NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
SI REGIONALS GRAND PRIX TISSANDIER DIPLOMA SILENT ELECTRO • CLUB NEWS i s s u e 4 3 N o v e m b e r 2 0 15 – J a n u a r y 2 0 16
IMAGES THAT SOAR ABOVE THE ORDINARY
John McCaw – aviation and agricultural photographer
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C OMMIS SIONS A ND S T O CK LIBR A RY SP ECI A LIS T S
contents
november 2015–january 2016
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features 11 South Island Regionals 17 TGC Central Plateau Soaring Contest 19 New from the Schleicher Factory 22 Silent 2 Electro 24 A Kiwi Groupie in Europe 28 6th FAI World Sailplane 30 Tissandier Presentation at FAI conference 32 Obituary – John Curtis 34 My first landout 36 Glider Tracking 39 Another World Record for Terry Delore 40 My flight of a lifetime regulars 6 Log Book 44 A Question of Safety 45 GNZ Awards & Certificates 46 Gliding New Zealand Club News 50 Classified Advertising
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Editor Jill McCaw soaringnz@mccawmedia.co.nz
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Printer MHP Design RGB Design & Print Ltd Proof Reading Helen Cook SoaringNZ is a quarterly publication produced by McCaw Media. Advertising statements and editorial opinions expressed in SoaringNZ do not necessarily reflect the views of McCaw Media Ltd unless expressly stated.
©SoaringNZ is subject to copyright in its entirety. The contents may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the owners. All material sent to SoaringNZ will be assumed to be publishable unless marked not for publication. SoaringNZ invites contributions but accepts no responsibility for unsolicited material. ISSN 2015–January 1178-4784 2016 November 3
from the editor november 2015–january 2016 SUPPORTING OUR FUTURE
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ucked inside this issue of the magazine you will find a subscription to Youth Glide New Zealand. Please consider filling it out and becoming a social member. Yes, this is a donation, but that money can do a lot of good for gliding in general. A strong Youth Glide membership is the feeder ground for NZ gliding’s future. In the ten or so years since Youth Glide first toddled onto the scene, it has grown from a few interested kids to a national organisation that is teaching young people about gliding in a safe and fun environment. Your money helps offset the cost of gliding and helps subsidise the Youth Soaring Development Camp and smaller regional camps that are in planning for the coming year. Ten days of flying at the YSDC and associated camp, food and travel costs doesn’t come cheap. Greater numbers of ‘members’ also makes it easier to gain funding from grants as it can be shown that the organisation impacts greater numbers of people. As the average age of the ‘average’ glider pilot increases, bringing more young people into the sport is crucial for our sport’s survival. But Youth Glide isn’t just about gliding, it has a far more noble reason for existing. The mission statement for Youth Glide New Zealand reads: Using the sport of gliding to inspire and develop young people’s imagination, character and self-determination with the excitement and possibilities of flight as a lifelong adventure sport or a fulfilling aviation related career prospect. We’ve had quite a bit of success too. We have given a lot of kids a chance to learn to fly while at the same time providing safe adult interactions, role models, mentors and heroes to emulate, discipline and self-discipline and a belief in themselves and their ability to do anything they set their minds to. Glider training, simply put, is a great thing for kids to do. I’ve seen it with my own kids and with other kids within the Youth Glide community. Learning to fly gliders is a really big deal and they are so proud of being able to do something that most of their peers only dream of. Some of our Youth Glide kids have various learning disabilities but they can all learn to fly. The boost to their self-esteem is amazing and on-going. As well as that, we’ve seen school work improve because physics, maths and sciences actually mean something and are seen to have applications in their lives.
South Island regionals
Youth Glide has also brought quite an influx of young women into our predominantly male orientated sport. For the life of me I’ve never understood why more girls aren’t interested in gliding. It’s something we can do every bit as well as the men and I’m delighted to see the girls getting involved, loving it and embracing it as a sport and thinking of aviation as a career. Our success stories carry through to the young adults - the Youth Glide graduates who have gone on to have successes in the aviation world and are now in the Airforce (including one young lady), flying for commercial airlines, working as aircraft engineers, and representing NZ in the Junior World Gliding competition in Australia. You all knew I had to mention the Junior Worlds. As I write this editorial, it is the opening day of the Junior Worlds contest. I’ve been visiting with a friend elsewhere in Oz, but tomorrow I have a complicated journey from the south of Victoria to Narromine, NSW for the competition. Nick Oakley and my
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NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE
magazine deadlines
Next Issue: North Island Regionals Club Class Nationals SI REGIONALS GRAND PRIX TISSANDIER DIPLOMA SILENT ELECTRO • CLUB NEWS i s s u e 4 3 N o v e m b e r 2 0 15 – J a n u a r y 2 0 16
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Alex McCaw flies over the NZ flags at Omarama in this composite photograph. Photo Geoff Soper
November 2015–January 2016
Mixed Class Nationals Junior World Gliding Contest
Deadline for Club News, articles and pictures is 31 January and 10 February for advertising.
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son Alex have been in training for this contest for the last four years and they’re ready but so are the young people from the 16 other countries competing. The contest will be well reported in the next issue of course. The North Island Regionals are on this week. Christmas camps are coming up. Get current and get your BFR in advance of whatever event you want to be flying in. Enjoy your summer. Stay safe. I wish you a Happy Christmas and a Joyous New Year. Jill McCaw
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logbook november 2015–january 2016 Gliding New Zealand Umbrella Trust Are you considering applying for a grant or a loan? The Trustees ask that you please apply well in advance of when the funds are required. To help Trustees ascertain the best distribution of available funds we really need to assess groups of applications together so we can forecast funding requirements a year out. Even an indication of intent is helpful, particularly for loans, because this helps us manage investments. The majority of funds are invested in Term Deposits or an Investment Portfolio. To release funds from these investments requires notice of at least 31 days and usually incurs break costs. So the more notice we are given that funding will be sought, the more likely we will have the funds available when you need them, while investment break costs can be minimised and returns from investments optimised. Application deadlines are 31 May and 31 October for twice yearly Trustee meetings in June and November, but please get your application in sooner rather than later. Thank you for your assistance with this. Laurie Kirkham Umbrella Trust Secretary/Treasurer
PARALLEL GLIDER RACING AT THE WORLD AIR GAMES Gliding has been included as a sport at the World Air Games in Dubai this December but it’s not exactly glider racing as we know it. Parallel Glider racing bears a resemblance to time trials in cycle racing, or maybe to drag racing in cars. Two 18 meter gliders race at a time over short parallel tasks in two segregated air spaces located on either side of the runway. The competition between two pilots will be called a ‘match’. Pilots will be ranked from the qualification rounds. Semi-finals and finals will be flown to assess the overall winner. Other World Air Games sports include aerobatics (in powered aircraft), aeromodelling, aerostats (ballooning), amateur built, general aviation, microlights, parachuting, paragliding and paramotor. The competitions run for a week. There will be six pilots competing: Werner Amann, Giorgio Galetto, Tilo Holighaus, Sebastian Kawa, Roman Mracek and Rene Vidal.
ANTI-COLLISION LIGHTS (ACL) FOR DG & LS AIRCRAFT GmbH Software Design and Thiesen Hardware have developed a new anti-collision light, suitable for DG-1000 and DG-500 aircraft. The red flashing ACL is located in the glider’s nose. Test results show an outstanding visibility. The ACL rings layout fits to the DG double seater nose perfectly with no aerodynamic disadvantage. The unit can be used as a standalone device or be connected with FLARM boxes so that it will flash depending on the FLARM signal’s intensity. The ACL is available as a retrofit kit for all DG-1000 and DG-500 series gliders. For more information email Frank Götze, Inspector in Charge of DG Sailplanes via goetze@ dg-flugzeugbau.de Depending on demand, DG will look at a similar solution for DG single-seaters and LS-Sailplanes. They would like to hear from people who may be interested.
Interislander Ferry special rates available to glider trailers for summer season.
If you’re thinking of taking a glider across the Strait this summer, see the GNZ website for details.
SOLAR IMPULSE UPDATE The Solar Impulse project expects to be flying from Hawaii to America’s west coast in April 2016. The project has been on hold following the batteries overheating during the five day and night flight from Japan to Hawaii in July. Although the components will be ready before April the longer day length will be crucial. The batteries drain to only 10% charge after a night of powering the engine so the aircraft needs as many daylight hours as possible to ensure a full charge each day. New batteries, similar to the previous ones are being produced in Germany. In parallel, new battery containers, are being built in Dübendorf, Switzerland. Like the previous ones, they contain silver (a good electrical
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November 2015–January 2016
conductor), but have a fail-safe system which should safeguard against temperature-related glitches. It can be controlled from the cockpit and includes a cooling and backup system. In case the cooling system breaks down, the backup one steps in and allows the pilot to control the opening so that it doesn’t stay completely open, which would cause freezing, or closed, leading to another overheating scenario. New engine housings (gondola) have been created. A few adjustments concerning the electronics have been made and an air vent has been added to let air flow into the battery’s cooling system. The gondolas are also currently being pieced together in Dübendorf.
GAVIN WILLS
M O U N TA IN SOARING SCHOOL Learn-to-Fly Post Solo to QGP Mountain Soaring Guest instructors: Uli Schwenk G Dale Justin Wills
ADVENTURE SOARING FLIGHTS
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phone +64 3 438 9555 | www.glideomarama.com
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We now have a complete system with Vario Display 5 and Display M coupled with an Air glide TRX 1500 Flarm / ADS-B / Mode C traffic warning systems for customers to evaluate here in Masterton.
Contact the NZ Agents for more information
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November 2015–January 2016
7
logbook november 2015–january 2016
STRANGE OLD GLIDER
They don’t build gliders like this anymore, and they never really did. This poor old girl was spotted in an ad on Trade Me and it looked a little odd. Jonathon Pote and Ray Burns from Auckland went and had a look at it. No-one seemed to know much about it. Ralph Gore’s son’s partner’s parents, Stu and Dianne Vallis have bought it and taken it home and Ralph fills us in on the little he’s been able to discover. “The guy that built it is an ex WWII pilot who decided to make himself a glider,
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November 2015–January 2016
probably late ‘40s into the ‘50s, over three or four years. Suffice to say, he didn’t follow conventional methods. The wings had a peculiar attachment to the fuse that didn’t allow it to be derigged. When the C of G proved to be too far aft he built a counterbalance pole that stuck out through the nose at the front. “Apparently it did fly although they would only have been sled runs. “The photos are from when Stu went to collect it. It wouldn’t fit on a trailer so it had to be dismantled and the wings
chopped off. Stu and Dianne are microlight pilots and they hope to one day figure out how to put it back together and maybe get it to fly.” Ralph hopes to find out a little bit more about the glider and more about the builder/owner. He’ll keep us updated.
logbook
november 2015–january 2016
NEWS ENTER THE 2016 FAI YOUNG ARTISTS CONTEST AND SHOW THE WORLD HOW TALENTED YOU ARE! Are you under 17 years of age? Are you keen on painting or drawing? Have air sports always made you dream? Are you concerned about environmental issues? The 2016 FAI Young Artists Contest theme is ‘Air Sports in Harmony with Nature’. Youngsters from three age categories: Junior (6-9), Intermediate (10-13), Senior (14-17) are invited to participate. The beauty of the earth is never clearer than when seen from the air. The group of boys, girls, men and women involved in air sports are fortunate to have a special view of the grandeur below them as they soar in gliders or float through the air in balloons. Others feel the rush of air as they parachute down to a beautiful field or cross the sky in an ultralight or helicopter. From above, the fullness of nature is seen in ways unknowable from the ground. From the air, one is able to take pictures and film land that would otherwise never be seen. Aircraft do this without the need for roads. An airport or open field will do for the intrepid aviator. So grab your favourite pen or brush capture the connection between the land and the air. Create a work of art that shows air sports and nature in harmony. Good luck!
How to enter the contest? You should first check the details and the deadline for submission of your work by contacting the FAI member in your country (The Royal NZ Aero Club). Each country will select the three best illustrations in each category and forward them to the FAI by 1 April 2016. An International Jury will then select the world winners in each category who will be rewarded respectively with Gold, Silver or Bronze FAI medals. The artwork will be exhibited at the prestigious Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, USA and may be used by the FAI on other occasions.
SYMPOSIUM ON MEDICAL CHALLENGES IN EXTREME AIR SPORTS AND IN AVIATION was held alongside the FAI World Air Games Dubai, December 2015 Aeromedical doctors and experts met with world renowned speakers to discuss issues related to medical challenges in extreme air sports and in aviation. Organised by the FAI Medico-Physiological Commission and the Dubai medical authorities, the event was a platform for the communication of experience and research in medical aspects of aviation sports, with a special focus on safety. The event being included in the official programme of the FAI World Air Games provided an exceptional opportunity for the attendees to interact with the World’s leading aerial athletes and see air sports at their best in one of the most thrilling cities on this planet.
November 2015–January 2016
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logbook november 2015–january 2016
It’s only in the event of a
CL A IM
that you really find out who has the best policy!
Contact your broker or ring Arden and talk to the people who specialise in aviation insurance. “Kiwis providing Glider pilots with aviation insurance for over 30 years”
TELEPHONE 04 473 5593
Ground Vibration Test (GVT) for Perlan glider BY JIM PAYNE
Perlan pilot and record setting glider pilot Jim Payne gives us a brief update on the Perlan 2 glider’s testing. On November 13 the Perlan 2 underwent a ground vibration test (GVT) at ATA Engineering in San Diego, California. This test was done to determine the frequency and damping of the various structural modes of the sailplane. From the GVT, data engineers will be able to create a flutter model for the Perlan 2. The reason for doing this is that at high altitude the Perlan 2 will fly at very high true airspeeds. For instance, at FL900, the design Vne is 54 knots equivalent airspeed. On a standard day, this results in a true airspeed of 362 knots. After two full days of data gathering there is terabytes of data and all seems well at this point. While in San Diego the Perlan team also dropped by Gentex for measurement of oxygen masks for the BioMarine re-breather system. We have moved the Perlan 2 to Dennis Tito’s new hangar in Minden. We are preparing to resume flight testing in early December. For low altitude testing we will tow aloft. For the higher test points, we will use wave lift.
Event Dates & Venues for 2015-16 Soaring Season Contest Club Class Nationals 2016 Enterprise Omarama 2016 Nationals 2016 Central Districts
Location Start Finish Omarama 3/1/16 13/1/16 Omarama 3/1/16 9/1/16 Taupo 23/1/16 6/2/16 Waipukurau 13/2/16 20/2/16
Contributions to Logbook are welcome from all of our readers within New Zealand and internationally. Email your news snippets to: soaringnz@mccawmedia.co.nz. Please put "logbook" in the subject line.
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November 2015–January 2016
South Island
REGIONALS Omarama, 14–21 November 2015 BY CHRIS STREAT AND PETER CHADWICK PHOTOS GEOFF SOPER
It's that time again – Omarama once again provided a spectacular background to the South Island Regional competition. A slightly smaller field than other years provided a thrilling contest as the battle for titles developed. Keith Essex (Alaska) in his ASG 29 (Open Class) making a high speed finish at Omarama on the final day of the 51st South Island Regional Gliding Championships.
