57th Multi Class Nationals in Narromine.

as shared by Gliding Federation of Australia

On Wednesday morning Anne , who lives in Narromine, shared a message:
“ROAD CLOSURES: Council wishes to advise the travelling public that ALL UNSEALED ROADS in the Shire are CLOSED until further notice due to rain over the past 24 hours.”
That evening I saw heavy flooding of parts from Sydney on TV.
So after the wet days its better not to out-land for the pilots without an “engine”, to avoid extra problems.
But as expected the front left and the nice weather arrived!! Look at this .

 

Pawnees ready to go…..for flying day 1.
as shared by Narromine Gliding Club Official

November 29, day 3 task 1: good tasks, good flights only one out-lander who returned by areo-tow retrieve. So a good first day of flying.
15 m; 313 km….Adam[Woolley] won task 1 in his Ventus 2A, only just,… as Tobias [Geiger] had about the same time though he started nearly an hour earlier also in a Ventus 2A. Speed 112.98 for 112.11km./h.
As always Adam shared his thoughts in   Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
“Day win, just. A very fortunate recovery for me today. Still, a win is a win, nice way to start the comp .”
St. class; 313 km…nearly all the same but a different winner Andrew [ Maddocks] in an LS 8 with a speed of 104,47 km./h.
5 LS 8 gliders in the top 5, with Peter [Trotter] as runner up.

Open/18 m;362.76 km. for both classes. There are at this stage 3 JS 3 gliders in Australia and they flew in this class. Butch [John Buchanan] won with a speed of 134.91 km./h.  Lumpy [Paterson] was 4th and Norm [Bloch] ,both in JS 3, was 5th.
Runner up was Tom [Claffey] in ASG 29 and Brad [Edwards] in the same glider was 3d.
George was 7th in the Discus 2 CT.
All started with in 15 minutes. Butch flew 2 hours 41 minutes. Number 19 for the day 4 hours and 36 minutes,…but he was IN!!!!

November 30 day 4 task 2; 516 and 647 km.

516 and 647 to go…..
As shared by Bryan.

last day of our meteorological winter and last day of autumn in Australia.
Winter, summer starts!!!!
AND as said after rain-front , the new cycle starts and it gets good better, best!!!Great tasks!!!
15m./ St.class;  516 km. …..They fly in one handicapped class with the same tasks but  different winners.
In 15 m. Adam wins again [126.07 km./h] and Tobias [124.47 km./h.] is runner up again.;1000 and 978 points for the toppers.
Great to see that Akemi from Japan, but spending lot’s of flying time in Australia , won in st class in her LS 8. Good on her.AND ,..a 1000 points day so those were her’s. Speed 116.97 km./h.
A pity she had to go to work later.

18m./open: 647 km….. WOW,….4 JS 3 gliders in the top 4 and then 2 JS 1’s!!!! Butch won again with a speed of 126.57 km./h. [ 5 hours and 7 minutes] ,just a tad faster than Brad [126.39 km./h.] who got 998 points.
Lumpy had a speed of 125. 43 km./h and Norm 125.27 km./h.
4 Outlandings in 18 m. and 3 more in open.
Looking at the 18m. scores it was about the same. George, who since at least 30 years had not flown long distances, was 15th. Good on him.This is his first real competition again since years. He flies the Discus 2CT with an handicap of 1030,whilst JS3 has 1085.
In his “young” years he flew several WGC’s and EGC’s and he won Australian Nationals in Leeton.

Both winning 2 day’s in a row and good mates as well. Adam and Butch.

Even Adam found it a long task:”Ho Chi Mumma! 516km fixed task, let’s roll 😎”
As shared by Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures

Another good day done and dusted!!

December 1 …SUMMER….day 5 task 3!!!
Summer started with a 3 hour AAT for all classes.
15 m and standard class. Adam mentioned in his comment that it mainly all went his way, which means another daily prize.He even did very well, he flew 338k. in 2.59 and Tobias 349k. in 3.18.
In st. class Scott [Lennon] won the day with with 324 km in 3.10 . Not all were as “lucky” as Adam. Allan mentioned:
” I ran with Tobi in the V2 for most of the third leg, quite fast. Then on the second heading south, found myself alone and struggled like most others under a gloomy thick cirrus wedge. Happy to take 2kt wherever I found it. I ended up 15 minutes over time and 5th for the day at only 92kph. We’ve given up looking at the 15m scores – Adam just blitzes every day!”

In open/18 m. same task but more kilometers; Tom [Claffey] won the day 373 km in 3.02.
3 From 26 outlanded. After winning 2 day’s, Butch nearly lost 200 points after being 7th for the day.
After 3 tasks the scores are pretty close; Tom is on 1. with 2.826 p. ….Lumpy on 2. with 2.709p…and Butch on 3. with 2.703 p.

December 2 day 6 and an official rest day. On a day we here in Holland, had up to 15 dgr. C, the hottest ever 2d of December in history.It’s WINTER!!!!
So not the very best weather, in Narromine, dust and up to 60 km./h. wind, so after some long flights over the last 3 day’s a rest day was called.

As shared by Tom and Kerry [Claffey]

   
Dust storm as seen by William and Tom as winner as seen by Tom and Kerry.

First of course the prize giving and as Tom in his ASG 29 was the winner he had to come up front :
“Quote of the day from the Open/18 winner in a 29 (ahead of the JS3 Mafia) …. “I’m wearing my JS hat given to me by Jonkers – all I can say about JS is ‘they make nice hats’“.

A rest day during the Aussie Nationals means a PILOTS MEETING. As pilots live all far away from each other , sometimes more than 3000 km., this is the best chance to talk about all important things in gliding.
I have been at several, very interesting though,… sometimes in the far past some pilots went on and on , on an item, and then you could hear some grumble from the rest.
This day a very important item;

as shared by Narromine Gliding Club Official

December 3,day 6, task 4;
15m/St.class; 2.30 AAT
Challenging day  even for Adam ,…but no worries he won again. All those hours he flew in Australia and wherever he could overseas, over the last couple of years, did” bring grist to his mill.” Good on him!!!
268 km. in time 2.35, whilst runner up and well known “kilometer-eater” and also WGC participant , Allan [Barnes] flew 250 km. in time 2.34.
In standard Allan was the best in his LS 8. Claire [Scutter] Matthew’s sister was runner up ,good on her.
This is what Adam had to say about the day:
“Blowing a gale, 15-20kts all day. Tough going, certainly a day you wanted to stay reasonably high. My game plan was to take anything above 3kts, amazingly with the supreme feel of the V2a, I was able to keep taking 5-6’s all the way to the end of the 3rd leg.
Luckily at the downwind leg I was at my lowest, but couldn’t for the life of me get the climb I needed to come home on. Something was on my mind & I tensed up, couldn’t feel the climbs & really had to push myself to trust my feel of where to go next. I lost time here, but managed to bring it home, phew.
Another day win :)”
Bad day for Bryan,…he was out.
open /18 m.; 2.30 AAT.
Another win for Tom; 283 km. in 2.39. Lumpy was runner up with 308 km. but he needed a bit more time;2.53.
Both lead the way in these classes, with Butch on their heels.
Bad day for George, as he had to out land after 146 km.

“Dry as a bone ” the land in Australia a bad drought this year!!
Picture courtesy George.

There is a nice story with this Cessna from Arny. Long ago about 28 years I guess ,there was a group of “daring” Aussie pilots trying to fly from South[ Adelaide] to North [Darwin] over a” lot of nothing!!”.
Of course they needed a tug and tuggie and crews. NO SELF LAUNCHERS at that stage.
One of the pilots was Giles [Michael] a friend of ours. He had an all female crew, not weird knowing him and he wanted to add our then young daughter Inge to his team.
Of course we were a bit  reluctant, but we knew Inge and we knew a few other friends ,who would keep an eye on her.
It was one of those unforgettable trips with camel’s and parachute jumping, BBQ’s and visiting places ,we only heard off. She loved it!!!!
The way back was easy Inge. After all the trips in the car she was allowed in the back seat with Arny in the Cessna. There you go,…. fun for Inge in the far past and now a good retrieve for dad George.Still the same “good old” Cessna.

