Post 1.397….On December 28 2022.

KROONSTAD SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONALS
16 December 2022 – 23 December 2022

They continued with
Task 5 on December 21; 247 km….and the young Philip and older Jonker Uys, started together and finished together, both noticed a speed of 102 km on their “clock” . Due to a light punishment of 10 points Philip was runner up Uys won the day. But with one more day to go Philip is still in the overall lead.
It turned out December 22 had no task 6, so it was ALL going to happen on the last day. Who would take risks ,…all or nothing….who consolidate and who was just unlucky on that day.
Task 7 on December 23; 220 km….later changed in 161.75 km. Weather for big wings like the Nimbus 4DM. The Scharf’s in it won with a nice speed of 133 km./h.
Oscar was runner up and Swiss guest Yves 3d. Not a lot of points to win or loose, but they got; 287, 228 and 211 daily points.

So not the most spectacular weather in South Africa ‘s KROONSTAD during this National Championship.
Several 2 hour AAT’s and the best day had a set task from 373 km.
But after 6 out of 7 days there is a CHAMPION and what a CHAMPION, and winners in open class;
1. Philip Jonker in JS 3/18 m. with 3.330 points.
2. Uys Jonker in JS 3 /18 m with 3.292 p.
3. Laurens Goudriaan in JS 3 with 3.129 p.
Congratulations!!!

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Good news from Schleicher;
The AS 33ME is NOW certified;
“Good news before Christmas: The AS 33 Me is EASA certified as of today. This makes the AS34 Me & AS 33 Me the first two certified 18 m electric self launchers in the world.”
https://www.alexander-schleicher.de/en/the-as-33-me-is-now-certified/

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Pre-Christmas- and Christmas-time great soaring flights!
Beverley in Australia has superb weather. Norm [Bloch] already flew a 1000 from there on December 18, on December 20 Don [Woodward] did exactly the same, not in a JS 3 but in a “dry ASW 20B/C.
He declared a 1000 from Beverly and flew it, without water ballast!!!

Namibia had top weather as well . December 22 showed a 1.374 km flight by Guy and young German pilot Nils. A day earlier they flew 1.295 km…what stamina!!!!!
Another young pilot Simon flew in the EB 28, 1.255 km!!!
Those young ones , there on invitation, are SO LUCKY!!!!
22 over 1000 km flights in Namibia that day.
My Dutch friends Alfred Paul and Mark spend their winter-holiday in Kiripotib.
“Nice last flight of the holiday, landed early due to CBs. We had a great holiday, with in 13 flying days around 100 hours and 13.000km. Thanks all at Kiripotib for the great time here, see you next season !!!”On December 23.
They had 7 flights, from over 1000 km, to be precisely; 1.277 km….1.320 km…..1.362 km and 1. 021 km.
December 24 had thriller-weather-again in Bitterwasser; 1.408 km. in the EB 28 with a speed of 156 km./h.
On December 24, Sven Olivier flew a 1.110 km flight in the JS 1B. GREAT SPEED; 163 km./h.
“A big Xmas gift – 1100km at 162kph on Christmas Eve – it was far better than the prediction“
A nice Christmas present at Worcester Airport, where the WORCHESTER MAGIC was turned on.!!!!
Also the 804 km by Tokkie Carstens in an LS 4 is perfect…speed 138 km./h.

By the way the Argentinian 1000 km/FAI triangle from December 20, I wrote about last week was ;
“The first declared 1000 Km FAI triangle in our pampas in thermal conditions!” by Damian….he calls it an early CHRISTMAS PRESENT!!!!All in all he had a fabulous ,intense and unforgettable year!!!

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CRISTMAS AT IT’S BEST!!!!!!
In the Netherlands they take care of all those who fought and died for us during the WW2. ALSO with Christmas….impressive pictures by ARJAN.

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The VERY cold and disruptive winter in the USA and Canada, with temperatures up to minus 27 and even worse ,minus 45 dgr.C., might be the coldest in living memory. Already more than 70 people died……..TRAGIC!!!
And that all happened during the Christmas days, so not every family was complete, so sad!
For some who lost unexpectedly loved ones, a real SAD Christmas!!

IN MEMORIAM
On December 27 yesterday, it was 35 years ago that our best friend Kees Musters died in a tragic accident with his hang-glider in France. Kees was the HOBBS WGC champion.
R.I.P. Kees.

Wishing you a great NEW YEAR in good health and spirit. Keep SAFE!!!!

Cheers Ritz with my annual ” proost- picture” on 2023.

