The great -over-seas-flying continues and pilots will be happy, to spend memorable hours over the deserts, scrub or mountains.
It still ” rains” 1000 k’s plus, in Africa. GOOD!!!! Though the last days were less good with 415 as max on Monday from Pokweni.
BUT,…also the 800 and 900 k’s create smiles.
Some flights are with HUGE speed, as one from John [Coutts] on November 20 from Potchefstroom; 1.067 km with 171.17 km./h. [according to the OLC]

John flew that day partly with Uys [Jonker] .Here is Uys’ touching-WEGlide story ,where the speed shows 177 km./h. over 1.062 .24 km.
“Interesting, incredible and impressive” were some of the comments.
“What a great flight with John Coutts! The sky looked quite wet with moisture coming in from Mozambique. John explained that the weather 50km west of Potchefstroom will be great – with possible great convergence lines.After launching the grid as tug pilot, I managed a late start and pushed through the wet air mass where I found the first decent climb, peaking at about 4m/s. John joined me here having already completed around 150km. Halfway to the base, he asked me “Shall we go” – quite hard to understand if you are climbing 4m/s. But then the master of the sky showed me how you only waste time if you stop to climb on the edge of the convergence.

We managed to fly to Lesotho in no time. Sadly 1 avionic battery charger and I had not the same understanding, and after 2.5 hrs I realized all will go black soon. With the last bit of battery power I asked John to stay with me when I disappear off air – with no navigation in an area where we normally don’t fly, or any mechanical vario I might end up farming without a wing man helping me to find the lift.It soon went black, 300 km from home and downwind. The phrase “being on tow” got a complete new meaning. After the first “guided” climb I lost sight John after looking down to see if my iPhone can provide any form of navigation. Ten minutes later I was really happy to find him again – after this I never let him out of my sight until safely on final glide for Potch.

During these dark panel moments I managed to find SeeYou navigator on my phone, and after setting some altimeter and vario boxes, I realized that it would be possible to extend the flight. Big thanks to Naviter – what a great navigation tool. We passed Potch on the way north on the edge of the convergence, and turned approx. 100km to north. I climb more than 5m/s to 15000 after 17h00, but John just followed the lift lines without stopping – just amazing. John did an incredible 1060km just over 6 hrs, and I managed over 900km after starting just before 13h00.”

Some flights are with pictures so we can see how endless “the NOTHING” looks.

——The weather down under is not too bad either.
Tocumwal showed last Monday a nice flight from Grant [Heany] 405 km in the St. Jantar…..AND with that he even topped the WorlWide OLC list.
Adam moved for a few weeks to Narromine and from this time of the year till at least in January they have interesting and GOOD weather there
He flew straight away 898 km. in his new Ventus 3T, which he loves “to the moon and back”.
As you know Adam shares a lot of his soaring expeditions/flights. They started the annual Narromine Week , a more social event with new and “old ” faces.
Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
He is also very organized .Look at this;

–—-Women in soaring can reach a lot, as you can see on the pictures.
Not only women, it counts for young men as well. When you are a glider pilot, your chances to become a pilot are really bigger.
In the past they said; When there are 10 new young ones, who want to be a pilot, they mostly take the one who is a glider pilot.

–—-From Denmark to Sweden is not so far, so the next news is from the Sundbro Airfield where Boerje Eriksson is the CD of the Uppsala Masters.
Uppsala Masters in June 2022.

“Dear gliding friends! On behalf of Segelflygarna Uppsala FK and the Swedish Soaring Federation, we are very happy to welcome You all to the 2022 edition of Uppsala Masters. Our ambition is – as always – to arrange the most Competitive, Friendly and Safe gliding event within the Nordics. Preliminary registration will open on nov 19 2021. We have a limited number of participants, so please hurry up. Uppsala Masters means Swedish nationals with international guests in Racing and Club class. All classes will use an index/handicap system issued by the Swedish Gliding Federation:
Club
https://www.segelflyget.se/…/svens…/shb/shb731-2021a.pdf
Racing
https://www.segelflyget.se/…/svens…/shb/shb732-2021a.pdf
In addition we are happy to organize JSM at the same period in Club Class as a separate competition. JSM will be held in Club class according to rules issued by the Swedish Gliding Federation:Club
https://www.segelflyget.se/…/svens…/shb/shb733-2021a.pdf
Index/handicap
https://www.segelflyget.se/…/svensk…/shb/shb711-2021.pdf
Index and rules issued by the Swedish Gliding Federation are adapted to the FAI regulations. Differences will be highlighted in Local Procedures. Uppsala Masters also means great social events during the week, such as VR gliding, grill party and sauna evenings. Tracking and social media coverage will make it possible for friends and families to follow the competition remotely.

