Something to look forward too...

Summer...but hopefully a better summer than in good old England. The most read news article on the BBC website this morning....When will the rain stop???

Sahara

Sahara

Nevada - 20,000ft 10-12 knots.

Oh well only 4 months to go...

I'm $300 better off than this morning...

Because some-one has organised a booking discount on the Cook Strait Ferry.
Well done.

Very very little else to report...there were some signs of thermal development this afternoon...but only for and hour or so.
We are experiencing 5 minutes more sunlight than the shortest day...whipee.
That could be 5 minutes more than some of the Northern Hemisphere gliding contests...a lot of washed out days I'm lead to believe. Looking up contest results from around the world is a 2 step process because almost everyone posts results on SoaringSpot...everyone that is except the US of A (get with the program guys).

I see the National Club Class advertising has started...rumour has it that NZ's best Contest Director will be back in the Big Chair...excellent...less chance of any namby pamby decisions to cancel the day after the start cos it might be raining somewhere on the planet...(I guess I should build a bridge and get over this). Unfortunately for me 2 of the contest days will clash with work...I could selfishly hope they get rained out so I've still got a chance...but I'll need much much more than that...

Taupo is a great contest spot...although I would hasten to add so is Matamata and some place down south...I forget the name.

Byeee

God has entered the building...

Or at least the God Particle has...
Just watched the presentation from CERN of the results from the last few years of data...it looks like the Higgs Bosom is predicted within 5 SD's. The presentation stained my brain but the excitement was clear.
Cool eh...
Europe rules on the science front even if they are crap at merging currencies...

The Higgs Boson walks into a church.

The priest says “We don’t allow Higgs Bosons in here”.

The Higgs Boson says “But without me, how can you have mass?”

Closer to home I've been playing around with XCSoar...a open source Mobile X-country program that runs on most platforms...IPAQ's, PNA's, smartphones etc. Some of the new Smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S3 look ideal for this software.
Also XCSoar doing a friendlier version of the OLC...Skylines.
Have a look.
Also with these new phones we could very cheaply and quickly run a real time tracking system. Want to know where all the gliders are?? So long as their are in range of a cell phone tower you'll know real time...sounds like a better long term fix than "Spot"...and cheaper as well...

Go have a look... http://www.xcsoar.org/
http://skylines.xcsoar.org/flights/all

It's in, tested and going.

The Nano, V7 and a new IPAQ mount.
Really really cool.
The Nano is a GPS, logger and you can declare and fly a task and/or badge flight. It's small and light and very easy to connect to your PC. Powered either from an internal battery (28 hours) or from the glider battery, or a USB cable. Stores 128 years of track logs...I'll be 76 by then.
The V7 is a vario and final glide gadget. You can display 2 different outputs whilst the vario is going. The needles also show average and Netto as well as acceleration.
I've currently set mine to Altitude required (to get home) while thermalling and Arrival while cruising and Average vario and something else on the botom display.
IPAQ hooks to V7 and gets airspeed, GPS and other data.
The IPAQ logs as well...
Clear as mud???

I've also managed to reduce the panel clutter. And remove the large IPAQ holders off the canopy.

FOR SALE

GPS-Nav/L-Nav

All the cables, manuals and stuff.

All in working order.

$900

I've got some more interesting news but it'll have to wait awhile. Needless to say I won't be cueing for the club Duo...

Wow...did I attack a sacred cow again..

Any talk of valuing a Janus and what we might do Post 115 certainly generated alot of comments and hits on the blog site.
Thinking outside the square is good...
Change is hard....

What's a Janus worth?

2 for sale in Europe - EUR$32-38,000
So about $NZ 50k.
Food for thought...post 115.

Speed Demons

Could be a day for any speed demons. Very strong West to South west winds will make the Kaimai Speed Challange course a ripper. Between heavy showers that is.
The current record is 200kph...that's a beatable proposition in the right conditions.
Plenty of water and plenty of grit and record is there for the taking.
Wave on the Tauranga side but broken up with showers and I suspect the wave bars will move about abit.
The test will be whether the tow pilots are game enough to fly...
I'm busy so I will be watching from the ground...and GNM still hasn't returned yet...
Anyone know what a Janus B is worth?

