Rest Day 1 (Steve)

No fly day today due to stink weather. The Open Class were actually tasked and launched but were all back on the ground within 20 mins.

For some great photos of the comp check out the below website link:

http://mm-foto.eu/2014/07/szybowcowe-mistrzostwa-swiata-leszno/

Went for lunch today in a local village called Smigiel 20km north of Leszno. Not sure what the translation is but a local shop made for an irresistible photo opportunity.

Tonight was International Night in the hangar. Every team had a table on which they provide a taste of their home country food and drink wise. It seems most European countries have a favourite food that requires a drink that is at least 50% alcohol to wash it down. Things got interesting when the drunken mob decided to lift Sebastian Kawa's glider above their heads to much cheering and flag waving.

The girls did a great a job of preparing a dessert that included slices of NZ kiwi fruit that they found in the local Tesco.

Except for John who was off fraternizing with the enemy we almost got a photo of the whole team. Tom Claffey from Australia however did a great job of standing in with an expert piece of photo bombing.

Day 4 - Geoff and Matt have arrived! (Steve)

Another weather forecast predicting afternoon thunderstorms so another short 2 hour AAT for 15m & 18m. To emphasize the weather the task setters set a "raining finish" which means the finish circle which is normally 3km was extended out to 10km, presumably to give more options for finishing and getting home. As it turned out their was rain about but nothing too dramatic for the final glides.

A better day for me and an OK day for Brett and John.

The 'raining finish'

After a cross Europe marathon Geoff and Matt have arrived. So to celebrate we all went out for dinner at the pretty little lakeside village of Osieczna where Nigel is staying.

The perfect after dinner treat - beer and icecream

Day 3 (Brett)

A tough day at the office today for the Kiwi camp. It started badly for Steve with him discovering his airspace file in his LX9000 was missing a step down in airspace which he unfortunately touched, losing him most of his points for the day before.
The weather man told of a high probability of thunderstorms and a short thermal day peaking between 1 and 3pm, setting the 18m class a short 2 hour AAT. The inference was clear - get going early and get home before the day dies or you get caught out. After launching everybody was playing start games in the haze at cloudbase. It was very busy in there so when 2pm passed I got going, aiming to the far side of the first circle with the intention of joing a gaggle as I exited the area. The cu's looked OK but most were just "water bags" and the thermals when you found them were bubbles - sometimes good lift for a few hundred feet, then gone. So I drove it into turf crossing a blue hole where the stepping stone cumulus were empty promises.
The rest of the class started 1 hour later in improving skies with no hint of thunderstorms and had a relatively easy, if slowish run.
I have never had such a warm greeting on landing out. It was way out in the sticks and I was something of a celebrity. There was a group of between 10 and 20 members of various local families following me about, their phones and cameras going overtime.

High tea at the Clampetts

It was made clear to me that the two girls on the outside required husbands ....

So an interesting, if disappointing day. We got to see a lot of Polish countryside on the 6 hour retrieve and Barbara, Nigel & I had a nice dinner in a quaint little restaurant in a town on the way back.

Day 3 (Steve)

A tricky one weather wise today. Am learning the weather does pretty much the opposite of what they say it is going to do in briefing. Yesterday, no mention of thunderstorms and the late starters get caught out by thunderstorms. Today they say thunderstorms in the afternoon with the thermal graph showing the day finishing early so a short 2:15 AAT is set for 15m and 2.00 for 18m. All this means don't start late or you risk getting caught at the end of the day. As it turns out, no thunderstorms and the day got better the latter it got so a good day for the late starters although there were still some large tricky blue patches out on task to negotiate. I almost got caught out by one of these patches where all the initial clouds just disappear as the day gets organised and had to track cross course and then climb up from low level to get back on track. This slowed my cross country speed and put me well down the field for the day. Unfortunately I heard Brett on the radio landing out so he will be in for a long and interesting retrieve no doubt. Barbara and Nigel have gone to get him. John had an OK day at 16th but has a long haul to get back up the points ladder after his not so good day yesterday.  We are all looking forward to things getting better from here on in!

