Damn it's a lovely day...

Probably better than being in Queensland for example...
However given it's so warm and we have had good looking skies the last few days (albeit with low cloud bases) why is it so blue???

Here's a clue...and we are starting to see the approaching high cloud for tomorrows much needed rain...

Who would have believed...

That you could turn container loaders into a feature at the RWC opening...inspired or bizarre I'm not sure...

A picture tells a thousand words...you decide about tomorrow...

Is it worth getting excited about todays weather??

Nah...FWIW (for what its worth) I think it'll be a good training day.

A good day for grass growth...

But not for gliding...
Sunday.

Raced over to Matamata with GNM in tow ready for a great thermal day. Arrived to see the Matamata Soaring Center committee gathering on the steps...bugger, I'd forgotten we had a meeting at 11am Sunday. I could have claimed to be so well organised to show up 5 minutes before the meeting start time and with a glider ready for the afternoon. That would have been a large stretch of the truth...

An hour later, meeting finished, GNM rigged and ready in 30 minutes, 80 liters of water added, sky looking OK, tow plane ready...we are off.

Off tow at 2000ft only to find things going blue, an inversion at 3500ft and climbs of 2-3 knots...and it only got poorer...
An hour later we were back overhead at 1500ft in a 0.4 knot climb wondering why I'd bothered.

Climbed to 3000ft with GNV as company, did a couple of loops to clear the cobwebs and home.

Things aren't looking that crash hot for the next week.

On the positive side the MSC is keen to support the continuation of the RASP.
I think with help from the hang glider crowd we might get there...

Lets stay RASPee

Can we save the RASP??
I've had an offer of money from the Taranaki Club (see comment in last post)...I think I can get Tauranga to front with $100...
A bit from Taupo, Piako, the Matamata Soaring Center, and Wellington and we'd have the North Island covered.

I guess out mountainous cousins down south would then need to digest the fact they might get cut off...

I must admit that although I tend to use the squiggly lines as a first stop for forecasting the RASP has become increasingly useful...albeit a bit off when high cloud is involved.

I think we have until the end of the month to sort this out...

Outside it's sunny and clear...light wave although I'm guessing it'll go around to the south during the day so the wave will be "Toast" later on this afternoon...GNM is ready to go...probably tomorrow. It's been awhile since I've had a good thermal day...let's see.

The RASP or No RASP...

Our access to the RASP forecasts is likely to stop shortly unless we can secure some funding.

We have been quite lucky with the small team who have brought you access to this forecasting tool...they have been putting up their time for free and provding very cheap computer server time.

However this arrangment is coming to an end this month.

An attempt was made to get the Omarama Soaring Center, the Matamata soaring Center and GNZ to fund a third each (with some financial help from the hang gliding blokes and blokess's who use it as well). It appears Omarama put more store in Lemmy Tanner (which is cool)...but perhaps he should be charging for his time as well...

Either way we could be back to the squiggly lines, Metservice, and relying on the retired chaps about the airfield who always think the day won't work and it was better in the old days...

In answer to the question...how much per year...a bit over $1000

First Weekend in September..

Looks like a ripper. Actually if the front clears off early enough on Friday it'll be a record ridge day.
Saturday has decreasing SW winds and thermals.
Sunday has less wind.

The forecast beyond sunday (and maybe including Sunday as well) is for a grubby High Pressure.
That's a new term..I think what they mean is cloud being dragged into the system. In the summer we sometimes call it anti-cyclonic gloom.
It is always present during contest weeks.
Just when you think we will get nice clear, hot and still afternoon all this grey murky stuff arrives...

Club Scholarship

Our highly talented marketing team have put together a scholarship plan so cunning that by Xmas we'll be rolling in cash...so much cash that various members have set their sights on the following glider -

And just when we got all excited...the chief organiser popped our balloon suggesting we might be better looking at this...

Or even this...

All jokes aside...it appears that the Scholarship Plan is shaping up very very well...excellent stuff.

OMG...I'll have to be responsible...bugger!!

GNZ's webmaster has put a link from the official GNZ website - http://www.gliding.co.nz/ - to my blog.

I'll have to be extra extra careful what I say...as you will have noticed I've only been marginally careful to date...

But don't panic...I'm sure frustration will get the better of me from time to time...

