Thanks for the many reactions I got already on the news that I have to stop writing my blogs end of this year. Even friends I did not expect to read my blogs , seem to have read it. Good to hear. Luckily people understand my position. I started actions to find out if the FAI or IGC have a server to host my blogs to “preserve” gliding history as some call it and I am hopeful, as the best of the best in IT , look into the matter!! Will keep you informed. Logistics for these last 2 months; The next blogs will be on Wednesdays November 6 and 13 , 20 and 27 and on December 4,11, 18 and on Tuesday December 24 and Tuesday ,December 31, last day of 2024 AND,…last day of Ritz’ soaring.eu blogs.
–—–Mind you, on one of the last flying days in the season 2024, they flew in The Netherlands still over 300 km. We had the warmest day’s ever in the end of October, with up to 23 dgr C in my region. Great weather also for the autumn camp at Terlet from the Gelderse. Sikko flew from Soesterberg in the 15m ASG 29 E340 km. “Nice flight at the end of October. Started with cloudbase of 600m but after Apeldoorn it went down to Max 500. After Holterberg cloudbase went up to 600m again after turning 10km past Twente weather improved and at Deventer cloudbase rised to 900m. Turned at Soest en then went to Terlet and back to soesterberg. 340km…… Nice“
—–The down under season slowly starts. After a huge amount of rain on ONE day, they got the next day 30dgr. C in Tocumwal, not bad!!! Lumpy loves his flying and shared last Sunday;” If today was an indication of the season ahead …… bring it on !! We had a trough sitting over a good portion of NSW which generated some nice Cu’s. The wind made it a little difficult to work out where the lift was, however when you found them it was a good ride …. 650kms at 105kph in the might Duo”
The Duo could be a really “Working -horse” this summer as shared by Lumpy Paterson
–—–John McCaw also loves his gliding , but he flies over the mountains in N.Z. Lucky for us ,he often shares pictures , as he did also last Sunday. A nice Sunday- afternoon out.
” Craigieburn Mountains left” as shared by John McCaw “Amazing views in the mountains today. Nice climb in lee wave to 11000ft”
——Deeside Gliding Club at the airfield of Aboyne, [I have written often about their wave weeks] shared the next news; “We’ve had some great wave flying this week with visitors from Booker, Lasham, Chilterns and Wolds exploring the Scottish mountains and glens and making lots of high altitude flights, many up to c.15,000ft, several to c. 20,000ft with Gold height for Patrick Clear and Diamond height for John Otty. Visitors and DGC members have been out as far as Callander, Dunkeld, Strathspey and North of Inverness, with notable x-countries by Roy Wilson (500km) and Sant Cervantes (300km).”
Sunset above the cloudsAn evening wave flight.
—–HpH Sailplanes is pretty active. They shared news and a picture from the Maiden flight TwinShark SN 40-TS.
—–For all those who have been at Terlet, OR will go there for the FAI SGP in May 2025, [ https://sgp.aero/netherlands2025 ,many top pilots are involved already and a long waiting list!!] ,the famous and very GOOD “workshop” [Service Center Terlet] got a new roof!
“New Roof installed on our workshop Service Center Terlet. This Month renovation is done at Service Center Terlet. A new Roof is installed and all windowpanes are renewed with high insulated double glass. We hope this will save a lot of energy for heating. For the glider pilots at Terlet the fixed thermalspot above the workshop is gone……… Sorry for that“
—–Benalla has next week the MELBOURNE CUP REGATTA, no this time not the running horses , they run in Melbourne,…the day the nation stops…. but flying gliders. Here is the announcement.
–—-Most of us have seen TOP GUN. I read that the instructor of Tom Cruise and all other pilots for that movie, were trained by Charles Thomas ’Chuck’ Coleman .With more than 100 flights he prepared the cast in F 18 Hornets for their amazing jobs. SADLY enough he died on Sunday October 20 ,in a small plane, a 2-seat Extra Flugzeugbau EA300 as single pilot, during an AIRSHOW at Las Cruces Air and Space Expo at Las Cruces International Airport, when it crashed. They stopped the show. Chuck had 10.000 hours in his logbook, participated in hundreds of air shows and flew more than 3000 stunts. R.I.P.