P/S. This blog is a few hours earlier.
I kept my laptop switched on all day as it works now and I don’t know what happens tomorrow morning!!!
I do have problems with it.
On January 13 WINDOWS 8 will stop with updates. I still use that.
Since yesterday I have difficulties to get on internet due to synchronization problems with google chrome.
Maybe that’s already one of the problems, though they convinced me that working with windows 8 should not create problems straight away!
I have to figure out how to continue, so when you can’t find a post, don’t get upset, I am working on it.
Hopefully ….CU next year….on January 4!

Post ;1.396 on December 21 2022….
longest day down under…. SHORTEST here …so we look ahead again at spring and summer.

JOEY GLIDE
Lake Keepit 11 December 2022 – 18 December 2022

Since the WWGC in Lake Keepit ,I am very fond on that airfield and the people over there. For that reason I am very pleased they organize this National Junior Gliding Championship. I can visualize where everything is and I have great memories on “my room” in the back of the club house….always close by news.
After 1 practice day and one scrubbed day , AND 2 x a 3 hour AAT day, we continue with ….
task 4; another 3 hour AAT.…and good news ALL 9 started!!!Some shear-wave was expected.
Ryan Driscoll is in really good “shape”, winning earlier the 3.30 practice day and task 3 and now task 4. This time he flew 310 km in time 3.03 in his ASW 20 C; speed 101 .65 and again he was the only one over 100 km./h.
His biggest “concurrent” at this stage Jayden Bashfort, who won task 2, in the 17 m Kestrel unfortunately lost 200 points,…..loosing time somewhere en route, though he only started 3 minutes earlier than Ryan. But,…no worries he is still runner up and a few more days to go.
Rueben Lane is going strong too . He flies the DG 100 and is about 30 points behind Jayden.
Matthew Scutters SKYSIGHT is a great sponsor , presenting awesome video’s with catchy music, it looks like a really HAPPY event!!!! Fabulous way to attract young people!!!!
https://www.facebook.com/JoeyGlide/videos/day-3-4-wrap-up/866172631311523/
Bruce Taylor is flying as one of the coaches for the coaching program, with young ones in the Duo Discus.
I noticed Pete Temple as well on the lovely video’s they shared.
“We look forward to the final few days of our competition and coaching program and will keep you up to date on our social media channels.”
Task 5 was on my birthday and it was a GOOD one. 4 hour AAT, GOOD!!!
look at this , the REAL AUSSIE weather!!!!

433 km for Ryan and 1000 points for this task 5 ;speed 108 km./h. Well done. Paul Merlaud [LS 4B] was runner up, good on him.
Noah from Mount Beauty was not too lucky with his days till now, but he is in the correct “groove” at the moment being 7th.
Bit of an off day for Rueben,..no worries tomorrow is another day.
task 6 on December 17 was good again; 3 hour AAT and won,..AGAIN…by Ryan; 351 km. with a speed of 112 km./h.
One point LESS , so 999 for Paul in the LS 4b.
task 7 and LAST day!!! 3 hour AAT. No not Ryan won , but somebody who was not yet at the first-spot-podium; Josh Geerlings in the Discus A. He consoled his 3d overall-spot!!
Nothing changed in the overall top 3 it stayed as it was over the last days!!!
So here are those TOPPERS after 6 out of 7 good competition days!!!!All with 300k or more.
1. Ryan Driscoll in ASW 20 C with 5.733 points. Well done Ryan.
2. Jayden Bashford in the Kestrel[17m] with 5.552 p.
3. Josh Geerlings in the Discus A with 5.245 p.

“And that’s a wrap on JoeyGlide 23 Presented by SkySight. We all had an incredible time at Lake Keepit and looking forward to taking what we learnt back to our home clubs.“

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In between Matthew [Scutter]himself continued his adventurous trip;
“Did you think the trip was over? Last week I slowly slogged back home in the blue and crawled into Kingaroy early on Saturday. A long week in the office and I was just able to pop out this afternoon to reposition to Boonah for another leg south for this weekend.
Joining me will be Finn Sleigh (current JWGC champion) in my sister’s LS8, and Jack Tonkin in Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures Ventus 3.
Let’s hope we’re able to get out of Boonah tomorrow! It’s looking challenging...”
You can follow them on..Matthew Scutter’s Gliding

LOVELY stories from Matthew and Adam, both former Australian juniors!
And what an extraordinary for them unforgettable trip from Matthew and his 2 UK mates Finn and Jack.
He finishes with;
“A few clips from the trip last week along the high country convergence, ft. Finn Sleigh, Jack Tonkin, Maddog Composites, and of course, powered by SkySight“

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Another National Championship is in Progress:
2022 SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONALS.
16 December 2022 – 23 December 2022

