Post 1.545 on September 11, 2024

Starting this week with this fabulous picture from Jonny Durand in front of the Morning Glory. WOW!!!!!
As you know the Morning Glory looks like a rolling-cloud;
“an undular bore cloud that stretches for 1,000km, in Queensland, Australia. It is typically 1,000-2,000m high and often only 100-200m above ground.”
Cross Country Magazine shared the picture on September 4.
You mostly “find” this phenomena in the are of the Gulf of Carpentaria [N.E. Australia] and the place Burketown ,hosts every season, several guests ,who want to experience this , at least once in their life.

For a short while, in the time we were involved, Sportavia [SSC] had a combination from hang-gliding and gliding at the airfield.
One of the young men belonging to the hang glider guy’s /”dudes” AND flying with us in that year, was Jonny. I believe it was a championship in Toc. organized by Tove [Heany] , also involved with her husband Grant, in that season in the SSC.
Jonny has many world records and was world champion as well. A flamboyant guy flying the Moyes Delta gliders over Tocumwal soil and around and,…the great Mr Moyes himself visited us then too that year.
Nowadays Jonny is a long-time Red Bull sponsored hang gliding pilot ,who’s been ranked #1 in the world multiple times.
It pleases me he is doing so well.
The other pilot I remember from that year is Mr. Atilla Bartok. I met him again in Lake Keepit [2019/20] and we were straight away talking Sportavia/ gliding again. He converted with us from hang gliding to gliding and still does so, owns his own glider and flies from different fields but mostly Lake Keepit.

–—–Happy pilots flying in Uvalde, back down- under ,when their spring starts;
Adam; “ Bloody awesome! An intermediate goal achieved, I just made the first page of the world ranking list – now 16th in the world
Australia has now moved into 7th position out of 39 countries & I’ll maintain #2 in the country to our resident World Champion, James Nugent.
Congratulations to Stefan Langer who is now 2nd in the world, arguably equal 1st with Sebastian Kawa on equal ranking points of 999.2!
Congratulations also to Sarah Arnold who is now 6th in the world & easily the world #1 female pilot“

Lumpy; Back in Tocumwal after his pretty successful trip to Uvalde, where he won task 6 on his very first WGC…
“So the second thing you do when you get home from a holiday is jump in the tow plane for look around” I remember how gorgeous yellow, due to the canola and green after the rain, Toc can be.
Tocumwal Soaring Centre

——Not long and the first comps will be flown again overseas.
South Africa hosts in Potchefstroom the Nationals in 4 classes between September 28 and October 5.
Several well-known pilots also from Europe will attend! More later when it’s on.
Kiripotib Soaring announced a new “face” in their team of Champions.
“We welcome Tom Arscott to our team of Champions ! Tom is the current World Champion in Standard Class and has been flying international competitions for the British Team for nearly 10 years. Along the way, he became Junior World Champion in 2015, European Champion in 2019, and a National Champion several times. He is the coach of the British team and trains the next generation of competition pilots.
We are delighted to welcome another top-level high-flyer for Flying with the Champions.”
For all their news ; https://kiripotib-soaring.com/en/segelfliegen/flying-with-the-champions/

—–Back to now!
We have had world wide ,the warmest summer since they started counting! Also here in Europe and here in the Netherlands. Not the best soaring summer, but not too many complaints!!!
And it still continues. Our first autumn day showed 30 dgr. C. Still good flying in parts of Europe.
Last Sunday , here in The Netherlands, still up to over 500 km flights in ASG 29E/18m and in an LS 4 neo, 437 km.

DDA Classic Airlines , flew last weekend for the very last time a passenger flight. Pretty sad!
“we visited Rotterdam airport for scenic flights for the very last time as DDA Classic Airlines. Blessed with glorious weather during the weekend, we provided 144 enthusiastic passengers a life-long remembered scenic flight on board our ‘Royal’ DC-3.”
It’s the only DC3 Dakota with an airworthiness certificate in The Netherlands.

The last flight at Sunday August 25th ended with this tribute by the local fire brigade, and after the engines were stopped, a loud applause was heard.
It was a moving moment…
I feel it a bit too ,as George and several other , mostly Transavia pilots I knew, were for a long time in the 70thies, founding members of the Dutch Dakota Association. [not the DDA classic airlines]

Shorter, ..yes we can.
That’s it for now.
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.544 on September 4, 2024 .A very special day , as my grand daughter Indya turns 21!!!!!!

Looking back on all the CAT 1 comps this summer, I have the feeling, looking at the huge amount of followers from several bloggers on internet, that our sport is still much alive and to keep it like that , I try to continue writing.
Reading other blogs , I learned; “Ritz ,….don’t make your posts TOO long”.
So shorter blogs ,but hopefully still enough interesting news.

——Keiheuvel; Due to all the CAT 1 comps in Tabor, Ostrow and Uvalde you might have missed my annual Keiheuvel-diary. You just have to scroll down, pretty far ,[as I wrote a lot,] to find it.
Keiheuvel is special and created over the years top pilots, as Bert Schmelzer jr, world champion in 2014 in Rayskala and this year Martijn Eerdekens [JWGC] and many pilots flying EGC’s and WGC’s.
A top soaring climate!!!!
Already in the past, when we got to know the Schmelzer and Huybreckx families as well as on international comps “the Stouffs” and later the “de Broquevilles” and still now!!!

You might remember the picture from Leon a new 13 year old future talent. Years ago I met Jeroen [Jennen] like this and he then proudly said , he wanted to fly big comps. He must have been 8 and ran around with cables and knew all the rules of the airfield. Jeroen did and does fly big comps ,earlier the JWGC and recently he was at the EGC winning 2 days.
Here is Leon again , now with JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPION Martijn Eerdekens. Did he get some tips?
I wanted to have a few words with Martijn, but he was not flying for the Keiheuvel CUP, as his uncle flew.

As I went home early I could not mention the extra winners that day. So here you are ,thanks to Bert sr.
Lars won in 1 class and flew this year also the JWGC, in Ostrow and there he won task 5 and was on spot 10 overall. A real talent and yes his dad flew comps too.

