20thiest FAI EGC in Prievidza ! Stendal ! UK Nationals ! OstrowGlide !Updated…also with pictures .

Sorry, not too many pictures in this blog as the system is still not working well. But they do their best over there in the USA where the server is,  to clean all unnecessary  stuff.
When I put my laptop off , today [Saturday} because of heavy thunderstorms, I do not know if I can get in to it again. Very frustrating. It worked though!!!!

 

PRIEVIDZA; 12 out of 14 day’s!!! And… Sebastian with over 10.000 points!!!

EGC 2019 Prievidza

Day 11 on July 17; TASK 10.

Standard class; 395 km….103 km./h. was the best speed and it was flown by our Russian mate, who flies comps already for a long long time; Dmitriy Timoshenko. He “took with him ” Anton Minskiy who got 996 points.
The first 5 gliders are all DISCUS 2A.
22 From 26 Finished.
Robert Schroeder is still leading in this class before 3 Czech pilots ;Pavel, Tomas and Miloslav. Points between 7.421 and 7.630, so a lot is still possible. GOOD!!!
club class; 349 km...Those UK pilots are doing SO well.Tom and G. are upfront in the overall scores but still have the “gut’s” to fly their way.  Young Tom is already 1 overall for most of the time.3 Pilots over 100 km./h. as also Ferenc Tamas did so as number 3.
Uwe, as number 13, lost  122 points, but still is runner up overall though G is closer now ;84 points.
26 From 31 finished. Some had to hurry for the evening party.
15 m class; 399 km..
.Enough competition is this class as well. It’s not over yet…though ???
A French day as Louis Bouderlique and Max Seiss won the day with 1000 and 993 days.All pilots finished. Sebastian Bauder was 4th, Sebastian Kawa 5th. Louis passed in the overall scores Freddie Hein with ONE point.

The day was closed with the INTERNATIONAL EVENING.

  

   

As shared by Per Carlin from Sweden.

Day 12 on July 18; TASK 11.

Turned out to be a very tricky day!!!
“The weather is trying hard to trick us. Some pilots are waiting in the air, some has landed and giving it another shot! Other than that we have 5 outlandings (4 from club class, 1 from 15-meter class).”

Standard class;3 hour AAT…Lucas Deloble from France just turned 26 and is flying pretty well. So is Benjamin Neglais on this difficult day they were 8 and 9. Compliments to the winner of the day; Filip Bojanowski from Denmark. WELL DESERVED 1000 points.
Huge differences in start times ,between 12.31 and 15.20 by Howard Jones from the UK who was 5th for the day.
Czech pilots Miloslav and Pavel did well as  as number 2 and 3 and with the result from today Pavel leads this class and Robert dropped to 2; only 45 points difference.
club class;3 hour AAT.…Already at 3.25 Uwe was back starting at 12 , and he flew in 3 hour and 8 minutes 289 km. In the end he was 6th. But there are always better ones; Tom started 6 minutes later and flew 357 km. in time 3.49. French “ace” Adrien won the day 269 km. in his St Cirrus in time 2.59 is excellent!!!
Only 23 pilots finished.
15 m. class; 3 hour AAT…Jan Omsels and Sebastian started together at 14.45 and Jan won the day in his Ventus 3T with 379 km. in time 3.03. Sebastian in his Diana 2 was runner up with 374 km. in time 3.02.
I keep an eye on what happens all day so I was a tad disappointed to see Radek out after 43 km.
BUT,…as I found out later, more pilots made a restart and had flown back , so did Radek. He started as the very last pilot at 15.22, but he had better conditions and flew till 18.26 a nice distance of 379 km. Good on him. With that he was 3d for the day!!

A very interesting “wrap up ” from this day by G from the UK .
G; “Turned out to be an interesting day…AAT set for all classes in really unhelpful showery weather. Let’s just roll the dice then…
It started to rain just upwind of the site before the club class start line was open, leading to changes to drop zones for the standards and 15m due to rain in the Prievidza area – and some interesting decisions for all classes.
Clubs decided to go deep into the first sector – with the rain cutting off the next leg behind them. But after some sharp tactical thinking by Tom they got back onto the pace with an unusual decision to go well over the minimum task time. For a couple of pilots, the very high risk decision to land and re-start after the rain paid off, but Tom and G still strengthened their overall positions.

The Standards had to land in the rain, re-launched and flew the task late – with reasonable results despite the desperate weather. Again, an unconventional decision but they were forced into it.

Tim in the 15’s rolled the dice in the hope that the first sector would be wiped out longer than it actually was. A calculated sporting risk that unfortunately did not quite pay off.

But the message for today was – no land outs.”

 

Day 13 on July 19; TASK 12. One but last day!

They started with an inconvenience ;”We apologize for the inconvenience, but water pipe got broken in the camp and no toilets are working, please use the restrooms in the restaurant, upstairs above the restaurant plus from the side of the office. We are sorry for the issue but we are working on it.”
No worries!!
Standard class ;3 hour AAT… It looks like flying together really HELPS. Today the Czech pilots Miloslav and Pavel started and finished together for 1000 points and after 12 tasks they are 1 and 3 at this EGC. Robert was 3d and stayed on spot 2 as 3d meant 999 points.
The French pilots did better and better and Benjamin and Lucas were 4th and 5th on this last day. So to see they had a very relaxed team. Overall they were 7 and 10.
Club class; 3 hour AAT.… UK-day in this class as Tom and G won together , yes also starting and finishing together , the first and runner up spot. Great job!!Flying just over 350 km. which was at least 25 km more than the rest. G moved from 3 to 2 overall. French pilot Adrien Henry had 2 good last day’s being a daily 1 and 3 and climbing overall from 11 to 8 and to 7.
German pilot Uwe who has been a lot of day’s runner up in the overall scores had a less good last day and moved to 3. With a rather early start he was 19th.
Here is G again, as I feel with his story’s as pilot that we get the best inside-look on this day.
Another interesting day.
The weatherman was clearly a little pessimistic about the arrival of storms into the north of our area in the early afternoon and more weather from the west in the late afternoon – he clearly disagreed with the task setting crew. So we watched the sky – and sure enough it was very moist and unstable.
So with a near identical three hour AAT in all the classes – what time to start? The weather window should have been 1400 – 1700 given the forecast, but we had severe doubts about it all.
Timing was crucial, with the speeds in club, standard and fifteens turning out at 114, 121 and 129kph respectively for the pilots that arranged to be in the right place at the right time. Early starts were not a good idea, but woe betide the pilot leaving it a bit late.
Because the tasks were almost identical the cubbies could follow the standards and so on (thanks for Paul, Howard and Tim for the help at various points). Most of us were home before the rain arrived at Prievidza.
BBQ time
.”
15 m. class; 3 hour AAT....starting together and finishing together, where did I see this before?? Also Lucasz and Sebastian from Poland did so and won the day. “ Together we are strong”.I really felt for Radek the last 2 days. Today he was only 19th loosing 600 points and “falling out of the top 3”. But no worries one more day to go.
Also in this class great daily  results by the French as Max and Louis were 5th and 6th.

Day 14 on July 20; TASK 13!!!!LAST DAY !!! What will it bring?????
Launches were postponed a few times. Another tricky day and the  hope for a good window!!! Always “scary ” on a last day. Early in the day the showers showed up already over the Nitra area.

Standard class;2 hour AAT…Start-line opened at 13.02…As said the French team became better and better during the days. On the last day Benjamin and Lucas won the day with a speed of 121 km./h over 249/247 km. They started at 14.07. Nothing changed in the top as Robert and the Czech mates “did their job well too “. 3 LS 8 gliders in the top 3 overall.

   

French team in great spirit with Benjamin as winner and Lucas as runner up for the day .
Pôle France Planeur

Club class ;2 hour AAT...12.37 start line opening…Lithuanian pilot Darius Liaugaudas was the best on the last day, with a late start at 14.15. When I looked in the evening at the prize giving, he got his daily prize in his wheel chair. Others starting at that time did n’t finish or were late. 213 Km in time 2.02 gave him 625 points. Uwe was runner up . G and Tom were 16th and 17th ,  but did not loose too many points. About 125 and they had enough advantage.

15 m. class ;2 hour AAT...13.22 opened start line….Max and Louis  won the day with 259 km. in time 2.04 but not enough points could be gathered to get higher than the the overall spot they had already. Sebastian and Jan flew consistent and finished on 3 and 4.

