Daily winners 28.6.

Club Class
Rasmus Ørskov 1F, Denmark
Standard Class
Sebastian Kawa I, Poland
20 m  Multi-Seat Class
Steve Jones & Howard Jones CUS, Great Britain

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Faster, More Experienced than 38 Years ago

by Jyri Raivio

The pilots flying for the three World Champion titles this summer at Räyskälä are very skilled and full of fighting spirit.  They are also very experienced – at least in comparison with their predecessors to Räyskälä, the participants of the previous World Championships held in Finland.  That contest was flown in June 1976 in two classes, Open and Standard.  Like it or not, they were the only two classes of the time.  Now there are seven and counting.  Some might call that progress, others are not so sure.This article is a very unscientific comparison of the pilots in these two Championships.  It is based on the official program leaflet of the 1976 contest and the information each participant was asked in the entry form of the 2014 Worlds.  The comparison is not accurate because quite a few pilots simply refused to tell their gliding hours.  In 1976 this information was withheld by six pilots (out of 89), this year 11 pilots (out of 116).

The amount of hours in your glider pilot’s logbook is, of course, not any guarantee of your skills as a contest pilot.  If this were the case, the winner’s prize could be awarded even before the first contest flight to Japan’s Standard Class pilot and his country’s only representative Makoto Ichikawa, whose 12 000 hours is clearly the highest anyone has reported (not including the French Team Captain Eric Napoleon’s 18 000 hours).  On the other hand, the most successful international contest pilot of our time, Poland’s Sebastian Kawa, comes to Räyskälä with ”only” 4 200 hours.

It can be safely assumed, however, that a considerable part of flying experience of the World Championships pilots comes from contest flying.  It is also true that experience is a valuable asset, and the hours logged can matter.  Norway’s Martin Bjørnebekk will have a chance of proving this assumption wrong by winning the 20 m multiseat class.  His total of 450 hours is the lowest reported at Räyskälä this year.  In the single pilot category Eric Stauss’ (Australia) 600 hours are the lowest.

In 1976 the most experienced pilot was Ross Briegleb from the USA.  He had 6 000 hours when the contest started.  He finished 29th in the Standard Class.  The most inexperienced was Rodolfo Riera from Argentina.  He had a humble 500 hours and still he beat Briegleb and was 24th in the final standings.  The Standard Class Champion Ingo Renner (Australia) had 5 000 hours, the Open Class Champion George Lee 960 hours before the competition.  Ingo flew a PIK-20B, George an AS-W 17.

Today the chances of gaining experience in international contests are much better than four decades ago, simply because, as a result of the proliferation of the classes, there are more contests.  The GP concept enhances the chances for contest flying on the highest level even further.

This shows in the logbooks.  In 1976 the participants of the 15th World Gliding Championships at Räyskälä had an average of 1 912 hours.  This year the figure is 2 780 h, the difference being 45%.

Another difference is the performance the top pilots get from their magnificent flying machines, even if this, of course, is much more difficult to compare than the amount of flying hours.  Räyskälä Worlds in 1976 suffered from generally poor weather.  There were, however, a few good days.  The best speed achieved in the Open Class was Lee’s 112 kmh on a 526 km task.  The fastest man in the Standard was Renner with 98,1 kmh on a short, 153 km out-and-return task.Today’s pilots clock much higher speeds in similar conditions.  The reasons are many, for instance the abolition of the start line and the performance of modern gliders.  Still, it is fair to say that the piloting abilities have also improved, thanks to a more active top level contest scene and the experience to be gained by actively participating in it.

The entries section of this year’s contest website contains a lot of interesting information supplied by the pilots.  One interesting remark: many, many participants are second or even third generation glider pilots.  This is great but it also highlights one of the fundamental problems of our sport: to grow, we need new recruits, not just the youngsters who were born and raised on the gliding fields.

And, finally, a very positive development in our comparison.  In 1976 not a single female pilot participated in the Räyskälä Worlds.  In 2014 we have five ladies.  Hats off and hurrah for Elena Fergnanil (20m Multiseat Class, Italy), Christine Grote (Club Class, Germany), Sue Kussbach (Standard Class, Germany), Orsolya Diofasi (Standard Class, Hungary) and Karin Schlosser (20 m Multiseat Class, USA).

lower photo: Pekka Ylipaavalniemi