May - HGFA

Print Post Approved – PP225277/00002
ISSN 1832-4849
H G FA
A Beginner’s Experience
Stephen Noble
May 2010
1 A Beginner's Experience
2 Picture Perfect
4The Story of 'Advanced
Soaring Made Easy'
6 Australian Gliding Museum News
7Women In Gliding
8 A Distance Obsession
12 Lake Keepit Soaring Club Regatta 2010
14 IGC Meeting – Lausanne, Switzerland
16 HGFA News
18 Introducing Apollo North's Reva
20 Junior Journal
21 49th Multi-class Nationals, Dalby
22 Vintage Gliding Corner
24 The Tumut Fly-in
26The Concise Revised History
of Hang Gliding 1963-1973 – Part 1
32 GFA News
Official publication of the Gliding Federation of Australia (GFA)
and the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia (HGFA).
The Gliding Federation of Australia Inc. and the Hang Gliding
Federation of Australia are members
of the Fédération Aéronautique Inter­nationale (FAI) through the Australian
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CREDITS
Cover photo:
John Clark
Design: Suzy Gneist, Gneist Design
Printing: Bluestar Print, Canberra ACT
Mailing: Bluestar Print, Canberra ACT
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33 From The Blue Book
34Safety Management System
(SMS) Implementation
35 Happened Recently on an Airfield
36 Silent 2 Targa
38 International Teams Gather
at Narromine
38 31st World Gliding Championship
40 HGFA General Manager's Report
42GFA Business Manager's Report
43 Soaring Calendar
44 Contact Addresses
46 Classifieds
Last October I decided to get serious and start paragliding, I’d been thinking of
Ant enjoying a late afternoon glass-off,
Mt Borah, Manilla
Photo: Hayden Leeke
HGFA EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The three contact points for HGFA members
sub­mitting to Soaring Australia are the HGFA
Sub-editor, the HGFA Office, and the Graphic
Designer. These contacts should be used accord­
ing to the directions below.
GFA EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The three contact points for GFA members sub­
mitting to Soaring Australia are the GFA Subeditor, the GFA Office, and the GFA Advertising
Representative. These contacts should be used
according to the directions below.
HGFA SUB-EDITOR HGFA OFFICE & SALES
Suzy Gneist Ph: 03 9336 7155
Ph: 07 5445 7796
Fax: 03 9336 7177
<[email protected]> <[email protected]>
Post to: 57 Alice Dixon Drive, [www.hgfa.asn.au]
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Anne Elliott Ph: 03 9303 7805
Ph: 02 6889 1229
Fax: 03 9303 7960
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Narromine NSW 2821Level 1/34 Somerton Road,
Somerton VIC 3062
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it for a couple of years… Four months later I’ ve made a good start. While I still have
something of a beginner mindset, I thought I’d share my experiences.
M o t i vat i o n
Paragliding is inherently dangerous.
Seriously, if you think the events at the
Winter Olympics are dangerous, and they
are, double the danger. If you’re going to
make it, you need more than just desire,
you need:
• time – whole weekends, whole holidays, if you’re starting a family or
career maybe rethink it
• cash – it’s cheap once you are set up,
but the start-up cost can be a hurdle
• patience – there is a lot of waiting
• confidence – to know you’ve made
good decisions when you’re standing
on launch
• ability – if you’re uncoordinated,
flying may not be a good idea
• experience – you need to be able
to read weather conditions, and
knowledge of some type of adventure
sport such as skiing, surfing, yachting
or climbing can be useful as they help
one develop the ability to keep cool
under pressure
Choosing a school
I wanted to thermal and fly at Manilla,
but didn’t realise there was a school
May 2010
there, I expected I would have to learn
on the coast and spend a year skilling up.
Luckily I found out in time Manilla does
have a school.
Do your research, be prepared to
travel. For things to look for in choosing
a school see [http://flymanilla.com/
ManillaParaglidingSchool/tabid/141/
Default.aspx]. I’d recommend, full time,
full on, away from distractions, thinking
100% flying for the whole time.
It may take more than nine days to
finish the course. Of the October students,
only a few received their ratings without
coming back for more instruction.
I received my novice rating three
weeks later after a serious amount of
groundhandling practice.On my last
trip two students were still receiving
instruction four months later as part
of their course. This is the dedication
you want to find in your school.
C h o o s i n g E q u i p me n t
Newer is better, but it comes down
to your budget. Seek guidance from
your instructor.
Find out in advance what you’ll need
to pay, with all the add-ons it will be
thousands. If you don’t have the spare
cash, reconsider. It may be best to wait
until your situation changes. You need
quality gear or you will not enjoy yourself
and may risk serious injury.
Gliders rated 1 or A are safe with
good performance. When you have a
50% collapse 100m above the ground
you will appreciate them. That said,
if you’re doing well in your course,
consider a 1/2 or B class glider. Though
less safe – I’ve survived a couple of heart
stopping collapses – these have better
performance. Every dollar spent on the
new, quality B glider I purchased has been
repaid in full.
C o n s o l i d at i o n
You will need to consolidate your skills
over the next six months. Put aside
regular long weekends and several weeklong trips. While you’re a beginner you
need to be with others, preferably in a
club-like atmosphere.
Over the January holidays I spent
12 days straight flying with lots of great
pilots of all levels, averaging two hours
a day. I’ll describe my experience
in the next article.
Soaring Australia
1
H G FA
H G FA
Picture Perfect
Anyway the day came and soon I
arrived at launch to see one glider flying
and another pilot just walking back
to launch from a failed cross-country.
I planned to just fly down the ridge
towards Canberra and I had briefed my
wife on where to go. The local pilot
suggested with the current wind direction
(ENE) I may not get far and said I should
fly over the back towards Gundaroo then
head to Canberra once I landed. I was
told to get good height as there were a
few trees to cross at first. The road up
to launch continues to Gundaroo, then
Canberra, so I re-briefed the wife.
Conditions were picking up so I set up.
It was around 1:30pm when I launched
and it was easily ridge soarable. Soon I was
well above launch in nice thermals. I was
hesitant at first, not having flown crosscountry for a while, plus on a new site, new
wing and those trees to cross. So soon I
was sinking back down again in shadow
as there was a fair bit of cloud around.
Luckily the wind was fairly strong so
the shadows moved away quickly. The
sunny patches worked and I had to stick
with this before the next shadows came.
Hayden Leeke
I circled and climbed as I drifted slowly
over the back. There was those trees to
cross, but now I was almost half-way
over them at 1600m. I gave my wife a
few directions on the radio then turned
tailwind towards Gundaroo. “Am I gonna
make it over, yeah, I think so, better top
up in this bubble 3/4 the way over.” Made
it easily over the trees and now I glided
to the town. There was a cricket pitch
and some other fields I could land in but
then I started going up again. I decided I
would fly to the other end of town and
land in the field next to the road. As I got
there I saw the field was full of horses,
“Crap!” Last thing I want to do is scare
them into a fence or something.
Luckily the glider performs well and
the air felt buoyant. I glided on further
and found a nicer field with no livestock.
There was a small dam which confirmed
the wind direction by the ripples. I set
up and landed just as my wife pulled
up. Perfect.
Approaching Gundaroo
A few weeks ago my wife started planning a trip to Canberra to see an art exhibition.
Immediately I thought to myself, “It would be cool to fly along Lake George on the way
there…” – a 15 to 20km ridge that runs parallel to the highway and faces east.
I
didn’t mention it but kept a casual
eye on the forecast.
A couple of weeks out a demo
wing arrived by post. “Hmm, would
definitely be good to test it inland,” I
commented to wife. Reply: “Are there
any flying sites in Canberra?” You bet.
A few days out the forecast looked
promising and the day before it was
looking perfect. I sent an email to the
local instructor and then a phone call
to one of the Safety Officers to get any
info I needed about flying their sites etc.
Good info here [www.acthpa.org/index.
php?option=com_content&view=article&i
d=5&Itemid=29].
There is a launch at both the north
and south end of the ridge. The north
one is better for cross-country due to
airspace, plus I think its a bit higher.
Photos: Hayden Leeke
Launching at Collector
Looking south along the ridge at Lake George
2 Soaring Australia
May 2010
May 2010
Soaring Australia
3
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The Story of ‘Advanced
Soaring Made Easy ’
Bernard Eckey
Professional writers can probably write a novel in a few weeks, but mere mortals can
take more than 10 years to finish a book on gliding. Here is the story of ‘Advanced Soaring Made Easy’ and my long list of excuses for taking such a long time to complete it.
I
t all began about 14 years ago with a
week-long GFA coaching course. At the
time, coaching was still in its infancy, but
at the end of the week Maurie Bradney
handed all six participants their coaching
rating. Then he shook our hands and
wished us good luck in our new roles.
There I was – a brand new coach, eager
to help others, but with few ideas how to
go about it. As the only coach in my club,
I decided that the best way to assist my
fellow glider pilots was to help them brush
up on theoretical knowledge. Lectures are
not universally popular, but articles for a
club magazine are always welcome. So I
put pen to paper and sent regular articles
to the editor of our club magazine.
After two or three years came the first
pleasant surprise. A well known interstate
pilot rang me and suggested making these
articles available to our national magazine.
I did, and much to my surprise Soaring
Australia gladly accepted my unpolished
work. More positive feedback followed
from all corners of the country and proved
very encouraging indeed. I was obviously
on the right track. Further articles appeared in quick succession but what happened
next almost rendered me speechless. On
an interstate gliding camp, two GFA heavyweights tapped me on the shoulder and
suggested collating the articles in a booklet for distribution to all clubs in Australia.
At the time I felt honoured but was
still far too busy running the Australian
operation of my German employer. Therefore I never gave the idea any serious
consideration, but when I decided to quit
my job the situation changed somewhat.
I had indeed written enough material for
a booklet and with the help of modern
word processor technology it shouldn’t be
very hard to collate it all. I soon made a
start but what I thought would be finished in a few months took the best part of
a year. However, eventually I was ready
to show my work to Martin Simons, an
4 Soaring Australia
ex-editor of Australian Gliding and author
of several books on aviation. He did his
best not to offend me but his feedback
was shattering nevertheless: “Unless you
add a few chapters and make it an all
encompassing book on advanced gliding
you will have little chance of getting it
published,” he said.
That is not what I wanted to hear,
but after a few weeks of doubts I decided
to go back to the drawing board! Three
more chapters were added and the text
was substantially rearranged. In the
process, further topics came to mind and
simultaneous research resulted in major
additions to the original manuscript.
Another year of full time work went by
but eventually it was time to let Martin
have another look. This time he was happy and suggested showing my work to the
same German publisher who published his
well known series of books on sailplanes.
He even agreed to proofread it for me.
Ingo Renner checked the text from
a technical perspective and kindly submitted a foreword. Jon Millard also offered
help with the fine tuning of the text.
When I made contact with the first publisher of aviation literature in Germany
he spontaneously agreed to turn my work
into a book and suggested we call it
‘Advanced Soaring Made Easy’.
Great, I thought – that’s it! At long
last I can now sit back and relax. But little
did I know how wrong I was! For another
year I was asked to add to the manuscript,
prepare an index, provide a back cover
text, a foreword, and a summary of the
content. Then there was photo credits,
preface, obtain copyright waivers for
photos, and add drawings, graphs and
tables. But one day, the first draft of
the print lay-out arrived together with
a publishing contract. Of course, changes
and corrections had to be made to almost
every page, but at least there was now
some light at the end of the tunnel. The
correction process went on for months
but then everything went quiet as quickly
as it all began.
Two weeks prior to my next scheduled
trip to Germany, the publisher rang. I
hardly trusted my ears when he said that
I can come and pick up my free author’s
copy. Needless to say, I made arrangements to see him within a day of my
arrival in Germany. I was thrilled and just
as excited as a four-year-old on Christmas
day. On arrival, not one but 10 free copies
were given to me. We all looked at the
finished work with some degree of satisfaction and congratulated each other on
the outcome over lunch. With perfect
teamwork we had put together my first
book and I was particularly thrilled that
it was in a language other than my
mother tongue.
After only a few months back in
Australia, the publisher rang again. The
book was selling far better than expected
and because it was almost sold out, he
requested approval for another print run.
Not only that, he also suggested a
second edition and – being a glider pilot
himself – even volunteered to translate
the book into German. What a pleasant
surprise! Only a year ago my publisher
was concerned about breaking even and
now he had already sold the book in
surprisingly large quantities. Of course,
I gave the green light for another print
run and at the same time I got busy working on the second edition. Then came
another pleasant surprise. A Japanese
glider pilot asked for permission to
translate the book into Japanese. Of
course, it was gladly granted.
The unexpected success provided a
real impetus to expand on various subjects and positive feedback from the
worldwide readership provided welcome
encouragement. In depth discussions
with well known gliding identities also
provided food for thought and the many
May 2010
lessons learned during various coaching
events also served as inspiration for further content. Additional graphics were
inserted and glider pilots from around the
globe submitted truly spectacular photos.
A new chapter on technical issues was added and methods of glider performance
enhancements were also incorporated.
During an aviation trade fair in
Germany, I met Carsten Lindemann, of the
‘Free University of Berlin’. He has made
a name for himself as meteorological
adviser to the German National team
at various European championships and
world comps. He already knew ‘Advanced
Soaring Made Easy’ very well and instantly agreed to contribute a section on the
assessment of weather pattern for gliding
purposes. He even suggested adding a
few extra pages on the optimum position
of pressure systems for gliding purposes
in various parts of Europe.
Not incorporating all this exciting
information would have been almost
criminal. With the financial crisis well and
truly biting, my publisher was becoming
a little unsure whether it was possible to
break even again. But I was more convinced than ever that the gliding world
was crying out for a book that is specifically tailored to gliding enthusiasts who
are struggling to further their skills and
become competent cross-country pilots.
A decision was made to put ‘my money
where my mouth is’ and go it alone. Professional publishing software was obtained
and another four months of hard work on
the print lay-out resulted in a brand new
book with twice the number of pages.
With the exception of the title, it had
little in common with the first edition.
Transforming a few hundred megabytes of electronic files into a book of 336
pages was the next challenge. In order to
do justice to the many spectacular photos,
this edition had to be printed in full
colour without compromising on either
paper or print quality. On the other hand,
it was crucial to ensure that the book
remained affordable to glider pilots on an
average income. It proved to be a difficult
juggling act, but I eventually placed an
order with the same printing company
that had already produced the first edition.
However, financing a very large quantity
of books was rather painful and finding
a worldwide network of distributors
proved equally challenging. Fortunately
a number of my fellow Schleicher agents
stepped in and some mail order companies agreed to act as distributors in
various countries.
May 2010
Photo: Bernard Eckey
Special thanks must go to Al Sim from
while is the satisfaction of having
Go Soaring [www.gosoaring.com.au] for
produced something that fellow glider
including the book in his range of merpilots will not only enjoy but can also
chandise and hence allow readers to order
benefit from for decades to come. it electronically. As this article goes to
press almost 1000
books of the second
edition are already in
circulation worldwide.
Where do we
stand now and – more
importantly – was it all
worth it? Yes, there
were quite a few
Wind, rain,
struggles along the
temperature,
way but from my
humidity,
perspective I can
honestly say that it
barometer,
was well and truly
plus more…
worth the effort. What
looked like a neverAlso available:
ending project is now
finished and can
Windsocks and frames,
finally be enjoyed by
handheld weather meters.
the English speaking
gliding community. As
Australian Agent
such it will hopefully
for Davis Instruments.
help thousands of
pilots to get more
pleasure from our
marvellous sport and
Ask for your
hence aid our member
FREE catalogue.
Unit 5, 17 Southfork Drive
retention efforts. If
Kilsyth VIC 3137
you think one can
Phone: (03) 9761 7040 Fax: (03) 9761 7050
make big money on
email: <[email protected]>
gliding literature –
think again. What
web: [www.davisinstruments.com.au]
makes it all worth-
Weather Station
ECOWATCH
Soaring Australia
5
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Australian Woman
Awarded Top International Aviation Award
Andy Muirhead
interviews Jim
and Graeme
Barton about the
museum’s heritage
www.australianglidingmuseum.org.au
Australian Gliding Museum
Hosts ABC ‘Collectors’
The production team from the ABC
‘Collectors’ program visited the Australian
Gliding Museum at Bacchus Marsh on 14
March to record a segment for an upcoming program. The segment’s producer,
Justin Murphy, was accompanied by presenter Andy Muirhead, a photographer
and a sound technician.
During over five hours of preparation
and filming, the team introduced the
collection of gliders in storage, under
restoration and, in the case of the Slingsby
T31b, flying. Filming included rigging of
the Olympia by Diane Davey and Phil
Prapulenis and culminated in Andy taking
a ride in the T31b launched by the
Geelong Gliding Club’s winch. We are
Lots of interest as Bernie McCosker instructs another budding
pilot on the Taylor glider replica
hopeful that
the publicity
gained will be
beneficial to
the Museum
and to gliding
in general, and
hope to see the
segment on air
in late April or early May.
Taylor Glider on Display
at Centenary Airshow
Famous escapologist Harry Houdini made
what is claimed by some to be the first
controlled powered flight in Australia on
18 March, 1910, at Diggers Rest, Victoria.
The Australian Gliding Museum Taylor
glider was presented at the Houdini
Centenary Air Show at Melton Airfield on
Saturday, 20 March. The glider was one
of three replicas built to celebrate the
centenary of the first flights in Australia
by a glider, conducted by George Taylor
on 5 December 1909.
At the air show a large crowd viewed
the replica; some of the younger and
lighter visitors being permitted to hang
from the structure in the manner used by
the original pilots 100 years ago, assisted
by Bernie McCosker, who was present for
the re-enactment at Narabeen, NSW, on
5 December last year.
The frail replica was displayed in a
large tent, with Alan Patching’s Golden
Eagle and Jenne Goldsmith’s Hutter 17
outside as crowd-stoppers. Queues formed
for a sit in both of these gliders as well,
and the day was regarded as well worth
the effort and a good time all round, due
in part to the perfect autumn weather.
Gliding Federation of Australia
Assists Financing of Projects
The Australian Gliding Museum executive
has been pondering the provision of
financing for three essential projects for
quite a while, and is pleased to report
that the Gliding Federation of Australia
has come to its aid. With over 40 gliders
Bob Hickman (centre right) interests young and
old in the joys of gliding in the Golden Eagle
[http://2009.gfa.org.au/index.php?option=
com_content&task=view&id=729&Itemid=220]
now in the collection of much of Australia’s
gliding heritage, space became a problem that we hoped to solve with the
kind donation by Phil Prapulenis of a
disused hangar at Locksley. This will
provide a separate workshop, storage
area and paint-shop facility. Museum
volunteers disassembled and transported
it to Bacchus Marsh, but the expense of
erection and infrastructure, including the
desired foundations and concrete floor,
was a worry. Also, provision of toilet facilities and the connection of mains power
to the Museum have to be financed.
The Executive of the GFA has kindly
approved a dollar for dollar contribution
to assist us with these projects, up to a
maximum of $20 000. This has redoubled
our efforts to raise financing and all three
projects will go ahead. We would like
to thank the GFA Executive and all GFA
members for this strategic support, which
recognises the huge progress the Museum
has made in its 10-year history.
GFA has previously supported the
Museum, during its formative years,
and the generous support has put the
Museum on a sound footing to preserve
and present the heritage of gliding
for generations to come. While we do
not open regular hours, and workshop
projects continue at Ferntree Gully, we
are pleased to show GFA members and
gliding enthusiasts around the museum at
a time to suit you. Please contact Graeme
Barton on 03 9802 1098 to arrange a visit.
M
rs Beryl Hartley of Narromine
NSW has been awarded the
prestigious Federation
Aeronautic International
(FAI) Pelagia Majewska Medal.
The medal is one of three awarded
for the sport of gliding.
This medal was created by the FAI in
1989, following a proposal by the Aero
Club of Poland, in memory of Madame
Pelagia Majewska, an eminent Polish
glider pilot awarded the Lilienthal
Medal for 1960, and holder of 17 world
gliding records, who lost her life in
an air accident in 1988. The medal is
offered to the FAI by the Aero Club of
Poland. It may be awarded annually,
on recommendation by the FAI Gliding
Commission, to a female glider pilot
to reward a particularly remarkable
performance in gliding during the past
year, or eminent services to gliding over a
long period of time.
T h e Pe l a g i a M a j ew s k a
Gliding Medal
The Gliding Federation of Australia (GFA)
nominated Beryl Hartley for the medal in
recognition of many years of dedicated
service to the sport of gliding both
nationally and internationally.
Rob Moore
Official Positions
Mrs Hartley has successfully
fulfilled the following
Beryl Hartley
positions at both the
National and State levels:
Australian international competition team
manager 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001
President GFA 2000
Treasurer GFA 2001-2006
FAI Foreign Claims Officer GFA1991-2005
FAI Certificates/Badges Officer GFA1995Present
Vice president New South Wales Gliding
Association1996-1998
Treasurer New South Wales Gliding
Association 2006-Present
Achievements
Before becoming Australian team manager
Mrs Hartley crewed at various world competitions during the 1980s. Her team
manager skills were so highly thought of
that for some years she was also manager
for the Japanese team.
In 1996, Beryl was the recipient of the
GFA ‘Bill Iggulden’ Award in recognition
of her outstanding services to GFA administration and since that time increased
her commitment even more, both as
president in 2000 and as treasurer from
2001 to 2006.
As treasurer, she worked diligently
and creatively to establish a cost-effective,
efficient and customer-focussed administration in the GFA secretariat.
Stating that Mrs Hartley was the FAI
Foreign Claims, Certificate and Badges
officer really does not do justice to her
position in that role. She is an outstanding
FAI Certificates Officer and works very
diligently in the role. In 2008 Beryl was
the Australian representative to the IGC.
Recently Beryl Hartley has been the
organising force for the second Australian
Grand Prix in 2008 and a member of the
Australian Bid for the 2012 Flapped World
Gliding Competitions.
At her local club level, Mrs Hartley has
been a principal contributor to the success
of the Narromine Cup Week which has
attracted new pilots into cross-country flying as well as many established pilots seeking to achieve long distance flights. In 2008
this event attracted some 80 participants.
She has been an outstanding member
of the GFA not only for the corporate
knowledge she brings to the table, but
also her insight to the sporting side of
soaring and its people in Australia and
throughout the world. To have consistently contributed to Australian gliding over
41 years has been more than would be
expected from any normal person.
Reminder
A gentle reminder to please remember
the Australian Gliding Museum when
making a will, to ensure valuable items
are not thrown on the tip by non-gliding
family members in the future.
Photos: David Goldsmith
All articles and photos from David Goldsmith and the Australian Gliding Museum newsletter
6 Soaring Australia
May 2010
May 2010
Soaring Australia
7
H G FA
A Distance Obsession
Chris Atkinson
Fuelling up the motor
Paramotoring, for most pilots, is about flying close to the ground in still air enjoying
the beautiful scenery. This is safe, nice and great fun to do. It took a year of regular
motoring before I started to look for some new challenges. Although I still enormously enjoy the morning flights on the beach or flying with the ducks over the sugar
cane fields. The time had come to look up high and at the horizon for a new challenge
– Distance. A challenge much different and greater than I had ever anticipated.
N
ot long after that Andrew Polidano
extended period of time. Strapping would
and Mark Kropp had set the mark
have to do. I knew I could break this record
at 56km for the Australian distance
if I only got off in the right conditions.
record. I was already flying longer
We arrived in the early hours on
distances, but this helped me with the
Sunday, 15 August. The weather was
motivation needed to get started. I lookchilly but it looked promising, perfect
ed harder into details required to do an
conditions with the sun rising from the
Australian paramotor distance record.
east. The surrounding mountains seen
It took several
from Barney View are a
attempts and a big
spectacular sight, and I
learning curve for me
really looked forward to
to understand what the
get in the air. My ankle
wind would do at high
was strapped as it had
altitude, finding the
only been a week since
right launch, studying
fracturing it. I chose the
VTC maps to avoid
steeper launch to avoid
airports and possible
having to run too far. I
flight restrictions,
had no problems, with
communication with the
a near perfect take off
ground crew for pickconsidering my injury.
up, and of course how
Luckily they don’t give
far I would get before I
stupidity awards. In
was too low on fuel and
hind sight I will not
had to look for possible
take such a risk again.
landing areas on the way.
I headed straight NNE
The first two attempts
to avoid a large patch
Flying high to test performance
had to be cancelled due
of forest, flying past
to weather conditions.
Mount Maroon with
There I learned the lesson
its impressive cliffs to
between the fine lines of
the west and nearly in
being highly motivated
line with the road to
and pushing too hard.
Boonah. I made great
Despite all my pre-flight
progress. Herbert and
checks, I managed to
Tina had taken my
overlook a twisted riser.
truck, following me on
This forced me to abort
the road. We lost radio
the flight and top-land
contact pretty soon
in high dry grass over
as they couldn’t keep
uneven ground and
up with me flying in a
left me with a painfully
straight line aiming for
fractured ankle. I decided
Esk. The goal of just
Chris Atkinson and Herbert Hobiger
not to get a cast for my
over 100km looked well
standing beside Kangook paramotor
ankle as this would see
within my reach.
on launch table
me on the sidelines for an
8 Soaring Australia
Flight preparation
Passing between Laidley and Gatton
to avoid Amberley airfields and heading
straight N, it looked like I had a winner.
Later in the flight my fingers started to
freeze while I was texting Herbert my
positions, but I saw my goal within reach
and that kept me going. Atkinson Dam
became visible over the horizon. With
it came and increase in the strength of
the head wind I had been battling since
shortly after take off. This forced me to
lose altitude in order to keep reasonable
penetration heading towards my goal.
My ground crew had soon caught up
with me. I now had to battle on several
fronts. While there was headwind slowing
my progress, flying at a lower altitude
made it a rather bumpy ride as time
progressed with the first thermals of the
day. Turbulence of the nearby ranges plus
the cold started to take its toll on me.
To top off the situation, just before Esk I
encountered a small but very inquisitive
aircraft doing laps around me. This was
fine at first, until he decided to do a head
to head pass at less than 50m above me.
I was already flying in rough air and was
awaiting a low altitude collapse from
the turbulence of his aircraft. The pilot
not only broke the law flying so close to
another aircraft but had put my life at
risk. Luckily I avoided a collapse.
Flying over Esk, I noticed my tank
was pretty low but not yet to the point
where I would have to land. I knew
the record was mine but, regardless to
difficulties I encountered, I would battle
on as long as I could do so safely. Finally
I made it to Toogoolawah where I had
planned to land on the showground.
