Mette

...several pretty girls in department, pretty girls in adjacent departments, a good boss, good salary, office with direct view to ocean (less than 10 m.), free coffee, often cake because of birthdays etc., breakfast in office every friday, benefits for private telephone and discounts in supermarket, pension and insurance arrangements ......besides, the gliding here in Denmark is a true challenge, if you can work out how to fly here, you can work it out in the rest of the world too :rolleyes: Mette NB: There is the hatch that it is actually hard work......and everyone has to do a personality and logical test to be taken into consideration English is main language, possibility to be stationed in other parts of the world later on, many foreign employees (fx. from China and England) (but I suppose it is like that in most oil companies around the world...)

Hi Y'All My boss is desperately searching for new people to join the Risk Assessment group in a middle sized oil & gas company. Since the person will get the desk next to me it would be e real benifit if it was a glider pilot :lol: If you are an engineer (f.x. chemical, mechanical, structural, oil/gas or alike) dreaming to fly helicopters over dark and dreadfully cold water to off-shore installations and at the same time work for improving the safety and implement new safety features in the production it may be something for you. You can write me for further contact info on xealsoaring @ hotmail.com (Experienced risk assessors can expect headhunting). best wishes Mette

....allright allrigt allright I cannot tell you all that is known, until the police have solved the matter, but the main lines are: The glider was found in Eastern Europe. It is not suspected that it was stolen for the purpose of gliding, but either for selling it or transporting "something" in it. This is just suspecions. The glider is in the trailer undamaged, and appearently nothing is removed. The finder wishes to remain anonymous, since he was fearing for his life to go take the evidence picture of the trailer. When it was discovered, the gliding community of the given country acted promptly and arranged the police to retrieve it. No one is happy that it was found in their particular country, but everybody is happy that it was found. The glider is now caranteened by Interpol and probably not be released until July, so until then it remains unclear why it was stolen. A lot of analysis can be done on this and suggestions as to how and why, but I have to shut up until the glider is back. NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK Mette

Glider Found !!! :2ieme: Details of the encredible story to follow when released by the police Mette

Dear Gliding Friends Monday April 23th a Discus 2b in its trailer was stolen from the Danish National gliding centre in Arnborg as presented above. If you are offered to buy this glider or any of the items listed below or if you see it on the road or hear about it anywhere else, please contact owner Jan Fahlgren on phone +45 20162333 (English or German) or me on emailadress xealsoaring@hotmail.com (English, German, French, if you write in Russian, Polish, Checz or alike, I’ll find somebody to translate it so don’t hesitate) Please forward this message to all your gliding friends and publish it on your national websites/forum. Significant reward for the piece of information that brings home the glider. Details: Glider: Discus 2b Serial no. 103 Danish register: OY-JXM, competition letters: 2F (if this is done by professionals it is probably already repainted!) Trailer: Spindelberger Cobra White, red wheel covers. No fender lists on the side Serial no. W092106COY5522749 Danish license plates: HS 9313 (probably not on any longer) “2F” competition letters on the fin with black letters (Has probably been removed, but it should be possible to see shades of it) Instruments: Electronical vario: Fliser LX 5000(FAI), serial no. 12520 Mechanical vario: Winter 5stvm, serial no. 67530 Radio: Becker AR4201, serial no. 6819 Transponder: Becker 220, serial no. 4401-1-175 Other: Covers: Jaxida, marked with 2F Seatbelts: Schroth serial no. 4.01.125606 Best wishes Mette Pedersen

