NZHGPA Airborn #198

Issue 198; May, June, July 2016

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING

Paragliding China

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9 771170 992006

NZ Hang Gliding and Paragliding National Championships

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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 47813 Ponsonby, Auckland 1144 Email: info@cloudbase.org.nz www.cloudbase.org.nz Pres: Graham Surrey .................021 0262 5023 Sec: Paul Henriques ......................021 310 779 Treas: Malcolm Dawson...............021 052 1568 HGSO: Fraser Bull .......................027 801 4044 PGSO: Reuben Muir.......................09 446 0020 Airsp: Leslie Graham .....................09 579 6485 Stefan Sebregts ...........................021 266 1287 Steve Price ....................................021 781 828 Eva Keim .......................................09 446 0051 Skywings Paragliding ....................09 570 5757 Aqua Air Adventure Hang Gliding.. 027 288 0193 Wings And Waves Paragliding ......09 446 0020

BAY OF PLENTY H.G.P.C. C/-Dominique Le Sellin 41, Ririnui Place, Maungatapu Tauranga 3112 Email: frogiwi@xtra.co.nz www.facebook.com/BOPHangGlidingParagliding Pres: Dave Washer.07 544 2951/ 0275 992 934 Sec: Dominique Le Sellin.07 544 2951 / 021 617 111 PGSO: Wayne Roberts.07 574 4223 / 021 668 852 HGSO: James Low.......................021 102 5004 Airsp: Rhys Akers.........................021 177 7563 Sites: Dave Shaw...........................07 575 9560 Geoffrey Christophers ...................07 576 5744 Levitate Paragliding........................07 542 0098 Mount Paragliding..07 574 4223, 027 643 6529

HAWKES BAY H.G.P.C. Inc. 30 Kaweka Place Havelock North 4130 Email: hbhgpc@gmail.com www.soarhawkesbay.co.nz Pres, Rebecca Rae.........................021 605 204 Sec/Treas: Duncan McNab..........027 624 6434 Airsp: Shaun Gilbert.....................022 477 8804 PGSO: Sam Elkink..........................06 824 3123 HGSO: Ross MacKay.....................06 877 2052 Sites Liason; Euan Talbot ..............06 877 8999

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KEY Pres; .............................................. President Sec; ............................ Secretary/Treasurer

PGSO; ............. Paragliding Safety Officer

HGSO; .......... Hang Gliding Safety Officer

CFI;........................... Chief Flying Instructor Airsp;.................................Airspace Officer

AORANGI H.G.C. C/- Tom Knewstubb PO Box 5976 Dunedin Pres, Airsp; Kevin McManus........021 134 0463 Sec, HGSO; Tom Knewstubb (wk) 027 289 6103 PGSO: Lisa Bradley......................021 156 3256 SOUTHERN H.G.P.C. C/- Mark Hardman 2127G Cardrona Valley Rd, RD2, Wanaka Email: admin@southernclub.co.nz www.southernclub.co.nz Pres, Mark Hardman......................021 809 275 Sec: Melanie Heather...................021 204 0163 Treas: Kat Cerna.................................................

PGSO: Blake Round.....................027 367 7679 HGSO: Ian Clark.............................03 442 3992 Sites: Cathal McLoughlin...........021 024 00350 Events: Dan Pugsley..........................................

IT/Web: Jim Rooney...................020 4010 1926 Airsp: Keri Mapperson....................021 530 950 Craig Smith...................................027 343 3537 Derek Divers...................................03 443 7190 Helen Jeffery................................03 3409 8328 James Mitchell...........................021 0244 7875 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

Photo; Louise Morton

TARANAKI FREE FLYERS C/- Dennis Green 38 Kaitake Rd RD4, New Plymouth Pres, Sec, HGSO, Airsp; Dennis Green .......................................................06 752 7618 John H. Morgan..............................06 759 4262

MARLBOROUGH H.G.P.C. C/- Richard Evans PO Box 546 Blenheim Email: evans.r@xtra.co.nz Pres, Airsp: Jason Gluer.............021 0824 7543 Sec/Treas: Richard Evans..............021 648 783 HGSO: John Urlich: .......................03 577 8886 PGSO: Russell Read....................027 448 0888

CANTERBURY H.G.P.C. Inc. C/- Mike Lowe 4 Meredith Street, Addington, Christchurch Email: mike.j.lowe@gmail.com www.chgpc.org.nz Pres: Dan Campbell.......................021 980 635 Sec/Treas; Mike Lowe....................03 339 8176 PGSO; Robert Kennedy.................03 329 3339 HGSO; Eddie Pearson..................021 280 0599 Sites HG; Reece Fisher..................021 806 390 Airsp; Peter Taylor..........................03 338 6287 Website; Stephen O’Shaughnessy.03 326 7373 Canty HG School; Bill Degen.......021 247 2676 Nimbus Paragliding......................027 432 4874 ParaPro.........................................0800 548 323

Flying at Nelson during the 2016 Nationals

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

WELLINGTON H.G.P.C. PO Box 9824 Marion Square Wellington 6141 www.whgpc.nz Email: info@whgpc.org.nz Pres: Chris Connolly ....................022 676 5599 Sec/Treas: Grant Firth................... 021 422 698 PGSO: Georges Larras ................021 186 4646 HGSO: Grant Tatham...................027 636 3491 Airsp: Ian Miller ............................022 176 8205 Communications; Anthony Chalhoub .....................................................027 734 5768 Oceania Paragliding School.........022 676 5599

TASMAN H.G.P.C. C/- Olly Barrett 1/160 Collingwood Street Nelson 7010 Email: thgpgclub@gmail.com Pres; Peter Allison .........................03 546 5242 Sec; Annett Teichner....................021 272 3236 Treas; Brian Erasmus .....................03 545 1003 PGSO; Greg Benjamin....................03 545 1543 PGSO; Pete Polansky ...................03 528 7374 HGSO; Mark Patton.......................03 548 7944 Site Owners; Tim Percival .............03 548 7397 Site Maintenance; Frog Twissell ....03 538 0339 Airsp; Ian Wood............................027 245 1851 Nelson Paragliding.........................03 544 1182 Adventure Paragliding....................021 762 769 Hang Gliding NZ.............................03 540 2183 Tasman Sky Adventures...............027 229 9693

ISSN 1170-9928

printed on recycled paper

MAGAZINE OF THE NEW ZEALAND HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING ASSN. INC. Published every three months for hang gliding and paragliding enthusiasts in New Zealand and abroad ● Subscription is by membership of NZHGPA (a legal requirement for all hang glider and paraglider pilots in NZ) ● For non

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Airborn Magazine

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aero@xtra.co.nz

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

ADMINISTRATION AND LICENSING Chief Executive Officer

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

Nicky Hamill, 23 Covent Drive, Stoke, Nelson 7011, 03 547 4845, admin@nzhgpa.org.nz EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President

Ross Gray, 7 Nathan Place, Palmerston North 4412. 06 351 8193, president@nzhgpa.org.nz Vice President

Derek Divers, 106 Lachlan Avenue, RD2, Wanaka 9382, 03 443 7190, 027 493 1112, vice-president@nzhgpa.org.nz Hang Gliding Operations Manager

Mark Alton, 167 Mahoenui Road, Coatesville, Auckland 0793, 022 195 5746, hg.operations@nzhgpa.org.nz Hang Gliding Training Manager

Glenn Meadows, 8 Brook Tce, Nelson. 03 548 9151, 027 275 1022, hg.training@nzhgpa.org.nz Paragliding Operations Manager

Kyla MacDonald, 021 056 2320, pg.operations@nzhgpa.org.nz Paragliding Training Manager

Alan Swann, Rapid 115, Arthurs Point Road, Queenstown 9371. 03 442 5145, 021 0228 2939. pg.training@nzhgpa.org.nz APPOINTED OFFICERS National Airspace Officer

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

Tony Cowley, 021 138 4422, 2ftagl@gmail.com Chief Medical Advisor

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

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

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

Ewen Tonar, 23A Brookview Court, Hamilton. 07 855 3969, 021 041 1418, etonar@infogen.net.nz Hang Gliding Competition Committee

Mark Alton, 167 Mahoenui Road, Coatesville, Auckland 0793, 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 Max Gebhardt, 03 312 7899, 022 159 6101, aerosm@gmail.com Paragliding Competition Committee

Johnny Hopper (chair), 021 056 2275, nzhgpapcc@googlegroups.com Tim Brown, 03 442 5319, 021 182 4243, nzhgpapcc@googlegroups.com Peter Taylor, 021 066 9886, nzhgpapcc@googlegroups.com

IN THIS ISSUE...

NZ Paragliding Open....................................................................4 NZ Hang Gliding Nationals..........................................................8 The Kingdom of the Dragon......................................................12 Auckland Regional Comp..........................................................15 The Day We Got Away................................................................18 Omarama XC Classic.................................................................20 The Soaring Engine....................................................................22 Paragliding Competition Comitttee Report.............................24 Cross Country Champs Scoreboards.................................26, 28 Classified Advertisements.........................................................30 FRONT COVER: Looking down Lake Pukaki from Mt Burnett.

Photo: Antoine Girard

NEXT ISSUE DEADLINE: 1 JULY 2016 A

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Highs & Lows of the NZ P

By Kyla MacDonald

T

h i s y e a r ’s N Z Paragliding Open consisted of two rounds; – Round 1 in Manilla and Round 2 in Nelson.

Earlier this year, about 30 Kiwis headed over to XC Camp, an annual event hosted in Manilla, NSW by Godfrey Wenness, former world open distance record holder, and owner of Mt Borah, one of the most well-known flying sites in the world.

Being known for big distance flatland flying, several pilots were after airtime or to improve Personal Bests.

But something wasn’t right as we drove in to Manilla. We couldn’t put our finger on it until we were just a few kilometres away from Mt Borah and it hit us. The fields were too green. The grass was long. Where were all the dry, dusty paddocks?

This season, the area has had an

Above; Rhys getting ready to join the gaggle in Manilla unusually high amount of rain over December and January and it was becoming pretty obvious.

It turned out that the only Personal Bests beaten in Manilla that week were at the bowls club. All week we saw very strong winds, so the only flying was either an early morning glide down or daredevil stunts. If you haven’t seen Louis Tapper’s video of the action, google “Manilla Rodeo” to find it & get a feel.

One of the regular guests at Borah, Michelle, did a daily yoga class each morning. Nice touch at a paragliding event, and several pilots took the opportunity to loosen up for a tough day of gale-force parawaiting.

So we didn’t get our airtime, but conveniently, this year’s Round 1 of the PG Open was due to be held in Manilla the week after XC Camp.

Normally PGs aren’t that prepared or coordinated with scheduling – what

a win! Also all that strong wind we sat through helped to dry out the land, so when the competitors who didn’t take the extra time off work showed up just before the PG Open kicked off, conditions were back on. Top seeds Grant Middendorf, Reuben Muir & Jeff Ripley showed up and immediately cranked out 180+km flights on the training day. Perhaps a sign of things to come.

Yes, indeed a sign of things to come.

We really couldn’t have asked for better conditions for the competition.

It seemed each day was better than the last, and we saw some brilliant flying. We lost count of the number of pilots who broke PBs, and of those who flew 100+km flights.

The highlight for most was the 214km task on the last flyable day of the competition, which saw 32 pilots in goal, including Jeff Ripley, Reuben Muir & Stuart Mackintosh from the Kiwi contingent. This has been touted as the longest successful task ever in a paragliding competition, and definitely one to be proud of.

A couple of lowlights included penalties for not signing out by the deadline. In a competition with 120 pilots covering a lot of distance, the organisers couldn’t compromise on the safety of pilots, so put a lot of

Left; Manilla West Launch Photo; Rhys Akers

Right; The Longest Task Photo; Kyla MacDonald

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Photo; Kyla MacDonald

emphasis on checking in at the end of the day. And if you were late – say goodbye to 500 points.

Another lowlight was the day nine pilots were penalised for breaking the altitude limit of 10,000 feet. A good reminder to make sure you know the difference between GPS & barometric altitude, and that you are watching GPS altitude on your instruments – because that’s what counts in a comp. Louis Tapper was a lucky duck, hitting 10,000 feet exactly and thereby holding on to all his points.

We also had some great retrieve stories, from cars hitting kangaroos, to vast areas with no mobile reception. Never mind the day where

aragliding Open 2016

Above; One of the few days with clouds! West of Narrabri heading toward Wee Waa, 100km + on the first day in Manilla

Photo; Rhys Akers

Telstra had a widespread outage at the same time the SPOT satellite network was down.

Cameron Kennedy learned a valuable lesson on the first task – when a friendly passing car offers you a lift, TAKE IT. Unbeknownst to him, his SPOT message didn’t reach his

retrieve, and he found himself sitting on the side of the road waiting for a good six hours. There are some quiet roads out that way. I wonder at what point he decided he might need to start walking the 75km back to Manilla?

Middy had a retrieve driver who deserves to be on everyone paraglider’s blacklist. The driver ended up lost, miles away from anywhere he should have been, out of petrol, with no money and no plan to collect any of the team. His duties were swiftly taken from him, but I’m still not sure how the van was retrieved from the retrieve driver.