With very little fuel left in my tank, I saw
my intended landing field. There were
horses everywhere. I knew that under no
circumstances could I land there with a
May 2010
Ready for the wing to be layed out for launch
paramotor. Luckily, being in radio contact
with Herbert, we found a Paddock not
too far with no livestock and big enough
to land a 707. A disgraceful landing on
a strapped ankle followed. I had made it
a whopping 135km on my first attempt
with no modifications on my paramotor.
I was ecstatic with my achievement, but
at the same time I knew I could do better.
The obsession had begun. I had already
planned my next flight.
The following weekend looked very
promising, with westerlies forecast for
Saturday as far inland as Roma. So we
headed out driving several hours Friday
night, camping near Roma. We left
before dawn, to find our googled takeoff site with plans to fly back to the coast.
It turned out to be of no use, so we kept
on looking, driving further out west and
searching for a suitable launch. We finally
found what we were searching for about
40 km beyond Roma near Muckadilla.
The folks from the country are only too
happy to help. We settled on a small hill
facing the right direction with thermal
cycles coming up at a near predictable
regularity as the day progressed. My
paramotor had now gained considerable
weight with some modifications to the
frame and the two extra five-litre tanks
installed on the sides. Seeing the terrain
May 2010
and strength of cycle coming up the hill, I
opted for a reverse. A good launch timed
perfectly with a nice cycle made this a
perfect take off. I was glad to be in the
air and wasted no time to circle straight
into line with my GPS coordinates, hoping
to get enough height to take advantage
of strong upper westerlies. An inversion
prevented me to getting to the altitude I
wanted. There was some really rough air
under the inversion and it took me a lot
of time to get through it. To my surprise,
it was as smooth as silk from there on
and with speeds of up to 107km/h. I
was jubilant passing Miles to my left
and aiming to reach Dalby as my next
way point. It had cost me a considerable
amount of fuel to get through the
inversion, and after 3 hours I started to
realise I wouldn’t make it all the way to
Dalby. I also had considerable difficulties
keeping in contact with my ground crew
as the phone reception isn’t always that
great in the country side. I managed to fly
a total of four hours and the distance of
278km, more than doubling my previous
record. I landed near an empty farmhouse
close to a small road, 40km from my
ground crew. They were having difficulties with their GPS and it took them close
to two hours before they managed to
pick me up.
Planning for these attempts takes a
lot of time from all involved. The learning
curve is steep. Without my ground crew‘s
help, it would not be possible to chase my
goals. Thank you for the great support.
I fly a modified Kangook frame.
These are the best frames I have found.
The engine is a Ros 125, very powerful,
economic and lightweight. I use a Dudek
Nucleon Wing. The reflex system makes
them a fast, reliable and rock solid wing
when it comes to turbulence. On the
last record flight, I would have landed
a lot earlier if I was flying a standard
paraglider wing.
I also would like to thank Ben Darke
from Kangook for helping me with the
setup, service, custom parts and advice.
Would I have been able to breach the
inversion early in the flight, I am confident
I could have doubled my distance.
My goals this year is to achieve
500km, then 800km and later in the year
I am planning to have an attempt on the
World distance record of 1105km. This
will take a good amount of planning and
further modification to my paramotor.
We have already put more than six
months work into this next attempt.
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Soaring Australia
9
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H G FA
H G FA
H G FA
The Third Attempt
Chris Atkinson
I
t was the week leading up to Saturday
13 March when I decided to have another
attempt in breaking the Australian
record, previously set by me to 278km.
This time around my personal goal
had been set a lot higher, and I was
absolutely determined to leave no doubt
in anyone’s mind about my goals, and
to set a distance that would take some
serious planning to beat.
Many months of painstaking preparations and testing of equipment had gone
into today. I had modified my frame to fit
two 20-litre fuel tanks, giving me a total
of 70 litres, followed by all the testing
and making sure everything worked
as planned. Important issues needed
consideration, such as ideal hang points,
fuel lines and
flow, the extra
weight, wing
loading, just
to name a few.
I had to build
a test bed to
compare propellers and
engine performance. This
helped cut out
the hearsay and
let me separate
facts from fiction
Launching the 34m2 Nucleon
about performance. I was
looking for the thrust and fuel economy
needed to cover a very long distance, and
every bit would count. Not only was the
right choice of equipment essential, but
the weather would be absolutely crucial
for a successful
record attempt.
Observing weather patterns and
looking at past
records helped
me to make up
my mind when
to try.
We also
worked through
possible scenarios of what
could go wrong,
safety being a
Climbing out above launch
top priority.
10 Soaring Australia
south easterly, helping me
to reach ground speeds
of up to 122km/h. My
progress was on track and
I was well on the way to
achieve my goal.
My new large
Flying at 6500ft, the
34m2 wing had arrived
air was relatively smooth.
and I was keen to
I felt the cold creeping
take it for its maiden
into every bone of my
flight. Several sessions
body, and soon I started
Warming up the Ros 125
of ground handling
to shake badly to the point
in winds up to 12kt
where I felt quite ill in
prepared me for the big day. I was very
the stomach, forcing me to drop lower,
impressed with my new Dudek Nucleon.
looking for warmer conditions. I realised
After several hours of preparations
at this point that more research into
and a last weather check, we arrived near
protective clothing should definitely have
Canungra at 5:45am. Looking up from
been higher on my list of priorities. I was
the Turf Farm near Canungra towards
struggling, feeling very ill and cold.
Mt Tambourine, the first light of the day
Flying at 3500 to 4000ft, the air
was showing promising signs of a relative
became a lot rougher. It was a price I was
clear day. The wind was too strong for
willing to pay for warmer air. I had to
recreational flying with cycles at the
fly quite actively and this helped me take
upper limit of manageable.
my mind off the cold and stomach for
The race had started, setting everything
a while. I made great progress passing
up before the wind would get too strong
Moonie on the way. My Nucleon was
to launch. I decided to fill the tanks with 45
a dream to fly. It handled great in all
litres of fuel. A purpose-build bench helped
situations and I have to say the engineers
me to test-run, warm the engine and have
did an awesome job designing it.
my pre-flight safety check. I put on layers
Observing the country below, very
of clothes to protect myself against the
green and lush from the recent rains
extreme cold at high altitude.
with bits of water around in some areas
Nearly an hour had passed and we
from the recent floods looked gorgeous
were ready. The wind had eased and was
from the air. What reassured me was
nearly too light. Everything was going
that we had checked with the RACQ and
to plan. Before long my ground crew
the police before leaving and had been
laid out the wing for me and removed
told that all major roads would be open.
the bench. I was on my own, ready to
Close to six hours into my journey, south
launch. The weight was pulling down my
west of Surat, my stomach started to give
shoulders, as I had more than 70kg on my
me more trouble. I vomited for the third
back, waiting for the peak in the cycle. I
time during the flight. I regained my
managed a good reverse launch, and the
composure and pushed on. A few minutes
wing came up beautifully. While adjusting
later, my motor started running rough,
to a change in wind direction, I powered
and I realised my air box must have
on my engine and started to run towards
copped some of my stomach contents as
a very slow climb out. It did not take too
it had made its way into the carburetor.
long before I found a patch of buoyant
Seeing the rough and heavily timbered
air to circle in. Once I had reached 1000ft,
country ahead helped me make up my
I headed west towards the Great Dividing
mind, as the risks were now getting too
Range which lay approximately an hour
high, so I turned back to a farm house I
away, well aware that I had to gain
had recently passed. I used full reflex for
substantial height to make it over.
about 10km, tracking back to finally land
Heading west climbing steadily, I
noticed the wind coming even more cross
with the gain in altitude. I had to crab
my way towards the near vertical faces
of Cunningham Gap. I got some more lift
on these near vertical faces but crossed
further north of where I had originally
planned. This was another first for me,
crossing the range. My first real challenge
was out of the way. The wind direction
Testing manoeuvrability under load
soon became a more favorable straight
May 2010
at 12:50pm on Siwa Farm, on Woodburn
Road. I found myself with 17 litres of
fuel left in the tanks which should have
allowed me to exceed my goal of 700km.
Safety had to come first and it was the
right decision to land, even though it was
disappointing.
What I did not know at this point was
that the adventure only just had begun! I
knew I had a new record. I thought about
the highlights of the flight while packing
up my wing and stretching. Sand flies and
mosquitoes started to attack me in plain
daylight as I walked towards the farm
house. Thousands of sand flies had had
ideal conditions to breed and were now
swarming everywhere. I had no phone
reception, but was lucky to find a phone
working in the temporarily abandoned
farm house on the property. Herbert was
nowhere to be contacted, and I assumed
he was out of range. I had been flying
with a satellite tracking system called
a Spot. It relays my exact location at 15
Groundhandling the new wing in strong wind
Ready to launch on a record flight
minutes intervals to the laptop; Herbert
was carrying in the car and home to my
desktop computer where it displayed
on a Google map. I was quite confident
Herbert would not be too far away and
would eventually turn up. We had agreed
to have a back-up via my home phone.
I rang my wife to let her know where
I was, but she had been following my
progress on the computer and already
knew. If necessary, Herbert could get an
update by ringing home. In the meantime
I had walked several kilometres towards
the front of the property and realised
that flooding was still a very real issue
here in the back country with miles of
knee-deep water and mud on the road.
This explained why no one was home
on the property. I had to put my flight
suit back on as the sand flies were having
too much of a smorgasbord. The only
sensible thing I could do was to take
refuge in the house and wait for my
crew to pick me up.
Equipment Used
Kangook frame
Ros 125 engine
RS Ultra propeller
Dudek Nucleon wing
Recovery
Herbert Hobiger (member of the ground crew)
W
hile Chris was flying,
I had had my own
troubles trying to follow
him with his Patrol Ute.
We had good contact until Dalby, with
occasional messages on the phone and
regular checks on the laptop confirming
my heading in the right direction.
Everything seemed
to go well.
As I travelled deeper into the
country side, contact started to get more
difficult due to poor phone reception.
Lunch time came and no word from
Chris, no phone reception with Optus.
I started to get concerned when the
laptop’s batteries gave up. Arriving in
Roma, at last I had phone reception
again. I called Chris’s wife Tina to find
out about his whereabouts and was
told he landed safely on Siwa Farm with
coordinates to type into the Tom Tom
of his Ute.
Off I went to Surat, and then passed
south, only to find out that all minor
roads west were impassable due to the
recent flooding, with some bridges still
1.5m under water.
Looking at the GPS coordinates;
I knew Chris was not that far away.
May 2010
It could probably
only be about 50 to
60km as the crow flies,
but getting there was
a real problem without Flying low with 30 litres
any local knowledge.
So I started asking on properties SW of
Surat if anyone knew the way around the
local flooding. There was a real chance I
would not be able to retrieve Chris today.
When I finally located Mark, a local
farmer, who knew the area and where
Siwa Farm was. Again I must praise country
folks, always helpful giving up their time
after a hard day’s work. Mark had offered
to come with me to help retrieve Chris. We
left at around 6pm driving approximately
around 150km with tremendous detours on
heavily washed out roads, edging ever closer
to the farm.
The last 10km were horrendous: with
knee-deep water, progress was often
difficult. We had times where I walked
ahead of the Ute, making sure we did not
get bogged in the mud or in unexpected
holes one could not see under the water.
I was glad Mark was driving, as I would not
have made it without him and the
well-equipped 4WD ute.
At last we made it to the entry
of Siwa Farm. We called
Chris on the property’s
phone. Borrowing
one of the property’s
tractors, Chris came to
us. He then showed
us the way and we
managed to load all his
gear. After a lengthy
drive back, we arrived
in Surat by midnight,
returning Mark to his family. We did
not waste much time, climbing into
our swags for some well deserved sleep.
What a long and adventurous day!
We both learned a lot on what had
to be done to prevent similar mishaps.
After checking the GPS, we discovered that Chris had managed to fly a
total of 464km in a straight line from
take-off to landing. This is one serious
distance covered by a foot launched
paramotor! It was only made possible
through the sheer dedication and effort
put in by Chris. Knowing him, I would
be astonished if were to be his last
attempt! He has his sights focused on
the 800km mark and aims to seriously
attempt to break the World record of
1105km later in the year. He has the
right equipment and is determined to
give it a go. Chris is competing against
professional pilots. This makes his recent
achievements all the more impressive.
Soaring Australia 11
G FA
G FA
Lake Keepit Soaring Club
Regatta 2010
John Clark
The last week in February saw Lake Keepit Soaring Club holding the inaugural LKSC
regatta. The regatta was designed to be a competition with a difference where heroic
pilots shepherd less experienced pilots cross-country to give them a real experience
of competition and AAT flights. Thirty-five pilots, including some from Queensland,
gathered at the club. About half of the entrants are very experienced pilots, most
of whom claim to be there to do lead-and-follows as mentors and not there just
for a friendly comp.
I
don’t do comps. This is not entirely
because I am bad at them. I am. On the
one and only hang gliding tow comp I
did, I only got out of the tow paddock
on one day. I like flying cross-country and
would like to fly further and faster so
I signed up for the regatta.
The club was packed out and all the
accommodation taken early. I had lured
my wife Geraldine up to the regatta to
take pictures and because I had forgotten
to book a room at the club early enough,
we were reduced to being gypsies and
changing accommodation every few days.
We started out at the ever popular
HG and PG haunt, the ‘Ian Duncan
Memorial Home for Bewildered Single
Men’ AKA the Royal Hotel in Manilla
which was a full house. The hang gliding
State titles were in full swing and it was
full of filthy disease-carrying hang glider
pilots, quite a few of whom are friends
and some are also members at LKSC
Harry Medlicott
12 Soaring Australia
including last year’s hang gliding
world champion, Attila Bertok.
Hang gliding competitions are
a lot more civilised than sailplane
comps. Pilots get up late, have
breakfast late, go up to the hill late
for a late briefing and they party
late and loudly. Needless to say, this
didn’t sync well with my having to
leave early for the regatta briefing.
If you have seen ’The Right
Stuff’ (and which pilot has not seen
it at least half a dozen times?)
you will remember the scene
where Pancho Barnes tells some
hot test pilots, “We have two types
of pilot here… your Prime Pilots
who get all the hot planes and
your Pudknockers. What do you
Pudknockers want to drink.”
Well the regatta is a bit like
that. The heroic Prime Pilots strut
their stuff while the rest of us Pudknockers misbehave like naughty
school kids. Each day begins with
a briefing which includes an erudite
and normally funny presentation on
the hows and whys of not flying like
a Pudknocker, but by the time we get
let out of school, there’s no break, it’s
‘get your glider to the grid in 30 minutes’.
I suppose that the goody-goodies
in the class have been up before dawn
cleaning their gliders and what-not, while
I was trying to get another hour of sleep
to compensate for getting to bed too
late at the Royal. By the time I had my
glider almost clean (a sure indicator of
Jay Anderson in war paint
Paul Mander at the Tijuana coffee house
a Pudknocker is a dirty glider) I arrived on
the grid to find they’d changed the rules.
Instead of being able to slot quietly at the
back, I have to sit at the front of the class.
As a further punishment, I am made
to be the wind dummy on most days. I
think sailplane people call it something
else, but dummy is what it feels like. It’s
well known that the third most terrifying
thing for most people is public speaking.
May 2010
It’s less well known that the second most
terrifying thing is taking off first in full
view of everyone, hoping you don’t stuff
it up. I learn that you grid early and hide
down the back, otherwise you may be
airborne for hours while people on the
ground make up their minds. I’m a slow
learner. I am wind dummy on all but
one day.
Another thing I learn later on in
the week is how to cheat on the OLC.
Assuming as wind dummy you manage
to stay up, it may be an hour or more
before everyone gets up, what with the
occasional relight. So you might as well
fly somewhere and get a decent out and
return leg in ahead of the task which will
make you look less of a Pudknocker on
the OLC. This backfired badly one day
when all the clouds did was to mark sink
and I ended up scratching down low
in one knot for 15 minutes just before
the start.
The handicaps in the comp appear
to be arranged after watching people’s
behaviour at social events. Almost every
night appears to be the excuse for some
party. Tuesday night, everyone decamps
down to Bob Dircks’ for a barbecue and
croquet. Bob had gone solo on Saturday
in his own Libelle and was feeling like
a Prime Pilot. This night is an excellent
event, enjoyed possibly too much by
most judging by the handicaps writ large
on people’s faces the next day.
After that we have the Mexican night,
catered by Tim and Chris Carr’s mum and
dad, who although being apparently
Kiwi Gringos, do a great feed. The night
is won by regular English club member
William White, who with a simple shirt,
pair of sunnies, painted on mo and a
sun tan manages to look frighteningly
Mexican (of the kidnapping and drug
running kind). Maybe he should take a
DNA test or consult the family tree.
In the middle of Lake Keepit State
Park, there’s a single isolated rental
cottage called the Chalet, high up on a
ridge. It has a perfect view overlooking
the lake and the airstrip on the other
side. Geraldine and I move into the Chalet
in the middle of the week. Luxury! Sleep!
Days three and four are grey. There is
no sun at all and it reminds me of a postapocalyptical – post-nuclear world such as
in the film ‘The Road’. You know, pilots
wrapped in rags shivering in their planes
before take-off and all that. No chance
at all of staying up.
However, since everyone is gridding
and your sleep-starved Pudknocker’s brain
May 2010
Ray Tilley on tow
tells you that here’s a chance to practice
all those heroic Prime Pilot techniques
they told you about at the briefing, you
get gridded… on the front again.
We get airborne, but the task is
cancelled on both days, fairly obviously
since the conditions are unflyable.
However, everyone continues to fly and
there are actually patches of up, mainly
caused by the masses of down-going
air having to go somewhere. There are
brave Pudknockers who decide to try
and follow their leaders, most of whom
are roundly told off on the radio for not
doing what they are told: “I strongly
advise you to have a very close look at
the bottom of that cloud,” all leading to
hyperventilation in the cockpit for the
rest of us due to excessive laughter.
These are days to feel really like a
Pudknocker as the Prime Pilots ease round
the cancelled task and make it home in
time for tea and cucumber sandwiches,
the steel grey light glinting off their bugfree wings, while the rest of us sit on the
ground and try to make up convincing
excuses as to what we did wrong.
The last few days are greatly
improved by the presence of Bob
Dircks’ daughters setting up the
Tijuana Coffee Club: real espresso
machine serving real coffee right
outside the flight centre during
the briefings. Brilliant plan!
After the gloomy days, the
following morning starts off
looking equally grim and gloomy
and I am looking for a day off.
The sewing circle (AKA tasksetting committee) change the task
so often that people break knobs
off flight computers with the
excessive twiddling as each task
change comes through. Heading
Regatta final dinner
Photos: Geraldine Clark
south into the murk, there are patches of
less-than-dark on the ground and some
positive lift which gets better and better.
As we turn north conditions improve into
a champagne day with bright blue sky
and cu’s dotted all over the place. A slightly challenging run north through the blue
to the top of the triangle and a boomer
all the way back home. That’s my opinion.
Paul Mander, with his very nervous
Pudknocker, and two others fly line
abreast at 800ft scratching for lift on this
southbound leg while Harry Medlicott
(closely followed by me) cruises at 85kt
below cloudbase.
Todd Clark and Lisa
Soaring Australia 13
G FA
Ian Downes
New Mid-week Manager
for Lake Keepit
Lake Keepit Soaring Club has a new midweek manager, Ian Downes, following
Jenny Ganderton’s reluctant resignation
to make time to care for her father.
Ian Downes comes from the VFMG
Club, at Bacchus Marsh and is a Level
2 Instructor, a tug pilot and has been
an active member on the management
committee of the VMFG club. Ian started
at Lake Keepit on the first day of the
recent LKSC Regatta.
Ian feels that Lake Keepit’s combination of seven-days-a-week operations,
modern glider fleet and the suitability of
the local region for cross-country training
puts the club in a perfect position to offer
support to other clubs and individual pilots
wanting to progress towards obtaining
their glider pilot certificate.
Ray Tilley has a bad day in his ASH 27
when he sees Albuts getting too high and
too fast in his Cirrus 75. (Albuts promptly
increases the sale price... yes, it is still
for sale). Jay Anderson pushes too hard
and lands out. This is probably nature’s
payback for Jay deciding to ride out the
epic storm front which came through late
on the day before.
Others have a bad leg here or there,
but that’s typical for this week. A leg that
has people saying, “I’m gaining height
well near Gunnedah… under motor,” has
others catching five knot climbs. Merely
going five kilometres north of the line
can mean the cloudbase going up 1500ft
and completely different conditions.
With two days to go, we bump out
of the Chalet and go back to the Royal
for another night. Then, due to drinking
commitments at the end of term party,
we stay in the campground in the State
Park where there’s a jazz band playing.
Now I am not one of those people who
14 Soaring Australia
G FA
feel that in any civilised country jazz
players would be lined up against a
wall (along with opera singers) and shot
without question… okay, I am one of
them, but not allowed to say so until I am
in charge… but I have a feeling another
sleepless night is in store.
The conditions for Friday and Saturday are again excellent, giving the Pudknockers more freedom to misbehave and
mime around the sky, annoying the Prime
Pilots. What other weapon do we have?
Leader: “I wouldn’t advise you to
follow me while I’m exploring for lift.”
Follower: “I have to! What else am I
going to do? It’s the only plan I’ve got!”
Is the regatta fun? Yes, it is great fun.
It is competitive without being extreme
and like the Keepit Safari, puts you into
conditions which you would not normally
fly and you find lift which you never
thought was there.
Is it scary? I don’t like big gaggles
of sailplanes. Yes, there are moments,
pre-start where four or five gliders are
in the same thermal, but due to there
being nine start points on most days the
separation is very good. Once out on
course, I only share a thermal with one or
two gliders in the entire week, including
the guy I am meant to be following!
Will I do it again? Yes, absolutely.
The regatta is a good balance of fun and
competition. I’ve learned a lot about AATs
and where to find some really useful
information on my glide computer and
maybe one day I will be a Prime Pilot
and I can be mean to some Pudknocker
following me.
Finally, what’s the thing most
people fear the most, even more
than public speaking or being a wind
dummy? It’s making a landing in front
of a crowd, especially where there’s a
camera involved. In hang gliding, the
landing zone or LZ is frequently called
the IZ or impact zone. In spite of pilots
attempting to land all over the place to
avoid the camera, Geraldine manages to
immortalise some excellent sequences
of ‘landings’ which can be permanently
erased for the standard fee.
The 2011 regatta will be held from
Sunday 20 to Saturday 26 February (seven
days). Further information can be found
on Lake Keepit Soaring Club website
[www.keepitsoaring.com] and
accommodation should be booked early;
I’ll certainly be doing that! So come along
and join us in this low key, relaxing and
fun event.
IGC Meeting – 5 and 6 March 2010 Lausanne, Switzerland
Terry Cubley
T
he International Gliding Commission (IGC) is the international
body responsible for the sport of
gliding worldwide. Each member country has one delegate and one
vote at the IGC annual meeting, typically
in Lausanne Switzerland. This means that
Australia with 2500 members has the
same vote as Germany with 35 000 members and Luxembourg with 39 members.
The agenda is predominantly sporting –
competitions, records, badges – but also
is getting more involved with member
retention/promotion and flying safety.
IGC is one sporting commission of the
FAI (Federation Aeronautique International – the international aviation body).
Other commissions include parachuting,
hang gliders, aeromodellers, helicopters
OSTIV (technical), etc.
I am Australia’s delegate to IGC and
attended the 2010 meeting in March.
The following is a summary of the major
discussions and decisions. If you wish to
review the minutes of this meeting, they
are available on the IGC website [www.
fai.org/gliding].
FAI N E W S
The new FAI general secretary Stephane
Desprez (replacing Max Bishop), attended
the meeting on day one. Stephane is from
a rugby background, and managed the
rugby world cup recently held in France.
The latest FAI meeting was held in
Korea and was attended by 16 Asian
countries not previously represented.
Ninety five countries are now affiliated,
including Iraq, Iran and Mongolia.
OSTIV (the technical commission).
A new book has been published and
is available through the OSTIV web
page [www.fai.org/ostiv] for 17 Euros –
‘Weather forecasting for soaring flight’.
PRO M OTION
Flying Aces – airsports web page
[www.airsports.tv].
Flying Aces have the promotional rights
for TV etc for FAI and is looking for video
footage to place on the channel. They
can also help with advice on promotion
of the sport through visual media. They
covered the world air games and have TV
footage through common pay TV outlets
in Europe and USA.
Peter Newport/Mario Hytten
May 2010
Peter was the driving force behind
‘Gladiators of the Sky’ and is still trying
to become a major promoter of gliding
and aviation sport. He is now working
with Mario Hytten and they produced a
short promotional video at the Chile GP
final. They have identified that the focus
for gliding should be as an eco-friendly
sport, and are promoting this to a broad
range of commercial and non-commercial
sponsors. They showed their promotional
short video which they are taking to
potential sponsors; it is very impressive
and gives a very clear message.
The vision: To be the undisputed
leading sport in terms of environmental
agenda and image.
There were two rounds of voting.
Australia and Poland survived the first
round. In the final round Poland won
the selection 23 votes to Australia 13.
Junior and Women championships
outside of Europe
Australia then moved a motion to ensure
that World championships for juniors
and for women took place every 10 years
outside of Europe; the juniors starting
with 2015 and the women starting with
2019. This would overcome our constant
battle over cost. We were successful with
this motion, so if we are still keen on
running a junior worlds we can bid for
2015 and only have to contend with
USA, South Africa, New Zealand, etc.
13.5m Class
C O M P E TITIONS
Grand Prix
Six qualifying grand prix have been
scheduled so far for 2010/11; potential
to hold the final at Wasserkuppe in July
2011 (nominations still open).
Want all QGP to have tracking – possible IGC support for this. The reps from
Yellowbrick were present. This uses iridium
satellite system. The cost is approx $1000
per tracker, plus the cost of on-site support.
World Competitions
Excess entries at world competitions
With a limit of 50 entries for a class at
world comps, 35 plus countries and two
pilots per country, there is a need to
refuse some entries. The proposal is based
on the IGC ranking. Holland’s proposal to
use country ranking rather than individual
ranking was accepted.
Amended to limit country losses to
only one pilot in each championships,
removal starts with the largest class.
Effective 1 April 2010.
Given the low success of the PW5 Class
and the availability of a range of other
light gliders, the light glider working
party proposed to replace the PW5 Class
with a 13.5m Class.
This proposal was accepted and the
new 13.5m Class replaces the PW5 (which
is now a sub-set of the bigger class) effective 2014: No handicap, no limit on ballast
and no sub-classes in major events (ie, no
PW5 champion).
Barron Hilton
James Cooper (from WA) approached
the organisers of the old Barron Hilton
Cup to see if they would continue to run
the event and award a medallion, but
without the prize of the trip to the USA.