—–and to finish this post, this spectacular airfield, belonging to the most dangerous in the world.
“This is the Male Airport in Maldives: one of the most incredible airports in the world. “Been there only for an hour each way on course to Sri Lanka and return. It was interesting landing from huge Airbus 330, the reversed thrust was amazing, all the way to the end of the runway! Even watching the screen live from the nose, watching the runway get closer and getting down to the ground,” writes Nicolas Hall.” on October 19 Shared by World Pictures
Not a lot happening in “our” soaring world at this moment, so time to tell you in time ,that I stop writing blogs end of this year. SORRY ABOUT THAT !!!!! Minor ,but chronical health issues force me to do so. Was in hospital at neurology and though I only get the results of the MRI on November 1, they could tell me already that the diagnose was PPPD, a chronic dizziness. A nuisance, but if that is the worst , I can live with it, but having no balance and feeling dizzy is not a real pleasure either.
If you scroll down to the bottom of the post you can see also the archive and see that this soaring.eu started in June 2006, when I was just back from Australia ,sad and and angry after “loosing” the business, we loved so much and worked so hard for , day and night. Before ,I wrote already for 10 years, the daily news at the SSC site [Sportavia Soaring Center] So, a life full of writing, research for good articles and enthusiasm, specially writing about comps!!! The invitations by organizers trough the years to be AT the venue of a WGC, or WWGC, or JWGC or EGC’s and writing whilst I saw it happen , were unforgettable. Loved doing it. Always with ONE finger, but getting faster and faster. Writing for GLIDING INTERNATIONAL and SOARING CAFE in the past, was an extra pleasure and honour.
Talking about soaring.cafe; Caught up with Bill [Soaring Cafe] and Carol from the USA in Amsterdam, last Saturday and we had a great time talking together about a lot of things. Such lovely people!!!! Also discussed what to do with the many blogs and the archive from soaring.eu. It would be a pity to loose it for readers. At this stage it is on the server from Bill in the USA but I try to get it on the server from either the IGC or FAI. Will investigate the next weeks. Of course I will keep you informed during the period.
With Carol and Bill at “Loetje” in Amsterdam in 2024.
And 12 years ago in 2012 in Uvalde Texas, with Carol ,Bill and Rand.
—–Some gliders are nicely back in time from Texas.
In between the Dutch gliders are back home, from Uvalde in Texas. Many helping hands and the Dutch , Danish [Arne] and Belgium [Arnaud] pilots, could take their gliders to their home fields.
——–Looking at the season the other way around…BITTERWASSER will start soon. Gliders have arrived in containers for the November, December and January -season.
—- Of course the overseas season in Australia starts soon too. I heard they had last Tuesday already 30 dgr. C in Tocumwal, after a lot of heavy rain. But they will be ready in the East, [ Kingaroy and Narromine] , South [Benalla and Tocumwal] and West [Adelaide and Waikirie] and of course more glider-fields as Bacchus March [Victoria] The season in N.Z. started with some flights in Omarama and Matamata and on November 2 the CENTRAL PLATEAU COMPETITION 2024 starts till November 9 with at this stage 13 pilots. Talking about New Zealand; look at these fabulous pictures from 2 Cirrus’ taken by John McCaw IN a Cirrus.
——-For my USA mates ; Soaring News by Paul Remde of Cumulus Soaring, Inc. Paul was very active during the latest WGC in Uvalde Texas. “Soaring Product News Presentation SSA Convention Saturday, October 26, 10:00 AM Room 200AB I will be talking about the latest soaring products and instruments at the SSA Convention this Saturday. I’ll be discussing: Condor3, LXNAV PowerMouse+ FCC, LXNAV FlarmLink, Air Avionics AC-1 AIR Com Radio, PowerFLARM Flex, LXNAV HAWK, Mountain High 2-Stage Regulators, New features in SeeYou Navigator and the Oudie N, and more… I am looking forward to seeing soaring friends from around the world. I hope to see you there! Paul Remde “ Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
——-Gliding International from New Zealand [ I wrote for them in the past] does n’t exist anymore. After John Roake passed away ,nobody could follow it up, but the German magazine “segelfliegen” [already existing for many years] is now also in English. “The Segelfliegen Magazin is now available online in an English format as Soaring International, with 6 issues per year. Learn more at https://soaring-international.com And for the German version see https://www.segelfliegen-magazin.de It’s tough in the media business these days, so support our gliding magazines otherwise they will be gone!“ Have a look, we should support them!!!
