Heading Home

It's all over now and we are all heading home in various directions by various means. Gliders are being towed to ports for shipping and returned to their owners in the four corners of the USA. Our team is dispersing back to Australia and the USA, all safe with intact gliders so I am content. The pilots all came here with open minds hoping to fly their best every day against the best in the world. It was an arduous 3 weeks with 7 Official practice days and 13 Competition days in 40C temperatures, and several tasks of 700km plus. Final results after 800,000km of collective flying

15m. Class results:
1. Sebastian Kawa Poland Diana 2 11062 pts.
2. Matthias Sturm Germany Ventus 2ax 10628 pts.
3. Radek Krejcirik Czech Ventus 2ax 10526 pts.
22. KS Lisa Trotter AUS ASW-27 9530 pts.
24. 3C Peter Trotter AUS Ventus 2bx 9375 pts.

18m. Class results:
1. Zbigniew Nieradka Poland ASG.29-18 12170 pts.
2. Lukasz Wojcik Poland ASG.29-18 11840 pts.
3. Mike Young Gt. Britain ASG.29-18 11774 pts.

10. 8H Tom Claffey AUS ASG-29-18 11347 pts.
18. 4D David Jansen AUS ASG-29-18 11168 pts. 

Open Class results:
1. Laurent Aboulin France Quintus 12084 pts.
2. Michael Sommer Germany EB.29 11977 pts.
3. Oscar Goudriaan SA JS.1C 11835 pts.

6. 2T Bruce Taylor AUS JS1-C 21 11470 pts.
11. 30 Brad Edwards AUS JS1-C 21 11139 pts.

Last day [after flying]

Well, I made some bad decisions yesterday, started just behind Jerzy but went a very different path - Jerzy beat me by over 20kph. By far my worst day and so dropped down to 10th overall. A bit disappointing as a reasonable day could have brought me up to 6th. At the final party Zbigniew complimented my flying and told me that Marta had warned him to watch out for me, and that she was right! Two day wins and the World Champion's praise will have to do this time. It has been a long hard comp and none of us have reached full potential although we all did well at times. Lisa and Peter had a good day yesterday.
The standard of competition here has to be experienced to be fully understood. It is no surprise that the three champions here are all multiple winners.
We go out to the field now for closing ceremony and depart in various directions, always a bit sad.
Nobody was hurt and the few gliders damaged are just plastic. The Americans have been so great.
A big thanks to Al Tyler for letting me fly his ASG29 and to Bob Grove for his car at short notice.
See you back home,
Tom

Day 13

5.55pm All back so time to take down the aerial, and check Brad's back up logger to see if we can loose his finish height penalty.

5.30pm Overheard on the radio "Well done Champion" so someone knows how today went. 2 more home, just waiting for Tom and David

5.15pm Bruce and Brad 40km out Tom and David heading home

5pm Lisa and Peter home, Tom and David still heading South, Bruce and Brad 60km out with a blue hole to cross to get home.
Launch delayed due to high cloud, now on Task B a shortened AAT for all classes gates opening shortly.

Last Day [Tom - before flying]

Storms forecast for this afternoon. ;)
3 places to re-gain today. The 3hr AAT is well set with room to move re storms.
Everyone shaken by the mid-air yesterday, thankfully the pilot who bailed was OK.
Suprised we have not had more the way some of these guys fly.
Everyone is cautious about the weather today but pumped for a great last day.
Tell you about it later!
Tom

Day 12

Yesterday David and I tried an early start together to avoid the day ending too early. It didn't work well, my result 20th, David's 31st.
Today I started with a fast group including the Jonkers and Ronald Termaat, Uys and Ronald got ahead of me in the rankings yesterday. Pretty good day until we all got low from pushing too hard. Should have stopped in one of the better climbs and topped right up to cloudbase. 150kph was only good enough for 17th! Still in 9th, back into 6th possible with a good last day. David did better with a 6th place. "Interesting" weather possibly tomorrow.

