Merry Christmas everybody!

A few notes on what's happening at Piako Gliding Club over Christmas and new year.

• Sat 24th Dec - Flying Christmas eve.
• No flying Christmas Day. Eat lots instead!
• Boxing day 26th Dec - Should be flying, no tow pilot yet, check the website to confirm.
• Tuesday 27th - Sun 1st Jan - Christmas camp, Full on flying at Matamata!
• Mon 2nd Jan - Fri 6th - One glider at Raglan, One glider at Matamata
• Sat 7th Jan - Sun 22nd - All club to Raglan

The next month or two are often the best flying conditions of the year, so come out and make the most of it! We have even upgraded one of the club gliders, which we'll send out details about soon.

The roster for Raglan is online, please check days you're rostered on:
http://glidingmatamata.co.nz/members/roster/

Have a great holiday everyone, see you out at the field soon, and don't forget the sunscreen!

A christmas glider (Sugar glider)

The Regionals are well underway with 3 interesting flying days so far. The first day was forecast to be blue, but with good thermals. It turned out to be rather awful, blue but 2200' was as high as we could go. That meant we could sneeze and suddenly be in 'survivial mode'.

The second day we had a turn point up towards the firth of Thames. Even with a 10km circle around it, it was completely in the sea breeze, and all but Steve landed out or back. Steve got around but because no one else did, it was a zero points day, bad luck for Steve.

Yesterday turned out to be also challenging, but very interesting at the same time. A couple landed out early near the first southern turnpoint, as cloudbase was only 3000' so it was easy to make one mistake and be at 1000', looking for landing spots. As we went north things improved, and there were big convergences we could use to travel up/down the valley.

The top turnpoint for the fast classes was Maramarua which had light thermals and cloudbases of 2000' which made things interesting. There was also some sea breeze, a strong convergence over the swamp, and easterly pouring in. 2 of us in the standard class managed to get around.

A big thanks to David Hurst for his excellent weather forecasts, so far they have been pretty accurate.

Full task details and results are available on Soaring Spot:
http://soaringspot.com/nznr2011/

We'll also try to put short daily news updates on that competition page.

The 2011 Cross Country Course is underway today, with what looks like some days of ridge soaring.

For club members there will be towing all week (but no instructors available), and on Wednesday there is normal club flying with one twin and instructor available.

Yesterday saw the arrival of many of the gliders, pilots and tow planes, and they were greated with a rather impressive wave system. Thanks Bill for organising that one for us all.

Alan and Pat jumped back into the wave and reached 18,000 and 20,000 feet. Pat then flew back to Drury, arriving at 10,000 feet. The primary worked well to about 12,000 ft and then they had to shift back into what became the main secondary wave which worked well about 5 km out to sea from Matakana island.

The whole wave, thanks Adrian from Zing Photography

Thanks Jamie for this one

Webcam pic at 4pm

Piako Gliding Club Inc. 

Attention All Glider Pilots

A further notice to make sure you come along to the:

 2011 PRESEASON BRIEFING

This is compulsory for all glider pilots

Tow pilots and associates are also most welcome 

The new weather pattern is looking great for an awesome soaring season!  So get ready.

10.00am Saturday 24 September 2011, 

Gliding Clubhouse, Matamata Airfield 

with a repeat of briefing at 11.00 Wednesday 28 September 2010 
(boring shortened version only) 

You’ll receive your logbook endorsement sticker showing that you’re ready for this season’s flying.

To be followed by Jan’s free lunch at 12.00 (Saturday only, no free lunch on Wednesday) and club flying in the afternoon.

(Instructors meeting to be held after lunch 12.30pm to 1.00pm)

Let the westerlies blow!

Bob Gray

CFI

Michael Kirchhain’s first gliding experience, 7th November 2010, Matamata gliding club. Thanks Tony for the story.

I had met club member Tony Davies on the Warbirds over Wanaka airshow club trip to Queenstown in April this year. Tony has not only got a PPL (A) but also a B-Cat Instructor rating for gliders and is instructing at Matamata. In my training at the aero club, I had often heard of gliding stories, especially from the aero clubs senior IFR instructor and life-long gliding enthusiast John Shuttleworth.