——On October 21 , Transavia, the company where George flew and Inge flies ,existed 59 years. Their first flight was with a Douglas DC 6. I can assure you that through my life the name TRANSAVIA has been used a lot. George started with the Caravelle, then Boeing’s …..Inge flies a Boeing 737 and moves soon to the AIRBUS.
One of the first flights the start of many adventures and a good “name”.
——-Cambridge Gliding Centre shared the next news; “Started off with a foggy morning, but by afternoon the airfield was buzzing with life! Huge thanks to everyone who joined in the action and helped turn it into an awesome Friday. Can’t wait to do it all again next week!”
That’s it for now. Very foggy here with code yellow, but the sun raised and the fog disappeared. You will get used to not reading the blog on Wednesday anymore, but for a few weeks it’s still there!!! So enjoy it.
And,…to finish. Just found this lovely picture from my “mate ” Leo[nardo] Brigliadori.{R.I.P. ] it is from 1963 when he participated in the Argentinian WGC at Junin. Great that people share these pictures. Leo’s son Ricardo, Ricky for friend’s, flies WGC’s now. In 1963 they only flew in 2 classes; Open; champion Edward Makula from Poland, in a SZD-19 Zefir 2. He was honoured in 1965 with the Lilienthal Gliding Medal. Standard; Champion Heinz Huth from Germany in Schleicher KA6. He won in 1960 as well in his home country Germany from the airfield of Koeln [Cologne] .
Bo made several inspiring pictures in the past when she was at Seminole, when the office was “glooming” and the weather fantastic. Now it is devastating to see how the tree fell on the veranda , BUT it could have been WORSE!!!! Seminole-Lake Gliderport
——Oh those bloody hurricanes, they ruin SO MUCH and kill people, at least 16 I heard, as did the many twisters Florida had. I hoped that Seminole would be save and spared, as I love following the senior comps at that airfield in Florida. But NO , the next day I found these pictures and news on the internet so sad!!! “Dear Friends of Seminole-Lake, Our little airport had some damage caused by hurricane Milton. We are still standing and feel blessed no one was injured. We’ll start cleaning up and rebuild as early as we can. Seminole-Lake will reopen for business next week. Thank you everyone for all your thoughts, phone calls, emails and messages. God Bless!”
They will work hard with help from many and next year we see the seniors happily flying there again. No worries!!! Indeed in a week they could open the gate again.
After those dark skies, a few days later blue skies and hardworking people cleaning up. TOP!!!! Yesterday they opened their doors again :”Seminole-Lake will reopen for business as usual this Tuesday @9am.”
“Power is back on!! Cleaning & repairing is still in progress. Thank you everyone for helping out, from praying for us to cleaning the way to the office, we are truly blessed .” Seminole-Lake Gliderport
——Looking like a nice SPRING-DAY in Kingaroy! AND, a “high” day.
Kingaroy Soaring Club……..”Kingaroy Wave flying. The view from 17500ft. Yeah cold up there….“
—-SkySight published news which might interest you as I know a lot of pilots use SkySight. They have a new feature – Cu Overview “For years our customers have told us they love the product, but they don’t like having to check so many charts to build a mental model of the forecast. So we have built – another chart! Don’t panic – stay with us for the moment. Presenting, the Cu Overview chart! -We start with a base layer of Thermal Height in soft contours. -Overlaid on top are Cumulus cloud ‘dots’, with the size and density (oktas) of the clouds represented realistically, coloured according to altitude -Overlaid again, we show areas of mid/high cloud in grey, and iconography for areas of rain. For most pilots we expect this will replace the need to check the Height of Thermals, Cu Depth, Cu Cloudbase, Cloud Cover, Overdevelopment and Significant Weather charts in your preflight planning.
