After a good walk through minus 1, but nice cool and sunny, fresh again for the old news.It’s quite a lot of work but I do enjoy it. Would not have had so many pictures if my 11 year old grandson  Dexter would not have taught me how to do this scanning. Thanks again Dexie.

BUT first again another cheer-up cartoon by Richard.

As shared by many.

Back to day 7 in 1987.

The day was forecasted as blue up to 5000 ft., BUT when they started launching cu’s popped up everywhere and ….up to 7000 ft.
Tasks from 351 for open, 368 for standard and 385 for 15 m. were set and with the cu’s also en route it was a rather fast day with speed up to 123 km./h..
In open, Dennis and George had a pretty good day with a 10th spot. Not all cu’s were good and some pilots did not know how to deal with them.Bruno [Gantenbrink] did and won the day with 123.3 km./h. His 2d win !!
Marc [Schroeder] was back in about the same time. 132.1 km., so he missed out on only 5 points.
Ingo [Renner], always very much protected by his crew Gaby and our former head of the work-shop Peter Menhennet , was on spot 3 busy with his race to the top spot!!

The prototype of the Nimbus 3D from George and Dennis [SX] with a sponsored VOLVO in front.

AND

the master himself [ AS] with Gaby and Peter [to the r]

I believe to the r. with the umbrella is Justin Wills.
And
Marc Schroeder [France CF] ]with his wife Denise and crew.

In Standard class, our Dutch pilot Baer Selen finished on a 2d spot. In front of him Chris Garton from the UK, his 2d win !!!Here are some standard class pilots as Stan Witek from Poland and Simon Leutenegger from Switzerland.

Stan [SO] Bruce Brockhoffs Discus a.

Simon [T5] with his crew Fred.

In 15 m.  class Aussie pilot Maurie Bradney mentioned and I quote what was written in Final Glide;
“ Maurie summed up the general mood of the day when he said that the CU’s must have been placed thereby the government because they promised much ,…but delivered nothing”
No worries for Doug Jacobs who won the day and also for him a 2d daily win.[120.2 km/.h]  Gilles Navas from France was runner up [118.4 km./h]  and Werner Meuser finished on spot 3. [ 116.9 km./h]
Werner visited over the last couple of years Tocumwal and flew Ingo’s glider.

Gilles from France [CA]with his crew his lovely mum!!

That’s it for now….. ENJOY!!!
Tomorrow day 8 mind you they had 12!!!!

Cheers Ritz

Finally a real worthy Aussie day, with tasks up to 747 km. 40 dgr. C. and “legs” going as far as 300 km. from Benalla, no worries on such a day with lift up to 4-6m/s, a base of  2500-3600 m., not too much wind 20 kts from the NW.
First launch at 12.30.
A day in paradise, finally! Not yet,….another day in paradise as we always used to say.

And OFF they went…..

Picture courtesy Swiss Chris.

15 m.; day 7…task 4 …with 484.7 km. a good day a good task and a valid competition now as well for 15 m. It should be in a country as Australia.
With 137.7 km./h. Uys took revenge on his out landing and just showed how good his new JS 3 RAPTURE is by winning the day. 1000 points. That’s the spirit!!!
Mac who started 11 minutes earlier than Uys , started together with Matthew and both did well being 2d and 3d; 136.7 and 134.6 km./h.
Mac is in a real good flow hopefully he keeps this flow till the end.
33 From the now 35 participants in this class finished , 2 out-landed.
Overall scores after 4 tasks; 1. Mac [3469]….. 2.Sebastian [3417] 3…. Lucasz [3342] .
Still a lot possible, as you see that you can drop from 2 to 25 as in the “case” Uys , who now is at 14 again up on his way to the top.

18 m. ;day 7 …task 5 …with a 5 hour AAT.  Good to see my Austrian friend Wolfgang on top today. Together with his best mate Andy they formed the daily top. They flew 715 and 705 km. in time 5.04 and 502, so a nice speed over such a big distance of 141 and 140  km./h. Wolfgang and Andy practiced last year already in a 2 seater in Benalla. Not Wolfgang’s first time of flying in Australia.
Good to see Roman Mracek in the top 3 as well. Flying together with his young team mate Petr Svoboda, who finished on spot 4 today.
40 from 43  Finished in this class,  2 out landings,   due to airspace violation  and USA pilot Sean just missed out after 621 km..

A nice picture from the Hahnweide competition from Andy and Wolfgang.
I made a real nice one last year but I can’t find it.

 

open ;day 7….task 6 with a racing task from 747 km.

Well that is A DISTANCE!!! And some might not have believed such a task, after all what happened over the last week. But it happened I would nearly say as usual, and it happened with HUGE speed as well. Michael Sommer who used to live in Australia and flew a lot in Benalla and Tocumwal was the best with 161.3 km./h on the clock!!! So a real good day!! Tassilo was with him and just was a tad slower 1000 for 982 points.
Here is Bruce with his day:
“That’s more like it! Strong climbs to 11,000 feet and some serious speeds again. There was time in the blue and time under cu today, and a couple of the best climbs way up between West Wyalong and Rankin Springs that were uncanny in how silky smooth they were. We covered 750 km in good time, though I am still seriously off the pace of the good guys. I seem to start well and run close to the front of the pack, then lose the plot a bit in the middle of the flight. I am feeling easily distracted, and there are stages where I run out of ideas!
Good fun flight today, and the grizzles about the task being too long were (just) unfounded.”
Bruce finished the day on spot  22. The UK pilots Russell and Andy on 9 and 13, with that Russell still leads the overall pact with 4804 points ahead of Andy, 4769 but with only ONE point less he feels the breath from Michael Sommer. Oscar has 4601.

