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contents

december/january 2007-08

FEATURES 8

Striving for the Perfect Flight Terry Delore and Steve Fossstt in Argentina

Richie McCaw airborne with the All Black Captain

Roberta’s Landout

South Island Regional Competition Omarama 11–17 November

Central Plateau Contest Taupo 27 October – 3 November

Piako Club Celebrates 50 years

COCKPIT 13 Introducing the ASH 30MI 23

Maiden Flight of the LS-10

30 GA Airspace – going going gone“ Q & A session with Kevin Bethwaite REGULARS 32

Instructors Column Cross Country training with Jerry O’Neil

Meteorology weather words from Lemmy Tanner

Tow Pilot

Gliding New zealand News Max Stevens, GNz Executive Officer

A Question of Safety with Doug Hamilton

AB Initio For new pilots

Geek speak reviewing the Westerboer VW1200

GN Club News reviewing the Westerboer VW1200

Printer Publisher

Advertising, editorial and

McCaw Media Ltd

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Editor

McCaw Media Ltd

Jill McCaw

430 Halswell Rd

Annual Subscription Rates

Christchurch

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SoaringNz is a bi monthly publication

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marked not for publication. SoaringNZ

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ISSN December 1178-4784 2007

from the editor december/january 2007–08

Welcome to the inaugural issue of SoaringNZ. As the new

I must also thank John Roake for mentoring me over the years.

official GNz magazine, SoaringNz is going to be arriving in your

My first fledgling articles, back when I was thinking I might be able

letter box every two months from now on and I hope you will

to be a journalist, were printed in the Kiwi. John has encouraged

be waiting with anticipation for every issue. It is your magazine and

my writing development and been very supportive of (husband)

we will be looking for lots of input from NZ pilots as to what you

John and my efforts to set up McCaw Media. I am sorry he doesn’t

want to see in it. More about that in a moment.

feel able to work with us at the moment but the door will remain open. Should he wish to join the team at a later stage we would be

SoaringNZ is now the official journal of Gliding New Zealand,

delighted to have him on board.

taking over the role of the Gliding Kiwi. I know there has been some

You now have your first issue of SoaringNZ in front of you and I

controversy surrounding the change. For the true story I refer you

hope you will find something of interest, regardless of what level of

to our President’s letter across the page. I need to introduce myself. My name is Jill McCaw and I’ve

flying you are at. We have a wonderful readers’ story of a landout

been around the gliding movement for a long time now. I first

through the eyes of a pre solo pilot. It puts a different perspec-

joined the Auckland Gliding Club in 1982 and soloed in January ‘83.

tive on what many experienced pilots take for granted. There are

I am married to John McCaw, one of the McCaw clan who used to

pictures of Richie McCaw to keep the women happy, and I think the

dominate the North Otago Club. We are currently members of the

story that goes with it is pretty interesting too. Terry Delore has put

Canterbury Gliding Club where I am on the committee. Alex, our

down on paper the details of how he and Steve Fossett achieved

oldest son, having grown up on airfields, soloed last January. We

their last gliding record together. Of course they didn’t know it was

are very proud.

to be their last and when Terry initially wrote the story he didn’t know either. Steve’s disappearance makes the story poignant

I have a background in writing, having written for The Otago

reading.

Daily Times, the Christchurch Press, and recently for Pacific Wings Magazine. John also contributes photographs to Wings and various

We introduce many of our regular columns and I will put a call

newspapers. We have a photography and writing business, McCaw

out here for people to contribute to them. We need instructors,

Media which is providing the platform from which we are produc-

tow pilots, meteorologists, club scribes, and generally interested

ing Soaring NZ. I admit to knowing nothing about publishing but I

parties to keep these spots filled with up to date news. I would like

am learning fast.

to thank the writers of this issue’s columns as they put in a fantastic effort. We had a very short deadline and they came through and have produced excellent work. We want to hear of club events, Photo John McCaw

I am fortunate to have vital input on printing practices and protocols from Nick Reekie, another enthusiastic

Canterbury

soaring

pilot whose day job involves magazine publishing. He has been a key

Nick Reekie

fantastic flights, lessons learnt and about new and exciting products, kit and of course gliders. It was wonderful to have had so many responses to our first call for club news, see page 45. We want your pictures, the higher the resolution the better. Trevor

player in getting the project off the ground and I want to publicly

Atkins (GNZ web master) and I are thinking of ways to make contri-

acknowledge the hours and efforts he has put in to help us win the

butions to the magazine easier and more interactive. For instance

tender, and ever since in getting this issue underway.

the website’s primo pics may be reprinted in the magazine. It may

next issue NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE

Soaring

issue

4 4

september/october

2007

w w w. s o a r i n g n z .c o.n z

$10.95

This should be in your letter box mid February.

December 2007

The next issue will be themed around the GrandPrix. It is after all a world class event right here in New Zealand. We will cover the racing, discuss the technology and use a people based approach to keep it all interesting. There will be interviews with the pilots and other prominent people. Terry Delore will bring us any fresh news in the search for his missing soaring partner Steve Fossett.

Ian William’s CEB saga continues and we have Mark Wilson of Wellington in our instructor’s spot. Ross Gaddes is going to report on the new Discus 2c that he flew in the Central Plateau contest. It is a really versatile glider with tips that allow it to fly in both 15m and 18m configurations.

We will have all our regular features and cover the Northern Regionals — any potential scribes for that please get in touch. Deadline dates for the next issue are 15 January for articles and pictures and 22 January for advertising.

from George Rogers President GNZ

be possible to submit articles online.

Following discussion at the last two AGMs concerning the

Watch the web site www.gliding.

absence of a formal agreement between the publisher of the

co.nz for updates. This is your maga-

“Gliding Kiwi”, John Roake, and GNZ, the Executive initiated a

zine and we want it to reflect the

tender process for the publication of an official gliding journal for

vibrant sport of gliding in NZ.

the coming five years. Five expressions of interest were received

We want to use SoaringNZ as a showcase for our sport. ApparPortrait of the photographer – John McCaw caught in action by his son Alex.

and four tenders were eventually submitted, two of which were from within the gliding movement.

ently in the process of printing a

The tenders were all of a high quality, but the clear contenders

run of around 1000 issues, such

were McCaw Media and John Roake Ltd. Before coming to a final

as ours, there are always around

decision, and in recognition of John’s long involvement with “Gliding

100 – 200 over runs. We intend to place these for sale in super-

Kiwi” and his 50 year record of service to the gliding movement in

markets, essentially as advertising for NZ gliding. If supermarket

New Zealand, two members of the Executive flew to Tauranga to

sales are successful, then we can look at a larger print run which

meet with John and discuss aspects of his tender. In the course of

will mean a cheaper price overall and members’ subscriptions will

the meeting John informed them that even if awarded the five year

be reduced. We will need a print

contract he intended “transitioning out” within two or three years. In

run of around 3,000 for that to

view of this expressed intention and to maintain good faith with the

occur but we do think that is

other tenderers, the Executive has decided to award the contract

possible in time.

now to McCaw Media.

Letters to the editor are welcome. to

We will endeavor all

When considering these leading tenders the Executive took a strategic approach in the belief that it needed to set the scene for

correspondence

the next generation within gliding, and McCaw Media (Jill McCaw)

but reserve the right to reject

was seen as offering enhanced continuity into the foreseeable

unsuitable letters. We welcome

future. The “Gliding Kiwi” under John’s editorship has evolved into

your feedback.

a well known and respected publication, but the submission by

It has been a great pleasure putting the magazine together.

McCaw Media gave the Executive confidence that a magazine of similar quality would be delivered.

I hope you enjoy it. Summer is

The decision was taken with due regard to John Roake’s dedi-

here – go flying. Don’t forget

cation and proven track record. The Executive acknowledges John’s

to stay hydrated, wear a good

contribution over five decades and has the greatest of respect for

hat and use sunscreen. Have a long and pleasurable summer

this.

soaring. Happy reading. Jill McCaw

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Tel +64 3 322 5222 December 2007

opinion

december 2007 SoaringNz welcomes letters from readers. You can send letters by email to soaringnz@mccawmedial.co.nz or post them to: The Editor, SoaringNz ,430 Halswell Road, Christchurch. SoaringNz reserves the right to edit, abridge or decline letters. Writers name and address required and a phone number is helpful.

A request to motor glider owners from Jonas De Rese in the Netherlands. I am doing my final thesis in Aerospace Engineering at the Photo Jim van Aalst

Technical University of Delft (Netherlands). As an introductory part of this thesis I am doing some research to the performance and reliability of engines in sailplanes. This research is done by means of a questionnaire. This small questionnaire (it takes max. 15min. to fill it out) is posted on my website: http://www.caezar.be/jonas.derese/jonas/english/index_en.html I would like to ask you kindly to fill out this list, the more results I

Pink Panther Jochen Ewald in Graham Saw’s Slingsby T-8 ‘Tutor’, at the VGC Rally 2007 at Nitra/Slowakia.

have, the better my final conclusions will be. I thank you all in advance!

EVENTS CALENDAR

Jonas De Rese

Congratulations Congratulations on securing the GNZ contract. We are looking forward to a great magazine. We will contribute with news and photos as regularly as we can.

Event

Location

World Sailplane Grand Prix

Omarama

Practice Contest Days 19 –24 Dec 2007

Multo Sport Expo

Wanaka

27 –28 Dec 2007

Omarama Cup

Omarama

29 Dec 07 – 5 Jan 08

With the summer weather coming, hopefully we will have something

National Gliding Championships –all classes Matamata

3 Feb 2008

4 – 15 Feb 2008

interesting to offer. We find it hard to be fresh with club news, when

Central Districts Championships Masterton

1 March

2 – 8 March

there hasn’t been much happening. Clinton

President Norfolk Aviation

Electrical, Electronic and Software Engineers 16 years experience in product definition, market research, product design, manufacturing, test automation, compliance, Excel macros, and all the “TLAs”: R&D, EMC, DFM, CAD.

Photo Terry Delore

Looking forward to the mag.

Delore, Ohlmann and Fossett relax between record attempts in Argentina in 2003.

Klaus Ohlmann and his wife Sidonie are aiming to bag more Argentinean records this season. They have now arrived in Argentina having flown their Stemme all the way from Mexico to Argentina, an amazing effort that involved flying across three countries. It is not a trip to be undertaken lightly. It took them two weeks of what Klaus describes as exciting flying to arrive in St Martin in Argentina. Due to

PO Box 20350 Tel: 021 SOLUTIONS (+64 21 765 884) Christchurch eMail: info@avon-tech-solutions.co.nz Visit us at www.avon-tech-solutions.co.nz

the weather and South American bureaucracy most of the trip was made with the motor. A little soaring was possible in Mexico and for the last 3 days from Chile to St Martin. We will endeavor to keep you updated on their record attempts.

December 2007

log book Manufactured in 1994 by the Australian firm Gippsland Aero, the GA200 Fatman was a star performer at the 95 World Championships. It was recently purchased by GlideOmarama.com as another high powered tow plane for its Omarama based soaring operations. Described as a Pawnee on steroids the GA200 is powered by a 265hp Lycoming 0540 and has a small passenger seat beside the pilot making it ideal for glider retrieve operations. Its all metal wing is a metre longer than the Pawnee’s and with powerful lifting flaps the Fatman is expected to really get up and go. Designed as

FATMAN, ALL-OUT

a strong, simple agricultural aircraft with clip on fuselage panels

is what it takes to get this new Omarama tow plane rolling.

and plenty of spare parts from across the Tasman it is hoped that the Fatman will be easier and cheaper to maintain than the more

Something new to spot at Omarama this summer. It should compare well to the more familiar Pawnees.

complex and older technology Pawnees. Fatman operators in Australia and NZ particularly love their aircraft, claiming them to be a real pilot’s aeroplane, wonderful to

it was a delight to fly and handled “like a big Piper Cub”. He said

fly as well as easy to maintain. This has made them a rare commod-

that he hopes it will make the ideal tow plane at Omarama; power-

ity on the second hand market. This example has come out of the

ful, safe, great for retrieves and simple to operate. It will also take

North Island where it was spraying and spreading super phosphate

some pressure off their 180 hp Super Cub which currently tows for

and was about to be sold out of the country.

GlideOmarama.com’s cross country soaring operation.

Gavin Wills, who ferried the aircraft down from Fielding, said

By Gavin Wills

Steve Fosset’s car The LSR team are continu-

This

photo

was

taken

ing the preparation of the car

when the car was out on

in the hope that this project

the playa at Black Rock for a

will be completed. They are

photo shoot for one of the car

looking for someone to take

magazines.

over the project and find sponsorship. Apparently there are a

VACANCY GLIDING NEW ZEALAND REGIONAL OPERATIONS OFFICER CENTRAL REGION

Photo John Ahearn

few interested buyers/drivers.

This is an important GNZ position, responsible to the National Operations Officer for ensuring that all gliding operations within the Central region conform to the relevant standards and procedures. Information on the appointment of Regional Operations Officers and their Terms of Reference is contained in the GNZ Advisory Circular AC 2-1 “Operations Officers”. To be eligible, you must hold at least a GNZ B Category Instructor Rating and have experience in training instructors. Extensive cross-country gliding experience and a Towing Rating is desirable although not essential. GNZ annually budgets a sum to cover expenses incurred in

The appointee will be required to enter into a contract with the GNZ. Send your application, with your CV, to the GNZ Executive Officer gnzsecretary@scorch.co.nz by 31 January 2008.

carrying out the duties of the position such as telephone, stationery, vehicle running, accommodation, meals, etc.

December 2007

No-one had a clue that this would be our last flight together. There is noâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;one I would rather have been flying records with than Steve, and now he is gone. Wendy and I joined the search for Steve on Day 3 at the Hilton Ranch and left feeling absolutely shattered and deflated on the end of Day 8. We knew we had lost a very dear friend. Where is Steve? Why no trace? There is still no closure for the family as he is still missing but there are some theories. When the search for Steve is called off then we can talk about it. Our two ASH 25s have arrived in South America and we were due to be flying now but sadly our team is finished. Terry Delore 31 Oct 2007

Striving for the

Perfect Flight 8

December 2007

Fossett and Delore’s

Last Record Flight

Editors note — This story had been written and I had added an introduction back in August. On the 4th September Steve Fossett left Barron Hilton’s Flying M Ranch for what was presumed to be a local flight. He never returned. Terry Delore has written a small update. The rest of the story is as it was originally written, a piece about a wonderful flight that the two pilots expected to be only part of their achievements this year.

December 2007

Fossett and Delore celebrate their achievement with a fast run along the airfield at Ely.

On the 13 July 2007 Fossett and Delore

It was an awesome soaring flight. I

missing the expertise of our usual crew

gained the world speed record for the

had nearly forgotten the feeling. It wasn’t

chief Tim Harrison who unfortunately had

1250km 25% FAI triangle. It has been a long

a ripper Nevada day but good and steady,

other commitments. This meant the diffi-

term ambition for Delore, probably the last

even though there was no cloud for a lot

cult challenge of programming the GPS and

available world record using thermals; all

of the flight, but all our preparations came

flight computers, not to mention declaring

together and we did it. We’ve come so

the tasks fell on me. I hate it! I believe the

close many times and actually bettered the

GPS and flight computer designers need to

previous record twice but not by the 2kph

get out here and try to use their tools in real

margin needed to claim a new record. This

life situations. The IGC and FAI increased the

margin has now been lowered to 1kph.

difficulties with their increasingly complex

In total we have had forty three serious

requirements. There must be a simpler way

five kph better than the existing record

attempts in Australia, South Africa, Nevada,

to record that an actual flight has been done.

flying in thermals from Ely Nevada. On the

USA and Argentina.

I wasted far too much time that would have

others being better done in Argentinean wave! It was also the oldest standing world record being previously set by Hans Werner Grosse, an icon of world record flying in 1987. He flew from Alice Springs Australia using thermals. Fossett and Delore, after many attempts achieved a speed of 149.20kph,

5th November the FAI formally ratified the

Our preparation for this flight was

been better spent out on track soaring. We

speed triangle record. It is possibly the only

substantial. People don’t generally appreci-

had Carl Herald, ex NASA rocket scientist

time this has ever happened posthumously.

ate what is involved in a flight like this. You

and GPS systems designer as our Official

Fossett and Delore are the most

can’t just get up in the morning and think, I’ll

Observer and we still had difficulty up and

successful partnership in gliding record

have a crack at that. We have had to learn

downloading flights and declarations.

history. Flying together for five years they

the weather in many different areas of the

My other “minor” problem was to stay

have an impressive list of achievements

world. We’ve spent hours studying maps

focused and alert on a nine hour intense

and analyzing previous flight traces. We had

thermal flight. Practice certainly helps but

to find the best flight tracks to avoid control-

encouragement from a positive fellow pilot

led airspace, to ensure the best task for the

helps the most. Steve is an expert at putting

weather patterns and then pick the best

a positive spin on things and glossing over

tracks to turn points. We had to position

negatives. His interpretation of the day’s

the turn points at reliable thermal sources.

weather was a good example of a posi-

working his way through available records

Patience and persistence were very impor-

tive Fossett spin. It was flowered up a little

and sooner or later was likely to try for the

tant. A flight of this type can’t be achieved

and the bad patches glossed over. He is a

big speed triangle. This is Delore’s story of

in a hurry.

realist, but with a positive spin. His way of

including the World open straight distance, an awesome flight of 2192.9km set in Argentina in 2004. The 1250km triangle however was a special goal, which in a tribute to Grosse they wanted to achieve in thermals. To give impetus to their attempt, fellow record seeker Klaus Ohlmann was also

For this campaign in Ely we were really

the flight. 10

December 2007

putting things definitely motivates his crew.

Flying home into the sunset. The end of a long and successful day

The flight, to us, was almost easy. We

by Nevada standards and we thought we’d

had flown this route from Ely several times

just go through the procedures. When

and fallen short on many more attempts.

we loaded the glider we were close to all

We had had an interesting road retrieve that

up weight. We took off at 10.15 behind a

had taken us till the next day to get home

towplane and released at 700 feet above

and more than one motor retrieve (the glider

the field. We thought we would use the day

A perfect partnership celebrates a near perfect flight.

has an engine for just such an occasion) had

to check out our GPS and flight declarations

Delore on left, Fossett on R

finished in the pitch dark desert night.

on the computers. We would be ready for

Ely Nevada is situated in the Great

the really good forecast the next day.

any lift. We finally hit clouds after 420 plus

Basin desert area of the central west side

Our first leg of the triangle was 100k

kms. By then we were into the long 612km

of the USA. The terrain consists of long

south along the mountain ranges then west

northern leg. Getting low and needing a

mountain ranges up to 12- 14 thousand feet.

across the desert to a place we called Teals

climb we found one at Austin, cranking into

They run roughly in a north/south direction

Marsh. There were blue thermals but no

a mighty 8-10 knotter. We took it all the way

with the odd dry lake and very occasional

cumulus this whole leg. The thermals tops

to cloud base at 17,500ft. It was like going

farmed area.

were not very high, 11-13,000ft and the

on vacation! The thermals were round and

Ely is a small town with several hotels

valley floor is up to 7,000ft. The low thermal

steady, from this point. Just the way we like

and restaurants, all of average nature, three

tops were possibly an advantage because

them. At this point our average task speed

star maximum. It has highway 51, the loneli-

thermals get closer together when they

was 134kph and rising.

est road in the USA running through it and is

are not very high and the sink in between

As usual we shared the flying on all

populated by residents working in the local

is not as intense. The thermals were broken

legs but as the target speed came up Steve

copper mine or men’s prison.

and frustrating. Steve was flying and at one

became very intent on the technical side of

But what we like about the place is

point I insisted I take the controls. I instantly

things. Steve had been relaxed about the

cloud bases up to 22,000 feet and cloud

halved his average climb rate. As usual he

task speed in the earlier part of the flight but

streets that stretch from horizon to vanish-

said nothing. In spite of the conditions we

now he got interested in doing the numbers,

ing point. During the hot dry days of mid

managed to average 130kph using the “it

navigating and giving positive advice on

summer the temperatures reach the low

will be good up ahead theory”.

cloud streeting rather than in doing the stick

40ºs C. It is a fantastic place for long thermal

At our second turn at Teal’s Marsh we

and rudder flying. He was intent on checking

triangle flights and the mountains line up

got a reasonable climb to 14,00ft. That was

out where the Cu Nims were around the last

roughly along two legs of the triangle.

lucky as for the next 40km we were cross-

turn point near Jackpot and in setting us up

ing the ridges at right angles and didn’t find

for the final and crucial 300km leg home.

