G liding New Zealand Club News

CLUB DIRECTORY

Club Website www.ascgliding.org Club Contact Peter Thorpe pbthorpe@xtra.co.nz Ph 09 413 8384 Base RNZAF Base Auckland (Whenuapai) 021 146 4288 Flying Weekends, Public Holidays

Club Website www.glidingauckland.co.nz Club Ph (09) 294 8881, 0276 942 942 Club Contact Ed Gray info@glidingauckland.co.nz Base Appleby Rd, Drury Flying Weekends, Wednesdays, Public Holidays

Club Website www.glidingcanterbury.co.nz Club Contact Kevin Bethwaite kevin.bethwaite@airways.co.nz Ph (03) 318 4758 Base Hororata Road, Hororata Flying Weekends, Public Holidays

Club Website www.cofc.co.nz Club Contact Phil Sumser phil.sumser@xtra.co.nz Base Alexandra Airport Flying Sundays, and by arrangement

Website www.GlideOmarama.com Contact Gavin Wills gtmwills@xtra.co.nz Base Omarama Airfi eld Flying October through April 7 days per week

Club Contact Wayne Fisk wayne_fi sk@xtra.co.nz Ph (04) 567-3069 Base Kaitoke Airfi eld, (04) 526 7336 Flying Weekends, Public Hols., Mid week by arrangement

Club Website www.glidingmanawatu.org.nz Club Contact Ron Sanders Resanders@xtra.co.nz Base Feilding Aerodrome Flying Weekends, Public holidays

Club Website http://www.glidingwairarapa.co.nz/ Club Contact Diana Braithwaite Ph (06) 308 9101 Base Papawai Airfi eld, 5 km east of Greytown Ph (06) 308 8452 or 025 445 701 Flying Weekends, or by arrangement

Club Website www.fl yhac.co.nz Club Contact Ron Bergersen d.rbergersen@xtra.co.nz Ph (027) 277 4238 Base Thames Airfi eld Flying Weekends and Public Holidays

Club Website www.skyhigh-photography.com/Main/ Aviation_and_Spacefl ight/HB_Gliding_Club.php Club Contact David Davidson Dhcd@clear.net.nz Ph (06) 876 9355 Base Bridge Pa Airfi eld, Hastings 0272 887 522 Flying Sundays. Other days by arrangement

Club Contact Peter Fiske, (09) 407 8454 E mail Keith Falla keith@falla.co.nz Base Kaikohe Airfi eld, Mangakahia Road, Kaikohe Flying Sundays, Thursdays and Public Holidays

Club Website http://glide_marl.tripod.com Club Contact bmog@paradise.net.nz Base Omaka Airfi eld, Blenheim Flying Sundays and other days by arrangement

Club Website www.glidingnelson.co.nz Club Contact Frank Saxton franksaxton@gmail.com Ph (03) 546 6098 Base Lake Station Airfi eld, St.Arnaud Ph (03) 521 1870 Flying Weekends and Public Holidays

Club Website http://www.geocities.com/norfolkgliding/ Club Contact Kevin Wisnewski wizzbang@xtra.co.nz Ph (06) 756 8289 Base Norfolk Rd Flying Weekends and by appointment

Club Website http://www.omarama.com Club Contact Yvonne Loader loaders@clear.net.nz Ph (03) 358 3251 Base Omarama Flying 7 days a week by arrangement

Club Website www.youthglideomarama.org.nz Club Contact Tom Shields tom.shields@century21.co.nz Ph (03) 473 1721 Base Omarama and Dunedin Flying By arrangement

Club Website www.glidingmatamata.co.nz Club Contact Steve Care s.care@xtra.co.nz P h (07) 843 7654 or 027 349 1180 Base Matamata Airfi eld, Ph (07) 888 5972 Flying Weekends, Wednesdays and Public Holidays

Club Website http://www.rotoruaglidingclub.blogspot.co.nz/ Club Contact Mike Foley roseand mikefoley@clear.net.nz Ph (07) 347 2927 Base Rotorua Airport Flying Sundays

Club Website www.glidingsouthcanterbury.co.nz Club Contact John Eggers johneggers@xtra.co.nz 3 3 Barnes St Timaru Base Levels Timaru & Omarama Wardell Field Flying Weekends, Public Holidays & by arrangement

