The South African National Gliding Championships |
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Dust Devil 2008 |
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Carol’s Diary
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The 2007/08 SA Nationals are now over and the champions and winners have received their trophies and for the most part are now heading home or will be home before too long. The Prize-Giving and dinner held last evening at the Bloem Spa was an enjoyable evening with some great camaraderie and acknowledging all the people that made the competition the success it was. From
the flying point of view it was disappointing that the full ten days were not
flown due to the wet conditions at the beginning and/or not enough
competitors flying sufficient distance to make it a contest day, so at the
end of the contest the Club class had flown 6 days, the Open class 7 days,
whilst the 15m. class managed 8 days.
Unfortunately not every day was a 1000 pt. scoring day, but rather a
devalued day, and the weather conditions did not live up to the “booming”
Free State conditions, but this did result in an exciting competition with
the leading pilots changing position and keeping the pilots ‘on their toes’
with just 33 pts. between the 1st & 2nd in the 15m.
class, and 37 pts. in the Open class.
Over the first few days there were a good number of outlandings but
these were all damage-free and overall it was a safe contest. Final results:
Certificates
and ‘fun’ awards were presented to a good number of the helpers and
personalities, including Merlin (the dog) who did try so hard to catch a
meerkat or two! Dateline 12.01.2008After flying yesterday we had an hour’s
presentation about FLARM from one of the designers, Urs Rothacher. He gave an
update about the new facilities, new features and an overview of the
product. The unit weighs 125 g. and
the consumption is 52mA @ 12V. They
currently have more than 9 000 users of FLARM world-wide (excluding the So
to the final day - the weather today has again been blue skies followed by
the building up of low early morning cloud.
There is also some wind and temperatures are cool. The forecast they believe will be similar
to the last two days, there is still a lot of moisture flowing in from the
N/NE, and a pressure gradient over the central part of the country. The TV forecast is showing a 30% chance of
thunderstorms over All
the crews were thanked at briefing this morning and pilots gave them a round
of applause for all their assistance.
It was also agreed by the Competition Committee that in future Richard
Glennie would be the sole custodian of the turnpoint files, so that in future
there will be no confusion regarding coordinates. There was a conflict and protest regarding
the coordinates given in the tp file on the website and the task-sheet tp
information yesterday as they were not the same – this resulted in two pilots
scoring distance only for part of the task. A
huge round of applause went up for the Bradleys this morning as both father
and daughter won their respective class yesterday and Jennifer was presented
initially with a fluffy toy rather than her ˝ dozen beers!! Gliders are required to be on the grid by 11 a.m. and the launch order is 15m./Standard, then Open/18m. and finally the Club class. Open/18m.: 312.8 km. Bultfontein – R5 – Peilkop – finish 15m./Standard: 331.8 km. Bultfontain – R5 – R16 - Peilkop – finish Club: 239.5 km. Zoltpan – R11 – finish Fallback – all classes: AAT minimum 210.0 km./maximum 805.5 km. Dealesville 150 km. bearing #1 200 degrees, bearing # 2 160 degrees R5 150 km. bearing # 1 50 degrees, bearing # 2 10 degrees Peilkop cylinder radius 10 km. After flyingAll
gliders were on the grid and the sky to the north was not looking so good and
this was the track for the first leg for all classes. Since it was the final day, the
organisation did not want an outlanding/retrieve for all the pilots. So back to the drawing board and a task B
