Alphen aan den Rijn Sunday November 14 2010 ritzdeluy@hotmail.com
SORRY it seems the links in this blog and may even in earlier blogs are not working correct in every country. They give an error. I am trying to find out how to solve this. Thanks for the message I received about this problem for Holland!
The land of the Long White Cloud……New Zealand ……here I come !!!!!
Yes it is all booked and finally I can , on an invitation- business- trip, see with my own eyes the beauty of New Zealand.
Prior to this visit I am allowed to visit for one week my beloved Tocumwal from December 13 till 19 in the morning. Can even celebrate my birthday there with all my Aussie friends !!!!
Get rid of the jetlag to be ready for brainstorm- sessions to see how we can create a new gliding resort in the spirit of Sportavia, this time in New Zealand.
Then it is off to NZ,on the 19th; really looking forward to that and of course the main reason for this trip. I heard from so many, that it is like magic over there in NZ !!!!
Of course I invite you all to come virtual with me and …I will share with you all preparations before.
So the month December will be busy. From December 3 till 8 , I will be in Munich and Salzburg with my [soaring-] friends Maria and Dieter.
On December 11 it is off to Melbourne, with Cathay, still hope to have once as captain-up-front , one of our former Cathay-soaring -friends , who learned how to fly a glider in Tocumwal with us. And they were quick to do so ,I can assure you!!
On December 19 it is off to NZ to look , smell, inhale and enjoy to the fullest, this great country and the property with runway and hangars from one of my friends Tony . It would be absolutely fabulous to create a new soaring centre with the spirit of Sportavia , now at Springhill. ” A center of excellence for the glider pilots of the world which should also be a great addition to the economy in the area. ”
As Tony says;
—New Zealand thrives on Tourism, if we create an Aviation Retreat base at Springhill, it becomes a perfect starting point to explore this wonderful country and have many aviation experiences along the way.—
Christmas time….I have the pleasure to spend with Chris and John Roake, yes my “boss ” from Gliding International, who will bring me after those special days on the 27th to Auckland airport for my flight back to Amsterdam. The beginning of 2011 will be with my family here in Holland.
As said you can follow me as I continue writing this blog.
Here is a link [2.23 minutes] to enjoy New Zealand already NOW!!!! Fascinating!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sEZ-wdFegU
All test flights with the 787 DREAMLINER are on hold!!! They stopped them , as they want to do more research about what went wrong this time again, with the smoke/fire in the cockpit/cabin.
The storm depression reached us on Thursday at noon , stayed over for the night to Friday and the North had up to gusts from 115 km /h. I moved garden chairs and table against the wall of my house to avoid problems. At 11 AM nothing was happening and then it slowly started and wind and at some times heavy rain , from the SW , really hit. But it was not as worse as it has been in the past. Though 2 people , [one was the captain] , on a tug boat , towing the Stena Line Ferry from London into the harbour, drowned as the boat capsized. Sad!!! The storm was mainly at the coast-line.
Only 150 messages of damage, so …no worries!
Now however the damage bill will be bigger due to flooding after heavy rain, specially in the S of Holland. France, Germany and Belgium suffer at places, as we do !! In Belgium at the border with France , 2 people drowned, The Ruhr area in Germany is in trouble and the army helps out in The Ardene’s to evacuate people and to bring sand bags to hold the water.
In many , many houses people walk around with wet feet.
Great to see that Björn from Norway is back in Tocumwal. Unfortunately the weather with some troughs in the area is not super , but it will improve , I know !! When I was in Sweden during the WGC in Eskilstuna I met Björn and his wife again . They came to visit me and to show me their glorious looking vintage Morgan, my favourite car. Pictures then made , turned out great.
In Argentina they were flying a regional competition and the weather -gods were in the beginning pretty good for them with a nice FAI triangle last Tuesday of 600 km., flying a total of 636 km in an ASW 20. On Wednesday they had a nearly 400 km -day at America Buenos and on Thursday the best flight over there was 449 in a Nimbus 3DM, as only open class flew that day from the 3 classes.
The competition was till yesterday. In standard class Lucas Goldenzweig was 3d after 2 days!
So weather-wise the end of the comps was not so good , with only a total of 2/3 days. It seems it is wet everywhere in the world!!!!!
