——The Dutch squad settled in St. Auban for some serious mountain soaring. Peter Millenaar was one of the pilots. Peter was JWGC Champion in Standard class in 2013 in Leszno [Poland] Jonker Sailplanes shared this news on him “ Peter Millenaar shares some epic pictures flying his JS3 RES in the southern French Alps from Saint Auban. Have a look and enjoy.” https://www.weglide.org/embedded/flight/238252?baro=true Peter; “Once again an awesome day in paradise… Can’t get enough of these views.” Indeed a spectacular photo story over the mountains there. Have a look. They flew with mentors as Bas Seijffert , Hermann Moeller and Erik Borgmann in an Arcus T and in an ARCUS M , and in 18m ASG 29 E, JS 1CTJ /21 m and an 18 m JS 3 RES. Quite a few are members of the Gelderse. Some still junior as Lars Groot or former junior Nick Hanenburg , who was already 13.5 m WORLD Champion .[2022 in Pocuinai] Lars gained his 5000 m height and has gold now with 3 diamonds. Good job! Hermann was one of the mentors who taught him how to fly best in wave. Lars praised SkySight for their brilliant accurate overlays on the LX 9000.
“Above 5000 m still 4m/s lift. It was MINUS 23 dgr.C and the wind was 143 km./h!’
On March 23 Peter flew into the Barcelonnette Valley. His comment; “Nice challenging flight . Not so easy to get out from low…. Got rewarded with some nice wave in the end.“ Powered by MillenAir Glider Supplies; http://www.millenair.eu AND,…on the other side of the world on a trailer along the side of the road, on the way back from Narromine also MillenAir on Adams trailer.
Also in St. Auban, but between March 12 and 18 was the Fly Pink squad from Italy. Though the weather was not on it’s very best, lots of wind, the ladies had an interesting ,good time in which they learned a lot. A fabulous team-spirit helps of course too.
Talking PINK in Australian gliding; “Female aviators from across the country and New Zealand are in Mount Gambier for the Australian Women Pilots’ Association annual conference. The not-for-profit first met in 1950 with 49 members to develop and assist women with a passion for aviation. About 130 members are in attendance this year.”Yesgirlsglide Happening this weekend.
Talking -more- on Women in Gliding.…there is an action to collect money for Ukraine pilot Olena to participate in the Spain WWGC at Soria between July 1 and 14 2023. The action has as goal Euro 3.700. At this time they have received already 2.320 E. https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-ukrainian-woman-pilot-to-attend-wwgc2023
Strong women in Gliding as shared by Cosmosphere ,a Smithsonian affiliate located in Hutchinson, KS. USA “Marta Bohn-Meyer (1957-2005) In 1991, Marta Bohn-Meyer became the first woman to crew the triple-sonic SR-71 Blackbird. She was assigned as a NASA flight engineer and, after 22 years, was named chief engineer at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. Widely known as a precision aerobatic pilot, Bohn-Meyer died Sept. 18, 2005, when the Giles G-300 she flew in an aerobatic practice routine crashed near Oklahoma City. Today we celebrate Bohn-Meyer’s remarkable career. Learn more in our blog https://bit.ly/3ug2aQl.
We talk PINK in the Netherlands as well. Enthusiastic young glider pilot Lizzy, who represents “us” in Spain at the WWGC in Soria, has set up “Dutch Soaring Sisters.” To make women stronger in the soaring community, she started 5 years ago a FB site with Sanne. This week they restart their project and Lizzy wants us to share , the next words; ” This is a group to feel safe and comfortable in your own environment, where you can ask questions you might not be able to ask in your own club , certainly in a club where nearly no women fly“
Last but not least another top-soaring-lady in gliding Frauke Elber. She is important in the USA with her Women Soaring Pilots Association …..WSPA. Founded in Tucson [Arizona] on June 11 1986. “WSPA is a place where women gain new skills, build their piloting dreams, and motivate each other. Women exchange ideas and knowledge, meet new friends, and find mentors. WSPA provides scholarships to support women to fly gliders and offers a yearly flying seminar. WSPA inspires us to confidence in our abilities and to gain new heights!“ https://womensoaring.org/membership/ After a year delay due to Corona she finally got her very deserved award at the convention in Reno; Schweizer Nomination – Frauke Elber.pdf (ssa.org). CONGRATULATIONS Frauke.
Photo by David Hart…. Award presented by SSA Chair Michael Shakman. Frauke Elber
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The MSC GRAND PRIX in Matamata in New Zealand was flown between March 17 and 25. Form 7 ,they had 5 soarable days, in a Class A open as well as in class B with racing class gliders . Day 1 was cancelled, day 2 was difficult with in A only 3 from 10 finishing. Task 3 …NO TASK,. due to rain but then 4 days in a row with small tasks , but they could fly. The last day showed the best weather with in A, 284 km. with 126 km./h. for Brett Hunter in his 18m. JS 3. And in B 237 km with 97 km./h in a DG 300/15m. by Anton Lawrence. “It’s all over! The Great MSC Grand Prix has finished, congratulations to Brett Hunter, Open Class/A, and Anton Lawrence, Racing Class/B. Some very exciting racing, with 3 seconds down to the wire between first and second on the last day.” Brett had 38 points which was 10 more than both Tony van Dyk and Jason Shields as runners up. The margin in the racing class B was small….36 for Anton and 35 for Steve!!! Only ONE point. AND,….that happened all on the last day, when Anton clearly won being 7 km./h faster than Steve in the ASW 20; 10 points and 8. Anton moved up from 3 overall to 1 and Philip Rees in the St Libelle moved from 1 to 3. He had only 5 points on this last day.
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Another “soaring-master-piece” by Baptiste Innocent and Gil Souviron. My goodness me, soaring so long over the sea is pretty scary and epic, but of course they know what they are doing. In the Stemme S12 they started at Ajaccio Campo in France for a flight with a scoring distance of 1.158,86 km.!!!!! It took them 10 hours and 27 minutes. The best height was just over 6000 m MSL. the lowest 117 AGL not over water/1627 MSL. [OLC] We Glide wrote;” Baptiste Innocent and Gil Souviron continue to be unstoppable. Today, [March 25 2023] they accomplished another spectacular flight towards Corsica, and for the first time, they dared to make the jump to the southern neighboring island of Sardinia – with great success! The thermal connection in Italy initially worked well, but unfortunately, it came to an end in the Po Valley. However, it’s still early in the year, so there’s plenty of opportunities ahead Congratulations to both, we’re truly impressed What’s next for them?“
“Starting the jump from Corsica to Sardinia – just epic!” #WeGlide3D courtesy WeGlide
The SKY Sight of Melbourne as seen by Roderick Carmichael.
Next Sunday the Aussie F 1 Grand Prix will be as usual in St Albert Park. I was there MANY years ago looking at the event from a flat looking over the circuit with a glass of champagne in my hand. I then was mostly struck by the noise. Since “we” have Max Verstappen I am a real fan from F1. More next week.
You are up to date,…….. we are waiting for the REAL spring!!!! Everything out side was WHITE from frost last Monday.
Cheers Ritz P.S. Last week I wrote about the trailer from Tony Condon with the glider in it. The fuselage fell through the ply floor…Tony made it to Forbes, where he stopped at Bunnings, not intentionally but forced, so did 2 of his team mates, Jack and Steve, who HELPED him. I found these pictures and want to share them as well. In between Tony is safely home in the USA.
