what a lovely summer it has been.

Hopefully it hasn’t finished and there are some nice autumn flights awaiting you all.

Rather than a column from me telling you all about what needs doing or is a problem, I thought it might be a good thing to talk about my flying – because it is our love of flying that is the glue that brings us together.

I don’t know about how life works for many of you, but over the past few years life and business have somehow conspired to get in the way of my flying.

Then frequently on top of that, when I managed to get away the weather was not overly cooperative.

This year has been different with Trish and I taking a year off from our jobs to travel, explore and refresh so I have had a great flying season.

There have been different parts to our journey and over the summer, flying has been a large part of it. We have met some great people – the NZHGPA has some amazingly skilled pilots and a whole lot of really good people who have been a real pleasure to meet and spend time with.

Trish and I were privileged to go to the Hang Gliding Nationals in Murchison.

I hadn’t really had a lot to do with the hang gliding crew and my eyes were opened. It was a week of seeing some really skilled pilots taking amazing lines deep over bush and I was an official wind dummy. Trish was a retrieve driver and I managed some good flights – even made goal one day – a bit like monopoly – go straight to jail (goal) – do not pass go - so I flew off the top of Mt Murchison and landed at the Lake Station airstrip, not worrying about any of the way points! Louis Tapper also flew that day, tagged all the way points and completed the hang gliding task on his paraglider which opened a few eyes. It was nice to see the interaction between our top hangies and paragliders as they talked over many of the areas that our disciplines have in common with meteorology,

EVENTS New Route for the X-Alps 2019

racing lines, thermalling techniques, the psychology of competitive flight, competition funding and flying strategy all being well discussed.

I must say that the hangies know how to run a competition. Having everyone staying in the same camp worked really well. There was something spiritual going on with the influence they seemed to have with the weatherman - ensuring great flying. There was amazing food – e.g. some of them were out hunting in the evenings, others had been diving and so there was plenty of venison and crayfish to go with the various forms of liquid refreshments that were consumed. It was an excellent time and I am thinking I will be back – sorry guys – I will try to keep out of your way in the thermals!

This year it was back to paragliding school. I have had a long term goal to get my tandem licence so with my lack of flying it was time to get current again.

I had my launch and landing techniques put under close inspection and there were some important adjustments made. It is interesting how time and a lack of currency can degrade our skills and we don’t even realise it. I was flying off Cardrona, which is a lovely site and after something like 50 flights there, some serious devotion exhibited by Trish doing transport, courage by Louis, Aaron and others in being willing passengers and a lot of patience exhibited by my instructor I am now good to go! That raises another set of challenges; staying current, maintaining good technique and continuing to learn so the bar is continuing to be raised.

Here we are at the end of the season and there is is still plenty to be done.

Exec usually has telephone meetings but you can only get so much done that way, so we are gathering together in Christchurch for a weekend to work on a number of important issues.

I also have dreams and plans I am hatching about my flying goals for next season – but more about that another time.

All the best, stay safe and I’ll see you in the air.

Cheers, Duncan

Safety Checks

Continued from page 24

This phenomenon appears to be linked to the ageing of the harness and softening of fabrics.

Unintentional opening of the buckle cannot happen under tension when it is properly fastened.

Nonetheless as a result of improper or inadvertent handling, the buckle can flip around into an insecure position.

To this day no accident has occurred as a result of this issue. However, in order to ensure appropriate user safety, NEO invites owners of a Body harness with a serial number included in the following list to return their Body harness for modification: Between B3004 and B3008, C3009 and C3191, C3234 and C3235, D3192 and D3233, E3236 and E3264, G3266 and G3268.

These harnesses were produced between 2015 and 2019.

It is requested that affected harnesses are sent to NEO (ZA des Vernays, 74210 Doussard, France) or owners can contact their local dealer.

A modification eliminating associated risks will be made within a short period of time.

- Team NEO

T

he new route has been revealed for the 2019 Red Bull X-Alps, which will be the most challenging in the event’s 16-year history. Racing a straight-line distance of 1,138km from Salzburg to Monaco, 32 world class athletes from 20 countries including 2 women and 30 men will hike and fly via 13 turnpoints in 6 different countries - including Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France and last but not least Monaco. This will make the world’s toughest adventure race even more challenging and unpredictable than ever.

