Youth Soaring Development Camp

The third annual Youth Soaring Development camp was, like its predecessors, a huge success. We will let the participants tell their own stories. This year our feature story on the camp is by a very enthusiastic instructor. It is wonderful when the adults involved are as excited as the participants.

First Sovereign Trust $15,000 towards the YSDC fl ying costs Air NZ $2000 CAA NZ $2000 Dick Georgeson Trust $2000

Heinz Watties NZ Ltd Oakleys Fresh Vegetables Meadows Mushrooms Nigel and Sheena Davy

Air NZ (Mount Cook Airlines), NZAWA, Helicopter Line, Ballooning Canterbury, Accelerated Flight Testing, EMDA Ltd, Glide Omarama and Kerry Jackson.

Scott Wagstaff and Mike Strathern

Oliver WInkler Toby Read (instructor) and Enya McPherson Photo

A willing band of helpers rig a twin

Harry (helper from England) and Roger Read

John McCaw Photo

Mike Strathern back in his youth.

John McCaw Photo

Back in 2010, I was invited to assist with the fi rst YGDC, and I was asked again in 2011, and again in 2012!

Between the camps and a bout at the South Island Regionals with Ms Delore (another story for another day), I’ve done a huge amount of fl ying with our young people in NZ and I’ve got the bug. The YSDC is the highlight of my gliding calendar now.

At the latest camp, last December, I fl ew eight days on the trot and did between 30 - 40 hours; fl ew around Mt Cook and got to 21,000 ft a few times; fl ew hundreds of cross country kilometres, had a few six hour fl ights and had some unplanned looks at a few fi elds and strips when things got squeaky. We threw a few loops, chased each other around like the Red Baron and Snoopy, and I added a few more good friends into my life and my Facebook pages. Above all, it was just immense fun, and I learned a lot about myself, teenagers and gliding.

Flying with the group is exceptionally hard work, and I mean hard work. Everything you say and do is soaked up and tested, with lots of “Tell me more Mike.” “Why Mike?” “How do you do that Mike?” And the most testing one, when we get low, “You have control Mike. Get us out of here.” It’s a total blast.

I seem to have a love of teaching young people to fl y (and I’m not a teacher), probably as I was a young pilot once, doing what

Mike Strathern and Abbey Delore.

John McCaw Photo

Daniel Town and John Eggers.

The instructors panel and Roger Read.

John McCaw Photo

Doug Hamilton made TF available for cross country training.

these guys are doing, so I can draw a parallel to them. I learned to fl y gliders when I was 14 (in a T21, Bocian and Blanik) and had the same unstoppable passion as I can see in many of our YSDC students. I only wish I could have fl own the gliders they get to fl y when I was 15! It took me 20 hours solo (many 3 minute winch launches) to get into a K8 and 50 hours solo and Bronze C (QGP) to get into the Skylark 4! (Now I sound old.) My Ka6e and I were lucky to get onto the British Gliding Association (BGA) squad training scheme, along with a Mr G. Dale in his Libelle. We had similar experience in the early 1980’s to what YSDC is having now. We gained some fantastic experience from some great coaches (John Williamson was one). I remember those days fondly and very well. (Like a certain G. Dale setting off for a huge drive to Scotland from Husbands Bosworth, to do a downwind dash 300 km goal record attempt. It rained if I recall, and G. had a huge drive back.)

I have been lightly pressured to put some of my experiences at the camp in writing and I wanted to share how much fun it is as a YSDC instructor.

Here is a story from the very last fl ight of this year’s camp.

Imagine trying to brief a student from the back of a Janus about how to put on a cannula for the fi rst time, while climbing rapidly through 10,000 ft and dodging cloud. Sounds easy? Yeah right. It’s not. It took about 15 minutes of semi aerobatic manoeuvres with the Janus to doing its own thing, as my student attempted to fi t her cannula so it wasn’t knotted around her neck and it was going click and hiss at the right time. Yes, I know I failed to brief on the ground (I wasn’t expecting to go that high), but we managed. I tried to take a photo of mine on and pass it forward, but what with keeping out of cloud, soaring and explaining the technicalities, that didn’t work either. Enya, I think you’ve got it fi gured out now.

Then at about 6.55pm, half way to Mount Cook at 12,000 ft, we realised dinner was in fi ve minutes so we had better head back! Rolling up ten minutes late to the fi nal dinner/party, all the students came out dressed up posh and whipped the Janus off so we could get changed out of our fl ying gear for the fi nal dinner. This just showed what great teamwork there was (by the way I took the batteries out at 2.30am to put them on charge) or maybe they just wanted to get the party started. That’s another story, but there are a few interesting photos going around.

