Mountain Soaring in Omarama, New Zealand
Professional gliding instruction, mountain-soaring courses and tailored flying in Duo Discus gliders from Omarama Airfield in the Southern Alps.
From a first flight to serious mountain soaring
Whether you are visiting New Zealand for one memorable flight, want to learn to fly, or already have a licence and want to develop mountain and cross-country skills, the flying is built around your experience, goals and the conditions of the day.
Omarama Classic
5 days
The full mountain-soaring course: 15 hours in a Duo Discus, with daily lectures and debriefs focused on cross-country flying in the mountains.
Mini Mountain Course
3 days
A concentrated introduction to mountain cross-country soaring, with 9 hours in a Duo Discus plus daily lectures and debriefs.
Introduction to Gliding
First flight
A proper first experience of gliding: briefing, 1–1.5 hours in a Duo Discus, hands-on control time when appropriate, and a debrief afterwards.
Also available: learn-to-fly training, a focused course day, casual instruction for qualified pilots, and the long gliding experience.
Why Omarama?
Omarama sits on the eastern edge of New Zealand’s Southern Alps, where ridge, thermal and wave flying can all be part of the mountain-soaring environment. For experienced pilots it is demanding and rewarding terrain; for newcomers it is an extraordinary place to discover silent flight.
Fly the Duo Discus
Kahu Soaring operates a Duo Discus X (“DD”) and Duo Discus XL (“FF”) for instruction and mountain soaring. These two-seat high-performance gliders give us a capable platform for teaching, exploring the Southern Alps and covering real distance.
What pilots say
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