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July 1st 2009
01.07. 08:48 A real Finnish morning !
8.45; First things
first ---- kisses today---- as the “twins” Wille and Wellu celebrate their
birthday today July 1. These hardworking boys deserve an even bigger hug. As
predicted , clouds in the morning, but…if the part “ flying in the afternoon” is
correct too, we will see later! No tasks at this stage , TC briefing as usual at
9. As Marina said this morning, a bit shivering; " Thank you for a real
Finnish morning" Heavy metal is still in the ears, but it was a great
“nite”. More later.
01.07. 09:50 Important safety message !
This mornings TC
meeting was the 3d official TC meeting , for that reason TC’s had to sign in.
Safety was the main issue, some very serious matters ,as a “near miss”. The
message was loud and clear, do not fly aggressive, do not bank so deep that you
descend through the gaggle and NO pulling up in a gaggle. With less weather,
as yesterday ,you should NOT be ARROGANT and SELFISH in a gaggle !!!!!!
Also…..do not try your luck by just making it home too low over the forest,
it seems some pilots took enormous risks flying too low over it. Also a
safety issue; the PIK 27 will be out for towing in standard class. Further
on grass here in Finland is quite high, it’s called forest grass , so be
careful. As the weather does not look too good at the moment , the pilots
briefing is delayed till 10.30.
Till now this is a very well organized
and very pleasant competition. Let's keep it this way !
01.07. 10:06 While waiting......!
You remember me talking
about the new looking red-yellow and blue tow plane?? Here is the story!
>> Hello Ritz and thank you for lively coverage on happenings
on JWGC here in Räyskälä. It has been a pleasure to read them.
About the
red-blue-yellow towplane yesterday.It is propably the oldest continuously
serving tug here in Finland. Type is PIK15 and it is kind of predecessor for
later types like PIK23 (OH-TOW) and PIK27 (OH-XYA) being the first towplane
Finnish>> polytehcnical aeroclub (PIK) designed. OH-YHB was delivered from
factory in 1968 and it has been on service in Nummela airfield ever since. It is
funny since it is the only one of this type build in factory. Other examples of
this type have been build in clubs around Finland throug the years. There are 5
examples flying and one nearly completed. Aircraft is made of wood and has
usually 160hp engine. The one wisiting JWGC has 180hp engine. It has two seats
side by side configuratin with peculiar Y-shaped control stick between the
seats, hence the Y-letter in the registration of the Hinus. Performance is
little less than Piper pawnee but fuel economu is about 25% better. From a
towpilots wiev it is really a good workhorse. Good visibility since the bubble
canopy, controls are very light and responsive and it has good cowl flaps for
engine management during decend. Also large split flap/airbrake helps decend.
So, this "new" tug is propably the oldest of them all -->> Matti Huoviala,
01.07. 11:20 It looks like a task has been set ! AAT , task time
2.30, to the West.
11.00;” Hope is not a strategy”, a sign in the cockpit of
a glider and a nice shot from Hubi in the morning video. Winner from
yesterday in standard class ; Miloslav Cink flying W8. As you might recall
yesterday he was pushed from the grid just before he was going to be launched
due to a problem with his vario. He was launched after all standard class was
launched , left as the last pilot over the start line, but…….. WON THE DAY.
In club class Killian got the bright PINK cap , the bottle and the presents
and…he is climbing up in the overall scores.
It is even more complicated
weather then yesterday. There might be a “flying window” when the gap’s in the
high cloud layer get bigger. There is still High Pressure over the S. of
Finland, but…the upper level trough is moving SE over Southern Finland as well.
First launch might be at 11.30. Tasks will be presented to the TC’s at
the grid. Club will go first , that is …when they fly. Grid 12----- finish
line 26. Now at 11.05 you feel that it gets warmer and the “ blue hole “ is
growing.
Today is the NATIONAL day in Canada, so the Canadian TC shares his
“party” with us distributing small Canadian flags.
Presents for Wille
and Wellu and for Patrick one of the members of the jury. HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!
Off to the grid to see what’s going to happen, a task seems to have been
set.An AAT to the West with a task time of 2 hours and 30 minutes.Will come back
with more details later when I have the task.
01.07. 11:32 Tasks to the West have been delivered at the grid
!
11.30 Tasks have been delivered to the TC’s at the airfield. Club
class; AAT with 4 areas---Task time; 2.30----Distance; 175 km/375.2 [268.2 km]
St class; AAT with 4 areas---Tasktime; 2.30---Distance; 183.2 km/420.1 km
[292,7 km]
It really feels warmer , the “blue hole is growing”. Let’s
see what the sniffer does.
01.07. 13:48 " Veda" go...at 12.15 today !
13.30. We were
more or less stuck to the grid today, but no worries. The weather looks better
then expected. At 12.00 we could see already a “ willy-willy “ from the sand
from the beach and then the sniffer Kai, mentioned 1300 m with 3 m. per second.
Not too bad!!! He could see far some inversion as well, but behind , also
clouds . At 12.15 we heard “ VEDA “ and the first glider was ready to go.
