First official practice day

Yesterday was the first practise day and the same assigned area task of about 300-500 km was set for all the classes.  Lift was 5-6 kts and I had a good run down the first and second legs under cu based about 7000 AGL.  After the second turn, the sky was blue and the leg took us over a lot of little lakes.  I had a long glide of about 30 km with no lift and eventually found some weak (2 kt) thermals to keep moving towards the thrid turn and was now working 2500-4500 AGL.  To throw another wrench into the mix, high cirrus from an approaching cold front was now shading the way home.

 

I worked a weak thermal just inside the third turn area and gained enough height to glide over the class D control zone on the way home. I was abe to follow the edge of the cirrus shadow and the forests for about 30 km and eventually saw a dust devil kicking off ahead of me and at 2000 AGL took a 2 kt climb.  Then my flarm showed traffic ahead and above me and when I looked for it I saw an ASW-22 climbing better then me about 1 km away.  I joined him and took a 2.5 kt climb to final glide height and came home. 

 

It was good to get home, since I saw at least one glider on the ground on the third leg and then the cirrus shutting us down of the fourth leg, but I was slow again with 99.5 km/hr over 412 km and the top speed in the 15 m class was 127 km/hr over 465 km!

 

Dave

First flying day in Luesse

Today Jerzy and I flew the task that was assigned by the Polish team captain. The Polish team has lots of experience in this contest area, so we took advantage of their knowledge and tagged along.  We  both flew about 550 km today, with Jerzy flying 125 km/hr and I was slower at 105 km/hr.  There are numerous airspace restrictions in the flying area and some are open and closed on a daily basis and unfortunately I was not aware that some of the restricted airspace showing on my GPS was actually open today, so I deviated around it on two legs. 

 

At the end of the day, I was slowed down getting home as I had to take a bunch of 2 kt thermals down from the previous 4-6 kt averages earlier in the day.  This cost me a good 30 minutes.  But today was a good chance to wring out the 27 and make sure that everything was working.

 

Looks like tommorrow will be another nice flying day.
 

Dave

Arrival in Luesse

We arrived in Luesse last night (this morning) at 1 am and checked into the hotel after a 5 hour drive.

 

Yesterday we flew about 330 km around the SW corner of Poland in the southern part of the contest task area.  Today we decided not to fly, although it was a really good day.

 

We both went through our technical inspections, weighing and measuring to ensure the glider meets spec.  Art Grant from the Winnipeg Gliding Club is working with the technical inspectors, so we had a chance to talk a little and then had a few beer together at dinner.

 

The airport has a beer garden set up and a restaurant on the field, so there is no need to leave the airfield to find dinner.  The hotel has a wonderful european breakfast so we can make sandwiches for luch from the breakfast buffet.  This means we have everything we need right here!

 

Tommorrow we plan to fly.

 

Dave

The Antanov AN-2

I also had the opportunity today to fly as a passenger in the AN-2 that I showed in the picture yesterday. Jerzy used to crop-dust in an AN-2 and he says it is a 1000 hp radial engine. The picture below is looking out the window at the second AN-2.

The pilot was quite busy in the cockpit, and it took both of them to fly the plane. The control forces looked pretty heavy, the second pilot had to operate the throttle, while the first pilot concentrated on controlling the plane!

Besides the flying today, both Jerzy and I managed to get the gliders set-up, I installed my PDA and replaced the metric Altimeter with feet. Tomorrow looks like it could be a soaring day and we are ready to go.

Grunau

Many pilots have heard of the Grunau Baby an early German glider design - well Grunau is actually in Poland and is a hilltop satellite field for Jelenia Gora. It was used in the 20's and 30's to bungee launch gliders off the top of the hill (by the Germans - look up Sudetenland for the History of the area) . Now it is used to teach pilots how to land on uphill slopes.

Jerzy and I took a couple of flight each in the Puchacz today to practice landing up the hill at Grunau.

The picture below shows the hill - Grunau - from the towplane. The area in the purple box is the landing area, and then you roll uphill to stop on the realtive flat near the hangar (to the left of the purple box).



This was my first landing, and it turned out OK.


Ready for take-off. You can see the downhill slope to the left of the glider, this is where we landed. The towplane is a Polish radial-engined PZL-101 that I am told is a close copy of the Russian YAK-12.

The take-off is exciting too, as you start up the upslope on one side of the hill the towplane disappears for a few seconds as it crests the hill until the glider also crests the hill.

Jelenia Gora

I arrived here last night around 7:30 in the rain. The drive from Poppenhausen was good for most of it with a sky full of Cu, of course that always happens when driving to a flying site!

There are two Antonov An-2's parked in front of the building - they have to be the biggest biplanes I have ever seen.

The weather today does not look like we will fly, but that's OK since I still need to open the trailer and get the cockpit set up.

Arrival in Germany

I am now in Poppenhausen after having navigated the German Train and Bus system to get to the small town west of Frankfurt to pick up the car. I had a bit of help from people I asked at the train station and on the train, but for the last leg the bus driver did not speak english, but we managed to sort it out. In part thanks to the directions I received while in Canada and by my TomTom GPS.

The car pick went smoothly, except the car was sitting for about the last 5 months so the battery was flat and we had to push the car out of the garage and then boost it to get it going. The car is being borrowed from a German glider pilot who has relocated to Canada. His mother looked after all the car arrangements and this was made a little more challenging by my limited German and her limited English, fortunately, her nephew was able to come over and help out as an interpreter! It has also helped catapult me back into remembering my German from when I lived here in 1970!

After the drive to Poppenshuasen the battery is fully charged and everything is running smoothly.

When I first arrived at the factory (it is closed for summer shutdown) I met Martin Heide (the H of ASH) who was working on his ASH-26. He showed me the glider I am renting and we talked about German weather and the best routes to drive to get to Poland from here.

