Post 1.555 on November 20 2024 AND ……6 blogs to go.

Indeed 6 blogs to go , the last one will be on TUESDAY December 31, last day of this year.
AND,…when the weather is there,…either in Africa or Australia or New Zealand , or wherever…you can fly a 1000!!!! It happened again !!!!

—–Namibia had since November 11 again TOP DAYS!!! I am sure you found them on WeGlide or the OLC. Not only 1000 km, but with this great weather and those good gliders ,distances from over 1.200 in Veronica on November 15, over 1.300 on November 16 in Bitterwasser and again on November 16 , this time a special one as the “founders” from Flying with the Champions, Ludwig and Wolfgang flew together in the ARCUS M from Kiripotib; 1.315.21 km. and they were in a hurry; 163.20 km./h.
The EB flew even 1.326 km!!!AND ,…the pilot commented;” “What an absolute chaotic flight. Where I wanted to go it did n’t work and then there was every time something, “dark” or wet in my way. Not my day!” But what happens when it is his day, now the scoring distance was 1.328,68 km [948,16 FAI] and a speed of 148,55 km./h.
And for sure a lot of happy pilots on those airfields with bubbles in the evening , and lot’s of stories. REAL HAPPY CHAPPIES , I know the euphoric feeling of such a day!!!!

After 2 fabulous weeks the news from Kiripotip on November 16 was;
“Flying with the Champions 2024″ is history .We enjoyed fantastic flights, engaging presentations, learned so much new, and, most importantly, had an incredible amount of fun . Thank you for two amazing weeks at Kiripotib with our wonderful guests.” Kiripotib Soaring 

——-Australia had great soaring- weather too. Narromine and Lake Keepit both had over 1000 km flights. Here is a story from Adam about Tomas in Narromine;
“Fantastic opening flight Tomas,[Suchanek] 60km further than I’ve taken G1, in 15m too none the less .
He says, “My suitcase got lost somewhere around Singapore on the way to OZ. Lucky I could borrow Adams Ventus and Beryl donated lucky T-shirt and shorts to me .
No sunglasses no hat today no phone today on board. Only shoes, socks and Oudie were mine. It is a new Czech national record distance via three turnpoints”
On November 15 Tomas flew 1.178 km with 125 km./h. in the Ventus 3 T/15m. from Adam.
Lasham pilot Andy , [I believe for the season in Lake Keepit ,] flew in the ASG 32MI ; 1.028 km.
It might be a superb soaring season on both sides of the world. HOPE!!!!!!

–—-Recent news from Schempp-Hirth;
This picture says it all.

“This Wednesday, [November 13] we celebrated a significant milestone: the delivery of the 250th Ventus-3.
This occasion was not only seen as a simple business success of our 18- and 15-meter-high performance glider, it was above all a moment of pride and fellowship that brought together the entire team, without whom the production of such a modern, elegant and efficient aircraft would not be possible.
The handover ceremony took place in our final assembly, which was cleared for this special occasion. The entire team, from the engineers to the sales department to all the employees who use their extensive know-how and experience to build such aircraft from scratch, gathered around the Ventus assembled to its final form. It was a great opportunity to recognize the work and dedication of everyone who contributed to this success.” Schempp-Hirth

The new owner is from Belgium, Ward Gysemans and for sur he will be very happy with his new “toy”.
Through the years, George was always happy with all the Schempp-Hirth gliders we bought. A Cirrus 75, a Discus, a Ventus [2x] and Nimbus 2 and Nimbus 3 [3x].
The Nimbus 4DM George and our Dennis, flew in Benalla at the WGC of 1987 , was a proto type . We not only got to know Klaus and Brigitte , but also their sons , Tilo and Ralf. Not to forget Schempp-Hirth “VIP” Biko ,always busy to keep the customers happy. Both Klaus and Ralf stayed with us at Sportavia in the year George won the Leeton Australian Nationals .

Looking back at how we arrived down under and got to know AND LOVE Tocumwal;
In 1984 we met in Rieti in Italy at the PRE WORLDS, the Aussie team. You might know a few as 2 are still flying; Tony Tabart [R.I.P.] Peter Griffith, Bruce Brockhoff,[R.I.P] John ‘Butch” Buchanan, Paul Mander [R.I.P] and Terry Cubley.
We had great fun together and the Aussie pilots invited us to come to Australia to fly there, especially against Ingo in Tocumwal, as he was the best.
Deal was that Butch would fly our Ventus in Rieti and George could fly one of Griffo’s gliders down under.
A nice “swap” convenient for all.
Bruce would be our host ,as he had a caravan at Tocumwal Airport, we could live in when we were there.
Off we went, suitcase full of summer clothes. We arrived at Melbourne and it was just SO COLD!!!!
We called Bruce, but he was not home [ Melbourne] ,he was flying a local competition at Mildura,” we should travel straight on to meet them all there”, he said.
We did . The plane was a small one[ I believe Kendell Airlines] and it was pretty turbulent. I felt miserable!!
We arrived at Mildura ,a lovely small town at the Murray River and it was “bloody” hot over there. Whilst walking to our friends, millions of grasshoppers tried to “climb” in our ears, mouth and nose . Never saw them before and it looked grey ,even when the sun was shining brightly.
Pretty shocking, I longed for the Netherlands, but you get used to everything in life, is n’t it?
We had a sterling time. George flew several new records and I could “HOP” in a Bonanza from Griffo with a stopwatch to check the start from above and later finish time.
When the comp was over we got a radio and a car to drive to Tocumwal, over 500 km with no houses or towns. There was ONE pub in the middle and off course we visited that.
The radio was to keep in contact with Bruce ,as we had no clue where to go too and getting lost down under is not funny.
We arrived safely in beautiful Tocumwal, found a nice motel [ there are many, as people from Melbourne come in bus-loads , to play the poker machines at the golf club over there], as Bruce stayed for a short while in his caravan, to be with us.
So Tocumwal entered in our lives and it is still there!!

Looking at comps!!!
I have been at many comps, too many to write about or even to remember.
But most of all ,I was in Rieti in Italy.
I was their as crew at the Pre Worlds in 1984. In 1985 as guest.
In 1994 as TC of the Dutch team at the EGC and “our” Ronald Termaat won bronze!
I had as TC, 2 pilots in standard class with 36 participants; Baer Selen [finished on spot 9]and Erik Borgmann.[spot 6]
The final scores in this class were very special;
As Tapio and Fred ,the stewards wrote in their final report;
“Peter Fischer, Reinhard Schramme and Erwin Ziegler [all 3 from Germany] TOGETHER on place ONE, with 9358 points each. It’s the first time in history of gliding, that 3 pilots share the first place on an important international championship.”

3 Pilots in 15 m. with 34 pilots ; Steven Raimond , Jaap Horsten and Ronald Termaat who finished as 3d, behind Stefano Ghiorzo [gold] and Werner Meuser [silver] and the other 2 pilots finished in the top 10.
In open 1 pilot Gerrit Kurstjes who finished also in the top 10, so the Dutch Gliding Association was happy, I got a nice THANK YOU letter.

A picture from a picture, but still very clear though in Italian.

More Rieti as in 2007 I was invited as writer at the JWGC and in 2008 as invited writer of the WGC and,…. as one of the jurors could not be there , I “helped” Tor Johannes as replacement-juror.
All great fun ,also with John Roake from N.Z. who was chief steward.
We eat too many ice creams in the evening , every day, as some kind of relaxation!!!!
After that 3 times [years] as writer about the C.I.M.
I love Rieti and the people I got to know through the years!!!!
Comps were always well organized and they really took good care of their guests. The comps were special as the mountains are not forgiving there. I once had to write about an Austrian pilot who did not come back during the CIM, till they found him the next day with help of all pilots and many others. That was tough, very tough!
The pictures from Rieti are on one of my memory- sticks. Will try to find them.