A tweet on the last day :”It’s the last day and we have all pilots happily at home, besides 7 outlandings. The closing ceremony is going to be at 8:30 pm. But we have goulash and beer ready for you already!”

So here are the EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS in each class;
Mind you Sebastian is the only one who gathered in 13 day’s more than 10.000 points

Standard class;
1. Pavel Louzecky from Czech Rep. in LS 8; 9.992 points.
2. Robert Schroeder from Germany in LS 8 NEO ;9.937 p.
3. Miloslav Cink from Czech Rep. in LS 8 b ;9.849 p.

And finally thanks to the Czech mates I found a picture from Pavel ,Robert and Miloslav as well.
As shared by Czech Republic Gliding Team via Zbyněk Smetana, airZone.TV

Club class;
1. Tom Arscott from the UK in LS 7; 9.907 points.
2. G. Dale from the UK in ASW 24; 9.619 p.
3. Uwe Wahlig from Germany in LS 3; 9.563 p.

The UK-boy’s.
British Gliding Team

15 M. class; 
1. Sebastian Kawa from Poland in Diana 2; 10.390 points!!!!!!!!!!
2. Max Seis from France in JS 3 ;9.976 p.
3. Jan Omsels from Germany in Ventus 3T; 9.863 p.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL !!!!
After 13 day’s the TEAM CUP was won by Germany with 895.63 points.
Runners up; Czech Rep with 890 points.
3d; France with 877 points.

Nice EGC to follow from home. Was a bit disappointed to see no Dutch and only 1 Belgian pilot. We have such good ones.

And then,…it’s all over again . Driving home to Sweden.
Picture shared by Per Carlin.

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The UK NATIONALS for 20 m and 18 m.
13 July 2019 – 21 July 2019

On Wednesday the 17th the weather deteriorated a bit and only 1 class flew that day; 18 m.
A short 2.30  AAT  . 20 M. had a 2 hour AAT but that was scrubbed.
Only ONE day out of 5 for pilots in this class till now.
18 m; 2.30 AATTASK 5;
22 from 35 finished so a tough day. Pete Harvey won. I know him only as open class pilot, but know he moved to 18 m. a while ago. He is doing in this class good as well with 248 km in time 2.43.
Kim Tipple also more an open class pilot in the past was runner up.

July 18 task 5 in 18m. and task 2 in 20 m.

18m.; 335 km.….Ian MacArthur in his JS 1 was the best with a speed of 85 km./h. 13 Pilots had between 900 and 1000 points and then…only outlandings. So 23 out and also “good ones”. As Pete Harvey after 312 km.
20 m. ;313 km... only 4 from 17 finished.The ARCUS T from Davis Briggs was the best with 68 km./h AND for 1000 points.That helps!!!He moved from 13 to 3 overall!!!

July 19 no flying. No action on soaringspot on Saturday either.
But on Sunday tasks were set,…changed….. flown…… but not really.
One pilot from 18 m. tried reached 117 km. from the 186 set km. and that was that. You can’t say they did not try.
Invalid day.

In 20 m. there were a few points to be given;Task was 179 km. and Rodney Witter in the ARCUS M came close; 173 km .. Only 4 flew over 100 km.
Not a valid day.
So not much more to say as the final scores for 18 m. after 5 day’s out of 9 .
1. Andy Davis in JS 1c with 3.192 points.
2. Kim Tipple in ASG 29E with 3.160
3. Derren Francis in Ventus with 3.136 points

And 20 m; after 3 out of 9 day’s.
1. Matthew Cook in Duo Discus XLT with 1.896 points.
2.Ian Cook in ARCUS M with 1.710 p.
3. David Briggs in ARCUS T with 1.628 p.

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STENDAL.
German Nationals for 20 m and open class and International STENDAL GLIDE 2019.

Finally a good day and flown by most.
Wednesday July 17;
20 m; 372 km...Task 4  TEAM Markus Geisen/Michael Pfennig  won again in the ARCUS M. They lead the 20 m. class with only 2 day’s to go.
Open; 427 km... Task 5 …EB 29 ‘s again, same pilots in it and as the best… Michael .Speed 139.73 km./ h. Felipe had an invisible- to- see -139.72 km./h
Amazing!!They have exactly the same total points at this stage; Both 3344. I guess they have a lot of fun together, though maybe they have no time they are SO fast!!
18 m; 315 km. ..Task 4...AND… Dutch success as Hadriaan and Sikko flew 128 km.h for 779 and 778 points. Boerje was 3d and is doing well leading in the overall scores .

Thursday July 18 one but last day and,…they fly!!!AND,…good tasks. With weather like this everybody quickly forgets the rain. Today was a day of flying around BERLIN.

20 m; 473 km…task 5…12 x an ARCUS either M or T in the top 12. Not bad. Best speed 123.95 km./h.Winner for the day Martin Theisinger and Uli and Chrissie were runner up with Markus /Michael as 5th. In between Italian pair Stefano and Kathrin with 976 points.
open; 605 km….task 6...2 EB 29 winners with equal points but not the expected Michael and Felipe this time Uwe Foester and Horst Singer; 999 points for a speed of 135.47/41. They started and finished together.  But…only one point less for Felipe with 135.31 and then there is of course Michael with the same speed , as usual they flew together too. And for that reason still the same overall points ; now 4342.
18 m.; 494 km.Task 5...Boerje, Hadriaan and Laurens [Goudriaan],…. the 3 toppers from the day with speeds of 130 and 123 km./h.
That Ventus 3T combination with Boerje is very fast!!!& km./h faster than the runners up!!!!

Friday July 19 VERY LAST DAY!!!!

AND they had tasks on the last day,AGAIN, so they finish with 6/7 day’s out of 12. Not TOO bad.
20 m. Task 6…..277 km. A change in the daily top as not the Arcus types were the best but 2 x an ASG 32 MI…AND a Duo Discus.
In the end the new 20 m. champions in this class were after 6 day’s ; Marcus Geisen/Michael Pfennig in ARCUS M with 4521 points
open class;Task 7….304 km.The speed was 130 km./h and Felipe and Michael managed together the same points [732] AGAIN.
SO they win together!!!! hope they have 2 gold medals. In the future organizers should take care of that.
5.074 points after 8 days. 2 Toppers in their EB 29 R…… Jim was 3d.[4.866 p.]
18 m. class;Task 6 …..254 km. Jeancarlo Grinza, from Italy won the last day in his Ventus 3F. But another Ventus 3T won the STENDAL GLIDE 2019.
In it Boerje Eriksson; 3.476 points. More than 100 points ahead of Italian pilot Alberto Pozzi [3.356] and Hadriaan van Nes [3322] from Holland.

Stendal will be ready for the WGC,  now the weather….

 

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OSTROW GLIDE 2019.
12 July 2019 – 21 July 2019

As shared by Aeroklub Ostrowski

club class;
Task 5...On Wednesday a short AAT from 1.45 . All pilots needed more time ;over 2 hours, one even over 3 hours. Distances around 200 km.
Task 6; Thursday was better as 500 km. was on the menu. AND… flown by 10 out of 13. Daily winner Przemysław Bartczak just ahead of Stan.
The next [Fri] day was set , 149 km. but cancelled.
Task 8 ;455 km... yes another 10 flew the task. Good on them.
Final overall scores at this stage from the winner and runner up;
1.  Przemysław Bartczak in SZD 55 ;5.198 points.
2. Stanislaw Wujczak in St Jantar 3 ;4.465 p.

18 m.;
Task 5… Janusz Centka won the 2 hour AAT ; 258 km. in time 2.23.
Task 6; The next day was also in this class another story; 703 km!!!! Busy day for the 11 pilots!!!
ALL 11 PILOTS FLEW THE TASK…. CHAPEAU!!!
Janusz [ ASG 29 E] was the best with 130 km./h He still flies as sharp as 30 years ago!!!
Task 8; another 702 km.!!!1400 km. in 2 day’s in a row, not bad during a competition. Only one pilot out the rest DID IT!!! 2 Pilots even got 1000 points flying over such a huge distance!!!
7 Out of 9 days with some real strong last day’s. They will be tired or full of adrenaline.
Overall scores at this stage;
1. Janusz Centka in ASG 29 E ;5.513 points.
2. Andrzej Śmielkiewicz in ASG 29 E;5.331 p.

