Danish Nationals .

They had a very nice long task last Wednesday and what-a-day!!!!
Task 7;
10 From 11 in Club class flew the 325 km.-task and the Libelle 201B, with Thorsten Mauritsen won the day ; 102 km./h. [handicap 98]
Jan Andersen was runner up in the ASW 20 and Rasmus [Orskov] was 4th.
ALL 9 pilots in St Class flew the 398 km. task and Mogens Hoelgaard was with 132 .83 km./h in the Discus 2B the best for the day. Just as 2 other pilots who flew 132 km./h as well.
All 13 pilots in 15 m. class flew the 398.52 km task!!! Stig Oye was the daily best , he was that many times in the past as well, with 130.28 km./h.
Only JUST,….. as the runner up lost ONE point with 130.22 km./h.
The 3.30 AAT in 18 m. class was not for Arne, but for Peter Eriksen with 467 .45 km. in time 3.14 so a speed of 133,56 km./h.
Arne was on spot 4 with 444 km in time 3.18.
Arne still leads with 200 points. All pilots finished !!
In the 2 seater class they had the same AAT . Best distance here was 428 km in time 3.27.All 11 teams finished.

Arne with mate Michael Rasmussen, well dressed for the [sunny] occasion.

Task 8; was shorter.
Club had a best speed of 90 km./h. by Jan . It was good enough for all pilots in this class to finish.
St Class; 99.97 km./h. for Mogens who was the best in this class overa 2.15 AAT.All 9 pilots finished!By the way , Mogens is one of the pilots flying at the French QSGP. As I read in their introduction Mogens was Danish Champion in 2004, 2006, 2011 and 2012 and runner up in 2014 and 2015. After 8 tasks he was preliminary 1 for 2016 .
15 m. ;one pilot flies over 100 km./h. over 216 km. and wins the day;Knud Moeller Andersen. 11 From 12 finished!!One did not start.
18 m. ;AGAIN Arne and Peter are the best in this class and clearly; 117 and 114 km./h over 217 km. Number 3 had a speed of 109 km./h
2 seaters; a 2.15 AAT and the best distance was 239 km. All 11 teams finished.

On May 9 Arne made some great pictures and shared them . Here are a few.

Gaggling over Venø Fjord enroute to the north. Absolute fabulous view for glider pilots and for all of us. As Arne mentioned :
” And exciting! Fjord and bay crossings always adds that little bit extra.  After the first 200km or so scraping around in the strong wind the weather finally changed gear and measly 1-2m/s thermals suddenly was replaced with 2-3,5m/s thermals.” 

Task 9; is the 9th successive day. BUT,… though tasks were set , the day had to be cancelled.I guess nobody had a problem with that. Arne clearly had another opinion ;”Cancelled days sucks but it has it’s perks.”
The next day had NO FLYING/task.

As shared by Arne on May 14.

Task 9 again and LAST DAY; All pilots well rested , so the last day was THE day.
AND WHAT DAY….club had to go for 404 km., standard for a 4.30 AAT, 15 m. for 451, 18 m. for a 4.30 AAT and the 2-seaters for 451 km.
Club; the 1000 points were for the future young new daddy Rasmus [Orskov] in the LS 1f. All 10 starting pilots finished. Rasmus flew the 404 km with a speed of 96.13 km./h. Jan [Andersen] was runner up and stayed with that result on spot 1 overall and is the DANISH CLUB CLASS CHAMPION with 6620 points. Rasmus stayed on spot 2 [ 6567] and so did Nicolai Larsen on spot 3 [6147] in an ASW 19B. Henrik [Breidahl] in the LS 4 was on spot 4 with 5808 points.
For a long time I am a fan from both Jan [ who I met when he was still young and unmarried and flying in open class] and Rasmus [ who I met at several JWGC’s ], as well as Henrik, [who I know from several WGC’s]. They know I am fan.

