Flytec
Wills Wing

Oz Report

Volume 6, Number 224
10 am, Thursday, October 31 2002

https://OzReport.com
"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
Wed, Oct 30 2002, 1:00:01 pm EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Andradas Grand Prix

Betinho Schmitz|Leonardo Dabbur|Mike Barber|Moura Morrison

http://www.abvl.com.br/noticias_campeonato.htm

Day Two:

Nene Rotor

1:54:05

Guga

1:54:35

MARCELO MORGANTI FERRO, Ferro

1:55:24

LEONARDO DABBUR, Maskara

1:55:31

CARLOS SCHMITZ, Betinho Schmitz

1:55:34

CARLOS BESSA, Bessa

1:55:40

ANDRÉ WOLF, André Wolf

1:55:50

FABIO CARDOSO NUNES, Fabio Nunes

2:18:48

ALAN DE MOURA MORRISON, Alan

2:21:09

MAX TURIACO, Max Turiaco

2:21:17

ACAUÃ PASETTO NOBREGA, Kaway

2:21:18

LOURENÇO ANDREAZZA JUNIOR,

2:25:25

MIKE BARBER, Mikey

2:22:54

After two days:

MARCELO MORGANTI FERRO, Ferro

1363

GUSTAVO DE ARAUJO SALDANHA

1355

LEONARDO DABBUR, Maskara

1329

ALVARO FIGUEIREDO SANDOLI, Nene

1281

MIKE BARBER, Mikey

1245

CARLOS BESSA, Bessa

1238

FABIO CARDOSO NUNES, Fabio Nunes

1160

MARIO A. FELSNE, Monex

1087

SEMENOV SERGIY, Sergiy

1043

PEDRO MATOS, Pedrão

1029

CARLOS SCHMITZ, Betinho Schmitz

1001

SERGIO GALVANI

983

ANDRÉ WOLF

843

Why haven’t I included the gliders that the pilots are flying, or their position, or other information?  I’m taking the data from PDF files, which are non standard and make it very difficult to extract information.  If you are a manufacturer, and you want to see your glider’s name on the results, then I suggest that you complain to the Brazilian meet organizers.

Of course, just go to the web site above and you can see the full results.

Discuss "Andradas Grand Prix" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Wed, Oct 30 2002, 1:00:02 pm EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Flying critters

I took this photo, one of many, while lying in the sand on the north bank of the Richmond River in Ballina next to a fisherman who was cleaning his catch.  I’m sure to him it was the equivalent of photographing pigeons, but these huge Australian pelicans always look great to me.

The Pelican Dance

I’ve published pictures of Australian pelicans before, but they are still cool as far as I’m concerned.  Now if I could just get close to photograph them flying.  Conrad suggests that I fly with a fish in my hand.

Discuss "Flying critters" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Wed, Oct 30 2002, 1:00:03 pm EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Flying at Lennox Head

20 kilometers south of Byron Bay you’ll find Lennox Head, a north northeast facing rounded hill side and cliff.  This is a popular surfing site with a long break to the north.  Last evening we were there with Conrad Lotten as he demonstrated what many hours of dune flying at New Castle will do for you.

Conrad repeatedly brought in his Moyes Sonic to land on the top of shirt wood fence seen below.  You land right on top in a huge area that doesn’t need to be big as the compression velocity is quite strong.  You come in high and hover straight down.  You can even come in front of the landing area and back up into it.

Today I was flying tandem with Brian from Byron Airwave at Lennox Head with a 25 mph north northeast wind.  Too strong for the kind of precious work that Conrad was doing the day before, but good for the tandems business.

Conrad is working at the hospital in Ballina and doing tandems for hire as a Tandem II pilot.

Discuss "Flying at Lennox Head" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Wed, Oct 30 2002, 1:00:04 pm EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic 2003 Australian Nationals

Dynamic Flight «dynamic» writes:

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to participate in the Australian National Hang Gliding Championships to be held at "Croidon" Hay, NSW from 17th to 25th January 2003.

Registration will be held on Friday 17th January between 4pm and 7pm. The first day of competition will be Saturday 18th January.  At the Welcome Briefing there will be a vote on having one rest day after achieving four valid tasks.

Excellent flying conditions in the area are already evident.  Statistics prove that Hay has consistently the best flying conditions on the Australian competition circuit.  We are looking forward to numerous triangle and out-and-return tasks again this season.  Cold drinks will be plentiful in goal again.

Cash and prizes will be awarded to class winners at the free presentation dinner.  The last three years averaged $15,000 worth of prizes per year.  Many of these were awarded as daily prizes so every participant received a prize!

GPS is mandatory, as is having a fitted parachute, tow endorsement and current membership with the HGFA.

