Post 1.491 on April 10 2024

It’ s Wednesday again ,publish-day, but it took me till last Monday afternoon, before I could sit behind my laptop . Head is still not really clear, still very tired, but the influenza nearly left my body.
My muscles hurt from coughing but, I do feel better.
Time to look back on what happened.
I promised you news about comps in Nitra and Torino, so here we go.

——Nitra [Sovakia] ..PRIBINA CUP! Not as many participants as in the past, when there sometimes were over 100, but as Easter is early this year, it is normally colder and less good weather.
Was that this year also ?
They had 6 out of 9 days , both in club and open. So that ‘s not too bad.
In CLUB……most days had small tasks as 2 hour AAT’s or less for the 10 pilots. One of them , Pavol Klein, flying a St. Libelle won 3 days in a row, but got a penalty on task 5 for a too low finish and lost his till then overall-one-spot.
Then the weather improved, the tasks were bigger and task 6 had already a 2.30 AAT. Polish pilot Pawel in a Pegase won the day. 3 Austrian pilots, Jacob , Raphael and Matthias, flying an LS 4 used their “better” gliders in the better circumstances to fly consistent and even winning task 5 with a 1-2 and 3 daily spot.
The last flying day showed a 3 hour AAT ,so finishing on a “high”.
After 6 days Jacob had 3.359 points and was the club class winner.
Only 10 points less for his mate Raphael with 3.349 points.
The 3d musketeer Matthias had 3.200 points and Pavol 2.671 [5th]

Open had a quite a few “hot” names on the list. From 19, only 2 ladies Jana and Hana Treslova flying an LS 8 and JS 3, both in 18m configuration.
Also in open task 1 was cancelled and the next tasks were small; till task 6 AAT’s from 2 hours or less.
Task 6 had a 2.30 AAT and the ARCUS from team Tomas Rendla won the day with 253 km with 98.28 km./h. That says enough! Only 1 pilot flew over 100 km./h ;Petr Krejcirek in the AS 33es.
Also their last day had a 3 hour AAT, won by Kornel in also an AS 33es; 263.27 km/ 81.73 km./h.
After 6 days the overall scores ;
1. Petr Krejcirik [Czech Rep] in AS33es with 1.943 points.
2. Zdislaw Bednarczuk [Poland] in JS 3T with 1.900 points
3. Rendla & Rendlova[Czech Rep] in ARCUS with 1.816 points.

——51 Trofeo Citta di Torino 2024.
They flew 3 days in 3 classes; sports class, 18 m and a class for beginners/amateurs.
Sports class had 15 pilots and on April 1, no joke, they got task 1, a 2.10 AAT and the daily prize was for the ARCUS M pilots Etalle & Costa .They flew 263 km/ 119.78 km/h.
Task 2 was a 1.45 AAT and ONLY 1 pilot, Ugo Pavesi, in ASG 29, flew the task ; 148.60 km/ 51.97 km./h. Pfff…..but 173 daily points in his pocket.
Task 3; 2.30 AAT and Stefano Ghiorzo in his Ventus 3T /18 m was the best from the 13 still flying pilots; 237.70 km/ 95.08 km./h
Andrea Ferrero, being 3d on task 1, 4th on task 2 and 3d on the last day won the TROPHY in sports class with a total of 1.413 points..
Stefano was runner up and team Alberto Sironi /Venturini was 3d.

18 m pilots had the same tasks and on task 1 also a 2.10 AAT won by Andrea Ferrero in his AS 33es. Stefano was runner up.
Task 2 was won in this class as well by Ugo and Task 3 by Stefano.
Overall scores for 18 m were a tad different; Andrea 1.271, Stefano 1.236, and Vittorio Squarciafico [Ventus 3F] with 1.139 p.

——–WeGlide is getting better and better. Those young innovative people are doing a great job. Over winter ,their development team has been busy with a new app.
You can read all about it in their WeGlide Magazine. https://magazine.weglide.org

They are also at the AERO 2024!!
“From 17 to 20 April, you can meet our entire team at the AERO in Friedrichshafen. This year’s AERO Gliding Expo will have a special focus on gliding. All exhibitors will be represented: The major glider manufacturers, exhibitors of accessories, associations, and clubs. Many tow plane manufacturers will be there as well. That’s why it was immediately clear that we would be there too. 
There even is a separate gliding conference area with an exciting program. On Saturday morning, you can find out how the WeGlide Copilot can help you in flight. But the other presentations on electric flying, weather forecasts, and aircraft news also sound very exciting.“

–—-From Mexico to Canada the ECLIPSE was visible and millions of people travelled to the places where the “miracle” was going to happen.Not all were so lucky as at some places clouds disturbed the joy. I found this gorgeous -one-of-a-kind-picture shared by the Soaring Society of America. …and share it with you.
The last solar-eclipse was in 1991.

Sky Sight was so kind to show us where the eclipse was.

——-Not too much news this week but hopefully next week more.
In Australia the season is over but “superb late season conditions” allowed John Welsh to fly a 300 in his Hornet; https://www.weglide.org/flight/373031
The USA starts and already news as “What a great beginning for the 2024 soaring season.”
Hobbs Soaring Society
Terlet here in the Netherlands had a busy day last Sunday with flights over 400 k and Arjan was there to make some pictures here is 1 of them.

Today looks like a good day here, sunny, blue skies,about 14 dgr. C and I see cumulus clouds from my window !!!!!
CU next Wednesday
Cheers Ritz.

Post 1.490 on April 3 2024

They hoped for 4 days in a row in Seminole to finish of the 20 m Nationals.
That was hope….. Both in the USA and Australia the word El Nino is mentioned a lot. When I lived in Australia the El Nino mostly meant “a good season” for our soaring center, but dry and hot and often disastrous for the farmers. It’s not 1 year but more!!!
Rich with his good and funny stories about the 20 m Nationals writes about it this way:
“Experts call the weather pattern we are in now, El Nino which I believe in Spanish means boy. Well, boy I wish we had a girl in our weather pattern. The jet stream has descended into the lower portion of the US which has disturbed our normal excellent soaring conditions during the spring. This is highly unusual, and I have not seen this for the last 10 years. We still get good soaring, just not “buckle up and hang on” type of weather.”
And, I guess you understand it straight away ...NO FLYING for Wednesday the 27th.
BUT….hope for Thursday and for sure Friday.
“Weather Weather, It Has to Get Better” by Rich.

Thursday; March 28…..”No joy again today at SLGP.
This from Rich:Weather, Weather It Didnt Get Better”
“We are getting a little tired of the weather pattern this month. Next week looks great for boating, flying and anything else you want to do outside. We are still trying to get day 6th in, but we fell short one more time. Tomorrow looks like a good day to fly. This afternoon the sun came out; the winds were still 15 gusting to 20 knots.”
They tried HARD and everybody had to go to the grid after a 2d briefing at 12.15, with a 1.45 AAT in the pocket.
“The weather late looked good, but the day was going to end early. If we could get into the air by 2pm, we might have a chance.
The second pilots meeting was held and yes, we were gridding. This process went very well and soon all the ships were in launch position. Looking at the low clouds, the CD was looking for a break. Finally, the order to launch 90 came and Bob Fletcher went into the bleak looking sky. He was reporting 2,300ft maximum height at 1 to 1.5 knots. Time slipped by and Bob finally made it above 2,500ft, the minimum height for launching the grid. Unfortunately, Bob reported very weak climbs and few thermals to keep everyone airborne. The CD made the right decision to cancel the day and send everyone back to parking after Bob landed.”so far Rich. On top of that they had winds over 20 knots.
Hope gone for Thursday BUT,…….new hope for

Friday ;March 29……..Very last day and the numbers 1 and 2 overall had a difficult time finishing the day on spot 11 and 12, BUT,…still enough points for Jim in the ARCUS J and Pete and Rich in the ASG 32MI to keep ahead on the rest. A racing task was set.
Rich;”Marshall was sending us on a racing task in the blue. It was a challenging route. At the start, Pete and I wanted to get on course early and avoid a late arrival over Lakeland. We found a good starting point on the line and left hoping to hide our departure. Unfortunately, we had a few folks right behind us, but the race was on. The last leg was getting soft, and we found ourselves in some very weak thermals.”
In the end they had a very strong thermal that got them to final glide and a Mc 4.5 glide home.
1. Team Jim Frantz in ARCUS J with 3618 points.
2. team Alexander/ Owen [Pete and Rich] in ASG 32MI with 3473 points.
3. team Mandelbaum/Gaisford in Duo Discus with 3408.
Those 3 Duo Discus types did wel on spot 4 and 11 from 14 participating 2 seaters .
Loved the stories from Rich, so THANK YOU for sharing them with us. And of course Bo for het fantastic pictures!

——–Talking about the USA, Garret Willat is put in the centre of attention by Schempp-Hirth. He is their US representative. I know from the past that he helps all international questions from pilots flying from Europe in the USA as well. Certainly when it concerns World Championships. Very nice fellow!!!
Garret has a lovely family and runs Sky Sailing and Yankee Composites in Warner Springs, CA.
He is a flight instructor and a very accomplished competition pilot.
Very nice from Schempp-Hirth to put him in the spot light.
yankeecomposites
AND,…this year is the WGC in Uvalde for the 3d time.When he has time he might be able to help you.
I was there in 1991 as TC for The Netherlands and in 2012 on invitation as editor of SOARING CAFE, the on line Magazine from Bill Elliott and Rand Baldwin. We had a great time!!!Such a pity it does n’t exist anymore.

