Oz Report

Sun, Mar 20 2022, 8:17:46 am MDT

Clever Birds

Australia|gear|harness|science|tracker|tracking

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/science/australian-magpies-clever.html

The Australian magpie is one of the cleverest birds on earth. It has a beautiful song of extraordinary complexity. It can recognize and remember up to 30 different human faces.

But Australians know magpies best for their penchant for mischief. An enduring rite of passage of an Australian childhood is dodging the birds every spring as they swoop down to attack those they view as a threat.

Magpies’ latest mischief has been to outwit the scientists who would study them. Scientists showed in a study published last month in the journal Australian Field Ornithology just how clever magpies really are and, in the process, revealed a highly unusual example in nature of birds helping one another without any apparent tangible benefit to themselves.

In 2019 Dominique Potvin, an animal ecologist at University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia, set out to study magpie social behavior. She and her team spent around six months perfecting a harness that would carry miniature tracking devices in a way that was unintrusive for magpies. They believed it would be nearly impossible for magpies to remove the harnesses from their own bodies.

Dr. Potvin and her team attached the tracking devices and the birds flew off, showing no signs of obvious distress. Then everything began to unravel.

“The first tracker was off half an hour after we put it on,” she said. “We were literally packing up our gear and watching it happen.”

In a remarkable act of cooperation, the magpie wearing the tracker remained still while the other magpie worked at the harness with its beak. Within 20 minutes, the helping magpie had found the only weak point — a single clasp, barely a millimeter long — and snipped it with its beak. Dr. Potvin and her team later saw different magpies removing harnesses from two other birds outfitted with them.

Discuss "Oz Magpies" at the Oz Report forum   link»   »

Mon, Jan 17 2022, 5:05:47 pm MST

50 km triangle speed record claim

Australia|Moyes Delta Gliders|Neale Halsall|record|speed record|triangle

Type of record : Speed over a triangular course of 50 km
Course/location : Birchip, VIC (Australia)
Performance : 40.8 km/h
Pilot : Neale Halsall (Australia)
Aircraft : Litespeed RX 3.5 / Moyes Delta Gliders
Date : 29.11.2021
Current record : no record set yet

Discuss "Australian/Oceanian Record Claim" at the Oz Report forum   link»   »

Sat, Nov 27 2021, 6:02:16 pm MST

Swimming

Australia|culture|John Bond

(Bronte Beach, Bronte, NSW, Australia)

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/25/sports/australia-volunteer-lifesaving-swimming.html

The communal, sea-savvy culture that I fell into in Australia began 50,000 to 65,000 years ago when some of the continent’s first inhabitants made their way across land bridges and the seas to the northern tip of the landmass.

Australian surf lifesaving got its start in Sydney with men like John Bond, a soldier and medic who gathered and trained a few local swimmers around 1894. Commanding and mustachioed in photos, he is a revered figure where he happened to land, and where I did, too — in Bronte, a coastal suburb of Sydney encircling a small beach where southern swells often produce 12-foot waves and where rip currents can move at the speed of an Olympian.

Discuss "Bronte Beach" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Wed, Feb 5 2014, 3:14:17 pm EST

Dry and empty

(Nullarbor, SA, Australia)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia

http://twistedsifter.com/2013/08/maps-that-will-help-you-make-sense-of-the-world/

Discuss "Australia" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Tue, Feb 10 2009, 7:09:00 am AEDT

Performance Vs. handling

Airborne Sting 3|Australia|Moyes Litesport|Wills Wing|Wills Wing U2|XC

(Airborne factory, Redhead, NSW, Australia)

One pilot has asked me about the differences between the Airborne Sting 3 and the Moyes Litesport. The Sting 3 is an intermediate glider built to have intermediate handing and intermediate (but better than the Sting 2 XC) performance. The Litesport is an advanced glider with advanced performance and advanced handling.

The fact that they both have kingposts is not necessarily a sign or symbol that they are equivalent gliders although most hang glider pilots seem to be very symbol oriented (this is encouraged by the manufacturers). There is a lot more than goes into a glider and its performance than whether it has a kingpost or not. This is a problem for Moyes as they are marketing it against the symbol of the kingpost, which tells most hang glider pilots that this glider (the Litesport) is supposed to be an intermediate glider (which it is not).

I remember a few years ago when I first flew the Litesport after flying the Wills Wing U2 and how much "stiffer" it felt. Of course, now it feels like a baby doll to me.

Just subjectively on a scale of handling/performance I would rank the gliders in this fashion. Airborne Sting 3, Wills Wing U2, Moyes Litesport, left going to right more performance, right going to left easier handling.

As we have seen the Litespsort is an advanced glider that performs almost as well as the topless gliders in glide at speeds below 40 mph. It climbs as well as or better than the Litespeeds (and equivalent topless gliders). Blay was calling it the "Lighterspeed" after seeing its performance, especially on the seventh day of the NSW State Titles at Manilla.

Discuss "Comparing the Litesport, Sting and U2" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Tue, Feb 10 2009, 7:08:21 am AEDT

Few tubes in 2008

Airborne Sting 3|Australia|site

(Airborne factory, Redhead, NSW, Australia)

https://OzReport.com/13.022#2

Phil at the Airborne factory clued me in why I might not have heard about the Airborne Sting 3 168, even though it was in development last year when I was here flying the prototype of the Airborne 3 154.

Of course, they never did send out an announcement of the 168. So that didn't alert me. They were just very quiet about the 168 and only made an "announcement" by putting its specs on the appropriate web page on the Airborne web site.

The issue was Airborne didn't have the tubing to build a bunch of new Sting 3 168's so they didn't want to encourage sales. Now they've received a big shipment of tubing in so they can build as many 168's as they need.

They have shipped sixty Sting 3 154's and four Sting 3 168's.

Discuss "Airborne Sting 3 168" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Fri, Jan 30 2009, 7:36:36 am AEDT

The bigger version

Airborne Sting 3|Australia|Gerolf Heinrichs|news|release|site

(Airborne factory, Redhead, NSW, Australia)

Somehow I missed it that Airborne had released a bigger version of the Sting 3, 168 squares. I then went looking on the Airborne web site to see if there was a press release or any notice of the new glider. Couldn't find it.

Then I began to wonder, was I just clueless. Maybe I just don't remember. But I went back and looked at the Oz Reports archive, and there was nothing about the 168 version.

I had the opportunity to fly the Sting 3 154 last spring while it was being developed and had a great time with it. I had heard that there might be a be a bigger version later, but I was surprised to see it on the Airborne web site after being clued into the fact that one existed.

I made a stop over at the Airborne factory earlier Thursday morning when I took my car into get a new water pump at the garage next door. I spoke with Rob Hibbard and all the Duncan brothers. I told Rob that he had to be sure to get the word out to me and to other hang gliding news outlets (are there any other?) about whatever developments were coming out of Airborne. That their promotion was just too sketchy.

I was at the Moyes factory on Tuesday and said the same thing (and Gerolf more than agrees). I also heard a rumor, maybe I heard this wrong, but that Gerolf is going to develop a new Moyes intermediate glider. I guess to replace the Sonic and/or XT. Maybe we'll hear more about that later.

Discuss "Airborne Sting 3 - 168" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Wed, Jan 28 2009, 8:45:57 am AEDT

The review positively glows

Airborne Sting 3|Australia

(Airborne factory, Redhead, NSW, Australia)

http://www.airborne.com.au/images/pdf/Skywings_Sting3.pdf

This reviewer had almost nothing even slightly negative to say and much positive to laud. He loves the fact that it is such a responsive glider.

Discuss "Airborne Sting 3 Review" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Wed, Dec 31 2003, 7:00:02 pm GMT

southwestern Victorian sites

Australia|New Years

We pulled into Warrnambool on Tuesday to check out the coastal soaring on the low dunes facing the southern Ocean. Unfortunately the winds were too light to allow for proper soaring on the six foot bench. On New Years day we will check out Discovery Bay in South Australia with its much higher dunes.

Discuss "Warrnambool" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Thu, Nov 27 2003, 8:00:01 pm GMT

Australia|blog|book|Christmas|Cloudsuck|death|Florida|Hang Gliding|Mexico|Oz Report|Oz Report forum|record|weather

http://www.cafeshops.com/ozreport.8615244?zoom=yes#zoom

Cloudsuck, the Life and Death Struggle for the Hang Gliding Word Recordis now available as a hard copy book. Just in time for Christmas. Make sure that that wuffo friend of yours understands the point of hang gliding.



Cloudsuck tells the story of the dramatic 10-year race to fly farther than anyone has ever gone in a hang glider. From the historic 1990 flight that first broke the 300-mile barrier, through ten years of adventure and challenge, this is a first-hand account of the driven individuals who struggled against each other and against nature to set the next hang gliding world distance record. We follow them from the northwest Colorado wilderness and across the rugged New Mexico desert to the plains of Australia and the Florida swamps.

We feel the thrill of racing against the worlds best, and the shock of loss in tragic accidents. Ultimately the trail leads to south Texas, where painstaking analysis of weather patterns finally pays off for a small group of pioneering pilots and the story begins again. Cloudsuck will appeal to anyone with a love of adventure, and everyone who has ever dreamed of flying.

The ebook version has been out for a little while now, and we've finally been able to get Cloudsuck printed. You can purchase it on-line at the URL above.

You can find the ebook at https://OzReport.com/cloudsuck.php. You can freely download a small portion of the book (Preface, TOC, first chapter) at https://OzReport.com/cloudsuck/cloudsucksmall.pdf. Right click this link then click Save As.

Discuss "Cloudsuck" at the Oz Report forum

Discuss "Cloudsuck - Now in hard copy" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Fri, Sep 19 2003, 3:00:00 am EDT

aerotow|airspace|Australia|FAA|flight park|Joan Hidalgo Proia|job|Kendrick "Ken/Kenny" Brown|Kenny Brown|Marilyn Vos Savant|Martin "Marty" Beckenbach|powered|site

http://www.longacrefarms.com/flightpark.htm

We hated to leave the wonderful Finger Lakes Aerosports Flight Park, but with the hurricane tipped (as they say in Australia) to come through there on Friday, and with Sun Dogs in the sky, we decided to make a run for it to the southwest through Ohio. It’s raining now late on Thursday night, but was dry with light breezes during the drive out. We hope to be able to drive to close to Chattanooga tomorrow to arrive in time for the Team Challenge.

The party was just starting at the flight park and Marty and Doug Allen were doing a great job. Marilyn and Steve had driven in from Morningside and the cu’s were just coming over after the first band cirrus came through. Kenny Brown was there with his Duddlebug 2. Mike was giving Litesport demos. Ron was demoing everything in the WW line.

The site was absolutely beautiful and a great set up. The Rochester Area Flyers have a wonderful facility to fly at thanks to a $100,000 investment on Marty’s part and Doug and Joan’s farm. Again we hang glider pilots get way way more than we deserve.

Marty has really gone through the process of putting together a flight park with $10,000 in legal fees to set up four limited liability corporations that protect his personal and other business assets. They have a great working relationship with the local FAA office.

They are not in controlled airspace (although only a half hour from Rochester, NY), but they are under a victor airway (centered a mile away) going into the airport. There is undiverted commercial air traffic at 1,200’ AGL and above n the area.

With a residential area just to the north, but huge farming areas in all the other direction, they make sure to keep the noise of the tugs, ultralights, powered parachutes, and powered paragliders to a minimum. The air strip can handle GA traffic and has been there for forty five years.

Marty was able to purchase cheaply a good sized roller that would normally be used for building highways. This was absolutely essential for getting a nice smooth runway (especially after frost heaving). This makes it so much easier on the trikes and tugs.

It’s clear to me that there can be some really great flights from this flight park next year. Maybe all the may into Vermont, which would be very cool.

Congratulations to Marty, Doug and Joan.