It is as usual held at Sundbro airfield, just ten kilometers north of beautiful Uppsala. The competition will officially start on the 11th of June and will close on the 18th of June. Training flights are possible 09th and 10th of June for those who would like to get familiarized with the local conditions and the bright summer evenings of Sweden. Watch out for more info on our web page as well as social media where relevant documents, links and downloads will be published shortly. Finally, I would like to welcome both old and new friends to the 2022 years edition of Uppsala Masters.
See you soon!
Börje Eriksson
Competition Director Uppsala Masters 2022

Finally preliminary registration is now open. You can sign up here:https://forms.gle/mDiavYSvPSktUQWBAAlso take a look here to see who have already found their way to join the competition through the pilot list page:https://idrottonline.se/…/Upp…/UppsalaMasters2022/Pilots

–——In N.Z the SPRINGFIELD SOARING CHAMPIONSHIP ,has just finished.

They were hosted by the Canterbury Gliding Club, between November 14 and 20.
They had quite a few good days .
Day 1 was cancelled but day 2 was straight away a prey for young Alex McCaw in his Discus 2C. He flew 470 km with 123 km./h speed.
Its nice to see that Alex who was already a very enthusiastic junior, who flew with his mate Nick [Oakley] many junior comps and JWGC’s , now flies with him, in the same competition as their dads John and Mike. If I remember well, Mike was already TC for N.Z. in Benalla in 1987.
The way they set tasks and make the scores is different here then to a “normal “competition.

Task 3 was smaller with marginal weather, only 14 finished. The big ships as the ASH 25 and ASH 25 M have an advantage then and they won the day. Of course they have a handicap as well.

Task 4, was an excellent day …a ripper as they called it …..with distances up to 715 km.
Daily winners ; ASH 25 Team TF – Mike Oakley and Karen Morgan..715 km with a speed of 97 km./h. and ASH 25 team Team ZF – Terry and Abbey Delore with 547 km [92 km./h] and Alex as number 3[615 km and 90 km./h]
Task 5 was interesting. The task distance was max 957 km
“Pilots have a pre declared turnpoint that’s worth whatever points distance away from Springfield. You make it you get the points, the catch is… if you don’t… you lose that amount of points. EG: a turn point 100km from Springfield = 100points
Daily winner with 567 km was Mike again…speed 117 km./h. . Terry flew 509 km with a speed of 104 km./h.
Task 6 [day 5];” ‘Big Circles’ ridge and wave day.”

Tasks between 63 and 850 km. were set last Saturday on the last day. The “The Delore family ARCUS ZF ” won the day ;432 km and a speed of 147 km./h Terry is of course a well known top pilot and also a kilometer eater.
Yes “Wave there was” , up to till at least 3556 m. MSL.
“Concurrent ” Mike flew 409 km with a speed of 142 km./h.

And winners of course as well. Here they are;
1. Mike Oakley in the ASH 25 with 4.898 points.
2. Team ZF in the ASH 25 M with 4.670 p.
3. Alex McCaw in the Discus 2C with 4.595 p.
Nick was 5th just 23 points behind Tim Bromhead, due to his better last day. They swapped the 4 and 5 spot several times.

—–And to finish this superb picture from a Down burst, called a micro burst, which will be published in the 2022 Aussie calendar [ for the month of February] from the Bureau of Meteorology
NEVER EVER forget the downburst we had in Tocumwal!!!!!
Whilst living there we always ordered those superb calendars, for ourselves but also for our guests. You can order them on
http://ow.ly/pMeB50GRyXj
Taken from a plane “From the seat of the cockpit of the plane, on a flight from Mornington Island to Normanton in Queensland on 25 March this year, pilot Will Log was in the perfect position to capture this incredible aerial view of an isolated downburst.”

