NZHGPA Airborn #189

Issue 189; February, March, April 2014

CROSS COUNTRY FLYING ISSUE 7.50 Including GST

$

9 771170 992006

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING

Learn Ways to Fly Better NZ Paragliding Triangle Record NZ Hang Gliding Distance Record

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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 because flying sites have been lost by careless visiting flyers. 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.

NORTHLAND H.G.P.C. C/- Guntram Gross 1 Brook Road Whangarei Email: skywalk@igrin.co.nz Pres, Airsp; Shane Gross...............09 436 0268 Sec/Treas; Guntram Gross.............09 436 0268 PGSO; Wolfgang Harder................09 403 7594 HGSO; Stephen Chambers............09 430 3689 Herman Ahrens...............................09 432 9333

MANAWATU H.G.P.C. C/- Andrew Brownlie 11 Hollows Crescent Takaro Palmerston North 4412 Email: rosscoe@inspire.net.nz 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

AUCKLAND H.G.P.C. PO Box 90 154 Auckland Email: grahamsurrey@gmail.com www.cloudbase.org.nz Pres: Graham Surrey .................021 0262 5023 Sec: Alex Daley............................021 121 0795 Treas, Airsp: Leslie Graham............09 579 6485 HGSO: Michell Jagersma...............06 622 3210 PGSO: Reuben Muir.......................09 446 0020 Cameron Kennedy..........................09 813 3610 Eva Walton-Keim............................09 446 0051 Tony Cowley ..................................09 426 1264 Website; Wayne Rohrs...................09 630 2939 Active Sky HG, Sebastian Katz....021 170 3646 Skywings Paragliding ....................09 570 5757 Aqua Air Adventure Hang Gliding.027 288 0193 Wings & Waves Paragliding ...........09 446 0020

BAY OF PLENTY H.G.P.C. C/- Caroline Shaw 19B Gordon St Mt Maunganui Tauranga Email: info@shawbuilders.co.nz Pres: Dave Shaw HG......................07 575 9560 Sec: Carolyn Shaw.........................07 575 9560 HGSO: James Low.........................07 576 1319 PGSO: Wayne Roberts 07 574 4223, 027 643 6529 Airsp; Rhys Akers...........................07 578 0564 Mike Gordon HG............................07 578 9342 David Mustard PG..........................07 576 3942 Bryce Matuschka PG.....................07 574 2164 Levitate Paragliding........................07 542 0098 Mount Paragliding..07 574 4223, 027 643 6529

TARANAKI FREE FLYERS C/- Dennis Green 38 Kaitake Rd RD4 New Plymouth Pres/Sec/HGSO, Airsp; Dennis Green .......................................................06 752 7618

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MARLBOROUGH H.G.P.C. C/- Julie Bousquet 122 Wellington Street, Picton.

Email: j_bousquet@yahoo.com Pres, Airsp: Vern Sanders...............03 570 5322 Sec: Julie Bousquet.....................027 340 0718 Treas: Derek Wong Nam.................03 577 8857 HGSO: John Urlich: .......................03 577 8886 PGSO: Russell Read....................027 448 0888

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

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

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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Contributions

CANTERBURY H.G.P.C. Inc. C/- Jennifer Corbett 17 Admirals Way, New Brighton Christchurch 8061 www.chgpc.org.nz Email: jenster66@hotmail.com Pres; Luke Goleman.......................03 980 2395 Sec/Treas; Jennifer Corbett............03 382 4404 PGSO; Robert Kennedy.................03 329 3339 HGSO; Danial Campbell.................03 980 6335 Sites PG; Bradley Norton...............03 322 9819 Sites HG; Derek McKee...............021 251 2300 Airsp; Peter Taylor..........................03 338 6287 Website; Stephen O’Shaughnessy.03 326 7373 Canty HG School; Bill Degen.......021 247 2676 Nimbus Paragliding......................0800 111 611 ParaPro.........................................0800 548 323

SOUTHERN H.G.P.C. C/- Ian Clark, 16 Lake Ave, Frankton, Queenstown 9300 Email: info@southernclub.co.nz www.southernclub.co.nz Pres, Airsp: Ian Hornby..............021 0238 8894 Sec: Jim Rooney....................... 020 4010 1926 PGSO: Blake Round.....................027 367 7679 HGSO: Ian Clark.............................03 442 3992 PG Sites; Mark Dewsbery............022 601 5576 Treasurer: Daniel Stephens .........027 237 9250 Airsp: Mark Hardman.....................021 809 275 Coronet Weather Station................03 442 9974 Coronet Peak Tandem PG & HG..0800 467 325 Elevation Paragliding....................0800 359 444 Extreme Air............................ 0800 PARAGLIDE Flight Park......................................03 442 1586 Infinity Paragliding School..........021 0228 2939 Lucky Montanas PG (Wanaka).......03 443 1680 Paraventures.............................0800 FLYSOLO Skytrek Hang Gliding & Paragliding.0800 759 873

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

gratefully accepted for publication ● Articles should preferably be computer text files in any unformatted word processor file. Airborn can use Apple Mac, or Windows text files. You can send them by email, on floppy, Zip, CD or DVD

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HAWKES BAY H.G.P.C. Inc. C/o Rebecca Rae 30 Kaweka Place Havelock North 4130 Email: samelkink@hotmail.com www.soarhawkesbay.co.nz Pres, Airsp: Euan Talbot ..............022 048 7673 Sec/Treas: Rebecca Rae................021 605 204 PGSO: Sam Elkink 027 474 7221 HGSO: Ross MacKay 027 285 4195

Published every three months for hang gliding and paragliding enthusiasts in

TASMAN H.G.P.C. C/- Jude Tarr 2 Eckington Terrace Nelson 7010 Email: flytheice@gmail.com www.thgpc.org.nz Pres; Peter Allison .........................03 546 5242 Sec; Jude Tarr .............................. 03 548-7944 Treas; Nicky Hamill ........................03 547 4845 PGSO;Tim Brown ..........................03 526 6238 HGSO & HG Sites; Rob Bryant......03 545 0630 PG Sites; Lyn Watkins................... 03 541 0432 PG Sites; Jason Hamill...................03 547 4845 Airsp; Nick Taber............................03 545 0766 Nelson Paragliding.........................03 544 1182 Adventure Paragliding....................021 762 769 Hang Gliding NZ.............................03 540 2183 Tasman Sky Adventures...............027 229 9693

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 Paul Henderson..............................021 523 752

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WAIKATO H.G.P.C. Inc. C/- Ewen Tonar 23A Brookview Court Hamilton Email: etonar@infogen.net.nz Pres, Airsp: Neil Howe....................07 304 9631 Sec/Treas: Ewen Tonar...................07 855 3969 HGSO: Paul Brydon.......................07 825 9161 PGSO: Bruce Vickerman ...............07 868 4991

WELLINGTON H.G.P.C. PO Box 9824 Marion Square Wellington 6141 www.whgpc.homestead.com Email: firth@xtra.co.nz Pres: Kris Ericksen.......................021 116 4558 Sec: Grant Firth............................. 021 422 698 PGSO: Chris Connolly..................022 676 5599 HGSO: Grant Tatham...................027 636 3491 Airsp: Ian Miller ............................022 176 8205 Newsletter Editor: Kris Ericksen.....04 938 6539 Oceania Paragliding School.........022 676 5599

ISSN 1170-9928

Advertising All advertising enquiries and payments to the editor ● Classified advertisements are $0.50c per word to commercial operators and non-

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N.Z.H.G.P.A. INC., 23 Covent Drive, Stoke, Nelson 7011, New Zealand www.nzhgpa.org.nz PRESIDENT

Evan Lamberton, 35A Manly Esplanade, Browns Bay, North Shore City 0630, 09 478 0063, 021 407833, gsifly@gmail.com VICE PRESIDENT

Derek Divers, 106 Lachlan Avenue, RD2, Wanaka 9382, 03 443 7190, 027 493 1112, d.divers@xtra.co.nz ADMINISTRATION/Licensing

Nicky Hamill, 23 Covent Drive, Stoke, Nelson 7011, 03 547 4845, fax 03 547 4653, nzhgpa.admins@clear.net.nz Hang Gliding Operations Manager

Glenn Meadows, 8 Brook Tce, Nelson. 03 548 9151, 027 275 1022, gmeadows@clear.net.nz Hang Gliding Training Manager

Ross Gray, 7 Nathan Place, Palmerston North 4412. 06 357 8996, 021 126 0892, rosscoe@inspire.net.nz PARAGLIDING OPERATIONS MANAGER

Grant Middendorf, 30 Charles Court, RD2, Wanaka 9382, 03 443 5090, 027 4913 786, middy25@xtra.co.nz PARAGLIDING TRAINING MANAGER

Dean Straker, 35 Seymour Avenue, The Brook, Nelson 7010, 03 545 7511, 021 545 7511, dean@verticallimits.co.nz AIRSPACE OFFICER

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

Paul Brydon, 1431 Main Te Pahu Rd, RD5, Hamilton. 07 825 9161, 021 253 5264, paulbrydon@gmail.com DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE CONVENOR

Dean Straker, 35 Seymour Avenue, The Brook, Nelson 7010, 03 545 7511, 021 545 7511, dean@verticallimits.co.nz INTERNAL AUDITOR

Kris Ericksen, 11 Koromiko Road, Aro Valley, Wellington 6012, 04 938 6539, 021 116 4558, skf@paradise.net.nz NZHGPA BOOKSHOP

Ewen Tonar, 23A Brookview Court, Hamilton. 07 855 3969, 021 041 1418, etonar@infogen.net.nz HANG GLIDING COMPETITION COMMITTEE

Mark Alton, 09 480 8871, 022 195 5746, markalton@yahoo.com Dennis Green, 38 Kaitake Road, RD 4, New Plymouth 4374, 06 752 7618, 021 430 436, dennis-green@clear.net.nz PARAGLIDING COMPETITION COMMITTEE

Johnny Hopper, Unit 25/22A Wilcott Street, Mt Albert, Auckland 1025, 021 056 2275, johnnyhopper@gmail.com Nick Stead, 71A Cliff Rd, Torbay, North Shore City, Auckland 0630. 021 478 947, nickstead@gmail.com Louis Tapper, 12 Gray St, Frankton 9300, 027 202 2996, yakernz@gmail.com

In This Issue...

NZ Cross Country Record ..........................................................4 NZ Paragliding Triangle Record..................................................7

quote identifying words and phone number ● Advertisements for new hang

Canungra Paragliding Cup..........................................................8

conditions ● For display and other advertising rates and conditions please

Oz Paragliding XC Record.........................................................18

gliders and paragliders must state certification status and meet our standard contact the editor

Book Review/Convergence.......................................................20

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

Please send advertisements, photos and articles to the editor:

Post:

Email:

South Island Hang Gliding Open...............................................12

Airborn Magazine

99A Panorama Road Christchurch 8008 New Zealand

aero@xtra.co.nz

Exec News...................................................................................22 Safety Checks.............................................................................22 Events..........................................................................................24 Cross Country Champs Scoreboards.................................26, 28 Classified Advertisements.........................................................30 FRONT COVER: James Low launches on a thermic day at the Paeroa Range Photo: Ross Gray

Next issue deadline: 1 APRIL 2014 A

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NZ XC Record Taken Twice in Three Days John Smith has broken the NZ hang gliding cross country record, twice. Dave Newton’s 169km record set in 2009 was first beaten

by John’s flight on the 19th December with a 172.4km flight from Coronet Peak to Tekapo. Then just 3 days later on 22nd December he flew just past the same place breaking his own record with a new one of 177.5kms.

Earlier flights in November including a 103km flight from Coronet to near Omarama showed him the potential of beating the NZ record. He improved the route on the following flights.

On the day of the latest record flight John had been teaching in the morning, he said lift had been getting strong for the students even then, so he launched just after midday, thermalled up Coronet and along Brow Peak then off over tiger country behind Arrowtown to Mount Soho where there is a serious lack of roads and good landing areas.

The low cloudbase of 7000ft at Coronet kept him relatively low and under airspace at the same time. With lift marked by clouds he crossed more unlandable terrain to Cardrona. From then on things became less intimidating as he was within glide of roads. Cloudbase was rising as he crossed the Cardrona Valley to the Pisa Range, topping up to around 8000ft, then over the Hawea Flats to Bluenose to get up again.

John Smith

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In the Lindis he climbed to 8600ft, keeping good height above ground over the Mackenzie plain past Omarama before getting onto the Benmores at around 4200ft and maxing altitude at 9500ft.

Going over the northern Mackenzie flats he found good convergence clouds up to Mount Mary with light sea breezes feeding them. John had good height arriving near Burkes Pass but a scout along the Sawdon ridge produced only a brief climb in the sea breeze so he returned to land near Tekapo.

The South to Southwest day was very thermic and extremely cold at altitude, a good test for his new Goretex gloves. Thermals that day were plentiful, long lasting with high bases, some over 10,000ft. Unusually the sea breezes remained light and didn’t kill the thermals till very late in the day. John made exceptionally fast progress even considering the tail wind, never getting really low or having to wait for things to improve. His flight time of 4 hours and 52 minutes gave an average speed of 48km/hr. He found it less tiring than expected though he did find it very cold.

John has his eye on a longer distance; 200kms or more, perhaps the same route veering west more for the easterly convergence towards Cook or Lilybank to the west of Tekapo. Arriving in the same conditions at Tekapo it may be possible to fly along the eastern side of Dobson or along the Two Thumbs Range.

He says an earlier start at Coronet is possible and plans to carry an airband radio so he can fly through the Mackenzie Mandatory Broadcast Zone. He says the Coronet launch is ideal and to launch further south would handicap with lower cloud bases.

John’s advice to cross country pilots is to practise, fly lots, in the right weather conditions, get familiar with the area, to build confidence and ability.

Equipment;

Above; John in action Photo; Lisa Bradley

Moyes LiteSpeed RS4, Brauniger Compeo Flight Instrument Goretex gloves Forecast by www.XCSkies.com The flight track and data can be viewed on Leonardo at; www.paraglidingforum.com/ leonardo/flight/855646 Replay and pan around the flight in 3D at; www.doarama.com/view/3190

Location map

Left and above; John Launching at Coronet Peak Photos; Koichi Yasuda

Photo; David Glover

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World Female PG XC Record

by Nicole Fedele

423.5km: New PG World Record to Declared Goal

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lmost a year after Seiko Fukuoka (Icepeak 6) became the woman flying the longest distance in paragliding with a flight of 336 km, on 7th November Italian Nicole Fedele broke the feminine free distance world record in a straight line, flying 376.5 km from Quixada take-off to Barras on the Peak 3.

Nicole’s impressions of that day in Quixada: “After four years of attempts, hopes and frustrations, ups and downs, my day finally arrived! Quixada is a very special place that can put yourself in a state of mental stress because bad days are often more than happy ones and it is not always easy to keep your motivation high when you bomb 7 out of 8 times like happened to me.

Waiting for a good day is sometimes also very frustrating when it seems that that day will never arrive! Patience is very important and this year in Brazil I trained a lot, believe me!

On 7th November conditions

did not look so good early in the morning so I spent some time on the take-off hanging around, talking with other pilots, and waiting for a good window. Then at around 8am I took off and left the hill after a few minutes together with other 5/6 pilots. The first part, that is usually very tricky, was easier than expected and I started to think that probably

it was not such a bad day. We flew to Madalena and we arrived there quite quickly, afterwards we started to spread out a little bit and I flew further to Monsenhor Tobosa with my husband. In the Nova Russas area the sky was all blue and my only mate bombed out. For the rest of the flight I flew alone, I just met some urubus (vultures) from time to time.

In the Piripiri area I had a couple of low saves and I lost a lot of time climbing in some very smooth thermals. After crossing Piripiri, I started to feel the smell of success.

In the morning I had put the waypoint of Barras on my GPS and now I was really focused on it. I landed at 5:15pm in the middle of the town after communicating my intention to the retrieve car that was following me.

