——This is the picture, out of 300, who won the Dutch aviation-photo – award 2020!!!!The winner is Raymond Esveldt.
Congratulations!!!!!

—–Unexpected 1000 km.-flights are the best. Here is Lumpies story, with the message “Now that’s a bucket list item done ….”:
1.126 km. with a speed of 126 km./h in his JS 3/18m. from the Airport Cunderdin in Western Australia.
Always nice to hear a story from the “horses mouth.”
“Well that was a hoot ….
All started at 8pm last night when I got to Cunderdin, rigged LP under lights in the awesome Soarabilty Hangar (Thanks again Damien) as I knew it would be an early start in the morning. Skysight was spot on today with the WX so a launch at 10.12 went as planned. The air changed noticeably 4 times during the flight, there was a different air mass south of NGN …. still good though, only 16% circling to the first turn point. The long leg was just that, I had to change gears a few times and picked the eyes out of the sky, still over 135kph at the second turn, but the third leg was all over the show. I couldn’t read the clouds, everywhere I tried….. nothing ! Reboot the brain and started again, things happening better now, although I’m sure the day cycled during that period as well….. turned the last turn point and just milked everything going home….Highest was 9k AGL twice, spent most of the day between 5 and 8k. 1000k in WA was on the bucket list Thanks team GCWA …. 1126 kms at 126kph …. great WA day !”

Another 1000 was flown on December 12 as well, also from Western Australia but now from Southern Cross by Norm Bloch, who got his JS 3 at the same time as Lumpy. I was there , in Tocumwal, when they got their gliders…Butch “go” one too.
Norm flew an FAI triangle from 1.005 km. with a speed of 123 km./h.
Norm mentioned ” Nice day yet not booming, proves what can be done.”
So right!!!

—–Talking about super weather,….. look at “the heart of the continent” ,…..with other words Alice Springs. This picture was shared by Robert with the message “Nice day in Alice. And better it will be in the days to come… .“

—–More words about SUPER WEATHER, but now on the other side of the world. 4x an FAI 1000 km triangle,…not bad!!!
Bernd Dolba flew in the Super Shark 1.181 km in total and a triangle of 1.029 km. from Veronica in Namibia.
Father and son Petr and Radek Krejcirik, [CZ] both well known from WGC comps, enjoyed such a flight as well, same glider same airfield;1.123 km and an FAI triangle of 1.110 km.
“Our” Israelian soaring-mates Rafi and Avron flew and FAI 1000-triangle as well in the ARCUS M.
Already longer there is Dieter Prang and he flew one too.
Several 1000 km flights from Bitterwasser and Worcester as well last Monday.
FULL-TOP-GLIDING has started again!!!!
Yesterday great weather too, but “only” 1 x 1000 km by Rafi and Avron [1.014/962 km] and OUCH,….999 /965 km, by the Krejcireks.

——Benjamin Neglais , from Schempp-Hirth, was the one to test a brand new Discus-2c FES above the Alb Plateau for a full 1h check about glider behavior, sturdiness and all systems inside. Strong West wind was blowing so ridges were usable. Unexpected as there was no wind on ground and we even took off facing East .

After the flight he shared some data:
“Technical data of the flight shows 1.8m/s average with 17kWh output (max 23kWh) and total gain with engine without optimization above 900m with 2 phases @17kWh and one @8kWh plus one extra just for long leveling @5kWh for 10 minutes. So a gain above 1000m was possible. Great glider as always and great FES system.”

CU next week, just before Christmas, by the way today I turn 74!!!
Thank you already for he early-bird-birthday-messages.
Easy- going-covid-19-day! We got a FULL lockdown on our Dutch plates yesterday, so max 2 visitors on one day!!!
We will survive that too,…no worries.
Cheers Ritz

In New Zealand 30 pilots flew the Springfield 2020 Soaring Championship from Canterbury, in a class, with a “nice” name; enterprise. It seems an interesting concept.
“Old” guns as Tim Bromhead, [Ventus CT] but also young guns as Nick Oakley[Discus 2A] and Alex Mc Caw, [St Cirrus] former junior members of the NZ team, were trying their best to win this “enterprise” title.
They had 6 days to do so , but the “young ones” both had an off day with Nick on day 1 missing a TP and Alex on task 2.
Task 1….208.69 km...day 1;” According to the organizers “A challenging day with low thermals on the plains. The goal for the day was to get to a series of turn points spread across the Canterbury Plains. There was also bonus points for any pilot who could get out to sea. Three pilots achieved this, OP, JK and TF, however only one of the three gliders made it back to Springfield. Well Done Tim in OP. There were a few other landouts at various locations across the Canterbury Plains.”
Task 2 …max. 588.58 km. on day 3,with 11 TP’s after a “no-task-day.!!!
Wave up to nearly 6000 m. MSL. But the best pilots in the ASH 25 Mike Oakley [Nicks dad] / Karen Morgan, flew 344 km with a speed of 64.77 km./h! For 532 points!!!
Nick was 3d Alex 4th and Tim 11th for 191 points.

A task was set ,but another day cancelled on December 2 but Tim Bromhead did fly and with mixed feelings he wrote about the day:
“Didn’t quite make the 1000km, but still had a great, albeit terrifying at times, flight. It was some wild weather today, 70 knots wind (130km/h) to contend with at times at 16,000 feet”
He flew 403 km.
So …a good idea to cancel the day.
Task 3 on day 5 with a possibility of 718 km and 12 TP’s.
616 and 626km was flown by the ASH 25 with Mike [president of the club]and Karin and ASH 25M by team ZF.
Derek Kraak in the ASG 29 E flew 505 km and was 3d.
When you wonder where Keith Essex is,…he is one of the tuggies!

Task 4 on day 6 with 2 pilots “earning” the same amount of points; Tim in the Ventus CT [ starting at 13.49] and Alex [ start at 13.32] in the St. Cirrus;637 points for 304 km and 258 km.
An hour later the ZF , the ASH 25M started but they only flew 116 km and lost 185 points for the day.

NO task 5,…. so with 4 out of 7 day’s with thermals , wave so several challenging days, this was real N.Z. -weather.
Winners were no “news”, as they were winners already for a few days.
1. Oakley and Morgan in the ASH 25 with 2.394 points.
2. Tim Bromhead in the VENTUS 2CT with 2.084 p.
3 .Team ZF in the ASH 25 M. with 1.933 p. Tried to find out who flew the glider but could n’t.
Alex [ chief pilot at Canterbury] and Nick were 4th and 5th [1.894 and 1.837 p], IF,….
The extra bonus points “to reach the sea” invited pilots to fly distances they otherwise would not do. So a lot of individual “thinking” ,a nice creative concept.

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One of the new concepts in soaring is virtual flying. E glide. In Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban, in France this virtual happening started on December 4 and continues till December 19 under the name Condor FFVP [ Federation Francaise de Vol en Planeur] e Sport Series..
It is possible to follow it on you tube. This is day 1 on December 4 with 217 km.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3gk_nfXL0I
Nearly 50 pilots are involved, so a lot of interest in “our” winter in this kind of soaring.
“The FVP is organizing for the first time a Condor 2 competition that comes as close to the real competitions as possible! 5 races and 1 training sessions are offered to you, mixing plains and mountains theft. The circuits will be drawn so that all participants can easily realize them. Objectives of the competition:
• Offer a Condor competition that comes as close as possible to the real competitions (regulations, guidance, flight conditions).
• Offer a playful and training animation.
• Promote the glider competition and eSport. All competitors are asked:
• a sympathetic attitude towards the problems that this first match might encounter;
• Apply the same security rules as theft in real gliders. Dates and opening hours of the following messages:
Friday 4 December 2020….. Friday 11 December 2020….. Friday 18 December 2020 ……. Wednesday 23 December 2020 ….. Wednesday 30 December 2020 u

Competition website: https://www.soaringspot.com/…/condor-ffvp-esport…/
View the training day: https://youtu.be/6F5rzwlzKKY
More information about the glider: https://www.ffvp.fr/

To finish,……. a few pictures from the “past” because most of you seem to really like them.
The Awards Ceremony in 2015 in Rotterdam, at the SS ROTERDAM, where I was awarded with the Pelagia Majewska Medal….. still a proud moment.

