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High
Climb
I
had completed my three diamond flights but whenever a chance
came to repeat a qualifying flight, naturally
I would take
it. I had been pairing with Marj Pegler flying her K6
(Romeo Victor).
Basically she supplied the aircraft and the Howlands supplied
the crew and the expertise. We had flown a number of contests
but this Christmas we gave the Nationals a miss and did some
flying here and there as far south as Benalla. Marj was still
chasing her Gold Awards. We spent a few days at Inverell. Two
cars - one towing the K6 and
the other our small caravan. I will copy the write up I did at
the time.
23-12-66.
Inverell high climb. By 12 there were 4/8 Cu bases 3500 with
variable tops. Most cloud was only a few thousand feet thick
but a few isolated masses were extending to 10,000. There was
high build-up well to the east.
On
the second winch launch I contacted lift at 800 and for almost
the next hour I was fiddling with indistinct, broken, and
changeable lift below cloud base. Eventually I entered a
larger mass but reached only about 8000 feet in poor lift.
After more searching, another mass produced the same result,
but this time at about 8000 I found a good strong core which
took me to 11,500. I was on oxygen at this time and ice was
just beginning to form at the top of the climb. There was
still a little cloud above me but attempts to find more lift
by flying through cloud proved fruitless. At about 10,000 I
left the cloud. There was a gap almost clear of cloud to the
east.
Stretching
north-south from horizon to horizon was a line of towering Cu
well formed and active but showing no signs of turning into
Cu-Nimb. I decided to fly into this cloud using a reciprocal
course as an escape route. Selecting a nicely developed part,
I headed for it, and entered the side at about 8000. In
contrast to the previous cloud climbs which had been extremely
turbulent and at times produced lack of control effectiveness,
this cloud was relatively smooth though for a time it produced
no lift. Then the vario went hard over and the altimeter wound
up at a fantastic rate. I had decided to terminate the climb
at 18,000 indicated (a very definite Diamond height but I
already had that). This height was reached in what seemed an
incredibly short time. I then turned on to my escape course
and I seemed to take quite a while to fly out of the cloud. -
and I gained another 3500 feet in doing so I broke out of the
cloud about 5000 feet from the top.
I
had the usual considerable ice coverage, the dive brakes were
frozen in, and
unlike previous climbs the ailerons were stiff. I did not
notice this while circling. The G meter showed a maximum of 3
G. The cockpit was warm (even though I was in shorts) so I had
no fear of the oxygen equipment freezing. there was no
practical way of getting down quickly. The build-up of ice
precluded high speed or intentional spinning. The brakes
unfroze at about 9000 feet.
I did have a barograph trace and I did run it through the
official check but I now have no record of the result. We
continued on with our trip south, flying at Benalla and I flew hors concours
(outside
competition) one day in the Nationals at Narromine. I
did a 500 out and return. This would have given me the other
two diamonds but, as I said, I already had them.
Win One
/ Lose One
- Australian Nationals
It’s better to win one; and in any case that came first
in the 1968
Nationals at Renmark
flying the Boomerang. As usual, a
few practice days first. An unusual aspect was a high thermal
climb late in the day in clear air to 16000 feet.
I
started off reasonably well scoring 888 points then 991. The
important thing is not exactly where you come each day but how
close you get to the magic 1000 points. Day 2 - 991. That was
close. Day 3 was a race to a field to the west - Stonefield,
across the
Murray
. Good going to the
Murray
but cloudless and dead the other side. And the countryside was
scrub without landing spots except a few marginal ones just
across the river. I climbed in a thermal just short of the
river and watched a couple land in those fields just across. I
was quite high and could have reached them but I tried a
different tactic. If I could catch a thermal just a little
higher I could overshoot them and glide to the goal. But I had
to be sure I had enough height. I decided to stay on the
‘working’ side and try for that. But no go, and eventually
I landed in a good paddock just short of the river.
Actually
I was three miles short of the furtherest glider across the
river. The three miles cost me 44 points. So day 3 gave me
956. Next day - 960. Then 953. Then 910. I was consistent and
many others were messing up a day. That kept me well up and in
the running. Next 1000 and then another 1000. I was among the
top. For my last 1000 I managed to scrape home well ahead of
the rest who landed well back. So I was well up the pecking
order. Maybe I could win. Then 908. Still good. Next day only
859 and that had one pilot ahead of me. One day to go.
In
fact provided I did not out land I would most likely come
second. The others could not beat me. They were too far
behind. The pilot ahead of me was an experienced pilot with
International experience. For me to beat him he would have to
out land. Most unlikely, and he could work out I had little
real chance of being
fast enough ahead of him to win. In fact, I knew I had
no chance.
Never
mind - play it up. I let it be know, especially let him know,
I planned to ‘go for broke’ and he had better watch out.
Actually, I had no such intention. I would fly my usual
sensible flight.
For
the last day the finish gate was to close exactly at five and
the task was twice round a short triangle. Total 150 miles. We
were not within sight of each other.
I did a reasonable triangle but nowhere near fast
enough to beat him. Then I could not believe my ears. Daphne
had a radio message for me.
Obviously he had gone like hell and -
and he
landed at base at the end of his first triangle. Naturally he
launched again and started the task a second time. He still
had two triangles and a bit of arithmetic told he could not
complete them by five. If I got back I had won the
Championship.
