Snow Update...

Yip...we got through the Lindis OK. Lots of snow, minus 7 but the road was clear.
Good day at Cardrona...although a bit windy. Wave over the Pisa Range and it looked like the Tairei Pet was active.
Jetstar was letting down over the skifield...quite a sight.
Gliding...whats that???

Omarama but not gliding related...

But it's snowing outside...it was minus 6 degrees in the Ohau Ski Field carpark yesterday...great skiing. Staying at Benmore Station at present...snow on all the hills etc. Planning to drive down to Lake Hawea later today...if the Lindis is open. Pictures later...

On the road again...

Expect updates from the deepest darkest parts of the South Island for the next week.
Will drop into Omarama but not expecting to see any pilots...staying at Benmore Station for a night.
Plan is to ski, drink wine (and therefore drink lots of coffee), catch up with friends, more skiing, more wine, more coffee and so on.

I'll post some pictures to make you envious...

I'm back in Chch again late in August and hope to visit the new gliding site at Springfield...meet the Simpsons etc.

So once September rolls around I show be ready to get GNM out...

Not long now...

The first Kaimai Speed Challange weekend is timed for the 14th August.
All welcome...any glider can enter.
We'll make a call on the weather on the preceeding Thursday night and post the forecast here and on the MSC site http://msc.powersite.co.nz/kaimai-speed-challenge/ or better yet use this site  http://msc.gliding.co.nz/

So far a few hardy soles have tested the course and set some quite fast speeds.
However the real contest is on the dedicated weekends...every second Sunday from the 14th Aug.

Details on the MSC website...questions to me david@puketiro.co.nz

It's Committee time again

It's a NZ tradition don't you know...Kiwi's love committees. So in sympathy here is a long post...
Once again the call (perhaps more of a simpering whisper) goes out for our club to reform it's committee.

Now clubs are voluntary beasts and with that comes all sorts of challenges quite different from our normal existence.
Chief amongst these is an inability to order, threaten, withhold pay, or otherwise cajole people to "do things". It requires enthusiasts (great word that...I use it alot) and they need to be "let lose" rather than tied up with meetings, rules and top-down decision making. That's quite hard to do. Committees love to long meetings, re-litigating things, poor minute keeping and second guessing other members voluntary inputs. (And because I, like many others, am human I have fallen foul of these simple rules occasionally...but I digress).

If I look about the local club the challange will be to find new, and some not so new, enthusiasts...maybe it's me but I feel the need for a change of tempo, direction, ideas and focus. The last 2 years have seen a purchase of a new Duo Discus which has been the focus of many peoples attention. I'd have to say the purchase process went very well (despite some misgiving from yours truly) but since its arrival utilisation has been very poor (budgeted 160 hours flying has turned out to be nearer 50 I'm lead to believe) and 7 months after arrival the number of qualified pilots sits at about 5...

Alongside this purchase is the continuing decline in membership (not limited to just us) which strikes at the heart of the future of the club. We must try some new things.

So whilst I recently read a mangled attempt to use JFK's famous words "ask not what your country can do for you etc etc" the sentiment is correct...maybe I will have to stump up to a round of committee meetings. But I'll only be there if my side-kick Mr Baldman is there too. Actually I've had a few committee meetings already.
But beware of using famous quotes, JFK also said "Ich bin ein Berliner" (and the crowd went wild) however if pronounced wrong also means "I am a donut"...

Why use a hanger???

Some-one asked why I haven't got GNM rigged and ready to go in the hanger at present.
Three reasons;
Firstly, the cost...my garage is free...the hanger is $1000 per year.

Secondly, who says it takes longer than 2 minutes to rig a glider out of it's trailer...just watch these guys...1 minute 40 seconds from trailer to 1200ft....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Huk_WOxk1oc&feature=related

Third, damage...I've already had a winglet broken in the hanger, and I'm not always around to keep an eye on things...would you leave a $100k asset unattended with open access to the general public...let alone club members...

Having watched the YouTube video one bright spark suggested we could have "Rig the PW5" race...we have 2 of them...and if we broke one would it be missed???

