Airborn #212

Issue 212; November, December 2019, January 2020

Biv Vol Paragliding Brazil, New Caledonia Hang Gliding Queensland 7.50 Including GST

$

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 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

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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 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: Mark McIntyre........................021 337 595 HGSO: James Low.......................021 102 5004 Airsp: Rhys Akers.........................021 177 7563 Sites: Dave Shaw...........................07 575 9560 Kiwi Air.........................................021 1046 208 Mount Paragliding........................027 249 2702 WELLINGTON H.G.P.C. PO Box 9824 Marion Square Wellington 6141 www.whgpc.nz Email: info@whgpc.org.nz Pres: Jeff Lean............................020 4102 0567 Sec/Treas: Grant Firth................... 021 422 698 HGSO: Grant Tatham...................027 636 3491 PGSO: Matthew Williams.............027 552 5205 Airsp: Ian Miller ............................022 176 8205 Communications; Irwin Imhoff..... 22 087 2173 MARLBOROUGH H.G.P.C. C/- Richard Evans PO Box 546 Blenheim Email: evans.r@xtra.co.nz Pres, Daniel Francis .....................027 823 7292 Sec: Paul Candlish.......................027 467 3574 Treas: Richard Evans..................... 021 648 783 PGSO: Julie Bousquet.................027 340 0718 HGSO: John Urlich.........................03 577 8886 Airsp: Daniel Francis.....................027 823 7292

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

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

TASMAN H.G.P.C. C/- Annett Teichner 1137 Motueka Valley Highway, RD1, Motueka 7196 Email: thgpgclub@gmail.com Pres; Josh Benjamin ....................021 136 5405 Sec; Annett Teichner..................021 0231 0755 Treas; Brian Erasmus .....................03 545 1003 PGSO; Greg Benjamin....................03 545 1543 PGSO; Pete Polansky ...................03 528 7374 HGSO; John King..........................03 548 8263 Site Owners; Tim Percival .............03 548 7397 Site Maintenance; Frog Twissell ....03 538 0339 Airsp; Claus Petry.........................021 250 4836 Nelson Paragliding.........................03 544 1182 Adventure Paragliding....................021 762 769 Hang Gliding NZ.............................03 540 2183 Tasman Sky Adventures...............027 229 9693 CANTERBURY H.G.P.C. Inc. C/- Paul Conaghan 22 Shadbolt Ln Rolleston 7614 Email: chgpc.exec@gmail.com www.chgpc.org.nz Pres: Bradley May........................022 681 2832 Sec/Treas; Paul Conaghan ..........022 414 7377 PGSO; Marije Jansen ..................027 603 8404 HGSO; Warren Simonsen.............021 183 2126 Sites PG; Tim Bott..........................021 965 434 Sites HG; Don Payne....................027 432 7884 Website; Stephen O’Shaughnessy.03 326 7373 Airsp; Ryan Scarlett......................022 045 7254 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

Emilia Plak flying Spyder 3 22 at Raglan. Photo; Matias Nombarasco

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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are not necessarily endorsed by the NZHGPA or the editor ● Articles, photos

and graphics are copyright to the author, photographer, editor or designer and may not be reproduced without their permission

Contributions

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

Administrator

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

Executive Committee President

Duncan Macnab, 027 624 6434, president@nzhgpa.org.nz

Vice President

Ian Manton, 027 546 2832, vice-president@nzhgpa.org.nz

Executive Members

Carlos Palmer, 027 487 7654, hg.operations@nzhgpa.org.nz Grant Tatham, 06 379 7322, 027 636 3491, hg.training@nzhgpa.org.nz Blake Round, 027 367 7679, pg.operations@nzhgpa.org.nz Ian Manton, 027 546 2832, pg.training@nzhgpa.org.nz Ross Grey, 021 126 0892, flyer.rosscoe@gmail.com Glen Ogilvie, 021 684 146, nelg@linuxsolutions.co.nz

Flying Operations Chief Executive Officer

Evan Lamberton, 021 407 833, ceo@nzhgpa.org.nz

Training Manager

Mark Hardman, 021 809 275, training@nzhgpa.org.nz

All articles, photos, news items, press releases, safety tips and letters will be

Operations Managers

text files in any unformatted word processor file. Airborn can use Apple Mac,

National Airspace Officer

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gliders and paragliders must state certification status and meet our standard

conditions ● For display and other advertising rates and conditions please contact the editor

Editing, Graphics; AeroDesign, Bill Degen Printing; The Caxton Press

Carlos Palmer (Hang gliding), 0274 877 654, hg.operations@nzhgpa.org.nz Ian Manton (Paragliding), 027 546 2832, pg.operations@nzhgpa.org.nz Vacant

Internal Auditor

Kris Ericksen, 021 116 4558, audit@nzhgpa.org.nz

Chief Medical Advisor

Dr Sam Bartholomew, C/o NZHGPA administrator, admin@nzhgpa.org.nz

Paragliding Competition Committee

Timothy Brown (Chair), 03 442 5319, 021 182 4243, tjbro137@gmail.com Johnny Hopper, 021 562 275, NZHGPAPCC@googlegroups.com Vacant

Hang Gliding Competition Committee

Max Gebhardt (Chair), 03 312 7899, 022 159 6101, aerosm@gmail.com Dennis Thorpe, dennis_thorpe@hotmail.com Vacant

NZHGPA Bookshop

C/O Evan Lamberton, 021 407 833, ceo@nzhgpa.org.nz

In This Issue...

Biv-Vol............................................................................................4 Brazilian Wanderings...................................................................8 New Caledonia............................................................................12 Flying the Rex, Queensland.......................................................14 Southern Club & FMC Photo Competition...............................18 Safety Checks, Executive Reports, Events........................ 23-24

Please send advertisements, photos and articles to the editor:

Cross Country Championships........................................ 26 & 28

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

Post:

Email:

Airborn Magazine

Eagle Race to Save the Alps ....................................................29

Christchurch 8081

FRONT COVER: Stefano Gigli flying an Ozone Zeolight in New Caledonia.

99A Panorama Road New Zealand

aero@xtra.co.nz

Photo; Matt Taggart

Next issue deadline: 30 December 2019 A

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Biv-Vol A stepping stone to bigger things

By Dan Clearwater Photos by Dan Clearwater, Richard Sidey and Peter Groves 14/15 April 2018. Canyon Creek, Ahuriri Conservation Area, South Island, New Zealand

Above; Dan half way up the headwall Photo; Richard Sidey Below; Middle reaches of Canyon Creek Photo; Dan Clearwater

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t’s always so inspiring to read stories and watch videos of VolBiv adventures, it’s a style of flying that has captivated me since I became aware of it.

To me, it seems to embody the very definition of adventure: that the outcome is unknown. The potential of a paraglider to trace an infinite number of possibilities, where skill, experience, commitment and just a little luck determine the outcome.

And there lies it’s great appeal in a world where so much is scripted or on a well-trodden path. But I know I’m not ready; I barely have enough experience to figure out what I don’t know. Although I live close to good flying, I’m an occasional pilot with a young family. The road ahead is a long one for me.

But it’s a dream to aspire to. So as I slowly work towards my goal, with lots of hike and fly trips, going on flying courses, learning from mentors and from study, I’ve also been doing another type of trip as a stepping stone: Biv-Vol.

As the name would suggest, BivVol begins with camping, and then finishes with a flight. In the autumn when the thermal activity is dying

Below; Canyon Creek headwall

Photo; Richard Sidey

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out, it has given me some awesome opportunities to fly in places that I wouldn’t dare (yet) to go when conditions are strong. So I think

it’s a pretty useful way to build up a little confidence flying in the big mountains, plus some experience carrying and camping with the

Right; Climbing towards the light Photo; Dan Clearwater gear that you can squeeze in a paraglider bag!

There had been a good dump of snow in the mountains around Wanaka earlier in the week, but a lot of it had melted away from the lower hills we could see from town. As Pete, Richard and I drove off the highway and bumped our way up into the Ahuriri Valley, we exchanged a few wry looks; there seemed to be quite a bit more snow than around home. Still, even with the cold air temperatures, the sun made it feel pleasant as we began wandering up Canyon Creek.

That snow will be melting fast… shouldn’t be too much of a worry.

The Department of Conservation track sidles up and over the lower gorge, then quickly along river flats and forested edges, right up to the base of the mid-valley cirque. Here, the valley makes a step change from the gentle lower valley to the alpine upper flats via a formidable headwall. The cirque is impressive, with towering crags and rushing waterfalls cascading in from every direction. The step also happens to be at the snow-line, separating our current valley environment of green and grey from the alpine world of white and black. The look on my companions faces seems to reflect my own thoughts. Wished I’d brought a thicker sleeping bag. Maybe I should have brought gaiters? Why didn’t I think of crampons and an ice axe?

Before ascending from the valley, we pause for a snack and a breather, making the most of a rare bit of warm sunshine to enjoy the view ahead. “Looks a bit like the Waterfall face in the upper Wilkin,” says Richard.

The ‘Waterfall face’ is notorious as a dangerously exposed trekking route. It’s notoriety includes a

number of fatalities during it’s ascent, and is regarded as blurring the line between trekking and climbing. I hope it isn’t that bad.

But I needn’t have worried. Poles with bright orange tops dutifully indicate the route upwards, weaving past waterfalls, over slabs and around bluffs. Always upwards, but always manageable.

At no stage is the ascent technical, or very exposed, but the snow is making things slippery, so we’re taking it slowly and carefully.

Above the headwall, it’s like we’ve arrived in winter. The glare on your eyes, the familiar crunch of frozen snow, the rising numbness in your toes. Ah yes… don’t you love winter walking? I remind myself that this is where I want to be, even as my leg disappears awkwardly through the snow into a hidden hole. I want to be here, I just don’t want to get hurt here.

Right; Finally into the sun Photo; Dan Clearwater

Below; Richard and Pete Photo; Dan Clearwater

Below; A frigid camp site below Mt Barth

Photo; Richard Sidey

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Above; Chase cam

Photo; Richard Sidey

Mt Barth and its hanging glaciers dominate the skyline to our north.

The mountain casts a shadow across the valley floor, removing any warmth from our evening’s campsite. We select a relatively snow-free spot, then out come the ultra-light bivvy tents, the micro pots and cookers and (uggh) the freeze-dri meals. Soon we’re eating a 1 star meal with a 5 star view.

As the temperature plummets, we finish off dinner and spin a few yarns while enjoying the evening light show on Barth’s summit. It’s not

even 7pm and we’re wrapped up our sleeping bags wearing every bit of clothing we’ve brought, wishing we’d had room to bring more. Ice is already forming inside our drink bottles; the thermometer on my watch says -3 degrees.

Normally a 10 hour rest would be bliss, but we’re barely warm enough to sleep. A cold katabatic breeze oozes down the valley, with just enough force to stir the air in our tent and prevent it from warming with our body heat. I toss and turn, feeling like I’m not resting, but each

time I check my watch to see if it’s time to wake up, a few more hours have passed. As the first light of dawn finally fills the sky, I check the temperature again. -6 inside the tent… Making breakfast and packing away our kit provides just enough work to warm us enough to face the day. And what a day it is.

It’s perfectly calm, without a cloud in the sky. Just as forecast.

Thankfully, despite the good freeze, the snow surface is still breakable under out weight and not too deep. Boots kick perfectly into the white stuff with reassuring

stability. Conditions are about as good as we could hope for; and we’ve gotten away with forgetting to consider crampons and axes.

Numb toes take a while to warm up, but the climb helps to get the blood moving. It’s a slow trudge up the far valley side towards our planned launch zone, and the view is spectacular. The early morning sun colours Mt Barth, it’s glaciers and the neighbouring craggy ridge lines in golden hues. Halfway up, we finally step back into the light.

It’s as though the frigid night was instantly forgotten as we swap beanies for sun hats.

My favourite moment on an ascent are the last few paces, when each step massively increases the distance you can see. As I arrive at the ridge top, my view expands to the upper Ahuriri Valley, then the Barrier Range beyond and finally the major summit of Mt Huxley in the far distance. I stand there, surveying the scene and soaking in the moment. I feel a gentle puff of wind on my cheek, coming up from the sunny slopes. Just perfect.

The ridge top is relatively narrow,

Left; Pete peers into the Ahuriri Valley Photo; Dan Clearwater

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Above; Richard heads out over the valley

Above; My mates on glide to the car and then falls away steeply towards the east. Jagged rocky outcrops regularly interrupt the crest, with only a few spots wide enough to lay out a wing. The tiny seeds of doubt began to sprout in my mind.

Is there going to be a place that we can safely use? What If my mates launch and I can’t? Do I have the courage to be honest with myself and my abilities, even if it means I have to walk down?

We scout further along the rocky ridge, and just before it rises sharply towards the next summit, a small col, just wide enough appears.

There aren’t too many large stones to snag our lines, and the angle of the snowy eastern side is probably just shallow enough that we’d stop sliding if we screwed up the take off. It’s hardly a perfect launch, but with perfect conditions, I’m

Photo; Dan Clearwater

confident that it is within my ability.

