–—-In my last blog, I started with Namibia and normally they all fly there straight away after the doors from the containers were opened.
I looked at the OLC and Weglide,…no flights and then on November 4 there was this message;
“Waiting for the overflight permits So far, we have almost always received the overflight permits for the gliders on time at the beginning of the season, without which we cannot take off. This applies equally to all gliding centers. For reasons that are incomprehensible to us, we all do not have these permits. Together with the operators of the other gliding centers, we are making intensive efforts, and in the meantime also at the highest political level, to obtain this permit. We are expecting a positive decision every hour. But the mood is good in spite of everything.”

About an hour later the permits were received. Hurray!!!

And,…you see waiting is NOT a problem in Namibia, though I am convinced the pilots want/prefer to fly!

And as Bitterwasser, Veronica and Pokweni, the Kiripotib pilots were happy on November 5;
“Season opening with perfect conditions and happy faces. We are looking forward to welcome you at Kiripotib!”
Marcus Frank and Ulrich Wuelfel flew in the ARCUS M 290 km. to get started.

Bitterwasser added:
“A 1000k to start with! It was a test of patience until finally the overflight permit for Namibia was available on Friday, November 5th. Numerous guests already gathered their feet in Bitterwasser, excited about the first flights over Namibia. Reinhard Schramme and Bernd Goretzki then went straight to the limit: at the end of the day, 1034 kilometers were on the counter of their EB28. Their flight took them first in blue thermals then under well-developed cloudy skies far to the northeast. And it went up high. Those who followed the first flights on the glidernet saw Bruno Gantenbrink in the late afternoon with his NimEta at 5700 meters MSL! Ten pilots and Arcus teams used this first opportunity in Bitterwasser for the excursion over the Kalahari.”
The first 22 OLC flights on November 5, were from Bitterwasser, Veronica, Kiripotib and Pokweni.
It’s all happening again, we can follow them on the OLC and WeGlide.

——From Namibia over to Australia were JoeyGlide ….the young ones over there,[as you know a joey is a little kangaroo]….announced the next news;
“We are very excited to announce that Joeyglide 22 will be presented by SkySight!SkySight is the industry leader in detailed and interactive soaring forecasts. Users have access to SkySight’s advanced modelling which provides easy, efficient and effective pre-flight planning. When preparation is everything, it can create an edge in a competition or the best out of your weekend soaring plans. With interactive control of a range of weather models, you’ll be able to utilise SkySight to fly further and faster! “
Visit: skysight.io to find out more and get started on your 7 day free trial.
Of course Matthew Scutter was a young one too. He won the Narromine Juniors WGJC. Matthew “lives” for gliding. Great job!!!!

–—More Aussie juniors are active for the soaring community.
The SKYRACE GP in Leeton between January 3-10 2022, ….at this stage already 32 entrees…..will be supported by another young pilot Andrew Maddocks, Andy for friends.
“The organizers are excited to announce our major sponsor for this coming event is …..Maddog Composites
Andy, Claire and the rest of the Maddog Composites team have been huge supporters of our event since the beginning but have taken their support to a new level this year. They provide ultra high quality glider maintenance, repairs and aviation painting services, and also have a web store selling a range of gliding related spares and parts. They are also Australian agents for Schempp-Hirth, LXNav and a whole lot more. Please help us out by liking their Facebook page, and checking out their website to see how they can make your glider better. http://maddogcomposites.com.au/
Andy’s partner Claire flew the WWGC in Lake Keepit. She is Matthews sister. All nice families!!!
Those Aussie young ones, former juniors Adam is one of them too, are doing an exceptional job to promote gliding

——Also in Australia but now NOT in the East but in the West, the Carter Cup was flown between October 31 and November 6 from Cunderdin in Western Australia!
The 15 pilots flew EVERY day, and tasks were set between 2.30, but mostly 3 hour AAT’s. Gliders varied between Hornet [handicap 0.945] and JS 3 [1.085]
Most day’s were 1000 points days as well.
Norm Bloch in his JS 3 won 6/6 days. A real WINNER.
5.726 points were his , about more than 100 than the runner up;4.712 points for the ASH 25 with the Geerling’s.
Greg Beecroft was 3din his LS 8.

The last day was cancelled but according to Lumpy [Paterson who was 4th] the weather was fabulous, so he showed you could have flown;
“Absolutely magic flight today …… the comp day was cancelled due there WX which looked very ordinary, then the clouds started to do different things. I noted on windy that there was an 180* change in the wind at 5000 feet and the clouds started to form into sort of lenticular clouds albeit at 5k …. so after some deliberation I pulled the glider out and went for it ! Clock work really, thermals up to near cloud base and out to the windward side from 5000 and away I went, climbing in 10.6 kts from 5 to 12k but it slowed down pretty quick after that. I had to search around to claw up to 16k mostly in 1 to 2 kts but worth it …. Wind strength at 16k was 36kts on the nose, going off the LX I was going forward at 8kts…. No jet fuel was used in this flight, done old school and what a hoot ….. it’s the highest I’ve been in shear wave …. imagine if the day wasn’t cancelled and you could start from here Great way to cap the week off .….
One day later on November 7 he flew 704 km [689.5 km. FAI triangle]

——The CENTRAL PLATEAU flown in New Zealand was between October 31 [October 30 was practice and a pretty good day…….A bustle of activity at Centennial Park today. A dozen or more gliders being rigged and readied under some promising-looking Cu’s. The runway is looking good after numerous mowings, the tow planes are out – let’s go!] and November 6 but less good weather than in Western Australia , to say it euphemistic, where they flew EVERY day.
In Taupo, the airfield I visited during my trip through the Nord Island of N Z. , they only flew 1 valid day out of 7.
Hugh de Lautour wrote in his blog about this comps on day 4;
“Today at least lived up to its promises ….. it promised nothing, and nothing was what we got. Wind too strong, cloud too low, wave too far away. With a miserable forecast for the next couple of days as well, many have headed home, so another victim of the day was our planned roast dinner at the Club tonight. Shame. Fingers crossed for at least one more good day before the end of the week.”
It was not happening, such a pity!!!!
“Today I can do no better than to reproduce the Contest Director’s morning message. “is what was mentioned by Hugh de Lautour.
“With the best will in the world, there’s no way to ignore the forecast for this afternoon; thick cloud and scattered rain showers. Rain radar confirms already showering. We can’t set a task in this.. Sorry but no choice other than to cancel today“
Most probably the weather was not good enough either, for a sight- seeing -drive around the beautiful Lake Taupo.
On the other hand, from Springfield Mike Oakley flew in his ASH 25, several good flights;434 km, 526 and 698 km.

——In Europe the Pyrenees gave wave ,when Gil [Souviron] not really expected it: 1.062 km. in the Stemme S 12, from Perpignan Rivesa (FR).
“The wind was very East with about 50° on all the flight.
Quite surprising to have waves in that conditions.“

–—-And to finish these fabulous pictures from Romain and the team. I am intrigued by their performances, so some extra photo’s after last week’s news!!!!SUPERB!!!!!

CU next week.
Cheers Ritz

Hope you had a nice HALLOWEEN.

——Around November 1 the Namibia- season starts and a huge amount of TP’s have been prepared with help from  Wolfgang Joschko [StrePla] und JJ Logtenberg .Good on them!!!
Kiripotib Soaring; “Great job! Thank you guys!”