From the ground today, it looked like a classic Uvalde day. 8000 Cumulus bases, great Streets. Lots of smiles from our pilots at the end of their 620-680km  speed tasks, finishing a little before 7pm. Most started just before 2:30pm with a 7 pm ETA, and came back early.
Brad commented that it was like the good flying days in 1991, and much closer to the great final glides experienced last year. (He reckons that he is now ready to start the comp - just had the right amount of practice!). All were final gliding from 140km away, and picking up glide and speed just flying straight under the streets.
Tom Claffey was frustrated, 150kph and only 17th place! (but worth more than 900 points - close racing). He was smiling when he said it.
All of our pilots did well and David Jansen placed 6th with 952 points for the best result.
Peter and Lisa were having a great day when their class was cancelled as a consequence of the mid air collision. - It is great news that Peter and Louis are both OK. We have no news on how this tragic collision happened.

Our cunning plan is slowly gathering pace. Will release the details after tomorrows flying! Terry

All Safe

Since this is being widely reported elsewhere and to reassure everyone ....
There has been a mid-air collision between two 15m gliders on task. Both pilots are fine. One landed back at the field and one bailed out.
Australian pilots are not involved and both have landed safely back at Uvalde after the task was cancelled.

Mmmmmmm - a new cunning plan today ....

Day 11

6.45pm All of final glide now, so now we wait for the results to see if they had fun :-)

6.30pm Team Trotter 50km out

6.15pm Tom and David on final glide at 80km. First finishers calling 10km

The guys are all out on task under Cu with streeting - a classic Uvalde day, if a little low. They are getting to between 6000' and 8500'. It is fairly quiet on the radio today which is usually a good sign.
The launch was delayed to 13.25 and gates opened around 2.30pm and 3pm so we expect them back between 6.30pm and 7pm.

DAY 10 in the nerve centre

The weather man had initially predicted a 7pm finish, but later brought this back to 6:30pm. Alex reviewed the data and it looked like a possibility that the day could even be over by 6pm. We discussed for some time and came to the decision that the team would be better off by starting earlier than planned. All the pilots were in the air so we had to try and let them know this view without revealing all to the world (every team has a number of radios monitoring the other teams so there are no secrets). With careful wording around Queensland time and cane toads, we got the message across (cannot tell you the actual words because others are watching)!
David was the first glider to start for the comp; Peter and Lisa were second to start in 15m; Brad and Bruce were first to start in Open class. Tom mixed it with the gaggles for a short time and then started with one of the earliest groups in 18m.
For the rest of the day we nervously watched the trackers to see if we had made the right call and given the right advice. Around 5:30pm Alex advised that temperatures were rising  - bugger!
Our guys were back before 6pm and we waited. The main groups were back by 6:30pm, but then a few of the later starters began to struggle. The day did finish earlier than thought but not as early as we had predicted.
As it turned out, themal strengths and heights were not any better for the later starters, and it was a little bluer down south so there were no real penalties for our early starts.
David easily won 18m, and Tom, Bruce and Brad scored 920-970 points, so good outcomes. Peter and Lisa were disadvantaged by not having any gaggles to help through the weaker sections of their tasks, and without the couple of low points would have placed well.
Those teams who got caught up in start tactics started very late and the day died, scoring in the low 700 points range. This has opened opportunities for Tom and David in 18m class.
Three days to go, with potential for some podium spots, so we have a cunning plan! Just can't tell you what it is.  Terry

The Team

Day 10 Tom

David wins the day! Advice from Dan the Met man backed up by later data from Alex was to start early which David did to great effect, the only pilot today over 140kph. I was heading to the startline when I met up with a huge gaggle. We played the start game right up to my late leaving time for the conditions. As often happens I dropped off with a few others and did my own thing for some time before joining a group for the last 150km. I was to beat them in with a 100km plus final glide. David had given me some info which helped me maximize the time under CU and lessen time in the blue. The Poles and Brits started late and suffered. This brings David up to 11th overall and I remain in 6th but closer to 2nd place than before. Three days to go.
Tom

More day 10

6.30pm
It's getting bluer here.
6.15pm
Getting busy at the finish all on final glide now.
6pm
David and Brad are back, Bruce is close Tom and Team Trotter are still on task.
We are hoping for stronger winds and blue conditions in the south of the task area to slow the late starters.