The weather this day was only average

December 2007

A delighted duo touch down at Ely after finally achieving their goal of bettering Hans Werner Grosseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1250km speed triangle record. Fossett flies from the back, with Delore in front

Steve received the weather information on the satellite phone

7.35pm we crossed the finish line with a record average speed

from Mark Marshall, his Citation pilot and our Argentinean crew

of 149.23kph. About 5kph better than the existing record! Sierra

mate Tago De Pietro. Approaching our last turn just south of

Foxtrot finished nicely over Ely Airport as Tago recorded us with

Jackpot airfield it looked as if the weather might let us down and

his camera. This was not the perfect flight but the best we could do on the

we would once again be screwed on the final leg. As we got closer we found a massive Cu Nim sucking dust up like a vacuum cleaner. It was positioned beautifully just 200m clear of our turn and running straight on track for home.!

day. Shit bloody hot!! Fast enough at last. But it is due to the help of our dedicated crew, tow pilots and helpers that Steve and I

Man what a great feeling!!! Doing the numbers when we

were able to achieve this goal that we set for ourselves five years

rounded the turn showed we were on target for a record with our

ago. Steve and I can say that it has not been easy to complete

average speed so far 145.3kph. And now the cloud base was 18,000

this 1250km speed triangle and we believe Hans Wernerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1250km

ft with strong well developed flat black bases stretching out ahead

would have been even more difficult in the Alice Springs Austral-

of us. The fast part was still ahead!

ian Outback. I believe Ely

The best lift was marked by tendrils of cloud forming as the

Nevada was the best place

low pressure fast rising air condensed before meeting cloud base.

in the world for us to try

We flew just a few feet to the west of these nice little markers, just

big thermal flights. I love

staying on the warm air side so we had no need to stop and climb. It

the place. However Steve

was magic. We could just pull up and cruise, in the fast lane at last.

has decided that by his

With 350kms to go we decided to go conservatively and get on

calculations all other open

the glide slope early (as we should on any cross country flight). We

records are better flown in

wanted to keep some height in the bank in case of any unexpected

Argentina so our campaign

down bursts from building Cu Nim cells. These were being reported

will not return to Nevada.

from the Ely region and were now coming into view. We could now

Our next mission is Argen-

see light around the end of each cell so we diverted our track early

tina in November where

enough to avoid the sinking air and precipitation around them and

we aim to extend the long

avoid adding additional track miles to our course.

distance flights and speed

At 150kms from the finish line we were on the thin edge of

records.

The

big

goals

cracking the world record speed. We could see a way through the

are the 3000km free three

precipitation of the large Cu Nims and the developing cells ahead.

turn point distance and the

I could just about taste the Stella beer waiting for me. Finally at

2500km straight distance.

December 2007

A happy Steve Fossett enjoys a well earned beer.

Hot off the press from Schleicher comes the following information on the

ASH 30 mi

Reported to be an uncompromising redevelopment, rather than just a rebuild of the ASH 25 it is designed to maintain the company’s leading position in the Open Class well into the future.

After our ASG 29 proved itself impressively on the competition

panel (attached to the front hinged canopy) remain standard on the

scene we decided to incorporate its outer wing geometry and outer

ASH 30 Mi. The same applies to the dual canopies. They not only

wing profile in the ASH 30 Mi. In terms of performance an elliptical

make entering and exiting the glider more comfortable but they

lift distribution (and a modern wing section of only 13% thickness)

also ensure a much better canopy seal and allow an easier emer-

are by far more important than a significant increase in wing span.

gency escape.

For top performance — especially in the mid to high speed

Automatic control connections are factory standard and so is

range — a wingspan of 26.5 meter and a wing area of 17.4m is

the sprung, robust and large diameter main wheel. When extended

offering the optimum solution. It permits the widest possible range

it reaches far enough forward to make a small nose wheel obsolete.

of wing loadings and allows pilots to adapt the ASH 30 Mi to vastly

Pilots will appreciate this design feature. It not only avoids unnec-

different weather conditions — an advantage not only for competi-

essary drag but has also other significant advantages, especially

tion pilots.

when self launching on softer runways.

The four part wing comes with detachable winglets as a stand-

The only item not new is the drive unit. We have selected the

ard feature. Laminar airflow is maintained over an unprecedented

rotary engine from Diamond engines which is already powering

95% of the lower surface and blowhole turbulator technology mini-

over 400 Schleicher self launching gliders worldwide. Its reputation

mizes drag even further. All control surface gaps are carefully sealed

for reliability, vibration free running, quietness, low maintenance

by Mylar tape which allows the blowholes to be located much further

requirements and its 41 kW of smooth rotary power makes this

back. In fact they are no longer positioned in the wing but in ailer-

modern power plant ideal for aircraft of this size. Engine manage-

ons and flaps. The result is a significantly flatter polar curve. For

ment is easy thanks to its fuel injection system and our new

example, at a wing loading of 48.8 kg/m2 (10 lbs/ft 2) and at speeds

propeller (optimized for good take off performance) gives the ASH

of around 200km/h (110 kts) ASH 30 Mi pilots can fly almost 20km/h

30 Mi a short ground run and an impressive climb rate.

(11 kts) faster than their ASH 25 counterparts for the same sink rate. The speed polar comparison below tells the full story. The fuselage is also an entirely new development. Recent aerodynamic research was incorporated but occupant safety and pilot comfort played an equally important role. For the first time in the history of open class 2-seaters front and back seat pilots can enjoy generous amounts of space. In fact the ASH 30 Mi front seat was closely modeled on the ASH 26 — a glider renown for its roomy cockpit. The front canopy was also lengthened for much improved forward visibility. Thanks to a significantly enlarged back seat even two meter tall pilots can enjoy comfortable flying for long periods of time. Leg room is comparable with our ASK 21 trainer and lower fuselage side walls have not only improved visibility but also made access

It may be possible that an option on one of the first 30’s will be available in New Zealand. Terry Delore is interested in reserving

to both cockpits much easier. Incorporating the latest research on

that option and would like to hear from any record seeking

harness attachment has further enhanced occupant safety and

pilots interested in a share in the glider. Please contact him

comfort. Other safety relevant details such as a hinged instrument

directly. Email Terry-Wendy-Delore@xtra.co.nz

December 2007

RICHIE McCAW By Jill McCaw

Our All Black Captain is a Glider Pilot.

Our farm had an airstrip and on weekends it became the base

Richie McCaw has just bought a Discus 2c. He is passion-

for the North Otago Gliding Club. There was a Blanik training glider

ate about gliding but also holds a PPL. Our All Black Captain has

GMK, and a towplane, Piper Cub, ZK CEX. John, Donald, their

logged gliders, various light aircraft, a DC3 and extraordinarily at

brother Hamish and their uncle John owned a Cirrus and Donald

the other end of the scale, a BAE Hawk Jet! He has been known

was also the towpilot. The club had hangers, a winch and a relo-

to admit that sometimes he prefers flying to rugby. To most New

cated ElectroCorp house for the clubrooms.

Zealanders that just sounds wrong. Rugby balls and aviation donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to go together.

The strip was downhill and sometimes into wind. To the west was the Kirkleston range with ridge lift and wave to 20,000 plus feet

If you knew Richie it wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t surprise you. He grew up on a

in good conditions. Flying was good year round, although winter

gliding strip. It is the rugby that is surprising. Where did that come

flights could necessitate several hours in a hot bath to recover.

from?

Flights over the Waitaki lakes were very scenic and the Macken-

I do know Richie McCaw but to me and the rest of the family

zie basin and all of its attractions could be reached on a good day.

his name is Richard. I have known him since he was eight years

On a good day you could fly anywhere. Southerly wave provided

old when I first became involved with the North Otago Gliding Club.

an interesting soaring experience down the Waitaki valley and well

When I started going out with his uncle John, Richard was the kid

out to sea.

on the farm next door. John and his brother Ian farmed in the Haka-

Richard was often around the strip hoping for a ride. He would

taramea Valley. Their older brother Donald and his wife Margaret,

help Dad fuel the plane, pumping the handle vigorously. He was

parents of Richard and the now Canterbury Flames player Joanna

often plonked in the front seat of the Blanik to hold the stick steady

were on the farm next door. Richard and Joanna were ordinary kids.

as it was towed back up the strip. He was frequently told to keep

December 2007

Photo John McCaw

Preparing to hook on for his Dad Donald McCaw (front seat) and Mike Oakley (rear)

Mission accomplished! A quiet smile of contentment after achieving his first solo in a glider

Joanna and Richard “helping” one of their uncles prepare the Cirrus for a badge flight

out of the way and not to touch canopies, tailplanes, watch out for

in it here. There was some complicated thing about GST which

propellers and other things. The tellings off made such an impres-

meant he had to have a guaranteed buyer, I don’t know, maybe I

sion that he was initially wary about getting involved in flying as an

had ‘mug’ tattooed on my forehead.

adult.

What’s the glider like?

Once Richard reached secondary school age he went to

Well I haven’t actually flown it yet but it should be great. It

board at Otago Boys High School. There he was in both the 1st

comes with 2 sets of tips so it can be 15m or 18m. Apparently it

Eleven and the 1st Fifteen but was better, he says, at rugby. The

handles better as an 18m.

secondary schools rugby final in 1998 first brought him to attention and he went on to play for the NZ under 19s the following year. For

It is going to be great to fly when I want to. Your Dad’s got a share in it. How is that going to work?

the next two years he played in the NZ under 21 team co-captain-

No doubt Dad will spend a fair bit of time down there too. We’ll

ing the 2001 team with Aaron Mauger as they won the Under 21

just have to learn to share. I’ve got spare time Christmas through

World Cup. An Academic Scholarship (not a sports scholarship as

to New Year. There’ll be a few weekends leading up to the Super 14

is often stated) brought him to Lincoln University and the Christch-

too. I’m sure we can fit in around each other. We’ll keep the glider

urch Rugby club. From there he was picked up by Canterbury for

at Omarama and I can fly down when I have a day to spare.

both NPC and the Crusaders. The rest is, as they say, history.

I’m glad you’re getting into gliding. It’s a family thing after all.

I decided to talk to him about flying. You’ve just bought a new glider. Tell me about it.

I know, but I wasn’t keen to start with. (Uncle) John dragged me out there. I was a bit apprehensive. I remember all these

It’s a Discus 2c, an ex demo from Australia that just happened

grumpy old guys who used to tell me off. Some of them are still

to be available. Ross Gaddes thought someone might be interested

around. But once I got into it, it was fine. Being a power pilot I was

December 2007

used to being in the air and I didn’t find it hard to learn to fly it. Do you think you might get into competition flying at some stage? Well I wouldn’t rule it out, especially now I’ve got the glider. But to fly competitions you need to have plenty of time and I haven’t got that at the moment. In the near future I just want to enjoy it. The one thing that really appeals to me about gliding is it has a real sport element. You set goals and work towards them. My goal at the moment is to get good enough to be confident to go (cross country) and know that I’ll get there. It takes several years to do that. At the end of this summer I want to have had fun and be better than when I started. You’ve done a little solo cross-country. How did that go? I’ve done a few and had a few close calls but so far so good. One flight I set myself a task. It was from Omarama, across to the Dingle, up to Mt Cook and back. I got low at the end of the Ben Ohaus and I was sweating a bit. There was this thin wee thermal (that saved the flight). The day before I went into the Maitland. There were good clouds working and it should have been okay but as I went in it got worse and worse. I ended up spending an hour It is good to have a goal, to set a task. I enjoy that. I enjoy floating around too sometimes but if you have a task, even if you don’t achieve it, you can ask yourself what you did wrong and what you could have done better. If you do land out then you can think about what you did wrong there. You need to land out to get confi-

Photo Martin Hunter

(ridge soaring) on a shingle slope. That was lucky.

Soaring his troubles away. Richie McCaw plans to spend his summer relaxing and flying at

dent with it. You need to know strips and where you can land too. That gives you lots more confidence. How come you got into power flying first? I mean we’re all glider pilots here. Yes, but Dad was the tow pilot. I never got many rides in

could help. They offered for me to be the Patron in return for being taught to fly it. Once I became involved I’ve developed a real interest

gliders. He used to take me in the back seat of the Cub when he

in it. It is a really lovely aircraft. It was my first multi-engine entry.

did his warm up flights. I loved those rides so much I even went to

What’s it like to fly?

Omarama when the club started flying there because I might get a

Well it’s all mechanical linkages so it’s big movements on

ride. It was a really boring day.

the controls. Really big. It is similar to a tail dragger to land but

Obviously you like power flying.

you’re higher up. I did a really good circuit but I think it was a fluke.

I find it a bit mundane really. It’s just like driving somewhere. The thrill I get out of power flying is giving other people a thrill. Some people are so scared of being up there and I say to them

Someone got it on video; it looked really good. So tell us about your other exciting log book entry. The Hawk jet?

‘What’s your biggest fear.’ And they say something about losing

That’s right, with the Royal Navy. How on earth did you manage

the engine and I say, ‘You mean like this?’ and I pull the power

that?

off. They go, ‘Ohh. Oh.’ And then they realise that it’s not so bad.

That was about who you know. There is an Adidas guy who

We’re not about to die. And then they start to relax and enjoy

deals with me and he’s friends with a Kiwi guy who flies in the Royal

themselves.

Navy. One thing led to another. They agreed to take me for a flight

You’re patron of the Southern DC3 Trust. How did that come

in exchange for me spending half a day with the navy rugby team. I

about?

was fine with that.

I met Dave Horsburgh (one of the trustees) out at Wigram

It was in 2005 and they took me to Yeovilton Navy Base. I had

and he offered to let me fly his Archer. He and a few others were

an hour and a half and it was just the most amazing flight. We flew

passionate about the DC3 and were raising money and asked if I

high down to north west Wales and then we went low through the

December 2007

Omarama.

valleys and Swansea at 400 knots! We were flying at 200 feet! It was awesome. We went out over the Bristol Straight and then did some tail chasing back up the country. In some of the turns we were pulling seven and a half G. But we had G suits and it felt fine. I had a go at flying. It responds super quick and you have to have your eyes everywhere. I tried chasing the other plane and I’d be doing fine and then suddenly he just wasn’t there and you looked around and he’d be way back over there. They just go so

Discussing the weather with fellow pilot Mike Oakely.

fast. I was really lucky. That was a really neat experience. I’m glad you realise that. You’ve flown stuff with our Airforce here too? Yep. I’ve flown in the air trainers and the Harvard. That was quite cool. They brought the planes and helicopters to Wigram for a display day and I got to fly. I liked the Harvard, it was a great big cockpit with a big stick. My pilot let me do some circuits. There is hardly any visibility from the back seat though. You’re patron for Youth Glide. Tell me about that. Well Youth Glide aims to get kids flying and coming into the sport. At the moment Youth Glide Omarama is really successful

Assisting another pilot to prepare to fly

December 2007

and the Canterbury Gliding Club, where I’m a member, are looking at setting up a Youth Glide organisation too. There aren’t a lot of young people involved in gliding anymore. Youth Glide should help to get a new group of keen young people coming along. It gives kids an interest too; some of them, it really makes their wheels spin. The kids will move through and keep the clubs going and strengthen the sport. If we get a few then they’ll tell their mates and more will be told about it. It is a really positive thing for kids to do. We’ve talked flying but I suppose I’d better ask. Where did the rugby come from? Well I guess it was the only sport in Kurow with any follow-

At ease as a pilot. Flying over Lyttelton Harbour in a 172.

ing at all. I played for Kurow and I did okay at it. At Haka school it was all anyone did. My uncles Peter and John (McLay) both played for mid-Canterbury. Uncle John had more than 100 games for midCanterbury. So I guess that was all part of it. At boarding school rugby was the main sport. I played cricket at school too but I wasn’t so good. I was lucky to get into the First Eleven. Rugby was it really. I’ve had a lot of good luck too. I’m really fortunate how things have turned out. Yes you are, but you’ve worked really hard too. Enjoy your summer with your new glider.

Dave Horsburgh gives Richard some training in the DC3

G av i n W i l l s

MOUN TAIN SOA RING SCHOOL Internationally acclaimed Soaring Courses The world’s largest fleet of Duo Discus’s Crystal clear air amongst the Southern Alps

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Glide Omarama Ltd PO Box 120, Omarama 8950 03 438 9555

December 2007

w w w . G l i d e O m a r a m a . c o m

Auckland Aviation Sports Club went to Matamata for Labour Weekend. Member Roberta Robles was there. It was a great experience for Roberta who has been gliding for about one year and has sixteen hours under her belt. She and her boyfriend Adam Dershewitz both fly with the club. They have lived in Auckland for about a year and a half and previously lived in Costa Rica and the United States. They both went to Matamata and Roberta had the most exciting flight of her soaring career.

Roberta’s landout The Piako gliding club flies out of Waharoa Airfield just north of

upward sailing. We cruised over to the waterfall. I told Trevor that

Matamata. On Saturday there were a lot of gliders on the field and

I was pretty happy just doing turns around the waterfall. We prac-

there were some vintage aircraft pilots who were showing off.

ticed emergency turns with air brakes, useful for getting out of

For most of the day I was duty pilot, writing down the names

cloudy conditions and losing height quickly. I don’t usually practise

and times of everybody else gliding. The Kaimai ranges just to

this, as it is usually not a problem in Whenuapai, where we are typi-

the east were pumpin’ and nobody wanted to come down. I don’t

cally eking out additional height on fleeting thermals.

blame them. It was obvious that I wasn’t going to get up in our

The weather was picking up, meaning more clouds were coming

club’s Twin Astir MW, and it seemed unlikely I was going to get a

in and starting to ‘sock-in’ the range and the cloud base was start-

flight.

ing to drop. We were told that we probably should not leave the

The Piako club invited me to go up in their PW6 with one of their

range for the return flight under 3500 feet. Having reached cloud

instructors. I initially said “no” because I wanted to continue train-

level we came off the range just short of that, hoping to pick up

ing in the glider I knew with an instructor from my club. However I

height on the way back. Unfortunately the cloud base was starting

really wanted to get in the air so I thought that I might as well give

to drop clear across the valley. All the while Trevor was chuckling in

it a go.

the back, ‘The gps unit is no good when it’s in the car, haha.’

