This is the blog from Jo and next you find the official press release by Kylie Dorsett. Look for results and more on www.australianglidinggrandprix.com.au
briefing Comp Day 4 Wed 3 Dec 08
Australian Qualifying Gliding Grand Prix
Narromine, NSW, Australia
briefing Comp Day 4 Wed 3 Dec 08
Henk Meertens announced that the provisional double-seater winners for day 3 were Peter Summersby and Mal Bruce with 4 points, including a bonus point for being first at the first turnpoint; Mal and Peter also lead the class with 8 points.
There’s 1 second between the 2 leaders in 18m class – all traces will be reviewed during the day and the winner announced tomorrow morning.
Day 4 weather – Jenny Thompson reported that there is a trough to the north of the task area, making it a blue day.Associated with the trough will be some high cloud which is expected to recede during the day. Heights are expected to be around 8,000′ with average climbs around 5 knots.Overall, the day is very similar to yesterday, except a little weaker and lower.Yesterday was tough; today will be a bit tougher!
Day 4 task for 18m – Trangie, Warren, Collie, Eumungerie, Microwave – 207.7 km – one bonus point for first at Trangie.
Day 4 task for double-seater:Eumungerie, Trangie, Tomingley, Eumungerie, Microwave – 299.9 km – one bonus point for first at Eumungerie.
The Narromine News paper today features a front page story by Patrick Billings titled “World’s best gliders take to the sky” with a colour photo of Old Bill Hatfield (BH) finishing in his Lak 17A.Part of the item reads:“…..Sunday’s first day of competition was dominated by the international set but Monday was an all-Aussie affair…..
“Former world champion Joe Brigliadori, who won the title in 1985 and is here to watch his son Riccardo compete, said the ability to make high-pressure decisions was the key to success.“It is not about instinct, it is about intuition which is a product of experience…. Gliding is the sport for managers. The market is the sky, thermals are offering opportunity and the gliders are like your business competitors”.
“….. Not only are Narromine’s vast, flat plains ideal for the sport but the current wheat harvest is proving to be a benefit as the brown paddocks release the hot air pilots seek.”
(blog by Jo Pocklington)
correction – Leo Brigliadori, not Joe – the newspaper got it wrong and I just copied it!
Australian Qualifying Gliding Grand Prix
Narromine, NSW, Australia
4.30pm Comp Day 4 Wed 3 Dec 08
The first nine finishers (not in order) were John Buchanan, Brad Edwards, Graham Parker, Hank Kauffmann, Terry Cubley, Mac Ichikawa, Lars Zehnder, Michael Sommer and ??? (dodgy radios!).
Terry Cubley reported that the weather on track was “a bit better than predicted; I averaged 5.5 knot climbs.I didn’t get above about 6,000′ but some were getting higher.There were a few gaggles today – they didn’t stick together for long, but were constantly reforming.”
(blog by Jo Pocklington)
Press release by Kylie Dorsett
Day 3 saw a balance of Nationals and Internationals on the leader board. With one second between Italian Riccardo Brigladori and Australian Graham Parker, First place is still in question as the referees check the flight logs. German Michael Sommer was a close 30 seconds behind.
The overall leader board holds 3 pilots in first place: Michael Sommer, Graham Parker and David Jansen. Todays task of 207km may seperate the three for a clear winner. All public is welcome to watch the race on the Spot live tracking system at the Narromine Aero Club Auditorium from 2:30pm today.
A bit earlier then expected as this weekend is full of art , with an opening on sunday from the world wide well known artist Armando . The opening will be done by the lady-in-waiting from our queen Beatrix. So everything has to be even higher standard then the highest standard we always have already.You can imagine I am slightly worn out.
If you are interested in the Grand Prix for gliding in Narromine ,please look at www.australianglidinggrandprix.com.au
On sunday the 30thiest is the first day of the competition and as always Jo will be there to keep you informed. Please read her daily blog for the latest news. After 2 weeks of “bad” weather the skies hopefully will be blue with nice helpfull clouds on sunday.
Was shocked and very sad to hear that my real good old friend Jim died. Lots of you know Jim as our gardener at Sportavia. This was just a hobby for him as he was before he retired a great business man. How much he loved walking over the airfield , catching up with all our guests and he knew and remembered all of them and …..looking after the gardens.It is sad to live so far away and to not be able to show my respect at his funeral, but I know that lot’s of people will go and for sure he knows that I think of him here in wet and foggy Holland.I wish his daughter who lives in Queensland and her family all the best.
Thanks Jim for ALL the great ROSES in my garden and the fantastic red oleander on the grave of Dennis!!!!
More news from Oz, you see I am still very much attached to Australia . Ingo and Judy Renner are busy to found a new club at Tocumwal airfield, with the name we used in the past too; Southern Riverina Gliding Club.
Of course Sportaviation is there already and is going stronger and stronger I hear, as the commercial center.Here is the invitation I got and of course I will support them.
An Invitation to the Foundation Meeting
of the Southern Riverina Gliding Club
As many of you are aware the MBFC will cease gliding on the 23rd December. Following this decision discussions have taken place amongst gliding members as to the possibility of continuing gliding activities as a separate club. With this objective in mind it was felt that a rebirth of the Southern Riverina Gliding Club would enable this to happen. On Saturday 6th Decemberthere will be a foundation meeting to reform the Southern Riverina Gliding Club which was established in 1972 and has a long history in Tocumwal. Many pilots have gained their gliding certificates and flown records in the past as members of this club.If you are interested in becoming a foundation member and would like to support the establishment of a new club please come to the meeting or send a short message byemailto Ingo Renner ( renner@netspace.net.au )or mail toSRGCPO Box 32, Tocumwal NSW 2714.
Date: 6th December 2008 Time: 7pm Place: Tocumwal Terminal Building
Bitterwasser, Gariep Dam,Narromine ,Tocumwal,Kiribotip, Chapelco, Pokweni,Lake Keepit, Benalla and Omarama had atleast 1 or 2 pleasant to very pleasant soaring days last week, but not yet those booming days, that ” chairs, tables and crew start flying by theirselves”!!But…that will come, no worries!!!!
It’s busy enough at all those airports, so for sure great fun for all pilots and family to share thoughts in the bar or club house or ” to fly their just made flight ” again in words!!
Wishing you all a great and safe new week , with for all pilots hopefully ” HAMMERWETTER”.
My grandson’s 3d birthday , so I am off to Amsterdam, to see my family straight after writing. Though…I go just for an hour as we have bad weather here with wind , bad hail and snow and in the afternoon they expect up to 5 cm. of snow here in Holland , which is pretty unusual. Of course we do have snow, but this is a weird snow-disturbence, with in 2 days 9 people killed by slippery roads, even more unusual.
Africa, both N. and S. were the places to be last week with great and long flights, several over 1000 km. Uwe added one more on his long, very long list of 1000’s.Several of our former guests/friends are in Africa at the moment as; Uwe, Hans, Hans Theo, Hans Georg, Hermann, Alfred and I know more will be there over the next weeks.
One of my friends said 10 years ago that the future for the Europeans will be Africa to go to in winter and mainly China and Japan will “use” Australia as there off -season base.
