The Oz Report, a near-daily, world wide hang gliding news ezine, with reports on competitions, pilot rankings, political issues, fly-ins, the latest technology, ultralight sailplanes, reader feedback and anything else from within the global HG community worthy of coverage. Hang gliding, paragliding, hang gliders, paragliders, aerotowing, hang glide, paraglide, platform towing, competitions, fly-ins. Hang gliding and paragliding news from around the world, by Davis Straub.

logo
The
 Oz Report
email
?

Conquering the Bight

January 17, 2014

Late on Friday night, Jonny Durand Jnr and Brenden Sadgrove showed up at Steve Blenkinsop's house in Adelaide, South Australia, in the Red Bull Land Rover Defender pulling the trailer which contains a Moyes Bailey Dragonfly. They had driven for fourteen hours from Forbes, NSW, Australia, where they picked up the trailer, on their way to Eucla, Western Australia. The great adventure to set new world records for out and return speed (and perhaps distance) had begun.

January 18, 2104

Jonny and Brenden drove 700+ km to Penong just west of Ceduna to stop for a visit with old time hang glider pilot, Drew Cooper.

January 19, 2014

Jonny and Brenden arrived in Eucla, about seven kilometers into Western Australia on the Eyre Highway (A1). Eucla, population maybe now about 40, is 500 km west of Ceduna and 700 km east of Norseman, the closest places with any population along the highway. They quickly got to know most of the folks in town (who all seemed to work for the hotel).

This is our headquarters for the next two weeks as we help Jonny set the new 100 km, 200 km, 300 km, 400 km (no record yet) speed records for out and return flights, distance record for declared and free out and return.

January 20, 2014

Simon Barratt from Red Bull, Rohan Taylor, Cameron Batton (photographer) and I flew on REX airline out of Adelaide on the 7:10 AM flight to Ceduna. The turbo prop plane only had three empty seats. The remote vehicle rental SUV was waiting for us at the airport. After breakfast at the Blue Dolphin we headed west for a drive across the Nullarbor (null arbor - no trees) National Park.

We stopped at the whale watching platform (there are no whales here at this time of year) at Head of the Bight.



You're looking at the Bunda cliffs that define the Bight for the next 200 km, the distance of the Nullarbor National Park and the Great Australian Bight Marine Park. Jonny is planning to fly along these cliffs.

The spectacular Bunda Cliffs stretch for 200 kilometres west of the Head of Bight. These cliffs are 70 metres or so in height and are the remains of an ancient ocean bed that was subject to geological uplifting millions of years ago. Something remarkable to ponder is the fact that as you drive across the Nullarbor you are in fact driving across the floor of an ancient sea bed.

While is not the case that there are no trees at all in the Nullarbor National Park, there are only a few patches of trees and the area is mostly made up of low lying bushes, with obviously sea and mist induced green growth.

When we viewed the cliffs at the Head of the Bight as shown above it was clear that the 202 km (404 km total) 400 meter cylinder turnpoint that Jonny and I had created earlier on Google Earth was right next to us. Just on the cliff to the right.

https://OzReport.com/data/Eucla.kml

When pilots talk about flying at the Australia Bight, they mean flying east from near Eucla or Border Village to the Head of the Bight and back, 200 kilometers, total. If you use the KML (Google Earth) file above you'll see the whole area with lots of pictures of the Bunda cliffs.

The point, of course, is to fly along and above the cliffs using the air rising as it strikes the cliffs to provide lift to allow for a continuous gliding/racing/bar stuffed flight in both directions.

As we drove through the park from the east we noticed the marine cloud layers forming where before the sky was blue. The clouds thickened the further west we drove and it was gray by the time we got to Eucla.

After catching up with Jonny and Brenden we headed out late in the afternoon to let Jonny have a little test flight on a Malibu just to see how the cliffs and the dunes from just above them looked. There are a number of tracks coming off the Eyre highway going to the cliffs or dunes near Border Village and Eucla. We wired him off here.

