Alphen aan den Rijn     Sunday January 15 2012

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

Courtesy; Kempton Izuno.

To start with,  a real nice picture from Kempton Izuno[ via glider forever] ;
—“This was July 25, 2010, taken from about 10,000 ft over the Trinity Alps in Northern CA, looking North towards Oregon. What a fantastic specimen of thunderstorm. I like collecting them, but the jars are filling up my shelf . “—
Thunderstorms are not a strange phenomena for glider pilots. Some love to fly in front of it or avoid it by flying around it. Where it is very hot , you can have heavy thunderstorms, I don’t have to tell you.
To be honest I am not such a fan!!! I remember a real bad one in Uvalde at the time the pilots arrived back home to finish in 1991. Surely Patrick Stouffs will remember that day as well. He was one of them, the wind changed during a storm and became very heavy giving the pilots a “hell of a tailwind”. We stood on the side of the field but could not see a lot, which made it “spooky”. Due to this sand storm we were for a short time in ” grey fog” . It all looked spectacular but was luckily enough not too dangerous, though Patrick had minor  damage on his wing tip, touching slightly a marker along the runway when he turned his glider from it. Bruce [Brockhoff] and John [Buchanan] had to land in this bad weather as well. They were all sandblasted. Never forget that.

  Patrick in 2006 in Eskilstuna.

In Benalla it was pretty tough weather ;When I left you last Wednesday ,I read on FB that Swaentje from Germany needed a “heater”.  A heater in Australia????? I was wondering what was wrong till I noticed that Melbourne had cold weather [12/18 dgr] with winds gusting to 110 km./h. last Wednesday.
A cold front brought this wintry blast.
Tocumwal had the coldest night on record with 7.1 dgr.in the night from Wednesday to Thursday.
And that in MID summer.
But luckily the temperatures have gone up again to between 30 and 36 .
—“We had a day off yesterday. The wind was the problem, with about 30 knots on the ground and 45+ at altitude. It was seriously cold, but the sky looked like a lot of fun.—“By Bruce.

Day 7at Benalla,about 2 hours from Melbourne,  gave pretty nice weather [22 dgr.C] again for a not too long distance. Bruce was the old Bruce again winning the racing task [for all classes] for the day and his lead overall is growing.
In club Allan Barnes had a really good day flying via Tocumwal and Corowa back to Benalla with speed 104 km./h.  Overall leader Tobias Geiger lost 250 points…so he is 2d now and Alan climbed up to 4. One day to go!!!!
In 2-seater-class it is nice to see different pilots winning a day.Only when Terry does something totally wrong , he will loose his first spot, but knowing him,  I can’t I imagine that, …we all know however, it is only over after the very last finish, so let’s wait and see.
Bruce’s comment on today’s flying;
—“Good day today. There were some cu all round the task, with heights up to 6,000 agl. It took a while to get the launch started, so most of us left soon after the gate opened. There were good runs and some strong climbs, including a 9 knotter onto final glide that got me away from all the crowd. Still not a straightforward day, but very satisfying.—“

On the last day of the comps in Benalla, no big surprises. Bruce won  day 8, with Brad on his tail and Bruce won the comps, but it was great to see that Brad was 4th, missing day 1 due to business. After 8 days Mac {Japan} was 2d overall. Good on him. He surely will  travel now with a lot of other pilots to Narromine where the 50thiest Multi Class Nationals are  starting at January 30 till February 10, which is , by the way, pretty late in the season.
In the club class Tobias just did not make it to win the title. He ended as runner up behind Craig Collings from the club from Mount Beauty, a great area to fly!!!
In the 2-seater class IE won the last day but that was not enough to take the title home to the Hunter Valley. Terry won in the DG 1000.
As far as I heard a nice and good competition!That’s what Bruce said as well….and THANKS for sharing your thoughts with all of us Bruce, good luck in Narromine!;
“Tough last day with some treacherous weather. It was blue with an inversion so strong you had to duck at the top of each climb so as to not bang your head! Mostly we got to 3,000 feet with many glides down to 1,500, so the whole flight was steady work. I was really happy with how I flew today, initially with some company but later on my own. It all went well till right at the end when I came really close to landing, but was saved at the last minute.
Very satisfying competition – tough weather and good result.—“

At Chaves  2 non-flying days as well. Rain and volcanic ash from Chile, were the wrong-doers.On the official site was written;”
—“No tasks for today because the rotation of the wind bring volcanic ashes—”
A few lines from the blog from Jeroen:
—“I promised you to tell my tactics on day 2… Pretty easy: start early because of the cirrus clouds from the upcoming front. Big gaggles are less likely when you fly an AAT.
Furthermore you can fly a bit bigger distance in the first circles and still use the other to help you. We even had some cumulus so there was really no reason to wait. First leg was pretty good, I was in the flow and was gaining on the others. I took the right path under some nice Cu. Guess I had a good practice in Uvalde. On the second leg the cumulus were not in line with my plan, so I had to fly a big banana. Halfway on the third leg it dried out and conditions were not so good anymore (as expected). Had to fly very carefully to cover maximum distance to find the few good thermals. In combination of 45 km/h. tailwind I thought it was good to lose some water too. There were two small circles left and I could go on final glide. Don’t ask me why (because I don’t know myself), but I messed that up big time. Result: flying the last leg with 250 kph and still cross the finish line way to high!!!
That costed me the winning of the day and a nice bottle of “Treintatres” vino 🙁 But you don’t hear me complaining about 4th place !—“

For more news from Jeroen,  as this is only part 1 of his story go to;
http://pre-mundial.blogspot.com/
So Jeroen lost in the end from, young French pilot Killian and his mate Lourent and from Brasilian topper Joao Widmer. Nothing to be ashamed of!!!
The French are having a great practise run there for the next WGC. Killian won day 3 [set task of 348 km] and the  Laurent ‘s , [Aboulin and Couture] were 4 and 5 . A lot of outlandings in the standard class also “our”Jeroen after 130 km. More then half of the competitors went ” au vache” in this class;31  from 53!
 In 15 m. a local pilot gained the 1000 points on soaring-day 3 [AAT 3.30] . 7 Outlandings from 37 in this class!In the combined open class only 4 from 20 pilots “au vache” and day winner for this 4 hour AAT was a DUO DISCUS!!!
For day 3 and 4please read the news from Jeroen at his blog and look for the results at www.soaringspot.com .
Day 3 was a difficult one when,”20 kilometers short before the first turning point everything with a plug attached to it turned black ….”
Day 5  had yesterday a 315 km task with pretty Dutch weather, let’s see what Jeroen makes from it and if he wins that great bottle of red!!!!
NO he did not , but he was 3d behind Lucas Goldenzweig. A great run for USA pilot Francois Pin, winning day 5 in 15 m. class.
And the 4 hour AAT in open was won by top pilot Egon Rehn from Brasil 465 km in 4 hours and ONE minute. 

Alphen aan den Rijn    Wednesday January 11 2012

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

A normal procedure after a 1000 km in Corowa, a good red for the pilots who “did it” !! With Francesco to the left.
Picture; courtesy Jörgen Thomsen

Uvalde Texas here I come!!!!!! Very pleased to finish my writing career AT location in Uvalde Texas. No… not on invitation from the organisers this time, as they had lined up already somebody else, but as lead blogger from SoaringCafe!!!!! Bill and Rand invited me to write “in their  Cafe”. Hope you are all happy for me as well!
Details etc. will come later.
I am more then pleased and invite you all to follow me for 3 weeks in August to visit the SoaringCafe, to share highlights, fun and pleasure and  when there  are also some disillusions /disappointments  from pilots, crews and organisers!!!!!!Really looking forward to it!!!

