Post 1.555 on November 20 2024 AND ……6 blogs to go.

Indeed 6 blogs to go , the last one will be on TUESDAY December 31, last day of this year.
AND,…when the weather is there,…either in Africa or Australia or New Zealand , or wherever…you can fly a 1000!!!! It happened again !!!!

—–Namibia had since November 11 again TOP DAYS!!! I am sure you found them on WeGlide or the OLC. Not only 1000 km, but with this great weather and those good gliders ,distances from over 1.200 in Veronica on November 15, over 1.300 on November 16 in Bitterwasser and again on November 16 , this time a special one as the “founders” from Flying with the Champions, Ludwig and Wolfgang flew together in the ARCUS M from Kiripotib; 1.315.21 km. and they were in a hurry; 163.20 km./h.
The EB flew even 1.326 km!!!AND ,…the pilot commented;” “What an absolute chaotic flight. Where I wanted to go it did n’t work and then there was every time something, “dark” or wet in my way. Not my day!” But what happens when it is his day, now the scoring distance was 1.328,68 km [948,16 FAI] and a speed of 148,55 km./h.
And for sure a lot of happy pilots on those airfields with bubbles in the evening , and lot’s of stories. REAL HAPPY CHAPPIES , I know the euphoric feeling of such a day!!!!

After 2 fabulous weeks the news from Kiripotip on November 16 was;
“Flying with the Champions 2024″ is history .We enjoyed fantastic flights, engaging presentations, learned so much new, and, most importantly, had an incredible amount of fun . Thank you for two amazing weeks at Kiripotib with our wonderful guests.” Kiripotib Soaring 

——-Australia had great soaring- weather too. Narromine and Lake Keepit both had over 1000 km flights. Here is a story from Adam about Tomas in Narromine;
“Fantastic opening flight Tomas,[Suchanek] 60km further than I’ve taken G1, in 15m too none the less .
He says, “My suitcase got lost somewhere around Singapore on the way to OZ. Lucky I could borrow Adams Ventus and Beryl donated lucky T-shirt and shorts to me .
No sunglasses no hat today no phone today on board. Only shoes, socks and Oudie were mine. It is a new Czech national record distance via three turnpoints”
On November 15 Tomas flew 1.178 km with 125 km./h. in the Ventus 3 T/15m. from Adam.
Lasham pilot Andy , [I believe for the season in Lake Keepit ,] flew in the ASG 32MI ; 1.028 km.
It might be a superb soaring season on both sides of the world. HOPE!!!!!!

–—-Recent news from Schempp-Hirth;
This picture says it all.

“This Wednesday, [November 13] we celebrated a significant milestone: the delivery of the 250th Ventus-3.
This occasion was not only seen as a simple business success of our 18- and 15-meter-high performance glider, it was above all a moment of pride and fellowship that brought together the entire team, without whom the production of such a modern, elegant and efficient aircraft would not be possible.
The handover ceremony took place in our final assembly, which was cleared for this special occasion. The entire team, from the engineers to the sales department to all the employees who use their extensive know-how and experience to build such aircraft from scratch, gathered around the Ventus assembled to its final form. It was a great opportunity to recognize the work and dedication of everyone who contributed to this success.” Schempp-Hirth

The new owner is from Belgium, Ward Gysemans and for sur he will be very happy with his new “toy”.
Through the years, George was always happy with all the Schempp-Hirth gliders we bought. A Cirrus 75, a Discus, a Ventus [2x] and Nimbus 2 and Nimbus 3 [3x].
The Nimbus 4DM George and our Dennis, flew in Benalla at the WGC of 1987 , was a proto type . We not only got to know Klaus and Brigitte , but also their sons , Tilo and Ralf. Not to forget Schempp-Hirth “VIP” Biko ,always busy to keep the customers happy. Both Klaus and Ralf stayed with us at Sportavia in the year George won the Leeton Australian Nationals .