A few good flights last week on the OLC. One last Monday from Keith Essex, travelling back to the South Island where he runs a club/business at the moment with planes brought from the USA. He flew in wave 1.202 km in an ASG 29/15m. with a speed of 147 km. Going far up N. and less far S. from Omarama.
“Took a while to get into the wave. Lots of low level instability. Most of it was weak meandering wave. Wave petered out in the north. Very southerly that made the trip south very slow and require lots of jumping wave bars.”
Also the “boy’s” from the Cu Nim Gliding Club had a 1000 in their ARCUS M not as far as the week before though and mainly because they tried “An experiment, playing with Mountain Wave (not fun), and going as far north as possible (lots of fun)”.1.067 km.
A few 1000 k’s from Bitterwasser and Veronica [ since December 3 every day 2 1000 km. flights in the ARCUS M and/or ASH 31/21 m. and some in the Shark] and on Saturday also 3x a 1000 from Douglas Backhouse in JS 1 , JS 3 /18m.and Ventus 2CM/18m.So they have started too.

Nearly Christmas and “end of 2020” ,what a weird year it was. Looking ahead at 2021 already.
30 Days to go for JOEYGLIDE in Australia ,….a competition as well as coaching program for the young ones according to the COVID -19 rules!!!The borders between the States are as far as I know open at this stage. They are considering a REGATTA in Leeton [NSW].
https://www.joeyglide.juniorsoaring.org/

Last but not least and I am REALLY PLEASED to see this…….
“our” former pool is up and running again!!!!!

Cheers Ritz

” I was playing with the convergences ” Was his comment AND …”SkySight forecast was spot on”. YES, Matthew and his SkySight- team are doing such a great job!!!!
BUT,……Peter Temple flew from Gawler , close to Adelaide, on Friday November 27, a magic distance from 1.312.7 km. with a nice speed of 136 km./h!
TOP JOB!!!!!Of course he is a great pilot , flies WGC’s etc, BUT such a distance must be another dream come true for him!!!WELL deserved!!!!
Congratulations Pete and what a superb beginning of the down-under-season!!!
And….. on that day only 3 pilots added their flight from Gawler on the OLC, the rest I guess had to work!!!; Alex Wallis in the St. Libelle with 753 km….great job as well….must be a happy chappie too and Geoff Wood in a Pilatus B4 with 353 km.

One day later Pete wrote on his Pete Temple Gliding
“1312 km yesterday – and this is how. Cloud base 15000 ft in a convergence running from Port Augusta to Horsham (although I wasn’t game to stray far into Victoria). This was the view coming home.”

That same day Canada had superb weather too. Look at this news from the Cu Nim Gliding Club :
“Incredible performance by Chester and Patrick in a Schempp-Hirth Arcus M today. Can you believe an average sped of 212km/h over 971km in the Chinook wave? Dig into the flight and find a 156km leg with an average speed above 300km/h!6th best flight in the world, and possibly another new Canadian record. Congrats fellas! https://skylines.aero/flights/127769

Of course Schempp-Hirth reacted as well;
“Looking for another flight spot? Canada seems to be one for the bucket list! And the season for wave is definitely open. On 27th of November, Chester Fitchett and Patrick McMahon, in a Schempp-Hirth Arcus-M, flew an average speed of 212km/h over 971km in the Chinook wave (near Calgary)!!!Flight data analysis with SeeYou shows a 156km leg over 300kph ground speed!!! https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6fB8pgaCOieuc_CD216xYF…
Congratulations to the pilots and to the club of Cu Nim (Black Diamond Airport) for another great adventure in the sky!
https://www.cunim.orgAnd another time thanks a lot to ATC for allowing pilots to perform such flights! It seems to become a good habit

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When I left you, there were no scores, but of course we have them now.
Day 5 had the 3 hour AAT and 8 from the 22 still flying from Narrogin, flew over 300 km. One pilot, in fact 2 in one glider the DG 1000/20 m. was/were ” out”.
1000 points for Greg [Beecroft] , in his 18m. LS 8 for a speed of 108 km./h over 339 km. Not a real fancy day, I guess looking at the speed.
Lumpy [Paterson]had 924 , Don[Woodward] 880 and Norm [Bloch]had 842 points.

Some info; Narrogin is in Western Australia about 192 km. SE of Perth.
This is how the field looks!

The next day was a no-flying-day , due to wind and conditions!
So they flew again on Friday with another 3 hour AAT on their schedule.
Task 6 on day 7; A FAST day and many kilometers were flown. Look at this;
Norm in the JS 3/18m. won the day with 451.72 km. and a speed of 141.21 km./h!!!
Runner up was Lumpy same glider , even more kilometers…454.31…but more time was needed so speed was 137.36 km./h.
Don did a great job in his ASG 29/18m. …he flew 457.38 km. with a speed of 130.57 km./h.
This is what Lumpy had to say about the day;
“The task was set into the Cu area for today, which was interesting as not far to the north of us it was blue and to the south it was over developed and soft. There was a convergence line forming to the south as seen in the photos, I only managed to use it for around 50km as it was too far south to be of benefit for the run home but assisted getting to the second turn point. The first two legs went very well for me and was doing over 150kph as I turned but got bogged down on the run home sadly, all in all a pretty good day though. Great to see Greg is human after all, first time out of the top three all week, he flies consistently well.”
Greg was 5th.

Task 7 on day 8 the final day!!A 2.47 AAT was set and 10 pilots flew over 350 km. Quite some differences in speed as the daily winner Don, had 358.74 km with a speed of 128.34 km./h. missing out on 4 points to be as number 3 at the podium.
That spot was for Lumpy, he hold on, BUT…he lost 197 points by being 5th for the day with 359 km. with a speed of 115,65 km./h!!!!
Runners up for the day were Norm and Greg.
“It was a blue day with a mix thermal arrangement, some climbs were 6 kts and other only 3… mostly going to around 5k agl. I started pretty much at the front and spent most of the day finding thermals for others and not really making the break away from the group, until 30k from the last turn. There was some really strong sink streets today and it was difficult to work out which way to move out of them ( well for me anyway )found myself low a few too many times for my liking.” as told by Lumpy. Who won the 3d prize AND the prize for the ” the fastest 300 for the comps.” 152 km./h!!!!

Final results after 7 out of 8 day’s of great soaring in the West from Australia;
1. Greg Beecroft in the 15 m. LS 8 with 6.173 points.
2. Norm Bloch in the JS 3/18 m with 6.118 p.
3. Lumpy Paterson in the JS 3/18 m. with 5.912 p.
4. Don Woodward in ASG 29/18m with 5.908 p.
Close scores, hard fighting for the honors!!!
The pilots from Beverley Soaring Society won the team trophy.

