A Day at the Races

Despite not entering the Regionals I did manage to get over for today. No one had planned to fly GYL...so what was one to do???

I enthused my daughter to be the passenger, navigator, and ballast all rolled into one.

 

It turned out to be a blue thermal and ridge day. It started with some marked thermals and weak ridge. By the time we headed out towards Maramarua it was very blue, hazy and daunting. 3 of us tipee toe-ed out from 3200ft at Thames for the 18 km run to the 20 km circle around the turnpoint.

The solitary thermal we found on the return journey got us back to the hills and heading south.

As we approached the bottom circle my passengers need to pee was greater than her need for speed.

All and all a nice day.

The other issue of note was a landing out incident by a glider with a turbo installed. To early to be really sure yet but it may fit the pattern of late...turbo/self launchers getting into trouble as the pilot gets distracted.

Unfortunately it further proves the point I made a few weeks back about BFRs and whether the focus on spinning might be misdirected.

Pictures to come...

A Family Affair

After years and years of trying I finally got some my family up in the air.

 

 

 

In to a paddock they went...

Just a stones through away from Tatua. The highest paying Dairy Company in NZ...cos they steal cheap milk from Fonterra...but that's a whole other debate.

I am reliably informed that the winglets and tailplane were removed after the landing and not during...

U get what U ask 4...

Apologies for the txt language...there's nothing much more depressing than an older fellow trying to look young and hip...think John Key. However the full spelling doesn't fit...

I asked for a copy of an old photo of the Port of Tauranga area...and within hours a photo turned up.
Thanks JR. Taken in 1977.

Going further back below is 1943...thanks Bruce.

No harbour bridge, no container terminal and associated wharf, no timber storage, no Hewlett's Road, no marina...oh and no Gliding Club. We were still in Belk Rd.

South Is Results

You wouldn't know it but the South Island Regionals are on....
Why wouldn't you know...because for reasons I don't understand the results are not published on Soaring Spot.
I know Soaring Spot is a site owned and operated by Naviter and therefore plastered with ads etc...but so what. It's where the vast majority of contest results are published and it's where most go to follow contest that are in progress. Come on guys the modern world awaits you...just look north.

So I have belatedly found the site for the results...
http://www.glidingcomps.42.net.nz/sireg2012/index.php

They are already 4 days into the contest with 30 or so competitors. It's very close at the top of the Standard/15 meter class.

Hopefully all are having fun...which is what it's all about.

Locally the X-country course continues over the hill at Matamata. Looks like reasonable weather for training with a mix of sea breezes and thermals.
Next week is the Nth Is regionals. I can't free my diary up enough to compete but should at least head over for a day or two...either in GNM or GYL (ballast will be required).

Looking for ballast...

Flying by yourself is lonely...so I needed some extra ballast yesterday. The first ballast bag took the shape of Bill Mace. And the second trip I used Pieter Bronkhorst...a new Piako member with 9 hours on the clock. Pieter had a flash iPhone thingy...hence -

A warning to any unsuspecting members found loitering about...expect to become ballast at short notice...

 

28 knots at 258 degrees...not bad for a ridge day. Doing 90 knots and still going up...120 knots tended to result in no loss or gain of height.

 

Awww...a nice sunset

 

Sooner or later it had to happen...

I finally got myself organised and went flying in our Duo - GYL.
It's not new...being a rebuilt Duo after a mishap in Omarama.
However that means the wings are new, as is the canopy.
It turns out I had flown the glider in its old configuration as GYY in Omarama 5 years ago.
The 4 differences that I can ascertain between a Duo and a Duo XL are;

The roll rate is slightly (only slightly mind) slower...
The view from the back seat is slightly less...although not looking forward but rather when you try to look behind.
The lack of landing flaps does affect your approach angle and touch down speed.
The smaller wheel locks up on wet grass...

The plus is I can add heaps of water...which is virtually impossible in the turbo version.

Strong ridge lift today. We did the Kaimai Speed Challenge in 32 minutes (as best as i could tell).
187 kph.
I'll download the track later in the week.

X-country course starts this week. Lots of activity this afternoon as gliders were being rigged etc.

Complexity...and clubs

A cocktail that doesn't always mix very well.
The issue of spinning and the requirement to demonstrate this in a basic training glider has clearly exercised the minds of our local instructors.

At first glance it appears an easy issue...
Stalling and spinning an aircraft close to the ground can be terminal...for the aircraft and its pilot. So we should know how to recognise a pending stall situation and how to recover from it...all good so far.

The complex bit is that currently the leading cause of gliding mishaps is land-out mistakes. And especially that of managing self-launching/turbo gliders when time is running short.