November 2015–January 2016
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SOUTH ISLAND REGIONALS
John Goddard and The Canterbury Gliding Club's Dynamic towplane
Paul Barrett, Nigel Maxey, Mark Aldridge & Tony Collins
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wenty-two contestants flew the contest this year which was less than last year’s 34 that had been the result of a huge effort getting pilots to attend the 50th Regionals. There were a few other things happening to drop the numbers: The Junior Worlds team of Nick Oakley and Alex McCaw plus Mike Oakley were due to fly out. Other people were flying the Club Class Nationals in Aussie and as our Nationals are in Taupo this season there was no need for North Islanders to come south to train for Omarama. The success of ‘Jerry’s Cross Country Course’ which ran the week before the Regionals meant a lot of people were already flown out. Some course days there were more gliders than at the Regionals. Geoff Soper suggested ‘Jerry’s Course’ next year should start on the Thursday before the Regionals and merge with the Pro Am Class on the Saturday Practice day with those not capable of entering the Regionals staying on the course. Omarama stalwarts David Speight and Bill Walker are gone and sorely missed. As an aside, Glide Omarama did not have any clients that week who wanted to enter but young GO instructor Dan McCormick entered and flew very well.
ORGANISATION Glider pilot and competitor (Ls6c) Roland van der Wal from Immigrant Wines in Alexandra was major sponsor of the contest and provided heaps of wine as prizes. Roly is well known for his humour. The Canterbury Gliding Club (CGC) ran the Regionals
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November 2015–January 2016
Contestants 51st South Island Regionals
expertly as they have in previous years. The Club turned up with the usual air force of helpers and their new CGC 115 hp Dynamic tow plane. It had very impressive performance, went up like a Pawnee or better, although a slightly longer ground roll. Geoff Soper was Contest Director for the tenth time. Geoff has assisted on 14 Regionals. Geoff’s relaxed style with plenty of humour always goes down well with the pilots at the 10 am daily briefing. On the last day Geoff announced he was retiring, to howls of protest, so maybe he won’t. Everything went smoothly, experienced organisers, experienced pilots, and SPOT tracking certainly helped. There were hardly any calls this year from scorer Lex McPhail to the naughty boys' room for penalties. Lex brought a huge stack of games down and the Canterbury Club organisers spent many evenings in the campground kitchen playing board games over a few drinks. They get on very well together. It’s funny to watch. Lex has scored for many years. Total competence there. Young Jono Wardman (a member of CGC, GO and OGC) and Derek Kraak arranged the social events which included four dinners throughout the week for all pilots and friends. Derek also does comedy. David Tillman was Treasurer assisted by Neil Allison and Jono Wardman. David and Neil have assisted for many years also. Neil Allison and John Simpson (Airways NZ) assisted in the radio room. With SPOT in use now the radio can be a boring job. Mike Marra, a retired Air New Zealand engineer, and his wife Joan assisted on the grid and elsewhere. Mike is getting into
SOUTH ISLAND REGIONALS
John Simpson of Airways helping on the grid
Brian Savage and Trevor Mollard
Yvonne Loader
gliding. Safety officers were Gavin Wills and Trevor Mollard. There were no accidents again this year. Yvonne Loader kept the airport bar going and Kevin Bethwaite assisted. Both of them helped out in many ways. Task setters were Max Stevens, Grae Harrison, Theo Newfield and Lemmy Tanner from Glide Omarama. Some truly difficult tasks were set and completed. On numerous days pilots were wondering if they could ever finish the task. Lemmy also presented a detailed and accurate weather briefing at 10 am each day. Chief tow pilot was Brad Newfield from Glide Omarama (Theo’s son) assisted by Craig Keenan in MAV, Annie Laylee and Chris Garton. The tow planes were Glide Omarama’s three air craft, plus CGC’s Dynamic and C172/210 MAV. They had the whole field airborne in well under an hour. Mark Aldridge, Joan Marra, and Mark’s daughter Sara assisted on the grid and elsewhere. Airways NZ provided free maps and discount vouchers for online products.
THE FLYING Practice day. Saturday: 90% of pilots didn’t fly, Alex McCaw and Nick Oakley both did 1000km free flights. Terry Delore broke a world speed record for 15m 500 km triangle.
SUNDAY RAIN DAY 1 A truly epic Open Class task was set by Max Stevens to the
Neck at Lake Hawea, then Bush Stream in Rangitata, Hakataramea Valley and home. Light west sou-west with unusable wave above. There were poor conditions in the Maitland and the Ben Ohau but good climbs to 10,000 feet in Jolly Valley north of Mt Cook. It then clouded over in the Haka Valley which is where the going got tough with many pilots pushing into a headwind west through the Haka pass at 5000 feet and back into McKenzie Basin, 2/3 of the competitors completed the Open task. The shorter Racing task also went into the difficult Hakataramea Valley and 1/3 of the competitors completed.
DAY 2 We were tasked up the Ben Ohau in a rowdy 20 knot west souwesterly then down to Mt Ida which was covered in cloud. Derek Kraak was the first to plunge though Hugos with low cloud, reporting on 133.55 of horrid conditions at the turn, low cloud and so on. Derek finally climbed out through a blue hole then flew towards Wanaka. Trev Mollard reported getting to Mt Ida in the wave and it was all on. Final turn was Grampians where there was a low southerly, then a tricky headwind home.
DAY 3 It was a struggle for most to get up and away on track with an inversion around Omarama, then it was a bit tricky getting into the Dingle as both classes headed West. The task was an AAT with first turn Siberia on the other side of Makarora. Roly took a scenic trip right up into the Landsborough looking for the big November 2015–January 2016
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Grae Harrison Ventus 2cxt (towing to grid)
John Gorringe ( UK)
Hadleigh Bognuda and Tony Flewett
Pete Chadwick on tow
Deb Essex beside husband Keith in UC
climb to get him east again, before eventually landing in the Hunter strip which was reported as being lovely. The second turn was up in the Godley River area and most had good runs on the ridges with a long final glide out of the Jolly for Omarama.
DAY 4 Wave, convergence and thermal predicted so an AAT was set, down to Thompsons track then Morven Hills, Dog Kennel Corner, Grampians, home. The day was tricky for many and most cut short on the AAT circles.
DAY 5 The task was around the basin twice, 420 km for Open and 374 km for Racing. First we went up to Glen Lyon, mostly on the ridges which worked well, then off downwind in the westerly to Two Thumbs. There was wave to be had for a few, but convergence over the turn meant most had to go under to get the turn. We flew convergence and thermals to Grampians then around to Omarama as the fourth turn. It was up to Glen Lyon a second time then west to Two Thumbs for the Open and Dog Kennel Corner for the Racing, some having the pleasure of doing the second time round in the wave. Grampians was the last
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November 2015–January 2016
Mark Morgan (AU ), Ozzie with great sense of humour
turn giving options on the route home. A fast and interesting task for most in the conditions with a lot of different options.
THE WINNERS OPEN/18M Max Stevens won Open Class, best NZ pilot, but Keith Essex from Alaska won outright in Open Class/18m with almost a day to spare. This is Max’s second year in Open/18m class in his Ventus 2C. Max competed in 15m class for 25 years in his Discus which he owned from new. Keith is a relatively low hour glider pilot (around 1500 hours) but has 20,000 hours in fixed wings and choppers. At the prize giving Terry Delore gave a nice speech for Keith and gave him a tiny little trophy so Keith didn’t miss out. Keith and Debs are applying for NZ residency and have bought a house here. This is their second season at Omarama. Keith was flying an ASG 29.
15M For the first time ever, the winners Peter Chadwick (ASW 20) CGC and Nigel Maxey (ASW 27) CGC had exactly the same score.
Lex McPhail (even scorers have to rehydrate)
Mike Marra (Grid & Radio room)
Trophy winners L to R: Nigel Davy, Alex Boyes, Mas Stevens, Keith Essex, Trevor Mollard, Roland van der Wal (pilot & our daily prizes sponsor), Derek Kraak, Nigel Maxey, Pete Chadwick
sense of humour
Results OPEN
Pilot Rego Glider type Hcap Keith Essex UC ASG 29 111 Max Stevens YD Ventus 2c 110 Graham Parker / Mark Morgan ZZ ASH 25e 114
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 (16/11/2015) (17/11/2015) (18/11/2015) (19/11/2015) (21/11/2015) 1000 979 1000 905 1000 781 791 649 1000 830 707 699 700 978 703
Total 4884 4051 3787
RACING
Nigel Maxey Peter Chadwick Daniel McCormack
UZ OO SC
ASW 27b ASW 20cl LS 4
Australian Graham Parker on a return visit to fly in our competition
104 100 96
993 1000 335
320 332 1000
933 1000 801
929 741 864
898 1000 745
4073 4073 3745
Heading for the grid
November 2015–January 2016
15
SOUTH ISLAND REGIONALS
On numerous days pilots were wondering if they could ever finish the task…
Kevin Bethwaite (signals a six for top team launch efforts)
Theo Newfield ASG 29es
Nigel Davy and Alex Boyes (NS) on tow
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November 2015–January 2016
SOARING CONTEST
Photo Geoff Soper
TGC Central Plateau
SOUTH ISLAND REGIONALS
With 19 gliders entered and a good forecast everyone was looking forward to the week's flying.
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here were three tow planes: Iggy with BZA, our own TPO and the new kid on the block TZB (Robbin). Race Director John van Ham Etches and Tom Anderson kept everything running smoothly, Trev Terry was task master, David Hirst was weatherman and club members helped out where they could. The emphasis of the contest was on FUN. All we needed was the weather gods to behave and provide us with some decent flying conditions Saturday looked promising so a small practice task was set to get rid of the rust with most of the pilots making all the turn points.
Sunday looked good and we got underway around 1pm. David Jensen won the day with an average speed of 103.15 kph, Tony van Dyk was second and Mark Tingey third. Monday was a tricky, windy day with broken thermals. Tony van Dyk won the day with 79.36kph, David Jensen was second, Mark Tingey third. The next three days were spent playing golf and fishing. Trev Terry sponsored a fishing trip on the lake aboard LOLOMA so some of the lads went out for the afternoon, had a beer or two and caught a trout (so the story goes). Friday was looking rather blue, the odd cloud started to pop and we got underway with a task set up to Matamata. It looked
November 2015–January 2016
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CENTRAL PLATEAU SOARING CONTEST
like Tokoroa air field was going to be inundated with gliders for a while but most seemed to get away, only to land out later. Winner of the day was Mark Tingey with an average speed of 92.19, Cooper and Weaver in GXT were second and Trev Terry in GTT third. Saturday’s winner was Mark Tingey followed by David Hirst and Tony van Dyk. Overall
1 GOB Mark Tingey 2997 2 GTD Tony van Dyk 2946 GTX David Hirst 2744 3 The Lucky Pilot Draw for a full day’s fly fishing with Brett Cameron from Central Plateau Fishing was won by Maurice Weaver.
Are you organised for Christmas?
Grea ove rseats gift idea
Give the gift of a SoaringNZ magazine.
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Dancing with the wind
Jean-Marie Clément
Pay only $75 (New Zealand only) for an annual subscription. Email or phone today to sort your Christmas crisis. Tel +64 3 322 5222 Email soaringNZ@mccawmedia.co.nz
18
Dancing with the wind
A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR PILOTS?
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• A “must have” book. Sailplane & Gliding (UK). • “The book of the Century… You must buy this book, sell whatever it takes, but buy it.” Gliding International (NZ). • Unmissable, alongside Reichmann, Bradbury and Moffat. L’@éroBibliothèque (France). • Will remain in the history of the literature, perhaps more so than Reichmann. Volo a Vela (Italy). • It reveals to you the invisible treasures of the atmosphere. Alvaro de Orleans Borbón (FAI Vice President). Jean-Marie Clément
November 2015–January 2016
Price €50 plus postage. Order to info@topfly.aero
NEWS
from the Schleicher Factory
Figure 9: Enhanced visibility through contrasting colors
BY BERNARD ECKEY
For some time now, accelerated product development has been Schleicher’s answer to a gradually shrinking market. This approach is now keeping the world’s oldest glider manufacturer busy like never before. The latest models are enjoying an unprecedented demand due to significant performance enhancements and due to a large number of highly desirable innovations. Figure 2: Schematics of ASG 32 El drive unit
ASG 32 IN VARIOUS VERSIONS Schleicher’s latest model is the ASG 32 – a brand new design for the new 20m two-seater class. Designed by Michael Greiner (of ASG 29 fame) it has now gone into full production and is nicely filling the gap between the ASK 21 trainer and the top of the range ASH 30 Open Class two-seater. Early competition results are highly encouraging, as they have seen pilots of Schleicher’s only prototype on the podium at every championship entered so far. The aircraft is certified for a maximum all-up weight of 850kg and features a maximum wing loading of 54.1 kg/m2 - by far the highest in its class. The ASG 32 is also the first two-seater satisfying the new CS 22 crash load requirements of 9g. Even when ordered as a pure glider, the factory supplies an engine bay for an easy retrofit of a drive unit at a later stage. As the vast majority of customers are looking for some sort of an engine, two vastly different drive units are available. Engine option No 1
The first and still most popular one is based on the
well-known rotary engine. It appeals to owners who like the option of operating independently from any gliding infrastructure. The 57hp liquid cooled and fuel injected power plant allows rapid self-launching even when operating at the maximum take-off weight. This rotary engine is enjoying an ever-increasing popularity and will soon be installed in 600 gliders. Built by Austro Engines it is renowned for its quiet and vibration free running as well as an absence of service life limitations. Close to 50 of these engines are already operating in this region, and after extensively training an Australian engineer in its German factory, Schleicher is pleased to announce that after sales service in Australia can now be provided by properly authorized local service personnel. Engine option No.2
Pilots favoring a sustainer (or turbo) engine might find the ASG 32 El of interest. “El” stands for Electric but the aircraft’s airframe is fully identical with the self-launching Mi version. The new electric propulsion system was developed in close co-operation with two German universities and in partnership November 2015–January 2016
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SCHLEICHER NEWS
Figure 5: Dat
Figure 6: Thr
Figure 1: The new ASG 32 El on display at the AERO trade fair 2015
with several highly specialised companies in this field. Keen industry observers have known for some time that electrically powered gliders are no longer an exotic breed. They are definitely here to stay, due to truly remarkable advancements in battery technology in recent times. Admittedly batteries do not have anywhere near the power density of petrol but our sport is unique in that it only requires external power for very short periods of time. Thanks to modern electronics engine management is simplified to a point where it is hardly adding to the pilot’s workload. On top of this there is an almost complete absence of vibration and noise. In fact, any ambient noise will make it almost impossible to notice an electrically powered glider cruising at 1000 feet AGL. The elimination of any fuel smell, zero emission of direct pollution and an undiminished power output at altitude are added benefits. Power plant maintenance is likely to be minimal given the maintenance-free motor and the large number of recharging cycles of modern lithium-ion batteries. A battery management system (BMS) provides temperature and voltage control as well as proper balancing between cells. Even a failure of an individual cell hardly diminishes the power output of the system. The aircraft’s technical data sheet makes for some impressive reading indeed. Even with two people on board the ASG 32 El climbs at 3 knots at maximum power of 34hp (25 Kw). A full battery charge allows a range of 100 km – more than enough to entice even the most conservative pilots into crosscountry flying. For further ease of mind, the cockpit displays the remaining battery capacity at the push of a button. All this is now possible with a modern but robust and durable lithium battery weighing only 62 kg including metal container – quite remarkable indeed and certainly no comparison to gel cell battery technology of yesteryear! The Li-Io batteries selected can even tolerate rapid recharging. Other electrically powered gliders carry the batteries in the wing but in the ASG 32 El the batteries (including all other items) are located in the engine bay. It not only allows easier
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access for inspections but – more importantly – it keeps the weight of the wings down for rigging and ground handling. It also eliminates large electrical cables with heavy and bulky connectors between wing and fuselage. Less gadgets means less maintenance but the main advantage is that the weight of the wings remains manageable. Sufficient space in the wings for a large water ballast system is another important aspect. Back to engine management now and the use of this glider for normal club operations. On request, dual engine controls can be fitted to front and back seat but this is hardly necessary as engine operation can easily be trained and demonstrated on the ground. A small display on the instrument panel (refer to figure 5) shows all relevant data, and, as the engine operation is otherwise automated, it only requires the pilot to operate the power lever. Moving it up a notch extends the engine in less than seven seconds for a minimal loss of height. The rest of the ‘throttle’ movement is left for power adjustments (refer to figure 6). Closing the ‘throttle’ retracts the engine again. The propeller is automatically put into a vertical position for retraction and within seconds the aircraft turns into a pure sailplane again. Such simplicity cannot overload even less experienced pilots. At long last the gliding movement has access to a powered glider, which is unreservedly suitable for club use. It allows even very conservative pilots to enjoy cross-country flying with total piece of mind and without concerns about an expensive aero tow or road retrieve. Another industry first for a production glider is the steerable and fully retractable tail wheel. As the ASG 32 requires no skid or nose wheel it sports by far, the cleanest glider design when the undercarriage is retracted. The tail wheel automatically retracts together with the main wheel resulting in a very welcome drag reduction. This is not only good news for competitively minded pilots but the ability to taxi the ASG 32 under power is equally important for everyday use. For taxiing, two easily removable wingtip wheels are available as optional extras. Bug wiper garages, solar panels, a tail tank, flashlights
SCHLEICHER NEWS
Figure 4: Lithium battery in ASG 32 El engine bay closely inspected by John Stobie of the Adelaide Soaring Club
Figure 5: Data display (presently showing temperatures)
Figure 6: Throttle console
Figure 7: Steerable tail wheel extended
Figure 3: Brushless AC motor with newly developed propeller
in the leading edge of the fin and a host of other options can also be installed on request. Regular readers of this magazine already know that the ASG 32 can be finished in colours other than just white. It is currently the only series-built composite sailplane certified for various external colors. It means that owners can opt to have their entire glider delivered in very contrasting color schemes. Needless to say that it greatly improves visibility in the air and on the ground, which enhances safety for all of us. The picture (refer to figure 9) shows the first colorful glider on its maiden flight after leaving the Schleicher factory. It might not say much for the owner’s taste or his artistic ability but it clearly demonstrates what is possible today. Extensive tests conducted at greatly elevated temperatures during type certification have proven that the aircraft’s structure can easily withstand the high temperatures regularly experienced when darker surfaces are exposed to direct sunlight in the hottest part of the globe. More colourful gliders are perhaps not to everyone’s preference but we will get used to it, and, dare I say it, we might even develop a liking for it as time goes by. After all, manufacturers of powered aircraft allow customers to let their imagination run wild in terms of colour schemes and there is no reason why this will not become the norm in gliding as well.