Yesterday I had a small tear when Rafa lost his first match in the Davis Cup, but I was also pleased to see Botic win, it might help him to be less insecure!!!

More “old” and new news next week.
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.554 on November 13 2024 AND ……7 blogs to go.

Slowly I start with a THANK YOU to several people who have been fabulous to me. This time some of the best photographers in my eyes. They allowed me to use their pictures in many of my blogs as great illustrations.
From the USA Bo[zena] Michalowski, from N.Z. Geoff Soper, from Finland Katja Soikkili from the Netherlands Arjan Vrieze and sometimes from Willemijn de Lange.
I used more very good pictures, always shared the names of the photographers and always they enriched the stories!!!!!
Thank you so much!!!!
One of the pictures from Bo;

One of the pictures from Katja;

One of the pictures from Geoff;

and from Arjan ;

—–Not the very best weather for all who hoped for many 1000 km-flights in Namibia. But there is so much to do and see, as a safari. I loved my safari in South Africa last year and will never forget the most beautiful wild animals in nature. They , for sure, will love it too.
Though , YES , I know they are there for flying!
But …..1000 k’s were there again on Saturday.

–—-Not the very best weather either at the Central Plateau comps in N.Z. In 7 days they started task 7 on November 8 with a 2 hour AAT in both classes, open and racing. That was FLYING DAY 3!!!
Not good either, as in racing only 5 pilots flew between 9 and 36 km!!!!!
In open only 1 pilot finished. In his Discus 2c-FES , Frank Excell won the day with 127 km in 2.01, so 63 km./h.
On November 8 and 9 they tried hard, set tasks and a few kilometres were flown , but that was it. On the total scores you can see that there were nearly no points on the scoring list.
In the end there were winners after 2 days -with-points for task 2 and 3;
Open….Frank Excell in Discus 2C -FES with 617 points and
racing.… Trace Austin in Discus CS with 355 points.

–—–Narromine; ” The dynamic-duo who keep Narromine Gliding Club functioning.
During the recent inaugural Womens’ Instructor Course held at Narromine 28 Oct – 1 Nov:
Beryl did all of the catering, and other wrangling. Her husband Arnie did every tow. and the BBQ’s and when necessary maintenance “ Dee Mac  
Great duo. I know Beryl and Arnie for a long , long time and mind you , they are not the youngest anymore!!!!
I always think of Arnie as some kind of “guardian angel”, as during the soaring-safari from South to Nord Australia with a few pilots, gliders and crew members. My daughter, then as old my grand daughter now, was one of the crew members . She had an unforgettable trip, loved every minute, but was very pleased to not have to drive back more kilometres to Narromine, as she was allowed to fly back with Arnie in the tug!!!!!

–—–As you can read the season has slowly started on the other side of the world. A check for pilot and glider is compulsory, so you will not fly around in a glider like this.
Nice picture though.

–—-In between the world has changed and we can only hope for the best. Trump back as president, somebody who abuses who ever he can, was chosen by the USA people, so hopefully they knew what they were doing. I don’t have a political opinion is this blog not about the Democrats neither the Republicans. With all the wars I only hope for peace;
The red poppy is a symbol of both Remembrance and hope for a peaceful future.
“The poppy is a well-known and well-established symbol, one that carries a wealth of history and meaning with it.“

–——In Amsterdam we had black night!!! And that after a great soccer comps between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv. 5-0 for Ajax , NO WORRIES peace at the field and straight after, TILL organised mostly very young ones started to fight. And HOW,…..
The war in the East between Palestine and Israel was on our doormat, with a “chase” on Jewish people.
DEEPLY TRAGIC!!!!!!

—-AND,…looking back at 1 of the first blogs written on June 21 2006 from Sweden;
“Where can you better start with the first article, then in the MEKKA of gliding at this moment; Sweden,of course in Eskilstuna on Ekeby Airport, where tomorrow on June 16 2006 the last day of the 29th FAI Multi Class Gliding Championships will be flown.These are the very last Comps with 4 classes involved.So a very special day! With 116 pilots flying, also one of the bigger gliding events in history.26 Different nations are here and with 12 tow planes all pilots are launched in a very short time.

And …they are great comps! The weather was not all that flash , for that reason the tasks were not too big, but it was till now a real competition with ups and downs and weather circumstances with a variety I have never seen before in my life. The weather can change here very quickly and we have had, snow, hail, rain, sun, temperatures around 0 and temperatures around 30, lenties, clouds, blue days, tough wind and weak wind and a sunset at 22.15.Yes it seems it is never dark here and you go to bed too late for that reason.”

On invitation of Robert Danewid the CD of the comps in Eskilstuna,…… I was the daily writer!

To finish a story and some random pictures from the past.
It’s 1988! The EGC was in Finland at Rayskala. Already a year earlier Kees [Musters…1983 world champion in Hobbs] had lobbied to make me the TC of this competition. I assisted already at the 1987 WGC in Benalla, where I organized the shipment for the gliders and the accommodation at Tocumwal [practice] and Benalla. But I was not in the best mood due to tragic losses.
Kees died in December 1987 in France [ hang glider] and our son Dennis, died after a crash with the tug on January 3 in 1988, so within a week.
In the end the lobby still worked out both for the pilots and myself and I went with 5 men to Finland and 7 or 8 crew members.

Onno, [ 18 from 30 in 15 m] Gerrit, [ 6th from 13 in open], Daan,[ 9th in 15 m] ,Sikko [5th from 28 in st. class] and George.[10th in 15 m]
A competition with rain and thunderstorms, midsummer night and good spirits, though with 2 hiccups; a marriage break-down and the police in my tent to find out why somebody drove over the runway in the middle of the night on their motorbike. Yes the life of a TC is more than sitting behind a map with a radio.
One difficult landing as well by George as you can see .

A European competition with familiar faces;

and some friends

1989; , at home ,early morning in my nighty. Not too bad is it. Can’t remember this picture!!!!Nice to have found it, for those who did n’t know me then.

Next week I will go through more of my photo books and share some more soaring history.

CU next week. I have to stop now, as they are going to cut the electricity for a few hours.
By the way in Kiripotib an ARCUS M20, came available between December 13 and 31. So if you always dreamt of a 1000 k , of “outstanding weather conditions, full support, lot’s of fun ” and catching up with soaring mates, here is a possibility.
info@kiripotib-soaring.com
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.553 on November 6 2024 AND ……8 blogs to go.
–—-GREAT!!!!! Several people are busy to look into preserving my blogs and when it all works out, you can read BACK, what happened on championship level and on fun during gliding between 2006 and 2024.
I am more than pleased ,they are doing this.
From 2006 onwards it should be archived and put on a server. Will inform you later how it works as I don’t know either now.
Sadly enough, in the past [1996-2006] most of my “latest news ” blogs have disappeared one day from the server from Sportavia. We thought,…a hack, but I have never been sure, what happened exactly.
Such a pity!
I know , quite a few guests arrived at Sportavia, because they had read the blogs and felt somehow familiar with us when they arrived.
From that early period there are still enough readers alive and they know!

Back to soaring now!!!

—–Matthew Scutter’s Gliding;
“Day 1 of my first safari of the year. The goal was Narromine, which was forecast to be impossible but the radar looked promising so I thought I’d give it a try – it was impossible. Deviated to Keepit.“
But look then to day 2; 1.032 km with 130 km./h!!! On November 1!!!!!! Still early spring, flying his DIANA 2 /FES.
“First 1000k flight of the Australian season! https://www.weglide.org/flight/492771
Straightforward convergence bash up and down the Great Dividing Range following the bright red line on the LX (also possible to follow the clouds outside). This system is there almost every day, but I keep an eye out for strong ones on SkySight and today delivered.
I landed back at Kingaroy because I seem to be coming down with a cold.
The finish was very exciting – I was below glide to Kingaroy even with FES and the air had gone completely still, but I encountered an area of quite severe turbulence near Toowoomba – and sure enough, when I pushed inland a couple of kilometres, I’d hit the sea breeze in the blue again, now pushing through towards Kingaroy.
In the end I still had to use the motor to get in before last light. Such is the luxury of the FES system.“

GOOD ON YOU MATTHEW!!!!!!!

