National Rally: North Island

Host: Taupo Gliding Club  

Rally Report by Derry Belcher

Another great laid-back Vintage Kiwi Rally has just finished with fabulous Taupo weather laid on (pre-booked of course!).

Towards the end of the rally we were having to weave around obstacles on the approach as television cameras on cherry-pickers went up and down at will, getting set up for the A1 Grand Prix next door. Helicopters were coming and going most of the time from the racing circuit which also added interest to the circuit planning. Added to all this, from about mid week on, was the noise of the cars practicing for the GP that was amplified through the loud speakers to impress the locals.. Our solution was simply to go flying away from bee-hive of automaniacs.

The rally is not only about flying older gliders, but having fun on the ground as well for everyone including families and children. To this end, we were all invited out on Thomas Anderson.s launch for an evening cruise on the lake, and taken to the carvings in the cliff, then a swim and feast on board, returning home in the dark which gave us the magnificent views of the lights of Taupo from the water. We really can.t thank Thomas enough, or for that matter, the rest of the Taupo Gliding Club members for their support and friendship during the rally.

Another fun time was had by many learning to fly something slightly different,. in the way of two parafoil kites. One was of a decent enough size to drag you off your feet while the other one was much bigger and wilder and was seriously strong enough to pull an adult along the ground!! There was lots of talk about having to get .one of these things. going on afterwards.

Early most mornings, my young son would fly his RC controlled bungee-launched glider or his electric model before operations began, then he.d depart over the fence to the proper model aircraft club when they all arrived. Isn.t this the way to get kids into gliding later on?

So there was plenty to do if you included the hikes (my wife trekked up to the top of Mount Tauhara and various other walks), while swimming in the lake was a daily ritual for most.

To add to all this, there was a professional French musician learning to glide who serenaded us with his classical piano-playing. What more could one ask for at a rally?

The gliders attending this year included: Skylark 2 (undergoing an annual inspection, so did not fly), Skylark 3F, Dart 15, Dart 17R, K13, Ka8, Ka6CR, Ka6E, Foka 4, BG12-16, Libelle(x 2), ASW 27.

Looking forward to next year and hopefully we can round up some scale-model glider-fliers as well.