As if that wasn’t enough, the new turnpoints in western Italy and the south of France will lead the participants to race along Europe’s largest mountain range and traverse it five times between the northern and southern as well as western and eastern fringes. Race director Christoph Weber says it’s going to be tough, “The race is earlier than the years before – that could mean a lot more snow in the high alpine, which could definitely slow the athletes down.

If the weather isn’t good for flying, it could be a very long and exhausting race to Monaco!”

The historic Mozartplatz in Salzburg, Austria will mark the start of the ninth edition of Red Bull X-Alps. Competitors will battle it out to Peille where the clock will finally stop. There they only have to make the 2km victory flight over Monaco to the warm, blue waters of the Mediterranean.

They will touch down on a landing float to celebrate the accomplishment and relief of completing the world’s toughest adventure race.

In the Red Bull X-Alps, the athletes travel only by foot and paraglider – their every move tracked and played out to an audience of millions via Live Tracking. The competition field consists of 16 veterans, 15 rookies and one defending champion who will be looking to add a sixth consecutive victory to his resume.

Prior to the main event, the one-day Prologue Race will see the top three finishers earn an additional Night Pass; allowing them to continue onwards once through the mandatory rest period. This year’s route brings the racers into both familiar and new terrain – but you can count on every single day showing us rocky ascents, dizzying flights and crucial, strategic decisions – a challenge for body and mind. With a more demanding route than ever before, Red Bull X-Alps 2019 will be full of drama, adventure, and high-alpine action. The winner will need to be smart, strong, a master of both planning and reactivity – and have a little bit of luck. Red Bull X-Alps 2019 is the world’s toughest adventure race – and it’s starting soon.

Important Dates Prologue in Wagrain - Kleinarl: June 13, 2019 Race Start in Salzburg: June 16, 2019 Representing NZ; NZL1; Nick Neynens, veteran 2 races and NZL2; Kinga Masztalerz, rookie.

2019 Moyes Guyuan China flying season

A

n open invitation to all pilots, to come fly with us over the high country of Inner Mongolia from Guyuan, China.

Schedule: • Arrive Guyuan 6th June. Guyuan is situated 4 hours drive NW of Beijing.

• Practice flying Friday 7th and Saturday 8th June 2019 • Welcome night Friday 7th June 2019 • 1st Competition day Sunday 9th June 2019 • 7th (Last) Competition day Saturday 15th June 2019 • Presentation night Saturday 15th June 2019 • 16th to 22th Fly the other mountain or visit other city What you need: • Hang Glider & Harness (well maintained!)

• GPS or GPS/vario • Tow release and bridle • Recently repacked parachute • Helmet • Aerotow Rating

Cost: • Entry Fee which includes Entry Fee,Welcome dinner, Presentation dinner, Trophies and Wozaifei T-shirt.

• ¥1000 (US$150, AU$200) • Aerotow Fee ¥3000, (US$440 AU$600) tow fee which includes unlimited tow fees, club and site fees for 9 days • Retrieve: one person ¥150 one day (US$20, AU$30) • Pick up from Beijing airport to Guyuan ¥200 one person (US$30, AU$40) • Glider rent, Gecko: ¥500 for one day (US$75, AU$100) • Accommodation: Container house ¥180 (US$26, AU$36) one day, wooden house ¥380 (US$56, AU$78) one day.

Come join us and fly this amazing part of the world!

Please email Vicki at moyes@moyes.com. au to register your interest.

A

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25

N Ne eww ZZeeaallaa nn dd C rC ro os ss s - -CCoouunntt rr yy

ing PP aa rr aagglli idding CC hh aa mmpip ioons n sh hips ips

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

April 1st 2018 to March 31st 2019. Top scores as shown on XContest Pilot, flight date/time

Site

Distance

Points

Total

Pilot, flight date/time

Site

Distance

Points

Total

Jan Necas [Pompidy] 219.46 p.

1 01.03.19 12:14 Mt Cheeseman 50.99 km 76.49 p.

2 13.02.19 11:53 Mt Cheeseman 72.21 km 72.21 p.

3 03.02.19 12:49 Mt Murchison 70.76 km 70.76 p.

Barry Sayer [boomer] 219.06 p.

