Was on the 25th. Lubeck to Biarritz, by Hans-Werner Grosse, all in thermal (see map below). 1,460km in an ASW12 glider. The record stood for over 30 years!
What's remarkable about this (his free distance record) is that the big gliding distances are usually done in wave lift, at altitudes above 25,000 feet (and when the record was broken in 2003 it was with a wave flight), which gives tremendous safety margins. Doing this distance in thermal probably involved scratching around at low altitude looking for lift at perilously low altitudes. I can't read the German report, but it looks like he had a save with a thermal registering 1 m/s of lift (this is a very weak thermal that in competition a glider pilot would abandon), so it would have been an intense effort.
The flight took 11.5 hours!
Grosse is an interesting individual, having been a JU-88 driver in WW2.
40th Anniversary World Record Thermal Flight
- smithcorp
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40th Anniversary World Record Thermal Flight
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- wobblysauce
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Re: 40th Anniversary World Record Thermal Flight
Would be interesting to see how long he was at certain places to get height.
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ᕙ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ᕗ vs ლ(ಠ益ಠ)ლ
I have a joke for you. I have a prediction that you are going to walk into a bar, my prediction was wrong and your wallet is gone.