We unpack right there, and begin the transformation from hiker to flier.

Murphy must be a paraglider pilot, because no sooner had we turfed the entire contents of our bags onto the ground, than the wind started coming over the back. My heart sank, but Pete’s experience meant he wasn’t phased.

“It’ll come right. Trust me,” he says. 10 minutes later, sure enough it did.

Every pilot knows the stress of launch time. But standing there, confronted by glaciers, huge peaks and a tiny, steep launch, I was right at the edge of my comfort zone.

Maybe just a bit outside. That’s part of why I’m here I remind myself, and consciously calm my mind before take off.

Clipped in and good to go, my

mates helped to clear my lines from all the possible snagging boulders on the ridge top. The combination of very light winds with a short and steep launch has me setting up for a forward launch. At least if I screw it up, I want to be able to see where I’m going to tumble. Another gentle puff from the east and I step forward to feel the reassuring even pull on the risers. It feels right, looks good, lets go! I commit and stride down the snow, and my faith in this absurd flying machine is rewarded with that familiar acceleration as my feet leave the ground.

To say it was breathtaking was an understatement. Perhaps the most scenic paraglider flight I’ve had yet.

Or maybe, it was me thinking too hard about the tiny 5mm dyneema cord structure of my new string harness that had me breathless.

Either way, my heart was pumping loudly. Just glide out over the valley; it’s only a few kilometers back to the car.

I made a few gentle turns to enjoy

Photo: Pete Groves

the view, then pointed at the car and tried to glide efficiently. Richard and Pete weren’t far behind, and both of them hunted out a few weak thermals to fly all the way back to the car.

My landing was thankfully uneventful. Looking back upwards towards where I’d come from, I felt equal parts relief for a safe arrival, and regret that the flight was over. Reflecting on the flight, it never ceases to amaze me how ridiculous paragliding is. Just casually stepping off a mountain trusting your life to a few strings, a glorified tent fly, and all the skill and judgement you can muster.

In the warmth of the sun and the lower elevation, I pack up and turn back into a t-shirt wearing hiker. I know that Pete and Richard will be relaxing in the sun by the car, but I’m happy for the walk at the end of my trip. It’s only half an hours walk anyway, which is just enough time to reflect back on our fantastic trip and start dreaming of the next one.

Below; Bitter sweet to be on the ground

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Photo; Dan Clearwater

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Brazilian Wanderings

By Barry Baxter Photos by Barry, Clarice, Vinicius and Taquaral

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always wanted to go to Brazil to fly but always imagined it would be with friends and would involve a prolonged stay at a well known site like Governador Valadares in the state of Minas Gerais.

Above; Landing field Jaragua. Club rooms at right, launch at masts above Below; Barry and Mauricio at the Sol factory

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Flying buddy Laurie Ross and I had met an Irish pilot at Manilla who had flown at GV and it sounded like a ‘must do’ on the bucket list.

Fast forward a few years and I met my partner Clarice last year who was in NZ visiting her daughter.

Clarice is from the city of Curitiba in the south east state of Paraná in Brazil. Eventually she had to go home but I got to follow a month later and enjoyed a 5 week holiday that included flying at four different sites in the midst of a sweltering summer.

After a couple of days meeting family and a walk to stretch my legs in Curitiba we caught the bus 120km out to Clarice’s beach apartment at Guaratuba. A couple more days were spent walking and lounging on the beach before I was itching to fly. So next day we were on the bus again to the city of Jaragua do Sul, a little to the south in the neighbouring state of Santa Catarina. Jaragua is the home of Brazilian paraglider manufacturer Sol so we visited the shop and were given a tour around the factory by Mauricio, who afterwards kindly took us into the office and gave a wealth of information and contacts that were very useful for our future travels.

He showed us a web site at https:// thermal.kk7.ch which basically is a world map with Leonardo and

Xcontest tracks overlaid so it is easy to find flying sites and see the most common routes flown from them.

We hired a car at Jaragua (rentals and hotel accommodation are cheap) and found our way to the well set up club rooms and landing field where we handed over 15 real (about NZ$6) for the 4WD ride up to launch at Morro das Antenas (896m). Launch was at cloud base that day and after launching into a slight breeze I turned through a gap in the range to put me in the lee but on the right side of the hill to make it back to the car. Thermals were light and scratchy but I had about 40 minutes just maintaining and checking out the scenery above the city. Most flights from here are to the SE and cross country flights of 100+ km is possible.

There are other sites nearby at Blumenau and Pomerode, I was invited to a comp at Pomerode but unfortunately it clashed with other travel and budgets. I liked Jaragua, friendly organised people and a nice hill. Curitiba has its own sites but I can see regular visits to Jaragua in my future as it is relatively close to Curitiba down the freeway.

After visiting the zoo at Pomerode, climbing to the spectacular waterfalls at Corupa and visiting Clarice’s

Left; Pedra da Gavea, Rio de Janeiro Right; Flying at Rio brother at Blumenau we drove back to Curitiba for a few days before flying out to Rio de Janeiro for 4 days.

Rio is amazing. We did the tourist stuff like Sugarloaf, Copacabana Beach, Christ the Redeemer, and the Opera House but we’re here to talk about flying. Our hotel was mid city and the site at Sao Conrado (524m) was about 15km away. Uber is the way to go in the city traffic, they are cheap and reliable and ours dropped us off outside the beachfront clubrooms where we were directed to the club president. Indy, who has good English took us under his wing to get us paid up, organised and briefed for flying. There are dozens of commercial tandem hang and paraglider pilots operating here, it is a busy place. A ride up the hill was organised (15 real) and shortly after we were on launch taking in the view and getting a briefing on how operations are organised on launch.

The launch consists of a set up area for hang gliders behind the ramp amongst the trees. Underneath the ramp is another area for paragliders.

There is nowhere to spread out your glider so you don your harness in the shade of the hangie ramp above and have everything ready to take your spot. You hold onto your risers as you walk down the ramp while launch marshals spread out your wing and help sort the lines.

These guys are onto it so no need to worry. The marshals on both ramps are in radio contact and launching is in an orderly fashion. Clip in, a quick check over the shoulders and its forward off the ramp into a spectacular bowl with the massive rock of Pedra da Gavea (844m) to your right. Conditions were light and it was a struggle to stay up so my first flight was a prolonged sled ride.

The hangies land on the beach but there is a large enough grass area adjacent to the clubrooms for paragliders. The wind picked up later in the afternoon and Indy’s passenger hadn’t showed up so he kindly offered Clarice her first ever tandem for free. Awesome!

They took off and I quickly followed for an hour of stunning soaring around, mainly down above the road tunnels by the beach under Pedra da Gavea. Indy says that a few times a year it is possible to fly along the range to the Christ the Redeemer Statue and soar that. Another for the bucket list!

During beers at the end of the day at a beachfront stall we discovered that Indy was in fact Vinicius Cordeiro whom I had emailed before my trip enquiring about licenses etc (NZ is accepted). So we had a laugh about what a small world we live in. We’re

Below; About to launch, Rio. Landing is to the right of the apartments

Below; Street scene at landing, Rio

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Above; Barry just after take off hoping to see Indy in NZ one day.

I had another flight on our last day at Rio and managed to get some height to soar on the massive rock formations up behind launch. The ramp was shrouded in cloud when we arrived so we para-waited for 2 hours whilst watching a few tandems launch when the briefest glimpse of the beach was their cue to go.

Eventually the cloud cleared for about an hour but during my flight they started to reform. Knowing that there were rocks in the cloud I decided to land. Afterwards we swam at the beach to escape the 39 degree heat and used the showers at the club rooms. All very civilised and a fun place to fly although make sure you keep an eye on your gear as you pack your wing, Rio is known for its crime.

From Rio we bussed north into Espirito Santo State and hired another car at Cachoeiro do Itapemirim for a short drive to Castelo, famous for its world cup meets. Here we were met by one of Indy’s friends Taquaral, a local tandem pilot. Next day wasn’t flyable but Taquaral kindly took us to his farm to meet his parents, see his farmed fish ponds, their coffee plantation plus the local swimming hole. Next day was looking good so we drove him and his wife to the ramp where he met his passenger

Right; Above the beach at Rio Below; Barry and Clarice under the ramp at Rio

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client. The ramp Corrego de Uba is at the head of a beautiful valley Monte Pio up a long dirt road that circles up behind the launch. The ramp (950m asl 760m above the valley) is a nicely manicured lawn with toilets available close by.

Two locals were already high by the time we set up. Taquaral took off in the last puff coming up the face while his friend and I waited for a lull in the gentle puffs that had started coming over the back. We both got off but I completely misread the conditions and instead of speed bar immediately to the other side of the valley, I went to the head and got

Above; Vinicius and Clarice. Christ the Redeemer statue centre distance

drilled. Gutted. Didn’t even make the landing paddock and had to detour around a paddock with an angry looking bull in it and carefully creep through some snake infested tall grass to finally get to the road and the welcome sight of Clarice with some more water. It was 40 degrees that day and even though the walk wasn’t any more than 1500 metres it was exhausting. Thankfully I was able to buy a cold beer just down the road. Although Castelo didn’t really happen for me I saw enough to want to go back.

From there we drove north heading for Baixo Ghandu but when we got to a town called Afonso Claudio the rental car broke down and we ended up stranded for a day before a new one was delivered from Vitoria.

When we finally made it to BG we rendezvoused with Tim (pronounced Chim) who is Indy’s driver when he flies there. Tim took us to a clean, comfortable and wonderfully affordable hotel, the Dede Hotel.

Next day we headed for Ramp Morro do Monjolo (720asl 660m above the valley). It is not far out of town (signposted at the roundabout) and just past the spectacular mounds of Serra do Milagre. Once again the ramp is a broad sweep of mown grass and has club room facilities on take off. Luxury. It was windy the first day. A local took off but reported turbulence and he wasn’t penetrating out in the valley so I stayed on the ground. The next day was better wind wise but was cloudy and shaded. I took off and soared around for a while taking in the views before landing in the designated paddock at the bottom.

And whatta you know the sun came out and clouds started popping. It was close to 3 by then, I don’t do hot very well (39) so instead of driving 30 minutes up the incredibly dusty road for a possible xc by myself into the complete unknown, I elected for air conditioning and cold beer instead.

BG is another great site and regular comps are held there . It is close to Governador Valadares so I’d recommend timing a trip to take in both sites with a comp thrown in as well. That was all the time we had for flying this time so drove out to Vitoria to drop off the car and fly back to Curitiba before a final trip to Foz do Iguazu to take in the spectacular Iguazu Falls, the famous bird park and the huge Itaipu Dam. Clarice is now back here with me waiting interminably for residency but it won’t be long before we are able to live on and off in Brazil with solo and tandem paragliders, tramping boots, a 4WD and a large capacity BMW motorcycle with the whole of the Americas to explore and fly in. Can’t wait.

Above; Taquaral and passenger after launch at Castelo

Above; Baixo Gandu.

Below; Club rooms and take-off at Baixo Gandu Monjolo launch

Left; At launch with Taquaral at Castelo

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New Caledonia

has an active passionate paragliding community with over 80 pilots. As the country is a French territory they follow the flying rules of the FFVL, the French Federation for Free Flight.

Part of theses rules request as a legal obligation to fly with third party insurance.

Due to the geographical orientation of the main land, NW-SE, due to the position of a central mountain ridge on the 400 km long and 50 km wide of this main land, and due to the south easterlies trade winds blowing 300 days a year, the main flying sites are situated on the west coast and so the XC flights are essentially heading to the NW. Most of the flights are ridge soaring flight close to the west shore and close or over the blue lagoon. Around and in the capital Noumea you can fly in OuenToro, down town and close to the main beaches where kite surfing is also possible, in Kuendu Beach when the rare westerly wind blows, also in Mont Dore or in beautiful Gadji area.

If you want to Xcountry fly, the place to launch is Mount Dzumac, a 600 m high launch, from where we go for long flights. At the moment, Xavier Girin flew the island halfway to Northwest, close to 200 km. Some pilots also try to fly to the east coast, departing from Dzumac.

Some of them reached Houailou, Canala or Thio.

It’s better to come flying from March to November avoiding summer with it’s rough thermals and the possible visit of tropical cyclones bringing moisture and wind.

Do not hesitate to contact the locals prior to your visit, they will be happy to assist you and to share the lift to the launches, especially to access Dzumac which is a 30 minute ride on a gravel road.

The local club is AVLNC for Association Vol LibreNouvelle Caledonie, email contact address is “parapente.avlnc@ gmail.com” and Laurent, a local instructor, will be happy to give details by phone at +687 815 846 and also www.avlnc.nc

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Exploring New Caledonia I

n March 2019, Ozone NZ ambassador Stephane Guilbert came to visit us in Wanaka to share a week of Hike and Fly.