Short words that start with F...

There is another heavy rain warning out for Thursday/Friday...the word starts with F, ends with k...

Starts with F, 3 letters long and ends with y????
FLY...which is what I'd like to do...but can you "fly" with the turbo out in a Duo??? At a climb rate of 100 feet per hr...sorry minute...it's debate-able if much flying is involved...rather a sideways tourist trip..

FAST...another F word...but if you want to go fast I'd suggest you take the turbo out and fill the wings with water...that way you can up the wing loading...

What has been lacking about the airport recently but looks like returning??? FUN

FOOD...which what my kids are demanding given my better half is away dispensing justice to good people of the Eastern BOP...

FANKS...for those who can't pronounce their "th's"...to those who said they enjoy occasionally reading the blog...feedback is always good...

Where'd da thermals go bro...

I had a number of people ask why yesterday (and today for that matter) didn't produce much or any clouds or use-able thermals.
The answer is the high pressure (generally subsiding air..remember) and the highly stable air mass.
Very common in winter.

The graph shows the lines intersecting on the LHS of the red line (Environmental lapse rate). Blue thermals.
Also the red line arc's back towards the right above 2500ft...an inversion...of sorts.
Together it spelled poor to non-existent thermals and clouds. I think there were a few clouds late in the day, and below 1500ft you could (I did) feel some weak and small thermals.
That's winter folks...go skiing...I intend to.

The weekend that was...

I'm told there was wave on Saturday. In fact a few pictures surfaced of the large Lenticular above and behind the Kaimai's.
And on Sunday Maurice ran a very good lecture session on the Duo.
Admittedly the presenters rambled on...and on and on (myself included) but that seems to be what you get with glider pilots...we are far more interested in relating stories of close calls, low saves and others mistakes than staying on topic...
The lecture on the turbo re-enforced my view that it's complicated, is only really good for going sideways (vs going up) and severely compromises your ability to carry water...actually it compromises your ability to carry a second pilot if one of them is over 100kg's.
However we have what we have...I suspect I'll be reading the section in the manual that describes how to remove the motor...especially for X-country flying or contests.

And in the background Roy cooked (over cooked might be a better description) sausages and Bruce did trial flights.

And for the first time in 3 months I managed a take-off and landing...

And a strange yellow thing was sighted up in the sky...a rumour suggested it might be the sun...who knows.

Weekend Weather...

Saturday...while it did look like a really good wave day I'm starting to get concerned about the amount of Southerly in the wind direction. I think it'll stuff things up...hard to know until the morning.
But indications are it'll slowly go more and more southerly during the day.

Sunday...starting to look like quite a strong S to SE air flow.

Not much good for anything...actually it will be good for sitting about and discussing what improtant for the coming season. Membership...membership...membership...
To be fair a few of these discussions have happened already...over coffee at Classic Flyers.
Change is in the air..not only in the middle east but nearer to home as well...

We get to fly the duo...

Well almost...5 hours of lectures first...
Weather for the weekend look OK...
Maybe wave on Saturday and probably S to SE winds on Sunday.

I'm picking Sunday will be too stable for much...except getting ratings.

I'm tempted to get GNM out on Satyrday...only tempted mind...

It's just possible we might get a fly-able weekend

And wouldn't you know it...we have programmed a lecture series.
So I can expect a bunch of reluctant pilots sitting inside whilst gazing out the window at a wave day.

I bet these guys are sitting inside...
I'm down there the week after next...hopefully things will have warmed up abit.

The Speedsters hit the Speed Challange

Two flights yesterday with a raw speed of over 189kph.
Or 30 or so minutes to finish the 100km task.

Both these flights are faster than the current NZ record for a 100k out and return.
In an Open Class glider the NZ record is 172kph...so the raw speed of 191kph is a whopping 11% faster. well done guys.
The 15 meter speed is 163kph...looks like that might be under threat as well.

The womens 15 meter NZ record is going begging...no-one has ever claimed it...
A real target to beat.

http://msc.powersite.co.nz/kaimai-speed-challenge/results/

Yum Yum...Omarama in winter...

