Airborn #209

Issue 209; February, March, April 2019

Paragliding on Full Bar 400km Hang Glider Record Southern Regional PG Comp Old Woman HG Meet

7.50 Including GST

$

9 771170 992006

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING

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any pilots visit flying sites outside their own region. To ensure that you don’t jeopardise arrangements between land owners and local flyers you must ALWAYS check with local pilots BEFORE flying.

That way you won’t upset land owners or pilots, you will be shown all the best sites and will be welcome back. We don’t publish site names and locations NORTHLAND H.G.P.C. C/- Guntram Gross 1 Brook Road Whangarei Email: skywalk@igrin.co.nz www.facebook.com/ NorthlandHangGlidingandParaglidingClub/ Pres, Airsp; Shane Gross...............09 436 0268 Sec/Treas; Guntram Gross.............09 436 0268 HGSO; Herman Ahrens..................09 432 9333 PGSO; Wolfgang Harder................09 403 7594 PG; Mike Ferguson..........mferg066@gmail.com AUCKLAND H.G.P.C. PO Box 47813 Ponsonby, Auckland 1144 Email: info@cloudbase.org.nz www.cloudbase.org.nz Pres: Stefan Sebregts .................027 225 2255 Sec: Graham Surrey ..................021 0262 5023 Treas: Malcolm Dawson...............021 052 1568 HGSO: Fraser Bull .......................027 801 4044 PGSO: Reuben Muir.......................09 446 0020 Airsp: Leslie Graham .....................09 579 6485 Stefan Sebregts ...........................021 266 1287 Steve Price ....................................021 781 828 Eva Keim .......................................09 446 0051 Skywings Paragliding ....................09 570 5757 Aqua Air Adventure Hang Gliding.. 027 288 0193 Wings And Waves Paragliding ......09 446 0020 WAIKATO H.G.P.C. Inc. C/- Ian Manton PO Box 131, Matamata 3440 Email: ian@imatec.co.nz Pres: Mark McDonald...................020 444 9995 Sec/Treas: ................ Ian Manton 027 546 2832 PGSO: Bruce Vickerman .............027 498 9941 HGSO: Rick Hawkeswood.............07 868 6250 Airsp: Neil Howe.............................07 304 9631

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BAY OF PLENTY H.G.P.C. C/-Dominique Le Sellin 41, Ririnui Place, Maungatapu Tauranga 3112 Email: bophangparaclub@gmail.com www.facebook.com/BOPHangGlidingParagliding Pres: Dave Washer.......................0275 992 934 Sec: Dominique Le Sellin...................... 021 617 111 PGSO: Darrell Packe........................027 249 2702 HGSO: James Low.......................021 102 5004 Airsp: Rhys Akers.........................021 177 7563 Sites: Dave Shaw...........................07 575 9560 Kiwi Air.........................................021 1046 208 Mount Paragliding........................027 249 2702 WELLINGTON H.G.P.C. PO Box 9824 Marion Square Wellington 6141 www.whgpc.nz Email: info@whgpc.org.nz Pres: Jeff Lean............................020 4102 0567 Sec/Treas: Grant Firth................... 021 422 698 HGSO: Grant Tatham...................027 636 3491 PGSO: Matthew Williams.............027 552 5205 Airsp: Ian Miller ............................022 176 8205 Communications; Irwin Imhoff..... 22 087 2173 MARLBOROUGH H.G.P.C. C/- Richard Evans PO Box 546 Blenheim Email: evans.r@xtra.co.nz Pres, Airsp: Jason Gluer.............021 0824 7543 Sec/Treas: Richard Evans..............021 648 783 HGSO: John Urlich: .......................03 577 8886 PGSO: Russell Read....................027 448 0888 Kris Ericksen.................................021 116 4558

KEY Pres; .............................................. President

Sec; ............................ Secretary/Treasurer PGSO; ............. Paragliding Safety Officer HGSO; .......... Hang Gliding Safety Officer CFI;...........................Chief Flying Instructor Airsp;.................................Airspace Officer

TASMAN H.G.P.C. C/- Annett Teichner 1137 Motueka Valley Highway, RD1, Motueka 7196 Email: thgpgclub@gmail.com Pres; Josh Benjamin ....................021 136 5405 Sec; Annett Teichner..................021 0231 0755 Treas; Brian Erasmus .....................03 545 1003 PGSO; Greg Benjamin....................03 545 1543 PGSO; Pete Polansky ...................03 528 7374 HGSO; John King..........................03 548 8263 Site Owners; Tim Percival .............03 548 7397 Site Maintenance; Frog Twissell ....03 538 0339 Airsp; Claus Petry.........................021 250 4836 Nelson Paragliding.........................03 544 1182 Adventure Paragliding....................021 762 769 Hang Gliding NZ.............................03 540 2183 Tasman Sky Adventures...............027 229 9693 CANTERBURY H.G.P.C. Inc. C/- Zak Page 10/42 Mariner St, Sumner, Christchurch 8081 Email: zakpage29@gmail.com www.chgpc.org.nz Pres: Simon Corbett.................... 021 205 0878 Sec/Treas; Zak Page..................021 0896 5670 PGSO; Stephen O’Shaughnessy...027432 4824 Sam Bartholomew .........................021 819 755 HGSO; Max Gebhardt................. 022 159 6101 Sites PG; Rob Kennedy................021 220 7993 Sites HG; Reece Fisher..................021 806 390 Website; Stephen O’Shaughnessy.03 326 7373 Airsp; Peter Taylor........................021 066 9886 Canty HG School; Bill Degen.......021 247 2676 Cloudbase Paragliding.................027 532 4874 Nimbus Paragliding......................027 432 4874 ParaPro.........................................0800 548 323 AORANGI H.G.C. C/- Tom Knewstubb PO Box 5976 Dunedin Pres, Airsp; Kevin McManus........021 134 0463 Sec, HGSO; Tom Knewstubb (wk) 027 289 6103 PGSO: Lisa Bradley......................021 156 3256 SOUTHERN H.G.P.C. C/_ Tim Brown, 142 Dalefield Rd, RD1, Queenstown 9371 Email: admin@southernclub.co.nz www.southernclub.co.nz Pres; Tim Brown...........................021 182 4243 Sec: Paula Race...........................027 855 8448 Treas: Kat Cerna.........................021 0291 0851 PGSO: Blake Round.....................027 367 7679 HGSO: Pete Helliwell .................021 0284 5170 Sites: Cathal McLoughlin...........021 024 00350 Events: Chris Shaw......................021 051 2905 IT/Web: Daniel Diaz Rizo....................................

Airsp: Chris Streat........................027 485 6236 Craig Smith...................................027 343 3537 Louis Tapper.......................................................

Benjamin Kellet.............................021 232 7217 Dean Orton.....................................021 612 998 Coronet Peak Tandem PG & HG..0800 467 325 Skytrek Hang Gliding & Paragliding.0800 759 873 Extreme Air Paragliding School....021 156 3256 Infinity Paragliding School..............021 981 855 Paraventures Paragliding...............021 809 275 G Force Tandem Paragliding..........03 441 8581

Photo; Joey Allen

TARANAKI FREE FLYERS C/- Dennis Green 38 Kaitake Rd RD4, New Plymouth Pres, Airsp, Sec/Treas, PGSO; John Morgan ...................................................... 021 726 183 HGSO; Dave Austin....................021 0283 6797

MANAWATU H.G.P.C. C/- Andrew Brownlie 11 Hollows Crescent Takaro Palmerston North 4412 Email: flyer.rosscoe@gmail.com Pres, Airsp: Ricky Winduss (Wanganui) .......................... 06 345 7659, or 027 447 4117 Sec/Treas, HGSO: Ross Gray......021 126 0892 PGSO: Andrew Brownlie ...........027 444 8911

Mont Blanc from Doussard

HAWKES BAY H.G.P.C. Inc. 30 Kaweka Place Havelock North 4130 Email: hbhgpc@gmail.com www.soarhawkesbay.co.nz Pres, Rebecca Rae.........................021 605 204 Treas: Duncan Macnab.................027 624 6434 Airsp: Shaun Gilbert.....................022 477 8804 PGSO: Ken Beach........................021 191 6388 HGSO: Ross MacKay.....................06 877 2052 Sites Liason; Euan Talbot ..............06 877 8999

because flying sites have been lost by visiting flyers who have upset land owners. To assist travelling pilots, people wishing to learn to fly or to contact hang gliding and paragliding clubs, here is a list of people who can help you.

Those on the list or wishing to be listed, should contact their Club Secretaries who should keep Airborn and the NZHGPA website updated of changes of contact details.

ISSN 1170-9928

printed on recycled paper

Magazine of the NEW Zealand Hang Gliding & Paragliding Assn. Inc. Published every three months for hang gliding and paragliding enthusiasts in New Zealand and abroad ● Subscription is by membership of NZHGPA (a legal requirement for all hang glider and paraglider pilots in NZ) ● For non

flyer and foreign subscriptions please contact the NZHGPA Administrator for current rates, or see advertisement in this issue ● Actions, opinions, claims and advice expressed by authors and advertisers in this magazine are their own and

are not necessarily endorsed by the NZHGPA or the editor ● Articles, photos

and graphics are copyright to the author, photographer, editor or designer and may not be reproduced without their permission

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N.Z.H.G.P.A. INC., 46 Quail Rise, Stoke, Nelson 7011, New Zealand www.nzhgpa.org.nz

Administration and Licensing Chief Executive Officer

Evan Lamberton, 35A Manly Esplanade, Browns Bay, North Shore City 0630, 09 478 0063, 021 407833, ceo@nzhgpa.org.nz Administrator

Nicky Hamill, 46 Quail Rise, Stoke, Nelson 7011, 027 202 1806, admin@nzhgpa.org.nz Executive Committee President

Duncan Macnab, PO Box 28100 Havelock North 4157, 027 624 6434, president@nzhgpa.org.nz Vice President/Secretary

Mark Hardman, 021 809 275, vice-president@nzhgpa.org.nz Hang Gliding Operations Manager

Carlos Palmer, 38 Milliken Ave, Mt. Roskill, Auckland 1041, 027 487 7654, hg.operations@nzhgpa.org.nz Hang Gliding Training Manager

Grant Tatham, 4 Phillip St, Carterton, 5713, 06 379 7322, 027 636 3491, hg.training@nzhgpa.org.nz Paragliding Operations Manager

Ian Manton, 027 546 2832, pg.operations@nzhgpa.org.nz Paragliding Training Manager

Blake Round, Queenstown, 027 367 7679, pg.training@nzhgpa.org.nz Executive Member

Ross Gray, 021 126 0892, rossajgray@gmail.com Executive Member

Glen Ogilvie, Mt Wellington, Auckland, www.facebook.com/glen.ogilvie 021 684 146, glen.ogilvie@gmail.com Appointed Officers National Airspace Officer

Nick Taber, 27 Strathaven Place, Dodson Valley, Atawhai, Nelson 7010. 03 545 0766, 021 420 742, nicktaber@hotmail.com Website Manager

Adriel Kind, 027 964 5397, adriel.nzhgpa@gmail.com Chief Medical Advisor

Samuel Bartholomew, 3A Dalleys Lane, Lyttleton, Christchurch 8082, bartholomew.sam@gmail.com Internal Auditor

Kris Ericksen, 11 Koromiko Road, Aro Valley, Wellington 6012, 04 938 6539, 021 116 4558, audit@nzhgpa.org.nz Disciplinary Committee Convenor

Duncan Macnab, PO Box 28100 Havelock North 4157, 027 624 6434, president@nzhgpa.org.nz Bookshop Manager

Evan Lamberton, 35A Manly Esplanade, Browns Bay, North Shore City 0630, 09 478 0063, 021 407833, ceo@nzhgpa.org.nz Hang Gliding Competition Committee

Advertising All advertising enquiries and payments to the editor ● Classified

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Please send advertisements, photos and articles to the editor:

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Mark Alton, 167 Mahoenui Road, Coatesville, Auckland 0793, 022 195 5746, markalton@yahoo.com Dennis Thorpe, dennis_thorpe@hotmail.com Max Gebhardt, 03 312 7899, 022 159 6101, aerosm@gmail.com Paragliding Competition Committee

Johnny Hopper (chair), 021 056 2275, nzhgpapcc@googlegroups.com Tim Brown, 03 442 5319, 021 182 4243, nzhgpapcc@googlegroups.com Wayne Rohrs, 021 663 383 nzhgpapcc@googlegroups.com

In This Issue...

400km Hang Gliding Cross Country Record..............................4 Life After Paragliding School......................................................8 40th Hang Gliding Nationals......................................................11 Southern Regional Paragliding Meet........................................18 Old Woman Hang Gliding Meet.................................................20 Safety Checks, Site Notices ................................................22,23 Executive Reports, Events....................................................24,25 Cross Country Championships............................................26,28 How Prepared are You?.............................................................27 Classified Advertisements.........................................................30 FRONT COVER: Viv Clements at the HG Pre-Worlds in Italy. Photo; Gino Nardo

Next issue deadline: 30 March 2019 A

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Who said Kiwis can’t Fly?

400.8km by Hang Glider from Dalby Viv Clements on his NZ cross country record

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apologies in advance for the length of this article but when I get old and senile and have lost my memory, I want to be able to recount a day that this Kiwi flew his first ever 400km flight.

It was 4am when I got on my way to Dalby and with the pre week banter on the WhatsApp group it either would be good for a big XC or over clouded and we were in for some towing practice. I was aiming to be at Dalby by 7am and was 15 minutes early which was still 15 minutes later than Jacko (Micheal Jackson). My plan was to get there early and have a test flight on Swindow`s glider.

Being there early meant that if it was good I could take the opportunity and go at the same time as Scott Barrett and Jacko.

Setting up with Jacko we couldn’t help glancing at the sky now and again with the odd comment that it was looking good already. We were both set up by the time Scott arrived and started talking about the day ahead and what the opportunities were.

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Scott changed the goal to Charleville showgrounds after reevaluating the weather. The amazing thing I picked up on was the plan was no pie in the sky hope that we make it. Scott quite logically explained we have this much time, the wind is at 30kmph, job done. We just have to execute it.

As I was walking back to my glider I remember thinking these two guys were amazing, this flight is no ‘let’s try’ thing and if anything they may have under called it. These two most definitely had the ability to do it also.

