27-01-2021……Post 1.249!
With only 4 day’s to go the 67th Argentinian Multi Class Nationals continued from Chavez when I left you, last Wednesday.
NOT the best Argentinian weather till then!
So on the 20thiest of January they started again…AND 3 days in a row. Unfortunately the last day had to be cancelled for open and 15m..
Exciting days they were!!!

Open class last 3 flying days;
Task 9 ..2 hour AAT; Raul Garda flew 152 km in his JS 3 in time 2.04.
Task 10 was 215 km. and flown by all 15 who started.
115 km./h was the best speed in a 22.9 m Nimbus 3 by Juan Vastik. The runner up in an LS 8 flew 107 km./h.
Task 11 with 266 km. was quite a difficult one. Only 2 pilots finished and Damian [Goldenzweig] won the day and gained 800 points, good enough to climb from 5 to 3 overall!!!!The Nimbus 3 just missed out on 6 km , was 3d but did a good job over the last 2 days; being runner up.
6 Out of 12 days and not one day showed 1000 points to win..
So the open class ARGENTINIAN CHAMPION, with pretty close scores is ;
1. Juan P. Verdura in Ventus 2CM with 3.159 points.
2. Juan Vastik in Nimbus 3 /22.9 m. with 3.164 p.
3. Damian Goldenzweig in Ventus 2 CM with 3.067 p.

15 m. class;
Task 9; 2 hour AAT. Best distance combined with time;151 km in 1.59.
Task 10 ;216 km. flown by all 20 who started!!! In this class 14 x an ASW 20 …. 11 were on top before a Duo Discus.
Task 11 with 239 km. had NO FINISHERS!!! But the best distance was 163 km. flown by 2 for 306 points. The LS 6 was 3d for 284 points for 153 km.
So the final scores after 6 out of 12 days and 15m Argentinian National Champion;
1. Martin Darrain in ASW 20 with 3.278 points. He won task 2 and 3.
2. Lucas Goldenzweig in ASW 20 with 3.184 p.
3. Maximilianol Luengo in ASW 20 with 3.163. 5 points more than Mauricio Delfabro.

St. Class;
Task 9 ; 224 km. flown by 21 from the 24 who started.
Task 10; 261 km. …and also in this class only 2 finishers, both got 200 points more than the not-finishers!
12x an LS 4 in this class.
Task 11; 2 hour AAT so extra day for this class. 13 From 23 flew the task, so worthwhile to have the day.
“Terrible ” last day for Gonzalo Riera in his LS 4 .On the last days he was on spot 3 overall but on the very last day he was “out” loosing more than 200 points. So Juan Bonelli in his LS 4, who was 4th for the day, moved up from 5 to 3.
St. Class National National champion after 6 out of 12 days.
1. Nicolas Verdura in St Jantar 2 with 3.843 points.
2. Dino Ghioni in LS4 with 3.790 p.
3. Juan Bonelli in LS 4 with 3.689 p.

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South Africa started with the WESTERN CAPE REGIONALS flown from Worcester, with a practice day on January 23 and continuing till January 30.
3 Classes ; Club, [5 pilots] ,open [16 gliders some with 2 pilots] and 15 m.[4 pilots]

I will concentrate on the open class.
Task 1 was a set task from 224 km. Due to the HIGH speed he flew around the TP’s ….152 km./h….daily winner Marcus Geisen from Germany won , but only “got” 389 points. Marcus flies the ARCUS M with Dawid Pretorius this day; normally he shares the glider with Karin [Wiesenthal] his wife. The entire family Wiesenthal visited us in Tocumwal, some of them, for many years.
More 2 seaters as Nicolas Bennett [USA] and John Coutts [ N.Z. but living in S.A. already for years] fly an Arcus M and Oscar Goudriaan their ASG 32 MI….2 Duo Discus fly as well.
Laurens and Uys fly the JS 3.
15 Pilots started in the end and the slowest “with respect” flew 119 km./h in the Duo Discus.

