Benalla flying day 1 ??!! January 10 2017.
For open class only.

Courtesy Swiss Chris. His glider upfront flown by Fridolin. The maggies “check” the quality of the covers.

There was good hope and that says enough too. But in vain. I got a call in the early morning; foggy in Tocumwal,…no good! Never ever saw fog in mid summer in 25 years. So anxious to see what was happening in Benalla. LOW clouds there as well…
They tried hard as you can see!!!!ALL gliders on the grid.
But also messages “First launch delayed till 13.30 task B 248km for 15 m.”
AND….No flying for 15 and 18 m. they ran out of time  , cancelled at 2 PM..and open……..

As shared by team USA.

AND,.. YES,…..open class flew a small 2 hour AAT but they flew, task C disappeared with the pilots in the glider!!!! With such gliders you can “Soar” in nearly nothing!!!
After all pilots from the other 2 classes had removed their gliders, the tuggies launched the ” big wings ” and the start gate opened at 3.40 PM.
So the first [preliminary] scores are there as well.
A good day for team Germany with Michael winning and Tassilo as runner up both in EB 29R, which is for the first time in Australia, starting rather late at 4.07 . Their mate Stephan Beck was on 5 in the EB 28.
Michael mentioned in an interview ….The performance in low speed and medium speed will be unbeatable. The full interview with him and Oliver Binder ,family from Walter [his uncle] is on ;https://youtu.be/fiI–frRIg4
Also team UK did well with Andy on spot 3 and Russell at 4.They started a bit earlier at 3.56.
Not too many points lost or won; 675 for Michael  for 282 km. in time 2.11 and most pilots were between 400 and 500 . But still…..
Mind you in 1987 the weather was also “different” than normal and on the last days they flew in open , tasks from 842 km !!!!Weather cycles come and go and are “nice ” in the beginning and good in the end.Hope the normal cycles start again!!!
2 Outlandings one from Swedish pilot Owe Engstroem after 221 km. and Chinese pilot Peng Du started at 4.18 and  flew 6 km. for 6 points. For them PR for flying in China is more important ,as they don’t have a lot of high-class-competition rhythm.
A first day with more illusions and hope and for some huge disillusions.

For the full scores have a look at http://www.soaringspot.com or at the WGC site under results.[http://www.wgc2017.com/] on this last link you can follow the pilots via a tracking system as well.Every country has his own tracker and the delay is 10 minutes.

Today’s winner  in the EB 29 R. This glider is for the first time in Australia like the JS 3 and Ventus 3.
As shared by the organizers.

Bruce’s opinion on task 1 in open class;
“Day 1 for the Open class today. We woke to total overcast, and despite forecasts to the contrary, it took a very long time to warm up and get going. Eventually the directors canned the 15m and 18m classes, and we were given Task C, which was a 2 hour AAT to the north-west, then north-east and home. Such short tasks are fraught with possibilities to fall off the bottom of the list, and I guess we avoided that pitfall. However, we made a couple of mistakes which cost some time and distance, and for me the day was a bit frustrating. To begin with things were very soft, but by the time we got north of the Murray and into NSW the sky had fired up and we were using 5-6 knots to a maximum of more than 6,000 feet. Coming home was not so bad, and a timely deviation gave us a good climb onto final glide. I think the winners started about 20 mins behind us, and were more disciplined in their use of the day.
More to come tomorrow. Hopefully we are finished with the poor weather for some days and everyone will get to fly.“

———-

After the “normal latest-news” procedure ,I want to tell you about a few man who are pretty important during a WGC.
Together with the CD Terry, they more or less make it all possible for the pilots.
The officials  ….and they are:
Chief Steward Renato Tsukamoto [Japan]
Steward Rob Moore [Australia]
Jury President Rick Sheppe [USA]
Jury Member Bob Bickers [UK]

Rob Moore was THE man behind the idea/creation of an FM radio Station 3WGC in 1987. Now we broadcast  all relevant info, via social media ,by the official WGC web-site,[ http://www.wgc2017.com] sms , tweet or what’s app. THEN  in 1987 the pilot info, grid order, launch times, tasks and live interviews were shared daily on paper and on this station. As said in the last blog, Dennis was part of live broadcasts from the air.
Many of the interviews by Rob were published as well in the Brown Brothers Daily Bulletin.

     

and

as you can see we visited as well.

With Giep [Fransen]and Gerrit [Kurstjens],Kees [Musters] and Bruce [Brockhoff] ,Janet [Hider Smith RIP]  Gretha[Musters]  and Daan [Pare].

In the ..1987…practice week…….

Klaus [Holighaus] RIP helped both George and Kees with new turbulatoren- tape under the wings from the Ventus A and Nimbus 3D.

and

Klaus flew with George in his “own’glider” to check the result.Brigitte [Holighaus]wisely smiles.Now, in 2017,  their son and new Schempp-Hirth- “boss” ,Thilo is in Benalla as well!!!

AND

we “girls ” , Brigitte and I,just had fun.

AND
son Thilo arrived NOW, as well in Benalla.

——–

The 55th Nationals in Chile flown in the Andes.

With all the time differences, it’s pretty difficult to cover everything in ONE blog, but I try.
Will be busy  tomorrow and the next days, hence less news, but I’ll make it up in the weekend. On top of that Jeppe leaves Chile and travels on to Argentina, so no actual news but no worries I can handle that too;
Last words from Jeppe in Chile;”What a flight. Upto 4500m msl in the Andes on the Arcus. Great day and even better flying with Phil Sturley.Hope to e back one day. Club de planeadores Santiago: mucho graciàs!”
Thanks Jeppe and have fun with Jean Marie Clement in San Carlos de Bariloche.