After getting the goal waypoint, I got a phone call from Bruce saying he would be there at 8:15am ready for Scott’s 8:30 launch and Smokey was not far behind him. I was in two minds; do I set up Trev’s old glider which is bigger and have it ready to jump in after the test flight as it

would be better if I was still in the air for the glass off later in the day or leave it until I landed. I decided to focus on the task at hand and not hold up Scott. Once Bruce arrived, we had a quick chat then I hooked in and made my way to the launch field. Both Scott and Jacko were not far behind.

At 8:45 Bruce towed me into the air with the cloud looking slightly clouded in, a bit more than it had been all morning. As soon as I was in the air, I could tell what I had done with the tuning on Swindows glider.

It was a huge improvement which was also a relief. On the tow up, it felt like the air was active which I was surprised and happy about.

Bruce waved me off at just under two grand and lo and behold there was workable lift; it was light but usable. As I was climbing, I saw Scott

getting towed up, then release up by the collage. It was decision time; do I stay in this glider and try and go with Scott and Jacko or land, I was over the gun club at 3200 feet and could see Jacko getting towed up.

Scott was lowish but circling back over the airport. I decided I was in too good of company not to take the chance so decision made, its going to hopefully be a long test flight.

I decided to fly back to Scott thinking being so early in the morning I was better not to be alone and with two top pilots like Scott & Jacko I was better off flying with them at least for the first bit if I could.

Once Jacko got released, we were all in the same area climbing; Scott had climbed above me and was off on glide. I decided Scott would be on a mission and it was no use chasing from 600 feet below so I

Left; About 50km over the first forest

flew back to Jacko as he looked to be in good lift and was climbing quite well. Once Jacko and I got up and went on glide I saw Scott about 2 km in front but quite a bit left of where I thought he would have been. That was the last time I saw Scott.

About 10 minutes later Jacko and I were struggling not really low but low enough to be of concern we eventually found something about 200 up with the odd better bit mixed in that got us back to base which had now climbed to just over 4 grand. The thermals were only getting better but I had to keep telling myself, “Take your time and play it safe, it’s only early.”

I continued to fly with Jacko for about 15 minutes until just before the solar power station in the forest.

This is where I lost him, there was

a blue hole in front of us and over the radio I found Jacko had gone left and I had decided to go right.

Big call right? or some may call it a crazy decision. My logic was I could try and stay with Jacko but would probably end up on the ground trying to keep up or doodle along on my lonesome and make my own decisions, so decision made I was to be one lonesome flightless Kiwi flying a borrowed glider that I was taking for a test flight; hopefully the longest test flight ever trying to get to Charleville; what could go wrong?

Flying cross tail wind the kms slowly ticked over. I wasn’t taking any chances, I was following the clouds using the moto get high stay high. Just one slight problem with this strategy; the clouds just happened to be following the trees.

Not the best situation as this forest stretched for 74 kilometers but staying high insured I always had glide to a landing paddock and what Scott and Jacko had discussed before taking off was always in the back of my mind. This was quite easily the longest I had ever continually flown over trees but not once was it of major concern.

About the 100km mark, the climbs were getting a lot more consistent and a good 500 feet a minute average. I had a young eagle join me; he was not aggressive at all and stayed with me for about 20 minutes at times getting very close.

It was to be the first of many eagle encounters along the way, all of them decided to play nice.

Toward the end of the forest I was a bit lost by just following the instrument arrow and clouds; I knew I was further north than both Jacko or Scott by Jack’s radio calls as on glide I was deliberately trying to push cross tail wind which kept me upwind of the course line which unfortunately wasn’t giving me the best of glide ratios which were averaging between 9 and 10 which at the time I though must be wrong but later talking to Jacko he was getting very similar.

As I finally left the forest I recognised the Condamine township; finally I knew where I was again, I could hear Jacko reporting height and distance from take-off but nothing from Scott. By the time I flew over the Condamine township I figured I was about 20 or 30 km behind Jacko.

The next stretch was a bit scary as it was no man’s land; very few roads and big open paddocks, there were some houses but they were quite far apart. As the kilometers kept ticking on by I could hear Jacko was slowly getting further ahead. I then came up

to another forest crossing the Yuleba Forest. I was quite west of where I had ever flown over this forest before I could see the township of Warkon though and after flying over all that no man’s land that definitely would have been ‘camp out country’. It was a bit of a relief, once again the clouds were lining up virtually the longest distance over the forest you could fly which turned out to be about a 20km stretch. Cloud base was getting around 7000 feet now and there was the occasional good lift kicking in with the odd 700 feet per minute up in bits. Again I had plenty of height to glide to safety and the strategy of getting high and staying high paid off and I made the forest crossing with no problems.

About this time I started feeling a little fatigued. The glider was a lot better but was still stiff to turn and to change direction on glide this started playing on my mind and body

Above; Viv in flight

300km and he was high at 9000 feet.

I managed to stay positive and stuck with my strategy. I got the next carrot which was the 300km mark. Lift was getting better now back to averaging around 500 up.

This is where I got a call from the boys at Dalby congratulating me (I fly with a Bluetooth headset that is paired to my phone) that boosted me a bit and strengthened my resolve to stay in the air.

The next carrot dangling in front of me was my Personal Best distance at 311 km. I didn’t have too long to wait to pass that so there was a big, “Yahoooo!” I would have been quite happy to land at Amby but it was the time of day I wanted to get there. It had started glassing off, the lift was getting smother and cloud base was up to 9000 feet. The next carrot I used was my good mate and regular flying buddy Big Trev`s PB Goal in one of the Dalby Big air

Photo; Mike Zupanc

a bit. Was I going to be able to stay in the air using my energy to keep it in thermals and keeping it straight?

The 200km marker passed which was a confidence booster.

I struggled a bit for the next 50km as the clouds got a bit flatter and life dropped off a bit. Not bad but I felt I had to be careful and I could definitely feel I was a bit oversized for the glider. I remember thinking I must be like a bumblebee technically they can’t fly but neither can Kiwis.

I’m not sure how or why I came up with that but it did make me smile at the time.

I started playing mind games to keep myself positive like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey on a stick.

The next carrot for me was Roma; as I came up to it still quite west of the town, I think I heard Jacko call

comps which I thought was 364 km I was later to find out it was around the 340 mark, but it did make me focus on every glide. I was thinking it’s getting late, this could be my last glide. I tried to stay high under some clouds to give myself the best chance of staying in the air. This worked quite well and I soon found myself passing the 364km mark.

It was only at this stage I started thinking 400km could be possible and to keep myself focused I used the pain in my body; my arms in particular were feeling it. I kept thinking “Don’t blow it now you have gone all this time and distance just to blow possibly your only chance at getting to 400km,” As I made it to 375 I was no longer getting high but trying to stay positive I kept telling myself,

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5

Right; Landed at last

“Just stay in the air.” I got to what I thought might be the end for me at 380km but used a bit of forest, thinking it would be releasing heat later in the day. It was not great lift but enough to keep me in the air and climbing. Checking my ground speed wile thermalling I thought, “Just stay in this, it could be my only chance, stay in it until it runs out.” So here I was this fat bumblebee trying to stay in the air ever so slowly going up but most importantly watching the kilometres tick by. Eventually the inevitable happened and the lift died, leaving me a glide of 14km with about 3500 feet above the ground. Possibly I thought going on glide I tried to use the trees hoping they would be releasing their heat, watching the kms tick over was agonising as at times I was thinking, “You’re going to make it,” then, “No I’m going to be a km or two short.” I remember pushing my feet so hard at the back of the harness that I got cramp, yelling, “Nooooo!” not only for the pain but the cramp made me lose some precious height. At about the 390 km mark I could see a line of trees which I was sure was going to see me one or two km short, there didn’t seem to be a path around them. A sense of disappointment went through my brain, I needed a thermal or some kind of lift. As I got closer the numbers started looking better and maybe, just maybe the

line of trees was far enough, I noticed a rough cleared patch of forest on the right which looked like I may be able to land in which was my backup plan if I didn’t get any lift.

As I went past 396 km I knew I had enough height to make it but the only way was to fly towards the cleared section where there was one good landable section but was it far enough? At 399 km I went past the leading edge of the trees, I knew I had the height to make the clearing and it looked far enough away…

Watching my instruments tick over to 400 km - words can’t describe the feeling I let out the biggest, “Yahooooooooo!” I could muster, followed by many many more and

lots and lots of fist pumps.

This racket is what probably got the kangaroos up and on the move as 5 of them sprung up and were bouncing straight towards me as I was coming in on final. My landing gear was out and stretching by doing the bicycle motion but the kangaroos were still bouncing along towards me. I didn’t understand how they couldn’t see me, only another yell got their attention and they went bouncing off away. Only later did I think they probably couldn’t see me as they were probably looking directly into the setting sun, a nice one step landing in about 5km head wind just made my day that more special.

It’s amazing how alert farmers are and how in tune they are to their country after taking photos and videos and trying to charge my phone as it went dead while I was taking a video. Then out of nowhere this ute came slowly towards me, now quickly packing up I was relieved and apprehensive at the same time. When the ute finally pulled up, the first words out of his mouth were, “What are you doing here?” Then in a more puzzled look looking straight in my eyes, “Why would you land here?”

I wasn’t quite sure how to take this but after explaining to the farmer the circumstances of how and why I would land in the boonies instead of beside the road he must of decided I wasn’t that crazy and kindly offered me and my glider a lift to the road. In the true nature of the farmers that we are so blessed with around the area both him and his daughter stayed with me until my ride arrived as we talked and solved the problems of the world I found out his brother or brother in law used to fly hang gliders in New Zealand when it first started in the 70s. What a small world it is. Annette, our wonderful retrieve driver arrived about two hours later, she had drove past due to losing phone reception but had phoned for help to find my location. Only then did the farmer and his daughter leave - what legends.

Annette I found had also been

Left; In the clearing getting ready to pack up

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Right; Daybreak on the way back

having an awesome adventure, she had finally made it to Roma after many attempts and also to a place where her mum had grown up. Unfortunately our adventures did not finish there. On our way to pick up Jacko at Charleville somehow we missed the turn-off or the quicker route to Charleville I was just starting to think it was taking quite some time we should be at Charleville, when we got phone coverage again and all these messages came through. Peter Burkitt`s was probably the best msg with a comment of, “You are not just happy flying 400km you want to drive a FAI triangle as well.”

Luckily this was just before the only turn-off back to Charleville so taking that we had a drive of another 76 km back to pick up Jacko. After dodging many many Kangaroos, we finally managed to find him just outside Scott’s motel. He had planned well to stay at Charleville.

We tried but couldn’t fill up with fuel in Charleville.

After picking up Jacko’s glider we were on our way home with Annette insisting she was driving.

After lots of stories on the way and about 100km down the road Jacko realised he had forgot his harness but arranged for Scott to get it.

After another fuel stop where Jacko and I kind of rolled out of the car for a stretch, we eventually arrived back at the Dalby club at 6am Sunday morning. Annette had just driven the whole 1200 km round trip what a legend.

After a photo Annette and Jacko quickly got on their way home as Jacko was supposed to be home by 6am. I drove to the motel hoping to get a few hours’ sleep but as I turned into the motel there was I sight that will stick in my mind for a long long time. Here were two hang glider pilots (Noel & Swindow) standing outside our room almost in their birthday suits (in only their jocks) clapping as I drove past.

How great is our small hang gliding community!

A huge thanks to Peter Schwenderling for letting me fly (test fly) his Laminar. iI made the flight that much more special as

anyone that knows me knows how much I love the Laminars.

Dalby and the Dalby club is and has always been a special place to me and after this flight it has pointed out that even though we know how amazing the flying is we may have been underselling it all this time.

There was three amazing flights done on that day; Scott Barrett 500km Declared Goal, the grate MJ or Jacko 500km Declared Goal, and one Kiwi/bumblebee 400.8km. All three flights done separately. How good is Dalby A huge congratulations to Scott Barrett and Jacko on making it to the declared goal at Charleville an amazing effort especially if you see what country they flew over to make it.

My stats for the flight Distance: 400.8 km Time in the air 9:08 hours Lowest I got during the flight without landing: 987 feet Best height: 9464 feet Accomplishments; my PB in distance and time in the air. Possibly longest flight by a Kiwi pilot and also possibly the first kiwi hang glider pilot to fly over 400 kilometers straight line.

Regrets: that my usual flying buddy wasn’t there so we could do our first 400km together.

Lessons learnt: (1) You need to put yourself in positions to take advantage of the opportunities when they present themselves.

(2) Try and make your own decisions when flying with other pilots and don’t be scared to back yourself even if you get it wrong you will learn something.

Right; 6am Sunday morning with Jacko

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7

Life on Full Bar after Para School

By Joey Allen

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fter realising just how hard it is to fly once you finish para school I thought I’d share a few hurdles that tested my drive and love for my newly found sport.

I was beyond fortunate to learn how to fly in the Wakatipu basin located on the South Island of New Zealand. As most of us do, I fell head over heels for the sport very quickly and very literally. I rapidly realised that once I surrendered myself to paragliding that it would be an all encompassing journey to a three dimensional world I could once only dream of. Learning how to fly with Infinity Paragliding School in Queenstown quickly proved itself to be one of the best decisions of my life. It has allowed me to build incredible memories, friendships and accomplish many personal goals to say the least.

The thought of flying alone and

Below; A classic gaggle

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Above; Flying Above Lake Annecy Right; Interlaken

out of the comfort zone of having an instructor in my ear excited me but also opened my eyes to how dangerous this endeavour can be.

It’s a swift and sudden progression from student pilot to PG2 qualified.

The natural progression of flying will lead you through a whole hosts of emotions, from having the safety net of one instructor telling you to run on launch and one guiding you to a safe landing within a blink of an eye you suddenly have to use pure initiative, judgement and knowledge to achieve flight.

I landed home from my travels after having about 30 airtime hours under my belt; feeling motivated but alone I pursued the wondering thought of - how do I get airborne here in the UK? I had a few obstacles to face and no real plan of how to overcome them. My first grounding problem

was not having a reserve or the dollars to buy one. I was penniless and jobless! I frustratingly came to terms that the UK was not going to be as easily accessible as New Zealand, yet the desire to be in the clouds is the very fuel to my flight, so I battled on.