When they still fly tomorrow, I come back on it. No more flying found.

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JS 3 news ;

Finally it’s there. I guess a few pilots will be relieved.
“An excited Uys Jonker (CEO Jonker Sailplanes) and Keno Markwald (COO M&D Flugzeugbau GmbH) having fun with the JS3 TYPE CERTIFICATE in hand.”

EASA awards the JS3 certification.
After 2 years of intense certification work by the JS / MD engineering team all the check boxes where ticked and EASA signed the EASA TYPE CERTIFICATE early this morning.
Uys Jonker, talking on behalf of the JS / MD engineering team says it was no easy task: “Designing a sailplane with the ultimate performance requires you to touch various edges of the certification envelope. Showing compliance when designing on the edge always takes longer as test data must sometimes be verified with the additional observe tests. Finally our patient customers can expect to have their JS3s ready with a full CofA (Certificate of Airworthiness).”

   

Ready to be picked up by the new owners at M+D Flugzeugbau..
As shared by Jonker Sailplanes 

The repairmen should have time to get my blog in perfect condition again. So I will slow down a bit.
It’s scary to write and not to know if it can be published. “All work done for nothing”, is SO frustrating!!!
Lot’s of pictures is good but if I can not save them it’s a problem.
So stand by. See if I can be back soon. I ‘ll give you notice in time.
Sorry.

Cheers Ritz

Final week from EGC !!Stendal…rain, but GOOD today!! UK 18m and 20 m. NATIONALS!! OstrowGlide2019!

EGC in PRIEVIDZA:

As seen by team UK….British Gliding Team

I prefer bigger pictures in the blog but they gave problems. So don’t forget to double click to see them in full. I will get used to it, so will you…..I hope.

Let’s start with Sunday after the loss of the blog. They did n’t fly anyhow on the 2 day’s before, one day was cancelled the other one was “a day-off” /rest day.

Monday July 15 showed big tasks!!!! Task 8.
Standard class: 502.80 km.after the party/dinner and the rest day everybody was keen to go for it again. Most keen it seemed Robert Schroeder from Germany in his LS 8 NEO; speed 121.87, which was just a tad faster than Polish pilot Lukasz Błaszczyk, yes one of the Lucaszes again in his Discus 2A; 121.09. Difference in points; 11.
22 From 27 finished. Some had air space penalties.
Club class; 500 km…..and that is pretty much for a competition for “our” small ships.But …no worries 25 from 31 flew the task and the LS 3’s were the fastest; Ferenc Tamas from Hungary won with 101 km./h
The 999 points were for German pilot Uwe Wahlig, who really flies strong during this EGC.
Number 3 was Marek Sawczuk from Poland in ASW 20 F;102.53km./h.  for 996 points.
15 m. class; 504 km.… French pilot Max Seiss showed his skills in flying around with a speed of 120 km./h in his JS 3. The other Lucasz , this time Grabowski, and then you know that will mean DIANA 2 ,was runner up; 119.44 km./h.
Only 2 out by entering forbidden space.

Tuesday July 16; Task 9;
The morning news was;”The weather remains the same, just with small changes. Because of the slightly worse conditions in the western parts of Slovakia and Orava area, the tasks are set more around the airfield area. All in all, the thermals will be maybe a bit tricky, but we know you all will manage without a doubt! 
The task length is a bit over 400km for all classes. You have the possibility of reaching 1000 points!”
Standard class; 425 km….And the “discus -Lucasz” was now the best with 110 km./h. for 1000 points. Just  a TAD FASTER THAN French pilot Lucas Delobel also in Discus 2A. [109 km./h.] And to mention the whole top 3 , all in Discus 2A by the way, I add Danish pilot Filip Bojanowski as well.[108 km./h]
28 Started 26 finished.

Club class; 400 km… As I mentioned already Uwe [LS 3] has the time of his life during this EGC. He won the day and added another 1000 points to his total. Great flying as well by the UK boy’s as Ge [ASW 24]and Tom [LS 7] were 2 and 3 !!!
31 Started 28 finished.

15 m. class; 436 km.…KAWA-day! 1000 points for him.992 for Radek and 907 for Jan[Omsels] The top 2 in this class is very close and for that reason it will be an exciting last few days.
Sebastian has 6.837 points. Radek 6.738  and 3 day’s to go.
Organizers wrap up of the day:
Back to task information now. Everyone described today’s flight as trickier but still better than expected. It is always good to have low expectations. There were definitely more clouds, turbulences, plus some shower at the beginning of the task than was initially expected from the forecast, but in the end, the conditions got better.”

Finishes on Monday as seen by
https://www.egc2019.sk/aktualita/EN/87/Roman-Leporis-gallery #gliding #glider #gliders#landing #egc #egc2019 #egc2019prievidza#prievidza #bojnice #sr #sk #slovakia#championship #soaring #pilot #pilots #flying#flyinglife #pilotlife #land #wings #battle#competition #europe #crosscountry#crosscountryflying

 

Wednesday July 17; TODAY!!!
Expectations;” The pilots can look forward to a similar day like yesterday. It is going to be racing with the task lengths 360-400km for all classes. The weather also remains the same- cloudy
Standard class; 395 km.….
club class; 349 km…
15 m.;399...

In the evening, so tonight INTERNATIONAL EVENING.AT 7 PM.

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STENDAL.
Open and 20 m. NATIONALS and INTERNATIONAL STENDALGLIDE 2019 in 18 m.

    

NO FLYING.
As shared by Aussie guest Dave Jansen.

A bit of a hick up with my blog as you could read under here. So I continue now with Stendal’s open and 20m. Nationals and the INTERNATIONAL STENDAL GLIDE 2019 in 18 m.
The last blog with all the news from the comps last week is gone for ever.
Till last Monday they had 3 day’s  out of 8 in 20 m., 4 out of 8 in open and 3 out of 8 in 18 m.
Clearly the weather- gods are not co-operating there in that nice place Stendal, where the Dutch in the past flew their nationals, because there were always complaints about our weather.
Last Saturday all classes flew .Small tasks,…but they flew.
In 20 m. ;2.30 AAT…Alberto Sironi and Elena Fergnani were the best in their ARCUS T. I met both during my Rieti visits. Lovely people. Elena is from a real soaring family and I met her and her brother also at JWGC’s.
Open class ;3 hour AAT…Another 5 first places for the EB’s and a 6th for the NIMETA. Good to see Ulrich Knauss in his EB 28 on 5. Best speed 125 km./h.
18 m; 2.30 AAT…and lot’s of out-landings.10 in,…10 out!!

The new week looked hopeful but Monday had to be cancelled as well. But really better weather was forecasted so there was hope for Tuesday.
Tuesday July 16 …..NO HOPE!!!But,…still 3 day’s to go. It SHOULD be better !!!!
A lot of talking about the weather here is a mall part of the interview , under news, with meteo man Walter Hermann, who was glider pilot on competition level as well on July 14:
The weather conditions make the present championship challenging not only for the pilots but also for the weatherman. What has been the most challenging day for you so far?

The most difficult day for me so far was yesterday [day 6 of the championship] because there was a dichotomy in weather conditions: on the one hand, a strong atmospheric instability in the east and, on the other hand, stable conditions in the west. And we were exactly on the edge between the two. And the problem was to discern or to predict when and where the overdevelopment and possibly thunderstorms would occur. And if this difficult situation happens, to inform about it the competition management to the best of my knowledge and belief, because one cannot say with 100% , not even 80% certainty: “There and there thunderstorms will occur” . We could see yesterday that after initial overdevelopment in the east, the weather stabilised for a short time, during which it became possible to fly a short task, but shortly afterwards again overdevelopment occurred followed by the thunderstorms and rain showers.
More on the EGC-site .

Wednesday July 17; TODAY….only 3 days to go but ……tasks today. AND,…nice ones not small AAT’s.
20 m; 372 km….
open; 427 km…
18 m; 315 km….

More on Sunday.