Task 2 showed 507 km.…. so the real South African weather! And what speed!!!! The first 12 pilots flew with 150 km./h or more. The best , Andreas Spielmann from Switzerland, with 165 km./h.in the JS 3.
Winner in the ARCUS M was Nicolas and John; 1000 points for their speed of 163 .81 km./h.
Karin back in the front seat and Marcus were 4th and Oscar in the ASG 32MI 3d.
One Duo was out after 300 km. A pity!
Looking at the speed of 15 m. class;138 km./h over 441 km and in club 119 km./h over 156 km. GOOD DAY!!!
Task 3; 314 km. UNBELIEVABLE SPEED!!!!!Certainly during a competition. Uys flew around in his own JS 3 with a speed of 185.72 km./h.….WOW!!! THAT IS FAST!!![478 points] Back after 1 hour and 41 minutes.
I had to look 3 times to see if I had seen it correctly!!
Nick and John in their ARCUS were runner up with 173 km./h.[471 points]
Nick, who gets coaching from John mentioned; “A real drag race“.

Looking at club, great effort as well; Cameron in a St.Cirrus with a speed of 132 km./h. over 179 km…….Colin in ASTIRCS with 126 km./h ….Kevin in DG 400/17 m with 133 km./h …
In 15 m. they flew 256.55 km. and I mention all 4 pilots ;
Findlay Smith with 158.77 km./h in 15 m. Ventus B…..Wilhelm Moosehuus in MOSQUITO with 156 km./h…..Tokkie Carstens in LS4 with 139 km./h and Martin Lessle in 15m. Ventus CM with 130 km./h!

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Tuggie Bruce [Wilson] mentioned last Friday: ” Mid downwind RW 27 R Tocumwal in the mighty ROZ.
Ingo just launched in XX in what promises to be a great gliding day.”
Ingo [Renner] ,…not the youngest anymore but still going strong….indeed took his XX [Discus ] for a ride from Tocumwal. A 700 k triangle was the result!!!Topping that days OLC list.
Bernie Sizer flew in his PIK 20 a distance of 710 km. TOP!!

Lot’s of good flights down under. On Sunday John flew from Tocumwal 850 km [750 FAI triangle] in his JS 1 C/21 m. and he topped the OLC list again.

BUT THE FLIGHT LAST WEEK WAS THE ONE FROM KLAUS OHLMANN.
Not even so much the distance …1,285 km…..as the flight over water from France[Serres La Batie] to Corsica and Sardinia!!! Very high wave [ over 6000 m] BUT with a dip[570 m MSL] in lift . Scary!
But the Stemme is a good plane and Klaus of course one of the best pilots to do such things.
Have a look at his epic flight on the OLC. SPECTECULAR!!!
“Exploring the waves… The airmass was much more humid than in the forecasts. High clouds in my way to go to the lift. Airbrakes out to go under the stratosclouds.
Low ridge soaring with a lot of wind. Had to catch the wave from the bottom. South of Figari towering cumulus with tops higher than 6000 m and rain below.
And Cagliary did not allow to land there at first. Thirty minutes later they allowed me, but it was too late; Anyway, great experience.”
So to see an outlanding.

On January 23,24,25 and 26 AUSTRALIA -day they flew a long-weekend- Grand Prix in Lake Keepit.
On all the 4 days pilots could fly and mostly around 300 km.
A lot of the people I got to know during the WWGC were flying now.
Kerry was so kind to share a picture of the lake, which was nearly dry last year during the WWGC, but pretty “full” now with green grass around it.

And to finish….Bill is not only busy with my blog AND his bees, [http://blossomwoodhoney.com/ ], but he is also bringing the soaringcafe articles about Dick Butler’s CONCORDIA to another site;
“I have also started to migrate Dick Butler’s content off of SoaringCafe.com to, https://concordia-sailplane.com/ which I will make live today.  I have a few more things to do but for now it is ready for everyone to enjoy.  DB will likely provide some updates to the site which I will help him with.  I’ll let you know when he does that.”
I am sure a lot of people will be interested in new news and reading again the stories from a few years ago.
I will let you know when I know!!!!

As said AUSTRALIA day on January 26…hope my mates had a good one. Love this wonderful picture. When I stayed in Sydney I was on Lavendel bay, looking to this epic building and the old bridge.

CU next week.
Cheers Ritz
Just “found” more fabulous colors this time from an impressive sunset in New Zealand as seen by Geoff Soper.

20-01-2021………. post number 1.248!!!!
Winter in Holland…but only for a few day’s.