First on the grid for me today beside the Americans

Day 2 -Where did all my points go! (Steve)

Woke up on Day 3 to discover most of my Day 2 points has disappeared overnight. Turns out I had crossed an airspace line that was not on my flight computer. Unfortunately the organizers as per the rules only provide an SUA file which is next to useless as most of the flight computers like LX don't read SUA, they only read CUB. So unless you are an IT whizz and know how to convert SUA to CUB you are reliant on borrowing a CUB file from somebody who has it, which is what many people do. Unfortunately it turns out that the CUB file I borrowed didn't have the one airspace line which I managed to briefly cross. Hey presto, scored as a land out after 75km on a 1,000 point day. Quite gutting really.

Day 2 (Brett)

Poor Kiwi sustained leading edge damage from rain & hail

The weather conditions as they relate to flying are quite different here than from home. Yesterday (Day 2) is a graphic example. The humidity was high (88%) and the surface temp 31 deg. Nothing too unusual there but typically in NZ we have a temperature inversion anywhere from 4 to 7000ft which would cause spread-out and cycling. Here the isotherm tends to be above 10,000ft so the cu's just keep going up until the thermal runs out of grunt or all the moisture has condensed.

The haze layer below requires your next climb to be identified before you are half way up your current climb

The other outcome is convective showers and thunderstorms later in the day. It can be a minefield dodging heavy showers, sometimes it isn't possible as a convergence line lies across your path and you just have to gain as much height as possible before punching through.

I found it difficult to establish a rhythm to my flying on day 2. I started OK but got overtaken after 100km by a gaggle who started 4 minutes after me, then had to penetrate rain and run to the back first circle to the back to reach thermals again. I had a low spot in a weak area which cost me time - but not as much as poor Couttsie who had a save from 700ft.

There was a huge CB developing over Leszno which we beat back but a few of the 15m class had to park up 30km from the finish until it was safe to land which cost them hundreds of points. One tried to punch in but got driven into the ground on his third attempt and sustained damage.

Day 2

A 3:15 AAT today for the 15m class and 3.00 for the 18m. A very hot day with no real mention of over-developemnts or thunderstorms but a large and rapidly developing storm over Leszno was the feature of the day that caught a few people out on the final run home. Unfortunately John got very low midway through the task and recovering from this slowed him right down.

The latest in grid fashion

We all only just had time time to get the gliders away before we had to take shelter container HQ while it absolutely bucketed down. The lightning was most spectacular.

Day 1 (Brett)

Well - it's actually 7am day 2 now. In Kingaroy Steve and I got into the habit of getting to the airfield around 6am to prep the gliders. The water pressure is good, there are no distractions and you beat the heat.
So I'm back for at the apartment for breakfast.

6am at the tie-down area

Yesterday I had a good run for the first two legs - I caught a gaggle of 20+ gliders at the first turnpoint and managed to get to the top by the second AAT area. From there things got a bit soft and a little after the last turn I only needed one more climb - in fact my computer said I was on a MC1 final glide with nothing to spare. In the haze I hadn't seen that the outflow from a CB near Leszno earlier had cut off thermal development and I never got another climb, so I trickled in at a very slow speed watching my task speed wind back from 128 to 123km/h. At least I made the airfield but it was character building.
John did exceptionally well for 2nd place and must rate well for a podium position.

Day 1 done

Pilots leaving the hangar post briefing ready to do battle

We're finally underway with Day 1 done and dusted. John showed his class and experience with a 2nd place first up signaling he will be a real contender, while Brett and myself were well done the pack as novices amongst the pros. Certainly looking forward to shaking off the novice status and getting some improved results!

