Sunday, July 6, 2014

Competition Day 7: Team USA Club Class Pilots are First and Second for the Day!


WGC2014 – Räyskälä, Finland
5 July   (last day of this contest)
by John Good

 Today we received something pretty much everyone at WGC2014 would agree we’d earned: a truly first-rate thermal soaring day in Finland.  With warm temperatures, light winds, no rain, honest cumulus clouds, and good lift to altitudes that sometimes exceeded 6000’, this was the kind of day we all came here hoping to find.  About the worst that could be said it that the good soaring conditions were not uniformly spread across our task area – some sections were a bit short on cumulus clouds.

US Club Class pilots took advantage of the good conditions with impressive speeds that put them at the top of the score sheet: Sean Franke was first (at 96.8 kph) and Garret Willat was second (96.2 kph).

The champions are now determined.  In Club Class, steady flying put Eric Bernard of France on top, just ahead of teammate Killian Walbrou.  Give a large measure of credit to team captain Eric Napoleon, who for years has been able to take a stable of young, eager, talented pilots and turn them into champions.

Standard Class produced a surprise.  Many-time world champion Sebastian Kawa from Poland led this contest for several days, but fell into second on the next-to-last day.  He’s a formidable competitor when he needs to come from behind, and many here expected he’d be able to do this again.  But Bert Schmelzer of Belgium turned in an excellent flight that kept him ahead of Sebastian, and gave him the winner’s trophy.

20-Meter Multiplace class produced no surprise yesterday.  The “Jones Boys” (Steve and Howard) were close to perfect in this contest: they won every day but the last (on which they were second by just 6 points) putting them first overall by an improbable 871 points.  It shouldn’t really be possible to fly so well that pilots such as Antti Lehto (Finland’s ace) and Janusz Centka (Poland’s multi-time world champion) are contending only for second place.

I’ll note that I got to fly yesterday, on the best day Finland has seen in the past 6 weeks or so.  Jose Otero (crew for Phil Gaisford) and I were packed into a club ASK-21 on rather short notice.  The lift was excellent (7 kts to 6000’), the views of Finnish countryside (through characteristically clear Finnish air) were grand, and we had to use a lot of divebrake to be back on the ground ahead of the first finishers (as we’d promised).   While signing the logbook, I learned that this ASK-21 (which, as is typical of equipment in Finland, is kept in first-rate condition) is the veteran of 6500 hours in the air, over the course of 17,288 (!) flights.

We take leave of Räyskälä now, impressed with the site and the quality of the contest organization, and pleased that the weather “came right” at the end of the event. It’s worth noting that despite difficult weather, occasionally crowded skies and many outlandings, the worst damage seems to have been a gear-up landing at the home airfield.

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Competition Day 6 and July Fourth celebration


WGC2014 – Räyskälä, Finland
4 July   (next-to-last day of this contest)
by John Good

USA Fourth of July Slide in Daily Briefing (above)
 
Another good-weather day: warm (at least by Finland standards) and with plenty of sun.  Today’s tasks were long, but all pilots who started were able to get home - the first time that has happened.  And no pilot found any need to fly through, or even near, rain – another first for WGC2014.

To be fair, the conditions weren’t really as good as they looked (and were predicted to be), so speeds were well below what was confidently expected by those looking at the cumulus-filled skies of late afternoon.  Fortunately, the lift lasted late into the evening (as you might hope at latitude 61 north, in early July): the last contest landing was after 7pm (the pilot had been on task nearly 6 hours).

By that time, the US Team was hard at work grilling various meats and veggies for our celebration of Independence Day.  It was a fine feast, enjoyed by all.  One treat worth special mention was Finnish strawberries.  Finland’s strawberry plants seem to make up for a short growing season (and no doubt rather low yields of fruit) by packing remarkable taste into each berry.  Those who haven’t encountered one will surely be thinking the taste can’t be much different from fine strawberries elsewhere; those who have will think otherwise.