With only 2 more flying days to go and scores VERY CLOSE, this pre world competition might feel in the end, like a thriller . BUT,….the first of the 2 days on March 23, had in each class a cancelled 2 hour AAT. Such a pity! Bruce; “The day was forecast to be very short today; the eventuality was a day that lasted longer and we could have added an hour to the flight time… but that is easily said after the fact. This morning it was obvious that the air in our nearby trough line was very moist and unstable, with a couple of showers passing by before briefing.” And,…a bit later…..”Today was cancelled at about the scheduled launch time of 1230, and at 1520 it looks to have been a great decision. Heaps of mid-level rubbish around and some very solid development down to the south.” more on Taylor’s Gliding Page
March 24 VERY LAST DAY!!!! From Narromine Gliding Club Official I received messages as ‘The tasks are set, same for all three classes with separate Start Points but approx 230k AAT with a 2 hour minimum time :
* Start 10.00 km Line (Radius 5.00 km)
* 70Nevertire 53.38 km 313.2° Cylinder R=30.00 km
* 14Armatree 84.15 km 59.2° Cylinder R=30.00 km
* 00NarromineAF
Gliders are gridding and should be launching shortly. And…. “If the Skysight forecast is accurate today then fortune will favour the brave late starters with the strongest conditions on track around 2pm.“ And… “Last day of the competition and it is down to the wire for team selection and the competition winners. A big day today.”
“The last grid for Ausglide and the Australian Nationals. Even the Narromine Red Kites want to get into the comp!” Narromine Gliding Club Official
So what happened on the last day!!!! Standard class; Task 9..2 hour AAT….Starts between 14.39 and 15.00. Greg [Beecroft] as early starter, won the last day . He was only a few points behind Bruce overall. Was this the “game chancer”??? No it was not. Bruce , who started at 15.00 remains on spot 1 overall after being only 1 km/h slower. BUT,…with only 30 points difference. Yes , I know, only ONE point would have been enough too. Greg flew 231.90 km with 103.93 km./h and Bruce 214.05 km with 102.24 km./h. Bruce and Greg are the well deserved winners and they will represent Australia in the WGC in Narromine end of this year. Bruce even after an outlanding on task 2!!!! Gutsy way of working your way back to the top. But then he is an old hand in our soaring world. Bruce; “The final day is done. It was a tough one, with a short window and everything to play for. Climbs were pretty weak and hard to find with fast cycling and wet air. I kept afloat and came home with a very close second to retain the lead from Greg Beecroft.” more in Taylor’s Gliding Page
Final results in standard class after 8 out of 10 days 1. Bruce Taylor in LS 8 with 5.737 points. 2. Greg Beecroft in LS 8 with 5. 707 p. 3. Scott Lennon in LS 8 with 5.462 p.
The Narromine Gliding Club Official analyze; “We cannot look past the amazing efforts of our Standard Class winners and almost winners. Firstly congratulations to Bruce Taylor, Greg Beecroft and Scott Lennon! Three worthy Champions and we all watched your fantastic efforts today on the live tracking. Greg an outstanding Day Win and it almost got you there. Bruce won the Championship despite outlanding early in the comp and that may well be a first. Commiserations though for two of our top pilots, David Jansen and Mike Durrant. Had David not missed his start point on day 2 he may well have been a podium finisher. Similar story for Mike who was confidently leading the comp until day 6 when he outlanded and got 47 points to Bruce’s 876. That’s it for this competition and we hope to see you at the Worlds in December!!“
15 m class; 2 hour AAT Matthew in a tough race to be in for the WGC team, just missed out on 11 points, even with the glorious “all or nothing” win of the day; 220.91 km. with 107.50 km./h much faster than runner up Norm who flew 223.08 km with 95. 79 km./h. He gained 605 points. Adam and Toby were 3d and 4th for 475 and 457 points. Adam was pleased he won the AusGlide ; A day of many emotions, for the first time since I won my last nationals in October 2019 (with the original G1), I’m again National Champion in 15m class flying this absolute rocket, the Ventus 3TS-15“more on Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
Matthew was a bit sad “it looks like I don’t have a chair for the Worlds later this year. 60pts from 1st, 7 points from 2nd – top two get picked. My first ballasted single-seat nationals loss since 2013(?), breaking a streak of 8(?) wins.”, but realized he was not at his best in the beginning of the comps. I am sad with him, because he belongs at a WGC. The full story on Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
Final results in 15 m. class after 8 out of 10 days. 1. Adam Woolley in VENTUS 3/15m with 6.121 points. 2. Tobi Geiger in VENTUS 2 with 6.068 p. 3. Matthew Scutter in Diana 2 with 6.057 p.
Club class; 2 hour AAT Ryan in his ASW 20C won the day; 201.20 km in 89.12 km./h. with a start at 14.42. USA tony started at 3 PM and was 5th whilst Jo and James were “only” 8th and 9th . That meant on this last day a few changes. James was after day 8 the leader of the clubbies with Jo as runner up and Daniel as number 3. That changed, though James remained on spot 1 as he had a clear lead. Daniel was on 3 and moved to spot 2. Ryan was on 5 and moved to 3. Tony; “Tough day in the office. Hardly ever above 5k. Hot and humid and weak climbs. I managed to do pretty well considering. 5th for the day and 7th overall. Very pleased with that considering my outlanding.“
Final results in club class after 8 out of 10 days. 1. James Nugent in LS 3 with 5.848 points. 2. Daniel Summers in LS 3a with 5.415 p. 3. Ryan Driscoll in ASW 20 C with 5.396 p.
“I am so happy for everyone that competed in Club Class at this event. The new generation of Australian Competition Pilots has arrived and swept all before them. Such a great result. And let’s not forget that two of the top three 15m Podium winners are also former Juniors. We are looking forward to the World Gliding Championships in December at Narromine and hoping to see you there supporting the Aussies! “Narromine Gliding Club Official
The 3 winners in each class. All 3 REAL TOPPERS. Bruce in Standard, Adam in 15 m and James in club class CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Picture courtesy Taylor’s Gliding Page
Tony got a beautiful trophy called after Swaantje who died a couple of years ago on cancer. Lovely lady, great pilot. The last time I saw and spoke Swaantje was at Narromine, she then was already very sick. This trophy is for the highest placed foreign pilot and that was Tony.
The Swaantje Geyer Trophy.
Talking about Tony, his trip back to Temora was more than eventful!!! He was dam lucky; “Not what you want to see at fuel stop…plywood hanging below the trailer, fuselage resting on the brake actuator. Trailer brakes had been dragging. Thankfully stopped right next to Bunnings.”
Pfffff,.indeed very lucky “ Jack was along soon and while Steve got lunch and told people about gliding, he worked up a fix and got me back on the road. My hero!“ Jack and Steve flew in Narromine at AusGlide as well. Both also in Club. I guess now even more,….FRIENDS FOR EVER!!!!That’s what gliding is ALL about.
An interesting AusGlide. A pity that not more overseas pilots tried their luck/practiced , but I know it’s far and expensive as we travelled more than 30 times up and down from the Netherlands to down-under.
This weekend we move our clock ONE hour ahead, meaning that the time difference between here and parts of Australia is now 8 hours instead of 10. And,…it’s spring here ,it feels more like autumn.
