HGFA Skysailor Magazine

2 SKY SAILOR March | April 2018 Vale Emma Martin It’s with mixed feelings that I say welcome to 2018 to all our members. On the one hand some wonder- fully conducive flying conditions in different parts of Australia have seen a plethora of long distance flights. On the other hand, the recent passing of HG pilot Emma Martin at Forbes desperately saddened all who knew her and provided a brutally stark and unforgiving reminder of the ever-present risk we all face as we pursue our passion for flight. Going the distance We’ve seen a raft of personal best flights and new records in recent weeks. PG pilot Shane Gingell from South East Queensland has been quietly spending time in Dalby in pursuit of long distance and recently set a personal best of 332.3km. At the same time, Jan Tupy was setting a new site and NSW record with 391.69km from Manilla. This followed his November site and Queensland record from Beechmont of 376.29km. However, both distances were overshadowed by Alex Yaschenko, who launched near Bright (VIC) on 1 January and landed north west of Gundagai (NSW) – a huge 494.55km from launch – to set a new Australian record. Congratulations to all those pilots who have taken advantage of some wonderful flying days to chalk up big distance flights. Flying at Forbes and Corryong The Forbes Flatlands has been run and won and you can read some of the pilots’ insights in the following pages of this edition of SkySailor. Congratulations to Open Class winner Rory Duncan, who managed to pip Jonny Durand by one point, with Josh Woods finishing third. In Sports Class, Peter Garrone, Leon Brown and Scott Ireland filled the placings. The Flow Corryong PG Open affords some of the most enjoyable mountain and flatland flying in the country. Although January’s event saw the first two days canned due to weather, the pilots managed to get five tasks in overall across the eight event days. The comp was run with the usual utmost professionalism, which allowed all competitors to have an enjoyable and safe competition. Well done to all the pilots who gave it their all. In February, all eyes will be on Bright, Victoria, as the Bright Open is immediately followed by the exciting PWC Bright event. That this event is being held in Australia is a wonderful thing for our sport and the PG community in particular. Congratulations must go to all involved in securing and organising the event and we hope for superb conditions so that the very best of our sport can be showcased. Later, not too far away in April, the Dalby Big Air will take centre stage as this extremely popular event rounds out a busy few months of summer competition activity. Have a great 2018 and fly safe. by Paul Green, HGFA President President’s Update Heading north over Mt Buffalo Chalet, January 2018 Photo: John Chapman Forms and Documents HGFA Documents are now available in the Member Zone of the HGFA website [www.hgfa.asn.au ]. To access them select and then select ‘ Documents ’ in the left-hand menu. These documents are constantly being updated, so download them as you need them. DO NOT save them for later use. The office will not accept outdated forms. Documents available to the general public will be accessible on the website, in a separate area, shortly. HGFA Office Manager Photo: John Chapman