Benalla continued with the comps  and on Monday , the new start of the week, the pilots in sports class , had a 4 hour AAT ,as the weather after the rain, was fine with only a tough Westerly. And… Brad Edwards topped the list in this class again with 444 km in 4 hours 10. Bruce Taylor was as good runner up followed by the Trotters, Peter and Lisa.
In club, pilots had to fly an AAT of 4 hours 30 and Alan Barnes was the best with 462 km. in 4 hours and 29 minutes and 22 seconds. What do you want more?
 In the 2 seater class Terry won in the DG 1000  and overall he is first again but only 5 points ahead on Graham Rock. And…..I only found out yesterday that Graham is flying “our” [former] Duodiscus IE , sold in the auction. Yes indeed that was a good one, as many who have flown it can admit.
Day 6 ;Had an other AAT this time from 2 hours 30 in sports class and Bruce won the day [ 311 km in 2.40] and is leading with more points now. 64 points on Peter Temple and more then 400 on Mac who is third again. Brad was 9th today, had about the same distance as Bruce but lost somewhere 10 minutes. Here is what Bruce had to say;
—“An interesting day, with lots of time spent dodging cirrus shadow, although some reported that it didn’t make much difference. There were plenty of cu at about 6500 feet agl, but after the start I didn’t see cloudbase very often – there seemed to be some wind shear that stopped most climbs at 4500. I enjoyed the first leg, couldn’t quite make the second leg work, and had a pretty good run home. I thought I might have gone well enough to get past Brad, but still I am too slow! I stretched my overall lead by a bit today though, so I’m happy. I am not taking too many risks.
There is a lot of cloud coming tomorrow – I hope we fly.—”
In Club, Queensland km-eater Alan and Victorian km-eater Tobias, were 2 and 3d.Tobias tops the overall scores with over 100 points.
In the 2 seater class ” our ” Duo discus was last for the day and…I told you already Andrew Georgeson is good, he won the day! Overall Terry [DG 1000] is on top after 6 flying days, with more then 400 points.
Day 7 , today, was cancelled straight away for the club class pilots but another briefing was given for the sports and 2 seater pilots. In the end due to a very strong wind on all levels, all classes were cancelled.

Great to receive some news from pilots in Corowa. MORE Danish records so I quickly give you the details, as I now have them.Only as long as I know news I can publish it.
A very nice letter and I share parts with you;

—-” My wife, Birgitte and I are in Corowa for our 4th  season with our LS10 st.
Last season drowned, but this season looks a lot more promising, so far Birgitte has made 10 Danish records, and I have made 2 so far.
Birgitte flew December 30 a declared 300km FAI triangle with 109 km/hr in 15meter, a new Danish record.
She declared on January 1 a 598 km FAI in 15 meter, that flight contained 9 Danish records, 

• Distance declared triangle(15m + open)
• Free distance triangle(15m + open)
• Free distance 3 turn points (15m )
• Distance declared max. 3 turn points (15m + open)
• Goal straight line (15m + open)

 
Brigitte Orskov and Jörgen Thomsen from Denmark. They married in December 2009 in Corowa!!!!Picture;courtesy Jörgen Thomsen.

I declared an 860 km out-return flight January 2^nd. It turned out to be an exciting flight, as I ended up in only 1000 meter in the middle of a 100 km wood north of Hilston, with a gravel road as emergency landing site.
I completed the task flying 80% in blue, with 2 new Danish records.
Next day I declared 1000 km, could not reach my 3^rd turn point,  I instead completed 1005 km free flight, thus making it my 3^rd 1000 km.

We have a blog, http://www.birgitteogjoergen.blogspot.com . In this we mostly writes about our experiences in Australia, aimed mostly at our friends and family.
We hope that the record season is not over just yet, I would like to fly a 1000 km FAI in 15 meter.
Kind regards
Team TT
Birgitte Ørskov and Jørgen Thomsen
By the way, their blog is in Danish but with google- translater you get far.

More records this time in Bitterwasser,where Jan Ritsma flew this time a declared 900 FAI triangle with a speed of 131 km/h. A Dutch 15m and 18 m. record. Record flying is great fun. Sometimes records are pretty low and it is easy to fly them, sometimes you have to fight for them. The only thing not so good is , that it needs a lot of paperwork and that some countries are pretty slow with their confirmation of those nice flights. Bureaucracy, you surely know what I am talking about.
A great run for young Patrick Puskeiler who in between January 2 and 10 flew 5 x 1000 km. flights. One in an ASH 25 EB28 and 4 in the Ventus 2CM/18m. About his experience in Bitterwasser you can read his blog on  www.kilolima.de

On Monday morning I got some “alarming” news by phone  about a glider accident involving an 81 year old female pilot from the UK flying in Australia .She was critically injured but seems to be in stable condition in Melbourne Hospital, which is amazing when you see the picture of the glider. She surely was lucky. The spokesman from the Victoria Gliding Club mentioned she became stuck in a down draught. The lady seems to be very experienced and flies already for 50 years. Hope she recovers totally.

From Gonzalez Chaves  our Jeroen is having fun and flies well too. He was 6th on day 1 and 3d on day 2. Do you follow is blog at http://pre-mundial.blogspot.com/ ????And… you can find all scores on www.soaringspot.com
The European pilots are not doing too bad winning in 2 classes a day; 2 French pilots Killian and Lourent on spot 1 and 2 on day 1 and Christofe winning on day 2 and a Finnish pilot Eric Heinonen on day 1!!!
Interesting to see how Jeroen analyses the French team after a flight and by all means look at the link to his pictures!!!129 About the parade in town during the opening!

  picture; courtesy Jeroen “You have to love Argentina!”

And….it’s looking very likely that the 2015 Junior Worlds will be held in Narromine in Australia in 2015!!!!! Good news, far away however for the European pilots but you can all start organising straight away , I mean after the final decision has been made in March by the IGC !!! “No worries, mate!”  Hope it works out well for Narromine. Good luck!!!!

That’s it for today, cheers Ritz

 Alphen aan den Rijn     Sunday January 8 2012

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

 
Pictures from the Jeroen Verkuijl blog!
http://pre-mundial.blogspot.com/

What a horrible week we had here in Europe and very much in Holland , weather-wise!  Wind gusting up to 120 km/h here in Holland on the coast and in Germany up to 160 km/h. For the first time in Holland we heard again that a “dyke might give away. ” Evacuation followed  for 800 people in the North as the water was 1 meter above sea level and the land 2 meters below, so if the dyke breaks it would  NOT  be GOOD to be there!
After the huge flooding in 1953 I thought we would be safe at all places in Holland, as they did such a lot of work on our dykes and on regulating the water! You might know that huge areas as Alphen where I live, as well as p.e Schiphol Airport are 6 meters below sea-level, so this was necessary.
On Thursday lightning was a problem and stopped some trains, rain caused flooding at several places some which have not flooded for 17 years and the wind really caused trouble ,[ even trucks flipped over] making the insurance costs for the future certainly higher. Too much wind over the last years. Too much damage bills!!! At this stage 1.600 people have damage and insurers think it will be above 10  million ,what they have to pay out!
Too much snow now in the Alps and Pyrenees and even snowstorms and possibility for avalanches.
By the way the dykes held and as somebody said no other country has a such a good system as Holland, it sounds all true to me now.
Luckily better weather in Argentina!!!