 

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UK NATIONALS at HUSBOS for 18 m and 20 m.
13 July 2019 – 21 July 2019

The 18m and 20m national championships competitors are making the best of some great racing weather.
This pic was taken from a Duo Discus passing Bicester today on route to the first TP at Didcot.
As shared by British Gliding Association

Husbands Bosworth , in short HusBos, is the place for 54 pilots to see who is the best in the UK in their class!! I was there when they hosted the JWGC.
They started last Saturday with a scrubbed day, also there,… real Mid-European weather.
The 14th was still not good so no task, but….
Monday July 15, beginning of a new week and ….. a working day again. BUT,…only for 18 m.
18 m; 205 km. 37 pilots in this class and lot’s of “flash” gliders. “Old ” and young pilots, a few with a very successful career already in gliding,  but they oldies ” with respect” are still doing well.
Russell Cheetham [JS-MD- 3] won the day!!!89 km./h. shows it was not an easy day. Runner up also well known; Andy Davis with 88 km./h in JS 1C. Kim Tipple also well known in WGC circles was 3d in his ASG 29E.
20 m. scrubbed.

Tuesday July 16; the better weather has arrived so “better” tasks.
18 m; 325 km….and nice speed…129. 55 km./h by winner Steve Jones in Ventus 3 T and a tad slower by brother Phil in a Ventus 3; 129.29 km./h. starting rather late and  flying together.
36 Started and 35 finished ,…speed from the slowest finisher 100 km./h.

20 m; 320 km….Edward Downham in the Duo Discus T won the day with 109 km./h. GOOD!! Only 6 from 17 flew over 100 km./h.
All 17 started and finished.
More on Sunday.

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OSTROW GLIDE 2019
12 July 2019 – 21 July 2019

     

Sponsor happy and in the end the winners as well.
As shared by OSTRÓW GLIDE – International Gliding Competition

24 Competitors in 2 classes 18 m. and club class.
18 m. class;
The first 4 day’s showed smaller AAT’s and  task 2 even a valid day with no finishers and won by Janusz Centka in ASG 29E. Task 4 was a good one with 485 km. 4x an ASG 29 in the top with all a speed of around 128 km./h.  among them Janusz again and 2 times a JS 1C with Joanna Biedermann.

Club class;
Also 3 smaller AAT’s to start with and a bigger one on day 4; 366 km and won by  Paweł Głowacki in Pegase. Stanislaw Wujczak in his St Jantar was 3d.
No task yesterday and not yet today.

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And to finish this marvelous picture shared by Visa Matti Leinikki. Double click to see the full impact.

Cheers Ritz

Problems with my blog! Sorry.

Good news!  You haven’t been hacked.  They need to do some disk cleanup, I think the daily backups have used up the disk space.  I’ll keep you posted.”

This is the news after I was not able to publish my last blog for the Sunday. And,..it was a good one I think ,..but it is lost!!!

It takes another 48 hours, I heard from the tech support and I am not sure if this is readable for you at home.

So sorry

Ritz

I copied some news from France which I had written in word. About the last day;

Multi class;
The last day turned out to be a strong one and the 4.30 AAT was used best by Sofiane Scally in her LS 8; 563 km in time 4.32 so a nice speed of 124 km./h. Good on her. More girl power!!Gabriel was 6th ,but so far ahead during the week that it did n’t matter for him. Good business for Nick being 4th.
In the end the overall scores were :
1.Gabriel Rossier from Switzerland in ASH 31 MI with 6.944 points.
2. Hugo Corbille who was runner up on the last day in LS 8 with 6.680 p.
3. Nick Hanenburg from Holland in Discus 2A with 6.595 p.

Club class;
they had a 4.30 AAT on their last day and the Dutch boy’s got used to the climate and the area ,so with their talent,  they won the last day;
Mark in the ASW 24 flew 521 km in time 4.28 so a speed of 124 km./h and Jelmer 486 km. in time 4.42 [speed 103 km./h] . Both finished in the top 10  Jelmer on 4 and Mark on 7 [from 11 the day before!!] !!!
Overall scores after 8 out of 10 days;
1. Brian Spreckley from the UK in St Libelle with 6.715 points.
2. Finn Sleigh from the UK in ASW 20 with 6.555 p.
3. Jake Brattle from the UK in ASW 20 with 6.471 p.

Open class; NATIONALS;
With a set task of 582 km. Philippe de Pechy showed his flying skills and won the day ;speed 135 km./h. Just a tad faster than Sylvain.[134 km./h]  The first 5 gliders were JS 1C.21 m.
On 6 and 7 Aboulin /Loring and Jutta Sturm so more girl power!! Both in ASH 25.
With his runner up spot Sylvain moved up from 4 to 3. And Philippe from 7 to 4.
Overall scores after 6 out of 7 good days.
1. Team Aboulin /Loring in ASH 25 so FRENCH CHAMPIONS with 4.912 points.
2. Eric Bernard in JS 1C /21 m with 4.899 p.
3. Sylvain Gerbaud in JS 1C/21 m with 4.841 p.

18 m. class;NATIONALS.
560 km. was their set task and sorry if it get’s boring, but MORE girlpower; Winner for the day; Marilyne in her JS 3. Speed 124 km./h.
Just a tad slower and 123 km./h for Anne Ducarouge.
So the French have a female CHAMPION in this class.
1. Marilyne Abadie –Berard in JS 3 with 5.243 points.
HC Ricky Brigliadori from Italy in JS 1C with 5.218 p.
HC Margot Aquaderni from Italy in Ventus 3 FES with 5.208 p.
2. Silver for Eric Garnier in ASG 29 E  with 5.159 p.
3. Bronze for Christian Mallick in ASG 29E with 5.105 p.

Nice comps to follow there in Issoudun!!

EGC in Prievidza ! Open and 20 m. Nationals in Stendal ! Issoudun !

To avoid too long blogs  AND old news, I try to publish, in this busy time ,on Sunday and Wednesday. If you missed last Sunday’s blog,….. you find under this one. Enjoy!!!

 

EGC in PRIEVIDZA.

AS shared by the organizers.
https://www.egc2019.sk

Tricky weather it was on day 1; The organizers mentioned :
  The first day is always exciting, but today’s weather decided to add some extra excitement. The weather is going to be a bit tricky, but it will still allow us a short 2 hour AAT task for all classes. 
We can expect showers in the late afternoon, but we will do everything to manage before that.”
I guess best initiative,…early start!!

Standard class;
TASK 1; 2 hour AAT
.
Luca Urbani from Italy was one of the first, indeed , to start at 12.38 and with 225 km. in time 2.04 he won the day in his Discus 2A. Speed 108.28 km./h.
German pilot Robert Schroeder started as one of the last BUT, he was runner up,so in the end , it did n’t really matter.
He started at 13.15 , flew in his LS 8 NEO, 225 km. in time 2.05 [speed 107.58 km./h]
25 From 28 finished one entered forbidden airspace and that meant “over and out”= zero points for the day.
TASK 2; 401 km. That kept them busy, the organizers mentioned:
The second day is a bit chilly compared to the sauna days we had before, isn’t it? We have the task lengths about 400km today. From what I heard, it is a beautiful day ahead of us. No showers and no thunderstorms but it will be a little bit windier. We have 1000 point tasks for all classes.”
The Czech pilots had a top day!! 1-2-3 for the day with former hang-  glider pilot Tomas Suchanek as the best in his Discus 2A with a speed of 123.70 km./h. JUST a tiny little tad faster than Miloslav Cink in LS 8b; 123.64.
Pavel Louzecky was the 3d with 123.20 km./h. Photo finishes!!! Robert Schroeder had another top day as number 4.
TASK 3;330 km.
First the organizers morning news.
The third day at EGC is here, and it seems like the weather is not going to play it easy on us once again. Our trusted meteorologist looked pretty serious when I met him, which is unusual. He confirmed it’s going to be a complicated day but flyable! The middle clouds from North-West Slovakia are the trouble makers. That’s why the pilots from all classes can look forward to a nearly Hungarian experience and lowlands in the South today! Because of the strong conditions at the lowlands, the task setter prepared two options for you, just in case, task A(racing) and B(AAT) task
Robert Schroeder from Germany was the best flying with a speed of 128 km./h over the set task. Good on him.His LS 8 NEO was followed by 8 Discus types . A nice mixed group with 2 Hungarian pilots, another German pilot Sebastian Naegel, and 1 from Finland, 1 from Romania , 1 from Denmark, France and Slovakia.
All 28 who started …finished!! So a good day!! 81 Finishers in total!!!!!!
TASK 4 today; 385 km. more on Sunday.

