Met outlook

Time is few, so i am busy setting up for the Nats (and on OLC i can see the flying already going on at Gariep and New Tempe). The weather outlook for the contest period is very promising, so here goes:

Jan 2Excellent soaring day (the best, but then, it is the official practise day!!!)
3/8 at 16000ft; westerly 30kph dropping to 20 above 10000ft Max 35, trigger 32 4 - 5ms to 17000ft
Jan 3 - race day 1
Excellent 3/8 cu at 16000 - 19000ft; WNW at 40kph, Max 34.2, trigger at 31.3, 19000ft at 4 - 6 ms, with base at 16000ft
Jan 4 - race day 2
Excellent soaring, spread out? 5/8 1600 - 19000ft, wind W50kph - 3/8 cu at 16000ft Max temp 32.5, trigger at 29.4, 4 - 5.5ms to 19000ft
Jan 5 - race day 3
Blue to 14500ft - Wind W20, 31.7 with a trigger of 28.1, dp 1.1C3- 4 ms
Jan 6 - race day 4blue to 16500ft with a WSW wind of 20kph, Max 32.8, dp -3 trigger 29.4, 3.5 - 4.5ms to 16500ft
Jan 7 - race day 5
Bleu to 16000ft with a W wind at 20kph, Max 30.5, dp 3.1, trigger 27.5 3.5 - 4ms to 16000ft
Jan 8 - race day 6 OOPS
3/8 13600 - 19000ft with thermal tops at 12600ft, with wind NW 20 increasing with altitude, Ordinary storms cells possible, 27.4 dp 9.9 and trigger 26.6, expect 2 - 2.5ms to 11000ft
Jan 9 - race day 7
3/8 cloud from 11700 - 16500ft with a NW at 20kph, ordinary storm cells possible, hail possible, 27.8 dp 9.2, trigger at 26, 3 - 3.8 ms to 16000ft 3/8 cu bases at 13800ft tops at 16500ft
Jan 10 - race day 83/8 from 11600ft, tops 16500, thermal tops at 10500ft, wind NWN 30kph, ordinary storm cells forecasted, 26.5, dp 12, trigger 24.8, 2 - 2.5 ms to 10800ft with AC 3/8
from 12000ft with tops at 16800
Jan 11 - race day 9
3/8 11500ft tops at 14500ft, wind NW40 (W60 at 15000ft), storms cells possible, 28.4 dp 10.6, trigger 26.6, 3/8 AC from 13200 - 14200ft, 3 - 3.5ms to 13000ft
Jan 12 - race day 10
BLeu, wind NW30, thermals to 13800ft, 30, dp 6.6, trigger 27.6, expect 3 - 3.5ms to 13800ft

It is only a forecast ;-)

EY

Merry Christmas and A HAPPY NEW YEAR

To all of you a Merry Christmas and a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR. May all your thermals come true ;-) (and may all your ridges work!!!). And thank you for all the support in the past year.
Wedged between work, family (SO DEAR) and friends (SO PRECIOUS - and we (as in the family) had a few from far away this Christmas, for which we are thankful) and festivities (so necessary ;-) there was time to fit in a flight or two - yesterday was a trickyish ridge day (with some strong thermals - upto 3ms on the averager - which yours truly took under the pretext of practising for the shortly upcoming nationals; as well as wave - from early on, as Rudi Schukes DID NOT report ;-) and late - when i took a weak thermal over the airfield (waiting for a powerpilot exercising "simulated" forced landings) to connect weak wave from 2000ft agl to climb away - the valley is just so wonderful! and always full of surprises!
The flying was real fun, with KLLR notching up 810km at 134kph, a real achievement if you bear in mind that KS outlanded not far from where I did right at the beginning of the season. Those little (and they are real little) foothills don't work - if you are down to them only a thermal (in the valley) will save the day. KS was so low running the ridge that it prompted a distressed phone call by the paragliding boys to supremo Alan O'Regan.
So in a few days time i hope to be posting from a (drying-out) New Tempe (where it is very wet at the moment).
Merry Christmass and a Happy New Year

EY

ANGLE OF ATTACK

I copy an important r.a.s. (hopefully the author won't mind me spreading his message).
I also have to refer to the blogg kept by Tim McAllister for the NZ GP - it is really good
http://timmcallister.blogspot.com/

Bill Daniels had the following to say
"The threads on this subject [angle of attack] has uncovered something that gives me chills.
Internationaly, gliding has an abominable safety record. Many fatal accidents have as their root cause, failure by the pilot to maintain flying speed or, stated more directly, control his angle of attack. Clearly, based on these r.a.s threads on the subject, some do not understand AOA in some fundamental way and that's chilling.
Controlling airspeed is simply not good enough - it's too abstract, too easy to triviallize, too easy to misunderstand the significance of it.
Safety committees and organizations need to take this to hart. Here is a root cause of our most dangerous accidents. The awareness of and understanding of AOA has somehow slipped through the cracks. Slay this dragon, and our accident numbers will look far better.
If the concept and practice of controlling angle of attack is not absolutely ingrained in a pilot, the probability of an accident is non-trivial - in fact, sooner or later, it's a near certainty. Awareness of AOA should never be far from a pilots consiousness.
Controlling angle of attack is so fundamental to being a pilot that it's staggering to think that it's possible to become one without it being hammered into them until it's as instinctive as walking. Flying an aircraft without this level of understanding is like being the captain of a ship without understanding what makes it float.
As pilots, we do not fly the cockpit, the fuselage or the empenage - we fly the wing. The wing is really the only thing that does fly, the rest is just baggage.
Read Jim Webb's truly excellent book "Fly the wing". http://www.amazon.com/Fly-Wing-James-Webb/dp/0813805414
Or equally good, Wolfgang Langewiesche's "Stick and Rudder". You can read it free on line at Google Books.
Read these books - please! There is simply no subject in aviation that is more fundamental or important to your survival.
Bill Daniels"

EY

... and a dental appointment later in the week!!

PLEASE NOTE names, times and places have been changed (only insofar as) to protect the innocent

"Subject: RE: Your Tuesday dentist apointment

Thanx for the appointment, doc, my tooth is really hurting, I don’t think I can take the pain anymore.
EY

From: Adriaan Hepburn [mailto:ahepburn@iafrica.com] Sent: 30 November 2007 05:47 PMTo: Trevor Jhonson; Sven Olivier; Steve Mavuso; Rico SUTER; Reinhold Lawrenz; Quinton Hoole; ptroskie; Peter Farrell; Mike Pascoe; John Spargo; Johan Gericke; jbcom@kimnet.co.za; Jacobus Hartman; Hans Sterling; Graham Anderson; Gareth Floweday; Errol Drew; Dolf PRETORIUS; Craig Fussell ; Alan O'ReganSubject: Your Tuesday dentist apointment

Hi,
Tuesday looks like a good option for some of us, how about us all taking a day off and have some fun at the dentist.

I will speak to Rico and see if he can help with aero tow that is if there is fuel.

Regards
Adriaan"

A (serious) training weekend

Hopefully we can get the right weather lined up for Doc (here to train for Omarama)

Saturday
Possibility of CuNimb - probably on the plateau and hail 5mm
Surface wind - SE10, 5000ft E10, 10000ft NW10, 15000ft NW 30, 20000ft WNW30
Wave consistently from 12000ft up (again, the expectation would be for wave at lower levels in our valley)
Cloud BLUE
Max 27.3 Dewpoint 12.6 Trigger 25.1
Expect 1.2 ms - 1.5 ms to 6000ft

Sunday
Hold on to your hats - RAOB says there is a warm front on Sunday!!
"Anabatic warm front, 374km to the WSW vertical motion 73meters/hr
Cloud and precipitation ahead of the surface front.

