Results:
Day 1
Day 2
Overall
Showing posts with label HG Comp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HG Comp. Show all posts
PAEROA HANG GLIDER LEAGUE
Results:
Day 1
Day 2
Overall
DAY SEVEN DALBY BIG AIR
18 April.
Weather: NNE 25kph winds. Heavy coverage of cloud with rain possible in the late afternoon. Cloud base 5500ft.
Task: Dalby Airport to Millmerran Airport 76Km to the south.
With pilots having flown over 25hrs so far, the short task to Millmerran Airport was welcomed for the last day. Dense cloud cover did not allow a lot of sun in but with the dark bases and strong tail wind it looked to be a quick run. This proved to be wrong.
The first half of the course was slow and hard to find lift. Zeros had to be made the most of until about 35km from goal when good lift was found. About 30 pilots made it to goal with Konrad making goal first in 1hr 11min. A great last day task.
Chris Lawry was the first Kiwi in, coming in 2nd followed by Conrad Loten in 4th place.
John Durand Snr took out the overall winner.
Nils Vesk in second place and Konrad Heilmann came 3rd.
Hagen was the highest scoring Kiwi coming 7th followed by John in 10th place, Chris Lawry 12th, Conrad Loten 13th.
Captain Flockhearts final log entry: Many Lessons were learnt and will hopefully be applied at the next Dalby Big Air.
Weather: NNE 25kph winds. Heavy coverage of cloud with rain possible in the late afternoon. Cloud base 5500ft.
Task: Dalby Airport to Millmerran Airport 76Km to the south.
With pilots having flown over 25hrs so far, the short task to Millmerran Airport was welcomed for the last day. Dense cloud cover did not allow a lot of sun in but with the dark bases and strong tail wind it looked to be a quick run. This proved to be wrong.
The first half of the course was slow and hard to find lift. Zeros had to be made the most of until about 35km from goal when good lift was found. About 30 pilots made it to goal with Konrad making goal first in 1hr 11min. A great last day task.
Chris Lawry was the first Kiwi in, coming in 2nd followed by Conrad Loten in 4th place.
John Durand Snr took out the overall winner.
Nils Vesk in second place and Konrad Heilmann came 3rd.
Hagen was the highest scoring Kiwi coming 7th followed by John in 10th place, Chris Lawry 12th, Conrad Loten 13th.
Captain Flockhearts final log entry: Many Lessons were learnt and will hopefully be applied at the next Dalby Big Air.
DAY SIX DALBY BIG AIR
17 April.
Wind: NE flow 15 -20kph, 30kph at boundary layer. 550ft/m climbs Temp 30deg.
Task: Dalby Airport to Flint, WSW 182Km.
As towing started, the skies above Dalby airport started to blue out. But with a 10km start circle which allowed pilots to find clouds around the perimeter of the airfield. A half an hour before the start the main gaggle was above the town of Dalby gaining good height. As the start neared the cloud started to dissipate and only a few pilots managed to stay high for the start.
The course out to the second forest crossing had good lift which allowed the pilots to stay within sight of each other. Pilots who were fast on this part of the course had good climbs over the second forest but those slightly behind found weak broken thermals just before and this slowed them down and spread out the field.
After crossing the second forest the sky had blued with only a few cumulus clouds and with high cloud moving in, things started to slow down. Good lift could be found to over 6000ft but at around 50Km from goal only light lift and slow climbs could be found and a few pilots started to land out.
If you were lucky enough to stay up, the ground started to give off heat and good climbs could be found. 15 pilots made it to goal, with John Smith arriving first.
Landing out was tough as there was no phone reception and no one in many of the homesteads. On the way back to Dalby well after dark many roo’s made driving back treacherous. We sighted a Brahma bull just before sunset at the side of the road that must of weighed well over 1000kg. Not something you would want to run into.
John Smith had a bad start but he pushed on fast under good clouds and caught up with the leaders at the first forest . Going left of the course line at the second forest and getting in front of the group after the crossing. Finding a few clouds over 6000ft lift in blue and with high cloud moving in the group of three flew in zeros for half an hour preserving height until the sun came out again.
Being the first to find lift, John had the jump on them 30km out and getting to 7000ft on a good climb and being 25km out from goal, John went for goal needing a 22:1 glide. Finding sink along the way he needed to stay in zeros. 10km short until he found lift and then got a 12:1 glide and made it to goal on course line.
Captain Flockheart’s log: A search to windward should always be considered before heading off down wind.
Wind: NE flow 15 -20kph, 30kph at boundary layer. 550ft/m climbs Temp 30deg.
Task: Dalby Airport to Flint, WSW 182Km.
