What I like from the Danish Nationals…this time in Arnborg…. is that they fly them in 5 classes, so nearly everybody, interested in competition soaring is there.
When you have 5 “off-days” to begin with, it’s less bad as there are enough people to socialize and bonding is easy.
You feel a bit unhappy, ….you came for soaring, some to win….realize that the weather is the weather, BUT, with talking, eating and drinking together there is NO BAD feeling at all. Of course you prefer TOP WEATHER but,…..
When I left you last
Wednesday…May 19,…. the task was not set for that day , but not long after there was one. AND a good one!!!!
BUT…. in all classes it was changed to 2 hour AAT’s.
15 m; 329.51 km…..2 hour AAT, won by Henrik [Breidahl] in the JS 3..129 km. in 2 hours at the dot….10 from 13 were in.
18 m; 388.14 km….2 hour AAT…Arne flew 163 km. in 2.06 winning the day. 12 From 17 flew over 100 km. but it turned out an invalid day.
I checked WHY the day was invalid;
The reason was that the organizers adopted the international rules 1:1 and that required a min. of 140 km in the 18m class!
So not to smart to declare an AAT with less than 140 km. as min. and only 2 hours in really weak and low (4-700m) weather.
For the earlier task it would have been OK.
club; 292.25 km……2 hour AAT….Rasmus [Orskov] in an ASW 20, won 159 points for 140 km. in 2.04. From 22 a total of 15 finished.
2-seaters; 388.14 km….2 hour AAT….The ARCUS T with team Skov/Hoelgaard won with 138 km. in time 1.57, followed by 2 Duo Discus’. 7 From 11 finished.
standard; 329.51 km…..2 hour AAT….Paul Kim Larsen flew in his Discus 2A, a distance of in 2.04! 9 From 10 finished.

Thursday May 20 showed a bit better weather, hence longer tasks.
15 m; 304 km…..Best speed 75 km./h by Morten Noergard in the ASW 27B.
6 From 13 finished.
18 m.; 307 km and won By Arne in his JS 3 with a speed of 83 km./h ,which says it ALL about the weather, BUT They flew!!!
7 From 16 finished. Good old Stig Oye was runner up!!!
Club; 272 km….6 from 22 finished…GOOD on them. Best was Felipe Cvitanich in the Discus CS; 71 km./h. Rasmus was 3d.
2-seaters; 307 km.…1000 points for Skov/Hoelgaard in the ARCUS T. The first in this competition…..and the only. 88 Km./h.
4 From 11 finished.
standard; 304 km...won by Jan Joergensen in the LS 8 NEO….78 km./h

Then 2 non flying days. They continued on
May 23 the very last day with very small tasks !!!!
15m ;144 km…….When they started 4 pilots were still in the race with 30 points difference between 1 and 4.
292 points for daily winner Henrik, for a speed of 75 km./h on this last day.!!!
With those points he moved from 4 to 1!!!! Good on him. Only 3 points difference with Thomas [Grove] who was on 2 and remained there.
Morten moved from 1 to 3 and shared that spot with Thomas [Leander] in the Ventus C.
Final results in 15 m. after 4 flying days;
1; Henrik Breidahl with 1.738 points.
2. Thomas Grove with 1.735 p.
3. Morten and Thomas Leander 1.670 p.

18 m; 156 km…..with 1 day to go 3 pilots had a total of over 1000 points…overall…after 2 valid flying-days.!!!!
Peter Eriksen won the 3d day in the AS 33 e, just with a few seconds difference with Arne who was runner up; ONE daily point …310 for 309.
Overall final results after 3 valid days;
1. Arne Boye-Moeller with 1.460 points.
2. Stig Oye with 1.302
3.Jan Schmeltz Pedersen in ASG 29ES

Club; no task…only 3 days of soaring and out of them also one day with no finishers.
Overall results ;
1. Rasmus Orskov in ASW 20 with 1.572 points.
2. Lasse Edslev in LS 4NEO with 1.537 p.
3. Mathias Valentin in LS 1-D with 1.431 p.

2 seaters; 156 km….Very good flying from team Skov/Hoelgaard in the ARCUS T they won EVERY day including the last one.
Overall results after 4 days;
1. Team Skov/Hoelgaard with 1.736 points.
2. Team Joergensen/Nielsen in ARCUS T with 1.475 p.
3. Team DSvU in Duo Discus XLT with 1.344 p.

standard; 144km….2 daily winners on the last day Jan Joergensen who won the last 2 days and Poul Kim Larsen both got 351 points.
Overall results after 4 days out of 11 ;
1. Jan Joergensen in LS 8 NEO with 1.832 points.
2. Filip Bojanowski in Discus 2A with 1.528 p.
3. Peter M Jensen in Discus c with 1.489 p.

