The last competition day has passed and the winners have been announced.
It was a nail biting battle in the 15m/Standard class and the 1st placing was still in doubt until the last landout glider had returned and handed in his trace. It seems that the intricacies of the scoring system need to calculate distance points as well as speed points of all pilots before a final calculation can be made.
As you will see on the scoring site the difference ended up being 34 points....Of course readers will remember that Ben Flewett ended up losing all his points on Day 1. What great mental fortitude(and skill) to be able to climb back up the table with some stunning performances.
The trophies were awarded as:
Lyons Trophy for winner of the Club Class- Hamish McCaw
Broadlands Cup for winner of 15metre/standard class - Ben Flewitt
Court Trophy for highest placed glider conforming to FAI standard Class - Tony Van Dyk
Georgeson Trophy for winner of 18metre class-Chris Richards
Wills Cup for winner of Open Class - Mike Oakley
Richardson Trophy for highest average speeds - awarded to Mike Oakley - Day 2 averaged 165.3kph.
Continental Trophy for winner of the longest speed task from any class-Chris Richards - Day 8 410.6km at 85kph.
Hansell Tophy for most Meritorious Flight during the contest (always a tough one to decide) awarded to Dane Dickinson - On day 5 having had to have a relaunch and starting late into a decaying day, flew relatively low level to Nevis Mine and return to Omarama. This when many earlier starters had abandoned the task.
Norge Cup for highest placed pilot competing in their first nationals - Wilson Ellery
Highest placed young pilot - Wilson Ellery
Highest place Pilot in club owned glider - Wilson Ellery
Veterans trophy for highest placed competitor over 65 years - awarded to David Speight
The Swiss Trophy awarded to the 2nd place getter in the numerically strongest class awarded to Tony Van Dyk in the 15metre/standard Class.
If the trophies are ever recovered/found then the following could have been awarded.
Berkett Trophy for highest placed pilot from the other Island - Ben Flewitt
Hookings Trophy for most meritorious flight over a non-triangle course - Hadleigh Bognude for Day 1 Club Class.
Other National trophies which were not found/sent to Omarama and therefore were not calculated awarded
Messervy Trophy for most Meritorious Flight over a Triangle task
NZ Open Class Motor Gliding Trophy
If anyone knows where these trophies are please email Dane Dickinson its dane at xtra
Last nights presentation had some interesting bits from the Song sung by Marc Crossier accompanyed by Sheena on the fiddle to the tune the "Devil goes down to Georgeia". Renamed for the night as Devil goes down to Omarama.
¨The devil went down to Omarama looking for a soul to steal
¨ he was in a bind cause he was way behind and looking to make a deal.
¨When he came across a contest briefing with a director who was hot to talk,
¨the devil took the mic from his hand and said boys let me tell you what.
¨I’ll bet you didn’t know it but I’m a glider pilot too and if you care to make a dare I’ll make a bet with all of you
¨Now you all fly gliders well but give the devil his due, I’ll bet this Cambridge of gold against your souls cause I think I’m better than all of you
¨The contest director said my names Roy and it might be a sin but I’ll take your bet you’re gonna regret these boys are the best that’s ever been
¨The devil hopped into his glider and said I’ll start this show
¨And fire flew from his wingtips as he carried along on tow
¨He released off tow and cranked so hard over his wings made an evil hiss
¨He headed off to the big mountains and the flight sounded something like this
¨When the devil finished Roy said you're pretty good ol' son.
¨"But if you'll sit down in that chair, right there, and the omarama boys will show you how its done.“
¨Polish up those gliders boys and go out and push real hard
¨The devil’s down in the place of light and he plays real hard
¨If you win you win you get this shiny cambridge made of gold but if you lose the devil gets your soul
¨The devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat.
¨He laid that golden cambridge on the ground at Roy's feet.
¨Roy said: "Devil just come on back if you ever want to try again.
¨"I told you once, you son of a gun, We’re the best that's ever been."
¨Bob in a thermal run boys run
¨Roys on the pray mat praying for sun
¨Dagma in the Kahu baking dough
¨Angela does your dog bite
¨No Hugh no
Sung with gusto and greatly appreciated thanks Marc & Sheena.
In an emotional acceptance speech for the Wills Cup - Mike Oakley pledged $500 for the next National Club Class competion to run in Omaram (2011). Later Tony Van Dyk matched the pledge for a further $500. Giving a total of $1,000 for the 2011 event. Methinks some standard class guys might be borrowing club class machines and making it a huge event.
Of course both Mike and Tony were aiming at encouraging those in the youth glide movemnt to develop their skills to fly the competition as a first Nationals.
Tony also donated one of his company's Wing Stands for auction with proceeds going to Cantebury Youth Glide. Combined with Mike Oakley Auctioning his back seat position for the last competition day - youth glide is well supported.
Great support was also shown by both pilots and guests in supporting the SAR fund. I will be happy to ring the locals shortly to tell them we raised iover $2138.
As I sit here on Saturday morning a steady stream of glider trailers are departing so that we can leave this lovely Hamlet of Omarama to return to its days of sunshine and Gliding.
So until Valentines day February 2010 Nationals in Taupo, its goodbye from me and its goodbye from us.
LEX
My right hand and Scorer
Friday, January 16, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Day the last - 10...
Wow its day 10 with a Practice day that makes 11 full on days. The other 2 days were also busy with objections and tidying up some administration.
This morning we heard that the tow planes had done more than 30 hours of tows….
Mmm, not that I am complaining but I did a talley of my own for Contest Directing.
Flying hours zero, Protest administration and meetings 5 hours, Briefings including preparation 12 hours, overall time working onsite 160 hours. Amount of satisfaction – priceless.
Many have asked why I would give up 2 weeks to come and be a Contest Director. Well I have to say that working with a great bunch of people to make all aspects of the competition run as smoothly as possible is tremendously satisfying.
In that regard I want to publicly thank.
Lex officially scorer, but really my right hand, it sometimes seems to me that has a direct line to my brain. I think it – Lex is doing it. Nothing is a problem for Lex and he has many years of experience he freely shares with me when I want advice.
Sue officially radio operator, but again always supportive and ready to go the extra mile and give me feedback of a more human nature.
Hugh, officially Grid marshal, but very supportive with sharing operational insights as to how best to achieve some outcomes I may be mulling over. After marshalling Hugh will pop in to operations room after the fleet is well and truly on its way. Ready to co-ordinate retrieve crews and help handle the radio traffic. A great fountain of local knowledge with regard to who owns what property and challenges with different airstrips.
The task setting team of Gavin, Gee and Lemmy. It is a privilege to sit on their task setting meetings. Not only do I learn a lot about task setting and the nuances of the local area. But I gain a better understanding of how the day may unfold weatherwise and the impact of those changes on the competitors. They are very supportive and I thank them for that.
Marc Crozier as Chief Towpilot has been excellent. The best Tugmaster I have worked with over the last 7 years. From briefing his team to keeping the administration and information flow to me consise, accurate and timely. Marc is also a man who is enthusiastic to help in whatever way he can. Brilliant!
Doug as Safety Officer has also been supportive. Giving detailed advice when requested and supporting the sometimes difficult tasking decisions.