Hannes Linke gave this some thought and
is proposing to Barron Hilton to establish
the ‘Barron Hilton Challenge’.
Simultaneously the IGC Bureau is
going to tender to have an FAI triangle
cup via an OLC provider. Either way,
it looks as though we will have a
replacement for the BHC.
Junior world gliding championships
Australia submitted a bid to host the
junior world comps in 2013 at Narromine.
Five other nations made a bid, all from
Eastern Europe. This was always going to
be a challenge because many European
countries do not want to spend the dollars
required to fly in Australia. Given that the
2012 world comps are in Argentina and
the USA, countries were always going to
be reluctant to spend much in 2013.
Australia’s bid focused on the strength
of our junior movement, and that the bid
was from our junior pilots. This received
many supporting comments with many
nations impressed with what our juniors
are achieving.
May 2010
IG C SAF E TY STRAT E GY
In collaboration with OSTIV, IGC is embarking on research into glider accidents and
their prevention. Comments on the plan
are being requested, and an agreement
to adopt measures at a national level
is being encouraged. One of the early
activities is collection of accident reports
and in particular GPS traces that can
provide some meaningful data on causes
and contributing factors.
C OUNTRY W ORKING PARTY
The country (membership) working party
organised an international survey which
looked at membership trends and membership concerns across the globe.
A copy of this report, which has some
great data of immediate relevance for
Australian clubs, is available on the GFA
web page.
There is a separate cross-country report
relevant to the GFA sports’ committee
which has been distributed; hopefully this
will also be placed on the GFA web page.
R E C ORDS
Continental records are being introduced,
where the records are for the best performances flown within that continental
region. This has been done to overcome
the need for everyone to fly in Argentina
in order to break a record, and to promote great flights across all soaring
regions worldwide.
Records can be set by any pilot with
a sporting licence, so an Australian continental record can be flown by pilots
of any nation, provided the flight takes
place in Australia.
The IGC Bureau will approve the
minima for each record.
GPS R E C ORD E RS
The approval of non-IGC flight recorders
for silver and gold badge flights has been
opened up by removing the need for IGC
confirmation of the work done by national
bodies. Effective immediately, national
bodies can approve these devices and only
need to advise the IGC committee. Australia
has already approved three devices thanks
to hard work from Tim Shirley. We were
the first in the world to do this.
IG C A W ARDS
The Lilienthal medal was awarded to Ross
McIntyre (New Zealand) who has managed
the sporting code for many years.
The Pirate Gehriger award was presented to Igidio Galli (Italy) who was
Italian team captain for 20 years, ran
competitions, is an active pilot and promoter of young pilots.
The Pelagia Majewska medal was
awarded to Beryl Hartley (Australia).
GFA nominated Beryl Hartley
for this award which is awarded for
‘significant contribution to gliding over
a long period’. It was a close vote, but
Beryl’s contribution was well respected
internationally and she won the award.
Soaring Australia 15
HGFA News
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
From a Board Member
As you read this, the new 2010-2012 committee has just come in. I want to personally
thank you for your support in electing us.
I pledged ‘honesty and openness’ during
the election, along with reduced costs,
increased services, and site protection. I
invite anyone interested in following progress to visit the new management area
I set up in our forums.
The ‘SGM’ board chose to appoint me
early, and I’ve used this extra time to bring
the HGFA membership systems (called ‘iMIS’)
online – an immense task that’s taken nearly
four months of daily work, and even now
has plenty of teething problems. This should
settle down in future, and will hopefully
lead to cost reductions of $60 000 or more.
I’m also pleased to announce that my
initiative to return our insurance to our
former broker, OAMPS, went ahead with
a $46 000 reduction in premiums with no
changes to our written policy. My deepest
thanks go to Mr Agnew from OAMPS,
who bore the brunt of my two months of
constant haggling. Myself and 2400 plus
members are sincerely grateful.
Many of you may now be aware that the
HGFA computers automatically distribute my
club and state membership lists at the start
of each month, which are now used to check
member currency and qualifications in meetings and on the hill. Along with the SGM’s
discounted ‘member recovery’ initiative, and
(I like to think) as a show of confidence in
the new management, the HGFA has in recent months seen the sharpest increase in
member numbers in it’s entire history.
There are a large number of procedures
that the HGFA and office undertake, and
I’ve spent the last few months studying these
closely. There are about $430 000 worth of
combined savings and benefits that I hope
to help the HGFA enjoy this year, along with
$380 000 in future years. We hope to get a
comprehensive survey out to all members
soon, so we can be sure that we are providing what members want. Reducing costs can
allow for reduced membership fees, and/
or an increase in previously unaffordable
member services. Be sure to take part when
your survey arrives.
Much of the HGFAs strength is built
through the efforts of our volunteer
members. I’d like to thank the hundreds
who’ve come before us, the dozens who are
directly helping us now, and I encourage
anyone with some skills and time to let us
know if you’re available to help!
Welcome to the ‘New HGFA’.
Kind Regards,
Chris Drake, HGFA I.T., 2010-2012 Board
16 Soaring Australia
N ew P roducts
UP Xpress
The Xpress is a new kind
of wing. designed with
the wing characteristics
of yesteryear in mind,
but with the most
modern technology.
With three sizes to
choose from there is an
Xpress for all and when
you’re done just roll
up and stuff any old
way; nothing there that’ll wrinkle or break.
Available in May 2010.
Xpress specifications
Size
Flat Area
Projected Area
Flat Span
Projected Span
Flat AR
Projected AR
Chambers
Total line length incl. brakes
Number of lines incl. brakes
Line dimensions
Glider Weight
Trimmspeed [km/h]
Top Speed [km/h]
14
16,5
13,9
8,1
6,5
4,0
3,0
26
173,3
98
1,3/1,6
3,5
45
60
15,5
18,5
15,7
8,6
6,9
4,0
3,0
26
184,1
98
1,3/1,6
3,8
43
58
17,5
20,5
17,4
9,1
7,3
4,0
3,0
26
193,5
98
1,3/1,6
4,1
41
56
The Xpress sizes are recognisable by the
colour of their narrow design stripe; small is
black, medium red and large yellow.
Lee Scott, [www.highadventure.com]
Sol’s Other Flying Kangaroo
If you are in the market for a new tandem
you won’t get better value for your dollar
than the new Sol Kangaroo 3.
Kangaroo 3 is sure to impress with its
innovative construction of 61 cells – 14 of
them closed – hybrid fabrics, 6.26 real A/R
and 4.38 projected A/R.
A step up from the innovative SOL
Kangaroo 2, The Kangaroo 3 is characterised
by easy take off, climb performance, smooth
handling and easy landing. A system of
internal double crossed V-Tabs (DVT) in the
centre of the wing generate a solid structure
to give the best lift in flight even with the
smallest thermals.
The layout of Kangaroo 3 is entirely
new, with a higher aspect ratio, which
results in a precise handling and more
performance, equal to that
of a high level glider. The cell
width gets smaller as you go
from the centre to the wing
tip. The space between each
block of cells remains the
same thanks to a vector strap
sewn between each profile/
line attachment. The threelevel suspension lines have
been optimised to reduce
drag and make it easier to untangle. Three
types of fabrics are used combining new
lighter fabrics with Gelvenor OLKS.
The New Kangaroo 3 offers comfortable piloting, good passive safety, and
light reactions in extreme conditions. The
wing comes with complimentary backpack,
internal protection bag, compression
straps, riser bag, wind sock, manual, basic
maintenance kit, spread bar, cap, and
measuring tape to check the distance
between carabiners.
All Sol gliders have three years or 300
hours of flight warranty.
For more information on the New Sol
Kangaroo 3, contact Paul Cox at the Central
Coast Paragliding, <[email protected].
au> or 02 4334 2222.
Moyes Malibu 166
We have just completed the Malibu-2010,
and we now have two sizes! The Malibu 188
and Malibu 166 both have undergone a few
minor sail cut modifications:
The new Malibu inserts has the mylar
run all the way around the leading edge, as
opposed to just joining the foam on top of
the leading edge. The foam is still in place
of course, but now does not get crumbled
during pack up, leading to a smoother
leading edge that will stay clean over the
lifetime of the glider.
The zipper runs no longer parallel to the
leading edge, but perpendicular to it, along
the airflow. The reason is to make the glider
pack neat and avoid crushing the Mylar
and foam. The gliders now pack like any
double surface glider that has got enough
undersurface to pull forward.
Tip panel and undersurface modification – both these mods, take most of the
flutter out of the glider when flown at top
speed. The Malibu’s handling relies strongly
on its soft leading edges, but as a side effect
of this softness, the wing will eventually
start a pronounced flutter when flying at
top speeds - this mod helps to remove most
of the flutter.
Gerolf has totally redesigned the
166 since the first prototype in 2008.The
result is that the little Malibu now has a
stall character as forgiving as the M188,
the roll rate will be hard to match by any
other single surface glider on the market,
regardless of its size. Given the same wing
loading the M166 and M188 will perform
practically identical.
M166 comes standard with a small Aframe (8cm shorter uprights!, but standard
size speed bar. The entire frame is made of
7075 series tubing, the crossbars are 62mm
diameter just like the M188, which should
make certification a simple affair.
Everyone here who has flown the M166
is very excited. And even those who were
getting a little impatient are feeling that it
has been worth the wait!
We are now taking orders! Moyes Delta
Gliders [www.moyes.com.au].
Malibu 166 specifications
Span: Nose Angle: Aspect Ratio: Glider Weight: Optimal Pilot Weight: Hook-In-Weight: Packing Length: Packing Length-Short: C of G (Front to Keel): Number of battens:
VNE: VA: Trim Speed: Stall Speed: Maximum Speed: Best glide speed: Best glide angle: 9.15m
120.5 degree
5.5
23kg (51lb)
60kg (132lb)
72-92kg (159-203lb)
5310mm (17.4ft)
3510mm (11.5ft)
1658mm (65.3in)
Top: 15
Bottom: 0
85km/h (53mph)
55km/h (mph)
32km/h (20mph)
22km/h (14mph)
70km/h (43mph)
38km/h (24mph)
9.5:1
Boomerang 7
Gin Products
The Boomerang 7 has finally been released.
It is a completely new wing to the 6, developed from the Italy Super-Final version. The
glider boasts improved climbing and greater
stability in turbulence. Pitch stability has also
been improved and semi-circular leading
edge inlets maintain internal pressure at high
speed. A revolutionary mesh system on the
leading edge works as an air valve, opening
at fully accelerated speed allowing the pilot
to maintain speed in turbulent conditions.
Pilots in between weights should fly
at the top of the range.
Boomerang GTO certified
The Boomerang GTO is the highest performance certified wing ever designed by Gin.
GTO ‘Gran Turismo Omologato’ was a
term originally used by Ferrari, later Pontiac
and denotes a race car that has been made
street legal. The Boomerang GTO was
conceived in this spirit. Gin’s aim was to
design a wing with a performance level that
had never before been reached, but that
would still be certified. As with predecessor,
Boomerang Sport, no compromises on
handling or safety were allowed.
A wing for XC, competition fun and
confidence were two primary elements of
the design. Easy to handle in all kinds of
conditions, comfortable take-offs in both
nil or strong wind with no overshooting
tendency. The stability of the Boomerang
GTO is without comparison.
Naturally, the Boomerang GTO is a glider
only for experienced and talented pilots of
the highest level. A minimum of 80 flying
hours per year is recommended.
Certified in the S and M size XS and
L still pending.
Sprint X-Alps – Light Intermediate
Light version of the Sprint, the X-Alps
edition features the technology used to
make the wings of the Gin team pilots
competing in the Red Bull X-Alps race.
Sprint X-Alps is the ideal glider to
combine trekking and cross-country – it is
more compact and perfect for traveling light
without a bulky rucksack.
Sprint X-Alps is delivered with the light
Gin X-Alps rucksack (90 L/900g).
Sprint X-Alps is also different in the air,
but you should discover it yourself…
• from 4.6kg
• five sizes – XXS, ,XS, S, M, L
• EN B/LTF 1/2
Yak
Yak is our speedflying ultra-light glide
weighing just a little more than 2kg.
Yak has a little less dynamic turn, less
rolling tendancy in high load and has a bit
more glide ratio compare to Bobcat.
Boomerang 7 Specifications
Malibu 166
May 2010
Size
XXS XS S
SM M
ML
L
Weight in
flight (kg) 80-90 85-95 90-100 95-105100-110105-115110-125
Certification EN926-1
May 2010
Yak
It has three sizes 15, 16.5 and 18m2.
Yak can be delivered in various possibilities like Yeti or Bobcat: wing only, with
Yeti harness or Switch or with Alpine bag.
YAK SPECIFICATIONs
Size
Area (M2)
Aspect Ratio
Cells Number
Glider’s Weight (kg)
Weight In Flight (kg)
Load Test
15
16.5
18
15
16.5
18
3.9
3.9
3.9
26
26
26
2.1
2.3
2.5
<80kg >80kg 110kg
6G
6G
6G
For more information, contact Paragliding Queensland <[email protected]>.
Hook 2
Niviuk Unveil Hook 2
Niviuk has released its latest glider, the
Hook 2 (EN B/LTF 1-2). The Hook 2 combines
the highest possible performance of any
wing in this class, with a security level even
better than its predecessor. A higher arc
and higher aspect ratio have been carefully
calculated for improved performance yet
the Hook 2 maintains the ease of flying and
high security achieved by the original Hook.
Niviuk has used the same SLE (Structured
Leading Edge) technology in the Hook 2
as it has in the Artik 2 (EN C/LTF 2). This
technology incorporates plastic battens in
the leading edge to increase the strength
and structure of the glider, reducing its
susceptibility to collapse, providing solid
stability at high speed.
Although there is more rigidity with the
SLE system, there is also full flexibility along
the both the vertical and horizontal axis
of each open cell. The SLE ensures ease of
movement on the ground and high security
in the air during turbulence and whilst
flying at speed.
With the SLE system there is no longer
a need to use large amounts of material to
achieve leading edge reinforcement. This
reduction in material has reduced the weight
of the leading edge and the result is precise
handling on the ground and easier launches.
The Hook 2 is available in five sizes, and
four colour options. For more information
on the Hook 2 and all other Niviuk products
contact Paul Cox at the Central Coast Paragliding <[email protected]> or 02
4334 2222.
Soaring Australia 17
HGFA News
• •
Felipe Rezende Shines At Bright
Felipe has won the the 2010 Bright Paragliding
Open, flying the Niviuk Icepeak 3 in a field of 62
pilots. The event was a great success with pilots
flying four tasks out of seven days, and a third of
the field or more in goal on three tasks.
Rezende has been flying since 1999. He learnt
to fly in Brazil and began competitive flying on
hang gliders. In 2009 Rezende competed in paragliding internationally in Brazil and Columbia,
learning the tricks of the trade from some of the
best in the world. The hard yards are beginning
to pay off and if his form is consistent, Rezende
may well earn himself a place on the Australian
Nation Team to compete in the 2011 World
Paragliding Championships in Piedrahita, Spain.
H G FA
Introducing Apollo
North’s Revo
John Newell
Bräuniger’s New IQ-Alto Vario
Priced at $350, The IQ-Alto is a ‘best price’ entry
to the next generation of Bräuniger Intelligent
flight instruments.
Quite often the price is a critical point for
the newcomer pilot when purchasing flight
instruments. For this clientele Bräuniger have
designed the new IQ-Alto.
Providing all of the functions a pilot needs in
a vario, the inside technics of the Alto are based
on the IQ-One. The robust casing is designed
with a ‘soft grip’ coating and integrated display
protection (perplex pane/scale over the LCD). The
display itself is easy to read with high contrast.
The IQ Alto employs new high precision
digital technology allowing for variable response
time and excellent filtering. Flight memory
includes all Max/Min-Data of 40 flights, and the
unit will operate for more the 250 hours with
one battery set, several years in stand-by mode
with visible display of current time and day.
The IQ-Alto has been designed for use
in a wide range of temperature and climate
conditions. It is the best vario choice for all
beginners to become familiar with the Bräuniger
flight instrument technology!
For more information on the IQ-Alto and
other Bräuniger products visit [www.ccparaglid
ing.com.au] or contact Paul Cox at Central Coast
Paragliding. <[email protected]> or
02 4334 2222.
Upcoming Training Events
• P
arachute Safety Night 2010, 25 June 2010,
6pm to 9:30pm
• Hang gliding truck-tow and landing clinic, 3 to 4 July 2010 (all day) Warren Windsports
ATC (Advanced Training Clinic): Truck-Towing
Hang Gliders (and landing clinic).
• Paragliding truck-towing course, 28 to 29
August 2010 (all day)
Contact Warren Windsports on 0434 222 111
or 02 4017 0440 for more information
.
18 Soaring Australia
Apollo North, based in Florida,
are dedicated to producing the best value trikes on
the international market. Five years of development
and evolution has culminated in the recent US release
of Revo, the flagship trike of the company, now also
available here in Australia.
T
he Revo is well named, it illustrates the significant changes
and developments which have
occurred in microlight base, wing,
engine and standard features design over
the past five years – that have revolutionised the sport from its humble beginnings
around three decades ago.
The Revo excels in all important
aspects you would expect in a high
quality microlight aircraft. It is technically
innovative, a leading edge design,
well manufactured using only the best
materials available and, most importantly
of all, flies brilliantly.
The Revo comes in two models, both
with a Tundra tyre set-up as standard.
One model uses the Rotax 912 UL engine
with the Reflex 13 wing, the other uses
the 912 ULS (100 hp) with the Reflex
11 wing . The Reflex wing range (made
by Northwing, a well-known and wellestablished US flex-wing manufacturer)
is one of the few true fifth generation
trike wings currently on the market. The
very latest in wing design not only allows
for faster trim speeds than ever before,
but can do so while providing a more
responsive and better handling wing.
Fifth generation wings are not simply
a ‘topless’ version (strutted) of the fastest
and best wing a trike company makes or
uses. It is a wing that has been designed
with only a strutted version in mind –
and one that would also have improved
flying characteristics and qualities over
kingposted wings. This has proven to be
a largely elusive ambition for flex-wing
designers and manufacturers to fullfil,
as the very few fifth generation wing
designs available on the current market
attests to.
Adding to the wing design of Apollo
North trikes is the use of superior quality
materials used in the construction
(including the wiring and hosing), a
May 2010
better designed and more comfortable
base and with special attention paid to
the finish. It is an elegant, extremely
functional and modern looking aircraft.
Finally the standard and optional
features of the Revo are second to none.
From a standard step on base floor, to
a back-up electric fuel pump, a colour
glass cockpit with a built-in GPS system,
to a fold-down 4130 Chrome-moly
curved mast (that provides for far greater
passenger comfort) - to a removable
instrument panel with modular wiring
harness for ease of service and use. The
Revo even has cabin heat as a standard
feature ! Everything has been considered,
trialled and tested – and only the best
kept for this flagship trike. No half
measures or compromises.
The last aim of Apollo North is make
value for money trike models. Although
most of their trike models are in the
high end category, they are by far the
best value trikes on the US market. This
is demonstrated by the rise of the Apollo
North company starting from nothing
five years ago - to now being the largest
US manufacturer of trikes and, more
importantly, the number one seller of
trikes in the world’s biggest trike market
– the USA.
In the US market there are well
known high end European manufacturers
such as Air Creation and DTA to compete
with, let alone the single biggest trike
seller and competitor in the world,
Australia’s own Airborne Windsports.
The dedicated, professional,
innovative and service orientated team
at Apollo North have made their aircraft
the trike of choice in the USA. Apollo
Aerosports Australia Pty Ltd, the sole
distributor for Apollo North in Australia,
is now offering you the best US trike – at
a price you can afford.
May 2010
With the Australian
dollar relatively high,
historically compared
to the US dollar, it
becomes increasingly
attractive to import a
high end microlight
as the Revo into the
Australian market. For
example, over the past
six months, the cost of
the Revo has varied with
the somewhat volatile
$AUD, but has generally
been very competitive
with the cost of the
nearest equivalent trikes in the Australian
market, notably Airborne’s 912 XT SST
winged trike.
For further information on the trike,
pricing and testimonials please visit www.
apolloaerosports.com.au
STANDARD F E ATUR E S
• R
otax 912 UL or 912 ULS (100 hp)
engine choice
• Electric start
• Stainless steel exhausts (two)
• Superior Enigma digital
instrumentation
• Hydraulic disc brakes
• Wheel pants with stabilising vertical fins
• 3/4-inch 4130 hardened steel hollow axles
• Valve activated parking brake
• Able to carry 27kg passenger weight
than an equivalent 912 XT trike
• Oil thermostat to maintain 912 engine
oil temperature within a good range
• 7075-T6 formed single piece main
gear leaf suspension hidden inside
faired composite material
• Three-blade composite prop with
metal protective edging
• Moulded composite seating with
custom upholstery
• Tested to 6G positive and 3G negative
• Civil Aviation Safety Authority
approved
• 12 month limited warranty
R E VO SP E C IFI C ATIONS
Performance
Revo 912 UL Revo 912 ULS
Never Exceed Speed (VNE)
Cruise speed
at MTOW
Stall speed
at MTOW
Best climb rate
MTOW
Total crew weight
Wing area
Wing span
Wing weight
Glide ratio
Reflex 13 wing Reflex 11 wing
100kt
78kt
87kt
70kt
36kt
33kt
1000ft/min
472.5kg
227kg
11.15m2
8.23m
51.5kg
9:1
885ft/min
472.5kg
227kg
13.5m2
9.6m
54.5kg
10.7:1
Soaring Australia 19
•
Jun or
Journal
temperatures were
forecast, although
Willy, our Japanese
visitor, and Shinzo
took a launch in the
Duo and found good
sheer wave up well
above cloudbase. The
rest of us retired to a nearby river for a
swim, followed by a game of lawn bowls
and dinner in one of Narromine’s pubs.
The following day the winds had
dropped, and we were set a speed
task: Narromine – Tomingley – Warren
– Narromine for a total distance of
206.4km. The weather was more difficult
than the previous contest days, climbs to
5000ft were around, but mainly only to
4000ft or 4500ft. My tactic for the day
was to concentrate on staying airborne,
take plenty of climbs, and not worry too
much about speeds. As I rounded the
final turn point I thought this might have
paid off with a few people chatting on
the radio about outlanding, but alas most
of them got away again, and made it
home with speeds far higher than mine.
Top three for the day were Adam Woolley
at 86.1km/h in first place, Nathan Johnson
at 85.3km/h in second and Dane Dickinson
at 80.5km/h in third.
JoeyGlide 2009
Compiled by April Meredith
Competitors’ Corner
Adam Webb
Practice Day
The practice day was shared with the
last day of the NSW state comps, flying
the same task as Club Class, with a two
hour task time. Task was Narromine-Collie
(30km) – Tottenham (40km) – Narromine
with a minimum of 124.7km and a
maximum of 387.4km. The day was won
by first-timer Matt Scutter in a Hornet at
87.2km/h, with Nick Maddocks at 83km/h
in second and Adam Henderson at
62km/h in third.
Day 1
Day one dawned, and the forecast was
good, with five knots to 8000ft expected
in the blue. The task set was Narromine
– Gular Silo (40km) – Mullengundery
(30km) – Narromine with a minimum
distance of 180.4km and maximum
of 425.5km over three hours. The day
was as good as expected, with Andrew
Maddocks winning the day in the LS8 at
111.5km/h, followed by Nathan Johnson
at 102.5km/h, and Nick Maddocks at
97.9km/h, although the second leg had
quite a strong headwind, making it hard
work for some of us getting low a lot.
Day 2
The weather on day two had been talked
about since arrived; some of the state
comps guys had stayed around hoping for
‘the’ day and 1000km flights. Although
it wasn’t quite that good, the weather
was still very good with climbs to nearly
10 000ft and blue again. The task was
set, Narromine – Tooraweenah (40km)
– Girilambone (50km) – Narromine for
a minimum distance of 301.9km and a
maximum of 631.8km. Placings were, first
Andrew Maddocks at 105.6km/h, second
Dane Dickinson with 102.9km/h and third
Nathan Johnson at 102.1km/h.
Day 3
The third day of the comp was scrubbed
after very strong winds and 40-degree
20 Soaring Australia
Day 4
The following day was another rest one
due to overcast conditions and light rain,
but it cleared up enough in the afternoon
for us to make it to the park in Narromine
during the afternoon, followed by movies
and pizza in the clubhouse for the evening.
The weather improved and was
good enough to fly by the next day, but
it looked average again. We were set
an AAT of two hours to the north-west
but when high cloud encroached over
the task area some quick thinking from
Heath, our comp director, saw the task
rotated to the south to Tullamore with
30km circle, Peak Hill with 25km circle
and then home, allowing for a minimum
of 106.2km and a maximum of 288.4km.
Most people reported a day better
than predicted with climbs of around
four or five knots to 5000ft, (again,
in blue conditions), though I couldn’t
seem to find any of it. As hard as I
tried I couldn’t seem to get high, and
when I did I couldn’t stay there and was
scratching around paddocks in no time.
However I managed to make it around,
eventually, and onto a good final glide
(with nearly 1000ft to spare), but then
found nothing except sink in the last
[www.joeyglide.com.au]
20km. With nowhere to land but the
high street between me and the airfield
I had no choice but to land out less than
10km from home, and got a great view
of everyone else cruising home. Andrew
Maddocks won the day with a speed of
93.8km/h followed by Nathan Johnson on
93.1 and Adam Woolley on 92.2.
Day 5
The fifth and final day brought us good
conditions again with five knot climbs
to 6000ft and, you guessed it, yet again
in the blue. A speed task was set for us:
Narromine – Eumungerie – Nevertire –
Tomingley – Narromine for 266.0km. In
a reverse of yesterday I seemed to find
the good climbs while others got low and
scraped around paddocks. Despite having
a nail-biting final leg, hopping from
paddock to paddock (including the one I
had landed in the previous day), I made it
home with a decent speed. Placings were:
first Nathan Johnson 98.3km/h, second
Adam Webb 87.9km/h and third Andrew
Maddocks 87.8km/h.
And that was it for JoeyGlide ’09,
having flown the most days of any
JoeyGlide, even if they were all blue! As
always it seemed to go by far too quickly
and it was time to de-rig and pack up
for another year. Once everyone was
packed up the final night celebrations
started. Presentations were made by the
mayor of Narromine, Councillor Dawn
Collins, and once again a wonderful meal
was prepared by members of Narromine
Gliding Club.
Final placings were: First Nathan
Johnson with 4764 points, second Andrew
Maddocks with 4558 points and third Nick
Maddocks with 4076 points.