My glider, the Peak 3, behaved perfectly: it climbs well and it is easy to handle also in the rough and not well organised thermals of Quixada...”

Nicole parawaiting...

bac Team pilot Honorin Hamard recently set the new Distance World Record to a declared goal flying 423.5km on an Icepeak 6 paraglider at Quixada Brazil. After some amazing flights in the area, Honorin finally broke the previous mark of 420.30 km established in October 2012.

“In the beginning, the idea was to break the distance world record of 502.9 km set by Nevil Hulett (RSA).

However, the weather was quite wet and the sky used to get dark after flying 300 km. In addition, some flight restricted zones didn’t allow us to fly straight away to the west; therefore, we changed our minds and we decided to break the world record to a declared goal which was in possession of 4 Brazilian pilots.

After six 300+ km flights (327, 425, 342, 345, 324, 369), 2132km in the air and 56 flying hours, the seventh flight was finally the big one! 423.5 km, a new world record to a declared goal!”

Read more about this record flight on the Abac Team blogsite; www.abac-team.com/article-worldrecord-to-declared-goal-423-5kmbrasil-quixada-121219143.html - Niviuk Team

Above; Heaven in Brazil Below; Honorin Hamard in flight Photos from by Team Abac

Left; Deco rock Left lower; Gaggle at Quixada Photos by Team Abac

More FAI Record Claims Type of record: Speed over a triangular course of 300 km Course/location: Burgsdorf (Namibia) Performance: 48.3 km/h Pilot: Jochen Zeyer (Germany) Aircraft: Atos VR / AIR Date: 31.12.2013 Current record: 45.8 km/h (12.05.2008 Walter Geppert, Austria) Type of record: Distance over a triangular course Course/location: Burgsdorf (Namibia) Performance: 406 km Pilot: Jochen Zeyer (Germany) Aircraft: Atos VR / AIR Date: 31.12.2013 Current record: 402.8 km (12.05.2008 Walter Geppert, Austria)

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NZ Paragliding FAI Triangle Record Broken O n November 18 Grant Middendorf set a new NZ national paragliding record for a FAI Triangle course with an exceptional flight from Treble Cone, Otago that took in a circumnavigation of Lake Wanaka!

Grant’s triangle course measured 96.2 km, was completed in 5, 3/4 hours, and bettered the old record by more than 20 km. Grant now holds all three of the main NZ paragliding records(!), already having the Open Distance record (142.4 km) and the Out-and-Back record (91.4 km).

(Details at www.nzhgpa.org.nz/ xcleagues/pg/NZPGRecords.php).

Although generally noted as a pilot who adheres to IFR flight rules (I follow roads), notably this time Grant made the decision when 20 km out from the start to fly 30 km of road-less mountain back country west of Lake Wanaka (the decision probably helped by the presence of Rory Devine, flying from Sharks Tooth, setting off that way a bit ahead of Grant). Grant reported excellent conditions.

The previous national FAI Triangle record was a 71.4 km course flown

by Rob van den Ham in February 2010, also from Treble Cone.

Tim Percival reports on Grant’s epic flight

Grant at Left and above in action near Wanaka Photo; Kris Ericksen

Note 1: The FAI Triangle flight type is a triangle defined by 3 turnpoints, and Turnpoint 1 is also the start and finish point. The smallest side of the triangle shall not be less than 28% of the total distance. For NZ records, a miss-close gap of up to 2% of the flight distance is permitted. (FAI is the abbreviation for the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the world governing body for air sports).

Note 2: When measured as an Out-and-Back (OB) flight, at 91.5 km Grant has basically repeated his own 91.4 km national OB record distance!

(The 0.1 km extra distance does not qualify the flight as a new OB record, because an existing record must be broken by more than 1%).

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Canungra Cup 2013

By Andy Maloney

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fter a six month break from paragliding (due to a six month stint volunteering for the Department of Conservation on Raoul Island – New Zealand’s norther nmost bit of land), I decided to derust my flying skills with a holiday to Queensland, and Australia’s most user-friendly and fun competition, the Canungra Cup.

The competition is held in late October, so its a great way to brush up on flying for the coming summer.

The competition entry fee includes transport and retrieves, which makes life much easier (though the entry fees are consequently higher than many other comps). Easy! So what could go wrong?

As it turned out, quite a lot.

My partner, Kris Ericksen and I chose one of the stormiest days of the year to attempt to fly out of Wellington. Our flight was delayed,

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Above; Pilots getting away at Beechmont Right; My bridge Photos; Andy Maloney

Lower right; Waiting at Hinchcliffs for it to come on Photo; Kris Ericksen then cancelled. We were told to report to the airport the next day, which would mean missing the first day of the competition, but after a phone call to someone sympathetic at Air New Zealand, we finally got on a flight to Sydney, then a transfer to Brisbane - only 12 hours late. We missed the practice day, but not the competition!

Day 1 The task today was from Mt Tamborine, a beautiful spot with a wide and easy launch. It would be perfect except for the wide and terrifying sweep of Eucalyptus forest, clawing the sky to catch and eat unwary paragliders, between launch and the bomb-out. It is little comfort to know that people almost never end up in the trees. Especially on a day like this with a stiff breeze from the west reducing the ability to glide out from the hill.

With some anxiety I launched, but needn’t have worried – I went straight into a light thermal and above launch

Left; Flying with Kris Photo; Andy Maloney

height. So what could go wrong?

Plenty, as it turned out.

The thermal gave out a couple of hundred feet above launch height. I drifted south down the range, finding more thermals, which all seemed to die at about the same height. I just needed one good one, to get me decent height so I could cross the valley on course toward the goal.

Then disaster struck - I lost the thermal and went into 5m/s sink, and within a turn I could see I was in trouble - I was going down twice as fast as I was flying forward, and if I didn’t get out of the sink, I’d be in the trees in less than a minute.

But a landing option was at hand – a small paddock on a flat shelf half way down the slope. The only issue was the trees at the edge – perfect for creating turbulence behind them – but I had little choice. I flew to the back of the paddock, turned into wind to land and...

The world spun around.

I recognised I’d gone into a flat spin. Strangely, I’d not managed to get such a perfect flat spin when I last did an SIV course, I thought.

My mind raced. My life did not flash before my eyes, but a lot did go through my head. I might die. Then noticing my descent rate - nowhere near freefall – survivable. My risers weren’t tangled – Good. I was below tree height – what should I do? Best not to spin into the ground. As the glider pointed into the wind, I braked the flying side of the wing and... Full stall. Eight metres up – don’t try and land on feet, lie flat and let the airbag take the force, I thought. Bang!

Self – check. Survived. Can feel everything. No obvious injuries.

Glider laid out behind me on a flat piece of ground. Radio starts blaring, “ Pilot down, spiralled into the ground, doesn’t look good”. I quickly pulled the wing together to indicate I was OK, and called on the radio to say I was fine.

There had been no time for adrenaline to kick in, no reaction afterwards either. I calmly packed up and called for retrieve. Aside from feeling like I’d been in a cage fight with a gorilla, I was fine. Could I have handled the situation better?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I think I would have chosen the same landing spot if I had to choose again.

I should have made my final turn less sharp to reduce to spin risk.

A big contribution to the incident was flying my geriatric Nova Aeron, I think. At ten years old, it was in a veteran category of its own, and a DHV 2 wing, with more demanding handling than modern wings of much better performance. Too demanding for an irregular pilot like me. Time to get a new DHV 1-2 , I decided on the spot.

The day was a difficult one for most pilots, and only three made the 47.1km goal, with Aussie pilot Gareth Carter winning the day (with only 373 points). Top Kiwi (out of eight) was Tim Brown, at 37th place and a 6.6km flight. I got bomb-out points, and most importantly for me, my partner Kris Ericksen was also on bomb-out points (well, I’m not going to win the comp, so I may as well compete with my partner!).

of 64.4km, downwind (hurrah!) to Maroon via turnpoints at Kooralbyn and Boonah. Kris was geared up and ready to launch in the open window (10 minutes of first-come-firstlaunch before the ‘ordered’ launch which depends on overall rank) like the proverbial rat out of a drainpipe.

I had the usual hassles trying to figure out how to programme my GPS (well, I’ve only had it 10 years, so I’m still learning) so took off in the ordered launch some half an hour later. I did, however, go straight up in a thermal, which Kris had waited half an hour for.

We flew together in the first thermal, then took different routes to Kooralbyn, where I hit the turnpoint virtually at cloudbase. A big range of hills with only one obvious road

separated me from the next turnpoint at Boonah. It should be easy – I only needed one more thermal. But I had a thermal-free glide to land by the road at the summit of the range, where I landed into a strong sea breeze, which had killed thermal activity for the day. My slow-flying style had let me down, but I was still pleased with my 41.7km flight.

Even better, I was ahead of Kris, who landed about 2km back along the road. He soon joined me, along with Lois Tapper and another 6 pilots who’d all been decked at more or less the same place.

The only issue for the day was now the retrieve. Being in the middle of Nowhere, we were almost the last to be picked up, shortly before sunset.

A great way to hone parawaiting skills! Then we had to pick up the Very Last pilots, who were in the middle of Absolutely F*****g Nowhere, before heading back to Canungra, just in time to find all the eating places shut.

I’d made a respectable-ish 40th place. Nineteen pilots had made goal, with Ashley McMillan (Aus) winning the day, and top Kiwi was Evan Lamberton at 19th, the only Kiwi in goal today.

Day 3 A trough was predicted to bring rain and thunderstorms, so the day was canned. A few of us went bush walking in Mt Maroon National Park and consoled ourselves by swimming in a beautiful rainforest swimming hole in a steep gorge.

Day 4 The task was set from Flying Fox, a

Day 2 Another day and another site. This time, Beechmont, a lovely friendly site with no trees in front of launch, and room for four launch spots, which makes getting 78 pilots in the air fast and easy. The vague anxiety I’d felt on before launching the previous day had evaporated with my crash, so I figured I wasn’t going to crash again for the rest of the week. Things were on the up!

At the briefing we were given a task

Upper Right; Beechmont launch Photo; Andy Maloney Right; Briefing at Flying Fox Photo; Kris Ericksen

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Right; High above Beechmont Photo; Andy Maloney lovely site spoilt only by the narrow launch, room for one glider at a time only. With nearly 80 gliders to launch, a slick and speedy operation was needed to get all the pilots off quickly.

The launching was indeed speedy, with gliders going up with less than a minute between. I missed the open launch window by some 10 seconds and had to take my place in the ordered launch queue. Another 15 minutes and I was at the front of the queue again, when the launch was closed. The wind had swung too far off the slope for safe launch. It never came back on-slope, and the day was finally declared invalid (as not enough pilots has been able to launch). Pity the one pilot who made it to goal!

Day 5 A 43km task was set from Hinchcliffe, a site fairly near to Flying Fox and similar except for a much wider launch area.

The day started with no wind whatsoever. Phil Hystek got out juggling balls, unicycles, and a slack line to provide entertainment.

I quickly learned that it is not a good idea to come off the slack line with one leg each side of it, due to the elastic recoil, much to the amusement of the other pilots.

Eventually, some breeze arrived and the task was started. I didn’t expect much from the day, as the sky was still very over-clouded, and

surprised myself by flying 14.5km before being decked by bad decision making. People flying just 200m to my left got a thermal and made goal.

I came 37th, and was somewhat disappointed to find Kris had flown a full kilometre further!

The day’s winner was Garth Camac (Aus), with 13 in goal (all Aussies), and best Kiwi was Evan Lamberton, in 20th place with 29.4km.

Day 6 Another cloudy day, but at least we were at the lovely, wide open site that is Beechmont. Room for four launch

spots (so no need to dash to get off at the open launch), and nice grassy slopes in front of launch.

Kris was one of the very first to launch, and got off in what turned out to be the only decent thermal of the day. I had borrowed a Nova Mentor 2 to test-fly, took off a little later and ended up swirling in a giant vortex of 70 or so gliders going up, down, up, down endlessly... until the task was canned an hour later. Great for spacial awareness training.

Kris flew the furthest of any pilot - a mighty 5km.

I don’t mind being beaten on a zero point day though.

Day 7

The winner of the day was David Wainwright (Aus) with Tim Brown best Kiwi in 11th place.

Day 8 Above; Launch queue on the final day of comp - with Matt Stanford at Mt Tamborine Photo; Kris Ericksen

Beechmont again, and this time a nice sunny day, with a downwind task of 65km to the wonderfully named town of Woodenbong in northern NSW. Once again I was on the Mentor 2, and thrilled in the crisp, sharp handling and safe feeling of a glider designed in the present millennium.

Love at first flight (or second in this case).

The day was awesome, with good climbs to 7000ft, and a satisfying low save at Rathdowney (a little over half way). The last part of the flight (over the NSW/ Queensland border) went over Mt Barney National Park, and a 10km-wide band of solid Eucalyptus forest between Mt Barney and the amazing volcanic plug of Mt Lindesay, which looked like a ‘butte’ misplaced from Monument Valley in Arizona (a sort of ‘butte plug’ I suppose).

The 10km wide bush was daunting

Left; Paraglider off Flying Fox launch Photo; Kris Ericksen

10 A i r b o r n

to fly over, but as I was looking down to the 1357m Mt Barney (the highest peak in Queensland) from 7000ft, I figured I had enough height. In fact, the air was buoyant until I was right over the middle of it, and within sight of goal… then I managed to find a line of sink that took me to the deck (while a pilot a few hundred metres to my right had lift all the way to goal).

As I got lower and lower, I realised the 2km goal cylinder was within reach! 300m to go, and a paddock stretched before me ending in a solid wall of trees. Was it more than 300m?

I hoped so! Then ‘Beep-beep-beep’ went the GPS, as I faced the tree trunks 50m ahead with maybe 15m of altitude. Just time for a quick turn and land. Sooo satisfying! (And so lucky it was a 2km cylinder rather than the usual 400m one!).

I came in at 42nd (out of 47 in goal).

Kris was less lucky, and had arrived at the forest without sufficient height to cross it.

Mt Tambourine again, not my favourite, and a 75km in-to-wind task to Croftby via three turn points. The first 54km was west, into wind, then a 21km southward leg crosswind.

No chance of me managing that, I thought, as I was back on my old Nova Aeron and a history of terrible results in upwind tasks. However, the paragliding gods were with me, and once I was safely clear of the horrible forest in front of Tambourine (with the help of a low save near the bomb-out paddock), I was on my way, flying most of the course with Kris.

However, getting low near Boonah (just short of the third turnpoint) Kris headed for a ‘sure thing’ thermal trigger - a big hill - whereas I headed for the turnpoint across a featureless plain. In a clear example of the capriciousness of this sport, Kris found nothing and landed, whereas I flew into a whopping thermal, made the turnpoint, flew back to the hill, caught an even more whopping thermal to 7500ft, and glided the last 15km to goal, arriving with 3500ft to spare.

I’d spent 5 1/2 hours in the air, and

was 36th and last into goal (but who cares, I had the longest flight of the day!). A great way to end the contest.

Evan had an even better day, winning the day with 3hr 14m (but I got more airtime!!).

Evan’s magnificent flying was, unfortunately, not good enough to secure the Trans-Tasman trophy, which was soundly won by those damn good Aussie pilots.

Overall, the comp winner was Gareth Carter (Aus), with Evan Lamberton as best Kiwi in 11th place, and me at 42nd (importantly, ahead of Kris Ericksen at 58th).

Full results can be seen at http:// highcloud.net/xc/comp_result. php?comPk=116 I strongly recommend this competition to pilots looking for an ‘easy’ first overseas competition to join (as well as experienced pilots), as it is well organised and great fun - both in the air and out of it.

lousy since I got it, so haven’t flown it, and won’t until at least March (as I’m heading to the sub-antarctic for 2 months sea lion work). Bugger!

