2009 / 2010 |
||
Sunday 31 January 2010: |
||
Mark and John went up as soon as they saw that there would be a frontal storm east of the airfield while Daniel took the opportunity to take his Samba back to Magalies Gliding Club in Johannesburg as John and Mark flew till it was time to come back because that had to return to Johannesburg .
So that was the season of flying 2009/2010. It was a contrast of lots of rain in November, lots of wind in December and then the weather slowly came right with isolated scattered thunder showers for January and how the area changed green again from the rain. Thank you all who came to fly at Gariep Gliding Centre and even when the weather did not play the role you all still had a smile on your faces and kept your heads up high. Thanks to all the staff for their hard work and dedication to all the pilots and myself. Anyone who is interested to take part in the gliding Safari in Southern Africa (AFRIGLIDE) please contact me at Martin@gariepgliding.com. Martin Lessle |
||
Saturday 30 January 2010: |
||
We Had Daniel Rodic (DR) and John Coutts arrive again just to fly for the weekend. John came to fly the LS 6 (PJ) but he did not stay long up because he did not do his seating right and at the same time Mark landed north of Bethulie on a landing strip and was invited by the farmer to look at his museum and when Michael and myself arrived, Mark said that before we de-rig the glider we must see the museum and what a surprise. The owner was a retired Brigadier General in the SA Air force. After that we de rigged the glider got him back to Gariep and back into the air and Mark did a quick 300 km out and return. Daniel did about 400km for the day |
||
Friday, 29 January 2010: |
||
The day started with a very cold southerly wind. Everyone still here helped to de-rig gliders and packed the containers. At least it was a day to pack containers. They tend to get very hot inside. Good for the figure and anyone who is interested of losing weight, apply within. Mark went up and did about 400km. |
||
Thursday, 28 January 2010: |
||
All seven remaining gliders went up. The weather was not fantastic, but it was definitely “flyable”. PK still managed to fly over 600km. |
||
Wednesday, 27 January 2010: |
||
The weather had improved and the eight remaining gliders took to the air. This was the last day for Hans Wiesenthal, who had been here since the beginning of Nov. 2009. The tug pilot has left, so Martin did the three tows that were needed for the day. The day ended with a splendid braai at the airfield in front of the hangar that was decorated with candles. The nearly full moon shone brightly and everyone agreed that it was a most enjoyable evening and a fitting end to the season. |
||
Tuesday, 26 January 2010: |
||
NO GLIDING. Dr Mark Holiday, a local pilot, arrived. He will be flying 2T, an ASW27. |
||
Monday, 25 January 2010: |
||
No one could fly, because of low clouds and rain. This time it was not thunderstorms that would pass quickly, but real rain and disheartened pilots had to go home and find something to do; like reading or sleeping. It was too wet to go visit the game parks. |
||
Sunday, 24 January 2010: |
||
Everyone flew though it was not a very good day. UFO landed last at 16:26. Then it started to rain. |
||
Saturday, 23 January 2010: |
||
All went gliding. Mannie arrived in the afternoon and went at about 18:00 for an hour-and-a-half flight with Martin Lessle in the Duo Discus (FM). Average lift for the day was only 1m/s and cloud base was at 11 000ft. A light westerly wind blew. |
||
Friday, 22 January 2010: |
||
In the morning the sky was covered with a low lying blanket of clouds. Some cumulus clouds formed below the blanket. Most pilots wrote the day off and went on sightseeing trips. The Brits flying FM however decided to fly when the weather started improving. There was a surprise turn in the weather and Steve Clark (TT) also decided to go up, especially as this was his last day here at Gariep. Ayala went up a second time. This time Michael Lessle had a chance to fly in FM. They had about a two hour flight. Just goes to show you: do not give up on the weather at Gariepdam. |
||
Thursday, 21 January 2010: |
||
The day did not look good, but after Hans Wiesenthal took off, others followed. By quarter to four everyone was back and a thunderstorm was threatening to rain. The wind also suddenly blew strongly. |
||
Wednesday, 20 January 2010: |
||
