8 AM;

Ready to go for it!!! Today is the day. And,….a first day is always VERY important.
Everybody seems ready for it…pilots as well as crews and the organization.
If I see what effort they put in this competition , I can only say CHAPEAU!!!!!
After part of the day “off ” yesterday, they want to fly now!!!! Some stayed here , some went to Gunnedah for shopping and others to Tamworth. Quite a bunch of young people left for the movies in Tamworth and when I asked what movie it was STARWARS!!!!
We had a lovely dinner at one of the most high and beautiful points here, looking over the lake.
THANKS!!!!!

It ‘s all happening here today in LAKE KEEPIT and the next day’s till Friday January 17!!!!!!
Same evening is the farewell party and next day at 10 AM, 3 ladies will leave with a big cup and a medal, another 6 with medals. The rest hopefully with a great feeling on a good competition.

Well I hope for a safe and fair competition.
Briefing at 9.30. Here at the field, which gives a lot of “mental peace”, as I heard. One is “relaxed”…..but I guess HOT. It will be 42 dgr. C today.
Will be there for you.
Grid order today; Club, Standard , 18 meter.
DON’T FORGET the 5 S’;

Some pictures I found from yesterday’s opening:
Here is Akemi from Japan, ready to go for it with her crew David.

CU later;
10 AM;
tasks first
18 m; A task…478 km……B task…385 km
standard; A task…464 km…B task…361 km.
Club class; A task…422 km….B task …320 km.

Surprise, surprise!!!!The volunteers did a massive job to get the “new”- old -tug-hangar in good order!!! Compliments.
At 9.30 the briefing started and it was full.

It was NO mistake but on the white-board you could read; Practice day 4!!!
Not day 1. This way they wanted to take the day-1-stress away. Just the procedures they had already for 3 day’s.
Good idea!!!
Some messages from this morning.
—A good “bailing-out” program by Liz from the UK has been sent to the competitors.
—The FAI flag is already STOLEN. An always returning story!!!
BUT,…the webcam was put off and that “looked” in the direction from the flag. SO NO proof who did it or what happened!!!
—As pilots need their sleep they should be able to sleep between 10 PM and 7 AM. So NO noise .
—Dinners at the sport and recreation will be half an hour later; at 7.30.
—REAL/GOOD Coffee ready in the morning at 6.30.
— Helpers get the rope, your own crew hooks it on the glider.
— It is Mandy’s [CD] birthday today!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mandy!!!!

The weather; is about the same again. The air-mass is a bit dryer today the dew point lower.
No sea breeze or rain expected.
5/6 kts lift ,less where there is smoke or haziness. Top of ceiling today up to 13/ 14.000 ft.
Tasks are above …A and B tasks
First launch expected at 12 PM.

Team USA, Luxembourg and the Czech team had their team meeting here in the club house this morning. It was pretty busy here.
It seems tracking will be visible here at the TV as well.

Let’s begin!!! CU later.
Sean Young, editor from the Magazine Gliding Australia has arrived and wrote his first article yesterday after the opening ceremony:
“The opening ceremony for WWGC Lake Keepit took place on 3 January. The teams from the ten competing countries lined up at the launch point of runway 32 in sunshine and heat.
A Welcome to Country was given by James Hogbin of the Kamilaori Nation, the traditional custodians of the area. The Deputy Mayor Rob Hoke welcomed all the competitors and Lake Keepit SC president Tim Carr introduced each pilot. Gisela Weinreich officially opened the Championships for the FAI.
The three official training days had very strong thermal conditions with some high cumulus. On 2 January CB cells developed and delivered wind, dust, lightning and a very few raindrops to this parched land.
Today is a rest day. The first flying day of the Championships is tomorrow, Saturday 4 January. The weather forecast is for a temperature of 42° C, thermals up to 12,000ft and light north westerlies.

Watch Video of Opening Ceremony https://youtu.be/o7-qTb5Sfc4

11.40; FIRST LAUNCH will be at 12, was just announced!!!!
The 6 tuggies have started their engines and move to the grid.
Have my radio, so I can follow it for you , not from the field today but from the club house. Tomorrow I go to the field again.
One of the tuggies mentioned, when I asked if this was not a heavy job for him:
“I prefer this above field running“
Huge thermals create already big dust devils at the field.

11.55;All car’s, still 4 at the grid ,have to be removed NOW.
First launch in 5 minutes. Meaning to go for TASK A.

12.PM; Club class glider J 1 is the first to be launched during this WWGC.
With the words “full power, full power” to the tuggy, Polish pilot Judyta started her WWGC in ASW 19, with that honor. BI , Kinga, another Polish pilot followed.
They have to fly 422.3 km.
The 6 tuggies go up and down, nice to see how quick this goes. 2 Of them are female ,Val the tug master and Fran.
There are 17 pilots in this class. They pass by still pretty low here, so I can easily see the call signs.

