Issue 200; November, December 2016, January 2017
Hang Glider Racing Paragliding Acro Champs 7.50 Including GST
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9 771170 992006
HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING
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any pilots visit flying sites outside their own region. To ensure that you don’t jeopardise arrangements between land owners and local flyers you must ALWAYS CHECK WITH LOCAL PILOTS BEFORE FLYING. That way you won’t upset land owners or pilots, you will be shown all the best sites and will be welcome back. We don’t publish site names and
locations 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: flyer.rosscoe@gmail.com Pres, Airsp: Ricky Winduss (Wanganui) .......................... 06 345 7659, or 027 447 4117 Sec/Treas, HGSO: Ross Gray .....021 126 0892 PGSO: Andrew Brownlie ..........027 444 8911
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 Sellin07 544 2951 / 021 617 111 PGSO: Wayne Roberts07 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 PO Box 1122, Queenstown 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 Skytrek Hang Gliding & Paragliding0800 759 873 Elevation Paragliding ...................0800 359 444 Extreme Air ........................... 0800 PARAGLIDE Infinity Paragliding School .........021 0228 2939 Paraventures Paragliding ............0800 809 275
PHOTO TRISTAN SHU
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
Skywalk CAYENNE5 FLYING IN SICILY, ITALY.
WAIKATO H.G.P.C. Inc. C/- Ewen Tonar 23A Brookview Court Hamilton Email: ejtonar069@gmail.com Pres/Airsp: Neil Howe ...................07 304 9631 Sec/Treas: Ewen Tonar ..................07 855 3969 PGSO: Bruce Vickerman ..............07 868 4991 HGSO: Rick Hawkeswood ............07 868 6250
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/- Annett Teichner 1137 Motueka Valley Highway, RD1, Motueka 7196 Email: thgpgclub@gmail.com Pres; Peter Allison ........................03 546 5242 Sec; Annett Teichner .................021 0231 0755 Treas; Brian Erasmus ....................03 545 1003 PGSO; Greg Benjamin...................03 545 1543 PGSO; Pete Polansky ...................03 528 7374 HGSO; 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
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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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Mark Alton, 167 Mahoenui Road, Coatesville, Auckland 0793, 022 195 5746, markalton@yahoo.com Dennis Thorpe, dennis_thorpe@hotmail.com Max Gebhardt, 03 312 7899, 022 159 6101, aerosm@gmail.com Paragliding Competition Committee
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IN THIS ISSUE...
members who quote their PIN number ● Classified advertisements are
Hang Glider Racing at Dalby ......................................................4
automatically deleted after each publication, for repeats please re-send or
World Paragliding Acrobatic Championships ...........................9
quote identifying words and phone number ● Advertisements for new hang
Cautious Cats do Acro ..............................................................10
gliders and paragliders must state certification status and meet our standard
Making more Noise than a Big Tree Falling ............................12
conditions ● For display and other advertising rates and conditions please
Gecko Girl Takes the Challenge ...............................................14 Syride SYS’Nav V3 .....................................................................20
contact the editor Editing, Graphics; AeroDesign, Bill Degen Printing; The Caxton Press Please send advertisements, photos and articles to the editor: Post:
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Email:
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Lead Out Points Explained .......................................................22 Events .........................................................................................24 Paragliding Competition Committee & Comp Ladder ...........27 Cross Country Champs Scoreboards ................................26, 28 Classified Advertisements ........................................................30 Safety Checks ............................................................................31 FRONT COVER: Curt Warren on tow at Dalby Big Air
Photo; Lester Baird - LettuceCaptureU Photography
NEXT ISSUE DEADLINE: 1 JANUARY 2017 A
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By Paris Williams
R acing the Big Skies of Dalby F
or years, I’ve been hearing great things from others about the annual Dalby Big Air competition, but the timing of it had never worked out well with my schedule. This time, I finally managed to make it over and get a good taste of what the raves are all about. I’d like to share with you, then, some of my impressions of the flying here at Dalby, and also for the benefit of those interested in mastering the art of XC flying and racing, offer the perspective and inner mental workings of a seasoned comp pilot going through a full competition. The competition was scheduled to begin on Sunday, April 10th, and hoping to get at least one practice day in before it started, I arrived on the late afternoon of Friday the 8th. Eager to get a general sense of the conditions, I quickly prepared my gear and managed to get a tow up at about 5pm. I wasn’t expecting to find much lift at such a late hour, but I was in for a very pleasant surprise. Hitting a broad patch of lift on tow, I pinned
Right; Jonny Durand Jr. in the dragonfly towing Paris Williams Photo; Lester Baird LettuceCaptureU Photography
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Above; Wolfy Siess on tow off at about 1,000 feet, and after a bit of searching, found a beautifully smooth, fat core that beamed me all the way to a nice high cloud base; 600 fpm all the way up to about 7,500 feet at this late hour!... then another, and another. I spent the next couple of hours taking great pleasure racing around the area from one smooth powerful thermal to another, being pleasantly surprised by how little their strengths diminished even as sunset approached. I would soon learn that this was just a typical day at Dalby. Adding even more pleasure to the experience, this was my first flight on this particular Moyes Litespeed RX 3.5, which Vicki Moyes was kind enough to loan me for the meet, and it was handling perfectly. In October of last year, I had made the difficult
Photo; Lester Baird - LettuceCaptureU Photography
decision to transition from Aeros to Moyes, after having been flying for Aeros since about 2003. Aeros had always treated me very well, and I enjoyed flying their gliders, but being a permanent resident of the land “down under” now (New Zealand), and having heard great things for years about the handling and performance of the Litespeeds and of Moyes service, I decided to make the transition. In earlier years, when transitioning from one make of competition glider to another, I found that I typically needed about 20 hours of airtime to feel completely in tune with the new glider, but I found that when making this transition to the Litespeed, I felt completely wired into it after only about 5-10 hours (and this was even after coming off about an 18 month
period of time of almost no flying at all). I found the handling and landing characteristics extremely userfriendly; I’d have to say I found it to be the most forgiving high performance glider I’d ever flown - and I imagine that even a solid intermediate pilot would have little difficulty flying this glider. So on this late Friday afternoon, relishing the pure pleasure of spiralling up to cloudbase after cloudbase over the broad horizons of the Aussie outback on such fat, juicy thermals with such a delightful glider dancing beneath my fingers, I found myself looking forward to the week with great anticipation.
Task One (101 km triangle) The final tally of competition pilots going into Day One was 54 pilots competing in the Open Class (for
Right; Curt Warren just after take-off
Photo; Lester Baird LettuceCaptureU Photography
those with the most experience and typically flying topless gliders) and 5 pilots competing in the Sport Class (everyone else). Not surprisingly considering our location, Moyes gliders made up most of the field, with only 11 pilots in the Open Class flying non-Moyes gliders (5 Wills Wing, 2 Airborne, 2 Aeros, and 2 Icaro). Going into the comp, more pilots were registered than what had been originally planned for, but fortunately, the meet organisers (Annie and Bruce Crerar) had managed to locate enough tugs to pull it off. But unfortunately, although they had seven tugs, they could only locate six tug pilots. Jonny Durand Jr., however, came to the rescue and agreed to be the 7th tug pilot, meaning that he would first assist in towing up the entire field, and would then jump into his hang glider and be the last comp pilot to launch every day (!) - so Jonny really made a tremendous sacrifice for the benefit of the rest of us, and we were all very grateful. Going into the first day, launch order was determined by a random drawing. Alas, I drew second to last. Initially, given that we weren’t sure how long it would take to launch all of us, and given that the task committee had set the last start gate relatively early, I was concerned that I might not even make the last start gate and therefore get heavily penalised on the first day - not a great way to begin a comp. Panicking a bit, I managed to persuade the task committee to extend the start gates, but it turned out my concern was all for naught. The tug pilots were highly skilled, the conditions were great, and it only took about 75 minutes to get the entire field airborne.
So on this first day, with myself launching second to last and Jonny launching last, the two of us missed the first two start gates but made the third. My estimate is that only a few pilots took the first gate, about a third of the field took the second, about half the field took the third (including Jonny and me), and the remainder took the fourth. The task was a 101 km triangle with very light winds. There were a few cumulus clouds in the distance, but the first leg was entirely blue. Our start gaggle (about 25-30 pilots) fanned out, with Jonny and a few others going far left while I initially stayed to the far right. It turns out that Jonny and the others on the left got drilled quite badly (i.e, hit a long sinky line), had to make a series of low scratchy saves, and then were never able to make this up, coming into goal relatively late. Many have said that XC hang gliding competition is kind of like
“3-dimensional chess with dice” in other words, significant strategy being played out on multiple levels, but always with some element of luck. I’d say that this was one of those times where luck played a major factor. As we began our glide on the first leg of the task, the sky was blue with few indicators of lift vs sink, and those on the left side of this initial glide, including Jonny, happened to get a terrible line. In spite of Jonny’s great skill and experience, this bit of bad luck hurt his score quite badly, and he was never able to really make it up for the remainder of the comp (and of course, towing all of us up and then launching last every day didn’t help). So on this first blue leg, being relatively high, I went into top gear, skipping all but the strongest lift, and managing to pull off a solo breakaway from the remainder of the pack that I had originally started with (or so I thought).
The second leg was getting a bit more interesting now, with clouds and markers (other gliders ahead) giving more information about conditions, but the thermals were a bit more broken up and “bubbly,” and I found I made the best time by climbing only about 500 to 1,000 feet in each thermal, then gliding again to the next “bubble” as soon as each one weakened. Halfway along this second leg, I met up with Curt Warren, who had also taken my start gate but had somehow gotten ahead of me without my having ever seen him (admittedly, this is one of Curt’s great talents). I was happy to see him, thinking we would be able to fly fast together and improve our chances of catching the fastest pilots from the previous starts. But as we approached the second waypoint, I wandered off course line a bit, following a compelling “lift string” (a term I give to very thin lines of lifting air that I’ve found are surprisingly common though often difficult to sense and follow, and which often lead to strong thermals). Sure enough, this lift string delivered its reward and propelled me beyond Curt and the bulk of the pilots from the earlier start gates as I rounded the second waypoint. All alone and in front of most of the field now going into the final leg, I could see what looked like only 3 pilots about 3-5 km ahead of me now, all of whom had taken an earlier start time. I saw a nice looking cloud street heading towards goal but about 5-7 km off to the left of course line. Given that the course line itself looked blue, and that this cloud street still looked relatively active, I decided to take it, and it delivered a very lifty line most of the
Left; Aerial view of the gliders and tugs on the ground Photo; Michael Zupanc Peak Pictures
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Left; Len Patton on tow Photo; Lester Baird LettuceCaptureU Photography
way to goal, allowing me to begin my final glide (without needing to make any further circles) about 25 km from goal. Konrad Heillman was first into goal, arriving about 6 minutes ahead of me, with Gavin Myers and Guy Hubbard also just in front of me. But since they took a 15-minute earlier start than me, my time was significantly faster and enough to put me in 1st place for the day. Curt came in about 8 minutes later, taking 3rd for the day.
Task 2 (81 km, 3 waypoints, with a goal away from home) The sky was forecast to overdevelop by the early afternoon with a high probability of thunderstorms, and that’s exactly what happened. The task was a kind of zig-zag, the task committee having done their best to take us away from the worst of the over-development. The conditions remained safe enough to get all of us launched and on course, but by the time most of the field was about halfway through the course, strong cloud-suck and/ or rain had formed along several portions of the course, and the task was stopped. In spite of the task being stopped only about an hour after the first pilots started, with the leaders only about halfway around the course, the day was scored as almost completely valid (916 points for the winner, Rohan Taylor), which I was very surprised by, considering how far beneath the nominal parameters we were able to achieve (a fully valid day required us to fly for at least 90 minutes with at least a certain percentage of us in goal). On this day, I was in a good position just after the first waypoint, being near the top of the lead gaggle, but as the gaggle was quite dense (and an Achilles heel of mine is a tendency to run away from dense gaggles), I took a risk and pressed ahead alone in spite of the fact that this thermal was still quite strong. Unfortunately, I ran into a long stretch of strong sink,
Right; At goal on the 221km day, showing the wonderful cloud streets in the sky Photo; Tyler Borradaile
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and was forced to stop in some light lift down low, which then resulted in much of the field passing high over my ahead about halfway between the first and second waypoint. But now that I had so many markers ahead of me, I shifted into high gear and managed to quickly work my way back close to the front by the time I had reached about midway between the 2nd and 3rd waypoints. It was at this point that I received the message from another pilot that the day had been stopped. It turns out that the day was formally stopped about 30 minutes earlier, at which point I was near the 2nd waypoint and still behind much of the field, so I came in 22nd for the day. One saving grace, however, was that since the field was all so close together at that point (we were all given a calculated 10: 1 glide to the ground from our altitude and position when the task was stopped), my score was only 90 points below that of the winner (829 vs. 916), so the day didn’t cost me too badly - I managed to hang onto first place in the competition overall.