     

Day 3;
A 2.30 AAT was set and flown by all 17 pilots. A 2d win for Carlos as he flew 352 km. in time 2.54, so a speed of 121 km./h.
Rene was runner up again and as the best Chilean pilots ” they do their work” as expected till now.
After 3 days Carlos has 2.605 points and Rene 2543,  the number 3 2.206 !

Courtesy Jeppe

more tomorrow but later.
Cheers Ritz

BENALLA……WGC day 1.

  

The weather map says it all. Indeed rain! On top on map 1 you see Tocumwal, just above the rain and 70 km. South is Benalla.
What a pity!!!! BUT,…there is hope for tomorrow.

“Overcast, with intermittent rain. The day is cancelled for all classes, and we look forward to tomorrow.”
Picture shared by Giorgio.

No grid before briefing and “sitting in the rain”; not really the weather from the days before, but one has to deal with what happens.
In 1987 the first couple of days were not blessed with REAL Aussie weather , but on those 3 days they still could fly between 227 and 556 km. I remember what my friends said; “boots , pullovers and jackets in January , that never happens.”  It did as you can see.

   

With George, Adrian and time mates still now,… Tony[Tabart] ,Bruce [Brockhoff]…. and Sue [Kirkwood]

As there is no flying,…. here are some nice things to know from 1987;
—–The Chinese pilots do NOT participate for the first time. Indeed they did not fly for a long time at WGC’s but in 1987 they were FOR SURE there!!!!
Mr Wang flew in an LS 4 in Standard class and finished after 12 days on spot 42.
This year 2 pilots fly , Mr. Peng Du in the ARCUS M, the first Chinese owned one and Mr. Guangwei Shang in an ASW 28/18 m.
I met them last year in Tocumwal where their Arcus and ASW 28 were stationed for a while.

—– 2 seaters were allowed in open class in 1987 for the first time. With 2 ASH 25’s and one prototype of the Nimbus 3d, they attracted quite some spectators. The ASH 25 was flown by Janusz Centka from Poland and for France , Gabriel Chenevoy with Didier Hauss in the backseat and Holland participated with George and Dennis Schuit the first father/son combination.

THE ASH 25 from Poland with Janusz and his team manager in the back seat. In my book with the picture, is written that he had to be the 2d pilot as no other pilot with a Polish passport was available ……..Interesting,…as I personally organized a Discus [from our friend Bruce Brockhoff] for Polish pilot Stan Witek. Even collected money for his tows. Maybe in hindsight he could have flown with Janusz in the ASH 25?????

Gabriel and Didier in the French ASH 25.

AND

George and Dennis in the protype of the Nimbus 3D.

On the backside of  Eric Mozer’s magazine they shared the GOOD FINISH AWARDS.
Here is the story about George and Dennis;
“The Thrill of a lifetime award goes to the father and son team George and Dennis Schuit of the Netherlands. They had the unforgettable experience of flying together in the NIMBUS 3D for a World Champion’s FIRST.
While his father flew, Dennis navigated, did calculations, acted as spotter and did LIVEBROADCASTS to the public on radio station 3WGC while flying tasks.”

More tomorrow and I hope fresh 2017-racing news!!!

———-

 

55th NATIONALS in Chile!!

Here is also for you the OGN link; http://ogn.planeadores.cl

Day 2… it’s handy to have somebody there with all info and it is even more handy to have “what’s app” !!!!
So thanks to Jeppe you have here the task for day 2 a racing task from 327.5 km.,pictures and extra info!!

courtesy Jeppe.

    

Also more info as the competition director mister Alfonso Soto, explains how the rivers run, at the Norderly TP. ready to go.

Day 2 according to Jeppe was a great day and all finishing pilots flew over a 100km./h speed. The 327 km. task was flown fast by Carlos Rocca Vidal and this time Rene was runner up. The same name Vidal and I never knew if they were family. Now I know. NO there are many Vidal’s in Chile as it is a quite common name.
Carlos with handicap 114 flew around with a speed of 151.10 km./h. while Rene was faster with 154.48 km./h. but he/his glider has handicap 119.
Only one outlanding after 257 km.
Jeppe flew in the ARCUS back seat and he shared these pictures .

    

Beautiful Chile seen from the air!!!
Courtesy Jeppe.

The daily winners.

Rene Vidal [2] Carlos Rocca Vidal [1] Alejandro Chanes,[3] with  139.86 km./h.
Courtesy Jeppe, who flew with Phil to a 10th spot.

———

More tomorrow!

Cheers Ritz

While we are sitting in the cold,with  freezing rain and wet snow, causing more than 500 accidents on ONE day,[1 driver killed]  the pilots in Benalla had a day to take care of the last items, before going to the opening ceremony in the big garden from the Benalla Art Gallery  at 5. The gallery is on a beautiful spot on the side of the town and you pass all shops/restaurants in the main street,  when you drive to it.
By the way the Eastern part of Europe was worse. People were killed by the cold and temperatures up to 38 dgr. MINUS in several parts of Eastern Europe.
AND,.. even Kreta and the most  S. part of Italy had snow!!!!

———-

Benalla 2017 opening.

“Welcome to our gliding friends from all over our globe. You are most welcome!
Go well, have fun, stay safe and most importantly, ENJOY!!!”

This  welcome from Aussie Bruce Taylor on  FB and on his Taylor’s Gliding Page, is a REAL welcome. For all pictures from the opening you can visit his page. I selected a few. Only the pilots and TC were allowed in the parade.

BELGIUM.

CANADA.

ITALY.

THE UK.

FRANCE.

USA.

Holland/ THE NETHERLANDS.

JAPAN.

.

SOUTH AFRICA.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST
GERMANY.