For those who actually go gliding...the weekend might be OK. Light SW are forecast...maybe we might get a thermal/ridge day. I'd better go inflate the main tyre on GNM...last time I flew 160 litres of water plus me and my stuff made the bottom of the tyre flatter than the top...

Kaimai Challenge - Sunday

This is proving quite hard to forecast.
MetVUW forecasts look promising but the offical State Weather forecaster is predicting heavy rain...go figure.

6500ft winds

I'll have a quizz tonight before I head off to the mountain.

It won't be a fast fast weekend but you can still see weather you are faster than anybody else in a lighter day.

Hey Mr Edwards...here's a real beaut...

Nice and bright...
Trailer just the way you like them...unpainted grey alloy...
Price is cheap at the current exchange rate...
Lots of spare bits laying about the place...
A bargain...

While I'm at it...that track you sent me of GXT...it hasn't appeared on the official Kaimai Challenge site...you might want to post it to Edouard (actually Tim is filling in for Edouard as he is over the seas)...or perhaps you don't want to admit the Little Discus beat the Big Discus by 30kph.

Speaking of the Kaimai Challenge...the next offical day is this Sunday. The weather is looking a bit "iffy"...I'll generate a forecast and a "Go/No Go" on Thursday night.

There'll be no sign of GNM this weekend...I'm off skiing.

Friday forecast

Tomorrow looks OK (now today...)
Cloud bases of 5-6000ft in the Waikato 12-3pm.
A little lower over this side of the Kaimai's but high enough to get over the hill.
Light-ish winds predominately Southerly.
Maybe a bit of Over-development over any high ground...so be careful coming home.

Update...looks like the forecast was about right...exept for the overdevelopment

I'm busy and in Canterbury over the weekend I haven't looked any further out but Sat/Sun could be OK as well...

Sunday in Review

We had a great afternoon..well almost everybody. The drivers of GBO may choose to disagree.

The fastest raw speed was the mighty Discus 2ct...204kph. That's quite quick.
Put another way that's 29 minutes to complete the 100.7 kms.
Once handicaps are applied it changes things a little bit.
In fact if I had declared the task in my Cambridge before we launched I'm reliably informed it would have been a NZ record. Maybe next time although Sunday had quite exceptional weather conditions.

So where did we fly and how did the task line up??

Clearly we got the start/finish line and the top Turnpoint about right. The niffy thing about the top T/P was you could approach at speed, pull up and drift into the vector as you turned. It was also handy that as you looked down in the turn, you could clearly see the bottom of the airstrip.

The start line was 2.5 kms either side of the start point. This caused a little confusion as if you wished to claim a record it needs to be 500 meters either side of the start/finish point. It should be remembered that the speed challange organisers wanted to make the task as simple as possible with as few rules as is necessary...so if you want to use the task for a record attempt you might wish to check what else you need to do to conform to the rules...like declaring the task before you launch.

However just because Sunday's times were so fast doesn't mean the Speed Challenge is a done deal...keep in mind that we are running the contest "On the Day"...so in 2 weeks time if the day is a light ridge day with thermals there will still be a winner...even if the times are only 110kph.
In fact more skill will be required to go fast on a weak day with ridge induced thermals...

Great fun.

Next Challenge day will be Sunday 28th...be there or be square...

"Go or No Go" decision will be made on Thursday 25th.

No Snow...BUT...

We had plenty of fun.
I counted 11 gliders on the ridge at one point...including 4 Duo's. Even Tauranga's GXT made it across after a long tow into wind. And for the record a little Discus with water is an even match for the Duo with 2 pilots and a motor...it might even be faster...
Unfortunately only 3 Duo's landed back as one ended up upside down in a tree...both pilots were OK but that may not be true of the Duo.

It took until about 1pm for the sky to clear properly...then it was all on.
Wind was 230-245 degrees at 20-38 knots. Perfect for fast times on the Kaimai ridge.
Tracks and times will appear in due course on the MSC site - http://msc.powersite.co.nz/kaimai-speed-challenge/
Seems a lot of times were posted at 30-35 minutes for the 100 kms. That would give an average speed of almost 200kph. Not bad.
I'm not sure I could go much faster...hitting bumps at 125 knots isn't a lot of fun for either me or my little bit of glass.

