News and Information

WGC 2024 Uvalde – Early Report – Day 4

This morning was a slow news day.  The weather that we had yesterday has moved on and today is expected to be good.  Climbs should be upwards of 4 m/s (7-8kts) and the top of lift later in the day could reach 3,000m (9,500ft).  Funniest thing today was the LX Navigation guy (Nick Salej) did a presentation of their new navigation system and vario.  The Facebook post showed a big crowd around him.  One thing you did not see was the 4 boxes of donuts that he brought for the pilots.  However, it was a very interesting presentation, and we hope the systems he showed us work out for their company.  

Today the day was going to be a slow start, so Mark went ahead and delayed grid time for the first class until 1330.  The launch actually did not occur until after 1400 with the 18 Meter gate opening at 1454.  The 20 Meter gate opened at 1515 with the Open Class gate opening at 1539.  

The aircraft are all on task and I am going to try again and get the original web designer for the WGC 2024 Uvalde website to let us have access to the site.  Until then, have a great day.

Cheers,

Rich

WGC 2024 Uvalde – Late Report – Day 3

As the crews, families and friends were anxiously waiting for the pilots to return, it looked like something out of “Masters of the Air” when the B-17’s were returning.  Only we knew exactly where everyone was due to the hard work of the contest staff.  We have several people we should thank who constructed and deployed all the OGN stations to make this contest more exciting.  Being able to view all the aircraft, except maybe 1 or 2, makes a big difference in safety and peace of mind for us on the ground.  However, we have plenty of time latter to name everyone who helped make this contest happen. 

Watching the tasks on 3 different viewers over the period of the flights, I did not find one that answered all my questions.  I still like Pure Track, but I think that is more a personal preference.  Best thing is, try all of them and switch between them. Thank you to Ken Sorenson for providing the links so we can have tasks uploaded to glidertracker.org.  

After a long wait to launch the grid due to the slow start of the day, the ships were getting into the air significantly later than was optimum.  This is the Worlds and tasks are harder, acceptable weather conditions are broader and long days are typical.  It was not a question of when to start, it was more the location and altitude of the start when the gate was open.  Everyone knew the task was going to take you right up to sunset and getting down track as soon as possible was very important.

The 18 Meter class were the last to start and most of the top half of the group flew on very similar tracks.  Everyone favored going a little further into the first circle, most went to the nominal distance before turning.  The next three areas were entered around the minimum distance point.  A few pilots had to take weaker climbs at the end just to make it home.  It was not uncommon to see speeds on final glide drop below what we have seen earlier in the week.  Also, landing times were in the 20 minutes before sunset range so achieving final glide early was important.  Getting low around 30 minutes before sunset almost assuredly resulted in an engine start or landout.  Looking at the score sheet, it appears 4 pilots ran their motors.  We will find out for sure tomorrow.

In third place for the day was Christophe Abadle (France), second was Radek Krejcirik (Czechia) and in first place with a speed of 128.12kph (79.54mph) over the 506km (314mi) task was Simon Schroder (Germany).  Well done!

The Open Class on the other hand were the first class to go on task.  Again, everyone left early after the gate opened.  Most of the class found themselves below 600m (2,000ft AGL) in the northern section of the task area.  Climbs averaged in the 2m/s (4 kt) range over most of the task area until the last 2 legs.  In third place was Michael Sommer (Germany), second was claimed by Peter Szabo (Hungary) and winning the day was Felipe Levin (Germany) with a speed of 129.46kph (80mph) over the 528km (328mi) task distance.

The 20 Meter class seemed to take the biggest hit on the scoresheet with 6 gliders starting their motors.  I am just guessing about this, since I am solely looking at the score sheet.   These ships all landed within 15 to 30 minutes of sunset.  Looking at the flights in progress this afternoon, it appeared there was a big gaggle over a larger area that had very similar tracks.  Seems like going a little deeper in the hill country turn areas paid off since the low country to the south had weaker climbs.   Taking third place for the day was Bouderlique & de Pechy, with Karl Striedieck and Sarah Arnold in second place.  Go Team USA!  Winning the day was Adam Woolley and Gately (Australia) with a speed of 111.77kph (69mph) over a task of 448.44km (278mi).  Coming home from the south, late in the day, with weak climbs, hurt the 20 Meter pilots.  It was always just one more climb and they would have all made it home.  Congratulations to AXO and all the pilots who flew today.  It was a very difficult day, but everyone was safe back in Uvalde at the end of the day.  It was unique to have all the cars leaving the airfield in the dark after a very quick securing of all the ships.  

