After a one-year break, this year the National Gliding Championship was held again between July 28th and August 2nd.

The event was hosted by Aeroclub Ruse, and the base airport was Shtraklevo – Ruse

The opening…

… of the championship was marked by a grand air show organized by Aeroclub Ruse and the municipality of Ruse, with the assistance of numerous sponsors and the Bulgarian National Aero Club.

Numerous aircraft were exhibited, and the most interesting part of the opening were the aerial demonstrations of acrobatic flights by the Romanian Aeroclub.

This year’s championship also included two guests from Romania, which managed to increase the number of participants to 7.

The first days of the championship were unfortunately marked by strong winds and storm clouds. The official training day was canceled due to strong winds, and the first competition day, July 27, was converted into a training day due to the low height of the thermal layer and unfavorable conditions for flights.

The first competition day was July 31

An “hourglass” type task was set with control zones and a maximum distance of 131 km.

Unfortunately, poor weather conditions and increasing wind prevented the task from being completed. However, the nominal criteria for a successful task were met and the day was considered.

In first place for the day was Bogdan Iorga from Romania with 103 km, and in the Bulgarian nationals – Ivelin Kalushkov – 53 km.

The second official competition day was August 1st

A classic competition task was set – 201km FAI triangle.

The conditions started with strong thermals and well-developed cumulus clouds, but upon reaching the 2nd point – Blagoevo – 3 of the competitors fell into extensive shading and had to land at Blagoevo airport.

Despite the difficult conditions, however, the task was successfully completed as the first for the day in the overall was again Bogdan Iorga with an average speed of 96.7 km/h, and 3rd in the overall and 1st among the Bulgarians was Nikolay Stoyanov with a speed of 76.4 km/h.

The third and last flying day was August 2nd.

The weather forecast predicted good conditions with the possibility of an early start.

A competition task was set from a polygon with 5 control points with small zones and a total distance of 222 km.

The conditions were extremely good with a cloud base over 2000m and thermals of over 5 m/s The race was extremely tight until the last moment, and the competitors managed to achieve average speeds above or close to 100 km/h

First for the day in the overall standings was Matei Vasilescu from Romania with an average speed of 111.6 km/h. First for the Bulgarians and 2nd in the overall standings for the day was Ivelin Klaushkov with an average speed of 100.8 km/h

Since the task was fast and the conditions were still strong, the Romanian participants – Matei and Bogdan decided to relocate by air to Topolveni where the annual Topolveni Cup competition was starting.

In the final overall standings, first place was for Bogdan Iorga from Romania with a DG200 aircraft and a total of 1318 points. Second was Matei Vasilescu from Romania with Discus B and 1252 points, and in third place was Ivelin Kalushkov from Bulgaria with Standart Astir II and 1184 points.

In the national ranking, the members of the Skynomad – Avium club took the top spot. In first place – Ivelin Kalupkov, followed by Nikolay Stoyanov in second place and in third – Samuil Kazakov

Congratulations to the champions and the organizers of the event!