2021 Jun.

Guido Achleitner wins the austrian national championship in the AS 33 Es!

In the mixed class, he came out on top with the 15m version of the AS 33.

From 29 May – 5 June the Austrian National Championships took place in St. Johann. There we were able to celebrate two podium finishes in the “mixed” class, which consists of standard and 15 m class.

Guido Achleitner won with the 15 m version of the AS 33 Es, while Werner Amann finished in a very good third place on his ASG 29. We sat down with Guido and created a little interview for you to give you some insight into this championship.

Congratulations to both pilots for this great performance! And Guido of course to the championship title!

You won the first day, it seems that you felt comfortable with the 15m version of the AS 33, didn't you?

Yes, I immediately felt comfortable in the AS 33, because it is very easy to fly. The big unknown, however, was how the flight characteristics would behave with the higher wing loading at 15m. In comparison, you have about 5 kg more wing loading with the motor -which is great, by the way, to still have the motor in the 15 m plane- but the glider works. I noticed directly on the first day that the glider performs really well.

From the feeling the AS 33 glides straight also a little better than comparable airplanes. In retrospect, I have to say that I had at least 2 kg too much in the tail and was therefore too tail-heavy. You notice this immediately in the glide, but there is still a lack of experience and you have to get a feeling for where the center of mass is best.

The weather forecast for the first day of the competition was not so good, so I flew without water for the time being, except for the 3L in the tail, which was not necessary. But then I immediately noticed that I glide much better compared to the ASG 29. That day I flew with the Amann Werner and made so much difference on the last leg that I was home a quarter of an hour earlier. I was flying with a 51 wing loading that day. This is also my minimum wing loading that I can fly, since I am relatively heavy myself.

On the second day you had 8 km/h more than the second place finisher - how did that happen?

On that day I had 40 liters of water with me and was thus at a 58 wing loading. But you have to say that you almost didn’t notice any difference in the flight characteristics. I climbed at 115-120 km/h and was able to keep up with everyone. In the evening a few pilots arrived and said “Wow you climbed so well, you must not have had any water in it.” They didn’t know that I was flying with a 58 wing loading. If you can then keep up with the 48 wing loads in the climb, but have a 58 wing load for the glide, you have an advantage. I was afraid that the 33 wouldn’t be able to fly slowly with such a high wing loading. However, when I went below 100 km/h, the 33 did not tend to stall, but simply nodded slightly and picked up speed again. It has quite positive characteristics there and does not tend to spin at all.

The third day was relatively unspectacular, as one simply flies a different line and wins.

On day 4 there was the only breakaway in your rankings. How did that happen?

That day was problematic. I made a crucial mistake when choosing my line and was then very low. Then I threw out the water, the little I had with me.

Then I fought my way out in a very turbulent and weak thermal near Niederöblarn. That was the key to the whole success, that I really got away. Of course, the good flight characteristics of the 33 helped a lot.

The 5th day was decided by a photo finish. Only 1.3 km lay between 1st and 2nd place. Did you see each other during the flight or did you fly other routes at the AAT?

Yes, we flew the same line the whole day. We were also together in the radio the whole day and I flew mostly in front. In SeeYou the flights also fit quite well over each other.

On the 6th day I only managed the lead and flew the result home.

In total there were 6 scoring days in St. Johann. You had racing tasks, AATs and a mixed field of gliders. How did the 33 do in your eyes?

In Austria, we now fly according to the Austro Index. We created our own index list and since so few people flew in the standard class, we combined the 15 m and standard class for this championship and flew according to this Austro Index. In the index AS 33, JS 3 and Ventus 3 have the same index of 114. The index flying is of course always dependent on the weather. On really good days, of course, you are simply faster with the modern aircraft.

My buddy Michael is going to the Alpe Adria Cup with the 18 m version and I told him directly that he can fill the plane up to 600 kg. There is absolutely nothing against flying the plane with these excellent flight characteristics with 600 kg. We had the restriction of 525 kg for the 15 m class, but I don’t think that the flight characteristics would have been worse if I had flown the 550 kg. If I were to go wave flying now, I could imagine flying with 550 kg.

I once mistakenly dumped the main waterballast tank on final glide. The 33 can dump main and tail water tanks separately. I accidentally drained the main water tank as well. But even empty, I was gliding just as well as the comparable airplanes on final glide and didn’t lose anything.

In addition, the seating position in the AS 33 is simply perfect, which is of course very important at a competition.

Thank you for your time Guido and again congratulations from the whole Schleicherteam for winning the austrian Championship!

If you want to see the results, you can find them here:

Soaring Spot :: Österr. Meisterschaft im Streckensegelflug 2021 LOIJ