1 03.02.19 11:00 Te Mata Peak 82.78 km 103.48 p.

2 26.02.19 12:45 Te Mata Peak 50.23 km 62.78 p.

3 10.02.19 11:15 Te Mata Peak 42.24 km 52.80 p.

Stew Karstens [nelpara] 208.28 p.

1 09.09.18 12:13 Inwoods 51.59 km 77.39 p.

2 03.03.19 12:54 Mt Cheeseman 35.30 km 70.60 p.

3 19.09.18 12:25 Inwoods 60.29 km 60.29 p.

Shaun Gilbert [q2qxc] 207.87 p.

1 22.10.18 13:53 Te Mata 58.96 km 73.70 p.

2 03.02.19 15:05 Te Mata 56.20 km 70.25 p.

3 17.03.19 12:10 ?

63.92 km 63.92 p.

Tim Brown [timbrown] 205.15 p.

1 01.03.19 12:19 Mt Cheeseman 51.99 km 77.99 p.

2 03.02.19 12:56 Mt Murchison 67.44 km 67.44 p.

3 27.12.18 14:18 Grandview 59.72 km 59.72 p.

Tim Notman [TNotman] 197.76 p.

1 22.09.18 12:33 Bealey Spur 67.40 km 67.40 p.

2 07.10.18 11:30 Mt Cheeseman 66.23 km 66.23 p.

3 21.10.18 11:26 Mt Cheeseman 64.13 km 64.13 p.

Eden Radonich [Kinda1] 197.53 p.

1 10.02.19 10:18 Te Mata Peak 77.45 km 96.81 p.

2 03.02.19 11:07 Te Mata Peak 43.47 km 54.34 p.

3 09.03.19 13:35 Te Mata 37.10 km 46.38 p.

Leo Chelle [Leochelle] 190.78 p.

1 01.03.19 12:16 Mt Cheeseman 51.30 km 76.95 p.

2 23.02.19 12:52 Coronet Peak 59.44 km 59.44 p.

3 02.03.19 12:23 Mt Cheeseman 54.39 km 54.39 p.

Evan Lamberton [firefly] 190.68 p.

1 19.02.19 14:08 Moirs Hill 62.29 km 77.86 p.

2 03.02.19 12:56 Mt Murchison 66.89 km 66.89 p.

3 27.02.19 12:14 Moirs Hill 36.74 km 45.93 p.

Elliot Revell-Nash [slowtypinguy] 190.42 p.

1 06.03.19 13:17 Kaimai 53.88 km 67.35 p.

2 03.02.19 13:11 Mt Murchison 67.14 km 67.14 p.

3 08.10.18 12:05 Moirs Hill 44.74 km 55.93 p.

Aaron Chesterman [azzasurfs] 189.26 p.

1 03.02.19 13:12 Mt Murchison 52.81 km 79.22 p.

2 18.03.19 13:14 Te Mata Peak 44.72 km 55.90 p.

3 30.12.18 11:49 Karioitahi 36.09 km 54.14 p.

Ross Gallagher [Redwings] 182.43 p.

1 03.03.19 13:16 Kaimai 51.94 km 64.93 p.

2 16.12.18 12:40 Kaimai 63.65 km 63.65 p.

3 17.11.18 12:04 Kaimai 35.90 km 53.85 p.

Bruce Vickerman [Bruce.V] 181.98 p.

1 16.03.19 13:59 Kaimai 59.56 km 74.45 p.

2 06.02.19 13:23 Kaimai 48.22 km 60.28 p.

3 05.02.19 13:19 Kaimai 31.50 km 47.25 p.

Peter Jones [jonesie] 178.03 p.

1 06.03.19 14:31 Kaimai 54.68 km 68.35 p.

2 11.02.19 13:03 Kaimai 44.05 km 55.06 p.

3 03.03.19 13:31 Kaimai 36.41 km 54.62 p.

Claus Petry [ClausPetry] 176.25 p.

1 03.02.19 13:06 Mt Murchison 67.69 km 67.69 p.

2 19.09.18 12:33 Inwoods 61.64 km 61.64 p.

3 07.02.19 15:20 Mt Murchison 46.92 km 46.92 p.

Blake Round [BlakeRound] 169.05 p.

1 03.02.19 12:56 Mt Murchison 45.88 km 91.78 p.