——Some after-UVALDE-fun!
Gliderpasi ; [Finland]….. reflected on his Uvalde WGC . You can read it in his blog ; ,;
Here are a few quotes also about “loving” our sport.
“Lot’s of old and new friends. What an awesome community we have and what an awesome community Uvalde has.“
“I am the most comfortable in the open class and having the destiny on my own hands. Though beating Felipe, Michael would of needed a miracle“
“Spending 80 hours on Texas skies, racing against the top pilots is unique and very heart warming.”

Jd Barrois ; France ….”End of 3 fantastic weeks gliding in Texas , my childhood dream ! 5th WGC with up and down but with fantastic team. Unforgettable memories.”

Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures; Australia….
In the end the 20 m. class was for most of the readers the most exciting class. Adam was so knid to share some stats , after about some 75 hours of flying. I share them with you;
1. We achieved 98.6% of the winners score
2. We achieved 93.4% of all available points
3. Karl & Sarah achieved 10461/11 = 951pts per task flown3a. Keith & I achieved 10329/11 = 939pts per task flown
Note: Added 845pts to both the results above to level it out to, 1000pts per winners score day.
4. We were 132 points in deficit at the end, typically each turn is worth 5 points, which equals 26.4 extra turns (too many) during the whole championships, or approx 10.6min slower over all; or one minute slower each flight (41.2hrs on task)!
5. 135.31kph was the average completed winning speed of all the day winners combined.
6. 131.16kph was our average completed task speed.
I like the “freakin ” cool under these words. It was freaking cool!!!!!

——-Because it is so fabulous once more the first moments/emotions after they , Sarah and Karl, knew they won the 20 m.

—–What happened more?
They just packed the containers in Uvalde for a home bound trip, NOW they pack the containers 3 of them with gliders for Kiripotib . Wolfgang must have straight flown from Uvalde to the spot where the containers were “packed” as he was there too helping out. With all his experience it makes the job looking easy, but it is hard work.
The Namibian season there starts around November 1 .

That’s it for now.
CU next Wednesday.
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.543 on September 1 2024 .

Start of the metrological autumn with tropical temperatures here in the South of The Netherlands; 31 dgr. C . My mates down-under have looked forward to their spring which started too.

First more about and from Sarah, who is overly happy as more USA mates.
“For years I’ve dreamed of becoming the first woman to earn gold in the unrestricted World Gliding Championships, and superstitiously refused to say it aloud, afraid that perhaps it was just too big of a goal.
Along the way I’ve learned how to earn points in glider racing, and a LOT of ways to lose them. I’ve learned that it takes a special set of circumstances to win and not all factors are in anyone’s control. I’ve felt the thrills of victory and agonies of defeat. I’ve learned that in glider racing there are more hard lessons to learn than easy ones. I’ve been buoyed by countless kindnesses and felt the pressure at the top, being hunted by the best in the world.
These experiences of mine have come over but a fourth of the time that Karl has been on his own quest. It seemed like such a fairy tale to wish for us to win, for Karl to get his gold, and finally have USA world champions from a contest hosted inside the United States.
When we took the lead early on we both fought hard to keep thoughts of a potential win out of our heads, and just took one day at a time. We couldn’t believe it would happen until we crossed the finish ring yesterday afternoon. Thank you to all who have worked tirelessly over many years to give us this opportunity. Words aren’t enough, my heart is full.”
Sarah Arnold and some pictures shared by Sarah.

The editor of the magazine [hangar soaring] of the WSPA [Women Soaring Pilots Association ]Frauke Elber , AND writer of the book book ” The tall man in the dark suit”, wrote as a comment in my blog ;“what a race in the 20m class. For me as a spectator on the computer it was a real nail biter” https://womensoaring.org/

Indeed , also for me this was the first time I was MORE interested in the 20 m than in open [my normal favourite because George always flew open class and so I got to know a lot of those pilots] or 18 m.
Of course it was special. Americans winning in the USA, ” over home soil”, a female pilot and an elderly [WITH HUGE RESPECT] gentleman, best ingredients to follow this class extra. I read that Karl is even 87 and not 86.
Also, because the differences in points were not big in this class, everything could happen on the last day.
Result; late night for me to see with my own eyes at 1.30 in the morning who were the sinners.

Some nice pictures shared by the Dutch team from 20 m- pilots congratulating each other.

And the winners of the open class

And the 18 m winners;

And last but not least the 20 m winners.

And one from Adam who on the last day went from 2 to 4; “I went & wished every 20m team on the grid, great decisions, climbs & energy lines before take off on the last day – seems they took my well wishes positively.“

In between some pilots and crews really worked hard and before having a CORONA , no not the bacteria but the well deserved beer, packed the container and finished it; doors closed and off to Holland again.

A last salute to the USA team, with TC Pete Alexandre, holding proudly the Stars and Stripes with Karl and Sarah. My friends Gary and Christine Cartner [involved in several important jobs during this WGC] are to the right.

“Well, the party’s over and “well done” by all, competitors, crews, tug pilots, organizers, ALL volunteers, businesses, and of course, the incredible folks who live in and around Uvalde! Team USA has made us so proud. Be sure to scroll through the posts and remarks. I’m sure we can all look forward to more thoughts and insights as our team (and others) make their safe way home and beyond. Thanks to them for the memories! USA Proud!” US Soaring Teams

And the last words are for John Good. I wrote, like him , sometimes sitting at the same table, [ as in Lake Keepit] at several comps and we both were TC at several comps as well. I value him/his writing high.