Looking back at how we arrived down under and got to know AND LOVE Tocumwal;
In 1984 we met in Rieti in Italy at the PRE WORLDS, the Aussie team. You might know a few as 2 are still flying; Tony Tabart [R.I.P.] Peter Griffith, Bruce Brockhoff,[R.I.P] John ‘Butch” Buchanan, Paul Mander [R.I.P] and Terry Cubley.
We had great fun together and the Aussie pilots invited us to come to Australia to fly there, especially against Ingo in Tocumwal, as he was the best.
Deal was that Butch would fly our Ventus in Rieti and George could fly one of Griffo’s gliders down under.
A nice “swap” convenient for all.
Bruce would be our host ,as he had a caravan at Tocumwal Airport, we could live in when we were there.
Off we went, suitcase full of summer clothes. We arrived at Melbourne and it was just SO COLD!!!!
We called Bruce, but he was not home [ Melbourne] ,he was flying a local competition at Mildura,” we should travel straight on to meet them all there”, he said.
We did . The plane was a small one[ I believe Kendell Airlines] and it was pretty turbulent. I felt miserable!!
We arrived at Mildura ,a lovely small town at the Murray River and it was “bloody” hot over there. Whilst walking to our friends, millions of grasshoppers tried to “climb” in our ears, mouth and nose . Never saw them before and it looked grey ,even when the sun was shining brightly.
Pretty shocking, I longed for the Netherlands, but you get used to everything in life, is n’t it?
We had a sterling time. George flew several new records and I could “HOP” in a Bonanza from Griffo with a stopwatch to check the start from above and later finish time.
When the comp was over we got a radio and a car to drive to Tocumwal, over 500 km with no houses or towns. There was ONE pub in the middle and off course we visited that.
The radio was to keep in contact with Bruce ,as we had no clue where to go too and getting lost down under is not funny.
We arrived safely in beautiful Tocumwal, found a nice motel [ there are many, as people from Melbourne come in bus-loads , to play the poker machines at the golf club over there], as Bruce stayed for a short while in his caravan, to be with us.
So Tocumwal entered in our lives and it is still there!!

Looking at comps!!!
I have been at many comps, too many to write about or even to remember.
But most of all ,I was in Rieti in Italy.
I was their as crew at the Pre Worlds in 1984. In 1985 as guest.
In 1994 as TC of the Dutch team at the EGC and “our” Ronald Termaat won bronze!
I had as TC, 2 pilots in standard class with 36 participants; Baer Selen [finished on spot 9]and Erik Borgmann.[spot 6]
The final scores in this class were very special;
As Tapio and Fred ,the stewards wrote in their final report;
“Peter Fischer, Reinhard Schramme and Erwin Ziegler [all 3 from Germany] TOGETHER on place ONE, with 9358 points each. It’s the first time in history of gliding, that 3 pilots share the first place on an important international championship.”

3 Pilots in 15 m. with 34 pilots ; Steven Raimond , Jaap Horsten and Ronald Termaat who finished as 3d, behind Stefano Ghiorzo [gold] and Werner Meuser [silver] and the other 2 pilots finished in the top 10.
In open 1 pilot Gerrit Kurstjes who finished also in the top 10, so the Dutch Gliding Association was happy, I got a nice THANK YOU letter.

A picture from a picture, but still very clear though in Italian.

More Rieti as in 2007 I was invited as writer at the JWGC and in 2008 as invited writer of the WGC and,…. as one of the jurors could not be there , I “helped” Tor Johannes as replacement-juror.
All great fun ,also with John Roake from N.Z. who was chief steward.
We eat too many ice creams in the evening , every day, as some kind of relaxation!!!!
After that 3 times [years] as writer about the C.I.M.
I love Rieti and the people I got to know through the years!!!!
Comps were always well organized and they really took good care of their guests. The comps were special as the mountains are not forgiving there. I once had to write about an Austrian pilot who did not come back during the CIM, till they found him the next day with help of all pilots and many others. That was tough, very tough!
The pictures from Rieti are on one of my memory- sticks. Will try to find them.