task was set which sent all the pilots in a more westerly direction. The 15m./Standard class (297.2 km.) were first off, followed by the Open/18m. class (298.6 km.) and finally the Club class (205.3 km). The pilots found the first leg quite difficult with conditions and cloudbase low although it improved with the day and further west. Some found 4m/sec lift and reached as much as 12 000 ft in the Petrusburg area. Winners for the day were Open class - Attie Jonkerat 133.2 kph, then Mannie McLauchlan and Uys Jonker at 132.7 kph, followed by Laurens Goudriaan at 135.7 kph. Handicaps put him 4th for the day. In the 15m./Standard class Dolf Pretorius led the field with 121.4 kph, Oscar Goudriaan 2nd at 119.4 kph and 3rd Sven Olivier at 118.6 kph. Back on form in the Club class Andrew Bester won the day at 102.7 kph, followed by Rachel Hine (UK) at 96.6 kph and 3rd Martin Attwell at 95.1 kph. Prize-giving will be held shortly and the overall results will be announced. Reb Rebbeck who had done the task-setting for the day decided to prove that the original task to the north would be possible, so went off and flew it, but he did admit that it was not nice or easy and that it was a wise decision to have changed the task. Dateline 11.01.2008This morning the air is definitely warmer than it was yesterday morning, there seems to be less wind, and there are some low straggly clouds around. At briefing thanks were extended to Dick Bradley for his assistance with everything that he has done for the organisation, task setting, weather forecasting and so forth. We also sang a very happy birthday to Emma (daughter of Dolf & Lynnore Pretorius) whose is celebrating her 6th birthday today. Sven Olivier, the safety officer, reminded pilots to avoid complacency, and to remember to keep a good look out with eyes on the air and not in the cockpit. There was also a group photograph of most of the pilots in their JOHNSON CONTROLS sponsored T-shirts – some of the pilots had not got a t-shirt and others had forgotten to bring them! Typical pilots!! Briefing is telling us that the maximum temperature may only reach 27° and the trigger temp. will be 25°. There is very moist air in the NE with a strong flow from the east. Dew points are also higher. In the task area though the winds should be light with cloud base initially at about 8 500 ft, ligting to about 9 000 ft. If conditions dry out it may go up to 10 000 ft. Moderate thermals of about 2.5 m/sec are expected. Then Dick tells us that there is also a danger of spread-out in the task area with a lot of cloud, and that conditions may die at around 4.30 p.m. Tasks set as following: Open/18m. 348.2 km. R22 – Fauresmith – Peilkop – finish 15m/Standard 266.6 km. Koffiefontein – R24 – Peilkop – finish Club 253.2 km. Brulfontein – R24 – Peilkop – finish Fallback all classes AAT minimum 136.6 km./maximum 579.3 km. Petrusburg 200 km. bearing # 1 56 degrees, bearing # 2 11 degrees Peilkop 20 km. radius Gliders should be on the grid by 11 a.m. and the launch order is Open/18m. Class, Club and then 15m/Standard. After Flying:Another good day in When
the first finisher completed the task, conditions looked as if it would have
been possible to start all over again!
So possibly the tasks were under-set.
Most of the pilots were happy, though there have been a few penalty
points incurred and some pilots who did not double-check that their GPSs and
task sheets agreed. It
has been a Bradley day today with father and daughter taking first place
honours in the 15m/Standard and Club classes respectively.
So
we have had a shake up with the overall scores: Overall:
Dateline 10.01.2008Last
evening we enjoyed some food, which was very generously provided by Daniel
Rodic by way of thanking everyone for their assistance and concern on the day
that he went “AWOL”. Thanks are
extended to Daniel. The
day dawned distinctly cool this morning and visibility was not as good as
normal. Although blue first thing, the
low clouds then began to roll in. The
wind is also stronger than yesterday at this time. However as the morning has progressed the
day is looking better. 10
a.m. briefing announced that all the pilots must wear their sponsored
T-shirts for a photo tomorrow, and thanks extended to all of the tug pilots,
who are doing a great job. There
is a NE flow over the task area with a max temperature today of 29°. Winds initially are expected to be 15 kts.
NE, but will drop and move more N/NW in the task area. No thunderstorm activity is expected and
cloud base should get to about 12 000 ft. So
tasks have been set this morning with the Club class launching first,
followed by the 15m/Standard and then the Open/18m. Open/18m 405.1 km. R19 – R25 – Peilkop – finish 15m/Standard 408.8 km. Zoltpan – Koffiefontein – Peilkop – finish Club 323.1 km. R19 – R5 – Peilkop – finish Fallback – all classes AAT minimum 219.6 km. maximum 797.6 km. R3 – 150 km. bearing # 1 226 degrees, bearing # 2 146 degrees Petrusburg – 150 km. bearing # 1 59 degrees, bearing # 2 9 degrees Peilkop – 2 km. radius After flyingLaunching started at approx. midday and
conditions in the On the ground we welcomed Richard Glennie for the last few days. Andrew Bester in the Club class has once again
won the day at 104 kph, Phil Fellows with handicap at 91 kph was 2nd
and Martin Attwell 3rd at 94 kph.
