Michael Imolz and Allistair Dickie have been hard at work to knock up this rather clever little web page. A picture tells a thousand words - so click on either of the images below and you will wet yourself I promise. (Offer only available to sea breeze chasers and the like)
The On-o-meter is currently geared towards paragliders but I’m sure a HG version is on it’s way hey Al!
Nice work gents.
Dave makes his first goal in just his second ever comp. Nath also made his first ever goal on this day but he beat me in so I couldn’t get a photo!
So ends another Gulgong Classic. The elite field from last year were nowhere to be seen which made for quite a different comp compared to any I had been to in the past. The atmosphere was casual with no crap about scoring systems or the like. This week was geared towards the average pilots and making us fly better.
Scott Barrett is incredible in this respect. He seems to draw more enjoyment from teaching others to fly further and faster than he does from his individual success. Winning the comp was merely a formality for Scott, instead he invested more of his energy in watching other pilots styles and decisions and providing feed back to us on what we did well and what we might be able to try when placed in a similar situation next time.
Scott will be running an informal comp clinic at the Corryong Cup in January. Any pilots, especially if you’re in a floater, that wants to learn how to improve their XC skills should get down to this comp for what will be a very fun and educational week.
So back to Gulgong, rather than running you through each task you are best to look at Davis’s accounts:
With Scott and Cam having cemented in first and second places the battle moved down to 3rd place with three of us in the running. Davis, Armando (an awesome guy from Canada) and myself. Only 20 points separated 3rd from 5th - this was going to be fun.
Wow, I had never imagined being in such a position. Normally as we come into the last day at a comp I have my eye on twenty something’th place with nothing on the line. This was a chance at a podium finish some different tactics were required - but what?
Once again, Scott had his thinking cap on and elected to fly the task with me knowing that he already had first place in the bag. Which ever way the day was to pan out from here I knew that it would be a great experience to draw on in future.
After Davis hit the deck early it was between Armando and I. We both made goal in good time. I had my suspicions that Armando would have completed the course faster than I, but he had taken a later start gate which meant that I stole most of the arrival points. We would have to wait for the GPS downloads to see who snagged third place.
After a tense, but jovial wait, in which Armand and I managed to consume a few beers and congratulate each other on taking bronze (neither of us thought we had it), the scores were calculated. 4 points in it. One extra turn after a week of flying. How close can you get? It was me on top this time, so naturally I was stoked, but more than that I am looking forward to the rematch at Forbes. Hopefully Armando finds time in his schedule to get down to Canberra for a spot of flying before then.
So ended another week of fun, comradery and learning. The lessons from Gulgong this year were many and varied so I’ll try and get some of them down on here before too long.
Final scores can be found here
Incidentally, Davis put Cam on to using Seeyou and Soaringspot.com to score the comp. This an excellent method of scoring comps and publicising the results. I hope that it is adopted by all comps in the future.
Why would you want to fly when you have beer? That seems to be the story for today. The day was cancelled due to a lot of rain last night which left the place waterlogged as the guys found out - apparently Trent and Dave’s comments were that the dam had to be conquered leaving the vehicle bogged.
So what better way to spend the rest of the day than at the pub. At 4.30pm when I spoke with Trent I sensed that they might have already been there for a couple of hours. There are plenty of wineries around in Mudgee but they didn’t get that far after finding a local pub to sip away on some nice local brewed beer. What a life!!
Early reports say that tomorrow might be 50/50 but Saturday looks good, and an attempt may be made on Sunday to fly home.
Gulgong - Day 4
Hot off the press although I can’t give too many details as Trent hasn’t even been updated yet but it appears that Ed has made his PB today with an excellent flight. The sketchy detail in is that he flew about 30km today which is a fantastic result and means that he’s on his way up - there’s no stopping him now!! More results on that tomorrow.
Trent explained his flight as good fun and he really enjoyed it. He landed about 5km short after stopping to top up on his height but instead landing. Davis was about 100ft or so above him and made it in so deep down I think Trent might be mildly annoyed although it didn’t sound like it when I spoke with him. Davis has already managed to have his flight details published on the Ozreport (see this link).
We’re still trying to find out the results for the other Canberra guys but Trent has promised me that he will call tomorrow morning so I can update them. With all of these great flights this week, it looks like my Saturdays and Sundays are now going to be filled with retrieve driving. It suits me, all that counts is that they’re having some great and enjoyable flights.
The results for today should be up later tonight but in the meantime, here are the results for yesterday (day 3) and the total results after day 3 (total).