Above; Final day near Beaudesert (Kris in the blue glider) Below; Mt Lindesay

Photos; Andy Maloney

Postscript: I am now the owner of a sparkly new Mentor 3 in vomit-green and shit-brown (my least favourite colour choice and therefore the only one available). The weather has been

Right; Kris waiting for retrieve Photo; Andy Maloney

A

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11

The South Island Hang Gliding Open 2013 from a Northern Perspective

By Mark Alton

T

he last comp in Havelock was in 2009 (I flew the comp but did not get the T-shirt!) It was a great comp for us North Islanders as we do not have such stimulating terrain up here.

The South Island is a fantastic place to fly and flying around Havelock put us to the test with its challenging terrain, changing winds as you fly from one valley to the next and strong sea breezes that can

Above; Lined up at Footes airstrip on day 4 Photo; Alex Crawford

Left; Topping out at Mt Riley Photo; Grant Tatham

Above; Mt Riley, intersection of Kaituna (Havelock) & Wairau Valleys Photo; Grant Tatham

come in during the afternoon along with fantastic scenery, all of which is very inspiring to me.

I was watching the weather the week before the comp. The rain came down but I could see that a high was building in the Tasman so I decided to make the effort as the flying around Auckland has been less than average for this time of year. The drive down on Saturday

on Australian TV in a wildlife special featuring him and Clint paddling down the Pelorus River. Will he be the next Steve Erwin?

Sun 1 Dec.

was memorable only because the cloud shadows on the road were overtaking me as I made my way south through Eketahuna at 100kph and gusts of wind tried to dislodge my hang glider from my car roof.

I meet up in Carterton with Grant Tatham and we drove to Wellington to pick up Ian Miller. Ian was the third member in the North Island team to challenge the Southern men at the South Island Open event.

Arriving at the Blue Moon Lodge;

Left; John Smith launches Photo; Glenn Meadows

12 A i r b o r n

Comp central, it was good to see so many cars with gliders on top.

We were met by John Smith and received a warm southern welcome.

This welcome was extended after unloading the car and stepping into the kitchen. Meeting everyone I was introduced to two pilots which in the North Island are as rare as seeing a Kokako; women pilots, one of which was from France. Charlotte joined the comp a few days later.

Grant and Ian were staying at the campground in Havelock and I at the Blue Moon. Shane was off meeting Peter Jackson to organise his debut

The first day of the comp was a sunny day but with strong SW winds blowing over the Kaituna Valley.

There were over 25 pilots hanging around the Blue Moon waiting for the forecast to be right for once, winds easing in the afternoon. With the practice day (Saturday) being blown out, pilots were keen to get a fly. At 5pm Shane suggested we go even though the wind had not dropped as if we left it any later we would not be able to get a flight.

Arriving at Pelorus take-off, the wind was still a bit strong and coming up the front. Gliders were quickly rigged and a verbal task given as the waypoint list had not arrived. The task was to a hill on the other side of the river and then to Linkwater pub, about 14km. With a good incentive to get to goal John

Smith was first off in fresh conditions and climbed up. The rush was on to get off the hill but after 4 gliders got off the wind dropped and the time between launchings slowed down with a few dodgy take-offs caught by the camera, my one included.

Most pilots got away and scattered along the valley towards Havelock and beyond. Those pilots who did not make it to goal had easy landings; The 3 who had the skills to make it to goal faced an unexpected challenge as a southerly front came through causing convergence to set up at the landing zone and made getting down difficult in the strong winds and lift.

Back at comp central with beers in hand Shane let us know that Monday would be the best day of the comp with the ridge of high pressure moving in over Marlborough.

Above; Alex Crawford ready to launch Photo; Glenn Meadows flights that could be had from this site and discussing getting away from a site right on the coast. Arriving there and finding the gate locked was a bitter disappointment. Apparently a possum hunter had locked the gate as he was trapping in the area.

Shane informed us that it is usually left open and the call was made to follow him to a mystery location.

Confused mumblings of “where are we headed� were heard as we drove off. Truth be known Shane was in a bit of a panic as to where to take us.

But as we neared Pelorus he found it to be on and we headed up the hill. A sigh of relief was heard from the lead car.

Arriving at the top a light wind was coming up the face. Again gliders were hastily rigged. The task remained the same as it was set at Okiwi, make your way to St Arnaud at the Nelson lakes, 82km away. The route was down the hills to the west of the Kaituna valley to Mount Riley then head west along the Richmond Range.

In the haste to get gliders together and get away it was overlooked that at take-off we were closer to goal than at Mt Riley, so those who landed before passing it got negative points.

For those who made it past Mt Riley the decision was whether to stay

on the lower part of the Richmond Range where it split, staying closer to the Wairau valley and a safe landing amongst the vineyards or stay on the main higher range (with your large cojones) and the cloud line and risk a long glide out over some lovely trees to the building sea breeze in the Wairau Valley. A few of the southern men made this choice but most of those who headed to St Arnaud took the safe route.

A great day was had by all with great thermals along the Richmond range up to 6000ft and out of the 4000ft inversion around take-off. Someone was heard to say that they got into a 2000ft per min thermal, but that could have been just the beer talking as we had a meal ready for us on our return to the Blue Moon Lodge and stories continued on into the night.

Tue 3 Dec. High cloud with a northerly breeze.

While Shane and Clint where making their big screen debut on the Pelorus River we headed back up to the Pelorus take-off with a light breeze blowing up the face. The task was set out to a waypoint by Mt Freeth that overlooks Picton but there was some confusion as to the exact position by some pilots. Waypoint two was on the west side of the Kaituna Valley at a hill called Summer and then land

Below; Wairau, looking up towards the Nelson Lakes Photo; Grant Tatham

Mon 2 Dec. A boomer day with a light northerly.

The call was made for an early takeoff from Okiwi Bay. We headed off only having heard about the great

A

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13

at the airfield out in front of Footes.

All very simple. Most pilots got high and made it down to turnpoint 1 but those who stayed high found good lift but lower down it was very rough with lots of stories of getting tossed about and wires going slack.

Turnpoint one had some exciting moments with wild lift and sink with a few pilots landing in the valley that runs up to Picton. Two others landed at the Linkwater pub (me and Clint) and had an enjoyable afternoon waiting for a pick-up. The lift was light back along the ridge but those who made it further along found good lift getting them into the Kaituna Valley. A few pilots made it to turnpoint 2 but most chose to land at the airfield. That night the sky was red with the promise of another good day to come.

Wed 4 Dec. A lay day due to high winds. We went to Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre in Blenheim. It is well worth the visit as it is full of world war one flying machines and memorabilia.

The most impressive item on

2 5 & $

9 , 6 856(6 2 &

Right; Wairau Valley, Wairau River. Seabreeze thermal Photo; Grant Tatham success. Most pilots landed at the airstrip at the bottom of Mt Footes and soon it looked like the Tapawera 2007 Tow Nationals with gliders lined up ready for take-off.

Friday 6 Dec. The high cloud remained but a lot thicker. Out to the coast to fly at Vernon’s Lagoon. Another very buoyant day and enjoyable time was had by all boating around the sky and out over the water catching the occasional thermal but not enough height to get away from the hill. A spot landing was arranged and it was amusing to watch pilots coming in trying to hit the spot.

Most people were heading away on Saturday as the weather was deteriorating and it looked like there would be no flying in Havelock over the weekend. We decided to see Trevor at Sky Adventures and try and get some tow practice over the weekend.

Above; Pelorus Launch

Photo; Grant Tatham

Top Placings Task Date Distance T1 Task One Monday 2013-12-02 12:00 81,6 km Race to Goal with 1 start gate(s) T2 Task Two Tuesday 2013-12-03 12:00 63,7 km Race to Goal with 1 start gate(s)

Dave Newton on take-off Photo; Glenn Meadows display was the iron cross insignia off of Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, the Red Baron’s plane which is framed on the wall. Other activities for the day included a canoe ride down the Wakamarina River with Pelorus Eco Adventures.

Thursday 5 Dec. Light high cloud was prevalent for the day so we made our way up to Footes with the first glider off climbing steadily up but gaining no real height. Soon there was over 15 pilots in the air searching everywhere for that thermal to get them en route to turnpoint 1 at Mt Freeth, but with the high cloud around, none turned up.

Soon over 20 pilots were in the air, all flying like a well-choreographed dance. Pilots started heading out up the valley searching but without

14 A i r b o r n

Saturday was blown out and Ian got 3 tows early Sunday morning before the winds picked up and crossed over the runway.

The day was spent catching up with Trevor and checking out Motueka’s pubs and cafes. All the flying stories must have sparked something in him as he was keen to get back into flying and competing. So hopefully we will see him at the 2015 Nationals.

Also on that note, Glenn Meadows seems to have gotten the comp bug, He did well in his Moyes Xtralite; better than a lot of topless pilots.

There was also talk of him buying a new glider and holding a comp in Nelson. Maybe it can follow on from the 2014 League at Havelock.

I certainly hope so as a good time was had by all and for me worth the effort of the long drive south.

# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Name John Smith Shane McKay Dave Newton Grant Tatham Dan Gnoth Hagen Brueggemann Clint Fraser Andrew McKirdy Glenn Meadows Max Gebhardt Mark Alton Phillip Moore Charlotte McKirdy Daniel Goodman John Urlich

Glider Moyes Litespeed RS4 Aeros CombatL15 Aeros CombatL13 Airborne C4 Moyes Litespeed RS3.5 Moyes Litespeed S4.5 Aeros CombatL14 Moyes Litespeed RS3.5 Moyes Xtralite 137 Moyes Litespeed RS4 Wills Wing T2C 154 Moyes Sonic Moyes Litespeed S3.5 Moyes Litespeed S4 Aeros Combat2 14

Below; Set up at Pelorus, day 3

Sponsor

Hugo Lighting

T1 918 800 887 732 712 582 787 273 582 385 279 273 273 273 273

Photo; Alex Crawford

T2 885 908 763 761 772 877 447 899 557 557 641 503 475 447 310

Total 1803 1708 1650 1493 1484 1459 1234 1172 1139 942 920 776 748 720 583

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February 21st-23rd March 7th-9th March 21st-23rd

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New Australian Record Achieved. – Next goal... 400kms

T

o fly long distance you have to travel to Brazil.

The commonly held belief of the cross-country elite seems to be that Quixada is the only place to fly XC in the northern winter. But Sebastian Benz proves that there is another way – and another place.

Since November, the Swiss pilot has been attempting a 400 km flight in Australia. The NOVA team pilot has not achieved it yet, but he has bettered his own unofficial Australian record: on the 24th November 2013 he flew his Factor 2 375,26 km open distance, with an average speed of 44,34 km/h. With a further three 300+ km flights and two 200+ flights he is currently leading the XContest.org world ranking in the sports class and is second in the serial and open class.

Congratulations on your epic flights, Sebastian.

Give us a brief description of your recordbreaking flight. Was it easy?

Shortly after arrival in Deniliquin the weather already looked really good – good wind strength with nice little cumulus. I was not very well prepared and had left my phone at home. Luckily Ron lent me one. And my winching know-how was a little rusty, so I required three goes before I could leave.

But from then it went really smoothly: perfect clouds showed me the way and I was on full bar to compensate for rather light winds. I had a critical moment around the 200 km mark, where I flew over lots of triggers – a forest, hills and dark fields but funnily enough, I found the thermal only 190 meters above ground level in the middle of a large wheat field. Sometimes you need a bit of luck.

Till Gottbrath interviews Sebastian Benz (left)

At 6pm the day was ending and I slowed down. I was able to climb to cloud base one more time, which incidentally had risen from 1100 to 2700 meters during the course of the day. I took every bit of climb I could and landed as the sun was setting.

I only realised that I had broken my old record when I landed. After a three-hour walk I arrived in Forbes where I met someone who took me directly back to Deniliquin!

What climb rates were you getting on the big flights?

How high was cloud base?

On good days 3 to 4 m/s, sometimes even 6+ m/s. At the beginning and end of a day I often fly very conservatively and will take anything that is better than 1m/s. Base height often depends on the surface temperature. If the surface temperature is 40°C, cloud base can be up to 4000 meters.

And the ground level is only 90m above mean sea level!

In one of your 300+ km flights you had an average speed of 52.23 km/h. That implies high wind speed?

Isn’t that dangerous?

The landscape around Deniliquin is extremely flat so there are very few obstacles like hills or forests. This makes it possible to fly in high wind speeds with relatively low risk.

What are the conditions like in the southern hemisphere summer in Australia?

So far pretty good. Windy and a lot of cold fronts, which create instability. There are very few pilots here. We are still gathering experience on which weather conditions give the best XC potential.

In Quixada there are queues on launch. Why does everyone go to Brazil and forget Australia?

Infrastructure is a problem. In Quixada there are people offering the whole package including retrieves. Here in Australia I rely on good friends. Ron McKenzie drives the winch and provides accommodation; mostly I hitchhike back after a cross-country. But that’s not for everyone.

Thank you for the interview and we wish you success in your goal for the 400 km.

It was a pleasure.

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19

CONVERGENCE FIFTY WAYS TO FLY BETTER

By Bruce Goldsmith and Friends

W

ho wouldn’t want to fly much better just by reading a book? This self improvement book is actually packed with a lot more than 50 ways to fly better, more like 50 categories and as it’s unlikely you have the knowledge of the authors it’s just up to you to find which parts you need to improve your flying and to apply that knowledge.

The main author is Bruce Goldsmith, drawing from his articles in Cross Country magazine and there’s also 30 odd collaborators who are among the elite of paragliding and hang gliding. These champions, record holders and authors are like a Who’s Who of free flying; Ian Blackmore, Josh Cohn, John Coutts, Bob Drury, Jonny Durand, Ed Ewing, Kelly Farina, Will Gadd, Ant Green, Steve Ham, Heike Hamann, Greg Hamerton, Alex Hofer, Marcus King, Patrick Laverty, Antoine Laurens, Horacio Llorens, Dustin Martin, Hugh Miller, Russell Ogden, Honza Rejmanek, Adrian Thomas, Jay Rebbeck, Raul Rodriguez, Jocky Sanderson, Pal Takats, Karel Vejchodsky, Godfrey Wenness and Rob Whittall.

Fifty concise chapters of varying length edited by Ed Ewing, never bog down in theory or detail like a textbook. Each has many lessons to be learned with practical advice often shown from real life experiences. These lessons are summed up at the end of each chapter in case you missed a point or in the unlikely event that you put the book down before finishing a chapter. Inevitably you’ll sometimes read the same or similar advice from different authors, which just confirms how true that advice is.

Included is; Tips to help you climb efficiently, Preparation and XC flight planning, Speed-to-fly, Control techniques for paragliding, Psychological techniques, Flatlands and mountain flying, Flying near clouds and terrain, Cross country distance flying, Wind and thermal flow patterns, Competition flying and Going professional. After reading chapters on cloud flying, aerobatics, dealing with gust fronts and landing in strong winds we ironically find chapters on dealing with fear, but to be fair, the advice of not to get into those situations in the first place is there too. A minor annoyance is that altitudes in the book are all in meters only. In most countries aviation altitudes are legally measured in feet, so you’ll just have to multiply by 3.28.

The focus is of course on paragliding, particularly concerning equipment use and manoeuvres, but 90% of the book applies equally to hang glider pilots. Several hang gliding champions and record holders contribute articles though there’s only a couple of hang glider photos. Any pilot of any skill level will find this book engrossing and learn something that would be useful to them.

The book is illustrated in full colour throughout and photographers are similarly qualified. Illustrations and quality photos abound with I think just one page of advertising. It’s neither soft or hardcover but something in-between called Flexi-bound which gives better protection than soft cover and less bulk than hard cover. A great choice for a book to accompany a pilot on holiday or on a mission and a superb gift for any pilot. It’s indexed for future reference and has a glossary of flying terms too.

It won’t make you rich, more confident or improve your sex life but it’s sure to make you a better pilot. Go ahead, improve yourself. It’s available from www.xcmag.com for £24.95 plus postage.

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By Bruce Goldsmith, from FIFTY WAYS TO FLY BETTER

WHEN

I started flying I remember learning about a strange phenomenon called ‘convergence! In the books, convergence was always discussed as something unusual, as though it only occurred in certain places such as on the coast, or in certain rare conditions.

