This article by Arnold Niewand was first published in Soaring Australia magazine, May, 2011
The Scene: Horsham Week competition 2010
The Day: Day 3, Monday 8 February 2010
The Task: Horsham, Francis, Ultima, Donald, Horsham (546km)
The Pilot: Arnold Niewand (Horsham Flying Club)
The Glider: Pegase (VH-HDJ) Standard class
The day dawned and looked like a very promising flying day, the temperature trace looked good and the task setters decided today was the day to set tasks in excess of 500km.
This was the first time a task of over 500km had been set at Horsham Week competitions for over 10 years, and everyone became quite excited. There was a buzz in the air at briefing time and an expectation that some contestants would have a chance of achieving a personal best and claim some 'much longed for' badges. For some of the regular Horsham Week competitors this took their memories back to 'the good old days' when the weather was good and long competition flights were the normal, rather than the exception.
For me as an early cross-country pilot this was an opportunity too good to miss. In my occupation as a farmer I work on the land mostly outdoors and there are times during every summer when you see these really excellent f lying days, but unable to make use of them because of work commitments. This was one day that I was not going to let slip away!
The following half hour after briefing was very hectic and not conducive to being cool, calm and collected. Suitable paperwork had to be found, tasks declared, with all turnpoints correctly identified, an official observer found and a signature gained.
It was fortunate that I had attended the cross-country coaching class the previous week. Part of the course lectures touched on flying for badges and how to claim. During the course we were handed out relevant paperwork to assist us in claiming for badges, and I put all the forms in my possession to good use.
Other pilots who were wanting to claim a badge flight, but had not attended the coaching class didn't have the necessary paperwork and I found that I was photocopying my forms to hand out for others to use, for which they were very thankful.
I can thoroughly recommend the coaching week to anyone who wants to improve their cross-country soaring technique, as the week long course really sets the scene for early competition pilots. You have the experience of a dozen cross-country coaches, all with slightly different approaches to certain flying conditions, and it is great using their knowledge and adapting your flying technique to suit.
Back to the competition, I managed to have our Victorian Soaring Association head coach David Wilson agree to be my official observer and we checked and double checked everything to ensure all things were okay. lt would be devastating if one was to complete the course successfully and have the badge claim dismissed due to not fulfilling the pre-flight requirements.
I have to admit workload and stress levels were higher than previous flying days due to the extra requirements that a badge flight demands, however all the necessary flight planning, glider preparation, in flight food and water requirements and personal needs were attended to, and I felt that my pre-flight preparation was thorough and adequate. Once again a lot of this was due to following the rules laid out in course lectures the previous week.
Out on the grid the day was living up to all expectations, with cumuli popping and thermals randomly lifting the odd glider wing. Launch time came and I decided to climb into my glider early to get ready. I started my checks and completed them; everything was fine with the aircraft. lt was then that 'Murphy' decided to rear his ugly head.
My PDA with all my turnpoints in it was just a blank screen, I had lost all record of the task that I was about to fly.
I quickly looked around; Max Hedt was walking up to me and wished me good luck and asked if everything was right, I said, "No it was not," and explained that I had lost all of my turn-points on my PDA. Max promptly said, "But you have your map with you, and your course all plotted on it don't you?" I affirmed that and Max told me not to worry about those new fangled things, use the map and you'll be right!
Max was right and I had full intentions of using my maps anyway, but I felt I needed to have my PDA working as well, as this would verify exactly when I arrived at my turnpoints, and I would have asecond copy of my flight , even though it would be in XC Soar.
There were three gliders in front of me ready to launch, and with four tugs towing, I estimated I had a possible five minutes or so to put turnpoints into my PDA and get organised.
I worked quickly putting in the turnpoints: Start... Horsham. .. next turnpoint... a sign comes up "is this the finish?" NO... put in Francis... accept... next turnpoint "is this the finish?' NO... put in Ultima.
Two tugs land and suddenly there is only one glider in front of me accept Ultima... next turnpoint "is this the finish?" NO... put in Donald... accept...