—–FFVP – Fédération Française de Vol en Planeur is happy that the gliders from the very successful French team are back home from Uvalde.

——-And also the UK gliders are back home!!!

—–Lasham Gliding Society  
“As of 1st November 2024 we are delighted to welcome Ron Smith to the role of Chief Flying Instructor at Lasham Gliding Society.
Ron will be well known to many at Lasham having been with the society in the role of Deputy Chief Flying Instructor since Spring 2024. He has played a key role in delivering a safe and efficient operation and will work closely with our engineering and general manager on interfacing our flying activities with the wider activities on site.“
Good luck Ron and many SAFE flights!

—–Kiripotib Soaring:
“A brilliant start: The first day of “Flying with the Champions” was a complete success . Lots of happy faces and big smiles . We are incredibly happy !“
Indeed pictures with very happy pilots!!!!
kiripotib-soaring.com/en/soaring/flying-with-the-champions

Also 4 OVER 1000 km flights on day 1 , in Bitterwasser …GOOD!!!! And several over 700/800 km in Kiripotib and Pokweni.
Great start of the season!!! Though the next day was less good. But November 3 had a 900 km flight again.
Mind you on less good day’s, during p.e a 300 km flight you might learn as much or more from a champion, than on a long 1000 km -plus- flight.
Veronica started with over 400 and 600 km flights by 3 pilots from Israel.
You can find all flights ,as there will be MANY, for sure till half of January on the OLC at https://www.onlinecontest.org/
Or at WeGlide at weglide.org. They just announced that they now support video uploads as well.

“What happens at Kiripotib when the weather isn’t the best?

Relaxed outdoor briefing

Great presentations by champions Tilo Holighaus and Markus Frank

Firefighter training for the team

Cake and coffee together with our friends from Bitterwasser

Game drive with an impressive sunset

Conclusion: lots of fun and great talks

——Schempp-Hirth
“The first ever self launches with a Ventus-3 FES are done Congratulations Luka Žnidaršič and LZ design for this achievement. With a high landing gear and a more powerful FES-system they made it happen.We are excited for the next steps!”

——-Tocumwal Soaring Centre is gearing up for summer that’s for sure !
The JS3 RES and Ventus 3M will be in the big hangar very soon adding to our already awesome fleet,Every thing from a Boomerang, Blanik up to the mighty 18 mtr super ships and just about everything in between….. Hazzah !”

—–Skyrace GP in Australia shares “bad/sad” news;
“Statement Regarding SkyraceGP’s Future.
The primary organisers have made the difficult decision that the upcoming season’s event will be the final one for the foreseeable future and will be followed by a hiatus of unknown length.
If you have been toying with the idea of attending, we urge you to get your entry in and join in the fun.”
That would be a real pity, as it was not only a fun event ,but also important for flying a competition in a less expensive but top glider.

——The Central Plateau Competition 2024 is in progress at Taupo, between November 2 and 9 .Loved Taupo when I was in NZ, specially the gorgeous area around the lake.
Till now the 14 pilots [ 7 in open and 7 in racing] had 2 out of 4 days. A 3 hour AAT with no finishers in open and a 1 hour AAT with 3 finishers.
In racing NO finishers either on the 3 hour AAT and 2 on the 1 hour AAT..
They did not fly today!

That’s it for now. Have a good week.
Bit short blog maybe BUT, I have to stop as due to renovations in my street the electricity will stop at 8AM till 11 AM.
Very interesting ; archaeology researchers found very old,[ a few hundred years] parts of a street at 1 meter deep in front of my house. Horse-roads as cars were not invented, as well as a little square and a small chapel. Will try to make pictures today.
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.552 on October 30 2024

Thanks for the many reactions I got already on the news that I have to stop writing my blogs end of this year. Even friends I did not expect to read my blogs , seem to have read it. Good to hear.
Luckily people understand my position.
I started actions to find out if the FAI or IGC have a server to host my blogs to “preserve” gliding history as some call it and I am hopeful, as the best of the best in IT , look into the matter!!
Will keep you informed.
Logistics for these last 2 months;
The next blogs will be on Wednesdays November 6 and 13 , 20 and 27 and on December 4,11, 18 and on Tuesday December 24 and Tuesday ,December 31, last day of 2024 AND,…last day of Ritz’ soaring.eu blogs.

–—–Mind you, on one of the last flying days in the season 2024, they flew in The Netherlands still over 300 km. We had the warmest day’s ever in the end of October, with up to 23 dgr C in my region.
Great weather also for the autumn camp at Terlet from the Gelderse.
Sikko flew from Soesterberg in the 15m ASG 29 E340 km.
“Nice flight at the end of October. Started with cloudbase of 600m but after Apeldoorn it went down to Max 500. After Holterberg cloudbase went up to 600m again after turning 10km past Twente weather improved and at Deventer cloudbase rised to 900m. Turned at Soest en then went to Terlet and back to soesterberg. 340km…… Nice“

—–The down under season slowly starts. After a huge amount of rain on ONE day, they got the next day 30dgr. C in Tocumwal, not bad!!!
Lumpy loves his flying and shared last Sunday;” If today was an indication of the season ahead …… bring it on !! We had a trough sitting over a good portion of NSW which generated some nice Cu’s. The wind made it a little difficult to work out where the lift was, however when you found them it was a good ride ….
650kms at 105kph in the might Duo”

–—–John McCaw also loves his gliding , but he flies over the mountains in N.Z. Lucky for us ,he often shares pictures , as he did also last Sunday. A nice Sunday- afternoon out.

——Deeside Gliding Club at the airfield of Aboyne, [I have written often about their wave weeks] shared the next news;
“We’ve had some great wave flying this week with visitors from Booker, Lasham, Chilterns and Wolds exploring the Scottish mountains and glens and making lots of high altitude flights, many up to c.15,000ft, several to c. 20,000ft with Gold height for Patrick Clear and Diamond height for John Otty. Visitors and DGC members have been out as far as Callander, Dunkeld, Strathspey and North of Inverness, with notable x-countries by Roy Wilson (500km) and Sant Cervantes (300km).”

—–HpH Sailplanes is pretty active. They shared news and a picture from the Maiden flight TwinShark SN 40-TS.

—–For all those who have been at Terlet, OR will go there for the FAI SGP in May 2025, [ https://sgp.aero/netherlands2025 ,many top pilots are involved already and a long waiting list!!] ,the famous and very GOOD “workshop” [Service Center Terlet] got a new roof!

—–Benalla has next week the MELBOURNE CUP REGATTA, no this time not the running horses , they run in Melbourne,…the day the nation stops…. but flying gliders. Here is the announcement.

–—-Most of us have seen TOP GUN. I read that the instructor of Tom Cruise and all other pilots for that movie, were trained by Charles Thomas ’Chuck’ Coleman .With more than 100 flights he prepared the cast in F 18 Hornets for their amazing jobs.
SADLY enough he died on Sunday October 20 ,in a small plane, a 2-seat Extra Flugzeugbau EA300 as single pilot, during an AIRSHOW at Las Cruces Air and Space Expo at Las Cruces International Airport, when it crashed. They stopped the show.
Chuck had 10.000 hours in his logbook, participated in hundreds of air shows and flew more than 3000 stunts.
R.I.P.