The development of this feature was a multiyear undertaking, requiring rewriting our cumulus modeling from a simple one-dimensional model into a full three-dimensional prediction. We are now able to understand and present both the “width” and height of the cumulus in a manner not achieved before. Additionally this has permitted us to replace the flawed “Overdevelopment” chart with a new chart “Cu Coverage”, that much better achieves the intent of the retired chart. As always, we hope you will give us feedback about this new feature as we continue to evolve it further.”
—-–Noticed that after 10 weeks !!!!!!!the ship with gliders from Uvalde to South Africa has not arrived yet!!! It is in London, but will arrive only in November; Leaving London 20th, ETA Durban 18Nov!!!! Their season has started then already. The UK container has not yet arrived in the UK either….less ” bitter” ,as it will be winter here soon, BUT we and they had some lovely autumn days for flying recently!!! AND,…here in The Netherlands we go back to 24 dgr. C today here in the S. ,whilst we had yesterday the first national night frost with minus 0.6 dgr. C!!!!!WEIRD!!! AND,…they still fly!!!!! On October 5 still 39 flights in Holland on the OLC ,11 from Terlet ,but a week later only 2.
Terlet an area of outstanding beauty and venue of the 2025 qualifying FAI SGP
Autumn at Terlet as seen by gliding instructor and top photographer Arjan.
——Through the years ,I learned that a lot of glider pilots started as kids with model’s , no not good looking ladies or men on pictures, but model planes!!!! I found out that ” the FAI F3F world championship 2024 for Model Gliders in Limoux, France, was well underway with seven rounds completed last Thursday and has finished now. The event was between 2024-10-06 to 2024-10-12 and the event type is F3F Slope Race (Plus Scoring)
Here is more about it by “connoisseurs” ; “The FAI F3F world championship 2024 for Model Gliders in Limoux, France (6-12 October) saw an impressive display of skill and teamwork by the world’s best aeromodelling pilots. Austria dominated the competition, clinching top honours in both individual and team categories. The organisers faced the additional challenge of navigating ever-changing weather conditions during the event. The pilots were tasked with competing on three different slopes, each with its own unique characteristics. This transition between the diverse terrains tested the competitors’ adaptability and skill. In the end, a good number of rounds were completed, totalling 17.“
WINNERS Overall 1. Lukas Gaubatz (AUT) 2. Sébastien Lanes (FRA) 3. Ignacio Elizondo Casado (ESP) Team 1. Austria 2. France 3. Norway Full results: https://bit.ly/3zPxmwD All pictures: https://bit.ly/3XTOnh2
—-–More and more the AURORA is visible on spots it never was before. When I lived in Tocumwal we often visited or passed by the Lake Mulwala. Look what great picture somebody took there. It remains a fabulous phenomena.
Even in The Netherlands we could see it. I did not , but more up North you could see it without a camera just with “bare eyes”. And also a “comet” , called C/2020 A3 [Tsuchinshan-Atlas] passed by over the Netherlands and that happens once in 80.000 years !!!!!!!! And I slept!!!!!
Hantum, Friesland. An awesome scene of the northern lights aurora above the historic Hantummer Mill on Thursday evening 10th October. shared by Paul Blackburn and courtesy picture; Rick Bekker. @rick_bekker
Great picture to finish this post. Indeed a short one ,but times are easy going in this “in-between- soaring-period”.
South African Nationals Potchefstroom 28 September 2024 – 5 October 2024
Gliderpasi ….”What a day. Blue and 153,3kmh. Started with Oscar and Holger. 360km task close to Mafikeng” [They had the WGC in 2001]
You followed with me already 3 days in Potchefstroom, from one was only flyable. But the weather improved, so the next 4 days were pretty good, with on the last day even a speed of 154 km/h. in 18 m. Here we go; In CLUB, task 4 was a 300 race and 10 pilots started only 1 was not able to finish. Daily winner Wayne Schmidt in the ASW 27; 105.68 km./h. Task 5 showed a 324 km race . 119.92km./h was the winning speed by Morné Strauss [member of the Vryheid gliding club, nice name for a club] in JS 3RES/15 m. From 10 this time 2 were out. Task 6 had a 348.61 km racing task and Morné was again the best, this time with 114.35 km./h. 9 started and 3 were out. Task 7; 248.74 km last day and this time an LS 3a was the best glider looking at a speed of 120,97 km./h for Jason Adriaan. He won the first and last flying day and was very consistent in between. “Being the final day and prize giving & dinner this evening, the tasks are by necessity not as long as perhaps they might have been if there were still days of flying to be had. Again conditions are expected to be not dissimilar to yesterday and the inversion will not be as strong. As in previous days, it is likely to die from about 4.30 p.m.“
Overall scores and South African Champion in club class ; 1. Jason Adriaan in LS3a with 3,722 points. Congratulations! 2. Wayne Schmidt in ASW 27 with 3,491 points. 3. Rene Coetzee in ASW 20 a with 3,257 points.