Bitterwasser added; “Punctually at 10 o’clock the Golden Karoo has entered the harbor of Walvis Bay. If everything goes normally, we expect the arrival of the containers with our planes in Bitterwasser on Friday” [October 29].
But,..on Thursday afternoon the trucks drove between the Palms and the first 3 containers have arrived.

—–No flying yet in Namibia ,but Worcester in S. A. had several flights between just under 300 and over 400 km.
On the one-but-last-day from October pilots in Australia flew from Victoria and the border of NSW nice distances.
Grant Heany from Tocumwal;580 km in a St Jantar.
Tobias Geiger from Benalla 594 km in a 15 m. Ventus 2AX.

And now it is NOVEMBER already!!!!

—–News from the German Nationals in 2022 published on October 25;
Club, standard and 15 m. class flies from Zwickau between June 6 and 17.
The Nationals for the ladies will be flown from Landau between Mai 19 and 29.
When you wish to participate you have to apply for both before November 15 at Online-Portal COPILOT 
As shared by https://www.segelfliegen-magazin.de/deutsche…/

—–Aerobatic news ;
“29 October 2021.
Birth of a new aerobatic team “SK&TEAM”!
The first team members: Svetlana Kapanina, Andrey Bespalov, Romain Fhal !!!
City of birth: Nanchang , China.”
Romain Fhal shared this news with pictures.
A while ago I wrote about him.

—-News from Richmond Gliding Club down under;
“Saturday 30 Oct was a great day for RAAFRGC and CFI Paul Tridgell with the first areotow behind the new build Bearhawk VH-TGN. This has been a massive effort to get the aircraft to this point, there is more testing to come before the club can recommence normal operations but Saturday saw the first aerotow operations at Richmond since the loss of VH-UPS on December 1 2019.Congratulations and well done to Paul, John and all who have helped make this happen.More photos to come. The first launch.”
GLIDING AUSTRALIA added;
“Congratulations to the RAAF Richmond club for getting their homebuilt (SAAA reg) tug built, certified and now finally towing gliders! Checkout their page history for some pics of the build process.“

——Porta Westfalica…. in Germany, [Nordrhine Westphalia] sounds very familiar for many pilots, certainly also from The Netherlands. When you like racing the ridges, Porta is the place to be, certainly now everything looks fabulous in autumn colors.
A few Dutch mates went there last weekend and dad Rein and son Lars Groot went there with the ARCUS flying a free distance of 452 km and enjoying 6 hours and 32 minutes of pure gliding joy.
WeGlide: https://www.weglide.org/flight/111514#soobock

More members of the Gelderse did the same and here is the photo impression I received.

—–A-real-pity- news; The IS 28 from Tocumwal’s SRGC is as I heard, a “write off” , after it started for a test flight after the annual inspection,[form 2] on October 23.
The more popular version….”When the glider was just airborne, the wings folded up like an aircraft on an aircraft carrier.
The check pilot immediately released and the glider sort of glided/ fell/ crashed back onto the ground, from about 8 feet in the air.
Apparently the glider was rigged without inserting the wingpins correctly.
The 2 pilots were fine and uninjured.”
Thank god!
A REAL GOOD lesson to be learned from this incident.
Here the Airworthiness Alert from the GFA;
An IS-28B2 sailplane had recently completed an annual inspection for the issue of a maintenance release and was performing a post maintenance evaluation flight. The glider was on aerotow flying just above the ground when a loud cracking noise was heard. The flight was terminated and a landing straight ahead was successfully carried out. After landing, the
glider exhibited an exaggerated dihedral. On inspection, the connection between the lower wing spar attachment fittings had failed.
The investigation mentioned;
“The initial inspection suggested the upper tapered bolt had engaged correctly during rigging, but the lower tapered bolt had not engaged correctly. There were less than 14 mm of thread exposed on the bottom tapered bolt. A comparison with another IS-28B2 revealed that correctly engaged tapered bolts had approximately 25 mm of threads exposed on upper and lower threads when both tapered bolts were fully engaged.“

You can find the PDF with pictures from the bolts on….GFA AWA 2021-3 IS-28B2 Wing Rigging Failure 02112021.pdf

No drama, but a pity from the glider AND as said a lesson to be learned for all clubs or pilots flying an IS 28.

That’s it for now.
Cheers Ritz

As said in my blog today I would add pictures when I had them.
I do have a few, so not to make the post too long, I add a new one, as I normally do with Keiheuvel as well.

We had a lovely day, though the reason was pretty boring driving for more than an hour to Terlet to pick up the LS1f, which needed some updates in the instrument panel, driving from Terlet to the airport of Malden, where the glider is stationed in that beautiful 2-storey hangar and back home again.
I saw the LS 1f last in Tocumwal, when it was brought back from Lake Keepit, where it flew the WWGC.
It’s back in the Netherlands now.

It was pretty busy at the Terlet-strip. Several gliders out and as usual, all was organized perfectly and smooth. The field- organizer Ingeborg, leaded everybody to glider, winch, cables, tower for light etc.
When we arrived grand daughter Indya just landed in the back of the ARCUS. Her first time in such a fancy glider. Big smiles!

It was awfully nice to see so many familiar faces!!! Some I had not seen for 10 to 15 years. Whilst Indya flew the LS 4 we talked and talked.

Goodbeye to “opa George” as well and off we went again .
At 4 operations would stop after a 14 day autumn camp.
They still fly in the weekend, the “normal” operations, then the season is really over.

Then we had to go to the workshop to get the glider. Sikko was at work there,…he flew in my team in 1988 during the EGC in Rayskala..and Andre who was a friend from our son Dennis .

After some talks and laughs, we went on our way to Malden ,where the skies showed 3/8 of cu’s and also there was an autumn camp with several pilots. When we arrived the Slingsby T 21, was just “hanging around”.
After it landed, I quickly made some pictures as Ken from Japan owns such a glider too and had it for a while stationed in our WW2 hangar at Tocumwal. Lovely glider, sitting side by side.

Due to corona circumstances, I did not visit an airfield in Holland this year, only once in Belgium ..the Keiheuvel.
I really missed it ….I feel that now. So I share ,my enthusiasm with you, ……just a day out,…. BUT AT airfields.
What do you want more.

Cheers Ritz

—–One day before Adam flew his declared FAI 1000 km. flight in Queensland, there were at other places, also in Queensland, hailstones up to 16 cm!!!!?
That is BIG and….. a new record. People had to race for safety ,as the stones really “hit the head”.
Stones straight away went though car windows and roofs of houses.
I once had such a severe thunderstorm when I was in Queensland [Brisbane] and I never forget that. No power, so no electricity [….result I was under a shower in a house with friends I visited for the first time …] That day the wind turned over several smaller airplanes at Brisbane Airport. A weird face as the ropes were still on the wings , but the concrete and the little poles were out.

I had to dig deep in my photo books , but I found the 2 pictures from 1989.

Yesterday a twister hit Brisbane and now a Qantas- airliner was damaged.