Yet to my surprise I discovered that convergence appears all over the place: in mountains, flatlands, coastal sites and valleys. And that during an average distance flight you are likely to encounter it at least once if not more. In the Alps I’d say I encounter convergence during at least 50% of all my flights.

What is convergence?

It is basically the meeting of two winds of different directions. Normally, providing that the air masses in each wind direction are different, one will ride up over the other, thus creating lift. However, if both winds are the same in temperature and density, then they will both ride up together, also creating an area of lift. In convergence zones, the thermals are generally more concentrated and are often stronger because the air around is already going up.

1. Sea-breeze convergence This is perhaps the most obvious type of convergence. It occurs usually when you have a relatively straight coastline, a prevailing, offshore wind and thermal activity inland. As the land warms up and convection starts, cool, high density air from the sea is drawn inland in a line. At the point where the cool sea air meets the warm inland air, convergence occurs, almost forming a soarable ridge in the sky.

You will find the best and most usable lift on the inland side of the sea-breeze convergence, as the dense, cool air from the sea is typically stable.

The convergence line moves constantly inland throughout the day until the thermal activity stops: how far you are from the coast will determine the arrival and departure times of the convergence zone at your site.

What does it look like?

You can spot a sea-breeze convergence in a number of ways. First, by the change in wind direction on the ground. The windsock will switch from blowing offshore to onshore in a matter of minutes. The air will also feel cooler.

Secondly, by looking at the clouds. Look for where the cumulus clouds stop in a consistent line, with blue stable air beyond.

Thirdly, if there are clouds in the sea-breeze air the base will be lower than the inland cumulus clouds. There will also often be a vertical curtain of cloud connecting the two cloudbases. Along the edge of the convergence zone this ‘curtain’ may look like darker, wispy bits of cloud hanging below the flat base of the inland cumulus clouds.

If there is a range of hills near the coast expect to find the convergence zone situated over and along the higher ground.

These three indicators can sometimes all appear at once making spotting the convergence zone quite easy, especially if tell-tale clouds are present.

On blue thermal days however, both sides of the convergence may be clear blue sky, so the change in wind direction on the ground may be your only sign of the sea breeze. My experience of flying in these conditions however has taught me that with blue sky sea-breeze convergence, the sea air mass is often a slightly hazier blue than the inland air mass, creating a faint ‘line’ in the air.

This is enough - if you look carefully - to tell you where the convergence zone is.

How to exploit it Once you have spotted it the next thing is to use it. The first rule is to fly on the inland side of the sea-breeze convergence line. There are then two techniques of flying the convergence line, depending on the type of lift.

The first method, provided that there is thermal lift in the convergence zone, is to use the thermals in the normal way. The second method, when there is a weak line of ridge lift along the convergence line but no thermals, is to treat the line like a ridge-soarable hill and maintain height by doing beats along the line of convergence. The most important thing in this case is to pay careful attention to stay on the inland side. It is easy to accidentally slip into the sea air side, in which case you will go down very quickly.

The only way to make distance flights in these conditions is to fly along the convergence line. If you try to fly away from it in either direction, then you either encounter stable air or a headwind. But staying in the convergence line is not always as simple as it sounds. Often the ‘line’ is not straight, and tends to get pushed inwards in some places and stick close to the coast in others. It depends on the nature of the coastline and the landscape.

Sea breezes often flow up small valleys near the coast more easily than over the small hills, so the convergence line is often very irregular.

Places renowned for their sea-breeze convergence are the whole south coast of England when there is a northerly prevailing wind (John Pendry once flew 250km here in sea-breeze convergence).

The west coast of California is famous for brilliant sea-breeze convergence when the prevailing wind is easterly. And the east coast of Spain near Barcelona is another good sea-breeze convergence zone in an easterly.

2. Lee-side convergence A SEA-BREEZE CONVERGENCE A step in cloudbase, change in wind direction and a ragged cu ‘curtain’ are all signs to look for. When flying sea-breeze convergence stay on the landward side in the red zone and don’t fly into the stable, sinking sea air.

As air flows around an obstacle it divides on the upwind side (this is called the stagnation point), flows around the sides and then collides together again on the downwind side. This meeting

PLAN VIEW OF LEE-SIDE CONVERGENCE You can find sink, rotor, turbulence or convergence downwind of a hill or mountain.

of airflow on the lee side from two directions is of course convergence. But be careful here downwind of an obstacle you can also find rotor, sink and turbulence. It is a refined skill to try to identify whether there is lift or sink downwind of an obstacle.

Generally, if the obstacle is relatively small (by small I mean less than 5km across or lower than 1,000m) or the wind is strong, then downwind you will just find rotor. On the other hand, if the obstacle is large or the wind is light, then you are more likely to find convergence downwind, particularly if there is sun on the ground in the downwind zone to give the air a bit of extra warmth to get the converging air to produce lift.

3. Valley wind meets meteorological wind During summer days convection in the centre of the Alps draws air towards it. Because the air always takes the easiest route, it flows up the valleys. These are valley winds and they can vary in strength up to 50km/h.

Often the valley winds may be in the opposite direction to the meteorological wind. When this

occurs there will be a point where the two opposing winds meet. This is the convergence zone. I have seen this many times in the southern Alps in Italy north of Trento.

Here, the northerly meteo wind pushes south from the north of the Alps, and opposes the strong southerly valley wind. The result is a line of convergence cloud extending right across the valley.

This zone of convergence starts quite far south in the morning, but as the strength of the valley winds increase it moves north during the day approaching the VALLEY WIND MEETS VALLEY WIND centre of the Alps.

A plan view of how two valley winds can meet, creating a convergence zone I once flew in convergence in the Les that can last all day.

Saisies and the Megeve valleys during moving. This convergence zone has, in the past, a competition. Normally the wind flows up each enabled tasks to be set that take pilots directly side of this ridge and produces thermal lift over west from the Cheval Blanc to the Montagne de the peak. However, on this particular day the Coupe, normally an exceptionally difficult leg as it prevailing north wind reinforced the upslope wind involves flying directly upwind into the lee/shadow on the Megeve side of the ridge and pushed it side of the Montagne de Coupe. over into the Les Saisies valley. So a convergence Conclusion zone was formed halfway down the ridge on Convergence, rotor, lee-side thermals and valley the Les Saisies side. I flew in this convergence winds are all closely connected. It is impossible zone for 15km, while several pilots flew to the to say exactly when one ends and when another normally reliable south face of the ridge. They starts, but being familiar with this complex mixture went straight down, not having understood what of influences is the key to understanding airflows was happening at all. in mountains. Every pilot who flies should be 4. Valley wind meets valley wind aware of the type of things that can occur. Fly It is a little difficult to separately classify these with your senses as highly tuned as possible to different types of convergence. The example in the little clues that nature provides to reveal the Les Saisies could also be classified as valley wind/ unique meteorological situations that can exist. valley wind convergence, for example. But it is the effect of the meteo wind on the convergence that makes it something unusual.

The area to the west of the Cheval Blanc (20km north of St Andre-les-Alpes, southern France), • Convergence is two winds meeting. is very special. There are often good thermals • The convergence lines that set up can be and light unpredictable winds with strong flown, often very far. thermals originating in the flat valley in front of • Different types of convergence exist: the mountain. In fact the thermals are frequently

NEED TO KNOW

better in the valley in front of the mountain than on the impressive Cheval Blanc itself. Why is this?

Well, the area is a zone of valley wind/valley wind convergence. The wind flows into this area from the southern route from St Andre and Lambruisse, and also from the northwest from Digne and the La Javie valley. The two valley winds are separated by the massif of the Montagne de Coupe.

The exact location of this convergence zone will be influenced by the meteo wind of course, but it generally stays in this location all day without VALLEY WIND MEETS METEO WIND The resulting convergence zone shifts during the day as the valley winds strengthen and push into the mountains.

SPOT Satellite Tracker Gen 3 The SPOT satellite tracker popular with XC pilots has just had an upgrade and the new version boasts better usability with improved function buttons that have separate indicator lights (instead of being under the finger pressing it) and a separate on/off switch. It has double the battery life, Motion activated tracking with selectable intervals, it’s waterproof and has a USB port for firmware upgrades presumably, so there may well be new features in the pipeline.

The SPOT 3 comes at a higher price though; the device is now US$149.95 and tracking is compulsory with a yearly subscription of $149.99. The website where you organise your custom messages hasn’t improved yet.

The SPOT 2 remains available at US$99.95 with yearly subscription of $99.99, and optional tracking an extra $49.

se-breeze convergence, valley wind convergence, lee-side convergence and valley wind/met wind convergence.

• Signs of convergence can be wispy

cumulus clouds, different levels of cloudbase, cumulus clouds in ‘odd’ or unexpected positions.

• Convergence can be very useful, providing

lift lines through the sky or ‘bridges’ across difficult valley crossings.

FAI Awards Pepe Lopes Medal to Conrad Loten

T

he Pepe Lopes Medal was established in February 1993 in memory of Pedro Paulo “Pepe” Lopes of Brazil who was the World Hang Gliding Champion in 1981.

His energy and good humour played a big part in developing Brazil as an important centre for international competitions.

Pepe died during a hang gliding competition in Japan in 1991 (Steve Blenkinsop and Tony Barton landed in the mountains to help him and were the first recipients of the award - Ed). The Medal may be awarded annually, on recommendation by the FAI Hang Gliding Commission, for outstanding contributions to sportsmanship or international understanding in the sport of hang gliding.

The year 2012 winner is Conrad Loten of New Zealand.

On the 24th of December 2012 at about 1:30pm, Conrad Loten and Roberto Nichele (Switzerland) aka ‘Swiss Nic’ launched hang gliders in the Hunter Valley NSW Australia. Conrad launched first successfully. Unfortunately Nic crashed below launch on a cliff face. Conrad landed and returned to launch by which time Nic had been hanging in his glider unconscious head down in 40°C for some one and a half hours.

Emergency services had difficulty affecting a rescue. Conrad took it upon himself to climb down to Nic, as he assessed the situation as critical with Nic having sustained head injuries.

Due to legal reasons, emergency services were not able to assist Conrad. Although he is a highly qualified medical practitioner he has no rescue training.

With great difficulty and danger to himself, Conrad was able to get to Nic and using basic tools cut through his glider, raise his head and administer first aid. Eventually with Conrad’s help and insistence, Nic was extracted and evacuated to hospital. He was found to have cerebral bleeding and was placed on life support. He is now on a recovery program for his brain injury and hopes are held for a good recovery. There is little doubt that without Conrad’s selfless act, that went well beyond what is expected of a doctor, the result for Nic would have been considerably worse and most probably fatal.

- Swiss Nic, Oz Report The Awards were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in October last year.

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21

Executive Repor ts

Safety Checks

CAA Airspace Review 2014

- Hang Gliding / Paragliding Threat or Opportunity?

T

he CAA are carrying out a 5 yearly review of the Airspace we as pilots fly in, make no mistake it will affect all of us with some winners and looser’s, however I believe the review should be viewed as an opportunity to expand and an opportunity to protect the airspace we fly in.

Opportunity - The review is already under way with Auckland & Hamilton clubs already having submitted their airspace plan of what airspace they would like to see in the form of a General Aviation Area (GAA) being created or enlarged with additional airspace height.

Protect - What has become apparent is that from these submissions subsequent air user meetings with the CAA then follow and clubs get the chance to see what other air users have submitted and if necessary object. This has been highlighted recently In the case of Auckland club where another air user is pushing for an increased use of a Mandatory Broadcast Zone for parachute operations which would have a big impact on HG/PG operations in that area.

Recommend I recommend that clubs take a long hard look at the airspace they fly in and come the time, submit a wish list of airspace they would like to see opened up. Submitting nothing as you are happy with your current airspace as it is, is in my opinion not an option, as you will be left out of the review process and be blissfully unaware of what other air users are requesting in your region which could result in existing airspace becoming difficult to fly in or lost altogether.

Furthermore the CAA normally charges $244 an hour which in 2014/2015 is increasing to $284 an hour to process an application such as Auckland and Hamilton’s GAA request. As this is a review it cost nothing to ask and submit.

Club & NZHGPA Airspace Officers Role Recently all clubs have been asked to nominate an airspace officer and you will find these listed on the inside cover of Airborn under club contacts and in the first instance contact your Club Airspace Officer or by all means myself at nicktaber@hotmail.com As the NZHGPA Airspace Officer I am responsible for co-ordinating with club airspace officers to bring Air space matters to the attention of the clubs, make clubs aware of time frames and deadlines and if required offer any advice I may know, but ultimately no one knows the airspace, local air traffic control personalities and if required local authorities better than the clubs (not to mention previous hard work and history of the club’s airspace).

To date I have advised Auckland & Hamilton Club’s on how to prepare the airspace areas they have identified with maps, GPS Coordinates and covering letter of what they are asking of the CAA (in other word prepare their case for submission), which is then passed through myself to submit as one unified voice of the NZHGPA. Meetings will then follow and the local Club Airspace Officer will be required to attend and where possible with a NZHGPA Executive or myself as these are important to the future of our sport.

Upcoming Airspace Review Dates Next round of Airspace Review dates can be found here; www.caa.govt.nz/airspace/ airspace_review.htm Go to ‘2014 - 2016 Airspace Review Plan’ 20 September 2013,

22 A i r b o r n

see page 4 for review dates in your area of operations. The main 2014 dates to act upon are; Woodbourne - Submissions invited May 2014 Nelson - Submissions invited May 2014 Christchurch - Submissions invited May 2014 Gisborne - Submissions Invited May 2014 Napier - Submissions Invited May 2014 Be aware you have about a month to get your submissions in before submissions close.

With the time frame of the airspace review HG/PG Club NZHGPA Aorangi Auckland Bay of Plenty Canterbury

Airspace Officer Nick Taber Kevin McManus Leslie Graham Rhys Akers Matthew Stanford Pete Taylor

Tel Number 03 545 0766

Hawkes Bay Manawatu

Euan Talbot Ricky Winduss

06 877 8999 06 345 7659

Marlborough

Vern Saunders

03 570 5322

Shane Gross Ian Hornby Mark Hardman Tasman Nick Taber Taranaki Free Flyers Dennis Green Waikato Neil Howe

09 436 0268 No Landline

Wellington

No Landline

Northland Southern

Ian Miller

09 522 5525 07 578 0564

03 545 0766 06 752 7618

published we are forewarned it is coming, clubs need to be getting out the airspace maps and planning a strategy now (busy times ahead).

Wishing you all many great flights for 2014.

Happy flying Nick Taber NZHGPA Airspace Officer Tel: 03 545 0766 Mobile: 021 420 742 nicktaber@hotmail.com Mobile 021 420 742 021 134 0463 021 177 7563 027 291 1179

Email nicktaber@hotmail.com graham-mackie@vodafone.co.nz akers@orcon.net.nz matthew.stanford@enviroschools. org.nz pjtaylor90@gmail.com

021 0238 8894 ian@southernclub.co.nz 021 809 275 info@paraventures.co.nz 021 420 742 nicktaber@hotmail.com

022 176 8205

Neil@kaweraueng.co.nz howe.neil.karen@slingshot.co.nz pillar@paradise.net.nz

Internal Auditor Appointed

Kris Ericksen

In some single cases, the dimension of the reserve parachute handle is a bit too small for fixation at the harness. The handle is then not safely fixed, because the side ends can slip out on their own accord.

Woody Valley recommends all owners of the Tenax 3 harness, to check the handle and fixation at the harness. The side ends of the handle should stick safely in the fixation.

If the handle is too loose in the fixation, Woody Valley recommends affected owners replacing the handle. Woody Valley offers a proper handle for free.

All Tenax 3 harnesses, which have been manufactured since the middle of 2012, are equipped with the new handle. To be sure you can compare your handle to the photo:

were made of typical 7075 tubing which is .9mm wall thickness at 60mm in diameter.