18m class; Task 4;390.84 km and the daily winner was Oscar Goudriaan in JS3,with a speed of 125,81 km./h. followed by Mark Holliday in ASW 27 with 115.82 km./h. The overseas guests Pasi from Finland and Holger from Germany were on spot 3 and 4.A total of 12 few and finished! Task 5;450.26 km…Oscar was the fastest again 128.29, whilst Rene Lans flew a tad less with 127.12 in JS-1 C Jet 18m.All 12 started but 4 were out. Task 6; 462.27 km and Pasi Pulkkinen won in a JS3/15 m. He shared the daily prize with Rene, same amount of points; 998. And, 12 started and 1 was out. Pasi:”Today 465km task where everyone started at the same time as fear of day shutting down. The whole gaggle flew today together. Grest thermals up to 11500 feet in blue. After second turn I went different way than the gaggle (the line of gliders behind Oscar), Got a good line and was on top of the gaggle when we joined before 3rd turn. Oscar managed to get 200m higher on last climb and left first with PN. For some reason me and Holger passed them on final glide. I arrived 1st and Holger Karow 10 sec later. Lost 16 sec to him at the end as he left 26 sec later than I did. That gave 998 points for today and 2nd place.”That turned out to be a shared first place. Task 7; very last day!!!!!367.81 km.…Mike Tiffin from the Cape Gliding Club was the daily best; 154.72 km. , but the best speed for the week, was for Swiss pilot Andreas Spielmann in JS 3 /18 m with 154.96 km/h. being 3d on this last day 7 Flew over 140 km./h!!!!GOOD day to finish a comps. “Conditions seem to have been better than predicted getting up to 13 000 ft. and reports of lift of over 4 m/sec. But again it was apparently a little difficult initially after release and getting up.”
Overall scores and champion in 18m; 1. Oscar Goudriaan in JS3 /18 m with 4.075 points. Congratulations Oscar!!! 2. Mark Holliday in ASW 27 with 3,951 points . Good consistent pilot!!!! 3. Holger Karow in JS3/18 m. [Germany] with 3,914 points and not far behind on 4. Pasi Pulkkinen [Finland] in JS3/15 m. with 3.908 points.
In the 2 seater class were only 5 teams and they flew the last 4 consecutive days as well. Laurens Goudriaan flying with I think Marcus Geisen [ as he loves Potchefstroom’s magic!!] in the ASG 32MI , won task 4 a race from 390.84 km.with 123,80 km./h. Task 5, 450.26 km was for 2 Jonker’s, Uys and young Maarten, in a Nimbus 4D.128 66 km./h. and only 2 from 5 finished. Task 6 , 462.27 km., only 2 from 4 finished; the Jonker’s won again with 127.61 km./h “Greetings this morning for the penultimate day of the 2024 SA Nationals. A pleasant change this morning to see the flags and windsock hanging more downwards than previously. The temperature is still a bit cool, but feel sure it will be warming up before too long up to probably mid 20s later in the day.“ Task 7 last day; 367.81 km; 5 started and 4 finished and the Jonker’s were the daily best again with 149.63 km./h.
Overall scores and champions in the 2 seater class; 1. Uys Jonker & Maarten Jonker in Nimbus 4DM with 3,885 points. Well done!!! 2. LaurensGoudriaan & Markus Geisen in ASG 32MI with 3,116 points. 3. Daly jr. & Other in ASH 25 with 2,942 points.