No chances. I switched to ‘best L/D’, it being the safest way to fly but also rather slow. Every man and
his dog was passing me and probably were wondering ‘how
come’. I landed and reckoned it was in the bag.
I went down to the finish line and waited till five. No
Derrick. I had won the Standard Class Australian Championship
and had a fair chance of being selected to be one of the four
making up the Australian International team to fly at Marfa
Texas USA in 1970.
Winning
the first Australian Triple Diamond had been very satisfying
- but without doubt winning the Australian Championship was
the highlight of
my gliding career.
Well
that was the Win One - now for the Lose One
A
few years had passed. I had flown at Marfa,
Texas. That International contest had a Standard Class winner -
name of Helmut Reichmann, a young German of exceptional
ability. The Gliding Federation then invited him to come to Australia
and fly hors concours (outside
the competition) in our national contest at Benalla in 1970. Arrangements were made. We would invite him, his attractive
Nordic blond wife Helgie, and his flying club friend. I helped
introduce him to ‘things Australian’
- our Australian ways, our Australian glider flying,
our contest procedures. Our families became friendly and
Daphne and I were later to be his house guests in
Germany
. A little diversion. They took us just over the French border
for a restaurant meal - their little joke - snails and frog
legs. Yes, we did sample them - but back to the contest at
Benalla.
Nationals at this time could still be shared. Some pilots like myself at
Renmark had the glider to themselves and flew most days.
Others flew two to a glider, each flying roughly alternate
days. Scores were averaged accordingly. At Benalla I shared the Libelle with Ian Aspland. So I flew half
the days.
I
did not fly on day one - an out and return that proved
difficult. Helmut got back but only two Australians. One was
Sue Martin, wife of Bob Martin the pilot I had flown with at
Marfa. She did very well. Towards the end her club mates were
encouraging her over the radio with her, I believe, almost in
tears. We all gave her silent cheers when she made it.
My
turn on day 2. It was a 123 mile triangle and I came second
with 960 points. Quite OK for a start. That was on
December 30. I flew again January 2, 3, and 5. More
triangles. I came second on the 5th with 980 points.
Consistent but not top flying was certainly keeping me in the
running. If a pilot has a bad day that usually is it. For me,
so far so good.
My
day 5 on January 7. A triangle again first into the mountains
to Mt Beauty and the to a place to the north called The Rock.
Australians do very little mountain flying and to put it
lightly, that section was very interesting. Slope soaring up
the mountain side with the people on the road below stopping
to watch. A low point and a climb away, and then into the more
relaxing open country. An interesting decision. A cloudless
space ahead but with clouds marking a large diversion to the
west. Calculation. Yes, I could cross the gap in a straight
glide - and yes, it did work out. A trip of 272 miles taking 5
hours 15 minutes. And I came first. Very nice to have the
World Champion come up to you and say, ‘You were faster than
I was today’.
For
me, one day to go and I was in the running. It looked as
though it could be between a pilot called Debonie and myself
provided we both got back. If we both got back it seemed
unlikely no one from the group not flying this day could beat
us.
Forecast
- weak to start but coming good with a weak front from the
west later in the day. Standard procedure was for pilots to
‘hang round’ after launch and pick a starting time when
things improved - maybe even 90 minutes later.
Conditions
certainly were weak and most of us ‘hung around’, including
yours truly and also Helmut Reichmann. Debonie started almost
half an hour before me. I knew that from information Daphne
could broadcast to me. But conditions did not improve and one
by one we decided to start. The Met officer Wallie Wallington
still stuck by the briefing forecast.
I
made a bad start in the weak conditions and had to struggle to
stay up. Progress was slow. Kites were dropping out in droves.
I watched a few actually land and the radio information
painted an even grimmer
picture. No hope of catching Debonie now. Goodbye
championship. I was trying to balance staying up with making
some speed - and that required very fine judgement. Then came
the radio message from Daphne that made my day. Very soft as I
was well north. “Debonie is down’. I became even more
careful If I could
get back now I almost certainly would have it.
I
rounded the first turning point. I watched my mate Jan land. I
crawled along the second leg. Then I heard Reichmann was down
also. I reached the second turning point. There were only a
few aircraft ahead of me but that mattered little. None of
them could beat me on overall score if I got back. Right over
the turning point I got a weak easy thermal that took me very
high. I spotted
Bob Martin below me. I would repeat what he and I had done at
Marfa - pair fly where two chances of finding weak and scarce
lift is better the one. I delayed at the top of the thermal
until he climbed up. Then we both headed south - not in
formation but within sight of each other.
My
mistake soon became obvious. He was flying in an Open Class
aircraft which was faster then my Libelle. I slowly lagged
behind and any chance of finding each other thermals
disappeared. Then in hindsight I made another mistake. Still
with considerable height I waited over what should have been a
good area for a thermal to enable me to climb again. No
thermal came and I eventually landed in a paddock. There were
a few aircraft ahead of me
... they could not affect overall
score. No one got back. The whole field landed out and scoring
was on distance, not speed. Even a few miles under distance
scoring can have a significant result. It did for me. One more
thermal or heading on instead of waiting and searching would
probably have been enough.
Sue
Martin, who was not flying this day came first - and good luck
to her. She had flown a magnificent flight that first day. She
got 904 average. I
was second with
900. So close but so far - but there was one consolation. I
had twice beaten the world champion.
So, "win one - lose one" - but it’s all good fun.
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