Standard class ;Mogens Hoelgaard is THE man and the new DANISH STANDARD CLASS CHAMPION with 5995. He won 6 of the 9 days including the last one. In his Discus 2A he flew 467 km. during the 4.30 AAT in time 4.31!!!![103.23 km./h.] All 8 starting pilots finished and the overall top did change as Frederik [Noddelund] in the LS 8 came in as runner up and passed with that the daily number 3 Thomas [Laugesen] who lost just over 100 points on the last day. Frederik had 5782 points and Thomas 5683.

15 m. class; 2 out-landings in this class and the new DANISH 15 m. CHAMPION is Johhny Reichstein Jensen with 6287 points . He won in the ASW 27b the last day and passed the overall topper from the 3 days before, Jan Hald [Ventus 2CT] . Jan was runner up on the last day . He was overall runner up now with 6272 points and the difference is small, only 15 points.
Stig [Oye] still is GOOOOOD!!!!! He finished on spot 3.
In the beginning it was Jan Schmelz Pedersen who topped the overall list. On day 7 he dropped from 1 overall to spot 5 by loosing 224 points.That day he started 36 minutes later than the first starter.

18 m. ;Excitement there as well, though …..it was nearly impossible to win from Arne, but Peter did his utmost best.He won the 4.30 AAT with 485 km in time 4.28,45. Arne was on this last day “only” 5th and lost 143 points, no worries as he was more than 300 points ahead of Peter. So my friend Arne Boye Moeller is the NEW DANISH CHAMPION IN 18 m. with 6598 points , Erik is runner up with 6496.And as you see he did his best as the difference in the end only was 102 points.
It was not even sure if Arne could fly the Nationals as he is working full time on a project in Finland . He just managed to fly home the evening before. So with less practice.
Arne  also broke the Danish Nationals record with his 152 km./h flight. ” Record being in the sense of the fastest flight on any given day in the nationals. ” Congratulations Arne.

2 seater class; Tom [Joergensen] and Henning [Nielsen ] have been on the overall spot ONE, every day.[ Duo Discus handicap 101]  On the last day they kept this place and are the DANISH 2-SEATER CLASS CHAMPIONS; 6645 points, clearly winners as the runners up, my friend Ole Arndt and his brother Joergen had 6040 .[DG 1000-T]
They moved on the last day from 3 to 2.
Ole flew several years with us in Tocumwal and he still flies now with Eddie at Sportaviation. I met his brother also in Tocumwal and I caught up with both of them when they visited me in Uvalde in Texas, when they traveled through the USA.
Ole was involved with the Danish JWGC juniors in Narromine last year when I met him again.
The last daily winners Henrik [Bill] and Johnny [Andresen] moved from 4 to 3.[ Duo Discus T]
Over the last couple of days Filip [Bojanowski] and Sonny[Jakobsen] occupied the 2d place overall. Unfortunately they lost on the last day 208 points and dropped to spot 4.[5985 in Duo Discus T]

What great weather, what good pilots over there in Denmark. A pleasure to follow from home this competition.All pictures from the prize winners are shared by the Danish Soaring Association.[Dansk Svæveflyver Union.]

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Swaantje!

As you know , not long ago Swaantje had to give up her battle against cancer. Here is an extraordinary tribute to her by one of her mates Kathrin  [ Pilotessadesign.com] and I share it with you;

—-“During the last 22 years Swaantje and I have been participated in about 25 competitions together. We went to Australia for the Barossa-glide (pre-worlds). She motivated me to participate with the old Nimbus 3 of my dad at the international competition in Issoudun / France, while she flew her ASH25. Swaantje was my team mate in several German Nationals and few World Championships. Gliding was here motivation for life. Only two weeks before she passed away she has cancelled the German Nationals. I Know it was here biggest wish to fly that competition and she was fighting so hard!

Until few days before I was ready to cancel the Nationals as well. But than I realized: I HAVE to go. I HAVE to fly, even without any training. Of course I’m not prepared at all and I’m still not able to clear my mind. But this time the result is NOT important. This time there is no NEED to win. The ONLY important thing is to FLY.

