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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0327.PDF
UNDER THE WEATHER Junin, Argentina T HE hazards of gliding in Argentina include fields full of armadillo holes, and tow-ropes which become detached from the tug aircraft while a glider is being towed. Both of these were experienced by John Williamson of the British team on Wednesday, February 13, when the day's task was a 165km out-and- return race to that oddly named place Ninth of July, south of Junin. Because of the difficulty of reaching cloudbase, and an amount of upper cloud-cover, few pilots got further than the turning point. Williamson had landed short of the turn, and in the process of beginning his return aerotow was left unattached to his tug on two occasions (both immediately after take-off), once at a height of 30ft in an extremely awkward position. Fortunately the hazards of gliding in Argentina are accompanied by equally pronounced advantages, among them the friendly gaucho who usually gallops on to the scene soon after a field landing. For Williamson, the duty gaucho did a neat job of shortening the tow-rope by means of a traditional knot prior to the final, successful, take-off. Tracking down the equally nice story of how Cartigny's duty gaucho came riding up with Polish pilot Popiel bouncing up and down behind him on the same horse, we unearthed the fact that all Polish pilots had undergone a course of equitation before com pleting their training for the championships. We should have expected this, of course. Only one pilot managed to complete the out-and-return course. Again it was a standard-class machine which had beaten all others— the Ka-6 flown by Braes of Denmark, who managed to climb to 5,800m in cloud just after the turning point—almost sufficient for a final glide covering the whole of the second leg. Because the specified minimum of two pilots had not completed the course, however, nor had achieved a minimum distance of 100km, the day could not be classed as an official contest either for speed or for distance, and Braes' fine performance remained unrewarded by points. The points totals remained as they were after the Mon day flying. What could well have been the motto of an English gliding club—Sin Nubes Convectivas ("no convective cloud")—was chalked across the meteorologial board at briefing on Thursday, February 14. A weak anticyclone lay over the Junin area, and a 177.5km race north to Pergamino and return was declared as the day's task. With clear blue skies over the aerodrome but some cumulus apparently moving in from the north, pilots tended to wait awhile after release before crossing the start line. Those who did wait were in fact still faced with dry thermals only, over the first half of the leg to Pergamino, but at least could see the way ahead marked by the swarms of circling sailplanes which had started earlier. To improve radio contact with the two British open-class pilots, team captain Ann Welch sent out the team's mobile station (a Pye- equipped Ford Falcon) to take up a position approximately halfway along the track to Pergamino. With crew-member David Cretney and your overheated correspondent aboard, this experiment—the first occasion on which the mobile station had needed to leave the airfield—worked well. An essential piece of equipment during the roadside plane-spotting sessions was an English umbrella which only one week previously had been screening its owner from the rigours of a London snowstorm in a sub-zero temperature. The three British pilots were among the many who succeeded in completing the out-and-return flight. With strong convection over the Pergamino half of the course the day was tailor-made for the high-performance Polish Zefirs. It came as no surprise that Makula and Popiel were first and third respectively in the open class, with times of 2hr 34min 21sec (69km/hr) and 2hr 38min 35sec. In second place was the French pilot Henry, with 2hr 37min 41sec. Williamson and Goodhart were respectively ninth and eleventh. In the standard class it was another good day for the Standard Austrias, with Fritz and Wodl logging 2hr 27min 13sec (the day's best time) and 2hr 41min Usee to take the first two places. Huth was third, and Anthony Deane-Drummond was eleventh. On total points the leaders were now:— Open class 1. Henry 2. Makula 3. Ulbing 4. Popiel 5. Schreder 6. Williamson ... 7. Goodharc Standard class 1. Fritz 2. Huth 3. Wodl 4. Sejstrup 5. Braes Breguet 901 Zefir Standard Austria Zefir HP-II Skylark 4 Skylark 4 Standard Austria Ka-6 ... Standard Austria Ka-6 Ka-6 France Poland Austria Poland USA Britain Britain Austria W. Germany Austria Denmark Denmark points I960 1877 1816 1788 1755 1739 1722 points 1916 I860 1858 1824 1646 with Deane-Drummond (Olympia 463) eighth, 1509 The West German S8-7 flown by R. Kuntz, one of several competitors who experienced eventful return journeys. Below, W. J. Jensen's (Den mark) Lo-150
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