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The
World Gliding Federation had granted Australia the right to
host the World Comps, flown every two years, and hosted by a
country chosen from the applicants. Planning began well over a
year ahead.
We
had to select a site. Really, there were three options.
Narromine in NSW, Benalla in Victoria, and Waikerie in South
Australia. There very definitely was inter-state rivalry. A
small selection committee was set up by the Gliding Federation
of Australia - the body that controlled gliding in Australia.
I became one of the three or four members under the
chairmanship of Bill Iggulden, the GFA president. Mainly we
did our business by phone.
Narromine:
An excellent aerodrome where Australian Championships were
held regularly - by turn among the States. No resident gliding
club. Good gliding competition country to the south and west
and a little to the north. Flying wise - quite OK.
Benalla:
An excellent aerodrome and an active resident Club. Good
competition country to the north and west and maybe even into
the mountains to the east. Benalla also had hosted quite a few
Australian championships.
Waikerie:
Almost a rebel club in the early days when club cross country
flying was not always a favoured pastime. A long history of
competition flying and the club, more than any other in
Australia, that had provided our past International pilots.
Good gliding country to the east and south. Very isolated
'Sunset Country' to the north. The area had more of a variety
of weather types that the other two - sea breeze area and the
desolate country to the north. Also, possible beneficial
'influence' in high places.
To
the rather strong objection from Victoria, we decided upon
Waikerie. We made this decision by phone. Maybe the magic
weather fairies were looking after us - the selection
committee. 1974 was the flood season. Terrible floods in
Southern Queensland in fact extending all the way south to
Victoria. No competition would have been possible at either
Narromine or Benalla. We had fantastic weather at Waikerie. In
fact we who were involved in the Championship were not really
aware during the contest of the wash-out we would have had if
we had not selected Waikerie.
We got considerable help
from Local, State and Commonwealth Governments. It was the
period of the School Christmas holidays. The large assembly
hall of the local school became available as the mess hall for contestants, their
teams and the Australian officials and friends. In fact it was
available to most who were at Waikerie. Locals were hired as
casuals and some arrangements were put in place for catering.
It started well. A couple of sessions per meal and no trouble.
That is, until the hired help wanted more money and threatened
strike action. They thought that was something we could not
accept - all the visitors and a mess up over feeding them.
They did not know the gliding movement. No deal - so they went
on strike only to be immediately replaced by volunteers from
the movement who worked for free. The strike did not last and
would hardly have been noticed.
The State Government
erected a hostel for the aged at Waikerie, timed to be
complete just before the contest. It was not to be occupied by
the elderly until a short time after the contest. It was
available to us for accommodation. Thus we could house and
feet the contestants. At Marfa a few years previously the
local university had supplied accommodation and the meals were
arranged actually at the drome. It was a drive of a few miles
to the university. Distances were shorter at Waikerie.
Money
had been budgeted for aerodromes and some was spent on the
Waikerie aerodrome. There had been gliding at Waikerie for
years and of course powered aircraft used the strip as well.
The aerodrome itself was improved just before the contest. The
Waikerie Gliding Club had a large hanger and quite a few Club
buildings at Waikerie. An area was made available both for
'official' caravans and tents and for visitors. So we ended up
with quite a village complex on site. The Waikeri Club had a
swimming pool. We did something that was very much appreciated
by the competing pilots and crews that had not been done
elsewhere. Near the pool a square of caravans was arranged
solely for the day use of the crews - a relaxation place with
privacy. I think it was appreciated. Buildings were set aside
for administration, task setting, photo checking - and so on.
The
Commonwealth Government made available a 'detachment' of the
Meteorological Bureau that provided the met information so
important for task setting and for the flying itself. This
group, with their equipment, acted as height assessors for the
start procedure. More on that later. Our contact was mainly
with two met people - a younger very competent official and
his superior who was -somehow - not so gliding weather
conscious. The younger chap gave the met forecast both for the
task setters and for the weather bulletins made available to
pilots. He was good, with a fine appreciation of glider
weather requirements and implications. One day his superior
briefed the task setters and on his information they set the
task for the day. Then the young chap arrived and to us, the
task setters, violently contradicted what his boss had
forecast. Bad task setting had on a number of occasions during
former World Contests resulted in completely messed up days.
