One week home now , but still suffering from jetlag!!!

The Namibian season is over , containers are packed and most will look back on a good/great holiday, depending on what time they were there.
WHY IS IT OVER ….good question ……these pictures shared by SkySight show why!!!
“Matthew’s picture shows us how Namibia changes to green with the rainy season and why we end the season in Namibia towards the end of January. But don’t be mistaken, this year the third week in January was one of the best week of the season, with a lot of flights well over 1000km !!!
The next season starts on Oktober 31, 2020 with “Flying with the Champions” and ends with the last day of the flight on January 22, 2021 ” Kiripotib Soaring.

KIRIPOTIB stopped their season on January 16 with another impressive flight from Wolfgang in the ARCUS M.; 1.200 km.Those gliders from rent- a -glider/Flying with the Champions, really did well.

Here some statistics about this outstanding Kiripotib gliding season

We brought 14 gliders down to Namibia, 9 of them Arcus M, 2 Ventus 3M, 1 EB29DR, 1 Antares 23 E, 1 Shark MS.

117 pilots from 20 nations used our gliders, it was the most ever, both pilots and nations.
99 of them registered 596 flight with 383.918km on OLC, not the most km due to the bad conditions in December, but the most flights ever from Kiripotib.
Thanks again to our guests who visited Kiripotib and helped to reach this results, it was great fun to be there for you.
If you are thinking of coming the first time or of coming again, please get in contact with Ludwig on soaring@kiripotib.com as soon as possible. Bookings are coming in already, if you wait to long you might be late.

Last season they had 384.308,84 flown by 86 pilots during 534 flights!!!

BITTERWASSER is very involved also in flying with the younger pilots.
I support that and LIKE that!!!!!
” One day better than the other
At the moment the weather in Namibia is weakening somewhat. But Maximilian Dorsch, the winner of the Bitterwasser Cup 2019, found it super when he visited the Center early January. The winner of the OLC Discus 2015 learned how to fly a 1000 k in the training camp 2018 with Wilfried Großkinsky. Last year Max showed that the dream flight is also possible with an LS4 in Germany. And now from Bitterwasser he striked out farther with the Ventus 3M “4i”: twice over 1100 kilometers and then over 1250 kilometers! Again and again there was a convergence over the border between Kalahari and Namib.
Every young pilot (up to the age of 25) in Europe can win the invitation for a week of gliding in Bitterwasser. The cup is hold every year. Six flights are rated in the OLC. With his victory last year Maximilian has achieved a small feat: in addition to studying and training for an ATPL Max competed in the Junior World Championships in Hungary. He won bronze in the club class. “

Bitterwasser continued a bit longer,…in the past the season was over mid January,… now they continue till nearly the end of the month.[24th]
Looking at the OLC , Reinhard and Daniel Schramme flew nearly 1000 k ;991 k. [750 triangle] on January 23 in the EB 28.
One day earlier still 6 x a 1000 k .In the ARCUS M they even flew a 1000 triangle this late in the season.
Bitterwasser top’s the OLC airfield list with a huge margin.
They flew 602.041,61 km with 142 pilots during 818 flights!!!
On January 24 it was over in Bitterwasser as well:
” Last ride to the airfield
The last flights have been made, the containers are packed. The previously fully parked palm alley is deserted. Before the disassembly of the gliders big flights were on the agenda .
Actually there is still no end of the good gliding conditions in sight, but the sea transport of the planes back to Europe takes time. And most pilots want their glider back in March to match the spring thermals.
Life goes on in the lodge. In the next months bus tourists will visit Bitterwasser for a night and a game drive on their round trips through Namibia – until the new gliding season begins in November. “

The other Namibian destinations had reasonable seasons too, though December, normally the best month was not so good this time.There are clearly differences between season 2019 and 2020, specially in kilometers flown.
After Bitterwasser and Kiripotib it was
Pokweni with 305.264,44 km. flown by 55 pilots during 433 flights.
In the 2019 season they had 365.387,83 flown by 54 pilots during 492 flights. So also less kilometers, I presume, due to the December weather.
Veronica, had 292.493,72 km. with 67 guests making 391 flights,... BUT …they had last season 385.920,36 km’s.with 82 pilots making 508 flights.