All kind of unexpected “things” are happening here in The Netherlands.
We had SNOW. Not abnormal, but as you have spend 30 winters in Tocumwal or at other places in Australia, it’s GOOD to see snow again.

Only one day,…. but it was clear that I was not the only happy one, as sledges, “raced” out of the shops,…which are in fact not open…. so I guess from special DIY shops and via internet.
The snow here was about ONE cm!!!!So not REALLY interesting!

On top of that our Dutch government resigned!!!! In the middle of CORONA AND with only till March 17, to go for the new elections!!!!No fighting or so, but stupid/unacceptable behavior by some[ since 2013] treating people with social security allowance more than badly, accusing them of fraud and more or less destroying between 12 and 22.000 families.
Some of those families had to pay back up to 120.000 tax-Euro!!
The tax office now has deleted their debt.
On top of that they get 30.000 Euro.
NOBODY except for 2 in the government said something about it, so they unanimously decided , “full of shame” after a shocking report…to resign,…no other way possible!!!BUT all of them promised to back up the de-missionair- government’s plans to fight corona.
In between Trump will be gone today and Biden starts in the USA.
I wish him a lot of success AND support, which he needs after all that has happened .
My USA friends I wish a united country again.
Back to soaring!!!!

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On January 11 the 67 National Multi Class Championships started at Adolfo Gonzalez Chaves and they continue till January 22.
Host; the Club de Planeadores Otto Ballod.
This is also the 90thiest edition of Copa Eugenio Ballester !!
16 pilots in open, 22 in 15m and 24 in standard class.
They started with pretty marginal weather and then “no” weather…..

Task 1 …160 km….in open counted only 3 from 16 finishers! The other 2 classes were cancelled!
Task 2…275 km. ….was flown by 14 and with good speed. Daily winner Alberto Garcia flew around with 131 km./h in his 18 m. Ventus 2CM.
Task 3…295 km….showed Damian Goldenzweig as winner with a speed of 124 km./h. Also in 18m. Ventus 2CM.

Then NO task on the 14th.
Task 5 a 2 hour AAT was not flown.
Task 6 and 7 were not flown as well,….. , BUT in 15m. a 1.30 AAT [task 7] was flown and won by Martin Vendura in an LS 6;366 points for him. Jose Dentone and Lucas Goldenzweig were bot runner up with 362 points. Both fly ASW 20.

Task 8 was set for all classes! Better weather again…..they hoped.
Good….. as till now there were only 2 flying days in St. Class and to have a National Champion you need at least one more day.
Tasks were set according to the expected weather….335 km for open, 306 for 15 m and 330 for standard.
BUT,….Prueba cancelada para todas las clases. We don’t need a translator..cancelled.
Then task 9 yes they really tried hard!!!
Open ; 2 hour AAT won by Raul Garda in the JS 3;152 km in time in 2.04! So slow…73 km./h…. but in!!!
15 m; 2 hour AAT …best distance 162 km in ASW 20 by Jose Dentone and speed 77 km./h but 118 penalty points brought him to only spot 10 for the day. 10 more penalties, depending on different heights.
St. class; finally a good day for them so 3 tasks now!!! 3x An ls 4 then a St Jantar and again 3x an LS 4.task 2 hour AAT and best for the day Gonzalo Riera in LS 4 with 138 km. in 2- hour- at- the -dot.
So they have their 3 tasks now!
Comps are hopefully not over yet , so more next week.

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News from Jonker Sailplanes;
The IDAFLIEG is the binding link between all Akafliegs (academic flying groups) based in Germany and organizes every summer a 3-week meeting to do aeronautical measurements and tests for research. During their 2020 summer camp in Stendal the IDAFLIEG team measured the performance of Matthias Sturm’s JS3 Rapture-18m. Relative sink speeds at various flight velocities and flap settings were measured, with comparison flights wing-to-wing with their “holy cow”. From the measurements a composite performance polar curve was obtained for the various flap settings. The results confirms the remarkable performance of the JS3, correlating very closely with the performance predictions made by JS, with a maximum glide ratio touching the 57:1 mark.“These flight tests show that the design effort paid off and the bar has been raised for the next generation of sailplanes. A big thanks to the Idaflieg for doing such great research work and to Sturmi, giving us his ‘Black Forest Edition 55+2’ for testing.” Uys Jonker said smiling.

