Wills Wing
Flytec

Oz Report

Volume 7, Number 175
6 pm, Tuesday, July 1 2003

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

to Table of Contentsto next topic Flytec/Quest Air WRE – a low save

Tue, Jul 1 2003, 5:00:00 pm EDT

altitude|Lawrence "Pete" Lehmann|Quest Air|record|Ron Gleason|speed record|Swift|tandem|triangle

With Bill about to leave the area, the winds are about to turn around and it looks like Friday may be the big day.  The southeast winds should be here tomorrow though.  Today it was north very light.

Cirrus completely covered the sky this morning but it opened up a little during the day.  Three of us tried to beat the existing fast 25 km triangle speed record: Ron Gleason, Junko on the Swift and me. Mikey, Pete Lehmann, and Bill Ayers got to 6,000’ and headed north east toward the paraglider paddock for a little out and return just before we took off at 2:45.

There plenty of cu’s under the cirrus and like the last few days the cirrus just seems to hold off the over development.  The ground was completely shaded, but the cirrus was starting to break up over us.

I climbed up to about 5,100’ AGL in 400 fpm with Junko who launched earlier over me and Ron who went last just below.  Bo was in the tandem a bit lower still giving a soaring lesson to a pilot who hasn’t soloed yet.

Ron wants to leave low as we have to come back within 1,600’ of our departure altitude.  There is a bit of an inversion at 4,500’ AGL so this is not a bad idea.  We all head out with Ron about 500’ lower and to my left.

On the way out to the first turnpoint Ron gets hammered and low before we get there.  I find a rough thermal and Junko who I first spot over the turnpoint circling high, comes in under me as we rocket up. In fact it is too good and I leave it at 4,000’ AGL and head for the turnpoint.  Junko quickly figures out why I left the thermal and comes with me.

The run to the second turnpoint is sink city and I get hammered like Ron did earlier.  He claws his way up but heads back to the airport to find a boomer and get up.

I’m out in the boonies over a cut in the Mesquite by the second turnpoint 5 miles south of the airport working my way down from 450’ AGL to 250’ AGL’. Finally the light sink turns slowly into light lift and I am able to hold on for a total of almost ten minutes before I start to climb out.  I really really didn’t want to land out there.

With the low save it is too slow for the record.  That’s why we have world records because you don’t set them every day.

Junko didn’t declare her record attempt, so she will have to try again.  The good days are coming so I’m getting ready for the big ones.

The cu-nimbs finally do show up and it starts to rain around 6 PM.

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Is there a man among them?

Tue, Jul 1 2003, 5:00:01 pm EDT

Bill Bolosky|CIVL|David "Dave" Glover|David Glover|Dennis Pagen|NAA|Oz Report|power|record|USHGA|Worlds

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve written a few articles about individuals who have been denied appointments that they already received due to comments about them that were made without any chance for the accused to respond.  First, David Glover was the subject a smear campaign that relieved him of his duties as a CIVL jury member at the Brazil Worlds.  Next, I was un-appointed from my USHGA CIVL representative position after Bill Bolosky received negative comments from Dennis Pagen, at least one US NAA representative, and two or more CIVL representatives, according to statements that Bill made to me.

The argument that convinced Bill was that I could not be effective at CIVL because of X, whatever X was.  I would only ask: effective as compared with whose record?  I didn’t realize that Europeans were moved by the winning-through-intimidation style practiced by our now resurrected CIVL delegate.  Dennis, our alternative delegate, has argued that logical argument also has no place within the Plenary.

Okay, are the individuals who are complaining about us willing to do so in public?  When I’ve had a disagreement with Dennis Pagen about CIVL policy you can read all about it in the Oz Report (and you are perfectly free to disagree and side with Dennis on any of the issues). I would have been more than happy to publish any of Dennis’ rebuttals, but I never got any.  Some only like to do their work in the corridors of power (tiny though that power may be).

I’m offering to publish in whole and without editing (other than for grammar and spelling) any submissions from any of the individuals who wrote or spoke against David’s or my appointment and got them rescinded.  Are you man enough to write what you said behind our backs to the whole hang gliding community?  Will your arguments hold water when seen in the full light of day?

Your choice, gentleman.

