Last day.

The awsome Rylstone sun set.

One last flight before packing up to head home. Well make that two….um ok three. A Swiss pilot is here learning to fly a dragon fly from Bobby. After they did some training in the morning Bobby took me up for a flight in the Dragon fly. It’s been a while since I’ve flown a plane but after some pointers from Bobby I found it quite easy. I need some work on the landings thou. After my Dragon fly lesson I set up my Hang glider to take it for one last flight. I towed up to 200m before my bridle released. I tried to work the lift but couldn’t stay up and landed. Bobby asked why I didn’t follow him as he was marking the lift for me. Just not as smart as I need to be some times. He is an amazing pilot. On the second tow I hit some good lift 500m off the ground and pinned off. We had some wind today which was going to make doing a triangle more difficult. I stuck with it to 2100m asl and had drifted 5km NE of the airport. Armand was going to the pool in Kandos 8km south of Rylstone to go to the pool for a swim. I decided to head that way into the 10km/h head wind to work on my up wind skills. Also if I ended up landing it would make it easier for retrieve. I got back to Rylstone, just a few km south of the air port when I got my next climb. I worked my way back up to 2000m and headed for Kandos. I got over the swimming pool and searched the area for some lift. I found a slow climb and drifted with it back over the near by hills. I topped out again at 2000m and headed straight west. I wanted to stay with in glide of the pool so I could land close and go for a swim. I flew out over an open pit mine and then turned back north. Not finding any lift I turned back towards the pool. As I got back the field I was planning on landing at didn’t look quite so flat from down low. So instead of trying a tricky landing right next to the pool I chose another field close by. After a nice landing I walked my glider back to the road just as Armand pulled up. I tore down my glider and we headed off to the pub for a cold drink. Then it was off to the pool to cool off. It was a huge pool with big trees on each side which provide great shade so you don’t get fried when swimming. After a couple hours in the pool it was off to dinner before Heading back to the airport to pack up my stuff.

One of Australia's local's

Back in Rylstone.

The gang out for chinese food.

Bill Moyes, Bobby Bailey and a few others spent the night here and went out for Chinese food again. I’m the only hang glider pilot here so Bobby towed me up in the after noon and I set out to do a triangle as the winds looked very light. I wanted to try to do at least 100km. I’ve never finished any big triangles before. Cloud base was high over 2800m and I was getting climbs of 800ft/min on my averager. I made my turn 37km out as any further would have been over unlandable hills and there was a big storm in front of me about 20 or 30km away. I kept my eye on the storm as I flew the base of my triangle. I was still going good and staying high. I had picked a mountain to make my turn as long as the storm didn’t get too close. I made my turn at the spot I was hoping to get to and turned to run from the storm and back to the airport in Rylstone. As I tried to climb the clouds in front of the storm were casting a huge shadow on the ground and killing the lift. I would run for the sun light but as soon as I would stop to turn the shade would catch up with me and shut down the lift. I finally landed 19.9km from my goal. The gust front hit me five minutes after I landed. I landed at a ranch way off the road. Retrieved turned out to be very difficult. Thanks to Armand for coming to get me. He has been so much help for me; it’s made my trip a lot easier. The ranch hand was very nice and made me tea while I waited. While Armand was losing his mind trying to find me. I wish I would have started my flight 20 minutes earlier so I would have had a better chance to finish my triangle. Would have been 110km. It was the perfect day for it.

On the road again.

Three of the tugs were brought back to Rylstone where Moyes does some of their secret testing. I got to drive back one of the pilots Toyota land cruiser. I’m really getting used to driving on the other side of the road. I’m not even turning on the wind shield wiper when I signal any more. I do still get in the wrong side of the car sometimes.

The land cruiser I got to drive back.

Typical Austrailian high way. Most roads have trees down both sides of the road.

Austrailian super high way. The less traveled roads aren't paved or are one paved lane.

Party and meet head quarters.

Two of our volunteers who worked hard on the flight line in the blazing heat. Thanks for all your help Amy and Gracey!!

The tug pilots that got us in the air every day.

Top ten pilots.