December 4 ,day 7, task 5;
2.30 AAT for the small ships and there is no measure on Adam, he won for the 5th time;297 km. in time 2.34!!!Allan was runner up with Andrew [Maddocks] as number 3.
In standard it was Allan who flies very well in his LS 8. Between all those LS 8 gliders in the top[7]  there is also an LS 4 from Robert Smits from Alice Springs.[spot 6]
Adam;”Playing around straight after briefing, a 2.5hr AAT was set in the blue, with a little less wind, but not by much. Another day win, but kept honest by Barnes & a great flights.”
Of course Adam is leading at this stage in 15 m. with 300 points on Tobias and 590 on Andrew.
In standard Andrew leads ,with with Allan and Peter [Trotter]also still in the race.

3 hour AAT for the big ships and I heard it was pretty clear that an early start was the way to go. Indeed the early starters did better than the late ones.
Dave [Shorter ]started straight at 14.06 in his JS 1 and was a new face on the podium; 363 km. in 3.01 ,speed 120 km./h.Norm [Bloch] in his JS 3 was runner up and George, who out landed the day before was 3d in the Discus.
Later starters as Lumpy at 14.49 lost a few points.[250]
Tom and Butch are leading now with Geoff Brown in the JS 1C on 3 , with just 40 points more than Lumpy on 4.

December 5,day 8 ,task 6; TODAY; VERY FAST DAY!!!!! A REAL NARROMINE-DAY!!!
15 m./St.class; Set task from 339 km. and NO not Adam today, as Tobias in his Ventus 2A was faster; 143.20 km./h. He shared the 866 points with Scott Lennon from Temora, who flew 140 km./h but on handicap his LS 8 was equal in points. All 17 pilots flew over 100 km./h.
Scott was the winner from St. class.

18m./open; set task from 384 km. and another new face at the podium, though results are very preliminary. Norm[Bloch] flying comps already as long as I was in Oz, won the day with a speed of 158,96 km./h!!!! Pretty fast!!!!
Tom had 155 km./h and Brad 150 km./h.
All 25 pilots flew between 114 km./h and the 158.96 km./h.

Still 2 day’s to go. More in my next blog.

 

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–—Tocumwal Sportaviation;
Long time friend and to me,  well- known- kilometer -eater Stefan [Soll] added another great flight to his long list of flights from Tocumwal on November 29 in his LS 4 KYO ; 767 km. and nearly 750 triangle; 732!!!
Well done Stefan.
On the last day of November good old Chris Davison flew a 838 km. flight in his 21 m. JS  1CTJ from Toc. .

Stefan and “his ” KYO.”
As shared by  SportAviation Tocumwal

 

Not only Tocumwal had a great day after all the rain. About 70 km. more to the EAST,  Corowa had an excellent day as well with a 1000 km. flight for Danish pilots Stener [Leander Nielsen] and Hans Christian [Hoeck]; 1.007 km in the ASG 32 MI. Well done guy’s!!One day later they flew a declared 750!!!
The first 1000 km. for Corowa and it might well be the first 1000 in Australia for the season.
On that great day ,997 for German guest Hans-Juergen [Lange] and 939 for Austrian guest Hans Peter [Ueblacker]as well.

————

—-Some good flights:
——Worcester [ South Africa] was the place to be last Wednesday; 3 x a 1000 k. one even 1.128 km. On November 17 there were 3 over 1000 km.flights as well.
And yesterday they added a great ridge-soaring-flight from 1.132 km. by Stefan Langer, in a Discus 2T/18 m. His flight is at youtube.com.[High speed ridge flying in South Africa /Pure Flying EP 7.]
—–Kiripotib; news from Boerje [Eriksson] “Last start in Namibia this year with lovely Quintus today and a new Swedish record 500 km out and return with 171 km/h.”
—–Pokweni; December 1….2 EB 29’s from Josef [Eder ] and Alexander [Mueller] flew just over 1.200 km. on a day they did not had to avoid showers.speed 135/137 km.h.
—–Bitterwasser on December 4…OLC Speed League cut by Andreas Hillebrand and Jens Böske from 201.16 km/h over 150 minutes in an ASG32 MI.

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AND,…last but not least, my blogs are easy reading, BUT, when you are interested in the real gliding you should go to http://aboutgliding.com/
ABOUT GLIDING is a blog that wants to push the knowledge and innovation of gliding forward.

“A wide range of themes is in focus: Technological innovation, analyzing extraordinary performances, state of the art practical strategies to fly faster and further, improvements to gliding mathematics and theory, rectifying common misconceptions, proposing and monitoring competition rule changes, searching for record-breaking opportunities, and discovering unexplored territories on earth and beyond. Safety & Accident prevention will be major and recurring topics.

Upcoming articles vary from Cheating in gliding competitions, over Hybrid-electrical tow planes, AI Glider Pilots, an Error in MacCready theory, Analysis of an IFR glider flight, the Potential of Crateus, to Promising methods in reducing gaggles and leaching.

In short: every story about gliding that is innovative, interesting, and if possible helpful.”
A great initiative and behind those very good stories is the well known Belgium pilot Tijl Schmelzer.

CU next week with news about the 65 th Argentinian Nationals from San Francisco, flown between 3 December  2018 – 14 December 2018.

Cheers Ritz

—-They had some bad-weather-day’s both in Africa and Australia so flying was “low”.
Part of S.E. Australia was covered in red dust from frantic storms, whilst the winter-sport area, not far from Melbourne ,Falls Creek had incredible snow fall.
It was not just a sand storm ,but a huge one, even showed at the Dutch news with the remark, that at some places the visibility was only a few meters !!!Yes still early spring.
One week later China had the same problem, with grey instead of red sand.

Broken hill; The red sand from the “heart of the continent” flies over .
As shared by William, who estimated looking at the satellite image that this cloud full of sand would be 800 to 1000 km. large.

Not too far from Tocumwal , which turned windy and wet, a small place called Kattemetite was hit by a tornado. Lot’s of rain as well , but then,…that’s good for the farmers.
But kilometer-eaters as Stefan, who is I guess ,the longest frequent flyer at Tocumwal, [ I believe he was in Toc before me so before 1984]did n’t worry about weather. In his LS 4 he flew , except for 2 day’s,…every day since the 18th up to 533 km !!!!!AND …on the 26th he even flew 691 in his LS 4!!!!!!

Namibia was quiet as well, so time to see the gorgeous fauna and flora over there.
Boerje shared some pictures and straight after when the good weather was there again, he flew a 1000 again.

     

as shared by Boerje Eriksson.

After the weather cleared in Namibia, Alexander Mueller managed to fly in his EB 29, a 1.301 km.flight [1.124 FAI triangle] from Pokweni with 145 km./h.!!!
Keith Essex moved from N.Z. to Veronica and straight away flew 1 .139 km. with a speed of 136 km./h in the ARCUS M. They declared a 1000 km triangle but  “couldn’t get the last turnpoint because of rain showers.”

32 over 1000 km. flights straight after the less good weather,  one of them by my friends Daan [Pare] and Eagle; 1.054 km.
And over the last day’s more 1.200 plus and more 1.100 plus. No doubt till now a great Nabia-season as Pokweni, Kiripotib and Veronica had many 1000 km. flights as well!!!!!
On the BITTERWASSER site you could read;
“Perfect season start in Bitterwasser in the season 2018/ 2019 In November 2018, the first third of the Bitterwasser season, 50 flights over 1000 kilometres from the pan were completed. Reinhard Schramme and Norbert Siebert flew the longest distance of 1260 kilometres on 14 November. Robin Förster achieved his 1000 kilometre diploma on 24 November. A new palm tree will be planted in the avenue. On 26 November, Bruno Gantenbrink made the “flattest” flight with a 1000 kilometre FAI triangle. Nej Lutti made a special flight on 13 November: the first circumnavigation of the airspace of Windhoek in many years. This year, this airspace is to be flown north from Windhoek to flight level 145. There is nothing better than airspace!! November in Bitterwasser can be described as a very good flying month. The week around 13 November was round and beautiful. Then a few shower lines came from Botswana, but they didn’t reach Bitterwasser. There is always a day to relax, but the flight break usually lasts only one day. As usual the flight operation is professional.”

And also from South Africa’s Douglas Backhouse 1000 km.-flights.That’s where my friends Rob [Looisen] and his sister Marianne flew 1.015 km in the Nimbus 4D in mainly blue conditions.

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The Official 10th FAI Women’s World Gliding Championships logo.
as shared by 10th FAI Women’s World Gliding Championships

Pre worlds soon end of this year. AND,…. don’t worry about your kid’s, this is what I read:
“Don’t forget we will have children’s activities during WWGC 2020 so no need to worry about keeping them entertained.”

