MORE THAN TRAGIC, that was the accident with 4U9525, but I was even more shocked to hear that the 28 year old co pilot , ALSO A GLIDER PILOT!!!, made,…. according to the French prosecutor,…. a deliberate attempt to crash into the mountains.
My goodness me!!!! Why!!! Taking 149 people with 18 different nationalities with him!!!
Bizarre, ….. does it mean that,when the captain had not gone to the toilet/ out of the cockpit, NOTHING would have happened???!!!
Yes maybe the next flight …..other passengers… another crew…. too bizarre for words!!!
It remains in my brain.Black box 1 shows already all kind’s of evidence, BUT we have to wait for confirmation from the 2d black box, the flight data recorder!!!
Still too early ,…and till now , in fact, these are ALL conclusions ,but still premature conclusions.
What’s sure is that it is HELL ON EARTH for the rescue people AND I feel for ALL the [grand-] parents who lost their loved ones, also from the co pilot!!!
Also a bit weird is the speed of the results of this voice recorder, within 48 hours, very unusual in aviation.
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In all countries the young pilots are trying to find funds to help them to follow their dream; flying the JWGC in Narromine in Australia.
I know the Dutch , UK and Belgium young ones are working hard to fulfill this dream.
Here is the latest message from the Belgium juniors via Jeroen Jennen and TC Ken Evens and I share it with pleasure;
–—” Hi there,
I’m reaching out to ask for your support for the “Belgian Juniors to the World Gliding Championships” campaign on Indiegogo.
There are two ways to help:
1. Contribute – even small contributions raise their popularity and give them more visibility on the site.
2. Post to Facebook – in the end, the more people hear about them, the more likely they are to meet their target.
Thank you!
Jeroen Jennen—”
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/belgian-juniors-to-the-world-gliding-championships/x/10050086
The Dutch Juniors ; Latest news Tulipe Bulletin March [in Dutch] 2015 at
http://www.dutchjuniors.
The UK juniors:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lfdavccv998ceaq/Feb%202015.pdf?dl=0
The UK team has their first team-training between April 3 and 6.[Lasham Gliding Society…. Hampshire]
On the Aussie FB site the next news was mentioned;
“FLARM will be mandatory for the competition and we understand that European PowerFLARM will NOT work in Australia. Those with these units in their gliders will need to have an alternative for the competition.”
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767 km on MARCH 28 , in their autumn period, the day the time changed [so 8 hours difference with my Aussie mates]for Allan Barnes in his LS 8!! Good on him. He called it an amazing day . After he set himself a task and flew it he wanted to explore the weather a bit better, here is the story;
“There was meant to be a convergence line out west, according to RASP, so I headed west looking for it. I found the edge of the cu and ran it north back to Jandowae, and then home to DDSC. On the way home I spied what looked like a seabreeze convergence near Oakey, but not a lot of height tot get there. I headed off anyway, and managed to find some lift just east of Jondaryan, which became better established as I headed south. In the end I was doing 80kt and climbing in 4kt netto just belting along the convergence line. I had a huge grin on my face – the sun was going down, the convergence cloud was orange and there was lift everywhere. In the end I turned just as the sun was going down and got home just before last light. Fabulous day!”
BUT,…..EUROPE is doing well in it’s early spring period. Gerard Lherm had a good wave flight from St Martin de Londres in France in the Ventus ; 864 km. and the members of the Akaflieg Frankfurt Wave Research Camp had great wave in La Cerdanya in Spain; 824 in the Duo Discus and last Monday even 923 km.in the ARCUS T.
A great week for them.
On March 28 and 29 German coach Uli Gmelin showed in the ARCUS how to fly long distance from Puimoisson;949 km. and 871 topping on each of the days the OLC list. Not only a good TC but also a good flying-coach.
By the way the German team stopped their National training- camp in Puimoisson after the crash with 4U9252 out of respect for the victims and their families. Guess a few of the young ones knew the co pilot as well.
The SAP 2015 an HIGH PERFORMANCE STAGE, has started and finished, in Calcinate del Pesce.The SAP aims to offer sport pilots the opportunity to face the 2015 season with a good practical and technical training, assisted by toppers as Giorgio Ballarati and Alberto Sirone between March 24 and 28. The weather was n’t too good but they still flew up to over 450 km in several two-seaters! Being together , sharing ideas and talking-soaring is in case of also good!
