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topic: Chris Arai

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Chris Arai in Forbes

February 3, 2021, 9:16:50 pm EST

Chris Arai in Forbes

In 1994

Chris Arai|dust devil|Lawrence "Pete" Lehmann|Pete Lehmann

https://ozreport.com/toc.php?25.016#0

Chris Arai writes:

Certainly sounds like my lockout minus the full kite loop.  This was a combo of errors.  Bad radio, complicated tow releases, no tow car mounted release. 

I was towing with Pete Lehmann, Chris & Willie Muller with Vincene driving.  Willie connected my release to the tow line, but there was a way that it could be connected such that it made it difficult (impossible) to release.  I didn't double check it.  On launch I almost immediately started to lockout left.  I radioed to stop, but Vincene heard "go, go!", probably due to a bad radio setup.  I yanked on the release a couple time and it didn't let go.  I then let go of the bar and grabbed the release with both hands, knowing that doing so would mean I had no idea where the bar would be as the tow line was not in line with the glider travel direction.  An "all you are worth" yank snapped the weak link and fortunately for me the recoil rotated me to where I could reach the bar.  While this was going on I was thinking "I'm going to pile into the cars behind the line."  Fortunately I had enough height to finish the left turn, miss the cars and "did a perfect crosswind landing". 

It all happened so fast that I hadn't really had time to get worked up about it.  That is until people came running over and I saw the expressions on their faces and realized how close it had been.

It was a real exercise in staying calm and focusing to make it that day after surviving the lockout.  I think it took me 3 tries to get out of the paddock.  I was so late that they had pulled up the goal line, so the lolly gagging, beer drinking pilots at goal made a note of my finish time.  One of the interesting features about that year at Hay is that it was drought year; dead sheep in the paddock and fine dust every where.  During practice I had noticed that dust devils were leaving tracks on the ground in the dust.  One low save on this flight was because I followed one of the dustie trails and a thermal was triggering in the same spot.

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Chris Arai and his fireproof home

February 13, 2020, 7:36:39 EST

Chris Arai and his fireproof home

Watch the embers fly

Chris Arai|video

https://www.yahoo.com/news/engineer-spent-15-years-fireproofing-174700014.html

Engineer Chris Arai has spent more than 15 years fireproofing his Sonoma County home, outfitting it with a gas-powered sprinkler system, flame-repellant window gel, and a concrete basement he poured by hand.

When the Kincade Fire ripped through Arai's rural community last year, the engineer's home was the only one that survived the blaze.

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2014 Santa Cruz Flats Race »

Sun, Sep 21 2014, 4:55:00 pm MDT

Ends with a bit of a whimper

Øyvind Ellefsen|Bill Soderquist|Brian Porter|James Stinnett|Joe Bostik|Kraig Coomber|Larry Bunner|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Santa Cruz Flats Race 2014|Wills Wing|Zac Majors

Øyvind Ellefsen|Bill Soderquist|Brian Porter|Chris Zimmerman|James Stinnett|Joe Bostik|Kraig Coomber|Larry Bunner|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Santa Cruz Flats Race 2014|Wills Wing|Zac Majors

Øyvind Ellefsen|Bill Soderquist|Brian Porter|Chris Zimmerman|James Stinnett|Joe Bostik|Kraig Coomber|Larry Bunner|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Santa Cruz Flats Race 2014|Wills Wing|Wills Wing T2C|Zac Majors

Øyvind Ellefsen|Bill Soderquist|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Chris Zimmerman|James Stinnett|Joe Bostik|Kraig Coomber|Larry Bunner|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Santa Cruz Flats Race 2014|Wills Wing|Wills Wing T2C|Zac Majors

Øyvind Ellefsen|Bill Soderquist|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Chris Zimmerman|James Stinnett|Joe Bostik|Kraig Coomber|Larry Bunner|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Robin Hamilton|Santa Cruz Flats Race 2014|Wills Wing|Wills Wing T2C|Zac Majors

Øyvind Ellefsen|Bill Soderquist|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Chris Arai|Chris Zimmerman|James Stinnett|Joe Bostik|Kraig Coomber|Larry Bunner|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Robin Hamilton|Santa Cruz Flats Race 2014|Wills Wing|Wills Wing T2C|Zac Majors

http://soaringspot.com/scfr14/

http://soaringspot.com/scfr14/results/flex/daily/day5.html

Last day with no one at goal:

1. Michael Bilyk Usa Moyes RX 3.5 Technora 44.0km 589.69
2. Oyvind Ellefsen Nor Moyes Rs 3.5 42.9km 579.69
3. Larry Bunner Usa Will Wing T2C 144 42.4km 574.96
4. Joe Bostik Cze Wills Wing T2C144 42.4km 574.69
5. Bill Soderquist Usa Moyes Rs 3.5 41.7km 564.73
6. Rudy Gotés Mex Moyes RX 3.5 41.6km 562.70
7. Mitch Shipley Usa Wills Wing T2C 144 40.7km 546.35
8. Chris Arai Usa Wills Wing T2C 154 39.8km 528.52
9. Kraig Coomber Usa Moyes RX 3.5 Technora 39.2km 516.29
10. Robin Hamilton Usa Moyes RX 3.5 37.9km 490.73

Overdevelopment (as forecast) puts shading all over and a bit of rain to the south of the course line. The day ends up shaded and weak.

The final results:

1. Kraig Coomber Usa Moyes RX 3.5 Technora 4371.35
2. Robin Hamilton Usa Moyes RX 3.5 4320.71
3. Michael Bilyk Usa Moyes RX 3.5 Technora 4235.36
4. Jon Durand Aus Moyes RX 3.5 Technora 3961.66
5. Olav Opsanger Nor Moyes RX 3.5 Technora 3885.14
6. Zac Majors Usa Wills Wing T2C 144 3697.50
7. Bruce Barmakian Usa Wills Wing T2C 136 3691.22
8. Rudy Gotés Mex Moyes RX 3.5 3573.95
9. Chris Arai Usa Wills Wing T2C 154 3275.58
10. James Stinnett Usa Wills Wing T2C 144 3138.43

The Moyes men clean up.

Cory Barnwell wins sport class with a bit of strategy starting early in the open launch and getting out on the course before it gets shut down.

http://soaringspot.com/scfr14/results/club/daily/day5.html

http://soaringspot.com/scfr14/results/club/day-by-day.html

Brian Porter hangs on to win the Swift class after a scare from Chris Zimmerman.

http://soaringspot.com/scfr14/results/open/total/day5.html

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2014 Santa Cruz Flats Race »

September 18, 2014, 9:31:33 pm MST

2014 Santa Cruz Flats Race

Day 3, cu's galore

Belinda Boulter|Bruce Barmakian|Chris Arai|Flytec 6030|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Kraig Coomber|Robin Hamilton|Santa Cruz Flats Race 2014|Wills Wing|Wills Wing T2C|Zac Majors

http://soaringspot.com/scfr14/

The remnants of the hurricane left the area leaving behind enough moisture that we had good looking cu's starting around 9:30 am and lasting all day. The forecast is for the moisture to hang around for a few more days so perhaps we'll have more cu's on Friday and Saturday.

With light to no winds in the forecast, cu's, cloud base maybe up to 7,000' and moderately good lift we called a task back and forth for 60 miles:

The sport class had a smaller version of this task.

We started launching at 12:30 PM with the first start window at 1:50 PM. The lift was light at first but as we got higher it improved until we were all above 6,000' just staying out of the cu's. We would find 200 to 300 fpm near cloud base, nothing to suck us up into the cloud.

Not much of a start at 1:50 as we got low, so almost everyone came back and found much better lift and took the 2:10 start time. There were cu's every where on the course.

I was high next to Zac and we raced as fast as possible to the Casa Grande mountain but the lift there was piss poor. We were working junk when my vario died. Turns out I had created the perfect storm to cause the battery to be flat.

I had installed a 16 GB SD card that also serves as a wifi server in my Flytec 6030 (allowing me to transmit track logs to my phone where they can be emailed to the scorekeeper). The server portion turns off after 5 minutes to keep the battery from being drained if it doesn't hook up with a client. But, I had placed my phone in my boot and turned it on to run the Livetracker24 app with the phone plugged into an add on battery. Previously I had used a dedicated tracker24 but Belinda was complaining that it would die after an hour.

But I had mistakenly left the wifi setting turned on on the phone so that the phone and the wifi server on the SD card in the 6030 were communicating and keeping the wifi server running and running down the battery.

With the 6030 dead I headed back toward the Francisco Grande hoping to get there high enough to land and leave my glider set up. I landed about a kilometer short and hiked the glider back.

Meanwhile pilots who weren't fooling around with wifi servers in their 6030's were out on the course and doing well. We got to see Kraig, then Bruce, then Robin all come in far ahead of the other pilots.

All and all a great flying day after two days of not flying.

# Pilot Team Glider Total
 
1. Kraig Coomber USA Moyes RX 3.5 Technora 2874.23
2. Robin Hamilton USA Moyes RX 3.5 2853.87
3. Michael Bilyk USA Moyes RX 3.5 Technora 2669.18
4. Rudy Gotés MEX Moyes RX 3.5 2524.98
5. Jon Durand AUS Moyes RX 3.5 Technora 2494.27
6. Olav Opsanger NOR Moyes RX 3.5 Technora 2431.27
7. Bruce Barmakian USA Wills Wing T2C 136 2388.53
8. Matt Barker USA Wills Wing T2C 144 2309.79
9. Zac Majors USA Wills Wing T2C 144 2308.08
10. Chris Arai USA Wills Wing T2C 154 2267.69

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2014 Santa Cruz Flats Race »

September 16, 2014, 2:24:24 pm MST

2014 Santa Cruz Flats Race

After two days

Dustin Martin|James Stinnett|Kraig Coomber|Santa Cruz Flats Race 2014|Wills Wing|Zac Majors

Dustin Martin|James Stinnett|Kraig Coomber|Santa Cruz Flats Race 2014|Wills Wing|Wills Wing T2C|Zac Majors

Dustin Martin|James Stinnett|Kraig Coomber|Robin Hamilton|Santa Cruz Flats Race 2014|Wills Wing|Wills Wing T2C|Zac Majors

Chris Arai|Dustin Martin|James Stinnett|Kraig Coomber|Robin Hamilton|Santa Cruz Flats Race 2014|Wills Wing|Wills Wing T2C|Zac Majors

http://soaringspot.com/scfr14/

1. Robin Hamilton Moyes RX 3.5 1875.36
2. Kraig Coomber Moyes RX 3.5 Technora 1874.23
3. Michael Bilyk Moyes RX 3.5 Technora 1839.52
4. Jon Durand Moyes RX 3.5 Technora 1701.51
5. Rudy Gotés Moyes RX 3.5 1684.46
6. Olav Opsanger Moyes RX 3.5 Technora 1644.77
7. Chris Arai Wills Wing T2C 154 1581.40
8. Zac Majors Wills Wing T2C 144 1538.76
9. Dustin Martin Wills Wing T2C 144 1492.31
10. James Stinnett Wills Wing T2C 144 1480.66

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2014 Santa Cruz Flats Race »

Day two

2014 Santa Cruz Flats Race

September 15, 2014, 6:26:02 pm MST

A.I.R. ATOS VR|Chris Arai|Jim Yocom|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Larry Bunner|Mike Glennon|Santa Cruz Flats Race 2014

http://soaringspot.com/scfr14/

Jonny Durand writes:

Day 2 100km triangle with about twenty pilots making goal! Kraig wins the day ahead of Robin with Chris Arai in 3rd just in front of me. Five Moyes Boys in the top six today.

The task for open class and Swifts and Jim Yocom on an ATOS VR:

In the morning it looks like we'll get to over 8,000', with light or no winds, and no cu's. We up the task length and call for an earlier start to give us more time to complete the task before every thing closes down around 5 PM. The task committee sends the pilots along the freeway, but first to Casa Grande mountain, to the range just north of I 10. Then back to the flats for the weak lift before heading over town and back to the hotel.

The sport class pilots have an out and return also, going to Meyer, which we will also fly over, and over and back over Casa Grande mountain, which should help out.

My forecast said that there would not be a strong inversion and pilots get up right away starting at 12:30 PM. Launch goes very quickly and with no wind and a two kilometer start cylinder pilots stay pretty close and work the good lift to first 6,500', then 7,000', then 8,300' just before the first start window at 1:50 PM.

Most of us are high and we head out to Casa Grande mountain. There is a bit of lift before the hills, and when we get there the lift is not great but pilots seem to want to hang in it. I spot a small cu' high overhead on the south end of the range and decide to go for it. After a bit of a search I hook into 900 fpm. I quickly become an attractive nuisance and the guys now below me race to the south. There are a few above me who came in high to the mountain and watched what happened below.

I leave at 8,700' following four or five pilots who are higher and head along I 10 shading to the north to get back on the course line. The guys ahead find 600 fpm in the flats and we all get high again. It looks like an easy day.

Way to the south we can see cu-nimbs making a line from west to east, the edge of the hurricane. There are also high clouds spreading out to the north from the development to our south.

Another strong climb with the lead gaggle just over my head and then it's time to head into the mountain range to our east. The edge of the 10 km turnpoint cylinder is just on the south end of the range. There are bits of lift going into the mountain and I don't spend too much time working them as there are cu's over the range. I find a little over 300 fpm (it was much better out on the flats not under cu's) to back over 8,000' as I work the range with a few other pilots just overhead. I think I'm with Chris Arai.

We head off to the northwest to the next turnpoint at LaPalma out in the flats. It's a sixteen kilometer glide without any lift to the turnpoint and I'm down to 3,600' before I find the weak lift just past the turnpoint. Half a dozen pilots are higher and working this weak stuff as well as similar stuff in the neighborhood. The shading from the overdevelopment from the south is suppressing the lift.

I think I'm low but then Larry Bunner and another pilot come in at 2,000' just below us. They are able to find weak lift and dig their way out of there.

I move from weak thermal to weak thermal between 4,000' and 5,500' until I finally find a consistent core at 250-300 fpm. There is a bird down low turning and three more come in under me. As I climb up Mike Glennon comes back to join me in the better lift and we climb to 7,400' which is plenty to get into goal.

Plenty of pilots at goal. Most are breaking down as there may be wind tonight.

Sport class pilots make it back to goal also.

Chris Arai is back

September 13, 2014, 11:54:51 MST

Chris Arai is back

Flying with his Tangent flight instrument

Chris Arai|Wills Wing

Chris Arai|Wills Wing|Wills Wing T2C

Chris Arai|Wills Wing|Wills Wing T2C

And a Wills Wing T2C 154:

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A good sport in sport class

Wed, Apr 2 2014, 1:07:27 pm GMT

The 1989 Manufacturer's League Meet at Pine Mountain in Oregon

Chris Arai|Jim Lee|Joe Bostik|Josef "Joe" "Hangczech" Bostik|Kari Castle|Kendrick "Ken/Kenny" Brown|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson

It was the summer of 1989 and I had just flown my second cross country flight ever. I had purchased a used Wills Wing Euro Sport and flown twenty nine miles from Chelan Butte past Mansfield. (My previous cross country flight was on a Pacific Airwaves Vision 20, twelve miles north from Chelan, a year earlier.)

I headed south with my driver to Oregon from Seattle and hooked up with the Wills Wing pilots because I had a truck and a driver and they didn't.

