…..Back on track again, after a nice break with my 4 high school friends. With 2 of them I am friends for 70 years, the other 2 from high school onwards.

…..We had a farewell party as well last Friday evening. Our friend Theo died about 1.5 year ago, but because of COVID we could not say good bye to him.
Now we went , as he wished, to a little chapel. Outside in front of it ,were chairs at 1.5 m, [still corona proof] and a glider with sunflowers on the wing in the little park .

After that to a pub for a party with good food and drinks and we stroke up acquaintances again ,with many glider pilots from several Dutch clubs.
My voice suffered from lot’s of talking.

…..Down under the comps have started and as you know by now they start in the East of Australia.
This time Kingaroy is the place to be for the Queensland State Comps between September 25 [practice, with a task of 340 km. won in open by Matthew Scutter 125 km./h and in dry 15 m by Lisa Trotter who flew with a speed of 106 km./h over 266 km.] and October 2.

So on Sunday was day 1.
10 pilots in open class and luckily Matthew [Scutter] made it back in time to fly his own Diana 2 FES in his home country again.
I had to laugh about the Kingaroy news and I help you with it!
“So the the pressure is on in two of the Gliding family dynasty’s [The Scutters and the Maddocks] at the 2021 Comp. Rumor has it that Brother and Sister relationships [ Matthew and Claire Scutter] are solid however partnerships are at stake. A certain world gliding champion [Matthew] is walking his glider out every day because of a forgotten wing walker. All we know is Sophie [Matthew’s partner] is driving and Andy [Partner from Claire] is taking the photos. Oh yeah Claire won the day too.“

So day 1 in open with 242 km. was for Ray Stewart who cashed the first 10 points in his JS 3 with a speed of 146.7 km./h. Not bad!!
Regatta start at 12.55.
Nimbus 3 pilot Mike Sabin was runner up[139.9 km/h] and Woolley [Adam] in his brand new Ventus 3 was 3d .[144.4 km./h]
This changed after checking the results in number 2 for Adam and 4 for Mike due to a 72 sec. penalty for a low finish.
Adam mentioned in his Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures;
“Congratulations to Ray in his JS3 who took out the day win, just 1:34 in front of me at 146.7kph! The difference in the day win was a single decision, straight home or via a street off to my left. Both worked, his was just that fraction better.
Notable mention to Mike Sabin who owned the skies today in his Nimbus 3T, leading out, throwing it around, doing his own thing. Nice one mate“
Other Aussie toppers in this class; David Jansen [ARCUS M] and Butch [John Buchanan]in ASG 29.

Day 1 in the 15m dry ,with 19 participants, was for Claire [Scutter]who JUST won the day and that is very good. She flies an LS 8 like Peter Trotter [runner up] who belongs to the Aussie top; speed 105.7 for 105.4 km./h! Task; 140.7 km. Regatta start at 12.25.
Claire flew the WWGC in Lake Keepit. So did Lisa Trotter who was 5th.
BUT,.…Claire got a 30 sec. penalty for a too low finish ,..so Peter was number 1 in the end.

NO flying on Monday and Tuesday so I continue in my next post…..that is when they are flying….
Reason;

This morning I read the latest news from Kingaroy and that was unfortunately not good, as we could expect from the picture;
“Well it never rains in Qld in October right After one flying day we have had to cancel the comp. Thanks to everyone for trying their best to make it happen.”

…..Also in South Africa the comps start on October 2 till 9 and the place to be there is Potchefstroom.
On the 25th of September Oscar {Goudriaan}flew already 609 km. on a day with a ceiling of 4634 MSL [3238 AGL] in his 18m. JS 3. Not bad either!!!
And Laurence Hardman declared a fun 544@ 152kph from Potch in his JS 1 last Sunday.
John Coutts flew that day as well; 544 declared @ 168kph

…..And in Tocumwal the early-spring-weather was booming and good old Ingo enjoyed a training flight in the Kookaburra.
Grant flew 487 km. in his St Jantar .
But yesterday and today Toc got it’s part of rain as well;”Tocumwal really getting hammered and a storm east of Rushworth!”

…..In the USA [CA] Chester Fitchett flew on Sunday, 928 km in his ARCUS M, on a great wave day up to 5347 MSL[3794 AGL].

….As you know after reading these blogs , the UK had a good year. They use that for top promotion for Lasham, good on them.

…..Staying in the UK, more precisely Scotland, the BGA ladder showed a superb flight from Santiago…. “Sant” for his friends…. Cervantes, in a Discus overflying Scotland to the most Northerly point; Tongue.
An epic flight, in a St class glider ,the very first one, of his kind.
Just missing out on” pipping” the St. Class 500k O/R record, as he mentioned.
The height gain was 10,440  ft.
The max height 14,098  ft.
Great effort congratulations!!!!

…..Some pilots in Australia are “trying” the Morning Glory and with success.
“During the months of September and October, the rare meteorological phenomenon referred to as the Morning Glory Cloud, rolls across the Gulf [of Carpentaria] and can be observed above the skies in Burketown. Gangalidda traditional owner Murrandoo Yanner said his people believe the morning glory was created by Walalu, the Rainbow Serpent, and is of great cultural significance.
The cloud bank can be up to 1,000 km long, 1-2 km wide and can travel at speeds of up to 60 km/hour. Although these clouds can be found in other parts of the world, Burketown is the only place where they appear frequently at set times of the year. “
One of the pilots is Aussie Geoff Pratt flying his PIK 20E ; “Fast long run on morning glory .” OLC on September 29.
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8651627#comment

……Also from Australia;
“BIG NEWS.
We responded to the GFA tender for a competition tracking system with our livegliding / SkyMate system with version 3 of our SkyMate device, and our submission was successful!
The version 3 device (see pics) will have:- more than double the battery life of the previous device- ENL & MOP sensor- Pilot Event Marker (PEV) button- Pressure Altitude…….
Congratulations to all involved!“
Reaction from Andrew Maddocks;”It is fantastic to see what a couple of passionate Aussie glider pilots promoting the sport. Great to see the GFA getting behind this!” [Maddog Composites]

That’s it for now, you are up to date again.
Cu next week hopefully with better news about Potch.
Cheers Ritz