Discuss aerotow parks at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Finger Lakes Aerosports Flight Park" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Thu, Jul 17 2003, 7:00:03 pm GMT

Australia|certification|competition|DHV|environment|John Vernon|Peter Dall|Ron Gleason|spin|tail|tuck|Wills Wing|Wills Wing Falcon|Zapata

Richard Lever <RLever@aol.com> writes:

John Vernon's principal argument is being overlooked here.

(editor’s note: Not overlooked, but it is always good to put the spotlight back on it.)

The Atos may have entered an incipient spin due to being flown too slow. I think we all accept that spins are a reality with any high aspect wing and that to fly a rigid you need to watch the speed. But having said that, what happened after the pilot applied correct spin recovery techniques is the real issue.

John mentions that other pilots flying that day referred to conditions as 'similar to a British autumn', if slightly choppy (well even here in Blighty we get the odd rough day, but if you can't fly safely in Britain where can you?). The point is that the glider failed to recover from the ensuing dive - a basic pitch stability issue. It wasn't in a radical/competition environment and it wasn't a non-certified glider.

(editor’s note: We know that conditions in one patch of the sky don’t necessarily correspond to conditions in another patch of the sky. When I tucked in Australia over the flats the air was seen to be just fine by the pilots near me. But one (perhaps very small) patch of it wasn’t.)

Felix is one of hang gliding's pioneers and I hate being one of his detractors. The Atos is one of the sexiest high performance wings ever built and one day I hope to own one. But in the meantime please get the thing sorted!

(editor’s note: I’m thinking that flex wings have also failed to recover from dives. The other day out of Zapata we had Ron Gleason go into a 120° dive when flying an ATOS-C with a tail and he and it recovered. Peter Dall in Australia also tucked an ATOS with a tail and recovered.

I guess I’m unclear as just to which lesson I’m supposed to draw from the fact that the ATOS didn’t recover in one case and did in two others. That flex wings recover in some cases and not in others.

Am I supposed to think that the DHV certification only protects me up to Y limit? Is Y the same for flex wings and rigid wings with tails? If Richard could just enlighten me as to what I’m supposed to think here I would really very much appreciate it.

The only hang glider that I know for sure hasn’t tucked or tumbled in the Wills Wing Falcon. I’m sure that there are others in this class with similar records. Is this due to the design, the pilots, or the conditions in which it is flown in, or all three? If I want to never tuck again should I fly a Falcon only, and only in benign conditions?)

Discuss "Tucks, are they inevitable?" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Mon, Jul 14 2003, 2:00:05 pm EDT

aerotow|Australia|BHPA|certification|Christof Kratzner|Dale Branham|DHV|gaggle|injury|John Vernon|spin|tail|video|Worlds

John Vernon <johnv@emvertec.demon.co.uk> writes:

Got the numbers myself from Mark Dale at the BHPA and also understand an incident report has been recently received. . What the numbers, which I believe also apply to rigids, mean basically, is that the DHV test is more demanding than the others because it specifies a minimum torque which means aspect ratio does come into the reckoning.

So we are left with the conclusion that the glider that tumbled

a) Was tested to the most rigorous standard

b) Met the standard by a factor of two in the set up in which it was being flown

c) Was fitted with a V-tail

d) Was being piloted by someone who reacted correctly to the situation he found himself in (he had seen a video of spin recovery the previous night I understand)

And yet the glider still tumbled. As far as I know this is the second incident like this with a glider fitted with a V-tail (you reported an event in Australia when the glider recovered)

We know of Atos's that tumbled without tails, e.g. Christhoff Kratzner in the middle of a gaggle in Spain in the Algodonales Worlds, your incident, now we are having incidents with tails, thankfully so far without injury.

Lets be clear, not only is an incident like this life threatening to the pilot, but also to other pilots in the same thermal.

It is interesting to note that other British pilots in Spain at the Aerotow camp reported conditions as similar "to a British Autumn" and on the day in question "choppy but not what you'd call rough." Felix himself was observed by pilots flying near in the same thermal, thermalling at speeds which appeared to be below those recommended.

The original pitch stability curves were drawn up based on known glider parameters when glider performance and design was going through major improvements. We are now at a point in the evolution of our aircraft where the aspect ratio has been increased by a factor of nearly two, almost overnight, and surely "first of a kind" thinking must be applied not only to aspects of the glider design which has enabled this progress, but also to the parameters from which they are given their certificates of airworthiness.

It is my belief that it is incumbent on our certification authorities, in the light of these continuing incidents, to thoroughly review the standards that are the basis of the c of a and let us, the pilots, know about their deliberations and recommendations before we find out the hard way that we should have taken action.

(editor’s note: What John seems to keep overlooking here is that flex wings are tucking and tumbling also and they meet the same standards. I assume that the standards mean that unless you meet a particularly mean invisible dragon you will likely not flip.)

Discuss tucks and tumbles at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Tails and DHV" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Wed, Jul 9 2003, 5:00:06 pm EDT

Australia|cloud|photo|picture

Alan Blake <ablake@netpromotions.com.au> sends this picture of the morning glory in northern Australia

The photo is of a cloud over 250k's long.

Discuss photos at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Photo/caption contest" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Tue, Jul 8 2003, 6:00:04 pm EDT

Australia|equipment|Nicholas Franczyk|Rob Cooper|school|sport|Victoria Lee Nelson

Nicholas Palaric, Annandale, NSW, Australia <nicholas.palaric@bigpond.com> writes:

On Sunday 6^th July York Cooper passed away after a long slow battle with cancer, aged 78. York was a keen supporter of our sport and until recently an active pilot himself. He purchased the land that enabled the High Adventure Airpark on the Mid North Coast become the premier flight school that it was in the eighties and nineties. It was a place visited by many people from around the world to learn and to fly.

York’s support extended to Entreprise Wings and Airborne Gliders where he would buy gliders and equipment more frequently that he really needed to help sales during their difficult years. A former British Paratrooper, York was enthusiastic about being in the air.

York’s friends are kindly invited to attend his funeral service to be held in its entirety, at the Chapel of Mannings Funeral Home, 87 Victoria Road Rozelle, Friday July 11 2003 commencing at 11 a.m. A wake at the Orange Grove Hotel to follow.

Discuss helping out the sport at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "York Cooper" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sat, Jul 5 2003, 2:00:01 pm EDT

Australia|Bo Hagewood|Bubba Goodman|Campbell Bowen|Carlos Bessa|Claire Vassort|Curt Warren|Davis Straub|Dennis Pagen|Florida|Jerz Rossignol|Jim Lee|Jim Yocom|Kari Castle|Mark Bolt|Mike Barber|NTSS|NTSS ranking|Paris Williams|US Nationals|Worlds|Worlds 2003

Here’s now things stack up with the NTSS points this year going into the US Nationals in Big Spring at the end of the month. This 2004 NTSS ranking isn’t the one that is used for the 2003 Worlds in Brazil, but is the current NTSS points accumulation for 2002 and 2003.

Mike Barber didn’t go to Australia and cut his knee at the Wallaby Open so he doesn’t have a fourth high points meet. Kari, Jerz, and Curt where at the meets in Australia and got points there.

Claire is doing very well moving up. Dennis Pagen also. A lot could change at the Nationals. The Nationals is a very important meet this year as far as NTSS points are concerned. There are just three big points meets this year in the US – the Florida meets and the Nationals. The CXCC and the MidWest Regionals had fewer points.

Flex wings:

OzReport.com/Glide/2004class1ntss.htm

1	Williams Paris	2263
2	Warren Curt	2120
3	Bessa Carlos	2035
4	Rossignol Jerz	1992
5	Castle Kari	1920
6	Barber Mike	1766
7	Lee Jim	1738
8	ZIMMERMAN Chris	1728
9	Hagewood Bo	1609
10	PRESLEY Terry	1596
11	Pagen Dennis	1451
12	SAUER Richard	1355
13	Goodman Bubba	1338
14	VASSORT Claire	1327
15	Bolt Mark	1222

Rigid wings:

OzReport.com/Glide/2004class5ntss.htm

1	BARMAKIAN Bruce	1825
2	Straub Davis	1578
3	Yocom Jim	1439
4	GLEASON Ron	1432
5	BIESEL Heiner	1396
6	Bowen Campbell	1350
7	ENDTER Vincent	1316
8	POUSTICHIAN Mark	1032
9	LAMB James	883
10	DEGTOFF Mike	837

Discuss NTSS at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "NTSS points going into the US Nationals" at the Oz Report forum   link»

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@hotmail.com> 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.

Discuss the U2 at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Wills Wing U2" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Jun 22 2003, 2:03:02 pm EDT

Australia|cost|fatality|Helen Ross|power|safety|site|Steve Blenkinsop|wind power

Steve Blenkinsop <blenkinsop@ozemail.com.au> writes:

100m high (yes, very big) wind turbine generators are planned for 300m high hills we drop back onto from a coastal site here in South Australia. The developers want SAHGA to drop objections to the project.

Background

SAHGA Representaitives (Stuart McClure, Helen Mckerral and Robert Woodward ) attended a meeting with two representatives of Trust Power Rontheo Van Zyl & Rodney Ahern in response to the SAHGA submission to the development application to build the wind farm on the Willunga Range.

As you may be aware SAHGA's submission requested the relocation or removal entirely of the two turbines ( 15 & 16) in the back ridge bowl behind launch where two pilots have has emergency landings in the past. SAHGA contends that the construction of the turbines in this location will add to the risk of flying for our pilots in our existing operations at this site.

Summary of some Possible Options

1 (Do nothing) - We withdraw our objection, and live with the towers and for those pilots who choose to continue to fly there do so with an awareness of the increased risk of pilot fatality.

2 (Seek Compensation) - withdraw our objection, live with the towers and an increased risk of pilot fatality, but seek compensation for the loss of the back ridge (ie flyable for fewer pilots) to develop alternative flying sites or maintain existing and for those pilots who choose to continue to fly there do so with an awareness of the increased risk of pilot fatality.

3 (Fight for short term shut downs) - withdraw our objection if we're granted the (modified) weekend flying window and for those pilots who choose to continue to fly there do so with an awareness of the increased risk of pilot fatality.

4 (Fight to the end) - keep our objection - the towers may be disallowed, but the developers will certainly fight and if they win there's a chance we'll lose the back ridge to an exclusion zone, and possibly face some adverse media coverage that may affect our relationship with the local community and council.

Summary of meeting

SAHGA stated that removal of the turbines was desirable. Helen also suggested a compromise, of a short term shut down while flying was operational, and indicated that our operations were generally restricted to the winter months between certain wind speeds & directions and if they could shut the turbines (15 & 16) down on weekends in the winter months during daylight hours we would have no problem.

Trust power indicated that any further reduction in wind farm capacity would render the farm unviable. They also indicated that at a cost of $250.00/hr/turbine there was no margin to shut them down temporarily and that turbines 15 and 16 were there most productive turbines.

Trustpower want us to withdraw our objection ( Woody believes that our case is strong for measured consideration by the Minister and if these two turbines are rejected by the minister Trustpowers whole development may be in jeopardy) and are looking for a compromise to get us to drop our objection.

Trustpower seems happy enough for us to fly there while the towers are operational however, Trustpower also indicated (the subtle big stick approach) that they could apply to have us banned from the area if we did not withdraw our objection.

Woody asked if they had had dealings with CASA and how much time they thought it would take to declare restricted areas around the turbines (Woody's experience with CASA would leads him to believe that this would not be a quick process and even if successful, Woody thinks we could argue that the restricted area was limited to maybe 100 metres).

Point and counter point were raised that attempts to ban us could also cause them unwanted negative publicity which would not be conducive to there aims and also would not be good for SAHGA to be seen as an obstructive organisation.

One compromise floated at the meeting was some form of sponsorship/compensation for the impact Trustpowers presence will have on our operations and safety. Woody suggested that funds provided by Trust power could be put towards the cost of managing Tunkalilla.

Outcomes so far

Trustpower have offered today an amount of $2,500.00 pa for 5 years.