For those who didn’t fly as well as

they would have liked, it might be said that the highlight was seeing Tim Percival’s karaoke rendition of Walking on the Moon. Not only is he a talented XC pilot, this guy can really sing. And he has moves to back it up.

On the last day of the comp, the task was binned before it started due to dodgy conditions. Everyone was pretty tired out by that stage, due to big hours flying and big hours on retrieve. Who knew that paragliding competitions are so tiring? Pilots were desperate to get back to work so they could put their feet up again.

The Round 1 competition winner was Peter Slade, a Canungra based pilot flying an Icepeak 8; with the

highest ranked Kiwi being Reuben Muir, at tenth overall. Good going, especially considering the quality of the racing pilots there, largely flying competition wings – we don’t tend to compete with so many Icepeaks & Enzo2s in NZ.

W

e had just enough time to get back into the groove of things in ‘real life’ when it was time to head to Nelson for Round 2.

The forecast for the start of the week was looking poor, so a few of the competitors didn’t mind hitting the sauce a little harder than usual on registration night. Murphy’s Law kicked in of course, and gave us

Left; Robbo’s T-shirt from a previous round in Manilla Photo; Kyla MacDonald Below; Crossing the Boggabri Coal Mine Photo; Rhys Akers

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Above; Jeff Ripley SE Takaka an unexpected task on the first day of the competition. It cleared the cobwebs out nicely, and demonstrated that hangovers don’t affect some of our more talented pilots, with several making goal. It was a good start.

We managed to fly almost every day, even if we weren’t always able to get a task in, and the comp went down with no reserve throws or even any other incident to speak of. Well flown, everyone!

A couple of days looked questionable to start, so the organisers had lined up a couple of seminars for us. One was Itai Almog talking about rescue parachutes and important things to look for in the packing of them. Another was Louis Tapper talking about prep & support for the X-Alps last year. Remember those weeks of sleepless nights in July? Both great seminars, and the audience was enthralled.

Photo; Kyla MacDonald

Right; Tim Brown outlining the task Photo; Kyla MacDonald

We had another reminder to launch early at Takaka. On one task there, Mark Hardman & Hamish Barker were quick to launch; Mark made goal and Hamish was just short, but no one else was able to launch because the sea breeze blasted in & shut down launch. Shame for the guys that task validity criteria of 5 pilots flying 5km wasn’t met.

And we managed to get one task in at Mt Murchison – some say it’s the best flying site in this fine country of ours. Although some people missed the Tip of the Day: “Make sure you don’t land on the wrong side of the

Wairau River.” It really stinks when you get flushed by the sea breeze & end up with a nine km walk to a bridge. I guess the silver lining is that five pilots did it, so they wouldn’t have been lonely.

The Sprig & Fern was the official meeting spot in the morning & the evening. It didn’t take long for us to wear out the poor Floor Manager though. He couldn’t keep up with us.

How do you think we feel? Up every day to drink coffee by 8am, flying all day, then drinking the night away to support our good sponsors – Sprig & Fern pub & McCashin’s beer.

We were spoilt by our sponsors in Nelson – Burger King feeding the masses, Pic’s peanut butter sponsoring our sandwiches, so much craft beer, just to touch on a few.

Left; Evan bringing wing up in tailwind Photo; Kyla MacDonald

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TOP PLACES Pl Open Glider Total 1 Reuben Muir GTO2 5719 2 Jeff Ripley Boomerang-X 5417 3 Grant Middendorf GTO2 5411 4 Glen Stevens Enzo 2 4895 5 Tim Brown UP TrangoXC2 4357 6 Evan Lamberton Gin GTO2 4240 7 Roy Tingay Ozone Delta 2 3876 8 Louis Tapper Ozone LM5 3805 9 Wayne Rohrs GTO 3736 10 Robbo Robinson Delta 2 3025 11 Rhys Akers Mentor 3S 2934 12 Joe Ward Carerra 2904 13 Nick Neynens LM5 2828 14 Elliot RevellNash Mentor4 light 2766 15 Leighton Joll Gin Atlas 2698 16 Tim Percival Carrera+ 2658 17 Nick Stead Astrial 2630 18 Emlyn Revell-Nash Rush4 2569 19 Jean Brossard Delta 2 2555 20 Luke Goleman UP Summit XC3 2404 21 Andy Maloney Nova Mentor3 2302 22 Keith Clapson Nova Tycoon 2292 23 Kyla MacDonald Kantega XC2 2242 24 Mike Ferguson Gin carrera 2239 25 Eva Keim Gin Carerra Plus 2074 26 Helen Jeffery Skywalk Arriba 2026 27 Rodger Kerr Ozone Delta2 1966 28 Johnny Hopper Kantega XC2 1930 29 Cameron Kennedy Carrera 1913 30 Andrew Cavaney Carrera 1904 31 Gareth Gore Chili 3 1848 32 Ian Douglass Skywalk Arriba 1776 33 Derek Divers Gin Carrera 1731 34 Hamish Dicker Atlas X-Alps 1653 35 Simon Corbett Skywalk Ariba 3 1611 36 Kris Ericksen Nova Mentor4 1413 37 Felipe Mendiboure Gradient Nevada 1387 38 Xen Zambas Macpara Marvel 1048

Above; Manilla Gaggle

Task 1 Task 2 Task 3 Task 4 Task 5 Task 6 856 959 980 1000 945 979 963 883 864 976 731 1000 965 1000 952 973 1000 521 945 908 1000 940 265 837 1000 428 831 812 948 338 651 766 635 776 845 567 931 698 728 275 599 645 859 699 973 889 215 170 869 851 316 404 446 850 710 745 430 0 872 268 391 462 809 179 444 649 655 579 162 134 546 828 331 618 703 162 713 301 406 768 303 134 367 788 289 762 319 134 617 577 613 457 394 602 315 277 655 268 162 825 527 193 719 274 162 800 422 192 270 295 728 0 609 653 159 304 683 612 195 451 646 541 324 0 843 146 322 817 435 226 492 0 362 300 582 504 195 299 645 383 177 467 436 131 197 549 604 0 360 364 192 314 637 287 390 206 707 215 220 362 231 231 697 247 203 415 195 173 466 286 162 313 509 177 276 153 371 664 440 0 841 287 240 0 202 466 462 294 162 134 206 518 213 257 303 0 572 386 294 153 379 134 501 192 214 153 438 480 195 131 322 260 433 203 195 0 212 386 271 155 363 0 197 153 162 134 195 207

Photo; Kyla MacDonald

The competition winner for Round 2 in Nelson was Harald Wilhelmi, a visiting pilot from Germany. It was interesting that he was selling his Mantra 6. The reason? “You can’t win anything in Europe without a comp wing.” Russell Read was the highest scoring Kiwi, incidentally also flying an M6.

The Nelson round also introduced a new prize – the PB trophy, for the pilot who extends their NZ Personal Best in XC open distance flight by the greatest percentage. This was won

by local Tasman pilot Brian Erasmus, who we hope to see more of in future competitions.

Mark Hardman organised Round 1 in Manilla, and Frog Twissel & Nick Taber organised Nelson? Both parties did a tremendous job.

Overall a great competition season for us in NZ. Good flying and as always, great camaraderie. Can’t wait for next year. Where’s it going to be held? Who knows… if you are keen to organise, get your bid in to the Paragliding

Below; Showers west of Mt Kaputar

Competition Committee by emailing NZHGPAPCC@googlegroups.com Congratulations to the overall PG Open winners this year: Overall winner: Reuben Muir.

Sports class winner: Grant Middendorf.

Fun class winner: Joe Ward.

Women’s class winner: Eva WaltonKeim.

Leo Geary award winner: Leighton Joll.

Jill Borst award winner: Louis Tapper & Nick Neynens.

Photo; Rhys Akers

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Hang Gliding Nationals 2016

By Glenn Meadows and Mark Alton

O

MG, it’s finally here. The day I have been anticipating (and dreading) for 12 months.

I had put in so much time, effort and worry and it was finally happening.

I knew there were still some parts of the puzzle which had not been completed and some (like the weather) were completely out of my control. These are the things which keep a competition organiser awake at night.

As people started to arrive at the Hidden Sculpture Garden in Tapawera, I began to relax. Max Gebhardt had arrived with all the competition documents hot off the press, Mark Patton agreed to do the scoring and Tom Collet was soon press ganged into sorting out everyone’s flight computers.

By lunchtime we had a fantastic turnout, with around 40 pilots from around NZ and even a couple of entrants from Australia.

Day 1 - Sherry River A great first day at Sherry River with 38 pilots taking off into a light north easterly. John Smith led the charge, giving an impressive display

of working light lift. The rest of us followed and were surprised with the amount of lift around. Most pilots got to around 4200ft above the hill and pushed out to the next ridge in front of take-off to get their next thermal.

The first turn point was Tapawera township and then down to Inwoods and back to Tapawera.

It was impressive to see gaggles along the hills to Tapawera. Gliders littered the roadside down to Kohatu.

Two pilots landed on the northern side of Inwoods in not such a pretty paddock. John landed 4km from goal after getting flushed off the hills to the

Above; Rigged and ready at Sherry River east of Tapawera and won the day.

Day 2 - Mt Murchison Task: Mt Murchison to Murchison town, on to Braeburn point to bomb out at Mt Murchison; 46km.

When we arrived at the summit (4900ft) everyone appeared stunned by the majestic 360 degree views. (It is impressive) Many pilots seemed too interested in taking photos and forgot that we were here to fly.

Finally, a couple of intermediate pilots took off and it was proved that there was light lift out there.

The top pilots launched and slowly

Photo; Murray Kerr

climbed to over 8000ft and headed off on glide to turnpoint 1 while the rest of us stood on the hill. A few more pilots took off but scratched and it took a while for them to get into a climb. The next pilot could not launch for about 15 minutes due to it being crossed on take-off. A couple

Above; Meet director Kevin McManus Left; All set up at Mt Murchison Photos; Rod Stuart

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Left; The task is on at Mt Murchison Photo; Louise Morton

Right; Pilots away on task Lower right; A strong launch run Photos; Louise Morton

of dusties came through and the wind straightened up allowing one pilot to hook into a straight climb to 8500ft.

It took the rest of the pilots a while to get off the hill and a few of them moved to the right of take-off to allow for the crossed wind. Unfortunately this was where the dusties were coming from. One came through and trashed a glider.

Everyone else got off with most pilots making it to turnpoint 1. This included 3 floaters. Due to the minimal landings past TP1 a lot of pilots could not get enough height to leave for TP2 and landed and went to the Murchison pub. Those who carried on found good but broken lift to TP2 and a lot of height was not needed for the glide to goal. Pilots who got to goal (about 15) found it hard to get down as the valley was very buoyant.

John Smith was the first in followed

by Paris and Hagen. A few pilots in goal looked up to the peak of Mt Murchison and saw the mother of all dusties over 60 meters in height.

Luckily everyone was off and the cars on their way down.

and a lot of enthusiasm after a great day yesterday.

Gliders piled off and found great lift in front and climbed to cloud base. Good height on take-off and a good glide got a lot of pilots into the next thermal.

Unfortunately thermal strength was not what we left on the hill and we had to work hard to get back up.

Further down the valley a lot of pilots got low and did not manage to scratch back up in the weak thermals leaving pilots scattered along the valley towards TP1.

The good pilots managed to work the light lift and get further around towards TP2. Some pilots landed on the wrong side of the river and had to enjoy the cool water crossing.

Four pilots made it to goal. John won and Simon Braithwaite came second on a borrowed glider. Warren Simonsen came third.

The helpful hint for the day was to make sure that your driver knew not to ride the brakes down the hill (the brake fluid boils and they stop working...). One got a bit of a scare and a little damage to the car.

Day 3 - Mt Murchison

Day 4 - Mt Murchison

NW wind 10 knots, Cloud base 7500ft. Task Mt Murchison to Mataki Corner then on to Ten Mile Creek and then back to Murchison Town 61km. A day with clouds and sun

A less then favourable forecast, with rain on the way. I thought we might go to Inwoods Lookout but the Task Committee had other ideas. The whole fleet were by now addicted to

Below; Gaggle getting up at Mt Murchison

Photo; Louise Morton

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Left; Great clouds and good lift Photo; Louise Morton the Nationals. Looking at RASP it showed that Murchison was not working, maybe due to it being in cloud, and Takaka was decided against as it would be too unstable due to the sea breeze coming in.

Reaching launch on Tapawera the wind was coming up very strong at times and after yesterday, it was decided to postpone it for an hour.

An hour passed and the safety committee decided to cancel due to strong winds and to make it a free flying day.

There were no complaints and John Smith was off the hill in smooth lift.

All pilots got off the hill and found the air to be buoyant but strong.

A few pilots tried to do the course that was set but no one made it.

Most landed in the bomb out keen to get to the prizegiving on time. flying Mt Murchison and who was I to argue?

We arrived early at Hidden Sculpture garden and met Mac McCarthy from CAA who was coming out to keep an eye on us.

Mac was quickly roped into being a driver for the day.

This would prove to be an interesting day as the cloudbase was much lower isolated showers broke out around the course.

Many pilots chose not to fly after a shower passed over launch and those who did were very aware that they were being watched as they circled towards cloud base. Those who flew found conditions more benign than expected and had a good day.

Paris Williams won today, followed

by John and Hagen.