Club Website www.glidingtaranaki.com Club Contact Peter Williams peter.williams@xtra.co.nz Ph (06) 278 4292 Base Stratford Flying Weekends and Public Holidays

Club Website www.taupoglidingclub.co.nz Club Contact Tom Anderson Tomolo@xtra.co.nz P O Box 296, Taupo 2730 Ph (07) 378 5506 M 0274 939 272 Base Centennial Park, Taupo Flying 7 days a week

Club Website www.glidingtauranga.co.nz Club Contact Roy Edwards royedw@wave.co.nz Ph 07 578 0324 Base Tauranga Airport Flying Weekends and Public Holidays, Wednesday afternoons and other times on request

Club Website http://www.soar.co.nz Club President Philip Milne milnelaw@gmail.com Ph 021 803 37 Base Paraparaumu Airport Bookings Ph 04 297 1341 (clubhouse) Ph 027 618 9845 (operations) Flying Weekends and Public Holidays 7 days a week December through to March

Club Website www.igrin.co.nz/~peter/gliding.htm Club Contact Paul Rockell rockelkaym@xtra.co.nz Base Rockelkaym Ridge, Gibbs Road, Puhi Puhi Flying Weekends and Public Holidays

We have had a very successful October and N ovember (so far). The weather has provided some really good soaring and the ‘real’ thermals have begun. There has been a bit of rain and some stronger westerly winds but in general we have not had too many cancelled days. Congratulations to one of our younger members – Philip Dunlop - who succeeded in fl ying to Matamata for his 50km fl ight. This fl ight was undertaken on a diffi cult day with a low cloud base (often only 2500 ft.) and very soft thermals. To make his achievement even better, he out-distanced Maurie Honey (in his PW5 SN) who landed near Te Aroha. On the previous weekend, David Hirst did a 300km fl ight following our season task of Wharepapa South – BOP sheds – Hikutai and achieved 330Km in the club Discus CS.

There’s a lot happening back on the fi eld as well, with support dinners being held to help fund Campbell McIver (another promising young student) and Philip to the Omarama Youth Soaring Development Camp in mid-December. This will be a fantastic introduction to some serious gliding, and we all support them as much as we can.

We have just fi nished a massive weekend, when we were visited by the ATC No. 3 squadron. The squadron set up camp for the weekend and made the fi eld a hive of activity. Thanks to all those who donated their time to help give these kids a great introduction to gliding. We also attended this year’s ‘Big Boys Toys,’ where we had a stall using Jonathon Cross’s Discus 2cT FR. Just the machine to impress those who love ‘toys’ - though I’ll bet they weren’t all just boys. Thanks for trusting the AGC and the general public Jonathan. We also had our Duo and Discus single taken down to Taupo for the Central Plateau. Robert Smits and Neil Harker fl ew Duo DX and David Hirst was in CS. Doug Henry also took his

Auckland: Doug Henry with LL, “The Sexiest Glider on Any Field” apparently.

LS3 and they had a great time, by all accounts.

As I write this, the Duo, PW6 and the Discus CS are down in Matamata, preparing for the cross country course and the Regionals, which take place over the next two weeks.

We have some very keen members - some young, but also quite a few others who are showing lots of interest in the sport and learning quickly how to stay aloft in the South Auckland and North Waikato sky. They are too many to name but we welcome them to the world of soaring fl ight and the intricacies of the Auckland Gliding Club. We are here to have fun and for the most part we can provide that in the challenging way that only gliding can. As always, visitors are most welcome.

Ross

It’s been some time since we contributed t o the club news. It’s not that we were inactive and not fl ying, but winter and early spring were an endless series when whatever good days there were happened during the week and the weekend either rained or was overcast and dead and we had a series of sled ride days. The highlight of some weekends was if someone got over 30 minutes…sigh. Things are starting to improve and some decent fl ights are being enjoyed and marveled. We have even had thermals during the weekend. We have managed to turn the storms to advantage, with a number of west coast runs to Raglan and back.

We did manage to get a number of our folk through solo and a couple through QGP as well. Both Ray Burns and Ivor Woodfi eld successfully attended the recent instructor’s course at Matamata. Ray has progressed through his supervison phase and has been let loose on an unsuspecting world. Ivor is now working through his supervisory stages and will soon add to our instructor pool. All going well, this should free up more time in our trusty Libelle to the benefi t of yours truly. Just as well, as there is plenty of competition for our club singles.