“We have two World Champions! At the 38th World Gliding Championship, Karl and Sarah today prevailed in the 20-Meter Multiseat class. They are the first US champions in an “unrestricted entry” World Gliding Championship since Doug Jacob’s 1985 victory in Rieti, Italy (37 years ago). Sarah is the first woman from any country ever to win at this level. Karl, at 87, is far and away the oldest-ever soaring world champion.
(As I read these words I’ve written, I’m thinking: “Did this really happen? Can these improbable-sounding statements actually be true? Well, yes, it did. Yes, they are.)
The flight they flew today to secure the championship was exactly what they needed. Over 10 days, their consistent flying had built a useful, but certainly not insurmountable lead. Their assignment on the 11th and last was to make another steady flight, aiming not to win the day but to reduce risk and achieve a total score that their rivals could not overtake. Weather was forecast to be good, but with a meaningful chance of vertical overdevelopment producing rain and even thunderstorms, said to be possible anywhere in the task area.
They started in the middle of the pack, with a number of good teams ahead to help mark the right route choices. They consistently found good climbs, stayed high and always out of trouble, preferring to stay with a few others rather than break away, seeking a few more points. On their way home from the final turn area, they took a thermal climb that probably wasn’t essential, but which bought “insurance” against possible bad air ahead, at the cost of delaying their finish by perhaps a minute. The result was 4th place for the day and a score of 922 points, which guaranteed the victory. As they crossed the finish ring, not all eyes were dry.
In 18-Meter class, the Germans dominated, Stefan Langer taking the gold medal by more than 200 points. Sean Fidler finished 10th (top-10 is the sign of an outstanding effort). Sean Murphy was 27th – he had to find a glider on short notice and struggled to adapt to it and its unfamiliar instrumentation.
In Open Class, the formidable German pair of Felipe Levin and Michael Sommer were at the top, hundreds of points ahead of the rest. Jim Lee managed a very commendable 6th; Keith Baugh, flying his first WGC in a “short-winger” (21 meters) was 12th.
Overall, the US Team performance was the best in a very long time. Full credit to Team Captain Pete Alexander, who has uncommon skills and just the right touch in a job that at times must feel like herding cats. US Team crews worked harder, longer and in tougher conditions than at essentially any other contest site (typically on the job around dawn and often not done until past sunset) and were consistently up to the challenge.
The WGC2024 closing ceremony [Has been of course] will take place tomorrow morning at 9:00 – the Star-Spangled Banner will be heard for the first time in 37 years. This is my final report.
John Good

Back to the regular blogs now on Wednesday.
It was ,as said pretty intensive to write every day about the JWGC in Ostrow, the EGC in Tabor and the WGC in Uvalde, so my hands and neck need “some tender and care”, but the off- season starts now till South Africa and Namibia “wake up” , as well as Australia and we are going to keep an eye on them.

Cheers Ritz.

Post 1.542 on August 31 2024

CLOSING CEREMONY and Prizegiving;
Rich; “Medals will be given out for the top 3 competitors and certificates will go to a predetermined number of pilots in each class. There will also be two trophies that will be presented during the awards ceremony. One is the Goran Ax Memorial Trophy which is awarded to the pilot who achieves the highest accumulated marking distance in the Open Class during the entire World Gliding Championship. Also, the Robert-Kronfeld – Challenge Cup will be presented to the pilot flying the World Gliding Championship in the Open, 18m or 20m classes that have flown the longest marking distance flight during the Championship regardless of the type of task.”

The containers have to be packed again asap and sent to the harbor .Busy job, the less nice one I remember. Some started VERY early.

The South African Gliding Team started already straight after the comps :”And that’s a wrap! We’re furiously packing containers today and tomorrow, then closing ceremony at 9am.”

Found in my files this great picture from Sarah, here without Karl. Now world champion in the 20 m class WITH Karl in Uvalde and WWGC champion in Lake Keepit in 2020. Karl was never world champion but he was runner up in Chateauroux in 1978 . Now at age 86 WORLD-CHAMPION.

And another nice picture now from 18 m class pilot Stefan shared by his proud club members from Segelfluggruppe Donauwörth-Monheim with the message; WE ARE WORLD CHAMPION.

The prizes have been handed over, the flag is presented for the next WGC to Tabor I believe in 2026 and I wait till the official pictures from the winners will be shared. Here is already one shared by Pasi;

That was FUN!! This 38th WGC in Uvalde.
Though it was very intensive, it was a pleasure to write from home and THANK you for all the news I was allowed to quote.

When I have the pictures I share them in the next blog CU then.
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.541 on August 31 2024

Back on track again after a short night. I sleep better when I know WHO won, than that I think all the time WHO would have won.
Scores have been verified and should by now OFFICAL.
Whilst the party for the die-hards might be still going on in The Grotto, I start with the last part of this WGC; the final results.

9 Winners in 3 classes, 4 from Germany, 2 from France and 1 team from the USA, Poland and Austria.
A total of 6 practice days, 11 out of 13 days in 18 m and 20 m and even 12 out of 13 in open class, hence high total scores, over 10.000 in open class!!!!!

No doubt that Germany won the TEAM CUP with 9332 points.
Runner up was France with 914.72 points and Austria did well with 907.09.

Looking at the last day it was , as expected the 20 m. class in which we could expect changes as they were so close.
It happened but Sarah and Karl stayed cool and are the deserved CHAMPIONS in their own country.
So let’s look at this class first;

20 m task 12; 3 hour AAT,…..daily winners;  Lutz & Janowitsch, top pilots both and I know Wolfgang already for years, I even attended his wedding in Austria. Andy I got to know in Benalla. From them you can always expect ,the “unexpected”. With their 1000 points they moved up to spot 3 from 4.
The Polish mates, I guess Tomas Rubaj, but if they don’t give first names it ‘s guessing, was runner up. Also a great last day for them as the moved up to 2.
Karl and Sarah were pretty consistent during these comps , so they finished the last day on 4 and had enough points to be the NEW WORLD CHAMPIONS.
Feel VERY sorry for Woolley and Keith hoping to move up to 1 but finished on 4 , just not at the podium. I know how much effort , money and time Adam puts in his gliding, but he has to wait for a world title.
He will get one!!!!
“Today’s flight, we put our best flight in. Made no mistakes, except the start time (later was better). A few occasions I took 5kts at mid convection in order to stay fast & connected, otherwise I can safely say, that I’m feeling good, slightly disappointed that I won’t get my first FAI medal, but equally happy for the podium getters – great show, my time will come.” much more on Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures

20 m. multi seat final results;
1.Arnold & Striedieck from the USA in Arcus M with 9,616 points and 20m- CHAMPIONS!!!!
2. Rubaj & Matkowski from Poland in ASG 32MI with 9,552 points and vice world champions.
3. Lutz & Janowitsch from Austria in Arcus M with 9,499 points 15 points more than Adam and Keith

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!

