Alphen aan den Rijn Friday october 24 2008
An early newsblog today as I am leaving for the weekend to a family-reunion. Walking in the fantastic forests over there was our goal, but the weather seems not to co-operate. A pity, so a museum about falcons and the history of the cigar will be the alternative, not bad either.And….ofcourse a fancy restaurant for dinner and talking, to finish the day.
Stress before leaving to Australia? Is that possible? Yes it is ! Dieter “Dundee” Albrecht left on the 22d of October to Oz. His visa was granted on the 17th and his passport was delivered by courier from the Ambassy on the 21d!!!!!!This morning he arrived safely picked up by one of his Melbourne soaring friends.
A nice flight in Europe on the 21st of October, partly in wave by National Team pilot, Petr Krejcirik [CZ]; 853 km in Ventus 2CT.
A long story from friend Jo Pocklington about the 28th Club Class / Sports class National Championships in Kingaroy.[Australia]Enjoy her view on these comps TOTALLY organized by great women! I loved to see that 2 of my friends both in their 70thies nowadays, flew together in a nimbus 4DM; Tony Tabart and Peter Griffiths. Tony still flew world comps in Eskilstuna in Sweden 3 years ago and Griffo was the team manager for Australia on many occasions and a very good pilot, till health- problems forced him to fly dual.Great guy’s and both have done a lot for International Soaring since atleast 1984, when I met them first.
Next week the Gliding International will be out and finally I can share with you the very nice interview with 2 times World Champion Michael Sommers.
Enjoy Jo’s story with a glass of wine or a coffee.
Prac Day – Mon 6 OctA low level trough is moving into the task area from the south-west with slight probability of late thunderstorms and high cloud. Winds will be west to south-west all day until the change arrives through Kingaroy by . The thermals will start early and the latter part of the day will be affected by high cloud and the approaching trough, so the task has been set firstly to the west before the influence of the cloud, and then to the north.
Tasks – Club (3 hours), Sports (2.5 hours) – Jandowae North (30),Windera (40), Control Point West (2) – minimum 221 km, max 418 km, point to point 418 km. First launch . There were 2 outlandings on practice day, with many abandoning the task.
Comp Day 1 – Tues 7 OctThe trough that affected yesterday’s weather moved through Kingaroy early today. The winds have swung to the south / south-west bringing down temperatures. Today will be blue with convection to 5,500′ – 6,000′, better to the north of Kingaroy. Thermal strengths are expected to be 2.5 to 3 kts and mildly difficult to work. A middle level trough system over the
Tasks – Club (3 hours), Sports (2.5 hours) –
Comp Day 2 – Wed 8 Oct The weather is complex today. A high in the Bight is the westerly influence feeding south-westerly winds into the Kingaroy valley. A small high off the coast is feeding north-easterly winds into the valley as well, so Kingaroy is sitting between two systems. The forecast temperature for Kingaroy is 25 degrees and if this temperature is reached, we will get convection to around 6,000′. Conditions will be poor to the north and better on the
Tasks – Sports (2.5 hours), Club (2 hours) – Jandowae (50), Nanango (20), Wondai (20), Control Point North (2) – minimum 78 km, max 412 km, point to point 242 km. First launch . There were 2 outlandings.
Comp Day 3 – Thu 9 OctThe high in the Australian Bight has moved eastwards bringing an easterly flow onto the Qld coast. A trough system is developing over Qld and combined with the easterly and the developing trough, there is forecast a low cloud base to around 4,000′ agl and possible showers, increasing to rain late in the day. A task has been set in the Kingaroy valley.Tasks – Club (2 hours), Sports (2 hours) – Kumbia (10), Wondai (15), Nanango (15), Kumbia (1), Control Point West (2) – minimum 81 km, max 273 km, point to point 174 km. First launch .
Day 3 task was changed on the grid to 2 hours for both classes – Durong (35),
Scoring is being held up. Only 6 pilots handed in loggers on official practice day and there are several loggers still not identified from comp day 1.
Handicaps and reference weights are an issue as a new handicap list was posted on the GFA website on 27 September, just before the comp, and pilots who entered the competition months ago are not happy with a last minute change to their handicap. Gliders affected include the Stemme, ASW 20, ASK 21, LS 1, LS 8 18m turbo.
Fri 10 Oct
The long-promised upper trough arrived overnight bringing rain to the competition area. Yesterday’s poor forecast developed to be a much better day, with the trough system producing enough instability to give quite good conditions to the west till about . Today will be a no-fly-day as there is continuing rain likely for the whole day.