Dear Jocelyn (and everybody else) Excuse me for replying in English. The subject you rise here is very sensitive. Sensitive because many, many clichés floats about the women in gliding , and it is often being discussed in very black/white terms. All the grey shades seem to be overseen. I have been spending the past 3 years trying to animate the girls in my club, in the neighbour clubs and all the other flying girls in both Denmark and in fact also in Sweden to try cross country and maybe to pass on to competition. It is not working. They simply don’t want to. I have also found girls who have stopped flying to try to find out why. I have been gathering information about their background for flying and I have been listening to their arguments for and against . Facts are that very few women are interested in flying from childhood on, and only a tiny percentage of these flying girls are interested in competing in gliders. Why? Inferiority complexes . It seems like the few of us who has been competing against men in ordinary competitions for more than a decade are made of something different than other girls . Not particularly tougher or more cool, but rather more stubborn and determined, and first of all not willingly to compromise . This is not all positive since it represents a true challenge in maintaining a marriage/personal relationship The national competitions just for women are attempts to attract a group of pilots who most likely would never dare to jump into an ordinary competition, although I’d bet that they could do just as well as the men . This is a very difficult thing to debate, because the group of pilot we try to attract by this is not participating in the debate . The debate is, as always in political issues, lead by the more experienced, who have often forgotten how it was to be a rookie, and due to the XX/XY distribution in our sport they have never tried to be a female rookie . I find it too black/white to just claim that there is no argument for discussing the issue of why we scare away so many girls along the way. You may ask why it is so important to get more women into competitions. Personally I think it is important because it raises the general level of experience, which is needed on every level of the gliding sport. Without experience the risk of accidents increases, speaking on a general level. Usually my argumentation for this takes 8 power point slides and 45 minutes, but I will leave it at this. The female championships are not goals in themselves , but rather means to attract more pilots of a certain group and get them hooked and get them moved on to the ordinary nationals :rolleyes: . Best wishes Mette Schmeltz Pedersen (Female glider pilot, usually competing on national level in Denmark; have realised that the "sisterhood" among gliderpilots all over Europe is amazing) NB: There were actually 3 women competing in Sweden, besides Yvonne Schwarz from Switzerland, Alena Netusilova from Czech Republic, who did some very nice flying in the 15m class. The Czech Republic has always been one of the most numerous competitors at the Women’s World, and has, due to the pilot’s development from this, recently had exceptionally many women on their “real” national team. At the EGC in Lithuania in 2004 3 of their 8 competitors were women. This is not a goal in it self but a sign of a healthy development. The third girl was flying co-pilot in the Hungarian ASH25, but unfortunately I don’t know her name.

Hi For the exact purpose we have made the calender on www.schwencke.dk/xeal, you can find dates and links for both 2005 and 2006, although the links for 2006 are scarce for the moment. The calendar is up-dated regularily. Best wishes Mette Sorry, the direkt link is: http://schwencke.dk/xeal/calendar/calendar_2006.htm Mette

..so if Arek, Eric or Bruce Taylor would please win the Sailplane GP, the ASW 27 will hold all possible, international titles at the same time.... Mette

Can anyone enlighten me on the French abbrievations for silver, gold and diamond badges? Just curious... Mette

Thanks http://www.aeroteam.de/wettbewerbe/wwgc2005/fotos/13.08.05/mini-P8130050.JPG We also won the Nations Cup Trophee : http://www.aeroteam.de/wettbewerbe/wwgc2005/fotos/13.08.05/mini-P8130063.JPG Mette

