Bluff to Auckland

Aotearoa: Land of the long white cloud. New Zealand

When we fly Sailplanes long distances around FAI triangles or out and return flights as pilots we achieve a great deal because we have declared our waypoints and tested our skills interpreting weather forecasts and finding the way to achieve the task in flight, rather than aimlessly bouncing up and down energy lines without prior planning. This requires a good understanding of weather systems and task planning, and if successful we gain knowledge to pass on to others.

However this flight flight does not conform to FAI rules or conform to any record it is simply a flight to capture the imagination of the public to show what a Sailplane can do in New Zealand, most people can understand the scale of Invercargill our Southern most city to Auckland our Largest city in the North Island over a Thousand kilometres away.

Pilot notes.

Ten days before the flight I was watching a North West weather system  approaching that might support a soaring flight from Bluff to Auckland on the long days of summer.

Detailed notes and a request for advice was sent to Air traffic control headquarters who agreed to do their best to work with us on the flight.

The original plan is to fly with our daughter Abbey but she is busy helping friends shift house and agrees Paul Schneider should be co pilot on this attempt.

19th December 2020 take off Omarama 5.15 am at first light. 

Sailplane ash25mi Zulu Foxtrot

Terry Delore & co pilot Paul Schneider.

North West wave system forecast to cover the South Island with the cold front on the South coast by 9-1000 hrs the same time as our arrival at Bluff just South of Invercargill.

Very poor early morning soaring conditions around Omarama did not produce lift above 8500 ft so we headed South to St Bathans contacting the wave lift from 5500ft, from here we continued South in the Dunstan Wave past Alexandra into the Garvie wave climbing to 24,000 ft allowing a slow glide down the Waimea plains over Invercargill towards Bluff on the South coast of New Zealand.

Approaching Bluff about 300k South of Omarama  cloud rapidly formed and the  temperature dropped. 

We were at 17-18,000 ft this was the frontal cloud closing in and at these lower latitudes it closes in fast as I have experienced in the past,  had we been 15 minutes later it would have been game over.

We headed North with one turn point behind us  Paul announced its only 1056 km to (Drury) Auckland Gliding club!

As we turned and headed North the wave system rapidly collapsed all the lenticular clouds lost their crisp clean edges and cloud at mid levels formed, these conditions chased us up the South Island making progress slow.

 We only just managed to get out of the Waikaia valley descending to 6500 over Roxburgh before contacting wave again for a slow climb.

Just North of Omarama we contacted good wave in the Dobson valley allowing a climb back to 15,000 ft and onto to the Mighty Mt Cook wave and the North West Arch which stretched all the way up the South Island hovering above the Main divide of the Southern Alps.

We floated along under the edge of high vale of the Circus cloud marking rising air feeding the Arch where we settled into a slow cruise in silk smooth air about 65 - 70 knots indicated this gave us a ground speed of 190 kph so with no turns we were soon looking down on the Nelson lakes, Nelson City and the Marlborough Sounds. 

Paul and I were sharing the flying and making steady progress and so far complying with my flight plan estimated times given to Air traffic control. This flight plan was distributed to all sector controllers so we would not be an unwanted surprise popping into their air space when they were already busy with Airline traffic.

From Nelson area  we needed another few thousand feet to contact the high lenticular clouds over Blenheim were we would climb and position ourselves for the Cook Straight crossing so I started East when Paul pointed out the obvious good lenticular just a mile or so from where we were, this was a critical point of the flight as we needed the climb to stay in the wave system that was not working down low. I missed seeing this lenticular good job Paul.

We managed another 2 or 3 thousand feet climbing in Paul's wave and headed out over Blenheim from here the view was simply stunning 360 degrees of majestic Marlborough Sounds, Nelson, Wellington back along our highway of Arch wave it was simply an Awesome site to see. 

Paul came to New Zealand to look around and was not complaining with this view. 

 Paul is a very competent and qualified composite engineer who helped me on some projects and is being thanked with mountain and wave flying in the ASH25.

We tracked into a good wave just over the North East Coast by Blenheim and climbed to just over 20,000 feet before talking with the controller to request a convenient crossing time that fitted in with their traffic, the reply came back Zulu foxtrot cleared as requested and we will move the traffic around you.

  ATC were nothing short of Awesome!

Brilliant!  We were off on the down wind dash of 90 km contacting broken wave passing the Southern tip of the North Island 'Turakirae Head' where the wind doesn’t just blow it Howls ripping water off the sea surface in a North Wester.

The wave up the Wairarapa valley in the lee of the Rimutaka, Tararua, Ruahine and Kaweka ranges (love the Maori names) was low turbulent and a breaking wave due to a wind shear at 8-9000 feet it was to be a final glide out towards Taupo gliding club so over the Rangitaiki air strip we started the motor and took a climb which got us past Matamata where in late afternoon thermals we drifted slowly toward Drury over green rolling cow country. 

We started the day dressed fairly lightly became frozen in Southern latitudes at 24,000 ft now in warm sunny humid air we were pleased we are not wearing flying suits and several layers of clothing. 

We have been in the crystal clear air of the Southern Alps where the views seemed endless and now in the evening haze.

If we had better conditions further South and been 2 hours quicker we may have been able to take thermals and complete the flight without using the engine, but hay we have soared from Omarama to Bluff and just short of Taupo so we are happy with that.

Paul is over 6 foot tall or 183 cm and was still comfortable and walking straight when we arrived at Drury, well done Paul.

 Some say that you have to have a lot of passion for what you are doing and it’s totally true.

 And the reason is because it's so hard that if you don’t any rational person would give up. 

Flight time 13 hours and 32 minutes, 1300 km soaring before having to start engine and total distance approx. 1650 km.

The message is to anyone reading this is "Giddy up get into planning something to test your self” 

On this flight we did not fail we just didn’t quite succeed this time. 

Thanks to the great welcoming team on arrival at Drury and for your hospitality.

The next attempt will be with Daughter Abbey on the next suitable North Wester.