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Wills Wing U2

Tue, Jul 1 2003, 5:00:02 pm EDT

aerotow|Australia|battens|Bernard Winkelmann|book|landing|trike|Vincene Muller|Wills Wing|Wills Wing U2

https://OzReport.com/toc.php?7.084#2

Bernard Winkelmann «bernard_winkelmann» writes:

Wow.  That is all I can say.

It was a windy day in Cochrane and I was determined to fly today.  My Talon base tube arrived from Wills Wing and I was eager to fly my Talon again.  I hadn't flown it since Australia.  Well it turns out that the battens I had were for an older Talon 150 as the last 5 battens out near the tip were way too short.  So I repacked my glider and waited for the wind to calm down a little.

Once the gusting stopped, I noticed that people were moving to the front of the hill.  Soon, there was a lone Falcon 2 flying around.  I knew then that I had to fly.  I had the choice of a mint Fusion (5 flights on it) or a new U2. Chris and Vincene Muller (http://www.mullerwindsports.com) had just taken delivery of a new U2 145. It was really nice looking.  Kind of like a baby Talon.  Everybody that was waiting for the wind to calm down was ogling it.

It was sitting there all setup just begging to be test flown.  You see, Chris was down south Kite Surfing.  He had just set it up, but couldn't fly it as the conditions in the morning were not right for it. So I asked if I could take it out.  The answer was yes so long as it was top landed.  Couldn't argue with that.

Now I am not a very experienced pilot.  I have somewhere between 50-60 hours.  I practically learned to fly on a Talon in the heat of Australia.  Learning to aerotow behind a trike in the middle of the day in the outback was part of that learning curve.  So, I still consider myself a novice pilot.  I am about 175lbs.  Now this may sound biased, but I think that it is a testament to the great gliders Wills Wing makes.  They are easy to fly, but most importantly, easy to land.  Enough about me.

Walking the glider to the front of hill I was little concerned with the amount of slack in the lower cables.  It was pretty "sloppy" as another pilot put it. I think that it would be the only criticism that I have about the glider.  But after flying it, I think that I know why it is there.  This puppy handles.  I was amazed that I could just point it where I wanted it to go and it would go there.

I pulled on about ¾ VG and I think that I found the sweet spot.  Enough handling for thermalling without high-siding, but enough stability so that you are not correcting it every minute.  It the dirty, wind broken thermals that were left this evening, the glider was so easy to core and locked into the bank angle that I like very easily.  At full VG, the handling is tighter, but still manageable.

The U2 is a sports car.  It was running circles around everyone in the air.  It was so cool to look somewhere and think "I want to go there" and have the performance and speed to get there.  I was literally racing around the sky!  It by far had the best sink rate on the hill.  It was so nice to sit above everyone.

At full speed and full VG, the glider has no tendency to oscillate (PIO). This made my poor attempts at buzzing launch quite reassuring.  The U2 has a great speed range.  The transient trim seems less pronounced than my Talon's. Terry and I managed to fly side by side for a little bit (he has a Fusion), and the U2 didn't lose at all.  It really does perform quite well.  I would dare say that at most speeds, better than the Fusion.

Landing was awesome.  It was so easy.  VG ¼ allowed for enough stability and enough slack to keep it straight for a nice easy top landing.  Be careful of the ground effect.  It took me a few passes each time I tried to land on top.  It just kept going and going and going.

Honestly, if I didn't have my Talon (which incidentally is for sale), I would buy this glider in a heartbeat.  For people who don't compete at a world level, this is the glider for you.  Great bang for the buck.  I haven't had this much fun flying in a long time.  If you have the opportunity to take one for a test flight, do it, but have your pocket book ready.  I can almost guarantee that you will want one.

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to Table of Contentsto next topic King Mountain – view from a king posted glider

Tue, Jul 1 2003, 9:00:03 pm GMT

"Awesome" Bob|altitude|John Woiwode|Tim King|XC

Richard Chamberlain «richchamb» writes:

I flew during King Mt. meet as a free flier.  I have an older kingpost glider.  Steve Rudy's statement that it is safer for less experienced pilots to fly directly into the wind along the mountains than go over the back with the wind is just not true.

