Yes they did! First of all JOEYGLIDE ,….BUT, they UNFORTUNATELY, had a corona positive case at the airfield of Benalla and the organizers anticipated straight away and effective; the competition was cancelled.
The weather was still WET in Narromine, 800 km more to the East and as expected their hope was at least, for 1 or 2 more day’s to fly.
The rain stopped on Thursday and the sun showed up, but the wind was fierce,… too strong for the tuggies.
So Friday and Saturday to go and with the 2 days they had already, it still could be a valid State Competition .It turned out to be!
Task 3;
a 240 set task was set for open class/18m. and Bruce , who had a walk in strong winds all by himself in the Warrumbungles, to “empty” his head [an ancient volcanic landform which rises out of the relatively flat landscape to the North-East of Narromine. It has some spectacular hiking trails, so I took one up to the top of a feature called Split Rock] , did well after this exercise and won the day , not by being 1 or 2 km/h faster than the runners up, but 16 km./h. Tim Wilson and Brian DuRieu in ASG 29 and Ventus 3m neo, had 98 km. on their “clock”.
Brian did well, by being 1 overall, but after more checks on the scores he lost ONE point.
“At last, back in the air! Today was still challenging, but felt much better for me and I think I have done OK. The day was almost blue, and the view out the front was just as the photo shows”.is what Bruce mentioned.

Overall scores , with ONE MORE day to go are CLOSE
Ed Marel [ASH 31 Mi/21m] is on spot 1 with 2.141 points, then Brian with 2.140 and Tim with 2.129 p.
Looking at the 18 m. class only,…. Brian leads.
Task 4; 3 hour AAT.
AND,…yes it was again Bruce ,[ASG 29] who with and “empty ” head beat them all in a glorious way; 427 km in time 3.12 so a good speed of 133 km./h.
To put it in perspective , the runner up, Geoff Brown in JS 1 had 346 km in time 2.58 , so a speed of 115 km./h.
Brian dis well in his neo-Ventus 3, with a 3d spot.
Unfortunately for Ed, who was on spot 1 overall, was “out”.
Overall final scores in OPEN CLASS/18 m. after 4 days of flying;
1. Brian DuRieu from Temora in Ventus 3M -neo. with 2.960 points.
2. Tim Wilson from Victoria in ASG 29e with 2.929 p.
3. Geoff Brown from Canberra in JS 1c with 2.692 p.
Looking at 18 m. only, the scores are the same for the top3 but Kerrie did a great job in being 4th!!!!!

5 Pilots still flew in club class after all the wet days and they got a 2.30 AAT. Paul Dickson won in his LS 3 with a speed of 82 km. /h over 204 km.
On number 5 was Peter Hoogland [he must be Dutch with such a name] and he flew in his SZD 55 a distance of 145 km ; speed 46 km./h TOP JOB!!!! For 786 daily points.
Sarah Thompson was runner up in her Jantar 2…great job. She is the daughter from Jenny .
“NSW state comps.. back in the air after 3 days of bad weather. Much better than forecast despite 20 knot winds.”
Task 4; last day...3.15 AAT and a sky full of clouds!!!
Very well deserved 1000 points for Paul, yes he won again, in his LS 3; 348 km. in time 3.19.[speed 105 km./h and the only one over 100 km./h.!!!
Sarah was 4th on this last day. Good on her!!!
Overall scores in club class after 4 days of flying;
1. Paul Dickson from the Hunter Valley in LS 3 with 3.064 points.
2. Ross Whittle from Kingaroy in a Discus with 2.607 p.
3. Sarah Thompson from the Darling Downes in Jantar 2 with 2.381 p.

The weather on the last day, CLOUDS as said before and look at them.

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The weather in the WEST of Australia has been better then ever over the last season.
Norm Bloch used such great weather for a great flight in his 18m/ JS 3 last Sunday; an FAI 500 km triangle with a speed of 155 km./h. Good on you Norm .

That the weather in the WEST is already good for a long time shows this news from the Adelaide University Gliding Club.
They “attended Coaching Week at Waikerie, from 26th of December to 1st of January. Several days with thermals over 10,000ft made for some great flying! The Janus did several 300km+ flights, and a club member achieved their first 750km flight. The Motorfalke was also used to help an Alice Springs member complete their outlanding checks to achieve their ‘C’ certificate. Daily lectures as part of briefings were interesting and informative, and as usual the meals after flights were exceptional with a great bunch of people.“
That’s what it is ALL ABOUT.
I see myself again as a young girl flying with the Student Aeroclub of the University from Eindhoven. I still fondly remember those times.