The flight to Africa is shorter, no time zone and great weather! Another soaring center opened;Kiripotib [ ( http://www.streckenflug.at/popup.phpxi=news/kiripotib.pdf&xy=J ). in Namibia and he expects that every year another center will open as in Zimbabwe, Botswana and Malawi. Will see if this is correct. He is pretty accurate in his predictions.
But my heart still is in Australia so I hope lots of pilots will go there to fly.Lots are already there and the great Aussie weather will be there in time to make them happy, it is still early in the season, but…we do have had in the past long flights during our Outback Shootout, early November. Last week the Narromine Cup was flown, and kilometer-eater Terry is flying there and enjoyed a good 582 km. flight!
Today you can enjoy the interview my friend Jo had with Bruce Brockhoff.I met Bruce in 1984, a great guy and a fantastic pilot. The Aussie team and the Dutch team, read George and I , hosted a Bols [ Dutch jenever] party at our tent in Rieti, during the pre-worlds.
All Aussies were there and for sure cannot remember what happened that night, as most were over- refreshed. We became friends for ever. But…Bruce was late. He landed that day on a ….soccerfield, yes you read this well, a soccerfield. Luckily nothing went wrong as Bruce was as said an excellent pilot .So here is more about him ;enjoy his story written up by Jo.
Opening of the Australian Gliding Museum
Bruce Brockhoff Annexe – storage and restoration facility
Saturday 15 November 2008
The opening acknowledged the very generous donation of $A100,000 from Bruce Brockhoff.
Around 200 people attended; guests included:
Bruce Brockhoff,
Ian Grant – GFA Treasurer
Maurice Little – VSA President
Rob Pollock – Chairman Point Cook Action Group
Keith Meggs – President Aviation Historical Society of Australia
John Tenby – President B24 Memorial FoundationPresidents of Gliding Clubs –
Max Callingham, Victorian Motorless Flight Group,
John Styles, Geelong Gliding Club and also Chairman of the Bacchus Marsh Gliding Group,
Peter Raphael,Bendigo Gliding Club.
Supporters of the Australian Gliding museum, particularly those who have donated aircraft, memorabilia, cash and their time and effort to the Museum. Pioneers of the Australian Gliding Movement – Leo Dowling (holder of the first glider licence issued in Australia) and Jack Hearn. Tribute was also paid to the late Geoff Richardson, Dick Duckworth and Dave Darbyshire for the tremendous support each had given to the establishment of the Australian Gliding Museum.
Apologies, due to other commitments, were received from:
Daryl Connell – President GFA
Bill Riley – well known aviator and supporter of the Museum
Dr Patrick Greene -CEO Museums Victoria
Roger Meyer – President Civil Aviation Historical Society IncMoorabool Shire President and Councillors.
Bruce said that the reason for his gift was “because the sport of gliding has provided me the most enjoyable hours of my mid-life sporting days.I experienced the comradeship and friendship of the gliding community and I embraced the whole scene, which became a very important and rewarding part of my life.
“When I first started gliding, I was a bit taken aback with the amount of cooperation and effort required by people to launch a glider into the air!Since then, I enjoyed this generosity of time and effort from many others and appreciated the comradeship of pilots in Australia and around the world, and have developed many long-lasting friendships.
“I was going to leave an amount to the GFA in my will, but decided to do something now as there was a very worthy need.There are about 50 old gliders all over Australia in people’s back yards etc desperately in need of a home and facility for all to enjoy.
“I have always enjoyed old flying machines especially gliders – in fact I started off in a very old primitive wooden open air (no canopy) 2 seater in India in 1962 (I was an exchange student in Bangalore) – that was my first glider flight.I was impressed by being able to hear voices on the ground, and I can well remember the quietness and the serenity of the flight.
“The next flight in a glider was some 10 years later at Bacchus Marsh and I was so impressed on that Sunday, I spent the rest of the afternoon and night on the phonerearranging my week and found myself on a week’s course at Benalla, within 24hrs, on Monday morning – I went solo on Wednesday.I must admit I had 10 hours up in a 172, so that helped.On Friday I heard about the infamous Bill Riley at Tocumwal, so I went there from Benalla for the Saturday and Sunday, and learnt more in 2 hours with Bill than in all my flying experiences.
“This meeting was the beginning of a very close relationship with Bill who was not only a very close friend but a mentor to my gliding career, especially in the preparation of gliders and myself for racing.
“Bill invited me to accompany him on a fabulous tour of the major gliding factories of Europe including England, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Romania. We had a fabulous time together and I got to know Bill’s wonderful qualities, aeronautical expertise and knowledge on this most enjoyable grand tour of glider centers. He related many of his wartime experiences as a very young (underage) captain on a Sunderland Flying Boat during the Battle of Britain.
“I nearly gave gliding up – I got a bit bored flying around in circles, doing my 300 km and 500 km then Bill talked me into going to my first competition in a ‘highly competitive IS29’ (his words) – it was the most non-competitive glider you could imagine. Bill managed to sell me one for the occasion and helped me seal the flaps. He did not know about the non-disposal ballast bag of lead shot that I stowed in the spare area locker.
“My first competition was at Horsham – I outlanded every second day, but I caught the competition bug big time.I then squeezed my way, before I was ready (and qualified), into the West Australian Racing Class Nationals as they were short of numbers, and again landed out every second day BUT undaunted, and even more determined, I commenced my climb towards my international career.
“In 1983 I won my first Nationals at Narromine, way before I was mentally ready to win a Nationals, then a few months later was off to the World Comps at Hobbs NM USA where I came 12th in 15m Racing Class, winning the last day in ‘great style’ I am told.
“Regarding crew, I have had many wonderful thoughtful and supportive crew over my racing years; however none could be compared to Beryl Hartley who was the best crew I have ever had for any competition at Hobbs in 1983.
“Bill Riley was not only an inspiration to me over the years but he helped me to make up my mind to make this donation by giving all of his gliders to the Australian Gliding
Museum, so I thought it logical that I should support such a museum.”
Bruce is married to Kristine and they have two very beautiful daughters, Brooke (aged 13) and Belle (15 years old).Belle is the current USA Nationals Boardercross Female Champion and has won many trophies around the world for snowboarding. Brooke is a very keen skier and has done well in the Australian Nationals in moguls.
Bruce was three times Australian National Champion in 15m racing class. He represented and competed for Australia in 10 international gliding events including an event in the Gobi Desert of China, where he won All Class Champion – China vs Australia.Bruce was Team Captain for the Australian gliding team at the Pre-Worlds and World Gliding Championships in
Borlange, Sweden.
Bruce was Convener of the Rules Making Committee of the Gliding Federation of Australia (GFA) for over ten years.He was GFA Delegate to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) General Conference in 1987 and 1988.In 1994, Bruce was presented with the Gliding Federation of Australia’s FAI Airsport Medal in recognition of his outstanding services to gliding over an extended period of time.
Bruce is an enthusiastic sailor of solar powered sailing catamarans and built and launched his own ‘Dream Catcher’, a 48ft sailing catamaran, in 1998.He won a Victorian Landcare Award for raising from seed and planting over 30,000 Australian native trees on his family farm at Dromana (three rows of native trees in plantations 10m wide double fenced totaling over 15 km long).He is a breeder of Angus bulls and superfine wool Merino sheep and an enthusiastic and keen grower of exotic, full flavored, aromatic, heritage and purpose bred tomatoes.