Club class:
TASK 1; 2 hour AAT
.
Jaroslav Toman from the Czech Rep. flew in his Pegase 101WL, 222 km. in time 2.03. His Czech mate Ivan Novak in Ls 4 was a tad faster but had a worse handicap so he missed out on ONE point!!!
28 From 31 finished so a good day.
TASK 2;341 km.
Lithuanian pilot  Darius Liaugaudas was already GOOD on the practice -day’s now he was good again. Speed of 100.83 km./h. in his Pegase. Not much slower,….his country mate Arturas Pilvinis in SZD 55-1.
French pilot Adrien Henry was 3d ,AS the day before.
TASK 3; 302 km. Tom and Ge from the UK had a top-day ;116 km./h. French pilot Julien Henry is a very consistent pilot for France.He was 3d. Number 3 on each of the 3 days!!!! All pilots finished.
UK team ‘s news for the day :”A grand trip out to the Danube today for all three classes. The club class started midfield but had a storming run, with strong climbs up to the 8000 ft airspace limit. Tom and G finished the day with an excellent 1-2 result, a clear 10kph quicker than the next placed glider. The standard class made a late start and so nearly caught the gaggle ahead of them, but had to settle for a solid collection of points for the day. Tim also made a very late start with the German team and made good progress down the first leg before falling back slightly. The overall scores are still very close in all classes with many days still to come. After today’s flight, Tom is narrowly leading the club class with G not far behind.
TASK 4 today; 347 km.

15 m.class:
TASK 1;2 hour AAT

Current EGC champion Freddie Hein from Germany in his VENTUS 3T was the daily best.230 km. in time 1.58 so a speed of 115 km./h. His German mate Sebastian Bauder in Ventus 2A was runner up; speed 114 km./h.
21 from 22 finished. Good on them!!!
Most started around 13.23.
TASK 2; 435 km.
Good speed in this class and a winner from Czech Rep. young Radek Krejcirik in his JS 3 with 131 km./h on the “clock” . Sebastian in his Diana 2 was runner up with 128 km./h. whilst Joris Vainius from Lithuania,…a great day for them….had 123 km.h.
Except for 1 all finished.
TASK 3;352 km. A great day for the French team and  Sebastian Kawa. Louis Bouderlique and Sebastian were the winners and Max Seis was runner up .All with the same speed of 129 km./h.There were 7 pilots in total with a speed over 125 km./h. All pilots finished!!
The organizers last words on the day 3 :”Everyone we asked was still running on endorphins throwing superlatives around like confetti. Amazing weather, perfect task, strong thermals, endless cloud streets…
With the cloud bases almost at max allowed altitude most didn’t even mind narrower lifts and made it through 400km fast and furious.
TASK 4 today; 390 km.

Great picture from day 2 by Roman-Lepris as shared by the organizers in their photo gallery.

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STENDAL
German Nationals in open and 2 seater class and International Stendal Glide for 18 m.

Ready to go for it
Shared by Segelflug-DM Stendal

They had a good official practice day on Sunday the 7th and the opening at 8 that day, was live to follow.
Also the briefings are to follow via live stream.
After 8 training’s day’s the pilots were ready to go for it. BUT,…the weather thought different and 2 classes 20 m. and open had to be cancelled so
“Task 1 was only for 18 m. class. 210 km. was set, but nobody flew the task.
Some did well as Dutch pilot Hadriaan van Nes with 207 km. [ JS 1Btj] Followed by Boerje Eriksson from Sweden with 203 km.[VENTUS 3]  Zdzislaw Bednarczuk from Poland was 3d in JS 3.
The opinion from the organizers after day 1:”The 18m class has completed its first day of evaluation!Some pilots had to “throw” the engine, some have not flown off or flown back to the starting line. Four outlandings. The first feedback: “A good decision, it was really fun”

Task 2; All tasks changed in to TASK B with a first expected launch at 2.30 PM.;
18 m ; Racing task from 206 km. changed in B task from 147 km . CANCELLED.
open; 2.00 AAT from 226 to 448 km. [A task] changed in B task 2 hour AAT 186/317 km.
EB 29 weather,as Felipe Levin and Michael Sommer won the day;  94 km./h. over 201 km.so  in time 2.08 .
This speed for such a glider says all about the weather but they flew.
The NIMETA from Bruno Gantenbrink was 3d with 193 km in 2.26. A long-wing-day!!!
9 From 30 flew the task.
Max points 462, and min. points 123.
They started launching at 2.45 PM. and Michael and Felipe started at 4.33.!!!
My Aussie mate David Jansen was a bit upset with the day
“Today we flew the first competition task in the Open Class. We did very well until we had to start the engine however we were not alone in this. What has taken us completely by surprise is that the organisation has changed to the “B” task whilst we were airborne and they did not perform a roll call to confirm with all the pilots. As a result we have been disadvantaged severely by flying the “A” task and making a technical outlanding. I believe we could have made it home if we had known to fly 2 hours and not 2.5 hours. We have also lost distance points in the current scoring..it’s not sour grapes however I do not like missing critical information like this without some sort of cross check…”

Short morning update, from the organizers; on the subject.
“We are flying the German National Competition and as such team captains are not in attendance for this event so no written notice is required under the German rules as the B task was also issued at briefing.”
And somebody added :”actually it was changed by Radio Call whilst all Classes standing in the Grid prior to launching. “

20 m; 2.00 AAT from 215 to 389 km. [A task] changed in B task 2 hour AAT 143/270  km. CANCELLED
Stendal looked back at the day :
“A short drizzle opened the second day of the German Gliding Championships and the International Stendal Glide.
No reason for doing nothing: starting as usual 8:00 – 9:50. Briefing 10:00. The thermals still took a while to come and brought three times a delay for launching time.
The doubleseaters were allowed to dare first and started towing or starting at 2:30 local time.
However, with a cloud base at about 1000m and low thermals, the class was neutralized along with the 18m class that had lined up at the back of the airfield.
For the open class, however, there was no escape. Starting 2:45 clock local time, after the landed DoSi’s rolled off track.”

More on Sunday!!!

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44th International at ISSOUDUN  and the BGA championships.

As shared by Benedict Smith

Combi class;
Task 3 on July 7; 3 hour AAT.
He was 11th on task 1, 1 on task 2 and now he was number 1 again. Gabriel Rossier from Switzerland with that great glider ASH 31 MI, with a pretty tough handicap but he still wins ;122. He flew 385 km. in time 2.59,so a speed of 128 km./h.
Nick Hanenburg from Holland was runner up again in his Discus 2A.His speed was 113 km./h.
Task 4 on July 8; 323 km.
It is nearly the Gabriel Rossier -show. In his fancy ASH 31MI he wins EVERY day.Another 1000 points for him. His speed ;105 km./h ,He was the only one over 100 km./h.
The other pilots really do their best too; 7 French pilots were on his heels but 98 km./h was their best.
Our Nick had a a bit of an off day being 16th. From 21 who started 19 finished.
Task 5 on July 9; 2.30 AAT; AND,…a Duo Discus XLT was the winner for the day. Ludovic Hirtz in it. He flew 238 km in time 2.32.
21 Started 19 finished. AND,…..Gabriel who won every day till now was 9th. A pity I am not there otherwise I knew what happened. But no worries he is still 245 points ahead overall.
Task 6; today…307 km.

clubclass;
task 3 on July 7; 262 km.
Jelmer Vis from Holland was 10th on day 1 and 1 on day 2 and 1 again on day 3. Well done in his St Cirrus ;speed of 116 km./h. Mark van den Ham another Dutch junior was 3d. In between a French DG 300 with Yacine Vigourel.
Task 4 on July 8; 3.30 AAT;
A UK day with Brian as one of the oldest and for sure mentoring the young ones. Brian was 1, Jake 2 and Finn 3 and our Mark 4th.Then 4 UK pilots and 5 French followed by Dutchie Jelmer and Belgium pilot Manuel Severin.
23 Started and 19 finished. One of the Dutch juniors , Nick Faber who was 15th overall, did not start.
Task 5 on July 9; 251 km. The first 8 pilots for the day were a mix from “pommies” and “cloggies”.
The UK pilots were on 1-2-3-4-6 and 7 , Dutch pilots on 5 and 8. Best speed 86 km./h.
Task 6 day…3 hour AAT.

 

    

With Brian and Finn and Jake and glider 540 from Olly [UK] in St class.