Wednesday Weather Light drizzle in the morning becoming heavy rain in the afternoon with strong and gusty winds. No briefing this morning due to weather conditions, so pilots slept in or headed off to Motueka or Nelson to entertain themselves while rain came down.

The campground at Tapawera had a tree fall down and a few tent pegs were pulled out due to high winds but nobody got wet.

Late afternoon everyone would

meet at the Hidden Sculpture Garden Café for the midweek BBQ. This was one of the most difficult tasks for me, however I was really heartened to find that over a quarter of the crew were vegetarian, times really are a changing.

The owners of the Café put together an array of never ending salads that were praised by all.

Thank you Rachel, and thank you to Chris Bragg for amazing deal on BBQ supplies from Westmeat Nelson. Beer and good conversation flowed on into the night.

Task 5 - Tapawera NW 15 knots+. Task: Take-off to Kohatu Pub then up to Wangapeka and back to Kohatu pub. Back to Tapawera take off then up the Tadmor Valley to Goal. 48km.

Arriving at take off the wind was light but by the time we rigged and had the briefing it had risen to 13 knots. Pilots filed off the hill into ridge lift and light thermals.

Two pilots took the second start gate and the rest took the third. After height was gained it was a slow push to TP1 getting sporadic lift along the way and a slow push for the last 2km to get to the turnpoint. Once back on the ridge the downwind run back past take-off was not a problem.

Gaining height above take off and heading on to TP2 it was found

that a head wind was encountered as you passed the junction of the Tadmor and Motueka valleys. It was surprising not to find convergence here but it seemed that it was on the other side of the valley.

Pilots who made it 5km from TP2 found rotor on the windward side of the hill which quickly pushed them to the deck.

John headed back downwind to find lift and gained more height allowing him to push out to 800 meters of TP2, which allowed him to win the day.

The wind had picked up after we took off and as the direction was over the far hills we must have encountered the down cycle of wave pushing everyone to the deck. All pilots landed safely and they had a good story to tell.

Day 6 - Tapawera Wind SW 20 knots. There was a rush to get up the hill and an excitement to fly the final day of

Left; Pilots wait for a thermal cycle to launch at Mt Murchison Photo; Louise Morton

10 A i r b o r n

Above; Rod Stuart launches at Tapawera Below; Matt Barlow just gets away with his launch Photos; Louise Morton

Above; Max Gebhardt and Dan Campbell give Mac McCarthy from CAA a hang in a glider Photo; Rod Stuart Upper Right; James Oakley packs up amongst curious cows Photo; Louise Morton

Right; clearing a fallen tree off the road to Tapawera

Photo; Louise Morton

Prizegiving was held at Flat Rock Cafe, Kohatu. It was chaos for the kitchen and still the catering was amazing. It was really great to see our friendly farmers Roger and Gwen having a good meal on us.

The prizegiving followed.

Sport Class 1st Shane Morton, 2nd Adriel Kind, 3rd Aaron Darby.

Open Class 1st John Smith, 2nd Hagen Brueggemann, 3rd Paris Williams.

Alex Crawford began the informal part of the night with some original songs he has composed which led into the Bragg Brothers Band coming on stage. Everyone partied on into the night. There was dancing! Many trays of Tequila were seen to go out the door!

Glenn and Max would like to thank our meet director, the incredible Kevin McManus, Flat Rock Cafe and Hidden Sculpture Garden for hosting us so patiently. Ideal Electrical, Moyes Gliders, Wills Wing, Hang Gliding and Paragliding Supplies (NZ), Awaroa Glamping, Solo Hair Salon. East St Cafe for all the prizes and promotional material and special thanks to Tim Percival for technical information.

Next year we are looking at holding the Nationals at the Paeroas and Kaimais. Dates to be decided.

Mark Alton, Ian Miller, Les Graham and Adriel Kind will be organising the next HG Nationals in 2017 Note. We are also looking at holding a XC Clinic for interested parties before the Nationals.

Right; At the prizegiving; Adriel Kind, Glenn Meadows, Shane Morton, Paris Williams, Hagen Brueggemann, John Smith and Aaron Darby Photo; Rod Stuart Below; Rain coming in at Mt Murchison Photo; Louise Morton Top Places Pl Name Glider T 1 T 2 T 3 T 4 T 5 Total 1 John Smith Moyes RX5 456 992 960 440 240 3088 2 Hagen Brueggemann Moyes RS4 260 896 912 430 193 2691 3 Paris Williams Moyes RX 3.5 261 929 641 466 217 2514 4 Warren Simonsen Wills Wing T2C 266 701 902 246 213 2328 5 Matt Barlow Aeros Combat L 318 720 855 176 231 2300 6 Simon Braithwaite Aeros C2 121 660 928 233 0 1942 7 Cris Lawry Airborne C4 361 662 634 244 0 1901 8 Conrad Loten Moyes RX 3.5 266 642 490 259 212 1869 9 Shane Mackay Moyes 316 760 628 0 0 1704 10 Mark Alton Wills Wing T2C 124 696 372 248 205 1645 11 Derek McKee 155 687 122 254 215 1433 12 Maximillian Gebhardt Moyes RS4 142 318 409 255 220 1344 13 Guy Harding Moyes RS4 260 650 410 0 0 1320 14 Andrew McKirdy Moyes Litespeed RS 232 279 411 112 127 1161 15 Mark Patton Aeros L07 211 275 410 45 211 1152 16 Glenn Meadows Will Wing T2C 157 322 244 173 211 1107 17 Ian Bowie Wills Wing T2C 267 325 228 0 218 1038 18 Shane Morton Aeros Discus 187 202 278 111 230 1008 19 Tom Collett Airborne C4 121 395 477 0 0 993 20 Fraser Bull Moyes Litesport 208 300 405 0 60 973

Task # Site Date Distance Day Quality Task T1 Sherry River 2/13/2016 12:45 49.5 km 50% Race to Goal with 4 startgates T2 Mt Murch 2/14/2016 13:30 41.9 km 100% Race to Goal with 5 startgates T3 Mt Murch 2/15/2016 13:00 58.3 km 100% Race to Goal with 5 startgates T4 Mt Murch 2/16/2016 12:30 46.0 km 47% Race to Goal with 5 startgates T5 Tapawera 2/19/2016 14:15 45.1 km 26% Race to Goal with 5 startgates

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11

The Kingdom of the Drag Kinga Masztalerz goes paragliding in China

C

hina came out by accident - I was in France, Chris in New Zealand, we wanted to meet roughly half way.

Chinese Linzhou held a PWC round once, so there must be some good flying... and pig tails and dog’s ears for dinner - welcome adventure!

Thus, in late September we landed in Beijing.

We got stuck for a few days as being organised was the largest military parade in history and the entire city of more than twenty million people obediently stopped and fell silent. We naively thought that, at least we could watch this show of Chinese power in the street... How much we didn’t understand this country yet. The area within several kilometers had been secured in

Kinga over Lushui River Below; With hope for a flight above a Great Wall of China

Chinese style, meaning a complete lack of access for strangers, while residents were forbidden to leave their homes, and even open the windows. So we could watch the parade on television, which by the way on daily basis is full of army.

War is the subject of ballets and performances for children, on every channel you can watch sitcoms about the army!, and even if the show is about something else, certainly some of the main characters will be soldiers...

Yes, you can really feel safe... The safety of our minds is also secured by cutting us off from Google - the

search engine, Google Maps, Google Translator... And in a world where everyone around you speaks only Mandarin, all the signs, timetables and menus look like small bushes...

Google Translator or Google Maps would be extremely useful.

Either way, overcoming the resistance of matter, we collect some information on flying over the Great Wall at Simatai. Someone once flew there, but no one has done it since and it’s not clear if it’s even possible, but my imagination is already turned on by a flight over the Chinese Wall. So we get on the bus and go to Simatai.

Below; Selfie at the Great Wall of China

12 A i r b o r n

gon

Above; Carpeted take off at Linzhou In short, I’ll just say that when it finally stopped raining, it turned out that there is no flying there, all to the horizon is overgrown with thick bushes and trees and there is a huge hotel on a former landing spot.

Ok, we shoot a pic on the Great Wall and we move on. The bus to Beijing, wrong railway station, two subway lines, train to Anyang, taxi to Linzhou. We bargain hard with the taxi drivers, finally we set the price of 200 Y, but after driving one kilometer our driver pretends he does not know where it is, it’s far away, we have to pay extra... we’re really tired, but firmly get out of the taxi with backpacks and we pretend that we do not care, we can go on foot (yyy?!) Finally, after long negotiations we return to the agreed

Above; What is this...

Below; Looking down on Dazhuang

Where is it?

Linzhou in Henan Province, China How to get there?

By plane to Beijing (Beijing), train to Anyang, and then take a taxi or bus to Linzhou.

When?

From May to October, but September and early October is the safest time when it comes to terms and clarity of air. Early spring can be very windy, and during the hot summer in the air is a lot of dust and apparently it happens sometimes that the landing field can not be seen even when landing!

Topography: Take-off: 1,200m asl - Large, comfortable, padded carpet Landing: 330m asl Cloud base: apparently it happens at 3 or even 4,000 m, but our experience shows that from 1800 to 2000 m is enough for beautiful flights, both on the slope and on the plain.

Flyable all wind directions, except for the NW and W. At the take-off there is always a lot of locals who are happy to share their knowledge.

Local contact: Adorable Min who speaks English; email: linzhouclub@126.com Phone: +86 372 610 5688, Mobile: +86 15537231061 Website: www.linzhouclub.com Address: 50m south of Linzhou Sports Center, west side of the road Chang’an, Linzhou city, Henan province (河 南省 林 州市 长安 中路 体育 中心 南 50 米路西, 林 州 滑翔 俱乐部) Hang gliders Yes! Very convenient access on asphalt road, a large parking lot next to the takeoff. Big landing.

Landing out Watch out for very low-slung wires, but otherwise there are no problems. We can safely land on any paddock, where the locals will welcome us warmly and cordially, feed with hot water and peanuts and will want to pack our wing. They’re usually very poor, but extremely welcoming people. It’s good to have prepared a piece of paper with written in Chinese: our name, where are we come from, that we like China, especially Chinese food and where do we want to go after landing... At least a business card of our hotel is mandatory - there is always someone who has a car and will take us home for a small fee.

Remember that it is the culture of business, so if you eg. hitchhike, for sure soon someone will stop and it’s normal to ask for price and fix the value that works for both sides.

Where to sleep?

In Linzhou, you can find a whole range of hotels to suit every budget. We slept in a Red Flag Youth Hostel Linzhou - great value for money with large, clean rooms with bathrooms, good location at the outlet of Linzhou toward the landing field.

What to eat?

All! Generally we enter where the locals eat, look at the menu, showing the same bushes and knots, but if we are lucky, there are photos. We wave our arms and make all sorts of noises to determine which part of which animal we order. And we feel safe for a moment because we ordered a chicken leg or breast, and instead we get... the head and feet. With claws.

Food in the street pubs is so cheap that it is always worth ordering several dishes, probably because one of them will be completely inedible, but the other will be delicious. If we do not want to experiment, relatively safe are noodles and dumplings. There is practically no rice in Henan province.

Communication China is very difficult. Be mentally prepared, be patient and always smile.

There is no Internet as we know it, just one which offers much less information. So before you go, buy a VPN, it costs little, and simplifies life immensely. It is good to buy a prepaid card in place (the largest network is China Mobile). One should also carry a smartphone with Google Translator and downloaded Chinese language - we can then write something in English and show someone translated bushes. But remember that this is not a perfect translation, so be patient and again - smile a lot.

Always carry your hotel business card with the address written in Chinese. Orientation in Chinese cities is very difficult and nobody speaks English, we especially appreciate the power of the business card when we want to come back to the hotel tired after a long flight.

Video from the trip: https://youtu.be/G7C-1nwcZl8

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13

Travelling light

Launching in the daisies at Linzhou price and reach Linzhou, where, well, it’s raining. A tough day.

In the morning it turns out that we are very close to the mountains that were hidden in the clouds before.

First we go to the local paragliding school, where local pilots greet us very warmly and carefully write down our data. Every morning, before 9 they drive a bus to take off. However, the price for two people is higher than a taxi, so we choose the second option, especially since it turns on no earlier than 11.

Flying in Linzhou means triangles.

Best first to go along the ridge to the north and then to the south (or vice versa, but the southern part is a little easier to start with), and when the plain heats up, take advantage of the unique opportunity to fly over the city. In China the scale is completely different - Linzhou is a provincial town of 1 million people

where there is not even a train station, not to mention an airport and air spaces. Flight over the city is an amazing thing and robust adrenaline is needed in case of landing. Of course, if you do not feel comfortable flying over a large city, you can run the triangle over fields and smaller villages.

The days immediately after a passing front are the most beautiful in Linzhou - the air is clear and thermals are strong. Other days, unfortunately, usually have not the best visibility due to dust and air pollution. However climbing above the smog towards the blue sky - priceless.

On one hand Linzhou is an international paragliding site, we met some Russian and French pilots...

On the other hand wherever we go we feel the curious looks of locals on us. In a supermarket the entire staff is taking pictures with me, in

Supermarket attraction

Warm welcome with hot water food corners everybody talks to us (of course in Chinese) and not even discreetly observe, but rather stare at us as if we were some exotic animals.