Task 3 (210 km dogleg) Today was a very windy day, just shy of being too strong to fly a safe task (with a 15-20 knots average boundary layer wind). So considering how difficult it would be to remain within the start circle after releasing from tow, the task committee called for an open start time, meaning we could cross the start cylinder any
time and our race time would simply be our total elapsed time from start cylinder to goal cylinder. After a low weak link break, I had to re-launch, so ended up being one of the last to launch and therefore one of the last to start. In order to set us up to fly through a narrow gap of an otherwise fairly dense forest, the task was set with our initial leg of the dogleg (a 35km leg) being significantly crosswind, and our second leg (175 km) was nearly directly downwind, giving us the less than ideal situation of having our first leg being the most difficult one. However, most of the field was up to the task, with only about a dozen pilots not making it around the waypoint, and 21 pilots completing the entire 210 km task. Having started so late, I flew mostly alone for the first leg, but with some slower pilots assisting by marking the conditions ahead for me. I managed to catch up with John Smith (who started about 8 minutes before me) near the first waypoint. Actually, John was charging very hard (not at all unusual for him), and he remained about a half a thermal ahead of me until about the 100 km point. From the first waypoint until about this 100km point, the cloud streets became increasingly coherent and active, and a small gaggle of us came together, consisting of a handful of pilots all sharing a similar strategy with regard to selection of clouds and cloud streets. We then worked very well together for most of the remainder of the task. This included John Smith, Nick Purcell, Gavin Myers, Tyler Borradaile and myself. The day turned into one of those epic days with long active cloud streets allowing us to dolphin fly (simply slowing down in lift and speeding up in sink without having to circle) at relatively high speeds for many kilometres at a stretch. On one particular stretch, we blasted right through a number of 1,000+ fpm thermals, and we must have
maintained an average airspeed of about 90-100 kph for about 25-30 km. This was racing at its finest! With about 50 km remaining in the task, the clouds became increasingly sparse and less active, and the other members of my small gaggle understandably began to become more conservative, while I pressed on a bit more aggressively. My aggressiveness paid off and I ended up in what I thought would be my final thermal before final glide at about 1,200 feet higher than the rest of this group. At about 8,000 feet AGL, just as I hit cloud base, with about 23 km to goal, my vario said I had the glide, but just barely (and assuming I didn’t hit much sink). With the sky completely blue between this last cloud and goal, I headed out on final glide at a conservative speed. My line didn’t work out so well, and I did have to stop for about 3-4 minutes in a weak (200 fpm) climb at about 1,000 feet AGL in order to make it in. The others from my group must have had a slightly better final glide than me, with John Smith, Gavin and Tyler coming in to goal just a few seconds behind me. Curt was 11 minutes ahead of us into goal, but started 32 minutes before me, so was quite a bit slower than us, taking 7th place for the day, though he certainly deserves credit for doing so well almost completely on his own! Guy Hubbard was second into goal, about 5 minutes before me, but 15 minutes slower. I took 1st for the day, putting me into a relatively comfortable lead in the comp overall (230 points above 2nd place).
Task 4 (120km, 2 waypoints plus goal, but essentially a dogleg) Today was another relatively windy day (with 12-16 knots average boundary layer wind), not allowing us to come back home, so hence another dogleg following a very similar course as that of the previous day (doglegging us through the narrow point of the forest and then down the main highway on the other side), but the task committee called it significantly shorter due to more
crosswind conditions and weaker anticipated lift. About half of the field took the 12: 15pm start and the other half took the 12: 30 pm start, with the top ten pilots in the comp overall also divided fairly evenly between the two starts (with Curt Warren, Len Patten, John Smith, Guy Hubbard and Gavin Myers in the first start, and Jonny Durand, Nick Purcell, Vic Hare, Tyler Borradaile and myself taking the second). Given the relatively weak conditions at 12: 15 pm, I was counting on the later start buying me a bit stronger conditions for my run, with the hope that the early starters would be slow initially and be relatively easy to catch. Boy, was I wrong. My group (the 12:30 starters) had quite a bad start, losing our lift a few minutes before our start gate, so being relatively low across the start cylinder, then being out of sync with the first set of clouds (it appears that the first gate starters had timed these clouds much better than us). Rod Flockhart (“Flocky”) was with us, and being unhappy with his overall position in the comp, he was fortunately willing to charge hard, pulling the rest of us along a bit faster that we probably would have gone otherwise. As we rounded the waypoint, I detected what felt like one of those magic “lift strings” and decided to meander a bit off of course line to follow it. Lo and behold, it led me right into a very tight but powerful 800+ fpm thermal. Unfortunately, the other members of my group came beneath me but didn’t manage to find this tight little core and fell behind. So I ended up in the precarious position of being alone in front of my group just as we were heading across 10-15 km of dense forest with blue sky ahead, and to make matters even worse, a thick band of high cirrus clouds was heavily shading the ground beginning just beyond the forest. I adjusted my “risk factor” accordingly, slowing down and being willing to stop for weaker lift. I caught up with two of the earlystart pilots, but they were flying more conservatively than I was willing to fly, and seeing some indicators of
lift ahead (some relatively sunnier = or rather less shaded - spots on the ground within just a few km, and other early-start pilots circling in the distance), I pressed on alone. On one hand, I could now see just how far ahead some of the earlystart pilots were, and I realised I had better keep up my speed to avoid getting completely crushed in the scoring; but on the other hand, it was clear that the strengths and tops of the thermals had diminished substantially now that I had fully entered the cirrus shade. The optimum speed to fly given this dilemma seemed to be to stop for anything stronger than about 300 fpm, assuming that I didn’t get so low that I would have to shift into “survival mode” and stop for anything. As I approached the final waypoint (21 km upwind from goal), I was getting fairly low, having come through a long line without hitting any significant lift and arriving at the waypoint at only about 1,000 feet AGL. I found about 15 pilots scattered about the area, working very light lift mostly about 2km downwind of course line. Given how low I was, I considered joining them in spite of their less than ideal position, but instead I decided to take a chance and continue to glide on course line towards a relatively sunny spot. I hit something very light here only about 100 fpm, but being that I was now down to only about 750 feet AGL, I had now gone into full survival mode and so happily took it. After gaining very little altitude over the next 5 minutes, I spotted a wedge-tailed eagle gliding along what looked like a decent lift string, so I decided to follow her, and we soon hit a lovely 500 fpm thermal. I only needed to gain about 1,500 feet at this point to make it into goal - 3 minutes later, I had attained it and then raced on in. I was the first of the second-start group to make it in, but about a dozen of the first-start pilots had already made it in. It turns out that Curt was the first in and also the fastest,
beating my time (which was the next fastest time) by about 10 minutes and also maximising his “early bird” points (maximum arrival and leading points), so he pretty well slaughtered the rest of us. I came in 4th for the day and 204 points behind Curt.
Task 5 (81 km triangle) - The Last Day! After Curt’s strong performance the previous day, he had shot up into 2nd place overall and now we found ourselves going into the final day with Curt only about 170 points behind me for first overall. Ordinarily, this would have been a relatively comfortable lead, but I know very well Curt’s ability and willingness to charge very hard - “all or nothing” -
forecast of over-development and very heavy shading over nearly the entire area (which began even before we started). Nearly all of the top 10 pilots took the first start (including Curt and me); however, we started as two separate gaggles fairly well separated from each other. My gaggle had a terrible first glide, going directly into fairly dense shade and plummeting all the way from cloud base (from about 6,000 ft AGL) to about 1,200 ft AGL before hitting anything worth turning in; and even at this point, we only hit about 200 fpm, but I decided it would be too risky to keep pressing on. Guy Hubbard (third overall at this point) was right beside me and he decided
Lisa Bradley on the 4-wheeler, Launch crew extraordinaire and owner of Canungra Sky Sports
Photo; Michael Zupanc - Peak Pictures
taking big risks that sometimes pay off very well, just as he had done the day before. So I was a bit torn about my strategy. Do I try to fly with him, but risk both of us decking it (i.e., landing short of goal) if he charges too hard? Or do I just do my own thing and do my best to fly smart - relatively fast without taking excessive risks? In the end, as I was feeling relatively satisfied about my start position just before the first start gate, being close to cloud base with a group of competent pilots nearby (and having lost sight of Curt), I decided to take the latter choice - just do my own thing and fly with a risk factor of about 3 on a scale of 5? The task was an 81 km triangle, with relatively light winds and a
to continue gliding - a brave move that unfortunately didn’t work out well for him, as he glided all the way to the ground. Struggling to survive in this weak lift with the other pilots who had started with me, it was quite painful to watch more than half of the field (clearly the other start gaggle) glide high over our heads towards what looked like decent lift near the first waypoint, but which I was not high enough to head for yet. I was also pretty sure I saw Curt in that leading group, and I admittedly felt a twinge of concern about losing the meet, but then made the effort to let that go from my mind and just focus on the task at hand. I began to “stair step” my way back up to cloud base
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- staying in the light lift until I felt just high enough to continue gliding along course line until making it to something a bit stronger, then staying there until again feeling high enough to go for the gamble of making it to something stronger yet. This worked out well, and by the time I reached the second waypoint (only 22 km from goal), I had caught up with the leaders (including Jason Kath and Len Patton, with Curt slightly in front of us but a fair bit lower). Jason, Len and I hit a decent thermal just past this last waypoint, taking us up at a solid 400-500 fpm. Taking in the stretch of sky between my current position and goal, I saw that there was what looked like a dying cloud street heading directly to goal, and one clearly active cloud about 2km to the right of the direct line to goal. In other words, I thought final glide looked relatively lifty, so as soon as my instrument showed that I could make final glide, I left for final, and saw that Jason had the same idea, while the others held back to play it a bit safer and climb higher. Jason glided straight on course line beneath the cloud street that went all the way to goal but which looked to me as though there was not much life left in it. I initially headed right of course line, heading towards the more active looking cloud; but with my sometimes overly competitive streak nagging at me, I found myself concerned that Jason would be able to glide straight to goal without having to make any additional circles (which seemed likely), whereas the path I was initially taking to the right appeared more active but was
significantly longer. My overly TOP PLACES competitive streak won out, and Open Class I decided to join Jason on the 1 Paris Williams NZL Moyes RX 3.5 4503 more direct but somewhat riskier 2 Curt Warren AUS Moyes RX 4 4403 3 Len Paton AUS Moyes RX 4 4257 glide, with the hope of beating 4 Gavin Myers AUS Moyes RX 5 4219 Jason in and winning the day (in 5 John Smith NZL Moyes RS 4 4201 spite of the fact that this gamble 6 Jonny Durand AUS Moyes RX 3.5 3862 was actually pretty silly, in that 7 Vic Hare AUS Wills Wing T2C 3826 it could have easily cost me the 8 Rohan Taylor AUS Moyes RS 4 3765 meet). Unfortunately, the street 9 Josh Woods AUS Moyes RX 3.5 3733 was even more dead than I had 10 Tyler Borradaile CAN Wills Wing T2C 3659 anticipated, and we hit a long Sport Class 1 Scott Ireland AUS Wills Wing U2 3046 stretch of sink, and were forced 2 Noel Collins IRL Airborne Sting 3 2215 to stop about 5 km from goal and 3 Richard Hughes AUS Airborne Sting 3 1141 about 700 feet AGL in very light For complete scores, go to; www.williamolive.com lift (0-100 fpm), with Jason about 100 feet beneath me. Above; Paris on tow Photo; Lester Baird - LettuceCaptureU Photography As we were desperately working this scrappy lift, I looked ever recall in which I found myself Some Final Reflections up and saw Len, Curt, John Smith standing on the ground after landing I understand that this year wasn’t and a few others approaching us and on the last day of a comp without the best year at Dalby (flying just probably high enough to make the experiencing even the slightest 4 ½ days out of 7, whereas they glide to goal. There was a moment tenderness in either shoulder. So flew all 7 days last year), but I still where I was tempted to leave this thanks for that, Moyes! had a great time and thoroughly lift and press on towards goal (I As a final reflection upon my enjoyed the conditions. They actually noticed that there was a bit more experience of flying XC competitions reminded me a lot of the conditions sunlight that way) with the hope of in general, I find that I often of my old stomping grounds - Florida still squeaking out a win for the day. feel conflicted about the idea of and Texas - and I’m really pleased But then I quickly recognised how competition, on one hand enjoying that I found this place so accessible easily that choice could take me from the way that competitions push me to me now that the U.S. is so far “hero to zero,” blowing the whole to my limits, but on the other hand, away. I also really appreciated the comp just to risk winning one more feeling a bit uncomfortable with the professionalism and hospitality of day. So I wisely stayed with the lift fact that there has to be “winners” the meet organisers (Annie and I had as this handful of pilots sailed and “losers” (and I’ve certainly had Bruce Crerar), the scorekeeper past me to goal. Unfortunately, Jason my share of both). (William “Billo” Olive), and the other wasn’t able to hang on to the weak But what I’ve found that I really assistants and tug pilots. lift and ended up landing there, which appreciate about XC hang gliding I’m also very grateful to Vicki inspired me to stay focused and work as compared to most other kinds of Moyes and the Moyes team for this lift with all I had. I managed to competitions I’ve participated in is their excellent support, and am truly gain the altitude I needed and made that even though technically we’re delighting in flying the Litespeed RX. it in about 6 minutes after Len, who all competing against each other, I found my performance second won the day. I came in 7th for the the reality is that you actually excel to none at Dalby, and I’ve been day and managed to maintain my when you’re willing to partner up with very pleased with the light, welloverall lead in the comp and won! other pilots and work cooperatively coordinated handling and confident with whomever you happen to be landings. I think one thing that really flying with. says it all with regard to the excellent So I really enjoy that sense of handling of this glider is how good companionship in the sport, working my body felt after the comp. I have together with others towards a had a long-standing problem with my common goal. And even if I don’t rotator cuff muscles, having injured do as well as I’d like on a given them multiple times over my life, and day or a given comp, there are still having generally resigned myself to few things in life I enjoy more than the fact that they’re going to hurt racing through thermal-filled skies (sometimes a lot!) during and after a over beautiful terrain with my mates. comp; but this is the first time I can
Above; Top three in the Open Class: 1st place - Paris Williams (center); 2nd place - Curt Warren (right); 3rd place - Len Patton (left)
Photo; Lester Baird - LettuceCaptureU Photography
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Tascha Lawry - womens Class winner
Photo; Lester Baird - LettuceCaptureU Photography
Winner of the Sport Class Scott Ireland
Photo; Lester Baird - LettuceCaptureU Photography
2nd FAI World Paragliding Aerobatic Champs D oussard/Lake Annecy, France, 3 September 2016 – The 2nd FAI World Paragliding Aerobatic Championships came to a successful close at Lake Annecy in south west France.
