Mangere Mountain

On Monday I made my first visit to Mangere Mountain in Auckland. A good 15kts W was forcast and it was certainly cold and windy at the top of the crater when I got there. I was trying to learn Dynamic Soaring with my JW plank. The idea is to fly in circles (blue on the pic) on the backside of the slope with speed increasing with each revolution. The world record is around 400mph - and we're talking gliders here - no motor!!



As you can see on the photo, a red line shows my last attempt at blasting into the dark side in a big dive which ended in a massive crash into the ground at full speed! The thing just wouldn't turn and pull up. These things happen in DS-ing due to rotors and turbulence and all kinds of pilot error - hey, it ain't called the dark side for nothing.

Quite a bit of damage with a broken aileron so had to call it a day. But at least there were nice views to be had over the Manukau Harbour and the rest of the city.