by : Doug Jacobs

Ray and Ruth Gimmey and I were part of the pre-Worlds in South Africa, held in the back two weeks of December with a week’s practice period before. I could only be there for 7 contest days, Ray stayed until the end with sightseeing before and after. All went at personal expense. We showed up the day before the contest began, were flying rental ships (Ray had an LS-8 without trailer, I had an old 20B in serious need of refinishing, radio squelch that would turn off, and a functional total energy system), and generally were pretty disorganized for the first week trying to sort everything out. Our scores reflected such, but we both felt we climbed a pretty steep learning curve and were very glad to have attended. With the right planning and equipment, and especially with our Team’s experience in the American Southwest, we both felt there was no reason we couldn’t do very well here next year. A trip to Uvalde in August, perhaps on an organized basis to practice as a Team, would make a lot of sense. Below, a lengthy compendium of observations and opinions put together to try to help the rest of the Team who couldn’t be there. Ray should feel free to add or correct anything he saw differently, and will be back in mid-January.

The contest area is bordered by Botswana on the north, where tasks will not be set due to border crossing difficulties. If you land there, you can come back, but not the glider – a bad choice. To the east in the distance is Johannesburg /Pretoria, and for air traffic reasons, as well as weaker conditions there, the organizers are reluctant to set tasks in that direction. Therefore almost all flying will be in the SSE to WNW quadrant from Mafiking. Final glides will almost always be from the southwest, with a steering point of a 1km circle centered on the Mmbatho Dam, a few miles to the southwest, meaning not much of a deviation from normal final glide unless coming from the extreme southeastern part of the contest area.

Again, very like Uvalde although noticeably weaker. While the typical weather was mostly hot and dry, during our stay and reportedly last year, the contest area got more rain and moisture than generally. The major weather phenomenon seems to be a classic Texas dry line oriented northwest- southeast with dry and strong soaring conditions to the south and moist over development-prone air to the north. The line, unfortunately, tends to pass back and forth over Mafikeng, and the area is often in the northern more tropical air. Along the convergence line, high cloud and overdevelopment tends to occur with lots of thunderstorm activity. We also saw lots of other associated convergence lines forming in odd directions, generally cross wind, between air masses. This was fine if pointing on course but on either side the zone tended to rob the local area of energy such that long glides were required to reach more distant cu’s across blue areas. Under good cu, lift was strong in the 5-8 knot range, again much like Uvalde, and cloud bases were in the 12,000 foot range. Reportedly they can get up to 17,000 on very good days but we saw nothing like that. However, when we were there we found the cu’s to be highly variable – lots of very good looking clouds with nothing under them. I’d say less than one in three worked, and they seemed to cycle very quickly such that if you ran for them low, you often found nothing. Also common were wind shift changes with altitude. Lower down the wind seemed northerly, at altitude westerly, and the best lift seemed to be on the southeast side of the cu’s. Go figure.

The blue areas have much weaker lift to 8-10,000, in the 1-3 knot range, and blue lift and sink streets aligned along the wind direction were common. The dirt fields seemed to be better lift generators low than the green areas, and in the good parts of the sky dust devils were common coming off them. Overall, the conditions were therefore highly variable – it was common to scream along in some parts of the sky and scratch low and weak in others, again driven by the various convergence lines and high cloud cover.

Generally the lift was reported to be much weaker when we were there than normally. However, I heard lots of comments about similar conditions during this time of the year, and many South African pilots felt that a month earlier for the comps would have been a better choice, again because of the dry line movement south over the course of their summer. Thinking that strong lift was up ahead tended to get you low, slow, and very frustrated with having traveled 16,000 miles round trip for a knot and a half. We should be thinking weak, as well as strong weather when we come next year.

We had a mixture of 182’s, a Pawnee, and one overmatched Super Cub doing the honors, seven in all I think. The field got off very well in under an hour but with only 45 gliders. Tow speeds were fast at 80 knots, so you tended to fly over the boonies at low altitudes initially, but a rope break would be easily handled because of the length of the runway initially and a quick turn back at higher altitudes. In the direction we towed, down 04, there were several landable fields straight ahead and to the left. Towing was to 1500-1700 ft above field, and the tow pilots were pretty good at finding thermals and working them, so you tended to be dropped off in lift right away. We towed on tower frequency 119.3, then switched to the general flying frequency of 134.8 for contest announcements and landing. Team frequencies were assigned, but many were in the 136 range.