That brings with it the possibility of CuNimb and HAIL size 4mm
Surface wind - WSW 30, 5000ft W30, 10000ft NW 70, 15000ft NW 90 (peaking at 100 at 13000ft!!!, 20000ft NW 80
Wave at 8200ft at 2.6ms and 18800ft at 3.5ms
Cloud BLUE
Max 25.5 Dewpoint 12.6 Trigger 23.9
Expect 1.2 ms - 1.6 ms to 6200ft
BLUE thermals

SAWB (apples) for Sunday
Olifants R ValSW 25 14 24 35% Fine, cloudy at first
Sandveld SW 25 13 25 Fine, cloudy at first
Swartland SW 20 12 25 Fine, cloudy overnight
Winelands SW 20 14 25 Fine, cloudy overnight
Cape PeninsulaSW 25 15 22 Partly cloudy, light rain overnight (30%, 00-05mm).
Grabouw SW 25 10 24 Partly cloudy, light rain overnight (30%, 05mm).
Ruens SW 15 14 26 Fine, cloudy at first
Garden route SW 20 15 22 Partly cloudy, morning fog
Breede Val. S SW 15 15 27 Fine
Breede Val. N SW 15 15 29 Fine
S-ern Karoo NW 30 16 31 Afternoon isolated thundershowers (30%, 00-05mm).
Klein Karoo W 25 17 32 Afternoon isolated thundershowers (30%, 30mm).
Kouebokkeveld SW 20 11 26 Fine

The weather patern is not yet there, but it is going in the right direction.

EY

The weekend forecast

It is wet (and dark) on the airfield, as Adriaan's webcam shows .... but the weekend should bring flyable weather

Saturday

An unstable airmass with (again) a strong inversion at 6800ft and higher- at this level there is also some turbulence projected

Surface wind - SE20, 5000ft E20, 10000ft S10, 15000ft S20, 20000ft SWS30

Wave - only from 16500ft up Cloud 3/8 4400 - 5000ft

Max 22 Dewpoint 9.4 Trigger 19.9

Expect 1.3 ms - 1.7 ms to 6800ft

Cloud - blue thermals

Sunday

I am, again, at loggerheads with SAWB, as they are forecasting for sunday a SE, going E toward George, whilst i have a W going towards Klawer. The airmass is slightly more stable, but there is no inversion!!!

Surface wind - SW 10, 5000ft W10, 10000ft NW30, 15000ft NW40, 20000ft NW70

Turbulence 5000ft - 6800ft!!!

Wave from 8400ft and all the way up!!!

Cloud 3/8 cirrus at 25000ft

Max 27.4 Dewpoint 9.1 Trigger 25.9

Expect 1.2 ms - 1.6 ms to ft

Cloud Blue thermals

EY

Bluntrunner

On Saturday, very much courtesy of Alan O'Regan, we had another Bluntrunner contest. A relaxed and carnival-like atmosphere prevailed.

the briefing .... and waiting to launch

at the launch point - only old ships

Thanks to Rudi Shurkes and Otto Toenges I had a K8 (GZD) to fly in [THANK YOU OTTO and THANK YOU RUDI]. They also sponsored a number of other pilots - Martin in GAN - another K8, Jerry and Reinhold in a Ka2b, and Adri and Adriaan in a K7. Others flew their own planes, notably Liewe Heksie in a K6 and Arri, the Spatzmeister, needless to say in a ...

Must say, the K8's were certainly the weapon of choice for the day ;-) and well done to Martin who won!

Rudi in the Phoebus

It was a really tricky day (see Adriaan's logfile on OLC) and one had to have your wits about you. I saw Arri do his outlanding at Fischer's and followed the retrieve by Adriaan and Adri (from Rescue International!!) on the radio, whilst flying in formation with Rico in his DG500M (he is now looking to buy a K8 - or twenty of them).

The retrieve from Fischer International - GZD on finals

On Sunday i was on duty as instructor and also had the privilege to fly with Mark Leeuwenbergh, 3rd ranked Dutch team pilot and 15m contender at Lusse. Man, does he fly well!! (again have a look at the OLC file for 18 November)

EY

A late start

Well, with Attie in the JS1, it was a late start to the forecasted day. He only got to 4500m at the first turnpoint at 15h00 (one and a half hour behind schedule) so the 1000 was never on. Nonetheless a very creditable 778 km for the day (see http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=1059487938)

As promised some pics taken on Sunday - but don't forget that, sticking to the ridge line, Martin and Otto in TR did 660 km at 151kph - a really remarkable feat!!!

As the front moved in the air became more moist and the foehn gap can clearly be seen, at times the cloud would form around you and GWL was flying with the electric turn & slip on for this very reason. Days like these are really very special and beautiful:

On Saturday we are flying cloth ships!!!

EY

A BIG DAY?

At 16h41 local time, Uys was not answering his phone - this is probably good news as he should be out of phone range and shortly be coming up to final glide.

More later

EY

The JS1 team

A phone call last nite refocussed my attention from the optimistic view Alan and I was taking of flying from Worcester today to Kuruman, the Northern Cape, to advise the JS1 boys of the weather there today and tomorrow (it would be on the western side of their 100okm task area) and did it just look good - see the forecast sounding for today: a firm 5m/s to 16000ft - what would i not give to be flying there today. I will advise of the outcome for the JS1/ASH26 pilots here.

regards

EY

Visitors

We had a splendid weekend's flying, but that is for the next posting. First a few photographs of visitors at the airfield this Sunday morning


But first i have to go back to a thursday not so long ago when i had to outland just north of Dasklip - a hard lesson, but the timing is impeccable, right at the beginning of the season. I would have hated to have made the same simple mistake 800km into a longer flight!!! Hopefully i have learnt something (there was a lot to learn, as always!!!). And to fetch me, guests to our establishment, Phillipe Rossier and Mark Hope, pictured here at the supper on the way home (at OPPIEKOFFIE in Porterville - where the owners helped us well after the closing hour)
.
I think their facial expressions say it all, but nonetheless, THANK YOU so much!!!
From far, far away .... some where such as Francistown, Botswana, an impeccable RV.

From the Eastern Cape - a Robinson R44, and last but not the least



and for the first time a Jet A1 burner (a L 39 from PE) dropped in, much to the delight of us all.


a peek into the front seat of the L39!!!

In the next post i hope to publish some photo's taken from EY on Sunday.

EY

EFATO

This week a Nationwide flight out of FACT lost an engine on take-off. Co-pilot was MGC's Daniel Perry!!

I heard a rumour that it was a reverse thrust deployment, something you really need as you rotate!!!

Well done to Daniel for bringing the plane back!!!

Ian Pretorius reported as follows:

"This afternoon at about 15:50 whilst sitting at my computer involved in the railway preservation internet war I heard a jet engine roaring. The cloud base was at approx 2000 ft over Table View with light drizzle. I thought to myself why is Mike Beechy Head flying practice runs for the Overberg Airshow in this weather (the initial sound was something like one of his aircraft).

I ran to my trusted ATC scanner and switched on and the first thing I heard was the tower talking to Charlie Victor the ground crew. He said get that rubble off the runway immediately. We have an emergency. The aircraft has to return. He then spoke to Nationwide who said to him we have an emergency. We have lost hydraulics and partial disintegration of our right engine. The traffic controller said it is not part disintegration. The whole engine is lying on the runway.

At this time he was vectored to fly to Romeo India Victor (Robben Island) and he maintained 3000 ft on one engine. The air traffic controller when asked by the pilot what they had seen said that on take off he first saw black smoke which turned into grey smoke and then the motor exploded and disintegrated and parted from the aircraft. This happened just short of the cross runway 16/34 which is about 70% of total runway length. There was no way that the pilot could have stopped the aircraft before the end of the runway but they obviously had enough speed at that stage for the take off. The aircrew were very calm and were obviously going through all their emergency procedures.