2 07.02.19 15:22 Mt Murchison 46.03 km 46.03 p.

3 08.01.19 16:04 Coronet Peak 15.62 km 31.24 p.

Scott Beavis [Beavdogg] 166.86 p.

1 12.02.19 12:09 Karioitahi 54.78 km 82.17 p.

2 11.02.19 19:14 Karioitahi 32.06 km 48.09 p.

3 11.01.19 14:14 Karioitahi 24.40 km 36.60 p.

Vincent Willcock [vincentwillcock] 163.61 p.

1 01.03.19 12:53 Mt Cheeseman 52.11 km 78.17 p.

2 02.03.19 13:00 Mt Cheeseman 53.83 km 53.83 p.

3 03.03.19 13:55 Mt Cheeseman 31.61 km 31.61 p.

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

26 A i r b o r n

Photo: Ross Gray

Louis Tapper [yakernz] 622.05 p.

1 15.12.18 11:18 Treble Cone 156.23 km 312.46 p.

2 23.12.18 11:06 Treble Cone 168.13 km 168.13 p.

3 14.11.18 12:01 Mt Robert 113.17 km 141.46 p.

David Watson [davidwatson] 537.82 p.

1 23.12.18 11:36 Mt Alfred 120.77 km 241.54 p.

2 15.12.18 12:09 Roys Peak 95.25 km 190.50 p.

3 07.02.19 12:39 Mount Brewster 84.62 km 105.78 p.

Fraser Monteith [Icemaneli186] 482.70 p.

1 21.10.18 11:27 Mt Cheeseman 89.78 km 179.56 p.

2 02.03.19 10:56 Mt Cheeseman 86.65 km 173.30 p.

3 13.11.18 10:35 Roys Peak 129.84 km 129.84 p.

Bryan Moore [bryanmoore] 480.44 p.

1 13.11.18 12:44 Mt Maude 110.12 km 220.24 p.

2 25.02.19 13:19 Isthmus Peak 97.86 km 146.78 p.

3 28.11.18 11:07 Roys Peak 75.61 km 113.42 p.

Matthew Thom [Mattyt] 418.87 p.

1 15.12.18 11:18 Treble Cone 104.71 km 209.42 p.

2 02.02.19 13:36 Mt Murchison 87.77 km 109.71 p.

3 08.01.19 13:25 Treble Cone 66.49 km 99.74 p.

Glen Stevens [Glen_Stevens] 359.03 p.

1 23.12.18 11:21 Queensberry 159.43 km 159.43 p.

2 23.02.19 11:22 Treble Cone 85.73 km 107.16 p.

3 03.02.19 13:01 Mt Murchison 46.22 km 92.44 p.

Aaron Ford [AaronF] 329.87 p.

1 15.12.18 12:29 Coronet Peak 112.83 km 141.04 p.

2 03.02.19 12:53 Mt Murchison 50.14 km 100.28 p.

3 10.11.18 12:45 Glenorchy 88.55 km 88.55 p.

Rob Hughes-Games [robhughes-games] 309.30 p.

1 23.12.18 12:08 Treble Cone 88.53 km 0.00 p.

2 01.03.19 12:14 Mt Cheeseman 51.28 km 76.92 p.

3 02.03.19 12:18 Mt Cheeseman 55.32 km 55.32 p.

Nick Neynens [nneynens] 305.07 p.

1 16.01.19 12:35 Mt Campbell 135.68 km 135.68 p.

2 13.11.18 14:00 ?

69.89 km 87.36 p.

3 23.11.18 12:08 ?

65.62 km 82.03 p.

Nick Taber [MACPARANZ] 292.86 p.

1 14.11.18 12:01 Mt Robert 103.34 km 103.34 p.

2 02.02.19 13:42 Mt Murchison 75.82 km 94.78 p.

3 12.01.19 13:32 Mt Murchison 75.79 km 94.74 p.

Ben Kellett [benjamin.kellett] 291.90 p.

1 23.11.18 13:18 Roys Peak 91.58 km 114.48 p.

2 23.12.18 13:08 Sugarloaf 88.75 km 88.75 p.

3 13.11.18 13:30 Mt Juda 88.67 km 88.67 p.

Jan Zimmermann [xcimax] 277.86 p.