It was hot about 40 dgr. and it seems as I heard from locals,  that they will start with some rain on Monday. Hope not!

Some TEAM pictures !!!

Team AUSTRALIA with Ingo in the middle.
Picture by Steve’s 2017 World Title Campaign.

Italy
with Stefano, Giorgio, Alberto, Ricardo , ?? Thomas and Luciano.
as shared by Giorgio.

The French team
with the only female pilot Ann in the middle and well know TC .
as shared by the team.

Team Denmark
with Arne and Jan and TC Ib.
As shared by Arne.

TEAM SWEDEN.

As shared by Owe Engstroem.

POLAND.

As shared by Sebastian Kawa.

Team HOLLAND.

It’s a bit of a “vague ” picture but that’s all I could find. And I cannot miss out on the Dutch!!
As shared by Team Holland.

———

The ANDES OPEN
flown from Vitacura.

There is more soaring in the world. One of my Dutch friends Jeppe is in Santiago de Chile on his way to fly next week at San Carlos de Bariloche with TOP PILOT Jean -Marie Clement.
In Vitacura they fly at this stage, the 55th version of these Nationals; the Andes open .
Of course the Vidal’s fly as well as 29 other pilots in 2 classes.
On the practice day on the 6th Carlos Rocca Vidal [Ventus 2] straight away left his “business card” with 502 km. during a 3 hour AAT. with a speed of 121 km./h.
Rene was a bit unlucky he flew 403 km. but did not finish…better then, than on day 1.
I got some pictures from the Andes Cup, from their first day on January 7, so”  fresh from the press”. Here you are:

         

Briefing and task 1 and tuggy ready.

and the first flying!!

Flying day 1 with a 3.45 AAT was for the Vidals. Rene [Ventus 2 cxa] won with 473 km. in time 4.22 and Carlos [Ventus 2] was just behind him with 466 km. in time 4.41. In points the difference was 26.
Only 6 from 17 finished.
Jeppe was so lucky to get a flight in a 2-seater  and even got a rating for the Blanik.
Here are some  shots from the air as well,so for us who never come there , a bit of an idea and for some who think of flying there a preview. Thanks Jeppe, very clear and interesting pictures. Santiago with 7.000.000 million inhabitants.

the airport “in the middle” of town.
Courtesy Jeppe.

courtesy Jeppe

Today he hoped for another flight maybe even in the [Swiss] ARCUS, who knows? More tomorrow also about day 2.

By the way,…..a German pilot flying in Argentina from Zapala Neuquen,  flew in his ANTARES 23, an 856 km. flight with a speed of 183.66 km. /h.
Argentina “rocks”.

——–

Some nostalgia again.
BACK TO THE PAST.

TEAM UK in 1987 with a fabulous brochure .

Amazing good brochure!!!

AND UK crew then,….. now pilot , Mike Young with Dennis.

 and Swedish pilot Ake Pattersson.

Enough for today more tomorrow.

Cheers Ritz

BENALLA WGC 20017.

Today we start with new , as that will be the set up for the rest of the blogs! Hope you liked the 30 year old pictures, more to follow ,but it is a time consuming job, scanning them on the right resolution etc.

IT’S HOT DOWNUNDER 37 dgr. C.
Must be a great real Aussie feeling after all the wind and rain!!

     

You would say think that South African pilots are used to the heat??!! They look overheated even in the shade of the trailer.
Pictures shared by the SA team.

So day 3 was on with hot temperatures 37 dgr. C  and a base of 3300 m. Good tasks again,  but it looked better than it was it shows in the end, as there were many  [virtual] outlandings!! Some said ;” A 1000 for pilots not competing”. But I looked at the OLC and no 1000 km. but a great day anyhow as from Tocumwal Lumpy Paterson [HPH 304 SHARK] flew 768 km. ,…his first 750 FAI triangle, after 20 years in gliding ,so congratulations to him. There is not always time for soaring, as we all  know!!!!

In open class, 536.49 km. was set and only 7 finished and toppers were “au vache”, virtual or real. Still all practice, better now than next week.  New daily winners as Lucasz Wojcik from Poland and Jim Acketoft from Sweden . Ricardo was 3d.
The 2 Aussies finished  and 1 USA pilot Mike Robison, last added to the team . The other, Bill Gawthrop  just missed out after 488 km.
The best speed in this class was 127 km./h.
Bruce mentioned on his Taylors Gliding Page ;
“Last official practice day, and another day of two parts. The first part was going south into the hills, which was pretty horrible. There was nothing happening in there, and I had no trouble convincing Andrew that there was no need for heroics. I flew back out onto the flat, clawed my way up out of the trees, and then we found another way to continue the task, going the long way around. The second part was the rest of the flight, during which we flew quite fast under some nice cu. The forecast was for mostly blue, but we were quite pleased that this was incorrect, and we worked climbs of 7-8 knots to more than 10,000 feet. Heavy cirrus overcast from the approaching front made the last leg a bit slower with some big deviations, but it was reasonably straightforward.
So, opening ceremony tomorrow, then we begin. The photos are of the general weather view on track, and my team mate Andrew Georgeson on final glide.“

     

Pictures shared by Bruce. Both he and Andrew finished.

18 M. class 517.21 km.; a great day for the Czech team with Roman [Mracek] and Petr [Svoboda] flying around with a speed of 150 km./h in their ASG 29.NZ pilot John Coutts missed out on a fraction [ 148.98 for 148.93]
Petr worked in the past as tuggy for Sportaviation and did some soaring as well so you can call him experienced in this area!! Nice fellow!At the closing ceremony last year we were neighbors.
Not all flew but practice shows it’s importance as some start TOO early, or have no valid start, some miss TP’s and that costs!!!!

