Above the Kaimais: Climbing to FL251

The morning over Tauranga began bright and deceptively calm once a few rain showers had passed through. A hard, glassy blue stretched above the Kaimai Range, with little hint of what was waiting higher up. Twenty minutes after release, though, the first soft ripples of wave began to register on the vario. Soon after, a pale lens of cloud edged into view, a lenticular anchored just east of the ridge under a gentle southwesterly flow.

Flying the Schempp-Hirth Duo Discus (ZK-GRZ), I launched to 4,000 ft behind the towplane into what felt like distinctly average air. Establishing in the wave demanded patience. For close to half an hour the sky stayed stubbornly blue while the air quietly organised itself. Only as the wisps aligned and formed the first cleanly shaped lenticular sharpened did the wave reveal its full structure, a reminder that in gliding, persistence and patience often earn the best dividends. What begins as marginal turbulence can build into something far more powerful and defined.

From 1,500 ft I was already in contact with Bay Approach. Tauranga's controlled airspace begins low, so the entire climb required ongoing coordination. Working among Air New Zealand traffic in the high teens added complexity, but clear communication kept it smooth. It was a good example of how well gliders can operate in busy airspace when everyone stays ahead of the plan.

Once centred, the climb averaged 3 to 4 knots through the lower levels, with peaks touching close to 10 knots in places. It eased further through the mid-levels, and it would have been easy to conclude the day was fading. But above 15,000 ft the lift rebuilt to around 4 to 5 knots. The lift profile was not linear, and sitting through the soft patch eventually paid off.

The air was perfectly laminar, the silky smoothness that is so unique to wave soaring. Smooth does not mean easy, though. Higher up, the workload climbed with it: oxygen management, radio calls, cold, and constant scanning all demanding attention at once.

From 17,000 ft I was running both a cannula and a constant-flow mask in parallel, verified by a pulse oximeter holding steady at 98%. The numbers were reassuring. Subjective feel at altitude can be unreliable, which is exactly why the objective data matters. A touch of sharpened alertness confirmed that the system was working.

Up, up and away. Ben on his way to 25,000'

The climb continued past 23,000 ft, though the rate tapered off to 2 to 3 knots. The focus shifted from chasing height to staying within sensible limits. At minus 31°C, the cold became the primary constraint. Multiple layers helped, but extremities numbed quickly. Plastic bags over my shoes, a tip from Justin Wills, worked extremely well to combat the encroaching cold, and gloves followed shortly after. At these levels, the pilot becomes the limiting factor well before the glider does.

Ben with plastic bags on his feet to help ward off the cold.

The flight topped at FL251 (25,100 ft), confirmed on the transponder by Bay Approach. With lift softening and the cold biting harder, it felt right to stop there.

The descent was smooth, and the warmth crept back in steadily below the cloud base.

Flights like this are often measured by peak altitude, but the reality is subtler. Success came from dozens of quiet decisions: trusting a weak start, coordinating early, building redundancy into the oxygen system, verifying rather than assuming, and respecting the environment that made the flight possible. The day gave exactly what it should, a high, hard-earned climb above the Kaimais, and another lesson in patience, planning, and what becomes possible when everything aligns.

Ben with Tauranga instructor Ross Scholes and mum Abbey as support crew

A new app coming soon.

Want to save considerable, time, effort and valuable volunteer resource at your club? Would automated flight recording linked to your clubs accounting software save your club time and money? Don't worry, help is on the way in the form of a new app run easily from your club members mobile phones. To find out more come to the GNZ AGM & Symposium in Christchurch in June where a presentation will reveal more details and answer questions from clubs. In the meantime below is a sneak peak video to wet your appetite.

Following last months destructive break in and theft of vital club equipment Kaikohe has some more positive news to report.

This Year’s Winter Maintenance.

Winter is on the way, time to plan your gliders winter maintenance requirements, I suggest contacting your engineer and making your arrangements early, don't be the one to leave it all until November when the soaring conditions arrives, if your aircraft happens to required extra maintenance or replacement items better to be dealing with that during the winter months rather than trying to sort it at the end of the year when things always get more difficult..

It is worth taking a longer look around our aircraft and pay a bit more attention to those small items that have been getting over looked and may have always "been that way"..

· That stick grip which is loose..

· That tail wheel which has been stiff for a while..

· That slow leak in the main wheel..

· That Mylar seal which is old and protruding into the airflow rather than providing a seal..

· Those cockpit placards which are so old and unreadable..

· That area of corrosion on the control rods..

· That area of cracking Gelcoat..

· Canopy latches which are too hard/too soft to operate..

Make a list with your Engineer to ensure items get seen to correctly.

A few items where your glider may require attention this year.

Mylar Seals and Hinges:

Many of our gliders are covered with sealing tapes and Mylars seals, makes our surfaces smooth and pretty. But difficult to access hinges which should be inspected and lubricated annually, pretty easy to skip it and do it next year..

As pilots you may not know this is slowly taking place, un-lubricated hinges will make the control forces heavier over time, you may not even notice over a long period of time.

I suspect there will be a number of aircraft around which will be suffering from this problem.

Control Cables:

Pay particular attention to the control cables, rudder and tow release cables etc, some of these can be difficult to inspect. Some aircraft will have their tow release cables operated several thousand times a year..