However not all our pilots go X-Country so are unlikely to face this problem. Further, some of our instructors only do "trial flights" and it is arguable that issues around managing passengers is the biggest risk they face...weight and balance for example...which may have caught out the pilot of the parachute jump plane in Fox Glacier last year...

We have pilots who may never fly the training aircraft each year but are required to do a BFR in one...one wonders whether it would be advisable to use a two seater more closely related to their most frequently utilised aircraft (if you can follow that convoluted sentence...)...

So I don't mean to be critical...BUT...surely being too prescriptive may have a counter-productive result. The words of the newly created rule "...an annual check flight in which flying skills including spin recovery competence are demonstrated..." might be better worded as "...an annual check flight that has regard for the likely flight skills that will be required by the pilot to be undertaken".
Stalls in turns or thermals can be demonstrated without the huge loss of height that spinning entails which then allows more time (and altitude) to demonstrate other skills...raising the turbo on the Duo perhaps...

However, with the imposition of Part 115, the airspace invasion about to happen in the Waikato, and the declining membership this whole issue might become a moot point...

Tomorrows forecast holds the possibility of westerlies and ridge/wave conditions, and perhaps some thermals added in to boot. I think the time has come for me to venture forth in GYL...or GNM...too too much choice...

Part 115...it just keeps giving...

We were assured by CAA (last year) that Part 115 would be cheap and easy implement. The Minister at the time wrote to us and confirmed it should be no more than $300 for our club to register.
Medicals for a Class 2 would be a minor issue. All was well...

Yeah right...

This from the facebook page of a sole operator who takes people flying in a Bi-plane.
"If you are over 40 the medical cost for each pilot will be $1326 per year. The annual audit maybe $3000 per year but probably more, and the Part 115 certificate about $20,000".
What CAA and the Minister choose not to tell us last year was all the underlying CAA costs were going up after the implementation of Part 115. How honest was that!!!!

Two days left at the Aussie GP. Brett's in 4th place. Will need to pull out all the stops to move up the leader board. Go go...

I've read a number of submissions to CAA regarding the attempted theft of our airspace by Airways.
All make good points. However will it fall on deaf ears?? I must admit that the modern process undertaken by Gov't and Local authorities of consultation is really code for..."this is what we intend to do...we will listen to your squawking for a while but will otherwise proceed anyhow...".

Go Brett Go

A second on Day 1 of the Australian GP...well done. And only 1.5kph behind the winner on a 320km task. Well done...well done indeed.

http://www.soaringspot.com/2012gpkeepit/results/18-meter/daily/day1.html

This is a bit late...but...

Timelapse and track from last Sunday (4th Nov)
It was a great day. Passed a number of gliders from Taupo on their last day of the Central Contest.
Light westerlies with well marked thermals.
The timelapse shows the blue hole over Tauranga filling in by 1pm.
266km 3 point triangle...although had I had declared a 300km it would have been a piece of cake to do another 40kms. I got bored by the time I got to Tirohia and headed home. Lazy really.

 

Brett Hunter and his JS1 are competing in the Aussie GP starting today.

Go Soaring Spot for results.

I'll see if I can find a better link.

Today I'm flying something...

Haven't decided whether its a big discus or a little discus but judging from the forecast anything and everything will stay aloft today...

This forecast is as good as it gets folks...
Bases of 6-8500ft depending where you are.
6-8 knot thermals.
Light winds...maybe south but with a little west influence.
Not much overdevelopment....maybe a little in the strong areas...hills etc

Yippeee

Days are getting longer...its getting warmer...

Right???

WRONG

Omarama Airfield this morning...

Low level pass in a 737

The things you can discover on Google Earth.
I was investigating an overland trip down the west coast of the North Island from Raglan to Awakino.
Following the road as it twists and winds it way around hills, forest and valleys a small shape caught my attention...

An Unidentified Flying Object...or the mid-day flight from Christchurch to Auckland.

For the love of God...make it stop...

These constant attacks on our airspace...
This strategy of chipping away at the freedom of unfettered airspace for the public to pursue their chosen activity seems designed to wear us down.
The latest attempt to lower large tracts of the Waikato to 3500ft and the area further south from 6500ft to 5500ft fits with the overall plan to control all airspace above 3500ft right across the central Nth Is.
Why do they want to do this??

