We do have some great photographers world wide in our sport. We do have some real toppers in Holland as well; Look at these pictures from Arjan.

  

Courtesy Arjan Vrieze.

  

All finishes last Saturday and I saw them with my own eyes. Some look more “crazy” than they are,all SAFE!!!
Courtesy Arjan.

In my Sunday blog you saw more pictures and news from Saturday.
Nice temperatures on Sunday, due to a warm front, but NO SOARING WEATHER!!!
Day 4 was cancelled.

Day 5 task 4; They expected good weather, so tasks according to the expectations. Though in the afternoon it deteriorated a bit here, so it seems over there as well.

Open; 376 km…95 km./h for Mark Wering in his JS 1C ,which was 10 k faster than the same glider from Ronald with 84 km./h. So a daily winner for 1000 points and runner up with 832.
5 From 7 finished.

18m; 362 km….4 pilots finished with 88/89 km./h. Sikko won in his ASG 29ES,[982 points]  runner up was Victor Wetzinga in the same glider. Then Hadriaan and Steven who still leads overall. 9 from 14 finished.

Combi; 324 km….9 from 14 finished and Jeroen Verkuijl won again ,3 out of 4 win’s!! 70 km./h shows how difficult it was.

club; 301 km….Great 1000 points-win for Frank Hiemstra in his St. Cirrus; 69 km./h.
10 From 16 finished, 2 only 40 km. out.

So 4 good flying day’s means a VALID DUTCH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

Day 6 started her with severe rain and thunderstorms and though it is just over 100 km. , they must have had the same weather. Indeed the day was cancelled! A pub quiz kept them busy in the later afternoon.

No news yet about today but they might fly.
THEY DO, day 7 task 5…….541 km. in open,527 in 18 m., 450 k. in combi and club has to fly 351 km. Great tasks!!! Long day!!!

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53d EDITION of the very international HAHNWEIDE Comps.

Courtesy Hahnweidewettbewerb

Saturday the 25th was cancelled ,….so 7 day’s left for the 101 pilots.

On Sunday  it started there at the beautiful Hahnweide with task 2. They flew in 5 classes and a lot of  international visitors choose Hahnweide as their soaring goal.

In 18 m. class … 4.30 AAT; it was Andy Davis from the UK receiving the first 1000 points in JS 1C for flying 531 km. in in 4.37. Giancarlo Grinza [Italy] was runner up ,in Ventus 3F. 30 In this class and 27 finished.
Also in this class Swedish, UK, Italian ,Swiss and Slovenian participants.

15 m…. class 448 km.: 13 participants and 9 finished. Daily winner UK pilot Timothy Scott in ASG 29 /15m.  Speed 105 km./h.
Swiss, UK , Slovenian and Swedish pilots in this class.

2-seaters… 4 Hour AAT and Norbert Sommer in the ARCUS M won the day followed by Katrin Senne in the ASG 32 MI flying that day, with Arne Boye Moeller. 17 From 22 finished and among them Laurens Goudriaan from S. Africa in his nice new ASG 32 MI, Adam Woolley/Butch  for Australia, Patrick Stouffs and Arnoud de Broqueville from Belgium and John Coutts from NZ.
An off-day for topper Holger Karow who was one of the out-landers.

Open class …4.30 AAT; AND 1000 points for German pilot Felipe Levin in the EB 29 R; 513 km in time 4.31. Runner up was French pilot Sylvain Gerbaud [JS 1 C/21m] and Uli Schwenk from Germany in the ETA was on spot 3.
In St class …411km; the first 1000 points were for Aussie Matthew Scutter flying a Discus 2 ax, with a speed of 116 km./h.  From 18 in this class 15 finished. Among them pilots from France, the UK and Italy.

Day 3 on Monday with task 2; with more difficult conditions, but….. “a small window”!!!.
It turned out a tricky day with out-landings as later in the day there was over-development ,total overcast as I could see on Matthews video. He was back.

18 m. 265 km.: 20 from 29 finished, so a tough day. Good old Reinhard Schramme won the day with a speed of 94 km./h in his Ventus 3 T,which says enough about the day. Mario Kiessling, who was only 21st on day 1, was runner up now. Andy was 12th.

15 m. 2.30 AAT;  6 from 14 who started finished and the winner was Stefani Muhl .Good on her. She flew 222 km in time 2.35, so a speed of 85 km./h. for 599 points.

2-seaters 225 km.; Katrin Senne is in a good flow. She won the day with a speed of 92 km./h. Holger had a good day and was runner up with Laurens as 3d.
14 from 21 were out.
Special day for Adam and Butch here is their story after they were out / back at the field, after 55 km.

“Common call for me after we landed, who on earth did I upset to deserve this? Followed by lots of laughter, just laughter, how did we get so unlucky – read the first point!

Pre-start, I think we identified that we needed to wait for the weather to come through, plus get high enough & close enough to the start. We started when we wanted to effectively, behind the general gaggle in a good position. First climb, good, second, good, third, good, all to base. Then, glide, glide, glide, past many options, all that didn’t work.

Open class 249 km; Jim Acketoft from Sweden was the best and flew over 100 km./h in his EB 29DR.[113 km./h] for 678 points.
Also Felipe, Uli and Dirk [Kaltenmark] Sylvain and Swiss pilot Jurg Haas  and Conrad [Hartter] flew over 100 km./h.
13 From 15 finished.

St.class 2.30 AAT; was the first to be launched and because of  “currently weak thermal conditions the standard class will released 100m higher as usually (700 m AGL)”.
Matthew was back  with 244 km. in time 2.27, so 3 minutes under time,  no worries he won the day…AGAIN. 14 from 18 finished.

On Tuesday NO FLYING but some great pictures from Kathrin who is not only a good artist [painting] but a great photographer as well. More photo’s from Kathrin at
http://www.wolf-hirth.de/hww19/gallery/gallery.inc.php

Finish ..day 3…pictures

In the evening the annual and traditional ” Schempp-Hirth ” evening will take place in the hangar of the Fliegergruppe “wolf hirth”. 

No news yet about today more later in the week.
Latest; 2-seaters and open have been cancelled the other 3 classes have between 200 and 250 km.

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CLUB class NATIONALS in the UK .

“UK Comp Season is here!

The Club Class Nationals start today [May 25 ]at Aston Down, with some of the best pilots in the country – and indeed the world – battling it out over the next nine days.

The Junior British Team pair of Jake Brattle and Finn Sleigh will be fighting the Senior British Team pair of Tom Arscott and G Dale. We’re hoping to see some good flying from Clement Allen and Henry Inigo-Jones, this year’s Junior Team reserve pilots, whilst Danny Richmond and Alistair Emson complete the under-26 contingent, both flying their first Nationals in their Standard Cirruses. 