Before start the Chinese team was busy, busy .In the end and Mr Peng Du flew just over 300 km. So out landings as well, but only 2 from the 33 who started.So a GOOD TASK!!!!

team China with their ARCUS.
Courtesy Swiss Chriss.

————

So when they fly 743 in Benalla there will be good soaring in Corowa and Tocumwal as well. Indeed good with flights from 857 in the Arcus from Corowa [750 triangle] and 819 in the ASH 26 from Toc.[792 triangle] Good old Stefan Soll is back there and flew in his LS 4  a distance of 715 km. all the way up N and back.
Tocumwal pilot Neil Burns had a good flight with Tilo Holighaus in Roger Druce’s ARCUS;722 km.
And,…great to see Jan Umlauf is back in Toc as well ,…a real kilometer eater and his 2d flight was 703 in the LS 4.
Best flight in Australia today was from John Buchanan in an ASW 27 from Narromine; 858 km.[796 triangle]

And for those who do not know where Tocumwal, my 2d home place is,…here is an 18 M task from today shared by Arne .
You see looking up N W from Benalla a little place Cobram where I always did my shopping. Cobram is on the Victorian site of the Murray River,  Toc on the NSW site just 10 km. apart. Not far from Rutherglen more to the East on the river is Corowa.
Toc-Jerilderie  was the 50 k distance for beginners and Finley in the middle is the spot where Dennis had the fatal accident with the tug.He was on his way to pick up a first-50 km.-pilot.

And as Craig ,the enthusiastic video maker from Team NZ is leaving there will be different video’s now , [hopefully they continue with their funny met man,]  but when you want to see them you find them on youtube.

History and more added pictures later!

Cheers Ritz

courtesy Swiss Chris.

Highest temperature for the day 35 dgr….lift up to 2.5/3m up to 2000 m. Blue as usual and a forecasted day with lift till relatively late.
Ingredients for a good day.
So tasks were set accordingly. A 5 hour AAT for 15 m. a racing task from 503 km. for 18 and open 526 with an earlier start of the launches at 12.30.
14 Tuggies were ready all strong Pawnees and the nice colorful “ugly ducky” by others called NEMO.
So another day!

15 m. 5 hour AAT; Their 3d flying day, so task 3  and another great one for Sebastian Kawa who managed to fly in his Diana 2 a distance of 530.7 km. in time 4.58.57, so 106.1 km.h on the ” clock.” He flew together with his team mate, same glider , about the same start time but  just a fraction slower;Lucasz Grabowsky….984 for 982 points.
The 1000 points however were for good old Mac from Japan who flew 535.8 km. in time 4.58.6. He started 2 minutes  later than Sebastian and Lucasz .

 

Mac and Akemi before the start of an for him great day.
Courtesy Swiss Chris.

as shared by Sebastian.

Bad day for young Matthew Scutter as he out-landed after 66 km. I admire Matthew for his view on soaring ,such a wise young man and full of self-mockery as you can see :“‘fraid I cooked it, 60k short. Was having a great day, but the gaggle got a 7kt climb just ahead that I missed. Was flying pretty well all the way up until I wasn’t.”

As shared by Matthew a huge TALENT in soaring.
On the remark from the  CD from the JWGC in Narromine, Adam Webb, who mentioned his nice legs,  he straight away answered;  ” Probably would have got home if I’d shaved them.”

Bad day as well for the Jonker brothers both landing out.” unfortunately Uys & Attie have outlanded safely. So crew now getting organised to retrieve them.”

  

Uys ready to go. and…. TC Carol helping out.
As shared by Swiss Chris.

18 m… 503 km;task 4….. Was it a bad day for Aussie team member Matthew , it turned out to be a good day for Peter Temple. He won with a speed of 111 km./h . 1000 points for him and 3 less for German pilot Matthias. First 3 places for ASG 29, as Tom Claffey was on spot 3.
Good day for Belgian pilot Manu Litt who was 5th together with Derren Francis from the UK.
The scores in this class are so close, very exciting.
The first 15 pilots are between 3507 points [15] and 3788 [Matthias on spot 1]

open 526.5 km.; Task 5…..Was it a good day for Aussie Peter in 18 m. it was not a good day for Bruce Taylor who was “out” after 472 km. A few more “out’s” as Italian pilot Ricardo and Dutch pilot Mark just stranded 10 k out!! What a pity, they had to pull the engine!
Winners  of the day, yes 2 winners with 1000 points  , this time European pilots from Austria Sebastian Eder [EB 29] and from Italy Alberto Sironi in the Quintus. Both flew with 120.4 km./h round the track . German toppers Michael and Tassilo flew with 119 km./h.
Chinese pilot Peng Du did not finish but flew 94.5 km. and all scores are preliminary!

Dutch pilot Jeroen was happy,”finally behind NEMO”, nice and noisy…..
As shared by Jeroen.

That this whole world of soaring is ONE big family I have said many times before. Great to see that Attie from Jonkers helped Swiss Chris ,when his ASW 27 flown by Fridolin was damaged on an aileron.
”  A small inattention was enough not to see the wing go down behind the car and the outermost part of the aileron broke. Thanks to the Jonkers team and especially Atti, who assessed the damage and checked it after I fixed it yesterday afternoon and let it cure over night. Thanks heaps for carbon, resin, micro balloon, cotton flakes and double sided adhesive tape.”

   

As shared by Swiss Chris.

And an ASG 29 was damaged; “The best part is that Tilo and Max from Schempp supervised/helped with this repair on a Schleicher glider.”

For those who are interested here is a link to one of the papers about the news on the incident. As far as I know it is not the ankle but the shinbone which is broken from Michael.
http://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/4404235/gliders-crash-over-yerong-creek-photos/?cs=147

Another busy day for the tuggies.
Courtesy Swiss Chris.

————–

55th Nationals in Chile

Briefing on the very last day.