Tomorrow will be another day, and the weather should be stronger and the achieved heights higher than today.  There are still many days left in these Worlds.  Some of the leaders have gambled on getting a climb at the right time, and so far, it has paid off.  Until then, stay safe and pet your dog tonight.  Today was National Dog Day in the US.

Good night,

Rich Owen
Media Team

WGC 2024 Uvalde – Early Report – Day 3

As the aircraft were being readied for flight, several stories started to float around the field.  It seems the team of Pasi Pulkkinen & Teronen (Finland) lost their 
LX-9000 and associated vario while on task.  Not to be deterred, Pasi and his co-pilot pulled out their standby nav system (iPhone & Google maps) and completed the task with no problem.  Who needs a $10,000 navigation system anyway.  Ms. Miranda, our very able host for coffee in the morning pilot’s brief, had a slight accident on the way to the meeting.  Apparently, she had to brake a little harder than normal and tipped over the coffee urn in the back of her truck.  No damage to anything but her ego as we did not have coffee this morning.  

As the pilots meeting continued, it was brought out that some gliders were spending too much time on the taxiway after landing.  Funny thing is, we saw that from the glider parking area ourselves.  One pilot stopped on the taxiway, got out of the ship and started fussing with his nav system, probably downloading his flight to send it into the scorer.   That did not impress the pilot who landed and had to exit the taxiway early. 

The weather briefers went over the difference from the expected weather to what really occurred yesterday.  The weaker conditions to the east were caused by blow off from storms to the northeast and the high that directed the cirrus to the 18 Meter class first turnpoint.  None of the models caught this and it was not expected.  Today the weather is expected to be better than yesterday.  It will be bluer than previous days, but we may have some cu in the afternoon.  There is little chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon since the airmass is very dry.  We should see climbs to 10k up north and 7-8,000ft to the south.  

As always, we did have some issues with weather at the launch.  The sniffer was launched around 1pm and his first climb was 5kts.  Mark asked him to find one more climb.  Try as he could, the sniffer could not find another climb for an hour.  The launch started very late and there was a real worry that no one would make it back.  We even had some social media posts from the competitors that relayed that sentiment.  I am sure that there were Team Captains shaking their heads.  Frankly, I was a little hesitant to think everyone would return to Uvalde this afternoon.  Well, the gliders are getting close to final glide and I’m going to greet them in the parking area and find out what the day really was like.  

Stay turned latter on for the results and how the day went for the pilots.

Cheers,

Rich Owen
Media Team

WGC 2024 Uvalde – Late Report – Day 2

All of the ships are safely back on the ground and the crews are tucked into their beds getting ready for another early morning wake up.  Some of the pilots are sleeping comfortably knowing that today they made some key decisions that resulted in a great finish.  Others are reviewing flights and seeing some key points that prevented them from making big jumps in the scoresheet.  

We should go back to some things that I forgot to bring up in the first report today.  I must say, being humble as a fighter pilot is something we do not handle well.  Today we were taking photos of the grid from a helicopter after all the gliders were on the runway.  Mark Huffstutler looked at me while on the ground and asked if I would like to pull the ship into a hover.  Well, it did not take long to reveal my failure as a helicopter pilot.  However, I’m up for a second go.  Jet guys NEVER give helicopter pilots grief because 1) we can’t fly helicopters well, and 2) they might be picking us up in the water someday.