The air traffic controllers on tower were frantically hurrying on Charlie Victor to clear the large parts off the runway so that the aircraft could return. All other aircraft on approach to Cape Town were immediately placed into emergency hold and there was a lot of banter going on as to how much fuel each of them had and what their reserves were. In the end five aircraft were diverted to George and three to Port Elizabeth. At about 16:10 Charlie Victor indicated that the runway was clear for an emergency landing and the Nationwide flight was brought in from around Cape Point to runway 01 on a gradual descent on ILS as the cloud base was very low. They made a perfect approach and a very good landing without brakes. Fortunately the gear could not be lifted on take off so hydraulics were not required to get them down. After the plane came to a standstill there was a lot of congratulations from other pilots who were in their aircraft on the apron awaiting take off. The Nationwide aircraft was parked on the cross runway 34 out of the way of the main runway 01/19. Passengers were disembarked in the normal fashion as the steps were driven out to that area and so were the buses. The runway was reopened at 16:58 after poor old Charlie Victor had to remove all small particles that had fallen on the runway in case they got sucked into jet engines and there had been hydraulic and fuel spill on the runway. After the Airbus A340 incident last week and this situation today it becomes all the more clear that Cape Town needs a second ILS main runway. If that had been the case no flights would have been diverted in either incident. Billions are being spent on the passenger boarding side but nothing on operating. As for the reason for the Nationwide separation incident there are many possibilities. Debris could have been sucked into the fans causing fan separation, imbalance and ultimate explosion. This debris could have been either sucked off the runway or could even have been a large bird. The fan could have broken and caused an imbalance resulting in the explosion. The bearings could have seized on the fan. It does not necessarily mean bad maintenance although that is a possibility. The controlling body of air safety sent a team from Johannesburg to Cape Town today and they arrived at about 19:30 to fully investigate this incident. From what I heard on the radio everybody acted in an extremely efficient manner. The aircrew, the air traffic control, the emergency services and the ground handling crews really showed that this type of emergency is handled incredibly well when it happens. Good for them. Regards, IAN PRETORIUS "

The coming week

Tues 30
Surface wind - SE10, 5000ft NE20, 10000ft NWN30, 15000ft NW40, 20000ft NW 40
Cloud 3/8 drom 30000 -35000ft
Wave from 12300ft and higher at 2.7ms
Possible storm cells inland
Cloud Blue
Max 27 Dewpoint 12.1 Trigger25
Expect 1.1ms - 1.6 ms to 6000ft
Wed 31
Surface wind - SW10, 5000ft NWN 10, 10000ft NW 40, 15000ft NW 60, 20000ft NW 50
Storm cells possible inland
Catabatic cold front 100km to the SSW
Wave 8400ft at 2.3ms, 10300ft at 3.8ms, 21600ft at 0.5ms
Cloud 5/8 cirrus at 21000 - 35000ft
Max 29.3 Dewpoint 10.1 Trigger 28.1
Expect 1.2 ms - 1.6 ms to 6000ft
Cloud blue
Thur 1
Surface wind - W10, 5000ft NW 10, 10000ft NEN 40, 15000ft N 40, 20000ft WNW 20
Wave 8400 1.3ms, 19000 2.7ms
Cloud BLUE
Max 30.2 Dewpoint 11.5 Trigger 28.3
Expect 1.8 ms - 2.3 ms to 8000ft
Cloud BLUE
Fri 2
Surface wind - NW 10, 5000ft NW 20, 10000ft NW 40, 15000ft NW 40, 20000ft NW 50
Wave 8300ft 2.1ms, 10100 1.2ms, 14300 2.0ms, 16500 0.6ms, 19000ft 1.0, 21600 2.2ms
Cloud 3/8 32000ft - 39000ft
Max 26.6 Dewpoint 7.4 Trigger 24.6
Expect 1.1 ms - 1.5 ms to 6000ft
Cloud Nil
Sat 3
Surface wind - NW20, 5000ftNW40, 10000ft NW90, 15000ft NW100, 20000ft NW 140!!!Katabatic cold front 170km to the SSW
Wave 8000ft 4.1ms!!! 16000ft 3.4ms!! 24000ft 2.3ms
Cloud 3/8 4000 - 6500; 3/8 21000 - 39000; 5/8 23000 - 37000ft; 8/8 31000 - 37000ft
Max 18.6 Dewpoint 8.4 Trigger 16.8
Expect ms 1.2 - 1.6 ms to 6400ft
Cloud 3/8 cu/stratucu 5800ft - 6800ft
Sun 4
Surface wind - NW20, 5000ft NW40, 10000ft NW40, 15000ft NW40, 20000ft NW40
Wave from 11000ft up at 1.0ms
Cloud 3/8 4000ft - 9800ft; 5/8 5400ft - 8800ft; 3/8 2900ft - 35000ft; 8/8 32000ft - 35000ft
Max 17.5 Dewpoint 7.7 Trigger 15.8
Expect 1.4 ms - 1.8 ms to 6500ft
Cloud 3/8 from 4400ft - 10000ft; 5/8 from 6500ft - 9000ft
EY

Da-KiLLeR

Just rigged and BRAND NEW, a DG 808 competition, aptly registered as D-KLLR, with its proud owner and onlookers at FAWC. This must be the first NEW glider to arrive at this airfield.


On Saturday it had its first flight as well.... Reinhold, may you have many many 1000km flights!!!

EY

LE WEEKEND - an update(2)

Hi all

Herewith an updated forecast for the next three days . Tomorrow is not as good as forecasted 3 days ago, but it certainly remains a day with great possibilities, BEWARE though that the NOAA maps show an indentation of stable air running well inland (to Beaufort West) to the east of us - I believe that makes tomorrow a firmly front ridge day.

Sat 27
Surface wind - SW10, 5000ft SW10, 10000ft NW30, 15000ft NE50, 20000ft NW80
Wave 8500 1.7, 10400 3.0, 16600 1.0, 19000 2.6
Cloud Blue
Max 26.8 Dewpoint 9 Trigger 25
Expect 1.1 ms - 1.6 ms to 6000 ft

Sun 28
Katabatic cold front, quasi stationary to the south
Hi cloud 3/8 cirrus 25000ft
Surface wind - SE20, 5000ft E20, 10000ftn N40, 15000ft NW60, 20000ft NW 90
Possible cu-nimbs inland
Wave 8400 2.3, 10300 1.3, 14400 3.0, 16700 1.7 19000 2.3
Max 23.6 Dewpoint 13.7 Trigger 23.5
Expect 0.6 ms - 2.0 ms to 4500ft
Cloud (thermic) blue

Monday 29
Surface wind - Se20, 5000ft SE20, 10000ft N10, 15000ft WNW30, 20000ft W40
Wave 16000ft plus
Cloud 3/8 from 2500ft - 8500ft
Max 20.7 Dewpoint 13.7 Trigger 20.9
Expect 0.6 ms - 0.9 ms to 4000ft
Cloud 3/8 from 3000ft - 8500

Tomorrow remains best with a deteriorating influence from a moist (black) south easter.

EY

A new visitor

It is perhaps not a great soaring day, but then, if this is what you fly it probably does not matter ....





A visitor on our ramp this afternoon





EY

From Dick - a (somewhat acerbic) response

Many thanks Sven, we really appreciate the effort that you are putting into helping us. However I detect a note of guarded pesimism in your latest forecast. The phrase "has some promise" is causing us some concern. Hitherto the task that you have set yourself based on the forecast, have, shall we say, been a little optimistic. Now you actually produce a qualified forecast, so if we factor in your normal quotient of optimism, this appears to indicate a seriously pesimistic prognosis.

We launched later on today, 16:00hrs, Mark managed to stay airborne for an hour or so in weak wave just on the Worcester side of the Audenberg to Keeromsberg axis maintaining 5000ft.

Cheers,

Dick

Well Dick, as you can see not even the blue, predicted for today materialised.

Better luck to morrow, i guess.

EY (still@the desk)

NOTHING LIKE BEING WRONG!!!

The weather is really playing ducks and drakes (and showing me up)!!! With the result that Dick and his merry band are not getting the flying they were promised!!!

ANY way, and undeterred i make forecasts for the coming week as follows (keep watching the space for rolling updates) AND do keep posting for OLC - we need the points

Wednesday 24
Surface wind -SE30,5000ft SE30, 10000ftSES30, 15000ft SWS30, 20000ftSW50
Wave above 12000ftCloud - blue
AGAIN AN INVERSION AT 5000ft!!!
Max 19.7C Dewpoint 4.3C Trigger 17.4C
Expect 1.1 ms - 1.5 ms to 6500 ft
Cloud - blue

