Alphen aan den Rijn     Wednesday January 4 2012

ritzdeluy@hotmail.com     www.glidinginternational.com     www.soaringcafe.com

Hope you enjoyed the 1000 km story  from young sport soldier Benjamin Bachmeier published last Monday.

Day 1 of 2012 was here in Holland a special day as temperatures reached 13 dgr. C and that had not happened before in history. Normal for this time of the year is about 3 dgr. You can see the rose in my garden , it lost track of time, thinks it is spring.
A Dutch first- of -January -tradition is a dive in the sea, does n’t matter what the temperature is. Not for me,  but for many. So with the high temperatures,  a record amount of divers were to be found in their swimmers in the sea;36.000 all over Holland and for Scheveningen there is a limit of 10.000 and they were all there.Also a record!
Yesterday we had such an unfriendly storm again gusting to over 100 km/h. and producing a lot of damage again. Hate storms!!!

Talking about records  but this time different ones; Our Danish mates continue  with their record-chase! More new Danish National records, this time Ole writes;
2 new Danish records
Speed 300Km triangle 134.25 Kph
Speed 100Km triangle 134.25 Kph
Ole now 6 records IB only 5 !!!!!
They surely are having fun, and…that’s what it  is all about is n’t it  ???!!!!

Gawler had a -first- of- the- season- 1000 km. as well on January 1. Great weather in Australia but HOT up to 43 dgr. January 2 was good for a few more 1000 km. flights! Pepe in the ASH 31/21m. the first 1000 for this type of glider. Also an ASG 29 flew one . In Stonefield the Nimbus 4 .Also Harry flew one again yesterday from Corowa , so pleased to see his back and from Lubor I know he is a good pilot and he showed it with a fantastic 1.148 km flight in the ASG 29!!!
A very  good one, as well, a DECLARED 1000 FAI triangle,  but just not flown by Terry Ryan from Tocumwal. A pity!! But……..one day later…he flew one, his very first one,not declared this time, but a nice BIG 1000 km. flight. So Tocumwal has a 1000 now as well , so has Benalla with Nick Woods in the ASG 29. Nice one as well!!!
Excellent WEATHER in the very beginning of January in OZ !!!!!!! But the change arrived today!

Talking about 1000 km. Yes there is a big difference in flying a 1000 km. but still it should be ALL fun. In the past, so between 20 and nearly 50 years ago it was a real challenge and MAGIC. Now with all the fancy gliders with engines, you still have to have the weather and you still have to fly it , but it is easier. It depends on what you wish and what type of glider you fly. For an open class glider it is more easy then a Discus.  Do you go for fun, flying with the clouds  or hard work declaring a task and flying/sticking to it, or both?! Challenges, challenges!!!Decisions, decisions!
Then you have cold, high and fast circumstances flying wave,  or with cauliflower clouds or dry thermals.So a 1000 lost a bit of magic but a first 1000 ALWAYS  remains magic for the pilot flying it! New goals are there now for even longer distances then a “pretty normal by now” 1000. But enjoying yourself remains the main goal.

Did you know that the very  first 1000 km.   was a free distance flight/record  by Alvin Parker on July 31 1964, he was the number 1 who received the 1000 km. badge. and now at this stage we have 575 pilots who have one! Alvin flew a Sisu1A withsome kind of  a -standard-  libelle- performance. This glider is still to be seen in the Smithsonian.
For Holland Jaap van Steinfoorn was the first to fly a 1000,  number 49 and flown in 84 in Minden in a Nimbus 3. George ,  was the 2d one with number 56 also flown in 84, but in Tocumwal and in a Ventus BT.I remember a very windy day , I could hang while waiting against this wind.
I liked what Benjamin , who flew one on January 1 2012, said after his flight; “I have learned two things about 1000 km flying yesterday:
1st;  it is not so much a game of flying long hours from morning til evening, but much more a game of flying REALLY FAST in the best hours of the day. This is what matters much more, because 20 kph more average in the afternoon gives you more distance than creeping along weak and low for two hours in the morning.
2nd ; one thousand km flights in thermals are, to put it simple, the art of being in the right place at the right time for long enough.

In Namibia they took it easy, on day 1 of the year no big flights over 1000 km.,  but of course they had already so many!!January 2 however was good for a 1000 for my friends Bert and Hilde in Kiripotib in an ASH 25 EB. Also Bernd and Patrick flew one. Patrick [Puskeiler] is the  junior world champion from Musbach,  as you still might remember and he flies now from Bitterwasser. Also he was in the past a sport soldier as Benjamin and Fabian are now!Several more very nice long flights yesterday in Namibia.The first 47 flights yesterday were from Namibia or Australia , number 48 a good one from Hans Wiesenthal in Gariep Dam; 713 km.

Now that all overseas soaring paradises have given  their pilots where they came for , I can concentrate on  more then only 1000 km. flights. Each of the places have enough now to call it a great or pretty great season.Nothing is such a worry as to not have the weather when pilots come with their saved pennies to fly a 1000 and it not there in the time they visit. I always felt very bad, if it was my fault, of course it was n’t, but that still is in the back of my mind. There you see….is a 1000 ….my trauma?????? Let’s go the comps….

As…the Nationals have started in Benalla. Day 1 was a good one with an AAT from 3 hours for club, won by kilometer-eater Alan Barnes in his LS1f. 386 km in 3 hours 2 minutes , so a speed of 127 km/h!!!! Runner up was Paul Mander who I know since 1984. He flies the SZD55.
As long I know Paul I know Tony Tabart. Jo is my big support for writing about Australian matters. Tony flies in the sports class and was 10th. Preliminary winner was Mac in an LS 8. He knows the area well as he flew many years with us in the past and even organised comps for Japanese pilots with our gliders; the Recaro Cup, all past now! But good on Mac!!! He flew 395 km. in exact 3 hours. Speed 131.5 km.Runner up was Peter Temple [LS 8] who was 3d in the WGC in Rieti, before Bruce Taylor in the JS1.
In the 2-seaterclass flies one DG 1000 flown by Terry Cubley [YES I know him as long as Tony and Paul]  and 5 duo-discusses.Here is Bruce about day 1;
  BIG day today!! The weatherman said something about the possibility of convection going to 14,000 feet, but maybe the task setters didn’t listen to that and gave us a 3 hour AAT. Before start we had to keep an eye on heights, as we were bumping up against the ceiling at 12,000 feet. It was nice and cool up there compared to the 40 degrees plus on the ground…
On the way out towards the first turn… there were some climbs of 10 knots and more, then there was a bit of pre-frontal cirrus shadow to get over. Just past that there was more sunshine, and I cruised fast to a likely looking cloud, to be greeted with a monster climb. It started at 12 knots and went over 16 for a few turns!! WooHoo!! Overall the flight went well, except that I tried hard to max out all the sectors and still came home 8 minutes early, which was a bit of a shame. My 153 kph ended up only being good enough for 3rd place! I don’t think I’ve done that sort of speed unballasted before, so it must have been a good day.
Tomorrow the trough line might be past us, and it will be cool (and low) again. At least the crews will be more comfortable.”

Day 2  had less good weather and started with rain , which is indeed a nice way of cooling off after the 40+ from the last days.  In sports class Brad Edwards who did not fly on day 1 , won the 2 hour AAT in 2 hours 21 but he flew 195 km. Runner up Miles, also a good old friend, was 2d. All scores still preliminary at this stage.
In the club class Paul Mander won the 1 hour 30 AAT at this stage. More on Sunday.

And to finish something about the Perlan Project

Cheers Ritz