Alphen aan den Rijn Sunday January 24 ritzdeluy@hotmail.com
Next weekend is the first meeting from the kern-team organizing the Dutch Nationals in May. Hope to be there as well , as I am going to be their journalist. As you know , Holland has a lot of top pilots and more important , nice guys, so it is great to “hang around” with them again. Heard that former European Champion Ronald Termaat will fly in Holland a JS 1 Revelation! The Comps are NOT at the National Gliding Center, NOT in Germany, [Stendal], where they have been for a few years , but at the military base of Twente.
Received a mail from Bruce , who made those great flights in Argentina. He is still in Omarama now, but took some time to inform us. Here are some parts of it;
“I went to Bariloche for 11 weeks and had a ball. It seems to wave 2 days out of 3 there and the gliding is both interesting and challenging. In the end I totalled 200 hours and 17,000kms in the 11 weeks.I loved being there. the weather , the views, the people , the food were all fantastic.I was very lucky to be lent the Antares for 10 days. It really is a very well developed glider.
Thanks Bruce!!
Talking about Argentina, the comps have had now 4/5 days of flying.
Club class had 4 days and not one was a 1000 points day! 58 Pilots are competing in this class. Well-known pilot Joao Widmer from Brasil is at spot 12.
15 m Class had 5 and young top pilot Damien Goldenzweig , is at this stage number ONE!At least ONE 1000 points day in this class. Junior Horacio Piombo is on a very good 3d place!! 23 pilots in this class.
Open class had 5 days and at this stage another well known Brasil pilot Egon Rehn is on top with ASW 22. 13 Pilots in this class.
The 2d edition of the E news from the Riverina Gliding Club had some important news for this club. They are in the process of purchasing their first OWN club -tow-plane. It is a Cessna 150 with the call sign ; VH ROZ. The plane will arrive in Tocumwal end of this month and a tow hook will be fit on it in the work shop from Mike Burns at the field. The prop still has 1600 hours to run! Easy- to- fly- plane for everybody , so I think this will be a good choice, for a hard working and enthusiastic club!
In Narromine Tomas Suchanek flew 6 days in a row over 700 km. flights in the HpH 304S. He must , as a Czech pilot, be proud and happy to fly it. He even flew a 1000 with it [1.209 km.] , so did “good old Mac” [1.203 km.] in his Ventus 2 C .Yesterday the “East” of OZ [Jondaryan] had a perfect soaring day. Narromine had a SUPER week!! Great to see Chris Stephens back in the air in his LS 3 flying a nice triangle from Narromine!
Also in Narromine ,Mart Bosman, who is a top hang glider pilot. If I remember well he learned how to fly gliders with us in the past.
Corowa still has pilots flying 1000 km. ; Lubor flew his 7th!!! Well done!
Gariep Dam is still in the air, Tocumwal as well !
JAL, Japan Airlines has asked for surseance and announced that 2/3d of their employees have to find another job. I do know a lot of Japanese friends/pilots who work there and hope they are all OK.
Also LOT , the Polish carrier has problems and it seems that 3 parties have showed interest ! For years they sponsored gliders !!!
The KLM-Air France group is planning from April 1 onwards, to let people , who are REALLY overweight , pay for 2 chairs, the second one with 25 % discount. If you do not fit in between the 2 arm-rests, [ they have to be able to move up and down without a problem , this for safety reasons,] you have a problem!!! This only counts when the plane is fully booked! If not…no worries…you do not have to pay and get your 2 chairs! Would this be an early April 1 joke ???
Last but not least! If you wish and you are in Australia, you can , for the time being, climb Ayers Rock again. The Australian Government overruled the decision of last year , made by the Local people of the National Park, who did so out of respect for the Aboriginals . From the 350.000 people who visit the famous Red Rock in the heart of the continent, 1/3d actually climbs the Rock.
See you next Wednesday [ maybe, might be Thursday!] Ritz