Wind:



There was quite a lot of east component in the wind and he had trouble penetrating to the east. He went downwind and later landed on the dunes east of Eucla.

January average high temperature at Eucla is 78.6 F and the average low is 61.9. It is obviously dominated by the ocean. Half an inch of rain in January on average. Eleven inches all year.

January 21, 2014

We woke up to a misting gray day. Time here can be a bit mixed up. There is a specific Eucla time - UTC + 8:45. There is South Australia (Adelaide) time (which we will use for the record purposes as they take place in South Australia) - UTC + 10:30 (including daylight savings). And there is Perth (or Western Australia time, which is what is shown on our phones and tablets if we have the network automatically update the time when we are in Eucla) - UTC + 8.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/custom.html?continent=australasia

The computer doesn't allow for Eucla time (although the phone and the table do) so I show Osaka (UTC + 9) time on the computer.

At 10:30 AM (Eucla time) all the rest of the crew is out about 5 km away putting together the Dragonfly (and I'm writing this)

Winds at Eucla ESE 9:34 AM (Western Australia time) 12 knots gusting to 16.

Forecast for Eucla for Tuesday:

Cloudy. Isolated showers and the chance of thunderstorms. Winds southeasterly 20 to 25 km/h increasing to 35 km/h before turning easterly 20 to 25 km/h during the day. Daytime maximum temperatures in the mid to high 20s.

GFS forecast for winds at 12 noon: 115 degrees at 15 knots.

Light rain at 12:50 PM (ET).

Rain continued during the day. The Dragonfly was all setup at the sporting field 4.5 kilometers to the north of Eucla.

In light rain we investigated the location of the 300 km start cylinder and the beach down below it. The turbo in the Red Bull truck is acting up and the check engine light is on.

More easterly as the day progressed:



Eucla 21/07:54pm 18.7 degrees East  10 knots gusting 12 0.2 mm rain

January 22, 2014



The Red Bull Land Rover Defender with the flaky turbo. Did well off road though.

The forecast for the 22nd is:

http://www.bom.gov.au/wa/forecasts/eucla-district.shtml

Cloudy. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms. Heavy falls possible which may lead to flash flooding in the west from the early morning, extending throughout during the evening. Winds east to southeasterly 25 to 35 km/h. Overnight temperatures falling to around 17 with daytime temperatures reaching the low to mid 20s.

I'm getting the wind graphs here: http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/watl/weather/obs.jsp?graph=all_obs&station=11003

The observations here: http://www.bom.gov.au/wa/observations/coastal.shtml

It's been raining all night and this morning also.



It's beginning to feel a lot like Zapata, waiting for the right weather conditions.



Our rescue helicopter shows up:



The fruit section of the local grocery store:



Rain stopped before noon.

There is a crew meeting planned for 2 PM. We discussed rescue options.

No flying today.

What they do for entertainment in Eucla:



Samuel Johnson who is unicycling around Australia dropped in in Eucla and we took him for a flight:





Article here.

Cameron who is here working on Jonny's flight worked on the shot:



And I rode out to the golf course/airfield in the mud:



Forecast for tomorrow is:

Cloudy. Rain developing in the morning, heavy at times. Winds easterly 25 to 35 km/h. Overnight temperatures falling to around 18 with daytime temperatures reaching 22 to 28.

January 23, 2014



No rain this morning despite forecast. Easterly winds. Bobby Bailey is here and out working on the Dragonfly on minor issues. Wind forecast (GFS - XCSkies) looks good for Friday and Saturday. Southeast, strong - 19 knots.

Light rain in the afternoon.

Group photo missing me and the camera man, Cam.



Rohan Taylor, Steve, helicopter pilot, Chris, the rescue jumper, Brenden, Jonny, Bobby Bailey, Ludo, Swiss/French weatherman, above, Simon Barratt from Red Bull.



Looks like there might be an easy fix for the turbo on the Red Bull truck, just a hose.