As towing started, the skies above Dalby airport started to blue out. But with a 10km start circle which allowed pilots to find clouds around the perimeter of the airfield. A half an hour before the start the main gaggle was above the town of Dalby gaining good height. As the start neared the cloud started to dissipate and only a few pilots managed to stay high for the start.
The course out to the second forest crossing had good lift which allowed the pilots to stay within sight of each other. Pilots who were fast on this part of the course had good climbs over the second forest but those slightly behind found weak broken thermals just before and this slowed them down and spread out the field.
After crossing the second forest the sky had blued with only a few cumulus clouds and with high cloud moving in, things started to slow down. Good lift could be found to over 6000ft but at around 50Km from goal only light lift and slow climbs could be found and a few pilots started to land out.
If you were lucky enough to stay up, the ground started to give off heat and good climbs could be found. 15 pilots made it to goal, with John Smith arriving first.
Landing out was tough as there was no phone reception and no one in many of the homesteads. On the way back to Dalby well after dark many roo’s made driving back treacherous. We sighted a Brahma bull just before sunset at the side of the road that must of weighed well over 1000kg. Not something you would want to run into.
John Smith had a bad start but he pushed on fast under good clouds and caught up with the leaders at the first forest . Going left of the course line at the second forest and getting in front of the group after the crossing. Finding a few clouds over 6000ft lift in blue and with high cloud moving in the group of three flew in zeros for half an hour preserving height until the sun came out again.
Being the first to find lift, John had the jump on them 30km out and getting to 7000ft on a good climb and being 25km out from goal, John went for goal needing a 22:1 glide. Finding sink along the way he needed to stay in zeros. 10km short until he found lift and then got a 12:1 glide and made it to goal on course line.
Captain Flockheart’s log: A search to windward should always be considered before heading off down wind.
DAY FIVE DALBY BIG AIR
16 April.
Weather: Blue day with 20Km easterly winds.
Task: NNE 57Km to Diamons and d then WSW 49Km to Warra.
The first blue day at Dalby and with winds a bit stronger than forecast, it made for a difficult day.
Towing started for the main launch at 11:30 and with slow climbs to 3000ft, an early start was a bonus. The thermal strength increased above 3000ft but they drifted to the west and pilots who got too far downwind, had a fight to get back upwind to the windward side of the start circle to get in the best position for a start and a cross wind leg to the first waypoint.
Those pilots in the lead gaggle at 6000ft found good thermals for the first 20Km on the way to Diamons. But progressing further on, the terrain became very green and thermals very had to find.
Unfortunately with the wind strength up to 25kph and the weak thermals around Diamons pilots going too fast paid the price and found themselves landing short of Wpt 1. One Pilot made it to goal and that was Niles Vesk, making it in a time of 3hrs 22min and putting Niles into first position overall.
Guy Williams had the best day of the Kiwi team coming 8th for the day and Hagen 10th.
Geoff Robertson was the only other pilot to get around Wpt 1, landing 30km short of goal
Lisa’s Log: The girls flew 45km downwind to Warra planning to give all the pilots who made it to goal a warm welcome. Niles got it all.
Captains Flockhart’s Log: On a blue day Always take the climb to the Top otherwise you will end up in Deliverance country.
Weather: Blue day with 20Km easterly winds.
Task: NNE 57Km to Diamons and d then WSW 49Km to Warra.
The first blue day at Dalby and with winds a bit stronger than forecast, it made for a difficult day.
Towing started for the main launch at 11:30 and with slow climbs to 3000ft, an early start was a bonus. The thermal strength increased above 3000ft but they drifted to the west and pilots who got too far downwind, had a fight to get back upwind to the windward side of the start circle to get in the best position for a start and a cross wind leg to the first waypoint.
Those pilots in the lead gaggle at 6000ft found good thermals for the first 20Km on the way to Diamons. But progressing further on, the terrain became very green and thermals very had to find.
Unfortunately with the wind strength up to 25kph and the weak thermals around Diamons pilots going too fast paid the price and found themselves landing short of Wpt 1. One Pilot made it to goal and that was Niles Vesk, making it in a time of 3hrs 22min and putting Niles into first position overall.
Guy Williams had the best day of the Kiwi team coming 8th for the day and Hagen 10th.
Geoff Robertson was the only other pilot to get around Wpt 1, landing 30km short of goal
Lisa’s Log: The girls flew 45km downwind to Warra planning to give all the pilots who made it to goal a warm welcome. Niles got it all.
Captains Flockhart’s Log: On a blue day Always take the climb to the Top otherwise you will end up in Deliverance country.
DALBY BIG AIR DAY FOUR
15 April.
Weather: Light easterly dropping off around midday and increasing late afternoon. Clouds.