The weather improved somewhat and not everyone was keen to fly. Andreas (AR) and Hans (HW) did more than 500km, while the new pilots had local flights to familiarise themselves with local conditions. In the late afternoon heights of up to 11 500ft were reached and the average thermal strength for the day was 1,8m/s. |
||
Tuesday, 19 January 2010: |
||
This was the last day for Torsten, Joerg, Max and Wolfert, but unfortunately the rain prevented them from flying. The new pilots for the Duo Discus (FM) Mike Truelove and Ayala Liran arrived as well as Walter Freyters and his family. Walter will be flying his own glider: UFO. In the evening a braai was held in front of the hangar and everyone was treated to some spectacular views of rainbows and clouds coloured by the setting sun. |
||
Monday, 18 January 2010: |
||
This was a good day for long distance flying. Five gliders flew a thousand or more kilometres: PK, HW, TOY, SA and KG. Between them they flew a total of 5238km. Thermal tops were up to 16 500ft and on average 2.2m/s. Cloud cover was 4/8. |
||
Sunday, 17 January 2010: |
||
The gliding day started late around noon and by 6 O’clock everyone was back. The weather had improved on the previous day with 3/8 clouds and thermal s at an average of 2.2m/s. A light wind blew from the west. Distances flown varied from 55km (tug pilot in Blanik who nearly landed out on his first flight at Gariep) to 606km (the Dutch in the UFO). |
||
Saturday, 16 January 2010: |
||
The day started with Max taking the tug pilot for an hour’s flight in the Nimbus 4DM (UFO). Max later took his wife, Saskia, also for a short flight. The weather was not good, so only 4 gliders flew. Willie Wollermann surprised everyone by being the last to land at 18:37 local time. |
||
Friday, 15 January 2009: |
||
After yesterday nearly everyone was eager to fly. Steve Clark flew with Peter Gaida in the Nimbus 4DM for a very long “check flight” (five hours and 400km). Carsten Heinrich (the long awaited co-pilot of Peter Gaida) arrived in the late afternoons. The thermal strength was on average 2.2m/s and the sky was covered by about 3/8 clouds. Some small rain showers prevented pilots from reaching great heights. Highest cloud base reported was 11 500ft with the wind blowing up to 40km in the west. |
||
Thursday, 14 January 2009: |
||
Threatening thunderstorms kept all pilots grounded. The staff took advantage of the cloud cover and slight breeze to de-rig the Janus and put it back in its trailer. |
||
Wednesday, 13 January 2009: |
||
All Pilots flew. Norbert Schlafke who landed last flew the longest distance of 940km. Average thermal strength for the day was 2.5m/s and a height of 4000 msl was reached. The wind was very light. |
||
Tuesday, 12 January 2010: |
||
The day looked good so the “twins” Michael and Markus were first to take off. They flew Michael (AS) 1030KM and Markus (AX) 999.6km. UFO did 845km and HW 770km. There was quite some excitement during the day when Helmut Heinz arrived in his truck that he has driven all the way from Germany to South Africa through i.a. France, Turkey, Egypt and south to South Africa. He is a glider pilot and has visited almost all the gliding clubs on his way to Gariep. It ended on a high note with Markus and Michael landing late on the “cross runway” in slight rain and wind blowing at times up to 50km/h. |
||
Monday, 11 January 2010: |
||
The morning looked discouraging and near all the pilots went home. In the end only Willi (AT), Michael & Arie (TV) and Martin & Joerg-Werner (SY) went for short flights. |
||
Sunday, 10 January 2010: |
||
It rained at the wind blew strongly. No-one could fly. |
||
Saturday, 9 January 2010: |
||
This was not a bad day, but it was extremely hot. By 12:00 it was already 37 Deg C in the shade. This was the last day for the pilots of PK (Le Du & Serge) as well as Jan Ritsma (JR). Torsten Klette and Joerg –Werner Runge had their first flight together in the Duo Discus (FM). Martin sent Willi and Iain the tug pilot to fly in the Blanik (USY). This meant that Iain could add nearly another two hours to his gliding log book. UFO made sure they were the last to land at 19:11 local time. |
||
Friday, 8 January 2010: |
||
The “twins” Markus & Michael , both flew 750km. UFO reported the longest flight, i.e. 940km. Michael and Arie arrived from Israel and after Michael had gone for a check flight with Martin they went for a short flight in the ASH25 (GTV). Willi Wollermann, who has been coming to Gariep for almost a decade, also arrived and did a check flight. Frank (NR) had his last flight here at Gariep in the Phoenix. |
||
Thursday, 7 January 2010: |
||