Keep an eye on the Live Tracking here: https://www.cotswoldcomps.co.uk/tracking/And follow along with the Start/Finish radio here:
https://www.cotswoldcomps.co.uk/stream/

More news next week, maybe even on Sunday afternoon again.

There are many more comps around this time. Scores you can find on www.soaringspot.com 

And don’t forget …9th World FAI Sailplane Grand Prix Final starts on the 2nd of June 2019 at La Cerdanya, Spain.

 

CU next week.
Cheers Ritz

20th EGC in StalowaWola.

This picture shared by team UK  says , unfortunately, a lot about this EGC.

“EGC2019. Gliding competition essentials! “

May 15 day 4 no task.SCRUBBED!!!

   

Briefing… YES,…Flying..NO.
As shared by 20th European Gliding Championships StalowaWola, Poland

May 16 day 5..task 2; The message after 3 day’s of rain and a lot of mud in the camping area was…
“Welcome to the fifth day of competition! It’s possible, that the weather will allow the pilots to compete today. Pilot’s briefing will be held at 10:00, as usual. There is no team captain briefing planned for today. Have a great day!”
Task’s; AAT’s from 1.45,[2 seaters]  2 hours and 2.15 [open] .
A difficult enough day, with wet out-landing- fields for those who need to land and have no engine to bring them home.
2 Briefings , the early one for safety issues, the later one for the tasks.
It turned out a valid day for open and 18 m. class, though nobody finished!!!
In the 2 seater class only 4 pilots flew over 100 km.
In open the best pilot flew 256 km. and that was Riccardo Brigliadori in JS 1C/21 m. for 381 points. Runner up was Eric Bernard 226 km. in the same glider and 3d was Pierre de Broqueville with EB 29DR; 333 km.
In 18 m.  Sebastian was the best in these Polish circumstances;229 km.for 237 points.
The UK-“boy’s” Phil and Pete , knew how to deal with this weather as well and  had 221 and 219 km.
“8 gliders landed outside the Turbia airfield (we’ve had 7 field landings and 1 landing on another airfield). Special congratulations to Roman Mracek for his exceptional endurance today! 🏆
Also “here comes the rain again“…from the officials. I heard de- rigging was …in rain!!!

    

Riccardo after his flight with Uys Jonker.                    PR picture from Sebastian
As shared by Jonker Sailplanes                       as shared by Sebastian Kawa

And,…then I left on my holiday.Unfortunately the weather was still off. In the end the pilots had in each class 5 out of 15 day’s ,so at least a VALID EGC 2019.
In between I heard that the briefings , were used for info about the flying.
Stewards Dick and Angel got huge compliments for what they did to improve safety.
During a short presentation, they analysed every day the flights ,where there was a possibility for a collision,with Australian software
Every day pilots were confronted with what could have gone wrong, without calling names or showing call signs. A bit stressful not only for the pilots but also for the stewards, but VERY USEFUL. Good on them !!!

The rain left his mark on the airfield.

As shared by Europese Kampioenschappen Zweefvliegen

For the final scores, the last flying day on Saturday was important. It was a good day with a bit longer tasks, but still with a very wet airfield and fields around.
Open got 396 km and Petr Tichy from Czech Rep. in the EB 29 R won the day with a speed of 123 km./h. meaning 1000 points for him. This was the “base’ to throw Riccardo from “the throne” he was sitting on every day till then!!!
Riccardo was 5th lost 50 points and for the final scores that meant that Petr got 28 more.

18 m. got 343 km and Wolfgang raced to the last day victory with 135 km./h. but ” only”  for 818 points. Sebastian was 12th and lost 135 points but he still had just enough points to win the EGC. Wolfgang moved from 8 to 3.

2-seaters had 353 km as their task and daily winner was Antti and Juha from Finland with a speed of 127 km./h. bringing them from 6 to 5 in the final scores. On top EVERY day team Rubaj & Matkowski from Poland in their ASG 32MI.

Final scores and FAI EGC CHAMPIONS;
Open;
1. Petr Tichy from Czech Rep in EB 29R with 3.478 points.
2. Riccardo Brigliadori from Italy in JS 1C/21m. with 3.720.
3. Markus Frank from Germany in EB 29 with 3.629.

Picture shared by Pôle France Planeur

18 m.;
1. Sebastian Kawa from Poland in Diana 3 with 3.359 points.
2. Karol Staryszak from Poland in ASG 29E with 3.327.
3. Wolfgang Janowitsch from Austria in Ventus 3T with 3.285.

Picture shared by Pôle France Planeur

2 seaters;
1. Rubaj & Matkowski from Poland in ASG 32 MI with 3.443 points.
2. Jones & Coppin from the UK in ARCUS T with 3.399.
3. Gmelin & Grote from Germany in ARCUS T with 3.357.

Picture shared by Pôle France Planeur

 

“To all our competitors, helpers and guests – we wanted to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. We’re grateful to have met you on the Turbia airfield and we hope to see you again. We wish everyone safe trips back home. Until next time!”

THANK YOU!!!!

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Dutch Nationals at Terlet.
May 23-June 1- 2019.

Was there on yesterday and here is a photo impression from the day.

I went with Baer Selen , last Saturday to Terlet, to catch up with several friends and a lot of new younger pilots.
As you can see enough enthusiastic juniors with their coach.

    

Dutch juniors preparing for Hungary’s JWGC during this national competition , the KLM FLIGHT ACADEMY NATIONALS 2019,  with Sjors van Loon in the St. Cirrus from the junior team and Robin Smit in his own St. Cirrus with call sign …RS.and Jelmer Vis in the St. Cirrus B.

Old long time friends in bigger planes as well. Specially for Art these pictures from Marion and Steven.

  

More old time friends as;

  

Sikko and Ronald

  

and 2 ladies Annemiek and Lizzy ready to go for it in ASW 27 and LS 8, flying in the combi class.

The “big brothers” yes an EB as well in Holland at the Nationals, flown by Dirk Nieuwenhout and on this day Kees van Schaik who flew with us in Tocumwal several years.

And Joost , one of my son’s mates and Eric long time friend who was runner up in Borlange at the WGC.

Last but not least some friends from “100 years” ago Bertje who is towing during the Nationals and Henry who traveled to Holland from France and who I know since the 70thies in Angers.

  

Bertje and Henry and 2  Dutch EB owners, Dirk and Ralf, who I know since they were “little” children.

More about the Dutch Nationals and some better pictures from Willemijn next Wednesday.
They flew till now 3 good day’s and in open class Ronald Termaat leads before Mark Wering both in JS 1C.
In the 18 m. it is Steven Raimond winning each day till now, with Sikko as runner up, both in ASG 29ES.
In the combi class Jeroen Verkuijl [LS 8] leads for Eric and Joost in the ARCUS T.
Club class shows that Thies Bruins in ASW 20 WL won all 3 day’s and he is with more than 200 points ahead on Robin Smit.

