The US pair were first and second respectively after two consecutive tasks to Wellington on Monday and Tuesday, while yesterday the 52 strong field flew 152.8km to Stockinbingal, via Crowther.

German pilot Lukas Bader, third in the overall standings, won Tuesday’s 155.8km task to Wellington, ahead of Australian trio Nick Purcell, Guy Hubbard and Gavin Myers.

After the third day of gliding on Monday, some new faces and nationalities made it to the top with Russian Anton Struganov finishing the 153.6km race to Wellington in first place.

Lukas Bader was second and Michael Bilyk placed third for the day. 

Monday’s journey posed some challenges as gliders had to avoid a 5km radius exclusion zone around the CSIRO ‘Dish’ at Parkes.

Championship organiser Vicki Cain said a Japanese pilot was lucky to escape relatively unscathed from a crash on take-off on Tuesday afternoon.

Cain said Ai Fukutomi, one of five women competing this year, received minor facial injuries when her glider failed to launch properly from her aero-tow trolley.

Ambulance paramedics treated Fukutomi at the scene but she was soon cleared of any serious injury. 

While her glider was damaged and she will play no further part in the championships, she was able to attend yesterday’s flight briefing.

The competition is scheduled to finish on Saturday, and ideal conditions are expected for the final three days.

Spectators can watch the launch each day at Forbes Airport with pilots taking off around 1-2pm.