12.25 One glider thermalled pretty low so tuggies were advised where she was.
12.30; All club class gliders have had their regular start. Line opens at 1PM.
12.31; Launching from standard class in progress . Just saw EU pass by with Czech pilot Hana . 16 In this class!!
12.35; Claudia Hill from the UK in WH [club] announced her return for a relight.
12.40 ;the 2 gliders which returned, will have their relight as quick as possible. Normally that could be straight after standard has been launched. 12.43; L 7 with Ayala [LS 8] just passed, by so they are still busy. PO with Serena from Germany just is launched as well.
12.48; Relight of club class glider happens now….WH.[ after minor technical problem] .
Meaning standard class has been launched. Line opens at 13.25.
12.55; 18 m. will be launched now!!!Margot just passed by in 57.
13.04 ;One pilot tries to get more speed. She is hanging behind the tug over sport and recreation with 60 kts.
13.20; launching from 18 m. still in progress . !4 gliders in this class.
13.22; They have finished NOW.
Line for 18 m. opens in 30 minutes.; 13.50.

Back later; French crew members are having their lunch here. Smells good, looks good.

3.45;
Was in Manilla, to do some shopping. What a lovely old town,… looks like a real Old Settlers Place.
Eye catcher for sure; the old Manilla Railway Bridge, what a beauty. Have to go back to make some pictures.
When I came back here , the tracking system was installed in the club house and a few people were checking it.
Mind you the delay is 15 minutes!!!
Heard the girls are up to 13.000 ft. and speed over 130 km./h over the first leg!!
That does n’t surprise me as on the road,we saw the most beautiful “willy-willy’s” rising high, like small but powerful tornado’s. It looks like a real good day here at the ground. Several nice clouds popped up , but the wind , has changed at bit and is now a more Westerly.

4 PM:
Have to find out about a few things and as the first pilots are expected to be back here around 6 PM, I do have some time.
Most pilots are reaching the 3d TP meaning 18 m. has to fly a leg of 219 km…standard 135 , but they just finished a leg from 146 km…club just finished 121 km and starts their leg from 175.5 km.

A bunch of young crew members “found each other” in the cool kitchen. Just having fun!!!!

5.15 PM;
In standard class it looks like Hana and Aude are only 50 k out. Take the 15 minutes off and they can be quickly here.
In club also only 23 km.
Have put the finish line on!!!
In 18 m;They need some more time.

5.20 PM;
And there they are..Earlier than expected...
Club class arrives at 14 …long…wind calm.
heard FX..AJ..BM..EJ..WH..40..ZC..V 57..KW…CQL …JO ..KE and a few more.
PO..standard class as well now!!Some land on 20.
More difficult to see.

5.50 PM;
18 m is arriving as well with LT..XM..PT….L7 ..FQ..MM…and more!!!
6.10 PM:
ALL pilots are safely back home!!!
It was a bit of a “fight” sometimes, chasing the kangaroos on the 4-wheel-drive [quad] , but the pilots were disciplined , listened well where to land because of some “cheeky” animals and happy, so were the organizers.

TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY!!!!!
THAT WAS DAY 1!!!!
Excitement enough,….meaning not a boring day!!!!!
145 km./h by Lisa Turner in 18 m. Not bad!!!!
137 km./h. by Sarah in st. class at this stage with a pretty late start at 2. 12 PM. The Czech team started at 13.35.
122 km,/ h. in club class by 2 Aussies , Jenny and Jo, at this stage
Looking at it tomorrow.

FOR ALL RESULTS FROM DAY 1;
www.soaringspot.com

CU TOMORROW!!!!

12 PM:

At 10 AM was the opening of the 10th WWGC here in Lake Keepit. As promised it was short, because of the extreme temperatures here at the moment.
Welcome words by several people , also in Aboriginal language completed by playing a didgeridoo.
BUT,….before all that, the 10 teams marched in accompanied by a cadet carrying the flag f the country.
Here they are;

The opening finished with morning-tea. The rest of the day everybody will be free, to go where they want to go. With a few we visit this evening one of the houses looking over Keepit on a hill. It seems to be spectacular.

12.15:
VOTING has been on the accommodation for the briefing room. One country was in favor of the spiffy air conditioned hall in the sport and recreation center and 1 had no opinion. The rest was in favor of the shabby, hot hangar where the 4 tugs live.They prefer being AT the field above “luxe”.
As the UK send a tweet out already earlier ; “ Stupidly hot briefing today. The organisation is experimenting with briefing on the airfield in a tug hanger, we are melting! The UK team will be voting for briefing to move back to the AirCon’d hall at our accommodation for the comp. “
I heard somewhere “BREXIT 2” !!!!
So that’s organised.
It seems the designated start will be not used straight away, may be not at all, as the scorers could not deal with it.
Same as in Tocumwal.
So that’s sorted as well.

A landing from the 2 local pilots in the dust storm yesterday evening was quite spectacular.Even for the local pilots here. The SW storm definitely came in quicker than expected.The dust took ALL visibility as the wind stood full and straight on 20.
For that reason Attila landed on 32 short, to stop behind his trailer to pack the glider in it straight away.
We had heavy wind all evening and had to eat inside, but had a lovely night and the steaks now “cooked on the BBQ” by Nick, were yummy.

Results from the short AAT’s yesterday:
18 m; 2 hour AAT won by Anne Ducarouge in JS 3 in 1.59,52. Speed 175 km./h. over 350 km. Melanie had about the same. Heard from Lisa [Turner] that they had 8 m lift at some places!!!She was still full of adrenaline after her speedy flight; 172 km./h.
Standard class; 1.30 AAT…good speed here as well;220 km. in time 1.30 makes 146 km./h.for French pilot Aude .Sarah did well as runner up.228 km in time 1.35.speed 144 km./h.
Club class; 1.30 AAT; 5 flew over 200 km and the best speed was by the French they had a real good practice period,127 km./h for Celine and 122 km./h for Amelie both in LS 4.

