Wills Wing
Flytec

Oz Report

Volume 3, Number 126
Sunday, November 21 1999

https://OzReport.com
"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

to Table of Contentsto next topic ESC with Guggenmos

Sat, Nov 20 1999, 11:00:00 pm GMT

ATOS|Felix Ruehle|James "Jim" Zeiset|Jos Guggenmos|Moyes|Top Secret

Jim Zeiset writes about the latest glider from Guggenmos:

Guggenmos Drachenbau announces the ESC so named because it has Effective Sophisticated Camber.  The aft sections of the inboard 5 ribs have an under camber similar to high performance sail planes.  This with the incorporation of elliptical tips noticeably improves sink rate.

The Utopia exhibited a superior sink rate at the Worlds partially because of aft under camber.  The spoilers have been moved back to facilitate deployment at high speed and are angled more perpendicular to the relative wind.  The span is 40 feet, area is 143 sq. ft. and it weighs less than 70 lbs.  The ribs are shorter and consequently the aspect ratio is higher but I don't have that number at this time.  The glider breaks down into two halves, can be delivered in 5 weeks and costs $10,500.

Hmm!  Let's see, the spoilerons moved back (to where Felix Ruehle put them to begin with?) after all the discussion that went on earlier about spoileron placement (as reported earlier in the Oz Report). We saw this also in a previous E7 that Joseph was flying at the Worlds.

Curved tips?  Ooh, looks like an ATOS (and a Top Secret that is based on the ATOS). Hey, Moyes had it right all along.  We'd love to get more specifications on this glider.  It's great to see more competition in the rigid wing area.  This definitely looks like an improvement.

Joseph is a great craftsman and makes beautiful gliders (sort of like Bob Trampeneau). Felix worked with him on the E7 and how he's had a chance to see how that glider did against others.

Discuss "ESC with Guggenmos" at the Oz Report forum   link»

to Table of Contentsto next topic The Illawara Escarpment

Sat, Nov 20 1999, 11:00:01 pm GMT

ATOS|weather|travel

More stories from down under as a guide to both your imagination and help you plan your future trips.

It just keeps on running along the ocean south from Sydney.  Every time we come to Bulli Beach and Stanwell Park, we stay longer than we planned (if we planned at all). I'm just trying to track the various clues in the environment to see where we should be on any given day.  We're still here on the coast.

Yesterday I took off at 3 PM from Stanwell in a light east, north east wind (the paraglider pilots were loving it), and found myself working thermals by the Bulli cutoff out in front of the ridge, just as I had the day before.  The ridge lift on the escarpment getting to Bulli was also mixed with thermals, but the ridge lift had given out by Bulli.

I ended up landing just south of Wollongong trying to get under a cloud street way to the east of the escarpment.  While packing up a couple of local Wollongong pilots showed up to take a look at the ATOS (the only one in Australia). They had seen me gliding low over residential areas and wondered if I was going to make it to a landable field.

These locals had a low opinion of the Stanwell pilots thinking of them as just a bunch of ridge lift pilots from Sydney.  They preferred to fly the thermals from Mt Keira.  Well, I had to admit that over the last two days that was all I encountered in their neck of the woods.  Still it seemed strange to find thermal pilots so close to the Ocean.  Hadn't they heard of the western side of the Great Dividing Range?

Mt Keira is a little (1500') pimple jutting out from the main escarpment 20 kilometers south of Stanwell and just west of Wollongong.  The weather today was predicted to be north north east which would mean sideways at Stanwell, and the launch at Mt. Keira faces north, north east.  I thought that I would take up the invite from the locals to check out the launch.

I had already flown over Mt. Keira a number of times, and had been real close, but I hadn't noticed the launch.  Well, it turned out to be a great little metal ramp just to the right of the restaurant on top (which I had seen). The abundant Illawara bush is hacked back to give the restaurant patrons a view up the coast, and hang glider pilots a clear path to the thermals.

