As shared on FB
http://stuffdutchpeoplelike.com/2015/05/04/13-iconic-dutch-liberation-photos/
MAY 4-5-6 2015 .
We celebrated our freedom yesterday [MAY 5 1945 so 70 years] with Celebration-day with lot’s of music festivals and unfortunately not the best weather.A pretty wild thunderstorm moved from the SW to the NE . It arrived in a flash [was announced on TV] and for a few minutes it was really spooky, also here.A lot of events were cancelled , but straight after the 15 minutes of heavy rain and storm gusts up to 90 km. it was over and the sun started to shine but a wind with 7 bft. stayed.
It was very inspiring to see several 90 year old Canadians who fought here during the war in a parade, mostly sitting in vintage military vehicles and a lot of Canadian students, who came here to be part of history and to keep that history for the future.
Also the Canadian premier Stephen Harper was in Holland at several festivities on both May 4 and 5.
Last Monday we thought of all those who lost their lives during that TERRIBLE WW2 or fought for our freedom 70 years ago, but also later during peace missions overseas, as in Irak ,Bosnia or Afghanistan.
At the National Monument on the DAM in Amsterdam, more than 20.000 people gathered and at 8 they were ALL silent for 2 minutes, as all who could do so , in the rest of Holland. Pretty impressive!!!!
Today life continues. It’s I guess special, for most of us who have been born just after WW2. It means we know freedom and how many do NOT.Just something to EXTRA think of on days like these.
It’s also 70 years ago that Anne Frank died in Bergen Belsen, she is still a symbol for all what should have NEVER happened.
Young and old, WORLDWIDE, have read her diary [ translated in 70 languages!!!] and about 1.2 million people still visit every year the ” ACHTERHUIS” in Amsterdam.
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Looking at our sport. May started PERFECT; May 1 was a good one,….and a day off for many in Europe .
Just under 850 in an ARCUS and in an LS 8 from Grosses Moor in Germany,[ one day later 1000 km.!!! in an ARCUS T] ] over 500, AGAIN from places in Holland and nearly 600 from Locktow in a St Cirrus.
On May 2 Terlet, the Dutch National Gliding Center and “home” for the Gelderse , hosted the Gelderse one-day-competition and 33 decided to go and fly there as the weather was “pretty ” good.
240 km. was set for the 10 club class participants , 13 pilots in the combi class got 340.6 km. and 508.2 km. for the 10 open class pilots.
Great pictures [74] by Willemijn de Lange.
Shared by ZWEEFPORTAAL on FB
https://www.facebook.com/Zweefportaal
In club, Frank Hiemstra was the fastest with 95 km./h. in the St Cirrus. Runner up in an ASK 21 from the Gelderse; Thys Bastiaanse and Robin Smit . Robin will travel in the end of this year to Narromine .
In the combi/mixed class , former junior world champion Tim Kuijpers with Wout Sliedrecht in the DG 505/20 m. showed that despite the lack of soaring-time due to his his career as an airline pilot , Tim still belongs to the best;99.9 km./h.
In open class 5 from 10 finished the 508 km. task. Maurits Dortu in his ASG 29 flew with a speed of 115.6 km./h and the runner up Max Leenders / Jan Willem van Doorn, with 105.1 km./h. in the Nimbus 4DM.
Happy chappies ,Thys and Robin.
As shared on FB by them.
THE WINNERS;
Mourits in open class and Tim and Wout in the combi class !
And Frank in club class.
All fabulous pictures from Willemijn de Lange![With her permission]
Beautiful sunset, after another TOP event at one of the most fabulous places in Holland; TERLET.
Her site ” , under construction ” at the moment;
www.willemijndelange.nl
Other pilots enjoyed, no LOVED another Dutch TOP day!!!May 2 a day to remember.In fact you don’t have to go anymore to Africa or Australia to fly your 1000!!!You can do it here in Holland!!!!
Not that it is a fait accompli, as in Africa or Australia, but you CAN!!!
On May 2 , our young new ASG 29 e/18m. owners , Alfred Paul and Mark, tried their gliders out again and,…they flew 1.071 km. They needed the engine to come home on the last kilometers , but who cares. They knew that already on track ,as they could see the high clouds coming in from the SW and these would cut them off from any more good thermal activity in the end.
It’s not often that pilots fly a 1000 from Holland, so it even was on TV in the evening!!!
By the way these were the first 1000 km. flights from Soesterberg. In the beginning and at 400 km. OUT, they had a speed of 145 km./h. but they finished with 118 km./h.
AND,…Sikko [Ventus bt/17.6 m] flew ,also from Soesterberg, a 800 declared FAI triangle!!!!! WHATADAY!!!!
More great flights and sorry when I am so enthusiast but it is pretty special all those nice long flights;
632 in a ST Cirrus by one of our junior pilots, Nick Hanenburg, participating in the JWGC in Narromine this year as well. His longest flight till now!!Good on him!!!
706 in a Duo Discus the very first over 700 km. flight from Veendam, 620 in a PIK 20 b etc…etc.
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Gauteng Regionals from Orient in South Africa.
