What s inside? The Taupo Gliding Club s Newsletter. June - July 2016

Transcription

1 The Taupo Gliding Club s Newsletter June - July 2016 Welcome everyone to another edition of Outlanding. Guess what? Winter is almost over and those great soaring conditions will soon be upon us again. I can hear some of you laugh, winter is over! Well, maybe not over just yet but the days are getting longer which means we are headed in the right direction Winter is a good time to get everything ready for the new soaring season including reading some great articles in previous issues of Outlanding. In the meantime, please enjoy this edition. If anyone has an article or news for the next edition could you please have it me by 20 September. Cheers Trace. What s inside? CFI Report Article Youth Glide Article - Awards Article Club AGM News Clubhouse Roof Article Youth Glide Experience Article Hobby Expo Upcoming Events Humour

2 CFI Report by CFI Bill Kendall Brrrrrrrrrrrr its cold at the club, not to mention the wind and rain over the last month, so I suppose that is why we are not seeing too many members coming out to fly at the club these days. We have just completed a Youth Glide Camp thanks to Hugh. A very successful weekend with flying and lectures along with fun for the young members (6 Pilots). GOOD FOOD FUN FLYING. I will leave it to Hugh to report on that. Although we had strong fresh south westerly wind all Youth Glide pilots coped very well with two flying solo during the weekend. Congratulations to all Trophy recipients at the 2016 AGM Dinner which had the theme RED, Here are a few pictures with all enjoying themselves. NEW BATTERY SYSTEM We have installed new plugs on the glider fleet and also a new battery charging system, Instructors and some tow pilots have been briefed on its operation so if you are unsure about its use please ask someone.

3 The system is designed to test batteries, then once up to 100% charge it goes through a pulse cycle. This disulphate s the battery to eliminate sulphur build up in the cells. We will also be rewiring the batteries and adding another fuse. So they will have two fuses per battery. This will bring the glider battery systems up to standard. MOUNT TAUHARA Please remember that Mt Tauhara can catch out the unwary. Low cloud around the Mountain can force pilots to take unnecessary risks. It s bad enough flying close to the ground and keeping your wits about you but when you combine that with low cloud it becomes a hazard and how can you maintain VFR Minima i.e. 500 feet vertically from cloud. If you tow to cloud base it would be so easy to pull off into cloud and if you are a low time pilot you are in real trouble. Low cloud will force you to ridge soar below the tops and you may just get to low and risk a land out. All students should get back overhead the airfield at 1000 feet AGL so you can plan your landing according to the conditions and airfield traffic. It all leads to the subject I posted in the last News Letter about SITUATIONAL AWARENESS LOOK THINK ACT With that in mind remember what I said at the AGM in my report. Donald Trump said America First, but I say to all members SAFETY FIRST. Please take the opportunity during our downtime to read all our documentation i.e. The Club Flying Rules, Our Emergency Procedures and review the MOAP (on the GNZ Website). Things do change. There are lots of jobs to do around the club so even if it s not a flying day come out and give us a hand, for example the glider trailers need maintenance (winter is a good time to get it done). Happy and Safe Flying.

4 Youth Glide by Hugh de Lautour What a great weekend we had, hosting the first ever Youth Glide NZ Mini Camp in the North Island. Six Participants - two from Hawke s Bay and two from Tauranga together with our own Youth pilots Bradley and Akira - came together on Friday night not knowing quite what to expect, and each with their own doubts and anxieties. But starting with a hot swim that same night, they soon got to know each other and entered into the spirit of the Camp and gained not only new knowledge, but new friends as well. The weather looked a little better than forecast on Saturday morning, so we went ahead with a site and safety briefing from Bill, and then a classroom session on ridge soaring, before heading outside to DI and grid the gliders. After a great lunch by camp (and Alexandra s) mother, Kristin Thompson from Hawke s Bay, we launched the three two-seaters with Brett Cameron instructing in TG, John Chittenden in ME, and Hawke s Bay s Graham White in their Grob 103, HB. Each student got two flights, so that was a really good start to the weekend, putting theory into practice along the southwestern face of Mt. Tauhara. On Sunday the weather turned quite nasty with severe squalls coming through at regular intervals, so we had no flying, but still had a really good day starting with a good session on Meteorology and Met-related technology from Rob Lyon, and then a video on Situational Awareness from Bill. After another superb lunch (during which I heard Tom ask if we could please have a mini-camp every weekend!) we had a practical session on DI s from Gordon, and then all went down to the Hobby Expo for a quick look around before de-rigging and trailering the PW5. Bill and Mary hosted a great dinner that night and during the evening it was mutually agreed that with a promising forecast for Monday we would stretch the weekend one more day. That proved to be a great decision, and everyone got at least one more ridge flight, including Alexandra going solo in the PW5 which they all helped to rig that morning after the expo. So lots of fun was had by all. There was time for videos, cards, 8-ball pool, outdoor games, swimming, and a trip to the Taupo Winter Festival attractions, and at the same time everyone advanced their gliding knowledge and experience at a level relevant to their own experience. A big thank-you to all involved in making it a success. And actually, Tom, yes - there s no reason why every weekend can t be a mini-camp at the Taupo Gliding Club! Let s do it!

