Turnpoint files

A fascinating internal e-mail debate about turnpoint files.
Started when some-one couldn't find their home airfield on a Cambridge 303.

Lots of suggests...airfield turnpoint files that cover most of the Mid-Nth Island.
Suggestions we should combine all the various T/P's databases into one Grand, all in compassing, multi-use, super Turnpoint file.

However I have solved the problem...just for Bruce.
Below is the ultimate turnpoint database for Tauranga.

It's easy to use, very easy to sort on the gadget, always appears first on the screen when you turn the gadget on, no mistaking it for similar named sites, and you will always know how far you are from your car....


Number of T/P's   - 1
T/P in question      - Tauranga A/F - 37.40.195 / 176.11.469   Height - 20ft.

It never fails...

Hanger charges

I did get some feedback about this. I guess the $20 per month was starting point. However it is driven by supply and demand. Once upon a time we had more gliders than space available and in that environment we struck a price of $70 per month. It's now $80. However now there is plenty of space and only 1 or maybe 2 private gliders occupying space.
At $960 per year some owners have decided to keep their glider in it's trailer, or over at Matamata.
I gather some important people are striving to maximise the club's income but an empty space gathers no income...
But then I have a conflict of interest. And I also discovered its quite easy to keep GNM in it's trailer...and therefore it's easier to make the decision to fly at other clubs...and contribute to their towing income.

Martin Jetpack

Yip...we all saw it fly (climb? screech?? or whatever) to 5000ft over inland Canterbury...but who saw what powers it????

A 200hp 2 stoke low revving (although it sounds like a hummingbird on Speed) lightweight engine.
Most excellent...lets put one in the Cub...more horespower, less fuel, less weight, less cost...

Or even better...lets rip the solo turbo engine out of the Duo and make it a self-launcher....

I also noticed it's on the CAA register...ZK-JME.

Also its not a "Jet" as in Jetpack but rather 2 fans...so it's really a Fannypack...

On a different but more relevant note...I made to the club today...a rare event. Discovered that another local private glider owner maybe selling out (don't panic it's not me). So with Roy "Mr China" Edwards out of the ASW20, and 3 musketeers selling the DG400, and Maurice "the wave" Weaver still planning on lots of contests its going it's going to be a very tight fit in the LS4. Especially given the cost differential to fly in the Duo.
It's a shame there is no Discus CS's available to buy...

And there is going to be heaps of empty space in the Hanger. Might be time to drop the hangerage charge...perhaps $20 per month.

Where America goes...

We have a tendency to follow (although thankfully not to Iraq).
This from the US of A...http://www.eaa.org/news/2011/2011-05-27_FOEsuit-Response2.asp

Essentially "Friends of the Earth" (because the rest of us have been de-friended) are taking the FAA to court over the continued use of lead in AVGAS. The above article is written from the US Aviation perspective however I'm guessing it's the start of the end for AVGAS.
Whilst the court may decide lead is still OK the fuel companies are going to read this very carefully. If they wish to give the appearance of "caring for the environment" then a very small part of their business (AVGAS) would be an easy sacrifice.
I'd be planning to do without these old Lycoming engines in the future.

More bedtime reading...

I'm constantly amazed at the volume of stuff people are willing to share on-line. Here's a chap in Western Australia who has put all sorts of stuff for all to read...so if you can be stuffed you can read his stuff...
http://www.jamescooper.com.au/Gliding/Articles.htm

I was interested in the coaching stuff...something we of Godzone could learn from our fellow ANZAC's.

Reading through his local club stuff I see they operate their club days with 1 instructor...gee they must be efficient. Locally we need 2 instructors each day...maybe so you know you will have some-one to talk to when there is nothing else to do....

Here's something new...and outstanding...

http://exls4pilot.blogspot.com/

Go have a look at the site...however here's a few shots taken from the site.

Speed Challange

The Kaimai Speed Challenge

o       Aims  

-     Have fun

-         Achievable task, any QGP rated glider pilot should be capable of finishing

-         Reduced possibility of land-outs

-         Increase pilots speed on task

-         Low cost

-         Possible NZ record

o       Date and Venue

-         Matamata Airfield

-         Every second Sunday from the 14^th August to Labour Weekend

-         Track logs will be accepted at another time during this period

-         A Go or No Go will be posted on the website on Friday morning depending on the forecast weather

-         Tow charges pilots responsibility

o       Task

-         Kaimai Road Crossing to Tirohia spur & return

-         Distance – 100.7kms

-         Suitable for a NZ out & return record attempt

-         No controlled airspace required

-         All on the ridge

-         Simple scoring procedure

The rules are made to be as simple as possible. The contest will be open to all gliders and all pilots. All that is required is a logger.

1.      Any glider, anytime and any pilot.

2.      No classes, gliders will be handicapped based on the BGA handicap list.

3.      Loggers will need to meet the same standard as required in
Regional contests.

4.      Multiple track logs will be accepted for either the glider or a pilot or both…therefore a club glider can be used by a number of club pilots during the day.

