In Retrospect...

As usual there is a strange sense of hollowness after a big long comp finishes and the airfield becomes quiet and empty. Friends old and new have departed back home and it is time to do so yourself.

Despite neither Mike nor I getting quite the result we were hoping for, every comp at this level makes you realise what your own weak points are, and allows you to form a plan for addressing them. I know that next time I get an opportunity like this I will be able to apply everything I learned at Prievidza, hopefully to good affect. Mike and I both found that the things we couldn't simulate in practice were the things that caught us out in our pair flying - the poor visibility, crowded radio channel, pre-start gaggling stress, and terrain and wind.

It was probably the most stressful comp I've ever attended - there were no straightforward days - every day was demanding, and most were very technical. We seldom meet that sort of day in Australia. From the first day, where we headed out in a headwind from the start at cloudbase, but with only about 2000ft clearance over the heavily wooded and mostly unlandable valley systems, through windy days, overcast days, and violent stormy days, we had the whole lot thrown at us. Even the last day, which was much more like a typical Australian racing day but was only a 2hr AAT so every thermal had to be strong as it was a large part of your total flight.

More stress though came from pre-flight gaggling and outlandings. The gaggles were as bad as I have experienced anywhere except Norway 2004. Mike and I both damaged our gliders more than once, simply by landing in the best available option. This certainly starts to play on the mind on subsequent flights and it is easy to start doubting yourself. And of course the Russian fatality was very difficult to handle emotionally, especially for Peter who saw the whole thing happen.

Those who got the best results were generally flying a style known as 'getting on the bus' - where you simply wait until a strong gaggle flies through the start gate, and tag along the whole flight. Pilots were easily making a top-15 place on every day with this tactic. Over 12 competition days that will put you well within the top 10, with virtually no risk of a bad day. Consistency, yes - brilliance - no. I had a very interesting discussion with Howard on the British team, who is a firm believer that the easiest way to win a worlds is to use that approach but just to do it slightly better than the others. It is the antithesis of how most Aussies fly, and to me very much goes against the grain. But you can't argue with the statistics.

Anyhow, I'm now looking forward to getting back to DDSC and practicing for the Nationals! See you all after the middle of August!

Last days

Well for me it's been an interesting couple of days with mixed emotions. I'm glad I gave myself a few days to recover.
We have returned Ian to Vienna along with a stopover in Bratislava to do the tourist thing. Coming home we took the back roads and managed an international boarder crossing by a barge powered by a Mercury outbaord.
Yesterday we returned JT to its owner in Czech , at Kunovice airfield. Again we got a great tour of facilities and all 4 of us had a flight in a Eurofox! The return trip was made exciting with the addition of a thunderstorm.
Today we drove to the Low Tatras and took a ski lift almost to the top of Chopok (on of the turnpoints) with a walk to the summit. I was extremely interested in the weather and winds from the ground and I'm sure the other were impressed by the scenery and the rugged mountains.
We ended up too late to tour the ice caves but the drive home again was scenic.

Tomorrow the bags get packed and the last of us Aussies leave Prievidza in the morning.
I've added some photos to the gallery of our travels.

with regards,

Mike

All over with the shouting

Last night's party was great, free beer and food, a band and dance into the night.
Some dingos were seen to be making a lot of noise.
It was after midnight when I called it a day and the party was still rocking.
Keep an eye on the gallery for some incriminating photos....

Today the closing ceremony has just taken place, a more casual affair but with some entertainment from the batten twirling dancing girls.
The Germans and French figured highly on the podiums.

Goodbyes all round as we started going our separate ways, Team Temple, Team Tobi and Team UX all departed almost instantly having big distances to cover.
The rest of us along with Brendan and Yana enjoyed a casual lunch.

Dingo base is almost completely gutted and all the gliders have been washed and cleaned up.
Those of us Aussies remaining have a couple of R-R days before heading off.