Guess what? Today's daylight will be the same as tomorrows, which was the same as yesterdays...but the good news is in a week we will get a whole 3 minutes more daylight...summer is coming...inch by inch.

And now for something completely different,

Yesterday afternoon, a man I don’t know, named Ben Mutumba, sent me a kind note. “I represent a group of miners here in Uganda-Kampala and we have a large sum of gold for sale in a cheap affordable price.Please if interested get back to me for more information.”
I am interested, so I replied to him and asked for more information. I then called and spoke with him on the phone. He told me that he’s selling the gold for thirty-eight thousand dollars a kilogram, which seems like a pretty good price. He gets the gold from a mine in the Congo and wants his customers to come and inspect it before they buy. He said that he also has customers in South and Central America and Australia. But no one in the New Zealand. “That’s why,” he told me, “I want a very good customer who can buy something for New Zealand.” He promised a good hotel in Kampala, a meeting with a government official, and a chance to test the gold to make sure it’s real.

OK OK...I didn't call him but Nicholas Thompson from The New Yorker did...
Why Do Nigerian Scammers Say They Are from Nigeria? Because they really only want a contact from the really really naive people. Anyone else will waste their time.
So if you want to get rid of these low life scammers...reply to their ridiculous e-mails and string them a line.
I know of one local who got one scammer to believe he had a dying parent and that he, the scammer, should wire him money...well done...well done indeed.

If you want to read more go -

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/06/nigerian-e-mail-scams-microsoft-research-study.html

It's almost here...

The LX V7 and Nano. There are installed in GNM but I need to find the time to travel upto the big smoke to collect glider and trailer.
So to get a head start I've downloaded the manual's...good golly Miss Molly....56 pages.
So much to read...so much that can go wrong...so many decisions...
What 2 outputs do I display in the center of the dail??
Arrival altitude, TAS, vario average, speed to fly, the list goes on and on...

The locals had a bash at thinking through Part 115 and its impact on our budget. Lets start by assuming that we won't take up CAA's kind offer to register under Part 115 (cost, paperwork, responsibilities etc etc) and think about the reduction in trial flights.
My guess is a 50% reduction...ie all those flights that will never generate a member...it's probably higher than 50% but you have to start somewhere. That's an annual loss of net income of about $16-17,000. Can we replace that with something else? Youthy glidery types perhaps...problem is we will need to discount their flying to get Youth glide up and running.
More members flying...well your guess is as good as mine but I think you'd have more chance buying a Lotto ticket.

So can we cut our costs? Interest rates are coming down...say we save 1.5% on our mortgage...that's $3500 per year. What's next? Sell something...besides we won't need all those bits of glass if the number of flights per year drop by heaps. Tough decision...last time we tried doing this various members had a total meltdown. Interestingly we haven't missed the second Janus since its been gone...
Against this is the overall increasing cost of running the club. As the rate of voluntary effort decreases (me included) then paid people will need to fill the roles...

Raise our charges? Tow fees up to the national average, glider fees up by 50%, annual subs up as well.

Strikes me a combination will be required. Sell the other Janus, raise some charges, pursue extra members flying.

On another subject..does anybody have a direct line to Phil Plane? The Omarama webcam is off line...I'll get withdrawal symptoms soon...

The depths of winter

It's essentially the shortest week...in the sense that the daylight hours will be at there lowest.
I thought it was gloomy here...and then I looked at Omarama...

So to the North we must look for excitement and guidance...

First to the UK where their 15 meter nationals and Lasham Regionals where as successful as the Aussie Nationals last year...not very. The winner won the whole contest with about 900 points...one day in other words.

Off to the US of A...where the 18 meter Nationals are being lead by a ASW27 (which only comes in a 15 meter span)...not sure what this means? Could I enter a PW5 in their Nationals???
Although startling figures suggest that 31% of the citizens of that great country believe God is running their country...not very well I'd suggest...perhaps he/she/it could do a better job in Greece.

But here in Godzone we are not much better when various members of our country believe Cell phone towers are affecting Bees navigation systems. I guess it's believable if the bees are using a Microsoft based GPS smartphone...

As a past contest weather forecaster I can relate with this photo...what's the weather going to do today???