Thies , the current number 1 in club class, with his wife. He asked if his wife was allowed on the picture as well. OF COURSE!!!!

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OBGN
Open Belgian Gliding Nationals 2019.

I could n’t do a lot of research on this competition but I can give you some details.
They flew 4 out of 8 days in club and combi class and 5 in 18m/open. The last day yesterday had to be cancelled.
The final overall scores;
Club;
1. Bart Leysen in ASW 20F with 3.314 points.
2. Frederic de Groote in St Libelle 201 B WL with 2.994.
3. Philippe Billuart in Discus B with 2.849.

combi class;
1.Robbie Seton [The Netherlands]  in LS 8A with 3.456 points.
2. Dennis Huybreckx in LS 8 with 3.419, Belgian champion.
3. Jeroen Jennen in LS 8 with 3.392.

Dennis as champion, Jeroen [tje] as runner up .
as seen and shared by Brigitte.

Open/18m;
1. Bert Schmelzer jr. in ASG 29 with 4.215 points.
2. Tijl Schmelzer in Ventus 3 T with 3.899.
3. François Delfosse in ASG 29E with 3.594.

Bert Schmelzer sr. was 6th with 3.104 points in Ventus 2CXT.

Top 3 in open /18 m.
As seen and shared by Barbara.

More news next Wednesday!!!!Also ALL I forgot now.
CU then
Cheers Ritz

Final day’s in Prievidza!

Nice long tasks when I left you on Wednesday morning, with combi first at the grid, this time asphalt-runway and  club and 15 m. from the grass.

as shared by the organizers. The runway seems to be brand new.

Here the results  from Wednesday and and aggregate results from the comps, as it turned out to be the last day!!!
Prize giving was at 10 in the morning on the 9th.

May 8; task 4
Club;344 and it was flown by 26 of the 37 who started that morning. Daily winner German pilot Uwe Wahlig , so after 3 UK daily winners now one from Germany. And those winners became the champions of the cup and medals after 4 day’s of flying.
1. Tom Arscott with 3.594 in LS 7 WL.
2. Ge Dale with 3.587 in ASW 24 WL5
3. Uwe Wahlig with 3.422 in LS 3 WL

15m.;402 km.  and Polish pilot Jacek Flis was the best in Discus 2A. Dawid Pretorius was runner up and Lucasz Grabowski also from Poland 3d.
This gives the next overall scores after 4 flying day’s.
1. Poul Kim Larsen from Denmark in Discus 2A with 3.137 points.
2. Miloslav Cink from Czech Rep. in LS 8B with 3.035.
3. Jacek Flis from Poland with 3.028.
The other Danish pilot flying so well and topping the overall list on the first 2 day’s out-landed on 3 which cost him lost’s of points. He finished as 14th.

combi; 500 km. was flown by 20 from 25!! Best was 105 km./h by Polish pilot Tomasz Dul in ASG 29E. The ARCUS T and M were on 3 and 4.
Overall scores;
1. Andreas Kessler & Scarlat in Arcus T from Romania with 3.384.
2. Danes Grula in ASG 29E from Czech Rep with 3.303.
3. Andrzej Smielkiewicz in ASH 29E from Poland with 3.249.

That’s it about the FCC Gliding 2019. Not many day’s but finishing on a high with on the last day in each class a 1000 points day.
A few of the pilots have traveled straight away to Stalowa Wola to attend the EGC.

 

 

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20th EGC in Stalowa Wola – at the airport Turbia in Poland
May 11-25
with the closing ceremony  on the 25th of May 2019 at 7:00 pm.

“Quite blowy but good Cu today. All Team GB gliders are rigged and will fly today on the last unofficial practice day”
As shared by British Gliding Team

On the first official training day at Turbia Airfield, tasks were set; 3.15 AAT for open and won by  open class by Pierre [de Broqueville] in EB 29DR from Belgium . Speed 130 km./h!!
In 18 m. it was French pilot Christophe Abadie who won the 3.30 AAT in JS 3 with 129km.h. on the clock and runner up was Wolfgang in Ventus 3 and Sebastian was 3d in Diana 3.
In 20 m. a 3.15 AAT won by the Finnish team with Antii in ARCUS M;125 km./h.
On practice day 2 not a lot of pilots were flying and tasks for them who flew were small, so not really interesting.
On practice day 3, it rained but who wanted to go could go and try a 2.30 AAT.
In open Alberto Sironi flew 320 km. in his Quintus,  Petr Tichy 311 in EB 29R and Russell Cheetham 307 km.  in EB 29DR.
In 18 m. the UK pilots Pete and Phil flew 349 and 335 km. in their Ventus 3 .There were 4 I guess technical out-landings, or flying back home.
In 20 m.only the UK team finished in the Arcus T with 99 km./h.

From the EPST Galery from Turbia.

AND…as said before Wolfgang and Michael defend their title.Sebastian who won the 20 m. last time flies now against Wolfgang in 18 m.class.So the title for the seaters is vacant.

As you can see the UK brings “in” some very good pilots!! And,..they are eager. The tasks on the last practice day was cancelled but they tried to fly it and DID and how!!! See above .

Steve and Gary fly as team in 20 m in an ARCUS T.
as shared by British Gliding Team

Also the Polish team is strong certainly as they fly “at home”. Never underestimate the French…Allez les blue… and the German team..es geht los…!! So looking forward how it all unfolds.

Opening.Was last Saturday at 5. AND,…./ “DO NOT LOOK AT THE SKIES……….” Best day was the opening, OR best day was during the closing ceremony…I heard it so often!!!
Here are the BENELUX countries.

Belgium With Pierre
All 3 pictures  shared by 20th European Gliding Championships StalowaWola, Poland

the Netherlands with Bas and Peter and TC Francois behind them.

Luxembourg with pilot Diana and TC and crew George.

Let the comps begin.On May 12.

AND,…off they go, take off’s at 11.10. Good luck to ALL.
20th European Gliding Championships StalowaWola, Poland

Sunday May 12; Day 1 task 1; AAT’s direction E. N. E.
Open..2.45  AAT; With 375 km. in time 2.45 at the dot, one of the Polish Lucaszes , this time Łukasz Wójcik, won the day in his JS 1C. Speed 136.12 km./h.
Behind him the big open class gliders ,the EB 29’s  with German pilot Markus Frank [134.69 km./h] Petr Tichy from Czech Rep with 133.50 km./h and Russell Cheetham from the UK with 133.34 km./h.
The first 11 pilots were within 804 and 904 points.

