Travel from US to France
The Team assembled in Dover Delaware on the afternoon of June 14th in the
Passenger Terminal at Dover Air Force Base. On the flight line in front of
the passenger terminal were at least 22 Lockheed C-5A or C-5B aircraft,
which was an impressive sight to say the least. The U.S. Team had received
word two months earlier that the U.S. Air Force would sponsor our Team by
providing OCONUS airlift (Outside COntinental US) for Team members and
Sailplanes. The Air Force operates at least 2 heavy transports a day from
Dover to Ramstein and we were spaceblocked (guaranteed seating) on a flight
leaving at 2330 hours that evening. We had delivered 4 gliders to Dover the
week earlier, which were already waiting for us in Germany. (Ron Tabery
would take delivery of a new ASW-22 from Schleicher and Eric Mozer had sent
his ASH-25 over for modification prior to our learning that the Air Force
support was approved.)

On schedule we were transported out to our awaiting C-5A and loaded onto the
passenger deck. This portion of the C-5A has 73 seats all facing aft
situated above the cargo deck and aft of the wing. The passenger compartment
has no windows, no insulation and ugly stewards. After finding our seats the
loadmaster (steward) passed around earplugs, which gave us some indication
of how the next 7 hours would be. We all had high hopes that the Team might
get to visit the flight deck or play a game of soccer on the cargo deck but
these delusions were not to come true. In spite of our neat U.S. Team
uniforms and VIP status the loadmaster was not interested in treating us any
differently than soldiers. Despite this the Air Force connection served us
well in that not only did we save a significant amount of money but our
pilots were all able to fly their own ships.

We arrived in Ramstein Germany early Sunday morning, picked up our Opel
wagon tow cars, gathered the sailplanes and started the 8-hour drive to
France. By noon of the next day the Team was at the Gap-Talliard airport
assembling gliders for an orientation flight that afternoon.

Unofficial Practice Period - June 14 to June 21
We had decided early in the process to gather a week before the official
practice period at a site away from St. Auban for practice and
acclimatization. Gap-Talliard airport is about 50 KM north of the WGC site
and was a good choice. Bill Malpas (a British citizen who has lived in
France for more than 20 years and had extensive experience in the task area)
was asked to be on our Team as the Local Knowledge expert. Between he and
George Moffat the Team pilots were able to get in 5 solid days of practice
in the northern part of the task area which would prove to be the most
challenging. Under the guidance of George Moffat and Bill Malpas the Team
pilots built up valuable experience in the task area in a short period of time.

In addition to their own ships, Bill Malpas would spend a day with each
pilot in the Gap-Talliard club Janus working on mountain flying and specific
areas that only years of flying in the French Alps would teach a pilot. All
agreed that this session was most productive and help the Team in the coming
weeks.

Kerry and I went directly to the contest site and focused on registration of
the Team and preparation for their arrival. Each evening we would travel to
Gap collecting information the organization needed in order to smooth the
documentation process. On their arrival, all pilots were fully registered
and able to immediately focus on flying.

Official Practice Period - June 23 to June 28

The WGC-97 organization had scheduled the week prior to the Championships as
the official practice period. In addition to this being practice for the
competitors it was a necessary practice period for the organization. In the
end it turned out that only the first three days of the practice period were
flyable which further accented the importance of our training period the
week before in Gap. Task flying was unstructured and some of our pilot would
fly the task and others did not. Those that did placed well in their class
which not only boosted moral within our Team but set the stage with the rest
of the Teams that we would be a significant force in the Championships.

Sunday the 23rd our 4 Air Force Academy personnel showed up on site after an
arduous trek from Colorado Springs. After a day of rest we quickly oriented
them on the US Team and coming activities and assigned them duties. It did
not take long for the cadets to become an integral element of our Team with
specific and necessary responsibilities.

Part of the preparations was a technical inspection of the gliders including
weighing and measuring of the wingspan for the Standard and 15-Meter
Classes. The wingspan was measured by a very sophisticated laser measuring
system accurate to 1/1000th of a meter. More than 50% of the aircraft
measured initially came in over 15.000 meters. On our Team only Bill Bartell
was over the 15-meter limit and by 5 centimeters when equipped with his new
Masak tips. The organizers after considerable debate decided that a penalty
of 1 point per contest day per centimeter would be imposed on those
exceeding the limitation. As this penalty was more than we could accept we
resubmitted Bill's glider for measurement with the factory tips. In order to
achieve the minimum wingspan we took the glider in the early morning while
the air was coolest and supported the wing with wingstands for a period of
time to hopefully achieve a "set" which favored us. The first measurement
came in a 15.008 meters, which was above the acceptable tolerance of 7 mm.
We pushed on the winglet for a few minutes and quickly re-measured and this
time came in 1 mm under the threshold. Therefore Bill would fly without
penalty. It should be noted that both Gerhard Waibel and Tilo Holighaus were
on site bending, sawing, heating and sanding on tips to get compliant. What
a mess!