An impressive seven solo and seven synchro runs were flown over 7 days from 26 August to 3 September, giving the 34 pilots from 16 nations excellent opportunity to demonstrate their aerobatics skills in a highly competitive environment. The FAI World Paragliding Solo Aerobatics Champion is François Ragolski of France, followed very closely by team mate Tim Alongi. The bronze medal goes to Horacio Llorens of Spain. François Ragolski said after his final flight: “It was a long competition with a lot of stress. I think that I have never had to concentrate so much. I will go home with lots of emotions, I am very happy.” The women’s aerobatic solo championship is also validated with Christina Kolb of Austria receiving the gold medal. In second place is Nicole Schmidt, the sole competitor from Germany. Taking bronze is Lea Haensenberger of Switzerland. Eight women competed in the event. Christina Kolb commented: “The most awesome thing about the competition is that we had so many girls here. The mood between us was really good and we cheered for each other.” For the nations ranking, the host team, France, stands proud with a clutch of gold medals. In second place is Spain and in third place is Switzerland. In the paragliding synchro championships, mixed nation teams are allowed. There were some crowd-pleasing performances this year with some impressive manoeuvres and synchronised landings on the raft close to Doussard beach.
Acro photos by Philip Peperie
In first place is the SAT Brothers team, Felix and Raoul Rodriguez of Spain, who have competed and won together for more than a decade. Silver medals were presented to the Twisted Boys, Théo de Blic of France and Horacio Llorens of Spain. The third placed synchro team is CAT Acro with David Geiser and Jérémy Péclard of Switzerland. Raoul Rodriguez commented: “It has been an amazing seven days. The flying standard of the younger pilots now coming through is impressive.” A young air sports discipline, appealing to largely but not exclusively young pilots, this is only the 2nd FAI World Paragliding
Aerobatics Championships. FAI Executive Director Agust Gudmundsson said after the event: “These World Championships were a fantastic success for the competitors. Our thanks go especially to the outstanding work of the local organising team. I hope that this will encourage other organisers around the world to bid to hold subsequent events.”
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Only Curious Cats get Nin Leighton Joll on Risk Taking
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ree flight, whether by hang glider or paraglider, is an incomparable experience that calls us back to the sky again and again. For some pilots the desire can be strong enough to call us back after major accidents, however for others the first experience of rough turbulence can be enough to turn them away for good. The primary influence to this decision is fear, and fear of dangerous or uncomfortable experiences can easily consume a pilots mind if not controlled. Controlling fear is an immense subject so for now I would just like to discuss experience, and more importantly, the role experience plays in preventing fear from establishing itself in the first place. Nobody can deny that free flight has inherent risks associated with it. The opportunity to step up and engage with these risks is the main reason most people are interested in the sport in the first place. We humans deal with risk in one of two ways. We either shy away from it and avoid as much risk as possible or become intrigued by it and attempt to learn more about its limitations. Becoming a free flight pilot proves you already have a mild curiosity for risk and the only question that remains is how far that curiosity goes. As a PG2 pilot I am far from an expert on thermalling, SIV, meteorology or flight in general, so I won’t be attempting to throw my advice into those arenas. But, those who know me well can attest that assessing and engaging with risk is a subject I’m extremely familiar with. Testing unfamiliar and uncomfortable outcomes to gain an understanding of how best to react is something I do on a daily basis and the importance of this learning method is, in my opinion, paramount
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Lukas getting sideways on his Carrera in the world of flight where reactions make a big impact on final outcomes. Let’s take a look at the outcomes of two different approaches to the pitch and roll of a paraglider. The risk-averse pilot is happiest when their wing is perfectly stable above them in smooth flowing air with no turbulence. They are possibly even happy to go thermalling as long as the thermals are light, calm and easily manageable. The risk-curious
pilot on the other hand, will often use smooth flowing air as a perfect opportunity to play with pitch and roll, practising wing overs and oscillations as they test the dynamic movements of their wing in flight. Some would say the risk-averse pilot is the safer pilot because they will never fly in conditions that could lead to any danger. However, it’s naive to think that we can predict perfectly safe conditions in any
instance. Imagine the risk-averse pilot stumbles across a particularly strong thermal, they hit some turbulence at the edge and then their wing suddenly pitches backward. It’s a sensation they haven’t experienced and it’s suddenly happening in an uncontrolled environment. A moment of panic sets in. They freeze for just a second while they think. The wing surges forward violently and starts to frontal. Their panicked reaction while unsettled in their harness is unbalanced and they bury one brake far quicker than the other. They go into a spin, or worse, an asymmetric spiral. Hopefully they’re on a good EN A or B wing and it recovers primarily on its own, but their confidence doesn’t and a fear of thermic flying is established. The risk-curious pilot is the safer pilot because they have played with their wing and have a better understanding of its dynamic movements. They can then exploit this understanding as they learn to use these movements to improve their reactions in flight. Imagine the risk-curious pilot stumbles across a particularly strong thermal, they hit some turbulence at the edge and then their wing suddenly pitches backward. It’s a sensation they have experienced before when playing with oscillations and they know what’s coming next. The wing begins to surge forward but they’re already prepared to brake the surge. After braking some of the surge they use
ne Lives
Getting horizontal over North Head with Rangitoto in the distance
Right; Joe Ward showing his level of experience at Muriwai on the Carerra, Auckland
Stefan Sebregts showing good weight shift in a turn
the remaining energy to help their turn and dig into the core of the thermal. Their confidence rises as they rise in the thermal and another positive association is made with paragliding in their mind. As pilots we can choose to fly only in perfect conditions, only in smooth coastal air, only at lower altitudes and always keeping the wing as perfectly
Lower right; Looking down at my shadow during wing-overs above North Head, Auckland
even and overhead as possible. But then what happens if we are suddenly faced with turbulence, a rough thermal, limited landing options or a dangerous collapse in flight? The reaction and resulting outcome could harm you or your interest in flying altogether. The advice from a novice? Get out and play with your wing, experience its
Great display of technique on a Little Cloud at North Head
pitch and roll, learn to control these aspects in a way that they can be used to your advantage. Find safe environments to practice wing overs and oscillations with guidance from experienced pilots, and make sure to start off small so you don’t overdo it and become scared off. Most importantly, do an SIV course to really experience the limits of your wing and your abilities while you learn how to get out of trouble in the air.
The saying goes that curiosity killed the cat, but it’s also said that cats have nine lives. In reality it’s curiosity that will save the cat. The risk-averse cat stumbles into deep water and drowns because it doesn’t know where the deep water is or how to react to it. The curious cat has already tested the waters edge, learnt how deep it is and how to swim to safety. This is the reason that only curious cats get nine lives.