Woody's and Stuarts personal feeling is that our flying will be affected for the life of the wind farm and accordingly any sponsorship should be ongoing ie for the 50 years and we believe we should push for two days per year in which the club can operate a fly-in with the turbines turned off.

Stuart feels option 2 is our best option for a win win situation

Responses Required

All who have an opinion should express it via email to Stuart, Helen or Woody by Friday

Stuart - <Stuart.McClure@csiro.au> Woody - <rob_woodward@ultimatepositioning.com>

Discuss wind power at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Wind power" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sat, Jun 21 2003, 2:03:04 pm EDT

Australia|Barry Bateman|internet

Barry Bateman <flyxc@telus.net> writes:

Saw the report on the aero base tube grips. The best by far that I've came across for use on the Moyes aluminum "Fast Bar" are "Cricket bat handle grips" that I purchased in Australia. These are made from a rubber based material, are relatively thin but give good insulation and have outstanding grip. They come in different colours (if that is important to you) are cheap to purchase and install per the soapy water/hairspray method. Mine have been on my glider for over two years and have never shown any signs of tearing or ripping.

Of course, cricket may not be that popular in uncivilized countries, but I'm sure they can be found if one looks hard enough. Say, on the internet.

Discuss getting a grip at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Aero bar grips" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Fri, Jun 13 2003, 6:03:07 pm GMT

advertisement|advertising|Australia|cost|Flytec USA|food|game|Helen Ross|magazine|Oz Report|PG|record|site|space|world record|World Record Encampment

Helen McKerral <hiflioz@yahoo.com.au> writes:

I, for one, was very disappointed to see the ads appear and multiply. Fast. Have you set a limit? Pop up banners are annoying and thankfully you haven't gone that path (yet), but providing advertising space will inevitably lead to a compromise in editorial freedom. As a published author familiar with the industry, you should know this better than most.

I was a staunch advocate of your "pay for subscription" drive and said so publicly on the HG list. However, I don't believe you can have your cake and eat it, too. You pointed out that one of the reasons you wanted/needed subs was because you *didn't* have paid advertising. Now that you do, will you cease to ask for subs as well? I continue to admire your report, but will not pay a sub next year if you continue to run ads. You are receiving recompense for your work, which was my point to begin with.

I wrote back:

I assumed that there will be some (many?) that share your opinion. That is the cost (tradeoff) of making such a decision, some will withhold their support (funds), but hopefully overall the income will be more positive.

Will there be the perception that commercial support compromises editorial freedom? Yes. Will it? I doubt it.

Right now I am constrained by my resources, my interests, my skills, and what I think will interest my readers. These are far greater constraints than what I think advertisers will feel.

Thanks for your past (and I hope future) support (in all forms).

Helen, after seeing the copy of the Flytec ad in the last Oz Report writes:

Well, the advertising slide has happened even faster than I imagined it would. I can't express how disappointed I am. There is now an advertisement in the body of the Oz Report (earlier, you implied that discreet ads on the side would be all and a week or so later, this).

Whether the ad is clever or not, doesn't matter. Your urging to click through to Flytec's site gives the game away. I ask - did Flytec pay you to include that ad?

Nope.

To urge readers to click to their site?

Nope. I had to ask them to do that to reduce the bandwidth on my site.

To include anything extra in your report?

Nope.

Was there any inducement from them at all (including a promise of continued sponsorship, or a threat to withdraw)?

Nope. In fact I had to talk them into letting me put their ad in the Oz Report. It was for HG/PG Magazine and didn't want to dilute the impact of it by having it in the Oz Report, but they finally relented feeling that it would be okay.

If you look at the ad closely you'll see that it helps promote the World Record Encampment, which, of course, I promote and am involved in. They had originally hoped to have the ad in earlier in the HG/PG Magazine.

Does it have anything to do with the exhaustive Brauniger Comp review?

Nope.

Have you ever included a "funny ad" by one of your sponsors in the body of the Oz Report before?

I have produced over 1000 Oz Reports and don't recall what is in all of them. I have included many many unpaid for ads and product announcements in them. I can't recall if they were funny or not.

Oh, wait, yes I included a very funny and controversial Flytec ad about six months ago. I did it because it was controversial, not because it was funny. In fact it came from Australia. It was for the Blue Goggles which Flytec USA sells in the USA.

Check out the unsolicited article on them https://OzReport.com/toc.php?Ozv5n188.htm. You can find the ad here: https://OzReport.com/toc.php?Ozv6n249.shtml.

If not, why now (Flytec has had funny ads before)? Or, worst of all: was there a subconscious devil on your shoulder refusing to be quiet, whispering in your ear, justifying your actions: "It's okay to include this, it made me laugh, it's fun, it's not really advertising, it's simply entertainment etc etc."

You have a funny view of human nature. No devil here. Just delight in the content of the ad. I suggest going to www.despair.com to get the idea. BTW, I have no connection with www.despair.com. In fact, I have no connection with the 1000’s of URLs that I have published over the years in the Oz Report.

I've added my original message, both of which I am now happy for you to publish if you wish I hope you will publish, but am almost certain you won't. There are too many dollars at stake and I'll wager that there will be few articles critical of your advertisers in the Oz Report in future. It won't be sudden or obvious, but it will happen. You're halfway there already.

Of course I will publish. I would be most happy to publish. I can't believe that you are a regular Oz Report reader and not know that I would be more than delighted to publish this.

I’m beginning to think that your letter has more to say about you than it has to say about me and the Oz Report.

The next step will be advertisers threatening to withdraw funding if you say A, B or C. Or they'll say, "Hey, you've given X competitor Y amount of space and they don't even sponsor you! We deserve the same space or more!" Will you then say, "Too bad, I'll forfeit the $$$?" Or will you find a way to squeeze in both advertisers? Davis, I'm a journalist too, I earn my living from my writing, and I know how difficult it is to refuse kickbacks that come without effort. I had to say, years ago, "Zip, Nada, Nothing!" (I'm almost off the radar now, I think;-). It's even more difficult for publishers to do, of course.

No advertisers have said anything like that and as I personally know almost all of these people and they know me, they know just how far that would get them.

Are you in this for the dollars? If so, fine. There's nothing wrong or immoral about that - you need to earn a crust like anyone else. But you also need to be clear in your own mind what is most important to you. You simply cannot have a truly independent publication of the kind you produce, if it has paid advertising.

Nope. I do want the Oz Report to pay for itself and to provide some income, but I would have to be nuts to do this for the pitiful amount of money it produces. It, like everything in hang gliding, is a labor of love.

Davis, you've already compromised your editorial freedom and - most dismaying of all - you don't even realize you've done so!

It is so easy to accuse others of blindness.

I won't publish these opinions online (another reason I expect you won't publish this) because I know how difficult it can be to make a living as a writer. If I had to feed a family and the food on the table depended on compromising editorial freedom well, I'd do the same as you are doing. No contest. But I wouldn't pretend to myself or my readers I was doing otherwise. I would say, "I need the money to live, and I have to include advertising."

I have no children. I live in a trailer. I have no expensive bad habits. I want to include advertising because I feel that these manufacturers are a legitimate part of the hang gliding community and I want the Oz Report to generate additional income. I can then use this income to improve the Oz Report and help pay for my work and that by others.

I have been asked to do ads for long distance service and printer refills. Not part of the hang gliding community as far as I’m concerned. Not to say that these things are bad, just that I restrict the ads to hang gliding ads (paragliding is fine also).

The HG list has many flaws, but commercial advertising is not one of them. Please protect the Oz Report, Davis, if finances allow you to do so. The Oz Report has been something rather special. I'd hate to see it become Just Another Advertising Site. Think about where you're heading, and whether you want to be there. You can't go back.

Thanks for your letters Helen. I very much appreciate your feedback and the opportunity to publish it here.

Discuss "Oz Report editor irretrievably corrupted" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Thu, Jun 12 2003, 2:03:04 pm EDT

Australia|Gordon Marshall|safety|sport

Gordon Marshall <gordon@hangglide.com.au> writes:

A person that we 'know' over here feels that it might be time for a name change for hang gliding. You know, bad public image and all that. So he has opted to calling the sport "Kite Gliding" as he feels that it stands a better chance of not inheriting the bad image that the term Hang gliding does?!

A couple of our club members have found an astonishing amount of other sports taking on a similar tactic ---- Chopper, Philthy and Webby seemed to think that the idea of changing the name of a sport to avoid an adverse reputation for safety is catching on. Trust Western Australia to be in the forefront!

They found the following examples: Skiing is now "Gravity assisted snow sliding," White water rafting is now "rapid transit canyon scenery appreciation," Big wave surfing is now "Large scale dynamic h2O negotiation," Bungie jumping is now "Elasticised plummet recovery," Motocross is now "Ballistic dual wheeled dirt divetting," Rock Fishing Association is now "Boulder Angling". Skydiving is now "Fabricly reduced gravitational acceleration"

Tiddlywinks is now "Formed polymer disc autogenous trajectory control" Has anyone come across any others?

Discuss new names for hang gliding at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Kite Gliding" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Tue, Jun 10 2003, 2:03:07 pm EDT

Australia|battery|donations|equipment|Europe|Felix Ruehle|George Stebbins|Oz Report|power|sailplane|sport

George Stebbins <gstebbins@lahd.lacity.org> writes:

I am not really much of a fan of ads, but hey, most folks don't donate/subscribe, so what do they want for free, their money back? I donate/subscribe, but while I don't really like the ads, they do serve a purpose, and if it helps keep the Oz Report coming, well, I'm all for that. Oh, and thanks for keeping them non- intrusive.

Unlike those cowards who don't want you to publish their opinions, you can print mine, including this!

(editor’s note: About 400 people have sent in donations to support the Oz Report. This is a phenomenal number given that we have between 2,500 to 3,500 fairly steady readers, Obviously many of the readers are more casual than others, and feel that they don’t receive enough benefit to be worth the $10 to $20/year that they might sent my way, and of course, this is a reasonable and honorable decision.

One way you can think of ads is that they help make up for the readers who don’t send in donations. Their donations are paid for by the advertisers who want everyone to look at their ads. Of course, even if everyone donated to the Oz Report there would still most likely be ads because they bring in income and because they are reasonable messages from a legitimate part of the hang gliding community.

Hang Glider pilots don’t deserve all the great things that they get from their manufacturers. By “don’t deserve” I mean that our market is way too small, and the financial rewards too small for hang gliding equipment manufacturers to have a viable business if it weren’t for their love of the sport.

Just look at the incredible flight computers that are available to hang glider and paraglider pilots. They are much more compact and use much less battery power than those available to glider pilots. In many ways they are much more sophisticated (although this is not always true) than the instruments used by sailplane pilots. The market for these electronic toys is so small I can’t imagine how they justify the research and development costs.

Then look at all the hang glider development going on in Australia, the US, Europe and the Ukraine. These designers have to love hang gliding to keep working at the low wages they get paid to do this.

I think that if there is any way that the Oz Report can help support the industry, I’m willing to help out. Putting out ads is surely one way to help. Putting out articles with new product announcements helps potential customers and manufacturers.

But, the Oz Report has to be a trusted source of at least one person’s opinion (that hopefully reflects research and knowledge) about the goods produced by the manufacturers. As far as I’m concerned it is, whether the Oz Report displays ads or not.

As one example of this, note that I have written lots of articles (favorable and unfavorable) about the AIR ATOS rigid wing hang gliders. I’m on good terms with Felix Ruehle owner of AIR. I fly the AIR ATOS. But last year my articles stopped all sales of ATOS gliders for a good amount of time. Right or wrong I write ‘em as I see ‘em, and that’s the way it will continue.)

