Finland from above.
courtesy Eric Stauss
The last preparations in Finland for the WGC for ” small” ships are in progress . They test all what’s necessary for a smooth show during their Nationals in standard and club class and pilots practice from the field to see how the area looks.
Day 1 was straight away a difficult one. In club class NOBODY flew the 3 hour AAT though 12 pilots tried hard. They all found a landing spot somewhere else and the best pilot flew 216 km. Tim, from the UK flew 184 km. and “our” Dutch glider NL1 with USA pilot Garret 130 km.
An American pilot in a Dutch glider in a nice big green paddock in Finland!!!
Picture by Adam.
It is not easy to find good landing spots in Finland with all those beautiful trees and lakes and that’s why the organizers always put a lot of effort in showing on the map WHERE you can land.So they all practiced straight away.
As Adam from Australia mentioned in his blog;
” Day 1 weather didn’t match the forecast ! Maximum height I saw was 2700 agl. Early on some good streets and 5 knot climbs, but then we headed west and the cloud base dropped and the lift decreased.
This was right in the area that was totally unlandable. Always had a glide to somewhere, but only just. ”
More news at Adam Woolleys gliding adventures.
www.facebook.com/W3Racing?fref=ts
Another very nice blog with great pictures from Aussie pilot Eric and his crew ;http://staussglidingwgc14.blogspot.com.au/
20 Pilots in 15 m. class and INDEED Mac had traveled straight away to Rayskala and flew on this day 1 a distance of 223 km during a 3.30 AAT. He was 7th.
Nice to see father Martti [ASG 29] and son Petri [ LS 6 ] competing both in this class.
Nobody finished but the day 2 forecast was GOOD!!! The weather can change very quickly in Finland. We had once 4 days of rain and after only perfect weather.
Day 2 as seen by the crew from Eric, with the remark:
” Nice skies but also a band of alto cirrus coming in which is definitely getting closer”
Day 2 looked much better and had a 3 hour AAT for 15 m. and 261.7 km. for club.
But it turned out different as a warm front was moving faster than expected.
” After watching club class sent to an almost inevitable out landing as the warm front was moving in faster that expected, the rest of us were re-tasked with a 3 hour AAT”
2 Pilots finished in club class, one flew 153,4 km. and the best of the rest flew ” only” 88km. and less.
“ A new airmass moved in, was quite windy – just couldn’t get high again after falling low. ” was Adams comment, after his first REAL out landing.[The day before he landed at Forssa Airport ]
And a warm welcome from the farmer and his wife!
Courtesy Adam
In 15 m. Juha Sorri flew 292.5 km in 3.03,32. The area they flew in had much better weather hence only one out landing …..by Mac He unfortunately outlanded after 96.5 km. He was the only one!!
Young Petri did not start [exams] and I don’t know what happened with Martti Koivula as he was not scored , I know though , as he flew with us in Australia in the past, that he is a very good pilot!
Yesterday was scrubbed! And they got MORE GOOD info on out landing fields from one of the Finnish competitors.
For today the Aussie team is not very enthusiastic:
” Day 3 take 2. We have either a 2.5 or 2 hour AAT for racing class. Forecast is either for a storm, many storms or the whole country covered in storms. In all cases, Rayskala will have storms !1st launch in an hour for club class. “
MALDEN
As shared by Aukje who flies the comps at the moment.
The open military comps in Holland started on Monday from Malden with 42 pilots in 3 classes . A 310 km. task was set for club, 331,4 km. for combi and 379 for open class.
Except for 1, all 14 pilots in club FINISHED!!!Good on them!
In combi class Jeppe and Wolfert won in the DUO DISCUS XL from 17 other pilots.
Jeppe was 4 years ago the CD during the Nationals , so before Natasja, as he did it only one year.
Great to see Stephanie and her husband Patrick as competitors flying the DG 1000/20 m. . Stephanie worked for us in Tocumwal years ago.