There were a collection of six start points in three ranges – A1, A2, B1,B2, etc. Each pilot, along with a grid position, was given a slip of paper listing whether his start point was the A, B, or C range for that day. You got to pick whether you started from 1 or 2, and had to report which one when you logged in at the end of the day. Therefore pilots in the same class could be starting from any of six turnpoints, designed to spread out the field and prevent gaggling. You had to call back your start time within 15 minutes. We also were assigned a maximum altitude for the start.

We had a mixture of classic speed tasks, and a new type of task called a defined area tasks. In the latter case, two areas were defined with radials stretching out in two directions for a defined distance that looked like slices of a pie on the task sheets. We also had a task one day with a defined circle around the turnpoint of 20 km. The object was to achieve a GPS point in each. We were given a minimum time, such that if you came home before that, your distance achieved was divided by the minimum time, reducing your speed. Your distance was figured by the GPS points achieved within the defined area, which gave you the maximum distance/speed. Therefore you didn’t have to go anywhere near the actual turnpoints, just have a GPS fix somewhere in the defined area. As a result, you could go to the best looking part of the sector, and avoid any problem areas that might be present anywhere else in the sector..

Scoring was also a little confusing, because it is not apparent to the pilot which points gave the best distance/speed equation – this was done automatically by the scoring software. Also, speed was much more heavily weighted than completing the task – 80/20 I believe. As a result, it was actually possible for a pilot with a high speed who landed out to beat a very slow finisher – something that everyone found confusing and controversial. Generally I liked the task because of the freedom in choosing where you turned, avoiding the bad areas and flying in the best part of the sky, and staying out longer than the minimum time wasn’t a problem and is similar to our PST type task.

Both the Dutch and French teams were active team flyers, the latter equipped with two Duo Discuses shipped down from St. Auban, and flying in the 15 Meter class. Overall, this seemed to work well for the Dutch in the Standard Class, but not so much for the French, perhaps because they kept changing pilots around. With weak, hard to find lift, two gliders flying wing on wing should have a better chance of hitting something; the technique is to turn away from your teammate when first encountering a thermal to center more quickly. In practice, unless perfectly harmonized, you either get in each other’s way or get too far apart and have to deal with the “Should I wait” question. Pilots without teammates were also consistent winners, such as New Zealand’s John Coutts, so that it wasn’t clear which was the better technique. My impression was that, as always, lots and lots of practice together could yield a benefit, but that without it the effort of coordination and constant communication would probably be a drag on performance.

A fair number of strips and airports are scattered around the contest, and aero retrieves are available from them. If the pilot goes down in a field ok for towing, an aero retrieve is also possible after the pilot lands and confirms the quality of the field. There are lots of fields, and the area is generally landable, but thinly populated in many areas. We were strongly advised to try to land near farm buildings as the best chance to find some hospitality. The farmers, mostly white South Africans of Afrikaner descent, were described as amazingly hospitable and friendly people, although not always fluent in English. I got a great reception from one four generation family, and I whiled away the hours waiting for my crew very pleasantly in their back yard, drinking beer, and learning a lot about dry land farming and the geography of the area. All, including great-grandma, mustered in the field around the glider when the time came, and I was back in the box in a jiffy.

There are also many settlements populated by poorer South Africans living in primitive conditions where, if landing nearby, we were told we could be sure of hundreds of curious people and a real problem with the security of the glider, mostly from curiosity, but also occasionally theft. We were advised in these circumstances to stay with the glider at all times.

The four main organizers are Dick Bradley, Brian and Gillian Spreckly, and Carol Clifford. They are all very competent but seem to lack a large number of volunteers. Besides the country having a relatively thin population, the gliding community in South Africa is pretty small – there are only about 500 gliders in the country. Mafeking is also somewhat remote from the Johannesburg area, where half the gliders are based at nearby Magalisburg. Brian and Gill really started gliding at Mafikeng six years with European vacationers coming down in the winter, and a local gliding movement really hasn’t sprung up around them. Despite this, the last several South African nationals have been flown here with good results. However, this means the organizers are struggling with volunteers from the local community with little experience, and not enough of them. In certain cases, Europeans will be drafted to help, such as with scoring by the Finns and French help in the office this year. While I have no doubt that the primary organization, especially the task setting, will perform admirably, I think this will be a bare bones Worlds as to the frills.

