And then…… Ingo did not participate in his home country when in Paderborn in 1981 the Aussie team choose to not fly there ,as boycott because the South African pilots were flying there. The time of “apartheid”. That could have been another title for him, but of course now we will never know.
Here is the 1`981 news about it:
“Due to political pressures Australia will not be represented in the World Championships, but instead will seek to attend alternative international events to allow Australia to maintain its position as a leading gliding country. It is proposed to hold an international contest at Benalla in early 1984 by invitation to leading pilots from overseas and top Australian pilots.”
From Sailplane And Gliding the June /July edition 1981.
And,…that was of course AUSTRAGLIDE.
On you tube is a great ABC documentary about this competition, indeed with many overseas pilots.

At the MEMORIAL SERVICE at Tocumwal in the beautiful big WW2 hangar, attended by many from all over Australia, his soaring friends have said good bye to Ingo ,but he will never be forgotten, he is and remains a soaring-hero/legend….for ever.

As I have written already Ingo was in the beginning “sponsored” by Bill Riley. Bill had the vision of starting a gliding school at the huge WW2 aerodrome in Tocumwal. They helped each other in realizing this dream. Bill has been travelling with Ingo to a lot of his WGC’s to share his happiness. They shared that dream as well.
Tony Tabart , also an Australian WGC pilot, is one of the many who reacted on writing about Ingo for the INGO MEMORIAL in the beginning of Sportavia-time:

” In 1974, I had the good fortune to be invited by Bill Riley to join the team of Ingo Renner and Eddie Madden at Tocumwal as a gliding instructor.  During my years there, I was asked many times by students and pilots “what’s Ingo’s secret”.  As if he had some magic that he wasn’t letting on about. 

Hot days, poor gliding conditions, at about 6pm we’d call it a day and start the long journey towing up to 15 gliders back to the hangar. We’d spend time putting the aircraft away, and Ingo’s Blanik would be missing. We’d wait around, eventually he’d turn up, working that last little bit of lift. It became obvious to me that Ingo never lost the magic of flight over his long years of gliding. 

When people would compliment Ingo on his performance, he’d say “I was lucky”.  But the old adage rings true, the more you practise the luckier you get.  As well as natural aptitude, that was his secret. On those long low hot days, Ingo would be the last to land with a student.

My last flight with Ingo was in December 2017 in his beloved Caproni, just for fun in the skies around Tocumwal…...      Tony Tabart

And some words from his wife Jo.
” Ingo was a true gentle man, both on the ground and in the air, prompting the best out of all who came into contact with him.  Ingo was at the top, and he genuinely wanted others to join him there. 

Ingo was modest and generous-hearted.  If we were together in a group and people were complimenting Ingo, he would invariably respond:  But Tony Tabart was the first Australian to win a day in a World Competition (Yugoslavia, 1972  – the only pilot to complete the task).  Or:  But Tony Tabart was the first Australian to complete a thousand km triangle (January 1979). 

Ingo didn’t welcome personal adulation, but it was something that he shared…..     Jo Pocklington

As you know when I met Ingo first we visited the WGC in Rieti in 1985. In 1984 we got to know already the entire Aussie team there. We are all still good mates.
Ingo was then already World Champion , as he won the first title in 1976 in Finland at the airfield of Rayskala. He won in the EIRI PIK 20 B in Standard Class and he got the PIK as FIRST prize!! Later I met Hannu who was the designer of the PIK 20.
This PIK was “send” to Tocumwal and after it crashed one day a longtime ago, George decided to restore it again and it still flies at Toc.
Good little glider .
Hannu regularly flew with us in Tocumwal as did Jari and Kari.
In Hobbs in New Mexico in 1983, Ingo won his 2d title in open class in a Nimbus 3, whilst our Kees Musters won the title in 15 m. class. I was not there , but I heard it was hot and spectacular.
Ingo won the 3d title in Rieti in 1985 and we were there to congratulate him and Teresa.

They met in 1977 in Oerlinghausen where he was at that time and she was there for the ladies championships. He came to visit her in Sweden and she went to Toc the following winter and so it all started.
They married in Stockholm 19/10-1981 [ divorced winter 1989]
Teresa is born in Finland but moved as a child to Sweden. She always competed for Sweden.

Teresa;” Of course there are lots of sweet memories of all the things we did together, he became 3 times World Champion while we were married, I still remember the day he flew the new world record on 100 k triangle of 195 kph. It was a very hot day and the weather was booming but I was in the bed in our  ( hot) caravan with a bad cold. He came in and told me :
‘I got 195 kph, can you imagine!!!’
I was crewing him for all the Aussie Nationals and that was easy work, never any outlandings!“
At World comps his mate and super “lamy” on gliders and small aircrafts at Sportavia, Peter Menhennitt crewed as well. Peter worked in the workshop, first at Bill Riley’s , then with Don and Jeff and with us. One of the most reliable and kind men I know.

Teresa ; “Our Discus XX in Australia, we bought directly from Klaus Holighaus, when he did bring it to Australia with him, it was one of the first prototypes of the brand new Discus. We fell in love with it, emptied all our bank-accounts and kept it. 
I had a look at my old logbook and I had the first flight with it on 2/2-85 in Tocumwal. Two years later Markku Kuittinen flew it in the WGC 1987 in Benalla and became the World Champion in Std Class. A memorable detail was when Markku was preparing for the World Comps staying in Tocumwal a month before Benalla:
XX had a tailtank, a brand new detail for the gliders. If you had to dump the water when opening the watertanks, also the tailtank opened and dumped. The ‘problem’ was that if you only wanted to dump your waterballast partly for some seconds and then closed that valves again, the tailtank continued to empty. That was of course a security detail and requirement from the authorities.
However we thought that it would be more optimized to be able to  close also the tail-tank if needed, before all the water was gone. I made a small modification to the tail-tank valve so that Markku could close it if needed.
The big question was of course, what would Klaus, the constructor and the ‘father’ of the glider say? Klaus was also already in Australia, preparing for the World Comps in Benalla, he was a part of the German Team, however not as pilot that time. He came to look at the modification and checked it. To my relief he nodded, and fully approved the home made modification ‘no problems, that is a bright idea, Markku can use it’ was his comment!”