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News on the new-aircraft-site;
The BRANDNEW AS 33 is FLYING!!!!! Another “beauty” for our skies.
Interesting to see what will happen with this glider, the JS 3 and the Ventus 3 in the upcoming future and at comps.
Heard they will all 3 fly in Stendal at the WGC.
The “rumour” is that one pilot who owns a Ventus 3 ,…will fly in a JS 3 and another owner , this time of a JS 3, will fly the AS 33.
I know Sarah, who won Lake Keepit, will fly in the back of a 2-seater with Karl Striedeck in Stendal.

THE CHILE SGP/
the 58th National Championship in 15 m. /
The Andes Open.
January 17-January 25….. 2020.

Winner of these comps is Thomas Gostner.
With 2 cancelled day’s and 4 flown, from which Thomas won 2, he was just a tad better than Marius.
He was also runner up on 3 day’s and had a bit of an off-day on race 3 where he was 6th but he still had 1 point and was the last finisher on this 349 km task. The rest was out.
The same amount of points as Marius Pluscauskas [Lithuania] both 39!!
Thomas is mentioned as number 1, Marius as number 2 and Rene Vidal was 3d with 31 points.
For the 15 m Nationals Thomas had 5.551 points …about 60 more than Marius.[5.493] Rene had 5.432 p. All pretty close!!!

Talking about Italy at the top ….. the Italian media are “full” of Elena!!! Campione,… campione is now,…. the “queen of the skies“!!!Like that.
AND,…”Campionessa del mondo ” sounds so much better as world champion, is n’it?
” The transition from second place to the first occurred following a penalty imposed on all the Australian pilots for an irregularity made by their team captain. Initially, therefore, it was a somewhat strange feeling, but then the joy erased everything “.
2 more pictures from Elena after she was thrown in the pool with her tracker still in the pocket.
Jacques did his best over night and it worked again.
Did I ever tell you already how SORRY I felt for Jacques , that an old mate “entered” his tracker. Jacques,…Such a FINE guy!!!!

Talking about Lake Keepit,….some of the TC’s stayed there and enjoy soaring at the WWGC field, as TC Jeremy from the UK and TC John from the USA. At the moment the Keepit Grand Prix is in full swing.
Yesterday Jeremy flew a 500 FAI triangle [564 OLC km’s] in the 18 m. ASG 29E and John and his USA mate Nicholas flew 533 on the 22d in the ARCUS M and yesterday 512 again!!
” Circumnavigated the Pilliga forest. [Dangerous area as you CANNOT LAND THERE!!!!}Clouds all day. It was surprisingly weak in the beginning so we flopped around on the high ground until we got a climb and headed on course to the WNW where conditions were much better. Good run south. Softer going home but there were still some good climbs “

And talking about one world champion , we have to talk about the other ones too. Loved the “head” in the Chattanooga Times Free Press;
” Polk county woman wins gold in Australia Gliding Event.”
Event,…bit of an euphemism. BUT,…what a stylish picture!!!!!

No new pictures from the French girls from open class but here is one I published already

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Great to see that Tomas Suchanek flew SO LATE IN THE SEASON a 1000 k. from Narromine in the 15 m Ventus 2ax, which belonged to Adam. The first 1000 for glider G1 , I am sure not for Tomas.

Whilst I was in Keepit, the GLIDING INTERNATIONAL “arrived”digital on my laptop but I had no time to read it.
Now I had . The January/February issue starts with a very interesting article about the
—–EUROGLIDER; 16 competent Frenchmen/girls lend their skills to an exciting project that goes beyond the idea of a concept glider.
—--Ultra light gliders,…the enthusiasm for them seems to accelerate.
—–The Glider pilots from the 2020thies have to know all about,…..electric motors specially the artificial intelligence, to adjust and manage the electrical out put,..all to be read on page 17.
—–For records,….try Brazil next….
—–Why do experienced pilots crash???
—–a new approach to tasks and scoring in Gliding Competitions by Peter Ryder who was ICG president between 1990 and 1991.
—–All kinds of International Aviation news for glider pilots and “Things with Wings”.
60 Pages of “pure” gliding news. You can subscribe on the Magazine or receive the digital version by email.
glidinginternational.com

Horsham coaching week is in progress now,… next week the Horsham comps.
Diana will fly there.

And to finish another 3 generations-picture this time from Belgium with dad Ken [Evens] , his son Thibo and dad/ opa Jan.Very nice mates.

CU next Wednesday for more newsy news.
Cheers Ritz