Post 1.523 on August 7 2024

The opening-party was on Friday evening after a compulsory- safety briefing .
The opening ceremony in Tabor, what I hear and see , a beautiful town, on Saturday at 4.

They fly in Tabor with 103 pilots in 3 classes.
Club has 40 participants, standard 34 and 15 m has 29.
As said, the opening ceremony was in the good looking town of Tabor and “the citizens of Tábor could view the parade of all the 25 nations competing at the EGC, alongside several interviews and speeches of important figures explaining soaring as a sport, and wishing our competitors all the best. Additionally, we had a surprise at the end of the ceremony; a lowpass of two fighter jets Gripen JAS39 to celebrate the official start of our championship.”

The French team;

The Dutch team;

Team Belgium;

The German team;

The Italian team;

the Polish team;

Team UK;

More pictures from the teams on https://photos.google.com/share/

After 2 practice days the “reality” of this EGC started on Sunday August 4;
BUT,... the early morning message was;
“Good morning, competition day cancelled. No briefing. Enjoy your day. If you want trip suggestions, just come to us.”
AND,
“The weather looks promising for the next few days.” There is HOPE!!!!

So on Monday August 5, flying day 2 , task 1 was set in the 3 classes;
15 m; 2.30 AAT...changed in 2 hours.…The weather was difficult certainly in the beginning. The pilots racing upfront got caught by less good circumstances, [dead air] , which were not forecasted and their day was over. HARD!!!!
“Our” Sikko was “out” after 66 km , whilst his team mate Stephan was runner up behind daily winner Filip Bojanowski from Denmark.[89.67 km./h] Filip started late, 16.22, waiting for the better weather to come, the early birds started at 15.22, so an hour difference and the last one at 17.23, Rasmus from Denmark. He finished; yes he did, with 77 km./h.
” Today we had a “weather lottery” that luckily ended up with us winning.
All the classes flew 2 hour AAT, that was shortened from 2:30 AAT due to much worse weather than expected by all the forecasts. The club class fortunately got on task before a mid-level cloud cover patch weakened the weather around the airfield. However, the standard class and 15m class had a very complicated pre-start situation with the necessity to stay airborne until around 16:00, when majority of the competitors were finally able to get on task with a promising window ahead of them.” words by Michaela Michaela Rendlová on the official site [ https://www.egc2024.cz/ ]
Michaela just recently flew the JWGC in Ostrow and is not only good looking or can fly well, she informs us now too in Tabor. GOOD ON HER!!!
By the way there are several young pilots from that JWGC performing now at the EGC. GOOD!!!!
Standard; 2.30 AAT….2 hour AAT.…same weather pattern for them and 33 started [ among them 2 HC pilots as they are from Argentina Carlos Lucci and Brasil Henrique Navarro] and 29 finished. Starts between 15.27 [ Italian team] and 16.53 and the daily winner Norbert Scarlat [Romania]left at 15.58. 12 Pilots flew over 90 km./h nobody reached 100 km./h.
Club; 2.30 AAT....40 started and 30 finished. They really had problems with the weather. Some flew upfront ,but were stopped by the weather and out after around 60 km. Starts between 14.16 and 16.12 ; Swiss pilots Simon in LS4 a and Yves in ASW 24 and they finished as well; 68 km./h. over 142 km. and 67 km./h. over 146 km. Polish pilot Jacek Flis won the day; 210 km and 81 km/h.

Incorrect or no PEV at all, were for several pilots , “killers” on task 1.