This was a good day for gliding. Norbert Schlafke flew 1006km. He landed at 19:39 exactly to make his flight still valid, but his wife was worried about him returning so late. Markus (AX) & Michael (AS) flew 1020km. The Frenchmen (Serge and Ronan) flew 920km in the Nimbus PK. |
||
Wednesday, 6 January 2010: |
||
The sky was covered by 6/8 clouds and a 15km/h wind blew from the NW. Cloud base was reported at 4000m. 14 gliders flew. Martin went for a flight in the ASH 25 with Gunther von Versbach. Distances of up to 820km were flown. UFO was the last to land at 18:18 local time. |
||
Tuesday, 5 January 2010: |
||
After yesterday, this was a good day for gliding. Dolf did 1000km in 1Z an LS8. Max and Martijn did 1110km in the Nimbus UFO. Well done! (This is especially good for Martijn who had only one flight during his previous visit because he ate something that did not agree with him.) Five more gliders (AX, AS, HW, AR, SA) flew between 900km to a thousand km. The weather was so good that Martin took the tug pilot, Iain, for a four hour flight in the Blanik and managed to fly 179km. A total reported distance of 10 910km were flown. That is an average of 825km per flight excluding the Blanik’s flight. Early evening a group of friends landed in gyro copters and home build planes. |
||
Monday, 4 January 2010: |
||
The wind blew and the forecast was not good for gliding, so just about everyone had left by lunch time. Many went to Colesberg and Bloemfontein to do shopping. Max went to Bloemfontein to pick up Martijn. Martin gave himself and all the staff the day off, except Michael who had to stay and man the airfield. In the afternoon the pilots of Nimbuses (PK & UFO) arrived and had short flights. |
||
Sunday, 03 January 2010: |
||
Early in the morning, low clouds about 6/8 and in the past they worked well, but are not high at the beginning and I sent all to go have a good day, which they did. An average of 560 km. We also had new pilots arrive to fly the 4 DM (PK) Ronan Le Du and co – pilot, Serge Marion from France, Discus 2 (AX) Markus Kries and Ventus (AS) with Michael Kempf. |
||
Thursday, 31 December 2009: |
||
HW, 1Z, UFO, 3T with Michael Lessle as P1 went up and did an average of 404km for this day and all came home early for the last evening of 2009. HAPPY NEW YEAR for 2010.
For the next two days we had rain in the morning and I had some time to fly the Blanik with some passengers, including Venko my son of nearly four years, who has not been up in a glider yet. |
||
Wednesday, 30 December 2009 |
||
Only one glider pilot did not go up. He had problems with his tummy. The rest had good flights with some distance. Dolf in 1Z was short of 1000 km by 15 km. For this day we did an average of 834km. It is starting to look better with the weather. |
||
Tuesday, 29 December 2009: |
||
The day was completely the opposite of the previous day. Hardly any wind but the pilots had no “bok” (that is what the Germans say when they do not feel like flying) to go up. At the end only UFO and 3 T took to the skies and came back doing 660 km for UFO and 420 km.
In the evening on the stoep of the club house we had a small braai, and had Steffen, Bianca, Rudi, Torsten, Bart and Johan from UFO join us. A good relaxed evening it was. We discussed the EURO GLIDE with Bart and Johan and compared the new event that I am planning “AFRIGLIDE 2010” (Please see the main page on the web site). I am hoping that I can take part in the EURO GLIDE 2010. (Anyone who is willing to sponsor me with a Duo Discus T) |
||
Monday, 28 December 2009: |
||
The weather looked good from the weather bureau and many pilots started to set tasks and all went quickly onto grid and as usual UFO took off first and the rest followed. What a day it turned out to be, the wind picked up as the ground crew were taking the 4 DM apart to pack it in the trailer. The wind blew stronger and stronger. That was not in the weather forecast. A great number of pilots returned early but some managed to do some distance. Dolf Pretorius who arrived early that morning, rigged his glider (1Z) and then managed to do a 700 km flight. Axel in his Discus 2 CT managed to get just less than 700 km but had to use his engine from Bethulie to get home. Peter in 9A landed at Philippolis airfield with an 80 degree cross wind of up to 60 km/h. We collected him by trailer, because there was no way to aero tow him out of the field with that type of wind. It was not easy to de-rig the glider with all the dust in your eyes, but all went well. |
||
Sunday, 27 December 2009: |
||