Before I knew it, I was strapped in with Trevor Atkins in the

What? It didn’t help my confidence as we were continually

back, we were attached to the tug rope and off we went. The PW6

doing ‘practice’ emergency breaking through the clouds. Trevor

has a notch trim so I set that forward. There was a heavy cross

took over and we headed back to the range to get more height and

wind but the Pawnee powered us through the wind (as opposed

travel north along the ridge, closer to the field.

to the tired old Cessna DML). I flew most of the tow. I remembered

We got some more height and our bearings. We had passed

that I had flown a PW6 before with the Taupo club. It is much easier

north across the railroad crossing and tunnel. These landmarks are

than the Twin Astir.

of course no use to me because I didn’t check out a map before

We released at, I think 2500 feet, and headed straight to the nursery hills. I’m not used to flying faster than 60 knots at Whenu-

take-off. So I just kept telling Trevor every landmark I saw in hope that he would remember how to get us back home.

apai so Trevor took over and we headed straight for the ridge at

We left the ridge the second time and headed back. I “think”

about 70-80 knots. When I say straight, I mean literally straight for

we left the ridge at 3000 feet. We quickly lost a lot of height avoid-

the range, in what felt like a crash course trajectory and at very

ing clouds. Trevor was no longer chuckling. At about 2000 feet I

high speed. I could hear the wind going much faster and the plane

started getting worried. There was no airfield in sight and the

felt ‘tighter’. About a 1000 or so meters before the ridge the wind

clouds were dropping quickly. At this point I was starting to get

picked us up and sent us up, just as Trevor had said it would.

nervous. My instructor seemed to be doing the best with the condi-

We experienced some turbulence, but overall it was smooth

tions that rolled in but I still didn’t know his skill level and if he had December 2007

ever outlanded before this flight. I was mentally preparing myself

another attempt at radio contact. That’s when I noticed how little

to take over control and land the glider in the paddock if anything

the instructor can see from the back seat. It was hard to imagine

went wrong. All I could remember in my head was Adam mention-

how he must have been to navigate with that small view window.

ing it was best to land on the west side of the river because it’s

At that point I noticed water dripping down my pants. I had sat

less bumpy.

on the mouthpiece to a camelback! Uggh. Wet cold jeans and

We were losing height and at about 1800 feet I knew we were

who knew how long until rescue. Piako Club called again and I

going to outland. Luckily, last weekend at Whenuapai, our instruc-

responded, at which time I was able to let them know I was OK.

tors had devised a simulated out landing with soft pickets. I wasn’t

Luckily I just got done with my FRTO training so I sounded real legit.

at that stage in my instruction but I was certainly glad I had eaves-

Matamata traffic this is glider

dropped. We were now on the west side of the river getting into flat

Papa Kilo.....

territory. Still no airfield and I think at around 1500 feet Trevor made good pastures. We were both communicating, we agreed on a pasture and both confirmed there were no wires or fences. We circled back and then we landed. It happened so quickly, and Trevor did it really well. It was a very

No GPS — Trevor found this on the board in the clubrooms on his return.

Photo Trevor Atkins

Luckily

the decision to outland. We circled around and found a cluster of

Trevor

was

able to call in the location, because at the glider I was unable to tell anybody where I was. Next thing you know a

farmer and all his kids pulled up

smooth landing and we only took up half the paddock. Though I do

in a pick-up wanting to take a look at the glider. So I acted cool and

remember the fence getting a lot closer during the landing than it

showed the kids the glider. They assured me that help was just a

turned out actually to be upon ground inspection. I’ll have to remem-

few minutes away. Nevertheless it was freakin’ cold so at this point

ber that for next time. Trevor started chuckling again, muttering how

so I hopped in the glider again waiting for support.

his wife was going to kill him for having this happen again and the

Adam had hitched a ride with an advance crew and walked in

club was not going to let him live it down. My heart was beating so

to give me a beer. The Piako club didn’t make me derig the plane in

fast at that time I didn’t find it funny. I could feel my cheeks were

the rain but sent me back to the clubhouse where I had to tell the

really flushed and I was very hot. I physically felt the same way I

story to everybody a number of times. I was so amped this wasn’t

did after I almost drowned while rafting the Upper Klamath River in

a problem. It wasn’t until after five more beers that I was able to

Oregon. During that experience I recall thinking my mom would be

have a reasonable nights rest. I usually don’t drink but my adrena-

very upset if I drowned, likewise this time I was thinking about how

line was not going to let me sleep easily. I had to get my rest for

worried Adam must have been.

the next day, just in case the ridge was pumpin’ and it was. The

We had lost radio contact with the Piako club shortly after

following day I had a few runs along the ridge and we soared close

leaving the ridge the second time. We got out of the glider and the

to 8000 feet (3500 is our limit at Whenuapai). Adam was afraid that

paddock turned out to be quite bumpy and full of cow droppings. I

because of the outlanding I would never want to glide again, luckily

couldn’t figure out how the landing was so smooth. I wonder if my

it had the opposite effect and I am now anxious to go solo.

brain is just remembering a smooth landing because it was one that didn’t end in a crash? We tried to radio again to no avail. We didn’t have any tie down pickets so I was left with the glider to make sure it didn’t blow

If anyone is keen to read more of Roberta’s exploits then see her blog at http://kingnerd.blogspot.com As an aside, Trevor has now publicly admitted that he is a lousy navigator and that they were only 2 miles from home. – Ed

around. I hopped in the back seat to be near the radio. I made

A Tigermoth, one of the visiting vintage aircraft

December 2007

Adam and Roberta and the glider in the paddock

Southern Soaring Takes Flight The Omarama-based commercial gliding company, Southern Soaring, has changed hands. ROD DEW, talks to two of the new directors, Scotsman Les Lamb, and current chief flying instructor Chris Rudge.

Les Lamb and his wife, Irene, from the Scottish Highlands, have jointly purchased Southern Soaring from the Wellington-based former

World War II fighters to cold war jets and airliners. Another senior instructor, Mike Till, has over 9000hrs gliding and 2000hrs towing.

owner, Peter Hehir. His vision for the future includes expanding the

Canadian Marc Crozier is in his third season with Southern

aircraft fleet, and marketing Omarama internationally as one of the

Soaring. He flies as an instructor and tow pilot for the Canadian

finest soaring sites in the world. The company manager and chief

Armed Services during the northern summer. “I come because of the

flying instructor, Chris Rudge, has a one-third financial interest in the

brilliant soaring which Omarama offers, day after day,” said Crozier.

revamped company and is the third director.

On the part-time list are tow pilot and instructor Darren Smith,

Lamb describes the potential of the gliding business as ‘tremen-

CFI for the South Canterbury Gliding Club, and Malcolm Walls, argu-

dous’. “Chris and I want to expand the business and continue to

ably the most experienced tow pilot in the sport, with more than

improve the services we provide visitors and clients.”

16,000 launches to his credit.

A keen dry fly fisherman, Les Lamb started visiting Omarama ten

Chris Rudge also has an impressive background in aviation.

years ago. Last season, after spending years looking up at the aerial

He has been a gliding instructor for more than 20 years, with 4500

ballet of the gliders high above, he decided to find out first-hand what

launches as a tow pilot. He has New Zealand and Canada CPLs for

it was all about. A trial flight with Southern Soaring led to a learn-to-fly

both powered aircraft and balloons. He spent 12 years and over

course, and he was hooked. “I discovered the company was for sale,

1000hrs flying hot-air balloons in New Zealand and Canada carrying

and I could see that it had tremendous potential. I became deter-

over 8000 passengers. Rudge jointly holds the New Zealand absolute

mined to buy it. There was a great camaraderie among the staff, who

records for height (25,000ft), distance (116km), and duration (over

were clearly very talented and knowledgeable.”

5hrs) for hot air balloons.

Les Lamb has always been fascinated by flying. “Purchas-

Rudge came through the club system in gliding, and is still

ing Southern Soaring has given me the chance to become involved

a member of the Canterbury Gliding Club, where he has been a

in a business I never thought I would be a part of. I am absolutely

member since 1984. As a result he can see that clubs and commer-

delighted.” Chris Rudge, who is now into his third season as manager

cial organisations compliment each other.

of Southern Soaring, is just as enthusiastic about the future of the company.

“Southern Soaring wouldn’t be where it is today without the huge support we have had from Gliding New Zealand, Drake Aviation and

“Southern Soaring has huge potential for growth. Last season

various gliding clubs. We also need to acknowledge the big efforts

we saw a steady increase in the demand for our flying courses and

put in by people over the years to develop the facilities at Omarama.

passenger flights. Both our learn-to-fly and mountain soaring courses

We are now in the position to put some of our turnover back into

have been highly successful and much of this is due to the experience

airfield irrigation and maintenance.

of our instructors, our modern fleet and the use of our unique flight simulator to allow pilots to orientate to features around Omarama.

Chris is philosophical about the future of Omarama: “I think the thing we need to keep in focus is that we all have equal rights to

Chris Rudge is adamant that the company’s greatest asset

use the airfield. There is no room for grandstanding or anyone being

however remains its team of people. These include Don Mallinson,

above anyone else. It all comes down to consideration for others,

who has spent a lifetime in aviation. He has flown everything from

good communication and working together. More than anything else, I value the good relationship we have with the airfield company, the Soaring Centre, Glide Omarama, landowners

and

the

various

gliding clubs. I have no doubt that if we continue to work together, the future will remain bright.”

December 2007

Allow multiple world record-holder Terry Delore to take you along on his amazing aerial adventures in his new book — Master of the Wave. Experience the drama of flying at 30,000ft above the towering Andes in Argentina, admire the skill which enables him to become the first pilot in the world to exceed 2000k in a 15m glider and hang on tight as he battle for survival in a fierce thunderstorm over Christchurch. Terry Delore is one of the world’s greatest soaring pilots, and Master of the Wave is the most important gliding book to hit the bookshelves this year. This is a high quality, hard-cover publication containing more than 80 superb photographs.

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Specialising in: • Learn-to-Fly programmes • Mountain Soaring Courses • Two-hour visiting pilot mountain flying experience Quality instruction: • Southern Soaring’s unique PowerPoint programme • One-on-one training with experienced B-cat pilots • Training tailored to suit your individual needs • Courses fully integrated with GNZ syllabus • New Zealand’s first glider flight simulator

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Phone 0800 SOARING (0800 762 746) or Chris Rudge on 027 248 8800 22

December 2007

Maiden Flight of the

SOLO-2350 engine, the same as the LS-8. DG make much of this being a high tech glider. It comes with integrated solar panels, bug wipers, aluminium-carbon flaperons as well as a luxury interior. It has a unique water ballast system designed for competition and record flying. – see the details below.

LS and

It is available as a glider or motor-glider with

10-s

DG at their new factory at Bruchsal.

It is the first type completely manufactured by

Data

maiden flight in May this year.

Technical

The LS10-st slipped quietly into the sky on its

10-st

LS -10

span wing area aspect ratio fuselage length fuselage height water-ballast wings water-ballast fin tanks max. weight max. wing loading max. speed VNE stall speed (W=420 kg, 926 lbs) best glide ratio (W=525kg) min. sink (W=420 kg, 926 lbs)

15m (49.2ft) 10.27m² (110.5ft²) 21.9 6.763m (22.19ft) 1.374m (4.51ft) 190kg (50.2US.gal) 10kg (2.64US.gal) 540kg (1190lbs) 52.6 kg/m² (10.8 lbs/ft²) 280km/h (151kts) 71km/h (38kts) 1:45 1:50 0.61 (120ft/min)

LS 10-s empty weight (with min. instrumentation) approx. 268kg wing loading with 80 kg payload 33.9kg/m² LS 10-st empty weight (with min. instrumentation) approx. 313kg wing loading with 80 kg payload 38.3 kg/m² engine power fuel tank (fuselage) climb rate 18 m span

18m 11.45 28.3

(59.06ft) (123.3 ft²)

600kg (1323lbs) 52.4kg/m² (10.7 lbs/ft²) 67km/h

(36 kts)

0.51m/s

(100ft/min)

(591lbs) 275kg (606lbs) (6.94 lbs/ft²) 31.0kg/m² (6.35 lbs/ft²)

(690 lbs) 320kg (705 lbs) (8.17 lbs/ft²) 34.9 kg/m² (7.46 lbs/ft²)

SOLO 2350 b 31 kW/23 hp 17 litre (4.5 US.gal) or 13 litre (3.4 US.gal) on choice 1.3 m/s (256 ft/min) W= 420kg (926 lbs),

Data power on for MSL, 15°C Optional equipment raises the empty mass accordingly

December 2007

LS 10-s and LS 10-st The new uncompromising high performance sailplanes The LS 10 is the latest development for the 15m and 18m classes: –

Wing profiles especially designed for the LS10 provide highest performance especially in the high speed range. Very important is that the low rain and bug sensitivity known from LS6 and LS8 could be maintained.

–

Well proven components from the LS8 like fuselage and horizontal tailplane and the retractable powerplant will be used for the LS 10 models.

–

The LS 10-s is a sailplane which will be delivered already with an engine compartment for easy engine retrofit.

–

The LS 10-st is a self-sustaining sailplane with retractable powerplant actuated by an electrically spindle drive. Engine data display and engine control are via the DEI-NT to meet the “DG ease of use standard”.

–

Wing parting at y= 7m is standard.

–

Typical LS winglets are standard equipment for the 18m wingtip extensions.

–

The LS 10 features a unique new waterballast system which has been especially designed for competition and record

The LS10 made its debut in the 18m class of the German gliding 4th and 5th placings.

The unique feature of the new system is that the LS 10

Holger Back took time out on a rainy day to make the follow-

is equipped with two completely independent waterbal-

ing comments. After describing the championship as a swimming

last systems which can be drained separately. With both

contest he proceeded:

By dumping one of the systems you can adopt the glider to changing weather conditions but still fly with the same C.G.. preparation for integrated bug-wipers as standard equipment.

If I do have to report anything about the weather conditions at the German Gliding Championship, I could not tell much positive about it. Completely different are my impressions of the “new” LS10-st. (I am) Continually explaining some more technical features of

Well proven spring mounted LS- main landing gear now with

the glider (to onlookers) like the installed NOAH or the 2-chamber

large five inch wheel and wheel brake connected to the airbrake

system of the water tail tank for an optimal placement of the

handle.

centre of gravity, the low empty weight of only 324kg including

Special safety features as Röger-hook and Piggott-hook are

the complete propulsion system (fuel tank + engine) as well as all

standard equipment. –

at competitions and cross-country within the 15m and 18m class.

in the fin and two separate integral tanks in each wing.

together with its wingtanks by operation of one handle only.

–

With the LS product line DG aims especially at top pilots flying

championships where pilots Claus Triebel and Holger Back achieved

due to the wing-ballast. The respective fin tank will be drained

–

Sales manager Volker Halbe says, “The LS10 will set standards

flying. The new waterballast system consists of two watertanks

systems the respective fin tank compensates the C.G. shift

–

MAIDEN FLIGHT in the competitions of the next months and years.”

Wing tips with 50cm high latest technology winglets for 15m span are optionally.

–

A SOLO-2350 engine, solar panel, and bug wiper “garage” are all features of the LS-10. The bug wipers retract into a recess in the fuse so they sit flush. If the optional bug wipers are not installed when you buy an Ls10 or Dg 808cc there is a little cover the same shape stuck over the recess. Dg is the only manufacturer that supplies this as an option.

For the LS 10-st you may chose between a large fuel tank (17 Litre) same as for the LS 8-st) or a smaller (13 Litre) tank which increases the baggage compartment size.

accessories. One can recognise from the reaction of the listeners that the effort was worth doing it. When flying the LS10-st I recognised the smooth-running steering, furthermore that only little counter-steering is necessary

–

NOAH emergency rescue aid is optionally available.

–

An additional baggage compartment accessible from the

during circling and the somewhat more softer wings, besides this

engine compartment is optionally available.

the “new” is still the “old” - pure LS feeling! Due to the governing weather conditions I could also test the propulsion system in detail (I guess I have more engine duration than gliding time!). However, the turbo always started immediately and the entire system worked trouble-free. Only the tight handling of the water controls or the different filling levels of the water tail tank gave rise for some criticism, but I already handed it to the construction team. Cheers Holger

December 2007

GlideOmarama.com in wild places

first traverse of the Olivine Ice Plateau by glider Olivine plateau — The pristine snowfield of the Olivine glacier is a spectacular feature to soar over – and something rarely seen from a glider.

The 7,000 foot high Olivine icefield is a remote wilderness in Fiordland National Park just north of the Hollyford Valley. G Dale tip-

beach that Lucy lands on in the film Windborn.

toes after Gavin Wills in two Duo Discuses as they show their guests

Gavin Wills says that

some adventurous soaring in South Westland. The two gliders set

flights like these into remote

off from Omarama on a four hour flight and routed down the west

south Westland are rare and

side of Mount Aspiring.

difficult. They require light

The icefield is entered from the north by flying up a tortuous

east or south east winds

glacier that plunges into a tributary of the Arawhata River. Round-

and cloud bases over 7,000

ing a rock tower the icefield is revealed with its high exit pass at

feet. The stunning scenery is

the far end. Land-out possibilities are limited to the Arawhata river

certainly worth the trouble.

bed (seen here with the Cub) and to Big Bay, the same west coast

Entering the Olivine

the LS 10s has arrived

December 2007

Phillip Plane ridge soaring above the Ohau ski field in the DG 1000 26

December 2007

ZK GDG

December 2007

Photo John McCaw

South Island Regional Gliding contest It is the people that make a contest and the Southern Region-

other end of the spectrum Rob Campbell (possibly the youngest competitor in the contest) was flying the oldest glider. Libelle IU is

als had a lot of good people. Canterbury Gliding Club took on the job of running the South-

thirty two years old (still younger than Ivan).

ern Regionals this year. Geoff Soper led an able team that set out

Under the supervision of Nigel Ackroyd guest task setters took

to make the contest fun. The emphasis was on training new people

turns at sending everyone out into the wide blue yonder. In some

to fulfil the necessary roles and tasks, with guest task setters and

cases their tasks had to be modified for safety or the usual changes

new people in other roles. Twenty three contestants signed up, not

of weather but over all it worked very well and increases the pool of

a large field but nice numbers for a Regionals. There were a lot

people able to do this job another time.

of the old hands around, some who have been competing in this

The pilots all flew their hearts out and there were some fantas-

contest for more than twenty years. There were also new comers

tic speeds recorded. On Day Two wave developed and Matt Dimock

who learnt a great deal from the experience.

in the 15m class scorched around the task in what must be one of

Ivan Evans, possibly the oldest contest pilot in the world,

the fastest contest times ever set in New Zealand – 182.9 km/h!

showed his skills by winning the 18m class. From Nelson, Ivan just

Unfortunately due to an inadvertent rule breach he received no

keeps going, coming back every year and always flying well. At the

points for the day.

Warwick Bethwaite winner Club Class Red and Black and proud of it. The Canterbury “chorus” on the final night. ➤

➤

Winners of the Open Class Theo Newfield and Alan Holgate.