As shared by  10th FAI Women’s World Gliding Championships

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Talking about OZ,…Between November 26 and December 6, the 57 th MULTI CLASS nationals will be flown from Narromine and many of my friends are flying there. Quite a few top pilots as well among the 47 participants , so it will be very interesting!!!

The pre- competition briefing has been already ,with Beryl in charge.

as shared by Narromine Gliding Club Official

The first and only official practice practice day. Monday November 26.
In 15 m. Benalla pilot , kilometer-eater and WGC pilot Tobias Geiger was clearly the best during their 3.30 AAT;432 km in Ventus 2A in time 3.31.He was nearly 100 km. further than the runner up.
10 From 19 finished and 5 outlanded.
In open David Jansen flew 407 km in time 3.28. during the 3.30 AAT.
George [my ex] was runner up. Good on him.
Standard;3.30 AAT and Michael Durrant was the best ;343 km in time 3.28.
In 18 m. Same task;  David.

November 27; Day 1 task 1;
Cancelled ! A pity, but a new cycle will bring, good to better ,to the best weather again. But not yet today as I heard!!
They tried hard with 2 hour AAT’s, were ready to go ,..nut rain destroyed the dreams for day 1. Task setters are William and Evelien both from Holland but living and flying already for a long time from Narromine. They are assisted every day by 2 competition pilots .
After a very dry period, hence a very dusty airfield, there was RAIN.

Ready to go ,but…..

Picture shared by Brian Hayhow.

November 28; Day 2 task 1;
As far as I heard there will be rain all day!!
So washed out!But hope for Thursday.
More next week.

    

Pictures by George and Brian, who added the next true words;
“Mmmm… the old adage ‘call a gliding competition and break the drought’ rings true yet again.“

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——-Shopping list; When you do need a new fabulous 2019-calendar you can visit www.fotokalender-segelfliegen.de an extra joy to receive.
There is a very good co-operation with top glider pilot Tobias Barth I read:
“The aerospace engineer who lives in Stade is a glider pilot from an early age. His elaborate digital photo arrangements set new standards both technically and artistically. We are very pleased to have found in Tobias Barth an outstanding photographer who has all the prerequisites to follow in the footsteps of Claus-Dieter Zink. The best pictures of both photographers will have their permanent place in the photo calendar soaring.”

as shared by Gliding Calendar – Fotokalender Segelfliegen

 

————

—-November 23; this is a proud mum and of course dad George is very proud too. Not to forget her husband Rodger and teenager “kids” Indya and Dexter.
My daughter, just 46 now, received her MASTER OF SCIENCE certificate WITH MERIT in Human Factors in aviation.
She studied first law at the university of Amsterdam and got her bachelor degree there.
She is a full time airline captain, a wife and mother of 2 , devoted to her work for the union VNV, where she represents Transavia the company she flies for and a real social friend for many, so a busy social life.
How she all did it,…?????I don’t know….Enjoy the pictures.

    

Congratulations dear Inge.

 

And to finish….looking ahead at 2019
www.egc2019.pl

as shared by Aeroklub Stalowowolski

CU next week

Cheers Ritz

—-South Island Championships in N.Z.;

Ready for day 5 task 3.
As shared by South Island Gliding Championships

Day 5 ..task 3;
Racing class got a 3 hour AAT, so they could find out by their selves where the best options would be. Those options turned out difficult again, as only 3 from the 9 starters finished. Best result ;295 km. in 2.47 by David Jensen in the JS 1 who leads the pact now with nearly 500 points more than the Duo Discus pilots.
Sabrina Schels [Germany] was the 3d finisher and she called the conditions “much more complicated than expected“.
In open not a lot of finishers either. A 4 hour AAT ; Brett [Hunter] flew 515 km in 4.12 , speed 122 km./h. in his JS 3 and Keith [Essex] as runner up 501 with a speed of 107 km./h. in the ASG 29.
They were with Nick the only 3 finishers.[547 km. in time 5.39.]  Bit slower but HOME!!!!
Keith leads after 3 tasks with over 400 points. Nick is runner up now.

Winners David and Brett both in JS ; one in JS 1 B,  the other in JS 3. Each with a local wine from sponsors as Immigrants Vineyard [23 hectares] as prize.

Daily winner Brett in the majestic JS 3

“Jet Power! Brett Hunter in XB does a jet assisted approach in his JS3.”
photo Alex McCaw
As shared by South Island Gliding Championships

NO task on the 16th. From a friend visiting the South Island at this moment I heard it was raining.
But,….on the 17th they flew,[last] day 7, task 4,…  but ONLY A FEW!!
In racing a small 2.30 AAT and 2 finishers whilst a few did not start anymore.
Those who finished task 4 did well; David who flew 222 km. in time 2.23 [89 km./h] for 167 points and Sabrina with 180 km. in time 2.32 [71 km./h] .[144 points.
RACING class was won by David 2.277 points . The Duo Discus pilots[1.624]  were 400 points ahead of Sabrina[1.422]  , after the last day a bit more than 200.
Open; fabulous day for Alex in his St Cirrus;1000 points for him!!!335 km. in time 2.41 [speed 124 km./h] He moved up from 12 to 7 !!! Well done!
I looked at his video, ridge-flying to and over the top of Mount Cook, [height 12.349 ft.] ..just spectacular.
His mate Nick who started nearly an hour later was runner up. Keith was 5th.
9 From 15 finished and Brett had another off day; he landed after 98 km.
Total scores; 1. Keith with 3.807 p., 2. Nick with 3.489 and 3. Peter Chadwick with 2.953 in ASG 29 es.

The 2018 South Island champions Keith and David.

As shared by  South Island GlidingChampionships

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——Namibia;
I give up on sharing the amount of 1000 km. flights,…. there are too many, but you can see it for your self at soaringspot. Happy however to see that November has exceptional good weather again.
Some  are very good and still worth mentioning, as the 1.260 k from Reinhard [Schramme] in the EB 28 , with 154 km./h. which was an 1000 FAI triangle as well. He flew with Norbert Siebert.
Bernd [Dolba] flew in the Twin Shark a 1000 FAI triangle as well from Veronica. The Twin shark had his first 1.100 km. flight as well.
Uli flew a 1.050 km up to 300 km to Botswana. Nearly no farms anymore and no secret,…..his trainee loved it!!!

Uli from Jaxida Cover Uli Schwenk shared this great picture.

———–

—-Narromine;
The “coach- the- coaches- week” in Narromine is over and they had a fabulous week with great weather and good company, camaraderie and interaction. Look at this weather.

as shared by Brian Hayhow.

    

Ge Dale as super coach on day 3   and as said fun too; “Peter Temple and Arnold Geering are just about ready to roll under the watchful eye of John Buchanan at Coach the Coaches. Last flying day of a fantastic week. ”
by Brian Hayhow.

They straight away continued with the Narromine Cup where toppers and novices of CC- flying meet. I was touched by the next words by Roger Perett;
“Narromine Cup..
I’m here for the first time. Being mentored by a number of our experienced Cross Country SCGC members. Yesterday I had a area check, followed by a flight to Gilgandra and back in the 303. 168 km round trip 
My first time away from an airfield‘ .
And,…the words by the GFA;
“The sport of soaring is more than just about being able to take off and land without an engine. A new pilot’s first time away from gliding range of the airfield is their second major milestone – and the one we all look forward to as we help new pilots to learn. From here, the pilot has learnt all the basic skills to be a competent at soaring and they can pursue whatever is of interest – distance flying for fun, competitions or even records. Congratulations to Roger on taking that first step away from the airfield!”

—————

—-Some good flights;

——What about a 750 out and return from Lake Keepit [Australia] to St. Georges in an LS 1f. Top job from Allan Barnes.
—–new Finnish record for Hannu Halonen on November 14; “Nice 750 FAI flight up to second turn point with average of 178. It looked so good, but third leg with mainly blue thermals made things difficult. Anyway, a new national record.” Over 471.22 km. he flew with a speed of 188,49 km./h in the Quintus M from Kiropitib.
—– First flight from Corowa [Australia] guest on November 17 by frequent flyer Hans Juergen; 707 km.
——Mannie, [Mc Lauchlan] …talking about South Africa now and specially New Tempe Bloemfontein …..; 1000 km. triangle in ASG 29 with 154 km./h.
—– 2 over 1.200 km-flights, one from Pokweni the other from Kiripotib , both in ARCUS M. AND,…also from Pokweni a 1.218 in the EB by Alexander Mueller with an FAI triangle from 1.137 in it!!.
—–On his first flight from Kiripotib and his very first flight in a SHARK, my friend Daan [Pare] flew 1.172 km.with a speed of 166.78 km./h.
—–and in between all this power-long-distance-flying we find Tobias Geiger flying a 15 m. Ventus 2ax from Benalla over 676 km. [600 Fai triangle]
—–Temora; Brian [Du Rieu]  flew 862 in his LS 10, last Sunday and Ingo in his Discus, 600k.  from Tocumwal.