Some more pictures from today by other teams:

———————————————

As most , I take off the afternoon, but want to share for family and close friends, reading the blog as well, a short tribute to our son and brother Dennis, who died 32 years ago here in Australia after a fatal accident with his tug.
Dennis and his dad George flew together in the Benalla WGC in January 1987, as the first father- son combination in the very first allowed 2 seaters in open class; the Nimbus 3D.
Only one week earlier [ December 27 1987] our best friend Kees Musters [World champion in Hobbs in New Mexico] had a fatal accident in the mountains in France with his hang glider. Busy with his funeral , we got the message of Dennis. We never attended the funeral of Kees.
It was a terrible time.

Life continues
CU tomorrow for the VERY FIRST OFFICIAL DAY OF THE COMPS.

9 AM; January 2 last official practice day!!
First a correction on what they spend in Holland on fire-works not 7,… but 77 million!!!!!! I don’t say anything!!!
An interesting evening and morning here in Keepit.
Did you ever hear of a tawny frog mouth????
It’ an owl and pretty difficult to spot, but we found 3 in the tree, listening to our conversations in front of the bar and club house.

In between a storm reached Keepit , you notice it on the picture and we saw a nice light show and heard interesting thunder and a tough wind.We could count the drops of rain , but they were there, we felt them!!!!
Before we heard a loud “BANG” …one car drove backwards in another car in front of the bar. Quite some damage on both.
The kitchen was cleaner as clean, great job from the French team.

No worries we had a good BBQ here so did part of the German team.

I slept in. Only woke up at 8.15, which was good as then, only 9 minutes earlier we had water again.
At 6 I heard the words “pump and water ” but I slept on. This morning I heard there was a major failure in the pump-house of the forest estate here. The whole estate also the camping’s at the lake were without water.
Compliments for those who worked VERY HARD , to give us water again for the shower, the tea and the toilets.

Briefing is today AT the field. After complaints from several TC’s they try today the hangar from the tugs. They had briefings last year during the pre worlds in the scruteneering hangar ,now they try the other one as it is all closer by and saves valuable time, in their opinions.
So not far today, not with the car but just walking to the hangar close by.

Back after briefing, which is at 11 today.
Just had a look in the tuggie hangar, …may I say, not as beautiful and big as the scruteneering hangar. Interesting to see what the TC’s will decide; a fancy airconditioned room on a 15 to 20 minute distance to get there and another to drive back or a hangar without airco, at the field close to the tie-down area and gliders at the strip.
They are moving the 2 tugs in it,…… out now!!!

Let’s wait and see.

12. PM;

Briefing is over,and though it was pretty hot in the old hangar , all ladies laughed more or less about it.The difference is BIG.
BUT,….8 of the 10 TC’s voted for a place AT the field.Tonight we know the result.
Let me start with the tasks as they are short today due to a small window but they want to practice a few more things as designated start and 20 km circles instead of 3 at finish.
A FINAL CHECK to see if all the systems are working.

18 m; 2 hour AAT
standard; 1.30 AAT
Club;1.30 AAT.

Due to problems to connect the monitor to the laptop, they send all pilots a PDF, but,…in the end they got it working.
Mandy and Anita both had a few issues to talk about.
The final logger- choices should be at the office today.
Most of them are already on the logger list.

As said they are practicing today a DESIGNATED start. So if the startline is open you can start with an interval of 10 minutes.
They try also the 20 km. circles, that might be necessary with special weather circumstances, when you finish.

Very interesting as well….. Bruce Taylor will fly in QR to keep an eye on dangerous situations. In case of emergency, p.e. as a smoke wall is coming in very quickly with the sea-breeze.
He will be “invisible” , does not fly the task, but can advise in such a situation where to land.
They have 4 big airfields allocated, where you can land with all classes if necessary.
Of course EVERYBODY hopes this is not necessary, but they are prepared as it happened before.
IF he advises an out landing for safety reasons , it will be a ZERO-POINT-day.
They also advise then pick up’s by trailer or tug.

Tomorrow is the opening at 10 AM.
It will be short, in the small terminal and outside between the containers where the flags are.
There will be “real” coffee and something to eat for a nice gathering.
Of course everybody parades in their uniforms.
The rest of the day is free.

The upcoming week shows temperatures in the low 40thies.
One day in the end of the week is cool ;38!!!! Cheer!!!!
The dew point is 16 so very moist here.Makes one tired.

About the same weather with 6/7 kts. and a ceiling just over or under 10.000 ft.
18 m. is upfront today followed by club and standard.
First launch expected at 2 PM. Day will not last long and there might be gusting wind at the landing.
Yesterday quite a few pilots landed 20.
No smoke expected today!

Forgot to tell you that yesterday’s pilots did well.
18 m; 9 from 14 flew the task and Jana from Czech Rep was in the JS 3 the best with 123 km./h!!! 4 “[virtual] outlandings”.
standard; great day for the Aussie girls being 1-2- and 3. They flew 404 km. in time 3.31!!!Then the 3 Czech girls with 336 km. in time 3.18.
8 from 16 flew.
club; Aussie Jo, USA Sylvia and Italian Elena flew all over 110 km./h.over nearly 300 km.
Sylvia started at 14.05 and Jo who won the day at 14.44.
12 From 17 flew and 6 were out

You are up to date now, back later.