In Argentina the Pre- worlds start today in Chavez   and I asked and can use the news from our Dutch pilot Jeroen Verkuijlwho flies there. First I just wanted to read it and get the interesting things out. But he writes in a nice way you surely enjoy it, so I asked if I could put the site on for ALL of you to read. He had no problem even not with the facts that  concurrentsare reading now as well, so that’s very kind of him! THANKS Jeroen!!!!
I see the name everywhere  different, Chavez or Chaves!!!??? On the official site it is Chaves and on the FAI site Chavez! I keep it on Chaves.
The name Rolf Hossinger, who died in 2005,  is attached to the 32d WGC in Argentina in Jauary 2013. I remember him very well as TC for the Argentinian team in the past. He was a person you never over-looked. He was Swedish by birth but lived in Argentina for most of his life. He was world champion in 1960 in Cologne in Germany and did a lot for gliding in Argentina.

 Jeroen arrived and was in a good mood. Looking at the clouds ..who would not be!
 Picture; Courtesy Jeroen Verkuijl
—This is just great! First of all: CU starts to pop up at 12:00, growing in a fast rate and staying there for a long time. Cloudbase reported @ 3000m! Second, the people are even friendlier then I thought (and I already thought they were). Third, this feels like vacation!—
And…for all who are going to Chaves next year and come from Europe;
“ATM over here doesn’t work for any of my European cards and queues can get quite long, the pre-paid chip isn’t working on my European cell phone.—
Be aware of that! But….as I found out in the past, these problems will be solved and normally not occur when the WGC starts. That’s so good from having a pre-worlds!!!
Jeroens intention is to do his best for a place as high as possible but his goal is—”  to get me as well prepared for the Worlds next year as I possibly can.But above all: have fun. That may not sound as a winner, but I can assure you: if you’re not having fun at what you are doing its going to be very hard to be the best.”—
And;  First flight in Argentina is a fact. Hmmm, have to get a bit used to the Jantar … Unfortunately the weather was not so good as before (lots of wind!). Doesn’t matter: lots of days to come—

Pilots in Benalla struggled with small tasks after the HOT period , while  pilot Geoff Pratt on the East side of Australia flew  634 km in his PIK 20 E.
After thinking to have had a good first day Paul Manderlooked at the results with mixed feelings, loosing 978 points due to “contest area violation”!!! He kept 20 points and found himself instead of spot 2 on 30!!!! But…rules are rules.
I left you on day 2 when a few outlandings in both classes showed that the fabulous weather had left. There were 4 outlandingsin sports class and 14 in club with in the 2 seater class 2 teams not coming home and this time , Paul Mander won the day in club class.
On Wednesday , competition day 3 ,Andrew Georgeson , who I know , from the past , as a very good pilot was unlucky and the only one making an outlanding  in the duodiscus after 70 km. As the winner flew 100 km more Andrew lost a few points; 840 to be accurate.
In Sports class Brad won again flying 248 km during  a 2.30 AAT in 2.40.
—-Bruce had a shocker, and Brad had an ok day… Still, 700points and 3rd isn’t so bad… Boy!! What a day. A few outlandings too esp in Club—-tweet from Anita Taylor.
And ” Down to 6th, but still 700 points! Brad quoted Ingo: it’s always better in NSW, so stay nth of the river!”
In club Paul was this time unlucky again,  landing out after 162 km in a 2.30  AAT . But local kilometer-eater Tobias Geiger flew his LS 4  to a great first day spot, flying 222 km in time 2.42. A less good day for the Queensland -kilometer-eater Alan as he landed out after 145 km.
Day 4; speed task for all classes as the new weather cycle is building up again. 438 km. for sports , 308 for club and for the 2 seaters with Tocumwal as one of the TP’s .Tasks were flown by most pilots,  but speed was under 100 km/h. Winners in each class; Brad in sports, winning 3 days in a row, a pity he had still business to attend on day 1,however  these last days say enough about his flying. As his mate Bruce said, he is bubbling to the surface rapidly.  In club Danish pilot Björn Rechinger, those Danish boys are doing well in Benalla and Tocumwal. In the 2 seater class , Graham Rock from the Hunter Valey flew the duo to 1000 points!
Day 5 , yesterday was cancelled as the window to fly in was too small and instead of flying the boys and of course girls, had their pilots meeting. I attended a few, that is even more tiring and harder then flying.But also interesting, hot discussions, the past and the future it all comes on the table and…..it takes a while.
Day 6 , today, was cancelled due to rain!

AND on their news I read—–The Sports Class day one result is still being considered by the protest committee!!! Penalties for airspace infringements have been applied for Sports class day 1. The Contest Director [Tim Shirley, a good and very experienced one!] gave all pilots a “jolly good talking to”. Smile as Life is Good!!—–

During the very hot weather in Australia code red counts for fires. Perth had a bad one last week, close to the airport. Here is the link, when you are interested ,send by Vanessa [ thanks Vanessa] who could see what happened;
” we have certainly noticed the smoke and increased flight traffic over our house – also a strange yellow light that comes with bushfires, which I suspect you may recall from your time in Oz.
It just looked like a big brown cloud from our back deck.
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/severe-fire-risk-as-total-fire-ban-issued/story-e6frg13u-1226236218675
 And yes I do recall that ; specially that one day on January 3 , I guess 1991, when the fire “flew” over Tocumwal, killing lots of animals and destroying many houses. People had to run for their lives. My friend Lesley and their guest Gerrit{  Kurstjens} left quickly with 3 kids in a car,  when the fire was about 1 m. from the house. Geoff the owner stayed and saved it all by hosing the fires  with water.Later he was happy but said ” it could have totally gone wrong”!! Pretty scary experience.

In Corowa a new groupe of pilots arrived from Prievidza.  They have send their gliders in one container via Holland. One of them is Jozef, the top-director from the WGC in Prievidza. And…he did not have the easiest job during those comps, but he and his team could hold their own in a friendly and helpful way.Now it is relaxing .

Very pleased to see 2 guests from Israel in Tocumwal again. In the past we had some very nice people as Arnon and Gaël. Amir and Doron are there now and Doron flew  his first GOLD C distance a300 km.  out and return to Lockhart last Friday. Well done! Also Stefan from Sweden is back, good on him! On one of the pictures from Sportaviation I noticed good old Bill [ the founder of soaring in Tocumwal] and good old Twinks, both on their way to 90 years old. Not yet,…87 for Bill and 88/89, I guess,  but as said on their way. Not “spring-chickens”  , anymore but look ….they still visit the gliding place and still love it!!
www.sportaviation.com.au

Namibia remains  good and my Belgium friends Bert and Hildeflew their 2d x 1000 for the season.Pleased with that! Reinhard Schramme flew his 11th x 1000 this season and Swiss pilot Jean- Marc Perrinhad wave and flew 1.666 km. in Argentina, in the 15 m. DG 808 , while Bruce[Cooper] still is waiting for his day to fly a “stunner” ,killing the waiting with long walks.
Another very nice 1000 km flight/triangle from 24 year old Patrick Puskeiler, this time in a borrowed single seater [Ventus 2 CM] as the ASH 25 EB , which was put at his disposal , had some engine problems.
GREAT day in Gariep Dam yesterday. A very nice declared 900 km Fai triangle in Gariep Dam in a duo discus in South Africa. VERY good!
More declared tasks from Gariep as Dutch pilot Jan Ritsma declared a 700 km.FAI triangle and flew it in a new Dutch record in a 15 m conversion Ventus 2 CT ;136 mkm/h. a Dutch record for  15m. 18m and open class . Of course a few 1000 km. flights as well another one for Hans, Gert and Klaus . Good on them.

pictures courtesy Doris Wiesenthal.[via FB]

An impressive flight yesterday  by  French top pilot Gerard Lherm. He flew in mid winter under superb circumstances,  as he says, a 1000 km. starting at St Martin de Londresin France!  He connected with wave over the great area of Cevennes  , connected with nice wave over a valley and that went through to the Alps. The first 1000 km flight departing from Pic St Loup, [658 m. high] and in the South of France;  a great wine area for the famous Languedoc wines. Gerard flew the Nimbus 4 DM, compliments!