The task today was a short 2.5hr AAT as the day was starting late and predicted to finish early with high cirrus moving in from the west and potential local over-developments. I went through the gate early, 15 minutes after it opened and missed flying with the gaggles when they started 20-25 minutes later, so I was out in front all day. I was first home on my first day at the worlds which was kind of cool (even if not good results wise) and John was second home a few minutes behind me so for a minute or two John and I were the only gliders back home on the field!

We finished the day with a nice BBQ dinner and few cooling beers in the shady spot behind our container. Looking forward to tomorrow now.

Showtime (Brett)

D-Day has dawned with blue skies and the promise of action on day 1.

6:30am day 1

In Kingaroy Steve and I developed the habit of getting to the airfield early to "beat the heat" and to have an uninterrupted run at prepping our gliders without distractions. We have found it works equally well in Leszno with the added bonus of having good water pressure for ballasting. Then back to the apartment for breakfast (& blog writing) before hitting the mayhem that is Leszno airfield.
I had a pretty good day yesterday - 126kph on a 2 hr AAT. John Coutts was happy with 131kph and the Australians seemed pleased with 122kph so I feel as ready as I can be.
So today is the culmination of 18 months preparation, (and support/sacrifice of family and work colleagues).
Bring it on.

Opening Ceremony Day (Steve)

The day started with the sounds of a horse whinnying, a dog barking and a Tui singing. Yip, you guessed it Nigel McPhee has arrived. An unofficial practice task was set today as we missed the last two days of official practice due to rain. It was just a short 2hr AAT as everybody had to be back in time for the opening ceremony in the town square. Did 304km at 114kph which I was happy enough with as the day was average compared to previous.

Team flags

The opening ceremony was a colourful affair with competitors and crew in their team colours waving their national flags, a band playing and the local marching girls carrying the team name.

Preparing to march into the town square

Entertainment

Icecreams after the event for two current and one ex-Auckland Gliding Club member

Rain Day 1

The contest must be getting close as the rain is setting in. It hadn't quite started raining first thing this morning though so I was able to quickly wipe the water off my glider before the rain got it really wet. I then amused myself with an attempt at the modern phenomena 'the selfie'. Harder to achieve than you first think!

It was then time to zip up the tents, close the container doors and head for home. Kiwi's starting to come out of the woodwork with Julian Elder, Nigel McPhee and Barbara Hunter arriving today.

July 25th (Brett)

It rained until about 3pm today so there was no flying at Leszno today. However today was notable for the arrival of Nigel McPhee and Barbara, my wife & crew.

Looking good after 46 hours of travel.

We also have some interesting towplanes here. I will have to leave it to the tuggies in NZ to identify them, suffice to say that some are a lot better than others.

This air ambulance goes like the clappers

The Wilga is a bit average

Looks like a Harvard rogered a Chipmunk. Haven't towed behind it yet.

Made by PZL and Steve calls it a small truck. Towing at over 65 knots reduces climb rate to a couple of knots. The short straw on the grid.

They tell us we will have 18 tugs tomorrow and the glider fleet has dropped to 130-something so the launch should be fast.

Official Practice, Day 3 (Steve)

Leszno Market Square

The airfield is turning from dust to mud (in the areas of much vehicle traffic anyway) as it has rained all day today. At least this means it will be easier to get the glider pickets into the ground as up until now it has been like concrete. So the morning was spent getting registration completed and the afternoon was some airfield relief for Lisa in the local Galeria shopping mall. Life's essentials, beer, food and clothes, are all cheap here (generally about 1/3 of what you would pay in NZ). A great example is our favourite beer, Tyskie. A four pack (4 x 0.5L cans, 5.5% alcohol) that you buy at the petrol station is 11 zloty, which equates to $1NZ per can!

The weather briefing said only a chance of flying in the afternoon tomorrow which will be the last chance to fly before the competition gets under way. My bug wipers don't work yet, so may be tomorrow I can get these going before the comp starts.

Saturday 6pm is the opening ceremony in the town market square. I'm looking forward to seeing what this will be all about.