Obviously we all had king posted gliders because there weren't any topless gliders then. I had an intermediate glider but Joe Bostik had won the Nationals previously flying a Sport (it's a long story).

There were seventy five pilots at this high end competition including Mark Newland from Australia (who would eventually win the competition), Mark Gibson, Kari Castle, Jim Lee, Chris Arai, Randy Haney, Larry Tudor, Kenny Brown, and numerous other top pilots. This was one of the big competitions held in the US and I went to it just because it was nearby. All the top pilots from the Pacific Northwest were also there.

Now as a neophyte I was in a competition with experienced pilots but we were flying similar gliders even if mine was not the top end king posted glider. I had Joe's example to refer to. It was possible then to fly in a open class competition with equipment that was similar to that used by the best pilots. I didn't feel that I was greatly disadvantaged by my equipment.

On the first day the goal was seventy five miles to the east. I was the last one to make goal. I had about tripled my longest distance. I continued to do relatively well on the following days, and when the goal was a little over hundred miles to the south almost to Lakeview, I landed just short after climbing to by far my highest point by then, 15,000'. Ken Brown spent the night out next to an alkali lake as we had traveled far over areas that were not that accessible.

I ended up in twenty fifth place out of seventy five surpassing all my "flying buddies" from Washington state.

Things have changed since then. That's why we have Sport Class now. The idea is to have competitions that allow for equipment that isn't the top of the line and promote access to competitions for pilots who have less experience and don't fly on the open class circuit.

It is the fact that things have changed that requires that we support Sport Class and the competition venue it provides to pilots who have less resources and time to devote to competition.

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Design job opportunity

September 3, 2012, 8:49:01 MDT

Design job opportunity

Small devices

Chris Arai

Chris Arai <<araidesi_catchall>> writes:

I have a friend that is looking for someone who has experience in interaction/interface design for a startup hardware company.

A deliberately vague job description:

Active device user that understands the needs of small devices used in sporting environments. Ability to design, articulate and document the parameters of an interface. San Mateo, CA. Immediate opening for a 3-4 month opportunity.

Send a resume to <david>.

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Cloudsuck, chapter 5 »

Mon, Jan 2 2012, 9:07:17 pm GMT

I serialize Cloudsuck for the winter season

Brad Koji|Chris Arai|Cloudsuck|Jim Lee|Kari Castle|Larry Tudor|Oleg Bondarchuck|record

Many pilots wonder what it really takes to set a world record. Some wonder what it's like to fly at a place like Zapata or other world class sites. Cloudsuck answers these and other questions while telling the story of how I set the current Distance World Record for Rigid Wings. Over this winter, I am pleased to make the book available as a gift to my readers in serialized form. Each Monday, another chapter will be available for you to enjoy here on the Oz Report. The best read is the one in it's entirety, and both the soft cover book and an ebook are available to purchase here: https://OzReport.com/cloudsuck.php. You can find the Kindle version on Amazon.

If you enjoy the serialized installments, you may wish to skip the text below and jump directly to this week's chapter, including any graphics or pictures here: https://OzReport.com/docs/Cloudsuck5.pdf

I hope you enjoy the book and this week's chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The Cauldron from Hell

Albuquerque sits at about six thousand feet on the valley floor of the Rio Grande River, with ten thousand-foot Sandia Peak towering above it just to the east. The city can grow only so far eastward before it's stopped by topography; Indian ownership of the lands at the base (and perhaps the face) of the mountain adds another barrier.

Access to Sandia Peak is made convenient by a tramway that hauls tourists, hikers, mountain bikers, and hang glider pilots up to the restaurant and launch at the top. The east side of the mountain is a gentle, tree covered ski area. The west is a precipice, the sharp edge of an up-thrusted plate.

As you look down from the windows of the tram car you see pinnacles and sharp ridges of rock with debris below. Amongst the trees below the rocks, pieces of a passenger jet that crashed into the mountainside years ago are still visible. You can’t help but wonder whether searchers would find your remains if you were to meet a similar fate.

The hang glider launch next to the restaurant starts with a steep slope for thirty feet, then drops off sharply five hundred feet down a cliff face. The prevailing winds come out of the west, smashing against the cliff face. It often gets too windy to fly. Light winds — or no winds at all — are ideal for hang gliding here. You’d like the thermals generated from the valley floor to be guided gently to the mountainside and finally to the launch, maintaining a usable shape instead of being blown to shreds.

As you look out from the launch to your right, you see a series of pinnacles and rock faces that form the edge of a bowl and then march off to the west toward the bottom of the tramway. This line of pinnacles makes a natural thermal generator, even for pilots who are low. But being low behind those towers gives even experienced pilots pause. This is the cauldron from hell.

Tight, strong thermals forming on the pinnacles and mixing with the winds — especially when there is a bit of north in the winds — produce some of the most turbulent air that anyone hang glides in voluntarily. But all too often this is where you have to go if you want to get up at Sandia Peak. When there isn't a big thermal coming up the bowl in front of launch — and often there isn't — you fly off to the right if you want to stay up.

I was back in Albuquerque in June 1998 for my fifth time at the Sandia Classic, a national level competition, so I had no excuses about not knowing any better. I actively disliked flying Sandia's west face, but was more than happy to be up and over the back, flying east over the high desert flatlands of central New Mexico. In 1998 most pilots thought that terrible turbulence was the price we had to pay, to get high enough to fly in the areas really conducive to long cross-country flights. But the recent long flights in Florida were beginning to prove us wrong.

We were here in early June because later in July the monsoon rains would come to New Mexico. Moisture would swirl up from the south then, causing overdevelopment and dangerous thunderstorms. Even the desert has its comparatively rainy season. But June was the end of the dry season, and the desert was brown.

The setup area behind the launch was limited, so only sixty pilots could fly in the Sandia Classic — but this year only thirty pilots were competing. Since this was one of four U.S. national competitions, all the top competition pilots were here, hoping to earn enough points to make the U.S. National Team. Other pilots, having experienced Sandia’s turbulence, had elected not to return.

Larry Tudor was here. So were Chris Arai and Jim Lee from the Wills Wing team. Brad Koji, another National Team pilot, was flying with Larry on the newly formed Icaro 2000 sponsored team. I had first met all these guys at the 1989 Manufacturer's League meet in Lakeview, and by now they were familiar faces.

This was the first big competition of the year. We were all having a good time, setting up our gliders down behind the launch, renewing our acquaintance with old friends we hadn’t seen since the previous year. No one was in a hurry. Kari Castle took a photo of Brad and me talking strategy..

Brad was the star of the “Front Range” pilots, the guys who flew on the eastern side of the Rockies from sites near Golden and Boulder. Small and thin, the quiet spoken Brad had left his wife and two kids at home to join in the camaraderie found among the nation’s top hang glider pilots. His jovial good spirits made light of the scary moments that we would face soon in front of the mountain.

On that first day the task was a dogleg over the back, northeast about thirty miles to the small town of Lamy, then south along Highway 285 to Clines Corners on Interstate 40. With a predicted wind of fifteen to twenty miles per hour out of the south later that afternoon, it would be hard for the competitors to get to goal from the turnpoint.

The trees on the back of Sandia Peak stop at the base of the mountain, where the brown desert takes over as you head to Lamy. In the higher spots you’ll find thick patches of juniper, but mostly it’s sagebrush and cholla cactus. The cacti are usually far enough apart that they don’t present too great a hindrance if you have to land out.

Conditions that day had started out uninspiring, with cloudbase a thousand feet below the launch at the peak, putting us in fog as we had set up. We expected cloudbase to rise during the day, but it looked as though it wouldn’t be getting very high. We were used to climbing up to almost eighteen thousand feet out to the east of Sandia. This was normally a place where we used a lot of oxygen.

It wasn’t until late in the day, around three PM, that pilots were able to get up to thirteen thousand feet — only three thousand over launch — and head east over the back toward Lamy. At about five o’clock Oleg Bondarchuck, a top Ukrainian pilot, and Brad Koji were near Lamy at about ten thousand feet.

Continue reading here: https://OzReport.com/docs/Cloudsuck5.pdf.

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Cloudsuck, chapter 3 »

December 19, 2011, 8:53:42 PST

Cloudsuck, chapter 3

I serialize Cloudsuck for the winter season

Bill Moyes|Bobby Bailey|Chris Arai|Cloudsuck|Dragonfly|record

Many pilots wonder what it really takes to set a world record. Some wonder what it's like to fly at a place like Zapata or other world class sites. Cloudsuck answers these and other questions while telling the story of how I set the current Distance World Record for Rigid Wings. Over this winter, I am pleased to make the book available as a gift to my readers in serialized form. Each Monday, another chapter will be available for you to enjoy here on the Oz Report. The best read is the one in it's entirety, and both the soft cover book and an ebook are available to purchase here: http://ozreport.com/cloudsuck.php. You can find the Kindle version on Amazon.

If you enjoy the serialized installments, you may wish to skip the text below and jump directly to this week's chapter, including any graphics or pictures here: http://ozreport.com/docs/Cloudsuck3.pdf

I hope you enjoy the book and this week's chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Over the next five years I flew in as many hang gliding competitions as possible in Chelan and in the high mountains throughout the west — after all, I still had to run my far flung computing empire back in Seattle. For sure I was not one of the top pilots, not even close. But I could rationalize that I only spent a few weeks each year competing. Still I loved the sport, and I had a great time hanging out with my buds when we’d join up at some odd mountainside.

In those years the national level competitions were held again in Dinosaur; repeatedly at Sandia Peak above Albuquerque, New Mexico; in the Owens Valley ; from Sugar Mountain just over the California border from Lakeview, Oregon; at Chelan Butte in Washington State; and in Telluride, Colorado. All the big U.S. competitions took place out West in the deserts, in the big air conditions. Year after year you'd find us launching off the sides of high, craggy mountains in the heat of the day.

In 1994 we held the national championships in Telluride, Colorado, an out-of-the-way but fashionable ski resort town. Of all the crazy and dangerous places that we could put on a nationals, this place had to be the worst — still, it was so over the top that we really liked it. I’d flown there in a national level meet before, so I knew was I was getting into.

To get us to the top, they’d take us up these steep gravel ski hill service roads in old pickups that were way too top heavy when loaded down with hang gliders. You could just imagine the driver missing a gear or going a little too close to the edge, and the truck with all those gliders on top rolling down the steep mountainside, throwing out hang glider pilots with each flip. They had done just that in the past.

We were launching from over twelve thousand feet, way up near the top of the ski runs and three thousand feet above the valley floor. Up that high the air is so thin that it’s actually quite difficult to get a hang glider to start flying; there just aren’t enough air molecules to support the glider’s weight unless you are going fast. It takes a long run down a steep hillside to get up enough airspeed to get airborne. You start off with your oxygen bottle already turned on and then you climb out in a thermal to eighteen thousand feet, sucking in oxygen as fast as possible.

It was hard just climbing on foot the last few hundred feet up the hillside to the launch from the end of the service road, especially with 125 pounds of hang glider and gear. Then you’d set up on a slope you could just barely stand on, it was so steep. It was great to be surrounded by such natural beauty.

The San Juan Mountains around Telluride are so steep and the valleys so narrow that any wind is extremely dangerous. Often during the meet I would fly out across the valley to get up on the other side, next to the sheer cliffs. I’d be circling up within a few feet of the rocky face and, so help me, holding on as hard as possible, hoping the powerful and swirling thermals didn't decide to flip me over.

I’d finally climb up above the rocks and get on top of the ridge line still going up fast, but at least not in any danger of hitting anything. I’d look around and all I’d see would be trees. Of course, this was high in the Rocky Mountains, so there were trees everywhere, and nowhere to land out on the course line but in those trees. I’d just better get high. It was incredibly thrilling.

Douglas fir and pine trees are no fun to land in. There is nothing to hold on to. You clip the top of the tree and then go for a fast ride to the ground fifty or a hundred feet below.

I was a last-minute replacement on the Wills Wing team at that particular meet, so that meant that I was the “rabbit.” They would send me off early to see if I could stay up. If I could, then I would report back about the conditions. If I did well, great. If not, the other team members would get the points for the team.

I lived through that meet and so did everyone else, but we never went back there to have a national level meet again.

In 1995 I read Chris Arai’s story about the magnificent flying down in Australia, the land that produces many of the world's leading hang glider pilots. His story also spoke about how terrible the conditions had been that year, with a drought until the day the meet started, then floods that wiped out the tow paddock. That’s Australia for you.

Still, I got excited about the prospects of flying during our wintertime, so the following December I took the opportunity to head south for six weeks of full time hang gliding on the Australian summer competition circuit. I'd recently finished a best selling computer book, Windows 95 Secrets, so I could afford to take some time off before starting in on the next one.

Consider this. Australia has a land mass about equal that of the U.S. and a population of competition hang glider pilots about equal to that found in the U.S., but with less than a tenth of the overall population. Ten times the enthusiasm! Here in this land devoted to sport, hang gliding isn't thought of as an activity for crazies only, but a legitimate form of recreation.

Over ninety percent of Australians live within an hour of the ocean, and water sports are an integral part of the lives of many Australians. Many find time to surf, leaving their offices to hit the waves when it is on. Hang gliding started as an adjunct to water skiing here in the sixties then grew into a sport whose participants took off from cliffs overlooking the ocean.

Later it moved into the flat interior, with hang gliders towed up behind cars. Things got even better when pilots recognized that ultralights (light experimental aircraft) could be used to tow up hang gliders. Bill Moyes, the founder of Australia's leading hang glider manufacturer, went further and worked with Bobby Bailey in Florida to produce an ultralight specifically built as a hang glider tow vehicle, the Bailey-Moyes Dragonfly. This only encouraged more flying in the flatlands to the west of Australia’s Great Dividing Range.

Continue reading here: http://ozreport.com/docs/Cloudsuck3.pdf.

Cloudsuck, chapter 2 »

December 12, 2011, 9:12:40 PST

Cloudsuck, chapter 2

I serialize Cloudsuck for the winter season

Chris Arai|Cloudsuck|Joe Bostik|Ken Brown|Larry Tudor|record

Many pilots wonder what it really takes to set a world record. Some wonder what it's like to fly at a place like Zapata or other world class sites. Cloudsuck answers these and other questions while telling the story of how I set the current Distance World Record for Rigid Wings. Over this winter, I am pleased to make the book available as a gift to my readers in serialized form. Each Monday, another chapter will be available for you to enjoy here on the Oz Report. The best read is the one in it's entirety, and both the soft cover book and an ebook are available to purchase here: http://ozreport.com/cloudsuck.php. You can find the Kindle version on Amazon.

If you enjoy the serialized installments, you may wish to skip the text below and jump directly to this week's chapter, including any graphics or pictures here: http://ozreport.com/docs/Cloudsuck2.pdf

I hope you enjoy the book and this week's chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I got my own first taste of long-distance hang gliding at the 1989 Manufacturers' League Meet at Pine Mountain, Oregon. Twenty miles east of the resort town of Bend and on the dry side of the Cascades, Pine Mountain rises three thousand feet above the surrounding flat desert, a perfect spot for a hang gliding competition. The launch area was a broad, gentle slope, facing into predominantly west winds.