From me a HUGE thank-you to everyone who has helped make this trip and event possible. There have been so many people offering advise, help, assistance and encouragement over the last 3 years it's hard to know where to start. I particularly want to thank Helen who has gone beyond the call in order to bring elements to gliding and team work that are normally not even considered and Ian for his work on fund raising. Our supporters TMS Consulting, PC-Sol, DDSC, GUSS and GFA have all helped make this trip a memorable experience.

with regards,

Mike

Last Day - fast day

With the previous day's outcome, we were presented at briefing with a flogging of the task setter, complete with caped drummer, rack and caped executioner.
This really helped the mood and everyone took away a good spirit.

The weather for the last day was a bit more pessimistic than the day before but the models didn't quite reflect it. A 2 hour AAT was set with a high chance of storms and a change coming through. The cynical suggested that the weatherman had been primed so as to get only a short task on the last day.

This time the sky was great as start time approached, the change was well away and Allan and I had sampled the first leg and deduced conditions were good. Being a short task with good conditions we both new there would be no room for mistakes and a good speed was possible
We started with quite a few in front of us and had an excellent run into the first circle. 2 thermals at 4knots and 1st leg L/D of 67 meant we turned after 40km at a speed of 129kph. The next leg NE towards the mountains west of Martin was going well but we needed a strong climb to get back to base and keep momentum up. Unfortunately
this was not be and we had to settle for 2.7 knots to get connected again. 2nd leg speed 69kph, but a fair percentage of climbing and the sky ahead looked great along the ridges. The third leg to the south was where most of the distance was and the climbs were good and solid particularly early on. As we tracked along the barrier ridge I elected to top up while Allan pressed on for a big climb. This separated us somewhat but we still shared info regarding the sky ahead and what other gliders around us were doing.
As I approached the bottom turn my FLARM and PDA stopped and so I lost some important timing info. The guys at Dingo base got me the info I required and juggling the setting in the LX7007 gave me enough to work out when to turn for home. This would be crucial for the final speed as final glide becomes a significant part of the task on such a small race. I was really looking for a good core under a couple of target cus and all I got was just over 2 knots. I elected to turn for home nearly 1000ft below glide as the sky was good and I couldn't waste any more time. Allan had already turned and was having a good run. It was clear after the first couple of pull-ups under the cus that I'd get the height I needed. The next cloud had a nice core and I decided to turn and get myself up onto glide. The run in improved my glide further and the last task finished fast, fat and happy.
At 101 kph off the stick I was quite happy, of course as I have learned at this comp, there's no room for small mistakes and below average climbs. The winners were only a few kph faster and there I was in 29th.

with regards,

Mike

The Day No-One came home

Wow! What a day.
The forecast was interesting, the models showed a good day ahead, the met man a little more pessimistic but with no chance of storms....

Our task was a 3 hour AAT that got reduced to 2 1/2 as the day was slow to get going. We knew local storm cells during the evening would have effected some of the areas and the plan was to try for around 95 kmh.

The start set the mood for the task, a big overdeveloped area came up right on track to the first circle, Allan went right, I went left of the rain.
Seems there was lightning in the rain ( no storms ?) and I tip-toed around to the back where some decent cus were still around. A climb here with a gaggle put me around the first turn and ahead of Allan who was a bit stuck on the right but gaining distance. I was able to use this to feed back info to Allan on the conditions ahead for him.

Cruising toward the second area was nothing special , except a deviation around more rain. Away for the rain clouds the sky was actually quite attractive (to glider pilots).

