VFP (Visiting Foreign Pilot) all the way from Japan
17 years old, flying from Omarama
50km Silver Distance
300km Gold Distance
Jonathan Wardman
From Canterbury Gliding Club
500km Diamond Distance
Sebastian Kawa is currently in NZ
Showing some very lucky NZ pilots the kind of dedication it takes to be the worlds best
I asked some of those pilots to sum up their experience
Steve Foreman (Aviation Sports) says "Intense, full on, every second"
Murray Wardell (Auckland) "When I wasn't crapping my pants, I was taking photos. I took very few photos!"
Rob Lyon (Taupo) "Worth every second, unbelievable experience"
Derek Kraak (Canterbury) "Humbling, accurate, planning, outstanding ability to read the weather"
The Competition Scene
Multi-class Nationals Omarama
A great competition with 9 flying days out of 11 and some stunning high energy Omarama weather.
Congratulations to Nick Oakley for winning the Racing Class
Congratulations to Keith Essex for winning the Open Class
It's worth mentioning that on one of the days Keith recorded the fastest ever task speed at a Nationals. He covered 620km of an AAT task at an amazing 206kph!!
You can see the final results by clicking on the link below.
The real congratulations of course must go to the organisers at the Auckland Gliding Club for organising such an enjoyable well run, well sponsored event.
Alfa Romeo vs Jet Glider
A lesson in how to make your sponsor happy.
What have those youth been up to now...
Silver C Five Hours x 2
Wellington Gliding Club continues to lead the way in showing the rest of the country how to train and progress their youth.
Congratulations to Kieran Cassidy shown above and Maria Cramp below for both achieving their Silver badge 5 hour flights from Papawai on the 25th January. All done the proper way... in thermals.
Meet Dan and Norbert
Probably a bit older than your typical youth but by gliding standards they are still young fellas.
Norbert Scarlat (on the right) is from Romania and is an instructor for Glide Omarama (placed 6th in the last Standard Class World Championships in Ostrow, Poland with no less than 3 day wins!)
Dan McCormack (on the left) is from England and is the current CFI for Glide Omarama.
Dan and Norbert teamed up at the recent NZ Multi-Class Nationals and placed 2nd to Keith Essex.
Both a great example that shows if gliding is your passion you can make a full-time endeavour of it.
YGNZ member Josh Ferguson gets to spend a day flying with Sebastian Kawa
For the full story of Josh's day with Sebastian see the next issue of Soaring NZ
Photo of the month goes to Conal Edwards
Terry Delore heads north
It appears Terry Delore got a bit bored so he decided to jump in his ASH25 with John Ahearn and fly north to Taupo, hang out with some gliding types and see what the Sebastian fuss is all about.
Oddly enough it was a no fly contest day at Taupo due to the weather. Terry must have realised he was entering a contest area when the weather turned gloomy. Terry says it was a standard aerotow launch from Springfield, a short 500' climb to test the motor then bang, straight into 18 - 19kts of lift under the wave. 700km and 4.5hrs later they arrived in Taupo.
Thanks for reading till the cows come home
All contributions, pics, videos and opinions welcome