Friday, July 4, 2014

Competition Day 5: a beautiful windy flying day


WGC2014 – Räyskälä, Finland
3 July   (a flying day!)
by John Good

 
 
Quite a change this morning.  After another night of more or less steady rain we awoke to clearing skies, sun and temperatures that were almost pleasant (some short-sleeved shirts were in use!).  The forecast was not without issues: the sun was due to a rather narrow slot between two fronts, wind was predicted to be strong (20 kts) throughout the day, and by late afternoon high clouds and then some chance of rain and thunderstorms were likely.  But after four days of sitting on the ground, this felt like a huge improvement.
Tasks were certainly bold for the conditions.  All classes had long “Racing” tasks that require pilots to pass within half a kilometer of the assigned turnpoints.  This scheme is well suited to days with uniform good lift, but can be a problem if, for example, a rainstorm covers a turnpoint.  The alternative is an Area task: pilots must enter large cylinders (radius might be 20 or even 30km) centered on designated turnpoints; distance is measured to the most favorable point they reach within each area – they can thus avoid flying in areas of unsoarable weather (provided these do not blanket an entire turn cylinder).

 

There was some uncertainty as to what tasks would be used, and not long before launches were scheduled to start team captains were summoned to collect new task sheets.  The drill is that they are given the new sheets and required to sign a sheet acknowledging the new tasks – which then makes the captains responsible for informing their pilots.  In the midst of this a radio call to the CD asked whether the newly distributed tasks were to be considered in effect (something the signature sheet had clearly stated).  The CD’s response was very direct “Yes: always read what you are signing for” – which seems like sound advice well beyond the confines of a soaring contest.
 

The wind (more than 20 kts at flying altitudes) was a problem all day.  Tasks took all classes through a notoriously wet and weak area west of Räyskälä, where more than a few pilots ended their flights: fortunately, this area has some of the best fields for outlanding anywhere in our task area.  Those who managed to struggle through this area soon encountered the high cloud, overdevelopment and rain that had been predicted.  It was a struggle all day, speeds were low, and those who were able to stay in the air were rarely out of sight of those who weren’t: gliders littered the ground most of the way around the tasks.  But the varied and consistently difficult conditions produced enough lift to keep some gliders in the air until after 7pm, so even low speeds produced decent distances.



Against expectations, we actually had a few finishers: 7 in Club Class (the first to launch) and three in Standard class.  But it’s worth noting that under IGC rules, finishing on a day where most pilots don’t isn’t worth much: in Standard class, the finishers earned only a few more points than they would have received for flights that ended just short of the airfield.  Consider that on a good racing day with many finishers, the speed difference between first and third place would have produced a score difference around 230 points; yesterday, it was 13 points.
 



Another curious aspect to the rules here is that there is no control of start height – you may start at whatever height you are able to climb to.  This can give an advantage to early launchers who are able to explore for unusual lift.  And it apparently did yesterday – some pilots were able to find weak wave lift, which allowed them to climb upwind of cumulus clouds and start several thousand feet higher than others (a big advantage on a difficult upwind first task leg).  It’s a very puzzling thing that in the year 2014 – perhaps 75 years after the need for it became evident – the IGC has no acceptable and effective rule available to control start height.



 

 With only 10 finishers, the day involved many retrieves, mostly from wet fields.  I saw lots of trailers on the road, and plenty of mud being cleaned from landing gear in late evening.  But I’ve heard no reports of damage. 
 
 
Some pilots noted that when you get low you must carefully avoid large forested areas, even when these are on course and look as if they might produce lift: Clearings in these forests look from a distance like agricultural fields, but they are mostly clear-cut areas that would be close to hopeless for landing.
 

 

Our weathermen were sent to North Korea!


WGC2014 – Räyskälä, Finland
2 July   (another no-contest day)
by John Good

 
Our last two weathermen are in North Korea.
Hopefully they will learn they must please their audience!

Just a short report today – of yet another valiant but failed attempt at a soaring task.  We gridded all gliders, waited patiently, and actually saw enough narrow bands of sunlight to give us hope that the low clouds and rain showers might give way to something better.
But the low-pressure system just north of Räyskälä continued to swirl new moisture into our area, and rendered hopes forlorn – around 2:30 all tasks were canceled.  By evening, gaps between clouds were larger, occasional sun was seen, and we even enjoyed a brief bright rainbow – which we’d like to think is an omen of something better on the way.  We are running out of days at WGC2014 (just three remain) and we need to do more flying.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Racing karts when we can't race gliders.


