October 2008 – Soaring

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 6pm. 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 10.45am. 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 northern territory is expected to move east and may affect tomorrow’s weather.

Tasks – Club (3 hours), Sports (2.5 hours) – Bunya Tower (20), Gayndah (40), Tansey (20) Control Point North (2) – minimum 181 km, max 452 km, point to point 312 km. First launch 11.15 am. There were 3 outlandings on Day 1.

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 Downs. Late in the day, there is the possibility of a north-easterly that will have a cooling effect. We await what happens!

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 11.30 am. 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 11 am.

Day 3 task was changed on the grid to 2 hours for both classes – Durong (35), Bell (25), Control Point West (2) – first launch 11.30am – there were 2 outlandings for the day.

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 3pm. Today will be a no-fly-day as there is continuing rain likely for the whole day.

Lisa Trotter congratulated the tugs: “6 tugs launched the fleet in 50 minutes yesterday; without that, it would have been impossible to fit in a task.”

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

Lisa Trotter (ASW 20) – 98.1km/h 230.6km – 1000 points

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

Bruce Taylor (Ventus 2cX/18m) -103.1km/h 237.5km – 966.10 points

Lisa Trotter: “The best weather for the day was over the scrub in the first sector – 30km radius around Durong. With 7+ knot climbs going to 8,000′, I went to the extreme far edge of this circle. Upper level cloud was threatening to slow the climbs down on the next two legs, so I made sure I stayed high, topping up, especially when approaching the Bunya Mountains. I left my last climb 300′ under final glide, and made it up with a street on the track home.”

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 Bruce Taylor and the big Nimbus, once again. We all got out of trouble pretty quickly.”

Pilots’ meeting 10am.

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 Kingaroy Valley and the Downs, and it was still raining lightly early this morning. The upper trough system is forecast to leave the area by mid morning, but the moisture and easterly stream from the high system means there will be low stratus and strato-cumulus for most of the day. Coupled with that, the paddocks will be quite wet. Hence the day has been cancelled and we hope conditions will improve for tomorrow.

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

Bruce Taylor (Ventus 2cX/18m) – 91.7km/h 246.5km – 1000 points

Bill Hatfield (LAK 17/18m) – 83.9km/h 199.6km – 856 points

Hank Kauffmann (ASG 29) – 83.0km/h 207.4km – 838.70 points

Bruce Taylor: “It’s a nice glider! The first day that we flew I felt rushed, so on the second day tried to be a little more patient. Aimed for Chinchilla at the edge of the turn. I didn’t have to get low and work rubbish. Didn’t see anyone else all day – in fact, I pulled out the task sheet to check that I was on task!”

Jenny Thompson has been asked by the pilots to give a rundown on weather analysis and how she does such a good job – 5pm this evening.

Sun 12 OctThe middle level trough system persists over south-east Queensland and there will be no flying again today. The general area received around 10-15 mm yesterday. Today will have showers and low cloud. The trough system is expected to move eastwards later in the day, perhaps giving some hope for some flying tomorrow, but the forecast doesn’t look promising for tasking.

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 Kingaroy Valley.

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 10.30 am.

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 Downs were substantially stronger, so most of my task was in the western area and I had a reasonable run home.”

(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

Bruce Taylor (Ventus 2cX/18m) – 104.4km/h 263.2km – 1000 points

Peter Trotter (LS 8) – 95.8km/h 265.3km – 848.20 points

Tim Wilson (LS 8) – 95.4km/h 250.4km – 841.80 points

Bruce Taylor – “Just a little quick lesson for those interested. Kingaroy is a site not far from the coast, so there’s often a bit of maritime influence. I have the good fortune to fly at a similar site south of Armidale; most times, there’s a sea influence. With an easterly influence such as yesterday, the maritime air arrives gradually through the afternoon in a series of small pulses. There was a little line north-south, a mini convergence. Two or three came through and I had the good fortune to run into some. Usually that pulse just kills what’s behind it; I was stuck. I turned home slightly early, but hit the finish line right on the button. The pulses are very useful; nice to run. I tried to keep myself to the west yesterday, away from the sea air.”

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), Bell (15), Control Point South (2) – minimum 233 km, max 525 km, point to point 369 km. First launch 10.45 am. There were 3 outlandings on Comp Day 5.

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 Australia at Worlds events are not only excellent pilots in their own right, but are also competent and capable team pilots? This was the central question aired at Allan’s Pilot Discussion Group.

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 Australia was generally desirable, and could be achieved by developing a syllabus and increasing its emphasis in coaching programs.

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

Lisa Turner (ASW 24E) – 93.4km/h 354.1km – 930.80 points

Bruce Taylor (Ventus 2cX/18m) – 91.2km/h 364.0km – 891.50 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 10am; expected near Kingaroy by 9pm. An inland trough is forming near Warwick at 1pm, and expected at Warwick by 4pm. Widespread thunderstorms are expected this afternoon.