—–and to finish this post, this spectacular airfield, belonging to the most dangerous in the world.

CU next week,
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.551 on October 23 2024

Not a lot happening in “our” soaring world at this moment, so time to tell you in time ,that I stop writing blogs end of this year. SORRY ABOUT THAT !!!!!
Minor ,but chronical health issues force me to do so.
Was in hospital at neurology and though I only get the results of the MRI on November 1, they could tell me already that the diagnose was PPPD, a chronic dizziness.
A nuisance, but if that is the worst , I can live with it, but having no balance and feeling dizzy is not a real pleasure either.

If you scroll down to the bottom of the post you can see also the archive and see that this soaring.eu started in June 2006, when I was just back from Australia ,sad and and angry after “loosing” the business, we loved so much and worked so hard for , day and night.
Before ,I wrote already for 10 years, the daily news at the SSC site [Sportavia Soaring Center]
So, a life full of writing, research for good articles and enthusiasm, specially writing about comps!!!
The invitations by organizers trough the years to be AT the venue of a WGC, or WWGC, or JWGC or EGC’s and writing whilst I saw it happen , were unforgettable.
Loved doing it. Always with ONE finger, but getting faster and faster.
Writing for GLIDING INTERNATIONAL and SOARING CAFE in the past, was an extra pleasure and honour.

Talking about soaring.cafe;
Caught up with Bill [Soaring Cafe] and Carol from the USA in Amsterdam, last Saturday and we had a great time talking together about a lot of things. Such lovely people!!!!
Also discussed what to do with the many blogs and the archive from soaring.eu. It would be a pity to loose it for readers. At this stage it is on the server from Bill in the USA but I try to get it on the server from either the IGC or FAI.
Will investigate the next weeks.
Of course I will keep you informed during the period.

And 12 years ago in 2012 in Uvalde Texas, with Carol ,Bill and Rand.

—–Some gliders are nicely back in time from Texas.

In between the Dutch gliders are back home, from Uvalde in Texas. Many helping hands and the Dutch , Danish [Arne] and Belgium [Arnaud] pilots, could take their gliders to their home fields.

——–Looking at the season the other way around…BITTERWASSER will start soon. Gliders have arrived in containers for the November, December and January -season.

—-AND,…Kiripotib Soaring is ready too;

—- Of course the overseas season in Australia starts soon too. I heard they had last Tuesday already 30 dgr. C in Tocumwal, after a lot of heavy rain. But they will be ready in the East, [ Kingaroy and Narromine] , South [Benalla and Tocumwal] and West [Adelaide and Waikirie] and of course more glider-fields as Bacchus March [Victoria]
The season in N.Z. started with some flights in Omarama and Matamata and on November 2 the CENTRAL PLATEAU COMPETITION 2024 starts till November 9 with at this stage 13 pilots.
Talking about New Zealand; look at these fabulous pictures from 2 Cirrus’ taken by John McCaw IN a Cirrus.

——-For my USA mates ; Soaring News by Paul Remde of Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
Paul was very active during the latest WGC in Uvalde Texas.
“Soaring Product News Presentation
SSA Convention
Saturday, October 26, 10:00 AM
Room 200AB
I will be talking about the latest soaring products and instruments at the SSA Convention this Saturday. I’ll be discussing: Condor3, LXNAV PowerMouse+ FCC, LXNAV FlarmLink, Air Avionics AC-1 AIR Com Radio, PowerFLARM Flex, LXNAV HAWK, Mountain High 2-Stage Regulators, New features in SeeYou Navigator and the Oudie N, and more… I am looking forward to seeing soaring friends from around the world. I hope to see you there!
Paul Remde “
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.

——-Gliding International from New Zealand [ I wrote for them in the past] does n’t exist anymore. After John Roake passed away ,nobody could follow it up, but the German magazine “segelfliegen” [ already existing for many years] is now also in English.
“The Segelfliegen Magazin is now available online in an English format as Soaring International, with 6 issues per year. Learn more at https://soaring-international.com
And for the German version see https://www.segelfliegen-magazin.de
It’s tough in the media business these days, so support our gliding magazines otherwise they will be gone!“
Have a look, we should support them!!!

——On October 21 , Transavia, the company where George flew and Inge flies ,existed 59 years. Their first flight was with a Douglas DC 6. I can assure you that through my life the name TRANSAVIA has been used a lot. George started with the Caravelle, then Boeing’s …..Inge flies a Boeing 737 and moves soon to the AIRBUS.

——-Cambridge Gliding Centre   shared the next news;
“Started off with a foggy morning, but by afternoon the airfield was buzzing with life! Huge thanks to everyone who joined in the action and helped turn it into an awesome Friday. Can’t wait to do it all again next week!”

AND,...in my own neighbourhood.

That’s it for now. Very foggy here with code yellow, but the sun raised and the fog disappeared.
You will get used to not reading the blog on Wednesday anymore, but for a few weeks it’s still there!!!
So enjoy it.

And,…to finish. Just found this lovely picture from my “mate ” Leo[nardo] Brigliadori.{R.I.P. ] it is from 1963 when he participated in the Argentinian WGC at Junin. Great that people share these pictures.
Leo’s son Ricardo, Ricky for friend’s, flies WGC’s now.
In 1963 they only flew in 2 classes;
Open; champion Edward Makula from Poland, in a SZD-19 Zefir 2. He was honoured in 1965 with the Lilienthal Gliding Medal.
Standard; Champion Heinz Huth from Germany in Schleicher KA6. He won in 1960 as well in his home country Germany from the airfield of Koeln [Cologne] .

PilotaperSempre

Cheers Ritz

Post 1.550 on October 16 2024

——Oh those bloody hurricanes, they ruin SO MUCH and kill people, at least 16 I heard, as did the many twisters Florida had.
I hoped that Seminole would be save and spared, as I love following the senior comps at that airfield in Florida.
But NO , the next day I found these pictures and news on the internet so sad!!!
“Dear Friends of Seminole-Lake,
Our little airport had some damage caused by hurricane Milton. We are still standing and feel blessed no one was injured.
We’ll start cleaning up and rebuild as early as we can.
Seminole-Lake will reopen for business next week.
Thank you everyone for all your thoughts, phone calls, emails and messages.
God Bless!”

After those dark skies, a few days later blue skies and hardworking people cleaning up. TOP!!!!
Yesterday they opened their doors again :”Seminole-Lake will reopen for business as usual this Tuesday @9am.”

——Looking like a nice SPRING-DAY in Kingaroy! AND, a “high” day.

—-SkySight published news which might interest you as I know a lot of pilots use SkySight.
They have a new feature – Cu Overview
“For years our customers have told us they love the product, but they don’t like having to check so many charts to build a mental model of the forecast. So we have built – another chart! Don’t panic – stay with us for the moment.
Presenting, the Cu Overview chart!
-We start with a base layer of Thermal Height in soft contours.
-Overlaid on top are Cumulus cloud ‘dots’, with the size and density (oktas) of the clouds represented realistically, coloured according to altitude
-Overlaid again, we show areas of mid/high cloud in grey, and iconography for areas of rain.
For most pilots we expect this will replace the need to check the Height of Thermals, Cu Depth, Cu Cloudbase, Cloud Cover, Overdevelopment and Significant Weather charts in your preflight planning.

The development of this feature was a multiyear undertaking, requiring rewriting our cumulus modeling from a simple one-dimensional model into a full three-dimensional prediction. We are now able to understand and present both the “width” and height of the cumulus in a manner not achieved before. Additionally this has permitted us to replace the flawed “Overdevelopment” chart with a new chart “Cu Coverage”, that much better achieves the intent of the retired chart.
As always, we hope you will give us feedback about this new feature as we continue to evolve it further.”