A pity from the weather but,…all in the game…part of the sport!

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Open Belgian Gliding Nationals .[OBGN] …will be flown from St Hubert between May 22 and May 30 , with 39 pilots in 3 classes, club, a mix of standard, 20 m and 15 m. and a mix from 18 m. and open.
First day had to be cancelled but May 23 had some windows so tasks were set.
In the “standard-mix” the 2 hour AAT was won by Daan Spruyt in the Ventus 2ax. He flew 174 km in time 2.07.
From 10 only 6 pilots finished.
In the open-mix, Pierre de Broqueville won in his EB 29 .
225 km. in time 2.22. The windows opened late as most pilots left after 4PM.
From 17 pilots only 9 finished.
In club 11 pilots and 3 finished. Winner with 144 km. Frederic de Groote in the St Libelle in time 2.07.
All in this class started between 4.03 and 4.52 PM.

No flying on day 3 and 4, but at least they have ONE day and for the weekend the weather looks better.
Will keep you informed! No task yet.

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On my news on Klaus” great flight from France to Greece, I got a comment and I like to share it with you;
“Klaus already flew 3000km in 2003, at 204km/h.
What he does is way different than “flying ridges”. He flies high in the wave, and it’s not that easy. You’ll notice that many pilots also go flying to Patagonia, including many very good ones, and none has achieved anything close to Klaus’ flights. The wave had been there for ever before he started flying the Andes, and no local pilot had ever achieved even 1000km.

One story that happened one of the very first seasons Klaus flew in the Argentinean south, many years ago: his wife and an Argentinean pilot (who had significant experience in those mountains) were “trapped” in a valley, and couldn’t get out for hours. When Klaus heard about this, he took off with one of the available gliders, went to the valley, found them, and showed them how to climb.”

And what about the amazing wave flight yesterday , inspired by Klaus, from Gil Souviron and Baptist Innocente.??!!! Partly over the Mediterranean Sea …1.165 km in the Stemme!!!!
Have a look at the trace which started in Fayence!!!
Here is the comment from Gil;
“I dedicate this flight to Klaus which bring for me, and I believe for all pilot, dream and the adventure in our sport.
His recent flight to Greece was really amazing.
And of course to Baptiste which has designed this flight, and has piloted all the strategic point of our flight especially in Italy.

This flight FAI triangle 1133km , is not a European record, because due to the very weak waves at Fayence at the beginning of the flight we pass the line at 4300 meter and we finish at 1600 Meter. But I think is one of the most original in Europe.
After trying for almost two hours to climb, I propose to Baptiste to restart the engine of the S12 and to climb up to 4000 Meters. Still the waves were weak and we decided to start to Corsica at 4900 meters.
The circuit was a pure mix if different flight: Waves for Corsica, Rotor with no waves in Italy then convergence, cumulus, blue thermal to cross the italy plain of Pô, then Waves again at the return to the Alps at Val de Suza.
The really tricky part of the flight was to come back from Italy to close the circuit, and especially at one time Baptiste managed wonderfully to recover some waves in Italy near Pavullo.

But to achieve that you need a Glider, I am very happy that the Stemme S12 has allowed to achieve with success to close such original circuit.“
Gil

AND,…talking about long wave flights here is another one from yesterday ;1.209 km. from Puimoisson in the ARCUS M, with pictures on the OLC.
Both flights on
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/daily.html?sc=&st=olc&rt=olc&c=C0&sp=2021&df=2021-05-25