2 PM;
They started launching the 18 m. class at 2 at the dot! 51 Liz from the UK and FQ, Melanie from France were the first 2 to go up.
Not a lot of girls use this last practice day, so with 6 tuggies they should be all up in a flash.
In between votes for the definite briefing room will be send by the TC’s via an app.
Modern times!!!!
2.30 PM;
Launching from Club is in progress! IIC just passed by.
18 m. was up in 20 minutes.
Standard will follow soon,,,,now as, CC just passed with Claire.

2.45 PM ;
Had a look at the skies for you. Up NNW huge “towering” clouds. To the E over development, but they don’t go there, but ….it seems to move here…. and to the W no clouds yet, but they form every where quickly now, also over the field….but some disappear as quickly as they arrive. One glider up high,…. finds lift in the blue!!!

3 PM;
very quiet now. Tuggies and field-runners and other helpers have done their jobs. Siesta – time ,… as it is “bloody hot”.

5 PM;
Nobody back yet skies look great , even over the field are beautiful MAJESTIC CU’s. BUT there is some less good weather coming tonight as we can see already.The mountains up N are pretty hazy now.
Just read about the fires far to the S.E from us here.
About the mass evacuations from over 10.000 people, from a area of 240 km from Batesman Bay,[ I know a few of my friends love it there as their holiday spot!!] to the border of Victoria.
Saturday will be even worse there with 43 dgr. C. and wind!!!
An area as big as Belgium has burned down already and 1300 houses are lost , ….381 over the last week,….and even worse they count till now 14 casualties.
” A fire is burning between Batemans Bay and Nowra and east of Braidwood. The fire is more than 258,000 hectares and is out of control. This large fire is burning between Nowra in the north, Braidwood in the west, and Batemans Bay in the south. “
https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/major-fire-updates/mfu?id=6025
I hope that this will stop quickly with lot’s of rain.
Maybe too much HOPE!!!

5.15 PM:
the first 18 m. gliders have finished at the field. Also LOT and CC, from Standard class just arrived back, whilst I was making pictures from the skies to the SW[ not looking so good] and over the field.
Also Bruce is back from his mission in QR.

5.30 PM;
Hope to have a radio from Jan. 4 onward to be even more informed and will interview some of the girls about their experiences here. So stay stand by over the next 2 weeks.
Due to problems, results were done by hand yesterday, big job, hope all works fine now.
www.soaringspot.com for the results from practice day 3….soon!
Will find Bruce to check what was going on today, during his flight.

5.35 PM;
Found Bruce , but he quickly had to tie down his glider as within 5 minutes the SW storm created no visibility over the field.
ZR who arrived back this morning had to be quick as well.

Have to leave my little room. It ‘s booked CU tomorrow from”somewhere” . Sean will be here today too

6 PM;
No worries ALL girls are back home. 2 Local Club class pilots practiced “landing in dust”, but as far as.I heard they did a great job.One of them was Jacques.

CU tomorrow after the opening!!!

4 PM;
In between the French team is cooking in the club house with some help from Swiss Kurt.The chocolate for the chocolate cake smells superb.

It looks like a full meal with potatoes and vegies [beans] as well. AND ,….. for 14 people!!!! Not bad. Big job though ,…in an unknown kitchen. An Australian boiled pineapple fruit cake,…mmm….. also baked this afternoon in another oven here. Never even heard from it,…but then,…I can’t cook /bake anything.

4.15 PM;
The first 18 m. pilots are about 70 k out. So to see quite a few have flown to the good looking clouds over the mountains .If they still continued their task, we only know when they are back.
In club class Kathryn is at the 3d TP at 4300 and Claudia is already further at 6000 ft.
In st. class a few are between TP 2 and 3 at 6000 ft.[Aussie team] and the Czech team is on her way to the 4th and last TP at 10.000ft. Liz is back home with Ayala, they turned short.
Have a look. http://wwgc2019.com/live-tracking/

5 PM;
The skies to the SW still look good as you can see.

And looking at New Zealand:

Scores will appear later at soaringspot.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!BONNE NOEL !!! FELICE ANNO NUOVO !!! FROHES NEUES JAHR !!! GELUKKIG NIEUWJAAR !!!!szczęśliwego nowego roku !!! STASTNY NOVY ROK !!!!
明けましておめでとうございます

8.30 AM:
I could not make it till 12 ,though it was a very nice evening with lot’s of guests and also young ones from Italy, France, Australia etc sitting all on 1 BIG table!!!
If camaraderie is one of the goals in top soaring, this event showed it was there!!!

---

Looking back at flying yesterday. The first training day was a success .
In 18 m. a nice speed of 132 km./h by the French girls Anne and Melanie in their JS 3.
All flying pilots in this class , except for one, had a warning, mainly for bad MOP or late delivery of FR log ,…so good they practice.
11 from 13 flew and 4 of them practiced an out-landing.
In standard class, Sarah did well from the USA in her Discus 2; 114.62 km./h.
The 2 Aude’s from France followed with 103 km./h.
11 From 16 flew and 5 out-landings, some close [85 km], some after 330 km.
In club class it was France and the USA on the top 4. With Celine on 1 in the LS 4b, with 96 km./h , followed by Kathryn in the LS 1 f , then Amelie and Sylvia.
12 from 17 flew and 6 out-landed some after 17 km.
ONLY PRACTICE NOW!!!!

