Last weekend's hang gliding clinic at Rylstone, NSW, was filled with MUD (after Friday's rain), ICE (early morning frosts), and AIR (70+ tows).

Above: A fun flight in the Moyes Malibu demo glider

The new Cloudstreet Winch, with hydraulic tension regulation, provided some smooth tows, as the Toyota Hilux drove along the grass airstrip.

Eight of our hang gliding students learn to aerotow and then converge on the thermals at Forbes, NSW, in April.

As winter now sets in, it is quite dreamy reflecting back, and down, to the hot dry paddock below from which my student-pilots were teleported thousands of feet deep into Earth’s troposphere. These guys not only learned to aerotow hang gliders safely, but they also tapped into an unfamiliar energy form: thermals.

Above:  Student Andrew Phillip towing up behind Steve McCarthy at our Forbes Aerotow Clinic.  Photo by Andrew

I've just returned from co-hosting the Easter Tumut Fly-in Workshop. It was a "feel-good" event with a packed campground, and local flying sites buZZing with hang gliding (and some paragliding) activity.

Above:  Novice pilot, Drewe Waller, launches from Honeysuckle on Day 1 in his Moyes Sonic 165.

Hang gliding, paragliding, and microlighting pilots will be converging again on Tumut, NSW for the Annual National Fly-In.

When: Easter, Friday 02 April 2010 to Monday 05 April 2010

Where: Tumut, NSW Australia

• Great free-flying with friends

Besides flying, there's always a chance for a kayak derby in the river if there's too much wind or rain

• Free Thermaling Workshop and XC Assistance Clinic

I'll be there helping out overtime for pilots (hang gliding & paragliding) looking to improve their in-land soaring skills.  If conditions permit, I hope to even offer some air-to-air assistance on the radio.  I'll be bringing my hang glider and maybe my paraglider, too.  Overall, the loose agenda is going to be getting some FUN and safe.

-Conrad Loten, from Newcastle, has signed UP to help with the event.  Conrad recently placed a tight second place at the NSW Hang Gliding State Titles in Manilla.  He's an amazing man, and we're very fortunate to have him on board assisting the hang gliding and paragliding pilots looking to learn more about flying in thermals and XC.

Hang gliding video and report from the recent Forbes trip: 

Last week's flying was another chapter for the hang-gliding memory book.

I took eight guys out to Forbes, NSW to show them the "next-level" of hang gliding in Australia.

The students learned to tow (and release) their hang gliders behind the Moyes Dragonfly microlight.

ABOVE: Curt at a SIV paragliding safety course in Utah, USA with Chris Santacroce in June '07

What: Warren Windsports ATC (Advanced Training Clinic)

Parachute Night for Hang Gliding and Paragliding

Workshop Outline:

Our usual hang gliding at Stanwell Tops (between Sydney and Wollongong) was called off due to weather, so I took advantage of the time to test some equipment for my upcoming one-day gig in Moscow, Russia (keep an eye the blog).

We headed to Lake George, Canberra to do some car towing.

CHECK OUT this place! (view from the Moyes Sonic 165)

The flying community is strong and it didn't take much to spark up some local interest. Carl, Dave, Trent, Deb, Dan, and Bucky all turned up for the party on the lake-bed.

Here's Carl foot-launching via a static-line car towing:

Adam called us from Sydney on Thursday saying that he hadn't flown a hang glider for four years. -He had just 5 hours of airtime in his logbook.
Later that day, we had him doing some dune training at Hill 60 in Port Kembla, along with a tandem flight.
The next day we flew tandem from Bald Hill, Stanwell Tops and then SOLO-ed him twice!

Checking the windsock:

A "hang-check"...