Very happy 2-seater-class- champions Uys and Maarten Jonker;
All in all a good event as the Soaring Society of South Africa mentioned; “What an incredible week at the South African Gliding National Championship! A huge thank you to all the pilots, organizers, and volunteers who made this event a resounding success. Your passion and dedication to the sport truly shone through. Here’s to soaring high and celebrating our shared love for gliding. Can’t wait for next year!“
——-Still pretty nice after-summer-weather last weekend in parts of Europe, also in The Netherlands. AND,..more below in the USA from Hollister by Ramy Yanetz.
Still enough pilots for a [pretty cold but sunny ] day out at Terlet. Great pictures by Arjan Vrieze Photography
——-Danish gliding on the wings for 90 years by Jens Trabolt in Glider Forever. “This Saturday, October 5th, 2024, it is 90 years since the Danish Gliding Federation was founded by a number of independent gliding clubs. The hope was that organizing the activities would strengthen the sport and camaraderie. If our ancestors had been able to see today’s equipment, they would probably have cheered extra loudly for the future. To celebrate the 90th birthday, NORDIC GLIDING and the Danish Vintage Glider Club have assembled 2 significant aircraft, each of which represents chronological and technical extremes in the last 90 years of Danish gliding.” See more photos and read the behind-the-scenes-article describing a very challenging photo session here https://nordicgliding-com.translate.goog/dansk-svaeveflyvning-paa-vingerne-i-90-aar/
Through the years I got to know a lot of Danish pilots and they were always great fun to catch up with. Lovely people.
——Ramy Yanetz shared his flight from October 3, which made him very happy; “Big Sur day from Hollister. Crossed twice to the Big Sur Coastal range. Got to 16,000 feet (!) over the coastal range and bagged the Pacific near the Big Sur VOR. The highest I ever been in thermals from Hollister. Followed the coastal range convergence to Paso Robles and Shandon, then back to the San Benito’s convergence with thermals to 14K, and bagged Junipero again. Great October day!” He flew 470.39 km with 91.43 km./h.
And to finish this fabulous stunning picture from Geoff.
“One of the best Aurora I’ve ever photographed – Port Hills from 2120hrs Canon R5 with 24-105mm f2.8 10s ISO 1600” Geoff Soper
——Climate change creates more and more heavy weather!!!! After Helene , it’s now Milton, ready to damage more in Florida. I noticed today, that it has increased in power again. Not good! Stay safe when you live there!!!!
Picture shared by Obie Young….TROPICAL UPDATE Milton -10AM CDT Oct 8, 2024 – The WX Guy
South African Nationalsat Potchefstroom 28 September 2024 – 5 October 2024
They fly in 3 classes , club , 18m and 2 seaters., with 30 participants. First day on September 29 with in each class the same racing class. Task 1 in club ; 238.70 km race …..cancelled Task 1 in 18 m;273.80 km…..cancelled Task 1; 2-seaters; 273.80 km….cancelled
Task 2 in club; 1.45 AAT….with a rather late [early birds started about 20 minutes earlier] start at 13,53 for Jason Adriaan, who won the day in his LS3A with 157.09 km and a speed of 89.76 km./h. Runner up was Wayne Schmidt in his ASW 27; 155.14 km and 88.65 km/h. So a pretty challenging day for the clubbies. Task 2 in 18 m; 2 hour AAT....8 started and finished and best for the day was Mark Holliday in an ASW 27 with 222.25 km and 111.12 km./h. for 446 points. Runner up Oscar in his JS3/18 m with 222.14 km and 111.01 km./h for 387 points. After he flew with some of the participating pilots in Uvalde, Finish pilot Pasi Pulkkinen flies in this class in a 15 m JS 3 and finished on spot 7. Task 2 in -2seater-class; 2 hour AAT.…nobody flew. Laurens was supposed to fly with Markus Geisen in the ASG 32 MI and I guess Tomas Rendla [Czech Rep] with Steehman in a Duo Discus.
