Pocuinai!

The registrations were completed, the local procedures and turn point /airspace files are on line , a lot of participants have driven or flown to Lithuania,  so the show is about to begin.
120 Pilots from 29 different countries will try, in a friendly way, to be the BEST in each of the 3 classes; club, standard and 20 m/2-seater.
The official training will be between July 27 and 29, the opening ceremony will be at 5 PM on the 30thiest and the game starts on July 31 and continues till August 13. On the same day in the evening the farewell party at 9 PM and the next day the prize-giving and closing ceremony at 11 AM.
From yesterday onwards they can practice unofficially.

The weather was not yet spectacular over the last week,so time enough to work on gliders and have them in top condition. This picture was shared by team New Zealand. Young NZ pilots Alex [St. Cirrus] and Nick [Libelle] mentioned on their FB blog;
” We made it! After 3 days of driving and approximately 2500kms we arrived at Pociunai airfield in Lithuania at 3am last night.” First they traveled from NZ to London , then drove to Dusseldorf to pick up Alex’ car then continued to Pocuinai. What a trip!!!!!

Long way to go,….driving through Poland with great weather!!
As shared by Alex and Nick.

From home, with help from my “contacts” ,I will try to keep you informed the best I can.

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Swedish club , 18 m. and 2 seater class NATIONALS.

Langtora was the place where they welcomed 26 pilots to find out who would be the new SWEDISH Champion in the 3 classes.
The first 2 days, tasks were set but not flown, or cancelled , anyhow no valid days on July 15 and 16.
Day 3 was MUCH better with 351 km. for the 18m pilots, 272 for club and 320 for the 2-seaters. In each class out-landings but there were also 1000 points for Gunnar Karlson in Ventus 2cxa,  Thomas Hansen in St. Cirrus WL and Larsson /Fischer in Duo Discus XLT.
After the weather was less good, but flyable and on the last but one day,  on Thursday , good again, with 306 for 18 m. ,267 for club and and 280 for 20 m.
Great to see that good old Ake Pattersson won the day with 1000 points in the 2 seater class flying a DG 1000.With 1 day to go he was on spot 2 overall.
In 18 m.Peter Cutting in the ASG 29 won the day and in club Niklas Lofgren in the St. Cirrus. With one day to go he is 3d overall behind Norwegian pilot Thomas Hansen and Per Carlin.
The last day had a 225 km. task in 18 m.
In 18 m. this day was AGAIN for Peter so he had a great last-couple-of-days-run but that was not enough to be the Swedish National Champion. That honor was for Gunnar . 18 m. Top 3;
1. Gunnar Karlson with 4000 points,
2. Holger Eriksson [ ASH 26 e] with 3924 and
3. Boerje Gustavsson with 3779.[LAK 17 a]

 A 183 km. task was set for club and Per Carlin won the day, his 2d daily win. Most of the days he was number 1 overall , after consistent flying, also on the last day;
1. Per Carlin [LS 1f] 3961
2. Niklas Lofgren [St. Cirrus] 3763
3. Tomas Hansen from Norway[St Cirrus WL]  3732

As shared by Per Carlin in the middle with Niklas to the l. and in the checked blouse Robert.

The 2 seaters had to fly 225 as well.Haven /Sohlberg won the last day in the ARCUS and the competition.
1. Haven/Sohlberg 4266
2. Ake , good on him.[DG 1000] 4077
3. Hans Larsson [DuoDiscus XLT ] 3881

They flew 6 out of 8 days.

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Jannen Kisat !

With 3 out of 8 days the popular Jannen Kisat competition in Finland [Rayskala] was not really endowed with good weather .Juha Sorri [Discus 2] won 2 of the 3 days both with 1000 points, so with 2503 points he was the winner.

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Zomerwedstrijd.

The Summer competition at Malden Airport is an annual competition specially for them who want to gain points to participate in next years Nationals. Several National pilots fly as well , for fun as Malden is always a great place to be.Part of the Dutch Junior squad is participating too.
4 Of our juniors are flying in club class ; Jelmer, Rick ,Nick and Thijs. Robin , the junior vice world champion flew a few days as sniffer. He leaves soon for Pocuinai to fly in the 20 m. class.
The 4 “young ones” are doing a great job.
As I read in the Tulipe Bulletin [Juniors magazine] the first 3 days were weather-wise good with clouds after a low had passed . The next 2 days were hot [32.4 dgr C.] and blue,  but  those 3 days together “delivered” a total of 620 km. as tasks.
Even better the juniors occupied the first 3 daily spots on each of the days.
Day 3 had a 317 km. task and only the 3 juniors finished. 1000 points for Rick, 991 for both Thijs and Nick.
9 Out-landings in this class , some close as female pilot Doortje,  who just was 15 km. short.

THEN,…unfortunately 3 cancelled days. last hope was for flying on Saturday the last day, as it is not so nice to go home after 3 good days of flying and then 3 days ” sitting and waiting”, though with so many young pilots they always find another sport to do as you can see on the picture shared by Jan Paul.
There was hope for a day 4 on Saturday,a  small task was set 103 km. but it was in vain the day had to be cancelled.

Playing soccer or “discussing the world” ,they call it nowadays ” chillen” .
Courtesy Jan Paul

Final results in club after 3 days;1. Nick Hanenburg  [1991] 2. Rick Boerma, [1970] 3. Thijs Bastiaanse [1895] As said all 3 are juniors!!
In open class 13 pilots flew 3 out of 7 days and on the best day they got 425 km. None of the pilots finished but they tried hard. The Kuijpers family sharing an ASW 20 cj flew 365 km. for 1000 points. Not enough to pass Edo Kwant who won day 2 and was runner up on day 1.
1. Edo with 2072 points, 2. Kuijpers fam. with 1985 and 3. Jan Willem van Doorn with 1906 points.

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French Club class Nationals.