The hurdles didn’t stop there. Not knowing any pilots in the UK, I was a sail without wind, not being a super sociable dude I didn’t know how to

Below; Back country France

approach other schools or pilots. I had so many questions - Does my kiwi licence work here? What are the best weather apps? Can I even fly here? The answer was yes, I just had to get off my ass and get out there!

After discovering Jess from Fly Sussex to help me pack my reserve (thank you) I was relieved to witness another school functioning like Infinity back in NZ and so close to home! Jess went on to aid me in my

reserve struggles along with pointing me in the direction of what was to be an classic day out flying.

One massively overlooked factor by me, was how different the terrain was comparatively to the hostile and remote mountains of NZ. I was told the cliffs were at their best conditions all year, yet there was no one at launch or in the sky upon my arrival. I sat, staring at the ocean and the cliffs with the gulls soaring high, reassessed the conditions yet my lessons of safety came flooding back and I was doubting myself.

So I contacted a friend of a friend on Facebook - Jack Pimblett who reconfirmed the ideal conditions, thus making my decision clearer, it was time to launch! All I had experienced to this point in my flying career was very light thermals, sleddys, heaps of ground handling and constant thoughts of being lost in the sky.

To that day I’d never flown with anything other than a radio, I now had the help of a vario to show me the lift, which was literally ground breaking. I landed that day from a 5-hour flight, feeling very proud and empowered it was clear what I had to do next, chase the skies across the channel!

I was so obsessed to the feeling of flight I ditched all my adult responsibilities and flew to Switzerland to pursue further airtime.

I flew with my friends Ella and Guy who showed me around some stunning locations one of which was Murren, the perfect site! After a quick double gondy ride and a few paces up hill we stood staring at Jungfrau Glacier, with a neighbouring jazzy hamlet on the side of a mountain.

A short 15 minute flight to the LZ allowed for some recapping of collapses and wing reorientation after some time out. If you’re lucky and the valley wind doesn’t hit; with the right conditions you can be sure to have a spectacular flight along the opposite ridge with exceptional XC flying.

I had only intended to stay for a few weeks but within this sport you will constantly meet many new people. I was introduced to Benjamin Gillespie who later on proved to be a close flying companion. I extended my trip and travelled all around France with Ben and some of his fellow Ozzie pals.

Feeling close to my old home in their presence we achieved many personal bests from reaching my highest base at 3700m, my furtherest XC and experiencing a befuddling amount of launch, flight and landing conditions. I have flown above the magnificent Mont Blanc, soared the ridges of La Forclaz, dodged the dark gloomy clouds of the Eiger, racked up 100 hours even conquered my first speed and mini wing flights.

Ben G and I ended our trip

Above; Launching from Grand Montet glacier - 3200m

Above; Base at Brevant

Below; Launching like 007 from the Schilthorn

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Above; Chamonix flight together with a very eye opening and educational SIV with Malin at FLYEO over Lux de Annecy. Despite all the opinions and deliberations of SIV online, if you are reading this and are unsure if an SIV is right for you, no one can tell you but yourself. If you are presented with the opportunity, consider it deeply and if not then don’t be afraid of that all too dangerous saying “go big or go home”. If you walk away from an SIV learning the basics of spirals, let that be the “big” you desired!

I come from a successful background of white water kayaking so the element of danger I ultimately deal with differently. Make your own choices, with the facts you can produce, not someone else’s ego.

I can’t recommend Malin enough for encouraging you to be the best pilot you can be.

So, if you’ve just come out of school or equally not flown for a few years, the first thing I would suggest doing is ground handling. It’s not just fun but it’s beyond educational! My tutors told me from the start how important it is and I listened. Find any bit of land you can and get that wing in the air and push your kiting skills beyond your drag point!

Despite all my burns and blisters I’m 100% better of for it and I would not have been able to commit to such a baptism of fire without feeling totally confident of my kiting skills.

Finding someone who understands your passion, whether or not they fly is another way to stay inspired, thank you Anton Belmonte. Together hunting down new ground handling sites we clocked up over 50 hours in just a few weeks!

Below; The Skycrackers

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Second of all, have someone to aspire to. For me, my mentor Ben French, an extremely talented pilot and coach has answered my endless feed of messages to help me remain safe and educated, (thanks Ben), you have no idea what taking me for my first lesson has allowed me to mentally achieve!

Thirdly, read, watch and study videos, forums and books like a hawk. My bookshelf has never been so heavy! A personal recommendation of mine would be, “Understanding Flying Weather” by Derek Piggot. This book is more related to sailplanes however none the less has some fantastic points on thermals, meteorology and topography that any pilot can learn from.

Finally, don’t be afraid to reach out to other pilots. I’m constantly learning that paragliding is an egoless sport and if correctly approached (especially tandems) most pilots are only too happy to have a yarn about anything airborne related. You are not alone; life is all about experiences the best ones are meant to be shared.

Above; Over Mont Blanc Glacier

Above; Ground handling at mine head Below; Glass off at La forclaz

40th NZ Hang Gliding Nationals

By Matt Barlow

- Mount Murchison 2018

N

ever a good way to start, but sorry everyone for not getting this article written sooner. All we can say is “onwards and upwards”, and we will do better this year!

Wow what a 40th Nationals it was!

Formally opened and closed by the only pilot to fly in the 1st AND 40th NZ Hang Gliding Nationals - the living legend himself Rod Stuart!

Records galore; over 60 pilots attended the week including 43 entered in the formal competition, with free flyers making up the remainder; 6 from 8 possible days flown; record for combined distance flown across all tasks (483km); record for longest task achieved (Shane McKay - 111km); and last but not least; record for number of Nationals won in a row (John Smith - 4). Congratulations John, you are

Above; Ollie from the UK showing good form an exceptional pilot and though we tried, you were simply too good for us once again. Look out next year though as we are getting better and there is also a rumour five-time NZ champion Dave Newton may come out of retirement to keep you honest as well! Congratulations too, to Adriel Kind for winning the Sports class.

Thanks to everyone for making the effort to attend, especially those who travelled from afar. The extra effort of the North Island pilots and our international pilots -Ollie Chitty (UK), Don Cramer (Aus), Evan Smith (CAN), Peter Seiss (Austria), was greatly appreciated. Whether you were a comp pilot, free flyer, official, family member, or friend,

Photo; Chris Hogan

the combined effect of everyone turning up en mass and spending the week flying, swimming, eating, and socialising was just such an awesome experience, and one that we won’t forget.

Special thanks goes to Mark Patton for scoring; Kevin McManus for Meet Director and making the trophies; Tom Knewstubb for launch marshalling; John Smith for task setting and weather briefs; Marney Holthouse for the mid-week BBQ; Steve Cronin for organising the T-shirts; Dennis Thorpe for loading

Right; Mark patton, scorer Below; rigging on mt murchison Photos; Chris Hogan

Below; Morning briefing at Riverside Camp, Murchison.

Note the beautiful swimming hole in the background Photo; chris hogan

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registrations, updating the website and taking photos during the week; Wills Wing, Airborne and Moyes for sponsoring day prizes and helping get Ollie here; Rod Stuart for the individual pilot and driver trophies; (the late) Murray Kerr for assisting with the prize giving, Maree for helping arrange thank you gifts;Â Alex Crawford for the live music at the prize giving; Shane McKay for all the yummy seafood and venison; and last but not least Chris Hogan for taking the most amazing 900+ photos during the week. If you would like to view these photos and the full results just go to http://nzhgnats. blogspot.com/p/2018-gallery.html.

An extra special thanks also goes out to David James who owns the land we passed through when accessing the track up Mount Murchison. It was a difficult time for David and his family so for us to be given permission to access the mountain under these circumstances was even more appreciated.Â

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Above; Evan Smith in action

Right; Gaggle working a thermal

Right; Convoy loaded and ready to head up

Below; Gliders rigged on Mt Murchison Photos; Chris Hogan

So that is about it for the article, other than to say after a pilot vote pretty much everyone present wanted to come back to Murchison in 2019 and do it all again – it was that good! This makes great sense as everyone is familiar with the sites and logistics and should fly all the better because of it. I guess that means we have no excuses then!

Thanks again for an amazing week everyone and we look forward to seeing you at the 2019 Nationals.

Spread the word and encourage those that weren’t there to come along this year.

Please now enjoy the following photos which show-case some of the highlights from the week.

Above; John hooking a nice thermal after take off Photo; Chris Hogan

Top Right; launching into thermic air Photo; Chris Hogan Right; Run Don run! First take off on the first day.

Photo; Chris Hogan

Below right; Unloading the 4x4s at take-off Photo; Chris Hogan

Launching on mt Murchison Photo; Chris Hogan

Bottom right; Goal boys task 4 (92.5km) John, Ollie, and porn stars Hagen and Evan Photo; Rod Stuart

Below; Organiser Shane - Who put that rock there? !#@! He did get off and won the longest task in NZ - 111.9km!

Bottom; checking out the conditions

Photos; Chris Hogan

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Some Different Tracks

Tim Brown reports on the successfull “Southern Regional 2018” paragliding competition held in the Wanaka vicinity from 27th – 30th December 2018

T

hiswasthethirdyear that Tim Brown and Louis Tapper have organised and run such a competition except that this year it was planned to run over four days so as to maximise point value.

Above; Task 1, flying north to Timaru Creek The aim of the competition was to encourage new pilots to xc competitions and to vary the Wanaka competition format for the ‘older blokes’!

Louis had been overseas until late November so the competition was notified at pretty late notice using the ‘Airtribune’ website. What a

great platform on which to organise competitions. There is a small cost incurred but this is money well spent!

As a result of recent access issues at Treble Cone, Tim and Louis endeavoured to investigate some new, or not often used sites, even if it meant some driving to those sites.

This involved a bit more preparation

as new waypoint files had to be established and landowners needed to be contacted and approval sought.

Flying around Omarama, Ohau and Mt Ida (near Naseby in Central Otago) was considered.

This turned out to be the right move as, at late notice, Treble Cone access became unavailable due to helicopter operations on some of the planned competition days.

Over 40 pilots registered for the competition and there were the usual late entrants at the first registration/ briefing. Most of the registration was done, or could be done online prior to the main registration morning, but this really didn’t happen! A ‘What’s App’ group was established using a QR code and this was to be the main form of communication.

Come the 27th about 30 pilots showed up, and at late notice with a lot of enthusiasm from Melanie Heather, it was decided to go to ‘Grandview’ on the ranges to the east of Lake Hawea. 4WD vehicles were essential due to the long, steep, grassy and rarely used access. Only

Right; Task 1 briefing at Grandview

18 A i r b o r n

Right; Task 1- View from Grandview

some vehicles managed to organise a driver or two (thanks Eric for helping us there).

Grandview is high (1395m/4570ft) and has a westerly outlook. It is great as an afternoon site which suited as it was a long, but interesting drive. A shuttle of retrieves for the vehicles became necessary for the end of the day. From the summit track a suitable launch was easily accessed.

With a light southwesterly and pretty much clear skies forecast the task committee set about creating something challenging as the pilots set up and waited. A 2: 30pm start was announced and the brief completed.

The first task was a multiple start gate race to goal over 60 km. There was no trouble staying aloft once airborne. Some pilots elected to wait and get high, others took the risk, stayed low and pushed out.

Glen Stevens set the pace. Louis Tapper pushed a little too hard and got flushed near TP1 to the south.

A bit of a wind set up low down and it became a little troublesome if you got low and in behind the ridges and spurs. Some of the more novice pilots elected to land. Staying high was the trick and that was not difficult to do.

Flying back to the north to Timaru Creek was fairly easy going then a back track to launch, out to Derek Divers’ house at Hawea Flat was a token flatlands turnpoint, then back

to the foothills to land by the cars in a strong-ish westerly, where we started the day.

Mark Hardman won the day on a UP Meru in a little over two hours.

Interestingly, Richard Castro, landed just short of goal but came well up on the ladder due to lead-out points.

Whilst Tim scored that evening, Mark and Louis were investigating weather forecasts at Kai’s in Wanaka. It was decided to go early to Mt Ida over near Naseby, about a two-hour drive from Wanaka. This site was last used for a competition in 2004. Little Mt Ida is easily accessed, once farmer approval was secured, and sits at the base of the spectacular Hawkdun Range at 1165m/3800ft.

With a strengthening NW forecast, a 68km downwind task was set which had an interesting multiple radii cylinders set as start, and first turn-points on the launch. Pilots then chose to follow a circuitous route around the foothills or venture out onto the flats to Kyeburn. Retrieves were going to be tricky as there was no cell coverage and limited radio coverage in the small gullies and ridges by the ranges.

It was a little rough at first but once again if you got high the conditions were fine and they mellowed throughout the day. Four pilots made goal at Kyeburn and everybody pitched in for the retrieves which

Above; Convergence forecast map for task 2 Below; Preparation for flying at Mt Ida

Above; Mark Hardman on the Hawkdun Range meant we were all able to congregate at the Wedderburn Pub for a well earned drink before setting off back to Wanaka.

Richard Castro won the day on an Enzo3, then Louis Tapper and Mark Hardman. Poor old Derek Divers landed a few hundred meters short of goal. What a great day. Another new track!

The next few days proved to be too windy to task and so an informal ‘how to fly a competition’ mentoring session was held in Wanaka and a BBQ was organised at Eely Park for the evening of the 30th where the competition was closed.

Mark Hardman topped the scores overall and Melanie Heather took the ladies prize. Jan Necas deserves merit as does Tom Kristufek who pulled up 43 and 74 places respectively on the NZPRS. Well done.

Another great competition with

two 900 point tasks and a lot of new faces to the competition scene in New Zealand keen for another try next year!

Above; Task 2 course map

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Old Woman likes Hang Gliding

Labour Weekend October 2018

By Rod Stuart

H

igh up in the Central Otago mountains lies the beautiful Old Woman Range and Garvie Mountains stretching 90kms from Cromwell to Lumsden.

Take off at Old Woman Hut ~ John climbing out in the background.

Old Woman hides behind the magnificent Remarkables that dominate the Queenstown mountain vistas. In between the two ranges lies the stunning Nevis Valley. New flying sites this big are a rare find.

Perhaps the long shallow glide to safe landings or the deep rutted 4x4 track to take-off at Old Woman Hut

have kept us away for many years.