In a past camp, I was in wave with an Auckland student (he’d never been in wave, never been to 20,000 ft, so both those boxes got well and truly ticked) as we passed over Mt Cook, hidden under 8/8th cover. I piped up, “Let’s jump downwind and I’ll show you how to jump over to the next wave bar. 100 knots, off we go. Yes it’s easy. See? And another bar, and another (no GPS reminding me we probably had a 200+ knot downwind ground speed). We were getting below the cloud so we needed to make sure we stayed in the wave, but also needed to see exactly where we were, as we peeked underneath the cloud. “OK,” says I half confi dently, “That’s Lake Pukaki far in the distance.” Only it was TEKAPO beyond the curve in the earth! Man that wind was strong! It was a real cross country, as we had to work out how to get back upwind, wave gap jumping. That was fun. The student had a smile like the Joker when we landed.

Toni Thompson solos Campbell Hall and Ray Burns

Ray Burns Photo

Ray Burns Photo

I’m supposed to show these people how to do it and they end up getting some REAL experiences of how it’s done, complete with in-fl ight lecture and demo of some true stuff-ups to add to the fl avour. They do make great bar stories and I usually end up sharpening my low level scratching skills. I can still hear Abbey Delore’s words to me at about 4,000 ft, up the top of the Ahuriri Valley (e.g. 1500 ft and too close to the ground, in the washing machine of rotors), “Dad says, ‘Never get low in the Ahuriri when the wind’s this way.’” Well we climbed off the clock, after seeing clearly what a party of picnickers had in their hampers.

What is it like being an instructor at the camp? Just brilliant.

Crawl out of my bed and into breakfast at 8am (late and last). The camp runs on NZAF time, not normal gliding club time. We have people to train, from ‘what does that stick do,’ to ‘show me how to go faster.’

I head out to the Canterbury Caravan, which is the camp base on the airfi eld. I arrive just in time to see a group of hooligans running for buckets of water and looking skyward. A fi rst solo. We all watch from the side line as someone performs the perfect circuit and text book landing. Then, about 20 bucket wielding young people race out to the glider, chuckling and cheering. Quickly, formalities are dispensed with, such as ‘well done’ from the (relieved they didn’t crash) instructor, a few formal photos, followed by heckling to get the parachute off and get their ‘reward.’ Thank goodness this wasn’t the ritual when I went solo. Great fun.

This year we managed six fi rst solos, in 2011 I recall seven and three in 2010. This really is an intensive course for the beginners. One of this year’s solo students had had two fl ights in his life before he came! Certainly, the team of instructors for the beginner group do a sterling job and produce some great pilots.

One fi nal story that stands out from the 2010 course, was when a student said, “Mike, I wanna race. I don’t wanna mince around sightseeing Mt Aspiring. That’s boring. I wanna race, I wanna go fast, I wanna see how to race in the mountains.” So, off to Siberia we raced. Chasing speed, ignoring poor climbs and doing okay. Off around the Dobson, doing really well in race mode, exactly as I was asked to do. Half way down the Ohau’s and we were now on fi nal glide and I mentioned that we have to be careful that the easterly sea breeze hasn’t set up. We’ll see it spilling over the Ben Ohau’s.... a bit like that cloud is spilling over the top in front of us, and making the vario fall off the clock and the altimeter unwind and the lake get closer.

We fell off the end of the hills a tad low and started scratching. This was more like the student’s customary Auckland soaring, grinding around at 1,500 ft over the ground, but we made it. I met up with this young chap again this year and he remembers the fl ight well, rather too well. For good measure I demonstrated the same effect almost blow by blow with another Auckland pilot (an instructor) this year. (Note for self: in 2013, don’t do it for a 3rd time.)

The Youth Soaring Development Camps are a ball. The students want to be there and love it. We all pull together as a team, and best of all, I get a week where I don’t have to cook. The catering is simply fantastic, from Kim and her team of helpers.

As we were travelling down to Omarama, I was wondering what the weather was going to be for the week. It was pouring down outside John McCaw and it had not really rained for the previous month. The next day at Photo the briefi ng, Lemmy told us that the weather was supposed to get worse. After that weather briefi ng I was concerned that we may not be so lucky this year but I was wrong. I have been on the last two development camps and this year we had the best weather by far.

My highlights for the camp were a fl ight to Mount Cook and back in the Duo UO with Graham Erikson, and then an unexpected fl ight to Milford Sound with Doug Hamilton in TF. I was already excited for this fl ight, as it was my fi rst time in an ASH25. We didn’t really have a plan of where to go, but to have a good fl ight and take the best looking route. It was a stunning thermal day and we rarely stopped to climb. Most of the day was fl own in full negative fl ap above 90 knots. On the way to Milford we passed Mount Aspiring twice and fl ew over Lake Wanaka and Lake Wakatipu.

On the camp I also had some good solo fl ying. I completed my LS6 rating with a nice fl ight to Ohau Ski Field, and it was my goal to be more confi dent fl ying further away from the airfi eld, after gaining my cross country rating at the last camp. The Youth Soaring Development Camp is fantastic for any aspiring youth pilots who wish to learn to fl y and have an awesome time. Thanks to Roger and his fantastic team of helpers for such an awesome 10 days. Bring on YSDC 2013!