➤ 28

Rob Campbell programming the modern equipment fitted into his old Libelle class ➤

December 2007

He’s a cheeky devil. Nigel Ackroyd leads the chorus ➤

Omarama, 11 – 17 November 2007

Pilot

Rego

Glider type

H cap

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Total

Theo Newfield

ASH 25M

114

1000

647

994

821

907

4369

ASH 25

114

987

851

924

789

778

4329 4225

Club Class

Standard/15m

Open/18m

Doug Hamilton / Karen Morgan TF Ivan Evans

LS 6c

106

910

777

886

850

802

Chris Richards

Ventus CM

106

784

1000

450

933

4167

David Speight YJ

ASH 25M

114

842

780

897

697

698

3914

Roger Sparks

Ventus 2CT

110

950

651

825

731

454

3611

Bill Walker / Jules Tapper

ASH 25M

114

460

488

520 1000

766

3234

Jerry O’Neill

DG 808b

110

696

570

444

776

3001

Gavin Wills / John Hodgson

Duo Discus

102

861

130

591

195 1000

2777

Chris Streat

LS 6c

106

293

450

534

586

1863

George Deans

DG 808c

110

291

420

150

946

Pilot

Rego

Glider type

H cap

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Total

Max Stevens

Discus B

1000

570

632 1000 1000

4202

Terry Jones

LS 8-18

100

749

647

596

884

672

3548

Nick Reekie / Matt Dimock

LS 6-18w

102

828

515

931

911

3185

Trevor Mollard / CJ McCaw

Duo Discus

102

580

604

449

728

602

2963

Michael Dekker

Mini-Numbus

792

206

379

514

871

2762

Paul Barrett

Speed Astir

536

460

401

678

2075

Mark Robertson

Ventus 2CT

103

545

522

542

1609

Derek Kraak

ASW 27

104

463

133

857

1453

Pilot

Rego

Glider type

H cap

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Total

Warwick Bethwaite

3446

515

LS 4b

779

991

880

796

Rangi de Abaffy YH

LS 4a

1000

804

135

2939

Robert Campbell

Standard Libelle 89

500

406

689

461

2056

Frank Saxton

Discus b

571

667

586

1824

Day two saw some other super fast speeds with Chris Rich-

A barbeque was planned for Tuesday night so of course the

ards in the open class winning the day with 182.1 km/h. Karen

weather went bad. Tuesday afternoon a huge thunderstorm devel-

Morgan, flying back seat with Doug Hamilton reported the flight

oped over the airfield. It started dropping hail as the finishers came

home from Tekapo, which takes 45 minutes flat out by road, took

home. The rain really set in after that with snow low on the hills that

them 12 minutes.

night.

Airspace issues loomed large. The old glider flying areas are

The final task was set, successfully, to get everyone home in

gone and height restrictions and radio rules make flying in the

time for the final night do. Which was a good one. With nibbles

Queenstown area very complicated. Kevin Bethwaite, himself an

running into supper the “do” was a deliberate change from a sit

airtraffic controller did his best to ease the process but even so

down dinner to allow everyone to mix and mingle. The official parts

there were problems. The issue is so important that Kevin has

of the evening were intermingled with skits and a great deal of

agreed to write on the subject – his article appears on page 30.

hilarity ensured. It was a good contest and many thanks go to Geoff and his

The kindest thing that can be said for the weather is that it

team.

was variable, but we still managed five flying days. It was very challenging on some days but great fun if you could get things right.

➤

Max Stephens winner Std/15m Class

“Hello, hello. Can you hear me Joe?” Ivan Evans and Contest Director Geoff Soper check their radios.

➤

20 years of retirement obviously isn’t good for a man. Dave Speights enjoys the final night.

Lex McPhail – Scorer extraordinaire an invaluable part of the ground crew. ➤ December 2007

GA Airspace going going gone… Where’s it going? Why’s it going? What could we be doing to prevent it going? These were the questions people were continually asking Kevin Bethwaite (President of Canterbury Gliding Club and an Air Traffic Controller in real life) during the Southern Regionals. He does his best to reply.

It seems to me that

tasks in the vicinity of Queenstown are

determination at any time. I also know that

most members have a

just about impossible to set. Especially

in 1988 a report entitled the Swedavia-

very

knowledge

for pilots who are not right up to the top

McGregor report was commissioned by

of how the airspace thing

echelon. Gliders are forced too low or too

the government to lay down how airspace

works but as it is impor-

wide of known lift in areas they need height

should be governed with a commercial

tant that we do know

to achieve a decent task.

entity (Airways) managing it. I’ll have to dig

limited

On day one of these Regionals we did

this report out and confirm some details but

with

in fact set one task to Cromwell. The task

my memory tells me that the report stated:

this article and hope that

setters spent a lot of time debating the

– That the airspace above New Zealand

others will contribute in

merits of it as the airspace here is now

was a national resource. (I assume

due course.

exceptionally confusing to GA. (This is the

this to mean like the sea bed and fore

about it I thought I’d get something

going

was

area where the new MOU gives us an area

centred on what is happening at Queen-

called NZG995 which can be opened on

stown. Pilots have had a reality check on

approval of Queenstown ATC).

The

discussion

Omarama

majority

what the changes to controlled airspace

I won’t go into details but suffice to say

in general in this area, and the loss of the

it caused problems for many trying to fly

previous Memorandum of Understanding

this task on this day and I would not recom-

(MOU) between Gliding NZ and Airways

mend this again.

has done to competition tasking. For those a little out of the loop, changes have been occurring at Queens-

shore, waterways etc) – That busy airports with jets as the operation

should

have

greater “protection” in the way of controlled airspace. – That at smaller airports with propeller aircraft as the majority operator this volume of controlled airspace would

The three points are questions I get

be less.

asked regularly.

– That in both cases the “instrument”

Where is the airspace going?

approach sector would have the

town where larger volumes of airspace have

The answer to the first question is

been designated controlled airspace. This

relatively easy, the changes have almost

is in order for the controllers at Queens-

entirely been uncontrolled airspace chang-

Someone else may know the answer

town to have a greater number of approach

ing to become controlled and the manager

but I have not seen any documented policy

and departure routes available for use by

of the controlled airspace is Airways. So I

from CAANZ saying exactly how they go

commercial passenger flights. While this

say it has gone to Airways.

about deciding to agree to a petition or

has been encroaching (restricting) airspace

Why is it going?

decline it.

traditionally used by glider pilots there was

The second question is not so easy to

greatest degree of “protection”.

In the absence of this it is just a guess

some relief at times of competitions as GNZ

put a finger on and I’d have to say I am not

as to what decision will be made.

had a MOU with Airways allowing added

really sure why.

What could we be doing to prevent it

access for these short periods. Most of this changed significantly this

I do know that CAANZ are the body tasked with determining what the dimen-

going? . This is the most critical one. Again I do

year when Airways cancelled the previous

sions/volumes

category

not have any magical answer to this and for

MOU. This was because of difficulties they

they all have. I do know that any party can

the purpose of this piece will just make the

now have in managing separation between

petition CAANZ to change the existing

following points:

are

and

what

arriving and departing IFR flights at Queen-

There is an airspace committee as part

stown, with the introduction of additional

of GNZ, and I am now a part of this, but I

Instrument Procedures commissioned by

would have to say it is asking far too much

Air New Zealand and Qantas. A new MOU

of a very limited number of volunteers to

was proposed (and agreed to) but the

manage this.

reality is this new MOU only gives access

I think that we need significant legal

to a tiny bit of space and it is almost more

and financial assistance to confront this

trouble than benefit.

problem.

If one is to seriously consider safety then my view is that competition gliding 30

December 2007

Without airspace we do not have a sport!

Taupo, 27 October – 3 November 2007

Report and photographs Ross Gaddes

Central Plateau Contest

As the first competition of the season approached those of us

run between landout areas made sense as I crossed Kiangaroa

intending to attend were keen but a little apprehensive. This early

and Murupara into the higher country in the Rangataiki Plains.

in the season can be dicey and this particular season (in Auck-

Most got around the tasks in the fast class, but none in Club, but

land at least) has been slow to start. However a good high system

all had a great time and reports of 10kt thermals and 7000ft bases

started to move onto the North Island at just the right time and

were common. Geoff Gaddes managed his second ever outland-

unbelievably the first day dawned sunny and many smiling pilots

ing (in about as many xc flights) at Rewewhakaatu with Hadleigh

were to be seen at the field.

Bognuda there to keep him company. Peter Ryan 170km (XD) won

The usual safety briefings and introductions to the officials

Club and Stu Cameron 341km(KZ) won the Fast class.

were held and soon we were on our way. At the final count we had

The next day still looked at least as good and Roland was on

six in Club Class and thirteen in the Fast Class. This event is suited

a roll — 201 Start A - 159 Old Taup - 192 Matamata - 153 Pureora - 301

to those entering their first competition so those attending made a

Finish N Task length: 183.3km/318.0km

good mix of experience levels. It is really great to see young (and

I wish I felt as good about this day as some, I crapped out

some not so young) keen pilots chatting and gaining knowledge

at Arohena coming back from Matamata and trying to cross a

from such experienced pilots as Ian Finlayson, Trev Terry and Tony

very blue gap. The only thing to give me comfort was the drone of

Timmermans who are only too willing to give pointers to those with

Trev’s engine starting directly above as I watched Stu land a kilo-

much less knowledge. I have just listed the turnpoints so check

metre or so away. However those that scratched away or made

them out on the map and you’ll see we get to fly over some inter-

a more intelligent decision (Ian Fin) got around and had a great

esting countryside around here. Also notice the tasks had quite big

flight. Bhrent Guy (UY) won Club and that sly sea breeze specialist

circles to cope with the assortment of skill and glider performance

Ian Finlayson (ZO) collected the Fast prize.

and it seemed to work well, at least in this low key comp. On the 1st day Roland Van der Val our weatherman expected moderate to good soaring so the task was set as an AAT task — 202 Start B - 179 Kawerau - 154 Boyd A/S - 120 Te Awa C - 301 Finish N

Another fine day, are we spoilt or what! Roland was starting to grin — 201 Start A - 175 Waiohau - 120 Te Awa C - 153 Pureora - 301 Finish N Task length: 153.8km/393.8km

The trip to Waiohou in the west was not as good as conditions were on the earlier days but still really good soaring was had in fine

Task length: 202.2km/394.3km.

Once in the air it was apparent that this day was better than

sunny weather. The western side of Pureora had a great conver-

Roland’s forecast. Six knot’s before the start and about 7000' base

gence which I personally enjoyed immensely only turning back

was fairly easy to obtain. Also reports from Vaughn Ruddick in Zulu

after realising how hostile the countryside was underneath. Bhrent

One (who just visited for a few days) confirmed that conditions on

Guy in Club was the only to finish and so won his class and Ian Fin

task were booming.

narrowly beat Stu Cameron in Fast Class.

Anyone who has flown Taupo before will know that the area

The next day turned very blue and some went flying and had a

can be quite daunting, especially as this task takes pilots through

lot of fun. The rest of us took a break and did some touring, which

some scary landscapes and large forest areas. Trev’s advice to

is not so bad in a place such as Taupo.

Trevor Terry (who makes the contest happen) and other

Bhrent Guy shows off his perfect registration.

Stu Cameron prepares to fly.

Taupo members December 2007

INSTRUCTORS COLUMN jerry o’neil

Jerry O’Neil’s Cross Country Soaring courses are very popular. At the GNZ AGM he explained his philosophy and the ideas behind the way he structures his courses. Here is an edited version of that talk. Background View of Lake Taupo and the contest area

When I became president of the Canterbury Club 1993 I noted that the membership had been declining for some time. To gain a

The following day was actually drizzling but Roland’s assur-

better understanding of the cause of this decline I analysed the

ance of a possible improvement on Fri proved to be correct

membership records for the previous nine years. I was alarmed to

and we waited anxiously for what would be the last task of the

find that of the people that went solo during this period, 60% left

event. 201 Start A - 142 Kaingaro - 154 Boyd A/S - 153 Pureora - 301

the club within two years of going solo. A further 20% left during

Finish N Task length: 99.8km/464.7km

As the launch time grew closer the blue conditions to the

the following two years and only 20% remained club members after

west and South encouraged the setters to increase the last

four years. Also I found that 60% of the club’s revenue came from

circle by 10km. However great soaring (again) was out to the

ab initio pupils. When I looked at those who remained in the club

East if you could reach it and those clever enough to work it out

after four years I found that over half had obtained a silver C badge

(not me) went well past Kiangaroa and out towards the East

and most of the others were flying the club’s single seat glider.

coast by Kawerau. This long convergence really created some

After seeing this information I thought the way to solve the

fun but crossing the high country to the South was not so great

declining membership problem would be to just retain more of the

and most nudged the Southern circle, turned West and flew as

members that had joined the club and gone solo. When I consid-

far as they dared into the last zone. The sad part was that the

ered this problem further I formed the opinion that the excellent

fast run to the first turn meant that many landed too soon due to

NZGA/GNZ ab initio training system was a contributing factor.

the blue conditions which made running into the last two circles

Going solo had become an end in itself. This was the destina-

far too risky. Brett Hunter flew his brand new Discus 2cT hard

tion rather than the start of the journey in many people’s minds. It

but not quite enough as Stu narrowly won the Fast class and

became obvious that if we wanted to retain members we had to

Bhrent again won Club. The great meal and party that night was as good as it gets

provide them with a journey rather than a destination. (Don’t get

and despite waiting till Midday on Saturday the event was final-

me wrong as I believe the GNZ have done an excellent job with the

ised and the final standings made known.

ab initio training syllabus.) I thought that the best way to provide

Winner of Club class was Brent Guy in his DG100 and Stu

a continuing journey is to train new pilots in cross country soaring

Cameron in his trusty ASW20 took the Fast class out but not by

and hopefully that journey would last a lifetime. We had to get new

much. Winning is great but not the “be all” at this competition

members to at least Silver C level if we wanted to keep them.

and I never noticed a gloomy face (except maybe in recovery

When I looked at the Canterbury Club over this period, (I

mode on Sat morning).

guess that Canterbury would be typical of most clubs) interest in

To start to name those who made Taupo so success-

cross country flying at flying committee level had been declining

ful would take far too many pages but the Terry duo and Tom

for a number of years, although the Club has some of the best

Anderson (our master of ceremony) really need to be congratulated along with all those that help just for the sake of it. Also

Where shall I land? In country like this landing areas are not a problem, but even here paddock s

the first time. The club class suits this first venture and Hadleigh Bognuda (Cirrus XA), Geoff Gaddes (ASW15 GO), Martin Lindley (Phobus HI) all got to try competing in a laid back encouraging environment. It’s not so easy to bridge that gap but hopefully they learned that if they stick at it the bigger flights and rewards will come and these events are the fastest way to learn cross country soaring. All these people have helped make the Central Plateau Comp 2007, another successful, fun event. Thanks folks. Competition Results appear on page 50 of this issue. Photo captions 32

December 2007

Photo John McCaw

worth mention are those who took the step to try competing for

Jerry started gliding in the 60s and has been involved in the sport ever since. One of the early Omarama soaring pioneers he is passionate about x country soaring. He has been an instructor since the late 60s

cross country pilots in New Zealand. Most of the active instructors

Course Preparation

were not current cross country pilots. When I started my gliding

Identify, inspect and obtain permission to use a number of safe

career cross country flying and attaining all you FAI badges were

landing places in the area where the course is to be held. The

the big goals and I was actively encouraged to fly cross country.

landing places need to be about 15km apart. In the case of Horo-

What has changed?

rata the area was approx 20km wide by 60km south as a 50km

The main change that has occurred over this period has been

silver C badge flight to Mayfield was planned.

the more intensive use of the countryside for agricultural purposes.

Obtain permission to use a number of farmer’s paddocks near the

There has been huge growth in dairy farming, horticulture and viti-

home airfield for out landing training.

culture in many areas to mention a few. This has greatly reduced

Produce good land out maps for all of these fields. It is most impor-

the available field options for landing. The other factor has been the change in construction and performance of the gliders we fly.

tant that good accurate maps of the landing fields are available to the students.

We largely fly high performance gliders of glass fiber construction. These have a smaller approach window, higher approach speeds, carry more energy on touch down and have a longer landing roll. We know that the greatest risk of accident in gliding occurs during out landing. There is no doubt that these changes have increased this risk. Aspiring soaring pilots recognise this risk and are reluctant and apprehensive to learn cross country soaring skills for this reason. The days have gone where you can blithely fly around in an unknown area, get low and by divine providence there is a field

5 day course format Day 1 Morning

beneath you to land in. The Philosophy To encourage new pilots to learn cross country soaring by making it as safe and risk free as possible so they will stay involved in our challenging and exciting sport for a long time. You can safely fly cross country in New Zealand as there are still plenty of places to land. The difference today is that you have to know where they are before you take off and remain within safe gliding range of a known landing field throughout the flight. I call this operating within cones of safety. The whole idea is to fly from one safe landing place to another. It is a logical and safe concept and once pupils have grasped it their fear of flying cross country is greatly diminished. Object of the course To teach pilots skills to enable them to safely fly cross country in gliders.

selection criteria and decision making are critical.

Afternoon Day 2 - Morning Afternoon Day 3 Morning Afternoon Day 4 - Morning Afternoon Day 5 Morning Afternoon

Introduction – Individual course expectations Cross country concepts and safety philosophy The risks in cross country soaring. How to manage the risks How and when to make land out decisions. Field selection How to judge wind direction from signs on the ground, and drift. Learn the 6 x S’s and W rule for field selection Size, Surface, Shape, Slope, Surroundings, Sun, Wind How to judge height from objects on the ground and surroundings How to plan a circuit, and approach into a chosen field. Dual out landing field selection and landing in one of the chosen fields Reading weather maps Soaring conditions for cross country soaring Reading the sky. Thermal soaring techniques and etiquette Glider performance and understanding the glider polar Making a simple glide calculator using glider polar More dual out landing checks Solo out landings Local soaring General look at charts and navigation NZ Aeronautical charts Airspace FAI Badge flights and sporting code Preparation for badge and cross country flights More dual and solo out landings Local soaring and looking at selected landing fields from the air. More dual and solo out landing checks Dual and solo follow the leader cross country soaring Check the weather and if on, plan a 50km flight Make route map and mark landing fields on route with distance radius around them Declare a 50km Silver C flight Attempt a 50km Silver C flight. December 2007

meteorology LEMMY TANNER

Something

for Nothing These days it is rare for people to get something for nothing. Handouts and special offers, like ‘Free Downloads’, nearly always

A visible reminder that air carries water vapour. Cumulus cloud over the Canterbury Plains.

but in the morning most of the trees on the south coast of UK were lying on the ground. Few people have forgotten that!

have a catch to them, and in the end one has to pay or go without.

Let us be honest. Weather forecasting is guess work! One may

As glider pilots, we are particularly privileged, the air we fly in

have a very educated guess, but we do not have all of the facts

comes for free, as does the energy which keeps us up, and gravity

to make really accurate predictions, particularly with regard to the

which enables us to go fast. Air is quite remarkable. Despite being

specialist requirements of glider pilots. There was a time, not many

a melange of gases, it is invisible to our eyes. This is a good thing!

years ago, when atmospheric information was collected by observ-

It is also a good insulator, and can be compressed or expanded.

ers who recorded pressure, temperature, dew point and wind

Fortunately it has just about the right density to allow us to move

velocity every hour. This was relayed by telex to the central met

about freely whilst providing resistance if one goes fast. Fast

office and the forecasters would plot all the data on a chart and

moving air can be damaging and yet we need it to stay alive.

come up with the most likely prediction. Nowadays, the observa-

One of the common gases in air is water vapour. It is a good

tions are automated and a computer sifts through the data and the

thing this is invisible too or we wouldn’t see very far. However, if the

result is broadcast on TV, radio and other networks. Much of this

air containing the water vapour gets cooled enough, the vapour

forecasting is of a superficial nature e.g. ‘Tomorrow will be dry with

condenses into water droplets or ice crystals. A common result of

sunny intervals!’ A glider pilot might translate this as ‘There will be

this phenomenon is cloud, and one cannot see very far in cloud!

cumulus, so it will be soarable!’ What isn’t known is the height of

Again it is fortunate that cloud is not very dense, otherwise it

the cumulus base, how much cumulus, what rate of climb there

would hurt if one flew into it. For glider pilots, clouds have some

might be and whether there will be wave influence.

importance. The white fluffy cumulus clouds indicate good soaring

With the advent of the internet, a mass of data is available for

weather, as do the long, lens-like clouds that appear stationary

the average pilot to sort through. Websites such as metvuw.com;

over the ground.

metservice.co.nz; arl.noaa.gov/ready; weather.co.uk and others,

Knowing what sort of weather is required for good gliding is

provide most of what one needs to have a good guess at what is

one thing. Being able to predict that weather is another, far more

going to happen weatherwise. All of these sites are free, and glider

risky occupation. A famous occasion was when Michael Fish, a

pilots love ‘Something for nothing!’