Trevor Mollard is the GNZ Airspace Officer. Can we come up with a title that isn’t officer-takes me back to my Airforce Days and in my view doesn’t reflect the job at all. It surely should be something like GNZ Airspace champion, or for external purposes GNZ Director Airspace Liaison. Trevor has been an absolute gem in this contest for his great depth of knowledge and ability to cajole Controllers into giving us access to airspace that otherwise may not be released enblock to 37 gliders. Trevor’s skill and both airspace knowledge and controller handling are to be applauded.
Needless to say there are many many more who volunteer their time.
From Ian Williams who has nothing to do with gliding who volunteered to do the launch timings to Lynette Tillman who lead the youth glide rope runners by leading from the front. It was an inspiration to see Lynette not only helping run ropes for the contest but happily carrying on in 30 plus degrees to help launch non competition gliders at the back of the grid. There are many others who I hope will forgive me for not naming individually.
I appreciate all of your support.
A task has been set (look at Lex’s score page). They are on their way (look at the Spot page). We needed to get them away as early as possible to both make the most of a weather window but also have everyone home in plenty of time for Prizegiving and Contest Dinner tonight in the terminal building.
I will blog about the Trophy Winners tomorrow-this afternoon will be very busy
Its already 1:30pm with a lot to do.
This morning we heard that the tow planes had done more than 30 hours of tows….
Mmm, not that I am complaining but I did a talley of my own for Contest Directing.
Flying hours zero, Protest administration and meetings 5 hours, Briefings including preparation 12 hours, overall time working onsite 160 hours. Amount of satisfaction – priceless.
Many have asked why I would give up 2 weeks to come and be a Contest Director. Well I have to say that working with a great bunch of people to make all aspects of the competition run as smoothly as possible is tremendously satisfying.
In that regard I want to publicly thank.
Lex officially scorer, but really my right hand, it sometimes seems to me that has a direct line to my brain. I think it – Lex is doing it. Nothing is a problem for Lex and he has many years of experience he freely shares with me when I want advice.
Sue officially radio operator, but again always supportive and ready to go the extra mile and give me feedback of a more human nature.
Hugh, officially Grid marshal, but very supportive with sharing operational insights as to how best to achieve some outcomes I may be mulling over. After marshalling Hugh will pop in to operations room after the fleet is well and truly on its way. Ready to co-ordinate retrieve crews and help handle the radio traffic. A great fountain of local knowledge with regard to who owns what property and challenges with different airstrips.
The task setting team of Gavin, Gee and Lemmy. It is a privilege to sit on their task setting meetings. Not only do I learn a lot about task setting and the nuances of the local area. But I gain a better understanding of how the day may unfold weatherwise and the impact of those changes on the competitors. They are very supportive and I thank them for that.
Marc Crozier as Chief Towpilot has been excellent. The best Tugmaster I have worked with over the last 7 years. From briefing his team to keeping the administration and information flow to me consise, accurate and timely. Marc is also a man who is enthusiastic to help in whatever way he can. Brilliant!
Doug as Safety Officer has also been supportive. Giving detailed advice when requested and supporting the sometimes difficult tasking decisions.
Trevor Mollard is the GNZ Airspace Officer. Can we come up with a title that isn’t officer-takes me back to my Airforce Days and in my view doesn’t reflect the job at all. It surely should be something like GNZ Airspace champion, or for external purposes GNZ Director Airspace Liaison. Trevor has been an absolute gem in this contest for his great depth of knowledge and ability to cajole Controllers into giving us access to airspace that otherwise may not be released enblock to 37 gliders. Trevor’s skill and both airspace knowledge and controller handling are to be applauded.
Needless to say there are many many more who volunteer their time.
From Ian Williams who has nothing to do with gliding who volunteered to do the launch timings to Lynette Tillman who lead the youth glide rope runners by leading from the front. It was an inspiration to see Lynette not only helping run ropes for the contest but happily carrying on in 30 plus degrees to help launch non competition gliders at the back of the grid. There are many others who I hope will forgive me for not naming individually.
I appreciate all of your support.
A task has been set (look at Lex’s score page). They are on their way (look at the Spot page). We needed to get them away as early as possible to both make the most of a weather window but also have everyone home in plenty of time for Prizegiving and Contest Dinner tonight in the terminal building.
I will blog about the Trophy Winners tomorrow-this afternoon will be very busy
Its already 1:30pm with a lot to do.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Day 9 is underway.
Its 30.1 degrees here in beautiful Omarama with only high cloud to shield us from the blazing sun. Westerly wind has just started to pick up from a still afternoon). The task has been set with a Westerly in mind.
You can see the tasks by looking at Lex's scoring website. No scores yet obviously but the task is shown.
This morning was declared National Club Class day and therefore was First in the prizegiving and first on the Task Briefing and launched in front of the Open/18mtr class.
At the weather briefing Lemmy suggested that tomorrow might be rain-so we are making the most of today and hoping that like previous forecasts that there is an element of change coming.
The SAR fund is growing and we have nearly $1000 raised. Its very good having Sheriff Theo standing large and insistant at morning briefings. We had Steve from the local SAR team pop by this afternoon and give us an update on what they are doing and what equipment they used and how it was used. Needless to say they have very limited fundraising opportunities (the last fundraising event they had was 2 years ago).
In the time I have taken to write this blog some "fluffies" have started to appear and so has Ivan Evans who is waiting for me to finish the blog so he can read it.
its now 4:02pm
You can see the tasks by looking at Lex's scoring website. No scores yet obviously but the task is shown.
This morning was declared National Club Class day and therefore was First in the prizegiving and first on the Task Briefing and launched in front of the Open/18mtr class.
At the weather briefing Lemmy suggested that tomorrow might be rain-so we are making the most of today and hoping that like previous forecasts that there is an element of change coming.
The SAR fund is growing and we have nearly $1000 raised. Its very good having Sheriff Theo standing large and insistant at morning briefings. We had Steve from the local SAR team pop by this afternoon and give us an update on what they are doing and what equipment they used and how it was used. Needless to say they have very limited fundraising opportunities (the last fundraising event they had was 2 years ago).
In the time I have taken to write this blog some "fluffies" have started to appear and so has Ivan Evans who is waiting for me to finish the blog so he can read it.
its now 4:02pm
Day 8 nite nite
Wow day 8 turned into a great management challenge.
First a Task C was created as the Day was NOT developing as forecast....so whats new..
But in any case with the clock ticking away and thermic activity zero in one drop zone(Buscot) and 100 feet per minute in the other (Horrible). We had to wait until 14:30 until we could start the launch.
The open class were first and we gave them an extra 500ft on the tow to help them get out of the way of the next 20 gliders to be dropped in the same spot. A short 5 minute delay between the open and standard class launches enabled a semi orderly dispatch of gliders to the slopes and a relaxed Contest Director.
Needless to say the day didn't exactly pan out-we have been lucky this week in weather being better than forecast. Today failed the test...and turned out worse with the air drying out and blue thermals spreading across the task area.
Land outs included KW at Mineret Station along with IW.
Wanaka Airport received ZA, TM and ZI with ZZ popping in to the Goodyer Station.