After two weeks in Linzhou we get on the night train and in the morning we arrive in Shanghai, which is a huge and truly cosmopolitan city.

There are pizzerias and designer galleries and tattoo studios - what a remarkable change from the provincial China! Then we have a plane to Sydney, where the next adventure awaits. But that is another story...

Left; Above Linzhou

14 A i r b o r n

Auckland Regional Comp

By Robbo Robinson

W

ith sunshine predicted for the weekend a hearty bunch of pilots (27 competitors and a few free flyers) met at the usual road intersection at the base of the Paeroas between Rotorua and Taupo for the pre meet brief.

We knew it was going to be a flyable weekend but when Johnny Hopper (who most in the competition realm must have had an acquaintance with by now) stood up and welcomed everyone and then proceeded to present the official “trophies” and also the “unofficial spot prizes” we all knew it was going to be a fun weekend as well. These spot prizes were supplied from Johnny and Kyla’s lifestyle block, being two egg cartons containing 5 free range eggs and a fig each, plus one enormous Pumpkin! The latter may have contained some visitors inside as a couple of “bore” holes could be seen at the base of the pumpkin. When the laughter stopped a decision to head to Hickeys Bluff which is a low take-off on the backside of the Paeroa Range was made. This was due to the over 10kms/hr wind over the back of the main Paeroa take-off point.

Finding the land owner to gain access permission was a task on it’s own with two souls being sent away to the local Tractor Pulling Competition and Field Day in Reporoa township to find the farmer after he was not contactable by phone, but that’s another story.

Permission gained everyone headed up the 4x4 track to the Bluff.

Attempts have been made several

March 2015 times in the past to run a task from this take-off but with no real success. But this day was different, those patient enough to core the 0 to 1 mtr/sec climbs were rewarded with a task containing 5 turn points and most all of the pilots at the end of the day had a successful flight.

Results later on!

Another reason for the success of the weekend was the decision to meet up after at the Reporoa Pub. So with a spot prize handed out and congrats to the winner and place getters it was pub meals all round until the steaks run out and fish baskets were all that was left.

That night most camped out at a new camping ground just outside Reporoa and it was during “drinkies” that a check on the weather was made, this ended up with a change in the Sunday task and a message was sent to all competitors that the Kaimais was on for Sunday meeting at “Ronnie’s” Café at 10am. So that evening and morning a few made the dash for the last opportunity to relax in the hot pools available in the local area.

With gate access arranged and site monies paid it was up to the top of the Kaimais behind Matamata for the spectacular view of the Waikato and Tauranga Harbour. An out and return task plus a push towards Matamata and into the flatlands of 67kms was set and everyone eventually got away with Jeff Ripley in the lead.

Brisk wind conditions made going too far over the bush line risky so most chose to keep forward of the ridge. Most found thermalling up while being pushed back not that successful only ending up at the point they started from after pushing forward back to the ridge line. Unfortunately for everyone but

From left to right; Jaroslav Tuma - second place overall, Jeff Ripley - overall winner, Auckland Paragliding Champion, Kinga Masztalerz - third place overall, Auckland Women’s Paragliding Champion & Pumpkin Winner, Kyla MacDonald & Graham Surrey - joint Fun class winners.

Photo: Chris Wright

a couple of pilots at the 20-25km point the site became overcast and the thermals shut down, this mixed with the sea breeze put the whole field on the deck. Except for (yep you guessed it) Jeff Ripley. He amazed everyone with an exceptional flight of over 4 hours and landed 2kms short of goal. Remembering most of us were down packed up in just over 1 hour. The local Matamata Bar was selected for a brief prize giving and I know the attached photos will reflect the results with the Pumpkin

Top Places Pl 1 2 3 4 5 6 7= 7= 9 10 11 12 13 14= 14= 16 17 18 19 20

finding a deserving home as well!

With events like the Auckland Regional Comp being run all around the country these must be healthy for our sport with more and more newer pilots taking the plunge to enter. New faces are a must and the opportunity to pass on your knowledge and experience with other pilots is very satisfying. So thanks to those who put the time and effort into organising such events. After the larger National Comps I’m sure many appreciate the “laid back” fun comp environment.

Open Glider Jeff Ripley Boomerang X Jaroslav Tuma Sigma 8 Kinga Masztalerz Artik P Wayne Rohrs GTO Robbo Robinson Delta 2 Bruce Vickerman Alpina2 Graham Surrey Gin Carrera Kyla MacDonald Rhys Akers Mentor 3 Toni Skerrett Ice Peak 7 Matthew Thom Nova Mentor 3 lite Elliot RevellNash Mentor 4 light Joe Ward Carrera Emlyn RevellNash Rush 4 Mark MacDonald Ion3 Evan Lamberton Gin GTO2 Elisabeth Tobler Gin Sprint Devo Chris Wright Swift 4 Rodger Kerr Ozone delta2 Louis Tapper Ozone LM5

Total 1265 819 795 778 722 715 671 671 667 657 640 639 627 619 619 614 611 605 603 516

A

Saturday 265 88 227 226 148 170 128 46 128 235 69 99 46 70 70 0 47 46 60 174

Sunday 1000 731 568 552 574 545 543 625 539 422 571 540 581 549 549 614 564 559 543 342

i r b o r n

15

SKYFLOATERS

The improved FUN2 by

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

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

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

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

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

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

ATOS

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

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

ACCESSORIES

Training, XC or pneumatic wheels (or with VG hub), Hand fairings, Hook knifes, Parachute swivels, bridles, Instrument brackets, Tow bridle kits, Tow releases etc.

AUTOLOCK HG Carabiners Saves forgetting to screw up the gate. No exposed threads to damage hangloops. Stainless or plated steel 30-35 kN in several shapes & sizes.

USED GLIDERS

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

GLIDER SPARES

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

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

T2, T2C XC and comp wings

with loads of international comp wins. Leading design features including lightweight battens, carbon spars and high tech cloths. The T2C has most extras included. 136, 144 & 154sqft sizes.

USHGMA Certified. www.willswing.com

World Distance Record; 764kms 1st NZ Champs 2012, 2013 1st NZ XC Champs 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 1st Australian Nats 2015 1st Omarama Classic 2012, 2014, 2016

U2 is for experienced

intermediate and over pilots who want competition performance and XC ability without the extra weight, battens and stiffer handling of topless wings. It has a kingpost but no lufflines, using topless style inner sprogs. Choice of low drag aerofoils and aerofoil basebar. The best value in its class. 145 (29kg) and 160 (31kg) sizes, USHGMA Certified.

2nd NZ Champs 2012 Longest flight Omarama XC Classic 2012

HANG GLIDER HARNESSES

The best Italian harnesses from Woody Valley.

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Models for racing to recreational.

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

FLEX2 AERO and Flex2 ACRO (right) with footcone, neoprene shoulder covers, strengthened risers & back supports. An aerodynamic harness that’s flexible, faired for speed but gives easier landings and a much more convenient packed size.

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

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

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

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

FULL BACKUP SERVICE Glider & harness repairs, stripdown checks & trim/tuning. Student pilot instruction

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INSIDER & NO LIMIT Helmets by

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50 flight memory with PC flight analysis. Optional airspeed with stall alarm. Feet & meters. 144 x 72 x 25 mm, 160gm. Perfect first instrument. www.digifly.com

WIND METERS

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

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No Limit has faired back and optional polycarbonate visor for wind protection & aerodynamics, gives 100% UV protection and is anti-reflective, lours and anti-fog & antiRange of co k scratch. in sizes stoc http://finsterwalder-charly.de/en.html

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

Essential for safe flying.

WEATHERFLOW WIND METER A compact, accurate, affordable wind meter that simply plugs into your Apple or Android device showing wind average, lull & gust, plus direction from the device’s compass and GPS. You can share info by SMS, email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine, Weatherflow etc. Reads in meters/sec, miles/hour, knots, kilometers/hour, & beaufort.

HALL compact (11.5cm) ‘Small Hall’ is the best priced airspeed meter available. Simple and accurate. Brackets for hang or para. Never needs batteries!

PLUSAIR Helmet; tough ABS shell, matte rubber coating & EPS liner with 11 passive air vents & Hydro-Cool lining. Removable ear covers. Certified EN966 for free flight & ski. 470g. Optional chin guard.

SNAPLOCK PG carabiner 3,000 DaN, break load, 30kN. Drop forged Titanol and a 5 year fatigue cycle.

Easy twistlock gate, just 76gm.

PIN LOCK PG carabiner 2500 kg break load, drop-forged, not bent, a third of the weight of steel without the fatigue problems.

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

Valuable for windy landings.

COMPEO+/6030; GPS/vario/alti/flight computer. 16 channel GPS, Speedto-Fly, Wind direction, position, compass, glide to goal, 3D track log, PC Downloads, Customisable display & audio, Total energy, Airspeed pitot, Thermal location, Airspace, backup batteries. Flarm option. For top comp & XC pilots.

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The Day We Got Away...…

The vario is screaming at me. I can feel the g-forces tugging furiously on my hang strap as I try to turn tightly.

I’m absolutely shitting bricks and clutching the bar in a white knuckle death grip. I’m getting tossed around in the giant washing machine. The panicked narrative is playing out I’m my head; “Shit, shit, shit, this is so scary!! Trust the gear! Trust the gear!

I should head for bombout!

Above; A sky full of gliders getting high But I’m going up! Yes I’m supposed to go up! Shit this is high! I’ve never been this high! Yes but that means you can get away! You get high and you get away! You’re supposed to enjoy getting high! Now shut up and bloody enjoy it!!”

And there it was. That moment when you realise that this is it. The culmination of all the pain and effort to get here – a zen moment. The noise goes away. I can still feel myself getting tossed around but it’s quiet.

I can still feel my hands slipping on the bar from the nervous sweat but the fear now replaced with focus and strong confidence. I’ve nailed it! I’ve finally got this!! Haven’t I..?

This is my second Nationals. I’ve been flying for just over 2 years. I’ve plugged away hard at inland flying at every opportunity. While others were cruising around on the coast in cool

breeze, I’ve driving in my hot car for hours, and then sweating profusely 10 minutes later in the hot sun of the bomb-out paddock after a sled ride knowing I have hours to drive back home. I’ve done this multiple times.

It burns watching the pros cruise off into the distance under the cool cotton wool clouds while I begin the hot pack-up and retrieve duty…

I was hooked early on inland flying.

My first and second inland flights were off the Kaimais. My first flight was a safe, easy sled ride, but as it was early in the day, John Burton played driver for me (his shoulder number 1) and drove me back up for another go. Mark Alton had (kindly) landed in the bomb-out paddock while I was on my way back up, so he would radio me down. I looked out to the lovely fluffy clouds in front of me as I launched and flew straight at them.

I was mightily rewarded! I flew from cloud to cloud for about 30 minutes.

I didn’t have the skill to circle so neatly as to stay in thermal under them but I was a bit above launch height and staying up! This is what it was all about! Even when I tried to come down I struggled! “I can’t get down” I cried on the radio.

“Pull some radical turns” replied Mark. I did some steep turns and started slipping down but as soon as I levelled off, the vario would sing it’s little song again and I was straight back up again… How terrible! Can’t get down! Who ever heard of that?! After that the coast was never the same. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to find whatever it was I was supposed to find to stay up. But since that day, I have never experienced great conditions like that again… Frustration set in…

Surely I’ve had other opportunities before today to get away? Indeed!

In amongst all the bombing runs I’ve had lots of encouragement to get away. “Think of bomb-out as the worst place to land”. “Never give up trying to get up! It’s all about attitude!” Yeah, yeah. Launch, bump into a bubble, do some turns, get low, dive at bomb-out again…

“It’s this stupid glider. These

Left; Launching at Tapawera Photo; Louise Morton

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Photo; Louise Morton

floaters have no glide angle! Even paragliders do better than them now! Everyone else just pulls on a bit of VG and jets off without sinking!

I have to get a better glider, then I’ll be able to get away!...”

But then about 18 months into my flying career, still on my forgiving floater, there was a subtle change.

I had the opportunity to fly at Moirs Hill. It was a good first time for Moirs.

There was a reasonable breeze to keep the hill pumping regularly.

I launched, found the rough air, got a bubble and went up a little bit, popped out the other side into smooth air and was gliding across the face until I bumped into another bubble that I worked a little bit, and again went up again, then back on glide.

Wait a minute. I’m not just bombing here. I actually glide from one thermal bubble to the next and I can get there without going down…! There was still a challenge that day. I needed 3500 feet before I could head off over the back and the best thermal I got took me to cloud base at 3200 feet - just not quite enough. 40 minutes later I landed in bomb-out but there was a change in the air. I got height!

I made cloud base! And I had glide!

Food for the thermal soul!

The start of the 2015-16 season had been a bit patchy with El Nino – all sorts of weird wind and not much good flying, some more sled rides,

…

Right; Setting up for landing Photo; Gary Turner

By Aaron Darby and finally – the 2016 Nationals. This is my first official comp. I used XC Soar running on my phone for my task and track log and had made up a mount for my phone on my bar so I could attempt to use it.

Day 1. Sherry River. The task was set. The big boys launched. We could see thermal bubbles appearing and disappearing so there were gliders everywhere flying close around the hill. I launched my floater, hung a left, got straight into some beeps!

