Wills Wing
Flytec

Oz Report

Volume 5, Number 47
9 pm, Sunday, February 25 2001

https://OzReport.com
"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
Sat, Feb 24 2001, 3:00:00 pm EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Notes from the very recent CIVL meeting

Carbon Dragon|CIVL|Florida|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Malcolm Jones|PG|photo|Quest Air|record|Stewart Midwinter|USHGA|Wallaby Ranch|Worlds

Carbon Dragon|CIVL|Florida|Gary Osoba|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Malcolm Jones|PG|photo|Quest Air|record|Stewart Midwinter|USHGA|Wallaby Ranch|Worlds

Our national representatives make up the rules that effect our hang gliding lives (more or less). Hansjoerg Truttmann h. «truttmann» sent in the following short notes about the latest CIVL meeting which he attended::

a) The Class I worlds in 2003 will be held in Brasil (Brasilia) and not in US (Florida).

(editor's note: As long time Oz Report readers will no doubt remember, the US bid generated quite a bit of controversy – well, at least in the Oz Report.  At the last CIVL meeting a year ago there was notice of two bids for the Worlds from the US and one from Brazil.

It is my understanding that Malcolm Jones will now apply for the Class I Worlds to be held at Wallaby Ranch in 2005. Guess I will have to move up to Quest Air (or one of the other Florida flight parks) for that time period and fly with my rigid wing buddies up there.  J)

b) Class 4 is now called "Open Class" and will contain all the gliders that don't fit in the Classes 1, 2, 3.

c) In Class 2 there will be only non-caged gliders in the future (a subcommittee has to find the exact definition). This change will be put in practice at 01/01/2002 unless the organiser of the Class-2-championships 2002 will oppose because of technical reason.

There was only one opponent against the b)- and c)-points in the final voting: USA (G. W. Meadows)

(editor's note: This seems like an excellent solution to the problem to me. Class IV is essentially unused.  Only Steve Arndt and Gary Osoba (and their Carbon Dragons) were in this class.  It seems just a waste to not let the caged gliders join this class.

I would recommend that Stewart Midwinter's Class II records stand as Class II records, after all they were set when the Swift was classified as Class II. I also suggest that they be made to be the Class IV records in all cases that they would be records.  Let the records stand in both classes.

Also, I suggest that meet organizers who have their competitions CIVL sanctioned for Class II, automatically get Class IV sanctioning and are required to allow Class IV gliders to enter.  It's up to the Class IV pilots to figure how to launch.

I suggest to the meet organizers who are putting on CIVL-sanctioned Category I and II meets in 2000 that they go ahead and apply these who classifications right now.  If future Class IV gliders (Millennium, Swift, etc.) want to fly in these meets, I would suggest that they be allowed to fly in them, just like everyone else, and that the official scoring put them in Class IV (of course, there can be unofficial scoring that puts everyone together, if desired).

Finally, I suggest that the USHGA put the Swift, etc.  in Class IV immediately and keep a ranking for Class IV pilots.  I want to encourage them to fly in the upcoming meets and to be eligible to fly in upcoming Class II (and IV) World meets.

The USHGA (and all other national hang gliding bodies) uses the CIVL class system for the classification and ranking of hang gliders and paragliders.  It makes sense to me for the USHGA should implement this classification change immediately.)

d) In future world championships there will be only GPS-verification (no more photos). There will only be cylinders (no more FAI-sectors).

(editor's note: Start circles would be cool, too.  I'm sure that meet organizers are free to use them.)

Please consider that these are my own short notes as I understand what CIVL has decided yesterday.  I may have made some mistakes.  The exact decisions will be in the CIVL-minutes and in the CIVL-/Section 7 Sporting Code.

Discuss "Notes from the very recent CIVL meeting" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sat, Feb 24 2001, 3:00:01 pm EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Millau Invitational

Bo Hagewood|Chris Muller|Christian Ciech|CIVL|Florida|Gordon Rigg|Kari Castle|Manfred Ruhmer|Oleg Bondarchuk|Paris Williams|Richard Walbec|Robert Reisinger|World Pilot Ranking Scheme

Richard Walbec «rwalbec» writes:

We are setting in Millau (France, site of European in 1982, and world female in 1987) a big hang gliding event from 29 May to 4 of June 2001. We would like to set a classic each year in this place.

So we will invite ten of the best world pilots, and prize giving will be at least 5000 Euros.  (probably more)

It will be on the way to Algodonales, and it and Millau are very similar.  Millau will be a nice place for good training for the world.  There is a huge top landing for a last minute tune up before the worlds.

