SoaringNZ Issue 50

NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE

LIVE FROM LITHUANIA NATIONAL AWARDS taskPILOT HUMAN FACTORS • CLUB NEWS i s s u e 5 0 A u g u s t – O c t o b e r 2 0 17

S JS1 REVELATION – the current world champion in both the 18m and the Open Class or the NEW cutting edge JS3 RAPTURE in the 15m or 18m class.

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contents august–october 2017 features 12 10th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships 18 Visiting the LAK Factory 20 Gliding NZ AGM Awards 2017 22 52,000 Feet Perlan Breaks World Height Record

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24 26 30

Land Out and Fly Another Day

34

90 Years of Alexander Schleicher Gliders

38

Human Factors

taskPilot GP Gliders Aero Friedrichshafen 2017 & Factory Visit

regulars 6 Log Book 29 A Question of Safety 41 Gliding Book Corner 42 Obituaries – Ivan Evans and Greg Douglas 44 Sailplance Race Committee 46 Gliding New Zealand News 47 GNZ Awards & Certificates 48 Gliding New Zealand Club News 54 Classified Advertising

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UK $100 Europe $109 USA $109

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Advertising, editorial and subscription enquiries

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Editor Jill McCaw soaringnz@mccawmedia.co.nz

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ISSNAugust–October 1178-4784 2017 3

from the editor august–october 2017 Welcome to our 50th issue! When we put out Issue One my kids were still at school, Christchurch hadn’t had an earthquake and the internet that I relied on was still dial up. Yes, a lot has changed. Issue One was printed in December 2007 and I’m not sure, but I think the Xmas Camp that year in Omarama was when youngest son, Robert aged 14, first soloed in a glider. It was probably about when oldest son Alex announced that he wouldn’t be playing rugby anymore, it was getting in the way of his flying. He didn’t want to be an All Black, he announced, he wanted to be a champion glider pilot. And look at him competing at World Contests now.

This issue and this editorial are very heavy on coverage of Lithuania and the Junior Worlds. I usually try to be objective and not focus on the exploits of my family in the magazine – or at least give them objective coverage when they’ve done something of note. This time, the whole experience of being in Lithuania was so far out of my norm that I feel a need to tell you all about it.

You can read coverage of the competition on page 12.

When your son is representing your country at the top level of his sport, you need to be there to support him. That’s what John and I thought anyway.

We spent a fortnight exploring the European Alps before heading up to Lithuania, one of the Eastern European Baltic States that sits up above Poland. It was not somewhere I had ever imagined visiting and we knew next to nothing about the country. Alex had flown there at the Worlds the previous year and sent photos of landouts in farm paddocks with smiling farmers and reports of some places where they worked their paddocks with horse drawn machinery. I thought it would be a bit backward, a bit boring. I wasn’t expecting to find a country that I’d be quite happy to live in.

The country is rolling but generally flat and the main industry is crop farming. It was mid-summer and crops were ripe with paddocks either just harvested or about to be. We saw wheat, barley, oats, rapeseed and white clover. As John works in the agricultural industry and takes as many photos of farm machinery as he does of aircraft, he was in heaven.

There were lots of modern headers and harvest machinery, alongside ancient and peculiar tractors and the odd horse and cart. We wondered if the big stuff was collectively owned as the farms didn’t seem big enough to support owning them. We

NATIONAL AWARDS

Glider finishing, day 5 Juniors Worlds Lithuania.

Photo John McCaw.

taskPILOT HUMAN FACTORS • CLUB NEWS i s s u e 5 0 A u g u s t – O c t o b e r 2 0 17

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saw very few animals which were apparently farmed indoors.

There was often a solitary cow, chained up in a paddock and we’d see someone clumping out towards her in the evening, carrying a bucket. The meat for sale in the local supermarkets was predominantly chicken and pork. We’re really not sure of the origin of the mince we had, but it tasted all right and wasn’t at all fatty like it looked like it would be.

Lithuania is just above 55° north, about in line with Scotland. The weather in our first week was around 27°C, barely dropping to 25° at night. It was a little hard to sleep. Once the warm frontal conditions that caused that moved on, and we got six days of flying weather, it stayed warm during the day but cooled to around 16° at night. It was very pleasant. The last couple of days got very hot and the swimming pool outside the airfield café was a life saver. The weird thing about the weather was that I didn’t get sunburnt. They have a full ozone layer up there I guess. It may well be the climate that my genetics is set to. I’ve never been anywhere before where I could spend a day in the sun without sunscreen. It was weird.

I’ve written about Pociūnai elsewhere in this issue but it’s worth mentioning the places around it. We stayed in Birštonas (pronounced Brrrrrr sh’tnis), about 20 minutes by road, but directly across the river from the airfield. It is a resort spa. I don’t know where their clients come from, but there are many

next issue

NEW ZEALAND’S PREMIER SOARING MAGAZINE

LIVE FROM LITHUANIA

Terry Delore, Alex McCaw and Mike Strathern

August–October 2017

Next Issue: Central Plateau and South Island Regional Competitions Returning to gliding after a break

magazine deadlines Competition Deadline for Club News, articles and pictures is 17 November and 26 November for advertising.

A chance to meet one of our European correspondents, Petras Beta

and they’re mostly there for the mineral water, to drink it, bath in it, or smear mud on themselves – I think. It was a little hard to tell. There were many spa treatments. The town is surrounded and included in beautiful manicured parks and woodlands with sculptures and/or flower beds all through them and many people seem to just walk or bike the wide concrete paths. There are bikes for hire. The river Neumas wraps around the town and many of the tracks follow the river or snake through the forest for miles.

Our guest house, where we had a double room with balcony (complete with wasp nest - wasps are as big a problem there as here) and shared a large, well equipped kitchen, was new, modern and clean. The only other guests staying there that we chatted with were a Czech family in the area for an orienteering event. So, I’m not sure if everyone comes to Birštonas for the spa experience or not. Birštonas is very pretty, and very much a holiday town with only a superette type supermarket and basic shopping facilities. It is a little weird actually; a Stepford type film set sort of town, rather than the real thing. It was like no-where else we saw in Lithuania.

Across the river, on the main road, was Prienai which is a country service town. Prienai has four proper supermarkets, a large hardware store and all the shops and services you’d expect, pizza restaurant, bakery, restaurants etc. They’re just hard to find because buildings don’t have shopfront windows.

You have to know what the words written on the building mean, go in the door and there’s the shop. All the shops are clean and modern looking, once you’re inside. I’m not sure whether lack of windows is a throwback to the Soviet era, or something to do with the extreme cold of the winters.

The one thing they don’t seem to have are pubs or anything like them. You can buy all your alcohol (including really! cheap vodka) at the supermarket. Food prices are cheap. I was playing camp mother for the Kiwi team and shopping for six and spending less than €20� a day – so under $25 a day. Meals can

be had in cafes and restaurants for less than 5�. You can buy booze in cafes too.

The people are friendly, but they didn’t seem that way at first. No one smiles on the street or waves (or does the finger lift Aussies and Kiwis are known for) as you pass their car on a back road. I mentioned something about this on Facebook, surmising that these people have been under foreign control for a long time and maybe it’s ingrained, not to greet strangers.

Darius Liaugaudas, the Lithuanian team manager chatted to me about this afterward and confirmed that this was pretty close to the truth. You didn’t greet strangers because you had no idea if it was safe to do so. It was an eye opening insight into the trauma the country has endured, in very recent times.

However, when you interact one on one, people are lovely and so very helpful, even when language is a problem. (Mostly.

The supermarket check-out lady didn’t seem to like anyone.)

They’re actually great jokers and seem to share our sense of humour. When a group of us were in the tourist information shop at Klaipeda and asking about the Russian border at Nida, on the Curonian sandspit, the lady certainly got the joke when Wendy Delore said she wanted to push Terry across it. The odd funnies were thrown out at briefing.

Is it worth visiting Lithuania? I would say definitely, yes.

You probably wouldn’t need to spend more than a week. We visited Klaipeda and the Curonian Spit, right to the north of the country, the cities of Kaunas, Vilnius and the gorgeous castle in a lake at Trakai. All the cities have a lovely old town section, and the history goes back millennia. The only place we were drowned in fellow tourists was at Trakai. It’s an interesting country and I’d happily go back. It’s probably well worth a visit before the world-wide flood of tourists finds the place and you have to queue to get into the old towns. And of course, when there isn’t a contest on, the gliding can be quite good too.

Stay safe everyone Jill McCaw

logbook august–october 2017 Contributions to Logbook are welcome from all of our readers within New Zealand and internationally.

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NEW ZEALAND SUCCESS AGAIN Two more Prestigious FAI Tissandier Awards to New Zealand Gliding Identities Congratulations to Tom Davies (Wellington) and Gavin Wills (Omarama) for receiving this award. These diplomas will be presented at GNZ events over the next couple of months. This Diploma, established by the FAI in 1952, is named after Mr. Paul Tissandier, Secretary General of FAI from 1919 to 1945. It is awarded to those who have served the cause of Aviation in general and Sporting Aviation in particular, by their work, initiative, and devotion or in other ways.

Previous New Zealand glider pilots to win this award are: Russell Mcdowall, John Roake, Ross Macintyre, George Rogers, Peter Thorpe, Roger Harris, Ralph Gore, Yvonne Loader, Roger Read, Edouard Devenoges, Trevor Mollard and Lemmy Tanner.

SoaringNZ will cover these awards in more detail in the next issue.

CALENDAR

check website for details

OCTOBER 2017 October 21 - October 23

Taupo Gliding Club’s 50th Anniversary – Note this is a different date from the one first advertised

NOVEMBER 2017

CHARGING STATIONS FOR ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT. Pipistrel, in cooperation with students from three universities, has developed the first charging station for electric airplanes, after discovering that using electric aircraft requires more access to places to charge them. One day an electric charging station could be as common a sight on an airfield as a fuel bowser.

SEBASTIAN KAWA ADDS ANOTHER TROPHY TO HIS CABINET Flying the new prototype GP-14 VELO glider, multiple world champion, Polish pilot Sebastian Kawa won the 13.5m Worlds, beating German Uli Schwenk flying a Mini LAK by only three points. Third place went to Sebastian Riera from Argentina. The contest, held in Szatymaz, Hungary in July managed 11 flying days and had tasks from 250 km to 500 km. Sebastian and Uli stayed in first and second place overall for the whole contest.

Moved house?

Changed email?

Stay in touch

November 4 - November 11

Central Plateau Competition 2017 @ Taupo, For details see Taupo Gliding Club’s web page

November 18 - November 25

Southern Regionals 2017 @ Omarama, For details see South Island Regional Glider Races 2017 Facebook page, Entry Forms coming soon

November 25 - December 2

MSC North Island Regionals @ Matamata, Matamata Airfield, State Highway 27, Waharoa, 3474 New Zealand, More details from Matamata Soaring Centre website

DECEMBER 2017 December 2 - December 9

Canterbury Soaring Championships @ Springfield

December 7 - December 16

Youth Soaring Development Camp @ Omarama

JANUARY 2018 January 1 - January 5

MSC Cross Country Course 2017 at Matamata Now planned for after New Year. Followed by a few days of Christmas Camp until Tuesday 9 January. More details from Matamata Soaring Centre website.

January 5 - January 13

Club Class Champs + Audi Enterprise Contest 2018 @ Drury. The Matamata Soaring Centre and Auckland Gliding Club are hosting the Club Class Champs this year alongside the Audi Auckland Enterprise Competition for non-club class pilots. , For details: MSC Club Class Champs website and entry form will be set up soon. Audi contest details at glidingauckland.co.nz

January 20 - January 29

Vintage Kiwi Rally 2018 @ Greytown

January 27- February 10

GNZ National Multi-Class Gliding Championships 2018, Matamata Soaring Centre.

FEBRUARY 2018 February 3 - February 10 GOmarama Enterprise 2018 @ Omarama February 17 - February 24 Central Districts Regionals 2018 @ Waipukurau

JULY-AUGUST 2018

World Gliding Championships @ Ostrow, Poland

July 8 - July 21

Club Class, Standard Class, 15m Class

July 28 - August 11

18m Class, 20m Multi-Seat Class, Open Class

Please update your details on Gliding NZ’s database. http://gliding.co.nz/ - About - Online Membership It’s important we have your correct address to ensure you continue to receive your SoaringNZ magazine.

your email address is correct on the database.

Why not log in now and check your entry; you can also view your ratings and awards.

Any problems, contact membership@gliding.co.nz

Recently Gliding NZ sent out emails to all members, but we had quite a few bounce backs – please check

Laurie Kirkham Central Register Manager

August–October 2017

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logbook august–october 2017 THE GORDON BENNETT CUP French balloon pilots Vincent Leys and Christophe Houver flew more than 1,800 km in two days (8 – 10 September) to win the Gordon Bennett Cup 2017.

Leys and Houver travelled 1,834.72 km. Launching from Gruyères in Fribourg, Switzerland, twenty-one gas balloons took off on Friday evening to compete in the race, which sees gas-balloon pilots fly through the night over several days. Whoever goes furthest, wins.

Windy conditions this year saw the balloonists pushed northeast overnight. The direction of travel meant on Saturday many crews had to land in Poland in order to avoid violating Russian airspace around Kalingrad. By Sunday morning just five teams remained in the competition. Only Leys and Houver managed to squeeze through the narrow airspace corridor between Kaliningrad and Belarus, giving them the win.

Behind them, Switzerland’s Kurt Frieden and Pascal

Witprächtiger (SUI-1) and Spain’s Anulfo Gonzales Redondo and Angel Aguirre Rial (ESP-1) hung on to land a few kilometres short of the Lithuanian border.

The win is the second for the pair flying together as a team – they also won in 2013, when they flew 1,402.42 km after launching from France. Vincent Leys however has been in the winning team eight times.

The win means that the 2019 Gordon Bennett Cup will launch from a location in France.

Established in 1906, the Gordon Bennett Cup was re-started for the modern era in 1983. Since then it has attracted many of the world’s top balloon pilots, providing a challenge unrivalled anywhere else in the ballooning world.

Who is on Facebook?

Don’t forget that you can now keep up with all of your gliding buddies and share news of your flights on Facebook. GNZ and Youth Glide NZ have a page and so do the following clubs: Soaring Northland Auckland Piako Tauranga Taupo Taranaki Wellington Nelson Lakes Canterbury

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August–October 2017

GNZ also have a YouTube Channel where you can catch up on the popular videos from the Worlds in Australia and other great gliding stories.

Soaring Avionics, Radios and Transponders

AIR GLIDE – A new take on soaring avionics!

We now have a complete system with Vario Display S and Display M coupled with an Air glide TRX 1500 Flarm / ADS-B / Mode C traffic warning system for customers to evaluate here in Masterton.

Contact the NZ Agents for more information. Now with an online shop at www.nzsoaring-solutions.myshopify.com/

NZSoaring Solutions

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M 021 073 0021 Ph 06 370 8090

GAVIN WILLS

M O U N TA IN SOARING SCHOOL Learn-to-Fly Post Solo to QGP Mountain Soaring Guest instructors: Uli Schwenk Justin Wills

ADVENTURE SOARING FLIGHTS

Inquiries and Bookings phone +64 3 438 9555 | www.glideomarama.com

August–October 2017

9

logbook august–october 2017 ‘LOOK UP! THE DRONES ARE COMING’ Drones are here now and they are multiplying fast! The first FAI International Drones Conference, held in September was a big success as it heard about the brave new world of Drones and robots in the sky.

Twenty drone professionals and experts gathered in Lausanne to get a better understanding of how drones will affect aviation and what the potential is for growing air sports.

Opening the conference FAI President Frits Brink said: “Drones and drone flying have caught the imagination of the world. They are the route into the world of air sports for youngsters. Driven by the development of such easily available technology, and with no need of an airfield or dedicated arena, drones have brought hundreds of thousands of new people into the world of air sports.”

In a keynote presentation to an audience of 200, Alain Siebert, chief economist at the Single European Sky ATM Research Programme (SESAR) said there will be an estimated 7.4 million drones in operation in Europe within 15 years. Some 400,000 will be commercial, with 7 million consumer drones.

“We need to build the case that robots are safer than humans” he said. “Practically speaking, by 2019, we will have the first set of services in operation [at a European level].” Of existing air users, including air sports pilots, he said, “Don’t be scared, this is an opportunity.”

GLIDER FOR SALE

The conference heard from numerous real-life examples of drone technology in action. Wayne Lording from the Institute for Drone Technology had travelled from Australia to show how drones are revolutionising farming in that country. “With drones, it is so easy. Five years ago, you would have to spend $50,000 to get a satellite image. Now with a drone you get that information in five minutes. Drones are phenomenal tools for farmers.”

He added: “I’ll be jumping with joy when a drone can lift up a hay bale and deliver it. That will be fantastic.”

Dr John Langford, CEO of Aurora Sciences, explained how his company was working with Uber to develop an autonomous taxi drone that could take off and land vertically in urban areas.

“In less than two years the number of drone pilots has far surpassed the number of pilots. This is disruptive innovation” he said. “Uber aims to have demonstrations of this [technology] by 2020.”

Other speakers described how drones are now regularly delivering blood samples between two hospitals in Switzerland; how they are used in making 3D maps of car crashes, completing in 15 minutes what used to take several hours and how they are being used to deliver snake anti-venom 60 km to villages in Amazonian Peru.

For more information on the conference, including discussions on rules and regulations, drones and sport and a commitment to the future, see the FAI website.

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August–October 2017

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PRICE $8,000 A lovely historical, iconic design, L/D 32:1, winner of the 1960 and 1963 ‘Worlds’ plus innumerable National and local trophies since. See SoaringNZ #48 article on history of this actual Ka-6.

4600 launches, immaculate condition and no predictable expenses bar annuals for some years.

Borgelt variometer, Icom IC-A5 radio, Trig transponder, custom tail dolly, cockpit/wingroot cover, tinted canopy & wing wheel. Currently flying from Whenuapai, trailer has new WoF. Sale due to health.