Other trophies awarded were the
Junior Trans-Tasman Trophy, fought out
between Nick Maddocks for Australia
and Dane Dickinson for New Zealand,
which for the first time was awarded to
New Zealand. The Joey Cup (handicapped
hours versus points) and The Southern
Cross trophy (for the highest placed
firs- timer) went to Matt Scutter. The
Catherine Conway cup for the highest
placed female went to Steph Hargreaves
and the George Lee cup for the highest
handicapped speed went to Nick
Maddocks. The Schempp-Hirth ‘Pilots’
Choice’ trophy went to Adam Webb, and
the State of Origin trophy went to NSW.
Overall, a great week was had by
everyone. We all have to thank Heath
L’Estrange for stepping in as contest
director at the last minute and putting
May 2010
G FA
together an awesome comp; George
Brown for being our safety officer for the
week; Gus Stewart for looking after the
money, and generally helping out (and
coming to get me out of a field) and the
Narromine Gliding Club for providing
awesome facilities and hospitality for the
week with amazing meals every night and
expert tasksetting every day.
Coachees’ Corner
David Stuart
J
oey Glide ’09 saw six junior
coachees converge on Narromine
for a week of cross-country
coaching alongside the Joey Glide
competition. Coming from NSW,
QLD and Canada there was a spread of
experience levels among the coachees
and a common enthusiasm to suck dry
the minds of their coaches (namely Paul
Mander, George Brown, Shinzo Takizawa,
Mark Rowe, and Mike Maddocks).
I attended JoeyGlide as a coachee this
year and needless to say had a great time
flying and mixing with the other juniors
from around the country and overseas.
Morning lectures each day focused
on thermalling technique, navigation and
other vital skills for a successful crosscountry flight and provided some theory
to relate to whilst on task. Although
two of the seven competition days were
canned due to weather, each coachee had
the opportunity to fly a number of days,
with some coach/coachee pairs electing to
fly the competition task while others flew
an abbreviated version to suit weather,
aircraft and experience levels.
Perhaps the best part about the
coaching week was its flexibility. Each
coachee was able to approach the week
and apply the theory learnt on the
ground with their own goals in mind,
whether that be to develop cross-country
skills in general or with competition flying
as a focus.
Apart from the obvious lessons learnt,
I think the most easily underestimated
49th Multi-class
Nationals – Dalby,
October 2010
thing I gained was the confidence to fly
solo cross-country. That guy in the back
seat, that little bit of a reassurance that
you can get out of trouble means that the
first step into cross-country flying is not so
hard to take.
Joey glide coaching offers young
pilots the chance to start or improve their
cross-country flying and serves as a great
introduction to the competition scene. I
strongly suggest to all juniors out there –
get flying and come along next year. It’s
great fun and you’ll learn a lot, regardless
of whether you’re being coached or
competing.
A big thank you must be given to all
those involved in organising the week, the
coaches who donated their time for us, and
those who donated aircraft for us to fly.
The juniors greatly appreciate your help
and without it JoeyGlide just can’t happen.
So all you junior pilots out there
(under 25), whether it be to compete or
learn from some of the best cross-country
pilots around get to Narromine for
JoeyGlide 2010! See you there.
Fly
For
Fun!
Ralph Henderson
I
t’s getting serious now, less than six
months to go. By the time you read
this most entries will have been
confirmed and pilots will be able
to start preparing and practising for what
will be a very competitive event. Check
the web site [http://www.ddsc.org.au/
dalby2010/index.html] for an update on
the entries.
The interest in competing at Dalby
has been such that the GFA sports’ committee and the National Competition
Committee have introduced an interim
seeding list for Dalby. This interim list
means that the top 40 IGC-ranked pilots
are seeded for entry.
The remaining places and the
places that aren’t taken by the top 40
are available for other pilots. A more
May 2010
comprehensive seeding list will be developed in time for the 50th multi-class
nationals to be held at Narromine in
the 2011/12 season.
Only 10 international pilots will be
able to compete and with the grand prix
the week before at Boonah, it looks like
some of the world’s best pilots will be
competing.
In Dalby, there has been a lot of rain
and the grass cover is better than it has
been for years. Hopefully this will make
the airfield preparation easier.
One of the big problems in recent
years has been tugs. It looks like we will
have enough, although some will be
coming from New South Wales with
the inevitable ferry costs.
Lake Keepit Soaring Club is the
perfect place to glide… if you
are learning or if want to extend
your cross-country experience.
The relaxed 7 day a week club
operation, varied terrain and
year-round good conditions
make LKSC ideal for pilots
wanting to get their GPC or fly
badge flights.
Hang glider, paraglider and
ultralight pilots are welcome.
Tel: (02) 6769 7514
Email: [email protected]
www.keepitsoaring.com
Soaring Australia 21
V
intage
gliding
corner
M
ention of Ian Bogaard’s acquisition
and restoration of the Jaskolka in
the October, 2009 issue of Vintage
Times brought back some fond
memories for me.
I was a part owner of this lovely sailplane from about 1974 to 1976. Our syndicate, Fred Brown, Brian Hemmings and
myself, were interested in buying a two-
22 Soaring Australia
G FA
[www.vintageglidersaustralia.org.au]
Jaskolka Memories
Ray Ash
The retrieve crew arrives to de-rig the beautiful Jaskolka
seater at the time and were negotiating
the purchase of a K7 from the Southern
Cross Gliding Club. They were procrastinating over the sale, so when the Jaskolka
became available we purchased it as a
stop gap measure. Leo Diekman, the then
owner, had just completed a major repair
to it with the help of George Detto. It
had had the front cockpit area damaged
when Leo was attempting an outlanding
ahead of a storm after a short cross-country flight from Forbes. He was hit by some
severe gusts on his final approach resulting in a heavy landing.
When designed, the Jaskolka was
ahead of its time, with a 16m wingspan,
Frieze type ailerons and flaps, rear sliding
canopy that could be opened a few
inches in flight for ventilation, a folding
tailplane, retractable undercarriage, water
ballast, and all the controls automatically
connecting when rigging. It also used a
modern NACA wing section, the 43012A,
which to those familiar with the numbers
indicates that it had a very shallow wing
thickness of only 12%, most cantilever
sailplanes were then in the 15 to18%
range. This resulted is a spar that at the
root end was only about 150mm deep
but about 150mm wide, rather unusual
for a sailplane at that time.
The first prototype, built in 1951, when
test flown went into a flat spin that appeared at first to be uncontrollable and was
only saved when the pilot leant as far
forward in the cockpit as he could. Later
models were modified to prevent this.
Having said that, the only time I saw it
spin was when Fred Brown tried to spin
it after an annual inspection. He only
intended to do an incipient but a full
spin developed and despite full recovery
action on Fred’s part it kept spinning
and continued past four complete
rotations until the controls finally bit,
and it came out after the nose going
down past the vertical.
Fred had initiated this below 3000ft
altitude so he was somewhat shaken and
just had enough height left to reach the
airfield. I suspect that in both instances
there may have been a C of G problem
but this is only my humble opinion.
May 2010
Despite all this I found
the Jaskolka an absolute delight to fly;
we often referred to it as ‘a gentleman’s
flying machine’. I myself did at least two
300km cross-countries in it and I can’t
recall what the others may have done.
It had about the same performance as a
Ka6, I guess.
This particular Jaskolka, one of only
four now left in the world, was built
in Poland in 1955, and designated an
SZD8bisZ. The Polish registration was
SP1602, only being registered from
26 June to 31 December 1955. It then
appears to have been put into storage as
records then show that it was exported to
Finland in April 1958 after having a total
of only six flights. It was first registered
in Finland in April 1958, and was owned
by Oulum Imalukerho and registered
as OH-JAA. This was cancelled on 21
September 1965 when it was exported.
A chap named Henry Hingston imported
it into Australia in an unusual circular
trailer and it was first registered here on
12 February 1967. He did not keep it long
however and it passed through another
couple of hands before Leo owned it.
I have often regretted parting with
the Jazza although our eventual ownership of the K7, which we flew for over
20 years and did thousands of kilometres
cross-country in, including several over
400km, more than made up for this.
It was sad to see the apparent damage to this fine aircraft, and I hope Ian
restores it quickly and enjoys flying in it,
as I am sure he will – just remember to
check the C of G carefully and make sure
you have plenty of height if attempting a
spin for the first time!
Old Mates’ Week
David Goldsmith
O
ld Mates’ Week, a traditional
event on the gliding calendar
catering to those of all ages
who do not fly regularly,
took place at Benalla from Monday 15
March to Friday 19 March. Organised and
run by Jim Barton and his team from the
Gliding Club of Victoria, it’s usually quite
a busy week. Many club members and
visitors line up for some flying, and the
club’s and visiting two-seaters work well
to keep everyone satisfied.
This year the Vintage Gliders
Australia Ka-4 and the Vanstan-modified
Kookaburra of Graham Garlick and
Dave and Jenne Goldsmith provided the
May 2010
Alan Patching assists John Ashford and Ross Birch
to commit aviation in the VGA Ka-4 at Benalla
Photo: David Goldsmith
All articles courtesy Vintage Times, the official newsletter
of Vintage Gliders Australia
vintage element, while the Gliding Club
of Victoria’s IS-28s, Duo Discus and K21
were all kept busy. Single-seaters also
kept the tugs busy. The weather was
absolutely magnificent, beautiful blue
skies with an occasional cu, light winds,
and warm temperatures. Best heights
reached were about 7000ft, while the
Friday’s forecast of stability encouraged
visitors to de-rig and leave in a leisurely
fashion without taking a launch.
The annual dinner on Wednesday
evening was well attended with about 80
diners, many of whom each year make
it a point to catch up with friends of
gliding days gone by. Not just restricted
to present and past club members, overall
gliding scene members are welcome, and
do attend the event. This is followed
on Thursday by another tradition, John
King’s magical mystery (bus) tour. Do
they really keep the destinations in a
sealed envelope to be opened only after
departure?
Again, the joy of gliding and the
sharing of friendships highlighted
this popular week, and ensured it will
continue for many years to come. Many
thanks are due to the club and all those
members and visitors who go out of their
way to make it such an enjoyable event.
GLIDING FEDERATION
OF AUSTRALIA INC
Airworthiness Inspection
FORM 2 and C of A Notice
■ A Form 2 inspection is due. $160* payment
is enclosed
C of A requires renewal. $41* payment
■ The
is enclosed and the existing C of A document
is returned
■ Initial registration package is required.
$390* payment is enclosed
* Fees include GST
Payment method:
■ Cheque
■ Credit Card ■ Direct Deposit
For internet payments, deposit into:
BSB: 013-442 Account No: 304729562
A) Documentation request
■ Please send me a transfer of ownership document
■ Please send me a change of registered
operator document
Aircraft Type................................................................................
Registration marks VH – ............................................................
Address to which documents are to be sent is:
Name ..........................................................................................
Address . .....................................................................................
.....................................................................................................
State.......................................................Postcode.......................
Forward to: GFA Airworthiness Secretary,
Level 1/34 Somerton Road, Somerton VIC 3062.
Email: <[email protected]>
Fax: 03 9303 7960
Soaring Australia 23
H G FA
H G FA
The Tumut Fly-in
Curt Warren, Warren Windsports
I’ ve just returned from the Easter Tumut Fly-in. It was a “feel-good” event with
a packed campground, and local flying sites buZZing with hang gliding (and some
paragliding) activity.
T
he strong turnout came from a good
weather forecast and the fact that I,
along with Conrad Loten, had planned
to pour out as much assistance as we
could squeeze-in over the holiday period.
The hang gliding and paragliding help
was provided for pilots looking for
guidance with local site technicalities and
thermaling aspects.
As a group, we took the time to
inspect and review each landing paddock,
along with another pre-flight briefing on
launch. Those that brought their UHF
radios benefited with some in-air coaching. Also, each morning at 8:30am, I conducted an Advanced Training Clinic on
both thermaling and competition flying.
Stanwell local, Jonathan Kinred, is launching
from Bald Hill in his Airborne Sting II 168
“Looks good, you go first.” Novice pilot, Alex Leon,
first in flight with his Moyes Malibu 188
Thirty pole-bags transform into hang gliders. ‘Big Fred’
and his North Wing Freedom 190 in the foreground
DAY ON E
Honeysuckle, light NW winds,
two wheel drive access
Stopping by the LZ ‘bomb-out’ paddock,
we stressed the importance of using an
upward slope when landing. For instance,
a crosswind landing isn’t a big deal, but
be sure to avoid a downhill landing.
Alex, “Is this launch?” Leon revved
everybody up by taking off first, flying
straight out front, and hooking into a
thermal. He faded away as he cored up
while drifting to the south on his XC
flight… ’coincidentally’ landing near
Kathryn along the way back to the airstrip.
Besides novice and intermediate
pilots, we had the big-gun comp-pilots in
their Lycra clothing on launch. give me a
few months, and I’ll be right there with
them at Canungra in October.
Novice pilot, Drewe Waller, launches from
Honeysuckle on Day 1 in his Moyes Sonic 165
Canberra pilot, Andrew ‘Keen as Beans’ Luton,
charges off Honeysuckle in his Airborne Sting 154
24 Soaring Australia
Michael Porter and some cautious pilots
at the NE launch of Tumut’s Bald Hill
Myself, soaring the Warren Windsports Moyes
Malibu above the Corryong hang gliding and
paragliding take-off in glass-off conditions
convince anybody right away. I heard
something like: ”Well, he always makes
it look easy.” Eventually, we had gaggles
of gliders scratching their way above the
rolling terrain, and later happy pilots
strewn across the countryside.
Witch Doctor, Conrad Loten, talks of thermal black
magic in the form of sunlight, shadows and ridge-lines
DAY THR E E
Mt Elliott, Corryong, light west winds,
two or four wheel drive access
DAY T W O
Bald Hill, Tumut, light NE winds, four
wheel drive access
The NE winds left us with Bald Hill – a
great site, but technical in NE conditions.
We explained how-to launch into the
bumpy gully and then skirt out into the
lift-band area that also had the best
landing options. I was impressed both
with those pilots that flew and also
with a few pilots that that chose not to
fly. The ability to respect one’s limit is
the true sign of a pilot. Conrad took off
first as the wind technician, but didn’t
May 2010
had a couple of low-time (and no-time)
inland pilots skying out above launch.
After dinner, Jonathan’s parked Nissan
Patrol truck jumped the grenade for some
of the group and stopped a drunk driver
in his tracks. Luckily, no one was hurt.
Cars are dangerous…
Based on the flimsy weather forecast
(more NE winds), we decided to make the
2.5-hour journey to Corryong.
Mt Elliott is an afternoon site that
provides consistent flying opportunities
due it’s position in the valley. The west
facing slope bakes in the sun and regularly sends the wind blowing in and up.
Turning right after launch offered a
north-facing sunny spine, but a quick-turn
to the left put you above a ridge with a
collection of spines feeding lift into it –
this worked best. The trip paid off as we
May 2010
DAY FOUR
Mt Argalong, light west winds, four
wheel drive access
Light and tight, bubbly thermals with
short cylces were popping off the north
side of launch which kept pilots working
together to stay up. Still, my student
fledglings were there to make me proud
as they specked-out over launch.
A swim in the river completed the day.
I imagine almost everyone had that
satisfying flown-out feeling as they drove
home. The rest of us couldn’t be bothered
packing up and stayed another night.
Jeff Kember of Canada takes off in the Airborne Sting III 154
Conrad and I had a great time coaching some very grateful hang gliding and
paragliding friends of ours. I appreciate
pilots who share my own quest for continual personal development. If that
includes you, be sure to check out our
Events page [www.warrenwindsports.
com.au/events].
Photos: Curt Warren,
Warren Windsports
Soaring Australia 25
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The Concise Revised History of
Hang Gliding 1963-1973 – Part 1
Graeme R Henderson © 2010
There are many different versions of hang-gliding history, but none of them make
sense to me. They fail to explain how the wing was invented and they always include
a great deal of stuff that seems irrelevant.
Fred Waller’s Aquaplane patent drawings
Front cover of 'Catch the Wind', courtesy of Glenn Woodward
I
had heard of John Dickenson and his
‘Improved Gliding Apparatus’ [the title
of Dickenson’s Patent Application]
through one of the first hang gliding
books I ever bought – ‘Catch the Wind’
by Glenn Woodward.
Even so, when I stumbled into the
world of hang gliding history four years
ago, I discovered a far more interesting
tale, one that is supported by real evidence, and one that makes sense. This
article will endeavour to explain what
my four years of research has revealed.
No other account even starts the story
in the right place, so let’s correct that first.
It appears that the first person to water
ski was the American Ralph W. Samuelson,
in 1922. However, his achievement
remained largely hidden until the 1960s.
His efforts were successful, but it appears
that they were not copied.
Water-skiing was re-invented a couple
of years later by Fred Waller, another
26 Soaring Australia
American, and I am unaware of any connection between the two. In 1925 Waller
patented his Aquaplane, US 1559390, and
the sport of water-skiing began in earnest. With the exception of the invention
of the power boat, this point marks the
beginning of the trail that leads to the
invention of the modern hang glider.
The next big step happened in 1951
when Paul Updike and Vern Crary launched their five-sided water-ski kite at the
California State Fair in Sacramento. Ken
Tibado then refined both the kite and
the flying techniques. He lived at Lake
Wales, Florida, and regularly performed
at Cypress Gardens.
He is also credited with adding the
safety harness. This harness does not
work in the same way as hang gliding
harnesses, but it was an aid to ease the
strain on the pilot’s arms. Among the
many feats performed by Tibado was
a flight from Florida to Cuba.
Doug Laversha is credited with being
the first Australian water-ski kite pilot,
when he brought a Tibado kite back from
the US in 1953.
The next step in the creation of the
modern hang glider was of course when
fellow-Australian John Dickenson was
John playing with his third autogyro on Narrabeen
beach in 1968. John was very enthusiastic about
gyros. He was adapting the chassis of this gyro
to attach to a hang glider as he worked towards
powering his wing
Photos: Courtesy John Dickenson
Flat kite on a cover of Water Skier magazine
It is somewhat ironic that John Revelle made the first
harness, here he demonstrates how stable a well
designed flat kite is, as well as his abilities as an acrobat
Photo: Courtesy John Revelle
May 2010
asked to build a water-ski kite, but could
not make a five-sided kite work to his
satisfaction.
There were many influences acting
on Dickenson at this time, as he came up
with his ‘Improved Gliding Apparatus’.
It was a fragile and serendipitous process.
Right place, right time, right people.
Dickenson’s interest in aviation goes
back to his childhood in Sydney. He spent
a lot of time sitting on the flat rock above
Curl Curl beach watching seagulls, and he
built many kites and gliders.
He became interested in autogyros,
eventually building one and teaching
May 2010
himself to fly it, which was no mean feat.
Gyrocopters and autogyros have come
a long way in the past 50 years, but in
those days their notoriously over-sensitive
control system killed a lot of pilots. New
pilots would over-correct after take-off,
and the over-corrections would usually
continue until they crashed.
In 1961 John Dickenson, then an electronics technician, moved to Grafton in
New South Wales with his wife Amy and
their two young children, Helen and Mark,
to work for Gus Robinson Electrical. One
of the people working under Dickenson
at that time was Bruce Young.
Young towed Dickenson along Woolgoolga beach when he was testing his
autogyro, and it was Young who told his
fellow members at the Grafton Water Ski
Club about their new member, Dickenson,
and his flying prowess. Thus, in early 1963,
the Grafton Water Ski Club made the
fateful request that would lead to the
creation of the modern hang glider – they
asked Dickenson if he would build and
fly a water-ski kite for their display at
the annual Jacaranda Festival.
As new arrivals in Grafton the
Dickensons had joined the Water Ski
Club, not just for recreation, but also
to help them to integrate into the local
community. This really was the strongest
force acting upon Dickenson when he
accepted the task. He had no ‘dreams of
glory’, no ‘grand plan’ to revolutionise
aviation, just a simple desire to contribute
to the community in which he lived.
His father had taught him how to
make five-sided kites when he was a
boy. How hard could it be? Dickenson
had never seen a water-ski kite, so he set
about building models, working with the
descriptions he was given by various club
members, and his acquired knowledge
of kites and wings. All the versions he
came up with worked fine, until he hung
a weight under them, when they all
became horribly unstable.
As this process continued, Dickenson
heard more accounts, not just of the
kites, but of the flights, and all these
accounts ended with spectacular crashes.
He began to lose interest in the five-sided
kite idea, and started casting about for a
more stable design.
Through experience, he also knew
that powerboats often stopped unexpectedly. They could run out of fuel, have
water or dirt in the fuel, or just run
aground on sandbanks. In a kite, this
meant you dropped from the sky without
any dignity. He felt that an ability to glide
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Soaring Australia 27
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To date this photo is the only evidence of the efforts
of Frenchman Jan Lavezzari. It was taken in 1904
Nature’s flexible wing, the Flying Fox or Fruit Bat
Photo: Courtesy Drew Taylor
would be good, so the pilot could simply
fly down and land gracefully and safely.
He was after only a 1:1 glide angle, just
enough to get down to the water in some
comfort and style.
At this stage Dickenson started to
look closely at flying foxes that are common in many parts of Australia. These
creatures are amazing fliers, being capable of gliding flight, extreme aerobatics,
and they can even fly backwards.
He began building models based on
these wings. One rainy night, accompanied
by his friend Dave Williams, Dickenson
cornered and captured a flying fox in his
hen run. Williams’ account of this was
hilarious, with lots of slipping over on
lots of mud. Anyway, Dickenson had a
very close look at these amazing flexible
wings, and the mechanics involved in
them. Batwings are quite complex to
build. Dickenson built models based on
these studies and they flew very well
with a good 7:1 or 8:1 glide angle. That
was much better than the 1:1 glide angle
Dickenson wanted – in fact, it was too
good. Such a glide angle meant that if
an emergency landing was necessary, the
wing could end up over land, or worse, in
a crowd of people. Better control would
be needed if the wing was to be safe.
It was at this stage that John Dickenson was shown a photograph of a wing
NASA was working with.
The photo shown to Dickenson was
of a paraglider, a structureless wing being
The Lee and Darrah patent drawings
28 Soaring Australia
A photo showing the NASA paraglider. Although we
are not sure exactly which photo John Dickenson saw,
he believes it was similar to this, but from a more
front-on angle
Photo from ‘Flexible Wings for Transportation’
a presentation by F.M. Rogallo
designed by a number of engineers at
NASA. Dickenson was led to believe, from
his one sighting of the article, that the
paraglider shown in it was a successful
design, that was actually being used to
return space capsules to earth. This of
course turned out to be an incorrect assumption. This is true for the many articles
published about the NASA/Ryan paraglider program, the Fleep, the Flexwing,
the PARESEV and the paraglider were
all presented to the public as successful
designs when in fact they were known to
have stability and control problems.
While NASA was the acknowledged
source of the wing for Dickenson, all
Dickenson took from them was the
double conical airfoil. This airfoil dates
back centuries to the Japanese kite, the
Tosa Dako. The famous French artist Jan
Lavezzari used the airfoil in his 1904
Robert Bach patent
attempts to fly. [Note, it is most probable
that Jan Lavezzari based his wing on boat
sails, rather than the Japanese kites.] The
airfoil was next fully explored by Ulysses
Lee and William Darrah in the US. The
explanation of the aerodynamics of this
airfoil are in their ‘Flying Machine’ patent
US 989786, filed early in 1910.
The airfoil was also used by both
Robert Bach, US 2463235, and George
Wanner, US 2573560. It was not, however,
part of the Gertrude Rogallo kite patent,
US 2546078.
There is also evidence – TV News
footage – of this airfoil being attached
to water-ski kite airframes in Indonesia in
the mid-1950s.
Dickenson’s first thought was that he
would need to give it a frame so that it
could be held out of the water, and he
came up with an original airframe. Others
had used the double conical wing before
this, but their airframes were substantially
different from the elegant simplicity
of the one that Dickenson assembled.
His wing was almost a marriage of the
Wanner and Bach kites with a control
system added.
In fact it was fortunate that Dickenson
had not seen photographs of any of these
other rigid-framed machines, or it would
Lee Darrah patent
Gertrude Rogallo kite patent
have polluted his thought process. For
example, had Dickenson been aware of
the hang glider Barry Hill Palmer built in
1961, he would simply have copied it.
Even the strange and flawed design of the
PARASEV could have altered the result.
had Dickenson been shown a photo of it.
He was better off seeing less, not more,
of the strange goings on at NASA.
Dickenson made models using a
simple four-stick airframe. He quickly
concluded that a 90-degree sail cut, with
an 80-degree nose angle, gave the most
stable results. There was, however, one
problem – the wing performed nearly
as well as the batwing-based models.
Dickenson still needed control.
It is worth considering that it was a
lack of adequate control that caused Otto
Lilienthal’s fatal crash after nearly 2500
successful flights.
Although many people had built hang
gliders that flew following Otto Lilienthal’s
first hang glider flights, control at speeds
below 25 miles per hour was still the
real problem. Three-axis control needs
airspeed to make it work. Until you reach
that speed you are out of control. I have
yet to learn of anyone foot launching
a Volmer Jenson VJ23 in still air.
The style of weight-shift control used
by Otto Lilienthal, and later by others right
up until the 1970s, was so inefficient that
the pilot could not correct for even mild
turbulence. You also had to literally hang
on to the glider as well. This is not conducive to long flights, nor to high flights.
Indeed the advice was: “Don’t fly higher
than you are prepared to fall.” It was
ground skimming rather than free flying.
So Dickenson now had two wing
designs – one simple to build, one a real
challenge, but both requiring a means of
adequate control.
As is well known, the solution came
to Dickenson while he was pushing his
daughter Helen sideways on a swing at
a park. The swings are gone now, being
considered too dangerous in today’s
cotton wool world. In 1963 they provided
the vital clue to enable controllable lowspeed fight.
So now Dickenson had a theory
about control, he needed to establish
if it could work.
Using materials scavenged from
a rubbish tip, and some banana bag
plastic, he built a half-sized model. This
development model was not intended
to fly, indeed it was built small to ensure
that it wouldn’t, at any reasonable speed.
At 200mph it could have been an exciting
toy, but at the maximum speed of the
club’s ski boats it was never going to carry
a pilot.
The test was successful. By swinging
his weight John Dickenson was able to
get the small wing to take him from side
to side while skiing. The wing knocked
his helmet over his eyes so the trial ended
in an inglorious fashion, but it proved to
Dickenson that his idea could work.
Bruce Young and a couple of other
enthusiastic club members spent some
time after that tearing up and down the
river trying to get the little wing to lift
them off the water, but Dickenson was
already away working on the real machine.
Money was an issue for Dickenson,
and the wing was intended to be used
only for the festival displays, and then
thrown out. There was no justification
for large investments in this project, and
no funds to make them anyway.