Another controversial subject was the organization's enforcement of the
40-cm height of contest numbers on the vertical fin. Again, a large
percentage of the airplanes did not comply and crews were busy adding tape
and markings to increase the height. Ron Tabery, who had just taken delivery
of a new glider from the factory, was a full 10-cm short. Not having an easy
way to increase his contest number "SS" by 10 cm he came upon the idea of
adding a vertical 40 cm bar on each "S" making them dollar signs. The
organization bought this change and now Ron is flying dollar dollar "$$".
(As Ron was unable to get US "N" number registration on his glider for the
contest it was marked with German registration. We thought it funny that Ron
was flying a German registered ship with the contest number "SS". Changing
the CN to "$$" made the Germans happy.)

Additionally, all gliders had to have bright orange anticollision marking
applied to the wings at the tip (two 30 cm stripes for the Standard and 15
Meter Classes and three for the Open Class). Suprisingly, the competitors
accepted this without much complaint.

The end of the practice week was capped off with a "No Host Bar-B-Que" in
front of our Team hut which was a huge success. We invited all the friendly
Teams (not France) and asked them to bring meat and a bottle of wine. We
were able to round up two Bar-B-Que pits (one had come back from Uvalde in
1991 with the French Team) and supplied the fire, music, and a big welcome.
By midnight we had consumed 32 bottles of France's finest and lots of meat.
We were reacquainted with old friends and made some new ones as well.

Opening Ceremonies - June 29

The day of the Opening Ceremonies was a banner day for the US Team. We
assembled in front of our Team hut in the International Village in full
regalia for pictures by Chuck O'Mahoney our US Team Public Relations
Officer. The uniform of the day was blue pants, white long sleeve US Team
button down shirt, USA Flag necktie and Team Jackets. The pilots, George
Moffat and myself had a leather bomber jacket with name tags and the US flag
embroidered on the back. These were a big, big hit with not only our Team
but the rest of the competitors as well. The organization had scheduled a
full day of activities beginning with a parade of Soaring National Teams
followed by speeches and an airshow.

The parade was organized in alphabetical order with the host Team at the
end. Therefore the USA came at the end of the line just before the French.
As we paraded into the reviewing area a big reception greeted our Team
indicating to us that we were the most favorites even amongst the French
citizenry. Just in front of the reviewing stands we had orchestrated and
practiced a routine using our US Flag umbrellas whereby on cadence we all
raised the umbrellas, unfurled and twirled them in front of the dignitaries.
This literally brought down the house.

As we all stood in a semicircle listening to all the dignitaries say their
part, one of our Air Force Cadets, Brian Burke, got in front of the crowd
and started the "wave". As each speaker would finish his presentation, Brian
would jump out and start another "wave'. In addition to breaking up the
monotony of standing for better than an hour it was hilarious.

By the end of the opening ceremonies it was cleared to all Soaring Teams,
the Organization and the visitors as well that the US Team looked the
sharpest, had the most fun and would be a dominate force in the Competition.

Contest Day 1 û Task Day 1
The first day of competition dawned with our Team ready to fly. All gliders
were tuned for competition and the pilots well trained and rested. All three
classes gridded and were assigned tasks at the 10:30 briefing. By 2 p.m. it
was obvious that the weather would not hold for all classes to get in a task
and the 15-Meter and Open Class tasks were cancelled leaving the Standard
Class to fly a short 212 km task.  

Doug Jacobs and Jae Walker team flew the task and were separated on the next
to last leg in weak lift. Doug made it home posting a 6th place finish and
Jae landed just 8 km short on the final glide. The last leg was covered in
light rain by the time Jae turned the final turnpoint and the necessary lift
to get him home was not there. It was a classic case of 15 minutes making
the difference between a winning finish and a land-out.

While Jae was less than happy with the landout the Team was pleased with his
performance. The scoring system of the World Championships and the devalued
day would not cost Jae a lot of points. 

Each evening the organization operates a Bar and Social Area in a hangar on
the field which has met with limited success. Beer costs 10 francs per glass
(about $2) which can stifle even the driest mouth and there generally is no
live music. The format for our Team in the practice week and the first day
of competition is to patronize a local restaurant or pizzeria. Without a
doubt the food in the Provence region of  Southern France is spectacular and
fairly reasonable. We have found the best buy here to be local wine which is
available in a liter bottle for the same price as a 6 ounce glass of beer at
the Hangar bar.

Contest Day 2 û Task Day 1A
This day will see all three classes fly a task which was called at the
pilots meeting. Each day the organization becomes better and better and we
now have a high quality weather briefing in English. The proposal is for
good flying and tasks in the 275KM to 350KM range. The launch takes place on
time and our competition routine begins once again. The daily format is for
the pilots to gather at 9:45 a.m. at the Team hut for a debrief of the
previous day and any new information we learned in the last 12 hours. Then
we are off to the Competition briefing at 10:30 a.m. followed by another
U.S. Team pilots meeting after that in which we discuss the task to come.
Moffat and Malpas go over each task with the pilots and discuss the
individual ridges and cols (passes) that comprise the task. While the pilots
are in their meeting John Seaborn (our Crew Boss) conducts a crew meeting on
the grid to discuss issues relating to the crews. After launch, Malpas and
Moffat travel to the top of the Lure ( a mountain top 1 hour away which
provides both visual and radio coverage of the task area) and establish a
link between the pilots and our base at the airport.

