Just for you...Keith

Not looking good.

It appears the drizzle is going to pile up against the Kaimai's for most of the day. Cloud base 2500ft...just below the high point. However patches of real low cloud blowing through from time to time. On the positive side the ridge should work all day. Tomorrow looks better.

Thumbs up...but some work required

Looks like the Sprint Race Series got a qualified "thumbs up" from the Soaring Center.
A few questions and issues to sort out...need to hold the doomsayers off to one side.
Expect to see the series advertised on the MSC website over the winter.

Thinking thinking thinking...

The only comments I've received about a sprint series have been of a positive persuasion...
SO.
The first cut of a task looks like this;

A start and finish line between the Radio mask (by the lookout point) and the Woolshed/stock yards half way up the passing lane.
Turnpoint is the fertiliser bin on the last airstrip on the Triohia spur just before the Waihi gap.
Distance 100.7 kms.

Start height below 1800ft, finish must be above 2000ft. A small safety margin to keep pen pushers happy.

Reporting points at the radar dome, waterfall, Thompson's track, Te Aroha township - eg -GNM 1500ft Waterfall heading North.

To clarify a few questions;
Open to all gliders, club and private owners.
We might break into a few class's - 15 meter, 18meter/open class/duo's etc
The class can decide if it's wants to allow water ballast.
The glider or the pilot can fly the task as often as they like.

Because of the the need for the right weather perhaps we should advertise the planned weekends, and then call the day on Thursday night...I think we can forecast wind direction and strength 2-3 days out.
If its off...we'll try for the following weekend.

More thought required. Support from the Soaring Center is essential.

Sprint Contest

I note with interest that one of the French Clubs is running a "Sprint" series. As I failed French classes at school I'm struggling with the translation..."Yes", "No", "A beer please", "Do you speak english?", "No no no - too expensive madam"...is about the limit of my French.

However there is the shred of an idea here.
A sprint series on the Kaimai's.
100km task.
Fly it as many times as you like.
A glider can be used by as many pilots as you like.
No water.
Handicaps apply...I guess. Given it will a ridge task...wing loading discount probably needs to be included.
Great for club gliders as many members can have a go on the day...or days.

The winner will be known by the end of the day.

Other issues...
The doomsayers will need to be locked in a room for the day...it's unsafe, we'll wear the gliders out by using them, lots of gliders beating up and down the ridge etc etc.

Once we get past this nonsense the great unknown is the weather.
We need a ridge day...any ridge day will do. A strong day will give fast times, but a light day will be just as useable.
So it's a contest that will be on short notice.
I'm suggesting it's timed for any weekend from Late September to December.
What do we need on site?
Tow capacity...probably a tow plane from Tga as well as the local one.
A task...easy
A scorer...not so easy but we have the skills
The weather...we can probably forecast 3 days out

I'll give it some thought...

Can we get the $100???

A reminder to those "in charge of being in charge"...GNZ is offering the usual $100 discount to the first 3 clubs who register for the AGM. Tauranga scored this discount 3 years running a few years back...can we do it again? You'll have to hurry...cause other clubs will have read this now...

Well spotted...RebelliousSoarer

http://koordinates.com/layer/560-nz-runways-and-airstrips/

A database of the airstrips that Lands and Surveys once updated...back in the day when we had a Lands & Surveys Dept. The farming bit went to Landcorp...I guess the survey bit went elsewhere.

It's good resource albeit a bit out of date...as illustrated below.

The Internet...adding value.

I hope they had a rating for this...

Bits and Pieces

Decision made...GNM is in it's trailer, the trailer is parked in the garage, the batteries are off the charger, I'm off the roster, and my logbook is closed until October. Summer is over...for another year.

And what average summer it's been...

Highlight was the second place in the National Club Class contest. I got to bank a cheque for gliding...only the second time I've managed that whilst gliding, the other was a month being paid to fly a Duo out of Omarama. Usually it's all about paying in...

Total gliding hours this summer - 65...fairly low by my standards.

So what's the plan for next year??

Well the multi-class Nationals are in Matamata in Feb. And the Club Class nationals will be in Omarama...could I squeeze both in??...not sure yet.

The 100km out and return record for a 15meter glider beckons...need to beat 164kph...or do the 100 kms in less than 36 minutes. I think it's possible on the Kaimai ridge...Kaimai Rd Crossing to the base of the Tirohia Spur (avoiding going out the Spur as that'll slow you down) and back. 101kms.

I will need to look for a very strong ridge day...so strong in fact that the tow-pilots will be reluctant to fly. Will need every once of water...100liters a side, 50 liters of drinking water, no loo stops for the preceeding 12 hours etc.

As I look out the window it's blue...blue blue blue...

Why??

If you look at the squiggly lines (although Maurice won't be able to as he hasn't mastered his computer...seems the photo's don't come up) the predicted temp for today crosses the dew point line on the LHS...no clouds to mark the thermals. Any thermals will top out at 4000ft maybe. The skinny blue line shows how warm it would need to be to get clouds...30 plus degrees...I don't think so.

And lastly, another bites the dust...or at least fails a medical. Seems one of our more educated tow-pilots, Contest Director, Duo rated glider pilot, past President (enough clues) has retirement on the horizon. I guess it catches up with all of us in the end. However it would give him more time to administer to the Club's finances, structure and rules, and build the membership - something that has flown under the radar (excuse the obvious slip) a bit in the last few years...that has to be a good thing.

Start your engines...

Wednesday or Thursday might be a very fast ridge day...could even be good enough to tackle the 100km Standard Class out and return record. Need to beat 163kph...or less than 36 minutes to fly 100kms.

Could be a challange...I might even get GNM out for that...

Heavy showers and TStorms...why???

Unstable air...a look at the squiggly lines show that if the temperature at ground level gets to 20 degrees, or there abouts, parcels of wet air will rise all the way up to where Terry Delore lives...whence forth heavy rain and/or TStorms may abound.

Of course it might be wrong and the day will just be grey and cool. We've had a enough rain so it can bugger off for a while.

Gliding changes your perspective...

Instead of looking at the focus of a picture you tend to look at the sky...

Apparently there is something interesting about the stacking of these bales of straw...but all I could see was the sky in the background.











Likewise this picture of "Strawhenge"...who'd want to go gliding on a day like this?? Oh I forgot - this is what most contest days look like...

Before we had Stonehenge I guess we had Strawhenge and then Woodhenge...no-one knows what a henge is...