Host Kroonstad . They started on my birthday with a practice day, so I was busy but quickly found out later that the weather was not too good.
“Day 1 – welcome to Kroonstad and like much of the country – it is all very wet. There have been storms, lots of rain, and everything is drowning in water. There are small rivers running alongside the roads with run off from fields, where the roads are low-lying they are under water and fields are swimming.
Yesterday was the practise day and only two pilots took a launch as the weather closed in quite rapidly and there was then later afternoon rains for a few hours. Thankfully both pilots were back on the ground before the rain fell. So the tasks set for yesterday were not flown!” shared by Akavlieg – Potch Gliding
Task 1 in open class with 11 pilots; 2 hour AAT. We all know that big tasks should not be set straight after wet weather, so a small task was set and won by AP Kotze in the JS 2/21 m. with 304 km and a nice speed of 139 km./h.
Uys was runner up in JS 3 /18 m. and,…it stays in the family…. Philip 3d.
They were the only 3 finishers!
“Today, day 1, and let’s hope there will be flying. Despite a lot of rain overnight, there are blue skies and sunshine this morning, but thunderstorms are expected later on as things warm up.”
They flew!!!
Task 2; 2 hour AAT...won by Oscar Goudriaan in in JS 3TJ; 233 km with a speed of 116 km./h. Swiss pilot Yves Gerster was runner up.
Task 3; 2 hour AAT...and now it was the other way around. Yves , with 261 km. on the daily spot 1 after an early start and Oscar, with 249 km. on 2.Speed Yves….129 km./h and Oscar 119 km./h
Together with Oscar his brother Laurens finished as well.
Task 4; 372.74 km…..with 130 km./h Uys was the daily best. Interesting,…followed by the Nimbus 4DM [120 km./h] and Duo Discus [115 km/h] .Laurens was a tad slower than Uys; 128 km./h.
Oscar was 7th and Yves 9th.
They continue so next week the final results.
For now it is still young Philip on spot 1 [2.468 p] overall followed by Uys [ 53 points behind] and Laurens [2.333]

For the scores from the 5 pilots in Sports class you can look at ; www.soaringspot.com

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Between all the over -1000 km-flights in Namibia on December 18, there was a 1000k flight from Australia as well. Norm Bloch flew from Beverley in his JS 3 1.007 km with a speed of 135 km./h.
And….yesterday they flew between 487 in a LAK17B fes/18m and nearly 800 in an LS8.
Looking at Mondays Namibia flights; 2x over 1.200 km and 7 over 1.100 and 14 x a 1000.
Pffff…….GOOD!!!!
Yesterday Damian added a 1000 km. free / 1000 km. FAI triangle flight in Argentina from San Felipe in his Ventus 2CM/18m.

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I have to set things right!!!!
I missed one day from the Argentinian Championship. Moving my head between 10 hours earlier with Holland and Australia, I forgot that South America is at least 4/5 hours later…so I MISSED ONE DAY!!!
In the end they had not 9 but 10 days out of 12 ….EVEN BETTER!!!!
SO ,…more points as well. AND,...it turned out a short but interesting day.
Thanks Damian!!
Task 12; Standard class had a 2 hour AAT won by Martin Fernandez, who moved from 5 to 4. [8,141 points]
Overall scores standard class after 10 flying days;
1. Gonzalo Riera in LS 4 with 8,304 points and CHAMPION.
2. Cristian Franzini in LS 4 with 8,297 p.
3. Dino Ghioni in LS 4 with 8,168p

Task 12; Open class had a 1.30 AAT won by Damian AND Santiago both got 400 points for 202 km with 135 km./h!!!
Overall scores open class after 10 flying days;
1. Damián Goldenzweig in Ventus 2CM/18m. with 8,771 points and CHAMPION.
2. Santiago Berca in Ventus 2CM /18 m. with 8,739 p.
3. Federico Buscema in Nimbus 3DM 24.6m with 8,675 p.

Task 12;15 m class was a 1.30 AAT won by Manuel Darrain with 170 km and a speed of 113 km./h.
Just not enough for the podium missing out on 3 points.[8,255]
Overall scores in 15 m class;
1. Sebastián Luengo in ASW 20 with 8,315 points and CHAMPION!!!
2. José Dentone in ASW 20 with 8,295 p.
3. Felipe Girado in ASW 20 with 8,258 p.

Pfff,….luckily the names of the winners remained the same , they only GOT more points!!!
Good on them and AGAIN,…….SORRY.
Must be old age,
Talking about age, yes indeed I turned 76 on December 16!!!
Thank you SO much for all wonderful reactions from all over the world. I felt TRULY LOVED!!!!
And, now “I am in Argentina again ” virtual of course, CONGRATULATIONS to all of you who love soccer. ARGENTINA SOCCER WORLD CHAMPION.

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Sadly enough we lost another active French “mate”.
“In memory of Bernard Chabbert, the voice of French aviation. Blue Sky.“
R.I.P. Bernard.

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WISHING YOU ALL OVER THE WORLD, A WONDERFUL and MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Frohe Weihnachten.
Joyeux Noël
Feliz Navidad.

