The pessimists thought, whilst looking at the flooding and rain in NSW that maybe the Narromine comps would/could be a swimming competition.
BUT NO they were wrong.
Task 2 from the AUSSIE NATIONALS ,was after all the rain in the week before,… a good one;
Narromine Gliding Club Official said;” It is turning into one of those cracking soaring days that Narromine is famous for, 6kt climbs to 8,000ft and doesn’t stop until 6pm.”
15 m….467.82 km and the Ventus 3T from Adam was with 130 km./h the best.
He started about 5 minutes later than the rest and “got them all” even his mate Butch in the AS33es.
Matthew was 4th and called it a “a solid defensive day.”
About the start he said ;”Woolley wanted to play some start games with me but I wasn’t keen with the potential for an early and hard shutoff (it is March and everything is wet!).”
Bruce was unfortunately out. “I chose to make a high risk move“
You can read the day through the eyes of the pilots on
Taylor’s Gliding Page
Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
Club class;307,67 km..Jim Crowhurst from Kingaroy is doing well, he won both the tasks till now. Speed 99km./h in his ASW 20. The Mosquito from Jack Hart was runner up.

Task 3 was another good one.
15 m….3 hour AAT; all 10 pilots flew and one was clearly the best this day! Kilometer-eater Toby [Geiger] from Benalla, in his Ventus 2ax flew 433 km in time 2.59,36 …a speed of 144.5 km./h…so 1000 points for him. It brings him for 5 to 2 overall.
Even the Ventus 3T, [Fantastic day in the saddle all the way until the last leg.. I was averaging well over 140kph for most of the flight, then dropped back to 138kph on the last leg. I could see the problem unfolding, but couldn’t do anything about it.” A33es or Diana 2 fes,[I have never driven the Diana 2 so hard, cruising 120kts between 6-8kt climbs.] could not keep up with him. They were 5th, 4th and runner up.
Club…..3.30 AAT; the little ones had a big day ahead of them ; 405 km for the winner in his ASW 20 Jim in time 3.30 at the dot and also for him well deserved 1000 points, so he leads after winning every day till now with nearly 400 points.
116 km./h on the “clock’ which was 10 k faster than runner up Jack in the good old Mosquito.
All 9 started, all 9 finished!!!
Bernie Sizer [PIK 20 b] was unfortunately out on task 1, after 302 km. but took revenge with a 4th spot today. Bernie flies from Tocumwal.

15 m. class;
Task 4….2.30 AAT; Scutter- day, or Matthew- day, or Diana 2FES -day, what ever you like! Anyhow Matthew won the day with 339 km. in exactly 2.30 at the dot;134 km./h.
Quite a bit faster than runner up Tobias who flew 329 km. in time 2.35; 127 km./h.
“Smashed it – short task due to forecast storms which did end up blotting out part of the second sector, requiring almost max distance in the other sectors. The key decisions were to go right to the edge of the storm which let me turn shorter in the last sector, staying with the good cu, and an aggressive gear change down when we turned off the downwind leg that saw a lot get low. Probably a few rest days in the foreseeable, time to do some washing.” as shared by Matthew.
Club class…2 hour AAT; to keep with the same words…Jim-day, ASW 20-day. They all started after 2 o’clock and Jim won AGAIN. His 4th successive win!!!!244 km. in time 2.01 showed a speed of 120 km./h.
Runner up David Collins from Waikirie [pff far driving for him!!!] flew 270 km. in the ASW 20F but needed more time 2 hour and 29 minutes; speed 114 km./h.
Task 5 was CANCELLED for all classes.

15 m. class;
Task 6…351 km. and this time one of the other toppers in this class “climbed the podium”. Butch…John Buchanan in his AS 33es; 141 km./h What about that!?
Matthew was runner up [135 km./h] saying “Straight forward day, the first task we have used the PEV markers on for the start. They turned out to be largely not necessary as the task was sized well to the window available so we all went more or less as the gate opened.” more in his blog Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
Bruce was 3d in the borrowed Discus;132 km./h.
“Quite an interesting day. The lift had a more organized, solid feel right from the start today, even allowing for the fact that we launched later than on previous tasks. So it was with some dismay that after a good start at cloudbase right on the line, I had a glide down to almost ground level right near the first turnpoint without having flown through any lift!”
Taylor’s Gliding Page
That leaves Adam and Toby, they were on spot 4 and 6 with Ray [Stewart] in the JS 3 between them.
Adam;”I’m really sad” was my comment over the radio waves today, followed by extremely loud shouts of expletives to myself. My stats for the day were effectively the best on all counts against the others, minus the one stuff up described below (my deviations today were 11% or 20km more distance travelled than the others).” more in Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
Club class; 297 km...Great day for Jack who won the day with 107 km./h in his Mosquito. A tad slower than David in the ASW 20 F.
Jack was more than pleased with this win , he not only stopped the every-day-win from Jim, but so to see he does n’t win a lot and seems a real inspiration for others.

15 m;
Task 7….3.30 AAT;6 pilots flew over 400 km. Butch and Toby used more than 4 hours [4.03] Matthew, John and Adam started about the same time. In the end Matthew’s Diana was the best with a speed of 117.99 km./h. Adam had 117.46 and Butch needed more time but was 3d with 109.90 km./h
Matthew; “Finally some weather that requires more skill than pushing the stick full forward – a moderate breeze and bands of high cloud rolling through the task area.” more in Matthew Scutter’s Gliding.
He also said that” those who stretched the day paid dearly“.
Bruce was one of them after 256 km.