Day 2 saw "DJ" take 1st for the day and 1st overall, "JW" placed 6th moving
him up in the overall standings, "SS" came in 4th with "1" placing 6th, "P7"
taking 6th and "OF" in 11th. In the case of the 15-Meter and Open Class
their daily place was also their cumulative. All pilots reported having a
good day with classic mountain racing. After the days scores came up the US
Team stood proud with "DJ" in first overall in the Standard Class and our
other pilots still very much in serious contention for a Championship.

Contest Day 3
The weather briefing called for a very short window of opportunity under 8
octres of sky (totally overcast) with mountain wave conditions generated
from an uncharacteristic southeasterly wind aloft. Even the vetern French
pilots were nervous about the task as they had no experience with wave
formed with this wind. 

We gridded as instructed and anxiously awaited the launch time of 12:45 p.m.
As we sat on the grid we could see a classic wave form to the west off of
the Lure with rotor cloud underneath. All pilots were trying to determine
how to fly the complete task using only this wave as it was the only piece
of lift in all of France it seemed. Just prior to launch the organization
saw the risk in putting 92 sailplanes into stable air and called the task
off for all three classes. A deep sigh of relief could be heard from all
pilots and crews.

It should be said that landouts in the South of France are feared from a
pilots standpoint because there are few decent fields to choose from and the
chance of damaging a glider is high. Just after arriving on site ahead of
the rest of the Team, Ron Tabery had outlanded and done damage to his ship.
Fortunately he was able to find able assistance and repair the glider just
in the nick of time. The crews also dread the thought of an outlanding
because of the time required to get to most of the sites in the contest
area. By US standards the road structure in France is poor. Only do the
autoroutes compare favorable and provide rapid transport but they end just
25KM north of St. Auban. The balance of the road structure here is narrow
and slow to navigate.

With the task called off too late to do anything else we did the American
thing and had another Bar-B-Que. By now the other teams are beginning to
envy our own personal Bar-B-Que pit and the tantalizing aromas that emanate
from it each night.

Contest Day 4
The weather continues to deteriorate and the organization called the day off
at 8:30 a.m. before we had gone to a lot of trouble and while we still had
time to do something constructive from a tourists standpoint. Our Team had
been working hard ever since arriving and a day off to look around was
welcomed by everyone.

The bulk of the Team organized an excursion to the Grand Canyon Verdon û
FranceÆs equivalent of the Royal Gorge û for a day of hiking, sightseeing
and kayaking. I ended up in Moustiere with my family and some guests from
the States. Kerry shopped while we climbed the mountain to a monastery on
top. There we found 22 large snails that may become escargot for the French
Team at our next Bar-B-Que.

Tomorrow night the US Team will sponsor a party on the airport in
celebration of the 4th of July. We have ordered 300 hamburgers, french
fries, and brownies from the only McDonalds within 100 miles and will serve
them to the Teams with Coca-Cola and red, white and blue PopsicleÆs. You
would have thought we were passing out Filet Mignon and Champagne from the
response we are getting. The entry requirement is that everyone must wear
something patriotic to the USA. We expect to have a grand time.

Contest Day 5 û Task Day 3
July 4th dawned with bright clear skies offering a lot of optimism that we
would fly. Even though lounging around in the South of France is not a bad
way to spend time we were all getting restless to fly and put points on the
board. By 10 a.m. the clouds rolled in and our hopes for a big day started
to diminish. The Meteo man at the 10:30 briefing told the group that we
would have a short window of opportunity to fly between waves of clouds. The
weather presentation is quite impressive now with full color satellite
loops, soundings, time lapse forecasts and upper level winds and takes up
the bulk of our briefing. Everyone is very interested in the weather in the
task area as this is probably the factor that separates the French from the
rest of the competitors. A thorough understanding of the weather is most
important in determining what ridges will work, where the wave will form and
how the valley breezes will develop. TodayÆs forecast calls for
southwesterly winds and predominately thermal lift and a strong chance of
over-development in the afternoon. On the advice of the Meteo, Michael
Fache, the Competition director cancels the task for the Standard Class and
calls another briefing at 12:30 to provide a task for the Open and 15-Meter
Classes.