Yesterday I had a small tear when Rafa lost his first match in the Davis Cup, but I was also pleased to see Botic win, it might help him to be less insecure!!!

More “old” and new news next week.
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.554 on November 13 2024 AND ……7 blogs to go.

Slowly I start with a THANK YOU to several people who have been fabulous to me. This time some of the best photographers in my eyes. They allowed me to use their pictures in many of my blogs as great illustrations.
From the USA Bo[zena] Michalowski, from N.Z. Geoff Soper, from Finland Katja Soikkili from the Netherlands Arjan Vrieze and sometimes from Willemijn de Lange.
I used more very good pictures, always shared the names of the photographers and always they enriched the stories!!!!!
Thank you so much!!!!
One of the pictures from Bo;

One of the pictures from Katja;

One of the pictures from Geoff;

and from Arjan ;

—–Not the very best weather for all who hoped for many 1000 km-flights in Namibia. But there is so much to do and see, as a safari. I loved my safari in South Africa last year and will never forget the most beautiful wild animals in nature. They , for sure, will love it too.
Though , YES , I know they are there for flying!
But …..1000 k’s were there again on Saturday.

–—-Not the very best weather either at the Central Plateau comps in N.Z. In 7 days they started task 7 on November 8 with a 2 hour AAT in both classes, open and racing. That was FLYING DAY 3!!!
Not good either, as in racing only 5 pilots flew between 9 and 36 km!!!!!
In open only 1 pilot finished. In his Discus 2c-FES , Frank Excell won the day with 127 km in 2.01, so 63 km./h.
On November 8 and 9 they tried hard, set tasks and a few kilometres were flown , but that was it. On the total scores you can see that there were nearly no points on the scoring list.
In the end there were winners after 2 days -with-points for task 2 and 3;
Open….Frank Excell in Discus 2C -FES with 617 points and
racing.… Trace Austin in Discus CS with 355 points.

–—–Narromine; ” The dynamic-duo who keep Narromine Gliding Club functioning.
During the recent inaugural Womens’ Instructor Course held at Narromine 28 Oct – 1 Nov:
Beryl did all of the catering, and other wrangling. Her husband Arnie did every tow. and the BBQ’s and when necessary maintenance “ Dee Mac  
Great duo. I know Beryl and Arnie for a long , long time and mind you , they are not the youngest anymore!!!!
I always think of Arnie as some kind of “guardian angel”, as during the soaring-safari from South to Nord Australia with a few pilots, gliders and crew members. My daughter, then as old my grand daughter now, was one of the crew members . She had an unforgettable trip, loved every minute, but was very pleased to not have to drive back more kilometres to Narromine, as she was allowed to fly back with Arnie in the tug!!!!!

–—–As you can read the season has slowly started on the other side of the world. A check for pilot and glider is compulsory, so you will not fly around in a glider like this.
Nice picture though.

–—-In between the world has changed and we can only hope for the best. Trump back as president, somebody who abuses who ever he can, was chosen by the USA people, so hopefully they knew what they were doing. I don’t have a political opinion is this blog not about the Democrats neither the Republicans. With all the wars I only hope for peace;
The red poppy is a symbol of both Remembrance and hope for a peaceful future.
“The poppy is a well-known and well-established symbol, one that carries a wealth of history and meaning with it.“

–——In Amsterdam we had black night!!! And that after a great soccer comps between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv. 5-0 for Ajax , NO WORRIES peace at the field and straight after, TILL organised mostly very young ones started to fight. And HOW,…..
The war in the East between Palestine and Israel was on our doormat, with a “chase” on Jewish people.
DEEPLY TRAGIC!!!!!!

—-AND,…looking back at 1 of the first blogs written on June 21 2006 from Sweden;
“Where can you better start with the first article, then in the MEKKA of gliding at this moment; Sweden,of course in Eskilstuna on Ekeby Airport, where tomorrow on June 16 2006 the last day of the 29th FAI Multi Class Gliding Championships will be flown.These are the very last Comps with 4 classes involved.So a very special day! With 116 pilots flying, also one of the bigger gliding events in history.26 Different nations are here and with 12 tow planes all pilots are launched in a very short time.

