The 2022 South African NATIONALS .
Potchefstroom, 1 October 2022 – 8 October 2022

As said before this National Championship is flown in 3 classes; 15m, club and 2-seaters.
On the last day of September they had their practice day with a 2 hour AAT with 215 km as best distance by Sven [Olivier] in his ASW 27B.
I hope all scores are correct now as they had some problems.
October 1 …day 1…task 1 ;
15 m…..416 km; straight away Oscar [Goudriaan] ” left his calling card” in his 15 m JS 3 TJ; speed 112 km./h. Attie and Uys followed both equal as runner up ; speed 110 km./h.
11 pilots in this class among them 3 HC pilots.
9 Pilots were in.
Club….269.63 km; started also with 8 pilots and 2 HC pilots. Best speed by Philip Jonker in the LS 4 but he flies HC. Wilhelm Moosehuus in the Mosquito, was for that reason the daily number 1; 100 km,./h. Only one other pilot flew over 100 km./h and that was Rene Coetsee as runner up.
2-Seaters……436.41 km; 5 in this class and only ONE team flew the task; Kotze & Bonnet in the Duo Discus with 117 km./h. There are 3 Duo Discus’ in this class.
Laurens [Goudriaan] was runner up. In his ASG 32 MI he flew 417 km. but did not finish.
Other types ASH 25 E ,Nimbus 4 DM.
After day 1 the message was; “The weather for the days ahead is looking better and better!”

October 2…day 2…task 2;
15 m……413.75 km; Oscar won again; nice speed… 142.05 km./h Mark Holliday in the ASW 27 was runner up ; speed 136 km./h.
Club….299.99 km; 10 pilots flew the task AND finished it. Best was Wilhelm with 118.65 km./h
2-seaters….413.75 km; 4 pilots flew the task and daily winner was the Duo Discus again; speed 122.39 km./h

October 3….day 3…task 3;
The Potch- news from the South African Gliding Team ;”
Mon. 3rd October
10.30 in the morning and already it is already quite hot. There is a hiccup with the scoring and handicaps which is being sorted hopefully, so only when that has been resolved, will the daily beers be awarded to yesterday’s winners of the day.
The weather already expects it to be 12 000 – 13 000 ft by 11 a.m., with a high pressure over Potch and another to the west, there is a low pressure to the SW which might have some influence on the weather later in the day. Pilots were urged to be on the final stages of their flight by 4 p.m. latest.
15m. class have 428,5 km.; the Club class 301,1 km. and the 2-seater class 390.6 km.
First launch is expected to once again be at 11.30 a.m.”

15m….428.51 km; 6 IN and 6 OUT. Wayne Schmidt remembered very well that being back by 4 at the latest would be the solution for the day, so he went early at 12.37, still flew till 4.25 PM, and won the day. Speed ; 112.60 km./h. Uys and Attie started at 13. 12 being runner up and 3d and Oscar started at 1 PM and was 6th. The last one to finish.
So in the end it did not REALLY matter what time you started but more keeping out of trouble.
Out meant between 379km and 148 km.
Club….301 km; from 11 pilots 7 finished. Best speed was by Rene; 91 km./h in the ASW 20. On handicap not enough to win the day. Mike Tiffin in the DG 200 won; 89 km./h.
Wilhelm was 4th.
2-sweaters….390.56 km; 5 started and 3 finished, best was Laurens with 115 km./h.
“SA Nationals Day 3 Day 3 was a little more challenging than Day 2 but a good challenge is always fun ” by Akavlieg – Potch Gliding

More about day 3 by Jonker Sailplanes
“Have a look at todays flight of Zach Yamauchi (United States of America | California) at the South African Club Class Nationals held in Potchefstroom this week. Zach is one of the WeGlide JS Challenge winners and he had his first outlanding experience in South Africa today.
“South Africa has been amazing so far! Today was contest day 3. Everyone I have met has been incredibly kind and welcoming, the equipment, facilities, and contest organizers are top notch, and above all the soaring conditions have been very enjoyable. I love it here!” he says.
https://www.weglide.org/embedded/flight/221100?baro=true

October 4…day 4…task 4; CANCELLED FOR ALL CLASSES.
15m…3.30 AAT;
Club…358 km;
2-seaters…3.30 AAT;

October 5 TODAY shows 3 hour AAT’s in ALL classes. Then 3 more days to go, I follow them for you.