Into the second area and another overdeveloped area, I stayed with a gaggle but was determined to get high and turn North early to get along the Prievidza East side of the valley. The info from Dingo base wasn't good, standard class were having troubles just staying up and starting and further north it was raining. I climbed slowly to a comfortable level and turned north, most of the gaggle continued East and I couldn't work out why (more later), my theory was they were perhaps trying to go far east outside the circle to get north around the weather.
As I flew north I gained enough in some average climbs to get myself to base and cruise north to the "barrier" ridge. Here the view ahead was terrible , the whole Martin valley was showers and the only brighter sky was to the East but was blue and obviously dead. Some confirmation from Dingo base got me thinking outside the typical Aussie pilot box. "Maybe I should just get high here and park for a while". This small thought paid well, I waited and climbed slowly at first and was rewarded with eventually 4 knots to cloudbase. The sky was looking brighter ahead but still not great. I felt like waiting for another 15 minutes or so for the sky to improve but I could see sunlight in the valley ahead.
I eased out into the east side of the valley and into the hills hoping the wind on the ridges would trip something off. Nothing. Still nothing. Creeping towards the sun and the third circle. I dialed up Martin airfield and was 1100ft above glide. I decided to hit the third circle, keep working north and seeing for far I could get before having to break left and head for Martin. This worked well , I held glide for quite a while and was inching towards sunlight and salvation. at about +400ft on Martin I got to ridges in the sun, a couple of bubbles and searching turns proved fruitless, I was tempted to go just one more ridge across but that would have cut off my exit to Martin and forced me into a paddock.
Turning back to Martin I made some deviations over anything that looked slightly like a thermal source but in the end the arrival at Martin was inevitable.
The story could end there but for the next hour I witnessed over 30 other gliders land, helped push and line-up gliders, arrange aerotows and generally talk gliding to lots of excited and disappointed pilots; what a hoot! Not to mention some video footage from my micro-camera. We discussed tactics and the guys going east early in the second area were probably going for distance , D'oh.
In due course my trusty crew arrived and we hot-footed it back to Prievidza. When we left there were already 3 tugs doing aerotow retrieves and the queue of gliders was still growing!

There's a rumour the guns want to cancel the day, I can't see why, it was an interesting challenge and this is the worlds.

with regards,

Mike

Close but no cigar

Yesterday again proved to be a tricky task.
After a good fast start and run to the first turn and part-way up the second, the cloud started to look not so good and the sky further ahead a little dim.
Picking the point to change gear worked well for me and I took a weaker than usual climb before moving on into the mountains. My track thendiffered slightly from Allan's and the gliders we were with and I found 4 knots to get me back to base. This proved valuable as I was able to move into the overdeveloped sky quite high. Allan eventually found a climb to get him back going again. After the second turn and another slow glide back to a climb we both came together again along with a lot of club class gliders. This climb got everyone goiong again, the sky started looking good and everyone got back into racing. The track into and out from the second turn was fast again and across the Martin valley and turning south the climbs just got better. There was a bit of airspace to be dodged and then it was becoming obvious the conditions ahead were changing. A large blue hole had developed on track with cus quite a bit West on the Prievidza ridges. Allan was a bit ahead by now and was tracking west of me toward the rigdes and cus. I was with a couple of other gliders tip-toeing across the start of the blue. The cu line looked good and I decided to divert. The cus were overdeveloped by the time we got there, and only 1 -2 knots was to be had with good energy joining the climbs though. At 7km from the turn and only 300ft below glide I decided I would do better making my glide up in the cruise so I ventured to the turn and came back under the cu. Now needing 800ft to get onto glide I found the cloud dead and the energy line gone... ooops.
I dribbled on searching for lift in the sun, top of gullies, all the right things. I actually has picked the change in wind direction too,finding the odd bubble and some reasonably good air improved the situation a bit. The situation wasn't good but ahead was a small cu above 2 wheat harvesters; yes!
Well, Slovakian harvesters just don't work the same as Australian ones and I ended up in the airfield not far from there. I could have just about limped home but one patch of sink would have had me beached-as.

with regards,

Mike

Hello from Oz...

Team Dingo.... we are thinking of you and hope you are all doing well.  3 days to go – hope your are having fun and enjoying the flying.  Thank you to everyone for your different emails and staying in touch.  Make the most of the last few days and enjoy!!  TMS team is thinking of you and wishing you all the best!!  Helen, Adam, Ali, Samantha, Ben and Kristyna.#

 

 

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