Cu next week.
Cheers Ritz

In Memoriam
R.I.P. John Roake.

It was hard to read that John had died. He was a true mate!!!
I forgot when I met John for the first time.
I know he was the CD in Omarama , but I was not there as TC, I had no experience at all with mountains, so another one took over the TC job.
In Rieti, in 2008, we REALLY got to know each other. We, John and his wife Chris and I, became friends.
There he asked me to work for him as editor for European news stories in his Gliding International ,which I did for many years.
I visited them during my N.Z. trip and Chris made a lovely Christmas dinner from all kinds of N.Z. fish.
They drove me around in the area where they lived in Taranga.
I had a swim in their pool. Not a normal pool but one with hot water, built on a geyser.
Later I had to stop with my contribution to G.I. because it was a bit too much and I was not enough between soaring mates anymore,….hence not enough “fresh” news….but we still brainstormed about soaring’s future.
He just had a new plan which he confidential shared with me in a mail on June 11, in which he explained something innovative …NEW FEATURE …CONFIDENTIAL….and said;
“Now to YOU! WE will be happy to  share the end result with you   but we  need your help please!
Hope you can grow to be as enthusiastic about the concept as we are.. It is a major leap forward for the sport.”
I helped …of course!!
But what happens now?

The last years I mentioned in my blog the most important items in every G.I.
That had stopped the last couple of weeks ,as I did not get the link to it, so I was already very worried.
I was worried before and he always wrote back,..NOT TO WORRY.
John was in his early 90thies.
A real GEM and the most enthusiastic gliding fanatic I knew ,a real soaring encyclopedia!!! A charming guy, full of vitality, caring, direct, smart and outgoing.
His wife Chris just wrote ; “He certainly had a wonderful life and achieved everything he set out to do.”
His G.I. was one of the best gliding magazines in the world. I hope they continue, but John will be sadly missed.
John WAS G.I.
I thought he would live for ever, for me he remains FOR EVER YOUNG.

Angel Cassado shared the next picture and text.
“I wish to advise the sad news of the passing of a gliding great this morning, John Roake ONZM JP 1929 – 2021.
*Editor of ‘NZ Gliding Kiwi’ from ~1965 to 2008
*Editor ‘Gliding International
*Established the first GK Year-Book in 1967
*Established the Gliding Kiwi Book Room, later to become the Gliding International Book Store
*B Cat instructor
*FAI Silver C and Diamond Height
*Director and Task Setter for 1967 NZ Nationals
*NZ Team Manager at World Championships Poland 1968
*Director World Gliding Championships, New Zealand 1995
*Alexander Schleicher agent
*Established Roake Trust in 1974 in support of future NZ participation in World Championships
*Angus Rose Bowl 1980
*FAI Paul Tissandier Diploma 1981
*Lilienthal Gliding Medal 2002
*Companion of Honour of the FAI
*Gliding NZ President 2002-2006
*Life Member of Gliding NZ

.……Back to “normal”:
The first week in Namibia was not top, but those- every -day -1000’s ,mostly start just a bit later . Of course a lot LEARN how to fly great distances by sitting in the back of a 2-seater with a CHAMPION!!!
You do not really need a 1000 to do so, but it is more fun when it is possible.
One of our Dutch pilots is flying/learning in the 18m/Ventus 3 M in Kiripotib.
“Racing task in blue thermals. First time around some situations that could be improved. Second time around went much better. Only to not find lift on the last 20km and needed to use the engine to climb to save final glide altitude. “Outlanding”
When you look at Veronica, another Namibian mecca, you see pilots from all different parts of the world, as Israel, The Netherlands and Germany. Topper Bruno Gantenbrink flies his NimEta X from there over the desert.
Kiripotib had in the first week, pilots from Japan, Austria [many ,…. Ludwig and Wolfgang both from Austria do trainings there with students ….Flying with the CHAMPIONS] Finland, The Netherlands, and Slovakia .
Bitterwasser had in the first week from the 5th onward, mainly German pilots but also Nic from the USA , friend from John Good and 2 French Francois Hersen and Pierre Lemaire.