Cheers Ritz

The 69th Gliding Championship in Argentina
Rafaela 28 November 2022 – 9 December 2022

——Only 2 days to go in Rafaela, after I finished my last post .
Task 10, flying day ,9 showed another 3 hour AAT in the 3 classes and in open it was Juan Pablo [Verdura] again as the best, starting as the last one. A pity from his off-day earlier. Damian [Goldenzweig] is still going strong.
So are the 3 Ventus CM/18 m gliders being 1,2 and 3 on this task 10. ALL pilots flew over 400 km and as said Juan Pablo, was the best with a speed of 147 km./h over 446 km.
4 Pilots still in the race for the title and in all 3 classes it’s an EXCITING race!!!; Damian with 8.371 p, Santiago with 8.339 p .,Frederico in the Nimbus 3DM with 8.290 and Juan Pablo with 8.265 points.
In Standard class 12 starters and 9 flew over 350 km. Many LS 4 gliders in this class, but the St Jantar won the day with 376 km and a speed of 123n km./h on handicap.
4 Pilots still in the race for champion with close scores; 7.618….7.678….7.733 and 7.740 points.
In 15 m. still 19 pilots in the race and Jose [Dentone] won the day with 382 km. and a speed of 127 km./h.
8 ASW 20 gliders here in the top.
With ONE day to go, ….4 pilots still in the race for this title with at this stage overall scores from 7.855….7.862….7.899 and 7.944 points.
What’s happening during task 11??? NOTHING,…no task for all classes, so it was OVER!!!
“Although the tests of the Standard and 15m classes had already been cancelled, meteorology was trying to find a window to be able to develop competition with the Open.
All possibilities have been exhausted to develop the competition, unfortunately it has not been possible to fly” indicated Roberto Vogt, director of the championship while suspending the day at 1:30 p.m.”
by Rafaela Gliders Press

Yes ,…..champions in 3 classes were announced!!
Standard class after 9 out of 11 days;
1. Gonzalo Riera in LS 4 with 7,740 points…NATIONAL CHAMPION.
2. Cristian Franzini in LS 4 with 7.733 p, only 7 less, he would have wished for a last flying-day
3. Dino Ghioni in LS 4 with 7. 678 p.

Open class after 9 out of 11 days;
1. Damián Goldenzweig in VENTUS 2CM/18 m with 8.371 points…NATIONAL CHAMPION.
2. Santiago Berca in VENTUS 2CM/18 m. with 8.339 p.
3. Federico Buscema in NIMBUS 3DM/24.6 m. with 8.290 p.

15 m class after 9 out of 11 days;
1. Sebastián Luengo in ASW 20 with 7,944 points…NATIONAL CHAMPION.
2. José Dentone in ASW 20 with 7.899 p
3. Felipe Girado in ASW 20 with 7.862 p.

Congratulations to ALL. AND,…THANKS DAMIAN for sharing the pictures!
Pretty good 9 out of 11 days, and a lot of GOOD ones ..that’s what the PRESS thought too;
“With this there are only two non-flyable days of this historic Argentine championship.”
Rafaela Gliders Press
With record temperatures last Wednesday of 41 dgr. C.

In the end they had 10 out of 12 days , I was TOO quick and missed a day. Luckily the winners remained the winners only they got more points.
You can see it in my next blog.
Sorry about this. MEA CULPA.

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South Island Gliding Championship 2022
Omarama 4 December 2022 – 10 December 2022

After winning 3 days Keith [Essex] and his open class mates had NO TASK on December 7.
BUT,….then the weather decided not to co-operate anymore.
No flying on December 7 [Very flat and very white today. Unfortunately the low to the west keeps things very much rubbish for tasking, so no competition tasks today.} and 8 [Even more weather around today so no tasks for the day. Friday is not looking that great either!].

So December 9 Friday [ no flying] and 10 to go……
BUT,…….Good news:
“Looking a lot more promising this morning. There is a task up for both classes and we are going for an early start of 12:00 to try and get the flying all done before forecasted rain showers and to-nights awards dinner!”
So on the last flying day they set 2 hour AAT’s for both classes. No worries for Keith ,…another win and 1000 points more.
No surprises either in the open class final scores;
1. Keith Essex in the ASG 29E with 3,594 points.
2. Hamilton & Morgan in the ASH 25 with 3,070 p.
3. Max Stevens in the Ventus 2C with 2,901 p.

Tony was runner up to Terry, loosing 8 points, not enough to change the
Overall scores in racing class.
1. Tony van Dyk in the LS 8 with 2,833 points.
2. Terry Jones in the LS 8 with 2,742 p.
3. Roland van der Wal in LS 6C with 2.048 p.

Congratulations!