    

Jelmer Vis from Holland in St Cirrus and Roger Partinton in Pegase.
Courtesy Benedict Smith

—————————————————-

French Nationals in Issoudun for open and 18 m. class.

All Issoudun pilots from both comps, in one big hangar.
Aeroclub Issoudun

They started on Sunday with a 303 km. task for open class and Christophe Delort d’Exéa was the daily best in his ASH 25/26 m. Speed 132 km./h.

18 m. started with a 309 km. task, with a win by 2 Italian pilots who fly this competition HC. Margot Acquaderni flew the 309 km with a speed of 121.60 km./h. so did Ricky Brigliadori 121.40 km./h.

Day 2 in open class showed a set task of 404 km. won by another HC pilot this time Serge Leclercq from Spain who flew his NIMBUS 4 D around with 107 km./h.
In 18 m. new Italian HC success by Margot and Ricky in the Ventus 3FES and the JS 1 C. They flew in 4.00 hour AAT a distance of 396 km. in time 4.02.
They started and finished nearly together so a great comparison of gliders is possible.
Best French pilot was Eric Garnier in ASG 29ES. speed 90 km./h over 362 km.

Day 3 ,the first HC pilot was on spot 11 in open class so the French went for it with Eric Bernard as daily winner.
Their task was small 1.45 AAT but they flew and All but one finished.Eric flew 201 km. in time 1.54 and started after 4 PM.
Runners up  Philippe de Péchy AND  Yann Forestier both on 2. All 3 flew JS 1C/21 m.
In 18 m. who started first ,Marilyne Abadie-Bérard was the best. Girl power!!! 241 km. in time 2.25 so a speed of 96 km./h. More girl power as Anne Ducarouge was 4th and Margot from Italy 5th.
18 From 20 were “in”.

Marilyne on the highest spot, as shared by
Aeroclub Issoudun

Day 4, today; 390 km. for open and 391 for 18 m. More on Sunday.

  

all pictures courtesy Aeroclub Issoudun

—————————————————-

ZOMERWEDSTRIJD at MALDEN.

Day 1 was difficult for some , 3 from 9 in club class did not finish. Winner was Thies Bruins in the ASW 20 ,who flew already very well at the last Dutch Nationals winning several day’s.
Task was 136 km and speed from Thies was 99 km./h.
In the combi/open class Niels van Nieuwland won in the Discus 2CT/18 m.
The task a set 262 km was flown with 83 km./h.
Diana was 3d.

Day 2 was cancelled so day 3 was on with good weather. …really nice weather!!
Club;336 km. Thies was the best pilot again; 1000 points. I guess his wife is with him as he flies better when she is there as we saw at Terlet during the Nationals. Thies flew around with a speed of 93 km./h.
Local youngster “with a future” Wout Sliedrecht in LS 4 flew in as runner up with 87 km./h.
7 From 8 finished!!

combi/open ;390 km. With 99 km./h Niels won again in his Discus. The DUO DISCUS XLT from Soesterberg was runner up with 94 km./h!!

       

Looking at the finishes from the balcony from the 2 storey hangar. Great place to see them. And the skies at 5.30 PM.
As shared by Zomerwedstrijden

Today; 138 km. for Club and 144 for open/combi.
Showers are expected for today I heard on the news.

More news about these interesting comps next Sunday!!!
Cheers Ritz

20 thiest EGC from Prievidza ! Issoudun !Great flights from Keiheuvel!

With so much news I try to publish temporary,  every Sunday and Wednesday, to make blogs not too long and to remain actual. I heard some readers have problems with downloading the blog.Maybe because I publish many BIG pictures. Will try to find out.
When you see an old blog, use the refresh button and the new blog appears. Good luck and enjoy!!!
I reduced the pictures to medium for better downloading. When you just double click on them they enlarge.

 

20thiest EGC for small ships!
July 6-July 20 2019.

 

As shared by Czech Republic Gliding Team

On July 3 the first official practice day was organised for 87 pilots;
34 in Club class, 29 in standard and 24 in 15 m. class.
Club got 262 km., standard 307 and 15m. a task of 312 km. Looking GOOD!!!

15 m. class ready to go for first official practice day.
as shared by Czech Republic Gliding Team

2 more good practice day’s with set tasks from around 300 km and a day with 3 hour AAT’s.
“The organizers decided we’d had enough of practicing in the hills so sent us south in to the flatlands towards Hungary on a 3 hour Assigned Area Task. Wave and shifting bands of high cover made low level conditions tricky at times. At other times there were 6 knot climbs up to the 8000ft. ” as shared by Team UK…..Tom.
The 3 hour AAT in St class was won by Keiheuvel pilot Jeff Kell,…there must be something in the drinking water there,…302 km. in 2.59.
In club class Ukraine pilot Darius Liaugaudas in the Pegase 101A was the best with 289 km. in time 3.10 and in
15 m it turned out a real German Ventus 2 and  3 day; Sebastian Bauder [Ventus 2a]had 307 km. in 3 hour at the dot, Freddie Hein , who is the current European champion, 303 km at the dot and Jan Omsels 303 km. in time 3.03.
Then there was on Friday evening  a mandatory TC Briefing at 6 pm, and a mandatory safety and operation /  Airspace briefing !!!
Yesterday the opening at 5 PM.

The always very strong and successful team from Poland.
With Sebastian and his dad around the girl in black and one of the 2 Lucaszes to the right.[ Grabowski]
As shared by Sebastian.

The “POMMIES”, with some very experienced pilots young and old[er]. Great team.
as shared by British Gliding Team

Team Belgium with Jeff as the only pilot and Gitte  his wife, Leon and Anna his children and 2 times 1000 km.-pilot and mate Jeroen as crew.
as shared by Gitte.

Team France always STRONG,..as shared by Pôle France Planeur

Team Germany , never underestimate them, as shared by the German team.
https://segelflug.aero/blog/blog/category/2019/2019-egc-prievidza/

And THEN,…it all starts!!
Today Sunday ALL 3  classes have a 2 hour AAT.
More on Wednesday.

———————————————-

German Gliding Nationals in Stendal.
Pre WGC for the 2020 WGC 18 m. class….July 8-19 2019.

Starts tomorrow with 89 participants!!!
German Nationals in 2-seater and open class and International Stendal Glide 2019 in 18 m. class [competition training].
More on Wednesday!!!

———————————————

Zomerwedstrijd from Malden in the Netherlands!
July 2019 – 13 July 2019

As shared by Zomerwedstrijden

Being involved in the Summer comps means that when you are good and have enough points, you can go next season to the Nationals. It’s a fun, but serious competition with also pilots who have been in WGC’s /EGC’s already, as George Schuit and Ferdi Kuijpers and pilots who flew Nationals already a great mix of pilots.

First day is today with 177 km. in club class and 183 km. in a mixed open class.

  

First briefing in the beautiful briefing room from the most beautiful 2 storey- hangar in the world at Malden. With George and Diana and Chris [Zippel] who flew in the past with us in Tocumwal and now is “ground-slave” . He came all the way from Berlin.
Shared by Martijn Alders.

25 Pilots in total…more next Wednesday.

 

ISSOUDUN,
44th Concours International, the BGA overseas championship and the French Nationals in 18 m. and open class.

From July 4 till 13 they fly with 50 participants the 44th Concours International and the BGA Overseas Championships so many UK participants . 2 Classes combi and club.
Parallel on this competition they fly from July 7 till 13 the French Nationals in 18 m. and open class, so around 90 pilots at the field. A big happening!!!
18 in open class and 24 in 18 m. 42 in total the the FRENCH NATIONALS.

As shared by Aeroclub Issoudun

On the 4th of July, was the first flying day for the multi class and club class.
Multi class;
Task 1….251 km. From the 20 starting pilots 15 finished. Best was UK pilot Iain Evans in JS C/18m. 1 EVO. He started relatively late  324 PM. Speed 90 km./h. which was 7km./h faster than the runner up .
“Our” ex- junior Nick Hanenberg , but still very young, did well as number 3 for the day.[Discus 2A]
Task 2….279 km. A Swiss win today by Gabriel Rossier in the ASH 31MI with 111 km./h, which was was 8km./h faster than young Nick in the Discus 2A,  who was in the top 3 again!!
16 From 20 finished.
On the 6th NO FLYING but
Task 3 was on again today on Sunday. 3 Hour AAT.
More on Wednesday.