Lastly, what can I say about Scott and Cam - they are on fire. Trent has been commenting that they have been flying really well and again today, they both made goal. Looks like Scott may maintain his first place position - there’s only 3 more days to catch him.
So how does a non-flyer summer widow keep themselves amused when sitting on top of the hill watching the hang gliders launch. It was a big turnout for the Canberra guys/Dusty Demons on 11th November with I think the most Canberra guys we had seen in a while: Ed, Nick, Andrew, Trent, Barnesy, Nath, Dave, Quadey, Karl and Pete.
It may seem that the non-flyers of the world do nothing when sitting on top of the hill but there is so much more than that. Apart from being at the beck and call of Trent, it starts by assisting with getting the gliders from the car and most importantly as a driver making sure the padding from the car doesn’t blow away (as this seems a small detail which most hangies forget). Next while everyone is setting up their gliders is getting the harnesses from the car, food and water to keep them refreshed for the hopeful long flight which they are about to endure. Next is walking around the guys and getting detailed instructions on where to put the keys after the cars have been driven down the hill with the occasional chasing or locating glider bags and covers which have blown away.
And it doesn’t stop there, once they are in their harness, it’s hang check time, fishing out camel back tubes when they have (and they always seem to) gone down the back of the harness, radio checks and making sure everyone is on the same radio channel as you wouldn’t believe how much easier that makes it for retrieves!! And speaking of retrieves, ensuring everyone has my mobile number otherwise they will be walking back to the car.
So there goes my idea of some studying whilst I am up here. I always have good intentions and always take my books. I think I should leave them at home because then I wouldn’t feel as guilty.
Then Trent always makes sure that I am taking heaps of photos as he checks how many I have taken….”It’s a good turnout, make sure you take heaps”. And not only sit there and shoot but I apparently need to take photos from all angles because one angle isn’t good enough. This generally means going halfway down the launch part of the hill just so I can capture that moment when their feet leave the ground, or they narrowly miss the shrubs growing up on top of Pig Hill as Trent found out. Once the first guy has launched I’m asked where they are as the guys are restricted in their harnesses. I feel quite stupid sometimes as they ask the height. I have no idea on the height - I don’t hang glide but I always make something up and it is usually along the lines of high or reasonably low…..
Finally when everyone has launched, it’s time to drive the cars back down the hill. Trent always comments that it’s better to fly down then to drive down as it is much safer. He knows how to fill me with confidence every time and knows how to make me come back. By this time (as usually it is an hour after the first person has launched) you start to receive radio calls to start the retrieves.
So although when we’re up the top it doesn’t seem like we’re doing a lot, there’s actually plenty of things to keep us amused.
But last week at Pig Hill I seemed to have got out of some of these tasks. Is is the fact that now I’m pregnant, I don’t have to do anything (that’s my excuse anyway). I think it’s more along the lines that I can’t lift the harnesses out of the car or assist with the gliders - especially when Trent is carrying about 10kg of lead in his harness at the moment, I really have no hope.
So I was sitting, or rather standing, on top of the hill trying to get the stupid bugs away from me, pondering in a state where everything else around me is still happening but I am stuck in time (as appears to be the case for me recently), thinking about what I could do for the day apart from all of the other things listed above. Again, when study is an option, it’s easy to find something else to do. I started by taking plenty of photos (just for this website) and realised that there were so many different conversations going on given the number of pilots and if you were a fly on the wall and came into the discussion mid-way through, then there were some interesting quotes. So I took the opportunity of sharing some of these with you:
“Out, across, across and wrap around back on track”
“I’ve never seen anyone land that slow”
“Poofy pants time”
“I wish I was on launch”
“You want a wind dummy don’t you”
“This is going to be sweet”
“Trent looks like a bloody dag”
“Go up a bit for the shorty”
“He looks like a bloody jockey” (referring to Trent)
“Bang, get some lift, turn one way, wings lift”
“I felt really nervous the other day”
“I’m not going first”
“This looks shit, I’m packing up”
“Launched, went up and then dived back into the trees”
“I’ll eventually climb that thing”
“It’s bloody straight cross”
“Not exactly going up are they”
“Hang waiting” (as is always the case in this sport)
“Can’t count him out until he’s on the deck”
“Can you go and stand on the other launch and kick up some dirt”
“I’m nervous after seeing Trent launch”
See, there is much more to it than just sitting on top of a hill. These are the ways in which I can amuse myself and then feel obliged to post it on the bombout, but anything as a dedicated wife just to try and get some more people interested in flying. And most of all, I love being part of it.