Prizes were presented to day 1 and day 3 winners:
Day 1 Club class
Alan Barnes (LS1f) – 94.2km/h 289.2km – 1000 points
Phillip Ritchie (LS4) – 90.9km/h 272.6km – 939.20 points
Paul Mander (Std. Libelle) – 89.2km/h 279.4km – 909 points
Day 1 Sports class
Hank Kauffmann (ASG 29) – 96.2km/h 253.7km – 1000 points
Tracey Tabart (Ventus 2cM/18m) – 91.9km/h 241.6km – 923.70 points
Peter Buskens (LS 8) – 91.5km/h 236.9km – 917.20 points
Alan Barnes: “I started high but had a real low point around Kumbia where I was lined up into a paddock, but then found a good climb and after that had a good run with Phil Ritchie to the top turn and then home.”
Hank Kauffmann: “I was the last to start – 1,000′ below convection. Fortunately, I blundered into a very strong climb and managed to catch the gaggle by the first turn. Had a brilliant second leg; never got low. Met up with Tony Tabart and Peter Griffiths in the Nimbus and had them finding the thermals for me on the way home, with their big wings.”
Day 3 Club class
Phillip Ritchie (LS 4) – 98.0km/h 234.6km – 98.30 points
Mike Codling (Hornet) – 96.4km/h 204.0km – 966.20 points
Day 3 Sports class
Hank Kauffmann (ASG 29) -105.0km/h 240.7km -1000 points
Tracey Tabart (Ventus 2cM/18m) – 103.4km/h 206.8km – 972 points
Hank Kauffmann: “I got some wave pre-start. Achieved a glide rate of 98:1 on the first leg, which is pretty exceptional and worked mainly 8-10 knots. Unfortunately, the last turnpoint was totally overcast and I finished up low in the foothills of the Bunyas, but I was in good company with
Pilots’ meeting .
Jo Davis and Allan Barnes were elected NCC Pilot Representatives and Mike Maddocks was elected Club Class ITC Representative (Tony Tabart is current Sports Class ITC Representative).
Sat 11 Oct
There was light rain most of yesterday which was quite extensive over the
Day 2 prizes were presented:
Day 2 Club class
Phillip Ritchie (LS4) – 82.8km/h 195.8km – 1000 points
Mike Codling (Hornet) – 82.4km/h 167.8km – 992.20 points
Jo Davis (ASW19) – 80.0km/h 178.8km – 954.40 points
Phil Ritchie: “We ended up going out west for the day. Had a good first run. Thought coming home with a tail wind would be really quick, but it didn’t happen and ended up at 3,500′. I then wobbled into 5 knots and got home – a bit of good luck in the end.”
Day 2 Sports class
Bill Hatfield (LAK 17/18m) – 83.9km/h 199.6km – 856 points
Hank Kauffmann (ASG 29) – 83.0km/h 207.4km – 838.70 points
Jenny Thompson has been asked by the pilots to give a rundown on weather analysis and how she does such a good job – this evening.
Sun 12 OctThe middle level trough system persists over south-east
GFA has established a committee to develop a proposal for establishing a safety management system. After briefing, Jenny Thompson and David Pietsch gave a presentation on safety and risk management as an introduction to the challenges and way forward for the improvement of gliding’s safety culture.
David talked about gliding’s poor fatality record and the fact that GFA currently has no centralised system for recording incidents and the dissemination of lessons learned. The committee’s initial brief is to prepare a proposal for GFA, and it is David and Jenny’s intention that there is a two-pronged approach for implementing risk management and incident reporting. The presentation was originally only scheduled for 15 minutes but went for one hour, with very good participation and questions from the competition pilots, and was very well supported. Comp Day 4 – Mon 13 Oct
The trough system which has been sitting on top of the Kingaroy area for the last 3 days has finally gone, so the rain has gone, and today we’ll get in a task. Conditions won’t be strong or high and the day should finish early as the easterly winds persist, bringing in moisture. Conditions to the north of Kingaroy look worse than to the north-west and west. We expect cu with maximum heights of 7,000′ QNH on the Downs and 6,000′ QNH in the
Task – Sports (2.5 hours) – Jandowae Silo (40), Windera (35), Control Point West (2) – minimum 129 km, max 422 km, point to point 274 km. First launch .
Task – Club (2 hours) – Jandowae Silo (40), Wondai a/f (35), Control Point West (2) – minimum 78 km, max 368 km, point to point 220 km.
There were 2 outlandings.
The pilots’ meeting decided to change the finish circle from 1.5 km to 2.5 km for reasons of safety; the intention of the finish is to be up to 2 km from the end of a runway, but in the case of Kingaroy, the centre of the airfield means that 1.5 km is on the edge of the runway rather than a distance from it.