Contact your broker or phone Zandra and talk to the people who specialise in aviation insurance.

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August–October 2017

11

10th FAI JUNIOR World Gliding Championships

BY JILL MCCAW

30 July – 12 August 2017, Pociūnai, Lithuania

In August this year, Alex McCaw and Nick Oakley, who had both been living and working in the UK for the past year, had their second attempt at a Junior Gliding title. Their first attempt was at the previous Juniors in Australia, in December 2014.

They’d flown at the ‘senior’ Worlds, held at the same Lithuanian site as this year’s contest, in August last year. They knew the site and what to expect from the conditions and tasks. They were both very current, although not in flat land flying, they had good gliders, hired from previous New Zealand Junior Champion Ross Drake and were as prepared as they could be. How would they stack up to the world class competition?

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August–October 2017

J

unior glider pilots are those under 25 years old, and while they may be junior in age, these young people are anything but junior when it comes to flying skills. They are the world’s best young pilots and many of them are champions, regardless of age group.

The competition took place at Pociūnai, a tiny spot on the map of Lithuania in the middle of rolling crop land. If you were thinking of the world’s great gliding sites, Lithuania probably wouldn’t cross your mind, but Pociūnai has hosted several top-class competitions, including the Club and Standard Class Worlds last year. When the weather is good in Lithuania, expect great thermals to around 7,000 feet with streeting.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case while this contest was on.

(It’s a universal law: hold a gliding contest during the best part of your soaring season and it will be the worst season on record.)

The day of the opening ceremony the sky looked fantastic. New Zealand had a team of six to march in with the flag: Nick and Alex, Mike Oakley who was Nick’s crew and team captain, Alex’ crew Mike Strathern, and John and me as general crew people and goffers.

Photos: John McCaw

The competition pulled in seventy pilots, from seventeen countries in two classes: Club and Standard. Our boys were flying in Club Class, Alex flying a Hornet and Nick a Libelle.

There were three other Libelles and one other Hornet in the contest.

The practice days had gone well, gliders were fettled and everyone was ready to get going. The weather briefing on Day One was not encouraging; while the air was unstable and climbs of 2-3 m/s were expected, there was also increasing high cloud predicted. Thunder storms were expected for the next day. Day One may well be last the last flying day for several days. Tasks for both classes were set to the west and into Poland.

This is what Nick said about the day that delivered him a third place podium finish. “It was a difficult day with a 280 km racing task which turned into a long slog. We both flew well together on the first leg but got separated just short of the first turn which was in Poland! Apart from being separated, all was still going well until the final glide when Alex needed just one more climb to get home. Alex ended up landing short by 40 km

Nick on the podium after his 3rd place, Day One

and I managed to find a weak climb to put me on final glide and 3rd overall for the day. Alex was 30th overall after this land out.”

Nick’s speed was 68.87 kph, less than 2 kph slower than the winner. Podium finishes at this level of competition are a real achievement.

It was disappointing for Alex but a great start for the team.

Spirits were high. Alex felt he could climb back from here. The next morning’s briefing was a high point with the day winners invited to the podium to receive nice, shiny medals.

Following day one, the forbidden airspace buffer zone along the Belarus border had been extended as, we were told, Belarus had been scrambling fighter jets, although no one had actually August–October 2017

13

JUNIOR WORLDS

Team Kiwi on tour

Alex preparing launch

Landing out in company

Nick prepares for the flight

crossed the border or infringed on the contest imposed buffer zone. I was pleased that no contestants ever had to find out just how much of a threat of this could be.

As suspected, Day Two didn’t happen the next day, and it didn’t happen for another four days. A warm and damp, high pressure system was slowly moving up from Germany. Each day was treated as a flying day with the gliders prepped and on the grid as everyone waited to see if the weather would improve.

The third grid squat day was called quite early, allowing the Kiwi Crew, along with visitors Terry and Wendy Delore, to explore the wonderful Trakai Castle and town, about 90 km away. We discovered that Trakai lake was hosting the Junior World Rowing Champs and the boys managed to make contact with that Kiwi team and watch a few of their races. The two teams kept in touch and followed each other’s competitions.

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August–October 2017

When Day Two finally happened, it was a marginal day and two-hour AATs were called for both classes. The edges of the circles were very close to the Russian border. “Do not forget this,” the contest director said gravely. The day started with great promise and the grid was launched at 12 pm into a great sky. Alex and Nick were blasting along well until high cloud moved over the track. Not one person made it home. Seeing 70 trailers heading out is quite a sight. Alex did 117 km. He had a German and Italian sharing the paddock. Nick pressed on in his Libelle and squeaked out 212 km to gain 5th overall for the day.

Day Three was slightly over called and just under half of the field landed out. It was a really exciting day to be watching the tracking. Alex took a relight and started later than the pack.

Then he caught them up. He was scorching around the course and seemed to have at least half an hour on everyone else. The

JUNIOR WORLDS

Gaggle flying was common

Grid squatting Alex left, Nick right

Trailers returning from retrieves

trouble was, once he caught the gaggle he tried to keep up with them and left a thermal with them, even though he was lower.

It was just too low and he couldn’t get high again, landing out.

Nick landed out as well, coming in at the top of the landouts for distance, only 20 km short, but with 23 other people getting around, it dropped him well down in the placings.

Day Four (or 3.5) was also over called and was another mass land out. Only three club class pilots got home and as less than 25% of the class made it 100 km, it became a no scoring day.

Seven standard class pilots made it back so they were scored, but it was a vastly devalued day. Alex had five other gliders in his recently harvested wheat paddock and there were nine gliders in the paddock next door. The crews were getting really good at retrieves. The pizza shop in Preinai, on the main road back to the airfield was doing roaring business most nights as

hungry crews called in on their way home.

Day Five was another racing triangle, 260 km with the first turn point down in Poland. It was probably the best flying day we’d had yet, and for a very welcome change, most people got home. Except this time Nick didn’t. He did finish however. The finish circle was 5 km away from the field and he landed just on the airfield side of the river after a low finish. This won him 12 penalty points for a low finish, but allowed him to stay in 11th place over all.

Day Six saw the Kiwis’ best result for the competition with Alex getting first place for the day. Team Captain Mike Oakley described what happened. “The plan was for Alex to go out early with the first starters and call Nick through. The task was 305 km with climbs of 4-6 knots to 4-5,500 feet. There were cu on track until nearly the second turn where it went blue for the

August–October 2017

15

Photo Tomas Kuzmickas

JUNIOR WORLDS

Mike Strathern, Mike Oakley, Alex and Nick at briefing

Photo Mike Oakley

An airfield with a Pirate Ship

Alex with his medal for Day Six

rest of the flight. The gaggle hung around the start for over 1.5 hrs. Alex went out with the Polish, who he stayed with all day.

Nick played the game and started with the gaggle and lead them round the first turn where it all broke apart. The group reformed into smaller gaggles half way to the next turn. By the last turn they were getting lower. Nick lead out once too many and the gaggle got a climb behind him to get home while he landed short. Alex got on glide and had a very tight, but well flown, and worthy, win for the day.”

To finish off a great day, it was the International Night, where the Kiwis put on mini pavlovas (made with Lithuanian marshmallow cakes, canned cream and real Kiwi fruit, although not grown in New Zealand), pastries with a scoop of Nutella (“Not New Zealand,” we told people, “but something our pilots like.”) and a noxious, but very popular punch, made with the local (cheap) vodka, that we called ‘Terry Delore’s Ball Tickler’.

A very good time was had by all.

The organisers had become very precious with the FAI flag, locking it to the pole each day and taking it down each night.

The next morning, the entire pole was missing and the Aussie flag was flying upside down. All was right with the world.

Day Seven proved to be another mass land out day as high cloud came through while everyone was still in the middle of the task. Three finished but didn’t land back on the field. Three landed back on the field but didn’t finish. Our crews were out on the road again. Both classes were scored as distance days. One glider received some damage. With the number of landouts in this contest it was amazing that there weren’t more gliders damaged.

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Nick’s day seven land out was one of the more interesting of the contest. He and three others landed in a private airfield that wasn’t marked on the maps. Nick was lining up for a paddock when he spotted the windsock and changed course. The others all followed him in. It was a beautiful, well maintained strip, and in the lake next to it was a pirate ship. As Nick said, “You don’t see that every day.” It was a very posh private estate, complete with gun toting, security staff who really didn’t know what to do about intruders that dropped out of the sky. Fortunately, the owner was at home. He came out to the strip on his Segway and was delighted to see them. Hospitality was provided for the pilots until their crews arrived.

The weather was changing again and briefing the next morning predicted thunderstorms and temperatures up to 30°C. Both of those things happened, although the thunderstorm, in spite of looking really impressive as it approached, didn’t amount to much. There was also predicted to be a narrow window where it would be possible to fly. That didn’t happen.

The warm front that had brought the weather was stalled over us and the weather for the second not-day-eight was nearly a copy of the day before. The pilots sat on the grid, hoping for a weather window, until 3 pm. The day was called off when a large, dark, thunderhead was approaching fast. The gliders were barely packed away before it hit. And unlike the day before, this one hit with a whump. It was huge, thrashed the town of Birštonas across the river from the airfield, and caused major damage and deaths just over the border in Poland.

The following day, Friday and final day of the contest, it was

JUNIOR WORLDS

Lthuanian delicacies International Night

Bread, pickles and vodka from Poland

looking as if day seven had been the last flying day. Alex said, “The last day of flying was a really interesting. We sat on the grid for hours under a very hot, stable, blue sky, expecting the day to be cancelled and knowing that a predicted storm front was well on the way to hitting us. Finally, a few tiny Cus started to appear and the sniffer reported getting weak climbs to 3,000 feet. By the time the grid was launched, we were getting strong climbs to over 6,000 feet under big Cus with the storm front clearly visible in the distance. With that in mind we started straight away, but had a couple of slow points that really cost us in such a short AAT. We managed to just get in between two storms to make it back to the airfield.

“For me the competition didn't go quite how I wanted it to but I was really happy to get a day win to prove that I must at least be doing something right.

“I'd like to thank all the people who helped us get to the junior worlds and supported us there.

I'd especially like to thank the two Mikes who did a fantastic job as crew and team captain and to Drake Aviation for the two great gliders.”

It was a great thrill to be part of the New Zealand team, to walk in to the opening ceremony waving the flag, and again, to be there at the closing. I was quite choked up the day Alex received his medal for his day win. Our guys may not have won the contest, but they did well. I’m so pleased we could be there to be part of it.

Results for the Junior Worlds CLUB CLASS

1 2 3 11 34

Germany Austria Germany NZ NZ

Julian Klemm Paul Altrichter Stefan Langer Nicholas Oakley Alexander McCaw

Std. Libelle LS 4 Std. Libelle Libelle Hornet

5,545 5,448 5,256 4,399 3,552

STANDARD

1 2 3

Netherlands Lithuania Lithuania

Sjoerd van Empelen LS 8 Ignas Bitinaitis Discus 2a Joris Vainius LS 8

5,976 5,938 5,933

This competition had a new level of technology with the compulsory, collision avoidance FLARM technology allowing real-time, on-line, flight following, complete with details of a competitor’s height, speed and climb rate, free for anyone to see.

It is possible, via a simple website (live.glidernet. org) to see every FLARM fitted glider in the world (which is most of them), fly in real-time. One benefit of the flight following meant that fans in New Zealand could watch the boys fly in real-time, giving an exciting tie in to the racing.

But in terms of the actual racing, pilots could access this information in their cockpits, paradoxically making them spend more time with their eyes in the cockpit and increasing the danger of collisions. Many people were concerned about this.

In the interests of safety, teams set up a base with internet access and advised their pilots, via radio, of how their competitors were doing and who, in their vicinity, was climbing best, vectoring them into the best climbs.

The airfield was in a gentle basin, lower than the surrounding ground and as we didn’t have a high-powered radio set with huge aerial like some of the teams, the Kiwi Team could have been at a real disadvantage. Mike Oakley solved the problem by shifting Kiwi Base into a car and parking it up on the road at a high point, with radio, laptops and Wi-Fi hotspot via cell phone. If the boys were in the air past three hours there would usually be a frantic call back to the house for someone to race up the road with another, fully charged, laptop and/or phone, as his equipment’s batteries started to go flat. Overall this system worked well and Mike was able to assist the boys to stay in the air longer and take the better energy lines.

It’s a whole new way of flying a competition.

It completely changes the game and not everyone is happy about it.

August–October 2017

17

VISITING THE LAK FACTORY (and a bit more about Pociūnai)

COMPILED BY JASON KELLY FROM VARIOUS SOURCES

BY JILL MCCAW

The airfield at Pociūnai, the host of the Junior Worlds, is off the beaten track. Even most Lithuanians you speak to don’t know where it is. As well as the gliding club, there is a thriving skydiving club, but not much else happens on this huge airfield. You could fit the Canterbury Gliding Club’s field into it about 3 times. You can take off or land from any direction making mass landings at the end of contest no problem at all.

O

n the gliding side of the airfield is a very nice café and briefing room complex. There is a huge Soviet era hangar, partially cleared out to create the briefing hall. The rest of the hangar was hosting five or six of the Wilga tow planes for the contest at the front, and the largest collection of defunct gliders I have ever seen at the back. There were 16 Blanik fuselages hanging in the roof and their wings were stacked at the back. The Blaniks came here “to rest” when the world-wide grounding came into effect, although there were three flying Blaniks there as well. There were also wrecked and/or stored fibreglass gliders of all types – fuses lined up in one area, wings in another. The best thing in there though were two Antonov (I told you, it’s a huge hangar). One’s nose and prop poked through the camo netting that they used as walls to create the briefing area,

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August–October 2017

creating an interesting backdrop for the briefings.

Surrounding the airfield are woods and there are cottages, lots of cottages, of all levels of sophistication, tucked into them. The “house” the boys rented for the contest is definitely at the lower end of the spectrum. The Aussie team, on the other hand, had a lovely holiday house that the owners moved out of, to temporarily live in a caravan, while the Aussies stayed.

What were all the holiday houses for? Why did people come here? There is a sign post on the road in, pointing to a historic place. Google translate told me that it was the former home of a famous poet. I don’t think that had been drawing the people in.

I learnt that the LAK glider factory was across the road from the airfield. I was sceptical. I couldn’t see a factory or even a road that seemed to lead to a factory.

But it was there.

On one of the non-flying days, the Kiwi team met with Vytautas Mačiulis, director of JSC Sportinė Aviacija ir Ko, for a tour of the factory. And up a side road, hidden by trees which I suspect are about 20 years old, was a large, run down factory complex. There were three hangar sized buildings and Vytautas lead us into the centre one.

It turns out that 30 years ago, things at Pociūnai were very different. The factory buildings had been built back in the 1980s during the Soviet era and at one time had employed a workforce of around 600 people, building and repairing gliders. Every Blanik glider in the Soviet Union was sent here for overhaul every five

Vytautas Maˇciulis, Director

years. They used to do one a week. They were also building the open class, LAK 12 glider which was the first composite carbon fibre/fibreglass glider.

JSC Sportinė Aviacija ir Ko, (previously Lithuanian Aviation Club – which has the initials LAK in Lithuanian) was originally established in 1969, in the town of Prienai, about 10 kilometres away. Their first production glider was the wooden BK-6 glider with a 40:1 glide ratio. The first composite glider, the BK-7 “Lietuva” was built in 1972. This glider became the basis for the company’s future aircraft designs. Their most popular model with 253 aircraft built was the LAK-12. Conceived in 1978, the LAK-12 was designed according to the technical requirements and standards of the former Soviet Union (of which Lithuania was an annexed part), so called Norms of Flight Safety. In some cases, these Norms were stricter than the current European standards (CS-22).

As the company moved into fibreglass, their skills in constructing light weight aircraft was utilised by the Soviets.

The factory wasn’t just building and maintaining gliders. In conjunction with aeronautical schools, and with engineers from Moscow, they were developing military aircraft, the Sukhoi aerobatic aircraft, and others, as well as refurbishing a huge number of a variety of aircraft. Jurgis Kairys, the World Champion aerobatic pilot, well know at New Zealand air shows, hails from just down the road from Pociūnai and helped develop the Sukhoi Su-26, -29, and -31 aerobatic aircraft. The overgrown concrete road we’d driven in on would once have been wide enough to taxi aircraft through to the airfield for test flights. Pociūnai had been a centre of aviation excellence.

With the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, no-one could afford such a business and the LAK company once again became private.

These days the company employs 45 people and uses about half of the vast space of the three buildings. It was summer holidays when we visited and so the factory was shut down, but Vytautas, who was holidaying at his cottage on the airfield, was happy to

show us around. The factory now produces three models of gliders.

I had been admiring the LAK-17 mini, the 13.5m glider that the contest was sending up each day as a sniffer. It was a nice looking glider and it took me a while to notice that it had a shorter wingspan to what I was used to. Each one of those wings weighs less than 40 kg with spars made from carbon rods. It comes with optional Front Electric Sustainer motor (FES), or retractable, selflaunching engine.

The 17B comes in three variants, 15, 18 or 21m wingspan, with the option of straight glider, 22 kW FES, or the more familiar, selflaunching version with a retractable, Solo 235 engine. And while the FES is not certified for take-off (the prop is too close to the ground unless attitude is very carefully controlled) apparently the 17B can self-launch, but Vytautas shouldn’t have told us that.

There was a 17B under construction in the workshop, and it was fascinating to see a wing laid out with its connecting rods, water ballast baffles and other insides on display, waiting for the top portion of the wing to be added. We lifted some carbon wing spars to feel how light they were and peered into the cockpit and fuselage. The radio and transponder antennae were preinstalled in the fuse, at the customer’s request, but this is now so frequent that it may become standard. They also make the non-flapped, Standard Class LAK 19 in 15 or 18m.