It was in those days that we started to plan our multi-sport adventure in New Caledonia and from that day on our dream slowly became a reality. This would be Matt’s fifth trip with Stephane but the first taking a paraglider and this trip Stefano and Stephane along with Matt would all be on their brand new Zeolite.

Stephane is a very dear friend of ours, a true sportsman, kiteboarder for 20 years, pilot, sailor, master rated dive instructor but perhaps the most apt name for him would be explorer. He has been living in New Caledonia for over 20 years after sailing all over the world where he is the captain/owner of a 46’ Catamaran running dive, surf and kite charters. He is always in search for XC flying conditions, dream dives and perfect waves. But in addition to crossing the worlds oceans on his yacht, he is also an accomplished paraglider pilot, one of those 180+ pilots in June 2019 that made a top landing on Mont Blanc and a regular at the Manilla comps.

The best time for flying, good swell and the chance of good wind for wave-kiting in New Caledonia is from October to November. Temperatures alternating days of wind and swell and calm with cumulus bases at 1300/1600 meters. We joined Stephane on the 8th October with everything you need to explore with kites, surfboards, surf foils

Photos by Matt Taggart

EN B

E: info@ozonenewzealand.com

MOB: 021 0244 7902

The Rex

By Warren & Clare Simonsen

Queensland, August 2019

I

t was another winter to get away from, and the pining for a bit of flying in some warm weather.

My better half Clare came with me this time, to enjoy the average 26C warm air temps and beach walks at Trinity Beach in Queensland Australia. Nothing like going for a morning swim in 25C surf prior to a bit of ‘T shirt’ flying.

It’s a bit of a travel reach from Christchurch but the longer you can stay the better it gets.

We caught up with the locals at their local sight called ‘Rex Lookout’.

It’s on the main north coast road following the coast line of the Barrier Reef and busy with endless road traffic and tourists beach hopping in all the beach coves. An endless food chain for the tandems and crowd pleasers flying in the air.

Take off is only about 200 feet above the beach and needs a little breeze to get you soaring and thermalling the gum bush ridges above the road.

What first looks a average site off the side of a road, turns into very picturesque views of oceanic white beach and surrounding bush country terrain.

A typical milk run is towards Port Douglas for a sweet landing on the beach, plenty of room when the tides out to avoid tourists, beach babes, joggers & kite surfers and chance to earn some points for your better half with a dinner out.

The flight follows some interesting bush covered hills and ridges northwards.

Some of the soaring bowls can have some character building air conditions; one is commonly called the “washing machine” which can be thermically pleasant or ‘hell merry’ depending on the wind angle which often slides a bit off from the south.

The tiger country comes right up to

14 A i r b o r n

Above; South coast view

Left; Take Off

Right; Soaring above the road

Below; Looking North towards Port Douglas

Exploring New Caledonia

continued...

Tiger Country over the back the beach water in many places with only a few sandy postage stamps to land on. I suppose the side winds make this handy for when things get a bit tight for landing when your entire approach set-up is over water. For land out options when following the ridges, the main north road sometimes offers large sugar cane fields, then... you only have the snakes to deal with. Or better to have a cut field to land in, and you really don’t want to chose a field that has been burnt after a harvest. The word ‘carbon’ will stick with you for a long time.

The main landing area at the Rex is a nice sandy area along a line of cleared coconut palms beside the beach, which kicks in your yaw sidewind landing skills a little when the wind picks up. It’s all the norm for the locals, but the palms are higher than you think when the wing starts to wander off towards the fronds.

Then “Ya hoo”.. Wow!.. nice beach… time for a swim!!… the nearby local looks left & right… well.., I haven’t seen any crocs recently…

Go for it !… That’s a point... I never see any locals swim here… Time to Explore…

and paragliding, New Cal is a true multi-sport paradise and we were rewarded with the ultimate adventure of our lives! The best part about New Cal is the short three hour flight, you arrive to the warmth and culture of a French territory, delicious food and wines not to mention the amazing temperature! Leaving Auckland in the cold, pouring rain and arriving to a 27-30 tropical paradise is a welcome shock to the system!

The first 5 days were in search of waves and wind, including wreck and shark dives on the incredible coral reefs, the abundant sea life, white-tip sharks, grey sharks, whales, manta-rays and turtles blew us away.

We sailed from spot to spot depending on the weather each day, Stephane’s vast experience ensured we always arrived at the right place at the right time and

the whole trip was nothing short of mind-blowing!

If this sounds like you, get in touch with Ozone NZ and join us in one of our trips with Stephane to experience the magic of life on a yacht enjoying the sports you love in paradise: info@ ozonenewzealand.com - Matt Taggart, Stefano Gigli, Stephane Guilbert, David Peacock

Above; Approaching the narrow Wangetti Beach

Left; Bush Hug after landing

Below; Local pilots at the Rex

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15

Skyfloaters

The improved FUN2 by

The slow speed ability of paragliding combined with the safety in CORD 329 kms/205 turbulence, extra top speed (as much as 75kph+) and the glide WORLD RE an miles Dist ce con performance (10:1) of hang gliding.

Straub flying Fal Skyfloaters are light and responsive without being unstable, with By Davis Texas ata Zap complete control authority. They launch easily; even in no wind and from land so slowly that flare timing is barely necessary, you can just run 1st = at 2013 e!! or even walk to stop! www.airborne.com.au Craigieburn Leagu The superior control, manoeuvrability and climb ability make it easy Convert your old Fun to a Fun2 with the new Sail to soar above everybody, they have a great glide and a good dive FALCON 4 Retro kit. Everything supplied. See the review at speed to get out of trouble. They are extremely light and can be www.willswing.com www.hgpg.co.nz rigged in 5 minutes or less! They easily last 10 years or more. Fun, Falcon are the most versatile, enjoyable and Perfex skyfloaters use genuine 7075 alloy tube for superior glide and popular hang gliders by far in NZ. performance and strength as well as lightest weight. As well as being The Falcon 4 has improved handling and performance with full mylar the best first glider, their superior performance in sink rate and climb leading edge inserts and optional short pack to approx 2m. The new ability makes them suitable for more advanced flying too. They can enhancements allow pilots to downsize to a lighter, even easier handling circle in half the space a conventional performance glider needs, size than before. 4 sizes including Tandem. so you can get up in tiny thermals or light lift when others are forced to land! Pilots using skyfloaters for cross country regularly score top Falcon, Perfex and Lightfex can shortpack down to approx 6ft (2m). positions in major competitions. Tandem skyfloaters are also available.

Perfex and Lightfex feature no tools shortpacking & assembly. Strong, 7075 frame and battens, Perfex & Lightfex have SHV & DHV certification.

The AirBorne Fun and Wills Wing Falcon are similar with USHGMA certification. 7075 airframes for strength and light weight (19 - 23kg).

The updated Wills Wing Alpha is the ultimate beginner & training glider They can be flown prone (or seated with paraglider harness). They with super low flying speed and amazing soaring ability.

SKYFLOATERS combine the best features of hang gliding & paragliding; Stress free total control for learner flying and real performance for cross country, recreational, dune soaring or just plain fun flying without hassles

Atos

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Ultra performance rigid wing gliders with a glide of 20:1, sink rate of just 120 fpm, and super light handling, these aircraft are the ultimate glider. Multiple World Champs winner.

Range of sizes.

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stronger 7075 airframe, better glide & speed range, lighter pitch for towing, but keeps www.airborne.com.au the super low stall speed and control for climbing. Speedbar, aerofoil uprights, VG, PX matrix leading edge & lever tip battens are standard. Higher performance & ease of use for the advancing pilot. 154 & 168 sizes. Motorharness ready with pull out keel end and very low minimum flying speed for light or nil wind launches. Mylar Race option. DHV certified.

Accessories

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AUTOLOCK HG Carabiners No forgetting to screw up the gate. No exposed threads to damage hangloops. Stainless or plated steel 30-35 kN all with webbing lock ring.

Used Gliders

All traded gliders are strip checked, test flown and trimmed so you know they are safe and fly perfectly. Ring or email for current stocks.

Glider Spares

NZ’s largest stock of Wills Wing, Airborne Windsports, Finsterwalder and Enterprise Wings spares. Wires and tubes made to specifications.

Round, aerofoil and rubber backed uprights, Quick-pins, etc

T3 XC & comp wing with international comp wins already. Improved on the World Record T2C with amazing handling and even better performance. Featuring bearing tips, new carbon raked tips, leading edge and insert options, carbon w Model re-enforced battens and carbon Ne aerofoil keel. Carbon outer leading edges, aero speedbar, sprogs & custom colours are standard. 144 & 154 sizes.

T3

U2 for performance and XC ability without the extra weight, battens and stiffer handling of topless wings. It has a kingpost but no lufflines, using topless style inner sprogs. Choice of aerofoils and aerofoil basebar.

Mylar and window sail options.

Best value in its class. 145 (29kg) and 160 (31kg) sizes, All USHGMA Certified.

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New Model

SPORT 3 (above) has improved glide and better handling, black airframe, raked tips and mylar sail options.

Hang Glider Harnesses

The best Italian harnesses from Woody Valley.

Aerodynamic, stylish and tough.

Models for racing to recreational.

The ultimate race harness TENAX 4 with tilt control options and removable skin.

FLEX2 AERO and Flex2 ACRO (right) has the Tenax footcone and upper body construction, with strengthened risers & independent back supports.

A faired aerodynamic harness that’s lighter, more flexible, gives easier landings and a much more convenient packed size.

AeroDesign APRON The most comfortable and practical harness for training and dune flying.

Unrestricted vertical/prone transitions, strong webbing and cordura fabric for maximum strength and durability, parachute container, stash pocket, storage, plus autolocking carabiner, stirrup and instructions included.

www.woodyvalley.eu/eng/

DROGUE CHUTES www.willswing.com/Accessories/drogue.asp Turn your race wing’s glide into a skyfloater’s for small landing areas.

The PDA and short bridle with swivel gives the smallest, safest and easiest to use drogue. At low speed it has little effect, but speed up and your height disappears with little excess speed to burn off. The safest and most versatile drogue system.

Full backup Service Glider & harness repairs, stripdown checks & trim/tuning. Student pilot instruction

w w &w . hP gA pR gA.GLIDING c o . n z SU P P LIES H A NG GLIDING Phone 021 247-2676 (021 AIRBORN), a.h. 03 326-6411 email aero@xtra.co.nz

post 99A Panorama Road, Christchurch 8081

The Best Gear at the Best Price http://www.brauniger. com/en/home.html

Insider & No Limit Helmets by

Wind meters

Read the true wind speed so you can tell how strong or gusty it really is, indicating turbulence or whether it is safe or soarable.

Essential for safe flying.

WeatherFlow Wind Meter A compact, accurate, affordable wind meter that plugs into your Apple or Android device showing wind gust, lull & average plus direction using the device’s GPS. Share by SMS, email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine etc.

Reads in meters/sec, miles/hour, knots, kilometers/hour, & beaufort.

Range 1 m/s (3.6kph) to 56 m/s (201.6 kmh).

OUDIE 4; GPS/alti/vario/nav.

Sunlight readable colour touchscreen works with gloves. World maps, airspace & 3D terrain installed & updated as required, wind, thermal assistant, task & triangle optimiser, glide, terrain, IGC tracklogs, micro SDHC, customisable display & audio, 12 hour battery life. In Basic or Full comp / XC versions.

OUDIE 5 has integrated Fanet+ & Flarm and New Model is in stock now OUDIE 4 BLADE now in stock; all the above built into a slim instrument pod that mounts on the basebar. Mounts for aerofoil basebars available. Airspeed pitot is built in.

New Model

Aerodynamic helmets with 96% field of vision & strong, light kevlar/aramid reenforced shell weighing just 650gms to save your neck muscles. Shock absorbing EPS liner for maximum brain protection.

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Sizes 53 - 62 cm head circumference.

EN966 certified for hg & pg.

No Limit has faired back and optional polycarbonate visor for wind protection & aerodynamics, gives 100% UV protection and is anti-reflective, anti-fog & antiscratch. lours and Range of co stock http://finsterwalder-charly.de/en.html in s size

HALL compact (11.5cm) ‘Small Hall’ is the best priced airspeed meter available. Simple and accurate.

Brackets for hang or para. Never needs batteries!

NEW DIAMOND cross Hang glider models come with UV and abrasion protected bridle. Optional swivel.

Up to half the packed size and weight of conventional HG reserves.

125, 160 and 220kg sizes.

EMERGENCY PARACHUTES • Fast, reliable, opening.

• Reduced weight & pack size due to high strength material and Dyneema lines.

The reduced size and weight is especially useful for tandems and hang gliders.

• Optional steering PG (can be retro fitted).

• Extremely low sink rates by horizontal travel of the cruciform canopy in diagonal direction.

• Sizes for 100, 125 and 160kg. Tandems 160 and 220kg.

• Pendulum-free smooth descent.

• 12 month packing cycle due to pack system design and construction.

• Inner container with stowed lines makes deployment easier and minimises risk of tangling.