My first short cross-country flights had taken place the previous summer, from Chelan Butte in central Washington State. These were truly short flights — in fact it was only a month before the League Meet that I had actually flown further than eleven miles. It had taken three years of baby steps for me to progress from running with a hang glider down a small training hill to flying any distance at all.

The League Meet was one of four top U.S. hang gliding competitions that year. Although I had no competition experience, this meet was taking place only a seven hour drive from my home in Seattle. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to gain some cross-country experience so I figured, why not join in the fun?

That June I had purchased a used Wills Wing Sport 167. Although not a top of the line hang glider, the Sport was a significant step up in performance from my previous wing. Larry’s buddy, Czechoslovakian immigrant pilot Joe Bostik, had won the U.S. Nationals on a Sport the summer before. And on my first flight with it from Chelan Butte, I had flown further than ever before, about 25 miles. I was so exhilarated after the premature end to that flight that my mind was still racing. It was clear to me this — flying across country on a hang glider — was all I really wanted to do.

The League Meet attracted all the top U.S. and Canadian hang glider pilots, plus a number of highly-ranked competitors from Europe and Australia. Everyone came to show off the new gliders from their sponsoring manufacturers. There was (and still is) very little money to support these few top pilots, but they do get to fly the latest models, which helps them maintain their positions in the world rankings.

I was a clueless nobody who was about to get a great education, even though it would take me a good number of years to appreciate those lessons. I brought my new 4Runner that sported a large rack, along with my neighbor Stephanie to act as a dedicated driver — and these resources were in short supply. As luck would have it, I was able to hook up with the elite Wills Wing team, ranked first in the U.S., who were looking for just what this little twerp had to offer.

With the Wills Wing team in my truck, I got to listen in on the ride back as Larry Tudor, Chris Arai, and Randy Haney discussed their flights and tactics. It was way too much for me to understand.

The first day's task was a seventy-five mile race to the east, following Highway 20 to the truck stop at Riley on Silver Creek. Here Highway 395, winding its way up the eastern side of the Sierras from Southern California through the Owens Valley and the eastern deserts of Oregon, joined Highway 20 and jogs east to Burns before continuing north. Silver Creek provided an oasis in this sagebrush country, a swath of green visible from many miles away if you were high in a hang glider.

The thermals that got us above launch and over the top of Pine Mountain couldn't have been friendlier. I looked out for the first time on that big expanse of sagebrush, and was just happy to see that I could follow Highway 20 as I flew east. I had no idea how far seventy-five miles was in a hang glider. There were already plenty of faster pilots out in front of me; I figured all I had to do was look for where they were circling up and I'd probably find the next thermal.

I struggled, flying from gaggle to gaggle and getting further and further behind, but making my way over that bewildering eastern Oregon landscape. It was three hours later when a fast pilot (who had obviously taken a later start time) joined in me in a thermal and then quickly dove off to the west. “Where is he going so fast?” I wondered as I kept circling up.

Oh — oh — there a little to my east I saw not brown desert but this long thin stretch of green around a wandering creek. Uh, let's see, just what is that, oh, wait, it — no, yes it is — it must be goal. Perhaps I'd turned in too many circles, because it took a while to realize I was already there.

I was the last pilot able to make it to goal on that first day, and there were quite a few who didn’t make it that far. I was happy just to be there at all, having flown three times farther than I'd ever flown before. Again, it was all too much for me to absorb. I was delirious.

I continued to fly well beyond my experience level for the next few days, scoring in the upper third of the pilots at the meet. Then on the fifth day the meet director called a 98-mile task south, across an area with only a few gravel roads, to Valley Falls. The goal was a hay field next to an old gas station at the intersection of Highways 31 and 395, only thirty miles north of the Oregon/California border. It was the longest task yet called in a hang gliding meet, from central Oregon to almost California.

With no easy overland route over the back of Pine Mountain and through the Deschutes National Forest, Stephanie would have to take my truck back into Bend and then south on Highway 97. She could veer off to the southeast on Highway 31 and, I hoped, get close enough to hear me calling on the CB radio by the time I was sixty miles or so out on course. This was assuming I could get that far, and was high enough at the time to have decent radio communication.

The early going was really tough. I wasn’t getting high over the mountain, and had to drift downwind in the weak lift that rose off the mountain’s eastern flanks. Dropping below the low hillcrests, I was searching everywhere for less sink — or better yet some air going up. I followed a low ridge line hoping to catch something coming up its sides. I just didn’t want to lose the race so early, and was desperate to get up.

At the last minute, just before I had no choice but to set up a landing, I found a weak thermal over the ridge that slowly got me up out of that sink hole. Later I learned I had been lucky: much more experienced and expert pilots than I was had not gotten away from the mountain on that day.

To the south there were broad areas of old lava flows heated by the sun and small buttes of warm rocks that provided the necessary lift. As the day got later it got better. Since I had no way to contact Stephanie until we got closer together — and no idea how to describe where I was if I should have to land — I was happy just to stay as high as possible and keep going.

The first inhabited spot to the south was Christmas Valley, a small dry farming community forty miles from Pine Mountain; I found myself there working low over dusty plowed fields. At least I could see civilization nearby a few miles to the west, so I knew I wouldn't die of thirst out in the desert if I couldn’t get up. A few thousand feet over the ground, I dove for a tractor working a circular field, and sure enough there was a thermal right over the farmer's head. That thermal took me high enough to get up into the gray, brown and empty hills to the southeast, following a dirt road up the swales.

I knew I had left my chances of reasonable retrieval behind as I worked back into the hills with nothing but jeep trails crossing them. Later I learned that Ken Brown, a highly-respected U.S. pilot, had landed in those very hills and spent the night sleeping in his harness next to an alkali lake. But when I got there I found the strongest thermal of the day and started climbing out fast.

I just hung on as this fat powerful monster took me from six thousand feet to fourteen thousand in just a few minutes. As I looked down, the landscape seemed to have lost all of its features. I had never been so high before, having barely reached ten thousand feet while flying in Chelan. I wasn't carrying oxygen, didn't own an oxygen system, and couldn't imagine getting high enough here in Oregon to need one. I had never been in a thermal so powerful, and I was scared, holding on for dear life. I was also so excited I could hardly stand it. Most of all I was happy to be high enough to cruise way over the tops of the big buttes in front of me, south along the western edge of Lake Abert and on down the ridgeline toward goal.

Finally I had to leave at almost fifteen thousand feet, when I started to experience symptoms of oxygen starvation — there were little black spots wherever I looked. I was still scared, but I was high and freezing cold. And I was even finally able to raise Stephanie on my portable CB radio. She wasn't but thirty miles behind me, driving as fast as she could down Highway 31. It looked as though I would survive this day — and maybe even make goal.

Continue reading here: http://ozreport.com/docs/Cloudsuck2.pdf.

The King Mountain co-Nationals

August 20, 2009, 8:42:06 CDT

The King Mountain co-Nationals

What was the pitch?

Chris Arai|Lisa Tate|PG|USHPA|US Nationals

How exactly did Lisa Tate, the organizer and meet director of the King Mountain co-Nationals (and not incidentally USHPA President), entice pilots to come and fly at the meet? Let's see what she wrote about the upcoming competition.

The July 1st press release

“The ‘Ironman’ nature of the week long event is one of the most grueling and extreme hang gliding challenges in the world,” said Lisa Tate, the meet director.

http://www.flykingmountain.com/kinginfo.html

This area compares quite favorably with the Owens Valley (Southern California). This is a world class Hang Gliding and Paragliding site guaranteed to test your flying skills! There are booming thermals, outrageous turbulence, and the promise of long XC flights.

Lisa is promising that pilots will have a very exciting time at the King Mountain co-Nationals. Having flown in the previous US Nationals held at King Mountain I can attest to her characterization of the type of air conditions one can expect there. Chris Arai stated at the end of that Nationals that it was the most turbulent Nationals ever held. I thought at the time that that was an understatement.

It is completely legitimate to make the test of hang gliding skill the test of the pilot's ability to handle difficult and perhaps dangerous conditions. We all know that pilots have died at King Mountain due to turbulence, both in the air and near the ground. Cheating death is certainly one aspect of piloting skill.

Flying over the back of twelve thousand foot mountain ranges  (Mt. Borah is 12,662') in high wind conditions (20 mph is typical) is not done in other locations that I am aware of. Flying over multiple ranges in such conditions has to be unique to the King Mountain meets. The only thing that comes close, as far as I have experienced, is flying in the Alps in the Föhn.

As a fair number of pilots attended the King Mountain co-Nationals this year (although down quite a bit from previous years) it is clear that whatever they read or heard about the King Mountain air conditions didn't provide a deterrent (at least not enough of one to stop the ones who ended up coming to the meet).

The USHPA BOD should reflect for a moment and determine whether this is the kind of competition that they want for their Nationals. While it is completely legitimate to have this as one of the competitions that pilots who wish to enter it can have during the year, and we for sure wouldn't want to take that away from them, does the USHPA think that this is the best type of competition to represent our sport as the Nationals?

I am quite sure that while some (maybe many) pilots would argue that it is indeed the type of competition that should be used to choose the National Champion, it is clear that on a world wide basis, this has been rejected as an appropriate measure of hang gliding skill.

Next I'll discuss safety aspects of the King Mountain co-Nationals.

Discuss "The King Mountain co-Nationals" at the Oz Report forum   link»

The US National Champion, a history

Lots of Champions

The National Champion, a history

October 31, 2008, 8:40:32 PDT

A.I.R. ATOS VR|Bo Hagewood|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Campbell Bowen|Chris Arai|Curt Warren|Dave Sharp|Davis Straub|Dennis Pagen|Eric Raymond|Gerry Uchytil|Jim Lee|Joe Bostik|Larry Tudor|Mike Meier|Paris Williams|Quest Air|Rich Burton|Tom Lanning|Wills Wing T2C|Zac Majors

Mike Meier «Mike» writes:

This is a "complete" list of US National Hang Gliding Champions, as best I can compile it - with one exception - it contains no women champions. There were not that many years that a women's national champion was named, and I did not try to compile a list of those.

The list is complete, except for the glider that Mike Daily flew in 1986, which I could not find, and it is accurate to the best of my knowledge and ability to research it. I made only one assumption - that Campbell Bowen flew the same glider in the 2007 Nationals as he did in the Quest Air comp that immediately followed the Nationals. All of the other data listed is documented somewhere, Hang Gliding Magazine, the Oz Report, manufacturer web sites, etc. That does not guarantee that all the data is accurate, but it is all documented. Anyone who has conflicting information should, of course, comment on anything they think is not accurate.

The history of the title US National Champion in hang gliding is not, perhaps, as simple or as clean as one might prefer. As I mentioned above, there was a period (1983 - 1987) where the rules called for a single national champion, to be determined by CPS points, and during this period the winners of the U.S. Nationals competitions, in various classes, were supposed to have been designated as "Nationals Champions" (i.e. Champions of the Nationals), but that convention was not followed, in almost all cases, when the meets were reported in the media, so in those years we had additional "National Champions" beyond what the rules provided for.

Another source of possible confusion or complication is that the term US National Champion has been reserved for a US pilot, so in many cases, after the meet became international in its participation, the National Champion did not necessarily finish in first place in his class in the meet. In the list, I've added a column where I've listed the National Champion's finishing place in the meet, where I was able to determine that, when it was not a first place finish.
 

Year Pilot Site Class Glider (Place in meet)
2008 Zac Majors Lakeview, Oregon Flexwing Wills Wing T2C 144
2007 Campbell Bowen Florida Ridge, Florida Rigid Wing Air Atos VX
2007 Tom Lanning Florida Ridge, Florida Flexwing Moyes Litespeed S 4 5th
2007 Rodger Furrey Florida Ridge, Florida Sport Class Wills Wing U2 160 2nd
2006 Campbell Bowen Florida Ridge, Florida Rigid Wing Air Atos VX <1st
2006 Curt Warren Florida Ridge, Florida Flexwing Moyes Litespeed S 3rd
2005 Bruce Barmakian Quest Air, Florida Rigid Wing Air Atos VR
2005 Paris Williams Quest Air, Florida Flexwing Aeros Combat L 3rd
2004 Davis Straub Big Spring, Texas Rigid Wing Air Atos VX
2004 Curt Warren Big Spring, Texas Flexwing Moyes Litespeed S
2003 Bruce Barmakian Big Spring, Texas Rigid Wing Air Atos C
2003 Paris Williams Big Spring, Texas Flexwing Aeros Combat 2
2002 Bruce Barmakian Wallaby Ranch, Florida Rigid Wing (Class 5) Aeros Stalker 4th
2002 Brian Porter Wallaby Ranch, Florida Rigid Wing (Class 2) Bright Star Swift
2002 Paris Williams Wallaby Ranch, Florida Flexwing Icaro Laminar 3rd
2001 Brian Porter Hearne, Texas Rigid Wing Bright Star Swift 2nd
2001 Paris Williams Hearne, Texas Flexwing Icaro Laminar
2000 Brian Porter Lakeview, Oregon Rigid Wing Bright Star Swift
2000 Bo Hagewood Lakeview, Oregon Flexwing Wills Wing Fusion
1999 Brian Porter Quest Air, Florida Rigid Wing Utopia
1999 Jim Lee Quest Air, Florida Flexwing Wills Wing Fusion 5th
1998 Dave Sharp Dinosaur, Colorado Rigid Wing Flight Designs Exxtacy
1998 Chris Arai Dinosaur, Colorado Flexwing Wills Wing Fusion 3rd
1997 Chris Arai Lakeview, Oregon One Class Wills Wing Fusion
1996 Larry Tudor Dinosaur, CO One Class Wills Wing XC 3rd
1995 Chris Arai Chelan, WA One Class Wills Wing XC 2nd
1994 Chris Arai Mount Princeton, Colorado One Class Wills Wing RamAir
1993 Jim Lee Lakeview, Oregon One Class Wills Wing RamAir
1992 Brad Koji Telluride, Colorado One Class Wills Wing HP AT
1991 Tony Barton Owens Valley, California One Class UP TRX
1990 Bruce Case Dinosaur, Colorado One Class Wills Wing HP AT 2nd
1989 Brian Porter Dunlap, California One Class Odyssey
1988 Joe Bostik Chattanooga, Tennessee One Class Wills Wing Sport
1987 Joe Bostik Overall (on CPS points) Wills Wing HP II
1987 Howard Osterlund Owens Valley, California Meet Winner Airwave Magic IV
1986 Rick Rawlings Overall (on CPS points) Wills Wing HP
1986 Rick Rawlings Chelan, Washington World Wills Wing HP
1986 Mike Daily Chelan, Washington Sporting
1985 Rick Rawlings Overall (on CPS points) Wills Wing HP
1985 Rick Rawlings Chelan, Washington World Wills Wing HP
1985 Gerry Uchytil Chelan, Washington Sporting Airwave Magic
1984 Stew Smith Crestline, California Overall (on CPS points) Seedwings Sensor 510
1984 Rich Pfeiffer Crestline, California World Seedwings Sensor 510
1984 Terry Wilkins Crestline, California Sporting Wills Wing Duck
1983 Rick Rawlings Overall (on CPS points) Wills Wing Duck
1983 Chris Bulger Dunlap, California World Bennett Delta Wing Streak
1983 Lee Fisher Dunlap, California Sporting Seedwings Sensor 510
1982 Rich Burton Crestline, California Open UP Comet
1982 Rich Pfeiffer Crestline, California Flexwing Wills Wing Duck
1981 Fred Hutchinson Slide Mountain, Nevada Open Manta Fledgling IIB
1981 Rich Pfeiffer Slide Mountain, Nevada Flexwing Seedwings Sensor 510
1980 Rex Miller Ellenville, New York Open Manta Fledgling IIB
1980 Tom Haddon Ellenville, New York Flexwing UP Comet
1979 Eric Raymond Crestline, California One Class Manta Fledgling IIB
1978 Dennis Pagen Hyner View, Pennsylvania One Class Sky Sports Sirocco II
1976 Rob Reed Dog Mountain, Washington Standard Bennett Delta Wing 19/13
1976 Keith Nichols Dog Mountain, Washington Open ASG 21
1976 Ken Koklenski Dog Mountain, Washington Unlimited Manta Fledgling
1975 Dave Muehl Grandfather Mtn, North Carolina Overall Eipper 19 x 17
1975 Chris Price Grandfather Mtn, North Carolina Open Price Special
1975 Chris Wills Grandfather Mtn, North Carolina Advanced Standard Wills Wing Swallowtail
1975 Dave Muehl Grandfather Mtn, North Carolina Standard Eipper 19 x 17
1974 Bob Wills Escape Country, CA Flexwing Wills Wing Swallowtail
1974 Jack Schroeder Escape Country, CA Rigid Wing Eipper Quicksilver
1973 Chris Wills Sylmar, CA One Class Wills Wing

Lisa Tate wants the US Nationals at King Mountain

October 20, 2008, 5:24:21 pm PDT

Lisa Tate wants the US Nationals at King Mountain

But then she doesn't have to fly there.