In the 15m. class Oscar Goudriaan has won the day at 115 kph, Sven
Olivier was 2nd at 113 kph and Dolf Pretorius was 3rd
at 108 kph. At the top of the Open
class for the day was Attie Jonker at 127 kph, followed by the team flying
V11 (Ian Cook & Tony Moulang of This has changed the overall positions moving Attie Jonker into pole position in the Open/18m. Class, and Sven Olivier into 1st place in the 15m/Standard class. Andrew Bester remains in the lead in the Club class. Dateline 09.01.2008A
sad day yesterday in that we had two pilots opting to leave – Bruce Greeff
(Club class) and Pieter Nouwens (Open/18m class) – they had equipment and
other problems which resulted in their decision to leave before the end of
the contest. They will be missed. There
will also be a change of pilot in “HS” today as Paul Quick leaves and the
replacement pilot will be Malcolm Hodgson. It
was a clear evening with only stars and no signs of any cloud so it was a
surprise this morning to see low clouds all over the sky. They are however slowly breaking up and we
have a 10 a.m. briefing. As
always it is important to say a very big THANK YOU to Ian Forbes (in Cape
Town) of ZSD who is and has been the host of the Soaring Society’s website
for many years – people around the world are following the progress of the
Nationals, so thank you Ian for your continued hospitality and again to Steve
Thomas (in Wales) putting the information and photos onto the website. The
Atlantic high is along the coast whilst the low is over the NE of the country
and it is apparently raining in the Pretoria/Johannesburg area. Winds today are light and variable
NEasterly and Northerly. Temperatures
might reach 31° and cloud bases up to 11 000 – 13 000 ft. As long as there are no dramatic changes in
the weather patterns, conditions are expected to remain good until Saturday,
the final contest day. Tasks
today are the following: Open/18m & 15m/Standard: 406.4 km. R18 – R13 – finish Club: 303.4 km. Bultfontein – R17 – finish Fallback all classes: AAT minimum distance 154.5 km. maximum distance 554.4 km. Crossroads 200km. bearing #1 181 degrees bearing # 2 125 degrees First launch could be from 11.30 a.m., but the cloud is still quite low and I imagine it could be a bit later! After flying:
Well
it has been another good day in that everyone is back safe and sound. Doreen, Benno Beesten’s girl-friend, had
the pleasure of flying in the back seat of the ASH with Laurens Goudriaan. In the Club class Phil Fellows had to
attend to business so was not able to fly today, and Bobby Clifford was
unable to shake off his dose of flu so did not fly either. The
tasks were changed once all the gliders were on the grid, as launching only
started at about 12.30 p.m. Open/18m.
& 15m/Standard were given a 333.9 km. triangle to Zoltpan – Christiana,
whilst the Club class were sent on a 261,4 km. triangle to Bultfontein &
Hertzogville. The
pilots have a variety of tales – from being good, difficult and/or struggling
at low level – and all at different parts of the task area. Lift seems to have gone up to 11 000 – 12
000 ft. For
some it appears to have been an excellent day. Open
Class, Mannie McLauchlan, has again taken the lead with a speed of 141 kph
with those Jonkers following along once more - Attie at 135 kph and Uys at
134 kph. In the 15m. class Oscar Goudriaan took the lead today with a speed
of 134 kph, followed by Dick Bradley at 128 kph and Sven Olivier at 124 kph. In
the Club class there seems to be no stopping of Andrew Bester who lead the
day at 106 kph, but was very closely followed by Martin Attwell at 105 kph
and third Werner Kienhofer at 87 kph. This
gives the following provisional overall positions as:- Open/18m. 15m/Standard Club 1. M. McLauchlan 3583 pts R.
Bradley 3738 pts A. Bester 2483 pts. 2. A.
Jonker 3502 pts S. Olivier 3580 pts. M. Attwell 2102
pts. 3. L. Goudriaan 3343 pts O.