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News from the future Nationals in Australia;
“This year has been a difficult year to plan, and both the October Multiclass at Kingaroy and the December Club/Sports Class Nationals at Tocumwal had to be called off. The two events have now been merged into a single Nationals for Club, Std, 15m, 18m and Open class. This event will be held from the 13-20 March 2021, either at DDSC [Darling Downs Soaring Club ]or Dalby depending on numbers. The decision to hold such a late Nationals was made to maximize the time available for travel around Australia to return to normal, and to give pilots from all over the country as much time as possible to regain currency. The late timing also meant that the only practical location was Queensland, where the weather is still excellent during March. COVID is impossible to predict, and politicians are even less so, but to be clear: if signed-up pilots from any state are prevented by regulation from traveling to the Nationals, or cannot return home without supervised quarantine, then the contest may still take place, but will not be counted as a Nationals and won’t be used for international team selection points.

A signed-up pilot is any pilot who has registered to attend and has paid their deposit.” Alan Barnes

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News from Bittwerwasser;

“Small but nice…A small group of about 20 guests are currently enjoying their stay in Bitterwasser. Everything is a bit smaller and more familiar than in the years before. Yesterday was the first good flying day. With Cumuli early over Bitterwasser the day started promising. In the afternoon showers and thunderstorms made the flight exciting after all. With 1043 km on the speedometer Tobi Welsch and Tore Graben finally arrived home again with the Bitterwasser Arcus RL. Dirk Reich and Frerk Frommholz flew a proud 955 km. The rest of the troop preferred to land a little earlier and flew distances around 700 km.”
The first 1000 k. has been flown as well.
And on the last day of November 3 x a 1000 and 1 from Worcester and 2 from Veronica. Summer has started , winter here!

The construction of the new TOCUMWAL MUSEUM is going fast and steady and the exterior is now beginning to take shape.

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And to finish a picture from TOBIAS BARTH, who won the 2020 ZIELFOTO AWARD.I do understand why he won. CONGRATULATIONS!!!
“Photographer of the Gliding Calendar – Fotokalender Segelfliegen prevails!!!!Our photographer Tobias wins the finish photo award, announced by photographer Stephan Wiesner in cooperation with Gearflix. The quality of his work prevailed against about 4000 pictures from Northern Germany on the topics “landscape”, “sea” and “city“.

CU next week. With news from the Springfield Soaring Championship in New Zealand from November 29 till December 5.
By the way some parts of Australia suffer from an early -spring-heat-wave with 40 dgr. C plus. We had minus 6.5 here in the night from Sunday to Monday!!!!
Here a picture shared by my friend Brad:

“December 1st and summer has arrived! 41 degrees and a few little cells at Nyngan today but it’s nothing new for our experienced pilots.
With extensive time operating in places such as the Kimberley, Central Aus and Far North QLD, our pilots make sure your flight is safe and comfortable even in the hottest locations.”
Edwards Aviation
“Edwards Aviation is a premium air charter service offering corporate and private flights in a fleet of fast, luxurious aircraft. We offer quick, comfortable and efficient travel solutions to the highest standards of safety and service.”

Keith Gately mentioned this morning from Lake Keepit:
“New record 500k out and return in 20m 2 seat class. 141.8 klm. Nice one Adam Woolley 2 flights 2 records. Not a bad couple of days gliding. Another verification to be confirmed.”
The day before they flew a new record together a 300 km. out and return ;139.9 km./h from Bathurst.
And another THANK YOU:” Thanks Matthew Scutter for SkySight and it’s wickedly accurate plotting of the convergence.”

Cheers Ritz

The New South Wales State comps continued in Lake Keepit with day 5/task 5 on November 19 and the weather for this day was pretty good again:
” Cu and the glancing influence of a trough with a cold front to follow in the coming days.  Light and variable winds and 4-5kts to 4,500′ AGL at 12pm will kick off a day capable of 575-805km flights.  By 3pm, competitors should enjoy 5-7kt Cu-marked climbs to 9,500′ AGL and perhaps 1,000′ higher in the north.  Conditions are forecast to weaken considerably by 5pm. ”
So off they went!!
Open class; 387 km. with 3 JS 3 gliders in the daily top; Mac , who is really on a mission, flew around with a speed of 142.89 km./h!!!Brad with 136,56 and Jacques [Graells] with 134.47 km./h!!! Bruce was 4th, lost some points, but still leads with just over 50 points.
All 12 pilots who started finished as well!!
Task 6; a 3 hour AAT was set for the “long wings” and it was Bruce again “setting the points on the i”; 377 km. in time 3.01 so a speed of 124.62 km./h. Brad in the JS 3 was a tad faster 389 km in 124.69, but needed 6 minutes more.
Mac was 4th and lost 130 points.
Good to see Nick [Singer] in his JS 1 on 4. Nick is a really nice guy, great cook as we found out last WWGC and a very dedicated club instructor.

Task 7 and the last one!!!
“A gust front forecast to arrive at 1730hrs has resulted in a minimum 2,000′ AGL finish height at 15km.  The temperature trace at Tamworth is a degree ahead of Skysight’s forecast and the tasksetter has made the following decrees for the final day of racing.
Long wings: 3hr AAT 250.3km/592.9km (393.3km)
461 km. was the longest distance by Mac in his JS 3.But,..he did not win the day, Bruce flew 421 km but needed 20 minutes less to do so; 1000 and 916 points. Handicap for ASG 29 is 1075 and for JS 3 1085.
So in the end the final scores are pretty clear,
1. Bruce Taylor in 18m ASG 29 with 6.182 points.
2. Mac Ichikawa in JS 3 with 5.915 p.
3. Brad Edwards in JS 3 with 5.812 p.
On a good 4th place Jacques Graells in the JS 1 still in the 5000 points-marge with 5.489 p
On a very good 5th spot…Kerrie Claffey with 4.623 p.in the 18 m ASG 29.

Sports class; 314km race and good speed here as well as Allan, flew around with 115,76 km./h which was quite a bit faster than David Pickles in his PIK 20B with 106,48 but great speed for the PIK. Kimberly in her Pegase was 3d with 100,84 km./h.
All 11 pilots finished!!!!
Day 6, task 6 a 2.30 AAT was set and this time David was the better one winning the last but one day. Allan was runner up and the difference was very small…..259.91 km in time 229.44 and 259.88 in time 2.30.
Handicap from David’s PIK 20 B is 1055 and the one from Allan ‘s LS 8 is 1085.
So 800 and 755 points for the day.
Day 7 /task 7 ; Short wings….3.30 AAT 338.7km/489.9km (333.9km)
419 km in time 3.38. Great result by Allan . He flew quite a bit further and faster than runner up Paul in his LS 3…..346 km in time 3.32; speed 114.87 for 98.03!!
So a more than deserved total win for Allan.
1. Allan Barnes in LS 8 with 6.062 points.
2. Paul Dickson in LS 3 with 4.939 p. and Winner from club class.
3. David Turner in ASW 27 with 4.695 p.
Good 4th spot for David Pickles in his PIK 20 B.