We had introduced and circulated a changed procedure. Should
weather forecast or whatever - change after briefing and
before launching the task setters reserved the right to alter
the tasks. We knew how unpopular this would be if we ever did
it. However, this day, we had so much faith in the young chap
we did alter the task. The change certainly was unpopular with
the pilots. Helmut Reichmann former World Champion (and to win
the title again at this contest) complained bitterly to me,
the Chairman of the Task setting Committee.
The
young chap WAS corerect. It was just as well we changed. When
the day was over Helmut came up to me and said - ‘I
apologise. You were right. If you hadn't altered the task no
one would have got back'.
We
would be tasking over a large area of South Australia and east
into Victoria. About eighty gliders flying each day. And
Commercial and Civil power flying would naturally take place
in the same area. As a liaison group, three Examiners of
Airmen with their aircraft were attached to Waikerie. They
attended our task setting and - I suppose I could say - kept a
watching brief on the flying. We got on well with them. I was
familiar with almost the whole task area having flown over it
on quite a few contests. There was one area to the north of
Waikerie that we did not use. It was the terrible 'Sunset
Country'. There was a tongue of good country running north but
to its west. That was included in our task area. I had not
flown over that area. The examiners were quite willing to fly
me there for a look-see. On the return they cut straight back
across the sunset country. Airmanship. This was a modern power
aircraft. Said the pilot when he saw the country below him -'I
think we'll edge off track a little to the south'. Later we
did task into the good area. A few glider pilots did fly
across the sunset country!
As
I said, the examiners were always present during our task
setting. With competition and civil flying mixed they would
need to be present. The relationship was professional and
excellent. We, the task setters, had to set a demanding but
not impossible task to fit in with the weather forecast - to
stretch the competitors but not to over-stretch them. This
required navigation knowledge and calculations- likely speeds,
suitable distances with wind effects varying with the
direction of the legs. On windy days the navigation
‘calculations' became more detailed. And to a point, time
consuming. The examiners agreed that they would automatically
do the basic calculations for us as we discussed other pros
and cons. We found this helpful.
The
examiners could fly during the day as they felt the need - in
their Government aircraft of course. One day looked like being
a beauty. World record times a distinct possibility. Proposed
distance - 300k or gold distance as it is called. A triangle.
The second leg to the south looked unbelievable - possible
cloud streeting along a terribly fast leg, the maybe with a
fast glide home. For world records there were leg length
stipulations - legs approximately equal. Therein lay our
problem. The first leg - roughly to the south if of the
correct length would POSSIBLY enter an area affected by sea
breeze - or be a bit too early even for that. The task setters
had an interesting choice - task for a possible world record
but make it maybe a badly chosen world contest task. We were
running a world contest and we gave that our priority - a fast
task but no world record. The day turned out as planned. One
of the examiners remarked later ‘1 thought 1 would fly along
that second leg to see the gliders in action. Maybe just as
well 1 didn't. 1 couldn't have kept up. Speeds were round 160
mph on that leg - the glider speeds that is. The power
aircraft would have been nearer 140. Interesting.
In
the sixties the checking of turning points was done by a
couple of crew (detailed in turn) physically going to the
turning point and placing a marker behind a building or silo.