15 m. got 488 km.;and Finnish pilot Hannu Halonen won the last practice day[speed 132.54 km./h. in his class closely followed by Dutch pilot Ronald Termaat. Their mates Timo [Fin] and Alfred Paul [Dutch] were on spot 5 and 4, with JWGC junior champion Matthew on spot 3.
One of the 8 finishers was USA pilot Erik who had a bit of a difficult day.
Paul Weeden shared this post from 15 m. USA pilot Erik Nelson [5 E] :”Super crew Noah Reiter, Dave Weaver, and Paul Weeden were at their best today, handling our poorly timed flat tire at peak heat (car was reading 37 C), on the runway, surrounded by a plague of flies. Just phenomenal work under very hard conditions–I can’t thank them enough for getting me airborne in time to enjoy a fun, high-yield day of racing and pair flying practice with XC. Thanks also to the crowd of fellow pilots who so happily helped lift our maximally ballasted glider multiple times–what a privilege to be part of this team and this wonderful sport.”

    

Hardworking crew!
As shared by team USA.

——–

So opening tomorrow, wonder if there will be an Aboriginal show again, was very spectacular last time, which brings me back to the 20thiest WGC in 1987.

Something went wrong,… a bit too much space no worries!!
A briefing in 1987. A full page from my book.

Briefing room with Argentinian pilots Rolf Hossinger and Marion Reynoso , who flew our Discus B MM and Belgium pilots Henri Stouffs and Paul Bougard
AND
2 d picture the Dutch team with upfront our son  Dennis and Gerrit and still  at the table Daan, Baer and TC Giep ]Fransen] .

AND
fun in the Mountains on a non flying day.

With our daughter Inge and other team members we visited Mount Buffalo, more specially the jump base for hang glider pilots.

Some other pilots. More of them  tomorrow.
George Lee  representing HongKong.

and
the only female pilot Eva Darocy from Hungary with team captain /coach and former WGC pilot; Sandor Pap.

CU tomorrow.

Cheers Ritz

Benalla now and then !

The Opening from this WGC will be on Sunday the 8th. How was the openingceremony in 1987??
Here are some pictures  from the event ….Enjoy!!

Team Germany.
With Klaus and Bruno upfront….and Ernst Gernot Peter [RIP] Holger Back, Werner Meuser, Erwin Sommer and Reinhard Schramme.

Team USA.
With the 5 pilots upfront behind the Stars and Stripes

With Doug Jacobs, John Bird, Herbie [Eric] Mozer, Michael Opitz and Ray Gimmey.

Argentina .

with Mr. Dettone and Mr. Rolf Hossinger.

Denmark .

With Stig Oeye upfront , and  Jan Andersen in the middle. Behind them the Finnish team in their swift suits.

Belgium.

Henri behind the flag from his son and Paul Bourgard and more Stouffs.

The Netherlands.

Sorry not scanned very well, still learning, but these areDennis and Kees, Daan and Baer, George and Gipe, Gretha Musters and Gerrit Ritz and Inge

When I read back about day 3 in 1987 I noticed , that  storms and tropical cyclones up N.influenced the first days,like this year. They  created high cirrus, but that should disappear. So pilots decided to look how this cirrus would behave before starting.
More up North the direction they had to go to, conditions improved but only for st class as they had a flat triangle and could stay in the blue with good conditions.Open and 15 m. pilots met solid overcast!!
Still a speed of 122 km.h. over 438 km. in open class, for Bruno Gantenbrink [Germany] who won the day ahead of George Lee [Hong Kong]and Janusz Centka [Poland]
15 m. class had on day 3 the winner who would become WORLD CHAMPION in the end Brian Spreckley. With a speed of 107 km./h he flew over the 392 km. with Doug as runner up and Giorgio [Galetto] from Italy as number 3.
How would Giorgio fly this year???
Standard class went for 314 km. and Erwin Sommer flew fast with 109.5 km. p/h. Leonardo finished as number 5. What will his son Ricardo do now???

Brian in 1987!!Always relaxed, having a beer with his mates [I joined in many times with Kees and George as well as Herbie]  in the evening and flying better every day!

———–

Back to Official practice day 2 on January 6.

First the skies and action  from practice-day 1 as seen by Swiss Chris.

and the skies on day 2.Quite a difference is n’t it? So was the task.

Courtesy Swiss Chris.

Another EXCITING practice day. Hope this weather holds ,  during the REAL competition.
610 km. On the menu for the open class boys. All the way to the W and SW.
The South African brothers Oscar and Laurens,  started at 2.08 , the German mates , Michael and Tassilo at 2.24. After the finish,  3 of them flew with a speed of 162 km./h. and Laurens as number 4 with 159.52. km./h. REAL good practice.
Bruce who was 11 th, mentioned in his blog:
“There were some good climbs around today. The averager was sitting on 13.5 knots as I arrived at cloudbase. We did about 615 km and the winning speed was 163. That is smoking! I was about 10 kph slower, but it was still good fun!”
In 18 m. with 3 VENTUS 3 T  gliders , pilots had to go for 581.44 km. and we noticed 2 of those new “toys” on top; Boerje Ericson from Sweden [152.10 km./h.] and Wolfgang Janowitsch.[ 150.45 km./h.] An” old”  VENTUS with Wolfgangs mate Andy was on 3.
The 3d VENTUS 3T, with UK pilot Steve Jones was on a shared spot 6. That opens perspective!!!

“Flew in beautiful Benalla conditions. The Ventus 3 performs very well and is a dream to fly.” Boerje.

In 15 m.  a task of 496 k. was set and the French, Louis [ASG 29]and Guillaume, [Ventus 2ax]  did a good job both with 138 km./h. Mac [Ventus 2a] was on 3 , he started late at 2.40 while most of the pilots started around 2.25.[147.82 km./h]
The French were happily AND comfortably waiting for their pilots .