The month before Benalla 1987 was a memorable time in Toc. Lots of teams had arrived to Australia already well in time to adjust for the time different and to get used to the hot weather. A large number of teams came to Tocumwal as it was near Benalla and we had open arms for all of them.
Bruce Brockhoff that time had built a shed, a toolshop on the camping next to his caravan, it was a well visited place from the different Teams preparing their gliders, as he had a huge collection of different kind of tools in it. One of the evenings he organized a big party on the camping, he called the party for ATSOP: Aussie Tool Shop Opening Party!
That evening I saw our son Dennis drinking with Giles, not a good sign, beer and whisky; Ingo commented ‘ the young Dennis got drunk‘

Ingo’s 4th title was in Benalla in a year that George and Dennis flew in the same open class. Ingo in an ASW 22 B and George and Dennis in the Nimbus 3D, specially checked “before flying” by Klaus. Something with the “tapes” glued under the wings, was wrong.

In the beginning it was not the real Benalla- weather that year with many outlandings ….. 100 on day 1.
But in the end enough good days and final scores over 11. 000 points.
Winners was Ingo in Open, 11.021 points, Markku [Kuittinen] in standard 10.537 p. and Brian [Spreckley] in 15 m. with 10.347 p.
Brian had a great time there together with Kees [Musters] and George, often till late, but he was absolutely still focused and also very relaxed.
In open only 21 pilots, but a few very strong ones, among them 5 WORLD CHAMPIONS. First of all the defending Champion Ingo, with at that stage 3 titles. Then George Lee representing Hong Kong with also 3 titles , Goran Ax from Sweden with 2 titles ,Rolf Hossinger from Argentina and Marc Schroeder from France each with one title.
To win from ALL OF THEM is glorious. Ingo did!!! Yes he had a great glider, but in it was a great pilot.

This glorious picture from Ingo I received from Judy, who spoke as I heard about her life with Ingo in a touching way last Saturday and with that I close this blog.

R.I.P. Ingo.

Ritz

P/S
I had planned this part of Ingo’s life to be published last Sunday, 1 day after the Memorial service, but the FLU really got me badly and still has me in it’s grip.
NO CORONA and the doctor told me NO PNEUMONIA. So after 6 days , I guess I need a few more days “off”.
Post below is a short regularly one.

On March 30 2022….. home with the flu!!
The Dutch squad had a great practice week in St. Auban. Lars , one of the young ones , learned a lot and shared that on WeGlide with pictures and text. [in Dutch but the translator will do the job for English]
It’s interesting to read how much influence a flight with his dad 20 years ago in that area , still has on him.

Many enjoy the mountains not only the Dutch and German team, The Alps are booming for the pilots normally flying there as well. What about 800 km in an LS 6 in Italy from Bolzano, 609 in an LS 3A and 543 in a Club Libelle both from Trento in Italy!!!???

In the past I wrote already about the co-operation between the GFA and WeGlide. As a result they now have the Ingo Renner Cup .
Jenny Thomson wrote about it;
“Many of you have been supporting WeGlide and putting up flights, pictures and comments over the summer, thanks. 
The Ingo Renner Cup has been well supported, despite Covid and floods, etc.  – there are 324 pilots signed up and lodging flights.  Here is a link to the current rankings.   The Summer Cup finishes on the 31st March.  Winter Cup starts the day after.
In the Australian League, we have had 29 clubs participate, which is great. Here is a link to those rankings.  The Summer League also finishes on 31st March.“
Very good initiative.!!!

After huge delay the “Green Mountain” arrived in Rotterdam harbor . BUT still in time for the new season.
“After a long journey…The line of trailers had long opened their mouths wide on Wednesday to finally accommodate the planes from Bitterwasser. But first, customs had to look inside the containers. Patience was required beforehand. The “Green Mountain” with the valuable cargo from Namibia had reached Rotterdam with a huge delay. But on Wednesday morning, the articulated lorries should finally drop off the Bitterwasser transports in Waghäusel, where they now have their new location. It’s been a long day. For the unloading of the last planes, the scene had to be illuminated with cars, because two container trucks had only made it to Waghäusel from a full motorway blockade in the late afternoon, it was almost evening. In the end, however, all the trailers were able to head home after they had been successfully loaded – just in time for the new season. Hardly anyone had wanted to pass up the opportunity to receive their planes as early as possible. Only seven latecomers with a long journey will not pick up their planes until Saturday, as planned.“

And to finish

CU next week, I hope in a better physical condition.
cheers Ritz

EXTRA:
I just have to add the sad news that Ake Pettersson passed away yesterday on March 29, after being sick for a longer time.
Another lovely guy! I remember a competition that he got sick during the WGC and he had to go to hospital. Gretha and I visited him and he was “hanging” on all kind of instruments and tubes.
When we 2 came into his room all alarm bells started to ring as he was so pleased to see us.
R.I.P Ake, we will miss you too.

Jens Trabolt reacted like this;
“Swedish gliding legend Åke Pettersson 1945 – 2022 Åke Pettersson’s career was extremely extensive. He participated in 16 World Cups, got 14 SM gold, he logged 7000 gliding hours of which 2000 hours in schooling and at least a few hundred students can thank him for the certificate. He flew with the legends and even became one of the greatest. Yesterday he passed away after a long, long career in the service of gliding.
Read or re-read the portrait in NORDIC GLIDING by Åke from 2016

The seniors in Seminole Lake had a competition “at their leisure” as at some days the weather did not co-operate.
After the rest day, they had 2 more days to catch up, eat and drink together and hope for another day.
That day came on March 17 …contest day 3 and only one more to go! AND,..an 21 m. ASH 31 MI, with Henry Retting in it, won the day and nestled it/himself on spot 1 overall as well; 2.701 p. That is 50 points ahead of the runner up overall Phil with 2.655.p in a Discus 2B. Just a 2 hour AAT but they flew!!

As always with just a few days of flying , the scores are very close as 2.614…. 2.613 …2,603 p.
Weather man Fernando expected ” a late developing blue day with thermals topping out at 4000 feet over the hot spots.  His forecast was accurate, as usual.”