Tuesday August 6 ; day 3 flying day 2; with longer tasks and hopefully less risky weather.
It was better; “Today we had our first racing day at the EGC with very different conditions to yesterday. As our meteorologist Horác said “we turned off the clouds today, but unfortunately, most of them…”. The competitors encountered patches of high cumulus and then sections of blue thermal on their task with the 15m class flying 405 km, Standard class 389 km, and Club class 369 km.” Michaela Rendlová
Task 2;
15 m; 405.37 km….Lukasz Grabowski [ Diana 2 ]was the daily winner. Together with his Polish mate Pawel [Diana 2 FES] , he started at 13.31 and they finished at 16.58; 117 and 116 km./h. for 1000 and 996 points. Ricky [Italy] in the JS3jet, was 3d.
All 27 started, 2 were out.
Standard ;  389.36 km….Great day for my Belgian and Dutch mates; on 1 and 3. Jeroen Jennen in the Discus 2T won with 114.75 km./h and Robin [Smit] in LS8 was 3d;113 km./h Rumanian pilot Norbert Scarlat was in between and just a tad faster than Robin.
All 33 started and only 1 was “out” after 340 km
club; 369.91 km….with 104 km./h French pilot Hugo Corbille was the daily best. Good “old” Tomas Suchanek was runner up.
39 from 40 started and 1 was out, but close by ;321 km.

Today; 3 hour AAT’s in each class.

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C[oppa]I[nternationale] del M[diterranio] in RIETI
28 July 2024 – 8 August 2024

One of my favourite comps in Italy …AND I attended them a few times. Always nice weather, lovely organizers and pilots , great atmosphere and strong flying.
41 competitors in 2 classes fly for the prizes and after 1 practice day they straight away had good tasks .
5 consecutive days in both classes and the first non flying day was on Saturday with “miserable” weather; no task no briefing so sleeping in.
How did it look after 5 days in each class;
Mixed class ;
with 15 pilots among them pilots from Austria, The UK, Switzerland and Spain flying in gliders as ARCUS M and T, Antares but also ASW 27 , Ventus or JS 1.
Flights up to 480 km and 2 pilots , better said teams are ahead of most; team Alberto Sironi in ARCUS T and Lasham pilot Flewett in ARCUS M. After 5 tasks they are ahead of Alberto ; 4.725 for 4.667 points.
After 5 days they had a NO TASK-day and then another few pretty good days.
A 2.15 AAT, a race from 402.69 km and 453.87 and it was team Flewett winning each day.
Team Sironi holds on but in points the Flewett team from Lasham got more and more.
After task 8 7,329 for 6,984.

Open class;
with 24 pilots from Germany, Austria, Switzerland N.Z. [Dane Dickinson] and Spain . A few I know from those and other comps as Bruno , Alvaro and Giorgio .They are still doing pretty well.
After 5 days the top 3 is; Bernhard Leitner from Austria in AS 33es[ 4,470] , Markus Frank in EB 29R [4,427], Katrin Senne in JS 3 RES [4,284]. Dane is on 5, Alvaro on 6 and Giorgi on 7.
But still a few days to go.
Also for them a NO TASK -DAY but then they had to go for it too; 2 hour AAT, to start with again and then a 2.45 AAT and a race from  471.38 km last Tuesday, which was won by Dane.
Markus and Bernard swapped places , but scores after task 8 were still close; 6.788 for 6.717 points.

2 More days to go.

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—-The 55th Klippeneck competition had out of 8 days 3 flyable competition days in each of the 5 classes. Not many so a lot of waiting, talking about gliders instruments etc and sight seeing.

Winners in the 2-seater class; Dinger & Borowski in Janus C with 1.071 points.
Winner in 15 m.; Philipp Söll in Discus 2T[ wonder if he is Stefans son. Stefan flew with us in Tocumwal for many years , still flies there by the way and he had 2 sons then maybe 2 and 4]with 931 points.
Winner in 18 m; Steven Raimond in AS33es /18m with 1.368 points.
Winner in club; Adrian Tschui in LS4 with 953 points
Winner in open; Schwenk & Schwenk in ETA with 1.074 points.

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US Soaring Teams news about the 38th WGC in Uvalde;
” The competition will be heating up literally and figuratively this month in Uvalde, Texas as the United States is ready to host the World Gliding Championships once again. The 38th FAI event will include the Open Class, 18 Meter Class, and 20 Meter Multiseat Class.
Team Uvalde is prepared to welcome 82 competitors, 66 entries, from 23 countries. Official practice begins on August 14 and the Opening Ceremony on August 17. Competition flying begins on August 18 through August 30, with the Closing Ceremony on August 31.“

The current champions are;
Open class; Felipe Levin. Oscar Goudriaan and Radek Krejcirik.
20m multi seat; Ivan Novak/ Petr Krejcirik, Jakub Barszcz / Lukasz Kornacki and Steve Jones / Garry Coppin
18m; Christophe Abadie, Ricky Brigliadori and Davide Schiavotto.
Not all of them will be there to defend their title, as p.e, Ricky flies the EGC now in Tabor.