It’s extremely strong and hard but thin, so if damaged can easily crumple under load.

In both cases the crossbar centre junction had dented the leading edges and one also broke a nylon bracket and bent stainless tangs on the crossbar centre assembly. An upright knuckle also dented a leading edge.

Especially with topless gliders, there is a great deal of weight (30-45kgs) which can be concentrated in small areas of the glider if it falls when packed.

There was no sail damage and little to indicate a problem, though the flown glider did have a turn. This damage was only visible when leading edges or the sail were removed.

It is much harder to find the damage by feeling through the sail (usually unlikely) or looking at the glider airframe when rigged.

process. This is especially so with customers using non-Gin Gliders rescues with larger packing volumes.

Gin Gliders recommend that rescue installation is performed properly by a competent person. The length of the strap connecting the rescue deployment handle to the rescue inner container should be checked.

The strap should be sufficiently long enough that the reserve can be extracted without the danger of the pins not being pulled before the strap tightens on the reserve, but not too long that there is excessive slack that extends the movement so that the pilot could end up pulling upwards rather than out. In specific installations where the strap needs to be shortened, it can be done so using the knot shown in the photos below.

027 447 4117

027 422 2847

The NZHGPA Executive has appointed Kris Ericksen as the Association’s nonfinancial internal auditor. This is a role that is required under Part 149, which prescribes the rules governing the certification and operation of aviation recreation organisations.

The relevant requirements for the internal auditor are listed at Rule 149.63, which can be found at: www.caa.govt.nz/ rules/Part_149_Brief.htm. The primary requirements of the role are to ensure that the Association complies with its internal quality assurance systems, and review the safety policy procedures required by Part 149.

The majority of the auditor’s role will involve reviewing the functions and activities of the Executive and the Administrator. However, one mechanism of reviewing how well the organisation works and complies with the requirements of Part 149 is for the internal auditor to undertake spot checks at popular flying sites and at competitions as to whether pilots are members of the Association, are carrying their membership card, and have a current WOF.

Hang glider harness Tenax DHV 03-0111-00 Reserve Handle

The auditor, however, will not be “dobbing in” non-complying pilots but only reporting the proportion of pilots who are not complying with the requirements. So if Kris approaches you at a flying site please don’t be alarmed!

In addition, if members have any concerns regarding safety policy procedures or other aspects required under Rule 149 that are not otherwise being adequately dealt with by the Association they should contact Kris Ericksen, on a confidential basis if required, at skf@paradise.net.nz or call him on 02 11 16 45 58

NZHGPA Discretionary Fund At the 2013 AGM the NZHGPA decided to set aside an amount of money to fund projects that will “Help to develop, protect and promote the sport of hang gliding and/or paragliding.” Bids will be called for annually for projects that will achieve this aim.

The Discretionary Fund Committee would particularly like to receive bids from clubs that are aimed at attracting and retaining new pilots into our sports.

It is anticipated that the next round of bids will be called for a couple of months prior to the next NZHGPA AGM. However, if you are thinking of putting in a bid please feel free to contact the committee at any time to discuss your proposal.

Details can be found on the Association’s web site under NZHGPA Notices.

For more information please contact: Mark Alton markalton@yahoo.com 022 195 57 46 Derek Divers d.divers@xtra.co.nz 027 493 11 12 Kris Ericksen skf@paradise.net.nz 021 11 16 45 58

Concerned owners are asked to contact the manufacturer or the national importer.

Woody Valley s.r.l.

Via Vienna, 92 - Loc. Spini, Sett. “D” 38121 Trento - Italy c.f/P.I. IT01249560226 Tel +39 0461 950811 Fax +39 0461 950819 www.woodyvalley.com info@woodyvalley.com

Atos Over-Centre Lever Caution

Pre-flight checks on Atos gliders should always include careful inspection of the machined aluminium parts of the nose overcentre lever. A case has come to light of a crack appearing in this component (see photo).

There is also a control wire just behind this that should be examined before every flight - run your finger (or a cloth -Ed) down the wire and check for any broken strands.

Both should be examined with extra care following any heavy landing or nose-in.

The component in question has now been redesigned; nevertheless it should be included in a thorough inspection before every flight.

Although rare, the recent case is not the only one reported.

- BHPA Flying & Safety Ctte

Hang Glider Impact Damage

There have been many checks on gliders damaged during the earthquakes but some people may not be aware of serious damage.

In past months two topless hang gliders from different manufacturers came in for checks and both were found with similar damage to leading edges caused from falls while in storage. It appears both fell during the Canterbury earthquakes and the owners saw no obvious damage so went on to deal with other important issues at the time.

One glider had damage that could easily cause a total failure, the other hadn’t been flown. The leading edges on these gliders

If your glider falls when packed, even if it falls only a short distance, please check those tubes thoroughly.

- Bill Degen, HGPG Supplies

Paraglider Tow Release Combined with Quickout Carabiners

Problems when using an SK2 Winch tow release with QuickOut carabiners A pilot has noted that the steel rings on an SK2 Winch tow release make contact with the casing of a Quick-Out carabiner and may interfere with its operation.

Due to this, the DHV winch towing bureau reminds all pilots of the information in the Finsterwalder & Charly Winch tow release handbook of 09/08: before use a functionality check must be made by the pilot. “A successful release can only be guaranteed when all parts of the Quick-Out carabiner hang freely and nothing hinders the insert from opening.”

Should steel components of a winch tow release interfere with the operation of a Quick-Out carabiner then this winch tow release may not be used in this combination.

This is valid for all types of winch tow releases. The DHV winch tow bureau reminds all pilots to check for compatibility problems when choosing equipment or components and react accordingly if necessary.

4.12.2013 Horst Barthelmes DHV-Winch tow bureau

Paraglider Harness Reserve Gingo Air light II EAPRGZ-7251/09

Rescue installation advice for GIN paraglider harnesses Gin Gliders have become aware of that in certain test scenarios, deployment of a rescue parachute can become more difficult than in the static scenario used in the certification

All owners who have not already performed a deployment test to check the compatibility of harness and reserve parachute are recommended to do so. If in doubt, they should have the installation checked by a competent person and contact their local Gin Gliders dealer if further questions arise..

21.11.2013 See also DHV note: 31.10.2013

Paraglider Harness Reserve Gingo Air light II EAPRGZ-7251/09

The DHV has received several reports on difficulties in deploying a reserve parachute from this harness. Deployment problems occurred in particular when the harness was used in combination with a large volume reserve parachute and the deployment handle to inner container strap had not been shortened. German Gin-Gliders dealers routinely shorten this deployment strap when fitting a reserve parachute to this harness.

Deployment is much easier with this modification when compared with an original harness. It cannot be determined if this modification to help reserve deployment has been performed on all harnesses of this model.

DHV tests in the G-Force trainer confirm the deployment problems for the above noted configuration.

The DHV wished to inform all owners of this harness model of this problem. Combining this harness with larger volume reserve parachutes (e.g. Independence Seven Up, Sup Air L etc.) creates higher deployment forces, which can become problematic if the deployment handle to inner container strap has not been shortened.

See also the DHV safety advisory from May 2013. It is recommended to check whether the deployment handle to inner container strap has been shortened (with a knotted loop). All owners who have not already performed a deployment test to check the compatibility of harness and reserve parachute are recommended to perform this at a local flying school. Please contact your Gin-Gliders dealer should further problems or questions arise.

31.10.2013 Karl Slezak Manager, Technical & Safety Department DHV

Hang Glider E7 DHV 01-035099, ESC DHV 01-0359-99, Esc-c DHV 01-0376-02

There was a fatal accident this summer in Castelluccio/Italy with a Guggenmoos ESC hang glider. The glider tucked in mid-air and broke apart. The reason for the tuck has not been fully determined. Eyewitnesses noticed the sail flapping violently shortly before the glider tucked. These observations, photographs of the wreckage and an examination of the crashed glider indicate that the zip on the upper sail may have opened during flight. It has also been noticed that internal tensioning lines have become stretched over time, leading to excessive tension on the sail zips which may the separate from the rear. The accident glider had had its last check in 2004.

The company “Drachenservice Achim Kühnle” who have taken over Guggenmoos, issue the following safety advisory: All Guggenmoos E7, ESC and ESC-C gliders, with the exception of those which have been checked by Drachenservice Achim Kühnle in the last 24 months, must be checked for possible sail tension problems. This check must be made before the next flight. Owners of the above gliders are requested to contact Drachenservice Achim Kühnle to determine whether a control check or adjustments need to be made by the manufacturer or not.

Eisenberg, 09.12.2013 Drachenservice Achim Kühnle Osterreuthen 14a 87637 Eisenberg E-Mail: jkuehnle@bdt-online.de Phone 0049 8364 987199

Hang glider Laminar 12 Easy DHV 01-0378-02

Major differences in trimming setup values to those given in the certification documentation have been noted during routine checks of two Icaro 2000 Laminar 12 Easy hang gliders. Both hang gliders were also retested on the DHV test wagon and it was determined that their pitch values were just adequate.

Both gliders had been used for several years and had also been routinely re-checked at check centres. In order to be able to judge whether flying characteristics and classification of this model of glider trimmed as sold by the manufacturer correspond to those recorded at certification the DHV requires such a glider to test fly. The manufacturer has as yet not provided the DHV with such a glider.

The DHV wishes to inform all owners of Icaro 2000 Laminar 12 Easy hang gliders of the current state of affairs: it has not been verified that gliders trimmed and sold by the manufacturer have flying characteristics and a classification corresponding to the certified version.

31.10.2013 Karl Slezak, Manager, Technical and Safety Department DHV

Online Tools for Running your Club Sport New Zealand has a “Club Kit” - an online toolkit for running sports and recreation clubs.

Everyone involved in the running of a hang gliding and paragliding club should check out the resources available at: www.sportnz.org. nz/en-nz/communities-and-clubs/Toolkitfor-Clubs

Paraglider Icaro Cyber TE S DHV GS-01-2000-12, Icaro Cyber TE XS DHV GS-01-2002-12

In some cases the new risers attached to the above gliders have been incorrectly setup in production and have an incorrect limiter setting for the speedbar. Therefore it is possible to accelerate such gliders more than the maximum used during testing and certification. Tests indicate that spontaneous collapses may occur in still air especially if strong brake is applied when flying at speed.

The manufacturer Icaro Paragliders / Fly & More Handels GmbH has issued the following safety advisory: all incorrectly set risers must be exchanged or modified.

All owners of Icaro Cyber TE paragliders in sizes XS and S are requested to check their risers.

Should risers as shown in picture 1 be attached to the glider, then pilots should contact the manufacturer to exchange or reset the risers before the next flight.

21.11.2013 Icaro Paragliders / Fly & more GmbH, Hochriesstraße 1 D-83126 Flintsbach / Deutschland Telefon: +49 8034 909700, Telefax: +49 8034 909701 office@icaro-paragliders.com www.icaro-paragliders.de

Picture 1 (above): an incorrect riser from a Cyber TE Picture 2 (below): a correctly set Cyber TE riser

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NZ Hang Gliding Training Handbook Essential Beginner/ Novice instruction information for NZ hang gliding students learning to fly. $15 NZHGPA Hang Gliding Tow Manual All aspects of towing with clear photographs and step by step instruction $15 NZHGPA Aerotow Manual In depth detail of aerotow procedure as authorised by MAANZ and NZHGPA $15 NZHGPA Paragliding Tow Manual This manual outlines requirements and procedures for towing $15

NZHGPA Logbook With rating record $15

NZHGPA MOVIE LIBRARY FLYING OVER EVEREST, DVD, Angelo D’Arrigo and the story of his flight over Mt Everest.

PLAY GRAVITY, DVD, Extreme paragliding, snowboarding, BASE jumping, freeriding and speedflying in the most awesome settings.

EAST WIND, DVD, German pilots fly hybrid recliner bike/ paramotors 1632 kms across eastern Europe; Hanover to the Black Sea. DYNAMIC DECISIONS, DVD, Shows how different DHV paragliders react when flying the most dangerous manoeuvres.

THE RACE, DVD, A race between climber and pilot in the Italian Dolomites. Winner of 4 world film contests.

Paragliding Learn to Fly, DVD Tutorial for PG Performance Flying, DVD by Jocky Sanderson Never Ending Thermal Pura Vida Flying Security in Flight & The Speed to Fly Birdmen of Kilimanjaro The Red Bull X Alps Managing Risk in Aviation CAA Red Bull X-Alps 2005 Check the NZHGPA web site for the latest special offers In order to cover the high cost of importing HG and PG DVDs, cost of hire and postage is $10 for 10 day loans Postage and GST is included in price.

Please send your order with payment to;

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EVENTS North Island XC Champs 2014

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he North Island XC Champs will be held 25 January - 2 February 2014.

We will be based in the Waikite Thermal Pools Camp Ground. The camp has been booked already.

Flying will be wherever it’s on!

The competition is simple, your three longest flights will be added, the pilot with the most k’s wins.

Keep an eye on www.facebook.com/nortislandxcchamps Contact Sebastian Katz activesky12@gmail.com

Paeroas launch Photo: Dennis Thorpe

Omarama HG Classic Cross Country Camp Saturday 1 February to Sunday 9 February 2014

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n as always during the week of Waitangi Day. It’s 2 weekends plus Waitangi Day so there’s 5 days flying even if you have to go to work.

At this time of year at Omarama gives the most flying days, the least turbulent and blown An 11,500ft day over the Mackenzie Photo: Bill Degen out winds and the most XC opportunities. Come for the whole week, just the weekends or only fly the best days. Make plans and organise your team now...

This season the road is fixed at last. It’s about a car and a half wide now with no tilt toward the edge, the corners are wider with shallower approaches and there’s no loose rocks on the road. Nice for drivers and owners. It’s still a long steep drive so limited to 4WDs with low ratio or hill descent ability. To maintain it we’ll ask everyone for a donation.

It can be hot, maybe windy and maybe rough (thermals up to 3000 fpm+) but the competition format will be stress free. Flying will be spectacular, expect to get 9000ft plus and 20 to 100km depending on your skill and luck. You’ll probably beat your Personal Best; height, distance etc, and move up the XC Champs table.

We can have a BBQ at the Omarama Hotel midweek and get together there each afternoon or evening after flying. Results will be published in Airborn.

THE MISSION; fly open distance, in any direction from the Omarama area. Enter any number of flights. Take any days off if you like, only your best 3 flights get scored. Flights are to be lodged each evening at the Omarama Hotel or with me at the cottage next door.

Rules: Get high, fly far and have fun (no national points, no pressure, no tactics, no whining, just cross country flying). No entry fee (though we appreciate a donation to keep the road driveable).

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

This is mountain high desert country so essential equipment is; radio, cellphone, maps, GPS, water, survival gear (can be over 30°C daytime with frosts at night), basebar wheels, spare uprights, glider fully checked and a repacked chute. A Satellite messenger can be helpful for pickups as cell reception varies. An Emergency Locator Transmitter might be useful too. Note that airband radio (118.6 MHz) is mandatory for flying North of Ohau.

Also bring a fearless but careful driver, mallet, stakes and rope for securing gliders during dust devil storms, a spade for shifting rocks & gravel for road clearing. Or you can bring your aerotow or car tow setups instead.

All types of accommodation are available; from free camping, cabins to luxury hotel.

For more information, contact Bill Degen aero@xtra.co.nz or for further information, site briefing, maps etc; www.hgpg.co.nz

NZ’ers Paraglide 100+ miles in Manilla, NSW Excellent paragliding open distances of 211.9, 204.6 and 169.9km, i.e. all 100+ miles, were put up by NZ’ers Graeme Cran, Simon Corbett and Luke Goleman respectively on 27th and 31st December 2013, flying from Mt Borah, Manilla, northern NSW, Australia.

Graeme’s and Simon’s flights are among the longest distances flown by a NZ’er on a paraglider anywhere, both are probably in the top ten (Angus Tapper has the best recorded distance by a Nz’er overseas at 231km flown from Mt Borah, Manilla in 1999).