Sorry about the crap photo's...trying to fly at 100 plus knots, hold a camera and keep a good lookout is a bit beyond my skills. I ended up with a lot of blur's that were probably a glider, or a scrtach on my canopy.

Those with sharp eyes will notice this is not GXT but GDX...looks just the same in the air.

So all in all a good start to the season.

Ever wanted to glide in the snow???

Today is the day...
Speed challange today...we are going to give it a go...
Winds look like they might be a little too southerly for an ideal day, but who cares, the ridge will work and later in the afternoon it'll snow as well...yipee
Now how much water can I squeeze in the Discus???

Roy...I booked your glider (see below)...personally I'd have take the truck in the background instead...

Is it a pretty colour...

Piako disappears from view...

literally...

Forecast for tomorrow. It might just be OK...assuming Piako re-appears...

I've just put my batteries on the charger...I'll try to get the trailer out of the garage later today...and I have to find all the other stuff...I haven't seen the parachute in a month of Sundays

Sunday...Kaimai challange

Maybe...looks like the winds will be slowly moving from S to SW during the afternoon. The upper winds will move a little slower.
So will the ridge be useable of Sunday...dunno...at this stage.

I'll have a look tomorrow.

London Calling...

Photos from a BBC reporter on the scene...

Speed Challange and Gliders for Mr Edwards

Looks like sunday will be a NoGo...sorry folks. There was a glimmer of hope late yesterday but by this morning that had been snuffed out. The winds will be South to South East...no good for the Kaimai Ridge.
If, in the unlikely event, the forecasts are wrong (heaven forbid) I will head over for a "practise" day. It'll be GNM's first outing in 5 months...

Found this little pearl of a glider for Mr Edwards...it maybe older than he is...only US$6500...of which $6499 are owed to the Chinese...

Looks like the ridge will come early....

Tomorrow perhaps. Apparently there is a tow plane available from lunchtime tomorrow for anybody keen to give the Kaimai Speed challange a nudge.

Me...I'm still focused on the white stuff...

The days are getting longer...

I know it doesn't feel like it but on the shortest day the sun rose at 7.30am and set at 5.04pm...well in Tauranga it did.
I suspect in Southland it rose just before lunch and disappeared shortly thereafter (just enough time to beat the penguins off the front deck)
But now the first rays of sun appeared at 7.13am and will slide below the horizon at 5.30pm. That's a whole extra 43 minutes to get things done.
And it gets better...every day is 2 minutes longer...
So by the start of the Kaimai speed Challange there'll be another 16 mins of daylight...

Late Afternoon Thermals

As the temperature dropped in the lee of the Kaimai's the last of the heat on the western side fuelled the last thermals.
The angle of the winter sun will have caused the western side to stay quite warm until sunset whereas the eastern side started cooling 2-3 hours earlier. The temperature differential will have caused a line of thermals on the ridge line of the Kaimais.

The great "Find a glider for Mr Edwards" charity event...

I've just realised Mr Edwards is without a glider for the coming soaring season...having sold his half of the mighty ASW20...

I'm concerned for his mental well-being...and given his propensity to avoid outlaying any cash (or put another way...he's a rather frugal bugger) I have been looking to identify a few cheap deals for him...
Here's a start...

The real selling point with the glider above is you'd be able to spot him still stuck over Matamata whilst you're at Tokoroa...

Or perhaps this little beauty...as is, where is, bring a rope...

Or given his military background maybe a camouflaged glider would be more "up his alley"...

I'm still looking...

Back up the bus a bit....

I see enthusiasm building for a great day tomorrow. And on the face of it you could be fooled into thinking so...afterall the RASP is forecasting light SE winds, some cloud, thermals of 4 knots to 4-5000ft and some convergences. And it might be right???

But RASP doesn't do high cloud very well...or at all (from my past experience forecasting during the Club Class Nationals).
Have a look at the NOAA squiggly line graph...note the likely presence of high cloud...spilling of the low pressure to the NE of Godzone.

The problem with high cloud is that it's rather hard to predict...

I'm guessing the Waikato could be better...

Update - Wednesday - Seems the Squiggly lines called it right...high cloud cutting off any heating...you heard it here first

I'M BACK...like you care...

Picture of the Lindis...as promised.

Timaru Creek.

Two Thumb Range...on the way to Roundhill

Wave...over the Hunter Range