CONGRATULATIONS to all.
I hope more comps will follow in this covid-19 time!!!
AND, yes

The WAGA STATE COMPS in Australia followed straight away from Narrogin, with 23 competitors in one class ..sports class.3 Fly HC.
They started on November and continue till the 28th.
Some good pilots in this competition so on day 1 with a 2.35 AAT those good pilots topped the list ;Norm Bloch with 361 km and a speed of 139.28 km./h. in his JS 3/18 m..
Then Greg Beecroft in LS 8/15 m. with 361 km. but speed of 126.60 km./h. On the daily spot 3 Lumpy Paterson in JS 3 /18 m with 362 km …speed 133.80 km./h.
Spot 4 was for Don Woodward in ASG 29/18m. with 361 km. ;speed 131.50 km./h.
These 4 fly national and some international comps!
Day 2; 252 AAT and the same 4 in the top 5 with one pilot in the middle; Ashley Boyle in his ASW 27.
This day was for 1000 points; Greg got them. Norm got 973 and Ashley 932 with 929 for Lumpy and 877 for Don.
Day 3 ;a 3 hour AAT and the “little” LS 8, won on handicap with Greg flying 388 km [speed 124.12 km./h] Don flew 433 km [speed 129.84 km./h] and Norm and Lumpy about the same.
Day 4; a 2.14 AAT and HUGE SPEED!!!!! So no 1000 points. Lumpy was in a hurry and flew around with 151,76 km./h over 340.79 km.!!! Pff….
Distances from Norm , [147 km./h] Greg [136 km/h] and Don [141 km./h] and Ashley [135 km./h.] about the same, speed a bit slower.
17 Pilots were “in”.
Day 5 ;TODAY,..no scores yet but a 3 hour AAT was set!!!!More next week.
After 4 days the overall scores are; Greg 3.455, Norm 3.418, Lumpy 3.319 and Don 3.232.

In between the South Island Championships were flown in New Zealand, between November 15 and 21.They had 4 days with 2 3 hour AAT’s and set tasks from 292 and 430 km. in open class .Not bad!!!!
Keith Essex won in his ASG 29 E 3 days and with 3.986 points. The day he did not win was for young Nick Oakley who finished as runner up overall with 3.786 p.
In racing class “good old ” Tony van Dyk won so is still going strong in his LS 8. GOOD ON HIM!!!!3.930 points.
Terry Jones, also in LS 8 was runner up with 3.866 p. He won 2 days ,Tony 1.

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The number 2 [ from 49 participants] , in Borlange, you remember… the WGC 1993 in Sweden , just behind UK pilot Andy Davis , was Erik Borgmann. Last weekend captain Erik, retired after 33 years of flying for KLM to start a” new life after retirement”.
To look back on Erik’s WGC life here a few pictures.

During that 1993 WGC , pilots as Mac, Brad and Bruce , now flying the state comps in Keepit, flew as well. It was one of the wettest and cold comps I remember. My mate Bruce Brockhoff was their TC, he was mostly “frozen”.
Standard class had 9 days, 15 m, had 10 and open 11. So not bad!!!
In 15 m. with 40 participants, it was French pilot Gilbert Gerbaud who won with Eric Napoleon[ both in LS 6B] , as runner up and Austrian pilot Wolfgang Janowitsch as 3d.[Ventus B]
In open, with 27 pilots, it was Janusz Centka[ ASW 22 B] from Poland, followed by Goeran Ax [ ASW 22BLE] from Sweden and Brian Spreckley from the UK.[ASH 25]
I remember, that Frederico Blatter landed in a Lake and had to be carried out by a helicopter. A very exciting happening. For that reason he did not fly the last couple of days.

Talking about Erik and Joyce makes me think of my 50thiest birthday too.
My daughter wanted to talk me in to dressing up, but knowing I was going to visit Erik and Joyce in their fancy farm house with 2 children, I decided to stick to my jeans and body warmer.
Surprise surprise,. A SURPRISE PARTY!!!On November 29 in 1996, organized by Inge , Joyce and Erik and a lot of mates!!
I was shocked, but they did a FABULOUS job and Joyce is a more than talented cook.
50 Guests or more and as you can see I REALLY DID N’T know. It was a total shock!!!

In December we celebrated my birthday in Australia, with my Aussie mates. Different party ,..but now with all my Australian mates. Around 100 arrived in car’s or in planes as from Canberra, Melbourne , Sydney and Brisbane . Friends from town but mostly out of our soaring world.

Looking back in my old books I feel always very sad to see how many of those mates from 1993 and 1996 are not with us anymore now. It’s part of life, I am getting older too.

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The building of the TOCUMWAL MUSEUM is going steady on. The roof is on now .
“The team have done a great job of insulating and cladding in fairly windy conditions the past week but the majority of cladding work is complete with only the northern end and hangar doors remaining.“

That’s it for now.
CU next week.
Cheers Ritz

For some pilots, their heart beats faster when they only think of Namibia. We all know that Namibia is not only Bitterwasser, or Pokweni or Kiripotib, but over the last years Veronica makes hearts beating faster as well.
The container arrived there and from November 8 onward you can find flights.
Looking at the OLC some great flights have been flown already by Bruno [Gantenbrink] and Dieter Prang on November 12. Indeed in great gliders as ETA and ASH 31 /21m, but still…over 1000 km. and nearly a 1000 triangle. Those longer 1000 km flights for sure will come.
On Veronica-Flying.de you can find more info over the next weeks.

Some of my friends have arrived in Worcester, a place they love and return to, every year. 2 Flights over 700 k in the ARCUS M since November 9, by Marcus and one of the German top girls Stefanie Muehl, are promising for the season there.
And Orient had already nearly 700 km. flights as well.

Down under in Kingaroy flights from 878 km. by David Jansen on November 11 in the ARCUS T , though , as he shared, smoke spoiled the last 100 km. and 743 km by Adam in the Ventus 2CM/18m on November 15.
It’s great to see that Chris Hostettler , as you know I call him Swiss Chris, moved, now he is retired temperately from Tocumwal to the East “KINGAROY,….What a great place to fly over winter and in spring especially this year. Great club, members and food . I sure will move to QLD over winter again next year. So far statistics say 16 flights, 60 hours and 6000km. Never had a spring like that in Australia – but partially that’s the benefit of retired life“.

Tocumwal hopes to be active as always again asap;
Here is a message from Tocumwal Soaring Centre
“There is still uncertainty around if and when all the borders will be open again.We are still working to ensure all our friends and customers will be looked after and be able to continue to fly with us at TSC once normality returns. Our LS4 GNP is in the final stages of its complete refinish and is looking awesome. The recovering of MPG ( super tug Callair ) is almost complete as well. We have added yet another glider to our fleet during these quite times and caters to our Schempp-Hirth fans. Along with our 4 x LS4’s and Cirrus in standard class, we can now also offer a Discus B. All of our gliders can also carry water if your looking to add some speed to your tasks.”

—————————————-

The NSW State comps started last Sunday in good old LAKE KEEPIT!!!
They continue till the 21 with a presentation dinner that evening.
Wonder if that is in the club house, where I had my little but perfect room during the WWGC.
22 Pilots will “fight” for the highest honor, in 2 classes,11 in sports [club, standard, 15m.] and 18m/open. [12] Among them Brad Edwards, Bruce Taylor, Mac, Alan Barnes and some of the new friends, local pilots, I made there, as Chris and Lindy Bowman, Tim, Jay, Nick, Jacques , Dave and more !!!
Presentation of scores will be amended to two groups only: ‘Sports’ (Club/Std/15) and ’18m/Open’. The final awards for the 5 class-based winners and state champions won’t be affected.
FINE!!!
Casey is the “organizer, scorer and “social media dude” operating from Hong Kong where he lives and has to stay due to COVID-19.Mac flies and keeps an eye on the weather. Bruce flies and is task setter.

