Post 1.479 on January 17 2024

Sky race GRAND PRIX 2024
January 3 January 12 2024 at Leeton.

I left you when they had 2 more days to go. And after the rain and the good weather they continued with day 8 on flying day 4.
Formula 1 class;
Task 8; 221.2 km…..good day for Kevin or Sarah sharing the St. Jantar 2; speed 111 km./h. Quite a bit faster than runner up Scott with 106 km./h.
Jasper was on spot 4 behind Nick , with 103.1 km./h. One more day to go
Task 9; 178.2 km…..Final day ….and launch is complete!!!!
The F1 Start Gate opened at 14:25 with a maximum height of 5500 feet and speed below 90 knots.
And a nice win for Nick with 101.7 km./h the only one over 100 km./h.
From 9 days 5 were flown with Scott winning 2 days and on the other days , each day another daily winner. Nice.
Jasper, who is a member of the Dutch junior squad ,flew, after he helped out at Narromine, a 600 km flight from Tocumwal in the Cirrus , to travel on to Leeton.
His last day in Leeton, was super exciting. Scott and he flew a 40 km. final glide together tip on tip , but Scott just moved his fuselage a tad earlier over the finish line.
First soaring hours for Jasper in Australia and he loved it. Specially this GP-kind-of-competition in gliders of the 70 -ties , still flying over 100 km./h. “Relative short tasks, during the best part of the day create a good mix between soaring and fun on the ground.” [ Jasper.]

Final results in FORMULA 1 class;
1. Scott Lennon in St Libelle with 37 points.
2. Jasper Jansen in St Libelle with 33 p.
3. Nick Gilbert in St Cirrus with 21 p.

Formula 2 class;
Task 8; 259.8 km….. Jack in his ASW 20 was clearly faster than the rest; 107.2 km./h. Spot 3 was for Tony with 98.8 km./h One day to go between the 2 of them….
Tony;”The towing was a challenge today and the lift around the airport was tough. I had to get a relight and the gate opened right as I was landing. So I ended up starting the task low and 35 minutes after the gate opened.
It was an awesome soaring day with high bases and strong climbs. I had three 8 knotters. I had good speed, but with grand prix scoring, gave up 3 points. I’m now 1 point behind with tomorrow being the last day.“

Task 9; 238.1 km….…The F2 Start Gate opened at 14:45 with a maximum height of 6500 and speed below 90 knots.
It was close on that last day but Jack won with 119.7 km./h . Jack won 4 from the 5 days!!!
Tony flew around with 116.5 km./h and won 1 day.
He mentioned;”I learned today that there is an extra bonus point for winning the final day on top of the normal bonus point for a day win, which means that no matter what might have happened yesterday, today was a must win.
Either way I knew I had to win the day today to win the contest. I had an amazing flight and went absolutely flat out landing completely exhausted after only 2 hours on task. And lost by 2 SECONDS! It was an incredible finish but I was on the receiving end so congrats to my Aussie crew and guardian angel Jack Hart who even though he landed out the first day came back to win the contest.“

Overall scores in Formula 2 class;
1. Jack Hart in ASW 20 with 22 points
2. Tony Condon in Discus B with 18 p.
3. Steve Jinks in Mosquito with 10 p.

Great see that ,with such a low budget ,but good competition, our “old” gliders can perform on high level. Pure gliders…it still remains a “dream” from the past.
AND….This comp is all about fun and we had it in spades![Steve Jinks]
” that’s a wrap!!!”[organizers]

Where would they be without Charlie ,[see picture] who combines fun and seriousness and who says THANK you to all who helped to make this competition possible and to my surprise even me
“Thank you also to Ritz de Luij who gave the best overall commentary. Sadly, she wasn’t in Leeton, but did a fantastic job of collating everything she found from her many sources.” Very kind of him.
AND more important….THANK YOU to Nick Gilbert and Charlie I’Anson. None of this would happen without them. They make it look easy and relaxed, but a lot of work goes into making Skyrace happen all year and at the comp.”

Congratulations to ALL.

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JoeyGlide 2024
Narromine…… 7 January 2024 – 13 January 2024

Picture shared by Narrogin Gliding Club in Western Australia.
Courtesy Joshua Geerlings.