The canopies are made in Germany, but everything else is done in house. The cockpits are reinforced with Kevlar, making them very safe and strong. Everything meets EASA certification standards. At the moment the factory is producing a glider a month, but by the end of the year they hope to have stepped that up to 1.5 a month and two gliders a month next year as the demand for their gliders grows.

The quality seems excellent and as we walked out we were talking about how, with their relatively cheap labour costs, LAK seems very capable of making a dent in the current German domination of the glider industry.

August–October 2017

19

GLIDING NZ AGM

AWARDS 2017 Keith Essex

Terry Delore receives the CWF Hamilton Trophy

Jyri Laukkanen

THE FRIENDSHIP CUP

unflappable politeness, to something much darker and livelier, whenever the words "Greater Wellington Council" are mentioned.

He has put in countless hours over the last two years, clearing, shifting, digging and ramming, fencing and plumbing. He and Jim have worked tirelessly to bring Papawai into its potential, doing what they both knew needed doing, waiting for others to catch up and catch on. Some days, he and Jim even managed to agree on a fence layout.

In gratitude for the time and effort that he has expended on the Papawai airfield, in the back seat of countless gliders and in showing many of us the joys of flying in the Wairarapa, we present the Friendship Cup to Stewart Barton.

Stewart Barton Awarded for outstanding contribution to the gliding movement during the preceding year.

Stewart has been flying for more decades than we care to count and is a Wairarapa boy through and through. He's been an instructor for several of those decades, always keen to fling unsuspecting students, scouts and the ATC up a winch launch and show them what's what. The Ka7 (Delta Tango) that he and his father used to launch around Kahutara is still flying at Upper Valley. The winches he's used and helped build have launched pilots from farm fields, airstrips and dry lake shores.

He's a friendly, affable chap until he's in the air and competing, at which point the friendliness disappears and he'll beat the pants off you without conceding an inch; his competitive streak has seen him win the Nationals, the Central Districts and the Helen Vint trophy, each on more than one occasion. He flew in a Bergfalke at the very first gliding contest in New Zealand, the Central Districts Contest at Masterton in 1962, and his K6CR, Echo-India, has taken him places in New Zealand that make grown men shudder. Real Men fly Sports Class - and DG400s apparently - and he can still show experienced pilots a trick or two about running convergences. Just ask Grae Harrison.

One of the original members of Gliding Wairarapa, when Stewart heard that the Wellington Gliding Club wanted to move 'over the hill', he was one of the first to offer his assistance. Several in the Wellington Club will admit that it's always good to know someone with a large digger and a desire to use it; they will also admit mild trepidation at seeing his transformation from calm,

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August–October 2017

AIR NZ SOARING AWARD Keith Essex This trophy is awarded to the pilot who has shown the most significant improvement in their personal standard of competition or record flying during the year.

While this trophy can be for a pilot who wasn’t previously doing too well but has recently shown a big improvement, it can also be for someone who has been flying to high standards for a long time but has recently done some extraordinary things.

Keith started his flying career in bush planes in Alaska, then helicopters with his own company. With over 20,000 hours in his logbook, he was looking for something new and stumbled across gliding about four years ago. He immediately made his mark in the US; then sort of exploded onto the NZ scene, first at Omarama, followed by Taupo and Greytown, winning or highly placing in every contest he flew in. He recently astounded everyone by doing

NATIONAL AWARDS

GNZ’S PREMIER AWARD two 1,000 km flights in succession from Greytown, the first off the winch and the second with an erratic flight computer.

He definitely has a reputation for going a long way very fast, so don’t try and follow him!

CWF HAMILTON TROPHY Terry Delore

THE ANGUS ROSE BOWL – Jim Bicknell

This trophy is awarded to a New Zealander operating in New Zealand, for the most meritorious flight that is a New Zealand gliding record.

There was one NZ record broken during the year, which has been confirmed by the FAI homologation process for a World Record for the 300 km speed triangle in the 15m category.

Congratulations to Terry for clocking 198 km/h in his ASW 27 at Omarama.

AIR NZ CROSS-COUNTRY AWARDS This is a decentralised competition aimed at encouraging cross country flying from club sites, particularly by pilots new to cross country flying. It is a distance event extending over the season and is run in two divisions; one for flights originating in the North Island and one for flights originating in the South Island.

OLC handicaps and scoring is used. Any NZ resident glider pilot with a GNZ QGP certificate may enter the contest provided that, on the first day of the contest, no more than 10 years have elapsed since their QGP was awarded and they have not flown a ratified (or subsequently ratified) Gold distance flight.

North Island Division 1st Matthew Findlay Auckland ASW 20WL 1,359 pts Michael Cooper Tauranga LS 4 1,327 pts 2nd South Island Division 1st Jason Kelly Hawkes Bay LS 4 1,410 pts Glyn Jackson Taranaki Ventus 2 1,019 pts 2nd

BUCKLAND SOARING AWARD This is awarded annually to the highest scoring New Zealand national in the New Zealand division of the Aerokurier Online Contest (OLC) for the previous season. OLC rules and handicaps are used. There are two divisions; one for soaring flights commencing in the North Island and the other for soaring flights commencing in the South Island. The winning pilots stand down for the following two seasons.

South Island Division 1st Jyri Laukkanen Omarama LS 3a 4,487 pts 2nd Peter McKenzie Central Otago LS 3a 3,354 pts North Island Division 1st Patrick Driessen Auckland Ventus 2cT 2,643 pts 2nd David Jensen Piako JS1B 2,351 pts

ROTHMANS CHALLENGE GOLD CUP Terry Delore Awarded to the New Zealander operating in New Zealand who has attained the highest handicapped speed over a FAI 28%, 300 km triangular course. Current GNZ handicaps are used and the general conditions and documentation requirements for record flights under the FAI Sporting Code apply.

The clear winner is of course Terry Delore for his 198 km/h record in his ASW 27 from Omarama on New Year’s Day 2017.

Presented to the NZGA by Bill Angus, one of the original pioneers in aviation in New Zealand, the Angus Rose Bowl is awarded in recognition of outstanding services to the sport of gliding in this country.

Jim grew up in the Masterton area, and while at high school, more than 60 years ago, he was showing up at Hood aerodrome to fly in a Tiger Moth, which was £50 at the time.

In 1989, he decided to build a gliding strip on his farm at Papawai, and even though the land was adjacent to the river and subject to floods and changes of the riverbed, he was successful in establishing an initial runway, about 850 metres long. Almost entirely at his own expense, using simple farm machinery, he scraped, filled and levelled the low-lying and marshy land to create and later extend the runway to its present length of more than 2.2 km.

He also established a new gliding club, Gliding Wairarapa, with a hangar and clubhouse, and started collecting gliders. His great vision was to provide an affordable flying experience, especially for young people, and he did this by using a winch for launching and using older - but still perfectly airworthy - wooden gliders and keeping the whole operation very simple.

He worked closely with the nearby college to pioneer the development of unit standards for gliding, which have since led to NCEA credits being available.

The sale of the farm in 2014 coincided with the Wellington Gliding Club’s need for a new home, creating a perfect opportunity to preserve the facility for the future through the establishment of the Greytown Soaring Centre, consisting of the two clubs.

In recent months, a new culvert has been installed to enable a second runway to be completed, facing directly into the wavegenerating north-westerly wind. Owing to a lack of funds Jim has this year spent hundreds of hours of tractor time, moving earth to fill a swamp and create this second 1.5 km long runway.

Because of his foresight in establishing the site, and doggedly persisting with development over almost three decades, the Greytown Soaring Centre has a reasonably secure site with huge potential. The long runways enable winch launches to be conducted to at least 2,500 feet, which is as good as a local aero tow.

Jim Bicknell is a very deserving recipient of this prestigious August–October 2017 21 award.

52,000 FEET.

Perlan Breaks World Height Record The longest, coldest and highest flight so far.

BY JACKIE PAYNE

View from 52,000 feet

On September 3, 2017, with only two weeks of their season in Argentina remaining, the Airbus Perlan Mission II has broken the gliding Absolute Height record by over 1,000 feet. The previous record of 50,721 feet was set by Steve Fossett back in 2006.

Jackie Payne, wife of pilot Jim Payne wrote the following.

Perlan 2 flown by Jim Payne and Morgan Sandercock clawed their way to 52,172 feet GPS altitude with tenacious flying and strong support from the ground crew. The forecast was for soft wave below 18,000 feet then slightly better wave with another difficult transition at 34,000 feet - if they could get there. Doesn't sound much like a world record forecast, huh?

But the Perlan team was lively at the early breakfast and the six person advance balloon team was on the road at 6 am. The weather balloon confirmed the mediocre forecast. The rest of the team departed the Santa Monica Cabins arriving at the airport in the dark around 7 am. What is remarkable is it was flight #38 of Perlan 2. Just imagine attempting a world record in a unique, one-of a-kind aircraft, on its 38th flight with an eclectic volunteer group of dedicated aviation pioneers. Truly the right stuff.

We pushed the Perlan 2 out of hangar into -4°C air. The sun was barely up and the sky did not show much sign of promise of wave. Michael was standing by for any needed help with language translations on the radio. Stewart, Lars, Tim, Daniel, Loris, Linda, Tago and Jackie got Jim and Morgan belted in and tested pressurisation on the ramp. Jim and Morgan launched behind Cholo in the CNVVM tow plane at just after 9 am. The surface winds were barely from the east. We prefer brisk winds from the

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It's a record, whichever instrument you measure it with

west; were we really launching a wave mission?

Cholo towed them to a hot spot near Cero Buenos Aires. Perlan 2 climbed slowly through 18,000 feet and connected with mid-level wave. The air was drier than typical so the clouds were much thinner, or the sky was blue. All systems were in the green on the Life Support Systems Display so they kept on flying. At 28,000 feet they had enough altitude to penetrate upwind through sink to the stronger lift of the primary wave off the Andes. That cost 7,000 feet of altitude, but it was an investment towards the forecasted stronger lift.

CapComm with Ed, Tim, Al, Lars and Loris scoured the weather forecasts to find a stair step path that would enable them to climb higher. We kept looking at the sky wondering where were the wave clouds? Jackie shared the photos and fed information into our Twitter account managed by Suzanne. Loris monitored the thousands of viewers on Virtual Cockpit. Both Weather Extreme

Triumphant return to earth, with a flat tire

and SkySight were actively helping on the Sunday of Labour Day weekend. Talk about a fantastic team!

Jim and Morgan connected with the primary, with a decent climb to 33,000 feet. There's a photo where Perlan 2 had re-climbed to 29,000 feet in the primary and was looking down at flat clouds which indicated laminar flow over the Andes. No previous look at cloud tops had shown the smooth indication of wave. Near the tropopause the lift again softened, and they performed some test points at 35,000 feet. Afterwards they managed a very weak climb to 37,000 feet. As they slowly climbed, they knew they had punched through the tropopause when it stopped getting colder and lift again increased. The coldest temp was -68°C. That altitude was used to go south towards the border where they were in contact with Chilean air traffic control. They had to stay above 38,000 feet for 40 minutes due to jet traffic headed to Antarctica. They performed another flutter vibration test at 40,000 feet. Each time there were no anomalies so Perlan 2 was cleared for another 5,000 feet.

Then it was time to turn downwind to see if they could find the now stronger secondary wave. The battery was working hard keeping critical items like the oxygen regulator and 20 toes warm.

The Virtual Cockpit showed the moving map and several telemetry items like battery, oxygen, and air remaining. As Jim climbed through 42,200 feet, Einar sent a message of congratulations which we relayed to Jim on the radio. That had been Jim's previous highest point back in 1986. (Can you believe Einar remembered?

What a gentleman.) They performed another flutter vibration test at 45,000 feet. As they clawed their way above 47,000 feet Jim said he finally realized they might actually top the old record of 50,722 feet (pressure altitude). From 40,000 feet to 50,000 feet Perlan 2 averaged a 3 knot climb rate. Due to new rules, the target altitude was 51,214 feet in GPS altitude. (Pressure altitude is no longer used above 15,000 metres [49,200 feet].) But with the morning balloon

data, Jim knew he would need almost 2,000 more feet of pressure altitude to meet the target in GPS altitude.

The excitement was building as the record altitude came nearer. Morgan took some photos out the window to the east and of the rear instrument panel. Jim keyed the radio with a countdown; "10 metres, 6 metres, 2 metres, SCORE!" They topped out at 54,000 feet (pressure altitude) on the cockpit instruments and Morgan flew while Jim took some photos from the top. The front left eyeball [window] was completely frosted over and the right side has frost crystals on the upper half. The view out the side window shows the laminar flow to the west and a ragged foehn gap. The maximum GPS altitude was 52,172 feet which was about 1,000 feet above the necessary altitude for a new record. Flight #38 was the longest (6.6 hours), coldest, and highest that Perlan 2 has flown.

They flew some more test points on the way down and waited for several commercial airliners to depart. Jim prefers to land after commercial traffic are out of their way. If you look closely at the photos of the plane on the runway after landing you might spot our one glitch of the day. Upon touching down with a typical gentle landing Jim immediately realized that the tyre had gone flat. The tyre held air, after a quick fill by London Supply airport maintenance. There was no damage to the wheel fairing or to the tyre itself after a close inspection. We are investigating some possible changes.

The champagne was waiting when they returned to the hangar.

We called Einar on the phone to thank him for his vision. And there was more celebration at dinner. Jim says Perlan 2 flies better above 40,000 feet than below. Thank you to everyone who follows the missions, reads the blog and supports the Perlan Project. Hopefully you have enjoyed the adventure and learned something from our activities. The flight log can be found on the OLC Perlan Soars High! Perlan Se Eleva Alto! Jackie

August–October 2017

23

Land Out and

FLY ANOTHER DAY

BY AILSA MCMILLAN

O

n the second to last day of the recent Women's Worlds in the Czech Republic I was in the overall lead with a 200 point margin. Near the end of the task I had to make the choice between continuing on, with a worsening marginal glide, to the edge of the finish ring or doing a proper out landing with a full circuit instead.

In the air, it was a relatively simple decision. As soon as I made the call, I said it on the radio to the others, "I'm going to land next to that other glider." Then I was free to focus my energy on landing safely, with all thought of the finish banished.

There are two ways of looking at that sort of decision. There’s the pure safety aspect and then there is also sportsmanship.

The safety side is fairly clear - it’s stupid to continue on into a situation where your options are rapidly and inexorably reducing themselves down to one. That one might not be one that you’ll like. It seems that too many people get it wrong when presented with this situation. There’s no reason you can’t get it right, but it does take self-discipline and forethought. Karol Staryszak wrote a very heartfelt article, Despair and Brutal Truth, on this topic.

[Karol lost a friend who got this call wrong. Google the article.].

I make sure to read it before every competition to remind myself of what matters. If you prime yourself to make the safe decision, you’re more likely to follow through on that under pressure.

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August–October 2017

The sportsmanship side of this sort of thing doesn’t seem to get discussed so much. I’d simplify it down to the fact that I’d be a little annoyed if I was beaten by someone who took such a safety risk themselves. In that case, it’s not really fair to do the same to someone else. I’d got myself into that situation by leaving the last good climb too early. If I’d wanted to make the airfield I should have flown better and made a better decision back then.

I was definitely 'in the zone' for this competition. It helped that the organisers were very cool and the other pilots genuinely friendly. On the first day, everyone was walking down the grid wishing each other fun and safe flights - it was how it should be.

Tactically, this was my best competition yet. I used the 'Week 1/Week 2' strategy successfully. The aim of this is to sit back and get solid results for the first week then strike in the second. The logic behind it is that others will make their mistakes in week one, putting them out of contention. You can cruise by, not doing anything too risky, conserving energy until the second week arrives. At that point, you really start to wind up the pressure and keep it on until the end.

Applying this, I was able to stop myself from worrying too much about not getting great results through the first four days.

An impromptu team arrangement with Sarah Arnold from the US team really helped with the confidence boost needed to actively

Ailsa McMillan is a young Australian pilot who has represented her country at four World Championships in Poland, Australia, Czech Republic and Lithuania.

As well as flying in competitions she also enjoys coaching, record flying, helping organise events and taking photos.

As of September 2017, she has 1000 hours flying gliders.

She is studying towards an Information Systems degree at Swinburne University and this European summer she competed at the Women’s Worlds in the Czech Republic and the Juniors in Lithuania.

This story is about the Women’s Worlds and the decision she made that lost her the competition.

try and be the best each day. Our high point flying together was definitely the sixth race, where although we split for a lot of the flight we were together through the difficult blue section at the end - finishing 1st/2nd for the day with a 2 point gap (out of 1000) between us. That second day win in a row had catapulted Sarah and I both up 3 places - me to 1st overall, and Sarah 3rd. I was going to ride the wave while it lasted. Somehow it really did feel like a giant wave; you can't rerun things in a competition and there's no way to turn a wave backwards either.

As it turned out, the wave went for another four races (and a third day win!). In the eleventh race, I made quite a few mistakes - and that one really good decision - which lost me 500 points and dropped me back to fourth in one go. So, for the next day and our last race, I decided just to go and have fun.

We had the same weather that we'd had earlier in the competition when three of the German team had literally flown away from me so I figured I'd see if I could stick to them this time.

I guess I also wanted to watch Sabrina win because she and the rest of the German team really did deserve it. In the end, I was dropped about halfway around the task. After that I cruised around the rest of the course, playing it safe. On final glide I remember looking around, quite content, thinking that it would probably be quite a while before I would fly over that particular

I was definitely 'in the zone' for this competition. It helped that the organisers were very cool and the other pilots genuinely friendly. On the first day, everyone was walking down the grid wishing each other fun and safe flights

– it was how it should be.

part of the Czech Republic again. How you fly matters, not just the final result.