He has been experimenting with solar heat collection systems over the last 5 yeast and has taken out patents around the world for his invention SolarFlume which is a very basic inexpensive solar heat collection system which he uses to heat his tomato greenhouse.His motto for the project is “More BTU’s for your Buck$”.SolarFlume can be used to desalinate water with some minor modifications. A new web site will be up and running soon.
“The fewideas that have come to me regarding the world’s desperate need for more use of solar energy have come about by an accumulation of knowledge and skills that I have been fortunate to acquire during my ‘journey through life’. These ideas have been drawn together with a lot of input and guidance over the years from many mates, notably my mentor Bill Riley of Tocumwal, New South Wales and Ellis Rowe of Benowa Waters, Queensland” to mention a few.
Sorry that the lay-out is not perfect. When I copy and paste, the story ” starts its own life”.Have to figure out how to make corrections which STAY, as after 100 times it still goes back to what I do NOT want .
Off to Amsterdam now, it starts to get dark alreadyand it is only 10.30 AM.
Busy,busy!!!! Another press release ,for GRAND PRIX fans.
On sunday the interview from Jo Pocklington with Bruce Brockhoff will be on. So STAND BY!!!!!
Cheers Ritz
Press Release – Australian Qualifying Grand Prix – 20th November 2008
As the contestants gather for the Australian Grand Prix event to be held in Narromine, New South Wales, pilots who are gathering for the Narromine Cup week are checking out the high performance 18 metre racing sailplanes which will be the stars of the Grand Prix.
This new class of elegant sailplanes is proving to be the perfect answer for the pilots who are looking for maximum performance with ease of handling.Just as the battle between pilots will be of interest to the gliding community so to will the battle of the manufacturers.The modern sailplane is the ultimate solar powered machine, able to convertthe power of the sun and the terrain to fly tasks of 1000 kilometres in a day.
The growth of sophisticated instrumentation fitted to the modern sailplane requires an excellent understanding of the latest technology in GPS and digital collection of information for display in the cockpit.
The organisers are hoping for the usual strong gliding weather present at this time of year in Narromine. Under these conditions these streamline new sailplanes will race through the air at speeds in excess of300 kph through the finish line.
The spectacle of the high energy finishes of each race will certainly attract a large number of spectators for each days task.
Just received this press release from Beryl Hartley from Narromine and of course I share it straight away with you.Will give you the site -adress when it all happens, so you can follow it by yourself.
Press Release – Australian Qualifying Gliding Grand Prix – 18th November 2008
Grand Prix racing and Italian males are the usual indicators of a furious speed event and the International Gliding Grand Prix is the perfect sailplane gliding race to hold in Italy in 2009. Two pilots from each of the 6 international qualifying events will attend the world championships.Narromine in central New South Wales is host to the Australian qualifying grand prix from the 30th November to the 6th December 2008.
Two of Italy’s champion glider pilots are on their way to compete in Narromine. Thomas Gostner and Riccardo “Ricky” Brigliadori are many times Italian national champions. They will be striving to gain one of the top results and contest the world event in front of a home crowd in 2009.
Thomas Gostner is a regular visitor to Australia and has competed successfully in National championships in Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales. He has flown on previous championships from Narromine and will be familiar with the weather and terrain conditions of the competition area.
Ricky Brigliadori is a new visitor and is looking forward to flying in Australia for the first time. His father who will crew for him in Narromine is a previous representative for Italy at the World championships held in Benalla, Victoria in 1985 and he is looking forward to renewing friendships while visiting Narromine.
Grand Prix glider racing is an exciting new event in this sport and with the GPS tracking technology now in use, the public and aviation enthusiasts are able to follow the race in air-conditioned comfort at Narromine Airport.The first contest day is Sunday the 30th November.
Information on the event can be obtained at 02 6889 2733
See you again on sunday . Jo has worked hard to send me the details of the opening of the vintage museum.
It looks I am to much focussed on Africa and Australia to see the first 1000 km flights for the out-of-Europe-season. As…yesterday the flight was made in Omarama, place from the World comps a few years ago. Great flying over the mountains in a more or less out and return with for sure good wave conditions.Max Stevens was the certainly very happy pilot flying a discus with a speed of 106 km. p/h. Distance;1216,5 km. Young NZ pilot Dane Dickinson who flew several World junior Comps had a great flight too in his LS 8;774 km. I expect a lot from him in the future world comps.Nice fellow, great pilot.
There are some “voices” who would prefer an OLC for thermal flights and wave flights. It is a different way of flying , with different conditions , but still soaring.I don’t mind!
S. Africa had great flights with p.e. Hans Wiesenthal, who likes to fly the real flights; set FAI tasks.This time a beautiful triangle with a speed of 107 km p/h. from Gariep Dam.
Australia had some early spring flights and I loved the one from Pepe , another pilot who prefers the set FAI tasks with 0ver 800 km. from Corowa .Pepe has flown in this flight over all familiar areas as Benalla, Tocumwal and passing Euroa, all gliding fields and even “touching” the mountains close to beautiful Beechworth.
But…the flight I liked most , this week, is from hang glider pilot Mart Bosman. Yes a Dutch name but he lives already for a long time in Australia in the neighbourhood of Mount Beauty. He and his wife are very good hangglider pilots and Mart learned how to fly gliders with us in Tocumwal a few years ago. Now he flew an LS 6 in one of my favourite gliding places Lake Keepit. A lovely not to big airfield on a lake.His comment on this flight;” Good day , lasted not long enough due to cirrus.Still 10 knots up to 9300 is n’t too bad.” Proud and glad to see he has gone so far with his gliding too.
The Grong Grong boys, 3 Japanese friends who tried in the past to fly their first 50, 300 and 500 km. ,have arrived again in Tocumwal. Every year they came back , sometimes twice a year and when the weather was good, Grong Grong was set. We were ALL happy and we rang the bell for them and gave them flowers on each distance they had achieved, including GRONG GRONG!!!!
Still flying from Tocumwal, the place they just like most. Great gentlemen, I had a few sake’s with them in the past.
The Australian gliding museum is OPEN! About 100 guests with some VIP’s enjoyed a nice sunny spring day at Bacchus March airfield.A longer story will appear in the next Gliding International. I will come back on it too.
That ‘s it. Had a busy week and 2 more very busy weeks to come, but I will be there again next week.
What happened last week?
First of course the 44th elections in the USA with ,as glorious winner……….Barack Obama, the first black president in history!!Great stuff!!!!!
They have been however, the most expensive US presidential elections in history ,but….with a record number of American voters, 180 million. So a BIG day for America and the world!
If you like gliding you might like Formula 1 as well.In my opinion we had last year one of the best Grand Prix series EVER. Lewis Hamilton won in the last 100 meters to be 5th in the last race and….to win the WORLD TITLE with ONE point difference from Massa. Tension till the end!
So what about a ” black James Bond ” ????His latest picture gets record visitors here in Holland at the moment and the suggestion is not mine but from James, James Bond, himself.