More N.Z. news ; That day,…. December 10, ….John Mac Caw flew a free flight ,more an out and return from Springfield…422 km…in a St. CIRRUS. CHAPEAU!!!!

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JOEYGLIDE
Lake Keepit 11 December 2022 – 18 December 2022

Attending a competition in Australia, sometimes is a huge expedition. If you have to travel from the West to the East, you are driving your car and glider-on-tow, over many kilometers and days and nights.
So a huge job for some of the young ones, but when you are young NOTHING IS A PROBLEM.

The 8 [number 9 came all the way from Mount Beauty but did not fly] started with a great practice day on December 11; 3.30 AAT.
Ryan Driscoll was the last- but- one to go on track in his ASW 20 and flew 354 km in time 3.37; speed 98 km./h.
One day earlier Ryan practiced already too. That day showed SUPERB weather as local hero Allan Barnes in his LS 8 declared a 1000 and flew it!!! Our former co-owners from Sportavia, long ago , Mathias and Mari-Christine flew in their ASG 32 768 km.
So a top day in good old Lake Keepit. Hope this weather stays during JOEYGLIDE!!!!

It did NOT on day 1 ,so task 1 was skipped…to speak in JoeyGlide-language, but there was a 3 hour AAT the next day, as TASK 2.
Again 8 flying pilots. Noah from Mount Beauty flew but this time Paulo did not fly.
Jayden won the 1000 points flying the Kestrel/17m. over 297 km in time 3.20; 89 km./h. He mentioned it was not always easy, he was sometimes low, it was very blue, but the ridges worked well.
Ryan was runner up with 82 km./h loosing 125 points, but it’s only flying-day 1.
TASK 3; 3 hour AAT AND,….it’s looking GOOD!!!!

Ryan was the only one flying over 100 km./h; 105.26 km./h. He flew 316 km in time 2.54 for 1000 points.
Jayden was runner up.
For some juniors it’s a hard but effective way to cope with competition flying. 7 Started but one missed the startline on 0.5 km. Life can be a bitch…zero points.
More next week; When you want to follow them you can go to
https://glideandseek.com/?compDataUrl=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NeilMC311/joey23/main/joey23.json&viewport=-31.10429,150.43515,9

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AND,…from the Boonah Gliding Club Inc. 2 UK pilots Finn and Jack , are flying and having fun. Whilst it is minus 10 and with lot’s of snow ,in the UK, the young ones enjoy the nice weather down under in Queensland. Good move!! They even “got” Adams G1 to fly, very special.

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—–Mathew finished his trip but there is more to come, he loves his gliding and sees so many parts of beautiful Australia this way.
“Two very, very tricky low blue days flying back home. Yesterday was at least clear skies with nice consistent climbs, but terrible terrain requiring constant strip deviations.
Today was considerably worse, with patches of high cloud forming all afternoon, but at least after the first 50k it was back to landable country. I didn’t really believe reality would be as dire as the forecast predicted, and thought I would actually make it back to Kingaroy for most of the day – but a switch flicked about 3.30 and I had to motor to Chinchilla for the night.
The biggest predictor for how hard it’ll be to get an airport pickup by a motel seems to be proximity to a state capital, but fortunately Pete the airfield operator gave me a lift into town, thanks Pete!
Just a short flight home tomorrow, time for repairs and recuperation, and possibly departure later this week for another try to the south. TBD.”
Matthew Scutter’s Gliding

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Some short news;
–—-That great working horse , the Pawnee, is a tug and many soaring places use one. Some have a long record of service, as the above one; “So today we said goodbye to a faithful friend…. after 36 years, about 50,000 aerotow launches and probably flown by 50 different tuggies, Uniform Charlie our Pawnee was off to pastures new, flown by tugmaster Paul Barker to the South Wales Gliding Club at Usk.” Southdown Gliding Club

—–PERLAN PROJECT;
“As we look ahead to 2023, we’re looking back on memorable moments of 2022.
On June 12, Perlan Project Chief Pilot Jim Payne and Pilot Alan Coombs wave soared 2,581 km in the fly-by-wire Nixus Project. Ground speed reached as high as 340 kph. It was the 2022 Best Flight OLC. Check out the stats at; https://bit.ly/PayneOLC

——-Namibia; December was another top day in Namibia. The TWIN SHARK topped twice the OLC list with flights from Veronica; 1.198 km and 1. 110 km. Bostjan and Radek with their mates have a lot of fun.
The first 21 flights on the OLC were ALL over 1000 km and in total there were 22 as the ETA was on the list a bit further.
The TWIN SHARK is making OVER-HOURS- flying from Veronica .On December 10 Radek flew 1.302 km [145 km./h] and one day later Bostjan 1.223 km. The glider is keeping perfect, after all this hard work.