Max Hedt comes up to me, "Come on Arnold forget that stuff, you should be concentrating on your flight and take-off not fiddling with that. Have you done your checks yet?'
I look up, the glider in front of me was being launched, but my tow plane had not yet landed.
Back to my PDA... where was 1... oh, yes... Donald is in... next turnpoint "is this the finish?" YES... put in Horsham A/D... accept... all finished. Phew!
I look up and my tug was in front of me... controls free and full movement, canopy down and locked, cable attached, and I was ready... all clear... take up wing... take up slack... and the launch was happening.
This is not the text book pre-flight preparation I would recommend to anyone, but believe it or not, I felt quite calm, and reasonably composed, as the rumbling of my glider main wheel filled the space around me, and then silence, as I was floating along, hovering 500mm above the ground.
All was well and I was beginning the longest flight of my short career in soaring.
Even though this was a competition day I decided from the start that I was not going to fly competitively, I would be a participant, but not a competitor; I wanted to complete the course and gain as many badges as I could. Finishing was my first consideration, and I flew conservatively for most of the day.
The first leg of the task took me over country I had never flown before past Goroke, over large green centre pivot irrigation paddocks that stood out in stark contrast to the dry landscape around them, dry salt lakes that reflected the sun, some heavily wooded areas, and then across the border into South Australia, to Francis, a small grain silo nestled among wooded farm lands with a few buildings around.
Rounding the first turnpoint, I had to head diagonally across the little desert for Ultima, near Swan Hill. lt was a great run over the desert, and I left the desert near Nhill and began flying over the flat fertile farmlands of the Northern Wimmera and Southern Mallee. My flight path went just to the south of Lake Hindmarsh, north of Beulah, south of Sea Lake and eventually to Ultima.
Turning at Ultima, I could see to the north of me was Swan Hill at about a 30-degree glide angle and I thought to myself, "lf I flew to Swan Hill and over the river, I would have flown in three states of Australia in a glider flight out of Horsham."
Turning at Ultima the task was more than half finished, I must focus on making it to Donald next.
I was able to find a lift street that aligned itself directly toward Donald and for a considerable time flew in a straight line without losing much height. Wycheproof and Birchip went by on my right side, and nearing Donald I picked up a good thermal over Lake Bullock, which took me into Donald with good height. I turned over the top of the grain silos at Donald and headed for home.
What a feeling, 81km to go and all I needed was another good thermal somewhere near Minyip and my longest flight was in the bag! As it turned out I found that thermal and made it home with a safe margin of height.
A 546km task completed.
Jubilation, excitement, and a real sense of achievement followed after landing.Back in the clubhouse David Wilson signed off on all the paperwork, verified that I had completed the course, downloaded the trace off my Swiss Flarm, and said congratulations, you have qualified for two diamond badges, Diamond Goal and Diamond Distance.
I was using our club's Swiss FLARM as that was the only recording instrument I had available to me, so in the following weeks, after downloading the necessary forms off the net for my claims, and securing all signatures, I sent all the details off to the badge claim officer to process the claim.
A fortnight went by before I received an email from the officer asking me if I had a back-up of my flight on another recorder. ltold her I did, but it was on my PDA which was running XC Soar which she promptly told me was not suitable for claims.
Upon enquiring as to why she wanted another copy of my flight, she told me that Swiss FLARM dataloggers were not suitable for Diamond Badge claims. The rule book states that Swiss FLARMs can only be used for claims up to Gold level and not for Diamonds, so she could not award me the Diamond badges I was claiming.
What a bombshell. I couldn't help but to be disappointed, what could I do? It's there in black and white; the international rules were changed several years before to exclude Swiss Flarms from the Diamond section of badge claims.
So for all the glider pilots who rely on FLARMs as your dataloggers, be aware that they are only valid for badge claims up to and including Gold level, but not for Diamond badges.
A Diamond is not a Diamond when it is recorded on a FLARM.
It's disappointing that I don't have the badges, but I did complete the course, and the next time I attempt a 500km or longer I will be better prepared and having the experience of the first flight will make the second easier.