Launches were smooth and quick; in 1 hour 9 minutes , they were all
airborne. Hurray for the tuggies and the field runners and marshal. Start
lines open at 13.20 for club class and 13.55 for standard class, where young
Horacio from Argentina was the last to be launched.
Now we can only
wait! As the Hungarian pilot Orsolya , for her friends Orsi, flew so well
yesterday I will have her PROFILE in the Corner today and the one from the
Polish TC tomorrow.
Keep also an eye on the so many and fantastic
pictures , great PR for gliding.
01.07. 14:36 I would like you to meet...Orsolya Diofasi...Orsi
for her friends !
In club class we have 3 female pilots, 2 from France and
one from Hungary. Yesterday Orsi , the female pilot from Hungary,did really well
with a nice 2d place behind the World champion Killian . This must have cheered
her up, as the day before she lots points due to an outlanding with her ASW
15.Here is her story.
----Although I come from a gliding family,( my
father was competing too and even my grandfather is closely connected to
gliding.) I started quite late, at the age of 17. I helped my dad at the JWGC in
2001, France and that’s when I fell in love with gliding competitions. Since
2006 I went to several competitions, and the next one after Rayskala will be the
women’s world champs in Hungary, Szeged. I hope that the weather will improve
there too, because that is a great place for gliding. Huge fields,very hot
weather and tricky thermals . I study environmental management at the
Budapest University of Technology, will write my thesis this autumn. Otherwise I
work as a bellydance instructor at my own dance school. Oh and my name is
not at all difficult, pronounce it or-she ;)----
01.07. 15:22 Skies here look great ! Pilots on their way
!
15.00 update; Skies here look better and better , several clouds
around us. At 14.50 12 gliders moved to the start line at a nice height.
Great to see with these blue skies. They found some more lift in a thermal where
2 other pilots still were going up. Then the 12 moved on task and the 2 to the
start line , even higher. In club class the Polish pilots started first at
13.40, giving their not –so- fit-feeling TC time for some rest. It looks like
there will be a big difference between the first and the last to start. Each
team trust its own meteo and tries to use the best 2 hour and 30 minutes of the
day! The “French 3” in standard class left with Horacio at 14.05 as the
first. Keep an eye on the result site for the start times.
About
yesterday evening!!! GREAT NITE!!! The young heavy metal rockers , 2 sons from
Antti Lehto and one friend behind the drums did a great job and the crowd
cheered them on. I am amazed Leo’s voice still “worked” this morning. The
“air- guitar- competition “ was just great fun. Different countries and some
people from the organization performed on high level. Winners; The “wild
girls “ from Czech Rep., the even wilder boys from Austria and the UK crew from
7 Q Ali. He is the son from the 2005 JWGC organizers in Hus Bos and gave a great
performance , valued as best by the audience. Prizes; plastic music
instruments you could blow up. Though it was pretty noisy, it was a great-
fun- night. Tomorrow, it seems, we will have a karaoke event.
01.07. 15:29 Some more comments !
This one is more for Katja
, as she is the web guru and very proud on what she did, so she should!!!
And...also for Silva and his team.
Dear Ritz,
I am following
the competition mainly because of the participation of our CFI, Mike Collett.
I would like you to know that I work on line from my home and you are
destroying my business! Your whole website is superb, the graphics and
information are utterly absorbing, the photos are excellent, and your commentary
is informative, interesting and funny. I find my concentration on my work has
suffered as I have to visit your site every 30 minutes or so to keep updated and
feel, almost, as if I am there.
Congratulations on everything - it
sounds as if you are running an excellent competition and having a lot of fun.
You are a great ambassador to gliding in general and your club in particular.
Many Thanks and Best Regards, Symeon Economou (Member of
Booker Gliding Club)
01.07. 15:32 One more from France.....
Hi,
Just a
little email to thank you for the comments that you write during the days of
competition. It is a real pleasure to follow the life of the competition from
work (don't tell it to my boss ). I know that is not easy at all to be a good
speaker as I tried to do it during the WWGC 2007 at Romorantin, France. I think
there is just one thing better than reading you on internet, being there in
Finland with the pilots !!! and maybe why not coming for the last we ...
Keep on doing your excellent work !!!!
Regards,
Jéjé
"9C" from Romorantin
ps : GO Frenchies GO !!!! ;-)
01.07. 16:44 First pilots back home !!!!
16.36 update; The
first pilots to arrive home were the first to start in Club class at 13.40 the
Polish friends PW and S . They came in just before 16.30.Then it was quiet for a
moment. Just wait for the flight recorders to see who was better out today,
the early or the late starters.
3 Outlandings as wel. Y from Lithunaia
in club class and SF[ st. cl] and G2 [ cl.cl] from Sweden.
01.07. 18:05 Everybody back home !
17.45 update; Lot’s of
smiling faces coming out from the office, where the pilots bring in their flight
recorders. The weather was much better then expected . At 17.15 it was peak
hour but everything went without a problem. They all came in , in time, which
was good as the sun was covered by a thick layer of overcast at 17.00. At
17.30 only one pilot was not yet home but ……. PM was back at 18.00, so everybody
is back and ready for a well deserved cool beer. Unfortunately one more
outlanding 2S from Belgium.
0107
if you want to react.