At 12:30 the Meteo man briefs us on the latest weather which changes the
forecast little. Still a small window of flying predicted and the group was
released to the grid with tasks forthcoming. On the flightline the Open
Class is given a 187 km quadrilateral to the south and the 15-Meter Class
about the same only 17 km shorter. As launch time approached the weather was
looking pretty good with active cumulus in all quadrants. As time progressed
conditions did as well and the Standard Class became increasing disappointed
that they were not allowed to fly as well. Due to the conservative forecast
by the Meteo all competitors elected to start as soon as the task was open
and the cloud formations looked right. As it turned out the weather
continued to improve rather than deteriorate and the tasks ended up way too
short. The winner in each task came in significantly under the 3 hour
minimum devaluing the Open Class to 369 points and 246 points maximum. After
all were down we were wishing for a longer task or a later start. The
Standard Class was really looking blue for not getting to fly. In the end SS
posted a 4th place finish and "1" came in 7th. In the 15-Meter Class "P7"
brought home 5th and "OF" 11th. The point spreads in all classes was still
very tight between 1st and 10th place. After our performance this day the
U.S. rose to 1st in the World Cup Competition with a total of 1049 points
against the French with 1041 points.

Now it was time for the US Team Party in the hangar on the field. We started
the festivities at 7:30 p.m. with the Stewards scrutineering the field of
paper airplanes which was easily 100 strong. They took their job very
seriously with postage scales, metric rulers and a wingspan measuring
device. The French brought in their entry at the last minute which was a
huge cardboard ""paper" sailplane with a turkey head on the front end and
very colorful decorations all over. At 8 p.m. the McDonalds hamburgers
arrived and within 13 minutes we had passed out 500 quarter-pounders,
American hot dogs, fries, and brownies, many liters of Coca-cola and beer.
Our Team was serving the masses and was totally over-run. It was like
driving into Ethiopia with a meal wagon and ringing the bell.

After the meal was served we began the paper sailplane flyoff. First the
Juniors all stood on the stage and did a mass pitch into the air. It was
really cute to see 30 kids all hoping theirs went the furthest. Next was the
Standard Class (must have been built with a single sheet of A4 paper) and
finally the Open Class where the French flew their giant. The French entry
did remarkably well and brought down the house when they heaved it. Our
entry in the Open Class by John Good was a strange looking ship û a long
stick with cylinders of paper on each end. Unfortunately, JohnÆs flight was
disqualified by Hannes Linke because he mistakenly thought it had flown
through restricted airspace (outside the hangar) when in fact it had not.
Without a doubt this was the best entry from an aerodynamic standpoint and
left all the OSTIV delegates debating the physics of such an aircraft.

The party continued with great excitement until the witching hour of
midnight and left everyone talking about "The US Team Party". The Air Force
cadets took turns playing "Disc Jockey" spinning American tunes while the
guests danced. We all felt the party a huge success and one by which all
other Team parties would be judged.

Contest Day 6 û Task Day 3
The weather was on the improve and everybody was ready for a challenging
task to hopefully open up the scoreboard. The Meteo man at the 10:30 meeting
told us to expect wave formation from northwesterly winds. Just after the
meeting we could see signs of a Foehn gap and wave formation getting
everyone excited but nervous as well. The Standard, 15-Meter and Open Class
were given revised tasks on the grid totaling 301, 343, and 381 kilometers
length respectively.

Just after launch all pilots reported contacting the wave at the Lure û a
mountain ridge just west of the airport û and climbing in 5 to 10 knots
through 15,000 feet. The start point for the Standard Class was just below
the wave which required a dive to the start observation zone maximum
altitude of 3500 meters then back up into the wave before heading out on
course. "SS" was able to fly the 381 kilometers with just 3 climbs and
posting a speed of 108 kph for a 12th place finish. A british pilot, Robin
May, smoked everyone with a speed of 124 kph, more than 7 kph faster than
the next competitor. "1" finished in 14th at 98 kph.

Both the Standard and 15-Meter classes posted elapsed times of less than 3
hours devaluing the day again. These two classes had yet to fly a task worth
1000 points. "JW" and "DJ" ended 11th and 23rd respectfully with "OF" and
"P7" coming in 14th and 25th. 

Contest Day 7 û Task Day 4
The competition organization was anxious to get in a task of sufficient
length and time to be representative of a World Championship. The Met guys
were predicting this to be the first day with good weather with the Southern
France Mistral affecting the area. This is a weather pattern which brings in
northwesterly winds aloft and sets up good valley breezes that make the
ridges work well. The tasks were all shortened by 20 K due to the skies not
developing as quickly as expected. All ships were launched into blue skies
and had a little difficulty getting up initially. "P7" got a good climb
early and took a start a full hour before his Teammate "OF". Opens and
Standards started together but "DJ" and "JW" got off fairly late. 