3 Towplanes were kept busy doing the retrieves whilst ZM chose a road retrieve from North of Wanaka Airfield.
Some gave up and toddled on home while the battlers carried on...The last 3 gliders (EE,PX,TD)spent nearly an hour at the last turn point (Huxley) before wafting home on evening somethings? surely it was not thermals at 9:15pm...The last arrival was TD at 9:27.
Now to do some work on my Business GST return, due tomorrow I was sure I would have had a bad weather day... Ho hum tis tuff having every day a task day-but its good isnt it!!
First a Task C was created as the Day was NOT developing as forecast....so whats new..
But in any case with the clock ticking away and thermic activity zero in one drop zone(Buscot) and 100 feet per minute in the other (Horrible). We had to wait until 14:30 until we could start the launch.
The open class were first and we gave them an extra 500ft on the tow to help them get out of the way of the next 20 gliders to be dropped in the same spot. A short 5 minute delay between the open and standard class launches enabled a semi orderly dispatch of gliders to the slopes and a relaxed Contest Director.
Needless to say the day didn't exactly pan out-we have been lucky this week in weather being better than forecast. Today failed the test...and turned out worse with the air drying out and blue thermals spreading across the task area.
Land outs included KW at Mineret Station along with IW.
Wanaka Airport received ZA, TM and ZI with ZZ popping in to the Goodyer Station.
3 Towplanes were kept busy doing the retrieves whilst ZM chose a road retrieve from North of Wanaka Airfield.
Some gave up and toddled on home while the battlers carried on...The last 3 gliders (EE,PX,TD)spent nearly an hour at the last turn point (Huxley) before wafting home on evening somethings? surely it was not thermals at 9:15pm...The last arrival was TD at 9:27.
Now to do some work on my Business GST return, due tomorrow I was sure I would have had a bad weather day... Ho hum tis tuff having every day a task day-but its good isnt it!!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Day ate
Lovely sunny morning in Omarama after a cold night.
A local newspaper has done a nice article on Chocolate Fish Kraak.
http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/other-sport/39254/gliding-canterbury-pilot-loving-high-life
Tasks have been given to pilots which take them out to the west - Dart Hut and then North as far as Arrowsmith a 475km Triangle. The danger today is that high cloud will not allow the ground temperate to come up to the 20+ degrees we need to trigger the day.
It 12:50 gliders are on the grid....and now we wait for the temperature to increase...
A local newspaper has done a nice article on Chocolate Fish Kraak.
http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/other-sport/39254/gliding-canterbury-pilot-loving-high-life
Tasks have been given to pilots which take them out to the west - Dart Hut and then North as far as Arrowsmith a 475km Triangle. The danger today is that high cloud will not allow the ground temperate to come up to the 20+ degrees we need to trigger the day.
It 12:50 gliders are on the grid....and now we wait for the temperature to increase...
Monday, January 12, 2009
Day 7-part, the last
Its all over for another day. Last landing was just before 8pm with the arrival of GX.
The last man home will be pilot and crew of GGZN who landed out near the first turnpoint in a non aero retrieve paddock in the wild countryside 2.5km short of Justin Wills airstrip at Irishmans Creek Station on the eastern side of Lake Pukaki. We think a good 4WD vehicle will be needed.
Interesting that TF landed at Pukaki just after the first turn but still was happy to call Operations normal, leg 3, after launching on an aerotow retrieve. Cheeky lad that Douggie boy trying to rev up his competition.
Todays task was
Open Tekapo B, Birch Creek, Thomsons, Twin Strips, Omarama distance 283km
Club Pukaki,Twinburn,Clearburn, Omarama for 159.8km which automatically devalued the day to 877 points.
Standard Takapo B, Birch Creek, Tarras, Twin Strips, Omarama, distance 255.8kms
Some decided to come home early altho not for want of trying. HL spend some considerable time trying to get high enough to round the last turn. Inthe end it was too much for him and he returned home.
Seems that TD had an invisible string on PX as they were close together for much of the task with both arriving very close together for a speed difference of 0.6kph.
It was great that the SAR fund received a $50 donation from Jeb(Visitor from the Carrabean) and Bo his instructor for the day.
Tis time for some sleep, 10-14 hour days are starting to ctach up with me.....
The last man home will be pilot and crew of GGZN who landed out near the first turnpoint in a non aero retrieve paddock in the wild countryside 2.5km short of Justin Wills airstrip at Irishmans Creek Station on the eastern side of Lake Pukaki. We think a good 4WD vehicle will be needed.
Interesting that TF landed at Pukaki just after the first turn but still was happy to call Operations normal, leg 3, after launching on an aerotow retrieve. Cheeky lad that Douggie boy trying to rev up his competition.
Todays task was
Open Tekapo B, Birch Creek, Thomsons, Twin Strips, Omarama distance 283km
Club Pukaki,Twinburn,Clearburn, Omarama for 159.8km which automatically devalued the day to 877 points.
Standard Takapo B, Birch Creek, Tarras, Twin Strips, Omarama, distance 255.8kms
Some decided to come home early altho not for want of trying. HL spend some considerable time trying to get high enough to round the last turn. Inthe end it was too much for him and he returned home.
Seems that TD had an invisible string on PX as they were close together for much of the task with both arriving very close together for a speed difference of 0.6kph.
It was great that the SAR fund received a $50 donation from Jeb(Visitor from the Carrabean) and Bo his instructor for the day.
Tis time for some sleep, 10-14 hour days are starting to ctach up with me.....
Another Day in Heaven - Day 7.
It would seem that the most coveted prize amongst the majority of pilots is the "chocolate fish" award.
For those readers not familiar with Kiwi Confectionery. A chocolate fish is marshmellow in the shape of a fish and covered in milk chocolate. One fish a day is awarded by the Contest Director at his wim to someone who has "touched his heart". Usually someone who has had a hell of a day and then arrived back at Omarama. Or anything at all really?
Yesterdays chocolate fish went to Derek Kraak who struggled in his ASW27 above Glendhu Bay near Wanaka. He tells us it is very pretty but after 2 hours he gave up on the task and came home. He is now a proud owner of a SPOT. So keep an eye on the adventures of KW.
Last evening an ELT was activated and was tracked to one of our hangars. Trevor Mollard declares it was not a heavy landing and that it was probably a wiring fault.
Yesterday all pilots seem to have thoroughly enjoyed themselves on task and this was enhanced by the Queenstown Controller giving us access to their airspace up to 11,000ft. Trevor reports actually getting to 11,000 ft in the area while on task. Others were above the 8,500 lower limit from time to time so also benefited from being able to use the airspace. The benefit to the organisation was the elimination of outlandings...
This morning Trevor has again had good talks with Queenstown Tower and obtained access again to 11,000ft in the Branches area North Of Queenstown up to 11,000ft. This with one Australian flight due to arrive today. It makes a huge difference having an airline captain dealing with airspace as they talk it and understand it very well. A Poor little old PPL Contest Director just doesn't have the firepower that Trevor has.