18m.. 3 hour AAT; They were the first to go on track at 11.15  , the line opened at 12.10 and for some  “it” was straight away high and fast!!!!
400 km. in 3 hours was the perfect result from UK pilot Phil Jones in his Ventus 3T. Only in this class 1000 points for the winner for a speed of 130.39 km/h.
The top 4 including Phil ;2. Karol Staryszak from Poland in ASG 29 E. ;130.31 km./h. for 999 points 3. Sebastian Kawa in his Diana 3 with 130.11 km./h for 996 points and 4. Pete [Harvey]  in Ventus 3 T. with 129.95 km./h for 993 points .

20m..2.45 AAT; Rubaj & Matkowski [Poland]in ASG 32 MI,  flew 348 km. in time 2.41 and won the day. Former German team coach Uli Gmelin and his wife Chrissie were runner up. Chrissie was twice WWGC Champion in 2003 and 2013. [ARCUS T] Phil  and Garry from the UK were 3d.[ARCUS T]

A nice evening to finish this glorious first day as Manufacturer JONKERS invited all teams for polish stew and beer.

MONDAY May 13; NO….Day 2 or task 2…Whilst the weather here in Holland was top[high 1040] .

As shared by George.

Tuesday May 14;No Day 3 or task 2..

EGC2019 -A grey, wet and windy Turbia = no Task today! …. Tomorrow doesn’t look great either ⚡️☔️
British Gliding Team

Wednesday May 15 today...the morning-news was …
“Welcome to the fourth day of Competition! Weather is supposed to get better any minute now, so today’s pilot briefing at 10:00 may include some plot twists. Be there or be square!”

Today’s weather as shared by the organizers.

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French Nationals in Standard class, 15 m. and 2 seaters flying in ONE class.
from Buno Bonnevaux May 5-May 11.

After 3 practice day’s, with as I expect not the best weather, as there were no points and only small tasks, they started with 40 pilots in one class with of course handicaps according to the FAI rules.
Task 1 on May 5; 2.30 AAT .
Adrien Henry won the day and so to see pilots had a real tough time. Adrien  flew in his ASG 29 a distance of 202 km in time 2.58, so a speed of 68 km./h. in his ASG 29 [handicap 114]
Only 6 finished and only 8 flew over 100 km. Winner of the day gets 109 points.

Courtesy Laurent BOISSARD
shared by AAVE – Association Aéronautique du Val d’Essonne

Task 2 on May 6 was straight away MUCH better;498.40 km. was set.
25 Finished. Still not “huge” speed as winner of the day Louis Bourderlique [JS 3] was with 107 km./h the only one over 100 km./h. But no worries he “got” 1000 points, that helps.
2 UK pilots and not just pilots , Jez Hood [LS 8] and Howard Jones  [Discus 2 A] did well HC, with 919 and 917 points. Benjamin Neglais [Discus 2A] was runner up with 918 points. Adrien was 6th.

Photo: Laurent BOISSARD
shared by AAVE – Association Aéronautique du Val d’Essonne

Task 3 on May 7; 211 km. was Adrien -day again. But only for 623 points. Louis was runner up and the Swedish French Duo Discus team was HC 2d and Jez HC 3d. 8 Points difference overall, between Adrian [1.] and Louis.[2.]
Task 4 on May 8; 132 km. but day was scrubbed.
No flying on May 9 but on May 10 tasks were set again.

No flying on May 9, you see why…
As shared by AAVE – Association Aéronautique du Val d’Essonne

Task 5 on May 10; 1.30 AAT, a day to either loose or gain points with a short task and most probably still a bit “sad” weather. It’s mainly between Adrien and Louis ,as they are close and on the 2 top-spots; 1.637 and 1.628.
The next 3 spots are HC pilots they get points, but can’t win a French title; Swedish French team in Duo and UK pilots Jez and Howard. As the French comps have mostly strong contenders it’s good to find out where you are with your performance.
What happened?
Adrien had so to see no nerves. He won the day ,slow but steady with 82 km./h. Louis was 7th and lost about 60 points on Adrien.
So the lead is a bit bigger now and the HC pilots remain at their spots.
Those who can “read” the weather well, did know already that there would not be a task 6 on May11.
So the scores from the last day were important. Adrien got only 486 points for his win, but more than enough to enlarge his scores.
In the end the aggregate scores were;
1. Adrien with 2.123 points and French National CHAMPION
2. Louis with 2.050
3. Christian Mallick with 1.834 .He flew an ASG 29E.
In between 2 and 3,  as said Jez,[1.888] ,  duo discus team France/Sweden [1.877]  and Howard.[1.861] .

The CHAMPION ,runner up and number 3 in France.
AAVE – Association Aéronautique du Val d’Essonne

 

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Last Saturday some great flights from Holland. Steven Raimond flew 781 km. in his ASG 29E from Terlet; He mentioned that it was a glorious day on which he crossed for the first time the river ELBE in Germany and had a great run under a cloud street.
698 in the St Cirrus, by Dutch top talent Robin Smit [Gilze Rijen] is GREAT and he topped the Dutch list.He used the same cloud street .
Both flew to the NE over the border in to Germany.
AND,…very worth mentioning too… a trip to Denmark from Veendam in Holland, maybe even the very first ever!!!
In a Duo Discus WL.; 634 km.
Martin Hamberg and Erik Klijnstra; a real daring exploit, have a look at their OLC trace.

 

Gelderse -one -day -competition with 50 participants.
Courtesy Ben Hiemstra.

One day later, one of the bigger comps flown in Holland, was a fact. The Club, “The Gelderse”  organized at Terlet their ANNUAL-ONE-DAY-COMPETITION, with 14 participants in Club among them Robin, 17 in the combi class and 19 in open class. Among them Ronald Termaat and Jeroen Verkuijl. What great weather they had, though here I noticed some over development and later smaller tasks were set.
Tasks;
club; 186 km. Jelmer Vis in St. Cirrus B won the day and 10 from 14 finished.
combi; 210 km.. instead of 300 km. and won by Nick Hanenberg in Discus 2A. 14 From 17 finished.
open;329 km. changed in 248 km 13 from 19 finished . Jeroen Verkuijl in JS 1 c, was the winner with a speed of 115 km./h. Ronald Termaat was runner up flying a JS 1C/21 m.

Beautiful Terlet
By Beautiful Willemijn.

For a competition you have to “take care of”  all kinds of pilots , hence not too big tasks.
The Sunday was however so good that Steven declared a 1000, also from Terlet, but the beginning was not top, 150 m. on the first leg , so he had to change plan but still flew 873 km[664 triangle]
In Venlo, in the S of Holland Luc declared a 750 and flew it in a VENTUS 3M.