We continue with day 2 in all 3 classes with a racing task on a BLUE day!!!!!! Standard; Task 2…..255.61 km…..A bit of a weird day with a top-pilot “out” and a winner in an LS 8; Mike [Durrant]. His speed was 117.42 km./h and UK pilot Jack [Tonkin from Lasham] was runner up with 113.93 km./h. Allan, who won day 1 , was now 7th. Bruce was the one who was out and shared this: “I’m just crawling into bed after being retrieved from a paddock out near our first turnpoint. Yes, I bit the dust after a bit of a battle. It was blue, windy and soft around Narromine and to the south-west on the first leg, and I didn’t manage my flight as well as I might have.” The day was even worse for David [Jansen] as he missed the start line [1.5 km] and got “zero points”. 15 m; Task 2….313.72 km…..with 125,68 km./h Ray [Stewart] won the day in his JS 3. Brad [Edwards] Matthew [Scutter] and Adam [Woolley] followed. Matthew found the day difficult as well and explained the situation for us;” “A very tricky day, with blue climbs to 7000ft and thermal wave above. I’ve never climbed into wave on task before, but today the wave was actually stronger than the thermals below! I was never really in control of my situation, getting repeatedly dumpstered by the wave but generally managing to play the cards I was dealt fairly well, probably 3rd for the day and still leading overall. I’m just glad to have got around cleanly.” Also Adam was not so bubbly as on other days. “Wow, this flight required some mental strength! My late start was not by choice & not for lack of trying, it felt like everyone was in a different sky, all I could find was 2kts to 5000′, while everyone else seemingly were climbing at 5kts to 7-8000′ – once on task, I found out that they were!“ Club class; Task 2…..210.30 km….and ..3 YOUNGSTERS at the podium. Good on them. James[‘Nugent] in LS 3 with 110.93 km./h. Runner up Ryan [Driscoll] in ASW 20C with 105.47 km./h and David [Collins] with 104.86 km./h. [ASW 20 F] 6 from 19 flew with over 100 km./h. Tony was “out” : “Well that wasn’t ideal. 20 knot headwind on the first leg…miss a climb or two and that’s what happens. Beautiful field. Long walk out to the road.”
Courtesy Tony.
What can you say……Tomorrow is another day!!!!
Indeed a VERY BLUE day!!!! Courtesy Bruce
Task 32.30 AATin all classes…..a very challenging and very stable blue day for ALL. “Looks like a challenging day today! A 2.5 hr 250k AAT with 30k and 20k circles. Altitude can be expected to 5,000ft maximum with projected thermal strengths of 3.5kts. Our competitors are going to be working very hard today. Good luck everyone.” Narromine Gliding Club Official Standard class; Bruce won the day with 240 km. in time 2.35.48. None of the 10 pilots flew over 100 km./h. and all 10 got back! Some serious “fighting against the odds/weather”. 15 m class; 9 started and 2 were out. Winner; Norm [Bloch ] in his JS 3 , runner up Tobi [Geiger] in the Ventus 2 . Norm flew 255 km in time 2.37,09[ speed 97.23 km/h. ] Toby from Benalla , a real good kilometer eater, 252 km in time 2.37, speed 96.28 km./h. Club class; 14 from 20 were IN. Daily winner Neil [Bennet] in the MOSQUITO with 220.47 km in time 2.33.speed 86.53 km./h. Runner up James had 228.39 km in time 2.48,38 so a speed of 81.26 km./h. Kansas Soaring club member ,Tony did well with a 5th spot!!
Task 4;3 hour AAT in all classes. “We’re having a run of low, blue days and it looks like more to come.” Bruce on his Taylor’s Gliding Page Standard class…. young overseas guest Jack, staying for a while down under, won the day;325 km with a speed of 104,42 km/h. Just a tad faster than Scott who flew 317 km. Allen was 3d and Bruce 4th. Bruce had a tough day and he showed how tough at some moments. NEVER GIVE UP, is what Brad said lately when they flew together during the 2-seater Nationals…he did not!!!!!! Good on you Bruce.
Yesterday was one of the weirdest competition flights I’ve ever experienced. It was going to be blue, higher temperatures than the day before so higher and stronger, and as it was slightly slow heating up we reverted to the B task which was a 3 hour AAT. After launch I climbed solidly to about 5,000 feet, moved towards the start zone and had two very strong climbs to top out at just over 7,000 feet. With 10 minutes to start gate opening, and wanting to leave pretty much straight away, I was pretty happy with how things were setting up… then nothing… I could not for the life of me find another climb. At gate opening I was back at about 4,000 feet, and descended all the way to 1,700 feet above sea level… that is 1,000 feet above the ground!! Full story on Taylor’s Gliding Page
15 m. class; a “young-hot-shot-day” with Adam winning and Matthew as runner up. Adam flew 349 km, Matthew 342 km and both finished after time 3.02 , for 1000 and 981 points. Toby was a good 3d. Matthew was not overly happy with his flying ;”I have definitely forgotten how to handle this kind of ratty blue weather with bubbly thermals, and my glider handling has become sloppy from too much solo flying, letting myself get outclimbed and out-glidden in gaggles, but once I fell off the back of the pack my AAT planning got me back ahead and I was home cleanly and on time while most struggled.” more in his blog. Adam; “The key to today’s flight was trusting in my own ability & being patient with my first tow off climb. I took a slow climb which drifted me over the line at 5000′ by gate open. Only 2 pilots were in a position to follow me, though they didn’t, excellent!” More in his blog……Matthew Scutter’s Gliding club class;James flew 304 km in time 301.55 and was the daily winner. All 20 pilots started AND finished. Tony was a bit slow on spot 18….”Much better day. Lift not quite as high but lighter wind. Made it around. I started early. A lot of clubbies started pretty late. Will see what the right strategy was!” We know now.
Task 5; on a fast, high blue day. Standard class; 319.27 km. Bruce is back to his “Normal” soaring -self and won the day; speed 127.31 km./h. and quite more speed than runner up Mike Durant who flew around with 121.89 km./h. 9 Started the first 7 were LS8’s, . Bruce, after a re-start; “About 20km out I climbed in 7 knots to 9,000 feet, and I was up and racing!“ Taylor’s Gliding Page 15 m; 345.54 km Matthew straight away said a lot about the day. “Psychotically cruel day – long task, short window, wave around the start. Only Tobi and Wool got into the wave and started FIVE THOUSAND feet higher than the rest of us, effortlessly gliding over the tricky first leg, then getting home before the day started to pack in.” And,..indeed Adam and Toby were the best for the day. Adam had a speedy-Gonzales-speed; 141.86 km./h whilst Toby flew around with 137.77 km./h. Both fly a Ventus 3 and 2. That was still 10 k faster than number 3 Matthew in his Diana 2. 8 started, 8 finished! Adam has the full story in his blog., here is part of it “A classic Australian blue day, one that went my way with a staggering 142kph over 345km. We experienced climbs up to FL130 (ground level approx 500-1000′) with occasional 10kt climbs! Today I had a similar focus to yesterday, climb safely straight off tow, then head to the line, start by 1445 as I has I could, then go like the wind! Fortunately this is what happened & I was lucky to core a climb from a hotspot which took me to 9500′ for the start, when my mates were forced to start from around 5-7000′..” Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures Club class; 229.19... Jo was the best for the day; 123.72 km./h. When everything would have gone correct at the WWGC in Lake Keepit, she would have been world champion. Jo is a real good pilot. In her ASW 20 she was a tad faster than James.[122.60 km./h] Tony mentioned; “ Ripping day today. Late start to a sprint of a task. Reminded me of a Monday night soaring condor task. 107 kph for me which is almost hair on fire speed in the little Cirrus.” He was 9th from the 19 who started in club.