The Gauteng Regionals continued from Orient and when I left you they started their 4th day last Wednesday.
Tasks were 1.30 AAT’s, just to see what was possible.
In 15 m. 3 ASW 27’s arrived at the same time with Wayne[Schmidt] just a tad faster;137.7 km./h. for 137.5 and 137.3. They started at 2.o2 , raced together and finished about the same time.
Day 5 showed a small task as well;182.5 km.Wayne….yes won again. When he would not have had 20 penalty points on day 1, he would have won EVERY day, till now.
Day 6 was for Mark Holiday, Wayne was 2d and 149 points were his. Some did not fly, some out-landed and 3 flew the 145.4 set km.
After 6 days a clear regional champion. Wayne Schmidt.[2344]
In open class day 4 had a 2 hour AAT. Distances around 300, just over and under, were flown. Winner of the day Martin [Lessle] in his 17.6 m Ventus CM. Best speed of the day 140.7 km./h. by Pieter Nouwens in the JS 1.
Day 5 ;250.3 km. AND Martin did it again!!!!A pity he out-landed on day 1.
Day 6 ;145.4 km….do you know what happens when you fly 145.4 km with a speed of 144.7 km.h.?????
You get 202 points!!!!!
That happened to Oscar! Of course he was the new regional champion!!![3653]
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Qualifying Sailplane Grand Prix in the Czech Rep.
I liked their welcome words written by Miroslav [Valek] :
” We live for gliding and gliding is part of our life. It is not a cliché, it is just like that. We wish to all competitors to spent relaxed and enjoyable time in Frydlant, in the beautiful corner of the Czech Republic and at one of the nicest airfield of this region. Man must come and see it to be able to understand what we are talking about. Man must come and fly over the Beskydy mountains to feel the beauty we are enjoying every flight.
Come and glide.”
BIG organization before it all starts at Frydland. Building up by the volunteers , checking out the radio by Mr. Grand Prix himself, Roland,..it’s all part of this event.
Not a lot of pilots flew during the practice day’s but the set 154 km. on Wednesday, was flown by 3 and Thursday’s 216 km.- task as well.The rain spoiled Friday as a practice day. But the scrutineering that day, was in full swing , so was the preparation for the opening at 6 PM and the rock concert after.
The LAK 17 bfes.
Pictures shared by the organizers.
In the evening All pilots ” raised in rang”.Why,….how???????
” Yesterday we had a great opening ceremony. All the pilots became citizen of the Wallachian Kingdom. After having one shot of slivovic they got a brand new passport with all possible visas. After that we had a nice party under the big tent.”
Sebastian and Petr [Krejcirik] during the ceremony ,as well as Roland;Shall I or shall I not!
I had to smile to see their faces!
Good luck and save flying for ALL QGPS participants.
Pictures shared by the organizers.
Day 1;After rain over night and a foggy morning the 13 pilots [4 from Poland , 1 from Slovenia, the rest from Czech Rep] went to briefing at 10 and knew already that there would be a task for them.
There were even 2, one from 223. km [A task] and one from 114,… depending on the weather.
A second briefing started at 1 and as the forecast was for a rapid improving cloud base AND good thermal activity in the afternoon, they went for task A.
But,they could not start straight away, as it all went a bit slower than hoped for, so it turned out to be task B;114 km.
At 4 PM however the regatta start !!!! And 2 Polish pilots got the 10 and 8 points for the day. 10 for Zdislaw and 8 for Sebastian.Both flew with a speed of 92.3 and 92.2 km./h. Petr Panek was on spot 3.
Day 2; 212 km.
Day- 2-start from Lysa hora.
As shared by the organizers.
The start was at 12.20 with sunny conditions but with the remark that later in the day high cloud cover was to be expected.After what they called “an excellent race” ,it was Sebastian who got the 10 points. For some it was a difficult day as they finished more than an hour behind Sebastian. 10 Made it back home!
Martin Piskacek,a young Czech pilot was 3d and so to read he is very talented!!!
As they said in their daily report; ” Racing in these conditions requires a lot of intelligent decision making from the pilots and there is no doubt that experience is a significant advantage.”
Great picture from the finish by one of the participants as seen by
and the daily winners.
With Sebastian in the middle, Martin to the right and Luka to the left.
Day 3 ;was a difficult decision! After the rain they hoped for, and expected a small window, maybe even with wave. To be sure, they had a new briefing at 12.
” Meteoman Johnny Horac is optimistic. The first launch is expected at 14:00. Task distance is 119 km. The task has two turning points Policna and Cesky Tesin.”
They were airborne, but it was not meant to be. Rain arrived most had to land back and the day was cancelled.
Roland in action as CD.
As shared by the organizers.
The new Day 3; started with the message from the organizers ” 2nd briefing at 12:00. Sniffer landed shortly after he had been released. He reported only one lift but very turbulent. The wind is strong.”
In the end they squeezed out a rather nice day with the start at 14.10 and with 7 finishers within the minute and as winner Petr [ Krejcirik with 9 points runner up Petr, [ Panek with 7 ] and Sebastian with 6 points.
8 Pilots finished.
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Italian club class Nationals .