Jonny fixed the hole in the hose with tape and a cut up Red Bull can (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance).

Rain most of the afternoon and heavy rain in the evening and at night.

January 24, 2014

Morning forecast:

Cloudy. Isolated showers. The chance of thunderstorms and heavy falls in the northeast this morning. Winds southeasterly 20 to 25 km/h, increasing to 30 to 35 km/h in the early afternoon, then easing to 20 to 25 km/h. Daytime maximum temperatures in the low to mid 20s.

Finally, it is beginning to clear up here on the border line:



The forecasted (GFS) winds at 3 PM (15 minutes off local time):



It's 130 degrees at 19 knots. The Earth Wind display also from GFS agrees. There is still a significant east component which would slow Jonny down.

The wind record:



The winds at 10 AM are too light and too east. The hope is that the wind forecast is correct and that the winds will strengthen after noon and turn more south.

Lundo, the meteorologist from UBIMET, is here and advising Jonny on the local weather. He uses the GFS and the ECMWF models which converge to similar forecasts a few days out.

The plan for today is to go to the lookout 1.8 km west of the western edge of the Bunda cliffs, the start point for the 100  and 200 km out and return records. Jonny would launch from there given favorable winds and see how things shape up.

At 11:45 AM (UTC+9) Jonny and I set up the declared task of a 100 km out and return

After noon we headed east to the 100 and 200 kilometer tasks launch point just west of the cliffs. We got everything set up including the helicopter and the GoPro's on board:



We launched him about 3.5 KM west of the 400 meter start cylinder.



He didn't go too far, about 40 km:



And landed about half a kilometer back from the cliffs, not far from the highway. Rohan Taylor should be there picking him up now.



The winds were light, about ten knots, instead of the predicted 19 knots.

Very little rain today:



Jonny's flight: https://OzReport.com/data/41O_Jonny~Durand.igc

Winds later in the day during the flight (too light and too east):



Forecast for Saturday:

Partly cloudy. Patchy drizzle and isolated showers in the morning, mainly in the west. Winds easterly 20 to 30 km/h. Overnight temperatures falling to around 16 with daytime temperatures reaching around 30.

January 25, 2014:

This is a marine climate, but finally we are getting to see thinner clouds and a bit more sun. Vicki Cain, Jon Senior, Judy (Jonny's mom), and Michelle Taylor have now all shown up (10:30 AM, UTC+9) after multiple adventures with their car traveling west from Ceduna. They spent the night in the Nullarbor Roadhouse, after draining the gasoline out of the tank of their diesel rental vehicle.

All of the crew (minus one) is going out to see the Weebubbie cave. http://www.poidb.com/poi/location.asp?poiid=225250

http://www.wilderness.org.au/campaigns/outback-australia/nullarbor-plain-limestone-karst



It appears that we will only get one good day for the record attempt during this two week period and that would be on Tuesday the 28th. Here's what the GFS model predicts:



South 22 knot surface winds at noon. GFS has been predicting this for a week now.

The winds are forecasted to be good all day starting at 6 AM with 19 knots southwest in the general area of the start ( out and return task first leg is to the east) and then 21 knots south southeast at 9 AM. At 3 PM (UTC+9) 23 knots south, at 6 PM 23 knots very slightly east of south, 9 PM south southeast at 19 knots.

http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/geodesy/run/sunrisenset

EUCLA Lat=-31°40'00" Long=+128°53'00"
TIMES OF SUNRISE AND SUNSET (for ideal horizon and meteorological conditions)
Time zone: +11.00 hours
28/01/2014 Rise 0746 Set 2128

We continue to stay in an area with four different time zones. Right now it is:

11:15 AM (UTC+9, Seoul) )(Windows computer doesn't provide Eucla at UTC+8:45)

10:15 AM (UTC+8, Perth)

12:45 AM (UTC+9:30, Adelaide - with daylight savings added in)

11:00 AM (UTC+8:45, Eucla)

and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology puts us in yet another time zone (UTC+11).