Today they set a short AAT of 3 hours 30mins due to the blue conditions and strong winds. At the moment we have 3/8th Cus with 15kt winds. Our guys started early expecting an early shut down, they will be home at or before 6pm, whilst many others will be out there until 7pm, hopefully in the blue with strong winds.

Day 10

The OSTIV conference finished today, details are at www.OSTIV.org
Today is expected to be a 7000' blue day with strong Southerly winds. First launch is not before 13.00.
This morning we took some team photos with everyone in their uniforms.
Last night we enjoyed Belgium beer, German Tamales, Vegemite, French wine, Italian pasta and Polish spirits. It was good to catch up with everyone usually pilots land so late and it is so hot people disappear home after flying.
Overheard on the GB radio yesterday "I have no GPS I can't see the start line" problem was solved by turning off 2 of the 5 GPSs in the cockpit.
Off to the grid.

Day 9 Tom

I had a pretty good day, could have been better. Good start, caught the Poles [4 counting Jerzy the Canadian] and flew with them and gradually caught up with an earlier gaggle. At about turn 4 or 5 [I lose count] I lost the leaders as we split up a little. As the day first softened where it rained yesterday, and then streeted home without a turn, I could not catch up so the leaders beat me by more than I gained at the start.  Anyway, 7th with 946pts keeping 6th overall not a bad day. David started a bit earlier but we met up after 2nd last turn and flew home together.

International night was great, a few nice beers and different snacks to see us through. Some really nice people here and some very tidy pilots.
Tom

End of Day 9

The sky is looking fantastic at the moment with scattered Cus at 9000' we expect the first finishers in 45 mins or so.
At briefing they told us that the pilots have together flown to the far side of the moon, hopefully they can get back....
Overheard on the radio today "Lisa give me a wing waggle so I can see you".
"I'm behind you" :-)
Just heard from 2T "There are 50 gliders right up my bottom"
All back now.
We now  have to wait for the scores to see if they had fun.
Tonight we have an International night with a little food or drink from several countries.
Our offering is Vegemite sandwiches. I gather some of the teams have strong spirits to try to wipe out the opposition.
Lots of urgent "put gear down" calls on the radio.

Day 9

Yesterday there was a wind change as a storm gust front hit during landing.

So for a while we had taxiway 15 and runway 33 in use during the change over. The pilots managed it very well - of course.

Today they are forecasting a maximum of 38.5C with scattered Cu there is some Cirrus expected in the task area but no storms today. There is an inversion so climbs to 8500' or 11000' if the inversion is broken.

We now have 3 tourists visiting the team. Allan Barnes and Dave Hollbrook with their RV and LS8 and David Conway passing through on his way to Houston.

First launch is 12.30 with around 600km or so racing task for all classes. Bruce has a competition tracker.

Day 8

Interesting start time decisions yesterday. Forecast storms from 1630 so early start to be conservative with a short AAT task [2.30] I was struggling to get height to start with the gaggle as most left. As it happens we all had waited a little as we thought the storms would be later and conditions were soft. David started with the Poms and called they were coming back for a re-start just as I got up to start. The Poles had also come back and Germans were hanging around so I was in good company. Started after the Polish trio but soon got well above them, later in the flight after doing more km I nearly caught them again and beat them on speed (one of their worst days). Pom restart worked and Mike Young now in the lead- just!. The winner of 18m did a 1530 start and was lucky not to be caught by the storm.
Our Open and 15m teams generally had a fairly steady day, Lisa doing well in the placings.Michael Sommer starting to creep up.
600km fixed tasks today.

Monday - Day 8

5.15pm
All  back now scores coming out

4.45pm
Peter and Lisa back, Tom extending his task as conditions improve. David inbound ETA  17.03.
Tom 15 mins out, 2T 70km out on glide.

