August 1 2006
Latest News by Ritz

Europe;
The weather in Europe in July, has been fantastic and in Holland it was the hottest ever in history, which means since they started counting. But…after 16 days the heatwave here is over , we just missed out on one more day as the temperature reached 24.3 and we needed 25 yesterday .
We are back to more or less normal, rainy and windy Dutch weather with temperatures around 20 dgr. Londen,Berlin, Oslo, Helsinki and Stockholm have about the same.Spain however is still hot with 36 dgr. in the S. part
On the 19th of July, 4.5 milliard liters of water have been “used” on ONE day by Dutch consuments.That is 1 1/2 times more then normal.

Belgium;
BeNeLux competition;
August 1 is the fourth day of the BeNeLux competitiion in Belgium, just over the Dutch border.I guess looking out side that today is cancelled; Quite heavy showers with in between small windows of sunshine. And… Day 2 was also cancelled due to bad weather.
But…Day 3 was a good looking day with a rather late start between 3.30 and 4 o’clock. A day with blue skies and huge white clouds in the afternoon , but still with possibilities or showers later in the day; a task was set in each of the 3 classes;
St class;
145 km with 5 points. Winner was, as on day 1, good old friend Emiel De Wachter [B] who, as in the early 70thies has his wife Godelieve as his crew.In the 70thies when we all met, he flew Libelle. He still has that glider , he told me, though he flies his LS 8 now.I urged him to never get rid of the Lbelle as , in my opinion, it was one of the best ever made!
Only 4 from the 11 pilots in this class arrived back home. Last to make it home was Eric Colbrant at 18.34.

15/18 m. class;
A task from 166 km over 5 points and winner in this class was Rob Looisen, former Dutch champion, now flying comps for fun, but don’t underestimate him as he is still a very, no an extremely good pilot. He shares flying the ASW 27 with friend Max Bloch, who organizes nowadays the Dutch Nationals.From 13 pilots, 4 did not make it home!
After 2 days, Chiel Wijnheimer { The Neth] is 1 overall, flying his DG800/18m..

Open class;
A task from 167 km with 5 points for 4 open class teams, who all made it home. Winner Hugo Mertens in Jantar 2 from Belgium.Overall after 2 days;Pierre de Broqueville with a Nimbus 4 DM.
You can find tasks and scores now at www.aeroclub-keiheuvel-be Enjoy!
Cheers Ritz