All pilots reported broken and turbulent lift with no wave. All classes
would fly the day at or below ridge level in very rough air. Everyone saw
monster sink and only weak climbs and as a result the time in the cockpit
was quite long. "1" reported squeaking over a pass in the high ground
traversing east to west and seeing other open class ships come up short and
have to deviate way to the south increasing their leg distance two-fold.
Late in the day the Durance valley south of St. Auban went totally clear of
clouds and pilots trying to get to their steering turns for the final glide
began having trouble. First of our Team in the area was "P7" who had started
very early. He left the Lure abeam of St. Auban at below ridge height and
and headed for his last turn at Vinon û 40 km south in the Durance Valley.
He got in their low after not finding lift and was unable to get away.
Shortly thereafter "OF" came overhead and low as well. After struggling for
some time over Vinon he was able to get away and make it to within 6 miles
of the field before "running out of wind" and landing out. Soon thereafter
the field where Bill landed became a popular spot and attracted a large
number of gliders including "DJ". "JW" held on until the official gate
closed at 2118 hrs whereupon he had to land in order to achieve maximum
points. It is incredible to me that the lift is still working after 9 p.m.
in the valleys and we have to land because of a predetermined time. After
the day was over we would find our team still in good shape in spite of 4
landouts. The rules for World Competition do not penelize as heavily
landouts as you find in the US Nationals or Regionals. In the Standard Class
"DJ" and "JW" posted 20th and 34th place finishes and 10th and 24th place
overall, "OF" and "P7" showing 12th and 26th for the day and 9th and 14th
cumulative in the 15-Meter Class, and "SS" and "1" claiming 5th and 12th for
the day and 4th and 12th overall in the Open Class. Even though our guys
were not at the top of the score sheet each day consistency would ultimately
rule and keeps us in the running for the top positions. After this day of
competition the US would find itself in 4th place in the World Cup
Competition behind France, Netherlands and Great Britain. We think we will
be moving up soon.

This night  in the Hangar Aniel on the field the German Team sponsored a
party featuring German beer, sauerkraut and spatzle along with German music
and a presentation on the upcoming World Championship for 1999 in Beyreuth
Germany. For 10 francs the Germans would "loan" you a very nice German beer
glass stein full of beer. The idea was that the 10 francs would encourage
you to return the stein after the party was over but based on what I saw the
Germans took home very few steins. The US Team is all sporting German beer
steins as souvenirs of the Championships. Fun was hard by all but the German
Team party was still short of excitement when compared to the US Party.

Contest Day 8 û Task Day 5
The weather continues to improve and the tasks grow longer. The wind is
still to be from the North today with a slight chance that valley winds will
develop bringing typical weather for the area. The forecast is another day
of chopped up thermals and turbulent ridge lift and slim chance for workable
wave. The tasks called at the 10:30 meeting was 472 kilometer zigzag for the
Open class, a 402 kilometer quadrilateral for the 15 Meter class and a 388
kilometer butterfly course for the standards. Taking a lesson from the
previous day the task setters pulled the steering turns in closer to the
airport hopefully avoiding the dead air to the south.

The launch was started at 1315 hours and proceeds with precision utilizing
18 Robin, Ralleye and Cap towplanes. Due to restricted areas over the
factory to the east, the public areas to the west and the city to the north
the towplanes make a sharp left turn after liftoff at an altitude of under
200 feet. I can only imagine in a gusty wind of 20 knots this must be quite
exciting. 

The Opens were to go first and on the grid "SS" had a problem with his
datalogger. The box started blinking and the screen showed that the internal
security had been broken. Kent Hardin, RonÆs crew chief, ran the box back to
Team headquarters where John Good jumped into the telephone booth with his
laptop, woke up a Cambridge technician at his home in the States, and did a
3000 mile repair. It reminded me a little of Clark Kent doing his
transformation to Superman. In this case John was truly the Superman of our
Team by fixing the GPS logger and getting it back in RonÆs ship just 4
minutes before launch.

Tasks were again of the zigzag or butterfly configuration like before with
the Standards to go to Die and back for 388 kilometers, the 15-Meters
knocking off 402 kilometers and the Opens going 472.9 kilometers. "1" got
into trouble on the second leg and entered 10 to 12 knot sink and were
literally forced into the ground landing on a 500 meter long grass strip at
a town near their second turnpoint of Die. A simple aerotow home and they
were safe back at headquarters but both disappointed with their performance
and shocked at how quickly you can go from euphoria to disaster in the Alps. 

At our tiedowns each afternoon we have a tailgate party where all crews and
pilots gather during the finishes. Crew boss John Seaborn pulls out his
folding French picnic table and sets it with all sorts of yummies like
fromage (cheese), meats, cookies, wine and beer. There we watch the
finishers, try to calculate preliminary speeds, welcome our pilot heroÆs
home and enjoy a little French cuisine. This has become the highlight of our
day and a great time for us to wind down and socialize. Today "SS" posts a
10th place finish but still solidly in 5th overall, in the Standard class
"DJ" is 10th for the day and 5th overall, "JW" 15th and 19th, and in the
15-Meter class "OF" is 15th and 8th while "P7" is 12th for the day and 13th
overall. I cannot tell you how proud we all are of our U.S. Team Pilots
performance against the French and Germans who have substantially more
experience in the Alps. We are not in first place yet on the score sheets
but when analyzed on a performance versus Alps experience scale we are
blowing them away.