And …they are great comps! The weather was not all that flash , for that reason the tasks were not too big, but it was till now a real competition with ups and downs and weather circumstances with a variety I have never seen before in my life. The weather can change here very quickly and we have had, snow, hail, rain, sun, temperatures around 0 and temperatures around 30, lenties, clouds, blue days, tough wind and weak wind and a sunset at 22.15.Yes it seems it is never dark here and you go to bed too late for that reason.”

On invitation of Robert Danewid the CD of the comps in Eskilstuna,…… I was the daily writer!

To finish a story and some random pictures from the past.
It’s 1988! The EGC was in Finland at Rayskala. Already a year earlier Kees [Musters…1983 world champion in Hobbs] had lobbied to make me the TC of this competition. I assisted already at the 1987 WGC in Benalla, where I organized the shipment for the gliders and the accommodation at Tocumwal [practice] and Benalla. But I was not in the best mood due to tragic losses.
Kees died in December 1987 in France [ hang glider] and our son Dennis, died after a crash with the tug on January 3 in 1988, so within a week.
In the end the lobby still worked out both for the pilots and myself and I went with 5 men to Finland and 7 or 8 crew members.

Onno, [ 18 from 30 in 15 m] Gerrit, [ 6th from 13 in open], Daan,[ 9th in 15 m] ,Sikko [5th from 28 in st. class] and George.[10th in 15 m]
A competition with rain and thunderstorms, midsummer night and good spirits, though with 2 hiccups; a marriage break-down and the police in my tent to find out why somebody drove over the runway in the middle of the night on their motorbike. Yes the life of a TC is more than sitting behind a map with a radio.
One difficult landing as well by George as you can see .

A European competition with familiar faces;

and some friends

1989; , at home ,early morning in my nighty. Not too bad is it. Can’t remember this picture!!!!Nice to have found it, for those who did n’t know me then.

Next week I will go through more of my photo books and share some more soaring history.

CU next week. I have to stop now, as they are going to cut the electricity for a few hours.
By the way in Kiripotib an ARCUS M20, came available between December 13 and 31. So if you always dreamt of a 1000 k , of “outstanding weather conditions, full support, lot’s of fun ” and catching up with soaring mates, here is a possibility.
info@kiripotib-soaring.com
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.553 on November 6 2024 AND ……8 blogs to go.
–—-GREAT!!!!! Several people are busy to look into preserving my blogs and when it all works out, you can read BACK, what happened on championship level and on fun during gliding between 2006 and 2024.
I am more than pleased ,they are doing this.
From 2006 onwards it should be archived and put on a server. Will inform you later how it works as I don’t know either now.
Sadly enough, in the past [1996-2006] most of my “latest news ” blogs have disappeared one day from the server from Sportavia. We thought,…a hack, but I have never been sure, what happened exactly.
Such a pity!
I know , quite a few guests arrived at Sportavia, because they had read the blogs and felt somehow familiar with us when they arrived.
From that early period there are still enough readers alive and they know!

Back to soaring now!!!

—–Matthew Scutter’s Gliding;
“Day 1 of my first safari of the year. The goal was Narromine, which was forecast to be impossible but the radar looked promising so I thought I’d give it a try – it was impossible. Deviated to Keepit.“
But look then to day 2; 1.032 km with 130 km./h!!! On November 1!!!!!! Still early spring, flying his DIANA 2 /FES.
“First 1000k flight of the Australian season! https://www.weglide.org/flight/492771
Straightforward convergence bash up and down the Great Dividing Range following the bright red line on the LX (also possible to follow the clouds outside). This system is there almost every day, but I keep an eye out for strong ones on SkySight and today delivered.
I landed back at Kingaroy because I seem to be coming down with a cold.
The finish was very exciting – I was below glide to Kingaroy even with FES and the air had gone completely still, but I encountered an area of quite severe turbulence near Toowoomba – and sure enough, when I pushed inland a couple of kilometres, I’d hit the sea breeze in the blue again, now pushing through towards Kingaroy.
In the end I still had to use the motor to get in before last light. Such is the luxury of the FES system.“

GOOD ON YOU MATTHEW!!!!!!!