WGC2014 – Räyskälä, Finland
1 July   (another no-contest day)
Edited from reports by John Good and Garret Willat

This morning offered another overcast sky, but no rain.  After 2 days with no possibility of flying, we were willing and indeed eager to spare no effort trying for a task today, so we dutifully assembled and gridded all gliders.  The forecast mentioned the possibility of clearing to the west by mid-afternoon, and indeed the clouds looked brighter and higher in that direction (the ones near the airfield were dark and looked to be at about 800’).  
 

 
But it was not to be.  There is plenty of good weather in Europe just now: satellite photos show fine conditions in Denmark and southern Sweden.  One Dutch pilot said a couple of his soaring friends at home had launched early on an attempt at a 1000-km flight.  Even Lapland (northern Finland) looks pretty good.  But southern Finland remains beset by grim weather, and by 1:30 all tasks were cancelled.
 
 

 
 
So what better way to unload some pent up energy then a go-cart track. After discussing with the Germans, Brits, Ozzies, and Romanians we gather 17 drivers on the track. Chaos, destruction, and a complete disregard for the rules ensue, and - to the surprise of no one who knows our nature - organized competition became quite serious.
The lap times improved on every trial, partially because we learned how to four wheel slide versus slamming into the 150 euro barricade. The second more important factor was the track was drying...
After qualifying runs, and three heats, the field is winnowed down to eight finalists - with Garret Willat and Bob Fletcher representing team USA in the Championship race.  It was a wild event, partially due to an unknown driver who rearranged the course by getting the barricade to explode on impact... That ended the races.... and Garret claimed a podium position - third!
 
 
 
The track workers, initially happy to entertain so many paying customers, apparently lost much of their enthusiasm for this crowd.  Many trackside barriers will have to be repositioned, and some kart dents repaired.  The general sense is that it might be unwise to return there soon wearing anything that could identify you as a glider pilot.

Monday, June 30, 2014

A look at the competing gliders...


WGC2014 – Räyskälä, Finland
30 June   (no-contest day)
by John Good

 Another rest/rain day.  An occluded front parked in southern Finland continues to bring in low cloud and light rain from the southwest.  Tomorrow is said to offer hope of flyable weather, but today has none and flying was cancelled early.

It’s time for a look at the gliders competing here.  The Club class is intended to provide competition for single-place aircraft found in the hangars of glider clubs throughout Europe.  That tends to mean gliders that were being produced 20 to 40 years ago.  This class is handicapped based on glider performance, and there seems to be some preference for gliders at the lower-performance end of the handicap range (on the basis that if you can stay with a competitor flying a higher-performance glider, your handicap yields a better score).

It’s interesting to note the considerable overlap between gliders of the Club class of 2014 and the Standard class of 1976: Cirrus, Libelle, LS-1, Std Jantar and Hornet are models found in both competitions.  A big difference is the large number of PIK-20s found in 1976 – none is competing here (in the home country of this model).  The reasons aren’t entirely clear, though the fact that this is an “orphan” model is no doubt important: the factory is out of business and spares are somewhere between hard and impossible to get. So you can buy one cheaply, but maintaining it may be formidable.

In 2014, the Standard class (which basically means 15-meter span, no flaps) is dominated by just two models: Discus 2 and LS-8 (both of which designs are around 20 years old).  Very few new gliders for this class have been sold in recent years, and it appears that no glider factory has plans for a new model. Indeed, there is considerable feeling that the class may be withering away (despite good participation here).  Glider manufacturers are devoting their single-seat attention to the 18-Meter class, where sales seem brisk despite rather shockingly high prices.