These markers were changed periodically. The pilot had to
report the correct time-marker and was usually observed as
well. Pilots had to descend to 3000 feet. As performances
improved turning points were a long distance from base. It was
not a satisfactory method of checking. Now of course we are in
the days of global positioning systems (GPS). Anyway, for the
World Comps at Marfa Texas in 1970 photographing turning
points was introduced. Pilots were given a printed diagram of
the turning point and the diagram indicated how the pilot had
to approach and when he was to photograph. Cameras were
checked and sealed. Some European pilots reckoned they could
beat the system so the Americans made it very stringent. By
1974 we had a very satisfactory photo check system in place,
not quite as stringent as Marfa. At Waikerie fifty possible
turning points were selected and a card was issued for each.
The pilot would take the one or two or so he would need for
the particular day. The system worked well.
A
pilot carried two sealed fixed cameras and just before launch
he photographed a checking board held beside the cockpit. The
cameras were so fixed that the wingtip appeared in each
photograph. On landing the two films were handed in and all
photographs were checked. An official photographer was
appointed by the organisers and a special darkroom was
available. Dennis Wengert who had made almost a second
profession of photography did the developing and printing on a
few occasions. The prints then went to the team of checkers.
There were a couple of minor arguments but the system did work
well.
We
used virtually the same start system as was used at Marfa. The
pilot had to fly through an imaginary vertical square one
kilometre by one kilometre. The side placing was no problem
but the height could be critical. As the pilot crossed the
line - having obtained radio clearance to make his run - he
had to be no higher then 3280 feet. A kilometre. This was
checked with instruments assisted by the Government Met people
who were helping at this International Contest.
There
were two classes in the contest - the standard and the open.
For standard class wingspan was limited to 15 metres and there
could be no tail chute or wing altering devices. There were a
few other restrictions. At this time open aircraft had
wingspans to about 21 metres. Invariably the open was set the
more difficult task.
Task
Setting
That
was my area as chairman. There was a contest chairman - the
very experienced Wally Wallington. He was famous , world wide
really, especially as a meteorologist. The world set-up under
which the contest was run gave him virtually absolute power -
more authority in fact than was given to a chairman by our
national contests. No question of passing the buck if anything
went wrong. Luckily nothing really did go wrong. Wally
insisted on being a member of the task setting committee. He
was thus the only member of that committee without actual
world contest flying experience. However, otherwise I could
virtually set up the committee as I wished. I selected a main
committee of three with three' advisers' but we all pitched in
with the discussions. I did this in case there was a strong
disagreement in which case it would be easier to settle with a
group of only three. However, only once did we even look like
approaching this situation. I had a say in the members. For
the so called advisers I selected one who was a very very
practical pilot and another who would take a more theoretical
approach. The examiners of airmen who heard all our
discussions said that Wally would always tend to stretch the
task while the practical pilot would bring things down to
earth with a definite comment. Actually task setting went
almost smoothly with several options invariably examined and a
consensus reached.
We
would begin with the met briefing before we began discussing
actual tasks. There was a task for the standard class and
another for the open. I used Dennis Wengert as the black-board
man. He did not speak or in any way join in discussion. I selected him because of his excellent blackboard style. Neat.
Quick. As we started discussing a proposed task he would write
up all the relevant information - distances - wind and so on.
He would follow what we said and without prompting put the
facts up. If we changed our minds as we generally did he would
erase as appropriate and re-write. At the end of the contest
the French team gave each of the task setters a bottle of
contreau so they at least must have been reasonably satisfied
with us. In the contest before ours the Yugoslavs had made a
hell of a mess of it so maybe sights were not set too high by
the pilots. In retrospect I as chairman am quite satisfied
with the result. An unexpected weather change can play hell
with a well set task. We had some differences from what we
expected but no significant change. Touch wood!
The
tasks remained private until the official briefing. That was
held with pilots and crews in the hanger. Maybe 300 people.
Wally ran a formal and concise briefing. There was no surplus
chatter by officials. There was the official met briefing and
the announcement of the tasks. Order of takeoff was announced
- and so on.