Thursday 25
Surface wind - E30, 5000ft ENE30, 10000ftNE 30, 15000ft N20, 20000ft NW30
Wave nil
Cloud 3/8 cirrus above 20000ft
Max 25.6 Dewpoint -3.5C!!!
Trigger 24.3
Expect 1.0 ms - 1.5ms to 5200ft
Cloud - blue
Friday 26
Surface wind - NW10, 5000ft N30, 10000ft N30, 15000ft N50, 20000ft NW 50
Wave nil
Caution - Surface turbulence
Cloud Nil, but a real chance of thunderstorms inland
Max 30.8C Dewpoint 10.2C Trigger 28.9C
Expect 1.5 ms - 2.0 ms to 7000ft
Cloud blue
Saturday 27
Surface wind - SW20, 5000ft W10, 10000ft NW 30, 15000ft NW60, 20000ft NW80
Wave 8400ft 2.0ms, 10200ft 1.6ms 12200ft 2.8ms and all the way up!!!
Cloud Blue
Max 25.2 Dewpoint 8.1 Trigger 23.1
Expect 1.2ms - 1.7ms to ft 6800ft
Cloud BLUE
Sunday 28
Quasi stationary katabatic cold front 70km to the Ssw, cloud and percipitation ahead of the front
Surface wind - 10SE, 5000ft 10E, 10000ft NNW10, 15000ft NW 50, 20000ft NW 90
Cloud - HIGH CLOUD 3 - 5/8
Max 25.3 Dewpoint 10.9C Trigger 23.2C
Expect 1.1ms - 1.6 ms to 6000ft
Cloud BLUE
Monday 29
Surface wind - SE20, 5000ft ESE10, 10000ft W10, 15000ft W30, 20000ft W40
Wave above 14000ft
Cloud 3/8 base at 4400ft tops at 5000ft
Max 22 Dewpoint 12.9 Trigger 21.2
Expect 0.8ms - 1.2ms to ft 5000ft
Cloud 3/8 4800ft to 5000ft
Tuesday 30
Ordinary storm cells possilbe on the mountains and inland
Surface wind - SE20, 5000ft E30, 10000ft E10, 15000ft SW10, 20000ft W20
Wave above 19000ft
Cloud 3/8 from 4400 with tops at 5200ft
Max 23 Dewpoint 10.7 Trigger 20.8
Strong inversion at 5000ft
Expect 1.0 ms - 1.4ms to ft 5400ft
Cloud BLUE
Keep a beady eye on Saturday (and Monday)
EY (still @thedesk)

TUESDAY

Server problems overnite! So it is only this morning that I had a chance to look at the forecast sounding
Cloud 3/8 low to 6800ft, 5/8 4200-5800
SW20 to 5000ft, SW60 at 10000ft and stronger higher up Wave from 6600ft at 2.3ms Max temp 16.3C, dewpoint 10.8, trigger at 15.9 Cu with bases from 2800ft tops at 6800ft Expect .8 to 1.2ms to 5000ft (I would expect the bases to vary in the valley and rise in the course of the day.
Sven Olivier
Stand by for a longer forecast later this evening

ROLLING FORECAST

Monday may really turn out to be a good day if the inversion does not drop down as it did today (and yesterday)
Monday 23

A sharp inversion at 6500ft
Some stratus at 4400 - 5000ft

Surface wind W20, W30 at 5000ft WNW 50 at 10000ft, WNW 70 at 15000ft and WNW 60 at 20000ft
Wave from 8300ft at 3.5ms,. through to 24000ft at 1.2
Max temp 22, dewpoint 10, trigger 19.9, expect 1.3 - 2.0ms to 6800ft
all blue


**This day is remarkebly similar to 14 November 2004 when we all did very long flights (5*1000) - on the inversion is more pronounced but it is quite acceptable at 6800ft (it is however about 3 degrees cooler than was 14 [December]2004 - adjusted to early October it is probably the same.**


**Tuesday 24**
The inversion now drops back to 5000ft with 3/8 stratus - cu at 3100 with tops at 5100
Wind Southerly 20 increasing to 30 at 5000ft, 40 at 10000ft, 60 at 15000 [we seldom get southerlies this high] and SW 70 at 20000ft

Wave from 8500ft at 2.5ms 12200ft at 3.3, 16400ft at 2.4
Max 18C, dewpoint 8, trigger at 16.2
expect 0.9 - 1.5ms to 5200ft


**Wednesday 25**

Strong SE, surface 30, ESE40 at 5000ft, SE10 at 10000ft, SW 10 at 15000ft, SW230 at 20000ft
blue

Max 20, dewpoint 1, Trigger 17,5
Expect 1.1 - 1.8ms to 6600ft
It should be quite possible to do 700km on wednesday but expect it to be turbulent and you have to fly the ridges to Vrye's Rant.

How wrong can you be!!!

EY

LE WEEKEND - an update

The only constant is change!

For Saturday 20 October
Surface wind NW10, 5000ft NNW20, 10000ft NNW 40, 15000ft NW50, 20000ft NW60
Surface turbulence - THIS INCLUDES ALL SURFACES
Wave at 8500ft at 1.1ms and again at 19200ft at 1.7ms
Max 34!!!! dewpoint 6.9 trigger 32.7!!
Blue
Expect 1.6 -2.0ms to 7200ft

For Sunday 21 October
Surface wind W20, 5000ft WNW20, 10000ft NW40, 15000ft Nw50, 20000ft NW 50
Wave at 10300ft at 2.1ms, 12600ft at 2.6 and 22000ft at 1.7ms
Blue
Max 28.9 dewpoint 8.6, trigger at 27
Expect 1.3 - 1.7ms to 6700ft

For Monday 22 October
Surface wind w10, 5000FT nw20, 10000 ft NW40, 15000ft NW50 and 20000ft NW10!!
Wave
8400ft 2.1ms 10200ft 2.6ms 12200 1.5ms 21600ft 1.2
Blue
Max 27.2, dewpoint 7.8, trigger 25.2
Expect 1.1 - 1.5ms to 6000ft

Monday is turning into the better wave day - i still expect the first three days to be front ridge days. With some cunimbs inland

EY

MET - Soaring Safari's

The SAWB makes it a high to the south of the country for the next week - i see a low sitting of the west coast - so, at least it will be interesting.

The forecasts here made rely in main on a sounding on the ridges to the NE of Worcester airfield (at S33.5 E19.5) at 14h00 local time. All heights are MSL in feet. Winds are given from the surface up in 5000ft increments. The forecasts run through to Wednesday24, with an increasing error probability (they forecasted no bad weather, excessive wind or rain for the just finished Gauteng Regionals) Conversion factors: 1m/s = 0,5knots and 2kph = 1 knot

I would expect the first three days to be front ridge days (ie Renosterhoek - Huguenot Tunnel) and perhaps George on Tuesday. Sunday will be a good wave day.

Saturday 20 October
Surface wind to 5000ft - 10kphNWN; 40 NWN at 10000ft, 60 15000 and 20000ft
Blue, wave, but only above 21000ft.
Max temp 33,5 dewpoint 6,3, trigger at 33,2C
Expect 1,5 to 1,8m/s to 6700ft
CAUTION: Surface turbulence and again above 8500ft

Sunday 21 October
Surface wind 10W, 20WNW at 5000ft, 40 NW at 10000ft, 50 NW at 15000ft; 60WNW at 20000ft
Blue, WAVE: 6700ft 2,3m/s, 8400ft 2,5m/s, 12300ft 2,3m/s, 14800ft, 1,7m/s, 16700ft 1,6m/s, 19000ft 2,0m/s and 21800ft 2,2m/s
AN EXCELLENT WAVE DAY
Max temp 29,6 dewpoint 9,3C trigger 27,8
Expect 1,2 - 1,7m/s to 6600ft

Monday 22 October
Surface wind W10, NW 10 at 5000ft, NW30 10000ft - 15000ft WNW 50 at 20000ft
Blue, wave above 10300ft at 0,7m/s, and higher
Max temp 27,6, dewpoint 8,3, trigger at 25,5
Expect 1,3m/s - 1,8m/s to 6700ft

Tuesday 23 October
Surface wind NW20, NW 30 at 5000ft, NW 40 at 10000ft, NW60 at 15000ft, NW80 at 20000ft
Wave at 8300ft 2,3m/s at 18900ft at 2,6m/s and higher
Blue
Max 26,3m/s, dewpoint 8,0C trigger at 24,8C
Expect 1,2 - 1,6m/s to 6500ft

Wednesday 24 October
Surface wind W20, 5000ft W20, 10000ft NW40, 15000ft NW50, 20000ft NW70
3/8 cu / stratus with bases at 2500ft - tops at 6600ft
Wave above 10000 at 2,5 ms, 16500ft 2,5 m/s 18900ft at 3.1ms, 24400ft at 2.3ms
Thermic blue
Max 23,7C dewpoint 10,6
Expect 1,4 to 1,8ms to 6800ft

This is about as far as i can take it at the moment.