I had to laugh about the next text;
“Once again, we got the opportunity to test the definition of “loitering,” this time over a federal prison.  The CD had a pleasant conversation on the phone with the prison authority, who was easy to convince that a gaggle of gliders circling overhead posed no risk.  If only they could all be so reasonable.” LIKE!!!!
Why was that, you might ask yourself as I did here is the answer I got ;
“The background of the prison story is that we had a bad experience 10
years ago with a glider circling over a nuclear power plant.  This was
the opposite experience.”
I do understand!!!! When I started gliding in 1967, we had no airfield to operate from, but we flew from 3 different airfields, where we had a good camp.[ Venlo, Malden and Terlet]
In spring it was Venlo and to the side of the field was a military station with, as was told us, “bombs” .So we were absolutely not allowed to fly over that area. We never did,…bombs…never know if that was true.

The last day on March 18, looked good with nice fluffy cloud’s popping up, perfectly seen by Bo. A 3 hour TAT was set.
“We had a spectacular day today.  The weather was perfect for all activities, including glider racing.
It was a 4-circle Area Task with the big one in the south.  John [ the CD] was slightly concerned that it was an overcall at 3 hours, but the conditions continued to improve all afternoon.  The winners didn’t quite run out of room, but it was close.” in their March 18 report.

The ARCUS M with Nicolas Bennett /Ryszard Krolikowski, won the day AND with that, also the overall title; 3614 points. Nic flew a lot over the last couple of years, also overseas, in Australia [ after the WWGC with John, where I met them] and Europe as well.
Phil was 16th for the day and overall runner up with 3.526 points. Third was Henry in the ASH 31/21 m. with 3.513 points. He had not the best last day; 26th.
“Seniors Day 4/last day. 76 mph on course was good enough to win the day and the contest. Mostly honest clouds so we didn’t have to circle much. Thanks Ryszard for the coaching!” comment from Nic[olas] .

The results of a few well known names; Bif Huss on 4, Jim Lee on 5, Gary Ittner on 9, Pete Alexander on 13 and Karl Striedeck on 14.

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NARROMINE NATIONALS.

“The fleet is on the grid and ready to launch into what looks like a cracking sky! Things are predicted to get a little interesting weatherwise after 3pm so, hopefully they won’t be hanging around after the gate opens.”
Last day of the Nationals starts!

The Australian Nationals in Narromine finished with a different daily winner in 15 m. class ; Butch in his AS 33es.
He moved UP from 5 to 3 overall!!!
During the 2.30 AAT he flew 343 km in time 2.35 good for a nice speed of 132 km./h.
Ray did well too ,as he was over 130 km./h as well.
Adam, Matthew and Toby followed.
So the overall scores had a “tiny” shake up:
1. Matthew Scutter in the Diana 2 FES with 6.844 points.
2. Ray Stewart in the JS 3 with 6.476 p.
3. John ..Butch..Buchanan in the AS 33es with 6.459 p.
Adam was 4th with 6.417 and Toby 5th with 6.365 points.
“Final day wrap up, congratulations to Matty Scutter & Jim Crowhurst on their convincing victories! I just couldn’t piece it together today running North, so I expect to keep 4th & miss out on my revisited target of 2nd. The V3 performed great, just the pilot needs some polishing. Great fun all the same ” by Adam.

As Matthew mentioned in the morning ;”Just need to get around the task today, no games, no pushing, will go with other gliders and have an easy day. Risk of storms and recent rain might complicate.” and he did. Matthew Scutter’s Gliding

In club a different daily winner as well. David Collins in the ASW 20F. During the 2.15 AAT he flew 265 km in time 2.17.
David is a very young pilot from Mildura and one with a bright future.
In 2019 at the Junior World Gliding Championships in Szeged in Hungary, he had a day -win for Australia. A new Matthew????
“The Maurie Bradney Trophy is awarded to the best Junior Pilot (under 25yrs old) competing in an Australian Club Class Nationals and the Sir Donald Anderson Award is presented to the best pilot competing in their first National Gliding Competition.Both of these trophies were presented to an outstanding up and coming young pilot from Mildura, David Collins“
“Nearly every -day-winner ” Jim was 5th. But no worries, he had such a lot of points ,he nearly could n’t loose anymore .
So here are the overall scores;
1. Jim Crowhurst in ASW 20 with 6.698 points.
2. David Collins in ASW 20F with 6.084 p.
3. Jack Hart in the Mosquito with 5.899 p.
Jo Davis was 4th [5.535 p.] ..good on her.

“Jim Crowhurst 2022 Australian National Club Class Champion.Jim is no stranger to the winners podium, this is Jim’s Fourth Australian Club Class Nationals win, having previously won in 2019 at Kingaroy, 2014 at Goondiwindi and 2012 in Kingaroy.Our most heartfelt congratulations to Jim, a true gentleman and a Champion in every sense of the word.”
Narromine Gliding Club Official

When the last gliders were in, the sky opened the doors’ and it rained..it rained like hell.
“Heavy microburst came through that only moments earlier was a nice cumulus.” Not all were in time to put their glider in the trailer. But ,..on the other hand it had a nice “wash”.

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The weather in Europe is getting better and better. Fresh yes ,maybe even cold, but blue skies , with cu’s and sunny.
Quite a few German squad- pilots have started their [training]-season in Saint Auban in France.
The Dutch National Squad arrived there on Monday for a “decent kick-off” of the season, as one of the boys called it.
Young toppers who are eager to learn more as Ties , Nic ,Mathijs and Lars practice with Dutch WGC topper Erik Borgmann and instructor Francis Moginot. ….Dual training and” lead and follow” also with Hadriaan van Nes , Rein Groot and Max van Bree.
The Dutch team has 2 ARCUS T gliders an ASG 29 E and a JS 1. I noticed a Duo Discus as well. Not too bad!!!
Lars mentioned that the first day was perfect, he enjoyed EVERY minute of his first cross country in the mountains /Alps and as he said;” the best thing is,….. tomorrow we go again!” 411 km!!!
He shared more beautiful pictures from day 3 on https://www.weglide.org/flight/128749

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Got a message with news from HpH Sailplanes UK about their 2 seater;
“The HpH Twinshark has been proving itself as a worthy competitor in the 20m class. Many top competition pilots have been very impressed by the handling and performance. The safe handling and amazing build quality as found in the single seater range is of course present.“

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Last Sunday was SUPER weather in some countries and many had great fun so early in the season; 291 pilots added their flight to the OLC.
There were excellent ridge soaring conditions in the Eastern Alps.
What about 1.084 km by the Pirkers in their ARCUS M from beautiful Wiener Neustadt?
And a 1000 by Markus Gusenleitner in his Ventus 2 CM[18m] also from Wiener Neustadt, where I was with the WGC.
And one from Trieben also in Austria in an ASH 31. TOP WEATHER.
Also in Italy [Thiene] where Giorgio flew 772 km in his Ventus3.