Australian Air Force Contract completed The supply of eleven self-launching ASK 21 Mi to the Australian Air Force Cadets was successfully completed earlier this year. All 11 motorised gliders are now fully operational and are enjoying an ever-increasing popularity with instructors and cadets alike. The wider aviation community should know that the widely published ‘engine problem’ is nothing but a myth. Fact is that Schleicher put the engine manufacturer’s temperature data into their flight manual but relocated the temperature sensor a short distance for practical reasons. This has led to a 10°C higher temperature reading and necessitated
Figure 10: New turbo engine with starter motor
an amendment to the flight manual. In short, the so-called ‘problem’ never existed!
ASG 29 refinements This report would not be complete without mentioning the refinements now available for the ASG 29. Customers can now opt for a ‘competition package’ to further enhance the aircraft’s leading position in 18 m class. It consists of: ›› improved canopy seals for a longer laminar airflow over the fuselage ›› smooth transition between canopy frame and perspex ›› decals and registration letters flush with the outer contours of the glider for an extended laminar flow ›› an enlarged outlet for cockpit ventilation air ›› generally improved seals to avoid air leakage and turbulence ›› seals around the undercarriage doors ›› fin and tail plane also profiled with templates On top of this, ASG 29 customers can now select an improved drive unit with electric starter motor. The new version is called ASG 29Es. It eliminates the windmilling start of the ‘turbo’ engine and results in a height loss of less than 50 feet between initiating the engine extension and having full power available. Fitting a starter motor has also allowed an automated engine operation. When the pilot puts the engine switch in the ‘Up’ position the drive unit pops out and starts running as soon as it is fully extended. Putting the engine switch in the ‘Down’ position stops the engine and puts the propeller into a vertical position for fully automatic retraction. This welcome advancement eliminates ‘finger trouble’ and represents another big step towards making this glider also suitable for club use. Please stay tuned to this channel for further updates. Readers of SoaringNZ will be informed as soon as the factory releases further details or announces future developments. November 2015–January 2016
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SILENT 2 Electro
In the last issue we covered the 1st World 13.5 m Gliding Contest in Lithuania and looked at the GLoW prototype microlight glider. In this issue we look at the Alisport stable of microlight gliders and particularly the Silent 2 Electro, a front electric sustainer/selflaunching (FES) glider that has recently been cleared to fly in the United Kingdom by any Sailplane Licenced Pilot with a Self Launch Endorsement. The class-leading Silent 2 Electro is a high-performance light self-launching sailplane for recreational and sport flying.
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lisport Srl is based in Cremella (Lecco) located in northern Italy near Milan. The company comprises three aviation divisions (sailplanes, STOL aircraft, and propellers/accessories) that operate in shared facilities. Although Alisport's origins are in the Silent line of light sailplanes, sport and recreation aviation is the common foundation binding the three divisions. Stefano Ghiorzo, manager of Alisport and inaugural holder of the 13.5 m World Title says that the company wants to make gliders that are very good and very good looking. These small gliders are ideal for people who want to fly independently. They are cheap and easy to rig and launch. “They are something new and an opportunity for microlight manufacturers to create new aircraft that are not as expensive.� Ballistic parachutes which are compulsory for aircraft manufactured in Italy mean Alisport gliders can be made even lighter than aircraft with anti-crash cockpits manufactured elsewhere. Stefano sees self-launching as the future of the 13.5 m FAI class and would like to see engines compulsory for the all gliders in the class. Alisport creates four gliders and all of them come with an engine option. The Silent Club is a light sailplane with 12-metre fiberglass wings for recreational flying. Stefano says it is agile, responsive with a great climb performance, safety and fun. Two-position flaps have a reflex position to maintain good glide performance at higher airspeeds. The Silent 2 TARGA is a high-performance light sailplane for recreational and sport flying. It has retractable landing gear, vertical-design winglets, and horizontal stabilizer with automatic trim. These drag reducing enhancements expand the glide performance at high airspeeds. The Silent 2 is a high-performance light sailplane with 13-metre wings for recreational and sport flying. The carbon-fibre wings have an elliptical planform, removable winglets, and five flap settings to cover the entire speed range. The sailplane has proven
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itself in competition and record flying. These three aircraft come as pure sailplanes and fuel-injected self-launcher versions. They are also available as quick-build kits. The Silent 2 Electro, with its nose-mounted electric propulsion system constructed specifically for the Silent, is the most modern and environmentally conscious design capable of satisfying the needs of ever increasing sailplane performance. The electric motor installed in the nose of the glider with folding propeller blades is aerodynamically clean. Electric-powered flight does not necessarily require the steady climbing flight typical of self-launch gliders as the aerodynamically efficient nose-mounted propulsion system allows sustained level flight at cruise speeds with minimal energy consumption. The drag-reduction offered by the retractable landing gear, vertical-design winglets, and variable-position horizontal stabilizer, further expand the glide performance at higher airspeeds. A pair of lithium polymer (LiPo) battery packs with a combined capacity of 4.3 kWh provides power. The two battery packs, each weighing 15.5 kg (34.2 lbs), are positioned as close to the centre of gravity as possible. They are readily accessible and removable via an access panel on the upper surface of the fuselage. The batteries are transportable, allowing them to be charged at any location, not just on board the sailplane. Unlike NiCd or lead-acid batteries, LiPo batteries experience negligible loss of charge (typically 1% per month) when stored at ambient temperatures. The usual batteries needed to power glider avionics can be eliminated as the LiPo propulsion batteries have enough extra capacity for all other on-board power requirements. The lifespan of the batteries is estimated to be approximately 1,500 cycles to full discharge, after which the batteries are still capable of holding 70% to 80% of a full charge. Recharging is performed with a 1,200 W external charger which includes a Battery Management System (BMS) designed specifically to balance the charging of LiPo batteries. During charging
»» Almost complete absence of vibration; the only moving parts are the propeller and the rotor
»» Motor maintenance is essentially unnecessary »» The nose-mounted motor is on the fuselage centre-line and »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »»
the BMS controls the voltage to the various cells that make up the battery packs so that their voltages are all within 0.02 volts. The wings have an elliptical planform, vertical design winglets, and a span of 13.2 metres. The wing structure includes extensive use of carbon fibre, both in the sandwich skins and in the tapered I-beam wing spar which uses pultruded carbon rods for the spar caps. The wing geometry is unique in that it varies non-linearly from the root to the tip, both in overall planform shape and in wing section profile. The flaperons stretch for 11.0 metres of the full wingspan and their range of motion varies from positive landing L, to +1 for thermalling, to 0, -1, and S reflex positions for cruising. The sailplane is trimmed in pitch via an innovative variableposition horizontal stabiliser. The stabiliser position is governed by the flaperon setting: the five settings of the flap control produce corresponding changes to the stabilizer incidence, thus defining the trim airspeed in relation to the flap requirements. The conventional elevator remains in trail, minimizing trim drag. The trim system, the elliptical planform geometry of the tailplane, the vertical design winglets, and the retractable landing gear all combine to yield improved performance over a wide range of airspeeds.
FES TECHNICAL HIGHLIGHTS »» Motor with smaller size, lighter weight, higher power output »» »» »» »»
and greater reliability when compared with any internal combustion engine Significant reduction in noise; the use of a radio headset is unnecessary during powered flight. Extremely clean due to elimination of fuel, oil, exhaust fumes, etc. Elimination of flammable fuel on board Secure and instant start-up; the motor requires no warm-up prior to application of full power
thus has no forward pitching moment to create take-off difficulties as is typical of pylon mounted propellers No loss of motor power as a function of altitude; performance is unvaried with respect to atmospheric conditions Motor use is extremely simple; no raising of a pylon, simply turn on the master and apply power Complete absence of aerodynamic resistance (engine pylon, etc.) and consequently better flight performance Mechanical simplicity and uncomplicated use of the entire system, when compared to solutions with a retractable power plant No change to the aerodynamics when using the motor No change to the centre of gravity when changing between powered and unpowered flight. Propeller located in front of the cockpit and safely visible to the pilot at all times Complete availability of extra electric energy for even the most well-equipped instrument panel
Glider Technical Data Wing span: Length: Height: Aspect ratio: Wing area: Planform: Profile: Empty weight: Maximum payload: Structural max. takeoff/landing weight: Wing load factors: Wing loading at 300 kg (661 lbs): Flap settings: Conventional air brakes Fully automatic control connections Retractable landing gear
13.2 m (43,3 feet) 6.35 m (20.8 feet) 1.25 m (4.1 feet) 20 8.9 m2 (95.8 feet2) Elliptical (with winglets) IMD 050 (16%) 205 kg (452 lbs) 105 kg (231.5 lbs) 315 kg (694.5 (lbs) +5.3 g / -2.65 g (at 150 km/h at 315 kg) +4.0 g / -1.5 (at 220 km/h at 315 kg) 34 kg/m2 (7 lb/ft2) L +1 0 -1 S
Brushless DC Electric Motor Technical Data Motor power: Motor weight: Motor speed: Propeller speed: Propeller diameter: Weight of batteries: Battery capacity: Standard charging time:
22.0 kW 6.5 kg (14.3 lbs) 4,500 rpm 4,500 rpm 1.00 m (39.4 in) 31.0 kg (68.3 lbs) 4.3 kWh approx. 150 min at 220V
November 2015–January 2016
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A Kiwi groupie in
EUROPE BY ROSS SUTHERLAND
In our last issue Ross Sutherland shared his adventures at the 18th FAI European Gliding Championships at Ó´csény, Hungary. That wasn’t the end. Ross’s gliding road trip continued.
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fter the European Comps, some of the lads were off to the Hungarian Club Class Nationals held in Hajduszoboszlo. Don’t worry, I can’t pronounce it either. It’s to the east of Hungary, getting close to the Ukraine border. The town has a huge thermal spa and caters for local tourists plus the Romanian / Polish / Ukraine market. 35 gliders were flying in the contest. 25 club class and 10 mixed 15/open class. Tow planes were a Pawnee, Cessna 172, Citabria, and a Kitfox 80hp and 100hp. The ultralights were interesting. The 80hp was a bit underpowered but the 100hp was only one min slower than the Pawnee on an 800m tow. The water cooling helped in the descent I think. The ultralights had no trouble with the club class gliders however they withdrew from the heavier ballasted mixed class. Talk round the place was that the (privately owned)
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ultralights were liked for their cheap tows (about �20) however no one had any idea on the cost economics; the owners just seemed happy to use them for tows. I did notice they were highly manoeuvrable on the ground, so they would most probably have a wind limit lower than the GA aircraft. An interesting addition to the high visibility stickers that I mentioned in my last story was the glider art on various aircraft. I liked this development and the fun component. The days were consistently hot! 32-38°C with high thermals was the norm pretty much every day. In the heat you need to be particularly careful to make sure you checked everything. One pilot forgot a critical check, as in Canopy ... Is it closed and LOCKED? He missed the second bit and at 2000’, as he released from the tow plane his canopy fell off the glider! He landed back safely, very embarrassed. Then everyone spare on the ground was sent into a huge fully grown cornfield to hunt for it. Miraculously it was found, totally undamaged after its 2000’ fall. Briefing next day was very humorous with a great video of searching in the very high cornfield with a parapenter circling above calling directions for the ground crew.
After a week of flying in the heat and with no sign of rain, a rest day was called. I decided to try out the thermal spa next to the airport. A whole �7 for a day pass into the huge complex. I soon figured out that it was critical to find some shade so strung my trusty hammock between two trees (only person in the whole place with a hammock so either leading or trailing the hammock craze), and settled in for a day of relaxing, interspersed with regular jump into one of the various pools to cool down. There were 22,000+ people in the spa that day so no chance of swimming any lengths, fascinating however. The town buzzed at night with so many tourists around. There were free concerts - Hungropop bands, or rock music in a mix of Hungarian and English covers. The local cuisine was ‘interesting’. It really pays to try and get an English translation rather than trying to read Hungarian or Ukrainian. [picture] Another noticeable thing was that there were no mosquitoes at night, so wandering around with short sleeves and shorts in the warm evening was a pleasure. I figured out after a couple of days when the big AN2s flew a grid pattern loud and low over the town that the city was paying for the mosquito problem to disappear. It
would likely start a huge environmental debate in NZ however I was just happy to not be covering myself with DeeT. The airfield had a beautiful new ablution block funded by EU - and a Clubhouse / Café with EU funding signs everywhere. I wonder how NZ gliding can hook into something similar. And for the serious results stuff: ht t p://w w w.soa ri ngspot.com /en /6 0 -mag ya r-nemzet ibajnoksag-hajduszoboszlo-airport-2015/ Note to owners of ‘classic gliders’ – the ASW15 blitzed the field. Even though the contest was only a local language, club class level competition, the locals made every effort to make sure there was heaps of hospitality and that I knew what was going on. They all knew of the Hungarian pilots’ adventures in NZ so I extended a warm welcome to anyone wishing to escape the northern winter, and a chance to show that Kiwis are as hospitable as Hungarians. Hopefully we will see more inter country visitors passing through. If you have the chance on your travels, these events are a great way to get to know the locals and the international gliding fellowship spirit is really quite wonderful.