But at Labour Weekend 2018 the Old Woman opened her bosom and turned on some superb flying for 15 keen hang glider pilots.

John called the meet on and kindly offered his house in Cromwell as a base for a friendly competition and a place to stay. Most stayed there

Photo; Marney Holthouse

with a few choosing Wanaka as base camp.

Day 1: ‘To the Moon’ With strong westerlies predicted

Left; Stunning views from the Old Woman Range looking out to the back side of the Remarkables. It is a long glide out to the Nevis valley - the green spot just to the right of the large rock was a nice place to land.

Note Robin’s favorite plant, ‘Spiked Spaniards’ in the foreground Below; John came up with creative names for the tasks along with some inspirational words. Kev and Rod were amused!

Photos; Rod Stuart

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A still shot from Pete Helliwell’s YouTube video ‘We Love Old Woman Range’ Magic Mountain lower take-off was called and a 35km task set with goal at Otematata.

John and Derek were the only pilots to fly. They struggled to climb much above the top in rough air and eventually made a downwind dive towards Omarama. The wind started howling on take-off and the rest of the pilots had a nerve wracking derig in 40 knot winds! Derek won the day with a 12.2km flight.

Day 2: ‘Tox and Rod like Old Woman’ A 55km task with two turn points set with goal at Alexandra’s Molyneux Park in the middle of town. John and Hagen made goal, Kev flew out to Clyde after nearly landing at Fraser Dam for a swim and Callum flew over to Cromwell in his Malibu.

The Old Woman gently lifted us to 8,800ft this day. Robyn had a close call… He slammed the brakes on while taking off and smashed through some large spiked Spaniards. His legs looked like he

had been playing football with a porcupine! His second attempt saw him lift off, get high and land at the first turn point.

Tom K went over the back low and landed hard deep down in Happy Valley, he triggered his EPIRB and was picked up by chopper and flown to Frankton hospital with a broken collar bone. Don, Sue, Julia and Tom M rescued his glider. ‘Love of his life’ Wendy from Kaeo exclaimed “You guys don’t do things by halves”. She had to drive to Frankton hospital to pick up Tom. Next day they visited some vineyards - luckily Tom still had one arm left to hold a wine glass!

Day 3: ‘Come on Old Woman’ A 62km task with two turn points and goal at Cromwell airfield was set.

Conditions were great but not as good as expected. John landed 1.5km from goal. After a long day in the harness Matt finally crossed over and landed near Bannockburn to come second. At one point Matt was at 8,500’ deep over the back of

the Remarkables. Derek made turn point one 20kms down range. Don and Sam proved their floaters glide well by landing safely in the valley below. Pete had an amazing flight and made a YouTube video called ‘We Love The Old Woman Range’ Check it out… www.youtube.com/ watch?v=L0BlZIvNLfg During Day 3 airtime I found myself at 7000’ high above the Old Woman Range and could see for miles in every direction. What a stunning place! What a privilege hang gliding in the mountains is! All of us had awesome air with most landing safely in the beautiful Nevis Valley.

Thank you to our drivers, Marney, Sue, Nataly, Wendy, Sharnie and

Flynn. Thank you John for your superb hospitality and for ‘striving to be seen to be a model pilot’. Sorry our Huntaway River taught your Rottweiler pup Jabba how to dig and bark! Thank you Marney for cooking two yummy meals for everyone.

Thank you Andrew for scoring and coming up with the following results: 1st John Smith with 748pts, 2nnd Hagen Bruggemann with 435 points and 3rd Matt Barlow with 415 points.

Full results are posted in The Hang Gliding Nationals blog - http:// nzhgnats.blogspot.com/ A most enjoyable weekend and a stunning new place to fly. Let’s do this one again!

Below; Happy pilots in the Nevis valley about to head home from a weekend in paradise. Left to right: Julia, Jordan, Ollie, Don, Sue, Natalie, Sam, Kev, Callum, Adriel, Marney.

Photo; Rod Stuart

Below; A beautiful landing area deep in the Nevis Valley.

Ollie, Rod Adriel and Kev landed together Photo; Rod Stuart

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Safety Checks Lightness 3 Paraglider harness Safety-related Product Update IMPORTANT: This safety notice only applies to the first Lightness 3s which were delivered in 2018. If your Lightness 3 has a white label which says “Lightness 3” on the base of the reserve handle your harness is not affected by this announcement. To check this you only have to carefully ease the handle base a little way out of its pocket on the harness.

The new XC light harness has attracted a lot of interest and we have already received much positive feedback. One flying school, however, has informed us that during reserve release tests in a harness hanger they found a configuration in which release is difficult – considerable effort is required. Even though we never encountered this configuration during development, with its extensive testing and countless simulations including in the

G-force trainer, we have decided to make a precautionary update to the reserve handle, so that it will even function with this rather unusual circumstance.

All Lightness 3s delivered from the beginning of 2019 already have the modified reserve handle on the inner container. If your reserve handle does not have the white label, as shown on the picture, it should be exchanged. In this case please contact your dealer. He will install a new inner container with the new handle. Please accept our apologies for this inconvenience.

IMPORTANT: Releasing a reserve from a harness can be a very complex topic. Many individual factors such as reserve volume, G-loading, pilot physical conformation (arm length), pull direction, pulling technique etc, can affect the process of a successful reserve throwing – from easy to difficult. Despite the fact that we devote a lot of time to this very subject when developing a new harness, and also make many thorough tests in the G-Force Trainer on every new development, it can be, as now with the Lightness 3, that a particular combination of circumstances can make a reserve release difficult. In every case we recommend that pilots, after installing their reserve in a harness for the first time (irrespective of brand or model), carry out their own test release. This is an essential part of the compatibility test.

- Advance 08.01.2019 Skyline Zero Drag/Zero Drag Racer Hang glider harness DHV 03-0112-01 In rescue equipment trial releases (gym training) increased forces were detected in several harnesses of this model. Affected harnesses had visible corrosion on the metal

grommets (presumably by the influence of salty air), for the loops of the cotter pins of the deployment handle.

Presumably as a result of corrosion, the loops hardened and caused increased forces in the triggering of the rescue from the outer container.

In consultation with the DHV, the manufacturer company Skyline Flight Gear GmbH & Co. issues the following safety notice: All holders of the affected harness will be asked to undergo inspection of the closure of the rescue equipment outer container. The metal eyelets through which the loops for the cotter pin of the trigger handle should be checked for corrosion (whitish deposits).

In addition, the loops must then be checked whether they are hardened, possibly swollen.

This review should be before the next flight with the affected harness.

Photo: The metal eyelet with the traces of corrosion and the hardened loop

Owners who make appropriate findings on their harness are encouraged to contact the manufacturer immediately for remedial action.

- Skyline Flight Gear GmbH & Co. KG Dorfstrasse 13 D-83236 Uebersee Germany Tel. +49 (86 42) - 5979-0 Fax: +49 (86 42) - 5979-79 info@skyline-flightgear.de www. skyline-flightgear.de 03/25/2013 Hang Glider Wires Inspection / Service Requirement: The cables which support the glider’s airframe are critical components of the glider’s structure, and must be maintained in an air worthy condition. It is a general practice in the design of aircraft structures to design to an ultimate strength of 1.5 times the highest expected load in normal service. Hang glider cables, like other structural components on the glider, are typically designed with a structural safety factor of only about 50% above the expected maximum load. No significant loss in cable strength can be tolerated.

A cable with even a single broken strand must be replaced before the glider is flown again. A cable which has been bent sharply enough to have taken a permanent set (will not lie flat in a straight line or smooth, large radius curve when all tension is removed) must also be replaced immediately. If it is not, subsequent tensioning and de-tensioning of the cable will induce fatigue, and the cable will fail. In tests we have conducted, a cable bent sharply one time to 90 degrees, and then loaded to the equivalent of a normal flight load 100 times (corresponding to 100 or fewer flights), failed at only 56% of its original strength. We have seen cases in the field where cables with no visible sign of damage failed in flight due to having been kinked and subsequently fatigued.

In one case the glider in question was only 18 months old.

A bottom side wire can commonly become kinked in this manner if the thimble is cocked on the tang when the crossbar is tensioned.

Some degree of fatigue due to repeated bending of cables is almost unavoidable in an aircraft that is assembled and disassembled

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with every flight. Bottom side wires are subject to the highest loads in flight, and are therefore the most critical. This is why we recommend that these wires be replaced annually, even if there is no known damage.

The requirement for immediate replacement of a cable known to have been bent or otherwise damaged supercedes this annual replacement requirement. All wires should be carefully preflighted before every flight, inspected in detail every six months, and replaced when there is any doubt about their condition.

Replacement cables should always be obtained from the factory, or, if not from the factory, from a reliable source known to use proper fabrication procedures. We have seen fatal accidents caused by improperly made cables that appeared to be perfectly OK on visual inspection, but failed in flight at a load much below the intended design strength of the cable.

- Wills Wing Technical Bulletin

Advice for Hang Glider and Paraglider Pilots Returning from Overseas Paraglider Clearance upon NZ Entry

For those intending travel from overseas into New Zealand with their paragliding equipment there are a few things that can be done to assist in the biosecurity clearance procedures that may have the potential to save on time for the passenger. First things first, please make sure that all paragliders and sporting equipment are declared. Undeclared items can lead to a $400 infringement.

Next, since it is difficult for biosecurity officers to determine the risk contained within paragliders (seeds, plant material, insects etc), it is common for the paraglider to be held back until all flights have been cleared, allowing staff to fully open the paraglider, lift up the wing and inspect/clean out all cells, vacuum any debris etc. This can lead to delays of hours on a busy day. My recommendations would be for owners intending to travel with their equipment, is to take a video (Of which a date stamp or information on the video will be required) of them cleaning their equipment before travel. This is ok a few days prior to travel so long as we can be confident/ assured the equipment has not been used since. Quarantine Officers may then have the ability to use alternative clearance options as opposed to a full inspection/clean of the item (s) thus potentially allowing a passenger to leave the airport in a matter of minutes as opposed to hours, and of course without a $400 infringement.

Of course we cannot guarantee that providing such a video would give such clearance every time as there are numerous factors involved in border clearance that cannot be predicted or anticipated. But I am confident that this will make a big difference to many. At the very least if we still decide to inspect a canopy it will for sure be a much quicker process if it is already clean.

I hope this information is of benefit, and please feel free to come back to me with any further questions.

- Denver Lee, Quarantine Officer MPI Biosecurity Division

Executive Repor ts NZHGPA Advisory Groups

Duncan’s Column

T

mazing how quickly the new issues of Airborn roll around and here we are with 2018 gone.

Hopefully you are all getting some great flying done, enjoying fine weather and staying safe.

It is safety that I would like to take this opportunity to talk with you all about.

The Exec team is acutely aware of the recent paragliding and speed flying deaths, which most of you will also be aware of, because they have been in the newspapers and on TV. What you won’t know are the statistics of just how high the serious injury rate is and we are not even sure that all of them are reported!

A number of the recent accidents have even occurred after the pilots had been spoken to by senior pilots and told to “cool it”, that they needed to fly with more margin, with a little more in reserve as they were pushing it too close to the line.

We – and I am using the word “We” in the broadest sense, have to solve this serious accident and death issue.

There is no glory in going out at the age of 28 or whatever, even if you are doing what you love – it is a tragedy for the pilots parents, for the pilot’s partner and for the pilot’s friends.

No one plans to die – but flying without margin, flying where you have no options if it goes wrong are sure fired ways to increase the likelihood of it happening.

We can help to solve it ourselves by making good decisions and flying with margin – because getting good at something involves making mistakes while you learn it, so let’s fly with that in mind. Make an allowance for Murphy and he won’t come calling!

We can help to solve it by calling out our mates when they are flying too hard, too low, with no margins and having close calls. Talk about it with the people you fly with and decide to have no tolerance for it. It is too painful being at the funerals – and you don’t need to be. Keep each other safe – that’s what a true mate would do!

We wouldn’t let a mate drive drunk and neither should we let them fly stupid – as the drink driving advert says to the one who exercises that care – LEGEND! Exec has some powers to promote and mandate change but neither do we want to create a situation where a number of us are being forced to act as NZHGPA Police. Actually we like to go flying

he NZHGPA set up two Advisory Groups last year, in order to get broader consultation and communication with our m e m b e r s , a n d t o p ro v i d e additional support and views to our Executive.

Initially the groups are focused on Training & Safety. Of high importance for both groups is to see a reduction in the number of serious accidents.

In the first six months in operation, the groups have made progress on a few activities. This includes things like: • Provided input to updates for the paragliding PG1 form to make it more relevant.

• Started a review of our PG2 exam format for appropriateness.

• Started a review of our Instructor Training.

• Provided input to the updated the site authorisations portion of the OPM. • Promoted safety messages and a giveaway of free tickets to the Freedom of Flight Film Festival for pilots who share their safety messages.

As we head into 2019, the groups have a lot of ideas of things to look at. This includes: • Preparing a recommendation for a speed flying rating.

• Reviewing our Instructor Training requirements.

• Reviewing our PG2 exam format.

• Working with the Exec on how best to implement Safety Management System across the Association.

• Reviewing our Accident & Incident Reporting system to see how we can improve our learning from our mishaps.

• Preparing a recommendation for a mentoring programme.

Part of what the groups are doing is looking at what happens internationally, Training Advisory Group members are: Carlos Palmer Eva Keim Grant Tatham Mark Hardman Phil Hystek Safety Advisory Group members are: Chris Streat Glen Ogilvie Grant Firth Michel Verhagen Owen Darby If you are interested in contributing your time and expertise, feel free to contact exec@nzhgpa.org.nz to get involved.

RIP Monster

Allan Garard better known as ‘Monster’ flew peacefully up to the fluffy white clouds in December 2018. He was one of New Zealands pioneer hang glider pilots and became New Zealand champion in 1981. Always a ball of energy and full of enthusiasm.

Condolences to family and friends from the foot launch flying community.

Site Notices Flying at Barnicoat For an early Christmas present for us pilots the new airspace around the Barnicoat site has generated vastly improved flying opportunities, eg. A 5,500 feet AMSL ceiling, unlimited boundaries north, east and south.

There is great XC potential from this launch site.