Yesterday we went outside WITHOUT a coat. 21 dgr. C Love it.
Bring it on…. one of Adams quotes…..SPRING!!!!
the hottest March 22 here EVER.

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WeGlide mentioned on March 17:
“You can now open any flight from WeGlide in SkySight to analyze it in depth with the corresponding weather layers If the flight is not older than one week, just click on the small SkySight logo below the flight status.
Try it out with this awesome flight by Bert Schmelzer:
661.47 km @ 90.01 km/h
Hausen am Albis
Ventus 3T 18m
7h 36m
Head over to WeGlide to see the full flight:
https://www.weglide.org/flight/127457

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Upcoming Saturday is the MEMORIAL for Ingo in the WW2 hangar in Tocumwal.
In my next blog I write a final farewell, about Ingo’s earlier years in which he became 4 times world champion.
Ingo loved to fly with birds as well.This picture was shared by many so I share it too, this time for Ingo;

Cheers Ritz…AND …..after more than 2 years, we are free, from today on , from all COVID -19 RESTRICTIONS. Still people in hospital but they think it’s safe to give the country it’s freedom back. Big [music-] festivals are on the program already.
To finish this fabulous picture from Tobias Barth  @tobi.barth.photographer
Tobi takes great pictures also for calendars.

The pessimists thought, whilst looking at the flooding and rain in NSW that maybe the Narromine comps would/could be a swimming competition.
BUT NO they were wrong.
Task 2 from the AUSSIE NATIONALS ,was after all the rain in the week before,… a good one;
Narromine Gliding Club Official said;” It is turning into one of those cracking soaring days that Narromine is famous for, 6kt climbs to 8,000ft and doesn’t stop until 6pm.”
15 m….467.82 km and the Ventus 3T from Adam was with 130 km./h the best.
He started about 5 minutes later than the rest and “got them all” even his mate Butch in the AS33es.
Matthew was 4th and called it a “a solid defensive day.”
About the start he said ;”Woolley wanted to play some start games with me but I wasn’t keen with the potential for an early and hard shutoff (it is March and everything is wet!).”
Bruce was unfortunately out. “I chose to make a high risk move“
You can read the day through the eyes of the pilots on
Taylor’s Gliding Page
Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
Club class;307,67 km..Jim Crowhurst from Kingaroy is doing well, he won both the tasks till now. Speed 99km./h in his ASW 20. The Mosquito from Jack Hart was runner up.

Task 3 was another good one.
15 m….3 hour AAT; all 10 pilots flew and one was clearly the best this day! Kilometer-eater Toby [Geiger] from Benalla, in his Ventus 2ax flew 433 km in time 2.59,36 …a speed of 144.5 km./h…so 1000 points for him. It brings him for 5 to 2 overall.
Even the Ventus 3T, [Fantastic day in the saddle all the way until the last leg.. I was averaging well over 140kph for most of the flight, then dropped back to 138kph on the last leg. I could see the problem unfolding, but couldn’t do anything about it.” A33es or Diana 2 fes,[I have never driven the Diana 2 so hard, cruising 120kts between 6-8kt climbs.] could not keep up with him. They were 5th, 4th and runner up.
Club…..3.30 AAT; the little ones had a big day ahead of them ; 405 km for the winner in his ASW 20 Jim in time 3.30 at the dot and also for him well deserved 1000 points, so he leads after winning every day till now with nearly 400 points.
116 km./h on the “clock’ which was 10 k faster than runner up Jack in the good old Mosquito.
All 9 started, all 9 finished!!!
Bernie Sizer [PIK 20 b] was unfortunately out on task 1, after 302 km. but took revenge with a 4th spot today. Bernie flies from Tocumwal.

15 m. class;
Task 4….2.30 AAT; Scutter- day, or Matthew- day, or Diana 2FES -day, what ever you like! Anyhow Matthew won the day with 339 km. in exactly 2.30 at the dot;134 km./h.
Quite a bit faster than runner up Tobias who flew 329 km. in time 2.35; 127 km./h.
“Smashed it – short task due to forecast storms which did end up blotting out part of the second sector, requiring almost max distance in the other sectors. The key decisions were to go right to the edge of the storm which let me turn shorter in the last sector, staying with the good cu, and an aggressive gear change down when we turned off the downwind leg that saw a lot get low. Probably a few rest days in the foreseeable, time to do some washing.” as shared by Matthew.
Club class…2 hour AAT; to keep with the same words…Jim-day, ASW 20-day. They all started after 2 o’clock and Jim won AGAIN. His 4th successive win!!!!244 km. in time 2.01 showed a speed of 120 km./h.
Runner up David Collins from Waikirie [pff far driving for him!!!] flew 270 km. in the ASW 20F but needed more time 2 hour and 29 minutes; speed 114 km./h.
Task 5 was CANCELLED for all classes.

15 m. class;
Task 6…351 km. and this time one of the other toppers in this class “climbed the podium”. Butch…John Buchanan in his AS 33es; 141 km./h What about that!?
Matthew was runner up [135 km./h] saying “Straight forward day, the first task we have used the PEV markers on for the start. They turned out to be largely not necessary as the task was sized well to the window available so we all went more or less as the gate opened.” more in his blog Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
Bruce was 3d in the borrowed Discus;132 km./h.
“Quite an interesting day. The lift had a more organized, solid feel right from the start today, even allowing for the fact that we launched later than on previous tasks. So it was with some dismay that after a good start at cloudbase right on the line, I had a glide down to almost ground level right near the first turnpoint without having flown through any lift!”
Taylor’s Gliding Page
That leaves Adam and Toby, they were on spot 4 and 6 with Ray [Stewart] in the JS 3 between them.
Adam;”I’m really sad” was my comment over the radio waves today, followed by extremely loud shouts of expletives to myself. My stats for the day were effectively the best on all counts against the others, minus the one stuff up described below (my deviations today were 11% or 20km more distance travelled than the others).” more in Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
Club class; 297 km...Great day for Jack who won the day with 107 km./h in his Mosquito. A tad slower than David in the ASW 20 F.
Jack was more than pleased with this win , he not only stopped the every-day-win from Jim, but so to see he does n’t win a lot and seems a real inspiration for others.