—-–Noticed that after 10 weeks !!!!!!!the ship with gliders from Uvalde to South Africa has not arrived yet!!! It is in London, but will arrive only in November; Leaving London 20th, ETA Durban 18Nov!!!!
Their season has started then already.
The UK container has not yet arrived in the UK either….less ” bitter” ,as it will be winter here soon, BUT we and they had some lovely autumn days for flying recently!!!
AND,…here in The Netherlands we go back to 24 dgr. C today here in the S. ,whilst we had yesterday the first national night frost with minus 0.6 dgr. C!!!!!WEIRD!!!
AND,…they still fly!!!!! On October 5 still 39 flights in Holland on the OLC ,11 from Terlet ,but a week later only 2.

——Through the years ,I learned that a lot of glider pilots started as kids with model’s , no not good looking ladies or men on pictures, but model planes!!!!
I found out that ” the FAI F3F world championship 2024 for Model Gliders in Limoux, France, was well underway with seven rounds completed last Thursday and has finished now.
The event was between 2024-10-06 to 2024-10-12 and the event type is F3F Slope Race (Plus Scoring)

Here is more about it by “connoisseurs” ;
“The FAI F3F world championship 2024 for Model Gliders in Limoux, France (6-12 October) saw an impressive display of skill and teamwork by the world’s best aeromodelling pilots. Austria dominated the competition, clinching top honours in both individual and team categories.
The organisers faced the additional challenge of navigating ever-changing weather conditions during the event. The pilots were tasked with competing on three different slopes, each with its own unique characteristics. This transition between the diverse terrains tested the competitors’ adaptability and skill. In the end, a good number of rounds were completed, totalling 17.“

—-–More and more the AURORA is visible on spots it never was before.
When I lived in Tocumwal we often visited or passed by the Lake Mulwala. Look what great picture somebody took there.
It remains a fabulous phenomena.

Even in The Netherlands we could see it. I did not , but more up North you could see it without a camera just with “bare eyes”.
And also a “comet” , called C/2020 A3 [Tsuchinshan-Atlas] passed by over the Netherlands and that happens once in 80.000 years !!!!!!!! And I slept!!!!!

Great picture to finish this post. Indeed a short one ,but times are easy going in this “in-between- soaring-period”.

Cheers Ritz

Post 1.549 on October 9 2024

South African Nationals
Potchefstroom
28 September 2024 – 5 October 2024

You followed with me already 3 days in Potchefstroom, from one was only flyable. But the weather improved, so the next 4 days were pretty good, with on the last day even a speed of 154 km/h. in 18 m.
Here we go;
In CLUB, task 4 was a 300 race and 10 pilots started only 1 was not able to finish. Daily winner Wayne Schmidt in the ASW 27; 105.68 km./h.
Task 5 showed a 324 km race . 119.92km./h was the winning speed by Morné Strauss [member of the Vryheid gliding club, nice name for a club] in JS 3RES/15 m. From 10 this time 2 were out.
Task 6 had a 348.61 km racing task and Morné was again the best, this time with 114.35 km./h. 9 started and 3 were out.
Task 7; 248.74 km last day and this time an LS 3a was the best glider looking at a speed of 120,97 km./h for Jason Adriaan. He won the first and last flying day and was very consistent in between.
“Being the final day and prize giving & dinner this evening, the tasks are by necessity not as long as perhaps they might have been if there were still days of flying to be had. Again conditions are expected to be not dissimilar to yesterday and the inversion will not be as strong. As in previous days, it is likely to die from about 4.30 p.m.“

Overall scores and South African Champion in club class ;
1. Jason Adriaan in LS3a with 3,722 points. Congratulations!
2. Wayne Schmidt in ASW 27 with 3,491 points.
3. Rene Coetzee in ASW 20 a with 3,257 points.

18m class;
Task 4; 390.84 km and the daily winner was Oscar Goudriaan in JS3,with a speed of 125,81 km./h. followed by Mark Holliday in ASW 27 with 115.82 km./h. The overseas guests Pasi from Finland and Holger from Germany were on spot 3 and 4.A total of 12 few and finished!
Task 5; 450.26 km…Oscar was the fastest again 128.29, whilst Rene Lans flew a tad less with 127.12 in JS-1 C Jet 18m.All 12 started but 4 were out.
Task 6;  462.27 km and Pasi Pulkkinen won in a JS3/15 m. He shared the daily prize with Rene, same amount of points; 998. And, 12 started and 1 was out.
Pasi:”Today 465km task where everyone started at the same time as fear of day shutting down. The whole gaggle flew today together. Grest thermals up to 11500 feet in blue. After second turn I went different way than the gaggle (the line of gliders behind Oscar), Got a good line and was on top of the gaggle when we joined before 3rd turn. Oscar managed to get 200m higher on last climb and left first with PN. For some reason me and Holger passed them on final glide. I arrived 1st and Holger Karow 10 sec later. Lost 16 sec to him at the end as he left 26 sec later than I did. That gave 998 points for today and 2nd place.”That turned out to be a shared first place.
Task 7; very last day!!!!! 367.81 km.…Mike Tiffin from the Cape Gliding Club was the daily best; 154.72 km. , but the best speed for the week, was for Swiss pilot Andreas Spielmann in JS 3 /18 m with 154.96 km/h. being 3d on this last day
7 Flew over 140 km./h!!!!GOOD day to finish a comps.
“Conditions seem to have been better than predicted getting up to 13 000 ft. and reports of lift of over 4 m/sec. But again it was apparently a little difficult initially after release and getting up.”

Overall scores and champion in 18m;
1. Oscar Goudriaan in JS3 /18 m with 4.075 points. Congratulations Oscar!!!
2. Mark Holliday in ASW 27 with 3,951 points . Good consistent pilot!!!!
3. Holger Karow in JS3/18 m. [Germany] with 3,914 points and not far behind on
4. Pasi Pulkkinen [Finland] in JS3/15 m. with 3.908 points.

In the 2 seater class were only 5 teams and they flew the last 4 consecutive days as well.
Laurens Goudriaan flying with I think Marcus Geisen [ as he loves Potchefstroom’s magic!!] in the ASG 32MI , won task 4 a race from  390.84 km.with 123,80 km./h.
Task 5, 450.26 km was for 2 Jonker’s, Uys and young Maarten, in a Nimbus 4D.128 66 km./h. and only 2 from 5 finished.
Task 6 , 462.27 km., only 2 from 4 finished; the Jonker’s won again with 127.61 km./h
“Greetings this morning for the penultimate day of the 2024 SA Nationals. A pleasant change this morning to see the flags and windsock hanging more downwards than previously. The temperature is still a bit cool, but feel sure it will be warming up before too long up to probably mid 20s later in the day.“
Task 7 last day;  367.81 km; 5 started and 4 finished and the Jonker’s were the daily best again with 149.63 km./h.

Overall scores and champions in the 2 seater class;
1. Uys Jonker & Maarten Jonker in Nimbus 4DM with 3,885 points. Well done!!!
2. Laurens Goudriaan & Markus Geisen in ASG 32MI with 3,116 points.
3. Daly jr. & Other in ASH 25 with 2,942 points.

Very happy 2-seater-class- champions Uys and Maarten Jonker;

Lovely prizes for the winners and champions.

All in all a good event as the Soaring Society of South Africa mentioned;
“What an incredible week at the South African Gliding National Championship! A huge thank you to all the pilots, organizers, and volunteers who made this event a resounding success. Your passion and dedication to the sport truly shone through. Here’s to soaring high and celebrating our shared love for gliding. Can’t wait for next year!“

——-Still pretty nice after-summer-weather last weekend in parts of Europe, also in The Netherlands. AND,..more below in the USA from Hollister by Ramy Yanetz.