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How to Make More Noise I Steven Structural Failure autopsies an experience so that you can avoid it
slowly came to, with the not unpleasant sensation of light rain to the face. To this day the gap between 10m high tree top and ground impact is a blank, including undoing four buckles and the harness zip. My legs were nice and dry under the sail. An initial damage scan surprisingly only revealed searing shoulder pain, shallowness of breath and a glider whose next trip was straight to the dump. About as good a result as could be expected given the right side glider then body impact. Queue a Johnny Cash documentary in which an old Kris Kristofferson sang one of his songs that JC had previously fashioned into a hit. With a voice that had seen better days Kris belted it out and when finished surmised, “I’m sure that could have been sung worse... but I can’t think by who.” This accurately sums up the above arrival and decisions leading to it. Auckland’s answer to a light NE and a solid convergence forecast is 400ft of shallow magnificence, Dills Hill. I skived off work at 10:30 and in eager anticipation headed north
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Above; View from in out in front of Dills Hill (takeoff central) looking west toward the Kaipara Harbour. Kaipara South Head top right, Crash site at top left Below; Post recovery catch up with Lyall, first person on the scene
to meet up with John Burton. Para pilots Joe Ward and Alex were on take-off. Rewinding my conversation with Joe I was too focused on the potential 30km convergence cloud to the south. They did the honours and boated around slowly gaining height and sensibly headed north largely into wind, away from a convergence cloud that had the potential to get nastier. We took off later into a building NE sea breeze and consequently initially struggled to gain height. Eventually I grappled with four weak and shallow climbs which topped out initially at 500 and the last one at 2000 feet above take-off. The ill-considered glass half full idea was to boat around in lift staying clear of showers and perhaps working back north. Lightish showers were evident 10 to 15km to the south so I not so sensibly made a lunge toward the convergence cloud 5km downwind. I contacted lift about 1200ft AGL and circled upward at around 200fpm. Around 1500ft shy of a 3500 to 4000ft cloudbase the drizzle hit. After two more turns it was evident this situation was unlikely to improve so I made a bee line in heavy sink toward the blue sky adjacent the west coast. Drizzle increased to a shower and rather like some Monty
Python sketch, the watery hand of God appeared to follow. Having not flown the glider this wet before, conversations with others rang in my ears with the main take-away being loss of bar pressure. Early turbulent flow caused by rain drops on the leading edge can change the handling of higher performance hang glider wings. Read your glider manual for more details. The wind at 800ft was still a firm NE sea breeze over the only landing paddock available. High tension lines supplying all of Northland over-sailed the paddock on the West side of halfway. The paddock was however plenty long enough to fly under the wires if required. It was considered probable that a SW sea breeze on the ground was more likely due to the proximity of the coast. Given the high tension wires it was decided to assume SW unless indications were to the contrary. I hovered around the middle of the paddock intentionally making shallow banked circles, waiting for a second opinion from the gauges. At 400ft the wet gauges indicated a WSW so I set up the approach accordingly. With the high tension wires and possible wet glider behaviour in mind, I gave the glider much more clearance to a tree at the downwind
than a Big Tree Falling Left; Raise the hospital bed, stay very still and enjoy the sunrise over Lake Pupuke (Rangitoto right). There are easier ways to get such a great view but a bonus none the less
end of the paddock than normally required. Potentially the glider was a tad high so a slightly steeper banked turn with a little more speed was judged to be a good idea in order to lose more height for under flying the upcoming high tension wires. Bad idea. Bar pressure disappeared and the tree top was suddenly on the immediate flight path and with little subsequent helpful glider response the outcome became inevitable. Ironically a metre or two higher would have avoided tree impact. Post impact and with pilot medical/ glider appraisal out of the way I lay still contemplating options. Due to lack of mobile coverage it was hoped these included help from others. A bearded man arrived (Jesus?) . Within a few minutes enquiring after my health and confirming that emergency services had been contacted and wouldn’t be long. After a chat he said... “I’ll be back in a few minutes”. Upon his return he thankfully placed a lightweight metal framed/canvas canopy over me to keep the rain off. A local fire/paramedic arrived shortly after and did an initial assessment. The cops then arrived and as a tax payer I was very impressed with the way they efficiently surveyed the scene, asked the right questions and organised to pick up my car and drive it back to Helensville police station. Lastly the medics arrived on foot as they were understandably not comfortable with 200m of greasy paddock to
traverse in a 2WD ambulance. A helicopter was offered but that sounded like a lot fuss given the ambulance adjacent so the land owner suggested the far more cost effective tray of his 4WD ute. According to my wife, one good thing came of this day. My favourite and somewhat worn dice t-shirt purchased in the heart of West Auckland was soon to be cut off and lost to my flying wardrobe forever. Morphine was offered and gratefully accepted and can only have helped getting over the garment loss. As any good flying buddy would do, John came looking for me. During his drive-by 200m from the scene all he could see was cops, cops and a gazebo. Obviously a drug bust or a murder investigation as they couldn’t have put a cover up that quickly. He drove on. The police later located John and passed on a description of how the later part of my day had deteriorated. Big thanks to John for managing to get the glider in the bag and tidying up. Meanwhile the first log roll required to get onto the emergency stretcher in the paddock proved to be good practise for the three to follow in hospital. Amongst the hospital ED drama my family arrived. During one of the favourite right side log rolls required for an X-ray, pain was vocalised. My daughter then passed out but did so in the best possible place. The sore shoulder turned out to be right side rib single breaks to
numbers 1/2 and double breaks from numbers 4 to 7. Speculation has the right side mounted chute upping the anti regarding double rib breaks. The punctured lung resulting from multiple rib breaks thankfully came right quickly. Medicine calls this rib break combo a flail segment. Initial efforts to walk and heaven forbid sneeze or cough provided proof positive of the appropriateness of this term. The following issues although obvious to an experienced XC pilot were inexplicably not appropriately considered by the author on the day: s Don’t prejudge and fix flight plans solely based on the forecast. Keep eyes open to both positive and negative conditions unfolding and react accordingly s Risks and pressure increase when easy landing paddocks fall beyond a glide s Quickly identify and prioritise all landing hazards before formulating a landing approach s Assume over developed clouds will rain anywhere along their length s Simplify a wet glider approach s Over time I have been incrementally and pushing my XC flying a little harder, slowly improving and having some memorable flights. Pushing too hard though can come at a price. A few other safety factors to be contemplated: s An emergency beeper s Drogue chute use, as paddocks are not getting bigger s While it wouldn’t have helped on the day, wheels s How old is too old? An engineering journal I read regularly until recently had a very helpful section with brief summaries of mistakes anonymously submitted by fellow structural engineers. If a
“there but for the grace of God go I” attitude is taken while reading these confessions, learning from others mistakes doesn’t come any easier. It is suggested that regular reading of on-line accident reports recently made available by the NZHGPA would improve flying standards. With a noticeable lack of similar previous confessions in Airborn and some embarrassment it has subsequently taken 5 months to pen this article. Last weekend on our way north Karen & I visited the first person on the scene. Initially I thought he might have been Jesus but on the day was much happier to meet Lyall. While lying on his bed 200m from the crash scene watching a movie he heard a noise “much louder than a big tree falling”. A “mangled aeroplane” was sighted out the window and he immediately rang emergency services before racing off to see how he could help. Thankfully the time-line appears to suggest I wasn’t out for too long. During our recent meeting Lyall explained that a mate of his worked 26 years as a joiner and surprisingly still had all his fingers intact until a few months ago. I too had never been hospitalised or even come close to writing off a glider in over 30 years of flying. Lyall suggested that both of us paid the price for a blazé moment. I couldn’t disagree. Luckily a few good things came of the day. Lyall’s kindness followed by the local medic, police, ambulance and everyone at the hospital made me thankful for our emergency and medical system. Lady Luck and hospital visitors definitely get a shout out. I am especially indebted to Karen for her patient nursing during recovery. Back to fighting fit 12 weeks later would not have been possible without these people. A new glider and attitude will be in the country shortly.
Right; Sail at cross tube and leading edge junction through which the scattered cross tube end protruded left; Shattered carbon cross tube end. Also see shadow on down-tube shows peeled back tube wall after the wire made a vertical cut up the downtube. I’m very grateful for these and other energy dissipators
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Gecko
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th July 2016 - Wharton, Te x a s ; T h e morning skies promised another long day, another chance to claim the Gecko Challenge. I had been trying repeatedly to get the 188 km task done and also break my personal record of 111 km, but each attempt ended half way or even less. I never let it get me down, but I was very eager to claim the challenge! Today was the
Soaring over Texas
day I would finally go the distance. Cloud streets had formed early in the morning and continued to develop and rise as the Texan sun baked the land. The forecast predicted good 15 mph southerly winds all the way up and at a comfortable heading that would neither push me into Houston or College Station airspace. As I waited outside the Cowboy Up hangar for
Bart and Tiki to arrive at 13: 00, I gazed at the sky and watched the clouds cycle through their life. I set a waypoint 244 km out which would provide good guidance, but also act as a dangling carrot to get to. I launched at 13: 40 and got off from a very rowdy tow expecting to turn and zoom straight up, but the lift was not there. My best option was to pull VG and drive upwind to find lift, but
after burning precious altitude over shaded ground I decided to re-flight. 14: 06 - Take two and nearly the same thing! My friend called me on the radio to tell me he decked it only a few fields downwind. Just as I was getting concerned, I found my cross-country ticket. A solid 400 fpm climb took me to 4,000 feet and the sky ahead was looking great! By the time I topped out, my climb I
Aerotow launch with Cowboy Up in Wharton, Texas
THE GECKO CHALLENGE Back in December 2015, top comp pilot Jonny Durand flew a Gecko intermediate glider 187kms cross-country from his home site at Beechmont to Darling Downs in Queensland. Moyes then issued a challenge to other Gecko owners offering a new custom harness to anyone who could beat 187kms, plus produce photo evidence, a track log and a write-up.
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Girl Takes the Challenge
By Niki Longshore Flying over Wharton was well out of glide to the airport. I was on my way to knock out the Gecko Challenge! It was tough and slow going at first. I went on a decent glide to the next good cloud and lost nearly half of my altitude along the way. I flew through beeps but struggled to find a solid climb like the one I just left. My friend called me on the radio to tell me he raced to the ground hunting for the good stuff and recommended to hang on to whatever I could find. I did a quick search under the cloud and realized he was right. 50-100 fpm was the best that would keep me aloft for nearly 20 minutes as I drifted along. The cloud was dying and I had been looking everywhere for my next climb. Behind me was not promising, the cloud to my west was far and too risky to get to, east was blue, and the clouds ahead looked like I was going to miss the lift train up. I chose to charge ahead but with a watchful eye on the blue. Sinking rapidly and now down to 1000 feet, I could feel a thermal close by. Now
Ready to launch
in ground-trigger mode, I glanced down at the earth and found a beautiful thermal rolling through the tall silky grass. Sure enough, the thermal was feeding a brand new wispy forming in the blue. Topping out my lift in a pleasant 400 fpm climb, the sky ahead allowed me to relax for a few minutes. With that being said, I was not on a beeline to goal. I had to cross streets on multiple occasions, go backwards just to stay up, and even hang on to lighter lift as I noticed the day was cycling. The Gecko did very well getting me to where I needed to go and usually with more altitude than I would expect. Most climbs were averaging 400 fpm and sometimes I would find 600. When I finally reached College Station I had so many emotions running through my head. I was very happy to break my personal record of 69 miles, very close to flying my first 100 mile flight, and the Gecko Challenge was waiting for me on the horizon. Just as I had a little happy dance in my harness, it started to get
slow again. Wind speed dropped, climbs were slow again and the sky was drying out. I had been in the air for nearly four hours and could see the sky’s energy winding down for a beautiful sunset. Blue holes were expanding as the sea breeze chased me and I still had about 50 km to go. I was so close yet still so far away. Getting a little nervous as I was losing altitude and at about 2500 feet, I focused on three options for lift. A landfill was my first option and worked great. There were birds all the way from the bottom to cloud base as I turned in 600 fpm. My drivers were cheering me on and told me I had just flown 188 kms Woohoo! But, why stop there? I was still climbing and the sky had dissolved all but two beautiful clouds just ahead. I left my bird thermal and topped out everything I could get before going on
final glide into a blue sky. The tailwind returned and increased to 16mph and I could see I was covering miles very quickly. Best final glide I have ever had! Nearly five hours later I settled on a landing field 210 km away and had a beautiful landing. Wow, I did it. Gecko Girl did it! The Gecko continues to amaze me and the flying is always fun. I am very confident the Gecko can go even farther. If I could have launched earlier or had not been chased by sea breeze, I am sure the 244 km waypoint would have been behind me. I look forward to many flights and long miles on the Gecko. Thank you Moyes for a beautiful hang glider!
Right; 210 km and almost 5 hours later Niki tows up Total distance - 210 kms Time - 4 hours 53 mins Max altitude - 1735m
A
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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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
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T2, T2C XC and comp wings
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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. Aerodynamic, stylish and tough. Models for racing to recreational. The ultimate race harness TENAX 4 with tilt control options and removable skin. FLEX2 AERO and Flex2 ACRO (right) has the Tenax footcone and upper body construction, with strengthened risers & independent back supports. A faired aerodynamic harness that’s lighter, more flexible, gives easier landings and a much more convenient packed size. AeroDesign APRON The most comfortable and practical harness for training and dune flying. Unrestricted vertical/prone transitions, strong webbing and cordura fabric for maximum strength and durability, parachute container, stash pocket, storage, plus autolocking carabiner, stirrup and instructions included.
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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.
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The Best Gear at the Best Price AIR The ultimate flight computer. 99 channel GPS, 5D Glide Display, G-meter, 3 Accelerometers & Gyros, Compass, SD card, Bluetooth output & optional Pitot Airspeed, Live Tracking. LEONARDO PRO; 20 channel GPS, high sensitivity Intellivario, Speed to Fly, FAI cylinders, turnpoints etc. Thermal centering, Total Energy, 3D flight track in GPS & baro alt. Bluetooth option (to PDA, smartphone, PC etc), Up to 200 hours on rechargeable battery with backup, 240gm. Everything for comps & XC. ARCHIMEDE; Easy operation, Sensitive audio & digital vario, 3 altis with Averager, Barogram, Time, etc. 200 hour AA battery. 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
INSIDER & NO LIMIT Helmets by
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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.