Jonathan Wardman Photo

John McCaw Photo

Flying has been my passion ever since I can remember. I really like planes, and being able to fl y them is one of the most incredible feelings ever. Being part of the Youth Soaring Development camp for 10 days in December was an experience I will never forget, and being around like-minded, fun and courageous young people certainly enhanced the memories and excitement.

I had been solo before heading down to Omarama but had very little solo time under my belt. The fi rst couple of days of the course were circuit-bashing with Steve Green, and then a check fl ight with Roger Read, before sending me for my fi rst solo in Omarama! It was defi nitely one fl ight I will never forget and felt like my fi rst solo all over again! This completed my A certifi cate, and boy, was I stoked.

I had an incredible fl ight in the Duo Discus with Toby Read and I learnt so much. We fl ew all the way to Lake Hawea and did a few wingovers over the beautiful blue lake; it was absolutely stunning scenery and the fi rst time I’d fl own over mountains with snow! Our 44km fi nal glide with a practice competition fi nish made for a bit of fun. Toby and I had a fl ight time of 3 hours and 15minutes - my best fl ight to date. (His second, I think.)

Before heading to Omarama, I had never used oxygen before and being from Auckland, we’re lucky if we get over 4000ft! On Saturday evening, my last fl ight at Omarama was with Mike Strathern in the Janus. We were being optimistic and put our cannulas in the glider. After a lot of hard work, with almost an hour of ridge soaring, we were climbing slowing at 2+ in wave at 8,000ft. It slowly got stronger and, as Yvonne would say, it began to feel as if we were ‘riding velvet.’ I can now say I’ve used oxygen, which is cause for a lot of excitement for any glider pilot from Auckland. Time went by quickly and we realised we had to come down pronto for the fi nal dinner. Loops and wingovers added to the adrenaline, and having such a memorable fi nal fl ight makes me even more eager to come back. Bring on the soaring season for 2013!

I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved, especially my instructors – Toby & Steve. I learnt a huge amount, and my passion for fl ying has become greater than ever! The thank you’s are endless: the fi ve-star food staff, the sponsors, everyone involved, and Roger Read for a huge commitment to Youth Glide in New Zealand. Thank you.

Campbell Hall

Ray Burns Photo

Ray Burns Photo

To be a part of Youth Glide is a huge privilege in itself, but being able to fl y at Omarama is one that only 30 (or some other small number) youth pilots have had. As this was my fi rst camp, I don’t know what went on in previous years, but from what I can piece together, this year was a very successful one. There were 4 - 8 Grob twins available to fl y each day (depending on need), a Duo Discus, a wide range of single-seaters and an ASH 25. This alone would satisfy any teenager with an A certifi cate, but then we had nine days of weather that could not be equalled, often above 30 degrees. Anything between one and four tow planes would be operating at any given time.

Soaring conditions were ideal, with wave lingering above us almost every day, and regularly there would be stories exchanged at the end of the day about two gliders high over Mount Cook, and even around Invercargill. Personally, I question the validity of the name Mount Horrible, as the lift it produced was anything but.

Before long, we were halfway through the camp and some were achieving their fi rst solos. I’m not sure if I can remember all the names, but I’ll try. Toni Thompson, Anna Bisset, Fraser McDougall, Campbell Hall, Arun Raju and Angus Ward all completed their fi rst solo. Of course, much to their delight, the rest of the group threw ten buckets of water on each of them.

I’m running out of things to write, so I’ll throw in a personal experience here. Mark Aldridge and I were doing circuits on Thursday, and after landing, Mark told me we’d line up on the grid again and do “one more fl ight.” This is where the other side of the story comes in. Roger Read and another student were fl ying in the Janus, and Roger had pre-arranged with the tow pilot for a low-level launch failure, purely for training purposes. However, the tow pilot

Toni Thompson

Ray Burns Photo

Peter Shields

John McCaw Photo

did not realise that instead of having Roger Read behind his tow line, he had Mark Aldridge, and so we received a slightly unexpected wave off, perhaps 200 feet above the ground. As a result, I now have a signature in the column beside ‘Low level launch failure.’

Each day brought in more fl ights, between 60 - 80 launches per day. It is a huge privilege to be able to fl y in Omarama as the weather is usually ideal, the soaring terrain is just incredible, and there is never a shortage of anything: from gliders to towplanes, to all the equipment needed to run an airfi eld. This is majorly due to the huge efforts of Roger and Kim Read, and everybody else that spent time organising the camp. Their organisational skill was amazing, to say the least. Sometimes Roger would remind us that each time we fl ew, we were operating up to a hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment, which usually made me think to myself, go easy on that landing! The camp was defi nitely worth it and I will hopefully be going back next year, as will most other people I asked.