SAFA Skysailor Magazine

12 SKY SAILOR May | June 2022 Flatter Than The Flatlands 2022 by Andy Schmidt, Tracey Meyer & Hugh Alexander Every Easter, hang glider pilots converge on the tiny town of Birchip to compete in the Flatter Than The Flatlands car-tow HG competition. Since 1993, this event has a long history of achievable tasks, safe conditions and fun focused flying for newer pilots. This year, the Vic HG Comps team offered their resources and organisational skills to help revive this awesome extra-long weekend of flying fun. This year, pilots travelled to Birchip from Tasmania, SA, NSW, and Victoria. Six pilots were new to the competition, and two returned after a hiatus, making for a total of 30 competitors. Next year, using direct marketing and early bird entry incentives, the Vic HG Comps Team hope to further enhance attendance. The competition began with a Meet & Greet at the Birchip Cropping Group (BCG) board- room, headquarters for the four-day weekend. Car-tow teams were ratified, radio channels assigned, task and safety committees elected, and pilot goodie bags distributed. Day 1 The task was set 63km to the SSE to a locality named Dooboobetic . The day was overcast and flights involved trying to thread a path between the few brighter spots of ground that received a little bit of sunlight. No-one actually made it to goal but some got close. Rohan Holtkamp from Dynamic Flight towed and left after first supervising his tow students into the air, and was the closest to goal at 60km, closely behind was Dave Moore at 59km. Several others landed in the 40 to 50km range. Photo: Don Rottman