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IN MEMORIAM; TERRY SNOW.
Specially for the readers who have been in the nineties in Tocumwal.
One of the most interesting glider pilots at Tocumwal and we had a LOT, was for sure Terry. He brought his son’s Tom and Stephen , his brother George and son and lot’s of friends to fly at the SSC ,as often as they could.
His landings were not always beautiful and UF, [“Uncle Fred”] the LS3, suffered sometimes, but no worries he loved his flying.
From gliding he went to fly power planes, as that was easier and faster, than driving from Canberra to Tocumwal.
It could even faster; he bought a Citation Jet and with one of our tuggies Anthony, he flew it around. And as an helicopter seemed nice too, he got one and landed at our airfield.
My first flight in an helicopter was with them.
No flying, was not really in his blood, but he really liked it . The atmosphere he found with us to relax after his very demanding job, at that stage property developer, pleased him and us.
Due to gliding he got more and more interest in aviation , purchased Canberra Airport and created the most beautiful new airfield down under.

Here is an in memoriam from his family;
“His legacy is the bold projects he undertook, including the developments at Canberra Airport and Airport Business Parks, Constitution Place, Denman Prospect and Willinga Park, on the South Coast. His unwavering dedication to building outstanding developments reflects a commitment to excellence and quality that will resonate for generations to come.
The grandson of Civic’s first general store owner, Terry was a business leader with his innovative spirit and relentless pursuit of excellence. He transformed the Canberra Airport precinct into a world-class aviation hub after it was purchased from the Federal Government in 1998. He was a true entrepreneur: when he had an idea, he pursued it doggedly, taking risks and pushing the boundaries of architectural design.
Terry was more than a successful businessman; he mentored numerous people in their businesses and pursuit of their dreams. Terry’s generosity touched the lives of many, and he lived by his own words “if you see someone struggling you give them a helping hand”.
Beyond his everyday generosity, his profound dedication to philanthropy began initially in the Canberra region when, in his mid-40s with his brother George, he created The Snow Foundation in 1991. Over the past 15 years, his generosity extended across Australia as he grew The Snow Foundation and, more recently, established Snow Medical, driven by a deep sense of social responsibility.
In his 60s, he purchased land at Bawley Point on the South Coast, but instead of retiring, he feverishly built an incredible world-renowned property, Willinga Park, with remarkable equestrian facilities.
Terry’s life was so much more than a property developer and philanthropist. He was a family man and a man who sought adventures and immense challenges. He packed an enormous amount into his 80 years. He was an avid fisherman and bushwalker and loved camping with his family.  He was an aeroplane and helicopter pilot, and he took up cycling in his 40s and rode across Australia. He also sailed around Australia. Later in life, he immersed himself in country life, taking up horse riding at 65 years old.
“I’m feeling heartbroken, Terry was such a wonderful, loving husband, father and grandfather. He was an incredible man with such a passion for life. I’m so proud of him and his contributions to community.” said Ginette Snow.
Terry leaves a legacy of kindness, philanthropy, and business excellence. His spirit will continue to inspire us all, and his contributions will be felt for many years to come. He was a deeply loved husband to Ginette, father to Scarlett Gaffey, Tom Snow, Georgina Byron, and Stephen Byron, grandfather to 14 grandchildren and brother to Michael and George. He will be truly missed by his family.
With heartfelt gratitude, Ginette, Scarlett, Tom, Georgina and Stephen
https://www.canberraairport.com.au

R.I.P dear friend.

Due to some “minor” health issues, I am forced to only publish on the regular Wednesday and write less[ mm…if that is possible!!!]
Cheers Ritz