And to finish… Always be only happy with the best safety…
Have a look at https://aeroflash.de (or .nl) – Sophisticated Visual Awareness Light Systems!
The AeroFlash team was founded in June 2020 by a team of very experienced glider pilots. Peter Millenaar [Junior World Champion in 2013 and owner of MillenAir Glider Supplies ] and Erwin Vorenhout, both Dutch.
NEW , VERY INTERESTING and INNOVATING NEWS about added retrofitting your glider with safety-enhancing light systems.
So I checked straight away with Peter and asked for more info.
Here you are.
Canopy Flashers… Mounted in the front part of the canopy. 6 extremely bright (3400 Lumen) CREE LEDs make yourself visible for traffic up to 3km away.
https://aeroflash.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/flasher-front-trans-1000.png

Fuselage Flashers… Mounted on the top or bottom of the fuselage, or BOTH. 16 extremely bright (8500 Lumen) CREE LEDs flash like a strobe and make yourself visible in every direction. They are super super aerodynamic and compact at only 110x15x11mm and require only ONE small 4mm hole to mount it. They can be mounted on a wheel door or engine bay door if you don’t want to drill a hole in the fuselage.
 https://aeroflash.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/fuseflash-side-1-copy.png

Both are extremely easy to install (only require 60-120 minutes). Everything is plug-and-fly and comes complete with everything you need!Highly suitable for aeroclubs as well: Activate and forget!Connectable to Flarm to have additional enhanced flashing logic. 
Have a look at their smart programming! They seem to know what they are doing.
https://aeroflash.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/nexus-fusion-1000.jpg

AeroFlash has some local dealers already like in AeroTechnics in France, who can arrange installation for you, and more to come soon!
Please support them, and let’s hope many people will be installing these over the next seasons! I think it would definitely help the safety in our beautiful sport. They can be followed on Instagram as well, where they posted a few installation stories, videos and pictures.

That’s it for now . Just got 2 messages from Bill;
1. Soaring.Eu is being transferred as we speak.
2. You are back on line. That means the migration is complete.  We’re done and you can go back to editing.
Pfff, what a job that was!!! Not for me I only had to WAIT.
So another HUGE THANK YOU to Bill in the USA.
By the way no items about the GLIDING INTERNATIONAL. They publish now every month as you know, except December and January .
“We have an extra special February issue coming out next week, which will fill you in on what is going on in our neck of the woods. “as written by John.

CU next Wednesday without the scary feeling will it work or not, can I get in yes or no. My writing life will be very easy
Hallelujah.
cheers Ritz …..off to see Biden being inaugurated. Hope it all goes without incidents.
AND to make your soaring-feelings rise again now spring here is not far away….. a stunning picture from the finish at the Dutch Nationals in 2019.

SORRY,…..the transfer from my posts to another server took a bit longer than expected, hence a later post .
“Scribbles” ,….so many, from 2006 on ,with pictures,….a hell of a job!!!
But Bill did WELL as always!!
 HUGE THANK you to Bill!!!!

The Namibia season was short but strong.
Looking at the last week there were some great flights from Worcester in South Africa, where Frerk and Marcus flew in the ARCUS M a distance of 1.209 km. …853 km FAI triangle.
Also from Australia ,great flights ; the Tocumwal- Benalla- Corowa, triangle was GOOD.
Tobias Geiger flew on January 10 , a 1000 km FAI triangle from Benalla in a 15m. Ventus 2AX. GREAT JOB!!!
And what about 918 km. that day, also  from Benalla in an LS 3!!!
Francesco from Corowa flew in his ASG 32 MI a distance of 757 km and from Toc. Grant in his ST. Jantar 709 km.
Earlier on January 8 the WEST of Australia was good with 1000 km. flights from Norm in his JS 3 from Beverley and 1.134km in an ASH 31/21 m. from Cunderdin by James Cooper.
He flew 500 km OUT to the N. and returned over mostly scrub areas, where nobody lives.
Temora had a lot of pilots and several great flights up to and over 1000 km. Several set 1000 flights but even with the great weather and the longer days, it is sometimes not so easy, as we all know.
Flights from 996 and 987 and 981, are fabulous but do not give THE great pleasure of a 1000 k flight, even if you have already 10 or more.
Certainly, when you, like Matthew [Scutter] set a 1000 , fly it in your DIANA, and for the OLC is it 996!!!
“Why does OLC optimize this to 997 but LX and CU to 1000.5? Will just do it again tomorrow ”
Some pilots abandoned their flight to be fit again for the next day to fly it again.

