Alphen aan den Rijn Sunday April 22 2012
ritzdeluy@hotmail.com www.glidinginternational.com www.soaringcafe.com
Luckily the temperature went up from 6 to 13 dgr. Still not spring and just under the average for the time of the year here,[15 dgr] though after the 20 dgr. in March it just feels COLD!!!!! And I hate the wet snow, hail and thunderstorms going with it. NO FUN!!!But the forecast is good with “back to the 20thies” again after Thursday.
Got a “light ” flu from this weather.
Worse is the collision from trains in Amsterdam , close to Central Station. I travel 3 times a week to Amsterdam by train and was pretty “shocked”. 120 People injured and 42 badly. Not good.The trains only had a speed of around 50km/h, due to arrival and departure but weird how they were on the same rail. Investigation will sort out the cause of this terrible accident between an all-stations-train and the intercity.
And also bad ,[ not a good day for Holland yesterday! ] our government collapsed!! After 7 weeks of negotiations to get Holland through the difficult financial and economic time, Wilders [PVV-Party for freedom-right wing] said no to all plans he supported first with the democrats [CDA] and liberals. [VVD] Not good for all of us!New elections after summer!
Elections, important for Europe , today in France!
—“Completing this flight is not only about flying the task. It is like a chain with many links. One missing,and it all falls apart.”—
This is what Tijl Schmelzer says in his report over his 1000 km goal/free distance flight. It reads as an exciting adventure-book and here is the link for you, which I , if you have not yet read it, strongly advise.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/90226458/16042012-Keiheuvel-Viersen-SpanishBorder
18.34; —” I cross the finish line in 1270m after 1007,7km and 8h39min on task, resulting in an average speed of 116,5kph.—”
A 1000 km. badge and 2 Belgium records and a flight to never forget for Tijl. Mum arrived soon after the landing , lot’s of hotels in town, so no worries!
It all worked out well!!!!
When I left you last Wednesday, pilots were about to start for a 3.00 AAT in club class and 2.30 in the other classes in Prievidza.[Slovakia]
In club class G Dale was “back on top” for a very good 254km distance in 3.07 on soaring day 2!
In the mixed class the JS 1 won with 268 km in 2 hour 49 from the Diana from Sebastian.
In 15 m. Jan Louda won again! Good on him!
On Thursday same tasks for the 3 classes. Extra mentioned during briefing was; possibility of local thunderstorms in the mountains in the afternoon.
No worries for G Dale who won the day again in club class, flying his DG 100 elan, over 245 km in 3 hour and 6 minutes!31 Pilots however from 43, had to make an outlanding!!!With other words ONLY 12 finishers , but what they normally say at comps “if even 1 pilot is back home the task was well set/possible”.
In the mixed class, no pilot managed to stay with in the 2.30 hour time frame! Best was Polish pilot Pawel Frackowiak, who managed to fly 251 km in 2 hour 53.
The duodiscus with Roman was 3d and Sebastian was 4th. 18 From 33 finished!
In the 15 m. class Jan Louda won 3 days in a row! What’s even better he managed to stay close to his time with 2.36 and that is good! He flew 230 km. And 17 from 31 arrived home!
On Friday all classes had a 3 hour AAT.Pilots finally got a real good day with only 8 outlandings and a speed of 128 .8 km./h.for the fastest pilot. Not bad!
In the mixed class the duo won with Roman [377 km. in 3.06] but with only ONE point before Sebastian [ 401 km. in 3 hour 11] .Look for all results at www.soaringspot.com
The club had for the 3d day in row a 3 hour AAT, so they were used to it. Hungaryan pilot Ferenc Tamas flew 3 hours and 315 km and received 1000 points!
In 15 m. Pavol Cerny won ; 3 hour 03 over 387 km. Nice speed 126.6 km/h.
Yesterday was cancelled and the forecast for today does n’t look too good either but there is hope as the weather seems to improve tomorrow!
Anyhow they still try today to get pilots in the air for a 2 hour AAT.[low pressure and a possibility of showers even during the launches!]
Overall scores after 1 week meaning 4 days of soaring;
Mixed class Sebastian Kawa , 62 points ahead of Roman Mracek.
Club class; G. Dale, more then 100 points ahead of Ondrej Dvorak in LS 1 f.
15 m. class; Jan Louda with a bit less then 100 points on Pavol Cerny.
Upcoming week will show if it remains like this or changes, asd a lot can still happen.
I guess you never expect to die closing a door of your airplane!!It still happened as I read, with a Belgium pilot who on a positioning flight without passengers to Istanbul, had to close the door from the A 300/600 himself. It happened in Amman where the 56 year old captain from Onur Air , was caught by a heavy wind gust while closing the door before start. The wind got him and he fell about 5 m. down on the tarmac. Technical staff helping the plane before departure, helped him straight away but sadly enough he died in hospital.
And Transavia .com a “green” airline here in Holland, where quite a few of our glider pilots earn their money, added a new plane to their fleet; The PH -HSF. A special one 3% more economical due to new and better engines and..with flash leather on the chairs and a more roomy cabin created by Boeing Sky Interior. Not too bad!
The latest edition is a Boeing 737-8K2 [WL]
Transavia exists already over 40 years.
Looks spiffy is n’t it? Transavia.com
Flying around the world is not new! But I like the flight from a Slovenian pilot, who left Slovenie on January 8, to fly via Africa, N and S America, Australia over the Mount Everest and India back home in an ULTRA LIGHT!!!! A nearly 100.000 km trip!!! Good on him!
Anita Taylor,well know as the wife from….will be well known now for her own decisiveness. She can sign now with; Anita Taylor President of the Gliding Federation of Australia. Good on her!!!!
Anita is not the first female president, Beryl Hartley, has done a great job as well , when she was president.
Anita is born in a family of glider enthusiasts, her dad Hank Kaufmann was a good Aussie National competition pilot and her mum Aileen, the most delightful lady and crew at the field .I met them several times at several comps. I even remember Anita as young beautiful girl full of dynamic!
In the past and certainly last year during the Dutch Nationals I was very much impressed with the tracking system from 3 young Dutch glider pilots. All my English friends can read it now too and in May the Nationals are on again so enjoy, when you want to follow them. Will come back on it during the Nationals!
To all our foreign friends/visitors; our informative website has been translated into the English language. Click on the flag in the right upper corner of your screen. The language you will see, depends on the language of your browser. German translations will follow… www.glidertracking.com
Cheers Ritz