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Soaring through life on fun flight plan

Yvonne Loader says she is “so glad” aviation found her.

mrs Loader, who is in her late 60s, has a passion for flying and has made her mark in the air, flying both powered craft and gliders.

The softly spoken Christchurch woman, who is at the national gliding championships in Omarama this week, started learning powered flying in the early 1970s.

She later came under pressure to compete and quickly became “hooked” on competition flying.

For 10 years, she did a “huge amount” of serious competition, with her favourite event being forced landings.

She was twice the Royal new Zealand Aero Club’s national champion in forced landings and she did “everything” except aerobatics.

She was the only woman competing in a lot of events and she recalled that men hated being beaten by a woman.

When a gliding club “head-hunted” her husband to do some towing, she found she was “incredibly bored” watching him, so she decided to get her towing rating.

She was a crew member at the world gliding championships in Rieti, Italy, in 1985 and was the only female tow pilot at the world championships at Omarama in 1995.

She set a women’s world record for gain of height in a glider in 1988 over Aoraki/Mt Cook.

These days, she enjoyed passing on her knowledge and experience to young people.

At a youth gliding camp at Omarama last month, she was kept busy as she was one of the very few people who had the flexibility to be both an instructor and tow pilot.

She enjoyed taking people for an “awesome” flight in a twin-seater glider and sharing the experience.

She did not put herself on the tow roster over Christmas at Omarama “because I’d rather be gliding”, she said.

a keen snow-skier, mrs Loader said the sky and the mountains were her favourite things and she loved the views from the glider.

She also enjoyed the camaraderie within the close-knit gliding community.

“You can talk flying until the cows come home and nobody thinks you’re boring.”

Non-flying women did not usually relate to her aviation interest but those who had flown solo had phoned her to discuss their feats, because they knew she would understand what they were talking about.

She has been involved with the new Zealand Association of Women in Aviation, a “wonderful network” of women with a common interest.

sally.rae@odt.co.nz

Soaring through life on fun flight plan

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Posted by admin - January 13, 2011 at 11:00 pm

Categories: New York City Jobs Tags: 60s, crew member, glider, tow pilot

Correspondence from Antarctica: View from the Sea Shepherd Ship …

(Pete Bethune aboard the Shonan Maru #2)

An update on the current Antarctic campaign, from Sea Shepherd crew member Andrea Gordon.

This message was transmitted to new York from the Bob Barker vessel via satellite.

Hey Tod! I just watched the video of Pete Bethune entering the Shonan Maru #2. very bold! Boarding was the one thing he could do so that the Shonan wouldn’t get away with the attempted murder of him and his crew. he originally wanted to board when the new Zealand and Australian governments didn’t do anything after the Shonan sunk the Ady Gil. Pete went for one daylight boarding attempt from our small boat, but it was too dangerous in the small boat with the anti-boarding spikes. but he’s one intensely determined guy. he stayed on the Bob Barker until we met up with the Steve Irwin. Then he went all the way back to Australia, only to leave the safety of home, his wife and kids, to come back to the Southern Ocean and do a dangerous nighttime boarding of the Shonan.

It was definitely dangerous. he went on a jet ski with two other people – a driver and a camera person. Then he had to balance on the jet ski, avoid the spikes, and cut the anti-boarding net – all in the dark at 14 knots! That’s pretty fast. unfortunately, there’s no video of the actual boarding. There was a camera person on the jet ski, but apparently it was too hard to get the shot in the dark while staying on the jet ski.

The video is of Pete entering the bridge of the Shonan Maru. the funny part is that the Shonan didn’t even know he was onboard, and had been for an hour and a half, until daybreak when Pete knocked on the bridge window! the video shows him lightly knocking on the window next to the bridge door. He
put his hands behind his head while waiting for someone to see him. Then, one of the whalers opened the bridge door, came half-way out and Pete handed him a citizen’s arrest letter and a $3M invoice for the Ady Gil! the whaler comically tried to shoo Pete away. When Pete didn’t move, the whaler looked around and over the side of the ship for a small boat. There wasn’t one! the Shonan was stuck with Pete Bethune, the captain who had just boarded their security ship, wanted to arrest them and get repaid $3M for the Ady Gil. the whaler goes back inside the bridge and then Pete cautiously followed him in. That’s the last we’ve seen of Pete Bethune.

The Shonan is on their way back to Japan, leaving the Nisshin alone with the Sea Shepherd ships. no sign of the kill ships. We’re in the middle of another strong storm, holding tight in massive seas up to 30 feet with 70 knot winds. no one minds the weather though because its the 14th day no whales have died. That’s 140 whales saved and counting!

Anyway, I hope youre doing well – the albatrosses say hi! so does the elephant seal that popped his head up next to the ship the other day!

Correspondence from Antarctica: View from the Sea Shepherd Ship …