This 2024 SPRING period is SUPERB. Too much to write about , but you can find most of the flights on the OLC or WeGlide.
Have a look , worthwhile doing so!!!

–——-On March 24 we could see a very interesting flight from Swiss pilot Yves Gerster. He flew from St Auban in France , to Corsica over Italy; 1.328 km. in a JS1C/21 m.
You can find his flight on with beautiful pictures on
https://www.weglide.org/flight/368985
It was n’t over for Yves after this flight; On March 30 he flew with a mate in an ARCUS T 1.220 km!!!

–——On March 29 ....2 interesting comps started the new competition-season in Europe. One in Nitra in Slowakia ….the well known PRIBINA CUP till April 6 …..and 1 in Italy the even wellknown 51 Trofeo Cita di Torino till April 7.
The Pribina Cup has 2 classes. In 15 m we see 12 pilots. In open 21.
Task 1 had a small task, some tried but for both classes the day was cancelled.
Day 2; 1.30 AAT won by Czech pilot Pavol Klein in a St. Libelle. 6 from 9 finished.
Same task for open ; Czech pilot Jan Pavlik won in an LS8/18m with 166 km /96.47 km./h. 20 started ,5 were out.
Task 3; 1,45 AAT for both classes.…

The Trofeo has 20 pilots in one class. They have a sports class and 18 m class. Also their first day had to be scrubbed, as was their next day. They meet again on Monday morning.

——-On March 29 the weather WAS GOOD!!!!!Klaus [Ohlmann] took his glider …a Stemme S10….out for a “ride” and when he does, you know it will be a long day for him: it was 1.493,53 km!!!! Long as in kilometers ,not so much in time. With a speed of 170 km./h he raced over the nearly 1.500 km in 8 hours and 44 minutes!!!!!!!! Good on him!!!!
The comment from Klaus below. The nicest thing however is that he has flown so many long and special flights …he is still HAPPY /cheerful with each of them.
“Wow, what a day. The adventure started one day before with motor going to Oloron. After a very sportif landing under a big rotor we struggled to turn on the very wet surface. Good luck, Benoit, the chief pilot helped us to take the plane out of the mud with his car.
Great thanks again…Next morning, 5:00, it was raining. and the forecast gave us a tailwind. Good luck again, after cleaning the glider 3 times we could lift off. Meanwhile a small foen gap was closed and it was raining a little bit everywhere. We decided to look for wave more eastwards and found very good conditions southwest of St.Gaudens. Big run untilnorth of Carlit and Marseille gave us a clearence to FL 195 and approved a straight line and constant descent towards M.Ventoux. Nice rotorclouds until m.Blancwith southern winds. Wind turned more and more to west, Tailwind on the whole task. I admit, that I didn`t expect to be able to reach Nitra in Slowakia. But finally we could make it in time. But the.. Vienna control forced us to descent from our comfortable 4500 m to FL 080. No way to reach Nitra. So, we decided to land in Wiener Neustadt. Wonderful reception from our glider friends. What a fantastic experience. Thanks for all who helped us to achieve this flight.”
2 More 1.000 km flights that day 1, by Noah in an ASG 29 /15 m. from Harris Hill in the USA and 1 from Spain from La Cerdanya in an ARCUS T.
1 Day earlier, now back in the USA again , Gordon Boettger flew in the ARCUS J 1.409 km with a dazzling speed of 238.10 km./h. from Eastern Sierra. He had a back-seater , Brad Jackson, who “worked” as well.
Gordon;”Took off from Bishop after landing there last night. Waited for the wave to set up and Brad recommended doing a speed run which I had not considered. The Owens Valley wave was on fire. Climbed in rotor to the wave then it was full afterburner for the two hour speed run. Flew 568 km in 2 hours at 284 kph and then headed north back towards Minden. Decided to add some legs in the wave closer to home. A beautiful day ended with a landing in easy winds for once. SKYSIGHT was SPOT ON !!!!! Thanks Matthew Scutter for your product. Thanks to my good friend Brad for doing all the speed calculations and for the teamwork.”

–—-And MORE incredible flights this time from Germany on the 27th of March….Mathias Schunk flew 1.629 km with a speed of 157 km./h. Glider; Quintus….departure; from Koenigsdorf…..time; 11 hours and 10 minutes.
WeGlide mentioned;” Insane flight by Mathias Schunk.He maxed out the day by not returning to his home but rather landing in the eastern Alps near Wien. Funny to see how the views on his flight increased throughout the day!”
With pictures on https://www.weglide.org/flight/366859

On Saturday March 30 more great weather!!!!!Several 1000 plus km from Switzerland.
Looking at the very exciting boatrace on the Thames between the ladies and men from Canterbury and Oxford ….both won by Canterbury…..I noticed great skies above the UK as well. Indeed 500 k was flown from Lasham.
BUT,…….3x over 1.300 km and 5 x an over 1.400 km flight is for Europe pretty special...Interesting to see 2 are flown by young pilots as Benjamin Bachmeier ,who I remember from one of the JWGC’s in Ventus 2BX and Nils Fecker [ Johannes Beyer] in an ARCUS M.who did so well in Bitterwasser last season.
A 1.270 in a Discus 2CFES/18m is worth while mentioning too..
30 over 1000 km flights ..indeed when the weather is there, you have a glider and time,..you can do it.

——-News from Romain Fhal. I write sometimes about him and his wife as they are fabulous aerobatic pilots and world champions. r.fhal@extraaircraft.com
They announced on March 28 a new website.https://extraaircraft.com/
“As we put more and more focus on social media and producing content to share with aerobatic pilots and enthusiasts we’ve recognized that it’s time to overhaul our website and bring it to the appropriate decade! Today we’ve pushed our new website into production and it’s now live! We’re looking forward to updating the site and adding various informational resources as time progresses. We’re looking forward to hearing everyone’s feedback, and if you have any suggestions we’d love to hear them!”

——N.Z. now…have a look at the site from Geoff Soper. the most wonderful pictures.
To be found on Geoff Soper Photography page.
“Warbirds Over Wanaka handful of images from practice day.” so more to come.

SORRY dear SOARING-READERS, No time to check what I had written already…got a bad influenza and was in bed for a few days, “coughing my lungs out”. Off to bed again now.

Cu next Wednesday , by the way the Belgium Nationals will be flown from St Hubert between June 29 and July 7 2024
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.489 on March 27 2024

Always interesting to see if everything is working again on the laptop, after they closed off ALL electricity, for 6 hours.
Pfff….IT WORKED!!!!!
The astronomical spring has started here and for my Aussie mates autumn.
We started with a lovely 19dgr. C but 2 days later it felt like autumn here.
Monday however looked here like 1000-km-weather, which of course ,it was n’t , but super skies.
In any case 16 Dutch pilots flew on that Monday and they really had a good time; 477 in an ASW 22BLE……420km in an ASW 20WL, 5 over 300 km -flights and 2 over 200 km.
Great start of the season. Luckily the gliders from the Narromine -WGC, were back home too, so pilots could straight away jump in ,when they wished.
In Germany they had 6 flights over 600 km. in Ventus 3 and 2, Discus 2b and ASH 26E.[FAI 500 triangle] One was even over 700 km.in Ventus 3M. [FAI 500 Triangle] Happy pilots!
A St. Libelle nearly flew 300 k.

—————————————————–

—-Soaring in Seminole Lake continued after the seniors were ready with the USA 20 m multi-seat NATIONALS.
AND…..luckily Bo and Rich stayed there as well,after their senior-experiences, so we are sure of great pictures and funny/good stories. When you want to read the stories in full and ALL pictures ,you have to go to https://www.facebook.com/SoaringSocietyofAmerica/

Day 1 was on Wednesday March 20 ;
It was a blue chilly day. Before flying the 14 teams had of course; “The Mandatory Safety Meeting was held at 9:45 am and many topics were covered. Staying out of airspace that you do not belong in was a top subject.“
Due to a later start , the task was changed to a 2 hour Assigned Area Task.
Not a flash day as there was weak lift and very low cruising altitudes, specially on the last leg.
“The scores for the day were very low due to the short length of the task. In third place was the team of Juan Mandelbaum and Phil Gaisford,[In Duo Discus] with Michael Marshall and Hal Woodruff in second. [Duo Discus] Winning the day with a blistering raw speed of 54.55 over the distance of 112.01 miles was Jim Franz and Jared Granzow. [Arcus jet] For their efforts, they obtained a total of 445 points. A win is a win, and this contest is going on for another 9 days. Stay tuned for all the action in this clash of the buses.“

Day 2; was again a prey for Arcus -Jet pilot Jim Frantz and team mate Jared Granzow; another 615 points, so 1060 in total now. Dr Mandelbaum in the Duo Discus T [ 5th for the day] is still on 2 overall,but they have to share this spot now with Arcus M pilots Lee and Bostik.
It turned out to be NOT an easy day!!!!!
“We had hit trigger temperature that should have gotten them to 2,500ft easily. After launching, there were very little comments from them until the CD made a query. Both were below release height and not climbing. This was the first of several launch delays of the day.” Rich.
With task C they left Seminole to go on track for a racing task. The early starters were caught by the gaggle , en route some got low , in the end nearly all found their OWN way home and found it “an enjoyable and challenging task.” Rich

RAIN on March 22…..so,….just such a great picture from Bo.

