Alphen aan den Rijn    Thursday February 16 2012

ritzdeluy@hotmail.com     www.glidinginternational.com     www.soaringcafe.com 

Hope you enjoyed VALENTINES DAY!

All comps are over for a short while ,still some soaring but a good time to look at other items.
When you have not read yet the story from Bruce at SoaringCafe you can read it here.
It’s about an Australian  soaring mate Bruce Brockhoff. Got to know Bruce in 1984 in Rieti at the Pre-WGC . We “the clockies and the Aussies” were celebrating a reasonable good day, when “poor” Bruce spend all night to get his glider from a soccer field where he had to make an outlanding.
He visited Holland a few times and he , together with Kees [Musters] and George spend hours in our house  “reforming the world into a better place ” sometimes with the help of some  Ebo Lebo, an Italian liquor, brought by Kees from his Aosta trips [ wave paradise in Italy].
We spend more then 10 winters at Tocumwal together and later even bought Bruces caravan and planted a white gum tree from a seed from  St Kilda Park, along the caravan  to remember Kees and Dennis.When we ran the SSC , he was already out of soaring .
Though we do not see each other ” every day, ” we still have a great friendship. Through the years we “find each other again somewhere ” and continue where we finished last time. Bruce is NOT in soaring anymore,already for a long time,  though last week he speeched in Tocumwal, where he caught up with a lot of friends from his soaring life. And …he enjoyed it! Here you are, his story written by one of his friends, interesting for those who knew him from gliding and forgot about him and for those who just entered “our ” world:

Bruce Brockhoff…Courtesy Bruce.

 “Bruce Winston Brockhoff was brought up on grazing farm near Dromana in Victoria Australia. He attended Osborne State School followed by Red Hill Consolidated State School (learnt sheet metal and wood work & wait for it…. apple packing!) at his secondary school Huntingtower. He was elected School Captain or Head Prefect in his last year and was awarded Blues in Football and Athletics. He matriculated with 2 first and 2 Second Class honors and awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to attend Monash University 1961-64 graduating with a Bachelor of Economics & Politics Degree taking 4 years to do a 3 year course all caused by a few overpowering distractions normal for a boy 18 years of age. He was fortunate to make many lifelong friends by living in Deaken Hall (Australia’s first coed on campus hall of residence) and was well known at the famous Notting Hill pub some ½ mile from Monash University.

 

Studied computers and the then ‘dreaded’ machine language whilst attending Monash together with experiencing a very different life style as an exchange student in India for 4 months. He played in the Monash Intervarsity football team (Australian Rules) and Ski Team. 

 

Employed as a biscuit salesman, Systems Analyst and COBOL programmer for 7 years in his fathers’ business manufacturing Salada, Savoy, Chocolate Royals and Chocolate Ripples. Co-Founder of The Cargo Hold chain of shops which he ran for over 25 years.

 

Spent a week in a Military hospital in Siberia (30km from Chinese boarder) during the Sino-Soviet Dispute on way to Munich Olympics via Trans Siberian railway. Demonstrated, flew in air shows and sold Maule aircraft to outback stations for use in cattle mustering (round up) selling 9 aircraft single handed in one year..

 

Three times Australian National Champion in 15m racing class gliders/sailplanes. Won the last day in the World Gliding Championships in Hobbs New Mexico in racing class in 1983 and won the Pre World’s Gliding Championships in Standard Class at Benalla. Won a day in the Pre Worlds in Rieti Italy.

 

Over all represented and competed for Australia in 9 international gliding events including one in the Gobi Desert of China which he won. Team Captain for the Australian Gliding team at the World Gliding Championships in Borlange Sweden and managed to obtain free shipping of gliders two years in a row to Sweden and back .Also obtained  brand new Volvos for pilots and crew the biggest team ever of 8 pilots. Nearly 650 faxes went through his fax machine over 3 years to organise the team for the Pre Worlds and actual World Championships in Borlange Sweden. On the sour note only one pilot wrote a note of thanks for either year. He was asked to be Team Captain for the next World championships but declined.