I carried flying straight to test it’s width. It was quite large! 500 meters going up the whole way in a straight line! “Oooo I’m getting higher than launch. It’s a bit scary!” I decided to use the height I had just gained to scoot straight across the large bowl to the face at the other end so I was a little closer to Turn Point 1! Fool! What goes up must come down! I hit sink out front. Ahh! Sink!!

Quick! Run for bomb-out while you still have height!

And 5 minutes later I was there. On my own. Everyone else flew away including all the other floater pilots…!

And so I reflected in the paddock.

On my own. “You idiot!! What the hell were you thinking! You had lift and you ran away from it!” It clicked.

I was scared. I’m scared of heights.

Did I tell you that? I recalled another time I had flown from the Kaimais, straight under a big cloud. I was looking up at it, getting closer and closer, until finally at about 4000 feet I looked down. “Oh Jesus!!! Shit I’m high!! Oh shit oh shit! I want to get off the bus! But I can’t get off the bus!! I just want to get down! But you have to fly down buddy! Oh shit oh shit!!..” I regained my marbles, and as I got lower the anxiety reduced, I started looking for more lift, and then landed in the bomb out paddock…

So there was my lesson. I could clearly see what was holding me back. And like hell I was going to back down to fear! Tomorrow is a new day!

Day 2. Mt Murchison. 5000 feet launch height with bomb-out easily accessible right beside it. A massive steep mountain that bleeds heat all up the mountainside and it pours off the top. The task was set. Turnpoint 1 was off down the lovely long valley towards Murchison town.

Lots of lovely landing paddocks along the way. It was a hot day.

We were launching off the shady side of the mountain so I quickly

worked my way around to the side where I had seen others getting up. There was a good thermal triggering up off a spur there and used it to gain about 500 feet.

When I lost it, I headed around further towards the sunny side and bumped another thermal.

I concentrated on this one a bit more. It was about a 300 up, and I listened carefully to my vario, adjusting my turn to keep the beeps constant (Kevin’s top tip from 2015 Nationals – thanks Kevin!) It was a bit rough but I was going up alright.

Suddenly I realised I was level with launch. “Ooo! I might be able to get up over the top of the mountain!

There should be some lift there!” It was getting rougher… The mountain was huge. I had enough height now to comfortably circle over top of the radio mast. And that’s when it powered up… 500 up.. 700 up..

Large pillows of air started bursting up around me, and the vario starts screaming. 1300 up! I’m battling hard now and getting higher than I’ve ever been, which brings me back to the screaming battle playing out inside my head while I try to maintain control of my bowel movements and keep flying…

So I found that calm zen moment – and I knew everything was going to be OK. I kept circling. I kept going up. I watched my arch-nemesis Kim join the thermal about 500 feet below me, and 30 seconds later she was 200 feet above me!! And I was still circling through 1300 up bubbles!

How the hell did she do that??!! But I kept circling and kept circling. I notice

I’m now level with the clouds around the valley… I must be near cloudbase now and it will run out soon. There’s no cloud over the mountain. I keep circling. Hang on a minute, I’m higher than those surrounding clouds! I’m starting to see the tops of some of them! I’m still going up! And I notice the chill in the air… My vario is still singing and tells me I’m passing 8000 feet… Wooow! This is amazing! I can see everywhere! I can see Murchison town from here! I can see where I have to fly to next! I start to become aware – I know there’s a 9500 foot airspace ceiling here. I straighten up and to try and find where the edge of this thermal is. I don’t want to get sucked up to never-never land! Pop! And I’m out. 8500 feet. This is oodles of height! This is it!! And again I have that quiet confidence setting in. “I have no idea where I’m going to land, I have no idea where my next patch of lift is, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out along the way! THIS IS IT!!”

It doesn’t matter what happens next. The spell was broken. I beat the fear, and I was rewarded handsomely for it. One of those moments in life that you can look back on when your old and know you were at your best in that moment…

After flying 14km it was a bit of

hassle to get back to the car. My whole car load got away that day.

The usual trusty bomb-out driver was gone! Luckily the poor chap I saw dropping low in the valley earlier was John from our car load. He went back for the car. Top man!

And so the journey continues but now its steps up a notch. For after breaking the spell I am now forever free! I participated in the Auckland League comp at the Paeroas recently. Sunday was a day I wouldn’t have even considered getting out of bed for – conditions were predicted to be terrible – but the task was set.

Still on my forgiving floater, I battled an 11 knot head wind across a gap to achieve turnpoint one, I scratched back up from half of cliff height, eked along in the small bubbles of weak lift and achieved turnpoint two, I scratched my way back up from half of cliff height 3 times, staying alive to get back to the launch point and back up to cloud base! Technical challenge – Cloud base was a shade under 4000ft, and I needed 4500 to safely get over the back. But it no longer mattered. 90 minutes of staying alive, 3 recoveries, and getting back to cloud base… I’ve got this!!!

Next time I see you will be at cloud base!

Right; Going up at Tapawera Photo; Louise Morton

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Omarama XC Classic 2016

L

ast summer gave hotter than usual conditions but plenty of light wind days at Omarama, the wave soaring capital of NZ. Our first day saw 9 pilots on the East launch on Magic Mountain.

We had a 10 knot easterly with thermals to around 5000’ so most worked thermals along the ridge to Killermont. One low airtime pilot was caught by thermal wind with a forced landing on the ridge.

Three of us grovelled north in small thermals around Snowy Top onto the Ohau Range. Warren Simonsen did best with 40kms to Ram Hill, Mark Alton followed low, landing in the locked area near Lake Middleton for a late retrieve, and I scuttled back to Ribbonwood airstrip.

Next day had nice clouds above Magic but winds switched from South to West to East. Good heights of 8-9000ft helped but distance was difficult. It was my turn to land near

Above; Mark Nichols with Clare and Warren Simonsen on the Magic Mountain NW Launch Photo; Bill Degen Ram Hill, Mark was at Ribbonwood but most just headed for Omarama.

Using mistaken GPS coordinates, our driver drove up the Dobson 4WD track looking for us, spending the night up there. Search & Rescue was called but our gliding friends took a light plane out and spotted him driving out in the morning.

Nobody answered my phone or Spot messages, so I spent the night in a farm hut. It was a warm night but howling dogs kept me awake. Our team needed to work on procedure.

Monday had a light westerly forecast but it was 25 knots at the lower launch where 10 of us took off. Warren made it 81kms down the Hawkduns to Kyeburn, Cris Lawry 55kms down the Waitaki to Kurow and Mark to Ruataniwha.

Tuesdays forecast was light NW but we had 20 knots WNW at launch.

It was hard to get much height and I eventually left with just 6700’ to find

Rod Stuart landed on a dairy farm. A kind cow cocky gave him a lift on his 4x4 Photo; Rod Stuart

20 A i r b o r n

Above; At 9000’ between Omakau and Alexandra. Photos; Bill Degen Below; NW Launch, a pilot high in the resident thermal

Right; Arriving at Mt Cook Photo; Bill Degen

lift over on flats and St Cuthbert to 8500’. It was easy flying along the main road down the Waitaki but we were too late to catch the thermals that tempted us earlier. Mark and I made 50kms to Aviemore landing in 25+ knots, Cris was back a bit past Otematata. He cored a 2400fpm climb and 1800fpm sink that day.

Warren was late getting away and hit the sea breeze on the Hawkduns so he veered south to Omakau for 54kms. Their retrieve van radiator failed and Clare just made it to Danseys pub. They also had a stuffed cv boot and tyre so they stayed overnight and went to Alexandra to do repairs.

On Wednesday we launched on top of Magic with a strong NW that got us 9000ft. It was good climbs for all then off down the Waitaki or to camp for most. Last off, Mark and I got 8500’+ on Magic where wind became light NNW with clouds over Killermont and down the Lindis.

Mark followed the Dunstans to 75kms at Cromwell while I opted to work convergence/wave from Omakau down to Alexandra at 9000 odd feet (wondering if Warren would look up and see me), then it was a nervous run under overdeveloping clouds along the power-line infested Clutha past Roxburgh with a couple of low saves to make Teviot at 131km.

Thursday was blown out so we had a well deserved rest.

Friday saw SW, strong at altitude forecast. We found NW at the lower launch, then the SW on the Ohau’s with rough thermals to 10,000’. Mark Nichols flying his new Atos was late getting away and struggling on the Ohau’s when ahead across the Lake I was flushed off the Ben Ohau’s in easterly turbulence near Glen Lyon station. With the easterly making Cook unlikely, we agreed over the radio that I should fly back across to Ram Hill for an easier pickup.

Then halfway across I found strong westerly, making it risky to land there so I flew back across again to the Ben Ohau side. While boating around over the Dobson airstrip waiting for Mark, the westerly arrived and a thermal got me high over the flats, so it was onto the Ben Ohau’s again and off to Mt Cook for 87kms. Mark got up on the Ben Ohau’s too and made it to Mt Cook with 84kms a bit later.

Meanwhile Warren, Niall Mueller & Mark Alton had a good run up the Mackenzie, landing near Tekapo at 75-68kms. Kevin McManus made

Top Places

Pl Pilot 1 Bill Degen 2 Warren Simonsen 3 Mark Alton 4 Cris Lawry 5 Mark Nichols (class 2) 6 Niall Mueller 7 Kevin McManus 8 Guy Williams 9 Rod Stuart 10 Adriel Kind

it well past camp to Twizel. A good day for all.

Saturday brought Easterly and some cloud but it was fairly hard going. Several headed north but most landed at Quailburn Rd or Ribbonwood. Warren made the end of Lake Ohau. Most flew to Killermont for a soar before landing along the main road.

Late starting, Sunday had blue thermals forecast. There were clouds over Magic though. Most rigged on the west side, except Niall. After lots of dust devils, and some plummets, those remaining moved to the south launch too. Mark Nichols and I were at the SE launch near a resident

thermal. It was slow climbs for most to 8-9000’ with pilots thermalling on east, west and north sides of Snowy Top. Myself, Niall and Mark grovelled up the Ohau’s to Ram Hill. Shortly after burning off height and landing, the Ben Ohau’s started looking better.

Meanwhile Warren who had been too low on Snowy Top to make the Ohau’s, had scratched up the Ahuriri with some low saves, got high on the Barriers then flew high right over the top of us to the Ben Ohau’s and across to Cook for 86kms.

That ended the meet but Waitaki Day was on again and everyone got up easily and down the Lindis where

F1 131.6 86.2 75.0 55.0 84.8 75.0 37.0 20.7 21.0 20.8

F2 F3 Total 87.3 50.7 269.6 81.2 75.2 242.6 68.0 50.6 193.6 45.0 42.0 142.0 36.2 121.0 38.5 113.5 22.1 22.0 81.1 20.7 20.7 62.1 16.5 16.0 53.5 16.2 16.2 53.2

things were less easy, eventually leaving four of us who got through.

Mark Nichols did best with 73kms as he flew over me at 71kms halfway down the west side of Lake Dunstan.

Warren and Mark Alton made 50 odd kms to Tarras.

A fine week of flying was enjoyed by 25-30 pilots at another successful Omarama XC Classic. A few uprights were replaced but the real casualties were vehicle breakdowns and some unexpected nights out. We collected $700 for road maintenance and though the Magic road is rough due to slips, the recent work kept it wide and level enough for us.

See you there next Waitangi Week.

Right; Julian Sands launches at the dust devil free, eastern take-off Photo; Bill Degen

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The Soaring Engine

By G. Dale

Mountain soaring

Fetch Fetch is a word more commonly associated with sailing. In mountain soaring we have begun to use it to describe the area of warm ground feeding a thermal.

Remember that, just as in the flatlands, the thermals usually start right down at the bottom of the ridges on the floor of the valley. Look at the ground and imagine walking around down there. It needs to be hot and still to generate good thermals: calm air or light winds over sunny ground are best, creating a reservoir of warm air that will flow up the slopes above.

A strong wind along the valley floor will spread the heat energy through a thicker layer of air so thermals don’t readily form. A valley can be “flushed out” by the wind. Even if the sun is strong on the surface the thermals on the ridges above are small and weak or even non-existent. Beware narrow valleys in shadow; they may not produce thermals for the ridges above them. The elevation of the valley floor can also be important. A low-lying valley may be full of cold air coming from a cool, damp area, which spoils the thermals. This cold air does not readily move up into the higher valleys, hence they generally produce better lift.

A wide, sunny calm valley feeding a ridge thermal

G

Dale is a competitive glider pilot with World Champs results who teaches cross country gliding full time, lecturing and flying all over the world, including at Omarama in our summers.

He has written this book with glider, hang glider and paraglider pilots in mind so there is very little that applies solely to gliding.

The book explains how the air moves, the varying causes, where to expect lift, how to recognise the signs and how to take advantage of the different types of lift available to us. His experiences of NZ weather are helpful.

G has kept the text, layout and graphics simple which makes it very easy to understand and absorb. Subjects seldom take more than a page so are easily read in short bursts making the book easy to pick up and stop at any time.

Related subjects are grouped in chapters titled; Ridge soaring, Thermal soaring, Flatland soaring and Mountain soaring. The Appendix explains the basics of pressure, temperature, volume and density stability, dew point, understanding tephigrams and their relationship with thermals and cumulus formation.