Shipping gliders will be our biggest headache and cost since there are very few quality ships available for rent – prices of gliders in South Africa work out to five or six times the average annual salary for people with good jobs. There are also no RO/RO ships that travel here, so containerization appears to be the only option. er the information we received in the flyers this year, shipping should be to Durban where the containers would be loaded on trucks and delivered to Mafeking – a crane is available in town to off-load the containers at the airfield. The organizers have lined this up with a minimum of cost and paperwork so long as the gliders leave the country again in 90 days.

Overall, this is going to be a huge challenge and cost a lot. I would recommend that we try to find and assign somebody now who is willing to work early and hard on this problem, both shipping arrangements and engineering.

I flew with South African Airways on a 747 from JFK direct Johannesburg, although we had to make a stop at the Cape Verde Islands for 45 minutes on the way home for fuel. Service was excellent, the equipment was a 747 SP but the flights are very long – upwards of 14 hours to, 16 hours back. You can also fly through Atlanta for a slightly shorter leg, or through London with four or five hours of layover.

Unlike other parts of the world, you can get a rental car fitted with a hitch here through Avis, although Ray had to do some negotiating when he showed up at the counter – he had email confirmation with him and eventually they relented. He had to pay an extra charge for the hitch installation. Another source mentioned by the organizers is Imperial Car Rental.

Cell service is pretty good. Generally, calls within South Africa worked pretty well when dialing from the hotel. There is also an ATT local number which gets you directly to the States for calls back home –you just dial the States number and then an ATT calling card or credit card and you get right through. I was also able to connect over the internet through my computer, although getting through the hotel switchboard was a bit of a trick – I had to go to the hotel business office and plug in there.

We stayed at the Mmabatho Tusk hotel. It is very nice, comparable to Western hotels, has a large interior courtyard pool, two restaurants a gambling casino of Carson Valley Inn ilk, and a disco. The latter was loud as you got near it but if we get rooms in the quiet wing on the opposite side, there wasn’t a noise problem. Rooms have TV and air conditioning. It seems to be the closest nice hotel but the drive to the airport is still 20-30 minutes through an unbelievable number of stop signs.

The town is a curious combination of ramshackle settlements and very nice areas. Several hotels and guesthouses we visited are very nice, and there seems to 5-8 good restaurants and a couple of fast food places. There are two nice shopping centers, one (Mega City) with a big supermarket that was very well stocked by American standards. The people were very friendly and welcoming, but we were cautioned generally in South Africa to take nothing for granted, lock cars, keep valuables out of sight, and maintain a good perimeter sweep when out and about. I never had any problems, and Ray and Ruth raved about how well they were treated on their more extensive tour of the country.

Power is 220 with plugs like I’ve never seen before, but plug converters to the European two round prong standard were readily available. Therefore your charging combination consisted of an adapter, a 220/110 converter and your plug, making an impressive array sticking out of the wall but it seemed to work fine. I did melt down several off the shelf converters, so will go with quality next time.

Weather on the ground very hot so lots of liquid consumption is the order of the day. Two liter water bottles were available in all the stores, and I bought six at a time. We should plan to bring lots of water on board the gliders, as was recommended by the organizers. Hats are a must, those working on their tans will be very happy. The hotels and guest houses all had pools, although the only large one was at the Tusk.

Prices are very cheap once you get here – a dollar goes a long way. Dinner at the hotel was about 50 Rand, or less than $8 per head. Prices elsewhere even at the nicest restaurants rarely topped $10. There are several well-equipped gas stations in town selling both gas and diesel.

Driving is on the left. The roads are mostly two lane paved country roads with not much traffic. Signs tended to direct you to towns, rather than by the number of the road on the map.


Images courtesy - Gyps Africanus Management and Doug Jacobs