Task 2 for the Dalby Big Air Comp was 80kms zig-zagging to the west. The mostly cotton farmland below had checkered sunlight, sometimes with large areas of shade that required long slow glides. I saw great pilots working ridiculously hard to make extremely low saves...sometimes getting away (Rohan), and sometimes not hooking in and landing (Jonas).

Top 3 for the day:

• Lenny Paton
• Myself
• Conrad Loten

Task 3 was amazing that we actually got to fly. There were rain patches around the tow-field, but

You gotta Dream!

After finishing our Aerotow Clinic at the Fly-In, Dave, Patrick, Benny (who drove) and I started on our own free-flying rally.  It's a plan something Dave and I had been scheming for months...and it all came together!

We can't forget our roots. But man, it was a different world back then.

Daredevils wanted to fly so bad, they were willing to overlook (?) the bleak success rate that hang glider pilots had in the early 70's.  Things got better as equipment, instruction, and knowledge improved.  

Either way, hang gliding was cool for some of the same obvious reasons as today:  it was about living life to the fullest and truly experiencing the forces of nature.

Interview and Video Below...

Learning to Fly hang gliders always prompts a lot of questions, but this time I'm asking the questions. Below, I interview Martin a recent hang gliding student of Warren Windsports:

WWS: How old are you?

I am currently 20 years old.

WWS: Where/what are you studying?

I am studying a bachelor of business at The University of Technology Sydney.

Road Trip!  Stanwell Park to Moruya... Our Hang Gliding and Camping Trip

Alex, Jonas, Wolfi and I packed up the Hilux and got on the road last week with Mt. Wandera on our sites.   There ended up being two very different aspects of hang gliding on our trip..first the in-land XC flight, and then later that day was our dune gooning session at the beach.

Here are our highlights of the recent flying fun on Task 5, 6, 7, and 8 (final task) of the Forbes Flatlands Hang Gliding Competition.

The Warren Windsports Team from Stanwell Park were "in the money", finishing in the top 3 on the last three days of the comp!  In fact, Steve Moyes said that 19 yr old Jonas Lobitz "came of age" at this comp, as he proved he was both willing and capable of going out in front, making his own decisions and then getting to goal with quick times.

Hang gliding never gets dull.  Today's flying conditions had moderate winds and choppy turbulence at most levels.  The thermal strengths came and went.

Our teammate, Wolfi Siess, was "the star" (amongst our team) today: second across the goal line, just behind Attilla. He's now raving about the music playing out of his phone in his chest pocket while he flies.  Well, we're hoping he's top 3 for the day, and is "in the prize money"...as we're stopping for dinner on the way home.  Wolfi's buying :)

Day 3 of the Forbes Hang Gliding Pre-Worlds was another flight for the memory book. The sky started off blue and began to spot with clouds as gliders began to tow up. There was 10-15 knots of tailwind today, depending on how high you were. We had a technical cross wind leg that threaded the needle between two areas of airspace. -5 km's on either side of the course line for about 15 kms.

Today's task for the Hang Gliding Pre-Worlds sent us out of Forbes to the north, curving left and back around...shaped like a number "9", for a total distance of 132km. There were some 500 ft/min climbs, but with some broken lift and no clouds to mark the thermals it paid to hang with the gaggles. I hung back with Jonny, and the Combat Brothers: Primoz, & Franz Hermann. -They have matching harnesses and Aeros Combat hang gliders, which they happen to fly very well.