Matthews Diana 2 with the PR on the tail from HIS business. SkySight. Courtesy Lumpy Paterson from Tocumwal Soaring Centre Subscribers to Matthew Scutter’s SKYSIGHT are constantly gifted new features. The latest is the daily Ausglide tasks in SKYSIGHT. Brilliant Matthew, thank you! Narromine Gliding Club Official
Task 6; with hope for CLOUDS!!!!AND…the 6th successive day of soaring. Blue conditions locally, with 14,000ft cu. GOOD!!!!! SO…the announcement of a rest day on Tuesday March 21 ,yesterday was in time for all. Standard; 2.30 AAT....356 km. in time 2.41 for Bruce and with the speed of 132.24 km./h he was the glorious winner for the day. AND,…for only 876 points. Young Jack from Lasham is doing great with a runner up spot;375 km in 2.55, so 128.21 km./h. Miles was 3d. Bruce was short and to the point; “This happened today. I think I connected with this climb at 5,000 feet and topped out at about 12,000, with an overall average of just under 8 knots. Huge climb! Best heights were above 13,000 feet.” After 6 intensive days the overall scores at this stage are; Bruce 4.463, Scott 4.426 and Greg 4.352 points.
15 m. class ; 2.45 AAT……. Daily winner Matthew !!!!……but he is n’t the happiest young man in the world. “I’m not particularly enthusiastic about comps in general at the moment, frankly I’m dreading the idea of going to the Worlds in Narromine, and that’s leaking into my racing with lazy preflight prep and poor attention to detail – but I also don’t like losing and my current position is undoubtedly focusing the mind, for the second time in as many months! Today was really the last chance to turn things around for me, and with a rest day likely tomorrow, I really gave it absolutely everything – meticulous planning and clearly focused.” more in Matthew Scutter’s Gliding IT WORKED HE WON THE DAY…..BUT…it ain’t over yet. The Diana 2 and Ventus 3 started at the same time , so Matthew and Adam both young eager pilots. They both really did their utmost best; Matthew 416.73 km in time 2.51 speed 145.98 km./h. and Adam with 411.91 km. in time 249.52 so 145.49 km./h. Ray was 3d with 424.83 km with 143.75 km./h. Adam was a bit less confident as on other days too. “I wasn’t feeling myself in the sky today, not sure why, so I backed off the pace a fraction & let those around me do the work. It’s hard to put a figure on my effort today, but somewhere between 90-95%?Why wasn’t I feeling it? Just wasn’t thinking sharp & I had an uneasiness about the airspace, so played it cautious. Humming conditions otherwise though.….” more on Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
So after 6 days of pretty intensive soaring, the overall score at this stage is; Adam with 5.057p, Tobi 4.962 and Matthew with 4.868 p. Mind you on the first 2 are allowed to participate in the WGC end of this year beginning of next year.
club class; 3 hour AAT….and great to see that Jo won with 373.44 km ,speed 120.26 km./h. and,…1000 points for the winner…….that’s adding up nicely. James flew a bit further, 386.17 km. but needed more time, speed 118.98 kn./h. Tony was 11th. Tony;” Fun technical day today. Weather was going to be excellent to the west. But first we had to get there. And get back. Caught a thermal right over the field where I landed a few days ago. Take that! Got to the clouds and had an awesome run. They were too tempting and I stayed out too late. Had to make a giant diversion to stay with the clouds, then worry about making the turn point.“Tony Condon
Young James ,with his LS 3, as seen by Lumpy Paterson from Tocumwal Soaring Centre who visited Narromine.
Task 7; with the expectation of showers. Standard; 2 hour AAT....after a well deserved rest day a short task was set. Greg [Beecroft] was quite a bit faster than Bruce; 263 km in 127.11 km./h for 269 km in 124.83 km./h. Greg won the day! 15 m; 2 hour AAT....Matthew mentioned about the weather; “forecast for smoldering showers forming out of 6000ft cu, and it was apparent from the start that at the very least the showers were behind schedule.” “I completely lost the plot today.” Interesting reading on Matthew Scutter’s Gliding He was 6th for the day not what he hoped for but ” On the positive, we may still have two more short window flying days.“ We had not seen high scores yet from Mac during this pre-worlds ,but he won the day with 658 points! Starts between 13.28 and 13.45 and Mac belonged to the 4 first starters. His speed was 130.83 km./h over 281 km. Tobi was the fastest with 135 km./h over 287 km but he flies a Ventus 2 [ handicap 1050 and LS 8 1010] between number 1 and 7 there were only 100 points difference in scores . Adam was 4th and a bit more positive; “Another fabulous day over the skies of Narromine! It was anticipated to be a strong day, but with showers coming at the end of the day, which is exactly what happened!” Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures Club class; 2 hour AAT….And I am very pleased to see that Tony won the day; 220 km with 109.13 km./h. And also very pleased to see that Tocumwal pilot Bernie [PIK 20] was runner up together with James. A tough day for Jo who was on 15 from 18. Tony; “Everyone was on edge about what was going to happen. Didn’t help there was a big rain shower southwest of the airport this morning. 2hr AAT to try to squeeze in a quick task.” More on Tony Condon
With 2 more days to go the final of this competition will be exciting, as scores are pretty close. Have a look at www.soaringspot.com . Tasks might be flown in by weather dominated windows. Let’s wait and see. I will be specially back on Sunday with the LATEST on the Aus Glide. By the way the day 7 scores are still preliminary.
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Latest news from WeGlide “Exciting news from Worcester, South Africa! Local matador Sven Oliver made an impressive flight yesterday, taking advantage of the Skysight wave forecast. Worcester is mainly known for its ride flying, making this flight even more impressive Furthermore, Sven has set his sights on a bigger flight of 1068km with turnpoints in the Atlantic Ocean, showing that anything is possible in Worcester. Well, there is still something to dream of. Congrats to Sven on a job well done“ Sven added; The flight is here https://www.weglide.org/flight/237906 AND,….https://youtu.be/-iumspfmF0o Enjoy! Great job Sven….. 689 km
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The PERLAN PROJECT.
“official… it’s a go! The Perlan 2 spaceglider will soar above the skies of Argentina in the name of science again. With a rather austere budget and countless hours of volunteer work to prepare, Airbus Perlan Mission II will attempt to soar to 90,000 feet this year. Find out what preparations are already underway and how you can help“ https://perlanproject.org/argentina-2023-its-a-go/
WHY NOT???!!!! The “oldies” as always with RESPECT, are going strong enough. Courtesy Bo
Seminole is in FLORIDA and looking at my TV the weather there is horrible with landslides after a huge amount of rain. Houses fall from the cliff,…not good. So I was worried , but no NOT necessary! On March 11 they flew with start times between 3 and 3.52 PM over a 1.30 AAT as the weather was poor that day . Greg Shug won this task 1 in an LS 4 and Joe Reeves in an LS 4 B was runner up whilst good “old” Gary Ittner was 3d in his Discus 2A. The ladies did well ….spot 5 from 59 participants!!! March 12 showed contest day 2.Winner of the day….Bob Fletcher in an ASG 29. Further on a weather-forced- rest day was set on March 13 the next day was cancelled and…..contest day 4 on March 16 at least had a briefing and a group picture was made. Mostly not a good sign as there is time to make one. So it’s waiting and waiting. BUT they flew contest day 4 and pilot Jared Cranzow on the bottom of the overall- list won the day in his ASW 27.