—–some pilots from  Segelfluggruppe Donauwörth-Monheim  flew up to 4000 m. height in special wave over the Schwarzwald, the BLACK FOREST, last weekend. They called it a very cold, but unforgettable experience.

 

Last but not least,…never heard from them, maybe you neither, so some pictures and short story about “a winch” shared by Big Sky Soaring!!!

  

” Looks like the winter is here to stay for the next few months. So, Big Sky Soaring will go into hibernation for a while. But for all the folks who asked about our winch, here are some pictures. 
See you again next spring.”

I guess like hiring tugs and tuggies ,you can also hire a ” mobile ” winch with Dyneema rope AND a “winch-man”. Interesting.

Cu Next week,

cheers Ritz

 

—- 11th of November 11-11-1918 ,this year marks the 100 years since the end of the first world war !!!!
Impressive,… even to see it on TV, on CNN, Dutch, Belgium, French and UK TV.
More than 70 “hotshot’s” were in France as there was Trump,Macron,  Putin, Merkel and more. Hope they all got the feeling for NOT letting to happen the cruelty from the past again. A war in which millions died, men and horses and lots of innocent people.

 

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—-Big news shared by many and specially by the Canterbury Gliding Club:
“What an epic flight!
Mike Oakley has touched down safely at Springfield completing a 1,933km OLC flight!! Enjoying some jet planes at sunset after launching at 6.45am in Omarama, landing at Springfield 8 pm covering a whopping amount of the South Island!! Bravo Mike!!”
That’s indeed EPIC . Nearly 2000 km. and 13 hours and 24 minutes up in the air!!!!

Mike after the flight a real happy chappie! In the far past my daughter Inge and Lizzy Wells visited the Oakley family in NZ.

He covered the S.Island….. WOW !!!!
Pictures courtesy Canterbury Gliding Club

 

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Courtesy South Island Gliding Championships

In between his son Nick is flying the South Island Championships [racing and open class] and task 1 on November 11 was won by Keith [Essex from thew USA and frequent flyer in N.Z.] ,with a speed of 130 km. over 398 km. Nick was 5th in the Discus 2 and his mate Alex [Mc Caw] was 10th in a St. Cirrus.
“Hard day for the Racing class with multiple factors causing the day to be devalued.”
5 Of these gliders returned back to the field after being launched, some stayed’home’ for the day.
Winners of day 1;

     
Keith as happy smiling winner in open [ASG 29  /18m] and in Racing Class – Duo Discus UO with Team: Nigel Davy/ Tim Austen; 170 km. with a speed of 116 km./h.
As shared by South Island Gliding Championships

Task 2 was cancelled.”Unfortunately we can’t get a big enough window for a competition task today so the day has been cancelled.”

Task 3 on the 13th was difficult for some, as the “easterly” came in,  but they flew.
Racing had 314 km. and 3 from the 10 who started finished with David Jensen in the JS B1 as daily winner gaining 1000 points.
In open a task from 401 k was set and as before Keith won the day with a speed of 122.59 km./h. for 1000 points. In this class 13 from 15 finished.
Some started early at 2 PM as did Nick, some later at 2.40 PM as did the Duo Discus being 6th for the day.
Bad/sad day for Brett Hunter loosing lot’s of points [ he got 227] in his JS 3, due to an outlanding after 273 km. dropping from 4 to 13.
Good day for Nick, he was runner up.

Ready to go for task 2.
As shared by South Island Gliding Championships

Task 4 was set but not flown in racing class. Open had 356 k, but no scores yet. Maybe cancelled as well.
You can see it on www.soaringspot.com

—————

—-The overseas-pilots in Africa are happy as well. Several 1000 km. flights from Namibia as Bitterwasser , Pokweni ,Kiripotib and Veronica . Even a lot 1.100 -plus -km.
Bitterwasser wrote;
“After Bernd Mangold has unloaded all the planes from the container and set them up, he allows himself a longer flight with the bitter water Nimbus. 4500 meters cloud base and updraft lines are fun.
The operation in Bitterwasser has started fully.”
Last Sunday Kuruman added 1000 and 1.000 as well.
1000 km.-News from HPH Sailplanes  in the UK as well;
“Congratulations to Uli Schwenk and Steffi Keller on flying the first 1000km in a Twin Shark! And only one week into its Namibia expedition!”
The beginning of more long flights!!!
Dust devils mark the start of the thermals and here is one in Bitterwasser.
Just counted 18 over 1000 km. flights in Namibia yesterday.

with the remark;
“Dust devil in Bitterwasser shows the thermal start. It does not have to come however so violently like this dust devil. But the day was again a thousand day. In the middle of November [ 12] it really goes off without thunderstorms and showers.”

————

——Europe;
AND then,..on the 12th there was Klaus Ohlmann flying from SPAIN. When he starts there must be something going on,…it was ……1.394,94 with 144.64 speed on the “clock”.
La Cerdanya , more correct the Pyrenees, was the place to be and the plane,..of course his Stemme S10.
AND,…a more than happy OLC comment;
“What a pleasure to fly with Gil. [Souviron] Hooked by waveflying like me, same spirit of exploring, but with very good knowledge of the Pyrenees. Thanks as well to Robert Prat, another expert of the Pyrenees. Application of his rules of thumb in dry waves…works great. Another big thanks to Control of Toulouse, Bordeaux, Barcelona, Montpellier and Marseille.
Great job….Last not least…Stemme… what a phantastic glider and plane….”
More W. from La Cerdanya [St Girons] was the start for a DG 800/18 m….bang 1.078 km.

These pictures shared by Gilles Navas in September when he was flying there, show the structure of the Pyrenees.

   

Courtesy Gilles Navas.

————

——Australia.
AND higher temperatures down under too with flights up to nearly 800 km. in a Duo Discus on Saturday from Warkworth in NSW. Flying a Speed ASTIR II over 622 [500 FAI triangle] is not bad either.[Lake Keepit… motivation for the ladies, soon to fly there the Pre Worlds]
And on Sunday from Lake Keepit where Allan [Barnes] and Harry [Medlicott] flew a declared 750 FAI triangle, in the ARCUS M.A total of 868 km. reaching a height of 11.000 ft.
David [Jansen] flew that day from Kingaroy 946 km in the 18 m ASG 29 E.

“Coaching the coaches” with Ge Dale in Narromine was in full swing last week and they had good weather. Not long and the Nationals will be flown there.[November 24-December 8]

As shared by Narromine Gliding Club Official

 

—-And the latest news letter from Schempp-Hirth is out. Love the PR from this issue.

Shared by Schempp-Hirth

CU next week

Cheers Ritz

—-This time Italy was “hurt” badly by the weather. Storms and heavy rain damaged 15 Million trees and even worse, 30 people died!!! 9 from ONE family stuck in a house in Sicilian, where the water reached to 10 meter. Sad , very sad.

Here we were back to 20 dgr. C. yesterday, but just for one day.Unbelievable , full terraces again and we were there too; Brutus , who visited me for the day and I . A lot of people ask me how Brutus[ Peter] is , here you can see it for your self. Driving a locomotive of a train now and visiting me yesterday on another record-high-day for November 6; 20 dgr. C !!!!!
For those who never met Brutus; he worked with and for us for over 5 years at the Sportavia Soaring Center.

 

     

Brutus in my house and with Brutus drinking a beer at our old market place.

————

—–Schempp-Hirth news from last Saturday evening:
“Today the new “IYB” is presented at the Germans gilder day. The #Ventus3 T supersedes the #Discus 2ct from the DAeC. So the glider is reserved to support young and skilled pilots. We hope you enjoy the plane with lots of awesome flights!”
German Gliding remains on a super-high-level!!!!

