I recently took a holiday in the North Island of New Zealand. So I decided to call in on one of the local gliding clubs to do some flying. I chose to visit Taupo because they operated on Wednesdays and this fitted in nicely with my itinerary.
Taupo lies on the shore of Lake Taupo which is essentially right in the centre of the North Island. There is an airfield operating as an MBZ at the south end of town which is used for general aviation including parachute drops and joy flights over the nearby Hukka falls. The Hukka River is used to generate a substantial amount of New Zealand's hydroelectricity. At the north end of the town is the gliding field which lies at the foot of Mt Tauhara, an extinct volcano. The other notable thing about Taupo is the local McDonald’s which has a DC3 parked next to it. Patrons can eat their burgers at tables inside the aircraft. Cool stuff for those who like planes.
I arrived at the airfield at 10 o'clock in the morning. I was the first one to arrive but after 15 minutes the locals started to gather. I had a chat with them as I helped them get the gliders ready. They showed me their latest acquisition, a brand new PW6 which they purchased just three months earlier. It is one of only two in New Zealand. Ted, one of their instructors invited me to fly it with him.
The club also had a K13, Twin Astir, Std Jantar 2 and a couple of PW5's. The K13 and PW6 were used for training. They had a 235 hp Pawnee that they used for towing. The tug was purchased from Australia with the proviso that it be delivered from Coffs Harbour to Taupo. A specialist ferry pilot was hired, the tug was fitted with extra fuel tanks and it was flown across the Tasman Sea!
After flying a few TIFs the PW6 was available for me to fly. They didn’t seem to have any lead lying around so I hopped in the back seat. After I did Australian checks the glider was hooked on and we set off. I found flying in high tow position to be quite strange. The tug visibility is not very good from the back seat and I tended to weave from side to side. Basically if I could see the tug I was out of station. Similarly, when I released I couldn’t see the tow rope separate from the glider. I guess each to their own, the locals didn’t understand how I could be comfortable in low tow.
We released under 2/8 cumulus with a base at 4000 ft (2500 ft agl). The PW6 was very pleasant to fly being very light on the controls. The short 16 m wingspan gave it a good rate of roll and it felt almost like a single seater.
It was early in the day and the lift wasn't particularly strong. I flew under clouds for a while slowly losing height then Ted suggested I fly straight towards Mt Tauhara. I’ve been to a couple of Porepunkah camps but I still don’t feel comfortable flying close to the treetops. I wanted to take some photographs so I let Ted take over the flying while I took photos. The locals certainly aren’t shy of flying close to mountains.
Ted handed back the controls and I found a thermal on the sunny side of the mountain and climbed to cloud base. I flew back over Mt Tauhara and was able to look down into its crater. The crater was covered in forest and looked quite benign. However not all volcanoes in New Zealand are dormant, Mt Ruapahu, to the south of Taupo, last erupted in 1995. After flying for just under an hour I joined circuit and brought the PW6 back to earth.
Later in the day I was introduced to Tom who was the local aerobatics king. He asked me if I wanted to go for a flight with him in the Twin Astir. So I hopped into the back of the Twin Astir and strapped myself in. I found it a bit easier to fly in high tow the second time around. I think the visibility from the back seat was better in the Twin Astir than it was in the PW6. After we released Tom asked me to do a HASLL check, the locals pronounce it ‘hazel’. ‘Hassle’ is probably a silly pronunciation since it suggests there are two S's and only one L.
After completing the checks Tom talked me through loops, chandelles and stall turns giving me some pointers. It was the stall turns that needed attention, it’s tricky getting the rudder in at the right time.
Having spent our height with aeros I headed back to Mt Tauhara. It seemed to be a reliable thermal trigger and so I could thermal back to cloud base without getting intimately acquainted with the trees. As I climbed I could see the PW6 below me on the slope but I think I was climbing better than it was. Having regained height we did the checks again and did more aeros.
After consuming our height again I brought the Twin Astir back for a landing. The glider seemed very heavy on the controls and now I know why they're called concrete swans.
While I was looking around the airfield I noticed a Libelle fitted with a transponder. The owner told me that gliders are required to carry a transponder when operating above 9500 ft, anywhere in New Zealand. It seems that Kiwi pilots have a bit less freedom than we do.
The members of the Taupo Gliding Club were very friendly and were happy to have foreign pilots visit them. The local geography is very interesting and the site offers thermal, ridge and occasionally wave lift. The latest issue of “Gliding Kiwi” describes a wave flight to 13,000 ft at Taupo giving one club member his gold height.