What I like from the Danish Nationals…this time in Arnborg…. is that they fly them in 5 classes, so nearly everybody, interested in competition soaring is there.
When you have 5 “off-days” to begin with, it’s less bad as there are enough people to socialize and bonding is easy.
You feel a bit unhappy, ….you came for soaring, some to win….realize that the weather is the weather, BUT, with talking, eating and drinking together there is NO BAD feeling at all. Of course you prefer TOP WEATHER but,…..
When I left you last
Wednesday…May 19,…. the task was not set for that day , but not long after there was one. AND a good one!!!!
BUT…. in all classes it was changed to 2 hour AAT’s.
15 m; 329.51 km…..2 hour AAT, won by Henrik [Breidahl] in the JS 3..129 km. in 2 hours at the dot….10 from 13 were in.
18 m; 388.14 km….2 hour AAT…Arne flew 163 km. in 2.06 winning the day. 12 From 17 flew over 100 km. but it turned out an invalid day.
I checked WHY the day was invalid;
The reason was that the organizers adopted the international rules 1:1 and that required a min. of 140 km in the 18m class!
So not to smart to declare an AAT with less than 140 km. as min. and only 2 hours in really weak and low (4-700m) weather.
For the earlier task it would have been OK.
club; 292.25 km……2 hour AAT….Rasmus [Orskov] in an ASW 20, won 159 points for 140 km. in 2.04. From 22 a total of 15 finished.
2-seaters; 388.14 km….2 hour AAT….The ARCUS T with team Skov/Hoelgaard won with 138 km. in time 1.57, followed by 2 Duo Discus’. 7 From 11 finished.
standard; 329.51 km…..2 hour AAT….Paul Kim Larsen flew in his Discus 2A, a distance of in 2.04! 9 From 10 finished.

Thursday May 20 showed a bit better weather, hence longer tasks.
15 m; 304 km…..Best speed 75 km./h by Morten Noergard in the ASW 27B.
6 From 13 finished.
18 m.; 307 km and won By Arne in his JS 3 with a speed of 83 km./h ,which says it ALL about the weather, BUT They flew!!!
7 From 16 finished. Good old Stig Oye was runner up!!!
Club; 272 km….6 from 22 finished…GOOD on them. Best was Felipe Cvitanich in the Discus CS; 71 km./h. Rasmus was 3d.
2-seaters; 307 km.…1000 points for Skov/Hoelgaard in the ARCUS T. The first in this competition…..and the only. 88 Km./h.
4 From 11 finished.
standard; 304 km...won by Jan Joergensen in the LS 8 NEO….78 km./h

Then 2 non flying days. They continued on
May 23 the very last day with very small tasks !!!!
15m ;144 km…….When they started 4 pilots were still in the race with 30 points difference between 1 and 4.
292 points for daily winner Henrik, for a speed of 75 km./h on this last day.!!!
With those points he moved from 4 to 1!!!! Good on him. Only 3 points difference with Thomas [Grove] who was on 2 and remained there.
Morten moved from 1 to 3 and shared that spot with Thomas [Leander] in the Ventus C.
Final results in 15 m. after 4 flying days;
1; Henrik Breidahl with 1.738 points.
2. Thomas Grove with 1.735 p.
3. Morten and Thomas Leander 1.670 p.

18 m; 156 km…..with 1 day to go 3 pilots had a total of over 1000 points…overall…after 2 valid flying-days.!!!!
Peter Eriksen won the 3d day in the AS 33 e, just with a few seconds difference with Arne who was runner up; ONE daily point …310 for 309.
Overall final results after 3 valid days;
1. Arne Boye-Moeller with 1.460 points.
2. Stig Oye with 1.302
3.Jan Schmeltz Pedersen in ASG 29ES

Club; no task…only 3 days of soaring and out of them also one day with no finishers.
Overall results ;
1. Rasmus Orskov in ASW 20 with 1.572 points.
2. Lasse Edslev in LS 4NEO with 1.537 p.
3. Mathias Valentin in LS 1-D with 1.431 p.

2 seaters; 156 km….Very good flying from team Skov/Hoelgaard in the ARCUS T they won EVERY day including the last one.
Overall results after 4 days;
1. Team Skov/Hoelgaard with 1.736 points.
2. Team Joergensen/Nielsen in ARCUS T with 1.475 p.
3. Team DSvU in Duo Discus XLT with 1.344 p.

standard; 144km….2 daily winners on the last day Jan Joergensen who won the last 2 days and Poul Kim Larsen both got 351 points.
Overall results after 4 days out of 11 ;
1. Jan Joergensen in LS 8 NEO with 1.832 points.
2. Filip Bojanowski in Discus 2A with 1.528 p.
3. Peter M Jensen in Discus c with 1.489 p.

A pity from the weather but,…all in the game…part of the sport!

