300km in the paddock weapon

Felix Harper

Youth Glide New Zealand, following their AGM last month has elected a new President. Congratulations Felix Harper on taking up the role. What better way to introduce Felix than by relaying his story of completing his 300km Gold Distance flight in the PW5, a glider he affectionately calls the 'paddock weapon'.

FAI Gold Distance in the Paddock Weapon - 16th Feb 2025

By: Felix Harper

Declared task: Omarama – Grampians – Mt. Pisgah – Dog Kennel Corner - Omarama (311km)

With my time as winch crew at Omarama due to finish in less than a week, I was keen to achieve my summer goal of a declared 300km flight in the PW5 (with a few attempts under my belt) and Sunday 16th February delivered. Having identified that convergence-dominated conditions with marked energy lines and light winds being ideal for the PW5’s capabilities.

The forecast a few days out didn’t look great, but the night before showed lighter winds and convergences forecast to the east of Omarama over the Two Thumbs/Grampian/Kirkliston/Kakanui mountains ranges.My confidence in the initially blue conditions was first fueled by a hearty pancake breakfast and bolstered just before takeoff by watching John Smith seemingly climbing for the stratosphere over Horrible in his LS3.

I took a winch launch at 12:44 and quickly climbed to 6000ft over Ladybird Hill before starting my task overhead the airfield. A few cumuli were starting to appear over the higher ranges but my track out to the first turnpoint at Grampians homestead was a bold venture into the blue, picking thermals from the hilltops on the way. Heading south I climbed to 8000ft staying in the convergence above the Grampians, only stopping to circle once at the north end of the Kirklistons and crossing the Waitaki Valley near Kurow directly on track for the Kakanuis. Climbing again at the south end of the St Marys range I had a falcon briefly circling with me (not sure why they were at 7000ft?)

Crossing the Waitaki near Kurow southbound

Things started to unravel slightly heading over Danseys Pass to the Mt. Pisgah turnpoint – on reflection the cooler NE wind pushing over the pass was influencing conditions more than I anticipated at the time and the cumulus line above the Kakanuis was only working sporadically. After clipping the TP sector I headed away from the ridge and found a few weak climbs over the flats, enough to get me to 6800ft. Here I should have recognised there was a marked convergence line streaming south from Mt Ida and headed straight for that, rather than taking the more direct route north into air that I knew was less thermally active.

Taking the direct route in the PW5 often doesn’t pay and I got flushed back out to the Maniototo. Now down to only 3000ft ASL (and the ground level below at 1200ft) I was keen to avoid a lengthy road retrieve.

Just climbing away near Ranfurly - phew

Fortunately I was able to maintain height in a few thermal bubbles drifting downwind to the convergence line – the joy I felt at finally circling in a solid 2kts and increasing was indescribable. From here it was back to 9000ft over Naseby and on track again.

The track north along the St Marys Range, across the Waitaki and along the Kirkliston Range was great fun, only circling in the hotspots of the convergence which was now stronger and well-marked. The next decision point lay at the north end of the Grampians where I could either continue ahead along a scrappy cloud line or divert west to a more clearly defined convergence over the Mackenzie basin – for the second time I chose the more direct route, and for the second time I wished I’d gone for the better-looking sky. I ended up doing figure-8s on the south end of the Two Thumbs in the NW wind blowing down Lake Tekapo to get back to cloudbase – but I’d got the last turnpoint sector and the only thing left to do was make sure I could get home.

Homeward bound from Mt Edward

I took one last climb to 9200ft over the Tekapo River and that was enough to cruise back to Omarama on final glide as the convergences died, landing at 17:37 with a grin that threatened to cause me an injury. It was an excellent way to cap off the season, and although I didn’t quite achieve it in under 300 hours total time as I’d originally hoped, it was my 300th flight in a glider so that will have to do instead.

Key takeaways:

• Again, stay where the energy is – especially in the PW5 – and don’t be afraid to deviate from course to do so.
• In many ways I was lucky to complete the task with a couple of challenging low points – though it was the culmination of multiple 300k attempts and showed the value of keeping on trying.
• Proper preparation and familiarity with the PW5 were invaluable, especially getting the seat comfort just right on previous flights, meaning I was well rested and alert the entire flight.