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With 5 out of 12 days the Argentinian Championships for Club Class more or less “fell apart”. No tasks at the last days so we can quickly see who were on the highest 3 spots .
1.Felipe Girado in ASW 20 with 2.803 points. He won one task number 8.
2.Dino Ghioni in ASW 20 with 2.769 p.
3. Jose Dentone in ASW 20 with 2.767 p.
Such a pity!!!!!!!

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From Argentina to New Zealand for the next , this time, MULTI CLASS NATIONALS.
Matamata is the place to be between January 22 and 31.

Task 1 showed after a good practice day, a good 310 km distance in open class.” Day one had a good day of 4500’ cu based in the morning building to 6000’+ later in the day.”
8 Pilots started and 4 finished. Brett Hunter was runner up and what about other more well known names ; Patrick Driessen [JS 1] was 3d and Tim Bromhead [Ventus cT 17.6m] out for the day after 174 km.
Task 1 in racing class was 204 km. 22 Pilots started and 3 were out. Steve Wallace in the MOSQUITO won the first day and “got” 1000 points.
Mark Wilson in the St Libelle was runner up. Good “old” Tony van Dyk was 8th.
Sports class had 166 km and from the 6 pilots in this class , 3 finished.
Then a few non flying days and today they had a task again
Task 2; 2.30 AAT for open with only 3 finishers and from them Patrick was the best; 279 km. in time 2.37 for 288 points.
Racing class had a 2 hour AAT and from the 19 who started 7 got to the finish. Number 7 was Tony van Dyk. speed 65 km./h so still going strong on his age!!!
Jason Shields in Discus 2t won the day ;169 km. in time 1.51 [speed 85 km./h]
More next week.

AUSTRALIA DAY; the official national day, so time to honor people who have been good/excellent in their area and to put new Aussies on the citizen-list.
One of the receivers from the Order of Australia today, is Bob Brown. A real good friend and one of the people who already in our time put huge and persistent effort in the history of the WW2 hangar and the total WW2-airfield.SO PROUD ON HIM!!!! And on Gina.
“A proud day for Tocumwal’s aviation history and heritage with Matt & Kaz [running the museum] being nominated as Berrigan Shire Citizen of the Year. More significantly Bob Brown received a well deserved OAM for his contribution to the collection and preservation of artefacts and memorabilia associated with Tocumwal’s Historic Aerodrome over the past 25 years. We’re honoured to have the collection within our care and proud to be able to carry on Bob’s work collecting and exhibiting Tocumwal’s aviation history and heritage for future generations to explore.”

Whilst this was all happening today the weather was top for soaring as well. Yesterday Tocumwal pilots flew 680 km in ASW 27 by Swiss Chris and Grant flew in his St Jantar 619 km. Today over 500.
Sadly Toc is not the well known soaring resort anymore as in the past with many overseas guests, but the weather stayed and is STILL great.
Bitterwasser still had so late in their season another 1000 km flight and they continue to “make kilometers.”
And in Worcester they fly the Western Cape Regionals …Cape Gauntlet…since January 23 and they had already 2/3 days in 3 classes club [ 6 pilots] , 15 m. [4 ] and open [ 10]
More next week.

WEGLIDE announced some news in their magazine;
WeGlide Segments.
“They are a new way to compare your performance to other pilots in your area. Segments are popular routes from a start to a finish gate. All pilots automatically get scored on all segments they pass during their flights.
You can earn medals and cups for your performances on different segments.”
Have a look .
Comment from an instructor;
“Especially for newbies in our club, WeGlide Segments are nice challenges. Beginners can fly popular local routes, earn a medal and try to improve over time.“
OLC had news too, shared by Soaring News by Paul Remde of Cumulus Soaring, Inc. :
“Cool New Online Contest FlightFinder MapsYou can view all your (or anyone’s) past flight on a map. Just login to the OLC, then go to the “FlightFinder” menu and enter your name. Then click the “Find” button, then click the “Map” button.
The map below show many of my flights out of Nephi, Utah. It probably doesn’t show all my flights, because I usually fly a 2-seater and the other pilot would share half the flights. Nephi is an amazing place for soaring adventures!Thank you Ramy Yanetz for sharing this cool tip!“