BBC weatherman dismissed ideas of a great storm one evening,

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December 2007

Piako Gliding Club At 50

The highly abridged, unofficial, and whimsical history of Piako Gliding Club’s first 50 years Trevor Atkins with help from Ian Finlayson and Roger Brown

How do you start a gliding club with no aircraft?

Centre driven by the incredible enthusiasm of Auckland Gliding

In the Waikato it all began with an advertisement in the

Club’s Ian Pryde has been critical to the development of soaring

Matamata Chronicle, a brightly painted model glider to demonstrate

in the Waikato. For the past 25 years the Soaring Centre has been

the concept, and a great deal of enthusiasm when in 1957 Lew Hale

ably sheparded by its President, Piako club member Ralph Gore.

started the ball rolling to drum up interest. Lew became the first

Piako Gliding Club members such as Sandy Norman have

Secretary of the Piako Gliding Club with Bob Connor serving as the

also made invaluable contributions beyond the local club scene

first President.

helping to develop the training systems and infrastructure of the

Flying commenced in 1958 with Piako’s first ever glider Rhon-

New Zealand Gliding Association (now Gliding New Zealand); while

lerche ZK-GBO arriving by aerotow on 23 March. Its very first

Piako’s Dennis Crequer was at the helm as President of NZGA

launch from Waharoa that day produced a 28 minute thermal flight

through the more recent CAA-driven revamp of aviation in NZ

– a taste of things to come! Over the next few years GBO was flown

helping to protect soaring as a legitimate aviation activity in the new

in snow to 10,650' by Peter De Renzy, soared across the Kaimais to

world we find ourselves.

Tauranga by Peter Blakeborough, pranged (taking the Club’s Tiger

The club’s trophies and committee minute books, along with

Moth tug along with it), flown at high speed for 80kms by Alan Irving

the Gliding Kiwi, hold the names of many Piako pilots through the

from Hamilton to Thames in 1 hour 35 minutes, and - of course -

years who have explored and opened up the Waikato skies to

pranged again! GBO was sold in 1965 to the Southland Gliding Club

soaring. Pilots from this pioneering time included Tony Fowke, Brian

after seven year’s of faithful service totaling 1902hrs over some

Kosoof, Ross Carmichael, Peter De Renzy and many others. The 1960s and 1970s are considered by many to be the heyday

9300 flights. Piako has been well served by a long list of members willing

of development of soaring both in the Waikato and more gener-

to ensure the continuing wise stewardship of the club. Over its

ally in New Zealand. The July 1963 edition of Gliding Kiwi captures

50 years the Piako Gliding Club has been steered by 123 differ-

the story of early exploration of the Kaimai wave from Matamata

ent people under 20 presidents, while 16 CFIs and 14 Tug masters

with flights to 30,000’. National gliding championships at Matamata

have kept us airborne. Over the years the club has created 11 Life

during this era attracted pilots numbering 50 to 60, including strong

Members to acknowledge their contributions, with Lew Hale receiv-

representation from the South Island.

ing his well deserved Life Membership at the club’s 50th birthday

pion, and also held the national Rothman’s Challenge Cup from

celebration. Life Member Tony Fowke Colin Ross Sandy Norman Bruce Fowler Ralph Insoll Ian Finlayson

Piako Club member Ian Finlayson is a past New Zealand Cham-

Appointed 1967 1969 1979 1981 1984 1988

Life Member Appointed Les Riesterer 1992 Ralph Gore 1996 Shirley Finlayson 1997 Harold Oates 2002 Lew Hale 2007

1973-1991 (until the rules were changed to give someone else a chance!), held a number of National Speed Records, and flew to 7th place in the Open Class at the 1978 World Gliding Championships. Ann Johnson in 1979 soared from Matamata to Gisborne to claim the National Women’s Record for Straight Distance To A Goal – while flying over some of New Zealand’s true tiger country. Other notable Piako pilots from the 1980s to present day include Phil E.

Much of the story of Piako includes the story of the wider

Smith, David Reid, and Bryan O’Brien; all keen cross country pilots

gliding community exploring the Waikato skies and learning to race

who made their presence known winning National Titles in their

sailplanes cross country. The development of the Matamata Soaring

respective classes.

December 2007

tow pilot The prototype Pawnee first flew 50 years ago (this year) and the Auckland club has owned CEB now for 40 years last July. While it may be a freak of design, have the aerodynamics of a powered brick and to the average glider pilot, is just a means to an end, for a Over time the gliders change, the instructors change, and new club members arrive to learn to soar. The one thing that never changes – the smiles and sense of wonder! Class photo from a recent Piako “Learn to Fly Course”.

50 year old design to still be performing well, still providing a great service, puts it in a class of its own. I was appointed the Auckland CTP in early 1987. In June of that year, we decided to take CEB out of the air for a major airframe overhaul. While the memory is getting a bit dim, there are a few things that still stand out in my mind. The main one was the terrible condition of the airframe when stripped… almost a basket case. A downside with a Pawnee is that it was designed at a time when cotton fabric was used. In normal use, it would be replaced every 5 to 10 years or so depending on use, which enables regular in depth inspections. However “Modern” ceconite fabric tends to last longer than the structure it is covering, making in depth inspec-

165 people turned out for the Piako Gliding Club’s 50th Birthday Dinner. Here Chris Hector proposes the Toast To Absent Friends. The man who started it all, Lew Hale entertains the crowd at Piako’s 50th Birthday Dinner – complete with the model that he used in 1957 to explain the concept of gliding to the uninitiated.

The social side of the earlier days of soaring is legendary, and the combination best exemplifying that spirit of adventure and camaraderie was the Air New Zealand Derby of the 1970s which saw gliders and crews – including a strong contingent from Piako - charging up and down the North Island between Kaitia and Wellington being amiably and extravagantly hosted by clubs along the way. Perhaps the romance seems to be going out of soaring these days with less swashbuckling and less time in modern life available for the pursuit of aerial activities. Piako, though, finds itself bucking the trend with membership growing slowly. With course-based training for members now becoming well entrenched at Piako, with new tools such as simulators being explored as an aid to training, and with our next single-seater

tions quite difficult. Six months of effort in 1987 saw the following work completed. The fuse was completely stripped of everything (except the flap lever) and sand blasted. We found no less than six holes in the tube structure forward of the cockpit and behind the engine caused by internal corrosion. We discovered a disused crew window, hinged up from below to allow a passenger in the little bay behind the engine to have some limited vision. The hinge points had not been welded correctly and were not sealed, allowing water inside the tube structure in that area. So as well as replacing all affected tubes, we took the opportunity to remove all the equipment from that area which was not needed. This included the crew door and frame, the floor and everything else. A new stainless steel battery box was made for this area and attaching points welded to the airframe. All tubes were then internally filled/ washed with linseed oil. New side panels were made, along with a new titanium alloy firewall and a new instrument panel. There were two significant changes made. The first was to remove the wing tanks and install a hopper tank. There had been a succession of engine stoppages on take off when using Mogas. An even earlier installation of a cowl flap changed the engine cooling

on order for the club fleet we are confident that the Piako Gliding

Hard to miss due to its new colour scheme Auckland’s Pawnee’s attractions are

Club will be thriving when it is time to celebrate our 60th birthday

more than skin deep.

and beyond. The challenges of moving our sport forward may have changed over the past 50 years, but the commitment to meeting them head on has most assuredly continued. While many of the current challenges appear to be ground based, it is heartening to recently see Piako’s Steve Care set a new National Record for 100km Out and Return in both the Open and 15m Classes on the Kaimais proving that there are definitely still new limits to be explored in the Waikato skies, and pilots willing to push them. Happy Birthday Piako. 36

December 2007

Ian Williams has been involved with the Auckland Gliding Clubs Pawnee CEB as the towmaster for the last 20 years. He has had his arm twisted and is writing about the technical challenges and experiences he has been involved with over the years. This is the first of a two part story.

outlet profile subjecting the two electric fuel pumps mounted on the lower edge of the firewall to excessive heat soak, especially on hot days with prolonged ground engine running. Thus with high demand on takeoff and a little head loss through the delivery pipes from

The little yellow button with CHT on it flashes to show the pilot when the max cylinder head temperature is exceeded.

the wing tanks, fuel would vaporize inside the pumps. This was real heart attack material because the engine would croak generally just as the plane was leaving the ground. I can still remember that the fuel pressure would always drop to almost zero on take off. My view was that the fuel system was always a bit dodgy anyway and Mogas just tipped it over the edge. We installed the 140 litre hopper tank and installed the fuel filter and just one pump on the inside of the firewall. With a combination of gravity feed and just the one electric pump, the resultant

The door hinge, showing the gusset in the nside the cockpit looking forward at the corne

high demand fuel pressure drop was minimal … so problem solved, except then we went away from using Mogas.

firewall, showing the new arrangement of the fuel filter and electric fuel pump

CEB continued towing at Drury until Jan 1988 when it had a

The other significant change was with the cockpit doors. Some

heavy landing which broke the rubber U/C bungies. The result

years earlier, we had another Pawnee CIW. A young tow pilot (Jim

prop strike meant a bulk strip. Fortunately there was no damage

Neald) was flying it from Drury to Ardmore for a refuel. While in the

to the engine. So CEB then was reassembled to live another day. .

air, it is suspected a door hinge broke, the door then entered the

However that day was again limited.

cockpit, disabling Jim and the aircraft crashed close to Ardmore. It

After 622 hours and in April 1990 after refueling at Drury, the

was a sad day and an avoidable accident. So with CEB, we added

towpilot started the engine and taxied forward into a little Fergi

a third hinge for each door, plus welded gussets for the door to

tractor that somebody had parked in front of the Pawnee. The

provide solid “stops” for each door to shut against.

damage was quite extensive. The prop tried to tie itself in knots

The wings and all control surfaces were inspected, control

rather dramatically and the crankshaft flange was bent as well as

cables replaced and recovered, aircraft totally rewired, new radio

the engine mount and lower cowl bent beyond repair. The engine

installed, fuse recovered and the whole thing repainted using the

was repaired using a replacement crankshaft and centre main

standard dope finishing process.

bearing and a new engine mount fitted. The little Fergi needed a

Not a lot of work was done on the engine, it was rewired

new tyre, mudguard and steering wheel and lived to see a lot more

however. So … after six months of marginal self employment prof-

days. We borrowed a prop from Bruce Drake and were back in

itability on my part and the threat of a divorce if I did it again, CEB

business. However, rightly so, after a while Bruce wanted the prop

was ready for its first flight. It just so happened that it coincided

back. This forced the issue about the prop and prop noise and the

with a December committee meeting and I had a real close view

increase of population around Drury. We did a lot of work and inves-

of the clubhouse chimney that evening (the throttle fully open of

tigation and ended up purchasing a four bladed Hoffman prop from

course). I guess when any project is undertaken like this in a club

Germany. I decided that the right size would be the 120cm pitch

situation, a lot of armchair experts appear and this project was no

model which was the highest pitch available (110, 115 and 120cm).

exception. I did get significant flak and pressure from the commit-

This was also the only one that had a US STC at that time. The prop

tee … “when will it be ready”!!

duly arrived and was installed using the German LBA certificate for approval. Not really the proper way to do things … but to cut

The author in Auckland’s lovingly maintained and restored Pawnee.

a long story short, I would like to thank David Gill (NZ CAA) for his help there and an official NZ mod approval was obtained. However this prop has been a saga which to be frank, I have actually never been totally happy with it. However the overall performance really did not change much as compared with the standard 82inch dia * 52inch pitch metal prop. Maybe a little more thrust available on take off. There were a few noticeable characteristics, the main one being a slight elevator vibration when climbing at full power at a low airspeed. However the reduction in noise was quite dramatic, much to the pleasure of the local community.

CEB’s story continues next

issue.

December 2007

NUMBER ONE CONFIRMED FOR

WORLD GP GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP The world’s leading glider pilot, Sebastian Kawa (POL) has

to be phenomenal,” said Bob Henderson, President International

confirmed his entry for the FAI World GP Gliding Championship

Gliding Commission. “The skill and nerve of these elite sports men

2007, in Omarama this December. The Grand Prix runs from 19

will astound spectators around the world as they watch them push

to the 24 December. It will be well worth a visit to Omarama this

themselves and their aircraft to the limits.”

Christmas to see him and the other elite pilots in action.

The 20 pilots competing have now been confirmed, with entries

Kawa is currently number one on the International Gliding

from 11 different countries. Each competitor has earned his place

Commission (IGC) rankings and has won every European and

competing in the FAI World GP Gliding Championship Series around

World Championship he has entered since 2003. He will be joined

the world over the last two years. The 2006 Omarama competition

by other elite pilots who will race head-to-head to earn the prestig-

was one of the qualifying contests.

ious title of World GP Gliding Champion. The six days of intense competition will follow the same format

Representing the gliding elite, many competitors have held national and international titles.

They include Michael Sommer

as what was seen in January 2006 at Omarama. The races will be

from Germany who is current title holder of the Open Class World

head to head high speed aerial battles of strategy, courage and

Gliding Championship, Peter Harvey a former British National

skill above the Southern Alps. Travelling at speeds of up to 300kph,

Champion with an impressive list of winning credentials and Petr

often just metres above the mountain ridges, the competitors are

Krejcirik holder of eight Czech national records. Also in the line up

sometimes just a wing’s breadth apart from each other. Because

is the 1999 World Champion, Giorgio Galetto representing Italy, he

all the gliders start at the same time it is easy to compare their

currently holds five Italian distance and speed records.

tactics and speeds. Once again on board cameras and comput-

Sebastian Kawa, who has gained three World, two European and

ers will be able to show spectators and a TV and internet audience

one Grand Prix title, started his gliding life very young. From the age

where each glider is in real time. The racing will be seen live by

of four years Kawa accompanied his father on various recreational

viewers around the world on www.airsportslive.com This will be

flights and competitions across the world. Outside of gliding, Kawa

one of the world’s most sophisticated outside broadcast projects. The coverage will include real-time 3D graphics to explain race strategies. Multiple mini-cams placed in cockpits will ensure

is a world-class sailor representing Poland and respected obstetrician although a recent career change now sees him training to be a commercial airline pilot, in between his gliding commitments.

the viewer is in the middle of the action. Special stabilised helicop-

The FAI World GP Gliding Championship will take place 19-24

ter camera systems will provide dramatic air-to-air coverage while

December in Omarama, and can be seen live by spectators around

teams of expert commentators will cover each race.

the world using the latest in TV and internet technologies via www.

“The calibre of gliding from these pilots racing is guaranteed 38

December 2007

gpgliding.com.

The After Party Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t run away from Omarama when the GrandPrix is over. Following hot on its heels is the New Zealand Air Games on 27 and 28 December in Wanaka. The organisers are billing it as the largest aviation sports event ever to take place in the Southern Hemisphere. Air Sports Live, incorporating the New Zealand Air Games, features 10 sports ranging from paragliding to sky diving, helicopters to hot air ballooning, all set against the spectacular alpine backdrop of Wanaka, New Zealand. Many of the sports have been reformatted for high adrena-

Photo John McCaw

lin viewing. Spectators will see sky divers racing head-to-head

Expect to see some dramatic close finishes at the Grand Prix

at terminal velocity around free-falling pylons. Top pilots will open up a whole new perception of helicopters as they perform phenomenal stunts and precision flying in direct competition with each other; powered aircraft will perform dramatic aerobatics featuring massive G-forces and millimetre precision. Experimental aircraft will provide a glimpse into the future with new approaches to aerodynamics, speed, fuel economy

Confirmed pilots for the

FAI World GP Gliding Championship

and computer controls. The aviation world is reduced to miniature in the aeromodelling competition featuring intricate remote

PILOT

REPRESENTING

QUALIFYING GP

IGC RANKING

Sebastian Kawa

Poland

Omarama, NZ

controlled models performing high speed manoeuvres at mindblowing speeds.

Michael Sommer

Germany

Gawler, Australia

Peter Harvey

Gransden Lodge, UK

All the aerial action will be beamed back live to specta-

Christophe Ruch

France

St. Auban, France

tors on the airfield on a giant screen from cameras mounted in

Uli Schwenk

Germany

Hahnweide, Germany

cockpits as well as the latest air-to-air filming technology and

Petr Krejcirik

Czech Republic Nitra, Slovakia

Giorgio Galetto

Italy

Omarama, NZ

Steve Jones

Gransden Lodge, UK

Herbert Weiss

Germany

Nitra, Slovakia

real-time graphics, allowing a fascinating insight into the previously closed world of the world-class sports pilot. These days are also fall back days for the GrandPrix if the

Didier Hauss

France

St. Auban, France

required number of flying days have not been reached. If racing

Mario Kiessling

Germany

St. Auban, France

is required on these days it will be from Wanaka. There will be GrandPrix type racing happening at Wanaka regardless.

Oscar Goudriaan

South Africa

Bloemfontein, Sth Africa

Bruce Taylor

Australia

Gawler, Australia

Tickets are $18 for adults with free admission for children

Tim McAllister

USA

Drakino, Russia

321

under 16 and are available by calling 03 443 2700. For further

Ben Flewett

New Zealand

Omarama, NZ

325

information, visit www.airsportslive.com.

Erwin Sommer

Germany

Nitra, Slovakia

337

Mark Holliday

South Africa

Bloemfontein, Sth Africa

601

Vladimir Panafutin

Russia

Drakino, Russia

664

Photo John McCaw

So If you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t booked your Christmas holidays yet this year, you would be advised to head to Omarama and Wanaka for some of the most spectacular flying you are ever likely to see.

Peter Harvey makes a scorching run through the finish at GP 06 December 2007

gliding new zealand news max stevens

GNZ EXECUTIVE OFFICER

This column is intended to give readers an ongoing insight into the activities of the GNZ Executive and its Committees. Rather than a detailed report on matters currently under consideration, here are some recent items of significance.

Operations Brian Chesterman ran a very successful Instructor

contracted to Air Sports Ltd. Two pilots have withdrawn, leaving a

training course at Taupo in late September, ably assisted by Tom

field of 18 from 11 countries, racing with 15m class gliders. Pilots will

Anderson, John Bayliss, Ross Biggar, Steve Care, Doug Hamilton,

start arriving at Omarama from 5 December to practice for the real

and George Rogers. The Executive wishes to thank these stalwarts

racing that starts on 19 December and finishes Christmas Eve. After

sincerely for their contributions to the course.

Christmas they will go on to fly in the multi-sport event, “Air Sports

Further work is being done to model suitable club constitutional provisions that will enable trial flights to continue unhindered in the event that the CAA proceeds with its Adventure Aviation rule Part 115.