John Dickenson launches the half scale model
Photo: Courtesy John Dickenson
John Dickenson getting under way with the half scale test model
Photo: Courtesy John Dickenson
Bruce Young takes the half scale model for a run
Photo: Courtesy John Dickenson
Building models is one thing. Building
a man-carrying wing is quite another.
Even though the stunt was planned to
be over water, it was not desirable to
have the wing fold up on launch.
Oregon [Douglas Fir] wood was used
for the main spars, its strength to weight
ratio being comparable to Spruce.
Wilbur Green patent
May 2010
May 2010
Soaring Australia 29
H G FA
John Dickenson taxis out for his first flight
H G FA
Photo: Courtesy Rod Fuller
The Mark 1 during final assembly at the Grafton Water-ski Club, 8 September 1963. Amy Dickenson at the clubhouse window, Helen Dickenson at the waters edge
30 Soaring Australia
Banana plastic was used for the
membrane. John tested this to make sure
that it was strong enough for the task.
[Note: The three wooden spars and a
membrane, by themselves would make a
‘Flying Wing’ kite of the type American
Robert Bach patented in 1947. Of course
John Dickenson knew nothing about the
Bach Patent.]
Adding a crossbar, to define the nose
angle, is an important step. With the
Bach concept, the wing is free to flex as
the leading edges swing in and out in
turbulence. This is fine with a kite, but it
is a problem with a glider. Changing the
nose angle and billow also changes the
centre of lift on a double conical airfoil
[note: this is not an issue with a cylindrical
airfoil] so the crossbar is an important
aerodynamic component of the double
conical wing.
Part of Dickenson’s area of responsibility at Gus Robinson Electrical was the
installation of TVs and TV Aerials. The
aerial masts often had to be quite tall
to get a good reception and they were
being made of aluminium tubing braced
with wire. While Dickenson did not erect
the aerials himself, he had tested the
components, and he had a real ‘handson’ understanding of the strength of
both the aluminium tubing and the wire
cable. He had tested the cables, and the
method of tying the wire, to breaking
point. Dickenson had access to aluminium
tubing, but it was not strong enough
for the main spars, and it only came
in 10 foot lengths. There is an obvious
transference of technology from TV aerial
to the hang glider airframe.
The first task was to establish the size
of the wing. Dickenson is very good at
mathematics, and was wizard with a slide
rule. He came up with a wing size using
16 foot spars and set about to build his
water ski kite substitute.
Working alone, Dickenson began
constructing his wing. The length of the
aluminium meant that the spar/crossbar
had to be forward of the optimum position, but that limitation was acceptable.
This thing was still only a theoretical
device, and it was meant to be disposable. Dickenson, at this point in time,
still had no aspirations for the wing.
His total motivation was simply to meet
his commitment to the water ski club.
There was no ‘future vision’ here, yet.
He expected the wing to do no more
than amuse a small crowd of spectators
in a rural town. He did not, at this stage,
imagine that he would build a second
John Dickenson testing the control system
wing. He was not thinking that others
would copy it. He didn’t know if it would
even work, but the mathematics, and the
models, said that it could.
There is mathematics involved in
the control system as well. The distance
below the Centre of Gravity to position
the handle bar and the pilot. This is all
about leverage and accounting for the
pilot’s arm reach. The seat was positioned
to duplicate the position of a rider on a
motorbike, Dickenson was an enthusiastic
motorcyclist. He needed enough control,
but not too much or he could end up
with over-controlling issues.
The wing at this stage was rigged
with fore and aft wires, from the handlebar ends, to the front and to the rear of
the keel. Steel struts went from the ends
of the handle-bar to where the spacer/
crossbar joined the leading edges, plus a
set of cables going from the ends of the
handle-bar to a point halfway between
the rear tip of the leading edges and the
strut/leading edge junction.
Making the sail was a huge undertaking, banana bag plastic stuck together
with insulation tape sounds much easier
to do than it is in reality. The banana bag
plastic is very slippery to work with.
The solution Dickenson used to attach
the sail to the frame, clamping the sail
between the leading edges and a strip
of wood with nails, was mechanically the
same as the method adopted by Otto
Lilienthal, but John Dickenson’s version
was crude, while Lilienthal’s was a work
of craftsmanship.
On the morning of 8 September 1963,
John Dickenson carried the machine the
two and a half kilometres to the Grafton
Photo: Courtesy John Dickenson
Unknown, as yet, club member having a play with
the half scale model
Photo: Courtesy John Dickenson
Rod Fuller flying the Mark I before the A-frame was developed
Photo: Courtesy Rod Fuller
Water Ski Club room for final assembly.
At this stage the machine lacked the
refinements that would make it easily
portable, and easy to assemble.
Part 2 follows next month
Photo: Rod Fuller
May 2010
May 2010
Soaring Australia 31
GFA News
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
RANGA Scholarship 2010
The Royal Australian Navy Gliding Association (RANGA) has established a scholarship valued at up to $1500 annually to be
awarded to a person who can demonstrate a strong commitment to aviation
but who is not yet at solo standard in any
form of flying.
The money is a grant to assist in training in gliding, and will be paid to the club
which provides that training.
The rules for the scholarship, and
the process for applications, can be
found at [http://2009.gfa.org.au/index.
php?option=com_content&task=viewd=66
9&Itemid=2].
The scholarship runs from 24 July 2010
to 23 July 2011. Applications can be made
until 3 July 2010.
Tim Shirley,
GFA Awards and Trophies Officer
ciated with a single gliding club, no matter
how outstanding that may have been.
The available awards are:
The Ryan Award – for outstanding service
in the field of Airworthiness
The Hoinville Award – for outstanding
services in the field of Operations
The WP Iggulden Award – for outstanding
services to gliding in general
The JR (Bob) Muller Award – for outstand-
ing services in the promotion of gliding
The Wally Wallington Award – for out-
standing services to the sporting aspects
of gliding
Life Memberships may also be proposed using the same process.
Nominations should be sent to me at
<[email protected]>, including
a brief (one to two page) citation.
Tim Shirley,
GFA Awards and Trophies Officer
at the National Squad Week, and at the
Queensland club level. Guest speakers
such as Bruce Taylor will attend and lend
their experience to the agenda.
The format will be morning presentations starting 9am, a regatta-styled task
during the best part of the day, and a
debriefing/scoring/flight analysis session in
the evening. Scoring will be handicapped
and calculated on the Wallington scoring
system, just for fun.
Participants will ideally have had some
competition experience, though this is not
essential. Independent Operators’ Ratings
will be a condition of participation. A fee
of $150 is budgeted to cover expenses.
Capacity is limited and is one-quarter
filled at this point. Contact Paul Mander
0417 447974 or email <[email protected].
au> for further information.
Paul Mander
Call for GFA Award Nominations
Australian Gliding Grand Prix
World Gliding Competition Bid
Every year the GFA recognises members
who have made outstanding contributions
in various areas, including Sport, Operations, Airworthiness and Administration.
They are awarded annually at a dinner
accompanying the GFA AGM.
This is a call for nominations for these
awards (which includes Life Memberships),
and also to let you know the criteria for
them and the process that will be followed.
The nomination period opens at the
beginning of May, and closes on 31 July.
Nominations may be made by any GFA
member but must be endorsed by an
Executive or Board member.
Nominations, including citations, must
be received by the awards’ officer in
writing by midnight on the closing date.
Email is preferred, and late nominations
will not be considered.
The Executive votes on all awards
except Life Membership (which requires
a two-thirds majority of the full Board).
Nominees must have been members
of GFA during the period addressed by
the citation. Employees are not eligible
if the services relate to work carried out
in connection with that employment.
Employees are eligible to receive awards
for services in unrelated areas.
Awards may be given to former members (or posthumously) for services carried
out while they were members.
The awards are made on merit, and
there is no requirement that an award
must be made every year.
In general, these awards are given for
services to the GFA as a whole. It would
not be usual for someone to receive one
of these awards if their service was asso-
As some readers may already know, the
Australian Gliding Grand Prix is being
held at Boonah airfield later this year.
Boonah is a quiet little town located
on the beautiful scenic rim of southeast Queensland, and is only an hour’s
drive from Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
The competition is being held from 26
September to 2 October 2010, with the
official practice day taking place on
Saturday 25 September.
Entries are now open, and all glider
pilots may apply to enter the competition,
with initial entries closing on 30 June 2010.
If oversubscribed, the top 15 IGC-ranked
Australian entries will be accepted, along
with the top five international entries.
If not oversubscribed, further entries
(up to a maximum of 20) will be accepted
on a ‘first come first served’ basis.
IGC rankings, after the inclusion of all
Australian National Championship results
from the 09/10 season, will be used for
competitor selection. The competition will
be Standard Class using a fixed maximum
wing loading.
For more information please head to
the official website: [www.glidinggrand
prix2010.com.au].
Mike Maddocks
The Gliding Federation of Australia
placed a bid for a Junior World Gliding
Competition to be held at Narromine
aerodrome in 2013.
The competition is for youth up to
the age of 25 and is held every two years
but has never been held outside of
Europe since its inception.
Six countries bid for the event:
Australia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia. Unfortunately,
in a vote off, Poland won with Australia
the runner-up.
I must thank all those involved in the
bid process especially Mike Maddocks
whose initiative it was and who worked
tirelessly to prepare all the documentation and chair the organising committee.
Australia put a motion to the meeting
that only countries outside Europe were
able to bid every 10 years so Australia will
be bidding for the event again in 2015
and stand a good chance of winning
because of our excellent soaring conditions, low costs and stable government.
Rob Moore,
Chairman of the GFA Sports’ Committee
32 Soaring Australia
Keepit Speed Week
Sunday 5 September, 9am to Saturday 11,
6pm at Lake Keepit.
This coaching week is aimed at those
wishing to raise their competition skills, a
‘Not the National Squad’ week to provide
a lead in to the competition season.
Sports psychology topics will be provided by Helen Wood, who has coached
F A I N ews
Online Pilot Survey Results
This survey was conducted by the Country
Development Working Group of the IGC
from 24 February to 30 March 2009. The
objective of the survey was to lay the
foundation for a better understanding of
the global gliding community and of the
issues relevant to the development of the
soaring in emerging gliding communities.
There were 3434 valid entries from 55
different countries, representing 2.8%
of the worldwide glider pilot membership.
A total of 165 pilots from Australia participated in the survey which represented
6.8% of the total membership.
The full survey results can be found
on the GFA website.
Claiming your Gliding Badges
and Certificates
The summer of 2009/10 was a successful
and busy gliding season when measured
by the number of badge claims to my
office. I am attempting to clear up any
outstanding claims and assorted bit of
correspondence sent during season. For
those who still find it daunting to make
your badge claims here is a little help.
Find your club official observer
Make sure that their official observer
number was issued after 1993. The way
to check is in the number which starts
with the year. Eg 93/004. Make sure that
your official observer is present when you
enter your task in the logger and then
into the aircraft.
Download with the original software
Download your flight with the original
software supplied by the manufacturer
of the logger you are using. Save the file
in the original software and then save it
as an IGC file.
Complete the application form
The application form is on line at the
GFA website under sport/documents. Fill
in all details and ensure that your official
observer completes his/her section.
Send to the GFA/FAI office
Send to Beryl Hartley at PO Box 275, Narromine NSW 2821. Your completed claim
form, a CD with both the original software
file and the IGC file, your green gliding
certificate book and the appropriate
payment made payable to the GFA. All
prices are listed on the GFA website under
the sport section. Payments to the GFA
can be cheque, money order, credit card
or by direct deposit.
Application for a sporting licence
Complete the application form available
on the GFA web site. Send the form, two
passport size photographs and $20 made
payable to the GFA. Please! Don’t email
them to me. I was starting to gather a file
of strange scanned documents, completely unreadable and very strange large
distorted photographs of human heads.
Application for Official
Observer rating
This is an open book test. The test papers
are on the web site along with the
From the Blue Book
James Cooper
A friend of mine, ex-sailing world champion and Olympian, suggested that every
flight should be analysed, recorded for
future reference and learnt from.
The same principle is attached to all
these examples and occurs on a regular basis.
1. From Narromine, approaching an
area of cumulus, from the blue
the conditions did not significantly
improve till I was well under the cu.
2. Significant thunderstorms can reduce
the lift in the area up to 50km away
from the storm.
3. I had been tracking to the north and
turned to track to the east. There
was an east/west dividing line, to
the north there was bush and to the
south farm area, about 30 to 40km;
to the north cumulus was beginning
to develop at a height significantly
higher than the height I had achieved
for the day. The conditions began
to deteriorate in the area over the
application form. so is the sporting code
as a link to the FAI. Don’t even think of
doing the test without having the book
open. The best way is to have a group of
club members arrange an official observer
training night with open discussion and
assistance from an experienced official
observer in your club. Send in the application form, the completed test paper
and the payment of $10 made payable
to the GFA. It is a good idea to add your
email address as that provides an easy
method of checking up on any issues with
unreadable answers and forms filled in
by those who write medical scripts or are
practising with a thumbnail dipped in tar.
If all else fails pick up the phone and call
me 0407 459581.
Don’t miss out on your badge claim.
The hard part was the flying, the easy
part is the paperwork.
Beryl Hartley,
GFA FAI Certificates’ Officer
FAI Gliding Badge Report
A, B & C Badge
KUNIGA, Masahito 11586 Wave Soaring
KANEKO, Tatsuhori
11587 Wave Soaring
OKA, Toshihiko
11588 Wave Soaring
SAITO, Masataka
11589 Wave Soaring
OTSUJI, Norio
11590 Wave Soaring
IGUCHI, Tomohiko
11591 Wave Soaring
EUDA, Takahiro
11592 Wave Soaring
FUKADA, Hiroshi
11593 Wave Soaring
RANKIN, Robert A
11596 Leeton GC
BARTHELMES, Oliver J 11597 Mt Beauty GC
O’DONNELL, Luke S 11599 Central Queensland GC
C Badge
KOPKE, Uwe Gerhard 11457 Adelaide SC
SORBELLO, Ricardo 11584 Bathurst SC
BUGNO, John Bernard 11487 Narrogin SC
BARDSLEY, Nicholas J 11598 Beverley SC
Silver C Badge
BRADBURY, Stephen D4734
Van ACKER, Petrus A C4735
EDGE, Anthony
4736
BULL, David
4737
PETERSEN, Alvin James4738
WRIGHT, Keith
4739
GOLDMANN, Jutta
4740
DENHOLM, Roger
4741
Mt Beauty GC
Bathurst SC
Adelaide SC
Darling Downs GC
Geelong GC
Darling Downs GC
GCV
Canberra GC
Gold C Badge
CALDWELL, Andrew W1661 Canberra GC
CAUSER, Timothy John1662 Temora GC
Diamond Goal
To 30 March 2010
A Badge
FAITHFULL, Douglas
farmland and to the south of the
bush and cumulus. It was not practical
to go north to the cu but after
heading south away from the cu, the
conditions began to pick up again.
4. Final glide into Narromine from SSW,
parallel to ranges about 40 to 50km
to the east, I had plenty of bonus
height but not enough to cope with.
5. Running parallel with a salt lake about 20km away later in the day, sink was
continuous despite flying crosswind.
In all these cases about 40km away
was a change in the weather: thunderstorms, bush, air mass, hill range. All these
areas were Sino nomas with good flying
conditions and probably suck away any
potential for the next 40 to 50km to
generate good lift.
Lesson: be aware if there is a large
area of lift there will be a large area adjacent to it that will struggle to create lift.
11594 NSW Air TC
BART, Paul
MILNE, Lesley Annette
JEWELL, Rodney
A & B Badge
Diamond Distance
MUDFORD, Rhys B J J 11595 Boonah GC
Bart, Paul
COLLINGS, Craig
SIKORA, Piotr
Darling Downs GC
Warwick GC
Bendigo GC
Darling Downs GC
Mt Beauty GC
Southern Cross GC
May 2010
May 2010
Soaring Australia 33
G FA
G FA
Safety Management System
(SMS) Implementation
toolkit has been developed
• A
n SMS steering committee has been established
• The GFA Board and Executive have
reviewed and support the draft plan
and support establishment of the SMS steering committee
Eric Novak
S M S S t ee r i n g C o mm i t t ee
During the six years from 2004 to 2009, there have been 13 gliding-related fatalities
in Australia. For a sport with approximately 2500 current members, an average of two
fatalities per year is totally unacceptable.
I
n addition to this, during the period 2003
to 2007, an average of 31 substantial damage accidents occurred per year according
to OAMPS insurance claims’ history.
Our record reflects how we do things.
If we want to improve our record, we
need to improve how we do things. We
haven’t always had an average of two
fatalities per year. There have been years
with zero fatalities: as recently as 2001,
2002 and 2003.
Since its inception in 1949, the GFA
has established systems to manage
areas including, but not limited to,
airworthiness, pilot training, instructor
training, standard operating procedures,
finance and administration. These systems
have been developed and maintained
primarily though the voluntary work of
many members over many years at club,
state and national levels.
The voluntary nature of our sport
is a double-edged sword. It provides us
with the social atmosphere we all enjoy;
everyone working towards the common
goal of safe, fun and affordable flying.
On the other hand, being a form of
aviation, we are required to operate in
a regulated environment, often with
less financial and human resources than
available commercial operations.
The GFA operates with a degree of
autonomy under the civil aviation and
CASA framework. If we don’t maintain
adequate systems to safely manage our
operations, we risk losing some or all of
our self-administration authority. CASA
routinely audits the GFA and deficiencies
have been identified in our systems that
need to be addressed.
Our operations are also bound to
varying degrees by duty of care provisions
under State and Territory Safe Work
Acts, as well as the general duty of care
associated with common law.
34 Soaring Australia
In addition to the alarming serious
accident data and risk of over regulation,
we all pay the price associated with poor
safety performance through our insurance
premiums.
So what do we need to do? Firstly,
we need to look at what we are doing
well and continue doing these things.
Secondly, we need to identify the things
we aren’t doing so well, can do better, or
may not be doing at all. Thirdly, we need
to implement measures to address these
opportunities for improvement.
As previously mentioned, the GFA has
various systems in place to manage areas
such airworthiness, pilot training, instructor training, standard operating procedures,
finance and administration. These systems
are currently documented and implemented with varying levels of effectiveness at
club, state and national levels.
What the GFA doesn’t currently
have is a formal and structured Safety
Management System (SMS). The SMS we
need to implement will not replace the
existing systems we have, but supplement
them in areas such as risk management,
incident reporting/investigation and
systems monitoring and review.
All organisations, the GFA, state gliding associations and clubs included, must
take reasonable steps to ensure that their
activities are undertaken with a reasonable degree of care and diligence. An SMS
is basically a number of policies, procedures, forms, templates and guidance
material, supported by all the other
operational systems that help us to meet
this duty of care.
Most of us would have been exposed
to SMS during our working lives, particularly in the last 10 to 20 years. All volunteer organisations, sporting clubs and
community groups have similar duty of
care obligations associated with their
operations, and many have already undergone the process of implementing an SMS.
Some gliding clubs have been proactive and developed and implemented
procedures and processes that form part
of an SMS, for example undertaking and
documenting risk assessments. To support
the interests of all clubs, the GFA needs
to coordinate a national approach to
ensure an effective and consistent SMS
is implemented.
The SMS has to be simple, easy to
understand and use, yet effective in meeting our duty of care. This is even more
critical taking into account the challenges
noted previously due to the voluntary
nature of our structure.
The GFA also needs to promote the
safety culture throughout our structure by
creating an “atmosphere of trust in which
people are encouraged, even rewarded,
for providing essential safety-related
information, but in which they are also
clear about where the line must be drawn
between acceptable and unacceptable
behaviour.” (James Reason 1997)
Clubs and individuals also need to
understand their role in implementing
and maintaining the SMS, as well as
promoting the safety culture throughout
gliding. If this process is not supported at
all levels, we run the risk of experiencing
more frequent and serious accidents,
increased regulation by statutory
authorities and rising insurance costs.
The process of developing and implementing an SMS, improving safety culture
and updating existing systems cannot happen overnight. This process will require
consistent effort by everyone over time.
Several steps have already been taken
to commence the journey:
• A draft plan for the implementation
of the GFA Safety Management
System based on the CASA SMS
May 2010
The SMS steering committee is made up
of GFA members who have volunteered
their time to help the GFA navigate its
way through this process. The committee
members are all current glider pilots
who either do, or have previously been
employed in, roles as safety professionals
or roles where safety management is a
significant part of their duties.
The SMS steering committee members are:
• Jenny Thompson – Qld – committee
coordinator – Darling Downs Soaring Club
• Dave Donald – Qld – Boonah Gliding
Club Inc – GQ president
• John Hudson SA – Waikerie Gliding
Club – SAGA president
• Owen Jones WA – Beverley Soaring
Society – WAGA president
• Dave Cleland – Vic/Tas – Beaufort
Gliding Club
• E
ric Novak – NSW – Sydney Gliding Inc
The committee has already commenced reviewing documentation,
statistics, audit reports and the draft plan.
The committee met for the first time at
the GFA office in Melbourne on Saturday,
20 March 2010 to review existing documentation, review and update the draft
plan, establish priorities and allocate
responsibility for actions.
Phone conferences will be held
monthly by the SMS steering committee
to monitor SMS implementation, with
face-to-face meetings arranged on a
needs’ basis to keep costs to a minimum.
If you have any questions, input
or feedback at this stage, please feel
free to drop the committee a note on
<[email protected]>.
W h e r e t o F r o m He r e ?
In no particular order, some of the areas
that will be targeted as part of the SMS
implementation process are:
• Incident reporting and investigation
• Training and competence
• Risk management
• Safety culture
• Statistical analysis
• Communication and feedback
• Competition procedures
During the coming months you
can expect to see more information
published in Soaring Australia to keep
you informed of the current status of our
systems, measures being implemented to
address opportunities for improvement,
incident data and general information
associated with the SMS and its ongoing
implementation.
As you can see from the above target
areas, the intention is to improve both
proactive and reactive elements of our
systems. Having effective systems in place
to manage hazards and prevent accidents
from happening in the first place is
preferable to implementing corrective
actions after an accident.
If we maintain the status quo and the
recent trend continues, we can expect to
lose two lives during 2010, two more the
next year, and two more the year after
that. We can all sit back and do nothing
and wait for this to happen, or we can
all do our bit over the coming years to
improve the safety of our sport. Safety is
everyone’s responsibility.
Happened recently on an Airfield
Martin Feeg
Not too long ago I was in the bar for an after-flight
pint. The usual crowd was hanging out and a few air
force chaps as well. We started talking and one story
led into the next while the clock was ticking away
and the fluids evaporating.
One guy apparently had spent some time on an
aircraft carrier and had this story: “A fighter pilot
came in for landing and missed the bungies with the
hook. When he noticed the aircraft failed him for
relaunch he tried frantically to stop, but that is, of course, impossible. So, just as he tipped over the flight deck he ejected and got rescued the usual way.
Later he was interviewed and guess what this cool boy said when he was asked
the question: ‘when did you decide to bail out?’”
Silence for some time… “This cool boy said 25 years ago – do you
believe that!”
Again some silence. Close shave? Okay. The aircraft was lost, but I don’t
think it was a close shave. For me, this guy had done his homework. Clearly
25 years ago he formulated a plan B for the situation; and a good one too.
There are many scenarios in gliding that could be thought through sitting
somewhere – winter is the THE time for it. Do you have a plan B – say for
example when you realise you are running out of runway?
Invite a couple of comrades and make it an evening task developing such
alternate plans. May you never be in need of them.
Safe soaring
May 2010
Soaring Australia 35
G FA
Darling Downs Soaring Club
50th Anniversary
Silent 2 Targa
Dave Boulter
On 4 September 2010,
In February 2008, the Silent Targa 2 arrived in its lovely Cobra trailer from Italy. From
Darling Downs Soaring Club will be
having a celebration to commemorate
50 years since the club’s first flight
on 7 September 1960.
that point on it has been a journey; one that is not for the light-hearted.
Dave Boulter and Greg Doyle
Photos: Dave Boulter
T
he GFA is very thorough with new
types coming into Australia. Over the last
18 months the category the Silent 2
Targa belongs to has been coalescing. The
complications associated to approval as an
LSA glider category are too long to relay
here. Also, the technology behind the
Silent is very new and challenges some
of our thinking. But after a long design
review and also innovative thinking by
the GFA airworthiness department, we
now have a glider that will be safer in the
long run for users in Australia.
But, it is time for a little history. In
September 2006, Greg Doyle (proprieter
of Silent Wings Aviation) asked me to go
over to Italy and have a look at a glider
he was interested in. Greg knew I was
in UK at that time and a little trip to
Northern Italy was very appealing.
I have many memories of that day
and my first flight in the Silent Targa 2. I
remember running down the strip a few
times and just getting airborne, then
landing ahead. This gave me a chance to
feel the glider out. To find out where it
36 Soaring Australia
happens; have a look at the Alisport web
site and look up the location on Google.
The Italian Alps are not far away.
Greg decided to order one glider so
we could get type approval and use it as
a demonstrator.
The Targa 2 arrived in February 2008.
I started the process off with the GFA
airworthiness department. John Viney was
very helpful and we discussed quite a few
issues. I obtained all the documentation
and manuals needed in soft copy so the
digestion of design could be started. After
a bit of delay I was able to get a slot in
Camden Sailplanes busy workshop and
with the help of Mike Dugan, Cliff Wylie,
Peter Beardsley and Peter Chegwidden
the journey was completed. I will outline
the high level modifications we made to
the glider:
Fuel lines replaced and sheathed with
fire resistant covering
• Bulkhead area behind pilot coated
with a fire retardant paint
• Fuel pump isolation switch fitted
• Lap harness mounts replaced
• Aircraft earthing improved
• Fuel filler attachment replaced
These are just the high level changes.
There are quite a few things that any aircraft goes through when introduced to
Australia, from placarding to checking of
surface deflections against factory measurements. Basically a Form 2 on steroids.
On the morning of 19 August the
weather was perfect for the first aerotow
tests of the Silent 2 Targa in Australia. I
had rigged the glider the evening before
and tied it down at Camden, ready for
an early morning start. After some delays
finalising the insurance for the glider we
were ready to go. I had spoken with the
tug pilot, Don Palmer, previously so we
were in sync for what speeds we were to
not exceed on tow (70kt) and how we
would talk on the way up.
The Silent had full aileron/flaperon
authority almost straight away and I was
off the ground literally within 50ft of
start. Flaps are set to +4 for take-off and
on tow stick load was not noticeable.
The Silent does not have a trim control.
Trim is performed by changing the flap
settings and the incidence of the tailplane
is coordinated to flaps.