11.AM;
Mandy started training day 2 with the words :” We thought ,…why do we need 3 training day’s.”
But it was proved yesterday that they need them for the pilots and the staff.
There were a few issues,
—about the drop off…not in ” convenient” lift, but in the designated drop off zone…
—about loggers , some have more than 2 but you need to use the ones which are registered at the office before 8PM tomorrow.
—Trailers should be secured in the ground. They have had here more than once trailers on top of each other by gusting unexpected wind.
—very unexpected seabreeze can come in and create a wall of smoke! A preliminary warning now .They will advise how to deal with it.

One of the sponsors mentioned today was SkySight from Matthew Scutter. They applauded him.

TASKS:
18 m; Task A.. 3 hour AAT…Task B …215 AAT.
standard class;Task A…3.30 AAT…Task B…2.45 AAT.
Club class; Task A …2.30 AAT…Task B… 2 hour AAT.

The Weather;
About the same as yesterday. 40 dgr. C,..not abnormal for here.
Maybe cross wind again with the landing at 14 if a gusting wind appears they can land on 20, as well.
Clear day expected, no smoke.

The tasks are set to the NW this time and all classes have AAT’s to practice this as well. All pretty similar .
First launch expected at 12.30.
Standard is first at the grid, then 18 m. and club.

I heard there will be 6 tugs during the comps and today number 5 will be added.
Back later. Go to the field. Quite a lot of pilots are not flying today, I noticed! More later.

2 PM:
Just back from the field .HOT!!!!!
Most walk around with umbrella’s.
Noticed about 15 gliders at the tie-down-area, so they take the day off.
With 5 tuggies ,..no worries about towing,…it goes smooth and without problems.
The first launch was at 12.30 sharp.

Within 10 minutes the st. class was up in the air.Their line opened after 30 minutes after the last launch in this class at 13.10.
XM was the first 18 m. class glider up at 12.40 and the last was up at 13.50 ,…so at 13.20 their line opened.
Club with WH as the first left at 12.56 and JO was the last at 13.20,..their line will open at 13.50.

So very quick action from the tuggies!
Specially with launching the 18 m, they had small delay due to gusting wind creating lot’s of dust over the field. They don’t take any risk!!!
The dust devils were MAGIC!!!!Look at the picture from TEAM UK
British Gliding Team@GBGlidingTeam
Must be another great day.

For got to tell you this morning that the safety committee has been appointed and all agreed on the chosen ladies; Elena from Italy, Sarah from the USA and Anne from France.

You are up to date, I am going to have a little rest. CU later.

3 PM:
A lot of PR for this International competition which is good.On the last day of the year NBN NEWS was here and share a nice video with several from the guests flying here.
BREAKING NEWS again over new fires in NSW. They keep a good eye on it here as well. It looks scary orange and hot on TV!!!

In Holland, they blew the biggest amount spend on fireworks, in the air last night;7 Million!!! What a waste.
Read as well that the cost for Sydney were 4 million!!!
Hope to have a radio here as well to hear what’s happening and of course we look at the live-tracking at wwgc2019.com/live-tracking
BUT,…it is not always working. From one pilot we know the tracker is on but it does n’t show anything.

12.30 PM: on December 31. First official training day.
One way or another I could not add more news to blog 4 ,so we just create a new one and continue here. Might have been too overloaded!!!
The gliders are launched right now. At 12.30 sharp the first club class gliders went up. 4 Tuggies available now ,so it goes much faster.

1.00 PM;
No clouds to be seen. Guess club class really has to work HARD the first hour!!!
Crews or TC’s coming in here in the club house look hot and bothered. Still a few at the grid, to be launched.
Some news;
About the airspace here :
According to Mandy it’s very simple and they feel very lucky with that. So they should!!!
Not as in parts of Europe, where you have to find your way through small corridors to go on track.
Tamworth is strictly for bidden. Pretty normal, big airfield.
Several Military Fields are open/ not active at the moment, as they are on a holiday.
As long as they mention that these areas are open ,you can enter them.It will be also mentioned on the task sheet.
So today is mentioned that R559ABCDE and R639CD are not active. But I presume you are not really interested in that.
Also important,…there is a zone of 60 km close to Gunnedah and that is totally unlandable,…so NOT safe .

Elevation of the field here is 1150 ft and the QNH 1011.

2 PM;
All glider pilots willing to fly seem UP in the air now, though I still hear some tuggies working hard. Clouds popped up over the mountains to the NNW. Pretty high!
The A tasks are on.

Did n’t go to the strip. Had to resolve a few issues with downloading pictures to my blog.
Back later.