     

—————

 

—–Kiripotib looks ready as well for the new season.

    

Organizers Wolfgang and Ludwig in “full swing”  at the beginning of their season with FLYING WITH THE CHAMPIONS.
Courtesy;  Łukasz Wójcik for Kiripotib Soaring 

Wolfgang flew as CHAMPION with pupil Franz from Germany and the first  Kiropotib 1.000 k. was a fact.[794 triangle] They flew the ARCUS M.
On Saturday one day earlier the 1.000 k’s were already flown from Veronica with up to 145 km./h.[Namibia]
As well as one in Brasil from Crateus , an FAI triangle [1.012 km.] in an ASH 30.
By the way on the first day of November, a very high wave flight up to over 7000 m MSL, resulted in a 1.038 km.flight with a speed of 143 km./h in an ARCUS, flown in Europe from Mikulovice  in the Czech Rep. in an ARCUS M.
And Keith Essex from Minden is back in Omarama and ready for nice long flights. He started with a 500 k in an ASG 29 E.
Yesterday Königsdorf had 1000 km weather …. Matthias Schunk flew one in a Quintus;1.041 km. with a speed of 139 km./h in wave and with a late start and without ballast.
AND today,…..my daughters birthday, happy birthday dear Inge,….Keith flew a 1000 from Omarama ;1.017 km and look at the speed; 171.3 km./h!!!!
A wave day, difficult to get in he mentioned but once in there was lift everywhere!

————

——Ingo is also ready too for HIS season.

NOT BAD….. a check flight with Miro in a Calif.
Shared by Miro[slav].

So is Tocumwal, as you can see on the picture from yesterday .

As shared by George.

Not all weather down under is as good. Yesterday the headlines in the news were about a weather phenomena; Dust clouds. They are pretty normal in Australia but this was another story;
“Massive dust cloud engulfs towns across outback NSW. There were apocalyptic scenes in western NSW on Tuesday when a giant dust cloud swept across the region.”
It scared the hell out of people near Broken Hill.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/massive-dust-cloud-engulfs-towns-across-outback-nsw-055732777.html

———-

——And here is the Dutch “future” with the juniors for Hungary’s JWGC and 5 new aspirant members from the Dutch squad.

An enthusiastic group of Dutch junior pilots ;class  ’18/’19.With Lizzy as the only girl….AND among them a current JWGC champion [Sjoerd in Pocuinai] and a vice JWGC champion from Narromine, Robin.Mind you we had already 3 JWGC champions.

———–

——–Matamata Soaring shared the next news:
“The start of the Centennial Park competition has been a wave day. No contest day due to the extreme wind, so a number went flying in the wave. It took until around 5:30pm to climb into it, but we got there in the end. Just like Omarama, but in the North!”
One of my Aussie mates is flying there and he shared some pictures, also from Lake Taupo where I was a few years ago.

Matamata Soaring Centre

—————

——Told you about the 1st FAI World Drone Racing Championships .
Here are the results.

Location: Shenzhen – China

Overall – F3U (RC Multi-Rotor FPV Racing)
1st: Rudi Browning AUS
2nd: Bastian Hackl AUT
3rd: Karlis Gross LAT

Women – F3U (RC Multi-Rotor FPV Racing)
1st: Wanraya Wannapong THA
2nd: Ga Yeon Mo KOR
3rd: Ting Yu Chao TPE

Junior – F3U (RC Multi-Rotor FPV Racing)
1st: Oscar Nilsson SWE
2nd: Qianti Hu CHN
3rd: Rudi Browning AUS

Team – F3U (RC Multi-Rotor FPV Racing)
1st: Australia
2nd: Sweden
3rd: Korea
The full results can be found at the following address:
https://faidroneworld2018.aero/

————

Gliding International ;
The November-December issue, so the last one from 2018, with the PERLAN glider on the cover, is published and here are some of the interesting subjects.
—–all about the great flight from the AIRBUS PERLAN Mission 2 glider, climbing up to 76.000 ft. a fabulous new world record, even surpassing the height record of the U-2 Reconnaissance Plane. With lot’s of great pictures and the story behind it all.
—–90 years ago…..Germany’s gift to Sporting America….Flying planes without a motor….
—–Follow the leader,…is what a lot of pilots  did during the last WGC where Sebastian Kawa won [again] Sebastian is annoyed / frustrated about the lack of fair play in gliding and is pretty clear in his story. About tracking and and FLARM, who have changed the rules of the game completely. A very interesting FULL story to be read in this G I.
—–The possibility of Graphene as the skin coat to sailplanes; The Graphene discoverers from the Manchester University were the well deserved Nobel Prize Winners from this year. China is a big producer from graphene .
“Graphene is a  super-strong material – 200 times stronger than steel and 100 times stronger than diamonds. A fraction of the weight of Carbon Fibre.”
Much more about it in the magazine or digital.

And a very kind offer to ALL  pilots new to soaring, who soloed in the USA, Australia and N .Z.;They are   eligible for a free subscription to Gliding International. You can read in G I how to do so.

SUBSCRIPTIONS:
Printed version airmailed:
1 Year (NZ Currency) $NZ96
2 Years $NZ190 or the
equivalent in your currency.
Digital version emailed
1 Year $NZ69,
2 Years $NZ130 or the
equivalent in your currency.
Personal cheques acceptable.

That’s it,…you are up to date.
Cu next week.
Cheers Ritz

—–Youth Glide in New Zealand;

As shared by the Wellington Gliding Club

As in Australia with Joey Glide, the young ones in New Zealand are very busy; fraternizing, soaring, socializing …making friends for life and maybe love gliding “for life”  as well.
In October they had  a fabulous long weekend  at Papawai Soaring Centre and they shared some lovely pictures.
“Youth Glide is going from strength to strength in New Zealand ”

    

Fun and tension on the faces.

Guess first solo!!!

    

Great pictures of happy young pilots.

————-

 

—More young ones ,..now in the UK!!

This is the class from 2018, but now  the Air League Scholarship Season 2019 opens on November 2 !!!

“Did you know that every year the Air League, together with our sponsors, awards approximately 100 scholarships to our young members as well as disabled veterans through our various schemes and initatives?
Anyone can join the Air League and enjoy access to our scholarships which give you free flying opportunities across the country.”
info@airleague.co.uk

 

————

 

—And the French young ones too.

The future:  Hugo Corbillé, Adrien Dubreuil, Clément Flick, Celestin Godard, Florian Labatut, Victor Mallick, Hugo Roche, Sofiane Scally
With coach Eric to the left and Jean-Marc to the Right.
Courtesy  Pôle France Planeur

Gliding Center ST Auban invited the young pilots from the French squad . Eric, the  French team coach spend time with them so did Jean Marc as trainer-in-charge for this hope for the future team.

Their JWGC team for the comps in Szeged in Hungary between July 28 and August 10 2019 has 6 entrees.
3 In Standard class; Hugo Corbille, Sofiane Scally and Aude Untersee.
3 In Club class;  Julien Duboc, Adrien Dubreuil and Clement Flick.

 

————-

—–Bitterwasser is ready, containers arrived ,first glider is “out of the box”. The season can start and hopefully the weather is as good as last season.

The new VENTUS 3, good to see this glider in Namibia. First time ??
As shared by Bitterwasser Lodge & Flying Centre

First time??? Yes it is…what would we do without people as Wilfried ?!
“🇬🇧The first Ventus 3 arrived in Namibia! ✈️➡️🇳🇦 Wilfried Großkinsky is supporting the young pilots, who will be able to set records or simply have great flights in @Bitterwasser.
And it is also a endurance test for the new engine system😁🙌🌞”
AND,…..for those who ALWAYS wanted to go to Bitterwasser here is your chance, as you can rent gliders in the next time frame;
Arcus M
01.11 – 10.11.18
20.12 – 03.01.19
12.01 – 26.01.19

Great soaring weather in S.A. On the 29th Oscar [Goudriaan] started the new season with a 1.040.89 km. with a speed of 158.6 km./h. from Potchefstroom in his JS 3!!! It was a real FAI triangel from 1.013 km. ;speed 151.5 km.

 

————

 

———At the FAI Conference in Luxor, as always, awards have been handed over.
This time the  Gold Air Medal, the most prestigious FAI prize, was awarded to Hermann Trimmel, a glider pilot and a great meteo-guy!
The Diploma  FAI Angelo D’Arrigo was awarded to Klaus Ohlmann.

