All pictures in this blog courtesy Bert Kuijper.[Dutch Nationals 2011]
Alphen aan den Rijn Sunday evening September 18 2011 ritzdeluy@hotmail.com
Not long after I published my last blog I received a mail from Germany from the chief editor of the German Magazine “Segelfliegen” Helge Zembold with GREAT news.
I share it with pleasure:
“segelfliegen” ist Germany’s favourite soaring magazine, and as the
demand by international readers is extremely high, we will be publishing
an “international edition” by the 1st of October! This will also be a
fully digital magazine, like our German version that is out now for the
second time printed as well as digitalized.
You find some more information on their website
“www.segelfliegen-magazin.de“,
About the new English version ;
“segelfliegen goes international” , scroll , browse and read wherever you are , your magazine is always with you!!!
It’s so easy; The link on our website www.segelfliegen-magazin.de leads you to the digital kiosk, where you can sign in and order your digital issue of segelfliegen -magazin international edition.
That’s it!
But it is NOT YET October 1 so , you are the first to know , but have to be a bit patient. Will come back on it!
For those who do not know the Magazine , it started in 2003 and the target group is , glider pilots, motor-glider-pilots and ultra-light-pilots and…what’s even better more then 20.000 people read the German version.
The 26th FAI Aerobatic Championships have been flown and finished on September 11 in Italy in Foligno. In both the male and female category the Russians were the best. But…the French were great runner up’s.
Overall final result;
1. Mikhail Mamistov from Russia in a Sukhoi 26 M3
2. Olivier Masurel from France in a Cap 232.
Female best results;
1. Svetlana Kapanina from Russia in a Sukhoi 26 M3
2. Aude Lemordant from France in a Cap 232
And ………no secret, the best team was Russia [ 9 pilots] and France [ 9 pilots]was 2d before the USA [ 6 pilots]. 51 Male pilots were competing at Foligno Airport including 2 pilots from Australia flying the Extra and 5 ladies , from 17 different countries.
Tomorrow the gliders for Corowa which have been all packed over the last couple of days , will be ready for the last “finishing touch” , to depart then for Rotterdam and from the harbour there for their long trip to Melbourne on Tuesday. Francesco and Grietje hope that the gliders will arrive at Corowa Airport on November 5 to start flying on November 8. With more then 10 years of experience I am sure , it will be ALL OK, ” a piece of cake”!!!! Wishing them and a lot of my friends who fly over there a great new 2011/2012 season!!!
Richard Branson proofed already,he is not a “one-day-fly”. This time he announced on CNN that within a year his first space-ship should be ready for commercial space-flights!!! His business Virgin Galactic sold already 430 tickets for future flights he claims. KLM is very busy with this kind of speed-travelling as well. Maybe my grand children fly in the future to Australia in a few hours instead of the 20 hours I need now to get there… flying only!!!
Talking about speed , you might know that the Dutch are “born ” on a bicycle. We all have 1, some 2 and some 3 or 4 bikes. We also have great universities who support great ideas from students. In Delft is such a university, they are not only good in giving us new bright ingenieurs in aircraft construction,[ some of my friends studied there and are top glider pilots as well, ] but they also support the fastest solar-car [on a track in Australia ] and now the bicycle going with a speed of over 133 km/h. just by using the human legs!!!! At least…this is what they want to do in Nevada in the USA…breaking the world record from Canadian daredevil Sam Whittingham, who did so on September 18 2009.[133 km./h] and …….who tries this week as well/again to go faster.
The Dutch team has 9 students from Delft, 5 from Amsterdam specialised in the science of movements and 2 bicyclists.
Of course all has to fall in place to achieve the new record but everybody tries hard!!! The first attempt was 130 km/h so “only” an new European record, but they continue…want to be faster…
In the same area , not in the desert this time but at Reno also in Nevada and not too far from Minden where we practised for the 1991 WGC , but due to circumstances they were held in Uvalde in Texas, a P 51 Mustang crashed during a demo at the Reno airfield during the National Championship Airraces. The 71 year old pilot crashed in front of the gallery where lots of people were looking , killing 8 of them and[ badly] injuring many more. The pilot himself died at the spot but as some state , he saved maybe more people by moving the plane away from this gallery. Tragic!
Accidently my eye fell on a site I noted a while ago to keep an eye on. It is the site from a young sport soldier from Germany; Benjamin Bachmaier. His glider and 4 other ones are shipped at the moment from Germany to Adelaide in Australia. The boys , Benjamin and his mate Fabian Peitz are going to fly at Stonefield about 40 km. North East of Gawler in their Discus 2B YB and for sure they are going to have great fun there in and over the Barossa Valley -area and in the meantime they hope to promote the new center by flying fast and far, as Fly Down Under wants to make it a real long-distance-flying-field! When your German is good look at ;
www.flugfieber.net and www.fly-down-under.com and in the future on the OLC for their flights. Keep an eye on them as well. I got permission to translate so now and then their German for you in English.
Last Wednesday Benjamin flew 524 km. in an LS1 f, in Puimoisson in France where the sport soldiers have/had their training-camp, Fabian flew 443 km. on Thursday .
See you on Wednesday, cheers Ritz
click on pictures to see text and double to enlarge