We drove straight up from Wollongong on the Mt Keira road so it was easy to find the launch.  With typical Australian hang glider launch site thoroughness, there was a detailed sign, which pointed out how to keep out of the controlled airspace to the southeast, where the bomb out lz's were, and what qualifications were needed to fly at the site.  There was a phone number to call for more information.  Also a phone number for the airport to report your predicted flight path if you were headed south.

I got to the launch early – 10 AM – as the locals said it was an early launch – before the sea breeze closed off the thermals (somehow this hadn't happened on my previous flights). I had hoped to find them as they said they were flying, but I was the only pilot there.

Still the ribbons on the launch kept rustling from the light updrafts so I was encouraged to set up and get going.  Launching at about noon, I immediately climbed out under the plentiful cumulus clouds that formed starting just in front of the escarpment and kept going back as far to the west as I could side.

Cloud base started at about 3000' and I made my way slowly to the south not getting anywhere near it. There was no ridge lift on the escarpment even though there was a reasonable on shore flow.  I worked 50-100 fpm just to keep up.

Soon it became apparent that the lift was there, and it just took enough patience to find it. Soon I was working to stay out of the clouds and heading south right along the escarpment with lots of landable farm lands to the east (unlike around Stanwell).

About ten miles south you have to jump a 3 mile gap as the escarpment curves far to the west.  Then about 20 miles south it is possible to jump over the escarpment as it heads out to the ocean and pick it up on the south side just north of Berry.

I get low and have to move out into the flats east of Berry and under the east/west cloud streets.  Heading south I'm jumping cloud streets after I ride then to the west as far I can to get back up into the escarpment.

At Nowra I run out of fields to land in going south.  At least I didn't see too many more, except for an airport that looked like it may have a circle of controlled airspace around it. The on-shore flow was about 15 mph at this point.

A 56 kilometer thermal flight from a hill two miles from the ocean.  Pretty cool.  I'm going to try to track down the site record.  Unless you get real high I don't see where you'd go that I didn't.

Let's hope this article encourages more Stanwell pilots to head a bit further south especially on those northeast days.

Discuss "The Illawara Escarpment" at the Oz Report forum   link»

to Table of Contentsto next topic WAG in Spain

Sat, Nov 20 1999, 11:00:02 pm GMT

Alejandro Gonzalez|CIVL|FAI|Stewart Midwinter|World Air Games

Sometimes the presents just fall in your lap.  Some folks are clued into the magic, and I'm usually not.  But today I got the perfect article from Stewart Midwinter.  In it he explains how CIVL decided that the Worlds (and pre-Worlds) would take place in Algodonales.

Just one comment.

Sometimes (is it often?) meet sites and times are chosen for reasons other than providing the best conditions for the pilots.  OK, I can understand this, but as a pilot I sure want to know what the real story is. Then I can decide if I want to go to a site that, well, sucks.

Here is what Stewart had to say:

You write in your last Oz Report that you're not slamming CIVL for the choice of hang-gliding site for the next World Air Games, you just want the facts on the Algodonales site (which you suspect will not have the best soaring conditions). You are of course second guessing the choice of site, so I think it's important that you understand the process by which the site was chosen.

The WAG is much more than a hang gliding and paragliding contest.  It is FAI's showcase for all of sport aviation, of which our sport is only a small part.  As such, CIVL has little influence over the selection of the country where the meet will be held, never mind the actual site.  Nevertheless, CIVL members representing the entire world have voted for Spain as it represents the best choice for our sport.  The alternative was Austria (and I think you know from this year's Paragliding World Championship what the weather can be like there).

We were lucky that the CIVL vote of confidence for Spain concurred with the vote of a number of other sporting commissions, and the country was chosen for the next WAG.  You may not like the particular site, but this is a choice of the organizer based on where the overall event will be headquartered.  We have to use a site that is close to the other sporting events, so Algodonales is a compromise.

Rest assured that there will be a competition, and in all likelihood the arid weather during Spain's summer will ensure us good weather and many consecutive days of tasks.  Even if it turns out to be somewhat stable, I am sure that there will be a good test of pilot skill and at the end of it, the best pilot will stand on the podium.

