WGC2014 – Rayskala, Finland
21 June
(Final practice day)
by John Good
Variety was the feature of today’s weather: we had sun,
rain, graupel, and even a few flakes of snow - on this the first official day
of summer. There were intervals that would have provided some decent soaring,
and a few gliders did in fact fly. But
the day before the start of competition is typically seen as a rest day by most
pilots, and so it was here.
We did get some serious weather luck for the opening
ceremonies, held outdoors at 7pm. Yes it
was cold (around 45 F) and a bit windy, but there was no rain, nor much in the
way of dark clouds. In fact, there was
even a little sun. This favorable
interlude allowed a really elegant “airshow”, consisting of a beautiful PIK-5
glider (made in Finland, in 1946) doing a winch launch and pattern, then
landing near the assembled competitors to deliver the FAI (international
aeronautic federation) flag, signifying the official start of our
competition. This vintage glider is
about as beautiful a wood-and-fabric aircraft as you’re likely to find anywhere
– someone has restored it to a standard of quality rarely seen. It was swarmed by pilots of the best modern
composite aircraft, and quite obviously impressed them all.
The opening ceremony was good – which is to say sufficiently
short that no one froze to death. Flags for all 25 nations represented here
were raised. We appreciated a comment
from a representative of the Finnish Air Sports federation, welcoming us to one
of the first-ever winter gliding competitions.
We then retired to the briefing hangar for a good meal. This facility is a bit small for 400+ people
(the announced total present tonight) but there was enough food for everyone
(very commendable), and that many bodies provided enough warmth for a decent
level of comfort.
The PIK-5 flight was sedate, but some serious aerobatics
took place several hours earlier. A
Turbo Arcus two-place glider was approaching for a landing when the pilots
decided to start the engine. This engine
start attempt didn’t work, but the two pilots persisted with it until the
option to land on their selected runway had gone by. They then did a frightening low-level
excursion of the airfield, scattering several pilots among the parked Club
Class gliders and convincing most onlookers that a crash was imminent. Yet they somehow managed not to cartwheel
their glider, nor take out any of the parked aircraft or trailers, and managed
to land on the grass and roll to the runway.
I missed last night’s bonfire, but apparently it was a big
success. It was held at the lakeshore
(the large lake to the northwest of the field, not the one to the east, south
or west). The festivities wound down
around 3am, and some number of folks here emerged in late morning looking as if
they weren’t too sorry today wouldn’t involve much flying. This view of midsummer’s day is apparently
standard around Finland – pretty much all stores are closed as the population
slowly recovers from the festivities.
For more views of the Bonfire Party please see Team ARC Blog
at:
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