4.30pm
We are expecting the first finishers shortly not much free time for the crew on a short task.

3.15pm
They have all started and are calling 6kts under wispy Cus but only 2kts in the blue on track. The storms up north are building but are not impacting on the task area.

2.15pm
All gates are now open, the 18m Poles have started and our guys are not far behind.


2pm
Today we started in the dark, there was no power until after briefing which they managed surprisingly well. They have set a short AAT to the South and East for all classes due to concerns about storms developing to the North. There is a lot of chat on the radio trying to pick the best start times. (Tasks are 2 hours 30 mins for Open and 18m and 2 hours 15 mins for 15m).
Allan Barnes and Dave Hollbrook are inbound from the North and feeding us weather info as they drive.
Yesterday many people took the opportunity of a rest day to take the shuttle bus to the Freo river for a float.  They provided inflatable tyres for the people and a modified one for the esky. Afterwards there was free food and live entertainment.

Day 7

645pm
Tom home David not far behind. Some scores out - initial scores were incorrect scored as racing task now correct for AAT task
620pm
4 landed just waiting for 18m guys to come home
615pm
Alex on his new bike off to the grid
Lisa on CTAF
6.00pm
First finishers starting to call
Peter and Lisa on final glide Tom and David heading for their last turn Bruce and Brad expected back a little later
5.30pm
Another Uvalde blue day with 2/8th Cus.
First finishers expected back in 35 mins or so.
We are hearing calls of 9kts to 10,000' periodically so it is going to be another fast day.
We have a rest day tomorrow

Random ramblings

The FAA have been a constant presence at Uvalde checking that the pilots have the correct documents to fly safely. At one stage we had 11 officials here for 99 pilots, quite a high ratio I think.
At briefing yesterday Ken told us that he had calculated that so far during the contest pilots have flown in excess of 40,000km which is the circumference of the earth and by the end of the contest we will probably have flown to the moon.
I wrote down some other tug nick names yesterday : Sweet Pea, Red Baron, Baby Blue, Killer Shark, Yellow Peril, Yellow Jacket. There are 11 altogether so I'm still missing a few.
David had a relight on day 5 due to a blocked ASI. He called on the radio, we had the crew waiting when he landed, someone grabbed his wing as he slowed, the offending tube was cleared out (Polish is suspected) and he was relaunched in 5 mins with out getting out of his glider. We certainly have the A team working for us here.
The finish yesterday was amazing. At 5.30pm our gliders all had over 200km to fly on task, the sky was grey with spread out from the storms up north and we had strong winds from the associated gust front. The 15m guys initially planned to land 40km out at the Batesville airfield. The crew were sent off with the trailers to meet them. Then we had a call that they had found a 5kt climb on the gust front and were now heading for Uvalde. We recalled the crew to the grid. As the time ticked by and it got darker we called the pilots to tell them that they had to be on the ground by the end of legal daylight at 20.23 or they would get a penalty. It's the first time as a Captain that I have told a pilot to land to get a better score. (The penalty is 10pts per minute). As the minutes passed it became clear that whilst they might be able to squeak into the airfield at Uvalde a paddock was the safest option. The trailers were re-hitched and the crews set off again. They landed safely 5km away. Whilst they crossed the finish ring 15km away and clearly finished the task they were below the minimum finish height (3000' minimum with a penalty for the first 100m low then an outlanding at the ring) so received distance points rather than speed points.

A tough day!

Bruce and Brad did well. David and I got together and started last, 10 minutes or so behind the winners. A low point just after the first turn slowed us down, then we had to go around a storm before heading off into a not quite "right" sky. As the task was 692km fixed, the day was long and we got slowed down at the end and we lost a couple of places overall. At least we beat all the gaggle we had been with up to the last turn. We landed at nearly 8pm after thinking 7pm till half way around the flight! The Trotters went through the 15k finish ring below min finish height so scored as outlanding - and then actually outlanded (rather than fly home) to avoid a penalty for landing after sunset! A hard day.
Tom 

Tom Day Win!!