—–As you know Matthew [Scutter] is the SKYSIGHT -man, so he knows EVERYTHING about weather. For that reason it is interesting to read his comment on his flight, flown on the 1000 k day;
Matthew flew 958 km in his 15 m Diana FES and this is what he experienced.
When you are interested, have a look at his blogs as well;
Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
“Two days of first thermal to last light flying from Kingaroy – I’d had my eye on yesterday from a few days out as a possible 1000km day with FL140 cumulus over most of south-east QLD, but the forecast deteriorated to just below what I thought I could manage in 15m.I did see an extremely interesting series of convergence lines predicted out to the east though, so I set an extremely speculative double out-and-return along them, but a couple of showers formed well west of the expected line making it impassable on the way north early in the day. I went for a float down to NSW following some loose streeting and enjoying the mega- thermals, and I had two back-to-back 12kt climbs over the forests and a miraculous run south, so I thought an OLC 1000km might be on.
I almost scraped myself into Kingaroy on a slender and slow glide along the outflows, but I was expecting to be landing right at last light with a thunderstorm on or directly adjacent to the airfield, and visibility in the outflow was very poor to really tell. I was concerned I’d arrive too late to deviate to Wondai or elsewhere if Kingaroy was in the heavy rain, so I decided to start the engine early to buy myself 10 minutes of extra light and options.Painful irony that Wool set a relatively conservative task out in the thermals and ended up on the convergence, and I went solely for the convergence and ended up hundreds of kilometres south in the cumulus!Kingaroy is certainly a diverse and challenging site, and I’m enjoying the change of scenery and the different weather phenomena it offers – weather-wise it’s kind of the logical continuation of going from Gawler to Bathurst.“
https://www.weglide.org/flight/110042

–—-We knew the UK team already for the Hungarian WGC [July 23 -August 6in 2022] here are the names from the French team.
Eric Napoleon is the TC and there are 2 pilots lined up as reserve;Anne Ducarouge and Sylvain Gerbaud.
in 18 m….Christophe Abadie and Melanie Gadoulet.
2 seaters….Louis Bouderlique and Ulysse Merlin
open….Philippe de Pechy and Max Seis

For the WWGC in Husbos, the next French ladies have been selected;
Club class….Aude Grangeray , Alizee Petit and Louise Rodrigues
St Class…Astrid Galaret , Anaiis Gabert and Aude Untersee.
18 m….Melanie Gadoulet and Anne Ducarouge.
Eric is here the TC as well.

News from Schempp-Hirth;
“After Austria, France organized one special event in St-Auban national center for electro light aircrafts where Duo Discus FES prototype and Discus-2c FES were displayed. And we are just back from Voghera, Italy, where it was such a pleasure to meet friends there! Thanks to Giorgio Galetto, Roberto Vainoni and the Italian National Association for the help and warm welcoming. Next Gliding days? Switzerland with the LTB Peter Neukom, on 13th of November in SFK Birrfeld. Then USA SSA Convention with Yankee Composite (Garret Willat and friends) will be held from 24th to 26th of February in Reno, Nevada. And Aero Convention in Friedrichshafen from 27th to 30th of April.”

—–October is nearly over, so is the soaring-season in The Netherlands. Autumn camp, from the Gelderse, their-end-of-the-season- party and then,….. it is waiting for the 2022 season. My granddaughter Indya enjoyed it to the fullest.
I am going to visit her today at Terlet and when possible,I will make some pictures myself too. Will publish them later in the blog.
2 Photo impressions. The Gelderse has not only good pilots but also great photographers.

And then of course Arjan, …..he is not only a fabulous photographer but also a very kind instructor at the Gelderse Club at Terlet.
Here are his last pictures for the season. Thanks Arjan for sharing.

AND,…because they are so good here one from a fabulous vintage plane.

——Down under they prepare for the new season. Corona was terrible in NSW and Victoria.
“Great news!! Narromine gliding club is back in full time operation from 1 November 2021
We have a full time Level3 instructor/silver coach available for training and a full time tug pilot permanently on site all operating as normal.
Bookings via the “contact us” page on the NGC website.
We are looking forward to welcoming everyone back to Narromine for a great soaring season ahead.

NARROMINE CUP WEEK is scheduled for the last full week in November as normal, (Sunday 21 November through Saturday 27 November)”

Sadly and unfortunately, we are nearly back to local lock downs. Though 87 % is vaccinated the nearly 2 million ,who can’t or won’t ,create huge problems. All hospital and IC places are now used by non vaccinated people and there seems not to be much room for more. Sad is that people who are waiting for an operation …cancer, heart…have to wait longer now.
What a terrible weird world we live in.
Cu next week.
Cheers Ritz

POST 1.300!!!!

The 63d BRAZILIAN Gliding Nationals
9 October 2021 – 16 October 2021

Flown from Itápolis. Never heard from this field ,so we get to know a bit more about it now. I checked the internet and found;
“Aeroclube de Itápolis Airport is a small airport in Itápolis, Brazil. The airport has one runway: 1/19 The ICAO designator of this field is SDIO.“
The time zone; America/Sao_Paulo (GMT -3:00)
One of the pilots is Henrique Navarro. Normally he flies open class but instead of his Nimbus 4T , he flies an SZD 55;
” The championship is being held in a airport with runway lights just 28 meters apart, which means I can not operate my Nimbus 4T. So a friend kindly let me fly his SZD55.“

They fly in Club, [6] racing [12] and open class [5] , but on October 9 and 10, they had no flights. And on the picture you see why.

On October 11 a task was set , a 1.30 AAT for all classes, but not flown in club and racing. It seems the weather in Brazil is as “bad” as it was in Europe’s summer.
On October 12 they flew!!!!!

Racing class; Task 2 and Henrique won the 2.40 AAT with 283 km. in time 2.40 at the dot!! 106 km./h and only 2 other pilots flew over 100 km./h.
12 Started only one was out. Sergio Bassi was runner up in a St Cirrus.
Task 3; 359 km…..128 km./h in a DG 1001 M/20m. was the best speed for a 3d place. Winner; Henrique with 125 km./h. GOOD day!!!
Task 4; 1.30 AAT for all classes BUT CANCELLED for all classes.
Task 5; 1.30 AAT.… was set , BUT Henrique flew 71 km the runner up only 48 ….so a scrubbed day!
Task 6 ;1.30 AAT, LAST DAY, they tried hard but NO day again. Henrique flew 89 km the runner up 10, so no scores.
BUT , yes final scores after 2 valid days.
1. Henrique Navarro in SZD 55 with 1.824 points.
2. Alfredo Jobke in ASW 20 with 1.654 p.
3. Andre Lautert in DG 400/17 m. with 1.646 p.

Open class;
Task 1….. 1.30 AAT which was flown by 2 from the 3 pilots who started.
Gustavo Shigueno won the day in his 18 m. Ventus 2Cm flying 186 km in time 1.51; speed 99.99 km./h.
Claudio Schmidt in the ARCUS was runner up with 172 km. in time 1.53. He flies with another well known pilot Joao Alexandre Widmer.
Task 2; 3 hour AAT.…3 pilots flew today, a pity that Egon Otto Rehn is not flying his ARCUS M. He belongs with Henrique and Claudio to the more well known Brazilian comp-pilots.
Daily winner was Gustavo with 355 km in time 2.59. Claudio was runner up. 938 for 928 points.
Task 3; 416 km….only 3 pilots “left-over” in this class. Gustavo flew around with 135 km./h. for 1000 points. Claudio with 128 and Luis [Valenca] with 103 km./h. [Discus 2 T/18m]
Task 4 ; cancelled.
Task 5 ; 2 hour AAT, flown by 2 with 126 km. and 115 km…no scores.
Task 6; 1.30 AAT….Claudio and Gustavo were the only 2 flying again and with 152 and 154 km. they GOT points; 278 and 204, …they had task 3!!!!
S after 3 valid days , with some real concurrence, the overall scores are;
1. Gustavo Shigueno in Ventus 2CM/18 m. with 2.465 points.
2. Claudio Schmidt in ARCUS M with 2.410 p.
3. Luis Valença in Discus 2T /18m with 1.447 p.