Day 3 on Saturday March 23; “It Was the Best of Times and the Worst of Times” Rich
Daily runner up was the ARCUS JET , with team Lee on spot 3 and as team Mandelbaum was on 8 there was no equal runner up spot overall anymore, but they are now on 2 and 3 behind Jim Frantz, who in fact won ,the 3d win in a row , as the daily winner flew an ASG 29/18 m, so HC for a 2 seater competition.
They had gridded, left the covers on, as it was not at all sure if they could fly,…. a 50-50% chance .
The day started with total overcast and the possibility of rain at noon.
” We spotted all the ships on the grid and the sun came out. Cu were appearing in the north where it was not supposed to be. Expectations for flying started to increase and soon, the order was given to launch the fleet.” Rich
Off they went for an AAT rather late in the day cause of the waiting and changes. Not too bad circumstances with a cloud street found by several, nice CU’s, but also blue “holes” and taking care of airspace was important too.[ the Disney World PTFR ….permanent temporary flight restriction.]
Rich finishes with :”Looks like we may fly the next four days in a row.”

No flying on Sunday March 24;
Why????
Here is Rich:”The morning broke over Central Florida and already the pilots knew we were in trouble. I can tell when everyone starts waking up. Our internet slows to a crawl when the pilots start checking early morning weather. The skies were completely overcast, and the wind was blowing so much the glider covers looked like Grand Ma’s skivvies blowing on the clothesline. Today looked like a problem day for more than just the weather. First thing in the morning, the coffee pot refused to work until we hit it a few times in the right spot. However, coffee was not available for the pilots meeting, but everyone had their favorite donut, so all was good with the world.”

Contest day 4 March 25; with another AAT [3 hours] and this time Pete and Rich won the day, yes the ” back-seater who writes” and Pete who I know from Uvalde 2012. Nice fellow! 519 daily points and number 2 now overall in the “mighty” ASG 32 MI.
Jim in the ARCUS J still leads though his very good back-seater is leaving. Another reporter, with also a soaring-podcast ,Piet Barber is now 3d overall. And that in a Duo Discus!!!!They were 4th for the day, BUT they lead overall with ONLY ONE point over Team Mandelbaum.
The overall points are very close; Jim has now 2088 points, Pete and Rich 1920 , team Barber /Retting 1861 and team Mandelbaum/Gainsford also in Duo Discus 1860.[11th for the day]
Here are some parts of the long story from Rich;
“Today was to be an early start with good lift and reasonable top of lift. … the day was going to end early, around 3:30pm. .”
“The first and second legs were fast or very difficult depending on when you started. Early and late starters were not in the best position on these legs.“
“Sometimes the east side worked, other times the west side of the line was better. The key to this piece of the puzzle was to stay connected to the clouds in the upper part of the height band and not get low.”
“A safe landing ensued in the 15-20 knot crosswind. Today was brutal.“
“In the end we had 9 engine starts, 2 landouts and only 3 finishers, 2 of which had finish penalties.”
Contest day 5; a racing task. Daily winners Pete and Rich in glider 98 the Arcus J. A difficult day for some as there were 2 out landings and 5 gliders coming back with their engine.A late evening as most were back late.
Jim with a new back -seater has 2882 points. Pete and Rich have 2730 points and the Duo Discus T with team Mandelbaum/Gaisford holds on. 9th for the day but 3 overall with 2638 points.
More next week.

—–Matthew ,….yes Scutter….. shared an urgent update so I share it with you too;

——-Gliding Australia “Gliding Australia Magazine in Print – Last Chance – Subscribe today for the print edition Gliding Australia Magazine – Next Issue Out in April, so hurry. Deadline 30 March for print copies GA “Members Click https://tinyurl.com/yhvtt8bt to subscribe

——-907 km was flown by Ramy Yanetz , who made an incredible wave flight on March 14, up to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. He started and finished at Williams in his AG 29/18 m. Ramy is a member of the Northern California Soaring Association.
“Fantastic off shore wave day. Skysight nailed it.”

—–E glider news; as shared by Aldo [Cernezzi]
“E6-Glide will take place in Varese, 8th to 14th of September 2024
All participating sailplanes must be equipped with an auxiliary electric engine. All pilots will have a limited quota of electric power they will use during the sporting performance. This opens a whole lot of new strategies, which makes the competition even more interesting. Competition flying will possible even if thermal conditions are less than optimal and the “chess in the air” feeling of normal gliding events will rise to a new level.
The previous edition took place in Saint-Auban, France.”
More info on the club’s website https://acao.it/attivita-sportiva/gare-eventi/e6glide/

——“A powerful wave day” Max Stevens called it. Starting from Wellington in N.Z. he flew 1.031 km with a speed from 150.95 km/ph and a height of just a tad under 6000 m. He had to open his brakes several times to avoid Vne issues. That was on Monday, on Tuesday another good wave day but with “less clouds and more sun”.
The mountains in Europe, have great wave as well; Koenigsdorf had already 2 early over 1000 km flights on March 10, one even 1.265 km. and yesterday another 1000 k was added in an ARCUS.

That’s it for today, it’r raining now , but last Monday gave us hope for a good season.
By the way, the Dutch Nationals will be flown between Mai 8 and 18 and as I read they have now 5 classes with in each class at least the minimum amount of 8 pilots to make the winner DUTCH CHAMPION.
https://www.nkzweefvliegen.nl/

HAPPY EASTER DAYS from Ritz

Post 1.488 on March 20 2024

–—–It’s not often that a customer/guest is allowed to make pictures in the final-production- hangar of a glider manufacturer. For that reason it is really kind of Lumpy to share some pictures from part of this process. He is there for his new JS5. On top of that it is great PR for Jonker Sailplanes.

On March 17 he and Oscar [Goudriaan] flew a 750 from Potchefstroom in a JS 3 and the new JS 5 with 148 km./h. AND,….Lumpies mates Bernie and Ojars flew from Tocumwal 404 and 508 km in Pik 20 B and ASH 31/21m.
Amazing weather …”nice autumn days“….still both in South Africa and down under.

——-The SENIORS are flying/have flown again from Seminole Lake and as every year they have some kind of Hawaii-shirt-day. I noticed that they did so at the F1 in Leeton Australia as well.

After 2 non flying days they flew on Wednesday and Thursday. 3 hour and 2 hour AAT.
Contest day 1; 3 hour AAT….. Here is Rich Owen ,who flies in the back from 98 with Pete Alexander.He is a funny writer and I LIKE his style!
“there were some nice cu but also some areas that had large blue gaps. Sticking to the cloud fields seemed to be the best answer to traverse this leg. Lift was getting stronger and cloud bases were also getting higher. It wasn’t bad when you rolled into a 6-7kt thermal for 2,000ft.“
In the end of the day there were winners;
“In third place was Karl Striedieck flying with his brother Walter with a raw speed of 65.94mph. We did not have a second-place finisher due to a tie for first place. Billy Kerns with his LS-8 flew 198 miles at a speed of 64.38mph while Pete Alexander and Rich Owen flew an ASG-32Mi 221 miles at a speed of 72.42mph. Both ships received 1,000 points for their effort.”
Contest day 2; 2 hour AAT...Due to some rain that flooded the south end of the runway, we have been forced to change the way we grid for this contest.
“Today we tried something a little different to coincide more with what the rules say about rotating the grid. We had 5 groups of short wing gliders go down at different times to stage in position. So, 6 gliders at a time would tow down into takeoff position. No specific spot was assigned but the grid is rotated each day. Everyone approved of the process and we plan to use it during this contest.”
Start of the flying-day;
“The first leg was either fast or trying. Some pilots averaged 3 knot climbs while others were happy to have 1.5 knots.“
But then…..”Cirrus completely covered the landscape and very little sun was making it to the ground. The route home plotted on See You for all the pilots looked like a bomb burst since we all took very different paths home. Many got stuck low over Winter Haven and had to dig out to avoid a landout. The pilots who started late had an even more difficult time. In the end, we only had one landout and everyone else made it back safely.“
In the end of the day…..“When all the chaos ended, we found a shake up on the score. Sam Zimmerman finished in 3rd place with Henry Retting in second place.In first place was Nico Bennet, a two-time winner of the Seniors with a raw speed of 61.60mph over 108 miles.“
Contest Day 3; 1.45 AAT.….”The first leg was either fast or slow depending on the line you took.Lift in the start circle was weak and the number of clouds were few.Soon a line formed over highway 27 which the locals all call the Florida ridge. It seems to be the fastest path to the southeast side of the state. The faster you get on it, the better you will do. The winners pretty much did exactly that.“
Final glides were all benign and the recovery back at Seminole-Lake was safe and efficient. It is amazing the level of skill and professionalism that our pilots exhibit during this highly stressful evolution.”
When all the dust had settled.…
“Only 53 points separate the top 6 competitors, and the podium is up for grabs. In overall standings, Joerg Stieber from the SOSA club in Canada is in 6th place with Nelson Howe is in 5th place. In 4th is Doug Jacobs with his 21-meter ASH-31Mi. In 3rd place is P7, Gary Ittner, only 43 points out of first. The closer race is between Jim Lee/Joe Bostik in 2nd and Henry Retting in first. Only 12 points separate these excellent pilots.” as written by Rich Owen.
AND……:“Now watching our older pilots leave their ships after flying 3-4 hours leaves something to be desired. It sometimes takes two tries to get out. Seems like they also like to try and figure out how to email their flight log to the scorer before getting out of the ship.”