Yip...I need more sunlight...roll on summer.

Improving outlook...

Membership is growing, the long term weather prognosis is outstanding, Airways have decided that recreational flying is worth preserving, Part 115 is dead...well that's the report I'd love to give...

However our friends in the US of A are trying...check out this video put together by 2 of their members...
http://soaringcafe.com/2012/06/ssas-new-lets-go-gliding-video/
Excellent start...
I'll bring a copy to the AGM this weekend.

What I'd really really like out of the US of A is one of those Drone/UAV things...
Rather than killing civilians with it we could use it as an unmanned tow-plane. Control it from the cockpit of my glider...a self-launcher like no other...

Omarama...10 hours from where you really want to be...

Bugger this...sometimes its real nice to live North of Taupo..
But my spies tell me that this is what it looked like on the weekend...

Capex on GNM

Next time you peer through the canopy of GNM you will see a few changes...
The trusty Cambridge GPS-Nav and L-Nav have come to the end of their useful life.
In its place will be;

The vario is quite cool...does heaps of stuff and takes up very little space. The nano sits on the dashboard, is the GPS engine and datalogger. Both will be connected to my IPAQ...which acts as a backup datalogger.

I did think about one of these...a Butterfly Vario, but its very early in its development and I've learnt that being first with technology is risky (be a fast follower instead), and it'll cost more cows...about 2 more... Still reading the spec's it looks like a really cool piece of kit...however one is due to arrive locally this summer so I'll get to either smile or grimace depending on the outcome.

And like my old system I'll be able to run two final glide solutions at once (the LXNav vario has a basic final glide back to your start point) which is quite useful as you head out over the bush either south of Tauranga or over the Kaimai's. Can I make the otherside...or can I get back.

Usually I spend the day with one final glide fix set on a landable and aero-towable strip...Tauranga A/F, Piako, Tokoroa, Te Kuiti etc etc.

All it took was cash...

Desperately Seeking Sanity

Part 115...the story so far...
6 months since the introduction of the regulation (which CAA and the Gov't assured us would make Adventure Aviation safer and wouldn't add significant costs) we can see some earlier signs of what a total "balls-up" this will prove to be.
The parachute fraternity are in disarray. Many haven't been able to complete all the paperwork required by the cut-off date and some are finding the costs significantly more than "significant".

Since the introduction of 115 CAA have changed their stance over the cost issue...we have a letter from the Minister (using data provided by the Department) claiming it would $300 per entity...now we read from a CAA spokesperson arguing that cost is irrelevant and safety is the prime issue. If clubs/organisations can't move from a hobbyist approach to a professional approach they shouldn't participate...which in other-words means it'll cost heaps to register and CAA don't care...cost is irrelervant.

I know of one Gliding Organisation that has so far invested (if thats the right term) 102 hours of some-ones time to try to get the paperwork together...which at CAA's charge-out rate (it was $115 per hour but I think it has increased) is $12k...a far cry from $300.

Alongside all this we have some interesting commentary from Mai Chen (constitutional Lawyer)
who puts the cost of introducing new regulations at over $500,000 (CAA claimed less than this last year) but given the time its taken we can safely assume the total taxpayer cost of Part 115 will be well north of $1mill.
She also points out that the new reg's may result in the dismise of significant parts of NZ's Adventure Tourism market due to the added costs making NZ uncompetitive. I tend to agree.

And as for safety...the aviation sector has a very long history of using "Safety" as the blunt instrument...whether it be for Airspace, Training, Maintenance, or Regulation. Part 115 is no different.
I can not prediction 115's influence on other sectors in adventure aviation but I can suggest it will have no impact whatsoever on passenger safety in the gliding sector. We don't have a trial flight safety problem to start with (using both our and CAA's figures) and the regulation has no impact of maintenance, instructor training and/or competence, and flight requirements.

So whats been achieved???...well you judge yourself...but I for one have been dismayed at the total lack of common-sense that has been displayed through this process...you'd think heads would roll...but they won't

Wave...of sorts

Well...we got some wave...of sorts.
The first trial flights were in clear rough-ish air but by the third we managed to get a climb from 1200ft back to 2000ft and it was starting to feel rotor/wave-ish. At this stage the passenger felt less than wonderful - I'm guessing it's my flying.