November 2015–January 2016
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Our two Junior World competitors practise in the Canterbury foothills. Alex McCaw in his Std Cirrus JK and Nick Oakley flying ASW 19 LB. Photo John McCaw
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November 2015–January 2016
November 2015–January 2016
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6th FAI WORLD SAILPLANE Grand Prix Championship Varese, Italy 6–12 September 2015
After a week of very exciting competition, French pilot Maximilian Seis, 22, was crowned Champion of the 6th FAI World Sailplane Grand Prix Championship. Christophe Ruch, also from France, finished with the silver medal and Sebastian Kawa from Poland with the bronze.
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he weather during the competition was good and allowed five good racing days with distances of around 200 km and average speeds up to 123 km/hr. The last day’s race was challenging with deteriorating weather and eventually ended with no points being attributed because no competitor managed to finish the task. Pilots from ten countries fought hard for the title of World Champion. The reigning world Champion Didier Hauss (FRA) was unable to find his form in the Lombardy region that was unfamiliar to him. He was joined at this final by three of his fellow countrymen who all qualified in one of the FAI Sailplane Grand Prix qualifying events. Italy was the next strongest team to France. Former World Champion Giorgio Galetto, Riccardo
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Brigliadori and Thomas Gostner - all from Italy - were the local favourites, none of whom managed to make the podium. Former World Champion Sebastian Kawa found the change to 18m class sailplanes tough and only managed third place, with Christophe Ruch from France taking the silver medal on the podium. The winner, Maximilian Seis from France, was the youngest competitor and one of the least experienced. He proved that talent and motivation are two of the most important factors in winning a FAI Sailplane Grand Prix. Seis won two of the races, was 4th in two, and placed 6th on the other race day, thus winning points on each day and flying very consistently. Each day’s racing was watched by the public on big screens
at the airfield with live commentary from expert competition pilots providing a real insight into the intricate details of Sailplane Racing, as well as on the main square of Varese and in Volandia, the aeronautical museum. As for all the fans who could not make it to Calcinate, they could also follow the race live on the internet. The contest was hosted by the Aeroclub Adele Orsi (ACAO) on the airfield of Calcinate near Varese in northern Italy. ACAO is the foremost club in Italy and is known for its excellence and international activities. The race area was amongst the beautiful lakes and mountains of this Alpine region within easy reach of Milan, a perfect catchment area for local visitors. The 6th FAI World Sailplane Grand Prix Championship was
one of the three competitions selected in 2015 by FAI’s official sponsor, the specialist of technical watches Breitling, for full branding and support, together with the 28th FAI World Aerobatic Championships in Châteauroux, France, and the 59th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett in Pau, also France.
Results 1 2 3
Pilot Sailplane Maximilian Seis JS 1 Christophe Ruch JS 1 Sebastian Kawa ASG 29
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Points 1 6 4 4 1 DNF 36 3 4 8 1 2 DNF 33 6 5 3 3 4 DNF 29
November 2015–January 2016
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TISSANDIER PRESENTATION at FAI Conference BY EDUOARD DEVENOGES
“Congratulations,” GNZ President Karen Morgan said on the phone, “you have been awarded a Paul Tissandier Diploma.” “Me? Is that an honour?” “It is a great honour, congratulations again. You can receive your Diploma at the FAI World Conference in Rotterdam on the 24th of September or we could award it to you in NZ if you like.”
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s it happened, we were planning to be in Switzerland until just before that date, intending to return to NZ by the middle of September. My wife and I soon decided to extend our stay and travel to Rotterdam, should we be able to rebook our flights home. Marianne was able to do just that after a lengthy phone call with the airline that went along these lines (abbreviated): “Sorry Mrs Devenoges, but the flights around that date are all fully booked.” “Look, we have only just learned that my husband will be receiving a very prestigious Aviation Award from the FAI and we would like to attend the presentation ceremony in Rotterdam.” “Let me have another look.” And then a short while later, “Yes we can accommodate you and your husband and change your flights. Please convey my congratulations to your husband!” “Thank you, Singapore Airlines.” “I have now done my share of the bookings. You will be organising the travels in Europe,” my wife said. “Yes dear.” The question arose of how to get from Switzerland to Rotterdam. Should we take the train, a journey of about eight hours, or fly? I found one flight from Bern, the capital city of Switzerland to Rotterdam via London at a cost about £600 per person. There had to be a cheaper way. Whilst I was pondering over the problem, I received an e-mail from Ségolène Rouillon, Members and Services Manager of the FAI, with all the necessary information about travelling from Amsterdam Airport to Rotterdam, how to enrol for the conference and how to book a cabin, since we would be staying on a ship. The SS Rotterdam is a former ocean liner and cruise
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ship that used to carry passengers from Rotterdam to New York. It is now a hotel, convention and learning centre moored permanently in the port of Rotterdam. Greatly relieved with the good news, I went ahead and booked flights from Zurich to Amsterdam. Then, one evening during dinner my wife was wondering how glamorous the attire for the Awards Ceremony and Dinner would have to be. I am sure she had an addition to the wardrobe in mind. An e-mail was sent to Roger Read, a previous Tissandier winner, enquiring about the proceedings and what to wear. Roger sent me a lengthy email about what happened during the evening and what he and his wife had been wearing. In August we went to Switzerland as planned, visited relatives and friends, did plenty of tramping in the Alps and had a go at white water rafting on the young river Rhein. Then it was time for our trip to Holland to the Awards Celebrations with a few days sightseeing in Rotterdam before the event. At Schipol Airport we soon spotted two young ladies displaying the FAI welcoming signs. They took us through the big terminal into the huge railway station where we met the organiser of the next leg of our journey. We received railway tickets and instructions on where to find the next set of hostesses at Rotterdam’s railway station. Thirty minutes and a 100 km later we arrived in the center of Rotterdam. Again we looked for the FAI hostesses but could not find them, they hadn’t yet arrived. However, a very helpful person at the information booth soon sorted out our problem and we met up with a couple of hostesses and the shuttle driver, all volunteers, who would take us to the ship / hotel. The ship was very luxurious (took us back to when we emigrated to NZ). Our well-appointed cabin was situated on
A Deck right at the bow of the boat. It was easy to imagine being on a cruise, except that we woke up in the same port every morning. Rotterdam is a very modern city with some stunning architectural designs like the Cubic Houses, de Beure World Trade Center, Erasmus Bridge and high-rises where the top 30 storeys sit to one side of the 30 or so floors underneath. Many waterways cross the city with bridges that are raised to let the boats pass. One also notices the many bicycles on the dedicated cycle ways with their own sets of traffic lights at intersections, and it is the bicycles which turn first when the lights turn green. Unfortunately it rained for most of the day, so the sight seeing was mainly held inside the many museums, to the delight of my wife. The first morning at breakfast I spotted a familiar face, Bob Henderson attending the conference together with his wife Aileen. Bob used to be President of the IGC and is now a board member of the FAI. They had a cabin on the same deck of the ship as us. On the afternoon of the Awards Ceremony the air display had to be cancelled due to the bad weather. We all assembled on the upper deck for drinks and to mingle before the Awards Ceremony and Dinner itself. What a festive occasion it was. At a guess, about 200 people attended the ceremony. The challenge for us and many others was to find our name cards on the right table, until I noticed that people were rearranging the cards or placing them on other tables. I do not think that it really mattered at which table we ended up as we all had very interesting people to converse with and since all the VIPs had reserved seating right at the front, it did not really matter in the end. At our table we had a pilot from Norway who had been flying Patrick Driessen’s glider
in Omarama; also Ritz de Luij, a well-known aviation journalist who was to receive a medal. I happened to sit beside her daughter and we had a very interesting conversation. Everyone felt it was wonderful that we had travelled halfway around the world for me to receive my diploma in person. TV screens had been placed throughout the room so people could see photos of the winners and the videos that had been shown throughout the evening. One video I remember featured Alan Eustace achieving a new world record in skydiving. It was an emotional and proud moment when my turn came to receive the diploma and take my place on the stage with all the other Paul Tissandier Diploma recipients. Later in the evening all the winners assembled on stage again for a group photo session. It was another memorable moment to share the stage with so many famous people and facing dozens of cameras. It was big smiles all round. We were told the Airshow would be held the following morning at 7.30, in other words, before breakfast. Unfortunately the weather was not much better. The flying display had to be cancelled again. They did manage to inflate a couple of hot air balloons, one of them displaying the logo for the World Air games in Dubai in December and a couple of skydivers landed beside the ship, displaying an FAI banner. Later in the morning I had an interesting talk with Klaus Ohlmann (Klaus has received two Lilienthal medals) about his flying in the Himalayas and whilst we did this, we chanced to help derig the Airbus E-Fan aircraft which had been displayed on the wharf next to the ship so it could be transported back to the Airbus factory in Toulouse. And then, having said good-bye to our many new friends, we started on our long journey home.
November 2015–January 2016
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OBITUARY
JOHN CURTIS
Taupo Gliding Club regrets the passing of a stalwart member and good friend, John Curtis, aged 92. He was our Club Patron and staunchly carried out duties of timekeeper until shortly before his death. John was affectionately known as Captain SHOB, an acronym for Silvery Headed Old Bastard. The name was appropriately given to him by Brian Gault, one of his Air New Zealand students while on Lockheed Electra training. He had some interesting quirks: ›› He would sign letters and cards to his children with, ‘Your old Pater, SHOB’. ›› When answering the phone he would say, “Speak to me.” After being asked how he was he would reply, “I’m still breathing,” and that would normally be followed by, “Who’s fallen off the perch since we last talked?” ›› He had a mobility scooter after he was no longer able to drive. He refused to have a flag on it and replaced the flag with a strobe light. That would be pilot thinking. ›› He loved the ladies and was still chasing chicks at 92, albeit a little slowly. John flew B25 Mitchell bombers during the latter part of WW11, and then had a distinguished career in aviation in New Zealand, flying for NAC and Air New Zealand. The following article is excerpts from the eulogy made by his
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son Terry, at the service to commemorate his life. John had an interesting career and life. The desire to fly was apparent when he was 11 and he bunked school to see an aircraft which was operating out of a local field near Te Aroha. As he was entering the field, his father drove up. He was bunking work as well and offered John a flight. The seed was sown. Circa 1941 John joined the RNZAF and was initially trained at Taieri in DH82 Tiger Moths, before being sent to Canada as part of the Empire Flight Training Scheme, where he graduated as a Sergeant Pilot. He was posted to Operational training in New Brunswick on Ventura aircraft, then posted to England initially
OBITUARY to train on Mosquitoes. This changed, and he was transferred to train on B25 Mitchell bombers and posted to 180 Squadron RAF, one of three RAF B25 squadrons in 2 Group, part of the 2nd TAF. After D-Day they were operating over Northern Europe from Melsbroek in Belgium, operating in daylight at altitudes of 10000 feet with flak and fighters to contend with. It was a daunting prospect but he completed 49 missions by the time his tour was complete. After completing his tour John was posted as a Group staff pilot flying Avro Anson Mark 111 and instructing on B25s. Regular escapades occurred when they would fly from Belgium with looted champagne for parties back at RAF Station Fersfield in Norfolk. Others would bring back salmon from Scotland. At the end of war in Europe John was offered a Commission in the RAF, which he turned down as he wanted to come back to NZ to participate in the future of commercial aviation. Arrival back in NZ revealed no aviation jobs until 1947 when NAC was formed, where he started as a Second Officer on Lockheed 10A Electras, Lodestars, and DC3s based in Palmerston North. He received his command quickly, flying Lockheed Lodestars and DC3s. After moving to Christchurch he became involved in training early in his airline career. He was included in the first team to train on the Fokker F27 with TAA in Australia, and then was selected as part of the ferry team for the delivery of the first F27, ZK-BXA, flying from Amsterdam to WLG over a period of some 10 days. Progression to Vickers Viscount followed. In 1965 with Air New Zealand expanding into the jet DC8
SA LE
operation, he was recruited directly into the company as a training Captain on the Lockheed Electra L188C and moved to Auckland. For the next two years John trained many of the large influx of pilots joining Air New Zealand at that time. He moved on to DC8s in 1967, and was posted to Sydney for two years, flying to Singapore and Hong Kong. His final type conversion was to the DC10, which he flew until his retirement from Air New Zealand in 1978. He then flew DC10s with Singapore Airlines and Garuda Indonesian Airlines, before returning to New Zealand and retirement in Taupo. While in Taupo, John flew for Taupo Air Services and joined the Taupo Gliding Club. His passion for aviation affected his relationships with his grandchildren. He had plenty to talk about when aviation was mentioned but anything else was of no consequence. His two grandsons became involved in aviation, Bradley is an Avionics Sergeant with RAAF, currently working on F18 Hornets, and Matthew has just been promoted to Captain with Air Nelson flying Q300 aircraft. In 2012 John travelled with a group of RNZAF Bomber Command veterans to England to attend the unveiling of the Bomber Command Memorial. While there he suffered from bronchitis and pneumonia and had to attend in a wheelchair which gave him a front row position for the ceremony. This included meeting and speaking with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. RIP Capt. John Curtis
25% O
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31 DE C
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NZ Agent: Roger Sparks 0274 956 560 r.sparks@xtra.co.nz
November 2015–January 2016
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My First
LAND OUT BY KRISHNA PILLAI OF AUCKLAND AVIATION SPORTS CLUB
The idea of a ‘Silver C’ badge distance flight was started by our CFI, Ray “Sparrow-hawk” Burns, sometime at the end of September. September was far enough from our annual Labour Weekend camp at the Matamata Soaring Centre to make anything seem possible. A month out from the camp, another hopeful and I were invited to Whenuapai by Ray who had loaded some waypoints into his Calibri to give us a feel for the device. A couple of weeks later I had a couple of dodgy ‘short field’ landing attempts on runway 26 and paced out a landing roll of about 150m. Not really good enough…
S
ometime in the week before the camp I made sure I had the latest VNC chart and folded it exposing both Matamata and Thames. In poking through my aviation stuff, I found handouts from the cross-country course I attended in 2010 with a helpful list of things to take in the glider: sun hat, food, water, warm clothes, money, a pen and paper. But no mention of a paperback novel to pass the time while waiting for a retrieve crew. On the day of the big event a mixture of Labour Weekend lassitude, a jet-sustainer demonstration, and my procrastination meant I was last on the grid in the club single Astir, GMP, by the time the low cloud had evaporated. Unexpectedly and even before my pre-flight checks, Graham helpfully hauled me out of my place in the queue for our FK9 tug and hooked me up behind the Piako Pawnee, BZA. In the blink of an eye I was catapulted into the air. All careful calculations about release height were left on the strip behind me as I found myself at 2000 feet and still climbing towards the only visible thermal within the MBZ. We reached it at 2700 feet and I bunged off. At this stage I was so pessimistic about achieving a 50 km task I didn't even really care that the task was made even more difficult by the high release height. ‘Time for a local soaring flight,’ I thought, but all the time and effort that my club mates had put into my attempt, including giving me priority in GMP on the first soaring day of the camp, weighed heavily on my conscience. In
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psychodynamic terms it was ‘castration anxiety’, meaning I knew I would be irreversibly mutilated if I came back without even trying. So correcting my wheel-down mistake, helpfully pointed out by Oscar November, I out-climbed the other gliders in the gaggle and pushed out for the Kaimai Range. Changing to 133.55, the news was not great as I heard Kilo Papa proclaiming, “There’s a whole lot of sink on the south face of Te Aroha”. I joined the ridge somewhere near the northern end of the ‘nursery slopes’ and spent half an hour getting a feel for the conditions. Finally established, I crawled my way along the range onto the western slopes of Te Aroha where the vario bleeped politely. By this stage all thoughts of returning to the airfield were gone and as huge, blue and uninviting the sky to the north appeared, it became the only logical way to go but first a climb on Te Aroha. The mountain gave me all of her 3100 feet and I departed for the Tirohia spur under a blue sky with scattered streaks of struggling cumulus. I dolphin-soared to the spur at 2000 feet with options diminishing. Spotting a thin trace of wispy cotton puffs stretching from the corner of the swamp to Paeroa, I pushed onward at just a little above best L/D. As I approached the swamp I picked my first paddock, noticing how none of them really were convenient to a road. I was so intent on this particular puzzle that it took me about 5 seconds to realize the vario was screaming +4 and I rolled left into the cleanest thermal of the day climbing smoothly to 2500 feet before I lost it.
