Newbie pilots’ chance to take off
Budding Taranaki glider pilots will soon have the opportunity to take to the sky with a development camp coming to the region.
For the first time, the Youthglide Youth Soaring course, generally held in Omarama, in the South Island, will be held at Stratford’s airfield in January.
Run by Taranaki Gliding Club and Youthglide NZ, the five day course will teach students to safely pilot a glider from take off to landing.
Subjects such as the weather, ground handling and safety aspects will also be touched on with the youngsters who were not expected to have any previous flying experience but a keen interest in aviation.
Taranaki Gliding Club president John Tullett was pleased to have the camp come to the region.
Recently he attended a larger camp held in Omarama ‘‘just to see what went on’’.
‘‘The really big thing they got out of it, other than the flying, was the cooperative way you have to get a glider in the air,’’ he said.
‘‘They also saw what was possible in terms of both gliding and a lot of the people that are associated with the camp and Youthglide who do other things in aviation from air traffic control to running small charter flight companies.’’
Four spots of the camp’s six had been filled already and Tullett was looking for students in years 11 to 13 to take up the remaining two.
He said there were only a small group of local youngsters interested in gliding, one of which was his son Sam Tullett, 19, who had been flying since he was 15.
Event coordinator Glyn Jackson said the camp was just the beginning for pilots.
Students could go on to fly cross-country, take passengers, learn aerobatics, or enter gliding competitions, he said.
For more information about the camp email tullett@primowireless.co.nz.