18m; task 12 a 3 hour AAT….daily winner Matthew. “I used EVERYTHING left in the tank today. No extra risk but max focus and energy. Nothing particularly special except for a honking final glide.
Unfortunately no one above me made an major error so I’ll still land in 5th overall, but a lot closer to the top. Weirdly(?) this is my first ever day win at a worlds.
Will do a big post-comp writeup in the coming week.’
Will have that in my box and share it with you.
Runner up for the day, Werner Amann from Austria, we have not seen him in the top, but he is a very good pilot.
French pilot Christophe Abadie was 3d for the day , Stefan on 5 and Simon on 14 but still enough points to keep his 2d spot overall.[ loosing around 150 points]
Simon was already world champion in 2021 in standard class and in 2019 junior world champion.
Stefan won the Grand Prix in Pavullo in 2023.

18 m; final results;
1. Stefan Langer from Germany in AS 33me with 9,843 points and CHAMPION!!!!
2. Simon Schröder from Germany in Ventus 3e with 9,636 points and vice world champion
3. Christophe Abadie from France in JS3 TJ with 9,592 points.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Open class; task 12…..3 hour AAT.…won by Felipe and Michael with Francois as good 3d!!!!
No news that Felipe who was junior world champion in 2009 and 2011 AND world champion in 2022 won another day together with Michael who was world champion in 2006, 2008, 2010 , 2014 and 2018. Strong pilots the likes as Ingo Renner and Sebastian Kawa.
Michael flew in the past with us in Tocumwal and in that time he was the “most wanted bachelor” in Melbourne and around ,where he then lived. Now he is more the Von -Trapp -family-father!!!!
Great guy.

open class final results;
1. Felipe Levin from Germany in EB 29R with 10,887 points and WORLD CHAMPION.
2. Michael Sommer from Germany in EB 29R with 10,782 points; vice world champion
3. Laurent Aboulin from France in JS1C/21 m. with 10,485 points.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

When I have more time again I hope to share pictures and all kind of other news.
Mind you several TC’s will be busy organizing the retour shipment from gliders. HEAVY job, I know.
Pilots and crews will help.

CU later Cheers Ritz

Post 1.541 on August 30/31 2024

8 PM Dutch time.

Pilots, TC’s, Coaches, crews , organizers, tuggies , they were all up early in the morning [7.45] for this last day!
Ready to go for it!
Specially the 20 m class is still exciting , as in the other classes , 18m and open the German pilots have a good lead, BUT,…you never know! Around 300 points??!!! Not too much when weird things happen.

The briefing was ORANGE! After the clean sweep, the Dutchies [ clockies as the UK young ones called us in the past] stood on the highest step in 3 classes.

AND,…..the interview with Paul;

And,…the congratulations from “good old” Eric “Herbie” Moser.

WGC Uvalde 2024 mentioned: “Day 11 Winners . The Dutch team had a unique sweep yesterday – winning all 3 classes. I don’t think I’ve seen that done previously by any country at this contest. Congratulations!!!”

The tasks have been set and they are different than the first ones; Task B for all classes. Storms developing in the NE quadrant. Launching starting shortly.”
With 3 hour AAT’s we have a bit of an idea when they will be back as the goal is ; 3 hours of flying.

Who has the best nerves. I remember 2 cases, in which pilots became world champion by being the most relaxed people at the field on the last evening. Brian Spreckley in Benalla in 1987 drinking a beer in the bar with some mates and Brad Edwards in 1991 [Uvalde] playing his guitar in front of the hotel later in the evening and singing along with several nationalities.
I was even part of it.
So now it is waiting time, expected first launch at 12.30 ; CU later……

12 Midnight!!! Go to sleep for a few hours , to be fresh and new when they arrive. The pilots might be back then and at the farewell party .

Friday August 30…….. ultimate day!
18m; 3 hour AAT....Before start Matthew wrote;”Kinda feels like a day that might POP (me into third place? probably not but dreams are free)” He stayed on 5 overall, BUT won the day.
The top 6 stayed the same so Stefan Langer is the new world champion. He was 5th for the day.
More tomorrow!!!

20 m; 3 hour AAT....Wolfgang and Andy won the day, moving from 4 to 3. Good on them!!Rubaj & Matkowski were runner up and moved from 3 to spot 2. Sarah and Karl stayed on 1 with a 4th daily spot. they are the NEW CHAMPIONS. Unfortunately my Aussie and Dutch mates dropped a place from 2 to 4 just off the podium and from 5 to 6. Analyses , distances and speed tomorrow.

open; 3 hour AAT....Felipe and Michael won!!! Good on them They are world champion and vice world champion. Francois was 3d for the day.

All scores of course very preliminary.

It’s 1.30 in the morning , time for my “beauty sleep”.
A lot more to say and hopefully some pictures from the party tomorrow!
Enjoy the festivities over there and sleep well her.
CU tomorrow Ritz.

Post 1.540 on August 30 2024

UVALDE TEXAS
Garner Field, United States
18 August 2024 – 31 August 2024

My goodness me, I nearly felt from my chair when I saw in ONE view on soaring spot, that 3/4 Dutch glider pilots proudly were on spot 1 on task 11.
Not that I ever doubted their ability, they were of course sent to Uvalde as “our” toppers and all have flown already WGC’s, but it is rather special that this happens.
So in 18 m; Jeroen Verkuijl on spot 1,” Great day. Finally a day on what you planned worked”
in 20 m; Erik and Mathijs/ Borgmann & Van Houweninge “ Late start, was not the plan. started again and at the last TP we had super lift and met the rest and arrived together”;
in open; François Jeremiasse. “A challenge to keep up with the German team when you catch them and his first daily win at a WGC” . He started 2 minutes earlier than Michael and Felipe.
The boys called it Dutch weather, with a high ceiling.
EXELLENT STUFF!!!!! No I am not a chauvinist , but only really happy. A triple orange podium.