So assuming UTC+9, Sunrise at 5:46 AM, Sunset at 7:28 PM. A nice long day.

Early afternoon rode the bike north on the now mostly dried out dirt road into the Outback while others were exploring the cave (which they loved). Rode until the puddles covered the road. Saw a couple of these:



Shingleback or Stump-Tailed Skink. Slow moving, fun to get it to open it's mouth.

The road goes 120 kilometers north to a huge air field in the middle of no where. I'll see if the road is drier tomorrow so that I can go further. No need to ride on the highway with road trains and no shoulder.

Late afternoon we all went south to the dunes and the Eucla National Park and found the place literally jumping with kangaroos. We probably saw fifty at least (had not seen any near the highway or while riding north from the highway). The told telegraph station:



The old jetty:



Bobby was down there playing with the plane above the dunes:



We then went to the Delisser Sandhills, further east to introduce four members of our crew to hang gliding:



Wind was east all day.

Forecast for Sunday:

Partly cloudy. Isolated showers and thunderstorms in the west from the early afternoon. Winds east to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h tending north to northeasterly in the morning then turning east to southeasterly in the late morning and early afternoon. Overnight temperatures falling to between 15 and 18 with daytime temperatures reaching 30 to 36.

No flying along the cliffs tomorrow. Quite a bit warmer (with the northern wind bringing heat in from the interior).

January 26, 2014:

Northeast winds as forecast by GFS. Sunny and warm. Happy Australia Day.

Judy Durand took this shot of me yesterday:



No one seemed to accomplish much today. Quite hot.



Got to 38 degrees.

Forecast for Monday:

Mostly sunny. Isolated showers and thunderstorms in the west. Possible hail, heavy falls and gusty winds in the west from the early afternoon. Winds north to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h tending north to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h in the middle of the day then tending southeast to southwesterly 25 to 35 km/h in the late afternoon. Overnight temperatures falling to the low 20s with daytime temperatures reaching 33 to 41.

Forecast for Tuesday continues to look very good.

Monday, January 27, 2014:

Very hot today. I have the air conditioning on in the motel room.

Lots of filming early this morning with the still photographer coming in last night with a replacement Red Bull manager and the communications specialist. The crew went down to the Eucla air strip seen here around 5 AM. They got video and stills of Jonny preparing, launching, and landing. Bobby Bailey was the tug pilot. The helicopter was carrying photographers and Bobby was also at various different times.





Wind forecasts for Tuesday, the 28th at 9 PM on Monday:

6 AM (UTC+9):



9 AM:



Noon:



3 PM:



5 PM:



8PM:



Rode in the helicopter from Eucla to the takeoff for some movie magic photographs and video (wind is the wrong direction for a record try). Here's the town of Eucla:



The Nullarbor (huge, flat):



At the cliff edge:



Jonny getting ready to land:



Bobby takes up the still photographer after towing up Jonny:



At sunset a little after 7 PM (UTC+9):



Jonny gets his photo shoot:



Here comes the front:



The forecast:

Cloudy. Isolated showers in the south in the morning and early afternoon. Isolated thunderstorms during the morning. Winds southerly 25 to 40 km/h turning southeasterly 25 to 35 km/h in the evening. Overnight temperatures falling to between 17 and 20 with daytime temperatures reaching 22 to 28.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014:

Jonny is on his way. Launching at about 8:30 AM he has declared two separate flights/tasks, 300 km out and return, 100 km out and return. The task declaration forms in PDF format were sent to the HGFA secretary very early this morning. Stated clearly that the 300 km task was to be flown first then the 100 km. As the Official Observer I don't see a requirement to land in between declared tasks.

It was cloudy in the early morning:



Here he is low over the cliffs.

Jonny was able to complete two world records today. First the 300 km out and return speed record and then the 100 km out and return speed record.