After the final task all the pilots had a buffet dinner at the Vandenburg hotel (meet headquarters). Pilots were asked to get back as soon as possible and turn in their GPS for scoring. After dinner were the awards. The mayor of Forbes was out to give some of the awards. They brought up the top ten for pictures and the top three gave a speech. Micki “frozen pickles” gave one of the speeches and gave tribute to his friend who had died at last years meet. After the awards everyone partied late before heading out the next day. Many pilots are going to Bogong which starts right away. I wish I was able to go as I’m just starting to fly better now. Maybe next year.

The Forbes air field.

Last day of the comp. The forecast was good for today. High cloud base strong climbs and lighter winds. At any comp they call a short task on the last day to try and get every one back early for scoring and awards. Here in Forbes a short task turned out to be 137km. Head wind 63km then a hard right and Quartering tail wind. Davis came up to me as I did my usual walk from the back to the front of the launch line to take off first. He said the day is going to get better later so don’t take an early start. I took his advice and hung out for an hour and a half before the mandatory start.

People started towing early as the sky looked good so it wasn’t long before I had lots of company. Before I launched I asked the guy behind me if it was a left or right hand day. He told me he thought it was left. I had a couple guys join me and one started to wave his hand “change direction”. I guess it’s a right hand day. I got into a couple of big gaggles and people were all over the place turning in both directions through out the climb. It was total chaos and scary as hell. I can’t believe people come to these comps and refuse to turn in the direction they are supposed to. I was with the lead gaggle at the second start when every one turned back towards the edge of the start and then out on course. I just flew inside the start circle and headed out on course. I had a great start and was with the lead gaggle for the first time. It was nice to be able fly with guy’s for a change. I was dropped after the first thermal getting screwed up by guys not turning the right way. I saw guys all the way to the first turn point but flew by myself for the most part. I stayed high and cold for most of the flight. Lots of people were low around the first turn point and one glider had landed. I stopped in a slow climb to make sure I had lots of height. This was not needed as the day was still very good. I just didn’t want to take the chance of landing short. After I got around the turn point I flew under a huge cloud and again climbed up slow. I think part of the problem was just me not finding the good lift. After I got over 2400m it really turned on and I was climbing fast. When I got to 2700m I looked up at a very large very black cloud. I figured I’d better book it to the edge before I got sucked up. I stuffed the bar and was still climbing fast. I slowed as I got close to the edge and was over 2900m. I took one more good climb at 2200m to top up a bit when my numbers went positive (+11m). I went on a very long glide from 45km out and my numbers were falling apart. I got down to 1000m and I was -360m. I searched for lift and started to climb just as a dust devil started to form under me. I took this back up to 2500m 18km out from goal. I now had +890m to goal. I went on final glide not knowing exactly where goal was. I called my driver to see if they had a goal line today. She said yes there is a goal line. I continued to fly at 70km/h air speed and my numbers were holding steady. Finally I spotted goal 6km out and buried the bar as I was going to make it easy. I saw two other gliders turning to get down. I arrived more than 300m over goal. I wasted a lot of time but I didn’t want to risk not making it in. I asked for the wind direction and was told it was light and variable. I dived into the field. I flared a little late and didn’t have the energy to run. I just fell down and pounded in. It was my worst landing all week. I just wanted to lay there on the ground for a bit but figured I better get up before some one called an ambulance. I was glad I was able to end the comp on a good note.

Another great looking day in Forbes.

Way off on the forecast.