The 20-Meter Multiplace class is new – indeed, this is the first world championship for this class. Its presence here can be attributed to the huge success of Schempp-Hirth’s DuoDiscus, a 20-meter 2-seater of which more than 600 have been sold.  In view of this model’s popularity, it was fairly easy to convince the IGC (international gliding commission) that a world championship for this class would make sense and attract many entries.  But if you look at the scoresheet, you find it’s dominated by the Arcus, which can be thought of as an improved DuoDiscus (with flaps, and a substantially higher price tag). There was discussion of applying handicaps to this class, which could have made the many Duos competitive; but t

The only truly new glider here is ”32”:  Schleicher’s  ASG-32, a  flapped competitor to the Arcus.  This is the first one produced, and it’s notable that the Schleicher factory was able to have it ready in time for this contest.  It was produced with a motor, but (like some of the motorized Arcus here) this was removed in order to meet the maximum weight requirement (750 kg / 1658 lbs).  The ’32 looks very well made (as indeed Schleicher gliders always do) and sports an interesting retractable/steerable tailwheel.  The early view seems to be that it climbs and glides about like an Arcus.

A further item from The Groundloop (WGC1976 contest bulletin):  On the third day of that contest a plane “landed through the foggy” to deliver a distinguished guest at Räyskälä: it was William Conrad, a well-known actor prominent at the time for his role in the TV series Cannon.  The story notes that he had recently taken up gliding but was an experienced pilot, having flown fighters (including the P-51) during WW2, while based in the “Illusion Islands” (presumably a chain of islands that appears to be – but in fact is not – southwest of Alaska).

(I did some research on William Conrad and discovered that he did the narration for the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon series. And it occurred to me that “Illusion Islands” is just the sort of thing the writers of that show would have used.)

Memories from the 1976 World Championships in Finland


WGC2014 – Räyskälä, Finland
29 June   (no-contest day)
by John Good

It was too much to hope that our first-rate weather of yesterday would persist.  It hasn’t, and today’s forecast calls for low clouds and steady rain, probably lasting well into tomorrow.  Without the smallest change of soarable weather, today’s flying was cancelled at the morning pilot briefing. 

The day wasn’t without a welcome dose of aviation, however.  At about 9:30 the roar of round engines was heard, and out of the grim sky appeared a DC-3, which landed, taxied in and parked.  Glider pilots may act unimpressed when contemplating a sleek modern composite sailplane with a glide ratio of 60 to 1.  But land a 70-year-old rivet-encrusted aluminum ship with a glide ratio around 7 to 1, and they will rush to inspect it, oblivious of light rain.  

This example is owned by an aviation club near Helsinki; they apparently use it for weekend jaunts and are on the lookout for excuses to fly - a gliding competition is just the sort of event worth a visit.  This DC-3 is in top condition – perhaps a bit short of museum perfection, but about as nice a flying example as could be found anywhere. Unfortunately, the rules of the club allow only members to fly in it, and one-day memberships are not allowed.  If not for this, I expect they could have made some decent money hauling 20 or so soaring pilots on 15-minute rides.   

I’ve been given an interesting (and obviously rare) book to read: it’s a bound collection of all the daily bulletins published at Räyskälä's last World Gliding Contest, held in 1976.  Back in those ancient pre-Internet days, it took a lot more effort to put out stories about the goings-on at a big soaring contest.  It was normal for contest organizers to assemble a group of volunteers tasked with creating a sort of daily newspaper for the contest.  At WGC1976, this was done properly: a staff of seven worked hard every day to generate and type up stories, and take, develop and print photos. All this was then laid out and run to a print shop about an hour away, printed at night, and copies hauled back to the airfield for (free) distribution the next morning, under the saucy name “The Groundloop”. 

Thirty-eight years later, it makes interesting reading.  The two competition classes were Open (with 39 entries) and Standard (46 entries).  Open Class entrants favored the ASW-17 and the Nimbus 2, with a smattering of Jantars and one highly-tuned Glasflugel 604. The most popular ship in the Standard class was Finland’s own PIK-20.  Others included the Cirrus, Jantar Standard, LS-1f, Hornet, Astir CS, and DG-100. 