Friday was the last day ;
Contest day 4; 3 hour AAT.…Start was open at 13.44.
Part of the daily story from Rich; “The start time was a little critical since high cirrus on the west side of the task area was expected mid-day.
On the first leg, it was straightforward. There weren’t any cloud streets to speak of but climbs of 2.5kts to 4,000ft were common.
The lakes and late day sun angles reduced the density of the cloud field in this area, and everyone had to be careful. Good news was the clouds heading home looked great and final glides were fairly easy.
Good old Doug Jacobs won the day.

On the banquet all important people got a THANK YOU, CD John [Good] scorer Rick [Sheppe] also the ground crew, the volunteers and the meteo Fernando [Silva] .
“Our tow pilots received a standing ovation for their work to get all the pilots in the air safely and with smiles on their face.“

Here are 2 more, cause they say so much without words;

THANK YOU BO AND RICH!!!!!!!!

—–Last week I wrote about Matthew visiting The Netherlands because of EuroGlide in mid summer.[end of July beginning of August].
This week there is more news about his SkySight.
“Big news! We are integrating ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) weather data into the starting point for our model, greatly enhancing the quality and depth of our data sources.
ECMWF is the world’s leading global weather model, more than ten years ahead of the popular GFS model. The enormous volumes of their data and high cost have previously made it inaccessible to the gliding world, and we are proudly the first to use it.
However, by itself, ECMWF is still not detailed enough, which is why we use it as a starting point for our ultra-high detail model.
What does it mean for you? Better forecast data, now delivered faster and more often represents the biggest year-on-year forecast improvement!” SkySight

AND…..MORE……Paraglider and Hangglider pilots – we haven’t forgotten about you!
For the last six months we have been working on “Launch Points” – an easy way to see at a glance if the launch is working. MUCH more on SkySight

——-The Kiripotib containers with their many gliders have arrived in Europe nicely in time for the new season.

“Many hands make light work. Gliders have landed safely in Austria. Their owners have been eagerly awaiting to start the upcoming glider season.We wish you a great flying season and look forward to welcoming you back to Kiripotib! “
Dates for the coming season have already been finalized: https://tinyurl.com/258kz56a

—-The AmstelGlide 2024 is for all who are interested and current on June 8 and 9 flown from the beautiful airport of Soesterberg in The Netherlands.
www.amstelglide.nl

——To let you know already now; The 15th JWGC will be in Lake Keepit in Australia in 2028.
Bruce [Taylor] mentioned already : “And what great news to have the juniors back at Keepit. Super racing site!”

——To finish a special picture from June 2006.

Cheers Ritz
P/S 1. It was interesting to see NO flights on the OLC yesterday morning at 11AM, when flying had stopped on the other side of the world. That does n’t happen often. I know it was raining cat’s and dogs in Tocumwal. Hope it stops in time …presume it will….for the Australian F1 car races.

P/S 2…..This blog was published on Tuesday evening 8PM. Due to “work in progress” on the electricity system in the area where I live there will be NO electricity in the morning. EVERYTHING has to be removed from the electricity points, to have no damage on TV’s, radio’s ,laptops, routers phones etc. For 6 hours no working-fridge either.
Better earlier, than later, specially for my Aussie readers.

Post 1.487 on March 13 2024

Though,….. The SENIORS are flying in Florida and there is 1 upcoming REGIONAL competition in South Africa end of April;

——–The season is about to start everywhere in this part of the world and at some places it started already. For some clubs reparations are still in full swing. Gliders will be in perfect condition, parachutes repacked and instruments “tuned”
SkySight shares some news /PR, as as well
“The wait is over – the Gliding Season is starting!
Another season is upon us and we want to make sure you don’t miss a single opportunity to take flight. That’s why we’re encouraging all gliding enthusiasts to set up their PFD alarms or route alarms with SkySight today!
With our smart alert system, you’ll receive instant notifications when the perfect flying conditions are forecasted, ensuring you won’t miss the chance to fly that bucket-list task.”
Here’s how to set up your alarms:
1. Visit SkySight.io and select the Potential Flight Distance (PFD) option.
2. Click “Create New Alert” and choose your preferred location on the map.
3. Set your desired threshold for notification and give your alert a personalized label.
4. For route alarms, simply click the icon next to your desired task in the parameter menu.

Matthew from SkySight is prominent in the WeGlide Magazine answering 5 questions on the new season.
He will be even in The Netherlands in June for the start of EUROGLIDE.
“To mark the start of the season we asked our founder Matthew Scutter on the upcoming season. We asked him on his plans and the updates for the weather model. Read it all in WeGlide magazine.“
magazine.weglide.org

——-Midland Gliding Club shares news about a, so to see, pretty nice weekend.

——-From the USA [Frauke]I got the next news about the German Magazine SEGELFLIEGEN. It  is now available in English under the name SOARING INTERNATIONAL.
To subscribe go to ; https://soaring-international.com/download-online-edition/

——-Great flights from N.Z. USA pilot Kelvyn Flavall spend his season in Omarama in N.Z. Normally he flies from Seattle but nearly going home he said:” A great way to cap off an absolutely fantastic season flying out of Omarama. Big wave flight, but not easy. Very strong wave in places and quite moist at times.“
1.062 km speed 161.58 km./h. in an ASG 29E/18m
Gavin Wrigley an Aussie, also flying from Omara flew on that same Thursday March 7 in an LS4, 870 km/134.28 km./h.
Flying a 1000 in a Duo Discus is also REMARKABLE!!!That happened as well in Omarama on that same day; 1.011 km/156 km./h. by Milan and Richard.

——-Europe had some strong flights too early in their season.
A great season start for Werner Amann , on March 3,….he flew nearly 1.600 km [1.589] in the brand new AS33Es in the Alps, with 136 km./h. in the 18 m configuration. An out and return from Hohenems-Dornbirn in Switzerland.
On the same day Rainer Crohnjaeger flew in the ASH 31MI/21 m. a free distance flight from 1.124 km./ h. from Hausen am Albis.

Australia still enjoys great soaring and pretty high temperatures …38 dgr.C….for the beginning of autumn. The last couple of days they had an heatwave with 40 dgr.C even in Victoria, where it normally is not that hot.
Mac flew from Temora 759 km [500 FAI triangle] in the LS 8-t neo, Tocumwal still has flights up to 639 km ,so does Narromine up to 600.
On March 9 the skies were booming over Benalla, according to the Gliding Club of Victoria;”Twenty five launches in the Tug today and the sky is booming!”
Toby Geiger flew in the 15m Ventus 2ax an FAI triangle from 500 km. Mind you later starts and early ends of the days.
Tocumwal had 10 to 11.000 ft cloud base.

Argentina had superb weather on March 8 and 3 pilots noticed that , took their glider for a ride and what a “ride” it was for them.
Juan Pablo Verdura flew in his Ventus 2cm /18 m.;1.673.22 km with a speed of 193 km./h. They had wave up to 7932 MSL.
Federico Buscema flew in the Nimbus 3DM; 1.486.60 km, speed 169.73 km./h.
Alejandro Pettenazza flew in ARCUS M ;1.380,67 km, speed 176.12 km./h.
Zapala Neuquen was the place to be.

Germany had a great weekend on March 10 with 3 over 1000 km flights from Koenigsdorf and Trieben. Even 1,265 in Ventus 2cxm/18 m [ wave up to 5.388 MSL] and 1,289 km in ASH 31/21 m.
Flying from Koenigsdorf to the” Zugspitze” the highest mountain on the border of Germany and Austria [2962 m] is a great way to start the race over the “giving” Alps.
A flight in a Discus 2c/18 m should be mentioned too; 1.120 km.
From Austria Wolfgang flew that same day 1.116 km. from Wiener Neustadt in an ARCUS.

–——-TWIN SHARK news;
“TwinShark has on 6.3.2024 achieved EASA certification, a remarkable achievement coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the Libelle H 301’s maiden flight.
Join us in celebrating this momentous occasion as we continue to push the boundaries of aviation excellence. Elevate your flying experience with the TwinShark!‘
HpH Sailplanes

Talking about the Libelle, here is more news from Glasflügel-Glasfaser Flugzeug Service 
“Today is the 60th anniversary of the first official flight of the Libelle H 301. Eugen Hänle wanted to check everything would go smoothly, so he did a flight the day before!
Our website has plenty to read about everything Glasflügel, but here is a link to take you straight to today’s focus, with lots of rarely seen photographs.”

https://streifly.de/en/home/glasflugel/h301/ – English

https://streifly.de/h301-de/ – German

We had WORLD WOMEN DAY on March 8 and several gliding clubs with female club members, had their own” Women of Aviation Worldwide Week” and there was more on that day.
When you have 5 minutes and 43 seconds to spare have a look at the great video ““Women carry half the sky”…from Jerolamo Radman who shares pictures from women in gliding “during a championship, gliding meetings, you have crossed my path, from 2008 until 2023, perhaps you will see yourself in one of these photosThank you for these meetings, these smiles, these good times of laugh and friendshipand if you don’t see yourself in this little film… be sure that I still remember you.”