We took this launch in velvet
conditions to 4000ft above Camden. At
that point, after flawless execution by the
tug pilot, I released. The Silent is as per
its name. With the undercarriage up and
vents closed it was very quiet. The testing
sequences then started. I tested:
• straight and level flight
• shallow turns and then varying
degrees of bank angle
• same bank angle and varying speeds
• roll rate – which is very good with the flaperons
By this stage I had enough height left
to complete the Vne test at 108kts. Nose
over and off we go. No fuss and the pull
up was gentle so I did not load the wings.
I then did some testing of different
flap settings and speeds to see stick
loads and rate of height loss. The Silent
performed well to around 70kt, as per
polar indications and after that the polar
rolls over pretty quickly.
May 2010
David in Italy just prior to the powered test flights
Circuit and landing were no surprises
and with the light weight, pushing off
the strip was a pleasure. Time for a rest !
Next launch around 30 minutes later
was to focus on the stall characteristics
and spins. The Silent stalls around 38kt
unflapped. This means that it makes a
small shudder and mushes along in the
sky, similar to a K21 or Astir. Spin was normal with normal recovery characteristics
P o we r e d l a u n c h t e s t s
On 25 August the first powered launch
test in Australia was run. I had the
pleasure of two experienced motor
glider operators being at the field to
give encouragement: Dion Weston and
Paul Matthews. Dion took some video of
the first launch for which I am eternally
grateful. I had rigged early and did the
tests in the morning still air. Like in Italy I
did some hops up and down the strip, just
taking off and then landing ahead.
Then I moved to the end of 10 and
completed take-off checks for the last
time. The Silent was up and in the air
within 200m. The climb out was wonderful. You cannot imagine the feeling I had
after so many months of work! I climbed
to 700ft and turned on a heading towards
Camden township. I was mindful of any
gliders in the circuit area, but also cautious to ensure I was not too far from the
airfield in case of the motor stopping.
The glider climbed really well to
2000ft. I had already backed off full
power after 1000ft and backed off
to 75% power while I tried to work a
thermal near the sewerage works at
around 2000ft. I can say I need a bit more
practice at that and turned towards Mt
Hunter for a continued climb to 3000ft.
The motor went away easily. Back
to 43kt and turn off the fuel pump. The
Silent Targa 2 has a single-bladed prop.
The prop seems to line up with the
May 2010
rigging holding the prop up. It must be an
aerodynamic thing. If it doesn’t the prop
stop is out and a few pumps of the starter
usually brings you in line with the prop
stop. The sink rate during all of this is not
dramatic. The motor is brought back for
cooling at an angle of around 60 degrees.
After three minutes the motor is put away
and we are a real quiet glider again.
Where can you see it? Camden
airport, of course. Also look on Youtube
for Gliding Sydney and you will see two
short videos. I have another video being
edited of the first launch, which I will
place up there shortly.
Time for some facts
Wingspan: Length: Aspect ratio: Empty weight (without fuel): Maximum payload: Maximum take-off weight: Wing loading at 300kg: Flaperons: 13.5m with winglets
6.35m
20
185kg
105kg
300kg
34kg/m2
L +4° 0° -4° S
Fly-in or Drive-in – All are welcome to
attend our special day, especially if you
are a past member, or have flown with
us, or would like to catch up with past
and current members.
For planning purposes, please notify
the DDSC Secretary, Richard Armstrong,
of your interest in attending:
Post: DDSC 50th Anniversary
PO Box 584, Toowoomba QLD 4350
Email:[email protected]
Check our website for updates and
more details [www.gogliding.org.au].
Fuel capacity: 16 litres
Fuel consumption at 75% power: 5 litres/h
Conventional air brakes
Fully automatic control connections
Retractable landing gear
Steerable tailwheel
Climb rate with engine: 2.5 m/s
Alisport A302efi 28hp single-cylinder air-cooled engine,
with counterbalance shaft, tuned exhaust, FADEC computer-controlled mapped fuel-injection and electronic
ignition system, electric starter and flywheel generator.
Engine extension and retraction operated by electromechanical actuator system. Expressions Of Interest Sought
For Position Of GFA Treasurer
Ian Grant, the current GFA Treasurer, will retire at the Annual Board
Meeting in September 2010 and expressions of interest are sought from
GFA members for the role of GFA Treasurer.
This is a volunteer role with involvement at both the GFA Board and
GFA Executive level.
The Treasurer is supported by the administrative staff in the GFA Office,
who process all membership applications as well as all the accounting
transactions for income and expenditures.
The GFA Treasurer is responsible for:
• the supervision and management of the GFA administrative staff,
• control of the finances of the GFA including the capital reserves,
• liaison with the GFA Auditors in their annual audit and the preparation
of annual financial reports, and
• contributing to the management of the GFA at an executive level
including attendance at all GFA Board/Executive meetings.
Please contact Ian Grant (telephone 03-9877 1463 or by email) who can
discuss the job role and provide a job description.
Soaring Australia 37
G FA
International Teams
Gather at Narromine
Paul Mander
Pilots selected in this Northern season’s international
teams, and other invitees, gathered at Narromine during
the first full week of March, for the Australian season’s
Graham Parker and Roly, both members of Team
Hungary. Graham will abandon his ASG-29 and
fly a Ventus 2 at Szeged.
National squad week.
A
lso attending were our team captains,
in line with the policy of encouraging
captains to take a more proactive role
in the functioning of their teams. And
of course, crews were there in impressive
numbers, a good sign of the commitment
that everyone in this year’s teams is intent
on making.
Narromine is a perfect venue for such
activities, providing reliable weather, good
on-site accommodation and good infrastructure. Most of us bunked up at the
caravan park cabins and a brave few set
up tents. The briefing room was quiet,
equipped with projector and sound
Tom Claffey will be flying a Nimbus 4M at Szeged
equipment, and the adjacent club room
provided the perfect environment to relax
and to eat at the end of the day.
Mandy Temple organised the
whole event, putting together a very
appropriate agenda and enlisting pilots
to make presentations in their particular
areas of interest. We had topics such
as Competing in European Conditions
(Graham Parker), Comms from the
Ground (Mike Codling), Team Flying
(Allan Barnes), Optimising AATs (Mike
Durrant), and Start Line and Other Tactics
(Bruce Taylor). Mandy worked very hard
for many weeks prior, and it is thanks to
her that the week was so effective.
Helen Wood was there to provide
coaching on the psychological side, and
she gave extremely effective insights
into the theme of team building and
of managing stress. Her very down to
earth approach was much appreciated
by the pilots. She also provided one-onone sessions in which pilots could seek
advice on issues of particular interest to
themselves. Her experience in providing
coaching to the Queensland pilots and
Jenny Thompson with an attentive audience
T
Narromine stalwarts Keith Dixon and Paul
Thompson, generous with their time and effort.
clubs enabled her to provide us with very
high quality input.
Ralph Henderson came along to
provide ground marshalling, and to
perform as the “Operations Manager
from Hell”, a role that he filled with
gusto. The idea being, of course, to
give the pilots a whiff of the realities
that they’re in for at their coming
international contest. Marshalling had to
be within time, or you went to the back
of the grid and lost one of your launches.
Pity help the pilot who didn’t get his
logger trace in before the deadline. Ralph
gave his time generously and freely.
Task setting was led by Peter Temple,
who also created some mock Hungarian
airspace to practice dealing with. Tasks
were imaginative and did not follow
the good weather. Pilots were presented
with a variety of scenarios to cope with,
including start line restrictions, imaginary
storms, radio transmission failures, only
being able to turn one way, flat tyres
on the line; all these thanks to the
imagination and initiative of Peter and
Mandy. And then there were the selfimposed scenarios which included Altair
problems, and yes, radio failures, and an
engine failure which kept several people
burning the midnight oil.
Weather was by Jenny Thompson,
who arose early each morning to sift the
web and brief the task setters. She did a
great job and was impressively accurate.
Beryl provided the dinners, in her
usual quiet way, delicious and a perfect
background to the busy week’s timetable.
Her efforts were a major factor in our
being able to work
such a busy schedule,
and she was voted
a well earned thank
you from everyone.
And never forget
Arnie, providing able
barbecue skills most
evenings.
Narromine club members like Paul
Thompson and Keith Dixon made their
time available, providing such support as
tug driving, club room staffing, washing
up, and all the myriad things that have to
be done at any such event.
Tom Claffey was the grateful recipient
of Shinzo Takizawa’s generosity. Tom,
flying in the team to Hungary, needed an
open class glider and Shinzo provided it
by making his Nimbus available.
To sum up: one of the most effective
squad weeks that we have had. Thanks to
those who gave so much time and effort,
our teams will go away as well prepared
and as close knit as ever before.
Photos: Mandy Temple
31st World Gliding Championships
he Un-flapped World Championships will be held at Prievidza,
Slovakia from 3 to 18 July 2010.
Representing Australia in
Standard Class are Tobi Geiger and Peter
Temple, with Club Class being represented
by Mike Codling and Allan Barnes. Team
captain is Charlie Downs. The website for
this competition is [www.wgc2010.sk].
38 Soaring Australia
The Flapped World Championships
will be held at Szeged Hungary from
20 July to 7 August 2010. Representing
Australia in Open Class are Tom Claffey
and Paul Mander, 18m Class are Graeme
Parker and David Jansen, and 15m Class,
Bruce Taylor and Lars Zehnder. Team captain
is Greg Schmidt. The website for this competition is [www.flatlandcup.hu/2010].
Selection Guidelines
The selection guidelines have had a
sentence added to allow mentoring in
two-seat gliders with prior ITC approval.
Links to team blogs and selection
guidelines can be found on the GFA
website under Sport/Competition.
Helen Wood describing her unusual attitudes
May 2010
May 2010
Ralph Henderson, ‘Competition Director from Hell’
and Mike Durant. Actually, not as grim as they look!
Soaring Australia 39
HGFA General Manager’s Report
B
y the time you read this report the new
HGFA Board will be in place. I take this
opportunity to welcome the four new
board members. Unfortunately Ray
Firth will now have stepped down from
the board. I sincerely thank Ray for his
input over the past five months; his
rational input into board issues has been
greatly appreciated.
By the end of the board meeting I will
have learnt my future with the federation.
The board will have considered the applicants that will have tendered for my position and will most likely have found a
more creditable person than I. Nevertheless, I have enjoyed the opportunity to be
back in the GM role and I again thank all
of the members who have expressed their
appreciation for my efforts.
Compliance
I have recently had cause to suspend a
microlighting member’s pilot certificate
and initiate disciplinary action against
him, in accordance with the HGFA
Constitution. I was compelled to do this
after repeated reports of him allegedly
flying outside our legal requirements;
though I can say nothing further at
this time as the issue has not yet been
resolved. I include this item as a reminder
• • •
CASA Audit
to all members that we must at all
times endeavour to operate within the
requirements of our Operations Manual
and the relevant Civil Aviation Orders. I
find this policing aspect of the GM role to
be most difficult, though in light of our
agreement with CASA, it has to be done.
Variations to CAOs
I have been asked by CASA to advise all
clubs and members that any variation to
flight requirements of the Civil Aviation
Orders must be lodged with CASA through
the HGFA GM. Any such variations must
be lodged 28 days prior to the proposed
flight. CASA usually apply a fee to any
such variation. Similarly, competition or
event organisers wishing to have a NOTAM
raised for a specific event or competition
should lodge the application through
the GM. There is no fee applied to
NOTAM applications.
As is required for us to maintain our
approval to oversee our sports, two
CASA auditors will be attending our
Head Office in Melbourne (mid-April).
The purpose of this audit is to ensure
that the systems we have in place meet
the standard set out in our agreement
with CASA. They will be reviewing our
documented systems and sampling processes and products produced by these.
The audit will include: aircraft operations,
membership systems, self-audit procedures,
safety education, enforcement, standards,
documentation and records.
Past audits have found areas where
our systems are deficient. We are advised
of these shortcomings and requested to
address them.
Accident Reports
Report 1
Pilot skill level: advanced HG pilot
Injury: minor bruising
Aircraft: high performance HG
Aircraft damage: minor, broken front wire
Situation: recreation, flying crosscountry on a costal run
Accident (in the pilot’s words):
I was attempting the Bells to Apollo Bay
run in a SE wind. Tried to fly over Lorne
and was rotored as I approached Teddies
Lookout. Persisted in trying to get around
the point and came in with too little
height to check out the landing options. I was heading out to
sea so I turned sharply toward the land, but stalled the glider
and landed crosswind into a park bench. The RHS front wire dug
into the weathered pine and this slowed the glider down and
broke the wire.
Pilot comment:
I was attempting a coastal run I had not tried before. I was too
focused on my flight plan which was to get around Teddies
Lookout point; and did not have an effective back-up action in
mind, which would have been to peel off and land on the beach
to the east of Teddies. I left it too late for this option.
GM comment:
This incident is relevant no matter aircraft we fly, this pilot was
lucky, the end result could have been much worse. It’s difficult to
assess options when you are focussed on achieving your desired goal.
Report 2
Pilot skill level: very experienced advanced HG pilot
Injury: broken arm
Aircraft: low performance HG
Aircraft damage: minor
Situation: aerotowing at inland grass airstrip
Incident (as reported by tug pilot):
Pilot was aerotowing behind a microlight, and since no launch
dolly was available he was foot launching. The day was typically
light and variable, but with periods where a breeze of around
5kt would blow straight down the strip.
To assist in making his launch decision, the pilot had access to
the airport windsock, approximately 100m ahead, and a small
windsock adjacent to him. He was also throwing dry grass to
assess drift. At the time he elected to launch, the airport windsock was indicating nil wind. The pilot said that though he was
running as fast as possible, the glider would not fly. Eventually
he could run no more and he fell forward, hitting the ground
with his arm.
Comment:
Decision to launch was poorly timed. (impatience?) and the pilot
launched into a thermal disturbance. There was possibly insufficient information available to the pilot about wind strength and
direction in the area he was launching into.
GM comment:
I have seen inland tow pilots utilising small streamers on rods
driven into the ground every 75 or 100m along either side of the
tow strip to provide a good indication of the air movement. The
more indicators the better, particularly in thermic conditions.
Report 3
Pilot skill level: WM pilot with over 500 hours flight experience
Injury: broken and dislocated wrist
Aircraft: weightshift microlight
Aircraft damage: undercarriage, entire wing frame and mast
Situation: landing in a light crosswind in thermic conditions
Incident:
During final landing approach the pilot allowed the microlight
to drift off line due to a gust from the side and impacted a gable
marker with one wheel. He applied power, and then proceeded
to land. On landing, the undercarriage collapsed, the trike
rotated 180 degrees and fell on its side.
Comment:
The pilot said that he realised that he had fixated on the gable
marker rather than focussing on his desired course. He has
agreed to undergo some remedial training with an instructor
once he and his trike are repaired.
Fly safely,
Craig Worth
40 Soaring Australia
May 2010
May 2010
Soaring Australia 41
GFA Business Manager’s Report
GFA Executive Meeting
At the time of writing this piece the
Executive is due to meet in April. Minutes
will be posted on the GFA website once
ratified by the president.
GFA Board Strategy Meeting
The Board will convene in May to conduct
a strategy meeting to discuss soaring’s
future in sport aviation. Core topics will
be ‘Growing the Sport’ ‘Retention’ and
‘Recruitment’. The Board will once again
devote another full weekend of discussions to ensure that GFA is positioned to
continue the growth of the sport and to
satisfy the needs of existing members.
Professional Development
The business manager has partaken
of an ‘Air Experience Flight’ with the
Beaufort Gliding Club at Bacchus Marsh
aerodrome and I can now say, ‘hats off
to the women and men of the gliding
fraternity’. Not only did I get into the air
in the grand Zephyrus VH-GHZ, but was
given an introduction to its conception
and completion in 1966 by its designer,
Doug Lyon. Originally it was to be a
single-seater but with amazing hindsight,
it completed its construction as a twoseater for the most auspicious occasion
in March 2010 when a sailor embarrassed
himself by spotting for other aircraft with
a ‘starboard turn and coming across our
bow’ call. Oops!
Pilot-in-Command of the Zephyrus was
Edwin Grech Cumbo; tug pilot of VH-SSO,
GFA vice-president, Phil McCann; and with
the designer in attendance, what could
go wrong? Absolutely nothing!
The tow line snaked off behind
the Pawnee with the Zephyrus parked
obliquely next to the newly-sealed
runway, on the grass, the slack had
become taunt and beckoning as the prop
wash intensified with applied power from
the tug spurred on by the wing runner.
Then, with the acceleration of a knee jerk
reaction from a newly-elected politician,
off we leapt. Now this led to a moment
of surprise as my legs parted involuntarily
with the control stick mimicking Edwin’s
deft actions in the control seat, keeping
GHZ on the grass while the Pawnee took
off down the runway.
Sheer terror was replaced with the
sudden realisation that I couldn’t jump
out, so I just sat back and relaxed (with
legs wide open of course). The tug and
glider lifting into the air in tandem, the
noise of a Zephyr’s breeze consuming the
canopies confines (did you like that?). We
were now truly airborne. Not much of
a surprise to Edwin, and not much of a
surprise to Phil but, like the electric shock
of just gaining a third appendage it was
a surprise to me. Marcel Marceau would
have been pleased with the mime of the
Zephyrus matching the movement of the
tug and then the instruction came for a
proposed hard right turn, the umbilical
was severed with the command of ‘pull’,
the tow ceased and free flight began.
Oh My Gosh, what a sensation;
within moments Edwin had snuck into
the embrace of a blue air thermal and
we began climbing with the intensity
of a ‘whirling dervish’. Edwin’s commentary and technical explanations were
outstanding, passion and experience the
common thread. My face hurt from the
constant smile on my dial as the aircraft
worked its way across the sky, not nearly
long enough though. We headed back
to the aerodrome for a circuit before
landing. Another face spasm of mirth
as GHZ side slipped to wash off a bit
of speed before the grass runway kissed
its skids and my third leg was once again
saying g’day!
Now go on, does this remind you of
your first flight and of all the emotions
that are forced upon you by the sheer
experience of soaring?
I thank Edwin and Beaufort Gliding
Club most sincerely for the opportunity
for an ‘Air Experience’ and now I no
longer embarrass members of GFA by
being surface bound. Although not an
aviator, I can truthfully say, I know how
the stick feels.
Insurance Issues
GFA’s Public Liability Policies (‘Broad
Based Limited Liability’, the ‘Contingent
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Liability Policy’) are due for renewal at
the end of April. OAMPS insurance broker
representative Chris Agnew is to provide
a schedule of charges to be reviewed by
the executive, May 2010.
CASA
The Deed of Agreement has stipulated a
schedule of actions that are required to
be completed by the GFA. This schedule
will be posted on the GFA web base for
member scrutiny. The Board, Executive
and responsible departments are
confident in meeting the schedule as a
matter of normal business operations.
The project team addressing the SMS
(Safety Management System) has had
its inaugural meeting at the Somerton
offices and will continue to complete the
implementation of SMS in line with the
‘Deed of Agreement’ schedule and the
GFA safety strategy policy.
AeroSafe (consultants to CASA) are
continuing with their series of Webinar’s
aimed at engaging GFA and the other
sport aviation organisations. This has included a series for ‘Board’ members where a
more comprehensive forum is discussed
with members from similar ‘Self Administration Organisations’ (SAO) in attendance.
This Operations’ Directive introduces
structural changes designed to better
integrate fundamental flight training
provided by GFA-rated Instructors and
sporting training provided by instructors
and GFA coaches.
GFA Glider Pilot Certificate
To provide improved training goals for
pilots and clubs, a new GFA certificate
is introduced, the Glider Pilot Certificate (GPC).
The GPC will be awarded to a pilot in
recognition that he/she has been trained
and assessed as competent to operate a
sailplane as an independently proficient
GFA soaring pilot following satisfactory
completion of the GPC training syllabus.
GPC Privileges and Limitations
All pilots operating under GFA are subject
to GFA operational requirements. The
GPC recognises that the pilot has been
trained and tested to the full extent
of the GPC training syllabus and is
therefore entitled to be approved to
operate a glider within the privileges
and limitations of the syllabus items as
notified by pilot logbook endorsements.
GPC Syllabus
GFA Housekeeping
Some members still have questions
regarding the restructured Pilot Training
Methodology which is now known
as Glider Pilot Certification or ‘GPC’
(OD 2/09)
Background
It has long been the stated aim of GFA
to produce safe and efficient crosscountry soaring pilots and this commitment has enabled many GFA members
to enjoy long and satisfying involvement
in our sport. However, improvement
should always be sought and the changes
introduced by this Operations’ Directive
are designed to enhance pilot training
to further advance the aim of GFA to
produce safe and efficient cross-country
soaring pilots.
Gliding, as an aviation sporting
activity, has always dictated that glider
pilot training must incorporate training
that is designed to equip pilots with
the skills and knowledge necessary to
ensure that the person will be a safe and
competent pilot and training that will
enable the person to enjoy the many
challenges of the sport of gliding as
a soaring pilot.
The GPC training syllabus replaces the
‘Flying Training Progress’ record of the
GFA pilot logbook.
I hope this goes some way in
providing an overview of the GPC system,
the way it has been introduced and how
it is structured. The need to record and
be able to reproduce certification details
centrally will help meet our legislative
requirements.
GFA Volunteer Vacancies
As a way of alerting members to roles
that need to be filled from the volunteer
pool this section of the business manager’s report will list current vacancies.
This is not only to fill these important
roles within the organisation but to
also hopefully secure succession planning for those members who wish to
become more involved. These positions
are for volunteers.
Interest in these vacancies can be
made to State officers or through the
secretariat.
NSW Gliding ‘still’ has a vacancy for
a GFA Regional Development Officer to
assist with sport and club development.
There is a program of materials and
guidelines with an interstate team of
other support. This is very much a hands-
Beaufort Gliding Club’s Zephyrus
42 Soaring Australia
May 2010
May 2010
on member retention and recruitment
role with club and sport development.
Additionally, in NSW there is a
requirement for a Member Protection
Information Officer. In the MPIO role,
you will be trained to be the first point
of contact for a person reporting a
complaint under the GFA’s Member
Protection Policy. The MPIO provides
confidential information and moral
support to the person with the concern.
For further information please contact
Dave Boulter <daveboulter@informgroup.
com.au>, mobile 0417 705 997.
A vacancy exists for an RTO/A in Qld.
Please contact Ian Perkins <adslllej@tpg.
com.au>.
GFA Business Manager
Peter Hopkins
Mobile: 0451 055 316
Email <[email protected]>
Soaring Calendar
• • • • • • • • •
Australian Gliding Grand Prix
AUSTRALIA
26 September to 2 October 2010
May Long Weekend
Fly-in
30 April to 3 May 2010
Inglewood, QLD. Come and join us for a special long
weekend. There’ll be a canteen for the three days
with hot and cold drinks and food until about 4pm
each day, breakfast Sunday and Monday mornings.
We will do fuel runs at various times. Hot showers,
toilets available, surrounds are mowed. Meals and
accommodation are also available at local hotels,
clubs and cafes. See you at Inglewood!
Dam Busters 2010 PPG Fly-in
Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend
11 to 14 June 2010
The Paradise PPG group and the Pico Club will be
hosting the first annual PPG fly-in in SE Queensland
at Atkinson Dam, approximtely 60 minutes west of
Brisbane. Camping style accommodation available
and all skill levels welcome. For further information
contact: Grant Cassar 0416 269894, <grant.
[email protected]> or Brett Paull 0435 203153,
<[email protected]>.
Keepit Speed Week
5 to 11 September 2010
Sunday, 9:00am to 6:00 pm at Lake Keepit. This
coaching week is aimed at those wishing to raise
their competition skills, a “Not the National Squad”
Week to provide a lead in to the competition
season. Contact Paul Mander 0417 447 974 or email
< [email protected]> for further information.
Bunyan Wave Camp
17 to 26 September 2010
Canberra Gliding Club, Bunyan Airfield, 15km
north of Cooma, NSW. The Spring Equinox period
has produced Diamond Height flights over the
past three years. Limited clubhouse, oxygen refills,
access to high altitude soaring areas and coaching
available. Registration of your intention to attend is
requested. Phone Stuart Ferguson on 0419 797508
for details.
Queensland State
Gliding Championships
NEW DATES: 18 to 24 September 2010
Kingaroy, QLD. Contact Lorraine Kauffmann
<[email protected]> or 0427 427448.
Queensland Coaching Week
18 to 24 September 2010
Boonah airfield, QLD. The official practice day is
Saturday, 25 September. Entries close 30 June, 2010.
Further information [www.glidinggrandprix2010.
com.au].
49th Multi Class Nationals
4 to 15 October 2010
Hosted by the Darling Downs Soaring Club at
Dalby aerodrome, QLD. For further information
contact <[email protected]>.
Corowa Classic 2011
21 to 29 January 2011
20m seat Grand Prix style competition, hosted by
Australian Soaring Centre Corowa and Corowa City
Shire. A friendly competition designed to introduce
competitors to grand prix racing and an opportunity
to learn from the some of Europe’s best pilots.
Entry fee $300 by 21 November 2010, late fee
$350. Further information contact [www.australiansoaring-corowa.com/], email <f.bruinsma@mikefox.
nl> or Peter Summersby 0413 028737, email
<[email protected]>.
O v erseas
International events can be
found at [http://events.fai.org/].
Advertising Index – May 2010
Airtime
3
Darling Downs SC 37
Eco Watch
5
GFA Form 2
23
GFA Treasurer
37
HGFA Merchandise
BC
High Adventure
9
High Adventure
27
Kangook
IBC
Lake Keepit Gliding Club 21
Manilla PG – Accessories 41
Microair Avionics
39
Mountain High
39
OAMPS
7
Paragliding Headquarters IBC
Paraworth & PG QLD
40
Poliglide
BC
SportAviation
35
Contact Greg Schmidt 0414 747201.
Soaring Australia 43
Contact Addresses
Southern Cross Gliding Club
PO Box 132, Camden NSW 2570,
02 46558882, 0417 705997 (emergency).
Southern Tablelands Gliding Club
57 Munro Rd, Queanbeyan NSW 2620,
02 62973504.
South West Slope Soaring P/L
181 Fishers La, Bendick Murrell NSW 2803,
0488 531216.
Sydney Gliding Incorporated
PO Box 633, Camden NSW 2570, 0412 145144.
Temora Gliding Club
PO Box 206, Temora NSW 2666, 02 69772733.
G FA
Australian Gliding Museum
2 Bicton St, Mt Waverley VIC 3149,
03 98021098.
Gliding Queensland
C/- Treasurer, 67 Glenora St, Wynnum QLD
4178, 07 38348311, 0417 762621.
