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.

We had a 135km dog-leg (x2) task today.  The lift along the first leg was really light.  Luckily, the thermal-stregth picked up when the HEADwind did!  My variometer^? was showing the thermals drifting accross the ground at 16mph (20+ kmh).  I had plenty of time to shoot some photos on the slow first leg. 

The weather has been beautiful for our XC and aerotow clinics with Alex Cuddy and Jonny Durand....blue skies with light fluffy clouds. The climbs have been nice and soft, too soft at times, but the ground is drying out by the hour. Daniel had his 1st ever Cross Country flight yesterday, on Day 1. Today, Luke had his personal best of around 50km's, flying his new Sting3 154, with a couple of low-saves, getting back up just off the deck.

2011 year was a BIG one for us...it seriously flew by. I don't think we could have packed much more hang gliding into it.
Besides our daily tandem flights from Stanwell Park, and our Sydney area hang gliding instruction here's what I personally (not including the rest of the crew!) did in 2011:

It's here.
After months and months of work in the background, Louise and I have LAUNCHED the Warren Windsports Online Store!

The new online store provides:

• Price quotes on gear, with and without options/upgrades
• Technical information from manufacturers - as well as our own unbiased review
• "Pro Tips" from myself and the other WWS Team Pilots
• Secure and immediate payment transactions
• Expected delivery times
• Shipping and tracking confirmation

The Hinterlands Drifter Tour mission was: "FLY, TRAVEL, LEARN".  Well...mission accomplished! Jonas Lobitz and I teamed up to always provide one instructor on the ground and one in the air.  We started our hang gliding tour in the Gold Coast at Mt Tamborine, stopped in Manilla for a big chunk of heavy-hitting thermals and then rinsed off the dust at Stanwell on the last evening of the tour. 

The big trip from Stanwell Park to Canungra, QLD was well worth it, even if we caught a few days of rain/wind during the comp.  There were still some incredible flying days.

Here are some photos from the 2011 Canungra Classic. I'd say the highlight of the comp was a task that took us UP and OVER the Border Ranges, crossing Mt Barney along the way. I had a chance to snap a few shots of Mt Barney.