It turned out that January 14 was the last day. So the overall scores are;
CHAMPION Carlos with 6924 after 8 days of soaring and Rene with 6494 points. Congratulations, a nice comp!!

All pilots together.
As shared by Angel Cassado

————

Short blog today.
Off to Amsterdam soon.
More tomorrow.
Ritz

BUT,…first this great cartoon again as we need to laugh as well.

As shared by the organizers, cartoon by Richard Geytenbeek.

AND THEN to not forget

Anita shared some pictures from the NSW Police Force from the incident. As both pilots are fine, I share them this time.
Both men were flown to Canberra Hospital by the Snowy Hydro Southcare helicopter.

  

      

NOT GOOD!!!!! Let’s not forget to fly SAFE. And to have a good parachute!!!!

—————-

Back to 1987 and I got help from Anni Kehn. They were like we a real soaring family.
“1987 was so great, volunteering at Benalla. Elke [ Mum from Anni and Chris] was doing all the administration for the OSTIV Congress and the rest of Team Kiehn were meteo assistants. I even went for a fabulous flight with Dr Jörg Hacker from Adelaide Uni in a Grob around Mount Buffalo, doing some other met readings. Felt important holding a clipboard, taking notes! We certainly had a great time.
It all started for Chris at Benalla, meeting Klaus Holighaus and thinking about an apprenticeship at Schempp/Hirth, which he started a year later. ”

Here are Anni and Chris in 1987.

  

“Birthday cake! Not sure if it was for Wally Wallington or Manfred Reinhardt. We were doing the weather balloons”

“Chris hard at work tracking the weather balloons. I did all the conversions and directions ready for the met people prior to briefing. Us Kiehn’s were a great team! Was fun!”

 and the meteo team

Chris now at Benalla with mate AJ. and Anni in Africa.

   

Day 6 in 1987!! After a rest day they continued and this was the beginning of a good week weather-wise. So there is hope for “now” .
The day started however late and most pilots went on track after 2 PM for tasks as 445 for open,344 for standard and 405 for 15 m.
In open George and Dennis had a real handicap as the allowed weight for the NIMBUS 3D was 750 k. and the best speed was possible with 800 kilo. They just could not take enough water with them.
It was the first task with legs into the mountains and like now they did not all like that.
Dutch st .class pilot and twice world champion had difficulties that day and had to dig himself out; 20 minutes lost.
Unfortunately the thermals in the mountains were weak. Some saw the hang-gliders along the slopes of Mount Buffalo , but the approaching pilots  also saw that the gliders were low over the mountains.
As the TP was at Mt Buffalo some climbed as high as possible before flying to the hang gliders and back. The late starters got into trouble and a lot out landed.
In open Marco Gavazzi from Italy was the winner, used to fly in the Apenines he used the best “route” and with 106.9 km.h he won the day.
In standard class Finnish pilot Marko Kuittinen won the day [112.3 km./h] and in 15 m. Brian Spreckley won with a speed of 101.3 km./h.

Nice anecdote from GOOD FINISH.
John Byrd from team USA flew in standard class and did not like gaggles so he flew his own track; directly to the ridges bordering the valley .
Normally the good decision, not now ,..he struggled and finally had to land. He walked to the farm and the farmer was kind let him use the telephone to talk to his crew. But the farmer was also busy and returned to his job; installing an electric water heater on the roof. John, an electrician climbed with the farmer on the roof and both finished the job.

 

Mr Marco Gavazzi.

The overall scores after 6 days from GOOD FINISH.

Marko Kuittinen , flying in standard class was of course from Finland!!

Mind you after 12 days the Champion  in open was Ingo Renner,[Australia]  with Marc Schroeder [France] and  Bruno Gantenbrink [Germany] with silver and bronze. In the next 6 days they only swapped places.
In Standard class the title champion went to Marco Kuittinen with the silver for Mike Opitz from the USA and the bronze for Jaques Aboulin from France.
So in those last 6 days a lot happened in this class!!!!
In 15 m. UK pilot Brian Spreckley finished a fun time with relaxed flying on the golden spot. Holger Back, who before  or after flew his first 1000 in Tocumwal, [I am pretty sure after as in the beginning of February they flew with 6 a 1000 from Toc.] got the silver and the bronze was for Doug Jacobs from the USA.
Also in this class some changes, more about them next week.

Cheers Ritz

Benalla on Sunday January 15

It feels for me,….. like a WGC NOT FLOWN in Australia. This weather!!?? But what can you do?
Another cancelled day, though all pilots were sent to the field.
Tasks were set but after a forecast of blue thermals , 1 to 1.5 lift  and postponed first launches,… they all could go back to their swimming pool again and hopefully think about the solution HOW TO AVOID in the future mid airs!
For some who feel a bit scared , very understandable, now another rest-day to relax.
For TC’s and official’s MORE talking to get our beautiful sport SAFE/SAVER!!!

My late blog yesterday was about the glorious win of Stephen O’Donnell on day 5 in 1987. The same Steve who had to bail out yesterday. Thank god for parachutes.
Here is the comment from Steve and a picture they shared.
“As most of you are aware I was involved in a mid air collision on task while racing yesterday. Due to the amazing care and kindness of emergency services and Yerong creek locals, Michael (the German pilot) and I were air lifted from the crash site to Canberra hospital where we are undergoing treatment.

With Michael in bed and Steve on his side.So good to see them smiling!!!

In between Michael’s wife has been flown over from Germany and she will be with him after the operation today, as Michael hopes to be out of hospital tomorrow ….?

As said the expectation for today was VERY blue thermals. You can see on Matthew’s picture that this is true and a wise text for a young man as he is.

“Day scrubbed. Right from briefing you could feel an absence of desire to fly, almost as strongly from the organizers as the pilots.”