NSW Gliding Association
The Secretary, 44 Yanko Ave, Wentworth
Falls NSW 2782, 02 68892733, 02
68891250, Trs: 0407 459581.
South Australian Gliding Association
PO Box 65, Millicent SA 5280, 08 8733421,
0427 977218.
Victorian Soaring Association
4/139 Roberts St, Essendon VIC 3040,
03 83835340, 03 93355364.
Vintage Gliders Australia
22 Eyre St, Balwyn VIC 3103, 03 98175362.
WA Gliding Association Inc.
59 Wellington Pde, Yokine WA 6060,
08 93282511, 08 94449505.
NSW Gliding Association (NSWGA)
327 (Gliding) Flight, Australia
C/- R Sheehan, 176 Macquarie Grove Rd, Camden
NSW 2570, 0427 977127, 02 46553171.
Bathurst Soaring Club
PO Box 1682, Bathurst NSW 2795,
02 63371180 (weekend), 0427 470001.
Byron Gliding Club Incorporated
PO Box 815, Byron Bay NSW 2481,
02 66847627.
Canberra Gliding Club
GPO Box 1130, Canberra ACT 2601,
02 64523994, 0428 523994.
Central Coast Soaring Club
PO Box 1323, Gosford South NSW 2250,
02 43639111, 02 43844074, 0412 844074.
Cudgegong Soaring Pty Ltd
C/- Matthews Folbigg, Level 7, 10-4 Smith
St, Parramatta NSW 2150, 02 96357966,
02 96357966.
Grafton Gliding Club
16 Fuller St, Mullaway NSW 2456,
02 66541638, 0403 088551.
Hunter Valley Gliding Club Co-op Ltd
PO Box 794, Singleton NSW 2330.
Lake Keepit Soaring Club
234 Keepit Dam Rd, Lake Keepit NSW 2340,
02 67697514.
Leeton Gliding Club
PO Box 607, Leeton NSW 2705, 02 69533825.
Narromine Gliding Club Inc.
PO Box 240, Narromine NSW 2821,
02 68892733, 0418 270182.
Orana Soaring Club Inc.
PO Box 240, Narromine NSW 2821,
02 68897373, 0418 270182.
RAAF Richmond Gliding Club
RAAF Base, Richmond NSW 2755,
02 45873214.
RAAF Williamtown Gliding Club
C/O Mr G R Lee, 10 Federation Dr, Medowie
NSW 2318, 02 49829334.
Scout Association NSW Gliding
C/- Bob G Balfour, 80 Malvern St, Panania
NSW 2213, 02 96951100.
Soar Narromine Pty Ltd
PO Box 56, Narromine NSW 2821,
02 68891856, 0419 992396.
Gliding Queensland
2 Wing AAFC School of Aviation Inc.
201 Squadron Air Force Cadets, PO Box 647
Archerfield QLD 4108, 07 38791980, 0415
150965.
Barambah District Gliding Club
2 Yellow Gully Rd, Wolvi QLD 4570,
07 54867247, 0412 719797.
Boonah Gliding Club Incorporated
164 Depot Rd, Boonah QLD 4310,
07 54632630, 0408 016164.
Bundaberg Gliding Incorporated
PO Box 211, Bundaberg QLD 4670,
07 41579558, 0417 071157.
Caboolture Gliding Club
PO Box 920, Caboolture QLD 4510,
0418 713903.
Central Queensland Gliding Club
PO Box 953, Rockhampton QLD 4700,
07 49331178.
Darling Downs Soaring Club
Level 1, 1 Swann Rd, Taringa QLD 4068,
07 46637140, 0409 507847.
Gympie Gliding Club
PO Box 722, Cooroy QLD 4563, 07 54835380.
Kingaroy Soaring Club
PO Box 91, Kingaroy QLD 4610, 07 41622191,
0438 179163.
Moura Gliding Club
PO Box 92, Moura QLD 4718, 07 49973265,
0428 360144.
North Queensland Soaring Centre
PO Box 3835, Hermit Park QLD 4812.
Pacific Soaring
PO Box 259, Caboolture QLD 4510,
07 54994997, 07 54994805.
Southern Downs Aero & Soaring
PO Box 144, Warwick QLD 4370, 07 38348311.
SA Gliding Association (SAGA)
Adelaide Soaring Club Inc.
PO Box 94, Gawler SA 5118, 08 85221877.
Adelaide Uni Gliding Club Incorporated
Adelaide Uni Sports Assoc, The University of
Adelaide SA 5005, 08 88262203, 0412 870963.
Air Cadet Gliding Club
PO Box 2000, Salisbury SA 5108,
08 83805137, 0429 805137.
Alice Springs Gliding Club
PO Box 356, Alice Springs NT 0871,
08 89526384, 0417 530345.
Australian Junior Gliding Club
67A Balfour St, Nailsworth SA 5083,
0417 421650.
Balaklava Gliding Club
PO Box 257, Balaklava SA 5461, 08 88645062.
G F A M ember­ship F ees 2 0 0 9 - 2 0 1 0
Membership:
NSW
Victoria
South Australia
Queensland
Western Australia
Normal $205
$210
$212
$210
$210
Student membership: Full NSW
$125.50
Victoria
$130.50
South Australia
$132.50
Queensland
$130.50
Western Australia
$130.50
44 Soaring Australia
Family
$164
$169
$171
$169
$169
Family
$84.50
$89.50
$91.50
$89.50
$89.50
Short-term membership:1 Month* 3 Month*
Queensland/Victoria
$57
$72
New South Wales
$62
$77
South Australia
$69
$84
Western Australia
$67
$82
*Note: Once only purchase to Australian residents,
thereafter 12 months membership to be purchased.
International postage for Soaring Australia
to be added to membership fees:
Zone Country
1
New Zealand
2
Singapore
3
Japan, Hong Kong, India
4
USA, Canada, Middle East
5
UK, Europe, South
America, South Africa
Price
$51
$51
$51
$74
$74
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Barossa Valley Gliding Club
PO Box 123, Stonefield via Truro SA 5356,
08 85640240, 0488 841373.
Bordertown Keith Gliding Club
PO Box 377, Bordertown SA 5268,
08 87521321, 0409 693027.
Millicent Gliding Club
PO Box 194, Millicent SA 5280,
08 87333421, 0427 977218.
Murray Bridge Gliding Club
PO Box 1509, Victor Harbor SA 5211,
08 85543543, 0409 677677.
Northern Australian Gliding Club
PO Box 38889, Winnellie NT 0821,
08 89412512.
Renmark Gliding Club
PO Box 450, Renmark SA 5341,
08 85951422, 0417 890215.
Scout Gliding Club
22 Burford Crescent, Redwood Park SA
5097, 08 82895085, 0418 815618.
Waikerie Gliding Club
PO Box 320, Waikerie SA 5330, 08 85412644.
Whyalla Gliding Club
PO Box 556, Whyalla SA 5600,
08 86452619, 0413 127825.
VMFG
GPO Box 1096, Melbourne VIC 3001,
0402 281928 or 03 98486473 (h).
Wagga Wagga Soaring Club Inc.
PO Box 613, Wagga Marketplace, Wagga
Wagga NSW 2650, 0427 205624.
Victorian Soaring Association (VSA)
Albury Corowa Gliding Club
PO Box 620, Wodonga VIC 3689.
Beaufort Gliding Club
41 Ruby St, Essendon VIC 3040,
0431 702175.
Bendigo Gliding Club
PO Box 846, Bendigo VIC 3550, 03 54423459.
Bothwell Gliding Club
PO Box 288, Sandy Bay TAS 7005, 03 62267615.
Cloud Riders Pty Ltd
C/- 18 Wyndham St, Werribee VIC 3030,
03 97413142, 0429 351234.
Corangamite Soaring Club
Kurweeton, Kurweeton Rd, Derrinallum
VIC 3325, 03 55939277.
Geelong Gliding Club
PO Box 197, Bacchus Marsh VIC 3340,
03 93385925, 0409 212527.
Gliding Club Of Victoria
PO Box 46, Benalla VIC 3671, 03 57621058,
0429 950580.
Grampians Soaring Club
PO Box 468, Ararat VIC 3377, 03 53525710,
0417 514438.
Horsham Flying Club
PO Box 158, Horsham VIC 3402, 03 53823491,
0427 315845.
Latrobe Valley Gliding Club
PO Box 625, Morwell VIC 3840,
03 51221081, 0407 839238.
Mangalore Gliding Club
PO Box 208 Nagambie VIC 3608,
03 57985512, 0428 635717.
Melbourne Motor Gliding Club
PO Box 278, Dingley Village VIC 3172,
0418 511557.
Mount Beauty Gliding Club
Box 486, Mt Beauty VIC 3699,
02 60591417, 0402 075131.
Murray Valley Soaring Club Ltd
PO Box 403, Corowa NSW 2646, 02 60335036,
0400 244578.
Soaring Club Of Tasmania
34 Clinton Rd, Geilston Bay TAS 7015,
03 62437508.
South Gippsland Gliding Club
PO Box 475, Leongatha VIC 3953, 0437 454986.
Southern Riverina Gliding Club
PO Box 32, Tocumwal, NSW 2714,
03 58743052, 03 58742914.
SportAviation Pty Ltd
Gate 10, Babingtons Rd, Tocumwal Airport,
Tocumwal NSW 2714, 03 58742734,
0427 534122.
Sunraysia Gliding Club
PO Box 647, Mildura VIC 3500,
03 50257335, 0448 293927.
Swan Hill Gliding Club
PO Box 160, Nyah VIC 3594, 03 50376688.
Tumbarumba Gliding Club
C/- Judds Engineering P/L, PO Box 5283,
Wagga NSW 2650, 02 69251642, 0428 251642.
H G FA
WA Gliding Association (WAGA)
716 Flight Australia Air Force Cadets
7 Wing HQ, RAAF Base Pearce Bullsbrook
WA 6084, 08 95717800.
Beverley Soaring Society
PO Box 136, Beverley WA 6304,
08 94595719, 0437 377744.
Gliding Club of Western Australia
PO Box 6231, East Perth WA 6892,
08 92212164, 0417 992806 (weekends).
Morawa Gliding Club
PO Box 276, Morawa WA 6623, 08 99723022.
Narrogin Gliding Club
PO Box 232, Narrogin WA 6312,
08 98811795 (weekends), 0407 088314.
Stirlings Gliding Club
C/- Peter Hardy-Atkins, 8 Parker St, Lockyer,
Albany WA 6330, 08 98428816, 0408 842616.
All correspondence, including changes
of address, mem­bership renewals, short
term memberships, rating forms and
other administrative matters should
be sent to:
HGFA National Office
4a-60 Keilor Park Drive, Keilor Park VIC
3042, ph: 03 93367155, fax: 03 93367177,
<[email protected]>, [www.hgfa.asn.au].
HGFA Operations/General Manager
Craig Worth 02 65592236, 0417 766356
<[email protected]>,
PO Box 5071, Hallidays Point NSW 2430.
Information about site ratings, sites and
other local matters, contact the appro­pri­ate
State asso­ciations, region or club.
Board Members 2008 to 2010
Pres: Rob Woodward 0408 808436 <Presi
[email protected]>, 38 Addison Rd, Black
Forest SA 5035.
V-Pres: Alex Jones 08 97344531 <Vice.
[email protected]>, 1 McAvoy Rd,
Allanson WA 6225.
Sec: John Twomey <[email protected].
au>, 108 Osborne St, Williamtown VIC 3016.
Trs: Raef Mackay 0408 894104
<[email protected]>, 1/20 Junction
Rd, West Burleigh QLD 4219.
Board Members:
Ray Firth 02 99854600 <ray.firth@hgfa.
asn.au>, 17 Noonbinna Cres, Northbridge
NSW 2036.
Chris Drake 0466 005967 <chris.drake@
hgfa.asn.au>, PO Box 988, Noosa QLD 4567.
States, Regions
& Special Interest Groups
ACTHPA
LPO Box 8339, ANU, Acton ACT 0200;
[www.acthpa.org]. Pres: Matthew Smith
<[email protected]> 0402 905554;
V-Pres: Nic Welbourn <nic@corinbank.
com> 0422 783763; Trs: Kristina Smith
<[email protected]> 0407 905554;
Sec: Nic Siefken <Nicolas.Siefken@ausport.
gov.au> 0418 421683; Committee: Miguel
Cruz <[email protected]> 0432
987819, Andrew Luton <andrewluton@
hotmail.com> 0404 254922; Public Officer:
Barry Oliver <[email protected]>
0407 825819; Meetings: 1st Thu/month
7.30pm Yamba Sports Club.
Hang Gliding Association of WA Inc.
PO Box 146, Midland, WA 6936
<[email protected]>. Pres: Peter South
<[email protected]>; V-Pres:
Alex Jones <[email protected]>;
Trs: Greg Lowry <[email protected]>;
Sec: Mirek Generowicz <mgenerow@
optusnet.com.au>; Trs: Colin Brown 0407
700378, <[email protected]>.
NSW HG and PG Association
PO Box 3106, Bateau Bay NSW 2261,
[www.nswhpa.org]. Pres: Bruce Wynne
May 2010
0417 467695, <[email protected].
au>; V-Pres: Nir Eshed 0423 422494, <[email protected]>; Sec: Paul Cox 0421
072897, <[email protected]>; Trs:
Graeme Cran 0414 668424, <gicran@gmail.
com>.
North Queensland HG Association
PO Box 608, Kuranda QLD 4881. Pres: Bob
Hayes 0438 710882 <[email protected].
au>; V-Pres: John Creswell 0400 122261; Sec/
Trs: Tracey Hayes, PO Box 608, Kuranda QLD
4881, 0418 963796 <info@azurephotography.
com.au>.
Queensland HG Association
Pres: Greg Hollands <greg.s.hollands@
transport.qld.gov.au>, PO Box 61, Canungra
QLD 4275 07 38448566.
South Australian HG/PG/ML Association
SAHGA Inc, c/O PO Box 6260, Hallifax St,
Adelaide SA. All email: <sahga.exec@gmail.
com>. Pres: Stuart McClure 0428 100796;
Sec/Trs: Rob Woodward 0408 808436.
Tasmanian HG & PG Association
[www.thpa.net]. Pres: Stephen Clark 0419
997550, <[email protected]>;
V-Pres: Pete Steane 0407 887310 <psteane@
vtown.com.au>; Sec/Trs: Simon Allen 0438
086322, <[email protected]>. Northern
TAS info: Richard Long (Burnie PG pilot), 0438
593998, <[email protected]>.
Victorian HG and PG Association
PO Box 157, Northcote VIC 3070, [www.vhpa.
org.au]. Pres: Martin Halford <president@
vhpa.org.au> 0434 427500; Trs: Rob Parker
<[email protected]> 0415 316861; Sec:
Steve Poole <[email protected]> 0419
573321; SO: Hamish Barker <hamish.barker@
gmail.com> 0437 137893; Site Dev: Mark Pike
<[email protected]>; Committee:
Glenn Bachelor <[email protected].
au>, Stephen Leak <[email protected]>,
Julie Sheard <[email protected]>, Jan
Bennewitz <[email protected]>.
The Pico Club (National Paramotor Club)
62 Anderson Street, East Geelong VIC 3219
Pres: Andrew Shipley; V-Pres: Grant Cassar;
Sec: Jos Weemaes, 1468 Gooramadda Rd,
Gooramadda VIC 3685, 02 60265658 or
<[email protected]>; Trs: Chris Drake.
NEW SOUTH WALES
Blue Mountains HG Club Inc.
[www.bmhgc.org.au]. Pres: Andy McMurray
(PG SO) <[email protected].
au>, 0428 866737; V-Pres: Gregor Forbes
(HG SO) <[email protected].
au>, 0421 376680; Sec/Ed: Alex Drew
(PG SO) <[email protected].
au>, 0423 696677; Trs: Allan Bush (HG
SSO) <[email protected]>, 0407
814524; Comp Dir: Mark Stewart (PG SO)
<[email protected]>, 0421 596345,
Comp: 2nd and last Sunday of each month.
Meetings: Contact committee.
Central Coast Sky Surfers
PO Box 3106, Bateau Bay NSW 2261, [www.
centralcoastskysurfers.com]. Pres: Glen
McFarlane 0414 451050 <glenbuilt@bigpond.
com>; V-Pres: Jeff Terry 0416 291545 <jeff@
survivalsolutions.com.au>; Sec: Julie Terry 0411
567825, <[email protected]>;
Trs: Paul Cox 0417 355897, <coxy@ccpara
gliding.com.au>, SSOs: Paul Cox 0417
355897, Javier Alvarez 0418 116681.
Meetings: 1st Thu/month, 7:30pm, Erina
Leagues Club, Ilya Ave, Erina.
Dusty Demons Hang Gliding Club
6 Miago Court, Ngunnawal, ACT 2913. Pres:
Trent Brown 0427 557486, <Trent.Brown@
anu.edu.au>; Sec: Peter Dall 0428 813746,
<[email protected]>; Trs: Michael Porter
0415 920444; SSO: Peter Dall 0428 813746.
Hunter Skysailors Paragliding Club
Pres/SSO: James Thompson 0418 686199,
<[email protected]>; V-Pres: Brent
Leggett 0408 826455, <brent@flashme.
co.au>; Sec: Albert Hart 0421 647013,
<[email protected]>; Meetings: Last
Tue/month, 7pm, Hexham Bowling Club.
Illawarra Hang Gliding Club Inc.
27a Paterson Rd, Coalcliff NSW 2508. Pres:
Frank Chetcuti 0418 252221 <chetcuti1@
bigpond.com>; Sec: John Parsons; SSO: Tim
Causer 0418 433665 <[email protected]>.
Kosciusko Alpine Paragliding Club
[www.homestead.com/kapc]; Pres: Michael
Porter 0415 920444 <Michael.Porter@jllrld.
May 2010
ALL CLUBS PLEASE CHECK DETAILS IN THIS SECTION CAREFULLY
Could all Clubs please ensure they maintain the correct and current details of their Executive
Committees and contacts here in the magazine. Specific attention is directed to the listing of
SSOs and SOs for the Clubs. Please ALL CLUBS and nominated Senior SOs and SOs confirm
ALL SSO and SO appointments with the HGFA Office <[email protected]> to ensure that
those holding these appointments have it listed on the Membership Database and can receive
notices and correspondence as required. Appointment of these officers is required to be
endorsed by Clubs in writing on the appropriate forms. Sometime in the future if confirmation
is not received, those listed in the Database where no current forms or confirmation is held,
the appointment will be taken as having expired. General Manager, HGFA
com.au>; V-Pres: James Ryrie 02 61610225
<[email protected]>; Sec: Mark Mourant
02 48464144 <[email protected]>.
Manilla SkySailors Club Inc.
PO Box 1, Manilla NSW 2346, [www.mss.
org.au]. Pres/SSO (PG): Godfrey Wenness
02 67856545, <[email protected]>, V-Pres:
Matt Morton <[email protected].
au>, Sec: Suzi Smith <[email protected]>,
Trs: Bob Smith <[email protected]>, SSO
(HG) Patrick Lenders 02 67783484 <patrick.
[email protected]>, SSO (WM): Willi Ewig
02 67697771 <[email protected]>.
Mid North Coast HG and PG Club
Pres: Nigel Lelean 0419 442597; SSO: Lee
Scott 0429 844961.
Newcastle Hang Gliding Club
PO Box 64 Broadmeadow NSW 2292; [www.
nhgc.asn.au]. Pres: Stuart Coad <president@
nhgc.asn.au> 0408 524862; V-Pres: Dawson
Brown 0429 675475; Sec: Simon Plint 0407
613701, <[email protected]>;
Trs: Allan McMillan 0400 637070; SOs:
Coastal – Tony Barton 0412 607815, Inland –
Scott Barrett 0425 847208, John O’Donohue
02 49549084, PG – James Thompson 02
49468680; News­letter: David Stafford 02
49215832 <[email protected]>. Meetings:
Last Wed/month 7:30pm South Newcastle
RLC, Llewellyn St, Merewether.
Northern Beaches HG Club
PO Box 840, Mona Vale NSW 2103. Pres:
Peter Rundle <[email protected]>;
V-Pres: Brett Coupland 0409 162616,
<[email protected]>; Sec: Alexander
Drew 0423 696677, <dalexander@med.
usyd.edu.au>; CEO: Jude Ho <heyjudeho@
bigpond.com>; Trs: Steve Nagle <steve.
[email protected]>; Committee: Rohan
Taylor <[email protected]>, Graeme
Cran <[email protected]>.
Northern Rivers HG and PG Club
PO Box 126, Byron Bay NSW 2481; [www.
nrghpgc.net]. Pres: Cedar Anderson 0429
070380 <[email protected]>; V-Pres: Brian
Rushton 0427 615950 <byronair@optusnet.
com.au>; Sec: Maureen McEneaney 0413
166548 <[email protected]>;
Trs: Paul Gray <[email protected]>;
SSO (PG): Lindsay Wooten <lindsaywootten@
bigpond.com> 0427 210993; SSO (HG):
Andrew Polidano. Meetings: 2nd Wed/month,
7pm, Byron Services Club.
Stanwell Park HG and PG Club
PO Box 258 Helensburgh NSW 2508; Pres:
Chris Clements 0414 777853 <president@fly
stanwell.com>; V-Pres: Tony Sandeberg 0413
593054 <[email protected]>;
Sec: Jorj Lowrey 0400 937234 <secretary@fly
stanwell.com>; Trs: Peter Ffrench 0403 076149
<[email protected]>; M/ship: Nir Eshed
0423 422494 <[email protected]>; SSO: Mark
Mitsos 0408 864083, <[email protected]>.
Sydney Hang Gliding Club
Pres: Dean Tooker <[email protected].
au>; V-Pres: Brett O’Neil <bo307@westnet.
com.au>; Trs: John Selby 02 93447932
<[email protected]>; Sec: Bruce Wynne
0417 467695 <[email protected]> or
<[email protected]>;
Dev/Train: Owen Wormald 02 94667963
<[email protected]>; SO: Bruce
Wynne, Doug Sole; SSO: Ken Stothard.
Meetings: 3rd Wed/month, 7:30pm Botany
RSL, Botany.
@chgc.asn.au>; Sec: Mark Kropp <secretary@
chgc.asn.au>; Trs: Brandon O’Donnell
<[email protected]>; Ed: Cameron
McNeill 0419 706326; Gen-Exec: Greg
Hollands <[email protected]>; SSO PG:Phil
Hystek 07 55434000 (h), 0418 155317 <sso
@chgc.asn.au>; SSO HG: Lee Patterson
0417 025732 <[email protected]>.
Central Queensland Skyriders Club Inc.
‘The Lagoons’ Comet River Rd, Comet QLD
4702. Pres: Alister Dixon (instructor) 0438
845119, <[email protected]>; Sec:
James Lowe 0418 963315, <j.lowe@cqu.
edu.au>; Trs: Adrienne Wall 07 49362699,
<[email protected]>; Events: Jon Wall
0427 177237, <jonathon.a.wall@team.
telstra.com>; SSO: Bob Pizzey 0439 740187,
07 49387607. Towing Biloela: Paul Barry
07 49922865, <[email protected]>.
Conondale Cross-Country Club
[www.conondaleflyers.asn.au/] Pres:
Lewis Nott 0488 082937 <president@
conondalexcflyers.asn.au>; Sec: Michael
Strong 0414 845785 <secretary@
conondalexcflyers.asn.au>; Trs: Steve Stocker
0411 226733 <steve_stocker@optusnet.
com.au>.
Dalby Hang Gliding Club
17 Mizzen St, Manly West QLD 4179. Pres:
Daron ‘Boof’ Hodder 0431 240610, <daron@
aclad.com.au>; Sec/Trs: Annie Crerar 0418
711821, <[email protected]>; SSO:
Jason ‘Yoda’ Reid 0424 293922, <jasonr@
gleda.com.au>.
Fly Killarney Inc.
Pres/SSO: Lindsay Wootten 0427 210993,
<[email protected]>; V-Pres:
Alistair Gibb 0414 577232, <11thhour@iinet.
net.au>; Sec/Trs: Sonya Fardell 0415 156256,
<[email protected]>.
Sunshine Coast Hang Gliding Club
PO Box 227, Rainbow Beach QLD 4581;
<[email protected]>. Pres: Geoffrey
Cole 0408 420808, 07 5455 4661; V-Pres
& SSO (HG): David Cookman 0427 498753;
V-Pres (PG): Tex Beck 0407 238017; Trs:
Gary Allen 0417 756878; Sec: Janine Krauchi
0438 701220; (HG): David Cookman 0427
498573, 07 54498573; SSO (PG): Jean-Luc
Lejaille 0418 754157, 07 54863048.
Wicked Wings Club
Toowoomba & District PG/HG Club Inc, 190
Drayton St, Laidley QLD 4341. Pres: Peter
Schwenderling 0427 461347 <swendo1@big
pond.net.au>; Trs: Richard Cook 0427 805960
<[email protected]>; Sec: Troy Litzow
0448 456607 <[email protected]>.
Whitsundays HG Club
Sec/Trs: Ron Huxhagen 07 49552913, fax:
07 49555122, <[email protected]>.
Tasmania
Tasmanian HG&PG Ass. (see States & Regions)
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Alice Springs HG and PG Club
Pres: Ricky Jones 0406 098354, <redcentre
[email protected]>, contact for paramotoring, PG ridge soaring and thermal flying.
QUEENSLAND
Caboolture Microlight Club
50 Oak Place, Mackenzie QLD 4156. Pres:
Derek Tremain 07 33957563, <derekjo@gil.
com.au>; Sec: John Cresswell 07 34203254,
<[email protected]>; SO: Graham Roberts
07 32676662, <[email protected]>
Cairns Hang Gliding Club
PO Box 6468, Cairns QLD 4870. Pres: Bob
Hayes 0438 710882 <[email protected].
au>; V-Pres/SO: Brett Collier 0431 151150
<[email protected]>; Sec: Lance
Keough, 31 Holm St, Atherton QLD 4883,
07 40912117; Trs: Nev Akers 07 40532586.
Canungra Hang Gliding Club Inc.
PO Box 41, Canungra QLD 4275; [www.chgc.
asn.au]. Pres: Phil McIntyre <president@chgc.
asn.au>; V-Pres: Lee Patterson <vicepresident
VICTORIA
Dynasoarers Hang Gliding Club
<[email protected]>; Pres: Dale
Appleton 0408 382635; SSO: Rob van der
Klooster 0408 335559. Meetings: 1st Fri/
month, venue see [www.dynasoarers.vhpa.
org.au].
Melbourne Hang Gliding Club Inc.