Task: WNW to Warra then NE to Jandowae, ESE to Bell racecourse then back to Dalby 133Km.
With light lift above the airfield, it was a slow climb to cloud base at 5900ft. Gaggles formed to the west of take-off but had to keep moving up-wind to stay within the 5Km start circle. Most pilots were in the air when the 12:30 start gate opened but not all made it high enough to leave.
John Smith was one of the lower pilots and lead the lower pilots to the first thermal from start. It was a good climb and even the higher pilots stopped to top up. There was a fast pace to Warra and the few pilots that got low at the turn-point had slow climbs up.
The lead gaggle had a fast line to the second turn-point but those who got low along this part of the course had slow climbs out as the cloud shadows on the ground left very little room for sun to get through. Many low saves were made on route to wpt 3. John said over breakfast the next day “That if he had got a save at wpt 3 that he would have gone to Jesus”. But when John’s feet hit the ground he accepted the inevitability of his position and realised the only way he was going to get to goal was by car.
With the high cloud moving in and the wind picking up the day started to slow down with a lot of pilots landing around Bell. Big John went well north of the task line to Bell and this manoeuvre won him the day.
Those lucky enough to get around Wpt 3 had a 21Km run to Dalby airport with a sky that was blueing out, so those who stayed high managed to get to goal, with around 12 pilots making it in.
Conrad was the first Kiwi in with quite a few pilots dropping just short of goal.
It was a very technical day and the cycles very different from the previous days when climbs where everywhere. Most of the young guys who had been doing well did not make goal with most of the old timers making it. Staying high seemed to be the best course for the day.
Another great day at Dalby and it does not look like there will be a lay day as the forecast for the rest of the comp is good.
Quote of the day from Captain Flockhart log: "Survive the course filters".
Advice for the day “Pace yourself”.
Weather: Light easterly dropping off around midday and increasing late afternoon. Clouds.
Task: WNW to Warra then NE to Jandowae, ESE to Bell racecourse then back to Dalby 133Km.
With light lift above the airfield, it was a slow climb to cloud base at 5900ft. Gaggles formed to the west of take-off but had to keep moving up-wind to stay within the 5Km start circle. Most pilots were in the air when the 12:30 start gate opened but not all made it high enough to leave.
John Smith was one of the lower pilots and lead the lower pilots to the first thermal from start. It was a good climb and even the higher pilots stopped to top up. There was a fast pace to Warra and the few pilots that got low at the turn-point had slow climbs up.
The lead gaggle had a fast line to the second turn-point but those who got low along this part of the course had slow climbs out as the cloud shadows on the ground left very little room for sun to get through. Many low saves were made on route to wpt 3. John said over breakfast the next day “That if he had got a save at wpt 3 that he would have gone to Jesus”. But when John’s feet hit the ground he accepted the inevitability of his position and realised the only way he was going to get to goal was by car.
With the high cloud moving in and the wind picking up the day started to slow down with a lot of pilots landing around Bell. Big John went well north of the task line to Bell and this manoeuvre won him the day.
Those lucky enough to get around Wpt 3 had a 21Km run to Dalby airport with a sky that was blueing out, so those who stayed high managed to get to goal, with around 12 pilots making it in.
Conrad was the first Kiwi in with quite a few pilots dropping just short of goal.
It was a very technical day and the cycles very different from the previous days when climbs where everywhere. Most of the young guys who had been doing well did not make goal with most of the old timers making it. Staying high seemed to be the best course for the day.
Another great day at Dalby and it does not look like there will be a lay day as the forecast for the rest of the comp is good.
Quote of the day from Captain Flockhart log: "Survive the course filters".
Advice for the day “Pace yourself”.
DAY THREE DALBY BIG AIR
14 April.
Clear blue skies with clouds building early morning. Wind light and variable filling in from the NE around 16:00 and becoming stronger up to 17kph. Clouding in from the east 6500 -7000 increasing to a 8000ft cloud base later on in the day.
Task: Dalby to Broadwater Dam 26.5km to the SW. Then north 61Km to Jandowae and return to Dalby Airport. 132 km triangle.
The start gate opened and the gaggle to the west of take-off were in the best position.
The lift around the airport was light and shifty in some places and stronger in others and those who got high quick had no problem staying high. The run down to Broadwater Dam was fast and the pilots did not thin till the run down to turn point 2. A few pilots got low along here but most managed to find good lift back to cloud base. For the lead pilots, those who stayed right of course had the quicker fly and in a good position for the run to goal.