The flights were published on Leonardo and can be seen using this link (although Crannie’s flight may not be listed here if your list gets filtered to NZ’ers only): www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/tracks/AU/2013/brand:all,cat:1,class:all,xctype:all,clu b:all,pilot:0_0,takeoff:8836 - Tim Percival

Auckland Hang Gliding League An Auckland Hang Gliding League will be held on a suitable weekend between 8 Feb to 2 March.

Airspace has been lifted to 4500ft above take-off for the comp.

Confirmation of event will be sent out on a Tuesday before event to all those who have registered.

The League will be based at the Sheepworld Caravan Park, 11 minutes north of Moir Hill Rd. See web site for info and bookings: www. sheepworldcaravanpark.co.nz BBQ Saturday night Shared glider trolleys will be available for use for the track into the Moir Hill site.

Auckland sites to be used; Moir Hill Wind directions SW - S Bridges Wind direction SE Superbowl Site Wind direction NW to be confirmed Tangowahine Site wind direction W to be confirmed Coastal sites are also an option if all else fails.

Waypoints will be available at a later date.

Contacts for more details and to register interest: Mark Alton at markalton@yahoo.com Les Graham at graham-mackie@vodafone. co.nz See www.cloudbase.org.nz/comps for updates.

Paragliding Competition Committee Update Paragliding National Ladder

Greetings Pilots – the paragliding competition scene has already been in full swing. There were six valid tasks that could be counted towards the national ladder. These were three at the Canungra Cup in Aussie, plus a task each from two regional comps from the Auckland and Southern Clubs.

I’ve calculated the ladder, and I’ve presented it in a more colourful and (hopefully) more readable format. It’s still a bit of a jumble of numbers, however, so I thought we should briefly remind ourselves how it should be read. Sorry if this is a bit technical, but hopefully it helps some pilots to understand how the points get worked out.

So, find the ladder on page 27 and look yourself up. For this example, let’s use my mate - Melanie Heather. The best way to understand the ladder is actually read it from right to left. At the far right you can see the position in the ladder that Mel started on (42) and (reading to the left) the number of ladder points (329).

Now, still reading right you see four sets of columns, each representing the best tasks of the seasons from the Regional Comps, and overseas leagues. For Mel, the first (from the right) two columns are basically blank, since she only flew in two out of potentially four tasks so far. So you can see her score dropping from 329 to 326, and then to 322 because of these “Did not fly”.

The next set of columns looks like this: This time, during the task S1 (Southern Comp One) Mel scored 320 out of 1000 points.

320 is almost exactly what her points already were (322) so she didn’t change score at all (that’s what the 0 shows) and her score is still 322. Still – that’s better than a DNF. In the next task (her best) we see something different: This time, during S2 (Southern Comp Two) Mel did pretty well, scoring 447 out of a potential 767. This task was downgraded from

1000 to 767 due to a low average distance by most pilots. However, for the league calculation this gets normalised, so Mel’s normalised score for this task is 583.

So here she has done considerably better than her current score... a whole 261 points better.

That 261 then goes through a formula, firstly divided by the task score (261*0.767) so that better tasks have more effect on the ladder. So now it’s 200.

Then we take 5% of that (5% is a fixed “Nominal Movement” for Regional Comps and League events) and that’s where we get the 10 from. So Mel got 10 more points for that task, hence the 10 with the green bit on it.

Reading left we see: So Mel now has 332 points on the ladder, which is an increase of 3 points over the season so far. She is now positioned 37, and has climbed 5 places since the start of the season.

Phew! That was tricky, but now maybe the mass of numbers is more clear.

That 5% “Nominal Movement” is generally much higher for the tasks during the PG Open, wherein it is calculated by various other factors. So next time you see the ladder it could be massively shaken up by the tasks from Nelson and Rotorua PG Open rounds.

To summarise some general gossip on the ladder… the top spot has changed. Evan Lamberton has knocked Grant Middendorf off the top spot with some great flying during Canungra and the Regional Comps. Good flying over the ditch has also helped Eva Walton-Keim to climb into the top ten, the highest female on the ladder. Andy Maloney scored the most points, a massive 53 over the season, and was the biggest climber so far.

Fingers crossed for good weather and great flying at the PG Open rounds – I look forward to seeing you all there. Sorry that this update was a bit technical.

Thanks, Johnny at the Paragliding Comp Committee johnnyhopper@gmail.com for any questions.

Paragliding Competition Line Up

Remember you can find out more information about these comps (and others that will doubtless be scheduled) by reading the comps section of the NZHGPA website (www.nzhgpa.org.nz) Auckland Regional Comp III (Sat/Sun March 22nd/23rd 2014) At sites surrounding Auckland but also possibly as far as Paeroa Range near Rotorua.

Safety briefing will be held at the site location once the site is decided. The initial meet location will be decided on Saturday 22nd at 09:00, or earlier if it looks like we are going far afield.

It is imperative to: - Join the Cloudbase Flying Google+ Community for announcements regarding the site, weather etc this is the main contact place for discussion of flying the Auckland area and you should already be tuned in.

- Find the event on the group called “Auckland Regional Paragliding Comp III” - Download the correct waypoints in advance.

- Post on the Google+ group, or reach organiser Johnny Hopper on 021 056 2275 or johnnyhopper@gmail.com to express interest or if you have any questions etc.

National Competition Rounds (The PG Open) This season we will have two rounds in our premier National Competition: The Paragliding Open. If you want to do well in the National Ladder then you really have to fly at the PG Open. Full details and registration is available at www.pgopen.org.nz see you there.

First Round Nelson - organised by the Tasman Club Friday 24th January 2014 - Saturday 1st February. Contact: Peter Allison (021 350 066, pez@ihug.co.nz) Second Round Rotorua - organised by the Auckland Club Friday 21st February 2014 - Saturday 1st March 2014.

Contact: Kyla MacDonald (021 056 2320, kylamacdonald@gmail.com) Paragliding State of Origin (18-21 April) in Manilla, NSW A team of New Zealanders will join this team event over Easter weekend. For more information and to register your interest, contact Kyla MacDonald on 021 056 2320 or kylamacdonald@gmail.com.

Aeronautical Charts Visual Navigation Charts (VNCs) can be purchased from Aeronautical Information Management (a division of Airways NZ) on 0800 500 045, or their web site, www.aipshop. co.nz. VNCs come in two scales 1:250,000 and

NZ Competition Organiser’s Responsibilities

1:500,000, and cost $16.35 for a pair of charts

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

2. Ensure every competition entrant is a current NZHGPA member.

3. Sign up any non-members.

Any competitors found to be non-members will be listed and scored as ‘Disqualified’.

printed on a double-sided sheet. The coverage of the 1:250,000 charts makes them handy for planning cross-country flights.

S ite Notices Magic Mountain The road has finally been fixed, it’s wider, not tilted toward the edge and the downhill corners have been widened and made less steep. When finished there were no rocks on the road. Now your driver will feel safer and your tyres won’t get slashed by sharp rocks (but it’s still slow and steep so it’s 4WD only with low ratio/hill descent for 4WD automatics or the brakes will definitely burn out).

If you find clumps of dirt or shingle that have fallen onto the road on your way up, please shovel them off while it’s easy. Driving over them compacts them and makes them really difficult to shift later. It’s unlikely we’ll get the road fixed so cheaply next time so please help keep the road in shape.

Permission is still required from the landowner each time it is used unless an organiser has arranged it for the duration of a comp. The landowner asks that all vehicles are signed in to the book in the metal box at the lower launch gate. Enjoy! - Bill Degen Photo left; The road opening ribbon cutting; Juan Garcia,‘Pipe’ and Eileen MacKenzie.

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N Ne eww ZZeealan a l a n dd C rC ross o s s - -CCoouunntry try

a r a g l idding ing PP aragli CC hampionships hampionships

Paragliding National Competition Ladder Current Position 1

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

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Paragliding XC Competition Standings 2013 - 2014 Season

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here have been some huge distances logged on the online XC Competition this season. Most notable is Grant Middendorf’s e n o r m o u s , re c o rd breaking FAI triangle which circumnavigated Lake Wanaka - see the article earlier in this edition!

Up in the North Island - Evan Lamberton destroyed the existing Moirs Hill record, following the West side of the convergence up over Wellsford and beyond.

Remember that any flights you do in the upcoming PG Open rounds are all valid for this competition too, as long as you log them within 2 weeks of doing them.

If you know you’ve breached airspace then please do NOT upload your flight - it will be deemed invalid anyway.

A long way to go yet... this comp ends at the end of March and starts again the next day.

Cheers, Johnny at the PCC.

NZ PG XC Total Score 2013/14 on 14/1/2014 Pos Pilot Total 1st 2nd 3rd 1 Grant Middendorf 488.34 234.51 156.06 97.77 2 Mr Yaker 369.41 138.63 135.13 95.66 3 Pete Groves 358.04 134.74 113.39 109.91 4 Rory Devine 322.59 170.96 81.69 69.94 5 Bryan Moore 274.99 220.61 37.21 17.17 6 Derek Divers 267.07 98.24 88.74 80.09 7 Mark Hardman 239.75 125.36 63.59 50.8 8 Evan Lamberton 178.66 95.95 56.37 26.34 9 Matt Stanford 157.76 79.31 78.45 10 Reuben John Muir 149.58 56.51 47.91 45.15 11 Roy Tingay 136.27 62.92 42.16 31.18 12 Edward Guy 136.14 107.76 28.38 13 Rodger Kerr 134.74 54.93 50.1 29.71 14 Jeff Ripley 134.1 53.59 44.31 36.2 15 Joel Hanlon 130.02 49.1 42.56 38.37 16 Luke Goleman 130.01 71.31 42.74 15.97 17 Melanie Heather ♀ 121.11 57.87 38.56 24.68 18 Rhys Akers 104.97 48.59 34.71 21.67 19 Bruce Vickerman 101.6 44.53 29.1 27.97 20 Paul Underwood 94.85 73.95 20.9 21 Eva Keim ♀ 87.76 56.55 31.21 22 Craig Smith 84.23 35.72 34.71 13.81 23 Joel Zwartz 81.2 81.2 - 24 Craig Miller 81.1 34.79 24.37 21.94 25 Laurence Robinson 79.01 54.61 24.4 26 Tim Brown 78.74 59.17 19.57 27 Wayne Rohrs 70.29 30.84 26.2 13.25 28 Aaron Ford 68.11 25.04 23.06 20.01 29 Andrew Cavaney 65.44 23.98 21.84 19.62 30 Tim Heather 64.13 26.08 22.35 15.7

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XC (scored over three waypoints)

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Pos Pilot Total 1st 2nd 3rd 31 Duncan Macnab 63.2 43.2 20 32 Matt Senior 62.56 42.73 19.83 33 Kath Jones ♀ 61.84 34.23 27.61 34 Glen Stevens 61.63 61.63 - 35 Don Smith 58.44 20.66 19.35 18.44 36 Graham Surrey 55.05 32.11 13.67 9.27 37 Kyla MacDonald ♀ 48.36 26.25 15.26 6.85 38 Johnny Hopper 47.07 22.43 17 7.64 39 Peter Taylor 45.05 33.49 11.56 40 Kat West ♀ 44.96 23.99 20.97 41 Walter Lown 44.07 26.23 9.44 8.4 42 Anand Srinivasan 41.67 28.13 13.53 43 Mark Sedon 40.36 16.38 15.56 8.43 44 Simon Corbett 40.35 40.35 - 45 Mal Haskins 35 35 - 46 Peter Grieve 29.6 15.16 14.44 47 Steve O’Shaughnessy 28.9 21.04 7.86 48 Elisabeth Tobler ♀ 21.99 21.99 - 49 Jen Corbett 20.67 16.18 2.88 1.61 50 Fred Timmermans 20.01 11.09 4.71 4.21 51 Mick Kennish 19.16 6.62 6.39 6.14 52 Tony Cowley 13.56 6.22 4.52 2.82 53 Greg Cable 12.43 5.97 3.58 2.87 54 Adam Morrow 11.72 11.72 - 55 Stefan Sebregts 10.73 4.08 3.98 2.67 56 Matt Harrison 8.8 8.8 - 57 Alexey Kryssov 8.27 8.27 - 58 Evgeniya Shiryaeva ♀ 6.01 6.01 - 59 Andy Spierer 3.62 3.62 - -

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Updates at; www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/league/world/season2013/brand:all,cat:1,class:all,xctype:all,club:0.9&comp=

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PARAGLIDING CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP RULES

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that all March flights must be submitted by April 5.

Refer to the website for details. The competition website will be notified at the start of each competition season.

6.3.1 Basic Details for All Flights.

All submissions are to include; • The name of the pilot, • Flight date, • Take off site, • GPS track log.

To submit a GPS tracklog, the pilot shall upload a suitable format file to the nominated website.

6.3.2 Flights scoring 50 points and over, or flights claiming a “Record”.

All flights scoring 50 points and over, and those claiming a “Record”, shall be verified with a 3D GPS track-log. i.e. includes height data in the log.

Refer to Section 2.6 for GPS track log validation criteria.

A “record” claim is for either a site record or a national record. If this flight is under 50 points and GPS verification is unavailable it may still be submitted to the XC Champs but it will not be awarded “record” status.

6.3.3 Flights scoring under 50 points.

Flights under 50 points may submit a 2D tracklog.

6.4 Scoring Unless determined otherwise by the XC Comp organiser the scoring shall be as defined in the rules of the nominated website.

6.5 Challenging a flight.

Any flight may be challenged by the XC champs organiser or by any pilot competing in the XC champs.

If a flight is challenged, initially the XC champs organiser or a PCC appointed scrutineer shall obtain and scrutinise the flight documentation.

If the challenging pilot or the challenged pilot is not satisfied with this outcome, a jury will be appointed by the PCC. The jury’s decision will be final.

6.5.4 Validation of Flight The flight is valid providing that:

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• The flight was flown in New Zealand, • At least 2/3 of the distance was flown inland (thermal flying rather than coastal soaring), • The pilot has at least PG2 rating or foreign equivalent, • The flight complies with NZ Civil Aviation Authority regulations for paraglider flight.

• The appropriate level of evidence is provide to the XC champs organiser (see 6.3) • The flight has not been challenged under 6.5 By entering a flight into the Cross Country Championships, the pilot confirms that these conditions have been met.

Foreign pilots may enter the competition providing that they have taken out temporary NZHGPA membership.

Note that the title of NZ XC Champion will go to the best-placed NZ resident pilot.

6.6 Cross Country Records New Zealand XC records may be claimed by submitting the 3D GPS track log or IGC file to the XC competition organiser.

These files will be examined and scored separately from the annual online XC competition.

6.6.1 Categories XC records will be kept in 6 categories; 1. Open Distance (OD): Straight line distance from start point to finish point.

2. Out and Back (OB): Straight line distance from start point to any turn point, then back to the start point..

3. FAI Triangle (TR): A triangle defined by 3 turn points. One turn point will be the start/finish point. The smallest side of the triangle shall not be less than 28% of the total distance.

4. Declared Goal: Open distance from start point to a goal declared in writing to a witness before launch.

5. Female: Open distance flown by a female pilot 6. Tandem: Open distance flown on a certified tandem glider with a passenger.

6.6.2 Site Records Separate records for each recognised inland site may be claimed

in each of the above categories.

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Photo: Ross Gray

ach flying year a National paragliding cross country championship may be run.

An organiser of this championship (XC Champs organiser) may be appointed by the PCC in April of each year. This appointment shall automatically continue in the following years, until he/she is notified otherwise by the PCC, or he/she informs the PCC of their intention to stand down.

If no XC Champs organiser is appointed the competition shall be administered by a member of the PCC. The flying year shall run from 1st April to 31st March the following calendar year.

6.1 Cross Country Championship Format A pilot’s Cross Country Championship score shall be the total of the score from their three highest scoring flights in one flying year.