The weather forecast for this day looked very good for the ground crew. Very little wind and thermal tops to FL 125 and blew skies so we had KG, 3T and UFO take of around 12h00 and KG managed to do 415 km and UFO 724 km and the rest followed a lot later. |
||
Saterday,26 December 2009: |
||
Every looked at the weather and no one wanted to fight the winds again because the weather forecast mentioned of high winds from the north so it gave Martin another opportunity to fly and went up with Stefan in FM and did a 380km of fun flying. |
||
 |
||
Friday, 25 December 2009: |
||
The pilots had a holiday feeling and seeing that the weather did not look that great not many flew. The Dutch, John and Bart, however were very eager to go. In the end they had flown 768km. Astrid did 508km and Hans Wiesenthal did 490km. Martin took Bruno the ground crew for MW and VY from Switzerland for a 300km flight in the Nimbus 4DM (JR). There was 1/8 cloud but the wind from the west blew at 75km/h. Thermals were on average 2.5 m/s. |
||
Thursday, 24 December 2009: |
||
Andreas Nies and company arrived to fly KG and 3T. Norbert Kries found out that his glider was damaged when he landed Monday evening in the storm, and had to return back to his parking place. 16 launches were done for the day and all the pilots kindly landed early enough so that the Christmas Eve dinner at the Hotel could be attended. As every year “Father Christmas” arrived in the form of the tug pilot. Presents were handed out to everyone after an enjoyable meal. (Bart and John in UFO who landed last reported that they had flown 800km.) A blessed Christmas is wished to all the glider pilots and their families. |
||
Wednesday, 23 December 2009: |
||
After the excitement of yesterday, most pilots decided to have a rest day. Ludi went for his last flight in the Mosquito before returning home. Bart & John, the new pilots for UFO were very eager to take off, but had to wait until the wind calmed down. Daniel came rushing back from Colesberg to fly. He then unfortunately landed out and Martin and Justin went to collect him. On their return, Petia fed them all a spicy pasta meal. |
||
Tuesday, 22 December 2009: |
||
The day looked good and off they went to the start of runway 33. The self-launchers took off first. The first glider to take a tow had an accidental low release on tow and tried to turn back, and with that landed pretty hard down wind and in the process damaged the glider. We are all thankful that the pilot John Coutts survived without any injuries. This however meant that no one else could take a tow because the incident had to be investigated. A full report will follow. |
||
Monday, 21 December 2009: |
||
An interesting gliding day! 5 (CE, TT, KG, HW, SA) gliders flew over 1000km! John Coutts in CE (ASW 20B) flew the greatest distance, i.e. 1270km . Well done to all. 4 others (MW, CX,AX,AR) flew 800 or more kilometres.
Norbert Kalisch got married to Verena at DE STEIJL Hotel at sunset. An LS6 Glider graced the lawn behind them. Then the wind came up and a sand storm threatened. At the hotel the glider was taken apart in less than 5 minutes and at the airfield the ground crew and everyone else had a busy time collecting gliders landing on the taxi way and making sure that everything is tied down. All in all everything went very well. |
||
  |
||
Sunday, 20 December 2009: |
||
The weather was hot about 38 deg C in the shade and boiling hot in the sun. The first very long distances of the season were flown: Gert Kalisch and his son Norbert both flew 1010km. These were the first flights of a 1000km for the season. Well done! 133, CE, UFO, 9X and KG all flew more than 880km. Average thermal strength was 3m/s and thermal tops about 17500ft. This was the last flying day for the crew of FM as well as the two Dutch pilots Hans and Lodewijk. Another Dutchman, Jan Ritsma , broke a Dutch record in his Ventus 2CT. |
||
Saturday, 19 December 2009: |
||
Glider UFO was the first to take off just before 10 o’clock local time. The conditions were not so good and many pilots returned early. Hans Wiesenthal flew with Markus in the Nimbus (PK) and only returned after 19:00 local time. The wind blew at 40km from the west and cloud base was reported as 4200 asl. The day was brightened up for the Iain the tug pilot. His father came by plane to visit him and brought him bags full of things to eat. |
||
Friday, 18 December 2009: |
||