Check out videos at; http://finsterwalder-

charly.de/en/rescue-systems.html

Revolution

Hyper; pocket size with advanced features makes it ideal for daily flying including hike-and-fly. It will help you navigate simple routes, around complex airspace and also record all details of your flight.

Pocket size (107x70x18mm), Lightweight (135gm), Sunlight-readable color LCD touch display, Wifi & Bluetooth connectivity, Airspace, Hike-and-fly mode.

ELEMENT; Element TRACK has 3D GPS track recording, USB downloads. Wind, All you need for comps & XC. Element SPEED has GPS wind direction & speed for soaring & XC. Easy to operate, affordable & practical.

Element ALTO; Robust, reliable & simple alti/vario with GPS alti, 250 hour battery life. Switch on and fly!

PG Front Chute Container; Mounted where you can see, reach & deploy fastest with either hand.

Less drag & the instrument flight deck is where you see it best, also it zips off as a protective carry bag.

Choose the right instrument at; www.naviter.com/

by Many accidents happen close to the ground, so a fast, reliable opening is most important. The ‘Revolution’ dual canopy, pulled down apex system opens fast & reliably.

Leading German manufacturer Charly makes the Revolution double canopy PDA reserves. Many NZ pilots have been saved by their reserves; even with deployments below 50ft!! which shows how fast these really do work.

Paraglider models fit built in harness containers or front mount cockpit containers.

Hang glider model fits most harnesses and comes with a UV shielded bridle. An optional swivel can be included.

Reserve models for for Tandem to lightweight Vol Biv. Tested to DHV certification and proven.

Fly with confidence knowing you have

Over 30,000 rescue systems sold world-wide

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CONNECT 1/P1; GPS/alti/vario/ flight computer. Easy operation, touchscreen works with gloves, SD card, USB, maps, airspace, wifi updates, pitot airspeed and more as new features are released.

SPECIAL, Limited Stock

the best back-up available.

When you really need a parachute, you only want the best

All switchable metric/imperial. Mounting bracket options.

Most items are in stock for overnight courier delivery NZ wide. Call or email for more information. Dealer, School and group order enquiries welcome

Over 25 years of free flying experience and quality service

More information, reviews and specials at;

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Vario/alti/flight computer, 16 ch GPS, wind speed & direction, speed to fly, thermal mapping, Google Earth output. Accurate & www.aircotec.com/ reliable.

QUICK OUT carabiner 4000 kp break load, Can be released under load. With safety lock.

Valuable for windy landings.

www.hgpg.co.nz

Phone 021 247-2676 (021 AIRBORN), a.h. 03 326-6411 email aero@xtra.co.nz

post 99A Panorama Road, Christchurch 8081

Southern Club and FMC E

ach year the Federated Mountain Clubs of NZ runs a photo competition, inviting the finalists from club photo competitions around the country to compete for a hefty prize pool.

As the NZHGPA is now affiliated to FMC, each NZHGPA club is eligible to submit a collection of entries.

Check out www.fmc.org.nz/photocompetition/ for more info!

The Southern Club has been doing a comp via Facebook for the last three years, which has been a simple way to accept and judge entries. It’s also a fun way to get a bit of stoke for the main flying season when its really cold outside! Check out these top shots, which are now in the FMC overall comp, in to win prizes from a $13,500 pool!

- Dan Clearwater, Southern Club member and FMC Development Officer

Categories/Notes to the captions; ABW; above bushline, with a human element ABN; Above bushline, no human element BB; Below bushline HIS; Historic NFF; Native Flora and Fauna.

Richard Sidey Kea Whilst overnighting on French Ridge during a summer hike and fly above the Matukituki Valley, a curious flock of Kea flew in to investigate the new arrivals. Several of the Kea were banded, including this one, which the Kea Database later identified as Lorna, a female kea near breeding age often spotted in the valley. For shots like this it was definitely worth carrying the extra weight of an SLR camera onto of the flying and camping gear. NFF

Karearea This Karearea dropped in on us whilst our group was hiking above Lake Hawea late last summer before a spectacular and thermic flight back to the car. It’s always a privilege to get close up and spend a moment with the fastest animal in the country, whether flying yourself or simply hiking. NFT

Anthony Saupin Florence Hill “Florence hill lookout - I’ve stopped few times at this place, without my gear, and when I had it with me that day, the wind was unfortunately not in the right direction. Still a very nice place to enjoy a beautiful sunset though; still on the “sites to fly list”! “ BBN

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Photo Competition

Michal Karnik The view from Rabbit Pass; We launched from Sharks Tooth, and made it through to Makarora. ABW Crowded Kariotahi “With good conditions and a few more skills and confidence after few days of training, I could enjoy a great flight at Karioitahi beach; my longest flight yet in fact! More than 2 hours above the black sand and the green hills of the North island’s West coast. A great view and such a great feeling to soar like a bird !... Well, almost like a bird :) “ BBW

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19

Kat West St Kilda Beach An afternoon at the beach, a moderate breeze makes the sand dunes the perfect playground when you have a paraglider… combining all three elements, ground, water and sky.

HIS

View from Sealy Tarns The sky wasn’t looking as friendly as we had hoped. A shot from Sealy tarns looking towards Aoraki / Mt Cook over the Mueller and Hooker glacial lakes. We did get to fly so at least we didn’t have to walk down.

ABN

Anthony Saupin Kariotahi “After few weekends of theory lessons, the weather eventually allowed me to start the practical training and have my first flights in the NZ sky. My first day was just a little bit of soaring along Karioitahi beach with the “Wings and waves” crew but still a very good way to “launch” my PG2 training!”

BBW

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Ben French Upside down over Flight Park Most scary take off of my life in September 2018 after a huge snow dump. After spending the morning skiing on our only snow day of the year I had decided to go up to take off for an acrobatic flight. Snow to my waist at the top of express chairlift I took off and flew out to the basin. An amazing winter back drop as I tumbled my way down to landing. ABW

Anthony Saupin Lake Hawea My first spring in the South Island gave me many opportunities of great hikes... But on that stunning day, and with a bit of help and advice from another pilot unexpectedly met at the start of the track, I have been able to hike and then fly down ! What a thrill to enjoy lake Hawea from the sky and to land on its beach which is just as beautiful!

BBN

Kat West Southern Alps Sunset End of a magical day at Brewster Hut. We had walked up front the Haast road carrying our paragliders, hoping to fly the next day.

The sky was looking a little ominous with high cloud, but it made for lovely light.

ABN

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21

The FMC and the NZHGPA E

agle eyed pilots may have noticed a few announcements this year saying that NZHGPA is now “affiliated to FMC”, but who knows what that means? (and what the heck is FMC anyway?)

The Federated Mountain Clubs of NZ is a non-profit organisation that advocates for non-powered, nonprofessional mountain recreation.

Each year, a volunteer executive is elected to encourage and protect these opportunities, on behalf of 94 affiliated clubs, and over 21,000 individuals.

FMC clubs and supporters explore NZ via foot, bike, kayak, packraft, and more recently, paraglider and hang-glider. This long history, wide representation and weight of numbers gives FMC a strong voice when it comes to speaking out and achieving results for the outdoor community.

As we all should know, pressure is increasing on many of our flying sites, with a number that have been lost to urban development, new airports, ruined land-owner relationships, tenure review and the ‘health and safety’ boogey-man.

These classic pressures are only set to increase, alongside contemporary challenges like public land management and tourism, drones, general aviation traffic density... the list goes on....

In November 2018, NZHGPA chose to affiliate to FMC to tap into its expertise around recreation on public conservation land. Straight away, FMC got stuck into assisting the NZHGPA preparing a submission on the Aoraki/Mt Cook and Westland Tai Poutini National Park draft management plans. The threats to free-flight were mostly around statements in the draft plan restricting take-off and landing. These high alpine parks are not places which see a huge amount of NZHGPA members, but it was clearly the thin edge of the wedge.

DOC was signalling the same theme of statements would soon be coming in future management plans all over the country; the time to act was now.

During this process, FMC saw an opportunity to massively strengthen the position of the NZHGPA. Since the Conservation Act became law in 1987, all aircraft were required to have a concession to take off and land on public conservation land. (DOC does not have any legal control over aircraft once airborne, but it can and does attempt to exert control over airborne aircraft because it does hold the legal control over permission to take-off or land). Despite arguments and anecdotes otherwise, both FMC and NZHGPA agreed that the law included paragliders and hang-gliders in the ‘aircraft’ definition.

However, back in the day, it was un-enforced, or totally ignored. The 2018 draft management plans had firm statements which re-iterated the original intent of the law; a clear signal that the elephant in the room needed to be addressed.

The proposed solution was a ‘global concession’ for NZHGPA from DOC. Essentially, it would provide legal permission for NZHGPA pilots ‘to take-off and land with non-motorised paragliders and hang-gliders on public conservation land’, righting the legal wrong which was subtly ignored by all for more than 30 years.

The global concession project is

22 A i r b o r n

ongoing, with plenty of support and input from NZHGPA, but FMC is confident of a successful outcome if the cards are played right. A global concession will legitimise take-offs and landings on public conservation land, but will not confer a right of access; that is a separate legal issue to be dealt with on a case by case basis. However, having a concession will clarify the legitimacy of our sport in the eyes of DOC and other agencies, giving us a proper seat at the table when it comes to protecting and improving access to sites.

FMC’s area of expertise is certainly with the issues surrounding recreation on public conservation land, but many of the NZHGPA issues are complex, involving legislations, various land tenures, owners and managers. FMC isn’t a silver bullet for all of our access woes, but it is certainly an experienced ‘big brother’ that we can bring to the fight to improve our odds of winning.

Several clubs have asked FMC for advice on specific site/access issues and we’ve been able to pair FMC experience, contacts and voice with the club’s local knowledge and passion. In partnership, we can significantly improve the overall response to these issues, and hopefully get some wins we might not have been able to achieve alone.

Outside of free-flight, FMC is working hard to advocate for all corners of the outdoor community; submitting on Walking Access Act reviews, DOC hut standards, government tourism Strategies, tenure review, helicopter access, lobbying for the creation of the Remarkables National Park (just to mention a small selection of recent work!

Check out www.fmc.org.nz to see what else they’ve been up to) Aside from pure advocacy, FMC works hard on celebrating and encouraging mountain recreation. There is an annual photo competition (Southern Club has been entering for 3 years now!) member discount cards and expedition scholarships. FMC puts out a quarterly magazine (called Backcountry which I bet you’ve seen if you’ve ever stayed in a DOC hut!) FMC also runs the www.wilderlife.nz blog, with articles, trip reports (including paragliding), plus resources and advice for running clubs and club events in the outdoor community section; wilderlife.nz/ outdoor-community/ Although FMC does have a small team of part time paid contractors and staff (I’m one of them!) the core of the organisation is voluntary, and funding is predominantly from our members.

NZHGPA decided to partially affiliate to FMC, which means paying a fee for a small proportion of the total NZHGPA membership. You’ll hopefully see an advertisement this issue, encouraging you to ‘top up’ your support to FMC’s work for NZHGPA; essentially making a $30 donation. If I’ve done my job properly, you’ll see the value in FMC’s relationship with NZHGPA, and chip in a few extra bucks to help the fight to protect our flying future.

- By Dan Clearwater, FMC Development Officer, Southern Club member and keen hike n’ fly pilot. Visit www.fmc.org.nz/ top-up/to donate, and to learn more about the organisation, or drop him a line. Dan.clearwater@fmc.org.nz

Executive Repor ts President’s Column September 30 2019

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oohoo – the flying season has started. After being away overseas and only having one flight over winter I had the privilege of starting my season with a lovely 70 minute flight at Treble Cone on the Friday before the AGM. A good take-off, a good flight and a good landing is a great way to start the process of getting current and back into the air again.

There is simply nothing that comes close to the wonder of free flight and I am very happy that flying days are here again. The goal I am working on this summer is to fly a flight over 100km distance and to start the project I am doing a month in Manilla from mid-October through to mid-November.

Our AGM was in Queenstown and was an excellent occasion. As luck would have it the AGM was on a beautiful flying day – I guess that is a bit analogous to getting out of a duck shooting maimai for a pee; – you can guess when the ducks will come flying past - when you have your trousers down and so it was for us! A day we set months in advance became the perfect flying day - for others! Seriously, although in some ways running the AGM is a bother because it takes time, it is a real privilege that we get to run our own sport. We run our sport, we write and maintain our own constitution, our OPM (Operating Procedures manual), our own technical guides and our Best Practice guides. We have plenty of examples in our dealings with officialdom where we can see just how bad it would be for our sport if people who did not understand what we do and how we operate were in charge.

I don’t know if you have thought about it but the NZHGPA has changed over the years. We have approx. 1500 members, have a turnover of around $200,000 and have 3 staff / contractors working for it. We are no longer a small operation and are in fact bigger than many small businesses in NZ! We are operating in an environment that has changed markedly over the years. We have threats to our Airspace, access issues to our landing and take-off sites, challenges from the regulatory framework we operate under (or the people who administer it), we have health and safety issues, we have insurance issues and lots of other things cropping up, all along with an organisation that has doubled in size over the past few years.