PO Box 5278, South Melbourne VIC 3205
[www.melbourne.vhpa.org.au]. Pres: Gabriel
Toniolo 0407 544511, <gabriel.toniolo@
hotmail.com>; Sec: Peter Davies 0400 883155,
<[email protected]>; Trs: Greg Stroot
0402 473113, <[email protected]>;
SSO: Peter Holloway 0408 526805, <info@
freedomairsports.com.au>. Meetings: 3rd
Wed/month, Tower Hotel, 686 Burwood Road,
Hawthorn East VIC 3123.
North East Victorian Hang Gliding Club
Pres: John Chapman 0412 159472 <chappo
[email protected]>; Sec: Bill Oates 0466 440
049 <[email protected]>; Trs/M/ship:
Greg Jarvisy 0407 047797; SSO/VHPA Rep: Joe
Rainczuk 0419 875367; Committee: Barb Scott
0408 844224, Bill Brooks 0409 411791; SSO:
Karl Texler 0428 385144; Meetings: [www.
hgfa.asn.au/~nevhgc/].
Sky High Paragliding Club
[www.skyhighparagliding.org]; Pres: Steve
Leak <[email protected]>,
0409 553401; V-Pres: Martin Halford <vp@
skyhighparagliding.org.au>, 0434 427500;
Trs: Julie Sheard <tres@skyhighparagliding.
org.au>, 0425 717944; Sec: Phil Lyng
<[email protected]>, 0421
135894; M’ship: Loz Pozzani <mem@
skyhighparagliding.org.au>, 0421 389839;
Nov Rep: Mike Armstrong 0412 329442
<[email protected]>; Web:
Pete Condick <[email protected].
au>, 0400 560653; Safety: Carolyn Dennis
<[email protected]>, 0427
555063; Committee: Steve Poole 0419 573 321.
Meetings: 1st Wed/month 8pm Retreat Hotel,
226 Nicholson St, Abbotsford.
Southern Microlight Club
[http://home.vicnet.net.au/~stclub/]. Pres:
Mark Howard 0419 855850 <mark.howard@
auspost.com.au>; V-Pres: Ken Jelleff <kenj@
jelfor.com.au>; Sec/Ed: Kelvin Glare 0421
060706 <[email protected]>; Trs: Dean
Marriott <[email protected]>. Meet­ings:
2nd Tue/month 8pm Manning­-ham Club, 1
Thompsons Rd, Bulleen.
Western Victorian Hang GIiding Club
PO Box 92, Beaufort VIC 3373, [www.wvhgc.
org]. Pres: Phillip Campbell 0419 302850,
<[email protected]>; V-Pres: Anthony
Meechan 0407 163796, <meeks65@yahoo.
com.au>; Sec: Rachelle Guy 0438 368528,
<[email protected]>; Trs: Richard
Carstairs 0409 066860, <rcarstairs@
optushome.com.au>; SSO: Rohan Holtkamp
0408 678734 <[email protected].
au>. Meet­ings: Last Sat/month, The Golden
Age Hotel, Beaufort, 7pm.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Albany HG & PG Club
SSO: Simon Shuttleworth 0427 950556; Sec: John
Middleweek 08 98412096, fax: 08 98412096.
Cloudbase Paragliding Club Inc.
Secretary, 12 Hillside Crs, Maylands WA 6051.
Pres: Mike Annear 0400 775173 <mike@
mikeannear.com>; V-Pres: Eric Metrot 0407
003059<[email protected]>; Trs: Colin
Brown 0407 700378 <cobrown@bigpond.
com>; Committee: Shelly Heinrich 0428
935462 <[email protected]>, Rod
Merigan 0439 967971 <[email protected].
au>, Clive Salvidge 0402 240038 <clive@iinet.
net.au>, Julien Menager 0423 829346 <Julien.
[email protected]>; SOs: John Carman, Nigel
Sparg, Colin Brown, Mark Wild. Meetings: Last
Tues/month, 7:30pm, Osborne Park Bowling
Club, Park St, Tuart Hill.
Goldfields Dust Devils Inc.
[www.dustdevils.itaustralia.org]. Kalgoorlie:
Pres: Toby Houldsworth <drogue@bigpond.
com>, 0428 739956; Trs/SSO: Murray Wood
<[email protected]>, 08 90215771;
Sec/SO: Richard Breyley <richard.breyley@
matsa.com.au>, 0417 986896. Perth: SSO:
Mark Stokoe <[email protected].
au>, 0414 932461.
Hill Flyers Club Inc.
<[email protected]>. Pres/SSO: Rick
Williams 0427 057961; Sec/SSO: Gary Bennet
0412 611680; SSO: Gavin Nicholls 0417
690386, Mike Ipkendanz 08 92551397, Dave
Longman 08 93859469. Meetings held on site
during club fly-ins at York, Toodyay.
Western Microlight Club Inc.
Pres: Brian Watts 0407 552362; V-Pres: Keith
Mell 08 97971269; Sec: Paul Coffey 0428
504285; CFI: Brendan Watts: 0408 949004.
Western Soarers
<[email protected]>, PO Box 483, Mt
Hawthorn WA 6915. Pres: Michael Duffy
<[email protected]>; V-Pres: Jason
Kath <[email protected]>; Sec/Trs:
Mirek Generowicz 0427 778280, <mgenerow@
optusnet.com.au>; SSOs: Shaun Wallace, Gavin
Nicholls, Matty Coull, Rick Williams, Michael
Duffy. Meetings: See [http://au.groups.yahoo.
com/group/western_soarers/].
Soaring Australia 45
Classifieds
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
G FA
NOTICE TO ALL GFA ADVERTISERS
All advertisements and payment can be sent to:
The Gliding Federation of Australia Inc/Advertising
Level 1/34 Somerton Road, Somerton VIC 3062.
Ph: 03 9303 7805, Fax: 03 9303 7960
Email: <[email protected]>
Advertisements may be emailed in high resolution
(300dpi at 100% size) using TIF or EPS formats.
Photo­graphs may be pro­vided in either photo print
or slides. Low resolution digitals are not suitable.
Photo­graphs, slides or disks may be returned. Please
include a self-addressed and stamped envelope
for the return of any promotional material.
All GFA advertisements must be paid for prior to
publication. (Payment by cheque, money order or
credit card). Don’t forget Classifieds deadline is the
25th of the month, for publication five weeks hence.
For current advertising fees, go to [www.gfa.org.au].
Single-seater Sailplanes
Astir CS low hrs, for sale/swap/or trade. All ADs
done, new Microair radio & harness. Wings have
gelcoat cracking. Sell $10000 or trade up to twoseater trainer, other offers considered. Enclosed
trailer & winch available separately. Bundaberg
Gliding. Ph: John 07 41280259, 0417 071157.
ASW 17 VH-YKL. Complete enclosed trailer &
instruments now in Australia, $35000. Ph: Brad
Edwards 0427 202535 or 02 67711733.
ASW20BL VH-HDY, 15m & 16.6m configurations.
2650 hrs, 860 landings. Comp ready. Excellent trailer.
Full tow out gear. Many extras. $62500 ono. Ph:
Gary 03 53524938 or <[email protected]>.
Cirrus STD good condition, good trailer, covers,
walk out gear, first reg Aust. ’74, $12000. Also:
Cirrus OPEN very nice aircraft, VG trailer, GPS,
parachute, etc. $15000. Ph: 07 54486808.
Jantar Std VH-IZT. 1750 hrs, 1000 landings.
Good clean condition. Microair radio, Borgelt
instrumentation, canopy hinge. Well thought out
trailer & all tow-out gear. Competitive Std Class
performance at $30K. Also available: Hangar Lake
Keepit $10K. Ph: Paul 0404 851876.
Jantar Std 2 VH-UKP, $25000 ono, 2060 hrs, 850
landings, Registered 12/1981 Custom made trailer,
ground handling gear, Borgelt basic instruments,
vario, speed to fly & final glide computers. Turn &
bank, Becker radio, oxygen (diluter demand system)
Parachute. Ph: Rob 08 93062241, 0428 270153 or
<[email protected]>.
Junior 51-1 VH-XOJ, 2688 hrs. Cambridge electric
& PZL mechanical vario. Geneva 100ch radio 2688
hrs, 2284 launches inspection. Very good condition
$18500. Ph: 03 95214942.
Libelle 201B Sn344, VH-GBA, 2752 hrs, Form 2 to
December. B50 plus standard instruments & Icom
A200 radio. Tow-out gear, wing & canopy covers.
Enclosed tandem axle trailer registered to August.
$11500. Ph: 0427 015051.
LS6 including trailer, towing gear & basic instruments. VH-XJS built 1985, 3500 hrs, 1000 launches,
$65000. Parachute, Flarm, logger, Ilec vario, negotiable extras. Fresh Annual 3/2010. View/test fly
at Temora. Ph: Mike Cleaver 0412 980886 or
<[email protected]>, or Andrew Ward 02
62622426 (h) or <[email protected]>.
Warwick Gliding Club Hornet 206 VH-GKJ,
3548 hrs, 2677 launches. Priced to sell $14000.
Ph: Tony 07 46614090.
LS8-18 + hangar/land package. Rare opportunity,
best LS8 with everything & hangar spot at Kingaroy
&/or block of land at Narromine Skypark. Contact:
Miles Gore-Brown <[email protected]>.
LS8-18 XGG Altir, Vega, Microair radio. Holmes PU
refinish. All tow-out gear. Wing & elevator covers.
46 Soaring Australia
Form 2 2/2011, $130000. Ph: 0414 747201 or
<[email protected]>.
Mini Nimbus B Excellent condition, always
hangared, refinished in PU, 2150 hrs, Becker radio,
parachute, winglets, Winter vario, Blumenauer vario/
speed to fly, oxygen, turn & bank, aluminium trailer
for one-man rig/derig. $35000. Ph: 03 98466525 or
<[email protected]>.
Std Cirrus Factory winglets, new canopy, basic
instruments as well as a B50 vario. Trailer in good
condition. Parachute. Ph: Matt 0421 382990 or
<[email protected]>.
Std Cirrus VH-GYZ with blended winglets, well
equipped, blue tint canopy, two-pack paint, wing
covers, nose & belly hooks parachute, tandem trailer.
$24000 ono, email for photos <dougcoac@bigpond.
net.au>. Ph: 0418 777480.
Two-seater Sailplanes
Blanik L13 in current use. 4898 hrs, 175000 launches, enclosed trailer. $7500 neg. Ph: 07 54968323
or 07 54960331.
IS28 B2 Must Sell Good condition, TT 4300 hrs,
30-year survey completed 2006; current C of A to
10/2010; offers considered. Ph: 02 60254436.
Twin Astir VH-KYM, Mfg 1978, 3474 hrs. Microair
radio, basic instruments, no accident damage, not
flown for three years. Enclosed tandem axle trailer is
serviceable but needs some work $40000. Winch:
313 cub inch Chrysler, new rings & bearings, valve
grind & running. New winch brakes, new cable
drums. Work still to be done on winch & prime
mover. Dodge truck (1959) is a good restoration
project in its own right. Best offer (as is where is)
Ph: Dave 08 86411525.
Self Launching/Motor Gliders
Dimona H36 with Limbach L2400 motor. Hoffmann
prop with latest mods. Folding wings, transponder.
All in excellent condition. Glide @ 28:1 or cruise @
96kt for 15 l/hr. $90000. Ph: John 03 52366290.
Dimona H36 Motor Glider 2000 Limbach. 2500
hrs TT, Form 2 in 12/2009, 238 hrs on factory new
L2000 motor, 30 hrs since prop o/haul & magneto
o/haul. Recent new battery, at Bordertown SA
$75000. Ph: Peter 0409 693027, 08 87565019 (h) or
<[email protected]>.
Grob Twin III 103 Self-launcher Very low hrs,
refinished; delight to fly. $125000 fly away. $135000
with trailer tow away. Ph: 02 68897254, 0428 716
807 or <[email protected]>.
1991 Motorfalke 2000 two legged undercart,
large prop clearance, new Limbach, runs low temps,
Becker 3201 & optional xponder. Ph: Ian McPhee
0428 847642.
Price Drop Owners want this sold so have priced
accordingly. You will not find a better aircraft for the
money! HK36TTC nosewheel version, 115hp turbo
Rotax. Absolutely immaculate. AH, DG, Ilec vario,
Winter VSI, Winter alt. KLX35 Nav/Com. Transponder
& encoder. Aluminium Grove u/c. Constant speed
prop (zero timed). An honest 110kt cruise at 20 l/hr
TTAE, approx. 220 hrs since new. Built 1998. [http://
picasaweb.google.com.au/biggreencod/Katana#],
$149000 no GST, an absolute steal at this price.
Serious enquiries only. Ph: Mark 0427 127128.
Silent 2 Targa VH-SIW [www.alisport.com] has
all the technical details. Self-launcher. Steerable
tail wheel. Cobra Trailer. Single-man rig/derig
in 20 min. Flaperons. Very low air & motor hrs.
Price negotiable. Ph: Greg Doyle 0400 114747 or
<[email protected]>.
SF25 B Scheibe Jabiru 2200 Motor Falke VH-HNO,
TT 2275 hrs engine 215 before top overhaul, 32 litre
tank plus 10 l long range tank. Basic instruments,
Microair radio, new tyres, spare prop, etc.187kg
cockpit load, A$38000. Ph: 03 95510965 or <info@
melbourneglidingadventures.com.au>.
Super Ximango Plus A true touring motor glider.
Excellent condition. Just completed 600 hourly &
Form 2, $165K. Fully equipped & tooled. Details &
photographs, contact: Paul <energy@whitsunday.
net.au>.
Wanted
DISCUS A or B. No preferences regards instruments, oxygen, chute or trailer. Ph: Paul Rose 08
94674241 or <[email protected]>.
Instructors wanted. Sydney Gliding Club is seeking instructors for our weekend ops. We are selflaunching club with Super Dimona & soon ASK21
Mi in our fleet. Self-launching experience will be an
advantage, however, we will offer conversions to
suitable candidates. Ph: Bill Wotten 0412 237897.
Instruments & Equipment
Wing Rigger™
With sliding axle for lateral adjustment. Gas spring lifting assist. All
Terrain three-wheel stability. Quick
breakdown. Versions for all gliders,
even two-place. Sturdy, TIG welds,
Powder coat. [www.wingrigger.com].
Ian McPhee all stocked tyres 10% off till June,
Xcom radio, boom microphones (>2300 made)
Cambridge 302, etc. Winter alt, ASIs, etc. Ph: 0428
847642 or <[email protected]>.
Gliding Publications
Airborne Magazine: Covering all facets of
Australian & New Zealand modelling. The best value
modelling magazine. Now $60pa for six issues.
Plans & other special books available. PO Box 30,
Tullamarine, VIC 3043.
Free Flight: Quarterly journal of the Soaring Asso­
ciation of Canada. A lively record of the Canadian
soaring scene & relevant international news &
articles. $US26 for one year, $47 for two years, $65
for three years. 107-1025 Richmond Rd Ottawa,
Ontario K2B 8G8 Canada, email: <[email protected]>.
Gliding International: The new international
gliding magazine edited by John Roake. Specialising
in being first with news from every corner of the
soaring globe. A$60 p.a. Personal cheques or credit
cards accepted. Contact: Gliding International,
79 Fifth Avenue, Tauranga, New Zealand. Email:
<[email protected]>.
Sailplane & Gliding: The only authoritative
British magazine devoted entirely to gliding. 52 A4
pages of fascinating material & pictures with colour.
Available from the British Gliding Asso­ci­ation,
Kimberley House, Vaughan Way, Leicester, England.
Annual subscription for six copies £17.50.
Sailplane Builder: Monthly magazine of the Sail­
plane Homebuilders Association. $US29 (airmail
$US46) to SHA, c/o Murry Rozansky, 23165 Smith
Road, Chatsworth, CA 91311 USA.
Soaring: Official monthly journal of the Soaring
Society of America Inc. PO Box 2100, Hobbs,nm
88241 USA. Foreign subscription rates (annu­ally):
$US43 surface delivery; $US68 premium delivery.
Technical Soaring/OSTIV: Quarterly publi­ca­tionof
SSA containing OSTIV & other technical papers. c/o
T U Delft, Fac Aerospace engineering, Kluyerweg 1,
NL-2629 HS DELFT, The Netherlands.
Vintage Times: Official newsletter of Vintage Gliders
Australia, edited by David & Jenne Goldsmith, PO Box
577, Gisborne VIC 3437, Mem­ber­ship $20 pa.
May 2010
HGFA Schools
VICTORIA
H G FA
Classifieds are free of charge to HGFA members
up to a maximum of 40 words. One classified
per person per issue will be accepted.
Classifieds are to be delivered to the HGFA office
for membership verification/payment by email
<[email protected]>, fax: 03 93362177 or post:
4a/60 Keilor Park Drive, Keilor Park VIC 3042.
The deadline is 25th of the month, for pub­li­cation
five weeks hence. Submitted classifieds will run for
one issue. For con­secutive publication, re-sub­mission
of the classified must be made, no advance bookings.
When submitting a classified remember to include
your contact details (for prospective buyers),
your HGFA membership number (for verifi­ca­tion)
and the State under which you would like the
classified placed. (Note that the above does not
apply to com­mer­cial operators. Instructors may
place multiple classified entries, but will be
charged at usual advertising rates.)
All aircraft should be suitable for the intend­
ed use; this includes the skill level required
for the specific aircraft being reflective of
the pilot’s actual rating & experience. All
members must adhere to the mainte­nance
requirements as contained in Section 9 of
the Operations Manual & as provided by
manufacturers. Secondhand equipment
should always be inspected by an indepen­
dent person, an Instructor wherever possi­ble.
Advice should be sought as to the con­di­tion,
airworthiness & suitability of the aircraft.
It should include examination of mainte­
nance logs for the aircraft. It is unethical &
a legally volatile situation for individuals to
provide aircraft which are unsuitable for the
skill level of the pilot, or aircraft that are
unairworthy in any way.
VICTORIA
PARAGLIDING CENTRE
We are based in Bright, NE Victoria, widely
renowned as Australia’s best flying region.
Bright has been host to numerous Australian &
international competitions.
Feel confident that you are learning with the
best, our CFI Fred Gungl (six times Australian
Paragliding Champion) has been involved in
paragliding since 1990 & instructing for over
10 years.
Courses
• Introductory & HGFA licence course
• Thermal & XC clinics for all levels
• SIV courses
• Tow courses
• XC tandem flights
• Equipment Sales
We are now conducting SIV courses.
See website for details.
Dealer for all major glider manufacturers, Charly reserves,
Insider helmets & various accessories.
Active Flight
Fred Gungl, ph: 0428 854455
www.activeflight.com.au
established 1988
Why come to North-east Victoria
to learn with Eagle School?
Hang Gliders & Equipment
Victoria
• A
part from being fortunate enough to have the
most consistently reliable weather for training
in Australia…
• Australia’s longest running Microlight school.
• Our person centred approach means that we
value feedback and individually tailor our training
methods to suit the student’s needs.
• We specialise in remedial training when you get
stuck in your present learning environment.
• We are interested in seeing you achieve your
goals and make your dreams a reality.
• You will receive ongoing support after
your licence
• We aim to shape you into a safe and confident
pilot by encouraging you to challenge yourself
in a safe and supportive environment.
• If you are already a Hang Glider, Paraglider or
Glider pilot you’ll learn for half price!
We look forward to assisting you to master
a new set of skills which will take you
to new heights in every respect.
Airborne Shark 144 int, 60 hrs, one owner, excellent condition, still with original DTs. Make an offer.
Ph: Mike 0438 150100 or <[email protected]>.
Moyes Mission 170 Good condition. Price $550
ono. Ph: 0415 520443.
Microlights & Equipment
Victoria
Airborne XT 582 Cruze wing, 110 hrs, new trailer,
new full cover, training bars, bar mitts & more. Ph:
Ron 0433 551103.
Redback Trike, Wizard 3 wing, T2-6031, as new,
only done 37hrs, radio, helmets, jackets, mitts,
headsets. Excellent condition, $19000, extra $500
for trailer. Ph: 0418 109658.
Paragliders & Equipment
Queensland
Ozone Mantra 3, size M, best performing 2/3
around. Grey/orange/white in great condition, $2400.
Supair XP altirando light weight reversible harness,
size M, in good condition, $750. Ph: 0429 775554.
NO PRESSURE SALES!!! BUY IN YOUR OWN TIME
Feel free to contact us, we are happy to chat with you.
STEPHEN RUFFELS CFI
Mail address: 16 Hargreaves Road, Bright, 3741
(03) 5750 1174 or (0428) 570 168
email <[email protected]>
Look up our website:
[www.eagleschool.com.au]
download our’Learn to Fly’ brochure
for what’s involved, plus costs.
Kangook
The latest range of Kangook paramotors,
Dudek Reflex paragliders, trikes, flight decks, spares
& your reserve parachute equipment all on our
website for your inspection with prices. Ph:
Ben 0418 753220.
Poliglide
May 2010
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Concertina Bag
Press To Talk System
PARA SUPPLY / Cocoon3 concertina bag,
PARA SUPPLY / Cocoon3 concertina bag,
PARA SUPPLY / Cocoon3 concertina bag,
PARA SUPPLY / Cocoon3 concertina bag,
www.parasupply.com
PARA SUPPLY / PTT sys, PARA SUPPLY / PTT sys,
PARA SUPPLY / PTT sys, PARA SUPPLY / PTT sys,
PARA SUPPLY / PTT sys, PARA SUPPLY / PTT sys,
www.parasupply.com
Soaring Australia 47
HGFA Schools
Queensland
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
New south wales
RAINBOW PARAGLIDING
APCO AUSTRALIA
Offering the full range
of APCO equipment
APCO Aviation three years/250 hours warranty
for porosity. Gliders that are made to last unique
in the industry. Customer service and
100% satisfaction guarantee.
Test centre for APCO gliders [www.apcoaviation.com].
APCO Australia and PWC winner
of the Serial Class 2000
Established since 1996, Rainbow Paragliding is based on
the Sunshine Coast and Hinterland. The school has access
to 25 sites and holds a permit to operate in the Cooloola
National Park including Teewah and world famous Rain­
bow Beach. In the Sunshine State, we fly all year round,
60km cross-country flights have been achieved in winter!
FULL LICENCE COURSE – Strictly only four stu­dents per
instructor, for quality personalised tui­tion at your own
pace, between eight to 10 days.
REFRESHER COURSE – Groundhandling, top landing or asymmetric recovery techniques: Come learn with the experts.
INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED, TANDEM OR PARAMOTOR
ENDORSEMENT – We have the sites, the weather and the
knowledge.
SALES AND SERVICES – New and second-hand, trade-in,
maintenance and repairs.
YOUR INSTRUCTORS: Jean-Luc Lejaille, CFI and senior
safety officer, paramotor pioneer (first licence issue
in Australia), over 2,500 student days’ experience,
instructing since 1995.
Jean-Luc Lejaille CFI 45192
Rainbow Paragliding – APCO Australia
PO BOX 227, Rainbow Beach 4581
Ph: 07 5486 3048 – 0418 754 157
Email: <[email protected]>
[www.paraglidingrainbow.com]
New south wales
Professional Paragliding
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tandem Introductory Flights
Paragliding Courses and Certifications
Pilot Development Clinics
Free Introduction course
Tandem Endorsements
Sales and service
Dealer for Advance Charly Flytec Icom
Adventure Plus Paragliding Pty Ltd
Stanwell Park, Sydney Ph: 0412271404
<[email protected]>
[www.adventureplusparagliding.com.au]
48 Soaring Australia
Western Australia
Australia Wide Services
HGFA Approved Paraglider
Testing & Repairs
• C
omprehensive testing and repairs
to all paragliders
• Fully equipped service and repair
agents for:
Advance, Aerodyne, Airwave, Bio-Air, Gin,
Gradient, Mac Para, Niviuk, Nova, Ozone,
Paratech, Sky, Swing, UP
• Full written report
• Harness repair and modifications
• Certified Australasian Gradient Repair Centre
• Parachute repacking
• Orders taken from anywhere in Australia,
New Zealand and Asia
• Prompt turnaround
New south wales
• M
T BORAH, MANILLA is the one of the top 10
fly­ing sites in the world & has more fly­able days
than anywhere else in Australia. It has 4 large
laun­ches for nearly all wind directions & easy, safe
top & bottom landings all around. Great ridge
soar­ing & XC all in one place. HOST of the 2007
PARAGLIDING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!
• YOUR CFI IS GODFREY WENNESS: The most
experienced paraglider pilot in Australia. Over 7000
hours airtime since 1988, World Record Holder
– 335km (1998-2002), Longest Tandem Flight in
the World – 223km (2000-03), Multiple National
Records, National XC League Winner (inaugural
2001 & 2002), CFI, Instructor Examiner, Australian
Team Member, Proto­type Test Pilot, HGFA Safety
& Ops Committee (PG), International Comps
Organiser, & Owner of World Famous Mt Borah.
• NOVICE LICENCE COURSES: Our famous 9 day,
live in, Novice Licence Courses, with genuine small
class sizes (<6), go well beyond the minimum
requirements & include thermalling, ridge soar­
ing, safety manoeuvres & more. Over a week of
the highest quality tuition by highly experienced
pilots/instructors, using the latest techniques
& equipment costs only $1720 (including
accommodation and $400 equipment discount).
• THERMALLING, XC & OTHER TUITION: We spe­
cialise in PG & offer personal one-on-one & group
tuition in areas such as basic skills refresher, ther­­
malling, cross-country, SIV safety clinics, & Inter­
mediate, Advanced, Tandem, Motor & other ratings.
• HG TO PG ENDORSEMENTS: its easier than
you think!
• ONLY QUALITY PRODUCTS FROM THE BEST
BRANDS: Importer of Advance, Flytec, Hanwag
and JDC. Stockist & service of all equipment,
new & secondhand.
• CABINS & CAMPING ONSITE: Stay at Mt Borah
– its nice & quiet! Cabins for just $15p/n ($100
p/w) & camping $6 ($35 p/w).
So come flying with Manilla Paragliding, where the per­son who shows you the mountain, owns the mountain!
Derek Spencer makes a steep turn onto
final approach in Adelaide University Gliding
Club’s PIK-20D VH-WVA at Khancoban
Photo: Anthony Smith
Phone Godfrey Wenness on:
02 6785 6545 or fax: 02 6785 6546
email: <[email protected]>
‘The Mountain’, Manilla, NSW 2346.
Accessories & Equipment
PARAGLIDING
REPAIR
CENTRE
Paragliding Repair Centre
93 Princess Ave, Torndirrup, Albany WA 6330
Mob: 0417 776550
Email: <[email protected]>
Web: [www.waparagliding.com]
Smooth air above Bright in the late afternoon
Photo: William Oates
May 2010