I remember from back home in Germany that there was a gliding club not far and I often watched gliders being towed, in flight or during landing and was very keen on experiencing this different way of flying.

My wife gave me an awesome present for my birthday a few month ago, a voucher for a trial flight in a glider!

I had waited for better weather and since summer is finally upon us, the big day was arranged with Tony. We arrived at Matamata airfield early afternoon on a beautiful sunny and hot Sunday afternoon. There was hardly a cloud in the sky and it made me wonder if this are actually good conditions for gliding or not...

Tony was already waiting with the 2-seater training glider P(apa) C(harlie) prepared for me on the beginning of runway 28. We were the first glider to go up on the day and others were waiting to see how we got on and if there is enough thermal activity to sustain a longer gliding flight.

Waikato Aero club President Richard Small was the eager pilot of the glider towing aircraft and by that time probably didn't know what a busy day it was going to be.

I can only share this and other stories with you because my wonderful wife not only supports me in my passion for flying and makes me presents like this but also takes mostly the great photos to share with all of you readers. I got her to have a sit in the glider first so that she got an idea of what was awaiting me.

Gliders of course need to be very streamlined and therefore there is not a lot of room in these aircraft. It is usually a reclining position and takes some getting used to in comparison to powered aircraft. Luckily, the rudder pedals can be adjusted to fit even taller people in a glider and eventually I found a comfortable position. I brought my headset but because gliders are obviously much quieter than powered aircraft, this was not needed and instead a built in microphone is used to communicate with each other, other aircraft and the ground. Soon I was strapped in and we were ready for take-off. The take-off roll was different seeing it from such a low angle and after only a very short roll, we were airborne. The tow was one of the best parts of the flight but is also the hardest part for the pilot. It is not easy to follow the aircraft without getting behind in following its turns. It felt new and almost a bit scary seeing an aircraft so close in front of us. Usually any other time when an aircraft comes so close (except during formation flying...), you would get a big fright.

Tony decided to have us towed to 2500ft and luckily we experienced a few bumps here and there which are signs of some thermal activity. The towing wire was disconnected, the towing aircraft disappeared quickly and suddenly there was silence… An engineless machine which is suspended only by the air around it and completely dependent on the prevailing conditions and the skills of the pilot.

We flew towards some tiny whisky cloud formations and slowly experienced some slight updraft. There is an instrument called a Variometer in a glider which indicates the gliders rate of climb in near real time. It does this like any other gauge but also by audible signals. These signals vary in pitch and the higher and faster the sound, the higher the rate of climb. We stayed in this updraft doing circling climbing turns and eventually reached an altitude of just over 4500ft which was very impressive for the conditions of the day. It is really amazing to see and feel this heavier-than-air object rising only by the forces of the air.

Once we gained enough altitude, Tony even showed me a loop in the glider which was a fabulous experience. We flew towards another tiny cloud formation and were hoping for some rising air but it wasn't much. This is was gliding is about, reading the sky and winds and finding strong enough updrafts to maintain or regain altitude to continue gliding. After I told John Shuttleworth about my experience the next day, he put it in great words "...it's like chess in the sky."

We continued gliding for almost 55min and at the end had to point the nose down and force a descent as Tony thought that the glider was booked for the next flight. The landing was very smooth and the landing roll much shorter than I had expected.

A fantastic experience came to its end and it was very clear that I have enjoyed this birthday present to the fullest.

The Matamata Piako gliding club is a great way to experience the magic of gliding and the club offers training for starters and experienced glider pilots. It is possible to get a QGP (Qualified Glider Pilot) license there and many of the aeroplane PPL exams can be cross credited.

I can only recommend a gliding experience to any Aviation Enthusiast and it will definitely help your F.L.W.O.P. training. :-)

For anyone who is keen, we could also make it a cheap club trip to fly over with some aircraft and connect it with a trial flight in a glider.

For more information, visit the gliding clubs website: http://www.glidingmatamata.co.nz

Cheers and thanks for reading,

Michael

Did anyone not get snowed on today?!

Well, this dinner on Saturday night was a bit of a ripper. Thanks to everyone for coming along, yet again, a huge thanks to Bill, Jan and all those who helped in the kitchen.

The meal this year was a bit special, with a pasta starter, roast duck and chicken for the mains, followed by a range of 4 deserts plus ice cream. For some reason most were full at the end of it.