1 02.02.19 12:20 Mt Cheeseman 97.39 km 121.74 p.

2 03.03.19 12:54 Mt Cheeseman 39.11 km 78.22 p.

3 01.03.19 12:34 Mt Cheeseman 51.93 km 77.90 p.

Nicolas Sand [Nicosan] 270.07 p.

1 15.12.18 13:41 Pakituhi 82.25 km 102.81 p.

2 23.12.18 11:59 Treble Cone 89.31 km 89.30 p.

3 13.11.18 13:24 Teds spur 77.96 km 77.96 p.

Mark Hardman [mhardman] 265.62 p.

1 15.12.18 13:15 Treble Cone 56.35 km 112.70 p.

2 23.11.18 11:15 Treble Cone 88.96 km 88.96 p.

3 03.02.19 13:13 Mt Murchison 63.96 km 63.96 p.

Henry Dumbleton [HenryD] 257.69 p.

1 03.02.19 12:59 Mt Murchison 45.83 km 91.66 p.

2 19.02.19 14:31 Kaimai 58.99 km 88.49 p.

3 17.11.18 12:20 Kaimai 51.69 km 77.54 p.

Mark Macdonald [Brick] 257.44 p.

1 16.03.19 13:57 Kaimai 87.65 km 87.65 p.

2 11.02.19 13:04 Kaimai 69.36 km 86.70 p.

3 06.03.19 12:57 Kaimai 66.47 km 83.09 p.

Doug Patterson [dougpatterson] 250.82 p.

1 28.11.18 12:16 Treble Cone 44.40 km 88.80 p.

2 15.12.18 12:51 Treble Cone 41.97 km 83.94 p.

3 01.03.19 12:37 Mt Cheeseman 52.05 km 78.08 p.

Michal Karnik [miketech] 231.38 p.

1 10.11.18 12:41 Glenorchy 90.48 km 90.48 p.

2 13.11.18 13:29 Glenorchy 70.69 km 70.69 p.

3 02.02.19 14:01 Sharks Tooth 70.21 km 70.21 p.

Paragliding Comps Committee - March 2019

F

irst of all, and most importantly, a very big thank you to Hamish Barker for organising the NZ National Paragliding competition in February.

Next, of course, is a big thank you to all those helpers and supporters that assisted Hamish in organising and conducting that event.

Thank you Nelson!

As you know the Nationals were conducted in Nelson, in fact, pretty much it was Mt Murchison, from 3rd – 9th February. The competition managed four tasks three of which were significantly affected by wind!

We didn’t quite get the classic weather that the hang-gliding competition did the week before but it was still a challenging and fun event. We can thank Kyla for posting a small update on the NZHGPA website as it progressed and congratulations to Louis Tapper, Richard Castro, Mark Hardman and Eva Keim for their efforts in winning.

Prior to the New Zealand events six pilots attended the Bright Open and then the Corryong Open in Australia in extremely hot (45deg. plus) conditions. That certainly made for some big days! In fact, one task at Bright was cancelled due to high temperatures and fears of pilot fatigue in that heat.

Later, in March, six more kiwi pilots attended the Wings-out-West tow launched competition for B class gliders in the flat lands near Trundle NSW. Rodger Kerr won it for the kiwis by coming fourth overall on a Delta2. Australian competitions are becoming a ‘must do’ for many NZ pilots. They are all well attended and result in high points due to the international caliber of pilots entering those events.

Come the end of May the PCC will be assessing bids for clubs/ members that are keen to host and conduct the 2020 PG Nationals. If you’d like to be involved and host such a competition then please write to the PCC as per the Competition Rules. Go on… Have a go! Get your bids in.

Also, in early May the PCC will be selecting a small team of pilots to attend and represent New Zealand in the Paragliding World Cup in August in Europe. In the past there appeared to be little interest in this event but this year five pilots: Louis Tapper, Richard Castro, Evan Lamberton,

James Johnston and Mark Hardman are vying for a position.

The NZPRS ‘ladder’ has been working well and there have been some changes to the positions.

After numerous competitions now it is aligning more and more with the NZ WPRS rankings. As a relatively new entity the PCC acknowledges that there is always room for review in such a complex system so as to best reflect the rankings of New Zealand pilots. Thank you especially to Wayne Rohrs for looking after that. As an aside, Wayne received the Jill Borst trophy at the Nationals for his services to NZ paragliding.

