Launched at noon. The sea breeze had already started in Tauranga and had moved 10 kms inland. A tow to 3000ft (cloud base) and a dash inland resulted in a 4 knot climb in front of the convergence. Bases inland were 6000ft but slowly got higher and were 8000ft by the time we returned home.
Best climb was 8 knots but most were 3-5 knots.
My colleague got into a spot of bother near Bennydale and we had to wait while he struggled back up.
The plan had been a 300km out and return (as far as I know no-one at Tauranga has done one in thermals...wave is cheating). We didn't quite make the bottom T/P.
However saw a few others out and about...a Ventus from Auckland and a LS6 from Taupo.
Airways vectored a A320 between myself and Roy at Tokoroa. Here I was looking out for a Q300 and this really big piece metal cruised through. I'm guessing the heavy metal guys were worried. However they were at 7000ft...I'm at a loss why they would want to be any lower over Tokoroa...which raises the question why Airways feel the need to control the airspace all the way down to 4500ft. If you were a A320 pilot heading into Rotorua would you really want to be that low over tokoroa flying into rising ground and 40 kms out from Rotorua Airport???
Sunday. Looks as good albeit with less cloud. Plenty of strong climbs however the sea breeze will move quickly.
GNM is in it's trailer ready for the trip to Omarama.
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