This cloudless day offered much better gliding conditions than the day before. Thermals of 2m/s went up to 17000ft. Three (CE, UFO and 133) flew over 700km and Peter (AX) & Georg (KG) flew 600km. This was Peter Riha’s last day so he came back early to pack up. We had a late afternoon surprise visit from Douglas with a form of a Hang glider and landed at the airfield after a cross country flight. They were trying to do some records and with the weather not playing with, he, Michael from Austria decided to fly down wind. An unusual glider? (Gear down and locked)! |
||
 |
||
Thursday, 17 December 2009: |
||
This was a busy day. Nearly everyone went gliding, except Manfred Scholz (OY), who went to the start and then decided not to fly. Hans and Lodewijk in UFO flew 690km, but Christine Burki had her second out landing of the camp. She landed about 166km from the airfield and Bruno and her family returned very late from retrieving her. The wind was very strong at 60 to 65km from the west. |
||
Wednesday, 16 December 2009: |
||
The day started with everyone sitting on the stoep and waiting for the wind to change direction. Manfred & Regina Lengemann said good-bye. Nobody wanted to fly until Martin went for a check flight with the newly arrived Werner Schmidt. Eight other gliders then also took off. Those who flew had great fun in the blue. Some pilots went up to 13000ft and reported an average thermal strength of 1.7m/s. Martin’s wife Petia and their son Venco arrived and late afternoon Dave Mortimer, a local pilot, also arrived. |
||
Tuesday, 15 December 2009: |
||
Another cloudy and cool day. Tomas Rusavy arrived with his family. He will be flying the DG600M of Daniel Rodic (DR) and therefore went for a check flight with Martin in the Blanik. Norbert Kries also arrived with his wife and mother. He will be flying the Discus CT (AX). |
||
Monday, 14 December 2009: |
||
The morning started out with an unseasonal cold wind blowing and low clouds. Hans Wiesenthal set the example by taking off and doing a five hour flight. The Hungarians were also brave enough to go up, but they only did two short one hour flights. |
||
Sunday, 13 December 2009: |
||
The wind was strong and gusty so that the Hungarians, Gert Kalisch as well as Manfred and Markus decided to bring their gliders back without attempting a flight. Gunther and Astrid also arrived and Astrid took a short flight. |
||
Saturday, 12 December 2009: |
||
Gliding started earlier than on Friday and everyone went up. The pilots came back all through the afternoon with the last one being UFO at 18:49. |
||
Friday, 11 December 2009: |
||
Gliding only started at noon, but even so 16 gliders went up. Mannie in glider 133 reported the longest distance: 770km, but Hans and Lodewyk in UFO broke a Dutch record. This was an out and return from Gariep to Hoopstad and back: A distance of 613,7km at an average speed of about 133km/h. There was cloud cover of 4/8 and thermals on average 2,1m/s. The wind was about 15km from the south. |
||
Thursday, 10 December 2009: |
||
Walter Burki was back after a short visit to Johannesburg. Markus Gayda and Annika Flosbach registered. They are going to fly the Nimbus 3DM (D-KTTT). The turned out not to bad. Arik and Bernhard spend about six hours in the Janus and only flew a distance of 238km, but they enjoyed it! Cloud cover was 3/8 and a height of 2700m agl was reached. |
||
Wednesday, 9 December 2009: |
||
The pilots took off early at just before 10:00, because of the threat of thunderstorms. Christine Burki landed at Adamsfontein and Michael, Justin and Bruno took the trailer to fetch her. They were just back in the car when it started to rain. At the airfield just about everyone, included a Jaberoo, all tried to land at the same time before the storm. Thank you to all the pilots for the co-operation and understanding. The rain and wind did not last long, but succeeded in soaking a number of people and flooding some parts of the club house. |
||
Tuesday, 8 December 2009: |
||
Ten gliders took off with Holger in AR the first to launch at 11:00. Those who did not fly, were somewhat sorry that they did not, because conditions were better than it looked. Iain came back from Bloemfontein with another Cessna (DXY) as tug plane. Martin also went in the LS6 with water, but he unfortunately fell out of the sky after about 30 minutes. |
||
Monday, 7 December 2009: |
||
Karl went early for a check flight in the Blanik. The sky was coved with low clouds. It turned out to be the perfect time for Iain to take the tug plane to Bloemfontein for some maintenance. Most pilots left the airfield before lunch time to do shopping or have a rest. |
||
Sunday, 6 December 2009: |
||
