Thanks to reader Gary Childers for alerting us to this fascinating video of NINE (!) Blaniks on tow behind a single tow plane.
Videos
[Video] Kebnekaise Wave Soaring Camp 1967
by Bill Elliott •
For over 50 years glider pilots from all over Europe have gathered in northern Sweden on the ice runway of Paittasjärvi lake, close to Kiruna city and the highest mountain in Sweden, Kebnekaise. Kiruna soaring club (http://www.sfk-kiruna.se/) have organized this event since 1961.
This movie is digitized from old 8mm films from 1967.
[Video] Wave Soaring North of the Arctic Circle
by Bill Elliott •
Every year since 1962 glider pilots from all around have gathered at the Lake Paittasjärvi near Kebnekaise in the Swedish Lapland at Easter for two weeks of ultimate wave soaring. The place is know for good waves from all wind directions except east and easterly wind is very rear during the spring time.
[Video] A Gliding Day Dream
by Bill Elliott •
Thanks to reader Skyler for tipping us off to this dreamy video taken at the 2012 Cowley Gliding Camp in Alberta, Canada by Doran Clark and Don Hammond of Rocket Productions. Gliders come from vast distances to participate in this summer event.
[Videos] WGC 2012 Prize-Giving and Closing Ceremonies
by Bill Elliott •
The 32nd World Gliding Championship has come and gone. For thirteen days, the best soaring pilots in the world enjoyed all-out racing in the unique and fabulous soaring conditions of West Texas. Uvalde offered up its best weather to the best pilots, but on Sunday, August 19th, the sky just couldn’t hold back anymore, and the rains finally came.
Interview with South Africa’s Oscar Goudriaan (OG)
by Rand Baldwin •
After the WGC 2012 closing ceremonies in Uvalde on Sunday, I interviewed Oscar Goudriaan of Team South Africa, who earned a spot on the podium for placing third in the open class. Oscar and his brother Laurens have represented South Africa in world gliding championship for decades and are obviously among the world’s very best glider pilots. It was a privilege to meet Oscar and to get his impressions of the brand new 21 meter JS1C from Jonker Sailplanes that he flew to third place in the open class. The JS1C is one of a new breed of open class gliders that reverses the decades-long trend in the open of incremental improvements and increasing span.
[Video] Day 11 15-18 Meter Grid
by Bill Elliott •
On Thursday, the 15 and 18 meter pilots, crews, and tow pilots were plagued with frequent dust clouds while waiting to launch. In the video, you can see the blowing dust and crews valiantly trying to keep wings and canopies clean before launch.
1991 Uvalde WGC Photos
by Bill Elliott •
We thank Markus Gayda for these photos that he took at the 1991 World Gliding Championships in Uvalde. We also thank Frederic Morel for pointing us to a nine-minute video of the 1991 event. We’ve posted the video in the photo/video gallery section in the upper left corner of the Café home page, but you can also click here to view it.
[Video] Uvalde – The Big White Tent
by Rand Baldwin •
The WGC 2012 organizers erected a large white tent on the Uvalde airport for visitors to relax, buy food and drink, and observe the ground activity. There are also two large screens for spectators to monitor the progress of pilots equipped with trackers and to check scores at day’s end. Here’s a video tour:
[Video] Aerobatic Glider Training in The Netherlands
by Bill Elliott •
During the weekend of July 21-22 I attended an aerobatic training course at the Dutch national soaring center in Terlet.
Aerobatic instructors Sape Miedema and Erik Houtman were teaching five trainees (also flight instructors) the basics of aerobatics on a ASK-21 and MDM-FOX. All trainees made 6 flights. Here’s a video of one of those training flights.