15 m;
Task 7….3.30 AAT;6 pilots flew over 400 km. Butch and Toby used more than 4 hours [4.03] Matthew, John and Adam started about the same time. In the end Matthew’s Diana was the best with a speed of 117.99 km./h. Adam had 117.46 and Butch needed more time but was 3d with 109.90 km./h
Matthew; “Finally some weather that requires more skill than pushing the stick full forward – a moderate breeze and bands of high cloud rolling through the task area.” more in Matthew Scutter’s Gliding.
He also said that” those who stretched the day paid dearly“.
Bruce was one of them after 256 km.

Adam; “Huge mental game today with such a phenomenal first leg where I clearly out flew everyone, followed by survival. At every moment, I told myself, fly the best flight you can, fly the fastest flight you can, from this moment on.” More in Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures

With 3 days to go it looks , that Matthew WITHOUT problems, has the best option to win, with more than 350 points ahead on Toby. For him , Ray, John and Adam there are still enough chances; Toby 4.966, Ray 4.926, Butch 4.906 and Adam 4.900

Club class;
Task 7….3 hour AAT; 9 started and 6 finished and I was more than pleased to see that Jo was runner up today, behind Jim who was back in his “winning mood”;358 km. in time 3.04 so 117 km./h.
Jim is nearly 500 points ahead with 3 flying days to go.

15 m;
Task 8….2.30 AAT and today it was a good and pretty fast day with 335 km. for Matthew in time 2.29, so a speed of 134.15 km./h which devaluated the points to a max of 800.
Matthew; “Another challenging day, but right in my court – big climbs and big storms. Taking it easy and not taking any risks that could upend the comp for me turned out to be a good strategy for the day with the very tricky conditions working both sides of storms. Probably got the last clean climb of the day to get home.”
Adam was runner up but with a higher handicap he lost a few points though they started and finished in about the same time.[746 points]
Ray ,Butch and Toby followed.
Matthew clearly leads but the game is not over yet for Ray[5.655 p] Toby [5.653 p.] and Adam [5.650 and Butch is in the race as well with 5.620 p.
Matthew added; “Maybe only one day left, tomorrow is uncertain.“
Bruce mentioned; “A quick note to say that I have decided to leave Narromine a little early. There are some reasons I need to be back at home just now.”
Club class; had a 2.30 AAT as well and also 800 points for daily winner Jim with 300 km in time 2.29.
Jack in the good old Mosquito had a less day and finished on spot 7 with 489 points. He dropped from 2 to 3 overall, but hey,…still on the podium…now.
All 9 flew 1 was out.

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Seminole- Lake Gliderport:
“This is the 32nd edition of the Senior Soaring Championship. We are again having a Sailplane Grand Prix fun event starting the week before the Seniors. More on that at a later date. What started as a friendly competition between friends have turned into a highly competitive event pitting some of the best pilots in the country and beyond. We welcome World and National Champions, as well as, first time competitors to Seminole-Lake Gliderport. “
You must be 55 years old or older before the first contest day. They allow 5 pilots as guests that do not meet this criterion, which always includes a junior racer.
Between March 12 and 18, the “oldies” , with a lot of respect, fight for the best positions.
Practice on March 11.
Contest director is John Good and the scorer is Rick Sheppe.

They started with thunder and lightning on March 12, and… it was cloudy, dark and cold. Indeed NO ingredients to start a competition.
March 13; showed several tasks and YES, the 59 gliders started with task F in the pocket. After relights the last was airborne at 5PM.
Luckily for John the CD ….he kept positive…the day turned out nicely.
“It was definitely a day to get high and stay high, where “high” in this case was just a bit over 3500 feet AGL at task opening time.”
36 pilots completed the task and only 2 real outlandings.
Bif Huss [ Ventus 3M] who won the comps a few years ago, was the daily best.
March 14; the forecast was for “warmer, stronger, higher, and less breezy weather“. And,….. it was a good day with task 2.
“It was a 2-hour TAT, with a big circle down south, accompanied by a pair of smaller “steering” turn areas, one outbound and one inbound, to keep the traffic separated.”
45 From the 53 who started finished and Jim Lee was the best in his 18m JS 1 C/jet.
After consulting the meteorologist, the crews, and his crystal ball, Contest Manager Enrique Mertins declared that tomorrow will be a rest day….so
March 15 is a rest day.
More next week.

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Vale Alan Patching 

Another legend of the soaring world has passed away.
When I think of Benalla, I see Alan.
R.I.P. Alan.
It is with great sadness that we …Victorian Soaring Association…advise of the passing of Alan Patching on Sat 12th March. He was 97 years old, (nearly 98), and was a Life Member of GFA. He passed away peacefully at home.
In 1976 Alan was invited to become a member of the OSTIV Sailplane Development Panel and was appointed convenor of both the Fatigue/Service Life and Crashworthiness Panels and is now an Honorary member of OSTIV.
In 1994 Alan was given an Order of Australia AM for his services to Australian gliding.
Alan received the highest FAI gliding award, the Lilienthal Medal, in 2007 for his eminent services to the international gliding community over many decades, and in particular for his extensive and substantial contribution to glider airworthiness and sailplane fatigue life.

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And to finish this great picture, what a “monster”!!??

Kiki mentioned on March 12 that he and his wife have safely arrived in Paris in France BUT with their heart in the Ukraine. They are grateful to all those who have helped them escape, sometimes with danger for their own life.
Chapeau et merci a tous!!!!