A cloud street to the east of course allowed pilots to get a good glide towards goal only needing a slight top up on the way. Some pilots had a low save in a massive thermal which became a cloud of Sorghum as it sucked all the leaves off the ground. Other pilots got into thermals with dozens of Swifts that were feeding on the bugs in the thermal.
John Smith was on the left of course to Wpt 2 and got down to 2000ft AGL and lost 10 minutes getting back to cloud base and put him into 6th for the day. The forecast wind had not developed which allowed around 20 pilots to make it to goal, three of those are on the Kiwi Trans-Tasman Challenge team, John, Hargen and Conrad.
Kurt Warren won the day.
Lisa put in another fantastic fly in her fluro red Moyes Malibu. Taking off at 13:00 she made a slow but steady pace around the course to land at 17:00. Four hours in the air to get within 15Km of turn point 2. Asking Lisa about her day all that was said was “Awesome!” Well done Lisa.
How good is DALBY, three fantastic flying days in a row. So far this has been an Out Standing Dalby!
Trans-Tasman Challenge; The Australians are winning with 12,505 points and the Kiwi team have 8991 points.
Captain Flockhart’s quote of the day: "if you’re not in Dalby where the hell are you."
Advice for the day: Don’t always follow the gaggle if you think their decision is wrong.
Clear blue skies with clouds building early morning. Wind light and variable filling in from the NE around 16:00 and becoming stronger up to 17kph. Clouding in from the east 6500 -7000 increasing to a 8000ft cloud base later on in the day.
Task: Dalby to Broadwater Dam 26.5km to the SW. Then north 61Km to Jandowae and return to Dalby Airport. 132 km triangle.
The start gate opened and the gaggle to the west of take-off were in the best position.
The lift around the airport was light and shifty in some places and stronger in others and those who got high quick had no problem staying high. The run down to Broadwater Dam was fast and the pilots did not thin till the run down to turn point 2. A few pilots got low along here but most managed to find good lift back to cloud base. For the lead pilots, those who stayed right of course had the quicker fly and in a good position for the run to goal.
A cloud street to the east of course allowed pilots to get a good glide towards goal only needing a slight top up on the way. Some pilots had a low save in a massive thermal which became a cloud of Sorghum as it sucked all the leaves off the ground. Other pilots got into thermals with dozens of Swifts that were feeding on the bugs in the thermal.
John Smith was on the left of course to Wpt 2 and got down to 2000ft AGL and lost 10 minutes getting back to cloud base and put him into 6th for the day. The forecast wind had not developed which allowed around 20 pilots to make it to goal, three of those are on the Kiwi Trans-Tasman Challenge team, John, Hargen and Conrad.
Kurt Warren won the day.
Lisa put in another fantastic fly in her fluro red Moyes Malibu. Taking off at 13:00 she made a slow but steady pace around the course to land at 17:00. Four hours in the air to get within 15Km of turn point 2. Asking Lisa about her day all that was said was “Awesome!” Well done Lisa.
How good is DALBY, three fantastic flying days in a row. So far this has been an Out Standing Dalby!
Trans-Tasman Challenge; The Australians are winning with 12,505 points and the Kiwi team have 8991 points.
Captain Flockhart’s quote of the day: "if you’re not in Dalby where the hell are you."
Advice for the day: Don’t always follow the gaggle if you think their decision is wrong.
DALBY BIG AIR DAY TWO
14 April.
Task: West to Kumbrilla Rd intersection then west again to Meandarra Hwy.
A quartering tail wind with a slight dog leg lay ahead.
Again clear blue skies in the morning and clouds started to form around 10:00am. Winds light ESE.
It was forecasted to overdevelop from the east.
Briefing was at 9:00am with the usual banter and a few helpful remarks on the towing for the previous day. A pilot was missing but was found late at night due to not having a radio and having lost his cell phone.
It was decided to have the start gate at 12:15 due to the overdevelopment, so there was a bit of a rush to get set up and ready. The Sport class got away first followed by the Alternate launch and then the Main launch started.
Thermals were strong around the airfield with one sitting just to the east of take-off. A gaggle had formed high above the airstrip, with a second gaggle a few km to the west, both topping out at 6800ft.
Ten minutes before the start, the pilots over the airfield joined the main gaggle to the west and when the first start gate opened over 30 pilots headed west looking like a formation of planes flying off to battle. With around 30 pilots in the air thermals were found easily and height gained quickly but the top guns pulled away from the rest and as progress was made towards Wpt 1 the gaggles started to thin out.
A few top pilots landed on the first part of the course but they were pushing hard to get out in front.
After reaching Wpt 1 you found you had 71km to goal and not far away was a 6km stretch of forest that had to be crossed. This was not a problem as cloud base had gained height up to 7800ft and an easy glide over this part of the course was not a problem, even for the kingpost gliders.