Reading the latest proposal it's because they (Airways) seem unable to control IFR traffic around Hamilton airport. Nevermind the fact that Airways could have objected to the expansion of CTC operations, nevermind the fact that Performance Based Nav is due to roll out over the Bay Sector at some point, and nevermind the fact that they once promised that if we (glider pilots) installed Transponders we'd never have any more airspace issues in the future...yeah right.
4 years ago when the 2 GA areas were established (254 on request and 255 on approval) it was never suggested that Airways would resist opening both areas at the same time. So once you open 254 it seems there is real reluctance to open the other...despite assurances this wouldn't be the case.

I'm guessing we have little chance of changing this outcome...consultation in Airways speak means..."here's the plan...take it or leave it".

I know we are only a small group of merry pilots and the all important IFR heavy metal aircraft are the "Gods" but surely we are entitled to access to what is a public good...that being the airspace above us.

Hi de hi...

Today...Saturday...should be an OK gliding day. Thermals of 4-5 knots and light west to NW winds. The only challenge is it could be a little blue.
I'm off to Wellywood for the day so that I can be back in time for tomorrows rain.
That's good planning...not.

Perhaps today would a good day for a check flight or BFR for any members who are a little rusty.
All you need is a willing instructor and one of the clubs 2 seaters...any 2 seater will do. But one suspects it should be the 2 seater you expect to do most of your challenging flying in...
So if you expect to do lots of local flying, aerobatics or teaching newbies use a Puchcaz, if you thing is trial flights and maybe short X-country flights or flying the LS4 perhaps the Janus might be best...but if you expect to do X-country instruction, long X-country flights involving the use of a turbo...a logical person would point you in the direction of the Duo...wouldn't they???

So much to write about...

So little time.
We are about to see a major airspace violation...by Airways. The cardie wearers want to reduce uncontrolled airspace around the Matamata area. See map.

More to follow once I catch my breath...BUT picture this...
Airways finally get their wish and have all the airspace between Hamilton, Rotorua and Tauranga lowered to 3500ft. At this stage X-country gliding in the Waikato is effectively kazumped...

Today in a word...Sunny

Which means Blue.
Very blue.
Both the RASP and the Squiggly lines shows little chance of any thermal markers despite there being thermals about.
Forecast thermal strengthens of 4-6 knots and a sea breeze convergence all look promsing...but we will need quite high ground temps (25 degrees plus) to get Cu development.
Might be some markers on the convergence.
Lets see how accurate the forecast are...

Out and about.

Yesterday (Saturday) fairly much followed the forecast.
SW winds in the morning slowly turning more northerly.
Ridge and some wave.
Cloud bases slowly climbing to 5000ft in the afternoon.

First up was a check flight/BFR for one of our D Cat instructors. A tow to the ridge...24 mins which if it's split 2 ways, and at our X-country rate of $3.50 per minute, works out at $40-ish dollars each.
So there we were...practising in ridge lift and thermals up towards Thames and back and no sign of life at Piako. We assumed their tow-plane must be U/S...but no...a push out from the ridge to overfly the airfield showed a line up of gliders (by now it was 1pm)...I'm not sure daylight savings time has started in the Waikato...

So time to head home...we left the ridge at 4000ft and had the worst run back into Tauranga I can remember. By the time we got to the Wairoa River we were at 1400ft. Nothing worked...quite unusual. A 3 knot thermal over Judea got us high enough to comfortably cross the city...but you live and learn  I guess.
However it raises the usual challenge...at 1400ft over the Wairoa River in 4 knots down do you raise the turbo (I forgot to mention that we were in the super duper Duo turbo). We were on final glide with 600ft spare...there isn't many land-out options around the river, or between the river and the airfield...the only real strip had beef cattle on it... the short answer is - in this position I think the turbo is disadvantage. There is a real risk of focusing on the "let's put the motor up" and losing sight of the option of finding a climb or a land-out option. It all happens quite quickly. But here in lies the reason for check flights...we had the chance to analysis the decision making.

Back on the ground at 1.30pm with time on my hands. I was filling in for another instructor...but we had no trial flights (something we should get used to with Part 115 looming) and, far more concerning, only one student who opted to go flying in the Pipistrel. So a quick wax and polish of the little Discus and we were off again.

A 7 knot climb off tow to 4500ft (bases were 5000ft but airspace gets in the way), followed by a run to the Kaimai's and back and then a climb in wave to 7500ft. the wave was very weak at 4500ft but by the time we climbed to 7000ft we were going up at 5-6 knots.

Change is as good as a rest...

The blog needed a bit of spruce up...
Let me know if this format is crap...I already know that various people think the content is...

Running at about 1500 hits per month...mostly from NZ but a significant number from the US of A and Australia.

Still looking like a Wave day tomorrow but probably not good enough to make the jump from the Bay of Plenty down to Taupo and then across to the Hawkes Bay. I know some-one just itching to do this...
Besides I have to be back to judge the local Calf club day on Saturday.