The task today was 184km down wind which seemed a little ambitious considering the forecast. Davis has been right on with the forecast every day and today he called for light lift two to three hundred feet per minute and low cloud base around five thousand feet. I had to get people to get out of the way to get to launch just after it opened. Seems everyone has forgotten the problems you can run into during launch already and are happy to wait and launch later. So I was able to tow first again and broke a week link at 750m. I was able to work light broken lift up to 1100m. Only one other pilot towed up and Bobby was flying around him taking video. No one else launched for about ten minutes. Once I lost the lift I flew back and grabbed another thermal in the same spot I got the first one. Finally the rest of the field started to tow. Once other pilots joined me we got up to about 1400m. I headed off to the edge of the start circle with one other pilot. We both climbed up together and then headed off on course before the first start gate. As the forecast was so poor I thought I might as well get going if this was as good as it’s going to get I need all the time I can to make goal. We got one more climb together before we split. He got a much better line and I lost track of him. There was a small mountain cross wind from be but on course so I headed off hoping if I got there I could ridge soar until some thing came through. When I got to the near edge over a tiny little hill I hit good lift. I gained a thousand feet and lost track of it. Instead of chasing down wind after it I had it in my head to get over top of the higher rock covered faces. As I flew the full length of the ridge all I got was 0. When I got to the end instead of going back over the ridge and maybe try to find the first thermal I hit when I got there, I just turned down wind. As I got lower and lower I could see three dust devils. One of them was huge up to 1000’ high. The clouds were also starting to form just over my head. It was too late for me, I only had enough height to set up a landing. As I layed beside my glider I saw a couple gliders fly high over my head only 30 km out from the airport. As it turned out the forecast was way off and it got easy from where I had landed. Cloud base went up to 9000’ and guys arrived at goal high after a 30 km final glide. Over have the field made goal today.

Rest day

Another hot day in Forbes!

Some pilots are getting tired and asking for a rest day. So Attila called a rest day. 143km task down wind. Easy by Forbes standards. The launch opened at 1:00 today and the mandatory start was at 2:40. This helped keep every one from jumping into the launch line so I was able to get into line third. I got towed up by Bobby today and he dragged me to another pilot turning at 700m. I pinned off and joined the crappy climb. The lift wasn’t that good but the tugs kept feeding the thermal we were in and no one was turning the same circle. Their was no real core which had every one searching around for it. It really makes you keep your head up and look where your going. The lift topped out at 1700m. I headed off to the edge of the start circle with 3 other pilots. Someone found a climb 1km from the edge of the start circle. We climbed back up to base and then every one headed in a different direction. The start clock ticked over and I couldn’t decide which way to go. I headed west to some pilots that looked like they were climbing well. I was unable to find the lift and was flying around low trying to find some lift. Finally I found a weak thermal and climbed up just short of cloud base. I headed out on my own as I didn’t want to fly back to the start for a later start time. After the first few thermals I felt like I was starting to climb better. About 50km out I saw a pilot behind me climbing fast. He looked a long way off and I wasn’t that low but we had a huge forest in front of us. I wanted lots of height before I crossed. It turned into a good decision and I climbed quickly to cloud base. I headed across and arrived low on the other side. I was able to find solid lift and worked my way back to base. I saw two gliders fly over my head as I climbed. I was went on glide towards the mountains on course. I thought if I could get their it was on the wind ward side and I could ridge soar if their wasn’t any thermals. I arrived 500’ over the ridge just as a large cloud shadow was hitting the ridge. I hit some strong lift and climbed fast. I was about 50km out and my numbers went positive. I didn’t set my goal elevation and I knew the ground was a lot higher here. I continued to fly cautious as I didn’t want to land short. My numbers got worse every time I went on glide. Cloud base had been at 2700m but I was now hitting a shear layer at 2000m I wanted to have 1000m buffer to cover the high ground and leave myself some margin. I saw another pilot low about 12km out. I turned with him until the lift got weak and headed off to goal. I had 900m over goal and thought I should be able to make it. I pulled on some speed to make sure I would arrive before the pilot below me. I was looking for the goal line. Each day they send out a goalie who sets up a goal line. If there is no goal line we use a 400m goal cylinder. I saw a couple of pilots circling down and pilots scattered all over the ground below me. Finally I spotted a field with a lot of gliders parked in the shade. I arrived over goal with about 2000’ to spare. Three guys came in fast behind me. I got to watch 4 guys whack into the field below me. I didn’t think conditions were that bad. The water next to the field was showing the wind direction. I set up well back and came in fast on a long final approach. As I got low I noticed the field had a big slope to it. I know this tends to cause a wind shadow down low so it’s good to have lots of speed. I put in a perfect landing. It was nice to finally be in goal with the crowd. Attila, Micki and a few others raced into the ground just short of goal.
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Moyes girls

Armand and a Swiss pilot both dislocated the same shoulder on landing.