Looking back at the Comps, the 2021 S.A State comps were won by Pete Temple in 18 m. with 6 days flown out of 7.
5.152 points and Pete won every day!
In club class Bernie Sizer won in his PIK 20B with 4.962 points.
The New Zealand National Multi Class Champions had an exciting finish in open class . They had 5 out of 9 days and Keith Essex won the last day and JUST finished 2 points ahead of Mike Oakley in the ASH 25.
In racing it was young Nick Oakley with more than 500 points ahead of the runner up [4.787 for 4.226]

Today in my post,  a mail I got from Kari [Lappalainen] from Finland. He and Jari Julin flew in our early SSC period in an LS 6 brought from Finland ; JJ.
The glider has been LONG in Tocumwal and later Martti Sucksdorf flew in it as well. Kari , every year, did the inspections!
Reading through his eyes, shows another perspective on great times in Tocumwal, than my own perspective ,which you know about now.
He send pictures with it as well and he sends his greetings to all readers who flew in his time at Sportavia.
He allowed me to share it with you so here we go.

Hello Ritz!
As you know, this time of the year, in my view in the afternoon,  it
should look like in the picture which Swiss Chris sent to you for your
blog. But in reality, it looks like in these pics here. These were taken
in Räyskälä on 6 Jan 2021 at 16.00 loc. How do I survive? Only one
summer / year this time.

But there is nothing I can do about it in these circumstances. Visitors
are not welcome to Australia at the moment and I have to stay in Finland
shoveling the snow! Blaaah!
All this means that I have to start to use the Ventus2 of my club more
during this season. During past 20 years I have done most of my gliding
in Toc but now I have to learn to navigate around Räyskälä again .

You have long story about Toc in your blog. I have a lot of warm
memories  from Toc also. And I have got many good friends and nice
memories during my holidays there.
Some friends have passed away , some moved a way, some moved away and then back to Toc again (like Tove and Grant) , some friends I have still
met every year  in Toc or at their homes in Toc or in Melbourne. Some
overseas friends  have  been faithful to Toc and been coming there 
after Sportavia died, operating under umbrella of Ed . And some oversees
friends I have not seen since Sportavia was gone and this is sad of
course. Sad because memories of gliding there is only one thing,
memories of the time spent with friends there is very important also.

 From my flights with Sportavia I have a lot of memories and some  pics.
Here you get  two memorable ones from my flights. They are like
extremes. Triumph (2003) and almost disaster (2002).  You maybe remember these.   My guess is that no one has made outlanding any closer to the airfield. If some one likes to make measurements, the JJ has been turned around in the pic. I had to make ground loop in the end and tail was
pointing to the airfield and was a bit closer.
It was the stormy day when LS4 was turned upside down by the storm. I
was coming back from NE and we were advised to land somewhere and wait until  storm was gone in Toc .  Myself and  other pilot landed on same
paddock and waited for the tug in sunshine.  Later on the storm was gone
and tug came to pick us up.
I went first. It was still windy and Ed recommended  me to land on
platform so they could  grab my wing before wind turns me over.  Well,
no problem, I have landed smaller paddocks in Finland. In strong wind
you have to keep altitude and speed high on circuit. On final I was much
higher than normally and for a moment I thought that I will overshoot.
But then downburst started from blue sky. Brakes in, nose down…speed
is still disappearing, flaps negative, nose more  down, still not more
than 120km/h. And very soon I was getting low, not sure if I could make
it over the fence and trailers. Quick decision,  less risky to try to
land in between the remains of  basement of old building and the fence
of airfield.  Now we knew better and advised the other pilot to land on
18 and aim at the crossing of runways. He tried but barely got to the
airport.  Down burst was still there!
I have had many great flights with Sportavia and under Ed’s umbrella but
those two in pics are the most memorable.