Have had some comments from my French friends asking what language I am writing this blog in, as it doesn't appear to be in English as they understand it. Even online dictionaries are not helping........Can someone help with translations for "arrogant buggar" please.... I will try to include as much English english as possible..
Every class has two tasks today which have been set to reflect the possibility of weather closing in.
Task A for Open class is Omarama,Tarras, Siberia,Branches,Stewarts, Omarama.
And for those not familiar with Omarama thats Southwest, Northwest Then South Then North, then South to Omarama
The other tasks are similiar.
We have set Grid time at 12:30 today guessing at a launch after 1pm. From an organisation point of view having the gliders on the airfield(grid) is determined by the earliest time we expect to start launching less 30 minutes. This 30 minutes can be used to brief pilots on any changes to tasks, airspace or any other conditions. Sometimes of course the weather doesn't quite go according to all the predictions, surprise surprise, and launching can often start an hour or more later than forecast.
The Contest supports the local Search and Rescue volunteers and we need to ramp up our donation program. This is usually based around "fines" for misdemeanours or other events that are noteworthy. This year we will be aiming to raise enough money to buy 3 Emergency beacons for them (EPIRBS). At approximately $700 each that means we need $2000. IF you are not at the contest but appreciate the great work and dedication of the small band based around Omarama. Then let me know and I am sure we can arrange for your donation to help us reach the target.
The sun is breaking thru and we now are starting to see some blue sky. I am off to the grid.
For those readers not familiar with Kiwi Confectionery. A chocolate fish is marshmellow in the shape of a fish and covered in milk chocolate. One fish a day is awarded by the Contest Director at his wim to someone who has "touched his heart". Usually someone who has had a hell of a day and then arrived back at Omarama. Or anything at all really?
Yesterdays chocolate fish went to Derek Kraak who struggled in his ASW27 above Glendhu Bay near Wanaka. He tells us it is very pretty but after 2 hours he gave up on the task and came home. He is now a proud owner of a SPOT. So keep an eye on the adventures of KW.
Last evening an ELT was activated and was tracked to one of our hangars. Trevor Mollard declares it was not a heavy landing and that it was probably a wiring fault.
Yesterday all pilots seem to have thoroughly enjoyed themselves on task and this was enhanced by the Queenstown Controller giving us access to their airspace up to 11,000ft. Trevor reports actually getting to 11,000 ft in the area while on task. Others were above the 8,500 lower limit from time to time so also benefited from being able to use the airspace. The benefit to the organisation was the elimination of outlandings...
This morning Trevor has again had good talks with Queenstown Tower and obtained access again to 11,000ft in the Branches area North Of Queenstown up to 11,000ft. This with one Australian flight due to arrive today. It makes a huge difference having an airline captain dealing with airspace as they talk it and understand it very well. A Poor little old PPL Contest Director just doesn't have the firepower that Trevor has.
Have had some comments from my French friends asking what language I am writing this blog in, as it doesn't appear to be in English as they understand it. Even online dictionaries are not helping........Can someone help with translations for "arrogant buggar" please.... I will try to include as much English english as possible..
Every class has two tasks today which have been set to reflect the possibility of weather closing in.
Task A for Open class is Omarama,Tarras, Siberia,Branches,Stewarts, Omarama.
And for those not familiar with Omarama thats Southwest, Northwest Then South Then North, then South to Omarama
The other tasks are similiar.
We have set Grid time at 12:30 today guessing at a launch after 1pm. From an organisation point of view having the gliders on the airfield(grid) is determined by the earliest time we expect to start launching less 30 minutes. This 30 minutes can be used to brief pilots on any changes to tasks, airspace or any other conditions. Sometimes of course the weather doesn't quite go according to all the predictions, surprise surprise, and launching can often start an hour or more later than forecast.
The Contest supports the local Search and Rescue volunteers and we need to ramp up our donation program. This is usually based around "fines" for misdemeanours or other events that are noteworthy. This year we will be aiming to raise enough money to buy 3 Emergency beacons for them (EPIRBS). At approximately $700 each that means we need $2000. IF you are not at the contest but appreciate the great work and dedication of the small band based around Omarama. Then let me know and I am sure we can arrange for your donation to help us reach the target.
The sun is breaking thru and we now are starting to see some blue sky. I am off to the grid.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Day 6 ends
At 7:31 the last competition glider landed NG had a little bit of a nervous time....Low at the Maitland, Low bottom Lake Ohau etc. But all was well as he had plenty of spare energy as he passed over the fence. Well done Wilson.
Twilight Tim is in danger of loosing his nickname as the last two days have seen much earlier landings. Today we had a Tracplus unit working in ZP which shows height as well as location. Bob had a great flight with plenty of height all the way around.
CH, flown by Theo decided to have an engine assist and promptly abandoned the task and headed much further north than the task area. We lost ZM from the SPOT system but discovered some finger trouble at the website end(which has now been fixed). Looks like tomorrow we will have more than one third of the fleet SPOT equiped and a very happy Contest Director.
Its 8pm and the earliest I have finished so far this contest day- dang I might get to the pub for a meal before the chef goes off watch at 9pm..
tomorrow is looking good!
Twilight Tim is in danger of loosing his nickname as the last two days have seen much earlier landings. Today we had a Tracplus unit working in ZP which shows height as well as location. Bob had a great flight with plenty of height all the way around.
CH, flown by Theo decided to have an engine assist and promptly abandoned the task and headed much further north than the task area. We lost ZM from the SPOT system but discovered some finger trouble at the website end(which has now been fixed). Looks like tomorrow we will have more than one third of the fleet SPOT equiped and a very happy Contest Director.
Its 8pm and the earliest I have finished so far this contest day- dang I might get to the pub for a meal before the chef goes off watch at 9pm..
tomorrow is looking good!
Day 6
At briefing this morning Grae passed on his heartfelt thanks for those who had sent messages of support. He also displayed a photo of the display at the outskirts of Timaru(where he went to hospital). I will load the photo on to the blog later.
Gavin is back in the task setters seat after a weekend off and Trevor Mollard has done a stirling job negotiating some airspace clearances with the duty controller at Queenstown. Today we will have access up to 11,000ft in the NZA 737/738 which is airspace with lower levels of 8500 and 9500ft to the north and west of Queenstown. Thanks Pete(the controller).
At briefing, the praises of the SPOT system were sung long and loud by the Contest Director who had a worry free evening with the last glider to land yesterday. ZA was the last to land (as it turned out at Morvan Hills airstrip) loseing communications as he got lower, normally there would have been a period of worry until we regained some contact via a landline telephone. The procedure is that if nothing is heard for an hour I would have put up a power aircraft to try to communicate by radio to check that he was OK. With SPOT pinging us every 10 minutes we followed him down and on to the airstrip after landing he left SPOT operating which gave us an exact position on the strip. Whew no more white hairs.....lovely...
Now off to a rebriefing for todays task...
Gavin is back in the task setters seat after a weekend off and Trevor Mollard has done a stirling job negotiating some airspace clearances with the duty controller at Queenstown. Today we will have access up to 11,000ft in the NZA 737/738 which is airspace with lower levels of 8500 and 9500ft to the north and west of Queenstown. Thanks Pete(the controller).