I picked up the book from a glider pilot and was quickly engrossed. Later I was lucky to meet G, get a copy and read the rest of it. I recommend it and there’s three pages from it printed here in a similar (but more compact) layout to the book.

The Soaring Engine in paperback costs about NZ$66. Go to www. thesoaringengine.co.uk for details or email info@thesoaringengine.co.uk for payment with Paypal or direct to NZ bank account. - Bill Degen

22 A i r b o r n

So look down at the valley floor. How high is the ground? What are the characteristics of the air mass feeding the ridge thermals? What is the wind down there? Are some places windy and others calm? How much heating is taking place and where is the warm air going to come from?

Fetch: Different air masses in the valleys The next consideration is where the air in the valley has come from. Mountains separate the air masses. One valley can contain a useful warm dry air mass, whilst the very next valley on the other side of a ridge can be full of cold, damp air. When you fly in the mountains it really pays to study the low ground, river valleys, lakes and coastlines surrounding the task area and ask yourself where cold air can intrude into your task area.

In the diagram below the valley is full of a strong, cold wind that has arrived from somewhere else. This has destroyed any anabatic flow and the fetch of the ridges is poor. The mountains have their feet in cold air. This is a very common situation, but you can usually see quite easily that the valley wind has changed direction. A big clue is that the cloudbase will be lower in the valley and on the surrounding ridges due to colder air on the surface.

What is the nature of the air mass on the valley floor?

Consider the general “push” that the synoptic wind gives to the low-level air mass. For instance, a solid line of mountains will slow and deflect a wind blowing on to the front of the line, but the air will squirt rapidly through a valley cutting through the terrain from front to back. If you try to think of air as a fluid it can help you to visualise the flow.

Fetch: shape, surface and aspect Finally, what is the shape, surface and aspect of the rising slope itself? Complex shapes produce more warm air because there is more surface area, so a wrinkled conical mountain with many bowls and ridges leading to the summit is better than a thin, straight blade. Heavily forested slopes are not as useful as thinly covered or bare hills, which means some soaring areas change substantially as the season changes and the trees come into leaf.

When you are trying to work out if the surface below you will supply well-heated air do the same as you would do in the flatlands. Imagine yourself walking around down there and feeling the sun and the wind.

When you have a day away from the glider go out and walk in the mountain valleys. Perhaps you should go and look at some of the possible outlanding fields at the same time! You will find sharp contrasts of wind, sun and temperature, which will be reflected in the thermal activity on the slopes above.

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

Look down to where the thermals are coming from

two scales 1:250,000 and 1:500,000, and cost $16.35 for a pair of charts printed on a double-sided sheet. The coverage of the 1:250,000 charts makes them handy for planning cross-country flights.

NZHGPA Discretionary Projects Fund The diagram above shows only one aspect of fetch. One mountain is a complex shape and the other simple. It's an easy decision to go to the mountain on the left. In real life the decision is not so obvious.

Whenever you get a good climb look down at the fetch and the trigger point and say "thank you" to it. Then you will remember where you were and what it looked like from the glider.

Thermal coming ... beep.

The NZHGPA Discretionary Projects Funding Committee invites applications for funding of projects from clubs and NZHGPA committees. The criteria and process for making applications can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/ DPFCapplication

It sure is sensitive and excitable!

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

www.flytec.ch

Picture: Tobias Dimmler, tobiasdimmler.com

PCC Write up End of Season 2015/16 National Ladder and Competitions We’ve had a fantastic season for paragliding competitions.

The National Ladder is finalised and you can find it opposite.

The biggest effect on the ladder is, of course, from the two great rounds of the PG Open in Manilla and Nelson respectively (see page 4 for a write up on those). Also counting were the tasks from the Canungra Cup back in October, and both the Southern Regional and Auckland Comp (see page 15).

The top ten has changed quite a bit – with four in and four out.

Reuben Muir has jumped into the top spot, due to very consistent flying in both rounds of the PG Open, and was crowned as National Champion too. Jeff Ripley has climbed several spots into second. Newcomers in the top ten include Roy Tingay, Glen Stevens and Louis Tapper. Notably – Wellington legend Andy Maloney has also managed to secure a spot at number ten. A great achievement as he was a new ladder entry this season.

Leo Geary Trophy winner, Leighton Joll, who has only been flying for just over a year, has established himself in joint 16th position – go Leighton!

Feel free to be in touch with the PCC if you have any questions about the ladder, or about how you got (or lost) the points that you did.

The Cross Country Paragliding Championship has been won by Nick Neynens and Tim Percival has done a full write-up of that on page 26.

National Championship Results The overall championship results were calculated from each pilots results over their best 6 tasks in both PG Open Rounds.

National Champion Reuben Muir Serial Class Champion Reuben Muir Sports Class Champion Grant Middendorf Fun Class Champion Joe Ward Women’s Champion Eva Keim Leo Geary Trophy Leighton Joll Gill Borst Trophy Louis Tapper & Nick Neynens Personal Best Trophy Brian Erasmus Congratulations to all the National winners! Also, kudos to Grant Middendorf and Jeff Ripley who won the Southern and Auckland Regional Comps respectively.

PG Open 2016/17 The PCC is now soliciting bids to hold the PG Open next season. There will be only one round, due to last season’s rule change which alternates the between one and two rounds per season. We would like to receive your bid, in writing, please, by 31st May 2016.

XContest.org/newzealand This system is still being tested but we fully intend for it to take over from Leonardo as the platform for the Cross Country Paragliding Championship in the 2017/18 Season (so not next season but the following). We would like everyone to join us in testing it for the coming season though, so please go ahead and make an account and upload your flights.

The next Airborn will contain a thorough explanation of how it all works. There will also be opportunities for businesses (paragliding and otherwise) to advertise on the new site, in exchange for a small contribution to the running costs.

Please contact the PCC if you would like to take us up on that wonderful offer.

Rule Changes As usual, the PCC will be reviewing the rules during the winter and probably coming up with some suitable changes.

One of these is likely to be around how glider class (Fun, Sport, Serial) are determined. There is quite some discussion of this going on in Australia and we are watching that closely – most likely we will see what our Australian friends do and then possibly follow suit. Any suggestions about that or any other rules issues? Please contact the PCC on nzhgpapcc@googlegroups.com

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25

N NE EWW ZZEEAALLAA NN DD C RC RO OS SS S- -CCOOUUNNTT RR YY

PP AA RR AAGGLLI IDDI NI NG G CC HH AA MMPPI IOONNSSH HI PI PS S

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

H

e r e ’s t h e c o n f i r m e d standings and wrap up of the 2016 competition! It has been another extraordinary season of new achievements and extended best distances.

The top placed pilots of last season have continued where they left off with more brilliant flying in the South Island, especially in the Otago mountains, and especially in December and early January. And they have enticed other pilots to start off with them, perhaps involving a hike to launch, resulting in more personal bests all round. Here’s a list of just some of the highlights: • NZ’s Open Distance record broken twice, the mark is now 235.8 km (Nick Neynens, Sugarloaf Spur) • NZ 200km open distance achieved for the first time (Neynens) • NZ’s FAI Triangle record extended to 147.7 km (Bryan Moore, Cardrona) • NZ’s Female Open Distance extended to 83.4 km (Kinga Masztalerz, Treble Cone) • NZ’s Tandem Open Distance record broken, the mark is now 88.4 km (Laurent Faniel, Treble Cone. The previous record had stood for ten years!)

• Fourteen NZ 100km open distance flights flown in the three week period Dec 18 to Jan 4 • Twenty-one flights over 100km, when measured with three turn points, flown over the three week period Dec 17 to Jan 5, that’s a one per day average!

• A new regional open distance record for Wairarapa (Mick Kennish, 47.8 km).

• Five NZ 100km open distance flights achieved from four different sites on the same day (Sugarloaf Pass, Treble Cone, Cardrona & Pakituhi Spur on January 5).

For details of other site records flown during the season, look for asterisks in the right hand column of the Season Site Best Flights tables.

2016 NZ XC Champions and Category Winners

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2016 Season Milestone Flights Next issue I’ll do a full report on the pilots (incl. hang gliders) who have for the first time surpassed the ‘milestone’ distances of 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150 or 200km (open distance) in NZ. But in brief, for the paragliders: In the North Island, five pilots surpassed 25km for the first time, with Stefano Gigli going on to bag a 50km milestone too from Paeroa. In the spring Eva Keim and Rob Gillard achieved 50km flying from Moirs and Kaimai respectively.

In the South Island, 11 pilots achieved NZ25km for the first time, with three (John Smith, Doug Patterson, Kinga Masztalerz) going on to bag 50km milestones too, and one 75km (Masztalerz). Others to achieve 50 and/or 75km flights were (Dylan Vickerman, Aaron Ford, Brendon Sinclair, Michal Karnik).

In the higher milestones, Gert van Maren joined the NZ100km “club”!

Nick Neynens and Louis Tapper joined the very exclusive 150km “club” (now five members). And yes, Neynens kept flying on his first 150km day to also achieve the first ever paraglider NZ200km milestone!!

Fly high – Tim Percival (on behalf of the PG Competition Committee)

2015/2016 NZ PG XC Champs Final Standings (Top 40 placings) Pos Pilot 1 Nick Neynens 2 Bryan Moore 3 Louis Tapper 4 Peter Groves 5 Gert van Maren 6 Shaun Gilbert 7 Glen Stevens 8 Martin Kräemer 9 Michal Karnik 10 Kinga Masztalerz 11 Aaron Ford 12 Jean Brossard 13 Dylan Vickerman 14 Jeff Ripley 15 Eva Keim 16 Mal Haskins 17 Evan Lamberton 18 Rory Devine 19 Ian Douglass 20 Derek Divers 21 Doug Patterson 22 Kat West 23 Rostislav Vondra 24 Bruce Vickerman 25 Nick Taber 26 Emlyn Revell-Nash 27 Rob Gillard 28 Tim Brown 29 Tim Heather 30 Helen Jeffery 31 Denis Buckley 32 Roy Tingay 33 Rob Boyle 34 Joe Ward 35 Matt Stanford 35 Elliot Revell-Nash 37 Rhys Akers 38 Luke Goleman 39 Graham Surrey 40 Mike Ferguson

Club Southern Southern Southern Southern Southern Hawkes Bay Canterbury Southern Southern Auckland Southern Canterbury Southern Auckland Auckland Southern Auckland Southern Southern Southern Southern Southern Overseas Waikato Tasman Auckland Waikato Tasman Southern Southern Overseas Southern Tasman Auckland Canterbury Auckland Bay of Plenty Canterbury Auckland Auckland

F1 F2 F3 385.6 330.8 234.4 341.6 296.2 274.7 274.6 257.0 236.1 238.4 220.7 171.9 179.8 137.2 115.9 147.8 127.3 115.1 194.9 87.4 80.3 145.9 125.3 87.5 147.1 100.6 94.5 203.1 80.1 52.0 112.4 104.7 98.7 158.2 86.0 58.0 125.0 97.0 75.5 116.5 101.9 62.0 113.0 95.1 71.4 107.2 87.8 82.0 105.5 89.9 77.7 121.2 81.6 67.5 104.0 79.6 78.5 105.4 83.7 69.9 92.4 85.1 78.4 96.6 81.3 60.2 102.1 87.5 45.8 93.3 71.7 70.2 86.8 71.7 63.4 81.0 76.0 52.4 84.5 73.9 49.2 72.2 69.2 64.7 73.5 70.4 61.3 77.7 69.5 57.2 103.6 52.8 44.8 84.3 72.1 42.6 87.3 58.9 41.4 59.3 56.6 46.3 59.8 57.0 42.0 78.8 45.9 34.1 61.7 49.1 43.6 61.8 52.2 38.5 61.1 53.6 34.3 58.8 44.8 41.5

Total 950.8 912.5 767.7 631.0 432.9 390.2 362.6 358.7 342.2 335.2 315.8 302.2 297.5 280.4 279.5 277.0 273.1 270.3 262.1 259.0 255.9 238.1 235.4 235.2 221.9 209.4 207.6 206.1 205.2 204.4 201.2 199.0 187.6 162.2 158.8 158.8 154.4 152.5 149.0 145.1

North Island Table (top 20 placings) (Top scoring from North Island flights) Pos Pilot Club 1 Shaun Gilbert Hawkes Bay 2 Jeff Ripley Auckland 3 Eva Keim Auckland 3 Evan Lamberton Auckland 5 Rostislav Vondra Overseas 6 Bruce Vickerman Waikato 7 Emlyn Revell-Nash Auckland 8 Rob Gillard Waikato 9 Joe Ward Auckland 10 Elliot Revell-Nash Auckland 11 Rhys Akers Bay of Plenty 12 Graham Surrey Auckland 13 Alex Raymont Overseas 14 Barry Sayer Hawkes Bay 15 John Morgan Taranaki 16 Leighton Joll Auckland 17 Mike Ferguson Auckland 18 Mark Curtis Auckland 19 Kyla MacDonald Auckland 20 Mark MacDonald Auckland

F1 F2 F3 147.8 127.3 115.1 116.5 101.9 57.8 113.0 95.1 65.0 105.5 89.9 77.7 102.1 87.5 45.8 93.3 71.7 70.2 81.0 76.0 52.4 84.5 73.9 49.2 59.3 56.6 46.3 78.8 45.9 34.1 61.7 49.1 43.6 61.1 53.6 34.3 83.1 59.9 0.0 134.3 0.0 0.0 93.0 40.1 0.0 52.5 39.3 31.3 44.8 41.5 33.9 58.5 36.8 24.1 52.5 33.9 27.9 37.8 36.5 35.2

Total 390.2 276.2 273.1 273.1 235.4 235.2 209.4 207.6 162.2 158.8 154.4 149.0 143.0 134.3 133.1 123.1 120.2 119.4 114.3 109.5

For detailed PG XC Champs flight information, see the 2016 PG XC Champs Table at Leonardo (Leonardo season name: “2015”) www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/league/world/season2015/brand:all,cat:1,class:all,xctype:all,club:0.9 (Note that for the NZ PG XC Champs, the Leonardo table is an approximate table only: international pilots are incorrectly excluded from the NZ ‘club’ competition, while a flight submitted more than 30 days after the day of the flight is incorrectly included).

