the wind was perfect, nnw 15kts, for our local coast run. The run goes from Cape Jervis to Lady Bay, about 23km as the crow flies. It coveres some of the most picturesque coastline in the state. Six pilots showed up. We dropped a car at the landing paddock on the way and continued to the the take off. It was a bit fresh in the compresion but fine once in the air. I was first to launch and hung about over launch until we were all in the air.
The first part of the run is over some rugged cliffs and past a wind farm. There are a few isolated beaches with the odd house along the way. After the wind farm the coastline gets more rugged and landing here would be a long walk out.
After about 11km the coast take a right turn and heads SW for about 2.5km. There is a small town, rapid bay, set along this peice of coastline. To get accross the bay we gaind as much height as we could, which was only about 1100' amsl, and set off accross the sea, passing accross the end of the long jetty at rapid bay and rejoining the cliffs on the other side.
There is a little more habitation on the remainder of the flight. A few km after rejoining the coast is second valley boat ramp and breakwater. And another couple of kilometers is a new marina at Wirriana. The run is quite straightforward from there with no more gaps to jump and a simple glide to the end of this section of the coastal cliffs.
We all flew the last few km's of cliffs for another hour before landing. The landing paddock is quite tight with tall trees and a main road along the downwind edge and scrub and the sea on the upwind edge. By the time we landed the wind at sea level was almost nil, which lead to some interesting landings, including one broken upright. Fortunatly I had a reasonably good langing and could enjoy the entertainment.
I also managed to finishe my intermediate rating with this flight, so that was doubly good.
Ciick Here for a video one of the pilots made of the coast run a couple of days after we did it.
Saturday, 5 May 2007
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
Birchip 2007
Most of the XC pilots from SA traditionally head over to Birchip for the easter tow competition. This year was no exception with 3 teams from SA traveling over, each team comprising 5 pilots and a driver.
Day one had light winds from the SE. A task of 79km was set and we headed to the field to start towing. First pilot in our team broke the rope and managed to get away, taking the end of the rope with them fo a few hundred meters. It took a while for us to get the rope fixed by which time it had got harder to get away. I had 3 launches without getting away. Unfortunatly nobody else from our team got away either.
Day two was a northely so we moved to the other end of the paddock. I found some weak lift on my second tow which realy wasnt going anywhere but as the day was shutting down I stuck with it. It took me about 35 mins to drift 3km and loose the little bit of lift so I decided to land by a road for an easy retrieve. Only 2 of the team left the paddock today.
Day three was looking a lot better, still took me 3 tows to get away but the lift was better. I was climbing nicely out of the paddock when another glider joined me at about 2500'. I put too much effort into keeping out of his way and lost the lift so headed to anothe gaggle that was downwind. I got to them quite low, about 650' and the lift was broken. Took me a while to climb back up to about 2500' where someone else joined me. Same thing happened here except this time we both lost the thermal and went on glide together. Unfortunatly we didnt find any more lift and landed just short of Bircip for a 17km flight. We all got out of the paddock today.
Day four turned out to be another frustrating day. Lots of people were taking lots of launches to get away as the lift cycles were few and far apart. I found some weak lift on my sixth launch which I stuch with as it was about 4pm. A couple of glides and lots of weak lift put me just north of Birchip at about 2800'. I decided to take a final glide from there and land by the campsite.
Results etc can be found here.
Day one had light winds from the SE. A task of 79km was set and we headed to the field to start towing. First pilot in our team broke the rope and managed to get away, taking the end of the rope with them fo a few hundred meters. It took a while for us to get the rope fixed by which time it had got harder to get away. I had 3 launches without getting away. Unfortunatly nobody else from our team got away either.
Day two was a northely so we moved to the other end of the paddock. I found some weak lift on my second tow which realy wasnt going anywhere but as the day was shutting down I stuck with it. It took me about 35 mins to drift 3km and loose the little bit of lift so I decided to land by a road for an easy retrieve. Only 2 of the team left the paddock today.