While this was happening Scott and his partner arrived with the Duo in its trailer. After finding a few willing helpers we rigged it. Well done Scott...well done indeed cos you rigged the glider, taped it up and then left it for me to fly.

So after bending the elbow of my fellow instructor we hopped in and climbed into wave over Matakana Island. A quick trip upto Waihi beach and back..it took 15 minutes to fly back and land...average speed of about 90-100knots.

However did did observe some interesting wave clouds...more like a breaking sea wave...see picture.

Later wave flights were less and less inspiring...

Wave day gone feral...

What looked like a reasonable wave day tomorrow is looking increasingly less likely. What is it about the RASP that the closer you get to the day the worse the forecast...
I'm instructing tomorrow...so be afraid, be very afraid...
However if you want to get really inspired check out the video posted on the GNZ website...25 knots up in the Hakatarmea Valley...

Stress free gliding

A gentle convergence behind Tauranga gave rise to an easy 2 hours spent back in the saddle. It's been a month since the mightly Discus has seen the light of day.
Nothing exciting, just smooth 3 knot thermals and a well marked convergence from the Kaimai's down towards Edgecumbe.

Quite blue to start with but no wind.

Even blue..er in the Waikato....nothing doing over there.

Airstrip just behind the high point....scroll down to see more

Convergennce looking East

Yet another airstrip...in use at the time with a Fletcher spreading fertiliser

the port of Tauranga chocker block due to strike action in the "Big smoke".

A fall back position perhaps, if you attempt to cross the Kaimai's in a westerly...and fail

Land uphill...ie in the direction the arrow indicates

Papamoa Hills strip...clearly usable today...7-800ft above sea level...whcih probably means at 500ft above the strip you can get back to the airport and use 16/34.

Traffic Mgmt in the Sky

If you channel surf like I do you'll find a little gem of a TV Channel - TV7. Full of Doco's, interviews, and quality locally produced programs (The Court Report, Media 7 etc). Much better than the endless mush on the commercial channels...how many cooking shows do we really need (a number less than 1 comes to mind). Oh and our useless, inward looking, media shy Government are closing down this channel later this year...I assume My Key likes cooking shows...or Shortland Street...but I digress...stay with me folks the gliding bit comes later...patience young grasshoppers...

Last night I stumbled over a little doco called "The Truth about Traffic".
It highlighted some bleeding obvious things..."we all think we are above average drivers"..."duh"...in other words "The Lake Wobegon Effect"...Lake Wobegon where all the children are above  average...a mathematical impossibility.

But towards the end it also illustrated how poorly traditional traffic management has worked.
 "Road signs, rather than road architecture, became the chief way to enforce behavior. Pedestrians, meanwhile, were kept out of the traffic network entirely or limited to defined crossing points.
The strict segregation of cars and people turned out to have unintended consequences on towns and cities. Wide roads sliced through residential areas, dividing neighborhoods, discouraging pedestrian activity, and destroying the human scale of the urban environment."
It goes on to say the accident rate has not been addressed despite all this effort...

There are some great examples in Europe where all the signage, control points (Give Way lines etc), traffic lights, pedestrian crossings and the like have been removed. Drivers have to think for themselves -hard  work I know. The result...less accidents and deaths.

What we need is Airways to take some notice...
These endless graps for more controlled airspace, more rules, transponders, traffic information etc etc. Could it be that its all self-defeating???
Could it be that the heavy metal guys have given up looking out the window??
Do Airways assume we can't think for ourselves???
Is they any real evidence that the cost, loss of "free" airspace, and rules are actually improving safety???

When I troll through the accident reports its all pilot error stuff...but I guess we think we are all above average. Maybe the focus is at the wrong end...

Rabbit plague returns to Omarama

Gliding Club Pub Crawl...

Or Gliding Safari...that's what the Bald one is up to...
Safari brings to mind Safari suits...

Would you entertain a chap who arrived in a Puskil (cos I can't spell the name of that glider/micro-light/PW5 cross thingy) wearing this attire???

Catch it here - http://glidingsafari.blogspot.co.nz/

Unbelievably we passed in Northland...him in the Puskil thingy and me in my car. Well passed might too strong a word for it...but he visited Kaikohe whilst we were returning from 90 mile beach...10 kms is close enough for a near miss apparently.