Enough for now , back next week.
Cheers Ritz

Task 1 of the Argentinian National club class competition on January 10, flown from Santa Rosa, was won by a Janus E. [Handicap 101.4]
From the 41 participating club class gliders this team was the best over the set task from 314 km.;106 km./h.
Only 17 finished.
Task 2 was a 2 hour AAT, but not flown and on the 3d day NO TASK was set.
There was a task 4 , but ONLY ONE pilot flew the task a 2 hour AAT; 149 km. in time 2.03. Not a lot of points were won, neither lost.
Task 5 was another 2 hour AAT and won by Jose Dentone, but quite a few flew around 136 km. with a speed of 68 km./h, so a tough marginal day with hard work for 390 points!!!
With such marginal day’s the scores after 3 flyable days and 5 tasks is close. Between number 1 overall Jose and number 12 are 200 points.
BUT,…another week to go!!!
NO task 6, but task 7 was on Sunday, so more or less the start of a new week with another 2 hour AAT.
The winners of task 1 in the Janus A, Darrain & Barrientos, must be good as they won again. It can’t be only the handicap. But again not a lot of points to win or loose.
The difference between the winners ,who flew 209 km in time 2.05,51 , gaining 639 points and the number 20, is 100 points.
Jose was on spot 18 and lost his overall spot 1 to the Janus pilots.
Task 8 ; 2 hour AAT...and 10 ASW 20’s were in the top 10.
40 Pilots started and 1 was out. The brave Janus-pilots were on spot 31.
237 k. was the best distance in time 1.59 for Felipe Girado [ASW 20] who straight away tops the overall scores, climbing up from spot 4.
No flying yesterday.

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The WAGA State comps in the West from Australia, flown from Cunderdin, had 4 out of 4 days, when I left you last week.
Task 5 on January 12 was a 2.30 AAT and the JS gliders did well again. Joshua in the JS 1 flew around with a speed of 120 km./h over 395 km.
Lumpy in the JS 3 flew 354 km with a speed of 109 km./h.
Only 8 from 21 finished!
Task 6 on January 14 was a 3 hour AAT and it was a 1000 points-day!!!! Joshua in the JS 1 lost 400 points by being 14th for the day.
Norm however won the 1000 points for 418 km. in time 3.09 [speed 133 km./h That was quite a lot better than the ASH 25 and Lumpies JS 3; 124 km./h.
Task 7 the last one showed a 300 km. AAT and was won by Norm with Lumpy as runner up.
From the 16 who started on this last day, 14 finished.
Norm flew 396 km with a speed of 118 km./h and Lumpy 396 km with a speed of 116 km./h.
Overall scores;
1. Norm Bloch in JS 3 with 6.638 points.
2. team Arnold Geerlings in ASH 25 with 6.410 p.
3. Lumpy Paterson in JS 3 with 5.672. He did not start too well with a 15th spot on day 1 , but moved up to spot 3 on the last day. Great mentality/spirit.

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NAMIBIA is still “HOT“
On January 12 , pilots flew 11x a 1000 km-plus and 2 from Kiripotib.
3 Of those Bitterwasser 1000 k’s were FAI triangles all in an ARCUS M.
Guy from Luxembourg flew with Bernd 1.149 km and shared this picture from “a lot-of-nothing”.

In Kiripotib one -1000 k. -flight was from my Dutch mates in the ARCUS M ; 1.132 km “Mark what a great flight we had, maybe the nicest one this holiday ! Heading towards the dinner, let’s see if we can already plan for the next trip end of year .” by a very enthusiastic Alfred Paul.
The other one was from Finish top pilot Hannu Halonen in the JS 3 , who was a bit surprised that it was a 1000.“Surprisingly I could make over 1000 after challenges here and there. Glider worked great!”
The boy’s flew a total of 5x 1000 km. flights out of 11 days non-stop-flying and they loved every minute , except when they were in the neighborhood of a storm….”Around 1/2 hour before sunset and close to Kiripotib we had a 3m climb before a thunderstorm / shower – but as we flew along it the air became so turbulent / violent that we decided to land immediately. Again a wonderful flight !! Thanks all for the kind help, friendliness and cooperation ! Two more days to come 🙂
Another 1.137 km flight.

