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