You are 13000 glider pilots in France! Are you telling me that you cannot dig up 6 or 9 qualified competition pilots? The competitors list for this years competition is not too big….mainly because the Western countries seems to be boycotting it (www.wwcg2005.de). ________________________________________________________________ Some time ago Somebody planted the idea of Womens Worlds in my head. He was French. Some other time, when I lived I Germany, I was one evening discussing the subject with some German guy, claiming to be Coach. He said that my arguments for not participating in the womens worlds were weak and basicly he was convinced that I was just afraid to be measured with other women. (It must be a German invention in the first place. In Germany they also have special parking places for women…whether it is to favour the women or protect the men and their cars, I don’t know.) Now, when I have finally taken the chance to fly such a competition, many people call me a fool…..thanks. ________________________________________________________________ I see the Women WGC as a step on the latter ; a possibility to gain experience abroad and it is definitely better training than to endlessly fly the nationals in my home country, which can be done for years without any changes, due to our system. If more French girls had this opportunity I think you would see surprises at your nationals in the years to come (the exact same thing goes for the Danish system! And Swedish! And Norwegian! And probably a whole lot of other systems). Of course this would give an unfair advantage in comparison to the large male majority (who would then be left hopelessly behind? ), but if it could do something to maintain or raise the number of glider pilots nationally and world wide, who cares then? The Elite can’t exist without the Breadth, and the Breadth can’t exist witout the Elite. :lol: ________________________________________________________________ It is not all too late, Napoleon, Lauga, and the rest of the lot in the selection comitée; 31st of March is the deadline, and I could, seriously, use a trustworthy partner in the 15m class . The competition, at least in this class, will definetly not be inferior ; with Netusilova and Treslova in front of the Czech team it won’t be easy to get in the top. Netusilova was 10th in Lituania last year . _________________________________________________________________ For 2007 I personally try to prevent my participation by being either qualified for the EGC in Issoudun or pregnant, but if these plans A and B fail it is not out of the question. BUT: We are some girls here on the stormy shores of Scandinavia, which try to organise a development program with the only goal to qualify more pilots for this competition. It will definetly not be easy, but the competition is scheduled and I find boycott a destructive attitude for our sport in general . In this context we must urge Bailleau to keep the costs down . The costs of 2005 in Klix are just to the upper limit of what people want to pay. Mette

Hi. Somebody has been stupid enough to steal an empty trailer from a Norwegian club. It has been reported to the police, but they expect that the trailer is out of the country. White Cobra Trailer for ASK 21 (2002/2003), Norwegian registration BR 4541, boogie. (picture on www.dsvu.dk/marked/marked.html) Be aware if this is offered to you and pass on the message. Best wishes and cool climbs Mette

Yo Benj, it gets better and better every time I see it. Mette

I don't care whether the juniors go or not, I am just passing on the message. Besides it might be interesting for junior pilots NOT selected for your national team, I believe that counts quite a few. ms ya Mette

Extended International Competition Calendar for 2005 available on www.schwencke.dk/xeal , Sports Calendar 2005. Fly Safe Mette NB Organisers of the Czech junior nationals are interested in inviting foreign juniors, please contact me for further.

It is not one article, but rather a series of short articles. The conclusion is (of course, politically correct) that women fly just as ba as men, but the analysis I think is made up by cliches and used arguments. Personally I think the real answer is that the statistical basis for judging women is not there since the number of women with a license at all is too small to be representative compared with the men. No, but Jutta, the goal is not to Not end up in the sad end, but rather to Do end up in the good end. Anyway, in Bailleau I did not do my best, so I think we should count it out. I totally agree, I call it the most important error on the XX-chromosomes. It counts not just the fears in fligt, but also concerns on the airfield and on a team. Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus is actually not so stupid when it comes to explain the difference in our behaviour. It doesn't give solutions, but it explains. I suggested that this should be mandatory reading on our instructors course , but for some reason (...) it was dismissed. I partly agree. It depends. Some girls are like this, they never make it to a championship. Other girls are still careful, but also have a great need to prove towards themselves that they have the value. Big time. They make it to the championships but are always placed low, because of this pressure they put on themselves, at least until they have a whole lot more routine than their competitors. The same thing happens to the careful men. Jutta, and every other girl on this forum who has kids, please tell me: What happens to the head of us when we get children, why is the performance gene repressed and why is it so easy for us to accept that He flies and We guard the children. I have a very understanding husband, but I can imagine what happens the moment I say " Darling, can you take the baby for the holidays, I have a championship to fly? I will be gone for 3 weeks, the refrigiator is full, any questions?". Best regards and just a final underlining that I have never claimed women to fly worse, just asked the question to have a little discussion. Mette Besides I shoud correct and apologize for the great error made in my first message, Women of course Do and not Does. My English teacher in high school will beat me for that. Sorry.