Discuss ads at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Ads" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Tue, Jun 10 2003, 6:03:03 pm GMT

Australia|control frame|gear|Gordon Marshall|harness|instruction|photo|radio|students

Gordon Marshall <gordon@hangglide.com.au> writes:

We have been using a little FM transmitter lately in our training and thought that you might like to share in our knowledge. It’s a very small FM transmitter and can be made a lot smaller than the one in the photo. We have found it to have a range of about 3-4 kms (airborne) which is great considering that it is advertised to have a range of only 1km.

To use it you tune your car fm radio to the station that it transmits on, Velcro the transmitter to the shoulder of the harness worn by the student and presto you can hear the student’s vario beeping while sitting in your truck.

We find it difficult to get the required student qualifying 15 minute soaring flights in winter on the flat paddocks out here in the wild west of Australia so the solution was a system that allowed the experience of the instructor to "be there" It’s bloody hard work for the student to find and centre their first thermal and if you can find it for them it makes the learning an all positive affair to build on rather than the standard learn from your mistakes system that is usually the nature of hang gliding instruction.

You know what it’s like when you training, you see the attitude of the glider change from the ground but are unable to see if its going up or down, is he in the thermal or just bubbling around? Well this baby puts you right there with the student.

The added advantage is that you can have a two way conversation with the student, he/she talks/screams/grunts on the FM transmitter without having to take their hands off the control frame and you talk to them on the other radio.

You will need the following gear-- From Jaycar electronics http://www1.jaycar.com.au type fm transmitter into the search STOCK-CODE: KD6022 or STOCK-CODE: kj8750 - New Product I also found that 40mm Ball Microphone Windsock C0344 $2.60/each was great in reducing wind noise to a minimum. Available from http://www.altronics.com.au/cat.asp?cat=7&grp=72&list=0&pg=1&sort=code

Of course you will need simple electronic assembly skills to put it all together, I found that a lot of hang gliding students seem to come from an electronic background (handy eh?)

Discuss "Hang gliders turned into RC’s" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Jun 1 2003, 6:03:00 pm GMT

Australia|Belinda Boulter|Brad Kushner|competition|Dell Schanze|flight park|internet|news|Ron Gleason

We’re on the road north to Wisconsin heading to the Midwestern Regional Hang Gliding Championships which start on the upcoming weekend. On Sunday night we camped in rural Georgia south of Atlanta in a super quiet very small RV park. No bugs, a cool night, bluebirds, and a sunny cool morning to start off the next day.

On Monday, the rain started in the afternoon as we drove into Kentucky and it has finally stopped here in southern Illinois around 11 PM. With everything so green you’d think it had been raining all winter and spring.

Internet access is now much reduced of course, and I got the news items below Monday evening in the RV park office at 28 kbs, instead of 1.5 Mbs. My modem has gone dead, so I had to use Belinda’s computer (and that computer’s modem didn’t work in Australia). This dead modem issue may be endemic with these Dell 8100’s. I’ll have to check with Ron Gleason later this week on that.

Brad Kushner is supposed to have DSL wireless access at his Whitewater, Wisconsin flight park, so things should improve. Right now we are using wireless networking for inner trailer networking between Belinda’s computer and mine. Fast, but no internet access.

Discuss competition at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "On the road" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Thu, May 22 2003, 2:00:08 pm EDT

Australia|Oz Report|Peter Lissenburg|Victoria Lee Nelson

Peter Lissenburg <peter@sensair.com> from Victoria, Australia and who made a $50 contribution to the Oz Report yesterday writes:

I'm sure many people are keeping their eyes on heads up displays. Here's one that's been on the market for some time: http://www.microoptical.net.

As with everything, it just takes time/money. I'm sure these devices will find their way into all sorts of applications quite soon then they will be more affordable. I was quoted near AU$2000 for a basic system about 3 months ago. So a bit expensive to start with.

They didn't seem interested in providing a cut down version to allow direct integration with application hardware, i.e. a vario. But I'm sure it will come. You can bet the instrument manufacturers are waiting for this to happen too.

Discuss heads up displays at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Heads up - still too expensive" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Thu, May 22 2003, 2:00:04 pm EDT

Australia|CIVL|Europe|PG|record|sailplane|world record

CIVL sends out the latest claims for a world record:

Paragliders
Out-and-return distance
Ratitovec, Slovenia
200.9 km
Marko NOVAK (Slovenia)
Date: May 16^th, 2003
Current record: 169.9 km (August 3^rd, 1995 - Pierre BOUILLOUX, France)

Paragliders
Speed over an out-and-return course of 200 km
Ratitovec, Slovenia
25.14 km/h
Marko NOVAK

If you do the numbers you’ll see that it took eight hours to do this 200 kilometer out and return flight, quite an accomplishment. I’ll just bet this was done on a well known sailplane route.

This and other recent paraglider record claims points out to me that paraglider pilots are just more willing than hang glider pilots to go for world records. Of course in the US there is a disincentive to try to go for world records (huge fees), so we can expect more from Europe and Australia.

Discuss world records at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "PG world records (why not more hg world records?)" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sat, May 17 2003, 5:00:02 pm GMT

Ann Dunlap|Australia|competition|girls|humor|Kari Castle|photo|power|radio|Rob Cooper|Tony Lowrey|tow|Victoria Lee Nelson

Jorj Lowrey at the Right Invite <info@therightinvite.com.au> writes:

This year's "Flatter than the Flatlands" hang gliding competition (Birchip, Victoria, Australia at Easter) had perhaps, the first ever, (world wide?) all-girls team outside a women's competition. Well, that was until two days before the comp. when one of our team mates had to pull out due to a bad back (Marlies Eicher).

Unfortunately, we could only find a bloke to fill in. Fortunately, he did come complete with tow vehicle, radio, tow gauge, rope and sense of humor! Pity we couldn't pull off the all-girls team. Maybe next year!

"Team Cumulobimbo's" L-R: Nicky "Miss Birchip 2003" Shaulders, Ann Moss, John "Priscilla (Queen of the paddock)" Mitchell, Vanessa Sparke, Jo Cooper and Jorj Lowrey - shown here in the team T-Shirts we painted especially for the occasion.

Thanks to Kari Castle for the inspiration - we saw the photo of her T in 'Cross Country'.

Discuss "Girl Power" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Wed, May 14 2003, 3:00:06 pm EDT

Australia|harness

Barry Lewis www.roochutes.com.au writes:

We are about to start preliminary research on manufacturing a hang gliding harness. We need to know what you the pilot wants in a harness. We are open to any suggestion. Initially the market place will be Oz (Australia), but depending on how well the harness is received then the world is our oyster!!!

Discuss harnesses at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Thinking about harnesses" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Tue, May 13 2003, 3:00:08 pm EDT

Australia|competition|Martyn Yeomans|transport

It’s the wrong time of year for this, but this is your early notice. Martyn Yeomans <myeomans@denisongroup.com.au> writes:

In Volume 6 No 201 (2002) you published a note from me regarding prices and sources of reasonable second hand cars/station wagons in Sydney. If anyone intending to come to Oz at the end of the year for the competition season wants some assistance with procuring a car (in Sydney) please feel free to email me closer to the time and I'll try to help you get something organised and available for you to collect upon arrival.

Discuss transport in Australia at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Cars in Oz" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Tue, May 13 2003, 3:00:03 pm EDT

Australia|Chris Boyce|harness|record|Rohan Holtkamp|site|Tim Travers|Tryg Hoff|world record

Chris Boyce Sydney Hang Gliding Centre www.hanggliding.com.au writes:

The Footage:

The story behind the 'super 8' footage started when Tim and I collected Aussie pilot Peter Brown from the airport one morning on his return from competing in the USA. "No-one believes me when I tell them of the stunts you do Tim, Peter demonstrated, we have got to put this stuff on film!" We drove directly to 'Hill 60' that morning and I witnessed some truly amazing inspirational stuff.

The Man: Timmy Travers: 1955 to 1994

A legend, a larrikin and all round good bloke (Aussie for great guy)

I first meet Timmy in the late 70's in Adelaide, South Australia when he and his buddy Paul van Hoff were returning to Sydney on their way back from the Great Australian Bight in search of an open distance world record. (Rohan Holtkamp was to have more success here some time later.)

The tale of Tim's flight from the Sydney Harbour Bridge sounded quite amazing, but seeing this guy fly was something else again. I remember the day I met Tim and we went out to this 300 foot coastal site. I had visited the site the day before and watched the locals flying and no one had launched until the wind picked up to 20 knots. So when Tim had decided to launch in less than 10 knots I was a little concerned.

Well Tim launched and although he did not gain any height, he didn't lose any either. Tim flew directly out from the hill, smoothly banked the glider over and proceeded to fly straight back towards the hill. More unnecessary concern as Tim gives the impression he is about to fly into the hill, but at the last second veers away from the hill brushing his harness through the grass.

If I wasn't so stunned by the maneuver I could have stepped off the hill onto the top surface of Tim's glider. Tim continued to do this several more times then came in to land on the 'spot', a concrete block which just happened to be on the lip on the hill.

A bit later the wind picked up considerably and Tim told me it was my turn to soar. I had never soared before and told Tim that I would definitely need some more wind. "More wind!!!" said Tim "I could fly down to the beach and pick up a hand full of sand for you it is that soarable!!!" "Yeah sure, I would like to see that" I said And that was all the encouragement Tim needed. Tim took off and slowly made his way down the hill and at about 50 feet dived at the beach, grabbed the sand, chandelled back to the hill, soared up, landed and handed me the sand!

Every now and again we are privileged to witness that little bit of magic. If you have seen the Mitch McAleers, the Dan Raccanellis and the John Heineys fly you know what I mean. Tim's love of flying was immeasurable. From the days as a young bloke when Tim would catch a train to Stanwell Park, and walk his glider up the face of Bald Hill to winning the Australian Nationals, Tim was truly a legend.

Sadly Tim's life was cut short when he passed away in 1994 after battling with brain tumour. But Tim lives on in the stories and the footage of him that we still share and enjoy.

Discuss Tim Travers at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Tim Travers" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Fri, May 9 2003, 2:00:05 pm EDT

aerotow|Australia|camping|competition|school|Steve Chesters

http://www.triptera.com.au/canungra

Steven Chesters <thechesters@optusnet.com.au> writes:

The Canungra Classic dates have been confirmed from the 27^th September to the 4^th October 2003. These dates coincide with the Oz school holidays of the east coast and South Australia.

Last year we had great conditions with seven days flyable out of eight.

Canungra is situated in the beautiful Gold Caost hinterland in Queensland. International pilots can take advantage of the close proximity to Queensland’s awesome and world renowned beaches and all manner of non flying activities making this a great comp for the whole family.

There are plenty of cheap accommodation options including camping, motels and at the pub (probably the best option).

Shortly following the Classic, there will be an aerotow competition at the recently formed Dalby Hangliding facility a couple of hours from Canungra. Two comps in two weeks, what more could a pilot ask for.

For more details contact Steve Chesters at <thechesters@optusnet.com.au> or visit our website where online registration can be completed for both comps: http://www.triptera.com.au/canungra just follow the links to 2003 St Bernards Hang Gliding Classic.

Discuss flying in Australia at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "2003 Canungra Classic" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Mon, May 5 2003, 6:00:05 pm GMT

Australia|glider transport|Hay|Mart Bosman|sailplane|transport

Mart <hmmb@xs4all.nl> writes:

Because Hay seems to be a "fait accompli" I am looking for ways to get gliders to Australia at the end of the year. I have an idea about that for European pilots. People can drop their glider off at my workshop in Rotterdam, Holland from the end of August until the end of September. I will put them in a container that will ship them to Oz at the beginning of October. It will arrive there beginning of November and be taken to Tocumwal sailplane field ( close to Hay and Bright) where it is possible to pick up your glider to fly the comp's and then drop it off again afterwards.

Sometime in February the container will be shipped back to Rotterdam so it is possible to pick up the gliders in March. The people from Tocumwal have agreed to help. They probably hope some pilots will learn to fly sailplanes when they are there. They have special courses for hangies. I went solo in two days. People who are interested have to e-mail me at <hmmb@xs4all.nl> before the 24^th of May so I can arrange it and calculate the costs.

