HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 27 July | August 2019 It didn’t stop raining till around 5pm, but it made for one hell of a sunset. The accommodation on site is fantastic – single or double bedrooms with small ensuite, a large deck for relaxing and sharing tales of epic flights, a great little camp kitchen – all a stone’s throw away from the training hills and tow areas. Sunday, 31 March A sleep in before brekkie at the camp kitchen. The weather looked perfect for a fly and Lisa suggested we contact the Canungra Club SSO. Craig and I were keen to fly Mt Tamborine and I had my gliders, however, Craig was borrowing a glider for the week and it hadn’t arrived yet. I offered him my spare – an old XT165 – and off we headed. We stopped at the LZ first to check the lay of the land, then headed to launch. On arrival, it was definitely ‘on’. The hill was packed with spectators and a long line of paragliders waiting to launch. We wormed our way through the crowd and met SO Walt who was directing pilots for launch. He gave us a warm welcome and was happy to see some hang gliders amongst all the PGs. After a site briefing, we set up and prepared for launch. This was to be my very first inland flight. I took up flying in 2002 and flew coastal for three years before packing the glider away for the next 10 years due to family and life in general. After re-entering the sport in 2016, I still only flew coastal sites – the whole world of thermalling was virgin territory for me. However, you can learn anything from YouTube these days. I launched in one of the last few cycles before the breeze switched and started coming over the back. I went straight out, hoping for that shrill tone from my 6030 to take me skywards. Nothing... I was sinking. I’d been warned to head towards the LZ if I got below the mid-tree line and that’s where I was now, so off I headed. Next, my vario came to life and I started turning. Up and up. Was this really happening? Yes, I’m thermalling... Up and up, in and out of lift, trying to find the centre, but still going up. I topped out at 5500ft and headed along the ridge searching for more. I was loving it! I watched as Craig made a perfect landing in the lower LZ as I headed out from the hill into the valley. A few more good climbs later, I decided to put down also. Flying on the coast, I was used to short landings into headwind. That wasn’t the case here and as luck would have it, the wind switched as I came into final to a slight tailwind. A long glide, overshooting the fence at the end of the paddock, I landed on the other side with my foot in a hole. Not the most graceful landing, but after a 1.5- hour inland flight I was stoked. Back home at the ‘Sky Ranch’, we prepped our harnesses and went through some theory with Lisa for the next day’s towing course. Monday, 1 April With an early start we all headed to the training area, a few hundred metres from our on site cabin. The Sky Sports facility is right alongside a massive turf farm, providing a perfect tow location. With our gliders set up, we all started with Lisa’s floater Aerotow training Steve McCarthy L-R: Lisa Bradley, Craig Manktelow, Steve McCarthy, Peter Tolhurst, Piers Throssell, Tony Cross All photos: Peter Tolhurst