   
Picture 1 courtesy Visa -Matti on this pic with Klaus.    And picture 2 courtesy Marina ; Hermann to the r.

AND ,…..More EXCELLENT news!!!
Gliding has a strong representation in the new FAI executive board which was elected Saturday.
President is Bob Henderson, deputy president Alvaro de Orleans and Marina Vigorito is  executive director. And of course, Susanne as the secretary general.
Great team I have high expectations!!!!!

With Bob to the right.
Courtesy Stefano Dalai Flyer Bianchetti

 

——over 35 dgr. C. in Tocumwal,I heard…….
—— 1st FAI World Drone Racing Championships in Shenzhen, China is about to begin and according to Visa -Matti, the track is looking good.
—-NOBODY complained in Holland about this last season. A ripper-season. It finished last weekend, but still with OVER 300 km. in an ASG 29 from Soesterberg.!!!!!OCTOBER 27!!!!!!!

 

CU next week,
Cheers Ritz

The overseas weather starts to warm up. Gerrit flew from Mc Caffery [Australia] over 500 km. in his Quintus and his wife Pam 441 in her ASH 31/21 m.
Orient [South Africa] had several over 500 k’s in Ventus 2 CM and N.Z. … Omarama with Max Stevens in an ASW 27 as well. Last Wednesday Bob Gray flew 563 in a DG 100!!!!
Temora pilot Brian Du Rieu flew over 500 in his LS 10 .
Bitterwasser will be “hot” in several way’s from November onward. From November 3 they fly there the first week of FLYING WITH THE CHAMPIONS, as usual in co-operation with Rent-a- Glider, with Wolfgang, Ludwig and Dieter Schwenk.
2d Week will be between November 10 and 16.More later.
Omarama shared this fabulous picture;

They shared this text as well:
“Mount Tasman taken by Gabriella Morton a few days ago. Spring flying is awesome! 
Milan and Gabriella were flying together in QQ and formated on Sabrina flying DD.”

 

——Stendal;
The place to be for the next WGC and they work hard, very hard to get the airfield in the very best condition.

    

As shared by Segelflug-DM Stendal

 

—— New representative for Benelux;
As good old Bert de Wijs is retiring , DG shared the next news in their DGAircraft News.
“We are happy to now being able to introduce Peter Jansen, owner of Service Center Terlet, as our new representative for DG and LS aircraft. With his business background Peter provides a huge know how, a strong customer loyalty and an excellent service, which our customers will for sure be appreciating. He’ll start his job as DG-representative on November 1^st. As Part-M maintenance organization the team at Service Center Terlet has for many years been taking care of customers’ needs in and around the Benelux countries. Their high level of quality and service matches DG’s trade name very well and we are really looking forward to cooperate with Peter.”
Indeed Holland is very proud on this Service Center.

 

—Believe it or not, but Sikko Vermeer, who works at the above service center,  flew last Monday IN Holland mid autumn most probably the longest flight ever for this time of the year;417 km. on October 22!!!!
When he arrived at Soesterberg airfield there was some drizzle , which quickly cleared and with the first thermal activity , he was on his way.Flying South, nearly to where I live and back North, then making the 400 km. Great job great FLIGHT!!Have a look at the OLC on October 22, number 4 on the list and I say it again flat country no wave!!!
www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html…

    

Pictures shared by Sikko.

—Correction;
In my last blog I wrote about our new World Champion Sjaak Selen. It seems I understood something wrong ,so here is the correction I got from Sjaak.
It was not “the father from the dad ” from Sjaak and Baer,  but the brother , so his uncle Jan Selen. And Jan was very involved and not “just”  a glider pilot .
He was Dutch National champion in 1955 and represented the Netherlands at the WGC in Argentina in 1963!!!
As said before a REAL soaring family!!!!
Thanks Sjaak!!

As shared by ZWEVERS[ Frits].

—-Just to let you know;
BIG FAI General conference is in Luxor [Egypt] this week on the 26th.
FAI Air Sport General Commission is on the 24th same place.

To finish this great picture by NZ top-photographer Geoff Soper. This one is on canvas and by the way, he sells his pictures.
Geoff Soper Photography

He took the picture at Classic Fighters, Omaka, “its ultra sharp and blew up well on a 1.5m canvas print“.

CU next week.
Cheers Ritz

That’s what it was ALL about!!!!!

On the hottest EVER 13th of October with 28 dgr. C.!!!!!!! Max and Frida picked me up to travel to Venlo for celebrations around and with Sjaak [Selen] who became WGC champion this year in Ostrow in standard class!!
Also the day, that a rare weather phenomena happened ; a hurricane reaching Europe and damaging parts of Portugal and France suffered from terrible flooding.
We got hot air from the devastating Michael ruining parts of Florida.The depression now is nice to us with a week with temperatures between 20 and 28 in October…autumn.

But back to Sjaak and his well deserved special day.
It’s always nice to come back at Venlo where , as you know, my soaring- interest started and my first flight was a fact in 1967.
I straight away walked to the hangar, where “we” had our 3 gliders the Grunau Baby, KA 7 and Rhoenlerche. It looked as if time stood still but,…I heard the old hangar had collapsed under a load of snow damaging trailers caravans AND gliders!! That’s why it looked so fresh and “new”.
So they build a new one and as Venlo and Eindhoven are ONE club now, with a really pleasant atmosphere, they are building another new one at this stage at the opposite side of the old ones.

 

Not all gliders were in, as the weather was so nice that gliders went up, but back in time for the ceremony and party.

 

 

I know the Selen family from long long ago, but did not know that over -grand-dad was a glider pilot as well. I knew Baer and Sjaaks father was involved, as we spoke about it when we met in the past . Interesting as well ALL of them represented Holland at WGC’s.
So pretty normal that both brothers got involved. Not so normal ,….that they both won a world title and Baer even 2 , one in Chateauroux in 1978 in Standard Class and one in Uvalde in 1991 in the same class.That’s a TOP RESULT.
From the 4 WGC titles ever won for Holland, 3 are in the hands of the Selen family. What about that!!!
And when I tell you that Kees Musters when he became WGC champion in Hobbs in New Mexico in 1983 , was a member of the ZES , FLYING AT VENLO, you see that Venlo has some special ingredients to create champions.
And I noticed ,a lot of young ones there, so the future might bring more champions and looks BRIGHT!!!

The Selen family arrived at the airport in a bus with Sjaak and Baer coming out first and of course that huge CUP.

Sjaak repeated a few times; “I  was just lucky”

Club members and club president Yoeri welcoming their guests.

President of the club Yoeri welcomed everybody and the mayor arrived and it was great to hear that he had put some “work”  in his speech ,as it was a good one; well prepared.

   

Both Baer and Sjaak were happy with all what happened and posed for my camera as well.

2 brothers , 3 WGC titles in St. class in 1978, 1991 and 2018!!!!!
With their permission.

One of the presents was a CHAMPIONS-trophy “in blue”. Frauke [IGC member for Holland and working at the KNVvL  office] and Baer started years ago a coaching trajectory for cross country pilots. Baer thought it would be good , to grand winning pilots with a special CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY, a challenge cup.
It exists now for 13 years and in that time 8 Dutch names were added; 4 European titles, 3 JWGC titles and now 1 WGC title. They never expected that. Not bad for a small country like Holland.
This time it was Baer handing over the challenge trophy to his brother.

The blue trophy and the cup, the WGC medal and a silver award from the Dutch Gliding Association to honor Sjaak.

He got as well a canopy cover in silver with his call sign 2S. And lot’s of flowers specially for partner Liliane ,who shared in all celebrations as his crew, who inspired and helped him. Liliane is in our female team, so  she knows what it is all about.

We also had a very nice 2-course-meal sponsored by Max Verstappen’s JUMBO supermarket. And as one of the speakers mentioned, Max , also from the province Limburg,is not even yet the best of the world, Sjaak is in his discipline and what huge difference in “wages”; too much for the one ,” nothing” for the other……??!!
By the way JUMBO sponsors cycling and speed-skating as well.

Conclusion; a great evening thanks to the combined Venlo- Eindhoven pilots now in ONE name; VEZC [Venlo Eindhoven Zweefvlieg Club] Compliments for all of them!!!!!
Great to see some faces I had not seen for 50 years, awfully nice to catch up with 4 pilots who flew with us in Tocumwal and I had not seen anymore after and sorry I cannot share pictures from all the visitors due to that stupid privacy law.