At briefing, the praises of the SPOT system were sung long and loud by the Contest Director who had a worry free evening with the last glider to land yesterday. ZA was the last to land (as it turned out at Morvan Hills airstrip) loseing communications as he got lower, normally there would have been a period of worry until we regained some contact via a landline telephone. The procedure is that if nothing is heard for an hour I would have put up a power aircraft to try to communicate by radio to check that he was OK. With SPOT pinging us every 10 minutes we followed him down and on to the airstrip after landing he left SPOT operating which gave us an exact position on the strip. Whew no more white hairs.....lovely...
Now off to a rebriefing for todays task...
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Day Five Fun Fun
The day started with the Contest Director doing an imitation of Farmer Jones driving a tractor. The Grid on 09 needed mowing so that confused pilots knew where to park there gliders in preperation for launch.
The weekend task team of Gee and Ben have broken an unofficial New Zealand Contest Record. Today Open/18 metre and Standard/15metre ar eon Task D-yep Delta. The fourth task of the day. Omarama-Nevis Mine-Omarama
After initially denying the use of the newly negotiated Cromwell Sector Queenstown Tower nice lady rang to say she was now on duty and the Sector would be available after lunch. Hooorah! It WILL be used.
After waiting for cloud cover to dissapate and then waiting for the thermic activity to get above 50 feet per minute the Club Class were launched in to a very bluish looking sky with only a couple of white puffies. Three of them landed back in various states of grmpiness/resolve.
Gliders have an ability to get a competition "relite" from strips within 15kms-today ZN took that option. The Landowner when called was very helpful and gave us instant approval for the relaunch. Thank you Dan Thomas.
A few more SPOTS are appearing day by day which makes the Contest Organisations task SOOOOOO much easier. Remember that the spots show on http://map.xinqu.net/spot.html
Phil has a small programing problem with the show tracks-I am sure it will be fixed soon.
Gliders are starting to arrive home now 5:55pm
Grae is now back at Omarama looking healthy and advising that he just needs a checkup when he gets back to Wellington
The weekend task team of Gee and Ben have broken an unofficial New Zealand Contest Record. Today Open/18 metre and Standard/15metre ar eon Task D-yep Delta. The fourth task of the day. Omarama-Nevis Mine-Omarama
After initially denying the use of the newly negotiated Cromwell Sector Queenstown Tower nice lady rang to say she was now on duty and the Sector would be available after lunch. Hooorah! It WILL be used.
After waiting for cloud cover to dissapate and then waiting for the thermic activity to get above 50 feet per minute the Club Class were launched in to a very bluish looking sky with only a couple of white puffies. Three of them landed back in various states of grmpiness/resolve.
Gliders have an ability to get a competition "relite" from strips within 15kms-today ZN took that option. The Landowner when called was very helpful and gave us instant approval for the relaunch. Thank you Dan Thomas.
A few more SPOTS are appearing day by day which makes the Contest Organisations task SOOOOOO much easier. Remember that the spots show on http://map.xinqu.net/spot.html
Phil has a small programing problem with the show tracks-I am sure it will be fixed soon.
Gliders are starting to arrive home now 5:55pm
Grae is now back at Omarama looking healthy and advising that he just needs a checkup when he gets back to Wellington
Friday, January 9, 2009
I think we have found a replacement for late in the day Eric. I refer to the "habit" of Eric Gosse haveing a nice days flying and landing back/out late in the day. The new contender for the title of Prince of Darkness(or perhaps twilite Tim?) is Bob Martin. The only one left flying at 8:30pm
From the launch we had a couple of landbacks including Bob in ZP and WD who also had an engine problem and landed out at Makarora for a road retrieve as there were cattle on the strip to prevent an aero retrieve.
Aero retrieves have been taken by YY & BO from the Cass River, IW from Glentanner, GX from the Dingle, TK from Pukaki and GP from the Ben Avon Strip - a busy day for retrieve pilots (which makes them very happy!!!)
Grae Harrison was taken to Timaru hospital and Doctor John reports he was OK in the Hospital.
Will keep you up todate with whats happening.
Its now 9:10pm and the last retrieve has just taken off to get Twilight Tim from the Maitland strip....
For those observant soles seeing Grae get points for today-CH was flown by backup pilot Theo Newfield.
Nite nite
From the launch we had a couple of landbacks including Bob in ZP and WD who also had an engine problem and landed out at Makarora for a road retrieve as there were cattle on the strip to prevent an aero retrieve.
Aero retrieves have been taken by YY & BO from the Cass River, IW from Glentanner, GX from the Dingle, TK from Pukaki and GP from the Ben Avon Strip - a busy day for retrieve pilots (which makes them very happy!!!)
Grae Harrison was taken to Timaru hospital and Doctor John reports he was OK in the Hospital.
Will keep you up todate with whats happening.
Its now 9:10pm and the last retrieve has just taken off to get Twilight Tim from the Maitland strip....
For those observant soles seeing Grae get points for today-CH was flown by backup pilot Theo Newfield.
Nite nite
Day Four again.
Another sunny morning in Omarama. WIth a change of wind comes a change of launch runway from Runway 27 to Runway 09. Unfortunately with the rain yesterday afternoon the planned grid mowing was abandoned and it will be interesting to see how the gliders assemble on the grid with only row cones markers in place(Ok it did end up a bit jumbled-but launchable).
At Briefing the chocolate fish went to the pilot of CK when a small accident prior to gridding(glider kisses tree next to runway 27) he assures us that the glider will be repaired and ready to fly tomorrow(Sunday) even if the repair isn't painted.
Some interesting tasks A & B were set to take the majority of the fleet to Mount Earnslaw then Glenorchy and northwards. Unfortunately Queenstown were not able to release any airspace to use, but the Task setting team of Ben & Gee said it was still "do able".
Small emergency on the grid Grae Harrison had some chest pains. Pilot Dr John checked him over and we called an ambulance as a precaution. Dr John and Grae are on their way in the ambulance to Timaru. Grae's wife will be meeting them there. I will keep you up todate on progress.
CH will be flown by backup pilot Theo Newfield.
The launch started at 1:05pm into a lovely looking thermal sky. However the weather around Glenorchy wasnt "behaving" so task C has been issued which moves the whole task north with Makaora as the most southern point.
After John Ahearn's visit yesterday we have more pilots' with SPOTs on board. including ZA, VI,ZM,TK,CH & TD.
and now we wait.....
At Briefing the chocolate fish went to the pilot of CK when a small accident prior to gridding(glider kisses tree next to runway 27) he assures us that the glider will be repaired and ready to fly tomorrow(Sunday) even if the repair isn't painted.
Some interesting tasks A & B were set to take the majority of the fleet to Mount Earnslaw then Glenorchy and northwards. Unfortunately Queenstown were not able to release any airspace to use, but the Task setting team of Ben & Gee said it was still "do able".
Small emergency on the grid Grae Harrison had some chest pains. Pilot Dr John checked him over and we called an ambulance as a precaution. Dr John and Grae are on their way in the ambulance to Timaru. Grae's wife will be meeting them there. I will keep you up todate on progress.
CH will be flown by backup pilot Theo Newfield.