EY

Fw: [CGCdiscuss] Soaring Safaris@ CGC 19/10 - 3/11- jurisdiction &briefings

---- Original message ----
From: Alan O'Regan <alan@oreganfamily.com>
Sent: 17 Oct 2007 05:48 +00:00
To: <cgcdiscuss@lists.zsd.co.za>
Subject: Re: [CGCdiscuss] Soaring Safaris@ CGC 19/10 - 3/11- jurisdiction &briefings

Hi there



In case there is any doubt:

* Dick Bradley is a Camp Director and will enjoy the privileges of a
CFI (with responsibility for Soaring Safaris operation and pilots) while
operating at the CGC
* We expect CGC pilots flying during the week to either have GPLs or
special clearance from Ian Forbes (just like we have done when Dick was not
around).
* Non-GPL CGC pilots could also possibly fly if you can convince an
instructor to take a day off!



The lawyers amongst us will recognise that the CGC pilots flying while Dick
is here are actually still flying as part of the CGC operation (not Soaring
Safari's), and that means that if you need to be asking for permission or
getting clearance for something (or are just seeking clarification), you
should be asking the CGC flying panel or instructors (just like usual).



For those interested in extending their cross-country range, Sven and I will
be doing some briefings this weekend targeted at Soaring Safari's - but you
are more welcome to attend. First briefing will be at 10h00 on Saturday.
The weather is looking a little iffy (Easterly) and I may well repeat the
session I did last year explaining the ridges in 3D using the flights of the
epic 5000km day.

regards

Alan O'Regan
LS8 X32
Mobile: +27 (83) 300-1687
email: mailto:alan@oreganfamily.com <mailto:oreganak@iafrica.com>
There is a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an
idiot.



-----Original Message-----
From: cgcdiscuss-bounces@lists.zsd.co.za
[mailto:cgcdiscuss-bounces@lists.zsd.co.za] On Behalf Of Alan O'Regan
Sent: 17 October 2007 06:59 AM
To: cgcdiscuss@lists.zsd.co.za
Subject: [CGCdiscuss] Soaring Safaris @ CGC 19/10 - 3/11



Hi there



For your information, Dick Bradley will be arriving on Friday (first flying
day is Saturday) with an ASH25, Ventus and an LS6, and will be staying until
3 October.



Please try to make them feel welcome, and be sure to make his English
punters feel better after their rugby team struggles unsuccessfully on
Saturday. If you have to rub it in (and massage is one of your skills), try
to be gentle.



Also consider making use of the opportunity to fly while Dick's operation
affords us the opportunity of two weeks full-time operation. Normal club
rates & procedures apply (like the flying list), and you may get your season
of to a good start.



We are hoping that if they enjoy themselves, Soaring Safaris may come for a
longer period next year, please do whatever you can to assist this.



regards

Alan O'Regan
LS8 X32
Mobile: +27 (83) 300-1687
email: mailto:alan@oreganfamily.com <mailto:oreganak@iafrica.com>
Just because the hole is not on your side of the boat, it doesn't mean you
won't sink.






---- 
Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Soaring Safari's

Shortly to arrive in our nick of the woods are Dick Bradley and his merry men. The SAWB forecast for the period 16 to 22 October is as follows

The flow of tropical air over the central and eastern interior being maintained druing this week. A cold front will reach the Cape on the 18th and between the 21st and 23rd a further cut-off low will move across the south-western part of the country. Rainfall chances will remain very good over the central and eastern interior during this outlook period. Temperatures seem to be indicated to be normal to above-normal for the Free State and for provinces north of the Vaal river during this period, while temperatures for the Cape Peninsula seem to be likely to be relatively normal (in comparison with typical climatological conditions for the month of October).

It looks like there will be some good post-frontal flying with southerly winds - no doubt mixed up with some good wave flying as the cold front moves in

EY

Sunset, Sunday

The wind is swinging south and apparently it is bitterly cold at the airfield, snow is predicted!!





A webcam photo





EY (@thedesk)

CLUB CONTEST

Back from the Gauteng regionals I am deskbound and the closest i can get to the monthly club contest is to do the Thursday nite prediction, below and then to watch the weather unfold on the Cam - well i hope they do get some diamond heights and long distances in!! (and that i won't be eating my hat)





The thursday nite prediction


"With the Gauntlet due on Saturday and the final two weeks of OLC approaching it is about time that we have a serious look at the weather
I can't fly in the time that Dick B will be here, but i hope to be able to post forecasts every two days (it will help to keep me of the pills in the asylum)

Saturday

The task setting will be interesting with ridges, thermals and wave working.

The airmass is not so moist (dewpoint 6C) but cool with a max temp of 17 and a trigger of 14.8C, so expect some cloud at lower than normal levels - but thermic cu should have bases from 4500 topping 7000ft

The winds are ideal, westerly to Renosterhoek and Southwesterly to George
At 14h00 they should be surface 20WSW, 30W at 5000, 50W at 10000ft, 60W at 15000ft and 70W at 20000ft

The wave forecast is however, STUNNING with wave predicted at 11h00 from 10000ft to 24000ft experience has taught that in the Worcester valley the wave will be contactable a lot lower!!!
The prediction at 14h00 in any event is wave from 8200ft at 2.7m/s through to 24000ft at 1.7m/s peaking at 3.4m/s at 14000ft

My guess is that if you don't already have a diamond height, now is the time to fill up the bottle, file the flightplan and launch at 10h30

Sunday is more interesting, with a very strong south easter combined with a front to the SW!!! (at least that is what raob says) The SE will be a very black one.

EY

PS if these predictions all come out i will eat a hat (but not the one i fly with)!!!"

must say: "Wish i was there!!"

EY (andbacktothedesk).

Post script

All's well that ends well. Well, it almost did not. Doc pulled a Ben Flewett on the last day in his final glide and ended up doing a direct 09 approach between two sets of hangars (also directly into wind). It appears to have been yet another microburst!!! They are really lethal and it is only the quick thinking of an experienced pilot that saved the day . Well done to Doc for the winning the 15m class.
It was only in the 15M and Open class that we had a contest, and then only because all the pilots had agreed an extension of the contest by one day. It is a pity that the other classses did not get a contest. To go back a moment to my last post where i was sitting in a field 12 km from the second turnpoint.
On day three three pilots made it home: Doc, Mannie and John Coutts. It was a tough day and they really did well!! Just before i landed Mannie was 300m above me, and how he made it home remains a mystery. But thanks to the three of them we had a contest day on Saturday and the chance on Sunday to make it a contest (four days are required).
Day four dawned with mist and low cloud and sounding data which indicated a weaker and tougher day than the day before. It was only the discipline instilled by many contests that made me go through the motions of rigging and filling up. I nearly stopped when i heard a decision would be made at 9h00. At the briefing there was some debate and ultimately the contest director did the Polish thing (there they fly irrespective of anything - a flash back to sterner times we were given to understand) and declared that we would be flying, the task to be handed out on the grid.
There must have been some rebellion in the 18m class, spilling over into the open class: the former did not fly and some of the latter left early (a pity as the day would turn out to be challenging but satisfying).
I was first on the grid, but had the benefit of knowing from PN and KG that the conditions were flyable.
It was an assigned area task, two hours. The moment the gate opened, and with the previous day still fresh in our collective memories, we all set off almost immediately. CE and i took a few extra turns before crossing the startline with the 133, 2T and AG ahead of us. I stuck with John, and man, does he fly well. Going past Ventersdorp we were well ahead of the pack and John nearly beguiled me into running much to far into the first sector (as i suspect he did.) I turned away and aimed for the west side of the Derby sector, running even further west to stay with the cloud. The good run was over and at Koster i had to do some creative flying to stay in the game. It was all good fun on the way home, except for the last 20km (see above).
A big thank you to the Magalies Gliding Club and all its members - it was a really nice contest.
EY

Outlanding

So here i am, sitting in a field not far from turn 2.

---- 
Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Day 3

We have a 309km racing task. More later
EY

---- 
Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Four days

It has been four days since the last contest day, but it feels more like forty. At least I got EY ready this morning, but in full knowledge that we probably would not be flying. At the much delayed briefing the day was cancelled, not unexpectedly i might add.
Some pilots did take to the sky, which was slightly better than forecasted, with a nice cloud street forming overhead. but initial reports put the strongest lift at 0,8m/s. Andrew did an impressive aerobatic display in his Salto, whils our own Kevin also took to the skies. That it was no contest day was proved by Maneste outlanding 7km from the airfield, well done for flying though!!.
The contest has been extended to Sunday so that we can try and make a contest out of it. The NOAA forecasts at the moment show that we might just do that (aren't we all ever so optimistic?)
I will post the task tomorrow as soon as i know where we are going - by all accounts it will not be very far.
EY

Rain .