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The Tocumwal Aviation Museum is nearly ready to open it’s doors. Just a few more months waiting, instead of years. Look at this fabulous picture lifted from a truck to finally enter the museum.
“A historic day today with the relocation of the 1/4 scale B-24 Liberator from the entrance of the Tocumwal Golf & Bowls Club to the museum’s display hangar where it will receive a thorough clean and some minor repairs before becoming one of the major exhibits when we open in a few months time. The fibreglass model is showing signs of its 10 years exposure to extreme heat, cold, wind, rain and dust and by relocating it under cover in the display hangar it will be preserved for future generations to see and learn of Tocumwal’s considerable military and civil aviation history and heritage. The B-24 model was mounted at the golf club on the 14th of October 2010 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the closing of the RAAF Station Tocumwal and was donated by the Tocumwal Historic Aerodrome Museum. The THAM collection will transfer to the new Tocumwal Aviation Museum for future preservation and curation among many other private and public collections, artefacts and memorabilia. Today’s move would not have been possible without the coordination and assistance of the following locals and local businesses:
Bob & Gina Brown……. Crawford’s Civil….. Babcon Plant Hire…..Eddie Madden……Andrew Wilmot……Stewart Kedar…..Paul & Lachlan from the Tocumwal Golf & Bowls Club

And to finish a nice THANK YOU to ALL tuggies!
Great picture!

CU next week hopefully with better weather circumstances.
Cheers Ritz

They had 3 more days at the Rayskala Open 2021, with 2x a 2hour AAT and 1 day a set 347 km task for pilots flying in the open. About the same for the club class only 277 as set task.
The 2 hour AAT’s delivered in open, a max. of 186 km in a Ventus 3 and 242 km in Ventus 2bx. The 347 set task delivered a speed of 121 km./h also in the Ventus 2bx flown by Nuutti Kankare. In the end good for an overall runner up-spot.
Winner after 4 out of 7 days… in the JS 1/21 m. Martti Koivula.[2.308 p.]
In club the best distances for the 2 hour AAT’s were 153 km. in LS 7 and 209 also in LS 7.
The set task showed a speed of 110 km.
From 9 gliders 4 were LS 7.
Winner after after 4 out of 7 days…..Tapio Tourula [2.455 p.] in …LS 7…..

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5 Out of 7 days in Varese for the 18 m. Nationals and the Coppa Citta di Varese.
The Coppa was an easy prey for 2 Arcus T gliders specially for Stefano Ghiorzo, still such a talented pilot. He had to keep Alberto Sironi behind him, but with a difference of nearly 500 points [498 precisely] that worked out well in the end.
Only task 1 and 2 showed 1000 points for the winner….both were for Stefano.
Overall number 1; team Stefano with 3.849 points and runner up team Alberto with 3.351 p.
The 18 m. class was more exciting. Flown within the Coppa, the last day showed a difference in points by only 5, between Ugo [Pavesi] in ASG 29 E and Margot[ Acquaderni] in Ventus 3 FES.
Thomas Gostner [Ventus 3T] was nearly 200 points behind….but there was still one day to go.
175 km. was set…..a difficult day with a speed NOT over 100 km. BUT they flew.
Thomas was the daily runner up , Margot was 4th and Ugo 5th. Ugo played it well, started 2 minutes behind Margot BUT she was 3 minutes faster and had in the end 20 daily-points more.
So the 18 m. champion in Italy is
1. Margot Acquaderni 3.367 points.
2. Ugo Pavesi as runner up with 3.352 p
3. Thomas Gostner with 3.227 p.

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Out of 10 days , they flew 3 in Chilhowee, such a pity for this USA National Club Class Championship . Sarah [Arnold] who won the last day in her Libelle…a 342 km. set task,… got the 1000 daily-points.
Tony [Condon] in the St Cirrus was runner up and stayed ahead in the overall scores.
1. Tony had 2.584 points,
2. Daniel Sazhin in the LS 4 2.478 and
3. Mike Westbrook 2.473 only 5 less than the runner up.
Daniel who had a better last day, passed Mike in his Discus CS.[880 for 867 daily points!]
Sarah was 4th with 2.459 points and Sylvia 7th with 2.235 p.

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The long-weekend -edition from Weelde in Belgium, part of the KEMPEN CUP , was flown between showers and sun shine. They started on May 13 in 3 classes, a “friendly” one, [10 pilots ]sport [ 7 ] and open.[ 14] and finished on Sunday May 16.
Best day was Thursday with 180 km. in open class and winner Pieter Daems with 104 km./h the only one over 100 km./h. He flew the ASH 26.
Friday was so-so. Longer task in open, …211 km….but nobody finished.
Daan Spruyt flew 157 km. for 185 points.
Saturday…no flying possible.
Sunday…looked very good here and as said before, I live close to the Belgium border.
I felt …sitting in the sun the thermals ……….BUT,…overdevelopment and [isolated] showers were close by as well. At 5 we REALLY had a shower here, so I did not expect a task, but they had one ,flown by one pilot. [ out of 9 pilots flying that day] …..good on him; 201 km. and Jeroen Jennen in the LS 8 “did it”!!!! Speed was only 64 km./h but what character.
Geert de Palmenaer flew in the Ventus 17.6 m. a distance of 197 km.!!!!!
Good on him!!!