Comp Day 5 – Tue 14 Oct
Wendy thanked Graham Hennessy for his help with the scoring, and Graham presented the day prizes from yesterday:
Day 4 Club class
Jo Davis (ASW 19) -101.2km/h 205.7km – 939.50 points
Paul Mander (Std. Libelle) – 100.4km/h 212.8km – 925.20 points
Alan Barnes (LS 1f ) – 99.9km/h 205.1km – 915.50 points
Jo Davis – “I didn’t have a lot of confidence in the start of the day, so I had a slow start until I crossed the Bunyas. Conditions on the
(Subsequently amended results comp day 4 Club class:
Mark Laird / Ian McPhee (Grob 3) -104.5km/h 214.5km – 1000 points
Jo Davis (ASW 19) – 101.2km/h 205.7km – 939.50 points
Paul Mander (Std. Libelle) – 100.4km/h 212.8km – 925.20 points)
Day 4 Sports class
Peter Trotter (LS 8) – 95.8km/h 265.3km – 848.20 points
Tim Wilson (LS 8) – 95.4km/h 250.4km – 841.80 points
Weather for Comp Day 5:
Winds have turned slightly more northerly, and the wet ground had a chance to dry out yesterday. There is a trough to the south-west that won’t affect the task but will bring enough instability to make it a good day. The forecast is for scattered cu to 7,500 QNH at Kingaroy and up to 9,000 QNH at Miles, and conditions to the north and west will be good, giving the task-setters a range of good conditions to set a task.
Tasks – Club (3.30 hours) Sports (3.30 hours) – Kumbarilla (40), Goombi (40),
Pilot Discussion Group
On the last no-fly day, Allan Barnes held a discussion regarding pair flying and team selection. What steps, if any, should we take to ensure that pilots selected to represent
Allan’s proposal was that team selection should be decided not by Nationals results, but in a separate competition, entered by pilot pairs, where the winning pair would form the team to go to the Worlds.
Some key points to come out of the meeting were:
1. Team/pair flying, although an advantage, is not the be-all and end-all of Worlds success. Funding, ground support, coaching and logistics are also important.
2. Pilots are already under a lot of time pressure – and an extra competition might be the last straw for some.
3. A pairs-only competition would exclude talented individuals who might perform better than any pair. There may be individual pilots who deserve a place irrespective of their team flying ability.
4. Improving the standard of pair flying within
5. It might be possible to use the Sports Class as a vehicle for team selection, by allowing pair flying in this class and allowing pre-declared pilot pairs to share start points.
It was noted that the Club Class Nationals rules were changed this year to ban team/pair flying, against the wishes of the majority of Club Class pilots. The only reason given was that of ‘harmonising’ the rules across classes.
It was felt that re-introducing pair flying would go a long way to removing the need for a change to team selection procedures.
To gain a broader feeling for pilot preference, Allan put together a questionnaire canvassing pilot opinions on the preferred option for team selection. Anybody interested in contributing to the questionnaire, please contact Allan at allan.j.barnes@gmail.com
Comp Day 6 – Wed 15 Oct
Wendy thanked John Roake for donating prizes of annual subscriptions to his magazine, Gliding International (www.glidinginternational.com).
Day 5 Club class
Mike Codling (Hornet) – 100.2km/h 353.7km -1000 points
Alan Barnes (LS1f) – 93.6km/h 335.2km – 875.10 points
Mark Laird / Ian McPhee (Grob3) – 93.3km/h 348.2km – 869.30 points
Mike Codling: “Yesterday was a bit surprising for me. Looking back on the flight, I was trying to think of something that I did that was different or special. I think that because I didn’t do anything special is why I won. I stayed at the right height band and moved on from the rubbish. That was my day yesterday.”
Day 5 Sports class
Hank Kauffmann (ASG 29) – 97.4km/h 358.4km – 1000 points
Hank Kauffmann: “I hate AATs! I did badly on the second leg. It simply meant that because the others were further in front of me, they were further out west, and the day died in a heap. So I won because I was 10 km behind them.”
Weather for Comp Day 6:
A strong southerly change is expected below 4,000′ over the sea and coast in the far south east of the area by ; expected near Kingaroy by . An inland trough is forming near
Tasks – Club (2 hours) Sports (2 hours) – Jandowae North (40), Wondai (30) – minimum 79 km, max 331 km, point to point 199 km. First launch . There were no outlandings.