Hi Yaall,
Finally an official day win after the unofficial one on day1!
Had a great day [obviously] after a pretty slow one yesterday. Great start just behind a good group on a day forecast for possibility of storms which did not happen in the task area. Slowly caught up to the gaggle from behind, at the second turn made a tactical decision to go a bit further from the big climb with the idea of joining the bottom of the gaggle, but they had all left. After 30km or so I saw the gaggle coming from my right, low, and ended up on top again! Maxed out next sector from in front and then alone for most of the way home.Slowed down a bit as the lift reduced in a normally weak area and pulled up to a pretty efficient final glide. After my Father's death last week and a number of logger issues this week, today was the first day everything "clicked". Stats show 98.8 mean L/D & 19% thermalling.
Bruce had a good one and up to 2nd overall.  We plan to just keep chipping away slowly.
Tom 

Daily Routine

We are getting into a good routine here now and the days are starting to blur together. In the cool of the morning around 7am the crews water and Stage the gliders. Staging is a process where the gliders are positioned next to the runway, in grid order, whilst the airport is still open. We then have a briefing at 10.15 lasting around 15 or 20 minutes, then back to Aussie base for a Team briefing. Launching is typically around 12.30 to 1pm. Half an hour before first launch the gliders are pushed onto the strip. By now it is getting pretty hot so if the launch is delayed most people get back into their cars and turn on the air conditioning. Launching usually takes an hour or so with the tugs all having cute nick names. They overfly low next to the grid and drop their ropes from around 30'-50' up. So you hear calls like "Baby blue east approach". They all have Flarms so it doesn't get too exciting.
The airfield is quite small so the 15m and 18m gliders launch off the main runway and the Open Class launch from the parallel taxi way. After launch we retire to the air conditioning in Aussie base and communicate gate openings and start times. Whilst they are out on task Alex and Terry relay weather information such as storm cells and sea breeze position. With pilots in three different classes flying 3 different tasks that is a lot of work for them, but there is no doubt it is helpful. Around 6 to 6.30pm we usually get our first finishers and by 7pm most are home. The challenge then is to get everything sorted and get the pilots fed and watered in time to get plenty of sleep ready for the next day.

Day 3

The guys are all out on task. And they are loooooooooong tasks. Over 600km for the smaller wings and 714km for Open Class. We have 1/8-2/8 of Cu and benign winds.
We don't expect them back much before 6.30 or 7pm.
Tonight we are all invited to a party at the airfield hosted by Team USA.

Yesterday was a pretty straightforward racing day and today seems to be much the same only longer. The guys all had solid flights yesterday, but the placings are all very close with 900point scores in 15th position.
Start times are now on Soaring Spot
http://www.soaringspot.com/wgc20112/results/

If they can keep doing more of the same without blinking all will be well.

Day 1 8H

Well, what a day! Very changeable conditions, from reasonable European style CU to rain-showers, then still glide to a turnpoint. Another good climb then another 50km glide through still air to an 8kt climb! Later the sky was a more normal Uvalde day. My primary logger is having an issue so the backup was used to give me a trace just missing the second turn. [8cm!!] Hopefully the primary on 1 second logging can be sorted, otherwise I turned a day win into 950pts. Really happy with the flight anyway. Lisa and Peter did well in 15m, David as well in 18m. In Open Bruce was second with 995 for a great start while Brad did a marathon effort to get home in 9th, everyone else outlanded or started engines.
Should be a god day tomorrow.
Tom

Day 1 all home

After a few nail biting moment with our Open Class gliders who had to cross a blue hole after rain I can report that all are home safe. The task unfortunately sent the 18m gliders into rain showers early and the Open gliders into rain at the end. The 15m has some rain but not as much.
Brad and Bruce had us on the edge of our seats with marginal glides home.
As I type I hear others calling low and slow finishes and I see some outlandings on the scores already.
The scoring website has crashed so traces are being uploaded manually via USB sticks so may be a little late.

