--ekru ylla@ami.fi
It was a long day here on the ground yesterday. For the first time a few of us had time for a little relaxation, with the pilots away so long. After my siesta it was quite a surprise at 6:00PMthat no gliders were home. There was a long quiet wait and eventually the big ships arrived in their splendour, streaming over the finish line.Then there was another wait and finally two little standard class and one lonely 15 meter class arrived. As time went on, trailers lined up waiting for information and it seemed it was going to be a quiet rock night in Lift and Sink.
Groundloop seems to have sorted out most its bugs. Occasionally we have a small hiccup with photo copying but we hope you can bear with us. Thankyou so much to all those who are contributing and to those who haven't, don't be shy, we enjoy hearing from you.
It happened on Saturday. The perfect record of ideal tasks got a hit. The weather did not believe our commands. We had two different tasks in the task sheet plus one on the table ready to be printed, if necessary. The biggest risk of the day was a front from the West. It was not clear whether it would kill the thermals in the West too early or not. Just before the launches I pushed the task setters to stay in the A tasks. It was a mistake. The blue conditions were no problem but a cloud area from the North spoiled the tasks of the smaller classes in Padasjoki-Kuohijoki area. The open class took full advantage obigger wings and performance. Almost every glider of the class finished the very demanding flight. Standard class saw two finishers and 15-meter class only one.
The goal was not to have 70 outlandings in one day. The goal is to get all gliders flying home.
On Friday, there was an incident during take-offs which could have been disastrous. Two spectators managed to stray onto the active strip during launch and at that very moment the marshals lost radio contact. One of the Marshals (Jysky)resorted to shouting at the top of his lungs, which managed to catch their attention and avoid further incident. He shouted literally with all his might and this morning had no voice at all. I hope the spectators were at least able to realise Jysky had saved them from a real danger.
by Dutch Team
I don't know what it is with the French. They love the good things in life. I myself can't help looking at them with some envy, every afternoon when they're eating they always have outstanding lunches. I admire them for that. Then they all wear those beautiful outfits, as if they had just walked out of a fashion magazine. The French must be a happy crew but then something happened this week that make me wonder about them.
It was one of those nights after the match. The ladies of the Dutch crew and one of our two Finnish goddesses gathered together in the sauna. The men sat together elsewhere, talked about their flights and drank a beer or two. All of them, except for the French. The French ladies were probably preparing another outstanding meal, and the French men... they invented a new kind of game:
All of a sudden the peace in the sauna was disrupted. A little French boy about 10 years old, dressed in rubber boots, jeans and body-warmer ran into the sauna. Jumped with two or three large steps on the top bench, and sat there staring at his boots for at least ten minutes. The naked ladies around him tried their best French to find out what he wanted. But he never took his eyes of his boots or spoke a word. As the Dutch ladies got out for a refreshing dive in the lake, he suddenly ran out of the sauna and back to the French men again, leaving nothing but some footprints of his slightly melting rubber boots. The French men waved at the Dutch ladies and hopefully paid the little hero enough to buy a new pair of boots.
We wonder what `Marianne' thinks of this game. `Marianne' is the dream lady whose beautiful body is painted on Tango Papa. A close look is recommended: On the wings and on the nose of the glider `Marianne' is wearing a pretty little bikini. On the tail however, she shows you everything you always wanted to see but never dared to paint on your own glider.
We asked Michel Leclerq and his crew about `Marianne'. Somebody said:" It's the woman I'd like to meet." Somebody else: "She's there to distract the bugs (so they fly to the tail instead of crashing on the wings)" And maybe they want to make us believe that they fly so fast that the wind has torn Marianne's bikini away. The French like nice things, and they like them hot.
If you can tell me the real story about `Marianne', or what they were looking for in the sauna, or any other hot gossipy story, let us know......Because I truly believe that when it comes down to it, we ALL like it hot.
"Which task did I sign for, A or B?" Maybe we could pass a few blank cheques under his nose at the same time he's in the mood for signing papers.
We would also like to extend a warm welcome to Biggo Berger, Schempp Hirth's representative now on site in Räyskälä and wish him an enjoyable visit.
Some pilots were lucky and were able to gain height before departure. On the other hand the head wind was stronger in high altitude, therefore the advantage was not that enormous for those pilots.
Today the weather provided also hard conditions for the pilots. The wind was weak but thermals were dry. Somewhat surprisingly medium clouds moving from the north also made the situation exciting. In the afternoon I was happy when I observed on the screen in Lift and Sink that the flight was proceeding well. The tasks were pretty long and it surely demanded a lot of work from the pilots to fly back home. When writing this we are not aware if somebody will get home at all.
The future seems very favourable. The next coming two or three days will be sunny and warm except for Sunday morning. In the middle of the week a low pressure area will probably pass Finland causing the loss of one or two days.
An idea how to look good in grid. Team captain Bob from UK.
Only two gliders from big gaggle just crossing the finishline.
One way to keep wing down as easy as possible.
European Gliding Championships 1996 on soaring.guenther-eichhorn.com
Dr. Günther Eichhorn Travel Website
Soaring website