At this stage [January 16] the gliders have been packed and will be soon on the way home.
“A wonderful flying season with unforgettable moments at Kiripotib has come to an end. The gliders are packed and waiting to be transported to Europe. We are looking forward to open the containers again at the end of October and start a new season. Hope to see you again soon. Have nice flights and stay healthy!”
The statistics of the best 5 fields for the beginning of this season ….4 from Namibia and Bitterwasser is still “flying.”;
1. Bitterwasser with 543.176,69 km. flown by 111 pilots during 704 flights!!!!
2. Pokweni with 271.587,23 km. flown by 36 [!!] pilots during 356 flights.
3. Veronica with 259.202,54 km. flown by 47 pilots during 340 flights.
4. Kiripotib with 263.043,58 km. flown by 64 pilots during 377 flights.
5. Worcester [S.A] with 124.558,11 flown by 42 pilots during 221 flights.

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Between all those SUPER flights in SUPER gliders there was another SUPER flight, but now from the “red Heart of the Continent“, Alice Springs , but for flying , Bond Springs in Australia ,where the N[orthern] T[erritory] club from Robert Smits and Jenny Ganderton, who run the business there, had a top flight from 589 km. in an ASK 21 MI. Lovely hardworking people, they are real soaring-lovers.
In the past Hans Werner Grosse flew many records from there. He was a legend of distance flying and had about 50 world records behind his name. One of those impressive flights was on January 8 1988; he flew from Alice a world speed record; Speed over a triangular course of 300 km in an ASH 25…170.90 km./h.
When trying his records he called us in Tocumwal, to check the weather there. Always very well prepared!!!
He died in February 2021.

Jenny did most of the flying in the ASK 21 MI, and she had to deal with up to 30 kts. headwinds. AND,….they flew the task as a set FAI triangle[565 k.] as well. Jenny was one of the 9 Aussie ladies flying the WWGC in Lake Keepit.
As they said; “Too much wind really but not bad for a two-seat training glider!” AND,…that ‘s flying over a-lot-of-nothing-as well.
They are since January 11 “ operating again for full, with the new self launching glider. Everyone is loving it!
Aaaaaand……… the new Tost Winch is on it’s way! Loaded in Rotterdam a day ago, she’s currently in the English Channel. Woohoo!”
As a Dutchie I am very proud they will use the TOST winch over there!!!

When I checked with Robert I got some more news which might interest you too;
“The ASK-21Mi has the engine built in from the Schleicher factory. The Airforce here bought a whole series of them around 2014 for the Air Cadets now they are all auctioned off. This is one of those. Yes I guess we are the only professional commercial gliding school in Australia, operating all year round too. It’s going really well.
Re Hans Werner Grosse we’re thinking of organizing a Hans Werner Grosse memorial competition – motor gliders only, but everything welcome from Scheibe motorfalkes to self launching Arcusses. Probably happening next year some time, and in Alice Springs of course!”

What a great idea!!!!

More SUPER flights this week,…what about 1.320 km in a Duo Discus FES!? Bernard Dobre flew with Luka Snidarsic this magic set wave flight in Slovenia along the coast line. Average speed 150 km./h. Not bad either!!!!
The only word in the comment I understood was “magistrali”.
“This down the Adriatic coast and even down to Bosnia. They declared 1000km task, but this ended up to be too short for this wave conditions. This is longest flight of any FES glider so far! (DUO DISCUS FES)” by GLIDING & SOARING

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The State comps from NSW flown from Narromine between January 15 and 22 are flown in 3 classes; open, [11 pilots], 18m [11 pilots ] and club [10 pilots]
Bruce [Taylor] is flying in 18 m in his ASG 29 and had to use over the first 2 days “petrol”.
He apologized already before flying ;”It’s been a very long time since my last competition, so anything might happen!”
You can read his stories “hot from the spot” with all in’s and out’s AND pictures in Taylor’s Gliding Page
By the way,…no action yesterday or today.
“ Sadly the last two days have been unflyable due to the rain.Tomorrow is meant to be clear and very windy, but apparently it was meant to be clearing here this afternoon, so who knows what will be going on in the morning”
Part of Bruce’s Page.