Discuss "Getting your glider to Hay" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Mon, May 5 2003, 2:00:04 pm EDT

Australia|Europe|holiday|site|tourism|travel|XC

Godfrey <SkyGodfrey@aol.com> writes:

As you know this is a beautiful Aussie country area to fly in and spend a holiday. Despite massive objections, the Manilla City Council just approved another huge chicken farm - this time on the road from Town to Mt Borah. This one will create smell impacts in the valley and town areas. This new development also reduced the previous 15kms minimum distance between chicken farms to 10kms or less paving the way for them to be littered throughout the area.

These are not small operations - this one will have 5 sheds each the size nearly of a football field ! And there will be more to come. They not only have major noise and smell impacts but they also are ugly from a scenic and vista perspective. Town will have a serious smell impact due to the valley drainage airflow over night and in the end the district will seriously smell.

(editor’s note: I have been to this beautiful area a number of times. It is terrible to think that they would put these industrial farming factories where Godfrey is saying they are.)

The Chicken industry sees the Manilla Council as an easy push over for approvals and there will be many more to come. It has to be stopped now and I have already started proceedings to have the new one stopped with media campaigns and political action. The Council actually made a big mistake in their decision process so I have good grounds for its decision to be over turned. But I still need your help !

If more do get approved then I will be moving out to find a mountain some where else, and that means Mt. Borah may no longer be a flying site. That is a shame for the town as it currently is a A$2million per year income generator for it.

It also is a shame for you, as flyers, to possibly lose such a great world class site for XC and competitions.

If you feel like you want to come back here in the future and enjoy an Aussie country flying site just the way it is without ugly, smelly chicken farms then please write to Council and let them know your feelings. It will only take you a few minutes to write an email.

Basically Tourism and Chicken Farms don't mix. You and your friends/families would not travel thousands of kilometres to spend a week or more holiday in such an unpleasant place.

To make it easy for you here is a starting letter which you can send to council - please don't all send the same version - add things you wish to say :

fax : +61 2 67 851 981

or email : <rfletcher@manilla.nsw.gov.au>

--------------------------------------------

To the Manager Manilla Shire Council

Dear Sir,

I am an Air Sports tourist to the area I am shocked to hear that Council recently approved another massive Poultry farm near the Town.

Manilla's Mt Borah is one of the worlds best cross country flying sites and the Town, its people, the clean country atmosphere and beautiful Aussie country landscape are its assets. I am amazed that Council would approve even more Poultry farms given the nature of the Tourism that myself and thousands of others come there for.

As I travel from far away to visit Manilla for my flying holiday I would quickly change my mind and go elsewhere if these assets were lost. There are also excellent flying area's in other parts of Australia and places like South Africa, New Zealand, South America, and Europe.

Please re-consider how important the tourism we bring to Manilla is, and stop the destruction of Manilla's landscape and tourism potential.

Yours faithfully

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

You all know that I don't make a big business from paragliding - I just love being here and flying, and seeing all of you come here and having a great time.

Please help me to keep that situation going - without your support it could all be over sooner than you think.

Discuss Manilla and chicken farms at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "No more chicken! (This bird doesn’t fly.)" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, May 4 2003, 1:00:06 pm EDT

Australia|Claude Montpetit|communication|newsletter|Oz Report|site|software|SPAM|Will Gadd

http://static.samspade.org/spamarrest.html

http://ezine-tips.com/articles/management/20030214.shtml

http://ezine-tips.com/articles/management/20030218.shtml

Claude Montpetit <claude@montpetit.net> writes:

Watch out for Spam Arrest. Personally, I will not trust this company until they has proven that they are clean.

Will Gadd <gadd@gravsports.com> writes:

I've had no problem receiving the Oz Report since you went through the Spamarrest verification page. You were one of the first to go through it. Chris Santacroce and a few other friends are also using it. I think it's possibly a good solution.

I have some concerns about using Spamarrest, but my in-box is so flooded with junk that I really can't deal with it anymore, especially when I'm on the road and accessing my email via dialup. I've had the same address for about five years, and that address is now all over the web. Spammers use software to pull addresses off the web, and once you are on one list the spam multiplies faster than rabbits in Australia as your email address is bought and sold. I have been receiving up to 200 spams a day.

This volume of spam makes it difficult to sort my email even with a program that gives me access to the server before I download my email. If I go two days without checking my email I may have up to 300-500 spams on the server. Try going through all of those on the server when you're on a computer in Thailand that seems to work at about 56K an hour, it's grim.

With Spam arrest I can still check my box and "white list" those I'll receive email from without a challenge, so I don't think I'll miss any super important email that I want to get if someone doesn't go through the challenge process.

I've tried various spam filters, but they all work after or during the email download, this is too late if you're on a poor dialup connection somewhere.

The reported downside of Spamarrest is that it used to create its own spam by sending a "sign yourself up" spam out to those who verify email to a spamarrest customer (let me know if you get one of these please, thanks). They did this once and it created a huge hue and cry, they say they have stopped and don't share their email list with anyone for any reason.

At this point it doesn't really matter if they do; if your address gets out anywhere, including on this newsletter, you can expect spam to follow shortly. It's really amazing. The only people I know who can keep their email accounts "clean" are those who only correspond to immediate friends and never use any sort of newsletter, discussion list or whatnot that's public. Sort of scary, but this is the beauty and bane of having a totally free-for-all communication system.

(editor’s note: Last week there was a huge jump in the amount of SPAM I received, but it is way down this week. I assume that Earthlink, which uses Spaminantor, figured out how the spammers were getting around it and blocked that particular path.

My web hosting site at www.pair.com now offers anti-spam software also, so I may try that out.)

Discuss "SPAM from SPAM Arrest" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Fri, May 2 2003, 12:00:05 pm EDT

Australia|FAI|HGFA|Oz Report

Michael Dufty <MikeDufty@graduate.uwa.edu.au> writes:

A large part of the FAI licence issue may be a USA thing. In Australia the FAI sporting licence is issued by the HGFA and only costs $AUS 22 (about $14 US at the moment, not much more than the Oz Report, but not as voluntary). Fairly trivial in comparison to the costs of competing.

You can confirm this on http://www.hgfa.asn.au/HGFA/01membership_form.pdf

Only hassle is you have to remember to tick it on your renewal every year, and you have to remember to do it before the comp, if you could sign up for a licence when you check in for a comp I suspect many more people would get their licence.

Discuss FAI Sporting Licenses at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "FAI License in Australia" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Tue, Apr 29 2003, 4:00:08 pm GMT

Australia|competition|economy|Gerolf Heinrichs|Jerz Rossignol|job|Paris Williams|release

Gerolf Heinrichs <gerolfontour@aon.at> writes:

Come on, Paris, what are you trying to perform here. I really thought, you are better than that.

Robert Handmart draws a few funny conclusions upon recent competition results and the mellow, part-time Buddhist Paris spits the dummy and draws some funny conclusions himself. If anyone, it would have to be me to be upset from Handmart's article: I was named the mad guy, who needs to be tamed, not you!

You feel you can't speak for Manfred, but half a sentence later you feel free to quote me out of context. How do I deserve to get dragged into all this?

You say you feel compelled to set a few things straight. Well, then set them straight, but not twist them around the other way.

Oleg, my best friend - without fault (but lighter leading edges ;-) I was nearly in tears reading that heartbreaking story. I only wonder if that can help any ordinary pilot - e.g Robert Handmart - to make a buying decision.

And then that Paris Williams-Index - the number of pilots placing Top-10 on a specific product divided by the total number of these gliders in the meet - what is that? Some kind of manufacturer efficiency index? Or just an artificial perspective to make your favourite manufacturer look a little better?

Davis, please, you got to help me here. Applying that nonsense index (proportionally) to the Rigid's result would make market leader.

(editor’s note: If we picked the top three rigids (to reflect that fact that there are fewer rigid wing pilots overall) then the percentages would be Air ATOS 8%, Icaro 2000 Stratos 50%, Tsunami 100% in the Wallaby Open).

A. I. R. looks like the looser there, while the Tsunami and Stratos appear to be the successful gliders! Even a rigid wings moron like me can see: that's not quite right! The Atos is still the measure in this class.

Paris, I honestly think there are better ways to calculate the popularity of a certain glider type, its commercial success or its competition attractiveness. How about this:

Relative popularity: number of gliders flying (in a specific comp, area or in general) / total number of gliders flown.

(editor’s note: The difficulty here is getting the respective values for the numerator and denominator. At least Paris could get those values for his index.)

Commercial success: number of gliders sold times profit per sold glider.

(editor’s note: Even if they know them, I don’t think the manufacturers wish to release these numbers.)

Competition attractiveness: number of first places achieved by any pilot on a specific glider model minus number of first places achieved by the respective factory pilot (this subtraction is not to upset Manfred or Oleg, but to evaluate who else can do something on a specific glider model but the top guns). As far as I understood, it is exactly this point which Robert Handmart was trying to bring up.

A last note on your remark about prices! What are you trying to tell us here? That Aeros, Icaro, Moyes or any other manufacturer should deliberately reduce the price, so the pilots could be more happy? Haha, you make for a poor American capitalist.

The very basic principles of economy teach us: the price of nearly every product in a free market is governed by its manufacturing and marketing costs on one hand and by the market competition on the other side. There is really only one reason why a manufacturer would be selling his products for a cheaper price: He simply can't find enough buyers at a higher price!

Robert Handmart <rhandmart@yahoo.com> writes:

Paris, I understand that you are best friends with Oleg now (as you probably were with Manfred then) and we all perfectly understand your motives for talking Aeros up as good as tolerable. I recall last season in Australia you tried the same for Icaro.

Now, you are certainly a much better pilot then me so I don't really dare to advise you in matters of flying, but when it comes to subjects like marketing and decision making according to my job I should be the expert among the two of us.

While a tourist pilot like me might base his decision about his next glider buy, on criteria like convenience (who trades in the old glider?), group dynamics (all my friends have one like that!) or fashion aspects (I want to look as cool as Paris), a serious competition pilot can't really afford to make a "sympathy decision". He would rather have to follow a rational chain of thought like this:

With hardly any exception in the last few years in every important competition Manfred and Oleg managed to be the highest placed competitors on their company’s glider. May the reason be that they simply always have better gliders than their respective team mates (an opinion which I favour), or that they just fly their gliders better (which you seem to believe) - in any case it would be illogical for another top pilot who has serious ambitions to win, wishing to be on their manufacturers team, because like that he will very, very likely always only be able to come second - at best.

In the case of Moyes this seems different. Gerolf (without any intention to hurt his feelings now) seems a better designer than a pilot. We find a number of examples where other Moyes pilots have repeatedly beaten him, some of them even claiming to have out performed him. Thus, as a matter of logics, if you have ambitions to be a winner you can't get around the inevitable conclusion: being on a Litespeed gives you - I am sorry - currently the best chances to win!

However, the concept of decision making naturally implies that you do have a choice. This is for instance not the case, if you have not enough money to afford the glider you want. Then you might have to settle for the best (maybe cheapest) offer you can accomplish. This of course might dramatically limit your chances to reach your original goal: winning the major competition!

I hope this thought was "straight" enough for you to follow through :)

(editor’s note: Can we tell which flex wing glider is the best glider by looking at competition results? And exactly which results would we be looking at? First place? The cumulative times to goal? The comparative performance of the same pilot on different gliders (say Jerz or Paris)?

I have published work earlier which I believe showed that rigid wing gliders perform better than flex wing gliders. But the difference was so large that this is comparatively easy to show and to attribute the difference to the glider and not to the pilot.

To show differences in performance between flex wing hang gliders requires much more sophisticated tools and methods than the ones I was using. Paris’ quick and dirty indicator obviously has its rather severe limitations. But so do the other methods and lines of reasoning displayed above arguing against Paris.