We had a good number of awards this year, here's a list of acheivements and who got what. Congrats everyone! And if you want to have a look at what you need to do next year to get the trophies, check out our club tasks page.

On Sunday we had a practice run of the Kaimai Speed Challenge with a suprisingly good day of flying. Half of the Auckland club turned up! We've setup a blog on the new Matamata Soaring Website, so we'll post some news and pics about it soon.

TRAINING ACHIEVEMENTS

David Muckle            First Solo and A Certificate                                 May 10

Peter Minor               First Solo

Carl Henderson       B certificate

Murray Connell         Qualified Glider Pilot (at Taupo)                         Nov 10 

Jamie Pirrit               C Cat Instructor Rating

BADGE AWARDS

Steve Care                Diamond Distance and Three Diamonds                      29 Jan 2011

Tim Bromhead         Diamond Distance                                                  29 Jan 2011 

Mark Drayson           Silver Distance and Silver Height                         2 Feb 2011

                                    Silver Badge

NZ RECORDS

Alan Belworthy         100km O&R Speed             172km/hr                  10 Oct 2010

COMPETITION SUCCESS

Alan Belworthy         Winner Open Class            MSC Regional Contest Nov 2010

Bob Gray                   Winner Club Class MSC Regional Contest Nov 2010

CLUB AWARDS

COMMITTEE AWARDS

Tom Martin Trophy

This trophy is awarded in memory of Colonel Tom Martin, and is awarded to the club member who has provided outstanding friendship and service to the club in the past year. Committee’s decision.

Awarded to Tim Bromhead 

PRESIDENT AWARD

President’s Pot

Awarded for most meritorious flight. Only awarded in years where a big flight in the true sense of the word is accomplished. Club President’s decision.

Awarded to Alan Belworthy for his (two) NZ Record flights over 100km O&R. 

CFI’s RECOMMENDATIONS

Ken Bartlett Trophy

This trophy was donated by the family of Ken Bartlett a long time member of the Piako Gliding Club. It is awarded each year to the pilot with the most outstanding Personal Best.

Awarded to Steve Care for his Diamond Distance flight and achieving Three Diamonds 

DeRenzy Pot

This trophy was donated by Peter de Renzy an enthusiastic past pilot and one of the near-original members of the club. Awarded to the “most improved new pilot”.

Awarded to Dave Marcellus for his enthusiasm and general good airmanship.

Les Riesterer Short Course Trophy

Awarded to Neil Raymond for a great flight on 27 February 2011.

Catlin Trophy

This Trophy was donated by the Catlin Family in memory of Harold Catlin who as Chairman of the County Council’s Airport Committee actively encouraged gliding at Matamata Airfield. It is awarded each year for the fastest handicapped time around a course fixed for the season by the CFI.

Not awarded this year

Care 200 Trophy

This trophy was donated by club member Steve Care. It is awarded each year to the pilot with the best handicapped time around a 200km course set by the CFI.

Awarded to Tim Bromhead for flight on 22 August 2010 with a speed of 110.11km/hr

Dave McPherson 1 Diamond Trophy

This trophy was donated by Dave McPherson as the Century 21 trophy, but on his passing away, and with the consent of his family, has been renamed in his memory. It was conceived to promote cross-country soaring and is awarded each year to the pilot with the fastest handicapped speed around a 300km FAI triangle starting at Matamata Airfield or Waharoa Dairy Factory.

Not awarded this year.

It's that time of year, the mid winter annual awards dinner! Not this weekend, but the next.

Presentations, (sur)prizes.
Taking off with free mulled wine or juice at 6.30pm, 13th August
Four (count them 4!) course dinner.
Plus tea/coffee to finish.
$25 per head.

Numbers by 11th August (Thursday night) please to Bill & Jan wajvmace@ihug.co.nz

If we're real lucky, Bob will wear an apron again.

From Julian, thanks for sharing and have fun!

We flew to the Grabs Canyon today. By the time we arrived by 10 seater plane, the thermals were quite vigorous and after our helicopter descent 4000 feet to the Canyon floor, it was booming. I would guess cloudbase was at least 20k and a great convergence set up later in the day, complete with CB's and lightening

Cheers from Sin City