Chris Arai|Lisa Tate|USHPA|US Nationals

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13566

It looks like the USHPA President, Lisa Tate, has put in a proposal for a Nationals at King Mountain. We're still checking with the USHPA to see if her name is on the document.

First, the King Mtn. meet is not even sanctioned, and never has been.

Second, the last time we had a National there, a pilot died due to the conditions in the air.

Third, Chris Arai called it the most turbulent Nationals ever.

Fourth, who will recuse themselves from voting on this? Lots of conflicts of interest here. The Competition Committee Chairman serves at the pleasure of the USHPA President.

Fifth, what do the pilots want?

Discuss Lisa Tate wants the US Nationals at King Mountain at the Oz Report forum   link»

Rob Kells »

September 5, 2008, 9:32:40 MDT

Rob Kells

Belinda and I are here for his memorial service and Fly-in

Belinda Boulter|Chris Arai|Joe Bostik|Mark Tulloch|Mike Meier|Rob Kells|Zac Majors

Picture here.

Thoughts in advance: I must say I'm not great at going to memorials. For one thing, I hate going into churches. I don't like the fact that someone died which brings about memorial. It seems to be such a shame that the person of honor is not here to hear how much his friends appreciated him.

In this case, I do like that fact that there will be a lot of folks that I know and appreciate to see and mingle with a bit (I'm not much of a social butterfly).

I don't like the social obligation part of memorials, that one is expected by social convention to show up. In this case I'm very happy to be able to appear, but I hold nothing against those folks who didn't want to travel half way across the country to join in. I'm quite sure that they also have great memories of Rob, wish to provide solace in a time of grief, and are as deeply moved by his life and untimely death as I am.

I don't like the fact that the people most in need of time to grieve, the people with the most feelings exposed and raw are the very ones who often (maybe not in this case) have to do the heavy lifting of putting on a memorial service. It seems so unfair.

None the less, in spite of these feelings, Belinda and I are very happy to be able to attend Rob's memorial and the fly-in and Andy Jackson Flight Park. Thanks to those who have made it possible. I'll be updating this entry throughout the weekend.

Later on Friday: Left Jackson at 7:30 AM on a flight to Denver. It was 32 degrees when I got up at 5:30 AM and it was great to see the sun rise and show off the Tetons that are next to the airport.

When I arrived at 1 PM in San Diego it was 82 degrees. Cooler to the north by the ocean at Encinitas. Tomorrow we head for the memorial.

Saturday night: Rob's memorial started for us at 10 AM this morning as we (Brad and Donita Hall, Belinda and I) pulled into an office/industrial park in Yorba Linda (Richard Nixon's old home town). Back behind the low slung big box office buildings was a church, which sort of made sense in a Southern California sort of way. There is lots of parking for all the parishioners that drive from their suburban homes on the freeway to the Sunday service at the Rock Community Church.  These big box churches disrupt neighborhoods when they locate there as the neighbors don't like all the overflow parking.

We first ran into Mark Tulloch from Vancouver, and we were a little early so we go to see more folks arrived , including JZ and Amy, Reggie, Jim and Kathie Lee, Chris Arai, Bernie, Brett, Vincene, Joe Bostik, the two Jeff's, Zac Majors, and many others. Lots of folks showed up.

There was a very traditional memorial service for Rob with his friends and family relating their experiences with Rob and many of them brought a tear or two to my eyes. I was especially moved by Mike Meier's comments which offered something of a counter point to some later comments.

There was an aspect of the service that did not sit well with this atheist. It was taking place in a church after all, and somehow it turned into an opportunity to proselytize. Talk about fishing in barren water, farming in rocky soil. Hang glider pilots are an irreverent bunch and a few walked out at the point when the desire to save us through Jesus Christ really became a bit too much.

 Of course this was all a distraction from our focus of grieving for and celebrating the life of our friend Rob Kells. What really put it over the top for me was the pastor's claim that death is gain. That Rob gained by death was just unreal. I'm quite sure that Rob didn't feel that way and it was obvious from his actions that he wanted to go right on living.

When will these merchants of death stop  selling these lies and deceptions to vulnerable people? This denigration of life and celebration of death. Such monsters. False promises of an eternal life thereafter. Such hogwash.

After the service, and digesting the indigestible, we headed north to Andy Jackson Flight Park, to find a place that was really packed with pilots having a great time and really celebrating all the great times that they had with Rob. 

The sky was full of soaring craft and we got to see great landings one after another. One landing we didn't get to see down at the LZ, but they did on the Marshall launch, was when Mitch McAleer flubbed a loop and "landed" just behind launch.

Mitch took off from Marshall in a local pilot's Moyes glider to test it for him for aerobatics. He thermalled up for about ten circles. He then did a loop a little behind Marshall launch, then another one which was a little too slow and he ended up on top of the undersurface of the glider upside down. I guess Mitch is too used to how Wills Wing gliders loop.

He wasn't high and he was holding onto the base tube according to one witness trying to "muscle" the glider back around. At less than 150 feet above the launch he let go of the basetube and threw his chute just as the glider slipped to one side and started going down fast. The parachute came out immediately and opened just as he hit the hill side behind launch.

Mitch was relatively unhurt and the glider was unhurt. He quickly left the party.

The party continued with hundreds of pilots and friends enjoying themselves. We had to leave just as folks were getting up to tell stories about Rob. It was so great to see so many people who had been touched by Rob

Rob is dead and gone. Memorials are for the living, not the dead, who have no way of knowing that all their friends really cared this much for them. I miss Rob and wish he were here. Seeing his picture makes me feel that he is here.

Polars, such as they are, from Wills Wing, Aeros, and Moyes

Fri, Apr 18 2008, 6:46:16 am PDT

Polars

Comparing polars that may or may not be comparable

Aeros Ltd|Chris Arai|polar

Here's where we found the polars and/or data that can be made into polars:

http://www.willswing.com/Articles/Article.asp?reqArticleName=PolarData

175 fpm at 24 mph and 530 fpm at 47 mph, 6% increase in V2 for comp harness (which would give us 49.82 mph).

Converted: Minimum sink speed is 38.6 km/h, minimum sink rate is 0.9 m/s, 80.2 km/h at 2.7 m/s

Wills Wing's comment re streamlined harnesses indicates that a streamlined competition harness gives you a reduction in sink rate of 90 fpm at 50 mph.

http://www.aeros.com.ua/structure/support/polar_en.php

Combat L 13, all-up pilot weight – 87 kg, harness – Aeros Viper S, temperature at the ground – 12o C, VG on, maximal glide ratio – 16,7, minimal sink rate – 0.8 m/s (at 45 km/h). (2. 5 m/s at 80 km/h - taken from the accompanying graph.)

Converted: Minimum sink speed 28 mph with minimum sink rate 157.5 fpm, at 49.7 mph, sink is 492 fpm.

http://moyes.com.au/productdetail.asp?id=115&pg=38&cat=

Minimum Sink Point: -0.9m/s @ 40km/h, High Speed Point: -2.5m/s @ 80km/h

Converted: Minimum sink speed is 25 mph with minimum sink rate 177 fpm, 492 fpm sink at 49.7 mph. Moyes indicates that streamlined harnesses are worth 40 fpm at high speeds.

What I take away from these values is that Moyes and Aeros claim the same sink rate at 50 mph, at almost 500 fpm, with Wills Wing claiming 530 fpm. Moyes and Wills Wing claim the same minimum sink rate at 175 fpm at 24-25 fpm, while Aeros claims 20 fpm less at 28 mph. The polar performance curves at minimum sink speed are pretty flat so the minimum sink speed could be any where between 23 mph and 28 mph.

Other than what Aeros tells us, we don't know the wing loading, or pilot hook in weight. Wills Wing doesn't differentiate between the 144 and the 154 models. We don't know at what altitude these polar values are for.

Taking these published values and creating polars basically by eye and by using manual curve fitting in FlyChart I produce a comparison polar chart:

It is very hard to say whether the values provided by the manufacturers are comparable. For example, why exactly would the Aeros Combat 13 L have a minimum sink rate 20 fpm less than the Moyes RS 4 or the Wills Wing T2? That makes a huge difference in the polars. If the minimum sink rate for the Combat L 13 is the same as the other two gliders than the polars would essentially be the same (at least we wouldn't have enough confidence in their measurement to be able to differentiate them).

Chris Arai states here:

Table 3 shows the glide polars in parabolic form used to make this analysis. Figure 4 shows the polars graphically. These polars are representative of modern gliders, however not very accurately. By that I mean that the accuracy of the measurement techniques used is not good enough to distinguish between different makes of high performance gliders. They are accurate enough for S2F, and have been used for a long time in the Tangent with good results.

Individual polars can be found here: Aeros, Moyes, Wills Wing.

Discuss "Polars, such as they are, from Wills Wing, Aeros, and Moyes" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Flying fast/Climbing fast

Tue, Aug 31 2004, 6:00:01 pm EDT

What is Speed To Fly?

Chris Arai

See Chris Arai's somewhat outdated discussion of STF.

I have pointed out numerous times that Christian and Alex chose to fly very fast at the Worlds in Austria and that they finished first and second, well ahead of their competition. The question is did they fly faster than Speed To Fly Speeds?

Just looking at the averages (which cover up a lot of sins): They averaged 55 mph in air that didn't rise at a rate higher than their current gliding sink rate, in lift that averaged 498 fpm. They were sinking at an average rate of 417 fpm when they were gliding in the air described in the previous sentence.

Using my estimates of the VX and Stratos polars (assumed to be close enough to be set to be the same for this level of analysis), their gliders would be falling at about 500 fpm if they were flying at 55 mph. This would indicate that on average they were gliding in air going up at about 100 fpm.

They would slow down when gliding in air that they knew was going up. In this air they averaged 48 mph which corresponds to a sink rate of 370 fpm. Gliding at slower speed in air that is rising is an important part of the strategy as Chris indicates in his article above.

Going 55 mph corresponds to an anticipated lift (climb rate + minimum sink rate) of 900 fpm assuming that you are flying through air that is neither going up or down. If the air between thermals is going down at 200 fpm, then 55 mph corresponds to an anticipated lift of 700 fpm (climb rate at about 500 fpm).

It would appear they were flying at least near STF. If they assumed that they would hit lift that would let them climb out at 600 to 700 fpm, then 55 mph is a reasonable number in sinking air.  

But, this analysis is very sketchy. I'll make an attempt to do a much more thorough and convincing analysis later.

2004 US Nationals »

Mon, May 3 2004, 4:00:00 pm EDT

It is filling up fast. Sign up now.

Chris Arai|David Glover|Mark Poustinchian|Paris Williams|US Nationals|US Nationals 2004

Bruce Barmakian|Chris Arai|David Glover|Mark Poustinchian|Paris Williams|US Nationals|US Nationals 2004

Bruce Barmakian|Chris Arai|David Glover|Mark Poustinchian|Paris Williams|US Nationals|US Nationals 2004

David Glover «david» writes:

Let your favorite flying buddies know they can now register for the US Nationals - Big Spring, Texas 2004 meet. Fifty pilots already entered, limited space. Excellent flying and wonderful facilities.

Chris Arai, Paris Williams, Bruce Barmakian and Mark Poustinchian are some of the early surprise entries. For more info and registration go to: http://flytec.com/usnats04/index.html

Discuss competition at the Oz Report forum

Yet another final glide discussion

Sat, Jun 21 2003, 2:03:01 pm EDT

altitude|Chris Arai|GPS|Oz Report|polar|safety|software|Steven "Steve" Pearson|tail|tracking|Wills Wing

I hope that interested readers will closely follow the arguments presented here as well as in the previous articles that address this issue.

Chris Arai, Arai Design <chris@araidesign.com> writes:

Thought I would chime in on the perennial topic of final glides and whether or not jumpy numbers matter. I have to admit that I don't know to what degree the numbers jump on a Brauniger deck, but I seem to recall that people say plus or minus more than 1000' in certain conditions. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'll use that figure for a point of reference. I'll also discuss (again) the why I believe that automated wind calculations for final glide actually reduce the usefulness of the final glide numbers.

(editor’s note: I wouldn’t characterize it as jumping around quite that much, but I’m sure at some points I have seen that level of jumpiness. It appears to be less now with the longer time constants.)

Jumpiness. Why does it matter? If the numbers are jumping up and down +/- 1000 feet, the safe thing to do is pick the most conservative number and climb to that level. Making the assumption that the mid point was the correct number, the safe pilot must climb an extra 1000'. At a nice climb rate of 500fpm that is two extra minutes. Two minutes might seem like nothing to the novice who is grateful to make goal, but anyone who as placed in the top 40 (50? 60?) of a major meet will tell you that 2 minutes is huge. Well 2 minutes becomes 3+ minutes if the climb rate is 300fpm, 5 minutes at 200fpm, and so forth and so on.

I believe Peter was saying that steady numbers are some how masking changes or are stale. Take this example. You’re gliding on final right on the path and suddenly the sink increases by 200fpm. Now assume that you had a 1000' margin built in for safety. It would take 5 minutes before that margin was completely eroded. That is a long time.

Tangent pilots know that by comparing the Altitude Required field with the Altitude field one can easily see if he or she is eroding the margin. Yes, time is required to do a calculation known amongst mathematicians as subtraction. (Most pilots are capable of this although sometimes I wonder when you see how short the collection of money can be when it's time to pay for dinner.)

Now consider using an instrument that the final glide info is jumping around by +/-500 feet (I'm being more lenient than the +/-1000' I said I was going to use.) How do you determine how your final glide is proceeding? One minute you are on the path, the next you have used up all of your 1000' margin. Your choice is to pick a number in the middle of the jumpy numbers or average them. I think either calculation uses far more of the pilot’s minimal bandwidth than subtraction.