On Monday 24 December the new MOU was signed by the Club and ATC. However with this increased freedom comes certain responsibilities: 1. Be very aware of the “Blue Wall” CTR (Controlled Airspace) boundary to the west and then need to be at or below 1700 feet if crossing it to land at what is locally called Octopus.

2. ALL PILOTS MUST complete the new Induction process that replaces and supersedes any previous Induction and pass the online test available here: https://sites.google.com/a/nzhgpa.org.nz/nzhgpa/flying-sites/nelson.

3. Be aware that if you intend to land at Octopus/Ngawhatu Sports Field that the air corridor must be opened by phoning the ATC. Information on the launch noticeboard.

A properly set up radio is still a requirement.

4. If NOT intending to use the landing at Octopus/Ngawhatu that there is NO requirement to open airspace.

As a personal note I suggest you thoroughly read and digest the associated information before attempting the test and carefully consider each question. (I failed on my first attempt).

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as well and speaking to that point, it has been disappointing that in the last few months we have had a number of NZ based pilots flying without a licence – people who knew better – they have been spoken to, but they shouldn’t have needed to be. Expect a tougher attitude from us in future. We have the power to simply refer your case to CAA and they will prosecute or we can decline your NZHGPA membership which is a prerequisite to fly legally so would stop you flying in the future – all we ask is for you to follow the rules, play the game and none of that needs happen.

One thing that Exec has done recently is to move the motion that the NZHGPA will only continue to condone speed flying activity until the end of this membership year unless a satisfactory training and licensing syllabus is presented from within the speed flying community. So there is a challenge to the speed flying community – come together, sort out your differences and come up with a training and licensing system that we can run with and and we will move forward with that. Otherwise the NZHGPA is out of speed flying.

The death and injury toll is simply too high for us to continue with it the way things are.

Does Exec always get it right – the answer is no and here is an example and an apology.

The previous edition of Airborn had a photograph on the front cover of Brooke Whatnall doing infinity tumbles over Queenstown.

Now Brooke is a very skilled pilot but the photo made it look like his tumbles were being performed over built up Queenstown and so we shouldn’t have had that photo on the cover of Airborn. We have to be careful that we promote a consistent message and in hindsight that photo doesn’t meet that standard, especially with it being so close in location to where Ben Latham had his tragedy a year earlier. We have put a procedure in place to ensure that the cover photo is vetted before being signed off, so please accept my apologies with that one.

As I write this I am currently in Ahipara and have lots of flying ahead of me, so see you somewhere in the air. Fly high, fly far, fly acro, fly XC or just boat about as you enjoy this amazing sport we are privileged to enjoy but stay safe and be a LEGEND! - Duncan Macnab, President NZHGPA, December 2018

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23

Executive Repor ts

Selected Accident and Incident Summaries from 1 October 2018 to 31 December 2018 T

hese summaries are a selection taken from members reports supplied via the NZHGPA reporting system AIRS. More detail on these and other reports can be found here http://www.nzhgpa.org.nz/safety The information collected by AIRS is used only for safety purposes and is not used to apportion blame or responsibility. Please continue to report accidents and incidents for the benefit of all pilots. An incident is anything where luck is all that saved it from being an accident.

a higher descent rate and no flare.

Despite feet being in the pod my legs absorbed the impact and I was not hurt. No damage to glider although some effort to remove from matagouri bushes. It was just a heavy landing - but relied on forgiving terrain. Had it happened over cliffs the situation would have been different.

I fly more carefully next to cliffs.

The situation arose when doing a 360 fairly close to terrain - I gave it too much of a squeeze.

The glider is also starting to get worn out so with porosity and line shrinkage will be closer to stall point. It was a good reminder to keep an airspeed margin while flying.”

Date Region Type

Near miss or minor incident, Local recreation Paraglider 02/12/2018 Southern Approach to landing. “We were flying two local pilots over the Skyline Gondola and misjudged a potential storm coming rather more quickly than expected. When we took off there were light conditions at launch, no strong wind noticeable, no wind on the lake, etc. As we saw some cumulonimbus coming over the top of Ben Lomond we decided to quickly take off before a potential threat could come, truth was that a few minutes after we were airborne, we were flying over 55kph gusts, which made us decide on undesired but safer landing options. Strong gusts were coming through the gorge/valley.“

Aircraft

03/10/2018 Auckland, North Head.

Near miss or minor incident Paraglider Paraglider flying at north head in a northerly wind, took off to the north and turned to the right, I ended up travelling too far to the east around the head and, when I turned to go back I could not make any head way, I landed in a small area on the eastern side of the headland near the water but couldn’t deflate my wing before I started to get pulled back towards the rocks.

I quickly relaunched to ‘hop’ past the rocks and oysters behind me and land in the sand and shin deep water on the other side.

03/10/2018 Auckland, Army Bay. Serious accident, Local recreation Paraglider Approach to landing. “At my local site, Army Bay, North, had great flight on standard wing in the morning. In the afternoon the wind had freshened up and I wanted to practise on my ‘miniwing’ (19m). It was low tide and safe to land in front of cliff. I just used a basic mountain harness, without speedbar connected or back protector (never again!). Ultimately, got blown high, then could not penetrate, then went to the wrong part of the cliff and tried to get down and forward, wing dived forward more than anticipated when going from wind into rotor, brakes were not as effective as expected, swung under the wing too low, things were then happening very fast, for PLT I only got feet together, knees together, knees bent, impact! Squat straight down. About 10m behind cliff edge at top landing site. Severe pain lower back. Crawled forward to lay flat and rolled onto my back (thanks for recent First Aid course!). Forced myself to breath, called ambulance. Wiggled toes and fingers happily and in agony.

The problem was several poor decisions by myself: When drifting back and pulling A’s 100%, even to 50% collapses, I felt rushed and missed two important considerations: One, try the speed system of the wing, I did not even think of it as it was not connected to a stirrup, and two, just turn left instead of right, where I most likely could have come lower and penetrated. I just turned right out of habit (mind clouded by panic), because it is the top landing and bottom landing site. Then when over the landing site, I still could not penetrate and did steep turns to speed up, increase wing loading and get down to try to penetrate or land. I did not consider a controlled crash in bushes or going downwind over flax and soft ground. My mind was set on landing, not crashing.

Wind direction was 20 degrees further left than usual, resulting in more lift.”

10/12/2018 Southern Near miss or minor incident, Instruction Paraglider “Student pilot was on his first high flight off of rocky gully. He was being brought in for his landing approach. He made his turn on final and was instructed to begin getting out of his harness to prepare for landing. At this time he started to drift off course to the right towards Mount Smiley.

There is a small group of pine trees just south of Smiley. Pilot was instructed to turn the glider to the left to avoid the trees. But he did not react to the commands given to him. He landed his glider in this small group of trees. When I got over to him the pilot was still in the harness and on the ground with the middle of the wing hung up in the trees. He was uninjured and the glider had no damage. He stated that he could not see the trees for he had taken off his eye glasses that he needs to see because they were giving him a headache.”

21/12/2018 Canterbury Serious Accident, Instruction. Landing Paraglider “The student pilot had done around 55 flights, 7 hours plus and was near completing PG2. Pilot and instructor checked out the landing area prior to flight, discussed the flight plan and landing approach,. We then proceded with a hike to the top. At the top there was 10-15 km wind at launch. At ground level it was calm. The pilot allowed himself to drift forward off his base line at the landing area. That meant he had to do low level turns to lose height. His last turn into wind was too sharp and combined with a flare that was too late he landed hard on his butt.”

Injuries: Serious, Lower spine, fractured vertebra, lower.

04/10/2018 Southern, Coronet Peak Minor incident Paraglider Launch. “Inflated my wing to take off at the top of Greengates chair lift on Coronet peak. Wind blew me back toward the wooden post at the top of the NW launch. My wing became stuck over the post.”

Damage: Significant ( glider requires repair before flying)

22/12/2018 Taranaki Near miss or minor incident Paraglider “Pilot flying along a 200 foot high coastal ridge in smooth 11 knot winds, flew into rotor turbulence, attempting to round a promontory while only 10 feet above the cliff top. Glider’s left wing collapsed and the pilot used excessive right brake to counter steer. This initiated a full stall that the pilot maintained to avoid contacting the vertical cliff face. Descent rate was very slow, allowing a safe landing on a sloping plateau 80 feet above beach.

I was flying above and behind the pilot, so after witnessing the incident landed above the pilot and called 111. The Fire Service safely retrieved him from the accident scene, using expert climbers and ropes.”

14/10/2018 Southern, Queenstown Serious Injury accident Speed Wing “Exited spiral/B-roll close to the ground facing the car park, I made a quick turn to the centre of the rugby field which put me in another dive toward the ground. Too low to recover.”

Injuries: Serious, Lower limbs, Lower spine.

22/12/18 Hawkes BayTe Mata Peak Near miss or minor incident Paraglider While trying to launch in strong wind conditions, 20km gusting 30km. Intending to wait for a lull, inflated and was picked up very quickly, flying over the hill still facing backwards with hands fully up. Then flew out of the lift and descended from about 6m landing safely.

15/10/2018 Southern, Isthmus Peak. Fatality Speed Wing Pilot launched from Isthmus Peak towards Lake Hawea. Information received from witnesses indicates he clipped the ground shortly after launch.

Conditions: whitecapping strong on the lakes and very windy on the summit that morning. South west and leeside where the pilot launched and planned on flying. Conditions were observed about an hour after the accident.

This accident is under investigation by CAA and NZ Police. Pilot was not trained or licenced.

13/11/2018 Southern Near miss or minor incident, Landing Paraglider Pilot was flying the Skyline Gondola in Queenstown. As he was on the final approach from the east landing toward the west he approached with big ears in as the air was fairly turbulent/ thermic. As he released the big ears within the final 50-100 metres he encountered sinking air which did not give him enough height to clear the trees on the edge of the recreation ground.

This left him dropping into a willow tree, where fortunately his lines reached full extension just above the ground and he was able to unclip and walk away.

25/11/2018 Southern Near miss or minor incident, Reserve repack “Upon inspection of a reserve setup, as part of an annual repack, the maillons connecting the reserve to the harness were found to be completely undone.

The reserve and harness had been purchased overseas as a package, and had been setup by a French school/shop.

This is the second time I have come across a reserve where the maillon has been found open during a repack.”

17/11/2018 Southern Near miss or minor incident, Cross country Paraglider “In a right hand turn near the slope, I stalled the right (inside) wingtip. I felt it happening but decided it was best to keep it stalled and face land as I was, rather than have it surge. I was oriented slightly towards the slope but turning away for a good face landing angle, albeit with

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Reporting Dangerous Drone Activity Drones must give way to all manned aircraft which includes Hang Gliders and Paragliders.

Once a Drone Operator spots an aircraft the Drone must land immediately.

If you see Drone Activity at or around the launch or landing area prior to flying, common sense prevails and talk to the drone operator about your flying plans.

If you have a near miss or an accident with a drone or you think someone is flying a drone contrary to the rules found at www.airshare.co.nz/rules then take the following action: If the drone presents an immediate danger, call 111 and ask for the Police.

To report other safety or security concerns, please email the Authority: Email: isi@caa.govt. nz or telephone: Freephone 0508 4 SAFETY (0508 472 338) Answered during office hours (voicemail after hours) It is important to help CAA and collate as much information as possible of the incident: • Date, time and location of the event • Your contact details • Identifying details of the drone operator • Name and address of drone operator (where known) • Car registration plate number and identifying details • A photograph or detailed description of the person flying the drone and the drone If you make a report or there is an incident contact your Club Safety Officer ASAP.

EVENTS 2019 NZ Hang Gliding Nationals

2019 NZ Paragliding Nationals

Murchison Sat 26 Jan - Sat 2 Feb As the 2018 Nationals were such a success at Murchison, Matt Barlow and Shane Mackay are organising the comp again, at the same location.

Base will be at the same campsite.

Dates will be: Practice Days: 24, 25 Jan 2019 Competition: Sat 26 Jan to Sat 2 Feb with Sun 3 Feb being a reserve day.

Let’s hope the weather will be as great as it was last summer!

Registration for 2019 is now open details are at; http://nzhgnats.blogspot. com/p/2019-pilot-registration.html.

The earlybird fee is $185 up till Dec 31st; $200 thereafter. A minimum nonrefundable deposit of $75 is required Pilots at Mt Murchison at 2018 Nationals Photo: Chris Hogan for registration.

There won’t be an official pre-comp XC clinic this time.

Accommodation & Maps links are the same as last year (see above web address).

Everyone stayed at Riverside - plenty of room & great facilities. It’s the competition headquarters.

Start making wishes for the weather. Last year was exceptional... we hope not.

Omarama Hang Gliding Cross Country Classic

Tim Brown launching at Takaka Nelson 2019 Hamish Barker, supported by the Tasman Club, is directing and conducting the New Zealand National Paragliding competition to be held in Nelson from the 3rd February - 9th February, 2019.

This will be an FAI Cat2 sanctioned event and is open to just 80 pilots.

On site registration, compulsory briefing and a practice day are on the 2nd February.

Nelson is a fantastic and spectacular place to fly. The primary launches are at: Barnicoat, Takaka, Inwoods Lookout, Mt Murchison, Havelock, Canvastown, Tapawera and Sherry River.

There is a wealth of extra curricula activities for those non-flying days and for families.

Cost: $200 prior to 1st December 2018 and $225 there-after.

Stay tuned to Airtribune for online registration and further information https://airtribune. com/2019-new-zealand-pg-nationals/info

Interislander Ferry Discounted Rates for NZHGPA Members

Saturday 2 February to Sunday 10 February 2019

O

n as usual, this summer during the week of Waitangi Day. This time of year isn’t the hottest in Omarama but it gets the most flying days with least strong winds and turbulence so the most cross country flying opportunities.

It can be hot, maybe windy and sometimes rough (thermals up to 3000 fpm+) but the competition format is stress free. Fly the whole week, just the weekends or only the best days. It’s up to you, just your best 3 flights count. Unlike in conventional comps, one unlucky flight won’t ruin your score.

Flying will be spectacular; expect to get 9 or 10,000ft and an easy 20km to over 100km depending on your skill and luck.

You’ll probably beat your Personal Best; height, distance etc, and move up the XC Champs table, or maybe fly to Mt Cook!

The track up Magic Mountain is limited to 4WDs with low ratio gearing for safe descents.

The track was bulldozed last season so should still be in good order. To help maintain this track we ask everyone for a donation but the competition is free.