Goudriaan 3272 pts B. Du Plessis 1953 pts Dateline 08.01.2008Yesterday
was a very disappointing day for Jennifer Bradley, her birthday, as she
completed the task (one of just three pilots) in the Club class to battle the
wind and to finish – only to find that she had entered airspace on the first
leg. The 15m. class saw only two
finishers – Dick Bradley and Oscar Goudriaan, whilst Open class had the most
finishers with Quintin Some
of the outlanders had a late night only getting back to the airfield after
midnight. Greetings from another sunny day in An
early easterly wind, has moved now to southerly 5 – 10 kts. Later it could become westerly. This could present problems for take-off if
the wind were to get stronger. At
14000 ft. the wind is due to increase considerably which could affect the
thermals. There is a high ridging in over
the The task has been set as an AAT for all the classes with first take-off due at 12 noon, with the Open/18m. Class first, followed by the Club and lastly the 15m/Standard. After Flying:
Being
an AAT we are still waiting for the machinations of the scoring team, but we
have preliminary results for the Open/18. and 15m/Standard. It
would seem that Mannie Mclauchlan flew 548 km. at 132 kph, followed by the Jonkers
– Attie with 540 km. at 129 kph. and Uys 515 km. at 128 kph. whilst in the 15m/Standard Oscar Goudriaan
managed 407 km at 135 kph, Phil
Jeffery (UK) 431 km. at 132 kph. and then Dolf Pretorius 399 km. at 128
kph. In the Club class it looks as if
Andrew Bester has won the day again with a distance of 416 km. at 114 kph, with Werner Kienhofer
next flying 359 km. at 92 kph and then Bennie du Plessis 320 km. at 89 kph. Dateline 07.01.2008It
is a beautiful sunny day with a gentle breeze and not much in the way of
clouds to be seen as yet. Let’s hope
that the task area is now starting to dry out. Gather there were several very muddy
retrieves last evening. Today
is the birthdays of Jennifer Bradley and Gordon van Wyk – since one should
never ask a lady her age, I will not divulge that information!! But at
briefing Jacques said perhaps 19 or 20!! Some minor repairs have been carried out to Connie Conradie’s tug ZS-KOT. Today the temperatures are expected to reach 30° – 31°, it is also expected to remain blue, with the dew pt. this morning at 7°, but according to the reports falling to -8° this afternoon. There are however strong winds expected and all the thunderstorm activity has moved to the NE (let’s hope so!!). Dick says 50 mm. of rain fell on the farm where he landed. Conditions could be tricky with the rain that has fallen in the area, so smaller tasks have been set as follows. Open/18m.: 311.9 km. polygon 4 pts.: R7 – Zoltpan – R4 – Peilkop – finish 15m/Std: 330.8 km. polygon 4 pts. R18 – Hoopstad – R4 – Peilkop – finish Club: 269.1 km. polygon 3 pts. R18 – R4 – Peilkop – finish Fallback – All classes: AAT 3 areas minimum 125.1 km maximum 512.8 km. Sector 1 - R3 150 km. bearing # 1 221 deg. and Bearing # 2 141 deg. Sector 2 – R4 cylinder 30 km. radius The
Club class will be first off today, followed by the 15m/Std and last the Open
class. At briefing thanks were
extended to Boris for doing the scoring and to everyone for keeping the
airfield clean. Let’s hope today they
all have a good day’s flying. Much much later! It
has been quite an eventful day at Launching started at about 12.15 a.m. after the two snifters had been launched – Ian Baker in the ASH25 and Debbie Scholey in her Ventus 2CT. Conditions were blue and the lift was very broken, and the wind did increase during the afternoon. At the back of the grid N2 was seen with its tail in the air on the back of a bakkie as repairs were made to the tail wheel – unfortunately for Pieter Nouwens the tail wheel did not get fixed, so he has lost a day’s flying. Bruce Greeff flying #66 (Std. Cirrus) in the Club class did not stay up and decided not to take another launch. For the rest of the pilots it was a matter of getting up and trying to get around the task. Quite early on we heard the first outlanding report – Werner Kienhofer in his Libelle had outlanded on Bultfontein airfield. As the afternoon progressed there were more outlandings, though there were some finishers as well. In the Club class, Andrew Bester managed the best speed, followed by Martin Attwell, and then Jennifer Bradley. For the rest of the class it was either an outlanding or GNSS landing and getting back to New Tempe a/f. In the 15m/Std. there were three pilots that landed back at the a/f – Shaun Lapworth, Dick Bradley and Oscar Goudriaan whilst the rest of the class outlanded. The Open Class must have had a somewhat easier flight (?) as the majority of them managed to complete the task. A major factor of the first leg for all of the competitors was the strong westerly wind which threatened to push the gliders into the airspace – we will see whether there were infringements once we see what Boris ‘spits’ out of the computer! Dateline 06.01.2008ALL’S