Results CLUB CLASS

1 2 3 5

Sabrina Vogt Sarah Arnold Sarah Drefenstedt Ailsa McMillan

Germany Std. Libelle USA Std. Cirrus GermanyStd. Cirrus 8,478 Australia Std. Cirrus

8,662 8,555 8,204

France Germany Czech Republic

Discus 2A LS-8 LS-8

8,881 8,736 8,686

Germany Czech Republic France

ASG-29E JS-1C EVO JS-1C EVO

9,297 9,275 9,161

STANDARD CLASS

1 Aude Grangeray 2 Cornelia Schaich 3 Jana Veprekova 18M CLASS

1 Katrin Senne 2 Alena Netusilova 3 Anne Ducarouge

August–October 2017

25

taskPilot Those who have flown out of Omarama will know of the hothouse for philosophical discussion and creativity that is the morning coffee session in the Kahu café, following the weather briefing, where all the troubles of Gliding and World Peace are resolved.

I

cross the threshold from learning to fly, to flying cross country.

As a community, we are very good at teaching pilots to fly gliders, with lots of feedback and monitoring from instructors; manuals and articles to read; forms to fill out; exams and inflight exercises to pass and so on.

But once pilots achieve a gliding qualification they soon realise that the real challenge is flying cross country and currently there isn’t anything like as much support and guidance available – or they are just too embarrassed to ask. And when they take off, at worst they can barely leave the vicinity of the airfield yet on the same day they see experienced pilots flying huge distances. At best, they fly aimlessly without any sense of a goal for the flight, landing back with comments like: “…it was an OK flight, but I couldn’t get away…” “…Oh, I just flopped around for a couple of hours…”

t was there, one morning in late January this year, that Alex Boyes and I were discussing how disappointing the flying had been this season. I was bemoaning only a few days flying at the comps due to poor weather, Alex was bemoaning how he was lacking a sense of purpose when he took off. “…be good to have a set of simple tasks we could fly”, he remarked, “perhaps run them as a season long competition.”

Thus, was taskPilot born.

In the real world, I develop software for clients who require custom-built, on-line, database driven solutions. So, I thought, to create an app for this shouldn’t be too difficult. So I did.

A couple of months later I demonstrated the first workable version to several pilots at the Omarama season closedown.

This early version enabled us to run an unattended (that means everything is automated and no-one had to be dedicated to scoring, as with SeeYou) ongoing competition at Omarama; pilots went online, chose a suitable task from the library, flew it, uploaded their logger file which was then scored and the results posted to a league table. It handled Racing and AAT style tasks.

But it was when I demonstrated it to Max Stevens that the current version was visualised, after Max recognised the value of taskPilot to the Gliding community as a whole.

It makes them think twice about turning up next week to repeat the whole demoralising experience and at a critical stage of their flying development, they lose direction and purpose and question whether they should perhaps do something else each weekend, like golf.

I used the word ‘currently’ above when referring to pilot training, because, unbeknown to me at the time I was developing taskPilot, Martyn Cook from Wellington Gliding Club was well down the path of modernising the training syllabus for GNZ, one key objective of which was to provide a clear path from learning to fly to cross country, task, contest and alpine flying.

Max saw the potential for taskPilot sitting alongside Martyn’s project, as a tangible tool for pilots to use to record their improving progress.

Consequently, taskPilot was extended to work for any club, along with many new features to assist with, for example, flight planning and flight analysis.

THE LEAKY BUCKET SITUATION

WHAT IS taskPilot AND HOW DOES IT HELP?

Those of us who attended the AGM in Wellington were treated to a talk from Hamish McEwen from Sport New Zealand, who presented the first results of the recent Gliding NZ membership survey which many of us completed. The first interesting fact was that our survey completion rate was almost 60%, whereas other sport surveys they had conducted were in the range of 10-15%, so well done us!

The second interesting fact related to the high turnover of our members, where a very significant proportion don’t renew each year, replaced by a smaller number of new members, creating a leaky bucket situation where the total membership is slowly declining every year.

The survey data indicated that the most likely time for the non-renewal of a member was their third year, which coincides precisely with when a pilot is most likely to be attempting to

The clue is in the name: at its core, taskPilot offers pilots a library of tasks to give their flight a purposeful goal instead of just random free flying. Pilots can attempt tasks as many times as they want, moving up through difficulty levels at their own pace.

Martyn comments, “If the flight is cross-country, the lack of a goal set in advance somehow makes the flight easier (but less satisfying), because of the natural reluctance most people have to push the boundaries too hard. There are pilots who don't follow this rule but most pilots could be helped in their flying by having goals set before take-off. If they can also record their personal progress, they will be rewarded with a tangible sense of satisfaction and achievement. Even pre-solo, a trainer could take a pilot on a small task on a soarable day.”

Expanding on what Martyn is saying, if trainee pilots

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Anyone who has flown an unpowered aircraft for a couple of hours should surely be proud of their achievement, not sound demoralised.

a tool for mentoring and motivating pilots

experienced simple, tasked, cross-country flights as part of their before-solo training, then flying cross-country after solo would be natural progression and wouldn’t seem such a leap.

Especially if there were a defined set of increasingly more difficult tasks to work through.

A pilot uses taskPilot to choose a task from the library of

Fig 1

appropriate tasks, based upon the day’s weather and their experience. Each task in the library can be viewed on a map showing landouts with information about each (fig 1). There are three types of maps available – the outline Google map along with terrain and satellite maps. The terrain map (fig 2) is great for flight planning and, for example, identifying potentially

Fig 2

Name Cotters/Stewarts Status 0 Created by Club Task strategy 1. Direct track for the 1st leg goes over Magic Mountain, but that is 20 km out and often blue on the way, so is sometimes easier to initially head for the north end of the Lindis, which is only 15 km out – you should get there at a more comfortable height and readily find ridge-assisted thermals between the ridge and the road.

2. Take a climb in the Lindis (or on Magic as the case may be), and then proceed along the tops and/or under the best looking Cu towards the Dingle.

3. There are two good routes into the Dingle: a) via Ben Avon usually the easiest and more on track in this case; or b) via the top of the Timaru Creek – either way, you need a good 6,500 ft before heading out to ‘take the plunge’ over the relevant saddle. If you do go via Timaru Creek, after crossing the saddle turn immediately right onto the NW face of Mt Melina, but don’t stay there unless it’s really pumping, just keep going right over into the Dingle. (Don’t get caught below 5,500 ft in Timaru Creek.)

4. Once in the Dingle, it is usually very easy going around Cotters and up to the north end, where you should top up as high as you can before crossing the 6 km gap to the south end of the Barrier.

5. The west side of the Barrier often has the best lift of anywhere in these conditions, so just keep running on track at around 7,000 ft or more, right up until abeam the north end of the Maitland where you should top up for the glide across to Irishmans, 15 km away, which will usually be blue most of the way. Sometimes it’s worth tracking initially via the lower Shingle Hill ridge, which is also a fairly reliable hotspot.

6. Don’t be tempted to track via the Neumann Range, as it’s usually not very reliable and often quite sinky in patches – just go pretty direct to the mouth of Irishmans, which is a very reliable hotspot.

7. After climbing at Irishmans, it’s usually a very easy run up to Stewarts then back south on the west side of the Ben Ohaus in ridge-assisted thermals – just doing pull-ups with generally no need to thermal.

8. 6,000 ft at the south end of the Ben Ohaus will give you a safe 25 km final glide back to Omarama – although it may look a bit low initially, because of the higher ground before reaching the Cloud Hills.

9. Just a word of caution if your final glide is late in the day – beware the dreaded easterly coming up the Waitaki – before you start your final glide, ask Soaring Base for a report on the surface wind at Omarama. If the easterly is in, you won’t normally run into until below 1,500 ft AGL. And it can be pretty rough in the circuit if the easterly is above about 15 kt.

Fig 4

Fig 3

Fig 5

Fig 6

August–October 2017

27

TASKPILOT

The new Training Program encourages pilots to embark on tasks of increasing difficulty and challenge. taskPilot would certainly be another way to enable pilots to experience progress – both their own and that made by peers. This is important – many people are motivated by either shared experiences or competing with others (or both).

Fig 7

workable ridges. The satellite map is perfect for pilots to zoom in and inspect land out strips (fig 3).

Strategies created by experienced pilots for completing the task can be included (fig 4) so support and advice is available without having to find someone to ask.

This all assists pilots in creating a plan for their flight and can be the focus for guidance and coaching by a more experienced pilot.

On return from the flight, they upload their logger file, which is scored automatically and displayed on the club’s flight list and then the trace can be displayed (fig 5) for analysis.

Other pilot’s traces for the task can be overlaid to assist with improving performance (fig 6).

Finally, the pilot’s scores are ranked in the club league table (fig 7).

Not all pilots, particularly new ones, want to make their flights available for public scrutiny, so they can invoke a private mode. Their flights are then kept private and they don’t appear in the club’s flight list or their scores on the league table. However, flights are still scored so when the pilot feels comfortable, they turn off private mode and their flights are made public and entered into the league.

Pilots are organised into classes and therefore compare themselves to their peers, rather than against the top guns in the club. The top guns can compete against each other to become top dog in the club.

The classes are created by each club, as are the tasks, waypoints, scoring algorithms, handicapping, weather conditions and so on. This means that each club’s version of taskPilot can be customised specifically for their local requirements, member profile and weather. The scoring parameters can be varied so that only distance counts, or only speed counts, or any combination the club chooses.

Where, for example, a club has a single seater that is shared by members for several shorts flights a day, then a specific class can be created for that glider, along with suitable tasks. So, each flight has a goal, is planned and the flight logged for the annual ‘LS4 prize’.

THE WHAT AND WHY OF A LEAGUE? Every other club based sporting activity has some form of ongoing measurement for member’s progress and performance.

Squash, tennis, football, bowls, rugby clubs all have leagues,

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golfers have their handicaps. But apart from contests (beyond the scope of most new pilots), gliding has nothing ongoing for members to measure their individual progress nor compare themselves to others.

The OLC is a good resource, but really benefits experienced pilots and is based upon free flying so doesn’t measure flying against a predetermined task. In Omarama, with frequent extensive wave systems, flying up and down a wave bar can achieve high OLC scores with minimal skill or effort other than very cold toes.

Martyn again: “The new Training Program encourages pilots to embark on tasks of increasing difficulty and challenge. taskPilot would certainly be another way to enable pilots to experience progress – both their own and that made by peers.

This is important – many people are motivated by either shared experiences or competing with others (or both).”

BENEFITS The taskPilot benefits are therefore: ›› By completing even the simplest local task, a newbie cross country pilot will land back with a sense of achievement not found with a random free flight. ›› By flying increasingly difficult tasks, cross country experience can be measurably built up. ›› By having demonstrable achievements, confidence and motivation will grow. ›› For all pilots in the club, opting to fly in a league leads to increased flying frequency to achieve personal goals. Pilot engagement is increased, leading to more pilots staying in the sport.

Using taskPilot to help plug some of the holes in the leaky membership bucket by increasing involvement and therefore minimising the 3-year dip, is a step towards bucking the downward trend in member numbers.

HOW DO I ACCESS taskPilot?

Visit the website www.taskpilot.org and choose ‘taskPilot Demo’ from the dropdown list of clubs.

Click on ‘Help’ in the top menu bar then ‘Help with demo’ for a walk through of the demo.

If your club isn’t in the list, then talk to your CFI about getting it set up.

a question of safety risk and to have a plan before the launch (E=eventualities). If turning back is a viable option, pay close attention to airspeed. Turn into wind (counter to a winch launch, when you would “always” turn down wind). Only if there was a big paddock close and down-wind, might I consider turning down-wind to circuit into the paddock. I wouldn’t if I were turning back for the airfield. I have done this emergency aero-tow exercise a countless number of times and turning into wind covers very little ground, where-as turning down wind can put you well out of position (on one occasion I was almost out of reach of the airfield). It is also possible that after turning back you can be very high for the downwind landing, a real risk if the airfield is short or the headwind quite strong.

STEVEN CARE National Operationals Officer

Launching As a result of numerous aero-tow upset incidents and the Springfield accident, we are recommending that all pilots launch with a left-hand fingertip touching the release knob throughout the launch. An update in the Instructor’s Handbook is pending. Clearly it isn’t possible to do this for the entire launch of a flapped glider because of the need to change flap position. It also doesn’t favour an aerotow launch with a little bit of airbrake, but there is a need to make sure that the left hand is very near the release for as much of the launch as possible.

For those clubs following the BGA Safe Winch Launching program (which is hopefully all winch clubs), then I am okay with keeping a hand on the release if you prefer. Write it into your SOP and make it a rule if you wish, but not for aero-tow. The risk for an aero-tow inadvertent release with a hand on the release is too high and will lead to more serious incidents than it will prevent.

Aero-Tow Release Exercise I have written about this exercise before but feel it is important to discuss it again.

An aero-tow release exercise can end up a high-risk exercise and the main aim is to give students some idea of what to do if an aero-tow goes badly wrong.

A low-level rope break on its own is a most unlikely event. A more likely scenario is aero-tow upset (possibly causing the rope to break), turbulence causing release from a belly hook, pilot holding the release causing an inadvertent release, tow plane failure of some kind or getting out of position to the point where a release is safer than hanging on.

When doing this exercise, for new pilots, their first reaction is shock, overload and to not react at all. To avoid the slip-stream of the tow plane, they may sub-consciously ease back on the controls. To avoid the extreme difficulty of making a very rushed paddock landing, they may decide, after a considerable period of indecision, to turn back to the airfield. There will then be an overriding urge to hurry the turn and they will be more pre-occupied with looking over their shoulder, instead of paying attention to airspeed. The danger is then of stalling and spinning.

I would never do this exercise unless I was very current, above 300 feet AGL, had light winds, no other traffic about, I was flying from a large airfield and I would not do it behind a low powered tow plane. If the conditions aren’t right then don’t do the exercise, just the briefing. The briefing must stress when it is necessary to land ahead in a paddock. This is the only option if conditions aren’t right and attempting a turn back can have a poor outcome.

Pre-Flight Briefs and Post Flight De-Briefs Often instructors overlook this and training flights can end up very casual.

There is nothing wrong with this, but it is better to have some structure.

Even if the plan is to just to have a no pressure, casual, soaring flight, it is better to talk about it and then discuss some goals for the next flight. I tend to always do pre-briefs and post de-briefs, as students like structure. It keeps me focussed on the student and will get them through their training quicker.

Truly superior pilots are those who use their superior judgment

to avoid those situations where they might have to use their superior skills.

The solution is to first understand the

August–October 2017

29

GP GLIDERS

Aero Friedrichshafen 2017 & Factory Visit

BY JOHN STYLES, AUSTRALASIAN AGENT FOR GP GLIDERS

Aero 2017 Left to Right: G Dale UK Agent, John Styles Australia & New Zealand Agent, Jana (Talent) Engineer, Monica (Talent) Teacher, Jerzy Pezske CEO GP Gliders and Shaun Lapworth (Navboys) UK Agent.

I travelled to Aero 2017, the huge aviation trade show via air, train and ferry and it was worth all the effort. The gliding industry was all together in one of the twelve large exhibition buildings that between them contained everything connected to general aviation.

The picturesque little town of Friedrichshafen on the shores of Lake Constance in Germany hosts the show each year.

M

y first task was to visit all the people and companies that so generously came on board for the Benalla World Championships, responding to my requests for sponsorship by providing over $30,000 worth of goods for prizes for the winners. Well done everybody!

On display at the GP Gliders stand was the GP14 prototype.

This aircraft was built with the standard narrower fuselage.

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The larger fuselage model is 60 mm wider at the canopy join.

I found the standard fuselage just wide enough for me (6’ 2’’ and 104 kg) but was unable to close the canopy as my head was about 30 mm too high.

The production model will feature a number of minor changes, including a new seat layout with the seat pan much lower in the fuselage, allowing the pilot to sit lower and in a more natural seated position. The current seating places the pilot in a far more supine position. This revised seating layout will allow taller pilots to fit comfortably in the glider, both in the standard and wider fuselage.

Also on display and making its first ever appearance was the GP15 JETA 15 metre sailplane. As the photos show, this fabulous sleek machine looks like it’s travelling at 150 knots even when stationary.

The GP15 JETA was also on display in the standard fuselage configuration with the new seating layout. This is the only GP15 in existence at present. In the weeks leading up to Aero 2017, GP Gliders staff worked many, many late nights to

GP15 on Display at Aero 2017 Friedrichshafen, Germany

ensure it would be ready for display.

This is, without doubt, the sailplane that will shake up the 15 metre class. Its 51:1 LD, up to 60 kg/m2 wing loading and weight of only 190 kg mean its performance is up with the best, if not the best in class, plus you will always get home with the quiet, clean and efficient electric motor.

The GP15 on display has already been sold to one of the GP Gliders’ agents, such is the confidence in the product.

The quality of the finish of both the GP14 and the GP15 gliders on display was extraordinary with an extremely high gloss, coupled with a perfect fit of all the control surfaces.

Both gliders are powered by the same 25 kw electric motor produced by MGM Compro, suppliers to NASA, Airbus and Virgin Electric, which is located in the Czech Republic. The relatively short Carbon Fibre propeller blades are manufactured

by GP Gliders’ sister company Peszke, at the same site as where GP Gliders are manufactured.

The motor can be deployed and running at full power within five seconds, giving far greater confidence if the event of a ‘low save’ is on the cards (which of course you never allow to happen).

In addition, all GP Gliders come with a Ballistic Recovery System as standard.

A few days after the fair in Germany I visited GP Gliders’ factory at Krosno, in south east Poland, a small city of some 50,000 inhabitants. It is in an area known as Aviation Valley which is one of the leading locations in Central Europe for conducting and developing projects associated with aviation. It is one of six European regions highly specialised in aerospace with a high concentration of manufacturing plants, scientific research centres, as well as educational and training facilities.

An interesting spin off from the activities of Aviation Valley is the “University of Technology for Children,” a learning laboratory created by the Aviation Valley Association. It encourages young people’s interest in aeronautic sciences,

whereby leading professionals of the cluster companies are teaching children about aviation in the ages of 7 to 12. Maybe this is something that could be developed in Australia to introduce very young people to gliding!