Flights shall be scored in one of the following categories with points allocated as defined on the xc competition web site at; www. paraglidingforum.com/leonardo 1. Free Flight. (Distance X 1.5) 2. Free triangle. (Distance X 1.75 3. FAI Triangle. (Distance X 2.0) 6.1.1 XC Rover An XC Rover table may be part of the XC Championships at the discretion of the XC Comp organiser..

Flights for the XC Rover table must originate from sites more than 50km apart. Only one flight is scored per site to count towards a pilot’s total score.

A pilot’s XC Rover score shall be the total of up to 5 flights in one flying year.

A pilot must have a minimum of 3 XC Rover flights before scoring on this table.

6.1.2 Sub Classes At the discretion of the XC Champs organiser, sub classes may be collated and shown as part of the XC Championships. These may include; Open, Male, Female, Tandem Class, North Island, South Island, Rookie.

6.3 Flight Submission and Minimum Documentation Flight submissions are to be uploaded to the XC website (www. paraglidingforum.com/leonardo) within 30 days of the flight, except

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New! New! New! New!

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 43 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 53 55 55 55 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 67 67 67 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70

Pilot Evan Lamberton Grant Middendorf Jeff Ripley Matt Stanford Derek Divers Peter Groves Mark Hardman Robbo Robinson Eva Walton Keim ♀ Reuben Muir Nick Taber Tim Brown Rory Devine Dean Straker Hamish Barker Kussy Gomez ♀ Louis Tapper Rob Boyle Wayne Rohrs Edward Guy Nick Stead Kris Ericksen Russell Read Angus Tapper Xen Zambas Kat West ♀ Itai Almog Woo Young Jang Tim Percival Rhys Akers Gareth Gore John Walton Mal Haskins Peter Allison Lucy Hewlett ♀ Andy Maloney Melanie Heather ♀ Don Smith Graham Surrey Glen Stevens Rodger Kerr Bryan Moore AbeLardo Laguna Elisabeth Tobler ♀ Manu Danner ♀ Johnny Hopper Matt Senior Kath Jones ♀ Joel Hanlon Cameron Kennedy Craig Miller Rob Darby Richard Castro Bernard Romain Duncan Macnab Rob Van Den Ham James Hayes Ian Douglas Shlomi Amsalem Anand Srinivasan Kyla MacDonald ♀ Adam Morrow Stefan Sebregts Scott Arrell Brenden Duffy Andy Spierer Steven Christopher Helen Jeffery Kim Woodgate JJ Groenewald Grey Hamilton Jason Hamill Ross Johnstone Jude Tarr ♀ Julian Daly Stephen Gullick Timothy Heather Evgeniya Shiryaeva Roy Tingay

Gain/Loss 26 2 1 12 17 -18 12 0 18 -18 -24 24 -24 -23 -23 -23 21 -21 -7 -20 -20 2 -19 -18 -12 -18 -17 -17 -17 -9 -5 -11 -4 -15 -14 53 3 -8 -12 -13 7 20 -11 2 -11 -8 -11 -10 4 3 -10 0 -10 -6 -8 -10 -7 -8 -8 -8 -8 -8 -8 -8 -8 -8 -9 -9 -9 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10

Score Ladder Task Norm Ladder G/L Task Score G/L 13/1/2014 Score Value Score Score 817 805 676 656 652 649 635 613 611 610 593 579 573 571 557 556 534 517 507 496 483 478 453 444 439 436 422 414 407 372 363 360 354 353 348 346 332 326 322 317 302 298 280 280 274 273 266 255 254 253 252 250 244 244 243 243 243 242 242 242 242 242 242 242 242 242 241 241 241 240 240 240 240 240 240 240 240 240 240

817 805 676 656 652 649 635 613 611 610 593 579 573 571 557 556 534 517 507 496 483 478 453 444 439 436 422 414 407 372 363 360 354 353 348 346 332 326 322 317 302 298 280 280 274 273 266 255 254 253 252 250 244 244 243 243 243 242 242 242 242 242 242 242 242 242 241 241 241 240 240 240 240 240 240 240 240 240 240

10 10 10 10 15 2 16 6 18 0 -6 22 -6 -6 -6 -6 15 -5 3 -5 -5 9 -5 -4 1 -4 -4 -4 -4 3 6 -1 7 -4 -4 22 10 1 -2 -3 9 28 -3 8 -3 -1 -3 -3 11 9 -3 7 -2 2 0 -2 0 -1 -2 -1 -1 0 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2

C3 1000 1000 1000 808 S1 1000 1000 1000 794 A1 619 619 1000 665 C2 843 1000 843 646 S1 940 1000 940 637 S2 541 767 705 647 S1 825 825 1000 619 A2 348 366 951 607 C2 962 1000 962 592 A1 488 788 619 609 DNF 599 C2 1000 1000 1000 557 DNF 579 DNF 576 DNF 563 DNF 562 S1 813 1000 813 519 DNF 522 A1 366 619 591 504 DNF 501 DNF 488 C1 482 665 725 469 DNF 458 DNF 448 A2 188 366 514 438 S2 72 767 94 441 DNF 426 DNF 418 DNF 411 A1 283 619 457 370 S1 468 1000 468 357 A1 198 619 320 361 S1 482 1000 482 347 DNF 357 DNF 351 C2 771 1000 771 323 S2 447 767 583 322 A2 148 366 404 324 A2 86 366 235 324 DNF 320 A2 288 366 787 293 S2 767 767 1000 270 DNF 282 A1 327 619 528 272 DNF 277 A1 158 619 255 274 DNF 269 DNF 257 S1 468 1000 468 243 A1 328 619 530 244 DNF 254 S1 392 1000 392 243 DNF 246 S2 222 767 289 243 S1 241 1000 241 244 DNF 245 S1 247 1000 247 243 S1 224 1000 224 243 S1 206 1000 206 244 A2 68 366 186 243 A2 78 366 213 243 A2 84 366 230 243 A2 68 366 186 243 A2 68 366 186 243 A2 68 366 186 243 A2 68 366 186 243 S1 221 1000 221 243 S1 221 1000 221 243 A1 111 619 179 243 A1 104 619 168 243 DNF 243 DNF 243 DNF 243 DNF 243 DNF 243 S1 166 1000 166 243 S1 165 1000 165 243 S2 112 767 146 243 S2 95 767 124 243

7 7 4 8 14 -7 8 6 9 -6 -6 13 -6 -6 -6 -6 9 -5 0 -5 -5 0 -5 -5 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -2 -4 -4 -4 20 0 -3 -3 -3 3 -3 -3 -1 -3 -2 -3 -3 -2 -1 -3 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -1 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2

Task Score

Task Norm Ladder Task Norm Ladder Task Norm Start Start G/L Task Score G/L Task Score Value Score Score Value Score Score Value Score Score Position

C1 S2 A2 C3 S2 S2 A1 C3 C3 S2 A2 C2 A2 C3 S1 A1 A1 C2 A2 A2 A2 S2 A2 A1 A1 -

665 1000 767 980 366 861 1000 796 767 995 DNF 767 825 619 788 1000 765 DNF DNF 1000 804 DNF DNF DNF DNF 767 755 DNF 366 516 DNF DNF 1000 468 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF 366 230 DNF DNF DNF 1000 696 1000 320 619 152 619 186 DNF 1000 354 DNF DNF 366 230 DNF 366 186 DNF DNF DNF 366 186 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF 767 163 366 186 619 181 619 170 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF

665 752 315 796 763 633 488 765 804 579 189 468 84 696 320 94 115 354 84 68 68 125 68 112 105 -

801 787 662 639 622 654 611 601 583 616 605 544 585 582 568 567 510 527 504 506 493 469 463 453 442 445 430 422 416 373 361 364 351 361 355 304 322 327 327 323 290 272 285 272 279 275 271 260 245 245 257 245 249 245 246 248 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245 245

6 -8 -7 1 -6 -7 -6 -6 -4 -6 -6 -5 -6 -6 -6 -6 2 -5 -5 -5 -5 -2 -5 -5 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 14 -3 -3 -3 -3 -2 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -2 -2 -3 -2 -3 -2 -2 -3 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2

C2 C1 C1 C1 C1 C3 C1 C3 -

923 1000 923 DNF DNF 502 755 665 DNF DNF DNF DNF 316 665 475 DNF DNF 123 665 185 DNF DNF DNF DNF 373 665 561 DNF DNF DNF DNF 430 1000 430 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF 466 665 701 DNF DNF DNF DNF 251 1000 251 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF

795 795 668 638 629 660 617 607 587 622 611 549 591 588 574 573 508 533 509 511 498 471 467 457 446 449 435 427 420 377 364 367 354 364 358 290 326 331 331 327 292 275 288 275 282 278 274 262 248 248 259 248 251 248 248 250 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248

4 -8 -7 -6 -6 -7 -6 -6 -6 -6 -6 -6 -6 -6 -6 -6 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3

A2 366 366 1000 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF C3 396 1000 396 DNF DNF DNF DNF S2 173 767 226 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF C1 123 665 185 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF Task Key DNF C1,C2,C3 = DNF Canungra Cup DNF A1,A2 = Auckland DNF Regionals DNF =

S outhern S1,S2 DNF Regionals DNF DNF

A

791 803 675 644 635 667 623 613 593 628 617 555 597 594 580 579 513 538 514 516 503 476 472 462 451 454 439 431 424 381 368 371 358 368 362 293 329 334 334 330 295 278 291 278 285 281 277 265 250 250 262 250 254 250 251 253 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250

i r b o r n

2 1 3 5 6 4 8 10 13 7 9 16 11 12 14 15 20 17 19 18 21 23 24 26 28 27 29 30 31 32 34 33 38 34 37 44 42 39 39 41 43 48 45 48 46 47 50 51 56 52 53 55 54

56

56 56 56 56 56

27

N Ne eww ZZeealan a l a n dd C rC ross o s s - -CCoouunntry try

HH AA NN GG gli g l idding i ng CC hampionships hampionships

January 1st to December 31st

W

hat a way to finish the 2013 XC Champs! John Smith cleaned up by beating the NZ record with just two flights, taking the National Hang Gliding XC Champion title, and making the longest 2 flights of the year.

My late 91km flight to Mt Cook put me in second place in a year with few entries and very few good days in November and December to finish it in. Mark Nichols again showed us how in class 2 with his Atos, flying through the roadless Canterbury high country from Mt Cheeseman to Hanmer. The few days that were on, were very good for those who flew.

The way to get those cross country flights is to keep trying so you are flying fit when that good day comes up. Then you need to be flying at the right place when conditions turn on. Often it’s the ordinary looking days that unexpectedly turn out the best, and it’s those who are out flying on the day that get to take advantage of it.

There’s always time to improve your cross country skills and while doing that you could get that big flight that will top your personal best distance. You’ll be surprised at how well you can do if you are out flying on a day that turns it on.

VOTE FOR RULES UPDATES There’s been little response to the latest rule change suggestions so things will just stay as they are; - Ridge flights are permitted.

- Flight entry deadlines remain the same at up to 30 days.

If you want to change the rules for next season, email me with your suggestions and we’ll vote on them.

ONLINE RESULTS Results are posted as they come in at www.hgpg. co.nz and at www.nzhgpa.org.nz/xcleagues/hg/ index.php when I am able to update.

Online scoring? Not yet, but if you have 3D GPS you can enter any of the online contests as well.

Just let me know, send me a link to your online entry and that’s all we need to enter your flight.

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

28 A i r b o r n

Name John Smith

Flight 1 Flight 2 Flight 3 Flight 4 Total kms 177.5 172.4 349.9

2 Bill Degen 91.4 50.7 48.9 41.5 232.4 3

Mark Nichols

**

114.5

43.6

40.8

25.8

224.6

4 Geoff Christophers 70.0 55.9 41.7 22.5 190.1 5 Max Gebhardt 65.0 62.0 22.0 149.0 6 Guy Williams 38.9 32.0 31.0 21.0 122.9 7 Neil Howe 31.2 30.5 29.7 29.1 120.5 8 Rick Hawkeswood 30.6 27.8 24.0 23.9 106.4

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 Web: www.gethigh.co.nz PARAGLIDING SkyWings Paragliding Alan Hills Phone: 09 570 5757, 027 498 2345 Email: alan@skywings.co.nz Web: www.skywings.co.nz

9 Cris Lawry 72.5 19.0

91.5

10 Gavin Tweedie 41.7 18.2 13.0

72.9

11 Tom Pearson 24.4 18.2 15.6 12.0

70.2

12

Daniel Gnoth

64.5

13

Angus Tapper

64.5 Sponsors 44.2

14

Gary Turner

40.0

40.0

WAIKATO

15

Rod Stuart

23.0

23.0

PARAGLIDING

16

Oliver Derry

20.0

20.0

17

Ian Miller

13.7

13.7

18

Derek McKee

10.0

10.0

18

Eddie Pearson

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

10.0

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING SUPPLIES

44.2

Wings & Waves Paragliding and Kitesurfing Reuben Muir and Eva Keim Phone: 09 446 0020, 027 472 7013 Email: wingsandwaves@xtra.co.nz Web: www.wingsandwaves.co.nz

Wings & Waves Paragliding and Kitesurfing Reuben Muir and Eva Keim Phone: 09 446 0020, 027 472 7013 Email: wingsandwaves@xtra.co.nz Web: www.wingsandwaves.co.nz OMAHU, THAMES/PAEROA

2014 Cross-Country Championships Table so far...

Name Flight 1 Flight 2 Flight 3 Flight 4 Total kms 1 John Burton 22.7 13.6 36.2 2

Rick Hawkeswood

32.0

You can download GPSDump for free at; www.gethome.no/stein.sorensen Rules You must be a paid up NZHGPA member during all flights or you do not score. Entries must be postmarked or emailed within 30 days of the flight or do not score. This helps ensure accuracy, prevents pilots holding back flights until the end, and we all want 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 the pilots’ responsibility to declare and enter full details of all their own flight entries.

Measure your flights in kilometres and 10ths of km, straight line from take-off to landing. You may enter flights with a Remote Start and/or Remote Finish too, provided you send in a valid, GPS track log to prove it. For remote starts/finishes you also need to state the co-ordinates of the start and finish points that you are claiming. Out and return, triangle or multiple distances are not eligible at this stage.

Aerotow launched flights are permitted, but your release altitude must be less than 5% of the flight distance (current FAI ruling) or does not score. Tow release position (not take-off) verification should be witnessed by the tug pilot, or confirmed with known landmark photo or GPS tracklog.

Please Note: If you don’t follow these rules and provide all relevant flight details, (including valid tracklog for remote start or finish flights) you DO NOT SCORE.

32.0

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.

There’s a special prize for pilots flying skyfloater gliders such as such as the Fun, Falcon, Malibu etc.

30% double surface training 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.

SCORING The pilot with the best total of four flights is the NZ Hang Gliding Cross Country Champion for that year. He or she gets first choice of 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 the current years XC Champs must be flown before 31st December and entered within 30 days. This ends the contest at a good part of the season while it’s still hot for flying. Flights from January onwards will be entered in the XC Champs for the new year.

EMAIL 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

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.

PARAGLIDING Bruce Vickerman Phone: 07 862 4919, 027 498 9941 Email: bruce.v@clear.net.nz HAWKES BAY PARAGLIDING Airplay Paragliding School Barry Sayer, Phone: 027 451 2886 Email: barry@airplay.co.nz Web: www.airplay.co.nz BAY OF PLENTY PARAGLIDING Levitate Paragliding Ltd Shane and Summer Tims Phone: 07 542 0098, 027 649 2222 Email: levitateparagliding@hotmail.com Web: www.levitate.co.nz Mount Paragliding Wayne Roberts 07 574 4223, 027 643 6529 thermalmonkee@hotmail.com MANAWATU HANG GLIDING SkyVenture (Manawatu HG & PG Inc. Club School) CFI: Ross Gray Phone: 06 357 8996, 021 126 0892 Email: rosscoe@e3.net.nz WELLINGTON/WAIRARAPA HANG GLIDING Wellington Hang Gliding & Paragliding Club Grant Tatham Phone: 06 379 7322, 027 636 3491 Email: tathams@xtra.co.nz Oceania Paragliding School 022 676 5599 NELSON/TASMAN HANG GLIDING Hang Gliding NZ Ltd Kevin Rooke Phone: 03 540 2183, 0800 212 359, 021 762 769 Email: rooke@slingshot.co.nz Web: www.hanggliding.co.nz Nelson Hang Gliding Adventures Glenn Meadows Phone: 03 548 9151, 027 275 1022 Email: gmeadows@clear.net.nz Web: www.flynelson.co.nz

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

ALWAYS CHECK with local pilots before flying at new sites.