After all the racing and contest excitement the last 14 days our Team
decided to disperse for a quite evening alone and an early night in bed.
Through the course of our time in St Auban we had visited a number of neat
little French restaurants and sampled everything from pizza to pigs feet
(Pied de Paquet). As it turned out this evening quite by accident the entire
group ended up at a little eatery in Les Mees called the Affa Mees looking
upon the petones all lit up at night. We totally overwhelmed the proprietors
and spilled out onto the veranda. We had a grand time and totally blew our
objective of a quite early evening.

Contest Day 9 û Task Day 6
Moffat calls this "Hump Day" û the middle of the contest and the beginning
of the most crucial phase. Pilots have flown hard for the last 3 days
straight and 5 days in total and are beginning to get fatigued. With 5 more
days of flying it is important that our guys get rest and conserve their
energy. History shows that the last third of the contest generally sees more
technical errors made by pilots due to fatigue and stress and to some degree
it becomes a contest of who can make the fewest errors. Our objective is to
do just that û come home each day with minimum errors.

The weather today is to be better than the last and the tasks get
increasingly longer. The Opens are given a 453 kilometer course to a
turnpoint around the northeast corner of France over northwestern Italy. We
have been warned that an outlanding in the Bardoneccia valley of Italy is
not only dangerous because of the lack of landable fields but could pose
problems on a retrieve with customs. The 15-Meter class receives a 428
kilometer triangle and the Standards are tasked to a 395 kilometer task
predominately north of St Auban. This proves to be a banner day for "SS" as
he takes the checkered flag at 124.7 kph. "1" does not have as good a day
and lands up by the northern turnpoint close to the Italian border. They
worked this bowl for 2.5 hours with a number of other Open Class ships
trying to get just enough to escape over a pass to the south. The French
Open Class pilot, Gilbert Gerbaud, takes the risk we talked about that
morning going into Italy and squeaks home for a 12th place finish. We all
agree that Eric makes the right decision by landing and taking a tow home.

"DJ" and "JW" are flying well and holding their own on the scoresheet. It
seems that each day someone ranked higher than our pilots makes a mistake
which moves us up the classment. If we can hold on long enough we will win
be default. I donÆt say this meaning that our pilots cannot win on their own
but that in the Southern Alps where some pilots have considerable experience
û namely the French û our Team are the underdogs. Today we do this in both
the 15-Meter and Standard Classes.

Tonight is the Kiwi party. The blokes from down under shipped up 800 racks
of lamb which when divided into lamb chops yielded 8000 chops. In addition
they airfreight in tons of apples, kiwifruit and Steinlager beer. The crowd
descended on this pile of consumables and quickly decimated it like they did
our stash on USA night. For entertainment they asked each Team to put forth
a amateur performance of some type. After considerable debate it was decided
that John Good and "Crazy" Bob Leve, our Team Psychologist, would sing
"Charlie and the MTA" with guitar accompaniment. While I thought they were
quite good the judges gave them the lowest score of the night. I guess if
they would have won we would have suffered through another rendition.

Contest Day 10 û Task Day 7
Each morning at the 10:30 pilots briefing the organization publishes a daily
magazine entitled Mondial Visions. As with most recent World Championships
an entire staff of reporters and publishers work around the clock to produce
this newsletter by briefing time. The Mondial Visions contains human
interest stories about competitors and the organization as well as the
statistical information of the performances. The staff also includes a very
good cartoonist who captures the real humor of a serious situation. After
Eric Mozers first landout the newsletter included a cartoon of a couple of
cows standing against a fence looking up at Eric saying "Here he comes
again!" Todays bulletin contains another cartoon of these same cows now
sitting on a blanket with a full picnic laid out including wine and the
caption reads "Here comes "1" right on time". Everyone got a big kick out of
this including Eric.

The weather is getting better still and the tasks longer yet. Today the Open
Class will see 533 kilometers turning just north of Grenoble. The Standards
get a 448 kilometer zigzag butterfly (the task setters are really getting
creative growing the tasks within the limited area the weather allows) and
the 15-Meter get the biggy of the day û a 477 kilometer task up to the Mont
Blanc û the famous mountain where fancy writing pens are made.

The Open guys have a great ride turning the course at over 145 kph. I could
hear "SS" and "1" yelling "yippee" all around the tasks. Thermal lift over
10 knots and long cloud streets made this a really fun run for the
long-wingers. Similarly, the Standards have a good run with al but one pilot
getting around the course. The story of the day came in the 15-Meter Class
who got into trouble on the first leg. We on the ground at St Auban could
hear reports of the cloud bases going down obscuring the mountain tops in
the Alps north of Grenoble. We were to hear later from "P7" that the cloud
bases at the turn by the Mont Blanc were less than 1500 feet above ground
level. Most of the group made this turn but quickly ran into trouble in the
Grenoble area due to over-development. "OF" worked one ridge after another
through this area affected by rain and cloud shadow and ended up landing in
a field not too far from the second turn. 13 of the 31 pilots would landout
on this leg and the balance had some interesting stories to tell. An Italian
pilot "GT" hit a logging wire in the high Alps north of Grenoble and flew
the rest of the task home. Examination of the glider revealed he had struck
the wire just 100 millimeters below the nose taking off his tailwheel and a
piece of the wing.