Live”, at Wanaka, 27-28 December, which is hosted by the Royal NZ Aero Club. The Sailplane Racing Committee has announced that New

CAA recently published an NPRM on a proposed Recreational

Zealand’s representative to compete with Australia for the Tasman

Pilot Licence, to all intents and purposes the same as a PPL but

Trophy is Trevor Atkins. The contest will be flown in PW5s during the

requiring only a Land Transport NZ medical certificate. So far, so good

NZ National Championships at Matamata next February.

but a raft of conditions was proposed, including one passenger only

Airspace Grae Harrison reports that the Airspace Committee has

and no glider towing on an RPL. GNZ argued that the consequences

been very active in recent months, with much effort going into secur-

of tow-pilot medical incapacitation were likely to be less than for an

ing glider pilot access to airspace in the Cromwell Valley from Tarras

RPL flight with a passenger. CAA has unfortunately not accepted this

to the Nevis. New procedures in this area will be trialled in the forth-

argument. You can see CAA’s rather misguided response on their

coming contest season.

web site – GNZ will fight on with this one!

Another problem area is the Waikato, where your committee is

Recent suggestions that the requirements for QGP are more

battling a somewhat arbitrary proposal to lower controlled airspace

advanced than necessary for the privileges conferred has given rise

over a wide area that would seriously affect gliding operations out of

to the idea of splitting the qualification into two – with the QGP to be

Matamata and Drury.

awarded at the B Certificate level and a new Qualified Soaring Pilot

It has become apparent that there is no coherent high level

(QSP) certificate to be awarded on completion of the full syllabus. The

policy on airspace access that guides Airways and the CAA in their

Executive will be interested to hear your views on this idea.

decisions, so that commercial imperatives tend to take precedence

With regret, Ron Raymond has resigned as Central Region ROO.

by default — the Executive and Airspace Committee are looking for

On your behalf, the Executive thanks Ron for his efforts and wishes

ways to ensure the rights of recreational users are not forgotten by

him well. We are now on the lookout for a new Central Region ROO –

the policy makers.

ideas or volunteers anyone?

Promotion Steve Tollestrup has had a busy couple of months

Airworthiness Following the resignation of Ian Haigh as National

in taking up every available opportunity to promote gliding in the

Airworthiness Officer, Roger Harris has stepped into the breach once

print and TV media, including publicity of Hawkes Bay’s and Piako’s

more on the understanding that we look to grooming a replacement

50th anniversary celebrations, and Steve Fossett’s gliding connec-

within two or three years.

tions when he was unfortunately the focus of enormous attention

Roger ran a five-day glider maintenance engineering course at

recently.

Omarama in October, attended by six motivated and experienced

With the assistance of Trevor Atkins and Roy Edwards, Steve

glider pilots who easily earned their Class 2 approvals. The Executive

has developed a detailed promotional plan and budget, which was

wishes to thank Roger for this initiative, and also Glide Omarama for

endorsed by the Executive at its October meeting.

the use of its classroom facilities.

Website As a consequence of the change of arrangements

Changes to CAA general aircraft maintenance rules have neces-

for GNZ’s “official journal”, the Executive has reviewed the policy

sitated updates to our DI Book/Tech Log, and release-to-service

regarding classified advertisements on the web site and has decided

documentation (Tech 19a and Tech 22). The opportunity was taken

that, regardless of the value of the goods, all classifieds will be

to generally improve these documents, bringing them more into line

free to members of GNZ affiliated organisations. Trevor Atkins will

with a new “house style” applying to GNZ forms.

be developing a database system to handle the classifieds. Links to

CAA has indicated that when a FLARM device is installed, the

“commercial” sites will also remain free.

documentation must include an amendment to the CAA form 2129 in

Admin stuff a new specification for the central registry database

the front of the glider Flight Manual. CAA is in the process of amend-

is under development, with a view to enabling better utilisation and

ing their AC 43-14 to provide guidance to glider engineers in this

accessibility online. A broad review of the GNZ constitution has been quietly under

respect. Inappropriate and incorrect advice regarding Airworthiness Directives (ADs) was given in the Oct/Nov “Roakes Ramblings”. It therefore

way for more than a year, and this is now expected to be completed in time for consideration at the 2008 AGM.

needs to be made clear that the FAA ADs have no legal relevance to

GNZ recently reported to SPARC against the agreed key

New Zealand registered gliders. Only the CAA NZ ADs matter if your

performance indicators. Half of the 2006-2007 targets were

glider is NZ registered, and these are available free on the CAA web

exceeded (members recruited, increase in youth members, women

site, which also provides a free email alerting service.

participating, web site visits) and half were not achieved (percentage

Racing Organisation of the FAI World GP Gliding Championship

of trial flights, average participation time in the sport, 0800 number

(GP07 for short) is well advanced. The FAI has contracted GNZ

calls, increase in number of instructors). Negotiations are currently

to organise this Category 1 event, while the media aspects are

under way with SPARC for new indicators and targets for 2007-2008.

December 2007

A QUESTION OF SAFETY DOUG HAMILTON

national operations officer, GN

Hopefully by the time you read this the spring winds have lost some of their strength and the soaring conditions are a little more

let him know your requirements. Then we can plan more courses as needed.

pleasant. As I write this there have been at least four incidents so

I have added another instalment of incident reports in this issue

far this spring where the strong and gusty winds have had an influ-

covering the 2004-year. Please try not to become part of a report.

ence, so please be careful with your flight planning and particularly your circuit and landings. Again I will mention the need to check your BFR status, if it is not current then you can’t fly as PIC, so please check and renew it if required. As always a bit of dual flying doesn’t do any harm! October saw another very successful instructor course held at Taupo and my thanks to all the instructor trainers that took the time

We much appreciate the improved level of reporting of incidents that has taken place over the last year or two. “Be careful out there.” Our Safety Officer Doug Hamilton has been keeping the GNZ accident records for several years now and has not been able to share them with the membership. Because of the valuable lessons we can all learn from others mistakes we will be attempting to catch up with and run all the

to help out. If you need instructor training or some members of

accident/incident reports that he has. This will be an on going feature.

your club want to become instructors then contact your ROO and

Doug will be commenting on the reports as soon as he is able.

Summary of Incidents –2004

Date 20 February 2004 Location Omarama Glider type ASH 25 Nature of Flight Dual Cross Country Pilot hours 3050 Last 90 days 261 Injuries Nil Damage: substantial POB: 2 Details on CAA website: Yes Notes During a cross-country training flight an out landing became necessary. The pilot in command failed to notice the cross/ tail wind component for the strip direction chosen. This resulted in a faster than normal landing speed and the cross-wind component helping cause a ground loop which caused substantial damage. Date 10 April 2004 Location Waipukuaru Glider type N/A Nature of Flight Local Soaring Pilot hours N/A Last 90 days N/A Injuries Nil Damage Moderate POB 1 Details on CAA website No Notes The pilot returned to the airfield after a local wave flight to find a strong wind blowing at the airfield, some vectors were not available due to fencing including the best one for the prevailing conditions. The pilot elected to use a short vector but approached too fast, the glider bounced once and then touched down with too little room left before hitting a wooden fence. Date 24 April 2004 Location Taupo Glider type PW 6 Nature of Flight Dual training Pilot hours 56 Last 90 days N/A Injuries Nil Damage Substantial POB 2 Details on CAA website No Notes During a dual local training flight for completion of a BFR the pilot rejoined the circuit with the aim of completing a short landing on the airfield, simulating an out-landing situation. The pilot failed to recognise the glider was below glide slope on finals and when the situation was recognised, he pulled the airbrakes fully open by mistake, causing the glider to land heavily approximately 30 meters short of the runway. The instructor as PIC admitted he should have been more aware of the situation and the pilots lack of recent experience, even though all previous flight exercises had been accomplished with perfection. Date 25 April 2004 Location Thames Glider type Blanik Nature of Flight Landing Pilot hours N/A Last 90 days N/A Injuries Nil Damage Minor POB 1 Details on CAA website No Notes Damage was caused to the tail’s wheel unit and mounts on landing. It was noted that the aircraft had had several tail first landing prior to the incident. Date 22nd May 2004 Location Jury Hill Glider type ASK 13 Nature of Flight Local Pilot hours N/A Last 90 days N/A Injuries N/A Damage Minor POB 1 Details on CAA website No Notes The pilot launched on a day with rather gloomy weather and got caught in a rain shower. The pilot was forced to do an out landing and hit an electric fence in the field. Date 26th May 2004 Location Piako Glider type PW6 Nature of Flight Solo Training Pilot hours N/A Last 90 days N/A Injuries Nil Damage Substantial POB Details on CAA website No Notes On 2nd solo flight the glider undershot the runway and hit a small embankment. Further details not available.

Date Before August 16th 2004 Location Waipukurau Glider type Single Astir Nature of Flight Local Soaring Pilot hours N/A Last 90 days N/A Injuries N/A Damage Substantial POB 1 Details on CAA website No Notes Full Details of this accident are not on file. But it is known that the pilot probably misjudged the circuit and landing phase of the flight in windy conditions, with a crosswind component. Date 10 October 2004 Location Taupo Glider type PW 5 Nature of Flight Local solo flight Pilot hours 30 Last 90 days 2 Injuries Nil Damage Minor POB 1 Details on CAA website No Notes On a local flight the pilot climbed in thermal lift close to the airfield, during the climb the pilot noticed the glider was being drifted down wind away from the airfield. He elected to return toward the airfield and arrived overhead with adequate height and chose to then fly to a nearby hill where 2 other gliders were soaring. On reaching the hill the pilot only encountered broken lift and while trying to climb in a weak thermal turned the glider toward the hill resulting in the glider contacting the hill. The “landing “ was fortunately gentle and most damage resulted from colliding with some broom bushes. Date 25 October 2004 Location Lowburn (Cromwell) Glider type PW 5 Nature of Flight Local solo flight Pilot hours 43 Last 90 days 30 Injuries Nil Damage Minor POB 1 Details on CAA website No Notes After a local flight a normal approach was made to the large airstrip being flown from. During the final landing flare a loud bang was heard from the rear of the glider. Investigation revealed that the tail wheel was missing. Further investigation showed that the tail wheel had hit either a rock or a rabbit hole during the final flare Date 9 November 2004 Location Drury Glider type PW 5 Nature of Flight Winch launch Pilot hours 15 Last 90 days 4.5 Injuries Serious Damage Major POB 1 Details on CAA website Yes Notes During a winch launch the glider immediately banked right on lift off and rotated in to a steep climb while continuing to roll right. At approximately 300 feet the glider released from the cable. The gliders nose dropped and the glider entered a right hand turn, which developed into a right hand spin. The glider struck the ground in a nose down attitude. Investigation completed by CAA Date 20 November 2004 Location Rangiwhia Glider type DG 202 Nature of Flight Cross country Pilot hours 967 Last 90 days 16.5 Injuries Nil Damage Moderate POB 1 Details on CAA website Yes Notes During a cross country flight the pilot elected to do an out landing. The field selected turned out to be very soft and on landing the main undercarriage was torn from the glider There are some accidents that may not appear here, but do appear on the CAA web site.

December 2007

AB initio The Ab â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Initio column is aimed at low houred pilots, the new guys wandering around with dazed looks on their faces. The aim is to make them more comfortable and give them the information they need to get the most from learning to fly. When I passed on this brief to Roger Read he took it to extremes. He went one step further - to visitors coming onto our airfields and what we need to do to make it a safe and happy experience that they are likely to want to repeat. As such this story is not just for new pilots but for all of us. Please read and take note

Throughout the year, we get visitors coming to our airfields.

Invite them to take a closer look and chat as you walk around

Summer soaring activity is increasing and more visitors are out for

the glider and describe in simple terms how it flies. Avoid technical

a look at what we are up to. As seasoned aviators it is easy to

jargon and keep any theory simple as we want to emphasise the

forget some of the dangers that threaten the safety of both visitors

ease and delights of gliding and soaring. Encourage questions and

and ourselves. Here are a few tips on how to ensure we make our

aim to provide simple answers without talking down to your guest.

visitors welcome and keep things safe for all.

Offer them an opportunity to sit in a glider and show them how the

Airfields are usually wide open places. Visitors will need some

controls work. Discuss how one learns to fly; the ease of training

clear guidance from signs to show how they access the airfield,

and the focus that is placed on safety and having fun. Offer to take

drive to the operations point (caravan) and park without infringing

photos of them there as this will be something for them to reflect on

operational areas (active runways/vectors). Some will boldly drive

later once back home. There may often be only one keen person in

anywhere at any speed and may use the shortest route between

a group / family so carefully include all visitors in sharing the expe-

the access gate and where the gliders are parked despite the best

rience. Ensure you encourage any children and remember to kneel

signs and cones etc to keep them safely off active areas. Others

down to their height when chatting with them; this is far less intimi-

will feel intimidated and venture no further than the boundary gate

dating and shows you are able to communicate effectively at their

or fenceline unless coaxed or absolutely sure they wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get into

level. Explain where they can safely go and what safety consider-

trouble driving on to the field. Keep an eye out for all visitors and

ations there are specific to being on the airfield so that they can

have members prepared to go and meet them at the gate or by

relax and explore without risk of endangering themselves.

the fence and to chat in a way that offers a welcome plus guidance

Show them the launch procedure and follow a flight from

on how to get to the gliders so they can take a closer lookâ&#x20AC;Ś and

preflight preparation, through the launch, the tow, release and then

possibly take a flight.

the circuit and landing. Explain how the glider releases and how the

Once at the launch point, get them safely parked and facing

tow plane or winch system works. Allay any fears they may have;

out to where they can sit in their car or set up a picnic and watch

the most common being that of heights. Emphasise that it is not

the operational activities. Some clubs have found that a few picnic

the same as being up on a ladder and that many who fear this are

tables are a great way to encourage both members and visitors to

very comfortable flying and are able to enjoy the panoramic views

relax over a picnic while waiting to fly. If your visitors have made

available. Talk about your best flights and explain the state of the

it to the operational area by themselves, have a member go and

art technology and performance of modern gliders; use the analogy

greet them and invite them to take a closer look at both gliders

of high performance yachts as a comparison of what can be

and towplane. Remember what it was like on your first visit. First

achieved. However emphasise that club membership allows access

impressions are generally lasting impressions so a warm, hospi-

to this sport for all ages at a reasonable cost, largely because of

table welcome that allows them to ask questions and take a look at

the voluntary nature of the sport. Ideally, the club should have a

our sport will make their visit an enjoyable experience.

simple fact / info sheet to give away so that they can get back in

December 2007

weblinks

If you have a little time to spare over Xmas you might like to check out some of these links on the web. A scenic local film Oliver Winkler’s video he took while on the Canterbury Flock Hill camp. http://en.sevenload.com/videos/ BXhCFZ3/Gliding-in-NZ-Flock-Hill-Camp-2007 Paul MacCready

Photo John McCaw

If you have a lot of time (about 20 mins) then watch

Hugh Turner explains the layout of the front seat instrument panel to his new trainee.

and listen as Paul MacCready gives his views on global warming, tells of the bizarre chain of events that led to the Gossamer Condor and Albatross and lets his son show off a neat little model glider. Well worth watching for a view of rare view of this extraordinary man. http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1080/ For any of you who haven’t found it yet …

contact with the club and hopefully return to join or perhaps even to

http://glidingstuff.co.nz/yabb/YaBB.p is the place to

just bring others out for a look.

discuss gliding stuff in New Zealand. You can even find

If this sounds like a marketing and sales pitch… it is. How important is all this PR stuff?.. Well, I venture to suggest that it is

background on the change of magazine editorship.

extremely important to get it right; so much so that clubs would do

DG’s new forum

well to discuss it openly and to actively train members in how to

http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/index-e.html

handle visitors. Some people are “naturals” at marketing the sport;

If you have a DG glider then this new technical forum is

others can be with a little training and some are just not cut out

a place to watch. In the past their engineers have indi-

for it and should probably not be involved unless they really want

vidually answered questions posed of them. This forum

to be and are coached on how to do it effectively. I mention train-

means that those answers will now be on line for all to

ing; encourage members to share ideas and techniques on how to

see. Commonly asked questions should only need to

make it a positive experience for a visitor. Even consider the use of

be answered once and a library of information can be

a roleplay of handling visitors as this is a very effective way of train-

searched to see if it contains the answers you require.

ing and refining our visitor handling techniques. Strike a balance between the aggressive, over the top sales pitch to sell a glider flight and situations that sees visitors ignored or worse still, actively making it difficult or unpleasant

This one is for the girls and discusses various female pilot in flight relief systems. Some even look like they work. http://www.freeflight.org.uk/gliding/relief.html

for them. Remember common sense

Gliding GrandPrix

and if they like their visit to the

For those of you that aren’t going to be at

club, they may well come back

the event, keep up with the racing at

again…. and this is what our sport

needs…new

http://www.gpgliding.com/

members

and people who enjoy coming out to our airfields.

And for pushing the boundary on what a glider will do, check out this jet powered model on U Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9bzQQl8Y_w&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRdce9jC9k0&feature=related

Signs can make life safer and easier for everyone

December 2007

THE GEEK Some say he was born with residual wings and a carbon fibre skeleton. It is said he doesn’t use oxygen because his blood is supersaturated. They say he is not in Mensa because his scores are too high. We don’t know and we don’t care. He had been playing with a square box and he tells us all about it. We know him as The Geek.

The Westerboer VW 1200

As installed in a Ventus CM

Display of wind direction and heading to next waypoint can be either Left: The main display Below: Input box

graphic or numeric. Nearest landing airports or fields can be displayed (Emergency function The GPS, engine and all static inputs go into the sensor box VW1210 and that doesn’t need to be behind the panel. Digital bus connects display unit and sensor box and makes it simple to extend the system (second display unit for a twin, digital compass unit for real time wind calculation, round vario instrument...) Memory card reader (MultiMediaCard) so you can transfer tasks,

According to Westerboer the VW1200 series is a flight computer

waypoints and software updates.

with a completely new concept. Funnily enough it seems to do

Power consumption of the overall system with 12V is only 350 mA.

pretty much the standard stuff but in one screen. In my opinion it

What it doesn’t do.

doesn’t look so good in most glider panels.(see right) Big square

It does have a logger but it is not IGC approved. So no use for

box in an area you are used to seeing round things looks a bit

badge flights etc.

disconcerting. At least a PDA can be on a flexi arm and be moved

Grey screen when the next generation displays are moving to

to suit. This just dominates the panel. The idea is to put all the infor-

colour, No Airspace warnings as per other displays like Seeyou

mation a pilot requires at his disposal in a nice clear display. This it

mobile or other PDA based programs. It also doesn’t show inflight

does well. Vario and map with airspace etc all on one panel is nice.

movies, serve drinks, or call your crew when you land out. It is still

All info needed for most of the flight is available without scrolling

an impressive piece of kit.

through different pages.

If you want to try it out then there is a sim available from the

What it does.

website. http://www.westerboer.de/VW1200_demo.htm

Display shows the usual stuff (Vario, Moving map, Altitude, Direc-

Price is 3184.00 euro.

tion and distance to go, wind, task etc...) on a large display. The display contents can be selected by the pilot. The standard configuration: Vario, altimeter, airspeed indicator and map. The display panel simplifies the instrument panel. Additional crap (Read PDA) and complex and dicky wiring gets avoided. Display unit is removable and makes flight prep, task loading possible outside of the airplane. (Better than a PDA) The case dimensions (HxBxT: 82mmx201mmx23mm) are to the 80mm standard size so it effectively only takes up two large instrument holes. (Preferably in the middle of the panel) Simple and intuitive operation of screens and functions by means of clearly marked soft keys and double rotation knob. Graphic resolution: 640 x of 240 pixels,effective display surface: 154mmx57mm Gray tone LCD with high contrast well suited for daylight viewing!