CU next week.
Cheers Ritz….20 dgr.C…not bad! Love it.[ BUT,…the red SAHARA-sand from Africa is arriving soon as dust and I just had my window cleaners here.]
That’s what the glider pilots thought last week too at Terlet,

Always in the beginning of March the “important” people from the IGC get together, to share visions, change or update rules and to look back and ahead!!!
I hope they ALL looked back on what happened at the WWGC, so that this never happens again.
Here is some news I got from Rick [Sheppe] , who is on his way…a 2 day trip… to Florida where in Seminole Lake the first competition starts in the USA with only “grey eminences”.
“The IGC Plenary took place online over three days, March 3-5. 
There were 34 countries represented. 
Sadly, Russia and Belarus had to be excluded.
We made a few decisions on the technicalities of Flight Recorders, start speed limits, and record claiming procedures. 
We formalized a new racing format for electrically powered sailplanes, and we approved a series of virtual gliding (Condor) competitions.  Eventually, we hope to add virtual gliding to the list of FAI sanctioned events.

There is also a current championships calendar, which is incomplete and
subject to change:  https://tinyurl.com/yrdeycjs
I was very pleased to hear that Marina got the Pelagia Majewska Medal for “her eminent services to the sport of Gliding.” WELL DESERVED!!!!!
“The next meeting will be in Copenhagen, this time for sure!”

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Talking about the IGC….As you might have noticed I added in my last blog the adjustment of the IGC Ranking List according to the decision of the International Appeals Tribunal. If you missed it here is the list of each of the classes ;
https://rankingdata.fai.org/SGP_CompPage.php?compid=3925
https://rankingdata.fai.org/SGP_CompPage.php?compid=3926
https://rankingdata.fai.org/SGP_CompPage.php?compid=3927
And here is a link to all classes of the competition: 
https://rankingdata.fai.org/SGP_displaycomps2.php?champid=2012
A big thank you to Reno Filla.

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I found this on the internet and would like to share it;
“I am Olena Zelenskyy, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodmymr Zelenskyy. I met my husband when we were schoolmates, but were never acquainted. He once said that he knew many of my classmates, but not me. We got acquainted much later — when I was studying at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Kryvyi Rih National University. We dated for eight years before getting married on 6 September 2003. On 15 July 2004, our daughter Oleksandra was born. On 21 January 2013, I gave birth to our son Kyrylo. Aside from being First Lady of Ukraine, I am also a writer and architect. I am also being targeted for death by Mr. Putin.”

The last news from Kiki today;
“In tears this morning. Torn between the desire to stay and the reason for safety. Between the risk of dying and the desire to live.”
Kiki and his wife have left Kyiv.
Wise but hard decision.

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The opening of the gliding season from the Gelderse at Terlet in the first weekend of March was busy and pretty cold due to a Easterly wind, but with a hot sun and blue skies and most important,…check starts for all who wanted to fly again.
Great start of the season I heard with enthusiastic words as “ a 3.6 m. lift average, with 1200 m. cloud base” and that on March 6!!!!!
Some started with 230 k. cross country flight.

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And one more time,…...INGO…….a nice and SO TRUE story by Stephen Curtis;
“Ingo would have to have been the most gentle minded person I have been with in any environment. I spent 3 hours in the Caproni with him a few years ago. He gently corrected my thermal finding strategy, carefully suggested our headings and let me fly almost all of the flight from start to end. Yet, here was I, a rank amateur soaring pilot, not being chided nor imposed upon, nor made to feel awkward at any time, by the world’s best at his game. Humility, gentleness and amiability in a package. Nothing would ruffle his demeanor. This is a commonly held sensation by anyone who met him. We are lessened by his passing, not only as glider pilots. but more so as human beings who share an appreciation of a solid essential humanity that Ingo had in endless measure. This man was a worldly wise, steady, careful and considerate human being. None shall replace him.”

and a picture from Ingo and his wife Judy.
AND, with one of his mates Tony Tabart who worked in the early years of Sportavia with Bill Riley as an instructor. Both flew several WGC’s.
And with me thanks to Nick Gilbert who “found” it.
And with good old tuggie Bill Harvie.

And with Bill Harvie in the Caproni. Bill and Ingo were “ALWAYS” at the field. Ingo instructing, Bill as a tuggy. Bruce Wilson, who took this picture, was as a tuggie also always there..

INGO, FOREVER YOUNG!!!!! He was buried last Saturday. I heard that it was a day with laughter and tears , as a good funeral should be. I was AWFULLY pleased to hear that Ingo is buried about 5 m. from Dennis.
The protecting oleander is [temperately I hope] gone, but Ingo is now close by.
There will be a memorial service at Sportavia on the 26th of March at 1pm for Ingo Renner for all those who would like to pay their respects. 
They have created a dedicated email page as a memorial to Ingo Renner. They would like to invite you to add your story, message, photo, video or article. 
“We have created a webpage and invite you to tell your stories about Ingo, Sportavia and gliding. As much description as you can would be wonderful to read, or it can be short and just a note to say that ‘you was here’.” by Lumpy .
Please send your story or attachment to:
ingomemorial@tocumwalsoaring.com 
I would love to add to plant a tree that day in honor of Ingo.
The white gum at Sportavia which was planted 34 years ago for Kees and Dennis, is a huge “for-always- monument”.

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Talking about the cemetery…Eddie had a look over the last couple of weeks at the oleander behind Dennis’ grave, which was brutally cut to the bottom. He did n’t want to create hope ,but look…… small miracles happen, NOW the big miracle …….PEACE IN THE WORLD.

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Having lived in Australia for quite a long time , I HAVE to share with you the death of Warney…Shane Warne, only 52 years old.
A hero and epic cricket player….one of the best bowlers ever, with huge charisma, sometimes controversial, but definitely a LEGEND.
I do not know a lot about cricket and after all those years the rules are still abracadabra for me , but who does n’t know Shane Warne??!!
The Federal and Victorian governments have made the offer of a state funeral following the shock death of Australian cricket legend Shane Warne.
He passed away in Thailand in a wellness retreat …. to get back to the shape from a few years ago,…. due to a suspected heart attack..
2 Aussie Cricket heroes passed away in a short time; Rod Marsh passed away as well in the same way, but he was about 20 years older.