Ray Burns has been instrumental in getting our YouthGlide program up and running. We have around a dozen in our youth category, and we

Aviation Sports: Derry Belcher waiting in Mike Romeo

have set aside the morning of the fi rst Sunday of every month exclusively for them. In this, we have at least two instructors to try to ensure they get individual attention, good guidance and a push in the right direction. We also continue to have regular sessions with the local ATC Squadrons to complement this work.

We accomplished our customary deployment to Matamata over Labour weekend. This time, we put the Twin 2 in its trailer for a road trip down rather than aerotow. We did this in some trepidation, mindful of the trials and ordeal that usually acompany putting her back together. This time, thanks to some greasing of all the pins, one chief and lots of Indians, we had her mostly assembled in 20 minutes. We had two great days, with the ridge working on both days and one unwelcome day of rain. As usual, the Piako Club hospitality was superb and we got to enjoy a delicious Jan Mace roast dinner, with excellent company.

Congratulations to Steve Wallace for his win in the open class of the Central Plateau competitions. Graham Lake

Central Otago: Looking north along the Garvie Range in early November. The Nevis Valley is on the left.

A busy period is ahead for the club over the n ext couple of months as Jerry O’Neill’s crosscountry course gets under way at Omarama, to be followed by the Southern Regionals, also at Omarama. The Youth Soaring Development camp is to be held there just before Christmas under the control of Roger Read. Several years have now passed since the fi rst of these was held and already some of their members are now instructing and others helping with various tasks around the club. Immediately following that will be the club’s Christmas camp, which will again last for about three weeks.

With the return of better weather the gliding hours are increasing, with some fl ying taking place during the week as well. The warmer conditions are also making the grass grow and much time is being spent keeping the entire area mown. Several areas surrounding the strip are being prepared for the sowing of Lucerne and this will give quite a good income.

Recently, several members again disappeared over the ‘ditch’ to Queensland, where they enjoyed the great company and warm hospitality of the Darling Downs Gliding Club, and of course,

Aviation Sports:IV on the ridge early evening at Matamata.

the fantastic thermals that abound.

John Shuttleworth, who is well known in gliding circles, paid a fl eeting visit recently. He began his gliding with us way back in 1958, when we were based at Burnt Hill, and he is still going strong. Another old member who fl ew back then, Ron Skurr, a retired farmer, also called and has offered to drive the tractor and cut grass for no return but just something to keep him occupied. A great example to younger members.

It is time to again wish the Editor and all gliding folk a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Canterbury. Stewart.

We’ve had an okay mix of wave and thermal fl ying so far this spring. Most of the fl ying has been done by the usual quartet of Vivienne, John, Phil and Pete, usually fl ying their singles. The club Twin got a good airing on Sunday 28th October, when John gave visiting pilot Ronald (from Yorkshire) a two hour tour of the local ‘hills’. Ron sat in the front shaking his head in disbelief for most of the fl ight, trying to take in snowy mountains, strong thermals and high cloud bases. The day

Aviation Sports: Graham Hodge, Roy Whitby and Steve Foreman wait their turn at Matamata

was a real ripper, and Pete went north to Tekapo and back for another quick 300K.

Vivienne is enjoying her HP18, having fl own a bunch of long fl ights now. A new vario is on order for the summer thermals.

We fl ew mid-week recently, launching by winch and heading towards Southland for the second time that week. The Sunday had been in wave, but this time it was thermals, a bit stable at fi rst but the isolated climbs topped out at 10,000’ later in the day. On both fl ights, the views were stunning, with green valleys and more than normal snow on the local mountains. What a great place to fl y! JR

After a particularly bad run of wet weekends, t he weather started to swing our way at the end of September, when the Club ran its fi rst three day course ‘Intro to Cross-Country Soaring’. The course, run by Jerry O’Neil, Frank Saxton and Mike Strathern, was well received from six budding cross-country and post-solo fl yers.

Many of the Nelson Gliding Club’s members

Aviation Sports: Peter Coveney and Graham Hodge.

Central Otago: Lake Pukaki.

have continued to develop and test their skills: Pete Mundy has been pushing into new areas since the course, in his Cirrus HD, and Ken Montgomery heads straight to the Raglans like an old timer. Many others have taken advantage of the improved soaring conditions to revisit old haunts.