Vicki, Molly, and Gracey. They have been doing so much work to get pilots into the air and making the comp run smooth

Pilots programing the task into thier instruments.

One of the tugs coming in to tow up the next pilot.

The kids checking out my glider after I landed. They were very polite and curious.

Hanging in the shade with some new friends.

Today they called a 176 km down wind task. Then they pushed back the launch back 20min then they called a 162 km triangle back to the air field. Then they pushed the launch back another 15 min. The first start was now 3:00. Since it was so late every one jumped into the launch line and I was left to tow last. I was climbing over the air field for the first start, but was close to the edge of the start circle for the mandatory start for the top 20. I didn’t think I was quite high enough to start so I let them go to try and get to cloud base. This may have been a mistake as I ended up flying alone. I have not been flying well and could have used the help. Climbs were good and cloud base was high over 3000m. I went on course when I lost my thermal at 2400m. I was getting a good glide but was unable to stay high. I was below 700m before I found my next climb. I turned in poor lift before I found the core and got back up to 2300m. I got low again and search for some decent lift. I was able to hold on for a long time in the heat at 200m. Finally I just gave up and landed at a farm 12km short of the first turn point. The family was very nice and helped bring my gear back to the house in some shade. After bringing me into the house to use the phone and gave me some cold water and a snack I started to tear down my glider. I wasn’t packed up when my ride showed up. She was shaking her head as it seems every time I land I have a crowd with me. The people are so nice here it helps take the pain out of landing short. I think Atilla won the day again with 15 making goal. Lots landed just short running out of lift. The last 20 minutes they delayed cost at least six people making it in.

Landed at the first turn point again.

Today’s task was a 177km flat triangle. Turned into a down wind 77km down wind run and then back into the wind. It was supposed to be light winds but they turned out to be strong. Some pilots were in the air for 7 hrs and no one made goal. The closest were 8 km away. I had difficulty tracking the thermals in the strong wind and found myself low several times on the way to the first turn point. I didn’t get into a good position before the turn point and ended up landing at the turn point. Lot’s of clouds today and some good climbs. Lots landed between the first and second turn point as the head wind was so strong it was very hard to make any progress. We got a good tour through the Australian outback today trying to find our team. Got to see a Kangaroo up close today as he hopped across the road right in front of us.

Today they called 150km task. 79km down wind, 40km cross wind and 30 back into the wind. I wasn’t able to launch first today as I had to go back to check the task board and reprogram my GPS as they had listed the goal with the wrong name. By the time I got my instrument back on my glider and suited up I was six pilots back in line. I was still up near the front of the line and less keen pilots were unable to get launched before the last start time. Lots of bitching going on tonight. I was able to get high for the first start but I was still over the air field and the start was 10km away. I hung out with a gaggle and took the second start. Conditions were a lot better today but I remained cautious as I didn’t want to land early again. I stayed high and never got below 1200m on the way to the first turn point. As I was gliding to the first turn point I was falling fast and realized that I was flying into a blue hole. I stopped and started to turn in 0 lift 3km from the first turn point. Just drifting slowly towards the turn point. I was 1400m about the ground and the cloud street 5km to the north on course line once you made the turn point. I decided to go for it flying 90km/h in huge sink towards the turn point. I rounded the turn point and made a run for the clouds. I was down to 500’ above the ground and hit some strong lift. Around the lift was big sink and got dumped low before I could find the core. I ended up landing a few km past the first turn point. It turned out to be a tough spot and several pilots landed around the turn point. I heard the second turn point was another tricky spot with several more pilots down there.



One of the group that came out to see me after I landed. With the tough conditions at the turn point they were able to see a lot of the gliders over town low.

Part of my new fan club. The sheeps name is "sheepy"

I had a big crowd come out to see me after I landed. I got to meet some very nice, friendly people. Part of the fun of flying cross country is the random people you get to meet. I’d like to say hi to my new Aussie friends. Thank you for your kindness!! Not every one in the world is as hospitable

Thermaled into the ground.