So the AGM had some things to look at and made some decisions.

- It was decided that the Exec should do a 3 year strategic plan and a matching 3 year financial plan. I really support this initiative as good planning is a part of running any organisation or business effectively.

- A new training initiative was approved. To match the increasingly standards based environment that we are functioning in we need to rework a lot of our training documentation and standards much of which hasn’t been looked at for many years. Again, I really support this project and it will result in a Training manager contract role for someone to head this up and make it happen.

- We have approved a fee increase of $15 on the annual NZHGPA subs for full members. It is a couple of years since our last increase and the delegates went through the budget line by line so you can be assured that no non-essential expenditure is in there.

So in conclusion there are a couple of things I would say: Firstly: remember the NZHGPA when you go flying. There are a few people working tirelessly in the background to make sure that we can continue to fly. Without their dedicated efforts and also the work done by many dedicated volunteers our sport would simply not function or at the very least, look quite different to the vibrant flying scene we now have. A word of thanks goes a long way – so thank you to all those who are in the mix and making a contribution.

Secondly: the thing that we all have in common is that we are in this to fly - but please fly safely this summer. Take your time and get current, make good choices and understand that the best is yet to come.

Cheers - Duncan

Acceptable Risk The reports in AIRS are well down for this quarter. That’s great, but I suspect it has more to do with the weather than anything else. Just try not to let frustration at the lack of flying push you into launching in less than ideal conditions, especially if the skills are a bit rusty.

I recently attended an Aviation Safety Officer course run by CAA in Hamilton. The ASO course is designed as an introduction to safety management and it’s free. I’d recommend it to anyone but especially if you are a club safety officer or interested in improving safety in our sport.

This course was really well presented by Airforce Squadron leader Jim Rankin. Jim has flown everything from Hercules to Iroquois as well a balloons, gliders and gyrocopters. He’s even decided it’s time to learn to fly a paraglider. So Jim isn’t talking from behind a desk, or being a nanny or a member of the “fun police” when he talks about managing risk.

What he talked about was acceptable risk. None of us would go flying if there was a 50% risk of crashing. So at what point do we decide it’s OK? 25%, 5%, less? The real risk is much less than that, and most of the time we decide it is an acceptable one. We could say “safety first”, but if our primary objective was only to be safe we would lock the gliders away and not go flying. So safety is really about controlling the “cost” of what we do. It’s aim is to allow us to do it repeatedly with minimum damage to our equipment and to ourselves and the people around us.

Personally I like that idea. I want to keep doing this for a long time and I don’t want the cost to me or anyone else to be too high. I want to fly, I don’t want my family caring for me, I don’t want my friends visiting hospital, I don’t want mine to be the last flight at that site. So what I’m going to do, before I go flying each day, is to name the reasons why I want to go home that night. Just to remind me that the cost of a mistake is not just on me.

- Evan Lamberton

Selected Accident and Incident Summaries from 1 July 2019 to 30 Sept 2019 These summaries are a selection taken from members reports supplied via the NZHGPA reporting system AIRS. Date Region Type Aircraft Date Region Type Aircraft 7/7/2019 Canterbury Serious Accident Speed wing and didn’t lose enough speed to land considering all below Local recreation Approach to landing. at that low height were large tussocks. Right foot clipped a Flying the Gondola site in Christchurch. Coming into land tussock head, rotating foot backwards rupturing ankle and at Heathcote Park, pilot made a sharp turn too close to the breaking fibula. Called friends who were present and help ground, caught a tree with wing, wing deflated, causing a fall came immediately. Pilot’s own assessment is that he should straight onto nearby shed. Hit shed and bounced to ground. have realised earlier the landing would be in tussocks and Police and ambulance were alerted. Pilot was taken to hospital slowed speed better. by ambulance.

Injuries: Serious, Lower limbs, Rupture of ankle ligaments Injuries: Serious (Hospital admission, major fracture, internal and displacement of foot and fractured fibula. organ damage) Head, Upper limbs, Lower limbs, Lower Harness: Basic, With certified back protection. Emergency spine, Chest. chute: Carried but not deployed.

Glider: Ozone Fazer 14. Helmet: Full face, Harness: Basic.

3/31/2018 Auckland Near miss PG mini wing Emergency chute: Not carried.

Local recreation Launch. Reconnaissance of a new coastal 11/7/2019 Southern Serious Accident Paraglider Local recreation Landing.

Coming in to land after a long straight glide, pilot turned into the anticipated wind direction, but found there was no wind

flying spot.

Ground wind ~10knts WNW (~280) The wind was a bit too West (cross slope, straight to the ridge head). Launching a bit on the right side of the ridge the pilot

Accident Summary

Date Region Type Aircraft was dragged and launched with crossed risers. Immediately after launch the pilot tried to rotate to normal flying position but strong airflow and lack of full glider control resulted in roll and dive with crash landing back on the hill.

“There were few experience things for me to learn from this accident. The main one is: doing reverse launch on a side slope, turn toward the slope (looking up), not away from it (anticlockwise in this case, not clockwise as I did following my normal custom).”

22/9/2019 Canterbury Near miss Landing Paraglider Coming in to top land with some brake, about 3m above landing area pilot applied too much brake stalling the wing and sending it into a clockwise spin onto the landing/take off area. Pilot landed on harness/airbag.

Other experienced pilots noticed the wing was damp, which may have contributed to early stall.

Injuries: Nil.

Issued by Evan Lamberton. Chief Executive

Date and time of accident: 02/03/2019. 16:50:00 NZST Location: Torlesse Range, Castle Hill Peak, Canterbury.

Pilot: Male. Age 29.

Pilot certificates held: Visiting Pilot.

Pilot experience: Over 200 hours total. 20-100 Last 12 months (as stated by pilot in membership application). 20+ hours on this glider.

Purpose of Flight: Cross Country Competition.

Injuries: Serious. Fractured vertebra 7, 8 & 9. Cuts and bruises to legs.

Equipment: Paraglider Make: Axis, Model: Vega 5. Size: M. Certification: EN C. Certified Flying weight: 80-105.

Pilot weight: Approx 78kg. plus equipment.

Harness: With certified back protection Helmet: Certified. Open face.

Rescue Parachute: Carried but not deployed Damage: Significant: Ripped, broken lines, hole in glider.

Weather: Wind; 5-11 kt, west. Variable, moderate gusts, thermals. Light valley wind near Castle Hills, Light NE sea breeze around Springfield.

I Image 1. Screen shot of the pilot’s track showing approach to Mt Torlesse from the north and crash location on the north flanks.

Image 2. Map showing ideal task line in straight blue lines and typical track taken by all other pilots approaching the turn point from the south west (also in blue). Compare to track taken by the pilot approaching from the north ( yellow).

Commentary: The pilot was competing in a paragliding cross country race run by the Canterbury Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club in the area around Castle Hill. After launching at Mt Cheeseman ski field

the intended task took pilots down and back along the Craigieburn Range before crossing to the Torlesse range and then to a goal near Springfield. When crossing from turn point 4 on the Craigieburn Range towards the Torlesse Range to the south the pilot appears to have bypassed turn point 5 at the south west end of the range and gone straight to turn point 6 (see image 2). This put him on the north side of the range and well away from the area being flown by the other pilots in the competition, all of whom approached that turn point from the south west before turning south toward the goal.

While attempting to climb from low level on the north side of the range he has lost full pitch control of the glider and as a result of the dive has landed heavily on to the steep terrain approximately 50 ft below. The impact was sufficient to cause leg and spinal injuries and damage to the glider. After the crash the pilot made one call to a friend in the organiser’s car and relayed a message that he had crash landed, that he was not badly hurt and that his glider was damaged so he would be leaving it behind. He was not able to give an exact description of his location. He stated that a rescue was not required and the description he gave of his injuries lead the organiser to believe it was not serious enough to require rescue. Nevertheless the pilot was advised to ascertain his exact location and to wait there for another call in 10 minutes. The pilot’s phone appears to have then failed due to damage from the crash landing so no further contact was made. He then apparently packed up his glider and started to walk down. He walked several hours and spent the night in the bush before making it out the next morning. The pilot refused medical attention at that time because he wrongly understood that he would be taken to Greymouth. He was later taken to Christchurch hospital by a friend where his injuries were found to be serious, including several fractured vertebrae.

Conclusions 1. The direct cause of the accident was a sudden pitch forward of the glider at low altitude in turbulent air resulting in a dive in to the ground. The likelihood and degree of pitching motion with a paraglider in turbulent air can be significantly reduced or eliminated by higher levels of pilot skills and using “active flying” to keep the glider under control as well

as choosing gliders that are suited to the pilot’s skill. The consequence of any sudden pitching motion or other unexpected loss of altitude can be reduced by keeping more clearance from terrain in turbulent air.

2. The pilot’s preparation and management of his own safety before and after the crash appears to have been lacking. Although he carried a borrowed UHF radio to comply with the competition rules he turned it off and did not use it after the crash. He did not have a locator beacon or any form of satellite communication and tracking device (e.g. Spot or inReach).

He was loaned a GPS tracker for navigation and scoring purposes but this did not have any transmitting function for other’s to see his location. The pilot’s unfamiliarity with the device is likely to have been one reason he was not able to give his exact GPS location after the accident.

3. The pilot’s only means of communication after the crash was by cell phone, which was damaged in the crash and failed after making one call. He was loaned a UHF radio but did not use it. A UHF radio set to the competition safety channel is a requirement of the competition rules and safety plan. See Annex 1 and 2.

4. The pilot was flying in unfamiliar terrain with an unfamiliar instrument for navigating the task. This may have contributed to his decision to fly a route that was quite far from the ideal line and put him out of sight of other pilots. It is unlikely his crash site would have been seen by any other pilots.

5. Although the pilot received what turned out to be quite serious injuries he twice refused medical help or rescue services. The pilot has confirmed that the reason behind this reluctance to accept help was a belief that he would be charged a fee by the emergency services.

6. The NZHGPA competition rules regarding provision of a safety plan and safety briefings to all pilots appear to have been complied with by the organisers. The pilot was present for the general pilot briefings and was individually briefed by the competition organiser and other pilots before the flight.

Recommendations 1. Visiting pilot information should include information about NZ emergency services, how to call them in an emergency and that the service is provided free of charge.

This information should be included

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Accident Summary Continued with membership applications, in competition information packs and at briefings.

2. The use of a UHF radio set to the competition safety channel is a wellestablished rule for all competitions run under NZHGPA sanction. Competition organisers should reinforce that rule at briefings and highlight the need for the radio to be operating throughout an incident until the pilot is confirmed as safe.

3. The use of personal locator beacons or satellite tracking devices with emergency call capabilities such as a Spot or Garmin inReach provides clear advantages in raising the alarm and in locating and rescuing a downed pilot. Although their use is becoming

more common among regular XC and competition pilots there is room for more to be done to encourage their uptake. The NZHGPA competition committees could consider obtaining a supply of trackers or PLBs to rent to pilots in competitions and in any case should consider making their use compulsory.

4. A significant part of competition safety is the support of other pilots if an incident happens. Pilot’s briefings should include a reminder of the need to be familiar with the area they are flying and their instruments to avoid straying too far from the competition course and to be readily able to give an accurate GPS location should an incident occur.

How to report an accident or incident What to report?

You must report as soon as practical anything that is defined as an “Accident” by CAA rules.

That is anything that caused significant damage or serious injuries while the aircraft is being used.

Club safety officers and other pilots can help out here by reporting even basic information about an accident for pilots that are unable to do it themselves.

We also want reports for incidents or accidents that aren’t so serious. The biggest benefit comes from the reporting of the smaller incidents and near misses. How small? Well, if good luck is all that saved you from an accident then it’s probably worth reporting.

Your personal details will be kept confidential.

How?

To make a report go to the NZHGPA website and click on ”Safety”. www.nzhgpa.org.nz/safety

Then the button to hit for starting your report looks like this;

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

Finally if you want to see other reports then click on this button;

Safety Checks AI, II – Left Riser (Right riser similar): Loops before and after the measure

Skytraxx Varios FLARM, FANET updates

Keep your equipment up-to-date. FLARM, which is included in FANET+, is a technical tool for collision avoidance. Regular updates are the basis for proper operation. Regardless of this, SERA.3210 ff always applies, i.e. See & Avoid.

On 5.7.2019 a Swiss glider pilot barely avoided a collision with an ATOS. The ATOS had a SKYTRAXX 3.0 with FANET+. The glider`s PowerFLARM did not trigger a collision warning. The SKYTRAXX 3.0 had version 3.0.12b installed (released in April 2018). It has a known error which does not forward the correct altitude to the FLARM instance. This bug was already fixed in fall 2018 by version 3.0.13.