Open;
Task 1 had a 339 km set task and was won by Bruce [Taylor] with a speed of 123 km./h. flying the 18m ASG 29 .Followed by his mate Brad Edwards in the JS 3 and when Brad is there, there is music and singing as well.
Day 1 winners;

Task 2 was a good one, much better than day 1 .
“A trough with high cloud-base was forecast to the NW so a 4hr AAT was set. Windy and started in the blue, got to the clouds NW of Narrabri and had a great run West then North to the top of the circle. The climbs were much less strong on the way south, at least there was a tailwind. It looked like to door might shut with rain and heavy OD before I got home but got a climb onto final glide at Mt Kaputar. Worth the price of entry!” as said by Matthew Atkinson flying his 18m Ventus 2C.
Some 12 kn. thermals were mentioned up till 12.000 not bad!!!
Daily winner Bruce [Taylor] with 616 km. in time 4.33.
Task 3 ,with a set task of 253 km was won by Mac; 132.29 km./h, BUT Brad and Bruce were on his tail; 132.14 km./h and 129.51 km./h.
Casey mentioned ;”Weatherman Mac Ichikawa (1M) gave regular updates to the grid as temperatures climbed and cloud departed the tasking area.  He reported conditions for the most part following the forecast.”
Task 4, today, was indeed on a great soaring day!!
501 Km. was set and Mac’s combined skills in both disciplines, fabulous soaring and knowledge of weather, “translated” in a speed of 142 km./h, in his JS 3 !!!!So preliminary another day-win!!!
Bruce was runner up with 139 km./h .He still tops the overall scores with 3.429 points after 4 good soaring days.
Mac is runner up with 3.244 p.

Sports class;
Task 1 was a prey for Allan [Barnes] He flew 318 km during the 3 hour AAT in time 3.03; 104 km./h.
He was 10 km./h. faster than runner up Kel Burgess in a Discus 2.[94 km./h over286 km.]
Task 2 had a 3.30 AAT and AGAIN Allan was the best in his LS 8. ;361 km in time 3.32.
Kimberly , who did the social media during the WWGC , flew her PEGASE to a nice 4th spot.
Task 3, 235 km and as they are used to see by now on spot 1 was Allan, with 112 km./h, BUT the runner up was interesting; Chris Bowman in his LS 8.
He departed half an hour earlier [14.23 for 14.01], and flew around with just over 100 km./h
During the WWGC he was busy as a bee with organizing nearly everything not in the least the total financials. When necessary HE took Gisela, Frouwke and me to the big hall where dinner was served every day for the staff.
So it pleases me now to see that he was runner up. Casey was pleased as well;
“Chris Bowman (PO) had a stellar day and perhaps achieving a personal best at 100.6kph, a mere 134 pts behind Sports day winner Allan Barnes (S7).  Chris reported: “It was a good day with fantastic thermals.  8-10kts repetitively with the only complaint being large areas of equivalent sink.  The sky was completely blue but no matter what we did, we kept managing to blunder into strong climbs.  I tracked along the edge of the Pilliga scrub, looking down on others more cocky than I that ventured deeper into that unlandable terrain.  It was a great day and tomorrow promises to be even better!“
OH,…I remember all those names so well; Pilliga,Pine Ridge Narrabri…

Task 4 with 382 km. was NOT won by Allan, but by Paul Dickson in the LS 3; 107.95 km./h. Runner up was David Turner in an ASW 27 and Allan in his LS 8 was 3d. No problems for his overall scores; 3.423 points for 2.990 from Paul. So a nice comfortable lead!!!
As they flew today the scores are preliminary.

The next couple of days you can follow the scores on www.soaringspot.com

———————————-

“Happy 100th birthday Qantas. Times are tough, but don’t forget you’ve been an amazing part of so many people’s lives, and will do so again in the near future! Thinking particularly of all the Qantas and Aussie tourism staff doing it tough at the moment.” written by one of my Aussie mates.
I hope this COVID-19 is over soon and the world including aviation turns back to normal.

————————–

Talking about history here is a Dutch story, with a 54th birthday.
54 years ago TRANSAVIA, the company where George flew and Inge still flies, flew for the first time to Naples in Italy on November 16.
This week the HV 6411 flew again to Naples, 54 years later!!!!
Transavia in nowadays a 100% daughter of KLM.

————————

The NEW November Gliding International, the magazine I have written for , for several years because I found it a magazine with all kind of interesting news , not only technical also empathic, had a beautiful Polish cover. A photo-montage from a glider and Leszno…..THE place to be in Poland for soaring.
Further on news on the
—–LS 8 E- neo with FES; High performance paired with a lot of security.
Lot’s of data and pictures.
Good to see that Holger Back is the CEO there. I remember how he, after the WGC in Benalla in 1987 ,flew his first 1000 km from Tocumwal.
—–“Fly like a girl”…a film which is more than a film. Most inspiring!!
7.9 % of the total pilot population in the USA is female! An interview with Abbie, Abigail Harrison, an astronaut at the Kennedy Space Centre Visitors center.
—–The Purdue University developed a new white paint that can reflect over 95 % of sunlight.
—–a beautiful story about the epic flight from Hanna Reitsch in 1937 from Salzburg to Pieve di Cadore. An excerpt from her book “Fliegen mein Leben” translated by Aldo [Cernezzi].
–—-great pictures in the PHOTO ALBUM.
—–The Wilga 32… tow plane. When I saw a WILGA for the first time I was truly amazed to see how high “it stands on it’s legs”.
–—-How do you judge when it is better to stay at the ground?
——Could your canopy be the source of power for your motor glider?!
—–The federation of aeronautical sports of Russia and COVID -19.
An interview with Sergey Ananov, President of the Russian Federation of Aeronautical Sports.
——-Flying away – The experience of flying away from home by George Frost and where of all paces??? In Iran.
–—-And lots of International Aviation news for glider pilots AND of course “things with wings”.
For subscriptions; www.glidinginternational.com

That’s it for now.
Next Wednesday the final results from the Queensland State comps in LAKE KEEPIT and what’s more interesting for all of us.
By the way, this morning I saw on the news the fires not far from Reno and south of it. When we were in Minden Nevada, for the pre worlds, there was one problem. Finishes HAD to be stopped when the fire bombers had to go out. We all understood why,…but that’s the main reason the WGC was moved to Uvalde in Texas.
Seeing those fires now I even understand better!!!
Cheers Ritz

——-Yes a lot of things are happening in this world. I followed with interest the USA elections,…Will keep my mouth shut,…but maybe I can confess that I do not understand , the voting from a lot …nearly half….of the people in the USA.
Hope this soap ends GOOD …NOT for the “red or blues” but, for the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

–——ROMAIN FHAL,

….One of my FB mates celebrated his birthday and of course my annual congratulations were send to him. I do not know Romain personally but I am impressed with the fabulous results in the year 2020 .
This is what I noticed;
“END! of the 2020 special season. 8 medals 4 gold 4 silver and 2 cups in unlimited aerobatics power and glider. This week end will be the CIVA meeting and soon we will have news about the next season! now It is time for winter training camps.”

CONGRATULATIONS Romain,.. so,…I got anxious to “see” the man behind the medals and decided to contact him for a bit more personal news.
I was very pleased to see that Romain reacted straight away ,so NOW we All know more about him .
“”I’m French and Russian .
For more then 10 years I was in the French team.
And won 6 national championships in different categories and was one time European champion per team, two times World champion per team and vice world aerobatics champion in 2014 and winner of 6 titles of world champion in unknown programs. “
Unfortunately due covid -19 there were no international championships this year , so he only flew 2 National championships….
During the first, he was 2nd in unlimited Extra330LX. And the second was the Russian gliding national championship unlimited category and he won the two unknown and the championship in Swift S1.