   

With Eric Napoleon, TOP TC.

In all classes not all pilots were scored.

The whole area had superb weather. From both Tocumwal and Corowa a 1000 was flown and task setter Tobias flew himself as well and flew from Benalla, 887 in an LS 4 to proof his forecast, though he flew to the N- NW.
The 49  places  from 50, on the OLC before the rest of the world added their flights, showed NO flight UNDER 500 km.!! So outstanding weather.
Ben Loxton a top young pilot flew from Raywood in a St. Cirrus 757 km.and Brian Du Rieu from Temora in his 18 m./LS 10 a distance from 944 km. Bernie Sizer in a PIK 20 b flew from Tocumwal 800 km. [874 FAI] and Rolf Buelter a nice 887 [854 FAI] in a Jantar 19m. The yearly Geelong Camp at Toc is very succesful!!!Good weather!!!

———-

More news tomorrow  more pictures and practice-day 3.
Cheers Ritz

Back for a moment to 1987!!!!
The history,…. out of my mind,…. all documents I kept, ….many pictures with stories so I could recall better and…. the complimentary first issue from GOOD FINISH from Eric “Herbie”  Moser.

What was my role in 1987? More or less assistant of TC Giep. George and I visited Tocumwal already from 1984 onwards, so I knew a bit about the people and the Aussie habits.

I organized the shipping,[Ned Loyd]  organized facilities to sleep and eat in Tocumwal in the practice period, organized the team clothing [Mc Gregor] and helped crewing were necessary.
Our proud Dutch team ;
Baer Selen, Kees Musters, [RIP] Gerrit Kurstjens,Daan Pare and George Schuit with co pilot Dennis Schuit. [RIP] [not on this picture]

The TEAM in Mc Gregor clothing. George,  TC Giep, Gerrit, Daan, Kees and Baer.
Kees and Baer and we lived at that time in Alphen aan den Rijn. For that reason; great coverage in the papers.

AND
the Camping area in Tocumwal where we were ALL together.

Baer, Gerrit, crew from Daan.. Piet [ RIP]and Daan.

Pictures scanned by my grandson Dexter.

AND

the big event for about 50 overseas guests in Tocumwal;
THE TOOLSHED OPENING PARTY
at Bruce Brockhoff’s caravan just before we all left for Benalla.
Bruce will be at the prize giving this year.

With Polish pilot Stan Witek[RIP] Robin Riley, Ad Schuit brother and crew from George and Dennis in front of the caravan we bought later from Bruce.

With Finnish TC Tapio Savolainen [RIP] His teams always were best dressed!!!! ” Both a bit “drunk” in front of the tool-shed.

The first 2 days of flying in Benalla 1987.

On day 1 on January 19 1987, the forecast was for a good day with tasks fitting this forecast, between 437 and 556 km. Mind you gliders were long not as good as they are now,  same story for the instruments and there were NO mobile phones!!
The wind however, was stronger than expected. Some stayed for an hour over the field waiting -in-hope for the conditions to improve and a few managed to catch wave up to 10.000 ft. the max allowed height.The first leg was a struggle and many outlanded. A bad start for some very good pilots at this WGC.
BUT…… 4 pilots managed to finish, all in open class. Ingo, [999 points], Ray [Lynskey  983….RIP], Marc [Schroeder 962] and  Gabriel [Chenevoy 949…RIP]
A new WGC  record was set; 104 outlandings.
In 15 m. class Doug Jacobs was the winner for the 1000 points , with Gilles Navas from France as runner up [975] and in Standard class Leonardo Brigliadori [RIP] before Mike Opitz and Reinhard Schramme.[1000…995…994…and 992 for Andy Pybus from Australia]
By the way;… Ricardo Brigliadori, Leo’s son flies the WGC now!!!

On January 20 1987 , everybody,[ except a few] , was TIRED!!!
Here a fragment from Eric Mozers Magazine GOOD FINISH written after the comps, Eric flew in 15 m. class in a VENTUS A;
” Some very tired pilots and crews arrived at the briefing hall on Monday morning.The first days tasks had been flown over sparsely populated terrain and many pilots learned the joys of the outback while looking for the elusive telephone.
David Innes of Guernsey landed his Nimbus 3 near Swan Hill late in the afternoon.
After 5 hours of walking, he finally found a house at 1.30 AM and woke the occupants.The startled farmer turned into a gracious host and allowed him to call his crew.
After an all-night retrieve and drive to Benalla, he arrived just minutes prior to the 10 AM briefing”

So day 2 had short tasks up N.[ 250 and 260 km.]  Again,..the weather was less than forecasted, the wind picked up again , thermals were difficult to find and to center.
In open class Ray Gimmey, George Lee and Bruno Gantenbrink were the toppers.
In 15 m. class Henri Stouffs [Belgium RIP] ..yes father of Patrick,…and Ake Paterson [Sweden] shared the honors;2 [999 ]and 1 [1000] ,…whilst Dutch pilot Daan Pare was 3d.[987]
In Standard class UK pilot Chris Garton won the day, just ahead of Andy who flies this WGC as well and Andy Pybus from Australia.

A picture from a picture with Henri Stouffs and Hannes Linke.