With 34 pilots , 1 from Belgium [Pieter Lievens], one from Switzerland [Davide Giovanelli] both flying HC and both juniors, a lot of young and “older” pilots participate in Buno-Bonneveaux .They started on July 23 and continue till July 30.
The weather was good , something not too normal nowadays and the pilots straight away could go for 337 km and it turned out a 1000 points day.Only 1 out-landing and a speed of 96 km./h as best time.
Even 411 km. for the Sunday…good!! Pretty long distance for a competition with St. Cirrus , several Pegases and ASW 19 and LS 4 and more types.
30 From 31 finished and the 1000 points were for glider with call sign L , a pegase.
On Monday the day was cancelled, but  yesterday a task from 218 km. was set and flown by ALL. An other Pegase won the day this time ED.

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First QSGP in the USA .

Iona County Airport in Michigan is the venue for the first USA FAI QSGP.
16 Pilots in total and 5 from them are from Canada.
FAI president Eric Moser opened the race and will be there for the week as referee.
Day 1 was straight away won by Canadian pilot Jerzy Szemplinsky, we know him from many WGC’s ; 8 points.
More next week.

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OLC flights.

Yesterday was one of those real Fuentemilanos days and all the guests, 38 were flying,  must have had a ball.The first 49 flights were nearly all from Fuente. Guy Bechtold from Luxembourg who flies there every year flew 1.229 km. in his Quintus M. [1000 km. FAI triangle] He gained a new goal he had set; a new European 1000 FAI  Record with an average speed of 137 km. [it was 120 km./h.] Well done Guy!!!
Congrats from Schempp-Hirth as well: ” Congratulations to Guy Bechtold for a phantastic European Record . The record for 1000km FAI triangle was at around 120 kph and Guy raised it to now 137 kph on his Quintus-M!”
A total of 19 over 1000km-flights among them flights in LS 9 and ASH 26. It’s being at the right time on the right place .
Also at other Spanish places , as Villacastin 2 x 1000 and Cuenca Sotos where my friends the Wiesenthals fly, flights from nearly 1000 [988 and 963 km.] km. It’s hot in Spain!!!!

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Soaring related flights!

The Solar Impulse started it’s last leg to fly around the world, in Egypt to fly to Abu Dhabi. Bertrand Picard started his trip to show the world that so much more is possible with sun energy,  on March 9 2015 also from Abu Dhabi.
With wings full of solar cells , [17.000], feeding his engines, he completed his 35.000 km. flight last Monday .
It took the 2 pilots,  each flying legs in the solo cockpit one and a half year, including reparations [ 9 months] on the plane on Hawaii after the batteries were damaged.
Great effort!!!!One of the most difficult parts of the flight was the very last one as the heat over the desert caused heavy turbulence and thermals. The pilots had for that reason to fly much higher than they hoped for and as the air is thinner there , there was less air to cool the electronics as I read. But a bit of a challenge is not bad so on the end of the trip is what Picard said in the end.

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Sad news …again!!!!
This is from the British team;
“It is with a heavy heart that we report the very sad news that Kay Draper, a dear friend and member of the British team was killed in a gliding accident on Thursday 21st July.”
RIP Kay.

MORE TRAGIC.
My good mate Tony Lentino died of cancer. He was the one who invited me in 2010/2011, to see his estate in New Zealand to check if it was a good place for soaring. It should be a spot like Tocumwal. He, and his then girl friend Emily,  showed me also around over most of the Nord- Island. It turned out an unforgettable trip with so much warmth, friendship and hospitality.
Not long after and then  happily married , with 2 little girls, he was diagnosed with cancer  … SO SAD!!!!
Got to know Tony in my Sportavia period. He was the one who gave me my soaring.eu- blog and one of his co-operators Phil had set it up !!! I hoped he would survive it, but he lost the battle…..he passed away this weekend. MUCH TOO YOUNG!!!!!!

As said TRAGIC!!!!!
RIP Tony!!!!

Happy times in 2010/11 with Tony and Emily.

CU next week.
Ritz

It’s all about France to start with. The terrible/horrible action from one lunatic to drive his truck in a crowd , to kill as many people on the National Day ,Quatorze Juilliet, in Nice is just unbelievable.How is it possible that a big truck [15m] can drive so fast and so long, over a boulevard, before they can stop it and avoid what has happened now!!!!
84 Innocent people, several children,  died ,after a happy evening with fireworks to close the important day for France ; a day for liberty, fraternity and equality. How,…where,….what?????

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French Nationals.

As shared by JC.

After Wednesday the weather improved and they could fly each day till the end.
Women;
Wednesday;189 km. and Aude Undersee is doing very well . She won the day with 90.70 km./h and was the only one in the ninety.
Thursday;219 km. and Aude is still in great form and won the day again. 3 out of 5 days a daily prize for her.
Friday;251 .Martine Lesage in the Pegase won the 1000 points for the day. Aude was 4th. Only 1 out-landing.
Saturday; LAST DAY!!!146.86 km.
Some kind of coup by Magali De Cachard [ 3476] on this last day.She won the day and moved from spot 4 to spot 2 overall so from “nothing” to SILVER. Good on her! Aude was far ahead so no worries for her GOLD.[3640] The bronze was for Amelie Audier [3419] Melanie Gadoulet moved from 2 to 4 [3390]
A huge difference in start times on this last day between 2.07 and 3.30.
6 out of 8 days.

The CHAMPION as shared by JC.

18 m;
Wednesday;282 km and Jean-Denis Barrois won the day together with Arne from Denmark.Both 721 points. Gilles Navas was 2d.
Thursday; 406 km and finally a 1000 points day. This time for Antoine Havet. Denis Guerin was runner up and Jean Denis 3d.
Friday;341 km. Danish mate Arne won the day [118.58 km./h.] and got 950 points. The French number 1 was Denis Geurin with 924 points.ALL pilots finished.
Saturday; 248 km and Jean Denis Barrois won the day and moved to SILVER.[4605] Denis Geurin remained on the GOLD spot but he had not over much. [4645 so a difference of 40 points] Good “old” Gilles is on the bronze medal spot [4571]
7 out of 8 days.