On November 11, the master/champion himself ,Wolfgang, flew 1.138 km. and he was in a hurry, as his speed was 153 km/h.in the Antares 32E from Kiripotib.
It was 1000 km-day, as a lot flew their first 1000 for this season.
12 In total from Bitterwasser, Kiripotib , Veronica and Pokweni, where Alexander Mueller in his EB 29 flew one;1.146 km. speed 136 km./h but that was mostly because the “engine-room” had not closed well.
Tilo [Holighaus] had a nice one with Wig [Ludwig Starkl] from Flying with the Champions an d Rent a Glider
Of course Ludwig is very experienced in Namibia.
Tilo was more than pleasantly surprised, to learn how to fly lines optimal, enjoy the great views and to experience a real good convergence,…all in one flight!!!

The first 46 flights on the daily [Nov 11] OLC were from Africa as not only Namibia was good,Worcester and Potchefstroom had up to 922 [Worcester] and 831km. in a Duo Discus from Potch.
Mathias Schunk who flies from Worcester shared this picture during his flight in the 18m/ DG 808 B;774 km.

As Mathias, former TC from the German team, Uli Gmelin, flies in South Africa with a few others from magic Worcester. He flew 718km in the 18m./DG 800.
Worcester has German, UK, and Swiss pilots and of course the local heroes.[Laurens , Tokkie and Sven]
From Potchefstroom less flights . As Oscar mentioned on November 7 ;”Normally, we would have done a couple of 1000k’s in October from Potch. So far, our winter weather was better than what we have currently
BUT…….Oscar flew one on the 14th in the JS 3!

Well…..Now I can lay back again, as the first ones are the nicest and there will be so many more.
I keep an eye however on the “special” ones. Another 13 last Sunday and 1 from Potchefstroom as well.[Nimbus 4D]
You can find them all daily on :
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc

——–I have never been at the South Island of N.Z. I am not so keen on mountains, but I do love pictures with mountains.
John Mc Caw flew on November 8 from Springfield [ not too far from Christchurch] and took this picture which even more amazed me when I read that there is a landing strip !!!!Called the Lake Heron Strip!!!!
Indeed John confirmed it; “Yes just by the pine trees (middle) Great strip Alex landed there this time last year and was retrieved by Mike Oakley in his Cub”

They flew with 3 gliders ,Std Cirrus, ASH25 and Discus 2a and travelled 500km in convergence lines and thermals to 11,000ft. Turned around near Lake Ohau. Had to outland at Castle Hill Station because our Airfield was covered with 8 8ths of cloud to ground level. Thanks to the retrieve crews who travelled over Porters Pass to pick up the 3 gliders.
John shared a few pictures about this magic flight.

——-One of my USA mates Tony Condon, is not only a glider pilot and light aircraft pilot , but since November 8 also a “balloon-pilot”.
The Balloon Federation of America shared the next news and picture;
“Congratulations to our newest commercial pilot, Tony Condon. of Kansas!”

—-For “lovers” from the SGP, here are the new dates of Serie11 
“The FAI International Gliding Commission has announced the venues and dates for the 11th series of the FAI Sailplane Grand Prix (SGP) national qualifying events and the 11th SGP World final.

There will be 10 National contests in the 11th series with the World final being held at Pavullo in Italy, which was also the venue for the first E-Glide and 13.5m World championships. The series includes three events in the southern hemisphere that will take place in January and February 2023, while the other seven qualifiers will be held in Europe in 2022. The final is scheduled for August 2023.”
As you can see Australia ison it too, so the happy news was :”It’s just been confirmed that Gawler has been awarded a Sailplane Grand Prix event.
It will run 2nd to 8th January 2023 in 18m Class.

–—-No way to go to Tocumwal this season . I would have loved to see and visit the new MUSEUM.
Here is some news from the old airfield.
“This day in history…On the 16th of November 1942 (79 years ago today), the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) formerly took over the aerodrome and depot, then known as McIntyre Field, from the United States Army Air Force. RAAF Station Tocumwal Headquarters was formed on the 14th of November 1942 and would see the RAAF become a permanent fixture at Tocumwal for another 18 years and became the largest base operated by the RAAF during World War 2 with a peak population of over 5,300 personnel in March 1945. You can learn more about Tocumwal’s secret past at the Tocumwal Aviation Museum, open 7 days a week, 10am to 4pm. “#tocumwalaviationmuseum#thedromecafe#visittocumwal#visitsuncountry#tocumwalonthemurray

——And to finish , to honnor John, this great picture from a G3 magnetic storm – Aurora Australis Port Hills NZ 4 Nov 2021.
Geoff [Soper] used a 14mm Sigma Art Canon 1DXMkii.
Straight out of camera, no edit except quick crop to 16:9 aspect ratio.