Today they called a 224km down wind task. I took the first tow again today. I had a better result today. I tug dropped me off in the best thermal around. I climbed easily and got high. I watched the rest of the field struggle below me before several pilots climbed up to me. We climbed as high as 2300m and headed to the edge of the start circle. I got a week climb just outside of the start circle and was drifting further away. I left the lift as I didn’t want to drift to far away before the start. I found another week climb just inside the start and waited for another 3 minutes before the first start. I was at 1900m when the clock ticked over and decided to go. Two other pilots went with me and we soon stopped in another week climb. I was concerned with the high circus cloud that it would be hard to find lift. I spent a lot of time turning in 0’s just drifting with the wind. I tried to stay as high as possible. Every time I pushed forward I got lower. I got down to 300 feet and had to break open my zipper which had jammed. I managed to find some lift and was able to climb out. I never got high but just kept turning and drifting down wind. I saw the lead gaggle 1km behind me and high. They were too far behind me for me to fight up wind to get to there thermal so I just kept turning. I finally landed 54 km out after 2 ½ hours. There were 26 in goal and any one I talked to said it was light for the first 80km before they got out from under the high cloud. I was at least glad to be flying instead of towing all day.

Tow practice

We meet out at the airfield about noon today. The first task was 125km down wind to the west. Launch opened at 1:40 and the first start was at 2:40. I was stagged in slot 46 and was the first to launch. I towed up to 800m when the weak link broke on the tug end. The tow lines are expensive so if possible they like you to try and drop the line in the tow field. After dropping the line I landed. Not many pilots were keen to go yet so I got back into line. I towed up and was waved off at 700m above another pilot turning. The thermal was died and the pilot headed off as soon as I released. I tried to work what was left and wasn't able to hang on. I dropped like a stone and landed with 4 other pilots just in front of me. We had a lot of relights today. My next tow I towed through a dust devil at 100' and broke a weak link again. I got back in line again(not really a line every one was gone) and retied my weak link. Try number four. Weak link broke as soon as I come off the cart. I took the hint and just packed up. About half the field made goal. I think Attila won the day.

Short flight, long retrieve.

Today was registration and official practice day. The rest of the pilots from around the world showed up today to get in some practice and do some final tweaking on their gliders.

Joergy from Germany and one winged Armand.

Vicki Cain meet organizer during registration.

Tugs lined up ready to tow pilots up.

I took my time getting out to the air field after registaring for the meet. I got to the airport about 12:00 and slowly set up my glider. After watching a few people tow I got ready to go and got in line. I climbed out with a few other pilots to 1700m and headed west alone. I was trying to stay high. I wanted to get as much air time as I could and not to worried about going very far. I don't think any one else even headed cross country. After getting a little low and taking a very slow climb back to 1400m I was getting low again. I saw a tractor working a field so I turned 90 degrees and headed towards it. I hit some strong lift on the way there and made a couple turns. I was getting tossed around pretty good so I left to continue on to the tractor. I hit huge sink on the way and got drilled most of the way. I arrived at 600m and found nothing when I got there. I landed after 1.5 hours and 21km away from the airport. I sent Armand a text with my coordanates and packed up. One of the Australian pilots was kind enough to come and get me but didn't have his GPS set to the same datum as I did. He was using dd.dddd (degrees decimal degrees) We use dd.mm.mmm (degrees minutes decimal minutes). So after driving around the country side for two hours we got on the same page and they found me. I've learned this leason in the past but some times it take's more than once.

Tour of Forbes

I drove this bus to Forbes for one of the tug pilots that flew one of the planes out. I'm getting used to driving on the other side of the road. Now I just have to make sure I don't get run over walking across the street looking the wrong way.