In open class 2 outlandings and an LS 6/17.5 m. won on handicap on a Nimbus 3DT.
No flying in Finland but another day yesterday in Malden.
263 km. in club class and the new Dutch Champion won the day. His dad was on spot 4. Frank left early and dad more than half an hour later.All pilots finished. GOOD!!!
Dad Ben as seen by Frans Guise.
By the way 5 from the 15 in this class are members from the Frysian Aero Club, be assured they will have a great time/holiday.
AND,..they fly well too, occupying after 2 days spot 1-3-4-5.
3 Outlandings in the combi class and reserve-tuggy from the Nationals, Evert Jan won the day over 303 km.
And Ben Zwaga from Eindhoven won the open class -day over 314 km. in the Ventus 2CT/18m.
No tasks set as yet for today! It’s raining here but Malden is about 125 km. to the SE.
On the Schleicher Site you can find wonderful pictures about the new ASG 32Mi.
http://www.alexander-schleicher.de/
As they wrote on their site:
“ Under optimal summer conditions Schleicher’s new 20m two-seater passed the first tests with flying colors.
Designer Michael Greiner and CEO Peter Kremer made the first flight.
This glider contains a lot of technical innovations.
After the landing it was clear: the ASG 32 Mi fulfills the high expectations in all points. ”
The above pictures from Australia Mount Beauty pilot Ian Cohn are not that old. He visited Schleicher and got a nice tour there and was even allowed to make pictures from the ASG 32. Now the glider made it’s maiden flight. Congratulations to all working on this new model .
The first launch and first landing.
AND
in full flight.
Pictures courtesy Schleicher site via Rene.
Got some nice pictures from the HAHNWEIDE comps and some extra news from my friends who have been there. As always appreciated!!!
All had a real good time . Other than on WGC’s or EGC’ s there was less stress and a lot of time to socialize, certainly on rainy days. They compared gliders and changed news.
Line up ,having fun, the Schmelzers and Joost and Max.
As shared by Bert sr.
On the last day they luckily had a big task, [to the satisfaction of all pilots], to finish this competition and to find out who were the really winners.
It’s always nice to hear the inside stories. In the 18 m. class the race was on to to drive Bert jr. from the throne he was sitting on , on this last day. Toppers as Werner Meuser [champion at EGC and WGC ] and Reinhard Schramme [winner from an ECG and as we all know kilometer-eater in Bitterwasser last year] and Bernd Weber [from Schempp-Hirth and flying with us in Australia in the past] , they all had the intention to be the number 1 and…. that was still possible. But as you could read in my last blog they were not successful and Bert maintained his top position.
Young Bert surrounded by toppers as Werner and Reinhard.
As shared by Bert sr.
And to finish for those who could not log in or don’t want to log in on SoaringCafe, here is when you have not seen it yet, the EXTRA blog below , about the Dutch Nationals.
Talking about the Nationals; Natasja who was 3 years the CD and a very good and relaxed one ,wrote on the site a nice thank you to ALL pilots , crews and the members from her team.
It looks like the Dutch Nationals will be different , in the future, maybe even with our Belgium friends and once in Belgium [St Hubert?] and once in Holland [Terlet?]
Anyhow now she is preparing for the Womens in Germany, as preparation for the WWGC next year in Denmark. Last time she participated for the first time in France , but unfortunately got sick.
I have seen many CD’s here at the Nationals , all good to very good,but never such a relaxed one as Natasja and her easygoing but correct way was shared by pilots, crews and team members. Good on her!
As she said :
” It was a competition with VERY good weather and very bad, too much rain.
11 Pilots declared a 500 km. during these comps and the biggest task ever in Dutch National Soaring-competition, was set 701 km. and …..524 and 604 were not bad either.
Till the last day the contest was exciting.”
A competition with gutsy tasks , a bit ” out of the box” , but all were flyable except for day 1 when everybody was “out”.
Enough reading-stuff so time ” to go” .
Cheers Ritz