Launching
ran smoothly at both Australian nationals and at out world
contest. One launch every 30 seconds with a short break
between the classes. When a class was launched, the gate would
be opened a few minutes later for that class. Aircraft did not
air start in any special order. Open and standard were mixed
and as I have said, it was by radio clearance. Pilots would
often make more that one start - the latest start being the
one that counted - and on some days a pilot may delay his
start for over an hour. It was a case of the pilot trying to
select the time that would give him the best weather during
the time he expected to take. At times starts of other pilots
could be 'fed' into decision making. But of course some pilots
would deliberately make false starts. All part of the
interesting techniques pilots used.
I
do not plan to cover the actual flights of the contest in this
article. One story only. 1 have already mentioned Helmut
Reichmann. He was well in the running to win the Standard
Class title - again. Ingo Renner, who did his flying training
in Germany and had become a naturalised Australian was coming
to the peak of his form. Near the top but he hadn't quite made
it yet. ( He was to go on and become one of the world's top
pilots.) As the last day approached Ingo and Helmut were neck
to neck. In fact Ingo was slightly in the lead and, 1 gather,
he reasoned if he could more or less stay with Helmut round
the task he would win. They launched. Catastrophe! Ingo had
dive break trouble and had to land before the start. It
appears that in an attempt to really ensure an airtight fit
the dive brakes had been over tightened and now something went
wrong. Helmut had a team member who worked in the factory
producing Ingo's aircraft. He came over and in a few minutes
corrected the over-tight adjustment that he knew was causing
all the trouble Ingo launched and was able to fly the task.
But Helmut was a little faster and won the Championship.
Scoring
Scoring
involves a great deal of mathematical calculation. For a race,
time from start to finish is the critical factor and pilots do
not fly together as in a car race. Out of maybe - to simply
pick a time to illustrate - eight reasonable hours of soaring
a task may take five hours. It is up to the pilot to pick the
best five. So it is not a case of first home being the winner.
If a pilot lands out and this often happens the score
calculation becomes quite involved. At times with everyone
knowing starting time of pilots (they go up on a board) it is
possible to calculate who is likely to win. On other occasions
a pilot arriving late in the day can be very high up on the
scoring scale - due to better therefore faster conditions late
in the day -or a significant wind change which certainly
affects groundspeed. At Marfa in 1970 scores were out by the
next morning. They would have been calculated by what I might
call longhand. I don't know what happened in Yugoslavia in
1972 but at times scores took several days. Perhaps the large
number of out landings partly due to weather but accentuated
by bad task setting. So naturally we Australians were watched
as far as scoring went. But we had a tremendous advantage. We
were the first to computerise the scoring. Whoever did it
prepared an excellent program and scores were available
immediately the relevant information was at hand.
Let
me illustrate with our friend Helmut. His wife Helgie a
typical and beautiful Nordic blonde was a member of his crew.
When he landed on the last day, Helgie brought the necessary
films and documentation to hand it in. She could be told -
'We've made the calculations. Helmut has won the day and the
championship.' 'But he's not even tied down yet!' His glider
tied down of course - another standard procedure. Those of us
who were present and involved found her surprise amusing and a
compliment.
The
last aircraft was down. The contest was over. The mood was
good. A finale?
Well yes - the competing teams threw all of the officials they
could find into the swimming pool. I happened to go into
Waikerie at the critical time and so they missed me.
Of course there was socialising and the lighter side. Nights
in the bar. A mixing of world people. And as it was flying,
connections with the war. Interesting connections with ‘the
enemy’ now our friends. I’ll conclude with extracts from
another article which I will call Our
friendly enemies. First, the lead in ...
In the period 1955-1975
I was active in competitive gliding. I flew world contest in
USA in 1970 and was an official in the world contest at
Waikerie South Australia in 1974.
In both contests there was a Japanese pilot whose name
we couldn't pronounce.
So what nick-name would we give him but Kamikaze. More
of him later.
Let's
go to a gliding contest at an isolated aerodrome at an
isolated Australian town (and I mean Australian isolated). A
group of us there for a week.
Maybe
best speed round a 200 mile triangle. Maybe a day with five
hours in the air.