CU next week, GREAT to see by the way, that my friend Daan [Pare] flies now with his son Thijs from Kiripotib in the ARCUS M. A lovely father-son week over desert-areas and remote/in hospital areas , Thijs had never seen before in his life. AND,…they flew a 1000 already as well on their first day.
8 x a 1000 on November 15 from Kiripotib only. Among them more well known pilots as Mike Young, Boerje Erikson and Hans Peter Ueblacker and of course Wolfgang with a “student”, of course a declared 1000.
From Bitterwasser and Pokweni that day, 4 over 1.200km. flights….{ The new 1000!!!!}…..in total on the OLC page, 29 x a 1000 or plus!!!
Cheers Ritz

–—-In my last blog, I started with Namibia and normally they all fly there straight away after the doors from the containers were opened.
I looked at the OLC and Weglide,…no flights and then on November 4 there was this message;
“Waiting for the overflight permits So far, we have almost always received the overflight permits for the gliders on time at the beginning of the season, without which we cannot take off. This applies equally to all gliding centers. For reasons that are incomprehensible to us, we all do not have these permits. Together with the operators of the other gliding centers, we are making intensive efforts, and in the meantime also at the highest political level, to obtain this permit. We are expecting a positive decision every hour. But the mood is good in spite of everything.”

About an hour later the permits were received. Hurray!!!

And,…you see waiting is NOT a problem in Namibia, though I am convinced the pilots want/prefer to fly!

And as Bitterwasser, Veronica and Pokweni, the Kiripotib pilots were happy on November 5;
“Season opening with perfect conditions and happy faces. We are looking forward to welcome you at Kiripotib!”
Marcus Frank and Ulrich Wuelfel flew in the ARCUS M 290 km. to get started.

Bitterwasser added:
“A 1000k to start with! It was a test of patience until finally the overflight permit for Namibia was available on Friday, November 5th. Numerous guests already gathered their feet in Bitterwasser, excited about the first flights over Namibia. Reinhard Schramme and Bernd Goretzki then went straight to the limit: at the end of the day, 1034 kilometers were on the counter of their EB28. Their flight took them first in blue thermals then under well-developed cloudy skies far to the northeast. And it went up high. Those who followed the first flights on the glidernet saw Bruno Gantenbrink in the late afternoon with his NimEta at 5700 meters MSL! Ten pilots and Arcus teams used this first opportunity in Bitterwasser for the excursion over the Kalahari.”
The first 22 OLC flights on November 5, were from Bitterwasser, Veronica, Kiripotib and Pokweni.
It’s all happening again, we can follow them on the OLC and WeGlide.

——From Namibia over to Australia were JoeyGlide ….the young ones over there,[as you know a joey is a little kangaroo]….announced the next news;
“We are very excited to announce that Joeyglide 22 will be presented by SkySight!SkySight is the industry leader in detailed and interactive soaring forecasts. Users have access to SkySight’s advanced modelling which provides easy, efficient and effective pre-flight planning. When preparation is everything, it can create an edge in a competition or the best out of your weekend soaring plans. With interactive control of a range of weather models, you’ll be able to utilise SkySight to fly further and faster! “
Visit: skysight.io to find out more and get started on your 7 day free trial.
Of course Matthew Scutter was a young one too. He won the Narromine Juniors WGJC. Matthew “lives” for gliding. Great job!!!!

