151 COMPETITORS THE LARGEST GLIDING CONTEST IN THE
PRIBINA CUP 2009
Polish pilot Sebastian Kawa is currently number two on the IGC world rankings. Kawa won the inaugural International Grand Prix held in New Zealand in 2007, his mountain flying skills are second to none. Flying his rather unusual Diana 2 with its side stick, he is off to a good start for the European summer soaring season with a win at the Pribina Cup in Slovakia. In an exclusive report for SoaringNZ Kawa shares his experiences flying in the world’s largest gliding contest.
Where I fly in Poland in the Beskid mountains we envy the condi-
this small local event into the largest competition in the world. When
tions of our neighbours just over our southern border in Slovakia.
the number of competitors exceeded 120, Vladimir (working now as
When the flat lands are blue, in the mountains you can get great
a Flight Safety Inspector with the Slovak authorities) found a way to
cumulus streets with cloud bases at 11-12,000 ft. The mountains
manage this competition safely. Minimum bureaucracy, organisers
begin to rise in southern Poland and get higher as you head south.
that know most of the competitors by name, good flying conditions
The first time I was in Slovakia I flew the Club Class European
and safe landout fields this year attracted 151 competitors.
Championships in Dubnica in 1994. I was delighted with thermals The Pribina Cup is held at Nitra only 200 km south of Poland and up to 12,000 feet over the Tatra Mountains, Germany. A barrier of mountains causes small airspace restrictions and a combithe place to get spring conditions nearly nation of great mountainous thermals and a month earlier than us as the sun warms How do you fly in such a big wide valleys with nation sized huge fields. Europe gradually from Spain and Italy to event where there are It gave me a taste of what mountain flying Scandinavia. This is the first possibility could be, one you could not get in Poland. sixty-three gliders in one class? close to Poland to participate in a compeThe Mountains Cup in Slovakia opened a tition with good conditions. Even more, small gate based on bilateral cooperation this year’s spring was exceptional giving a for flights over Slovakia before we joined possibility of uninterrupted weeks of flying in four subsequent gliding the European community but for a great adventure I returned to events in the area – but the Pribina Cup is the first and the biggest. In Slovakia in 2003 to the Pribina cup in Nitra and have done so nearly Nitra only one day out of eight had to be cancelled. each year since then. How do you fly in such a big event where there are sixty-three The spiritus movens of this competition is Vladimir Foltin my
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former rival from Dubnica. Foltin has managed over the years to turn
10
June 2009
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gliders in one class? The airfield is split into two separate grids, one