Noooo, arh, okay of course it is a provocation. The question is rather retorical. And of course I believe 100% that women are capable of performing to the same extend as men, otherwise I would not be spending all that money, all that time and all that effort. But are men and women equal in sports when it comes to strong minds? I would love to say YES, but think about this: One of the only other sports that I can think of where men and women are competing together is riding (dressage, showjumping, 3-day-event). The vast majority of riders on lower levels are women, I am not sure of the figures, but I have read that in Europe it is about 85%. On top level the percentage of women is less than 15%. Also in this sport the physics is irrelevant. I have two cousins (female), thin as skin and bone, who through their teenage years were paced hard to perfom in showjumping. Now they are about the coldest girls I know, but they almost made it to the Olympics in Athens. Germany is the only country in the world where this sport devides it national championships by sex, which by the way is the role model of the German invented World Feminine Gliding Championships. Mentioning Claire Luyat, Katrin Senne or Gillian Spreckly every time someone needs an example of succesfull female glider pilots is not really representative for the sport in general (No offence Claire, Katrin or Gillian, it was just an example). So if I may pose another question for the forum, which is not retorical , but especially directed for pilots who have been coaching both men and women: What do you do/say/think to create stronger minds in the heads of competitions pilots? Mette

To revive a long lost tread I hereby call to your attention that the question of women in the gliding environment is a theme in the latest issue of the new German gliding magazine Segelfliegen. They ask the question: Fliegen Frauen schlechter? (Does women fly worse?) Well, do we? :wacko: Yours sincerely Mette yeahyeahyeah she is writing in english again, forgive her, but with her old modem on her palaeo-age computer it would be too expensive to prepare a message in French.

J’avais attendu des reponses comme « le pilot francais, il est trop sérieux pour des fêtes, il ne bois jamais d’alcool, il ne se stresse pas par bavarder avec ses concurrentes et il va se coucher a 9 heures chaque soir » (ca veut dire avant que je retourne de mon vache... ) ...Et j’avais préparé le plaidoyer, parce que je sais que c’est pas vrai (pas de noms.... ) Sérieusement: Seulement un petit nombre des pilotes est beni avec un qualification pour un championat internationale. C’est dommage. L’atmosphère aux championats internationaux est trés différent de cela aux autres competitions. Quand on l’a essayé un fois on cherche plus; c’est aussi possible de sera dépendant. Tant de vélivoles étrangers, tant de coca-cola à boire en bonne compagnie , tant de sujets de débater, même si il faut qu’on trouve des talents pour des langues étranges jusque-là inconnus. Si c’était seulement possible de recréer cette ambiance aux compétitions avec des pilotes normale (!), France, Allemagne, Pay Bas, Danemark, partout. Une solution alternatif pour des gens qui sont dépendantes de cette atmosphère, c’est de s’engager comme dépanneur aux championats internationaux (dit-on « dépanneuse » quand c’est une fille ?), mais ca ne donne pas beaucoup des heures en vol, seulement en voiture (!) Où est la limite entre le dépendance et l’abus ? Mette True, true, true, but it has always been like that, and yet the situation of number of competitiors has changed (all over the world, not just in France, which means that it is more of a "society-problem" than a "french-glider-pilot-problem")

I am considering to apply for the Air Traffic Controller education. Is it allowed to apply for a job through this forum? Mette

Salut Denis Maybe it is because the seniors do not party enough? I found the transition from junior to senior tough, due to the lack of social activities at these competitions, whether it is a national championship or “just” another competition. Mette Just another question for you: What should we do to lower the average age at our respective Nationals?

The question is not really what I personally will do the next time, but rather how often this dilemma occurs during a competition and how many pilots actually flies just because they haunt points or because they are doubting their own judgement, and therefore just follows the others like lemmings! If I may quote myself: In this discussion I don't just think of bad weather situations but also en route decisions of for example how low to go, how far to go over unlandable terrain and so on (I guess this becomes even more important in moutainous areas, but that discussion I don't want to get into). So guys, my next question: Are you all so macho that you have never doubted your own judgement or do you in fact recognise the dilemma? (...that was a retorical question... ) Do you have an official (or unofficial) statistics in France over accidents and incidents with information on age, experience etc.? Brgds Mette