Great picture! Shared by Dutch Junior Gliding Team

Club class;
Task 1….212 km.  17 From 24 finished and good old Brian Spreckley showed how to do it. He won in his Libelle with a speed of 76 km./h. Bit slower than French Adrien Dubreuil who flew 79 km./h in his LS 4. [handicap 104 whilst the Libelle has 97]
Finn Sleigh and Jake Brattle both in ASW 20 started 15 minutes later than Brian, good for a 3d and 4th place. They belong to the UK junior squad and prepare in Issoudun on their JWGC in Hungary later this month.
Great to see Shaun Lapworth again in a glider and a competition. After his nasty accident he is BACK!! Good on him and on spot 6 for the day.
Task 2….233 km. and yes,…one of our juniors won the day!! Jelmer [Vis] in the St Cirrus was a tad faster than Brian. Nick Faber another Dutch junior started and flew together with Jelmer and was 3d in his St Cirrus.3 Dutch juniors practicing as well in Issoudun.
Only 2 outlandings, so a good day!
Task 3 also here no flying yesterday but today 262 km.

 

FRENCH NATIONALS for 18m. and open class from Issoudun.

They start at July 7, TODAY with 305 km. for 18 open class pilots and 309 km. for 18 m. with 24 pilots.
More next Wednesday.

——————————

MORE SUPERB FLIGHTS.

2 consecutive 1000 km flights! HURRAY!!!
One flight took 10 hours and 50 minutes , the other one 11 hours and 26 minutes!!!!
Courtesy Bert Schmelzer sr.

Flying 2 times a 1000 on consecutive day’s is superb AND Jeroen Jennen from Belgium did it, on July 2 and 3 in an LS 8 …just a standard class glider..no jet, no turbo, only Jeroen!!!.
Here is his story:
“Day two, thousand two. Started with the feeling that a second 1000k would be possible, the start went better than yesterday. Once reaching the Rhine I was ahead of schedule, to bad the weather didn’t improve like it did Tuesday. Had to fly more conservative towards the turn point and afterwards to the south. Once reaching Paderborn after a long glide and the clearance to cross overhead I hit the first good thermal of a few. The south east leg was incredible, also with the wind behind but things went smooth. Once turning back and leaving the Thuringer Wald things became difficult. The wind was getting stronger and for some reason I couldn’t catch the thermals in one time, had to search a lot and the speed went down slowly. Up on the Sauerland the weather improved again, got low there but with the sun, hill and the ski resort below a great thermal was a must. From there on the clouds became bigger and a street helped me to improve the speed again. From Senden to Keiheuvel was a fight, had some good thermals but had to search them for a while. Once reaching the home field I had to go back for 25km, with the wind I wanted to climb before my TP but the thermals didn’t co-operate though. A long and hard struggle for me at fg, but with no fields in our final glide I tried to climb some more around Lommel, I’ve reached it quite low and very late, but got myself a 0,2 to reach fg with the wind blowing me towards the field! There my supporters were cheering which made the flight even more beautiful.
Great achievements Jeroen congratulations!!

A happy chappie;
Tijl Schmelzer after his 1000 PLUS new Belgian record. The family VENTUS 3 E ” 2X’ was the record winning glider.
A “sit” of 11 hours and 42 minutes!!!!
courtesy Bert Schmelzer sr.


That day, July 3, Tijl Schmelzer took a few records from Namibia back to Belgium. He flew 1.121 OLC km.s and a
Belgian record Out-and-Return Declared + O/R Free Distance 1044km+
Not very often that you can reclaim 2 Belgian records from Namibia to Belgium! 
Awesome weather this week…” He flew the VENTUS 3E.
Some really good young pilots there at the Keiheuvel flying 4 x a 1000 in 2 day’s. What about that!!!.
Bert sr. ,proud dad, wrote;”
“On July 3 Jeroen wanted to fly/chase another 1000 km and Tijl was focused on a new Belgian record.Uncle Eddie [from Jeroen] was up early to be their tuggie. And off they went; Tijl far into Czechia and Jeroen in an LS 8 to the neighborhood of Coburg with TP’s in between.”
And they did it!! Great achievements by both. Both declared their flights and the 2 records from Tijl not from Namibia now anymore, but from the good old “Keiheuvel” ;
declared out and return from 1.044 km. and and a free out and return from 1049 km , ….1.122 OLC km’s.
“We experienced Namibia on the Nordsea.”
Even more impressive due to due to challenges of very tight airspace.
I nearly could hear  here the cheers at their return.

Last weeks Belgian / KEIHEUVEL 1000 km-heroes . Tijl ,Jeroen en Wim.
courtesy Bert Schmerzer sr.

Quite a FEW “NEARLY” 1000 KM. FLIGHTS!!!That’s a bit sad, certainly when they are as close as 997 in Holland from Lars in ASW 28E from Terlet and 967 km. by Tim from Malden in ASW 20 and 992 in a St Jantar by Markus in Germany [Auerbach]. BUT,…it remains an unforgettable experience!!!
A total of 8x a 1000 in Europe. One from Bas Seijffert from Terlet in JS 1C/21m.
And the 812 in an LS 6 from Ronald Deerenberg is worth mentioning as well.

——————————————-

News from DG:
DG-1001E

The FES system is getting more in more popular in nowadays single-seaters. Lots of clubs and private pilots enjoy the benefits of this easy to use propulsion system. It’s a system useable for everyone which elevates the glider back to safe altitude and which is unbeatable when it comes to comfort and easy operation.

DG Flugzeugbau decided to install this system in its DG-1001 family. The well known FES unit by LZ Design will be modified so it delivers approx. 30kW. In combination with a new battery generation we expect a similar performance as shown by FES single-seaters such as the LS8-e neo.

Prototype manufacture will begin late this summer. The first flight is expected to take place in spring 2020.”

——————————————

AND…to finish a great picture from a special event in Holland.

“On Thursday June 27 you could see this exceptional formation above Teuge. 36  Parachutists from the  European Canopy Formation formed the biggest ever formation over Holland.”
Courtesy KNVvL

 

Cheers Ritz, by the way after we had 24 dgr.C in the night ,we had a couple of day’s ago MINUS 1.6 in the east of the country during the night…..in JULY!!!!Of course another record,…ha ha!!!

Last 2 days of 18 m. and open class in Hobbs New Mexico. Italy’s 18 m. and open class comps ! Top flights from BE and NL !

HOBBS in NEW MEXICO!

Very blue and you can “see” the heat.
As shared by Soaring Society of America

In both classes new, but familiar faces on the daily spot 1 on contest day 7.
Not a super-doper-flash-day as you can read in Steven’s news, but a very blue day.;
“Day 7 US Open Nationals. Not my day. Was not willing to push on into shadow over the desert scrub, so I turned around and went home. Two in my class used their engines to get home, the rest made it around. I probably could have, but just didn’t feel like pressing that much.”

Open; Ron Tabery in his ASW 22 BLE was the best during the Assigned Aere Task from 193 miles; 200 km. in 3.05 “gave”  him 1000 points. DB was 5th .
The top 3 Jim [Lee] ,David  [Mockler] and David [Coggins] were 3, 2 and 7 for the day in their JS 3 C’s /21m.
18 m; Gary Ittner won the day in his ASG 29/18 m.
1000 points for 198 miles in 3.10.
Not the best day for the overall top 3 with one day to go: John [Seaborn] on 3 , Jerzy on 15 and Keith [Essex] on 10.

Trying to close the canopy of the JS 3 on a HOT day.
Soaring Society of America

Contest day 8 very last day; 3 hour TAT. [Turn Area Task]
Stevens personal view on the last day ;
“Day 8 and the final day of the US Open Class Nationals for 2019. Forecast was for weaker weather, lower cloud bases (at least, there were clouds today!), but generally soarable conditions. We had a 3 hour Turn area Task, with turns at Lamesa (20 mile radius), Plains (20 mile radius) and Andrews (20 mile radius). The area around Hobbs was a little sparse on cu at the start, but things got better as we went east to Lamesa. It was obvious you just wanted to touch Plains, then we had to deal with blow offs coming in from the west for the trip into and back out of Andrews. I had a 45 mile final glide under the overcast. Thank goodness for long wings! Got 6th place for the day! But, sitting out a day cost me dearly in the final scores. Oh, well. It was a fun contest. Looking forward to coming back to Hobbs!”
open; Dave Mockler won the day 1000 points for a speed 75 m./h. No extreme differences so the final scores were pretty fast ready;
1. Jim Lee in JS 1C/21m. with 7.538 points.
2. David Mockler in JS 1C/21m. with 7.405 p.
3. David Coggins in JS 1 C/21 m with 7.205.