Gilles Navas as shared by JC.

open ;
Wednesday;292 km and Laurent Aboulin raced best for 774 points. 4 x JS 1 in the daily top , all ahead of the EB 29 from the THE Broquevilles at spot 5.
Thursday;406.80 km and another winner; Christophe Cousseau [JS 1 c] with the The Broquevilles HC as runners up.
Friday;405.80 km.All pilots finished so a good day! Sylvain Gerbaud [1000 points] was just ahead of the The Broquevilles.[909]
Saturday; 255.77 km.With a speed of 104 km./h the the Broquevilles won the day and Pierre and Arnaud added 782 points to their total and that was enough to call them WINNERS [they are from Belgium] of the French open class Nationals.[4151]  It’s their 2d win this year and they love their new glider the EB 29.
The new French CHAMPION is Sylvain Gerbaud [JS1 C] who won the last 2 days.[ 4080]Jean Marc Deycard [JS1 C] was silver champion and the bronze medal was for team Jean Marc Caillard. He flew with Hersen . I remember a monsieur Hersen from Angers in the 70 thies, maybe he/she is family.
6 days and 2 x a 1000 points day.

The THE BROQEUVILLES, Pierre and Arnaud.
As shared by Jutta.

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The Spanish Nationals.

The briefing as shared by Aldo.

Santa Cilia De Jaca Airport,in Spain,was the venue between July 1 and 9 for 30 pilots flying in 3 classes.

Santa Cila is according to Aldo a gorgeous airfield and area to fly in/over. [Pyrenees] So to see ,….that’s totally true.
Pictures courtesy Aldo.

Out of the 9 days they flew 7 , under reasonable good circumstances , though on each day there were out landings.
In club class, 11 pilots among them former world Champion Stefano Ghiorzo in the Silent 2 Targa.
Task 1 was a pretty marginal one [225 km] with only 2 finishers and 1000 points for Jose Antonio in the KA 6.
Task 2 [1.30 AAT] was for Stefano .
Task 3 with a 2 hour AAT was for Stefano as well.
Task 4 with 247 km. “boring”…but Stefano won , finally a 1000 points day.
Task 5 [157 km.] was for the KA 6 pilot and task 6 [2.30 AAT ] for Stefano in the Silent.
Task 7 [219,48 km] was for Stefano as well, so no doubt about the Champion in this class Stefano, [4727] but as he is Italian , he is the winner and Jose Antonio Blanco Quesada the new Spanish Club Class CHAMPION.[4586]

Stefano in his Silent Electro.
Picture shared by Alisport.

Standard/15 m; with 10 pilots.
Task 1 with 287.77 km. had only 3 finishers…still a 1000 points day for  Francisco Artega [ ASW 27 B]
Task 2 had a 2.30 AAT and Jorge Arias [Ventus b] won the 1000 points.
Task 3 a 2.30 AAT and it was a daily win for Francisco again.
Task 4,  with 334 km. was Jorge and
task 5 for Francisco. They happily seem to share the days; each one every other day!
Task 6 with 281 km however was for Francisco again . Task 7 with 332 km. as well ,….he was in the racing mood!!!!
But it was not enough to beat Jorge, who clearly was the new Spanish champion[5903] with Francisco as runner up[5762]

Open class ; with 7 days as well and 9 participants.
Task 1 and 304 km. Alvaro Orleans- Borbon [ASH 31 MI/21 m] ] won the day so 1000 points for him.Aldo Cernezzi , [ARCUS M] my colleague at Gliding International was runner up.
Task 2 was a 2.30 AAT and now it was Aldo ahead of Alvaro.
Task 3 had a 2.30 AAT again with a brand new name up front for the 1000 points; Inaki Ulibarri [ flies at La Cerdanya and is a Spanish-Catalan from Barcelona ] in a DUO DISCUS, with Alvaro as runner up  and ouch,….Aldo was one of the 2 out-landers after 314 km.
Task 4 with 354 km was a “correction on the day before” for  Aldo, he won and Inaki was runner up and Alvaro did not start, as he had home/family-obligations. But according to Aldo he could have been the Champion.
Task 5 with 233 km. was for Aldo and
task 6 with 337 km. for another new name; Ricardo Rodrigeuz Menchero [ASH 31]  and,..Aldo unfortunately was out at 314 km. Only 2 finishers that day.
Task 7;Aldo won the last day and ,….. there was a total of 5900 points for him as a VERY CLEAR WINNER of the Spanish championship.Aldo is also from Italy so the new champion is Inaki , but….with 1000 points less!!![4900]

Open class winners!!!1. Aldo , 2 Inaki and 3 Steve [Ollender].

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QSGP in the UK.
Bicester July 10-17.

With 3 days cancelled due to bad weather, they expected to have good soaring conditions from Thursday  .
Ian Macarthur was the winner of Race 1 of the UK SGP and race 2 was for German pilot Jan Omsels. 18 Pilots and 3 are from Germany.

Ian and Jan.

Race 2 winners after prize giving as shared by the organizers. Jan in the middle and the the left Andy to the right Francis.

Race 1 was a race from 135.85 km and Ian [JS1] won with a speed of 86.7 km. /h. Runner up was Derren in a Ventus 2cxa and number 3 on the podium was Ken Barker in a JS 1c.
After 3 days rest they continued with race 2 and with 245 km. and an early regatta start at 1.01 PM, the pilots could race. They did!!! Jan flew around with a speed of 124.7 km./h. in his ASG 29 ES and Andy had 123.3 km./h.[JS 1c EVO]
For a -tad –too- fast- start he got 5 pen sec. {Starting above max speed 171 km/h.}
Friday was cancelled again so Saturday and Sunday were the only possibilities to gain more points.
Saturday was cancelled so it was ALL about SUNDAY the last day.
AND ,…they flew!!!!103.75 km. was set and this time Andy was the best but even with 11 points for the last days , he could not win this GP. He had a bad first days with no points.Young Jan Omsels from Germany did.He won race 2 and was 7th on race 1 and runner up during race 3.
Jan had 21 points and  Andy 19.