The club’s LS4, CX, has been well used, and there is normally a crowd of QGPs hanging around it on the club days. April Rumsey, Andy Heap and Ken have especially favoured this glider and have been using it extensively.

Dave Smith has started to get some lengthier fl ights in locally, and he’ll be due to start pushing out over the summer. Nick White has come a long way in less than a year, and is threatening to get away more and more. A recent foray by Nick down to Omarama enabled him to double his fl ying hours and climb to over 19,000 ft during one fl ight. Both of these guys (amongst many) are standouts running around supporting on the ground.

There have been good turn outs on the club days, and the fi rst weekend of November saw very good conditions. The chat radio frequency was busy, with eleven gliders in the air. A small team fl ew down to Hanmer Springs via the Turk Ridge

Nelson Lakes;

and back, with climbs to 8,000 ft in excellent thermal conditions and big smiles on everyone’s faces at the end of day.

Two new gliders have recently arrived. Mark Edgar has brought his Skylark, BX, down from Taupo, and Robert Wallace has added LX, a DG200, to the line-up.

We also welcome a new member, Andrew Lush, an experienced glider pilot who has made a return to the fold. Ken Montgomery

We have had a really busy time since our previously reported season opening. The westerlies have ignited the ridge and the weather has been kind enough to let us get there. More recently, the thermal activity has increased, giving us all a chance to brush-up on our skills. Whilst the period lacks any single fl ight of spectacular notoriety - ooh not true – Will Kamp converted to PW5 and has been getting down to business nicely – however, it has been quite action packed in terms of events and happenings, particularly in October.

There were (for some) two long weekends in the month of October, 12 – 14th and 20 – 22nd

Central Otago: Mid Dome 5 Rivers.

and a lot of fl ying was done. First up was the National Instructors course, with 40 odd attending, from Kaitaia to Nelson, three tow planes and eight two-seaters. The grid was a busy place, as they rotated through their exercises – 52 fl ights launched on the Friday and 30 odd on the Monday - meant the rear set of eyes were essential.

The Sunday was the day of the wind storm that created a bit of havoc around the country. Fortunately it didn’t hit us too hard, but tested the picketing skills of the Auckland team, who were forced to venture out from the lecture room to entertain the rest of the crew whilst they put extra ties on the ASK21’s wings. Meanwhile, the room was able to soak up a few hours of stimulating lectures, and a few fi nished off with some simulator time with interesting results (just a whisper I heard).

I understand most went away pretty satisfi ed and with the right boxes ticked on their logs/GNZ forms etc. It is encouraging to see this aspect of gliding is not suffering for want of numbers.

Labour weekend saw the arrival of Aviation Sports Club (from Whenuapai) at our airfi eld for their regular visit. They certainly were not short of gliders and even bought their own tug RDW to

Piako: Photos from the good area on course. Didn't take any in the blue stuff for some reason.

Nelson Lakes: Marc Edgar's Skylark.

Piako: Neil and Robert ready to launch into an impressive sky behind.

Piako: Delio with an interesting way to fl y to keep cool.

complete the entourage. It was great to see them getting a crack at the ridge, which is what they come for, but so often miss out on, due to nature ruining their plans. 60 odd launches in total for the two clubs for two days (Sunday was nil fl ying) was a good number.

November has been active so far and particularly with increasing thermal action, so let’s hope that continues. We have also experienced some new faces arriving at the club for trial fl ights who look likely to progress to members, which bodes well.

Coming Events:

OMG (sorry I have daughters) it’s nearly Xmas – the Santa mail box is set up at the post offi ce, leave applications are being done and closing down parties planned. More importantly, the logistics planning of our Christmas and Raglan camps are now in full fl ight – where did that year go?

I take the opportunity to wish my fellow club members, their families, and the gliding community at large, enjoyable, rewarding and safe fl ying over the holiday season. PC

Since Autumn, we have had few fl ying days, bu t the ones we have had have been fantastic. Great weather, people, and thermals. Mike Foley has been busy getting checked in the back of the Bocian before again fl ying the Astir, after a break from it. Our two students currently in training, Bob Bailey and Callum Tytler, are both doing well and not far off solo. John Currie and Don Grigg have been busy too, as they carry out their duties as instructors and, when the weather is appropriate, fl y a vintage EON Baby. Quite a sight to see. We owe special thanks to the Tauranga club, who have made their Pawnee available to us while our regular tow plane receives a new engine. Summer is now almost here and, like everyone else, we are hoping for great fl ying weather.