The last flying day also showed a 3 hour AAT and cloud bases were getting to 5,000-6,000ft and 5 knot lift was not uncommon. Daily winners; THE LADIES, Sarah and Susan !!! In the end Jim Lee wins the 2023 Senior Nationals at Seminole Lake Gliderport in Florida, USA flying a JS3 jet sailplane (A8) in the 15m configuration. Congratulations Jim. The ladies in the ARCUS, the first ALL FEMALE TEAM at the seniors, Sarah and Susan, were runner up, whilst the 2012 Uvalde WGC director Ken Sorenson, was 3d. Good “old” Karl Striedieck was 5th.
Congratulations to Jim to the r. and THANK you for the fabulous pictures to Bo.
Interesting-looking-prizes, Courtesy Bo.
Here is a short impression from my friend Rick who was the scorer THERE!!!! “The first contest of the 2023 soaring season, the 33 rd Seniors Championship, took place over seven days in early March. What started out as an informal “festival” for pilots of a certain age in 1991 has evolved into a serious contest with entries from across the country. We had 59 entries this year. There were 13 current and former members of the US Soaring Team, including 3 WGC medalists (Doug Jacobs, Karl Striedieck, and Sarah Arnold). Pilots came from as far away as Alaska to celebrate the official beginning of the US soaring season. It is a handicapped competition, and 11 of the gliders were 2-seaters. All tasks were AAT. The task area is narrow and runs north and south, both because of airspace restrictions and because Florida is a peninsula. Despite this, our Director, John Good, set a variety of interesting tasks that challenged all the pilots each day. Our weather was mixed, but we were able to race on 5 of the 7 possible days. The lead changed hands a few times, but in the end the winners were:
Jim Lee (JS-3) 4729 pts
Susan Simmons and Sarah Arnold (Arcus) 4725 pts
Ken Sorenson (Ventus 3 FES) 4597 pts
To finish something totally different but for sure interesting. My Dutch/Aussie friend Gerrit flies when he is has time, but he is mostly busy with his farms. Look at this;
A convoy ” En Route” to Narromine. Tony [Condon], not at this picture, picked up his glider at Temora and followed the convoy. Look at the skies……. Tony Condon
The club, standard and 15 m pilots rushed from all parts of Australia and even from the world to Narromine for the Pre Worlds. I noticed Jack from the UK and Tony from the USA. Tony went via Temora where he borrowed glider C2, from the Gilbert Family. It’s a Cirrus with LS8 tips and Discus panel. Long ago in 1984, the world arrived in Australia too, to fly the AUSTRA GLIDE. There is a beautiful video from this event,an ABC documentary ,about this 1984 gliding competition in Benalla, Australia. It was the largest gathering of gliders in Australia ever, and a precursor to the world championships in 1987. Austraglide 84 is still to be seen at YouTube.……and WORTHWHILE looking at, [just under 30 minutes] when you have not seen it yet. I just looked at it again and it still impresses me. It’s mainly about Ingo [Austr] , Kees and George [The Netherlands] Herbie [Eric Moser USA] , Griffo [Peter Griffiths Austr.] ] and shows all in’s and out’s of soaring in that time .
To AUS Glide now. Adam had to travel/commute again via Singapore and Japan to Sydney for these Pre Worlds. He mentioned ; “this is the selection event for the Australian team, cut throat, 1st or 2nd make the team, 3rd does not. “ So tension enough and expectations HIGH for a great COMP. Official practice day was yesterday and today the comps start. I will post what I hear and find. Adam Tony and Bruce share their posts so you can follow them for “hot DIRECT news”. Tony Condon…..”It was nice and cool up at 10,000 ft! Final leg made sure that it wouldn’t all be easy. Good tour of the area.” Taylor’s Gliding Page “We had a nice practice day today, great weather for this time of year with mostly 7 knot climbs to about 11,000 feet out west“ Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures…”This was a fantastic leg towards Condobolin, classic Australian weather, 7.7kt average up to 10,000′, confirmed by SkySight XC Speed predictions beautifully” about practice day. Matthew Scutter’s Gliding about the practice day on the 14th. “We got about halfway through the morning met brief before Telstra cut all phone comms in Narromine for ‘maintenance’, and with a nasty blob of altocumulus locally we didn’t even have a satellite picture on the grid to know whether it was moving or breaking up. Eventually the day was cancelled and the gaggle went to Coles to buy Optus SIM cards. Telstra outages expected to last 7 days!” During flight by Narromine Gliding Club Official “Wow! What an exciting finish to the first day of the Pre-Worlds. The entire fleet is pouring down the last leg at a great rate of knots and it is literally anybody’s race at the moment.” Standard class; task 1;3 hour AAT…….a 1000 points day..9 participants amongst them Bruce ,David [Jansen] and Miles [Gore Brown] and Allan [Barnes] as winner of the day with 390 km in time 3.07 so a nice speed of 125 km./h. That was 2 km faster than the runner up. The first 5 flew LS 8. A total of 6 LS 8 gliders and 2x Discus B. 15 m class; 3 hour AAT…..also 9 pilots in this class and a few well-known as Matthew [Scutter] Adam [Woolley] Brad [Edwards] Mac [Ichikawa] and Norm [Bloch. “Poor” Tim was out after 383 km. Daily winner Matthew in his Diana 2. 403 km with a speed of 133 km./h! Adam was runner up. Club class; Task 1; 3 hour AAT. 19 pilots in club!! Good!!! Best for the day, young James Nugent in his LS 3. Tony was 13th . “Day 1 complete. Nothing earth shattering for me but I had a nice flight. One thermal averaged 11…that was nice.“ Female pilot Jo [Davis] was 4th. More next week.
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USA 2023 Senior Soaring Championship March 11-March 17
The “oldies” with HUGE RESPECT, HAPPY and still going strong. Courtesy Bo.
As always the seniors travelled to Seminole Lake for their championship. They meet already for the 33th time and to be part of it you have to be older than 55 years. Last Friday was a practice day with a 2 hour task. Pretty good weather but as Nick mentioned; “Clouds all day, but again, climbs were often not what we hoped.”
Enough participants as you can see. Inside and outside.
These are also the baby- boomers all born like me after the war and in their seventies or eighties. Never too old to fly as long as the mind and body are fine.
On March 12 they started the comps and this time also , with a total female crew for the fist time in those 33 years.
Female WWGC champion in Lake Keepit Sarah Arnold and Susan Simmons,…go go ladies! Courtesy Bo. Bo makes the most wonderful pictures from EVERYTHING at a field. A great observer, she is.
“US Teams Night at the Seniors. Monday was a “Rest Day” from flying with rain off and on all during the day, so everyone was in good spirits and excited for a nice dinner with extra libations and dessert from the US Team committee, plus an interesting presentation from recent WGC competitions and plans for the future. One of the highlights was Sarah Arnold’s recap of the day that she and Karl won last year in Hungary.“
So true! courtesy Bo.
More next week.
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The South African pilots , a mix of young and old had a practice/training week at Tswalu as mentioned last week. They had superb weather with speed up to 160 km./h “Look at those skies.”
