8.10 AM;
It was a special day and a special night!!!
Where to start…???
Maybe with the ladies ,…as that’s why we are all here.
They had a tough day yesterday. Long tasks not the best visibility at start and instead of improving it deteriorated.
I can tell you when they came back here, [everybody I saw was OK with the cancellation,] they looked worn out and all said they had been scared!!!
That ‘s where I leave it, as if I would tell you their full stories you might be “scared ” too. Mind you this was straight after the flight, so full of adrenaline and emotions.
Some were looking forward to a rest day, but that’s not going to happen yet , as the message this morning was ;
Welcome to day 4, grid order club, standard and 18 m briefing at 9.30 in the hangar.

The Australian Night was a different story; a success story!!!
I heard 150 friends had booked in , but there might have been even more.The food was good, the atmosphere great and Brad and Bill were on their best.
A pity Uys was not heard by all the girls, as he had some special words for them and wished them well on an evening sponsored also by Jonker Sailplanes.
Surely they will show this on a better time. He is on FB now.
As said Brad and Bill were in full swing and the songs from Ed Kilbourne always stay special for glider pilots.
I met him in 2012 in Uvalde where he performed on an Australian night over there. His CLOUD songs are sung by all involved in soaring.
A few pictures from yesterday evening as well.

Off to briefing.

10 AM;
Briefing is over.

Grid order;
Club; Task A …3.30 AAT or task B …2.30 AAT.
Standard; Task A…3.15 AAT.. Task B …2.15 AAT.
18 m; Task A…3 hour AAT..Task B….2 hour AAT.
First launch at 12 PM.

First about the situation yesterday. The organizers learned from it as well as safety officer Anita said. They will use the Dimona with Bruce in it more often to check the situation.
The official report:
” —We followed the special circumstances rule.
—We took information from many sources …forecasts, visual observations, reports from water bombers, reports from weather stations ,web cams reports from others at the ground elsewhere, reports from pilots, reports from the observer, reports from TC’s.
–we cancelled the day due to the updated smoke forecast ,observer observations, concern for the completion of the task.
They learned at the TC briefing ;
—-They will fly closer to the problem area,
—-observer will transmit on team frequency cancellation then on 122.025 safety frequency

You can put in a Flytool report and Speak with safety committee.
I realize that pilots straight after such a flight are still full of adrenaline and they will for sure be in the best condition again today.
It’s good to observe both way’s.

More briefing news;
AIB, a big insurance company is the sponsor for today. Thanks.
—-internet is slow/quite poor today. It has to do with the Australian infrastructure, not with the organizers. Less looking at pictures and video’s might help.
—all valuable info should be shared via the TC to the person in the organization who deals with that.

Weather;
The persistent weather pattern still continues. The HIGH in the Tasman Sea brings a Northerly air flow.
It looks like there might be more changes of rain in the next week, but also for clouds . “There might be hopefully clouds EVERY DAY!!!“
There is still haze, but it should disappear/”wash out” during the progress of the day due to the NNE-wind.
It should be a reasonable day with 4.5 /to 5 kts and higher in the SW.
BUT,…the day will STOP early is what they think.From 4 PM onward, when from the SE wind might come in and the outflow might be 20 to 25 kts.
Will be good to be back here at the ground at 5.

Tasks;
Are all in a similar area.
There is a small time frame . As there is still some smoke which might influence temperatures in the early hours, it’s waiting if they can start straight away.
As forecasted the day will/might be short.

You are up to date now. Back later.

12 PM:
After the tuggies drove to the field at 11.30 AM, , …..the radio’s were checked at 11.45 and when all had said “reading you 5” …..the show could start again.
All girls have left the cool club house and I am sitting here by myself now.
Club class is launched now and J 1 with Judyta from Poland was the first to go up. Their A task; 3.30 AAT.
I can see nice big CU’s over the field and it feels hotter than the forecasted 38 dgr. C. A different day in this paradise.
Visibility here is pretty good too, except for the NE, still smoke there, but that’s not where they go to.
Girls will be happy with the clouds ,as they don’t have to struggle today , they just GO UP so easily under them. No worries!!!I can see them happily thermalling.
Hope they don’t forget that they have to come down to 6000 ft MSL, as that is the pre- start altitude.
They have finished launching the club class already. [12.23 don’t know if my time is the same as theirs] But good and quick!!!!Line opens after 30 minutes at 12.50

12.25 PM; Standard -class- launching in progress for task A ;3.15 AAT.
16 to be launched. It’s going pretty fast today.
Just saw Lisa in LT pass by.
12.50 PM; last launch from standard class plus 30 minutes. LOT was the last on tow. line opens at 13.15
Now still 18 m to go…..14 pilots ; FQ went as first with French Melanie. They go for a 3 hour AAT.