Another excerpt from Eric’s GOOD FINISH.
“The pilot with the worst luck on day 2 was Stanislaw Zientek from Poland.The entire Polish team was competing in Benalla on a shoestring.The team had not enough cars to retrieve all their pilots on day 1 so Zientek, who landed near Bendigo, was forced to stay overnight in a country pub. His crew reached him and the DG 300 at 11 AM quickly de-rigged the glider and hit the road for the 2 hour drive back to Benalla.
Though he missed already the briefing he still hoped he could fly on day 2. Half way back disaster struck. A tire blew causing the car and trailer to begin swerving.
The trailer jack-knifed and the car rolled 3 times and came to rest on it’s roof in the middle of the road.
Zientek and his crew miraculous escaped injury and crawled from the car. The car was totally destroyed but the glider had not been damaged. Unfortunately the brave Zientek was not able to fly on day 2.”
So ZERO points for him, but he did not gave up and his overall score after 11 days for him , was 27 from 44. Good on him !!!

More news, scores,  facts and interesting stories in my next blog.

Back to 2017!!!
On January 5 till 7 the official training started with tasks and scores, everybody will be able to check how it works. As I said before the weather can be TOP in Benalla but a bit more N, to the outback it mostly is better. Some flew over 600 km.on the last unofficial practice day. The weather to the N.West was best.
So when you have a flight up N, you still have to go back in the evening when you have passed the Victorian and NSW border over good land-able areas , but the lift might be less or gone.
Also again,…the “BLUE” can be better/stronger than cu’s!!

What happened on the first official practice day ? Well,….the German , UK and Dutch teams were “on the GO” and how!!!! The weather was not as good as the day before with possible thunderstorms in the end of the day,  but quite good distances were flown and HUGE speed.
In open class the official  practice day showed a 2.30 AAT  and the German pilots Michael and Tassilo in their “big machines” [EB 29 R]  had a great day. Look at the speed;163.70 and 162.27 km./h. over 425 and 408 km.
The UK pilots had a top day too.Russell settled in , in his JS1 C,  between the German pilots with a speed of 163.22 km./h. And Andy was on spot 4 with 159.12 km./h.
WOW!!!Not bad practice  .
In 18 m. also a 2.30 AAT and again the German team was ready to go for it. Mario and Matthias flew 404 and 395 km with a speed of 162 and 159 km./h. !!!!! French pilot Killian Walbrou was number 3 .
A 3 hour AAT for 15 m. and my Dutch friends did so WELL!!!!On spot 1 and 3; Ronald and Alfred Paul, good on you guy’s. Speed 136 and 135 km./h. Number 2 was Sebastian who started more than 15 minutes later than Ronald;135.16 km./h.
It’s only practice I know, but such a day motivates!!!
The 2 Aussie pilots in this class, out-landed after 143 km.No worries ! Only practice….

“2 x JS3 Rapture and 1 x ASW27 in the cruise today.” shared by NZ 15 m. pilot Steve Wallace.

Sunset in Benalla after a very FAST  practice day 1.
As shared by Catherine Conway.

Cu next with more pictures and stories!!
Cheers Ritz with help from Dexter, who managed to scan some pictures. I might be able to do it myself now!!!.

———-

To avoid TOO LONG BLOGS , I will write a few more about the WGC, when there is enough news,and,…  as long as my hands and fingers allow me. And I have enough time.
Will share some nostalgic anecdotes and news from our 1987 WGC in Benalla as well.
Benalla part 1 is published on January 1.
HAPPY 2017!!!!

   

New Years Eve party at the club house in Hawaii – style.
The UK table and the Aussie table.
Shared by TEAM UK.

BENALLA part 2.

January 1 2017 !!!!! One day to go before the unofficial practice starts, without scores but with some set tasks. The weather improved though still an average looking sky, and pilots could fly when they wanted on day 1 of the year 2017. Dutch pilot Jeroen, flying in open class, shared this picture.

And Bruce on his Gliding Page mentioned;
“Today had two distinct parts. First we were out on the flat with a lot of cirrus passing overhead. We set a task quite a way to the north, but changed that when we realized how poor the conditions were ahead. Then we turned south into the hills, where the air was quite moist. It is unusual for Benalla to have low-based cu with a north-west wind, but this season, who knows what is normal?”

AND
the 15 m. Diana 2 with Polish pilot Lucasz in the air. Beautiful “toy”.

Picture shared by Sebastian who flies the same good looking glider!

AND

Between all those beautiful gliders, as last year, the “ugly duck” has arrived again. Yes a real tug/towplane.
Last year I showed you how it flew over, here you see at the ground.
Courtesy Sebastian.

Such a big competition with so many guests , creates a new dimension for the organizers,[ as there is at the airport, a temporarily town in the town ] as well as  for  the Benalla people.
Here is the story from Paul Weeden ,member of team USA.
“I find myself in total awe of the emergency treatment I received yesterday here at the Benella gliding club. I was having an infected tooth added to my stay here, and I had approached the ladies at the comp office for some help deciding where I should go to have it looked at..(this week has been a national holiday, and it runs through next tuesday) I swear, every club member that walked up to the office desk had something to do with my outcome.. to cut to the chase, I arrived at the emergency room at the local hospital accompanied with a medical staff of a doctor and a dentist, that simply walked me through the whole process, would not let me drive, to the hospital or to the down town drug store.. all the while being wonderfully supportive and strictly professional..total cost for me at this point is $4.00 (Aus) for the required antibiotics. I cannot say thanks enough to everyone involved.”

To finish January 1 some extra pictures from MIDWINTER SOARING in Holland on December 30, from the new combined club now called VEAC.

  

  

Pictures courtesy Arjan van Dijk.

By the way,January 1 2017 started on the OLC with one 1000 km. flight from Douglas Backhouse and a landing at Gariep Dam.

January 2; Local hero, ” kilometer-eater ” , member of the Victorian Gliding Club and toppilot [WGC level]Tobias Geiger explained the task setting in Benalla on line [also on Youtube.com ] and the first briefing was in the “theater” / briefingroom. Every day you can watch the task-setting by him on :
http://www.wgc2017.com/news_add_here/list-of-news/task-setting-with-tobi-geiger.aspx

Most pilots choose not to fly , this day, as there was a strong South Easterly. The weather , however, will improve to a much higher and the more usual standard. Bit ,..always be aware of the Gilmore Gap, it has an influence on the weather.