Tasman Trophy
Bill Iggulden senior was a pioneer glider pilot in the very early days of gliding in
For many years the Tasman Trophy was contested at the World Gliding Championships as a private side contest, with
Two rules apply:
Pilots must not have flown in World Championships and
pilots must fly in the same Class of glider.
The Tasman Trophy is contested at each country’s Nationals and scored in the same manner as other pilots. The selected pilot with the highest points wins the trophy for his/her country. This trophy, belonging to both GFA and NZGA jointly, is excepted from the rule that GFA trophies must stay in
Representing
This is the first time that Brett has flown outside
Representing
“I think quite a few people get into gliding because of their fascination with flight. For me it’s all about the sky – the beauty of it, its energy and complexity. I spent a fair amount of my childhood watching the skies over the Jimbour plains and developed my sky addiction there. Being able to be up there and actually interact with the elements is just amazing; challenging myself and continually findings ways to drive my glider that little bit faster. The other thing about gliding that keeps me coming back is just how wonderful the people are.”
Thu 16 Oct
The trough has stalled over Kingaroy and the upper area is very moist with a very low cloud base and easterly winds. There is very moist air up to the higher levels and no prospect of soaring.
Day prizes were presented by Sandy Griffin:
Day 6 Club class
Michael Maddocks / Brian Allerby (ASK21) – 114.3km/h 228.7km – 1000 points
Alan Barnes (LS1f) – 103.5km/h 247.2km – 829.60 points
Phillip Ritchie (LS 4) – 101.5km/h 206.2km – 798.30 points
Brian Allerby: “We’d like to thank Rob, John and Rob for allowing us to use their beautifully presented aircraft. It was really nice to go hard yesterday.”
Mike Maddocks: “We were able to pick a height band instead of having to take every thermal, and that made a big difference.”
Day 6 Sports class
Peter Trotter (LS8) – 110.4km/h 229.8km – 1000 points
Hank Kauffmann (ASG 29) – 104.7km/h 211.2km – 897.80 points
Peter Trotter: “I spent the whole day doing just one thing, trying to line my track up with the street. I had 13 percent circling and overall LD of 79.”
Andrew Greig from
Sandy Griffin, Club Captain of Tauranga Gliding Club,
Comp Day 7 – Fri 17 OctA high pressure system is directing strong south-easterlies onto the coast and into the
Tasks – Sports (3 hours), Club (2.30 hours) – Chinchilla (40),
On the grid, first launch was amended to 11.30 and Sports class task was reduced to 2.5 hours.
Club class was amended to task B at 2 hrs 15 mins: Warra (30),
There were 2 outlandings for the day.
Final Night Dinner
Greg Schmidt, President Kingaroy Soaring Club thanked everyone for a safe and fun competition. Prizes were presented to:
Club Class Champion – Allan Barnes
Club
– Phillip Ritchie
Club
– Mike Codling
QEII Silver Jubilee – Overall best aggregate in Sports Class – Bruce Taylor
Sports
– Hank Kauffmann
Sports
– Peter Trotter
Tasman Trophy – Jo Davis
Nationals Club Class Teams Trophy
Highest aggregate score by a team of 3 pilots in either Club or Sports Class
Fun Team Winner – Team Indea – VTT, YHK, ZKT
John S Holst Memorial – Highest handicap speed achieved in either Sports or Club – Peter Trotter
Beaurepaires Corowa Trophy – Highest place in 1st or 2nd nationals in either Club or Sports – Phillip Southgate
Westpac Bank Perpetual Trophy (one Plus) – Highest place in glider with handicap or 1 or more – Allan Barnes
T&J Sailplane Services Trophy – Highest total aggregate score by
Tim and Joy Shirley Trophy – Best placed female by percentage of winners points achieved – Lisa Turner
Pilots from afar were acknowledged: Brett Hunter,
There were big rounds of applause for
the tuggies: tugmaster
Kingaroy SC members and helpers: Susie, Mick, Rob & Pam, Jan, Elaine, Lorraine, Linda, Aspro, John, Peter S, Janet,
the contest organisers: director
radio Jo Pocklington and assistant Indea Tabart, secretary Lorraine Kauffmann,
media relations and webnews Jo Pocklington, stewards
and the Kingaroy State High Year 10 & 11 students for their excellent assistance with launching through their Active Citizens program.
The pilots’ meeting voted to call in start times each day and Sandy Mander did a superb job of recording their times.
The
Jo Pocklington
18 Oct 08
Thank you JO!!!!
See you next sunday, enjoy your week and slowly , after the gliders allready departed to Africa and Oz, the pilots and their family travel off too.
Ritz