A ‘positive’ landing was followed by a
rapid bone-rattling deceleration along the concealed and cattle-rutted ground.
With that boost Paeroa was easy where, having checked out the race course, I tried to find another climb with Steve Wallace’s wise words ringing in my ears that Thames was possible as a final glide from only 3500 feet. I never made it higher than 2000 feet from that point onward. The Waihou River was a lazy blazing serpent in the afternoon sun and Thames the glowing prize just beyond as I entered my kahu-dreaming and man and machine became one. We headed north, floating lines of zero lift, magically finding enough to stay aloft for another 15 km. Then the spell broke and the altimeter started to wind backward slowly but steadily. It was the ridge tops or the paddocks and I chose the latter, finally selecting the place of my first land out for the length and the beautiful lush grass, just like a bowling green. A couple of orbits to take in all the details and I finally switched off the vario at 1000 feet and joined downwind, remembering to lower the landing gear at something like 600’. I chose an approach speed of 55 knots which in the final analysis was probably a little underdone as the sink-rate got away on me a little right at the end, requiring a bit of nose down. A ‘positive’ landing was followed by a rapid bone-rattling deceleration along the concealed and cattle-rutted ground. Landing roll less than 100 m. Having read my Cross Country course notes I was fully prepared, phoning through my GPS coordinates, donning a warm jacket and enjoying a muesli bar within minutes. I was also gratified to feel a cool breeze blowing straight down my landing vector. Then it was time to meet the farmer, who happened to be the farmer’s daughter busily finishing the milking. She didn’t seem at all impressed when I pointed out GMP, noting, “It happens three or four times per year,” on either of their two farms. Anyway, the powers-that-be sent two sprightly young men to rescue me, not the grizzled old air-dogs I was expecting. After a few false starts and a bit of vehicle swapping they arrived about 90 minutes after I had, just about the time I had started whittling bits of wood. Somehow we managed to pull the glider apart and
get it safely in the trailer. Thank you Jack and Kishan, your slim builds belie your great strength. When it came to towing the trailer out through the maze of cattle races, we jammed the back of the trailer against a fence post. Trying to reverse our way out of the situation, the wires of the fence dug their way into the aluminium sidings. Inspecting the damage at close range I decided to grab the wires to yank them out, promptly receiving a slapping 1000 volts. When I leant on the trailer to recover, that gave me 1000 volts as well. Sensing another imminent castration, I thought, “Nice one Krishna, you’ve stuffed this retrieve up badly”. It was with some desperation that young Jack and I approached a nearby farm cottage and knocked on the back door. Above the barking of a dog we heard the hissing of a hose and then a demure, “Just a minute” before the farmer’s daughter rounded the corner in her bikini and a towel. I’m guessing that Jack’s love of gliding hit a new high right about then. After she pulled on her Swanni and gumboots the capable young woman disconnected the current and a few of the wires, enabling us to swing the trailer out of danger and get on our way. Despite my adventure, as it turned out I held the Pugsy-Buchanan cup, the Aviation Sports Club’s trophy for the last land out, for less than 24 hours. Thanks to those who saved warm platefuls of Jan Mace’s famous roast dinner for us. Thanks to Gary Patten for the use of his truck for the retrieve. And thanks to Gary as my OO, who tells me, having reviewed the logged track, I am still in with a fighting chance of being awarded the 50 km, despite my high release and the paddock landing short of Thames. I have my fingers crossed and have learnt some valuable lessons about paddock selection, electric fences and most of all, the joys of cross country flying. We have since learned that Kris did achieve his 50 km with this flight. Congratulations - Ed.
November 2015–January 2016
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Glider
TRACKING BY TIM BROMHEAD
The Flarm Raspberry Pi receiver installed at Taupo Gliding Club. This connects to an aerial on the roof.
REASONS TO TRACK
GROUND BASED RADAR
That ultimate goal - live tracking of all gliders, every moment they are flying. Safety is of course a major reason to track all gliders. If someone has an accident we want to know where they are as quickly as possible. This applies to general club flying or contests. During a contest, it’s entertaining and useful for those on the ground to know where people are around the task and those pilots who land back or finish early, can see what’s happening. It also enables watching from afar, online. With high resolution tracking around an airfield, we can do things like automate time-sheeting, so you know which aircraft flew when, and for how long. So what would be the ideal tracking system? »» Fast updates – ideally every second. »» Effortless – no action needed by pilots for the system to work. »» Global – all online. »» Affordable – we can’t put $10k of equipment in every glider and we don’t really want ongoing annual or monthly costs. »» Alerts to problems – there’s no point assuming someone is OK because we got a ping from them. If they stop moving and don’t get in touch, there might be something wrong. There are a number of tracking systems available, let’s run through the pros and cons of them.
Great if you’re Airways with radar screens, not so great if you’re not.
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ADS-B OUT Many large aircraft do have ADS-B transponders already. These broadcast out your GPS location, unlike the old transponders. ADS-B needs ground based antennas to be picked up. Airways of course has antennas that will eventually replace the existing radar system. Anyone can set up a ground based ADS-B receiver. The most popular tracking website http://www.flightradar24.com/ has a network of over 8000 ADS-B receivers set up around the world, and it appears most of NZ is covered.
Pros
»» We’re going to have to get ADS-B transponders at some point anyway.
»» Better range to receivers compared to Flarm. »» Network of receivers is already set up. Cons
»» Won’t work down to ground level, or in valleys where there are no receivers.
»» Expensive to replace existing Mode C transponder. Expect around $4500 for an ADS-B out transponder plus approved GPS plus installation.
GLIDER TRACKING
flightradar24.com website
»» Most gliders won’t be required to buy one for probably »» »»
another 10 years. Power consumption of transponders might mean some pilots will still fly with transponders off. No API to access flightradar24’s data. This means if we wanted to use ADS-B data for our own website, we would need to set up our own network of receivers.
SPOT Spot devices are a simple tracking device that transmits your position via satellite every 2.5 to 10 minutes, depending on how much you pay. Basic tracking service is US$150/year. The device is US$150.
Pros
»» Works anywhere, as long as you have a clear view of the sky, including on the ground.
»» Device cheap to buy. »» Has buttons to say landed out safely, or need help. Can also notify emergency services.
Cons
»» In practice we’ve found some position reports can be slow to come through, or can skip so it can be up to 20 minutes to see where the glider is. Usually every 10-15 minutes, unless you pay more for 2.5 minute tracking. »» SPOTs have to be activated each day before you set off. If you are not paying for the tracking service, you have to remember to push the button every hour. »» Each SPOT device has to be configured for the site you are flying at. »» No altitude provided. Only Latitude & Longitude. Gliding New Zealand has the SPOT tracking website set up at http://tracking.gliding.co.nz/. There is also a more expensive alternative to SPOT, called the DeLorme InReach. This works the same way, but does provide faster updates with altitude.
The existing North Island Flarm receivers
MOBILE PHONES If you are flying in an area with good cell coverage, mobile phone tracking is an option.
Pros
»» Probably works with the phone you already have. »» Lots of apps available. »» Many apps send data to http://www.livetrack24.com Cons
»» Only works with mobile reception, which can be spotty especially in the South Island among mountains.
»» Drains your phone battery. FLARM
Designed for glider to glider collision detection, it was discovered Flarm signals can be picked up on the ground reasonably easily. Flarm is basically a lower powered version of ADS-B. Using a network of ground based receivers, large areas can be covered, much like ADS-B. A single receiver can reach up to about 50km, sometimes further.
Pros
»» You should get one for collision detection reasons. »» Updates every 10 seconds. »» Low power compared to transponder. »» Always on. »» Configure once only. No need to do anything before you fly »»
each day. Could be used to track club aircraft flight times.
Cons
»» Only works if in line of sight to a receiver so won’t be much use in a paddock in a valley or down low.
»» Suits flat land sites, not mountains.
You can view all Flarm tracked gliders worldwide using the website http://live.glidernet.org/. The UK has a huge network covering most of the country. November 2015–January 2016
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GLIDER TRACKING
Potential Flarm receiver sites. Green are already installed
SO WHICH SYSTEM SHOULD WE CHOOSE? The answer is we don’t have to choose just one system. The long term goal is to merge the data from the different systems, so no matter what you’re using, it will all show up on a single map. All these systems provide GPS coordinates for your glider, so merging the data isn’t difficult. Flarm might give the most frequent updates, and then if you’re out of range of a receiver your SPOT could fill the gaps. Flarm receivers probably aren’t going to work well for more remote clubs or the South Island due to the mountains. In the North Island, where multiple clubs fly in overlapping areas and terrain is flatter, it should be useful.
THE PLAN FOR THE NORTH ISLAND So far we have four Flarm receivers in the North Island: Drury, Matamata, Taupo and one on top of Dave Jensen’s shed near Tauranga. This is thanks to the efforts of Julian Mason, who has been putting the receivers together. The Matamata Soaring Centre has approved funding for more receivers, which cost about $200 each. You can see the existing receivers at http:// ognrange.onglide.com/ The goal to get most of our flying area covered from Drury to National Park. The recent Taupo contest had a freshly installed antenna and John, the contest director, thought it was brilliant, compared to the SPOT tracking. Even with the limited range of a single receiver, it gave a much better sense of what was happening. Once we get more receivers set up, it’ll be even more comprehensive and useful. You can see the range of the receivers in green, and you can see how the Taupo receiver reaches up the valley towards Galatea. We didn’t fly south or west much so there’s no data in those directions yet. GliderNet.org is a free organisation that has designed and
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built the software and hardware for the receivers, and hosts the servers needed to collect all the data. There are full instructions on the website on how to build your own receiver. Contact Julian if you’re interested in an aerial as these are ordered in bulk from China.
HOW TO ENSURE YOUR FLARM WORKS WITH GLIDERNET.ORG A Flarm can be set up to either broadcast the hard coded Flarm radio ID or you can manually configure a 6 digit ID to identify your Flarm device. We recommend making your Flarm ID the same as your CAA assigned transponder HEX code. You can obtain your HEX code on the CAA website under Aircraft -> Aircraft Register, then enter your registration mark. It will look something like C81743. On some devices, you can configure your ID directly on the device. On others, for example those without a screen, you have to put a configuration file flarmcfg. txt on the SD card inside your Flarm. Once done, there are 2 separate databases to set up, to link your HEX code with your glider registration: 1. http://www.flarmnet.org/ 2. http://ddb.glidernet.org/ The first website, flarmnet.org, is the database used by devices on gliders themselves, so your registration will show up on screens inside other glider cockpits. e.g. on LX9000s. Click “Register Now!” and follow the instructions. The second website http://ddb.glidernet.org is the Flarm glider tracking network database. Put your details in here to ensure your registration will show up on the tracking website http://live.glidernet.org/. If you don’t do this, you’ll instead be assigned a random pair of letters with an underscore at the front. e.g. “_4A”, which changes every day. By ensuring you’re in the database, you’ll show up with your rego instead. So there we have it, an overview of all tracking technologies currently available. At present each system has its own website to view where gliders are, which isn’t ideal but we’ll be working on this into the future.
Another World Record for
BY TERRY DELORE
Saturday 14 November, the practice day for the South Island Regional Gliding Contest was a great wave day in Omarama. Nick Oakley and Alex McCaw, only a few weeks out from Junior Worlds, both flew a 1000 km flight and Terry Delore took his ‘short wing’ ASW 27 out to attempt an FAI speed triangle. He was successful.
O
Photo John McCaw
Photo John McCaw
TERRY DELORE
n Saturday 14 November in Omarama we had reasonable wave conditions. They were not ideal but suitable for an attempt at the 500k speed triangle 15m world record. The existing record was 162.8kph. Take off was about 12.30 onto Mt Horrible and an hour later, wave was contacted in the lee of the Wether Range, east of the Lindis Pass. Start point was over Lake Benmore North arm. Nearing the Northern turn point at Mt Chudley and still well below the summit of Mount Cook and narrowly avoiding a pasting from the rotor, the 27 contacted the Cook wave which was a steady 15 knots up and smooth as silk. This allowed a good setup for the run South. The Dunstan wave was going very well, allowing a climb to 20,000 feet which was needed as the cloud cover around the
On the down-wind leg in the Waitaki River valley a few miles from McCaw country, Kurow, the
ground speeds were peaking at 360kph. southern turn was looking impossible to navigate. The problem was, there was a big into-wind push through the strong sink entering the Nevis Valley on the east side of the Remarkable Mountains. So far so good. Most of the flight was at a steady speed and mostly in rising air. On the down-wind leg in the Waitaki River valley a few miles from McCaw country, Kurow, the ground speeds were peaking at 360kph. Reaching the down-wind and final turn at a comfortable altitude there was steady wave right at the turn and then a broken line of Strato Cu wave. My final achieved triangle speed was 185kph, a good margin on the existing record. This is the first time I have completed a task using the Clearnav computer and it was a definite advantage being able to have all information clearly presented to fly safely and fast. The Clearnav shows a snail track of the previous route flown with marks in green for rising air and red for descending air. The bigger the dots, the stronger the lift or sink. You just follow the dots. The most challenging part of the flight was negotiating air traffic clearances through the Queenstown airspace and trying to understand the fast talking, air traffic control lady. I requested the clearance as I was just leaving the Mount Cook area and received it nearly 160 km later just as it was needed. Thanks for all the support! I have plenty left in the tank. November 2015–January 2016
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My Flight of a
LIFETIME BY JOHN DAY
PHOTOS OF AIRCRAFT INDICATIVE OF AIRCRAFT USED BUT POSSIBLY NOT THE ACTUAL AIRCRAFT.
My Flight of a Lifetime occurred one fine morning at Hood Airfield, Masterton, during the second New Zealand Gliding Championships, on the 22 of November 1964. The warm day started with a sky of lenticulars, altostratus and roll cloud, a classical day for wave flying promising altitude, distance and speed on a new scale.