Benalla from the air on January 2. Many gliders” home”.
courtesy Charlies Towing Adventures [on FB] YES the one from the Ugly Duckie.
NOT
Michael Summer who flew in the EB 29R 456 km.

January 3; for me personally always a very sad day.It’s 29 years ago [ January 3 1988] that our son and brother from Inge,  died with his tug [Belanca ScoutVH-ADP] between Tocumwal and Jerilderie, [Finley] places you, competition-pilots  all fly over during the comps. That was ONE year after he flew with his dad George the 1987 WGC in Benalla in the proto type of a NIMBUS 3D.
RIP Dennis. By the way he is buried in Tocumwal.
One of his club mates and friends, Ronald Termaat,  from the past flies 30 years after Dennis and George as well in Benalla.
He is about to begin his so-maniest-WGC.

AND,..as there was only ONE week , between the death of our best mate Kees Musters[ he died on December 27 in 1987] I will remember him now too. RIP Kees.
Kees flew in 1987 as well and became 4th. In the beginning of the comps he had a bad day 3 and lost nearly 300 points. But during the comps he was superb and flew himself to a nice 4th overall spot , behind Brian Spreckley, Holger Back and Doug Jacobs all flying LS 6 [Kees flew a Ventus A] . The first 3 pilots [ from a total of 43] had after 12 days more than 10.000 points; [10.341…10.254 and 10.007… Kees had 9996].
The Italian pilots Giorgio Galetto and Stefano Ghiorzo , now after 30 years AGAIN flying in Benalla, flew as well in this 15 m. class and their final results were 28 and 16. Eric “Herbie”  Moser was 15th. that year.

The organizers news for the day:”The weather is better than yesterday with good thermal conditions forecast up to 7,000ft in the plains and up to over 8,000ft in the mountains to the south of Benalla, the Victorian Alps.Today is an unofficial practice day, so task setter Tobi Geiger suggested some tasks that pilots might like to fly. Perhaps as a signal of what competition tasks may involve, the main suggestion from Tobi was that they fly a task into the mountains to gain familiarity with the terrain, conditions and outlanding options in the high country.”
Last day of the unofficial training. Good they went to the mountains, not so good on a not too good[ read high] day. There were complaints from pilots about the unlandable areas there ; a bit of a shock for some and an item as I heard, for the first official team captain- briefing on the 4th.

Back to Benalla 2017 on January 4 2017. A GREAT training day with fabulous clouds and happy pilots.
As Bruce mentioned on his PAGE;” Nice cu at about 8,000 feet, climbs of up to 8 knots, but mostly 6-7 knots. Not all the clouds worked, but enough to stay high. I did 141 kph around a 350 km task that was mostly to the west, then finished high enough that I could climb away and spend some time down in the hills before I landed.”

But he started with another story , in his eyes more important:” I was going to tell everybody what a fun day today was, but the most exciting thing that happened was the BBQ catching fire! I guess it was kind of my fault really, as I had started to cook some lamb, and there were a few small flames to begin with. We turned off the gas, but the fire took hold in the drip tray, and the whole lot went up! Georgo fixed it with a fire extinguisher, which made an impressive mess of everything.”

Ailsa and Lisa still see the fun.
Both pictures shared by Taylors Gliding Page .

So nice clouds on the not official practice day.As seen by Chris Hostettler.

  

To finish some impressive flights on the OLC this year:
January 2; Thomas Horz flew with Klaus Ohlmann in Argentina [[Zapala Neuquen] ;1.212 km. BUT look at the speed ;217.9 km./h. The other German pilots training/flying there all flew over 1000 km and speed between 210 and 216 km./h.
January 3; some of those German pilots fly there already since November . Yesterday the Antares 23 E with Johannes Koenig, flew 1.968 km. with a speed of 224.58. It looks they are having fun there!!

The weather as shared by the organizers.

CU one of the next days for more news about Benalla and a walk -trough- the -1987- memory- lane.

Cheers Ritz

Benalla,…. on the way to the event…. part 1.

Benalla on December 29 2016,

…..but only next year is the WGC .Still 8 days to go,…… It will be all right!!!
As shared by the Claffey’s.

AND
The UK team  unpacking the container.

      

“Unpacking the container between showers! Heavy Showers!”
As shared by the British Gliding Team.

   

“Most of the team rigged and assembled. Waiting for Uys & Attie. No damage to anything.”

 

South African gliders “over water” arrived in good condition. Team is waiting now for the JS 3 which came “by air” .
Shared by the SA team.

AND not long later in front of the Gliding Club Victoria hangar …no worries they arrived in good condition as well.

YES,…. they arrived with the message “Curious to see the new generation that has arrived”
as shared by the SA team.

AND
This is the French container. The pilots and crew arrived on December 30. Picture made by team UK.
In the container according to the excellent Garry Brasher, working in the harbor office and  shipping in and out already all his life,[ he even worked for us in the past and knows EVERYTHING about glider carnets etc] ], everything is ” neat and tidy.”

   

AND
this is Dutch pilot Jeroen, in Benalla, as always relaxed.After he picked up his glider in Corowa, he is  ” Ready to rock” in all ways.

   

AND
The USA team already in the scrutineering hangar.

      

When the weather ,……is ready Bill is ready.
Bill Gawthrop, F8 passes his scrutineering.
Photos by Cean Sheerwood.

———

Benalla on December 30….