The German pilots are in St Auban mixed with some USA pilots. The Tocumwal pilots still fly nearly 500 km in Discus and ASW 27. Today even over 600 km!! Nearly autumn there. From Aosta in Italy, Swiss pilots flew 1.012 km in the ARCUS M and from Serres Klaus Ohlmann flew 950 in the ANTARES 20 to SE of Aosta. From Soesterberg Sikko mentioned that he flew Cross Country already for the 3d time “and it is only March11”. Contrarily with the S.A. pilots he had no sand and scrub to look on but SNOW.
On March 27 the ZES [Aeroclub of Students from Eindhoven] celebrate their 60thies birthday. All kind of festivities have been organized to celebrate this happy moment. It all happened with the “thoughts” of a few students on March 27 in 1963. On the picture below you see them but then not as student anymore.
from l. to r. Wim Korenromp (†), Waldo van de Berg , Paul van Geuns Sitting on the ground; v.l.n.r. Cor van Dobben, Wim Dortu (†) en Dick Teuling who was with Kees Musters my instructor.
My first acquaintance with the ZES was in 1967, only 4 years later on March 29 . That visit is as a common tread through my life and the fact that I still write is because of the ZES. I only was a member for 2 years but it all had a huge impact on me. The last couple of years since I am back from Australia, I am a donor .
March 27 1967 had a huge impact on my life. This is the visit that day and my very first flight in a glider. My 2 friends, Liesbeth and Toontje, flew once, liked it and that was it. The pilot is George then 17 years old.
First solo and at the picture you see Dick and Willem/Wim [R.I.P.], who are on the picture above as well. They took me on their shoulder.
As you know soaring got in my blood. I was crew, TC, Juror and Steward, and nowadays I still write my blog to share my thoughts about what I read and see or experience, so you can read it every Wednesday. World wide I got to know so many lovely people, I travelled the world for comps and on invitation to be editor on WGC’s, WWGC’s and JWGC’s. Soaring enriched my life. SO ,…in the past we always shouted out loud to toast ….. 1-2-3-4-5-6 fly up. I do that now too.
Proost!!!!With my 2 instructors Kees R.I.P. and Dick at Terlet. They had a beer I was eating French Fries.
Post 1.407 on March 8 2023. INTERNATIONAL WOMEN DAY!!! SO,……..More women in this blog.
Kathy Mexted is the daughter in law from my friends Gary and Patsy living in Tocumwal. Gary was as long as I knew him one of the best Ag pilots in the world. He is now retired. Both sons Dennis [ about the age of my son Dennis] and Michael are airline pilots and I know them since they were kids. Kathy is married to Dennis so I am proud to share these books with you, specially hers.
LAKE KEEPIT REGATTA. 26 February 2023 – 4 March 2023
20 Competitors fly this fun event, with a serious touch. With a few 3 Hour AAT’s and a 2.30 and 2 hour AAT the first 5 days were covered with good soaring conditions. “The Regatta is all about fun and learning and that’s what we’ve been doing.” One of the very enthusiastic members of the Club , Jacques [Graells] in his JS 1a, could not fly every day , missed out on day 1 and 2, but on the day’s he could, he won or was runner up. But winning in this REGATTA, is not important just gives you a good feeling and is for some, an extra dimension on such a week. Jacques is a lovely guy . On day 3 with the 2 hour AAT he flew 270 km. with a speed of 125 km./h, 5 k faster than Justin Smith in the ARCUS. Instructor Nicolas [Singer] another of those lovely members and a REAL good cook, was 4th that day. Another well known-to-me fine pilot, Mathias Kopp, flew in his ASG 32, but was unlucky; “out” after 156 km. Day 4, task 4, with a 3 hour AAT was for Justin with 381 km and a speed of 119 km./h. He beat Jacques on handicap ; 368 km. /speed 121 km./h. Day 5, task 5 with another 3 hour AAT was for Jacques again; 422 km/speed 137 km./h. Nick [Nicolas] was runner up ;390 km/123 km./h. Justin was 5th and Mathias did not fly.
A spot with shade, pretty far from the club house, so a nice spot to wait, cool off or have a drink[cold water was and still is available.]Spend time there during the WWGC. Lake Keepit Soaring Club
Day 6…another 3 hour AAT and it was between Jacques and Justin again; 410 km for Justin with 119 km./h and 438 km with 122 km./h for Jacques;1000 and 976 points. Tim Carr in the Duo Discus XT, was 3d. In the time I was there Tim was the enthusiastic president of the club. Day 7…last day…2.30 AAT won by Jacques, with 306 km with 122 km./h. Justin was runner up with 295 km with 116 km./h. No secret that Justin won the REGATTA. He flew every day. In the end Jacques was 3d, missing 2 days…pretty GOOD!!!!
LONG ago we visited Lake Keepit too when the Nationals were flown there. I also have good memories on that competition with our pretty unit at the Lake . A special event,….One of the toppers flew then his beautiful ASW 22 KG. After launching he had a problem, he had to return but was full of water. In the end the wings were on the ground and our mate was sitting on the “wheel.” No flying for him anymore……..
Saturday MAI 6 2023 the Gelderse organizes their ONE_DAY_COMPETITION. When the weather is not good that day it will be on the 7th. ONLY 50 gliders will be allowed. https://www.zweefvlieg.net/gnl/inschrijving/
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——We could see on several days [3] the Aurora Borealis. I only saw pictures , but they were stunning. We call it “NOORDERLICHT” . Pretty spectacular and very rare here.
buien-[rain-] radar, which I use every day to see if I can go shopping without an umbrella. buienradar.nl
Kevin Oudman made this great picture which was used by our TV station [NOS]
—–Another happy and colorful picture this time from the UK . “Congratulations to all the recipients of BGA trophies for their amazing performances during 2022! “
ONE BIG BUNCH OF JOY!!!!! I count 7 women. To the left in blue dress pilot and blogger Claudia Hill, runner up at the last WWGC in club class. Gliding Picture Courtesy Paul Morisson.
MORE HAPPINESS ; “Cornelia “Conny” Schaich being awarded the 2022 International Gliding Commission Champion Pilot of the Year! Congratulations!“
IGC president Peter Eriksen presents her the CERTIFICATE. Vice-President Frouwke in the back with a big smile. CONGRATULATIONS Conny!!!!Conny won the 2022 WWGC in standard class. Gliding
——-And Liz Sparrow received the very prestigious Pelagia Majewska medal, for the few who don’t know; “This Medal was created by the FAI in 1989, following a proposal by the Aero Club of Poland, in memory of Madame Pelagia MAJEWSKA, eminent Polish glider pilot awarded the Lilienthal Medal for 190, and holder of 17 world gliding records, who lost her life in an air accident in 1988. The Medal is offered to the FAI by the Aero Club of Poland. It may be awarded annually, on recommendation by the FAI Gliding Commission, to a female glider pilot to reward : a particularly remarkable performance in gliding during the past year, or eminent services to gliding over a long period of time.” I got mine in 2015, obviously not for great soaring but by “hanging around, “observing and writing my blogs, crewing, being TC and steward ,[Finland] member of the jury [Italy, one of the choosen jurors could not come so I wrote my blog AND was Juror, no worries with a boss as Tor] R.I.P.
Liz flew the WWGC in Lake Keepit and was CD in HusBos. CONGRATULATIONS Liz. As shared by Gliding
This is Pelagia in her MUCHA standard class glider in 1975. Memory on her on this International Women Day. Shared by Jacek Lenartowicz
——–And the senior and junior team from South Africa have started a week of training in the Kalahari .
