HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 15 March | April 2018 wing’s interaction with the air. Every variation, swirl and thermic effect upon the air the wing touches can be felt through the hands upon the basebar – the pilot’s only point of contact with the wing. The hang glider can vastly alter airspeed from as low as 10kt to a high of 70kt and can alter direction like a swallow. This, combined with its large +Ve and -Ve ‘G’-capacity ensure hang gliders stand out in the world of soaring aircraft. On top of this, they are very transportable. I have taken many types of hang gliders with me to various international championships. When packed down to check-in luggage size it costs only a standard economy ticket (with the right airline). When I reach my destination, it can be placed upon any (rental) car – providing you have a spare jumper or two for padding and several tie down straps. What’s your favourite destination to fly and why? The factors that contribute to making a flying destination a favourite for me are: the convenience to get to the location, the convenience of landing at launch, thermals or no thermals, scenery, safe landing options, arial traffic, airspace limits, ridge lift, altitude gain potential, cross-country ease, reliability of getting airborne and off-day tourism options. The most scenic areas to fly can be found in the European Alps The best of these have many variations of green, bodies of snow and water and different mountain types, but these places can be inconvenient to get to from Australia, have small landing zones and more rainy days per season. We have some excellent scenic coastal launches right here in Australia, why go overseas if scenic flight is your priority? If you want to maximise thermal soaring airtime over any given week, I believe the flatland areas of Australia offer unparalleled reliability, convenience and safety. Don’t go seeking peak-summer thermals the first time out on the flats. Instead, ease into it and start on a few autumn, winter or spring weekends first. Your thermal catching skills will improve every minute you stay aloft and when you don't, your take-offs and landings skills will. In summertime, if you want to maximise your smooth-air time and cater for family interests, coastal sites are the go! First, pick one with good starting altitude, 15kt sea-breezes, minimal traffic and a big landing area. Get 50 hours in easy conditions before you start working lower dunes and lighter conditions. My favourite local site is Ben Nevis, Victoria, because it ticks most of my priority criteria: It’s close to home, I can fly XC back to my farm, it has a safe launch and landing, the height potential is excellent, it’s also scenic and reliable, with little traffic, and there are many other launch options nearby if the wind is not from the correct quadrant. Your longest flight on your record? My longest flight to date is 532km. This took me 10 hours and 19 minutes – an entire summer’s day of thermal soaring due to the conditions not being very special. I believe I can improve on this given better weather lining up on the several days I have free. I require higher cloudbase, some cloud streets, more wind at altitude and more land-able countryside 600km out from launch. Your most daring flight endeavour? I've held quite a fewWorld records over the years for speed over distance over out-and-return courses. These were done during the mid-1990s along the Great Australian Bight where sheer cliffs meet the Southern Ocean swell and there are no beaches or bottom landings. It’s probably amongst the most remote places to soar on the planet! The waters have a good number of Great White sharks in them, so many see this as a daring flight endeavour. I don’t view it that way as flying along the Bight I have always had enough lift, airspeed and altitude to gross the gaps whilst retaining the ability to land on top. Your proudest competition achievement and why? I think winning the Bogong Cup was my proudest comp achievement. I flew a king-posted glider amongst a field of 100 or so competitors, which included the top half-dozen pilots in the world, some on topless gliders. The last day of the meet I chose my own route to goal and won the day to leapfrog into first place. In your opinion, what three skills do you require to become a successful hang gliding instructor? To be a successful instructor, you need to know how to convey information succinctly. In other words, how to teach. This is a skill rarely found at a high level in those without a teaching or coaching degree. Completing such a degree is your first step to becoming a successful flight instructor. The Australian Institute of Sport has an excellent coaching degree system. Start with level one and pursue to level two: Olympic standard coach. Being a qualified teacher/coach is all good and fine, but one also requires knowledge of the subject matter and a high level of personal skills and better decision-making skills to make the leap to becoming a successful instructor. The most rapid way to gain knowledge and a high level of personal skill is to compete. Do at least two seasons at a world-class level. This may cost time and money, but on the circuit you will build knowledge, personal and better decision-making skills more rapidly than you can anywhere else. At the very least, you may discover a little humility – also a quality of a good coach. Third, but not least, one must know how to run a business successfully to be successful at the business of instructing. There are plenty of unsuccessful coaches out there and you will find most never planned to fail, but most failed to plan. Complete a business degree, it will guide you on a path to good planning, good people manage- ment, good marketing, good attitude and ultimately, success. Hands on instructor, FAI record holder and still smiling after all these years Photos: Courtesy Rohan Holtkamp