Wills Wing
Flytec

Oz Report

Volume 6, Number 272
9 am, Friday, December 27 2002

https://OzReport.com
"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
Wed, Jan 1 2003, 11:00:01 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Moyes finds substitutes

Dragonfly|Vicki Cain

Vicki Cain «vix001» writes:

Just to let you know we now have two trikes coming to Deniliquin to tow and Bill will be there with the winch as well so we should easily cover pilots.  Spread the word, I need at least 20 pilots to tow with the Trikes at A$500 per pilot, same price as the Dragonfly.

(editor’s note: I heard that later she got three trike pilots to Deniliquin.  We’ll find out more tomorrow.)

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Wed, Jan 1 2003, 11:00:02 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic BLIP Map – user surveys

sailplane|weather

www.drjack.net

Dr. John W. (Jack) Glendening «drjack» writes:

A few weeks ago I created an end-of-season pilot survey report for my BLIPMAP soaring forecasts, which I announced on their website.  Over the past week, however, knowledge of that survey has spread more widely among sailplane pilots due to notices being posted on Rec.Aviation.Soaring and also passed on through several mailing lists.  As a result, I find my statistics have suddenly become heavily skewed away from HG/PG users [a 3-week summer poll answered by over 1000 blipmap users found 80% to be sailplane pilots - until recently the survey responses had roughly agreed with that percentage but the past week's returns have been 98% sailplane drivers].

So I thought I should "unbias" things a bit by seeing that similar notice was provided to the HG/PG community at large, recognizing that many have less reason to look at soaring forecast pages then during the summer.  The purpose here is _not_ to get as many HG/PG responses as possible, as in a contest, but simply to let those HG/PG pilots who have been BLIPMAP users know that the survey exists and that their responses will affect future BLIPMAP development.

Actually the survey has already had an effect on HG/PG pilots as responses obtained from two different British Columbia HG pilots told of "mentally extending" the BLIPMAP forecasts north from those actually on the map to make soaring forecasts at their locations.  I had not been trying to exclude anyone but was simply ignorant of BC soaring activity, so the NorthWest BLIPMAP predictions will now be extended further into Canada, up to Whistler and Golden.  [I confess to having been seduced by shameless flattery, since one of those pilots reported "only a few of us up here have discovered your site, but I swear by it. It's never been wrong yet for me, even when I've received conflicting forecasts from my other usual sources." Forecasting over a larger area should provide him with some examples of model imperfection ;-) ]

On a separate weather forecasting note, when I was looking up Oz Reports on Google to figure out where to send this message, I happened to go to a previous volume which led off with the following from the first day of the US Open:

“The weather models didn’t agree on the wind today other than to say that it would be below 10 mph, until we got up to 10,000 where it was 15 mph.  Windcast had the correct prediction, FSL showed west then northeast totally bogus.  Gary went with southwest.”

I was naturally interested in the apparent FSL failure since my BLIPMAPs use FSL forecasts.  While I don't have surface winds, a boundary-layer-average wind direction forecast for that day was:

The "bulls eye" patterns apparent near Big Spring are a characteristic of small-scale model noise, and indicate untrustworthy results there.  But the surrounding area is noise-free and a human looking at the plotted results above can recognize the model noise and use the brain's pattern recognition ability to infer reasonable forecast winds for Big Spring.  This illustrates one advantage of using a wider area forecast rather than just conditions forecast at a single point.

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Wed, Jan 1 2003, 11:00:03 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Moyes Wing tips

I had heard about the prototype wing tip shaping panels from Conrad Lotten and finally got a picture of Gerolf’s Litespeed at the Moyes factory.  These are just prototypes, but the effort is to get rid of what some pilots see as wrinkles in the sail at the tip:

As I just wrote, these are in the prototype stage and it isn’t clear when or if they will be available from Moyes as a standard item.

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Ole fires back

Wed, Jan 1 2003, 11:00:04 am EST

Christy Huddle|John "Ole" Olson

John Olson «vueloscolima» writes:

I wish Christy Huddle would keep her trap shut, or at least had never given her story in such a public forum, because now I'm going to have to give mine, and it ain't pretty!  That may sound strong but I have heard this garbage before and I think Christy Huddle is full of shit (OzReport.com/6.271).

The glider she was flying was an AIRWAVE K2, almost new and so was the hang loop.  She was light on the glider.  I flew the same glider and I weight two Christys fer Chrissake!  She flew the very same glider the day before with complete success.  No glider was swapped.  No changes were made to the suspension.

Conditions at Lake Atitlan are not rowdy.  Christy weighs maybe a hundred pounds soaking wet, which she was not when she claims "the primary hang loop broke". I'd bet she clips in at one-fifty tops I find it very hard to believe the hang loop failed, but even if it did here is the $100,000 question: Christ, "What the chingada happened to the remains of that hang loop?  Where is it?"

On an Airwave glider the remains of any broken hang loop, would still be attached, most likely to the keel of the glider, or else at the carabineer, there are no other possibilities.  Yet when we inspected the glider there was no broken hang loop on the keel!  How can you explain that Christy?  As you pointed out in your report you were on top of the wing… you had no panic… you calmly opened your carabineer and lost the broken loop?  lost the evidence?  just let it float away?

Pahhlease!  This gringo was not born yesterday!