As junior competition pilot I hereby give my humble input to a discussion on safety in competition. It is in english, sorry….and is absolutely without reference to the recent accidents in South East France, please remember that. It is always the responsability of the pilot in command. Whether he/she feels tired or unfit or need a rest day or does not like the weather or the glider is out of order or whatever: It is always his/her responsibility. When I have said that, I know that pilots in competition can forget this. I also know that they can ignore it, when everybody else is doing well. In stead of idealogy and philosophy, let me give a little piece of myself (with the danger of becoming the laugh of everyone ) and illustrate it with a couple of examples: Nordic Juniors 1998, Norway: Thunder and CB’s all around us. A small weather window is open for flight, so we are launched, but soon after the lightning is all around our ears. The start line is opened…we start the task. I land out…the glider drops from 5 meters and the fuselage is broken. The choise of field was bad, but the concentration was low due to the thunder, lightning and possible wind shear. WHY DID I FLY THAT DAY? World Juniors 1999, The Netherlands: The visibility is bad….I don’t know how bad, but too bad! Standard class starts first and some land again soon afterwards. The words of my team mate: This is crazy, this is fuc…. crazy! He takes off again… Soon after I take off too….I can hardly see the gliders in the same thermal as me.. WHY DID I FLY THAT DAY? Nordic Juniors 2000, Finland: Thunder and lightning again. We start on the task, and the first leg is flown on the front side of cb’s. Some of the others choose to go forward to the next cb. A lightning strike just in front of us. My team and I decides to back out…the rest continues. WHY DID I FLY THAT DAY? The answer to these three questions is “Because everybody else did!”. Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous …but I know that I am not the only one!! Pilots in competition sometimes submit themselves to danger simply because they don’t have the experience to recognise the danger. (Even the day in The Netherlands, a jury member stopped by my glider to say “stop being such a chicken and get up there! When I was young….”. Strangely enough he lived long enough to die from natural causes…) These experiences are from junior competitions, and the days in question had lethal potential, but fortunately nothing happened. Luck? How does the competition direction fit into this? Is it their purpose to make a competition day if anyhow possible, or is it their purpose to organise a competition with a minimised risk of accidents? Should the competition direction take into acount that some pilots cannot carry the responsability themselves? Hopefully I am wiser today…and will deal diffently with such situations now....but I also recognise the feeling of doubt when everybody else is taking off: "Is this really dangerous or am I just being stupid?" At our nationals this year the competition director had the balls to cancel a potential valid day. The wind was strong (30 knots cross wind) and the base was low (600m with showers). Not a day with lethal potential, but certainly the risk of making outlanding incidents. The experienced pilots were mad: “I am here to fly and nothing else!” or even worse “You steel my chance of gaining points so I can win” The not so experienced pilots were relieved! They all returned their gliders to their respective clubs without a scratch.....but would they not have done this even if flying on this day? Which of the two kinds of pilots are most right? Which should the competition director please? It does not matter if the competition is regional, national or international, the dilemma is still there. Brgds Mette

Benj We can always find room for more male junior pilots, if they volunteer......

For general information, we have a Friendly Competition for Girls in Denmark in the period of 21st-31st of July. Minimum demands are: 100 hours on glider as Pilot In Command Silver badge 3 x 100 km cross country flights. 15 aerotows as Pilot In Command FAI-sporting license Comfortable flying in dense traffic The competition is handicapped, open to all gliders with a handicap of 98 or larger (Libelle, St. Cirrus etc.), and it is possible to share a glider between more pilots. It is flown parallel to the junior and club class nationals. The terrain is flat country and landable almost everywhere. Fee is app. 173 EURO, Aerotow to 500 m is app. 20 EURO. Camping and restaurant (and free internet access) on site. …The competition director speaks French. We have good beer, good soaring conditions, good outlanding conditions, good atmosphere and good-looking male junior pilots. More info on www.SunAirCup.dk or contact me on XEALSoaring@@hotmail.com