More great flights on Sunday looking international;
1.856 km. in the Stemme by Klaus and Gil Souviron from Serres. Very happy chappies!!
” What a day with highs and lows between the French Alps,Massif Central and the Spanish Pyrenees. Great thanks to all ATCs. And thanks for all the knowledge from my friend Gil with a lot of details about the beautiful Pyrenees.
Not to forget the Stemme which allows all these fantastic gliding adventures.”
6 More 1000 km. flights that day from Minden [1] and Germany.
Over 800 km. flights in Belgium.

AND,…what about YESTERDAY…. a DECLARED 1000 from Holland by Steven Raimond. Very SPECIAL!!!!
It was his first declared 1000 and he flew in his ASG 29E/18m.  up to 450 from Terlet , Goldberg in Germany, a kind of out and return. The last few kilometers , back in Holland, passing Terlet to Deil and back were character building, but he did it!!!
Great flight also by Jens Bouma and Ayold Zwaga; 762 [739 triangle!!] in DUO DISCUS!!!! They topped the Dutch list yesterday.
648 in an LS 6 was not bad either!!!
8 x1000km flights from Germany as well , 1 from Luxembourg and a great flight from Rayskala;750 FAI triangle in LS 8 T by Kristian Roine.

——————————————————

And not long anymore….
#FSGP2019 #SPAIN #LACERDANYA
“A bit more than 3 weeks to go for the next Final held in Spain, in the Pyrenean mountains. Stay tuned!”

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Unfortunately I did not realize that,whilst moving our ANNUAL-HIGH- SCHOOL- FRIENDS- HOLIDAY, 2 weeks earlier , I would miss most of the EGC, so I can only look back at it.
Sorry about that.
So the next blog is on Wednesday May 29. When I am not too tired ,I look back at the EGC on Sunday the 26th.

Cheers Ritz and enjoy ALL comps.

For those who are not very technical and have not seen it yet,  here is the forecast for StanolaWola till the last day.

As seen and shared by George.
It is an expectation,…it might change!!! I hope for ALL involved!!!

It has been terrible weather in most parts of Europe till now. Lot’s of rain, wind some hail and about 4 cm of snow here on Mai 4 in the S of Holland. I am longing after a real spring!!!
Several comps suffered from this weather as you can read in my blog , such a pity as  just spring weather  can be so strong and wonderful. We had a few real good day’s already a few weeks ago, but now,………
BUT,….more but’s,….Denmark and parts of Germany and the UK had real cold , clear, polar air and for that reason some real nice flights, as Andy Aveling, who flew from Lasham 842 km. in his ASG 29E/18m.
From Denmark Arne Boye Moeler in the JS 3 ” Another fine cool day – 710km in fresh air and snow” and also from Denmark a new open class Danish record over 3 TP’s; 849 km. by Preben Hove in Nimbus 4DM.
Another Nimbus 4DM flew 708 km. from Grosse Hoehe in Germany.
And also Keith Essex flying from Minden in Nevada complained about the cold;” Very cold today!” He flew 1.018 km. with a speed of 142.8 km./h.

Sunday May 5 ,was another good-cold-day, with a very interesting flight [1.026 km]from Jean-Marie Clement and Matthew Scutter; Here is Matthew’s OLC comment;
“Possibly the first French Alps -> Pyrenees out and return?
All done with clearances, navigating the wave with SkySight.”
Looks great at the map….and a high flight as well. Good wave.
SKYSIGHT; “Checkout the 3D wave mode on SkySight! We think it really helps develop an understanding of how the wave develops with altitude, as well as where it is going high.”
A 1000 k , nearly a triangle, was flown from Locktow in Germany by Bernd Goretzki in an 18 m Ventus 2CM.
And more a yo-yo from 1.176 km. was flown in France from St. Girons in a DG 800/18m.
And after all the marginal weather and non-flying-day’s in Klix , the weather improved after the comps [as usual/often ] and 756k.  [683 Triangle] was flown in an LS 8. Pfffff……..
Several 1000 km. flights from Germany, yesterday as well.!!!!!

Looking at the weather in the EAST of Europe it’s getting much better now, both in Priviedza and Stalowa Wola where the unofficial practice started yesterday for those who are there already for the EGC.

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PRIEVIDZA….FCC GLIDING 2019.

Courtesy Maciej Gębacz – Heimdall Fotografia

On May 1 the day of LABOUR, the pilots had to work as well.
Tasks were set and start for CLUB was at 11.50 so it was a GO after a few days of “forced” rest.
And they went for it,….special the UK pilots both young Tom Arscott and well known Ge Dale were the 2 best, after a relatively early start at 12.28. During their 2.30 AAT they flew 269 and 262 km. in LS 7 WK and ASW 24 A WL.
38 in this class and 33 finished!!
Also in 15 m. class a 2.30 AAT and this time 2 Danish pilots were the best from 38 in this class. Both in Discus 2A . both with the same start time at 14.01 and just 4 minutes difference in arrival time; so 807 and 803 points for 271 and 277 km.
In the combi class Petr Krejcirik , who had practiced already 3 days in Nitra , was the best in his JS1; 307 km. in 2.33 was good for 823 points A pity his son in 15 m. out-landed after 261 km.

 

   

Maciej Gębacz – Heimdall Fotografia

On May 2 the tasks were a tad longer but they had some problems with some club class gliders who could not stay up after they were launched as the weather deteriorated for a short while.
” They had to circle in a low altitude near the airport. This created an obstacle for the aerotows and the starts were interrupted for a while. But now, at 11:55 we continue.”
Club ..245 AAT; 252 km. was flown by Tim Milner [LS3/15m.] our long-time-ago-Aussie-tuggie. Good on him, as he won the day. Runner up was UK mate Tom. 26 from 38 finished. Though they are country fellows they had their own start times. Tim started at 12.18 and Tom at 13.24 !!
15 m..256 km.:the 2 Danish pilots were best again was it first Filip Bojanowski and then Poul Kim Larsen both in the DISCUS 2A , now it was the other way around; speed 93.96 and 93.95 so both got 718 points and both won the day.31 from 37 finished!!
On task 1 Aldo from Italy was out , this time it was Luca. I know they are good pilots.
combi..297 km.; a good day for the Polish pilots Adam Czeladzki and Tomasz Dul in JS 1 CTJ/18m and ASG 29 E flying around with a speed of 108 and 106 km./h. 17 From 25 finished.

 

    

Maciej Gębacz – Heimdall Fotografia

On May 3 no flying.
On May 4 no flying , “OK. No grid, no briefing. You have a day off … ”  but still 4 day’s to go with hopefully better weather.
On May 5 no flying ,” Just a brief look from the window and it is clear we won”t fly anywhere today. Everything outside is grey and “un-tasty”

May 6…a windy day, too windy for club class so they were allowed to have a bit more rest.
Starts for 15 m. and combi  [1.45 tasks ]were postponed to 12.30….13.00…13.30…14.00. You can’t say they did not try but unfortunately the day had to be cancelled.
No flying.