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The weather is pretty off here in parts of Europe. Did we have high hopes for the beginning of spring, because of some awesome flights, it’s just wet and cold now. Next week’s Pentecost might be the coldest in 70 years.
So the 73 pilots flying the Danish Nationals between May 13 and 23 in Arnborg have to deal with it too.
They fly in 5 classes. Club, Standard, 15 m. 18 m. and 2 -seaters.
The first 4 days were either cancelled [2] or no-task-days.[2]
On May 17 they had a 2.30 AAT in each class. Later changed in 2 hour AAT. AND,…….in the end cancelled.
BUT on Tuesday there was hope again ; set tasks in all 5 classes;
278.90 for 15 m. with 13 pilots…..and only ONE pilot finished Thomas Leander in Ventus c. Some came “close”; 202 and 203 km. For years I “follow” already Henrik Breidal and he was runner up with the 204 km.
308 for 18 m. and 17 competitors…..NOBODY finished,….but still some good flights; Peter Eriksen with 222km. was the daily best in the AS 33e. From the more well-know names, Stig Oye was 5th in the Ventus 3M and Arne Boye Moeller on 8 in the JS 3.
255.92 for club…..22 pilots…no scores for club so I guess no day!
308 km. for the 2 seaters and 11 teams...4 teams over 200 km… no finishers! 3x ARCUS and 1 x Duo Discus.
278.90 for standard with 10 participants either flying Discus [ x5] or LS 8 [x5]….2 from 9 who started finished!!63 km./u in the Discus 2a and 61 km. in the LS 8-a were the best daily results.

No tasks yet for today.

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—–And in Worcester in S.A. they had the first winter-wave. Sven [Olivier] flew in it and took this picture.

—-AND,…look at this AMAZING.
SkySight shared this picture and message yesterday about Klaus Ohlmann:
“Klaus has finally done a flight from France to Greece, with three water crossings!
Now we await the trace to see if he needed the engine – it looks pretty clean though!“
I wait too. Could not find the flight on the OLC or WeGlide, which of course is understandable. But it was on later ; flown on May 17 from Serres and turned in the end out to be “only” 1000 km!
The comment from Klaus;
“For all those who share my deception. There will be another day for my dreams. Hopefully on a Saturday or a Sunday. A military area was activated and has lead to leave a lift too early. What a pity to separate such a flight in two parts. So, it was once again only a little training day. A great thanks to all involved ATC’s for their help.“
Still a huge achievement.

And to finish this VERY INVITING picture
CU next week
Cheers Ritz

The RACE was REALLY “on ” during the last days of this SGP in Rion Des Landes, BUT they were not all flyable.
Last Wednesday , when I published, Christophe Abadie had a comfortable lead of 5 points on Maximillian Seiss.
That day , race 4, a task of 162 km was set and the race was won by Adrien Henry in a JS 3. So…10 points for him. Christophe had no points and finished on spot 12. He remains on 23 points, BUT, Adrien is now on 22 as is Sylvain [Gerbaud]

Race 5 was a real good, better said “strong” one by Philippe [De Pechy]. 112 km. was set but the weather was not their friend. Philippe managed to “fight” for 2 hours, flew 37 km. BUT,…all in vain, as the day in the end was invalid.
6 Pilots went “aux vaches”.
Race 6 was cancelled due to poor weather so it all depends on Saturday, the last day …299 km. was set ,….but no it was not happening again….the weather refused to co-operate.
On Sunday morning I read :”Congratulations to all the pilots for this great event. Christophe Abadie is the GP France champion followed by Sylvain Gerbaud and Maximilian Seis completing the podium. The two 1st pilots have already a ticket for the Final: http://sgp.aero

So out of the 4 days, Christophe won 2 and was 7 and 12 on the other days.
Sylvain was on spot 4,2,8 and 4.
Max on spot 5,5, 2 and 6.
Adrian [10,6,4 and 1] and Philippe [6,1,6 and 8] had both 20 points.

Heads are now turning to La Cerdanya for the Grand Prix of Spain in 3 weeks.