Out past the forest and flying south of Tara I encounted two wedged tail eagles that joined me as I entered the thermal at 4600ft, and stayed with me all the way up to 7200ft hanging not far off my starboard wing. I was quite nervous that they might shred my sail but this was not the case, even though one of them passed over my leading edge with its talons missing my sail by 300mm while we looked each other in the eye, no aggression was shown.
For those of us who were a little slow around the course the clouds started to thin out and look raggedy but as the farmers were ploughing their fields late in the day and thermals were still popping off, goal was easily reached. Staying between 5000ft and 8000ft during the day meant you got cold but with every cloud working there was not much chance of getting low.
There were a lot of happy faces in goal with around 30 pilots reaching goal and among them a few king post gliders. Every member of the Kiwi Trans-Tasman Challenge team got to goal.
John had a lucky break 30km from goal when he broke away from the gaggle and found a good 700ft climb to cloud base and allowed him to go on final glide to goal. With this height he only had to top up slightly on course to goal which allowed him to win the day in 2hrs 17min and gaining 998 points.
Lisa, who has been doing a great job being the Trolley Dolly for the comp, bringing back the dollies once the pilot has been towed up, managed a fantastic flight on her Fluro Orange Moyes Malibu.
After everyone got away she flew cross wind to near Chinchilla where she to land before she entered airspace flying crosswind 76km. Even Floaters can do it!
With Dalby at its best for task two, can it get any better than this?
Captain Flockhart's log:
He was heard to say that with his winning pace to Wpt 1 he was leading the day and then a snail’s pace to goal followed after taking a different line to everyone else that did not pay off. Safety in numbers was the best course.
Task: West to Kumbrilla Rd intersection then west again to Meandarra Hwy.
A quartering tail wind with a slight dog leg lay ahead.
Again clear blue skies in the morning and clouds started to form around 10:00am. Winds light ESE.
It was forecasted to overdevelop from the east.
Briefing was at 9:00am with the usual banter and a few helpful remarks on the towing for the previous day. A pilot was missing but was found late at night due to not having a radio and having lost his cell phone.
It was decided to have the start gate at 12:15 due to the overdevelopment, so there was a bit of a rush to get set up and ready. The Sport class got away first followed by the Alternate launch and then the Main launch started.
Thermals were strong around the airfield with one sitting just to the east of take-off. A gaggle had formed high above the airstrip, with a second gaggle a few km to the west, both topping out at 6800ft.
Ten minutes before the start, the pilots over the airfield joined the main gaggle to the west and when the first start gate opened over 30 pilots headed west looking like a formation of planes flying off to battle. With around 30 pilots in the air thermals were found easily and height gained quickly but the top guns pulled away from the rest and as progress was made towards Wpt 1 the gaggles started to thin out.
A few top pilots landed on the first part of the course but they were pushing hard to get out in front.
After reaching Wpt 1 you found you had 71km to goal and not far away was a 6km stretch of forest that had to be crossed. This was not a problem as cloud base had gained height up to 7800ft and an easy glide over this part of the course was not a problem, even for the kingpost gliders.
Out past the forest and flying south of Tara I encounted two wedged tail eagles that joined me as I entered the thermal at 4600ft, and stayed with me all the way up to 7200ft hanging not far off my starboard wing. I was quite nervous that they might shred my sail but this was not the case, even though one of them passed over my leading edge with its talons missing my sail by 300mm while we looked each other in the eye, no aggression was shown.
For those of us who were a little slow around the course the clouds started to thin out and look raggedy but as the farmers were ploughing their fields late in the day and thermals were still popping off, goal was easily reached. Staying between 5000ft and 8000ft during the day meant you got cold but with every cloud working there was not much chance of getting low.
There were a lot of happy faces in goal with around 30 pilots reaching goal and among them a few king post gliders. Every member of the Kiwi Trans-Tasman Challenge team got to goal.
John had a lucky break 30km from goal when he broke away from the gaggle and found a good 700ft climb to cloud base and allowed him to go on final glide to goal. With this height he only had to top up slightly on course to goal which allowed him to win the day in 2hrs 17min and gaining 998 points.
Lisa, who has been doing a great job being the Trolley Dolly for the comp, bringing back the dollies once the pilot has been towed up, managed a fantastic flight on her Fluro Orange Moyes Malibu.
After everyone got away she flew cross wind to near Chinchilla where she to land before she entered airspace flying crosswind 76km. Even Floaters can do it!
With Dalby at its best for task two, can it get any better than this?
Captain Flockhart's log:
He was heard to say that with his winning pace to Wpt 1 he was leading the day and then a snail’s pace to goal followed after taking a different line to everyone else that did not pay off. Safety in numbers was the best course.
