After cancellations of the first three days of competitive flying, pilots in the Forbes Flatlands Hang Gliding Championships were able to take to the skies from Tuesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Poor visibility and strong winds over last weekend conspired to keep competitors firmly on the ground for opening days of the competition.
Due to the poor conditions and the weather forecast for the rest of the week, several pilots bowed out of the competition on Monday.
The pilots were able to get some air time on Tuesday, poor weather forced an early finish to the day's task.
Event organiser Vicki Cain said the task for the Sport Class, which sent them south east to Gooloogong was stopped due to rain and other bad conditions.
No results for the sports class were recorded due to the task being stopped before an hour of flight time had passed.
In the Open Class, no pilots made goal in the 167km long task, which was set to send the pilots due south from Forbes, with several pilots reaching distances of 110km.
Results in the open class were recorded, despite no pilots making goal, due to the task running for longer than an hour.
Competitors were able to get up in the air for a full day of competition on Wednesday, with with 21 pilots overall making goal. The Open Class task saw pilots travel in a slight triangular shape, eventually finishing at Bogan Gate.
Ms Cain said Wednesday's task finished quite well, with 21 pilots overall making goal which saw them travel in a slight triangular shape, eventually finishing at Bogan Gate.
You have a good day like yesterday, the people soon forget about the non flying days.
- Vicki Cain
As of Thursday morning, before the third task was started, Hungarian pilot Attila Bertok was leading the Championships after finishing strongly in Tuesday's task and winning Wednesday's completed task.
Josh Woods, from Stanwell Park was sitting in second place, with reigning champion, Jonny Durand sitting in third place.
As of Thursday morning, Jonghwan Kim, from Korea was on top of the leaderboard for the Sport Class.
"You have a good day like yesterday, the people soon forget about the non flying days," Vicki Cain said.
Thursday's task saw pilots in the Open Class travel to Peak Hill and back to Forbes, while the pilots on the Sport Class travelled to Canowindra.
The gliders were launched from "Bill's Paddock", just beyond Forbes airport.
Ms Cain said they would like to thank the Forbes Shire Council for their generous support.
"Without them, this event wouldn't have been able to go on."
The Championships wrap up on Saturday, January 11.