My guess is that the top topless hang gliders are very close in performance and that their differences are swamped by the differences in pilot skills and attitudes.)

Discuss "The best flex wing glider?" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Tue, Apr 29 2003, 12:00:02 pm EDT

Australia|CIVL|Florida|Gee Mathews|Hay|Jerz Rossignol|job|weather|Worlds

Jerz Rossignol <jerzflies@yahoo.com> writes:

I wanted to drop a note to publicly thank Quest and Wallaby for putting on such fantastic high level comps. As a competitor I feel so lucky to have been a part of these two fantastic events. Everything about these meets where so superior to any I have ever attended. The staff and volunteers did such a great job and poured there hearts and souls into the events.

The weather was great and the task committee did a great job with task calling. Quest and Wallaby have yet again created another highlight in my life, both with my flying as well as with the comradeship of all my friends. I suggest to anyone that's into flying that you need to go to these places to check them out for yourself. You'll have the time of your life.

On another note, I can't believe the Worlds will be in Hay, Australia for 2005. I have been to four comps in Hay and have sworn this last year to never go back. The Hay comps where run well but that can't balance out the fact that Hay has little to offer. Mildly stated, Hay is bleak.

I do not know enough about CIVL but wish we could somehow overrule their decision to run a Worlds at such a hell whole. Florida is such a far superior place to run the Worlds!!!

I have talked with many top pilots about the decision of CIVL to run the worlds in Hay and many have said that they will not go and the rest just can't believe it or are really disappointed. Personally, I think it will be quite hard to pull off a Worlds in Hay.

I don't know what CIVL is thinking. I do know that they are not thinking about us pilots in their decision making. Wouldn't it be great if the top 100 pilots could vote on the next Worlds instead of some CIVL delegates that have never been to Florida or Hay? CIVL just may have shot themselves in the foot on this one.

Lastly, I want to thank Icaro for the use of the MR glider over the last six months. I have decided, however, to go back to Aeros for the upcoming meets in the US and this year’s Worlds. Aeros has a great team this year as well as a great going glider. I've been with Aeros for four years and this is the glider that has gotten me on the US World Team so I am sticking with them! Thanks for having me back Gee Dub.

Discuss whatever Jerzy comes up with at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Let me come home again!" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Tue, Apr 29 2003, 4:00:00 pm GMT

Australia|Brady Brown|Brian Webb|Jerz Rossignol|Oz Report

Oz Report readers who helped out on Tuesday: Brian Webb ($20, Australia), Brady Brown, Jerz Rossignol ($25),

You can see how to send in $10 for a yearly subscription/donation to the Oz Report below.

Discuss "Will fly for subscriptions" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sat, Apr 26 2003, 1:00:07 pm EDT

Australia|Bob Baier|CIVL|Florida|Guido Gehrmann|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Hans Kiefinger|Hay|Herbert Klaushofer|Lukas Bader|Lukas Etz|Oliver "Olli" Barthelmes|Swiss Nic

Lukas Etz <Lukas.Etz@gmx.de> (from Germany) writes:

This is the result of a voting I made before the CIVL decision (worlds 2005). “?” means – no answer:

Bob Baier: ?
Guido Gehrmann: Hay
Hans Kiefinger: Hay
Herbert Sturm: ?
Jörg Bajewski: Florida
Lukas Bader: Hay
Lukas Etz: Florida
Olli Barthelmes: Hay
Roland Wöhrle: Hay

Hansjoerg already has stated that the Swiss pilots wanted to go to Australia.

Discuss "Hay or central Florida" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Fri, Apr 25 2003, 4:00:06 pm EDT

Australia|competition|Florida|Hay|site|towing|Worlds|Worlds 2005

There continues to be a lot of discussion here among the top pilots about the choice of Hay as the site of the 2004 pre-Worlds and 2005 Worlds. They continue to see Florida as a preferable location. With two flight parks (in central Florida) that provide ready-made services to the pilots they continue to wonder why they have to go out to the desolate outback and make their own arrangements for towing, etc.

I have set up a poll for the top competition pilots to vote on whether they want to go to Hay, NSW, Australia or to Florida (either of the two flight parks in central Florida) at https://OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=283#283

If you are a top flex wing pilot likely to make your national team for this time period, you might want to go there and vote for the site that you want.

Discuss "Going to Hay (and avoiding Florida)" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Fri, Apr 25 2003, 8:00:01 pm GMT

Aeros Combat|Aeros Combat 2|Australia|Betinho Schmitz|competition|Florida|Flytec Championships 2003|game|harness|Icaro Laminar MR|Jim Lee|Jon Durand snr|Kari Castle|maps|Moyes Litespeed|Nene Rotor|Paris Williams|Wills Wing|Wills Wing Talon|Worlds

http://www.wallaby.com/wallabyopen/2003/

The FSL MAPS modeled data for Kissimmee:

Shows winds predicted to be up to 29 mph at 3,000’. The top of the lift is forecast to be 3,200’, with the lift predicted to be 400 fpm (subtract your sink rate). By five o’clock the top of the lift is forecast to be 2,600’ with the lift at 200 fpm.

There is a warm front to the northwest in Panama City in the Florida panhandle where there are presently (around noon) thunderstorms. With the strong winds we would have to call a task to the northwest toward the area of likely thunderstorms this afternoon.

Malcolm calls the day at the 10:30 AM pilot meeting, based on wind strength in the field itself. The forecasted wind conditions for tomorrow are for similar strengths with more of a west component.

Results so far:

Rigids who made goal on day five:

Place	Name	Glider	Nation	Time	Total
1	PLONER Alex	Air Atos C	ITA	2:06:49	988
2	CIECH Christian	Icaro Stratos	ITA	2:06:51	973
3	CHAUMET David	La Mouette Tsunami	FRA	2:09:17	915
4	BARMAKIAN Bruce	Air Atos	USA	2:13:00	863
5	POSCH Johann	Air Atos C	AUT	2:13:49	848
6	POUSTINCHIAN Mark	Air Atos C	USA	2:14:16	837
7	STRAUB Davis	Air Atos C	USA	2:14:48	827
8	GLEASON Ron	Air Atos	USA	2:15:03	821
9	YOCOM Jim	Air Atos C	USA	2:15:26	814
10	ENDTER Vince	Icaro Stratos	USA	2:17:41	792
11	BOWEN Campbell	Flight Design Axxes	USA	2:25:03	733
12	PAQUETTE Eric	Air Atos	CAN	2:29:04	704
13	LAMB Jim	Air Atos C	USA	3:06:31	497
14	VAYDA Tom	Air Atos	USA	3:13:23	464

We averaged 27 mph, which is pretty slow, given the fact that we averaged 36 mph on the last and longest leg.

Rigids after five days (and likely the final results):

Place	Name	Glider	Nation	Total
1	PLONER Alex	Air Atos C	ITA	4515
2	CHAUMET David	La Mouette Tsunami	FRA	4144
3	CIECH Christian	Icaro Stratos	ITA	3988
4	POSCH Johann	Air Atos C	AUT	3424
5	BARMAKIAN Bruce	Air Atos	USA	3391

As at the 2002 Worlds, Alex, Christian, and David are in a separate class from the rest of us duffers. Christian just missed goal one day or he would be in a tight contest with his friend Alex for first place.

Flex wings:

On day five:

Place	Name	Glider	Nation	Time	Total
1	RUHMER Manfred	Icaro Laminar MR	AUT	2:14:44	947
2	BOISSELIER Antoine	Moyes Litespeed 4	FRA	2:12:09	939
3	HAZLETT Brett	Moyes Litespeed 4	CAN	2:16:48	920
4	WOLF Andre	Moyes Litespeed 4	BRA	2:17:16	911
5	SCHMIDT Betinho	Moyes Litespeed 4	BRA	2:13:17	907
6	ROTOR Nene	Wills Wing Talon	BRA	2:13:18	903
7	BONDARCHUK Oleg	Aeros Combat 2	UKR	2:13:19	900
8	WALBEC Richard	Moyes Litespeed 4	FRA	2:13:36	893
9	BESSA Carlos	Wills Wing Talon	USA	2:15:35	862
10	LEE Jim	Wills Wing Talon 150	USA	2:15:51	857

The pilots that started at 2:15 PM were the quickest into goal, not being held back by the lollygagging rigid wing pilots, but Manfred was first to goal, so that counted for something.

Yesterday, before the task, Manfred was in twelfth. Today after winning the fifth (and likely last) task:

Place	Name	Glider	Nation	Total
1	BONDARCHUK Oleg	Aeros Combat 2	UKR	4159
2	BOISSELIER Antoine	Moyes Litespeed 4	FRA	3898
3	RUHMER Manfred	Icaro Laminar MR	AUT	3765
4	DURAND Jon Jr.	Moyes Litespeed 4	AUS	3754
5	WARREN Curt	Moyes Litespeed 4	USA	3684
6	BESSA Carlos	Wills Wing Talon	USA	3620
7	SCHMIDT Betinho	Moyes Litespeed 4	BRA	3554
8	ALONZI Mario	Aeros Combat 2	FRA	3548
9	WALBEC Richard	Moyes Litespeed 4	FRA	3488
10	OHLSSON Andreas	Moyes Litespeed 5	SWE	3468

Oleg benefited immensely when Manfred didn’t make goal two days in a row and he then kept the competition far away from him. Oleg ended up only 100 points behind Manfred at the Flytec Championships and when Manfred didn’t make goal at the Wallaby Open the first time, Oleg jumped ahead of him by enough points to make it very difficult for Manfred to catch him. Perhaps that was his consideration when he raced to goal and landed 1 mile short of Wauchula on day four.

Antoine, after not even registering on the applause-o-meter in Australia (but doing well enough to come in at 11^th at the Flytec Championship), did very well at Wallaby. He was able to gain a few extra points on the fifth day by racing ahead and getting a minute on everyone else at goal. Funny how things change so rapidly.

After Paris and Mikey took themselves out of the competition, Curt flew well and was the first American. He was 10^th at the Flytec Championship just behind Paris and ahead of Mike, so he definitely improved. Too bad he landed after gliding with me on the third day or he could easily have been in second place at the Wallaby Open. All he had to do was keep gliding over the Bok Tower. I would have appreciated his help at that point.

Carlos has yet to decide whether to fly for the Brazilians or on the American National team (if he makes it). He beat his fellow Brazilian Betinho after finishing at 16^th at the Flytec Championship behind Betinho at 11^th there.

Jon Durand Jr. finished very well again doing a little better overall in this competition than the last one where he was sixth. Jon is a strong pilot who is willing to take risks, and came out the top Australian in the Wallaby Open.

There were two Aeros Combats in the top ten at the Wallaby Open with Paris out and three at the Flytec Championship. This is certainly a jump in their top numbers.

Only Manfred is representing the Icaro 2000 Laminar in the top ten. Kari Castle on the Laminar did very well at the Flytec Championship to come in 14^th (and perhaps hold her place on the US National team). At the Wallaby Open she dropped down a little to 16^th, behind Jim Lee at 14^th. She is still looking for a harness that works for her and doesn’t cause such pain in her chest (maybe I can get her to try my harness).

Moyes continues to win the numbers game with six Litespeeds in the top ten. Lots of pilots fly the Litespeed and many of them do well (right after Manfred and Oleg). Wills Wing had Carlos on the Talon, so that rounds out the top ten pilots.

Discuss "The 2003 Wallaby Open" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Thu, Apr 10 2003, 12:00:02 pm EDT

Aeros Combat|Aeros Combat 2|Australia|Oleg Bondarchuck|Paris Williams|Quest Air

There is a new version of Aeros Combat 2 here at Quest Air, the one that Paris and Bo have been flying lately. Oleg Bondarchuck came in last night at midnight and I spoke with him about it also. It weighs about two kilos less than the previous version that Oleg was flying in Australia (and winning with there).