Whilst at the factory a brand-new set of carbon fibre GP14 wings were removed from their moulds. On weighing them Grzegorz Peszke, GP Gliders chief designer, was delighted to announce that they weighed only 31 kg each!

The production of the first batch of customer GP14’s is currently underway, plus the final touches were being added to the first GP15 model that was back from Aero 2017.

The certification of the GP14 under the German Ultralight Glider Registration Rules is currently underway and should be completed by the time you read this.

An interesting feature is that the GP14 and GP15 share the same fuselage and the fuselage will accept both the 13.5 metre wings and tailplane as well as the 15 metre wings and tailplane.

As I write this, GP Gliders are moving to larger premises with three times the available workshop / production space.

This additional space will allow for a far more optimised production process which will assist in shortening the current production time.

The very first GP14 has become the factory demonstrator but only after Sebastian Kawa flew it to a win at the second 13.5 metre World Gliding Championships in Hungary in July. A great result.

In addition to the GP14 factory demonstrator, there will a demonstrator of each of the other models available at the factory for prospective buyers to examine and fly.

Future projects are the development of an 18 metre glider and the addition of the GP11, an electric, self-launch version of the entry level single seater. This is aimed at clubs. With almost 40:1 LD, plus easy handling, the GP11 is the glider designed to keep the newly solo pilot interested and take them on their initial cross country flights.

August–October 2017

31

And the race is on, final approach to the finish at the 2017 Junior World Championships, Lithuania.

Photo John McCaw

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August–October 2017

33

90 YEARS Last issue, in the Log Book section, we mentioned that the world’s oldest glider manufacturer is turning 90. Bernard Eckey, the Australasian agent for the company has provided us with this history of the company, written for the celebration. A quick count shows 69 Schleicher gliders, from K6, K7, and K8s, to ASH 31mi, on the CAA register of aircraft, a fair proportion of NZ’s fleet. SoaringNZ shares in congratulating the company on this milestone.

N

ot only are Schleicher’s 125 employees celebrating the event but longstanding suppliers, loyal customers, research institutes and aviation authorities are also combining their congratulations with a heartfelt, “Thank you,” for many decades of pleasant and trustworthy service.

To coincide with the 90th anniversary, a 28-page brochure, detailing information about the people who design and build aircraft and including an interesting insight into modern glider production is available on the Schleicher website.

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of Alexander Schleicher gli EARLY DAYS The company’s founder, Alexander Schleicher, established the business in 1927. He based it at Poppenhausen, near the famous Wasserkuppe mountain, well known as the birthplace of our sport. At first the young company focused on the construction of wooden sailplanes, designed by well-known external experts. Alexander Schleicher laid a cornerstone for today’s business in 1951 by employing in-house designers on a full-time basis. Pioneers like Rudolf Kaiser (ASK…) and Gerhard Waibel (ASW…) are names indelibly connected with this era. Their unrelenting drive to break new grounds, push the limits of performance and improve aircraft handling made them household names in gliding circles. Their successful designs have dominated the gliding scene for decades and the resulting flood of orders forced Schleicher to expand rapidly.

More than 9,500 gliders and motorised sailplanes have since been delivered to enthusiastic pilots and gliding clubs alike.

They have turned the dream of flying into reality for countless people around the globe.

In 1969 the management of the company was passed on to Winfried and Werner Schleicher and in 1993 Edgar Kremer stepped in, carrying the company forward along the lines of Alexander Schleicher’s original vision. Today the company,

in-house aerospace engineers constantly extend their expertise by a close cooperation with the world’s leading aerodynamic research organisations. Martin Heide (ASH…) and Michael Greiner (ASG…) have developed gliders that are in great demand due to their innovative designs, attention to detail and their dominating role on the competition scene. Other members of the development team work at converting ideas into reality. The entire team has a reputation as forerunners in the application of new materials or new manufacturing techniques.

WHAT’S NEW?

her gliders

BY BERNARD ECKEY

still located at the original site, continues as a strong and highly successful family enterprise led by the third generation, Alexander’s grandsons Peter and Ulrich Kremer.

The company is continuing the tradition of manufacturing all essential components in-house. This approach not only allows for flexibility and quality control while ensuring a trouble free spare part supply well into the future. Many of the gliders built during the company’s early history are still flown regularly and are receiving prompt support or spare parts.

WORKFORCE LOYALTY A KEY TO TOP QUALITY Even in the 21st century, the production of gliders has almost nothing in common with mass production and the dedication of a loyal workforce is imperative. An unusually large number of employees spend their entire working life at Schleicher where their know-how and decades long skill refinement is the reason for the unique fit and finish, the durability and the reliability of the final product.

COOPERATION WITH LEADING AERODYNAMIC RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS To ensure that the entire fleet retains its competitive edge, it is imperative to innovate and improve existing designs. The

A constant investment in new models and innovative technologies is a long-held company tradition.

Fitting an optional electric propulsion system to the new 20m two-seater ASG 32 is only one of many examples. This environmentally friendly drive system combines extremely simple operation with low noise emissions. The Lithium-Ion battery, plus metal housing, weighs only 68 kg. The batteries are easily accessible in the engine bay, allowing a full load of water ballast to be carried in the wings. The battery powers the easy to operate, vibration-free, 25 KW motor for 20 minutes and allows a climb rate of 3-4 knots – even with two people on board. Using the saw-tooth method it has a range of 100 km – more than enough for peace of mind cross-country flying. Even low experienced pilots can operate it safely, making it ideal for club flying.

The innovations don’t stop there! Recently Schleicher patented a new retractable and steerable tail wheel which has already proven popular amongst early ASG 32 customers. It allows easy taxiing, and thanks to its clever undercarriage door, has the aerodynamically cleanest fuselage on the market, contributing to a superior high-speed performance.

The ASG 32, with the renowned Schleicher safety cockpit, is also the only 20m two-seater that satisfies the latest CS 22 design rules. These new requirements stipulate that occupants must remain protected within a stiff safety cell if a 9 G (formerly 6 G) crash landing occurs.

The option to paint this new aircraft in colours other than white is another step forward in terms of safety enhancement through improved visibility.

ASG 29 REFINEMENTS The best-selling ASG 29 (production figures approaching 330) has a new version with electric starter motor and the August–October 2017

35

90 YEARS OF SCHLEICHER GLIDERS

The all new ASH 30Mi

optional ‘competition package’. Diving the glider for an engine start is finally a thing of the past. An in-flight engine start with the new starter motor sacrifices as little as 45 feet and full power is achieved within 12 seconds. The starter motor also takes over the propeller brake function and vertical positioning of the propeller during engine retraction. Consequently, the pilot’s workload is reduced to the activation of one switch in the cockpit. This user-friendly system greatly contributes to the aircraft’s ongoing popularity.

The ‘competition package’ serves to ensure that the ASG 29 remains the top gun in 15 and 18-metre classes. It is available as an optional extra and consists of the following: a) A more streamlined tail wheel fairing (for operations on sealed runways) b) Fairings behind attachment point of rudder cables c) Profiling of fin and tailplane d) Smooth transition between Perspex and paint on canopy frame e) Sealing of canopy frame f) Transition free application of registration letters and decals g) Recessing of lateral Mylar seals on engine bay and under carriage doors All future ASG 29 (and all ASH 31) will leave the factory with a modified boundary layer control system. Recent research, including extensive testing and in-flight comparisons, has established that it not only provides a performance enhancement but also improves the glider’s agility and handling.

THE EVERGREEN After more than a quarter of a century of production with production figures fast approaching 1000, the docile ASK 21 remains the world’s favourite trainer. Its certified service life

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of 18,000 hours makes it the most economical trainer in the medium term. The motorised version is adding to its popularity as the trend towards training new pilots in a self-launching glider continues. Schleicher has heeded the worldwide call for an increased maximum weight in the rear seat. The ASK 21 had been limited to 110 kg in both front and rear seat but now a certification of 130 kg in one of the seats has been granted.

The necessary structural reinforcements have already become standard for all new ASK 21 and the total maximum cockpit load is 220 kg. This is a major step towards allowing larger instructors to continue their valuable service to the gliding movement.

OPEN CLASS FEELING IN THE ASH 31 MI Schleicher effectively created a new class with the ASH 31 Mi, developed after requests for a self-launching version of the ASG 29 with 18m and 21m configurations. But with its 21m wingtips, the ASH 31 Mi has repeatedly proven that it can match it with larger wingspan Open Class gliders. More than 170 ASH 31 have already left the factory and many other customers are patiently waiting for theirs.

Its modern drive unit, featuring a powerful rotary engine based on the Wankel design, is renowned for its absence of vibration, reliability, compact design, excellent power to weight ratio and ease of operation. All self-launching Schleicher gliders come equipped with this engine and production figures are fast approaching 600. The latest version features a fuel injection system, which – in combination with a tailor-made propeller – has significantly boosted power output. The simultaneous integration of an electronic engine control system with automatic altitude compensation has made engine management even easier. This drive unit represents a big step forward compared to conventional 2-stroke technology of yesteryear.

90 YEARS OF SCHLEICHER GLIDERS NEW OPEN CLASS 2-SEATER It might have taken a long time to develop the all-new ASH 30 Open Class two-seater but it is now in full production. The significantly enlarged cockpit is only one of many improvements and feedback of owners and pilots says the aircraft is another brilliant piece of aeronautical engineering by designer Martin Heide. Most noticeable is the combination of a vastly improved high-speed and climb performance with a previously unknown agility in the air. All in all, a worthy successor of the trusty ASH 25 best seller.

OTHER INNOVATIONS The fact that the latest generation of batteries provides double the capacity at less than half the weight has prompted Schleicher to obtain approval to equip their entire range of gliders with LiFePo4 batteries. Amongst other advantages, this capacity increase allows the installation of cleanly integrated LED flashlights in the leading edge of the fin. The latest LED technology is almost as powerful as conventional strobe lights and consume a small fraction of the power, allowing enhanced visibility and increased safety.

Even in their wildest dreams the company’s founder would not have imagined what sailplanes look like today, what performance gains have been achieved and what these modern gliders are capable of. Aren’t we lucky to live in exciting times like these?

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August–October 2017

37

HUMAN FACTORS Chapter 5:

ALTITUDE AND ITS EFFECTS

BY JONATHON POTE

We continue our series on Human Factors, based on the document available, in full through the GNZ website: For Pilots/Glider Pilot Training/ Training Syllabus/Additional training material.

THE ATMOSPHERE The air around us consists of roughly 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen, constant at all altitudes of interest to glider pilots.

ALTITUDE AND PRESSURE EFFECTS At sea level, the atmosphere exerts a pressure variously measured as about 14.7 lbs/square inch (engineers), 1013.25 hectopascals (meteorologists) or 760 millimetres of mercury (aviation medicine, mercury being identified by its atomic symbol, Hg). It varies from day to day, but not enough to be of medical importance. For simplicity, ‘millimetres of mercury’ pressure will be referred to as ‘units’.

As we ascend, the pressure drops in an exponential fashion, to about half (380 units) at 18,000 feet and a quarter (190 units) at 34,000 feet. If the temperature were to remain constant (it drops, of course), the volume of a given parcel of air would double at 18,000 feet. As we ascend, the temperature drops by about 2°C Celsius per thousand feet to about minus 10°C at 10,000 feet, about minus 30°C at 20,000 feet but remains remarkably constant at -57°C once in the stratosphere above 30,000 feet. The New Zealand glider height records are well into the stratosphere (Absolute height 37,288 feet D Yarrell, 9 Mar 1968: gain of height 34,666 feet Roger Read and Peter Coveney, Nov 1st 1987) so these extreme conditions are relevant to gliding.

TRAPPED GAS There is free gas found in a number of places in the body, the middle ears, the nasal sinuses, the gut, the lungs and possibly under dental fillings. As the ambient pressure drops, this gas will expand. In this case the temperature remains constant at 37°C, and the expansion is therefore greater than that of a parcel of free air whose temperature drops with expansion as it rises. The rate of pressure drop for a constant height gain is greatest at sea level. A ‘standard’ launch to 2,000 feet is more than enough to cause problems.

The Middle Ear: Note that the healthy eardrum does not allow air to pass, but the Eustachian tube does, via its connection to the back of the throat. This tube is however normally collapsed and only opened by swallowing or by the

38

August–October 2017

Valsalva manoeuvre (Try it – pinch the nose, close the mouth, raise the head slightly, and apply a bit of pressure by trying to blow out. You should feel the ears ‘pop’). All is fine until flying with even a minor upper respiratory tract infection (or rarely hay fever). Even minor swelling effectively blocks the Eustachian tube but in fact the air normally forces its way out on the climb once a pressure differential builds up. Not so on the descent, as the increasing pressure in the throat actually compresses the opening. The pain of a stretching eardrum due to this differential pressure can be intense. If it ruptures, it will be a problem for weeks and sometimes does not heal at all. Your landing ability is likely to be severely compromised by the pain at best, so never fly if you cannot clear your ears easily.

The Nasal Sinuses: We have a number of cavities within the bony structure of the face which connect to the nasal air passages via small holes. They are lined with a layer of cells that swell if infected (or allergic to pollen), possibly also producing fluid. Any swelling blocks the tiny entrances and a pressure differential will occur in the climb, hopefully abolished in the descent. Ask anyone who suffers from sinusitis if it is painful, but stand back in case they hit you; it is very painful. Do not fly with an upper respiratory tract infection (‘a cold’) or severe hay fever for this reason as well.

The Gut: The stomach and both large and small bowel contain quite a lot of air. Luckily this vents easily to the atmosphere on the climb and does not need to re-enter on the descent, so rarely causes problems.

Dental Fillings: Surprisingly often there is a minute amount of air trapped under a dental filling, or even in a

The percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere is about 20% at all altitudes, but the above factors (water vapour, residual carbon dioxide and warming {= expansion}) all conspire to reduce the absolute amount of oxygen within a given volume in the lungs.

diseased tooth. The sensitivity of the dental pulp is such that quite severe pain can result and although it will decrease on descent, it will remain for a time after landing. It is unwise to fly again until the filling is replaced.

Lungs: The lungs of course contain air, but the system is open to the outside air and, except in some disease states, does not normally contain trapped air. Healthy lungs at normal ascent rates do not normally experience problems directly as a result of gas expansion – however the process of hypoxia is discussed below.

RESPIRATORY SYSTEM Anatomy The respiratory system consists of the two lungs and the airway (the mouth and nose leading to a single trachea or windpipe which divides into a bronchus for each lung). An average breath at rest inhales about five hundred millilitres of air into the lungs.

Of this, half was already in the airway, exhaled with the last breath, and half is fresh atmospheric air. These mix within the lung tissue. The air is modified as it is inhaled; dust is filtered, it is warmed to body temperature (37°C) and becomes fully saturated with water vapour. The exhaled gas that was already in the airway contains about 4% carbon dioxide from the person’s metabolism. The water vapour content is not expressed as a percentage as it exerts a constant pressure (of 47 units) at all altitudes because it depends solely on temperature. This of course means that at 18,000 feet, with the pressure halved but the temperature maintained at 37°C, water vapour comprises

twice the percentage of gas in the lungs, having doubled from 6 to 12%, and quadrupling to 24% by 34,000 feet. This reduces the partial pressure of oxygen in the lungs at height significantly.

Effect of height The percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere is about 20% at all altitudes, but the above factors (water vapour, residual carbon dioxide and warming {= expansion}) all conspire to reduce the absolute amount of oxygen within a given volume in the lungs.

Thus while atmospheric oxygen at sea level exerts a partial pressure of about 150 units of pressure (760 x 20%), in the lungs it is already down to 102 units. At 18,000 feet, unlike the atmospheric pressure, the available oxygen in the lungs is considerably more than halved as the water vapour still exerts 47 units of pressure (now double the percentage of the total) and the other influences have worsened too.

The lung tissue The lung is a truly remarkable organ. (Within each lung, each bronchus divides about thirty-two times to give a total of about 300 million tiny tubes each with an air sac (alveolus) at the tip.

Likewise, each sac is beside a capillary (tiny blood vessel) and separated from it by just two thin cells. The combined surface area of the alveoli is seventy square metres (a tennis court) and the amount of blood spread over that area is only seventy millilitres. Over this large but thin membrane, oxygen diffuses into the blood and carbon dioxide diffuses out of the blood.

Blood leaves the lungs almost saturated with oxygen (97% plus) and almost free of carbon dioxide.

August–October 2017

39

HUMAN FACTORS

The heart circulates the blood to the tissues, where oxygen leaves it because metabolism has used up much of the oxygen present there and created a pressure gradient drawing oxygen out of the red cells, whilst the resulting carbon dioxide diffuses into the passing blood and returns to the lungs for excretion.

In humans, and indeed all higher forms of life, haemoglobin complicates the picture although it is essential to our life.

Haemoglobin Carries 98% of the oxygen in our blood. Haemoglobin is present in the red cells and in the arteries leading away from the heart (where it is saturated with oxygen) it is bright red, in the veins returning to the heart (with some oxygen used up) it is ‘blood red’, but at much reduced levels of oxygen, haemoglobin is blue (‘cyanosis’). At sea level (in a healthy lung), 97% of the possible oxygen carriage is taken up. Each molecule of haemoglobin can carry four atoms of oxygen. In a gross simplification, the first atom to attach itself to a ‘bare’ molecule of haemoglobin is very firmly held and only made available in the tissues in extreme circumstances; it almost always returns from the tissues to the lungs still attached to the haemoglobin molecule. In contrast, the fourth (final) atom of oxygen is very loosely attached – it jumps aboard the haemoglobin in the lungs and willingly comes off in the tissues. These ‘loose’ oxygen atoms, 25% of the total, are largely what the body uses when at rest. The remaining two atoms attach and detach without too much effort. Thus, during exercise, they are the extra reserve easily available to keep our brain (and whole body) tissues fully oxygenated and functioning optimally. Only in extremis (e.g. Himalayan mountaineers) are the last oxygen atoms used.