Conditions were ideal especially along the first portion of the 150 kilometer out leg with a strong south southwest wind. They got weak on the last 50 kilometers and Jon got low at cliff height level passing over a section of cliff that faced southeast. He unbuckled his leg loops in anticipation of going into the water, but got lift on the next face facing southwest. The helicopter had just caught up with him and it looked to the pilot and diver that Jonny was going into the water.

Jonny had out run the front that brought the strong southern flow to the Nullarbor. Check out the 6 AM forecast above to see the front coming through. This brought light conditions and consequently the issue with the cliff facing the wrong direction. He still was very fast.

Jonny landed in between flights after all landing near the rounded area near the start of the 300 km out and return task and then relaunched from there after a small lunch. He was then able to complete a 100 km out and return task.

Previous 100 km out and return speed record: http://www.fai.org/fai-record-file/?recordId=5264

Performance: 75.73 km/h
Date: 1998-01-09
Course/Location: Eucla (Australia)
Claimant Tomas Suchanek (CZE)
Hang glider: Moyes Delta Gliders CSX-5

Previous 300 km out and return record: http://www.fai.org/fai-record-file/?recordId=5288

Performance: 56.59 km/h
Date: 1998-02-12
Course/Location: Eucla (Australia)
Claimant Rohan Holtkamp (AUS)
Hang glider: Moyes Delta Gliders CSX-5


As of Tuesday:

100 km out and return record:

Performance: 90.41 km/h
Date: 2014-01-28
Course/Location: Nullarbor National Park (Australia)
Claimant: Jonny Durand Jr (AUS)
Hang glider: Moyes Delta Gliders Litespeed RX 3.5

 300 km out and return record:

Performance: 71.28 km/h
Date: 2014-01-28
Course/Location: Nullarbor National Park (Australia)
Claimant: Jonny Durand Jr (AUS)
Hang glider: Moyes Delta Gliders Litespeed RX 3.5

Wednesday, January 29, 2014:

Time to pack up and go home. I'll need to finish up the FAI record forms and send them in with the record claim form to the HGFA and the FAI later today. Oh, I am the official observer and that's why I'm here in Eucla.

A heat wave is coming to Australia:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/27/catastrophic-fire-warning-issued-as-states-face-another-heatwave

Forecast for Eucla:

Wednesday 29 January

Partly cloudy. Winds southeasterly 20 to 30 km/h. Overnight temperatures falling to around 15 with daytime temperatures reaching 24 to 30.

Thursday 30 January

Mostly sunny. Winds southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h, increasing to 25 to 30 km/h in the late afternoon, then easing to 20 to 25 km/h. Overnight temperatures falling to around 17 with daytime temperatures reaching 26 to 36.

Friday 31 January

Sunny. A slight risk of thunderstorms in the far west in the afternoon and evening. Winds east to southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h. Overnight temperatures falling to around 18 with daytime temperatures reaching 32 to 42.

Saturday 1 February

Isolated thunderstorms in the west in the morning. Mostly sunny afternoon. Winds easterly 20 to 25 km/h tending northeasterly 25 to 40 km/h during the morning then shifting southerly 30 to 45 km/h during the day. Overnight temperatures falling to the low to mid 20s with daytime temperatures reaching 32 to 44.



We didn't pack up and head home. The Red Bull crew and the photographer and videographer wanted more material for "movie magic," so Jonny flew for another two hours to get the shots that they wanted.

I rode off into the out back, north toward Forrest and found this guy:



Forest is 120 kilometers by dirt road from Eucla (I didn't go that far) and this is what you'll find there:



A 747 landing strip in the middle of no where. Just in case there is a problem going from Adelaide to Perth. The trans Australia railroad is just to the south of it, and that is how they get the fuel there.

Thursday, January 30, 2014:

Many of these guys around:



Yes, today we pack up, but not before some flying first. Bobby's got to give a ride to a local who cooked all our food.



Our next stop is Ceduna for the night then Adelaide and Sydney on Friday.

contact email list
Flytec
Wills Wing