DAY ONE DALBY
12 April
Blue skies in the morning with cumulus clouds popping off by 10am and a light S-SE wind, task 124Km triangle. Out to Jandowae then SW to Brigalow then 53Km back to Dalby.
Towing started at 11:30 after the Sports Class were towed up and those who picked low numbers for start order had up to 45 minutes to wait for the first start, but staying up was not a problem with lift around 600ft min. Even those who had weak links break were able to get away low if you were lucky enough to find a thermal on your glide back to the tow line. My weak link broke at 340ft and lots of swear words were coming out of my mouth when I heard the vario start to beep and hooking into the lift I out climbed a tug and tow and carried on up to over 6500ft.
The course to Wpt 1 was littered with clouds with good lift, cloud base reaching 8400ft, which made the first wpt reachable to most pilots.
John Smith was racing to wpt 1 and got low (300ft) and managed to scratch up and get back in the race.
Getting away from Wpt 1 was made difficult by the thermal drift which was to the E, with Wpt 2 in a SW direction.
Even the first couple of thermals on route to Wpt 2 were slow going as the drift took you back towards Wpt 1. Further down the course Wpt 2 came into sight but for those who got there late the heat of the day was wearing off as the clouds had thinned out and the glides between clouds increased.
Slowing up was the best plan. Under most clouds the lift was smooth with a constant climb of around 300-400ft min.
Once Wpt 2 was reached a cross head wind up to 15kph was encountered which made the run to goal slow for those who had not kept up the pace around the course to beat the day as the day softened up making final glide difficult.
Kurt Warren won the day coming in 3 hours and 2 minutes after start. 14 pilots made it to goal.
How good is Dalby with classic race conditions and a technical day for those here to win?
Results can be found on the Oz Report or for full results the Dalby club web site.
The Trans Tasman Cup is being fought for again with NZ pilots Hargen, Guy, John Smith, Conrad and Tash. Results when they come to hand.
Blue skies in the morning with cumulus clouds popping off by 10am and a light S-SE wind, task 124Km triangle. Out to Jandowae then SW to Brigalow then 53Km back to Dalby.
Towing started at 11:30 after the Sports Class were towed up and those who picked low numbers for start order had up to 45 minutes to wait for the first start, but staying up was not a problem with lift around 600ft min. Even those who had weak links break were able to get away low if you were lucky enough to find a thermal on your glide back to the tow line. My weak link broke at 340ft and lots of swear words were coming out of my mouth when I heard the vario start to beep and hooking into the lift I out climbed a tug and tow and carried on up to over 6500ft.
The course to Wpt 1 was littered with clouds with good lift, cloud base reaching 8400ft, which made the first wpt reachable to most pilots.
John Smith was racing to wpt 1 and got low (300ft) and managed to scratch up and get back in the race.
Getting away from Wpt 1 was made difficult by the thermal drift which was to the E, with Wpt 2 in a SW direction.
Even the first couple of thermals on route to Wpt 2 were slow going as the drift took you back towards Wpt 1. Further down the course Wpt 2 came into sight but for those who got there late the heat of the day was wearing off as the clouds had thinned out and the glides between clouds increased.
Slowing up was the best plan. Under most clouds the lift was smooth with a constant climb of around 300-400ft min.
Once Wpt 2 was reached a cross head wind up to 15kph was encountered which made the run to goal slow for those who had not kept up the pace around the course to beat the day as the day softened up making final glide difficult.
Kurt Warren won the day coming in 3 hours and 2 minutes after start. 14 pilots made it to goal.
How good is Dalby with classic race conditions and a technical day for those here to win?
Results can be found on the Oz Report or for full results the Dalby club web site.
The Trans Tasman Cup is being fought for again with NZ pilots Hargen, Guy, John Smith, Conrad and Tash. Results when they come to hand.
DALBY BIG AIR 11 - 18 APRIL 2015
Expats Conrad Logan, Kath Abott, Viv Clements, Dave (Rangi) Stevens.
11 April Practice day.
Winds ESE fresh in the morning but dropping off in the afternoon with morning cloud breaking up. Fresh juice was made by Rangi at Lisa and John's Kitchen at the airfield campground.
The airfield at Dalby turned into a campground over night with pilots turning up from Western Australia, Melbourne, Cairns, New Zealand and Brazil for the great flying at Dalby.
The comp was limited to 53 pilots and most of them took to the air when the wind dropped off to brush up on their towing skills and pick up thermals around the airstrip to 7000ft and if you did not get there on your first tow you could land and get towed up again.