US pilots were Ross Briegleb, a young Tommy Beltz, Dick Johnson and Dick Butler (owner of that ‘604 and the only pilot among those 85 entrants still competing at the World level – he’ll be flying at the contest in Poland in just a couple of weeks).  Listing all the notable pilots’ names would be difficult (there are many world champions), but included are soaring legends like Klaus Holighaus, Ingo Renner, and Helmut Reichmann.  One 1976 Standard Class competitor has a unique connection to the 2014 contest: Ralph Jones is the father of Steve and Howard, who have a tight grip on first place in the 20-Meter class.   

The bulletins make it clear that closed airspace simply wasn’t an issue in 1976.  A total of 32 turnpoints allowed good use of southern Finland (the 2014 turnpoint list has 327 (!) entries – though at the rate we’re going 32 would have been enough to meet our needs). Score sheets were obviously produced by computer: each one says “Results computed by Wang System 2200”.  Weather was an issue: one article mentions that “it is the coldest June in Finland for 100 years.”  Plus ça change

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Competition Day 4 and International Night


WGC2014 – Räyskälä, Finland
28 June   (Fourth actual competition day)
by John Good

 
This morning’s sky was again beautifully clear, and this time the day delivered something close to what these attractive morning conditions promised.  The result was the best racing day yet, with excellent speeds and only a little rain to dodge.

The tasks were the longest yet, though just a bit short for weather this good.  The Competition Director noted that the initial idea was for a “grand tour” task that circumnavigated the large controlled airspace area surrounding the city of Tampere, located about 50 miles north of here.  (Why a city of 150,000 needs an area of closed airspace worthy of Philadelphia is a bit of a mystery.)

Such a task would have been about 500 km, and probably within the capabilities of the 20-Meter and Standard class gliders.  But the forecast for some chance of rain led to a decision for shorter tasks that stayed closer to home.  The winners in those two classes completed their 350-km tasks in a bit under 3 hours, which causes the winning score to be reduced below 1000 points – a trifle disappointing for what could prove to be the best day of the contest.  But enough pilots dodged enough rain showers late in the day to limit the grumbling about undercalled tasks.

The improvement in weather has encouraged Finland’s insects: all gliders returned today with a good number of them smashed on the leading edges of wings.  It may soon be time to carry those troublesome bugwipers.  On the ground, mosquito repellent is starting to come out of storage and into use (a bright side to our cold weather has been the suppression of what can be a major nuisance at this time of year).


The evening’s big social event was International Night: all teams are encouraged to serve food and drink typical of their country.  This was a huge success here at Räyskälä – hundreds of people attended (but there was plenty for all); no one left hungry, and few 100% sober.  The US Team served grilled hot dogs on buns, with all the trimmings (they were seriously popular).  Team Australia offered wine and also Vegemite, a yeast extract that is spread on bread or crackers.  This has the appearance, consistency and some say, the flavor of road tar, but I happen to love it.

 Team Brazil whipped up a dangerous concoction known as caipirinha, which includes limes, sugar and cachaça (sugar cane distilled into fire water).  And if you plan on operating machinery or even walking a straight line, be careful when a smiling Janusz Centka (several time world gliding champion from Poland) offers you a small quantity of clear liquid.  At WGC2010 it was some variant of Slivovitz; here it was vodka. 

 

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Morning preparations...













Competition Day 3


WGC2014 – Räyskälä, Finland
27 June   (Third actual competition day)
by John Good
 

This morning offered the most promising sky we’ve yet seen: nearly clear (which in Finland means crystal clear), with some high clouds receding to the southeast.  It looked as if it could be the start of a classic soaring day (a species rather rare in Finland this year). 
 

 
 

But it didn’t really work out that way.  By launch time cumulus clouds filled the sky and several were towering to heights that portended problems.  All pilots found some good (occasionally excellent) lift, but all had to pick their way around rain showers, wet areas, and spreadout cloud.  A memorable radio transmission from Garret Willat to Sean Franke illustrates some of the complexities of flying in these conditions: “Maybe we should try to stay above the freezing level, so we can fly in snow rather than rain” (the point being that dry snow readily slides off wings and thus doesn’t degrade glide performance as much as rain).


Some very good speeds were recorded, especially in Standard class.  This apparently involved running a shelf of cloud close to a line of towering cumulus clouds.  Such a shelf can offer terrific lift, but also severe gusts, lightning and possibly dangerous hail. Today, it worked well for those whose timing allowed them to find it in the right state of development.   