After several requests from international competitors he became aerobatics coach (Romain FHAL AEROBATICS) in 2012. 
 “Since then I coach pilots on international level from intermediate to unlimited and organize from January to December training camps in Spain (winter time ) and in Hungary (spring and summer time)”
 In 2019 he and his partner, who is a coach as well, created a company called (FVA) and they bought 2× Extra 330SC in order to provide high performance training to their students.
From time to time he also coaches pilots in their own aircraft and when necessary he flies with them in two seater planes. 
“I live in Moscow and fly and coach with my wife and our students here in Russia also. “
What a fabulous job and lifestyle …and to be able to share this with your wife …just amazing and very challenging!!!!
In between when he feels like “just flying” he hops in a Nimbus 4 as well.
He also told me that his first job was instructor in the French military air force, nowadays he wins all these prizes with one of the most difficult disciplines in our aviation world….aerobatics !!!!!CHAPEAU!!!!
For more info you can reach him at romain.fhal@gmail.com

——Tocumwal gets a fence around the airfield. I wrote about it last week. Here is a picture .
“Building the New Kangaroo proof fence“

–—–More Tocumwal-news, as I was touched and very pleased to see how Eddie and Bones trimmed the oleander at Dennis grave. With this corona we can’t go there and to have the feeling that more people care ,… feels tremendously GOOD. For that reason, I share these pictures .

——–Whilst living in Australia, we were always looking out for the new calendar from the Bureau of Meteorology . It’s an excellent weather show as seen by different people who send their pictures to them.
“The Bureau of Meteorology has revealed the winning photographs selected for next year’s 2021 Australian Weather Calendar. Check out these incredible shots of the Land Down Under!
More: https://7news.link/3p1NtwW#Australia#7NEWS “
I have selected 2;

——-What about building your own plane ???? HP-24 Kit Sailplane can help.

Sneak preview, on November 3,of the next HP kit. Available as either sustainer or self-launch, both electric .
“Compared to HP-24, it has a new cranked wing planform, a new nose profile, and of course it is only available as self-launch or sustainer.”

–—–Great news from Omarama.
“KIWI KEITH RETURNS WITH PLANES IN TOW.
Alaskan-born Keith Essex has gone to great lengths to return to Omarama and to return gliders to its skies. “Kiwi” Keith, as he is known, was in Alaska when fears about the Covid-19 spread began to limit travel and close borders. Nonetheless, he decided to come back to New Zealand with two tow planes, a Dynamic and a Carbon Cub, complete the quarantine programme and set up a new towing operation, Southern Soaring Ltd. “I’ve been in aviation my whole life.” From the mid-80s, Keith owned a fixed wing and helicopter operation in Alaska.He began living in New Zealand about six years ago and gained residency.He sold the helicopter business two years ago.“I still work there, but at a lower level, to give me more time to help on the airfield here.” The new tow planes were the way of the future. “They’re more modern, more fuel efficient, they drink a 1/3 less fuel and are extremely quiet.”They have been built to meet stringent overseas noise abatement requirements. “Since we’re starting from scratch, we’re being conscious about the way we do things,” Keith said. Keith’s planes have been employed since mid-October. “We’re expecting [the activity at the airfield] will be similar to that of years past with the exception of the overseas tourists.” However, he was expecting more domestic travellers to visit.“Kiwis are movers.”
A lot of North Islanders are planning to come here who haven’t been here in years.”

——News from Schempp-Hirth about their BEAUTIFUL ARCUS,…loved by many!!!
“The new updated Arcus-M and Arcus-T type are now fully EASA certified.MTOW updated to 850kg, new thinner elevator, new wingtips, electrical retraction gear with redundancy, new ILEC engine controller on the “M” with fully readable information, new interior with not only good looking enhancement… BIG THUMBS UP to our engineer team and to the builder of each part of this amazing sailplane!!! Share your stories of adventures around the world with Arcus!”

No comps, not a lot of gliding, still no news about the appeal from the WWGC, but the “on-the-site’ news is interesting too.

To finish a fabulous picture shared by the British Gliding Association

By the way Berlin has a brand new airfield…finally… interesting to read was, that “our” glider pilot and Air France captain, Christophe Ruch flew the last plane from the old airfield TEGEL.

CU next week, with news from the latest G.I.
Cheers Ritz

–—Bitterwasser;
LATEST news from November 2; The 2020/21 season can start!!!
“All administrative work is done.
Namibia airspace is defined and flyable.
The Botswana airspace is free for gliding.
The extension as ARO (Aviation Recreation Organisation) is made.
The overflight permissions are there.
Now “only” our pilots and our gliders have to arrive safely.
The container with the gliders is today (02.11.2020) on the north coast of Spain.”
So one container will be still there. Good news, after their very early news, on September 5, when they mentioned ” This year – due to the Covid 19 pandemic – there will be no gliding season in Bitterwasser!!.
Later [September 21] they hoped for a short season, so it looks that is going to happen!!!Good on them!!!When it can be done safe,…why not!!!
On September 21 they also mentioned;
“And this is what the conditions for staying in Namibia look like now: Anyone who enters the country with a negative corona test which is not older than 72 hours can travel to Bitterwasser without quarantine. Another test is necessary after five days. If the result is negative, the country may be freely traveled“

By the way “the magic from Worcester” showed up already early in the season, on October 28 with a 683 km. flight in a DG 800/18 m.
AND, from Potchefstroom there was an 805 km. flight [ 702 FAI triangle] in a JS 1A.

—— Eddie Madden….Not long ago ,it looked he was not going to be long with us anymore. He announced to quit all flying , he was SO sick, but look who he is now!!!!He gave up on soaring in his business, Lumpy from Sportavia Tocumwal took over, but teaching in light aircrafts is still very much his goal in life.
“I am just facilitating gliding with the private gliders in my hangar and check flights.”
His Sportaviation- Tocumwal -business now;
“Aviation Flight Training …RAA & GlidingScenic flights …Flight training … Hangarage & Lawn tiedown….Public Caravan Park…Permanent Holiday sites.”

Eddie was already instructor at the SSC when we arrived there in the mid 80thies. Later when we were involved he was our CFI. So I know him already for many many, years!!!
So do lot’s of gliding guests from all over the world.
When the SSC stopped he started a new soaring business on the N side of the field. Quite a few of our guest- pilots followed him.
And then…he got really sick last year.
Not long ago he also lost Cheryl, his wife . [RIP] A lovely lady. In my idea, she was one of the best things happening to him and for SportAviation .
BUT,….He goes on with life,….good on him…!!!!Very much involved!
“New fence built around the airport 8.2 Km in total 1.6 metres high.“
Hope the cables behind the tugs , or low incoming gliders, from the West, are not going to hit them.
I have seen a few LOW, in the past, so I guess a minimum finish height will be compulsory now.
I also heard news that REALLY pleases me as former Toc resident;
“Tocumwal town is going from strength to strength, difficult to get a park during the day“.
Still love the place,…you might have guessed ,…after all my writing about Toc.

—–“Skysight as a motivation-pusher!!! [note; From Matthew Scutter!!!]
A fantastic race with my electric Antares along the southeastern Alps, what a race horse. Once again a little bit late. Despite the reduced day length it would have been possible to make a 1600 km flight.
But a landing on another airfield is less comfortable, so home, sweet home..”
Words on the OLC from Klaus Ohlmann, who flew 1.465 km. last Thursday from Serres La Batie in France. He flew the Alps, over several European countries. And,..not for the first time!!