KW1/club ;
Task 2; 3 hour AAT and was flown by 4 of the 5 pilots flying in this class.
Oswaldo Palomba Neto even “received” 1000 well- deserved-points for his 138 km. flight in time 3.03 in a PW5…78 km./h.!!
He mentioned that the day was much better than expected up to 1800m. The last leg was a bit difficult with weaker thermals and some blue holes.
He added that a later start would have been better[between 12.40 and 13.00] He started at 11.51.
Task 3; 3.30 AAT...pretty tough for the “little ones” but Tiago Marchese Raupp bravely flew up to 285 km. in time 3.25 in his PW 5, as last of the 6 starters. Only one out after 160 km. Well done by all., on what they called a “Dia sensacional!” / ” Meteoro espetacular! “Clearly a great day!!!!
Task 4, 5 and 6 were not flown.
Overall scores after 2 days;
1. Oswaldo Palomba Neto in PW 5 with 1.716 points.
2. João Victor Mendes Silva in the kw-1 Quero-Quero with 1.481 p.
3. Lucas Pereira da Silva in KW-1 Quero-Quero with 1.315 p.

A pity from the weather, but I am nearly used to say that by now.
2 Days was not sufficient to make it a valid National Championship for racing and KW1/club class. Which was a pity as Henrique won the 4 days, but 2 of them were invalid.
His next goal is the 4th Pan American Championship in Brazil – Sep2022.
Open had 4 days so their National Championship was valid and, as you can see one good 1000- points- day and one with 938 points and 2 marginal days.

—————————————————————–

—–This is the venue for the next WWGC , great picture, by Sydney Gilmore published by Discover Gliding

———————————————————————

On October 17, Ramy Yanetz added a great and special flight to the OLC. He flew his 18m. ASG 29. Here is his story;
“Had an amazing pre frontal wave flight. Another Bay tour but this time flown the whole length of the peninsula on the west side from Loma Prieta to San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge to Mt Tamalpais and San Rafael. Not aware of anyone who done this before as it is normally impossible due to class bravo but this time the wave was consistent and I could easily stay just under 18K way above the class bravo 10K ceiling with easy downwind escape if I lost the wave. It also helps to have ADS-B. It was possible today since the moisture and undercast clouds did not arrive until later afternoon, only few lenticulars marking the wave. Went from Byron south to Lick Observatory to Loma prieta jumping multiple wave bars upwind, then along the peninsula to San Francisco, San Rafael, then NE to Napa and to Bear valley abeam Williams, then back in strong wave to Byron and continued south to near Crows Landing and back to Byron.”
With beautiful pictures!!!!
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=-1855411484&fbclid=IwAR1uJFjxOiJkvpwdHSerWeoW453vt01ckrIQTZAW6X0H-DJMkEGPdRM41cc
Here is one of them

And a very special one from 17.999 ft. overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge…..from a GLIDER!!!!!

One day earlier , another long wave flight , now in an ARCUS M, by Chester Fitchett;1.600 km. Starting at Black Diamond in Canada, and returning there with the message ;”Didn’t even use the whole day!”
Speed 179 km./h. !!!!
“Best in the world for the day, best in Canada ever!” SAC – ACVV

———————————————————————-

No comps at the moment , but at some places the spring and fall-weather is really nice, so a bit of spring and autumn flying is in progress. I share a few pictures I found to show spring fun and autumn – soaring-happiness.
Kingaroy had super-spring-weather yesterday [read under picture] and today.

Today, Butch [John Buchanan] flew 728 km in his ASG 29E/18m and Woolley[Adam] was pondering about a 1000 or 750, ….” Still deciding on a task, 750-1000km expected.” ….but he is not yet back. Will add that later.
See below in extra news
Swiss Chris 512 km. ;”Was a fun day with an early start, but also early thunderstorms moving in from the east.
Just having fun following rivers of lift
Got the glider boxed just before rain and thunder started “

Temora [N E of Tocumwal] had a good day on Sunday with flights up to 380 km in an LS 8 and 282 in a Club Libelle by Grant Johnson;
“Cu all afternoon, initially at 5,000′ then a bit over 6,000′ by the end of the afternoon. Dull patch around 3pm then the last hour just built after I ran out of OLC legs. 300km flown.”

And the last one is from France

And to finish another 2 great pictures by Arjan during the autumn camp at Terlet from the Gelderse.

and

AND, last but not least; good news from AUSTRALIA!!!!!
International flights for Christmas!!
Qantas confirms international flights will take off from December 18.
“The country’s flagship airline has provided the exact date holiday-hungry residents can book flights to popular destinations like the US, UK, Canada and Singapore. ” Daily Mail.

That’s it for now. Our season is nearly over , my friends down under and in Africa start soon. Will try to follow it all for you.
Cheers Ritz

EXTRA NEWS:
It’s always great to fly a 1000 and some of those flights are extra as they are flown under special circumstances.
Adam’s 1000 today in his brand new Ventus 3T, is such a flight ;
Here is his comment, this time in total.
“It’s great to be home! What was effectively an easy day, turned out to be rather demanding & tricky right in the dyeing hours 2nd ever I believe, declared 1.034 km FAI flight within Queenslands borders, so it’s a great feeling to complete this flight!
As soon as I connected with my first climb at the Bunyas, I knew the day was on. SkySight predicted the day brilliantly, with the highlight of the flight, meeting up with the convergence as advertised to take me to & from the top turn All was relatively easy as I said earlier until I left cloud base the last time & went into a near best LD glide. Nothing worked until I diverted for some smoke & a single landable field. There were no more options to climb, so I circled in 1kt to buy me some time. I saw an opportunity present itself, so I continued on. I turned windward to two farmers ploughing within the sunny ground, the Ventus then lead me to 2kts, I thought, this might just be enough! It turned out to be convergence, weak & broken. I kept telling myself to stay relaxed, keep feeling the air, make corrections where appropriate, leave nothing to chance. It was enough to get onto glide, with a small 1.2kt climb on the way. Best LD all the way in, had me crossing the line with just enough for a circuit It‘s great to be home, what a day
Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures

Now the OLC season has moved into 2022, it is my pleasure to sort out for you ,who was the best in different categories.
Of course you can look for yourself too.
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc
CHAMPION OLC-plus 2021 is Gil Souviron from France with 8.147,27 points.
Runner up is Keith Essex from the USA with 8.029,14 points.
Best 2021 flight ; James Lee who flew 1.949,28 km. from Minden in a JS 1 CTJ. Speed a “whopping” 240.68 km./h. on April 24.
Runner up was Klaus Ohlmann with 1.707,60 km. and a speed of 147.17 km./h.
Distance record;[since 2011] Jim Payne from the USA in an ARCUS M flown from Minden on April 5 in 2015….2.907,47 km. speed an even more “whopping ” 249.83 km./h.
Runner up; Klaus Ohlmann flying a Stemme S10 from Zapala Neuquen in Argentina….2.816,95 km
All Flights; Keith Essex with a total of 56.974,62 km!!!!!!WOW!!!!
Runner up in stats about best flights in 2021….Vincent Hayos from France; 37.518,13 km.
Busiest airport; Puimoisson in France with 443.831,58 km. flown by 157 pilots during 953 flights.
Runner up; Fuentemilanos in Spain with 325.793,96 km. flown by 87 pilots during 669 flights.
Busiest club; The GELDERSE flying from TERLET… N from Arnhem in The Netherlands!! Hurray…again. Club were I spend many hours waiting for my children and now my grand children fly there as well.
264.704,06 flights flown by 91 pilots during 867 flights.
Also in the speed OLC , they were the best.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!!!!!

