It’s not every day that you get the chance to represent your country in the sport you love.

For Tocumwal’s Lumpy Paterson and Norm Bloch, who will be heading to Poland next year to compete in the World Gliding Championships, that chance is now wheels-down on the landing strip.

“I’m really looking forward to it. Getting the chance to represent Australia is a pretty proud moment, and getting to go over there to fly among the best pilots in the world is always a challenge and rewarding,” said Paterson, owner of the largest fleet of gliders in Australia at the Tocumwal Soaring Centre.

Paterson found himself in the running to compete on the international stage after winning first in the 18m class of the 2024-25 Australian Gliding Championships at Lake Keepit, Tamworth, in December last year.

It will be his second time competing in a World Gliding Championship, following his time at the 2024 championships in Uvalde, Texas.

The last week of February next year will see Paterson and Bloch join the championship squad at Tocumwal for training, before heading to Europe for the championships in May.

Transporting an 18m JS3 glider around the world is no simple feat, and comes with a cost to boot. So Paterson and Bloch have managed to secure two gliders to use while they’re competing.

In exchange, the gliders’ owners, from Germany and Switzerland, will visit the Tocumwal Soaring Centre in the Australian summer and borrow Paterson and Bloch’s gliders.

Paterson and Bloch have never met the German and Swede before, so there’s a good deal of mutual trust involved in the international exchange.

“The gliding community is a reasonably small and well-connected group, so when you put out a call for help, even to the other side of the world, there’s always someone happy to support,” Paterson said.

Paterson and Bloch have logged competition flights together in the past, including state competitions in Western Australia.

“We’re pretty good mates, as well,” Paterson said.

“We’re really looking forward to competing together.”

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Sunday, 1st June 2025

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