Peter Brauniger said that "the quality of a final glide calculation can be measured by the stability of the displayed result is clearly a misconception." As a riposte to Peter I would suggest that what I am hearing from pilots (and from a little personal experience) is that stability seems to be more useful and causes less anxiety, even if it is of lower quality ;-) .

So why are the Brauniger instrument final glide numbers so jumpy? Peter Brauniger correctly points out the variables used in a final glide calc:

Variables: Pilot distance from goal, Pilot height above goal, Speed of wind (component in direction of flight), Airspeed of glider

Two of those variables, distance and altitude from goal are relatively slowly changing variables, perhaps only a few percent per minute.

Airspeed can and does change radically, as much as a factor of 3 (20 - 60mph).

Wind doesn't change quickly unless one of two things happen: first, a strong wind shear, which is rare in my experience. Second, the calculated wind changes due to calculation errors.

The airspeed and wind speed are the key. I'm not sure which has the greater contribution, but my guess is that it is airspeed. As Peter describes in Vol6, N38 of the Oz Report, his arrival height calculation is based upon wind, current altitude, distance, and current L/D. Current L/D is calculated from the polar and current airspeed. The problem with this method is that one’s airspeed will (and should) vary. True, the glide does change with airspeed, but we don't care about where the slope is pointing at any given instant, we only care about where the glide slope points in the long run.

So what airspeed do you use to calculate this L/D? I suspect that the Brauniger decks average the airspeed and that the jumpiness has calmed down as the time constant of that averager gets longer with each software revision. The problem I see with averaging the airspeed is that it may give you information that is too optimistic or pessimistic.

Let’s say you average the airspeed for 1 minute (probably longer than is done on the Braunigers.) After gliding through heavy sink for a minute your final glide calc is now saying that you will now arrive 1000' below goal. Yeah, Yeah, I know it doesn't use sink for the calculation, but it is a speed-to-fly (S2F) instrument right? And more sink means that it has told you to speed up and thus your L/D has been reduced.

That pessimistic estimate will slowly return to normal as you fly in less sinky or lifty air, but you have to chew your nails that whole time, when in reality you may have only lost a couple hundred feet of your margin. The real peril here is that it will tempt you to slow down to improve your glide. We all know that slowing down in sink is a cardinal sin in S2F theory. The optimistic scenario is exactly the reverse. Shortening the airspeed averaging time will add to the jumpiness of the arrival height numbers.

So although lift and sink are not used ("We never take into account a current or an average sink rate.") in the Brauniger decks, sink rate does have a direct effect on the arrival height numbers as shown in the above paragraph.

How does the Tangent avoid this morass? It doesn't use current airspeed at all to calculate the L/D. Instead, it uses the optimum airspeed based on the Speed Ring setting and Wind setting.

Since we all assume that the net airmass sink will be zero, why not calculate your gliding speed in zero airmass sink for a given speed ring and wind setting? Since the vario is telling you to fly the correct speed for those two parameters for any airmass movement, I make the assumption that the pilot will actually try to follow that speed. (Smart people shell out big bucks in the hopes that they can believe what the "instrument" is telling them. The rest are happy if it looks good.) If the airmass is zero in the long run as we assume, then the average speed will be close to that of the one calculated.

It may seem to those who have never used a Tangent that this method denies the pilot of critical information. It doesn't. If the Altitude Required is not tracking Altitude, then something is wrong: More lift or sink than "zero" or the wind estimate is not correct. If the wind speed seems different than the estimate, then change the estimate. If not, then there is too much lift or too much sink. If it's too much lift, then hooray, bump up the speed ring (if you believe the corresponding sink is not ahead.) If it's too much sink, it's time to alter your glide path to get out of the sink.

This brings us to the topic of automated wind vs manual wind in final glide calcs. I have discussed this before (see links below) so I'll just summarize (this is long winded enough, don't you think?) The problems with automated wind input are in two categories.

1. Errors in GPS wind measurement.

2. No ability to compensate for different winds at lower altitudes.

Item 1 can probably be reduced, but will always be a problem to some degree. If the wind measurements are noisy then the final glide calcs will reflect that noise.

Item 2 is important, and can only be done by a human. Although the automated wind will be correct (apart from item 1) at all altitudes, it may give false final glide calcs at the high altitude where final glide begins. If you calculate final glide based on a 20mph tail wind at 10,000' but it doesn't stay 20mph to the ground, you come up short.

More info on the final glide and the GPS wind problem can be found in the Tangent online manual. Go to http://www.araidesign.com and click on the "Manual" button. Then read these sections:

Why Doesn't the Tangent Automatically Use the GPS Wind in the Speed-to- Fly? The Final Glide Calculator Final Glide Techniques

Also see the previous Oz Report discussion on final glides at https://OzReport.com/toc.php?6.038 https://OzReport.com/toc.php?6.044

Steve Pearson at Wills Wing <Steve@willswing.com> writes:

We cleared that up a long time ago, and it's even addressed in Peter's last email. Peter absolutely positively does not use the algorithm Chris speculates about. I think it's grossly unfair to Brauniger to propagate a myth that the display alternately displays goal arrival +/- 1000'.

Discuss final glide at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Yet another final glide discussion" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Brauninger upgrade for final glide

Tue, Apr 29 2003, 12:00:03 pm EDT

altitude|Chris Arai|Flytec 4030|Jon Durand snr|Kraig Coomber|radio|safety|Steven "Steve" Pearson|Wills Wing

https://OzReport.com/toc.php?Ozv7n106.shtml

I had a few (perhaps too few) opportunities to try out the new Brauninger upgraded final glide calculations and display at the Wallaby Open. I fly with a Brauninger IQ/Comp and this new version is supposed to give (among other features) a more stable display of the altitude that you will come in above goal (I set my safety margin to zero).

Steve Pearson at Wills Wing sent me an upgraded IQ/Comp loaner to try out and I sent mine in to Brauninger for an update. I appreciate the opportunity to give this new version a try.

Before I get into what I experienced let’s look a little more closely at the issue of final glide calculations. I and others (including Peter Brauninger and Chris Arai) have written extensively on this issue (https://OzReport.com/toc.php?Ozv6n38.shtml, https://OzReport.com/toc.php?Ozv6n44.shtml, and https://OzReport.com/toc.php?Ozv6n203.shtml#3).

Part of the Brauninger final glide upgrade is an attempt to reduce the fluctuation in the height above goal display by reducing the fluctuation in the calculated wind speed (if any) by averaging the wind speed over a longer time interval. The Tangent and the new Flytec 4030 Race get around the problem of fluctuating wind speed calculations by requiring that the pilot input the wind speed (calculated and displayed by the vario) and therefore the wind speed going into goal figure is fixed.

The question is first, does this averaging of the wind speed help with this fluctuation problem, and second, is this really the source of the problem?

In my experience it was hard to tell if there was any difference in the fluctuation of the displayed height above goal with the upgraded IQ/Comp compared to the previous version. It still appears to be the case that if you are in lift or light sink the height above goal figure increases, and if you are in more than light sink it decreases (much more than the amount that you are rising or sinking at the time).

It would appear that the issues that Chris Arai raised in the above articles are still true with respect to the Brauninger IQ/Comp. The fluctuations have little to do with the calculated wind speed, and everything to do with how the final glide calculation is (incorrectly) made. Perhaps Brauninger will now more seriously consider Chris’ critique.

Given that Flytec has apparently solved this problem with their new 4030 Race, perhaps there will be some competitive pressure to match Flytec’s success. I heard from Jon Durand, Jr. (a pilot who was very much disinterested in final glide calculations – he’d just radio Kraig Coomber and ask him if it was time to go to goal) how much he liked the 4030 Race. Apparently there are a number of other pilots who are appreciating the new final glide features of the 4030 Race also.

Of course, for most pilots, final glide calculations are not a major issue. They may purchase a Brauninger IQ/Comp because they like the tones, or the dial or the total energy, or for other features. I like the IQ/Comp and will continue flying with it. I just know that I won’t get the same reassurance on final glide that my competitors who fly with the 4030 Race will get.

Discuss final glide at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Brauninger upgrade for final glide" at the Oz Report forum   link»

USHGA NTSS Ranking

Sat, Apr 26 2003, 1:00:02 pm EDT

Bo Hagewood|Bubba Goodman|Campbell Bowen|Carlos Bessa|Chris Arai|competition|Curt Warren|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Jerz Rossignol|Jim Lee|Jim Yocom|Jim Zeiset|Kari Castle|Mark Bolt|Mike Barber|NTSS|NTSS ranking|Paris Williams|USHGA|Worlds

Flex wings:

1 Williams Paris 2413
2 Barber Mike 2263
3 Warren Curt 2120
4 Rossignol Jerz 2046
5 Bessa Carlos 2035
6 Castle Kari 1922
7 Lee Jim 1921
8 Hagewood Bo 1804
9 ZIMMERMAN Chris 1798
10 Volk Glen 1784
11 PRESLEY Terry 1679
12 Bolt Mark 1634
13 Arai Chris 1602
14 SAUER Richard 1468
15 Goodman Bubba 1458

This is the flex wing NTSS ranking that determines who goes to Brazil on the US National team. There are six members of the team. Carlos is eligible for the US or the Brazilian national team. He says that he will fly for the US. You might notice the number of points separating sixth and seventh place.

Rigids:

Rank Pilot Total
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 994
8 LAMB James 883
9 DEGTOFF Mike 837
10 Zeiset Jim 800

The current ridge wing ranking doesn’t affect anything as any US pilots can go fly in the pre-Worlds in Greifenburg if they like.

The full NTSS pilot ranking will be up next week after it gets reviewed. Check out OzReport.com to find the NTSS ranking under the competition menu item.

Discuss the national team and Brazil at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "USHGA NTSS Ranking" at the Oz Report forum   link»

The great thermal debate

Sun, Feb 23 2003, 9:00:03 am GMT

Chris Arai|magazine|Peter Gasparovic|Speed to Fly

I see that the laws of physics seem to continue to make a strong showing in the pages of Hang Gliding magazine. It’s the best open debate and discussion that I’ve seen in that staid journal since I started reading it 18 years ago. Well, except for the one I had with Chris Arai on Speed to Fly.

Peter Gasparovic <pegasp@orangemail.sk> in Kosice, Slovakia writes:

As we in Central Europe are having unflyable weather, and the only enjoyment was reading of your reports from Australia, I have tried to break this boredom by carrying out a small "research" project on thermal bubbles.

Because the results look nice I am sending to you some pictures:

Temperature profile

Velocity profile

Degree of turbulence

The full article on these experiments can be found on our hang gliding club web page: http://deltaklub.szm.sk/articles/a_thermal_en.htm.

Discuss "The great thermal debate" at the Oz Report forum   link»

NTSS flex wing ranking after the Oz Nats

Sun, Jan 26 2003, 3:00:01 pm GMT

Bo Hagewood|Bubba Goodman|Carlos Bessa|Chris Arai|Chris Zimmerman|Claire Vassort|Curt Warren|Dragonfly|Glen Volk|Jerz Rossignol|Jim Lee|Kari Castle|Mark Bolt|Mike Barber|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|NTSS ranking|Paris Williams|Quest Air|Wallaby Ranch|Wayne Sayer

1 Williams Paris 2413
2 Barber Mike 2263
3 Warren Curt 2075
4 Rossignol Jerz 2046
5 Castle Kari 1891
6 Bessa Carlos 1845
7 Volk Glen 1784
8 Hagewood Bo 1747
9 ZIMMERMAN Chris 1744
10 Lee Jim 1695
11 PRESLEY Terry 1663
12 Arai Chris 1602
13 Bolt Mark 1561
14 SAUER Richard 1419
15 STINNETT James 1378
16 Davis Gary 1297
17 Goodman Bubba 1296
18 VASSORT Claire 1277
19 Shipley Mitch 1163
20 Sayer Wayne 1059

The only change is that Bo squeaks ahead of Chris Zimmerman. Claire and Jerz add a little to their point totals. The Australian meets did little to change the US NTSS ranking going into the World Championships. The meets in Florida are the last opportunity for pilots to shake things up before they head off to Brazil.

Looking at the top pilots, let’s see what their occupation and Florida flight park affiliation is, if any:

1 Williams Paris Part time student, tandem instructor, meditator Quest Air
2 Barber Mike Advanced HG instructor, aluminum welder Wallaby Ranch
3 Warren Curt Tandem pilot, Dragonfly pilot Quest Air
4 Rossignol Jerz Building contractor S. California
5 Castle Kari Adventure travel guide, rock climber S. California
6 Bessa Carlos Dragonfly pilot Wallaby Ranch
7 Volk Glen Commercial real estate broker S. California
8 Hagewood Bo Dragonfly pilot, tandem pilot Quest Air

Discuss "NTSS flex wing ranking after the Oz Nats" at the Oz Report forum   link»

New Flytec 4030 Full Race Version

Sat, Oct 5 2002, 12:00:03 pm GMT

altitude|battery|Chris Arai|competition|flight instrument|Flytec 4030|Flytec USA|GPS|IGC|landing|Mike Barber|Oz Report|Paris Williams|record|software|Steve Kroop|world record|XC

www.flytec.com

Steve Kroop Flytec USA <flytec@earthlink.net> send in this Oz Report exclusive announcement:

Earlier this year Flytec USA started working with USA number one and two ranked pilots, Paris Williams and Mike Barber, to make substantial changes to the 4030XL. A list was compiled from Paris and Mike’s extensive XC and competition experience, feedback from other world class comp pilots, and correcting deficiencies found in many other flight computers (including our own). The goal was to take advantage of the 4030XL’s strong points and add new features/functions that will benefit the serious cross-country and competition pilot. Today’s competition tasks are often won or lost on final glide; consequently, much of the emphasis was placed on improvements in that area. Some of the new enhancements include:

Instant activation/deactivation of final glide computer

Quick and simple one-touch final glide headwind/tailwind entry

Dramatically improved stability and reliability of goal arrival altitude

Display of altitude above goal, arrival altitude and MSL altitude

Real-time display of actual headwind/tailwind

Paris and Mike have tested the prototype of the 4030Race and are delighted with the performance. Here is what they have to say:

Paris Williams: Over the past year, Mike Barber, Steve Kroop, and I put a lot of thought and work into trying to come up with the ideal flight instrument for XC competition pilots and recreational XC pilots. We took in a lot of feedback from pilots around the world, looked at what we thought were positive and negative features of other varios on the market, put it all together and came up with the latest version of the Flytec 4030.

A new final glide calculator that displays a much more stable, predictable arrival altitude above goal. It’s very simple to use and to understand now and takes nearly all of the guesswork out of when to leave that last thermal to head on final glide. And even better, as you’re gliding on final, it’s ridiculously easy now to stay constantly on top of your progress and maintain the optimum glide path into goal. Some of the current varios (including the old 4030) on the market calculate the arrival altitude in such a way that the number jumps drastically up and down, is very difficult to rely on, requires you to crunch numbers in your head, leaves you guessing and crossing your fingers all the way to goal.