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/vocXEW982bDSimaP/?mibextid=a6qBZl

AND,…..“Gliding Australia celebrates the women who take to the skies. It’s a team effort from our girls, from the instructors to the pilots, students, airworthiness ladies, tug pilots and supporters making it all possible. Let’s celebrate overcoming obstacles, fulfilling dreams, and welcoming more women into the gliding community.”
Talking about the Libelle AND women, more news from Glasflügel-Glasfaser Flugzeug Service
“Today for International Womens Day, we would like to celebrate two exceptional women.
Ursula Hänle was instrumental in the creation of Glasflügel and the development of the Open and Standard Libelle. Later, in her business Start + Flug, she became the first (the only as far as we know) woman to design and build a glider, the Salto.
Barbara Streifeneder worked for Glasflügel as a Draftswoman and her name can be seen on the drawings for the Standard Libelle and Kestrel. She was a partner in the Glasfaser Flugzeug Service until she passed away in 2003.“

——–The 2024 pre- registrations for FAI SAILPLANE GRAND PRIX have been closed and a record participation shows the success of this type of soaring. When there are cancellations you might be lucky to still enter .
I know Terlet in The Netherlands is already fully booked and that is only in Mai 2025.
The following 2024 events pilots pre-registration phase are officially closed for :

• Spain : but still some places available (2), first arrived first served rules is now applied, visit the event page to register.
• Norway : event is full but if any pilot cancel her/his participation, waiting list is small so you can still apply and have a chance. Go to event page to register.
• Germany : event is heavily overbooked.
• Italy : event is slightly overbooked, if any pilot cancel her/his participation, waiting list is small so you can still apply and have a chance. Go to event page to register.
• Slovenia : event is slightly overbooked, if any pilot cancel her/his participation, waiting list is small so you can still apply and have a chance. Go to event page to register.
• France : event is full but if any pilot cancel her/his participation, waiting list is small so you can still apply and have a chance. Go to event page to register.

https://sgp.aero/news/2024registrationsclosed

——–Some IGC plenary news; Aldo was so kind to sent me some dates and news on awards.
TABOR Czech Rep; has the WGC for the “small ships” between August 3 and 17 2024.
Uvalde USA; has the WGC for the big ships between August 14 and September 1 2024
Aalen Germany ; JWGC in 2026.The bid included extremely favorable conditions for renting some gliders.
Slovenia gets the WWGC in 2027.
The 13.5m WGC will be discontinued. The last one will be in Ostrow this year when they have enough pilots and nations to fly it.
The Lilienthal Medal was awarded to Tomas Wala.
The Pirat Gehriger diploma went to John Wharington.
The Pelagia Majewska medal. Not awarded this year.I got mine in 2015!!!!!

To finish the start of news about the 34th edition of the 2024 Senior Soaring championship flown from Seminole Lake in Florida.
Always very pleased to see the pictures from Bo. I share 3 already here, with enough gliders and great skies and some pilots .
Practice was on March 8 and they fly between March 9 to 15.
Many “oldies” with HUGE respect, have their holiday competition in Seminole.
“What started as a friendly competition between friends have turned into a highly competitive event pitting some of the best pilots in the country and beyond. We welcome World/National Champions, Junior Racers as well as first time competitors to Seminole-Lake Gliderport. “

Till now they only flew yesterday. A 3 hour AAT with 4 TP’s ; Sam wrote;”light S wind, cu over entire task area all day. Ave lift around 4 knots.” Pretty good day.

More next week
Cheers Ritz.

Post 1.486 on March 6 2024

——Regatta’s are fun. Not so serious, but serious enough!!!When you can’t fly every day, you show up when you can .
Mathias [Kopp] did not fly during the first days , but on task 4 [3 hour AAT] his ASG 32 Mi, was on the score board as number 2 for the day, behind another new face Justin [Smith] in JS 3 at the podium. Justin missed day 1 ,was present on the next 2 days and won task 4 with 356.67 km/ 111.11 km./h.
This day overall leader David [Pickels] did not fly so others passed by .
Ayala who was 6th for the day, tops the overall scores now.
Then…… a 3 hour NOT FLOWN AAT.
The last 2 days showed scores again and 12 pilots went for another 3 hour AAT. Good old Brad,[ I heard he is going for the 3d time to Uvalde,] was the daily winner during task 6; 421.66 km/131.71 km./h. Decent speed in his ASG 32. Ayala , who started 1 minute later , was runner up. Great performance in “her” LS6.
From the 13 starting pilots 6 were out.
The last day had a 2 hour AAT, but it was not flown.
Ayala in the LS 6 won the Regatta with 3.981 points .Good on her!!!!

——-As you know I am a big fan of Rieti and it really pleases me , that at the IGC plenary in Toulouse, [March 1 and 2 2024, ]choose Rieti as THE place for the WGC 2027 for Club, 15 m and standard class!!!!
I have been there at 3 CIM’s, the JWGC in 2007 and 2 WGC’s already starting in 1984 with the pre worlds and then the WGC from 1985 and 2008.
Aldo shared the new from a paper;”In the meeting underway in Toulouse, France, the votes expressed this morning by the members of the International Gliding Commission in favor of the Rieti candidacy were decisive for the assignment, which thus beat the competition of the French town of Vinon in the second round of voting, after an initial phase that ended in a draw.”
Like Uvalde it’s their 3 WGC and till now I was part of all of them. Not bad is n’t it?

In 2026 the European Championship will be flown in Poland from Ostrow, good on them another Cat1 competition!!!Soon they host the JWGC.

–—–There was more news at the IGC meeting. I wait for the summary of decisions and share the most important with you, when I have them.
Still have n’t got them, so stay with me on this item.
Important for some pilots are the changes on handicap.
Matthew [Scutter] always an honest and fair -to-the-point-“thinker” on many items shared the list with the words;
“New IGC handicap list – the LS3 and ASW20’s got what was coming to them!
What do you think? What’s the best choice now?
I reckon the LS4/LS7 are back in business as the best.’

——The very first flying day in the new 2024 season here in the Netherlands was on March 2 and it felt like spring, sunny, “fresh” , as in pretty cold, but flyable, as you can see on Arjan’s pictures. AND,…. a bit of thermal activity as well, what do you want more?! Indeed a bit,…as the first out-landing was fact as well.
HUGE NEWS in a paper, as if disaster had struck, but just an out landing.
Great day for annual checks however!!

Also the Aeroclub in the Northern part of Holland started ; the always very active Friese Aeroclub.

Due to the HUGE amount of rain in February in fact over the last part of winter , some airfields are muddy and one is even more like a lake. Their season now starts at Terlet too.[Kennemer Aeroclub near to Leiden]

—–in the UK they had some thermals and pretty good wave , also not the best weather yet for flying , but for sure great pictures.
And the Highland Gliding Club had a great wave day on March 3
” Sunday was a spectacular wave day for us, with conditions far exceeding the forecast. We enjoyed multiple 2+ hour flights, a few reaching up to 10,000 feet, and even some cross-country ventures!“
Even up to 12.000 ft. Good on them!!!

——–FABULOUS FLIGHT from Gil Souviron and Baptiste Innocent; on February 27 they flew from Perpignan in France to Badajoz in Spain….retour flight from 1.533 km. speed 150 km./h….in a Stemme S12.
https://www.weglide.org/flight/364591
On the OLC [ https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=9740034#map=] they said;
“Fantastic flight with Baptiste, over 1400 km in Out and Return
One of my dream is done.
Not so easy day, very cloudy with almost no waves over 4800 meters.
We hoped that the return was better, but it was worse with a very humid air mass.
Never Mind, very good flight with a marvelous glider the Stemme S12. More comment to come..”
Both sites share pictures as well.

——For my Aussie mates;

“The summit will include a mix of edgy presentations, and discussions led by prominent figures in the field, focusing on the latest in safety protocols, technological advancements, and community-building strategies. The day will start at 8:30 AM for a 9:00 AM kick-off, concluding with networking drinks until 4:30 PM“
https://magazine.glidingaustralia.org/…/gliding…

——-In between the F 1 [cars] has started again and nothing changed. Max won. And,….we have another TOPPER; Femke Bol. World champion on the 400 m. at the athletic indoor-world comps in Glasgow with a new world record. Dutch Lieke Klaver was runner up.
Cycling at the road has started as well, with more Dutch toppers.
Love sport. Don’t get me wrong,OF COURSE ALSO when other nationalities win!!!!!

Cheers Ritz

Post 1.485 on February 28 2024

—–The Lake Keepit REGATTA is still in full swing and with a “light , but fierce” competition always great fun. Great place too as they have their airfield at the LAKE.
Nice accommodation AT the field as well and a good club house , I know , as I slept in the back of it in a nice room, always full of laughing friendly people, the club house NOT my room.
Nearly no water in the lake , when I was there last with the WWGC in 2019, but it has filled up again.
Wish I could send ALL our rainwater to that Lake. TOO MUCH RAIN HERE!!!!!
Talking about that WWGC, another pilot participating there Ayala from the UK, flies in this REGATTA and Kathy from the USA has just left them again.Good to see them back down under.
They flew good tasks, as said task 1 was a 3 hour AAT, but not all had arrived back from Tocumwal. Good winner though; David Pickles in a PIK 20 D;356.67 km/ 111.11 km./h.
Task 2 , another 3 hour AAT straight away showed the practice Allan [Barnes] had already during the National 2 seater comps and he won the day in his LS 8, but David [Pickels] in his ASW 20, who won day 1 was equal on spot 1 now, both with 115 km./h and Ayala [LS6] was on spot 3 all flew around 350 km.
Task 3; 2.30 AAT …again 3 WGC pilots in the top; Allan, Brad and Ayala...but also a nice 4th place for Nick [Singer] , not a world champion pilot , but a great instructor at Keepit.
Task 4; 3 hour AAT, but no scores yet.
As the Toke-pilots arrived later the overall scores now are David 2.629 p, Ayala 2.495 and Nick 2.483 p.
They continue till March 2.