The more conservative approach was to detour away from the approaching rain.  This was the strategy employed by the Finnish pilots, who tend to be very savvy about the vagaries of Räyskälä weather (some of them are professional meteorologists).  The US Team followed their lead, but it didn’t prove to be the right way to bet today.  Three of our pilots got home, though not with impressive speeds.  Phil Gaisford wasn’t able to climb away from 1200’ in rain, and landed in a good field.  Heinz and Karen flew through extensive rain and eventually had to use the “iron thermal” (their glider’s sustainer engine) to get home.

Continuing the theme of things that are different in Finland, I’ll mention towropes.  In the US these are typically polypropylene of 3/8” or 5/16” diameter, generally held to have a breaking strength around 1200 lbs.  Here at Räyskälä, the material is the same, but the diameter is around an inch, yielding a rope that would serve to moor a fair-sized cruise ship – I’d be surprised if the strength when new is less than 15,000 lbs.  (A mechanical weak link at both ends protects towplane and glider in case of problems.)  A towrope like this weighs a good 20 pounds or so, which yields an evident “sag” in level flight.  

The Finnish language is a major curiosity for visitors.  It has an interesting and not unpleasant sound, but bears no detectable relationship to any other language.  (Linguists are said to discern similarities with Hungarian, but native speakers of these two languages apparently don’t see any.)  For most visitors, this makes problems: Finnish words have nothing in common with any word you can recognize – indeed, if you find any connection at all, it’s probably because the word is one that Finnish has borrowed from another language (e.g. “kahvi” is that drink you enjoy with breakfast).

An example of the possible confusion came during a broadcast of one of the World Cup games: early in the second half the Finnish announcers were frequently heard to refer to “Ooksi Ooksi” which sounded as if it might be the name of one of the players (later on, his brother “Cocksi Ooksi” was apparently on the field).  But no – this was the score: Ooksi was actualy “yksi” (one) and Cocksi was “kaksi” (two).  (The first five numbers are: yksi, kaksi, kolme, nelja, viisi.)

To be fair, Finnish pronunciation is regular and reasonably familiar – an English-speaking visitor can say place names without much embarrassment after only a little practice (try that in Polish – or better yet, don’t, if you wish to avoid confusing both Poles and English speakers).  A helpful rule is that the accent invariably goes on the first syllable.  The sounds don’t precisely match, as we guessed from a sign on a Rayskala water tap that said “Do not trink”.

Smoking seems to be tolerably common but declining in popularity.  Just a few years ago rules changed such that smoking is no longer allowed in restaurants and public buildings – so the sight of smokers huddled outdoors is as commonplace as in the US.  Finland smokers unfortunately seem to share the view of those elsewhere, that “the world is my ashtray”: cigarette butts are a common form of litter in a country that is otherwise notably spic and span. I haven’t checked the price of cigarettes, but I expect it is quite high: Finland is not shy about taxing what are perceived as vices (the cost of beer here is evidence of this).

Thursday, June 26, 2014

We are racing!


WGC2014 – Rayskala, Finland
26 June   (Second actual competition day)
by John Good

 
 

Our patience has been rewarded with weather that allowed a couple of days with genuine soaring tasks. 

 
 
 
 It would have been far too much to expect that the flying be trouble-free, and it certainly hasn’t.  Finland’s “summer without a summer” continues.  We’ve had much cloud and low temperatures – pilots have had to pay a lot of attention to the problem of finding lift under a solid overcast, and sometimes in rain.
 

Yesterday’s tasks went well for three US pilots, and not so well for three others.  The unfortunate ones were Bob Fletcher (who encountered little but rain after his start and landed only about 25 km out), and Heinz and Karin (who made several relaunches and thus got out on the task far too late to complete it). Phil Gaisford got around a troubled Standard Class task.  Sean Franke had an excellent flight and finished second in Club class; Garret Willat had the best distance among the non-finishers, which earns a respectable score on a day when many pilots don’t get home.