Guy was busy most of the day putting a new RX sail on his RS frame and John got to fly Viv’s new Laminar which he said, “ flew better than his Combat L”, but he is aiming to win the comp after coming 2nd last year .
Winglets seemed to be in fashion on the Laminar’s and T2C’s. Will Moyes follow suit?
AUCKLAND HG LEAGUE - PAEROA RANGE
The Auckland PG’s were quick to realise this and called their league. We followed suit.
Unfortunately, predicting 2 flyable days in a row, on a weekend, in Auckland, wasn’t going to eventuate for us, this summer.
An early rise Saturday morning and drive to the Paeroas was untaken for a meeting time of 11am. We were only slightly late due to Marks ‘scenic route’ which took us in a complete circle!
The sky was starting to look promising with the odd cumulus cloud forming. The PG’s briefed and were off while for us a task was set to Rangitaiki, some 56km away on the Taupo-Napier road.
We launched, some boated around waiting for maximum height, others left quickly. The thermals were broken, some with strong cores which appeared to move about, proving difficult to stay centred in the strongest lift.
Most pilots made it to the vicinity of Mt Tauhara, Geoff and Rick venturing up the Taupo-Napier highway and Mark debating whether to venture over the forest.
The PG folks didn’t seem to have any qualms about landing in the forest and walking out but that was too daunting for us.
The only bummer for the day was James having his glider stolen from the roadside after he walked 200m down the road to check road signs. He witnessed a van going past with a HG poking out the window and did not realise it was his until he returned to find it gone. Fortunately the glider turned up as the remover thought better of it and contacted the police. It may have suffered a little damage due to poor handling but at least he got it back.
Next day saw similar conditions and a task was set with a turn-point at Whites Road (@26km) then back to Reporoa (@21km). Climbs appeared a little bit slower and perhaps a little further apart but again, most got away with 3 getting to turn-point 1 and Geoff showing his skills at reading the conditions and making goal.
All in all, a great weekend's flying. Thanks to our PG friends support crews for bringing all the cars off the hill enabling us to be home by 10pm instead of midnight. Scoring to follow once we get all track logs in.
Reporter
Les Graham
Results:
Day 1
|
Day 2
|
Total
|
Rick 900
|
Baz 733
|
Baz 1362
|
Geoff 882
|
Les 578
|
Geoff 1311
|
Mark 767
|
Bill 488
|
Les 1286
|
Les 708
|
Geoff 429
|
Rick 1190
|
Baz 629
|
Rick 291
|
Bill 1116
|
Bill 628
|
Dave 175
|
Mark 767
|
Dave 193
|
Neville 142
|
Dave 368
|
Neville 155
|
Aaron 142
|
Neville 296
|
Aaron 155
|
Mark 0
|
Aaron 296
|
James 155
|
James 0
|
James 155
|
HG NATIONALS WANAKA DAY SIX
Top of Grandview 5000ft
Light easterly, great conditions.
The task was north to Breast Peak and then west to Mt Maude, south west to Mt Iron, back to Grandview, with goal at Pembroke Park. 63km.
John was first off followed by Tom Kellner. John got weak lift on the southern ridge while Tom scratched low and made his way out front. John flew north to get out from under the cloud building above take off and when Tom hit the sun out in front of the hill he found a thermal to take him to 8000ft.
The rest of us piled off the hill when the sun came back on the hill. Some pilots got good height while others worked their way along the ridge to Breast.
Those who did not leave Breast with good height had a hard scratch at the base of Mt Maude. Lift was found before and around Mt Iron. The 15km glide back to Grandview could be topped up with thermals along the way and patience was needed if the cloud above Grandview had shaded the hill.
John was first into goal with Bill, Dave Austin, Andrew Mc Kirdy, Grant reaching there also along with a few others.
Tom Kellner had a two hour flight and flew direct to Pembroke.
Kim the novice got to 8000ft and Ian Miller kept his first place position in Sport class getting nearly wpt 4.
Dave Austin won the day.
All the novices had great flights and lots of practice thermaling.
Task 5 Results
Provisional After 5 Tasks
Mark Alton
Reporter
HG NATIONALS WANAKA DAY FIVE
The forecast was for light easterlies and to come on at 13:00 and build to peak around 16:00 with late afternoon showers.
One News turned up at take off in the car park of Treble cone and interviewed a few of the competitors and the novices.
The task was set with a 2km start gate at pub corner with three start gates.Out to Mt Roy then on to Mt Maude at the south end of Lake Hawea then head up the isthmus between Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka to where it narrows and then back to Pembroke Park in Wanaka.
Hagen was first off followed by John but they had to work hard to stay up and as they slowly wound down it did not look a good time to follow them.
The conditions got better and a few pilots took off but most stayed on the hill.
