Author Archives: Arturas K.

Notes o insider. Part four.

August 4 Report

Another hot day, but more hazy than blue. The forecast maximum temperature is 35degC. The Task is another triangular Racing Task. The Task Setter learned his lesson from the day before lengthened the course to 316 km, surely long enough to require 3 hours. He was right about this, but just barely. Vladas Motuza wins again with a time-on-course of 3h05, good for 1000 points. Second place went to Stefano Ghiorzo, and third place to Morgan Sandercock of Australia in the colourful SparrowHawk R.

At the end of three days, Stefano Ghiorzo is leading in the total results, followed by Vladas Motuza and Morgan Sandercock. The current leader in the Team Cup competition is Italy.

Notes o insider. Part three.

August 3 Report

The second day was a bit hotter, with a small chance of cumulus, in the south. The Task was a 252 km triangle Racing Task, with both Turn Points in Poland. The flight of Vladas Motuza of Lithuania in the Mini LAK was the fastest of all three classes: 104 kph. This outstanding performance surprised everyone, including the Task Setter! Because of the short time on course, the day was devalued to 766 points. The next two places went to Stefano Ghiorzo (Italy) and Antoine Havet (France).

Notes o insider. Part two.

August 2 Report

The Briefing room was full for the first time on the morning of Day 1. Director of the Competition Vytautas Sabeckis welcomed the pilots from all three classes in English, which was a change for the pilots of the Lithuanian Club Class Nationals.

The weather was forecast to be mostly clear, with a few clouds in the south. The Task was a 318 km Racing Task of four legs, taking the competitors south across the Polish border, then north to a point near the Kaunas prohibited airspace.

The forecast was accurate, and the only cumulus clouds that appeared were just south of the Turn Point in Poland, and thus of no use. The result was a convincing win by Stefano Ghiorzo of Italy (VS), at 79 kph. The winning speeds in the other classes were not much higher. Stefano was followed by the two American pilots, Francois Pin (LB) and Tony Condon (JEN).

Notes of insider. Part one.

Here we begin to post some information of insider. We hope you will enjoy it. Continuations will follow :-)
Pre-contest Report

The first World Championship in the 13.5 Metre Class will be held in Pociunai, Lithuania at the beginning of August. The competition has been combined with the Lithuanian Club/Mixed Class Nationals which also serves as the practice event for next year’s World Gliding Championships in the Club, Standard and 20 Metre Multiseat Classes.

The enthusiasm for these new glider types is high, despite the fact that the number of gliders ready in time for this event turned out to be only 12. There are 7 Alisport Silents (from Italy), 2 AC/AS gliders from Aviastroitel (Russia), the Mini LAK from the factory across the street, the Windward Performance Sparrowhawk R (USA), and the new “Versvs,” whose name is more difficult to pronounce than “Diana,” from which it was derived. The Versvs is manufactured in Poland. Only the Silents have motors (6 electric, 1 petrol).

The airfield at Pociunai is in perfect condition, and the Organisers have worked hard to prepare for the contest. With six Wilgas, we look forward to setting a new record for time-to-launch the entire class.

On the three training days tasks were set, but the conditions did not support cross-country flying. An occluded front controlled the weather for all three days, and it dissipated finally late on the third day, just in time for the Opening Ceremony.

Pociunai is a small village, and the airfield serves the town of Prienai (pop. 11353). The Opening Ceremony was held in the town square and featured speeches from the Mayor, the Director of Sport, and the Chairman of the Lithuanian Aero Club. After the speeches, we enjoyed a variety of musical performances.

Fifth day

Although weather is very hot (more than 30 degrees on the ground), all classes were launched and start lines opened. 13.5 m class fly 362.4 km task, Club class: 350.9 km task, Mix class: 388.0 km task

Airspace file update

The airspace file has been updated and uploaded to “soaringspot” and competition sites. There were two minor changes:
– possibility to change Vilnius TMA D sector to height 2286m. (7500ft),
– corrected color scheme for Winpilot users.