Flemington, [Melbourne -Australia]….now we talk horse -races another very interesting sport. I do not know how many times I wrote on that day while working at Sportavia …..The Nation stops….. And it did again with a spectecular race won by ” Viewed “,trained by the great Bart Cumming [ this was his 12th Melbourne Cup Trophee] . First win for young jockey Blake Shinn, who had the task to bring the horse in first. And….it won by a nose from pre-race favourite “Bauer”, decided by the photo- finish.
While living in OZ , I loved that day gathering at a friends place, with some 20 other friends; with the sweeps, the tension ,the TV …loud, the shouting and excitement,the bubbles and good food, not to forget the great heads and clothes, specially for the occasion.
Yesterday we had in Holland the National Gliding Day with over 300 guests visiting the University of Utrecht for some good sessions on interesting topics.Unfortunately I work on saturdays so I missed out on meeting lots of friends and listening to subjects as;
” Gliderpilots,young and old.”When is it time to stop with a sport you loved so much and spend so much time on?
President of the Dutch Dakota Association Anne Cor Groeneveld was the discussion leader in the morning talking about aviation including gliding and vintage gliding.
Tilo Holighaus [Schempp Hirth ]and Holger Back [ DG Flugzeugbau] were invited to talk about the fleet and specially their latest gliders.
And another good topic was; How do we get more young glider pilots to our clubs!? Will the simulator help, now those young ones live in many different virtual worlds? Next year I will be there again.[source www.zweefportaal.nl]
Next week the opening of the vintage museum at Bacchus Marsh Airport ,not too far from Melbourne. They have currently 32 gliders , in different conditions, in their collection and the number keeps growing. All gliders have been donated. During the opening 20 gliders will be on display and some others on loan.
About my friend Bruce;” Bruce’s gesture in giving a donation sufficient to erect the hangar was certainly a wonderful act. This hangar will be used for storage and restoration of our fleet of historic gliders and most will be stored in a derigged condition. Our ultimate aim is to have a full museum display in conjuction with other fields of aviation but the achievement of this is someway into the future”, so far Mister Graeme Barton from the museum.
All gliding mekka’s in Australia and Africa have started with their first flights of the season.I hope for all of them on great weather.
On the OLC you see them again; names as Bitterwasser, Gariep Dam, Pokweni with familiar names, gliders and nice long flights. Corowa,Tocumwal and Narromine will follow soon, as the first guests have arrived there last week.
The Australian FAI Grand Prix will be flown in Narromine from November 30 /December 6 2008. Participants from Oz as wel as overseas. From South Africa Mannie Mc Lachlan will fly . Also pilots as Heimo Demmerer from Austria and Thomas Gostner and Ricky Brigliadori from Italy are invited.Mac Ichikawa is the Japanese pilot who is invited.
In the week before [23/29th] the famous Narromine Cup will be flown; the 12th edition!
As you surely know, Narromine won the Australian bid to have the Worldcomps in 2012. Now is it up to the GFA to win the bid on worldstage. Would love to be there as editor!!!!!
Tentative dates IF it all happens in OZ, are;December 1/December 15, so in the night of the final party I can celebrate my 66th birthday!
For sure it will be another great time for all Europeans flying overseas! I stay here and enjoy their stories.Most friends said they will only mention it on the OLC, when they have flown OVER 500 km.So let’s hope we see their names a lot, which means they enjoy theirselves to the fullest.
Last weekend the weather turned out better then expected, so we did a more then an hour walk in the forest. No museum this year, we went bowling and had our luxury dinner. A great family day!
We also had already ice-on-the-window from the cars, so frost arrived in Holland too.And…we changed time last week, so we are 10 hours behind OZ for half a year.
Checking the OLC , I was most impressed with the flight in an ASW 15 on October 27;
470 km.[Petr Safar CZ]
Received 2 invitations last week.
The AUSTRALIAN GLIDING MUSEUM INC.
invited me on the occasion of the
OPENING OF THE AUSTRALIAN GLIDING MUSEUM
BRUCE BROCKHOFF ANNEXE
STORING AND RESTORATION FACILITY.
There will be a sizzle lunch available.
This will be on invitation with RSVP on November 15 at 12.30 PM.
This museum might be a welcome place to visit for all pilots from the world soaring in Australia. On a less good day specially guests from Benalla , Tocumwal and Corowa [these places are close to the airfield of Bacchus Marsh ] ,could visit this new museum full of vintage planes. Bruce , who donated a generous amount of money, is a good friend since 1984 when I met him and his “mates” first in Rieti, a former top pilot in the OZ team and former ICG member for Australia.
I will be back on this item next week. If you are interested NOW , please look at www.australianglidingmuseum.org.au
You will see a “lovely” picture from young Bill Riley , who donated several very exclusif vintage planes to this museum.
I heard that both my Finnish friends Jari and Kari visit Tocumwal this year to fly the LS 6 , so keep this in mind guy’s. I know Kari LOVES vintage planes! And all the Japanese friends, please go and have a look, it’s not too far on a non-flying day.Also Daan and Harry and all the others at Corowa, it is worthwhile visiting! And…my English friends at Benalla, you are close by , so just have a look.
The other invitation was from France.In Toulouse you can discover the world of Airbus , more specific the A 380 and Concorde.
Guided tours to p.e. the first Concorde of the production series, to become familiar with the astonishing technical specifications of this former supersonic airliner.
See for more news www.taxiway.fr
At last….here is Michael’s interview. It is pretty tough to keep such a nice story for your self for a while when you want to share it immediately with the world, but being involved now in the New Zealand Magazine Gliding International from John Roake, where you can read the interview too,I thought I had to. So enjoy Michael’s answers on my questions about the World Comps in Luesse [Berlin].
Michael Sommer,
2 times WORLD CHAMPION in open class;
A few questions!
1. Michael you were world champion in Eskilstuna in 2006 and now in Luesse, how do you compare both comps?
First of all of course it was great to be able to be part in a world competition in the birthplace of gliding and my home countryGermany. The amount of public interest in this event was something I have not seen before. The German press, the German gliding community and the whole Berlin/Brandenburg region took a great interest in this competition. Without wanting to devalue previous Worlds I believe the public relations efforts as well as the whole organization of these worlds have set a new standard. The perfect infrastructure in Luesse contributed to this. Unlike in Eskilstuna, I was very familiar with the location, having flown three competitions in Luesse before. Also this time my long time team partner Tassilo Bode was qualified for these Worlds as well. Both very positive factors!
2. You mentioned that you did not feel a lot of pressure flying in your home country, how come? What was the secret? And how did you cope with the weather?
Many people warned me beforehand that coming to Luesse not only as the national title holder but also as the current world champion would put a lot of pressure on me. Instead it gave me even more confidence which increased my level of calmness.The weather was as it always is when you plan a major competition: It was quite atypical for the season. During the training week we had the typical Luesse stable high pressure weather with high cloud base and low cloud cover resulting in long distance flights and average speeds up to 145 km/h, but once the competition started cyclonic conditions with only small weather windows dominated. Sometimes this included strong winds up to 60 km/h hand in hand with streeting and wave effects. Having 4 eyes and 2 brains in such demanding conditions was very beneficial.
3. Flying with your friend Tassilo! Are you really pair flying? If he would have been better in the beginning, would you have supported him, in other words did you or the team set any rules? Would it have been different, if he was not there?