Staying in Australia, this week JOEYGLIDE Regatta 2022 is in progress too with 7 young pilots. They fly from Benalla between January 16 and 22 with SkySight [soaring weather] as their sponsor. Good on them. Matthew has been a junior in the past as well and even won the JWGC in Narromine.
As young people do , they present their selves and their gliding in inspiring video’s with music. GREAT JOB!!!
JoeyGlide 22 Presented by SKYSIGH
JoeyGlide 2022 – Day 1 Recap
Scores on www.soaringspot.com
Check out soarscore.com for live tracking!
By the way, the most well known from the boy’s is James Nugent and he won already 2 days in his LS 3.

And to finish this lovely picture from John McCaw flying with his son Alex [ Discus 2C] over Lake Constance and the Blue Lake. Great weekend-out in/over impressive New Zealand !!!!

CU next week
Cheers Ritz

POST 1.313.

The “back-to-the-basics SKYRACE- GP” between January 2 and 10, was not too lucky with the weather. Storms with thunder and lightning and showers did not help to set tasks,….”Weather didn’t play ball with a few days of heavy rain leaving the tasking area soaked” Nick Gilbert… so on January 6 they still had 1 day of flying.[ task 204 km.

That did not change one day later ,…storms again….BUT,…..the good news was “Last 3 days look flyable though“
“Sadly we’ve lost 3 days on the trot – but the good news is there’s blue sky on the horizon & the next 3 days are looking good.”
AND,….indeed a 170 km. task was set and flown BUT, only up to 100 km. by Andy and Christian, so an invalid day with many out-landings. Nice at Leeton but very wet and showery further on.

But,…as you can see the atmosphere is still good.

And more happiness ….” Maddog Composites is our much appreciated Major Sponsor this year. Last night Andrew Maddocks treated pilots, crews and volunteers to a pizza night at the club. Thank you, a very enjoyable night for all.”

After all this,….. there was a task 6 won by Andy and as runner up Scott.
90 km./h for Andy and 88 km./h for Scott ,start at 14.55 finish between 16.31 and 16.54. Difference in handicap; Hornet 1000 and St. Libelle 0.980.
Not all pilots finished.
AND then….ONE more task number 7 ,but flying day 3. Very last day!!!!
Another difficult one with a forecast of over development. Scott Lennon flew 173 km in his St. Libelle, and,…as Andy who won 2 days was “only” 6th for the day in the Hornet, the overall score on the last day “moved” to Scott instead of Andy.
So final scores; 24 points for Scott Lennon , 22 for Andy Maddocks and 20 for Christian Streifeneder .
“And that’s a wrap folks! A tricky day has overturned the tables, with Scott Lennon pushing hard to take out first home, and with it the competition!
The look on his face says it all…
Well done!Andy MaddocksChristian Streifeneder
We’ve had an amazing competition, with many interesting days and soggy retrieves. The camaraderie from everyone to retrieve bogged gliders, 4x4s and more from paddocks and enjoy a drink at the end of the day is the reason Skyrace is what it is.”
I REALLY do like it too!!!!!

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The African continent had some weather-troubles this season too. Namibia had absolutely fabulous weather ,but also days with “only” 600 km. and that’s not why lot’s of pilots go there. But no complaints they still love it.
Some days were really blue, there was less convergence as I heard and when it was there it disappeared again. But flying is flying and there is always …the next day. Though not that long anymore in Africa as the rain season starts soon too.
South Africa had some good days from Worcester and last week Douglas could be added with 700 km. flights. The first real good day from this season in Douglas, was on January 5 ;
“Today was the first real Douglas day this season. Lots of fun mainly on the Ghaap plateau. This is why I’m here.”
New Tempe had around 500 km. flights.
On January 6 not only the 3 kings arrived, but also superb weather again in Namibia;
All 4 places [Bitterwasser, Kiripotib ,Veronica and Pokweni] enjoyed over 1000 km. flights .Our 2 young Dutch mates Alfred Paul and Mark, both individually already kilometer- eaters this time flying together in the ARCUS M had a TOPDAY; 1.219 km with a speed of 163 km./h!!!!
“What a wonderful day !! We had some issues to find a good climb in the blue at Kiripotib, so we were only able to fly away on track at 11.50. The first hour was still difficult, but afterwards nice lines started towards the North. We flew maybe a bit too far North as the conditions were not that great there with some showers. Afterwards we could follow a nice line towards the SE-NW where we for more than 4 hours averaged more than 180kmh.”
Great to see my Lasham mates Patrick and Roy flew a 1000 km. from Bitterwasser as well.
Another 17 x a 1000 km.
Best distance was 1.246 km by another kilometer-eater-couple, Bernd and Guy.
A great “end-of-the-season-weather-race “, so normally mid/end of January. It might be longer as it started later too, the weather you know……
On January 7 another 16x a Namibian-1000 ,...6 of them over 1.100 km!!!
My Dutch mates flew another 1000 in the ARCUS M and here is the comment:
“Again an incredible day at Kiripotib ! However the first 4 hours were difficult! The first hour again in the blue and weak and also the hours afterwards when we were flying to the South we constantly were low with beautiful clouds which would not give the expected lift, forcing us to fly mostly 1000m below the cloud base. When turning North again it almost seemed if the airmass changed completely or the thermal switch was activated 🙂 Great lines which developed towards CB’s but which allowed for a great path along the shower lines. The last 2 thermals one after 7PM were still 3.5-4m integrated ! And the cloud street was working almost until sunset. Wonderful and interesting day. It is not hard to get addicted to Kiripotib 🙂 Thanks again all for the help and the awesome atmosphere “