More user-friendly final glide functions. The desired headwind or tailwind for final glide is adjusted instantly now the moment the up and arrow keys are pressed. Some varios on the market try to solve this problem by automatically entering the current headwind or tailwind, but I think it’s essential to have the ability to manually enter the wind component on the way to goal - we all know how much the wind can fluctuate at different altitudes. The final glide calculator is also toggled on and off instantly now at the push of a button.

Headwind or tailwind component display --The screen now displays the current headwind/tailwind, saving you the trouble of having to do the math in your head and providing some confidence in working out lift lines as well as the all-important landing direction.

Mike Barber and I had the chance to try the new vario over the weekend and are both real excited about it. (We were selfishly hoping that maybe we could just keep these new versions for ourselves, but Steve wouldn’t have it.). The new final glide calculator worked even better than I thought it could.

When I was climbing in the last thermal, it was great seeing a solid countdown to my “just make it” altitude (the altitude where I should just make goal at best glide speed) and then a continued countdown to my “optimum” altitude (the altitude that should give me the fastest time to goal). Even better was the ability to constantly monitor my progress as I glided into goal. In the past, I always found myself doing a lot of fairly drastic speed changes on final (you know—“Damn, I’m way high now, I better pull in… Oh sh**, now I’m low, better slow down…”), but these recent final glides on the new Flytec were the most steady, optimum finals I’ve ever done. Since the numbers are so stable now, you don’t get any surprises. You just casually adjust your speed-to-fly to keep the numbers steady.

I found that the new 4030Race also helps tremendously in a common difficult problem - working your way to goal with light lift and a headwind. In this situation, it’s often real difficult to work out whether you’re actually making progress or not. It’s possible that the lift in a given thermal isn’t strong enough to compensate for the backward drift, and it’s real beneficial to know about it. I found I could watch the numbers now and quickly see what was going on - if I was getting closer to my glide slope (the numbers going up), then I was making progress, and vice versa. I sure wish I would’ve had this thing a little sooner.

Mike Barber: Around March of this year Steve asked Paris and me for recommendations on improving the software in the Flytec 4030. We came up with a handful of changes we would like to see implemented. I have been flying with the 4030 with the prototype software and I am very pleased with the results. The final glide computer is working great and is very stable. The actual operation of the buttons has been greatly simplified and is very easy to use in real world flying, not just in the office! My hat is off to Steve and Flytec for spending time and money to get us these improvements.

There was discussion about adding an internal GPS. While at first glance this seems like a good idea, we believe that at this time it is a step backwards. Integrating a GPS into the flight instrument would actually reduce the overall functionality (loss of moving map, advanced navigation features, etc.), decrease battery life, while greatly increasing the price.

Free upgrades from the 4030XL to the 4030Race will be available to 4030XLs purchased after September 1. 4030XLs and 4030s purchased prior to September 2002 can be upgraded for a charge.

For more information on the new 4030Race contact: Flytec USA at 1-800-662-2449, www.flytec.com, E-mail: <info@flytec.com>

(editor’s note: Long time Oz Report readers will recognize some issues that I have been raising here about the Flytec and Brauniger varios when compared to the Arai Tangent. Final glide has been the big issue and it sure looks as though Flytec has been listening and thinking hard about how to solve this problem.

I’ve been talking with Mike and Steve about this issue for a long time and knew the Flytec was working on this. Mike is a big fan of the Tangent and just hated the final glide calculations that the Flytec 4030XL came up with (after the final climb). I have the same exact problem with the Brauniger IQ/Comp. Paris has been moaning about this for a long time also.

It is incredible that they have been able (if this is truly the case) to solve this problem within the existing hardware. I had assumed that there were processor and memory limitations that didn’t allow for the solution. Flytec owners are a very lucky crew if Flytec has indeed matched the capabilities found in the Arai Tangent.

I guess I find it hard to believe that they really did it, but I sure sounds like it from Paris’ report (Mike couldn’t type a two paragraph answer if his life depended on it.). Paris addresses all the issues that I was aware of. I’d still love to hear Chris Arai’s take on this.

If you are a Flytec 4030 owner get on the ball and get this update. They have definitely solved a lot of the problems with final glide and maybe all of them.

Does this put Flytec ahead of Brauniger re functionality? Well if all this is true, that would certainly be my thought about it. Sure the Galileo is nice and produces IGC data files for world record attempts, but as I recall it still uses the old final glide calculation methods. This was a big disappointment to me when it came out.

We’ll have to see if the Galileo with its new processor, etc., can be matched with new firmware that upgrades its capabilities to those now offered by Flytec.)

Discuss "New Flytec 4030 Full Race Version" at the Oz Report forum   link»   »

Flex wing NTSS »

Sat, Sep 7 2002, 10:00:01 pm GMT

Bo Hagewood|Bubba Goodman|Carlos Bessa|Chris Arai|Claire Vassort|Curt Warren|Glen Volk|Jerz Rossignol|Jim Lee|Kari Castle|Mark Bolt|Mike Barber|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Paris Williams

1 Williams Paris 2369
2 Barber Mike 2199
3 Rossignol Jerz 1931
4 Warren Curt 1858
5 Bessa Carlos 1787
6 Volk Glen 1784
7 Castle Kari 1754
8 Zimmerman Chris 1739
9 Lee Jim 1695
10 Hagewood Bo 1682
11 PRESLEY Terry 1626
12 Arai Chris 1602
13 Bolt Mark 1561
14 SAUER Richard 1419
15 STINNETT James 1378
16 Davis Gary 1297
17 Goodman Bubba 1296
18 VASSORT Claire 1210
19 Shipley Mitch 1163
20 Sayer Wayne 1059

The latest US NTSS ranking reflects the results of the Brazilian Open and the 2002 Pre Worlds in Brasilia. Curt moves up from fifth to fourth. Carlos moves from eighth to fifth. Glen, who stayed home and worked, drops from fourth to sixth. Chris Zimmerman who also didn’t go south falls from fifth to eighth. Kari stays in seventh.

Carlos may fly for the Brazilians in the Worlds next year, so he might not be on the US team. Right now he can choose.

The ranking that will count for the Worlds in 2003 will most likely include the three big competitions in Australia in January, and the two Florida competitions in April.

Discuss "Flex wing NTSS" at the Oz Report forum   link»

NTSS Ranking »

Fri, Aug 16 2002, 7:00:01 pm GMT

Bo Hagewood|Bubba Goodman|Campbell Bowen|Carlos Bessa|Chris Arai|Claire Vassort|Curt Warren|Dave Brandt|David "Dave" Sharp|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|James "Jim" Zeiset|Jamie Shelden|Jerz Rossignol|Jim Lee|Jim Yocom|Kari Castle|Mark Bolt|Mike Barber|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|NTSS ranking|Paris Williams|Reggie Jones|Tip Rogers

After the US Open the US Pilots ranking stands as follows:

Class 1:

1 Williams Paris 2369
2 Barber Mike 2136
3 Rossignol Jerz 1880
4 Volk Glen 1778
5 Warren Curt 1729
5 ZIMMERMAN Chris 1729
7 Castle Kari 1711
8 Bessa Carlos 1692
9 Lee Jim 1686
10 Hagewood Bo 1673
11 PRESLEY Terry 1618
12 Arai Chris 1602
13 Bolt Mark 1561
14 SAUER Richard 1419
15 STINNETT James 1378
16 DavisGary 1297
17 Goodman Bubba 1290
18 VASSORT Claire 1203
19 Shipley Mitch 1163
20 SayerWayne 1059

Class 5:

1 Straub Davis 1637
2 BARMAKIAN Bruce 1505
3 BIESEL Heiner 1339
4 Bowen Campbell 1285
5 GLEASON Ron 1236
6 Yocom Jim 1182
7 Zeiset Jim 1012
8 DEGTOFF Mike 983
9 LAMB James 894
10 DINAUER Greg 747
11 Brandt Dave 722
12 Jones Reggie 692
13 Sheldon Jamie 688
14 Sharp David 678
15 ENDTER Vincent 663
16 FERRIS George 656
17 POUSTICHIAN Mark 505
18 Vayda Tom 456
19 GRYDER Brad 329
20 Rogers Tip 282

The recent Worlds in Chelan do not count for NTSS ranking. There will be changes in the Class 1 ranking after the three meets in Brazilin August and September.

The above Class 5 ranking is the final ranking for 2002.

Discuss "NTSS Ranking" at the Oz Report forum   link»

What happened in Florida

Tue, Apr 30 2002, 6:00:00 pm GMT

Aeros Combat|Alessandro "Alex" Ploner|Chris Arai|Christian Ciech|Curt Warren|David Glover|Florida|Gerolf Heinrichs|Glen Volk|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Jim Lee|Johann Posch|Kari Castle|Manfred Ruhmer|Mike Barber|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Oleg Bondarchuk|Paris Williams|Robert Reisinger|Robin Hamilton|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Ron Gleason|Tascha "Tish the Flying Fish" McLellan|US Nationals|Wallaby Ranch|Wills Wing|World Record Encampment

As I reviewed the results of the meets in Florida, I noted quite a few stories within the bigger story.

Many of the world’s top hang glider pilots came to Floridato compete against each other, with twelve of the top twenty flex wing pilots and five of the top ten ranked rigid wing pilots in attendance. This made for a very tough field, and more than enough NTSS points to make for 600 point meets. The Floridameets are truly international events and should continue to be viewed as such.

Glen Volk did very well coming up to capture third in the Flytec Championship after twenty eighth at the Wallaby Open. Paris Williams, currently ranked third in the world – the highest ranking US pilot in years, was consistently very good coming in just behind Oleg in both meets. Oleg, of course, is kicking butt (even though Manfred’s was missing from the Flytec meet). It’s great to see such a sweet guy do so well.

Johann Posch was highly ranked before, but had never won a daily task. He finally did on the second to last day of the Flytec Championship. The big difference for him – ballast. He did much better in these meets than before and the difference was he finally became convinced of the need for ballast.

Robert Reisinger came into the Floridameets with a new relationship with Wills Wing, and a high ranking, that had slipped recently from 3rd to 14th in the world. He did very well on some days, but landed out on a number of other days. He finished below expectations at 23rd and 28th.

Curt Warren moved up dramatically from best new competitor designation last year at the Flytec Championship to finish 18th in the Wallaby Open and fifth in the Flytec Championship where he had a good chance for third. Just a little more patience in light conditions would help, but his go for it attitude also helps him win the day. He was with Johann and I when we were low on the second to last day of the Flytec meet.

Curt came in first on day one of the Flytec meet when he aced out Gerolf by a couple of feet. They were so close that Gerolf did run into him when Curt flaired to land. Gerolf was injried on that day.

Robin Hamilton did well on Manfred’s MR700 WRE coming in fourth at Flytec, but he could have moved up to second or perhaps first with a little more thermaling in weak lift.

Gary Wirdham moved up from 55th at Wallaby to 7th at Quest after he destroyed and then rebuilt his Aeros Combat. Maybe he should do that more often. He really appreciates his helmet (EN 966).

Kari Castle came back from a poor showing at 35th at Wallaby to move into 17th and first female pilot at Quest. She often seems to use the first competition to get herself warmed up.

Gerolf Heinrichs who is ranked as the number one pilot in the world (before the Floridameets) came in sixth at Wallaby, after a number of problems. These seemed to continue at Quest, where he was 44th. It was quite a tough two weeks for Gerolf and I hope he gets some time off to rest and recuperate.

Mike Barber did very well in Floridalast year, and maybe that lead to too high expectations on his part. He came in 7th at Wallaby a few places behind Paris, and the second American, with new American citizen and Floridaresident, Carlos “Cloud” Bessa, right behind him. Then he had some trouble early at Quest and slipped way down in the standings. Going all out on day 6 he hit the deck, and then doing it again on day 7 he won the day.

Speaking of Carlos Bessa (pronounce Base –a) he has been on a tear doing all he can to make the US National team, so that he can go back to Brazil next year to fly in the Worlds. He is now in the seventh position (1 shy of the team), so he has a very good chance. If the Wallaby Open had been fully valid, and everyone had been in their same places, he would have moved into the 6th place on the US NTSS ranking.

Jim Lee had to leave the Flytec Championship because of problems with his neck. This would move him down in the running for the 2003 NTSS ranking to 14th.

Mitch Shipley would do well after taking some time off from competition hang gliding. He would be the fifth American in the Flytec meet. Chris Arai did well enough after not flying for six months to come in 10th and 20th. He moved himself back toward being on the US national team.

Tish the Flying Fish was able to beat Kari at Wallaby and was second behind her at Quest. She seemed to have a great time fly and with her water pistols. Apparently she was aggressive in both fields. Francoise Mocellin was the top women competitors at Wallaby, while Kari was the US Nationals Women’s champion.

Dorval, a Brazilian pilot who learned to fly at Wallaby Ranch a few years ago, improved his performance substantially in spite of a recent operation. He certainly moved up in the ranking for the Brazilians.

Rohan Holtkamp who is currently ranked number 2 in the World didn’t do as well as he had hoped to, coming in 16th and 12th.

So, Johann Posch goes up to Dave Glover and says what a great job he did at the Flytec Championship. He says that Dave is just like Janet Reno. “Janet Reno?” Dave asks quizzically. Yes, just like Janet Reno (who is currently running for governor here in Florida), responds Johann. “Hmmm,” thinks David, “do you mean, Jay Leno?” “Of course,” responds Johann, “the late night talk show host.”

Ron Gleason moved himself way up on the NTSS ranking doing well in both competitions. He came to Floridato get some cross country training after selling his business and purchasing a mobile home. He’s on the circuit like Johann and myself.

Alex Ploner, the current rigid wing world champion and Christian Ciech were almost out of reach to the rest of us. Only Johann was able to pass Alex in the Flytec meet. They are good friends. Christian taught Alex how to be a competition hang glider pilot. They compete against (and with) each other often.

It looks like they will be the rigid wing pilots who are coming from Italy to the Worlds. While it will probably take at least three pilots to win the team competition, they might have a chance with two. They, along with Hansjoerg Truttmann from Switzerland, will be very tough to beat. I’m racking my brain for ways to do this.

Manfred apparently from what I hear had a really good time flying the Swift. Is more in store?

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Flytec Championship – 70 mile fish bowl »

Sat, Apr 27 2002, 9:00:00 pm GMT

A.I.R. ATOS|Aeros Combat|Aeros Combat 2|Aeros Ltd|Alex Ploner|Chris Arai|Christian Ciech|cloud|competition|Curt Warren|David "Dave" Glover|Flytec Championships 2002|Flytec Championships 2005|gaggle|GAP|Gary Osoba|Ghostbuster|job|Mike Barber|Moyes Delta Gliders|Moyes Litespeed|Quest Air|Ron Gleason|Steve Kroop|tail|tracker|tug|video|weather|Wills Wing Talon

David Glover was very smart and every day as the meet went on he would drag up folks to thank them for their help at the Flytec Championship. During the week he thanked the tug pilots, the volunteers, the ground crew, the Quest Air crew, the people who put the dinners together, Frank and Steve Kroop, the registration crew, etc. Because it happened every day everyone got more applause and more attention than if he had put it off until the last night, when everyone gets crammed together.

David and Steve did something also very clever, they had GW create a video taking footage and shots during the week. On Saturday night, the last night of the Flytec Championship, the video was ready to go and we got to see the whole video with the sound track. It was amazing that it had been done so quickly, all the while GW just looked like he was hanging out taking pictures and having fun.