December 2007

Quality Budget Accommodation in A Seaside Location 20 minutes North of Wellington on the edge of Pauatahanui Inlet

5 minutes to the Train Station

Offstreet Parking

34 Mana Esplanade, Mana, Porirua, Wellington email: info@stillwaterlodge.co.nz phone: 04 233 6628 website: www.stillwaterlodge.co.nz

gliding new zealand CLUB news We have had a great turn out from clubs for club news this issue. There are some interesting happenings around the country. There have been AGMs and prize givings, a truly important part of club life. As well as Piako the Hawke’s Bay Club also turned 50. Waipukurau has come up with a truly original way of beating the costs of circuit bashing, they have bought a microlight. I challenge those clubs that did not participate this time to join in the next issue. It doesn’t take much for someone to scribble down a few words on happenings. High quality photos are really appreciated too. The next one should be easy as it is over the busy season. Get writing. RNZAF Base Auckland Aviation Sports Club In our world, the summer soaring season begins with our annual Labour weekend pilgrimage to Matamata. This year has been no different but has been made way more interesting by the Vintage Gliding Anniversary meeting with many vintage gliders, vintage glider pilots, a couple of beautiful Tiger Moth tugs, the Piako Club and us. Our Saturday deployment gave the usual vehicle problems with Ian O’keefe’s wheels spitting the dummy half way down and needing to be rescued. We were really after the glider he was towing. Generally, all went well, a tribute to the organising skills of Club Captain Thomas O’Rourke and CFI Peter Thorpe. The combined groups were always going to present a problem on the grid but Piako had that pretty well organised, emphasised with a hard word or two about pushing in and things worked pretty well. Those used to a tow behind the Pawnee seemed a little reluctant to try our 172, no problem to us as it usually gave us an immediate slot in the grid. It has been a while since our deployment has coincided with SW winds and the ridge working. It was this year and a number of our newer members got their first experience of ridge soaring. Those without their own gliders got dragged back kicking and screaming when their hour was up. Bevan Buchanan got organised to achieve his five hour in our PW5, VF. Everyone enjoyed the ridge lift and wave with good height gains reported by

back two days later courtesy of Steve Wallace and brought the tug and K7 home. Many thanks to the Piako Club for once again hosting us, and for their great organisation and hospitality. Other recent events include a new instructor rating for Andy Mackay and B cats for Lionel Page, Peter Coveney and Robert Smits Graham L

Hanging round watching the Piako action L-R from the caravan door, Roy Whitby, Craig Rook, Christine Coveney, Adam Dershewitz and Martin Buchanan

Aviation Sports Club members L-R Kerry Greig, Ben Kistemaker, Ivor Woodfield, Roberta Robles and Adam Dershewitz at Piako

most. Not all though, Roberta Robles, not wishing to wait her turn, decided to try the charms of a Piako two seater and Trevor Atkins. She also got to try an outlanding for real, good experience. She made up for it the next day with an hour plus on the ridge and a good run in the wave. Monday spoiled the party with low cloud, rain, drizzle, murk that saw most pack up in the morning and exit stage left. A few of us hung round hoping for a weather clearance so we could fly our tug and K7 back to Whenuapai. Eventually armed with adverse WX reports from Auckland we gave up, tied DML down and drove home. Of course the weather improved as we drove home and by the time we got to the Bombays we found we easily would have made it. No real problem, Graham Lake and Neville Swan hitched a ride

CANTERBURY Early in October, Jerry O’Neill ran another of his cross country courses at Hororata. A good number of people attended and as well as Canterbury members several attended from other clubs, one from the North Island, Nelson and Marlborough and two from Queenstown. Consistent northerly winds did not produce the ideal weather but a very successful course was held nevertheless. A dinner at the local pub was enjoyed by all. The spring gales are providing good conditions at times for cross-country flights but some nice thermal days would be more than welcome as on several weekends there has just been too much wind to operate. Jerry will hold an another cross-country course at Omarama in November for more advanced pilots who could qualify to fly in competitions, and it is expected that there will be keen interest from club members. Although Jerry is running the course he will require help from other instructors as well. Labour weekend saw the club holding their usual visit to Flock Hill Station on the shores of Lake Pearson set amongst the high mountain peaks of the Southern Alps. Recent snow covered the mountains and made for very scenic flying. Unfortunately the westerlies blew the Flockhill from the air. The motel complex is in the foreground with Lake Pearson to the left and the airstrip tucked under the hill in the centre right.

Graham Lake and Peter Coveney about to launch in MW

December 2007

club news

Towing into the mountains

ohn Robinson’s PIK 20 was a colourful visitor

The Clutha Valley near Millers Flat taken from the Central Otago clubs Twin Astir in Sou West wave. Early spring 2007. The wave was off the Old Man Range which goes forever but unfortunately is under the flight path to Dunedin so we have to be careful about keeping to the upper airspace limit.

entire weekend producing very rough conditions at lower altitudes at times, but there were better conditions higher up enabling some to have good soaring. David Tillman and Nigel Ackroyd recently showed off their recent purchase, an Ash 26E rego RL. They both soared in thermals as did the rest of the sailplanes that got airborne that day. Past club President Mark Aldridge is getting up to speed again after an absence of three years so that he can fly David’s previous aircraft a DG 400 rego OM. Hopefully we will get Mark back into the towplane and instructing seats as well. On 28 October Lex McPhail and Sheryl Fisher tied the knot witnessed by a large contingent of gliding folk. Many will know Lex for the fine work he does as the computer whizz for the National and South Island gliding championships. We all wish them a long and happy union. Stewart Central Otago Central Otago Club’s scribe, John Robinson, is down in Antarctica on one of his regular journeys to look at our upper atmosphere so I have taken to the field off the reserves bench to keep you up to date on motorless flight in Central. After a winter of some nice wave flying off the clubs winch into the wonderful Sou West wave off the Old Man Range, the thermals and blustery spring westerlies have made their seasonal appearance in Central Otago The club has spent the last month flying off the Lowburn Strip on a high terrace on the western shore of Lake Dunstan, right under the mighty Pisa Wave and only a downwind flop away from the thermal hotspot of the Black Rocks at Bendigo. A scheduled Mt Cook Airlines DC3 service operated from the strip at one time so it is ideal for winching. It is in good order and is currently owned and maintained by a very obliging farmer who has a CPL and now a couple of good soaring flights under his belt. Club member Brian Savage, who recently aquired an ASW 19, headed north to join the Canterbury club on a cross country course. He managed to place his glider successfully in a Canterbury paddock or two and no doubt consumed a couple of famous Hororata Pub pies and a CD or two whilst listening to some little pearls of wisdom from Canterbury’s gliding gurus. Our nice little PW5 is up for sale to a loving owner. It has flown in a World Class international in Turkey with its original owner, Bill Walker, so has no doubt got a story or two to tell of last minute saves and skinny final glides. Doug W Left: Wave city...Alexandra: Home of the Sou’West wave which regularly plucks glider pilots aloft from a winch launch

December 2007

Marlborough Gliding Club Things are shaping up again here at the great Top of the South gliding mecca, with a few more flights out to Hanmer Springs; this time with the gliders returning safely. A recent hot, blue, breezy norwest day permitted a trip to the Nelson Lakes where there were still frozen tarns and spectacular snow capped mountains to view. Ross Menzies completed the first legs of his Silver C at 9547 feet and 51.2km from his release point. The annual trophy awards went to Luke Ireton for Most Improved Student; Carl Jackson for Most Meritorious Flight for his 300km Gold/ Diamond flight; Phil Sparrow for efforts at advancing the club; and Mike Dekker for Cross Country Flying. The M team of Mark Robertson, Moggy (Brian) Mogford, Mike Dekker and Per Rold (Honorary M person) went south to join in the week long Canterbury Cross country course in October. There were good lectures on many aspects of cross country flying in a relaxed setting thanks to Jerry O’Neill. The course members got chucked into local paddocks as part of the course, while the rest of us went soaring above them. However, it wasn’t all beer and skittles with some of the most horrendous rotor, headwinds and final approach windshears the M team had ever encountered anywhere. As well as some great wave and thermal flying over the Canterbury Plains there were some not so great moments such as: “Where is Hororata? Oh bugger, I will have to land in a paddock”; “This rotor is making me feel sick. I want to land”; “It’s so rough I am scared to turn”; and “Why am I suddenly descending into a herd of cows on my final approach?” All gliders recovered safely, and a few valuable lessons were learned. Hororata is a great site, but the experience also made us appreciate the advantages of our own site. Our two “oldest surviving” towpilots, Erroll Hancock and Pete Nelson, were recently interviewed by the local press for a newspaper article. Errol started in 1962 and Pete started ten years later. They now have more than 8000 tows between them, starting with Tiger Moths. Errol recounted an incident when he was towing in the Tiger Moth when he felt a sudden surge, assumed the glider had released, and commenced the standard half roll and pull through. Pete was the glider pilot and managed to let go before he was forced into formation aerobatics. The sudden acceleration gave Erroll the clue that he might have been just a mite early. “A successful (towing) flight is when the glider pilot comes back from his flight happy” said Pete — Ahhhhh; the perfect tow pilot. It explains why we are a happy club. Our Twin Astir continues to display a reluctance to take up residence in our new hangar,

with Luke Ireton landing out. The CFI will now feel obliged to sign off that part of his QGP training. We welcome new member, Simon Matthews, who has previously held a CPL; Nick Bowling who transfers from Piako; and Luke Tiller who returns to Marlborough from Wellington with an ASW20 on the way. All we need is our migratory Norm Sawyer to fly south for the summer, and we will be complete for the coming season. Mike Nelson Lakes Gliding Club The spring storms disrupted a number of weekends, but the last couple has seen some good unstable thermal weather and silver height gain claims are in the pipeline. We have had a number of energetic afternoon convergence lines overtake our site and provide free rides for anyone who can get a launch in time. (photo attached) One of our new ex-power pilot members Kerry Eggars has purchased the standard Cirrus JK and it is great to have a new keen private owner in the club. We held our Annual Dinner, which was well attended, and at which it was announced that our second Grob 103 imported from Germany has been registered as GAJ. This is in honor of our founding president, patron and active winch engineer Arthur Jordan. On fine spring days the club often seems to be bursting with early solo pilots looking to gain time in the air and soaring skills. We have planned another residential introductory course to gliding and mountain soaring for the last week in February 2008. The idea of giving ab initos and early solo pilots extended dual cross country experiences whenever possible in our mountains to anchor them more firmly in the sport, and catching up on their circuit skills “later” has gained some adherents in the club. Our second twin (GAJ) when it arrives may make this a more common experience. TH. GlideOmarama.com Congratulations to Les Lamb, Southern Soaring’s new owner, and welcome to Omarama. It is an exciting time to be here! GlideOmararama.com has lined up its busiest season ever and has taken delivery of a new Duo Discus X, Golf Delta Delta. Mandy and Gavin visited the Schemp-Hirth factory in May to see Delta Delta under construction where Tilo Holighaus presented us with winglets for our other Duo’s. This in recognition of GlideOmarama operating the largest fleet of Duo Discus’s in the world. No one was more surprised than us! GlideOmarama now operates six Duos, a DG 1000, an ASH25 and a Grob 103 plus a fleet of single seaters. Included in this fleet are November

Sierra on lease back, (bought by Nigel Davy as the old Delta Delta and refinished by Sailplane Services), Bravo Oscar owned by Bo Nilsson, the OGC’s Uniform Oscar and Delta Golf, the DG 1000 owned by the Buchanan/Plane syndicate. This season GlideOmarama.com will consolidate much of its fleet into a single large space. To do this we bought one of the new hangars with space for eight gliders, two tow planes and a work shop. Based on Harman Haliday’s excellent original design and constructed by Nigel Davey’s Shotover Engineering these hangars really are the ultimate. Nigel has increased the space inside with a clever truss, improved security with key pad entry, painted floors, provided water and power to every glider and installed automatic irrigation on the outside. The Gavin Wills Mountain Soaring School has steadily grown from a one man, one Duo band back in 1998 into the complex training organisation that GlideOmarama.com now operates. Nowhere else in the world will you find a soaring school that specialises in week long private coaching courses using such high performance two seaters. Originally aimed at the advanced pilot these training courses are now pitched at people with any level of experience from nothing to thousands of hours. The success of these courses and their considerable reputation is due both to the extraordinary soaring environment at Omarama and to GlideOmarama.com’s exceptional staff. All the old hands are back again. Annie Laylee for towing. G Dale won a UK National Championships this winter and has made the team for the World Club Class champs at Reiti next year. Lemmy Tanner flew the UK Nationals in Open class. Bo Nilsson taught soaring in Wales. Hugh Turner has been appointed our Operations Manager. Phil Plane kept the home fires burning while Mandy and Gavin flew with Klaus Ohlmann in southern France, a contest in Utah and with clients in Nevada. New to the team are G’s nephew Luke Dale, Tim Leslie from Youth Glide, Yugi Higuchi, CFI of Japan’s largest gliding club and Uli Schwenk, the German National Champion competing in the Grand Prix. We are all getting older and that’s a worry. Mandy had an outrageous Fairytale Ball at the Countrytime Hotel in October to celebrate her 50th. But in GlideOmarma.com we have a policy that for each of us over 50 we employ at least one under 25 and train two more. The future lies with the young and we expect to have six more solo pilots out of Youth Glide Omarama by Christmas bringing current YGO solo pilots to 12. We are trying to do our bit for the succession of gliding in New Zealand. Have an adventurous soaring season! Gavin Wills, Managing Director,

Afternoon convergence over our site.

Youth Glide Omarama 2007 – 8 Season well underway. It is now becoming a familiar sight at Omarama, the long weekend arrives and cadets, officers and support staff from 42(Dunedin)Sqn ATC along with Youth Glide Omarama members invade the Soaring Centre Camp at Omarama. This is the 3rd Labour Weekend camp hosted by Youth Glide Omarama in conjunction with Gavin Wills & Glide Omarama. This weekend saw the return of many old faces from last year, plus five new recruits wanting to try their hand at soaring for the first time. In total 18 youth members enjoyed the long weekend. The program was aimed at different levels. The five from the 2006 development group progressed through their B syllabus enjoying challenging conditions in the Duo’s. The five new comers were treated to some stunning soaring with the assistance of Terry Jones, Dave Speight and their respective Ash 25 gliders. There is no better way to sell our sport than flying in these amazing sailplanes. The balance, a group of nine, returned for the second year. They enjoyed an intensive five flight, pre-solo training package designed to prepare them for the upcoming annual training week to be held this December. This will be the second year that Gavin and the Youth Glide team has organised this seven day package, designed to train the participants to first solo standard. This year six places will be available, twice that offered last year. Thanks to the ongoing dedication of Gavin Wills and The Glide Omarama Team, 42 (Dunedin) Sqn ATC, Otago Gliding Club Inc, the supporting drive of Tom and Rose Shields, and the continuing generosity of the gliding community, Youth Glide Omarama is well on the way to achieving its early goals. In two and a half seasons we have held two (four day) Easter camps, three Labour weekend camps, one week long training week and a Christmas camp. We have had sevem first solo’s, six “A” badges, two Tow ratings, five single seat conversions and we have introduced December 2007

club news

The Labour weekend 2007 Team”, Youth Glide OmatamaThe Labour weekend 2007 Team”

a further 40 or 50 cadets to Omarama and the sport of Gliding. This season should see at least another six first solos, five ‘B’ badges, several more ‘A’’s and even more single seat conversions. The key has been to raise enthusiasm by offering a spectacular introduction to cross country soaring. In modern equipment, such as ASH 25s and Duo Discus’ and flown by experienced cross country pilots, ATC cadets have made long flights deep into Omarama’s mountains. This certainly aroused their enthusiasm and caught the attention of parents. Part of Youth Glide Omarama’s job is to raise funds. Over the last two and a half years the gliding community has been tremendously supportive and local Dunedin business and Trusts are now also producing sponsorship. Our patron, Richie McCaw is actively involved and is an ongoing inspiration to the youngsters. There is an expectation for a return of service from Youth Glide members. At Omarama they are always active cleaning gliders, sweeping hangars, shooting rabbits, helping in the camp ground and even running the Nationals launch grid. This year they will front and center on the grid during the 2007 World Grandprix in December. As the numbers continue to grow the ongoing challenge is keeping costs down and glider numbers up. We are always looking for support both financial and otherwise. If you would like to be part of this growing movement contact Tom Shields or Gavin Wills for more information on ways you can help. Piako Gliding Club Firstly we must congratulate SoaringNZ on their new publication. Our club has had an exiting few months with the high point being the PGC 50th celebrations taking place over the Labour weekend. A few relics were present and some old aircraft as well! The festivities were enriched by numerous visitors from the past and present along with Aviation Sports and a Vintage Kiwi mini-rally. The atmosphere was just fantastic, for 48

December 2007

which the credit must lie with the organisers who were coordinated by Roger Brown. When tired of perusing the gathered mass of magnificent flying machines, one could retire to the club house (which took on the appearance of a gliding museum) for some jolly banter and some refreshments supplied by Jan Mace’s catering team. It was interesting to see gliders such as the T31, Eon Baby, Ronlerche, K7, Ka8 and some early glass ships rigged and picketed down beside Brett Hunter’s brand new Discus, displaying the evolution of the sport through the ages. The strong cross-wind component which was ever present on both the Saturday and the Sunday allowed only a few aero-tows by one of the three Tiger Moths present, but what a nostalgic sight watching the Eon Baby and the Rhonlerche launched in such fine style. The strong westerlies were enough provocation to take lots of the toys over to the Kaimias, with many of us flying with full air brake whilst pitched down and still climbing in the pressure wave! Phil Smith in ASW 20 GVW reached 12500 feet over Cambridge in wave. Which is quite remarkable when you realise that most of the surrounding hill terrain is (with the exception of Mt Pirongia at 3144ft and Maungatautari at 2614ft) predominantly less than 2000ft (wave harmonics — just amazing!). Alan Miller made a very good start to the season by completing all three legs of his Silver badge (awaiting ratification). The “Learn-to-fly” course taking ab initio students has now just been completed. A good time was had by both the instructors and the students, who with any luck will continue on to the following course. The “Cross Country Course” for the more experienced pilots is almost upon us and should prove to be good fun and enlightening, with a large amount of applicants from various clubs. Four of our pilots: Ian Finlayson, Bill Mace, Dennis Cook and Peter Ryan have headed down to Taupo for the Central Plateau Contest. If the weather for the first few days has been anything