News from Jonker Sailplanes
Niklas Hahn from Germany (Niedersachsen) is the second lucky winner of the WeGlide Jonker Sailplanes Challenge and has following to tell:
“In Potchefstroom it is really awesome!! This adventure is really pushing me out of my comfort zone. It’s a new glider and the first time flying in heights where I need oxygen. The landscape is completely different from what I am used to in Germany and I have not fully found out what works and what doesn’t. On the first practice day I landed after an hour, because I did not find another thermal in the middle of the day. But with each day I fly it gets better. We are having fun and laughing a lot with the other glider pilots and telling stories at the Braai in the evening. The atmosphere is really welcoming.”
It should be emphasized that the JSChallenge is an international competition. Every junior worldwide has the opportunity to assert themselves. However, we all were pleased to nominate internationally in the first year!“
Niklas flies and LS1D.

I really like these programs/challenges.
In “our” Sportavia time in the nineties, we did the same.
We invited young talents to fly with Ingo in a 2 seater during a competition called Outback Shootout.
We had young ones from Finland Pekka, Belgium Tijl and Alfred Paul from the Netherlands. Of course they were also allowed to fly single seat gliders by their selves.
A room and food and of course friendly people around them, were included.
When I met these guys they still talk about it.

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I shared in my last blog, great pictures from the MORNING GLORY.
It looks like a great year for this phenomena.
More and more pilots are trying their luck.
When it’s there it is “heaven on earth” I heard.
One of the Aussie team ladies, Kerrie Claffey went there and also Terry Delore from N.Z.
In his Delore Soaring he shares his experience.
“Terry and Jeff are on a morning glory pursuit like the pic below, after power flying from Melbourne, south Aussie to the far North.
Like a good adventure they’ve encountered a few hiccups but seem to be currently airborne on the glory. Can follow their TrackMe tracker and will await a report.”
https://gliding.net.nz/tracking

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News from Temora, NE of Tocumwal
and weather wise maybe one of the best soaring spots in Australia.
They are renovating their runways so it will be even better in the future. On top of that, there is a GREAT museum full of exciting planes.
“The photos show the progress with RWY 18/36 line marking underway. We expect to have the reconstructed runway back in use 7 Oct according to the NOTAM. Despite the wet we are still getting some soaring in and really haven’t stopped flying all winter and into early spring.”

News from Tocumwal;
Staying for a moment in Australia but now “in ” Tocumwal, as there are a few changes over there.
….the Calif a-21S, better known as the CAPRONI, in which Ingo made many flights and hours has been sold to a new owner in Benalla. So it goes about 70 k S.

And more news from my beloved Tocumwal this time from Tocumwal Soaring;
“A massive milestone for us today with our final audit completed, which now allows us to not only hire gliders, but also train glider pilots.”
We took delivery of our second training glider today, which will assist us with ab initio training and is available for week long sessions, seven days a week.
It’s been a huge effort to get most of our gliders ready and airworthy for today. We could not have done it without the support of many in the gliding community.
We’d really like to thank everyone who has assisted us to get to this point, it’s greatly appreciated ( too many to list but you know who you are )
Thank you ! Team TSC,“
AND
“Our new Duo X had its first flight in Australia on this mild spring afternoon.
20 mtrs of awesomeness, these gliders are an absolute delight to fly.“

Starting this TSC-business now officially, the SRGC ,the club from Ingo , had to leave the old WWII hangar. For a few days the club members were lost/devastated, till George from Outback Soaring reached them his hand and hangar. So they have a “new” house too. They are now neighbors and grateful.
By the way, Georges Blanik , XO ,went to the Tocumwal Soaring Center ,as a training plane. My grand children Indya and Dexter, straight away said:” What about us, opa “? But George owns an IS 28 as well. So they will be OK.

A lot of things are happening in good old Toc.
“With the inclusion of the C-150 , our sturdy friend and workhorse ROZ now relocated to our new home, that concludes our involvement with TSC.
A new chapter commences and we look forward to continuing the great work Ingo did to make the club
successful.
His name will live on whilst SRGC continues. And continue it will.” Bruce Wilson.

And news from the Tocumwal Aviation Museum
“This week in history, 78 years ago:
There was a disastrous fire in one of Tocumwal’s giant timber hangars (Hangar 2) which destroyed the building and three B-24 Liberators which were undergoing maintenance inside the hangar. Crews attempted to save one of the B-24 aircraft by dragging it outside but by this stage it was alight and burnt to the ground on the tarmac adjacent to the hangar.
The fire was determined to have been started by sparks from electrical wiring igniting fuel vapors while one of the aircraft was undergoing checks. It was rumored that sabotage was involved, this rumor was never proven during the court of inquiry into the incident.”

News from Namibia; Kiripotib.
“Ready for take off on 1st November. We are looking forward to 83 great gliding days in Namibia. Have a look at our impressions
No reservation yet? Some remaining slots are still available“
www.kiripotib-soaring.com/en

And to finish this WOW-factor-pictures shared by Gilles Navas.

CU next Wednesday

Cheers Ritz