Day three was looking a lot better, still took me 3 tows to get away but the lift was better. I was climbing nicely out of the paddock when another glider joined me at about 2500'. I put too much effort into keeping out of his way and lost the lift so headed to anothe gaggle that was downwind. I got to them quite low, about 650' and the lift was broken. Took me a while to climb back up to about 2500' where someone else joined me. Same thing happened here except this time we both lost the thermal and went on glide together. Unfortunatly we didnt find any more lift and landed just short of Bircip for a 17km flight. We all got out of the paddock today.
Day four turned out to be another frustrating day. Lots of people were taking lots of launches to get away as the lift cycles were few and far apart. I found some weak lift on my sixth launch which I stuch with as it was about 4pm. A couple of glides and lots of weak lift put me just north of Birchip at about 2800'. I decided to take a final glide from there and land by the campsite.
Results etc can be found here.
Sunday, 28 January 2007
Towing Day
Today we headed north to go towing, only three pilots including myself plus a driver. We left town about 9am and arrived at the tow paddock, after stopping at the bakery, at about 11:30am.
As I didn't have a tow endorsement I get to do most of the tows for the day. I did the theory in the car on the way so was keen to fly when we arrived. I had taken the Fun as I only have 3 launches in the shark. The day had light winds with thermals coming through that were swinging the wind about and giving a few gusts. There was also a reasonable wind shear to add to the fun.
I took the first tow, having not towed since my novice course I was a bit apprehensive. After a long run in the light wind i shot up as I hit the wind shear, that got me on the ball. once the tow slowed down the tow continued to about 1000'agl without any problems when I hit a thermal and broke the weak link.
I had a few more tows without incident, all to about 1000', and then had a go in the tow car, learning to drive while the other pilots had a fly.
It was then back to the fun for a few more tows. By just after 3pm I had completed all my tows for the endorsement (9 tows), and was starting to feel tired.
We decided to pack up and head home to get home a a reasonable time.
All in all a great day's flying.
As I didn't have a tow endorsement I get to do most of the tows for the day. I did the theory in the car on the way so was keen to fly when we arrived. I had taken the Fun as I only have 3 launches in the shark. The day had light winds with thermals coming through that were swinging the wind about and giving a few gusts. There was also a reasonable wind shear to add to the fun.
I took the first tow, having not towed since my novice course I was a bit apprehensive. After a long run in the light wind i shot up as I hit the wind shear, that got me on the ball. once the tow slowed down the tow continued to about 1000'agl without any problems when I hit a thermal and broke the weak link.
I had a few more tows without incident, all to about 1000', and then had a go in the tow car, learning to drive while the other pilots had a fly.
It was then back to the fun for a few more tows. By just after 3pm I had completed all my tows for the endorsement (9 tows), and was starting to feel tired.
We decided to pack up and head home to get home a a reasonable time.
All in all a great day's flying.
Wednesday, 17 January 2007
First Impresions of the Shark
Ive had three flights in the Shark now. First flighr was 3:30 in moderate conditions, next was a bomb out in light conditions followed by 1:45 in light scratchy conditions. All flights were coastal with no thermal to speak of.
The ground handling, especially in stronger winds, was far easier than the Fun, presumible due to less reflex. Takeoff needed a longer run but was straightforward with no unexpected querks. The handeling in the air was also good in the costal conditions. Roll and pitch control was similar to the Fun which supprised me seeing the Shark is about the right size for me but the Fun is a bit big. The difference in performace accross the ground was definatly noticable and allowed me to fly to places that I have not been brave enough to ventur to before. While the extra groundspeed was noticiable when landing I was supprised how straighforward the landings were (a number of pilots had told me that the landing would be the hard part). Im just hopeing this wasnt beginners luck but all the landings were in light conditions at the bottom of the hill and the glider flared and stopped each time.