Garret’s outlanding was in a good field that he’d scouted (on the ground) during the practice period.  This “homework” allowed him to press on into an area that otherwise offers very unattractive landing options (of which the best is a lake).

Today’s weather was just a bit better.  There was still plenty of cloud  and rain showers to dodge, but lift – often under near-solid cloud layers – was consistent enough to get most pilots around their tasks.  Sean and Garret had decent flights (at 90 and 88 kph).  Sean’s 13th place for the day, puts him in second place overall, just one point out of first.

Most pilots in Standard Class delayed their start for quite some time, in view of trouble evident at their first turn area to the south.  When they did finally set out, It seemed that the chances of many complete tasks was small.  But the class generally stuck together, found the lift they needed, and mostly got home, Bob and Phil included.  Bob finished 13th – a big improvement over yesterday.  But Phil got very bad news: in a pre-start thermal he’d made a short excursion into closed airspace, and thus receives no points for the day.

 
Beyond the nature of Finland’s summer weather, some differences are notable here: You’ll look long and hard for a pickup truck. When Finns wish to move stuff around, they use utility trailers (which explains why a high percentage of vehicles have tow hitches - and not just those found at glider contests).  In deference to the climate, these trailers often have large molded plastic covers.  This very practical approach is no doubt in part a response to gas that’s currently costing us $8.50 / gal – an amount that would make a vehicle with the mileage of a pickup an extreme indulgence.

Supermarkets always provide useful points of comparison between countries.  Take mustard, for example: in Finland, this is commonly sold in large toothpaste-like tubes, which actually work well for spreading mustard on bread or meat.  As with most food items here, the variety is impressive.  Unlike some, mustard containers typically include some useful hints in English as to the nature of the contents.  I bought some labeled “Prepared mustard strong” and have not been disappointed.

At all markets it seems you’re expected to bring your own bags (or pay for the ones you need) and to bag your own purchases.  Carts are reasonably small, and typically have 4 fully castering wheels.  If you select produce, you should weigh and label it before you arrive at the checkout.  Most items are expensive by our standards – to pay the same price here in Euros (at $1.36 each) as you do in dollars at home means the item is fairly cheap.  Quality seems uniformly high.

A final point concerns car models, which in Finland are similar but not identical to what’s found in the US.  Ever run across a Nissan Qashqai?  I saw a couple of these small SUVs today.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

We take-off on Day 1

 
 Phil Gaisford - Discus 2b

Bob Fletcher - ASW-28

Heinz Weissenbuehler and Karin Schlosser - Arcus T

Garret Willat - Hornet
 
Sean Franke - Cirrus
 
Preliminary results are available here:
 
 

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Gorgeous skies only 100km south of Räyskälä!


Please enjoy these pictures from our day trip to Helsinki:






 



We grid and wash the gliders...


WGC2014 – Rayskala, Finland
24 June   (Third scheduled competition day)
by John Good

Rules for today’s report preclude any adverse comments relating to Finland weather.  So I can mention that we gridded all gliders today and made a valiant attempt to fly, but that no actual motorless aviation resulted.  The reason for this is left to the imagination of the reader...

 
I believe these rules do not enjoin me from taking up such subjects as the relative effectiveness of cloth towels vs. plastic squeegees in removing moisture from smooth composite aerodynamic surfaces.  As it happens, we collected considerable data on this today, and (based on today’s and previous experiments) I’m definitely in the squeegee camp.  Note that quality squeegees are more common than is generally supposed: nearly all motor vehicles have two, in the form of windshield wipers.

I can mention that we had about the warmest weather yet seen at Räyskälä – high temperature was around 60F.  And we are told that this trend may continue.

It’s been noted that I’m behind on reports of bird sightings.  Räyskälä hasn’t yet produced much notable news on this front, though we regularly see a pair of Eurasian Cranes in a field near our eastern lake.  Other common sightings are Wagtails, Hooded Crows, and Cuckoos.  An Osprey was seen flying over the gridded gliders today.

At 10pm, another significant dose of the Precipitation that Must Not be Mentioned is falling, so I’ll end this short report in hopes of being able to report something better tomorrow.