There was a bit of a fun mobile phone video link to Wayne at the prize-giving event.

An effort was also made at the Nationals to encourage more Regional Competitions. This small meeting was well attended with several people, or groups, expressing their willingness to host competitions. This winter, Tim and Johnny have promised to produce an “Organizing Competitions for Dummies” document for general publication that will encourage members to conduct and then gain experience in hosting PG competitions.

Over the season, and it hasn’t been the best of seasons for good reliable xc flying, there were three regional competitions and Erica Caro had to cancel her proposed Te Mata Peak competition due to landowner issues. However, Tim and Louis ran another very successful competition after Xmas in some new locations in and around Wanaka. Johnny Hopper ran a small Cat 2 event at Moirs Hill in early March but only managed to get one small task which was won by Kinga Masztalerz, who has recently returned from a successful flying season in Europe and then, at late notice, Michal Talavasek, Jean Brossard and Richard Castro from the Canterbury Club pulled off a late season fantastic three day competition in strong conditions at the Craigieburns (see this issue for a write up). Thank you to all those members that supported and attended. It seemed once again that the South Island was the place to be this year for big flights

Above; Champs Louis and Eva notwithstanding Leighton Jolls late season record 77km flight from Moirs Hill north of Auckland.

Both the Nationals and the Craigieburn competitions resulted in a few accidents highlighting the need for enhanced care and considerations when flying in mountain conditions. Two of those incidents highlighted the need for GPS (or similar) tracking devices to assist in recovery and assistance whilst flying in the mountains. It takes a lot of pressure off the competition directors when they know where their pilots are! It is possible that we may see these devices becoming compulsory for all competition flying in New Zealand.

The PCC wishes all the concerned injured parties a sound and speedy recovery. Best wishes.

Finally, I would like to welcome Johnny Hopper back on to the PCC and an especially warm welcome to Henry Dumbleton who has now joined the fold.

We’re back to three!

The 2018-2019 flying season officially ends on the 31st March.

Once again, best wishes and happy flying… or resting.

- Tim Brown (PCC)

Photo; Kyla MacDonald

PG XC Champs The results shown opposite are as seen on XContest and yet to be finalised but Louis Tapper has clearly won the 2018/19 PG XC Championship with 622.05 points. He also had the highest scoring flight, in New Zealand, of the season... a 156km FAI triangle in mid-December.

The PCC congratulates Louis on his huge achievement and we will get the trophy engraved and shipped down to his Mum for him.

Louis had this to say about his victory:“The cross country season hasn’t been that flash weather wise, but I have tried to make the best of it, with a few lines planned 5 years ago coming to fruition. I have seen the XC trophy sitting on Bryan Moores’ table for quite a few years and more recently Nick Neynens has dominated, nice to have won finally. The process of progression is still however the most fun part for me, not the trophy or winning.

This season has also had the biggest walkout (5 hours) in 7 years after pushing a triangle out late in the day with my extremely lightweight gear (Ozone Enzo 3 and full comp harness 25kg) ;-). Not that bad really considering how stuck it is possible to get in the NZ mountains.

The new wings/online contests are making flights more accessible and visible than ever.

Planning and preparation are however key for those aspiring to fly big or deep in NZ.” Well done, Louis!

Right; Parawaiting watching to see if Russ Read could find a climb Photo; Kyla MacDonald

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N Ne eww ZZeeaa ll aa nn dd C rC ro os ss s - -CCoouunntt rr yy

HHAA NN GG gglli idding i ng CC hh aa mmpip ioons n sh hips ips

January 1st to December 31st

B

y the length and number of flights entered this season, it appears the last summer wasn’t the best for cross country flying.

The usual high scorers are down on their totals but Rick Haweswood managed the longest this year so far, flying from the Kaimais to Wilsons Bay on the Coromandel and back to land at Thames. John Smith’s 109 km flight was from Buscot near Omarama to the northeast of the Benmores then to Cromwell. So with Brian Russell’s 100 km from Murchison, there’s only been three 100km flights entered this year.