13.05 PM; XM with Czech Alena just passed by in her JS 3 and her mate Eva followed in her JS 1c.
13.15 PM;MM just passed by and she is one-but-last. Now P should follow and it’s over in 1.15 minutes. That all happened,…so it’s over now. No relights …ALL GOOD!!!Line should open after 30 minutes.
Line opens at ; 13.40
FM , with Anne from France, was launched at 1.18 PM , just to let you know.
She went out of the grid.

3.30 PM;
Back from Manilla. Took a few pictures there, but first a picture from the lunch for some of the crew from the French team. Took it before I left.
They don’t miss out on anything!!!!

Manilla for pictures,…. as I like the little town. Quite a few people from here, live there in Allan Barnes motel, great spot full of native fauna and flora called “Ambleside ” . Great spot as I heard.
Here are some of the pictures from what I call it “an early settlers city”.

4 PM;
Looking to the SW, still gives a “good feeling” . Though not all reports from the girls on track are “hallelujah”.
Here at the field still some clouds but also overcast… overall still calm. Driving from Manilla to here the mountains are visible, still hazy though.

Here is the picture from above in the yellow gyrocopter.

4.30 PM;
Still some time to go for the girls but 5PM, was said by the meteo to be back here. “Very straight forward weather “according to Bruce, so we wait patiently till the are back home.
It looks like Sylvia from the USA [club class] is halfway to the last TP Rangari, which means about 50 /60 km. out with the 15 minute time delay and!!!
I just put the radio on; and they announced 20 km out. Go and have a look.

4.30 PM:
Rushed out and was sitting there in time.
Heard the USA girls Kathy and Sylvia talk to each other and help each other. “Remember to put your gear down”
11 km. OUT…..
“I have height , you pick what site you want to land “; Kathy.
Sylvia ; “I have some lift” , she was worried if she was s going to make it too. With the bit of lift it was OK.
A loud HAPPY YEL when they were sure they make it.
“Gear down.”…..”SAME”.
And there they were,… I applauded them and it looked as if Kathy heard it , she looked and waved!!!
So nice!!!
More landings ; QO,…AJ…JO…IC all club.
Later we know who had the most kilometers in the best time.
wind light..landing 14 long or straight in…310 dgr.
More club;
FX….J 1…. BI …VS7 ….EU…W8….J7…40…

Also in…..in 18 m; P., who was launched last this morning.

Off to the landings again.

At 5.10 :
a warning for a gust front arriving soon
5 minutes later ;” frontal- weather -close-by” warning!
Lot’s of gliders are in. I missed a few by running op and down.All classes.
PO…CC…XZ…LT…L7 …TQ…1A…L7 …S7…FM…57…LOT…MM…PT…XBY…51…ET…1B..

5. 24 PM;
The storm starts to race over the field…still not too bad!!!
ZE arrives ; wind very strong, but still good for landing is the message from Peter who does a fabulous job on the radio!!!!!!!He even manages to calm down everybody ,also at the ground with his voice and his remarks.

5.40 PM;
All gliders in safely the last 3 , ZE….ZF 2 girls from Czech Rep.and P1, Agata from Poland , had tough circumstances, but they dealt with it superbly at 5.30!!!
So the weather-forecast and tasks were set nicely within the limits.
A GOOD day, smiling faces and good soaring conditions!!!!
What do you want more.

AND,…WHAT A FLIGHT from Alena in 18 m. ; 446 km. in time 3.07 making a speed of 143 km./h!!!!
Standard; Anna from Poland with 379,83 km. in time 3.19 so a nice speed of 114 km./h just ahead of Sarah [USA] and Ayala[UK]
Club class; shows 2 winners at this stage preliminary:Elena from Italy and Chrissie from Germany.
Kathy and Sylvia did really well but finished in the end on spot 14 and 15. BUT,..they were back!!!

6 PM; CU tomorrow.