The first six teams to register (minimum 4 pilots per team) and submit full entry fees by 20th December will each receive a $50 petrol voucher.  This voucher will be issued to your team on registration day.

Entry fees are $190 per pilot (includes presentation night dinner) and should be paid by 20th December 2002. Cheques are to be made payable to "Australian Hang Gliding Nationals" and forwarded to RMB 236B, Trawalla 3373.

An information package is available via email at «dynamic».

We look forward to seeing you at Hay.

Discuss "2003 Australian Nationals" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Wed, Oct 30 2002, 1:00:05 pm EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Adjusting competition gliders

Gordon Rigg

Gordon Rigg|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr

Gordon Rigg «hangpoints» writes:

You will see quite a few of us sensible types flying competition with certified helmets.  Guido is still using a certified full face and took 2nd in the Europeans and won the German Nationals in 2002. I admit to changing to an open face for 2002, to reduce drag, and currently use a Charly Air Control which is very light and en966 certified.

I very much doubt if there is a measurable difference in drag between your pudding bowl and my life saver - how often is your head at the best angle anyway?  Only one member of the British Team flies with an uncertified helmet.

Personally I have used my helmet several times.  Nobody is so skillful they can be certain not to need a good helmet one day.  It is very easy to make a small mistake - like Zweckmyr did.

The other thing to remember is after your head took a knock you should change the helmet as the solid foam liner gets crushed and looses its effectiveness.  This is nothing to do with the integrity of the outer shell.  A plastic helmet like mine will also need changing after a few seasons due to UV embrittlement.

No matter, my lid was only £45 list price - less than a downtube.  I guess you get much better life out of your helmet as there is no hard foam liner to get crushed!

(editor’s note: I have a nice safe helmet with lots of foam.)

Once again rumor and half truth about what "top pilots" are doing to their gliders.  Before you make the changes you heard "everyone else does" take the trouble to find out what effect these changes might make and as ever do it gradually and carefully!

(editor’s note: Rumor and half truth?  I don’t think so. Just because everyone doesn’t do it, doesn’t mean that the guys that are winning don’t. Eh, Gordon?)

Some pilots do remove the restraining cable for extra VG travel, however nobody should be blase about this!

Most of the current gliders have the sprog angle moving with the VG, so not only do you get less twist and thus less pitch you also get less sprog and thus less pitch so the response of the glider can change very significantly.

(editor’s note: That’s why they are doing it.)

If people want to do this then I suggest marking the VG in the normal tight position (beyond this mark you are in uncharted untested and uncertified territory!). Don't completely detach the restraint, but extend it with a small link or string.  Test the full movement available on the ground so that you are sure that nothing happens like pulleys jamming, things catching in the keel pocket due to the extra travel - you definitely don't want it jamming on. Expect the handling to lock up completely with the extra VG with all that checked, get a bit of height and slam the bar down to your ankles and see what happens!  (I wasn't serious about the last bit).

The time when production gliders needed a lot of tuning to make them competitive seems to have passed and today the production comp gliders pass certification and are very much on the pace for international competition.  These gliders have all had a lot of development and the production settings are a careful compromise, if you feel you must tweak then do it very gradually - the performance of a worried pilot is much more of a disadvantage than the advantage of a little extra glide!

(editor’s note: I thought this was true also, until I heard the stories about Brazil – many of which I really can’t repeat here even in the Oz Report.  Perhaps the differences have been drastically reduced between production and “special” models, but this might be one of the few remaining areas of difference.)

Discuss "Adjusting competition gliders" at the Oz Report forum   link»

to Table of Contentsto next topic USHGA – the improving financial picture

Wed, Oct 30 2002, 1:00:06 pm EST

Florida|Jayne DePanfilis|PG|Quest Air|USHGA|Wallaby Ranch

Jayne DePanfilis «jayne» writes:

I have some new comparisons on the financials, like a 650% increase in cash reserves since 2000 and a 375% increase in total assets since 2001. I will send you a condensed version of my report next week with some interesting industry wide stats including dues increases for the SSA, USUA, and the USPA, to really put the situation with USHGA into better perspective.

To understand the significance of what happened last year and this year, you have to compare these two years to 2000, and while Bill's report is accurate, and he has an excellent understanding of the financials, you can't get a real feel for the changes until we compare them.

I am going to Chelan this weekend.  I was invited by the Northwest Paragliding Club as their guest of honor for the annual Women's Fly In. I am so excited.

Later:

I had such a wonderful time in Chelan.  It was beautiful.  What a treasure.  I will be going back to Chelan for sure.  I am finally back in the office with a long list of "to do's". This is on my list for the next few weeks.

Discuss "USHGA – the improving financial picture" 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.

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