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For bulletin No. 1 of the Potch Winter Games try t[more ...]
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As you might have seen on Avcom, Deon van der Mesc[more ...]
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The current agenda has been uploaded to the "Downl[more ...]
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There will be a meeting of the compcom on Saturday[more ...]
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Who is Peter?Thank you Boris!
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Threads: 187 | Replies: 1708 | Views: 277274
Upload: Gauteng Regionals 2009 - Entry Form
Stephen Thomas, Thursday 17 September 2009 - 12:24:00 // comment: 0

GTR2009_logo_416x65px.jpg
Official entry form for the 2009 Gauteng Regional Gliding Championships Submitted by Stephen Thomas Gauteng Regionals 2009 - Entry Form


Lusse 2008 - Cap'n Carol's Chronicles - 27th July 2008
Stephen Thomas, Sunday 27 July 2008 - 19:56:19 // comment: 0

 
Sunday 27th July
Greetings from Lusse, Germany – airfield venue for the 30th FAI World Gliding Champs for the Open, 18m. & 15m. classes.  Arrived in Germany yesterday and made our way to Lusse where others had already arrived or were on their way.  The camp site is already full of caravans with a variety of teams setting themselves up.  As yet the S.Africans still need to ‘ set up’ as we only will hopefully get to register today and then get the keys to our ‘ site office’. 

Quintin arrived on Friday minus one of his suitcases, so he finally caught up with it by collecting it from Berlin airport late yesterday afternoon.  Laurens, Suzy, Gunter (crewing for QM) and I had flight delays in Madrid, but finally arrived mid afternoon yesterday.  Attie – we imagine will get here today.  He was driving from England where his glider had been shipped.

This picture is at the road entrance leading to the airfield. Now we know where we are!!
image006_314x235px.jpg
We are staying at a very nice hotel called Springbach Muhle which is about 6 or 7 km. from the airfield.  They have a real menagerie of creatures so will hopefully send you a picture or two of them in due course.

Today both Quintin & Laurens have taken flights to check everything out.  Laurens is self-launching, so after a few hiccups and the glider not wanting to move, we pushed it forward a bit to get out of the possible slight dip, and he got away.  There seemed to be a long run, but eventually he was airborne.Both gliders are now down, so will go and see how things were.  Conditions look very good, with blue sky and some cloud but not a lot.  It is very hot and a bit humid on the ground and coming from the SA winter, the heat is quite a body shock!!

Tomorrow we will get both gliders through their scrutineering –they  time slots for 10 & 10.30 a.m. for this.  And still no sign of Attie yet!    

Submitted by Stephen Thomas [/html]


New Zealand Air Games
Craig, Thursday 01 November 2007 - 11:10:02 // comment: 0

New Zealand Air Games to Include Top Glider Pilots 

LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand (November 1, 2007) - Fresh from the World Championships that take place in Omarama before Christmas, 20 of the world’s top glider pilots will thrill the crowds at the New Zealand Air Games in Wanaka on 27 and 28 December with sprint races designed to show the true power of these incredible aircraft. 

The 50km high-speed races will provide 20 minutes of nail-biting neck-and-neck racing from pilots who really know how to push the gliders to their limits.
Competing in heats of five, the gliders will cross the finish line directly over Wanaka Airfield at speeds of up to 280kph, often within a split second of each other. 

The pilots will have spent the previous week competing for the title of world champion at the FAI World GP Gliding Championships. These are scheduled to finish in Omarama on Christmas Eve. However, if the weather is bad during the course of the competition (19-24 December), the deciding races of the world championships will replace the sprint races with the pilots finishing over Wanaka. 

The New Zealand Air Games takes place at Wanaka Airport on 27 and 28 December and is the largest aviation sports event ever to take place in the Southern Hemisphere. It features 10 sports ranging from paragliding to sky diving, helicopters to hot air ballooning, with many of the sports reformatted for high adrenalin viewing.  

All the aerial action is beamed back live to spectators on the airfield on a giant screen from cameras mounted in cockpits as well as the latest air-to-air filming technology and real-time graphics, allowing a fascinating insight into the previously closed world of the world-class sports pilot.  