It seemed to me that down south we had more blown out and rainy weather last Spring, then more blown out days than usual last Summer. This was followed by more stable, cooler weather than usual. The only blessing for us was the seabreezes were lighter. The Omarama XC Classic still provided a number of good flights, not epic but the most for this poor season.

No doubt this Spring will be different again and hopefully better. Meanwhile it’s probably the North’s turn to get some good flights again. It’s interesting to see how different areas work each season.

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 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.

Airtribune was recently sold to a new owner so hopefully an update will come.

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-crosscountry-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.

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,

28 A i r b o r n

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 Steven Blackler 80.3 35.1 34.1 149.4 Derek McKee 82.8 34.5 24.0 141.3 Rick Hawkeswood

111.5 28.7

22.0

111.5

Tom Mulder

33.6

20.9

105.2

Brian Russell

100.4

100.4

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

79.6

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 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.

GPSDump is free, 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 automatically. 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 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.

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.

7.0

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 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.

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

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Only $65!

NZ Hang Gliding Training Handbook Essential Beginner/ Novice instruction information for NZ hang gliding students learning to fly. $15 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 $15

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 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 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 MANAWATU HANG GLIDING SkyVenture (Manawatu HG & PG Inc. Club School) CFI: Ross Gray Phone: 06 357 8996, 021 126 0892 Email: rosscoe@e3.net.nz WELLINGTON/WAIRARAPA HANG GLIDING Wellington Hang Gliding & Paragliding Club Grant Tatham Phone: 06 379 7322, 027 636 3491 Email: tathams@xtra.co.nz Oceania Paragliding School Chris Connolly, Phone: 022 676 5599 Email; school@oceaniaparagliding. co.nz www.oceaniaparagliding.co.nz

MARLBOROUGH PARAGLIDING High Adventure New Zealand Russell Read Phone: 027 448 0888 Email: russread@ihug.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 Tasman Sky Adventures Trevor Leighton Phone: 027 229 9693 Email: info@skyadventures.co.nz www.skyadventures.co.nz PARAGLIDING 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

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29

Photos: Neil Brown, Ross Gray

NZHGPA

B OO K ROOM

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 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 BLACKBIRD Paramotor. NZ designed and made. High performance & comfort. $9850 email: paradynamics@xtra.co.nz www.paradynamics.co.nz Phone 03 325 4540.

PARAMOTORING - exclusive Miniplane and PAP motors - SkyWings for courses and equipment - www.skywings.co.nz or alan@skywings.co.nz HANG GLIDERS 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 latest model with transparent Technora (ODLO) sail, speed battens, raked tips, black uprights, faired carbon keel stinger, keel fairing etc. 1st at 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.com

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

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A4 size issues $4.- each Feb/Mar/Apr May/Jun/Jul Aug/Sep/Oct Nov/Dec/Jan 2019 issue numbers 209 210 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

DESIRE 141, Very good condition for age, spare upright. Suit lighter pilot. Nice handling, quick to rig up, none of those nasty curved tips to hassle with! Will consider trades on single surface gliders. $990.00 ono. Contact Peter on 027 752 9650 KIWI 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. 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. Brand new condition in box with cables etc. Only had 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, Insider, Loop, Breeze (adjustable) Range of colours & sizes, No Limit has visor option, 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

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

B

WANTED big skyfloater (not tandem) for 120kg pilot wanting to have some fun on the coast, phone 027 482 1366, email j.keenleyside@xtra.co.nz AIRBORNE Fun 190. Well maintained, recent new side wires. Sail still crisp, comes with wheels. White with Blue l/e ‘s, red keel pocket. Easy flying, any reasonable offer considered, WoF, contact Alex 027 453 5219, sandyandsam@xtra.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

A Southerly front sweeps over christchurch; it would be a helluva ride if you survived!

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

PHI Maestro

Exclusively from SkyWings

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.

PHI

phi-air.com

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

PHI SYMPHONIA - EN A

New Class Of Glider Super high A. EN A safety with mid to high B performance, and best handling.

PARAMOTORING SPECIALISTS Miniplane - under 20kgs NZ’s most popular motor

PAP - Exclusively from 27 years motoring & teaching. Our level of SkyWings experience means everything when you learn to motor www.papteam.com www.miniplane.net

MINIWING SPECIALISTS Half the size, twice the fun!

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HARNESSES: - SUPAIR - NOVA