As a tribute to the Gelderse 4 great pictures from ARJAN VRIEZE.
Terlet, at the VELUWE, is an area of outstanding natural beauty. The airfield is in that area. AND,….I love Arjan’s pictures.
Arjan Vrieze Photography

AND …according to the UK ,the biggest/largest airport, as I read, is Lasham;
“Lasham retains the majority of the original 1942 RAF layout. It continues as the home of one of the world’s largest gliding clubs with the Society having owned Lasham Airfield outright for over 20 years, hosting gliding 364 days a year when the weather permits.“

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2021 South African Nationals in 15m, club and 2- seaters.
2 October 2021 – 9 October 2021

We continue with this great Potch-flying on Wednesday the 6th of October, when I left you and there was not yet a task set.
Later there was
15 m; task 4 ….3 hour AAT….after John [Coutts] won already 3 days , he added another one and a good one; The first 1000 points in this competition were for him; 426 km. in time 3 hours at the dot!!!Speed 142 km./h!!
You can fly or you can’t ….TOP job!!!!
Task 5; 2 hour AAT...”a bit of sand in John’s oiled machine”. He was 5th, BUT still with 296 km in time 2.06 and a speed of 141 km./h.
Number 1 for the day, was Mark Holiday in an ASW 27 [handicap 95] with 297 km. in time 2.08 speed…139 km./h.
Best distance was for Attie and Uys [Jonker] flying 316 km in time 2.15 and 13.
Task 6; 389 km….was cancelled for all classes, so ONE day to go…
Task 7; 381.77 km….on flying day 6, the very last one.
Only ONE pilot was extremely good during this competition…John. He won again ….no not 1000 points due to a penalty but a speed much faster than the rest;131 km./h. whilst runner up Anders [Andersen] had 123 km./h.
John started at 12.49,31 and Anders at 13.15,49.
No secret that John won the overall scores, with superior forces!!!!

Club class;
Task 4 was a 3 hour AAT as well. AND,…Dicky Daly jr. won his 3d daily prize for a distance of 312 km. in time 3.01 in his St Cirrus [handicap 99] .Concurrence from Wilhelm Mosehuus was “huge” ,as he flew further 327 km and needed 1 minute less in his Mosquito.[handicap 107]
Task 5; 2 hour AAT and this time Wilhelm won the day; 253 km. in time 2.08…speed 118 km./h.
Task 6; 227.77 km; cancelled.
Task 7; 241.72 km…..88 km./h for Dicky jr was the best result for the day. He won 4 days in total, so a REAL/DESERVED winner.

15 m;. Overall results for 15 m. class after 6 days out of 7
1. John Coutts in JS 3 with 5.151 points.
2. Anders Andersen in JS 3 TJ with 4.708 p.
3. Uys Jonker in JS 3 with 4.556 p.

Club class; Overall results after 6 out of 7 days.
1. Dicky Daly jr in St Cirrus with 4.465 points.
2.David Maver in ASW 20 with 3.194 points.
3. Wilhelm Mosehuus in Mosquito with 2.877. He did NOT fly on the last day. So did Renee Coetsee, both were ahead of David.

To finish,…. the overall points for the 2-seaters and Stemme and 2 impressive pictures one from each class;

Overall scores from the 2-seater class with 6 participants flying a Duo Discus x2, an ASG 32 MI x2 and a Nimbus 4[D and DM] x2 after 6 out of 7 days;
1. Maarten Jonker and Ronald Termaat in Nimbus 4 D with 4.717 points.
2. Martin Scharff / Robert Bristow in Nimbus 4DM with 4.291 p.
3. Riaan Denner / Arjan Schaap in ASG 32MI with 4.252 p.
Maarten and Ronald won 2 days , task 4 and the last one [7] and flew further on very consistent.

Overall scores in STEMME class with 3 participants [in the end 2, as the STEMME S10 who leaded with 3.100 points for 2.681, did not fly anymore] after 6 days;
1. Mark Hardman / Beatrice Schaefer in Stemme S 10 with 3.561 p.
2. Albert Willemse / David Lentle in Stemme S12 with 3.330 p.
3. Peter Bailey in Stemme S12 with 2.681 p,.
Mark and Beatrice won the first 4 tasks , than did not fly on task 5 and outlanded on the last day.

———————————————————————————————-

What do you do when you have a brand new glider and you are a blogger?
Of course you share your experiences.
So does Adam in his Gliding Adventures and it is interesting to see how he tests the new Ventus 3T every day he flies and shares the result of the tests. This one is from October 6;
“Awesome day of practice, achieved a lot today! I tested my cockpit pressure relative to statics, I tested with success my new relief system, I tested my endurance by maxing out the day, I tested a marginal final glide to see what the numbers would do & finally, I landed with the turbo up – all a success I was very pleased with how my water ballast management went, without anyone to compare it with, I felt that I got it right. Just after passing Kingaroy to the 3rd TP, I dumped down to 570kg & there I stayed until the final climb & final glide – great day for practice!Unfortunately I forgot to un-declare my WeGlide declaration online from this morning, so I’ve yet again, missed out on bonus points while I learn the new rules. All good, just another practice day.”
Glad I am not the only one who has start-up-problems with We Glide.

AND,…on October 9 the Kingaroy weather improved even more and Adam flew 800 km !!!!!
Swiss Chris who changes his Toc winter for the sun in Queensland flew in his ASW 27 617 km.

Talking about Australia COVID is still not over there. In 2023 the WGC will be in Narromine,[state NSW] I hope ALL IS WELL THEN.
Not now as you can see on this picture from Matthew [Scutter] with the text; “The last line of defense to the New South Plaguelands, hopefully we can visit Narromine next year.”

Other Aussie mates wrote;”Covid numbers going up in Victoria, but restrictions easing in a few weeks when vaccination numbers are 80% first dose, then 70% two doses.  Too many had illegal anti-vax demonstrations, protests and football final parties a few weeks ago, now worst daily numbers ever in Australia.”
SO ,….still not good in Victoria and NSW, remain careful!!!
By the way,….Melbourne has the longest lock-down in the world.
BUT ,…the latest news was that at least Sydney is OPEN again.!!!!
AND 70% of NSW is now vaccinated!!!! On their way to reach the 90%!!!!
AND,…the latest news related to gliding;

CU next week., with news about the 63d Nationals ….Campeonato Brasileiro de Voo em Planadores …in Brazil.
Cheers Ritz

P/S….The world is bit by bit getting back to normal. Airlines fly a bit more again and even order new planes,…light on the horizon!!!!!

