Visiting with the Moyes factory and flying Stanwell

[RedBaron]

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Visiting with the Moyes Factory and Flying Stanwell Park

Two good friends of mine live in Sydney, 10 minutes away from the Moyes factory. Sheer coincidence or fate? Before my trip I emailed Vicki and was delighted to hear that renting a glider to fly their home site Stanwell wouldn't be a problem. Who needs a PG after all? Arrived in Sydney on a beautiful Friday morning and spent the next three days touring the City and catching up with my friends. Sydney is just great with its rather spectacular harbour and many beautiful beaches and parks. Massive flying foxes (or fruit bats) and tame sulphur crest cockatoos everywhere. I've never been to Australia before but must say that despite what I was told by my British friends differences to the US are striking. Meals are smaller, coffee is served in porcelain cups and one is not expected to tip waiters, which, in all fairness, translates into mediocre service. I thought Sydney had a very European air about it, so I felt right at home. I had also completely forgotten that in Australia traffic rules are British, steering wheel before the passenger's seat and driving on the other side of the road that is. Funny.

On Monday my friends dropped me off at the factory in Botany, a much anticipated highlight of my trip. The factory was smaller than I expected spanning two stories of perhaps 10,000 ft2. Vicki showed me around and I was very impressed finally seeing for myself how gliders were assembled. The main room was big enough to put two gliders together and was surrounded by several smaller rooms for carbon fiber tube and harness production. Another room was reserved for the build of Dragonflies. The sail loft was on the second floor, and it was there where I was introduced to Steve Moyes who was busy laying sails out on the laser cutter. I noticed the wooden floors with holes for the sewing staff right away. Rather than having to kneel on the floor they were standing semi-sunk inside the floor operating the sewing machines. Interesting. I had a nice chat over coffee with Steve, he was interested in hearing about malaria while I was burning to ask him questions about the future of the Litespeed and Moyes in general. It seems the big star there is Gerolf Heinrichs, an Austrian physicist and chief designer with Moyes. He left for Austria before I arrived and everybody referred to him as the genius. I asked Steve where Moyes was going with the Litespeed but could only get general answers out of him, like the replacement of wires with the advent of new materials and that everybody thought the performance peak had been reached 15 years ago, so he didn't share the general grim outlook on glider performance. I couldn't get more out of him. Still, a conspicuous smirk on his face told me they had more up their sleeves. Understandably, information on new glider models wasn't going to be shared with me. Still, I was stoked being given the time by him, Vicki and some staff members who were all very nice and friendly. Later that week they invited me along for lunch, Tess repaired the holes on my harness, and Matthew and Johnny Durand, who seemed to be recovering from a bad hang-over, helped fine-tune it. Hassle-free and free of charge, wow. I even got a job. For an hour or so Moyes let me assemble batten lever tips. Hopefully nobody is going to fall out of the sky with those!

Tuned out I was going to fly Stanwell the same day I arrived at the factory. Test pilot Martin thought it was going to be too strong but Steve insisted it would be alright. We decided to follow the wise man's advice and Steve just gave me the keys to his car and told me to go. What, what, what? I couldn't believe it, the man didn't know me at all. Soon thereafter I was chasing Martin all the way to Stanwell Park in Steve's car with a new Litesport S4 on top. Driving on the "wrong" side of the road was nerve-wrecking and seemed more dangerous than jumping off a cliff in a giant kite. I managed okay and after a 40 min drive or so arrived at Stanwell, which is located perhaps 50 km South of Sydney. What a site! Right on the Pacific, tree-covered cliffs and hills everywhere. It was blowing straight in 15-20 knots and pilots were busy setting up their gliders. From launch Martin showed me where the LZ was, a narrow lip of sand in between two rotor-producing dunes. Towards the water it merges with the beach. It looked very technical and small, I wasn't so sure anymore. Martin explained the approach to me and pointed out the possible danger of rotors rolling off the dunes. He then left me to it and I was very surprised that nobody else bothered me with questions pertaining to my rating or experience. Aside from a few chit-chatty pilots the locals left me alone, and I actually appreciated the laid-back attitude. No harm in setting up I thought so I went ahead and rigged my Litesport. Glider are set up flat at Stanwell because of the high winds. I watched a few pilots launch and land, despite the wind no wire-crew was needed, take-off conditions were unbelievably smooth. I told myself the hell with it, got in my harness and moved towards the edge off the cliff. I asked a pilot to talk me through launch and then went for it. No run was needed, I took 3 steps and went up in the smoothest air I have ever flown in. The lift band reached ways out to over the ocean and after an hour in the air I was buzzing up and down , in and out of the ridge having a ball. I couldn't believe I was still climbing 200 m out front over water. It was so cool. The Litesport despite being tiny and loaded Bacil-style flew just like my Litespeed. The glider climbed as well as everything around me and was pure fun to toss around. What a toy, and fast, too. I loved it. After three hours in the air I decided it was time to land. It was a challenge to get down. I had to head out over the ocean again to lose altitude. My approach was too high, so I flew a few S-lines which didn't do much good. Still high with the ocean now on glide I pulled in to my waist and dove it in, hoping I'd be alright. Came in like a shooting star and landed perhaps 100 feet shy off the water on white sand. My whole landing felt like a nil wind landing on my Litespeed and I was shocked to see it was doing 10-15 knots on the beach. I was clearly too big for the glider. Still, landing at sunset in front of breaking waves at a location as fabulous as Stanwell was phantastic. I'm stoked.

In conclusion, I'd like to thank the Moyes factory for their tremendous generosity and kindness. If you are looking for a new glider, check the new Litesport out. It's gorgeous, a monster climber it seems and definitely goes like stink. With all the carbon fiber in it it weighs next to nothing, too.

[mcelrah]

Wow! Great post! - Hugh

[Ashley Groves]

Excellent post.

Coastal sites are extremely consistant and smooth for launching, flying and landing so never a wire crew. Sea breeze is aundisturbed from thermals. At Fort Funston (Ocean Cliff launch, but you probably already knew that) I saw some neat stunts. One zipped up in his harness, went prone on his belly, then his "friends" left him. He scootched toward to cliff edge then "zoom", he was picked up and off flying.

Another pilot would lauch then tweak down his wing and toss mulch into the air on purpose.

Excellent place to play and dial in with a new glider. You can zip and zoom all while being unworried about the few moments needed to regain any altitude.

Amazing place to fly, but living in the area I personally found it a place where it quickly lost the novelty. A restrictive fish bowl and little variety except in the degree of clarity in the air. Also a breeding ground for very nose high launch techniques that some of the regulars had when they went to the mountains.

[hang_pilot]

Great post, Janni. Thanks.

Here's some amazing flying along the lines Ashley describes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcp8gKNOZ5w.

~Daniel

[Ashley Groves]

Amazing video! Thanks for posting.