THE MISSION; Fly open distance, in any direction from the Omarama area that you choose. Enter any number of flights. Take any days off, just your best 3 flights get scored.

Flights can be entered each evening at the cottage next door to Omarama Hotel or at the camping area entry boards.

There’s no entry fee, so no whining is allowed.

The rules are few and pilots are responsible for making sure all their group are safe each day.

Required; Advanced rating with mountain/ XC skills. Pilots with lower skill ratings may fly only if under supervision and if conditions are suitable. Printed site briefings are available.

This is mountain high desert country so

High at Ohau, on the way to Mt Cook (centre distance) Photo: Bill Degen

essential equipment is; a 2.5m rope for securing gliders during dust devils, radio, cellphone, maps, GPS, water, survival gear (days can be over 30°C with frosts at night), basebar wheels, spare uprights, glider fully checked and a repacked chute. An Emergency Locator Transmitter is a good idea.

A satellite messenger such as a Spot is recommended for pickups as phone reception is often not possible. An extra sim card for the other phone network is a cheap ($10) and easy way to maximise coverage in the area.

Airtribune is a free tracker for Android cellphones that can allow your pickup crew to follow you (within cell coverage).

Bring a brave but careful 4WD driver, and a spade for clearing slips off the access road and some pickups.

Or bring your aerotow or car tow set-up.

Airband radio (118.6 Mhz) is mandatory for flying North of Ohau if you want to head for Mt Cook.

All types of accommodation are available; free camping, cabins, caravans, motels and luxury hotels. The gliding airfield campground welcomes hang glider pilots and has weather briefings at 10am each day. There’s hot pools in Omarama for after flying too.

For more information, site briefings, maps etc; contact Bill Degen aero@xtra.co.nz or check www.hgpg.co.nz for updates

I am delighted to announce that Interislander Ferries are proud to support the NZHGPA for another year to cover the period up to 15 December 2019.

NZHGPA members can enjoy special discounted Ferry Rates, not just for the HG & PG National Competitions (which is during peak travel season), but also throughout the whole of 2019 to cover travel to and from Regional Competitions or simply for NZHGPA members to travel the rest of the year on holiday - See attached Price List.

A booking is made direct by individuals with Interislander by simply quoting the NZHGPA Membership Booking reference code number: FA5650 and showing their NZHGPA Membership card at the check in.

Group Booking instructions: Group Booking conditions and instructions for members are: • Each reservation must be made direct with Interislander – • www.interislander.co.nz/Booking/Group-Bookings.aspx • Enter special Code number FA5650 in Group Code Box • Every reservation will be given an expiry/payment date, required to be paid in full by that date • Space is subject to availability at the time of the booking request • All bookings for vehicles over 3.5 tonne need to be made by contacting Commercial Vehicles on 0800 660-670. Price advised at time of booking.

• Membership card is to be shown at check in or retail fares will be charged. Membership card is to be in the name of the person travelling.

• Fares valid for travel through to 15 December 2019 • Prices are subject to change with notification - Nick Taber

NZ Overseas Paragliding Distance Record James Oroc did it again on 14 November. He emailed, “I smashed my NZ Open record again here in Brazil yesterday ...386 km ... I had 400 but ran out of LZ’s when I hit the Amazon jungle.”

We should have his report in the next issue.

NZ Competition Organiser’s Responsibilities It is the Comp Organiser’s responsibility to; 1. Obtain a list of current members from the NZHGPA Administrator.

2. Ensure every competition entrant is a current NZHGPA member.

3. Sign up any non-members.

Any competitors found to be non-members will be listed and scored as ‘disqualified’.

A

i r b o r n

25

N Ne eww ZZeeaallaa nn dd C rC ro os ss s - -CCoouunntt rr yy

ing PP aa rr aagglli idding CC hh aa mmpip ioons n sh hips ips

April 1st - March 31st. Sponsored by Wings & Waves

April 1st 2018 to March 31st 2019. Top scores at 18 January 2019 Pilot, flight date/time

Site

Distance

Points

Total

Pilot, flight date/time

622.05 p.

Mark Macdonald [Brick] 151.91 p.

1 02.04.18 12:5 Kaimai 44.00 km 55.00 p.

2 28.12.18 15:04 Hospital Hill 40.78 km 50.98 p.

3 12.01.19 11:35 Treble Cone 45.93 km 45.93 p.

Ross Gallagher [Redwings] 151.00 p.

1 16.12.18 12:40 Kaimai 63.65 km 63.65 p.

2 17.11.18 12:04 Kaimai 35.90 km 53.85 p.

3 22.10.18 13:17 Paeroas 26.80 km 33.50 p.

Shaun Gilbert [q2qxc] 143.80 p.

1 22.10.18 13:53 Te Mata 58.96 km 73.70 p.

2 28.12.18 15:33 Te Mata 29.27 km 36.59 p.

3 17.11.18 11:57 Te Mata Peak 26.81 km 33.51 p.

Michal Talavasek [Tala] 136.55 p.

1 16.12.18 13:13 Mt. Cheeseman 29.65 km 59.30 p.

2 07.10.18 12:36 Mt. Cheeseman 42.61 km 42.61 p.

3 24.12.18 13:02 ?

34.64 km 34.64 p.

Tim Brown [timbrown] 132.22 p.

1 27.12.18 14:18 Grandview 59.72 km 59.72 p.

2 23.12.18 13:39 Coronet Peak 40.52 km 50.65 p.

3 15.12.18 13:04 Coronet Peak 17.48 km 21.85 p.

Jeff Ripley [Jeff-Ripley] 128.50 p.

1 01.04.18 13:21 Kaimai 50.44 km 63.04 p.

2 21.10.18 13:08 Moirs Hill 26.42 km 33.03 p.

3 22.10.18 13:17 Moirs Hill 32.43 km 32.43 p.

Rob Gillard [rob_gillard] 127.66 p.

1 02.04.18 12:54 Kaimai 45.51 km 56.89 p.

2 12.01.19 11:29 Treble Cone 38.16 km 38.16 p.

3 10.11.18 15:26 Kaimai 21.74 km 32.61 p.

Bradley Franks [BradleyFranks] 126.32 p.

1 10.11.18 12:41 Glenorchy 55.92 km 55.92 p.

2 27.12.18 14:16 Grandview 27.83 km 41.75 p.

3 28.12.18 12:58 Little Mt Ida 19.10 km 28.65 p.

Samuel Leathwick [Stealthwick] 125.79 p.

1 21.11.18 11:21 Treble Cone 41.51 km 62.27 p.

2 17.11.18 12:15 Kaimai 31.94 km 31.94 p.

3 27.11.18 12:59 Treble Cone 15.79 km 31.58 p.

Bruce Vickerman [Bruce.V] 124.19 p.

1 18.05.18 15:08 Mathies 30.59 km 45.87 p.

2 02.04.18 13:01 Kaimai 34.18 km 42.73 p.

3 17.11.18 12:17 Kaimai 35.59 km 35.59 p.

Sam Hamill [Samhamillbgd] 121.48 p.

1 28.12.18 11:17 Barnicoat 55.61 km 0.00 p.

2 09.01.19 11:27 Barnicoat 31.88 km 39.85 p.

3 15.01.19 12:21 Barnicoat 12.12 km 12.12 p.

Paul Monigatti [paulmonigatti] 115.34 p.

1 07.10.18 11:31 Mt. Cheeseman 36.06 km 72.12 p.

2 15.09.18 13:19 Mt Plenty 22.84 km 22.84 p.

3 10.09.18 14:45 Mt Plenty 20.38 km 20.38 p.

Thomas Serri [tomoss] 109.96 p.

1 23.12.18 11:46 Treble Cone 44.57 km 44.57 p.

2 08.01.19 11:19 Treble Cone 41.24 km 41.24 p.

3 15.12.18 12:56 Treble Cone 19.32 km 24.15 p.

Tomas Kristufek [ToMAC.fly]

103.16 p.

1 28.12.18 14:03 ?

53.35 km 53.35 p.

2 27.12.18 14:31 ?

49.81 km 49.81 p.

Claus Petry [ClausPetry] 102.31 p.

1 19.09.18 12:33 Inwoods 61.64 km 61.64 p.

2 10.09.18 13:23 Inwoods 31.28 km 31.28 p.

3 08.09.18 12:34 Takaka Hill 9.39 km 9.39 p.

Emlyn Revell-Nash [thegremlin] 99.70 p.

1 30.12.18 12:50 Moirs Hill 27.88 km 34.84 p.

2 08.10.18 12:08 Moirs Hill 26.17 km 32.71 p.

3 17.11.18 12:29 Kaimai 32.15 km 32.15 p.

Kat West [katwest]♀ 97.73 p.

1 15.12.18 12:29 Queensberry 35.53 km 53.30 p.

2 23.12.18 12:07 Treble Cone 21.23 km 26.55 p.

3 16.12.18 12:54 Treble Cone 17.88 km 17.88 p.

Stepan Kubecek [KubecekStepan] 97.68 p.

1 27.12.18 12:51 ?

35.61 km 53.42 p.

2 22.12.18 14:15 ?

11.52 km 23.04 p.

3 08.12.18 13:09 ?

10.61 km 21.22 p.

Aaron Chesterman [azzasurfs] 94.14 p.

483.73 p.

428.46 p.

396.37 p.

364.80 p.

331.43 p.

291.90 p.

270.07 p.

269.49 p.

261.52 p.

245.97 p.

244.28 p.

242.48 p.

224.40 p.

197.76 p.

189.61 p.

189.13 p.

159.70 p.

Site

Distance

Points

Total

The online web site for scoring and uploading your track logs is now XContest at: https://www.xcontest.org/newzealand/ranking-xc-championship/

26 A i r b o r n

Photo: Ross Gray

Louis Tapper [yakernz] 1 15.12.18 11:18 Treble Cone 156.23 km 312.46 p.

2 23.12.18 11:06 Treble Cone 168.13 km 168.13 p.

3 14.11.18 12:01 Mt Robert 113.17 km 141.46 p.

David Watson [davidwatson] 1 23.12.18 11:36 Mt Alfred...

120.77 km 241.54 p.

2 15.12.18 12:09 Roys Peak 95.25 km 190.50 p.

3 16.12.18 11:26 Cardrona 41.35 km 51.69 p.

Fraser Monteith [Icemaneli186] 1 21.10.18 11:27 Mt. Cheeseman 89.78 km 179.56 p.

2 13.11.18 10:35 Roys Peak 129.84 km 129.84 p.

3 07.10.18 11:28 Mt. Cheeseman 59.53 km 119.06 p.

Matthew Thom [Mattyt] 1 15.12.18 11:18 Treble Cone 104.71 km 209.42 p.

2 08.01.19 13:25 Treble Cone 66.49 km 99.74 p.

3 16.12.18 11:29 Cardrona 87.21 km 87.21 p.

Bryan Moore [bryanmoore] 1 13.11.18 12:44 Mt Maude 110.12 km 220.24 p.

2 28.11.18 11:07 Roys Peak 75.61 km 113.42 p.

3 21.09.18 15:17 Pakituhi 20.76 km 31.14 p.

Glen Stevens [Glen_Stevens]

1 23.12.18 11:21 Queensberry 159.43 km 159.43 p.

2 18.10.18 15:32 Pakituhi 45.97 km 91.94 p.

3 27.12.18 14:16 Grandview 53.37 km 80.06 p.

Ben Kellett [benjamin.kellett] 1 23.11.18 13:18 Roy’s Peak 91.58 km 114.48 p.

2 23.12.18 13:08 Sugarloaf...

88.75 km 88.75 p.

3 13.11.18 13:30 Mt Juda 88.67 km 88.67 p.

Nicolas Sand [Nicosan] 1 15.12.18 13:41 Pakituhi 82.25 km 102.81 p.

2 23.12.18 11:59 Treble Cone 89.31 km 89.30 p.

3 13.11.18 13:24 Teds spur 77.96 km 77.96 p.

Aaron Ford [AaronF] 1 15.12.18 12:29 Coronet Peak 112.83 km 141.04 p.

2 10.11.18 12:45 Glenorchy 88.55 km 88.55 p.

3 23.12.18 11:34 Treble Cone 39.90 km 39.90 p.

Mark Hardman [mhardman]

1 15.12.18 13:15 Treble Cone 56.35 km 112.70 p.

2 23.11.18 11:15 Treble Cone 88.96 km 88.96 p.

3 27.12.18 14:24 Grandview 59.86 km 59.86 p.

Rob Hughes-Games [robhughes-games] 1 23.12.18 12:08 Treble Cone 88.53 km 0.00 p.

2 28.12.18 14:00 ?

46.91 km 46.91 p.

3 15.09.18 13:42 Mt Studholme 22.00 km 22.00 p.

Nick Neynens [nneynens] 1 13.11.18 14:00 ?

69.89 km 87.36 p.

2 23.11.18 12:08 ?

65.62 km 82.03 p.

3 14.11.18 11:35 Mount Bre...

59.91 km 74.89 p.

Nick Taber [MACPARANZ] 1 14.11.18 12:01 Mt Robert 103.34 km 103.34 p.

2 12.01.19 13:32 Mt. Murch...

75.79 km 94.74 p.

3 09.01.19 11:53 Barnicoat 35.52 km 44.40 p.

Doug Patterson [dougpatterson] 1 28.11.18 12:16 Treble Cone 44.40 km 88.80 p.

2 15.12.18 12:51 Treble Cone 41.97 km 83.94 p.

3 24.12.18 14:50 Treble Cone 34.44 km 51.66 p.

Tim Notman [TNotman] 1 22.09.18 12:33 Bealey Spur 67.40 km 67.40 p.

2 07.10.18 11:30 Mt. Cheeseman 66.23 km 66.23 p.

3 21.10.18 11:26 Mt. Cheeseman 64.13 km 64.13 p.

Stew Karstens [nelpara] 1 09.09.18 12:13 Inwoods 51.59 km 77.39 p.

2 19.09.18 12:25 Inwoods 60.29 km 60.29 p.

3 10.09.18 13:27 Inwoods 51.93 km 51.93 p.

Michal Karnik [miketech] 1 10.11.18 12:41 Glenorchy 90.48 km 90.48 p.

2 13.11.18 13:29 Glenorchy 70.69 km 70.69 p.

