Oh,..it has just been such great weather most of last week. A bit of rain here in the weekend, but who cares after such early lovely days, certainly when you could sit outside of the Easterly wind. After the 300 k by Bas [Schellenberg from Lemelerveld]on Tuesday, it was on Wednesday another 166 km. Cross Country from Hoogeveen and mind you …..over flat as a pancake Holland and with a tough Easterly.[Ventus 2ct/18 m.]
On Friday , using his LX 9070 pilot Maurits [Dortu] flew east into Germany and back ; 237 km. in an ASG 29/18 m.
Also, in such a Ventus, a lovely flight in Germany from Burg Feuerstein; 431 km.[400 triangle]
Very nice to see that one of our former Sportavia guests Klaus [Warnke] had his first season -flight as well, from his home-field Boberg. After Gariep Dam his first European flight again.
Many German pilots are in France [Serres , Puimoisson or St Auban] and the French mountains were good for up to 500 km. and not even with the best wave on Wednesday.And 401 km. in an LS 1 f by Benjamin is just good , I like the way he calls the south of France ” a wind museum”.He is not only good in soaring but also with words/blogs.
In the US Tony [Condon] had a lovely beginning of his season 255 km. in the St Cirrus;” Blue day, fun flight. ”
Down under, George Lee still flies 500 km. from the field with his name in his Nimbus 4DM, whilst a bit more to the SE, Alan Barnes flew 772 km [500 km. FAI triangle] from Mc Caffery Field in his LS 8 following a good convergence line.[March 14]
On March 16 another great day for him ;627 km.
“Always someone better” …….yes,…. also last week; A good wave flight from Minden [Nevada] 1.336 km. mainly between 4000 and 5000 m. AGL.
Young Bert Schmelzer is enjoying flying from Tswalo in SA in an JS 1;509 km. Flying at this resort is on invitation only this week and top-pilots as WGC champions get an invitation for it, as well as family and crew. Oscar [Goudriaan] and Michael [Sommer] are there as well
First official flying day at Tswalu. Cloud base estimated 15000 ft with just over 500 km task set. 36 degrees @13h00.
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Around the world in a solar plane; The SOLAR IMPULSE 2 left last week from Muscat (Oman), piloted by Bertrand Piccard in the direction of Ahmedabad (India).
It was a provisional world record for distance traveled in a solar plane.
Bertrand is a descendant from a very well known and famous family. He himself, was the pilot from the first around-the-world balloon flight in 1999. His dad helped with the design of the submarine that was the first ever to hit the earth surface and his grand father piloted the first air balloon into the stratosphere in 1931!!!
More on www.solarimpulse.com
As shared on FB by Kiki.
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One of the icons of British Gliding , Wally Kahn, died last Sunday. Here is the news from the BGA ;
—-It is with great sadness that we report the death of Wally Kahn MBE, who passed away earlier today. Wally served on the BGA Council from 1954-1990, was a member of the Royal Aero Club committee and received the Club’s Silver Medal in 1995. In 2011, he was awarded an MBE for services to gliding and, in 2014, was presented with a BGA Gold Medal. Wally first soloed in 1946 and earned his Silver C in 1947 (number 85 on the UK register) and Diamond Badge number 50 in 1975. Having created the Lasham Trust in 1983, he was instrumental in securing the purchase of the airfield from the MoD. More recently, along with the late Peter Redshaw, Wally was the driving force behind the creation of the Wally Kahn Library, a digital collection of UK gliding books.—
RIP WALLY
courtesy ; BGA.
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The Victorian Aerobatic Championships were flown at Tocumwal Aerodrome on the 12th till the 15th of March. Every morning there was a briefing of the gliding activity and runways in use by the Toc. gliders and they operated within their box except when joining the circuit.So ALL had fun.
Courtesy Tocumwal Residential Park.
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News about our hang-gliding mates:
Sport: Hang Gliding class 1
Title: 20th FAI World Hang Gliding Class 1 Championship
Type : World
Date: 28.02 – 13.03.2015
Location: Valle de Bravo (Mexico)
Final Results :
Overall
1st : Christian Ciech ITA
2nd : Antoine Boisselier FRA
3rd : Christian Voiblet SUI
Team
1st : Italy
2nd : France
3rd : Australia
The full results can be found at the following address :
http://www.faihgworldmex.com/results.php
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Got this news from Frauke Elber and I share it with you.
Dear WSPA members and friends,
It is my pleasure to announce that the registration for the 2015 Annual WSPA Seminar is open. As you know, the Seminar is going to be hosted by SoaringNV in Minden from June 15-19, 2015. It is not necessary to describe this famous soaring site to our community, as most of you already know quite a lot about it. WSPA is very fortunate that one of our most esteemed members, Laurie Harden, has offered to host the Seminar through her soaring business, which is located at Minden Airport. This seminar is going to be one of the best WSPA Seminars ever!!! Please, read the announcement of the Seminar on our website for an in depth description of this site: http://www.womensoaring.org/?p=seminar
At the bottom of the webpage you will find the link to register online for the Seminar. If you prefer to print and mail your registration, you can download the pdf of the form, fill it out, and mail it in. There are two options for payments: a check or a payment via PayPal. The registration fee includes the usual items: Seminar Materials package, T-shirt, donation to the Briegleb Scholarship Fund for a young person to attend the Seminar the following year, and the food. This year the entire meal package, all three meals for five days, is provided and paid for through the registration. Do-it-yourself breakfast and lunch will be provided on the field every day. Two dinners will be also on the field in the Taildragger Café. One evening there will be a picnic which has been organized in a lovely neighboring town of Genoa, thanks to Phyllis Wells. On Friday night our Annual WSPA Banquet with Awards will be held at the JT’s Basque family restaurant, where the food is delicious and plentiful, and we know you will have an excellent time!
Early in the week, there will be a special night and a special announcement made that will make soaring history! WSPA is honored that the hosts have chosen to make that announcement during our seminar week. It is still a surprise, so stay tuned!
Lodging information will be available online in the next few days: lists of local hotels and motels and RV parks will be provided where we have already booked blocks of rooms. If you are bringing a glider, please follow all the instruction in the registration form, as well as on www.soaringnv.com on what is needed. As a courtesy, the Douglas County Airport will waive tie-down fees for us that week.
International WSPA members who are interested in participating, please let us know of your intentions as soon as possible, and whether you have applied for a USA pilot’s license before. Mark Montague has spoken with the local FSDO office in Reno to facilitate the issuance of USA licenses, if needed. Mary Rust, WSPA Treasurer, has further details regarding the temporary US licensing also: maryflies@roadrunner.com.
The glider and tow-plane fleet is already fantastic and still growing. Soaring NV already has an outstanding fleet, but neighboring clubs and private owners are gathering their own gliders to add to the fun during the WSPA Seminar. So far we have: LS4, Duo Discus, Duo Discus X, two ASK 21’s, 2-32, Discus B, Grob 103 Twin III, Grob 103 Twin II, and SGS 1-26. We are working hard to increase the list of available gliders, both dual- and single- seaters. The list of gliders and tow-planes will be posted online shortly, along with prices. Stay tuned!
Finally, if you know an eligible female pilot or you are one yourself, please consider applying for one of the WSPA Scholarships that are awarded during the Seminar. All the relevant information is on the WSPA website: http://www.womensoaring.org.
Join us for some epic fun this summer!
On behalf of the entire WSPA Board,
Maja, WSPA Vice President/Seminar Coordinator
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Enough for today cu next week,
Cheers Ritz