Yes we pair fly very closely. We start within seconds and fly the task wing on wing, not further apart than about 50 meters. Any decision to be taken we take together. We first flew together some 10 years back and have always gradually improved our technique. Team flying like this can only be successful when each of the team partners accepts that the partner may win the title. Many so-called teams fail because one of the pilots’ aims is to be better than their team mate. Our aim is to be better than all our competitors. We stick to this no matter whether Tassilo is in front or the other way round.
4. How was the team spirit in your German team? Was everything so well organized that you could ONLY concentrate on flying? Were you “pampered”, because you were the current World champion?
No of course no one was pampered! The team was absolutely great and I believe we had the best support you can have. Apart from our crews and the team captain we had two coaches and a meteorologist with us. All of them were happy to be part of it and all of them gave their absolute best. So yes, I believe all of our pilots were able to mainly concentrate on flying!
5. What was besides WINNING, the high light of these comps and was there a low point?
I could not say that we had a real low point. There were days where the result was not as good as we would have liked it to be, but we were always able to analyze why it happened and where we had made the mistake. I can even see a positive in this; on two days we had the situation in flight that something did not work out well and we knew we had lost a lot of time but we were able to stay calm and managed to turn the flight around and still achieve an acceptable result for the day.For sure thehigh point was day 6 when we managed with a clear day win to take position 1 and 2 in the overall scoring. It was just one of those days where we were just always at the right time at the right place.
6. Is Hungary the next place for the third title, or do you find that area difficult? Or can you fly well, wherever you fly?[ That’s what I think by the way!]
The one thing never to forget is that despite the best glider, best preparation, best team mate,… you still need a large amount of luck as well to win! On day one on task I was down to 200 meters and it almost could have all been over. I have never flown in Hungary but as long as it is flat country home field advantage is quite limited. All the top pilots are able to get adjusted to a new area quickly.
7. Narromine in 2012 might be the 4th one? No other bidders at this stage? Another great place for you? I predicted he will be the next Ingo Renner, is that also your goal?
I have to say a few words about Narromine. I have lived in Melbourne for the last five years and I have been able to experience what a great gliding country Australia is. I am really excited about Narromine’s bid for the 2012 15m, 18m and Open WGC. I am very confident that if Australia is successful with the bid that the gliding world will not regret travelling to the end ofthe world! Regarding the future I have to admit I have not set any goals. Of course I can see that another title would be great, but for me it is always more important to have fun in gliding. I love gliding and as long as it stays that way I will continue doing it!
8. What do you think of the Drugs tests in Australia for pilots, also glider pilots? I heard even light pain killers can give you a positive test and it takes at least 14 days to have checked that you were not positive, a competition might be over then?
Doping tests are standard in the sport world. I had the first test during a gliding competition more then 10 years ago. As gliding is not seen any different to other sports we have to adhere to this rule which means you are not allowed to take any of the forbidden substances. I do not see a big problem with it even though I personally can not see that with doping you could get an advantage in gliding.
9. You told me you like flying from Benalla, close to your home in Melbourne and you specially like to make long distance flights —yes I called him once a kilometer maniac—-, do you just enjoy the long distances, either FAI set tasks or jo-jo’s, or are you still eager to fly 1000 km and more?
I guess I just enjoy getting the maximum out of every day, taking off in the first thermal and then making it home in the last light. That can but does not have to be a FAI triangle, 1000km or a record. I quite like the concept of the OLC where you have all the freedom to use the day in the best possible way. I do like central competitions but can get annoyed with them as well when the tasks are too short and after the opening of the start gate you have to wait forever to be able to start at the tactically correct time.
10. Is there anything you would like to say and I have not asked?
Sometimes I am amazed myself to realise that even after 21 years and many thousand hours ofgliding every day I fly it still fascinates me. I do not need a competition, record weather or the latest open class ship for this. There are still plenty of new flight regions, new tasks and challenges waiting for me!
Thank you very much Michael. I have read the answers in one go. Surely the readers will do the same.Good luck and safe flying for the rest of your soaring career . Enjoying what you are doing is the secret of many winners, continue to enjoy!!!!Ritz
Hope you enjoyed this nice story too. See you next week
An early newsblog today as I am leaving for the weekend to a family-reunion. Walking in the fantastic forests over there was our goal, but the weather seems not to co-operate. A pity, so a museum about falcons and the history of the cigar will be the alternative, not bad either.And….ofcourse a fancy restaurant for dinner and talking, to finish the day.
Stress before leaving to Australia? Is that possible? Yes it is ! Dieter “Dundee” Albrecht left on the 22d of October to Oz. His visa was granted on the 17th and his passport was delivered by courier from the Ambassy on the 21d!!!!!!This morning he arrived safely picked up by one of his Melbourne soaring friends.
A nice flight in Europe on the 21st of October, partly in wave by National Team pilot, Petr Krejcirik [CZ]; 853 km in Ventus 2CT.
A long story from friend Jo Pocklington about the 28th Club Class / Sports class National Championships in Kingaroy.[Australia]Enjoy her view on these comps TOTALLY organized by great women! I loved to see that 2 of my friends both in their 70thies nowadays, flew together in a nimbus 4DM; Tony Tabart and Peter Griffiths. Tony still flew world comps in Eskilstuna in Sweden 3 years ago and Griffo was the team manager for Australia on many occasions and a very good pilot, till health- problems forced him to fly dual.Great guy’s and both have done a lot for International Soaring since atleast 1984, when I met them first.
Next week the Gliding International will be out and finally I can share with you the very nice interview with 2 times World Champion Michael Sommers.
Enjoy Jo’s story with a glass of wine or a coffee.
Prac Day – Mon 6 OctA low level trough is moving into the task area from the south-west with slight probability of late thunderstorms and high cloud. Winds will be west to south-west all day until the change arrives through Kingaroy by . The thermals will start early and the latter part of the day will be affected by high cloud and the approaching trough, so the task has been set firstly to the west before the influence of the cloud, and then to the north.
Tasks – Club (3 hours), Sports (2.5 hours) – Jandowae North (30),Windera (40), Control Point West (2) – minimum 221 km, max 418 km, point to point 418 km.First launch .There were 2 outlandings on practice day, with many abandoning the task.
Comp Day 1 – Tues 7 OctThe trough that affected yesterday’s weather moved through Kingaroy early today.The winds have swung to the south / south-west bringing down temperatures.Today will be blue with convection to 5,500′ – 6,000′, better to the north of Kingaroy.Thermal strengths are expected to be 2.5 to 3 kts and mildly difficult to work.A middle level trough system over the
northern territory is expected to move east and may affect tomorrow’s weather.
Tasks – Club (3 hours), Sports (2.5 hours) –
BunyaTower (20), Gayndah (40), Tansey (20) Control Point North (2) – minimum 181 km, max 452 km, point to point 312 km.First launch .There were 3 outlandings on Day 1.
Comp Day 2 – Wed 8 Oct The weather is complex today.A high in the Bight is the westerly influence feeding south-westerly winds into the Kingaroy valley.A small high off the coast is feeding north-easterly winds into the valley as well, so Kingaroy is sitting between two systems.The forecast temperature for Kingaroy is 25 degrees and if this temperature is reached, we will get convection to around 6,000′.Conditions will be poor to the north and better on the
Downs.Late in the day, there is the possibility of a north-easterly that will have a cooling effect.We await what happens!