Gary Ittner "P7" was the hero of the day for the US Team by squeaking in
after deviating to the East around the bad air in Grenoble. We had the
trailer hooked up and ready in the event he landed out knowing that sunlight
would be precious. When Gary called on the Team frequency and announced that
he had worked his way onto final glide and would be home soon a cheer went
up all over the USA camp. He ended up placing 11th for the day and moving up
to 11th overall.

After Bill Bartell got home from his retrieve he told the story of his
landout. It seems he had landed in a tiny farm field far from any
metropolitan area. After walking to the road he was able to flag down a
farmer on a tractor and get a ride to a telephone. Afterwards the farmer,
who happened to own the field where Bill landed, took him on a tour of his
dairy where the milking of the 28 cows was in process û by hand of course.
Afterwards, the farmer and his family invited Bill to supper in their home
all prepared by the farmers wife and their daughters. Afterwards they went
back to the glider for a little cockpit soaring for the kids and pictures.
The most amazing variable here is that Bill and the farmer had a wonder time
and neither spoke the others language. Bill said later that these are the
experiences that you treasure forever and compenstate for the devestation it
does to your standings in the scoresheet.

Contest Day 10
Well so much for the good weather. A system of humid pulses from the
Mediterranean threatened the day but it was decided that we would grid and
hope for the best. At the 10:30 meeting they called a 12:30 meeting. At the
12:30 meeting they called a 13:15 meeting. In the end we were issued tasks
and the launch postponed twice before the day was scrubbed. 

Everyone rushed off to do the dreaded wash, shopping, banking, and letter
writing which had been put off in the last days. This evening was the French
party which we had all been waiting for. Just as the party started a huge
thunderstorm moved overhead and dumped buckets of water on the cooks outside
and we all hoped this might be an omen of things to come for the French.
They served up plenty of food û I say plenty because in my opinion it was
not all that appetizing and there was plenty left û rice, sausage, and those
darn pied de paquets (pigs feet). The beer, wine, music and fellowship were
good however and we all had tremendous fun. By French standards it was a
resounding success because a fight broke out in the closing minutes of the
party between the towpilots drawing blood and overturning tables. The
Gendarms (police) quickly had it under control and the original advocates
where together again by the end of the party. This was just the recharge our
batteries needed for the final stretch home.

Contest Day 11 û Task Day 8
We have leaned that the weather each morning is no indication of what is to
come later in the day. Generally, we get up under beautiful clear blue skies
with a light cool northerly breeze blowing, scented with the Lavender. At
the morning briefing the Met man called for over-development in the
afternoon and the tasks called would be 300 to 375 kilometers in length
verifying the task setters thinking that the day might be cut short by bad
weather.

Also during the meeting Steward Hannes Linke tells the group that today will
be the day for Doping tests in accordance with French Sporting Codes. The
procedure would be that 2 names would be drawn from each class at this
meeting and upon landing after flying the task a Steward would meet the
candidate at his aircraft and immediately escort him to the control location
whereupon the unlucky pilot would be required to consume water until he
could provide a sample. A member of the organization was called up to pull
names from the hat and the first one was "DJ" in the Standard Class. Next
name pulled was "OF" for the 15-Meter Class and the third name drawn was "1"
for the Open Class. The erupted into a loud howl as the first three pilots
chosen for drug testing were Americans.

On the grid the crews find different ways to occupy themselves, the most
popular has become Bacci Balls with some very impressive players. The runway
at St. Auban is a large grass field 400 meters wide and 1200 meters long. By
launch time the temperature reaches 80 degrees and strenuous activity tapers
to a minimum. Today the cumulus grow rapidly and threats of rain appear on
the horizon. The organizers, fearing that all tasks are in danger of weather
related problems issue Task B on the grid. The Standards are given 276
kilometers, the 15-Meters 290 kilometers and the Opens a 337 kilometer
circuit. As expected the cumulus grow into cumulonimbus and all of the
classes start calling in trouble. First around for the day are the Standards
who easily circumnavigate the bad weather and most get home. Next on the
sceen are our Open Class. Their course line takes them back over the airport
to a steering turn 40 kilometers south. "SS" comes overhead 3000 feet below
final glide and in smooth air. He presses on and finds nothing to work
landing out at the steering turn Vinon. 15 minutes behind "SS" comes "1" in
a similar state. Still well below glideslope he pushes 9 miles beyond the
final turn to the sun and works half knot lift until it develops into 6
knots and finally gets him up to glideslope plus 2000 feet for an easy ride
home. The 15-Meters also run into trouble and final glide to the ground just
10 miles short of the airport. It was a tough day and a number of
competitors land out which with the scoring does not do us a lot of harm.