–——Talking about the WWGC in Soria here is the latest from the FAI – World Air Sports Federation
“Alena Netušilová has been named as FAI Gliding Commission (IGC) Champion Pilot of the Year 2023, for winning the 18m class at the 2023 FAI Women’s World Gliding Championships in Soria, Spain.
Yet her career as a glider pilot may never have taken off at all, if it hadn’t been for her courageous attitude…
Back in 1986, she and a classmate noticed a flyer saying that the local aeroclub was recruiting “brave boys” for glider pilot training. Together, they decided to sign up and show that gliding was not just a sport for men!“
Alena has already achieved a lot!!!
“She has been competing in the European and World Women’s Championships since 1993 and has stood on the podium no less than six times, twice winning the title of World Champion. In total she has flown 4500 hours and over 120,000km in competition.”
More on https://www.fai.org/…/Alena-Netusilova-IGC-champion…
CONGRATULATIONS ELENA!!!
By the way, she flew the WWGC in Lake Keepit as well and was 5th there.

—–The 2024 UK convention is over and the BGA also invited Schempp Hirth;
“thank you BGA for inviting us during your 2024 convention. It is Always a great event with good balance between serious things and entertainment.
Big thanks to all the Southern Sailplanes team family, our local dealers, and Southern Aero Supplies, for all the help to get the 2 Ventus-3 (3ES prototype and 3M) displayed in perfect conditions. We had the honour to be invited also to make a 20 minutes talk and many conversations indicate the technical choices/solutions/compromises made on the prototype of the Ventus-3ES are going in the right direction to make a real life great glider. Thumbs UP for our technicians and Engineers and thank you all pilots who made us many feedbacks during these last seasons.
Next step? Let’s fly this New beast! More infos soon.’

Their next stop is the 2024 Friedrichshafen Aero-event between April 17 and 20 in in Hall A1..
This picture with Ralf [Holighaus] Wolfgang [Janowitsch] and Ludwig [Starkl] is from last year .

—–Not long anymore and the OSTROW JWGC starts;AND,…they, the young UK pilots, were at the BGA conference as well.
I read that Oliver is only 18 years old and a member of the Oxford gliding club.He feels well and truly honoured to represent his country.

JWGC combined or parallel with the 13.5 m; July 13-27 2024.

–—-The meteorologic spring starts here on Friday, so time to look ahead at hopefully dryer and more sunny weather. The prognoses are pretty good, with here in The Netherlands, soon 20 dgr, C…they say,… I hope.
After the 17 mm of rain on 1 day, last Monday, we are fed up with grey skies and rain!!!!
Worse is the situation in the South of Australia where temperatures in the 40 dgr. C cause huge fires, forcing people to leave their houses.
Every year again…so sad!!!!

Cheers Ritz

Post 1.485 on February 25 2024

Extra blog because of the end of 2 comps yesterday.

First the 2-seater NATIONAL comps in Tocumwal;
With 3 more days it was rather exciting to see if the ARCUS M could stay in front of the ASG 32 MI. In both gliders top pilots, though the ASG has a former WGC champion in it with Brad.
Here we go again with Thursday’s
Task 5; 3.45 AAT…..COMPLIMENTS to the Duo Discus pilots from Narrogin; RUNNER UP!!!!!The difference between the ASG 32MI with Bruce and Brad was big; 124.26 km./h and 111.83 km./h, but great effort!!!!!
Bruce and Brad flew 478.12 km and team Geerlings /Tang 436 km.
Interesting is also …can Adam/Keith stay in front of Bruce/Brad overall in the end?
This day they were 5th, but still ahead overall but now only with 23 points!!!!!
“Unfortunately, because we were the ones to lead out at the beginning, we got shafted on this windy day. Those following FIG [callsign of their Arcus M] pulled into a great climb just behind us & that was that, we struggled away from low in something far less & couldn’t recover.” Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
AND,…what about David and his mate they ONLY lead with ONE POINTS over Brad and Bruce.
So only a few points between 1 and 3; 4.636…4.615 and 4.612!!!
Exciting last days!!!
All 9 flew AND finished, so a nice day for all.
Task 6 a 2.45 AAT was cancelled due to the weather…such a pity…..only 1 day to go now….and close scores!!!
Bruce;“It was windy with weak, low convection, and there was a large fire started down near Bendigo to the south-west which made our possible task area pretty smokey. So for something new we sat around eating, drinking coffee and talking about gliding.”

Task 7 VERY LAST DAY , after a great competition!!!! 2.45 AAT…..
Most started around 14.40 . Adam and Keith at 15.00 as they could not get high enough to start. They did their utmost best to keep on spot 1 overall,but as Adam said; “We survived a couple of low spots , but we are very happy to be home,…. we did our best flight, but the best was not good enough“.
From day 1 they had the overall leading position, now they end on spot 3.
So team David/Steve was the best in the AG 32 MI;264.38 km / 95.17 km./h and moved from 3 to 1 overall. They won task 3 and 7 and flew very consistent. Good on them!!!
They passed by the numbers 2 Brad and Bruce as well. They were 3d for the day.
Bruce;”What a tough day! No excuses… you have to fly every day, no matter how crappy they are, and I didn’t do the best job of flying today. It was blue, seriously blue like the photo shows, and the thermals were hard to find and harder to use. At one stage we descended to 750 feet before we found a climb, and we both seriously thought we were finished. However, we staggered home for an overall second place”.
9 started and 7 finished. Not a good day for Lumpy and Joergen, they had to start the engine after 82 km and dropped from 5 to 6 overall.
Great comps, but with more teams it would have been even more exciting.
Final overall scores out 6 from 7 days;
1. David Jansen/ Steve Evans in ASG 32MI with 5.523 points.
2. Bruce Taylor/ Brad Edwards in ASG 32MI with 5.477 p.
3. Keith Gately/ Adam Woolley in ARCUS M with 5.346 p.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL.

AND,
as shared by Adam

The final dinner was on a “spiffy” place. In the restaurant of the new Tocumwal Aviation Museum AT the airport called the Drome.

To finish some kind words from the Kingaroy Soaring Club where David and Steve fly.
“Kingaroy has another two Australian Champions, congratulations to Steve Evans and David Jansen The competition was held at Tocumwal NSW which is one of the spiritual homes of gliding in Australia. Toc pronounced “toke” is an absolute must visit for any soaring enthusiast.“
LIKE!!!!!!

—————————————————————————

The NZ Central Districts Gliding Championships 2024 have been flown in 3 classes, racing [10 pilots] , open [6] and sports class with only 3 participants . The weather was not “flash” , more and more days were cancelled or had out landings so, here are the stories as seen through the eyes of blogger Jason Kelly;
—-“The 2024 Central Districts competition at Waipukurau started on Saturday 17th February with practice day. This saw fantastic convergence and thermal lift which allowed a number of gliders to fly up and around Lake Taupo and back with distances of over 500km recorded. A great start for the week.”
—-Sunday was a contest day with good thermals and convergences. A steak BBQ evening meal was appreciated by all.
From 10, 6 pilots finished and 4 were out in racing class. In open only 1 from 6 was out …BUT, 4 had an airspace penalty from 2 minutes. In sports, John Tullett in KA6e won 1000 points for a distance of 131,28 km/ 61.30 km./h. during a 2 hour AAT. Good on him!!!
—-The weather on Monday was untaskable but the sky was alive with energy from wave. No task.
—-Tuesday saw a task set but cancelled due to persistent low cloud and drizzle.
—-Forecasts for Wednesday were not promising but the sky delivered and an adventure task was set for the Open Class. Flying turned out to be an adventure with Pat Driessen perhaps setting a record for the longest retrieve by landing at Taupo.
6 Started that day and 4 finished. Daily winner from this 2.30 AAT in open class, was Tim Bromhead flying 385.28 km/ 76.57 km./h. Till then Patrick[Pat] was overall leader but now he  lost over 400 daily points.
—-A weak local sky greeted pilots on Thursday with broken local thermals proving difficult to work. This saw a number of pilots landing out.
In Racing, 2.30 AAT was set. Only 1 from the 8 starters finished for 269 points.
Open pilots also had a 2.30 AAT; 5 flew 3 were in and Tim [Ventus CT]was the daily best for 416 points. 1 Point more than Patrick who flew in his AS 33es, 323 km/ 111.11 km./h.
—-–The news update on Friday was;”we wait for the sky to develop. It is grey high overcast with a westerly flow, calm on the ground.There is heating getting through so there is hope we will fly.“
Where would we be without HOPE. BUT,…..They did not fly.
—–Saturday showed pretty marginal flying.
“The final day saw a challenging sky with rough lower level conditions with wave above. There were thermals and also convergences around the task area which allowed another competition day.”
In racing only Alain [LS4] finished for 282 points, flying 234 km/ 64.05 km./h during a 2.30 AAT, which says enough. Most of the days he topped the overall list so also on this last day.
In open it was Patrick winning the last day AND the comps , even after that out landing which really cost him. He flew 332 km./128 km./h .
David [Johnson] was 1 overall before he started the last day. He finished, but “only” flew 174 km./69.71 km./h and that meant loosing 200 daily points.
Racing class winner after 4 out of 7 days ;Alain Marcuse in LS4 with 2.014 points.
Open class winner ; Patrick C. Driessen in AS33es with 2,416 points ahead of Tim with 2.358 points and David Johnson [Discus 2CT] with 2.336 points. All pretty close.
Sports class winner ; Dennis Green in LS 4a. On the last day he flew during a 2 hour AAT 120 km/60km./h. He gained 400 points more than his close concurrent Graham Player in a Apis 13, who flew 25 km without finishing. [2.069 for 1.680 points]A pity!!!