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That Sunday, the Rayskala Open had it’s 2d day. Not the very best weather either, but they were prepared/ready to go for it.

Day 1 showed 7 pilots in open flying an AAT of 2.30.
Juha Sorri , in an ARCUS M, flew 275 km. in time 2.38, so a nice speed of 104 km./h.
9 pilots in Club with the same task. Antti Taimioja in a Discus a won with 230 km in time 2.34. Petri, son from Martti Sucksdorf, who flew in the past with us in Tocumwal and brought his wife Liisa and Petri along, was runner up, in an LS 4a. I got to know Petri when he was 5. He is 30 now!!![see picture below]
Day 2 had the same task and pilots,,…,but was cancelled in the end.
No task on Monday., neither on Tuesday but for today a 2 hour AAT is announced.
They continue till May 15.

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On May 1, they started in Belgium the Coupe Maurice. 18 Pilots flew that day and winner was Wim Akkermans in an LS 8. 11 Finished.
This coupe, named after Maurice Huybreckx, [R.I.P.]the pater familias from this well know family and father of my friends Marc ,Chrisje and Eddie and grandfather of Jeroen [Jennen] and Dennis , Tim , Sofie and Gitte is a gliding competition with four different starting places. Kiewit, Weelde, Brasschaat and Keiheuvel. They depart from their own club, this can be any club in Belgium, and then fly to the starting point. The finish height is at 500m AMSL in a sector of 3km so that the height is enough to fly back to the home club after finishing. (You may also land at the finish airfield if your crew likes to drive the trailer]
Last Sunday was race 2 , a small one from 139 km. on a hot and sticky day with rain and nice but sometimes ” awful” weather, with rain , and thunder- storms. The day was cancelled.
Hopefully the next one has good weather again. It’s a nice concept.

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In Calcinate Del Pesce in Italy started the Coppa Citta di Varese [CCV] on May 9 with a 3 hour AAT for group 1, with 18 pilots…. quite a few real toppers!!!!They continue ..hopefully… till May 15.
The National Championship of the 18 meters class will be held within the CCV. [Varese City Cup]
7 Two-seaters, 4 x ARCUS and 3 x ASH 25.
Margot Aquaderni won the first day in 18 m. [8 pilots] with 286 km. in time 3.05 [
The open was won by Stefano Ghiorzo in the ARCUS T with 332 km. in time 3.19, before Peter Hartmann in the ANTARES 32 T. [305 km. in time 3.01]
Today they have a 3 hour AAT.

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Last Sunday it was Mothers day , but not all men stayed home.
Very understandable as they must have looked at the weather and have seen that it was GOOD, specially in Switzerland and France, and not to forget JAPAN,…with this time good wave.
Not often they fly a 1000 in Japan. Shigeru Ishiyama did from Nagano;1.007 km.!!! In a Ventus 2cT/18m. GOOD ON HIM!!!
I have been at several fields in Japan and I can tell you it is not easy to fly a 1000 there. He flew from Nagano to the slopes of the “good” more- mountain- like -area and flew a yo-yo-type of flight in high WAVE, up to 6750 MSL.
On Monday Kenshi[ Tagami]flew one in a DG 400/17 m. from Itakura,..very special flights; 1.114 km!!!!!!
Good on you Shige and Kenshi!!!!!!

The European flights were TOP as well; Christoph Heidemeier flew in the Ventus 3 T/18m a distance of 1.205 km. in high wave as well. He started from Hausen Am Albis.
He mentioned “Thank you that Mothers day turned today in to Fathers day “.
Jeurg Haas, who in the past flew with us in Tocumwal in the glider from Swiss Chris, flew 1.155 km!! Good on him.
Carl Audissou flew 1.029 km in France and Rolf Friedli from Hausen am Albis a 1.063 km. flight. Lots flew between 500 and 900.
We had that top spring weather here in Holland one day earlier with 85 great flights up to 919 km. in the ASH 26E.
Sunday here was humid, hot 28 dgr. C and showers and thunderstorms.

On Monday the weather was still good in Germany and Switzerland.
1.643 km. from Koenigsdorf in Germany in a Quintus [Matthias Schunk]
1.503 km. from Courtelary in Swintzerland in a JS 1 [Yves Gerster]
and 2x a 1.200 km. flight.
Between May 9 and 11 the foehn-wind was on full “trottle” , hence super flights.