By the way there are 7 Dutch pilots at the moment flying in Namibia.
It was really nice to see that former Aerokurier journalist Gerd Marzinzik had an EB 28 flight with Reinhard Schramme;1.111 km!!!
I met Gerd at several comps and he visited Tocumwal as well.

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—–“Since my first XC wave flight at the end of 2019, I have been eyeing conditions that would allow me to complete all my diamonds while also squeaking out 1000km. Finally a day where all the stars aligned, epic forecast, car and glider ready to go, towplane and pilot, necessary clearance, as well as some buddies to share the day with. I made 2 turnpoints, the first one about a mile north of Boomer which would serve as my start and finish point as well as my 2nd and 4th turnpoint, and the other one 169.5km to the north, located inside the forecast wave bar 0.25 miles south of the 2508 border. Doing a six leg yoyo between these 2 points would yield a 1017km flight.“
These are the words from Zachary Yamauchi.
He flew on January 7 also a 1000, in a Discus, from Inyokern in the USA, but flying from there means totally different circumstances. No deserts under but snowy mountain tops.
The rest of his story, WITH pictures, is in the OLC on January 7 flight number 19 on the world wide list.

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As said earlier , the West of Australia is this year really good for soaring. Cunderdin is one of the places to be there in the West and from January 8 till 16, they flew/fly the WAGA [West Australian Gliding Association] State Championships there with 21 pilots in one handicapped class.
Task 1 on January 8;
They started with a 3 hour AAT and Norm [Bloch] won de first day with 428 km in time 3.11,nice speed of 134 km./h.
His JS 3 flew faster than the runner up from Greg [Beecroft] in the LS 8;383 km in time 3.08.
Task 2; showed another 3 hour AAT and now it was Greg who was in as daily winner;363 km. in time 3.12 for 371 km. in time 3.03.[ handicap; 1.01 for JS 3 and 1.085 for LS 8]
Task 3 ; 2.30 AAT won by the big bird the ASH 25E from Arnold Geerlings, who flies it with different friends.
Task 4; 3 hour AAT and another pilot again as daily winner , this time Daryl Mackay in an ASW 20 C.363 km in time 2.56. Norm [JS3] and Joshua Geerlings in his JS 1 flew over 400 km. in 3.09 and 3.11.
Task 5; Today 2.30 AAT.
More next week.

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The 8th National Argentinian Club Class Nationals will be flown from Santa Rosa between January 10 and 21.
Task 1 was a set 314 km. distance for all 43 pilots.17 From the 40 who started finished and the daily best was a team in a Janus A [handicap 101.4]
Both Goldenzweig brothers belonged to the outlanders. Lucas 7 k out and Damian 14 k.
No task 2.
More next week.

That’s it for now , see you next week.
Cheers Ritz

We, finished the year 2021 with a record temperature of 15 dgr. C. and we started 2022 with the same record. It never was so warm in Holland in the end of December/beginning of January.
And,…look what happened at some of the sunshine states as California in the USA ??!!Both the West and East struggle[d] with loads of snow.