——-Danish gliding on the wings for 90 years by Jens Trabolt  in Glider Forever.
“This Saturday, October 5th, 2024, it is 90 years since the Danish Gliding Federation was founded by a number of independent gliding clubs.
The hope was that organizing the activities would strengthen the sport and camaraderie. If our ancestors had been able to see today’s equipment, they would probably have cheered extra loudly for the future.
To celebrate the 90th birthday, NORDIC GLIDING and the Danish Vintage Glider Club have assembled 2 significant aircraft, each of which represents chronological and technical extremes in the last 90 years of Danish gliding.”
See more photos and read the behind-the-scenes-article describing a very challenging photo session here
https://nordicgliding-com.translate.goog/dansk-svaeveflyvning-paa-vingerne-i-90-aar/

Through the years I got to know a lot of Danish pilots and they were always great fun to catch up with. Lovely people.

——Ramy Yanetz shared his flight from October 3, which made him very happy;
“Big Sur day from Hollister. Crossed twice to the Big Sur Coastal range. Got to 16,000 feet (!) over the coastal range and bagged the Pacific near the Big Sur VOR. The highest I ever been in thermals from Hollister. Followed the coastal range convergence to Paso Robles and Shandon, then back to the San Benito’s convergence with thermals to 14K, and bagged Junipero again. Great October day!”
He flew 470.39 km with 91.43 km./h.

——-Some fun as well from down under from the Southern Cross Gliding Club THE club from Sydney.

And to finish this fabulous stunning picture from Geoff.

——Climate change creates more and more heavy weather!!!! After Helene , it’s now Milton, ready to damage more in Florida. I noticed today, that it has increased in power again. Not good!
Stay safe when you live there!!!!

CU next week.
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.548 on October 2 2024

South African Nationals at Potchefstroom
28 September 2024 – 5 October 2024

They fly in 3 classes , club , 18m and 2 seaters., with 30 participants.
First day on September 29 with in each class the same racing class.
Task 1 in club ; 238.70 km race …..cancelled
Task 1 in 18 m; 273.80 km…..cancelled
Task 1; 2-seaters; 273.80 km….cancelled

Task 2 in club; 1.45 AAT….with a rather late [early birds started about 20 minutes earlier] start at 13,53 for Jason Adriaan, who won the day in his LS3A with 157.09 km and a speed of 89.76 km./h.
Runner up was Wayne Schmidt in his ASW 27; 155.14 km and 88.65 km/h.
So a pretty challenging day for the clubbies.
Task 2 in 18 m; 2 hour AAT....8 started and finished and best for the day was Mark Holliday in an ASW 27 with 222.25 km and 111.12 km./h. for 446 points.
Runner up Oscar in his JS3/18 m with 222.14 km and 111.01 km./h for 387 points.
After he flew with some of the participating pilots in Uvalde, Finish pilot Pasi Pulkkinen flies in this class in a 15 m JS 3 and finished on spot 7.
Task 2 in -2seater-class; 2 hour AAT.…nobody flew. Laurens was supposed to fly with Markus Geisen in the ASG 32 MI and I guess Tomas Rendla [Czech Rep] with Steehman in a Duo Discus.

Task 3 in all classes ;CANCELLED!!!
TODAY;
“Good morning – another morning with blue skies and sunshine, but a stiff little breeze and fairly cool temperatures. Yesterday they were hoping for better conditions from today – let’s they are right. It certainly has not been the best of weather as yet.“

——-Queensland State comps continued and are over now, AND ….in a weird way.
When they cancelled on the 25th, all pilots took their gear and left home, so no 3 more competition days without pilots. That was it!!!!
Weird!!! But only a state comps!!!The weather might be the spoil pot.
Club class;
Day 4 on the 25th, had for the 2d time, Daryl Speight in a Discus b at the podium. “Tocumwal” Grant was runner up in Discus A.
No flying anymore so winners are Daryl and Michael , equal on spot 1 overall with 33 points, whilst Grant has 28.
Sportsclass;
Ray Stewart [JS3 /18m] won all 4 flown days and as there was no flying anymore, he leads with 40 points. Good to see Lisa [Trotter in LS 8/15m] as runner up with 22 points. Scott was 3d with 20 points.

——Terrible rain, due to hurricane Helene , ruined the hangars and gliders in the USA from the club where a lot of pilots enjoyed their wave flying; Shifled Field.
North Carolina was hit hard. In total at this stage around 150 people died. SAD!!!!! And it will be more.
New world champion Sarah mentioned; “I’m heartbroken for our friends at Shiflet Field where we have so many happy memories from wave camp.”

–—-Till now the OLC was the “provider” for news of the Dutch Soaring Cup. From October 1 2024 they change to WeGlide as official platform. The Dutch Gliding Association is grateful to the OLC for their valuable support for Dutch Cross Country Gliding over many, many years .
The Dutch GP organizers added;
“At the start of the cross-country season 2025 our national aeroclub KNVvL has gone into a partnership with WeGlide.
I think we all recognize the tremendous push the OLC meant for cross-country flying in the Netherlands (and globally) but that it is time for this new kid on the block in order to take cross-country and competition flying to the next level.
We see this as a great opportunity in combination with the Dutch GP to further stimulate and find untapped potential of new talent.“

Talking about WeGlide, they have shared a great story on Sebastian Kawa in their magazine about his Gliding Expedition to Pakistan.
It starts with “Kawa has already won 18 gold medals at world championships. This year, he skipped the worlds. Why did Sebastian choose an expedition to Pakistan over the World Championship in Texas? Let’s find out” You can now too!
https://magazine.weglide.org/sebastian-kawa-gliding…/

——Talking about the OLC; The 2024 season was over on September 16 and the 2025 season has started.
The OLC champion for 2024 is Gordon Boettger with 9.052.63 points. He also had the best flight; 3.143.77 km with a speed of 186.42 km./h. Flown from Minden -Tahoe in the USA.
With this flight he got the distance record too. All flown in the ARCUS J.
Most flights/kilometres were made by Nicolas Bennett a member of the Minden Soaring Club; 68.208,63. WOW!!!!! I noticed him in different countries around the world. Runner up was Lasham pilot Garry Coppin with 64.150, 20.
The stats for Bitterwasser were , as every year pretty clear; 624.853,94 km. ,flown by 117 pilots, during 779 flights.
The next busiest airfield was Puimoisson; 533.433,62 km, flown by 201 pilots ,during 1211 flights.
Then,….Pokweni [spot 6] , Kiripotib [spot 4] and Veronica [spot3] all 3 in Namibia and Fuentemilanos on spot 5.
Busiest CLUB; the Minden Soaring Club!!!! 403.517,24 km flown by 42 pilots, during 793 flights.
Followed by the Dutch Gliding Club de Gelderse from Terlet; 344.877,86 km, flown by 90 pilots during 979 flights. Well done!!!!!

—-No F16 fighters anymore in The Netherlands . A few stay for practice , but not to “work” anymore. A lot of spotters waved them out, on Spetember 24, when they flew over Dutch soil for the last time. An end of an era. Volkel was the place where they started and returned to, flying, weather permitting , over most of the airfields they have been at in the Netherlands.
European Airshows  mentioned “Farewell to the Dutch Vipers!
Today, September 27, 2024, the Royal Netherlands Air Force will bid a heartfelt farewell to its iconic F-16 Fighting Falcons after 45 years of dedicated service with a final round flight over the Netherlands, culminating in a special ceremony at Volkel Air Base“
https://www.europeanairshows.co.uk/…/dutch-vipers-final…
About 24 go to the Ukraine.
A member of the Spotting Group Volkel   had his camera on burst mode and this turned out to this pretty nice /spectacular picture.

Birdman99 Aviation Weblog  ;” The very final landing of an operational RNLAF F-16 at Volkel Airbase, the Netherlands. Next to it flies a Belgian Air Force F-16BM with Air Force Photographer @cristianschrik in the back seat!”