Yesterday the weather was awesome again in Austria and parts of Germany close to Austria. Have a look at the OLC, 2x 1.800 km. flights from Wiener Neustadt and Trieben in Ventus 2 CM/18 m. and ASH 31/21 m.
1.513 km.in a Ventus and 1.498 km in an LS 6 both from Niederoeblarn , 1.170 from Ried Kircheim in a DG 1000 T/20m. and 1.044 from Mariazell by well-known pilot Heimo Demmerer.
The flight in Germany was from Koenigsdorf in a Ventus 2CM/18m.;
1.561 km. in wave and ridge soaring, all in co-operation with a super foehn wind.
Congrats to all!!!! One of those top days not often happening, with high and strong wave AND FOEHN.
Romania had 3 up to 600 km. flights in a Discus.

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Between May 4 and 13 they fly the Club Class Nationals from Chilhowee in the USA. Sarah [Arnold] and her husband Jason run this airport and participate in the Nationals as well.
20 Competitors and 3 HC.
On May 5 task 1 was set ….a 2 hour AAT,….Tom Holloran in the LS 8 flew 140 km. but not enough pilots flew enough kilometers, so the day was invalid.
Contest day 1, was won by Tony [Condon] who I know through my blog already for a few years. During the 3 hour AAT he flew 262 km. in time 3.04. in his St Cirrus. Sarah flies the St Libelle and was 5th. Sylvia [Grandstaff} who I got to know at the WWGC in Lake Keepit was 7th in her Discus a.
17 From the 20 who started finished!
Contest day 2, was for Daniel Sazhin, a former USA junior team pilot. In his LS 4 , he flew the set 324 km with a speed of . 116 km./h.
All 20 finished!!!!!
Then 4 days with NO-weather,… ” a complete rainout” and too strong wind were the wrong-doers.
Till now 2 out of 6 days and Tony leads with 1622 points followed by Mike Westbrook in the in the Discus CS, and by Daniel with 1598 points.
Yesterday Tony mentioned about day 3 which was in the end was not a valid day
;”No time for in flight photos today. This was a lot of work to make it 75 km. Averaged 100 fpm. Pure survival flying. Won’t have a day. World Champ Sarah Kelly Arnold and I went the further than anyone else. I’m perfectly satisfied to be in that company!”
Daniel said;”We tried, but another no-contest day, despite some outstanding flights by Sarah Arnold, Tony Condon, and David McMaster.”

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Sometimes you hear of very special flights.AND,…as you know I like them! This one was flown on April 16 by Mark [Wering] from Lasham.

What do we see here? A flight to the Isle of Wight.
” I fly here above Newport the middle of the Island of Wight ,looking to Cowes on the end of the river Medina and the New Forest and Southampton on the other site of the Solent.”
He flew the Duo-Discus solo that day. To add some kilometers he flew to Wimborne close to Bornemouth and back to Lasham; 284 km.
Looking at the OLC it is very clear what interesting flight this was.
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8314019

Also SPECIAL,…..AS 33 Es with call sign WS makes it’s first flight in Finland 10.05.2021. Pilot Petri Sucksdorff. His dad Martti was the tuggie.

AND,…one more;
“Nordic Gliding Magazine has today published a nice article comparing the V3 and the JS3 with stunning photos of each flying over the heaths in Jutland, Denmark. In the beginning of the article there is a link to an immediate translation to English: https://nordicgliding.com/ventus-3-vs-js-3-mer-lika-an…/

We had last Friday SNOW and last Sunday 28 dgr. C…..what to say.
Bizarre.

Cheers Ritz..CU next week, I have had THEN 2 vaccines..so more or less safe, BUT, last week in 100 people there was 1 corona case here in Holland . That person had both injections.

Unfortunately the WGC 2021 in Stendal in Germany has been cancelled. Such a pity. Hopefully the other WGC for the small ships , a bit later in summer, can go on in France!!! At Montlucon-Gueret Airport (LFBK)
From the official site;
“We are sad to inform you about our decision to cancel the 36th FAI World Gliding Championships at Stendal-Borstel airfield. After continuous exchange with the relevant authorities of the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt and the county of Stendal, they finally stated that an approval of the championship event cannot be expected at this point in time due to the ongoing restrictions of public life related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now 2 months before the beginning of the training period, this leaves the cancellation as the only option to us.

We would have loved to host the event back in 2020, 100 years after the first gliding competition on the Wasserkuppe. Now also in 2021, it is not possible for us to welcome legends of our sport in Stendal. While being sad, our disappointment stands small in the light of the overall tragedy caused by the pandemic.