Time to start practicing your light air thermalling skills!

Stewart Midwinter, P.Eng.
Canadian delegate to CIVL
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
tel (403) 503-8366
fax (403) 267-3382
pager (403) 218-5719
email «Stewart_Midwinter» (work)
email «midtoad» (home)

Also heard from Spanish pilot, Alejandro Gonzalez, «ag_elruso»:

I flew in the last Spanish nationals in Algodonales.  We have better places in Spain, but I think this one will give some fun.

Discuss "WAG in Spain" at the Oz Report forum   link»

to Table of Contentsto next topic Crashed?

Sat, Nov 20 1999, 11:00:03 pm GMT

crash

I got a couple of messages indicating that my source who spoke about a crash on launch testing an upcoming rigid wing glider may not have the story right.  I'd love to know for sure, so if you know, please tell me.

Discuss "Crashed?" at the Oz Report forum   link»

to Table of Contentsto next topic Scott on the Carbon CG

Sat, Nov 20 1999, 11:00:04 pm GMT

David "Dave" Sharp|Rotor|Scott Rutledge|Shoe Goo

Scott Rutledge wrote back to say what he thought before he purchased a Rotor harness:

What I saw when I finally got to touch a CG CF, that was yours at Chelan last year, were too many things that disappointed me. Besides the smooth exterior, the gaps at the main joint that link the chest piece with the lower leg piece, and the huge scoop behind the pilots back that was left unclosed, all combined to increase drag.

The side mount chute, and the flimsy external pockets seemed like they were stuck onto the outside because there wasn't anywhere else to put them.  More drag.

When we first landed together at the junkyard, and you came banging across the road, I figured that the tail abuse was pretty high.  Adding Shoe Goo was a creative effort to forego further abrasion.

In response to Scott: There doesn't seem to be a gap between the tail and the chest piece on my Carbon CG harness.  The two pieces go tight together, at least as far as I can tell.

There is a scoop behind the pilot's back, although this does depend on the size of the pilot.  Bigger pilots don't have scoops.  I had the same problem on my Moyes Extreme.  My Woody Valley had much less of a problem as it had a specially fitted piece attached to the shoulder straps.  I'm sure the Rotor solves this problem in the same manner as all the other new harnesses do, with a neoprene piece attached to the shoulder straps.

Dave Sharp solved this problem the old fashion way.  He put his speed sleeves on last over the shoulder straps and over the harness.  I didn't bother, as the scoop was actually pretty small, but still it would be nice to see this addition to the harness to have it match what other competition harnesses are doing.

It would be nice to see all the pockets and parachute pouch placed inside the carbon fiber harness.  You've got to wonder why wreck all the effect of the carbon fiber by putting cloth bags outside it?

Still they are just behind the pilot's arms, so perhaps this is not such a big issue.  There is plenty of room inside the harness, but making opening to the outside would be tough.  Perhaps Jay will provide us with some answers.

Yes, the right hand bag is a bit flimsy, although Jay sent me a new one which seems a bit sturdier.  I realize that the Woody Valley exterior cloth is a great deal thicker and sturdier, and have pointed this out to Jay also.

The under surface at the tail end can drag on the ground.  It came from the factory with cloth tape on it. I replaced that with Shoe Goo.  The new connection system mostly solves that problem (it really wasn't much of a concern to begin with). I thought it would be cool to put a roller blade wheel in there.

Discuss "Scott on the Carbon CG" at the Oz Report forum   link»

The Oz Report, a near-daily, world wide hang gliding news ezine, with reports on competitions, pilot rankings, political issues, fly-ins, the latest technology, ultralight sailplanes, reader feedback and anything else from within the global HG community worthy of coverage. Hang gliding, paragliding, hang gliders, paragliders, aerotowing, hang glide, paraglide, platform towing, competitions, fly-ins. Hang gliding and paragliding news from around the world, by Davis Straub.

The Oz Report is being read from (approximately) these locations:
Locations of visitors to this page