Alphen aan den Rijn September 28 2008
It seems that global warming hits Europe harder then the rest of the world. It is not that you say:”” I really feel it”, but since 1850 Europe got 1 dgr. warmer , while the rest “only” had 0.8 dgr.
Today might be a -global-extra-warmer-day, but we loved it here in Holland. Great weather again with nearly 20 dgr. bleu skies but also nice clouds for the pilots and lovely sunny and warm conditions.
Niole and Richard visited last wednesday and we had a short but very pleasant couple of hours. Richard had visited Lasham, where he caught up with Tim and Laurel from Melbourne , all Sportavia -friends and later he flew 2 weeks in Saint Auban. The weather was not as good over there as last year; he flew 2o hours less then in the same period last year. Yesterday they flew back to Sydney and they will spend Christmas , soaring in Tocumwal.
I wrote the first 500 words for the Magazine ” Gliding International ” and have to the deliver the “news” before Oktober 16. Hope to reach Michael Sommer , to talk with him about his second world title in open class. An interesting topic for the next issue.
In the beginning from September, to be precisely september 6 2008 an Austrian pilot ,Werner Amann , flew 1423 km , more or less a jo- jo in a South-Foehn- wind, with no thermal activities. Just “hang”. On www.schempp.hirth.de is a nice article with him written by Bernd Weber,a nice fellow who visited us several times in Tocumwal. It is in German, so for all of you who read German, worthwhile to surf to.
The USA still has great weather and the best flights last week, were flown over there.In Warner Springs several pilots flew up to over 700 km.I like the 712 km in an LS 6 and the 646 in a Kestrel 17 m. All pilots used the same mountain chains and must have had a lot of pleasure out of their flights.
This month several 2008 FAI Qualifying Sailplane Grand Prix have been flown.Saint Auban in France had a 15 m one, Lasham in the UK as well. Nitra in Slovak Rep. for 18 m. and in November also for 18 m. there is one in Narromine [Australia] . In 2009 we will see the qualifying sailplane GP in Santiago[ Chile] 15m. , in Zar [Poland]club class and in Feldkirchen [Austria] 15 m.
In Australia the season slowly starts. I hear they have had already very good soaring conditions. Friends as Gerrit Kurstjens and Terry Bellair for sure will make many kilometers in the upcoming season. W’ll keep an eye on them. And…will Coober Pedy have its own gliding club?????And…will the Dutch airline-pilot-couple [ collegues of my daughter] succeed in having their own gliding club in Narromine?We ‘ll find out!
You are up to date again with several soaring-news-issues. Next week we will meet again.Have a great week!
Ritz