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 10.45 am. There were no outlandings.

Tasman Trophy

Bill Iggulden senior was a pioneer glider pilot in the very early days of gliding in Australia. Well known as ‘Pop’ Iggulden, he was born in New Zealand and came to Australia as a young man and set up a successful engineering business in Melbourne. When Bill died in 1966 the family commissioned Andor Meszaros to sculpture a work of art to be given to GFA and the NZGA for international competition.

For many years the Tasman Trophy was contested at the World Gliding Championships as a private side contest, with New Zealand winning it on all occasions. In 1978 the two countries agreed to compete in alternating countries during the respective National Championships. The object was to create an incentive for pilots other than those already of international status to fly for their country.

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 Australia, so it regularly travels between the two countries.

Representing New Zealand at this year’s contest is Brett Hunter, a pharmacist from Tauranga, North Island NZ. Brett began gliding in 1990 and has about 800 hours in the air. Brett enjoys competition gliding and entered most New Zealand competitions in the last year; his best placing was 3rd in the Open Class 2008 NZ Nationals and he won the 2008 Central Districts Championship Open Class. He was recipient of Gliding NZ “Air New Zealand Gliding Award” in 2008 for the pilot demonstrating the greatest improvement in personal gliding achievement.

This is the first time that Brett has flown outside New Zealand and he is “really enjoying the close competition with Jo”.

Representing Australia is Jo Davis of Darling Downs Soaring Club. Jo is an Environmental Scientist working in a civil engineering firm who started gliding about 6 yeas ago and has about 800 hours in the air.

“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

Bruce Taylor (Ventus 2cX/18m) – 104.9km/h 221.0km – 900.10 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 Perth received a subscription to Soaring International, courtesy John Roake, as a “thank-you for coming all this way”.

Sandy Griffin, Club Captain of Tauranga Gliding Club, North Island New Zealand thanked the team for putting on such a good competition – “the ladies have done a brilliant job”. Sandy also passed on best wishes from John Roake.

Comp Day 7 – Fri 17 OctA high pressure system is directing strong south-easterlies onto the coast and into the Kingaroy Valley. Today there will be cu across the whole task area with 6,000′ QNH in the Kingaroy Valley and 7,000′ on the Downs. The task has been set onto the Downs to make use of the good conditions.

Tasks – Sports (3 hours), Club (2.30 hours) – Chinchilla (40), Bell (20), Control Point West (2) – minimum 170 km, max 367 km, point to point 264 km. First launch 11am.

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), Bell (20), Control Point West (2) – minimum 141 km, max 291 km, point to point 210 km.

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

Class Second Place

– Phillip Ritchie

Club

Class Third Place

– Mike Codling

QEII Silver Jubilee – Overall best aggregate in Sports Class – Bruce Taylor

Sports

Class Second Place

– Hank Kauffmann

Sports

Class Third Place

– 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

Queensland A – Hank Kauffmann, Allan Barnes, Peter Trotter

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 Mentor and Pupil -Hank Kauffmann and Mark Dalton

Tim and Joy Shirley Trophy – Best placed female by percentage of winners points achieved – Lisa Turner

Pilots from afar were acknowledged: Brett Hunter, Sandy Griffin, John Griffin, Maurice Weaver from New Zealand; Itsuo Takahashi ( Japan); the youngest pilot competing, Andrew Greig (WA); Lyn and Phil Ritchie (SA).

There were big rounds of applause for

the tuggies: tugmaster Val Wilkinson, Rob Butler, Peter Sommerfeldt, Pam Kurstjens, Arnie Hartley and Ross McLean

Kingaroy SC members and helpers: Susie, Mick, Rob & Pam, Jan, Elaine, Lorraine, Linda, Aspro, John, Peter S, Janet, Lisa and Lisa, Daryl, Greg K, Greg S, Marlene, Leonie, Louise O’Grady (also flying), Indea and Holly

the contest organisers: director Wendy Medlicott, weather and scoring Jenny Thompson, task setting Lisa Trotter, grid marshal Anita Taylor, safety Julie Maddocks,

radio Jo Pocklington and assistant Indea Tabart, secretary Lorraine Kauffmann,

media relations and webnews Jo Pocklington, stewards Pam Kurstjens, Jo Pocklington, Beryl Hartley, outlanding coordinator Suzie Scoles, bar manager Suzie Scoles, treasurer Linda Kolb, timekeeper Janet Neisler, legal advisor and social organiser Lisa Turner – and a special thank you to Jo Davis and Graham Hennessy for assisting Jenny with the scoring

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 Bell Tower was voted a very successful venue.

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

Soaring

Month: October 2008

Kingaroy story!

Women in gliding!

A very pleasant week!

First competition in the Southern hemisphere!