Task 3 in all classes ;CANCELLED!!! TODAY; “Good morning – another morning with blue skies and sunshine, but a stiff little breeze and fairly cool temperatures. Yesterday they were hoping for better conditions from today – let’s they are right. It certainly has not been the best of weather as yet.“
——-Queensland State comps continued and are over now, AND ….in a weird way. When they cancelled on the 25th, all pilots took their gear and left home, so no 3 more competition days without pilots. That was it!!!! Weird!!! But only a state comps!!!The weather might be the spoil pot. Club class; Day 4 on the 25th, had for the 2d time, Daryl Speight in a Discus b at the podium. “Tocumwal” Grant was runner up in Discus A. No flying anymore so winners are Daryl and Michael , equal on spot 1 overall with 33 points, whilst Grant has 28. Sportsclass; Ray Stewart [JS3 /18m] won all 4 flown days and as there was no flying anymore, he leads with 40 points. Good to see Lisa [Trotter in LS 8/15m] as runner up with 22 points. Scott was 3d with 20 points.
——Terrible rain, due to hurricane Helene , ruined the hangars and gliders in the USA from the club where a lot of pilots enjoyed their wave flying; Shifled Field. North Carolina was hit hard. In total at this stage around 150 people died. SAD!!!!! And it will be more. New world champion Sarah mentioned; “I’m heartbroken for our friends at Shiflet Field where we have so many happy memories from wave camp.”
Very sad!!!!!! courtesy; Garrett BerryhillA real DISASTER!!!! Just unbelievable!! All the best for all of you over there. Courtesy Garrett Berryhill
–—-Till now the OLC was the “provider” for news of the Dutch Soaring Cup. From October 1 2024 they change to WeGlide as official platform. The Dutch Gliding Association is grateful to the OLC for their valuable support for Dutch Cross Country Gliding over many, many years . The Dutch GP organizers added; “At the start of the cross-country season 2025 our national aeroclub KNVvL has gone into a partnership with WeGlide. I think we all recognize the tremendous push the OLC meant for cross-country flying in the Netherlands (and globally) but that it is time for this new kid on the block in order to take cross-country and competition flying to the next level. We see this as a great opportunity in combination with the Dutch GP to further stimulate and find untapped potential of new talent.“
Talking about WeGlide, they have shared a great story on Sebastian Kawa in their magazine about his Gliding Expedition to Pakistan. It starts with “Kawa has already won 18 gold medals at world championships. This year, he skipped the worlds. Why did Sebastian choose an expedition to Pakistan over the World Championship in Texas? Let’s find out” You can now too! https://magazine.weglide.org/sebastian-kawa-gliding…/
——Talking about the OLC; The 2024 season was over on September 16 and the 2025 season has started. The OLC champion for 2024 is Gordon Boettger with 9.052.63 points. He also had the best flight; 3.143.77 km with a speed of 186.42 km./h. Flown from Minden -Tahoe in the USA. With this flight he got the distance record too. All flown in the ARCUS J. Most flights/kilometres were made by Nicolas Bennett a member of the Minden Soaring Club; 68.208,63. WOW!!!!! I noticed him in different countries around the world. Runner up was Lasham pilot Garry Coppin with 64.150, 20. The stats for Bitterwasser were , as every year pretty clear; 624.853,94 km. ,flown by 117 pilots, during 779 flights. The next busiest airfield was Puimoisson; 533.433,62 km, flown by 201 pilots ,during 1211 flights. Then,….Pokweni [spot 6] , Kiripotib [spot 4] and Veronica [spot3] all 3 in Namibia and Fuentemilanos on spot 5. Busiest CLUB; the Minden Soaring Club!!!! 403.517,24 km flown by 42 pilots, during 793 flights. Followed by the Dutch Gliding Club de Gelderse from Terlet; 344.877,86 km, flown by 90 pilots during 979 flights. Well done!!!!!
—-No F16 fighters anymore in The Netherlands . A few stay for practice , but not to “work” anymore. A lot of spotters waved them out, on Spetember 24, when they flew over Dutch soil for the last time. An end of an era. Volkel was the place where they started and returned to, flying, weather permitting , over most of the airfields they have been at in the Netherlands. European Airshows mentioned “Farewell to the Dutch Vipers! Today, September 27, 2024, the Royal Netherlands Air Force will bid a heartfelt farewell to its iconic F-16 Fighting Falcons after 45 years of dedicated service with a final round flight over the Netherlands, culminating in a special ceremony at Volkel Air Base“ https://www.europeanairshows.co.uk/…/dutch-vipers-final… About 24 go to the Ukraine. A member of the Spotting Group Volkel had his camera on burst mode and this turned out to this pretty nice /spectacular picture.