More about the Lake Keepit regatta on Wednesday. They started with 16 pilots for a 3 hour AAT, including UK pilots Ayala and Simon . It takes a FULL day to drive from Tocumwal to Lake Keepit, so Brad and Allan and Bruce , all flying normally at Keepit could ‘n’t fly the first day.
cheers Ritz

Post 1.484 on February 21 2024

2024 / 20 m and 2-Seater Australian Nationals.
17 February 2024 – 21 February 2024
TOCUMWAL

It’s great to see another competition in good old Tocumwal. 9 Teams have entered and they fly in gliders as Duo Discus x 4, ARCUS M x 3, ASG 32 MI x 2 .
In the end they only flew in 20 m.
Duo Discus IE is back “on his old nest”.It was sold to the pilots of the Hunter Valley Club for a very nice price during the auction, when sole owner Richard Cawsey, to our sadness and frustration, sold EVERYTHING which was “holy” for all of us at Sportavia!!!!!
After 20 years I am STILL ANGRY and SAD!!!!
The Duo however, still has IE as registration and I hope it does well…good luck!!!A real good glider it was and the Hunter Valley pilots seem to treat it well….it found a good home.

Last Friday some practiced already and it was a “good-500k- day”. Only 5 days earlier on the 12th Sportavia Tocumwal -owner, Lumpy flew in his JS 3/18m a 947 k. [ 832 FAI Triangle] hopefully this weather stays for the comps.
More practice on Saturday but more official now;
“It’s time for the 20m/2-seat Nationals and the fun group have descended on Tocumwal for the week.Today we had a practice day, 335km up to the North-East towards the back side of the trough line which has been wandering back and forth for a few days now.” Much more in Taylor’s Gliding Page
Speed by Bruce/Brad and Adam/Keith; 121 km./h.
Time for a nice BBQ offered by Jane and Tom Gilbert from Temora [ Gliderstuff.com] time to socialize and to be ready for day 1.

Task 1; 3 hour AAT....A nice day ,but difficult, ” due to the upper level clouds cooling the heating and the strong wind down low at the end of the day.”
Best speed was 101.56 km./h by Adam and Keith flying a distance of 307.57 km.They were the daily winners. Alan and Greg were runner up; 263 km/ 87.69 km./h also in ARCUS M.
They all started between 14.05 and 14.43 with in the end the A task.
Bruce said about the day :”Phew! Today had a couple of parts… Brad was in charge of the ship and the first 80% of the flight went really well, and the last 20% was a fairly desperate attempt to defy gravity and stay afloat.” Taylor’s Gliding Page
“ Another day that fortunately went our way. Before launch we were thinking, start as soon as the gate opened, but when launch was delayed & we stayed on task A, it was definitely go asap! Unfortunately, even thermalling in light sink near the time of opening to stay high while we waited for another climb, didn’t help. We ended up low, downwind of the line & the gate open”..but then they were more lucky ..you can read it on Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures He also shared 5 tactic-points for the day.
7 From 9 finished.

Task 2; 389.75 km…..ALL 9 teams started AND Finished…….GOOD Tocumwal-end-of-season-day!!!! Daily winners Alan and Greg; 133.40 km./h. Just ahead of Brad and Bruce 133.01 and David with 133.35.
These 3 teams , as 3 other teams, started at 14.19 like a regatta start and raced back “home” as quick as possible.
Adam and Keith were 5th.
Tough days for the Duo Discus [handicap 975];great gliders but on a good day, against an ARCUS M [Handicap 1055] or ASH 31[handicap 1065] it’s more or less a “wasted effort”, BUT still GREAT FUN to be part of the 20 m NATIONALS.
“Funny day today. It was my turn up the front and we began with a rush. We had a longish glide out from the start (unbeknownst to us almost everyone left at the same time) down over the river towards Benalla. I pushed on a bit and our first climb was solid, but I left it early as the first cumulus were just ahead, and the next climb was huge! It was bumping on 9 knots for a few turns and really got us up and running.”
More on Taylor’s Gliding Page
Task 3; 455.13 km…..another good racing day and on this 3d task again another winner; David Jansen/Steve Evans 135.44 km./h.starting as the first team, which in the end was the right decision. With this fast weather the performance of the ASG32 gliders is clearly “better” than the ARCUS… it should be like that looking at all “figures”.For the DUO DISCUS it is even more difficult, but they hung in, though the Hunter Valley-boys were “out” after 285 km.
Bruce and Brad in their ASG 32MI were runner up; 128.75 km./h. so showing good speed by David!!!
Bruce writes :”Today’s forecast and sky promised more than it delivered. I think a lot of us were expecting about 135kph and (with no scores available just yet) I hear that David Jansen and Steve Evans were the only ones to get anywhere near that. Many a cloud and line of clouds looked like magic, but much of it was a little disappointing. There was a trough line and plenty of mid- and high-level cloud approaching, and the shadow seemed to take the edge off the climbs, especially later in the flight. David and Steve left quite early and likely had a much brighter sky to play with… well done guys, good call.”
More on Taylor’s Gliding Page and here is already 1 of the pictures.

Swiss Chris ,in his ASWC 27, flew 505 [430 FAI] from Toc as well on this 20thiest Februar……nearly autumn over there and spring here. After all the rain I “long” for spring and summer.
Task 4;3 hour AAT….today they flew good distances again, but all scores are still very preliminary. All 9 started AND finished and nearly all started at the same time around 14.15. Allan started last at 14.48, not good unfortunately, they were last and lost nearly 300 points. It might have had a reason.
411 km was the best distance and with 127.53 km./h. this was the winning combination and 1000 points for the B1 and B2 , Brad and Bruce.Adam and Keith in the ARCUS hold on and were runner up.
They still lead the overall scores with 3.766 points for 3.647 points for David and Steve.
Adam just mentioned;
“Another great day in the skies over Tocumwal, though we are super grateful to even have a XC Speed – we got down to 900′ & climbed away in a 3.6kts (a good climb for the time). However, It was the first time I can remember, that I actually slowed down mid task to let second place go by.”
And,...”Fun day & we will keep the overall lead for another day.“
More in his Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
Bruce just mentioned;
“Today began with a whimper, and finished with a whoosh! The entire crowd were topped out in one thermal right behind the start line, and despite it being a bit before our planned start time the position and height were too good to miss. Off we went!“
And,“Out onto the plains the cumulus were just beginning, but they were very wavy looking and short-lived. We had a cracking climb amongst the crowd, then for the rest of the flight used generally 6-7 knots or better. The flight finished with 100km of beautiful streeting as we bounced up above final glide and extended our last turnpoint close to the limit. Such a hoot, and what a way to finish the flight.”
More on Taylor’s Gliding Page

The 24th is the last day….NOT the 21st as is written on soaringspot.

Other news;
—–The Beverley Regatta had 24 entries.
Host; the Beverley Soaring Society,  located 130 km east of Perth Western Australia.
As you know there is something serious ,but also a lot of pleasure and sharing knowledge in such a regatta.
They started straight away on day 1 ,February 11,….they continued till the 16th…. with task 1 a good 3 hour AAT. In the end of day 1 “only” 14 pilots had flown and 1 was out. Chris in a JS1/18m. was the best with 412.53 km./126.48 km./h.
Task 2 had a 2.30 AAT and it was flown by 11 pilots and from those 11, 6 finished.Greg and Norm flying each a DG 1000 S/20 m. had their own competition with a rather late start but a different distance. Greg flew 214.84 km./ 78.93 km./h whilst Norm flew 187.10/74,84 km./h. Of course both had a “student” onboard.
Task 3; 2.30 AAT.…284 km was flown by Chris in a JS1. He was the only one with a speed of over 100 km./h. 11 started and 1 was “out”.
Task 4; 3 hour AAT….and won by Greg with Steve as “pupil” in the DG 1000 S/20m; 320.45 km/98.31 km./h.
12 started and 1 was “out”. 1 Day to go and the whole West of Australia suffers from 38 dgr. C or more.
By the way; here we had on February 15 18 dgr. C that is a “whopping’ 10 dgr more than the average for that day and the “hottest” ever!!!!.
Task 5; NO task on the last day, so winners/grinners are
1. Chris Runeckles in JS 1 with 3,321 points
2. Ross McLernon in SZD-48 Jantar Std. 2 with 3,167 p.