–—More Aussie juniors are active for the soaring community.
The SKYRACE GP in Leeton between January 3-10 2022, ….at this stage already 32 entrees…..will be supported by another young pilot Andrew Maddocks, Andy for friends.
“The organizers are excited to announce our major sponsor for this coming event is …..Maddog Composites
Andy, Claire and the rest of the Maddog Composites team have been huge supporters of our event since the beginning but have taken their support to a new level this year. They provide ultra high quality glider maintenance, repairs and aviation painting services, and also have a web store selling a range of gliding related spares and parts. They are also Australian agents for Schempp-Hirth, LXNav and a whole lot more. Please help us out by liking their Facebook page, and checking out their website to see how they can make your glider better. http://maddogcomposites.com.au/
Andy’s partner Claire flew the WWGC in Lake Keepit. She is Matthews sister. All nice families!!!
Those Aussie young ones, former juniors Adam is one of them too, are doing an exceptional job to promote gliding

——Also in Australia but now NOT in the East but in the West, the Carter Cup was flown between October 31 and November 6 from Cunderdin in Western Australia!
The 15 pilots flew EVERY day, and tasks were set between 2.30, but mostly 3 hour AAT’s. Gliders varied between Hornet [handicap 0.945] and JS 3 [1.085]
Most day’s were 1000 points days as well.
Norm Bloch in his JS 3 won 6/6 days. A real WINNER.
5.726 points were his , about more than 100 than the runner up;4.712 points for the ASH 25 with the Geerling’s.
Greg Beecroft was 3din his LS 8.

The last day was cancelled but according to Lumpy [Paterson who was 4th] the weather was fabulous, so he showed you could have flown;
“Absolutely magic flight today …… the comp day was cancelled due there WX which looked very ordinary, then the clouds started to do different things. I noted on windy that there was an 180* change in the wind at 5000 feet and the clouds started to form into sort of lenticular clouds albeit at 5k …. so after some deliberation I pulled the glider out and went for it ! Clock work really, thermals up to near cloud base and out to the windward side from 5000 and away I went, climbing in 10.6 kts from 5 to 12k but it slowed down pretty quick after that. I had to search around to claw up to 16k mostly in 1 to 2 kts but worth it …. Wind strength at 16k was 36kts on the nose, going off the LX I was going forward at 8kts…. No jet fuel was used in this flight, done old school and what a hoot ….. it’s the highest I’ve been in shear wave …. imagine if the day wasn’t cancelled and you could start from here Great way to cap the week off .….
One day later on November 7 he flew 704 km [689.5 km. FAI triangle]

——The CENTRAL PLATEAU flown in New Zealand was between October 31 [October 30 was practice and a pretty good day…….A bustle of activity at Centennial Park today. A dozen or more gliders being rigged and readied under some promising-looking Cu’s. The runway is looking good after numerous mowings, the tow planes are out – let’s go!] and November 6 but less good weather than in Western Australia , to say it euphemistic, where they flew EVERY day.
In Taupo, the airfield I visited during my trip through the Nord Island of N Z. , they only flew 1 valid day out of 7.
Hugh de Lautour wrote in his blog about this comps on day 4;
“Today at least lived up to its promises ….. it promised nothing, and nothing was what we got. Wind too strong, cloud too low, wave too far away. With a miserable forecast for the next couple of days as well, many have headed home, so another victim of the day was our planned roast dinner at the Club tonight. Shame. Fingers crossed for at least one more good day before the end of the week.”
It was not happening, such a pity!!!!
“Today I can do no better than to reproduce the Contest Director’s morning message. “is what was mentioned by Hugh de Lautour.
“With the best will in the world, there’s no way to ignore the forecast for this afternoon; thick cloud and scattered rain showers. Rain radar confirms already showering. We can’t set a task in this.. Sorry but no choice other than to cancel today“
Most probably the weather was not good enough either, for a sight- seeing -drive around the beautiful Lake Taupo.
On the other hand, from Springfield Mike Oakley flew in his ASH 25, several good flights;434 km, 526 and 698 km.

——In Europe the Pyrenees gave wave ,when Gil [Souviron] not really expected it: 1.062 km. in the Stemme S 12, from Perpignan Rivesa (FR).
“The wind was very East with about 50° on all the flight.
Quite surprising to have waves in that conditions.“

–—-And to finish these fabulous pictures from Romain and the team. I am intrigued by their performances, so some extra photo’s after last week’s news!!!!SUPERB!!!!!

CU next week.
Cheers Ritz

Hope you had a nice HALLOWEEN.

——Around November 1 the Namibia- season starts and a huge amount of TP’s have been prepared with help from  Wolfgang Joschko [StrePla] und JJ Logtenberg .Good on them!!!
Kiripotib Soaring; “Great job! Thank you guys!”