Paris said how much he liked the lighter version compared to the slightly heavier one and Oleg mentioned that he notice that it was climbing better than the version he flew just two months ago. Oleg told me that the Combats that have been shipping since the end of the Australian competitions are the new version.

Paris felt that with the lighter version there was no more excessive tip inertia in the glider making it easier to control and get flying straight and level again after turning.

Discuss topless gliders at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "New Aeros Combat 2" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Mon, Apr 7 2003, 2:00:07 pm EDT

Australia|equipment|Europe|glider transport|Hugh Cartmill|Jos Guggenmos|Kurt Schumann|Quest Air|transport

Joseph Guggenmos and Kurt Schumann showed up today at Quest Air with their ESC rigid wing gliders. They had driven seven hours from near Munich to Dusseldorf to fly with LTU airlines on a direct flight to Orlando on a 747. LTU advertises that they welcome you to bring along your “sports equipment.”

Kurt and Joe brought their boxed up ESC’s (wooden boxes) with them as “sports equipment,” for thirty dollars each.

Hugh Cartmill <hugh_cartmill@hotmail.com> writes:

Something of use for anyone wanting to take their "delta wing" by Austrian Airlines. This is from their website: http://www.aua.com/quicklink.asp?show=office_au&content=/offices/int_offices.asp?landabk=au

Windsurfers/delta gliders:
Europe EUR 100
Overseas EUR 250
Australia EUR 250

Discuss "Glider Transport" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Thu, Apr 3 2003, 10:00:04 pm GMT

Aeros Combat 2|Australia|Paris Williams|XC

http://www.Icaro2000.com/Products/Hang%20gliders/MR%202003/MR%202003.htm#New%20Size

Later in the afternoon Bo on his Aeros Combat 2 and Paris on his new resized Icaro 2000 Laminar MR thingy, without the special knife edge leading edge, went up for a glide off. According to Bo (and he says Paris agrees), they were equal below 40 mph, but Bo was doing better above 40 mph.

Paris and Bo will be up tomorrow with Paris on his bigger Laminar MR, the one he did so well on in Australia, and we’ll see what the story is. Paris just pulled this new sized laminar MR out of the box and this was his first flight. He was wondering where the high speed airfoil was.

http://www.Icaro2000.com/Products/Hang%20gliders/MR%202003/MR%20Pictures%20%20&%20Developm/MR%20Latest%20developments.htm

Maybe I’ll get more out of them tomorrow, if we don’t all go XC on single surface gliders.

Discuss "Paris and Bo head to head" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Mar 30 2003, 10:00:01 pm GMT

Andreas "Ernst" Becker|Australia|Bill Bennett|Chris Wills|communication|Florida|Oz Report|sailplane|technology|towing|trike|Ulrich Schneider|Wills Wing|Worlds

http://www.davisstraub.com/Glide/questair.htm

A little gust front, clouds, a little rain.

No flying at either park that we saw.

There are four Ecuadorian hang glider pilots at the Wills Wing Demo Days (round trip is $345) and it great to see them here lending an international flavor to the events. The Oz Report has inspired them to put up a forum for Ecuadorian pilots and they have a local version of the Oz Report. I sure hope that I can inspire more communication both locally and internationally between pilots.

We also got to see Ernst Schneider, who was the head of the German flex wing team, at the Worlds in Australia in 1998. We knew that he had moved up to Invermere in the Columbia Basin in British Columbia (Canada) and set up a sailplane port. He was flying a hang glider for the first time in a number of years (towing right behind me) and was looking forward to getting a rigid wing hang glider and was purchasing a trike at Sun ‘n Fun.

There were Israeli pilots (one, a physics professor), and Canadian pilots and even pilots from the northeast of the US at the Wills Wing Demo days.

They put on a great dinner and party on Saturday to show all their appreciation for their customers and their customers (and everyone else also) showed how much they appreciated them. On Friday Chris Wills showed his films from their early southern California flights in 1972.

What I got from Chris’s talk was how much meeting Bill Bennett changed everything for the Wills boys and their friends, as getting a hold of Bill’s kites changed their technology completely. I wasn’t there, but that’s what the pictures and his narration told me. No more hanging from your arm pits, for example. Pilots were actually soaring after that.

Discuss "Florida Report" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sat, Dec 21 2002, 9:00:06 am EST

Australia|TV|William Wixon

William Wixon «wixon» sends this URL:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/australia/

Very interesting show on PBS right now.

Discuss "Australia – Beyond the fatal shore" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Sat, Oct 5 2002, 12:00:02 pm GMT

altitude|Australia|badge|camera|CIVL|competition|Daniel Vélez Bravo|Davis Straub|equipment|GPS|internet|landing|maps|OLC|photo|record|Robin Hamilton|sailplane|SeeYou|site|Stewart Midwinter|technology|track log|world record

Stewart Midwinter <stewart@midtoad.homelinux.org> writes:

On Sun, 22 Sep 2002 14:33:43 -0700 "Davis Straub" <davis@davisstraub.com> blathered (OzReport.com/Ozv6n193.shtml):

“We have been using the GPS to verify competition at all levels now for quite a few years. I suggest that it is past time that we allow the use of the GPS for record and badge flight verification also. I mean, is a camera and film really that much more accurate and secure than a standard GPS?”

Having served as a jury member at some international competitions, I'd have to say that there's a good chance that the GPS is more accurate. Photo interpretation is a quagmire, a land of darker and lighter greys. On the other hand, with GPS the verification is black and white.

Here in Canada I'm working on a proposal to allow the use of GPS in badge and record claims. The main problem we have in countries from Canada to Australia, and the US in between, is not with cheating in such claims, but in actually getting any claims! The number of pilots that pursue badges is so low that it's obvious that the current system has failed in its purpose of encouraging a measured set of achievements to guide pilots' development.

The current rules are too complicated, and the equipment requirements too onerous. Very few people are willing to make the expense of a barograph, and even fewer (only 2 in the whole country) are willing to buy a sailplane flight recorder. But, many pilots fly with a GPS of some sort. So, why not find a way to use them?

(editor’s note: Yes, yes, yes!! This is the point I am making. We need more activity in this area (Thank goodness Robin Hamilton is out there making an effort!))

Your proposal is a good start. But it doesn't address altitude gains. How would you propose to handle them?

(editor's note: I thought one's existing vario with barograph handled that. I know some varios don't have barographs, but varios with barographs are certainly very widespread and can be borrowed for altitude attempts.

I am aware that there is the problem of making sure that they have been certified within the last two years, but that can be done after the fact if you do set a record.)

I note that the new Garmin eTrex and 76 lines all contain altitude in the track log, and I think we can make use of this information. For badge claims, the accuracy of this type of GPS surely is more than sufficient for badge claims. For record claims, what do we think?

(editor’s note: These GPSes contain Flytec pressure sensors and certainly should be able to be used. I wonder how they can be certified? Shouldn't be that hard. Same method as used now by varios. Done after the fact also.

But further, it would be useful to find a way to allow altitude claims even with the vast majority of older GPS models that do NOT have altitude encoding. How is this possible?

With the use of programs like Compe-GPS or SeeYou that allow the use of calibrated topographic maps. By noting the altitude of the pilot's launch site, and the height of terrain that she flew over, it is possible to determine a max altitude gain, at least with respect to the launch site: not bad, and the best we can hope for without actual encoding. If we require a 1:50,000 scale map and a higher altitude gain to compensate for an inaccuracies, (e.g. 1000m+10% in this case), then I think it would be reasonable to allow this procedure for badge claims. For record claims, this method wouldn't apply since the record gains are greater than any vertical difference in terrain that the pilot can easily find in this world.

For distance claims, GPS can be used if we accept the notion that it is possible to detect a landing by the difference in ground speed recorded on the track log. I contend that this is possible with a degree of accuracy sufficient for badge and national record claims.

Lastly, procedures. Let's start at the national level by eliminating the off-putting paperwork requirements imposed by CIVL (which are nonetheless necessary for world record claims). Here's a simpler way: each country that wants to, should participate in the world On Line Contest (http://www.segelflugszene.de). Pilots fly, and submit their GPS track logs (which they've converted into.igc files with programs like G7ToWin). At the end of each year, the national records committee simply reviews all of the track logs and awards badges based on the achievements. No other paperwork required! Let me reiterate that cheating is not the problem we're trying to fix at the national badge claim level: it's the lack of participation.

Comments? Suggestions? I have a number of track logs from older GPS models available for analysis, to support my proposal. Indeed, you can go to the OLC and look at the wonderful amount of participation that this concept is already getting from countries like Germany.

(editor’s note: This is a great idea and really builds on our use of existing technology and better networking that comes from the Internet. Bravo Stewart!)

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Mon, Dec 20 1999, 6:00:00 pm EST

Australia|Belinda Boulter|PG|record|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor

November 1999 was the coldest Australian November on record (since good records have been kept). It was 2.5° Celsius colder than normal. Even in December it has been generally cooler and fronts are still managing to sweep across the continent, and not shoved to the south by the inland high pressure.

Here in Manilla the grass is green, and it is perfectly delightful to look around when your high heading to Barraba. Belinda got a shot of my launch from Mt. Borah yesterday, and while not every day looks like this here, almost all do:

While Belinda was chasing she stopped in a rest area, and there was a Gowana running across the drive way and up a tree (they always go up trees). Belinda went over and took this photo of the junior sized Gowana (it's tail is just as long as its body, but you can't see it because it is hanging down behind the tree trunk):

There have been some big flights of late here in Australia. Summer starts tomorrow (or is it the day after), but spring is the time for big flights as the fronts still come through and stir up the winds. Here's what I know about the big one's so far:

Attila, CSX (with Litespeed sail), 410 kilometers, Wilcannia to Deniliquin (south of Hay), northwest winds, 10,000 CB.

Davis, ATOS, 374 k, Mt. Borah at Manilla to east of St. George (Queensland), southeast winds, moderate at first then very light after 50 k., CB 6000 rising to 8000 at 7 PM, broken thermals with poor to no cores until around 4 PM..

Rohan Holtkamp, 324 k, Dynamic Flight Park, north of Ballarat, 5 hours, probably southwest winds, average day.

Davis, ATOS, 321, Birchip to short of Hillston north east of Hay, light to moderate south west winds, blue day, inversion at 5000 early and 7000 late.

Paraglider pilot, 315 kilometers, northwestern Victoria to the southern coast.

Hang glider pilot, 270 kilometers, same place and day as the paraglider pilot

Davis, ATOS, 255 k, Mt. Borah east to Walgett, strong east winds, high cloud base – 8,500' though out the day, strong thermals with good cores.

Indeed, today was not a great day for flying at Manilla, although it was perfect at launch (although not quite strong enough in the wind department). I was up a little a bit earlier than normal and able to take off at 10:50 AM. The reward was a complete thermal well formed right on the southeast corner of Mt. Borah.

There were no more well formed thermals for the next five hours as I slowly made my way to the northwest under a low cloud base. I did get to climb up in the "mountains" to the east of Narrabri, which are pretty cool, but this only slowed things down. There were no clouds to the west of the mountains, so I really did have to climb up into them.

The clouds did form to the north of Narrabri, but the winds stopped, so it was slow going over open and empty country between major roads to the southwest of Moree. Cotton farming has caught on big in this area, so there were plenty of dirty road for retrieval if needed. As I was always low, they were reassuring. Very few houses out there, as this is corporate farming.

Crossed into Queensland at Mungindi, and by four PM the conditions had finally improved, with thermals that allowed for a complete turn in lift. The clouds had streeted up a bit late in the day with the northwest direction. I got higher and higher with each climb as the day got later. No longer did I have to worry about landing until the sun hit the horizon.

Landed east of St. George at 7:30 PM, and Belinda and I are here for the night (hate to hit any roos on the way home). Seems like a nice enough town.

There appeared to be lots of trees to the west of my landing paddock. It was the last one before 15 kilometers of trees to the next one. I might have tried going more northwest west of St. George. There appeared to be farms in that direction. Queensland has a lot of bush.