A disaster in New Zealand where a hot air balloon got fire  and killed the pilot and 5 married couples, some got their ticket as a Christmas present. Investigation has to sort out if the balloon was set in fire by hitting the powerlines during the landing or if the basket got in fire before.Huge flames were seen by eye- witnesses. 2 Of the passengers jumped , out not surviving it. TRAGIC very tragic!!! It was supposed to be the best and most impressive 45 minutes in their lives.

  That’s it for this first week of January 2012. And….people have digged theirselves out of the snow and the dyke’s are still OK ! On the other hand on the other side of the world,  the ship on the coast from New Zealand broke in 2, leaving containers everywhere in the water. Luckliy most oil was pumped out, but that still damaged a lot!!
 CU next week. Cheers Ritz

 To finish this blog, some pictures from Glider forever send to me last week.
 
Pictures; courtesy Rafa Soldan via Glider forever.

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

Alphen aan den Rijn      MONDAY January 2 2012

A bit earlier then normal ,but I wanted to share the whole letter from Benjamin with you. Otherwise the Wednesday blog would be TOO long and you would get tired from reading and that would be a pity as it is an interesting story.

Of course I congratulated Benjamin with his great flight. Here is his letter back. So here we go! Take a chair and enjoy!!!

 The lake Benjamin talks about in this letter.

Dear Ritz,

Thank you very much and have a happy year 2012!!

It was an awesome flight yesterday. Absolutely spectacular.
The last weather cycle (bringing the trough with 43 deg and too much clouds today) was very predictable so that three days ago, we were totally sure about the 1000km-chance on the 1st. It turned out to be my turn flying the discus (the day before, Fabian had flown an impressive 700 km), but even if it wouldn´t have been my day, Fabian would have given me the glider for my 1000 km chance. He´s a real sportsman.
My plan was to copy Fabian´s flight, but to go further north on the first leg to decrease the amount of YoYo flying.
I launched on the winch at 11 am, but there was no real movement in the air so that I had to land again. It wasn´t until 11:30 that the first dust devils evolved and made me launch once again, already pretty late in the schedule. I spent the next 40 minutes circling around the airfield in 500 – 600 m AGL, until at 12:15 I caught the first real thermal up to 6000 ft. From now on, I would have to average 130 kph to achieve the 1000 km. It seemed impossible but I headed on course, just in case a wonder was going to happen.
An hour later I found myself 130 km further north, having followed an awesome street in the blue and hardly ever turned to climb. Now I could see the first clouds popping up on the northern horizon, and damn! they looked high up. I had a little trouble staying in touch with the lift system, but the blue climbs averaged 4 m/s and brought me to 10000, later 12000 ft. With 200 kph ground speed, I now bashed under the first good looking cloud near Wilpena Pound, just to find a lift between 5 and 7 m/s (14 knots) beneath it. It fired me up to just over 4000 m (14000 ft). The plan had worked.
From then on, I only turned when expecting 6 m/s or more, working the rest by pulling up and diving down. The big salty Lake Torrens appeared on my left, the Flinders Ranges on my right. I raced to the last cloud on course and wanted to turn, 370 km away from home, when something told me to behold the clouds over the Flinders. Some 30 degrees off my course, leading even further away from home, the most exciting street I had seen for a long time swam around in 14000 ft, and thermals were booming everywhere around. But who would ever fly so far away into unknown desert-like terrain, abandoning the original plan? I was still more than an hour behind the 1000 km schedule, so could this be the ONE chance to catch up? The wonder I had hoped to meet out on course? Damn, it´s creepy to be so far out…
It was the decision of my life. It took me at least a minute to figure out what this could mean, and what could go wrong. I did a lot of crazy calculations and figured out some emergency airstips in the GPS, then concentrated on nothing but the number ONE THOUSAND and turned 30 degrees right.
The average speed of the next 60 minutes, according to SeeYou, was 170 kph. Forcing myself not to look at the desert mountains below but only to maintain that god damn speed, I flew the fastest hour of my career. At the last cloud in the north, 426 km away from base, I turned. Maintain that speed, and everything will work out. Fly, Yankee Bravo, fly.

Reaching landable terrain half an hour later, back near Lake Torrent, I tried to work out the fastest way south. Some clouds, but lots of blue passages, lift and sink both exceeding 5 m/s. Light wind in the back. My mobile phone beeped: Message from Fabian: “Du packst das” – you´re going to make it.
The 400 km leg south back to Adelaide CTR passed away pretty fast with 146 kph. Having done the maths, I knew that with the first turnpoint at 370 and the second at 425 km, I would only have to go back north for some 60 km to make it a thousand. The last three hours had been so incredibly fast that now I wasn´t at all behind, but even ahead of the time/distance schedule. It was now only a matter of keeping cool and doing what was left to to. I turned north again, having figured the best way under the few clouds that were left. It was half past six by now: I had at least two hours of thermals ahead, which still averaged some 2 m/s and felt pretty reliable. Now I could take my time and had to do nothing but establish final glide height. At seven o´clock, with the clouds getting thinner and lift getting weaker, I patiently sat on 1,5 m/s to almost 4000 m. After turning a little further north, it was 105 km to go and 3500 m: There was not much usable lift left here, but this could really be  enough.

At five past eight, I reached the Aerodrome to find everybody gathered outside, waiting. After a low pass, I landed with the sun in the back, just to see Fabian running towards me with beer in both hands. He had been watching the SPOT Tracking all day.

We are going to be in Stonefield for some three weeks now, there will be some customers we´ll have to deal with, but maybe there will be some more good flying.
Fabian is out right now, he seems to have gotten as far as Wilpena, but the way back seems tricky because of the trough arriving (too) quickly. We´ll see how this goes.

Now I have written much more than you wanted to know, and much more than I had planned.

I attached a photo of Lake Torrent, which will also appear in the OLC News tomorrow – I´m afraid I was too busy worrying about the race against the clock, so I didn´t take more pictures.

Yours,
Benjamin
P/S I´d like to add something else:
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 give 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. That´s it.

As you see…I used it all! See you on Wednesday!

cheers Ritz

Alphen aan den Rijn     Sunday January 1  2012

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

 A new year, new hopes and expectations! Go for it!

Thanks for all your good wishes;
if they ALL come true I will be the happiest,  healthiest and most content person in the upcoming year!

“Yesterday I had fun with clouds, flying 350km with 127.5km/h speed and circling less than 10%. Inclding the start thermal I just had two more circles on the way – amazing.The last time I could do this in the alps but not in the flat.”
picture and text courtesy Chris Hostettler/ Swiss Chris.

After starting with a toast on my far-away friends in  NZ  and another one a bit later on my Aussie friends, it was time to toast at 12 midnight here in Alphen, on a good new year on my Dutch , European and African friends and one hour later on the UK friends and……. the USA friends are last but certainly not least.
So the head is not too fresh this morning, but never mind!