Flight time for the day was short, because of the approaching storm and strong winds (40km/h) blew in the upper air. We welcomed the following pilots that arrived: Karl Richter (FW), Bianca, Steffen & Fritz Meyer (FM), Gert Kalisch (PK & NX), Ju¨rgen Mu¨ller (9X) as well as Peter Riha (PR) and Mike Barenbrug (28) from South Africa who had already arrived on Saturday afternoon. Monday, 7 December 2009: Karl went early for a check flight in the Blanik. The sky was coved with low clouds. It turned out to be the perfect time for Iain to take the tug plane to Bloemfontein for some maintenance. Most pilots left the airfield before lunch time to do shopping or have a rest. |
||
Saturday, 5 December 2009: |
||
This day was a good gliding day. Everyone went gliding! though not everyone made it back home. Arik and Bernhard in the Janus (AN) had to be towed back from Aliwal North by the Cessna and landed just before legal gliding time for the day ended. Mannie (133) and Georg & co-pilot reported that they had just flown more than 900km. 5 more pilots reported distances flown of more than 700km. The wind was not strong and thermals varied from 3 to 9m/s. Torsten Klette chose a good day to fly in the LS6 (PJ). |
||
Friday, 4 December 2009: |
||
The morning did not look promising, but by 12:00 Holger took off in AR. The others soon followed. The day turned out good with many pilots flying to great heights in wave conditions. Stephanie from FM (the Duo Discus) had to choose between distance or wave flying. Wave flying won! Thermals from 2m/s to 5m/s were reported and cloud base were reported at 4600m. The wind blew from the west in the afternoon, but at about 18:30 local time, just as the Hungarians were about to land, it changed to a more southerly direction. This changing of wind direction in the afternoon can be quite at Gariepdam airfield. Martin & Justin offered Georg Kirchner a stick on landing to help the “old man” walk from his glider. |
||
 |
||
Thursday, 3 Dec. 2009: |
||
Christine & Walter Burki arrived early to rig their gliders and have their first flight of this season at Gariep. The wandering gliding pilots Uwe & Christian returned from their safari . They were impressed with the hospitable people they met on their journey. The wind above was apparently quit strong from the west at 30km/h to 50km/h. Cloud cover varied greatly from 4/8 in the south to nothing in the North. Thermals were on average 2m/s. |
||
Wednesday, 2 Dec. 2009: |
||
All pilots took to the air and landed safely. By late afternoon the strong wind changed direction from west to south on the airfield and turned cold. The new tug pilot, Ian Rennie, was ferried in the morning by plane to Gariep by his father and upon landing immediately had to start pulling gliders into the air. Several pilots flew more than 700km, but even those who flew shorter distances enjoyed the day. Ulrich and Stephanie for once did not need to “practice” in the Duo Discuss. At about 14:30 Michael & Martin went up in the Blanik for a two hour flight to Colesberg and back. On return Michael had a lot of complaints, but Martin took his hat off for the glider pilots of yester year who flew the Blanik. Uwe and Christian landed safely in Mafeking. |
||
Tuesday, 1 Dec. 2009: |
||
The weather did not look good and almost everyone left the field early. A few did stay till about lunch time in the hope that the weather will improve. In the end it was only the Arik & Bernhard in the Janus and Holger in the DG800 that took a chance. Though the beginning was difficult, Holger did say that that he had some good lift (3m/s) late in the afternoon. All and all Holger had a good flight. Uwe and Christian extended their gliding safari and landed at Kuruman. |
||
Monday, 30 Nov. 2009: |
||
New pilots arrived and the morning was quite hectic with registration of pilots and gliders taking off one after the other. From Hungary came Andras Bodzsar and Zsolt Osi (George for the locals). Claude, Jean & Bernard from France registered to fly. As Christian had to fetch Georg’s second co-pilot, Georg asked Torsten Klette to fly with him in the Nimbus. 14 gliders took to the sky. The pilots reported an average lift of 2m/s with a westerly wind of 45km/h and a height reached of 15 000ft. Most pilots landed only after 18:00 local time. Uwe and Christian decided to go on a gliding safari and landed in Bloemfontein. |
||
Sunday, 29 Nov. 2009: |
||
Manfred Lengemann & Markus Geisen arrived to fly the Nimbus 4DM (PK) from Gert Kalisch. Claude Breind-Tiarchal and Jean Rouaux arrived from France. They will fly the ASH25 (TV). The weather was not great because of the wind and 7/8 cloud cover. Only 4 gliders took off, but did only local flying. |