All the best wishes from our end go to Thierry Paris and the team in France for the WGC of the Club, Standard and 15m-classes. We hope it’s going to be a great competition!“

The last 2 days of April still had artic influence…no not here for soaring,… but we felt the “artic”.
This time it was the UK [Lasham with 728,775 and 527 km. ] and Scandinavia with just under and over 500 km.
Denmarks pilot Mads Lykke, flew in his ASH 26 E a distance of 460 km. He started in the middle of “the leg” from the airfield of Hammer Flyveplad and flew to the NE and back to the SW, via a convergence-line, from the borders of “flat” Denmark and the seas to the right and left.

Here it was grey and WET!!!!
BUT,…the first days of May however were pretty good again, look at this great picture from Robin Smit.

May 1 showed 4 over 700 km. flights in The Netherlands and with that they topped the worldwide OLC list, with flights from Mark and Alfred Paul from Soesterberg. They flew 882 km. but in not always too easy circumstances…..rain and slow flying due to other circumstances than fore casted, they decided to fly in a window direction East. Good decision….streets to race.
Challenging flight with a 2 minute engine use to come home safely. “Final glide with +50 was a bit too sportive”
Robin flew in the LS 4 a 750 k. from Gilze Rijen.
Steven Raimond 720 in his ASG 29E and all 4 “praised” the weather.

Together with club member Marissa, who flew the LS 8 neo, Robin flew on May 2 in the LS 4 ….766 km!!!!!They went in to Belgium , Marissa never flew there before , so Robin lead the way and when it all went well , even into France. Mind you no engines!!!
She even used for the first time her just obtained RT license AND ,…it was her first flight in the LS 8 NEO.
Great soaring girl!!!
Tim flew from Malden in his ASW 20 a distance of 839 km.

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On April 30 , last day of this great soaring month , I read this very sad news:
“In memory of Dave Shorter. Exceptional pilot and exceptional man.
Today’s flight started with the sad news of Dave’s passing. I already had a task in mind so flew it in his memory.” by Alan Barnes.
Got to know Dave pretty well in Lake Keepit. He was the WWGC-meteo-man, a very wise gentleman. He visited us in Tocumwal as well.
He loved cooking, was good in it, as were Nick and Jay and we “girls” Frouwke, Gisela and I joined in at his table with more friends of our age , at many occasions during the Lake Keepit WWGC.
On April 5 Dave was still flying in his JS 1.
A statement of the president of Gliding Australia:
“It is with great sadness that I advise of the sudden passing of Dave Shorter, yesterday 29^th April.
Many of you will know Dave as a strong and successful competitor in Club, State and National competitions where he regularly finished on the podium.  As recently as a month ago, heavily handicapped, Dave was winning days in a Club GP at Lake Keepit in his JS1. For many years he served as Treasurer of Lake Keepit Soaring Club where he oversaw the great revival of that Club. In recognition of his tremendous contribution to Lake Keepit Dave was made a Life Member of the Club in 2013.He has also been an extraordinarily generous contributor to our sport as an official.  Dave was Treasurer of the GFA for seven years up until last August and he excelled in that role. For the last 2.5 years he has also been Chair of the GFA’s Investment Committee through which he has contributed significantly to the Association’s financial strength.”
R.I.P. Dear Dave!

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Good news from Italy;
A lot of cancellations in Europe , BUT, Italy opens her soaring-doors for comps. You might be interested. Here is some news from Aldo;
“Gliding competitions are GO in Italy!
The Club Class Nationals are going on in Alzate Brianza.
Then, first will be the Coppa Città di Varese, MAY 8th – 15th 2021;handicapped, valid for IGC Ranking as well as for the Walter Vergani memorial trophy, and open to pilots from all countries.
https://acao.it/coppa-citta-di-varese-trofeo-vergani/

Current anti-Covid rules allow social dining in the open air, with 1m distancing. Briefings will be via Zoom.
You are all invited! We are ready to offer good organization and help you have a lot of fun.

