Another New Zealand Wave Flightby Jon Hamilton(1f this flight proves to have been Mr. Hamilton's jive-hour Silver C durarion resr, it maywell be called a 1957 Version.)T 10.30 on 25th February I was towedA from Harewood in nor'west conditions.W. Small, the tow pilot, was using a PiperSuper Cub and I flew a Skylark Ill, andtogether we spent an uncomfortable hourbefore we parted over Lees Valley some30 miles upwind of the aerodrome.This was my first flight in wave conditions,so I was pleased to have reachednearly J4,{)()() ft. on 'tow and to havereleased in a very promising area. Aftergoing up a few thousand feet I thought Iwould fly forward one wave-length topowerful lift which was shown by cloudformation a long way below. However,this was not as easy as it appeared and I gotmyself tangled up in the cloud, messed upmy cloud flying and came out downwindin rough air. In this region the accelerometer(a sprung mass, friction-damped,instrument) showed + 3g and -2g with theA.S.1. varying from 60 to 80 kts. This wasmost uncomfortable· as I could not preventmy legs flying up and hitting the instrumentpanel.**See note at end of article.S.£.FE.ET)),(00DIAGRAM OFFLIGHT PATH25.2.57.15.\3JHAMILTONWAVE ~LIGHTIN SKYLARK 3NEW ZE.ALANDS.15LANDN.W.N.W. WINO50 KTS.
By th.is time I was down to 5,000 ft., 25miles from Harewood, but I was able tokeep aloft ~n very patchy lift until Iencountered good wave lift at 3,600 ft. overthe aerodrome. It took me an hour to reach18,000 ft. although at times the lift ex·ceeded 15 ft./sec. I had the feeling that thewaVes were arranged as peaks of liftdistributed at random rather thac as ridgesof lift, though later on and clQser to themountains the ridge type of formation wasmost pronounced.I dropped 5,000 ft. by going upwind a fewmiles and then spent nearly an hour and ahalf climbing to 28,000 ft., dodging aboutamong these imaginary peaks, sometimeslosing height, often finding lift at 15 ft./sec.and always keeping 20-25 miles downwindfrom the mountains. There was 'a layer of 600'scud cloud at about 10,000 ft. and the bestlift seemed (0 be found above these little 900cotton-woolly clouds. The great nor'·west I'll.arch was the ~nly other cloud and thisformed a sheet at perhaps 40,000 ft. with itsleading edge over the mountains and itstrailing edge miles out to sea. It obscuredthe sun throughout the·flJ'ght.The final lift from 24,000 to 28,000 wasdone in II minutes and this rate of climbHMlEWQOD,N£WZ&t\LAND, 3.40 P.M LOCAL TIME, 252.57.WtNDSTR[WG"rH & DIRECTION) TtMP£AATV_'E, ~IELATIvr. HUMIOITYO-..--r----.--,--..--r----.--,--~M~.300 .30,4llOZ4,OfJO'~ 1ll,OOO'600100 10.000'$,Of)IJ'.i't',~SVr.hc.4-+:.-+----I--+-+~+_f~-"b 10 ZO W -40Tl:Mp'1 I I I I·C."oo -SO -40 -JO -20WII~D DIIIECTlQW:Orf\UE Z8050 60 70 80: 1 I I-10 q +10 +20300 J20 340 Nhrs. with cold feet completed a thoroughlycould probably have been maintained for a enjoyable flight.long way, but I had doubts about the ••••oxygen equipment,. so decided to lose [Mr. Hamilton's last three words throwheight by going upwind. I passed through some light on his. outlook on !ife. It isat least one more good wave but did not reported that in the violent accelerationspause until reaching the mountains at encountered, his ·shins were cut when they21,000 ft. Here I turned across wind and h dflew north-east for 25 miles, keeping about it the instrument panel, an as each time20,000-22,000 ft. in the first wave upWind this occurred the .edge of the panel hit theof the foothills.same spOt, in olden days this woulli havebeen called torture, and not thoroughlyAt 16.00 hrs. I turned back, feeling cold, enjoyable at all. This turbulence shook offas I only had nylon socks on under thin all surplus glue and wood-chips etc., leftshoes. The cloud below had by this time inside the wing and possibly stuck on withformed itself into ridges with clear air in dope. During the flight Mr. Hamilton also'between, and there was no difficulty in in error allowed the speed at one moment tochanging to the wave just downwind at the exceed ma"imum placard speed, possiblyfoothills. In this wave I flew south-west for reaching 140 kts. This happened when he50 miles then explored upwind for a short had no horizon. The aircraft flies sotime before turning and cliving towards effortlessly at high speeds that he onlyHarewood. noticed it when he saw the win~-tipsHowever, the second wave downwind bending down.from the foothills seemed particularly Subsequent careful examination hasstrong,. and I could not resist zooming up revealed no damage except that the loose2,500 ft. in an incredibly short time in it chips inside the wing rattle when they areand then. pulling the brakes out Once mOre shaken.and heading for the aerodrome, which was Mr. Hamilton is obviously a pilot tostili over 30 miles away to the east. A T.V. watch, so we hope his hand will be a littledive, a loop, and then a landing at 17.15 more ready to the brake-lever next time!]-143-
- Page 2 and 3: new altitude to glidingOu R new lig
- Page 4: Lasham to Land's Endby A. J. Deane-
- Page 7: tremely heavy whenever encountered,
- Page 10 and 11: House,-.lames's,I.ondon,-120-
- Page 12: -EASY HANDLING should combine witht
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- Page 17 and 18: Finally, how often should you lubri
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- Page 23 and 24: TOM DAVIDSON,C.FJ. - SCOTTISH GLIDI
- Page 25 and 26: B.G.A. NEWSNatianal Oampioasbips 19
- Page 27 and 28: During this high-speed trial, a spe
- Page 29 and 30: the adjoining hill. At a lecture to
- Page 31: keep GOOD MEN DOWNandrs ofl.NES....
- Page 35 and 36: The1956-57 Australian Championships
- Page 37 and 38: counting themselves a no contest da
- Page 39 and 40: Na_P. WildburJ. J. ConnollyJ. F, We
- Page 41 and 42: hampering, though it was clearer so
- Page 43 and 44: Detection and Location of Thermalsb
- Page 45 and 46: THIS GLIDINGWHAT has happened to th
- Page 47 and 48: CluL~Ass~m1onNavs•ENTRIESare comi
- Page 49 and 50: CROWN AGENTSOUR A.G.M. was held on
- Page 51 and 52: · . . '. '""\OUTSTANDING ·1-26 fl
- Page 53 and 54: eaching 1,800 and 2,000 ft. on 2O-m
- Page 55 and 56: in his Kite 11, and this was the be
- Page 57 and 58: A.S.l. ,out of action" but Alan tol
- Page 59 and 60: BRISTOL GLIDING CLUBInitial T,ainil
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