The ground handling, especially in stronger winds, was far easier than the Fun, presumible due to less reflex. Takeoff needed a longer run but was straightforward with no unexpected querks. The handeling in the air was also good in the costal conditions. Roll and pitch control was similar to the Fun which supprised me seeing the Shark is about the right size for me but the Fun is a bit big. The difference in performace accross the ground was definatly noticable and allowed me to fly to places that I have not been brave enough to ventur to before. While the extra groundspeed was noticiable when landing I was supprised how straighforward the landings were (a number of pilots had told me that the landing would be the hard part). Im just hopeing this wasnt beginners luck but all the landings were in light conditions at the bottom of the hill and the glider flared and stopped each time.
Monday, 1 January 2007
2006, My First Year
I have been involved in aviation since I was about 20, most recently flying sailplanes and before that skydiving.
Having taken a few years out of aviation to get married, have children, etc I was getting "itchy" to fly again. I did some research and decided that hang gliding would be a good way to get back into flying.
I signed up for a course at Dynamic Flight just after Easter, loaded the family into the car and headed to Victoria. Rohan, who runs Dynamic Fight, is an excellent instructor as well as an excellent pilot. There were five of us on the course, with a few other people joining us on and off throughout the course.
We started the course on the trailer, then a couple of days on the training hills, followed by a few days towing. To finish the course off we had a couple of days on some bigger hills, with the last flying day being from Sugarloaf and Ben Nevis, which was great.
I picked up a secondhand Stealth II harness from Dynamic Flight while I was there and a Fun 190 when I got back to South Australia.
The weather didn't seem to want to cooperate for the first few months, I had lots of trips to the beach and hills but not too much flying. The weather improved a bit and I managed to get a few hours flying in.
I did my first cross country in September from Hallett Hill, it was a slow day, initially too windy to take off then the wind dropped right off. I managed 15km with a maximum height of 4400'asl.
The next highlight was the state comps. Most of the rounds seemed to be on difficult days with lots of pilots bombing out. Flying was not going so well until round 6, when I managed to get away and managed 42km of an 80km cross wind task. I also managed to get away from the hill in round 7, managing 62km, 8km short of goal. Fortunately there were only 3 floaters flying and these two flights were enough for me to win the floater class.
After the comps I decided it was time for a faster glider and started looking around, I fond a Shark 144 for sale, unfortunately it was in Queensland, 2000km from home. Christmas was approaching so we decided to drive to Queensland for Christmas and pick up the glider, which we did.
I finished the year with just under 30 hours flying from 17 sites, so I was a happy pilot.
Having taken a few years out of aviation to get married, have children, etc I was getting "itchy" to fly again. I did some research and decided that hang gliding would be a good way to get back into flying.
I signed up for a course at Dynamic Flight just after Easter, loaded the family into the car and headed to Victoria. Rohan, who runs Dynamic Fight, is an excellent instructor as well as an excellent pilot. There were five of us on the course, with a few other people joining us on and off throughout the course.
We started the course on the trailer, then a couple of days on the training hills, followed by a few days towing. To finish the course off we had a couple of days on some bigger hills, with the last flying day being from Sugarloaf and Ben Nevis, which was great.I picked up a secondhand Stealth II harness from Dynamic Flight while I was there and a Fun 190 when I got back to South Australia.
The weather didn't seem to want to cooperate for the first few months, I had lots of trips to the beach and hills but not too much flying. The weather improved a bit and I managed to get a few hours flying in.I did my first cross country in September from Hallett Hill, it was a slow day, initially too windy to take off then the wind dropped right off. I managed 15km with a maximum height of 4400'asl.
The next highlight was the state comps. Most of the rounds seemed to be on difficult days with lots of pilots bombing out. Flying was not going so well until round 6, when I managed to get away and managed 42km of an 80km cross wind task. I also managed to get away from the hill in round 7, managing 62km, 8km short of goal. Fortunately there were only 3 floaters flying and these two flights were enough for me to win the floater class.After the comps I decided it was time for a faster glider and started looking around, I fond a Shark 144 for sale, unfortunately it was in Queensland, 2000km from home. Christmas was approaching so we decided to drive to Queensland for Christmas and pick up the glider, which we did.
I finished the year with just under 30 hours flying from 17 sites, so I was a happy pilot.
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