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I really hope the weather will not spoil the Nationals in Narromine. It’s already a huge disaster the flooding in parts of Queensland and NSW. Several people , the last I heard 21, died because of the high water. And there where the land is always DRY, it’s flooded now.
Here is some news from the Nationals from Ross McLean ;
“The National Championships for Standard, 15m and Club Class started this weekend at Narromine. 
If you don’t want to miss the all the action you can watch the racing live on Glide and Seek, with the day’s tasks overlaid on the map. 
To view the action every day just click here:  NARROMINE LIVE TRACKING
It is a hot field with Club Class dominated by ASW20’s flown by several formal National and World Championship winners and a combined Standard/15m class comprising a collection of Australia’s top pilots.  Plus we have a JS3M and a Ventus 2CX slugging it out in 18m/Sports.
The competition also showcases the very latest in gliding technology with several JS3’s, the only AS33 Es in the country, a number of Ventus 3’s and a Diana 2-FES.  Additionally the classic field of LS8’s will be punching above their weight under the predicted conditions.”
See all the entries here:  PILOT ENTRY LIST

They started last Monday March 7 with practice days and continue till March 18 but during the first days there was no task as there was no weather to fly.
“Narromine is under the influence of an upper trough to the NE, so the practice day has been cancelled.” update March 7.
“The upper low system that was sitting at the top of NSW Coast has been firing moisture and instability at us, so the weather models  told us it was poor soaring weather again” on March 8.

You can follow them now on the above link and the scores on www.soaringspot.com
More in my next blog, as I hope they can squeeze out a few days as some top pilots in top gliders are participating, which is always nice to follow.
For today there was a task 1 ;
15 m….2.30 AAT ; won by former JWGC world champion ,Matthew in his Diana 2FES ……339 km. with a speed of 125 km./h. There are 10 pilots in this class among them Adam in Ventus 3T, Bruce [Taylor] in a “borrowed’ Discus, Butch in his new AS 33ES and Tobias [Geiger]in his Ventus 2ax.
Club …3 hour AAT; 7 in this class and they all finished with as” best for the day” Jim Crowhurst in his ASW 20; 342 km in time 3.27.
There is a combined “open class” with the same 15 m. pilots PLUS Brian DuRieu in a Ventus 3Mneo and Matthew Atkinson in an 18m Ventus CX.
Same task as 15m class.
There will be 3 blogs as well from Adam, Bruce and Matthew so enough to read
Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
Taylor’s Gliding Page

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Staying down under, I got the March 22 Alpine Flyer from the Mount Beauty Gliding Club in which I could read a lot about a major construction project at their airfield. The completion date is still set at early May 2022.
“During the shutdown of the Mount Beauty Airport for runway upgrade works, our club has temporarily relocated its operations to Corowa Airport until early May 2022. Here we are enjoying the wonderful hospitality of Grietje and Francesco Bruinsma of Australian Soaring Centre with Grietje providing us with aerotows while we wait for issue of a NOTAM for operating our Tost winch at Corowa. “
Grietje flies, whilst George [from Outback Soaring in Tocumwal] is in Europe his Scout VH SFO, so the “engine keeps running” .Good on her!
Good to see they are in a nice way busy before they leave after selling to Keith.

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News from Sweden about the Uppsala Masters;
“These are dark days. We all need something to look forward to -now more than ever. We hope you will join us for the next edition of Uppsala Masters. Final registration deadline is march 31st. Lets get together and make it an international event in the spirit of friendship and collaboration! Link to final registration is here:
https://eu.jotform.com/form/220604630978357

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CU next week.

Also with news from the comps for the “oldies with lot’s of respect” at Seminole-Lake Gliderport, [Florida] the first competition for the season in the USA .
AND,…..It feels like spring has started…..15dg.C but still cold nights.
My mate Bertje must have felt it too, he went for a nice aerobatic flight in his “toy” and shared this picture from March 2.

All the best in these difficult times.
Cheers Ritz

There is a lot of important news in this blog, so read it carefully.
About the WAR, which should not even been there, too sad for words, about the final verdict of the WWGC …updated later with IGC ‘s latest ranking list….and about “banning good people” from FB; EDDIE MADDEN and YES he is well.
I was stunned and ANGRY!!!!
And of course about INGO.

It’s unbelievable that Putin, who with blue open eyes ,without blinking, said, that all the movements from his army were JUST training, attacked Ukraine in the early morning of February 24.
What a LIAR!!!!
Our world changed that day!!!
For the older mates, Kiki [ Jacky Clairbaux] is a well known name. He was for years the French TC and VERY involved with soaring ,also in the past in France, Italy and now in Spain.
He just married an Ukraine lady Helene and lives in Kiev/Kyiv.
He stays there as well ,even now. I wish them both ALL THE BEST!!!!.
“The war has started everywhere in Ukraine . The Ukrainian people are ready to resist .SLAVA UKRAINIA“
AND…
“PLEASE DON’T FORGET UKRAINE ! WE ARE WORRIED AND ALONE !“
His later message was that he moved away from Kyiv to a place somewhere in the country. God bless them.
No TV anymore but still on line.

And some support with this picture. It had a link for donations to support financially, but with the many different financial sanctions I do not think that will work. BUT,….within ONE day the Dutch people donated 1.5 million to the Red Cross for help on Ukraine.
You can donate to your Red Cross as well.
My thoughts are with ALL the people in the Ukraine.

The FAI Sailplane Grand Prix shared this news and picture:
“We strongly condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and are calling for an immediate ceasefire. The Sailplane Grand Prix Group stands by the side of the Ukrainian people and particularly to our friends from the Gliding Club Buzova, near Kiev.”

AND…
“The Ukranian government has confirmed the destruction of the world’s only An-225 in its Hangar following a rocket attack by Russian forces. The world’s largest aircraft is no more.”
News from Spotter Magazine
What a waste!!!

And yesterday more sad and shocking news:
“Colonel Oleksandr “Grey Wolf” Oksanchenko who was the Ukrainian Air Force Flanker display pilot between 2013-2018 has lost his life on Friday night when his jet was shot down over Kyiv by Russian S-400 Triumph Air Defence Missile System.”
He came out of retirement to defend his country from the Russian invasion and paid the highest price.

Col. Oksanchenko was not only a very experienced pilot who won a number of awards for the best flying display at many events across Europe, but he was also a true fan of airshows. Despite leaving the active service and joining the reserves in late 2018 he volunteered to remain in the Ukrainian Flanker Solo Display Team as a coach/advisor and travelled with the team during the 2019 display season which was also the last airshow season for the team.
R.I.P Colonel.