Some pictures shared by Robert from how the town Benalla shares the fond feeling for gliding. All of them “adopted”  a country to represent.

    

“and even live-tracking in one of the local pubs.”

————-

Another day at the 55th Nationals in Chile and Jeppe on track from Argentina to Chile.

Task 8 had a 2.30 AAT and the Vidal-show continued! Carlos won with 368 km. in in 2.36 so a nice fast speed of 141.45 km./h.
Rene was faster in his Ventus 2 cxa and flew 455.78 km. in time 3.07; speed 146.08 km./h.
Carlos “got” 841 points , Rene, 823.
all 17 pilots finished!

Sightseeing for Jeppe on his last day.
“Toured this national park towards cerro Tronador. This volcano is on the border with Chile. Again a beautiful drive through the area with lakes and mountains. Caught some wave: this time in the water. Tomorrow back towards Chile via the village of Villa la Angostura and the forrest of Parque Nacional los Arrayanes. Ciao.”
Thanks Jeppe!!!!!!

    

Volcan Tronador at the national park Nahuel Huapi .

———-

Cu later with “old news”
Cheers Ritz

Benalla  some more news from now and the past.
Now; Michael “Michi”  Eisele has send info from his room in the hospital in Canberra where they brought him.
“Hello all, thank you for the best wishes , I am in Hospital in Canberra. Looking at the circumstances I am pretty well.Shinbone fracture due to the landing with the parachute and it will be operated at 9 tomorrow. I hope it works out well and that I can leave the hospital  on Monday again. Thank you to the guardian angels!!!”

Sounds good but still,…….Get well soon Michael and all the best to Dad.

No news as yet from Steve but when I hear something I share it with you.

John Good from Team USA , and former Uvalde WGC vice/deputy competition director is not only a friendly and kind guy, but a wise man as well, at least that is how I know him and it shows in his comment on today as well. His full story is at http://ussoaringteams.org/january-14th/

As shared by team USA.

” I’m not sure how to react to the fact of two midair collisions (one quite serious) in two days of flying.  Every pilot here is both highly experienced and eager to avoid this sort of problem.  Yet, collectively, they are not succeeding.  Various ways to address the gaggling problem get proposed from time to time, including fewer gliders in a class, start schemes that discourage big groups, and scoring rules that better reward individual initiative.

An issue that gets increasing attention is complicated cockpit instrumentation, including displays interesting enough to distract a pilot from looking outside. At least one WGC2017 glider has been spotted with six (!) display screens in its panel.  When these screens can show such things as where nearby gliders are finding the best lift, it’s easy to understand why pilots might like to devote attention to them.  I certainly do not assert that this issue has anything directly to do with today’s accident.  But I do feel our sport must find ways to do better.”

———-

Old times and pictures.

Day 4 and 5 in Benalla in 1987.

Day 4 in 1987; Tropical cyclone Connie in the N. was still bothering the soaring in Benalla and high cloud was supposed to move direction S. On top of that the day was fore-casted as short as an upcoming thick band of Cirrus was around the corner too.Cu’s were expected at 5000 ft and lift would be 4-5 knots.

And off they went for 307 in open, 227 in standard and 258 in 15 m class.Start early or late??? That was the question you would think early.In the end the early starters were the victim as the base was more than 8000 ft. and some ended up in shear wave up to 10.000 ft.
As the tasks were short and the speed high the day was devalued.
Daily winners; Open Ray Linskey with a speed of 144.9 km./h. for 747 points.
In Standard class a Finnish pilot A. Pankka, was best with 142.6 km./h .[ 379 points] BUT,….as I read in Final Glide and I can’t remember that  “ he touched down short of the airport and bounced over the fence and onto the runway, barely crossing the finish line , receiving the largest penalty [50 points] for violating the ground effect rule“.
In 15 m. Werner Meuser, who was so lucky to find the shear wave won the day with Holger as runner up. 142.7 and 142.6 km./h. for 529 and 528 points.

Ray [RIP] such a nice guy!!!!!!

Day 5 in 1987;a bit longer distances a bit better weather and “wave ” again and high tough wind and blue skies. And EVERYBODY wanted to find that wave but not all found it or could reach it.
Open went for 457 km. and George and Dennis flew the first 80 km. between 2000 and 2700 m above the clouds, the 2d leg they were low again.As they flew to the W. spotters were send out to see where the wave was to inform their pilots.Marc Schroeder from France was best with 115 km/h.and Ray and Gabriel had 114.9 and 114.4km./h.
In 15 m. it was most difficult[ with the 314 km.- task NOT to the W,]  to find this wave and in the end 7 pilots landed in a paddock.
Steve O’ Donnell from Australia won the day with 114.5 km./h.
” Pilots gaggled up in the blue and the blue thermals were rough and narrow.Those who started high from the wave leap-frogged to the leading gaggle.Most effective in using this technique was Steve he rode the wave to an 8km.h. win!!”
In standard class the mountain and wave experience from Leonardo  as well as French pilot Alain Delylle helped them to win the day; 102.3 km./h. and 101.5 km./h.

Famous TC from France Jacky “Kiki”  Clairbaux and co pilot in the ASH 25 Didier

More on Sunday.
Cheers Ritz

After Dutch pilot Ronald Termaat, had given and excellent safety briefing earlier,the news, when I started my research this morning hit me. I was called already from Australia too.
After some near misses earlier and a  mid air in 18 m. class  with both pilots landing straight safely,but some “patching up ” had to be done ,..  this is other and official news;
“Due to a midair collision while on task between two gliders in the 15 M Class, the  day for 15 M has been cancelled. Both pilots are accounted for and OK. The pilots involved are Stehpen O’Donnell from Australia and Michale Eisele from Germany. The accident is being investigated and we will issue more information as soon as we are able to. ”
The OK seems to be more or less OK, as I heard that one has a broken leg the other a broken nose, BUT they are ALIVE!!!!