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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. CONNECT 1; GPS/alti/vario/flight recorder. touchscreen, Wifi, SD card, USB, Airspace, Free wifi updates for maps, routes, pitot airspeed and more as features are released. ELEMENT; vario/alti/GPS comes in 2 models; Element Track has 3D track recording, PC USB downloads. Element Speed has GPS wind direction & speed. Both are easy to operate & most affordable. IQ ALTO/6000; digital & analog precision vario, 3 altimeters, to 11,500m/37,729ft, 40 flight memory, Clock, Temp, Customisable audio, Battery last 250 hours+, Compact, light, simple. IQ SONIC; Mini-vario (audio only) Ideal as a back-up or combine with an alti-watch. Small, light, simple; just switch on and go. All switchable metric/imperial. Mounting bracket options.
PG Front Chute Container; Your parachute mounted where you can see, reach & deploy fastest with either hand. It’s less drag and has a handy flight deck for your instruments that zips off as a protective carry bag.
THE VERY BEST SECOND CHANCE!
Many accidents happen close to the ground, so a fast, reliable opening is most important. The dual canopy, pulled down apex system opens fastest and most reliably. Leading German manufacturer Charly makes Revolution double canopy PDA reserves. Many top NZ pilots have been saved by their reserves; even with deployments below 50ft !! which shows how fast these can really open. Hang glider model to fit all harnesses has 6m long, UV shielded bridle to clear your wings. An optional swivel can be included. Paraglider model fits all built in harness containers or can be supplied in optional front mount cockpit or side container. Reserves for Tandem to lightweight. Tested to DHV certification and proven.
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email aero@xtra.co.nz
post 99A Panorama Road, Christchurch 8081
Hangies and Panties Hang gliding on Mars
A tiny hang glider like aircraft could be flying Mars’ skies less than a decade from now. NASA researchers are developing a glider, called Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars (Prandtl-m), for possible inclusion on a Mars rover mission in 2022-2024. Prandtl-m would feature a wingspan of just 24 inches, project team members said. The craft would fold up to fit inside a 3U cubesat - a spacecraft about the size of a loaf of bread - that would tag along with the rover. “The aircraft would be ejected from the aeroshell that takes the Mars rover to the planet,” Prandtl-m program manager Al Bowers, the chief scientist at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, said in a statement. The Prandtl-m could photograph proposed landing sites for a future astronaut mission during its flight time of 10 minutes and could cover about 20 miles, Bowers said. Bowers and his team plan to test a Prandtl-m prototype (which will be designed and built with the help of community college students this summer) during a high-altitude balloon flight later this year, either from Tucson, Arizona, or Tillamook, Oregon. The balloon will drop the aircraft at an altitude of about 100,000 feet, where the thin air provides a good analog of the Martian atmosphere. - Fox News We hope Mars weather forecasting will help the glider miss those martian dust devils…
In Wedge-tail Eagle Territory
A published study of the mating and territorial calls of Australian wedge-tailed eagles (Wahmen & Debb, 2012) has identified their territorial warning call as an ascending tone, usually between 3.2 and 4.4kHz. The frequency can vary with the age of the male, but is fairly uniform with the larger females. The default frequency sound of Flytec and Bräuniger varios at between 2 to 3m/sec (400 to 600ft/min) is approximately 3 to 4kHz. The frequency sound of the Flymaster Live and Nav at 3 to 4m/sec (600 to 800ft/min) is slightly higher at 4 to 4.5kHz. When climbing and being threatened by eagles consider switching your vario to silent. - Brian Webb in HGFA Skysailor
Pterosaur leading edge flaps create more lift
Pterosaurs, the flying reptiles of the dinosaur age, evolved a neat aerodynamic trick which aircraft use today. They could deploy a large flap at the front of each wing to give them the extra lift they needed to take off or make graceful, low-speed landings. The finding may settle an enduring mystery - how pterosaurs created more lift than seemed possible from their wings alone. Palaeobiologists could not explain how the creatures could take off from a standing start or how they had enough lift to slow down for a landing. Yet fossilised pterosaur tracks show that they could do both. A team led by zoologist Matthew Wilkinson of the animal flight group at the University of Cambridge, UK, thinks the pterosaurs used a moveable forewing. The wing membrane stretched between its fore and hind limbs, with the outer part of the leading edge and the wingtip supported by an enormously elongated “finger”. Three claw-like digits protruded from the wing just ahead of the pterosaur’s “wrist” joint, from where a slender bone called the pteroid articulated and supported a moveable forewing. The direction the pteroid articulated and the size of the membrane it supported have been the subject of much argument. In many flattened fossil skeletons, the pteroid has been found pointing from the wrist towards the shoulder, as if it could form the leading edge of a very short forewing. However, its slimness and restricted range of movement led palaeobiologists to argue that it had a negligible effect on lift. But 3D preserved wrist fragments from fossils found in the UK led some researchers to believe pterosaurs were able to direct the pteroid forward and downward in flight, creating a broad forewing. Wilkinson’s team has been studying exceptionally well-preserved pterosaur fossils from the Santana Formation in Brazil. To see if a forward and downward-moving pteroid would have aided lift, Wilkinson built a scale model of a broad forewing and tested its aerodynamics in a wind tunnel. It had “extraordinary” aerodynamic properties, he says, boosting the lift of each wing by 30%. And thanks to the forewing’s steep camber, this lift was attainable at unexpectedly high “angles of attack” as would be necessary from a standing start. “Even the largest pterosaurs may have been able to take off simply by spreading their wings while facing into a moderate breeze,” said Wilkinson. And the enhanced lift would have allowed air-speed reductions of about 15%, allowing for smooth landings. Darren Naish, a palaeontologist at the University of Portsmouth, UK, says recent evidence from fossilised pterosaur soft tissue found in China backs the notion that the beasts had broad leading-edge flaps. “And if it makes sense aerodynamically as well, it looks like we now have a good working picture of how pterosaurs flew,” he says. - New Scientist
18 A I R B O R N
Mastering Paragliding Reviewed by Bill Degen
K
elly Farina is a mainly alpine pilot with over 3000 hours and 20 years of experience and training. He has mostly been based in Zillertal Austria, had much success in competitions and has flown on the British team. He left comp flying to concentrate on coaching and now operates in many parts of Europe. His company Austrian Arena is based at Bassano. Kelly’s motto for many years has been,”The fewer mistakes a pilot makes, the less performance they need”. A progressive learning structure is stressed in this book and Kelly says his structure is based on a martial art called Wing Tsun. It progresses pilots from Basics though Higher level skills to Efficiency and then flying Nirvana. There are pilots who seem to learn by ‘doing it to figure it out’ and just not repeating what fails. Sometimes they do well at first, but success is intermittent. Ultimately these pilots get frustrated or hurt. If any part of the skills or knowledge is missed, the pilot will at best fail to progress, or at worst possibly endanger themselves. The structure Kelly advocates builds on each skill learned, which with practise becomes automatic and opens the mind to the next level. There’s nothing weird here, but a lot of practical knowledge and technique that’s well told in a way that doesn’t bore or strain pilots of many levels. The book is illustrated with many excellent colour photos by top photographers, well chosen to illustrate the subject matter on nearby pages.
In the first section, the basics are well covered, tips provided and different techniques and their applications explained. Common mistakes are listed. Thermalling technique is covered in depth, as well as tactics for dealing with the meteorology, terrain and other pilots when flying XC. Mountain flying techniques are especially well covered. The second section deals more with understanding the environment we fly in. Covered in more detail is; Stability, Thermals, Inversions, Restitution, Föhn, Dealing with clouds, the Magnet effect of heated air and lastly Convergence. The final section covers in more detail; flying The Zillertal, The Dolomites and some classic alpine routes. The meteorology is explained, places to avoid are shown, as are lift areas which are all marked on maps. Recommended reading for all progressing pilots. Full colour printed throughout, 241 pages, Flexicover bound. Available from XCshop.com £24.95
Syride SYS’Nav V3 I By Bill Degen
was surprised when opening the box at just how small and light this Alti-Vario-GPS is; At just 90 grams and an easy fit in the hand, it’s also easily pocketable, unlike most other instruments. I guess this makes it more lose-able too and may be why they made it with nice red rubberised sides. It’s designed for xc and comp pilots and is particularly favoured for bivvy flying as shown by Antoine Gerard in his epic NZ Alps round trip. The double sided velcro supplied neatly clamps to paraglider risers. I easily connected it to a hang glider mount, and on my wrist next to my watch, simply by adding a couple of short velcro strips and a safety cord. It can just as easily be set up with a thigh mount for paragliding or a stalk mount for hang gliding.
and ran the SYS PC Tool software. A firmware update quickly installed without any input from me. There you can download your flights and see them on a map with optimised distance and the ability to download as IGC, GPX, KML and 3D Google Earth files. It comes with worldwide topo maps and airspace already installed. Track logs are compatible with XContest and Leonardo.
More Functions
You can customise four screens with up to 6 data fields from around 20 functions plus various sizes and feet or meters. Flight recording, GPS strength and battery level are always displayed along the top. Customising is simply done by choosing the function you want, then drag and dropping where you want it on the screen, save it, then download to the instrument. In flight I always want vario, alti and wind so that leaves just 3 other functions. Perhaps I’m more used to having more information Antoine Gerard in the Himalyas with Sys’Nav V3 centre left showing, but I felt that a couple more fields may have The Basics Flight Test It has a sturdy feeling case, with saved some screen I flew with it next to some other just 3 buttons which are OK to use switching. Many instruments and found the vario audio with gloves on. The outer buttons bigger instruments to be very sensitive and accurate, not usually move through the screens and don’t have this only picking light lift as fast or faster menus left and right, with the centre much data on one as any other but more importantly, button used to select. The display is screen anyway. stopping as soon as lift stopped. a typical LCD but small; about 5.5cm Aside from the topo map, airspace and comp track It has a standard audio tone that diagonal. It has a back light though, usual Va r i o , quickens in pulse and rises in pitch warnings. Airspace can be updated which helps in low light situations, Alti, Time etc some of the other as climb rate gets stronger. There’s and even edited. but uses more power this way so is options are; Glide Ratio, Barogram, a sink alarm and down tone that you The next screen is the info screen usually best left off on long flights. Transition Assistant, Thermal Core, can set to your liking. Altitude can be which gives latitude, longitude as well There wasn’t a printed user manual and Direction to Previous Thermal. by GPS or barometric. as altitude gain and distance from but I was able to figure most functions There’s no airspeed or speed-to-fly so I found it annoying toggling between launch or last waypoint. Remaining out myself, so I think it’s fairly intuitive. you figure that from your glide ratio. the different screens at first but I screens are for Settings, Navigation Once I downloaded the manual from There’s a couple more flight screens; would get used to it or just customise and switching off (though it handily the Syride website, its many features one shows your position on a basic a screen or two with my most used does that automatically after 20 were revealed. topo map, also showing airspace, functions. minutes of no motion. Connecting it to a computer (Mac, your track for the last 10 minutes and Wind speed and direction wasn’t It’s claimed to store up to 25,000 PC or Linux) with the supplied USB an optimised route and waypoints if bad but as with most instruments, waypoints in OziExplorer format but cable will charge the lithium battery you have a route loaded. a well coordinated 360 degree turn I was only able to see 20 of our NZ (45 hours use on a 2 hour charge). Airspace has optional adjustable will give the most accurate direction. comp waypoints at a time. Routes On the Syride website, I downloaded horizontal and vertical proximity The compass was very responsive may be easier but less accurately but the wind direction info I chose made by clicking on map points on gave just a general N, NE, E etc. The the website and then transferred to wind direction graphic may be better. the instrument though you can set routes and individual waypoints on Overall Paraglider pilots will no doubt find the instrument itself. GpsDump can it useful having the instrument on the convert waypoints to OziExplorer riser close to their sight line, which and do tracklog downloads. I found is also good for hearing it and being conventional instruments easier to able to operate it without letting go load competition turnpoints into and of the brakes. to set routes with. It’s a surprisingly functional An interesting feature is the G-meter, instrument in a tiny lightweight it has an adjustable warning alarm, package that covers most needs perhaps to stop you pushing your for pilots at or above skill level PG2/ acro’s too hard for your wing. Intermediate with average tech ability Transition Assistant displays your wanting GPS and XC flying data. Hike glide and terrain to show if you will & Fly and Tandem pilots will especially be able to cross terrain ahead. appreciate the size and lightness. It There’s a Thermal Sniffer too that Flight comparison just after turning in lift; Alti’s are can also be an extremely functional alerts you to lifty air but I didn’t get close (SysNav on GPS), Wind speed is agreed, Others say backup instrument. East but SysNav says NE but went E shortly afterwards a chance to check that.