Maybe you do not remember the story how my 22 year long relationship
with Toc started. You were the key factor in process!
My self and Ilkka Toijala had our club gliders booked for our gliding
holiday periods on same time during two seasons in a row in Räyskälä. On
both times it rained. We were sitting in cafeteria on our last days of
holiday 1998. We decided that something has to be done. We went to
internet. Typed Gliding Australia in Google. Got a list of gliding clubs
in Australia.  We sent inquiries to few Gliding Centres.
 On next day (I think) we got first reply. It was from you!! Other
center’s  came  week behind and were  terribly late. We had already done
our bookings with you. And the rest is history!

Our gliding season 2020 in Räyskälä was delayed roughly one month
because of covid restrictions. But after that it was quite good as you
have seen in OLC.
Best wishes and Corona free year 2021!!!

Kari

A huge thank you to Kari as well. SO nice to see the soaring from the guest/friends site as well.

Without problems I will be back next Wednesday!
Cheers Ritz

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

——–The F 1.0 continued in beautiful Leeton, where George once, years ago 1985?, became THE WINNER, as……, as a Dutchie, he could not be Aussie champion.
There was a day with hail and snow during that competition ,but I missed that, as I was on my way home to Holland already.
Young Ralf Holighaus was so kind to bring me by car to Tullamarine Airport. His dad Klaus flew the comps too and before we all went to Leeton they stayed , as we did, at the SSC in Tocumwal.
All was practice for the 1987 Benalla WGC.
Back to now.,…On January 1 in 2021 there was the next message;
“UPDATE FROM THE FORMULA 1.0 GRAND PRIX.
It’s been a trying few days. Poor weather and storms have rolled in, and both yesterday and today we have been unable to get a sufficient window to run a task. Also, with the recent COVID-related border closures, several of our competitors and tug pilots have had to derig and make a mad dash for the border before they got locked out. It was a risk we were always aware of, but unfortunate nonetheless. The competition is still running, so stay tuned for the next task.”
So those from South Australia and Victoria who were there, had to rush home. What a weird beginning again of this year.
Eddie made a video from his Fox, flying over the highway to the Toc bridge where the border is from NSW and Victoria; ONLY CARS!!!! Huge traffic jam!!!! NEVER ever saw such a thing in Australia.

Looking back,…..Day 2 was won by Nick Gilbert, flying a St. Cirrus. He is the son from Jane and Tom from Temora. Nick is VERY involved in this F 1.0 flying. He is also the comp organizer ,but as he lives in SA he had to go back before the end ,but keeps an eye on things from there.
Then a few non-flying days and one more day for the few pilots who were still there.
Day 6 with as winner Scott Lennon in his Libelle; 10 points in the pocket!
Their daily news
“Good morning race fans! The weather has given us a window of opportunity, and we’re going for it. Newcomer ninja Jenny Thompson is currently leading on 17 points, Scott Lennon is on 12 points, but days like this can change anything. Weather is very uncertain the next two days, so this might be IT !178km racing task today, starting early, and getting home before overdevelopment or rain kicks in.”
Indeed the scores changed. Scott has 22 points in total now and Jenny 20, as she was 7th and “got” 3 points!!

Monday was cancelled. Rain in the morning but much better after 3.Maybe one more day to go???
YES!!!!!! Day 8 showed 158 km and the day was won by F 1.0 pilot from the first moment AND just married….Christian Streifeneder in the St Libelle.
A low and blue day as they called it, but at finish time great clouds!!!
“Well done to Christian Streifeneder, winner of the final day! Not the most straight forward of days, many pilots battled a long into-wind leg and very broken thermals – but Christian got high, stayed high, and smoked the field! Well done on your first day win!”
Another Libelle was runner up. So in the end, after 4 flyable days , it was
1. Scott Lennon in the St. Libelle with 30 points.
2. Christian Streifeneder in the St. Libelle with 24 p.
3. Charlie Ianson in the St Cirrus with 24 p. AND Jenny Thompson in the Hornet with the same amount.

A pity so many had to leave, as the set-up from this competition is “inviting” for all.
“Conventional gliding competitions can require a huge financial commitment. Formula 1.0 is centered around the club class handicap of 1.0, which means that pilots can buy a competitive sailplane for less than $10,000. In the first running of the contest in the 2017 / 2018 season, the contest was won by Nathan Johnson in a borrowed 1976 Glasflugel Hornet.”