Photo: Ross Gray

1st place and 2016 NZ XC Champion: Nick Neynens. Wow! On his brief return from overseas Nick has raised the bar even further, flying 1500 XC flight kilometres in three weeks, including two flights over 200 km open distance, for back-to-back titles. See Airborn 197 or www.sharemyjoys. com for details of his adventures of December/January!

1st Runner Up: Bryan Moore. Only just edged out for a second time in as many seasons, Bryan successfully tried triangle high scoring, setting a new NZ FAI Triangle record (147.7

April 1st 2015 to March 31st 2016 km, Cardrona); had a best three-turnpoint distance of 227 km (Cardrona); and added six more NZ 100km open distance flights to his personal tally.

2nd Runner Up: Louis Tapper. Louis’ flights included flights over 125 km open distance from three different Otago sites! (Sharks Tooth, Sugarloaf Pass and Cardrona).

2016 Women’s XC Champion: Kinga Masztalerz. New to NZ, and new to South Island flying, Kinga’s women’s title comes on the back of an adventurous 135 km three-turnpoint flight from Treble Cone that traversed mountains west and north of Lake Wanaka. In open distance, a new NZ Female Open Distance record (83.4 km).

Best Rookie (first-time PG2 competitor): Doug Patterson. Doug’s flights got up to an open distance best of 59 km! (From Coronet Peak, Otago).

North Island Champion: Shaun Gilbert. Shaun had the best N.I. flight (93 km, Te Mata Peak), helping him defend his North Island title.

Well done all of the above! And thank you to all who submitted flights so we could see where there was good flying to be had.

THE COUNTRY CODE

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

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.

N Z H G P A BOOKROOM THE ART OF PARAGLIDING

by Dennis Pagen. Instruction manual for beginner to intermediates. Large format 374 pages $80 HANG GLIDING TRAINING MANUAL by Dennis Pagen.

Ultimate guide to Beginner to Advanced hang gliding flying skills $80 PERFORMANCE FLYING by Dennis Pagen. Hang gliding for intermediate to advanced flying skills, includes competition, cross country, towing $80 UNDERSTANDING THE SKY by Dennis Pagen. Sport aviation weather and micrometeorology for hang glider, paraglider and microlight pilots. $60 PARAGLIDING, BEGINNER TO CROSS COUNTRY by Sollom Cook. From basic techniques to competition flying $60 A PILOTS TRAINING MANUAL (PG) Includes zone free, 80 minute DVD with 9 chapters including; forward inflation, reverse inflation, manoeuvres, soaring, flying thermals to landing methods.

Only $65!

NZ HANG GLIDING TRAINING HANDBOOK Essential Beginner/ Novice instruction information for NZ hang gliding students learning to fly. $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;

BOOKROOM

NZHGPA

2016 Season Site Best Flights (from entries) Open Distance Region Site/Site Group Dist Pilot Date Take Off Auckland Dills Hill 33.0 Jeff Ripley 24/01/2016 Auckland Moirs Hill 67.2 Evan Lamberton 09/10/2015 * Waikato Alans Hill 32.4 Bruce Vickerman 26/11/2015 Waikato Harrys Hill 25.0 Rob Gillard 26/10/2015 Waikato Kaimai Range 52.9 Rob Gillard 29/11/2015 (Kaimai) Waikato Te Hoe - Maungakawa 30.3 Rob Gillard 31/10/2015 (Pukeitionga) Bay of Plenty Paeroa 56.6 Stefano Gigli 06/01/2016 Hawkes Bay Te Mata Peak 93.7 Shaun Gilbert 14/02/2016 Hawkes Bay Turiri 25.8 Shaun Gilbert 21/02/2016 Wairarapa Bennetts Hill 13.0 Mick Kennish 26/12/2015 Wairarapa Kourarau 47.8 Mick Kennish 03/04/2015 ** Nelson Inwoods Lookout 50.3 Nick Taber 29/11/2015 Nelson Mt Murchison 52.6 Russell Read 02/03/2016 West Coast Denniston - Millerton 61.3 Bryan Moore 26/12/2015 (Denniston) * Canterbury Craigieburn Range 88.3 Jean Brossard 23/12/2015 (Cheeseman) * Canterbury Libretto Range - Lewis 24.4 Nick Taber 13/11/2015 (Mt Faust) Canterbury Mt Hutt 11.1 Jean Brossard 18/12/2015 Canterbury Port Hills 33.0 Matt Stanford 13/11/2015 (Mt Pleasant) Canterbury Sealy Range 50.6 Glen Stevens 30/11/2015 (Sealy Tarns) Otago Cairnmuir 78.2 Dylan Vickerman 30/10/2015 * Otago Cardrona 196.1 Bryan Moore 05/01/2016 * Otago Coronet Peak 66.1 Aaron Ford 06/12/2015 Otago Haast Pass 41.5 Glen Stevens 02/03/2016 (Brewster Hut) Otago Hawea Eastern Ranges 114.1 Gert van Maren 05/01/2016 (Pakituhi Spur) * Otago Matukituki 126.5 Bryan Moore 29/11/2015 (Sharks Tooth) * Otago Mt Iron 19.1 Bryan Moore 04/09/2015 Otago Richardson Mountains 150.9 Bryan Moore 31/12/2015 (Moke Lake) * Otago Routeburn 235.8 Nick Neynens 05/01/2016 (Sugarloaf Pass) † Otago Roys Peak 55.8 Bryan Moore 30/01/2016 Otago Treble Cone 144.8 Peter Groves 05/01/2016 * Site Record, ** Site and Regional Record, † National Record FAI Out-and-Back Region Site/Site Group Dist Pilot Date Take Off Auckland Dills Hill 65.8 Jeff Ripley 24/01/2016 ** Waikato Kaimai Range 64.1 Evan Lamberton 29/11/2015 (Kaimai) ** Hawkes Bay Te Mata Peak 50.7 John Morgan 13/03/2016 ** Canterbury Libretto Range - Lewis 30.5 Nick Taber 13/11/2015 (Mt Faust) * Otago Cardrona 108.7 Bryan Moore 04/01/2016 * * Site Record, ** Site and Regional Record FAI Triangle Region Site/Site Group Dist Pilot Date Take Off Otago Cardrona 147.7 Bryan Moore 04/01/2016 † † National Record

Ewen Tonar 23A Brookview Court Chartwell Hamilton Phone 07 855 3969 etonar@infogen.net.nz

LEAVE NO RUBBISH.

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N NE EWW ZZEEAA LL AA NN DD C RC RO OS SS S- -CCOOUUNNTT RR YY

HH AA NN GG GGLLI IDDI INNGG CC HH AA MMPPI IOONNSSH HI PI PS S

January 1st to December 31st

A

swag of new flights have been entered in the 2016 XC comp following some great days over the summer start of 2016.

The El Nino this year was hotter and better than last time as we had some choice periods with high temperatures and light winds, in the South at least. Most flights on the table at this stage were from Magic Mountain but Rick Hawkeswood and Neil Howe have started with a couple of Kaimais flight entries too. Watch this space, especially in the springtime and end of the year.

There’s nothing like setting yourself a public goal to encourage yourself to do better, but the real challenge is to understand the weather and fly the best you can in the conditions you have available. Keep at it and regardless of your score, you’ll at least get some great flights and may even pick up a local site record.

The way to get those big cross country flights is to keep trying so you are flying fit when that good day comes up. You just need to be flying at the right place when conditions turn on. Often it’s the ordinary looking days that unexpectedly turn out 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 or best total of 4 flights. Only one person can be at the top of the table; sometimes they have better local sites, more time available or just better luck, but if you are improving your ability, your personal best, or your own distance total, you are winning too.

ONLINE RESULTS Latest results are posted as they come in first at www.hgpg.co.nz and at www.nzhgpa.org. nz/competitions/hg-competitions/hang-glidingcross-country-championships (but check if it’s been recently updated).

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

If you do this, just let me know by emailing me a link to your online entry and I’ll copy the data to the NZ HG XC Champs it will have all we need to enter your flight.

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 supply; • Your name, email address and contact phone number.

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

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

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

A GPS instrument has many advantages for XC

28 A i r b o r n

The 2016 Cross-Country Championships Table so far...

Name Bill Degen

Flight 1 131.6

Flight 2 93.4

Flight 3 90.7

Flight 4 77.2

Total kms 392.8

Warren Simonsen 86.6 81.2 75.4 55.9 299.0 Mark Alton 75.0 68.0 54.5 50.6 248.1 Mark Nichols

** 88.9 73.3 42.4 36.9 241.5

Cris Lawry 55.0 45.0 42.0 19.0 161.0 Niall Mueller 75.0 38.5 113.5 Kevin McManus 37.0 22.1 22.0 81.1 Guy Williams 20.7 20.7 20.7 18.7 80.8 Rod Stuart 21.0 16.5 16.0 16.0 69.5 Adriel Kind 20.8 16.2 16.2 8.8 62.0 Rick Hawkeswood

61.5

61.5

Neil Howe

61.0

61.0

Gary Turner

48.8

48.8

Aaron Darby 15.3 14.6 8.7 38.6 Shaun Ryan

18.0

8.3

Marshall Scrivenor

16.0

8.3

24.3

Andrew Blair

15.0

8.3

1.0

24.3

Marty Smith

15.1

8.5

23.6

Morgan Knoessen

12.7

4.6

17.3

Julian Sands

8.5

8.5

Quentin Doig

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

7.5

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

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 automatically. It also works out if the flight fits any other FAI criteria such as out and return, triangle etc. You can even export it for viewing in Google Earth in 3D. 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 each pilots’ responsibility to declare and enter full details of their own flight entries.

Measure your flights in kilometres and 10ths of km, straight line from take-off to landing. Optimised flight distances with a Remote Start and/or Remote Finish are welcome, provided you send in a valid, GPS track log to prove it. Out & 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.

26.3

Note: If you don’t follow the rules by providing all relevant flight details, (including valid tracklog for remote start or finish flights) you DO NOT SCORE. GLIDER CLASSES Same as FAI rules. Flex wings including kingpostless gliders are Class 1. Rigid wings such as the Atos are Class 5 and Swifts are Class 2 or Class 5 without the pilot fairing.

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, Malibu 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 and 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.

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

Safety Checks Paraglider Harnesses with Finsterwalder PL-Hook Buckles

Item no. HSi51, HSi510 Affected harnesses; Coconea, Passenger Air, Passenger Pro, Pilot, Slope, Junior, Hike. Certification numbers: EAPR-GZ-0209/14, EAPR-GZ-0046/13, EAPR -GZ-0047/13, EAPRGZ-0050/13, EAPR-GZ-0447/15, EAPR-GZ-0513/16, EAPR-GZ-0008/13 During routine final checks of our harnesses, we discovered Finsterwalder PL-Hook Buckles (item no. HSi51, HSi510) with insufficient swaging of the rear release cover plate.

In extreme cases this may result in loosening of the red safety push button and even an opening of the buckle, if not under tension. But, even if a buckle is defective, it is impossible to fall out of an affected harness - all harnesses mentioned above have an additional safety buckle to prevent pilots from falling out.

Immediately after discovering that defect, we informed the manufacturer Finsterwalder GmbH, Munich, who then published the safety note following.

Despite elaborate final checks,we unfortunately can not be absolutely sure that no harness with affected buckle has been handed out.

In order to put no pilot or passenger at risk, the harnesses mentioned above may only be used after checking the leg belt buckles properly.

The harness Hike with certification number EAPR-GZ-0008/13 has a buckle with item no.

HSi 505, which has not been suspect so far, but has the same safety push button as the affected buckles. Therefore we extended the safety note - including this harness as well.

In order to properly check the buckle, strongly push the red button (at least 20 kg). In order to apply enough pressure, we suggest to use a tool - e.g. a screw driver handle.

Doing so, the rear cover plate should not move and should not be pushed backwards.

If the swaging of the cover plate is be defective, you should not use the harness any more!

In that case contact the manufacturer directly at: Finsterwalder GmbH Pagodenburgstr.

8 81247 Muenchen Tel. +49 (0)89 8116528 email: office@finsterwalder-charly.de The repair will be carried out at no charge by Finsterwalder GmbH, Munich. or contact us!