I
cannot remember details of the met. forecast but I do remember struggling into all the warm clothing available, including two pairs of socks, Antarctic type boots, winter underwear, very thick trousers and shirts, and then sweating profusely while we rigged the glider in a light but warm nor’ west wind. When all the usual preparations were completed, I climbed into the glider and two more layers of clothing were added. In the glider, cockpit space was nil, something that turned out to be
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an advantage later. A friend added a thermos flask of soup to the maps, scarfs and gloves tucked around me. Fortunately I was one of the first on the tow list that day. Already the wind was increasing. Soon we were airborne and climbing upwind through turbulence into the foothills. This aero tow was an experience in itself. As the turbulence increased, my admiration for the tow pilot increased minute by minute. My aim was to tow under the primary roll cloud, thus ensuring that none of the advantage of an early tow was lost while struggling to move upwind from the second or third wave once I was underway, especially as my glider was designed for thermals, not wave. However, while on tow the situation steadily deteriorated. There was no sign of lift, no landing sites in sight, every chance of strong areas of down on releasing and the turbulence was increasing. The tow plane was moving all around my field of vision and I could see its control surfaces working hard. The tow pilot and I were both struggling to maintain the tow. The turbulence was outside normal limits and there was no respite. I became concerned that the tow pilot would concede defeat and
There were no landing sites, not a lot of height, nowhere to go and even the clouds were hard to read. What a fool. As an instructor I would have grounded anyone who had put themselves in a similar position. Don’t do as I do, do as I say.
jettison the tow. The occasional wisp of cloud moved past but no sign of lift. Eventually, when the first sign of lift did appear, I only spent 10 -15 seconds checking that it would not fade again. Even then, I only released the tow rope to save the tow pilot from making the decision for me. So – the familiar ‘thump’ and at last a chance for a proper look around at the terrain. There were no landing sites, not a lot of height, nowhere to go and even the clouds were hard to read. What a fool. As an instructor I would have grounded anyone who had put themselves in a similar position. Don’t do as I do, do as I say. Self-recrimination would not help though, so what was the next move? The lift was showing signs of fading. Was it going to be followed by a vast downdraft? Had the lift faded or had I just flown out of it? The bush underneath was windswept, there were no landing sites nearby and the departure airfield was out of reach; the nature of the aero tow had shown that. Even if I had found a paddock to land in, the increase in wind strength would have offered a good chance of writing off the glider on landing. The unremitting turbulence constantly interfered with any logical thought or decisions. One second I was about to stall,
a moment later the ASI was over the limiting speed for turbulence. All I could do was ‘fly a constant attitude’. The G loadings seemed excessive too. Any minute that Thermos of soup was going to go through the canopy. Perhaps a wing would suffer structural failure. If it did, would the parachute I was wearing be of any use? The occasional use of airbrakes to control airspeed wasted height too. Suddenly, another cloud appeared. A thin wisp of moisture formed just below me and upwind. At least I was able to watch it and see what the air in the area was doing. As I moved towards it, it climbed and rolled, being fed by more moisture from below. At this stage the variometer was dancing around, well below the zero mark. The hills seemed closer. Could I reach that little bit of cloud before sinking too low? Soon those wisps were nearly above me, I was only 200 feet lower than them but I was hoping something would happen soon. Suddenly there was a brief surge of lift then nothing, just that constant turbulence. My cloud seemed to have reformed downwind from me. What next? The airfield was even further away and much precious altitude had been lost exploring that wisp of cloud. That do or die effort. The November 2015–January 2016
41
FLIGHT OF A LIFETIME
John's barograph trace of the flight
variometer read about zero so perhaps I could afford time out to regain some composure and reassess the situation. If only that turbulence would stop rattling my brains around. Self-recrimination whispered in one ear again. Fear raised its ugly head too but there was no room for that either, one could not think while playing host to a vivid imagination, a prophet of doom. Before I could take any positive action there was another surge of lift and then I was surrounded by wisps of cloud. Little wisps growing and rising. The variometer joined them, pointing up higher and higher, then it started to fall back to zero again. What had gone wrong? Were are my thousands of drops of water that were going to show me the way to salvation? I turned back and joined those wandering wisps of cloud. The variometer started to rise again. At last hope conquered that relentless fear and a light started to shine in a confused mind. Another circle, and another, and the light brightened as understanding dawned. The altimeter confirmed what the variometer was showing, a steady climb. I had been thinking in terms of wave flying but it appeared any lift had to be treated like a thermal. That started to fit in with the text book diagrams of beautiful smooth Lenticular clouds, stacked one above the other, with a disjointed roll cloud rotating underneath. What I had to learn was how to use the roll cloud. My little wisps of cloud were that day’s roll cloud. All I had to do was circle in the roll cloud and it would carry me up to the lenticular. Or would it? Was the text book correct? The turbulence had not eased and bit by bit, the variometer dropped back to zero. Confusion returned. The airfield was still out of reach. That light in my mind must have been a false dawn so I straightened up, facing into wind. Another wisp of cloud formed out in front but this time I was above it. I dived out towards it, moving as fast as the turbulence would permit, all the while sinking down towards those precious drops of water. At the right time the variometer bumped and jerked its way out of debt. Yet again I was climbing in this vicious
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Tiger Moth towplanes
turbulence. I started circling and the altimeter kept going up. Nothing spectacular, but at least, in turbulence, it was always up. Hope grew stronger and visions of a glider lying shattered in a paddock started to fade. If only the turbulence would give some respite. Instead it seemed to be increasing again, or was that just a relaxed mind becoming more aware of its surroundings? The lift started to fade again. Once more the dive upwind produced an area of lift, confirming a pattern of circling until the lift faded then flying upwind to find more lift. As I gained height it became harder to move upwind. The turbulence limited air speed and the wind speed seems to be increasing. I was at a comfortable height so I tried performing zig-zags over my little wisps of cloud as they continued to rise and roll and twist. This worked quite well and the variometer showed a steady, slow climb. Bit by bit I moved free of the bush but there was still no sign of anywhere to land. I could only concentrate on getting full use of that violent air mixed with lift. Nothing spectacular but at least I was slowly climbing. Then suddenly the air became even more turbulent. A different turbulence. All I could do was brace myself and ensure that nothing moved around the cockpit. At least I was still climbing, but it was hard to confirm that. The turbulence had gained new intensity. Was it worth pressing on? What were the options? Once again turbulence interfered with logical thought. Just as suddenly, everything stopped moving, I was in complete calm. A quick check confirmed that the wings were still in place! Then a quick check of the instruments revealed: ASI, normal but not moving, perhaps it had frozen in position. The Variometer jammed against the up stop. The turbulence must have damaged it, BUT the hands of the altimeter were smoothly rotating up. Yes, I was climbing rapidly in calm air. In perfectly smooth air I was climbing at some incredible rate. How could the tremendous power to carry me up so fast, be so smooth? At last I could look at the beautiful lenticular clouds above
FLIGHT OF A LIFETIME
Then suddenly the air became even more turbulent. A different turbulence. All I could do was brace myself and ensure that nothing moved around the cockpit. At least I was still climbing, but it was hard to confirm that. The turbulence had gained new intensity. Was it worth pressing on? What were the options?
and forget about the turbulent hell below. First though: trim the glider, oxygen on, gloves on, tidy up the cockpit. Then line up two points out in front and another two off the wing tip to evaluate the wind. Eventually, as the height increased and the vertical speed decreased, the variometer managed to catch up with the glider and the needle dropped away from the up stop. The gliding contest was temporarily forgotten in the thrill of surviving such a frightening start to the flight and passing on to such perfect conditions. It was the sort of thing that one reads about in books, something that only happens to other people, those heroes of novels and not ordinary people like me. What was the New Zealand altitude record? This initial wave died at about 15,000 feet, or rather I lost it, but height was no longer a problem and one could quietly squander a few thousand feet looking for more wave lift. It was not difficult to find more wave and stay in it, climbing steadily. The view kept improving and the calm silence was ideal for sightseeing. But I was more than a tourist, sitting at the leading edge of a wave and steadily climbing, something else one reads about but never expects to experience. The middle of the North Island was out to my right. Mt. Egmont could be identified out in front. Wellington harbour was in place. The cloud in Cook Strait restricted the view of the South Island. Eventually I arrived at 30,000 feet, living on 100% oxygen. It was an unforgettable experience. Being able to lie back at this fairytale height wrapped in layers of warm clothing, with just the soft whispering of air over the canopy and a panoramic view of the bottom of the North Island cannot be described with words. My 35mm camera did not work at that temperature and my breath was freezing on the canopy. Being able to move around with the light pressure of one finger on the control column added another dimension. Some aerobatics at that height would have been yet another thrill but I was not sure how the kinetic energy numbers worked at that altitude so it was not worth the risk. This euphoria was eventually disturbed by my base station asking where I was. It transpired that the competition had been
cancelled for the day. Apparently, my tow pilot had landed back at the base, climbed out of the aircraft and announced loud and clear, “I am finished for the day,” then stomped off home. It is too late now to apologise for spoiling his day. I will never forget him. All other competitors had packed up and my crew wanted to go also. It had been a slow struggle over the last few thousand feet to 30,000 feet. and I was on 100% oxygen so it was being consumed quite quickly. There was not much hope of gaining the extra height required for a New Zealand altitude record so I decided to head back to base. I could not resist one final bit of self- indulgence. That morning there was no other air traffic in the area above 10,000 feet and the wave was quite strong from 15 – 25,000 feet. As seen on the barograph trace, I spent well over an hour and a half ‘playing’ between 15,000 feet and 20,000 feet while returning to Masterton for a landing. Would anyone be granted that freedom nowadays? However, playing in the wave did not leave the deep impression that the first part of the flight created. The descent from 20,000 feet was with full airbrakes all the way and only broken at about 8,000 feet to remove oxygen, gloves, etc. and establish airfield traffic, duty runway, etc. at Masterton. That is one flight I will never forget.
Notes:1. There was no Air Traffic Control in the Masterton area which was one reason gliding was popular there. 2. No GPS. 3. No computers. 4. An oxygen system was not standard equipment. 5. The only communication with the tow pilot was visual. 6. I had just a carefully polished glider and four accurate instruments. 7. At 30,000 feet the outside temperature was -30⁰C and my breath was freezing on contact with the canopy. The air conditioning unit kept a wide strip of the canopy clear. This air conditioning unit was just a small, manually operated air vent in front of the canopy. 8. The VHF radio needed an aerial on the glider. HF was a luxury but gave range. Coverage was only 2 or 3 channels. 9. Barometric record of the flight was just a needle moving over smoke on an aluminum foil. Not elegant but legible and I still have it for this flight. Not digital accuracy. 10. Waste not, want not. The cold weather gear was second hand. November 2015–January 2016
43
a question of safety STEVEN CARE National Operationals Officer
Instructors' Course Oct 15 A big thank you to all those who assisted with the course at Matamata this year. We had eight candidates and every one of them flew with a different instructor throughout the course and no one flew with an instructor/trainer from their own club.
New Regional Operations Officers A big welcome to Peter Thorpe who has now taken on the very important role of Northern Region Operations Officer role. He has an extensive flying background in both power and gliding. He has also been CFI of the Aviation Sport Club for many years and until last month was the GNZ Quality Assurance Manager. Contact details are: pbthorpe@xtra.co.nz phone 09 413 8483 or 0274 769 755. A welcome also to Mike Tucker from Wellington who is one of Wellington’s most experienced A Cat Instructors. Like Peter, he is well known and is taking over from Ross Anderson as the Central Region Operations Officer. Ross had been in the role for about four or five years and for the past few years has been trying to fill both this role and that of President of his club. The change-over date will be advised through the GNZ website.
an incident report in decades. There will be some upcoming changes to the form, which should make it easier to complete.
British Gliding Association Instructors' Manual I have a couple of editions of this very good manual. It has excellent illustrations and explanations that would be very hard for GNZ to match. There are some significant differences between BGA and GNZ, particularly their truncated circuits but also the fact that we are in a completely different operating and legislative environments. Never the less, the manual is outstanding and an excellent tool to go along side our Instructors' Manual. It can be obtained through the BGA website for GBP12 plus shipping etc.
CAA Aviation Safety Co-Ordinators' Course There are about three of these put on by CAA each year in various parts of the country. They are a two day course and if you have any interest in safety, are well worthwhile attending. The course is free and ideally suited to club CFIs or Deputy CFIs.
QGP Exams A new set of QGP exams are now out. CFIs are to ensure that they are using the up-to-date version.
Direct Supervison I have occasionally found some instructors and student pilots confused over what direct supervision means: “The instructor is present at the airfield of take-off, conducts a pre-flight briefing including guidance on the areas through which the flight is to be conducted, and monitors the progress of the flight (either from the ground or from another aircraft).” This applies to all non-QGP pilots and QGP pilots under the age of 16. It also applies to C Cat Instructors for the first 5 hours of instructing. An experienced C Cat may supervise solo flying and airfield operations, if they have been authorised by their CFI. Sometimes there are pilots that have their own glider and/or have been flying solo a long time, but without getting around to their QGP. Instructor panels need to know who in their club does not have a QGP and it is a good incentive to get the task done for both safety and instructor resources.
Incident Reporting I know I keep going on about incident reporting, but it is important. Every time I bring it up with a club, they vow and declare that they don’t have incidents. At times I have witnessed an incident at such clubs and it still doesn’t register that an OPs 10 form needs to be completed. Using a standard accident pyramid, for every fatal accident there 10 non injury accidents and 100 incidents. Our accident rate is around 10 to 15 per annum, so there should be 100 to 150 incidents per year. That means just over 2 incidents for every 15 members per annum. A club of 60 will have somewhere around 10 per year. There are 4 clubs that are around this level, but many more that have not submitted
44
November 2015–January 2016
NOW AVAILABLE FOR SALE
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Will be supplied ready to use fully loaded with software and maps Contact Jerry O'Neill jerryo@xtra.co.nz for more information
GNZ awards & certificates
SEPTEMBER 2015 – OCTOBER 2015
EDOUARD DEVENOGES GNZ Awards Officer
gnzawards@xtra.co.nz 40 Eversham Road, Mt Maunganui 3116.
QGP No 3298 3299 3300
Pilot’s Name Ives Gerster Mark J. McCulloch Brian D. Ruddell
Club Auckland ASC Nelson Lakes GC Kaikohe GC
AIR NZ CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Club Pilots Name Northern Division Piako Gliding Club David Muckle Taranaki Gliding Club Glyn Jackson Gliding Manawatu Robert Laskey Hawkes Bay Gliding Club Jason Kelly Taranaki Gliding Club Will Hopkirk Southern Division No claims so far
Date 1 10 2015 2 10 2015 6 10 2015
Glider
Distance
Points
Grob 102 Ventus 2 LS 3 LS 4 PW 5
381.11 km 393.09 km 209.30 km 98.21 km 38.60 km
442.61 389.95 232.61 106.99 51.53
Have you entered the Air New Zealand Cross Country Championship? The Sailplane Racing Committee are aware that many people are making winning flights during the year and yet people aren’t entering them into the Championships. It’s really easy to do so and you might just end up with a trophy to go with your great flight. Check out the rules below and get your entries in. You’ve got nothing to lose.
Apologies Lord vader (Contest Director)
our TiE fighter will depart shortly (in reply) Contest Director;
i find your Stormtrooper impression “disturbing”
AIR NEW ZEALAND CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP RULES 15 August 2015 1. Aim To stimulate cross-country flying from Club sites and particularly encourage pilots new to this aspect of the sport. 2. Organisers GNZ, through the Awards Officer. 3. Period of Contest From 1 October to 31 March in the following year. 4. Place of Contest Any properly controlled flight within New Zealand may qualify, except those by competitors at a GNZ sanctioned championship, during the period of the championships. 5. Entry Qualifications Any NZ resident glider pilot with a GNZ QGP certificate may enter the contest provided that, on the first day of the contest, no more than 10 years have elapsed since their QGP was awarded and they have not flown a ratified (or subsequently ratified) Gold distance flight. 6. Divisions: This is a one-class contest. Two seaters may be entered only when flown solo. There are two divisions, one for flights that commence soaring in the North Island and the other for flights that commence soaring in the South Island. 7. Handicaps and Scoring Current OLC handicaps and OLC Plus scoring will be applied. 8. Number of flights Competitors may fly as many tasks as they wish within the contest period, but only the six highest scoring flights of each competitor will count. However, competitors may enter both North Island and South Island divisions (i.e. six best flights taken in each island) 9. Submitting of flight logs Entry is by submitting .IGC flight files to the OLC in accordance with OLC rules. (There is no need to also submit flights to the GNZ Awards officer.) 10. Determination of placings The GNZ Awards Officer will check competitor eligibility and determine the final placings after 31 March each year. 11. Trophies Air New Zealand Cross Country Competition Trophies will be awarded to the winners of each division, normally at the GNZ Annual General Meeting.