5 Awards for 2015/2016 Most Improved Student (Taupo Gliding Club) Akira Petersen (Solo under 14 years old) Most Improved Pilot (Taupo Gliding Club) Richard Black (QGP in four weeks 32 Flights) Land Out (Norman Marsh Trophy) Brett Cameron (Always came back alive, sometimes not in a glider) Tail End Charlie (Radio Lakeland Trophy) Trev Terry (For all his work over the years for our Competition) Club Member s Trophy (Tom Anderson Trophy) Nick Simmonds (Always looking for jobs to be done) Toilet Seat (Taupo Gliding Club) Rod Milne (For leaving TPO s Master switch on) Height Gain (Taupo Gliding Club) Not awarded this year Most Meritorious Flight (Trev Terry Challenge Trophy) Not awarded this year - Brett Cameron retains to keep it polished Tow Pilot Trophy (Tom Anderson Trophy) Not awarded this year, no retiring tow pilots Airmanship and Bombing Trophies Airmanship - Points scored out of 320 points: Buck Jones Trophy QGP s Peter Battersby Trophy Students 1 st Hugh de Lautour 305 pts 1 st Maurice Vink 273 pts 2 nd Bill Kendall 285 pts 2 nd Nick Simmonds 260 pts 3 rd Tom Anderson 283 pts 3 rd Peter Battersby 253 pts 4 th Gordon Griffin 279 pts Bombing and Landing Competition: Tom Orr Trophy 1 st Richard Black 2 nd John Chittenden 3 rd Rod Milne 4 th Gordon Griffin

6 Club AGM by Hugh de Lautour The Taupo Gliding Club AGM was held at the clubrooms on Sunday morning, the 19th of June. It was reasonably well attended - there was no problem getting a quorum - but we would still like to see more members attend this important meeting. The minutes of the last AGM were taken as read and confirmed, and then there were reports from the President, the manager, the CFI and the financial manager. The general tenor of these reports was that the club is in good shape, but there is a lot that now needs doing to keep it that way and to take it on strongly into the future. Specifically the roof really needs major attention as there are now significant leaks every time it rains, and there are gliders which are not paying their way, so it is time to look hard at the fleet rationalisation. Both these projects will require input from all members, whether physical help with the roof, or feedback about what type of glider they would like to see made available. The next agenda item was election of officers, which resulted in the following appointments. Patron: Richard Izard President: Hugh de Lautour Vice-president: no nominations - will be appointed by the committee Treasurer/Secretary: Tom Anderson (ably assisted by Lois!) Manager: Tom Anderson Club Captain: Trace Austin Committee: Brett Cameron, Peter Battersby, Rob Lyon, Bill Dawson, Martin Jones. CFI and Towmaster positions are appointed by the committee - there will be no change to those positions, held by Bill Kendall and Rene Weterings respectively. After the AGM there was a presentation on the Gliding NZ AGM from the weekend before, with an outline of the initiatives being undertaken by GNZ to address the continuing decline in numbers within the sport. In conjunction with Sport NZ there will be a new focus on what our members want out of their participation in gliding, and a hard look at what we can do to "Recruit, Retain and Regain" members. Watch this space! On a personal note, as incoming president I would like to thank retiring president Tim Norman for his excellent service to the club over the last four years. He has left it in very good shape despite many challenges, and I will endeavour to build on his great work - still, I hope, with his help and the benefit of his skills and experience. Clubhouse Roof Members will be pleased to know that the plans for the new roof on the clubhouse have been finalised, and have gone to the council. A big thank-you must go to John Chittenden for drafting the plans and specifications - it has been a huge job which John has done voluntarily. Hopefully - assuming it all goes through the Council OK and the builder doesn't get unduly delayed on his present job - we can get it done before the Central Plateau Competition at the end of October, and won't have four leaks in the ceiling and a door that won't shut!

7 Youth Glide Experience by Brad Scrivener Youth glide NZ minicamp Taupo, was for me and my fellow participants, an amazing experience and one I will not easily forget. On arrival to the camp, we all shared awkward introductions and everyone was visibly uneasy as most of us had never met. Although after a few rounds of pool, the awkwardness had melted away and had been replaced with the excitement of the day's flying that was to come. We each had amazing flights, despite the weather trying to put a damper on things, but the rain held back and the skies were awaiting. The Youth Glide minicamp was a complete success and I think I can speak for the whole of my fellow students that we had a truly fantastic time, which could not have been possible without the help of a few honourable mentions. Hugh de Lautour, for putting together and running the camp, we appreciate everything you have done. Roger Read, for allowing us to have subsidised flying, I understand it was a lot of time and effort put in on your part and for that we are thankful. Wayne Cockburn for all the amazing photographs that will give us life long memories and a chance to look back at where our gilding stories began. The ladies in the kitchen that kept us well fed for the days flying, amazing food and even better company, we thank you so much. And to all the instructors and other people that gave up their weekend to assist with our development, my fellow students and I appreciate everything that was done for us, it truly was a fantastic experience and one that will not be forgotten. Hobby Expo The hobby Expo was held at the AC Baths on the weekend of the 16 th and 17 th of July and the club displayed one of the two PW5 s. Prepping and transporting the glider and setting up the stand and just being there is a time consuming task. Every bit of publicity helps the gliding club so thank you to all of you who helped out over the weekend, your efforts are much appreciated.

8 Upcoming Events Just a quick reminder about the following events. It is planned to fly from Matamata over the weekend of September. This would be a great opportunity for those of you who have not experienced flying from Matamata. The country side and conditions vary considerably from Taupo. So why not make it a family affair? There are lots of things to see and do for all the family. See you there! Humour