To read back about  the event you can go to http://www.sgp.aero/uk2016

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Interesting OLC flights.

July 15; One of the good flights last week was from Ramy Yanetz:” Had another 1000km flight today. Flew out and return across Nevada. Bagged 3 states in one flight. Turned deep in Utah 18 miles from Delta and within easy glide from Nephi, and back to the Whites in California. Great lift under strong clouds but overcast and strong wind (25 knots) made it a bit more challenging and slower.” Can only add GREAT flight.

July 17; As I told you ,…it was only waiting for a long list of 1000 km-flights from Fuentemilanos and it already happened on July 17 and with 34 pilots in the air 6 pilots flew a 1000 and 6 a 900 plus and 9 a 800 plus task.Not only in open class gliders but also in LS 9 and DG 400/17m. and ASH 26.

July 19; it was hot in Europe yesterday with a strong high. 3x 1000 km flights in Germany.On the OLC  page all first 50 flights were GOOD even the one from 636 km in an ASW 15.
756 from Bex in Switzerland in an LS 4 must have give the junior -team-pilot David Leemann ,joy as well.

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To finish a great picture from and shared by Robin , our junior runner up in Narromine and courtesy to his dad Martin Smit. It’s a cut-out from a bigger picture .

CU next week, 30 dgr. here over the last days, pretty hot! And today maybe 38!!!!At least hotter than yesterday and we had in a shopping center in the Hague out side in a pretty dark lane 34.8 dgr. C.

In several countries the European juniors are performing very well at the moment. GREAT to see!!!
I continue with the UK and Swiss juniors flying regional or national comps in France and Switzerland.

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41st INTERNATIONAL ISSOUDUN.

As you could read in my last blog the UK juniors have settled down to gather more [International] experience in Issoudun in France, at the 41st International Issoudun.
Last Wednesday they all had to work for their points.
Open got 369 km. and 5 from 10 finished on this “ hot and sweaty day“. Daily winner was Mike Gatfield , his second victory and this time for the full 1000 points. Only half [5 from 10 ] finished.
On Thursday a 250 k., was set and NOBODY finished but some flew far enough to make it a day; 212 km. by French pilot Ludwin De Roest [ not a real French name by the way] , gave him 722 points.
Friday ;342 km.and a tough day for Mike as he just was 21 km. OUT in a paddock. A pity, as 6 from 9 finished! He dropped from 1 overall to 4.
Saturday;  Mike was straight back and won the 3 hour AAT-day.
With 7 out of 8 days the overall scores look as follows;
1. Ludovic Hirtz…4.645 [France]
2. Thierry Nortier…4.594 [France]
3. Mike Gatfield…4.585 [ UK]

In Club, the task was 303 km. and all 8 pilots finished!!!!William Blackburn in the St Cirrus got the 1000 points for his effort. All started before 2 PM.
” A lot of the locals abandoned the open task allowing Mike and Will to claim the top spots in each class.”
Club had a 250 distance as well. AND,…….. ONE FISHER in a LIBELLE!!!!! Good.
Local French pilot Jean Philippe finished and his speed was 52.68 km./h. The UK boys flew between 70 k and 157.70 km.
Friday; 304 km. was a good day for UK pilot Jake . He was, in the DG 101,  the ONLY FINISHER !!! Good on him!He climbed from 2 to 1 overall. Jean Philippe missed out on 59 km. but still was runner up.
Saturday; a 3 hour AAT for the last day. The UK boys won with 236 and 231 km in time 3.10 and 3.07.
Final scores;
1.Jake Brattle…5.120 [UK]
2. Jean Philippe Rogier…4.922 [France]
3. William Blackburn…4.319 [UK]

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Swiss Nationals in Schaenis.

On Wednesday , when I left you, the pilots in Club got 218 km. and in open 336.
18 m. 298 and the combi’s went for 243 km.
In club, the fight for the ” honors” continued between David and Davide. David [LS4] started early and was back early [2.51] and won the day with 595 points behind his name. Davide [St. Cirrus] left 19 minutes later and it took him a bit longer 3.12 but he was runner up with 551 points.
On Thursday a different scenario and another winner;Edi in the Discus. During the 2.15 AAT he flew 150 km. that’s 12 km. more than Davide and 11 than David.
On Friday with one day to go, a 2.45 AAT. It turned out to be GIRLS-DAY. The German ladies Maria [LS1f] and Lisa[Hornet WL] flew both over 100 km to make it a valid day. Not too many points but still ; 120 and 114.
Saturday was cancelled so no time anymore to catch up.

Final club class scores and Swiss champion , runner up and 3d place ;
1. David Leemann …2.806 clear champion.
2. Davide Giovanelli…2.496
3. Maria Schneider…2.063

18 m. same story, same fight for honors other names; Juerg and Rolf. Still departing together and arriving together 1000 points for 999. I guess they want to be equal number 1 in the end. Now the separation is 3 points in favor of Rolf.
On Thursday a 3.15 AAT for the pilots and this time it was Rolf with 1000 points and Juerg with 996.7 Points difference overall in favor of Rolf.
On Friday a set 352 km. on the menu and a total different story.Only Rolf and Fredy Zulliger finished. Juerg was “out” after 117 km. 1000 and 946 points for the best, Juerg had only 293 and dropped to spot 3 whilst Fredy was runner up. It turned out to be their last day as on Saturday it was cancelled.

