VGC News/Newsletters - Lakes Gliding Club

C. Witls writes: ..... When OY-MUX is ai/worthy. it will be
one ofonly two ofthe original 1938 Mii J3D·ls that have survived
to fly again. The other belongs to Fran~ois Ragot and it
has been flying from Saint Auban in France, where it was
restored. One other Mu 13D-l exists but this one; which was
previously owned and flown by our German VGC member
Ernst Waiter, is now on static exhibition in the German
Gliding Museum on Ihe Wasserkuppe. It has been magnificently
restored to original form. One other Mu 13D exists in
the Polish Air Museum near Krakow. It is not known whether
this is {j D-I or a D-3 He believes that the German Gliding
Museum on the Wasserkuppe does hold the drawing plans of
the Mii 13D-1
FINNISH NEWS
Art~tic Oystery 2·5 April 1999 (Easter Weekend) is of
course all aviation event We fly from an airfield which is
r50km 101lg! Yes, that'S right, 150 km! It means trhe Paijanne
Lake, one of the biggest lakes in Finland, t50km north of
Helsinki and 50km north of olJr home town Lahti. Padasjoki
Harbollris our base. We have winter hangars there along the
shore. We fly by using winch launch and aerotowing, also
towing by car. The pilots WIDe from Jyvaskyla, Helsinki,
Hyvinkaa, Kouvola and also from Padasjoki: and Lahti. We are
doing this for the first time as alil event. Of course we have
fl@wn there for many years but now we are trying t€l develop
firstly a national event and if we have fun and it seems to be
an event worth pursueing j,t might some day be an international
event (maybe this year if Ian Dunkley goes, ).
In the beginning of April the ice is thickest (50-60cm) and
the weather should be rather warm (in the morning -to and in
the afternoon +5 +10) and it's very common, that sun is
shining. The days last twelve hours or something. It seems so,
Ihat we live on the shore next tt) our hangar ill little wooden
houses.
Mostly we only ,fly but we have also other activities as aviation
films in local cinema and cooking sausages on a camp
fire and drinking heavy tea and other refreshments.
As I said, we can get heights of IOOOm, maybe more, by
lIsing our 2000m wire winch launch. Sometimes if the wind
blows from the right direction there's a possibility to do ridge
flying.
But as always the main thing is to have fun with good old
and new friends.
Risto
FRENCH NEWS
The Groupement Preservation Patrimoine Aeronautique
D'Anjou (GPPA), 01' the Regional Musee de L' Air, has moved
to its new airfield at ANGERS-MARCE. The Deputy Mayor
of Angers Avrille organized a farewell celebration on the airfield
ofAvrille 011 the 15th July L998 and thus ended a 90 year
page of history of Angevin aViation. Angers Avril!e is to be
built on. When the French State requires such an operation to
close, it fS obliged to find the organizations on it a new home
and has just built them a new airfield I On the 12th September
1998, before an immense crowd of between 20 & 30.000
people, which had come for the day to view the new installations,
the aerodrome ofAngers-Marce was inaugurated. There
were the official speeches followed by a Vjn d'Honneur in the
ultra modern buildings of the GPPA's Musee de I' Air
Regional. On the following day. the entire GPPA team worked
to install its material and to collect all its aircraft etc which had
been stored on var,ious airfields. The aim was to get it all presentable
and on exhibition for the Spring of 1999. The GPPA's
WEIHE was classed as a h'storical monument and of value to
the National Aeronautkal heritage. As such, it was plaoed on
static exhibition on the Champs-Elysees for three weeks, to
celebrate theWOtih Anniversary of the Aero nub de France!
This was organized by tile Historic Monument Commission
on the 25th June ~ 998.
On the 7th June, the FAI offered tbe GPPA a "Diplome de
Groupe" as, during the sarne month, the French Ministry of
Culture had declared the GPPA's WElHE to be a Historical
Monument!
The third Emouchet that has been restored by the GPPA at
Angers and has now flown
GERMAN NEWS
A message has been received from Siegfried Lorenz that the
phenomenal progress on the REIHER 3 project has been continued.
5 or 6 m€n are working on ,the Reiher and they have
said that it could be finished early in 1999. If true, it will have
taken only 1 1 /2 years to build the new project. This is no doubt
largely due to the complete dossier, which includes 240 drawings;
which Siegfried has produced. The report in the last
VGC News No.95 was therefore pessimistic and, by the time
this is in prim, the Reiher may well be ready. Perhaps we shall
see it at Aventoft We have heard also during November 1998
that OTTO GRAU had a crash in his new Rhonsperber, which
he had buila himself. The reason for the crash waS in no way
due to the air.craft. At Christmas Olto w.rote that he was
making good pl'Ogress towards recovery, but that the
Rhonsperber would take rather longer to recover. The crash
happened shortly after take off during early November, but it
is not known what kind of launch it was having. The
RhOnsperber, we believe, suffered damage back to the wing
I€ading edges. We send alto sincere wishes for his complete
recovery.
Oldtimer SegelfleugVerein Munchen (Munich). This was
started on Munich Greiling near Tolz, 10 years ago with an
Mg 19A built in 1954 and a GRUNAU BABY 28 built in
1952. Now the Group owns 10 basically 6verhauled vintage
gBders, among which are an SG.38, from 1942 and a
GOEVrER 3 from 1953. Only 5 of this type are left. At this
time, the Group is, building a replica UDET FLAMINGO U 12
biplane, ffflm the original I 920s plans. It .s to be fi Ited with its
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