🌋 Can you thermal a Volcano in a glider?!

Sometimes the day just comes together to allow us to play around the Volcanoes. Launching from Matamata, New Zealand, we flew down to Tongariro National Park, soaring over Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe, in the centre of the North Island.
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00:00 The mountains are our playground
03:36 Landing plus a happy Steve

[@SubTroppo]

Stunning shots of the volcano crater; well done!

[@PureGlide]

Thanks a lot!

[@Skyforger62]

Spectacular scenery!! What an epic flight….excellent job Tim!

[@PureGlide]

Many thanks!

[@denniscook390]

I was skiing there in 1996 when Ruapehu erupted, that ended our week long holiday. You wouldn't want to be thermalling above the mountain then, I saw a rock the size of a small car that had landed half way down the mountain

[@xjet]

It's been a while since we had a glider drop into NZTO but last weekend a very nice gentleman honoured us with his presence when the lift disappeared. A good time was had by all!

[@PureGlide]

I think that was "Dash", named as such cos he flies the Dash for Air NZ...

[@xjet]

@@PureGlide Yep, that was him. I could tell he was an airline pilot because he made sure to return his seat-tray to the upright position before they hooked up the towplane and hauled him back into the sky!

[@sUASNews]

Oh no, come here for the gliding and bump into you Bruce! That sure looks magnificent, I wonder what Walksnail footage would look like

[@xjet]

@@sUASNews Gary, you know that I am *everywhere* at all times 🙂

[@robinfautley8698]

I well remember driving past Ngaruhoe way back in 1962 steam rising visible from the desert road. Then Ruapehu which was case study 2 in my book to be published shortly. The 1961 crash with the first Aero Commander wing failure, leading up to the Erebus saga and TE901. All new info and Chadwick, Kaimai etc. To see you flying over all these sites, without an engine (well - packed away!) mind blowing. What about lift over Geyser Valley! Something to try I guess. At least now that the final missing info on Erebus has been solved, it is clear what happened and so sorry to say that I have to apologize for the UKs Privy Council mistakes. Cheers

[@flyneur]

wow! thanks so much for another video with breathtaking landscape!

[@PureGlide]

Thank you!

[@chrisj800]

Wow spectacular!

[@PureGlide]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Johan-ex5yj]

What a spectacular flight over a majestic mountain! 👍 Gotta love convergence! ❤ It takes you places you thought you could only dream of. 😍

[@PureGlide]

Absolutely!

[@apexjunky]

Ya.... that's cool!

[@PureGlide]

Thank you! It really was :)

[@daveandrew589]

Spectacular, would love to see Ngaurauhoe from above. BTW, the Tongaririo Crossing is one of THE most spectacular hikes in the world. An absolute must do if you're on the North Island.

[@PureGlide]

It really is :)

[@chuckcampbell3927]

🛫📖🛬 Always love flying with you Tim. Really a fabulous video thank you 👍

[@PureGlide]

Many thanks

[@josephcooksley3219]

Yes I have photographed steam vent on the Summit both from Desert Road and SH47 north of Ngarahoe near Hillary outdoor ... amazing ... this this flight definitely the best view of it ...

[@user-tn1vc1xz5d]

Outstanding. Lived in NZ for a bit many years back. This was my playground. Also used to glide in uni 25 years ago, at an old RAF base 🥰🥰🥰 Amazing to see aerial views of places where I've set foot 😊😊😊

[@PureGlide]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@mgt864]

I used to live in Taupō and would always have loved to fly around the mountains... maybe one day!

[@PureGlide]

It is amazing! You can certainly pay to do a tourist flight around them, I'd say it's worth it :)

[@waltercutipa9662]

Amazing Tim!

[@PureGlide]

Thanks!

[@mellbenham6809]

I use to work at the local coal fired power station here in Oxfordshire and gliders would use the boiler house as a thermal generator only issue with that is if the boiler drum safety valves lifted their eardrums would have been blown out luckily that only ever happened a few times and that was at night in fact I could hear them roar from my home which is a good 7 miles away

[@walterlown6308]

Awesome Tim...amazing footage of the crater...well done!

[@PureGlide]

Thanks Walter 👍

[@walterlown6308]

do one with the weather map from the briefing and expectations, then the footage of weather during the flight...maybe

[@planespeaking]

New Zealand. An area larger than the UK with one twentieth of the population. I can see why young New Zealanders leave for a bit more action but I would love to live in a place with a bit more actual wild country and not just farmer's fields.

