Mission From Moir's

Forecast was good, and it pulled quite a few pilots to the hill. I was the last to launch, while most were climbing out and the rest were sinking out. What was initially a good launch into lift quickly turned into a coulpe of quick passes across the face while gradually sinking below the ridge, finally landing short in the paddock across the road from the Bomb-out. A decision was made to climb the hill (fool) in the hope of a late launch, and after about an hour I was back on top keen to go. But after time to cool down and reassess I walked out to car park, and that was that. Leonardo Flight Link The Climb - Google Earth

Do not disparage the Wind . After swearing at the wind in a previous post, it came back and told me who is in charge. Today at work I managed to synchronise my travels with a "Tornado". The "Tornado" managed to do a bit of damage to my Work's vehicle, but I survived un-harmed, if a little shaken. ( Sadly 3 fatalities occurred nearby ). I am certainly not going to class it as a win to me, although when I think of what could have been, I am very lucky. Debris blown in Possibly hit by "flying stuff" Rain on the ceiling Not condensation All the glass was blown into the car Rain on the windscreen is on the inside Lucky nothing bigger hit the vehicle

This is getting repetitive. But here we go again. The forecast is level 4 in my XC Potentiometer, and once again the Wind Strength casts a shadow over the day. Since the Auckland Regional Comp is going to Moirs, I can't give away the chance it may be flyable.  Arriving later than hoped for, the Comp Task Window hasn't opened yet, the wind seems to be creeping up, so I wait to watch the Comp guys go (I wasn't going to compete, just hopefully tag along). Wayne, Jeff and Evan launch earliest followed by Paul and later Roberto. The rest of us sit watching for an hour or two while those in the air have a tussle with the wind and broken thermals. After Paul shoots off toward Goal it takes Wayne, Jeff and Evan ages to finally flick over the back. While Roberto launches, does a recce to the South, loses height and eventually heads to the Bomb-Out, only to end up doing a nice imitation of a plough in a downwind landing missing the LZ and opting for the next paddock. Everyo...

Its been a while. Almost 9 months. Once again the signs were good, except for the Wind. The forecast was for a steady 10 to 12 knots, which meant it might be better for hanging rather than pantying. Alas the forecast was spot on. Out on the launch there were five Hangies and me, so I got my glider out, mucked around a bit then conceded defeat and stood and watched them take off. There were thermals there, but not that well formed, indicated by the fact it took the gliders quite a while to get enough height to run for it. Here's Leslie's story. "1 landed at bottom, 1 at Warkworth primary school, 2 at Matakana, and me at microlight strip up Matakana Valley road.18.5km. The day proved to be a fairly typical Moirs,  up and down waiting for the good thermal to go over the back. Unfortunately, most crapped out at 2000ft or lower. I was lured back by a good climb only to be abandoned at 2000ft too far back and East to make it back to the ridge so had to commit. Fo...

As usual it all looked good, but in the end it came to nothing. A first was to do two flights from Moirs in a day. This was aided by the first being a quick glide to the SDGP, where we were whisked up Rodger's retrieve driver, Diane, and taken back to the top in time to launch into apparently better conditions, enabling me to soar for a bit longer before sinking out again. Finished it all off with a stop at the Puhoi Pub to have a drink with the gang, a good day. That was it for the season as I will be overseas for five weeks March to April. Leonardo Flight Link 1 Leonardo Flight Link 2

The RASP forecast was spot on. Winds SW swinging W, base 3G, good thermals. But only Jeff, John, and myself on launch, go figure! As usual the two Js launched first, Jeff getting some height occasionally, while John scratched around with his mate "the Hawk" following. I launched not that long after and reasonably quickly found lift and started circling, climbing just behind launch there seemed to be little drift at this time. Topping out at cloud base of 3000ft, I followed John who had glided off earlier toward Dark Summit. The thermals at times were quite rowdy +-4m/s, and it was a lot of fun trying to locate the core, almost like they were just bubbles popping up without any real thermal type structure. Meanwhile Jeff was mucking around pushing out in front and to the south of launch. John and I could only manage a glide over the back, passing through a couple of bubbles, but not latching onto anything. John landed off Perry Road near the Fish Farm, and I glided t...

It has been three years since I did my first cross-country from Moirs, and although it wasn't an epic flight I am glad I have finally got the "monkey" off my back. The day turned out to be challenging for all of us that took off. Jeff, as usual, was first in the air quickly followed by Evan. They boated around for a while getting high then coming back down. John then Anand were next, followed by Chris and Rodger, then Brendan and eventually myself. Both Jeff and Evan got low out front but eventually climbed out, Jeff got over the back first, Evan hung around and eventually left with John. Unfortunately Anand gradually sank out and was unable to recover, landing in the Short Distance Goal Paddock. Using what I have finally learnt I waited and launched straight into a thermal and climbed out over the back pretty much straight away. I joined Rodger over the pine forest and for a while tried to thermal with him. Until after one circle I lost him, only to see him a fair ...