Tim's Gliding Blog

Easterly Lee Wave off the Kaimais

21st June 2008 10:48PM

Towed to 2500' into the secondary wave, although it was very patchy

Slowly climbed to 4000'

Jumped across to the primary, which was stronger and rougher, although still not well defined.

Found the good lift, climbed to 6500' :)

Flight was in GXP, the clubs new Discuss B, and was up for about 1 and a half hours, then it started getting dark...

Looking towards TeAroha

The primary rotor, with wave cap on top

The secondary rotor middle left, kept changing but flying along the front worked

Better view of the secondary rotor line

http://gliding.wordjot.co.nz/posts/easterly-wave-off-the-kaimais/

Lots of Dust Devils

9th June 2008 12:12PM

Glider pilots everywhere can drool over this image...

From http://homepage.mac.com/pnaton/PhotoAlbum26.html

http://gliding.wordjot.co.nz/posts/lots-of-dust-devils/

Glider Pilot Training Course Looking for Participants

15th May 2008 9:41PM

MATAMATA, NEW ZEALAND - 15th May, 2008 - Piako Gliding Club is on the hunt for four budding glider pilots, to fill an upcoming 'learn to fly' gliding course starting on Saturday the 31st of May 2008.

Run over 6 consecutive Saturdays, the course aims to teach students everything they need to know to safely pilot a glider, from take off to landing. Subjects such as weather, ground handling of the gliders and safety aspects are taught by experienced instructors who kindly donate their time.

No previous flying experience is required. Ideal age range is 16 - 55. Weight limits for pilots are 50 to 110 kg.

"Learning to fly a glider is an amazing experience, and is surprisingly affordable." says Tim Bromhead, who participated in the course about 18 months ago.

The training course is just the beginning for pilots, who can go on to fly cross country, take passengers, learn glider acrobatics, or enter gliding competitions. Gliding can easily become a lifelong passion, with many of the Piako Gliding Club members flying for over 50 years.

The club owns a fleet of 5 gliders, including 2 trainers and a recently purchased competition class glider.

The course costs $350, plus flying costs, which are approximately $150-$200 per flying day, making gliding one of the most affordable ways to learn to fly an aircraft.

For bookings or more information contact course director Steven Care on 07 843 7654, or visit www.glidingmatamata.co.nz.

Piako Gliding Club flies most fine weather Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at Waharoa Airfield, just north of Matamata. Members of the public are welcome to visit or book a trial flight. More information can be found on our website www.glidingmatamata.co.nz

ENDS

Press Contact:
Tim Bromhead
phone 07 858 3595
mobile 021 217 9049

IMAGES

Keith & Bob CMYK JPEG 2.7MB

Caption: Instructor Bob Gray gives a pre flight briefing to a previous course student.

Steve & Emma CMYK JPEG 2.4MB

Caption: Instructor Steve Care and student Emma after her first flight.

http://gliding.wordjot.co.nz/posts/glider-pilot-training-course-looking-for-participants/

What really matters

2nd April 2008 10:39AM

Comments from a forum...

jessicaalbaboardde8.jpg

http://gliding.wordjot.co.nz/posts/what-really-matters/

Vintage Gliding Matamata 07 Video

3rd December 2007 4:17PM

http://gliding.wordjot.co.nz/posts/vintage-gliding-matamata-07/

North Island Regionals, November 07

28th November 2007 12:21PM

Not a lot of clouds in the sky...

Good times had by all

http://gliding.wordjot.co.nz/posts/north-island-regionals-november-07/

Cross Country Course, November 07

28th November 2007 12:18PM

Held at Matamata Airfield

Nice lineup

http://gliding.wordjot.co.nz/posts/cross-country-course-competition-grid/

Centreplace Stand

28th November 2007 11:38AM

We had this stand set up in Centreplace, central Hamilton, from 22nd to the 24th November 07

http://gliding.wordjot.co.nz/posts/centreplace-stand/

Logger Tracks in Google Earth

20th November 2007 10:47PM

Wouldn't it be nice to view your gliding track in the beautiful 3D high resolution Google Earth? gpsvisualizer.com converts the IGC files, produced by our club loggers, into Google Earth KMZ files. This can then be opened in Google Earth and visualised in 3D just like SeeYou.

Here's what it looks like:

Nice smooth ride down

How to escape from TeAroha 1000 feet: lots of circles

A number of settings on the gpsvisualizer google earth converter page need to be changed to produce the views above. Here's what I changed:
- Set Altitude mode to: "Absolute"
- Colorize by: "Altitude"
- "Draw a shadow" to 30% or what ever you like to see the ground track
- "Units" to US, to view in feet and miles (or should it be Nautical?)

Here's what the settings look like:

Settings set, click image for larger version

Here's the website link again: www.gpsvisualizer.com/map?form=googleearth

http://gliding.wordjot.co.nz/posts/club-logger-tracks-in-google-earth/

Perhaps one of the best gliding videos of all time

9th November 2007 1:37PM

http://gliding.wordjot.co.nz/posts/perhaps-one-of-the-best-gliding-videos-of-all-time/