Contests

Upon driving home from the airfield, after all the post-flight socializing, I was finally able to let my brain rest & digest the day. Often, I write on my gliding page straight away with raw emotions, but often, the drive home is where I really reflect upon the day. I realised two things: I had a great flight up to the 2nd turnpoint (approx 145kph & 6kt averages, no major mistakes*1). What

The day started with me having mindsets, right from getting out of bed to task planning (I almost tasked myself in the wrong direction) and ultimately…my flying, diversions, and climb selection.

Sadly, I didn’t do anything about these feelings until it was too late, i.e., touchdown at Kingaroy. It was a safe flight all the same, but I forgot my game plan (later found out in my

After the UK Junior World Gliding Championships in 2005, I focused on my career and the initial goal: to be based in BNE (Brisbane Airport) for a reputable airline. However, the burning desire to compete at a high standard always lingered during that time without gliding. In this article, I describe my preparations, action time at the Club Class Nationals, and one big mistake I made to miss out on

One of the crucial skills in gliding is naturally to be able to thermal in rising columns of lift. This allows us to extend our flights by tapping into the energy of Mother Nature. However, as we know, thermals often attract multiple gliders, creating crowded and complex situations in the sky. To ensure safety and efficiency, it’s essential for us all to establish some sort of thermal etiquette.

For quite a considerable time now, soaring pilots have found it beneficial to fly in the company of others, competing teams have certainly found this to be a highly effective method in order to maximise their climb rate, and for others, a great way to enjoy the company of their soaring buddy too!

Whether we are in a competition or not, many people have a competitive

When to turn during an Assigned Area Task (AAT)?

The age-old question, one which takes experience and sometimes bravery to make the decision to turn for home, to make the final dash and come home on time (or over), but not before. For sure the answer to removing some of these doubts like anything is, knowing the rules of an AAT, to practice practice practice,

The gliders we now fly are highly sophisticated and are able to travel huge distances and speeds in excess of 250kph using only Earth's natural energies. These energies are generated by the sun, wind, and topography.  As a glider is always sinking towards the Earth, we as pilots seek out areas where the airmass is moving upwards, this enables us to gain our energy through height which we can

I’m currently competing at the Australian pre-worlds for a place on the world gliding team, so while I’m relaxed and focused on it all, there’s still an element of tension, anticipation, and pressure to perform.  I’m starting every day the same, routine for me is important, from breakfast time to getting the glider ready the same way every day, to preparing for the flight

Again, I find myself with a shot at winning the national title, this time the 20m nationals held out of Corowa, NSW with my good friend Keith in his syndicates Arcus M.  We’ve flown a great comp together, playing the percentage game.  We were just 160 points from the lead on a tricky last day, third place was 500 points behind us.  We knew that if we put in a good day, it

“The scores are tied, it's time for the big one”, I was up for it. Some of my followers would of course recognise where this opening line came from, and if not, then you’d recognise it's certainly from somewhere else! This article is about how I went from having the right psychology or mindset for an entire nationals, where I was leading right up to the last day with a slender