ENTRIES SO FAR!  
http://www.joeyglide.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15&Itemid=19

Feel free to forward this on to your clubs webgroup, or any of your junior 
gliding club members.  This year is set to be EPIC, if people support this one, 
I can see that critical mass could be achieved :)

ENTHUSIASM, CREATES ENTHUSIASM – so if you meet the entry requirements, please 
submit an entry or expression of interest!





Internodes Australian Junior Gliding Nationals 2011, aka

JoeyGlide!

First of all, don’t let the word nationals scare you off, this event is aimed 
at having a great time with like minded junior pilots as the primary purpose!  
Just imagine hanging out with 50 or more junior pilots for a week of soaring, 
afternoon activities and chatting the tall tales of your gliding adventures – 
awesome!

After another successful Junior Nationals – thanks to Angus Stewart (CD), 
‘Super John’ Hudson and his hard working team at the Waikerie Gliding Club – 
it’s time to start thinking about the next great year of the comp that has 
always been known as JoeyGlide!

We’re aiming to make this one of the biggest and best yet, and with your 
participation I guarantee you’ll have a great time.  This letter I plan to 
introduce you to the Australian junior gliding movement, who is eligible, and 
how you can be involved in the upcoming junior nationals. 



Let’s get straight to the point!

Event Dates: 10th to 17th of December, 2011.  Location: Kingaroy, Queensland.  
Gliders: Sports Class limited to 15m wingspan. Water ballasted competition; 
however gliders (or pilots) that fly without water ballast will have an 
appropriate handicap applied. Competitor age limit: 25 years or less at the 
beginning of the championships, however we will be allowing 26-30’s to be at 
the championship as mentors. Coaching available for solo junior pilots, wishing 
to transfer from gliding to racing - POW!



History:  The current junior gliding movement started back in 2002 at the 
Queensland Easter Gliding Competition. Despite a staggering 50+ entries, I was 
astounded to realise I was the only junior anywhere near the event - and not 
actually competing!  Something clearly had to be done. Recently solo and 
enthusiastic I got together with the only three other juniors (Anne-Maree 
Dearden, Ben Thompson and Dan Truitt) I knew at the time from Queensland to 
hold the first junior gliding meet out of Kingaroy.  These meets moved around 
to different clubs once a month, and slowly gained momentum as more young 
pilots got involved.  It wasn’t known to me at the time, but the Southern 
states were also gearing their juniors up.  Tom Claffey, Miles Gore Brown, 
Bruce Taylor, Paul Mander and Bruce Campbell were spending their holidays 
helping juniors make the transition from flying to racing.   It wasn’t until 
the initial junior webgroup was brought to life, that all the juniors in 
Australia were able to unite into one strong movement.  The actual name 
JoeyGlide I believe came from a number of influential people at a Gulgong meet, 
until finally Nick Gilbert came up with the winning name!

It wasn’t until the 2003/2004 season that JoeyGlide was actually born into what 
we recognise today.  Mitchell Turner, with his team, was the first to take on 
the reins as CD in 2004, which was the start of something great.  It was held 
at the Temora, NSW airfield and attracted 15 single seat entries and numerous 
coachees.  Since then JoeyGlide has been led very strongly over the years by 
Nick Gilbert and Heath L’Estrange – without these key guys, JoeyGlide could 
have fallen over after the third year.  We’re now organising our 8th nationals 
and we want you to be a part of it!



JoeyGlide 2011: So who do we want at JoeyGlide 2011? The definition of Junior 
throughout the gliding world is those who are 25 years or less at the start of 
the competition. But to attract even more numbers and fun to the event, we’ve 
decided to up that age to allow mentors from the age 26-30 as well!  Those whom 
are under 26, will go into the running to be declared the Australian Junior 
National Champion, and have the chance at being selected to represent Australia 
at the Junior World Gliding Championships.  As with other years, all those with 
‘C Certificates’ will be eligible to compete in the single-seat class.  

The good news is that the coaching section is open to all entrants. This is a 
great way to build confidence in your soaring cross-country ability, to prepare 
yourself for future events (junior and senior), and to have fun with 
like-minded individuals at the end of the day.  We’re hoping to run this in two 
seaters such as DUO Discus, DG1000, ASK21 and the like.  

And all attendees are welcome to morning lectures and post-flight de-briefs on 
the day’s weather, racing and general action.  These will be run by some of our 
leading National coaches, even an International competitor that has already 
locked in his family for the event.  Of course this will entail lots of group 
discussion to help get the most out of this great opportunity!





How to be involved: The easiest way to get in touch with the junior soaring 
movement this year is through the facebook group called: ‘JoeyGlide 2011’ (130 
members and growing!!), which is becoming a great tool for communication, 
feedback and a number of laughs!  Thanks also to Heath L’Estrange and his 
supporting company Web Adventures, we now have the new and updated junior 
mailing list through our very own site: www.joeyglide.com.au; It is here that 
you’ll find all the information on how to join the webgroup, have a chat among 
like-minded individuals, add some banter and get into the hype of the juniors 
in Australia.  At the JG website, you’ll also find all the information on the 
previous junior nationals, coming nationals and the like.  