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August–October 2017

If there is insufficient oxygen available in the tissues for any reason, the condition is

termed hypoxia.

Haemoglobin is a system that has evolved to work well at sea level, and indeed up to nearly 10,000 feet. At around 10,000 feet that (‘loose’) final atom is no longer added to each haemoglobin molecule in the lung; the partial pressure of oxygen is insufficient for this to happen. As we ascend further, soon only two oxygen atoms are added – only half the amount is available in the tissues. The haemoglobin oxygen saturation falls to 90% at 10,000 feet, and decreases rapidly thereafter. That may not sound much of a drop, is in fact a serious condition and greatly reduces our ability to think and act appropriately to the circumstances. The reduced temperature makes the situation far more perilous as the effects of hypoxia and hypothermia are additive.

When the lift is strong, the urge to climb to the maximum altitude possible is difficult to resist. Indeed, height equates to duration and distance attainable, so is a valuable asset for safe flying. However, even if airspace limitations allow it, to fly above 10,000 feet AMSL, a glider must have provision for oxygen for each occupant. If above 13,000 feet at all, or if above 10,000 feet for over 30 minutes, supplemental oxygen must be used.

That is Aviation Law, and every glider pilot must be aware of it. The reason for the thirty minute reprieve is that tissue oxygen levels do not drop as fast as do arterial oxygen levels, due to a reserve system. But surely a little higher is OK if you happen to get an unexpectedly good climb and do not have oxygen on board? After all, people climb Everest without oxygen these days.

HUMAN FACTORS

That is a fatal misconception.

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10,000 feet is not arbitrary but the result of much scientific research and experience.

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Of course the falling oxygen level reduces your brain capacity in parallel with your physical strength. I repeat; Supplemental oxygen must be available to all crew above 10,000 feet and must be used if above 13,000 feet and if above 10,000 feet for thirty minutes or more. In fact, the effects of hypoxia start below 10,000 feet and first affect vision, the eye and brain, having a high oxygen requirement. Colour vision and visual acuity start to fail around 6,000 feet and this is a major reason why newer aircraft types have a cabin altitude lower than the usual 8,000 feet (Airbus A380 5,000 feet, Boeing 787 Dreamliner 6,000 feet). As to climbing Everest without oxygen, as mountaineers ascend they acclimatise; this is a complex physiological response that takes days to occur and so is not relevant to pilots who climb and descend within hours, not days.

We will investigate hypoxia in the next issue.

Dancing with the wind

Haemoglobin saturation curve.

TopFly

The graph below illustrates the relationship of the amount of oxygen carried in the blood at different atmospheric pressures.

Read it from right to left; 100 mm Hg approximates to sea level, 70 mm Hg to 15,000 feet. Note how the drop is accelerating as you move left, but if this makes no sense to you, do not worry. It is not essential to understand this graph.

Frank Gatland was a well-known member of the Auckland gliding club. He was an instructor, tow-pilot and long-time CFI. He was one of my early gliding instructors, many years ago and I remember a laconic man who, from the Ka13’s back seat, had no qualms about hitting me over the back of the head with his hat and yelling, "Relax." Surprisingly, the tactic worked and I would loosen my tight grip on the stick and actually start flying.

I had no idea of Frank's war history back then and I suspect, not many people did. His son Arthur explains that the motive behind collecting his war stories came about when his grandchildren started asking questions. It then became a hobby and he spent a lot of time verifying his memories of events, meeting with people who had been part of it, researching in New Zealand and overseas and writing it all down. I really wish he was still around because there are many places in the book when I'd like to ask him for a few more details about an event or to explain a bit more. He is good at referencing other events that touched on his personal story, for instance the Great Escape and the V1 rockets.

Frank's story is told in such a deadpan fashion that you forget that on many occasions, he and his mates were actually in mortal peril. He was a young, bullet-proof Kiwi, having a grand adventure and we're fortunate that he has now shared this adventure with us. This book starts a little slowly as Frank fills us in on his voyage to Britain and early adventures based in England, and it is not until he is shot down and on the run that the story really picks up. Once I got to that part, I was riveted and raced through to the end.

This is very much a first-person account and it is fair to say that Frank was not a great writer, but his warmth and enthusiasm more than makes up for that. I enjoyed this glimpse into my old friend's war time experiences.

This is a great addition and companion to the classic war time escape stories. Recommended.

Books may be purchased from Arthur Gatland.

Email gatlandaj@ihug.oc.nz

Dancing with the wind

Jean-Marie Clément

August–October 2017

41

OBITUARIES

IVAN EVANS 1934 – 2017

Ivan in his second glider GFI Nelson Airfield 1969

From notes supplied by Melbourne pilot Ian Grant and Ivan’s wife, Jan Evans and Max Stevens On 12 July 2017 with the death of Ivan Evans, the gliding movement lost a great member and talented pilot. Ivan was a true character and his passing evoked memories and tributes from many pilots who sent their messages to Ivan in the last days of his life.

Ivan was born in Nelson in 1934 and grew up on an apple orchard in nearby Mahana. Ivan first learnt to fly when he was doing his compulsory military training in the Air Force but his passion for gliding began later in 1959 when he had his first glider flight in Blenheim. In 1960 he was a foundation member and CFI of the Nelson Gliding Club. The Nelson club purchased a Rhonlerche and a few years later, a K7. Ivan’s interest lay in cross-country flying. In 1964 when he entered his first competition in Masterton at the 2nd NZ Nationals, he took the K7, but as it didn’t have a trailer he had to set about building one in order to go.

Later he became Regional Operations Officer for Gliding NZ for some years. Ivan won several National Championships over a 30-year period and represented NZ in World Gliding Championships in the USA in 1970 and in France in 1978. His 1967 epic nine hour, 520 km flight in thermals from Nelson to Hari Hari and back to the Owen on the West Coast of New Zealand in a wooden Ka6 glider must be one of the most memorable flights achieved in New Zealand and has never been repeated.

Ivan held various two-seater national records in the 1970’s with both his wife Jan and his father, Roy, who took up gliding in his 60’s. He also represented New Zealand at two World Gliding Championships, one in Texas and the other in France. Never one to hold back his opinion, he nonetheless earned the respect and friendship of glider pilots from all over the world.

Ian Grant has particular memories of flying with Ivan at Lake Station, sharing his LS6 and discovering what great gliding is to be had there, in the company of the Nelson club. He also recalls vivid memories of the foggy morning Ivan took him for a ride in his balloon. Starting the burners blew a perfectly spherical hole through the fog - spectacular! Ivan and Ian also shared the joys

42

August–October 2017

and frustrations of being senior Instructors, comparing notes on student pilots, solo pilots, gliding clubs and our respective national gliding bodies in NZ and Australia.

National & World Championships ›› 1969 Masterton Trophy for highest placed club glider and the Hansells Trophy for the most meritorious flight ›› 1970 NZ Team for WGC in USA, flying a Cirrus in the Open Class ›› 1977 winner Open Class and the Hansells Trophy for the most meritorious flight ›› 1978 NZ Team for WGC in France, flying a Nimbus 2 in the Open Class ›› 1978 winner Open Class and Messervy Trophy for best closed circuit flight ›› 1980 winner Open Class ›› 1992 winner Standard Class ›› 1998 winner Standard Class and 15m Class Ivan’s very first glider flight was on his 25th birthday, 20 Dec 1959, a 15 minute aerobatic flight in a Kookaburra GBB. He was hooked from the start. His last flight was 57½ years later in his LS6 on the 3rd of June 2017, at Kingaroy, Queensland – a 2½ hour cross-country flight.

Ivan was a forthright individual with a generous, loving nature who gave enjoyment to all who knew him.

Ivan at the Junior World Champs, Narromine, NSW, 2015. Ivan supported the NZ Junior Team and was flag bearer for them.

OBITUARIES

GREG DOUGLAS 1946 – 2017

Greg was a long-time and very loyal member of the Auckland Gliding Club who started flying with the club in May 1970, gaining his “C” cert on the 31st January 1971. He was a strong advocate in the club and had a hand in correctly choosing the two-seat training gliders that would best suit the club’s requirements. Because of his strong belief, he was instrumental in the club purchasing a new ASK 21. He obtained over $49,000.00 in grant funding and also made a cash contribution towards the purchase as well. He also found some further grant money that allowed GAK to be fitted with hand controls to give people with physical disabilities the ability to go flying and train to solo standard. Greg did several terms on the Auckland Gliding Club committee, and some time as Vice President.

Greg was a real achiever and after completing his Silver C looked towards his Gold badge, achieving his Gold height gain in the 17 metre Dart EZ on 8th January 1988. His Gold C distance came later, in January 1994, flying from Tocumwal in Australia. He successfully achieved his Diamond distance 500 km, also from Tocumwal in a LS3 with a time of 8 hours.

Greg lived and worked in San Francisco for 22 years and returning home for summer holidays with the AGC, flying his trusty Dart 17r. While in the USA he gained many hours flying at Minden and Truckee, in the Sierra mountains. He also gained a private pilot’s licence in the USA. Greg was a skilful and safe pilot clocking up some 1000 hrs gliding and just over 100 hrs power. He very much enjoyed the camaraderie at the many Christmas camps with the club at Kaikohe, Thames Matamata and Taupo.

Greg was the founder of Glide Freedom, helping disabled people into gliding. He was also an original member of the Vintage and Classic Glider Club of NZ and attended all of their flying rallies held in various parts of the country.

Due to a motorcycle accident in 1966 which caused permanent spinal cord damage, Greg himself had limited mobility He was a man with an obvious disability, but he never saw it as a barrier to whatever he chose to do. He was a very special friend who will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him.

RAE KERR. AUCKLAND GLIDING CLUB. ——

.

Greg was a good friend, and a loyal and active member of the Vintage and Classic Glider Club of New Zealand.

Greg joined ‘Vintage Kiwi’ during the first year of its inception. As time rolled on, he took on the roles of Treasurer / Secretary and Web site master. In more recent times he also become part of the Vintage Kiwi administration team. This saw him actively involved in the rally decision making and the planning processes which help make the flying rallies so successful. More recently, he was involved in the production of the VK magazine. He attended all of the rallies, flying his beloved 17 metre Dart GEZ. They were inseparable.

On a personal level, l have known Greg since the 1970s. I first came across him at those fantastic Auckland Gliding Club camps at Matamata. One really had to admire how he handled his disabilities and as time rolled on we became very good friends. He was an active and passionate member of the Auckland Gliding Club. He was a very skilled and safe pilot who held a Gold C with 2 Diamonds – a level that some of us are still trying to achieve to this day. He was really passionate being involved with ‘Vintage Kiwi’ and flying at all the different rally sites. He loved to phone me and between the two of us, attempt to put the gliding world to rights - as you do. Greg was a loyal friend. He will be truly missed by all those involved in Vintage Kiwi, the gliding fraternity and by his many friends.

ROGER BROWN CHAIRMAN. THE VINTAGE AND CLASSIC GLIDER CLUB OF NZ INC

August–October 2017

43

sailplane racing committee MAURICE WEAVER CHAIR

Welcome to the soaring season for 2017-18. By the time you read this, there will have been some good days and the excitement will be building to get out there and achieve your goals.

But first let me deal with some details about the Sailplane Racing Committee (SRC) for this year. The SRC promotes competitive flying, arranges events, holds meetings with competing pilots, and decides on rules and format changes to the racing calendar to ensure it remains relevant, fair and competitive.

This year we have four representatives from across the country.

Maurice Weaver (chair) Piako Gavin Wills Omarama Rob Lyon Taupo Milan Kmetovics Omarama Our contact details are on the GNZ website.

Contests this season:-

Contest

Location

Start

Taupo Contest 2017

Taupo

4/11/17

11/11/17

Southern Regionals 2017

Omarama

18/11/17

25/11/17

Northern Regionals 2017

Matamata

26/11/17

2/12/17

CGC contest (Task week)

Springfield

2/12/17

9/12/17

Audi Enterprise Contest 2018 Club Class Nationals 2018

Drury

6/01/18

13/01/18

Vintage Kiwi 2018

Greytown

20/01/18

29/01/18

Multiclass Nationals 2018

Matamata

28/1/18

10/2/18

Enterprise Omarama 2018

Omarama

3/02/18

10/02/18

Central Districts Regionals 2018

Waipukurau

17/2/18

24/2/18

As you can see there is a broad range of events to choose from.

What are we trying to achieve this year as the SRC? We have decided to focus on introducing as may pilots as we can to contest flying. To achieve this, we need the support of the individual clubs to get behind the initiative to introduce pilots to the amazing and rewarding experience of cross

44

country flight. For this season we are encouraging individual clubs to establish a programme of introducing pilots to what our sport is really about.

That’s right, it’s not about going solo, it’s about the challenge to fly like the soaring birds, to actually travel in a glider, and eventually fly competitively.

As glider pilots, we tend to be goal focused and we need challenges to stimulate and motivate us to attain that sense of achievement, to stay in the sport. I’ve taken many pilots on cross country experience flights and their reaction is always of amazement of what you can actually achieve, what you can see and how far you can go. It’s like you have opened a door for them from that confined space of circuits and local flying to a massive playing field with endless opportunities. I still love that quote, “Gliding is a conversation with Nature”. Herbert Weiss, the German

August–October 2017

Finish

pilot said that, at the beginning of the Grand Prix in Omarama, the event where he was killed. It stayed with me because it was the best description of crosscountry soaring. Gliding is an amazing sport and also an art form with almost unlimited potential to challenge us. But everyone needs help to take that step, from restricted circuit flying to cross country and contest flying. It may open the door to greater things.

There are so many ways to take that step. Instructors, coaches and CFI’s have the ability to guide you down that path or will know someone that can. Every year there is a cross country course somewhere and every few years an advanced course. In the South Island, there is a training week in mountain flying, named after Jerry O'Neill who founded it several years ago, now being run by Glide Omarama. Glide Omarama also runs a professional mountain flying experience to suit all levels of pilots. This does come at a price, but it will provide you with an accelerated learning experience and it is tailor made. Springfield is running a task week this year and Nelson Lakes has Mike Strathern. Greytown is establishing a centre of excellence and it’s a case of watching this space in terms of what they will be providing the learning cross country pilot. Taupo operates seven days a week and Trevor Terry is the go-to pilot if you want to fly from there. Matamata has the Matamata Soaring Centre which represents cross country flying for all the surrounding clubs. I’m sure I’ve missed some of the enthusiastic pilots and clubs that are prepared to guide you down the path of cross country flight, but that’s a good thing, because it demonstrates how deep a pool of talent GNZ has. If there is

any pilot or club out there that wants me to promote their cross country initiative, just let me know and I will get it out there.

As the second phase of this initiative we are asking our organising clubs, coaches, instructors, CFI’s and Contest Directors to create opportunities to experience what contest flying is about.

To do this, we want to see the back seat of two seater aircraft being used on a daily or full contest basis. How you organise it, is up to you. But I think you will find with a little bit of encouragement and opportunity that our less experienced pilots will jump at the chance. In the last season, the Piako club used their two seat Puchacz to compete in the Club Class Nationals. They obviously weren’t going to win the event but it was entered to provide invaluable experience that you simply cannot get on the ground.

The South Island Regionals this year has a specific goal to encourage new comers. If you are interested, get in touch with Gavin Wills who is organising this event and he will try and get you into a plane. Don’t just rely on the organisers, you can also take the initiative; ask your instructor to put you onto someone that will get you into the back seat. My advice, just don’t take no for an answer and don’t listen to the naysayers. Keep pushing and find a way, you won’t regret it.

With the OLC becoming more popular and it being used to select the winner of the North and South Island cross country champion, we are working with the Executive on making it more inclusive.

An announcement will be made soon on the format for this year.

On the international scene, we have had pilots competing in the northern hemisphere summer with the highlight being Alex McCaw’s first placing day six in the FAI Junior Worlds in Lithuania.

Nick Oakley also had a podium finish on day one. You should never expect to achieve success overnight. The only way is practice and by giving it a go and just seeing failure as a pathway to success which Alex and Nick are finding out.

Mark Tingey (Tauranga) has been invited to the World Grand Prix Final in Chile, Brett Hunter (Piako) is off to the South African Multiclass Nationals and a number of pilots are competing in Australia this year.

I hope you achieve your goals for the season, keep having fun, challenge yourself and never stop learning. I wish you all the best. Get that conversation with Nature started.

Exclusive Agents Australia & New Zealand Southern Energy Sailplanes John Styles gpglidersausnz@gmail.com

+61 (0) 419 001 769 Web:

www.gpgliders.com August–October 2017

45

gliding new zealand news KAREN MORGAN GNZ President

I am chuffed to advise that GNZ members have received two more Paul Tissandier diplomas from FAI. Congratulations to Tom Davies (Wellington) and Gavin Wills (Omarama).

These diplomas will be presented at GNZ events over the next couple of months.

Mark Tingey from Tauranga will be representing New Zealand at the Sailplane Grand Prix final in Vitacura, Chile between 13 – 20 January 2018.

Mark won his place in this international event by coming second in the qualifying races in Australia last December. Good luck Mark!

I am also pleased to advise that our Operations team is fully manned again, as David Hirst has agreed to become the central area’s Regional Operations Officer, working with Steve Care.

GNZ also has a new medical adviser, Dr Tom Milliken of Queenstown. This is another GNZ voluntary role, and we thank Dr Milliken for agreeing to assist us upon the retirement of Dr David Powell. If you are having medical issues and your GP wants to talk to someone with aviation medical experience, Dr Milliken’s contact details are on the website under contacts.

We have had a busy few months at Gliding New Zealand (GNZ). In June we had a very pleasing turnout at our Annual Conference and AGM weekend. We had a broad range of speakers on many aspects of our sport. If you haven’t been to our ‘get together’ weekend in recent years or at all, think about joining us next winter in Wellington. We found the afternoon’s sessions to be very positive, and it was very thought provoking to hear the results of the major survey undertaken earlier this year.