Tasks – Sports (2.5 hours), Club (2 hours) – Jandowae (50), Nanango (20), Wondai (20), Control Point North (2) – minimum 78 km, max 412 km, point to point 242 km.First launch . There were 2 outlandings.
Comp Day 3 – Thu 9 OctThe high in the Australian Bight has moved eastwards bringing an easterly flow onto the Qld coast.A trough system is developing over Qld and combined with the easterly and the developing trough, there is forecast a low cloud base to around 4,000′ agl and possible showers, increasing to rain late in the day.A task has been set in the Kingaroy valley.Tasks – Club (2 hours), Sports (2 hours) – Kumbia (10), Wondai (15), Nanango (15), Kumbia (1), Control Point West (2) – minimum 81 km, max 273 km, point to point 174 km.First launch .
Day 3 task was changed on the grid to 2 hours for both classes – Durong (35),
Bell (25), Control Point West (2) – first launch – there were 2 outlandings for the day.
Scoring is being held up.Only 6 pilots handed in loggers on official practice day and there are several loggers still not identified from comp day 1.
Handicaps and reference weights are an issue as a new handicap list was posted on the GFA website on 27 September, just before the comp, and pilots who entered the competition months ago are not happy with a last minute change to their handicap.Gliders affected include the Stemme, ASW 20, ASK 21, LS 1, LS 8 18m turbo.
Fri 10 Oct
The long-promised upper trough arrived overnight bringing rain to the competition area.Yesterday’s poor forecast developed to be a much better day, with the trough system producing enough instability to give quite good conditions to the west till about .Today will be a no-fly-day as there is continuing rain likely for the whole day.
Lisa Trotter congratulated the tugs:“6 tugs launched the fleet in 50 minutes yesterday; without that, it would have been impossible to fit in a task.”
Prizes were presented to day 1 and day 3 winners:
Day 1 Club class
Alan Barnes (LS1f) – 94.2km/h289.2km – 1000 points
Peter Buskens (LS 8) – 91.5km/h236.9km – 917.20 points
Alan Barnes:“I started high but had a real low point around Kumbia where I was lined up into a paddock, but then found a good climb and after that had a good run with Phil Ritchie to the top turn and then home.”
Hank Kauffmann:“I was the last to start – 1,000′ below convection.Fortunately, I blundered into a very strong climb and managed to catch the gaggle by the first turn.Had a brilliant second leg; never got low.Met up with Tony Tabart and Peter Griffiths in the Nimbus and had them finding the thermals for me on the way home, with their big wings.”
Day 3 Club class
Lisa Trotter (ASW 20) – 98.1km/h230.6km – 1000 points
Bruce Taylor (Ventus 2cX/18m) -103.1km/h237.5km – 966.10 points
Lisa Trotter:“The best weather for the day was over the scrub in the first sector – 30km radius around Durong.With 7+ knot climbs going to 8,000′, I went to the extreme far edge of this circle.Upper level cloud was threatening to slow the climbs down on the next two legs, so I made sure I stayed high, topping up, especially when approaching the
BunyaMountains.I left my last climb 300′ under final glide, and made it up with a street on the track home.”
Hank Kauffmann:“I got some wave pre-start. Achieved a glide rate of 98:1 on the first leg, which is pretty exceptional and worked mainly 8-10 knots.Unfortunately, the last turnpoint was totally overcast and I finished up low in the foothills of the Bunyas, but I was in good company with
Bruce Taylor and the big Nimbus, once again.We all got out of trouble pretty quickly.”
Pilots’ meeting .
Jo Davis and Allan Barnes were elected NCC Pilot Representatives and Mike Maddocks was elected Club Class ITC Representative (Tony Tabart is current Sports Class ITC Representative).
Sat 11 Oct
There was light rain most of yesterday which was quite extensive over the
KingaroyValley and the
Downs, and it was still raining lightly early this morning.The upper trough system is forecast to leave the area by mid morning, but the moisture and easterly stream from the high system means there will be low stratus and strato-cumulus for most of the day.Coupled with that, the paddocks will be quite wet.Hence the day has been cancelled and we hope conditions will improve for tomorrow.
Mike Codling(Hornet) – 82.4km/h 167.8km – 992.20 points
Jo Davis (ASW19) – 80.0km/h 178.8km – 954.40 points
Phil Ritchie:“We ended up going out west for the day.Had a good first run.Thought coming home with a tail wind would be really quick, but it didn’t happen and ended up at 3,500′.I then wobbled into 5 knots and got home – a bit of good luck in the end.”
Day 2 Sports class
Bruce Taylor (Ventus 2cX/18m) – 91.7km/h 246.5km – 1000 points
Bill Hatfield (LAK 17/18m) – 83.9km/h199.6km – 856 points
Bruce Taylor:“It’s a nice glider! The first day that we flew I felt rushed, so on the second day tried to be a little more patient.Aimed for Chinchilla at the edge of the turn.I didn’t have to get low and work rubbish.Didn’t see anyone else all day – in fact, I pulled out the task sheet to check that I was on task!”
Jenny Thompson has been asked by the pilots to give a rundown on weather analysis and how she does such a good job – this evening.
Sun 12 OctThe middle level trough system persists over south-east
Queensland and there will be no flying again today.The general area received around 10-15 mm yesterday.Today will have showers and low cloud.The trough system is expected to move eastwards later in the day, perhaps giving some hope for some flying tomorrow, but the forecast doesn’t look promising for tasking.
GFA has established a committee to develop a proposal for establishing a safety management system.After briefing, Jenny Thompson and David Pietsch gave a presentation on safety and risk management as an introduction to the challenges and way forward for the improvement of gliding’s safety culture.
David talked about gliding’s poor fatality record and the fact that GFA currently has no centralised system for recording incidents and the dissemination of lessons learned. The committee’s initial brief is to prepare a proposal for GFA, and it is David and Jenny’s intention that there is a two-pronged approach for implementing risk management and incident reporting.The presentation was originally only scheduled for 15 minutes but went for one hour, with very good participation and questions from the competition pilots, and was very well supported.Comp Day 4 – Mon 13 Oct
The trough system which has been sitting on top of the Kingaroy area for the last 3 days has finally gone, so the rain has gone, and today we’ll get in a task.Conditions won’t be strong or high and the day should finish early as the easterly winds persist, bringing in moisture.Conditions to the north of Kingaroy look worse than to the north-west and west.We expect cu with maximum heights of 7,000′ QNH on the Downs and 6,000′ QNH in the
KingaroyValley.
Task – Sports (2.5 hours) – Jandowae Silo (40), Windera (35), Control Point West (2) – minimum 129 km, max 422 km, point to point 274 km.First launch .
Task – Club (2 hours) – Jandowae Silo (40), Wondai a/f (35), Control Point West (2) – minimum 78 km, max 368 km, point to point 220 km.
There were 2 outlandings.
The pilots’ meeting decided to change the finish circle from 1.5 km to 2.5 km for reasons of safety; the intention of the finish is to be up to 2 km from the end of a runway, but in the case of Kingaroy, the centre of the airfield means that 1.5 km is on the edge of the runway rather than a distance from it.
