HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 9 March | April 2019 I have enjoyed all of my cross-country flights with one of my bucket list goals being met on a 120km flight from Barcaldine (QLD) flying north- west to Longreach. Since I started flying, I have wanted to fly into Longreach and park next to the old Qantas jumbo at the QANTAS founders’ museum and take a selfie. When weather permits, I love to fly along the sand dunes and beaches. I have flown along the isolated beaches of the Mid North Coast of NSW and also took my Vlite with me on a road trip to the Great Ocean Road and flew at Apollo Bay in Victoria. My flying buddy Richard Warren-Smith has flown with me along the beach from Old Bar to Diamond Head (NSW) and back – 110km of beach and sand dunes. Dune flying at its best, being able to ridge soar along sand dunes and then power up and climb a few hundred or even a few thousand feet, and then come back down for some variety. A lot of my powered airtime happens when no one else is flying, due lack of wind or thermals, but it’s certainly suitable for the Vlite. A joint venture between our State Association (NSWHPA) and our Newcastle Hang Gliding Club developed a purpose-built airfield for powered hang gliders and powered paragliders near Kurri Kurri in the lower Hunter Valley. Whilst many of my hang gliding and paragliding friends are grounded when there’s not enough wind on the coast, I’m flying my Vlite. Recently, on just one such day I flew in a 110km circle from the airfield, across to the Hexham wetlands, over to Newcastle harbour, then down the beaches to the southern end of Newcastle and back across Lake Macquarie to the airfield. It’s great to do a nice two-hour flight and land back at the start, pack up and drive home. Perhaps my most memorable powered flight was on New Year’s Eve 2016. With a light south- easterly sea-breeze blowing late in the day, I took off from Smithies airfield in the Hexham wetlands of Newcastle and flew over the city towards the coast with the intention of doing circles over the coastal park where some of my friends were gathering for the new year festivities. When I was just about there, a low sea cloud formed and blew in Above the inversion at Gulgong My New Year’s Eve glory