THE THIRD ANNUAL FLATTER THAN THE FLATLANDS,
BETTER THAN THE BOGONG, CHEAPER THAN CANUNGRA,
EASTER HANG GLIDING COMPETITION
This years competition began very promisingly with a full field of 51
Victorians and South Australians and some glorious Autumn weather.
Out in the paddock a few heads were turned suspiciously skywards at what
appeared to be a pleasant but very inverted day. But as a few dust devils
churned past and people began to climb out at around midday, the 69km task
didn't appear so silly after all. Conditions in the air were typical of
Autumn at this time of year. 400-600fpm climbouts in some of the smoothest
lift imaginable and long glides with only light to moderate sink. Sixteen
pilots made it to the goal at Beulah West after a couple of hours in the air.
Day two began unfolding like one of those days you dream about but rarely
see. Cumulus began forming in the west and soon spread right across the sky.
With a predicted top temperature of 29 degrees it looked like a classic.
The task committee bit the bullet and declared a 130km task to Landsborough
- the longest ever for this Autumn competition. North of Donald the
conditions were superb with pilots reporting lift even as high as 1000fpm
at times. However, continuing south from Donald the lift became dramatically
lighter making it a struggle to stay airborne. In the end only Paul Kelley
made it in to goal. Ironically he had the whole goal esky to himself but
doesn't drink! Many people flew personal bests on this day including
Pat Finch's first 100km+ flight!
Day three, well what can I say? I guess it began about 4am when an upper
level trough brought in some huge thunderstorms and the ensuing gust front
blew down half the tents in town. The trough then made way for a cold front
that stretched all the way to Alice Springs and by 8.00 am it was pouring
and blowing about forty knots. The rain didn't let up until about 3.00 pm
by which time about an inch of rain had fallen in the area. It must be said
that at this point one team of non-believers headed for home.
But as we've known for some time, this 'aint your average paddock and, as
the owner had promised, the tow strips were indeed driveable the next
morning. And, by the end of the day, the cars were once again kicking up
dust. Trevor Sangster will probably attest to this having his glider picked
and cartwheeled by a dust devil during the afternoon. Still, conditions were
very light. Make that very, very light. The window was also very short and
a number of pilots ended up towing up and down in glassy stable air. Mind
you there was virtually no sink anywhere and this is what enabled pilots to
glide as far as they did from the 4000 ft cloudbase. Peter Davies and
Rohan Holtkamp were the only pilots to make the 65km goal on this last day.
In the end (as it always seems to in Hang Gliding comps.) it came down to
consistancy and Rohan certainly was that. Unfortunately the rest of us
Victorians couldn't quite match him and consequently the Victorian/South
Australia Challenge Trophy is heading west for the next 12 months.
Congratulations to not only the winners but also to all those pilots who
flew personal bests and even to those who just had fun. Thankyou, everyone,
for maintaining our perfect safety record.
On this third year of the competition we finally lost a day to the weather.
Still, the 3 days we did have were all worth 1000 points and a lot of the
credit for that goes to the task committee of Alan Beavis,Wes Hill and
Gary Fimeri.
This year we had $2300-00 worth of prizes with only $1840-00 in entries due
mainly to the incredible generosity of our sponsors. Anyone who has had
to run a hang gliding competition in Australia must be impressed at just
how willing manufacturers and dealers are to sponsor them. I would like
to take this opportunity to thank anyone who has ever sponsored a
competition. Those of us who run them are greatly indebted to you.
Thanks must go to the following people:
Peter Eicher and Flytec- for the donation of prizes in excess of $1200-00
Moyes Gliders- for supplying a full face helmet
Aussie Born- for the third year in a row giving us the
world's best on deal on a flying
suit
Dynamic Flight- for their ever reliable support of this
competition although this year Rohan
probably made a profit since he won the Flytec 3030 instruments for first
prize!
Enterprise Wings- for flying gloves, speed sleeves, t-shirts etc.
Airborne- for lots of t-shirts and stuff for daily prizes
Thanks must go to Britta, our trusty goal official, who I'm sure will be
competing next year. Thanks also to Ian Mc Clelland, Birchip Lions Club,
Birchip School and everyone else who I'm sure I've forgotten.
See you next year!
Warwick Duncan (Meat Head)
Results:
1. Rohan Holtkamp 2750
2. Paul Kelley 2479
3. Peter Hood 2450
4. Garry Fimeri 2325
5. Peter Davies 2325
6. Warwick Duncan 2304
7. Alan Beavis 2295
8. George Kambas 2263
9. Brent Telford 2256
10. Steve Blenkinsop 2202
South Australia 12265
Victoria 11937
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