I slept in today and then we headed into town for breakfast. Being it is New Years day the only thing open was Mcdonalds. After breakfast we headed to the hotel where we can get wireless internet for free. You can’t find any free wireless in Australia. The hotel gives us the pass word. Every one was hanging around the hotel for a long time, not too worried about flying. I finally headed out to the airport about 1:00. I set up right away and towed up. I climbed up over the air field with half a dozen pilots. We all headed east towards Forbes together. The climbs were still week and we got to about 1400m over the airport and I was never able to get that high again. I ended up by myself over town and spent a lot of time turning trying to get high. I wanted to stay in the air more than I wanted to go very far. I flew across town and then back to the airport. I wasn’t able to get back over 900m but it was easy to stay off the ground. When I got back to the airport there was a dozen gliders on the ground. I had a two hour flight and did a short 25km triangle. It was good practice and I was happy to be flying

Flying in Gulgong.

The town of Gulgong from a couple thousand feet.

Geoff doing his seminar.

We got up early the next morning and headed out to Gulgong. The rest of the group had tried to fly there the day before with Geoff being the only one who made it.

I set up my glider when we arrived at the glider club in Gulgong. Moyes is doing a coaching clinic along with a tour to different sites around NSW. After Geoff did a talk on aero towing we started to get ready to go. They were having a hard time trying to decide on a task so every one just kind of did there own thing. The lift was light with a 20km wind out of the east. When I topped out in the lift I was with two other pilots. Two of us set out down wind. Rob the Dutch pilot and myself. We went on a long glide and found no lift. I didn’t want to land by myself because I had no radio or cell phone. So I stuck close to Rob which didn’t help much trying to find the lift on a weak day. We spotted some cattle stampeding in a field off to our left and made a ninety degree turn in a last hope to try and find some lift. They were starting to kicking off some thermals but we were unable to stay up long enough for the lift to come together. Rob picked a field and landed just before me. I had an hour flight and a short 5km xc flight.

A Couple more photo's

Micky Frozen pickles, Bill Moyes, Armond Achione, and tug pilot Leory.
Bill is one of the first every hang glider pilots. Also one of the nicest and helpful people you will every meet.

Learning to drive on the other side of the road?!

Dave Seib came to pick me up. Dave is one of the best pilots in the world so I felt pretty lucky to have him pick me up. I waited for about twenty minutes before he picked me up. He just ploughed through the crowd and took my glider out to his car in the parking lot. He got a call on his cell when we got to his car, so I threw the glider on his car by myself and tied it down. Dave walks around to the right hand side of the car and gets in. I stand at the back of the car looking at him thinking I don’t even know this guy and he wants me drive his car? I don’t know where were going! This is weird! So I go around to the left hand side and get in. Oh! Steering wheel is on the other side here. Man its strange riding on the other side of the car and driving on the other side of the road.
We headed to the Moyes factory about five minutes from the airport where I got to meet a few people and have a shower. After a couple hours getting things packed up into Dave’s car we head off to Rylstone for the Forbes Rally. It was a three hour drive to a small grass air strip. In the car we had Rob, a Dutch pilot, Mickey from Austria, Cantina from Germany, Dave from Australia and me. I always find it so cool at events like this when you get together with people from around the world.

When we get to Rylstone I find out Armond had crashed earlier and dislocated his shoulder. He was taken to hospital and wanted me to drive his car for him. It was still early and the guys decided to set up and go for a flight. I pulled my glider off the car and started to put it back together after being short packed for the trip. It took me a couple hours to get it all set up and I was running for my harness to go for a flight. I got myself all ready to go and a Brazilian pilot that was there acted as my ground crew. He signalled the tug to go and I was off. The air was silky smooth as we climbed out over the airport. They have had a lot of rain here over the last few weeks after seven years of drought. The whole country side was green and lush. The Aussies here are amazed how green every thing is. The tug pilot finds the last thermal of the day and waves me off in light lift. As I circle in very light lift I mostly just maintain my height but do manage to gain a few hundred feet. As I soak in the beauty of the country side I reflect on the day I have had and how lucky I am to be here. After an awesome half hour flight I come in and stuck my landing.
Putting my glider back together after flying with it half way around the world.


This is the car Armond bought. Seems to be a lot of white station wagons here. Works well for what we need.