But, not only did we get to see the video, all the pilots and tug pilots got a copy of the video last night. It really showed off what we do at a Floridaaerotow competition and we’ll be able to take it around and show it to our friends (if we have any outside of hang gliding).

Dave was a kick all week making announcements, telling jokes, getting pilots to come to the pilot meetings because they were so much fun. Belinda commented that we hadn’t seen Dave in his element in quite a while. While there were many many people who played keys roles in making the Flytec Championship such a great meet, I’ve got to feel that it was Dave Glover that really put it over the top and made it so much fun.

One of the key elements to its success (I feel), is that he was able to delegate responsibility to others, and in this case I’m referring to the task committee. I had written to him early on stating how giving the task committee the complete responsibility for calling the task was one of the keys to Tove’s great meets in Australia. David, like Tove, had the personality that allowed him to delegate responsibility and not get tied up into knots about it.

Chris Arai, Revo, and I had complete authority to choose the task each day, we took lots of pilot input and we did our best for the pilots to make the meet fair and fun. I can tell you that there was no barbeque task on the last day (although we did come back to Quest Air) as there has been in the past.

Having a task committee made up exclusively of pilots who without prodding from the meet director or organizer (well, we kept Dave away almost all of the time), is a key to having a meet (there are other ways to do it, but there are very very few individuals who can pull it off, and I can think of only one, Mad Dog, in Australia) that satisfies the pilots. This will continue to be a difficult issue and I hope that there will be a way to work this out at the upcoming worlds in Chelan.

Oh, yes, we did have a task on day seven. First, we heard from Gary Osoba:

Looks like a 7 day meet, thanks to the task planners, meet administrators, and reasonably good weather. Congratulations!

For a change, the entire soaring window today should provide for relatively consistent wind directions and strengths. Should make the planning a little bit easier. Here's how it stacks up:

11am Weak lift. Probably a bit early for clouds to be forming yet. When then do (likely closer tonoon), they should be around 2500'. Surface winds sse around 6. Winds aloft a little bit more southerly at 10-12.

2pm Good lift, strong in spots. Cb 5000' to 5300'. Surface winds sse 5-8, aloft sse 12-14.

5pm Moderate lift, good in spots. Cb could go to around 6000". Surface winds sse 8-10, aloft sse about 12.

"Only a fool would try to predict the weather"!

So we’ve got strong winds aloft out of the south, but good lift also. With the good lift we can come back against the strong winds, and that is exactly what we plan to do. We have really been counting on Gary’s forecasts, and he has done a great job for us. We really pick the tasks based on his weather predictions.

We call a 70 mile task (no barbeque task this one) that will first take us downwind 17 miles to the west, northwest to Bushnell, back against the head wind to Quest, south into the head wind to the intersection of highways 33 and 474, then north, downwind past Quest to Gator field, then 7 miles upwind for the final glide to goal.

The task keeps us near Quest, while at the same time making it difficult to complete. We come back over Quest to get everyone on the ground excited and it keeps us out of the swamp.

There are plenty of clouds when we start taking off, and it looks like maybe there are too many, maybe it will over develop after all. The wind seems awfully strong also, but it’s too late now to come up with an other task.

We hang around until the middle start time at 1:15although everyone is in the air in half an hour. We just stay at cloud base for an extra 15 minutes. GAP gives one very little reason to go out in front and leave the gaggle behind. Johann and I have already made up our minds that we will take the middle start time, and maybe everyone else felt that way also, or, when two pilots left, they all decided to go with us.

We can see all the darkness out to our northwest and it looks like we are jumping into a black hole. There are high cirrus clouds that dull the areas on the ground where the cu’s don’t block out the sun.

We spot the guys who took the 1 PMstart time and that makes it easier to make our way to the turnpoint through all this very gloomy looking area. Still we’re down below 1,400’ before we connect with the big lift that gets us to the turnpoint and back out again.

Well, that was a downwind task, but we averaged only 27 mph getting there, so the south wind didn’t help that much. Coming back will prove to be much more difficult (and most if not all of the pilots who don’t make it will drop out here), as the average speed will go down to 15 mph.

I’ll charge across some blue areas to get under what seems to be a cloud street, find nothing then push up wind to get under some pilots turning at 8 miles out from Quest, only to find myself at 450’ and working lift that averages 140 fpm, starting out at a much lower value. It turns out that every one will have difficulty making it back to Quest and will get low on this leg.

Christian Ciech and Alex Ploner are doing much better in this meet than the rest of us, and they have zoomed out ahead. They were half a mile ahead at the turnpoint, and I lost them coming back as I went more easterly, but they will also get quite low. They are flying together.

I’m flying with Johann, but I’ve lost him also. Given how weak the conditions are we are all struggling and it looks like a long day if we can stay up. I’ve got quite a few other gliders here with me, so we hang on and the lift improves, as we drift north away from Quest, but with stronger lift it is no problem. Twenty minutes after coming in low, I’m up to 4,000’ and on my way to Quest with Curt, Paris, Ron Gleason, and some other ATOSes.

We are styling now, hitting good lift and staying high as we come into Quest. We can see a gaggle forming to our south that includes the Swifts, so they must have struggled also. I can see Alex and Christian in the gaggle also.

Johann will lose it here and head off to the west to get under better looking clouds, while I’ll continue to the south to join up with the gaggle. Johann, who is in second place, will almost land at Quest.

I catch up with the lead gaggle, which is putzing along. I guess they don’t see any need to probe out into the blue to the south. All the clouds that we had by Bushnell have not come down here in the late afternoon, and there are mere wisps to our south.

With a bunch of rigid wings, Curt Warren, and above us all the two Italian rigid wing pilots, we start punching our way south only to find good lift, light sink in between, and long patches of buoyant air. We stay high and work light lift to get to 5,000’.

We are still running into the wind, so it takes a while, but we have no problems getting down to the south to get the turnpoint with Alex and Christian leading the way. The Swifts start to get ahead of us now, with Manfred taking the third turnpoint and coming back to greet us when we are 2 miles out from it.

As soon as we get the turnpoint, we can drift back north along 33 in strong tail winds and buoyant air. With the lift averaging less than 200 fpm in the cores, we are just taking a little bit here and there. After the long up wind grind it is a joy to drift toward the Gator turnpoint.

Now there are only rigid wings in the lead as we come into the Gator turnpoint and turn to get back to Quest. It’s been a long glide into Gator before our upwind final glide. My IQ/Comp has been acting up and not reporting any final glide info, so I’m just hanging with the four other rigid pilots. Heiner goes on glide and we all just speed up as it becomes clear that no matter that fact that we are going into a strong head wind, we will make it back to Quest without a problem.

Mike Barber who bombed out on the previous day (after passing up lots of lift trying to go faster) goes all out and will win in Class 1 as the flex wings will come in about 20 minutes behind Alex Ploner who takes first in the rigid wings. Then again he'll start fifteen minutes behind us, so you can see how much Alex and Christian were holding back, just tracking the rigids below them.

Class 5 on the last day:

1 Ploner, Alex, 65 Air Atos C Ita 13:15:00 16:20:00 03:05:00 953
2 Ciech, Christian, 47 Icaro Stratos Ita 13:15:00 16:20:11 03:05:11 935
3 Biesel, Heiner, 101 Air Atos Usa 13:15:00 16:28:30 03:13:30 848
4 Gleason, Ron, 300 Air Atos Usa 13:15:00 16:28:35 03:13:35 839
5 Endter, Vincent, 43 Air Atos Usa 13:15:00 16:28:36 03:13:36 832
6 Straub, Davis, 50 Air Atos C Usa 13:15:00 16:28:55 03:13:55 825
7 Zeiset, Jim, 66 Air Atos Usa 13:15:00 16:38:43 03:23:43 762
8 Barmakian, Bruce, 17 Air Atos Usa 13:00:00 16:34:50 03:34:50 741
9 Brandt, Dave, 60 Air Atos Usa 13:15:00 16:48:51 03:33:51 713
10 Posch, Johann, 112 Air Atos Aut 13:15:00 16:54:20 03:39:20 689
11 Campanella, Mario, 186 Flight Designs Ghostbuster Bra 13:15:00 16:54:52 03:39:52 685
12 Almond, Neville, 116 Flight Designs Ghostbuster Gbr 13:00:00 17:45:14 04:45:14 469

Class 5 finals:

1 Ciech, Christian, 47 Icaro Stratos Ita 5804
2 Posch, Johann, 112 Air Atos Aut 5354
3 Ploner, Alex, 65 Air Atos C Ita 5272
4 Straub, Davis, 50 Air Atos C Usa 4994
5 Gleason, Ron, 300 Air Atos Usa 4983

Class 1 last day:

1 Barber, Mike, 2 Moyes Litespeed Usa 13:30:00 16:41:15 03:11:15 915
2 Wirdnam, Gary , 39 Aeros Combat 2 Gbr 13:30:00 16:41:37 03:11:37 902
3 Bessa, Carlos, 155 Moyes Litespeed Bra 13:30:00 16:42:09 03:12:09 891
4 Warren, Curt, 73 Moyes Litespeed Usa 13:15:00 16:40:29 03:25:29 843
5 Zweckmayr, Josef, 18 Icaro Laminar Aut 13:00:00 16:33:16 03:33:16 841
6 Bondarchuk, Oleg, 107 Aeros Combat 2 13 Ukr 13:30:00 16:55:38 03:25:38 800
6 Agulhon, Dorival, 94 Icaro Mrx Bra 13:15:00 16:45:15 03:30:15 800
8 Harri, Martin, 31 Moyes Litespeed Che 13:30:00 16:55:41 03:25:41 797
9 Williams, Paris , 1 Icaro MR700WRE Usa 13:30:00 16:56:04 03:26:04 793
10 Bertok, Attila, 64 Moyes Litespeed Hun 13:30:00 16:56:08 03:26:08 790

Finals Class 1:

1 Bondarchuk, Oleg, 107 Aeros Combat 2 13 Ukr 5841
2 Williams, Paris , 1 Icaro MR700WRE Usa 5644
3 Volk, Glen, 5 Moyes Litespeed Usa 5584
4 Hamilton, Robin, 30 Icaro MR700WRE Gbr 5515
5 Warren, Curt, 73 Moyes Litespeed Usa 5440
6 Hazlett, Brett, 90 Moyes Litespeed Can 5437
7 Wirdnam, Gary , 39 Aeros Combat 2 Gbr 5434
8 Wolf, Andre, 117 Moyes Litespeed Bra 5389
9 Olsson, Andreas, 27 Moyes Litespeed Swe 5369
10 Rotor, Nene, 77 Wills Wing Talon Bra 5348

Preliminary results are up on the www.flytec.com web site.

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Flytec Championship – pilot’s choice »

Thu, Apr 25 2002, 9:00:00 pm GMT

Aeros Combat|Alessandro "Alex" Ploner|Attila Bertok|Belinda Boulter|Brett Hazlett|Bruce Barmakian|Chris Arai|Christian Ciech|Curt Warren|David Glover|Davis Straub|Flytec Championships 2002|Gary Wirdnam|Glen Volk|Jim Lee|Johann Posch|Manfred Ruhmer|Oleg Bondarchuk|Robin Hamilton|Ron Gleason|video|weather|Wills Wing|World Record Encampment

While the meet is on I’m a little strapped for time, so I just get out what I can. I’ve got a few other articles that I’ll get to when the meet is over.

Yesterday I wrote:

Preliminary results are up on the www.flytec.com web site. Dave Glover had them up by about 10:30 PM. This is the fastest I can recall the results going up on the web in a major competition.

Dave wrote back:

While I appreciate the compliment I need to redirect the credit. Tim Meany, Scorekeeper Extraordinare for the Flytec Championship 2002 is the reason why the scoring and web updates are so correct and timely. GW (by himself) routinely was able to finish scoring by 9pm almost every night at his meets.

Tim and Dave (who are working together as a team) got the scores up on the web by 7:45 PMtonight. They also have an intranet setup to display the scores (Flytec goes high tech) on a separate computer (in this case a Mac). Pilots don’t have to wait until the wood chipper (otherwise known as a printer) prints out the latest updates of the preliminary scores. They can go right “on-line” and see the scores and all the latest pictures from the meet, right at headquarters upstairs at Quest.

I was interviewed by one of the three local newspapers that are covering the Flytec Championships today. They wanted to know from me how we did the weather. There was also a camera crew from the Orlando CBS affiliate here all day getting great shots of pilots launching and coming into goal. The video may go nationwide, so if you see it, please write in.

Gary’s forecast was for winds at 14 mph out of the south, but the windcast said more westerly than southerly. We decided to go with Gary’s forecast with the winds at Quest in the morning were strong out of the south.

The task committee decided to let the pilots help make the choice between a 91-miler straight out to the north to our favorite airport at Keystone, and a 53 miler triangle, up to Coleman, down to the north end of the GreenSwampand then back. Of course, the straw poll from the pilots spilt about down the middle, so our fallback was for the triangle.

Turned out that once we got in the air, the winds at altitude were out of the west instead of the south, so it was fine to have a triangle task, although in this case it would bring us home with a tail wind. Garyhad been worried about the possibility of over development, and we did get some shadowed areas and vertical clouds, but no rain on the course.

Most pilots waited around for the 2:15 PMstart time. This is just a waste of time, and reflects the fact that we aren’t using OzGAP or maybe GAP 2002 (although no one was quite sure what to make of GAP 2002 after the debacle of scoring at the Wallaby Open). All the rigids were at cloud base for almost half an hour just hanging out until forced to go. Even then they didn’t really want to go so I cursed them and headed out on my own at 2:15 PM.

That got me a bit low being the guy in front with no one to watch, so I came into the first thermal low, which can be good as the lift is often better down below, before it tapers off, and you’ve got guys out in front that you can now follow. In this case, it wasn’t so hot (unlike yesterday).

All the rigids are sticking together and we haven’t caught the flexies who start out 2 miles in front of us. There are thick clouds every where, but long patches of blue and sink also, so we’re hoping not to run into a shadowed area with no lift as we head toward the prisons. Christian, Felix, and Johann are together in front and on top.

There is a lot of darkness on the ground and in the air as we approach Coleman. Some of us run to the west by the prisons just to be sure that we get some sunlight mixed with the clouds and get upwind a bit of the clouds so that we can get up before the turnpoint. Even with all the shadowed ground there is lift by the Coleman turnpoint, and we are able to get high.

By this time (one hour into the flight) we’ve caught the flex wings and it’s all a big jumble of gliders spread out over a mile, as there are lots of bits of lift. We head south toward the GreenSwampto get the next turnpoint.

After a five mile glide (long for the day), I find myself with Oleg working 90 fpm at 2,500’. We’ve gone out in front of the gaggle a bit, although there are rigid wings ahead of us. This lift is pretty piss poor after 400 fpm average in the last thermal, and finally we see that Andy Hollidge out in front of us in his Top Secret has found a much stronger thermal down low.

This thermal will average 500 fpm, get us over 4,000’, and make it easy to get to the next turnpoint and on toward goal. All the fast flex wings are in this gaggle, but Alex and Christian are way ahead. Alex will come into goal after making the course in an hour and 46 minutes. Christian is four minutes behind. Belinda has already told me the news on the radio.

A few miles past the turnpoint, we all stop for a thermal that averages 150 fpm. After climbing to 3,000’ with Oleg, I decide that I can find something better than this on the way to goal.