Raining .. Hoping for tomorrow!!

---- 
Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Fw: No fly today

Subject: No fly today 26/9

Posting this from my cell. I will post shortly after briefing and landing
EY

---- 
Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

A rest day, today ...

The overnight stop at Taaiboschfontein (apptly named for the weather that lay in waiting) was wonderful. Off the road at Three Sisters, and where else in the world would you find a young Springbok at your breakfast table



And his companion (yes, surprisingly they are on good terms) is certainly competition for Toetsie, Jasper and Mr Pepe!!!





The Saturday was used to settle in, and just as well, as my 302 finally had too much of travelling (4 times up country and Italy, all in a year) and decided to take a well earned break. Dick fortunately had a spare unit for me and it worked well for me on the first two days of the contest. Normally i am not a great fan of blue windy days and that is what the weather gods served up for us. We have flown 2 tasks so far. Both days were assigned area tasks, and but for the first leg on day 1 I flew on my own, also never a good idea (as Leo would quickly point out). And i had a low save on day 2, but for a dusty i was on down wind for a big field. But i got the dusty (which surprisingly worked) and all the way to 12oooft and 2m/s.
Regretably we did not fly today (though the open class did). Tomorrow looks marginal.
I am now connected on internet and hope to post again tomorrow night. I can also post from my cellphone and hope to post the task after briefing and a short note after the day's flying (whilst waiting for the logger to download, so don't expect any great feats of literacy.

And thank you to all the supporting emails and messages

EY

and the weather is looking up

The weather forecasts for the Gauteng Regionals are looking good and if they turn out to be correct we are looking forward to a very good weeks flying. I am stilling slogging away at work but hope to get going on the long road to Magaliesburg by not later than mid-morning Thursday.
Sven

... and the start of a new season

... EY is in the trailer and ready to roll. The Gauteng Regionals start on Sunday and hopefully the weather will be better up country than it has been down south. The 15m class looks really exciting and challenging with John Couts, Mark Holiday and Mannie McLaughlin all flying. Both the Goudriaans have opted to fly ASH25's in the open/18 class - clearly focussing their attention on Lusse.
I will try to give regular updates as the contest progresses.

Sven

End of Season

End of season

The lasts contests in Europe is coming to an end. In Rieti (where they did not fly the last four days, but enjoyed superlative speeds in the first five days) Thomas Gostner took the 18m class, whilst Herbert Weiss won the standard class (with Edoardo Tarchini and Corrada Costa hot on his heels). Herbert and Mario Kiessling will be back for the worlds next year, and one must certainly rate them together with the Italian duo.

In Leszno they are still flying the Polish Nationals late in the season. The weather must have been putrid (I could not follow the commentary in Polish) but Sebastiaan Kawa, fresh from his club class victory in the EGC, is in second place in the Diana, just behind Thomas Krok, also in a Diana.

In three weeks time we will start the South African season with the Gauteng Regionals. The grip of winter is still with us, but the long range forecast shows a drier and warmer than average period ahead, always good for contests.

Finally, a picture of a rainbow over Signal Hill, Cape Town, taken from my car on my way to work!

Sven

CIM 2007

Rieti is up and running again, hosting the COPPA INTERNAZIONALE DEL MEDITERRANEO "CIM" from 15 to 24 August. Whilst they have been setting 118km tasks in Issoudun, sometimes only barely making the 1/3 1ookm cut-off, Day 1 in Rieti was a scorcher!!!

The first six places in the standard class, yesterday, Day 1 looked like this, with the winner at 138,3km/h over 394km. The German team is clearly gearing up for next year.

1. AK Mario KIEBLING Germania Discus 2ax 138,3km/h 394,3km 940
2. 3Y Herbert WEISS Germania Discus 2b 136,5km/h 394,3km 919
3. ET Edoardo TARCHINI Novi Ligure Discus 2a 130,5km/h 394,3km 844
4. 5 Corrado COSTA ACAO Discus 2a 129,4km/h 394,3km 832
5. AJ Alvaro DE ORLEANS BORBON Toledo ASW 28 128,1km/h 394,3km 815
6. SM Sandro MONTEMAGGI Mugello Discus 2a 125,9km/h 394,3km 788

I could live with that ;-)

Sven

Hard as nails

Yesterday in Issoudun

Hard as nails, that is the only way in which to describe the contests scene in Europe.

Pociunai

Take the results from Pociunai where the EGC Standard, Club, 20m and PW5 contest was held. In the club class, perhaps as was to expected, was Sebastian Kawa in first place (he is after all ranked first in the world, and has occupied that position for quite a while now). Second was Roman Mracek (ranked 53rd) and third was Tomas Suchanek (ranked 52). In the standard class, however, the first three places were occupied by Frederick Hoyeau (83), Olivier Darroze (9th) and Peter Szabo (87), and my friend Mariusz Poszniak in fourth place (ranked 40th), whilts pilots like Reinhard Schramme 7th, ranked (56th), Thomas Gostner 12th, ranked (59th).

Issoudun at the halfway stage

Midway through the EGC 15, 18 and open classes at Issoudun (with only 4 of 8 days being flown) the situation is even more competitive.

In the 15m class Leigh Wells (ranked 5th) is leading, building on his first class win in the standard class in Sweden. Second is Manfred Hahn (385th) and third is Jean-Luc Colson (219th). Languishing in 6th place is Janusz Centka (2nd), in 10th is Giorgio Galetto (19th) and 16th is Steven Raimond (18th) and Erwin Sommer (155th) is all the way down in 29th spot.

In the 18 m class Ronald Termaat (64th) is leading, with my next door neighbour from Sweden Hadriaan van Nes (95th) in second place (he must be very happy with his LS10) and Werner Aman is in 3rd place. World champion Phil JOnes (8th) is only in seven place and ex-world champ Wolfgang Janowitsch (7th) is in 5th place with Ricardo Brigliadori (33rd) wedged between them.Mak (23rd) flying HC, is only 9th (compared to his performance at Lusse). Peter Hartman (58th) fresh from his win in the standard class pre-worlds in Rieti is in 9th place and Peter Krejcirik (21st) is in 14th place.

In the open class Peter Harvey (10th) is leading Uli Schwenk (34th) and Laurent Aboulin (48th), with for instance Steve Jones (41st) in 11th place and Antti Lehto (197) in 16th place.

Europe is a really tough place to fly contests in.Let us see what the next few days in Issoudun brings, and meanwhile the CIM is getting underway in Rieti (oh, i wish).
regards

Sven

Introspective

Outside it is raining, and at Issoudun they are sitting on the deck, Rieti has just finished (with the last day being cancelled, in Pociunai they look about ready to launch - at nearly 16h00 local, and on task 3, or something like that). One may become a bit morose and introspective, but i don't know that it does one any good. Below a picture i have just received from Oscar (that well known member of the Goudriaan clan, and supreme pilot, i should add).

I don't believe it to be a true reflection of the real position

Sven

Number 1

If ever you doubted the IGC ranking lists which reflects Sebastiaan Kawa as the world's number one pilot, you only have to look at today's results in Pociunai - to be found at http://www.pociunai.lt/index.php?cid=2805, to understand why!!
(the rankings are at http://www.fai.org/gliding/rankings/)

Sven

Winter wonders

The title says it all, whilst they are having contests in the Northern hemisphere, or at least on some of the days (see the results at Pociunai, Lasham and Rieti over the last few days. Day 1 at Issoudun was already a non-starter) we forge ahead in the southern hemisphere (despite the dire weather and fronts that have pestered us). The title, however, is all that you are getting in this post. To read the actual article you will have to go to http://cgcdiary.blogspot.com/ where all is to be revealed in much more eloquent phrase (together with appropriate photographs). For the results see also http://capegauntlet.blogspot.com/ (where i am sure the results for Saturday are soon to appear - in the meanwhile you can catch up on the past season's results and the reports)
Sven

Back at the Ranch

... meanwhile back at the Ranch we are in the grips of a real winter (unlike the few preceding seasons) (I wonder what this will entail for our summer?)

Here are some photo's

Pociunai

Weather, or lack of it, is driving the EGC in Pociunai, and the task set there for today (the same for all classes) is not repeated here, because these comments (coming from one of the team reports) say it all

"Auf Grund der unveränderten Wettersituation ist auch dieser Versuch für einen ersten Wertungstag gescheitert. Schön langsam wirds mühsam.Morgen soll endgültig das versprochene Hoch zu uns kommen. Und damit wir auf keinen Fall schuld sind, wenn morgen das Wetter nicht mitspielt, werden wir heute am Abend alles brav essen, was wir beim Deutsch - Schweizer Teamabend aufgetischt bekommen."