Please note: SKYTRAXX 2.0+ with the FANET+ version January 2018 is affected as well. The update has been available for download since autumn 2018. Please make sure to always use the latest software. We are currently testing all SKYTRAXX devices equipped with FLARM (again) and will if necessary offer a near-term update.

• Updates Skytraxx 3.0. www.skytraxx.eu/index.php?route=product/category&path=194 • Updates Skytraxx 2.0. www.skytraxx.eu/index.php?route=product/category&path=197 Please also refer to SERCAM from FLARM. Happy Landings, - Juergen, Head of development SKYTRAXX GmbH

Before: AI and AII line have 0 trim loops After: 1 trim loop on AI and AII

BI,BII,B III, STI – Left Riser (Right riser similar): before and after the measure

UP Ascent 4 and Mana paraglider line lengths

Notice 2019-0, July 11, 2019 Subject: Trim of Ascent 4 and Mana Concerned products: Ascent 4 and Mana You can find your gliders serial number on the specification print on the left wingtip, e.g.

“XA61L-03-1-189-8013”. Please check the last 4 digits of your gliders serial number.

Ascent 4 XS: all serial numbers up to and including 8052 (Exception: # 7260) Ascent 4 S: all serial numbers up to and including 7819 (Exception: # 7601, 7802) Ascent 4 SM: all serial numbers up to and including 8142 (Exception: # 7500, 8141) Ascent 4 M: all serial numbers up to and including: 8160 (Exception: # 7565, 7508) Ascent 4 L: all serial numbers up to and including 8013 (Exception: # 7911) Mana 18: all serial numbers up to and including 8068 Mana 21: all serial numbers up to and including 8213 Mana 23: all serial numbers up to and including 8216 Mana 25: all serial numbers up to and including 8220 Mana 27: all serial numbers up to and including 8103 Problem On a few Ascent 4, the glider went into a condition similar to deep stall after big ears manoeuvre was carried out (high sink rate also after releasing ears), or when brakes were pulled too far on slow speed a deep stall tendency was determined. Most of these incidents have occurred with gliders flown at low to medium take-off weights. None of these incidents have led to an accident, however, as a precaution; this safety notice must be implemented immediately.

Root cause The inevitable length change of the lines by stretching (A and B level) or shrinkage (C level) after the first flights can normally be remedied by opening the trim loops on the C lines after about 20 flight hours. However, the stretch of the lines at the A and B level after the first flights on these models is slightly stronger than expected and can thus lead to the mentioned problems.

Solution Please check your serial number first if your glider is affected by this safety notice. The affected Ascent 4 and Mana are to be trimmed as follows before the next flight: If the total flight hours of your glider are less than 20 hours: AI, AII and BI, BII - Lines each need a trim loop (picture symbolic before - after)

0 trimloops

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1 trimloop

Before: BI,BII and BIII have 0 trim loops STI has 1 trim loop

After: BI and BII have 1 trim loops BIII has 0 trim loops, STI has 1 trim loop

After 20 flight hours the loops on CI, CII and CIII must be released: CI,II,III – Left Riser (Right riser similar): Loops before and after the measure

Before: CI,CII and CIII have 1 trim loop

After: CI, CII and CIII have 0 trim loops

If the flight time of your glider is already over 20 flight hours: When the 20 flying hours have been reached, make the trim loops on AI, AII, BI, BII and in the same time release the loops on CI, CII, CIII as described above.

Important: Make sure that the quick links are closed tightly after the measure Your UP dealer will be happy to assist you in implementing this measure. For further questions or if you are unsure if your glider is affected you can also contact us by phone or mail: info@ up-paragliders.com or +49 (0)8821-73099-0 Control On your next biannual check, the glider is measured and compared with the current line lengths (see website). We also recommend conducting this biannual check in countries where it is not required by law.

We thank you for your understanding and wish you beautiful and safe flights with your glider!

- Your UP Team UP International GmbH Kreuzeckbahnstrasse 7, D-82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen info@up-paragliders.com +49 (0)8821-73099-0 +49 (0)8821943020

EVENTS 2020 NZ Hang Gliding Nationals

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hird time lucky??? Yes indeed! Shane McKay and Matt Barlow are pleased to confirm that the NZ Hang Gliding Nationals will once again be conducted in Murchison in the last week of January 2020. And why not when for two years in a row now we have all experienced such awesome flying and camaraderie.

Record combined distances flown, record airtime, record number of pilots, and for the second year in a row a record for longest NZ task set and achieved at 137km! Well done too by the way to the six legends who successfully completed this task; Ollie Chitty, Steve Blacker, John Smith, Shane McKay, Tom Kellner and last but not least Les Graham you legend!

The 2020 NZ Nationals will be the same format as the last couple of years i.e. Two Practice Days on the 23rd and 24th of January then the competition days being Saturday 25 January to Saturday 01 Feb. Sunday 02 Feb will be a reserve day in case we have had bad weather and need a final day to have a valid competition. HQ will once again be the Riverside Camping Ground - get in early if you want to book any of the huts. There are plenty of tent sites so these do not need to be booked early.

Registration details and a full article on the 2019 Nationals will be posted in the next couple of months once we return from the World Champs in Italy! All pilots including Novices are most welcome. Novices will be permitted to fly under the supervision of an instructor only if conditions are safe for them to do so. Lastly, former World Champion Christian Ciech has expressed an interest on coming over, so if he does this is even more of a reason to come along and be part of all the fun and action.

Looking forward to seeing you all there.

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

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t’s on again this summer, during the week with Waitangi Day in it.

This time of year gets the most flying days with least strong winds and turbulence so gives the most XC flying opportunities.

Flying in the Mackenzie is spectacular; expect to get 9 or 10,000ft and an easy 20km to over 100km depending on your skill and luck. You’ll probably beat your Personal Best; height, distance etc, and move up the XC Champs table, or maybe fly to Mt Cook!

It can be hot, maybe windy and sometimes with strong thermals but the landing areas are massive and the competition format is stress free; No queues, tactics or waiting. Fly the whole week, just the weekends or just the days you want. It’s up to you, only your best 3 flights count. Unlike in conventional comps, you can decide where and when to fly and an unlucky flight won’t ruin your score.

THE MISSION; Fly open distance, in any direction from any site in the Omarama area. Enter any number of flights. Take any days off, just your best 3 flights get scored.

Required; Advanced rating with mountain/ XC skills. Pilots with lower skill ratings may fly if under supervision and if conditions are suitable. Printed site briefings are available.

The track up Magic Mountain is limited to 4WDs with low ratio gearing for safe descents. To maintain the track we ask pilots for a donation but the competition is free.

This is mountain high desert country so essential equipment is; a 2.5m rope for securing gliders during dust devils (Magic has tie-down stakes but you need a rope), radio, cellphone, maps, GPS, water, survival gear (days can be over 30°C with frosts at night), basebar wheels, spare uprights,

St Arnaud Paragliding XC Camp Saturday 8th February to Sunday 16th February 2020 This will be a flying meeting for paragliders with a friendly cross-country competition. Fly XC without a set task and see how far you can get. With optional flight logging to find who flies the most kilometres over their best four flights.

Day Format: Fly XC and see how far you can get, from any of the recognised sites in the greater St Arnaud area, including Mt Murchison, Inwoods Lookout, Mt Robert and Parachute Rocks.

Come for the whole 9 days or just the good days. Lodge your flights in person at the HQ each evening, or remotely via XContest, if you wish to enter the friendly XC competition (your best 4 XC flights count). Distance via 3 turn points can be scored for GPS tracked-logged flights, otherwise you can simply score the straight line distance between your take off and landing.

Required for Safety: PG2 + 20 hours, reserve, back protection, GPS, UHF Radio, maps.

Cost: $5 suggested donation for the week.

Sites: The sites we will be using are high sites (up to 1450m ASL), so they make for some very scenic and exhilarating flying around the St. Arnaud area, which is the northern-most end of the Southern Alps. (The site records for Inwoods Lookout, Mt Murchison and Mt Robert are 116km, 95km and 91km respectively).

Transport Note: Mt. Murchison requires 4WD vehicles so if you have one, it would be good to bring it. Vehicles used on forestry access roads must be equipped with fire extinguishers (be sure to contact Tim beforehand if you will need to get one for your vehicle).

Accommodation and Facilities: St Arnaud has a variety of accommodation available including good tenting in the DoC campground and a backpackers’. And there are holiday houses and baches for easy rental if you’re a little organised. The village has a shop and an all important bar. The event’s HQ this year is a bach/holiday house which sleeps 8. Contact Tim if you’d like to book a bed at the HQ or if you would like to coordinate with other pilots for renting a different holiday house in the village.

Further Information: Check the event message board here: http://starnaudxccamp.wordpress. com or contact Tim Percival, ph. 03 548 7397 or 021 238 5141, percival@actrix.co.nz.

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

glider fully checked and a repacked chute.

An Emergency Locator Transmitter is a good idea or a satellite messenger such as a Spot or inReach is recommended for pickups as phone reception is often not possible. A sim card for the other phone network ($10) will improve phone coverage in the area as the cell networks have different coverage areas.

Bring a brave but careful 4WD driver, and a spade for clearing slips off the access track.

Airband radio (118.6 Mhz) is required for flying North of Ohau if you want to head for Mt Cook as there is a Mandatory Broadcast Zone there.

You can also bring aerotow or a car tow if you like.

There’s other activities such as mountain biking, hiking, hot pools and you can even tour the Alps in a sailplane if you like.

All types of accommodation are available; free camping, cabins, caravans, motels and luxury hotels. The gliding airfield campground welcomes hang glider pilots and has weather briefings at 10am each day.

For more information, site briefings etc; contact Bill Degen at aero@xtra.co.nz or check www.hgpg.co.nz for updates.

HG Events 2019/2020 Season Date

Location

Contact

19/20 October 2019

Havelock

Shane Mckay (RSVP on Facebook / Shane Mckay) Dan Campbell

Labour Weekend 26/27/28th October 2019

Cromwell/Omarama League

John Smith

Canterbury Anniversary 15-17 November 2019 (Provisional)

Mt Cheeseman

Matt Barlow

7th/8th December 2019 - reserve following weekend

Waikato League (Kaimais or Paeroa Ranges)

Rick Hawkeswood rickhawkeswood66@ outlook.com

New Year’s Weekend 1 - 5 January 2020

Wellington League

Grant Tatham

2/3/4 January 2020

Sterling Big Sky

Rod Stuart 027 434 4822

NZ Nationals Sat 25 Jan - Sat 01 Feb 2020 (practice 23/24)

Murchison

Matt Barlow, Shane Mackay

Omarama XC Classic Sat 1 - Sun 9 February 2020

Omarama

Bill Degen aero@xtra.co.nz

Interislander Ferry Discounts for NZHGPA Members

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he Interislander Ferries are proud to support the NZHGPA for another year to cover the period up to 15 December 2019.

NZHGPA members can enjoy special discounted ferry rates, not just for the HG & PG National Competitions (during peak travel season), but also throughout the whole of 2019 to cover travel to and from Regional competitions or simply for NZHGPA members to travel the rest of the year on holiday.

A booking is made direct by individuals with Interislander by simply quoting the NZHGPA membership booking reference

code number: FA5650 and showing their NZHGPA membership card at the check in.

Group Booking conditions and instructions for members are: Each reservation must be made direct with Interislander at www.interislander.co.nz/Booking/Group-Bookings.aspx Enter special Code number FA5650 in Group Code Box. Every reservation will be given an expiry/payment date, required to be paid in full by that date.

Space is subject to availability at the time of the booking request.

All bookings for vehicles over 3.5 tonne need to be made by contacting Commercial Vehicles on 0800 660-670. Price advised at time of booking.

Membership card is to be shown at check in or retail fares will be charged. Membership card is to be in the name of the person travelling.

Fares valid for travel through to 15 December 2019. Prices are subject to change with notification.

(2020 discounts have been applied for but are yet to be - Nick Taber confirmed.)

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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 2019 to March 31st 2020 Top scores as shown on XContest on 16/10/2019 Pilot, flight date/time

Site

Distance

Points

Total

Pilot, flight date/time

174.14 p.

Barry Sayer [boomer] 1 04.04.19 13:01 Te Mata Peak 44.03 km 55.04 p.

Dave Washer [bopflyer67] 1 19.04.19 13:17 Paeroas 20.62 km 20.62 p.

2 18.04.19 14:30 Kaimai 13.99 km 17.49 p.

3 20.04.19 13:17 Kaimai 9.74 km 14.61 p.

Sanae Noguchi [Sanae]♀ 1 03.10.19 13:00 Treble Cone 12.50 km 25.00 p.

2 11.09.19 13:03 Treble Cone 19.67 km 0.00 p.

Fraser Monteith [Icemaneli186] 1 01.09.19 13:38 Little River 19.09 km 19.09 p.

2 13.04.19 14:31 Mt Potts 16.68 km 16.68 p.

3 18.08.19 13:33 Mt Harper 13.53 km 13.53 p.