—–In between the 2d 1000 km-camp for the young ones has started from Bitterwasser. Max [Maslak] is still there AND flew as one of the young ones got a tummy problem…another 1000 k in the EB. [28]
2nd lap 1000km Camp Bitterwasser Day 4
Weather forecast with early onset overdevelopment made route planning difficult. Therefore, a timely return to Bitterwasser before the thunderstorm activity in the evening was announced. But as is so often the case, instead of thunderstorms in the late afternoon, a gigantic line of convergence developed, which made the way home effortless. Another special experience for Patrick, with weather phenomena that are hard to find in a textbook.” by Wilfried who is flying now with young Patrick Benoist.

More Bitterwasser news; on December 12
“The world as a guest in Bitterwasser
For each nation represented in Bitterwasser, the corresponding flag is hoisted. 12 nations were already represented this season. From 19 to well over 80 is the range of pilot age. It is interesting that in some cockpits the age difference is more than 50 years.
All this makes Bitterwasser a very special place with a great atmosphere. And the results can be seen. More than 100 flights over 1000 km have already been completed.”

Yesterday 2 of my Dutch mates, Alfred Paul and Mark, flew in the ARCUS from Kiripotib 1.244 km. ..speed 150 km./h….Good on them.
The weather is still SUPER in Namibia.

——–Between December 5 and 16 the Royal Air force “practices” from the base Eindhoven Airport about 15 k from here. It’s called “Orange Bull” and during the flights of 2 C 130 HERCULES transport planes , they drop personal and freight at designated places in Holland and Belgium. I do hear them sometimes.

To finish this blog another view on flying. Tony [Condon] loves his soaring, power flying, but also his balloon flying, and he shares lovely colorful pictures.
On December 7 he mentioned; “Two flights today!! Rolled a lot on inflation. Some steerage. Landed next to a nice house and laid out in their yard.”

Flying to heaven is what happened over the last week with 2 of our soaring mates; Belgian multiple-times-top-crew Ollie [ Oliver]will be missed by many, specially by the THE Broquevilles. He always had a smile on his face.
Our Tocumwal friend Charlie Tootell sr. died on December 6 , a huge loss for his wife Marg and son Charlie jr.
Jr was a tow pilot with us and mum and dad regularly visited from Finley where they then lived.
“No Sambuca evenings anymore“
R.I.P dear friends.

CU next Wednesday
Cheers Ritz
P/S; it’s MINUS 10 here during the night and zero during the day …pretty cold for the Netherlands…and the first marathon on ice will be skated tonight.
As I have spend 30 winters in sunny Tocumwal, I do not like cold weather, but no complaints here. I straight away think then on the people in the Ukraine, without power, heating and water, all by a “stupid and intense TRAGIC” war. I wish them a lot of strength!!!!!!!

DECEMBER 7 post 1.394

Day of the funeral from Chris, one of the engines behind the Gelderse Soaring Club ,flying as you know, from Terlet in The Netherlands. He was only 60 years old and died of a heart attack at home.
R.I.P. Chris,….you will be VERY MUCH missed by the entire Gelderse Soaring Family and beyond.
At a get -together last week people stood in a long, long queue to say farewell to him.

—–Last Wednesday on November 30, the last day of the month November, Ludwig and Heimo topped the OLC list with a 1.047 km flight from Kiripotib; 138 km./h.
You surely know that Ludwig [Starkl] together with Wolfgang [Janowitsch] were the founders of FLYING WITH THE CHAMPIONS and RENT A GLIDER. Ludwig stopped last year, after 8 years, as organizer, but was back as valued guest and “just- glider- pilot”.
8 Years of experience with briefings there ,paid off as he commented and they flew in the best optimal “window’ for the day.
It was not even a perfect day as one of the other Kiripotib guests mentioned;
“Another great day but not much streeting and weaker climbs. Top cover killed the thermals 150k out so we took 2kts 100k out for a safe final glide.”
I got to know Ludwig and Heimo [Demmerer] better during the C.I.M in Italy. They were frequent flyers there. Good ones too, as they fly a lot over their Austrian mountains. They both flew many WGC’s as well, but Ludwig gave up during the WGC in Benalla in 2017 , after 2 near misses [ 5 and 11 m distance] and 2 collisions ….2 days in a row …., with those many gaggles. Though he was not involved ,he could not be answerable anymore to his family and friends, he said.
Brave decision to do so during the WGC, as I know how much he loved his competition soaring.
Of course I know all 3 of them already also, from the wedding I attended, from Wolfgang and Janet, long ago.

—–Keith [Essex] moved from the USA , where he is a member of the Minden Soaring Club, to New Zealand again for the season. Straight away he shared from his first 500 km-flight a, on December 1, a nice picture from gorgeous N.Z.

