PIAKO GLIDING CLUB MINI CAMP APRIL
18.04.2021 - 20.04.2021
On Sunday afternoon all of the seven students; Jayden Fowler-Reynolds, Joshua Donderwinkel, Luke Hillborn, Monty Hoehn, Rowan Pirie, Sharia Anderton and myself, all made their way to the Matamata Airfield for two full days of gliding.
On Monday we used runway 28, this was the first day of flying. We walked to the hanger and started getting all of the equipment ready for a day full of gliding. Three of us unsuccessfully backing a manual with the club caravan on the back. All of the students, members and volunteers got into a routine very quickly. There was one cable break this day which was also a good learning for everyone to see in action what was said in the briefing.
Over the two days we used the winch to get the gliders into the air. Once in the air, the student and instructor would do a left hand circuit.
Everyone had their own part to play in getting the two gliders into the air. The roles involved:
Two students and instructors having their preflight briefing and getting the gliders ready to fly.
One student on the computer recording the times for take off and landing.
One, sometimes two students, helping launch the glider in the air: attaching the winch wire, waving the baton and holding the wings level until the glider was in the air.
One student drove the tractor down to pick the winch wires up for the next gliding flights.
Two students ready to retrieve the gliders with a vehicle or ready to push the gliders back if the glider stopped further than the caravan.
On Tuesday we used runway 10. The rain held off for most of the day, however a crosswind picked up in the afternoon which stopped the flying early. Despite this, it was good learning for all of the students on how to deal with a crosswind and the importance of knowing the weather. Due to finishing early, we had to look through the corn fields for the strope that broke off the day before. Unfortunately we didn’t find the strope but the adventure was a fun way to end the camp!
By the end of the Mini Camp, each student had achieved 8-9 glider flights and took away a lot of learnings! Everyone who didn’t know how to also drive a manual, learnt how to by the end of the camp - even reversing the caravan (after jackknifing it twice)!
Overall this was a very successful mini camp. Thank you to all of the instructors and volunteers who made this camp possible and put in all of the time and effort. All of the students thoroughly enjoyed it!