So it is still unclear where no goes to set the record in Australia. The longest flight here is 425 kilometers (I hear). Manilla hasn't really had the high winds since I've been here that it takes and there may be too much bush out there in Queensland. Hopefully we'll find out over the next two weeks.

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Tue, Jan 26 1999, 6:00:01 pm EST

altitude|Australia|cloud|Florida|sport|towing|XC

Last year it rained all winter in central Florida - El Nino.

This year it is pretty dry, and warm - La Nina.

As far as I'm concerned, Florida and Australia offer the "best" cross country hang gliding in the world. Best, because the thermals are soft, full, and available often enough. They get you to cloud base and the ride up is enjoyable.

Having flown long and hard at many mountain sites including Telluride, Dinosaur, Golden, Sun Peaks, King Mountain, and numerous sites in the Alps, there is nothing that compares with smooth flatland flying. This is not to say that I haven't had lots of great times, especially in the Alps, and at Golden and Sun Peaks, but the pure comfort factor often isn't there. The mountains offer great scenery, big air, and high altitude gains. But, still…

I was shocked to find that great flying could be had in Florida in January. I thought that I had to wait till February for southern Florida, and March in central Florida. It is not the case at all.

I've been here for a little over a week and I've had three XC flights. Two days ago I flew 50 miles to just south of Inverness. Another pilot from Canada set their personal best that day flying to Dade City.

On the day I went 23 miles, the maximum average lift was less then 200 fpm, and the average lift was about 40 fpm. On the day I went 73 miles, the maximum 20 second average left was 540 fpm, and the average lift in thermals was 80-120 fpm. On the day I flew 50 miles, the maximum average lift was 200 fpm, and the average lift was about 60 fpm.

I know that these values are low, but so what? The thermals were there and easy to find. It just took longer to go anywhere. Climbing the in the thermals was pure fun, and I could just look to the next cloud for the lift.

Every day that I've been here has been soarable. It has been good for cross country for five days including today. My glider is on the truck some where else at the moment, or I would be going XC right now instead of writing this.

On my 50 miler I flew over the sail plane port to the north of Wallaby. There were 6 gliders in the air and 4 waiting to be towed up. The cues were popping, but it blued out at around 2 PM. Obviously there were a lot of sail plane pilots ready to have fun in the air. The Senior Nationals for sail planes happens at this port in March.

I'm hoping that more pilots get an opportunity to leave the mountains and come out for some great flatland flying wherever it may be. The fact that there are more and more towing operations, makes that possible. I continue to believe that towing is the future of hang gliding, and flight parks are the way to bring new people into the sport.

If you like flying the mountains, please don't feel that this is a slam on flying there. Of my 2,000 or so hang gliding flights, I've had many more from mountain launches then from tows. Just think about the fact that you don't need a big four wheel drive truck to get you up a mountain. That you don't need to negotiate with the DNR, or the USFS, or whoever.

Of course, we can't all get exactly what we want when we want it, but think about how you could get a towing operation going near you soon.

Ooops! This report just in. Belinda got back with the truck and my glider and I took off at 2:15 PM, about the time it blued out two days ago. Great cloud streets to the north west. Maximum averaged lift - 750 fpm. Average lift about 300 fpm. 70 miles. Man, this Florida winter flying is great!

Ok, OK. Yes this is unusual for Floridain January. It's ten degrees warmer then normal. Now, go out and scrape thesnow off the sidewalk.

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Sun, Jan 3 1999, 6:00:02 pm EST

Australia|Forbes Flatlands|lightning|tow

The results of the 1999 Bogong Cup can be found at http:/www.ozemail.com.au/~zupy/bog99/bogong.html.

Oleg Bondarchuck won (he previously won the 1999 Forbes Flatlands) by a big margin. This is another big win for Aeros and the Stealth. It was nice to see that Tove beat her husband.

1	Bondarchuk Oleg		UKR	4614 
2	Bertok Attila		AUS	4187 
3	Coomber Kraig		AUS	3979 
4	Heinrichs Gerolf	AUT	3747 
5	Rebbechi Joel		AUS	3740 
6	Holtkamp Rohan		AUS	3387 
7	Barthelmes Oliver	GER	3139 
8	Moyes Steve		AUS	3103 
9	Heaney Tove		AUS	2900 
10	Heaney Grant		AUS	2514

The 1999 Australian Nationals in western Australia have started, but the first three days have been blown out. You can find the results at http:/www.ozemail.com.au/~zupy/nats/nats.html.

Here are the results so far:

22/1/99 After much confusion about the tow direction, day 1 was canceled due to numerous thunderstorms in the area. There was lightning near the turnpoint, and pilots in the air at the TP reported a gust front approaching. More thunderstorms were active near goal, so with no chance of a safe task, the day was canceled.

23/1/99 We are under the influence of a low pressure and trough system. There were severe thunderstorms in the area at 6:00 am, and more storms were building as the day went on. Lightning strikes were seen around the paddock mid morning, and the day was again canceled.

24/1/99 strong winds saw the day cancelled again. Later in the afternoon, the winds died down and some pilots free flew.

25/1/99 Still more strong wind. The window was opened at 3:30 in the afternoon in fairly marginal conditions, but soon after, the wind picked up and the day was canceled. The wind continued to strengthen and the area was shrouded in raised dust.

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Sun, Jul 5 1998, 7:56:21 pm EDT

accident|Australia|CIVL|competition|foot launch|Fred Wilson|gear|holiday|HPAC|record|safety|sailplane|site|Steve Moyes|XC

I heard back from Fred Wilson about his adventures at Manila (the hot world record site in Australia). Here's what he had to say:

Ouch! Credit where credit is due Davis.

Two of the nicest people I know: Andrew Pepper from Tamworth and Richard Riley from Barraba, along with a couple of cool dudes from Armadillo discovered the site and opened the SW Baldwin launch. As I recall most if not all the pilots in the area were low airtime who put several pleas for advice into Skysailor saying they thought they had something special but needed a hand to develop other potential sites.

Seeing as I was on a years holiday down under, and no-one else was responding… and as I wanted see that region anyway, we scooted up to Manila. The flying site looked OK - a 2000' high ridge - but a long way from Mt 7 and it's 9000' 200 mile long ridge. (looks can be deceiving.) Got a good fly at Baldwin, came back with a novice pilot and Steve Moyes. Two lessons learned.

1. Don't under estimate the glide to an LZ or you'll scare the pants off a beginner.

2. Even Sky Gods have yaw control problems on their first test flight on a new wing. I don't cringe any more when I test fly a new wing.

Andrew took us up to see a potential new site (Borah - W launch.) Pretty confident that he had a winner here… he was already half way done building a road up to launch! We hiked the last bit and I basically fell off my chair. Borah / Baldwin is a gently curved 15 km long ridge. Much like Point of the Mountain, it's east side pretty much blocks the valley heading east to Newcastle. (Tamworth Control zone limits XC this way.) The west face, well… lets say if someone is going to break the 1000 mile mark, this will be the place. Endless flatlands, parks, unlimited LZ's all the way west to Perth, north into Queensland and south to Victoria.

Andrews proposed launch was pretty advanced so I convinced him to push the road a little farther to what is now the west launch. We just about lost a caterpillar tractor pushing a boulder off the launch run and busted up 3 sets of steel chains in the process. (Still sorry Mr. Riley!) I sacrificed a few trees to make a second W launch 100m south in preparation for the competition season.

They let me go crazy and we dropped about 200 dead snags so now you can set up about 1000 gliders on launch and safely land a dozen side by side from all four directions. Seeing as how the saws were hot we started on an East facing launch, then a south facing launch.

The East launch has some of the best early morning air on planet earth. If you ever get the chance, camp out on launch and set off in the morning glass off and wait for the thermals kick in to high gear. In an east flow, you will never look back - like I said - all the way to Perth.

The south launch was made in case you are stuck in a S / SE flow. (Who knows - this may yet pan out as a good thermal site. Sun is in the North - remember.) Richard's dad is a serious logger, and he did in fact do some serious logging on this site. Big, Big trees. Major danger. I stood as far away as I possible could and still be able to watch him work.

More yet? Yep. Word is a German pilot was as blown away with the site as I was, bought a zillion acres on the east side of the Baldwin launch and I understand has now secured a NE launch. Can anyone verify this? Please? Please?

I have to say I rate this site as one of the top five in the world. A definite DO NOT MISS.

I had my first 100 miler off Borah, heading north over Barraba. About 50 miles of it was in glass smooth wave lift, bar half way in, crabbing for maybe 4 hours. Every inch of the way with beginner LZ's. Talk about a no stress, world class scenic tour. By far and away one of the most memorable flights of my life. I noted a recent CIVL post about a PGer who flew an insane distance off the same site.

40 km away is the Lake Keepit Soaring Club - a world famous sailplane site. I've heard tales in Canada about two of their pilots.

Anyhow. 10 km SW of Barraba, Richard and I logged a NW launch on a 15 km ridge. Low 5 - 800 foot launch that climbs steadily to 3000' as you head west.

20 km north of Barraba, Richard and I logged another site with a North and (Steep) West facing launch…

Then 50 km NW of Barraba we logged two side by side N launches off a 10 km 3000' ridge called the Armchair near Mt. Kaputar (National Park) called the Armchair that has also hosted several competitions since. A few ridges in the vicinity would have garnished a few 2000' NW, W and S launches… but by that time my VISA had expired so it was either leave voluntarily, or swim to Canada.

Nice to reminisce about these sites this time of year. November is when the OZ flying season really kicks into high gear. Every tree is in flower. Jacarundi trees color the world purple. Evening sunsets that last for hours. $3.00 world class champagne. Holidays don't get much better than this. It is a Do Not Miss. Period.

HPAC Accident Review & Safety Committee Chairman
Fred T L Wilson
Email: fwilson@IslandNet.com

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Sun, Jul 5 1998, 7:56:17 pm EDT

Australia|competition|FAI|game|Garmin 12|Garmin GPS|GPS|record|software|Tim Cummings|track log|waypoints

It appears as though GPSs (Garmin) will be allowed to be used to indicate turnpoint verification in all Australian competitions. This breakthrough was pioneered at the Canungra Classic, by Tim Cummings, who wrote the Mac software that allowed for download from the Garmin.

Tim writes:

GPS are working great. We are using stock standard Garmin GPS and using the track log function. The track log is set to record every 30 seconds so for a Garmin45 (768 datapoints) this gives about 6 hours of flying.

Flying through turnpoints pilots are welcome to mark a waypoint in addition to the track log if they don't think 30 seconds is a fine enough resolution. However, hardly anyone is bothering to do it, relying entirely on track log. On the Garmin 12 (1024 data points), pilots are using 20 second track logs, and on the Garmin III they are using 15 second track logs (1900 data points).

I wrote a user guide (http://www2.eis.net.au/~tim/classic98/gpsguide.html) for a trial at the Canungra Classic in October. The trial was so successful that every other comp in Australia wants to use it too. I wrote the software myself basing the comms part on some Mac source code written by John Waers about five years ago and published on the net.

I download all waypoints and track log from each gps every night and plot it on the screen against the course line and FAI sectors. We have two Macs set up accepting GPS logs and everyone watches and jeers each others flights. We calculate start times to the second as the GPS crosses out of the start gate sector. (In this comp we are rounding down to the nearest 15 minutes to avoid cat and mouse games at start.)

If there is a problem with GPS we will accept film as backup. We are having very few problems and many pilots aren't even taking photos. I think everyone is starting to realize how lenient photos are and the GPS system is very cut and dry. It pays to take the turnpoint a little bit wide to ensure going around it, (difficult to judge at height).

I've written to all the US meet organizers as well as to a number of US competition pilots forwarding Tim message. Let's hope that we can see GPSs used for US competitions this year.

Also notice that they are using a 15 minute start interval to get away from the infernal "after you, no I insist, after you" game at the start gate.

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