He is one of the 14 pilots flying the SOUTH ISLAND GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP 2022 from Omarama. There are 2 classes and on day 1 , December 4, Keith straight away won the 3 hour AAT flying 418 km in his ASG 29 in open class. Speed 139 km./h!!! That was quite a bit faster and further than p.e, Max Stevens in the Ventus 2C ; 310 km and 102 km./h.
Same tasks for racing class where 2 LS 8 gliders were the best ; Terry Jones and Tony van Dyk; 369 km ..speed 123 km./h and 338 km with 110 km./h.
Task 2 ; 2 hour AAT,…won by Keith with 384 km …speed 187 km/h!!!!
“A couple of 2 hour AAT tasks have been set for today. There is quite a lot of uncertainty around the weather for today so the tasks have been set with quite a few different weather options in mind.“
Terry flew 281 km and Tony 303 ….speed 140 km./h and 131 km./h.
Task 3 a 2 hour AAT in both classes were won by Keith and Tony.
“Everyone is back and most got around the task despite the rain showers!” the organization.
“Our” former Dutch Tony is still GOOD!!!!He leads the racing class after 3 days with 100 points. I have n’t seen him now for quite a while but at the last comps he still could speak really good Dutch.
Keith in his class leads with 446 points.

They finish on December 10. Today they don’t fly. “No tasks for today. Too much weather around.”

—–The 5 exciting aspects of JoeyGlide 2023 you don’t want to miss! Starting soon, on Saturday December 11!!!
“If there’s any Joeyglide to attend, it’s this one; and for good measure. As we gear up towards our highly anticipated event, we can’t wait to welcome you and see you in the air! Between covid, bad weather and floods, we know it’s been tough to fly this year. But it’s now time to dust off the cobwebs, pull out the camelback and hang out with your friends in Lake Keepit.“
The JUNIORS are ready to go for it and will be sponsored where necessary.

——One of the former Aussie juniors AND JWGC champion in Narromine Matthew, wrote a very interesting blog about flying in Australia at this stage.
“My gliding colleagues, particularly in the southern states, have been complaining that it’s another La Nina year and everything is washed out with all the comps getting canceled. Today I set out on my “How Bad Could It Be?” tour, trying to visit all the badly flooded areas, traveling by glider.“
You better read the full story on Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
“There’s no road access due to the floods, everything is arriving by helicopter, so I better figure out a way to soar out of here.” on December 2 2022.
https://www.weglide.org/flight/226282….
In between he had time for some fun as well,…a voting poll;
“Please vote on my destination for tomorrow from Bourke (if I am able to get away without running my battery flat!)”
Mind you Bourke is up in the N and Tocumwal on the border of NSW and Victoria [S].
Heart react for Tocumwal
Haha react for Augathella
Wow react for Swan Hill

And https://www.weglide.org/flight/226373 how he continued on December 3!!!
“Getting out of Bourke was as bad as expected, had to hobble out with the FES 20km inland to the cu.“
The votes were for Augathella, never even heard from the place, so off he went….more adventure…what a great guy he is!!!!!
AND,…it ain’t over yet ;”Super easy cumulus conditions with a teeny bit of streeting, horrific terrain the last 400km into Mt. Isa… took a few 3kts to keep at cloudbase. 10,000ft feels low out here.“
Now he had to figure out how to get away from Mt Isa, a mining town in N.W. Queensland…..
https://www.weglide.org/flight/226583
“Once again unsure how to get out of here. Looks a bit bluer the coming days. Tomorrow’s problem!“
WHAT A HERO!!!!! These 2 pictures have been shared by Matthew.

Mount Isa as mining town and ,…as his mate Adam commented; “What a great experience, Mt Isa, home of Australias biggest windsock!“
Courtesy Matthew

Matthew’s mornings news today ;“I’ve long believed everyone eventually gets what they deserve, which is why I live life in a state of perpetual fear.”
And “Reasonably high chance I’ve stuffed this one up! I flew into Thargomindah yesterday expecting an early start for a massive day today, but on landing realised the forecast had become a lot more marginal than when I left. This morning it is even worse again than the forecast. The trough is too far progressed. read the full story on Matthew Scutter’s Gliding

—–Whilst our winter started with pretty cold conditions,[minus 2] summer arrived down under after the coldest ever spring since 50 years. For that reason I hope it quickly dries out .
The Southern corner with well-known gliding places as Benalla, Tocumwal and Corowa, do have early guests already and they flew over 500 km. on December 2.
Frequent [Dutch] Corowa visitors Jos and Willem are flying from Corowa the ASG 32MI and the ASH 31/21 m. 576 and 588 km.
From Tocumwal local Grant flew 511 km in his St Jantar 2 and Swiss Chris in his ASW 27 a more-or less O&R to Leeton; 339 km.
On Saturday Lumpy even flew 740 km [668 FAI] in his new Nimbus 4T and Grant is his “little” St. Jantar 593 km [500FAI triangle]
Charles Day in his 17m Kestrel 423 km. from Benalla.
Indeed summer has arrived with 31 dgr. C.