Final 18 m. scores;
1. Rolf Friedli….5.140  clear CHAMPION
2. Fredy Zulliger…4.652
3. Juerg Haas…4.426

Open; On Wednesday the 3d daily win for Gabriel Rossier what a pity about the loss of points earlier in the comps, but rules are rules. 8 From 9 finished.
Thursday the Rossiers were 1 and 2 on a daily base and 2 and 3 overall now. Splendid racers!During the 3.30 AAT, Gabriel flew 376 km in time in 4.06 and Daniel 412 km. in time 4.32 !!!One finishing pilot flew 5 hours and 13 min over 310 km.BUT,….he made it!!!!
On Friday a 386 set task, still a difficult day,  as MarkusVon Der Krone won the day in the JS 1 with a speed of under 100 km. /h. ; 97.26 km./h.
Gabriel was 5th and Daniel out landed after 235 km. With one day to go Markus remained on spot 1 , Markus Gauman now was on spot 2 and Gabriel on 3 with Daniel on 4.
For open there was another day to put “things straight”!!!!
311 km. was set on Saturday and that’s enough to play last-day-games. Early starters between 1.40 and 1.53 PM, did well the Rossiers started at 2.30 and on the last day they had a daily score of 912 and 869 whilst Markus Gauman [Nimbus 4 M] had the full 1000. Not a lot of difference but I guess they wanted to improve. At least they tried.
Worst day for the other Markus with a 7th spot , but no worries he was far ahead of the rest.

So after 7 days in this class, not bad in by rain troubled Europe, the final scores;
1. Markus Von Der Krone …5.535 clear Swiss CHAMPION.
2. Markus Gaumann…5.146
3. Gabriel Rossier…5.004

Combi; Well known pilot Rainer Cronjaeger won the day with 647 points and moves up from 5 to 2. Not bad. Tizian [ Discus 2] still leads with 0ver 300 points. Tizian was the 2015 Junior Champion in Switzerland.
On Thursday a 3.15 AAT and Rainer won again in the ARCUS T ;237 km. in 3.10. Tizian out-landed after 62 km. He lost more than 300 points, but still leads with 12 points.
On Friday a 2.45 AAT. NO FINISHERS but a valid day and daily winner Rainer, his 3d win in a row.
NO 7 th day for them either so the final scores;
1. Rainer Cronjaeger …2.563 and Swiss Champion.
2. Tizian Steiger…2.477
3. Martin Buhlmann…2.404.

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CLUB class A
Częstochowa-Rudniki, Poland

50 Pilots flew for the CLUB class -A title in Poland and to make it difficult, there are again many ” performing”with the same name  Jakub, Lukasz,Piotr [x6] ,  but also Stanislaw, Jaroslaw and Miroslaw.
They had between July 2 and 9 ,a total of 5 valid days out of 8 ,  with 2 x a-1000 -points-day.
The last 2 days were cancelled.
In the end Jakub Barszcz won with 3.344 points. Not far behind was runner up, Lucasz Grabowski with 3.300 and on spot 3 Lucasz Kornacki with 3.238.

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French Championships for women, 18m. and open.

Great picture shared by the organizers on day 2 when the day had to be cancelled.

In La Roche-sur-Yon les Ajoncs, in France these championship started on July 9 with 78 pilots. They continue till July 16
Women;
22 of them… GOOD!!!!
Day 1 had a 2.30 AAT won by Magali de Cachard in Pegase. Aude Untersee was runner up in a Pegase as well.
Several Pegases in this class, a “real French” glider, a total of 15 !!!!! In total around 300 were built till 1988 when the production stopped.
I remember the first ones built by Centrair in 1981. The fuselage of the German ASW 20,  with a new wing. I even remember Marc Ranjon the owner of Centrair and the fact that he at that time,as agent for Schleicher built this new type;
“ Schleichers were not happy that their agent was in competition with them using their fuselage design, but the dispute was settled.”
Well you see they still happily fly and belong to the easy-to-handle-standard-club-gliders.

I missed one French pilot on the list, normally she is always there, JC [Jutta Sturm]  but only later I found out that she is recovering from a very nasty car accident in Germany in 2015. She cannot fly alone yet , but flies now with her husband in open class in an ASH 25/26 m. Good to see her flying in a 2-seater for the time being.

Girl power as seen by Juliette Charlie.[Jutta Sturm]  She flies this time not in the female class but in the open class.

Task 2 a set 115 km task.but was cancelled.
Task 3 was on Monday with a 106 km. task. Not much,  but with this weather at least a possibility to fly.And they did. Amelie Audier won the day in a St Cirrus with a speed of 86 km./h. about 20 km./h faster than the runner up in LS 4.
12 “girls” finished!
Task 4 yesterday showed a very small task; 1 hour AAT, but the day for the ladies was cancelled in the end.

18 m;
Also 22 participants in 18 m. class and 6 of them fly HC [Hors Concours] one of them Peter Eriksen  from Denmark and it was just he who won day 1; 999 points. Arne Boye Moller is an HC pilot as well. Spot 1 however was for French pilot Denis Guerin.
Task 2; 171 km. but cancelled in the end.
Task 3; had a “very small ” task as well, just over 100 km.[109] The 2 Danish pilots did well though flying HC they fly for the points and both were the best today. Arne with a start at 4.04 PM [201 points] and Erik at 6 .05 PM [ 209] !!!!!!! They were the only 2 to fly above 100 km./h.Jean -Denis Barrois was the number 1 with 99.9 km./h. [191]
Task 4 was a ONE hour AAT. 5 HEROES  finished  and a total of 6 pilots flew over 100 km. gaining between 120 and 162 points for their efforts.
Some pilots started at 4.15 PM others nearly at 6 PM!!!!
Denis Geurin had his 2d victory in the ASG 29 .Gilles Navas was runner up. They all flew over 2 hours.