——KLM...is suffering like all other airlines!!! Big discussions about down seizing in people and wages. The pilots had no problem with that. They agreed already on 20 % less till 2022 and then look into the case again.
BUT….Last Friday they heard that 2 years was unacceptable. The Finance minister only gives them a few billion extra when they sign for 5 years!!!So no extra millions NOW. Will we still have KLM in the future???
YES we will , I hope, as yesterday the deal was made.

——Schempp-Hirth…they shared this great picture about their top gliders on October 30 2020.

–—-Many of the young pilots I know ,who have lost their jobs? Hopefully temporarily, but for how long is that ???!!! In Australia they have a great harvest this season, so a lot of them are going to help out on harvesters!!!
I heard that we won’t see Cathay Dragon anymore on the departure or arrival boards….a few mates were flying there.
Heard that 35 % of the staff has been dismissed and nearly 40 jets are in Alice Springs .
TRAGIC!!!!!

——the death of Sean Connery the one and only 7 times JAMES BOND!! Loved this tribute from Kiki, with the words…. R.I.P Sir!!!.

—–the GLIDING CALENDAR 2021 from SEGELFLIEGEN. This time from the French Alps.
“A very nice photo to start the month of November is available again today – the best glider calendar in the world!
Enjoy the view and don’t let the next short days get too long!”

http://fotokalender-segelfliegen.de/

—-Ridgesoaring ;”Lots of wind, lots of snow with ridge, wave and thermal flying. Lots of fun.” Happening yesterday with ridge soaring between 1000 [lowest 65 m. AGL] and 1256 m.[MSL] and one peak of wave up till 3567 m.[MSL] from Ridge Soaring, the mecca for ridge soaring.
3 Pilots flew between 816 and 868 km.
Porta Westfalica, the ridge-place to be for European pilots was busy yesterday too. Flights from around 400 km, great day but a bit short I read.
On the OLC [ on 15] is the flight from Peter Millenaar with lot’s of pictures!
“Never had such a good and relaxed ride at the ridge; it was working perfectly all the time“
By the way; “This beautiful Nimbus 4M is available for sale by the way. Anyone interested?”

—–the last soaring weekend at Terlet. It was still reasonable weather.

And I finish the season with this great …WOW…. picture, yes again from Arjan….

CU next week. By the way 20 dgr. C …yes plus…. on November 2 !!!!!The warmest EVER November 2. It REALLY is a WEIRD year!!!
No USA president yet…what a tragic “soap” this outcome of the elections is now. Awful.
Cheers Ritz

After writing my last post I started to feel less well. I tried a “thousand” times before to call the” corona street”, all in vain.
BUT,….When I called last Thursday I had somebody on the line straight away and was more than surprised!!!!
I could come on Saturday and within 48 hours I knew.
NO CORONA……NEGATIVE!!!!
BUT,…I had a bad flu, so no words today but only pictures from Arjan Vrieze and Marloes Wolff, sharing that, during an autumn camp, on a cloudy, foggy day soaring can be still fun also for the youngsters.

Starting with a great picture from Marloes and a few from Arjan.

Thank you for sharing Marloes and Arjan.

I get the flu and pneumococci injection tomorrow, for what it is worth, as I had the flu injection last year too and now really got sick!!!
Let’s wait and see. In this corona time it seems smart to protect against all lung infections.
We might still go in a lockdown, but the measures taken 10 days ago seem to work.
HURRAY, for Melbourne, my mates over there heard this morning that their lockdown is lifted!!! Keep going!!!!

And to finish the all female crew from TRANSAVIA in September 1989 and now with the last flight yesterday after 32 years ,from captain Liz, co pilot then.
Liz is/was the longest flying pilot in Holland.
The captain then was Cocky who I then knew well too, as she was often at Terlet. She was the first female captain at Transavia .

AND…..Final rankings and statistics OnLine Contest (OLC) Netherlands 2020…as shared by ZWEEFPORTAAL.
Very interesting!!!!

Cheers Ritz

WHAT ABOUT…..

——-A nearly 1000 km. flight from Kingaroy in Australia on October 14??!!!
Flown by Adam [15 m. Ventus] and David [LS 8] , who were still there and declared a task on a strong day ,….only the last bit was “off”.
Mind you, it’s still early spring and the days are not yet long in Queensland.
Here is part of his story;
“Close, but not close enough! Achieved 956 km of the declared 1004 km 4 TP task, strangely enough still quite a satisfying feeling after such a long day in the saddle! David Jansen & I landed at Rosevale ALA around 6am, greeted by a lovely farm couple, an offer of bed & beer. Conditions just rule us out like a light switch, which is what happens in my part of the world, then the wind was up to 23 kts making it not feasible to get home. Still, great fun & I am now back in the family home, safe and sound. “
The rest of his story in Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
Top job by both pilots, Adam’s 1000 will be soon flown, this was his 4th attempt…no doubt and no worries!!! I believe David has it already.
It could have happened already one day later…look at the skies.
ONLY 1 year waiting and Adam gets his Ventus 3!!!!

——South Africa “waking up“!
Whilst they now fly over 700k in an ASH 31/21m. in Australia’s spring, South Africa had some over 500 k flights in their spring as well. Oscar flew over 500 in the JS 3/18m. from Potchefstroom;
“At last -summer has arrived. “Hope for them it will be as good as last season or even better!!!.

One day later Oscar flew a triangle of 823 km from Potsch with a speed of 159 km./h….YES…now we talk…..
Same place different glider; 831 km in a JS 1;”First 750km declared FAI triangle @ 142kph” by Jason Adriaan.
From Orient great flights as well, as 772 km triangle by Hanno Du Toit in JS 3/18m. with a speed of 162 km./h. His comment; “What a day” And the season only just started….
First day that Africa topped the OLC for the 2020/21 season. A pity that all those glorious flights from Namibia cannot be flown, as gliders were not send, but maybe a few good flights will be on the OLC by pilots flying gliders which are already there.

——an update on the Aussie Nationals...
The Club Class Nationals (Tocumwal) and the MultiClass Nationals (Kingaroy) have both had to be cancelled due to Covid-19-related issues and limited participation.

The last ditch effort to hold a Nationals at the end of the Season is proposed for Goondiwindi 13-20 March being run by DDSC.  The weather will be awesome at that time. If Covid-19 prevents members from any state from participating, the Nationals will not go ahead.  However, at this stage early ar rangements have commenced.  In order to be viable we would need at least 25 entrants.

——Europe still active with soaring in autumn!
Eric [Napoleon] shared some nice pictures from a flight with one of the other soaring families , this time in France, The Clements.

And talking about the Clements,…I do not know them, at least I never met them but read and write about them . Philippe must have the same feelings for his sons as we do for our grand children.
Here they are on their way to St. Gaudens, where great wave- flights were flown yesterday:

Look at this: Philippe Clement with son Anton;1.166 km. in the ARCUS!!! Speed 163 km./h!
AND Pierre de Broqueville, …yes I do know him,….He flew in his EB 29D a distance of 1.281 km with a speed of 167 km./h!!!
And not to forget Robert Prat who flew in his ASG 29 a distance of 1.096 km. and who shares his know-how about soaring in wave from St Gauden. He did so many SUPER flights already!!
Very high wave as I noticed but the day could have been better according to Pierre when there would have been less humidity!!!

To finish a fabulous picture shared by Richard Gouble in the STAMPE!!!!An open 2 seat plane…just beautiful!!!

And one of a stearman, another open 2-seater, flown by a young Belgium mate Pieter.