ALWAYS ask permission to fly unless you are absolutely certain that the owner allows use of the site without asking.

CHECK AGAIN at Springtime as most farms have pregnant and newborn stock that can easily be frightened and injured.

DO NOT show displeasure or abuse an owner if permission is refused.

This could hamper getting permission in the future.

ALWAYS GET PERMISSION to take a vehicle onto a property. Ensure that vehicles without gliders are not taken onto the property. Put all gliders on one car rather than have a convoy crossing the property.

If stock is near, drive slowly.

LEAVE GATES as you find them, gates may be closed to keep stock in or open to allow stock to feed. Ensure that all pilots and drivers understand.

USE STILES and gates where ever possible, if you must cross a fence, cross at a post or strainer post.

AVOID hay standing or cut unless permission has been given to cross it.

AVOID landing in paddocks containing crops or stock. Carefully move off crops to avoid damage.

DO NOT LIGHT FIRES at any time.

DO NOT SMOKE during fire risk times.

DO NOT TAKE DOGS onto any farm or property.

DO NOT disturb plants or machinery, move around it.

LEAVE NO RUBBISH.

PARAGLIDING Adventure Paragliding & Kiteboarding Kevin Rooke Ph: 03 540 2183, 021 762 769 Email: info@skyout.co.nz Web: www.skyout.co.nz Nelson Paragliding Stew and Zanna Karstens Phone: 03 544 1182, 027 446 3930 Email: paragliding@xtra.co.nz Web: www.nelsonparagliding.co.nz MARLBOROUGH PARAGLIDING High Adventure New Zealand Russell Read Phone: 027 448 0888 Email: russread@ihug.co.nz CHRISTCHURCH HANG GLIDING Canterbury Hang Gliding School Bill Degen Phone: 03 326 6411, 021 247 2676 Email: aero@xtra.co.nz Web: www.hgpg.co.nz

PARAGLIDING ParaPro (Paragliding & Powered Paragliding) Dave Dennis Phone: 03 328 8255, 0508 548 323 Email: info@parapro.co.nz Web: www.parapro.co.nz WANAKA PARAGLIDING Lucky Montana’s Flying Circus Advanced over water manoeuvres (SIV) instruction Rob Darby Phone: 03 443 1680, 027 220 1185 Email: lucky_montana@hotmail.com

Want a better mag?

QUEENSTOWN PARAGLIDING Elevation Paragliding School Shai Lanuel Phone: 0800 359 444, 027 224 2121 Email: elevationpg@xtra.co.nz Web: www.elevation.co.nz

Airborn needs your articles and photos. We’d like to read about your flights, frights, sites, experiences and techniques. Anything that’s of interest to pilots and educating or enthusing to pilots is especially welcome.

Infinity Paragliding School Alan Swann & Blake Round Phone 021 0228 2939 or 027 367 7679 Email: info@infinityparagliding.co.nz Web: www.infinityparagliding.co.nz Neverland Paragliding Dominic Eller Phone: 021 314 730 Email: neverlandpg@hotmail.com

Airborn can’t afford to pay you but does post contributors a complimentary copy which you should receive a day or so before everyone else.

Just email your text to; aero@xtra.co.nz or put it on CD, DVD, Zip, Flash drive or even floppy disk. Most text programs such as Microsoft Word (Windows or Mac) are fine. Please do not put photos in MS Word files as this reduces the resolution, supply photo files separately.

Paraventures Paragliding School Mark Hardman Phone: 0800 FLYSOLO (0800 359 765) \ 021 809 275 Email: info@paraventures.co.nz Queenstown Paragliding School Phone 0800 Paraglide (0800 727 245) Email: lisa@extremeair.co.nz Web: www.extremeair.co.nz Queenstown Hang Gliding School Phone 0800 Hang glide (0800 426 4454) Email: john@extremeair.co.nz Web: www.extremeair.co.nz Extreme Air Tandem Paragliding & Hang Gliding Phone 0800 727245 (0800 Paraglide) Email: info@extremeair.co.nz Web: www.extremeair.co.nz DUNEDIN PARAGLIDING Dunedin Paragliding & Hang Gliding School Phone 0800 Hang glide (0800 426 4454) Email: info@extremeair.co.nz Web: www.extremeair.co.nz

If it’s not digital, clean laser or typed copy helps or if you hand write, please write neatly on one side of the paper only.

SEND photos, of the people, place or gliders involved and one of yourself to make the article more interesting. We now have plenty of COLOUR and with digital photo editing, it’s amazing what we can do to enhance ordinary snapshots. Black and white or colour prints are fine. Digital images should be high resolution. I can help with emailing large files. Contact me if you want help.

Photos: Neil Brown, Ross Gray

TO ENTER...

It’s free and simple; fly anywhere in NZ 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 write; • Your name, email address and contact phone number.

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

• Start and landing witness/s name & contact details.

• For Remote Start and/or Remote Finish flights you must send the tracklog file from a GPS that can be read by GPSDump such as an IGC file.

GPSDump works on Windows or Mac and reads GPS tracklogs from just about any instrument, then works out the best start and finish points for you and can even export it for viewing in Google Earth.

HANG GLIDING

Provisional final results

THE COUNTRY CODE

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

2013 Cross-Country Championships Table

1

Learn to Fly

Photos for the cover should be eye-catching, colourful, sharp, and high resolution.

You can also send transparencies or prints for scanning. Anything marked with a return address will be returned with your complimentary copy.

Help promote or make our sport safer, and Airborn will present your contribution in the best way possible.

A

i r b o r n

29

■ Paid up NZHGPA members may run one advertisement per classification for free in each issue ■ Please send your written 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 ■ All advertisements are deleted for next issue unless repeat request received ■ Buyers are advised that all used hang gliders and paragliders are required to have a NEW fitness check (WOF) when sold ■ It is dangerous to fly a glider or with equipment that is above your rated ability ■ OZONE Ultralite2, 19m and Advance Easyness Harness. Perfect hike and fly setup, 4kgs total. Both items used for 4 or 5 short flights. Less than an hour total. No wear and tear at all. Pretty much brand new. $2500 ono. email mark.sedon@xtra.co.nz or call him on 027 490 9003.

OZONE - New models - Zero - high wind soarer/miniwing - also Fazer 2 & Firely 2 - exciting times! Check them all out at www.flyozone.com and contact Alan at www.skywings.co.nz AWAK 2 - ITV’s new high performance mini wing is out, sizes 18 and 20 - 55 cells of pure mini performance and fun! See www.itv-parapentes.com or www.skywings.co.nz OZONE Delta 2 EN C, first size ML here now. Gliding .1 better than Mantra 4, so around 10.3. Shark nosed, all new - awesome. www.skywings.co.nz NOVA Mentor 3 EN B, glides .6 better than the worlds revolutionary Mentor 2. A perfect wing for almost all. http://www.nova-wings.com www.skywings.co.nz OZONE Buzz Z4 Low EN B. The amazing Buzz series gets even better. Ozone knowledge comes to the beginner intermediate class. www.flyozone.com www.skywings.co.nz SUP’AIR Delight pod harness, 2.7kgs including cockpit, 5 out of top 10 X-Alps pilots flying with it. In stock now - better than we ever imagined www.skywings.co.nz SPEEDSTER - Ozone’s new Motor wing - fastest wing they’ve ever made - full reflex for huge stability at highest speeds - www.skywings.co.nz www.flyozone.com Www.skywings.co.nz great trade-in prices Speedflying specialists and the finest range of cross country machines ever. Also all harnesses, accessories and Paramotoring.

Phone Alan 09 570 5757 WINGS WANTED Contact SkyWings for great trade-in prices Phone Alan 09 570 5757 NIVIUK Kougar paramotor wing. Size 23. Sweet handling, performance, agility and stability. It has it all. Flown only 2 times. New wing. $3300. Retails for .$4700.

Phone 027 602 2558.

MOTOR Paragliding

PARAMOTORING Miniplane and PAP motors - contact SkyWings for courses and equipment - Phone Alan 09 570 5757

HANG GLIDERS

ELITE 151, Sail a bit scratched on leading edges but Ok, 7075 leading edges, spare upright. Make an offer. Buck 027 6551968 jacquipay@slingshot.co.nz WILLS Wing U2 160, 2004, 150 hours of great flying. Selling as have upgraded to T2C. Very few hours on coast so it’s in good condition. Phone Mark 022 195 5746 WILLS Wing U2 145. 6 years old. Approx. 75 hours. Sail still in good shape and tight.

Performs and handles well. Blue and bright yellow undersurface. Custom base bar wheels included. $3700. Owner going topless. Phone Les 021 165 3320, 09 579 6485, email: graham-mackie@vodafone.co.nz SPORT 2, 175, Blue and red lower, near new, just 10 hours, very tidy condition, No prangs, 1 geriatric owner, contact 03 326-6411 or aero@xtra.co.nz for info.

MOYES LiteSport 4. Full mylar sail. Topsail; white. Underside; lavender, light green.

Current W.O.F. Brand new glider bag & zip, grass green, $170 worth. Spare set of S glass tip wands. $3300.00. Dennis, 021 430 436, 06 752 7618 ATOS VR 2006 model. Flown lots of 80-100km+ flights. Outstanding sink rate and glide angle. Suit larger pilot. Price $8,000. Contact 03 359 7358, 021 339 336 mark. nichols.home@gmail.com SKYFLOATERS; New & used; Fun, Falcon, fully strip checked, test flown and trimmed, contact 03 326-6411 or aero@xtra.co.nz for info.

MOYES Xtralite 137. Much loved one owner glider. Bought new directly from Steve Moyes at Canungra Classic. Approximately 35 hours careful use. Black and blue under-surface (not for yuppies), Spare down tube and side wires. Real fun to fly.

Looking for new loving owner to do great things with. $1000 ono, Phone 09 407 5304 AIRBORNE Climax C2-13, yellow and white. Excellent condition, less than 80 hours.

Flys and lands nicely. $1800 ono. Phone Cris on 03 310 3050 or 022 653 3900

MOTOR HANG Gliding

AIRTIME motor harness, late model, 8 hours airtime, Folding prop, Tiny tac, Tuning lights, 2 owners, contact 03 326-6411 or aero@xtra.co.nz for info.

EXPLORER motor harness with carbon fibre folding prop and reserve. Tony 021 265 8224, email tony@sthlaw.co.nz MOSQUITO NRG motorharness, very tidy with very low airtime, all the usual features plus folding carbon prop, Stainless auto carabiner, parachute if required. Phone 021 247 2676, email aero@xtra.co.nz

INSTRUCTION

NELSON Hang Gliding Adventures HG training course Beginner and Novice rating.

Jan, Feb, March. Call Glenn to register interest. 03 548 9151 or 027 275 1022, gmeadows@clear.net.nz HANG Gliding/Skyfloating. Experienced instruction in Christchurch using latest skyfloater hang gliders, Phone Bill 021 247 2676, 03 326 6411 a.h., email aero@xtra.co.nz

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Photo; Bill degen

INSTRUMENTS

BRÄUNIGER, Digifly and Aircotec flight instruments, basic varios to full GPS flight computers. Large range in stock. Phone or txt 021 247 2676, email aero@xtra.co.nz

RESERVE PARACHUTES

RANGE of Charly reserve parachutes, Front containers, Hook knives, Connectors etc, in stock at HG & PG Supplies, Phone 021 247 2676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz

ACCESSORIES

CHARLY and PlusMax helmets, chin guards etc. Also aerofoil basebar handfairings, Drogue chutes, carabiners for HG or PG, Hall wheels and wind meters, contact Bill 021 247 2676, 03 326 6411 a.h., aero@xtra.co.nz

Business

NELSON Paragliding, established 1993, After 20 years of operation I am looking for a business partner to share in the running of the school and 115 commercial Tandem flights. Nelson Paragliding has excellent equipment and sites where high standards are achieved. Although seasonally busy would suit someone with secondary income. So if you’re a motivated pilot with good people / business skills and like hanging out on hills please enquire as full training will be given. Contact Stew Karstens 03 544 1182

Lost & found

NUVUIK Icepeak 6; green leading edge with Blue and white tips. Has distinctive competition numbers 222 on the lower surface along with ABAC (factory race team name)... this is a top comp wing and very obviously a comp 2 liner wing. Very few people should be flying this wing unless they are very experienced. Stolen in a GIN black with flouro green stripes 90 l bag... Reward for return and notifying police!!

My cell 027 667 7123... Many thanks and hopefully I’ll get it back somehow.... it wasn’t insured :( - Grey Hamilton HARNESS, helmet & hang gliding gear, taken from Omarama March 2010. Custom High Energy Tracer harness (black with blue stripe), Lara parachute with swivel, Spot Satellite Messenger, Olympus Mju Tough camera, Charly No Limit helmet (metallic dark silver) with visor, radio headset, Silkbody top, softshell jacket and other gear in black backpack. Contact Bill 03 326-6411, 021 247-2676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz.

Keep in touch with the NZ hang gliding and paragliding scene, the latest developments, events, new and used equipment...

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Johnny Hopper launching on Shomali Plain North of Kabul, Afghanistan

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Photo; Joseph Wight

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All NZ hang glider and paraglider pilots are required by law to be members, and receive Airborn magazine as part of their membership but non flyers and overseas pilots are welcome to subscribe.

For Airborn SUBSCRIPTIONS please contact;

NZHGPA Administrator, PO Box 244, Picton, New Zealand

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A4 size issues $4.- each

Feb/Mar/Apr May/Jun/Jul Aug/Sep/Oct Nov/Dec/Jan 2013 issue numbers 185 186 187 188 2012 issue numbers - - 183 184 2011 issue numbers 179 180 181 182 2010 issue numbers 175 176 177 178 2009 issue numbers 171 172 173 174

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PARAGLIDERS

FLIGHT PIX

The fast lane at Magic Mountain

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

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www.skywings.co.nz

EN B

EN C

lite

New .6 glide better than the worlds revolutionary Mentor 2, so glide ratio around 10 to 1 Better handling and improved safety - almost no one needs more - this glides like a Mantra 4 but has EN B safet safety.

This is the new world reference high B

INDEPENDENT REVIEW GERMAN THERMIC MAGAZINE JULY 2013 “In Summary: The Delta 2 is a force to be reckoned with! It launches superbly, and turns when you move your finger in the direction you want the wing to go.

This glider is sensationally solid, glides very well, is easy to accelerate,and it delivers pure pleasure and happiness to the pilot.

- Shark Nose Technology - Glides .1 better than Mantra 4 - (10.3) - Replacable Rods - C Riser control system - Improved agility and compactness - New advanced arc and profile - Clear EN C leader

Although the Shark Nose profile and dynamic nature might make it look and feel at first glance a bit agressive, in the end this is not true. In any case, anyone who flies regularly will not experience any bad surprises.

Except that the permanent smile induced by the D2 can only be removed by surgery.This is truly a wing designed how wings should be.

Amen”

Shark-nosed rods to 80% of chord gives extraordinary stability.

All Ozone’s breakthrough inventions showcased in this EN D class leading M6

Mini Wings

Twice the fun, twice the flying, half the price! Perfect your ground handling skills.

Huge fun for soaring and strong day thermalling. We are the specialists with 20 years on the smallest wings.

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low EN B As much performance and handling as you can get in a first glider.

The perfect beginner intermediate glider.

PARAMOTORING SPECIALISTS

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High wind soarer/ mini wing