Open;
Interesting class with many top pilots. Also 22 in this class and also HC pilots not competing officially, a total of 4. They are from Belgium[2] , UK  and Germany and cannot be French champion, but it is great to fly with and between the French pilots, always good at EGC’s and WGC’s and compare your own skills.
Task 1;Jean Marc Deycard won the 2.30 AAT, with  243 km in 2.35 . Eric Napoleon and his mate flew 284 km,  but needed more time [3.06]  still was runner up.

Day 1 picture shared by Juliette Charlie. [ Jutta flies with her husband in the ASH 25 and was on spot 10.
So keep an eye on the Sturm family.
and another great picture taken during flight, that’s the beauty of flying together.

Task 2 ; was cancelled.
Then on Monday no task in this class.
Task 3 was yesterday with for open class a nearly ridiculous task , but at least they could fly;ONE hour AAT and ONE pilot finished. Jean Marc Caillard [ASH30 MI with call sign RC] won the day with 186.90 km. and “received”  86 points.
Amazingly many kilometers, certainly when you look at the runner up Jean Marc Deycard [JS 1C with call sign DY] ] who flew 129 km. The rest [24] was under 100 km.
RC started at 3.47 ,whilst DY left at 6.10 PM.

——–

Interesting OLC flights!

On Wednesday July 6 Holland had great weather and several pilots used it for a nice long flight. Peter Millenaar [ASG 29E /18m] was one of them with a  750 all the way up from Malden, direction N to Friesland , then East into Germany, to past Porta Westfalica and back . Great stuff!! Spot 12 for the day WORLD WIDE!!!
July 9 was another EXCELLENT day in the USA. Top-pilots as Jim and Tom Payne and recent open class champion Keith Essex with Gavin Wills from NZ flew in teams and what do you want more with such WAVE-weather in Minden and each an ARCUS to fly in????
” A much better than expected rarity…good Minden wave in July. Mostly blue south of Minden.” was the comment from Jim on the OLC. The Payne’s flew  2.308 km.with a speed of 196.8 km./h.!!!!
Keith and Gavin, top wave pilot from Omarama, flew 1.905 km. with a speed of 196 km. /h. They flew a “yo yo in the wave and to keep it interesting they jumped around wave bars to the north.”
It’s worthwhile to have a look at their “fun- fan” -trace on the OLC on July 9.
Boulder had good soaring conditions as well with several 1000 km. flights in Ventus 2 ax /15 m. and Ventus 2CT /18m. and DG 800 b/18m.
Spain is awakening and the popular places as Fuentemilanos,[ 958 in in ASH 31/21 m]  Ocana [ 901 km in ASG 29.] and nowadays Cuenca Sotos have great flights. It’s just waiting for the 1000 km. day over there.

——–
News from the QSGP in Australia.

Hi all,

Entries for the Australian leg of the 8th Series of the Sailplane Grand Prix are now open.  The event will run at Horsham in western Victoria from 14th to 20th December 2016.

The website is at http://www.sgp.aero/australia2016.aspx?contestID=27849

This will be the first leg of the 8th series, which will conclude with a final at Vitacura in Chile late in 2017.  Assuming we have a full field at Horsham, the first two places will be selected for the final.

This event will be run in the 18m class.  No handicaps apply, although we may introduce a wing loading limit if the entry list warrants it.  Only 20 entries are allowed, and seeding via the IGC list will apply if it is necessary.

As the Contest Director for the SGP I and the organising committee would like to invite you to enter this contest.  It is a simple format, and the emphasis will be on fast racing around fixed tasks rather than endurance tasks, where the first pilot home will win.  Typical tasks will be 2.5 to 3 hours.

We do expect that several members of the Aussie team for the Worlds at Benalla will enter, and there has already been interest from overseas WGC contenders as well.
This promises to be a significant and spectacular event in this year’s gliding calendar.  Don’t miss it!
If you have any questions please contact the organizing committee at horshamsgp@glidingaustralia.org, or you can ring me at the phone number below.

———-

NO Holland did , rather amazingly, NOT qualify for the European Championship Soccer, Portugal won last Sunday  from France BUT………..
We still had a TOP SPORT WEEKEND;
the Dutch 100 m-relay ladies [with Dafne Schippers] won European GOLD,
Young [23] Anouk Vetter won unexpected with a new Dutch record [6626 points] the heptathlon
Max Verstappen drove his Formula 1 car to a 3d spot, to be later corrected to P 2
AND
Tom Dumoulin won the most important mountain stage during the Tour De France arriving on the top of the mountain in infernal rain and hail like marbles,… but with a glorious ‘winners-‘smile!!!

On top of that, as Murray fan, Andy won the Wimbledon final.

CU next week
Cheers Ritz

With the news from Aussie friend Bruce just too late to publish in my last blog , I continue with the last days of Nephi in Utah now.
Nice article again, also about his mates. Here is Bruce and THANK YOU Bruce;
—” What a day! The weather did blow up just as forecast, and as we expected pre-launch. However, the task-setters got it exactly right, and the turn points fit the storms like a glove. Everywhere we went there was a great line ahead of us, and when you looked back there was a door slamming shut behind you. Incredible! Parts of the day were really strong; I went so close to hitting the 17.5k limit a couple of times, cruising with 1,000 feet to spare and suddenly everything is going up like crazy. There is so much energy in the sky here, sometimes it is scary.
Today I really thought that I didn’t do much wrong. I started well, good climb straight out of the start, didn’t have to use anything weak, stayed high, got some absolutely spectacular runs, and always had a good line of lift in front of me. I even finished right on the second of our minimum time after a ballistic final glide. I did 176 kph around 430 km… and I came third!
Dick Butler and Keith Essex both did more than 182 kph!!
Dick we all know, one of gliding’s true gentlemen, but Keith is a newcomer. Let me simply say that everyone should watch out for this cool dude from Alaska. Keith has only been gliding a few years, and flying comps for one year. He is so eager to learn, and is really in the groove at present. He and his wife Deb are lovely people, and Keith has the knack for getting his JS1 really smoking. It’s a pleasure to watch. Unless the wheels come totally off the billycart, he is about to win the US Nationals.
The photos show some of the day’s action, overdevelopment beginning, what some of the sky ahead looked like on task, some virga and showers after we finished, and a sunset. Fantastic day to be a glider pilot!”—