Tickets are $18 for adults with free admission for children under 16 and are available by calling 03 443 2700. For further information, visit http://www.airsportslive.com. 
Victoria Murray-Orr
Director - EveNZ
PR - Marketing - Event Management | PO Box 738 | Lake Wanaka
T +64 (0)3 443 2700 | F +64 (0) 443 2702 | M +64 (0)275 617893 | W www.evenz.co.nz

Submitted by Craig [/html]
Lusse 2008 - Cap'n Carol's Chronicles - 28th July 2008
Stephen Thomas, Monday 28 July 2008 - 15:45:01 // comment: 0


Monday 28th JulyAnother hot day here in Lusse.  The organization is slowly but surely coming together and the briefing hall is being well equipped with hundreds of tables and bench seats ready for the first official briefing which will happen tomorrow.  Up to now it has been unofficial training, with no briefings and ‘free for all’ flying. All somewhat relaxed.

This morning our two gliders present filled up with water and went for their scrutineering.  Our friend, Art Grant, from Canada is a familiar face to be found there.  Laurens is smiling as he is still under weight with the engine and full of water, so he can now personally fill up on pasta!!  Quintin however also has an engine (a sustainer) and he will have to drop a bit of water each day – not very  much, so he too is relatively happy.Have also now done all the registration and dealt with all the paperwork aspects for those of us that are here, so that is finished and completed. 

The only “missing piece” is a new weight & balance certificate for Laurens’s glider.  It has different wing tips now fitted for Laurens and the competition to the ones, which the owner  normally uses, so a new certificate is required from Schleicher.  But that is now organized and will be faxed today.

Yesterday Quintin tested out the motor at the end of his flight and ironed out a problem or two that he experienced – so now he knows what to expect and at what altitude he should prepare to get it out, if needed, but obviously we hope he won’t need to use it to get home.  Laurens’s glider is self-launching and despite what seemed a very long take-off run, all was well and once airborne the glider climbed well.

Sadly our team ‘ huts’  are parked behind the hangars out of view of the airfield and the ‘ action’ – not ideal at all for seeing everything that is happening.  But on the plus side we do have an internet connection and power, so guess we are thankful for that.  We are busy with getting our big antenna (thanks to Herbert Martin) erected and then we should have radio comms with the pilots.So gradually things are happening and Team S.Africa is coming together.

Steve Thomas is already ‘ on standby’ and has been putting information on the SSSA website when I send him updates – he says look above the pics of the team members for the day’s reporting, and/or under news on the l.h.s. index on the SSSA website.
Submitted by Stephen Thomas [/html]


Exco News - November 2007
Craig, Monday 19 November 2007 - 11:01:01 // comment: 0

November Newsletter 
2007 is rapidly drawing to a close!
The 2007 Nationals will only start in 2008; exact dates: January 3 to January 12, preceded by a practice day on January 2.
You can get the entry forms from the downloads section or from:
  1. AnmarieD@JGLConsulting.co.za or
  2. ankien@tiscali.co.za
  3. If you have to enter by fax, i.e. you have not got e-mail, contact Jacques van Wyk on 082 454 9717.
Entry fee is R1750-00; all early birds paying before or on December 22 may claim a discount of R250-00.
Account details:
Name: Dust Devil
Bank: ABSA,
Branch Code 334334 (Brandwag),
Account 4060719328
Cheques must be made out to DUST DEVIL. 

Another reminder from the treasurer: the fee for authority-to-fly renewal has been raised to R140-00. 

The Safety Office is planning a meeting for early 2008 with an introduction to “Human Factors Training”. Please watch out for further details which will be sent around on Steve Murray’s distribution list.At or before the next AGM (in August 2008) the biannual Safety Audits are due again, “don’t leave it to the last minute.”  

May I end this letter with the usual Mantra:  Keep your paperwork in order (valid licence, valid ATF, observe air space restrictions) and enjoy the hopefully fantastic summer weather gliding.  

Wishing you all a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year  
Anne Kienhofer, Secretary SSSA 
Submitted by Craig [/html]
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