The “barrel roll ” compilation from the J-oo8 courtesy ; Evelakes Evers
Birdman99 Aviation Weblog ;” The very final landing of an operational RNLAF F-16 at Volkel Airbase, the Netherlands. Next to it flies a Belgian Air Force F-16BM with Air Force Photographer @cristianschrik in the back seat!”
——-Dutch Sailplane Grand Prix; “With the season 2024 in the Netherlands coming to its close, it’s time to pick up where we left with our preparations for the first Dutch Qualifying Grand Prix in May 2025. This means finishing the local procedures, issuing our first information bulletin and very important, start working on our social media plan. We have some great ideas! Happy to see so many pilots have registered, 45 in total, way too many of course, but we plan to close registration in January 2025 to see the final list based on the IGC-ranking. One of the pilots who registered , is Stefan Langer the winner of the 11th series and current 18m world champion Stefan Langer“ https://sgp.aero/netherlands2025
Talking about the Netherlands: Some interesting facts only for those who don’t know my first country. My 2d country of course is Australia more specific, Tocumwal in NSW on the mighty Murray River and it is fabulous to see that the love for travelling-down- under, which George and I started in 1984, is followed now by the rest of the family. Dexter is moving for a year to Australia. He arrived this morning with grand dad.
Interesting facts 17 Facts You May Not Know About The Netherlands: ONLY WHEN YOU ARE INTERESTED!!!!! 1. The Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with over 17 million people living in an area of about 41,500 square kilometers. 2. Approximately one-third of the country lies below sea level, and much of the land has been reclaimed from the sea through a system of dikes and polders. 3. The Dutch are among the tallest people in the world, with an average height of around 6 feet for men and 5 feet 7 inches for women. 4. The Netherlands has the highest concentration of museums in the world, with over 1,100 museums spread across the country. 5. Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh produced over 2,100 artworks during his lifetime, including iconic pieces like “Starry Night” and “Sunflowers.” 6. The Netherlands is the largest exporter of flowers in the world, with the flower industry centered around the famous flower auction in Aalsmeer. 7. Dutch cuisine features dishes like stroopwafels (syrup waffles), bitterballen (deep-fried meatballs), and haring (raw herring), which are enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. 8. The Dutch are avid cyclists, with over 35,000 kilometers of dedicated bike paths crisscrossing the country. 9. The Dutch national color is orange, stemming from the royal House of Orange-Nassau, which has ruled the Netherlands since the 16th century. 10. The Netherlands is home to the world’s oldest stock exchange, the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, which was established in 1602. 11. Dutch artist M.C. Escher, known for his mathematically inspired optical illusions, was born and raised in the Netherlands. 12. The Dutch language has contributed many words to the English language, including “landscape,” “cookie,” and “yacht.” 13. The Netherlands is known for its progressive stance on social issues, being one of the first countries to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001. 14. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is one of the busiest airports in Europe and serves as a major hub for international air travel. 15. Dutch windmills, such as those at Kinderdijk, are iconic symbols of the country and have been used for centuries to pump water and grind grain. 16. The Netherlands is famous for its cheese, particularly Gouda and Edam, which are exported around the world. 17. Dutch tulips became so valuable during the 17th century that they caused an economic bubble known as “Tulip Mania,” with bulbs selling for exorbitant prices.
Well, you are more than up to date now, so CU next Wednesday. Cheers Ritz
Sorry for that“
Huge thanks to everyone who joined in the action and helped turn it into an awesome Friday. 
Can’t wait to do it all again next week!” 
Don’t panic – stay with us for the moment.
), Got a good line and was on top of the gaggle when we joined before 3rd turn. Oscar managed to get 200m higher on last climb and left first with PN. For some reason me and Holger passed them on final glide. I arrived 1st and Holger Karow 10 sec later. Lost 16 sec to him at the end as he left 26 sec later than I did. That gave 998 points for today and 2nd place.”That turned out to be a shared first place.