Is a Dingo faster than a Griffin???

Apparently...
For those who have forgotten their Greek history a Griffin had the body of a lion but the wings of an eagle...
But in the outback a Dingo still goes faster than a Griffin...
Don't believe me??
Check out the club class scores from yesterday...

Team Dingo - 4259
Team Griffin - a bit less.

But a Weaver is much faster at - 4410.

But a Hunter is the fastest...5410 points.

Looks like conditions for the Nationals across the ditch have been the exact opposite of last year. To refresh your memory last year it rained, and rained, and rained and they called the whole contest off...quite like over here from time to time.

The wave season is upon us here in the land of the long white cloud. In fact on the return Air NZ flight from Wellington late yesterday the Q300 pilot (who is a glider pilot as well) took a small deviation from his track to soar the Ruapehu Wave...I think he was pleased one of his passengers noticed.

And this form the Naki...cool eh.

4 go mad in the desert...

Kiwi's lost in the great Australian outback...
Not so Live reports from the Australian Nationals.
Maurice Weaver is updating the Tauranga Club site on his (and others) adventures in the big dry. http://www.glidingtauranga.co.nz/news/
Seems Brett is doing OK against the local seasoned veterans...4th today, 3rd a few days back. It does seem some-one supplied him with an out of date Turnpoint File and hence he lost most of his day 2 points ...kinda reminds me of a 1 Day Cricket Match a few decades back.
Team Griffin appears to struggling to get going...but there is 3 days left.

The really weird part is the only actual news updates that I can find are coming from a displaced Aussie who lives in NZ competing in an Aussie Nationals...it appears the locals think anybody who's not on site isn't interested in following the event. Yeah yeah...we can get the scores off SeeYou but what about some news, gossip, photos, reports...oh well ho hum...promotion of our sport misses another opportunity.

I plugged my new PNA into the LX V7 today...with a few adjustments it seems to be operational. Gadgets complete...time for some flying. Looks like wave tomorrow and Friday. I'm off to Wellywood tomorrow so it'll have to be Friday. If any body's keen I will be too.

Looking about the hanger I see the forlorn shape of the Duo.
I hear some rumours that the current charge out rate is putting members off flying it.
I suspect this is true...and now we own and operate this large piece of plastic the best thing we could do is encourage as much use age as possible. A review is required...which might include raising the annual membership fee to cover all fixed costs but making the flying charges cheaper. It won't help me but the general health of the club still interests me...I want to go flying with others.

And before I hear some bleating about the weather (we have had rain, snow, wind, more rain etc etc) bear in mind that the Duo I own a part of has done heaps of flying - why you might ask?? Cos it's free...at least on a per minute basis.

Wave day...go go go

Because I'm off to the Hawkes Bay tomorrow and wasn't thinking about flying I overlooked consulting the RASP.
An observant local heavy metal pilot just rang and pointed out that it looks outstanding...
And so it does.
Wave locally as well as all the way down to the Hawkes Bay.
A 1000km day.

I note that the psuedo-international pilots in Australia have had a mixed day...the Pharamist only scored 36 points...what happened...however Maurice, the wave, Weaver did better than yesterday.

Whoops...rush of blood to the head...not so good wave day. Oh well maybe next week.

A Parallel Universe...but not quite.

For those who's memory stretches back at least a week...I mentioned I was facilitating a club discussion for the local Hunt Club. That sport on horses, with hounds, funny trumpets and lots of tradition. Very poor method of pest control but great fun all the same.
So let's draw some comparisons between racing about the sky and racing about after hares,

A sport that has a long history - check
A sport that requires lots of personal investment - check
A sport that is time consuming - check
A sport that has built up a lot of assets in buildings and equipment - check
A sport that has plenty of passionate people - check
A sport that essentially run by volunteers - check
A sport that has a lot of people who have been around for a while and who are resistant to change -check
A sport that is struggling for young members - check
A sport that has a high turn over rate of members - check
And as a result of the last 2 issues....a sport with an increasing average age - check
A sport with a very high percentage of members involved in club committees (15 percent) - check

Do you see a pattern??

Can I see a solution?? No...not yet.

Aussie Nationals

Various Tauranga pilots are masquerading as International entries in the Australian Nationals being held in Kingaroy.
Our local drug dealer (otherwise called a pharmacist) will feel at home flying a JS1.

Go here for the only on-line coverage I can find - http://www.kingaroynationals.com/

It would appear that this interweb fang dangled thingy is a bit new out in the G.A.F.A...what does GAFA stand for??? The Great Australian Eff All...and it is...