I also met Gerhard Weibel (the W of ASW) who is lending his glider to Karl Striedek for the contest. Gerhard told me the hotel to stay in, so I had a great dinner with Gerhard, his wife, Karl and his brother Walter.

Next its off to Jelenia Gora, Poland to meet Jerzy and fly a couple of days in the south end of the contest area.

Dave

It's time!

The time is finally here, and I am leaving home in a few minutes for the airport - so the next report will be from Germany!

Air Transat Ticket Winner!

The draw for the Air Transat Tickets was held this weekend at the SOSA Board of Directors meeting and the Grand Prize winner for the two Air Transat tickets to France was ticket #26 - John Keifer

The second prize of a $50 CARA restaurant gift card is ticket #105 - Teresa Violi

A big thank you to everyone who participated in support of the team!



Dave

ET

Many thanks to Udo Rumpf, who lent me his ASW-27 "ET" for the past few weeks, I have been able to re-familiarize myself with the 27 before heading to Germany.

I was able to fly the Training Camp contest at SOSA in the 27, so I now have the feel of the airplane back after flying Walter's 27 in Sept and February.

Both Walter and Udo have been very generous to Jerzy and I allowing us to fly their gliders to prepare for the worlds - Thanks Guys!

The Airport at Luesse is closed for the few weeks before the contest while they make final preparations, so Jerzy and I plan to fly a few practice days at Jelenia Gora in Poland about 200 km from the contest site. This will be my first trip to Poland and I am very much looking forward to it!

Dave

Canadian Team Training Camp- Day 8

The last day of the camp was another good soaring day giving us 5 flying days out of 9 total, with 4 days straight at the end of the camp.

The initial task called for a turnpoint to the north, but as we launched, cu started to form in the south so a task change was made in the air to avoid the blue conditions to the north. As the start gate opened thermals were 3 kt average to 5000 ft.

In the advanced class, Joerg won his second day in a row moving him into first place overall.

The seminar/contest concept worked extremely well and all the competitors found it a worthwhile experience and the fun meter was certainly pegged!

Canadian Team Training Camp - Day 7

Another good soaring day for the contest. The conditions were forecast to be blue, and they were! Dr Jack was forecasting 4 kts and that is what we saw with lift up to 6000 MSL, although it weakened above 5200.

The task was set as Toronto Soaring (35 km), Aylmer (30 km), Oshweken (20 km) for a minimum of 180 km, nominal of 320 and max of 470 km with a 3:30 minimum time.

The best distance of the day was 300 km and the best speed of the day was 82 km/hr.

Today's seminar was FAI badges and OO's given by Walter Weir.

A Polish sausage BBQ was held with great sausages from a local Polish deli in Cambridge.

Canadian Team Training Camp - Day 6

click on images below to enlarge:

The forecast for today was the best we have seen for the contest. Dr Jack was calling for 4-5 kts with light NE winds. At the meeting we asked how many pilots wanted to attempt their 300 km flight today. All the hands in the novice class went up, so the contest task was set to Priceville Tillsonburg a 305.8 km triangle.

Paul Fish was the only pilot to complete the 300 triangle - congratulations Paul!

The seminar for today was how to use Winscore the scoring program.

We started the launch at 1230 with some heavy cirrus to the north that was threatening to shut down the leg to Priceville. South of the high cloud in the sunny areas clouds were already based over 5000 with 3 kts lift. We decided to stick with the task as called despite the high cloud.

As the gate opened, most gliders were about 5 km south of SOSA as the northern part of the start cylinder was in the shade. After a smooth glide across the 10 km to the north edge of the cylinder we were on course under the shade. Most made it to the cu over Guelph and and slowly made their way north. Some got low in the Guelph area, but eventually connected with cu in the Fergus area. In the Priceville turn area the cu were based at 6000.

By now, the high cloud had moved sputh out of the task area, but the second leg was blue, and many had trouble in the Elmira area. Once south of the 401 we were back in to the cu still based at 6000 ft. My final glide home from 51 km out took 19 and a half minutes!

The weather for the weekend looks good, so we are hoping for 2 more flying days.

Canadian Team Training Camp Day 5

click on the images below to enlarge

The weather forecasts called for the cold front to clear the area early in the morning making way for a task in the afternoon with about 3 kts lift. The task was set to Mount Forest and back to ishweken with 30 and 20 km circles.

The seminar for today was final glides presented by Joerg Steiber and Walter Weir. After the seminar and pilots meeting, the sky was clearing as forecast and cu were developing, but there was some lingering high cloud.

We launched a sniffer at 1345 and he reported 23 knots to about 2500 AGL, so the fleet was launched into a sky of developing cu. To the north the sky was blue, but to the south under the high cloud there were cu. The task comittee advised the CD to change the task in the air to use the southern area, with the new task of Woodstock, Oshweken with 20 km circles.

The lift was weak, but the task change was a good call, considering the blue to the north did not develop any lift.

Canadian Team Training Camp - Day 4

Today we flew! Dr Jack predicted good conditions along the Lake Erie shore, so the task was set Hagersville Aylmer for the Advanced Class and Hagersveille Tilsonburg for the novice class.
Jerzy gave the seminar today, discussing thermal techniques.

The 1 hour seminar finished with lots of questions and was then followed by the pilot meeting and safety briefing by John Brennan about landing out.

We launched at 1245 and found lift off tow to about 4000 agl. Cu had already started to pop to the south along the shore line. Perfect for the tasks! The gates opened and everyone headed out. We had no landouts today, so there were lots of smiling faces around the BBQ dinner.
the Canada Day Fireworks are planned to be set off as soon as it gets dark.

Scores are below (click on the image for a full size view):