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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0902.PDF
12 FLIGHT, 1 July 1960 Championship personalities: (left to right) chief organizer Sett Kunz; Polish pilot Adam Witek (1958 Standard Class champion) is congratulated by his wife after completing the 200km triangle on June 16; meteorological trio comprising Dr Gerhard Kant (championships forecaster), Norbert Gerbier (France) and C. E. Walling ton (Britain); US pilot Richard Johnson with 1958 Open Class champion Ernst Giinter Haase Variety in American tails is demonstrated by Air mate HP-8 (Schreder, foreground) and RHJ-6 (Johnson). On far side of runway is Mutter's Weihe, oldest aircraft in the contest BIG-LEAGUE GLIDING ... over certain areas during the second-week tasks—which ruled outany question of barograph evidence being accepted, since the barograph trace could not be related to the track followed.This problem was obviously not of the organizers' own making, since the large number of controlled airspaces over Germany—and, indeed, the law of the land—would have made the contest a tricky one under the best of circumstances. But the problem wasof their own handling, and it was this handling that was much criticized. On the day on which Anthony Goodhart's points werediscounted for an obvious cloud-flying infringement, for example, a number of other pilots also ignored the VMC rules but were notpenalized simply because nothing could be proved. The captain of the Dutch team, in particular, was much concerned about thisfollowing reports from his pilots, and seriously considered making an official protest in the final days of the contest.The dispute concerning the interpretation of Rule 10.1 of the special regulations could have been avoided by careful draftingbeforehand. This rule states that, for free distance or distance along a fixed course, "at least two pilots, in each class, must flyfarther than a minimum distance of 50km in order that the task may count as a contest day." For a set-course-distance task, did the rule really mean "dis-tance," or did it mean "projected distance" or "marking distance"? On the answer to this question depended l,OOOpts for NicholasGoodhart on June 11. The decision to reverse the original ruling, and make June lla no-contest day, was hardly unanimous. Of the23 team captains forming the international jury, 12 voted for, eight against, one abstained and two were not present at the meeting. But, in spite of the controversies on the ground, the champion-ships had produced skill and excitement in the air. The main lesson to be learned, perhaps, was simply that it was impossibleto predict results in advance. A second lesson, which is evident at each world championship, is that a leading pilot cannot affordto make a mistake on even one day. Had weather conditions been strong throughout the contestperiod it would have been impossible for the Polish pilots not to have gained first and second places in the Open Class and firstplace in the Standard Class, such was the efficiency of their Zefir and Foka sailplanes and the well-practised skill of Makula, Popieland Witek. These aircraft are the kind that break world records for speed and distance, and the only flaw in the case for enteringrecord-breakers in world championships is that, usually, there is at least one poor-weather day per contest on which these aircraftfall down badly. At Butzweiler this year that day was June 15, the fifth contestday. The 300km triangle was completed by the Olympia 419 and two Ka-6s, while the Zefirs and Foka made only 127km. Thismeant only 250 points compared with the leaders' 1,000, and we knew that nobody could lose 750pts on one day and still wina world championship. Although Hossinger was not among the top five on two of the days, his loss of points was relatively modest. That pilot skill can count more than aircraft performance waswell illustrated again this year, with both world champions flying club-owned "cooking" sailplanes and the best Open Class flighton June 16 being made by Bernhard Miiller's Weihe—a 22-year- old design. On the other hand, the 1958 champion Haase was notable to settle-in well this year with the new Phonix. But the most significant aspect of the results was the superiorityon a number of days of the supposedly inferior 15-metre sailplanes of the Standard Class. This led pilots to question the wisdom ofhaving two separate classes, each separately marked. Why not, for example, award marks in one complete category for all aircraftentered, thus deciding a single world champion—who might or might not be flying a 15-metre sailplane? These thoughts we took with us as we left Butzweiler andheaded home. Behind us we left the Belgian Air Force and its armed guards to return to normal at the airfield, which its Pipersshare with the local flying club. We said farewell to RAF Butzweilerhof, just down the road, whose mess had extendeda warm hospitality to the British team on many occasions during the championships. We would remember the tall forest of radio masts which formeda unique skyline to the airfield; the silhouette of the Dom in the distance; and the nerve-shattering noise of cars on the perimeterp.s.p. track. The long distances involved between the various facilities on the airfield and the living quarters, and the vintagebicycle purchased for 20DM which solved that problem for one British journalist. In spite of everything, we had enjoyed our1960 taste of big-league gliding. Beginning and end of a championship: left, the"Musik band" which opened proceedings on June 4; right, champions on the rostrum at the closing ceremony two weeks later. Hossinger (left) is flanked by Makula and Popiel; Huth by Munch and Witek
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