3 22.10.18 12:02 Mount Brewster 22.37 km 27.96 p.

Jan Necas [Pompidy] 1 21.10.18 11:40 Mt. Cheeseman 63.42 km 63.42 p.

2 27.12.18 14:31 Grandview 59.83 km 59.83 p.

3 28.12.18 12:56 Little Mt Ida 36.45 km 36.45 p.

How prepared are you?

A

s paraglider pilots we must take lessons from the incidents without notable outcomes.

Never ignoring a close call and being humble about it when it does. Avoiding accidents takes Progression, Currency, Respect and a thirst for Learning.

Sadly, as human beings we can make mistakes and even when we think we are flying within our skill level there is always that small chance of the unforeseeable/ unthinkable. As I progressed in my paragliding it became more obvious to me that accidents do happen, and it can be so important to have somebody on scene who is trained and prepared for what happens next.

I have kept my first aid current since I was about 17 but workplace first aid is only so helpful in a serious accident. 7 years ago, I got my PHEC certification (Pre-Hospital Emergency Care) with Peak Safety and what I took away from this level of training has been worth every dollar that I have put into it.

I have since been on scene for too many major accidents across many different flying disciplines. I hope that’s due to me flying a lot vs me just being there.

I wanted to share some of the things that I have learnt along the way.

As a first responder always stay calm, if you can’t manage yourself you can’t manage a patient. Spinal injuries are common with major accidents and as we all know they aren’t to be messed with, it often takes a trained first aider quite a bit to clear a patient of a spinal injury.

I was on scene for a pilot who had attempted a spiral landing; he exited too early, pitched up and hit hard with his feet up. I kept him

By Blake Round

still, knowing that his impact had the mechanics for a spinal injury.

Without moving him I checked his spine for point tenderness and did a full body assessment. He had a bit of lower back pain but nothing so bad. He felt like he could have easily got up.

My training kicked in and I advised him that the best thing we could do was to treat it as spinal and get him to hospital to get checked out, we did exactly that. I had to convince the ambulance crew to treat it as spinal, he got to hospital where they confirmed he had broken his lower back.

Time is always a factor at an accident site; the sooner a good assessment can be made the better.

Being able to pass that information over well to emergency services can be paramount, this information dictates what help is on its way.

Using a bit of the right lingo goes a long way, trust me.

Having an Emergency Locator Beacon can be huge. I have watched a rescue helicopter waste 30+ minutes flying around trying to find a pilot who had broken his leg on a mountain side. There are lots of options between locator beacons; some more expensive than others, but cost is no excuse. Buying a PLB can currently cost as little as $330 and that one has a battery and warranty that lasts 10 years with no added subscription. That’s $33 per year!

Maybe you have no reception where you are or you’re in a place that is difficult to explain an exact location, let’s face it in New Zealand both those things can be common.

Regardless, when you use a PLB in

an emergency it gets help faster and can save lives.

Polytrauma is somebody who has suffered multiple traumatic injuries.

Something to always remember is that somebody with a serious head injury could have any number of injuries that the person is unaware of.

I have been with a patient who had multiple broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken back and a major head injury. The only thing he was telling us was; “I was flying and why am I here?”

Carry a hook knife when you fly. I have listened to this debate of what’s the point for years, and it wasn’t

until last year I was on scene for serious accident where the pilot was so wrapped in lines and his glider that we couldn’t get to much more than his head without a knife, so we couldn’t do much until we got one!

I have written this with the intention to simply get you thinking about how prepared you are? We should always fly prepared and hope that you never need it.

If you are thinking about improving your skills in first aid and emergency management check out www. peaksafety.co.nz these guys run monthly PHEC courses and are highly recommended.

Fly High! Love What You Do! Be Safe and Look After Each other!

Above; Some equipment that can help in an emergency

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i r b o r n

27

N Ne eww ZZeeaa ll aa nn dd C rC ro os ss s - -CCoouunntt rr yy

HHAA NN GG gglli idding i ng CC hh aa mmpip ioons n sh hips ips

January 1st to December 31st

H

ere we are in January, following the worst December for cross country that we’ve seen for a while.

The scoreboard hasn’t changed a lot, except John got another big one in and Tom Mulder got several flights entered too. Final entry date is not quite over at print time so this is a preliminary result but i think its safe to congratulate John on his win for 2018.

The 2019 XC Champs has started and off to a great start with Brian Russel’s 100km flight from Mt Murchison.

Magic Mountain hasn’t turned it on much yet this year but it’s early days.

Airtribune Live tracking For those who want quicker retrieves, get the Airtribune App for your Android smartphone. Airtribune will track your flight and let your retrieve driver look you up on their smartphone to see exactly where you are. It is limited to cell coverage but apparently satellite trackers like Spot work with it too. It’s easy on the phone battery but it still pays to have a backup battery as well.

Note that Airtribune doesn’t calculate FAI Open Distance from the 2 furtherest points of your flight. You still need a tracklog for that as explained in the entry section.

The Apple IOS version is hasn’t been updated for a few years and currently only works at Airtribune contests.

Airtribune was recently sold to a new owner so hopefully an update will come.

ONLINE RESULTS Latest results are posted as they come in at www.hgpg. co.nz and on the NZHGPA website at www.nzhgpa.org. nz/competitions/hg-competitions/hang-gliding-crosscountry-championships.

Online scoring? Not yet, but if you have a 3D GPS you can enter any of the online contests as well. If you do this, just let me know by emailing me a link to your online entry and I’ll copy the data to the NZ HG XC Champs. It should have all we need to enter your flight.

TO ENTER...

It’s free and simple; fly anywhere in New Zealand before midnight on 31st December, email or post in your flight details (and tracklog if you have one) before 30 days has passed and you’re entered. Enter as many flights as you like. Your shorter flights are automatically replaced by your longer ones. Only your longest four flights are scored.

For each flight entry, please supply; • Your name, email address and contact phone number.

• Flight date, take-off/release place, landing place, and flight distance in kilometres and 10ths.

• Tracklog file from a GPS that can be read by GPSDump, such as an IGC file. Best is a kml file optimised by GPSDump.

• If you don’t have a GPS tracklog, then also supply; Start and landing witness/s name & contact details.

A GPS instrument has many advantages for XC flying, but for pilots who don’t have GPS, you can still enter the NZ HG XC Champs without one, you’ll just need to provide take-off and landing witnesses.

GPSDump is free, comes in Windows, Mac and other versions and it reads GPS tracklogs from just about any instrument. It works out the best start and finish points for you automatically. It also works out if the flight fits any other FAI criteria such as out and return, triangle etc. It enables you to export it for viewing in Google Earth in 3D. Download GPSDump at; www.gethome.no/stein.sorensen

28 A i r b o r n

The 2018 Cross-Country Championships Table

Name Flight 1 Flight 2 Flight 3 Flight 4 Total kms John Smith 163.3 120.5 115.3 114.5 513.6 Bill Degen 86.9 86.0 57.5 50.8 281.2 Derek McKee

112.4

66.9

59.3

238.6

Leslie Graham 52.1 46.3 32.2 30.8 161.3 Geoff Christophers 61.9 39.7 35.5 137.2 Pete Halliwell 52.2 42.1 23.6 14.3 132.3 Tom Mulder

24.7

21.5

20.3

12.3

78.7

Adriel Kind 57.5 16.9 4.2 78.6 John Collins 27.7 22.7 17.5 67.8 Guy Williams

61.7

61.7

Oliver Derry

51.0

51.0

Rod Stuart 20.2 12.6 7.9 4.2 44.9 John Burton

43.3

43.3

Kevin McManus 20.2 20.2 40.4 John Urlich 12.4 12.1 10.4 3.0 37.9 Marty Smith 23.2 12.6 35.8 Morgan Knoessen

23.2 ** Class 2 (rigid wing), * Skyfloater

23.2

The 2019 Cross-Country Championships Table so far...

Name Brian Russell

Flight 1 Flight 2 Flight 3 Flight 4 100.4

Total kms 100.4

Tom Mulder

22.0

Bill Degen

18.4* 18.4 ** Class 2 (rigid wing), * Skyfloater

SCORING The pilot with the best total of four flights is the NZ Hang Gliding Cross Country Champion for that year and gets first choice of prizes followed by pilots with second and third best totals. The pilot with the longest single flight gets fourth choice, then prizes go from fourth best total onwards.

Flights for each years XC Champs must be flown between 1 January and 31st December and entered within 30 days.

This ends one contest while pilots have good weather and starts the next the contest while everyone’s still keen.

Rules You must be a paid up NZHGPA member during all flights or you don’t score. Entries must be postmarked or emailed within 30 days of the flight or don’t score. This helps ensure accuracy and prevents pilots holding back flights until the end, so we all to know how everyone’s doing.

Please DON’T phone, txt, or tell me in the pub, all entries must be in writing (email preferred) with all flight details (and GPS tracklog if using remote launch and/or landings), or do not score. Don’t assume that because someone else was there or you were in a competition that your flight has been entered. It is each pilots’ responsibility to declare and enter full details of their own flight entries.

Measure your flights in kilometres and 10ths of km, straight line from take-off to landing. Or for often a few more kms, optimised flight distances with a Remote Start and/or Remote Finish are welcome, if you send in a valid GPS tracklog.

Aerotow launched xc flights are permitted, but your release altitude must be less than 5% of the flight distance (current FAI ruling) or does not score. This prevents super high tows followed by a downwind glide from scoring against pilots thermalling for xc. The flight scores from

22.0

tow release position (not tow take-off) and verification can be witnessed by the tug pilot, or confirmed with known landmark photo or GPS tracklog.

Out & return, triangle or multiple distances are not eligible at this stage, however if a enough pilots enter them, I’ll table them as well.

Note: If you don’t follow the rules by providing all relevant flight details, (including valid tracklog for remote start or finish flights) within 30 days of the flight, you DO NOT SCORE. GLIDER CLASSES Same as FAI rules. Flex wings including kingpostless gliders are Class 1. Rigid wings such as the Atos are Class 5 and Swifts are Class 2 or Class 5 without the pilot fairing.

There is a special class for pilots flying skyfloater gliders such as such as the Fun, Falcon, Malibu etc. 30% double surface gliders such as Buzz, Gyro, Mars, Target, Ventura, Malibu etc can be flown in this class too. As long as it has exposed crossbars.

Don’t forget to point it out on your entry if you have an exposed crossbar glider or rigid wing. You can enter in as many classes as you like. Skyfloater flights can be entered in a separate class and/or included in your Class 1 score, whichever you prefer.

Classes can be scored separately if multiple entries are received. Meanwhile they will appear in the table above.

Let me know if your flight is a site record too.

SEND YOUR ENTRY TO; aero@xtra.co.nz (Please write “XC Entry” in the header and please keep your entry separate from other emails) or post entries to; NZ Hang Gliding XC Champs, Bill Degen, 99A Panorama Road, Christchurch 8081

N Z H G P A B OO K ROOM The art of Paragliding

by Dennis Pagen. Instruction manual for beginner to intermediates. Large format 374 pages $80 Hang Gliding Training Manual by Dennis Pagen.

Ultimate guide to Beginner to Advanced hang gliding flying skills $80 Performance Flying by Dennis Pagen. Hang gliding for intermediate to advanced flying skills, includes competition, cross country, towing $80 Understanding the Sky by Dennis Pagen. Sport aviation weather and micrometeorology for hang glider, paraglider and microlight pilots. $60 PARAGLIDING, BEGINNER TO CROSS COUNTRY by Sollom Cook. From basic techniques to competition flying $60 A PILOTS TRAINING MANUAL (PG) Includes zone free, 80 minute DVD with 9 chapters including; forward inflation, reverse inflation, manoeuvres, soaring, flying thermals to landing methods.

Only $65!

NZ Hang Gliding Training Handbook Essential Beginner/ Novice instruction information for NZ hang gliding students learning to fly. $15 NZHGPA Hang Gliding Tow Manual All aspects of towing with clear photographs and step by step instruction $15 NZHGPA Aerotow Manual In depth detail of aerotow procedure as authorised by MAANZ and NZHGPA $15 NZHGPA Paragliding Tow Manual This manual outlines requirements and procedures for towing $15

NZHGPA Logbook With rating record $15

NZHGPA MOVIE LIBRARY FLYING OVER EVEREST, DVD, Angelo D’Arrigo and the story of his flight over Mt Everest.

PLAY GRAVITY, DVD, Extreme paragliding, snowboarding, BASE jumping, freeriding and speedflying in the most awesome settings.

EAST WIND, DVD, German pilots fly hybrid recliner bike/ paramotors 1632 kms across eastern Europe; Hanover to the Black Sea. DYNAMIC DECISIONS, DVD, Shows how different DHV paragliders react when flying the most dangerous manoeuvres.

THE RACE, DVD, A race between climber and pilot in the Italian Dolomites. Winner of 4 world film contests.

Paragliding Learn to Fly, DVD Tutorial for PG Performance Flying, DVD by Jocky Sanderson Never Ending Thermal Pura Vida Flying Security in Flight & The Speed to Fly Birdmen of Kilimanjaro The Red Bull X Alps Managing Risk in Aviation CAA Red Bull X-Alps 2005 Check the NZHGPA web site for the latest special offers In order to cover the high cost of importing HG and PG DVDs, cost of hire and postage is $10 for 10 day loans Postage and GST is included in price.