5 PM;
Yesterday Diana was 1 of the pilots who flew the task. A lot gave up.
As it was a pretty long day for her, she is not flying today.
Guess today most of the girls will try to fly it.
They will land here in front of the club house at 14.
Maybe with a little bit of cross wind as they mentioned at briefing and a surface wind of 5 to 10 kts.
We are waiting.
The 4-wheel-drive to chase the kangaroos from the field just drove away,so there might some pilots on their way. I’ll have a look for you.
At 6 PM there is a TC meeting as well.
Back soon , but you can see the scores from this first official training day on www.soaringspot.com

5.15 PM;
When I opened the door I clearly heard the jet engine from 1 of the gliders coming back and trying it out. LOUD like a Citation leaving!!!!
2 Czech girls are back in ZE [Jana] and ZF[Eva] in 18 m. class. Also 51 [Liz from the UK] in 18 m.passed by ,when I waited at the field.
A few had just landed when I run up. All nice long straight- in- landings, as requested.

There are people in favor of the fireworks on the Bridge in Sydney and quite a lot against.
There is enough fire here in Australia already.
BUT,….The show goes on and when a million people will visit,they each can give money for the people suffering from the fires and for the fire brigade to assist them.
That ‘s the idea I heard on TV.

I am sure I speak for EVERYBODY from here, to wish you a SAFE, HEALTHY, PROSPEROUS and HAPPY 2020.
CU next year in 2020.
Cheers Ritz

8 AM;
Tuesday …December 31 2019….last day from 2019…..tomorrow it will be 2020!!!!
Tough wind last night and still now!The kangaroos hide behind trees maybe to avoid sand in their eyes???
First official training day , briefing on a new location ; in the sport and recreation center, where we had dinner again yesterday.
ALSO,…the mandatory safety briefing at 9.30 AM!!!

Yesterday evening was a busy night at the club house and the “mobile” bar. Pilots and crew, as well as volunteers found their way to get together and drink and talk.

Before going to dinner yesterday evening, I noticed ZR. It was a glider belonging to Sportavia Soaring Center in the past, was bought by Grant, who sold it to Attila. I walked to the glider to make a picture and the gentleman walks to me and said ; “Hello Ritz.”
It was Attila . Have not seen him “for ages” certainly over 15 years, but it was good to see him and talk to him. He was and still is a hang glider pilot, who converted to gliding with us at the SSC and did that remarkable quick. All of them, as there was a “bunch” of hang glider pilots converting then.
Grant had already done so before.

Brad is leaving again today. He “raced” , after the Nationals ,with tailwind from Toc. to Armadale, as he had to take care of his brand new glider… an ASG 32. I wish him and all who fly with him , good luck and safe flights in this glider.
We just shared some stories on the past also with John [USA] about how he became world champion in Uvalde[ Texas] in 1991 and about Mafikeng with the “thunderstorm day” on which all out landed.
We share so much great memories from gliding and this WWGC will do so too.
Cu later.

11 AM;
A long briefing and some had to get used to the new location. Quite a few were late.

CD Mandy welcomed all competitors and crews and introduced her team. They wear pink hats, so easy recognizable.

Safety officer Anita ,spoke about ALL safety things important at this comps. It covered airspace, snakes , dehydration, important phone numbers and more. You can read it all on line; WWGC SAFETY BRIEFING
LOOKING OUT IS A COMPETITION ADVANTAGE!!!
And,…LOOK OUT FOR EACH OTHER AND COMMIT TO A SAFE AND ENJOYABLE COMPETITION.
I can only agree.
Start-line is 10 km.
Finish circle 3 km.
Min. finish height TODAY 1450 ft MSL for Club Class and 1400 ft. MSL for st. and 18 m.

Meteo Dave ; said that the weather is about the same as yesterday but with a later start. Thermals up to and over 7 kts. and around 5.30 a ceiling of 15.000 ft.
NO sea-breeze today and a light wind.
Task setter Bruce shared the tasks; A and B tasks for all classes in the direction S.W.
Pre start height for all classes 6000 ft.
Launch order;Club Standard and 18 m.
First launch expected at 12.30.

18 m;
A task…332.9 km.
B task…263.7 km.

Standard class;
A task …377 km.
B task ….303.9 km.

Club class ;
A task …329.7 km.
B task …247.7 km.

8.30 AM; Monday December 30.
An early morning [6.30] as several pilots and or crews left early to work on the glider, when it is not yet hot.
It’s still practice here , but French pilot Aude flew 409 km. already in her Discus.
The good weather and finally no smoke was in the South.[NSW and Victoria]
Benalla and Tocumwal both had 1000 km. flights yesterday ;Tobias in his 15 m. Ventus 2ax and Lumpy in his JS 3 [925 triangle!!]
And what about Grant in his St Jantar; a 750 FAI triangle [ stretched to 806].
New National champion in 15 m. class Bernie flew in his PIK 20 a distance of 819 km.
His comment ;” Great day…..760km @ 132km/h……Yeehaaa”
Both flights from Tocumwal, where they struggled a bit during the Nationals 2 weeks ago , due to smoke and wind. Such a pity the weather is at it’s best now.
From Sunraysia David flew 903 in an LS 3.
Great flights. Look at them on the OLC.

We had a lovely meal yesterday evening in the sports center. What a “posh ” place that is …Huge too.
Katrin [Senne], the current WWGC champion in 18 m. , arrived as well, with Brad and his JS3.
The apple crumble was to die for ,as was the custard pudding, not to forget the chicken curry, mild but very tasty. Compliments!!!!

Off to briefing now to see what the girls have to do.

9.30 AM;
Another hot day in Keepit, from now on I leave “the Lake”.
It was the last briefing in the small office, as from tomorrow onward briefings will be in the sports center about 7 km. driving from the airport over a small road. At 9.30.
The office will now be the “operational heart” of this WWGC.