Also below is my new post for late last night on an update of Gulgong.
Day 2 saw Cameron Turnbridge win the day for the second time keeping him in first position. Trent made goal coming in 7th position, making him 5th outright after the tasks for the two days. Pete came in 12th for the day, Nath in 16th and Dave in 19th. Trent described the task as a smiley face with an out and return on the middle leg and then goal back at the airstrip. Results for Day 2 can be found by clicking here
Total results for the two days can be found here.
I haven’t got much to report on day 3 except in the five minutes that I spoke with Trent it didn’t seem that he was that happy. He commented that he didn’t fly too well but it seems to be the case all round with only Scott making goal today based on preliminary reports from Davis. Davis’ writeup can be found on the Ozreport website which was posted at 9.00 tonight. A link to the report can be located here. After reading the report Trent may not have gone too bad but we’ll wait and see. I spoke to him shortly after he landed and when he got over his tantrum (I don’t think it was that bad but as I have been tasked to do the writeups while he is away I think I do get some poetic licence) so he wasn’t too sure on how the other Canberra guys went but will keep you posted.
The first day of the comp yesterday (Sunday) and a task was set for 78km. It’s looking like its going to be great weather for the week so hopefully some longer tasks will eventuate.
Once again Trent is away (I never seem to see him as soon as spring/summer arrives) and I have the job of posting results.
The Canberra guys did very well yesterday with Nath leading the way ahead in his first ever goal for comps and finished a well deserved 4th place (a great effort!). Next in goal was Pete in 5th position and Trent in 7th position.
Dave had an awesome flight also making his first goal. This is a great achievement for his second ever comp. Well done Dave! I can’t give you his place as the wrong tracklog was used and it is reported wrong in the list but Trent informs me that this will get fixed shortly.
While we are talking on first evers, Grant in his first ever comp had a great flight and kept up with his motto of never landing in the same paddock in which you took off in (unless of course the goal is the same place as launch). It was the longest (in hours) cross country flight he has had and there’s no stopping him now.
If the boys continue with these great results and the tasks keep coming up as out and return which I am told by Trent was also the second day (109km), then I might have to consider driving for them next year so I can relax instead of driving the long distances at Forbes!
Results for day 1 can be found at the following website (subject to change when Dave’s results are fixed up)
UPDATE ON DAY 2: Trent made goal again today (109km) but I am yet to find out the results for the rest of the guys. Will keep you posted tonight.
I’m not sure why you would, but it’s pretty ballsy especially considering Will Gadd’s experiance.
Ed is writing a little something for Soaring Australia about our recent trip the Bright. So far he is up to the Monday where they chased me out to Toc but I am hanging out for his account from Tuesday where he heads off on his first XC - and what a flight it was.
After 2 days of rained out flying (don’t shed too many tears for me - wine tasting, cheese tasting, berry farms, nut farms great company and much talk of hangliding made for a pretty bloody good 2 days) we awoke to a beautiful sunny day in Bright. After breakfast we headed out to the airfield. Our hopes were soon subdued and eventually shattered. “Too windy and damn bumpy up there”, was the quote from Shane who had just landed his trike after a very bumpy flight to test the conditions. Bugger ! Someone suggested that we could go to The Pines.
“The Pines, The Pines sucks donkey balls” Trent’s replied with absolute contempt.
“What’s wrong with The Pines?” I queried.
“Let me put it to you this way, every time they have a competition in this area, and the only place that it’s on is The Pines, everyone votes for a rest day. That’s how bad The Pines are.” Trent added.
“But if that’s the only place it’s on we may as well give it a go”.
“The Pines it is,” Trent relented.
So not particularly enthused we went to The Pines. Once at the bombout of The Pines we found some very helpful people who advised us that Trent’s Santee Fe couldn’t possibly make it to the top of this behemoth mountain. There is a a “boggy patch” and a really “gnarly section at the top”. We would have to cross load into a “real 4WD”. The same people were kind enough to offer to take one more glider on their roof (I think it already had about 5 or 6 gliders on the roof) but buggered if we could find anyone to take the other glider up. There were some serious 4WDs with some serious racks that couldn’t possibly fit anymore than the 3 gliders that they already had on top. It’s not like the brethren to leave a pilot swinging. Where I come from in Canberra, pilots help each other, regardless whether you are of “hangi” or punter persuasion. Anyway there was nothing else for it but to struggle as best we could up as far as we could to the top before getting out and carrying the glider up this beastie hill. After about 10km of driving we discovered the “boggy patch”. It looked like someone had spilt a bucket of water on the track …. not quite the scary, snorkel necessary, periscope required bottomless loch that was described. Next we encountered the “gnarly” section at the top. It did admittedly get pretty steep and rocky … for about the last 50m. Suffice to say we ended up driving right to the top no problems at all.