On the 28th of December it was Australia topping the OLC list with Toby Geiger, on December 29 they nearly did it again. This time Lumpy [Paterson] from Tocumwal, but working in the West of Australia, flew a 1000 from Cunderdin.

Here is his comment on a wonderful flight:
“First 1000km for the season in WA albeit an out and return ….. 1.006 km. at 115 kph. Good fun day with no real low spots, thermals were reasonably predictable, however the wind direction change between 4500 and 5000 meant having to readjust somewhat. The further north I went the stronger the wind got ( as predicted) it got up to 23 kts before turning…. great while it’s on the tail but you gotta pay the ferry man….. took a while to get going heading south again but as the wind dropped off the thermals got more organized and stronger again. I was counting on the trough moving inland during the day, however it just sat east of Perth for a long time and only really started moving through after 4.30 ( not quite normal ) but it lined up pretty well for the run home which was a good thing as I was running out of daylight, landed at 7.22pm….. big day and loved every minute of it”

Tokkie Carstens however flew from Worcester in his LS 4 a distance of 986 km. and moved to spot 1…..Great job!!!

When there are many pilots at a good spot and the weather is top, you have many fabulous flights. We have had that in the past, many times.
Now on January 2 it was Namibia again. After a bit of a dip in the weather they flew 16 over 1000 km. flights. Up to 1.183 km in a Ventus 3 M.

This great Namibia weather continued on January 3 when another 18x a 1000 even up to 1.225 km AND 3 FAI 1000 km. triangles!!!!
When you put 2 “kilometer-eaters” as Bernd Goretzki and Guy Bechtold in an ARCUS they fly 1.198 km [998 FAI triangle] with a speed of 139 km./h. and top the OLC!!!
One day later they did it again, now 1.063 km with a speed of 133 km./h.
Also Minden in Nevada enjoyed 1000 km. weather; James Lee flew 1.254 km in the JS 1 and just over 1000 by Michael Price in an 18m. Ventus 2CM.

Did you see the AUSTRAGLIDE ’84 video?
Lots of memories came back.
After we met the Aussie team in Rieti at the ’84 WGC, they invited us to come and fly in Tocumwal. That was an important place as the open class WGC winner in Rieti was Ingo Renner and he lived and worked in Tocumwal. Kees and George decided after a few beers in our house, that they were going to beat Ingo on his own flying-area/domain. First practice in Tocumwal then off to Benalla for the pre-worlds.
They had the greatest fun!!!
They even managed to find each , with help from Klaus Holighaus, an open class glider, a Nimbus 3 ,of course same as Ingo, they even succeeded in finding a sponsor to bring each Nimbus in a separate container down under. I was the one to organize the logistic part, …visa, carnet’s , containership, in -and export,…but that year I had to stay home.
Full of enthusiasm the 2 left , but came back a bit disappointed.
Every time when they were fast they thought they had beaten their mate Ingo, to only find out that his glider was already in the hangar!!!!
But they had a sterling time and from then our love for Australia and specially for Tocumwal was born. In ’85/’86 I went as well and since then we have been there nearly every-down-under-summer.
The rest is history!

The 1987 WGC in Benalla was of course the main goal for many top pilots. But that year the weather there was less good than it could be.
Kees had a bad start ,but improved and became 4th. George flew with our son Dennis and as I have written before, this father-son-combination was the first in history, as till then no open class two-seaters flew at a WGC.
In the end of ’87 Kees died ; He collapsed against a mountain in France with his hang glider and broke his neck.
We were still busy in The Netherlands to cope with what had happened to Kees, when we heard that our son Dennis, who flew as a tuggy in Tocumwal to make hours, after he successfully finished his flight education at the NLS at 18 years old, had a deadly accident.
Sunday December 27 in ’87 and one week later Sunday January 3 ’88. The huge impact on the 2 families ,but also on the pilots in The Netherlands and worldwide was enormous and weird but true, they still “live” in many thoughts….even after 34 years.

Last Monday it was 34 years ago that Dennis passed away. His best friend from high school Wouter, came to see me.

Back to “NOW”.