Latest news from FAI Sailplane Grand Prix
“The future of La Cerdanya airport is been threatened. It is one of the famous spots for pilots and supporters of the Sailplane Grand Prix with its great playground, weather, infrastructure and organization. Indeed, the SGP Finale took place there in 2019 as well as several qualifying SGP before that.If, like us, you want to support them, please send an email to dgtm.tes”at”gencat.cat , sgpa.tes”at”gencat.cat and spujol”at”aeroclub.es . “
You can find bellow a link with a text example.https://docs.google.com/…/1ElVSniWmQdW0j8YPrKml…/edit…
You can find here a promotional video of La Cerdanyna and more on the FAI Sailplane Grand Prix YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1YqpxLhWoo

AS PROMISED,…….Enjoy!!!!!
This news from 1940 is TOO GOOD and interesting, to not publish it. They even asked to share it which I do with pleasure.
Of course I lived in Tocumwal for a few years and that’s not far from Wagga Wagga. A beautiful town with the main-street full of colorful flowers , that is when I still lived in Australia and I am back home in The Netherlands now for 15 years. Time flies.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-01/the-day-a-pilot-landed-two-planes-in-a-paddock-in-regional-nsw/100502830?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

ABC Goulburn Murray / By Courtney Howe and Matt Dowling
Posted on October 1

When two training planes took off from Forest Hill near Wagga Wagga during a training exercise in 1940, few could have imagined only one pilot would land both aircraft after a mid-air collision.
The military twin-engine Avro Ansons, with pilot Jack Hansen and observer Hugh Fraser in one and pilot Leonard Fuller and observer Ian Sinclair in the other, set off on September 29 for a cross country flight and were to return to Forest Hill.
Benalla historian John Barry said the two aircraft were 300 metres off Brocklesby near Albury when they were told to make a banking turn.
“As they did so they lost sight of the other plane and the two planes pancaked,” he said.
Mr Barry said the pilot of the bottom plane was injured as the planes locked together.
“The propeller of one of the engines on the top plane came through the cockpit and injured him so he bailed out.
“His gunner bailed out and the top plane’s gunner also bailed out, so we’ve got one fellow left on board the top plane.”
The men parachuted to safety.

The remaining pilot, leading aircraftman Leonard Fuller, moved the controls of his plane and realised that although his engine had stopped, the engine of the bottom plane was still working.

“He must have been a curious sort of chap,” Mr Barry said.
“The planes locked were going in a lazy circle and he found that using the flaps and the ailerons of the top plane he could fly both planes.”

Mr Barry said while he couldn’t control the speed of the plane and Fuller started looking around for somewhere to land.
“He saw a farmhouse and there was a landing site nearby 6 kilometres outside Brocklesby, so he put both planes down.”
Mr Barry said it was amazing he was able to land both planes, which were later repaired.
“He said afterwards when he was interviewed that he thought it was a pretty rough old landing, but it was better than the ones he been doing the day before.”
Mr Barry said the feat made headlines around the world and Fuller was promoted to sergeant.

The historic landing remains Brocklesby’s claim to fame and 81 years on from the incident there’s a monument near the site to mark the event.

This was an extra post. I found it fascinating and I comply with the request to share this news ..”.Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article….”

Cheers Ritz

2021 South African Nationals for 15m.,2-seaters and club class.
2 October 2021 – 9 October 2021

Before the Potchefstroom comps, several pilots practiced already to get in the mood for the 2021 Nationals for 15m, 2-seaters and club class.
With 5 flights over 500 km and speed up to 146 km./h. on September 26, it looked like great weather over there.
A total of 42 pilots including the number 2 sitting in the back of a 2-seater, were lined up to decide the winner in each class.
There are 4 classes; 15m,[15] ….club ,[4] ….2-seater [7x 2….Dutch pilot Ronald Termaat flies with Maarten Jonker in the Nimbus 4 D] and Stemme.[3×2] A
A flight from 169 km. was set for all on the practice day ,but only one pilot sent his flight in ,so quickly over to the first REAL day.
Task 1 in 15 m. was 401 km.…. 15 Pilots competed in the end and the best was….John Coutts.[15m. JS 3] And with a speed of 124 km./h he was quite a bit faster than runner up Anders Andersen [JS3 TJ] from Denmark, with 118 km./h.
4 were out…..maybe because they started early at 13.17 whilst all others started around 13.32.
Task 2; 414 km.... All the top S.A. pilots did well. John won again, [ he is a born Kiwi] with 138 km./h for 994 points, but Attie ,Uys and Laurence [Goudriaan ] were just a tad slower ;137,136 and 129 km./h.
11 Started plus 4 HC pilots.
Task 3; 312 km….it’s getting boring, no no NOT for John of course, but he won again and with such speed that there were no 1000 but “only” 680 points for the winner; 142 km./h.!!
The close followers flew with 138 km./h.
Sven [Olivier] did well in his ASW 27 [handicap 95] as number 3 behind Uys.
All 14 who started were in.
No task yet….next week the rest .

In club a 214.67 km. task was set and Dicky Daly sr. and jr. started together and finished nearly at the same time. Flying a St Cirrus with a handicap of 99 gave jr. more points than the LS 6B from sr.[111] ;710 and 566. By the way the Janus 18.2 m. in this class has 2 pilots as well.
Task 2;248 km…. was a prey again for Dicky jr. Wilhelm [Moosehuus] did well in his Mosquito [handicap 107] with a runner up spot . A pity he did not fly on day 1.
Task 3;192 km….Indeed a pity as he won task 3; 117.72 km./h, which was just a tad faster than the ASW 20 [handicap 110] from Renee Coetzee ;117.82 km./h.

For the 2 seaters/Stemme you can look at www. soaringspot.com
After 3 tasks it is the Nimbus 4DM [Martin Scharff / Robert Bristow ]which leads with 2.447 points for the Nimbus 4D.[2.185 with Maarten Jonker and Ronald Termaat from the Netherlands]
The Stemme S10/S10VT leads that class. The 2 Stemme S12 are pretty far behind.

—–On September 29 the British Gliding Association announced the next news;
“The votes to select the 18m and Open Class Teams to represent Britain at the 37^th World Gliding Championships at Matkopuszta in Hungary in 2022 have now been completed“
As the UK always is represented by strong teams , here are their names.
Open; 1. Phil Jones…2. Derren Francis…3. Andy Davis…4. Pete Harvey…5. Leigh Wells…6. Russell Cheetham.
18m; 1. Andy Davis…2. Russell Cheetham…3. Pete Harvey…4. Steve Jones…5. Tim Jenkinson…6. Ian MacArthur

—–On October 16 the OLC final will take place in Poppenhausen.[Germany]
“The trip to the Rhön is not only worthwhile for the winners and laureates. Two promotional gliders are waiting to be awarded, and several invitations to Namibia to the Bitterwasser gliding center are being handed out by Bitterwasser AG and to Wilfried Großkinsky’s 1000 k training camp.”
Also innovations will be presented and explained at the OLC finale.
There is also news about , “The AS 33, with which Sebastian Kawa has just won the World Grand Prix, the electric self-starter AS 34 and with a span of 20 meters the self-starter AS 35.”
NORDIC GLIDING has flown the new electric AS 34 Me. This is what they think. Test article + video
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=da&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fnordicgliding.com%2Ftest-as-34-me-man-tager-vad-man-haver%2F&sandbox=1

——It’s also the end of the OLC season 2021. Looking forward to more flights in 2022. I look at WeGlide too, but I am still ” learning.”
Looking at WeGlide, my Aussie mates are using it too. Here is the news from Jenny Thompson;
“The WeGlide-hosted national decentralized gliding competition commenced on 1 October.  
Sorry for the poor pilots at home, and gliders languishing in hangars due to lockdowns, but I’m sure we’ll all be flying again soon.
The rankings for the Ingo Renner Cup can be found here.  
The rules here
The rankings for the National Club League will be found here once the developers have finalized this.
The WeGlide docs can be found here“
If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s easy.  Go to WeGlide.org 
Tobias Welsch is this year’s winner of the WeGlide Free competition.He was so in 2020 as well.
Bernd Dolba was runner up and the 3d spot was for Frerk Frommholz.
They share an interview with Tobias on
magazin.weglide.org/tobias-welsch-distance-hunting

—–Looking at the OLC.….This weekend some great wave flights in Switzerland. Rainer [Chronjaeger] flew from Hausen am Albis on Sunday, a distance of 1.271 km.in his ASH 31 MI/18m. A duration of 11 hours and 39 minutes!!!!!!!
Felix [Schneebelie] flew in his 18m. Ventus 3 T 1.14o km.
From Austria also a 1.027 km flight by Sven [Kolb] in the 20m ANTARES.
I read the “foehn” was blowing as well.

