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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0285.PDF
271 FLIGHT International, 21 February 1963 1963 World Gliding Championships MUNDJAl Of VUELO A VIIA. npM' ..MK¥* ****•**: »•*;*;*.. STORY AND PICTURES BY KENNETH OWEN GRAN FESTIVAL AERONAUTICO Junin, Argentina P ERHAPS itjwas the tug'pilot who fell asleep during an aerotow retrieve. Or perhaps the news that landing positions were to be reported by radio-aficionados and results worked out by computadoros electronicas de alta precision y velocidad. Or just the fact that we happened to be in South America. Whatever the reason, the World Gliding Championships were somehow different this year. In the opening stages, the organization of the championships showed little sign either of alta precision or of velocidad. Priorities were clearly established, however. First things must come first, and be fore the championships could be declared open the serious business of electing the World Gliding Queen, and World Gliding Princess had to be attended to. The gliding could wait until mahana. The practice week which preceded the official opening on Febru ary 10 had enabled most teams to settle down at Junin and to become acquainted with soaring conditions over Argentina. Accommoda tion for the teams was provided in chalets located in the trees near Laguna de Gomez, a semi-dried-up lake adjacent to the airfield. The main novelty on the flying side was that all retrieving was to be by aerotow. Rather more than a novelty was the achievement of the Chilean pilots, who had arrived at Junin by air in their Blaniks towed by Piper Cubs. This would have been fair enough by any standards, quite apart from the fact that they had to cross the Andes to get here. The Chilean pilots had flown from Santiago to Mendoza by the Uspallata Pass, flying above the Cristo Redentor and at a height of over 15,000ft. This crossing took three hours' flying time, the flight continuing from Mendoza to Villa Mercedes in San Luis. After a night stop there, a three-hour flight to Junin completed the journey. "The proceedings included ... a low beat-up by a Meteor..." "The World Gliding Queen and two of the prin cesses . . ." At the beginning of the practice week the local populace of Junin had shown a fantastic welcome to the visiting teams. A procession of over 100 cars carrying the teams had been near-mobbed by en thusiastic crowds lining the road from the airfield to Junin and in the city itself. Or, as the information bulletin phrased it, "From the very beginning of the procession, a multitude saluted the partici pants . . . Throughout the length of the road the public was to be seen spread along each side of the avenues. The closer one got to the city the more numerous were the spectators. Here the enthusiasm gathered volume even to the extent of blocking the passage of the motor cars. Sirens of the local newspapers and the bursting of fireworks by the Sporting Societies permitted a reception that foreign delegations had not received in former world champion ships . . ." The practice flying had included a 320km out-and-return flight to Rufino; a 328km race to Tandil Air Force Base (which, 180 miles from the sea, houses an air-sea rescue unit); a 113km triangle and a 170km out-and-return. John Williamson (Skylark 4) was the The Prue Super Standard flown by J. D. Ryan (USA) and, right, £. van Bree's (Netherlands) Sagita 2. Both are standard-class entries
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