Flying has been a bit sparse so far this spring, bu t here’s hoping we are poised for better things now that our Twin Astir is back with us and back in action. Many thanks to John Tullett for making

Left and below - Taranaki: These pictures of the York Road Quarry were taken by Peter Millar. From a thermal trigger consideration there are several factors: 1. Adjacent National Park bush. 2. The excavated shingle area & buildings. 3. Some bush on either side of the quarry. All of the above differentials contribute to trigger points and heat resource. If all that fails, then we have the power station!!

Rotorua: bocast.

his K7 available for club use for nigh on fi ve months.

A party of fi ve or six went off to Matamata for the instructors’ course and all valued the experience. Glyn Jackson took the PW5 to Taupo for the Central Plateau comps and had one or two good fl ights, along with several frustrating ones. Peter Cook was a late entrant but made good progress. Tim Hardwick- Smith has gone down to Omarama for the Mountain Flying course there and then the South Island regionals. He has taken his half of the Discus with him - and my half too!

Yesterday (Nov. 10th) was an interesting day, with a NW airfl ow converging over Stratford, and a local airfl ow there from the SW. Some good thermals to 5000ft, and several one hour fl ights. PJM.

The last few weeks have seen some great fl ying d ays and some not so great, but optimism is high with the expectation of an awesome summer.

Colin McGrath’s Skylark ZK-GBX was sold to Marc Edgar. Marc is the grandson of the original owner Des Bird and son of David Edgar, so this little Skylark has gone home to roost. I am sure

Taupo: Colin and Marc. (For the eagle eyed, this is the same glider noted as arriving at Nelson Lakes in the photo across the page.)

Marc, and later on, Marc’s son, will have many wonderful hours of fl ying enjoyment.

The soaring season kicked off with the Central Plateau Soaring Competition. There were 16 entrants, for a fun and friendly week. Congratulations to Steve Wallace for taking out fi rst place, and showing the big boys in open class on how to do it in his little ‘mozzie’ GKT. Second and third respectively were our club members Trev Terry and Roland van der Wal.

TGC entered the Twin Astir as Team Taupo. Trace Austin was at the reins, and he had four very keen back seat drivers during the week: Joe Ward, Dan Visser, John Chittenden and Bill Dawson. Joe, Dan and John all got to experience how to park a ‘concrete swan’ in a paddock, while Bill was the only one lucky enough to complete a task - this being on the last day of the competition. A great week was had by all.

Thanks to all those club members, associated members and member’s spouses for the effort that went into getting the club ready to hold this event, and for all the effort and work that went into the running of the event.

Since the competition, there have been a few memorable fl ights. Rob Lyons with Trev Terry in the back seat of the Duo Discus GTT, fl ew around Lake Taupo, covering about 230 kms in 2 ½ hours. Roland, on the same day, did a modifi ed version of fl ying around the lake by having a fi nal glide from Mount Ngauruhoe back to Centennial Park in his LS6 - GVH.

And not to be outdone, was Joe Ward’s fl ight. The main objective for the Team Taupo entry into the CPSC was to encourage newer pilots to the sport to take on the challenges of cross country fl ight. Joe put his new found encouragement to the test and took off in the club’s PW5 and went down the valley. On return from Norman’s Corner, he ran out of lift and outlanded in Broadlands. This was a memorable fl ight due to the fact that Joe has now broken that umbilical cord that has been holding him to the fi eld. Well done mate!

We also wish a warm welcome to new members Roger Stokes and Rose-Anne Bury. Rose-Anne also holds a CPL and Tow pilot rating and will be our youngest tow pilot, sorry Brent!

Congratulations to Elliott Clapperton for achieving his solo status. As reported in the last issue, Elliott only recently joined us and is well on the way to QGP. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very safe and enjoyable New Year. Trace

Taupo: Team Taupo. Taupo: Roland above Mt Ngauruhoe prior to fi nal glide home. Taupo: Colin's last fl ight in GBX. (There it is again.)