Friday flyers...

For those of you venturing forth onto the Kaimai's...have a leisurely breakfast...looks like the rain will clear late morning.
Forecast winds...heaps...consistent all day...SW
Cloud bases 3500ft except when showers come through.

Warning...

Be on the alert for this character...

He has connections to the NZ drug scene and is believed to be fronting an African based Glider laundering scheme...
He is also spreading poor quality photo's of himself on Facebook...

Be afraid...be very afraid...

Potential Speed Record...

This Friday.
Matamata.
Apparently a tow pilot is on call.

Surface wind...15-20knots, SSW
6500ft wind...25-40 knots SW
10,000ft wind...rip your bits off...

Rain earlier in the morning...clearing about 12 noon...we hope.
Forecast to clear after lunch and slowly going SW to W during the afternoon and slowly dropping off by 5-10 knots.

A potential speed record to be had on the Kaimai's.

Wave on the BOP side although might not setup until late inthe afternoon...once the unstable air has departed and things have settled down a bit.

Forget trying from the Tga side, it'll be too late in the day...stick the Duo in a trailer and get going...I know you won't.

GNM in Aucklnad and I'm committed to other things...

In defence of the indefencible...or so some believe.

Contests. (Health warning - this is a long post...make a cup of tea first)
Why should we support gliding contests??
I've had a little feed back about this so lets have the debate.

Contests in their traditional format would appear to cater for such a small group of active pilots, drain large amounts of resources, disrupt other club activities and take lots of the various trusts monies.

What's the payback??

Well, in the very first instance they get media coverage. The press love to cover races, contests or competitions. Turn on the TV...Golf, tennis, rugby, truck racing, lawnmower racing, bull riding, top models, cooking contests and so on and so on...
Would you watch some-one mow the lawns unless it had a racing element to it??? Why would anybody take an interest in those airheads (otherwise called models) unless it was in the form of a contest...same goes for cooking, yatching, and GOLF...what a bloody boring sport...

Secondly, for many of our new pilots it's the first chance they might get to get unfettered access to a club glider, go X-Country without some old naysayer planting doubt in their minds, and gain real experience in speed and distance flying. We often discuss trying to provide this opportunity in another format but we never seem to quite get around to it...

I will admit that the traditional format (you know the one...a fleet of expensive bits of fibre-glass trying to get around a 250km task in marginal conditions) needs the occasional shake up.
Signs of this are appearing; GP's, AAT's, a speed racing series on the Kaimai's, an aerobatic camp - are changes that come to mind and that's only in the last 10 years.

And lastly, it's fun.

But what about the International Contests? Those big and very costly events almost always held in Europe. Should little old NZ fund any participation in these events?
I'm not sure...if those arrogant Europe-centric pilots aren't prepared to come down-under and compete why should we support their supposed World champs...I'm undecided...Perhaps it's time we developed a Tri-nations contest - the Kiwi's, Aussies and Africans...
Still, getting to SA is no easy feat??? But there are plenty of unsold JS1's to fly when you get there...

I think gliding is primarily about going X-country...I realise that that's not every body's cup of tea...but surely we'll have much more success attracting people into the sport when we advertise where you can go without a motor...certainly more than a vision of circuit bashing.

It is interesting to note that we have a pool of youth who are just emerging from first solo and early X-Country flights (one even did a 1000km's...that's more than anybody in the local club has come close to doing...myself included). Let's develop these bright young things and see where they can take the sport...

All this against a background of a slow decline in overall membership of gliding clubs. This has been going on for years...we need to adapt.
If I could isolate 3 areas that require adaptation they might be;

Less and less people (especially those new in the workplace) work to the old 9am to 5pm, 5 days a week schedule. Drive into town on a Sunday...half the shops are open. Flying on weekends with instructors who are time limited doesn't fit the bill anymore.

A club requires critical mass to operate successfully...I suspect that a club with less than 50 members (of which 25 are active) will have real problems continuing to meet every bodies ambitions. Amalgamation of clubs needs to be considered...as does "Centers of Excellence".