Perhaps better weather will be dished up tomorrow. Rieti also had a tougher day today (but tomorrow will be yet another hum-dinger

Sven

Rieti - the place to be this season

Rieti is definitely the place to be this season - just look at the speeds achieved on the first day of the Juniors in the standard class

1. 21 Schmelzer Bert BEL Discus 2ax 14:30:14 02:28:57 148.4km/h 368.5km 793
2.KG Gai Patrick GER LS 8 14:34:56 02:33:27 144.1km/h 368.5km 748
3. A8 Dickinson Dane NZ LS8 14:33:18 02:35:07 142.5km/h 368.5km 732
4. VL Kantor Jan CZE Discus CS 14:39:48 02:36:24 141.4km/h 368.5km 720
5. LOT Jarysz Piotr POL LS 8 14:22:10 02:36:57 140.9km/h 368.5km 715

In any language this is FAST!!!

IF only i did not have to work i would be back for the CIM later in August (dream on ;-)

Meanwhile back on the island they have finished the standard class nationals - these are the results. The pack led by Richard Hood, who definitely falls in the same category as Mak. I wonder what is going to be on their team to Rieti next year (i certainly had money on Jay and Henry, and they really did fly well in the Sabina Glide)?


Here are the overall results

1st Richard Hood 2513pts Wins 10,000 airmiles
2nd Tim Milner 2359pts Wins EW Logger
3rd Howard Jones 2284pts Wins Thomas Parachute
4th Bob Thirkell 2264pts Wins Icom Radio
5th Steve Ell 2254
6th Paul Fritche 2105
7th Alan Clarke 2052
8th Richard Johnson 2040
9th John Arnold 2021
10th Mark Davis 1972
11th Ian MacArthur 1928
12th Nick Smith 1825
13th Henry Rebbeck 1814
14th Chris Luton 1760
15th Russel Francis 1759
16th Peter Baker 1724
17th Oliver Ward 1664
18th David Booth 1641
19th Steve Woolcock 1093
20th Jay Rebbeck 55
221st Darren Lodge 296
22nd Bruce Cooper Withdrew

In Pociunai they have been sitting on the ground, but the weather is set to change (watch this space)

Sven

MAK

Makoto Ichikawa

One of the greatest things about soaring and soaring contests are the people you meet. And amongst the greatest of them must count Makoto Ichikawa. I first met Mak in Mafikeng and have seen him at every overseas contest i have flown in since (save for Sabina Glide). In Sweden i was certain that he would be on the podium (with 3 days to go), unfortunately it did not turn out that way. Today, he goes into the last day of the pre-worlds in Lusse in second place in the 18m class. It is going to be a difficult day and i hope the soaring gods will look favourably on him. Herewith a full interview with him, posted by Stefan Maikowski (answering some of the enigmas that surround Mak, and obscuring others).

Our most welcomed guest Makoto Ichikawa

Makoto is a frequent participant of international competitions and also often takes part in Nationals as a guest on a wild card. As many of us can't remember Japanese names well, most people just call him Mac.
Probably many of us are a bit shy to get in contact with him, so it's no wonder, that some rumors have spread. One of them is that he's one of the very few pilots, who gets paid for flying competitions and participating in Gliding Championships.
In our interview he cleared up this misunderstanding. Up to 1999 indeed, he did earn money as an instructor and also was sponsored for his participation in international competitions. Ever since he's been paying his own way, and has to take vacations for the competitions like everyone else.
People also wonder why he is walking around a lot with a white mask on his face. In the middle of heavy exhaust fumes in Japan this is quite normal, but we don't see a need for this out in the country, where the air is clear. The explanation is simple again, Mac suffers from an allergy and protects his nose.
At the Lilienthal Glide he is doing very well and is currently in the third position. On the first days of the competition he didn't do that well. He first had to get used to the ASG 29, that a friend has lent him for the competition, while his own Ventus 2Cx is being used by someone else. Most of his miles he flies in Europe and Australia. Thus his glider is normally stationed in Europe. Back home in Japan – he lives in Tokyo – he has a syndicate share in a LS8. So he is very familiar with most glider types. In the Ventus he enjoys the use of the flaps to set the speed, when racing to the next thermal.
Asked for his favorite gliding sites in Europe he mentions besides Lüsse, Lezno Poland. His first gliding coach came from Poland. And in the 1993 World Championship he flew a SZD. About Lüsse he likes the uncomplicated flying in a flat country with good chances for cloud streets forming on windy days and huge fields making outlandings easy. That's quite a different story in Japan. There, the gliding season is much shorter than here. The best months are January to May and September to October and average distances to be flown range between 300 and 400 kilometers due to an oftentimes low cloudbase.
Also wave flying is possible above the Japanese mountains, where altitudes up to 7000 meters can be reached. As one would expect, due to his Japanese modesty he fails to mention, that it was him, who flew the first 1000 kilometers distance in Japan in wave flight in a Nimbus 4 together with his copilot Inagaki.
stefan.maikowski[at]maikoal.de

He is certainly going to be a force to reckon with next year (especially if he is going to be flying a JS1???). But for the moment watch the results at Issoudun where he is flying next.

Sven

Team flying - the family way

On the Lilienthal Glide the following was posted by Stephan Maikowski:

23.7.07 The Theisinger Family Always Up Front in the Racing Class
Specialist tell us, that team flying is the key to to winning. If the team consists of three family members, the success cannot be topped.
The brothers Georg and Martin Theisinger (LT and WT) have been flying together most successfully for the last 15 years and have participated in European and World Championships. For three years their nephew Florian (JT) has been part of the team. All three fly the ASW 27 from Schleicher, Georg in the B version.
On the very first day Georg came in second, and two of the three Theisingers have been among the first three ever since. Only Stefano Ghiorzo and Gilles Navas have managed to enter their ranks.
Yesterday, day six, wasn't one of their best days, because they only got into the first third of the scoring table. Fortunately, that didn't have any effect on their overall scores. The distance between Martin's score and that of his closest rival, Martin Büttner (DM), continues to be a good 120 points.
Their recipe for success apparently can't be copied easily. Normally they use close team flying and they say, that it begins even before take-off, in so far as they try to launch as close to the same time as possible. That also gives them a chance to enter their first thermal together. It only becomes difficult, when they are in the middle of a gaggles of sailplanes. There, it's not so easy to see the other team partners.
Another detail to observe is determining where to place the turning point within the Assigned Area in order to have the same distance ahead of them.
When one of the team members ends up far above the others, where it doesn't pay to wait, they continue their flight together as an info team, which means the first pilot passes on his knowledge about the whereabouts of good thermals. He also informs the others, where he made mistakes, so the don't repeat them.
Georges says, that usually the other team members close up on the first pilot within 30 to 50 kilometers making use of the information received over the radio. After that they continue to fly together.
Understandably, all three are thrilled about the championships in Lüsse. That's, what you would expect from somebody flying at the front of the table. Martin thinks that up to now all of the tasks have suited the weather very well. Also, he complements the perfect organization.
So far they haven't had to shake off any pursuers and haven't been bothered by sailplanes in gaggles.
Yesterday they were unlucky having left the gate too early, some seven minutes before most of their competitors. Those, flying in bigger groups may have had the advantage of finding thermals more easily as the clouds spread. At any rate the gaggle caught up with them on the first turning point.
They haven't got many opportunities to practice their team flying. This year they only have had three flights together starting at their home airfield in Landau. They concentrated on the mental preparation for the Nationals instead.
Back home Georg doesn't push his gliding as hard as on the competitions, where higher risks for an outlanding have to be taken. Thus he has managed never to go to the cows within the last thirty years. Quite a record, that is! Looks like he won't be a good client for gliders equipped with a turbo. In the 15m racing class this isn't a real alternative for a competition pilot, who wants to be able to get rid of his ballast, when necessary.
In spring Martin regularly flies in the French Alps in Barcelonette close to Gap. The three regularly meet in competitions, which doesn't leave them much time for OLC flying. It seems they have organized themselves very well. We'll see soon, if they will manage to keep their leading positions during the remaining days and will step on the winner's rostrum.
stefan.maikowski[at]maikoal.de "

A real demonstration of effective team flying!!!