The glider is the same Standard Cirrus I flew in 97 during my first EGC at Prievidza, together with VS. I only removed my old competition number...

So, tomorrow I’ll try my best, because this time I FLY FOR YOU SWAANTJE.

I am sure , Swaantje sits with a huge smile on her pink cloud. On Saturday the 25th of May, they will remember her in a service. They ask to not bring flowers or so,  but if you wish you could give a donation for the Dr. Angelika Machinek Foundation . They support women in soaring and Swaantje has been in the past supported like that too.She would have appreciated your gift.
IBAN: DE12 6115 0020 0100 5133 56
Here is the FULL info;
Information for bank transfers:
Account:
AMF
IBAN: DE12611500200100513356
BIC: ESSLDE66XXX
Address:
Kreissparkasse Esslingen-Nuertingen
Bahnhofstr. 8
73728 Esslingen, Germany

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Italian 18 m. Nationals and QSGP at Varese/Calcinate.[May 15-21]

20 Pilots were ready at May 15 [continuing to 21]  for the combined 18 m. Nationals and the QSGP. On the practice days there were no really set tasks due to the weather, but on one day they could look around a bit. Of course the opening had good food and drinks and the welcome-opening -briefing, good “ears” and chairs.

   

   

[1] Sophisticated opening- briefing, [2] Aldo during the first-day-briefing,[3]  nice food, [4] the organizers with Aldo Cernezzi and Margot  Acquaderni, who last year the Pelagia Majewska Medal.

Sunday May 15 ; day 1. 382 km. was set so the weather had improved dramatically in the good way. The Aeroclub Adele Orsi Acao was ready for well known pilots as Giorgio Galetto, Stefano Ghiorzo, Mike Young, Russell Cheetham ,Peter Hartmann, Luciano Avanzino, Thomas Gostner , Bostjan Pristavic and Alberto Sironi.
6 Different nationalities, 8 x an ASG 29 in 2 variations, also 8 x a Ventus in 6 variations and gliders as LS 8, JS1 in 2 variations and LAK 17.
Day 1’s task!

As shared by the organizers. A nice way to see their flying areas. Sondrio was the place Ingo took his guests to.

Good weather, good pilots, experienced organizers ……So ” only  ” a day of flying was waiting.
Giorgio Galetto flew himself to the first 10 points. Bostjan was runner up with 8 and  Peter [Hartmann] from Austria got the 7 points ,he is a frequent flyer in Italy. Uk pilots;  Russell had 6 and Mike 5.
Penalty points as well up to 5 minutes for missing the finish line or for violating the airspace, which means …out-landing at the entry point.

Day 2;

Ready on day 2 for a 398 km. task. Weather is looking good but the first start was postponed to 1 PM.
Picture shared by the organizers.

After the start the pilots raced over the set task. BUT,…several made “mistakes” and got up to 300 sec. There you go for a tough race to find out that you rounded a TP incorrect  or even worse you missed the finish line!!
There was a winner as well and on day 2 this was Peter Hartmann. He has after 2 days 16 points . Giorgio has 12.

Day 3 ; 320 k. was set for this day. And again,….lots of points lost by penalties for a too high start, too low finish not crossing the finish line or entering for bidden zones.All these pilots are experienced , I wonder why this happens!!??
Anyhow there was a winner , this time Mike Young from the UK, but he more or less lives and flies in Grenoble in France. He loves racing over the mountains, but sometimes when I follow him on tracking he nearly gives me a heart attack. So Mike collects 10 points, Peter 8 and 8 as well for Luciano Avanzini. Looking at the overall scores; Peter 24, Mike 19 and Giorgio 18.

As shared by the organizers.

Day 4 ; For TODAY,……180 km. is set.

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OLC ;Interesting flights.