Day 2 last Saturday had a 252 km. set task, but none of the pilots manged to fly it. Some did better than the others as the best distance was 206.9 km. in a H301. The pilots on spot 1 to 3 overall last weekend ,Stefano, Alberto and Davide had a less good day, though Davide managed to fly 136 km.whilst Stefano and Alberto both in the Silent Targa flew 107 and 56 km. That changed the overall scores quite a bit, and as the last day Sunday was cancelled it was an invalid championship with 2 days and with winners no champions; Stefano just hold his first spot, [1189] Davide [1133]moved to 2 and Alberto to 4.[1077] On spot 3 Ugo Pavesi[1113].
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KLIX 2015 with 127 gliders in 5 classes.
On day 1 ;4 out landings and all others finished.Racing tasks up to 320 km. were set.My Belgian friends Tim Huybreckx] , Jef [ Kell, maried to Gitte Huybreckx] , Wim[Akkermans, married to Sofie Huybreckx] and Dennis [Huybreckx] so one big flying family flew together to spot 7-8-9 and 12 in St class.
2 Dutch pilots topped day 1 in 15 m. Steven who already won Klix once and Ronald [Deerenberg in LS 6]
A Danish pilot topped the open class in a Discus 2C / 18m.
Gitte and Jef as shared by the organizers in their gallery
http://aeroteam.de/index.php?whl=20010300&lg=de
cousins Dennis and Tim
Wim and Sofie AND uncle Marc [Huybreckx, father from Tim and Gitte] [via FB]
I do know the Huybreckx family as well as the Schmelzer family already for more than 40 years, both LOVELY families.
Day 2 ;was another good day with a base between 1200 and 1600 m MSL. Over 500 km. for the racing class and 2 seaters. It was good for some just a bit too long for others . 11 Out landings mostly because the air in Poland was n’t too good.
The 2 seater class was won by an ASH 32 MI with a speed of 111.49 km./h. over 515.3 km.
In racing class they had 511.4 km and AGAIN Steven [ASW 27] was the best, it was however a bit TOO much for the LS 6 .Ronald out landed after 424 km. Not bad!!
481 km. for st. class and “the family ” did pretty well though Tim out landed after 365 km from the set 481.7 km.Wim and Dennis landed on spot 1 as a family TOGETHER, both 1000 points. Jeff was at spot 7.
Steven as daily winner 3 x in a row.
Day 3 ;hot air was arriving but hope for a small window for 15 m, standard and club .18 m. and 2 seater pilots had the day off.It worked out well it was already day 4 for these classes.
800 points for the winner in the Club class, Joshua [Arntz] flying a Hornet.[2.30 AAT]
1000 points for German pilot Peter [Pollack] in the Discus in St class. Dennis and Wim on 4 and 5, Tim on 9 and Jeff on 19.[3 hour AAT]
No “brakes” on Steven, he won day 3 and was the only one flying in this class over 100 km./h. over 321 km during a 3 hour AAT.
Day 4;started with nice CU’s and the 17 tuggies had the 127 gliders high up in the air ,in 90 minutes. Pretty good!!! All went for task A …..17 did not finish.
It was a Belgium day in St. Class!!! AGAIN 2 of them got 1000 points ;Wim and Dennis and to keep it in the family spot 3 and 4 were for Tim and Jef. After 4 days Wim and Dennis top the overall scores with more than 100 points.
Helge Liebertz won the day in club class in the LS 1f with winglets and tops the overall scores now, but it is not over yet as Joshua and Rolf [Engelhardt] are close behind him with less than 45 points.
For Steven in 15 m. it was a bad day after the 3 daily wins. He flew the best distance 328 km. during the 3.30 AAT, but did not finish and that does n’t help with points; only 471 on a 1000 points-day.He dropped to spot 3 with about 150 points behind the number 1.
The Belgium future looks BRIGHT as a new generation of Huybreckx pilots is already at the comps now.
Anna and Leon from Gitte and Jeff with uncle Tim
The twins from Tim with grand dad Marc.And the daughter from Sofie and Wim here with Jef.
Can you still follow me???
By the way Jeroen [Jennen] belongs to the family as well as son from Chrisje Huybreckx and Rudy Jennen.Jeroen will be in Narromine for the JWGC.
As shared on FB and because they are kids,…with permission.
Day 5;started with rain and was after briefing cancelled.
————
On May 4 Finland was blessed with top-weather; 712 from Hyvinkaa [DG 808 b/18 m] and 660 km. for Martti during his first flight of the season in his ASG 29 from good old Rayskala.[121 km./h.]
Also Japan had some very good soaring days with flights up to 440 km.
From La Cerdanya in Spain Klaus Ohlmann flew up and down the Pyrenees direction West in the Stemme; 1.390 km.
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It’ already May again. Time flies!
April 2015 was here in Holland on spot 5 with sun-hours; 240 and 178 is about normal.
It was however, NOT warm,an average of 8.9 dgr,C. and 9.2 would be normal.
CU back next Sunday, so much news [Frataglide,Hahnweide, last days at Klix , last days from the QSGP] otherwise blogs get TOO long.
Cheers Ritz