About today; The SA team was not too optimistic [” Today started looking misty and miserable but we were promised that this is a normal Uvalde day. Well it seems the wise ones were right and the day has turned into what looks like a wonderful soaring day. Gliders have just started landing back, and the crew is slowly but surely preparing containers for the packing which is planned to start tomorrow. Fingers crossed for today’s scores.” but indeed it turned out a great day.
Unfortunately not for them.

Tasks and results on Thursday August 29, day 12 and task 11.
To be correct 18 m and 20 m had till now 10 out of 12 days, open 11 out of 12. That’s just GOOD!!!! Even with one “off-day!”

18 m; 4.30 AAT….with Alena’s glider most probably written off , there are still 31 pilots in this class and 2 did not finish. Jeroen Verkuijl started at 13.56, not early not late , together with team mate Sjaak . Jeroen flew 639.90 km in 4.32 so a nice speed of 141 km./h. That was the best result for the day; 1000 points. Scores were close as French Christophe still had 911 points on spot 9.
Matthew was on 8 with 2 more points;
“Today’s task was a pleasant surprise in that it was only slightly overset. We still had a bit of a grand prix start, but at only a 4.5hr AAT we could cleanly get around within the reliably soarable window.I had to work extremely hard on the southbound leg to catch up. I had an excellent run, but missed the opportunity to utilise the sea breeze convergence onto final glide, so just a midfield result.
I really need a miracle to get on the podium now. more on Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
Rich from the Uvalde media team on today’s tasks;
“The 18 Meter Class was sent off on a 4:30hr Assigned Area task of 591km nominal. After start, they went northwest to Martin Ranch, southeast to Laredo, northeast to Seven C’s Ranch and then northwest to finish. The last turn area of this task had prohibited airspace in it, so the pilots had to be careful. However, several pilots did suffer the penalty of entering forbidden airspace. With all the technology we have in the cockpit, we still seem to make the same errors when we flew with cameras. The first leg did not look bad. However, the pilots who could get across the foothills higher all seemed to do better on the scoresheet. Being higher allowed them to connect better with the clouds and maintain good forward momentum. The foothills are like transition areas on ridges. You cannot allow yourself to get low. There were basically two places where pilots made their turn in the first area. One was on the northeast corner and the other was right around the nominal point. The second and third legs did not present too many problems until the 3rd turn area. The airspace did cause issues. Some had to make a turn that was less than advantageous, but others journeyed into the forbidden airspace and were landed out on the scoresheet. Final glides going downwind is always a joy, and unless you were landing at 7:30pm, did not cause many issues.”

Overall scores with 1 day to go, will be mainly I guess for spot 3 as the German pilots Stefan and Simon are far ahead, but Christophe and Jeroen can “fight” for spot 3.

Matthew shared this picture from the unfortunate JS3 from Alena in the water;

20m. multi seat;  577.80 km……they started as the last in their class, as said not planned , but it went that way. They restarted at 14.06 ,not that much later than many other pilots, but they went well and raced straight to pilots starting earlier. Speed 132 km./h. for 1000 points.
I talk of course about Borgmann & Van Houweninge, Erik and Mathijs.
Only 3 points more then the French, but even 3 points can be important, as in this class a lot can still happen for the podium!!!!.

Rich ; “In the 20 Meter Class, they were sent on 578km racing task that went west to Anacacho, southeast to Callaghan, north to Aero Saylee, west to Indio Faith and northeast to finish. Straight lines, good energy lines and staying consistently in the upper third of the height band worked for this group. Not many issues on this flight.“

With one day to go the overall scores look like this; VERY EXCITING!!!!!!
Arnold & Striedieck; 8.694, loosing a bit but still on top.
Woolley & Gateley; 8,572
Rubaj & Matkowski; 8,570, very close …..
Lutz & Janowitsch; 8,499
Borgmann & Van Houweninge; 8,458
Bouderlique & de Péchy; 8,446
In this class EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

open;  613.66 km…and the 3d podium for the Netherlands with  François Jeremiasse ; 129.65 km./h. just a tad faster than the German pilots .who started 2 minutes behind him.
A miserable day for the JS5 pilots all 3 were ” punished” for entering forbidden air space and THAT COST!!!! 274 points only for them. And that was then their Uvalde WGC, a pity.
Attie dropped from 4 to 7 and Oscar from 9 to 11.
“Well… not much to say but Oops. The Open class guys had a setting issue on their flight computers which didn’t warn them about the airspace they were approaching. We’ve checked the settings hundreds of times this comp, but for some reason today, the system failed us. Not much to be done about it but to learn from this and understand how not to make it happen again. Bad luck guys!
Fun is still being had by everyone and there is lots of learning to be had from this comp.”

Rich; The Open Class also had a racing task of 614km (382mi) that went south to Santa Maria Ranch, northeast to Silverhorn Ranch, north to Kerrville and southwest to finish. Again, straight lines, staying high and getting through the third leg and not get stuck, were the keys to a good finish. Getting low in the foothills cost a few pilots minutes of being in the lower half of the height band. Again, the German team showed how they fly so consistently well in all types of conditions. Felipe Levin and Michael Sommer finished second and third respectively today. If you did not realize, the Netherland Team garnered the top spot in all classes today. Winning in Open Class, and completing a clean sweep was Franois Jeremiasse (Netherlands) with a speed of 130kph (81mph) over the 614km (382mi) task. I think we should give the pilots and captain a round of applause in the morning. Nice flying!!

Indeed Joyce as TC and Baer as coach are doing a great job for the Dutch team. I do also “see the hand from Baer”.

Looking at the overall scores with 1 day to go is less exciting than in 20 m. Felipe and Michel are far ahead, but in the worst case they can instead of winning the day equal, loose a day equal. Just hypothetical, as I know they ARE GOOD!!!!
But the 2 French, Laurent and Sylvain, [ I know TC Eric has special things on his sleeve for a last day] and Francois and Jim Lee can fight for the podium too.