5.      Start height not above 3000ft.

6.      Maximum height on task – not above 4500ft –or else you’ll bust airspace.

7.      Water ballast allowed.

8.      Day prizes only for those who fly on the day.

9.      A running score will be kept during the spring which will allow pilots to fly the task from other launch sites or on other days and submit them to the scorer.

10.  Contest Director’s decision is final

11.  Gliders must have current CoA, and parachute.

Contact David Jensen, Tim Bromhead or Edouard Devenoges for details.

Register your interest on the MSC website http://www.glidingmatamata.co.nz/msc/

Keep in mind the NZ record is 163kph for a 15meter glider, 172kph for an open class glider, 108kph for a World Class and there isn’t one for a Female 15meter glider. So it should be a breeze to beat these…

Oh...in case you hadn't noticed...I'm back.

Blogging has resumed...so watch out.

Go faster....

The Kaimai Speed Challenge

How fast can YOU fly 100kms???

Come and find out…

This spring the Matamata Soaring Center (MSC) will be hosting a speed challenge on the Kaimai Ranges. An out and return course as been set that any pilot can fly in any glider (see website).

It will be held every second Sunday from the 14^th August onwards …and probably finishing on Labour weekend.

We will also be offering the chance to submit logs on any other day to see who the fastest pilot is over the entire spring.

All you need is a glider, a small amount of cash for a tow, and a logger.

See MSC website for details- http://www.glidingmatamata.co.nz/msc/

Got 3 and a half minutes to spare??

Have a look at this timelapse clips taken from Tenerife in the Canary Islands...

http://soaringcafe.com/2011/05/time-lapse-clouds-and-sky-over-the-canary-islands/

While you at on the Soaring Cafe site there is a very good article about the contests and the likely challenges in the future.

http://soaringcafe.com/2011/05/the-future-of-contest-soaring-classes-and-rules/

The most obvious one is the expansion of classes...Standard, 15 meter, 18 meter, Open class, Club class, 13.5 meter class (replacing the failed World class), 20meter 2 seat class, juniors etc etc. If we continue down this track we will have 1 class for every glider and no-one to compete against...it's the price we pay when the people setting the rules no longer fly competitively or have lots of money and reside in Europe..

This article is a very good companion to the summary our own Dane Dickinson wrote for the SRC...I post it up here after the GNZ AGM.

Wave...if your really keen

I guess those people amongst us who are real wave enthusiasts will be able to visualise a task that;

Starts by climbing over Tauranga...

Heads up the Coromandels...

Then heads south to connect with the wave system near Taupo...

Then connect with the wave behind Ruapehu...

Then into the Hawkes Bay down to Lake Ferry...

Then you wake up...

Would an outsider know what the new Duo looks like???

Not likely as no-one has taken the time to put photo's up on the club website...
So here we are...in full colour...no expensive spared...

We seem to forget that those soul's who might be interested in gliding, but don't know where to start, will google us...Gliding in Tauranga...perhaps. Those lazy days when punters would drive all the way to the airfield to enquiry about becoming a member have gone...nowadays their are as likely to use their fingers first.
Hence...keep your website up-to-date, topical, interesting and inter-active.

But I've said this numerous times before...to little avail...

And the PIC is????

An electric self launching four seater...

At least there is 3 other people to blame when you land with the wheels up...

Bloody weather...

Making it real hard to get kiwifruit picked. 30% of the way through...still another 8 ha's to go.
Poetry anybody??? Found this from Clive James...ex-pat Australian living in the UK.

The Falcon Growing Old (2010)
Opening Stanza...

The falcon wears its erudition lightly
As it angles down towards its master's glove.
Student of thermals written by the desert,
It scarcely moves a muscle as it rides
A silent avalanche back to the wrist
Where it will stand in wait like a hooded hostage

And towards the end...
Catching the shifting air the way a falcon
Spreads on a secret wave, the outpaced earth.
Left looking powerless.

Correcting for the wobble in the lisp
Of sliding nothingness, the whispering road
That leads you to a dead-heat with your shadow
At the orange-blossom trellis in the oasis.

Actually I'm running out of stuff to add at present. I noted some E-mail traffic last week...member suggests new way of doing things...member gets beaten about the head for presuming to know more than the committee...e-mail traffic stops...So all's well in the world...

For those who watch the regulatory issues that surround aviation, and gliding in particular, you will know CAA have been trying to force Part 115 on adventure aviation.
You just gotta love Gov't bodies...instructors with passengers who are trialling gliding (trial flights) we would need a CPL (G), Class 1 medical and to carry and axe and fire extinguisher...in a glider!!!
Interestingly in all the years we have been doing trial flights, at all the different locations around NZ, in all the varied weather conditions not one passenger has been injured, or worse, killed.

Unfortunately people have been killed parachuting, ballooning, para-gliding...so therefore by typical desk bound logic gliding must be equally unsafe...go figure. I think the reason we have an excellent track record is the standard of our instructors...especially our instructor trainers...well done.

What every club needs...

A pilot willing to demonstrate what a glider can do...and showing the rest of us what "big girl's blouses" we really are...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUIidefCaA8

Check out loop number 2...effectively stalled upside down...in an ASH25.
So why can't we loop our Duo Mr CFI???