I follow Keith from “far” ,as he added this last year some  nice long flights on the OLC .[ in June 2.774 km. speed 254.80 km./h. and 1.133 km.from Minden ]

June 29, one-but-last day: as Ron [Gleason] mentioned in the evening;
” Forecasts, models and procrastinators all lined and agreed that OD and high clouds would make for unsafe or unreliable racing conditions today.”
So the day was cancelled. A pity as it would have been really nice to see on 2 more good days how the pilots would do , specially with those close margins. So it will be ONE day now to see who is the best. Safety above all!
Ron by the way is a great guy. If this is the Ron from Uvalde, who was the scorer there , then I can tell you he is a lovely  person!!!!

June 30,…. last day of June…… last day of the comps!
What a pity They tied HARD !!!!! But the message was .”Gridded at 11:30, launched Standard Class at 12:10 and scheduled task open for 12:40.  The 15 Meters were next and after 1/3 of that class launched the CD conferred with the weatherman, task advisers and  CANCELLED the day due to rapid development and over development. “

So after 6 valid days with official scores it looks like this:
Standard class;
1. Bif Huss, when I am correct he won last year as well as a then relative new comer; 5157 points . Bif won 2 days was runner up on 2 days and the other 2 days he was 3 and 6 so great scores. Congratulations!!
2. Danny Sorensen, with 5140 points. Danny, flew consistent. Won one day and had daily scores as 2-3-4-9-5 on the other days.
The first 4 gliders were Discus 2 A or B.

15 m. class;
1. Peter Deane in ASG 29/15m. Peter won the first 2 days , then he was 16 [from 27] and 10-6 and 4.[5374]
2.David Leonard in ASW 27. David was 3 times runner up and on the other days on spot 4-17 and 6.[5369]

Open class;
Uys and AP shared the JS 1-C/21m. and HC they were the number 1 with 3 winning days and 3 days on spot 2-3 and 6. [5352]
1. Keith Essex, good on him.Same glider and specially in the end he had a great run with 2 winning days. Before he was 3 times  runner up and once on spot 9. Great soaring.[5309]
2. Good old Dick Butler in the CONCORDIA , as Bruce said, a real gentleman. That’s how I know him as well too. He flew consistent with spot 8-3-6-6-6-2. [5109]

Bruce’s “round up”;” So, it’s all done. The trophies have been awarded, the organizers and helpers have been thanked, the food has been eaten, and the drinks have been drunk, though there was very little of that here in Utah. I’ve made some great new friends, sampled some incredible gliding conditions, and learned a little more about myself. There were some moments that initially I would have preferred not to experience, but in hindsight they provided a good lesson, and in a strange way allowed all those people to get to know me more closely. Every single person here, whether they be pilots, crew or organizers, were all so friendly and supportive. They joined in the successes, and stood close in the more difficult moments.” 

Keith Essex [with his wife ]the new champion in open class and the HC winner Uys.
Pictures shared by Bruce.

——-—

The British and Dutch juniors.

The UK juniors  settled down in Issoudun last Friday for training.
They are [financially ] supported/ sponsored by Sydney Charles Aviation Insurance Brokers. Good on them.
Here is the news:
—-“The British Junior Gliding Team are delighted to announce that Sydney Charles will once again be sponsoring the Team through this season!
The sponsorship, along with the continued support of the British Gliding Association, will be going towards the Junior Squad’s development training, which kicks off in Issoudun, France, tomorrow. We’ll be bringing you updates on this over the next 10 days.
Once again a massive thank you to Sydney Charles for their continued support of the Team, building on our great success last year. Long may it continue.-–”
You surely remember the great results during the JWGC in Narromine from the UK team.

The Dutch team had great results as well in Narromine and they have a total program of sponsoring as well, you can read about it in the new Tulip Bulletin.  www.Dutchjuniors.nl
In the corner to the right you can find your own language!!!
Our top junior in Narromine , Robin Smit [runner up in standard class] flies in Pocuinai during the WGC in the end of July in the 2-seater class in an ARCUS  M with a more senior top pilot Hans Biesters.
The number 1 from Narromine JWGC will be there too and flies in the same class for Australia also in an ARCUS M. So they meet again now in Europe, in the 20 m. class; INTERESTING.

And the UK juniors added their news on FB and started well at the 41th INTERNATIONAL ISSOUDUN with 18 pilots in 2 classes;
” Congratulations to Jake Brattle winning day 1 in the club class at Issoudun, Finn Sleigh placing second in the open class and all the other strong performances by the junior development squad. The cold front cleared this morning leaving time for a (massively underset) 2hr AAT which open class romped round at 100kph. More of the same please! Mike”

No tasks on the 5th of July in Issoudun.
Yesterday a 253 km task was set for club. In this class a total of 8 pilots, ONE from France, one from Belgium the rest from the UK squad. Simon Brown won the day in the ASW 15 with a speed of 87.11 km./h.
Overall Jake Brattle is in the lead in the DG 101.

Also 253k.  in open class for the 10 pilots ;Thierry Nortier from France in an LS 6 /18m. won the day before UK pilot Mike Gatfield. After 3 flying days, Mike still leads with 20 points.

———-

Swiss Nationals .