 

Australian representative to the CIVV (Federation Aéronautique’ International) meeting in Paris for 2 years.

 Gliding Award FAI Paris.

Awarded the Federation Aéronautique’ International Airsport Medal number 84 (Paris France) 1993 for ‘service to the sport of gliding’. He organised and ran many cross country training competitions known as the Tocumwal Teams Challenge with the aim of encouraging young pilots to participate in racing gliders with the emphasis in flying in pairs in a relaxed and casual fun way.

 

Enthusiastic sailor of solar powered sailing catamarans. Built and launched Dream Catcher a 48ft sailing catamaran 1998. Won a Victorian Land Care Award for raising from seed and planting over 30.000 Australian native trees on family farm at Dromana (three rows of trees in plantations 10m wide double fenced totaling over 13 kms long).  Breeder of Angus bulls and Super Fine wool Merino sheep. Enthusiastic and keen grower of exotic, full flavored, aromatic, heritage and purpose bred tomatoes. Devotee of the modern pressure cooker (using heaps of bay leaves, rosemary, time, cumin & lemon peel where appropriate). 

 

Presently experimenting with solar heat collection systems including evacuated glass tubes from China – Project entitled “More BTU’s for your Buck$”. Very fortunate to be ‘chosen’  as a conduit to write down a few ideas on the back of an airline sick bag using a child’s crayon kit sold to him along with the third glass of red wine on a on flight to Melbourne on Virgin Airlines. The few ideas that have come to him regarding the Worlds desperate need for more use of solar energy, have come about by an accumulation of knowledge and skills that he has been fortunate to acquire during his ‘journey’. These ideas been drawn together with a lot of input and guidance over the years from many mates notably mentor Bill Riley of Tocumwal NSW and Ellis Rowe of Benowa Waters QLD. 

 

Such is his love of Tomatoes he claims that “if you cannot smell them don’t buy them and tell the shop keeper why – they will be tasteless and cardboard like for the convenience of everyone except the consumer hence his latest invention    SOLARFLUME www.solarflume.com.au which heats his tomato growing greenhouse. He sells up to 8 different varieties of tomatoes at a stall at his farms front gate grown hydroponically in a greenhouse heated by his invention. The outside vegetable garden has its soil heated by the same method. Vegetables including tomatoes believe Spring has come 2 months early and Autumn extends into winter by two months. It’s all to do with soil temperature rather than air temperature.

 

Married to Kristine with two very young and beautiful daughters Brooke 16 and Belle 19.  Brooke was recent judged into the top 3% of World entrants in ‘The Event’ held in Orlando Florida in December 2 months ago. The Event is attended by the World’s top Film, Theatre & Modeling agents along with Casting Directors. She was later interviewed by 15 Agents. 

 

Belle has won 8 National titles in 7 years including the US Nationals in Boarder Cross and is hoping to be chosen for the Australian Team next Olympics in Sochi USSR.  Over the last 3 weeks she has podiumed 3 times in the last 4 races in USA.  Presently ranked 2 in the USA and attending her most important race this weekend in Canyons Utah. She had the 4^th fastest qualifying time against some Olympians and World Cup winners but unfortunately damaged some soft tissue of one of her knees by a ‘hard landing’ on one of the very long jumps on the boarder cross course (considered one of the toughest in the USA) and could not compete in the finals the next day.

 

Bruce’s darkest year and on the downside of a wonderful gliding life, despite winning the practice year in standard class in the Pre Worlds Gliding Competition at Benalla and favorite to win in the next year’s World Gliding Championships (by the Germans, French and English) he was prevented from representing Australia by twin camera failures in the Australian Nationals and a reluctance of the team selectors to exercise their use of the “exceptional circumstances rule” in choosing the last team members. Most of the top competitors from Europe and the USA could not believe their luck that he was not going to be competing.

