Today was WGC2021’s first scheduled contest day.  95 gliders were duly assembled, ballasted with water (except for Club class, where disposable ballast is not allowed) and gridded at the north end of our 6300 ft runway, promptly by 11:30.  The weather, predicted to be unfavorable early but clearing by mid-afternoon, was not equally prompt:  Low cloud and occasional isolated rain showers persisted through 16:00, leading to the cancellation of tasks for all three classes.  We will try again tomorrow.

Waterballast is an issue at most gliding contests, and WGC2021 is certainly no exception.  A typical modern glider in Standard or 15-Meter class may carry upwards of 180 liters (48 gallons) of water, weighing close to 400 pounds.  It sounds strange that pilots of motorless aircraft should be interested in carrying the weight of a large man in each wing, but on a strong day the extra weight can improve speeds when gliding (always at some cost in achieved climb rate when circling in lift).  It’s normal to launch with plenty of water, as it can easily be dumped if conditions are – or become -weak.

Sixty gliders consuming this much water a day adds up to a lot during a 2-week contest.  And here there’s no system of water pipes or hoses to deliver water to gliders.  Instead, parked between two hangars is a huge water bladder (said to be designed for large-scale firefighting).  It looked full to near bursting when we arrived a week ago; a label on it says that it holds 240 cubic meters of water.  That’s over 63,000 gallons, weighing well over a half-million pounds. Each day a generous quantity is decanted into several 1000-liter cubes mounted on trucks, which transport these to distribution points.  Crews then arrive with buckets to haul water to their gliders (a full load is almost always several trips).

Also conspicuous at Montluçon-Guéret airport is a large array of solar panels – my rough estimate says about 15 acres worth.  We all hope that the energy harvested there increases – it can’t have been much during the past week.

Local supermarkets seem to have about the size and layout of those at home, but some differences are evident.  Selection and prices in the wine aisles (there will typically be several) are impressive – as are the standards for quality and variety in the fresh produce area (the lettuce looks like it has been set out for the judging finals at a high-level gardeners’ competition).  In keeping with France’s reputation, the variety and prices for cheese border on the absurd: in a bog-standard supermarket yesterday I saw at least 100 varieties for sale (more than a few of which are raw-milk cheeses, which the U.S. forbids from entry).

Our contest site is actually about 25 km WSW of the city of Montluçon.  The airfield bears the name Montluçon-Guéret,

– John Good