20 A I R B O R N
Worldwide airspaces
Worldwide topography
90g
www.syride.com
Lead Out Points
By Stuart Mackintosh
Time
Pilot 1 Pilot 2 Pilot3
Distance
Being close to the back gives you a great advantage of being able to ‘see’ the air but you will not get many lead out points
So what are lead out points? Before 2002 competitions were scored on time and distance. A portion of the points in a task were awarded for time: pilots that arrived in goal would be awarded some points for how long they took with respect to the fastest pilot, (the winner). The rest of the points were awarded for distance: pilots that arrived in goal would all get the same distance points, pilots that did not arrive would be awarded less distance points and no time points. This system had a weakness. It was not always an accurate evaluation of pilot skill. A pilot could ‘pimp’ other pilots. That is hang slightly back from the leader(s) letting them make the decisions and take the risk of getting stuck or landing out, then overtake the leader(s), perhaps when the leaders took a bad line or with a faster wing or just with luck, and win the race. Thus GAP was modified to award a portion of points to the pilots that led the race, so pilots would get points for time, distance and where they were positioned during the race.
22 A I R B O R N
How lead out points are calculated The simple explanation is that the closer you are to the front of the race for longer the more lead out points, also known as leading points, you will get. To better understand how they are calculated look at the chart below.
Pilot 1 Pilot 2 Pilot3
Time
Y
ou may have flown an overseas comp or even just looked at results from overseas competitions and wondered ‘what are lead out points?’ The Paragliding Competition Committee (PCC) is considering adopting them in NZ competitions. This article explains what they are, why they exist and how they work. If you have thoughts about whether they should be included in NZ PG scoring, the PCC would love to hear them. You can contact them at nzhgpapcc@googlegroups.com First an overview of scoring. The scores in a paragliding or hang gliding race are calculated using sets of formulas. These formulas are implemented by a computer program, such as Airscore (used in NZ and Aust) or FS comp (the official FAI/CIVL software). There are two main scoring systems (systems as in sets of formulas as opposed to computer programs) in use in the world today. There is the GAP system and the PWCA system. The GAP system is used by CIVL, so you’ll see it being used at World and Continental Championships. The PWCA system is developed and used by the Paragliding World Cup. Both of these systems are very similar and you’ll find both being used around the world at FAI Cat 2 events and other competitions. Both of these systems now use lead out points, which is why you’ll see lead out points being used not only in the main European paragliding nations but also in places as diverse as Iceland and Kazakhstan. For this article I’ll talk about GAP and any examples will relate to the latest version of GAP (2015) as applied to paragliding. Hang gliding scoring is slightly different, however lead out points are similar in both systems. GAP was created around the turn of the millennium by three hang glider pilots. Its aim is “to create a fair scoring system easily adaptable to any competition anywhere in the world, both for hang gliding and paragliding, with a philosophy that is easy for the pilot to understand, regardless of the mathematical complexity of the underlying formulas.” The GAP system continues to evolve and be refined. In 2002 it received a major upgrade with the introduction of lead out points.
Distance
Here we have the kilometers of the task on the X axis and time on the Y axis. For each pilot we have plotted at what time they were at what distance along the course. For simplicity lets pretend that there are only 3 pilots in this task. The end of the lines represent the total distance (Goal). Note that distance is based on the shortest distance along the course. When a pilot flies fast along the course line his plot is flatter and when he gets stuck or flies slower his plot is more vertical. You can see that pilot 1 lead most of the race (he/she was further along the course earlier), while pilot 2 was not far behind until close to the goal where he overtook pilot 1. If you calculate the area below the lines of the pilots, the pilot with the smallest area gets the most leading points. So in this case despite getting to goal before pilot 1, pilot 2 will get less lead out points. (He will of course get more time points). If a pilot, such as pilot 3, does not get to goal, his line goes vertical up to the time of the slowest pilot in goal and then horizontal to goal. If this pilot had landed closer to goal he would have kept more of his leading points. How many lead out points are available? As with time and distance points, the proportion of lead out points available varies with the number of pilots in goal. Of course if all pilots make goal, the distance points count for less and if no one makes goal the time points count for less. The same for lead out points. As you can see in the chart below the maximum lead out points a pilot can get is about 11% of the total points, so in a 1000 point task, 111 points. Criticisms of lead out points There are some criticisms, not of lead out points in themselves but how they are calculated.
Points Allocation Curves 100% 90% 80% Available Points
70% 60%
Max distance points Max time points Max lead points
50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%100% Pilots in Goal
As you can see from the graph above, when no pilots reach goal, the lead out points available are very small. Some critics say that the pilot effort and skill leading the race shouldn’t be devalued just because the pilots didn’t reach goal. Another criticism is that rather than rewarding the pilots that are taking the higher risk, flying into the ‘unknown’ without other pilots indicating the thermals and the sink, as it was intended, it rewards those at the front of the race. These two things are not necessarily the same thing. This can be illustrated by the hypothetical situation below.
Next turnpoint cylinder
A B quite some distance
C
In this situation we have 2 gaggles heading towards a turn-point, one on the left and one on the right. These two groups are quite some distance apart, the distance is large enough that one group gets no useful information from the other, perhaps they are on different sides of a valley. The group on the left is closer to the turn-point (and therefore goal) that the other one. Under the current GAP (or PWCA) at this stage of the race pilot A would be getting the most lead out points. Pilot B, being further from the turnpoint than pilot A but closer than pilot C would be earning less lead out points than pilot A and more than pilot C. However pilot B is getting the benefits of flying behind A and the other pilots in his gaggle, while pilot C is not. In fact Pilot C has a workload and risk equal to that of pilot A. So in this situation the lead out points don’t reward, or penalise, what they had set out to. For this reason there has been some suggested changes to the calculation presented to CIVL. When shouldn’t lead out points be used As stated in the CIVL GAP document 2015, “In exceptional circumstances, with regard to restricted launch areas and poor flying conditions, to ensure the task is fair for 2/3rds of the pilots, a task may be run without leading/ departure points. This is to be declared at the task briefing” So basically, if you have marginal conditions and have an elapsed time task and the takeoff that does not permit lots of pilots to launch in a short space of time it would be unfair to use lead out points. The pilots that launched first would be at an unfair advantage. To sum up, lead points aren’t perfect but they have become a standard part of paragliding scoring throughout the world. They have become important enough that top pilots do take them into consideration in race strategy. It looks like that they will probably continue to evolve and get closer to their ideal.
EVENTS Hang Gliding Events for the 2016-2017 season Date
Location
Contact
1st flyable weekend of 5/6, 12/13 or 19/20 Nov 2016
Far North XC Open Distance
Tom Kellner; tkmechanical@vodafone.co.nz
1st flyable weekend of 26/27 Nov or Dec 3/4, 10/11 2016
Kaimais League
Geoff Christophers; Geoff@tradeupjobs.co.nz
26th November 2016
Mt Murchison
Shane Mckay (03) 574 2212 Peloruseco@gmail.com
1-4 January 2017 Adv. & Int. classes
Sterling Big Sky Omarama
Max; aerosm@gmail.com
Wellington Anniversary Weekend 21-23 Jan 2017
Wellington
tathams@xtra.co.nz
18-25 February 2017 Reserve day 26 Feb 2017
NZ Nationals, Paeroas/ Kaimais
markalton@yahoo.com For Nationals updates and info http://nzhgnats.blogspot.co.nz/
Sat 4 Feb to Sun 12 February 2017
Omarama XC Classic
Bill Degen; aero@xtra.co.nz
1st good weekend in March 2017
Auckland League
Les Graham Mackie@vodafone.co.nz
Omarama Hang Gliding Classic Cross Country Camp Saturday 4 February to Sunday 12 February 2017
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n as always during the week of Waitangi Day. Last summer’s event saw many get flights to Mt Cook and the best distance 131kms, just 12kms short of the site record. It should be hot again this summer with great flying expected. At this time of year, Omarama gets the most flying days with less strong winds, turbulence and the most cross country flying opportunities. It can still be hot, maybe windy and sometimes rough (thermals up to 3000 fpm+) but the competition format is stress free. Fly the whole week, just the weekends or only fly the best days. Flying will be spectacular; expect to get 9 or 10,000ft and an easy 20 to over 100km depending on your skill and luck. You’ll probably beat your Personal Best; height, distance etc, and move up the XC Champs table, or maybe fly to Mt Cook! The road up Magic Mountain is limited to 4WDs with low ratio gearing for safe descents. To help maintain the road we’ll ask everyone for a $30 donation but the competition is free. THE MISSION; fly open distance, in any direction from the Omarama area that you choose. Enter any number of flights. Take any days off, only your best 3 flights get scored. Flights can be entered each evening at the cottage next door to Omarama Hotel or at the camping area entry boards. REQUIRED; Advanced rating with mountain/ XC skills. Pilots with lower skill ratings may fly only if under supervision and if conditions are suitable. Printed site briefings are available. This is mountain high desert country so essential equipment is; a 2.5m rope for securing gliders during dust devils, radio, cellphone, maps, GPS, water, survival gear (can be over 30°C daytime with frosts at night), basebar wheels, spare uprights, glider fully checked and a repacked chute. A satellite messenger such as a Spot is recommended for pickups as cell reception
24 A I R B O R N
XC Clinic for Novice Auckland and Intermediate Regional Hangies Paragliding (and old digs if you’re interested): I need a Comp show of hands: I’m looking to find numbers of Novice and Intermediate Rated Pilots (or higher) that are interested in attending a Cross Country Clinic at the Paeroas for two days immediately before the Nationals. Dates are Thurs, Fri 16-17 Feb. We need to know numbers to organise instructors. Please pass this on to all those around you that may be interested as I don’t have everyone’s email or network. The clinic will include things like thermalling skills, instrument setup, choosing a landing area, crowd flying etc. You then get to use these skills for the next week at the Nationals! (technicality: Novices can participate in the Nats but not compete). From personal experience, I highly recommend attending the Nationals as a Novice, you’ll learn more in the space of a week than you will for the rest of the year! For those that are interested can you: a) officially register your interest by emailing Mark: markalton@yahoo.com, and b) ask the other pilots around you who may be interested and get them to register as well. If you’d like to read more on what it’s like as a Novice at Nationals, check out the articles on page 10 and 11 of issue #194 (May June July 2015) of the NZ Airborn Magazine found here: www.nzhgpa.org.nz/airborn-magazine - Aaron
Mt Murchison HG Meet 11,000ft over Killermont looking up the Ahuriri Photo: Bill Degen
is intermittent. An extra sim card for the other phone network that you use is cheap and will get you better coverage.An Emergency Locator Transmitter may be useful too. Note that airband radio (118.6 Mhz) is mandatory for flying North of Ohau if you want to head for Mt Cook. Bring a brave but careful 4WD driver, and a spade is essential for clearing gravel slips off the access road and some pickups. If you don’t like driving up mountains, bring your aerotow or car tow set-up. All types of accommodation are available; free camping, cabins, caravans, motels and luxury hotels. There’s hot pools in Omarama for after flying too. For more information, site briefings, maps etc; contact Bill Degen aero@xtra.co.nz or check www.hgpg.co.nz for updates
NZ Comp Organiser’s Responsibilities It is the Comp Organiser’s responsibility to; 1. Obtain a list of current members from the Administrator. 2. Ensure every competition entrant is a current NZHGPA member. 3. Sign up any non-members. Any competitors found to be non-members will be listed and scored as ‘disqualified’.