The young ones at Narromine had rain, storms around, sunshine and great cu’s all in one week time.
We saw already on task 1, [2.30 AAT] that they had to fly with lot’s of water on the ground, had to avoid the storms , found good lift but then…… were back at new problems with incoming storms rolling through the task area.
Not too easy for the 6 under 25 year old pilots, but “great lessons in soaring life”.
Task 1 [2.30 AAT] was won by Kengo in an LS 4.
Task 2 [ 3 hour AAT] won by Joshua in the LS 4. All 6 flew the task as did their coaches Ryan in Nimbus 3 [25.5 m] and Jayden in Kestrel 17.
Now with 3 days to go we continue where we left them.
Task 3; 3.15 AAT….Joshua Geerlings [LS4b] won the day with 321.37 km speed 90.91 km./h. Dress up day in Hawaii clothes,.…. a fun thing for the youngsters.
AAT to the South and flown by all but Kengo in his LS 4, who won task 1. Only ONE out,…HC pilot Ryan in the Nimbus 3.
Here is Joshua; “well another very interesting day!! my plan was to start late once again, but once I was in the sky I could see that the clouds were already overdeveloping. So decided to start 45 minutes earlier than anticipated on the eastern side of the start line, so I could once again run the ridges into the first turn point which worked well again. Coming into the first turn the over-development was thick and lots of shade on the ground, I decided to turn early and stay in the sunlight and rather go deeper into the second turn which worked out well. The second leg was slightly softer and I decided to stick with the weaker climbs and not get into trouble today. I had to go right to the edge of the second circle in order to get my timing right. On the final leg I managed to find 3 good climbs that got me to final glide. As I approached Narromine it became abundantly clear that I should have started 5 minutes earlier, as a huge thunderstorm was just about to hit the airfield! I decided to stick my nose down and race for the runway hoping to get there before I hit the storm. I turned onto finals doing just over 100kts, looking at all the dust being picked up! I kept to 100kts to try and land long so the glider behind me had room, then I hit the storm which had such a vicious down draft that I hit the canopy, and couple seconds later was in ground affect 20 metres short of the runway doing 50kts this is why I always keep heaps of speed when landing into a storm. All in all very happy with the day and glad I decided to start early.”
Pfffff, glad I am not his mum…..I hate downdrafts, they are a really HEAVY /SCARY/POWERFUL weather phenomena.
Picture below , Josh in the storm, shared by Narrogin Gliding Club

Task 4; 3 hour AAT, with one more day to go….
Joshua, firmly supported by his club members from the Narrogin Gliding Club won another day. He flew 291.46 km/ speed 982,63 km./h.
All 11 started and finished!
Task 5 ;  309.26 km…a racing task to define the winners , though Joshua is a class apart. He won again. Except for task 1 he won the rest of the days. Anoushka de Chelard , [good to see a young female pilot as well]was runner up and moved up to spot 3 overall. Good on her.
After 5 out of 7 days the winners are;
1. Joshua Geerlings in LS 4b with 4,779 points.
2. Jason Tang in Discus CS with winglets 3,667 p.
3. Anoushka de Chelard in St. Cirrus with 3,349 p.

Aidin Curtis did a great job as CD as PR entertainer and on top of that he flew the tasks!!!Great job!!!
Congrats to all young ones!

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——-Between January 6 and 13 2024 there are 3 different National Comps in Chile from Municipal de Vitacura and I concentrate on Cordillera with 12 pilots.
They had long tasks and fast, great soaring weather .
They started with a practice day on January 6 and
Task 1 on January 7 was a 3.30 AAT. Daily winner CARLOS ROCCA  in Ventus 2cxa /15 m.; 469.88 km/speed 134.25 km./h.
From 11 6 finished.
Task 2; 3.15 AAT….with 534.79 km /speed 159.73 km./h and exceptional good day specially for Carlos as he won again. All 12 started AND finished!!!
Task 3; 3.30 AAT…and it looks like the ” Carlos Rocca comps” …. 559.44 km./speed 144.24 km./h. and daily winner. 12 Started and 7 finished.
Task 4; racing task from 360.03 km....Different pilots on top with this kind of task BUT still Carlos as number 1. Not the fastest Jean Pierre Ohaco flew in his JS 3 TJ/18 m. with a speed of 154.76 km./h. but Carlos has a handicap from 115 against 122, so winner of the day for 733 points with 151.08 km./h..
11 Starters and 1 out.
Task 5; 3 hour AAT…..The ARCUS M won the 1000- last-day-points 132.81 km./h. Carlos was runner up had about the same distance 398 for 396 but got a penalty for a too high departure.
No worries for the final scores though.
Task 6; 2.30 AAT….Rocca -day again.324,86 km /speed 120.38 km./h. winning on handicap. The ARCUS M was further by 3km and faster by 3km./h.
Overall scores after 6 out of 7 days;
Here they are and exactly the same as EVERY day;
1. CARLOS ROCCA in Ventus 2cxa/15 m. with 5,459 points
2. ANDRES ERRAZURIZ in ARCUS M with 5,100 p.
3. HANS WEINER in Ventus 2c /15 m with 4,206 p.