What a MAGIC start of the year 2012!!!!  It already really made me feel very HAPPY , to see so many friends flying so well on the last days of 2011 at their over-seas destinations.
In Gariep Dam Hans Wiesenthal added a 1000 km. to his list of long distances. Even if you have a few already it remains that feeling of  “having another one ” which does feel SOOO good!!! Not only for the pilot but also for the family and friends.
Also in Gariep the very FIRST 1000 km.  for Benno Beesten, straight away a declared FAI 1006 km.in the JS 1 Revelation. Congratulations!
In Pokweni Michael Sommer combined a LONG distance with a SUPER speed in the EB; 1.251km[1.204 triangle] with 144 km./h.
From Kiripotib, my Belgium friends Bert sr. and Hilde flew in the ASH 25  ; 801 km. And on the last day of the year he flew another FAI 1000km triangle with good speed; 145km/h.
From Sportaviation-Tocumwal my Danish friends Ib and Ole flew 2 new National Danish records in the 2-seater Janus CT. One with Ole and one with Ib as pilot in command. Good on you boys!
Also in Tocumwal , Ingo flew in his Discus 668 km. between being CFI for the Southern Riverina Gliding Club. And…great to see Gerrit [ Nimbus 4T-606 km. and today 845 km] and Pam [ ASH 31/21 m. 552 km. and today 712 km]  back in Tocumwal for some nice soaring.
Harry, Max and Pepe , Reinhard, Rudi, Peter and many more I do not know so well or not, are having “long-distance-fun”  in Corowa and the German  “young ones” at Stonefield.Fabian flew yesterday in the Discus 2 a distance of 716 km.

AND….just when I wanted to publish this blog  a 1000 km pops up and Benjamin has flown HIS 1000 km as well. More about this next Wednesday. Well done Benjamin congratulations! He has fallen in love with the Southern part of Australia.
—-Südaustralien ist der Wahnsinn!!!
PS: Träume müssen fliegen, weil sie zum Schweben zu viel wiegen.—
Which means so much as; Dreams have to fly as they are too heavy to float.
AND…Corowa has a 1000 as well for their season , I was waiting for it; Hans -Jürgen just flew 1001 km so did Harry, 1005 km. [ 905 FAI triangle!!!]  just both , due to a late start , but…1000 kilometers!!!

When I woke up this morning another Danish record for Ib and Ole!!!5 in ONE go!!! Here you are… A brilliant start for the year 2012.
5 New DANISH RECORDS
Free distance FAI Triangle
Goal distance FAI triangle
Goal distance on 3 turnpoints
Speed 750 Km FAI Triangle
Speed 500 FAI Triangle
Eddie will be very busy with all the paperwork!!! But I know how happy Ib and Ole are flying new records, so I am happy for them. What would have happened when they would have flown p.e an ARCUS ?????? Instead of the very nice but a bit older model of a Janus CT. But as you can see the “old lady”  is still going strong. Speed 114km./h. Just good and maybe it is even more fun like this!

Last preparations in Benalla  for the Club class Nationals and a lot of pilots are practising with this good weather in the area.
At Gonzalez  Chavez  they prepare for the pre-worlds between January 8 and 20 combined with the 3d FAI South American Gliding Championships. I am looking forward to see how the young Argentinian pilots as  the Goldenzweig brothers Damian and Lucas and Horacio Piombo are going to perform, as well as the more well known ones as Joao Widmer and Javier Gaude .
The French team is sending  20 pilots , the entire French squad, young and older to compete and share gliders in the standard class. Great idea!!! What about preparations for the 32d WGC at Chavez !!!??? The French surely are going for it!
About 108 pilots in 3 classes, under them one Dutch pilot as well. Will keep you updated!!!!

Yesterday at 14.00, our time,  my friends in Australia celebrated their new year. Sydney with the Harbour Bridge is of course one of the most famous spots in the world to look at fire-works. Luckily they had good weather and 20 dgr. About one and a half  million people from all over the world visited to be AT the place  close to the Opera House, to see this 12 minute spectacle.

Picture courtesy Reuters [from my digital paper.]

In New Zealand the weather was different with rain and tough wind. Wellington and other places cancelled the festivities. A pity.

Short news today, busy, busy….!!!!
The picture below is from Daniel and Christine also from Australia, what a view is n’t it?

Wishing you A Happy, Healthy and safe New year…..Een Gelukkig,veilig en  gezond 2012…..Felice E Prospero 2012…..Buon anno 2012…..une bonne annee…and last but not least “gelukkige nuwe jaar ” for the South African and Namibia mates and thanks for your ongoing support in reading with so many,I feel blessed to be able to share more then 40 years experience in this soaring world with you. Ritz

” The farm is looking nice and we have planted many trees and with good rains they have all grown well, at least the ones that have not been knocked over by wild deer! The photo is one of our views.
 It seems by all reports that Europe is having a difficult time. Who would have thought 1€ = A$ .80…..as they reported last night on TV that we soon can buy a Mercedes for a Toyota price! I guess it would be a good time to buy a nice glider!”

Maybe I should go back to Australia !!?? Just kidding! But….it looks I will be in Tocumwal next year around this time.

Might be back later as I expect a 1000 from Corowa as well today.Hope so! I still miss a few names of kilometer -eaters as Harry Hans- Jürgen and Pepe!
YES Hans Jürgen has one and….Harry and……no Pepe flew 958,  not bad either.
Missed my new years concert ,but with news you have to be topical, when possible is n’t it? !!!!
AND……they expect 40 dgr. on Monday!!!!!! Would that be THE day!!!???

Alphen aan den Rijn      Wednesday December 28 2011
last blog [number 487]  of 2011

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

So on the end of 2011, a nostalgic retrospect not on this year but on the year 1967 in which I flew with the ZES. The pictures above are from a good friend who died with his glider during a camp  a couple of years ago; Hans Jonkers. He was the one who got me into gliding. The pictures have been scanned over Christmas, by a member of the Gliding club ZES now, Ton who got them from Hans ‘family and ….I love them! Great memories! THANKS!
On the left picture; Kees and I ready for a competition day in the KA 7.
Yesterday it was 24 years ago that Kees died in France. He crashed against a mountain, flying his hang glider. Kees was world champion in gliding in Hobbs!!! He also was our best family-friend.

And then…… THANK you for ALL YOUR Christmas greetings  and  with the help of Marina and Antti,I can add next year 2 more Christmas wishes then this year . After Dutch, French, German and English ,there will be Buon Natale and Hyvää Jouvula. There you go , never too old to learn.

Promised you some news about the “maiden flight” of 2 new top open class gliders . The flights were on December 23.
The Quintus M is the new super toy from Schempp-Hirth, for years and years manufacturers of top-gliders. At 14.30 Tilo himself brought the plane ,a 23 span single seater up in the air. During this first flight,  Tilo found the glider harmonic and easy to handle and he started the engine in the air,  which seems to be TOO easy as well,  due to an automatic system. The glider climbs then with 3.5 and 4.3 m/s. See for all the news and lots of pictures to the 2  links I got from Ludwig[Thanks!!]  at
http://www.schempp-hirth.com/index.php?id=126&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=477&tx_ttnews[backPid]=130&cHash=95e115282d

Partner from Schempp-Hirth, Lange Aviation, showed at 15.21 also on December 23 their brand-new Antares 23E and Axel Lange launched himself in this beautiful “ship”. Nearly sound- less as the electric engine is powerful but silent.
 He said he was sure that even more fun in soaring an open class glider was made possible now!
http://www.lange-flugzeugbau.com/htm/deutsch/aktuelles/news_2011_12_23.html
 I love the open class.