26th November 2016 in Murchison Site: Mt Murchison. Landing beside the river at camp. 5 days from Saturday through Thursday. Prize for Longest flight. League scoring. Great swimming in the mighty Buller River. Camping by the Buller River contact 800 523 9591 riversideholidaypark@ xtra.co.nz Tent sites available $12.50 pp. Cabins are only $25pp but they could run out so pre book now. Shane Mckay Peloruseco@gmail.com Phone: +64 (03) 574 2212
Could be Moirs, Dills, Kaimais or Paeroas Saturday BBQ if we stay in Auckland Domestic fowl spotting, vegetables... all the good stuff. Please register at: http://airtribune.com/ auckland
South Island HG Instructors Seminar Facilitating; Grant Tatham Location – Rod & Marney Stuarts place, 57 Windsor Dr Kirwee, (about 25 mins drive west of Christchurch airport.) Date – November 12, 13th 2016. 10am start. Costs. Not set yet, but minimal, but I will be passing a hat round to cover catering etc. Saturday. Evan Lamberton, our CEO, will be present to discuss procedural items including; sign up of new members, new student membership options, visiting pilots, the new accident reporting system, the new radio certificate, proposed changes to certificate forms, and answer any questions you have. Pilot supervision is a subject I’d like to discuss and I’m sure there will be other things you can all contribute. Saturday will suffice as an update for those who wish to ‘comply’ regarding attendance at a seminar. This is aimed specifically at those commercial tandem pilots (mainly from Queenstown) who also hold instructor ratings. Of course we still encourage those guys and girls to stay and make a weekend of it for everyone’s benefit. Sunday will be more aimed at practical aspects of instructing and is required for any new instructors. This may include some aviation of some sort, weather permitting. Thanks to those guys that have already confirmed interest, others please RSVP asap directly to me at hg.training@nzhgpa.org.nz so I can warn Rod and Marney of numbers, and also to give an idea of how much handout material to bring. Let me know of any specific aspects/subjects you’d like discussed please. - Grant Tatham, HG Training Manager Tathams@xtra.co.nz
SITE CLOSURES
In Springtime throughout New Zealand, farms are expecting newborn sheep, cattle, horses, deer and other animals. Your presence on or flying over farmland could frighten or injure pregnant or newborn stock. Even at places that you usually fly without problems, please check with the farmer if it is OK to fly. This is a difficult time for farmers and they do appreciate your consideration. Not asking has resulted in the loss of many flying sites while asking has earned their friendship. If in doubt or if any stock are present DO NOT FLY without asking.
Inter-Islander Ferry Discounts for NZHGPA Members
O
n behalf of all members Nick Taber has negotiated discount rates with the Interislander Cook Strait Ferry for NZHGPA members. This is not just for the HG & PG National competitions but throughout the whole of 2017 to cover travel to and from regional competitions or simply for NZHGPA members to travel the rest of the year on holiday. Despite the National comps being at the tail end of the peak ferry season, Interislander have offered special competition rates for a car and driver discounted down to Car $113.00, Driver $40 total = $153 to cover a week either side of the comp dates, to allow for travelling to and from over the period 10 February – 12 March 2017. A booking is made direct by individuals with Interislander by simply quoting the NZHGPA Membership Booking reference number: FA5650 and showing their NZHGPA Membership card at the check in. All details for booking during comp, peak and off peak rates is at http://member.nzhgpa.org. nz/resources/Documents/Interislander%20NZHGPA%20Member%20Rates%20-%20NZ%20 Hang%20Gliding%20and%20Paragliding%20Assn%20for%202017.pdf
Dates 18-25 February 2017 FAI category 2. Check blogspot for more info and Interislander ferry discounts http://nzhgnats. blogspot.co.nz Comp organiser; Mark Alton email markalton@yahoo.com Cross Country Clinic 16 & 17 February at the Paeroas Email Mark for more info or to register.
Metflight Weather Access for NZHGPA Members
St Arnaud Paragliding League and XC Camp 2017 (Incorporating a Tasman Regional Competition)
XC Camp Dates: Sat, February 11 – Sun, February 19, 2017. Fly XC without a set task and see how far you can get. Optional flight logging to find who flies the most kilometres over their best four flights. Regional Comp. Dates: Feb 11 – 13, 2017 (Sat-Mon). Reserve dates: Feb 17 – 19, 2017 (Fri-Sun). Contact: Tim Percival percival@actrix.co.nz 03 548 7397 or 022 646 3864 Competition Task Format: Standard competition tasks. First Briefing: To be advised on the forum of the NZHGPA website. Sites: Inwoods Lookout, Mt Murchison, Mt Robert (walking access, depending on attendees), others to be advised. Cost: $5 suggested donation per day, maximum $15. Required for Safety: PG2 + 20 hours, reserve, back protection, GPS, UHF Radio, maps. Transport Notes: Mt. Murchison requires 4WD vehicles so if you have one, it would be good to bring it. Vehicles used on forestry access roads must be equipped with fire extinguishers (be sure to contact Tim beforehand if you’re in need of one for your vehicle). Additional Information St. Arnaud is an excellent place for a long weekend with a variety of accommodation available including good tenting in the DoC campground, backpackers, and holiday baches for easy rental if you are a little organised. It has a shop and an all important bar. I am hiring a bach to serve as a base, which will be able to accommodate several other comp attendees at an economical rate. The sites we will be using are high sites (up to 1450m ASL), so they make for some very scenic and exhilarating flying around the St. Arnaud area, which is the northern-most end of the Southern Alps. (The site records for Inwoods Lookout, Mt Murchison and Mt Robert are 116km, 95km and 91km respectively). Come along just for the XC Camp if you’d prefer to just fly XC without a set task and designated flying time. Please contact me for further information on accommodation etc. if you are thinking of coming; Tim Percival 47A Brook Street, Nelson ph. 03 548 7397 or 022 646 3864 percival@actrix.co.nz
Win 12 Months Subscription XC Magazine th
th
St Arnaud PG XC Camp 11 to 19 February 2017 All participants go into the draw
Metflight have a comprehensive aviation weather website that many of you have shown an interest in, at http://metflight.metra.co.nz/MetFlight.php We now have access to that using the following log in details: Username eg - HP4567 (HP and your PIN, no space in between) Password - HGPGA (everyone uses the same password). Moyes together with the Sydney Hang Gliding Club are proud to announce the 11th consecutive
Forbes Flatlands Hang Gliding Championships 2017 Dates: Practice Towing Wednesday 28th & Thursday 29th December 2016 8 Competition Days Friday 30th December 2016 - Friday 6th January 2017 Sanction: FAI: Category 2. HGFA: Open Class AAA, Sport Class AA. Further information at www.forbesflatlands.com/
Nelson Home of Mac Para NZ Proud supporters of the St Arnaud XC Camp Visit us on Facebook @macparanz www.macpara.co.nz
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April 1st - March 31st. Sponsored by Wings & Waves
April 1st 2016 to March 31st 2017 Regional Flight Focus 2016 XC Scores on Leonardo as at 16/10/2016 Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Pilot Michal Karnik Mark Hardman Stew Karstens Rory Devine Bryan Moore Derek Divers Nick Taber Pete Groves Gert van Maren Blake Round Rob Boyle Andy Spierer Josh Benjamin Joe Ward Greg Benjamin Martin Kraemer Shaun Gilbert Glenn Doggit Robbie Kerr Kat West Joel Hanlon Rob Gillard Aaron Ford Bruce Vickerman Graham Surrey Mark Macdonald Kris Ericksen Andrew Cavaney Matt Kyhnn Mike Ferguson Eva Keim Brian Erasmus Alexander Ianovski Jakub Leder Paul Mcginley Peter Jones
By Tim Percival
The Past: The ten longest open distance flights of Nelson-Marlborough.
Best 3 flights Total 253.84 233.35 218.72 187.02 186.32 179.52 162.68 134.84 123.56 118.18 88.59 82.77 82.56 70.62 68.31 67.92 62.85 60.28 56.91 55.72 47.81 47.54 44.49 42.12 34.73 34.7 28.81 21.63 21.37 20.35 19.24 16.4 15.77 14.27 11.56 8.61
flight 1 126.85 172.21 111.23 109.38 98.05 112.37 86.36 54.14 77.11 69.55 67.62 82.77 30.74 45.17 28.14 67.92 48.78 30.35 48.58 34.31 30.69 32.42 37.81 16.59 34.73 15.77 12.17 21.63 21.37 10.81 19.24 16.4 7.1 14.27 6 8.61
flight 2 69.73 61.15 85.91 42.51 45.21 34.92 46.59 42.88 46.45 27.36 20.97 29.72 19.38 26.41 14.07 20.76 8.33 21.41 17.12 15.12 6.68 13.44 9.98 10.65 9.54 6.09 5.55 -
flight 3 57.27 21.57 35.12 43.06 32.23 29.74 37.82 21.27 22.1 6.06 13.76 9.17 12.1 8.95 6 2.57 -
Date
Site
Pilot
Dist.(km)
30/12/2002
Inwoods Lookout
Tim Percival
116.3
22/11/2012
Inwoods Lookout
Dean Straker
111.6
4/12/2010
Inwoods Lookout
Dean Straker
111.1
2/11/2006
Blowhard
Dean Straker
110.2
26/11/1999
Inwoods Lookout
Tim Percival
108.8
4/12/2010
Inwoods Lookout
Tim Percival
108.5
30/11/2011
Inwoods Lookout
Tim Percival
108.5
23/11/1995
Inwoods Lookout
Stew Karstens
106.0
22/11/2012
Inwoods Lookout
Stew Karstens
105.8
22/11/2012
Inwoods Lookout
Lyn Watkins
105.8
NEW ONLINE SCORING WEBSITE XContest is the system that, from the 2017/18 season is planned to replace the current Leonardo system as the platform for our Cross Country Championship. Check it out at: http://xcontest.org/newzealand
THE COUNTRY CODE We are all dependent on good relations with the farmers who own the land we fly from. Here are some guidelines to ensure that you and other pilots will be able to continue to fly. ALWAYS CHECK with local pilots before flying at new sites. ALWAYS ASK PERMISSION to fly unless you are absolutely certain that the owner allows use of the site without asking. CHECK AGAIN at Springtime as most farms have pregnant and newborn stock that can easily be frightened and injured. DO NOT show displeasure or abuse an owner if permission is refused. This could hamper getting permission in the future. ALWAYS GET PERMISSION to take a vehicle onto a property. Ensure that vehicles without gliders are not taken onto the property. Put all gliders on one car rather than have a convoy crossing the property. If stock is near, drive slowly. LEAVE GATES as you find them, gates may be closed to keep stock in or open to allow stock to feed. Ensure that all pilots and drivers understand. USE STILES and gates where ever possible, if you must cross a fence, cross at a post or strainer post. AVOID hay standing or cut unless permission has been given to cross it. AVOID landing in paddocks containing crops or stock. Carefully move off crops to avoid damage. DO NOT LIGHT FIRES at any time. DO NOT SMOKE during fire risk times. DO NOT TAKE DOGS onto any farm or property. DO NOT disturb plants or machinery, move around it. LEAVE NO RUBBISH.