Last day tomorrow.
Will be back later in their morning with pictures from the “orange army” at the podium!
Mind you for a few crewmembers, it was an early morning/late night due to borrowing trailers and retrieves. All gliders except from Elena were on the grid this morning. Sterling job!!!!

CU LATER.
cheers Ritz

Post 1.539 on August 29 2024

UVALDE TEXAS Garner Field, United States
18 August 2024 – 31 August 2024

Thursday August 29, day 11 task 10;
A short post with some explanations and as promised, John Goods view on the day with task 10.
Will be back {much} later with all the news on the penultimate day, so with task 11.
Here they are already; Task 11 with a 4.30 AAT in 18m, 577.80 km for 20 m and 613.66 km for open.
With the good weather, the good mood for sure, will be back too.

And the weather??? You can see it …my daughter just sent me this picture.

First maybe an apology ! I was a bit carried away ,with all the “complaints” on task 10 on the internet, from friends/mates . I value them high and trust to say or write the correct things. I STILL feel so, but I had to write as well , that we have had fabulous weather and great tasks and already lots of points and that was the GOOD news.

Another update as you might be interested in who landed in the water. t turned out to be the JS3 RES / 18m from Czech pilot Alena. The organizers AND she are open about it, so they should, as from every incident , others can learn!
“An update on the ship that landed in the water. Like all sailplanes, it does float. The pilot had been using its electric propulsion system when the motor failed at low altitude. The terrain was rough, and the lake was the safest option. The sailplane was being pulled from the water when the batteries started to make noise. There was just a small amount of fire coming from the batteries that did not damage the glider. The ground retrieve crew opened the engine bay doors and took the battery out of the ship and left it in the water. It continued to smoke under water for some time. Although the glider may be a total loss, no one was injured during the landing or retrieve of the ship.
During this day we had 14 ground retrieves that required several borrowed trailers. It was a study of teamwork and cooperation as trailers were lent out to those who needed them. Crews helped each other to affect rescues of gliders in fields. We discovered that law enforcement in Texas have a good relationship with the ranchers and were instrumental in opening gates to retrieve gliders. It is also helpful to have a helicopter to get help to a scene fast. Thanks to all the crews, volunteers and those who lent trailers to other teams. Now, let’s move on and fly!”

Well that all sounds more than GOOD!!!

Here is how John looked at it. Long story but very interesting and as I write again after my night sleep,that post will not be too long then.
Team USA Report Day #10 ~ August 28
Difficult weather today: excessive atmospheric moisture continues to cause trouble in south Texas. Today it gave us extensive low morning cloud that broke into useful cumulus, which promptly overdeveloped, yielding areas of rain. These consolidated and expanded during the day, finishing as massive barriers to motorless flight.

In the face of this challenging weather (which was accurately forecast) task choices seemed notably strange: The usual way to deal with this sort of trouble is area tasks, which give pilots a decent chance to pick their way around weather problems. The Open class had one of those, but both 18-Meter and 20-Meter classes were given Racing* tasks, which require pilots to get within 500 meters of each assigned turnpoint. If that point has rain (or worse), good luck – difficult and possibly dangerous flying may ensue.

At launch time, troubled weather was already evident, but lift near the field was sufficient to keep all gliders aloft and get them started on their tasks. For all three classes, this involved an excursion to the south; the favoured route there lay east of the direct line, avoiding a formidable and growing north-south line of rain clouds.

The 20-M classes then found serious problems at their Bella Vista turnpoint (where the view was anything but beautiful): rain covered the entire area. Two obvious choices emerged: gain height, glide to the turnpoint and either continue on course to the west (expecting dead air over wet ground) or retreat south and east (hoping to reconnect with the good lift there and then seek another route west). Neither scheme worked, and nearly all gliders soon sprouted an engine and headed home. Glider L did not follow the crowd: Karl and Sarah spent half an hour in reliable lift to the east, waiting for the rain move away to the north. They were thus able to make a rain-free glide to the turnpoint, and onward toward the next one. Over the wet ground they, too, were unable to reconnect with lift, but their patient tactics gave them the best distance of the day. The 18-Meter class had a similar experience; again, it was the more patient pilots that did best.

Open class had turn areas and thus more freedom of action, but nonetheless could put just one pilot across the finish line: It was Claudio Schmidt, flying the Nixus, who had been standing in last place. Though he didn’t finish, Jim Lee had a great flight: He somehow found a path from east to west across the impenetrable line of rain clouds, reached the final turn area and them went for more distance, which actually yielded a greater score advantage over other pilots than if he’d taken the short route home. Keith Baugh had a solid flight, good for fifth.

A day with only one finisher among 64 pilots is bound to yield some interesting retrieve stories. With only 10 non-motorized gliders flying, 14 gliders outlanded. We hear of motors that did not start and some that didn’t have enough fuel (or battery charge) to get all the way home. Bad weather appears to have completely blocked one pilot from returning. The French team was shopping for a trailer that could be used to retrieve one or more unmotorized gliders. The pilot of a JS3 with an overheating electric motor reportedly had no good dry option and managed to land safely in a stock pond. But the glider then suffered a battery fire as it was being hauled onto dry land; application of water and seaweed apparently dealt with the fire. (No word yet from the cattle that will be expected to drink from that pond.)

* The International Gliding Commission (which makes the rules for World Gliding Competitions), uses the terms “Racing Task” and “Assigned Area Task” for its two task types. Never explained is ,why pilots at a glider race, who are scored on the speed they achieve, would not be racing during any task they were assigned.

John Good

AND,…a picture from the one-and-only-winner/finisher from yesterday Claudio !!!!! With compliments.

CU tomorrow morning. Cheers Ritz

Post 1.538 on August 29 2024

Sometimes I get confused with the days and the time. A still have a lot of contact with my Aussie friend and they are at this stage 8 hours ahead of us, [10 when summer/winter time arrives]
The time difference with The Netherlands and Uvalde is 7 hours. So when I write on Thursday, they just finished flying on Wednesday and go out or to bed, when I start writing.
Friday August 30, is the last day and the party will be in the evening. The prize giving the next day!