More well known pilots have settled down in Namibia, so is 3 times World champion Michael Sommer from Germany in Pokweni, where he straight away flew a 1.068 FAI triangle,  on his first flight, in an EB 28. The second day was good for another 1.135 km. flight. Yesterday it was 1.168 km with a speed of 137 km/h. Topping the OLC list 3 days in a row. Not bad!
Rafi Luski from Israël is in Bitterwasser and he flew a 1000 yesterday [750 FAI triangle] . I noticed Henrik Breidahl from Denmark as well. [Bitterwasser. ]

Disaster on Australia’s Gold Coastwhere over Christmas the house from celebrity chef Matt Golinsky from the program ” Ready Steady Cook” burnt down in a terrible blaze killing his wife and 3 teenage daughters leaving him in critical condition in a hospital in Brisbane.
Matt , wanted to fly and was busy with his pilots license.[PPL]
Also a huge fire in Austria where lot’s of German and Dutch guests had to run for their lives to safety after their hotel burnt down. The very famous wooden 4 star hotel burnt out.

This was the last blog in 2011. A year with up’s and down’s world wide. We lost friends but babies from friends were born. A year full of for us far-away-wars, nature-disasters but also from happiness and love, beauty and joy.
In soaring we look ahead at the Benalla club class Nationals and the Nationals in Narromine in Australia. In Argentina also in the beginning of January,  the pre worlds in Chaves, where the whole French team is practising to belong to the best next year. We have 2 WGC’s to look forward too and lots of great comps and flights on the OLC. But also first SOLO and C certificate, diamonds etc.
To finish this year, I share with you some pictures from Mount Fuji in Japan, send to me by Hiroko,who flew and flies at Tocumwal, as I think Japan was hit worst this year.
Something which can create disaster [the last eruption was in 1707/1708] but also looks fantastic, from the air.

 See you NEXT year in the year 2012! What will it bring?????
Enjoy the last days of 2011. Hope you enjoyed the blogs!? Sometimes I get a message from a reader and think gosh, is he/she reading too???? Anyhow THANKS for your ongoing support!
Cheers Ritz

Alphen aan den Rijn  Sunday December 25 2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS
to all of you
 where ever you are in this world.

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

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a lovely Boxingday tomorrow with lots of presents. I love this time as I also get a lot of mails and letters from friends I only hear from with Christmas. Yes …it’s that time of the year again….and I try to answer them ALL!!!! So much news …I love it,..but unfortunately most is private. I am very careful with what’s open to read for everybody and what’s personnel. Reason???
In my Sportavia period I wrote in my blog my hapiness over the arrival for Christmas from pilot ???????with his wife. Did I get a mail straight away after publishing from one of his friends .”You better be careful Ritzy, his wife is at home!!!!!”
You don’t want to spoil peaceful Christmas days is n’t it????
By the way,  the best flight from Tocumwal was on Christmas day, quite  a few years ago when Gerrit flew when I remember well,  about 1.250.km.

What a great moment to see the launch of the Soyuz,  with one of your own fellow-country-men, last Wednesday! Though I saw Russian astronaut Gagarin go up 50 years ago, saw the first men put foot on the moon, saw Andre leave earth in 2004 ,  this launch was more tense. I was happy after 9 minutes to see Andre touch the hand of his Russian commander ; mission successful till now….launch perfect!
Of course Andre is not on his way to announce the first music-single of the Dutch top 2000, but it is nice he does it. Andre is a medical doctor and scientist at ESA [European Space Agency]  in Noordwijk about 30 km from here and during this flight also the flight engineer. He is going to do a lot of research, 57 experiments,  also on his own body, to see p.e,  if and how somebody can survive on being weightless for such a long time,  to go in the future to Mars.
Can’t believe such a rocket with 250.000 kg of fuel can climb!!!???
Before they left the 3 were in quarantine for a while to not get sick, even the interviews with the press where behind glass. Then the pretty iron protocol was broken by the 19 and 20 year old daughters from Andre hugging him before he entered the bus to go to the rocket. He is a father too , from 2 more kids and will be only back on Mai 15 2013. But…believe it or not he will twitter, send mails and every Sunday they can see and talk with their dad on a video session.After I looked at the “connection” last Friday, between the station and the rocket. Amazing!

The Welkom SA Nationals had a good 10 days of interesting soaring. It was in the end not clear  if Oscar was going to be the winner. Ronald nearly “touched” him gaining 743 points for his 3d place on day 10, while Oscar “only” had 562 points. ONE point difference in favor of Oscar…. 8598 and 8597…..wow! And Arne at 8552.
It all depends now  on the last day!!!! Anyhow you surely have seen that John Coutts won day 10 with 345 km in 2 hours 29 minutes. Spot on for a 2.30 AAT. Speed, 138 km./h.
This is what Ronald said before the last launch , if there is one ….for a 2 hour AAT!!;
—“Last day of the SA nationals today. Yesterday we had showers and big blue holes. I averaged 133km/h, good for a third place and bringing me very close to first place overall. The difference is only 1 point or 10 seconds… Problem is that the weather of today is bad and I don’t think we will fly. We will see—“

And……a “dramatic” finish. No way for Ronald to gain that one point or a few more or …loosing a few. The day was cancelled. No worries Oscar is a very well deserved winner and with that the 2011 National South African Champion. But one point difference that hurts for Ronald,I think.  ” where did I loose that 1 point???” he must think. But Ronald is a more then deserved runner up with Arne as number 3.Well done guy’s!!!
 John Coutts won 2 days, Oscar as well and Arne 3!!!Other days were won by Attie, Uys and Holger.

 Oscar finishing during these nationals and happy at his glider.[on top]
Courtesy; Wil Janssens and Iain Baker

Club had a 2.15 AAT and Wayne is clearly the leader and…remains the leader, as the last day was cancelled for club. So after 10 days he wins the South African Nationals in his ASW 20 with more then 300 points on runner up Konrad Stark, with a nice 3d place for Stephan van den Berg.

Over the years I tried people to motivate to write a blog on soaringspot , about the comps, not only a link to a site or the scores, no real stories, a live blog. It attracks readers and that’s how we on a small scale promote our sport. Well done to Carol and the others writing at Welkom.
I also noticed a more regular and more readable  blog on the OLC now. A good one as well, informative and up to date, that’s what our sport needs.
My message for 2012.

Very happy to see “Harry back in business”. After a few years of struggling with his health he is back to normal and flies the best triangles. He does n’t go for easy but works hard for it. Harry Wondergem [Ventus 2CT/18m.] flew a nearly 1000 km triangle from Corowa, yesterday;935 km.. They are getting there in Corowa, with the combination, perfect weather, perfect gliders and perfect pilots. When the day is there they all fly their [ so maniest] 1000 km. It’s only waiting for the right match.
When I look at Anton from Austria who flies the LS 4 in Tocumwal , I guess he might have flown his largest distance 650 km. Good on him!

MORE ABOUT THE 2 new OPEN CLASS GLIDERS Quintus M from Schempp-Hirth and the Antares 23 E from Lange -Aviation in Wednesdays blog!

Enjoy your Christmas days !!! I am going to do so too.
Just heard that within 4 years our pretty small country will count 17 million people!!!
Cheers Ritz
Merry Christmas…Joyeux Noël…Frohe Weihnachten….Zalig Kerstfeest.