————

 

—–News from Team Uk.
“The British Junior Gliding Team competing next year at the 11th Junior World Gliding Championships (Szeged, Hungary) has been announced!

Congratulations to Simon Brown, Peter Carter, Finn Sleigh and Jake Brattle and to reserve pilots Clement Allen and Henry Inigo-Jones.

We wish them the best of luck with their preparations and busy competition schedule for next year!”

I wish them good luck as well.
Picture shared by British Gliding Team

 

———News from overseas destinations;
Bitterwasser shares, as the season has not yet started, a press presentation from the new Audi E tron. Proud that it happens at their Bitterwasser Resort.

As shared by Bitterwasser Lodge & Flying Centre

 

Tocumwal Sportavia shows most of their  fleet as they, Lumpy, started a new commercial  gliding center.

With their message;”Most of the fleet out today, when are you coming to TSC? 
We will be operating 7 days a week from November onwards.”
It’s a rent -out-fleet and the Nimbus 2 is “missing”.
As shared by Tocumwal Soaring Centre

 

AND,…yesterday dark clouds over Tocumwal as you can see on this picture by Donna Boaden.

Courtesy Donna.

This picture shared by Eddie from SportAviation Tocumwal shows why there were dark clouds.

——————

—–News from Matthew and SKYSIGHT;
“We’d like to announce the imminent launch of a substantial refresh of SkySight (try it now at https://beta.skysight.io) – we have been working hard over the year to improve the presentation of our forecast maps.

As shared by Matthew ‘s SkySight

—————

Not so much soaring-news this week…By the way a great foehn -day last Sunday with strong wave and 994 km in an ASH 26 E starting from Unterwoessen [Germany] , straight S. to the mountains and  991 k. in a Duo Discus XLT from Wiener Neustadt in Austria  is “pretty good ” too!!!!
SO,…CU next week then

cheers Ritz

 

As shared by Kingaroy Soaring Club
Picture courtesy Peak Pictures

 

—–Kingaroy Formula 1.0 Gliding GP.
The Kingaroy GP, started task 5 when I left you and all day’s before in 15 m. were Adam’s.
So I was interested to see how he went, but it turned out to be the last flying-day, cause the weather turned poor and as far as they could see the fore cast there said; no soaring possible anymore .
Not unusual in this early spring time in the East of Australia.
15 m;
Task 5; 247 km…. and YES with 129 km./h Adam raced to another daily win. Lisa [Trotter] and her husband Peter, were runners up.
After 4 tasks Adam leaded with the max amount of 40 points, Peter was 2d with 26 and Lisa 3d with 21 points.
A happy and excited Adam;”Cracking day, 130kph and first across the line! Self, Trotter and Dalton got ourselves into a very good position for the start, which we were able to capitalise on. I took a go at the bonus point today, but was beaten to the post by Justin in his SZD55 – well done! Thanks to the task setters, it was super!”

“Adam and Lumpy do it again. Perhaps we need to increase their handicaps. Well done boys.”
As shared by Kingaroy Soaring Club

 the 15 m. champion winning EVERY day and winners.

“Having fun at the QLD State Gliding Championships presentation dinner, we ended the comp today at briefing, as the weather is poor now until the end. I was fortunate to win all four days & be declared this year’s champion ahead of two of my idols, Peter & Lisa Trotter.” Adam.
As shared by the Kingaroy club.

18m/open;
Task 5 ;291 km….After 1 “off-day,”  Lumpy was back to his “good-day-style ” and won the last race with a speed of 122 km./h. Greg [Kolb]  in Ventus 2 CX was runner up and Brian Du Rieu in his LS 10 3d.
In the end a total of 36 points for Lumpy,Greg was runner up with 27 and Andrew 3d with 26. Brad [Edwards] had 25.

Lumpy won again!!!
As shared by Kingaroy Soaring Club

Lumpy as number 1 and Greg and Andrew as number 2 and 3. AND, the CD of the comps.
As shared by the Kingaroy Club.

After the final dinner there was of course the presentation……..AND time for Music.
Good “old” Brad [Edwards] still singing as at the WGC in  Uvalde 1991 !!!! Love it!!!

As shared by the Kingaroy Gliding Club.

And to finish my blog’s ” 2d FORMULA 1.0 edition”, another GREAT picture from Peak Pictures

 

———-

——-South African Nationals;
they continued first with a cancelled day and then…they  flew 3 more tasks , so 6 out of 7 good day’s.
15 m;
task 5 ;308 km…and the difference in speed between the winner AGAIN Mark [Holliday] and the last finisher was 121 km./h for 84 km./h. His ASW 27 has a handicap from 104.
Task 6 ; 3.30  AAT….. 487 km. in 3.31 for Wayne [Schmidt] Chapeau !!Speed 138 km./h. So 1000 points for him.
70 Less for Mark who was runner up but still leads the pact.[4.291] Wayne as runner up has after 5 tasks 4.022.
task 7 ; 434 km…Another great win for Wayne with a speed of 126 km./h .
With 6 out of 7 days, Mark is  the 2018 S.A Champion in his ASW 27 with 5.239 points. Wayne was runner up with 5.022 points and Hanno Du Toit was 3d [4.404]

Club;
task 5 ;250 km.…same daily winner as every day before ; Jonathan [Cross] in his St. Cirrus. Speed just over 100 km./h. and all 7 finished.
task 6; 3.30 AAT…Jonathan performs and performs AND performs….402 km in time 3.33 so a nice speed of 113 km./h in his St Cirrus!!!Runner up Konrad Stark in a Cirrus flew 389 km in time 3.37 [speed 107 km./h.]
task 7 ;394 km.….NO,…it was not Jonathan who won EVERY day!!!  A pity, as he was runner up on the last day behind Jason Adriaan,but loosing 16 points did n’t hurt him. Jonathan is NATIONAL CHAMPION in club class ;5.430 points, quite a big marge. Jason was runner up 4.912 and 3d was French pilot Xavier-André Michalon with 4.521 points.

18m/open;
task 5;345 km….Klaus  [Kalmbach] flew around with 138 km./h. John Coutts in a JS 1 was runner up with 136 km./h. and Oscar was 3d with 132 km./h.
Task 6 ; 3 hour AAT….GREAT result for Natalie in her ASH 32 MI,; 480 km. in time 3.12 so 149.84 km./h !!!!!!When she starts and finishes with the “toppers”, she wins on handicap.
A pity she was “only” 15th on task 5.
Klaus was runner up with 153 km./h. and Oscar 3d for the day.
AND , after being sick, Laurens was back again at the field and in the air; 7th for the day.
After 6 tasks Oscar leads with 4.273 points, ahead of Klaus with 4.197 and John Coutts from N Z but living in S A. 4.117.
task 7 ; 509 km…...With the fastest speed for the day,149 km./h., Oscar won the day and with that the NATIONALS; 5.273 points. Runner up was Klaus with 5.072 and 3d was Couttsie with exactly 5.000 points!!
Natalie was 6th with 4.886 points.

A 2017 Nationals picture from Oscar in his JS 3, shared by Jonker Sailplanes.

 

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—-News from HpH Sailplanes about the  Maiden flight 304MS SHARK S/N 100

    

304MS SHARK s/n 100 bij LKKO. …….at the airport of Kolin AND….. Instrument panel 304MS SHARK s/n 100 in retro style 

 Test Pilot Martin and Production director Jaroslav.
As shared by HpH Sailplanes

 

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—–Great weather already in Tocumwal with high temperatures as well. Swiss Chris is back in Toc and shared this picture.

“First short flight of the season. The winglets did not make it out of the paint shop yet 😉 it was fun and the 27 flies also without them. Best climb 9kt. Lots of bugs. Need bug wipers tomorrow.”
As shared by Chris.

More  Australian early spring weather;  on the way from Narromine to Broken Hill as you can see, IN A CAR; 725 km.

Courtesy William Stalenburg.

By the way,…the LAKE KEEPIT WWGC [Australia; January  3, till  January 17 in 2020] will be flown in 3 classes; 18 m.,standard and club class!!!!! Just approved by the IGC.

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And to finish a fabulous picture from N.Z top photographer Geoff Soper…Enjoy!

As shared by Geoff.     Geoff Soper Photography

Cu Next week,
Cheers Ritz

As shared by Aeroclube de Bebedouro.