May 12; Great weather in Finland, good to see. Several flights even up to 814 km. A total of 29 added flights in Finland only. Rayskala, Nummela and Kymi, Immola …all were busy.
May 14; time for the UK to fly in great weather and Lasham pilots enjoyed it to the fullest; Garry [Coppin] and Andy [Aveling] flew in the ARCUS T, a nice distance up N.W.  from Lasham…732 km. [600 FAI triangle]. Roy [Pentecost] flew in the ASG 29 620 k. [ 592 FAI triangle] . Also from several other UK-fields some great flights.
Canada had a “happy chappie”  as well; ” The 500 km was my goal for the last 3 years. Finally it happened, and was a lot of work and fun. The Kestrel 19 is a fabulous glider.” 527 km. /513 FAI triangle.
Good May soaring in the USA as well; ” Unusual conditions with high clouds.” Flown from El Tiro in an LS 3; 475 km.
May 15; Another great ridge-day, with snow showers though, but also very strong thermals and still good for a 1.109 km. distance flight in a Discus b M, from Greater Cumberland in the USA. The very first 1000 km for Karsten Peztold all the way from Germany.
Mathias Schunk added his 6th 1000-plus flight all flown in May !!! This time from Bolzano but as always in his Quintus.
May 17 ; A pretty good day in Austria, Italy and France,  with a flight up to over 1000 km from Noetsch in Austria in a 18 m. Ventus 2C.

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BENELUX CAE Nationals.[May 17 -May 27] OBGC 2016

All set and ready to go.
Picture shared by Marion.

After days with fabulous soaring weather in Holland, we had a “dip”  during Pentecost,[coldest day in 80 years] but on the first day of the BENELUX comps the weather started to improve again. Our Belgium mates had arrived , the Thermiekbel [restaurant] was ready, so were the organizers and the popular meteo -guy from TV shared his look on the weather for the upcoming week with all viewers on SBS 6 and the team and some pilots around him.
On May 17 an official- practice-task on a rather good day certainly going up N. from Terlet. Tasks between 160 and 200 km. and several pilots finished. Also Annemiek Koers in het St. Cirrus with call sign AU, yes the glider AND “girl”  from the Narromine JWGC.
Another junior Rick Boerma started in his LS 4 at 14.33 [57  km./h.] and Annemiek about ONE hour later. [63 km./h.] BUT,…both finished and were 1 and 2 so good practice!!

As always GREAT pictures by Willemijn.

So today they start and tasks were set and I wish all my Dutch and Belgium friends a great and safe competition ;
Club 113.23 km.,…..st,15 and 20 m combined 140 km. and 18 m.144 km whilst open gets 148.90 km.

——

The Provisional Entry for the Benalla WGC  is now online https://tinyurl.com/jjz5tzn

AND

entries are now open and the website is live for Club & Sports Class Nationals, proudly hosted by the Waikerie Gliding Club from 11th – 19th November 2016. Send your entries in, follow the link to the entry form and payment details found on the web site. Updates will be ongoing so check the Blog and Facebook sites for the latest information.
http://clubandsportswaikerie2016.blogspot.com.au/

And talking about Australia;The arrival of the world’s biggest plane/jet  at Perth Airport last week didn’t disappoint.
Wow so many wheels! And what a plane!! The Antonov AN-225 , flew in from Ukraine, arrived at Perth,  with a 2 hour delay due to extensive air-traffic congestion at Kuala Lumpur and continued yesterday to Germany.
20.000 people hurried to the Perth airport to see this impressive ship. Though some were disappointed in the waiting time, they forgot that straight away when they saw the “monster”.

As shared by Duncan Watkinson.

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What about “our”  Max????
First ever Dutch Formula 1 winner and with 18 the youngest Formula 1 winner ever in history!!!!!
LIKE!!!!!!!I am a huge fan!!!

Cheers Ritz
Nearly sick for 4 months now. Was in hospital yesterday  to check my lungs. Result next week.