And why are we jolly? Because it is the holiday season.
And why do holidays make us jolly? Because we get to go gliding. Lots!
There are plenty of amazing events coming up in December, January and February with Youth Glide, Competitions, club camps and just general flying fun now that the days are long and hot.
Stay safe, stay hydrated and have fun.
See you up there.
Steve Wallace
GNZ President
Congratulations
JOHN ROBERTSON - successful outlanding exercise, done!
Congrats to Terry and Abbey Delore for their first attempt at an epic Bluff to Cape Reinga flight. In gliding it is not the destination you remember but the journey. Trying can be as much fun as succeeding.
Congrats to the trophy winners from the Club Class Nationals and South Island Regionals. Achievements from left to right include;
Wes McIver (3rd Club), Keith Essex (1st Open), Norbert-Alin Scarlat (Club Class Honorary Champ), Gavin Wrigley (1st Club), Team - Daniel McCormack & Brad Jackson (3rd Open), Nick Oakley (2nd Open), Roland Van der Wal (Most Meritus Flight in Club Nationals)
One more - congrats to Norbet Scarlat and Justin Wills for an awesome 1,850km flight on November 8th.
I feel a need for speed
Check out the speeds of the top 3 places of Day 4 in the recent South Island Regionals!
Winners are grinners
Doug Hamilton (left) and Nick Oakley - respective Club and Open Class winner on Day 3
GNZ I.T. HAVE BEEN AT IT AGAIN
Live Glider Tracking
You can watch the daily action live on a new test GNZ tracking page now available at:
International High Performance Coach Peter Hartmann comes to NZ
Your chance to be coached by the best
Coaching available between Jan 20 and Feb 15 (includes at the Taupo Nationals)
If you are serious about improving your cross country or competition flying skills then this is an opportunity not to be missed. Intensive coaching sessions of 2 - 3 days or potentially longer are available for the right candidates. Read Peter Hartmann's bio and register your interest to be coached at the link below.
Coaching only available from Auckland, Tauranga, Matamata & Taupo
ADS-B
No practical solution yet available for gliders in NZ
ADS-B OUT by 31 December 2021
A problem without a solution in NZ
As most of you are aware in October the Government announced a $12.5 million ADS-B Grant programme, to support the uptake of ADS-B equipment by the GA sector in NZ. The grant allows you to claim up to $2,500 + GST if you and your aircraft meet the eligibility criteria. At the same time the CAA suspended testing of ADS-B equipment that would be suitable for installation into gliders.
Currently, eligible equipment is that which meets a full IFR standard, meaning for most gliders this kit is physically too large, drains too much power, weighs too much and is too expensive, even with the subsidy. Meanwhile, other overseas authorities such as CASA (Australia) and the FAA (US) are taking a much more sensible / practical approach to VFR ADS-B and will be approving installations of equipment suitable for GA aircraft.
GNZ is certainly making the CAA aware of the issue and as this problem affects many GA aircraft as well as gliders, GNZ is teaming up with our friends at the NZAF to put together a comprehensive case to the CAA that we hope will make them see some sense.
Approach of a cold front. How cool is this picture!
MOCCA
The newest and flashiest 'Mobile Operational Control Centre' in the country can be found at Glide Omarama. Who can guess what the 'A' stands for because I can't!
Happy Pat
More fun than winning a contest is finding your water ballast bung that you lost on the airfield somewhere between the tie down area and the far end launch point!
Incident Reports
No incident reports received this month so below is a quick summary of an EASA, Safety Information Bulletin (SIB)
Sailplane Rigging – Procedures, Inspections and Training
Description:
Statistical data and some occurrence reports indicate a number of incidents, which were caused
by improper execution of rigging procedures and its subsequent inspection. The nature of these
incidents can be grouped as follows:
Main wing not correctly rigged and connected.
Horizontal stabilizer not correctly connected.
Controls not, or not correctly, connected.
Control connections not, or not correctly, secured.
Reasons for these incidents can be grouped as follows:
Rigging procedure was interrupted; the person executing the rigging was distracted or
interrupted, and consequently omitted important steps.
The rigging procedure was not correctly followed.
The rigging procedure was not well known by the person executing the rigging.
The mechanical principles of the connection and/or its securing were not understood by the
person executing the rigging.
Connections and/or securing were not, or not correctly, inspected.
No positive control check was performed.
It is recommended that familiarisation with the rigging procedure are provided by a
person familiar with the type. This might include repetitive training of some rigging
actions.
Don't forget a link to the GNZ incident reporting form (OPS 10) can now be found in the very top menu bar on the GNZ homepage, just to the right of the 'Classified Adverts'. You can now fill this form out on your phone at the airfield so no excuses.