The weather with Dave; about the same as yesterday,hot with an northerly influence ,blue with later in the day’s some clouds in the SW and N.
Lift about 5.5 kts. up to 10.000 ft and later up to 11/or 12.000 depending on the influence of the smoke from some fires in the flying area.
Not much wind!

The tasks with Bruce; 2 tasks have been set on this last unofficial practice day.
One from 454 km. for 18 m,; a polygon with 4 points.Longest leg 173 km.
The other 302 km.for st./club class.; a polygon with 4 points. the longest leg is 96 km.
Tasks have been set in the better weather and stay away from smoke.
With fires in the area close by remember; 3000 ft AGL and 5 nm .
Gridding will be “who comes first, is on row 1” and the first should be lining up at Terminal 1, the shade-roof at 32 [ Showed you pictures yesterday. ] and the first launch is expected at 12 PM.

Borgelt Instruments has worked here at the vario meters of a few gliders. Mike explained why instruments suffer from the heat and might even overheat.
Some of the modern gliders have no opening at all in the cockpit. With the heat it is like a SOLAR OVEN, which is bad !!!!
He advised to “make a hole” in the top of the instrument panel, cover it with insect screen ,….so air can get through… and place some computer fans at the bottom under the instruments.

Yesterday Diana, who represents Luxembourg , flew around 310 km. and after arriving back here, she started the jet-engine of her new JS 3 at 300 m. to race with 200 km./h queer over the field.
It was only the 2d time she tried the “jet”. She was smiles from ear to ear, when I met her later, ” it felt just GREAT” she said .

Off to the field for the launches,

2 PM;
Great looking skies, so lot’s of gliders in a queue to start.
Adam flew as coach in the back of the Duo Discus and Ricardo decided to fly today too.

The competition doggy is adopted my many pilots. It goes from lap to lap. A cute little Mascot.

AND,….strong thermals turning over gliders, from one wing to the other, so MUST be a good day.

And more…strong day!!!

3.30 PM;
Still some gliders are being launched NOW.
There is a lot of talking about the fires and their influence on the weather. We know for sure that it HAS an influence.
Here is the more technical info from the Bureau of Meteorology.
I share this news which I got from Anni today;

http://media.bom.gov.au/social/blog/1618/when-bushfires-make-their-own-weather/

Water is a problem too, also here. as said they bought water here and use rain water as well.

In between the ladies, who started are happily flying, their crews drop in hot and bothered in search for drinks!!!
They are, looking at the tracking , at 8000 ft and some at 11.000 with lift up to 2/3 m. So nice cool up high there.
One of the ladies mentioned earlier, a not working oxygen bottle and wondered if she should come back.

5 PM;
Gliders are landing now. 2 Just arrived, but I got only one on my pictures.

6 PM;
The Team captains meeting starts in 5 minutes!
Scruteneering is over. Nearly ALL was OK.
Gliders are landing, some are still half an hour out.
One landed today wheels up,..not good ,but better now than during the comps.
The new “bar” along the club house is busy .
No worries for “mum” kangaroo, eating a bit of green grass with her baby in front of it.

Off to dinner soon.
CU tomorrow.Interesting day as the official training starts.

10 AM; On Sunday December 29.

Briefing is over . We could see some smoke already to the N. but the S. should be OK.
They started with “ the less rules, the better“.
That’s in a nutshell the feeling you get , when you are here. It’s all very easy -going at this stage during the practice.
We have to be very careful with water as they have to buy it.
The weather looks good according to Al, who shares the maps from Sky Sight with the ladies.
An average of 7/8 kts. thermals, up to 7000 ft in the early afternoon and later in the day, when clouds might show up in the blue , up to 10.000 ft in the ranges even to 15.000.
Wind is light and variable, both at the surface and a bit higher, the ranges will have some more wind.
BUT,….from 6.30 onward, “it falls all apart“.

They use 3 tug’s today for the launches and in the end of the day you should, when you are later, announce your arrival at 20 and 10 km. so they can chase the kangaroos from the field. No worries this is “normal” here.
Mac got a real beautiful CUP, for the longest flight last year flown in NSW, from Tocumwal; 1.193 km.

About the fires; There are a few around. As said not direction S.
Pilots are asked to report a starting fire which they might see from above to Brisbane Emergency on 127.1.
The instructor for the day Nick,also mentioned that you are NOT allowed to fly closer than 5 n.m. from a fire.
And …look out….There might be water bombers as well.

Task; 320 to 350 km.

Yesterday evening we had quite an “International table ” for dinner, here at the club house. Chris was so kind to “cook” our steaks on the BBQ and for sure he has done this before, they were PERFECT!!!

You are up to date ,…more later,

12 PM;
I walked to the strip to make some pictures from the pilots in their glider .I stopped at the hangar for scruteneering.
It happened that it was the turn for the brand new JS 3, with call sign MM from Diana. She is the first female pilot competing for Luxembourg.
I was allowed to make pictures, so I did.
May I tell you,…this was the most advanced system I have ever seen since 1981!!!
Somebody told me it was the idea from the president here, Tim Carr, just genius!!!Compliments!
SO,….You have a big hangar…. You open the door at one side and roll the wheel of the glider on a trolley. So far nothing new. But,..then in the hangar at the floor are rails.You bring the glider to the scales and roll it off.