The next Italian comps are already on the agenda as well;
Trofeo Città di Torino: MAY 22nd – 30th. www.torinoglider.com
Trofeo dell’Oltrepò in Voghera: JUNE 04-05-06th + 11-12-13th. http://www.flyavm.it/trofeo_oltrepo.html
Coppa Città di Ferrara: JUNE 18-19-20th + 25-26-27th. http://www.voloavelaferrara.com/copia-di-2020-comp…
Coppa del Mediterraneo CIM, Rieti: AUG 3rd – 13th. http://www.aeroclubrieti.it/w/?page_id=2014Coppa Città di Rieti: AUG 15th – 22nd. http://www.aeroclubrieti.it/w/?page_id=2030

I have been a few times at the CIM in Rieti and I ALWAYS had the best fun there. Great weather, exciting flying, good food and with a lot of well known, but also new faces …great company!!

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THE SAILPLANE GRAND PRIX is on again.
In Rion des Landes in France.
With 3 practice days to get in the right soaring-mood after covid 19. BUT,..they only used one of them on May 1 [159 km.] with Adrian Henry as winner in the JS 3.
Race 1 was on Sunday;288 km. and 4 pilots flew around with 127 km./h. They got 10 [Christophe Abadie in JS 3] 8 [Didier Hauss in JS 1C] 7 [Mike Young in Ventus 3] and 6 points [Sylvain Gerbaud in JS 1-MD 1C]
Race 2 ; 240 km. and this time Philippe Depechy won the 10 points with a speed of 127 km./h.[JS 1c EVO]
Runner up Sylvain.

There is one pilot from Belgium and one from Germany in this GP. Pierre de Broqueville flying this time an ASG 29 and Steffen Trapp., flying a Ventus 2 CXT.
2 Ladies as well, both participating in last WWGC Melanie [Gadoulet in JS 1 C EVO]and Anne [Ducarouge in JS 3] and winning the gold and the silver!!!!!

Race 3; 126 km. 4 other French top pilots got the 10, 8 and 7 points today with a speed of 101 km./h so a more difficult day where 6 stayed more or less together with up to 26 seconds.
Then the differences were more up to 8 minutes
Race 4 is today, 162 km….more next week. Last day on Sunday, May 9.
After 3 days of flying and 5 to go the overall scores are; 1.Christophe with 23 points, 2. Max Seiss and Philippe with 18 and 3 Jean- Denis Barrois and Sylvain with 16.
You can follow the race on
sgp.aero/france2020.aspx

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Soaring is all about safety first, for that reason I share this message from the Australian Gliding Forum;
“This email is directed at all who fly gliders, the pilot and the daily inspector. Its intent is to reinforce pre-flight inspection, daily inspection and daily inspection duplicate inspection safety value. The GFA regularly receive defect reports advising of occurrences involving rigging errors which have the potential to kill. There was a fatality in England recently involving a Standard Cirrus where the tailplane locking lever safety pin was inserted with the locking lever in the unsafe position. Just because a pin is inserted does not mean it is carrying out its intended function. I ask you to question when you inspect.  

In the EASA Safety Information Bulletin 2019-07 issued 30Apr2019 which was reissued as GFA AN 178,you can read it all.”

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More news about “problems”: as shared and written by Arne Martin Guettler from Norway. Pictures by his partner Kristyna Kachtikova.
“Oh no! My trusted PS ended up in the lake today.”
A Discus T at the lake not far from Notodden Airport, Tuven.

The story;
“Not me flying, but my co-owner was piloting when the tow plane experienced loss of power soon after take off at about 30m altitude. At Notodden there is not many options when taking off on runway 12, so in the lake it went. Pilot made a great emergency landing, without injury, and the glider was rescued too. And the tow pilot managed with great skill to barely make it back to the runway, without further damage or injury.”

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To finish another ” lesson in life”, as we got over 30 years ago as well…hitting power lines!!!.You might remember we lost our son , due to such an accident.
FLY SAFE this summer!!!!!
General Aviation Accident…(28/April/2021)-
New Zealand :
“A Tecnam P92 Echo Classic, owned by the Canterbury Recreational Aircraft Club Inc, registration ZK-RGB, clipped powerlines and impacted open field terrain in North Canterbury, New Zealand. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the two people onboard, an instructor and a trainee, were seriously injured.”

By the way, “our” April was the coldest since 1986, with an average of 6.7 dgr. C.
BUT……this weekend spring / summer starts after the spring/autumn/winter period.
Sunday 25 dgr.C….love it!!!Maybe only ONE day!!!
Today after 76 years we celebrate our freedom. Yesterday we remembered all those who died for this freedom. Lest we forget…..
All events were without the normally thousands of people…second year in covid-style.
Cheers Ritz