WELL THAT ENDS WELL – late yesterday afternoon all of the pilots had been
accounted for with the exception of Daniel Rodic. We had spoken to him when he was 100 km. to
the north of The Search & Rescue was then called last evening but nothing really was possible until first light this morning. Early early this morning six aircraft (the tugs and other planes) went out at first light heading northwards towards Dealesville. Thankfully they found Daniel and the glider safely just before 6 a.m. to the northeast of Dealesville. The Search & Rescue was cancelled and Daniel has just arrived back by road. He says that he walked to 2 farms – both were locked up with no-one around. He had no cellphone reception where he landed, and although he called and also responded to the tug aircraft that went out late, they could not hear his call. So this morning as you can imagine there are a lot of very relieved and very happy people, though tired! He recounts that he used the motor and when he had sufficient height put it away as he was climbing – but when putting the motor away, the propellor got damaged, so subsequent attempts to use the motor were unsuccessful and then the need to outland. The efforts and involvement of so many people, including Search & Rescue, that went more than the extra mile has to be very gratefully appreciated and is made all the more satisfactory that Daniel is alive and well. He said he managed to sleep in the cockpit. He is in good spirits. WELL DONE AND MANY MANY THANKS TO EVERYONE. We woke to a cloudy sky, but this is gradually clearing and grid positions have been given, though briefing is only to be held at noon. There are a lot of tired people! So more anon when we know what is planned after noon. After Briefing
Thanks
were extended to all the people involved with the assistance and search for
Daniel at the Briefing. Think he has
retired for some well-deserved sleep as he was not present at the Briefing. There
is a strong flow of weather coming down from the north , but they are
optimistic that there will be enough cumulus for a task, but not too much
that creates over-development. Winds
are still NWesterley. All
classes have been given an AAT – minimum
distance 114.2 km. and maximum 405.2 km. R4
– distance 150 km. bearing# 1 51 deg. And bearing # 2 6 deg. Krugersdrift
– cylinder radius 12 km. The
time is still to be determined once all the gliders are on the grid (by 1
p.m.) and whether the conditions allow for a task. Till
later After Flying
Well
it was yet another of “those” days!!
15m./Standard class were launched first and conditions to the west did
not look too bad. The Open class
followed and then the Club class. The
start gate for the 15m./Standard class was opened, but by this time the small
shower that had been sitting off to the west had grown considerably and it
was decided that the Open and Club class task should be cancelled – the sky
to the west was closing in. Before
too long we heard that the first 15m. pilot had outlanded 42 km. from It
was not too much later that we heard reports of some of the other pilots
outlanding as well, whilst there was a small handful that did manage to complete
the task, though not in the assigned 2 ˝ hours but more like in 1 ˝
hours. Whether there will be a task
still remains to be seen. And
so endeth another day’s flying/non-flying in sunny S.Africa!! By all accounts the forecast is looking
better for the days ahead. Dateline 05.01.2008Today we celebrate our tug pilot - John
Attwell’s 60th birthday – a very happy birthday, John. Unfortunately the Rallye that he was
supposed to bring to the Nationals was ‘out of time’, so he brought Magalies
tug, EGI. This tug had a new motor
fitted recently and has not been performing as well as it should – it took
forever to reach altitude with a glider on tow, so John had hoped to take EGI
back to Johannesburg yesterday, but the weather did not allow. So he is spending part of his birthday
returning today (he left shortly after 9 a.m.), and will return in a day or
so with Many
thanks are extended to Steve Thomas who is the ‘man behind the scenes’ adding
these reports onto the SSSA website – Steve is sitting in Wales, UK and
suffering the cold wintery weather, although he was in Bloemfontein before
Christmas, so he can well envisage what is going on here. Also
many thanks are extended to the efforts of Maneste Fouche and the company for
whom she works – JOHNSON CONTROLS –
who arranged and sponsored T-shirts for all of the pilots. A group photograph will be held in due
course. More
heavy rains yesterday afternoon turned parts of the airfield into a pond and
more mud-spattered gliders to be cleaned today. This
morning clouds are forming, but they are straggly and quite low. The wind is also still blowing, but
thankfully not as nearly as strongly as yesterday morning. Dick
reported at briefing that the forecast was a matter of ‘gut-feel’ and
interpreting the data from the experts.