N early Christmas time... don’t let vader know he’ll feel your presents... PHOTOS AND CAPTIONS BY GEOFF SOPER, 2015 SOUTH ISLAND REGIONAL
November 2015–January 2016
45
GLIDING NEW ZEALAND CLUB NEWS
CLUB DIRECTORY
Link for club info www.gliding.co.nz/Clubs/Clubs.htm Auckland Aviation Sports Club Club Website www.ascgliding.org Club Contact Peter Thorpe pbthorpe@xtra.co.nz Ph 09 413 8384 Base RNZAF Base Auckland (Whenuapai) 021 146 4288 Flying Weekends, Public Holidays
Norfolk Aviation Sports Club Club Website http://www.geocities.com/norfolkgliding/ Club Contact Kevin Wisnewski wizzbang@xtra.co.nz Ph (06) 756 8289 Base Norfolk Rd Flying Weekends and by appointment
Auckland Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingauckland.co.nz Club Ph (09) 294 8881, 0276 942 942 Club Contact Ed Gray info@glidingauckland.co.nz Base Appleby Rd, Drury Flying Weekends, Wednesdays, Public Holidays
Omarama Gliding Club Club Website http://www.omarama.com Club Contact Yvonne Loader loaders@clear.net.nz Ph (03) 358 3251 Base Omarama Flying 7 days a week by arrangement
Canterbury Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingcanterbury.co.nz Club Contact Kevin Bethwaite kevin.bethwaite@airways.co.nz Ph (03) 318 4758 Base Swamp Road, Springfield Flying Weekends, Public Holidays
Piako Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingmatamata.co.nz Club Contact Steve Care s.care@xtra.co.nz Ph (07) 843 7654 or 027 349 1180 Base Matamata Airfield, Ph (07) 888 5972 Flying Weekends, Wednesdays and Public Holidays
Central Otago Flying Club (Inc) Club Website www.cofc.co.nz Club Contact Phil Sumser phil.sumser@xtra.co.nz Base Alexandra Airport Flying Sundays, and by arrangement
Rotorua Gliding Club Club Website http://www.rotoruaglidingclub.blogspot.co.nz/ Club Contact Mike Foley roseandmikefoley@clear.net.nz Ph (07) 347 2927 Base Rotorua Airport Flying Sundays
Glide Omarama.com Website www.GlideOmarama.com Contact Gavin Wills gtmwills@xtra.co.nz Base Omarama Airfield Flying October through April 7 days per week Gliding Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau Club Website www.glidinghbw.co.nz Club Contact E-mail: info@glidinghbw.co.nz, Ph 027 2877 522 Base Hastings Airfield (Bridge Pa) and Waipukurau Airfield (December & February) Flying Sundays and other days by arrangement Gliding Hutt Valley (Upper Valley Gliding Club) Club Contact Wayne Fisk wayne_fisk@xtra.co.nz Ph (04) 567-3069 Base Kaitoke Airfield, (04) 526 7336 Flying Weekends, Public Hols., Mid week by arrangement Gliding Manawatu Club Website www.glidingmanawatu.org.nz Club Contact Ron Sanders Resanders@xtra.co.nz Base Feilding Aerodrome Flying Weekends, Public holidays Gliding Wairarapa Club Website http://www.glidingwairarapa.co.nz/ Club Contact Diana Braithwaite Ph (06) 308 9101 Base Papawai Airfield, 5 km east of Greytown Ph (06) 308 8452 or 025 445 701 Flying Weekends, or by arrangement Kaikohe Gliding Club Club Contact Peter Fiske, (09) 407 8454 Email Keith Falla keith@falla.co.nz Base Kaikohe Airfield, Mangakahia Road, Kaikohe Flying Sundays, Thursdays and Public Holidays Marlborough Gliding Club Club Website http://glide_marl.tripod.com Club Contact bmog@paradise.net.nz Base Omaka Airfield, Blenheim Flying Sundays and other days by arrangement Masterton Soaring Club Club Contact Michael O’Donnell modp@missionkayaking.com Ph (03) 473 1721 Base Masterton Aerodrome Flying By arrangement
South Canterbury Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingsouthcanterbury.co.nz Club Contact John Eggers johneggers@xtra.co.nz 33 Barnes St Timaru Base Levels Timaru & Omarama Wardell Field Flying Weekends, Public Holidays & by arrangement Taranaki Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingtaranaki.com Club Contact Peter Williams peter.williams@xtra.co.nz Ph (06) 278 4292 Base Stratford Flying Weekends and Public Holidays Taupo Gliding Club Club Website www.taupoglidingclub.co.nz Club Contact Tom Anderson Tomolo@xtra.co.nz PO Box 296, Taupo 2730 Ph (07) 378 5506 M 0274 939 272 Base Centennial Park, Taupo Flying 7 days a week Tauranga Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingtauranga.co.nz Club President Alan Belworthy a.belworthy@xtra.co.nz Ph 0274 960 748 Base Tauranga Airport Flying Weekends and Public Holidays, Wednesday afternoons and other times on request Wellington Gliding Club Club Website http://www.soar.co.nz Club President Philip Milne milnelaw@gmail.com Ph 021 803 37 Base Paraparaumu Airport Bookings Ph 04 297 1341 (clubhouse) Ph 027 618 9845 (operations) Flying Weekends and Public Holidays 7 days a week December through to March
The club news is your chance to share with the rest of the country and abroad, some of what makes your club the best gliding club in the world. Club scribes, please watch the deadlines (but we'll make allowances for special circumstances so contact the editor before you panic) and likewise, the word count is supposed to be 300 words to allow everyone to have a say. If you need more words than that, you probably should write a real article about that special event. Deadline for club news for the next issue 1 February 2016.
CANTERBURY October started with a club social at Tai Tapu Pub attended by 32 people. Weekend flying improved over the month with good flying in thermals, ridge and convergence. Some new gliders appeared on the field including Terry’s immaculate ASW 27b, Graham Johnson’s Shark, Jason Prices’ DG200 and Murray Philpotts’ ASH 31. We had visits from the West Coast ATC unit and Working Bees over a few weekends insured most of our snow damaged hangar guttering was repaired and other jobs completed. Labour Weekend was well attended with a quiz on Saturday night. This was followed by a lovely BBQ meal on Sunday produced by Martine, Anoki and Mika. We had 15 gliders soaring on the Monday. Nick Oakley and Alex McCaw are doing the club proud and are now in Australia gearing up for the World Junior Champions. We wish them every success. Many club members have been busy attending either Jerry’s Cross Country course and/or the South Island Regionals. It is looking like being a great season for the club. JM
GLIDING WAIRARAPA In psychology labs the world over, a
Whangarei District Gliding Club Club Website www.igrin.co.nz/~peter/gliding.htm Club Contact Paul Rockell rockelkaym@xtra.co.nz Base Rockelkaym Ridge, Gibbs Road, Puhi Puhi Flying Weekends and Public Holidays
Nelson Lakes Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingnelson.co.nz Club Contact Frank Saxton franksaxton@gmail.com Ph (03) 546 6098 Base Lake Station Airfield, St.Arnaud Ph (03) 521 1870 Flying Weekends and Public Holidays Canterbury:
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November 2015–January 2016
CLUB NEWS
ND
Canterbury:
proven method for testing a creature’s intelligence, resolve or sheer desperation is to put the creature in a maze and get it to find food. The semi-evolved glider pilot is apparently one such creature. As a by-product of recent ‘negotiations’ between local land owners and the council, the aforementioned pilots have been forced to adopt increasingly byzantine routes to their goal. Undeterred and being in possession of good cheer and opposable thumbs, our pilots have gleefully taken up the challenge and have, mostly, made it onto the airfield with minimal wear on their cars’ suspensions. The ‘negotiations’ have now advanced to the point where the maze has been dismantled, though our pilots are still wary of further interventions as they make a beeline for the hangar and a good day’s flying. On one such day, there were two K13s and two instructors on the field but no students, it being the night before the Kuranui College Ball so even the staunchest of students were being crow-barred into tuxedos and gowns in preparation. Furthermore it was blowing
a stiff nor-westerly with obvious rotor cloud overhead. What to do? Go flying, of course. A winch launch to 1500’ took us into rotoraided thermals and then higher. The cockpit of a K13 is remarkably cold and windy at 9000’, though Carterton looks a lot better from that height. Many things do. Field-wise, work continues apace on the Wellington club hangar. The framing is up. Power and water are now installed. The weather’s improving and the locals have been seen renewing their licences for display of their knees in public. Then we get a southerly and the knees retreat behind sensible trousers while their owners contemplate new and adventurous ways to get to the airfield. Psychologists would have a field day at our field. DH
GLIDING HAWKES BAY AND WAIPUKURAU The club currently has a strong youth contingent. Allie Thompson celebrated her 13th birthday in style by going solo on
Cliding Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau: Above: Allie Thompson first solo. Below: Hawkes Bay thermals.
her birthday on 1st November. The local paper featured this great result. Her family organised a birthday BBQ, held at the airfield for all members to enjoy. Allie followed this up by completing her ‘A’ certificate the following weekend. Another youth member, 14 year old Ryan Maney, has also gone solo with others working their way towards this initial goal. The enthusiasm shown by this group is a great benefit for the club. The club is planning to send a contingent to the Omarama Youth Soaring Development Camp in December along with our selflaunching Grob 103C Twin III SL GHB. The Infinity Foundation Ltd and the Thompson family have generously given the club donations for FLARMS. Membership wise, with the influx of youth members, the club is in the best shape it has been for the last 10 years. Helmut Hahn, a qualified glider pilot and instructor from South Africa, has also joined the club ranks. Thermals and convergences have all been evident and utilised by members. Wave to date has been largely conspicuous by its absence but one recent Sunday did allow some newer members to experience a small taste of Hawkes Bay wave. The auto engine powered Skylux has finally received CAA approval and its test flying program has begun. It needs to complete 40 hours of flying before it can start towing gliders. The club has not yet
November 2015–January 2016
47
CLUB NEWS
Nelson Lakes: Lake Station and looking south
reached any conclusions on its future towing operations. The club held its AGM in October which saw no changes to the existing committee. Planning continues for the Central Districts Championships (Sunday 14th February Saturday 20th February 2016 at Waipukurau) with an entry form and further details available via the club website at http://www. glidinghbw.co.nz/links.html We look forward to another great summer of soaring.
NELSON LAKES I’m not sure how to describe spring this year so far. We have had a couple of cracker days and others have been more of a challenge but the days are a lot longer, warmer and the flights generally longer. Club wise, things are ticking over, but yet to really hit its stride coming out of winter. There have been some cross country flights around the traps and a couple of land outs, including one where George had to ‘acquire’ a digger to rescue Marc who was flying Mike’s K6e. We flew the farmer and his family in gratitude the following weekend. We did 34 launches one club day in September which is some kind of recent record. The winch earned its pint of oil that day.
Nelson Lakes: Jeremy and Hercules
48
Piako:
We have a few regulars away over the next while so while the cats away….. We have been kicked off our strip for three weeks in November by our Defence Force as they complete an exercise. Some of our members will head south and some will use the time to collect brownie points to go hard in December. We shared our skies with Globemasters and Hercules in the last weekend of October as they did some warm up flights in the area. They kept on cruising past at the same height as we were hanging out. We plan to have one day at Tapawera while we are homeless when the wind is right. In a SW there is a low ridge there which looks to be great fun. Ken and Marc are running a Ab-initio course in December but with a minor tweak, instead of being a week we are going it over two long consecutive weekends to help fit in with everyone’s lives. This is aimed to both boosting some current members towards going solo and starting
some new members out. We have also set our annual flying week for 20th - 28th February 2016. Captain Sink
PIAKO We had a very well attended annual dinner on the 19th Sept followed by an equally well attended Start of Season briefing on the 26th Sept. This year it ran like clockwork with all five good quality presenters sticking to allotted time frames. The Instructors Course on 9th, 10th and 11th Oct was well attended and apart from the Saturday morning the weather was good for a change. There were reports of 8 knot thermals to 5,000 feet on the Friday afternoon. We had a visit from the Tauranga club the following weekend and turned on a good ridge day on the Saturday. Auckland Aviation Sports made their annual pilgrimage on Labour Weekend. There was no ridge flying,
Taranaki: GZW releasing fom tow
November 2015–January 2016
Hawkes Bay: Returning to Hastings.
CLUB NEWS but the weather was reasonably soarable. There were quite a few land-outs this year, all good practice for the coming season. Coming up the Matamata Soaring Centre are hosting a Cross Country Course 23rd to 27th Nov and North Island Regionals 29th Nov to 5th Dec. The ATC are having their national gliding course 13th to 19th Dec and our Xmas camp runs from 26th Dec to the 5th Jan. Our annual trip to Raglan is from 2nd to 17th Jan (but may go out to the 24rd). The Walsh Flying School is at Matamata from the 6th Jan to the 22nd and they will be having a quite significant 50th celebration air show at the airfield on the 16th January. SC
TAUPO Spring is here and with it the changeable weather systems. Flying has been spasmodic for our students and the more serious pilots have been patiently waiting for those classic days offering the optimum flying conditions for cross country flights. Our Central Plateau Soaring Contest has been held and we had four flying days during the week. The contest has the same airspace as the Nationals which are to be held here Jan/Feb 2016 so many pilots used this as a shake down to refamilarise themselves with the area. It was good to see new as well as returning pilots put their planes through some challenging tasks. Vintage Kiwi will be here over the first week of the Nationals so we will be rather busy. The club A Team has been flat out rebuilding the club kitchen after a slow leak soaked the floor right through thus resulting in a total rebuild. Working bees have also resulted in a spring clean over the entire club and facilities and the place is looking great. We will be holding our Christmas Camp again and already have a few pilots heading our way. We also have Inferno 2016, where 900 14 to 18 year olds are camped in Rotorua 10th to 13th January with many showing interest in a Glider Flight. This will keep our instructors busy, I am sure. On a sadder note, our Club Patron John Curtis passed away. There is a separate article about John and his involvement with the club and his flying career in this issue. His presence will be missed throughout the Club. Brett
F OR S A L E • WA N T E D • S E R V IC E S • E V E N T S We take our classifieds list from the GNZ website and from ads detailed with us personally. To update your ad, please go online or advise Hadley Bognuda, our webmaster. Ads notified to me will appear on this page but we are unable to make changes for you on the web page. Please contact the webmaster if your item sells.