26 A I R B O R N
Photo: Ross Gray
For detailed Paragliding XC Champs flight information, see the 2016-17 PG XC Champs Table at Leonardo (Leonardo season name: “2016”) www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/league/world/season2016/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). Check out the test version of XContest at www.xcontest.org/newzealand
The PCC Write up T he competition season has officially begun, with 26 kiwi pilots flying in the Canungra Cup, which was designated as an overseas league. This gets re-scored for kiwi pilots only, and the results are shown here. Congratulations to reigning champion, Reuben, who won out of the Kiwis. The ladder has been updated to reflect this. Evan and Roy have both moved up within the top ten. Robbo, Eva and Leighton are climbing back towards it. Bruce Vickerman has reentered the ladder, earning a fat 37 points in Canungra. Reuben reinforced his position in the number one slot. We’ve had 14 pilots log their flights on our new system, xcontest.org/ newzealand, which will replace Leonardo as the site for the XC Championships next season. Please – register yourselves here and log your flights this season... you could win a Spot Tracker, donated by MacPara New Zealand! Finally, we have the PG Open in Rotorua, starting on February 26th. We are expecting a lot of pilots at this one, and we’d appreciate as much help as possible – mostly with 4x4 vehicles. See you in the bombout! - Johnny, and the PCC
EVENTS
2016 Canungra Cup Results (NZ league)
The XContest website
Save the dates, the NZ PG Open will be heading to Rotorua from 26 February - 4 March 2017. With easy access to the North Island’s premier XC sites at the Paeroas and Kaimais, as well as the multitude of non-flying activities on offer in Rotorua, it’s sure to be an epic event! Hosted by the Auckland Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club, this will be the only round of the PG Open for 2017. Already more than half of the available places have been taken, so register now to ensure that you don’t miss out. Registration is $160 prior to 31st December 2016, after this date it will be $200. Pilots who are new to competition flying are strongly encouraged to enter, as this is a great opportunity to improve your XC flying in a friendly and supportive environment while also having a hell of a lot of fun! Further information, including instructions on how to register, is available at www.airtribune.com/ newzealand Interislander Ferry discounts For those of you travelling from the South Island, Nick Taber has negotiated discounted rates with the Interislander ferry for all NZHGPA members throughout the whole of 2017. You can book directly with Interislander by simply quoting the NZHGPA Membership Booking reference number: ‘FA5650’ and showing your current NZHGPA membership card at the check in. All prices for comp, peak and off-peak rates can be found on the PG Open Airtribune site (www. airtribune.com/newzealand). Win a free entry to the PG Open!! Thanks to Macpara NZ (www.macpara.co.nz), one lucky pilot will win their full registration fee back. This prize will be drawn during the registration evening and will be open to all pilots who have registered and paid in full at this time.
Top 50 placings
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January 1st to December 31st
T
here’s not been much activity since the last issue as the NZ Spring arrives and thermal flying gets started. Spring often turns on some spectacular days as sun heating is slower and though lapse rates are high, sea breezes don’t come in as fast to kill thermal activity. In some areas, convergences can keep usable lift alive for much longer and residual moisture can give great clouds to signpost the way. 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 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 with the weather, 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; s 9OUR NAME EMAIL ADDRESS AND CONTACT PHONE number. s &LIGHT DATE TAKE OFF RELEASE PLACE LANDING PLACE and flight distance in kilometres and 10ths. s 4RACKLOG lLE FROM A '03 THAT CAN BE READ BY GPSDump, such as an IGC file. s 4HAT S ALL UNLESS YOU DON T HAVE A '03 TRACKLOG then please also supply; Start and landing witness/s name & contact details. A GPS instrument has many advantages for XC flying, but for pilots who don’t have GPS, you can still enter the NZ HG XC Champs without one, you’ll
28 A I R B O R N
The 2016 Cross-Country Championships Table so far... Name Bill Degen
Flight 1 131.6
Warren Simonsen
86.6
Mark Alton
75.0
Flight 3 90.7
Flight 4 77.2
81.2
75.4
55.9
68.0
54.5
50.6
248.1
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
Kevin McManus
37.0
22.1
22.0
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
Rick Hawkeswood
61.5
61.5
Neil Howe
61.0
61.0
Gary Turner
48.8
Andrew Blair
16.0
15.0
8.3
Aaron Darby
15.3
14.6
8.7
Shaun Ryan
18.0
8.3
26.3
Marshall Scrivenor
16.0
8.3
24.3
Marty Smith
15.1
8.5
23.6
Morgan Knoessen
12.7
4.6
17.3
Julian Sands
8.5
Quentin Doig
7.5
Mark Nichols
**
Flight 2 93.4
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. Note: If you don’t follow the rules by providing all
Total kms 392.8 299.0
113.5 81.1
62.0
48.8 1.0
40.3 38.6
8.5 ** Class 2 (rigid wing), * Skyfloater
7.5
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 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. Let me know if your flight is a site record too. 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
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;
Ewen Tonar 23A Brookview Court Chartwell Hamilton Phone 07 855 3969 ejtonar069@gmail.com
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 Oceania Paragliding School Chris Connolly, Phone: 022 676 5599 Email; school@oceaniaparagliding.co.nz Web; oceaniaparagliding.co.nz NELSON/TASMAN HANG GLIDING Hang Gliding NZ Ltd Kevin Rooke, Phone: 03 540 2183, 0800 212 359, 021 762 769 Email: rooke@slingshot.co.nz Web: www.hanggliding.co.nz Nelson Hang Gliding Adventures Glenn Meadows Phone: 03 548 9151, 027 275 1022 Email: gmeadows@clear.net.nz Web: www.flynelson.co.nz
Tasman Sky Adventures Trevor Leighton, Phone: 027 229 9693 Email: info@skyadventures.co.nz Web: www.skyadventures.co.nz 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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NZHGPA
BOOKROOM
Learn to Fly
■ 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 - exclusive Miniplane and PAP motors - SkyWings for courses and equipment - www.skywings.co.nz or phone Alan 09 570 5757 HANG GLIDERS ENTERPRISE Wings Desire 151; Has WoF from last year and happy to gain one this year if I find a buyer. Good condition for age and well looked after, includes manual and wheels on base bar. Two spare uprights $600 ono. Phone 021 806 390 Reece, or email r_fisher33@hotmail.com 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, Phone 027 670 8301 email skyriderag@ gmail.com SPORT 2, 175, Blue and red lower, near new condition, just 10 hours flight time, No prangs, one geriatric owner, contact 03 326 6411 or aero@xtra.co.nz for information. SKYFLOATERS; New and used sales; Fun, Falcon, fully strip checked, test flown and trimmed, trade-ins considered, contact Bill at 03 326-6411 or aero@xtra. co.nz for more info. LITESPEED 4 and 4S parts. All in very good thru to near new/excellent condition. 1 Litespeed 4 mylar sail. 1 set carbon outboard leading edges. (to fit 4 or 4S) 1 set 4S carbon inboard sprogs and cables. 1 set 4S alloy outboard sprogs and cables. Other stuff; Miscellaneous LS4 alloy battens (with spring tips), Alloy inboard leading edges (condition to be confirmed) Phone for details/prices/availability Guy 027 242 8328 KIWI Flyer complete apart from 2 damaged leading edges. Everything else in good condition. To sell for spare parts. Make an offer. Phone 03 326-6411 or 021 247 2676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz. INSTRUMENTS FLYTEC/Brauniger, Digifly, Aircotec, Oudie flight instruments, basic varios to full GPS flight computers. Large range and new models in stock now. Phone or txt 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 MOTOR HANG GLIDING MOSQUITO NRG motorharness, very tidy with very low airtime, all the usual features such as electric start, plus folding carbon propellor, stainless auto carabiner, extra fuel tank, and reserve 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.
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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 EMPLOYMENT CORONET Peak Tandems Ltd, Queenstown, are looking for tandem hang gliding and paragliding pilots. Call 021 220 5932 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, serial number 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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PARAGLIDERS NOVA Phantom - www.nova.eu/en/gliders/phantom/- a new class in paragliding top end Triton 2 performance with low B safety - 99 cells - very expensive, very special - phone Alan 09 570 5757 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 - www.nova.eu - exclusively by SkyWings - www.skywings. co.nz - email alan@skywings.co.nz SPEEDFLYING specialists - and dozens of great XC wings - happy to trade - all kinds of harnesses in stock as well - www.skywings.co.nz or phone Alan at 09 570 5757 ADVANCE paragliders by Infinity Paragliding. Check out the new Advance Epsilon 8 - mid range EN-B, the Iota - high performance ENB, and the new PI 2 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
Safety Checks Paraglider Sup’Air harnesses with selflocking aluminium buckles Manufacturer Sup’Air has published a safety advisory for the following harnesses: Altirando 2 RS, Skypper Fr, Delight 2, Pixair, Paramoteur Evo, Skypper, VIP 2.
A few aluminium self-locking chest strap buckles used on selected Sup Air harness models may have experienced inadvertent opening in flight. The buckles sudden release only concerns the “Safe-T” strap and rarely happens. The problem comes from a manufacturing defect invisible to the naked eye and is non-reproductive during a test. At this time, we have noticed the manufacturing defect with Safe-T buckles stamped with the numbers 7/15 and 6/15 only. We can not however assure that other buckle models are immune from the problem - There is the possibility for other harness models to have been equipped with faulty self-locking buckles.
If your harness corresponds to the above: s Stop flying with this harness s Contact your nearest dealer/distributor or SUP’AIR directly s Depending on your harness model, an upgrade procedure will be made available to you. Your harness can be repaired at home; a new “Safe-T kit” will be sent to you in order to conduct the operation yourself
and safely fly afterward. There are ‘T’ swapping instructions for each model on the Sup’Air website. An advisory and form for owners to fill out is available at the Sup’Air website at; www.supair.com/en/communiquede-securite-boucle-auto To contact the manufacturer: Sup’Air, 34 Rue Adrastee, FR 74650 Chavanod (France), Telefon: +33 450 457529 www.supair.fr email: sav@supair.com Date; 04.07.2016
New Paraglider and Hang Glider World Records set in Brazil
Hang Glider Wire Replacements WRONG length
Correct length
A Fun 190 was found to have a wrong length side wire that also had no kink protection fitted. The glider had passed a NZHGPA WoF with the faulty wire on and had been seen by instructors. It was clearly not original as it was an uncoated 7x7 1/8” cable when the manufacturer used clear coated 7x19 1/8” cable. The wire also had the swages very close together and the maker had used heatshrink on the swages but neglected to do so for kink protection on the top thimble/tang or to use anything on the lower thimble/tang. The Novice owner said that the wire often kinked and a thimble was damaged and pushing into the wire. The wires also looked looser than normal and on removal the wire was found to be 14mm longer than the manufacturer’s standard wire. This was an easily spotted with minimal time, tools or expertise required to check. Wires have failed when loaded incorrectly or with little apparent damage. If thimbles are damaged, out of line or stretched the wire should be replaced. Wire construction can not be done safely by marine or home operators. Manufacturer authorised replacements should only be used as accuracy and correct assembly of the right components needs to be done correctly. - Bill Degen
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hree paraglider pilots Donizete Lemos “Bigote”, Rafael Saladini and Samuel Nascimento (above) have set a new Paraglider World Distance Record of 564.3 kms and hang glider pilots Andre Wolf and Glauco Pinto have set a new declared distance record of 612kms. All were flying from flying from Tacima, Paraiba in north east Brazil on 13 October. The paraglider pilots landed together nearly 11 hours later to the north west near Novilho, in Ceara, Brazil. Andre Wolf and Glauco Pinto have lodged claims for the FAI declared goal record of 603.5 km and South American record of 612 km. The paraglider flights exceed the current world record of 514 km, which was set around this time last year by Lemos again, along with Frank Brown and Marcelo Prieto, in the same area. In the record flight of 2015, Saladini was left behind after bombing at the beginning of the journey, while this time it was previous companions Brown and Prieto’s turn to land on the way and cheer their mates’ big flight from the ground. - ojovolador.com
www.skywings.co.nz
www.nova-wings.com
www.flyozone.com
Phantom New class 99 cells low B Ion 4 safety Triton 2 performance https://www.nova.eu/ en/gliders/phantom/ low EN B As much performance and handling as you can get in a first glider. The perfect beginner intermediate glider.
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. This is the new performance reference for high B gliders
PPG - EN C
Lightweight Zero 2
EN low 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.
PARAMOTORING SPECIALISTS 24 years motoring & teaching Our level of experience means everything when you learn to motor www.papteam.com www.miniplane.net
HARNESSES Exclusive importers of Nova & Ozone Paragliders and Sup’Air and Ozone harnesses like the Ozone Ozium - 2.5kgs
MINI WINGS
Miniplane - under 20kgs NZ’s most popular motor
Twice the fun, twice the flying, half the price! Perfect your groundhandling skills. Huge fun for soaring and strong day thermalling. We are the Ph: 09 570 5757 Cell: 0274 98 2345 email: alan@skywings.co.nz specialists with 20 years on the smallest wings wings. www.skywings.co.nz