We're talking ancient history here, but if someone's gonna spread rumors about my equipment I want to report my point of view too.  Here's what I figure: Christy never did break any hang loop, she just sunk out and her only options were 1) to put down in deep water or 2) to shoot for the cattails at Santa Catarina, on the north shore of Lake Atitlan.

I had stopped above there on the drive to launch and told everyone that they could downwind into the wall of cattails in case of emergency- I had done so myself.  The cattails are twenty feet high and a hundred feet wide.  They make an effective net.  But Christy blew her approach, came up short and splashed in downwind.  About that I have no doubt.

I did indeed put inner tubes in everyone’s' wings.  That, at least was true.  But Christy, for reasons we may never understand, removed the perfectly good primary hang loop from the carabineer and from the keel and either hid it in her gear or discarded it where it could not be found.  Why?  So she would have something else to blame besides her pilot skills?  Because she is too lame to admit she screwed up? These are two possibilities that her 'friends' I have met subsequently brought up saying, "That would be just like Christy."

Christy: "So I climbed into the control frame" Me: Quite the little stud muffin, eh Christy?

I have had to endure this story before but I thought surely there was an end to it. I don't suppose I'll ever see Christy on one of my tours again after this rebuttal, but I don't care, of course.  If she'd just kept her mouth shut so would I. Hey Christy, "I really don't care what the hell story you tell your friends, they probably already have you pegged.  But when you make statements like this to the whole wide glide head world I gotta tell 'em what I think.  As far as I can figure, you're all wet."

By the way, it was the Guatemala pilots who taught me to put standard car-tire inner tubes in the wing for lake landings.  As long as there is no surf or current they work like a charm.  I suppose even with those dangers, they might help!  And furthermore, most of us never got a foot wet in Guatemala!

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Wed, Jan 1 2003, 11:00:05 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Driver for Bogong and Hay

Chris Muller|PG|Vincene Muller

Chris Muller|PG|scooter|Vincene Muller

Vincene Muller «fly» writes:

Tihi Bukvic is a Canadian paragliding instructor who will be visiting Australia in January and is wondering if anybody needs a driver for the Bogong Cup & Hay Meet.  Tihi has driven for many of the Canadian Hang Glider Pilots and is experienced at ATOL and scooter tow but has never done static car tow.  If anybody needs an experienced driver [e.g. can aways find Chris Muller whose radio never works], contact Tihi at «tihi».

He will be arriving in Australia Jan 3 and should be in the Bright area Jan 4

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Bring it on! - marketing

Wed, Jan 1 2003, 11:00:06 am EST

Christopher Ball|Gordon Marshall|marketing|PG|record|Tony Gates|video

Gordon Marshall «Gordon» writes:

I run a hang gliding school in Western Australia (the last remaining school in Western Australia) Speaking as a pilot, I too am concerned at the lack of effective marketing that this sport needs to stay healthy.

When I started hang gliding we seemed to have many organised events, trips away where there would be a great atmosphere of kindred spirits.  These days it is increasingly difficult to organise even a simple once a year excursion due to the declining numbers in the sport.  Yes, we are in competition with the new insane lifestyle of more work less play and instant leisure time gratification but that does not justify the fact that hang gliding (in Western Australia at least) is in a serious decline.

I guess that overcrowding of the sport is relative to your flying environment.  A certain hill or ridge may only be able to support a few weekend warriors and commercialization of these sites would be a disaster.  Pilots from Perth (capitol city of Western Australia) mainly fly in the great open expanses of the 'wheatbelt' or flatlands.  I have been to eastern states flatland comps that launch 100+ pilots each day for a week from one paddock with no real overcrowding of the sky and the atmosphere is just great.  Supposing that every flatland country town was launching 100+ pilots each day, would the sky be overcrowded?  I think not.  Would we ever reach those numbers?  I also think not.

The marketing of the sport seems to be sanitized (don't tell them its 'extreme’). The HGFA did a great job of the 'Grand prix' video showing pilots doing the 'law abiding' 'with the limits' no accidents here' type of stuff that at the time was one of the better produced HG video's around.

Red Bull showed us the more extreme, exciting side of the sport.  I have been watching a few Paragliding video's (manufacturer sponsored NOTE!!). Now there is some awesome action, from the sedate and calm armchair ride up the coast to the totally outrageous gut retching 'I could never do that!' footage.  Gee I wonder why that sport grows so well?

Christopher Ball «cbifilms» writes:

Boy, there's a fine line between growing the sport and ruining the sport.  I was glad to see such a direct criticism of commercialization by Tony Gates (Oz - Tuesday Dec 24), as I agree there can be a very dark side to growth.  We need to grow the sport with responsible, like-minded folks, and not try to market to some 'new' group, especially to the aggressive, name brand, show-off crowd (attributes that would result in accidents and deaths).

I think there are a lot of people out there 'like us' who would love to fly (for themselves, not to fit into a crowd or show off) and have not yet discovered the sport, and a media-hype marketing campaign is not going to find them.  Good old word-of-mouth, a good safety record, the way we present ourselves to the public (as respectful and conscientious) and being visible in the community are better methods of spreading the word.  We also need to remember that we don't want our launches to become as crowded as our beaches if we want to continue to enjoy truly free flight.

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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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