All gliders are on track, with approx 600km racing tasks. 100-150 km left to go and now 5:30pm. Nice Cu have turned into Thunderstorms over some of th etask area. 18m class went into the storms early but survived the expereince. Storms now heading towards Uvalde so a bit of a race to get back without getting washed out of the sky. Peter and Lisa doing well together. Dave and Tom together. Bruce is 20km ahead of Brad, who is with Michael Sommers. Crossing our fingers.

The competition officially opened

The 32nd FAI World Gliding Championship in Uvalde Texas has been billed as the Olympics of Gliding with 120 pilots from 40 different countries competing. All roads lead to Uvalde which is at the crossroads of two major highways. US90 runs East West from Florida to Los Angeles ; US83 goes north from the Mexican boarder to Canada. To demonstrate the importance of this event and the support we have for this competition they shut down Hwy83 for an hour. This enabled us to have a parade to the Honey Bowl stadium and attend the official opening ceremonies; including a fly past of a P51 Mustang Courages Glen piloted by 24 year old pilot Conrad Huffstutler. Sunday will be a big day for all pilots and the weather predictions are looking good.
Greg Jackson

Yesterday only Brad and Bruce flew - a tough day! 5000 feet and getting lower as th eflight went on. Brad scrambled away from about 700 feet at the furthest possible point from Uvalde, in about 4 knots. Seems both Bruce and Brad kept all their water on, so operating about 57Kg/m2, they say that the glider just climbs well at these heavy wing loadings. Michael Sommer (EB29) and Tasilo Bode (Quintus) beat our two guys which we thought may happen in weaker conditions, but when you look at the traces the only difference was that the two German guys got one climb (where Brad was low) which was 6.6 knots to 9000 feet, otherwise the speeds were the same.

Opening ceremony went well this morning, including a parade through town with about 40 'floats'. They closed the main troads, there were people sitting on the side of the road waving, just like in the movies. Our float, complements of our hosts from Roadrunner energy, was Thomas the Tank Engine. Stole this photo from Markus Edwards.

Last Practice day

Another South Australian day, if a little hotter.
It seems that most of the 90 gallons of German beer was drunk last night and a lot of pilots are taking the day  off including 4 of ours. They have only set a short task as we have the opening party tonight.
Overheard on the radio yesterday during the glider finish "Power aircraft XYZ tracking left of the field for de-confliction".

Tom completed most of the task yesterday, in fact no one finished in 18m class as the last turn was in the softest conditions in the area and generally a lot slower than previously. A gaggle including Tom turned back at approx the same location, filling the top places in the class. A difficult blue day, only 5000 above ground with a few long glides. Tom had a low spot of approx 800ft, but found a 6 knot climb!!!
Our pilots are feeling good. They have all had good flights with some great speeds, they really understand the conditions and terrain and feel well prepared for the comp first day on Sunday.
Alex Wallis is doing a lot of work trying to solve issues with the new Flarms, and the aispace files for the Clear Nav instruments. He is constantly on the phone with the manufacturers tslking configuarations and settings and other words that I just don't recognise.
Still hot today but conditions a lot weaker as the High is centred over the top of us. Only Brad and Bruce flying today, others have gone "Tubing" or just generally hanging around. Heading for the grid for first launch at 1:50pm. Terry

Practice Day 6

Another hot blue day. It seems that practice days always bring on untypical weather patterns! Today only Tom is flying, the others are resting and a few small fettling jobs are being done. Tom is flying a set task of 470km. The sniffer just called 1.5kts to 3,300' which is only 2,400' above ground. The launch has now been delayed until 13.50 (from 13.10).
The forecast is for 41C which if we reach it will be another record. Yesterday tied the record temperature for 1912. I gather Adelaide set some sort of record for an overnight minimum of 2C.
I think all of our scoring issues are now resolved but it seems the results are available more quickly on Soaring Spot than on the official site (http://www.soaringspot.com/wgc20112/results/). Launch now 13.50.
They just love to keep us warm!!