——-Dutch Sailplane Grand Prix;
“With the season 2024 in the Netherlands coming to its close, it’s time to pick up where we left with our preparations for the first Dutch Qualifying Grand Prix in May 2025.
This means finishing the local procedures, issuing our first information bulletin and very important, start working on our social media plan. We have some great ideas!
Happy to see so many pilots have registered, 45 in total, way too many of course, but we plan to close registration in January 2025 to see the final list based on the IGC-ranking.
One of the pilots who registered , is Stefan Langer the winner of the 11th series and current 18m world champion Stefan Langer“
https://sgp.aero/netherlands2025

Talking about the Netherlands:
Some interesting facts only for those who don’t know my first country. My 2d country of course is Australia more specific, Tocumwal in NSW on the mighty Murray River and it is fabulous to see that the love for travelling-down- under, which George and I started in 1984, is followed now by the rest of the family. Dexter is moving for a year to Australia. He arrived this morning with grand dad.

Interesting facts  
17 Facts You May Not Know About The Netherlands: ONLY WHEN YOU ARE INTERESTED!!!!!
1. The Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with over 17 million people living in an area of about 41,500 square kilometers.
2. Approximately one-third of the country lies below sea level, and much of the land has been reclaimed from the sea through a system of dikes and polders.
3. The Dutch are among the tallest people in the world, with an average height of around 6 feet for men and 5 feet 7 inches for women.
4. The Netherlands has the highest concentration of museums in the world, with over 1,100 museums spread across the country.
5. Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh produced over 2,100 artworks during his lifetime, including iconic pieces like “Starry Night” and “Sunflowers.”
6. The Netherlands is the largest exporter of flowers in the world, with the flower industry centered around the famous flower auction in Aalsmeer.
7. Dutch cuisine features dishes like stroopwafels (syrup waffles), bitterballen (deep-fried meatballs), and haring (raw herring), which are enjoyed by locals and visitors alike.
8. The Dutch are avid cyclists, with over 35,000 kilometers of dedicated bike paths crisscrossing the country.
9. The Dutch national color is orange, stemming from the royal House of Orange-Nassau, which has ruled the Netherlands since the 16th century.
10. The Netherlands is home to the world’s oldest stock exchange, the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, which was established in 1602.
11. Dutch artist M.C. Escher, known for his mathematically inspired optical illusions, was born and raised in the Netherlands.
12. The Dutch language has contributed many words to the English language, including “landscape,” “cookie,” and “yacht.”
13. The Netherlands is known for its progressive stance on social issues, being one of the first countries to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001.
14. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is one of the busiest airports in Europe and serves as a major hub for international air travel.
15. Dutch windmills, such as those at Kinderdijk, are iconic symbols of the country and have been used for centuries to pump water and grind grain.
16. The Netherlands is famous for its cheese, particularly Gouda and Edam, which are exported around the world.
17. Dutch tulips became so valuable during the 17th century that they caused an economic bubble known as “Tulip Mania,” with bulbs selling for exorbitant prices.

Well, you are more than up to date now, so CU next Wednesday.
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.547 on September 25 2024

Well,….it’s autumn, now also astronomical, but it felt like summer here with 25 dgr. C. over the last couple of days . Yesterday we got autumn,with wind a a lot of rain, but for now this was a present after all the rain we had already this summer. We went from dry and sunny in the weekend to wet, wet, wet and 13 dgr tomorrow .
Not as bad as in Central and East Europe, they had the worst ever weather with flooding’s and landslides and many casualties [ I heard 26 people passed away] and later it was Italy’s turn, the North of it.
Sorry to hear that my friends in Japan suffer a bit as well especially in the West.

——-HpH Sailplanes announced the maiden flight of her HPH304MS 184-MS.
I like the call sign which was in the past from world champion Kees Musters. He is still remembered in the town he lived in, after he passed away 37 years ago. They even have the Kees Musters street and last week I heard they built new houses in the street :One type is called stratus the other one cumulus. You will be able to see cumulus clouds in the windows of the terraces. Great effort from the shire of Alphen aan den Rijn. COMPLIMENTS!!!!!
By the way 6 HpH gliders are in , or might have left already, the harbor of Antwerp for their trip to Namibia.

——Down under they are in full preparation of the 2024/25 season. Last Saturday my friend Gerrit flew from McCaffery field already 500 km in the EB 29R.
From Kingaroy another friend, Butch, flew 380 km in the AS 33es.
On Friday , the distances were just the other way around; Butch 601 km and Gerrit 532 km.
Tocumwal Soaring Centre shared this magnificent picture of their hangar [NO I am not saying anymore our former hangar] but I still find it impressive. They started flying too.

——Looking at the Queensland State Gliding Championships, hosted by Darling Downs Soaring Club

There are 11 pilots in Club class in gliders as PIK 20, Discus, ASW 20 ,LS 3 , St Jantar and Salto .
9 Pilots in sports class in LS8, Nimbus [3 and 4] Ventus , ASG 29 and ASW 27.
They started on September 21 and continue till September 29.
They run it using the Grand Prix rules.
Day 1 , last Sunday, was won by Michael Strathern in Club and Ray Stewart in sports.
It was a blue day with thermals to 6000ft. Very blue day as you can see.

Task 2 had Kevin Roden as winner in his St Jantar and day 3 was for Daryl Speight in a Discus B so was day 4 . After 4 flown days in Club the best score is for Michael with 1 win and 3 runner up spots. [35 points] Daryl is overall runner up now [33] and good to see Grant from Toc is on spot 3. [26]
Still 3 days to go.
In sports also a total of 4 days now. Bit “boring” but very good for him; Ray [JS3/18m] won every day!!! No secret he is overall on top with 3 days to go, with 39 points. Scott Percival is runner up in Ventus 2 [ 22] and Steve McMahon 3d.[19]

——WeGlide had news for and about young pilots;
“Let’s introduce the Juniors of WeCoach 24/25. We start with the lucky guys who will travel to Worcester, South Africa mid November.“
This years winners Jonas Zeller and Florian Taigel are looking forward to race the ridges.
Do you want to be the next to explore the beautiful regions of southern France or South Africa with experienced pilots and high-performance gliders? Let’s do it! Here you can find all the information you need to make the adventure a reality:
docs.weglide.org/docs/contests/wecoach/

Talking about South Africa; The S.A. NATIONALS will be flown in potchefstroom between September 28 and October 5 2024.So end of this week!!!!!

——-Soaring Society of America; “Attending the 2024 SSA Convention in Knoxville, TN from October 24-26? Here’s a link to the schedule of events to help you plan your days. You can download pdf’s of the speaker plan and a full description of the talks from links at the bottom of the Speakers Page on the Convention web site; https://www.ssa.org/2024-convention-schedule/

——The Brazilian Nationals were flown between September 13 and 21 2024 from Luís Eduardo Magalhães, Bahia, Brazilië.
One of the pilots is Henrique Navarro. He was flying the Ventus 3TS with 15 meters wingtips, in the Open Class (handicapped).
He won after 7 days of flying EVERY DAY, with 4 pilots in this class. Total scores for Henrique; 6.683.
Good tasks around 500 km and a few 3 and 3.30 AAT’s.
in Club 3 pilots and a winner in a PW5 , Julio Cesar de Magalhães Alves with 3,985 points.
In racing Itamar Lessa in ASW 20; 6,229 points. [7 pilots]

You are up to date, so till next Wednesday
cheers Ritz

Post 1.546 on September 18, 2024

——On September 11 Sebastian Kawa shared pictures and news about the new DIANA 4!!!!
And WeGlide wrote about it:”Time to update our glider list
We already did an interview with the manufacturer Avionic about the Diana 4:
https://magazine.weglide.org/avionic-polish-gliders…/
Avionic, the Polish company behind the successful Diana 2 glider is now turning to 18m class with the Diana 4, an electric self-launcher. 
Interesting interview.