Ken Beach [ken.beach] 1 19.04.19 13:18 Paeroas 27.68 km 27.68 p.

2 20.04.19 12:10 Paeroas 20.44 km 20.44 p.

Thomas Serri [Thom] 1 14.09.19 12:16 Treble Cone 19.74 km 19.74 p.

2 20.09.19 12:14 Treble Cone 18.74 km 18.74 p.

3 11.09.19 12:05 Treble Cone 9.05 km 9.05 p.

Björn Striebing [bjoern.striebing] 1 19.04.19 13:41 Paeroas 27.36 km 27.36 p.

2 11.05.19 12:47 Dills Hill 12.65 km 15.81 p.

Anand Srinivasan [Anand] 1 19.04.19 14:01 Paeroas 24.61 km 24.61 p.

2 05.05.19 14:05 Kaimai 13.93 km 17.41 p.

Ben Kellett [benjamin.kellett] 1 02.09.19 12:57 Breast Hill 16.78 km 20.98 p.

2 11.09.19 11:30 Coronet Peak 20.37 km 20.37 p.

Mark Macdonald [Brick] 1 15.04.19 13:49 Kaimai 22.37 km 27.96 p.

2 17.04.19 15:31 Kaimai 6.98 km 8.73 p.

3 09.10.19 13:58 Alan’s Hill 1.68 km 3.36 p.

Brooke Whatnall [brooke] 1 15.10.19 14:25 Treble Cone 25.16 km 25.16 p.

2 03.10.19 11:46 Treble Cone 14.36 km 14.36 p.

Paul Monigatti [paulmonigatti] 1 06.10.19 12:21 Mt Plenty 20.47 km 20.47 p.

2 18.08.19 13:31 Mt Harper 7.61 km 7.61 p.

3 03.04.19 18:30 Taylor’s ...

4.65 km 6.98 p.

Andy Spierer [aspierer] 1 19.04.19 13:44 Paeroas 28.45 km 28.45 p.

Craig Miller [craigm] 1 19.04.19 13:25 Paeroas 27.73 km 27.73 p.

Bex Rae [bex1907]♀ 1 19.04.19 13:20 Paeroas 8.32 km 10.40 p.

2 11.05.19 13:47 Te Mata Peak 9.16 km 9.16 p.

3 20.09.19 12:16 Treble Cone 7.58 km 7.58 p.

Rick Hawkeswood [RickH] 1 07.04.19 14:26 Kaimai 26.72 km 26.72 p.

Kat West [katwest]♀ 1 23.08.19 12:12 Treble Cone 14.22 km 14.22 p.

2 18.08.19 13:04 Roys Peak 6.18 km 6.18 p.

3 18.08.19 13:47 Roys Peak 5.81 km 5.81 p.

Samuel Leathwick [Stealthwick] 1 22.09.19 01:30 Paeroas 10.51 km 10.51 p.

2 01.09.19 12:51 Paeroas 8.35 km 10.44 p.

3 21.09.19 14:18 Carters 2.49 km 4.98 p.

Richard Sidey [rsidey] 1 18.06.19 13:53 Mt Roy 6.99 km 8.74 p.

2 20.09.19 15:26 Pakituhi 5.27 km 7.91 p.

3 17.04.19 14:18 Breast Hill 7.84 km 7.84 p.

Sarah McRae [smcr]♀ 1 22.06.19 15:58 Mt Oxford 6.43 km 8.04 p.

2 13.04.19 14:09 Mount Bra...

7.72 km 7.72 p.

3 06.04.19 16:36 Mt Ida 5.97 km 7.46 p.

Dan Clearwater [chucky3] 1 20.09.19 15:43 Pakituhi 8.31 km 8.31 p.

2 18.06.19 13:49 ?

6.64 km 8.30 p.

3 17.04.19 14:35 ?

6.55 km 6.55 p.

123.96 p.

116.14 p.

109.86 p.

100.74 p.

97.15 p.

91.86 p.

89.99 p.

83.13 p.

80.11 p.

80.11 p.

77.05 p.

75.02 p.

67.04 p.

61.55 p.

59.90 p.

57.50 p.

57.15 p.

55.94 p.

Site

Distance

Points

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

26 A i r b o r n

Total 55.04 p.

52.72 p.

49.59 p.

49.30 p.

48.12 p.

47.53 p.

43.17 p.

42.02 p.

41.35 p.

40.05 p.

39.52 p.

35.06 p.

28.45 p.

27.73 p.

27.14 p.

26.72 p.

26.21 p.

25.93 p.

24.49 p.

23.22 p.

23.16 p.

Photo: Ross Gray

Stew Karstens [nelpara] 1 19.09.19 11:30 Barnicoat 58.47 km 87.71 p.

2 06.10.19 12:14 Barnicoat 27.35 km 54.70 p.

3 26.07.19 12:51 Barnicoat 25.38 km 31.73 p.

Doug Patterson [dougpatterson] 1 15.10.19 13:12 Treble Cone 41.92 km 62.88 p.

2 03.10.19 12:22 Treble Cone 16.39 km 32.78 p.

3 20.09.19 12:22 Treble Cone 28.30 km 28.30 p.

Nick Taber [MACPARANZ] 1 06.10.19 11:37 Barnicoat 40.39 km 50.49 p.

2 13.10.19 11:29 Barnicoat 31.98 km 39.98 p.

3 20.09.19 11:20 Barnicoat 17.11 km 25.67 p.

Sam Hamill [Samhamill] 1 20.09.19 11:13 Barnicoat 46.46 km 46.46 p.

2 18.09.19 13:28 Barnicoat 21.46 km 0.00 p.

3 12.10.19 11:52 Barnicoat 24.97 km 31.21 p.

Chris Connolly [Infinity] 1 12.10.19 14:05 Dalefield 32.98 km 41.23 p.

2 21.09.19 12:49 Mt Climie 24.93 km 31.16 p.

3 06.10.19 14:23 Dalefield 22.68 km 28.35 p.

Jeff Ripley [Jeff-Ripley] 1 21.09.19 12:15 Moirs Hill 41.37 km 51.71 p.

2 13.10.19 12:20 Moirs Hill 36.35 km 45.44 p.

Emlyn Revell-Nash [thegremlin] 1 21.09.19 12:26 Moirs Hill 39.31 km 39.31 p.

2 13.10.19 12:24 Moirs Hill 24.51 km 30.64 p.

3 20.04.19 13:00 Kaimai 17.53 km 21.91 p.

Evan Lamberton [firefly] 1 20.04.19 12:51 Kaimai 42.11 km 52.64 p.

2 19.04.19 13:14 Paeroas 24.07 km 24.07 p.

3 05.05.19 13:49 Kaimai 13.28 km 13.28 p.

Aidan Limbert [Aids] 1 19.09.19 11:29 Barnicoat 31.93 km 39.91 p.

2 06.10.19 11:24 Barnicoat 22.12 km 27.65 p.

3 12.10.19 10:43 Barnicoat 15.57 km 15.57 p.

Martin Kraemer [Skysegel] 1 09.08.19 12:59 Treble Cone 31.20 km 31.19 p.

2 20.09.19 12:32 Treble Cone 28.97 km 28.97 p.

3 07.09.19 12:28 Treble Cone 13.30 km 19.95 p.

Bruce Vickerman [Bruce.V] 1 15.04.19 13:49 Kaimai 33.05 km 41.31 p.

2 19.04.19 13:16 Paeroas 17.93 km 22.41 p.

3 07.04.19 13:43 Kaimai 16.39 km 16.39 p.

Andrew Mclauchlan [flyingkiwi001] 1 19.08.19 11:56 Barnicoat 30.20 km 37.75 p.

2 12.10.19 10:45 Barnicoat 9.92 km 19.84 p.

3 28.04.19 13:49 Takaka Hill 9.73 km 19.46 p.

Peter Jones [jonesie] 1 01.09.19 12:59 Paeroas 26.77 km 33.46 p.

2 17.04.19 14:42 Kaimai 18.44 km 23.05 p.

3 04.10.19 13:19 Ians 14.81 km 18.51 p.

Ross Gallagher [Redwings] 1 21.09.19 12:32 Paeroas 21.67 km 27.09 p.

2 22.09.19 13:22 Paeroas 13.73 km 20.60 p.

3 20.04.19 12:34 Kaimai 19.35 km 19.35 p.

Robert Dunkerley [Rob.Ray] 1 15.10.19 13:04 Treble Cone 28.21 km 28.21 p.

2 05.09.19 13:23 Treble Cone 13.23 km 19.85 p.

3 02.09.19 12:55 Treble Cone 13.49 km 13.49 p.

Tim Notman [TNotman] 1 06.10.19 12:18 Mt Plenty 19.89 km 29.84 p.

2 01.09.19 13:35 Little River 18.11 km 18.11 p.

3 07.09.19 12:18 Bealey Spur 11.95 km 11.95 p.

Bruno Metz [Tigroun] 1 20.04.19 13:10 Kaimai 15.79 km 19.74 p.

2 15.06.19 10:54 ?

13.10 km 19.65 p.

3 21.09.19 12:26 Moirs Hill 14.49 km 18.11 p.

Aaron Ford [AaronF] 1 14.09.19 13:32 Pakituhi 38.10 km 57.15 p.

Chris Streat [ChrisStreat] 1 15.10.19 11:48 Coronet Peak 55.94 km 55.94 p.

Paragliding Competition Committee Write Up Y

ou’d think that through the NZ winter that the PCC would have a bit of a quieter time; but not so.

This year there has been numerous overseas competitions in which numerous kiwis have competed and for many of those pilots it was the first time they had competed internationally. I would suggest that for a relatively small paragliding competition fraternity that we are among the most ‘travelled’ of any nation.

There is a graph (also shown here) on the “Flying Kiwi” FB page (a FB site devoted to NZ pilots that fly, or intend to fly, internationally) that shows that at the recent World Championship in Krushevo, although New Zealand was placed 28th nationally, when you look at competition points accrued versus population we were ranked 6th in the world as a paragliding nation (Iceland was the top nation!).

A special ‘well done’ to Louis Tapper, Richard Castro and Mark Hardman (and team manager Evan Lamberton) that participated in the highly competitive and gruelling 12 day World Championship event held in early August. Many of us winter ‘arm chair’ pilots were riveted by the daily updates. Mark Hardman further excelled by unexpectedly, but not surprisingly, receiving, on the final presentation day, the FAI Sports Medal for services to paragliding. Congratulations once again to Mark.

On the topic of overseas competitions, of particular mention this winter season is Nico Sand who came in third at the Gin Wide Open, also in Krushevo, in late August. You may remember, Nico was awarded the Leo Geary Trophy for the most promising up-and-coming pilot at the NZ Nationals earlier this year.

The NZPRS has been updated to accommodate those overseas competitions. Nico has rocketed to 7th place on the NZPRS! Earlier, the Rules regarding the eligibility of overseas competitions to be included into the NZPRS were amended.

With the old Rules there had a been a lot of concern about only being able to nominate two competitions (and that prior to the event). Now, a pilot may compete in as many competitions as they wish but the NZPRS will only look at the best two, after the event. What this means is that Johnny Hopper and Wayne Rohrs have been particularly busy over the winter in updating the software and scoring program for NZPRS. So, whilst participating in an overseas competition is great, it is

now also incumbent on the competing pilot to notify the PCC once the results have been published on the FAI WPRS (which is updated at the beginning of each month) that they’d like a particular competition scored so that those figures can be uploaded to the NZPRS. The NZPRS is also only updated at the first of each month, which means that the NZPRS will always follow the WPRS by a month. It is a lot of work for Wayne and Johnny. Thank you.

It won’t be long before pilots will begin to post their xc flights onto XContest. Make sure you have signed in for this years League. May we remind you that anything that goes ‘online’, any track logs or photos, must be legal and not incriminating (i.e. No photos that may show illegal activity) as it can be viewed by the CAA or any other administrative body. It is the responsibility of each pilot to ensure that their tracklogs are in every way legal, especially in regards to airspace. It is not

for the PCC (and Tim Percival) to check!

Over the summer months we encourage the local Clubs to organise and run Regional competitions as this provides excellent training for the Nationals. It only takes a minimum of six pilots to create a valid Regional. Contact the PCC if you’d like to organise such an event.

Next years National competition is being run in good old Rotorua in the first week of March. Johnny Hopper and his bevy of beauties are hosting and organising this event. Contact Johnny if you’d like to assist. It’s a great social week even if you aren’t competing. As an early reminder, the members for the PCC are chosen at that event. If you’d like to be involved then have a think about it, and put your hand up!

For all the pilots though: Be there and be ready! Johnny runs a pretty sweet competition.

Best wishes from the PCC team.

The Pilot “Best clothing I’ve ever had for temperature range” - Bill Degen, Airborn magazine

www.silkliving.com A

i r b o r n

27

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

T

here were no new entries from Winter this time so it’s wide open for anyone that can get some XC flights under their belt.

