Poor visibility and strong winds over the weekend have conspired to keep competitors in the annual Forbes Flatlands Hang Gliding Championships firmly on the ground.
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The Championships, which are set to run from January 3-11, has attracted more than 55 elite hang gliders from around the world eager to take to the skies.
Monday, January 6 marked the third competition day that was cancelled due to poor weather.
Event organiser Vicki Cain said they are just playing it on a day by day basis and hoping to fly each day.
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Friday, January 3 saw the pilots take to the sky for the competition's practice day while Saturday, the first full day of competition, was cancelled due to strong winds and hot conditions.
The second day of competition was cancelled due to the smoke and dust in the air making visibility too poor to fly.
Monday's day of flying was cancelled due to strong winds in the atmosphere, with lots of converging air travelling at high speeds making it hard for organisers to plan a task.
While they may not have been able to fly for the first three days of the Championships, the pilots have not been idle.
The pilots have used the opportunity explore various parts of Forbes and region that they may not have visited otherwise.
Along with general sight-seeing, several learned how to juggle with the help of a pilot who ran several lessons.
In order to give back to the local community and farmers, whose fields they have occasionally landed in over past years, the pilots began collecting items and funds to support Nell's Pantry.
So far, they have raised over $1000 and are collecting a shopping trolley's worth of cleaning supplies and cereal for the pantry.
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Event organisers and competitors are hoping for the weather to clear up enough for them to fly over the last five days of the Championships.
"At the moment, they're just happy to get in the air and fly," Ms Cain said.
When they are able to resume the competition the gliders will launch from "Bill's Paddock", just beyond Forbes airport.
Ms Cain said they would also like to thank the Vandenberg Hotel for allowing them to use its function room as their headquarters this year.
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