Adam; “Huge mental game today with such a phenomenal first leg where I clearly out flew everyone, followed by survival. At every moment, I told myself, fly the best flight you can, fly the fastest flight you can, from this moment on.” More in Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures

With 3 days to go it looks , that Matthew WITHOUT problems, has the best option to win, with more than 350 points ahead on Toby. For him , Ray, John and Adam there are still enough chances; Toby 4.966, Ray 4.926, Butch 4.906 and Adam 4.900

Club class;
Task 7….3 hour AAT; 9 started and 6 finished and I was more than pleased to see that Jo was runner up today, behind Jim who was back in his “winning mood”;358 km. in time 3.04 so 117 km./h.
Jim is nearly 500 points ahead with 3 flying days to go.

15 m;
Task 8….2.30 AAT and today it was a good and pretty fast day with 335 km. for Matthew in time 2.29, so a speed of 134.15 km./h which devaluated the points to a max of 800.
Matthew; “Another challenging day, but right in my court – big climbs and big storms. Taking it easy and not taking any risks that could upend the comp for me turned out to be a good strategy for the day with the very tricky conditions working both sides of storms. Probably got the last clean climb of the day to get home.”
Adam was runner up but with a higher handicap he lost a few points though they started and finished in about the same time.[746 points]
Ray ,Butch and Toby followed.
Matthew clearly leads but the game is not over yet for Ray[5.655 p] Toby [5.653 p.] and Adam [5.650 and Butch is in the race as well with 5.620 p.
Matthew added; “Maybe only one day left, tomorrow is uncertain.“
Bruce mentioned; “A quick note to say that I have decided to leave Narromine a little early. There are some reasons I need to be back at home just now.”
Club class; had a 2.30 AAT as well and also 800 points for daily winner Jim with 300 km in time 2.29.
Jack in the good old Mosquito had a less day and finished on spot 7 with 489 points. He dropped from 2 to 3 overall, but hey,…still on the podium…now.
All 9 flew 1 was out.

——————————————————————-

Seminole- Lake Gliderport:
“This is the 32nd edition of the Senior Soaring Championship. We are again having a Sailplane Grand Prix fun event starting the week before the Seniors. More on that at a later date. What started as a friendly competition between friends have turned into a highly competitive event pitting some of the best pilots in the country and beyond. We welcome World and National Champions, as well as, first time competitors to Seminole-Lake Gliderport. “
You must be 55 years old or older before the first contest day. They allow 5 pilots as guests that do not meet this criterion, which always includes a junior racer.
Between March 12 and 18, the “oldies” , with a lot of respect, fight for the best positions.
Practice on March 11.
Contest director is John Good and the scorer is Rick Sheppe.

They started with thunder and lightning on March 12, and… it was cloudy, dark and cold. Indeed NO ingredients to start a competition.
March 13; showed several tasks and YES, the 59 gliders started with task F in the pocket. After relights the last was airborne at 5PM.
Luckily for John the CD ….he kept positive…the day turned out nicely.
“It was definitely a day to get high and stay high, where “high” in this case was just a bit over 3500 feet AGL at task opening time.”
36 pilots completed the task and only 2 real outlandings.
Bif Huss [ Ventus 3M] who won the comps a few years ago, was the daily best.
March 14; the forecast was for “warmer, stronger, higher, and less breezy weather“. And,….. it was a good day with task 2.
“It was a 2-hour TAT, with a big circle down south, accompanied by a pair of smaller “steering” turn areas, one outbound and one inbound, to keep the traffic separated.”
45 From the 53 who started finished and Jim Lee was the best in his 18m JS 1 C/jet.
After consulting the meteorologist, the crews, and his crystal ball, Contest Manager Enrique Mertins declared that tomorrow will be a rest day….so
March 15 is a rest day.
More next week.

—————————————————————————-
Vale Alan Patching 

Another legend of the soaring world has passed away.
When I think of Benalla, I see Alan.
R.I.P. Alan.
It is with great sadness that we …Victorian Soaring Association…advise of the passing of Alan Patching on Sat 12th March. He was 97 years old, (nearly 98), and was a Life Member of GFA. He passed away peacefully at home.
In 1976 Alan was invited to become a member of the OSTIV Sailplane Development Panel and was appointed convenor of both the Fatigue/Service Life and Crashworthiness Panels and is now an Honorary member of OSTIV.
In 1994 Alan was given an Order of Australia AM for his services to Australian gliding.
Alan received the highest FAI gliding award, the Lilienthal Medal, in 2007 for his eminent services to the international gliding community over many decades, and in particular for his extensive and substantial contribution to glider airworthiness and sailplane fatigue life.

————————————————-

And to finish this great picture, what a “monster”!!??

Kiki mentioned on March 12 that he and his wife have safely arrived in Paris in France BUT with their heart in the Ukraine. They are grateful to all those who have helped them escape, sometimes with danger for their own life.
Chapeau et merci a tous!!!!

CU next week.
Cheers Ritz….20 dgr.C…not bad! Love it.[ BUT,…the red SAHARA-sand from Africa is arriving soon as dust and I just had my window cleaners here.]
That’s what the glider pilots thought last week too at Terlet,