I arrived at the Silverton field just before 07h00. There was a slight breeze coming from the East, but I consulted Johan and he confirmed that the wind will be coming from the North for most of the day… and he was spot on. Thank you Johan for all your help with the sound system, timing clips, field setup etc! The conditions were perfect and the sound of the fish eagle completed the setting.
Martie served bacon, eggs and buns on time, but the pilots briefing and first round still started a little later than planned.Nigel Wilkinson and John Monk failed to convince anybody that they should re-enter the challenge as Greenhorns, so the two “grey horns” flew in the X-League. Once we started with the first round, everything went as planned with Axel managing the sound system and also entering the scores after each round. Thank you very much Axel, also for helping to pack up afterwards!!
Each slot was filled with thermals with a few spots of sink here and there. The 8 minute working time for a 6 minute flight added to the relaxed and informal atmosphere and gave everybody a chance to launch at their own time.
Some of the gliders that I saw were Fling, Spirit, Gentle Lady, Sagitta, own design and a lot of Tsotsis. Craig flew a V-tail Tsotsi and calls it a "Tsetsi"-fly (we think…).
Martie served bacon, eggs and buns on time, but the pilots briefing and first round still started a little later than planned.Nigel Wilkinson and John Monk failed to convince anybody that they should re-enter the challenge as Greenhorns, so the two “grey horns” flew in the X-League. Once we started with the first round, everything went as planned with Axel managing the sound system and also entering the scores after each round. Thank you very much Axel, also for helping to pack up afterwards!!Each slot was filled with thermals with a few spots of sink here and there. The 8 minute working time for a 6 minute flight added to the relaxed and informal atmosphere and gave everybody a chance to launch at their own time.Some of the gliders that I saw were Fling, Spirit, Gentle Lady, Sagitta, own design and a lot of Tsotsis. Craig flew a V-tail Tsotsi and calls it a "Tsetsi"-fly (we think…). The day didn’t go without a few incidents… Zak had an excellent, 6 minute flight in his first round, but damaged his plane on the landing and had to pull out for the remainder of the day. Tony Phillips had an interesting first landing with his 2m Fling, but Johan came to the rescue with a plane saving catch. The CG was way back, but after some weight to the nose, each flight and landing got better and better. Justin had some difficulties with the launching of his plane, which eventually had a “hard landing” on one of the winch attempts. Gordon’s Fling was on finals, coming in to land, when it disappeared behind the dam wall. I believe that he found it and I know that he will be back for the next challenge! In one of the rounds Stewart’s and Jochen’s gliders got tangled in the air not very high up. After a few seconds they unhooked again and made safe landings without any major damage.
It was amazing to see how the Greenhorns and Juniors improved round on round and it was the perfect day to get any newbie hooked on gliding! This day proved that the 2M class remains the cheapest and easiest way to enter competitive flying in a fun way!The X-league results were very close with only 1 point between 1st and 2nd place.
Thank you very much for everyone that came! It was great to see you all there and I am sure that we will be more at the next challenge. The next challenge is on the 28th of March at ETB.
Congratulations to the winners!! Below are all the results and some more photos. Make sure to be at the next one!!!
Rudi King,
2M National Co-ordinator