 

—Brasil Nationals from Bebedouro;
Open;
Day 4 with task 4 was challenging. AND,…in the end it turned out to be the last flying day!!After all the great weather it was an AAT -day.
2 hour AAT….. Not Henrique, who won every day till now, but 2 other pilots were the best on this AAT day;604 points both [on handicap] for a Nimbus 4 [266 km]with Alberto Kunath  and an Arcus M. [258]  with Claudio Schmidt. Henrique was 3d.
Day 5 was cancelled and there was no task on the last day.
So we have winners and a champion; Henrique Navarro in N1 a Nimbus 4T; 3.536 points. AND his 7th time!!
Runner up ;Alberto Kunath with 3.268 points…. 5 times Brazilian National Champion.
And Henrique shared a “story”  about these 2 Nimbus 4 -gliders.
“Nimbus 4 reunion! The last time these two N4 flew together was in the WGC in Makfing, South Africa, in 2002 maybe. They were flown by Alberto Kunath (TM) and Pete Harvey (N1).
Now we are at the Brazilian Nationals, and they seem to be having a good time together.”

As shared by Henrique.

Racing; 1.45 AAT….196 km. in time 1.47, in a St Jantar by Guilherme Ribeiro was not bad;518 points for him.
Day 5 was cancelled.Day 6 had no task;
Champion; Itamar Lessa in ASW 20 B with  3.254 points. Runner up  Luis Affonso in St Jantar with 3.181 points.

Club;1.30 AAT and only 3 finishers. Valeria did not fly.
Day 5 was cancelled.Day 6…no task
Sérgio Bassi was the clear winner and CHAMPION. In his ELFE S4 he “got” 2.893 points. Runner up Luis Improta in St. Libelle with 2.678 points.

Open class AT the “podium”.Other classes around.
As shared by Henrique.

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—-More news from Brasil as 3 pilots flew over 900 km. on September 26.
On the 25th of September the 2019 OLC started with lot’s of points for Brazilian pilots or pilots flying there.
On the 26th from Bahia 926 km in a Ventus CT/ 17.5 m, trying a 1000 FAI triangle!!!Pilot Pablo “got” 1.040,16 OLC points.
973 km. by Branco in the Nimbus 3T 25.5 m.His comment;
“Tried a declared FAI 1000 with Tato. The first couple of hours was low and slow, but after that we got going. The second turn point was in a blue hole and we were behind the schedule, so we cut it short and moved the last TP to Barreiras. Going downwind to Barreiras was easy: all the Cu’s worked and we were able to utilize a number of long lift lines. At the end, I ran out of daylight, otherwise another 30 km was possible.”

Branco and his mates;

“12th straight day of great flying at Bahia Gliding!!! ”
as shared by Branco.

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—On the 29th the South African Nationals started at Potchefstroom.
A lot of pilots in 18m./open; 22 to be correct and a few less in 15 m., club and 2 seaters a total of 38!!
They started last Sunday .For the 2 seater scores , only 4 gliders, please look at www.soaringspot.com
15 m;
task 1; 325 km...with a speed of 125 km./h Mark Holliday [ASW 27] raced of the circuit and all others [ 6 ] finished as well.[844 points for Mark]
task 2; Maybe task 1 was too short so  the 7 had to fly 412 km!!!AND, except for one all flew the distance!!!Nice speed as well 113 km./h. so another win and now a 1000 points day for Mark .
Task 3; 315 km….Believe it or not but Mark won again, he seems to be a one-of-a-kind- 15 m. pilot! Good on him. AND,..look at the speed …140 km./h.
Wayne Schmidt also ASW 27, is mostly runner up for the day, BUT,  is about 300 points behind him overall.
Hanno Du Toit was runner up this day with 137 km./h on the clock. He is 3d overall.

club;
task 1; 271 km….6 pilots in this class Dave Maver flew in his ASW 20 with a speed of 102 km.h but on handicap he was runner up as the St Cirrus from Jonathan Cross flew 97 km./h.
task 2; 359 km…..and Jonathan Cross was the daily best with 104 km./h.in his St Cirrus Well deserved 1000 points.
task 3;258 km….same story ,….Jonathan is the soaring-ace in club class winning every day till now. With 109 km./h he was the best.

18m;
task 1; 387 km….23 pilots in this class and an exciting class with real S A toppers participating. BUT,..it was a German pilot winning the day in a S A glider the JS 3. ;Klaus Kalmbach. He started together with Laurens and finished together both had the daily prize!!AND,..908 points.
Oscar was a tad slower, also in JS 3 ; 907 points!! Exciting finish.
task 2; 424 km……Good on he,r a powerful lady on top; Nathalie Lueben !!!In the ASH 32 MI, [handicap 116] she flew around with a speed of 131,42 km./h. good for 1000 points.
Not the fastest speed as 132.73 [Klaus] and 132. 85 km./h [Dawid Pretorius] was a tad better but their handicap from 120 and 121 gave them a few points less .[957 for 944]
Task 3;352 km.….Oscar was the “man-on-a-mission” this day. He flew faster than all others and by a big marge; 151 km./h. Runner up Martin Lessle in a JS 3 /15 m. flew around with 140 km./h and Danish Anders Andersen in his 18 m. JS 3 with 144 km./h.
One way or another Laurens did not fly!?
Oscar leads now with 3 day’s to go. German pilots Natalie and Klaus are 2 and 3 at this stage.

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—-The Queensland GRAND PRIX is on at Kingaroy!! With other words the annual Queensland State Comps,with 18 participants in standard/15 m and 10 in open /18 m. and GP scores .
Adam won 2 day’s [310 km. and 160 km.] so 20 points for him in the St class/15 m and Lumpy did the same;  20 points for task 2 and 3 , no secret both lead!!![370 km. and 281]
Task 4 was for Adam again[297 km.]   but Lumpy “lost” from former WGC champion Brad Edwards , both in JS 3.-[348 km.]
After 3 tasks Adam leads in 15 m. with 30 points followed by Peter Trotter with 23.
In 18 m. Lumpy still leads with 25 points and runner up  Andrew Georgeson has 21. Brad is now 3d.[20 points]
How is this way of competition- flying different ???
They declare that as follows;”Conventional gliding competitions can require a huge financial commitment. Formula 1.0 is centred around the club class handicap of 1.0, which means that pilots can buy a competitive sailplane for less than $10,000. In the first running of the contest in the 2017 / 2018 season, the contest was won by Nathan Johnson in a borrowed 1976 Glasflugel Hornet”

 

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—–An end of a spectacular era!!! Frank Versteegh , former Red Bull Air Racer is selling his plane , EXTRA 300 L, ….a certified Aerobatic Aircraft…. to somebody who will fly it more than he does now , but treats “her” with the same respect. There MUST be somebody in this world who can do so.
Frank ‘loved’ his plane and did unforgettable “things” with it. Thanks Frank!!!!!
With the aerobatic coaching weekend run by Grant Piper in Tocumwal last weekend ,maybe Australia is an option??

   

Good luck to this little beauty!!!!
Pictures and message shared by Frank.

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—-On the last day of September ,French pilot Philippe de Pechy , brought an ode / ballade sur le Golfe du Morbihan.
From Rennes Saint-Sulpice he flew West to the coast in his 21 m. JS 1,…..and what great pictures of fabulous isles,  he took. I share 3 of them.More on his FB site.

 

      

Commune de l’Ile aux Moines   and       Île-d’Arz.

Golfe du Morbihan.
All pictures shared by Philippe.

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—–AND,… the British Gliding Association shared this news this morning:
“Another John Williams epic from Portmoak – an OLC 1.225 km at 128 kph… inc a trip to N Ireland!.”
Wow look at his flight on the OLC. Lot’s of water!!!! And the Scottish wave was not always THAT high!! He took off  in his ANTARES from  Kinross.
John’s dry comment; ” Always wanted to try Ireland from Scotland (and back).”
Also Edward Downham flew over 1000 km.on this wave day from Kinross.[ASH 25EB 28] AND,…in a Discus with Santiago Cervantes,  970 k. is not bad either!!!!

And another LONG flight yesterday from Europe,..the Stemme with Klaus flew from La Cerdanya in Spain 1.300 km. with a speed of 116 km./h.!!!!Their wave went much higher .

And another one from France, I heard about the mistral and Robert Prat flew 1.203 km. at 127 km./h. from St Gaudens in the ASG 29 /18m.
Super flights.

Cu Next week.
Cheers Ritz