Then they do the “normal” checks look at the weight and measure the wing span, check the paperwork etc and then the glider is moved back- wards to and other trolley on another set of rails. One door opens for the next glider, MM rolls out and the other door opens to push the glider out.

JOB done……JUST MARVELOUS!!!!

2 PM:
Back from the field. 38.7 dgr. C in the shade under a roof where you can have water and a rest before flying.

Strong thermals at the ground.It looks like a real good day. The 3 tuggies go up and down.Here are some of the girls ready to go.Still struggle a bit with the names as the call signs are different or not available in my book.So I hope I have it right.

3 PM;
Visited the Lake,….can’t say it’s a lake anymore just a bit of water. It’s SO sad to see this terrible drought here. All trees are dead, no grass to be seen and only just a drop of water. I heard 0.4 % water of what it should be.

4 PM;
With an average of 6 meter lift for some, pilots must come down with big smiles.HAPPY PILOTS I guess!!!
A few are landing at the moment. The wind has changed now as some come in at 14.
Dave Shorter has arrived. He is the meteo- man for this competition.
Nearly all championship officials have arrived here now.
Jacques is here already for a few day’s , in fact Lake Keepit is his home base. He has 4 important jobs; IT, Trackers, Maps and Air Space.
Still miss Bruce and Anita [ they seem to be here] and Sean will be here on Jan 2.
I had the names correct from the girls, we only found some mistakes in the call-sign-list. For that reason there was some confusion. No worries!!!

CU tomorrow we are going to the sports center for dinner.
More about that tomorrow.

10 AM:
After a pretty good night sleep, I had a shower at 7 and some talks with the locals and then off to briefing in the office.
Later the briefings will be in a sports center about 7 km. from here.
Now they are very close by for me.

Briefing was at 9 and all was very easy-going.
Lay out of the field was shown again , for he new arrivals and the SKYSIGHT -weather was analysed.
Not a bad day, with 6 to 7 kts., nearly no wind till around 6 PM when a change comes trough from the mountains and no storms.
More important to know,…a very blue day!!!
Runway 32 in use and for the landing they will advise depending on the incoming wind.

A task was set as well by Liz from Team UK ;302 km FAI triangle and if you wanted to do “more” you could make an AAT by widening the TP’s from the A task.
One of the 3 tuggies for today is Nina.
She is an Aussie, does n’t want to be an airline pilot later, which surprised me and a very friendly young lady.

More later!

12 PM;
So the president of the jury ,Gisela is already here since yesterday.
Just an hour ago Frauke the chief steward arrived and settled in, in her cabin. All are here at the field!!!
So the “show” can start now with, as I guess , ALL girls here too now.
We have a car for the 3 of us, as I am allowed to drive with them.
Necessary,… as we need to buy some food in Gunnedah for lunch and morning. Gunnedah is about 35 minutes from here.
Saw Ailsa today, she arrived as well.
Found myself a new little ,at this stage empty room in the club house, to work in for the time being ,till Sean the editor will be here.
Then a media-room will be created. No worries.

It’s great to be at the field. Tugs pass by with gliders on tow, just in front of you. All very close by!!!
The kangaroos have disappeared at this stage, but I know from the past, they will be back around 4 PM.
Around midday the first gliders will be launched for today’s task.
Back later !!!

4.30 PM.
3 European ladies in an Australian SUV,….that MUST be great fun.
It was !!!!
We were off to Woolworth in Gunnedah ,….found it,…. shopped till we dropped and drove home again.
But before we had to ask a young man, if he maybe knew how to open the boot of the car. He knew so all shopping could go with us.
Never saw so many times the bug wipers going up and down without rain.
We needed the GPS as well.
In between I made some pictures from the strip here,…NO GRASS at all, dry as a bone.

I had contact with Casey, who organized my room but who is in Hong Kong now, about the press-location He send me 2 pictures from how Keepit normally looks.

And one more

Though I am here for the WWGC in Lake Keepit, I know, you are used from me to see other important items pass by as well.
My eye “fell” on the great flight from Klaus Ohlmann on Christmas Eve in the Antares 23 E:
2.714 km in 14 hours and 18 minutes. So a nice speed of 189.7 km./h!!!!!!!
Great achievement!!!
” A great day and a great forecast from skysight. And the Antares is really a race horse. “
So good PR for Antares from Lange Aviation and Sky Sight from Matthew Scutter.

The girls here are having fun too. Not all are flying ,but before I left I saw some gliders go up.
I’ ll go outside again to see if I can make some nice pictures.It’s bloody hot though!!!
By the way I liked the news from the British Gliding Association:
“Some top tips and a top pic from the 10th FAI Women’s World Gliding Championships..
#WWGC19 #gliding

And another PRO TIP: for those who are not on FB;
“When outlanding, locals favour cultivated fields over grazing paddocks as like a glider, farming machinery objects to rocks! Livestock will step over them so they’re often left place if the field is for grazing only.
Just watch for SWER (single wire earth return) power lines as the single wire makes them very hard to see.”

6 PM:
Bumped into some old friends and have not been able to go to the field.
Will make some more pictures tomorrow. Here is one from Wendy and Harry,….. they just DO NOT AGE!!!

CU tomorrow.