You can get more information at: http://www.aveyron-vol-libre.com/millauclassic/

Pilots invited:

Manfred Ruhmer
Bethino Shmitz
Gerolf Heinrich
Oleg Bondarchuk
Paris Williams
Kari Castle
Bo Hagewood
Gordon Rigg
Christian Ciech
Chris Muller
John Durand, Jr.
Robert Reisinger

(editor's note: Interesting choices.  If only the CIVL WPRS point system wasn't completely misleading about whose hot and whose not, Richard could have taken the top ten pilots from that list.  Many of these pilots will be in Florida for the spring competitions.  We'll see how they stack up there.)

Discuss "Millau Invitational" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sat, Feb 24 2001, 3:00:02 pm EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Scrutiny from a distance

Paul Voight

Paul Voight «flyhigh» writes:

I've been meaning to drop you a line since the B.O.D. I figure you would find it amusing that the "Oz Report" (i.e. how something written in the Oz Report would be received by the readership) is taken into consideration in literally every decision/discussion that goes on anymore.  (I mean very careful consideration!) The power of your e-zine is amazing.

(editor's note: If I actually attended the BOD meetings (which would be a great service to my readers, but is frankly beyond my capabilities) I would be able to actually report on the happens without having to rely on so many helpful BOD members and other hang glider pilots.

I think that is a very good thing that our BOD members are looking over their shoulders to see how their actions might look in print (well, at least on the web). It makes very little difference what I think, but they should be concerned about what you think.  This is how democracy is supposed to work.

Other than the Oz Report, we don't really have a free press in the hang gliding community.  We have two discussion forums, in the hang gliding and rigid wing mailing lists, but it is only rarely that discussions regarding policy decisions take place there.

While we may not admire the "free press" that we see in the wider world, a free press is still a vital component of a free society.  Our hang gliding community is stronger because it has a free press, no matter my personal limitations, or those exhibited by the Oz Report.

I encourage Oz Report readers to send in material relevant to the hang gliding community so that others can hear your news.)

Discuss "Scrutiny from a distance" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sat, Feb 24 2001, 3:00:03 pm EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic GPS downloading for world records

Bill Bolosky|CIVL|record

Bill Bolosky «bolosky» writes:

There was an item in the most recent Oz Report about how it's difficult to use GPS track logs for verification of world record flights.  It seems to me that there are two different approaches to solving this problem that could be used.

The easy one is to treat GPS logs just like barograph logs, where FAI certifies that the design doesn't allow the logs to be tampered with, and then have a trusted person watch the logs print.  This shouldn't be all that hard to do because it's so similar to something that already goes on with world record attempts all the time.

The cooler way to do this is to have the GPS digitally sign the log when it writes it to a file.  The technology to do this is very well understood, and wouldn't be all that hard to build into a GPS unit if one was able to program it (ie., for the manufacturer). Basically, each of the GPS manufacturers would get a public key certificate (like the ones web servers get from Verisign to do SSL), and then they would build the corresponding private key into the GPS unit (in some way that's very hard for hackers to extract). When the unit downloads a track log file, it would sign it with the key, and then anyone could check the signature against the key in the certificate to verify that it was a legitimate track log.  (I work with stuff like this in my day job, so I know what I'm talking about here.) Someone should try to explain this idea to FAI; once they OK it, then the GPS manufacturers might be inclined to adopt the solution.  The other way (getting it in the GPS units first) seems harder.

If anyone's interested in taking the idea to FAI/CIVL, let me know and I'll explain the details to them.  I don't have the time myself.

Discuss "GPS downloading for world records" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sat, Feb 24 2001, 3:00:04 pm EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Air ambulance insurance?

John "Ole" Olson

(?-i)John "Ole" Olson|John "Ole" Olson

(?-i)John "Ole" Olson

John "Ole" Olson

Ole «HeyThere» wirites:

Someone (I just can't remember who) was telling me about a dive organization that offers air ambulance insurance for all takers.  I'm unsure of the details, but recall that for some low premium like $40 per year, we could purchase this service that would freight an injured person from anywhere in the world back stateside in an air ambulance.

I thought I was told this was Diver Dan, and just go to www.diverdan.com, yet I don't get any results there.

Perhaps one of your readers has more info…

Discuss "Air ambulance insurance?" at the Oz Report forum   link»

to Table of Contentsto next topic ATOS cam helper

Sat, Feb 24 2001, 8:00:05 pm GMT

ATOS|Davis Straub|USHGA

http://home.pacbell.net/vendter/cam_helper.htm

Proud Supporter of:

 

To unsubscribe or subscribe

You are in charge of your subscription to the Oz Report.  If you wish to unsubscribe or subscribe, click: http://olsusa.com:100/guest/RemoteListSummary/ozreport

To view the Oz Report on the web go to https://OzReport.com/.

Davis Straub
co-author of Windows Me Secrets
"I gotta tell you; you took a total moron and turned me into a guru!  I couldn't have done it without your books!"
«davis»
http://www.davisstraub.com/secrets

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.

Discuss "ATOS cam helper" 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