There is a line of storms NW/SE and there is the potential for
overdevelopment, but it is still quite dry to the SW where there has been little
or no rain. To the north of So
the tasks have again been set to the SW, and as Phil Jeffery dryly observed,
“do we get the same tasks until we get them right” – so yes, the tasks are
the same as yesterday. Again it will
be the same order for launching with Open/18m. Class, followed by Club and
then 15m./Std. It is hoped to start
launching between 12 & 12.30. Open/18m.: 385.9
km. polygon with 3 pts. Start Bloem – R22 – Fauresmith –
Dealesville –finish Std/15m: 301.6km.
polygon with 2 pts. Start Bloem
– R15 – Dealesville - finish Club: 260.3
km. polygon with 2 pts. Start Bloem
– Brulfontein – Hill 5305 – Dealesville - finish There
is also a Fallback task for All Classes: AAT
176.3 km. polygon with 2 pts. Start
Bloem – Petrusburg – Dealesville – finish with
the first sector being Petrusburg 150 km. length bearing # 1 64 deg. &
bearing # 2 14 deg. and the second sector being Dealesville with a cylinder
of 30 km. radius Later afternoon
Well an interesting day with more storms developing out to the west, so that part of the task area became impossible for the gliders to reach the turn-points. Once all the gliders were airborne and the starts announced, the sky still did not look particularly encouraging. The majority of the Open class, which was the first class to be launched, obviously had the advantage ahead of the weather. By the time the Club class set off on track the sky was getting quite dark on track and it was not too long before some of the pilots were calling for the conditions back at the airfield – they were abandoning the flight as to continue would surely mean a definite out-landing. By the time they landed a heavy shower at the field was imminent. For the 15m. class it was also a case of either out-landing or doing a GNSS outlanding and coming back. It would seem that none of the Club or 15m. class pilots were able to finish the task. The results at this stage would appear that
five Open class pilots managed to complete the flight – Laurens Goudriaan,
Mannie McLauchlan, Attie Jonker, Quintin There have been a good number of trailers leaving to fetch their pilots, who are for the main part scattered along the road towards Dealesville. Results will no doubt only be forthcoming once all the loggers have been handed in. So for now – its off to the bar for a drink – cheers! Dateline 04.01.2008Some
seriously heavy rain late yesterday afternoon meant, for those gliders that are
tied down, that there was some very dirty under-wings and under-fuselages
this morning. Some pilots opted to
de-rig at the sight of the advancing weather last evening which meant that
there were a good number of very soaked people as the storm and rain advanced
very quickly. As with good This
morning we see that the meerkat colony area has been roped off – to ensure
gliders do not fall down the holes, but Merlin now has his own fenced off
play-ground and was trying very hard to catch his first meerkat!! Today
although there are blue skies and sunshine, the temperature is cooler and the
wind is blowing very strongly, but they are optimistic that it will decrease
and that a task will be possible.
Obviously with the rain of last evening, the winds do need to lessen
to allow for the thermals to be triggered at 31 deg.. They are expecting thunderstorms to the
south. Winds are due to drop to about
10 kts., although they are expected to increase during the afternoon again
and to swing from northerly to westerly.
