From 14 to 22 May 2022, the Belgian Gliding Championship took place on the Saint-Hubert airfield (EBSH). Once again the “Centre National de Vol à Voile” was in charge https://www.cnvv.be/.
For this edition, we had the opportunity to have the account of a crew to tell us about their event on 18 May. Antoine Keller, the pilot, was accompanied by Bernard Debauche on board an ARCUS T glider in the Combined class.
The ARCUS T has a wingspan of 20 m and a length of 15 m and is built by Schempp-Hirth https://www.schempp-hirth.com/en.
The event on that day took the competitors to Germany. Like on every day of the competition, it is the meticulous observation of the weather patterns that will determine the exact areas in which the protagonists will fight. The first point to be reached in Schoeneberg was 125km away from EBSH. The second point in Utscheid was 71 km away, and finally, the pilots had to reach the last point in Schwarzer, 29 km away, before returning to St. Hubert over a distance of 62 km.
Bernard, CNVV pilot, tells us about his event: This Wednesday 18 May, the 4th event of the competition, it is the North-East of Belgium that is favourable. The West of Germany also seems to be part of the playground detected by the organisers.
Our day, like all the others of these championships, starts with the morning briefing. It is at this moment that the pilots meet each other, and exchange impressions and performances from the previous day’s event. It is especially the moment during which we discover together our event of the day.
The meteorologist communicates to us, thanks to his expertise, all his analyses of the air mass in which we are going to fight on the one hand with the forces of nature, but also against our competitors in order to seize some points from them.
Then, like each of the competitors, we determine the quantity of water to be carried in our wings before leaving. This volume will depend on the distance to be covered but also on the intensity of the forecasted ascents which have been communicated to us by the meteorologist. The purpose of this extra weight is to increase the maximum glide speed. The extra weight provided by the water ballast is advantageous if the lift encountered is likely to be strong. This weight will help us to transit between the lift, but at the same time, it can penalise us, slow us down, in the altitude gain phases. The strategy of choosing the volume of water according to the expected weather is important. We will start this flight with 100 litres of water. The choice of ballast is part of the preparation for the flight.
We also make sure that the surface of the canopy is impeccable, with no roughness, which would degrade our air penetration coefficient. Our glider is ready for departure, it is a two-seater ARCUS T glider designed and built in Germany by Schempp-Hirth engineers.
We are also taking care of ourselves, as we need to be in good physical and mental condition in order to make the best of the four hours of flight that await us.
We start with a weight slightly below the maximum total weight of 850kg.
After being towed to 600m by one of the 5 towing aircraft, we start the event with a relatively calm pace, in accordance with the aerological conditions at the time. The ascents are difficult to centre and are spaced out. Caution is therefore required when making decisions in this sector.
This difficult start brings us slowly on a NORTH-EAST course to the north of Luxembourg, around Gouvy. This is where we cross the German border. This position allows us, to our great relief, to discover that Germany will help us to increase our average speed. Indeed the sky is well structured with the presence of cumulus clouds as announced in the morning weather briefing.
Besides the sun, the state of the air mass is responsible for this, but also the relief, which is steeper than in Belgium. The latter helps to trigger the columns of warm air.
We are fighting with 3 other gliders around the Nürburgring in the Ahrweiler area of Germany. This is our first turning point on the circuit that has been imposed on us. Between two moments of concentration, our gaze wanders for a few moments in this beautiful hilly region along the Rhine. Cologne and Koblenz are only a few kilometres away as the crow flies. This contemplation reminds us of our privileged position of being able to fly.
We take advantage of this halfway point to clean our wings. The BUGWIPER is a carbon hoop that moves back and forth along the leading edge of the wing on demand to remove insects encountered in flight. At this level of performance, every detail counts!
At the last turning point, still in Germany, thanks to our height, in the shadow of a cumulus cloud, we can see our “flat country”. We still have 62 km to go. It is in this last leg that each pilot calculates the moment when he will no longer have lift in order to glide to the finish line. This is the “final” and depends on our height and the amount of air we encounter. These parameters define an ideal glide speed in order to reach the finish line in a minimum time. This is a very exciting moment for a glider pilot, we share this moment of happiness with an ASH25 until the arrival in St-Hubert. We flew about 300 km without any fossil fuel, it was the solar energy that carried us throughout this journey during which we flew with other gliders but also with some birds of prey that helped us as often with humility to detect the invisible: the ascents.
The analysis of our flight at the end of the day will tell us that we were not the best performers and our class. We don’t stop at that, because finally this flight shared with my friend Antoine was an unforgettable experience and exchange. At many points in the flight, while defying the forces of nature, we realised our privileged place of being in the air.
Thank you to the organising team of this championship who once again demonstrated their ability to judge the skies and tailor events that allowed us to live our passion in good conditions.
Championship results
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