.  Frohe Weihnachten from Munich.Courtesy Maria.

Alphen aan den Rijn    Wednesday December 21 2011

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

Oscar in 2006 [courtesy dvd WGC Eskilstuna]

What good flights at Welkom last Sunday when I let you know they were going to fly 664 km.  on day 7 and most of them did so in 18 m. class. Oscar won again with a speed of 134 km./h.
Here is what Bruce had to say;
—“Today they dropped a 665 km task upon us, with weather that was to be similar to yesterday, except generally more moist. As we waited on the grid, things looked to be cooking up earlier, and by launch time it was already going very well. Surprisingly a number of the club class landed back, but off tow I quickly found a strong climb. My intention was to go early, as the cloud tops were already push…ing up and I was worried it might explode. I managed to get into position to go shortly after the gate opened, and left right away.
Things went pretty well today. There was a slow spot for me just after the second turn, and the South African gaggle came by, so I basically spent the rest of the day with them. We negotiated a large storm cell down near our southern turn, which was fun, and after that we had to be more careful as the active areas became very widely spaced, which called for some long glides and deviations. As it turned out, the task was very well chosen. Had it been much longer there would have been trouble for most of us. My gaggle ended up with most of the top places, so I was lucky they chose to run into me!
I have scratched back up to 6th place, and feel a bit better about my flying. More good days to come, I hope.—“

A nice flight as well from Douglas, the son from FAI official Dick Bradley in the Ventus 16.6 m.. He just missed out on 40 km. to make it home.
His sister Jennifer flies in club class, where they had to fly 330 km and an ASW 15 won with handicap the 1000 points.

Day 8 had a 3 hour AAT for club and the Twin Astir flew 335 km in 3 hour 19 and won on handicap.
—“So, today the Club Class was won by Todd and Hitler (yes, really!) in the venerable Twin Astir. It just goes to show that the concrete swan can actually go alright given the appropriate rates of climb, and a couple of super pilots. Well done, Todd!—“Bruce Taylor
In 18 m. a 3.45 AAT was set and more Bruce about their task: ” 
—“The first half of today was some of the best weather I have flown. I think the first few climbs were all better than 10 knots, and a couple were better than 12. There were about 8 of us trying to share the fun, so it was pretty hectic till we spread out a bit. Up near the first turn it softened a little and 6 or 7 knots was acceptable. I had quite a good run through all of that, but then didn’t find a climb before we headed out into a dead area on the final area. I didn’t do the last bit of the flight well, and only just whispered over the finish line, with nothing up my sleeve.
What a day! Reminds me of “the day” in Waikerie a couple of years back. Sometimes the sky feels incredibly BIG, and we are just little specks…”
Arne won the day and Oscar is still 1 overall. Between Oscar and the number 5 at this stage Uys is a difference in points of 243 points and the next pilots, Ronald, Arne and Attie.

Day 9;does n’t give Carol, who writes the good daily reports on the soaringspot-site, a promising feeling, but Sven who does the weather thought it would be more or less as  the day before.
This is what Bruce thinks before starting; “Another day. We have a 3 hr AAT. On the grid the weather is much slower to start, but the sniffer has reported lift good enough to throw us in the air. It’s quite breezy, and still no cu to be seen in our task area. Away we go!”

It changed into 2.45 and Oscar keeps going with 415 km in 2 hours 49 minutes winning the day again and making his overall spot 1 more firm.
—“I have had a day of everything, highs and lows. Our 3 hr AAT was shortened to 2:45 in the air, and the timing actually worked pretty well. After wandering around the start waiting for the day to fire up, John CouttsandI found a nice strong climb that got us right up in time to go. We sort of flew the first hour together, before we split up and both got low! I managed to eventually climb well, but wasted some time there. Then I ran the storm front, thinking that I was all alone until all the South Africans arrived under me! The rest of the flight was fast, and I made up for the low point a little. Finished mid-field, but OK on points. Big storm here tonight.—“ is what Bruce found about the day.
In club class the winners from day 8 [2 hour AAT] had a less good day,  ending up on the last spot by landing out after 185 km. A pity for them. The winner was Konrad Stark his second day-victory in the ASW15 this week; 205 km in 2 hours and 5 minutes . He is on a 2d place overall as well at this stage.

Namibia gives the guests where they are coming for.  Weather to fly long distances. A few 1000’s again! One of the flights was an 800 km out and return by Dutch pilot Lodewijk de Beukelaar who flew in the Nimbus 4 DM , this task with a speed of 137 km./h. To avoid thunderstorms they had to make some more kilometers, 904 in total.
On Monday 23 more 1000 km. flights. It is a good Namibia season I told you already. Loved the 1.236 km [speed 133 km/h] flight from Bostjan in the EB 28, an FAI TRIANGLE of 1.166 km with speed of 125 km./h. 

Yesterday Alexander Müller  flew yesterday from Pokweni  a great 1.357 km [triangle 1.128] in his EB 28. In his comment he says he started later [3-/45 minutes] due to oxygen  problems, but then he flew 400 km . straight on with 170 km on the clock !!!! He even passed Rostock Ritz, nice!!!
I have given up counting the 1000 km’s, but like mentioning one as from Johan Luyckx from Belgium flying  from Bitterwasser;1.164 in a LAK 17/15m. !!!!!

Very nice to see so many familiar names back in Tocumwal. After Björn and Lis and the 3 Japanese friends now Anton and Andrea have arrived from Austria. Anton flew already 500 km. and 544 km.  in the LS 4. Andrea normally loves local soaring. Hannu from Finland, still there,  flew a nice 592 km. task last week as well in the LS 6 and today 513 .Not too bad weather in Australia as well. Maybe not so many 1000 km flights but the season is longer in Australia then in Namibia,  so a lot can still happen.
Corowa , the  center for Australia is with  less guests [ 29 till now and 215 flights] then in Namibia [Bitterwasser  98 guests till now with 518 flights]  still number 5 , while the smaller scaled actions from Tocumwal bring them at this stage on spot 8 with 24 guests adding 119 flights to the OLC.
And lot’s of new -arrived-well-known names in Corowa as well, with Reinhard and Chris,[ pretty sure with Linda.]Luckily they have great weather too.Today again with more long flights!!

Biggest order ever for Boeing. This time 150 planes of the type 737 MAX. The order is set by the USA company Southwest Airlines. Only in 2017 this type will fly for the first time. On top of that Southwest ordered 58 Next Generation 737’s. A good Christmas time for Boeing and a great 2012 plus in these pretty difficult economic times.

And….our Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers is in Kazachstan ready for his trip into space.  Even the Queen wishes him well. He departs , his second go, at 14.16 Dutch time for a 2 day trip to the space station ISS, where he will ‘LIVE’ for 5 months. He arrives just in time, to open , with permission from ground control the year 2011 best 2000 singles[music] in Holland . I am going to see the start of this special flight live on TV.

Enough….CU you on Sunday for a MERRY CHRISTMAS special, short unfortunately, as I have guests. And……looking forward to spring again now the shortest day is over here.
cheers Ritz

Alphen aan den Rijn    Sunday December 17 2011
and
65 years old/young since yesterday

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

First of all THANK YOU to everybody  on Facebook, via mails, [ my laptop nearly crashed from the amount, ] phone calls or cards/letters [ even jimpix cards, never heard of them before!] ,  taking time to congratulate me with this “milestone ???” in my life. Really officially retired now, dear friends ,retirement pay and  money from the government coming in every month for doing “nothing”, only enjoying myself with some writing! Of course I/we paid for it in the past , every month. Just a great system here in Holland and due to the fact I lived abroad I miss out on 2 % for each year I lived in Curacao and Australia. But who cares…would not have missed those years for a million!!!!!