Since then, some of you have been taking part in Brian Sharpe’s sessions on ‘Building our Future’; thank you for participating. We have received a lot of really fantastic ideas on development, which Brian Sharpe will be getting out to the clubs who attended the workshops over the next while. These include ways in which GNZ can help better support

46

August–October 2017

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.

clubs, a response prompted by some of the survey commentary that referenced GNZ with a call to see more promotional activity and greater inclusitivity over all levels of our sport Our efforts and thoughts are also going into a modernisation of our training system. As I have written previously, there is an approved trial underway at the Wellington Club this summer. I am really looking forward to the results.

Another initiative that is being well received is Brian Savage’s taskPilot software, which you can read about elsewhere in this magazine. This will be of interest to even the newest members as you will be able to set yourself small challenges from your early solo days. The South Island is also going to have its turn at learning about coaching this summer.

There will be a course over a weekend at Springfield, most likely in January 2018.

If you are interested in attending, please let me know (my email is morganjones@ xtra.co.nz).

All of these development intiatives will be woven into a refreshed version of our Strategic Plan to be released at our next AGM. However, some of the survey comments also clarified for me that many of you don’t know exactly what GNZ does for you and your club. My apologies for this, as having been in the sport for so long and being so deeply involved at this level, I have not remembered that we have scores of new members who haven’t learned much about GNZ.

thing, in that the Director of the CAA has delegated some of his legal powers to me personally, to allow GNZ to issue QGPs and appoint instructors. CAA also allows glider engineering to be done by people appointed by GNZ. We set our own operating rules and procedures, as detailed in the Part 149 Exposition, manual of approved procedures (MOAP) and associated Advisory Circulars (ACs).

These documents are on our website, and the latter are a mine of fantastic information, just the thing for a wet afternoon’s reading.

All of the clubs are members of the GNZ incorporated society, and your club’s delegates have voted in a group of five people as an Executive Committee to organise and manage things for you all. The ‘things’ include CAA relations, seeking rule changes, airspace matters, issuing badges and ratings, overseeing and helping with engineering and operational matters, quality control, coaching, marketing and to an extent, communication. We have two key contractors: Max Stevens is the Executive Officer, and is the main interface with member clubs and individual pilots, and Laurie Kirkham takes care of our finances. We have a wide range of volunteers and slightly paid volunteers taking care of most of the other jobs, and as a group we are also all involved in running our own clubs.

The key thing with gliding is that it is a partnership – we at GNZ are in partnership with your clubs to run the sport.

GNZ is the means by which our sport can operate – it really is that simple.

CAA controls all non-military flying in New Zealand, and has delegated to GNZ the authority to regulate all glider flying in a manner which is consistent with CAA Rules. It would be fair to say that we are constrained by the CAA rules at times, and seeking changes is expensive and often frustrating, but without this “Part 149” rule under which we are the sole gliding organisation, it is likely that none of us would be gliding at all.

The ‘delegation’ referred to is a very real

Finally, I need to bring to your awareness a couple of ‘phishing’ attempts, whereby some nasty people have attempted to con money out of a soaring centre, and GNZ itself using fake emails and texts. In both cases, the organisation had good internal controls in place, particularly the requirement for two signatures (electronic or otherwise) which stymied the attacks. Please ensure that your club is protected and your hard earned money stays in your accounts.

Have fun and take care this spring and summer.

GNZ awards & certificates

MAY 2017 – 2017 AUGUST 2017

EDOUARD DEVENOGES GNZ Awards Officer

gnzawards@xtra.co.nz 40 Eversham Road, Mt Maunganui 3116.

QGP No Pilot’s Name 3358 Nicholas S. Simmonds 3359 Simon B. Lillico

Club Taupo GC Wellington GC

Date 26 5 2017 27 5 2017

SILVER DURATION

Daniel Mathers Auckland GC 27 1 2017

Alexandra Thompson Hawkes Bay GC 16 12 2016

Glider Cirrus Libelle

SILVER HEIGHT

Alexandra Thompson Hawkes Bay GC 16 12 2016

Sarel Venter Piako GC 14 6 2017

Glider Libelle ASW 15

GOLD DURATION

Daniel Mathers

Alexandra Thompson

Auckland GC Hawkes Bay GC

27 1 2017 16 12 2016

Cirrus Libelle

GOLD DURATION Alexandra Thompson

Hawkes Bay GC

16 12 2016

Libelle

FOR SALE ASH26e (GRL)

Serial number 111 Hours 950 Engine 105 hrs (only 6 years old) Cobra trailer, wing walker and tow out gear.

This is a fabulous self-launching motor glider in very good condition with the ever popular and fully supported rotary engine.

For more information call Nigel 03 327 4822 or Dave 027 201 7120

TAUPO GLIDING CLUB

50TH ANNIVERSARY 21-23 OCTOBER 2017 JOIN OUR CELEBRATIONS

Friendly Fly-In & Catered Dinner – Saturday 21st Flying displays – Sunday 22nd Glider trial flights will be available throughout the weekend Club rates offered to previous members Plenty of time to catch up with old and new friends Taupo is a visitor-friendly destination with plenty to see and do outside of aviation Camping facilities available on site – book early!

Phone: 07 378 5627 or Email: gliding@reap.org.nz August–October 2017

47

GLIDING NEW ZEALAND CLUB NEWS

CLUB DIRECTORY

Link for club info www.gliding.co.nz/Clubs/Clubs.htm Auckland Aviation Sports Club Club Website www.ascgliding.org Club Contact Peter Thorpe pbthorpe@xtra.co.nz Ph 09 413 8384 Base RNZAF Base Auckland (Whenuapai) 021 146 4288 Flying Weekends, Public Holidays Auckland Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingauckland.co.nz Club Ph (09) 294 8881, 0276 942 942 Club Contact Ed Gray info@glidingauckland.co.nz Base Appleby Rd, Drury Flying Weekends, Wednesdays, Public Holidays Canterbury Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingcanterbury.co.nz Club Contact Kevin Bethwaite kevin.bethwaite@airways.co.nz Ph (03) 318 4758 Base Swamp Road, Springfield Flying Weekends, Public Holidays Central Otago Flying Club (Inc) Club Website www.cofc.co.nz Club Contact Phil Sumser phil.sumser@xtra.co.nz Base Alexandra Airport Flying Sundays, and by arrangement Glide Omarama.com Website www.GlideOmarama.com Contact Gavin Wills gtmwills@xtra.co.nz Base Omarama Airfield Flying October through April 7 days per week Gliding Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau Club Website www.glidinghbw.co.nz Club Contact E-mail: info@glidinghbw.co.nz, Ph 027 2877 522 Base Hastings Airfield (Bridge Pa) and Waipukurau Airfield (December & February) Flying Sundays and other days by arrangement Gliding Hutt Valley (Upper Valley Gliding Club) Club Contact Wayne Fisk wayne_fisk@xtra.co.nz Ph (04) 567-3069 Base Kaitoke Airfield, (04) 526 7336 Flying Weekends, Public Hols., Mid week by arrangement Gliding Manawatu Club Website www.glidingmanawatu.org.nz Club Contact Ron Sanders Resanders@xtra.co.nz Base Feilding Aerodrome Flying Weekends, Public holidays Gliding Wairarapa Club Website http://www.glidingwairarapa.co.nz/ Club Contact Diana Braithwaite Ph (06) 308 9101 Base Papawai Airfield, 5 km east of Greytown Ph (06) 308 8452 or 025 445 701 Flying Weekends, or by arrangement Kaikohe Gliding Club Club Contact Peter Fiske, (09) 407 8454 Email Keith Falla keith@falla.co.nz Base Kaikohe Airfield, Mangakahia Road, Kaikohe Flying Sundays, Thursdays and Public Holidays Marlborough Gliding Club Club Website http://glide_marl.tripod.com Club Contact bmog@paradise.net.nz Base Omaka Airfield, Blenheim Flying Sundays and other days by arrangement Masterton Soaring Club Club Website www.nzsoaring.solutions Club Contact Michael O’Donnell modp@inspire.net.nz Ph (06) 370 4282 or 021 279 4415 Base Hood Aerodrome, Masterton Flying By arrangement Nelson Lakes Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingnelson.co.nz Club Contact Frank Saxton franksaxton@gmail.com Ph (03) 546 6098 Base Lake Station Airfield, St.Arnaud Ph (03) 521 1870

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August–October 2017

Flying Weekends and Public Holidays Norfolk Aviation Sports Club Club Website http://www.geocities.com/norfolkgliding/ Club Contact Kevin Wisnewski wizzbang@xtra.co.nz Ph (06) 756 8289 Base Norfolk Rd Flying Weekends and by appointment Omarama Gliding Club Club Website http://www.omarama.com Club Contact Bruce Graham bruceandstell@xtra.co.nz Ph (03) 358 3251 Base Omarama Flying 7 days a week by arrangement Piako Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingmatamata.co.nz Club Contact Steve Care s.care@xtra.co.nz Ph (07) 843 7654 or 027 349 1180 Base Matamata Airfield, Ph (07) 888 5972 Flying Weekends, Wednesdays and Public Holidays Rotorua Gliding Club Club Website http://www.rotoruaglidingclub.blogspot.co.nz/ Club Contact Mike Foley roseandmikefoley@clear.net.nz Ph (07) 347 2927 Base Rotorua Airport Flying Sundays South Canterbury Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingsouthcanterbury.co.nz Club Contact John Eggers johneggers@xtra.co.nz 33 Barnes St Timaru Base Levels Timaru & Omarama Wardell Field Flying Weekends, Public Holidays & by arrangement Taranaki Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingtaranaki.com Club Contact Peter Williams peter.williams@xtra.co.nz Ph (06) 278 4292 Base Stratford Flying Weekends and Public Holidays Taupo Gliding Club Club Website www.taupoglidingclub.co.nz Club Contact Tom Anderson Tomolo@xtra.co.nz PO Box 296, Taupo 2730 Ph (07) 378 5506 M 0274 939 272 Base Centennial Park, Taupo Flying 7 days a week Tauranga Gliding Club Club Website www.glidingtauranga.co.nz Club President Adrian Cable adrian.cable@xtra.co.nz Base Tauranga Airport Flying Weekends and Public Holidays, Wednesday afternoons and other times on request Wellington Gliding Club Club Website http://www.soar.co.nz Club President Brian Sharpe bwsharpe@xtra.co.nz Ph 027 248 1780 Base Greytown Soaring Centre, Papawai Airfield, 5 km east of Greytown Bookings Ph 027 618 9845 (operations) Flying Weekends and Public Holidays 7 days a week December through to March

The club news is your chance to share with the rest of the country and abroad, some of what makes your club the best gliding club in the world. Club scribes, please watch the deadlines (but we'll make allowances for special circumstances so contact the editor before you panic) and likewise, the word count is supposed to be 300 words to allow everyone to have a say. If you need more words than that, you probably should write a real article about that special event.

Deadline for club news for the next issue 17 November 2017.

AUCKLAND AVIATION SPORTS CLUB Like at other clubs, the winter weather has not been conducive to great soaring.

We have had several unkind weekends of yucky weather to keep us grounded, and unseasonably, there have been no howling south westerly gales to allow us to do our famous coast run down to Raglan and back.

However, we have still managed to get aloft and fly some soaring sorties. Our junior members are going from strength to strength with young Matt getting more solo soaring in and proving to be a good thermaller. Isabelle transitioned to the PW5 and Graham and Ivor have kindly offered her a chance to fly the mighty Libelle. She has demonstrated, in just a few flights, that she is going to have a ball this soaring season. We have a few members in training and progressing very well, braving the less than perfect conditions. Geoff, Melody Ann, Simon, Claire and Joseph will be ready and primed for their milestone moments this coming season.

Our fleet has received its annuals and none have incurred any cringe worthy expenses.

The inclement weather has allowed for some maintenance work around the hangar.

The club celebrated a mid-winter dinner at Valentines with 30 members turning up and rolling out. We are all on diets now!

We were delighted to host Crew Four from RNZAF No.5 Maritime Patrol Squadron with soaring experience flights. The weather played perfectly for us and each crew member had a hands-on experience and very enjoyable flights. All were amazed by the magic of soaring and we hope to see them out again soon. We temporarily designated ourselves as a Stealth Squadron for the day.

So, we look forward to flexing our wings for the forthcoming soaring season. See ya up there.

Club Skipper RG

CLUB NEWS

ND

AASC: Isabell Burr ready for her first flight in Libelle GIV

AASC: Roy Whitby standing in a damp spot.

AASC: Pretty much sums up our winter, rain and rainbows.

AASC: Melody Anne getting ready for her late afternoon flight with our tow plane at the end of the rainbow.

AASC: A group hanging round the caravan, Jonathan Pote, Tony Prentice, Roy Whitby, Neville Swan, Rudolf Struyck

AASC: A big pollen release from the Riverhead Forest.

August–October 2017

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CLUB NEWS

Canterbury: Hard at work

Canterbury: Working outdoors

CANTERBURY Despite the onset of winter with its repeated heavy rain, snow on the airfield and water on the hangar floor, plus a couple of weeks of soggy, out of service runways, the winter has delivered some good flying and training and some great energy around the club.

At the end of June, the club re-invigorated the annual awards night with awards for excellence, and acknowledgements of the contribution of every club member and their partners who frequently enable the club to function and our pilots to participate in the sport. There was also a video report from Alex McCaw circling in some thermal in Scotland! It has been a few years since the trophies were last engraved – so it’s great to see the club re-energising after the downturn that the Canterbury earthquakes created for many groups such as us.

On weekends with good weather, flying

Canterbury: Working indoors

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August–October 2017

has been brisk. Edwin Oudre-Vrielink fledged as an instructor and Craig Keenan revalidated Don McCaw as a tow pilot, expanding the club’s potential for mid-week operations.

Wave and thermals have appeared, enabling flights of up to an hour or two into the snow covered interior – you may have noticed Derek Kraak or Pete Chadwick on TV1 weather photos, taken by skiers on the Craigeburn range. On other days, smooth cool conditions were perfect for first time passengers and progressing training, with BFRs, type conversions and a good number of passenger or trial flights. The fleet evolves, with Nick Reekie flying his LS6 with new winglets and Graeme Johnson his higherpowered Shark with new exhaust system.

Working bees have progressed the club’s premises with a new operations room on the field and a new toilet block, in preparation for the inaugural Canterbury Soaring Championships in December.

Tim

GLIDING HAWKES BAY AND WAIPUKURAU Winter weather has generally not been kind for soaring but training has continued when possible under typical Hawkes Bay conditions of sunshine, light winds and calm conditions. Sixteen year old Josh Ferguson has completed his first solo flight to be the third junior member to achieve this. He is now progressing towards a PW5 rating for the summer.

Due to low numbers, the formal 60th Anniversary Dinner was cancelled. However, a 60th Anniversary BBQ was held in June.

Kirstin Thompson and team organised a great BBQ and anniversary cake which was cut by Doug McIntyre, one of the founding members.

Early May saw some typical autumn days that were perfect for training and trial flights with sunshine and largely calm conditions the order of the day. One afternoon also saw

CLUB NEWS

Hawke's Bay and Waipukurau:

some weak convection and convergence which allowed Jason Kelly and Graham White to complete 122km OLC in just over 1.5 hours in the ASH25M. Mid-June saw some mid-week flying at last. The RASP suggested an early morning start was required and was spot on as the predicted wave worked well, to allow Jason and Nicholas Kelly to climb to 9,500 feet in the club’s Grob 103C III SL and fly south past Waipawa and back in less than an hour.

With the air starting to get rougher as the wave was impacted by weather moving up the country, the flight was relatively short but the club gained some publicity with the local paper publishing a photo and brief details of the flight.

The youth flying school is in winter recess and will recommence shortly when the weather improves.

The club will be hosting the 2018 Central Districts Regional competition, from 17 – 24

PIako:

February 2018 inclusive, from Waipukurau Airfield. As usual, Graham White will be setting tasks to ensure great flying. In the unlikely event pilots need to land out, the area has many large, flat paddocks for safe landings. Mark the dates in your diary, encourage your club members to enter and come and enjoy another low key, fun flying event this summer.

PIAKO At our AGM in June, the outstanding contribution over many years of our retiring CFI Julian Mason was recognised by making him a Life Member.

Making the most of the inclement weather of May, June and July, the Piako Club members (aka the “snowmen of Piako”) spent over 200 hours sanding back NI’s (the Club’s single Grob) wings and redoing the gel-coat. A saving of $20,000 to the Club.

Next May, it’s the fuselage!

PIako: Julian Mason & Iggy Wood =

Our annual Club dinner and prize giving was well attended at the end of July with 55 adults and three children.There was a departure from our usual venue at the Club rooms to the Matamata Club. For the first time in many years, Jan Mace and the effervescent Joan Wine got to sit down and enjoy the Club dinner rather than cooking it.

Sarel Venter took the Trophy for the most improved student and was awarded his certificates for his five hour duration

Piako

August–October 2017

51

CLUB NEWS or even the end of September, before it is operational for us in that respect. Stratford airfield was built on drained swamp land and reverts to type in wet weather.

We had a busy period in May/June with the arrival of Mike Strathern to do the annuals of all the gliders. His lodging at the airfield was the Jackson house-bus. Parked on the hangar apron it was not far to walk to work. Various efforts on aspects of the FLARM setup have been proceeding well.

PJM

TAUPO

Piako: Winter flying.

and height gains towards his Silver C. Sarel joined Piako from an Induction to Gliding course using the winch, run by Steven Care.

Tim Bromhead won the Dave Dennison Cross-Country Trophy for the most OLC points and David Jensen was runner up.

Piako was 3rd in NZ for OLC Club (cross country) points.

Tim also took the Ken Bartlett Trophy for the most Outstanding Personal Best. He made the NZ Team for the Worlds in Benalla in January. Also on the team was fellow Piako Club member Brett Hunter with Julian Elder as Team Captain.