With the “bad” weather and these “incidents”  it feels here for me in cold and snowie Holland, like some bad curse rests on this WGC. And Australia is such a great place to fly and Benalla such a welcoming warm town. But there is another week to go, so let’s hope this week makes us ALL forget what happened.
More official news on Friday the 13th!!
“This was the second no-fly day of this competition due to weather, when we might have expected there to be none except for official rest days at this competition.”
“We now have the potential for five straight task days to come, followed by a mandatory rest day and a possible two further racing days. After three difficult days, (and only two in 18m and 15m classes), a rest day seemed in order.”

So here we go, life continues, so do the comps and the weather was finally good ,[a new air-mass, not so much wind and some high cu’s ] for longer tasks !!
Day 4 on Saturday January 14;
15 m. ; 419 km.……due to the incident the day was cancelled for this class. A normal procedure and not the first time unfortunately. Luckily both pilots are OK, after they bailed out about 160 km. from Benalla.
German pilot Michael’s dad is the TC for Germany and this news must have been a shock for him. I remember how terribly sad Walter was after a mid air during the  Bayreuth WGC , killing one pilot and we as TC’s had to convince him  to continue to be the CD as he was a good one and wanted to give up!!! Never forget that!!
So only 2 days till now in this class but for sure MORE to come with the new cycle!!!
I totally agree with statements from pilots as Sebastian
” It is incredible that for so many years we are not able to change rules to avoid gaggles.”
and Aussie crew Robert;
“Another mid-air today, this time both pilots bailed out and survived. Facebook posts from pilots the last days keep mentioning people are flying like idiots. How the hell can it be possible that that kind of flying isn’t heavily penalised in a world gliding comp? Consensus seems to be that it’s all part of the game.
I don’t think risking your own and others lives is part of any sport, let alone gliding. Stuff that….”

Here is JWGC champion and pilot representing Australia in 15 m. class Mathew Scutter in a very REAL but of course emotional blog:
“(Everyone is ok)

Easily my worst ever day gliding. After a good start, I lost a very expensive bugwiper and one of my wings started leaking badly, but I still managed to keep it rolling and was having an excellent day at the top of the gaggle.

18 m.; task 3,…a 4.30 AAT was set for this class and German pilot Matthias Sturm raced around over 505 km. in time 4.35!! 1000 points in the pocket !!!
Killian was runner up and Mike Young on a 3d spot. Arne was on spot 21.
22 Pilots flew over 100 km./h. Matthias with 110 km./h.
Overall scores after 3 days; 1. Killian [France] with 2895 points, 2. Sean Fidler USA with 2807 and 3. Matthias with 2791. The rest follows with not so much difference.

open class: 557.3 km……task 4
8 JS 1c in the top 10 and an outlanding from Tassilo and an off-day for Michael in the EB 29R maybe due to the hectic , this day, in the team.
So Russell Cheetham won the day with a speed of 116 km./h.
UK pilot Andy was runner up and Aussie pilot Andrew on spot 3.
Only short news from Bruce today:”Horrible blue Benalla day, and there was a mid-air collision. Both pilots are OK, thank heavens. I love this game with all my heart, but I hate it too.”
Bruce finished on spot 5 just behind our Dutch pilot Jeroen Verkuijl who had a good day!!
Good to see Gyorgy flew on day 3 [ he was not scored for a long time] and he was 8 today.
So after 4 days the UK pilots top the overall scores with Russell and Andy [ 2989 and 2986]  and on 3 now Michael Sommer.[2778 and 2773 for Oscar Goudriaan on spot 4]

Carol the TC from South Africa shared the view from Ronald.
“A number of very experienced pilots were far from happy with the near-miss encounters, and at this morning’s briefing Ronald Termaat, one of the safety committee, gave a very good safety briefing with some excellent examples of where the near misses occurred and how close they had been pointing out the risk areas. He ran through some recommendations – entering the thermal from the outside and not from the middle, to fly the same circle as the others or find your own thermal, if leaving the gaggle then leave it, scan the complete field of vision both in flight and in thermals, ensure the Flarm antenna is in the best position and that the Flarm is not switched off, and as we learnt at the last Nationals – try waving to other pilots thus creating an awareness of knowing that the other pilots have been seen and vice versa. One interesting track he showed a glider having left the thermal and flying for approx. 6 km. with a glider closely following him – the pilot apparently never saw him and the pilot had to take avoiding action when the following glider pulled up too close to him.”

Something else now as there is also fun and I need that now.
I better look to one of these funny videos from the NZ team on FB, to cheer me up.They are loved by MANY .
“From dancing with a toy kiwi to getting a bucket of water tipped over him, David has managed to capture the fun of the 2017 World Gliding Championships, attracting thousands of views. ”
These 2 funny NZ guy’s are the weather man from  team NZ, David Hearst and someone who never saw a glider before in his life; Craig Walsh a creative director,who works for a video production company in Auckland. He is there with his business partner Steve Wallace who participates in 15 m. class.
Here is what the WGC media team, shares about David, written by Andrea Johnston [Twitter: @AJairwaves ]
“Given that all I’m doing is blathering on in my usual immature style. Craig’s the one that puts it all together and produces a seamless and professional quality product at the end of it.”
“This week was the first time I ever saw a glider so it’s all very new to me, but the subject matter didn’t really matter, it was more about telling the story of what was happening with the New Zealand pilots,” Craig said.

shared and to be seen on the Gliding New Zealand FB page.
GO,GO,GO guy’s!!!!

——-

Some other news.

