CONTACT INFO
For enquiries about the WWW3 event contact Sonja Hans on sonjahans@gmail.com or 0427171087
For any website enquiries contact Kathryn O'Riordan on kathryn@coretherapies.com.au or 0422480163.
PILOT INFORMATION
For enquiries about the WWW3 event contact Sonja Hans on sonjahans@gmail.com or 0427171087
For any website enquiries contact Kathryn O'Riordan on kathryn@coretherapies.com.au or 0422480163.
PILOT INFORMATION
We have uploaded the proposed itinerary for the week here. This may be subject to change, depending on how much flying we get in!
Pilots will receive maps, telephone numbers of organisers and retrieve drivers, and communication protocols (UHF channels etc) at registration on Sunday night.
Pilots will receive maps, telephone numbers of organisers and retrieve drivers, and communication protocols (UHF channels etc) at registration on Sunday night.
Optional achievable tasks will be set each flyable day. These tasks are collaborative, not competitive – the aim is to help each other achieve personal bests, and flying together on course is one of the best ways to do this, as well as assisting with retrieve. However, pilots can also choose to fly their own course or simply to thermal in the vicinity of launch. A buddy system and radios will allow mentors, experienced pilots and instructors to assist newer XC pilots in the air.
WHAT TO BRING:
Mandatory:
A harness with recently repacked reserve chute
Helmet
Glider
Wheels for restricted rated HG pilots
Wheels for restricted rated HG pilots
Mobile telephone – ideally with Next G reception (other networks are unreliable in country areas). You can often get discontinued or superseded models for well under $100. Look for Next G phones that are recommended for rural handheld coverage. Some of the most basic Samsung models are very cheap and have excellent reception. Many pilots who regularly fly cross country own a basic dedicated NextG phone; $20 prepay used only to txt location is likely to last several years!
Inflight hydration: a camelback or accessible waterbottle to carry in your harness, essential to prevent dehydration during long flights in hot weather.
Radio: If you plan to do a lot of XC flying, an integrated Icom radio with press-to-talk function is ideal, but this setup is expensive. You can also buy small cheap radios from Dick Smith; the Uniden twin packs start at $50 for two radios (why not share with another participant – arrange on www2 googlegroup). These tiny radios have a very short range of just a few km but can be taped to a helmet to allow you to receive information from mentors in the air or on the hill (eg, “the thermal is a little to the north of you!”). For just over $100 you can get a GME 2 watt TX670 with a longer range. We will have about 10 loan radios available to pilots in financial need (unemployed, student, single parent etc) – contact Sonja Hans for details.
Highly Recommended:
Hook Knife
GPS – any model will do, even an old secondhand Garmin 12 or Etrex model. Models of all kinds are available online for about $60 secondhand. Even if you don’t use the GPS in-flight and simply tuck it into a pocket somewhere, it will make life significantly easier for you and your retrieve driver after you land and need to relay your position. Cashed-up pilots can look to Brauniger, Flytec & Leonardo for integrated vario-gps units. If you need to borrow a GPS, ask on the www2 googlegroup forum.
Vario; Any working model from any decade. Whether it be an ancient Ball or the latest Compeo+, the most important thing for new thermalling pilots is anything that goes beep when you go up. Cash-strapped pilots can ask around their local club to borrow one (experienced pilots usually have an old vario in the shed), or on the WWW2 googlegroup.
Spare batteries to fit your instrument(s) in case rechargeables are flat.
Things to tuck in your harness
A little cash
Toilet paper, personal hygiene items
Lip balm
Sunscreen
Hat
Flynet or insect repellent
Energy bar or snack
Mobile telephone
Map
Spare batteries for radio & GPS
Clothing:
Sturdy footwear
Long pants for outlanding in paddocks in summer with long grass.
Hat
Shirt with long sleeves and collar (if you are prone to sunburn)
Thermal and windproof wear for cloudbase at 9,000 feet!
Sunglasses
UP TO THE HILL:
Bring lunch, snack & drink up to launch as lunch is not provided. Map, pen and paper are handy.
A useful trick is to pack everything essential you will need during your flight into your harness bag – helmet, water, phone, radio and GPS after recharging – rather than in a separate bag. You are unlikely to forget your harness!
TIPS FOR NEW XC PILOTS
1. Universal sign to indicate wind direction: if you are on the ground and someone is coming in to land near you in light & variable conditions without windsocks, make their life easier: bend over from the waist with your nose straight into the wind, arms stretched out in a V outwards behind you like a hang glider pointing into the wind. In L&V conditions and undulating terrain, HG pilots are often better off finding a slope to land up.
2. Keep an eye on pilots landing below you. If you see a HG nose in and a puff of dust move forward away from the nose or a PG pilot pile in with high ground speed, watch to see that the pilot moves the glider and land to assist them if there is no movement. If you are the one having a hard landing and are OK, park your glider, start packing up the glider immediately, or at least quickly get out of your harness and walk around so witnesses can see you’re fine. Paragliders should bunch up their wing to indicate they are OK.
Conversely, if you land and injure yourself and require help, do not move or park the hangglider unless it is dangerous – lack of pilot movement and a nosed-in glider are potent SOS signals. Leaving your PG open after landing is also a distress signal. Use your phone or radio for help if you can.
If landing to assist another pilot who appears to be in trouble, radio your retrieve &/or organisers of (your and their) position and always choose a safe LZ for yourself, even if it is some distance away. Radio, txt or call organisers immediately after you land if you have not been able to do so from the air.
3. If possible, land by intersections, which often have signage, or at least by a road.
4. Be vigilant for powerlines. Give yourself time and height to check your landing paddock carefully. Assume that all sheds, houses and pumphouses have powerlines going to them. Assume all roadsides have powerlines. Look for power poles, insulators and their shadows, or sowing lines in crops that go around poles.
5. Even if you are using a GPS, tuck a paper map into your harness for retrieve in case your GPS malfunctions or batteries go flat.
Communication
1. If you have a radio set up to transmit in flight, radio your position regularly to your retrieve driver while still high, so they have an idea of your progress. If you are getting low, try to radio your position again before landing – range is better while still in the air than on the ground. Even if you’re not sure exactly where you are, you can point out, “just near a little town with an oval and red-roofed building by a park” – that’s often enough for a retrieve driver familiar with the region to identify your position.
2. Txts will often get through when voice calls cannot – try a txt even if no bars are showing. If still no luck, try standing on a fencepost, or pressing “send” and throwing your mobile into the air (but only if you are a good catch!). Standing on a fencepost or climbing a tree can also help with radio communication. You can also ask members on your team who are still in the air to relay your approximate position to your driver.
3. After landing, hang your radio on a fencepost, bush or tree within reach but as high as possible and leave it switched on so you will hear transmissions from your retrieve driver as they get closer.
4. Keep radio transmissions short, polite and to the point. Don’t swear because locals may be on channel.
5. Fill out a landing slip and txt the landing coordinator at the end of every flyable day, whether you launch or not, so that everyone is accounted for.
LAUNCH ETIQUETTE
Launch turn direction - odd days left, even days right within 1 km of Mystic or other busy launch sites
No aerobatics over the launch or landing area
Do not drive too fast up hills: tracks are narrow and have many blind bends, drivers are too often watching the sky rather than the road.
