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FLATTER THAN THE FLATLANDS 1996
The 4th annual Flatter than the Flatlands is over for another year and, yet again, I managed to avoid being lynched by an angry mob of pilots. Just as well because this year, with Team Heaney bringing an aerotow group from Canberra, we had the biggest turnout yet. So, there we were, a field of sixty-two of us out in the paddock on the first day. We checked out our dusty strips that occasionally meandered around pools of water that were lying about from the four inches of rain that fell there a few weeks before. Luckily hang glider pilots have a sense of humor (or they do at this comp. anyway!) Light and variable with scattered cu's was the order of the day and the task committee chose a 72km task to Warracknabeal. The conditions were deceptive and the Birchip area, looking as green as early spring, was not producing thermals as strongly as expected. The day became a real struggle with pilots strung out all along the course and no-one at goal.Still, the tas was probably achievable as Rohan (the gun) Holtkamp came within 7km and Geoff Coombs, in an incredible display of gutsy, no-nonsense, seat of the pants, take not prisoners, eat my dust flying landed half a kilometer behind Rohan. Anyone who needs a lesson on what classic pre-frontal conditions look like should have been out in the paddock on day two. It was what is known a a task committee's nightmare with a change, complete with a 90 deg windshift, forecast for mid afternoon. A task of 105km to Kow Swamp was called as the westerly began to pick up but not long after, as the thick high level cloud shut out the sun, it became apparent that this was an overcall. Considering the conditions, some people did quite well and made it out to Quambatook about 30km away. But alas the day was invalid. The front that ensued brought 10mm of rain during the night . Luckily there wasn't more as it rained as far north as Hay. About the only highlights of the next day were the epic volleyball match at the school gymnasium starring Rob "twinkle tows"Van der Klooster and the aerotowing at the airfield where Steve Blenkinsop and Tove flew out to Kerang on a day that proved to be very good for cross country if only you could get in the air.Saturday night in the pub we screened a very entertaining motivational video. It's amazing how many hang glider pilots know all the words to "Top Gun" off by heart! Possibly the free drinks helped their memories. The final day of the competition saw a fresh south westerly and a sky filled with cumulus. the task committee went into a huddle and came up with a town called Piangil 88km to the north on the Murray. Once again the thermal activity was more subdued than one would expect on an autumn day at Birchip but with a cloud base of 5000' (if you could get to it!)and streets forming later in the day, this time Beavo, Gary Fimeri and Wes got the task spot on. Seven pilots made it to goal. Three from Victoria and four from South Australia with Rohan once again coming in top spot. Tony Lowrey, A C-Grader from Victoria had a brilliant flight and came in just as the goal officials were about to leave giving him 8th place for the day. Trevor Sangster also did well, leaving the paddock very late after numerous equipment failures and still managing to get within 7km of goal. But for me , the highlight of the last day was the news that Adam Toogood proposed to Tanya as they were coming in to land after a cross country in the tandem together. Shucks, how romantic! So, not surprisingly, Rohan continued his incredible form and, despite being given the fright of his life on the first day by Coombsey, managed to hold on and win the competition. Of course the tragic news was that the evil empire triumphed over good old Victoria and the Challenge trophy has once again returned to South Australia. Wes was so upset that he didn't even work out the exact scores. I mean it's one thing to lose, but to lose to people like Gary Fimeri is just too much to take! Although the weather wasn't terribly kind to us this year, Birchip didn't let us down and we only lost one day of competition flying. Even on this day people flew cross country form aerotows while the competition paddock was still a bit wet for ground towing. Thanks everyone for being so cooperative and understanding of the conditions this year. Despite our less than perfect paddock we maintained our unblemished safety record. I really believe that there is a place for low key, enjoyable competitions. Not only because they remind us that hang gliding is supposed to be fun, but also because they provide a way for lesser experienced pilots to discover the benefits of competition without being too intimidated by all the technical restraints and stress of the major competitions. I think the popularity of competitions like this one are proof of it. Finally her are some of the more novel answers to our landing form question: "Explain why you aren't winning"
Adam and Tanya in the tandem:
Duncan Richardson
Rune Sorlie
Phil Schroeder
Peter Davies
Rob Van Der Klooster
Nick Dillane
Rohan Holtkamp
Thanks again to all our sponsors:
Peter Eicher and Flytec, Rohan Hotkamp's Dynamic Flight,
Until next year
Warwick Duncan
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