Sven

England

Of course you can go flying in the standard class nationals being held in England. This is posting from their news section late this afternoon

Tuesday 24th
15.45 Nine competitors now started. Seven still on task.
14.55 up to the present time four gliders have called start of which one has landed back, one has landed out and two remain on task.
A number of competitors have landed seeking a relight. Some have got away, so far that number is three at 14.20
13.20 Start line opened at 2500ft.
12.40 launching has started and the first competitors are airborne.
11.15 Decision made to stand down competition till 12.00noon
10.20 Briefing finished. Tasks today - Task A Wetherby, Blidworth, Colsterworth, Pocklington. Task B - Wetherby, Blidworth, Tuxford Power Station, Pocklington.Task A 301.8k Task B 229.4kFirst launch 11.30. Sky looking good so fingers crossed!!
09:00 Blue sky with early mist burned off. Gliders rigging, Task briefing 10am. 100% chance of a task today next update after briefing.
Monday 23rd14.10. The conditions have meant that the task has been scrubbed for today and we hope for a better days flying tomorrrow.Comp pilots stand down till 14.00


it is now the fourth day (and still day one) of their contest. Perhaps it explains why, when they get of their island, they are such good opponents for the rest of us ;-)

Sven

The Flying M Ranch

Lest you think from my scribblings that Rieti is now the only place (next to Worcester) to fly at, herewith two photographs Michael Sommer sent me from his last visit to the Flying M Ranch. Judging from the results at the pre-worlds being flown at Lusse at the moment http://www.wgc2008.de/TASKS-RESULTS.34.0.html?&L=1 he will be going back!!!

This is what he had to say:

"We had a great time on the ranch (.....)! Cloudbase was very high (airspace max in the US is 18000 ft but I believe on some days the cloudbase was at least 3000 ft
higher!) but it started very late and the it was mainly blue. But the scenery of Nevada, the ranch and Barron are great! Attached photo of Brunos eta taken from the balloon and wave made visible by a bush fire near Minden!
Now on the way to Germany for the Nationals/Pre Worlds in Luesse."

Where he is doing just fine!!!!

Sven

Rieti is only memories now, back at work

Back at work with only memories of flying at Rieti











Here are some photo's







MR PEPE







Hussain, Sven and Ottaviano







Does this not look like the ridge to Renosterhoek?







A long table on a Saturday night with the Italians







Climbing up against the ski-lift on Terminilo - how many gliders can you spot?

The last day

I must confess that i did not look forward to the last day at all. It was going to be blue, hot and crowded. Particularly after the previous day i was happy to let sleeping dogs like. But once i was off tow (third on the grid) and climbing in 2 to 3m/s my whole perspective of life changed (it is wonderful what a strong thermal can do for one). So, despite my carefully planned tactics (see the previous post) i decided to do it by the book. Into the startgame gaggle!!!! keeping a beady eye on everyone and in particular who is setting of for the start line. Early on some leave but i wait - then i see two determined LS8's setting of that could only be the french or, unlikely, the brits (as they are past masters at out-waiting everyone - and, in any event the two Rebbeck brothers are teamflying with the kiwis'. In the first thermal i catch up with them and it is Laurent and Marc. We grow into a small band of four gliders, really flying of the front of the class and coming out of the first turn we can Y (Giorgio Ghalletto leading the big Italian pack into the turn (still 20 km away for them) . We meet the brits on their way in 10 km later. We continue on our merry way, catching up with the earliest starters and some gliders in other classes.
We go through the L'Aquila valley, but not quite onto the Grand Sasso. On its foothills we catch a good climb and a whole gaggle (mostly other classes) join below us. In our group is now also FUN (Alexander, my spanish nabour in Sweden) E2 Jelmer Wassenaar from Holland and KO from Finland. We push on towards Castellucio when i hear 2A, Ben Flewett, calling to say that he is in real trouble in a valley and his only landing option is a lake. I have never expected to hear Ben in a panic, and perhaps he wasn't, but he was certainly rattled. Chaps, he says, there are boats down there, so there are people who will be able to pick me up. The tension is palpable in the air and no-one says a word, just Ben reporting on his intentions - echoing the real trouble he finds himself. It is amazing (and it should not be) how quickly your world can turn topsy turvy in a glider.

What seems like ages - "Chaps you won't believe this, but i have found a thermal" He continues reporting, saying progressively that he can make it out of the valley, then that he is climbing away and finally that he is OK, but turning the radio off.

Apparently he could see the swirl of the thermal as he was setting the landing up and made it out of the valley from just 82m of the water!!! It was only on final glide that he realised that his wheel was still down (some 200km later)!!!

Ben was not the only one to come unstuck - Bruce Taylor who had been flying a flawless contest up to that moment outlanded at the second turnpoint. To demonstrate the lucklessness of that landing - the two Rebbecks corked a 5m/s plus thermal at the second turn, - which they gracefully took - and it sealed the day's victory for them.

In the meanwhile our happy group spread a tiny bit - with french duo slightly ahead. I did not get the good climb i knew the Rebbecks had and just pushed onto the Valle Nerina - or as the Ozzies and Kiwis call it the valley of death. 2000ft below glide i am tucked onto the slopes of Nerina with a tiny glider ahead and below me (10km ahead) at 10km out i overtake him, only slightl higher, but i dare say a lot faster (water does help) and go on the finish the day in 11th place (just behind the french).

Finally a real contest day, flown in good standard class tradition, and in the company of some real tough pilots.

3G

POST SCRIPT
Perhaps i should have flown the whole contest as i did the last day, or perhaps i should have been in a multi-national team, but i sincerely believe that it is important to go out there, and fly by yourself. next year will be wholly different, in order to do well, you have to fly in the gaggle (especially on blue days in Rieti, as Leonardo himself, has admonished me after the second last day - he pointedly asked me what mistakes i made. The first and the biggest, i responded, was not to fly in the gaggle. "Obviuosly", he responded.
It was one of the most wonderful experiences imaginable to fly from Rieti. I have flown all the major mountians, (save for the Maila), even though we had only one real ridge day. On that day i had a really fast leg down to San Biaggio so i am really looking forward to returning here (selection permitting of course). The skills Martin had taught me will stand me in good stead ;-)
I end of with a picture taken the Saturday night at a farm restaurant, attended by mostly Italian and Austrian pilots and their supporters.

a hard days night

I have a friend who famously said "I don't do that thing", well i don' t do outlandings (at least not yesterday). But it really takes hard work to fly slow - first you have to make the conscious decision not to fly with the gaggle (on a blue day, nogal), and second, you have to decide to go down the l'Aquila valley (and not the traditional mount Velino way) - then you have to ridge soar in a seabreeze to get to a turnpoint at 2100m height - by then you have given up 60 km on the main gaggle and you are set for a lonely long flight and a late return to rieti with a final glide starting 90 km out at 2000ft below glide at a zero macready - but it is really nice to see Casteluccio - at the foot of mount Vettore - nesstling in the valley with paragliders and hanggliders.

This is doing Rieti the hard way - most of the pilots here have many hundreds and in most cases thousands of hours flying from here, those who do not, have been here on training courses. There is also a lot of team flying going on - you can see that from just looking at the start times, but also from the big silences on the only official radio channel. Some pilots also get special post briefing briefings. I believe i am doing it the right way though, you have to really understand how this site works and the only way for me is to work my way through it.


Today is the last day and it looks blue - i would guess at least another 400km (unbelievable the amount of flying done here in the last two weeks,.

Once again thanks for all the support,

3G

A brief personal account of yesterday

Thanks for all the support from back home.
Yesterday i set off on grand style with the French duo, and we were having a smashing run down to Monte Velino, when my 302 switched off , nothing to it, i switch it back on BUT everything was a bit lopsided and clearly the vario was u/s running into the first turn i lose all satelites OUCH - down the second leg SANS vario it is difficult to climb back up to cloudbase to get back onto the mountains (but i find a strong climb) and i have a good run over the L'Aquila valley with french low down (they later tell me) but running into the blue it is really tough without a vario and then the satellites quit again as i run into the second turn - now i also without a final glide calculator and the Valnerina lies ahead - not a glide you really want to do without a final glide calculator. i make it back. they stitch my two logfiles together and i live for another day. It was only the 13th!!! (and i move up to 14th spot)


3G