Also good soaring news from wave in Notodden[Norway] from Arne Martin:
“The Notodden easter never fails! Even on a day which looked like it would rain away, and at best give a short glide, we got thermals, ridge lift and wave, for an almost 5 hour flight!
https://www.skylines.aero/flights/43924/
With the text;” Racing along the ridge at 200 km/h. ” and Hardangervidda in sunset.
Courtesy Arne Martin Guettler.
The last day of March was for Jim and Dennis , Jim in the ARCUS and Dennis in the DG 1001 M flying from Minden;1.886,45 km. with 166,99 km./h on the clock and 1.207,45 km. with 125,86 km./h.
Gen Shybayama declared and flew a 750 in this great blue-wave-weather in the ASH 26 e.[964 km. in total]
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The last 2 days of March,several parts of Europe suffered from a Westerly Spring storm gusting to 120 km. /h. here in the N of Holland. Trees over roads and houses, trains and planes had problems , some were cancelled and the Tuesday morning traffic here in Holland was tough due to trucks ,[around 350 km. traffic jam] which were blown over by the gusts.
A 300 m. container ship got stuck on the beach of Vlissingen, but it was towed away by several boats with high tide and one boat sunk, luckily the 2 men aboard are safe.
In the evening we heard one man [45] had died and one badly injured when a roof from a business-hall for construction material fell on them.
It’s still a bit wild today on APRIL 1 but they promised better weather for the Easter weekend!
We should not complain as Germany even had gusting winds up to 150 km./h….. hurricane-power and later I heard even 192 km./h. gusts, low pressure system ” Niklas” was there!!! The damage and problems on water, roads and air were even bigger than here in Holland. The damage bill in both countries and also in other countries, will be in the millions!
Lives however are more important and sadly enough 4 died in Germany and 1 in Austria as far as I read.
I HATE WIND!!!!!
The worst spring storm since 2002 also in the UK.
Lasham on March 29!!!
As shared by UK Junior Gliding
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From since I arrived for the first time in Tocumwal, in 1985, I know Ray Waller. A great , pretty quiet guy ,a real gentleman, who loved his vintage car and glider. He has been part of Sportavia /Sportaviation as long as I know him.Always ready for an early flight in his ultra light and a long flight in the afternoon, when all pilots had left in his Boomerang.Mostly till sunset and mostly with his mate Greg who had a Boomerang as well.
He died after a short illness and will be sadly missed not only by his family and close friends, but also by ALL Sportavia/Sportaviation fans. It will be “weird” to not see him at the airport anymore, he just belonged to it!!!!
As shared by Sportaviation.
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The MAIDEN VOYAGE of an A 330 flying from Atlanta to Manchester turned out EXTRA expensive.Instead of the usual water ballet on arrival the fire brigade used FOAM and,…this can damage the engines so the whole plane had to be cleaned and the 250 passengers had to spend an extra night .
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On April 3 , this Friday the Pribina Cup starts at Nitra and goes till Saturday April 11.
Between April 6 and 17 the PAM will be flown in Tennessee. Will come back on that next week.Most Canadian pilots arrived already. Practice starts this upcoming Friday.
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From the IGC meeting I copied a few changes for those who have not read them. ALWAYS good to know!!
BADGE AND RECORD RULES
The following changes were made to the main section of Sporting Code Section 3:
- Only the Start Line will be used (no more OZ starts).
- Barographs will no longer be used at all.
- The 10 km Turn Point separation rule has been deleted.
- A Silver Distance claim will require a fix at least 50 km from home.
- The World Class record category is replaced by the 13.5 Metre Class record category.
COMPETITION RULES
These changes were made to Sporting Code Section 3, Annex A:
- The Finish must stay open until sunset.
- Club Class handicaps will be adjusted for very lightweight pilots.
- For scoring, the optimum (not necessarily last) Start will be used.
- The distinction between primary and backup Flight Recorder is deleted.
And these proposals will return for voting next year:
- Increased maximum takeoff mass in the 20 Metre Multiseat Class
- Devaluation of “distance” days
- Changes to Team Cup calculation
- Legibility of Contest ID on gliders
FUTURE COMPETITIONS
The 2018 World Gliding Championships were awarded to Czech Republic in the Open, 18 Metre and 20 Metre Multiseat Classes; and to Poland in the 15 Metre, Standard, and Club Classes. There was no discussion of whether this re-grouping of classes will be temporary or permanent.
You can find ALL the news from the last plenary in Lausanne at;
http://www.fai.org/igc-news/39242-news-from-igc-plenary
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And to finish some great pictures shared by Sven [Olivier] at Tsalu and I share them with you.
The JS 1’s C with the jet engine.
Wishing you all happy Easter days!
Cheers Ritz