    

Shared by the Claffey’s  and the Goudriaan’s and Polish pilot Sebastian Kawa [struggling in the mud].
“Must be a gliding competion going on at Benalla Australia. The locals say it is normally very hot and dry. HaHaHa” [Oscar]
IT IS OSCAR!!!

The Benalla-weather is still OFF. VERY MUCH OFF, with pouring rain and hail, but I know it will get better. WAIT AND SEE!!!!!
I heard that in 2016 55 % more water/rain  fell on the dry land than in 2015!!!!!!
Guess the farmers who always pray for rain, will be really happy now, but,…..maybe it’s TOO wet now. What did not came down over the last couple of dry years fell this year!!!
On the other side,… in the East of Australia… , Jacques Graells flew from Lake Keepit, in his LS 6 a 500 km. FAI triangle and a total of 733 km.

Arrival from Andrew Maddocks at the Benalla club house, with the words.”  It’s now a sailing race.” 
courtesy Andrew.

In between Aussie -team- pilot Tom has cleaned his glider IN the hangar and of course he put the kangaroo on the tail, as usual at big comps.

      

AND

some are happy chappies as UK crew Baldrick who was upgraded for this long trip.

Picture shared by Baldrick.

AND

Anita and Aussie- team- pilot Bruce mentioned on their site Taylor’s Gliding Page ;
“Ahh, it is so exciting to have new gliders to look at. There is the JS3, the V3, and the EB 29R. All different classes, but the continuing development of the sport is fascinating. Here the JS3’s are going together, after their air freight trip from South Africa.
Big storm here early this afternoon, which has curtailed any flying today… once again. Frustrating, but tomorrow looks to be OK.”

    

Packed and unpacked.
JS 3 RAPTURE,…
As shared by Bruce and Laurens.

In between in Holland, MIDWINTERSOARING at the Venlose gliding club [VZC]where pilots from  Venlo and Eindhoven [EAC] now fly together; from January 1 2017 it is VEZC.
After 70 years of soaring the EAC pilots were thrown off the airfield from Eindhoven due to more heavy aviation by many airliners.
They moved to several other airfields in the area and were welcomed warmly at all of them, but Venlo [ a bit more to the S.]was most popular. It seems satisfactory for all. Good!!!
Malden got several new guests as well.
Superb weather on this winter-day, resulting in 108 Starts ,  22 with the Piper Cub!!!Whilst we here, were “sitting in the fog”.

   

Tug ready for midwinter- launches.
As shared by Frits Urselman.

Benalla on  December 31, last day of the year 2016 !!!After rain there is sun. Hurray and,…as expected!!! Very nice blue skies!! I wonder how the overseas- first -time- in -Australia- pilots feel when the full 45 dgr. C sun comes out!!!!
Still wet ground/paddocks after the heavy downdrafts and pouring rain.!!!
Bruce could try out  Brad’s glider;
” In the air, and not a cloud to be seen. B3 is flying beautifully, and we tootled around 350km without any pain at all. This shot was from just west of Yarrawonga, looking West down the river towards Tocumwal.”

With the MIGHTY MURRAY RIVER.

A small wrap-up from the 116 gliders at this WGC under supervision of competition/championship- director Terry Cubley a long time friend.
In 15 m. of course the new JS 1 RAPTURE is the EYECATCHER flown by owners and builders Attie and Uys Jonker. But we still have to see how good this glider is against the Ventus in several 15 m conversions , the Diana [with Polish pilots Sebastian and Lucasz]  and Versus FES [Stefano from Italy] and the ASW 27 and the ASG 29 in several conversions.
In 18 m. class lot’s of ASG 29’s some Ventus types including the VENTUS 3 , another hot-shot-glider, flown by several pilots [ the 3T by former world champion Wolfgang Janowitch and his mate Andy Lutz has one too] and a few JS 1’s and one LS 10.

Brandnew Ventus 3 after technical inspection at WGC
Shared by Boerje.

In open class the new EB 29 R. flown by 2 former German  world champions Tassilo Bode and Michael Sommer. Michael knows the area very well. He flew at Benalla and with us in Tocumwal. Also a Quintus M ,an Arcus M,  an ANTARES 23 t, several types of JS 1 and an ASH 31 MI.
It’ s going to be VERY exciting.

Other exciting news from the end of this year comes from the FAI and is shared by Tijl Schmelzer from Belgium.”

Tijl; Received this notice from the FAI today:

http://www.fai.org/…/42748-aviation-and-space-diary-notific…

A bit too much honor I think, but very cool to be in a list with Charles Lindbergh, Chuck Yeager, Amelia Earhart, Bertrand Piccard, Felix Baumgartner and Laika 🙂

I’d like to use this high note at the end of this year, to wish you all the best for 2017!”

CONGRATULATIONS Tijl so much deserved!!!!!On January 6 2015 Tijl flew in Africa with high speed over a triangular course of 100 km – First to pass the 200km/h barrier using thermals rather than mountain waves.” as the FAI mentioned in the above link.
In between his parents flew on December 31, nearly 1000 [972 k] in an ARCUS M from Veronica.
I noticed , looking at that list, that on my birthday December 16 in the year 2012, one of my Japanese friends Ken Ueyama had a spectacular note on this list as well . Aeromodelling;  on a radio controlled flight he flew the model with a speed, of 219.85 km./h. in a closed circuit.

Another interesting flight that day but now down under, by an old friend Gerrit Kurstjens, who flew the Benalla 1987 WGC. He reached in his Quintus M a height of 5390 MSL.[5187 AGL]

To avoid TOO long blogs in for me and glider pilots exciting times ,[ as a WGC is the top to see how you fly against other pilots and to check what glider really is the best] , I will try to write more blogs .So stay tuned!!!
Cheers Ritz