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Open Belgian Gliding Nationals .[OBGN] …will be flown from St Hubert between May 22 and May 30 , with 39 pilots in 3 classes, club, a mix of standard, 20 m and 15 m. and a mix from 18 m. and open.
First day had to be cancelled but May 23 had some windows so tasks were set.
In the “standard-mix” the 2 hour AAT was won by Daan Spruyt in the Ventus 2ax. He flew 174 km in time 2.07.
From 10 only 6 pilots finished.
In the open-mix, Pierre de Broqueville won in his EB 29 .
225 km. in time 2.22. The windows opened late as most pilots left after 4PM.
From 17 pilots only 9 finished.
In club 11 pilots and 3 finished. Winner with 144 km. Frederic de Groote in the St Libelle in time 2.07.
All in this class started between 4.03 and 4.52 PM.

No flying on day 3 and 4, but at least they have ONE day and for the weekend the weather looks better.
Will keep you informed! No task yet.

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On my news on Klaus” great flight from France to Greece, I got a comment and I like to share it with you;
“Klaus already flew 3000km in 2003, at 204km/h.
What he does is way different than “flying ridges”. He flies high in the wave, and it’s not that easy. You’ll notice that many pilots also go flying to Patagonia, including many very good ones, and none has achieved anything close to Klaus’ flights. The wave had been there for ever before he started flying the Andes, and no local pilot had ever achieved even 1000km.

One story that happened one of the very first seasons Klaus flew in the Argentinean south, many years ago: his wife and an Argentinean pilot (who had significant experience in those mountains) were “trapped” in a valley, and couldn’t get out for hours. When Klaus heard about this, he took off with one of the available gliders, went to the valley, found them, and showed them how to climb.”

And what about the amazing wave flight yesterday , inspired by Klaus, from Gil Souviron and Baptist Innocente.??!!! Partly over the Mediterranean Sea …1.165 km in the Stemme!!!!
Have a look at the trace which started in Fayence!!!
Here is the comment from Gil;
“I dedicate this flight to Klaus which bring for me, and I believe for all pilot, dream and the adventure in our sport.
His recent flight to Greece was really amazing.
And of course to Baptiste which has designed this flight, and has piloted all the strategic point of our flight especially in Italy.

This flight FAI triangle 1133km , is not a European record, because due to the very weak waves at Fayence at the beginning of the flight we pass the line at 4300 meter and we finish at 1600 Meter. But I think is one of the most original in Europe.
After trying for almost two hours to climb, I propose to Baptiste to restart the engine of the S12 and to climb up to 4000 Meters. Still the waves were weak and we decided to start to Corsica at 4900 meters.
The circuit was a pure mix if different flight: Waves for Corsica, Rotor with no waves in Italy then convergence, cumulus, blue thermal to cross the italy plain of Pô, then Waves again at the return to the Alps at Val de Suza.
The really tricky part of the flight was to come back from Italy to close the circuit, and especially at one time Baptiste managed wonderfully to recover some waves in Italy near Pavullo.

But to achieve that you need a Glider, I am very happy that the Stemme S12 has allowed to achieve with success to close such original circuit.“
Gil

AND,…talking about long wave flights here is another one from yesterday ;1.209 km. from Puimoisson in the ARCUS M, with pictures on the OLC.
Both flights on
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/daily.html?sc=&st=olc&rt=olc&c=C0&sp=2021&df=2021-05-25

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The Tocumwal Aviation Museum is nearly ready to open it’s doors. Just a few more months waiting, instead of years. Look at this fabulous picture lifted from a truck to finally enter the museum.
“A historic day today with the relocation of the 1/4 scale B-24 Liberator from the entrance of the Tocumwal Golf & Bowls Club to the museum’s display hangar where it will receive a thorough clean and some minor repairs before becoming one of the major exhibits when we open in a few months time. The fibreglass model is showing signs of its 10 years exposure to extreme heat, cold, wind, rain and dust and by relocating it under cover in the display hangar it will be preserved for future generations to see and learn of Tocumwal’s considerable military and civil aviation history and heritage. The B-24 model was mounted at the golf club on the 14th of October 2010 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the closing of the RAAF Station Tocumwal and was donated by the Tocumwal Historic Aerodrome Museum. The THAM collection will transfer to the new Tocumwal Aviation Museum for future preservation and curation among many other private and public collections, artefacts and memorabilia. Today’s move would not have been possible without the coordination and assistance of the following locals and local businesses:
Bob & Gina Brown……. Crawford’s Civil….. Babcon Plant Hire…..Eddie Madden……Andrew Wilmot……Stewart Kedar…..Paul & Lachlan from the Tocumwal Golf & Bowls Club

And to finish a nice THANK YOU to ALL tuggies!
Great picture!

CU next week hopefully with better weather circumstances.
Cheers Ritz