May 7..FLYING AGAIN!!!!!
SO glad for the pilots and organizers. Let’s hope for a few real good final day’s.
Some extra official news from the organizers about tracking which you still can use the last couple of days;
“We are also testing the best version of tracking I’ve ever seen. It was programmed and designed by Miss Melissa Jenkins. Thank you!”

http://fcc.onglide.com/current-day.xml

After opening this link, you need to click on the competition class that interests you.”

Ready to go on May 7 …flying day 3 from 10 till now!!
Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures

Club; 306 km…With 3 British pilots on top there will be enough pilots wishing to change that.Club pilots  were the first allowed to go on track at 11.45. All waited till around 1 PM.It turned out to be a difficult day for some also those in the top.Not for Ge , who won the day in his ASW 24 with winglets, in the same time as the other UK topper Tom , both flying together ,starting late at 13.14., but not a real good day for Tim as he out-landed after 239 km. .He started at 13.04. He lost about 500 points,ggrrrr…!
Adam from Australia had a good day and was 4th behind Boris Zors in St. Cirrus.
10 from 39 finished!!!

15 m; 336 km.. both 15m. and combi were launched from parallel strips, so starts open about the same time at 13.03 .A mix of “countries in the top 3. Zoltan Hamar from Hungary won the day with a speed of 95 km./h in his Ventus 2XA.
Marius Pluscauskas from Lithuania was runner up in Ventus 2AX and there are a few South African pilots as well in Prievidza and Dawid Pretorius was 3d in LS 8.
18 From 38 finished.

combi; 405 km..start open at 13.00. Only 87 km./h for the winner but a 1000 points-day for him ; Slovakian Lukas Benedikt in Ventus 3. Tomasz Dul [ASG 29] from Poland was runner up and from Romania it was  the ARCUS team who was 3d.
13 From 27 finished.

May 8 and only ONE more day to go on the 9th.
Today tasks have been set already  Club 344 km. 15 m. 402 km. and  Combi 500 km.
Great tasks for the last couple of days.

 

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KLIX.

Also KLIX had a flying day on MAY 1 but only in 2 classes. Club and 18 m. were cancelled ,but for St and 2- seaters there was hope.
BUT,…..after 12 PM the day was cancelled for all classes as there just was no window!!!
May 2; was sunny but windy, so tasks were handed out at the grid and the estimated time of launching was at 13.00 .Not an easy day as 6 from 31 finished in 18 m. class with a speed between 71 and 78 km./h that says enough. Christoph Matkowski from Poland won the day. Then 3 German pilots and Steven from Holland.
Their task was 173 km.
In Standard class only 2 finishers over the 162 km task; Matthias Greiner from Germany and Thies Bruins from Holland both in ASW 20, seems to be a great glider in these circumstances.
4 Finishers in the 2 seater class 3 teams 1from Germany and 1 from Holland.164 km. was set.
Speed  between 54 and 70 km./h.
Club had 109 km. and ALL pilots except 1 finished!!! Start times between 13.11 and 13.52.

May 3 ; It was a COLD day, freezing cold. But they flew and had valid scores in all classes.

  

Welcome to SPRING in Europe
as shared by the KLIX TEAM.

In 18 m. Steven won the day with a 182 k. racing task and a speed of 110 km./h in his ASG 29. He had 1 point more than Rainer Cronjaeger and Andres Kuehl both on spot 2 in ASH 31 MI /21 m and JS 3 /18m.
22 From 30 finished.
St Class; had with 245 km. the longest task and also a winner and 2 runner up’s.All 3 from Germany and flying LS 8 and Discus 2 AT. 21 From 28 finished.
2- seater class; with 2 Dutch teams in the top 3. Frauke and Ferdi in the Duo Discus XL behind winners of the day Habertag .Jurk. At spot 3 the boys from Friesland , the top from Holland, Jens and Sander.
Except for 1 they all finished their task from 197 km..
Club; 168 km. was set and flown by 14 from 17.

The last day ,May 4, it rained again ,as it did here with snow and hail!!!!!
So only 4 out of 9 day’s in club and 18m and 3 in the other 2 classes, but winners who had to fight for it.
Here they are and they are all pretty close;
18 m. after 4 days;
1. Christoph Matkowski from Poland in ASH 31 MI with 1.351 points.
2. Rainer Cronjaeger from Switzerland also in ASH 31 MI with 1.345.
3. Steven Raimond from Holland in ASG 29 with 1.337. During the comps I had to tell him that one of our friends had died. I asked him to win for her, and he was close!!! Good on you Steven.

St. Class after 3 day’s;
1. Peter Pollack from Germany in in Discus 2AT with 1.595.
2. Andreas Hillebrand from Germany in LS 8 with 1.576.
3. Carsten Bueddig from Germany in Discus 2AT with 1.528.
Sjaak Selen who lost his sister in law during these comps on May 3, was 5th with 1.513. ONE point behind number 4.

2-seater-class after 3 day’s;
1. Ferdi and Frauke Kuipers from Holland in Duo Discus XL with 1.348.
2. Team Hagemann/Auen from Germany in Arcus with 5 points less 1.343. “Where did we loose those points“?????
3. Team Habertag /Jurk from Germany in Duo Discis XLT with 1.305.

Frauke warmly dressed in the back seat.
As shared by Frauke.

Club class after 4 day’s;
1. Lukas Brune from Germany in St Cirrus with 1.154 .
2. Casper Fossing from Denmark in LS 1f with 1.079.
3. Sabrina Vogt in LS 4 from Germany with 1.065.

 

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GAUTENG REGIONALS 2019 from ORIENT….continued.

Courtesy Robert Atkinson . GREAT PICTURES!!!!!
As shared by Soaring Society of South Africa

On May 1 an other short task in club class [145 km.] and 1 from 7 finished; Arjan Schaap. He got 328 points for this result.
In 15 m. also 1 finisher from 6 [4 flew] over 145 km. this time Hannu Du Toit. Only 109 poinbts for his brave effort.
In open class 189 k was set and Anders Anderson and John Coutts were the best. 7 From the 9 who started finished as well.
Speed from the finishers between 63 and 89 km./h.

Oscar in his beautiful JS 3 winner of May 2.
Courtesy Robert Atkinson.

May 2  still small tasks;
Club..131 km; not a valid day.
15 m..131 km; 194 points for Wayne Schmidt who managed to fly the distance in his ASW 27 with a speed of 61 km./h.
open..166 km; and also here the speed says it all; Oscar won the day with 89 km./h on the clock.

May 3; no flying.

