1. The World Women's Gliding Championship staged at Lake Keepit in Australia concluded on January 17 leaving a rather nasty taste in the mouths of 9 of the 10 competing countries.

2 A collective protest from team managers saw the International Jury penalise all Australian pilots with 250 points each, materially affecting the final placings in the championships.

3. The Gliding Federation of Australia appointed a legal/knowledgeable pilot to carry out an investigation of their behalf. The 16 page report has been released with the conclusion that an appeal against the Jury decision is unlikely to be successful and so now world gliding has to wait for any advancement on the Australian policy or whether the situation is being accepted and they now move on. Officially Australia has penalised the officials involved with a severe five year restriction on activities.

4. Well meaning Australian pilots have been extremely vocal on their web site with a multitude of postings, some particularly nasty.

5. Since January 17, Gliding International has recorded all events, all emails, all reports and the adjudicators analysis. Gliding International having followed the unprecedented scene covers it in considerable detail, highlighting some of the emails posted. The jury report and the investigators report are in our 18 page article on the episode. The magazine is totally non judgmental on events. Only reporting known facts.

The issue also carries the stories on

* Schleicher new AS33
• Remarkable test flights of replica Wright Brothers Glider, and the Lilienthal Glider. Both flown together in Germany
• Airbus announce a new wing design
• How the Bush-fires in Australia are affecting gliding.
• Do you know why Glider wingspans are measured in metres?
• And an aircraft is being built with a totally new base material. First one half built. This is a scoop!
• Washington State University have announced that small manufacturing changes can double the life/power/storage of an existing battery. This is the break-through we have all been waiting for.

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