Comp Day 5 – Tue 14 Oct
Wendy thanked Graham Hennessy for his help with the scoring, and Graham presented the day prizes from yesterday:
Day 4 Club class
Jo Davis (ASW 19) -101.2km/h 205.7km – 939.50 points
Paul Mander (Std. Libelle) – 100.4km/h212.8km – 925.20 points
Alan Barnes (LS 1f ) – 99.9km/h205.1km – 915.50 points
Jo Davis – “I didn’t have a lot of confidence in the start of the day, so I had a slow start until I crossed the Bunyas.Conditions on the
Downs were substantially stronger, so most of my task was in the western area and I had a reasonable run home.”
(Subsequently amended results comp day 4 Club class:
Mark Laird / Ian McPhee (Grob 3) -104.5km/h214.5km – 1000 points
Jo Davis (ASW 19) – 101.2km/h 205.7km – 939.50 points
Paul Mander (Std. Libelle) – 100.4km/h212.8km – 925.20 points)
Day 4 Sports class
Bruce Taylor (Ventus 2cX/18m) – 104.4km/h263.2km – 1000 points
Peter Trotter (LS 8) – 95.8km/h265.3km – 848.20 points
Tim Wilson (LS 8) – 95.4km/h250.4km – 841.80 points
Bruce Taylor – “Just a little quick lesson for those interested.Kingaroy is a site not far from the coast, so there’s often a bit of maritime influence.I have the good fortune to fly at a similar site south of Armidale; most times, there’s a sea influence.With an easterly influence such as yesterday, the maritime air arrives gradually through the afternoon in a series of small pulses. There was a little line north-south, a mini convergence.Two or three came through and I had the good fortune to run into some.Usually that pulse just kills what’s behind it; I was stuck.I turned home slightly early, but hit the finish line right on the button.The pulses are very useful; nice to run.I tried to keep myself to the west yesterday, away from the sea air.”
Weather for Comp Day 5:
Winds have turned slightly more northerly, and the wet ground had a chance to dry out yesterday. There is a trough to the south-west that won’t affect the task but will bring enough instability to make it a good day.The forecast is for scattered cu to 7,500 QNH at Kingaroy and up to 9,000 QNH at Miles, and conditions to the north and west will be good, giving the task-setters a range of good conditions to set a task.
Tasks – Club (3.30 hours) Sports (3.30 hours) – Kumbarilla (40), Goombi (40),
Bell (15), Control Point South (2) – minimum 233 km, max 525 km, point to point 369 km.First launch .There were 3 outlandings on Comp Day 5.
Pilot Discussion Group
On the last no-fly day, Allan Barnes held a discussion regarding pair flying and team selection.What steps, if any, should we take to ensure that pilots selected to represent
Australia at Worlds events are not only excellent pilots in their own right, but are also competent and capable team pilots? This was the central question aired at Allan’s Pilot Discussion Group.
Allan’s proposal was that team selection should be decided not by Nationals results, but in a separate competition, entered by pilot pairs, where the winning pair would form the team to go to the Worlds.
Some key points to come out of the meeting were:
1.Team/pair flying, although an advantage, is not the be-all and end-all of Worlds success. Funding, ground support, coaching and logistics are also important.
2.Pilots are already under a lot of time pressure – and an extra competition might be the last straw for some.
3.A pairs-only competition would exclude talented individuals who might perform better than any pair. There may be individual pilots who deserve a place irrespective of their team flying ability.
4.Improving the standard of pair flying within
Australia was generally desirable, and could be achieved by developing a syllabus and increasing its emphasis in coaching programs.
5.It might be possible to use the Sports Class as a vehicle for team selection, by allowing pair flying in this class and allowing pre-declared pilot pairs to share start points.
It was noted that the Club Class Nationals rules were changed this year to ban team/pair flying, against the wishes of the majority of Club Class pilots. The only reason given was that of ‘harmonising’ the rules across classes.
It was felt that re-introducing pair flying would go a long way to removing the need for a change to team selection procedures.
To gain a broader feeling for pilot preference, Allan put together a questionnaire canvassing pilot opinions on the preferred option for team selection. Anybody interested in contributing to the questionnaire, please contact Allan at allan.j.barnes@gmail.com
Comp Day 6 – Wed 15 Oct
Wendy thanked John Roake for donating prizes of annual subscriptions to his magazine, Gliding International (www.glidinginternational.com).
Day 5 Club class
Mike Codling (Hornet) – 100.2km/h 353.7km -1000 points
Alan Barnes (LS1f) – 93.6km/h 335.2km – 875.10 points
Mark Laird / Ian McPhee (Grob3) – 93.3km/h 348.2km – 869.30 points
Mike Codling:“Yesterday was a bit surprising for me.Looking back on the flight, I was trying to think of something that I did that was different or special.I think that because I didn’t do anything special is why I won.I stayed at the right height band and moved on from the rubbish.That was my day yesterday.”
Lisa Turner (ASW 24E) – 93.4km/h 354.1km – 930.80 points
Bruce Taylor (Ventus 2cX/18m) – 91.2km/h 364.0km – 891.50 points
Hank Kauffmann:“I hate AATs! I did badly on the second leg. It simply meant that because the others were further in front of me, they were further out west, and the day died in a heap.So I won because I was 10 km behind them.”
Weather for Comp Day 6:
A strong southerly change is expected below 4,000′ over the sea and coast in the far south east of the area by ; expected near Kingaroy by .An inland trough is forming near Warwick at , and expected at
Warwick by .Widespread thunderstorms are expected this afternoon.
Tasks – Club (2 hours) Sports (2 hours) – Jandowae North (40), Wondai (30) – minimum 79 km, max 331 km, point to point 199 km.First launch .There were no outlandings.
Tasman Trophy
Bill Iggulden senior was a pioneer glider pilot in the very early days of gliding in
Australia. Well known as ‘Pop’ Iggulden, he was born in New Zealand and came to Australia as a young man and set up a successful engineering business in
Melbourne. When Bill died in 1966 the family commissioned Andor Meszaros to sculpture a work of art to be given to GFA and the NZGA for international competition.
For many years the Tasman Trophy was contested at the World Gliding Championships as a private side contest, with
New Zealand winning it on all occasions.In 1978 the two countries agreed to compete in alternating countries during the respective National Championships.The object was to create an incentive for pilots other than those already of international status to fly for their country.
Two rules apply:
Pilots must not have flown in World Championships and
pilots must fly in the same Class of glider.
The Tasman Trophy is contested at each country’s Nationals and scored in the same manner as other pilots. The selected pilot with the highest points wins the trophy for his/her country. This trophy, belonging to both GFA and NZGA jointly, is excepted from the rule that GFA trophies must stay in
Australia, so it regularly travels between the two countries.
Representing
New Zealand at this year’s contest is Brett Hunter, a pharmacist from Tauranga, North Island NZ.Brett began gliding in 1990 and has about 800 hours in the air.Brett enjoys competition gliding and entered most
New Zealand competitions in the last year; his best placing was 3rd in the Open Class 2008 NZ Nationals and he won the 2008 Central Districts Championship Open Class.He was recipient of Gliding NZ “Air New Zealand Gliding Award” in 2008 for the pilot demonstrating the greatest improvement in personal gliding achievement.