Bitterwasser added; “Punctually at 10 o’clock the Golden Karoo has entered the harbor of Walvis Bay. If everything goes normally, we expect the arrival of the containers with our planes in Bitterwasser on Friday” [October 29].
But,..on Thursday afternoon the trucks drove between the Palms and the first 3 containers have arrived.

—–No flying yet in Namibia ,but Worcester in S. A. had several flights between just under 300 and over 400 km.
On the one-but-last-day from October pilots in Australia flew from Victoria and the border of NSW nice distances.
Grant Heany from Tocumwal;580 km in a St Jantar.
Tobias Geiger from Benalla 594 km in a 15 m. Ventus 2AX.

And now it is NOVEMBER already!!!!

—–News from the German Nationals in 2022 published on October 25;
Club, standard and 15 m. class flies from Zwickau between June 6 and 17.
The Nationals for the ladies will be flown from Landau between Mai 19 and 29.
When you wish to participate you have to apply for both before November 15 at Online-Portal COPILOT 
As shared by https://www.segelfliegen-magazin.de/deutsche…/

—–Aerobatic news ;
“29 October 2021.
Birth of a new aerobatic team “SK&TEAM”!
The first team members: Svetlana Kapanina, Andrey Bespalov, Romain Fhal !!!
City of birth: Nanchang , China.”
Romain Fhal shared this news with pictures.
A while ago I wrote about him.

—-News from Richmond Gliding Club down under;
“Saturday 30 Oct was a great day for RAAFRGC and CFI Paul Tridgell with the first areotow behind the new build Bearhawk VH-TGN. This has been a massive effort to get the aircraft to this point, there is more testing to come before the club can recommence normal operations but Saturday saw the first aerotow operations at Richmond since the loss of VH-UPS on December 1 2019.Congratulations and well done to Paul, John and all who have helped make this happen.More photos to come. The first launch.”
GLIDING AUSTRALIA added;
“Congratulations to the RAAF Richmond club for getting their homebuilt (SAAA reg) tug built, certified and now finally towing gliders! Checkout their page history for some pics of the build process.“

——Porta Westfalica…. in Germany, [Nordrhine Westphalia] sounds very familiar for many pilots, certainly also from The Netherlands. When you like racing the ridges, Porta is the place to be, certainly now everything looks fabulous in autumn colors.
A few Dutch mates went there last weekend and dad Rein and son Lars Groot went there with the ARCUS flying a free distance of 452 km and enjoying 6 hours and 32 minutes of pure gliding joy.
WeGlide: https://www.weglide.org/flight/111514#soobock

More members of the Gelderse did the same and here is the photo impression I received.

—–A-real-pity- news; The IS 28 from Tocumwal’s SRGC is as I heard, a “write off” , after it started for a test flight after the annual inspection,[form 2] on October 23.
The more popular version….”When the glider was just airborne, the wings folded up like an aircraft on an aircraft carrier.
The check pilot immediately released and the glider sort of glided/ fell/ crashed back onto the ground, from about 8 feet in the air.
Apparently the glider was rigged without inserting the wingpins correctly.
The 2 pilots were fine and uninjured.”
Thank god!
A REAL GOOD lesson to be learned from this incident.
Here the Airworthiness Alert from the GFA;
An IS-28B2 sailplane had recently completed an annual inspection for the issue of a maintenance release and was performing a post maintenance evaluation flight. The glider was on aerotow flying just above the ground when a loud cracking noise was heard. The flight was terminated and a landing straight ahead was successfully carried out. After landing, the
glider exhibited an exaggerated dihedral. On inspection, the connection between the lower wing spar attachment fittings had failed.
The investigation mentioned;
“The initial inspection suggested the upper tapered bolt had engaged correctly during rigging, but the lower tapered bolt had not engaged correctly. There were less than 14 mm of thread exposed on the bottom tapered bolt. A comparison with another IS-28B2 revealed that correctly engaged tapered bolts had approximately 25 mm of threads exposed on upper and lower threads when both tapered bolts were fully engaged.“

You can find the PDF with pictures from the bolts on….GFA AWA 2021-3 IS-28B2 Wing Rigging Failure 02112021.pdf

No drama, but a pity from the glider AND as said a lesson to be learned for all clubs or pilots flying an IS 28.

That’s it for now.
Cheers Ritz