The launch started at 1:05pm into a lovely looking thermal sky. However the weather around Glenorchy wasnt "behaving" so task C has been issued which moves the whole task north with Makaora as the most southern point.
After John Ahearn's visit yesterday we have more pilots' with SPOTs on board. including ZA, VI,ZM,TK,CH & TD.
and now we wait.....
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Day Four no more
It was beautiful and sunny in Omarama this morning, however Lemmy, the weatherman, was predicting the chance that some "clag" might come thru the contest area after 12 noon.
At 10am briefing a series of "A" tasks were proposed to handle the "best guess" weather forecast. After briefing, a further protest was lodged with the Director. This protest was initiated as a result of the determination by the disinterested persons of the first protest.
I will need to find a further 2 disinterested persons to serve on this committee before 10am tomorrow morning. Certainly brings another dimension to being a Contest Director.
Launching began at 12:50pm with Open/18 meter class going first in front of the Standard/15 meter fleet. 6 gliders from the standard/15 metre class decided to pull off as the weather deteriorated
After a number of start delays the day was finally cancelled at 2:15pm
At 10am briefing a series of "A" tasks were proposed to handle the "best guess" weather forecast. After briefing, a further protest was lodged with the Director. This protest was initiated as a result of the determination by the disinterested persons of the first protest.
I will need to find a further 2 disinterested persons to serve on this committee before 10am tomorrow morning. Certainly brings another dimension to being a Contest Director.
Launching began at 12:50pm with Open/18 meter class going first in front of the Standard/15 meter fleet. 6 gliders from the standard/15 metre class decided to pull off as the weather deteriorated
After a number of start delays the day was finally cancelled at 2:15pm
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Day three draws to a close
At 8:40 I am waiting for the last glider to arrive home.(JJ) This man has tenacity in spades....for 4 hours we have been getting regular "operations normal" radio calls all giving leg 2!!! Leg 2 is 87kms long...He thinks he will mak ethe last turnpoint via Simons but might be a "bit late" End of civil twilight(ie end of the racing day) is at 2159 hours.
The launch and start went well with a number of pilots finding the turnpoint and area around Cromwell challenging. ZN reposrts being about 600agl with his wheel down in the circuit to land before getting a blue thermal and climbing away. A number of pilots decided to flag the task and fly home.
Landouts included ZP who decided to visit the Lord of the Rings set at Twin strips. Pukaki airstrip "attracted" NB,ZA and GP.
Jenny Wilkinson reports that she "gave away" her task today which would have taken her 3rd World record in the maximum distance around 3 turnpoints....combination of cloud at turnpoints and some setups not quite in the right place...For those who want to keep an eye out on Jenny's progress she flys with SPOT identification QT.
The launch and start went well with a number of pilots finding the turnpoint and area around Cromwell challenging. ZN reposrts being about 600agl with his wheel down in the circuit to land before getting a blue thermal and climbing away. A number of pilots decided to flag the task and fly home.
Landouts included ZP who decided to visit the Lord of the Rings set at Twin strips. Pukaki airstrip "attracted" NB,ZA and GP.
Jenny Wilkinson reports that she "gave away" her task today which would have taken her 3rd World record in the maximum distance around 3 turnpoints....combination of cloud at turnpoints and some setups not quite in the right place...For those who want to keep an eye out on Jenny's progress she flys with SPOT identification QT.
Day Three
The Contest Directors day started at 8am with a Protest Committee meeting. The protest was that the Contest Director did not apply appropriate penalties for airspace infringments on Day 1.
The Protest committee included "disinterested persons" Dave Jensen & Chris Rudge who listened to the Contest Directors background and reasoning and the protestors points. Also those affected by the decision also had an opportunity to put their point of view.
After some deliberation the Protest Committee ruled that the Contest Director did not apply the penalties in accordance with the competition rules. Subsequent to this decision Day one has been rescored.
After an initail refusal to give access to some "control C" airspace North and East of Alexandra our intrepid Airspace Officer got on the phone. With his great powers of persuasion backed by his intimate knowledge of the airspace QUeenstown agreed to give gliders access to the area between 13,500ft and FL175 with individual clearances which would not be with held as no scheduled aircraft were due in the area. Well done Queenstown Tower and thank you.
With the extra airspace the Task setting team were back to the drawing boards but after an aerial reconasance Gavin declared it "knarly" weather and we are sticking to "Task A" but with access to airspace.
At the main briefing Eric Gosse gave an account of what happened after his Mayday call yesterday. It all started with a broken rudder cable while climbing in to wave. We underststand that glider is repairable.
The SAR collection got a boost this morning as Sheriff Hugh got donations from some recalcitrant pilots and the Contest Director whose cellphone rang just after he gave a rant about switching off cellphones before briefing.
Todays tasks:
15M/Standard Omarama,Cromwell,Alexandra,Two Thumbs, Grampians, Twin Str, Omarama 435kms
18M/Open Omarama, Cromwell, Alexandra, Macauley, Grampians,Twin Stri, Omarama 403kms
Club Class Omarama, Omarama saddle,Glentanner,Ribbonwood,Simons,Omarama 242kms
They are just completing the launch 1:45pm
and now we wait.
The Protest committee included "disinterested persons" Dave Jensen & Chris Rudge who listened to the Contest Directors background and reasoning and the protestors points. Also those affected by the decision also had an opportunity to put their point of view.
After some deliberation the Protest Committee ruled that the Contest Director did not apply the penalties in accordance with the competition rules. Subsequent to this decision Day one has been rescored.
After an initail refusal to give access to some "control C" airspace North and East of Alexandra our intrepid Airspace Officer got on the phone. With his great powers of persuasion backed by his intimate knowledge of the airspace QUeenstown agreed to give gliders access to the area between 13,500ft and FL175 with individual clearances which would not be with held as no scheduled aircraft were due in the area. Well done Queenstown Tower and thank you.
With the extra airspace the Task setting team were back to the drawing boards but after an aerial reconasance Gavin declared it "knarly" weather and we are sticking to "Task A" but with access to airspace.
At the main briefing Eric Gosse gave an account of what happened after his Mayday call yesterday. It all started with a broken rudder cable while climbing in to wave. We underststand that glider is repairable.
The SAR collection got a boost this morning as Sheriff Hugh got donations from some recalcitrant pilots and the Contest Director whose cellphone rang just after he gave a rant about switching off cellphones before briefing.
Todays tasks:
15M/Standard Omarama,Cromwell,Alexandra,Two Thumbs, Grampians, Twin Str, Omarama 435kms
18M/Open Omarama, Cromwell, Alexandra, Macauley, Grampians,Twin Stri, Omarama 403kms
Club Class Omarama, Omarama saddle,Glentanner,Ribbonwood,Simons,Omarama 242kms
They are just completing the launch 1:45pm
and now we wait.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Day two finishes
It certainly was not a boring day. From the film Director asking that everyone leave briefing enmasse for "the camera" to a Mayday later in the afternoon it was continuous action.
Having a camera crew at briefing and on the grid before and after launch was a little different. However they were excellent and did not slow the launch down at all. With 5 towplanes straining at the bit the launch proceeded very well with a Task B for Open/18 Standard/15 and a Task A for the club class.