We had previously proclaimed this day as "Crew Appreciation Day" and in
their honor the pilots prepare another Bar-B-Que at the Team hut. While the
impromptu cookouts are not as formal as the quaint French restaurants, it
works much better for a Team who has been at work all day and wants to get
in bed at a reasonable time. Tonight the Team is in great spirits û we have
become a group of close friends after 4 weeks of togetherness and not a
single personality problem has developed. Stories, jokes and laughter fill
the evening as we wind down the next to last contest day. We all know that
soon we will be going back to the US and rejoining our previous lives and
even though nobody says as much this evening will be one of the last
together as a Team by ourselves.

Contest Day 12 û Task Day 9
We awake this last contest day and go to the airport for the last
performance. As every morning we first check the scoreboard to see the
updated scores from the previous days performances. This morning to our
surprise we find "OF" has been scored with zero points. Up to the scoring
office to find out what has happened and I see Roland Stuck there û the
Deputy Competition Director. He pulls off the computer a copy of the GPS
trace for "OF" and we see that Bill missed the start gate by less than 200
meters. Despite a terrific effort in deteoriating weather and landing out 8
miles from the field he receives "0" points for a 200 meter technical error.
This has happened several times during these Championships and the Teams are
adamant about changing the rules such that a pilot would receive a stiff
penalty but not the total loss of a competition flight. As one could guess
the news hits us hard. 

The pilots briefing this morning is primarily consumed with giving thanks to
the various parts of the organization that worked without recognition like
the scoring team, the Mondial Visions staff, the marshallers, and the
Meteo-France group. The weather call is good and the tasks range from 318 to
365 kilometers. Talk amongst the pilots as to why they do not call a longer
task centers on several theories including the need to get everyone home for
the Farewell Party tonight to protecting the French lead in the race.
Whatever the reason our pilots would like longer tasks which favor a come
from behind.

The pilots fly the tasks quickly with with only one exception. "DJ" pushes
hard and gets into a hole. It takes a while to work out and he pushes off
again. For the second time he gets low and has to spend precious time
working back up. It had been decided at the US Team pilots meeting earlier
that morning that since we were not in contention in any class for 1st or
2nd place that the pilots could attempt a heroic feat by pushing real hard.
Moffat would leave this up to the individual pilots to decide for
themselves. This is indeed what Doug did and unfortunately it did not pay
off. Had he had been successful he could have moved up potentially to a
place on the podium.

The races were over and the celebrations begin. The organization put
together a "soiree" or party for everyone and it was a big hit. The place
was packed when the festivities began. They had set up a large buffet table
full of food and the plan was to draw from a hat the names of Teams and that
would be the order in which we would be served. The first name out was Italy
who dashed for the start gate while everyone sat by watching. Well it did
not take long for the Americans to figure out that waiting around was not a
good idea and we made an illegal run for the start gate. Most everyone got
through before the Competition Director caught on and issued a penalty but
by then it was too late. Other Teams, figuring that waiting was also not
good strategically, hit the start gate and soon mayhem ensued. It was a
classic case of leeching on the Americans while on task. Fortunately there
would be no task the next day as we stayed much too late "enjoying" ourselves.

Contest Day 13 û Closing Ceremonies
We all met 30 minutes early for the closing ceremonies at our Team Hut in
the International village. Because of a late night at the "soiree" and a
little too much "antifreeze" it took a little doing to whip us up into a
presentable group. The ceremony was a nice affair and went off like all
closing ceremonies did û too long and too hot. In the end the French did as
we expected and took most the honors. In the Standard Class 1st, 2nd, and
3rd went to the French. In the 15-Meter Class they took 4th and in the Open
Class the French garnered 1st and 2nd. It was said that all members of the
French Team had many hundreds of hours flying from this field and in these
alps and the home court advantage was decidedly in their favor. Our Team put
on a valiant effort and the membership should be proud. I feel that we met
our objectives set out 2 years earlier and ratified by the Board of
Directors and did it admirably. The World better watch out for the U.S. Team
in 1999 in Beyreuth Germany!

The End

Visit Philippe de Péchy's "Vol à Voile" (Soaring) server : infos, ad's, glider pictures, GPS turnpoints coordinates, competitions results and an unofficial ranking of all glider pilots in the world.

Other sites of soaring interest :  World Gliding Championships 1997, Saint-Auban, France (championnats du monde de vol à voile)  L'aéro-club du Bas-Armagnac, Nogaro (Gers, France) Aeroclub of Bas-Armagnac  Classement Vuillemot - French Soaring Pilots Permanent Ranking  Classement International - Results and Ranking  Fédération française de vol à voile - French Soaring Association  Les cumulus vus par satellite (Université de Strasbourg) - See cumuluses via satellite

Web page by Denis Flament (from Nogaro aeroclub)  consulted  times since 27-Jun-97  updated : Jun-97