Practice Day 5

Today we have 3.25 AAT for all classes and it is a real South Australian blue day, not an Uvalde blue day with 2/8th Cu. The temperatures are increasing and today's max forecast is 39.5C which is close to a day record.
The air mass is heating and we need a trigger temperature of 34.5C, conditions are forecast to be 3-4kts early and 6-7kts later with max heights of 8000'.
They have introduced a start line speed limit of 170kph rather than a 2 minute time below the start height, so that is something extra for the pilots to practice today.
We have 5 pilots flying today Tom is having a rest day. Only 2 more practice days before the Opening Ceremony on Saturday,
Today we had a later start with first launch not until 13.40. We expect them back around 6pm tonight.
Yesterday there was a mid air touch between 2 Argentinean gliders who were flying close together, one had damage to a winglet the other some minor damage under the fuselage.
The German team captain Uli commented this morning that he now understands how difficult it is for us to compete overseas every year. I'm not sure he fully gets it since they have shipped over all of their gliders and cars and he is on a full time salary, but at least he has some insight.

Official Practice Day 4

Today everyone has a racing task between 550km to 590km. The launch was again delayed until 13.35 so the gates did not open until after 2pm. They are managing the launching very well although they use 2 grids which causes a few logistical problems for some teams. Luckily we have 2 captains so one for each grid works well.
Today the forecast is for a max temp of 39C, climbs or 5-7kts to 9000'. The guys are grumbling a bit and seem to think the task is a little overset. We shall see. Again we are experiencing an Uvalde "blue" day with 1-2/8th of Cumulus.
Lisa and Peter are not flying today so we have 4 in the air.

Practice day 3

Late launch today so 4.15 hr AAT with gate open at 1426 was challenging. I started a little low at 1433, had a slow run for about half the first leg but then got up and running OK. Was on course for 153kph until the day started to die. I turned very early in last sector but after getting low lost 10-15mins for a speed around 143kph for 629km. Winner did a little under 153! A bit frustrating but I got away from everyone I flew with so happy with the learning experience. I landed at nearly 7pm, the day shut down not long after 6.15.
I think we are all competitive here.
Tom

Uvalde WGC 2012

I have just arrived in Uvalde and I must say what an honor and a privilege to be so warmly welcomed into the team.  The hot weather looks like being with us for a few more days and we expect to see some very high average speeds, around the 150kph mark. Keep up with our latest information and pilots achievements on our blogs and Facebook pages. David will be flying Tuesday that is for sure, let's make it happen sign up today.
Greg Jackson

Practice Day 3

All but David are flying again today. The forecast is for climbs to 9500' under Cus. They have set a 4 and a quarter task for the 15m and 18m class and a 4 and three quarter hour task for the big wings. Launch was delayed half an hour so we are not expecting them home until around 7pm.
Everything seems to be going OK so far with no major issues that we can't deal with.

Aussie base and Aerial

Practice day 2

We have 5 gliders flying today, David having accumulated over 60 hours already is taking a break.
The forecast was for 7-8000' and blue with a maximum of 38C and that seems to be about right.
The first finishers are just coming home now.
Thanks to the aerial built by Coddling Communications and a base radio provided by David Jansen we can now communicate with our pilots over 100km away. Today's best distance was 118km and was a strong signal.

Official Practice

Today is the first official practice day. They set a racing task of 579km for 15m, a 4 hour AAT for 18m and a four and a half hour AAT for Open. The forecast was for 36C with climbs to 6000' above ground early and 8000' later.
All of our pilots are booked in for Scrutineering today - 4 down 2 to go. So far so good.
Bruce and Brad are the only ones choosing to fly today and plan to land back early for their Scrutineering appointment at 5pm. Once that is done we can start with our normal routine tomorrow.
We are now installed in our team room which is right next to the briefing room. It is a great room with everything we need.
Today there is a major effort to erect the radio aerial on the roof. It is proving more difficult than we thought, but should be finished and ready for tomorrow.
All but a couple of crew are here now and we had our first team meeting this morning in our new base.
Tonight we are all going to Taylors just across the road for a BBQ by Vicki.