Only one pilot (TM) needed the task read to him over the radio...
Today Sue Wild took time off from sitting at the radio to ride shotgun in PX with Ben. She came back buzzing. Sheryl & Paula shared radio duties until Sue returned. Paula is thinking that perhaps she shouldn't do the radio as last time she helped out at Omarama she had to handle a Mayday. Today was a repeat when GUN gave us a MAYDAY mid afternoon. He had a rudder cable failure 4500ft above Omakau. With some advice from some experienced pilots(keep your feet off the rudder pedals) he was able to land successfully.
Other landouts included GOG at Goodger, IW at Pukaki, EE at Pukaki, GX at Hakukaramea...all road retrieves.
Some stirling examples of tenacity were shown including NG who, it seemed was forever giving ops normals from "low in the Lindis". However in the end he climbed out and finished the task.
The real highlight was a radio call asking Lex if he could check a speed which was confirmed at 157kph for another new World record for Jenny Wilkinson. 500km out and return....previously this record was held in Nambia by a German lady.(The same lady who held the record Jenny broke a week ago for 300km speed triangle). Now we wait for confirmation from FAI headquarters. I don't know who was most chuffed, Jenny or Terry Delore who had helped her design the course.
It was good to catch up with Ritchie at the end of the day and find he had the opportunity to finish his film commitments and do some personal gliding and complete the Club Class task after a late start....
Tis time for dinner!
Having a camera crew at briefing and on the grid before and after launch was a little different. However they were excellent and did not slow the launch down at all. With 5 towplanes straining at the bit the launch proceeded very well with a Task B for Open/18 Standard/15 and a Task A for the club class.
Only one pilot (TM) needed the task read to him over the radio...
Today Sue Wild took time off from sitting at the radio to ride shotgun in PX with Ben. She came back buzzing. Sheryl & Paula shared radio duties until Sue returned. Paula is thinking that perhaps she shouldn't do the radio as last time she helped out at Omarama she had to handle a Mayday. Today was a repeat when GUN gave us a MAYDAY mid afternoon. He had a rudder cable failure 4500ft above Omakau. With some advice from some experienced pilots(keep your feet off the rudder pedals) he was able to land successfully.
Other landouts included GOG at Goodger, IW at Pukaki, EE at Pukaki, GX at Hakukaramea...all road retrieves.
Some stirling examples of tenacity were shown including NG who, it seemed was forever giving ops normals from "low in the Lindis". However in the end he climbed out and finished the task.
The real highlight was a radio call asking Lex if he could check a speed which was confirmed at 157kph for another new World record for Jenny Wilkinson. 500km out and return....previously this record was held in Nambia by a German lady.(The same lady who held the record Jenny broke a week ago for 300km speed triangle). Now we wait for confirmation from FAI headquarters. I don't know who was most chuffed, Jenny or Terry Delore who had helped her design the course.
It was good to catch up with Ritchie at the end of the day and find he had the opportunity to finish his film commitments and do some personal gliding and complete the Club Class task after a late start....
Tis time for dinner!
Day two begins
An interesting start to the day. A film crew arrived from the Discovery channel with Ritchie McCaw (current Air NZ CRoss Country Trophy holder) to spend a day filming at the competition.
The story is an aviation gliding story about Ritchie introducing an Australian League star to the sport of gliding. Not sure when it will hit your screens.
Also this morning we had 7 pilots sign a protest about the allocation of 150 penalty points for alleged airspace infringements. They maintain it should have been total los of points. The protest committee will meet at 8am in the morning to consider the protest.
WE have been unable to repeat yesterdays performance with Queenstown tower to get access to some extra airspace so the task has been reset to handle that situation.
Todays tasks are Open/18 metre Omarama, Cromwell, Alexandra, Two Thumbs, HakaN, Clearburn back to Omarama
Standard/15metre starts Omarma, Cromwell, ALexandra, Mt Hayes, HakaN, Clearburn and back to Omarama
Club Class go from Omarama to Thomsons, Glentanner and home for 248kms.
These tasks are officially AAT but with the special Omarama derivation. That is that each turn point has a 5km radius and the task time is one hour. This is then effectively a racing task but with "fuzzy" turnpoints to help pilots negotiate turnpoints that might be under wavebars.
Todays launch should go much more smoothly as we now have our full complement of towplanes with Southern Soarings Pawnee back from the aeroplane doctors are a small amount of surgery on the exhaust system.
It approaching 1pm and I am off to the grid to oversea the launch
More later.
The story is an aviation gliding story about Ritchie introducing an Australian League star to the sport of gliding. Not sure when it will hit your screens.
Also this morning we had 7 pilots sign a protest about the allocation of 150 penalty points for alleged airspace infringements. They maintain it should have been total los of points. The protest committee will meet at 8am in the morning to consider the protest.
WE have been unable to repeat yesterdays performance with Queenstown tower to get access to some extra airspace so the task has been reset to handle that situation.
Todays tasks are Open/18 metre Omarama, Cromwell, Alexandra, Two Thumbs, HakaN, Clearburn back to Omarama
Standard/15metre starts Omarma, Cromwell, ALexandra, Mt Hayes, HakaN, Clearburn and back to Omarama
Club Class go from Omarama to Thomsons, Glentanner and home for 248kms.
These tasks are officially AAT but with the special Omarama derivation. That is that each turn point has a 5km radius and the task time is one hour. This is then effectively a racing task but with "fuzzy" turnpoints to help pilots negotiate turnpoints that might be under wavebars.
Todays launch should go much more smoothly as we now have our full complement of towplanes with Southern Soarings Pawnee back from the aeroplane doctors are a small amount of surgery on the exhaust system.
It approaching 1pm and I am off to the grid to oversea the launch
More later.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Day Too
After a number of telephone conversations with Mike at Queenstown tower we had arranged access to some controlled airspace for an "interesting" wave task.
However with weather heading towards cloud cover at 7500ft across the task area the decision was made to cancell the task for the day. As Gavin saaid "it will be soarable but not taskable".
The decision was made to cancel at 11:45.
As I sit here at 3:15 we could be be launching now in to a good looking wave sky.
One of the challenges of being a contest director is that some time you get it wrong......Contest pilots however are usually fairly forgiving of the odd error....
Tomorrow looks good!
However with weather heading towards cloud cover at 7500ft across the task area the decision was made to cancell the task for the day. As Gavin saaid "it will be soarable but not taskable".
The decision was made to cancel at 11:45.
As I sit here at 3:15 we could be be launching now in to a good looking wave sky.
One of the challenges of being a contest director is that some time you get it wrong......Contest pilots however are usually fairly forgiving of the odd error....
Tomorrow looks good!
Day 1 ends
SOrry for the delay for the night owls wanting an update.
This body was knackered and hit the hay at 10:30pm after seeing my last "pigeon" home.
XN arrived back after an aerotow retrieve from Mesopotamia. TM decided to give his crew night driving excercise and a road retrieve to Mesopotamia. A visiting American NB decided to land on a "JET" strip and get a tour of the luxury hunting lodge at Lillybank, while the crew of NS decided to "lob" in to Mt Cook main airstrip for a break before aerotowing home.