——Looking at wave …what about this ?????
“Surf season and the Fall Cowley Camp in Alberta, Canada” by Patrick McMahon

—–Luckily for those who were still there, after the cancelled State comps, the Kingaroy weather improved on October 2 with flights up to 394 km in the ARCUS by David Jansen.
Woolley tried out his new Ventus 3T again: 365 km.
“I tested a few other things, a new pilot relief system (which I hated); proved that a better vent knocked off 2 minutes of water dump time; finally, that my cockpit has on average negative 0.05psi pressure relative to the boom statics.”

As I told you ,I was for a week on a high school holiday. This last week one of my mates became rather unexpectedly a widow and one became for the first time grand ma! Life and death so close.

That’s it for now.
For Sunday I have ,for ONE time only, a really nice story from a pilot in 1940, landing 2 planes at once.

Cu next week.
Cheers Ritz

…..Back on track again, after a nice break with my 4 high school friends. With 2 of them I am friends for 70 years, the other 2 from high school onwards.

…..We had a farewell party as well last Friday evening. Our friend Theo died about 1.5 year ago, but because of COVID we could not say good bye to him.
Now we went , as he wished, to a little chapel. Outside in front of it ,were chairs at 1.5 m, [still corona proof] and a glider with sunflowers on the wing in the little park .

After that to a pub for a party with good food and drinks and we stroke up acquaintances again ,with many glider pilots from several Dutch clubs.
My voice suffered from lot’s of talking.

…..Down under the comps have started and as you know by now they start in the East of Australia.
This time Kingaroy is the place to be for the Queensland State Comps between September 25 [practice, with a task of 340 km. won in open by Matthew Scutter 125 km./h and in dry 15 m by Lisa Trotter who flew with a speed of 106 km./h over 266 km.] and October 2.

So on Sunday was day 1.
10 pilots in open class and luckily Matthew [Scutter] made it back in time to fly his own Diana 2 FES in his home country again.
I had to laugh about the Kingaroy news and I help you with it!
“So the the pressure is on in two of the Gliding family dynasty’s [The Scutters and the Maddocks] at the 2021 Comp. Rumor has it that Brother and Sister relationships [ Matthew and Claire Scutter] are solid however partnerships are at stake. A certain world gliding champion [Matthew] is walking his glider out every day because of a forgotten wing walker. All we know is Sophie [Matthew’s partner] is driving and Andy [Partner from Claire] is taking the photos. Oh yeah Claire won the day too.“

So day 1 in open with 242 km. was for Ray Stewart who cashed the first 10 points in his JS 3 with a speed of 146.7 km./h. Not bad!!
Regatta start at 12.55.
Nimbus 3 pilot Mike Sabin was runner up[139.9 km/h] and Woolley [Adam] in his brand new Ventus 3 was 3d .[144.4 km./h]
This changed after checking the results in number 2 for Adam and 4 for Mike due to a 72 sec. penalty for a low finish.
Adam mentioned in his Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures;
“Congratulations to Ray in his JS3 who took out the day win, just 1:34 in front of me at 146.7kph! The difference in the day win was a single decision, straight home or via a street off to my left. Both worked, his was just that fraction better.
Notable mention to Mike Sabin who owned the skies today in his Nimbus 3T, leading out, throwing it around, doing his own thing. Nice one mate“
Other Aussie toppers in this class; David Jansen [ARCUS M] and Butch [John Buchanan]in ASG 29.

Day 1 in the 15m dry ,with 19 participants, was for Claire [Scutter]who JUST won the day and that is very good. She flies an LS 8 like Peter Trotter [runner up] who belongs to the Aussie top; speed 105.7 for 105.4 km./h! Task; 140.7 km. Regatta start at 12.25.
Claire flew the WWGC in Lake Keepit. So did Lisa Trotter who was 5th.
BUT,.…Claire got a 30 sec. penalty for a too low finish ,..so Peter was number 1 in the end.

NO flying on Monday and Tuesday so I continue in my next post…..that is when they are flying….
Reason;

This morning I read the latest news from Kingaroy and that was unfortunately not good, as we could expect from the picture;
“Well it never rains in Qld in October right After one flying day we have had to cancel the comp. Thanks to everyone for trying their best to make it happen.”

…..Also in South Africa the comps start on October 2 till 9 and the place to be there is Potchefstroom.
On the 25th of September Oscar {Goudriaan}flew already 609 km. on a day with a ceiling of 4634 MSL [3238 AGL] in his 18m. JS 3. Not bad either!!!
And Laurence Hardman declared a fun 544@ 152kph from Potch in his JS 1 last Sunday.
John Coutts flew that day as well; 544 declared @ 168kph

…..And in Tocumwal the early-spring-weather was booming and good old Ingo enjoyed a training flight in the Kookaburra.
Grant flew 487 km. in his St Jantar .
But yesterday and today Toc got it’s part of rain as well;”Tocumwal really getting hammered and a storm east of Rushworth!”

…..In the USA [CA] Chester Fitchett flew on Sunday, 928 km in his ARCUS M, on a great wave day up to 5347 MSL[3794 AGL].

….As you know after reading these blogs , the UK had a good year. They use that for top promotion for Lasham, good on them.

…..Staying in the UK, more precisely Scotland, the BGA ladder showed a superb flight from Santiago…. “Sant” for his friends…. Cervantes, in a Discus overflying Scotland to the most Northerly point; Tongue.
An epic flight, in a St class glider ,the very first one, of his kind.
Just missing out on” pipping” the St. Class 500k O/R record, as he mentioned.
The height gain was 10,440  ft.
The max height 14,098  ft.
Great effort congratulations!!!!