Checking out the market square

July 24th (Brett)

It's raining lightly this morning and a cool 17 degrees. There is unlikely to be any flying today.
At best there is only one more official practice day and the contest organisation has yet to implement class gridding, glider weighing (they say they will weigh all 148 gliders each morning pre-gridding and I suspect they have only one set of scales), and start gate opening.
They have hosted a number of WGCs at this site in the past so we can only hope they come through.

Adam Cumberlege (Team Captain) has arrived and is now registering the team. Steve has had his glider insurance confirmed so will complete his registration this morning, so all our formalities will be complete today.
Barbara, my wife & crew is en route from NZ  (Malaysian Airlines(!)) and I will pick her up from Poznan tomorrow afternoon.

Skirting around a downburst on the last leg

Through the front and 22km to run with 1670ft excess height to finish. Only just made it.

Yah, Adams here!

After a horrendous start to his journey (5hrs sitting in the plane on the tarmac at Auckland Airport before it even took off then an unscheduled stop in Manila to find a relief crew because the pilots had exceeded their hours) Adam finally arrived. He even took a taxi for the last 120km just so he could make it to dinner with us in the market square!

Adam looking surprisingly chipper considering...

The task today was a short 2.5hr AAT due to the predicted arrival of an active convergence line. I managed a raw speed of 135km/hr over 311km but this was cut back in scoring to 125km/hr as I came in early by 12 minutes. Tomorrow is looking pretty dodgy weather wise.

John Coutts relaxing at dinner

July 23rd (Brett)

Today was extremely interesting on a number of fronts.
We arrived at briefing at 10am with cu's popping and gliders watered and ready to go. It turned out that contest management had decided that team captains would have a briefing at 9:45 and the pilot briefing would now start at 10:15 each day. Also all the task sheets are given to the team captains at this earlier meeting. Unfortunately our team captain doesn't arrive until tonight. We still do not have maps of the task area as that is in the information pack that management will only give when the captain registers the team. Nobodies fault but we must ensure the team captain arrives at the same time as the pilots in future.
The day looked excellent but there was a frontal systemt expected from the east mid afternoon so a 2.5 hour AAT was set.
The grid was still all classes mixed, and had 148 gliders on it. There were only 7 tow planes! I was about number 135 to be launched so if you do the maths I had to wait my my tug to do about 19 aerotows before it was my turn.
I finally got started a little before 2pm but it was always going to be too late. A blinding first leg downwind without turning and then life got a little more difficult on the second leg. I could not penetrate the second circle as the were no climbs to be had in the area by time I got there, and I turned for home early into the second circle with the prospect of an active front to negotiate to get home. I climbed to 1600ft over final glide altitude before penetrating the frontal system. Heavy rain & some hail and I came out the other side with 800ft surplus. However there was a classic CB behind it so I deviated to the leading edge and got through it with lots of excitement (thought the canopy might break with the rain/hail at 120 kts) which resulted a 2600ft surplus (MC 3) with some 30km to run. Leszno reported  a thunderstorm overhead with strong winds & rain and I needed all of that 2600ft surplus as I came in at a 19:1 glide and did not touch the airbrakes at all.
So I was slow but grateful to get home at all.
A Tyskie never tasted so good.

Official Practice Day 1

Things are getting serious now. Suddenly there are teams, gliders and tow planes everywhere. The flags have gone up on the flag poles and as the gardeners have been working dawn till dusk for the last week so the place is looking very spik and span.

Today's task was a 505km racing task for 15m and 526km for 18m and Open. Grid allocation by place and class has not started yet though, so gridding is organised chaos and its a case of launch and start when you want as start gate open times aren't happening yet. So some pilots are flying the task seriously and some are still just fooling around getting systems sorted and fine tuned. As Lisa is the only crew here at the moment she had the unenviable task of removing and retrieving wing walkers as we launch and as myself, Brett and then John all launched in quick succession she was kept on her toes.