GUN after the launch mishaps popped in to the Dingleburn station to give a couple of local visitors wing running practice while GO found a very large paddock near Tarras for a Road retrieve. THis after loosing his radio and Texting Ops normals. A resourceful lad.
Google Earth and Google maps are providing stirling service. Must remember to tell paddock landout pilots directions to nearest house(as seen on google earth).
SPOT messenger service is working well. Some might have noticed that YY & HL were at Lake Pukaki for some time. Nope they were on a quick trip home and got on the ground and SPOT switched off before the next ping was generated. Dang but flying wave on final glide gives for some quick arrivals.
The hardluck story of the day so far heard was OI having to return from Leg 2 after having a canopy latch come undone(while twisting body to open oxygen valve) and being unable to secure it again. I have seen the brusises on his elbows. No denying he gave it his best shot in trying to wangle all things possible.
So we still have 37 pilots able to fly today. Off to task setters meeting with Gavin, Gee and Lemmy). Tomorrow it appears we might have a guest tasksetter as well. More when and if it happens.
Keep it up!
This body was knackered and hit the hay at 10:30pm after seeing my last "pigeon" home.
XN arrived back after an aerotow retrieve from Mesopotamia. TM decided to give his crew night driving excercise and a road retrieve to Mesopotamia. A visiting American NB decided to land on a "JET" strip and get a tour of the luxury hunting lodge at Lillybank, while the crew of NS decided to "lob" in to Mt Cook main airstrip for a break before aerotowing home.
GUN after the launch mishaps popped in to the Dingleburn station to give a couple of local visitors wing running practice while GO found a very large paddock near Tarras for a Road retrieve. THis after loosing his radio and Texting Ops normals. A resourceful lad.
Google Earth and Google maps are providing stirling service. Must remember to tell paddock landout pilots directions to nearest house(as seen on google earth).
SPOT messenger service is working well. Some might have noticed that YY & HL were at Lake Pukaki for some time. Nope they were on a quick trip home and got on the ground and SPOT switched off before the next ping was generated. Dang but flying wave on final glide gives for some quick arrivals.
The hardluck story of the day so far heard was OI having to return from Leg 2 after having a canopy latch come undone(while twisting body to open oxygen valve) and being unable to secure it again. I have seen the brusises on his elbows. No denying he gave it his best shot in trying to wangle all things possible.
So we still have 37 pilots able to fly today. Off to task setters meeting with Gavin, Gee and Lemmy). Tomorrow it appears we might have a guest tasksetter as well. More when and if it happens.
Keep it up!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Day 1 Begins
3:30pm..After some last minute wranglings we have launched 36 gliders. GUN unfortunately had a severe groundloop and lost a tailskid and is being worked on as I report. The really good news is that we have a 5 strong club class task.
With weather coming in from the Southwest the tasks generally end up heading north.
Open/18 metre class are going west to "The Neck", then North to Arrowsmith returning to OMarama for a 396km Triangle with a maximun start height of 7,000ft.
The Standard/15metre class of 17 gliders is tasked out to the west "Cotters" then North to Arrowsmith and back to Omarama for a triangle of 344kms.
The 5 members of the Club Class are tasked to the west to "Dingle" then Goodyer, then Glen Lyon and back to Omarama for a cats cradle of 189.4kms.
We have 6 SPOT messengers on Contest gliders.
You can track the gliders progress at
http://map.xinqu.net/spot.html
The green circles indicate that we have received a position within the last hour, orange between 1 & 2 hours, red indicates that we have not received a position for over 2 hours. This may be due to the aircraft having landed or the pilot forgetting to push his SPOT button.
The sweepstake in the contest office is for the first finisher at between 6:30-7pm.
GOI reports returning from leg 2 with a canopy problem.
and now we wait......
With weather coming in from the Southwest the tasks generally end up heading north.
Open/18 metre class are going west to "The Neck", then North to Arrowsmith returning to OMarama for a 396km Triangle with a maximun start height of 7,000ft.
The Standard/15metre class of 17 gliders is tasked out to the west "Cotters" then North to Arrowsmith and back to Omarama for a triangle of 344kms.
The 5 members of the Club Class are tasked to the west to "Dingle" then Goodyer, then Glen Lyon and back to Omarama for a cats cradle of 189.4kms.
We have 6 SPOT messengers on Contest gliders.
You can track the gliders progress at
http://map.xinqu.net/spot.html
The green circles indicate that we have received a position within the last hour, orange between 1 & 2 hours, red indicates that we have not received a position for over 2 hours. This may be due to the aircraft having landed or the pilot forgetting to push his SPOT button.
The sweepstake in the contest office is for the first finisher at between 6:30-7pm.
GOI reports returning from leg 2 with a canopy problem.
and now we wait......
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Practice Day
A quiet day yesterday with some liquid sunshine to add some green to the runway. Today dawned a bit dull but has brightened throughout the day.
Compulsory briefing was delivered via a Video shown on the overhead projector and utilising the nice sound system available in the terminal building. This was finished by some safety notes from Doug Hamilton, who is safety officer for the competition.
A practice task was set by Gavin Wills who is our most excellent task setter. For the first time in many years Gavin will not be flying the competition. A simple racing task for all. Omarama-Thomsons Track-Glentanner-Omrama for a distance of 248.2kms.
As at 7:15pm we have a lone competitor still out on task. This is (GZP)Bob's first competition at the National level so it will be an interesting experience for him. Some did not complete the task as it got a bit narly for them. Some International class pilots decided to save themselves for the real thing tomorrow by coming home a little early.
The classes have still not been totally finalised as we have been working hard to get a Club class competing. The rules require us to have 4 competitors launched on the first day. After much behind the scenes activity with goodwill shown by many pilots, it appears that we will have the minimum four to launch tomorrow for Day 1.
Generally the organisation is coming together well and scorer Lex is back from his Stag "do"in Christchurch. ...Back.... is a generic term meaning his body is physically present at Omarama but the dark glasses are hidding the inner man!!
Let the games begin....
Compulsory briefing was delivered via a Video shown on the overhead projector and utilising the nice sound system available in the terminal building. This was finished by some safety notes from Doug Hamilton, who is safety officer for the competition.
A practice task was set by Gavin Wills who is our most excellent task setter. For the first time in many years Gavin will not be flying the competition. A simple racing task for all. Omarama-Thomsons Track-Glentanner-Omrama for a distance of 248.2kms.
As at 7:15pm we have a lone competitor still out on task. This is (GZP)Bob's first competition at the National level so it will be an interesting experience for him. Some did not complete the task as it got a bit narly for them. Some International class pilots decided to save themselves for the real thing tomorrow by coming home a little early.
The classes have still not been totally finalised as we have been working hard to get a Club class competing. The rules require us to have 4 competitors launched on the first day. After much behind the scenes activity with goodwill shown by many pilots, it appears that we will have the minimum four to launch tomorrow for Day 1.
Generally the organisation is coming together well and scorer Lex is back from his Stag "do"in Christchurch. ...Back.... is a generic term meaning his body is physically present at Omarama but the dark glasses are hidding the inner man!!
Let the games begin....
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