 

The only consolation to this very depressing dilemma for Bruce was that the organizers of Benalla World Gilding Championships separately and independently invited him to be Competition Director of the World Championships on the basis that he was “the most experienced & current competitor skilled and experienced in international events” however such was his disillusionment with the gliding movement and some of its officers all he wanted to do was to be the ‘daily snifter’ pilot at the world comps and be with his Aussie and International friends in a more casual and friendly task  that allowed him to fraternize to the maximum which he was particularly well skilled in also. His other task was to be Special Advisor to the Organisers

  
Bruce in 1983 , preparing for the Nationals At Narromine. Article from the paper. Bruce won the NATIONALS .courtesy Bruce.

The World comps at Benalla were preceded by the now famous ATSOP (Australian Tool Shed Opening Party)  held beside Bruce’s caravan at Tocumwal airport to which most of the most notable International racing glider pilots attended complete with a home grown lamb on a spit from his farm and the odd VB (Aussie Beer) or three.

 

Bruce last competed in a LS6, in the World Gliding Championships in Uvalde Texas, with a competition number of MS. He was given this number by Greta Musters the wife of Kees Musters [one of Bruce’s closest Gliding friends ] after Kees was killed in a freak hang glider accident in the European Alps. Bruce met Kees in 1983 at the World Gliding Championships in Hobbs 1983 which Kees won in 15m Racing Class and also met and formed a very close relationship with George and Ritz Schuit -deLuij, also of Holland which continues today.

 

Bruce recently donated enough $’s for a large brand new hanger at Bacchus Marsh (known as the Bruce Brockhoff Annex to the Australian Gliding Museum) built to house many a donated vintage glider including all of Bill Riley’s who by the way was Bruce’s most influential and strongest mentor during Bruce’s glider racing career. They did many a very happy and joyous overseas trip to nearly all the glider factories of Europe, Eastern Europe and the UK.

 THE AGONY AND THE EXTACY –  C’EST LA VIE

Bruce ,  photographed with The Federal Shadow Minister for Environment,
the  Hon.  Greg  Hunt  in  front  of  his Invention Solarflume

 Received a mail from a UK pilot. Do not know him but when you are interested you can contact me and I help you further.
—“Do you no anybody or club. Who may be searching for a tug pilot….? I hold a UK CPL/IR licence:TThrs 4,900: Multi: 2,400hrs. turbine: 900hrs: Command: 3000hrs UK/Europe. Type(s) PA25 Pornee (Tailwheel.) PA31/23/34/C310/402/Bn2b (T) Sd 360. C172/182. Beagle Terrier. Tailwheel. Banners / Gliders.–“

Received an interesting link from Australia about a complaint on a glider crash photograph:

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/9532229.PCC_upholds_complaint_on_glider_crash_photograph/

Still great flights in Corowa , Benalla and Tocumwal last week!
Did you notice? Even Ingo enjoyed a nice flight in his Discus; 755 km.Also tuggy Petr from Szech Rep. flew in the more quiet period after the Nationals a great 671 km[500FAI triangle] in the LS 4.
Benalla with UK Bob Nicolls in Ventus ; 804 km [750 FAI triangle] and 844 km. Nice to see Richard Kalin there.
Corowa with Dutch pilot Harry Wondergem;  795 km. This years best Australian OLC flight was for him and looking at  all flights Pepe was the best. OLC champion for Australia was Lubor with Harry as a good runner up!!
Corowa has started their packing of the containers today to have all gliders back in time for the European season.
What a great season they had! And as just said it still continues now!!! They were the best airfield in Australia looking at the OLC , before Benalla and Tocumwal and runner up world wide behind Bitterwasser!!!!!
Also more to the  NW a nice flight from Stonefield in the Nimbus 4DM; 727 km.

CU on Sunday, that is ….when I am not celebrating carnaval in the south of Holland. Will keep you informed.

Cheers Ritz