…..Some pilots in Australia are “trying” the Morning Glory and with success.
“During the months of September and October, the rare meteorological phenomenon referred to as the Morning Glory Cloud, rolls across the Gulf [of Carpentaria] and can be observed above the skies in Burketown. Gangalidda traditional owner Murrandoo Yanner said his people believe the morning glory was created by Walalu, the Rainbow Serpent, and is of great cultural significance.
The cloud bank can be up to 1,000 km long, 1-2 km wide and can travel at speeds of up to 60 km/hour. Although these clouds can be found in other parts of the world, Burketown is the only place where they appear frequently at set times of the year. “
One of the pilots is Aussie Geoff Pratt flying his PIK 20E ; “Fast long run on morning glory .” OLC on September 29.
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8651627#comment

……Also from Australia;
“BIG NEWS.
We responded to the GFA tender for a competition tracking system with our livegliding / SkyMate system with version 3 of our SkyMate device, and our submission was successful!
The version 3 device (see pics) will have:- more than double the battery life of the previous device- ENL & MOP sensor- Pilot Event Marker (PEV) button- Pressure Altitude…….
Congratulations to all involved!“
Reaction from Andrew Maddocks;”It is fantastic to see what a couple of passionate Aussie glider pilots promoting the sport. Great to see the GFA getting behind this!” [Maddog Composites]

That’s it for now, you are up to date again.
Cu next week hopefully with better news about Potch.
Cheers Ritz

I left you on Wednesday when the pilots had a 337 km. race to go.
Of course I kept following the big final, as it felt like one of the best in history.
“The weather today brought moist southerly flow with high cloud and soft thermal conditions. The wind from the south was moderate but strong enough to complicate the task and the day was far from easy.” was the message in the morning.
Race 4 was a tricky one, with a “new” winner; Bostjan Pristavic from Slovenia in a JS 1!!!! Speed 119 km./h.
Sebastian nearly “got” him [118.7 km./h ] at the line but no, Bostjan just kept ahead.
An off-day for Mario, who had problems in the beginning and never overcame them. Zero points, so Sebastian who was runner up , is now ONE point behind Mario,29 for 30…. But,…it ain’t not over yet!!!

Race 5 was a bit shorter; 254 km. The expectation was for a “may-be-non-flying-day.” BUT ,…they flew. Though the pilots were a bit tense before start.

Mario and a small group with Louis ,Petr and Sylvain took another route in the beginning , got behind , but “travelled ” in the end together to the 2 TP.
They had to pass the airfield, where the weather was still not very flash….they even had rain. The French pilots bundled their efforts and flew more east. In hindsight not a good idea.
Other pilots struggled to keep height ,..only 1 m was available, but still at 1300 m….so not too bad, then, smooth thermals, wide as well……,AND …up to 1700 m.
Sebastian found the most important thermal and lead the others as …Tilo, Katrin and Mario.
Timing is important is what CD Brian Spreckley said.
Anyhow the weather held, the pilots continued after passing St. Auban and they had a race in their hand again. All positive .
They expected an exciting final glide, with many pilots, they got it, though 5 did not finish and broke off earlier.
Though Mario was 400 m. lower than Sebastian.[1800 m] and Tilo was high!!
The height was the winning ‘key’ for Sebastian.; 100 km./h. speed shows how difficult it was.
For Mario it was even more difficult ,but he was runner up, after a tremendous last move. Tilo was 3d.

Race 6; was unfortunately not meant to be. CD Regis Kuntz had to cancel the day because of the weather.

With ONE day to go, it is Sebastian who leads with one point on Mario [39 for 38 ]and Max is 3d.[22 p]
The last race will get an extra point for the winner! Anxious to see what happens as there is a “fight” for spot 3 as well between Max and Katrin with 22 and 18 points.

Race 6; 333.33 km…..Good weather, and pilots motivated to go, after a non-flying-day .
“The front has left the area and as high pressure is building up and the airmass is post frontal. It will be clear, dry day with cumulus up to 2,500m and over 3,000 in the mountains and no high cloud forecast. The wind is south on surface and southwest in the upper levels. There is also the likelihood of Convergences in the Verdon Valley. It will be an excellent soaring day.”
One change for the day.
Till now the finish height was 500 m. now it is 600 m.
Regatta started at 14.15.
Good lift specially above the plateaus.
A real race/fight for 3d place by 4 pilots.
Unfortunately the day was less exciting as Mario was too low and “out”, after he reached a good looking cloud, which did not work.
Mario seems to be an “always- runner -up” …feel sorry for him, but I know he is an excellent pilot.
So no reason for Sebastian to take risks.
Interesting to see that Louis Bouderlique was the only one flying West from the track and Philippe de Pechy was leading the group several times, but got lower in the end.
A local shower over the mountains to the W. ruined some dreams as well…..expensive day for some, as they quickly lost height.
Quite a few “engined” back.
In the end Tilo was the first to finish[126.4 km./h] …11 points for him…., just ahead of Max.[126.1 km/h].
Tilo took the short -cut, used a cumulus nimbus, which was not good, then went to the sun, where he climbed 350 m.
Max gambled for the sun-route as well, instead of the clouds over the mountain.
“The game is ONLY over when you are over the finish line” .Wise words from Brian.
Podium at 7 and then it is party-time!!
WORLD CHAMPION and WINNER OF THE 10th FINAL of the FAI SGP…
1. Sebastian Kawa in AS33es with 39 points.
2. Mario Kiessling in Ventus 3 with 38 points.
3. Maximilian Seis in JS 3 with 30 points.
Congratulations to all.
And thank you to Brian and Ben[jamin Neglais] for their professional comment. He commented himself as well:
“Another great time shared with volunteers, professionals and great champions. Commenting in English the daily races was fun and I Hope people following the race had same fun and learnt things following these pilots.“

AND ALL OF THEM.

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The virtual sailplane GP was as exciting. Jeroen and Ben both have 35 points. Polish pilot Witold Rozak is 3d with 32 points.
They had a special flight flown on Friday evening; race 6.
“At the Virtual SGP, task setters are able to choose the flying weather for any competition. Since it was overcast in St Auban, they decided that, if it wasn’t possible to fly the same task as the real SGP, they would set a fast race with excellent soaring conditions.”
So they did!
Competition Director Antoine Havet promised that the race would be ‘bombastic’ and expected speeds from the competitors of around 200 kph.
They gave “the racers” splendid weather and a task of 350 km.
It turned out to be a fast and furious race and Tim Kuijpers from The Netherlands did well. He was not able to fly every day but this day he was 3d.
Witold [Ventus 3] has 42 points now, Jeroen 41 and Ben 38, both fly Ventus 3 as well……. one day to go.

Race 7; 333.33 km….25 year old Ben won the day with a speed of 145 km./h. Arne Martin from Norway was runner up on this last day.
Nice to read that “Competition Director Antoine Havet was joined in the commentary box by the new SGP World Champion Sebastian Kawa and second place winner Mario Keissling ,who relived the race they had just completed ,while the Virtual SGP pilots were flying the same task.“
Great winners of a fantastic week of virtual flying by pilots from 20 countries;
1. Ben Fest in Ventus 3 with 49 points.
2. Witold Rozak in Ventus 3 with 42 points.
3. Jeroen Jennen in Ventus 3 with 41 points.
Congratulations to all.
They had news as well;
“Antoine announced that in 2022, nine official Qualifying Virtual SGPs would take place. The top competitors would be selected to fly in the 2nd Virtual SGP Finals, to be held in 2023 at the same time as the finals for the 11th Series SGP.”

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ABOYNE.

A couple of days without cross country tasks, but height gain was on.
On Wednesday ,when I published ,I did not know what the height was , but 6076 was the best. They flew over 10.000 ft.
After 3 days Alastair Mutch was the best “gainer” with a total of 16.594.
On the last day the message was :
“The rain is continuing to fall with little prospect of us being able to set a task today, we have therefore scrubbed the day and will hold prize giving at 11:30.”
So the winners were known.
Adrian Docherty has won the 24th UK Mountain Soaring Championship and Alastair Mutch won the height -gain trophy.
A pity from the weather, but next year they fly again in Aboyne.

That’s it for now.
A little break for me.
Cu back on September 29.
Cheers Ritz

To finish 2 , in my opinion, great pictures by Bo.