I followed everybody on Day 3, thinking they knew where to go. I thought I had plenty of altitude (12,000') to get across Pass Creek in the headwind, only to find myself helplessly falling from the sky, feet in the sail, uncontrollable in the terrible turbulence at that huge venturi.  I barely kept it level and landed hard at the base of the pass.  My logbook for the day says "Never so glad to be on the ground.  What am I doing?  This is crazy.” Over the back with the wind is much saner, no matter for pilots with limited XC skills as myself.

Later, Jon Woiwode was very kind and spent much time with me. He gave me lots of tips on how to move as safely as possible on the range.  As far as I could tell, Woiwode spoke as a voice for the overwhelming majority of the pilots (at least everyone I spoke to) about the danger (and frustration of no distance) of the call into the wind along the range.  Woiwode should be commended, and his experience at King well regarded.

And by the way, I set my personal best, 21.6 miles, over the back the next day!  What an awesome place to fly gliders!

(editor’s note: Awesome is one word that one could use.  Others are dangerous, crazy, scary, and absurd.  But, there are many varieties of hang gliding, and for those who wish to experience pure terror, the best place I’ve found is King Mountain, especially up the range on a windy day.  If my feet aren’t in the sail, and the wires ain’t slack, I might as well be back at the office.)

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Another view of the Wild West Regionals

Tue, Jul 1 2003, 9:00:04 pm GMT

Bruce Barmakian|Carson Capaul|competition|job|Kendrick "Ken/Kenny" Brown|Kenny Brown|landing|Mike Tryon|news|Phillip "Phill" Bloom|Richard Sauer|XC

Rich Burton «indasky» writes:

On the first day, I thought that we were going to be blown out since it was blowing about 10 on launch when we arrived at 10:00 AM. What often happens is that when the West pushes through across Washoe Lake, the thermals that are needed to get over the back become very elusive.  The good news was that it stayed about the same as the launch window and prime launch time of 1:00 PM approached.  I was rewarded with a 800 FPM climb right off of launch and was smiling as I know how important this first climb is.

The format of this meet is: Launch window is from 11:00 AM until 1:00PM. Your time starts when your feet leave the ground and it stops when you cross a goal line about 28 miles over the back and straight down highway 50.

Anyone who competes knows that if you miss just one climb on a race task, you won't be standing in the winners circle that day.  At Carson, that one climb is very likely the one that you enter right after your launch run.

If you have not launched by 1:00, then that is your start time.  If you look at the start times for day three, you will see that there were quite a few of us still on the ground at 1:00 on the last day.  I believe that this day was my fastest, but the time doesn't reflect that.

I went into this meet not sure how the rigids would compare with the flex wings for this short dash.  In the past I have often times found myself low and then climbing too high and flying at 65 + for the last 10 miles through very turbulent air.  I knew that I wasn't willing to run at those speeds in my Stratos.

Short story.  The rigids did very well.  Bruce Barmekian did an exceptional job flying his ATOS-C and clearly won the rigid division.  If you look at the elapsed times for the top three rigids and the top three flex wings each day, you will see that the rigids didn't have any disadvantage in this type of race.

I want to thank Ray and Jackie for putting on a great three day meet.  I truly enjoy flying the Carson area with its endless landing fields and great climbs (did I mention the 1800fpm climb over Virginia City on the last day?).

I talked with Ray during the meet and we have emailed each other since that time.  He is very open to changing the format of the meet next year.  The fact that he had a rigid class this year shows his willingness to change.

You need to understand that this meet was started as a fun meet that could be flown without instruments and a minimal amount of XC experience.  People are talking all of the time about how to increase pilot participation in local meets.  Where are the trial grounds for our World Team pilots?

I believe that one of Ray and Jackie's goal was to make this meet a pilot friendly low tech meet for just these reasons.  What I have seen after participating at this meet for the past four years, is that it has become a very technical meet.  The intermediate pilot and even many competent XC heroes no longer have a chance.  You can look back just a few years to see that the winners are well known names in hang gliding.  Making goal is still a reality for most, but going home with one of the infamous Wild West belt buckles has gotten out of reach for many.(How many of these do Rich Sauer and Kenny Brown need ?

