When looking at the OLC, you see sometimes flights from people and slowly you start to admire them. Not difficult to guess who those pilots are , as I refer often to them. They even feel like my friends , while I do not even know them.
Matthew Scutter is one of them. Looking at his 1000 km. flight last year in the LS 4 , at his performance at Joey glide and his 1000 km.-flight 2 weeks ago from Tocumwal, I was eager to meet him and talk to him.
He was very kind and straight away said YES when I asked for a few words. Here is the interview and the pictures Enjoy and THANK YOU MATTHEW!!!
And,….when friends in Poland close to Leszno read this blog , please read the last part very well. THANKS!!!! Would be great if we could help him.
Let me introduce you to Matthew with a picture of him.
1. Matthew you are still very young, what gives you the courage to fly over unlandable areas during a 1000 k?
Do you believe in the weather or in your self or both?
How do you prepare your self?
No courage required, I thoroughly research the area in advance,have waypoints for all the outlanding areas as well as a completely redundant navigation system in case my primary system
fails over unhospitable terrain. I also drop a marker on the edge of the unlandable terrain so I have a rough idea of how far back to good country it is.
I must rely on the weather forecasting and myself toavoid having to make use of this preparation though!
In my most recent long flight I only once needed to consider deviating towards a landable area, as I was heading out over the Hay plains before the cumulus were forming.
I also like to have a good nights sleep prior, and everything prepared at least the day before so I can relax on the morning of the flight.
2. How did you get in to gliding and do you have somebody you admire
in our soaring world, an example?
I wanted to fly powered aircraft as a small child, and my
parents encouraged me to join the air force cadets to experience gliding. After over a year of the air force cadets, and still no opportunities for gliding, my father and I joined the Adelaide
University Gliding Club and went out together most weekends.
I look up to the excellent coaches at my club (Adelaide Soaring Club), Graham Parker, Terry Cubley, Peter Temple who’ve generously donated their time and shared their wisdom to help my flying over the years.
As someone who finds consistent flying far more challenging than fast flying, I aspire to the incredibly consistent performances of the likes of Sebastien Kawa.
3. Flying a competition is different , then “eating” kilometers / read fly long distance, what do you like most?
Being young means also sometimes being impatient , maybe the reason for your outlandings during comps?
I much prefer free flying, no declared tasks, just playing in the atmosphere. I fly competitions because I find I learn much quicker when I’m able to compare what I’m doing to so many other
pilots. I do find the competitive aspect great fun though – a tight competition is a whole different source of fun aside from the gliding.
I will admit I’ve outlanded quite a few times due to impatience, but I think the majority of my outlandings nowadays are misreading the next 50km and failing to ‘change down gears’ if conditions are deteriorating – something I’ve been working on this season but still haven’t quite nailed.
4. I guess there is a bright future for you, how do you see the future in soaring your self?
This year I’m stepping up my commitment to soaring by saving for my own glider and travelling to the site of the junior worlds months in advance and getting some practice in.
With my own glider I hope to increase the amount of flying I do, and hopefully improve my performances! I also have my eye on a few ‘low-hanging fruit’ in the record books at the moment.
5. Please tell us about your 1000 km. flight from Tocumwal on that “bloody hot “day?
It was a huge gamble to drive over from South Australia (without a crew!) on a hope the weather forecast was correct. I’d been watching it for a few days prior and it hadn’t been as forecast, but it looked to me like the stars might just align on this particular day.
I arrived at Tocumwal in the evening the night before, rigged and ballasted in the twilight and settled in for a big nights sleep in preparation. The forecast had deteriorated substantially at this stage, so now I was hoping it was not as forecast!
I optimistically launched first (having felt some movement in the air), with more water on board
than I’d ever flown with (525kg).
The LS4 doesn’t quite have the same pleasant handling characteristics this heavy, and it was a
long struggle to core a broken two knots over the field, which took me to a few thousand feet.
I very tentatively pushed on north, with the thought of outlanding on the morning of a 1000k day
weighing heavily on my mind. Conditions slowly improved, three knots, four knots up to 4000ft. I heard chatter on the radio of all the other clubs in the area launching and pilots struggling to stay afloat.
After about an hour I made it to Jerilderie (not very far north!) { 50km Ritz} , and I saw the very first cumulus of the day form far, far above me at well over 10,000ft.
I couldn’t find a strong core up to it, so I continued pushing north and eventually found a strong climb up to cloudbase, and the day was on!
panorama view
The primary purpose of this flight was not to set a record, or even to fly 1000k+, but rather just to gain a better understanding of troughs so I can maximize my distance and speed next time around, so I started by heading far out to the west, right against the west-most edge of the trough. For reasons I still don’t understand, I didn’t find verygood climbs or air against this edge, nor in the second or third streets to the east.
I ended up tracking about 30km ‘into’ the trough, and had a good run up past Ivanhoe (about 400km from Tocumwal). It was about here that I heard pilots on the radio complaining of rain and thunderstorms back towards Temora, and I grew increasingly concerned about the prospects of returning.
After talking with a few of them, I decided it was time to head back towards Tocumwal, but via the eastern side of the trough where I thought there might be less over development.
About 100km on the way back I saw a large anvil looming out to the east, but what appeared to be a convergence setting up out on the far western edge of the trough (where it had not been good before!).
climbing in a straight line
I had seen a convergence like this just once before,the year prior when I did another OLC 1000.
I gave it a try and was rewarded – a 224km glide losing 3000ft, at 90kts average that took me through heavy showers and sleet. The sleet was forming ice on thewings, so I found myself frequently having to move out into the sun to melt the ice and regain the glideperformance. In some places the lift was so strong I had to do 130kts+ to keep out of the cloud – andperiodically a single droplet of water would come through the vent and hit me in the face at 130kts leaving little welts! Quite painful!
I now had quite a few hours before last light, and played in the convergence trying to better understand how it worked and where to find the strongest lift while making up a bit more distance.
Ice on wings
In retrospect, this trough was far weaker than the one I had flown the year previously, but
my improved understanding let me achieve a better flight from it. Hopefully the next one is even better! I believe with the understanding I now have, and a strong trough like last year, 1250km out and return is possible in the LS4. I suspect it may be some years before we get a trough like that again though.
Terrain might be a problem though, with that far north of most potential sites being totally unlandable (no strips!). Big triangles are a whole art form unto themselves I haven’t even
considered yet.
Leaving the street A long street with rain
6. What would you like to tell us and I have not asked?
I will be packing up and heading to Leszno, Poland this year from May until September to holiday and practice for the junior worlds, and would love to meet any locals who can introduce me to the area or give me tips!
I am still looking for a car and caravan or other accomodation near Leszno, so if there is anyone reading out there who might be able to loan, lease or lend me any of the
above it would be much appreciated!
Thanks!
Matthew
Just heard his birthday is in 4 days so HAPPY 22 d BIRTHDAY MATTHEW!!!!!