My friends Uwe and Hans and our Dutch pilot Max are getting in the rhythm for the longer flights soon in Gariep Dam and few over 500 km .on Wednesday and nearly 800 and over 800 km on Thursday. It is starting ..this good weather in S. A .Also Namibia had at the 3 fields some nice soaring to start with; the best around 700 km. Nice to see Tassilo has arrived for ” some fire-work-flights” in Bitterwasser, starting with a good first day to get in the Bitterwasser-mood.
And also nice to see that German pilot Otto Toenges , who I have not seen for maybe 30 years flies from Worcester in SA, where another well known SA pilot Sven, flew yesterday a nice 542 km in the ASW 27. As said before it ‘s all happening, atleast the beginning is there!!!!
And…Sunday might be the first soaring day for the gliders which have arrived by container in Corowa.
In the West of Australia they still enjoy the best weather .Last Friday another 824 km in a Ventus 17.6 m. That day the Hornet pilot John , flew a great FAI 500 km triangle and I loved his comment; “I am knackered”! while he had good post frontal conditions and great CU’s and streeting, as he mentioned as well. Must have been the chair in the glider.
And…what about the flight from the SZD 55 also in the WEST of Australia yesterday ; a great 687 triangle!! Well done!!
Good to see on the OLC that Omarama is pretty busy as well. Might be able to visit this former site of the WGC this time. Did not go there during that WGC as TC , as I had no experience with mountains neither most of my pilots had at that time.
For sure you know that in Seoul the G20 of powerful countries was held with , unfortunately, not too many flashing results. French President Sarkozy, tried out his new toy to fly to Seoul. He has a second hand A330 from 1998 and built that into a little flying paradise. With a double bed and shower/toilet, a private office, meeting room for 12, communication room and 60 chairs for staff, journalists and ministers. It even has anti -rocket- weapons!!!
I guess Air Sarko One will be used often, though it is rather expensive to fly with 20.000 Euro an hour!
On Friday morning was announced that Roll’s Royce indeed has found a mistake in the design of their engine.The mistake is found in one of the parts of the Trent 900 engines. They expect that there will be delay in delivering the next Airbus 380.
Last time I wrote about the Blanik. For who is more interested in the construction here are 2 extra links to show you quickly what’s happening.Thanks Peter!
“mandatory bulletin L13/109a. The bulletin prohibited aerobatics, required an inspection,”
http://5478279397014646742-a-1802744773732722657-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/blanikspar/files/MB_L13_109a_english.pdf?attachauth=ANoY7crGC2gvHIHbBEd19z9m78BHSw1LdIJdS-zKG9dMYe_PBc3qEM2xf69bBv9-juFajt7IiHCUk25RKoHqlNr8onBBdBeDAjw_50IDsS9i98XNb_AMdzibeY1ANNgVN3ca82AYAIfrs1KH_RvNW1nn2yyofDWI8VoZ3LCRO-kgboxAQBVPyvvoN4Q5Rmfayu3ey1LbEu087_d0E4oABjbGCYz4uBTSsQ%3D%3D&attredirects=0
“On 14 September 2010, FAA wrote a letter (original version, updated version) to SSA ”
http://5478279397014646742-a-1802744773732722657-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/blanikspar/files/ClarificationLettertoSSAL13Accident091410.pdf?attachauth=ANoY7cpHmRUexTML_nUcW5VScNb6zKCGVPFgWsMQVUIHRm1kgAbTjab3KrDOeCoO0Tq4XIjaLQFpBYa0cDkHzP_NrVCo3odKg2dlaq7-K6sOo0SiFXryGCHE6xSanySs-0CGDc-W6h5nZoXNQFikkRTp_-SKvHCcbgmHhtbG2x2LrXkYqLyBFIuhOwpHmFNKFS1YxBEIWHVNNYtj7vD7uWz8bCKZ9DAsgJuVa4v3kTmIrWRmU2_pBAK9nWFZbx9fJZPwP9QGqaAv&attredirects=0
Carnaval, for whoever loves that way of spending time, has started at time 11.11 on 11-11, but next year surely will be special , as it will start at time 11.11 on 11-11-11. What do you want more.
Better stop now , see you on Wednesday, Sorry about the bleu in the middle, just copied and pasted one sentence and …..!
Looking forward to the last race of the Formula 1 circus. Hope Vettel wins as he is a nice “wild very talented young dog” , but I would be happy with Webber as well , as this might his only chance to win a Formula 1 title. Like Alonso too, great driver , so may the best win today. Ritz