There were a lot of familiar faces this year at the Regionals, and a serious void was felt because there were many participants from years past who were not there.  I heard second and third hand that some pilots didn't show because of the format.  They want to see a longer (flight wise) meet.  I hope that this will happen next year and that everyone who has participated in the past will come back, and that there will be many more new faces.

Results:

Flexwing Day One

Phill Bloom 45:07 WWTalon
Ken Brown 46.23 Litespeed S
Sebastia Lutges 51.33 WW Talon

Day 2

Rich Sauer 45:06 Laminar MR700
Phil Bloom 46:25 WW Talon
Ken Brown 48:45 Litespeed S

Day 3

Rich Sauer 53:15 Laminar MR700
Bill Saderquist 55.34 Litespeed
Ken Brown 1:01:24 Litespeed S

Finals:

Phll Bloom
Ken Brown
Rich Sauer

Rigids day one:

Bruce Barmakian 43:10 Atos-C
Rich Burton 47:20 Stratos-C
Mike Tryon 47.55 Stratos – C

Day2

Mike Tryon 43.21 Stratos – C
Bruce Barmakian 43:51 Atos-C
Steve Rudy 1:13:02 ATOS

Day 3

Bruce Barmakian 45:38 Atos-C
Rich Burton 51:05 Stratos-C
Mike Tryon 53;17 Stratos – C

FINALS:

Bruce Barmakian Atos-C
Mike Tryon Stratos-C
Rich Burton Stratos-C

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Florida Ridge Alumni Fly-In

Tue, Jul 1 2003, 5:00:05 pm EDT

camping|Dan Critchett|flight park|Florida|Florida Ridge|harness|tandem|tug|weather

Marco Oliveira «marco» writes:

The Florida Ridge Alumni invite you to join us Saturday, July 12th for an all-day fly-in. As you know, the Ridge is closed for the summer, but the Alumni have rented the flight park on the 12th -- and want you to join us!

We'll have two tug pilots, a ground crewperson, and a flight park manager to provide us with all the flying service we'll need, plus a $10 catered lunch, plenty of shade, and experienced pilots on hand to assist if need any set-up help or flight tips.  (No official lessons, though, sorry.)

What's more, we encourage you to bring your friends because we'll be offering 2500-ft tandems for just $75. And mile-high tandems for only $150. You'll never get a chance to introduce your friends and buddies to hang gliding for less!  (Conditions permitting, of course.  Come early - by 8am - or be prepared to stay late - up until 7pm - for optimal tandem conditions.)

Solo tows are $10 all day, camping is free, and glider and harness rental are available at their usual prices (courtesy of the Ridge). Weather and demand permitting, we may extend the fly-in through the next day, Sunday.

If you have any questions, please contact Marco Oliveira («Marco») or Dan Critchett («Dan»). And be sure to check your email late Friday evening in case we have to call the event for weather.

(The Florida Ridge Alumni are a dozen eager pilots who are underwriting our own weekend flying this summer while the Ridge is closed.  On occasion - like July 12th - we invite other pilots to join us. If you are interested in joining the Alumni, contact Marco or Dan.)

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Go ahead – sue me!

Tue, Jul 1 2003, 5:00:06 pm EDT

communication|internet|news|politics

«Davidmstuf» sends this:

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59424,00.html

"The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last Tuesday that Web loggers, website operators and e-mail list editors can't be held responsible for libel for information they republish, extending crucial First Amendment protections to do-it-yourself online publishers.

“The ruling effectively differentiates conventional news media, which can be sued relatively easily for libel, from certain forms of online communication such as moderated e-mail lists.  One implication is that DIY publishers like bloggers cannot be sued as easily.

“"Here, the court basically said that when it comes to Internet publication, you can edit, pick and choose, and still be protected," said Cohn.”

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to Table of Contentsto next topic The multilingual Oz Report

Tue, Jul 1 2003, 5:00:07 pm EDT

Oz Report

The ever productive Gerry has implemented a number of language translations for the Oz Report.  He writes:

The Oz Report web version is now available in machine-translated French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish!  The translation will be a little rough, but I hope the readers will forgive that.  Thanks again to Googol!

It’s a busy place the Oz Report.  Log indicates a peak of forty nine issue viewings per minute!

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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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