Pilot Harness set:

Anyone ever removed their harness set for cleaning? You may be surprised how dirty they are when soaked in a bucket of soapy water.

Require replacement or re- webbing every 12 years, this is specified in the GNZ TC 22 maintenance Schedule which your glider is maintained to, for gliders from approx 1980s onwards the Harness sets are a certified life item of 12 years, this is referred to within the gliders documentation, Maintenance Manual etc, for the older aircraft the documentation may not exist or the Maintenance Manuals may not be specific so the TC 22 Schedule confirms the 12 year life limit requirement.

It is quite likely that if a glider is still fitted with the older type harness set which has the sliding over locking lap pin (dating back to the 1970s) these will not be suitable for re-webbing and should have been replaced, if they haven't been they should be.

Wheel brakes:

Wheel brake not as effective last season? Report this to your engineer as it is not always possible to test the effectiveness of these in a workshop environment. Probably time for a service, fit new brake shoes or pads, the pads become hard and glazed with time making them less effective, change of the fluid in the hydraulic systems or replacements of the operating cables in the drum brake systems.

Instrument Panels:

Has you glider developed a bird’s nest of wiring behind the panel? Instrument panel looking a bit messy due to instrument changes, could be time for that tidy up?

Oxygen Systems:

Cylinders and regulators due for service or testing?

The below Airworthiness Circular has a good amount of information regarding this and use of the systems.

https://gliding.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/currentdoc/AC3-07.pdf

The following cylinder information is relevant to a lot of glider oxygen systems.

​ Cylinder type:
​AL, (Aluminum cylinders), need hydro testing done once every 5 years and do not expire as long as they pass testing.
​
​CFF-480, (Glass Fiber Filament Composite), need to be hydro tested once every 3 years and have a 15 year life limit.
​
​CFFC, (Carbon Fiber Filament Composite), need hydro testing once every 5 years and have a 15 year life limit.
​
​KF, (Kevlar Fiber Filament composite), need hydro testing once every 5 years and have a 15 year life limit.
​
​On all cylinders, testing intervals start from the date of manufacture which is on the cylinder.

Weight and Balance:

Have you or your glider been slowly gaining weight? Your aircraft may not have been weighed for quite some time and if you’re looking for some soaring improvements next season a new W/B may be of benefit.

While confirming a cockpit weight range ensure to refer to the Max weight of the Non lifting parts (fuselage+equipment+tailplane+pilot) as the total allowable weight of this will in quite a few cases require the max allowable cockpit load to be reduced. This will have an effect on the older generation of gliders due to repairs/repainting/extra equipment installed, and is quite often overlooked.

Polishing:

Planning in polishing your glider? Stay away from the Silicon / Teflon based type polished, these can make any future painting / gel-coating works problematic, typical polishing creams are the way to go, check with your engineer if you are seeking any "how to" advice.

Trailering:

For those of you who leave your gliders in trailers over winter, it could be worthwhile putting a couple of containers of Damprid into your trailer to help reduce the amount of moisture covering all the surfaces for the next few months, one in the cockpit could be a good idea in those damp regions. That moisture can cause quite a bit of corrosion and mould to form.

For those of you who would like to know more about your responsibilities or be more involved in your glider maintenance talk with your engineer, there is also a useful Airworthiness Circular available on the GNZ website, link is below.

https://gliding.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/currentdoc/AC3-15.pdf

Jason Shields

National Airworthiness Officer

Ridge Flying

Very light wind onto the ridge forces you to be low and slow to maintain height. Are you ready for what's around the corner...

Here is the fourth in our series of safety videos created with support from the NZAF and the CAA.

Since the first gliding fatality in New Zealand in 1961, records indicate that approximately 70% of all our fatalities involve the pilot in command being for whatever reason, too low and too slow, leading to some kind of stall / spin, impact into terrain. These accidents have occurred after aerotow upsets, winch launch upsets, low level thermalling, ridge flying, outlandings, home field landings and final glides. It is likely, that in almost all of these cases if the pilot in command had maintained a safe speed near the ground then most of them would have lived to tell the tale.

GNZ Classifieds

Mini Nimbus C - a very tidy, very affordable glider, comp ready

Meticulously cared for by owner since 1990. Very low time (1600 hours TT), no damage history.

Light carbon fibre wings (190L capacity), Trig TT22 transponder (ADS-B out), Flarm Power Mouse, Flarm LED display, LX-NAV S80 electronic vario/nav/final glide computer, Ilec extended length TE probe, panel-mounted Oudie 2, new Winter altimeter, Winter mechanical vario, turn & bank, twin LIFePO batteries with twin chargers, Mountain High Ox system, Dittel FSG40S radio.

Good tow-out gear, full set outdoor covers, indoor covers, tie-downs, water meter, wing stands.

Imported Karl Pheifer GRP body trailer in as-new condition – always garaged.

This glider has a roomy cockpit & everything for cross country soaring or competitions. Open to trade.

$35,000

Contact Information

Contact: Peter Wooley
​Phone: 021 170 2009

For more gliders and other gliding stuff you can check out the GNZ classifieds at the link below.

https://gliding.co.nz/classifieds/