With good flying Ron Tabery reached spot 4 with 7.188 points and DB who lost 40 points on the last day on Ron was 5th ;7.183, so a difference of just 5. I guess they had to laugh about it together!

18m. Special day for Robin Clark in ASG 29; he won the last day and moved to spot 3 overall passing Keith, who was 6th for the day.
Final results:
1. John Seaborn in JS 3/18m. with 7.587 points.
2. Jerzy Szemplinski in ASG 29 with 7.420 p.
3. Robin Clark in ASG 29 with 7.319 p.

 

 

Bit heavy certainly Jim’s open class one, Congratulations to all!!!
Soaring Society of America posted by Leigh

     

open;2nd Place, Dave Mockler, winner, Jim Lee ,3rd place, Dave Coggins

18 M: 3rd place Robin Clark, winner John Seaborn 2nd place, Jerzy Szemplinski

Nice comps to follow!!! Also thanks to Steven Leonard and Leigh Zimmerman.

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Coppa Citta di Varese in Italy.
Calcinate Del Pesce  June 23-30.

This is also the Italian NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP in 18m and open class.
On day 1 NOBODY finished both in open and 18 m. class. The task was 274 for all and the best flew over 250 km but it turned out NOT a valid day.
Task 2 showed a 2.15 AAT and in 18 m. Ugo Pavesi managed to fly 193 km for 441 points. On the not valid day he flew 244 k.  for zero points whilst the runner up had 116 k.and the rest under 100 km.
In open it was Alberto Sironi in his Quintus who flew already 259 on the non-valid-day , this day he flew 202 km. for 472 points.
Task 3 with a 245 AAT in 18 m. had a new face; Alessandro Villa in the Ventus 2CT/18m. Ugo was runner up.
In open also a new face Antonio Soffici in Nimbus 4T; 249 k. in time 2.51.
Task 4 was in open a prey for Alberto again. A short 2 hour AAT with 191 km. in time 2.04.
18 m. had the same task and Sandro Montemaggi flew as daily winner 177 km in time 2.02.
The next day was scrubbed and on Friday no task 5.
Task 6 with 2.40 AAT’s in both classes. Ugo seems to be in the right mood and won another day.
236 km. in time 2.46. Overall he is just under 100 points above Sandro.
In open the Nimbus 4T from Antonio was the daily best [231 km. in time 2.42] and Ugo as runner up with only 3 points less and Alberto on spot 6. A pity that Alberto was the only one landing out on task 3, as I know he is an excellent pilot.
Task 7 with another 2.45 AAT. Alberto won and showed his class. With Antonio as runner up it was clear who won the open class in Italy.
In 18 m. Luca Castelli in JS 1EVO won the last day but nothing changed he was 3 and is 3 overall.

The total scores from open and 18 m.
open:
1. Antonio Soffici in Nimbus 4T with 2.543 points. He was 3d for the COPPA.
2. Ugo Pavesi in ASG 29 with 2.463 p. Ugo was also winner of the 18 m. class and runner up for the COPPA.
3. Sandro Montemaggi in ASG 29 with 2.377 and runner up in 18m.
4. Alberto Sironi in Quintus with 2.338 p.

The results to see who would win the COPPA were easy. Peter Hartman from Austria, but flying a lot in Italy, was clearly the winner in the ANTARES 23 T; he won every day!!!!
3.999 points!!! Runner up for the Coppa was Ugo with 3.317 points

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My beloved 2d home, TOCUMWAL, was hit by frantic weather.A terrifying torrential storm, hurricane???tornado???, no clue but it was devastating.

Tocumwal in the heaviest part of the weather. Finley a bit to the N got it’s share as well. So did Koonoomoo a bit more to the S. where, just a few years ago the petrol station [opposite the BIG STRAWBERRY] was wiped of the map and it happened now again.
Courtesy Eddie.

TOCUMWAL: “Many trees down onto houses and several verandas, and roofs destroyed. 
One aircraft damaged .
Several hangers with doors dislocated and ….The Air Ambulance Helicopter just left YTOC taking somebody to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.” It looked like a war zone, I heard.
Not good.

The airport was hit , meaning several dislocated hangar doors and what I heard damage on one plane. Town was hit harder, as a narrow strip went straight through town!!!
But only damage how bad that is, no personal injuries or causalities. The people involved with the air-park were grateful for all help so were all town people;
” huge thank you to all the volunteers and workers who have worked through the night to clear roads, properties and powerlines of debris following yesterday’s storm. We appreciate all you do under such adverse conditions. It is not over yet for many, so please be understanding.

The SES was fabulous;
The NSW SES Tocumwal volunteers have been working throughout the evening along with NSW Police, NSW Rural Fire Service, Fire & Rescue NSW and other support agencies/organisations. The damage is extensive and more resources will be in Tocumwal from tomorrow. ”
They are still busy.
This all happened last Saturday.

Some pictures shared by SES.
  

  

 Murray NSW SES

Some of my friends were hit. One lost the back of her house as a huge tree fell through the house. Her son’s car was damaged by another tree close to the house. Another mate lost the roof of his house, just gone with the wind. Many others had minor damage.

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The July -August issue from GLIDING INTERNATIONAL was in my mail box so here are a few of the again very interesting items.
—The first 6 pages are for Hanna Reitsch,”Germany’s ACE glider pilot.” This “tiny” but BIG  lady is well described in a story by John Roake himself, who met her as TC for N.Z. in Chateauroux where she addressed the pilots on a non flying day.
—the surprise announcement by Schleicher; AS 34 ME...Electric powered self-launching Standard Class Sailplane.
—Would the start of a membership recovery program help to stop the massive decline in club membership?” Join us to help recover our membership problems?
Gliding International in very worried and interested in this subject.
—The SHARK 304 S.
—Lots of International Aviation News and of course “things with Wings”.
60 pages of all kind of interesting news!!

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Pilots and crew are slowly arriving. The first had hot and bothered conditions in Prievidza in Slovakia.
More next week.

TOP FLIGHTS YESTERDAY : Have a look and study them well on the OLC,….just great flights and loooooonnnnngggg in flat as a pancake Holland and Belgium!!!!
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/daily.html?st=olc&rt=olc&df=&sp=2019&c=C0&sc=
I had no idea yesterday that the weather was so good but it was. In Holland nearly 1000 km flights from Malden .Tim Kuijpers  flew in the ASW 20
A REAL 1000 in a Nimbus 4 as well by one of the Delft Students Jurjan Venema from Terlet.
From Keiheuvel in Belgium 2 young men , Jeroen Jennen [LS 8] and  Wim Akkermans [Discus 2T] declared a 1000 and flew it. GREAT!!! Congratulations!!!!Some kind of out and return[yoyo far into Germany and half the leg done again.
Fabulous flights also from our new young Dutch Champion , Roelof Corporaal, flying his Pegase over a declared 750 triangle , together with Sander Terpstra in an LS 4 WL from the club [Gelderse] doing the same. WOW.
The first time , I just read, that a 750 has been flown in a club class glider!!!!!
Sander mentioned after this 10.16 hour flight that it felt like working!!!
A total of 9x a 1000 in the USA , Belgium and Germany.

Roelof and Sander after their extraordinary flight in Pegase and LS 4. Of course with the Frysian flag!
Courtesy Zweefportaal

AND

Jeroen and Wim after their 1000 k from Belgium. Looking very “fresh” after an 11.24 hour flight!!!!
courtesy Sofie Huybreckx [wife from Wim and niece from Jeroen]

 

Last but for sure NOT LEAST.
IN MEMORIAM.

Today our son and brother from Inge, Dennis would have celebrated his 50-thiest birthday.
A day to remember him EXTRA with all of you who knew him.
ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS!!!!! NEVER FORGOTTEN !!!!

Dennis SCHUIT
03-07-1969……..03-01-1988.
R.I.P.

One week before he died. A happy flight in a P 51.
Courtesy Bas Krebbers who was with Dennis in Tocumwal at the time.

Ritz