Lisa driving the Team NZ VW Caravelle

22nd July (Brett)

First official practice day here at the WGC and it's a ripper weather-wise. Suddenly there are large amounts of sailplanes - the launch grid was 9 wide today.
Yesterday was spent replacing the lost bugwiper and sorting out the one on the other side. I'm happy to report that the system worked today and does a very good job of cleaning the leading edges.
I also moved from a hotel into an apartment.
I was back on the ground by mid-afternoon epoxying the hinges on one of the u/c doors. Steve is off doing the task though (all classes have different tasks now) so we await his return.
I'm looking forward to my crew chief joining me in a couple of days. The washing basket is full.

Last Day of Unofficial Practice (Steve)

Today was the last day of unofficial practice and as the weather was very average due to a thick, high overcast I decided to take a day off from flying and get glider scrutinizing and pilot registration out of the way. There were challenges with this as all my glider paperwork was in German so just finding the right documents to present was not easy. Unfortunately the insurance document turns out to have expired 10 days ago so I am having to try and chase down the owner for up to date documentation!

Brett and John also didn't fly. Brett worked on getting bug wipers and go faster wing tip skids fitted and  John worked on changing his conflicting comp ID from AG to AC before also presenting his glider for scrutinizing.

Modifications Aussie style

Other dramas were the French tried to steal our primo tie down box (right next to our container/office) while we were away as we had not registered it with the correct official. Big Simon from Australia (our tie down box neighbours) in true ANZAC spirit and style defended our spot valiantly with the application of a few choice words and gestures until we returned. Lisa was then able to apply just the right level of persuasion to the said official and our spot was once again secure.

Things are really starting to get busy now as more and more teams arrive and start to get set up. A contest of sorts has been going on in our container village with respect to who can put up the largest erection. Today the South Africans put that one to bed so to speak with an Iwo Jima style raising that put everyone else in their place. Us kiwis however do not even have a pole as we have no need to compensate.

I finished the day with a celebratory Tyskie beside my freshly scrutinized Jonkers JS2. I'm sure this will be the machine to beat in the 15m class.

Unofficial Practice Day 7 (but 4 for me) Steve

Leszno and the town square just a bit under the right wing

AAT task today. 295km to 640km. High cloud coming in from the West ahead of an occluded front and instability leading to potential over-development were the issues for the day. I managed 130kph on the first leg, then 115kph on the second but the third leg got tricky when I had to divert around a thunderstorm which slowed my overall speed to 101kph for 455km. Those that cut short of the storm were a lot faster but also most were under the 4hr AAT time. Practice is still unofficial though so nobody is taking much notice of times and are really concentrating on fine tuning their gliders and getting familiar with the area.

John Coutts turned up today, registered and flew so he is already ahead on the learning curve. Brett didn't fly today as he had his glider booked in for scrutinizing which all went good. It does mean he had time to go into town and buy a BBQ for the evening meal. Tyskie at the bar have gone up from 6 Zloty, to 7 Zloty and today were 10 Zloty! Just as well we have bought a fridge for our team container so we can buy them cheap at the local Tesco or service station.

Brett, John and Lisa testing out the new BBQ

Long wings in Leszno

3rd Unofficial Practice Day (Steve)

A racing task today of 550km. Unfortunately with only two tow planes operating due to practice still being unofficial those on the back of the grid were launched way to late to complete the distance in the available time. Those on the front of the grid got nice fast times (just over 130kph) but those further back had to cut the task short or risk being a long way from home at the end of the day. Brett did really well getting around the full 550km and I managed 440km. The Kiwi's, Aussies and Mak from Japan have teamed up and are sharing a common frequency. Matt Scutter from Australia and Mak gave a virtual running commentary on their flight with Matt calling out the thermal strengths of every thermal he took! After flying we all went into town and had a nice meal in the square followed by whiskey ice-creams, delicious!

Brett ready to launch

Steve ready to launch

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