There was some confusion over the speed in the message from the FAI , when Tijl Schmelzer was “added” to the list of  FAI records, from Friday, 06 January 2017 09:46.
I shared the news with you, as I was very proud on Tijl.
Here is the correction from the FAI.
“Two years ago, Tijl Schmelzer and his father Bert were the very first to pass the 200 km/h barrier using thermals rather than mountain waves.
Flying a Binder EB28 glider from Kiripotib, Namibia, they broke the African record for speed over a triangular course of 100 km by reaching 205.89 km/h on 6 January 2015.“

Tijl and Bert straight after finishing this fast flight.
Picture courtesy Bert sr.

——-

55th Nationals/Andes Cup in Chile and more South American news.

Task 7; 3.30 AAT,
AH,ouch,…no , not Carlos today he was “only” 4th [LOL], but Rene was the daily winner, so it stays a Vidal- show .Rene flew 433.78 km. in time 3.36. From 18 pilots 13 finished.
The difference in overall scores,   between the 2,with Carlos on top, changed a tiny little bit; from 559 after task 6 to 412 after today’s task.

Jeppe still enjoys Argentina :”Enjoying the day after.
Spent the morning on the Playa Serena which is 10km to the west of town. Nice food as well in the Bahia Serena restaurant. Then to the airfield for preparing the Nimbus of Jean-Marie which will fly on monday towards Chile. Bringing the oxygen bottles to the plane was interesting… Spoke to a local flying hero that built the so called ‘Lenticular’ sailplane in 1972’ish. Only 14 were built. Last flight in 1991. This one is hanging on the wall in the hangar, ready for a big ‘asado’ fire. Just as the clubs Blanik and Jantar. Unfortunately a lot of old days glory here. The future is unclear. Sad to see actually with these extreme good weather conditions around...”

courtesy Jeppe.

By the way from Santa Rosa in Argentina 29 pilots fly the Club class Nationals. See for results www.soaringspot.com 

——

More later or tomorrow as I am a bit off now. but day 4 and 5 from 1987 are waiting too.
Glad Michael and Steve are not badly injured.

Cheers Ritz here one funny daily cartoons by Richard Geytenbeek.

Woke up to a big bang!! Thunder,…in mid winter!!!
In between up to 12 cm. snow in the S and E of Holland here rain and this afternoon wind up to 9 bft.!!!!
Same as in Benalla, but without snow and much higher temperatures!!
A good rest-day and hopefully a fabulous REAL Aussie-weather 2d-week.

——–

BENALLA .

FRIDAY THE !13TH.

“Welcome to 13th January

Day Cancelled. No Briefing today.

Strong winds forecast for after 1200. Please make sure gliders and trailers are secure.”

courtesy Swiss Chris.
AND
The Danish team shared this picture with their pilots at briefing and behind them NZ and Australia

with to the left TC  Ib [Wienberg] who flew and flies often in Tocumwal and knows the area VERY well, explaining to Arne and Jan.

AND

Some pictures from the days before as shared by the organizers.
In fact that “ugly duckie”  is a great-looking toy. I guess the most photographed tug in the world.Great!!!

the Boerje Family from Sweden and the new VENTUS 3.

finishes.

After nearly 1 week the overalls scores look like this;
15 m. ; after 2 days 1. Sebastian Kawa  1590 points…2. Uys Jonker 1540 p. …3. Attie Jonker 1535 p.
18 m.;after 2 days 1. Killian Walbrou [France] 1906,….2.Arne Boye Moeller [Denmark]1901…3. Sean Fiddler [USA] 1898. The first 15 pilots in this class are within 100 points.
open; after 3 days 1. Michael Sommer [Germany] 2030…..2. Tassilo Bode [Germany] 2015,….3. Andy Davis [UK] 2004.

———

ANDES CUP in CHILE

Day 6 and task 6 ….so good!!!!
No chances in”  who is going to win the day”. It was Carlos again who flew 348 km. during a 3 hour AAT. in time 3.02,51.
Rene was runner up again with with 386.45 km. but he needed 3.16,14. On top of that his glider has a higher handicap.
The Andes Cup is till now clearly the “Carlos- and -Rene -show!!!”
All gliders arrived back at Vitacura Airport.

In between Jeppe enjoys the Bariloche in Argentina and flying with Jean Marie to the fullest.
“What can I say: again an incredible flight with Jean-Marie!
Took off at 11:30lt for a 1000+km attempt towards Esquel in the south and then to Zapala Neuequén in the north.
A cold front was nearing so therfore a ‘rather short distance’ planned…
We managed from the local ridge at Nehuel into the first wave.
Crossed the startline and than 9 hours of pure wave flying along the rotors!
Some facts: wind was at a certain point 160km/h, therfor a short groundspeed record of well over 400km/h (previous was 365km/h, 2 years ago with Max Leenders in Douglas).
Most spectacular was the ‘hydraulic jump’ wave that took us to FL280 or 9 kilometers altitude!! Man, man, man… Incredible experience.
TOPFLY: Merci bien!”

Argentinian wave!!”
courtesy Jeppe.

Busy, busy so quickly off to Amsterdam. More in the weekend. Also about day 4 and 5 in 1987.
Cheers Ritz

BENALLA day 4 on Thursday January 12!

At 6.30  this morning, early start Chris! One flag missing,….?????
Courtesy Swiss Chris.

The day started with interesting news from the TC meeting, every day half an hour prior to the pilots meeting.
Here is Carol TC from the South African team and very experienced due to many different WGC’s.
“A team managers’ meeting prior to the briefing this morning dealt with a variety of issues, which included the use of the tracker units, flarm traces, a new fly-tool on-line safety system and if carrying more than two flight recorders the need to register them. There have been some technical problems with some of the tracker units, which are being rectified, but it is the pilots’ responsibility to ensure they are charged every night. The fly-tool safety system is a new on-line programme that can be used to register issues that could be safety related, beneficial to competition organisations, improve safety, and it is aimed to be a data source to assist in the future.
Unfortunately the request to extend the time delay for the trackers when an AAT task is set from 10 minutes to possibly 20 or 30 minutes was not approved. This was a real problem for our pilots on the first day when it was obvious that other teams could see exactly what track our pilots had taken and relayed this information to their own pilots who started later.