Bill Mace took the hotly contested Care 200 km Trophy for the 7th time with an average speed of 140.38kph. Malcolm Piggott won the Tom Martin Trophy for Outstanding Service and Friendship to the Club. Mal was instrumental in NI’s

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refurbishment. He has made a video which is posted on Piako’s Facebook page.

G&S

TARANAKI Again, we join the various weather stations around the country (aka gliding clubs) in reporting on why there is not a lot of activity to report on. One day in July and one in August is our lot. The 30th July was notable for the first flights at Stratford for Les Sharp’s ASW20, where along with Peter Williams in the PW5 TE, they made the first soaring flights of the season. It was similar for August. Les had a flight of twentyfive minutes and then another of one hour and six minutes, then Peter Cook had fortynine minutes in TE. The field, in spite of having dried out somewhat, was too wet for two-seater operations. It might be well into,

Not a lot has been happening around Taupo over the last couple of months. Winter weather has definitely put a dampener on flying and even when there have been fine days, it has been too cold for any thermalling and no breeze to play with on Mt Tauhara.

So the period has mainly consisted of maintenance of gliders and equipment.

The club has taken delivery of a new Trimax mower as the old unit finally gave up the ghost. No more welding to the old mower plating was viable so a new unit was sourced and purchased. It arrived in time to cut the runways one more time before winter set in.

It has also been that time of year when the local Hobby Expo is unveiled and the club participated once again, exhibiting one of the PW5s. Crowd numbers were moderate but club members and volunteers did a great job of advertising the club and provided the public with information about our great sport.

Preparations are well underway for TGC’s 50th anniversary which will be held at Centennial Park between 21-23 October 2017. Save the Date! It is planned to have a fly in and with luck the weather will be on our side so there will possibly be an air display along with the Saturday night dinner, BBQ’s, gliding and social activities.

Of course, to kick off the soaring season we have the Central Plateau Soaring Competition which will be run between 4-11 November. For those keen enthusiasts, why not bring your glider to the 50th anniversary for a few more practice days?

Roll on summer and let the fun begin!

Trace

WAIRARAPA Rain. Rain rain rain. Mud. Mud mud, sun mud. Mud and rain. Mud and cows. Rain and cows. Rain rain sun rain rain. Mud. Mud mud mud. Elvis. No, just kidding, rain rain rain. OK, you get the idea. This has been the wettest autumn and winter that anyone can remember for at least a generation;

CLUB NEWS the earth is saturated and has meant that even the normal passing of a front turns the airfield into a slippery mess. We’ve elected (that makes it sound like we had a choice) to spend the winter doing repairs and maintenance on our gliders, so at least we’ve been vaguely productive, even if we haven’t flown much. The days are now

getting longer so we have more daylight in which to contemplate the rain and the mud.

We would all like summer to happen now, please. DH

A NEW TOY

that. So eventually I went for a bit of a tiki-tour to Midhurst, where a Maroon Stinson came sniffing around. There wasn’t any significant lift anywhere there and I even flew over the power station as I was joining on the non-traffic side. That was 43 minutes worth of glider time.

“Not enough,” I said when the ground crew arrived, so again I towed to the area east of the field and although a convergence had been predicted, there was too big an overcast area for much to happen. I was back to climbing in the power station thermal, or the result of it, as it drifted downwind. I was

– TARANAKI

Les Sharp’s account of flights in his new ASW20 at Stratford. 30.07.2017 When you’ve got a new glider, even the most mundane flight on a less than average day is exciting.

I took a 2,500 feet tow to cloud base on the first flight as I wanted to try some spinning. The first attempt only resulted in an incipient spin, however on the second attempt I gave it a bit of prompting, and yes, as Mike Strathern had advised, it flicked quite quickly into a fully developed spin.

On recovering and having lost quite a bit of height, I started looking for lift. I found the power station thermal, managed to climb to 3,200 feet, but couldn’t get any better than

seriously challenged by Peter Williams who decided to join me in TE, but managed to outlast his effort by a few minutes. That gave me another 42 minutes on a cold mid-winter day. Not a bad effort really.

August–October 2017

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F OR S A L E • WA N T E D • S E R V IC E S • E V E N T S

We take our classifieds list from the GNZ website and from ads detailed with us personally. To update your ad, please go online or advise our webmaster.

Ads notified to SoaringNZ will appear on this page but we are unable to make changes for you on the web page. Please contact the webmaster if your item sells.

GLIDERS SILENT IN • Self Launching Sailplane -$46K. Alisport (Italy) self launching sailplane with retracting Alisport 302efi FADEC 28hp engine driving a monoblade propeller. For full details, Google ‘Alisport Silent In’ or <alisport.com>. Airframe 890hrs, engine and propeller less than 4hrs (new 2013) Removeable winglets, tinted canopy, usual instruments plus Trig TT21 transponder (with Mode S). Wing wheel, tail dolly and one man rig gear. Excellent open trailer with current reg. and WOF. Currently registered as Class 1 microlight. Neville Swan. Phone 09 416 7125, email nswan@ xtra.co.nz Nimbus 2. ZK-GKV. • A well known glider and glider type. Serial Number 124. At this price and at an L/D of 49:1 where can you get better L/D for your dollar. 49:1 – best LD for money. Brand new PU paint on the fuselage and wing PU only 5 years old. Double bladed air brakes. New Schempp Hirth canopy, new mylar seals on wing, good road trailer. Price Reduced. $28,000. Steve Barham. Phone 021 642 484, email barham@xtra.co.nz Nimbus 2b ZK-GIW • Maintenance and Hours updated also Flamview and Flarm. Mouse installed. Next ARA due Nov 2017 updated hours 1881hrs 561 flts. PU Paint, Fixed Tail plane, All Surfaces Sealed and Mylared, Tabulator Tape, Mask Winglets, Double Bladed Airbrakes, Tinted Canopy, Adjustable seat back, L-Nav, GPS-Nav, Oxy, C Mode Transponder, National Parachute, Tow out gear, Trestles, One man electric wing rigging cradle. Trailer refurbished and New Trojan Axles fitted. Glider located at Auckland. $45,000 ono. Marc Morley. Phone 027 462 6751, email morleym27@gmail.com Std Astir CS77 ZK-GMC • 1820 Hours total time. Recent annual and ARA inspection. New nose hook. Becker AR3201 radio Terra TRT 250 transponder. Good trailer. Can be viewed at the Tauranga Gliding club. May consider a syndicate. $22,500. Ben Stimpson. Email bstimpson@xtra.co.nz Phone 027 555 5485.

Ventus 2cxt, GBZ • Half share. Current owner Patrick Driessen (Drury Club). I will be taking ownership in October 2017. This is a high performance, current technology, aircraft with excellent flight characteristics with a sustainer engine. This is a unique opportunity to own a plane of this type at half the price but still enjoying the benefits of one of the best aircraft in New Zealand. To be based in Matamata. Maurice Weaver. Email project. technologies@gmail.com Phone 021 757 972.

Mini Nimbus C. ZK-GKS • 15m flapped carbon wings. 1500 hours approx.

All mandatory mods complied with. Never damaged. One fussy owner for last 27 years. New Gadringer harness and Tost release hook. Current American GQ Security parachute. Twin batteries, mode C transponder, oxygen, dust covers, descent tow-out gear and water meter with digital readout. Spare wheel doors, Tost wheel & brake assembly, transponder.

Original gelcoat showing its age. German Pfeifer trailer in near new condition after nut-and-bolt restoration 2014. Glider and trailer have always been hangared. $42,000. Peter Wooley. Email wooleypeter@gmail.com Phone 021 170 2009.

Taurus 503 VH-NUF • 20 month old Taurus M powered by an air cooled two stroke two cylinder 50 hp Rotax 503 engine. Two seat, side by side,

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August–October 2017

spacious self-launching glider. Only 114 Total hours and only 30 Engine hours. Comes with Pipistrel 5 year extended Warranty. Fitted with every possible extra including a Galaxy Ballistic parachute and a full set of instruments including an LX9000 with ProStick control. Even has an E22 Tost nose release. Beautifully finished with acrylic paint and a very high build quality. Spacious cockpit with leather seats and trim and maximum cockpit load is a generous 190 kg. Large blue tinted canopy with excellent visibility. Includes a dedicated Cobra trailer for long distance travel. Price $AU190,000 negotiable. Grant Rookes/Owen Jones. Email grantliz@sekoor.co Phone +61 4 0799 8959 +61 8 9332 7382.

ASH26e. • This is a fabulous self-launching motor glider in very good condition with the ever popular and fully supported rotary engine. Airframe 1000 hrs, Engine 110 hrs, Cobra Trailer, Wing Walker and tow out gear. $195,000 David Tillman. Email david@mfree.co.nz Phone 0272017120 DG808B • with Free Semi Portable Hangar. 2002. Approx 500 hours. Approx 30 hours on engine. LX9050 with v8, remote stick, AHRS and flarm (approx 2.5 years old), Mountain High EDS o2 Full outdoor covers. 2016 Cobra Trailer or option to take without the cobra trailer if you want to save some money $170k. You will still get the old home built trailer. All rigging and tow out gear.

Includes free semi-portable hangar. There are some conditions, you would need to collect and take down. Would need to be collected by agreed date.

Hangar comes apart and packs down to manageable size. $190,000.

Douglas Lovell. Email doug@waipapaeyecare.co.nz Phone 021 118 5797.

LS 4 • GMU and Hangar shares (15 metre space). The South Canterbury Gliding Club offers for sale LS 4 and hangar shares in the sunny side of the east hangar at Omarama. MU has a good quality trailer, Oxygen. Top surface of the wings and tailplane have been resurfaced. $65,000. Paul Marshall. Email P_Marshall@xtra.co.nz Phone 021 331 838.

GMB Grob 102 Astir CS77 • Standard 15m. Under 1,000 hours #1768 Price negotiable to right buyers. Seeking potential keen young light-weight owners for delightful to fly Astir. Cockpit weight limit 88kg incl parachute. New ARA inspections & instruments done before handover. Maintenance up to date Great Doug Hay custom built trailer in good condition. Easy rigging system, one person’s assistance required for just six minutes, the rest is a one-man rig. Excellent ground handling tow out gear. No canopy damage. L/D 37 dry, 38 when ballasted. Borgelt & Winter varios. Terra Transponder + mode C & S mods. Microair 760 VHF Radio. $20,000. Warren Pitcher. Email warrenpitcher@xtra.co.nz Phone 0274 720 338.

ASW20 Cl • in great condition. Piako Gliding Club in pvt Hangar. Price includes new instruments and radio. # 20823, Manf: 1985. TT 1655 hrs with 811 launches. 2 pot finish. Instruments: Ditter KRT2 Com, Terra TXPDR, Flarm. LX Navigation EOS Vario (GPS IGC LOGGER) with Remote Stick Controller. Water bags all good in wings. Mountain High oxygen system. Homebuilt Trailer. Hangar at Piako by negotiation. $60,000 Contact S Griffin. Email oldbuick@hotmail.com, phone 0275955191.

Discus 1a • ZK-GYO. Cobra Trailer with spare wheel. 2 sets of winglets.

Cambridge M20 with Winpilot and Ipaq. Flarm system. Becker AR4201 radio. Borgelt B40 varios. Terra transponder. Mountain High oxygen system. Carbon fibre cylinder. Twin battery system. Gear-up warning.

National 360 parachute – rectangular canopy. Tow-out gear (Tail dolly, tow bar, wing wheel, stand). Factory manuals. Location: Upper Hutt/ Wellington. $70,000. Tony Flewett. Email tonyflewett@gmail.com Or Russell Schultz. Phone 04 526 7882, 021 253 3057.

GNZ members are eligible for one free non-commercial classified advertisement per issue.

Deadline for receipt of advertising for our November 2017 issue is 22 October 2017.

DG400 GOI • good condition 1985. Lots of spare parts including prop, electrical bits. Clam shell trailer. This glider has been maintained by Solo Wings here in Tauranga and has recently had the engines top end done. We also have a spare engine for parts to sell for an additional $5k. Fitted engine under 200hrs and airframe about 1800. For more detail please make contact. $75,000 Roger. Email dg400@xtra.co.nz, phone 021689592 Ventus 2cT 15/18m • Immaculate 2002 Ventus 2cT, GRY #95 finished in PU paint. Fully equipped including LX Navigation Zeus with Flarm and AHRS. Remote stick, Eos vario, com, Txpdr and EDS 02. Komet trailer. Full set Jaxida outdoor covers. Motivated seller with genuine reason for sale.

Please present all offers. Alan Belworthy. Email a.belworthy@xtra.co.nz, phone 0274 960 748 PW6-U. ZK-GPK • Constructed 2002. s/n 78-03-01. In very good order cockpit paint re-furbished. Normal instrumentation i.e. 2 x Altimeters and ASI’s. Microair 720 Com. Borgelt B40 electric varios front and back seat.

2405 Total Service Hours in service. Full service history with Sailplane Services. Fully hydraulic disc brake Mod. (CAA approved). Currently no transponder or trailer but these can be supplied if required. Ross Gaddes.

Email ross@sailplaneservices.co.nz, phone 027 4789123 GOX “Puchatek” KR-03A • Two Seat Trainer SPECIAL PRICE. We are currently willing to offer this glider at special price as we are raising funds for a new CAPEX purchase. Due to excessive fleet size we have available a two seat trainer. Currently stored in a hanger Whangarei. Could come with a basic open trailer - need some work to make road legal - Please note I would need to confirm with the person who built it on this! If you are interested please contact me and I will arrange to get full details etc. $9,000.

Contact Douglas Lovell. Email doug@waipapaeyecare.co.nz, phone 021 118 5797

HANGARS 18m hangar spaces in the Omarama Hangar. • $ 30,000 or near offer.

Contact Mike Hamilton Phone 03 962 1530, mike.hamilton@hamjet.co.nz.

15 metre space Omarama. • The easternmost hangar at Omarama. It has a lovely view to the east so you can watch the progress of the sea breeze, and is nice and sheltered when you are putting your glider away during a strong westerly or norwesterly blow. It is the best of both worlds, as you can enjoy the warm sunshine while fettling your glider in the morning, and stay in the shade in the heat of the late afternoon. The price for 15,000 shares is $16,000 but I am open to negotiation. Please contact me at jack. luxton@btinternet.com, or if you want to be shown over the space. Karen Morgan. Email morganjones@xtra.co.nz Phone 027 299 0301

AVIONICS Cambridge Vario readout. Suit LNAV or SNAV. As new large size readout.

Requires 80mm hole. Never used. $75. Roger Sparks. Email: r.sparks@ xtra.co.nz, Phone: 0274956560 LX Navigation Flight computer. Zeus, Colibri 2 with cradle, voice module, AHRS, control stick controller, USB 60 vario. Top of the range with latest operating system. In new condition. Over $10,000 to buy new. $4,750. Contact Pat Driessen. Email patdriessen21@gmail.com, phone 0274866441

OTHER FOR SALE Parachute originally used in a K6. As far as I’m aware this parachute has never been used. It was repacked about 2012 by a master parachute packer in Masterton and was certified fit for use. It has been stored at home in a linen cupboard so is dry and free from mould etc. Am happy as condition of sale for the chute to be repacked (at purchaser’s cost) and certified as fit for use as a condition of sale. Selling as I no longer have a glider to use it on. All reasonable offers considered. Paul Clarke. Email: paul_clarke@ clear.net.nz phone: 027 264 2254 Tim’s Glider Tape, Fresh Batch Now Available. Custom made wide insulation tape, just for us! It has the perfect stretch and stickiness. Available in 24mm ($5) or 32mm ($6). Tim Bromhead. Email tim@pear.co.nz Phone 0212179049 See pics and order online at http://pear.co.nz/tape Tost High Powered Winch. Up for grabs is a high powered winch, on the back of an Izusu truck. Perfect for any club that needs a new winch. Comes with 2 new reels of wire each 1500m long, three new parachute assemblies, cable splices, crimping tool etc. V8 small block engine rated to winch up to 750kg gliders. $45,000 Bruce Drake. Email Drakeaviation@hotmail. com. Phone 03 313 4261 Winch, 350 Chev twin drums. Any club interested in a winch give me a call, we are open to offers on a custom built winch due to club merge. We really don’t need two winches and don’t have the space to store etc, so feel free to put any offers. $10,000 Contact Douglas. Email doug@waipapaeyecare. co.nz, phone 021 118 5797 Rotax 535C engine. just removed a working one from a club machine. $15,000. Contact Douglas. Email doug@waipapaeyecare.co.nz. Phone 0211185797 18m Trailer, was used for DG808b. Contact Douglas. Email doug@waipapaeyecare.co.nz. Phone 0211185797

WANTED Wanted - Damaged/broken Oudie. Oudie1 (or Oudie2) to use as parts for repair. (cracked screen OK as I have a working screen). Contact Glyn Jackson. Email glyn@glynjackson.com, phone 021 0250 4646 Instructors Wanted, Omarama • Experienced Instructors required at Omarama from October through March in one of the three following categories: 1. BCat Instructor, 1000 hrs, 500 hrs at OA; 2. BCat Instructor, 1000 hrs, tow rating, 200 hrs tail-wheel; 3. BCat Instructor, 1000 hrs, 500 hrs OA, German speaking; Extensive cross-country coaching as well as basic instruction experience is required. Email Guy@glideomarama.com Phone 03 438 9555

WORK WANTED Seasonal Instructor: I am 26 y.o. gliding instructor, formal member of Czech Junior gliding team wanting to spend few months in New Zealand as an instructor. I’m currently instructing in Scotland. 900 hours in gliders (200 instructional). If your club is looking for residential instructor, please contact me. Jakub Hlavacek. Email hlavacek.jh@gmail.com, phone +420773957323

August–October 2017

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SAILPLANE SERVICES LTD Specialist Composite Aviation Engineering

NZ agents for Schempp-Hirth Sailplanes, LXNav Soaring Equipment and Trig Avionics all state of the art equipment for soaring aircraft.

Ross Gaddes email ross@sailplaneservices.co.nz phone +64 9 294 7324 or +674 274 789 123