Newcastle Hang Gliding Club

There are a number of pilots who are feeling a little tired after the bonfire and DJ event in town.

The next day is cancelled before we go up the hill. It is flyable, but not taskable, it is windy and difficult to send pilots into the mountains, some pilots fly later and report it to be windy and rough (more wind then the local regulations permit). By the end of the day there are paragliders flying from the mountain as well. Conrad goes flying a sailplane with one of the local instructors and gets a tour of the area. The town holds a festival of sports. It includes an air show. There are local pilots flying hang gliders and paragliders on winches, paramotors, hang gliders and paragliders arrive high from the mountain doing aerobatics, there are hang glider simulators, radio controlled models and model simulators, static displays of harnesses, kites, water rockets, an electric microlight.

Samuel Duprat was making a hang gliding aerobatic display, failed a loop due to lack of airspeed and recovered using two parachutes. Steve, Gordon Rigg and I went out to find him. The three of us in the vehicle have had parachute deployments. Gordon proposed that that was why we were in the car (we know that you are in deep poo if you have deployed.).

The third task was the best yet. A triangle of 166km, racing in good conditions, with a good choice of start point and route.

I was beaten at the start and into the first turnpoint by Steve B and the gaggle who started from a position on the next ridge, well away from launch, with a great glide line into the first turnpoint. They made it there a couple of minutes earlier than me, while I was racing hard. I am scared to try too hard at the starts here, there are too many pilots trying to be in the same place at the same time. The task took us up into some very tall mountains. We had a 3000m cloudbase and there was still mountain tops hidden in the cumulus.

By the second turnpoint, the leaders were 3km ahead so I was keeping pace well, I had my eye on them the whole time and watched them double back after the turn. I kept on going and headed for another route to the next turnpoint. I went my way and 118 pilots went the other. I flew into the most beautiful mountains I have been in and slowly climbed over a 2000m high limestone wall that was in my, I was on my way to a long run along a sunlit 3000m mountain range. I would show you pictures but my freshly charged batteries in my camera went flat. The climb over the wall was a little slower than I had hoped, but hopefully I would be right and the other route that he others took would be too shaded to be much better. I headed onto some 3 and 4 m/s climbs, run a convergence line across a valley crossing, pushed low onto a moderate climb o the other side. The rest of the gaggle got a ridge run for a little way and a 5m/s climb on their next stop.

It turns out it that the later followers got stuck doing the same doubling back trick due to shade. I met up with the second gaggle at the next turnpoint and flew through them onto final. Shade made it difficult for them after I left them. I was packed up before they reached goal. After a good effort, making the goal but a poor points score for the day I get just only a little bit of justice! Curt, Jonny and Steve are all in goal before me.

I have around 30 flying hours since arriving here and it looks good for flying in the next days. I get a lot of time sitting about waiting for starts, and thankfuly the tasks are long too.