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HHAA NN GG gglli idding i ng CC hh aa mmpip ioons n sh hips ips
January 1st to December 31st
S
pring flying has started, we need to get out and take advantage of those spring thermals. Spring often turns on some great thermal days as sun heating is slower and if lapse rates are high, sea breezes don’t come in as fast to kill thermal activity. After a terrible summer for Xc, and Covid lockdowns we still don’t have many flights entered but Seb Katz has shown that good XCs can be done. Let’s do it too while we are free of lockdowns. If you haven’t entered before, there’s nothing like setting yourself a goal to encourage yourself to do better. Only one person wins but the real challenge is to improve your skills, understand the weather and fly the best you can in the conditions you have available. Regardless of your score, you’ll get some great flights and may even pick up a local site record or a personal best. Every season you’ll see your personal best flights get better. You’ll also find yourself doing much better in the usual competitions with the extra knowledge and skills you will get.
TO ENTER... It’s free and simple; fly anywhere in New Zealand before midnight on 31st December, email or post in your flight details (and tracklog if you have one) before 30 days has passed and you’re entered. Enter as many flights as you like. Your shorter flights are automatically replaced by your longer ones. Only your longest four flights are scored. For each flight entry, please supply; • Your name, email address and contact phone number. • Flight date, take-off/release place, landing place, and flight distance in kilometres and 10ths. • Tracklog file from a GPS that can be read by GPSDump, such as an IGC file. Best is a kml file optimised by GPSDump. • If you don’t have a GPS tracklog, then also supply; Start and landing witness/s name & contact details. A GPS instrument has many advantages for XC flying, but for pilots who don’t have GPS, you can still enter the NZ HG XC Champs without one, you just need to provide take-off and landing witnesses. SCORING The pilot with the best total of four flights is the NZ Hang Gliding Cross Country Champion for that year and gets first choice of any prizes followed by pilots with second and third best totals. The pilot with the longest single flight gets fourth choice, then prizes go from fourth best total onwards. Flights for each years XC Champs must be flown between 1 January and 31st December and entered within 30 days. This ends one contest while pilots have good weather and starts the next contest while everyone’s still keen. ONLINE RESULTS Results are posted as they come in at www.hgpg. co.nz and linked to the NZHGPA website at www. nzhgpa.org.nz/competitions/hg-competitions/ hang-gliding-cross-country-championships and first updated at; www.hgpg.co.nz/nz-hg-xc-champs.html 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
24 A i r b o r n
The 2020 Cross-Country Championships Table so far...
Name
Flight 1
Flight 2
Flight 3
Flight 4
Total kms
Sebastian Katz 139.6 108.7 53.3 35.8
337.4
Rick Hawkeswood
171.7
109.2
34.3
28.2
Bill Degen 26.9 26.4 53.3 ** Class 2 (rigid wing), * Skyfloater
FAI Badges for Hang Gliding and Paragliding
T
he FAI badge system is used in gliding and similar systems are in place for virtually every other sport. It encourages pilots to improve their skills and achieve goals as competitions or XC does, however in competitions or setting xc records, usually the same people always win but the badge system rewards everyone that acheives these skills. This can even be with the help of others that might not be available due to competition pressures or tactics. Pilots achieving their badges will improve their competition skills as a consequence and have official evidence of their acheivements. I think that in my future retirement home, I’ll show off my USHPA 100 mile patch that I got in the Owens Valley and I’m sure many others would like to have an FAI Silver, Gold or Diamond badge as evidence of their flying career. Actually I think some people would like to wear them now!! As Hang Gliding XC Champs organiser with all the data on hand, it wouldn’t be difficult to organise. Paragliding may take more time due to numbers but the data is all there. The result would be more pilots out flying XC but with more enthusiasm as they would be going for achievable goals rather than hoping to get lucky but being beaten most days. It could even help build team flying skills. It can be self funding too. The badges can be metal badges or embroidered patches. Original cost is about 6 euro each (plus post, gst) but the diamond pin is 18.5 euro - maybe it’s a real diamond! NZHGPA could buy a stock of badges or patches first or pilots could decide if they want to pay for and receive the actual badges. I’m keen to get this going, so email me if you are keen. DESCRIPTION OF THE SYSTEM CIVL proficiency badges have been in place for many years. They are standards of achievement, intended to provide a graduated scale of difficulty to measure and encourage the development of a pilot’s flying skill, particularly in cross-country flying. The Bronze Badge should be achievable by most pilots within the first year of active flying, with the Silver following in the next year or two. The Gold badge should be achievable for most pilots within the first five years of cross country flying. The Diamond badge should be achievable by perhaps half of all pilots within ten years of flying. Badges are issued ONLY by the appropriate NAC or federation, which validate the flights and order the badges. The NAC can order a badge for 1 pilot on behalf of his expense. Badges cannot be ordered by individual pilots as CIVL/ FAI has no contractual agreement with an online flight verification provider. ORDER PROCEDURES Bronze, Silver and Gold Badges (pins or patches) are supplied to NACs in packages containing 10 pins or badges. Alternatively, the NAC can ask to ship the single piece to pilot directly. Please contact CIVL Administrator and Competition Coordinator to for the procedure. For Diamond Badges CIVL requires track logs of the flights. The application form with tracklogs should be verified by CIVL Records and Badges officer Igor Erzen.
Left; The diamond badge and below the silver
REQUIREMENTS PARAGLIDER XC (CLASS 3) Paragliding Bronze Badge Distance - 30 km Or Duration - 1.5 hours Or Gain of Height - 500 m Paragliding Silver Badge Distance - 75 km And Duration - 3 hours And Gain of Height - 1000 m Paragliding Gold Badge Distance - 125 km And Duration - 5 hours And Gain of Height - 2000 m Paragliding Diamonds There are three separate Paragliding Diamonds, which may be obtained independently from each other Diamond Open Course: - 200 km Diamond Gain of Height: - 3000 m Diamond Closed Course: - 200 km HANG GLIDER XC (CLASSES 1, SPORT, 2 & 5) Delta Bronze Badge Distance - 30 km Or Duration - 1.5 hours Or Gain of Height - 500 m Delta Silver Badge Distance - 100 km and Duration - 3 hours and Gain of Height - 1000 m Delta Gold Badge Distance - 150 km and Duration - 5 hours and Gain of Height - 2000 m Delta Diamonds There are three separate Delta Diamonds, which may be obtained independently from each other Diamond Open Course: - 300 km Diamond Gain of Height: - 3000 m Diamond Closed Course: - 300 km APPROVED INSTRUMENTS FOR BADGES Control and measurement of record flights are made with a serviceable GPS or flight recorder with minimum 2D capabilities used in conjunction with a barograph, or a 3D instrument without a barograph. For more informations, check Section 7D (Hang gliders and paragliders – Records and badges), chapter 5.4.1. CIVL no longer requires “approved equipment” as every month or so, a new instrument model comes out from manufacturers around the world, and CIVL wishes to remain unbiased as far as choice of manufacturer is concerned. - Bill Degen; aero@xtra.co.nz
