Testimonials

GlideOmarama guests are invited to evaluate our services and to share their Omarama experiences.

We thank our guests for the following comments which are unedited and permitted by them.

Peter Buskins led a group of associates from the Beaufort GC, Victoria, South Australia to GlideOmarama. A summary of their comments:

"It is nearby."
"It is affordable"
"It is spectacular."
"The Kiwis are friendly and we understand their language."
"You will probably learn more in one week than you could learn in 10 years of soaring in Victoria."
"G's lectures were the best I have ever had."

Peter Kinsey is a professional aviator from the UK:

I would definitely recommend a visit to GlideOmarama. The instruction is excellent, it carries a good fleet of gliders, all the staff are friendly and committed."

Tremaine Callier from Lasham GC, UK was given permission to take a few days out from his New Zealand holiday to indulge some gliding. He instructs those considering a visit:

"You absolutely must go to GlideOmarama! No, really, you must go! Sell whatever it takes to get there, but go!"

Australian Graham Trout after his 2nd visit:

"GlideOmarama has competent and friendly staff with excellent gliders in a scenic wonderland."

Swiss mountains pilot Manfred Zinn added a few days onto Auckland professional conferences and writes:

"Omarama is a very special place for soaring because of the complex and often changing weather conditions. The instructors at GlideOmarama did a great job in explaining the weather influence on the flight tactics. The hands-on experience with thermal, ridge and wave soaring in this marvellous environment was simply spectacular."

Bill Lurtz, a retired FedEx pilot, having recently taken up gliding at Minden, Nevada, US was recommended to GlideOmarama. He offers:

"As a new pilot to soaring I wanted to accelerate my learning experience in mountain flying and the Duo Discus. If you are going to fly gliders in mountainous terrain you need to take this course. You need to take it for theory, practice, confidence, critique and safety. The fleet of Duo Discus gliders is well equipped and maintained to a high standard. You will never forget the experience."

Fred Washbrook, a driving instructor from UK came to GlideOmarama from a reputation of it providing the best gliding experiences:

"GlideOmarama has a superb organisation, and an ability and competence to completely cater to the accomplished flyer and the complete novice. Concentration is on giving maximum flying time in excellent gliders with the very best of instructors. A unique flying adventure is guaranteed and one is treated as if one is a very special old friend. I recommend this holiday or training experience to anyone wishing to add fun, excitement and wonder their lives."

Philip van den Donk, a 300 hour LS3 pilot from the Netherlands, joined GlideOmarama in November 2008. He writes:

"For me joining GlideOmarama was the kickoff to a totally new experience in the world of mountain soaring. I experienced flights in diverse conditions, learned a great deal and also had a wonderful time and lots of fun. For any glider pilot at any skill level Omarama is one place that must be visited. There may always be even better conditions, but these experiences were the best I have enjoyed."

Gerry Reuhl from California is a NZ summer resident and was looking for a quality, professional, concentrated flight training programme to accelerate his pre-solo and cross country soaring experiences. He booked a week of flying with GlideOmarama in October 2008. After the first week he extended his booking to a second week and enjoyed some great cross country soaing and completely fell in love with the sport.

"GlideOmarama provided [me with] a high quality professional atmosphere and instruction in a beautiful soaring environment. The course was tailored to meet my needs and personal goals. GlideOmarama staff could teach a brick to fly and well exceeded my expectations. After 2 weeks I have booked for a further course of instruction and experiences later in the year."

We look forward to having Gerry at Omarama as a regular visitor.

Martyn Cook, Wellington Gliding Club, an experienced soaring pilot and private glider owner wrote the following review of his participation in one fo the first GlideOmarama Mountain Soaring Courses:

Five days at Omarama, with a 2-hour seminar in the morning, a 3-5 hour flight in the afternoon to reinforce what was learned, then a half-hour debriefing at 7 pm. If the weather was poor the morning seminar lasted all day. My colleagues were Phil from the UK and Richard from the USA, both flying leased gliders.

Was it worth it?

Results tell the story. The following week, in the Omarama Cup competition, I ranked half-way down the list instead of tail-end-Charlie, so something must have happened.

During the contest I was far less dependent on finding other gliders to follow (this had always been my strategy at Omarama because I had very little idea of what was going on). Instead, I was making my own decisions, and thinking well ahead - sometimes all the way around the course.

What made all the difference?

Firstly, knowledge. The course emphasised gathering information about the day, the weather and the course, right from the time I woke up. Weather maps off the internet, a look outside, a continuing eye on the sky during the morning, and once airborne frequent assessment of wind strength and direction (different for the valleys, ridge tops and clouds), where the sun was shining, and what the clouds were doing.

We went into new detail about lift sources: ridge, thermal, convergence and wave. Good if two sources reinforce, as they often do. So the best thermals are found against ridges, and thermals work better in a convergence. Wave is reinforced (or cancelled) by ridge lift, and so on.

Secondly, skills. It was necessary to feel comfortable flying close to the tops of hills, because that's where there is usually lift. So we had to brush up on circling, speed control, and judgement of distances. Flying conservatively at a generous distance away from the hill was no good - you just fell into the valley. Crisp, accurate turns were needed, with the glider fitting neatly against the landscape.

Once I got dumped and ended up flying tailwind down a valley in depressing sink, to emerge at the dark end with half the height of a few moments earlier. A scurry across the valley floor and onto a sunlit rock face seemed the only way out. I gently pressed the glider against the hill and scraped back and forth until I started to climb. As altitude increased so did the rate of climb, and soon I got back onto the tops. A good chance to practice the skills discussed that morning. So we were armed with information and skills.

What next?

There are energy lines in three-dimensional space. Some are vertical (thermals) and some are horizontal (ridge, wave, convergence). Given the aim of travelling further (and hence faster) then following horizontal lines made more sense than following vertical ones. One exercise in the Dingle was to pull brake and descend to ridgetop, then skim the ridge for 15 kilometres, ignoring all thermal climbs. At one place right on ridgetop I was following hot on the tail of Phil in a Kestrel and was sorely tempted by an 8-knot thermal. I took 2 turns in the thermal while Phil carried on along the ridge. I never caught him again. My climb took me above the energy line along the ridgetop and I had to indignantly glide back down onto it further up the ridge. We were reluctant converts from "cloud-scraping" to "rock-hopping".

Seeing energy lines is like putting on night-vision goggles. Suddenly you can "see" things that were previously invisible, albeit in an ethereal kind of light. I could "see" how the convergence would be making one part of the ridge up ahead work particularly well. I could "see" how the dark rocks bathed in sunlight and sheltered from the lake breeze would produce a certain climb. I could "see" the need for a wide diversion on the final leg as the sea breeze had cut off the thermal sources and left a gaping blue hole right across my intended track. Looking ahead I could "see" the fastest and most certain way home.

Then there were the detailed tactics. Little hints like, when the vario is at its lowest reading in a thermal the core is in the direction of the lower wing. And to fly close against the hills, close enough to see which way the tussocks were bending, letting your glider flow serenely along the contours without anxiety. And other secrets too precious to mention which made catching lift and running the energy lines so much easier

At the final briefing we listened to a passage describing how "soft flows over hard" as the air flows over the mountains. Glider pilots need to go with the same flow. You can't force the air to carry you onward. You just let it happen to you."

Martyn Cook Wellinton,NZ