Cloud was building behind us at the top of TC and some paragliders were getting height so the rest followed to find tight broken thermals.It was working to the south of the waterfall and persistence paid off with pilots climbing out above TC to over 8000ft after a hard fight.
Those who did make it above TC had a good glide out to Mt Roy to top out and a buoyant glide to Mt Maude.
You needed to stay high on the range along the isthmus as it was a long glide out to the road and no good landings on the east side.
The day had developed well by this stage and those who had made it this far had a good run back to Wanaka with plenty of height to burn off over Pembroke Park.John Smith was first into goal followed by Clint and Angus. Four other pilots made it into goal to make it the best day so far.
Watch One News on Thursday or Friday for coverage of the event.
The showers did come around 8:30pm when the midweek BBQ as in full swing.
Task 4 Results
Provisional Results After 4 Tasks
TV One News Item 30th January 2015
Mark Alton
Reporter
HG NATIONALS WANAKA DAY FOUR
High cloud with patches of lower cloud and light SSE winds.
After tracking down the owner we got up the hill and set up on all three sides of the ridge.
Clint got away off the hill first under overcast skies and found a nice thermal to take him drifting down the ridge towards the first turn point at Mt Maude.
Others soon followed but we could see that they were not getting the luck that Clint had.The sun was on the ground over towards Wanaka and slowly moving our way, so when it hit the hill Grant got off and climbed out on the lee side getting good height.
Others followed as the shut off time of 5pm was not far off.
Tight lee side thermals made it hard to get enough height but some persisted and they were paid off and made their way down the Hawea range.
John and Bill got to goal at Pembroke Park in Wanaka to show that it could be done.
Adriel Kind in sport class made it out to the D.O.C camp ground and showed the more skilled pilots how it was done.
All the novices got off the hill, picking up the thermals on the lee side of the hill to land out on the flats below the range.
Wednesday is looking like its going to be a boomer day.
Task 3 Results
Mark Alton
Reporter
HG NATIONALS WANAKA DAY TWO
The novices were keen to get off before the task started and we could see that there were light thermals down at Pub Corner.
The course was up around the corner to Crash Peak and then out to Cromwell.
John Smith, Hagen and Shane Mackay took off to find it was very light and scratchy. Other pilots followed and those on the hill could see that it was hard work to get up.
After a while pilots could be seen getting high further down the ridge so the rest of us piled off and found lift to the south of the waterfall at the Pyramid.
Those who got high headed up to turnpoint 1 but did not find any lift to get us above the wpt and reach the turnpoint. Lots of gliders in the bomb out but to our surprise we found out that John Smith and Bill Degan were on their way to goal.
John and Bill made goal, but due to no other pilots getting to wpt 1 it was a low scoring day.
One of the free flyers, Niall Mueller texted in to tell us he had made it down 60km past Alexandra and had flown 130km, a personal best. It goes to show that an average day on the hill can lead on to a great cross country.
Task Two Results
Mark Alton
Reporter
HG NATIONALS WANAKA DAY ONE
The event attracted 24 pilots registered and 5 novices turned up to learn from the more experienced pilots.
The task was down to Long Gully and back up into a light NW wind to Breast Peak and then out to Wanaka with the possibility to land in the park in town.
Take offs were a bit rough due to the bowl facing west and the wind NW with clear blue skies, but everyone got away. One novice I meet at 5,500ft above Grand View later told me that he had used the more advanced pilots to show him the way, so much for wind dummies.
The second leg into wind was difficult with light lift, so a few pilots where lost on the way. Turn point two need large cajones if you were not above Breast Peak.
Light lift above the Hawera Flats got you a good glide into Wanaka.
Three pilots made it into goal, J. Smith, B. Hagen, and M. Alton.
Mark Alton
Reporter
FERRY DISCOUNT FOR NATIONAL COMPETITIONS
Pilots heading down from the North Island to the mainland for either the National Hang Gliding Championship, or the PG Open in Wanaka are eligible for substantial discounts with Blue Bridge Ferries. Apply early!
Hangies should contact Mark Alton
Paragliders should contact Derek Divers
Hangies should contact Mark Alton
Paragliders should contact Derek Divers
NORTH ISLAND XC CHAMPS
Final result.
1. Geoff Christophers, 254.0kms
2. Rick Hawkeswood, 241.7kms
3. Grant Tatham, 232.8kms
4 .Leslie Graham, 227.4kms
5. Sebastian Katz, 216.7kms
NORTH ISLAND XC CHAMPS - TUESDAY
Another awesome day !! Mark Alton 90 k's two at 80 a few at 70 k's blue day thermal height 6000 ft looking great for tomorrow!
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