||
Saturday, 28 Nov. 2009: |
||
This was a blue day and gliding only started around noon. Thermals of 2m/s and a height of 4300m were reported. Hans said he flew 520km and Uwe & Ru¨diger flew 477km. The following arrived: Georg and Christian (KG), Peter Scheyer (A9), and Arno Hutter (DR). |
||
Friday, 27 Nov. 2009: |
||
This was a blue day with thermals averaging only 1,2m/s and a 20km/h wind from the NW . Hans Wiesenthal made - HW - history at Gariep by taking his glider first out to the starting point (nothing unusual about that), but was the very last to take off. Though most flights were fairly local it was still better to be bored in the air than bored on the ground. Warren Gilson left and the new tug pilot, Brian Wilson, arrived by car to do tug duty for a few days. The evening was spend at the hotel where Michael Lessle’s 21st birthday was celebrated. Congratulations Michael from all at Gariep and the SSSA!! |
||
Thursday, 26 Nov. 2009: |
||
Not many pilots thought the day worthwhile to go up. Only 7 gliders took off and Mannie (133) flew only about one and a half hours before returning. He said it was too much hard work. Daniel Rodic arrived in the afternoon with his Dg600 (DR). |
||
Wednesday, 25 Nov. 2009: |
||
Jan Reitzeman (Ventus 2 ct JR )and his wife arrived as well as Holger Lentschig. Jan will fly his own glider and Holger will fly the DG800 of Astrid (AR). Rudolf Krahn registered to fly the ASH25 (TV) together with Klaus Engelhardt. Despite the weather forecast some pilots struggled and got useful practice in handling the local strong wind conditions. |
||
Tuesday, 24 Nov. 2009: |
||
This was not an ideal Gariep gliding day but 7 gliders still took to the air. The day started late and pilots reported a height of 14200ft with about 5/8 cloud cover. The landing of a Bell Heuy Helicopter caused much excitement among the pilots on the ground and many photographs were taken. |
||
 |
||
Monday, 23 Nov. 2009: |
||
Ulrich & Stephanie arrived from Germany. They are to fly in the Duo Discus (FM), but after falling out of the sky twice Martin was requested to go up with Stephanie and they had a 3h 45min flight. All the others flew as well and the pilots of 3 gliders (HW, 3T, JR) reported distances flown of more than 800km. Thermals were on average 2.5m/s and cloud cover 4/8. Further the wind was only about 10km from the north which made it a good gliding day. |
||
Sunday, 22 Nov. 2009: |
||
The day started good. All took off early and some good distances were reported. Uwe & Ru¨diger flew 848km and Hans Wiesenthal 814km. The first long flights of this season at Gariep. In the afternoon Ondrej Dupal from the Chech Republick caused some excitement with his unexpected appearance. He flew with his para-glider from De Aar and landed nicely between the Nimbus and the Blanik on the apron. |
||
 |
||
Saturday, 21 Nov. 2009: |
||
This was the last for Edo & Max (UFO) and they spent it getting the glider ready for the next crew. Just after 12 o’clock Martin decided that the weather was good enough to go up and took Warren the tug pilot up in the Nimbus 4DM (JR). Soon after HW, OY, 3T, PK, FW, AR & KG followed. Klaus Engelhardt was the last to land; just after 18:00. Frank van Empelen and his son Sjoerd and Rudolf Holswilder arrived from the Netherlands. Frank & Rudolf will be flying in UFO, the Nimbus from Max Leenders. Manny a local pilot also arrived and the first thing he wanted was a beer. |
||
Friday, 20 Nov. 2009: |
||
Hans (HW) was the first to take off just before 11 o’clock. Everybody went flying except Carsten & Helga who were grounded because of technical problems with their glider. Cloud base was reported at 3200m and cloud coverage was 7/8. The thermals were weak at an average of 1,6m/s, but even so all had fun. |
||
Thursday, 19 Nov. 2009: |
||
The day started cold, windy with low clouds. By 2 o’clock it had got warmer and 4 gliders took off. The return journey was difficult because of the strong head winds. In the west thermals with an average of 3m/s were encountered. |
||
Wednesday, 18 Nov. 2009: |
||
The unseasonal weather was back; so no gliding. The morning was brightened up with warm coffee and cake baked by Ute Wiesenthal to celebrate Helga Lindemann’s birthday. The afternoon there was a heavy rainstorm with some hail and strong winds. |
||
Tuesday, 17 Nov. 2009: |
||