About forty pilots competing.
At times six or more circling together all trying to
outdo each other. Wartime lookout standard.
Minor feature pilot navigation and as a day can be lost
by ten seconds only the most accurate of flying acceptable.
-More like non op service flying than Saturday afternoon
Civil. So the
atmosphere is set. The illegal bar opens after flying. And
it's getting close to midnight. By this time six or so
wartime pilots in a small group reliving the forties. Quite
oblivious of those around them. Just by a coincidence all ex
UK types. In a circle around them the rest of the pilots, all
younger of course, and for once, unusually silent, listening
to flying totally beyond their experience. And on the outside
another group - the womenfolk. The wives, the girl friends,
the grown daughters. (In fairness to them let me digress. They
were the crew. Riggers, deriggers, Daily Inspectors,
Retrievers ... their pilot's intelligence during a flight.)
During a day's contest anything that was common knowledge on
the ground could be broadcast. They were in radio contact with
their pilot during his flight. So they gathered their
information, sifted it, distilled it and if they so decided -
a cryptic message.)
Next
morning one of the wives said to me -'I've never heard
anything like it. I was absolutely fascinated.' And of course
she hadn't. Very few civilians would ever have. Even shop talk
at reunions wouldn't have been like those few late nights.
But
where is this leading us to? Actually, to the Germans. Not in
this group but scattered throughout the clubs and in smaller
conversation groups ... a German aircrew who ended up as
combat infantry ... another who migrated because he couldn't
get on with his stepfather but a stepfather who succeeded in
getting him out of Hitler's last stand fourteen year olds ...
and a female with terrible tales of rape in the east, luckily
not her ... but her family. I've read much wartime experience
but nothing approaches a personal retelling.
World
Contest 1974. One German contest pilot was ex-Luftwaffa. We
all had the highest opinion of his professional competence.
Again, one night in the
bar we learned that he had flown intruder missions over
England. An Australian there had been on the receiving end of
such an intrusion. Comparison of facts, dates, places etc. Yes
... this German and this Australian. Said the Australian to
the German ... 'You bastard. Come and I'll buy you a beer'.
It
was an American who wrote something like - 'They had paid
their dues. Warrior members of an ancient brotherhood to which
no amount of influence, power, or political persuasion can
gain admittance'. And the brotherhood crosses
enemy lines.
Certainly the Germans. The Japanese?
When
I landed from my second last war time operation the first thing said to me
when I opened the bottom door ... 'The Americans have dropped
some kind of atom bomb and it has destroyed a whole city.' I
don't believe it, I thought, but hell I hope it's true. I
haven't altered my attitude since. An invasion of Japan is too
horrible to contemplate.
But
back to the Japanese. To the World Contest at Waikerie also
came a group of World aircraft designers to hold their
conference. There are vineyards round Waikerie and some have
large well supplied cellars where people are encourages to
come and partake. I found myself there getting quite merry
with, of all people, a group of Japanese aircraft
designers. Orientals look ageless but three were a little
younger than I was and a few were definitely older. The three
had good English. Yes ... the war. The three had been trained
as infantry but I gathered, did not reach combat. But there
they were marching up and down with imaginary fixed
bayonets. I had been (non combat) infantry before the
RAAF and it struck me that while we would crouch to advance
these Japanese straightened themselves up. Yes, I flew
Mosquitoes in Burma! One of the older ones said,
‘We made a copy of the Mosquito but didn't get a
chance to try it. Unfortunately the war ended.'
I didn't take him up on 'unfortunately.' At this stage
I thought I could mention their Japanese pilot whose name we
couldn't pronounce so we called him Kamikaze.
The
reaction was surprising ... almost a chorus.
'Oh no no he's not like oh no not like that at all’.
And from us it was a sort of a compliment.
Literature has perhaps denigrated that group but with
both the atom bomb and the Kamikaze - my opinions remain
unaltered.
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