The “lonely” strip at the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve. A 310km task was set with some interesting weather. A perfect challenge for training. South African Gliding Team
—-–And…..6 of the 7 containers full of gliders flying in Namibia have safely arrived; “On Saturday we were able to unload six containers with the aircraft. On Friday, after extensive inspections at customs in Rotterdam(X-ray) and Bruchsal(gas examination), they arrived safely and without damage in Waghäusel. The seventh container disembarkes in Hamburg and will reach its destination Celle next week. Only 7 months to go and we are already heading in the other direction again.“ For bookings: hog@bitterwasser.com
BENALLA AIRSHOW is on MARCH 18 “Be sure to check out the website or socials and get some more info. It’s going to be great!“ Iconic warbirds World-class aerobatics Glider displays Hot air balloons and much more. Benalla Airshow
——And a fabulous sunset as see by Gerrit in Australia. The EB …..A Royal glider and a Royal sunset. Gerrit is/was in Narromine for the Narromine Gliding Cup Week as is the Geelong Gliding Club. They mentioned; “Unfortunately, high winds have grounded us for 2 days but the rest if the week is looking good.” But they also PRAISE Narromine as place for gliding AND place to be.
As shared by Gerrit Kurstjens.
—–The NSW State Comps [February 6-12] FINALLY have the correct winner. “Congratulations to Miles Gore Brown who, after correction of his score, is now in first place in the NSW State Championships! And huge thanks to Ian Steventon, whose diligent investigation into the scoring issue lead to producing a correct score!” I had the wrong one too, so herewith also my correction.
To finish this impressive MONUMENT in the water to remember all pilots from the war who drowned there. Between 1941 and 1945 117 crews of Allied planes got killed in the lake called IJSSELMEER and around it. It was placed in 2012 on April 18 and the design was from Arend Kleinpaste.
CU next week, by the way the 2023 FI season opened last weekend in Bahrein. YES,….Max won. And what about Alonso……. Another hero. Our Dutch soaring season started at some places as well. The Gelderse at Terlet [Arnhem] did…so did Soesterberg [Amsterdam] Sikko flew 184 km between showers, but it was a nice 3 hour “in the office”. So not yet big tasks as the weather was very poor, but checks and “feeling the glider again”.,,,,why not, …….perfect, being ready when the weather is there. Not this week temperatures between minus 4 and plus 8 and SNOW!!!!! The GOOD flights in The Netherlands were already on February 26 , with 6 flights from Soesterberg between 141 and 416 km.[See last blog] TO ALL now the season starts; Have a safe and fabulous new 2023 season.
AND,…be aware of unexpected incidents as with towing out. CHECK THE TOW OUT GEAR before the season starts. Benjamin [Neglais] added under this picture: “Never drive back. Never drive faster as first gear idle. Always triple check before getting in the car. Never turn steep. If any doubt, ask for help. You Can ruin tailplane, aileron, wingtips so easily and neither will Be easy and fast to fix.” Benjamin is Sales Manager at Schemmp-Hirth and pilot for the French Team.
As shared by Gliding Pic posted by Wingsandwheels.com ….Daniel-L-Johnson
cheers Ritz This morning I woke up with snow and at least 3 more hours we will see SNOW!!!! I thought and hoped it was SPRING!!!! Yes March brings gales.
Post 1.406 on Wednesday MARCH 1 2023….the beginning of the meteorological spring here and autumn on the other side of the world. The snowdrops and daffodils in my garden start to flower and that is 40 days TOO EARLY. We still have however, minus 4/5 in the night, but great , though cold sunny conditions during the day. Even a bit of wet SNOW!!!!! Majorca,[Spain] one of those places lot’s of people go to to miss out on winter conditions, had more snow than ever before. AND,…they are not used to it, certainly not up to half a meter.
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 26 2023!!!!!! ready to fly cross country in THE NETHERLANDS!!!!!! Courtesy Sikko
Also for soaring, as that freezing cold air creates, as we know, great soaring circumstances. Last Sunday they flew already here in the Netherlands,….. VERY early in the season. 417 km for Bart and Vincent in the ARCUS M from Soesterberg topping the All Europe list just ahead of my Lasham mates Roy and Andy [379 km.] and Sikko in the ASG 29 E 332 km. TOP!!!!!! [333km] 5 Pilots started from Soesterberg. “What a day! Only time I was cold was during riging/deriging!” by Bart and Vincent on WEGLIDE. “Incredible skies for the UK in February” by Roy and Andy. Andy flew already 1 day earlier with Kim 526 km in the ARCUS also from Lasham. And yesterday another 418 km. CC. Also my Belgium mates just over the border started their season from Keiheuvel with 353 km in an ARCUS T. WHAT A SEASON START!!!!!
Bart and Vincent after their first great flight for the 2023 season. Courtesy Bart Renckens
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Dual Seat Nationals atCOROWA!!!!! 19 February 2023 – 25 February 2023
With only a few days to go , the 2-seat Nationals continued on Thursday. Adam wrote; “The sun has set on another day, congratulations to Brad & Bruce on a great flight & one that has 95% likely won them back to back, 20m Nationals!” Another win for the long-time-WGC-pilots : Task 5; 370 km….. From the 9 teams , 3 were out, so not an easy day. The ASK 21 MI started early 13.39 but was out after 233 km. Gutsy way of flying a competition in the ASK, but for sure great fun. You” participate “, you don’t fly to win. B[rad] and B[ruce] started at 14.52 as most of the other pilots. And they had a great run and were faster in their “mighty machine” as all others; 116 km./h whilst the runner up in the DG 1001 had 93 km./h. “The rest of the fleet finally spread out in desperation to find a climb, which just never really came. Hats off to Lumpy who was able to push out in front after he caught us back up, to find us a climb from low down. Unfortunately for Lumpy, he pushed on again at a medium threat height looking for better, only to miss out on his found climb of 6kts to 6000′ not long after.” Adam and as always you can hear the full story on Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures. He shares nowadays a vlog with his post-flight-analyses and a blog. Lumpy and Joergen were 4th for the day. Allan and Harry were only 10 k out!! 7th for the day. Bruce; “ my pilot remains a wizard!” And….”But the chauffeur wound the pace up a little, finding a few solid climbs to allow us to pull away, then crossing the Murray River just east of Tocumwal he magically hooked a great climb to the best height of the day.” Taylor’s Gliding Page for much more!