GLIDERS LS 3 ZK-GLK • 3240 hrs. Cambridge LNav & GPS Nav 20, Oxygen, National parachute, wooden trailer. Hangar space Auckland, Drury. Open to Offers. Peter Himmel, email: HimlP@xtra.co.nz 09 479 1192 or 021 076 8805 Nimbus 2b ZK-GIW • Next ARA due Dec 2016 1857hrs, 533 flts. PU paint, fixed tail plane. All surfaces sealed and mylared, tabulator tape, mask winglets, double bladed airbrakes, tinted canopy, adjustable seat back, L-Nav, GPS-Nav, Oxy, C Mode Transponder, National parachute, tow out gear, trestles, electric wing rigging cradle. Trailer refurbished and New Trojan Axles fitted. Located Auckland $45,000. Marc Morley morleym27@gmail.com. Ph +64 274 626 751 Libelle 201b, GIU • #579 out of 601 made. Approx 2400 hours 1688 launches (20 August) O2, Transponder, 6 channel Tait radio, Borgelt B40 vario, Chute, Trailer. Good original finish. Annuals currently underway. $18K. Phone Paul 021 331 838 or email P_Marshall@xtra.co.nz ASW15, ZK-GGO • S/N 15069. Microair radio and transponder. Cambridge 302 DDV and 303 nav screen. $15,000 ono. Ph 027 497 2723 or email g_gaddes@xtra.co.nz DG 300 Elan • GOZ (3E-99) Full panel. Road trailer. Excellent full capacity water bags made in the USA bring glider up to all up weight of 250kgs. Near new electronic oxygen system and good sized bottle. 750 channel Dittel Radio. Very good with 4 pre-set channels. Borgelt Vario with average and glide computer. Winter Vario and Altimeter and excellent compass. Errol Shirtliff. Phone 03 526 8724 or email shirtliff@xtra.co.nz Lak 12. ZK-GRR • 20m Glider. Open/18m class flapped glider. 50:1 performance with a wide range of wing loadings. A nice glider to fly with no bad vices. Always hangared, no crashes. Price includes trailer, Australian parachute, tow out gear. Just had 1000 hr and 20 year check done, came through perfectly. Price reduced $35,000. May sell half hangar share. Phone Bill Mace 027 541 0948 Ventus ct ZKG-OP • Excellent condition. C302/ PNA, EDS oxy, 4 x sets of tips from Maumuer
15m winglets to 18m wingtips with winglets. All towout gear. Good trailer. $105,000 price reduced. Contact Patrick Driessen Ph 027 486 6441 patdriessen@clear.net.nz Janus ZK-GSH • Very tidy two seater training, cross country, completion glider. 3164 hrs. Built 1977. Retractable undercarriage, water ballast, winch or aero tow. Tow out gear, wing covers and trailer. Selling due to lack of use. For sale from the Hauraki Aero Club, gliding division. $50,000. Ph 027 470 8915. Hauraki-ac@xtra.co.nz Grob Speed Astir 2B, ZK-GUB • Flapped 15m, 40:1 glide ratio, approx. 2300hrs, oxygen (A8A); Terra Transponder, 2 varios; good trailer plus tow-out gear, gelcoat in amazing condition, slim-pack parachute, excellent first glider and competitive club-class machine, hangared Omarama, reluctantly selling her after 20+ yrs of fun, best value per LD point glider in the country. $25,000. Ph 03 318 1331 (evenings) paullinda@xtra.co.nz SILENT IN • Self Launching Sailplane $55K. Alisport (Italy) self launching sailplane with retracting Alisport 302efi FADEC 28hp engine driving a monoblade propeller. Full details, Google 'Alisport Silent In' or alisport.com. Airframe 890hrs, engine and propeller less than 4hrs (new 2013). Removeable winglets, tinted canopy, usual instruments plus Trig TT21 transponder (with Mode S). Wing wheel, tail dolly and one man rig gear. Excellent open trailer with current reg. and WOF. Currently registered as Class 1 microlight. Neville Swan email nswan@xtra.co.nz Ph 09 416 7125 Nimbus 2. ZK-GKV • A well known glider and glider type. Reluctantly selling this wonderful glider. Brand new PU paint on the fuselage and wing PU only 5 years old. Double bladed air brakes. New Schempp Hirth canopy, new mylar seals on wing, good road trailer. Steve Barham email barham@xtra.co.nz Ph 021 642 484. Price reduced $35,000 Ventus 2cT 15/18m – ZK-GRY • Finished in PU paint from new and has every factory option available at the time including 15m Wingtips, Mountain High 02 system, Nose and C of G hooks, on board refuelling system, Tail tank etc with Anschau Komet trailer. Full panel including 57mm Winter Altimeter, ASI and vario, Microair radio and Txpdr, CAI 302DDV with Oudie2 flight computer and Tru Track A/H with GPS heading. Alan Belworthy email a.belworthy@xtra.co.nz Ph 0274 960 748. $195,000 Tauranga Gliding Club Puchacz and PW5 gliders • Puchacz two seat trainer good hours left all ADs completed polyurethane finish, transponder, electric vario, no trailer. PW5 low hours with transponder electric vario and total energy probe November 2015–January 2016
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F OR S A L E • WA N T E D • S E R V IC E S • E V E N T S
with good clamshell trailer. The Tauranga club is looking to refresh its fleet and wishes to sell these aircraft. Adrian Cable Ph 027 473 8321 or email adrian.cable@xtra.co.nz Grob 109 Motorglider + Hanger • 1/8 Share The Grob 109 is a comfortable two seat side by side touring motor glider. It has recently undergone airframe refurbish inside and out which includes leather seats, rebuilt instrument panel, new seatbelt webbing etc. Normal cruise is between 85 - 100 knts, burning 13 -15 litres and hour. 80 litre fuel tank. Gliding performance angle 27:1. Equipment includes a 720 channel Becker comm, Terra transponder, Cambridge audio vario, Kennard fixed ELT plus the usual set of analogue instruments. Nominally a glider, with a very reasonable gliding performance, it has a beefy ninety horses up front to push it along at over 150kph. I’m selling my one eighth share, including the hangar space to store, for $10,000 Michael Furniss email: jnmfurniss@gmail.com Ph 022 611 4565 Ka6CR Glider GEH • Excellent condition, with Borgelt vario, average and speed to fly. Terra 760D radio. PLB. Wing walker, fuse stand, clip on tail wheel. Parachute. Recent Annual. Recently painted trailer, spare wheel, new registration and warrant. Based Nelson. Offers considered. April Rumsey email: april_rumsey@yahoo.com Ph 027 220 3306 Duo Discus X • ZK -GRW presently at Omarama. Serial No 541 (2007 build, first in service 2008) 1070 hrs and 232 launches. Immaculate condition. PU finish. Never watered. Cambridge 302/303. Front and rear. Cambridge LNAV. Winter mechanical vario front. Becker Radio, Funke TRT 800 Transponder. Flarm. Mountain High oxygen system. Four fuselage batteries. 2x Turn and slip. Jaxida Covers. Always hangared in her covers. Accident free history. Superb COBRA trailer (single axle) with one man tow out gear. Serious enquirers may inspect the glider at Omarama by prior arrangement with Justin Wills. Rod Witter email:Rodney.witter@btinternet.com Ph 0044 1244 325 730 Springtime Promotion – reduced to $190,000 ASW20CL – GOO • Holds 3 current National speed records. Based in Canterbury, but will be in Omarama for the regionals and summer. TT – 1900hrs, Annual – Mid 2016, 16.6m extensions, Blown wing, ‘Mylar’ on all control surfaces, Hyd. disc brake, Specs say 42:1, 45:1 in 16.6 metre configuration, ClearNav vario, Nano Flameview, PNA with LK8000, EDS oxy system, Transponder, Borgelt Compass, Panel rewired last year, Wired for 3 batteries, Parachute, Tinted canopy, Clam-shell Trailer, Full tow out gear. $55,000 Pete Chadwick email peter@trhservices.co.nz ph 021 860 363 DG 400 ZK-GOM • Self launching glider first flew in December 1984 and has completed 1,793 hours and 247 hours on the engine, (spare motor available). Comes with 15 and 17, tips, tow out gear, wing and tail plane hangar covers, 2 canopy covers, EDS and A8A oxygen with quick connect refill. Cambridge L Nav and Winter mechanical vario. Dittel FSG60M radio and Terra transponder. Trailer incorporates cobra fittings, interior lights and ability to charge batteries via an external socket while glider is in the trailer. This glider would be ideal for a syndicate. $89,000. Mark Aldridge email mda@308.kiwi.nz ph 0274 508 505 Standard Libelle 201-B • ZK-GIA. Serial no. 466. 1778 hours at last ARA. Owned and beautifully restored by Bill Walker, new leather upholstery and fittings. New wiring, panel configurations for new instrument layout. Mylar sealing of control surfaces and zig-zag tapes. Winglet modification of local design has been tested. Equipment – Microair M760 Com, Terra
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November 2015–January 2016
TRT250 Transponder, Cambridge 302 Flight computer and vario, ClearNav. Homebuilt, NZ made trailer. This glider is fun to fly and has been carefully restored. You could be buying this to enjoy flying it in the popular club class. Glider at Omarama and available to inspect over the New Year period. $25,000. Sonya Walker ph 021 256 5258 or email sonya@ rowingnz.kiwi ASW 15 ZK-GGT • A simple glider of its age, well maintained and very tidy. Economic safe flying. $10,000. Phone Chris 021 100 7040 or email for pics etc. chrispauleen@gmail.com
HANGARS 18m hangar spaces in the Omarama Hangar • $30,000 or near offer. Contact Mike Hamilton phone 03 9621530 or email: mike.hamilton@ hamjet.co.nz Hangar space • 15m east hangar at Omarama. Asking $1,500/m or reasonable offer. Contact Linda email vindaloulou@gmail.com or phone 03 348 7009 or 021 071 8402 Omarama 20M Locked Hangar Space (first row) • with water, power and painted floor. Great neighbours and very secure. Contact D P Laing david.p.laing@gmail.com $52,000 Omarama Hangar • 15m hangar space available in the western hangar on the side near the terminal building. Long/short let available. Contact Annie Laylee/G Dale email annlaylee@aol.com
TOW PLANES Eurofox Tow Plane • Aeropro Eurofox 3K Tow, Advanced Microlight. 100 hp Rotax 912 ULS engine, DUC Windspoon 3-blade propeller, tricycle undercarriage, tow hook, Dynon D1000 Skyview glass cockpit, Flarm display, Transponder, Garmin Aera 500 GPS, SL40 VHF Comm, Aircraft is only 2 years old with 180 hours TT and in “as new” condition. Will be sold with new annual and a 200 hour inspection. Asking price NZ$103,000 plus GST ono. Warwick Bethwaite email warwick.bethwaite@gmail.com Ph 027 374 1059 180hp Pawnee Tow Plane • Fresh engine, all ADs completed, ready to go. Tauranga Gliding Club is looking to upgrade its fleet. Ph 027 473 8321 email: adrian.cable@xtra.co.nz
OTHER FOR SALE Winter Variometer • Bought new in 2000. Model 5 St VM 5-3. This Winter vario has the small hole diameter of 57mm. Complete with capacity flask and is in perfect working condition.The face is in pristine condition and it’s about half replacement cost. Top right corner modified to fit a tight panel. $490 Roger Sparks 0274956560 r.sparks@xtra.co.nz Sailplane Instruments • For Sale due to panel re-organisation; offers sought. LX100 vario, 80mm, serviceable, A8A Oxygen regulator, adjustable constant flow, servicable, 200 bar max inlet pressure, certified to FL25 by Avox, 12V Gyro Turn and Bank, servicable with new release note from Liviu Avionics, Terra Mode C Encoder, status unknown, purchaser can inspect and trial with no purchase obligation. All items in Auckland, can take photos on request. Contact Andy Mackay email andymacfly2002@ yahoo.com Ph 021 174 4719
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Volkslogger 1.0 Make an offer • Laurie Kirkham email: laurie.kirkham@ xtra.co.nz Selection of Instruments from a wooden Glider • Altimeter, Vario –Winter, Vario –Electric Altriss, Airspeed Indicator-to 130 Knots. Compass, Radio, Microair M760 with boom microPh –can switch between frequencies during flight. All the instruments were removed in working order from glider that had current ARA. These units are all being sold separately so any reasonable offer for each of them will be considered. Paul Clarke email paul_clarke@clear.net.nz Oudie with Sunlight Screen Update • Like new well looked after, never dropped. This has the upgrade to the sunlight readable screen. Includes Carry case, Ram mounts, USB to Serial cable, etc $600 doug@waipapaeyecare.co.nz 021 118 5797
National 360 backpack parachute • Year of manufacture unknown but passed repack earlier in 2015. $700. Contact Yvonne Loader loaders@ clear.net.nz Ph 027 643 0746
WANTED Wanted good serviceable parachute, needs to be good for 100Kg • Havelock Nth Email jason.price@nz.hjheinz.com or Ph 021 977 240 Old base station radios wanted • Prefer Model 835 made by Exicom, AWA or MAS. Alternatively AWA Model 235. But anything on the aeronautical band considered, and any condition. Contact Martyn Cook martyn@actrix. co.nz Ph 04 239 9759
80mm ALT • Selling due to upgrade. Make an Offer. 80mm ASI. Removing due to upgrade. Make an Offer. doug@waipapaeyecare.co.nz 021 118 5797
Locator Beacon • Kannad XS3 Serial No 012015-006 New battery Feb 2015 and current release note 17095/1. As new condition and complete with carry case. $300 Robin McRae robin.mcrae@aon.com 027 448 3704 Microphone • Pieker TM170, Dynamic, 23 inch gooseneck, as new, complete and serviceable. Installed as part of fault-finding on Becker radio, was not the problem, radio swapped for Microair. Becker 3201 also available, not servicable in current installation so removed. Negotiable. Contact Andy 021 174 4719 email andymacfly2002@yahoo.com Caravan at Omarama • 25ft & fully equipped for comfortable superior semi-permanent living. Awnings, H/C water, elec with WoF, gas, plenty of storage, TV. If you are a regular visitor to Omarama & want a base that takes just 30 mins to set up or pack away incorporating sensible security & with touring options consider this as the ultimate. Always well maintained and easy to road WoF, inside winter stored. $25,000 Mark Aldridge (on behalf) mda@308.kiwi.nz (+64 27) 450 8505
PARACHUTES
FOR SALE
Borgelt B2000 • This came in the glider and worked for 2 flights, now does not. Not wasting any time or effort on it replacing with LXNav Flight computer. So if this is any good for parts or if you want to try and get it working contact me. Includes serial port, GPS, Remote control etc Douglas email: doug@waipapaeyecare.co.nz 021 118 5797
DG 400 SELF LAUNCHING GLIDER ZK-GOM first flew in December 1984 and has completed 1,793 hours and 247 hours on the engine, spare motor available. Comes with 15 and 17, tips, tow out gear, wing and tail plane hangar covers, 2 canopy covers, EDS and A8A oxygen with quick connect refill. Cambridge GPS and Winter mechanical vario. Dittel FSG60M radio and Terra interior lights and ability to charge batteries via an external socket while glider is in the trailer. This glider would be ideal for a syndicate, finance can be discussed if necessary. $89,000. Contact: Mark Aldridge 0274 508 505 or email mda@308.kiwi.nz
OMARAMA CHALET FOR SALE
'Strong' cushion style long parachute (new June 2005) • Top of the range with all the extras – quick release fittings, Sheepskin. $1,000. Contact loaders@clear.net.nz 1996 Irvin Great Britain, Type EB86 S/N 540351 • Owned by me since 2007. Just repacked by Wayne Holmes at Skydiving Kiwis in Ashburton. Excellent condition, looks unused. It is comfortable but a bit long in the body for me. Offers. Contact RIchard Johnson email johnsonra@xtra.co.nz Ph 027 614 0348 Blue Parachute • Australia Slimpack. Manufactured July 1998. Case due for renewal in 2018, canopy service life unlimited. Manuel available. Open to offers. Contact Robin McRae 027 448 3704 robin.mcrae@aon.com 0r Robin Britton after 4 December 027 281 2969, rbritton@wave.co.nz
Built for Dick Georgeson in 2009, fully furnished and equipped, dishwasher, Sky TV etc. Enquiries: Anna, 03 322 8190 wilson.georgeson@gmail.com
November 2015–January 2016
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SAILPLANE SERVICES LTD Specialist Composite Aviation Engineering
NZ agents for Schempp-Hirth Sailplanes, LXNav Soaring Equipment and Trig Avionics all state of the art equipment for soaring aircraft. Ross Gaddes email ross@sailplaneservices.co.nz phone +64 9 294 7324 or +674 274 789 123