May 4 ;LAST DAY!!!
Club.. 127 km; 1 finisher for 109 points. Arjan Schaap won the comps with 981 points. No more to say…
15 m. .165 km.;Wayne won again and was overall winner with 1.597 points.
open.. 183 km.;Also here another win for Oscar [133 km./h.] and runner up,in JS 3 as well , Anders.
A total of 2.484 points for Oscar as winner of these regionals in this class. John Coutts was runner up with 2.149 points and Mannie Mclauchlan in the ASG 29 was 3d with 2.122 p.

Oscar get’s another cup.
As shared by Oscar.

Not a lot of long flights on good days but good winners in each class;
Here another great picture by Robert to finish this Regional Competition.

 

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 2019 Italian Club Class Nationals.

Aeroporto di Alzate Brianza. on April 22 a week before the comps.
Courtesy Stefano Balzan

The Italian club class Nationals were flown from Alzate Brianza in the N of Italy with 13 pilots.
April 29…. 211km; daily winner Simone Selvini in St Cirrus ..speed 87 km.
April 30….259 km; Peter Hartmann won in a St. Libelle ..speed 90 km./h
May 1….3 hour AAT ; improvement of the weather and a 1000 points -day. Davide Giovanelli was the winner in St. Cirrus.He flew 377 km. in time 3.38 …speed 103 km./h.
May 2…1.45 AAT; A DG 300 as best glider for the day with Ugo Pavesi.
May 3…no flying.
May 4???????
May 5 last day; no flying.
“Italian” CLUB class champion/winner is Jan Jagiello, who was 2 on 2 day’s runner up and flew consistent in his St Libelle with 2.973. After 4 day’s of flying.[out of 7]
2. Davide Giovanelli in St Cirrus with 2.942, only 31 points less.
3.Peter Hartmann in St.Libelle with 2.937 so missing out on 5 points to be runner up.

As far as I know Jan is a young Austrian pilot and Peter, an a ” tad older ” Austrian. Davide is from Switzerland.
So according to the rules I know, they are winners and Ugo Pavesi on spot 4 will be Italian champion.He had 13 points less than number 3. Ugo flew a DG 300.
Correct me when I am wrong. Thanks.

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Some great pictures from Serres, where Matthew [Scutter] works on updates for his SKYSIGHT.
Great job in all ways.

  

  

Looking good there around Serres.
Courtesy Matthew.

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The GLIDING INTERNATIONAL new ON-LINE issue viewer.

The new Mai/June 2019 issue is on line for those interested. Because of an error [525] I could not read it for you to give you some details. Will try later again.

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Last but for sure not least.

I told you about the wrong corner we are in. On May 3 Christianne de Swart died. She was still the fittest good looking person in the beginning of January this year and she died on MAY 3. UNBELIEVABLE. Bloody cancer!!! International pilots know her as the partner from 2 times WGC champion Baer Selen. She always crewed for him and as TC and friend I had quite a lot to do with them for many, many years.
Only 61 years old.
She was a very outspoken, full of live, sportive ,charismatic and lovely lady. 4 Soaring friends including me said farewell to her on April 22. We had , under the circumstances, a great couple of hours  and at that time ,Chris was still part of it.
She will be sadly missed by many and we all will support Baer in this difficult time.

 

Chris after the briefing in 1991 ,when she crewed for Baer and he became for the 2d time WGC champion.

R.I.P. dear Chris!!!!

11 WGC’s she was on his site. And what great job she did!!!!
Courtesy Baer

 

 

Cheers Ritz

Some great flights!!!

On Wednesday April 24 a great flight from a few of the German Juniors flying from Königsdorf  ;
“ Last week, German Junior pilots Nikolai Wolf and Johannes Beyer finished phenomenal flights of more than 1000km each on their first rides of the new DAeC Ventus-3 supplied to promote young talented pilots! Congratulations!” Message from Schempp-Hirth.
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-…/gliding/flightinfo.html…

https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-…/gliding/flightinfo.html…

A total of 11 over-1000km-flights that day, with Yves Gerster flying 2 days in a row a 1.082 and a 1.222 km. in a DG 400 /17 m.Place; Courtelary in Switzerland.
Juergen Wernzel even flew that day 1.408 km. from Hilzingen in Germany in an ARCUS M and Gerhard Heidebracht 1.319 km. in a Ventus 2CM/18m. from Koenigsdorf.
Johannes Beyer must have had the day’s of his life flying Ventus 3 as a young lad and flying with Mathias Schunk a distance of 1.222 km. in the ARCUS T. Not bad!!!!

TOP junior…Johannes Beyer. As shared by Schempp-Hirth.

On Thursday the 25th of April, the windy weather created booming conditions in the mountains and 9 over 1000 km. flights were flown, some even over 1.500!!!! A real  foehn-day  with wave and thermals.
Klaus Ohlmann in the Stemme flew from Serres in France; 1.511,64 km.
Guido Achleitner from Sankt Johan in Austria in ASG 32 MI ;1.513,79 km.
Mathias Schunk from Koenigsdorf in Germany in Quintus M;1.654,32 km.
Also the H301 Libelle flight was spectacular. From Niederoeblarn in Austria David Richter-Trummer flew 1.020 km.!!!! Even with 100 km./h. headwind, the little glider stood ground. Amazing!!!
Also Mollis Mil in Switzerland had a few 1000km.’s.

Last Sunday was another good mountain day and from France and Italy pilots “hooked” on in the wave and flew over 1000 km.
Gilles Navas added another long flight to his list with 1.059 km. from Vinon in his ASG 29E/18m.
1.110 was flown by 2 French toppers from St Auban; Francois Hersen and Baptiste Innocent in ASH 30.
The day before they flew also a long flight;1.211,50 km.
From Italy, Calcinate,  it was team Andreas Ferrero and Marco Stefanon in an ARCUS, who flew 1.085 km.
The St. Cirrus flight from from 922 km. by young Swiss pilot Davide Giovanelli, from Alzate Brianza in Italy is worth mentioning as well.
Matthew Scutter mentioned from the French Alps;”Nice first wave XC flight in the French Alps with Jean-Marie Clement, testing SkySight!”

Many comps at the moment and the weather is not co-operating there. Rain, more rain and rain again. AND,…that after the several glorious day’s!!! A pity but it is as it is with the weather.

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PRIBINA CUP at NITRA in Slovakia finished.

Great picture by ELFO on flying-day 3.

After 3 non flying day’s and 3 flying days the scores were all pretty close except for open class, but all was still possible.
On Thursday ,  the weather improved and there was a cheerful message:
“Good morning. Finally we are going to race again.”
Day 7 task 5 flying day 4;
Club; had to fly 156 km. and this was best done by 2 German ASW 20 pilots , Felix and Wolli ,the current team coach of the German team, with even a speed of 106 km./h after a later start than the others;14.03. Some , 2 Pegase pilots, even made it later at 15.13. They were 11th for the day.
35 From the 39 who started finished.
15 m.; had 203 km to fly and German pilots Karsten and Philipp in Discus 2B and LS 8 were the daily best with 111/112 km./h. Then…4 Polish pilots.
26 From the 33 who started finished. A pity,…Tibor ,who flew in the past with us in Tocumwal belonged to the out-landers.
20 m.;197 km and 6 from 6 in the top belong to Germany. A real German day there in Nitra. Briel/levin won another day in the Duo Discus X and are proud number 2 in the overall scores behind the ARCUS from Buhlmann & Schlautmann.
open; 224 km and 4 from the best 5 were from Poland with as the best…Sebastian, who started pretty early in his class at 13.57.