B[rad] 1 and B[ruce] 2 having fun at the briefing, with Lumpy and Joergen to the l behind them. 20m Dual Seat Nationals 2023
Task 6; 321 km.... another racing task. They started at the same time, the FIG with Keith and Adam and the ZBE with B&B. And,…NO they did not finish together. The FIG won the day with a speed of 116.77 km./h and the ZBE with 107 km; 900 points and 747 p. “A fun blue day out,” a bloody fantastic blue day “according to Adam, who then did not yet know they won the day. Good weather forecast again, basically cu’s on the first leg , then blue. But as said before blue down under is not the same blue as here. You find strong thermals in “their” blue. Runner up David and Leslie and 3d Allan and Harry The ASK 21 is hanging in, brave flying, but out after 127 km. Bruce flew and here is a small part of his story; “Phew, tough day today for us… for me. We travelled up north, westwards and then back south for about 320 km. The day began well with a strong climb off tow, and soon after that some little cumulus started to form out on our track. The thermals were easy to work and we seemed to have no trouble staying up, and after a bit of a wait we started at about 1445, which was right in the middle of our selected start window. As it happened we were right with Adam and Keith, our closest competitors on the scoresheet. Under normal (serious) circumstances it would have been prudent to sit with them for the whole flight and completely protect our substantial lead, but that isn’t me at all.” Task 7; the very last day!!!! Still a “few” points difference between the 2 best ,B&B and Adam and Keith; 4.304 and 4.136. What will bring this last day ……. a 3 hour AAT. A win for David and Lesley!!! They started early and went on track straight away, still not too high 4/5000 ft. but they made it. Good on them….378 km in time in 3.20 in the ARCUS T for 1000 points. Speed 113 km./h. 111 km./h for Brad and Bruce so my good “old” mates win the comps. As Bruce mentioned;” I think we did enough for an overall win. Super flight by Brad, zero risk and plenty fast enough. He has flown so well this last week, not really very current but all the old skills remain, and the weather suited his style. He is a master in changeable, difficult conditions, and that’s what we flew in all week.” Much more in his Taylor’s Gliding Page And Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures…”A disaster of a last day, it was like we flew in totally different conditions on a totally different task than anyone else!” They were 4th for the day [846 points]
The Australian National 2-seat CHAMPIONS after 7 days and 7 tasks from Corowa; 1. Brad Edwards & Bruce Taylor in ASG 32 with 5,232 points. 2. Keith Gateley & Adam Woolley in ARCUS M with 4,982 p. 3. David Jansen & Lesley Scott in ARCUS T with 4,589 p. Congratulations to ALL.
Adam, Keith, Bruce, Brad, Lesley and David. Great job!!!!! Keith Gateley
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The SSA CONVENTION in RENO in the USA was in full swing between February 23 and 25. It’s every 2 years. Enough interesting and inspiring speakers also women, as Leah Condon about crewing ….”What your Crew Wants to Know”……and WWGC pilot Kathy Fosha who spoke at the WSAP breakfast . Subjects as the amazing MINIMOA restoration, the SSA membership meeting featured report on committee reorganization and growth/retention effort and not to forget the annual OSTIV meetings and dinner. At the OSTIV also a young Dutch glider pilot , Simon van de Eijkel, speaking on Building the next generation platform for WEGLIDE. Simon was so lucky to fly on Sunday from Minden in Nevada with Gordon Boettger in the ARCUS M; 709 km and an awesome speed of 215 km./h!!!
Gordon and Simon. What an experience for this young and very enthusiastic Dutch pilot. “A fun flight showing “flying” Simon the energy we have in the Sierra wave. AWESOME flying with you Simon. Had to stay close to Minden due to the incoming storm that day. “ As shared by Simon via OLC.
In total they had over 50 excellent speakers & presentations on soaring. A convention floor full of gliders , equipment and so much more with over 40 exhibitors. Presentations on the last day also by Uys Jonker about Jonker Sailplanes [ Design, development and performance of the JS 2Revenant 18m/21m and JS5 Rey 24 m glider.] and Tilo Holighaus about Schempp-Hirth.[ The Philosophy behind Schempp-Hirth] Each speaker gets 45 minutes and there is a tied schedule.
Familiar faces as Tony and Leah Condon, Kathy Fosha, Sarah Arnold and her hubby. Tony Condon
Met Tony for the first time in 2012 in Uvalde Texas, when he flew in to be part of this exiting WGC. Later we were having a drink with Dundee in Narromine.
Narromine during the JWGC. Have n’t heard from Dundee for ages he might have passed away as well.
Also the BGA Conference was held on February 25. HpH Sailplanes UK will be there with the TWIN SHARK. By the way they were in Reno too. “Belated congratulations to Lasham member Graham Garnett on being awarded a diploma for services to gliding at the British Gliding Association conference over the weekend. Graham has been involved in the organisation of competitions and grid launches at Lasham for over 30 years and has also spent the last 10 years as the British Gliding Teammanager.” Lasham Gliding Society WELLDESERVED, Graham.
News from Lumpy Paterson from Tocumwal Soaring Centre Lumpy;”Pretty exciting day …. Bit like 5 years ago when the first Aussie JS3’s arrived in Australia, only today it’s the first RES JS3’s into Australia. The RES is a self launching electric JS3-18mtr glider and they look awesome, and looking forward to seeing them flying ( real soon ) 5 Years ago I was there and was allowed to make pictures from the 3 JS 3 gliders from Butch, Norm and Lumpy. I published them in my blog with a short story. NOW ,..I am not there but I can share it anyhow , as news travels so fast and easy, in fact I don’t have to go anywhere anymore. Though , to be honest, the feeling from being present is totally different. AT LOCATION, gives you the real feeling!!!!
“Tocumwal is buzzing with the arrival of some new gliders. ( these are not for hire ) The first JS3 RES’s arrived in Australia yesterday along with another new Jet version. Tocumwal will be the home of the Jet and one of the RES for the next three weeks or so. The JS3-RES is a game changer, allowing the pilots to have a very competitive self launching or turbo sailplane with the ability to change the configuration in just minutes. There are five of these coming to Australia.“ Tocumwal Soaring Centre
Kiripotib Soaring shared their news for 2023 and I am more than pleased to see that what Ludwig and Wolfgang started ,continues in their style; GREAT CONCEPT. November 2023: Nine top pilots, one chance! World and European champions share their expertise in cross-country flying with enthusiastic glider pilots. Take your flying skills to the next level! Seven days in a dual-seater with various champions – increase your speed, refine your technique and master your equipment. Join us! The best of the best are looking forward to an amazing time with you. This is what awaits you: https://youtu.be/64AyW9p_9iE
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I got several reactions on the death of my good mate Bruce who died on February 13 of a heart attack. Even one of his University friends wrote to me after googling the name “Ritz, he often heard from Bruce in his gliding time“. A Memorial Service on March 10 in Melbourne is arranged by his wife Kristine. Some memories on Bruce.
Bruce in clothes from ANDRELON,[shampoo] the sponsor from the Dutch team. This was 1987 the year Bruce should have won the BENALLA WGC. He missed out on qualifying because on 1 day, both cameras failed. EVERYBODY knew he was the BEST that year!!!HE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO FLY THE WGC. He quit everything to do with gliding after .
1987 WGC Benalla …day off and visiting a chalet at Mount Buffalo. From l to r; Gerrit, Kees, [R.I.P] Bruce, [R.I.P]Janet [R.I.P] Gretha and Daan. Courtesy Daan Pare.
Bruce in Benalla after he presented a prize with his name ,for speed if I remember well, at the Nationals in 2016. Adam was the first to receive this prize and it was presented by Bruce himself.
My 3 mates since 1984/85 at one table after the Nationals in Benalla in 2018. Brockie [Bruce Brockhoff] R.I.P ……..TT[Tony Tabart] R.I.P…….Griffo [Peter Griffith]
Congratulations to both, we’re truly impressed 
What’s next for them?“
” about practice day.
5th FAI Pan-American Gliding Championship – Hutchinson, USA (6-17 Jun)
12th FAI Women’s 
21st FAI European Gliding Championships – Leszno, POL (29 Jul-12 Aug)
6th FAI Junior European Gliding Championships – Arnborg, DEN (30 Jul-12 Aug)
37th FAI World Gliding Championships – Narromine, AUS (2-16 Dec)