Wednesday August 28 day 11 task 10;
And what a day it was!!!!! Normally I write that, when 20 or so 1000 km flights have been flown. Today, because ONLY 1 glider finished from the 3 classes. The NIXUS, never mentioned in these blogs as Brazilian pilot Claudio Schmidt never belonged to the toppers and I prefer not to write about pilots who are doing less good. Now he deserves a huge round of applause!!!!
So my question if the weather will have influence on the last days is to my knowledge,…… YES.
One of the most direct , but to the points analyses, is from Matthew, so here is his story about the day before I look at the scores
“ Predictable outcome. Unclear why we had a racing task (where is the IGC?). By the time the gate opened we were already surfing the storm front next to the airfield, and the first leg was hopping from storm to storm towards the first turn which we could see was inside a large cell.
All three classes came together to wait for the storm at the first turn to move a bit so we could all get north again, insane turbulence, people cloud flying, heavy rain and hail, all quite dangerous.
Everyone in our class climbed as high as they could then drove into the back of the storm to round the turnpoint, then went for a dead air glide into the blue where it’d just rained heavily towards the next turn.
A few got lucky with a tiny climb in the blue and jumped ahead to no further avail. Quite a few who ran out of fuel or battery or had non-starting engines have outlanded. One glider is even floating in a lake. I was glad to have a RES, lit up 110km from home over an airfield and comfortably made it back.
Simply setting an AAT would have substantially reduced the danger on all factors.“
Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
Picture shared by Matthew too.

All in all, when I read this , NOT A GOOD DAY, but of course I am not there, it’s based on several inputs I got.. And looking at the weather pc is pretty clear too.

Here is ARNE; “So the task setters launched us into what was clearly a very poorly set task and known deteriorating conditions that entirely as expected had all classes mixed and gaggling. And yes, no PEV. Why bother improving our safety by reducing gaggling? Where are the stewards? Why is derisking not in focus? 25km from the first turnpoint we ran into the storm and severe turbulence and micro bursts. It became a matter of running with the front to stay high enough to reach safe airfields”
more on Arne J. Boye-Møller

Keith ; “On the way home after using the engine. It was an adventure just getting home. Almost 100% outlanding rate for today.“

Adam with several hind sights; “Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Congratulations to Sarah & Karl on a great flight, taking their lead to 128pts over us in 2nd, two tasks remaining!
What are my lessons learnt? Firstly, when a task is set, I subconsciously always think, it’s possible to complete. It’s just in my positive nature. I need to bring this into my reality check, because by not leaving as soon as the lights went out, I cost myself distance, possibly even completing the task.”
much more on Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures

Pôle France Planeur “Journée trés compliquée pour l’organisation et les pilotes ..Zones de vols sous l’influence de cunimbs et d”orages qui empêchent de virer les points..La majorité des pilotes rentrent au moteur..Les deux JS3 LB .KW et le JS1 FD se vachent.
Anne rentre par convoyage air..L’ équipe de crews sont partis récupérer Laurent et Jean avec des remorques prêtées.”
A very complex day for both organisation and pilots, they write. Cu nimbs , and storms had an influence to reach the TP’s. Most of the pilots returned with their engine. Crews were busy enough to get the rest back 1 by aerotow and 2 by car and trailer.

South African Gliding Team “Seems like chaos all round today, with only 1 out of the 66 competitors actually completing their task. 14 gliders physically landed at other airfields, in fields or lakes, the rest all started their engines to get home.
Both EL and IMS landed at alternate airfields, as although they both have working engines, with the storms around there was no ways for them to get back to Uvalde Safely. They’ve both arrived safely back at Uvalde by trailer. And the rest are all strapped down safely for the night. Hoping for a better day tomorrow.”

Pasi; “Not much to tell. Through the rain to second like everyone else. Could of pushed 20k more, but like majority turned back to “better” clouds and started engine 170m AGL. Only 10L of fuel so it didn’t quite were enough. Didn’t want to push through the rain and thunder to Uvalde, so landed on McKinley. Ike McKinley greeded us with his wife (who is now part of team Finland]” Gliderpasi
And that or sure is the NICEST part of the day. NEW FRIENDS!!!

Of course not a bad for the daily winners.
Here we go;

18 m; 389.17 km….and Manu Litt from BELGIUM won, good on him!!! 209.47 km. for which he had to work hard. Christophe was runner up with 198.60 km.
5 Pilots only just flew over 100 km. ALL were OUT.
But luckily not too many points gained or lost. Manu got 280 points [and a CHAPEAU from me] and the last pilot on spot 32 still 144.

20 m;  405.47 km…. USA pilots Sarah and Karl handled the weather best and with “only” 170 km flown they were the daily best and consolidated their first spot overall with a few points more.; 7.789 for 7.661 for Adam and Keith.
The winners got 275 points the last ones 213 and 2 in this class don’t fly anymore.
Wolfgang and Andy flew today 132 km IN UVALDE!!!! Not what they hoped for when they left Austria, but they have had pretty good days before the weather changed. They are 4th overall.

Open class; 3.15 AAT….The NIXUS with long wings could glide longer than others through rain and sink, hence a nice daily WIN and a great performance from Claudio Schmidt from Brazil. 671 points for him.
I read that “This glider has a wingspan of 28 metres (nearly 100 feet) and an aspect ratio of 53 to 1 providing a glide angle close to 1 in 70.”
Jim Lee in the EB 29 was runner up with 386.94 km. but,…he had to use the engine. Michel and Felipe were on an equal 14th spot, [ they are getting better and better in being EQUAL] ,but no worries, they are far ahead and loosing 342 points does ‘nt bring them into problems. Still, with 2 days to go in the lead; 8.900 for Felipe and Michael has 8.666, whilst number 3 Laurent has 8.666 points.
Claudio is still 17th from 17 , but he had a day-win and an unforgettable day I think. Well done!!!!

And last but not least;
A big thank you already to the tuggies. WGC Uvalde 2024 shared this picture on August 22.