The day started overcast with cirrus clouds, but soon the wind turned and it became warmer. Joyfully all the pilots took off; even Max & Edu stopped putting the engine back in the Nimbus and took an aerotow. They all enjoyed the day. Jeroen was glad that he could glide on his last day at Gariep. |
||
Monday, 16 Nov. 2009: |
||
A cold wind blew and the cloud base was low, but it was flyable; so everyone went up. Most pilots reported doing local or sightseeing flights. The average lift was 1,5m/s. |
||
Sunday, 15 Nov. 2009: |
||
Another cold and windy day. The day was brightened up by the arrival of new pilots, Harald Dornberger and Marion Skop. Martin went up with them in the late afternoon in PK after the Nimbus was rigged. |
||
Saturday, 14 Nov. 2009: |
||
Strong winds prevented gliding, but the day did not go to waste. Three gliders, Nimbus 4DM (KG), DG400 (FW) and ASW22 BLE (SA) were rigged. In the afternoon Martin did check flights with Jeroen and Hartmund in the Blanik. The strong winds also blew and two para-gliders from De Aar airfield flew over and after landing they came for a visit. |
||
Friday, 13 Nov. 2009: |
||
Maybe it was the weather or maybe some superstition also played a role, but only 3 gliders took off at noon. |
||
Thursday, 12 Nov. 2009: |
||
The sky looked good, but some pilots said it was difficult. Overall they all did a good task with Hans Wiesenthal reporting 796km flown. |
||
Wednesday, 11 Nov. 2009: |
||
Carsten Lindemann & his wife Helga arrived to fly the Ash24 (TV). Carsten & Martin went for a check flight and did 200km. The longest flight for the day was by AR (720km), closely followed by 3T (712km) and HW (705km). Total km flown for the day was 3 579km. |
||
Tuesday, 10 Nov. 2009: |
||
The day started with lots of cirrus clouds and it did not look good at all, but by 2 o’clock it cleared and Hans (HW) and Klaus Engelhardt (AR) took off. Both had good flights. Max went to Bloemfontein to fetch two more pilots from the Netherlands. Welcome to Edo Kwant and Jeroen Verkuijl. Edo will fly with Max in the Nimbus (UFO) and Jeroen will fly the LS6 (PJ). |
||
Monday, 9 Nov. 2009: |
||
It rained during the night and the day broke overcast with scattered rain. Only the swallows appeared to like the weather, but by ten o’clock Max & Reitze went up in the Blanik. Max took another 3 tows so that Michael could get current on towing again. In the afternoon Max, Reitze, Hans and Martin all went up and had good flights. Sorry for those who missed out. Warren Gilson, the tug pilot arrived just after 17:00. |
||
Sunday, 8 Nov. 2009: |
||
Unbelievable but true! Another day that very strong and gusting NW winds prevented gliding. These winds are the result of a cold front approaching the Western Cape. There were clouds and sunshine, but the wind made it very dangerous, so no-one went up. Keith Ashman, who had arrived Saturday evening, finished some modifications on the Samba before leaving for Gauteng. |
||
Saturday, 7 Nov. 2009: |
||
The strong winds prevented gliding, so some pilots and staff sat on the stoep and chatted while others worked on their gliders in the hope that the next day will be better. |
||
Friday, 6 Nov. 2009: |
||
The UFO was rigged and polished, but no-one went flying because of strong winds and blue sky. |
||
 |
||
Thursday, 5 Nov. 2009: |
||
Everyone went flying, even Max and Reitze in the Nimbus 4DM (without the M) (UFO) without its engine. The engine was removed, because of a problem and they had to take an aerotow behind the Samba. Then on returning home they landed in the Nature Reserve next to Lake Gariep on the beach (no girls in bikini) and had to be retrieved. Fortunately an empty Nimbus 4DM (from PK) trailer was ready and they were “rescued” without any problems. The retrieve crew, Martin, Mr J and Michael were a bit worried when they were told that they can see lights of a congested highway on the other side of the dam (the traffic did not move). It was the town of Oviston. |
||
Wednesday, 4 Nov. 2009: |
||
An overcast day, so Michael and Martin took some practice runs in the Samba. |
||
Tuesday, 3 Nov. 2009: |
||
First flying day. It was a late start, but Manfred went up in his TOY and Uwe and Ru¨diger went up in 3T. Hans and Ute Wiesenthal arrived from Germany. |
||
Monday, 2 Nov. 2009: |
||
The weather was not yet good for gliding and day was spent getting gliders ready. |
||
Sunday, 1 Nov. 2009: |
||
The first day of the 2009/2010 gliding season at Gariepdam, South Africa. Uwe Thiele, Ru¨diger Dach, Manfred Scholz, Maxim Leenders and Reitze van der Linder were all here to start unloading the containers. Justin, Michael and Phindi were also back to help Martin Lessle with running the camp. |
||
 |
||