Day 8 task 6 was set, but flying day 5 was flown….but only in 20 m. class.
Club;2 hour AAT but the day was cancelled.
15m; 2 hour AAT and Lucasz flew up to 94 km. others from 50 to 78 , but not enough to make it a valid day.
20 m.; 2 hour AAT and flown and completed  by 7 from the 13 teams. Good on them!! Best by Goralski & Tilo Holighaus in the ARCUS. An important win as it brought them in the overall top 3.
open; 2 hour AAT but the task was cancelled.
In the evening, with 1 day to go, the farewell party that started at 8 pm in hangar. There was  live music, free bean goulash and beer.

Day 9 was ,due to bad weather, cancelled.
A pity but that’s how it is.
Prize-giving was earlier at 12 PM.

Prize giving in Nitra.
As shared by ELFO.

So the champions after 3 /4 day’s of flying are;
club
HC. Miroslaw Izydorczak from Poland in ASW 20;3.322.
1. Mark Travner from Slovenia [3.210] winner from the CUP and
2. Aleš Kovač  both from Aeroclub Celje and both in a DG 300.[3.194]
3.  Tobias Pachowsky from Germany in LS 4 [3.158]

 

The proud Club Class Champions.
Courtesy ELFO.

15 m.
1. Tomasz Hornik from Poland in Discus 2A [3.272] Winner from the CUP.
2. Radek Krejčiřík from Czech Rep in Vantus 2A .[3.199]
3. Lukasz Grabowski from Poland in DIANA 2 [ 2.984]

The best 3 as seen by ELFO.

20 m.
1. Simon Briel & Enrique Levin from Germany in DUO DISCUS X [2.997] Winners from the CUP.
2. Weidlich & Moeller from Germany in ARCUS [ 2.905]
3. Goralski & Holighaus from Germany in ARCUS  [2.872]

The German top  as seen by ELFO

open;
1. Sebastian Kawa from Poland in Diana 3 FES [3.406]
2. Karol Staryszak from Poland in ASG 29 [3.403] Only 3 points difference with Sebastian . On the last flying day Sebastian won the day and got 13 points more than Karol. The difference that day was 10.
3. Petr Krejčiřík from Czech Rep in JS1 C EVO [2.573] Good to see father and son at the podium!!!

The cup winner and the rest of the top 3.
As see by ELFO.

Congratulations to all pilots, crew and organizers.
And as every year great pictures by ELFO!!!!

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Klix 2019 ..27th International Gliding Cup.
April 26-Mai 4.

With 35 pilots at this stage in 18m., 21 in club class , 22 teams in 20 m. and 34 in St. Class ,another huge competition.
Day 1 on Friday, was straight away difficult with the weather. Only open and club started, 20 m. was cancelled and St Class was cancelled in the air.
259 k. was set for open/18m. and unfortunately nobody finished, BUT it turned out to be a valid day and Ingo Trentelj nearly flew the task in his ASH 31MI/21m.;257 km for 296 points.
187 km. was set for club and 4 managed to fly over 100 km. not enough to make it a valid day.

Day 2 was cancelled.

Day 3 was cancelled.

Day 4 was cancelled all due to rain all day.

Day 5; After all the rain, they hoped for a window to fly in on Tuesday  and small racing tasks were set, with hope for 4 more good days. In the end the day turned out better than expected and with the LATE starts it was quite exciting to see if pilots dared to play start games.
Club;143 km,…..and a St. Jantar, St. Cirrus and St. Libelle in the top 3.Polish pilot Benedykt Jasik in the Jantar won the day.Only 1 out from 19 and starts between 14.11 and 14.36.
2 seaters; 229 A task and 146 km. as B task….. It was the A task they had to fly and good old Sigi Baumgartl won this day in the ARCUS with a speed of 120 km. /h. They started at 13.56 and all were on track with 8 minutes.19 From 22 finished.
St. Class; 250 [A] or 146 km. [B] ……they were the first to go on track. Raphael Twardowski in an LS 8 won the 250 A task even with 10 penalty points.
28 From 31 finished so reasonable conditions in this class with starts between 13.25 and 13.48.
18m./open; 180 km……..at 16.42 !!!! their line opened and most straight away went on track.!!! The winner of the day flew for 400 points and it was Andreas Kuhl in JS 3 before Rainer Chrohnjaeger [Switzerland] in ASH 31 MI/21 m.
22 from 31 finished!!

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Prievidza in Slovakia started.
April 28-May 9 2019.

With 100 competitors this is another big competition in Slovakia, flown in 3 classes; club, 15m and combi.
Day 1 was on Sunday and a task from 262 km. was set for 15 m. but unfortunately also there the weather was not good enough to fly.CANCELLED.
” Weather for ducks ” as the Aussies say.
More next week.

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Region 5 contest in the USA.

Some famous winners in open class with Karl Striedeck and Sarah on 3 , winner Dick Butler still going strong and  Jerzy Szemplinski from Canada as runner up.
They had 4 out of 6 day’s ,…all blue!!

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Gauteng Regionals 2019 from Orient.

Line up for day 1 .
as seen by AntionetandMark Howse and shared by Soaring Society of South Africa

They started last Sunday in 3 classes with short tasks in club 113 km. and 4 competitors,  15 m. with 144 km and 6 participants and open with 204 km.
10 Pilots in open and 2 pilots did not finish. Best speed was by John Coutts ,123 km.h. in the JS 1.
Oscar was runner up in JS 3 but 10 km./h slower.

No great weather there either as day 2 had short tasks as well and day 3 was cancelled.

More next week.

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I am in the “corner where I am hit hard”. A lot of lovely people are leaving this world.
This time it is Cheryl from Sportaviation in Tocumwal. Eddie ‘s wife and support in life and the business.
” were like two peas in a pod” Eddie mentioned.
A great lady and a real peoples person. I am going to miss her.
Her funeral is on Mai 3  at the Tocumwal Lawn Cemetery, that’s where a lot of my friends are nowadays even our son Dennis. I will be busy bringing flowers next season.
R.I.P. lovely lady!!!

Cheryl and Eddie a great and lovely couple.
As shared by Eddie

CU next week, in which another young friend may die. She is given up by the doctors.
Ritz