What, I GOT in 2012 was this, from very kind spectators / guests in the tent, where I worked;
A steel ” State of Texas” with a glider in it. HANDMADE!!! AND proudly accepted. It’s in my garden on the fence, so I see it every day. Above sand, as it is awfully heavy and it should not fall on anything .
I believe one of the Dutch team members took it home in the trailer on the boat. Too heavy for in the plane. Too heavy also to carry around, as I got as a present from SOARING CAFE, a nice 3 -day- stay in a luxury hotel in San Antonio, before I flew home. That’s where I met after the comps, Art Grant and his travel-friend, again.

And something to get the honey easy out of the jar. Handmade and personally handed over.
For both I was very grateful and still have them.

And YES my daughter and grand daughter, Inge and Indya ,arrived safely for 2 days in Uvalde at the field, warmly welcomed by the Dutch team and their hosts, as they could straight away join in at their BBQ .

CU again tomorrow, for the last , for sure exciting days.

I wait for the analyses from John Good, USA pilot, CD, TC and so much more, good writer as well. An American analyse on this day , would be good too. John is always 1 day later, so you can read it tomorrow. On August 26 , task 8 he wrote already a bit about the weather ;”A significant change in weather today, forecast to persist for several days. It features lower temperatures, more moisture, and much higher chances of afternoon rain and thunderstorms.”

Cheers Ritz

Post 1.537 on August 28 2024

Wednesday August 28 day 10, task 9.
After the heat from the first week, which broke some long standing records, it was waiting what the weather man would say in the morning. At least about the temperature ,there was no doubt; cooler, “only” 30 dgr. C MAX.
Yesterday Rich wrote;
“The weather tomorrow looks challenging. The low is going to stop right on top of us, causing low clouds, poor lift and rain. If it moves on tonight, we will fly. If something does not change tonight, then we may have our first weather day.”

So what was the verdict from Mr. Meteo for TODAY?!
“The low is over us and it is pretty cloudy now with a chance of rain. The organizers are going to try to get a task in and the gliders are currently staged for gridding at Noon.” US Soaring Teams

Indeed it turned out to be a “weather-day” the first during this competition.
18m class; 3 hour AAT…..cancelled
Lumpy; “Big storms in the 18m first turn point formed before we launched, even though they were forecast a bit further north and not till mid to late afternoon. We went to task B which sent us out in the opposite direction, but the clock was counting down. We had a 3 AAT and it was already 1.40 pm so the writing was on the wall. Day cancelled at 2pm….”
Matthew; “Unusual weather for a racing task (open and 20 only), we are lucky to be an AAT in 18m.Even weirder was the Dutch(!) Airforce doing a beat- up down the grid in a Chinook(!?).I must be dreaming.”
It was quite an event as Arne had a look AT and IN it too. “When Chinooks drops in for a burger and they turn out to be Dutch glider pilots.”
Yes  Lennart Batenburg is a Dutch glider pilot, who lives in the USA and visited the Dutch team last Sunday and came back today for an other visit, this time not by car but through air in “his” Chinook”.
No flying, so good time to do other things, as looking IN the Chinook, a great “toy” !!!!

20 m class; 3 hour AAT…..cancelled…so Sarah and Karl still lead with 66 points for Adam and Keith …exciting!!!
Lumpy on the day; “They then launched the 20m class but by that time the sky had almost shut down overhead the field and I think 5 gliders returned looking for a re-light… some discussion was had and then the 20m class was cancelled.”
“A nice little distraction was a visiting Chinook helicopter from the Dutch Airforce who performed and nice flyby for us.” Tocumwal Soaring Centre

open class; 379.52 km….and 17 started , 10 finished so a tough day!!
Won by Laurent Aboulin [ JS1C/21 m] ; 135.76 km./h. Mind you, he is defending his 2012-Uvalde- title !!!!He then won in a Quintus M, from Schempp-Hirth.
Lumpy on open class;”They launched open class and got the gate open for them, after all the pilots were consulted whilst flying and asked if they considered the task doable and safe ….. good call from the organisers
7 out of the 17 open class pilots had to use their engines by the looks…. Navigating around those big storms I think was the issue and lots of dead air in the middle.“
And indeed , he was correct 7 pilots returned “under steam”.
Team UK had Tim [ Jenkinson in JS1cTJ/21 m] just “in” and Russell just out; 366.17 km.
Michael and Felipe finished AGAIN equal at spot 4 and still lead overall; Felipe 8.571 points and Michael 8.474 p with Attie now on 3 with 8.201 [moved up from 5] and the 2 French pilots on 4 and 5, just ahead of “our” Francois[ 8.022 p.]

Looking back at 2012.
Along the road driving to Uvalde, I quickly took a picture;

One of the first things I noticed after arriving back at Garner field was the CONCORDIA from Dick Butler. Dich wrote the whole history of this glider in many issues of SOARING CAFE. It was a very popular subject.

I wrote about the Concordia on July 22 in 2012
“One of the HOT items in SOARINGCAFE of course was and is the Concordia. Dick’s stories about the progress of this magic project,  got lot’s of readers! I look forward to catch up with Dick again after many years and to make my OWN picture of the Concordia. What a fabulous project he started!!! What I heard the glider flies super and I hope Dick will have great safe and fast flights in it.
As said before I look forward to the difference in performance in open class this year. It will be VERY interesting.”
And other news that day;
The gliders have been added to the pilots now and at this stage I counted 4 JS1-B gliders in open class flown by the Aussies and ……what Aussies former WGC champion in 1991 Brad Edwards and topper Bruce Taylor AND…. another 2 are flown by the Goudriaan brothers, who both fly WGC’s as long as I know them! So 4 JS1-B in open class !!!!!!
Further on Tilo and his men worked HARD , very hard!!! 7 Quintus M gliders are competing, 2 x EB 29, 2 Antares 23E, 3x EB 28, 3x ASW 22 BLE, 1 ASH 25, 2x Nimbus 4T and the Concordia!!!!

It was 38 dgr C and the South African team had their own pool AT the airport.

Talking about the SA pilots here are Attie and Uys on the practice day.

More about 2012 tomorrow.

AND more news tomorrow about the UVALDE-WGC.
They expect an “iffy” day, what ever that means for Uvalde.
Cheers Ritz