Although yesterday’s briefing inferred today would not be so good, it is in fact likely to be a reasonable day with lift up to 5 000 – 6 000 ft. Again south westerly light winds and blue conditions are expected. Thermal strength might not be as strong with 3 – 4 kts. average.
With an expected 1 p.m. take off, tasks are 15m. class 336.9 km. (B 256.3 km), 18m. class 318.3 km. (B 283.5 km), and Open class 288.6 km. (B 259.8 km).”

AND then the response of the VICE PRESIDENT of the IGC another lady this time Marina, who ,as I always say with a big smile “sleeps with annex a” under her pillow;
“The delay of the display CANNOT be 10 minutes, the LP says that it shall be at least 15: 4.1.1.c Carriage of GNSS data transmitters for public displays
The organizers will require competing sailplanes to carry GNSS data transmitters to enable the public display of GNSS flight records during competition flights. Such display will not begin before the start line is opened and the actual positions of the sailplanes shall be displayed with a time delay of at least 15 minutes. This delay may be reduced to zero prior the finish.”
Further on it seems that ” they dropped the “mandatory steering point” at the end of the tasks which forced pilots to fly the final leg straight into the setting sun. This was a real safety problem.”
The sun can be very low inn Australia and totally blinds you, good idea.

Today’s weather shared by Taylor’s Gliding Page.

They flew;task 2 for 15 and 18 m. task 3 for open !
15 started first then 18 m and open. Gliders up in 120 minutes. A- task was valid.

15 m.;336 km…all pilots finished !!! Best were the Jonker Brothers from South Africa in their brand new JS 3 with a relative late start. Uys got the 1000 points Attie 994. All 37 pilots finished! Great result for the Jonker brothers as their gliders are BRAND brand new!!!
Team UK shared the next good news;”
“ 15m class day 2…..
A much better day for Ed and I.
The forecast seemed very optimistic with blue thermals to 4000ft and 3 knot climbs and a sizeable 340km task.
An early start was planned as we were not sure if the task was achievable. The 1st leg ended up being hot and very low, big gaggles and in the words of Howard Jones it was “like a knife fight in a telephone box”.
Half way down the second leg a stubble fire saved the day and launched Ed and I into the front gaggle.
Along with the French we broke away and pushed hard to make the final climb 6kts to 6500ft over the cow farm getting onto glide!
A good day out for all of the team!” 

15 winners from yesterday

 Mac to the r, Sebastian in the middle and Louis to the l.

18 m.; 318 km…. 33 from 42 finished, miserable day for John Coutts  and Giorgio with a 34th and 35th place after an “outlanding”.
Here is Bruce;
“Another blue day, and we decided to leave on our own. Actually we had a nice day, stayed high and never worked any rubbish, and arrived home first. However, the pack who left about 50 minutes behind us clearly had a very fine time, and beat us by a handy margin. Not to worry, we enjoyed ourselves and didn’t have to dodge any fiberglass, unlike the rest of the crowd. Word is that there was a collision in the 18 m class, with both gliders landing safely. I hate gaggles with a passion!”
So do I and I am only at the ground!!!!

18 m.Winners from yesterday.

Killian [1] to the r. Dave in the middle [2] and Arne to the left.

open; 288.6 km…good day for the South Africans,…Oscar won with 134.7 km./h. !!! Good on him. Laurens was 7th this time. Great day too for the UK team with Russell as runner up and Andy on spot 4 behind Sebastian Eder.
All scores preliminary. Hungarian pilot Gyorgy Gulyas did not fly, a pity as he is always good! Don’t know why? And the rest , 34 pilots, finished!!

open class winners from yesterday

Michael to the r. Ricardo in the middle and Tassilo to the l.
All 3 pictures courtesy TEAM UK.

———

AND ,…some more nostalgia,…..back to 1987 with some more pilots from

TEAM ARGENTINA.

Mario [Reynoso] flew in standard class in our glider MM and his crew and with Benalla- hat Mr. Dettone the TC.

AND

TEAM FINLAND.

Open class pilot Raimo Nurminen with his crew.

———-

The Andes Cup day 5.

This time a 3.30 AAT. It was flown by NOBODY !!!! But,….of course there were better pilots than others and no surprise Carlos was the best with 334.88 km. . Runner up was Arturo Diez with 323.40 flying a NIMBUS 4 M and Rene was on spot 3 with 304 km.

In between Jeppe enjoyed a day off , ” with culture” in Argentina and shared some nice pictures.

   

 the view in the Parque Nacional on the famous Lake Nahuel Huapi

——–

Have to rush to Amsterdam now. More tomorrow.
Cu Ritz

WGC Benalla;  Wednesday January 11 2017.

Don’t worry ,….this GREAT picture was from yesterday , where they ,by the way, flew a 1000 k. from Cunderdin in WA.
This picture shows according to the “ugly- tuggy” pilot average skies and a good-looking grid.
He is absolutely right.
Charlies Towing Adventures.

DAY 3; January 11 2017. Task 1 for 15 and 18 m…task 2 for open

Finally all pilots went up in the air on a blue, very blue day. Tuggies managed to launch all 115 pilots in 85 minutes.
After postponed starts,which cost time,  a C task [shorter] was  the task to fly, hence later opening from the start-line.
As the SA TC said; “The tasks were changed on the grid to Task B and then the Team Managers had no longer signed for this change, than the organisation announced that they would be changing to Task C.”
In the end they had to fly 206 in 15 m. ,282 in 18 m and 256 km. in open class.
Then the huge start for Joy and Tim Shirley,  “doing ” the scores and verifying. As long as I know them, they do this very consequent/strict  and reliable. Very nice and dedicated people.