The Swiss Nationals , in 4 classes, are flown from Schaenis and started on June 30 and continue till the 9th.
A lot of juniors in this National Competition as well and they are DOING WELL.
On the first days NO tasks were/could be set , but on July 3 they started with 2.15/2.30 AAT’s.
It’s all between Rolf Friedl and Juerg Haas in 18 m. They start and finish together and occupy spot 1 and 2 overall after 3 days.[   ]
11 Pilots in this class [10 Swiss and 1 German pilot]  and Juerg flew  in Tocumwal in the glider from Swiss Chris.
Yesterday it was even more spectacular, [if you try to do it it won’ t work] but this time they were equal on spot 1. Both 434 points.
The overall scores after 3 days are not the same but the difference is “only” 4 points.and…it ain’t not over yet!!

In  club class 7 pilots , 4 Swiss and 3…. German girls!!!! In this class it’s more or less a “fight” between David Leemann in LS 4 winning 2 days and Davide Giovanelli [ St Cirrus] as runner up,  both juniors with “a bright future”.
Yesterday however, on day 3 it was a “different story”  as Davide out-landed [89 points] and David won the 1.30 AAT [201].
Great job from German female pilot Maria Schneider [LS 1f] as runner up and as  one of the 3 finishers.
Starts after 2 PM and best distance by David ; 121 km. in 1.36.
After 3 flying days and 3/4 to go David leads and Davide follows but now with more than 250 points difference.

Davide and David ….Swiss Juniors .
Pictures from their junior site;
http://www.juniorgliding.ch/de/team/nationalteam

In open class 3 to me more well known pilots, Markus Gauman and the Rossier brothers Gabriel and Daniel and a total of 9.
Last Monday they had a 404 km. task won by Markus von der Crone in the JS1. The Rossier brothers won the first flying day but unfortunately lost massive points by infringements on Monday and both dived from 1 and 2 overall to 6 and 8 !!!
All 9 pilots finished on day 3 and Daniel in the ASH 31 MI/21m. flew clearly  further than the rest in his beautiful machine; 195 km. Gabriel , same beautiful glider,was 3d with 187 km.
Markus Von Der Krone still leads after 3 days

A combi class as well in Schaenis with 10 pilots flying between LS 4 [ handicap 104] and ARCUS T. [114]
10 Swiss pilots got on flying day 1 a 2.15 AAT and on day 2 a racing task from 315 km.
Martin Buhlmann won day 1 but on day 2 he was “only” 9th , but flying nearly 5 hours in his Discus 2 .
1000 Points for the winner , “only” 406 for him.
Chapeau for the daily number 6 flying just over 5 hours in his LS 4!!!!
4 Out-landings yesterday in this class and Mario Straub won the day.[Discus 2B]
Tizian Steiger[Discus 2] , one of the 10 Swiss Junior squad members,  leads the pact after 3 days with a 4th, 1st and 3d .

Tizian Steiger an other talented young Swiss pilot.
Picture from their junior site.

More next week.

———-

The 34th WGC for club, standard and 2 seater class in Pocuinai.

With 120 pilots from 29 countries this is going to be a huge event between JULY 31 and AUGUST 13. The official training will be on July 27-28-29.
All preparations are in full swing.
The current champions [Club class:- Eric Bernard, France,…..Standard class:- Bert Schmelzer, Belgium and….20m Multi-seat class:
–  Howard and Steve Jones, Great Britain ] will try to defend their titles but for sure , looking at the list of participants it’s not going to be easy.Looking forward to the event!!! Hope anyway that the weather will be BETTER!!!!!!!

———-

Gliding International…the July/August issue !

The July /August issue arrived from NZ in Holland and I always check straight away all stories and then read them in depth. Enough great stories.
—-I started my own column in this issue , with my concern about the many incidents and even accidents in the beginning of this 2016 season. I was even more shocked to see that it was worse than I thought!!
ONLY in May there were 22 incidents and accidents, TOO many. We lost 5 “mates”  in ONE month,…. that is much too much. I was sad to see that also girls were involved. As they write in the Magazine; May ..a poor start of the season.That’s an understatement!!!
—-As I knew Klaus Holighaus and I know Brigitte, Ralf and Tilo it was extra interesting to read the story” The Legacy of Klaus.” Martin Schempp and Wolf Hirth are mentioned as well. The history of all their legend-gliders is top reading too, certainly as my ex George owned/flew several Schempp-Hirth gliders as Cirrus , Nimbus 2, Ventus, Discus, Nimbus 3 and a brand new 4DM during the WGC in 1987 in Benalla.
—-The story about Polish top-glider pilot Adam Czeladski is touching. In 2009 he crashed with his LS 8 ” sustaining spinal injuries that rendered him a paraplegic.Less than a year after the accident he flew solo again in his brand new Discus 2CT.
Now he flies a JS1 with a Hand Control System. The full story is in the Magazine.
—-All about the AERO 2016 TRADE show in Friedrichshafen by Aldo. With p.e. news about the GP 14 from Peszke, the SWIFT from Italy, DRONES but also avionics, books and art, electric propulsion , the STEMME and more.
—-The Perlan Project costs now over 7 million….BUT the Space Glider Perlan 2 is helping Airbus with their innovations and goal to set the altitude record for of 90.000 ft[ 27.400 meters] to find out about similar conditions as on MARS.
—-63 Pages of aviation-news from all “corners”.

——-

Too much sport to follow at the moment!!! First of all,  the semi- finals and finals from soccer in France, the Tour de France, Wimbledon with exciting tennis and on top of that the European championship athletics in Amsterdam starting today in the renovated Olympic Stadium. The first big event after the Olympic Games in 1928!!!!

———

And to finish a picture from the good old times shared by Dieter ” Dundee”  Albrecht.
With Michael Giles [then] WGC pilot and long time guest, Don Escott, [instructor] Maria and Dieter Bottcher, [long time guests/friends] , Kurd Boyd [tuggy] ,Bones  [tuggy] , Lada [dad from Hana] ,Dundee [long time guest/friend] and another nice German couple who visited a few times, Wurbs-von Burlow if I remember well  and 2 I don’t remember .

CU next week.
Cheers Ritz