Possible showers are expected late afternoon. So
first launch is hoped for Open/18m.: 385.9
km. polygon with 3 pts. Start Bloem – R22 – Fauresmith –
Dealesville –finish Std/15m: 301.6km.
polygon with 2 pts. Start Bloem
– R15 – Dealesville - finish Club: 260.3
km. polygon with 2 pts. Start
Bloem – Brulfontein – Hill 5305 – Dealesville - finish There
is also a Fallback task for All Classes: 176.3
km. polygon with 2 pts. Start
Bloem – Petrusburg – Dealesville – finish with
the sector at Petrusburg 150 km. bearing # 1 64 deg. & bearing # 2 14
deg. And
sector at Dealesville being a cylinder of 30 km. radius Later – 4th Jan.All
the gliders were on the grid, and the wind had not seemed to have lessened
too much. The Open class were pulled
onto the runway for the take-off and Benno Beesten flying WL (ASH.26) was
sent up as the ‘snifter’ sometime after noon.
He pronounced that there was lift and the rest of the class was
launched. The sky to the west – It
was evident that the rain would follow shortly after the day was cancelled,
and before long the Open class pilots were calling downwind for runway
36. Other gliders were towed back to
their tie-down positions, whilst others collected their trailers and
de-rigged at the runway. So
sadly – another non-flying day. This
must be a first for many many years that there have been two consecutive
non-flying days and before the flying has even started! Reports
are that Johannesburg/Pretoria have had a lot of rain, as well as in other
parts of the country – but back at Bloemfontein, we hope that the Free State
farmers are happy that the gliders are bringing them some welcome rains!! Dateline 03.01.2008Yesterday was the official practice day and saw quite a few of the pilots taking flights, others relaxing and the remainder of the pilots arriving. Some interesting sights were observed - one
glider was rigged, but then had to be manoeuvre’d considerably to get out and
escape from all of the small trees that had now surrounded the rigged
glider. A certain pilot from the Conditions were good although there were more storms dotted around the Free State (FS) than on the previous day. Unfortunately for Adriaan Hepburn he outlanded at Dealesville, but was given great support and help from the local Police who used their 4 x 4 vehicle to get the glider and trailer out of the field. We have a total field of 36 pilots – 16 in the Open/18m class, 9 in the 15m/Standard class, and 11 in the Club class. The
Pilots’ Briefing was held at 6 p.m. which dealt with the various aspects such
as appointing the committee, details
of the latest airspace, operational matters, as well as the ‘hot potato’
issue of handicaps. After the meeting
we had very tasty snacks and enjoyed a bit of rain and watching the sky light
up with the lightning from the various storm cells. This
morning there is still quite a lot of cloud off to the west, which is slow in
clearing so briefing has been delayed until 11 a.m. Weighing of the gliders en route to the
grid was a lengthy process as each glider was weighed. Merlin has already been meerkat hunting and the pilots have however received tasks as follow:- A Polygon with 2 points Soutpan 150 km. bearing 190 and bearing 130 & Westpoint 50 km. bearing 127 & bearing 67 First launch has still to be decided upon and we are not sure whether all classes will be launched or not. All for now - off to the runway. Carol Later: A task
for all classes was set. A Polygon
with 2 points Soutpan
150 km. bearing 190 and bearing 130 Westpoint
50 km. bearing 127 & bearing 67 First launch was at approx. 12.15 with the Std/15m going off
first. Randy Cullen from the Halfway through the
launching of the Club class, it was decided that the sky was not clearing and
that the weather was re-cycling and it was going to build up again and that
it was not sensible to send off 36 gliders into the darkening sky. So sadly the first day has
been cancelled. Quite a few of the
pilots stayed up for a long flight, the last to land being Dick Bradley at
approx. 5 p.m. As I write at 5.20 p.m. the heavens have finally
opened and the big roof is leaking!!
Till tomorrow. Dateline 01.01.2008Another scorcher in Bobby did a 300 km. in quite a good speed and was back on the ground by 3 p.m. Pilots are beginning to arrive - both by road and by air. Dieter Haage flew from Orient in his 2-seater and Chris Kuschke is coming with the car & trailer - Chris will be flying with him in CA. Laurens flew KG (ASH25) in from Hennenman. Pieter Nouwens arrived as did the Kienhofers as well as Dolf Pretorius who had come from Gariep where he has just flown several long flights - 700/800 km. as well as an 1000 km. Members of the Bloem Club were busy with mowing grass - so slowly things are coming together. Tomorrow is scheduled as a practice day - wonder how many will be there to practice! Then the Pilots' meeting is scheduled in the evening. For now, Carol |
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