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It’s weird to talk and write about soaring now again, but life continues and I promised you ,so here is
Task 5 in Benalla …..a 2.30 AAT but cancelled for both classes.
So they continued on Friday with one more day to go.
Task 6….was in both classes 2.30 and with the weather forecast for Saturday, the last day, task 6 could be the last one!
You know when you fly.
In open/18m. only 9 pilots [ 2 were out because the penalties for their airspace-infringement earlier was huge… no reason to fly anymore] were still flying and Lithuanian pilot Joris Vainius in his ASG 29, won the day with 116 km./h!!
Runner up Pete with 110 km./h and Adam with 106 km./h
Adam tells how he experienced the day in Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
In standard/15 m it was Tobias again and he was also the only one flying over 100 km./h in his Ventus 2ax; 262 km. in time 2.24.

Indeed there was no last day [February 26] , though a task was set and the skies looked not too bad; “Awesome looking sky, a 1.5-2.5hr AAT was on. But to be fair, to task it would’ve only been possible with hindsight & also, the results wouldn’t have changed at the top, so nothing really lost, just amusing!” by Adam
Pete shares his look on the comps in Pete Temple Gliding

Here are the final scores;
Open /18 m.
1. Pete Temple in ASG 29 with 4.425 points.
2. Adam Woolley in Ventus 3Ts with 4.246 p.
3. Ryan Driscoll in Nimbus 3/25.5 m. with 3.960

Standard/15 m;
1. Tobias Geiger in Ventus 2ax with 4.534 points winning EVERY day.
2. Michael Durant in LS 8 T with 3.819 p.
3. Bernie Sizer in PIK 20b with 3.288 p.
After task 1 Bernie who flies from Tocumwal, was number 6 .Slowly he moved up to finish on the bronze spot. Being 2x third! Good on him.

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This is Joel and he flies in/from the very RED “heart of the Australian continent.
“Yesterday Joel flew over 300 km in the LS4. He started gliding about a week ago! With the flight he finished his B-certificate, and did a 5 hour flight and 1,000 m height gain for his silver badge. Pretty impressive – congratulations Joel!”
Of course I add mine!!!!

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There is FINALLY a verdict ,a FINAL verdict about the 2019/2020 WWG in Lake Keepit about 25 months AFTER the comps.
The CAS …Court of Arbitration for sport…has spoken .
“The appeal to the FAI International Appeals Tribunal lodged by Australia against the decision as confirmed by the International Jury at the WWGC 2019 with the main request that all penalties against the Australian Team Pilots be completely removed and United Kingdom and Germany with the main request that all Australian pilots’ results obtained in the Championships be invalidated and the pilots be disqualified from the championships was finalized and a report published.
Australia then decided to go further and filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). CAS has in February 2022 informed FAI that the appeal is considered withdrawn. Consequently, the verdict of the FAI International Appeals Tribunal is upheld.”
https://www.fai.org/sites/default/files/3_2022_igc_president_report.pdf

The termination order was written on February 15 2022 in Lausanne.
More is not possible, this is the end station and the “girls” who won, remain winners and the girls who were stripped from their scores ,remain without their medals.
Sad that such a great competition had to end like this….. for all involved!
I just got the latest on the Ranking list;
Regarding final scores of WWGC 2019:
the IGC Ranking List has now been adjusted according to the decision of the International Appeals Tribunal:
https://rankingdata.fai.org/SGP_CompPage.php?compid=3925
https://rankingdata.fai.org/SGP_CompPage.php?compid=3926
https://rankingdata.fai.org/SGP_CompPage.php?compid=3927

About INGO. thanks for the reactions on my personal tribute. SO many people knew him and so many loved him. I was proud to work with him. I wish Judy ALL the best in this difficult time.
Many more people shared their connection with Ingo.
A good story about his flying, is to be found, also in English, on
https://nordicgliding-com.translate.goog/ingo-renner-37000-timmar-segelflygtid/?fbclid=IwAR0cDm24LNF6LQFtvV1-q4RFIMvAlDgvjVc5nNx5BVZnFDsZg7zGgfkeK4k&_x_tr_sl=da&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US

Here are some pictures by his “mates” from all over the world.
the French team;

In his Discus XX, which he owned with Judy and in which they made SO MANY HOURS.

And one of the last pictures. Ingo still at the airfield ,81 years old, with an always smiling face.
How many times in his life has he be on a picture like this. EVERYBODY wanted on the picture with Ingo.

I heard that the GFA are planning a BIG CELEBRATION EVENT one day in Tocumwal. Ingo deserves that.
The funeral will be , as I heard a private affair .
He will be buried at the cemetery , were our son Dennis is and “connected” again with his mentor Bill Riley, with Dolf and Maureen Huber, Jeff Close and good old Jim Taylor and his wife Marg. All involved in the past with Sportavia, all worked with him.
It’s getting more and more busy there!
My next visit, will be a totally different visit , without Ingo’s welcoming smile. He was always there.

On the last picture to the left you see the hangars from Sportaviation/Eddie Madden.
Some of you might wonder why Eddie ,who was very active at FB, disappeared there from February 8 onwards.
NO he is not ill, he is well, but you are going to NOT believe this news from him.
“I was forever banned by Facebook for uploading the video of my Granddaughter Sunday on her scooter in my hangar,
This was deemed as child exploitation by Facebook and so all my links Eddie madden and SportAviation have been removed forever.”
More than BIZARRE.
For those who missed him you NOW know why .
The WOKE idea is good against disinformation, but not for kind people who even need it for their business!!!!
In what world do we live????
I hope the word forever will change, so he can be back with his nice stories about soaring and other views on the world!!!!!

CU next week. Hope the war will be over then. Most probably to optimistic/euphoric.
More news also about the Australian Nationals in several classes from Narromine between March 7 and 18. Lot’s of top pilots.

Cheers Ritz. ….on March 2…meaning the meteorological spring has started Hurray!!!
Not to forget; The next FAI Gliding Commission (IGC) Plenary Meeting will take place in Copenhagen (DEN) on  and 5 – 6 March 2022.