Today I was going down the line of Open and 20 Meter ships taking pictures of the pilots and contest ID’s.  We are trying to place the winner’s picture on the scoresheet for each class on Facebook and X.  Tomorrow I will get the 18 Meter pilots.  Thank you for everyone who let me take their picture.  I did have to smile when a female crew was passing food to their pilot.  It came from a large plastic bag, and I could not believe they fit all the food in the cockpit.  I’m sure the pilot could exist on this food delivery for a week in an emergency.  After the pilot motioned enough, I asked, “what no desert”.

Enough about the ground, let’s talk flying.  The 18 Meter Class had an Assigned Area Task that was 524km (325mi).  After the start they went east to Kennedy Regional, southwest to Silverhorn Ranch, west to Lewis Ranch and to the finish.  The key to this task was the first leg.  There was cu on the first leg, slightly better to the south side.  Unfortunately, the geometry that resulted in turning early in the first 30km radius area caused many pilots to be under time.  The extra 40km (24mi) flown in the first turn area was the difference from being in the top 5 or having a less than optimum day.  The top 5 pilots all made extra distance in this circle and avoided that error.   In the 18 Meter Class, third place went to Lumpy Paterson (Australian), second went to Sjaak Selen (Netherland) and Stefan Langer won convincingly with a speed of 151.97kph (94.45mph) over the 613.83km (381mi) task.  

Open Class had a 616km nominal Assigned Area Task.  After the start they went southeast to Uno, southwest to Callaghan, northwest to Queso, northeast to Canyon Ranch and then home.  The first leg was pretty good for the top pilots who started early.  It seemed all the legs were straightforward for the Open Class and the final glide was a little soft for some and nice for others.  One or two good climbs for the top 5 pilots made the day for them.  Tied for third place for the day was Felipe Levin (Germany) & Jim Lee (USA), Francois Jeremiasse (Netherlands) and winning the day was Michael Sommer (Germany) with a speed of 164.53kph (102mph) over a task of 667.93km (415mi).

The 20 Meter Class had a task that looked like a kid with a crayon drew it.  It was a 548km nominal Assigned Area Task that went east to Castro, west to Tularosa, northeast to Rust, west to Prade Ranch and south to the Finish.  The first and third legs were a little weak on this task.  The difference looked like how well you connected with the clouds in the stronger areas.  In third place for the day was Borgmann & Van Houweninge (Netherlands), Rubaj & Matkowski (Poland) was second and winning the day was the team of Lutz & Janowitsch (Austria) with a speed of 137.52kph (85mph) over the course of 565.6km (351mi).

The weather for the next couple of days looks a little stronger so we should have some great racing coming up.  Follow along on the live tracking software that you like.  Tomorrow we will highlight another site that crews have found useful.  Until then, goodnight and we will see you in the morning.

Cheers,

Rich Owen
Media Team

WGC 2024 Uvalde – Early Report – Day 2

At the meeting this morning, the French Team had a right to smile.  Of the 9 available slots on the podium (3 classes, top 3 per class), the French had 5 of them.  That is a very nice way to start the contest.  Congratulations! 

If you have not seen the interviews that Paul Remde is doing after the pilots meeting, you should watch them in the afternoon.  Listen in the words of the actual pilots who won the day.  You may learn something that will help your flying.

Just when the gliders were moved into position on the runway this afternoon, we went aloft in the helicopter to take photos.  Paul again did a great job to capture the whole look of the WGC here in Uvalde.  We will be using some of these pictures all during the event.  

Our launch crew again did a great job in getting everyone launched safely.  It looked like the self-launched gliders were also doing a better job of following directions to the proper drop off point.

Right now, the gliders are all on task and it appears the cloud bases down south have been between 5-6,000ft and up north over the hill country we have seen gliders up around 9,500ft.  Lift is greatly separated, down south we have seen climbs in 1kt lift and the north upwards of 8kts.  No one appears to be low or in danger of landing out.  Maybe I should stop there and not jinx it for them.  Until later today, have a wonderful day watching the action on puretrack.io. 