15 m.;start-line open  at 4.02 !!!Sebastian started at 4.27 PM, nearly “evening” but what you can you do? He finished at 6.34 PM, so a speed of 97.59 km./h. They all started with in half an hour. In the end Sebastian [Diana 2] was the best and won the day with Mac as runner up. Mac [Ventus 2 a] started at the same time , finished 5 minutes later. The new JS 3 with brothers Attie and Uys finished on spot 3 [shared with Louis ASG 29, from France] and 5.
All scores preliminary and 2 pilots were not scored yet.

Sebastian shared this great picture on FB.

18m.;start-line opened at 3.10 PM. Killian Walbrou flew around in his JS 1 with a speed of 95.4 km./h which says enough of the day. Runner up Canadian pilot Dave Springford in ASG 29e; 95.2 same as Arne Boye Moeller.
The new VENTUS 3 was on spot 4 [Boerje] and 6.[Steve]
The first 22 pilots from 42, were still in the 900 points-margin.
Adomas Grabskis from Lithuania was only 4 k out!!!!John Coutts [NZ] 16 k.
Chinese pilot Guangwei Shang did remarkably well on spot 32 just behind Giorgio. He started very early at 3.11 PM straight after opening.
The last finishing pilot arrived a 7.41 PM..

open; 3.30 opened the start-line so rather late but they got a small task. A for me rather unexpected winner..Ricardo,. NOT that he is not good,.. we all know he is as well as very experienced and with the call sign LEO on his tail he surely flies with inspiration of his dad Leo[nardo],  but you would expect every day EB 29 R on top. Good that this is not happening, otherwise it would be boring.
Ricardo [ JS 1/21 m.] started at 3.59 , that was 6 minutes earlier than Michael and Tassilo in their big flying machines. They were runner up. Speed 107 for 105 km./h. for the runners up.
3 Pilots did not finish, they were between 10 and 15 km. short; one was my South African friend Laurens , who started the engine, the other Dutch mate Mark and the  Chinese pilot Peng Du .
They flew over Tocumwal in a big gaggle,  not that high and the 2 EB 29’s were the first to continue I heard.
A tough final glide!!!!
Anita Taylor mentioned;
” Bruce almost outlanded!!! Had the engine on standby…. almost had to fire it up. So lucky to get home ok!!!! Phew”
He was in on spot 22.

VERY blue skies also over Tocumwal.
picture [i-phone] courtesy George.

Ann Ducarouge is two times Women’s World Gliding Champion, one of three current world champions on the French Team this year in Benalla.
She flies in 15 m. class in an ASG 29 with call sign EW. On the IGC ranking list she is on spot 64. Her team mate in this class Louis Bouderlique flies the same glider but with FB. He is actually on a 4th spot on the IGC list.
There is a nice video with her and Lisa [Turner] on;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdpsrFSXVrs
Today she finished on spot 21.

In between very serious and interesting discussions between the best glider manufacturers in the world.

With Thilo Holighaus, Uys Jonker, MR. Gerhard Waibel, Dr. Loek Boermans and  Oliver Binder.
Picture shared by Tim Bromhead.

——

In between still great last days in Namibia.

The high season is there between half of November and half of January , before and a bit later you still can fly too but there are more chances for storms.
They had another FABULOUS year from all places, Bitterwasser, Kiripotib, Pokweni and Veronica, lot’s of excellent flights have been flown.Still now ,….as yesterday 3 pilots ,[ counting the 2 seater pilots 5] , flew over 1.374 km.One pilot even in a VENTUS 2CM/18m.
The ANTARES 23 flown by Austrian top pilot Peter Hartmann flew over 1.200 and the Antares 20 with our former guest Roy from Lasham 1.123 km while is Lashem mate Patrick flew over 1000 in the Shark,…HPH 304 S.

——–

The Andes CUP.

Day 4;with a 4 hour AAT. Carlos Rocca Vidal is a “hero”  he was the only pilot who finished and flew 534.88 km. in time 4.28. So not as easy a day as expected and hoped for. Several pilots flew distances up to over 400 km.
Rene flew 350 km. and did not finish so he lost a” few” points; nearly 400 on Carlos.
Overall scores after 4 days; Carlos 3.605 and Rene 3.146.
Still a few days to go so a lot possible!!!!

AND,….Jeppe moved on as said before here is his story:
“Another great adventure. Today started at 06:00 in Osorno, Chile. Driving towards Argentina on one of the most beautiful routes I have ever seen: tropic plants, cows in meadows like Dutch master paintings and waterfalls all over!!
People: go here on a holiday!
Crossing the border took a while, but then arriving at Bariloche gliderport, Nahuel Huapi, was a reward. Flew almost 8 hours and 600+km with Jean-Marie Clément in his Nimbus 4DM.
The wave expert showed the surroundings from Esquel to Chapelco. All wave between 3 and 7km height. Saw Klaus Ohlmann flying by for a 2000+km flight…
Now to sleep. Those vulcano’s!!!”
It sounds…. he cannot sleep from excitement!!!! Klaus flew by the way 2.179 km.

      

    

courtesy Jeppe.

———–

Some shots from 1987. Enjoy!

Ray [Lynsky] with Gerrit
and
Kees and Gretha.

AND

crew from the Yougo Slavian team Boris  with Gerrit.

Look at this; one morning Boris knocked on the door; ” The car and trailer are for total no use“!!!!!!
They had an accident with their rented AVIS-car and OUR trailer from the MM.

Enough nostalgia for today more next time
Back in the weekend, busy for the next [most probably]  2 days, if not back on Friday.
Keep following all the news and scores on other sites!!!
Cheers Ritz