This is the first time that Brett has flown outside
New Zealand and he is “really enjoying the close competition with Jo”.
Representing
Australia is Jo Davis of Darling Downs Soaring Club. Jo is an Environmental Scientist working in a civil engineering firm who started gliding about 6 yeas ago and has about 800 hours in the air.
“I think quite a few people get into gliding because of their fascination with flight.For me it’s all about the sky – the beauty of it, its energy and complexity.I spent afair amount of my childhood watching the skies over the Jimbour plains and developed my sky addiction there.Being able to be up there and actually interact with the elements is just amazing; challenging myself and continually findings ways to drive my glider that little bit faster. The other thing about gliding that keeps me coming back is just how wonderful the people are.”
Thu 16 Oct
The trough has stalled over Kingaroy and the upper area is very moist with a very low cloud base and easterly winds.There is very moist air up to the higher levels and no prospect of soaring.
Day prizes were presented by Sandy Griffin:
Day 6 Club class
Michael Maddocks / Brian Allerby (ASK21) – 114.3km/h228.7km – 1000 points
Alan Barnes (LS1f) – 103.5km/h247.2km – 829.60 points
Brian Allerby:“We’d like to thank Rob, John and Rob for allowing us to use their beautifully presented aircraft.It was really nice to go hard yesterday.”
Mike Maddocks:“We were able to pick a height band instead of having to take every thermal, and that made a big difference.”
Day 6 Sports class
Peter Trotter (LS8) – 110.4km/h229.8km – 1000 points
Bruce Taylor (Ventus 2cX/18m) – 104.9km/h221.0km – 900.10 points
Peter Trotter:“I spent the whole day doing just one thing, trying to line my track up with the street.I had 13 percent circling and overall LD of 79.”
Andrew Greig from
Perth received a subscription to Soaring International, courtesy John Roake, as a “thank-you for coming all this way”.
Sandy Griffin, Club Captain of Tauranga Gliding Club,
North IslandNew Zealand thanked the team for putting on such a good competition – “the ladies have done a brilliant job”.Sandy also passed on best wishes from John Roake.
Comp Day 7 – Fri 17 OctA high pressure system is directing strong south-easterlies onto the coast and into the
KingaroyValley.Today there will be cu across the whole task area with 6,000′ QNH in the
KingaroyValley and 7,000′ on the
Downs.The task has been set onto the
Downs to make use of the good conditions.
Tasks – Sports (3 hours), Club (2.30 hours) – Chinchilla (40),
Bell (20), Control Point West (2) – minimum 170 km, max 367 km, point to point 264 km.First launch .
On the grid, first launch was amended to 11.30 and Sports class task was reduced to 2.5 hours.
Club class was amended to task B at 2 hrs 15 mins:Warra (30),
Bell (20), Control Point West (2) – minimum 141 km, max 291 km, point to point 210 km.
There were 2 outlandings for the day.
Final Night Dinner
Greg Schmidt, President Kingaroy Soaring Club thanked everyone for a safe and fun competition.Prizes were presented to:
Club Class Champion– Allan Barnes
Club
Class Second Place
– Phillip Ritchie
Club
Class Third Place
– Mike Codling
QEII Silver Jubilee – Overall best aggregate in Sports Class – Bruce Taylor
Sports
Class Second Place
– Hank Kauffmann
Sports
Class Third Place
– Peter Trotter
Tasman Trophy – Jo Davis
Nationals Club Class Teams Trophy
Highest aggregate score by a team of 3 pilots in either Club or Sports Class
Queensland A – Hank Kauffmann, Allan Barnes, Peter Trotter
Fun Team Winner – Team Indea – VTT, YHK, ZKT
John S Holst Memorial – Highest handicap speed achieved in either Sports or Club – Peter Trotter
Beaurepaires Corowa Trophy – Highest place in 1st or 2nd nationals in either Club or Sports – Phillip Southgate
Westpac Bank Perpetual Trophy (one Plus) – Highest place in glider with handicap or 1 or more – Allan Barnes
T&J Sailplane Services Trophy – Highest total aggregate score by
Mentor and Pupil -Hank Kauffmann and Mark Dalton
Tim and Joy Shirley Trophy – Best placed female by percentage of winners points achieved – Lisa Turner
Pilots from afar were acknowledged:Brett Hunter, SandyGriffin, John Griffin, Maurice Weaver from New Zealand; Itsuo Takahashi (
Japan); the youngest pilot competing, Andrew Greig (WA); Lyn and Phil Ritchie (SA).
There were big rounds of applause for
the tuggies:tugmaster
Val Wilkinson, Rob Butler, Peter Sommerfeldt,
Pam Kurstjens, Arnie Hartley and Ross McLean
Kingaroy SC members and helpers:Susie, Mick, Rob & Pam, Jan, Elaine, Lorraine, Linda, Aspro, John, Peter S, Janet,
Lisa and
Lisa, Daryl, Greg K, Greg S, Marlene, Leonie, Louise O’Grady (also flying), Indea and Holly
the contest organisers:director
Wendy Medlicott, weather and scoring Jenny Thompson, task setting
Lisa Trotter, grid marshal Anita Taylor, safety Julie Maddocks,
radio Jo Pocklington and assistant Indea Tabart, secretary Lorraine Kauffmann,
media relations and webnews Jo Pocklington, stewards
Pam Kurstjens, Jo Pocklington, Beryl Hartley, outlanding coordinator Suzie Scoles, bar manager Suzie Scoles, treasurer Linda Kolb, timekeeper Janet Neisler, legal advisor and social organiser
Lisa Turner – and a special thank you to Jo Davis and Graham Hennessy for assisting Jenny with the scoring
and the Kingaroy State High Year 10 & 11 students for their excellent assistance with launching through their Active Citizens program.
The pilots’ meeting voted to call in start times each day and Sandy Mander did a superb job of recording their times.
The
BellTower was voted a very successful venue.
Jo Pocklington
18 Oct 08
Thank you JO!!!!
See you next sunday, enjoy your week and slowly , after the gliders allready departed to Africa and Oz, the pilots and their family travel off too.
Ritz
The clubclass national glidingchampionships are over with great winners.Bruce Taylor, Hank Kauffmann and Peter Trotter were the the numbers 1-3 in sportsclass and in clubclass Allan Barnes ,Phillip Ritchie and Mike Coldling were the 3 toppers.
VERY interesting is, that the total organization of these comps was in the hands of WOMEN.
As they write on their site:” Women take the controls for the Club Class Nationals.Women interested in the sport of gliding have offered to take up keyroles in the Club Class National Championships being hosted by the Kingaroy Soaring Club from 6th to 17th October 2008″
What I heard they did a GREAT job, which pleases me a lot! Wendy Medlicot was the director and 14 other ladies were involved with the rest , as weather, PR webnews etc. Even the tug master was female! I love it!! And….I am NOT a feminist! Look for their site to see the names of all other ladies.Will ask Jo , who was also involved {PR and radiomaster, as well as media relations and web news}for some more newsey news.
No more time, guests and the garden are waiting. Today; Preparing the garden for WINTER!!!So see you next time for more news, or somewhere during the week.