–—-AFTER the Club class Nationals in Waipukurau in N.Z. they continued on the 17th [practice] with the N.Z. Central Districts Gliding Championship 2024 in 3 classes, open [8], sports [5] and racing class.[8] They finish on the 24th.
Now they fly the New Zealand Central Districts gliding champion ship till the 24th and till now they had 3 , 2 or 2.30 AAT’s in all 3 classes [racing, open sports] after 2 out of 4 flying days.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

R.I.P. NAVALNY!!!!!!R.I.P.
“Listen, I have something very obvious to tell you. You’re not allowed to give up . If they decide to kill me ,it means that we are incredibly strong.”
Alexei Navalny

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ritz,

will be back on SUNDAY, for the latest on the 2 seater championship in Tocumwal and the NZ Districts Gliding Championship in Waipukurau.

Post 1.483 on February 14 2024 …….VALENTINES DAY.…… HAPPY VALENTINE!!!!

CLUB CLASS NATIONALS N.Z.
Papawai 7 February 2024 – 15 February 2024

Papawai; “Join us at Papawai to celebrate over 60 years of contest flying in New Zealand with the 2023/24 Club Class Nationals.
Perfectly located in central NZ, Papawai offers a superb gliding location with fantastic club facilities including plenty of camping spaces and local accommodation options.”
Host is the Wellington Wairarapa Gliding Club.
In the Easter-weekend of March 28 Wairarapa the much-loved Wairarapa Balloon Festival will return as well, with a five-day festival of flying.
Club Class Nationals;
Practice day on February 7 and then..
Task 1; 2 hour AAT....the “little Libelles’ did well.Mark [Wilson] and Dane [Dickinson] flew 132 and 121 km. with a speed of 65.98 and 60.84 km./h. for 575 and 530 points.
Dane flew in Rieti during the JWGC in 2007, where I met him. I only now found out, that Kathy Fosha flew there as well. Both in Standard class in an LS8. Our gliding world is “small”.
Task 2 ; 2.30 AAT…not flown.|
Task 3; 1 hour AAT.…..CANCELLED with the message;”It was a no flying day on Saturday at Papawai due to wave, so Terry flew 400km.”
Task 4; 2 hour AAT.…not flown…
Task 5; 2.30:00 AAT… and YES, they could fly and all 8 competitors were EAGER to go. Dane in the Libelle flew 200 km with a speed of 80.15 km./h good enough to be the daily winner. He was 12 km./h faster than the runner up Alain in the LS4.[68.12 km./h over 171 km]
2 Did not finish.
Task 6; 2.15 AAT….and YES they flew again and YES it was Dane again who won. Such a pity I can’t find my memory sticks with all pictures from Rieti 2007 and 2008, otherwise I could show you a young Dane.
Both Libelles are good in this weather as Mark, who flies the other one was runner up.
With 1.940 points for Dane overall after 3 out of 6 days , and 1.649 for Mark it’s rather clear what’s going to happen but you only know for sure when the last glider from the comps has finished.
Task 7; 1 hour AAT... short tasks but they fly , that means some fly, as at this still preliminary stage, 5 started and 4 finished. Those 4 started and fished together and both Libelles were upfront. This time Mark won with 95.79 km/78.46 km./h. for 349 points. Dane was runner up; 84.28 km./77.38 km./h. for 344 points.
The comps are between February 7 and 15. Tomorrow might be their last day when the 15th is included, if not,it could be today as well .
Will be back on that with an update.
UPDATE:
Indeed they flew on the 15th and Dane won the 1;30 AAT with 123 km./h. Task 8 was a fact and Dane won 3 days.
So after 5 out of 8 ,sometimes marginal days, the Kiwi’s had a NEW CLUB CLASS NATIONAL CHAMPION.
1. Dane Dickinson in Standard Libelle 201B with 2,984 points.
2. Mark Wilson in St Libelle with 2,651 points.
3. James Austin in Discus B with 2,448 p.

Karen Morgan shared this picture with interesting clouds, from the last day;

Parallel with these comps they fly in an open class with 8 pilots in gliders as AS 33es, LS8, Ventus 3M and CT , ARCUS and ASG 29.
Till now they flew 3 out of 6 days and the Ventus 3M with Jason is in the lead overall.It looks like they did not fly today.
They had a task 8; a 1 hour AAT and nobody bothered to fly the task, ONLY Terry in an LS 8 who flew 188 km /150 km. looks like a real wave day. Terry got 550 points for his flight and with that he was the winner.
Final result after 4 out of 8 days.
1. Terry R. Jones in LS8/18 m. with 2,306 p.
2. Jason Shields in Ventus 3 M. 2,019 p.

–—–HORSHAM WEEK: continued….

Club;
Task 5; 274.63 km…..best speed was 84.55 km./h. in an LS3 WL but David [Nugent[ was NOT the daily winner. George[Schuit] won the day in the St. Cirrus with 79.93 km./h.
A pity from the out-landing in front of the finish line on task 3, costing him more than 600 points. He was high enough for final glide but got ONLY sink 6-7 m per sec .
14 started 11 finished.
Task 6; 2 hour AAT....Steven in the St Libelle was one on the daily podium 172.70 km/86.11 km./h. ahead of George with 178.95/ 82.11 km./h.
12 started and 1 was “out”.
Task 7; last day …CANCELLED.
“Our final briefing for Horsham Week 2024. Unfortunately the conditions today are not strong, so the day has been canceled“
No way anymore to gain or loose points so ,
the final scores after 6 out of 8 days, are now;
1. Steve Jinks in the Mosquito with 5.012 points. Clear winner.
2. Jaroslaw Mosiejewski in PIK 20 b with 4,768 p.

Standard class;
Task 5; 287.16 km… Neil [ASW 24WL], who won 2 days, outlanded,….loosing more than 500 points [a pity, not good] and Jack won another day his 2d too ; 89.17 km./h.
Gordon [Trollip] in the LS6 won task 1 and flew consistent so overall he is on spot 2 with 2 days to go.
7 started and 5 finished.
Task 6; 231.06 km….Jack and Neil-day again; 93.68 km./h for 89.34 km./h. Jack leads with one day to go with 5.457 points for 4.878 from Gordon and 4.695 from Neil.
Task 7; cancelled.
The overall scores after 6 out of 8 days are;
1. Jack Hart in ASW 20b with 5,457 p. Very clear winner.
2. Gordon Trollip in LS6 with 4.878 p.

18m/open;
Task 5;  397.88 km…..Daily win for Geelong pilot Hamis [Nazari] in LS6c; 97 km./h. Ryan Nimbus[ 3T] had another good day, runner up and his overall- lead grows day by day. [4.416] Craig [AS33es] was runner up and “holds on”. [4.111]
Great job from Hamis, flying between top gliders in the good but old LS 6 is daring, but SO GOOD!!!!
5 started and 3 finished.
Task 6; 245.09 km….All 9 started and 7 finished and no news Ryan won 110.14 km./h. With 1 more day to go Ryan has 5.106 points overall and Craig 4.722 p.
Task 7; cancelled.
Overall scores after 6 out of 8 days after a very pleasant competition as I heard;
1. Ryan Driscoll in Nimbus 3T with 5.106 points, no doubt a clear winner.
2. Craig Vinall in AS 33es /18m with 4.722 points.

At the final dinner and closing ceremony James Nugent, the brand-new Narromine- WORLD CHAMPION, shared his experiences.

Other news;
–—I often refer to stories from pilots or other people AT the spot.
Also Bruce [Taylor] is one of them. In his Taylor’s Gliding Page you can read why he changed to another glider. The ASH31Mi from Pam is in his hangar now. AND,..he will fly it in Tocumwal at the 2-seater Nationals.

——One of my daughter’s colleagues starts her retirement today. Yesterday was her last flight with family .As usual drinks later with her colleagues, more family and friends.
She wanted to be a hair dresser, but flew as an F 16 fighter pilot, then went into Boeing’s at Transavia [100 % daughter of KLM] where she flew till yesterday as captain and still young she is going to be a truck driver now.
What a great life!!!!

—-The Gelderse- one- day -competition one of the nicest in Holland they say, is on April 27 [28 when 27 is not possible] Just to let you know.
https://www.zweefvlieg.net/gnl/inschrijving/

—–On February 9 Worcester had a 1000 k -day!!!Even a 2x 1000 k day. A real nice ridge-soaring day for Swiss guest Rudy and local pilot Sven;1.112 and 1.033 km.speed 136.44 and 129.62 ,both in JS1.
Sven shared a beautiful video on youtube.com [ 9 february 20241033 km] and mentioned ;”A major portion of the flight was thermal flying – the first leg to the east had the wind parallel to the ridges, and after turning Klawer I ventured to Graaffwater in the west – lured by the clouds and the promise of thermals 🙂 All in all a great day.“
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s30Oj3PFCc

–—–Romania had his 2d wave-flight in the Eastern Carpathian; 1.121 km/ 129.15 km./h. One of the pilots , Nicolae Balan nailed it in the comments:
“So, now we have to wait for March to fly the next 1000k or is it allowed to have one more in Feb?”
In WeGlide is the story about the 1000 k’s in Romania.
https://magazine.weglide.org/gliding-in-romania/

——-Denbigh Ridge/Wave Hunters  ; “Day 3 of the UKJG winter series gave us some ridge soaring!After a slack low cloud morning, the sun shined and the wind blew, allowing the juniors to have a great time!A few sore heads were spotted this morning after we hosted The Wee Bag Band! Another fantastic night had by all.”

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

Cheers Ritz looking ahead at the 2-SEATER NATIONALS in TOCUMWAL starting on the 17th.
and to finish,… this beautiful picture I found on the net, shared by DG Aviation GmbH in 2014 so 10 years ago and it remains gorgeous.