HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 17 March | April 2019 Borah, good climbs continued to 2500m and most flew SW towards Gunnedah under some spaceship looking (upper level wind blown) cumulus. The light regional convergence zone was split around Gunnedah as shown by a 20km blue hole, resulting in many low saves and landings around the 30/50km zone. Beyond there to the SW (Breeza, Tambar Springs) the day offered great conditions with a good spread of clouds and moderate climbs with light winds. The pilots who consistently used speedbar for glides and selected the best clouds for stronger lift made the most distance. The predicted late afternoon overdevelopment occurred at the trough line south of the Liverpool Ranges which cut the day short with most landing an hour before sunset. Best distance was 187km. 1 Tudor Dorobantu (ROM) UP Meru COMP 187 2 Jan Tupy (AUS) Zeno COMP 182 3 Dusan Papez (SLK) Ozone Zeno COMP 171 4 Brandon O'Donnell (AUS) Advance, Sigma 10 SPORT169 5 Godfrey Wenness (AUS) Advance Omega XAlps2 XC 164 42Heinz Neubauer (AUT) Advance Epsilon7 FUN 69 Day 4: 29 January Similar conditions to the previous day, with northerly winds on launch and lighter SE-NE winds aloft, typical for a trough situation. Some high level cirrus fields created shadowed areas and added to the XC decisionmaking mix later in the day. Luckily the atmosphere was relatively unstable and the shadows slowed down what was potentially overdevelopment in the SW area of the region. Many pilots who launched later were caught with variable winds and found themselves chasing tailwinds around the Gunnedah/Boggabri area. Those with more conviction flew SW towards Coonabarabran and were rewarded with good tailwind and even some 40km long cloud streets for classic dolphin flying. Comp Class gliders dominated the Top 5 with the best being 250km to Gilgandra. 1 Jan Tupy (AUS) Zeno COMP 250 2 Kjell-Harald Nesengmo (NOR) Ozone Enzo3 COMP 233 3 Rafael Esquillaro (AUS) Gin Boomerang 11 COMP 223 7 LingFei Yang (CHN) Boomerang GTO2 XC 161 8 Pak Shing Ho (HKG) Gin Bonanza 2 SPORT 154 64Yun Po Li (HKG) Phi Symphonia FUN 45 Day 5: 30 January The high cloud from the previous day set in over the region with some blue gaps coming. The wind was N-NE with a route to the south via Lake Keepit into the Breeza plains and beyond. It didn’t look like an XC day at all. Timing, knowing when to slow down for the shadows, and patience were the keys to a successful flight. Inspired by the previous days climbs and 200km plus XCs in the shadows, most pilots launched after midday once the day heated up and thermals were more consistent. Regular 4-5m/sec climbs were on offer in the right place and time, leading to smaller cumulus forming at 2500m. However, these were balanced by many drifting zeroes and 0.1s low down, needing solid concentration until they kicked off. Despite the high cirrus cover, the top pilots on Comp Class gliders managed to fly almost 200km and well into the Hunter Valley, landing at Muswellbrook after nearly seven hours in the air. Many pilots flew over 100km, but also many bombed out at Mt Borah or after just one glide. 1 Dorobantu Tudor (ROM) Up Meru COMP 193 2 Eduardo Senger (AUS) Ozone, Zeno COMP 190.4 3 Ashley Mcmillan (AUS) Gin Explorer SPORT 171 5 Anesh Narsai (NZD) Omega XAlps 2 XC 131 14 Tungsang Ng (HKG) Nova FUN 50 Day 6: 31 January A fully high cirrus shadowed out day greeted the pilots, with NE winds switching to SW after midday. Some of the top pilots decided to have a rest day in preparation for expected record conditions on Friday and Saturday. There was good instability forming cumulus at 2500m and tempting many for an XC to see what could be done. Most pilots flew north, but a few who launched early went east towards Bendemeer and then Armidale. A 15km cloud street formed from launch to the infamous Tarpoly sink hole which didn’t disappoint. Those who managed to get around it found consistent climbs and by the end of the day some reached 3200m. Best distance was 118km On glide with a friend Morning briefing On glide with the gaggle All photos: Godfrey Wenness Conan Burch near Gunnedah