Here you can be soaring early and from the air the land presents like a patchwork of cotton fields and crops of sorghum and soy, a rustic tapestry interrupted every 40km or so when the next township appears on the horizon. Dalby is a very pleasant place for pilots, both on the ground and in the air. For all these reasons here is a premier location for flying, making The Bigair one of the best competitions on the international calendar.
Saturday was practice day and for the 40+ pilots it was a reminder of the cornerstone of Dalby flying; classic, world class conditions. So, with perfect clouds covering half the sky and a light drift most pilots warmed-up with an out-and-return or a triangle. If today was any indication the competition was going to be excellent, and with names such as Curt Warren, Oli Barthelmes, Jonny Durand, Cameron Tunbridge, Chris Jones, Conrad Loten and Steve Blenkinsop it was also the most distinguished pilot list for a Bigair (so far).
Towing to the west 2006.
.
Sunday arrived with a stronger than usual drift but the safety committee passed the conditions as ‘OK’. Conrad presented the weather report and translated the BLIP maps and predicted very good flying ahead. Then the task committee got to work and gave the day another vote of confidence by calling open distance, and to accommodate the scoring system they designated Mitchell Airstrip as goal 338km to the west. The intention was to make the goal so far away no one would make it. Right?
The day was excellent. Long streets at 6000’ intersected the course at 45 degrees and the climb rates were moderate and consistent, but intervening sink lines often made the vario groan, loudly. The ground speed in between thermals averaged 100+kph and it was an unreal sight shadowing the trucks as they rolled down the highway, on the speed limit, thousands of feet below. The first start gate was 12:45pm and the day boomed for the whole flight and as the kilometres came and went the streeting gradually acred around to parallel courseline. These conditions are worth years of wait and many including Jonny Durand would later declare the day was full of world record potential if only we started a couple of hours earlier.
.
Jason Reid joins the dots, 2006.
Goal was a few kilometers downwind of Mitchell township with a stretch of forest in between. I had flown with Conrad on and off over the last 150km and we finally crossed the line with 6 seconds between us. All spare altitude and the strong tailwind hurtled us into goal. It was empty. As I parked the glider I realised it only felt like minutes had passed since crossing the halfway point a couple of hours ago. Time flies, literally! For the next hour+ gliders came in, often to cheering from the ground or hooting from the pilot as they crossed over the line.
What originated as an ‘impossible’ goal to satisfy a limitation in the scoring system became an Australian distance record in a sanctioned competition (and just shy of a new world record) but this was of little significance. It was one of the best flights most of us had ever flown and all agreed the day was under called. Over half the field flew their personal best distance. Dalby!
.
Results: Task 1
1. Curt Warren
2. Conrad Loten
3. Adam Parer
4. Cameron Tunbridge
5. Peter Dall
The Dalby Hang Gliding Club is forward thinking and proactive and one of the best resourced clubs in Australia, and the members are in accord about the initiatives of their Club. Club President, Daron Hodder, is most vocal in this regard, they welcome all who have the skills to tow and fly safely, but they encourage flying according to the conditions rather than to the vagaries of a scoring system or the bias of a task committee. The title Bigair is as much a declaration of this attitude as it is a reflection of the outstanding flying conditions so synonymous with Dalby. True to this intent Nick Purcell had done a superlative job preparing and running what would definitely be the most successful Bigair event so far. Thanks to his efforts it would be the best competition many of us had ever attended, all we needed was the weather...
Two of DHGC's tugs.
Day # 2 arrived to confirm the local’s suspicions and worst fears; full overcast and rain, and Cyclone Hamish continued to deliver the same sort of weather for the next 3 days. We would have to wait until Thursday before taking to the air again. Tug pilot, John Blaine, armed with his guitar and a repertoire of Hank Williams Jnr provided moments of much needed entertainment to distract us from the frustations of down time, as did an afternoon at the Dalby shooting range. DHGC tug owner/pilot Bruce carrera and young Gun Jonas Bechler both proved to be most impressive marksmen.
Thursday morning arrived calm and clear and everyone was revived with the promise of flying a task but by mid morning the wind had picked-up and the sky was fully overcast again. As if to recover the general mood Nick, Annie and Bruce Carrera, and Blaino got everyone fired-up for an afternoon of towing and flying. Blaino could be heard to say more than once "We're here to fly!" But then the competition and task committees met and decided on a late straight-line round with goal at Chinchilla.
Many pilots dribbled in light lift or zeros and some just flew downwind without hitting anything at all. It was amazing to hear reports of some pilots actually getting thermals under the full deck of dark grey cloud with no shadowing and very little heating on the ground. No one made it to goal with the best flights getting only about halfway. But it was a crucial day for points, compared to Day #1 each km was worth ten times the value and the overall placings varied as a result.
.
Results: Task 2
1. Jonny Durand
2. Conrad Loten
3. Dave may
4. Trent Brown
5. Nick Purcell
With just two days to go there was less time to make up ground. It was coming down to the wire for the several pilots who are challenging for the last available place on the Australian Team for the World Titles in France, in June. Only a handful of points separated about 5 pilots in contention on the national ladder so the pressure was on.
Friday arrived to confirm the cyclone had dissipated over night and once again we were greeted to classic Dalby conditions. The day was excellent. Thermals varied from 2m/sec to 4.5m/sec on the first leg to Chinchilla, 70km down wind from Dalby. Streeting was almost parallel to course line but sections of the task saw over development and widespread shading. Chinchilla was often shaded-in and seemed to be a dead spot for lift and pulled many pilots down. A few pilots spoke of tense low saves right over or near the turn point but from there the course line turned south west and now paralleled the cloud streets.
Goal was Condamine about 50km from Chinchilla. Climb rates maintained around 2-4m/sec and with the drift the final leg took about 4 climbs for about 12 pilots to make it ‘in’. As we packed-up in the goal paddock Conrado from Brazil called for everyone to look to the west, and there the sky presented like a sureal oil painting, mature and the finest looking and densely packed textbook-perfect cu as far as the eye could see.
Like Day 1 this task was probably under called but the important thing was getting what we came here for; excellent conditions and great flying.
.
Results: Task 3
1. Curt Warren
2. Steve Blenkinsop
3. Jonny Durand
4. Adam Parer
5. Trent Brown
The last day was another Dalby classic and the lighter drift had us flying a 134km triangle task; 44km to Jandowea, 32km to Brigalow, and then 58km into the headwind back to Dalby Airport. Today was the most challenging task with significant changes in the flying conditions throughout the course. The first leg was fairly easy although the turn point found many circling in broken and light climbs. On the way to the second turnpoint the thermals resumed with good climbs, some averaging up to 4m/sec, but then the latter half of this leg ‘blued-up’ as the clouds thinned out.
.
This last turn point was a trap for those who picked the wrong line but for those who veered right of course found good climbs and some pilots still reported finding up to 5m/sec on the way to goal. For those who came late it got harder as the sky blued-up once and for all. Eventually the climbs barely made ground against the drift.
.
.
The DHGC are to commended for running yet another excellent competition. Until next year....