Well….this was a hectic morning, with a too long post, so I had to copy and paste in word to create this blog.
I hope however you liked the family post.

Having a rest now
CU next week
Cheers Ritz

All who know me , know as well that when I am sad, happy or proud I have to write. And that already for more than 40 years.
In my posts,… that’s mainly about soaring,…… normally I do not write about my family, otherwise than when it fits in a story. So only FOR ONCE,…here is a bit of our history with permission of all mentioned.

First about last week….When our grandson…… Dexter who is 14 went SOLO during the autumn camp from the Gelderse [www.gezc.org] at Terlet last week, that triggered writing and sharing. After grand daughter Indya went solo last year, now the total family has flown solo!!!!
Grand pa George and his wife Diana, Grand ma [me, only 4 solo flights no big achievement due to lack of orientation feeling,, BUT, I got another soaring achievement, you might remember, THE PELAGIA MAJEWSKA MEDAL in 2015], mum Inge and dad Rodger, who went solo in Tocumwal after a course during his holiday and last season sister Indya. As said before,…a family affair!!!
It’s so great to see the 3d generation so much involved with what I love so much too.
“The circle of life” as one of my Aussie mates mentioned!!!

Granddad and Diana were so kind to give them last week, the key’s/use of their camper. With ZERO at the ground it was “chilly”,….. in their words “bloody cold”!!!!!

They started more interest in gliding during our holidays in Tocumwal, one way or another we ALL seem to love Toc.
You can’t do anything else when you see a big WW2 hangar full of gliders!!!Impressive!!!
Indya was there already when she was 2 years old, proudly walking with her doll- pram between the gliders in the WW2 hangar.
As said a very proud grandparents and parents!!!!

Our family-soaring-history!! Some nostalgic moments of our family-soaring- past.
In the past I wrote regularly about soaring families, now there is not a lot of international soaring news, so I look at my own family .

Our children;
Our kids , Dennis and Inge, have been involved in soaring from the moment they were born. Cold or hot outside ,in a pram or just walking, they were always at our site.
First at the club either the ZES or EAC, later they came along to comps.
In 1976 they went with us to Malden, where the Summer-competition was flown. I believe it was the first competition we attended as family.

Talking about the Wolff family,…Joost’ wife Marloes and their children Marit [now 19 and 18 on the picture below] and Thijmen [16] fly as well .
They are together at the field with my grand children now!!!
Another 3d generation, with granddad Dirk and grandma Franny, …we know them already for years…. , son Joost married Marloes…also from a soaring family…. and their children….the entire family has their license now.
Joost was a good mate from our Dennis as well.

Here is a nice anecdote shared by Marloes. Through all those years, Grand ma Franny has NEVER flown with her husband, or son, BUT,….last September she hopped in the glider behind her grand daughter and off they went!!! TOP!!!!

Already in 1978 our kids went “international” to France, to the 21 CUP d’ Europe!
Dennis won the jeu de boule competition and got a beautiful set as prize. We still have it!!!!

That year Inge kept notes at the briefing. Good practice as many years later she was the Dutch TC at a European competition.

Granddad was 3d and the kids VERY proud!!!

Dennis knew already at kinder garten, that he wanted to be pilot.
BUT…gliding first…He even started his competition flying the same way as his dad, with the Summer Competition at Malden. Later he flew the KEIHEUVEL CUP in Belgium , being first on the last day, with quite a few really good pilots, he lost some points on a 300 k.[to Terlet] on a day with bad visibility. He was 3d in the end!
And flew the brand new DISCUS from his dad!
Then he started his flight education in Tocumwal where he got his PPL with John Williams.
In Holland he finished the NLS and as a present from “opa” he was allowed to travel down under to fly in Tocumwal as a tuggie, to make “hours”.
The rest of the story you know, he never came back and is buried in Tocumwal.

Inge did a bit of soaring both in Holland and Australia. She did a lot of towing in Tocumwal and as her brother her PPL with John.
Whilst young she never wanted to be a pilot, but IS one now. For years already a proud Transavia captain, following up her dad.
She also has a bachelor degree in law and master of science degree in human factors in aviation.

The grand children;
For our grand kids it really all started in Tocumwal as well.
Though they liked playing at Terlet when we visited.
AND,…later at Bailleau, they were for the first time crew for Diana and they felt/tasted the friendship and camaraderie for the sport.
Like all children hanging around at a field with their parents, they sometimes were allowed to fly with somebody as well.
Indya and Dexter were introduced to flying on a holiday in Tocumwal a few years ago. George asked his friend Simon [Holding] if he would fly with them to see if there was any interest. A Christmas present!!!They liked it!!!
At that stage,….Not more not less, but the seed was planted. Good on you Simon!!!!

Last year when Indya was 15 and Dexie 13, Indya became a member of the Gelderse , the club were mum Inge and uncle Dennis [RIP] flew as well. Like in the past when Dennis flew , Inge came along, but had no interest in the beginning. Now Indya flew and once in a while Dexter came along.
She went solo that year and moved on to the LS 4.

Indya is very sportive , easily goes with Inge for a 50 km. long skeeler trip through the fields and plays competition-volley ball with the seniors [she turned 17 last September]and seems to be , already for a few years, a real good “teacher” for 5/6 year old, who want to learn volley ball.
She studies at the university of Amsterdam [ started by the way at 16] and in February 2021 she starts at the hogere hotel school, where she really looks forward to the compulsory dormitory -life.

This year with COVID-19 , life became a bit more pleasant for them by the summer camp/ holiday at Terlet. All of course in a “corona-bubble’ following the COVID-19 rules!!!!So no drinks after his solo, for Dexter and his mates…as they did with Indya’s solo.

Dexter got more interest and started his course, but he is a keen cyclist as well, so time was precious with study [high school] , a job in a supermarket and soaring.
Now both love their holidays at Terlet, get along with the same young enthusiast’s for soaring and….. most of their instructors, we know as grand parents or parents, too.
AND,….there are more interesting things to do as…driving a golf cart to pick up gliders.
Life is good,…even in fighting and beating “the bloody corona virus”!!!The young ones live in a difficult time too.

Our last soaring-family- holiday with 4, was in Benalla during the WGC in 1987.
George flew in 1981 his first WGC, but we stayed home,..Gretha [Musters] and I ,only visited for a weekend.
Down under, George and Dennis flew in the Nimbus 3D as the first ever father and son combination during a WGC.
On a no-soaring-day we went sight seeing. One day to Mount Buffalo to see the rosella’s and to climb to the top where hang-glider pilots jump down. Climbing took over half an hour over huge rocks and between very small caves!!!

Flying this WGC was very special. Meeting all those international pilots, crews and organizers in a country we started to love straight after our arrival I guess in 1985!!!!It was our first WGC as a family. George had flown as practice already Austraglide and a few times in Tocumwal.
In older posts I have remembered this WGC with pictures fro many of the participants!!!

After the prize giving Mike Young and Dennis shared some thoughts in their team clothes.

To finish this family affair,….a nice picture from Kees Musters [RIP]and Theo Hagenberg [RIP March 2020],who both with George were building in, the instruments for their new bought CIRRUS 75. As you see in our sitting room. A lot of Irish coffee helped them!!!

I had to make a new blog as I could not save the pictures anymore,…post was TOO long!
So cu later again….with the regular blog.

Back in the NOW….55.000 covid-19 cases here in Holland in one week!!!! Not good…I am fit again ,..but not yet tested, that system is not yet up to date here in my area.
Cheers Ritz