The first competition in 2022 was in Leeton the SKYRACE GP, flown from January 2 till January 10, with 19 pilots.
“FUN IN OLD PLASTIC”
“Conventional gliding competitions can require a huge financial commitment. The Skyrace GP 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.“
There are 2 Hornet’s, 8 x a St. Libelle, 5x a St. Cirrus and one open Cirrus and 3x a St. Jantar 2.
The first days they had a rest and welcome BBQ….practice on the 3d and …. on January 4 they flew day 1 and Andy Maddocks in an HORNET won the 10 points for the day in group 1.
In group 2 it was Christian Streifeneder in the St. Libelle receiving the 10 points.
“Day 1 has 2 winners as the groups aren’t graded until the second day. Andrew Maddocks in his Hornet and Christian Streifeneder in his Libelle received the first stickers for the comp.“
Today was cancelled due to an “early storms forecast”.

The first good flights on the OLC on January 1 were from Benalla in Australia, what a great season they have; 2x a 1000 from Toby and John [Orton] in his ASG 29 and one from Temora ….Adam [Woolley] in his VENTUS 3 ….1.115 km….a personal best regarding distance.
Richard Trail in an ASG 29e from Wangaratta flew a 1000 as well.
All places close to where I lived in Tocumwal.
Adam even send me a happy-new-year- picture from above, awfully nice of him.
Matthew had a super flight as well yesterday in his Diana2;
The first Diana 2 self-launch 1000k, and possibly the longest 15m flight inside QLD?
“Envious of the 1000’s being done down south, but not wanting to deal with the ongoing border mess or risk sitting 7 days in a motel room in NSW with COVID, I was forced to look for more local opportunities. Central Queensland is like Namibia-lite, nowhere to land, booming conditions, short days. I bailed on my original plan of a big triangle because cu’s were getting very big and visibly showering on the most dangerous leg (no landings), and without phone signal for the LX radar either. Not the flight I was hoping for but good enough. First 1000k I’ve done without any “magic” (convergence, trough etc), not even any prominent streeting.”
https://www.weglide.org/flight/118699
Sorry ,..but one way or another I deal easier with the OLC than WeGlide. It must be me!

For those living in the Murray River area now;
“The new year has begun and the countdown is on for the 2022 Tocumwal Airshow.
Celebrating 80 years of the Tocumwal Historic WW2 Aerodrome,
100 years of the Air Force,
60 years of the Murray Border Flying Club and
opening of the Tocumwal Aviation Museum.
A great family day out including:* 5 Hours of flying
* Australia’s best display pilots
* Food Trucks, Market Stalls, Kids Entertainment
* Hot Rods & Historic Vehicle Displays
* Helicopter joy flights
* Warbirds including WW2 Fighters & Bombers, Aerobatics, Formations, Fire Bombing Demonstrations and much more.
Tocumwal Airshow 10 April 2022

AND,…also for those living there, JOEYGLIDE will be flown from Benalla between January 15 and 22;
“WE ARE 10 DAYS OUT FROM THE BIGGEST GLIDING EVENT OF THE YEAR! With 15 competitor and 7 coaching entries, it isn’t too late to enter yourself for what will be, the greatest JoeyGlide event in recent history. Are you ready for some awesome Cross-Country flying and fun on the ground? Click the link:
https://www.joeyglide.juniorsoaring.org/home

Last but not least;
The first day from this year ends with a sad loss for our soaring world . Of course getting nearly 93 is perfect, but passing away still hurts when they are people/icons in our sport like John Roake and now Tor Johannessen.
I met Tor at many comps and once had the honor to be his jury member when he was the president at the WGC in Rieti. I learned a lot from him and remember fondly our trip to the Marmore -cascade. He then was 15 years older than I was, and walked and climbed the rocks ,as a young spring chicken. He was wise, philosophic and learned me to let others be the judge, when I was insecure about my writing.
Really sad that I , no I must say WE ALL , lost 2 iconic glider pilots in such a short time.
2 Great presidents of a jury at many WGC’s.
R.I.P. dear Tor….thanks for your wise words and your warm friendship!!!!

“Former IGC President Tor Johannessen dead
Glider, military pilot, SAS captain, recipient of the Otto Lilienthal medal, record holder, World Cup pilot, World Cup official and much, much more. Norwegian Tor Johannessen died on New Year’s Eve 2021, aged 92, but achieved much in his long life.”
As shared by Jens Trabolt the Executive Editor of  NORDIC GLIDING AND AVIATION MAGAZINE

CU next week.
Cheers Ritz