——The new JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPION , Martijn Eerdekens, had promised to share his experiences on FB, so he did and when you are not on FB you can read it here;
“Some delay due to my internship but as promised the report from the JWGC 2024 in Poland.”
First of all, I would like to thank again everyone who made this possible, as well as everyone for the kind and supportive messages during the competition.
Second, some statistics This period has more than made up for the bad gliding season in Belgium: 10 out of 12 flying days, 4700km, a total of 61 flying hours and four podium places 2x2xWhat a beautiful weather we had There was 1 day you should not thermal below 3.5m/s
I am incredibly proud of what I achieved, but I am equally grateful for the lessons learned along the way

This might sound weird but my biggest concern going into the championship was consistency At the juniors in Venlo (Netherlands) in 2022, I made a habit of taking too many risks. There were days when I finished first (due to taking high risks), but just as often, I ended up having to land out in a field Let’s say that this experience taught me a lot, especially about the importance of a steady and reliable performance over the long haul. These lessons constantly flew through my mind during the competition. Yet, there were moments during the championship when I felt I was flying too conservative. I was constantly balancing the need to stay in the race with the fear of making a costly mistake. But fortunately I also dared to take some calculated risks. The thought of consistency being key helped me stay focused, even when the temptation to push harder crept in.
Every day was another adventure how it would go, but I like to briefly explain the last 2 days.

Team France was in first place for a long period with quite a few points in lead That all changed on the penultimate day. On that day, my starting moment made a big difference.

After receiving the scores and reviewing the flights that evening, I noticed that the French pilots had a challenging and low moment at the second turn point, which surprised me since I hadn’t expected them to make any significant mistakes. On that day, I decided not to wait too long after the start line opened, as I had noticed on the satellite radar that the clouds near the second turn point were beginning to thin out. This meant I had to leave almost first, but I didn’t mind because I prefer flying alone. It allows me to make my own decisions and thermal in a free way. In hindsight, this decision paid off. By the end of the day, I found myself in second place, just 24 points behind the leader. This realization was a very special feeling and was mentally not that easy. The night before the final competition day was one of the longest and most agonizing of my life. My mind was racing with “what ifs.” What if I became a world champion? What if I made a mistake and dropped out of the top 10? I agonized over every detail, particularly the forecast of blue thermals for the final day. Blue thermals can be very tricky. In such conditions, it’s often safer to fly with the gaggle, but I knew that flying with others could compromise my decision-making.

When the time came, I stuck to my plan. I waited, feeling the pressure build, until I decided to fly away and start alone (but behind some gaggles). It was a nerve-wracking decision, but it turned out to be the right one. I waited until two gaggles had left, which I then eventually rolled up, making it into the area of cumulus clouds, so I could still make my own choices. My solo flight allowed me again to focus entirely on my strategy, free from the influence of other pilots. I was even able to fly the exact route I had planned before the flight (see the photo on WeGlide)
After the landing, it soon became clear that I had become world champion An indescribable feeling and still hard to believe.

Unfortunately, due to my studies, flying a lot and finding time to participate in numerous competitions is challenging. However, I’m already looking forward to the next competition. Hopefully the JWGC in Germany in 2026. “
When I would have seen him at the Keiheuvel, I would have asked him about the last day, so I am very pleased he writes pretty specific about it.
Thanks Martijn!

—– Upcoming Namibian season message; from <info@kiripotib-soaring.com>
“Dear friends,
still not tired of summer and gliding? That’s great! Extend your flying season and come to Kiripotib. Due to cancelations, the following slots became available at short notice:

ArcusM: 26 November to 6 Dezember
ArcusM: 14 to 29 Dezember
Ventus3M: 15 to 27 Dezember
Spend amazing cross-country flights over the fascinating landscape of Namibia and chat about your experiences with like-minded people in the evening.
Do you fancy an exciting break in European winter? Check out our website:
https://kiripotib-soaring.com/
charter a glider
prices for gliding
prices guest farm

——Veronica [ Veronica Flying]also in in Namibia is ready too for their guests; “This week we have loaded 6 gliders in one container to be shipped to Namibia” HpH Sailplanes

——-Gliding Club of Victoria [ we are in Australia now] shared news about Mount Beauty.
“Congratulations to Mark Bland who logged his 10,000th glider hours today, @ 10,000 feet at Alpine Soaring Mt Beauty. Yes, you read that correctly… 10,000th GLIDER hours! Legend!“
CONGRATULATIONS Mark!!!!!

——Our full sport summer is over! My goodness me, it was a busy time following all the news on the laptop and on TV. Olympics and Paralympics….top !
European soccer comps, F1 races and of course the JWGC , the EGC and WGC. All top events and awesome to follow.
I enjoyed it VERY MUCH!!!!!
Last weekend Davis Cup quallies- tennis [with the Dutch team] , Formula 1,[With Max] European cycling races [with Mathieu]We got through to the finals in Spain in tennis, Max was 5th after a “fight” with his car and Mathieu, sent his mate to a runner up spot.

——80 years FREEDOM , here in the Netherlands.
The allied forces arrived on September 12 1944 in the Southern part of The Netherlands. With operation MARKET GARDEN it all started. Canadian, American and British soldiers passed the borders of Belgium into South Limburg.
Still 7 of them were alive and visited Holland. One was even 103 years old. The queen and king where at the spot to welcome them.
Sadly enough the more northern part of Holland had to wait longer, till Mai 5 1945, a devastating time without food and still huge fighting and bombing .Then they were free too.
Here where I live, it was on September 17 and the big town not far away, Eindhoven on September 18, so today 80 years ago.

——Army Flying Museum….About operation Market Garden; “Operation MARKET GARDEN began on this day 80 years ago. The Glider Pilot Regiment played a vital role as 667 Horsa, Hamilcar and Hadrian gliders were towed to Landing Zones near Arnhem to deliver around 4,500 troops, 600 jeeps, and 95 guns. This photo shows 4 gliders at LZ ‘N’.
Find out more about Operation MARKET GARDEN in our online exhibition: https://bit.ly/4e5sGBp

Back to NOW:
We had a concert at the market …absolutely beautiful with 100 musicians from the area playing and singing loud and with passion….and we could look at 300 historic army vehicles/motorbikes, from the Liberation Task Force , slowly driving through town with occupants in mostly original army clothes. They come from France, Belgium ,Italy and Malta, but mostly from the UK.
Last Sunday we had the flower parade, closely associated with the liberation .When out little town was freed we thanked the Allied forces with bikes and wheelbarrows decorated with flowers .
You can see on the pictures in what huge event it turned out.

Here is an impression from the some historic vehicles and the flower parade.
Also 1 HARVARD flying over twice and both times somebody in the crowd pushed me over, hence a ” poor” picture. It was so crowdy!!!!! But good to see , memories were made for the young ones.
AND,…do you see the skies??!!!

As ever year the flower parade was awesome. The weather was superb , meaning a huge amount of spectators, rows and rows, but they got where they came for; a colourful show of the BEST!
The winner on display before the parade, 2 parts.

And the one I liked best also in 2 parts.

80 years of freedom deserves some more [private] pictures than normal.
That’s it for now.
Though just read this;
——shared by Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett  ;”
**FRANCE 3 SAFELY LANDED!**
Team FRA-3, with pilots Alex Bejat and Paul Henry Carail, has successfully landed near Ourique, Portugal, after covering an impressive distance of 2013.46 km!
Congratulations to the team on their remarkable achievement and safe landing!’

INDEED….Big achievement!!!!!

Cheers Ritz