Another great JoeyGlide outcome is the Australian Junior Gliding Club. Find 
information about the club, its very own glider – an IS28 thanks to some key 
investors – news, links, events and more! Check it out at www.ajgc.org.au ; 



What gliders will race?:  After careful consideration, and again listening to 
the juniors as to what configuration they wanted to race their sailplanes cross 
country in, we decided on a competition with sports class gliders (eg, from SZD 
51 Junior to LS8 to ASW27) limited to 15m wingspan, and to allow water ballast. 
Don’t let this deter you, though, if the glider you’ve managed to get your 
hands on can’t take water ballast, or you don’t wish to fly with water – you’ll 
receive an appropriate handicap advantage.



Coaching:  A part of the long standing success of JoeyGlide has been the 
coaching that we’ve been able to provide to the juniors of Australia.  A large 
part of this success has been because of Paul Mander.  Using his time off each 
and every year, Paul has tirelessly been there to share his passion, skill and 
experience to the juniors.  I am pleased to announce that Paul will again be 
the head coach for the event, and below he plans to let you all in on the 
opportunities, fun and progression to be had through coaching!

So who is eligible for coaching at JoeyGlide?  In short, everyone from solo 
standard to the experienced cross-country junior pilot.  Though past experience 
has taught us that the requirements are quite focused and specific. Generally 
speaking we don’t have a call for advanced coaching, because anyone who has 
progressed to that level (Silver C and above) are probably competing. 

We like to use Duos and DGs, as they’re easily flown by all juniors.  Likewise, 
high performance by the coaches, aimed at “showing them how it’s done”, is not 
what we’re about. We want the pilots to do it for themselves, and so do they.

Thus the coaching is generally pitched at the introductory level. That is, we 
take young, sometimes very young and very inexperienced, pilots who want to 
build up their cross country flying skills but who may not yet have got beyond 
the circuit. We find that with a coach in the back, even very low hours pilots 
can explore this new environment, wherein they make their own plan, navigate, 
find lift, manage safety issues and the myriad other things that have to be 
addressed, and fly themselves around a set task each day.

The coach’s role is to be helpful, offer advice where appropriate, take over if 
things get out of hand, but otherwise encourage the pilot to fly him or herself 
around the task.

Occasionally we find that we have someone who has progressed past this early 
stage and who wants more advanced coaching prior to participating in 
competition. That is always a pleasure, and the coaches enjoy responding to the 
opportunity to work with someone at a higher level.

We hope to attract Juniors who want to fly cross country but may not yet feel 
they’re ready, or who want to fly competitively but who are still unsure 
whether they’re ready. Come along, have some adventure, some challenge and a 
lot of fun!



Stay tuned for more updates, which you’ll find at www.joeyglide.com.au ;



Safe Circles everyone, can’t wait to see you at JoeyGlide 2011!!

Adam Woolley

Competition Director

0438784688




SPONSORS!!

INTERNODE! www.internode.on.net 
On behalf of the Australian Junior Gliding movement, we’d love to thank Simon 
and his Internode team for continued long term support of the JoeyGlide event! 
Please check out their website at www.internode.on.net

“Internode is an Australian owned, national Internet services provider.

We love the Internet - and Internode delivers so much more than just an 
Internet connection.”





Gliding Queensland! 

"To Foster, Promote and Develop Gliding throughout the Region"

We have an amazing culture up in Queensland due to the massive support we all 
receive from GQ, so come up and have a glide one day, month or year! Thanks to 
Dave Donald and his team for helping the juniors out this year. I assure you it 
will be one to remember! For all your news, info on Queensland Clubs, 
development, history and heaps more – please check out: 
www.glidingqueensland.org.au





**Swift Avionics

Thanks to Mark Fisher of Swift Avionics (http://www.swiftavionics.com.au/), 
JoeyGlide is yet again able to lead the way in competition soaring in 
Australia. This year we’ll be running the fabulous new device called the 
DittoLog (www.dittolog.com) in 25 of the competitors glider. This device brings 
you wirelessly online flight sheets, online logbooks, online accounting 
interface. DittoLog saves time, improves efficiency and money! Where we’ll be 
leading the way though, by the time that the junior gets out of their cockpit, 
they’ll have been scored! 





SimJet

Thanks for providing some great prizes and sponsorship for this and future 
years JoeyGlide, we’ll be sure to announce them in the coming issues! Come and 
try your hand at flying a Boeing 737 simulator, Nick Kranenburg will make the 
simulator available at a special hire rate for any member of the GFA & HGFA 
when it’s not being used by a airline academy! Check it out at 
www.simjet.com.au ;





Go Soaring

“Products for the soaring enthusiast”


Thanks again to Al Sim of Go Soaring, who has been a great supporter of 
JoeyGlide over the years – by providing prizes, shirts and his enthusiasm for 
the sport. Check out his website: www.gosoaring.com.au 



WebAdventures

Thanks to Heath L’Estrange for hosting the JoeyGlide website, his support has 
made my life much easier on the web front! Web Adventures is an Australian 
business based in Adelaide providing specialised Web Hosting, Design, and 
Marketing services to customers. We pride ourselves on providing a level of 
service that makes your website development project as pain free as possible. 
Please check out: www.webadventures.com.au ;
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