- Stefan Kurrle, managing director Fly-market Flugsport-Zubehoer GmbH & Co. KG Am Schoenebach 3 87637 Eisenberg, Germany email info@independence.aero Tel. +49- (0)8364-98330 Fax +49- (0)8364-983333

Finsterwalder PL-Hook Buckles We have noticed that the locking button of some of the pictured PL-Hook buckles may come loose in rare cases such that the belt could become detached when unloaded. PL-Hooks manufactured since May 20th 2015 may be affected by this.

Our customers’ safety is highly important to us. We hence encourage you to check the red locking button by firmly pushing it down with your thumb. The cover plate on the opposite side must thereby not move.

If the fit of the cover plate is not tight and secure, immediately stop using the product and contact Finsterwalder GmbH in Munich office@finsterwalder-charly.de or via telephone +49 89 8116528 We apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.

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

Skywalk Guntram Gross, Herman Ahrens Phone: 09 436 0268 or 09 432 9333, 021 072 0357 Email: skywalk@igrin.co.nz

AUCKLAND HANG GLIDING Aqua Air Adventure Paddy Monro Phone: 09 528 7594, 027 288 0193 Email: aquaair@ihug.co.nz 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 Wings & Waves Paragliding and Kitesurfing Reuben Muir and Eva Keim Phone: 09 446 0020, 027 472 7013 Email: info@wingsandwaves.co.nz Web: www.wingsandwaves.co.nz WAIKATO PARAGLIDING Wings & Waves Paragliding and Kitesurfing Reuben Muir and Eva Keim Phone: 09 446 0020, 027 472 7013 Email: info@wingsandwaves.co.nz Web: www.wingsandwaves.co.nz OMAHU, THAMES/PAEROA 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 Kiwi-Air Mike & Aniko Phone: 07 929 5807, 021 104 6208 Web: http://kiwi-air.co.nz Mount Paragliding Wayne Roberts Phone: 07 574 4223, 027 643 6529 Email: 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 & PG Club Grant Tatham Phone: 06 379 7322, 027 636 3491 Email: tathams@xtra.co.nz

- Finsterwalder GmbH, Pagodenburgstr.8, 81247 Munich, Germany

Sting Hang Glider VG Shackle Screw check

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

PARAGLIDING Adventure Paragliding & Kiteboarding Kevin Rooke, Phone: 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 QUEENSTOWN PARAGLIDING Elevation Paragliding School Shai Lanuel Phone: 0800 359 444, 027 224 2121 Email: elevationpg@xtra.co.nz Web: www.elevation.co.nz 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 Paraventures Paragliding School Mark Hardman Phone: 0800 FLYSOLO (0800 359 765), 021 809 275 Email: info@paraventures.co.nz Extreme Air Tandem Hang Gliding & Paragliding Lisa Bradley Phone: 021 156 3256 Email: lisa@extremeair.co.nz Web: www.extremeair.co.nz Queenstown Paragliding School Lisa Bradley Phone: 021 156 3256 Email: info@extremeair.co.nz Web: www.extremeair.co.nz Queenstown Hang Gliding School Lisa Bradley Phone: 021 156 3256 Email: info@extremeair.co.nz Web: www.extremeair.co.nz DUNEDIN PARAGLIDING Dunedin Paragliding & Hang Gliding School Lisa Bradley Phone: 021 156 3256 Email: lisa@extremeair.co.nz Web: www.extremeair.co.nz

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Photos: Neil Brown, Ross Gray

During repair of an Airborne Sting 3, a Variable Geometry system shackle screw was found to have pulled free from the central crossbar hinge bolt, releasing the VG pulley and causing loss of VG function. The shackle and screw threads did not appear damaged so it appears to have worked free. During another Sting check, the same shackle screw was found loose. Other Stings checked so far have proved to be OK. The same pulley attachment is used on earlier models of Sting with VG. I advise owners of all Airborne Sting gliders to check the screw on the shackle that holds the VG pulley to the crossbar bolt.

As the screw ends are recessed inside a black plastic block, the crossbar hinge bolt will need to be released for inspection.

Safety Checks continues on page 31

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

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

■ 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 ■

MOTOR PARAGLIDING PARAMOTORING – Miniplane and PAP motors - contact SkyWings for courses and equipment - www.skywings.co.nz or phone Alan 09 570 5757 HANG GLIDERS WILLS Wing U2 160 Excellent condition glider. Great handling and performing intermediate/advanced wing. Has had one careful owner, flown approx 150 hours since purchased new in 2012. Recent WOF. Dacron sail with Hydranet trailing edge, sail is tight and flying in perfect trim. Well looked after, sail is still crispy with UV/weather coating application, no hard landings. $5000 Phone 027 670 8301 email skyriderag@gmail.com MOYES RS4 2010. Carbon leading edges, crossbar, carbon insert, carbon sprogs and battens. Approx 150 hours on the glider. Purple and orange under surface and smoke top. $5000 ono Txt or call Reece 021 806 390.

MOYES Xtralite 147 glider is in reasonable condition, sail is wearing out, however still has life left in her. Have not put a wof on it this year but will if I find a buyer. Black and white under surface. Approx 200+ hours. Txt or call Reece for more details $500 ono 021 806 390.

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.

SKYFLOATERS; New & used; Fun, Falcon, fully strip checked, test flown and trimmed, contact 03 326-6411 or aero@xtra.co.nz for info.

C2 Lite 14. Recent work, New wires & strip check (receipts available).

Approx 120 hours. Phone Adrian 027 247 2436 or 03 326 5689 adrian. brown@lincoln.ac.nz LITESPEED S4 Parts; 1 x pair of carbon outboard leading edges, with carbon outboard dive struts and all fittings. Excellent condition, $900. 1x pair of carbon outboard leading edges, with alloy outboard dive struts (large diameter type, compatible with carbon struts). Adjustable cone fittings required, $750. Plus near full set of LS4 battens (7075 alloy) with latest type clip fittings (offers). Guy Williams 027 242 8328 INSTRUMENTS DIGIFLY, Flytec/Brauniger, Oudie 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 EMPLOYMENT CORONET Peak Tandems Ltd, Queenstown, are looking for tandem hang gliding and paragliding pilots. Call 021 220 5932 ACCESSORIES HELMETS, No Limit, Insider, Loop, Breeze (adjustable) and PlusMax. Range of colours & sizes, No Limit visor option, PlusMax chinguard option, phone 021 247 2676 email aero@xtra.co.nz RESERVE PARACHUTES RANGE of reserve parachutes for hang gliding and paragliding. Bridles, Front containers, Maillons, Swivels, Hook knives etc, in stock at HG & PG Supplies, Phone 021 247 2676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz

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MOTOR HANG GLIDING MOSQUITO NRG motorharness, very tidy with very low airtime, all the usual features plus folding carbon prop, stainless auto carabiner, extra fuel tank, and parachute if required. Phone 021 247 2676, email aero@xtra.co.nz AIRTIME motor harness, late model, fit larger pilot, 8 hours airtime, Folding prop, Tiny tac, Tuning lights, 2 owners, contact 03 326-6411 or email aero@xtra.co.nz for info.

INSTRUCTION NELSON Hang Gliding Adventures HG training course Beginner and Novice rating. Call Glenn to register interest. 03 548 9151 or 027 275 1022, gmeadows@clear.net.nz HANG Gliding/Skyfloating. Experienced instruction in Christchurch using the latest skyfloater hang gliders and equipment, Phone Bill 021 247 2676, 03 326 6411 a.h., email aero@xtra.co.nz and www.hgpg.co.nz LOST & FOUND ZUNZUN 19m2 paraglider; green with a trim system. The bag is small and grey. My harness is a Karpo Fly red in small size. Contact claire. agnes99@yahoo.com AIRCOTEC XC-Trainer Easy vario/GPS, S/N 1473. Went missing from the Blenheim area approx two years ago. Phone 03 577 8886 or email john. urlich@nzdf.mil.nz HARNESS, helmet & hang gliding gear, taken from Omarama in 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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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, 23 Covent Drive, Stoke, Nelson 7011, New Zealand

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A4 size issues $4.- each

Feb/Mar/Apr May/Jun/Jul Aug/Sep/Oct Nov/Dec/Jan 2016 issue numbers 197 198 2015 issue numbers 193 194 195 196 2014 issue numbers 189 190 191 192 2013 issue numbers 185 186 187 188 2012 issue numbers - - 183 184 2011 issue numbers 179 180 181 182 2010 issue numbers 175 176 177 178 2009 issue numbers 171 172 173 174

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

- Sorry issues marked with this symbol are no longer available

PARAGLIDERS ADVANCE paragliders by Infinity Paragliding. Check out the new Advance Epsilon 8 - mid range EN-B, the Iota - high performance ENB, and the new PI2 and Easiness 2 lightweight mountain kit. Also an exceptional range of harnesses - the new Lightness 2 lightweight POD harness, the Axess 3 Air and Progress 2 reversible. Go to www.infinityparagliding.co.nz or www. advance.ch for all the specs or call 021 0228 2939 OZONE Paragliders www.flyozone.com - exclusively by SkyWings. Awesome new models - 25 years bringing you the best wings - email alan@ skywings.co.nz NOVA Paragliders - nova-wings.com - exclusively by SkyWings - www. skywings.co.nz - email alan@skywings.co.nz SPEEDFLYING specialists - and dozens of great XC wings - happy to trade - all kinds of harnesses in stock as well - www.skywings.co.nz or phone Alan 09 570 5757

Safety Checks Sting VG Shackle Screw Continued from page 29.

AustriAlpin COBRA® buckles

Assembly is a bit tricky as there are washers, hinges, a plastic block and the shackle which need to be assembled in the correct order. It is advisable to replace the crossbar hinge bolt locknut at the same time.

If the shackle screw is found to be loose, it should be undone and firmly tightened with Loctite or similar threadseal applied to the screw thread. The other parts should be reassembled in the correct order with a new 5/16” locknut on the crossbar hinge bolt.

This shackle and bolt should be visually checked during preflight checks.

- Bill Degen

It has come to our attention that in an extremely small quantity (0.00005% = 1 out of 2 million) of COBRA® buckles, there may exist parts where the rivets have not been press fixed.

This results in the rivets being loose and the release clips can detach. COBRA® buckles in all different versions and sizes can be affected. As we are dedicated to the 100% function, performance, quality and safety of our products, we ask all our clients and end users of COBRA® buckles to do a visual check. See illustration below.

Heinrich Mertens Emergency Parachutes

From EASA Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2016-0026 Parachute Type 10-30/24, 12-61/24 R and 12-82/23 all variants, serial number 13-227154 to 14-227292 inclusive.

Based on reported occurrences, it has been determined that a batch of rubber bands, used in the production of certain emergency parachutes, has a higher than normal probability to become gummy and sticky, causing the parachute lines to stick to the diaper or bag.

This condition, if not corrected, could cause a malfunction of the emergency parachute. The photo shows an affected emergency parachute after opening for a scheduled rigging.

For the reasons described above, this AD requires replacement of the affected rubber bands with serviceable rubber bands.

Required Action and Compliance Time is as indicated below unless accomplished previously: (1) Within 30 days after the effective date of this AD, replace all rubber bands in the emergency parachute with new rubber bands provided by Heinrich Mertens, or new rubber bands of the same size and meeting the specification of MIL-R-1832. Accomplish the replacement in accordance with the instructions of Heinrich Mertens Technische Mitteilung (TM) 002-03-16.

(2) The replacement of the rubber bands can be accomplished by any person qualified to accomplish the rigging of the parachute. The replacement has to be recorded by that qualified person on the parachute packing record, which must include a statement on the source and batch identification of the replacement rubber bands.

- Heinrich Mertens, Am Roten Berge 8, 58762 Altena, Germany Telephone: +49 2392 8053201, Fax: +49 2392 8053203 e-mail: Heinrich.Mertens@fallschirm.de, Website www.fallschirm.de.

UFO sighting

If you notice a buckle that is NOT riveted or you do have any concerns, STOP USING the product immediately and get in contact with us: office@ausrialpin.at or via phone +43 522 56 52 48. We would like to apologise for the inconvenience and are kindly asking for your understanding.

It’s the world’s first certified single-surface paraglider - UFO 21 (EN/LTF B). The main goal was a very light and usable glider and for alpine applications; good speed and durability. Trim speed is around 37km/h (at 90kg, size 21) and up to 42km/h with a speed-system. The single-surface technology translates to enhanced lift - the 21m² is more comparable to a conventional 26m² - www.ad-gliders.com

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www.flyozone.com www.nova-wings.com

www.skywings.co.nz

EN B .5 glide better than the class leading Mentor 3, so glide ratio around 10.5 - Better handling and improved safety - almost no one needs more - this glides very close to Mantra 6 but with vastly more safety and ease- EN B This is the new performance reference for high B gliders

EN C

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.

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”

Nova Ion 3 - EN B Once again, Nova bring the most performance you can get to a School safe glider. And also the most dynamic handling you can have in a first glider.

low EN B

20 years motoring & teaching Our level of experience means everything when you learn to motor www.papteam.com www.miniplane.net

Harnesses Exclusive importers of Sup’Air and Ozone harnesses like the Ozone Ozium - 2.5kgs

www.flyozone.com Miniplane - under 20kgs NZ’s most popular motor

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

The perfect beginner intermediate glider.

PARAMOTORING SPECIALISTS

- 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

Ph: 09 570 5757 Cell: 0274 98 2345 email: alan@skywings.co.nz

www.skywings.co.nz

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Fazer 2