[@PureGlide]

Yeah it's not until you're flying you see just how much wilderness there is in NZ!

[@sUASNews]

It's jolly expensive to buy property over there which must make it hard for youngsters

[@spadgm]

Wow! great video, loved the scenery!

[@PureGlide]

Thank you!

[@PaulJohnson-lu5os]

Ask Dave Johnson what it was like to be at the base of Ngarahoe when it erupted in 1975 - actually thought it was a couple of years to that. But it was impressive.

[@PureGlide]

Will do! haha

[@93455Driver]

Just stunning scenery, great camera work and editing.

[@PureGlide]

Awesome, thank you!

[@michaelnixda8143]

You could do me some favour - could you send some of that scenery over to Germany? A good slice of that weather would be welcome, too. 😃

[@PureGlide]

Done!

[@Chris-NZ]

Very cool to see the top of Ngauruhoe. 😎, thats quite a hike from Matamata !!

[@PureGlide]

Yeah 4.5 hour flight in total :)

[@BillBatdorf]

Stunning!

[@PureGlide]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@TheTonynoble]

Wow…that was awesome Tim

[@PureGlide]

Thanks Tony!

[@davidreid2301]

Gorgeous!

[@PureGlide]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@davidallan9624]

What a great flight. We're deep into Autumn here and the weather in the UK has been wet and about to get very windy.

[@PureGlide]

Thank you!

[@vihai]

Enjoy your spring! Here in the alps we have to wait 4 months... I hope some nice föhn day would come in the meantime... :)

[@PureGlide]

Thank you, yes hope you get some wave in

[@stumackenzie8492]

WoW !

[@PureGlide]

It really is WOW

[@davidpawson7393]

I can't describe the awe I felt during the month visiting New Zealand especially as my dad spent the first 37 years there before coming to America to choose me to adopt. Lucky me, he rocks and so do you.

[@PureGlide]

It is an amazing place :)

[@charlieirvin5898]

to the mountains!

[@PureGlide]

and return?!

[@henrymuller4430]

Wow! Amazing views, very different from the green landscape around Matamata.

[@PureGlide]

You'll get to see all this when we move the club to Taupo in Jan, if you're around then?

[@henrymuller4430]

Not sure yet. I still want to spend some time on the South Island 👀

[@JP-dy9po]

What’s a kind of magic 🎉

[@PureGlide]

It really is!

[@tricky2917]

I bet you'd get a good thermal off an active volcano.

[@PureGlide]

Yip!

[@coalachaos6486]

You must be kidding.... Your flying in Mordor!! 😮

[@CarlosMendez-tn5zi]

Im one of the first? Wow! That volcano looks amazing, its top filled with ice reminds me of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. In a fantasy setting, would you find cold fire in the summit? Hahaha

[@PureGlide]

oh yes :)

[@gerrycollins2335]

At what height would you consider supplementing your oxygen intake, especially if you were due to stay up there for an extended period?

[@PureGlide]

Good question, basically anything over 10,000 feet we have to have oxygen available, and have to be using it above 11,500 feet (roughly). I normally stick it on at around 9000 feet, although we weren't at that altitude for long...

[@robertvogt5606]

Is the beeping that changes pitch a variometer or a stall indicator ?

[@PureGlide]

Hi yeah the beeping in a glider is almost always a variometer, so I know if I'm gaining or loosing energy, without having to look at the instruments. My computer will warn me if I'm near stall, with a nice soothing voice that says 'stall', basically if I go too slowly...

[@robertvogt5606]

@@PureGlide thanks for the fast response. Last time I was in a glider , still had to look at the variometer . That was late 70's.

[@BillPalmer]

I’ve yet to read anything in the soaring books about volcano lift.

[@PureGlide]

Seemed to work well!

[@glennwatson]

What was your out plan if the mountain started erupting?

[@PureGlide]

haha fly away from it :)

[@alanaldpal950]

@@PureGlide What…. Not work that thermal (plastic) lift ?

[@AndrewJonkers]

It feels like you could glide forever as you go over that peak or at least to anywhere in the North Island. Don't tell me I'm wrong.

[@PureGlide]

You're not wrong! Almost can go anywhere in the North Island on a good day!

[@wesleycardinal8869]

Luckily they didn't send out the helicopter gunships from the secret base.

[@PureGlide]

Haha exactly right