Cheers,

Rich Owen
Media Team

WGC 2024 Uvalde – The Late Report – Day 1

It seems we have been here forever but today is the first contest day of the Worlds.  To say there were a few pilots with nerves might be an understatement.  As a new person at a Worlds who isn’t in the competition, I was a little nervous for our Team.  You hope you have practiced all the right things, prepared your glider and trained your crew for the rigors of a long and arduous contest period.  Today, one pilot put on his chute and entered the cockpit only to realize that he had on his cooling vest.  Lucky thing is, good habit patterns were still in the back of his mind and he discovered the error before strapping in.  

The gliders were ready early this morning and placed on the runway/taxiway well before they needed to be.  The weighing team did a great job getting all the gliders across the scales in a timely manner.  Even my brother Paul came up from Houston to lend a hand.  

The pilot’s meeting was a little more serious as the safety brief was given by Mark Huffstutler.  Updates to the Self-Briefing documents were gone over and minor changes to procedures were covered.  John Godfrey covered airspace issues, and unfortunately one pilot made an error that may have cost him a major airspace penalty.  I’ve seen airspace issues in Europe flying with Delta Air Lines, but I thought flying a glider there would be very tough.  Our airspace is not as bad, but it only takes one misstep to cause a major problem. 

After the meeting, pilots went about their business making final preparations and talking strategy with Team Captains and teammates.  Crews were busy setting in the tasks and making final preparations for the glider.  Tow pilots and ground crews were mustered and set for the launch.  Soon as Rex Mayes started the launch, the magical dance of the ground crew was set in motion.  Pilots knew what to do and the launch crew executed their job to perfection.  Soon, all the classes were airborne.

The Open Class was the first ones on course today.  The big wing ships had a 528km (328mi) racing task that went southwest to Farias, northwest to El Diablo, east to Junction and then south returning home.  Talking with a few pilots, their impressions were the clouds were fairly honest.  It seemed they only had 40km (24miles) without clouds. The first half of the leg to El Diablo was a little tricky.  The second half of the leg was strong with 7kt climbs to cloud base.  The final glide was average.  When the score sheet came out, Francrois Jeremiasse (Netherlands) finished tied for second with Oscar Goudriaan (South Africa).  In first place was Sylvain Gerbaud (France) with a speed of 159.63kph (99.17mph).

The 18 Meter Class was the next to leave and their task was a 533km (331mi) racing task.  After the start, they headed east to Yancy, north to Lone Star, west to Canyon Ranch, south to Hughes and then east northeast to the finish.  The first leg was pretty strong and everyone seemed to be pushing hard.  The east/west leg across the hill country was a little stronger and higher than the rest of the legs.  One of the pilots went well west on the next leg and it worked out well.  The only problem on this leg was airspace that did cause one of the Open Class pilots some difficulty.  Another pilot missed this airspace by only 250 meters.  I’m sure their Team Captain was a little worried.  In the end, it was a clean sweep by the French Team.  In third place was JD Barrois, second place was Anne Ducarough and first place belonged to Christophe Abadie with a speed of 154.04kph (95.8mph).

Last to get on the course were the 20 Meter Multi Place pilots.  They had a 530km (329mi) nominal, Assigned Area Task.  After start they went north to Leaky, east to Cinco, south to Seven C’s Ranch and west to Taco and then north to finish.   The 20 Meter pilots I spoke with at dinner said the flight was really straight forward.  The legs were generally good with no wrinkles.  The speeds were getting higher as the flights progressed and many pilots maxed out the last two turn areas to get more distance.  In third place was Bouderlique & de Pechy (France) with Sarah Arnold and Karl Striediek (USA) in second.  Finishing in first place with a speed of 140.14kph (87mph) was Keith Essex & M Rossi (New Zealand).

The gliders are all bedded down for the night, and by now the pilots are fast asleep.  It was a good day to race, and the future holds much of the same in the coming days.  For those that had great flights, congratulations.  For those that had a more trying time, this is a long contest and everyone will have their bad legs ahead.  

I hope everyone enjoyed watching the flights using live tracking.  We have several links to watch on our platforms.  You should try puretrack.io.  It seems to provide the best experience.  Until tomorrow, fly safe.

Cheers,

Rich Owen
Media Team