Please send your order with payment to;

Evan Lamberton, 35A Manly Esplanade, Browns Bay, North Shore City 0630 Ph 09 478 0063, 021 407833 ceo@nzhgpa.org.nz

Hang gliding, paragliding schools and instructors that you can contact for qualified flight instruction in New Zealand NORTHLAND HANG GLIDING Skywalk Guntram Gross, Herman Ahrens Phone: 09 436 0268 or 09 432 9333, 021 072 0357 Email: skywalk@igrin.co.nz AUCKLAND HANG GLIDING Aqua Air Adventure Paddy Monro Phone: 09 528 7594, 027 288 0193 Email: aquaair@ihug.co.nz www.gethigh.co.nz PARAGLIDING SkyWings Paragliding Alan Hills Phone: 09 570 5757, 027 498 2345 Email: alan@skywings.co.nz www.skywings.co.nz Wings & Waves Paragliding and Kitesurfing Reuben Muir and Eva Keim Phone: 09 446 0020, 027 472 7013 Email: info@wingsandwaves.co.nz www.wingsandwaves.co.nz WAIKATO PARAGLIDING Wings & Waves Paragliding and Kitesurfing Reuben Muir and Eva Keim Phone: 09 446 0020, 027 472 7013 Email: info@wingsandwaves.co.nz www.wingsandwaves.co.nz OMAHU, THAMES/PAEROA PARAGLIDING Bruce Vickerman Phone: 07 862 4919, 027 498 9941 Email: seehigh@slingshot.co.nz HAWKES BAY PARAGLIDING Airplay Paragliding School Barry Sayer, Phone: 027 451 2886 Email: barry@airplay.co.nz www.airplay.co.nz BAY OF PLENTY PARAGLIDING Kiwi-Air Mike & Aniko Phone: 07 929 5807, 021 104 6208 http://kiwi-air.co.nz Mount Paragliding Darrell Packe Phone: 027 249 2702 Email:darrellpacke@gmail.com MANAWATU HANG GLIDING SkyVenture (Manawatu HG & PG Inc. Club School) CFI: Ross Gray Phone: 06 357 8996, 021 126 0892 Email: rosscoe@e3.net.nz WELLINGTON/WAIRARAPA HANG GLIDING Wellington Hang Gliding & Paragliding Club Grant Tatham Phone: 06 379 7322, 027 636 3491 Email: tathams@xtra.co.nz Oceania Paragliding School Chris Connolly, Phone: 022 676 5599 Email; school@oceaniaparagliding. co.nz www.oceaniaparagliding.co.nz

MARLBOROUGH PARAGLIDING High Adventure New Zealand Russell Read Phone: 027 448 0888 Email: russread@ihug.co.nz NELSON/TASMAN HANG GLIDING Nelson Hang Gliding Adventures Glenn Meadows Phone: 03 548 9151, 027 275 1022 Email: gmeadows@clear.net.nz www.flynelson.co.nz Tasman Sky Adventures Trevor Leighton Phone: 027 229 9693 Email: info@skyadventures.co.nz www.skyadventures.co.nz PARAGLIDING Nelson Paragliding Stew and Zanna Karstens Phone: 03 544 1182, 027 446 3930 Email: paragliding@xtra.co.nz www.nelsonparagliding.co.nz CHRISTCHURCH HANG GLIDING Canterbury Hang Gliding School Bill Degen Phone: 03 326 6411, 021 247 2676 Email: aero@xtra.co.nz www.hgpg.co.nz PARAGLIDING Cloudbase Paragliding Grey Hamilton Phone: 027 532 4874 Email: cbparagliding@gmail.com www.cloudbaseparagliding.co.nz ParaPro (Paragliding & Powered Paragliding) Dave Dennis Phone: 03 328 8255, 0508 548 323 Email: info@parapro.co.nz www.parapro.co.nz

WANAKA PARAGLIDING Paraventures Paragliding School Mark Hardman Phone: 0800 FLYSOLO (0800 359 765), 021 809 275 Email: info@paraventures.co.nz QUEENSTOWN PARAGLIDING Infinity Paragliding School Alan Swann & Blake Round Phone: 021 0228 2939 or 027 367 7679 Email: info@infinityparagliding.co.nz www.infinityparagliding.co.nz Extreme Air Hang Gliding & Paragliding School & Tandems Lisa Bradley Phone: 021 156 3256 or +61 45 728 7200 Email: lisa@extremeair.co.nz www.extremeair.co.nz DUNEDIN PARAGLIDING Dunedin Paragliding & Hang Gliding School Lisa Bradley Phone: 021 156 3256 Email: lisa@extremeair.co.nz www.extremeair.co.nz

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Photos: Neil Brown, Ross Gray

NZHGPA

B OO K ROOM

Learn to Fly

■ Paid up NZHGPA members may run one advertisement per classification for free in each issue ■ Please email or post your advertisement to the editor, quoting your NZHGPA PIN number ■ Commercial operators, dealers, and non-members must enclose payment of $0.50c per word with their advertisement ■ Advertisements are deleted for next issue unless repeat request received ■ include your email address for the online issue ■ Buyers are advised that all used hang gliders and paragliders should have a NEW fitness check (WOF) when sold ■ It is dangerous to fly a glider or with equipment that is above your rated ability ■ PARAGLIDERS MAC Para AU NZ – For latest sales and promotions visit our facebook page: @macparanz. Mac Para combines cutting-edge design with quality in house manufacturing, producing top performing paragliders and paramotor wings with uncompromised handling and safety since 1991. Here to help contact Nick Taber on tel 021 420 742 or email: nick@macpara.co.nz Proud supporters of NZ XContest PHI Gliders - www.phi-air.com - the revolution continues. Hannes Papesh and Mike Kung create the latest revelations in gliders - Maestro new high B is here. Symphonia - high B performance certified EN A. Also, the EN A Sonata and light weight Viola.

Tenor and Tenor light, class B gliders with better than class performance and handling.

Exclusively from SkyWings - email alan@skywings.co.nz MAESTRO is out - the PHI Maestro from Hannes Papesh creates a whole new high B class! First shipment is on its way in time to enjoy for the rest of this season - contact SkyWings for unbeatable introductory prices - alan@skywings.co.nz NOVA Paragliders - www.nova.eu - exclusively by SkyWings - www.skywings.co.nz - email alan@skywings.co.nz SPEEDFLYING specialists - and dozens of great XC wings - happy to trade - all kinds of harnesses in stock as well - www.skywings.co.nz or alan@skywings.co.nz MOTOR Paragliding BLACKBIRD Paramotor. NZ designed and made. High performance & comfort. $9850 email: paradynamics@xtra.co.nz www.paradynamics.co.nz Phone 03 325 4540.

PARAMOTORING - exclusive Miniplane and PAP motors - SkyWings for courses and equipment - www.skywings.co.nz or alan@skywings.co.nz HANG GLIDERS AIRBORNE Fun 190. Well maintained, recent new side wires. Sail still crisp, comes with wheels. White with Blue l/e ‘s, red keel pocket. Easy flying, any reasonable offer considered, contact Alex 027 453 5219, sandyandsam@xtra.co.nz AEROS Combat L12 09 with tail, (can be flown with or without) 30 or so hours in very good condition, all white undersurface with see through top surface, 2 speedbars, 1 round with wheels and 1 alloy aerofoil, 2 spare uprights, goes like a cut cat!. $4000.00 phone 021 220 8302, ashswin556@gmail.com

Keep in touch with the NZ hang gliding and paragliding scene, the latest developments, events, new and used equipment...

M a g a z i n e All hang glider and paraglider pilots in NZ are required by law to be members, and receive Airborn magazine as part of their membership but non flyers and overseas pilots are welcome to subscribe.

For Airborn SUBSCRIPTIONS please contact; NZHGPA Administrator, 46 Quail Rise, Stoke, Nelson 7011, New Zealand

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A4 size issues $4.- each 2018 issue numbers 2017 issue numbers 2016 issue numbers 2015 issue numbers 2014 issue numbers 2013 issue numbers 2012 issue numbers 2011 issue numbers 2010 issue numbers 2009 issue numbers

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Feb/Mar/Apr May/Jun/Jul Aug/Sep/Oct Nov/Dec/Jan 205 206 207 208 201 202 203 204 197 198 199 200 193 194 195 196 189 190 191 192 185 186 187 188 - - 183 184 179 180 181 182 175 176 177 178 171 172 173 174

Feb/Mar Apr/May Jun/Jul Aug/Sep Oct/Nov Dec/Jan 2008 issue numbers 165 166 167 168 169 170 2007 issue numbers 159 - 161 162 163 164 2006 issue numbers 153 - 155 156 - 158 2005 issue numbers 147 148 149 150 151 152 2004 issue numbers 141 142 143 144 145 2003 issue numbers 135 - 137 138 139 140 2002 issue numbers 129 130 131 132 133 134 2001 issue numbers 123 124 125 126 127 128 2000 issue numbers 117 118 119 120 121 122 1999 issue numbers - - 113 - - 1998 issue numbers 105 106 107 108 109 110 1997 issue numbers 99 100 101 - 103 104 1996 issue numbers 93 94 95 96 97 98 1995 issue numbers - - - - - 1994 issue numbers 81 82 83 84 85 86 1993 issue numbers - 76 - 78 79 80 1992 issue numbers 69 70 71 72 73 74 A5 Issues below $1.- each (Prior to issue 69 all are the smaller A5 format) 1991 issue numbers 63 64 65 66 67 68 1990 issue numbers - 58 59 60 61 62 1989 issue numbers 51 52 53 - 55 56 1988 issue numbers 45 46 - - 49 50

For Back Issues; send your order with payment to; Airborn Back Issues, 99A Panorama Road, Christchurch 8081, NZ

30 A i r b o r n

KIWI Flyer 170, US 6061 tubing, low hours, great condition, phone 021 247 2676 email aero@xtra.co.nz

AIRBORNE Fun 190 in absolutely mint condition. Around 25 hours from new. The sail is fresh and wing has a brand new full strip check. Report available on request, The glider is currently in Christchurch for viewing. Phone 021 127 2410 or email ride46@clear.net.nz SKYFLOATERS; New and used; Fun, Falcon, fully strip checked, test flown and trimmed, trade-ins considered, contact Bill at 03 326-6411 or aero@xtra.co.nz U2 160. Dacron sail, Mylar/Hydranet LE/TE, speed battens and raked tips. 2012 great condition, has flown approx 300 hours. email - skyriderag@gmail.com, phone 027 670 8301 RESERVE PARACHUTES RANGE of reserve parachutes for hang gliding and paragliding. Bridles, Front containers, Maillons, Swivels, Hook knives etc, in stock at HG & PG Supplies, Phone 021 247 2676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz REVOLUTION parachute for sale, for up to 120kg, second hand but never deployed, just inspected and packed. Phone 021 247 2676 or email aero@xtra.co.nz INSTRUMENTS NAVITER, Flytec, Digifly, Aircotec flight instruments, audio only mini units and simple vario/altis to full GPS flight computers and even compact flight computers. Large range and new models in stock now. Phone or txt 021 247 2676, email aero@xtra.co.nz ACCESSORIES Helmets, No Limit, Insider, Loop, Breeze (adjustable) Range of colours & sizes, No Limit has visor option, phone 021 247 2676 email aero@xtra.co.nz EMPLOYMENT CORONET Peak Tandems Ltd, Queenstown, are looking for tandem hang gliding and paragliding pilots. Call 021 220 5932 SKYTREK Tandems Ltd, Queenstown, are seeking tandem hang gliding and paragliding pilots to join our growing tourism business. Please call Ian on 027 4301 741 or email ian@skytrek.co.nz INSTRUCTION HANG Gliding/Skyfloating. Experienced instruction in Christchurch using the latest skyfloater hang gliders and equipment, Phone Bill 021 247 2676, 03 326 6411 a.h., email aero@xtra.co.nz and www.hgpg.co.nz

THE COUNTRY CODE

We are all dependent on good relations with the farmers who own the land we fly from. Here are some guidelines to ensure that you and other pilots will be able to continue to enjoy flying there.

- Sorry issues marked with this symbol are no longer available

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DESIRE 141, Very good condition for age, spare upright. Suit lighter pilot. Nice handling, quick to rig up, none of those nasty curved tips to hassle with! Will consider trades on single surface gliders. $990.00 ono. Contact Peter on 027 752 9650

ALWAYS CHECK with local pilots before flying at new sites.

ALWAYS ask permission to fly unless you are absolutely certain that the owner allows use of the site without asking.

CHECK AGAIN at Springtime as most farms have pregnant and newborn stock that can easily be frightened and injured.

DO NOT show displeasure or abuse an owner if permission is refused. This could hamper getting permission in the future.

ALWAYS GET PERMISSION to take a vehicle onto a property. Ensure that vehicles without gliders are not taken onto the property. Put all gliders on one car rather than have a convoy crossing the property. If stock is near, drive slowly.

LEAVE GATES as you find them, gates may be closed to keep stock in or open to allow stock to feed. Ensure that all pilots and drivers understand.

USE STILES and gates where ever possible, if you must cross a fence, cross at a post or strainer post.

AVOID hay standing or cut unless permission has been given to cross it.

AVOID landing in paddocks containing crops or stock. Carefully move off crops to avoid damage.

DO NOT LIGHT FIRES at any time.

DO NOT SMOKE during fire risk times.

DO NOT TAKE DOGS onto any farm or property.

DO NOT disturb plants or machinery, move around it.

LEAVE NO RUBBISH.

FLIGHT PIX

The BGD Riot, BGD’s latest EN B performance lightweight wing.

Everything you need • Ready to fly – no setup • Extremely responsive & accurate Vario assisted by inertial sensors • Sunlight readable LCD with Touch panel optimised for gloves • Long lasting battery with quick charger • Vector maps for the whole world pre-installed (towns, roads, rivers, lakes etc.)

• Airspace files for most of the world pre-installed and updated • Software fully supports Competition and XC Pilots • Barometric and GPS altimeters • Easy and free software updates • In-flight FAI Triangle Assistant • Customizable data fields • Multiple wing profiles • Thermal Assistant • Wind Assistant • IGC tracklogs • Lightweight • Perfect size • Available in Full or upgradeable Basic versions • And more…

www.naviter.com/oudie-4 http://www.naviter.com/oudie-4/ aero@xtra.co.nz aero@xtra.co.nz

03 326 6411 021 247 2676

nzparagliding.com

PHI SYMPHONIA - EN A

Email info@skywings.co.nz - Ph 0274 98 2345

New Class Of Glider Super high A. EN A safety with mid to high B performance, and best handling.

Exclusively from SkyWings

PHI

phi-air.com

PARAMOTORING SPECIALISTS Miniplane - under 20kgs NZ’s most popular motor

27 years motoring & teaching. Our level of experience means everything when youlearn to motor www.papteam.com www.miniplane.net

PAP - Exclusively from SkyWings

New Brand - Dream Team Hannes Papesh - world top designer Mike Kung - world top test pilot and their team are shattering everything with their new range of revolutionery gliders

Symphonia - high A Sonata- A Viola - A Tenor - B Tenor Light -B Maestro - New high B

MINIWING SPECIALISTS Half the size, twice the fun!

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HARNESSES: - SUPAIR - NOVA