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—— The 70thiest Nationals in Argentina from Tres Arroyos, were between 6 January 2024 – 19 January 2024. They fly in open [ 3 pilots, Sergio Reinaudo in LAK 17b/18 m] and Juan Pablo Verdura in Ventus 2cxm/18 m] and later also Frederico Buscema[Nimbus 3DM.]
Club class has 24 pilots ,….and had they had less good conditions as the pilots in Chile. The only names I know are; Javier Gaude, Martin Bossart and Felipe Gerado and Juan Pablo Verdura.
I concentrate on club.
After 2 days of practice they started on January 8 with NO TASK , same on January 9.
Task 3 flying day 1, on January 10 was a 2 hour AAT. Carlitos Iucci flew 217.44 km/105.80 km./h and this was the best combination for 622 points.
All 24 started and 22 finished.
Task 4; 3 hour AAT.…with 312.44 km/99.90 km./h. Felipe was the daily winner for 1000 points.Martin was runner up and Javier on spot 3. All started and finished.
Task 5; 2 hour AAT....CANCELLED
Task 6; 1.45 AAT…..short and late start,after 3PM and several penalty points for too high starts. But also a winner; Dino Germán Ghioni in the LS 3 without penalty points, and a speed of 97.93 km./h over 177.46 km.
23 started and 1 was out.
Task 7; 3 hour AAT....283.76 km /speed 94.59km /h was the winning combination in an ASW 20 by Carlitos Iucci.
23 started and 1 was out.
Task 8; 2 hour AAT....and Javier was the daily best ; 198.32 km /speed 96.17 km./h.
23 started an 1 was out.
Task 9; 2.15 AAT....259.81 km/ speed 109.55 km/h was the winning combi for 749 points.
23 started and 18 were IN.
With 2 days to go Javier in his DG 200 clearly leads with 4.189 points followed by Bruno Andres Quinteros in an LS4 with 3,947, followed closely by Dino Germán Ghioni in LS3 with 3.933 p.
More next week.

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In between the Nationals started in Benalla.
16 January 2024 – 26 January 2024

With only 25 pilots in open, 18m, 15 m, and standard class flown because of the numbers in 2 classes
NOT MANY.
Bruce Taylor reacts on that below.
Their first day on January 16 was straight away a good, but challenging one.
18m;
Task 1; 3.30 AAT....
11 pilots in this class and Bruce Taylor was the first daily winner , with 393.45 km/112.42 km.h. followed by Pete Temple both flying ASG 29.[383.93/108.54 km./h

Open; a mix from gliders including a Mini Nimbus, the ASG 29’s and LS3’s, but also ASG 32MI, Quintus, Nimbus 3/25.5 m and
task 1; 3.30 AAT….won by David Jansen in the ASG 32 MI. [Handicap 1065] Followed by Bruce and Pete in their ASG 29. [handicap 1100]
David started late nearly half an hour [14.08] later as Bruce[13,45] and flew 404.59 km/109.53 km./h.
More next week.

Bruce wrote a long story about the comps in Australia ,..very interesting….
I share it in total for those who can’t find it:
“Hi everyone. After the worlds in Narromine I thought I’d just sneak down to our multiclass nationals in Benalla and stay quietly under the radar. No blog, no fuss, just relax a bit and try to get some of my mojo back. I can’t deny that Narromine was personally disappointing, despite the fact that as a team we were very successful. I desperately wanted to be flying again, but just on my own easy terms. Then a few listeners suggested that they were missing my stories… Strangely, here we are after a practice day and Day 1, and I’m back on the keyboard.