Spring flying has started, we need to get out and take advantage of those spring thermals. Spring often turns on some great thermal days as sun heating is slower and if lapse rates are high, sea breezes don’t come in as fast to kill thermal activity.

So far things have been heating up nicely and its shaping up to be another hot season. If you missed out earlier this year, now is the time to catch up and get those flights on the table.

If you haven’t entered before, there’s nothing like setting yourself a public goal to encourage yourself to do better. Only one person wins the contest but the real challenge is to improve your skills, understand the weather and fly the best you can in the conditions you have available. Regardless of your score, you’ll get some great flights and may even pick up a local site record.

Every season you’ll see your personal best flights get better. You’ll also find yourself doing much better in the usual competitions with the extra knowledge and skills you will get.

TO ENTER...

It’s free and simple; fly anywhere in New Zealand before midnight on 31st December, email or post in your flight details (and tracklog if you have one) before 30 days has passed and you’re entered.

Enter as many flights as you like. Your shorter flights are automatically replaced by your longer ones. Only your longest four flights are scored.

For each flight entry, please supply; • Your name, email address and contact phone number.

• Flight date, take-off/release place, landing place, and flight distance in kilometres and 10ths.

• Tracklog file from a GPS that can be read by GPSDump, such as an IGC file. Best is a kml file optimised by GPSDump.

• If you don’t have a GPS tracklog, then also supply; Start and landing witness/s name & contact details.

A GPS instrument has many advantages for XC flying, but for pilots who don’t have GPS, you can still enter the NZ HG XC Champs without one, you just need to provide take-off and landing witnesses.

SCORING The pilot with the best total of four flights is the NZ Hang Gliding Cross Country Champion for that year and gets first choice of any prizes followed by pilots with second and third best totals. The pilot with the longest single flight gets fourth choice, then prizes go from fourth best total onwards.

Flights for each years XC Champs must be flown between 1 January and 31st December and entered within 30 days. This ends one contest while pilots have good weather and starts the next contest while everyone’s still keen.

Distances are measured using GPSDump which is free software that comes in Windows, Mac and other versions. It it reads GPS tracklogs from just about any instrument. It works out the best start and finish points for you. It also works out if the flight fits any other FAI criteria such as out and return, triangle etc. It enables you to export it for viewing in Google Earth in 3D. Download GPSDump at; www.gethome.no/stein.sorensen Airtribune Live tracking For those who want quicker retrieves, get the Airtribune App for your Android smartphone. Airtribune

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 Rick Hawkeswood

111.5

25.3

20.5

157.3

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

33.6

20.9

105.2

Brian Russell

100.4

28.7

22.0

100.4

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

79.6

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

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.

Rules You must be a paid up NZHGPA member during all flights or you don’t score. Entries must be postmarked or emailed within 30 days of the flight or don’t score.

This helps ensure accuracy and prevents pilots holding back flights until the end, so we all to know how everyone’s doing.

Please DON’T phone, txt, or tell me in the pub, all entries must be in writing (email preferred) with all flight details (and GPS tracklog if using remote launch and/or landings), or do not score. Don’t assume that because someone else was there or you were in a competition that your flight has been entered. It is each pilots’ responsibility to declare and enter full details of their own flight entries.

Measure your flights in kilometres and 10ths of km, straight line from take-off to landing. Or for often a few more kms, optimised flight distances with a Remote Start and/or Remote Finish are welcome, if you send in a valid GPS tracklog.

Aerotow launched xc flights are permitted, but your release altitude must be less than 5% of the flight distance (current FAI ruling) or does not score. This prevents super high tows followed by a downwind glide from scoring against pilots thermalling for xc.

The flight scores from tow release position (not tow take-off) and verification can be witnessed by the tug pilot, or confirmed with known landmark photo or GPS tracklog.

Out & return, triangle or multiple turnpoint distances are not eligible at this stage, however if a enough pilots

7.0

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.

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/hanggliding-cross-country-championships.

Online scoring? Not yet, but if you have a 3D GPS you can enter any of the online contests as well. If you do this, just let me know by emailing me a link to your online entry and I’ll copy the data to the NZ HG XC Champs. It should have all we need to enter your flight.

SEND YOUR ENTRY TO; aero@xtra.co.nz (Please write “XC Entry” in the header and please keep your entry separate from other emails) or post entries to; NZ Hang Gliding XC Champs, Bill Degen, 99A Panorama Road, Christchurch 8081

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

An Eagle Races To Protect The Alps

Learn to Fly Hang gliding, paragliding schools and instructors that you can contact for qualified flight instruction in New Zealand

E

quipped with a camera on his back, Victor, a white-tailed sea eagle, will attempt in late September-early October, a race of five flights across five alpine countries over five days.

This is a world first to raise awareness of climate change and the reintroduction of species in their natural environment, organised by the EagleWings Foundation in partnership with Maison Chopard, manufacturer of luxury watches and jewellery.

After captivating the world with more than 2 billion views from the Burj Khalifa, flying over Paris, London or Cologne, Victor, the famous white-tailed sea eagle, will attempt a new record: to launch with a 360° camera from the top of five glaciers in five days in five alpine countries.

1. Zugspitze Germany, 2. Dachstein, Austria, 3. Marmolada, Italy, 4. Piz Corvatsch, Switzerland, 5. Aiguille du midi, France.

The eagle will fly to reach JacquesOliviers Travers his falconer, as quickly as possible. These will be the longest flights ever attempted with a bird born in captivity!

The start of the official race will take

place at the end of September, on five consecutive days, if the necessary weather allows.

This project brings together a dialogue in pictures between the eyes of the eagle, that of the man, captured by photographer Nomi Baumgartl and that of science, collecting the images of the European Space Agency, partner of the project.

The White-tailed Sea Eagle is, like its cousin the American Eagle, the symbol of the European continent.

Represented on many coats of arms, like the German or Geneva flags, this species formerly in the Alps has been decimated by man over the last centuries.

It depends on an environment more and more impacted by humans.

Climate change is beginning to change the alpine landscape in a visible way (melting glaciers, rising vegetation altitude, shifting seasons).

There is no doubt that these dramatic changes will accelerate in the coming decades.

EagleWings offers an innovative look at the phenomena affecting the alpine arc, problems that we can unfortunately extend to the whole planet.

Dreams of Flying

C

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A

i r b o r n

29

Photos: Neil Brown, Ross Gray

o-Authors Gerard and John McNicholas, have launched a book with a difference, the early days of hang gliding and microlights set mostly in the Taranaki region.

The stories told by two brothers who have differing accounts of flying discovery along the way.

John discovered the thrill of flying comes with its all too obvious dangers but also the often unexpected personal rewards finally outweigh the risks. Gerard’s stories are complimentary and form a saga of audacious adventures and hair raising accomplishments. Internal fear, the challenge itself, measuring your skills against the elements of wind and close terrain. The shear joy is expressed when you leap from the hilltop with only the wind as your source of flight.

Disasters and laughs, spills and thrills, the day we all nearly died, close calls, collisions, heavy landings, perfect days, rescue operations, the themes and intrigue never ceases. These stories are all elevated with an impressive photographic essay.

This is a book for all to gain insight into the very essence of the sensibilities of what flying really is. It will capture the hearts and minds of all who have ever imagined what it is to fly with a free spirit. Where you can enjoy the companion of a soaring bird on your wingtip, another kite soaring close by, or a dark storm approaching on the seas horizon.

Throughout the story, a sense of humour and faith prevails, even in the most unexpected and hair raising situations. The reader will be satisfied with a deeper understanding what true flying really means.

Available for $35 plus postage at filmcraft@xtra.co.nz

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

■ Paid up NZHGPA members may run one advertisement per classification for free in each issue ■ Please email or post your advertisement to the editor, quoting your NZHGPA PIN number ■ Commercial operators, dealers, and non-members must enclose payment of $0.50c per word with their advertisement ■ Advertisements are deleted for next issue unless repeat request received ■ include your email address for the online issue ■ Buyers are advised that all used hang gliders and paragliders should have a NEW fitness check (WOF) when sold ■ It is dangerous to fly a glider or with equipment that is above your rated ability ■ PARAGLIDERS PHI Gliders - www.phi-air.com - the revolution continues. Hannes Papesh and Mike Kung create the latest revelations in gliders - Maestro new high B is here. Symphonia - high B performance certified EN A. Also, the EN A Sonata and light weight Viola. Tenor and Tenor light, class B gliders with better than class performance and handling. Exclusively from SkyWings - email alan@skywings.co.nz PHI SONATA 12 & lightweight version Viola are proving to be our new best miniwings - lots of sizes, unbeatable flight qualities - check our website and contact us for special introductory offers - alan@skywings.co.nz or www.skywings.co.nz MAESTRO is out - the PHI Maestro from Hannes Papesh is here and leads the high B class.

Finally a perfect handling feel and C performance is available in the B class - exceeding all expectations - ask anyone who is flying one - contact SkyWings for unbeatable introductory prices - alan@skywings.co.nz NOVA Paragliders - www.nova.eu - exclusively by SkyWings - www.skywings.co.nz - email alan@skywings.co.nz SPEEDFLYING specialists - and dozens of great XC wings - happy to trade - all kinds of harnesses in stock as well - www.skywings.co.nz or alan@skywings.co.nz MOTOR Paragliding PARAMOTORING - exclusive Miniplane and PAP motors - SkyWings for courses and equipment - www.skywings.co.nz or alan@skywings.co.nz BLACKBIRD Paramotor. NZ designed and made. High performance & comfort. $9850 email: paradynamics@xtra.co.nz www.paradynamics.co.nz Phone 03 325 4540.

HANG GLIDERS FREE Moyes Maxi available - parts, lawn shade or historical interest? Pickup only. Call Rod Oakley, 03 473 7752 to arrange collection.

KIWI 170 mint/new condition. Manufactured mid 90’s unused. Test flown - Good Nov/ Intermediate first 70% double surface lower aspect ratio glider, No VG new WOF, $2000. email - skyriderag@gmail.com 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 1991 Rumour 14.5m, Intermediate/advanced double surface. Airframe and sail in good condition, has Insignia cloth repairs to its leading edge mylar due to delamination. Spare upright, test flown, WOF, $1500. email - skyriderag@gmail.com, phone 027 670 8301 RX3 for sale. Carbon & Zoom frame. Very low hours sail. It’s the second sail on the frame. Light green front, dark green strip & teal back. Code zero swish sail, can be checked with Moyes.

Glider is currently in Newcastle Australia, can be brought back to NZ for costs. $6,500 ono.

Phone Tish 021 280 241 email tishtheflyingfish@gmail.com T2C 144; fully optioned, with transparent Technora upper and lower sail, speed battens, raked tips, black uprights, faired carbon keel stinger, keel fairing etc. 1st at 2019 Omarama 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 or swap for skyfloater.

Phone 021 220 8302, ashswin556@gmail.com 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 wanted, contact Bill at 03 326-6411 or aero@xtra.co.nz U2 160. Dacron sail, Mylar/Hydranet LE/TE, speed battens and raked tips. 2012, great condition, has flown approx 300 hours. email - skyriderag@gmail.com, phone 027 670 8301 RESERVE PARACHUTES RANGE of reserve parachutes for hang gliding and paragliding including the tried and trusted Revolution, Second Chance and now the compact DiamondCross in optional steerable PG versions and HG versions. Bridles, Front containers, Maillons, Swivels, Hook knives etc, in stock at HG & PG Supplies, Phone 021 247 2676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz REVOLUTION paragliding parachute. For weight up to 120kg, never deployed, just inspected and packed. Phone 021 247 2676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz INSTRUMENTS AIRCOTEC XCT Dual. Great reliable GPS alti vario instrument, Limited supply at big discount. Info at http://www.aircotec.com/cms/front_content.php?idcat=37 Phone 021 2472676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz ACCESSORIES Helmets, No Limit (visor option), Insider, Loop (visor option), Breeze (adjustable) Range of colours & sizes, phone 021 247 2676 email aero@xtra.co.nz EMPLOYMENT CORONET Peak Tandems Ltd, Queenstown, are looking for tandem hang gliding and paragliding pilots. Call 021 220 5932 SKYTREK Tandems Ltd, Queenstown, are seeking tandem hang gliding and paragliding pilots to join our growing tourism business. Please call Ian on 027 4301 741 or email ian@skytrek.co.nz INSTRUCTION HANG Gliding/Skyfloating. Experienced instruction in Christchurch using the latest skyfloater hang gliders and equipment, Phone Bill 021 247 2676, 03 326 6411 a.h., email aero@xtra. co.nz and www.hgpg.co.nz

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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 fly.

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,

PLUS PLUS

We’llsend sendFMC’s FMC’sBackcountry Backcountrymagazine magazine We’ll straighttotoyour yourmail-box mail-boxfor fora awhole whole year! straight year!

www.fmc.org.nz/top-up www.fmc.org.nz/top-up 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.

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

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

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

PHI SYMPHONIA - EN A

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

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HARNESSES: - SUPAIR - NOVA