The Omarama Area Familiarisation Course

Flying in the Omarama environment can be challenging with wild and volatile weather and high mountains. In good conditions local soaring within the Basin is straight forward but in difficult conditions the hardest and most frustrating part of the flight can be getting away from the local area. We strongly recommend visiting pilots invest some time and money in learning how the local soairng envirionment works, the typical soaring routes and the landout options. This will enable even the most experiecend visitor to to be safe, succesful and have more fun.

Pilots on their first visit should take either a Mountain Soaring Course or, as a minimum, the GlideOmarama Omarama Area Familiarisation Course. Either one of these courses, or an equivilent, is usually a prerequisite for experiencend pilots wishing to rent a GlideOmarama glider and is strongly recommended for visiting pilots flying their own gliders at Omarama for the first time. The familiarisation course normally takes 1 or 2 days depending on the weather. Bookings are normally accepted for the weekends.

GlideOmarama Area Familiarisation Course fee of NZ$680 includes

a Visiting Pilots Guide and Omarama map
ground briefing on local procedures, the airfield, airspace, land outs and general conditions
a local airstrip inspection by tow plane
a check ride for BFR, licence renewal or foreign pilots licence validation
paperwork and fees for foreign pilots licence validation if required
2 hours of familiarisation gliding in a Duo Discus or Grob 103.

Extras and Refunds

aero tows are not included - allow for two
accommodation not included
additional flying at $130 per hour
refund for any flying not achieved at $130 per hour
GNZ affiliated Club membership fees, required for solo flying are not included.