Photo Tom Shields

like our local conditions, then maybe some good soaring will have been had. Whilst on the competition topic, we have only three weeks to wait until the Northern Regionals are held at Matamata which we are all looking forward to. As a foot note the comment of the flying season so far must lie with Rob Smits when visiting from Auckland who, having taken off from Matamata a/f in GLE, contacted Neil Stanford with the words “the K8 has stopped working!” having just landed-out near Morrinsville. Dom. Southern Soaring Southern Soaring had a great start to the season on 17 September with our first client enjoying six knot thermals to 7000 feet during a 30 minute flight over Mt Benmore. Business since then has been steady with flight numbers for September and October on par with what we had last year. One area that has seen a notable increase is the number of flights we are doing with visiting overseas pilots. During September and October, Roger Harris and Rod Dew gave our Twin Astir some much needed TLC. Work included repairs to the fuselage and giving the aircraft a good polish. Darren Smith and Marc Crozier arrived back from Canada at the start of the season and Marc converted his Canadian CPL to a New Zealand licence so that he can tow with Drake Aviation’s Dakota. Mike Till, who arrives in mid-November, will also be towing this year. Soon after Marc arrived, both he and Chris completed a GNZ Class Two Engineers Course run by Roger Harris. This will enable us to carry out our own supplemental inspections. Les Lamb, who along with his wife, Irene, has bought Southern Soaring from former owner Peter Hehir (see article elsewhere in this issue), arrived in mid-October and quickly got to grips with helping run the business. The weather in October was much windier than last year but this didn’t prevent us from completing some excellent flights. Don Mallinson,

club news

Marc and Chris made good use of the conditions to fly as far afield as Mt Cook. Visiting Swedish pilot Crister Bjork was treated to a demonstration of how strong the lift can be in New Zealand when, on a flight in our Duo Discus, the airbrakes were fully opened in front of the leading edge of a lenticular. In still air, this would normally result in a descent rate of 1000ft per minute but the lift was strong enough that a two knot climb could be maintained. Development continues on a number of fronts. We have increased the number of signs to make it easier for people to find us, our flight simulator has had additional features added, and we have purchased five hangar spaces. With a good number of forward bookings and an increased interest in Omarama as a result of the Grand Prix in December, it looks as though the 2007/2008 season will be a busy one. Chris Southland Club Five Rivers No flying action at Five Rivers Labour weekend due to lambing. Libelle IC visited Central Otago club with Bob Martin who teamed up with Peter Mckenzie LS3 LP to winch from Lowburn airstrip in gusty Westerlies. The holiday Monday conditions were more favourable for winching. But difficult to get away. Highlight for Bob was almost 5hrs soaring on the Dunstan range, the valley winds turning through 180 degrees with light Westerly wave developing towards dusk. Some other weekends at Five Rivers have been missed due to poor weather. Weekend 28 Oct was a gloriously warm day, blue and quite stable. Circuits were running hot, with the winch release height not to full capacity due to lambing activity. Brian Savage, Central Otago, visiting 5R for the first time with ASW19 KG had several elusive lift searching flights. New member Alex Boyes returns again to Five Rivers for training action after several years time out from gliding. Also present Matt Menlove, Bob Clarke, Bob Martin and Bill Ward who has celebrated his first solo soaring flights recently. Plus visiting student from Germany, Marek, who was rewarded with the flight of the day, ridge soaring the Libelle on the last flight of the day, when the breeze came up from the SouthWest late afternoon. Thanks to everyone who contributed to make such a busy flying day. South Canterbury Gliding Club To date the spring has provided plenty of westerlies and some of them have even blown on Sundays. However sometimes they are too strong to even launch. They even fall on long weekends when we have arranged to fly from Ross Pridham’s farm strip just out of Fairlie, but can’t take off to the west because of power lines! Despite that, we

haven’t missed many Sunday’s of late and are still enjoying ourselves. Our annual dinner and trophy giving night was held at 7 Oaks in Timaru on 6th October. The night was well attended and we were blessed with the company of Pete and Sarah, all the way from Cromwell. Doug Hamilton took the best flight from Omarama with a flight of approx 700 odd k’s, not as good as his 1250 k’s from the previous year, but way ahead of anyone else. Willie Hoare graciously accepted the “Beer Drinker’s Mug” for being the very first member in the history of the South Canterbury Gliding to land on the Orari horse racing track. Well done Willie! Showing plenty of promise that lad. We could do with some more students. Our most regular student, Tim Vincent has been battling the cross winds for the last two weekends and making progress. We could do with another couple of tow pilots too. Malcolm needed a new hip. I reckon his old one was better because he could at least climb into the cub with it. I’m sure it won’t be long before he’s back into it though. We’ve got the school activity days coming up shortly. Christmas is just around the corner, and then the Christmas camp at Wardells, Omarama. Can’t wait! John TARANAKI GLIDING CLUB This is our first “club notes” for the new SoaringNZ magazine. Good luck to Jill and her team with the first edition. Our AGM was delayed for some reason or other and a small attendance heard a full report by our president, Richard Arden on the past year, but not before some strenuous heckling as he attempted to suitably phrase some exploit. Once order was restored and the model helicopter landed back on a table, he was able to continue. Noteworthy amongst the peans of praise, was the acquisition of the Twin Astir from Wellington and the success in Pub Charity funding which has, and will, enable the purchase of a transponder for the PW5, a radio for JB, a parachute, two EW loggers, three personal locator beacons and most of a set of oxygen gear. For that assistance, we are profoundly grateful, remembering the hours once spent on raffle stalls. There is renewed enthusiasm in this club and this ancillary gear will be most helpful. The weather of late has not been kind, what with the equinox and all. Steve Barham thoroughly enjoyed the X-country course at Hororata with Jerry O’Neill and his Canterbury team. He really really likes the LS4 and wants one for Christmas. Lastly, I would like to express the gratitude of the Taranaki Gliding Club to John Roake for his work for the NZ Gliding movement over the past 40+ years. A lot of it quite unseen or recorded. His final Gliding Kiwi was a good one to go out on. P.J.M.

Taupo Gliding Club As I write this, the 4th Central Plateau Soaring Competition is well under way. We have had three good days with tasks of 300km, 250km and 270km completed by a respectable number of competitors. Pilots have had plenty of opportunity to explore the terrain north of Taupo Township and down past the southeast end of Lake Taupo. A few have also had the opportunity to view the scenery from road level as well. Results are on the GNZ and Taupo Gliding Club web sites. With an opening BBQ and a sit down dinner already under their belts competitors and supporters have another BBQ to look forward to. The weather forecast looks like giving us another two days of competition. Great flying, great location and great company. Mark it in your diaries for next year. Our 40th birthday celebrations were a great success. Guest of honour was foundation member John Pitkethley. Fifty-three people sat down to a three course meal after an open day that saw a number of ex-members taking the opportunity to get into the air while the rest of us enjoyed fresh scallops and crayfish cooked on the BBQ courtesy of Mercury Charters, Whitianga. One gets bored with fresh trout. Taupo was pleased to host the GNZ instructor’s course. Twenty-five instructors spent the weekend gaining, honing or imparting skills that will help to ensure the future of gliding in New Zealand. Without these dedicated volunteers our costs would be much higher (a la flying schools) and there would be fewer new members. Their role is a vital one. Not only in delivering competent new pilots but checking and mentoring the rest of us. They are very often the first contact the public, new to gliding, have with the sport and their ability not just to teach but also to enthuse and encourage is vital. We enjoyed hosting them and by all accounts they enjoyed being here. A significant milestone of 6,000 launches was achieved by Alan Land during the course. Congratulations Alan. On the training scene our Solo in a Week course continues to bring new blood to the sport with Vic Shaw soloing since the last report. Two of our members are attending the Matamata Cross Country course in November. We look forward to adding two new cross country pilots to the competition lists. TN Waipukurau Gliding Club It has been very quiet in terms of activity this winter at Waipukurau. In fact we have had to fly circuits since May just to keep the towplane engine up to scratch. Some of the inactivity can be attributed to the weather, very wet during June and July after an autumn drought that has left December 2007

club news

most livestock farmers reeling. And this has been followed with strong equinoxial winds sufficient to blow over trucks and ambulances on the nearby highway across the Takapau Plains to the west of the field. The main cause however is that those members who are left are getting older. Most of us have been members of the Club for the past thirty years in a club that turns forty this year. Our big problem for some time now has been how to attract new younger members. And then on days when we do fly, having enough members present to make gliding possible including a tow pilot and instructor can present a problem. As a consequence, those of us who still fly, are very choosey about when we do. The conditions have to be good to get us to the airfield. And all this waiting for good conditions, it is not good for club morale and comradeship. So we have taken a big step, or so we think, and have purchased a microlight to add to the fleet. It is a near new, Jabiru engined, Bantam B22J built at Te Kowhai near Hamilton. So why do you think a gliding club should purchase a microlight you might ask. Firstly it is novel so should attract interest for this very reason alone. Secondly it can be flown without a PPL on days when there is no lift. Thirdly it is a very cost effective way to train students in the circuit. For less than $70, we can provide an hour of continuous circuit training providing students with the opportunity to experience at least six take-offs and landings during that time. With the towplane and a two-seat glider, you would be lucky to achieve two circuits in a similar time, and six circuits would cost a minimum of $150, maybe more. So as a Club we have decided to venture into a new, low cost form of flying in order to try and secure the future of the club by attracting some younger members. On the calm days, we will be able to effectively fly in the microlight and on the good days for gliding we can fly the rest of the fleet as well. As we sit around getting older by the day, without new members the demise of our club gets closer every day. So here is hoping that Charlie Whiskey Papa will make the difference. And with a name like that, hopefully all us grand Papa’s will not end up sitting on a bench at the end of the airfield drinking Whiskey having made a Charlie of ourselves. However we should have had a whole lot of fun in the meantime. Rob Orr, Secretary Gliding Wairarapa The Gliding Wairarapa airfield is sited at Papawai near Greytown in the Wairarapa. It is adjacent to Papawai Marae which was famous for operating as New Zealand’s Maori Parliament 50

December 2007

central plateau contest results Open class

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Open

1 2 3 4 HC 5

3562 3477 3201 3059 2868 2645 2583 2276 1988 1886 1363 1185 297 #

2635 909 309 242 0 0

Pts CN Pilot Country Glider

KZ ZO VM SP VH KO TT RM PV RR PX TZ ZP

Cameron Stewart Finlayson Ian Hunter Brett Timmermans Tony Van Der Wal Roland Cook Dennis Terry Trevor Gaddes Ross Bayliss John Mace Bill Anderson Ron Lyon Rob Brown Shane

Taupo Piako Tauranga Auckland Taupo Piako Taupo Auckland Auckland Piako Auckland Taupo Auckland

28.10

ASW20 ASW27 Discus 2CT VentusBT 16.6m LS 6 ASW 17 Duo Discus Discus 2C Discus B LAK 12 Duo Discus Discus Discus 2

CLUB Pts CN Pilot Country Glider

UY XD HI BX GO XA

Guy Bhrent Ryan Peter Lindley Martin McGrath Colin Gaddes Geoff Bognuda Hadleigh

Taupo Piako Wellington Taupo Auckland Auckland

under the Prime Ministership of Richard Seddon. But when the Parliament buildings were blown down in a mighty gale the Maori Parliament was disbanded. The mighty gale still appears though, usually when we want to do some soaring at the weekend. The club boasts an increasing membership at around 15 with 5 of those being college age students. The club formed a joint venture in 2006 with the local college and the aim was to get a select band of students to solo status within a year. This has happened! Two students soloed recently and another is close. Other colleges have heard about the venture and have been hinting at running a similar venture. While our fleet is ‘old’ by many standards it is in top shape and we do not suffer the vagaries of the modern glass ship. The stable comprises GLV ( a K7), GFN (a K13), GEB (a Bocian undergoing some neurosurgery) as well as several single seaters. These machines are very very robust and seem to be capable of taking a beating. Ours is a winching operation and the cable is a synthetic called Dyneema. This is exceptionally strong and by far outstrips the wire cable once used and frequently abused by both winch driver and pilot alike. The main runway runs alongside the Ruamahanga river and on occasions we can claim a launch height in excess of 2000 feet. The fuel cost to get a glider to that height is about $3.00 so it is obviously much cheaper than operating with a tug. Resting in the Wairarapa valley as we do means that we can get both thermal and wave lift. The wave from the Tararua ranges can operate as low as 5000 feet and so it is easy to hook into providing we can thermal to that height. Pop in and say hi!

1 (1000) 6 (680) 3 (778) 4 (696) 2 (806) 8 (342) 5 (690) 7 (667) 10 (328) 9 (333) 13 (0) 11 (288) 12 (245) 28.10

DG 100 LS3 Phobus C Skylark ASW 15 Std. Cirrus

29.10

6 (576) 1 (1000) 5 (834) 4 (840) 3 (906) 2 (933) 12 (387) 10 (404) 7 (483) 9 (416) 8 (444) 11 (403) 13 (52) 29.10

2 (499) 1 (284) 1 (574) 2 (0) 4 (103) 2 (0) 3 (242) 2 (0) HC (0) HC (0) 5 (0) 2 (0)

30.10

2 (986) 1 (1000) 8 (646) 4 (892) 7 (677) 10 (461) 3 (968) 5 (776) 9 (559) 6 (729) 11 (181) 12 (79) 13 (0) 30.10

02.11

1 (1000) 4 (797) 2 (943) 6 (631) 9 (479) 3 (909) 8 (538) 10 (429) 7 (618) 12 (408) 5 (738) 11 (415) 13 (0) 02.11

1 (865) 1 (987) 2 (0) 2 (335) 2 (0) 3 (206) 2 (0) 4 (0) HC (0) HC (0) 2 (0) 4 (0

GVG

Wellington Gliding Club The soaring season has got off to a great start, and the equinox has been making its presence felt, producing some excellent wave conditions. Some big distances have already been flown both in Wave and thermal conditions. Our cadre of fledgling cross country pilots have been making good use of the PW-5 fleet with some excellent cross country flights (and landouts !) meaning the bar is never short of a shout! The second of our DG1000’s has left the factory and is expected to be online mid way through December. A syndicate of club members been put together to purchase our Janus (LM). A subcommittee has been formed to manage the Tow Plane fleet. One of the first tasks undertaken by the subcommittee has been to manage the re-engining of our Paraparaumu based Pawnees(ZK-TUG). The new engine has arrived in the country and will be installed in the aircraft in the coming weeks. Ross Sutherland has the planning and organisation for the summer operation well in hand, with two Instructors, a ground controller and a tow pilot due in Paraparaumu from the U.S. sometime in mid December. Planning is also underway for a cross country course in Paraparaumu which will run from the 25th to the 29th of Feb. Anyone interested in taking part should contact Paula Ruddick (administrator@soar.co.nz). Kiwi39

f o r s a l e • wa n t ed • s erv i c es • e v en ts

For sale • Happy ASW20 • living in Tauranga but happy to live anywhere with Cambridge 302, Oxy, parachute and all that jazz. Unfortunately owners are going their separate ways and have to cash out of this wonderful fibreglass friend. GYR@smartvote.co.nz The Waipukurau Gliding Club Grob Twin Astir, ZK-GKX. • Retractable undercarriage, long endurance two tank oxygen system, twin varios, mode C transponder, multichannel radio and trailer. Calling for expressions of interest. Although the glider has not completed a total flight time of 3,000 hours, this mandatory check has been carried out. Contact Robert Orr on 06 857 8214 or email pat.rob@wirelessnation. co.nz Piccolo Motorglider for sale. • Cheap to run and easy to operate. Details at: www.cofc.co.nz/piccolo/piccolo.html or contact John at j.robinson@xtra.co.nz PW5 • Our club single seater is for sale • A popular glider, lovely to fly. Contact our secretary Phil Sumser Ph: 04 448-5411 or email: phil. sumser@xtra.co.nz. More details at: www.cofc.co.nz/forsale/pw5.html LS4a • Superb original condition • No accidents. Cobra trailer, excellent condition. Full, quality panel, oxygen system and tow-out gear. Wing tail and canopy covers etc. Asking price depends on instrument options – contact for details. David Laing 03 466 7173, 0274 340074, email:- laing.braeview@xtra.co.nz

GNz members are eligible for one free non-commercial classified advertisement per issue. These will also be diplayed on the GNZ website. Deadline for receipt of advertising for our February issue is 22 January 2008

Standard Libelle 201b #579 GIU • Approx 2300 hours 1600 launches. Basic panel, Chute and O2. Contact Paul Marshall 021 331 838. Wanted Wanted A windsock and metal swivel mount for an airstrip. Any condition and size considered. Please phone 021 2 454337. Other For Sale www.glidingstuff.co.nz • NZ Gliding forum, Soaring Hats, TE Probes, Current Masterton Weather. DG and LS Glider sales. For all your Glider Needs! Slimline Glider chute • Security 150 Good condition just packed and servivable.First in with-$650 Ph Terry wk 03 366 0070 Hm 03 329 6999 A8a oxygen regulator • Good working order just pulled it out of Dads LS6. $150. Ph Max Hm 03 329 6999 Dads work Terry 03 366 0070 DRURY hanger spot for sale • Best hanger on the airfield! Concrete floor, water, power, lighting. Way below replacement cost at $14000. Phone Roger Sparks 0274 956 560. Or email r.sparks@xtra.co.nz

ASW-17 FOR SALE • Classic glider with excellent handling and performance. Complete outfit NZ $38,000. Full details from jgwills@clear.net.nz ASW15-B • tow-out gear, usual instruments and transponder, storage covers, and tidy trailer. Everything in good condition. B model fuse has larger cockpit and landing wheel than standard ASW15. $19,000. Phone: 027 277 4238 or 07 862 7651. LS8 15m • gps lnav txponder eds etc 85k email n.ackroyd@xtra.co.nz Volksloggers $1600 incl. In stock. Contact the New Zealand agent, Peter Chadwick on Ph. 03 338 3302 or email pcc@paradise.net.nz Nimbus II • ZK GKV • Tidy glider, 2 man rigging, tow out gear, trailer, dittel radio, transponder, large oxygen system, Cambridge m.nav.computor, completely rewired, 2 batteries, ELB, competition ready. Best $$ for LD on the market. Double Barron Hilton cup winning glider. $39,000 ONO. Ph Mike Oakley 0274 368 308 ASW20L ZK-GRD • For sale to good home • Will consider outright sale, shares, finance at reasonable rates or delayed settlement. Beautifully refinished in urethane, radio, transponder (mode C), varios, parachute, oxygen. Fantastic Lindner winglets. Good trailer. Make me an offer rlhay@yahoo.co.nz, 03 980 9479. LIBELLE 201B • ZK-GIV FOR SALE • s/n 580 • Very good condition, never damaged. King KY97A Radio, Terra transponder A&C, Borgelt B40 and Winter varios, oxygen, water ballast, parachute and tow-out gear. Good Trailer. For more information contact Grant 09 416-6736 or email gjsl@orcon.net.nz Libelle201B for sale Glasflugel winglets, 2 pot paint finish. Excellent condition Canopy. Dittel radio, Terra transponder (A & C). New ballast bags. Fully refurbished trailer (2005). Basic price $22,000 Optional items include; Cambridge 302 (Compaq aero PDA), Aerox oxygen system (portable) For more details please contact Phil Smith on 0274 864761 or Email phil.r.smith@xtra.co.nz

Come to Norfolk Aviation Sports Club in Taranaki. Have a taste of yesteryear. Fly with us in our Vintage open cockpit Slingsby T.41 trainer. Or perhaps one of our Blaniks, or club K6. Feel free to call anytime to discuss gliding in Taranaki. Phone Kevin Wisnewski 06 756 8289 Club CFI or Clinton Steele 06 762 4871 President.

FOR SALE $41,000

DG 200 17/15 GLZ Currently based at Drury

Manuf. 1980, 1450 hours, current C of A. Oxygen with spare cylinder, Water bags in good order Tasman electric vario Dittel Radio, Terra Transponder with mode C&S Parachute, ground gear, large battery New trailer, galv metal parts, disk brakes, Levered cradle, easy 2man rig. Cambridge 20 included, at the right price. Contact Ed Gray: 027 608 4156, (09) 237 8151 evenings or email at airsailor@xtra.co.nz

December 2007

the leading edgeâ&#x20AC;Ś

Sailplane Services Ltd Email: sailplaneservices@xtra.co.nz Phone 02 924 7324

SoaringNZ Issue 1

Articles inside

AB Initio For new pilots

Geek speak

Tow Pilot

Gliding New zealand News

A Question of Safety

Piako Club Celebrates 50 years

Richie McCaw

Instructors Column

Meteorology

GA Airspace – going going gone

Central Plateau Contest

Roberta’s Landout

Introducing the ASH 30MI

Maiden Flight of the LS-10