Trent and I were among the very first hangies setup so I went over to inspect the launch and time the cycles and generally get a feel for the site having never flown here before. The Para guys started taking off around the time I walked over and some were getting some real snippets of lift but some were getting some horrendous sink. One Para particularly was heading out over the pine forest to the bottom left of launch a bit low and dropped like a rock for what must have been about 50ft and luckily wasn’t too far in over the trees as he did an immediate 180 and got out over the bomb out and landed not that far into it. I’d just finished saying to the Liz that it’s getting about as good as it’s going to get when Ollie fronted up at launch, strapped in and ready to go.
“Ed can you move your glider” Trent asked/demanded quite urgently.
“Is it on”?
“Mate, if Ollie’s taking off then it’s on. Let’s go.”
With that we got in line behind Ollie. Stuie jumped in in front of me at my invitation. It couldn’t hurt to watch a couple of good launches before mine.
Naah, you can go before me Stuie. Then I’ll get to see how the professionals do it”.
“If that’s what you want then you better not watch mine then”, Stuie jibed.
With no further fuss Trent then Stuie and then I were all in the air trying to catch Ollie. My goal was to do my first ever cross country flight however it wasn’t to be. After about an hour of scratching around the hill and missing a few opportunities I ended up landing. The best I’d gotten was about 500ft over launch however it was one of those “really good crappy flights”. It was really good because I did some things well and learnt a lot. I started with a well timed, good strong take off. I was finding the thermals reasonably well, infact, for most of the flight it felt like everyone was flying towards my thermal at a height way below me. One of the most satisfying aspects of the flight was the fact that many topless gliders that took off after me were on the deck long before me. I great confidence booster for a non-local in a Sonic. I did have a couple of opportunities that I squandered that I learnt’ from. The times when I did get high I didn’t use well. I should have made bolder moves once the thermals topped out, although my feeling was that the thermals were further over the back and I wasn’t prepared to look for them in the Sonic till I got that bit higher. I simply had no glide out if I was wrong - I’m not that ballsy yet. I never got that bit more height that I wanted to feel comfortable drifting further back. Eventually I landed and I was that keen to go again I deliberately landed at the top end of the bombout with the intention of carrying my gear back to the top to go again. It looks like it is only about 250m walk up the face of the hill. After landing I realised that it was only about 250m up but that it was going to be a lot of work for what would probably only be another sleddy. Just as I was making that decision Trent radioed in that “he and Ollie were 8000ft over Wangaratta” and that he was heading further west along the road to Tocumwal.
So after that Deb and Liz came up to help me pack up and carry the gear down to the car so we could go and get Trent. The radio calls just kept coming…
“This is Trent. I’m 20km west of Wang.”
“This is Trent. I’m over a huge lake on the Murray about 50km west of Wang.”
“This is Trent. The thermals are getting weaker. Don’t know how much longer I’ll be in the air for. I’m about 20km east of Tocumwal.”
“This is Trent. I’m over top of Tocumwal at 6000ft. I’m going in to land and give Tove a call.”
Deb (and all of us really) had been after a toilet since before Wangaratta, we eventually found one at a pub about half way from Wang to Toc. Other than that it was an uneventful trip out to Toc. We stopped in town at the Pub to get Trent his well earned congratulatory beers. By the time we arrived at the airfield Trent was half way through packing up his glider right beside the pool at Sportavia having a chat with Tove, who was looking very professional in her business suit, and her daughter Hanna. Tove invited us back to the newly built Heaney palace for a drink and nibblies. We arrived to see Grant and Thorry flying their remote control Zaggy’s. At times it appeared as though they were attempting to knock each others planes out of the sky … great fun. After a few hours of socialising with the Heaneys we left, promising to return for a weekend of flying. You see, after a season away from hangliding to recover from the whole Sportavia thing Grant and Tove, particularly Tove, were keen to get back into the flying. We left, waited half an hour in town for “the regions best hamburgers” to be made and then drove off. We got back to Bright spot on midnight.
To be continued…