Regulation/bureaucracy is growing...the "so called" safety culture works against experimentation, individual performance and that "sense of freedom". It's a bit hard to change this...it's a sign of a maturing society.

Talking about safety...here is a successful landing...the pilot walked away...see if you can spot the fortunate chap...(hint - draw a line from where the tail plane should be to the top RH corner...he's halfway along the line)

Waiting for summer...or the melancholy that is winter...

Events this week caused me to pause and reflect upon my future in gliding and whether this blog has added value.

Here we go then...Chapters 1 to 100...always do you good things, always treat your neighbour like some-one who lives near to you, never put a sock in a toaster....

Are you sure you want to read on??? Hmmm...I wouldn't if you are easily bored or offended...

Do I want to keep on gliding???

The challenge is finding the time required and the need to fit into a voluntary organisation.
A voluntary structure that allows gliding in NZ to operate outside the mandates of CAA makes it much much cheaper. We should remind ourselves from time to time how much more expensive it would be to operate under a structure like the Micro-blighters or General Aviation.

That aside...it means contributing in some shape or form.
For me that has taken the form of helping at a GNZ Exec level, editing the local newsletter (until wiser people than me decided to re-edit themselves), Contest Directing the odd contest, weather forecasting, helping set up a Speed Challenge on the Kaimai's, attempting to plot a long term strategy for contest pilot development, and running this Blog site. Whilst a few people see voicing an opinion as dissent it has been nice to see a few changes and challenges answered. Besides it's fun...and it's preferable to the usual approach which involves spreading rumours by word of mouth or e-mail.

So I keep on going. Judging by the readership...1000 to 1500 per month I guess some-one sees some value. Interestingly when ever I comment on club stuff there is a large jump in readership...

Time. I've yet to master the concept of elasticity of time...were I to move closer to a black hole maybe time would slow down a bit...
But what else competes with gliding for my time...2 teenages, 1 wife, a cat and a dog perhaps??? However there remains the small problem of 700 cows, 16 ha's of kiwifruit, 2 Company Boards, GNZ Exec and reading. Currently gliding is the loser...I plan to re-remove myself off the instructing roster, limit my gliding to summer only and probably not return to Omarama for a few years. However retaining ownership of my wee Discus is a given...for now. And weather forecasting is fun and simple and can be done at 6am. I'm under pressure to rejoin the local committee...probably not. But the odd special project would be fun.

Are you still with me?? Probably you and 1 other...

What lies ahead??
Declining membership in gliding is the biggest challenge...we have to find some new ways of doing things...what we do now isn't working.

We need to get youth back into contest flying. We need to get contest flying back on the front page of news media. We'll probably have to pay for this in some shape or form.

I know asking the questions is the easy bit...but we do need the answers...
More later as we have visitors at the door....

What looks like a Cub but maybe isn't??

Keith sent me a link for this aircraft... http://www.cubcrafters.com/carboncubss

What's new?

Well it's an LSA  - Light sport aircraft

It's heaps lighter than the standard Cub...carbon-fibre and other space age material

The motor is interesting...180hp for the first 5 minutes then its power drops back to 80-100hp...

Climb rate is 2100fpm...thats heaps.

Take-off roll with 1 pilot - about 30 meters...

So would it work as a tow-plane???

Questions....is the bulk of the airframe still covered in fabric, it'd be nice get away from that ongoing costs.

What's the life of the engine.

It still looks like an aircooled engine which is a problem.

Is the airframe suited/strong enough to tow gliders???

Keep looking people...the right solution will come by one day....

One that doesn't have aircooled engines, no fabric, diesel would be great otherwise non-avgas, and a climb rate that solves all the other problems...

Keeping a Secret

During WW2 the Americains had some concerns the Japanese might attack mainland US of A. So they decided to make it hard to find those aircraft factories...why they didn't do this for London or the Atlantic convoy's I'm not sure...

Here at the Tauranga gliding club we have taken the same approach...you'd barely know gliding was taking place...