HGFA Skysailor Magazine

12 SKY SAILOR May | June 2018 What first prompted your interest in flight? In 1977, a friend who had completed a hang gliding course asked me to assist when he went flying. I ended up having a few runs down the sand dunes myself and became absolutely hooked! Back in those days, you tended to teach yourself, the access to sand dunes was a lot easier than it is today and they were great places for learning to fly. The down side when you’re teaching yourself like that is you don’t learn about the dangers until you have your first accident. I was lucky to survive. How has your interest in hang gliding evolved over time? After a couple of years of just flying on the coast, my interest began to dwindle. However, when we started flying inland and hitting thermals it added a whole new dimension and as a result I became obsessed with flying cross-country. Every weekend we tried to set new records. The next progression for me was competition, initially this was one-on-one, and I was lucky enough to win the Nationals in 1982. Then racing cross- country became the style of competition and I began to compete overseas. Having competed in 13 countries and flown in 10 World Championships, it is a great way to see the world. Now, the challenge for me is staying fit, competitive and able to contribute to the Aussie team. What would you consider your proudest comp achievement and why? It would be my first World championships in 1985. Initially, I was a bit naïve about flying in international competitions. My first one was in Kössen, Austria, with 240 pilots in groups of 60. The Australian team consisted of some amazing pilots, including World Champions Ricky Duncan and Steve Moyes and we were flying against legendary pilots like John Pendry and Rich Pfeiffer. I ended up coming third in my group, went into the finals and reached the top 10 with Steve Moyes, Rick Duncan and Ian Jarman. In retrospect, that was probably my proudest moment, but I didn’t really appreciate it at the time. World championships are always very challenging. The last World championships were in Brazil, but unfortunately, we didn’t find ourselves that competitive. There was a real high point in Mexico, getting third place with the team, but then in Brazil I knew on the first day we weren’t going to be that competitive and it was going to be 10 days of pain. So, competition brings highs and lows, but you can’t have comps without some people losing and sometimes you’re the one who loses! What is the most important lesson you’ve learnt during your time practicing the sport? There are two sorts of risk management. There’s personal safety risk, where I’ve learnt to recognise situations where risk is mounting and know it’s time to change before situations become out of control. There’s also risk management in terms of competition. Everyone is flying somewhere on the spectrum of speed and risk vs staying up but being slow. The faster you try to complete a task, the more risk you have of landing. However, there’s no point in making goal so slow that you get no time points. The scoring systems these days are designed to reward people who fly fast. Everyone flies differently on that spectrum of getting to goal or taking a poor risk and not getting to goal. I believe that I’ve learnt to fly at a pace to satisfy myself. It’s great getting there fast and winning the day, but if you don’t get to goal and you’re standing on the ground watching people flying over you, it can be absolutely crushing. So, I think I’ve learnt to position my risk management somewhere where I can accept those times I don’t make goal, but am still fast enough to keep me competitive. What has been your most daring flight endeavour? Strong winds are always scary. One of my scariest flights was in Mexico in the 1990s where I landed on a plateau and didn’t anticipate the severe winds on the ground. I literally landed flying the glider with the control bar pulled right in. Then, I was lying on the ground trying to hold onto the flying wires, with the risk of being thrown across the ground, flipped over with the glider and rolled up into a ball… I was flying in different terrain at high altitudes on a plateau, and I wasn’t familiar with the fact that the wind was going to be so strong at ground level. That was scary. Interview: Steve Blenkinsop Having flown for 40 years, including at this year’s Forbes Flatlands HG Championships, pilot Steve Blenkinsop can certainly be considered a veteran in the skies. We speak to him about how his interest in hang gliding evolved, why the UK is a favourite flying destinationand the importance of risk management.