—–FFVP – Fédération Française de Vol en Planeur is happy that the gliders from the very successful French team are back home from Uvalde.

——-And also the UK gliders are back home!!!

—–Lasham Gliding Society  
“As of 1st November 2024 we are delighted to welcome Ron Smith to the role of Chief Flying Instructor at Lasham Gliding Society.
Ron will be well known to many at Lasham having been with the society in the role of Deputy Chief Flying Instructor since Spring 2024. He has played a key role in delivering a safe and efficient operation and will work closely with our engineering and general manager on interfacing our flying activities with the wider activities on site.“
Good luck Ron and many SAFE flights!

—–Kiripotib Soaring:
“A brilliant start: The first day of “Flying with the Champions” was a complete success . Lots of happy faces and big smiles . We are incredibly happy !“
Indeed pictures with very happy pilots!!!!
kiripotib-soaring.com/en/soaring/flying-with-the-champions

Also 4 OVER 1000 km flights on day 1 , in Bitterwasser …GOOD!!!! And several over 700/800 km in Kiripotib and Pokweni.
Great start of the season!!! Though the next day was less good. But November 3 had a 900 km flight again.
Mind you on less good day’s, during p.e a 300 km flight you might learn as much or more from a champion, than on a long 1000 km -plus- flight.
Veronica started with over 400 and 600 km flights by 3 pilots from Israel.
You can find all flights ,as there will be MANY, for sure till half of January on the OLC at https://www.onlinecontest.org/
Or at WeGlide at weglide.org. They just announced that they now support video uploads as well.

“What happens at Kiripotib when the weather isn’t the best?

Relaxed outdoor briefing

Great presentations by champions Tilo Holighaus and Markus Frank

Firefighter training for the team

Cake and coffee together with our friends from Bitterwasser

Game drive with an impressive sunset

Conclusion: lots of fun and great talks

——Schempp-Hirth
“The first ever self launches with a Ventus-3 FES are done Congratulations Luka Žnidaršič and LZ design for this achievement. With a high landing gear and a more powerful FES-system they made it happen.We are excited for the next steps!”

——-Tocumwal Soaring Centre is gearing up for summer that’s for sure !
The JS3 RES and Ventus 3M will be in the big hangar very soon adding to our already awesome fleet,Every thing from a Boomerang, Blanik up to the mighty 18 mtr super ships and just about everything in between….. Hazzah !”

—–Skyrace GP in Australia shares “bad/sad” news;
“Statement Regarding SkyraceGP’s Future.
The primary organisers have made the difficult decision that the upcoming season’s event will be the final one for the foreseeable future and will be followed by a hiatus of unknown length.
If you have been toying with the idea of attending, we urge you to get your entry in and join in the fun.”
That would be a real pity, as it was not only a fun event ,but also important for flying a competition in a less expensive but top glider.

——The Central Plateau Competition 2024 is in progress at Taupo, between November 2 and 9 .Loved Taupo when I was in NZ, specially the gorgeous area around the lake.
Till now the 14 pilots [ 7 in open and 7 in racing] had 2 out of 4 days. A 3 hour AAT with no finishers in open and a 1 hour AAT with 3 finishers.
In racing NO finishers either on the 3 hour AAT and 2 on the 1 hour AAT..
They did not fly today!

That’s it for now. Have a good week.
Bit short blog maybe BUT, I have to stop as due to renovations in my street the electricity will stop at 8AM till 11 AM.
Very interesting ; archaeology researchers found very old,[ a few hundred years] parts of a street at 1 meter deep in front of my house. Horse-roads as cars were not invented, as well as a little square and a small chapel. Will try to make pictures today.
Cheers Ritz