By the way, Swiss Chris who is a long time mate ,can be sometimes a bit of a nerd and I say that with full respect and a big smile!!!!He knows me….
“That was fun, much better thermals than yesterday
OLC Program gets thermalling start wrong when towing with Eurofox
OLC thermalling statistic differs compared to https://www.weglide.org/flight/226258
WG 11.5%
OLC 15.32%“
AND,…he is mostly correct.
Eddie, who is an “ace” on weather, shared this picture.
Around Lake Cargellico and a bit more to the SW, you see less clouds;
Eddie; “The flooded areas suppressing thermals and cumulus cloud formation!”

——-This must be Max Maslak’s BEST experience with soaring in his 19 year life. Flying the Ventus 3 by himself during the Bitterwasser-1000 km-camp and together with Wilfried learning in the EB 28
“Day 7 1000km Camp Bitterwasser;
“Again one of the best days in Namibia with a 300km convergence line in the west. Early start with an adiabatic temp curve. Even if the high level of instability in the west brought about early spreads of rain, the route planning in the morning went quite well. The thunderstorms that hung over Bitterwasser in the late afternoon were limited in time, so that in the evening the airfield could be approached again without any problems.
Another important experience for Max at just 19 years old..” by Wilfried
They flew 1.214 km…speed 143 km./h.
Max flew 3x in the Ventus 3M/18 m; 1.049 km….1.158 km…and day 7 …..1.049 km.
With Wilfried; Day 1…..1.135 Max very first flight, …1.162 km….1.214 km
The other “pupil” was Tobias Pachowsky. On his last day he tried hard but flew 999 km. in the Ventus 3M , whilst optimal 1.001 was predicted. NO WORRIES. He had a fabulous time, with 3 over 1000- km- flights with his mentor Wilfried.
“7 flight days……..7400km…….is only possible in Bitterwasser…
Thank you Wilfried!!!” was his last comment.
The other “lucky-young-one” is Tobias Welsch.
“Day 8 1000km Camp Bitterwasser.
This day was also one of the special ones in Namibia….!
A good route planning thanks to top meteo and the morning temp. Even if the beginning was a bit difficult, it went great afterwards!
Since the north of Cu was moderately so well developed, we put a long leg in Namibia that was unknown to me. Even if the return flight was marked with over-developments, the decision was worth it.
My first flight with Tobias which was really fun…! as commented by Wilfried, who really puts effort in his flying but also writing about the young ones.
Top job Wilfried, I met him in the far past.

—— The 69th ARGENTINIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS have been flown from Rafaela, since November 28 till December 9,…. so still in progress. They fly in standard [13 pilots], open [ 14] and 15 m. class [20]
Host Rafaela celebrates it’s 80thiesist birthday, reason enough to have a big championship.
And,…CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
And they had pretty good weather, with up to a 5 hour AAT on task 6 with 667 km. won by Juan Pablo Verdura in his Ventus 2CM/18m in open class.

The organization mentioned;
“It is an extreme heat wave, it is probably a historic heat wave for the month of December, since 12 days are expected in these conditions with some very isolated showers,” he explained during the morning briefing before flying the meteorologist, Lucas Berengua, in relation to the maximum of 40 to 42 degrees Celsius that will accompany the days of flight until the end of the competition.” on December 5.
On December 5 they were on task 8 ….flying day 7….in all 3 classes.
408 km was set for standard class and the overall best 5 pilots all flying LS 4 are in points between 5.951 and 6.054.
Open class had a 4.30 AAT with 468 km as best result. In this class Damian and Juan Pablo lead overall at this stage; 6.421 and 6.415 points. CLOSE!!!
In 15 m 444 k was set and the best speed was 104 km./h 4x an ASW 20 in the daily top.
December 6, birthday of St Nicolas, task 9 flying day 8… was a short day with 2.30 and 3 hour AAT’s. Damian and Santiago [Berca] had both 1000 points . Flying together in the same glider Ventus 2CM/18 m ;415 km with 138 km./h.
With the very close scores an “off-day” is expensive. Juan Pablo was 4th, lost 150 points for the day and moved at this stage from 2 to 4.
More next week.

That’s it for today!!!!
Birthday, Christmas and New Year will make it a busy time. But I try to write as much as possible.
For your information I will not travel to Australia this season, so NO TOCUMWAL JOURNAL, but have enough family and friends there to keep you informed.
After 7 troublesome months [ very tired and NO energy] as result of the moderna booster jab, I am nearly back to normal, but a 24 hour trip down order is just too much.
Hopefully next season again.
Cheers Ritz