I’m concerned about the state of play at our bigger competitions, exactly because of that… they aren’t BIG anymore. We have a total of 14 gliders here in four classes, with the 18m class being the only one that can achieve a stand alone class. There is one Standard class entry, one 15m class, and three Open class gliders. My home club at Lake Keepit gets more than twice that number at one of our GP weekends! People obviously want something else from their gliding, or maybe just from their leisure time.

And then there is the fact that this competition is a final selection in the 18m and Open classes for the next WGC in Uvalde, Texas, which is a super site that typically we Aussies love and do well at. Probably our best two or three pilots are missing from the entry list, so it feels a bit off-beat. And there is the weather… Benalla and the surrounding countryside is as green as I have ever seen it, and there is water lying all over the place. Serious flooding was making the news just west of here less than two weeks ago. We have cumulus, and it’s low. The Benalla artist has finally run out of blue paint…

I drove down under the obligatory booming sky, as per the photo, and managed to get all the formalities completed on Sunday afternoon, in time for the practice day on Monday. The second photo shows the sky after landing. Climbs were on the soft side, and bases mostly at 5,000 feet. I actually love this sort of flying as I see a lot of it at home, and in SE Queensland in the winter. It’s more gentle, and patience is the key. I had a good day, got slightly slow in one spot but finished at 113kph with no low points. I’m great at practice days and pre-worlds… notice that?

Day 1 yesterday, 3.5 hour AAT in what looked to be similar conditions, and we sat on the grid and watched the radar showing rain at our North-West turn near Deniliquin. It was going to clear in time, but a few of us stretched our first sector up past Albury as far as we possibly could to avoid the N-W, and that proved wise. Climbs were harder to find and work than the day before, I think due to some wave influence over the top, and indeed the cloudbase and strength came down as we headed west. Fortunately once we did the Southbound leg then turned back towards the East to come home it improved again.

I managed the highest speed at 113kph but was just pipped by David Jansen in the Open class on handicap. Distance was about 400km. I was happy, as it was a challenging day and it wouldn’t have been too difficult to make a mess of it.
Today has been cancelled due to the arrival of some weather around midday, then tomorrow looks tricky. After that we should fly most days as far as we can see. Sorry, this has almost become a novel, so I’ll stop now.“
Picture and story on Taylor’s Gliding Page

SO,…NO TASK 2 today.
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BIG NEWS from Schempp-Hirth and looking at the “older” gliders this looks like new perspectives.
“Big news! We now offer the option for retrofitting many popular glider types!
To integrate our modern gliders to already produced gliders, we offer the up to date features to gliders even if produced more than 50 years ago. With that, we commit even more to sustainability at Schempp-Hirth and ensure a future for our beloved gliders.

– For all “original” Arcus, we now offer the possibility to retrofit to “Arcus20” new aerodynamic features with winglets and stabilizer.

– Perfect for clubs and long-awaited: the upgrade from your Discus-2c to a Discus-2cFES!

– Another FES-retrofit is possible for every Ventus-2cxa! A few of them are already flying with lots of happy faces inside!

– Upgrade from a Venus-3 Sport Edition to a Ventus-E with the new electro engine and experience flexibility with a self-launcher!

– Not only the production of Duo Discus FES are starting at the end of 2024, also the option for retrofit a FES-engine into your Duo Discus with carbon fibre wings!

For more details and to know who to contact visit our homepage on:
https://www.schempp-hirth.com/en/company/latest-updates/latest-updates-details/retrofit-optionen-fuer-ausgewaehlte-typen-jetzt-verfuegbar?

—–-Bitterwasser still has extreme great soaring weather till nearly the end of their season. Last Monday , already January 15 , Israeli-an pilot Anton Minskey from the Negev Gliding Center, flew 1. 311.24 km [FAI 942.77 km] with a speed of 143,76 km./h.
Bernd Goretski wit Guy Bechtold flew an FAI 1000 and a total of 1.268.31 km.
Still 20x a more than 1000 km, that day, also from Pokweni, Kiripotib and Veronica……. they have a great Namibian season.

More next week Cheers Ritz

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