One of my very attentive readers/friends wrote me I “changed ”  Holger Karow for Holger Back in my last blog. Do know them both from several comps, but this says enough of me being 65, is n’t it? What would Freud say if he was still alive??!!!Anyhow sorry about that, guy’s!!!

Did you know WELKOM is the Dutch word for welcome??? Rain unfortunately, is welcome there as well as  day 4 was cancelled. Good reason for some pilots to clean glider and trailer after a muddy outlanding. One car and trailer had a serious problem [ jack-knifed car and trailer]  but luckily nobody was injured. Carol,  I guess Clifford, great lady we did some TC jobs in the past as the only ladies at that time, writes about it in her blog on soaringspot.[ www.soaringspot.com  ]
Here is Bruces story on day 5;
—“Tough day in the office for this little duck. It was blue as blue, and took a long time for most of us to grind our way up to starting height. I left after the first bunch had gone, and had quite a good run out on track. However approaching the first turn I could not find anything going up, and all I could see was wet paddocks and water ahead. I was rightly nervous, as I spent probably 45 minutes …really low and going nowhere, with a low point of 500 feet – no fun at all. Once I finally got up the flight went as well as you could expect on such a day, and I managed to catch some of the crowd that had flown over the top while I was checking out the local farming scene. The fast guys crucified us pointswise though. Happy to be home today.
Had a lovely BBQ with the Jonkers boys tonight on the airfield, together with the Clogs, Danes and Germans. Great group of guys. Todd has found a place in the back of a Nimbus 3DM which pleases him much more than the idea of a Twin Astir.
Tomorrow will be more of the same I think – Woohoo!!—“

And also Ronald had his story on Facebook about day 5 and with his permission here it is;
—” Today it was blue weather. Thermals expected till 1200m, later higher. But before the start a grup could take wave. Unfortunately it was not me and I struggled around 1000m. This resulted in a later start then I liked. Thermals would stop at 17:00, I started at 14:24 for a 330km task. First leg was good, only one thermal. Second leg brought me and Arne J. Boye-Møller down to 230 agl. Not good. We struggled a long time to get up again. The ground here was all wet due to yesterdays rain. We made it back home but lost a lot of points. I dropped from first to fourth and have some work to do!
As they did not too well, somebody else had to better, and yes guess who; the Jonker brothers , Uys and Attie gaining BOTH 1000 points and the Goudriaan brothers, Oscar and Laurens, who I know for ages,  starting early for the 330 km. and coming home early.

 
at this stage Oscar leads the 18 m. class.

Not a very easy competition for some:
” Todd Clark (Aussie) has parked his borrowed Twin Astir next to a snake hole – his description of the snake sounds like a spitting cobra.  But Todd is good with animals, see his photo on the JS Facebook page.”
And used to brown snakes as every Aussie is!!! Even I , not that I like them however!!!!!
In club class Wayne Schmidt still tops the club class while his wife Maneste is on spot 9. Stefan van den Berg with the very Dutch name is 2d all over.
Day 6  finally gave better weather. Here is the story from Ronald;
—“It turned out to be better than expected. Before the start there was wave again. A few people could catch it. I did not. So I started on my own in the blue and pushed really hard. 20km after the first turn of the 340km task I joined the group. Second turn was difficult due to a cirrus layer. Arne and myself could caref…ully fly out of this area where we joined in the last thermal with Oscar and Laurence Goudriaan. It started with 2m/s but turned into over 3m/s to 2300 agl. Enough for the 85km finalglide. Arne his average was 143km/h (he started a bit later from the wave) and I flew 141km/h, good for 1st and 2nd. Oscar flew 133km/h. So I climbed up to 2nd overall again.—”
And from Bruce;
—-“I sneaked home in second place today, and that feels good. I was beginning to wonder… There’s nothing like a good fast cu day. You know, when you pull into consistent 9 or 10 knot climbs and watch the altimeter wind up. I lost some time in a couple of places, but tonight I’m smiling again. It’s just a shame that salad and vegetables are so hard to come by, otherwise my day would be complete.What can I say about today? I struggled to get high at the start, and ended up being one of the last to go. After that the flight seemed OK till I got back and saw the scoresheet! These guys are good pilots, and right now I am way off the pace. The last two (blue) days my intention was to travel with the crowd, but it has all come unravelled. Probably I need to relax a bit and not try so hard.
Tomorrow may be a better day with a longer task. We’ll see what that brings.It was high and fast today, and I felt more comfortable. The scoring computer is looking like an exploded view diagram, so it might be some time before we know who did what 🙂 We had a few climbs over 10 knots, a heap of 9’s, and some 8’s. Plus I saw 14,000 feet! All good fun!—“

 Bruce Taylor in his JS 1,courtesy Iain Baker.

Oscar tops the 18m.-overall- list at this moment,  with less then 100 points on Ronald. A few days to go so everything is possible!In Club after 6 days of flying Wayne Schmidt still leads.

Also rain in Australia at the Internode Junior Nationals  at Kingaroy. Only 3 days have been soarable. A pity. December 15 and 16 were cancelled. They finally finished the contest with a day 4 , won by Andrew Maddocks and as good runner up Nathan Johnson. That was also the sequense of the overall scores with Nick Maddocks as number 3. Good you guys, surely a huge party before going home. Congratulations!!!

Nice flights however from Corowa  where 2 of my friends Harry and Max topped the OLC with interesting flights on Wednesday. Harry in his Ventus, this time in 15 m conversion, flew a -just-not-750 triangle [ missed out on 3.8 km.] but a total distance of 805 km. and Max flew after some troubles with the spot and one of the instruments a free distance of 859 km. Both flew direction West Wyalong which is just passed halfway when you drive with the car from Tocumwal to Narromine. We did that often.

While I was celebrating the pilots in Bitterwasser, Pokweni and Kiripotib celebrated as well  with a lot of  1000 km.flights. A great season over there in Namibia. Though I have read last year that Alexander Müller sometimes thinks  “why should I work SO hard to fly a triangle while it all can be easier”, he flew a very nice 1000 km.triangle yesterday and on my birthday another 1000 as well.
Got a phone call from SA from Ute and they are at the moment in Kuruman Johan Pi together with Norbert and Gert Kalisch. The Kalisch brothers flew in their open class gliders both 1000 km and Hans was on his way while Ute called me for  a nice 800 km.
A 750 new Serbian FAI Triangle-speed- record  also on my birthday for Australian/Tocumwal pilot Milan Petkovic who flies from Bitterwasser at the moment.

With that great -14 hour- first-flight-for-the-season from Swiss pilot Jean -Marc Perrin, he tops straight away the OLC list of best flight for the 2012 season. A nice story by Steffi Keller in the OLC magazine of December 13 and 14, tells you all about this flight. To find it you have to go to OLC and on the right top you find the latest news. Enjoy!

A bit early, but the company where my daughter flies Transavia has a lovely Christmas video which I like to share with you. No, my daughter is not in it.
And…we missed out last Friday on the Bft. 10 wind it went S from Holland. We only got our first snow, falling, and disappearing after 1 hour!!! Other parts from Europe have been “punished” with bad weather.
CU next week, cheers Ritz, time to continue reading my mails.

transavia.com wishes you a merry christmas and a happy 2012. [2 min. and 58 sec]
www.youtube.com