It hasn't gone un-noticed that our Travelling Wilbury is out to prove a point on Part 115. We humans see what we want to see sometimes...WMD in Iraq comes to mind.
I suspect he believes GNZ wasted time, effort and emotion on challenging CAA on the introduction of Part 115. But as with all surveys the outcome is determined by the questions not the answers.

The club plans to invade Piako this weekend. What we really really want is a stiff SW wind and blue skies with thermals to 5000ft. What we will get will be something entirely different. It's been a prick of a summer for gliding but great for grass growth.

I've had a request to do forecasts for this weekend and next week (ATC camp)...so tune into the same Bat channel at the same Bat Time.

Latest Newsletter

As you may recall I'm part-time editor of the club newsletter. The latest quartely edition is out. It should be on the club web site tomorrow.
http://www.glidingtauranga.co.nz/more_information/magazine/

Just thought you'd like to know...

If you haven't spotted this chap on Youtube he has some really cool HD video's.
http://www.youtube.com/user/bviv

Bruno Vassel IV, son of Bruno Vassel III, of course.

Something to watch on a wet day...or when you are supposed to be doing the dishes but are hiding instead...I never do that...

So it wasn't a classic wave day BUT...

It was a good ridge and thermal day.
The front was a little late departing but by 1pm the westerly was up (15-20 knots on the ground) and the ridge was clearly working.
Rather than fanny about trying to cross over the Kaimai's in thermals and poorly marked wave I elected to tow over.
As did Kieth in GKM and Derek in GYR.

21 minute tow...not bad...at $3.50 per minute it's still cheaper than a 1500ft tow in paradise...sorry Omarama.

A few local Piako types turned up and we could hear some radio traffic out on the coast flying along the west coast beaches.

Nice to be back in the air after 2 months off...

The Westies Return.

Once this front clears over-night tomorrow should produce a classic ridge/wave day with some thermals tossed in for fun.

Winds of 15-25 knots from the W to SW all afternoon.
Thermals up to 6500ft later on in the day.

Finally....a day worth getting excited about and I've got some spare time.

Let's go gliding...

I'm thinking a quick 300km task up and down the ridge with a bottom leg to Tokoroa late in the day just to clear the cobwebs...
Failing that...sitting around drinking coffee and telling lies...your choice.

I detect a wee problem with the RASP...

With each run of the model the forecast conditions deteriorate.
So it is with today.
On Monday the forecast for Wednesday looked quite good...see the last post.
By Tuesday still looked OK but not quite as strong...
By this morning it looks pretty average...
Lower cloud bases, weaker thermals and more over development...

Still worth a go...but maybe not down to Taupo and back.

And here we are at 12 O'Clock and it's completely blue...not looking good.

Gliding...What's that???

I might go and find out on Wednesday.
Apparently there is a glider with my name on it down at the airfield.

Wednesday forecast looks OK for this time of the year, especially given the type of summer we have had this year...wet, cool and cloudy.

Bases 4-5000ft across the Bay and into the Waikato.
Light S to SE winds.
Probably some light convergences about the place.

Not much sign of overdevelopment.
Only risk is high cloud...there is some suggestion of bits of high cloud about which the RASP doesn't handle to well.

Likely task - Tga to Mangakino to Te Kuiti and home...maybe.

I'm not sure it'll be a "round the lake" day...not so good out east.

Back from the wintry south.

Five days in the Hollyford Valley. Great place.
Plenty of rocks, tree roots, river crossings, 3 wire swing bridges, deer and possums on the track. A decent dose of 1080 wouldn't go amiss here..
Quite a challanging 5 days...6-8 hour tramps each day. However good company and excellent DOC huts with enough room. Martins Bay on the coast is outstanding.
No gliders, cows, kids, kiwifruit or cell phones for a week...bliss...and only 1 day of rain.

I promise I'll get back to critiquing the local gliding scene as soon as I can get motivated to go flying...and when a certain dentist stops badgering about the puskil..piprestal...or whatever that 2 place compromise between a microlight and a glider is called. The next glider I buy will be an 18meter single seat flapped glider without a motor...