——-Since 2002 the IGC keeps a list of pilots who have flown their 1250km badge.
The first to do so was Terry Delore on March 1 in 2002.
The last one , till now, was in 2020. Tijl Schmelzer on June 29.
He is number 32 on the IGC list for 1.250 badge-holders.
2020 showed 3 x a 1250-badge also for Baptiste Innocent on August 4 and Max Stevens on January 12.
It’s remarkable that 2018 had 7, the most of all in one year and 4 flown in Africa.
3 Of them on January 6 so,….a real good day by Uys, Oscar and Pieter [Nouwens] !!Max Leenders from Holland, flew one on January 13, also in S A..
April 2018 … on the 29th, it was Bert Schmelzer jr. [ Belgium], who flew one.[ number 26 on the list]
The other 2 are Carl Audissou[France] on April 2 and Mike Oakley [ NZ] on November 7.

——-Looking at the IGS lists, it is interesting to know who starts 2021 as the best ones, on the official pilot ranking list. Here is the top 5.
1. Sebastian Kawa with 1000 points.
2. Michael Sommer with 999.6 p.
3. Wolfgang Janowitsch with 996 p.
4. Felipe Levin with 990.8 p.
5.Tomasz Rubaj with 990.4 p.

——Also the Perlan Project suffers from the Covid-19 virus.
Here is their news I got;
“The world-wide pandemic kept Perlan from traveling to Argentina this year to continue our quest to reach 90,000 feet and achieve the highest, wing-borne human flight in history.”

——The first comps for the 21 season has been cancelled. The Junior Nationals in Australia are “off”. They were scheduled for end of this week but due to new “lock downs” , it’s over and out.
BUT,…….there is ….”Good News! QLD will be holding a Junior Regatta at Kingaroy from the 10th-16th of January! The single-seater competition and two-seater coaching program are full steam ahead after the disappointing news of the cancellation of JoeyGlide in Leeton.“
The South Australian State comps are on right now in Waikirie with at this stage after 3 days of flying Pete Temple as number 1 [from 4] in 18 m. and a bad day today for Bernie Sizer in club,[7 participants] as he was “out” after 103 of the 230 km and dropped overall from 1 to 3.

–—-AND: The UK team is already organized for the JWGC in Pocuinai, here they are…Good luck guy’s;

——–ALL depending on COVID -19 the The Australian 2-seatgliding championship will be flown from February 13-20 in Narromine.
Till now they have been 100% corona free and they want to keep it like that !!!! SO strict rules have to be obeyed.
“The competition will be a single class event for both 20m 2 Seat Class gliders and Sports/Open Class which is literally ANY 2 Seat Glider from a K13, Pipistrel, DG505 through to a Nimbus 3/4DM or ASH 25/30.
The competition will be ballasted and run in accordance with the GFA National Competition Rules and will employ the GFA National MultiClass Handicaps.”

——-The last day of the year 2020 showed good flights from Worcester in S.A. My friends Karin and Markus flew in their ARCUS M a nice 1000 km[860 FAI triangle]
So did Swiss pilot Yves and USA pilot Nicolas;1.053 km. to the right and to the left from Worcester about 300 k out on each site plus some more km/s.
The first day of the year 2021 showed on the OLC , still good weather in Worcester , with a 761 km. flight from Sven and a few nice nearly 600 km. flights from Beverley and Waikerie in Australia.

You are more or less up to date, so CU next Wednesday with news from the N. Z. NATIONALS flown from Omarama between January 2 and 10!
At this stage Mike Oakley/Morgan leads after 2 days of flying before Keith Essex both fly in open class in ASH 25 and ASG 32.
In 18 m it is Mike’s son Nick who leads after 2 days in a Discus 2A. Tony van Dyke won day 1 but was out on day 2. A pity.
Today was their message;
“Unfortunately the day has only got a wee bit better. Very still on the airfield with high cloud overhead meaning that nothing much is happening to keep gliders in the air! Not taskable so the day has been cancelled.”
So the 2 hour AAT was cancelled.

HUGE THANKS to Bill, who is making my blog even more safe to use..read less login-hick-ups!!!
Cheers Ritz

To finish a great picture from Swiss Chris on New Years Day when a storm approached the airfield of Tocumwal.