In fact I do find much better lift on the way to goal, but I get down to 1,200’ before I get it. Oleg says that the lift picked up after I left and this enables the gaggle to come over my head and get to goal 2 minutes before me.

Class 5:

1 PLONER, Alex, 65 AIR Atos C ITA 14:15:00 16:01:14 01:46:14 901
2 CIECH, Christian, 47 Icaro Stratos ITA 14:15:00 16:05:16 01:50:16 831
3 POSCH, Johann, 112 AIR Atos AUT 14:15:00 16:22:36 02:07:36 699
4 BARMAKIAN, Bruce, 17 AIR Atos USA 14:15:00 16:24:59 02:09:59 678
5 GLEASON, Ron, 300 AIR Atos USA 14:15:00 16:26:25 02:11:25 658
6 STRAUB, Davis, 50 AIR Atos C USA 14:15:00 16:27:15 02:12:15 649

Class 1:

BONDARCHUK, Oleg, 107 Aeros Combat 2 13 UKR 14:15:00 16:24:51 02:09:51 918
2 WARREN, Curt, 73 Moyes Litespeed USA 14:15:00 16:25:07 02:10:07 905
3 ROTOR, Nene, 77 Wills Wing Talon COL 14:15:00 16:25:21 02:10:21 896
3 BERTOK, Attila, 64 Moyes Litespeed HUN 13:45:00 16:02:58 02:17:58 896
5 BESSA, Carlos, 155 Moyes Litespeed BRA 14:15:00 16:25:28 02:10:28 890
6 WIRDNAM, Gary , 39 Aeros Combat 2 GBR 14:15:00 16:25:44 02:10:44 873
7 VOLK, Glen, 5 Moyes Litespeed USA 14:15:00 16:28:00 02:13:00 838
8 ARAI, Chris, 57 Wills Wing Talon USA 14:15:00 16:28:43 02:13:43 829
9 BAJEWSKI, Joerg, 34 Aeros Combat DEU 14:15:00 16:30:14 02:15:14 812
10 WILLIAMS, Paris , 1 Icaro MR700WRE USA 14:15:00 16:31:00 02:16:00 804

Cumulative in Class 1:

1

BONDARCHUK, Oleg, 107

Aeros Combat 2 13

UKR

4416

2

WILLIAMS,Paris, 1

Icaro MR700WRE

USA

4247

3

WARREN, Curt, 73

Moyes Litespeed

USA

4143

4

HAMILTON, Robin, 30

Icaro Laminar

GBR

4109

5

WIRDNAM,Gary, 39

Aeros Combat 2

GBR

4069

6

HAZLETT, Brett, 90

Moyes Litespeed

CAN

4035

7

WOLF, Andre, 117

Moyes Litespeed

BRA

3978

8

OLSSON, Andreas, 27

Moyes Litespeed

SWE

3964

9

ROTOR, Nene, 77

Wills Wing Talon

COL

3939

10

VOLK, Glen, 5

Moyes Litespeed

USA

3831

Curt Warren (new pilot of the meet last year) is doing very well as is Parisjust behind Oleg. They don’t have Manfred to fly with (he won the day again in Class 2), and maybe Oleg would have challenged Manfred in this meet, after sneaking by him in the Wallaby Open.

It is great to see all the top competition gliders doing well against each other. There doesn’t seem to be a clear advantage to any flex wing, but Oleg is always blaming his glider for his good performance. This is a much different story than the one I reported last year at this time.

Jim Lee has returned to New Mexicoafter having problems with his neck, that’s why you don’t see him in the results. Robin Hamilton returned to his Laminar after flying his Swift in the Wallaby Open and is doing very well also.

Preliminary results are up on the www.flytec.com web site.

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Flytec Championship – I think we are having fun yet »

Wed, Apr 24 2002, 9:00:00 pm GMT

A.I.R. ATOS|Aeros Combat|Aeros Combat 2|Aeros Ltd|Andrew "Andy" Hollidge|Chris Arai|Christian Ciech|cloud|comic|competition|Curt Warren|David "Dave" Glover|Dragonfly|Flytec Championships 2002|Flytec Championships 2005|gaggle|Moyes Delta Gliders|Moyes Litespeed|Nene Rotor|Quest Air|Robert Reisinger|tow|tug|weaklink|weather|Wills Wing Talon

Many pilots were excited about the short task yesterday and getting to goal for the first time. This really upped the mood of the competitors and brought everyone one into the fold. The new guys wanted to be included also.

I wrote a while back about Tove’s meet in Deniliquin and how she organized it so that it encouraged new pilots to join in competition. No one has taken her example and run with it yet, but maybe we’ll see more of that. We on the task committee have to set tasks for the major racers, so it would be nice to have a meet where we could see tasks for the great middle of the field.

Did I say that we were having fun yet? Seems like the competitors are really liking the tasks and enjoying the facilities here at Quest Air. Good weather helps, of course, and Floridais doing its best to makes us all happy.

There is a lot going on at Quest in addition to the meet. A new turbine Dragonfly flew tonight, so that’s bringing a lot of excitement to all the motor heads. With so many Dragonflies and trikes here, not only do we get in the air in a real big hurry, but all the tug pilots get to talk to one another and encourage each other.

With an east-northeast wind prediction and difficulty forecasting the lift, we call a straight run, 68 miles, out to the WillistonAirportto the north, northwest. We want folks to see a little bit of Florida, if they happen to look down at all. A little cross country flying wouldn’t hurt either.

There is a strong east wind on the ground, and in the air (I’ll measure 60° at 14 mph throughout the flight), so launches prove to be a bit tricky. I’ll break two weak links, which will start me off in a fine mood, nervous as possible.

With the high pressure and shearing winds, the lift above Quest is quite a handful. I’m getting tossed around something fierce and frankly I’m totally terrified. I’m thinking of landing, but the competition spirit keeps me in the air.

We’re waiting for the 2:15 PMstart time, and even with my late start because of the multiple weaklink breaks due to the action at tree top level, I’ve plenty of time to get to cloud base. Russell takes me up on the third tow and it is as smooth as can be. He deposits me under a small cloud that is working at 200 fpm, and I much appreciate it.

All the rigids were out near the start circle circumference, but they come back to join me as we wait until the last start time. I assume that they are thinking like me that we want the full heating of the day to fly our reasonably short task in.

I’m at cloud base at a little over 5,000’ and given that we are all back a mile and a half from the start circle circumference I decide to leave in time to make it there as the start time starts. Seems like some other pilots want to keep working to stay out of the clouds close to Quest.

There are lots of high clouds, and thin cu’s with cloud base at 5,000’ out in front of us. There is very little development today in the clouds, but they are numerous. They are mostly just wisps.

I go on an eight mile glide to 2,300’ and find some lift with a few other pilots under very marginal clouds. It’s 400 fpm back to 4,700’ so I’m happy to be high. I guess I only need to say this once more here. I’ll be terrified for about 75% of the flight. I experience it has very turbulent, and I can’t help thinking that the glider to going to go over at any minute. Other pilots will mention how turbulent it was.

There are flex wings who’ve taken the 2 PM start gate out in front of us, along with a couple of rigid wing pilots who also took the earlier start time. I’m falling behind as I keep leaving uncomfortable lift, and hoping to find lighter, but more comfortable climbs.

At around Wildwood I start chasing the lead gaggle – a gaggle of mixed rigids and flex wings. They are moving very fast, racing from thermal to thermal, but I’ve got the advantage that I’m following and can see where they find lift.

There is a tough stretch right around Wildwood as we head toward I-75, then things start to improve and folks get more and more into the racing mode. I’m still way behind many of the other rigids, and the top flex wings are spread all around. We’ve probably got 20 to 30 pilots in the front of this race, within two miles of each other.

Southwest of Ocalawe get under a cloud street that lasts for maybe 3 or 4 miles, and I’m somehow able to catch up with the top few pilots. We al decide to go on glide from over 5,000’ and this will turn into a ten mile glide down to 1,700 until a flex wing pilot way to my right is the first to find the lift. For the first time during the flight I’m happy to be in a thermal because it is completely smooth and takes us back to over 5,000’.

At 15 miles out my IQ/Comp is telling me to go on final. I’ve got it at 15/1. I head out, but find a small gaggle to my left that is climbing well, and make the mistake to go join them. I really didn’t need the lift and this would have been my opportunity to pass Christian and just go into goal.

The last twelve miles in are full race mode. I can see Andy Hollidge in his Top Secret way in front of me and higher, but I’m pulling in much more than he and catching him. There is little chance to go down before goal, so the only reason to slow down is to absorb the bumps from all the lift we are flying through. Andy can’t pull in any more, so he’s at a big disadvantage.

Christian Ciech is just in front of me, and there is no catching him. I’m surrounded by (but soon they are below and a little bit in front of me) Nene Rotor and Chris Arai (who took the 2 PM start time) and Robert Reisinger and Joseph Zweckmayr who took that last start clock. The first four flexies get in just a few seconds before I cross the goal, second for the day. Curt Warren started much early and came in between Manfred and Brian.

Class 2:

1 Ciech, Christian, 47 Icaro Stratos Ita 14:15:00 16:16:23 02:01:23 906
2 Straub, Davis, 50 Air Atos C Usa 14:15:00 16:17:16 02:02:16 875
3 Barmakian, Bruce, 17 Air Atos Usa 14:15:00 16:19:12 02:04:12 841
4 Posch, Johann, 112 Air Atos Aut 14:15:00 16:19:56 02:04:56 826
5 Biesel, Heiner, 101 Air Atos Usa 14:00:00 16:12:01 02:12:01 822

Class 1:

1 Reisinger, Robert, 72 Wills Wing Talon Aut 14:15:00 16:17:06 02:02:06 909
2 Zweckmayr, Josef, 18 Icaro Laminar Aut 14:15:00 16:17:07 02:02:07 903
3 Rossignol, Jerz, 6 Aeros Combat 2 Usa 14:15:00 16:19:05 02:04:05 856
4 Williams, Paris , 1 Icaro MR700WRE Usa 14:15:00 16:19:33 02:04:33 841
5 Bondarchuk, Oleg, 107 Aeros Combat 2 13 Ukr 14:15:00 16:20:12 02:05:12 830
6 Warren, Curt, 73 Moyes Litespeed Usa 13:45:00 16:04:17 02:19:17 821
7 Hamilton, Robin, 30 Icaro Laminar Gbr 14:15:00 16:23:07 02:08:07 800
8 Rotor, Nene, 77 Wills Wing Talon Col 14:00:00 16:16:57 02:16:57 799
9 Arai, Chris, 57 Wills Wing Talon Usa 14:00:00 16:16:58 02:16:58 795
10 Wolf, Andre, 117 Moyes Litespeed Bra 14:00:00 16:17:16 02:17:16 782

Manfred made the task in an hour and a half. Brian in an hour and fifty minutes. Manfred leads overall.

Christian Ciech has to fall down for anyone to catch him in Class 5.

Cumulative in Class 1:

1 Bondarchuk, Oleg, 107 Aeros Combat 2 13 Ukr 3498
2 Williams, Paris , 1 Icaro MR700WRE Usa 3443
3 Hamilton, Robin, 30 Icaro Laminar Gbr 3333
4 Hazlett, Brett, 90 Moyes Litespeed Can 3250
5 Wolf, Andre, 117 Moyes Litespeed Bra 3244
6 Warren, Curt, 73 Moyes Litespeed Usa 3238
7 Reisinger, Robert, 72 Wills Wing Talon Aut 3223
8 Wirdnam, Gary , 39 Aeros Combat 2 Gbr 3195
9 Olsson, Andreas, 27 Moyes Litespeed Swe 3179
10 Zweckmayr, Josef, 18 Icaro Laminar Aut 3062

Preliminary results are up on the www.flytec.com web site. Dave Glover had them up by about 10:30 PM. This is the fastest I can recall the results going up on the web in a major competition.

Discuss "Flytec Championship – I think we are having fun yet" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Flytec Championship – launch, go on final »

Tue, Apr 23 2002, 8:30:00 pm GMT

Aeros Combat|Alessandro "Alex" Ploner|Bruce Barmakian|Chris Arai|Christian Ciech|David Glover|Davis Straub|Florida|Flytec Championships 2002|Gary Osoba|Kari Castle|Manfred Ruhmer|Martin Harri|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Oleg Bondarchuk|Quest Air|Robin Hamilton|Rohan Taylor|Wallaby Ranch|weather|Wills Wing|World Record Encampment|Worlds

Well, not quite, but close. We’ll call a short task today, and make a lot of people happy (and some others not so happy).

First, a few interesting tidbits.

According to David Glover, the Flytec Championship is the largest aerotow in the world for the second year in a row. Seems to jibe with my understanding of these things. This year there are at least 104 pilots in the meet.

During the peak period when every one wanted to tow yesterday, they were able to launch a pilot every 23 seconds (this is from two lines). Shows just what you can do when you’ve got the resources and the organization.

Both major Floridaflight parks are doing very well on the organizing of resources and all the pilots really appreciate all the folks who’ve brought their tugs and trikes to Floridafor these meets. This really indicates that the next Worlds in Class I (or II) could be here in Floridawith resources shared by both flight parks.

This is the kind of rivalry that we all enjoy. The two major flight parks striving to be the best that they can be both with safety and with efficiency. Everyone appreciates this kind of competition and it is healthy for the sport and the industry. Congratulations to Quest Air for hosting the largest aerotow meets in the world!

Speaking of which I got an e-mail message tonight from the Flying Tush:

I just wanted to say that I think Dave is doing a fantastic job as meet director. I've never really been in a comp where the director doesn't treat us like simpletons and it’s very refreshing. He also has a great manner with the mic which keeps us laughing whilst still dealing with serious topics. I have never been quite so impressed by a meet director before.

I can only agree that David is doing a great job, both with the people relations aspects as well as the technical aspects of the meet. The Quest Air folks are also doing a superb job on the ground, in the air, and at the dinner line. The vegan food is an added plus (except the weird soy bacon).

Did I mention that we had a task today? Okay, okay.

Geez, the weather forecast sucked today. I had three different forecasts to go with this morning, and so we just picked one and said we’ll use that one for the task selection. We decided to go with Gary Osoba’s perhaps just because it was done just for us:

11am Weak lift to around 2,000'. Might be clouds forming up a little higher but probably not reachable yet. Winds at the surface nne 5-8, aloft 10.

2pm Moderate to good lift to around 5500'. Winds at the surface nne 5 and aloft nnw 10.

5pm Moderate lift to around 5300'. Winds at the surface nne 5 and nne to about 4500' at 8, up to 5300' nnw around 6

Now the other models showed weak lift all day. So we decided on a long task to Chalet Suzanne (42 miles) to the south-southeast, then to Wachula (total of 77 miles) to the southwest, and a short task to Chalet Suzanne, if the lift reported by the wind technicians was poor.

With the winds out of the north at 10 mph, and our options of going east/west poor, we decided to run down wind, especially given the possibility of poor lift. Poor lift was the output from the other models, because the high temperature was supposed to be ten degrees cooler than the day before – about 85°, with the north-northeast wind.

With a primary and secondary task set up we get out on the flight line and make arrangements with the wind tech’s to speak with them in the air and get a feel for the day. Earlier reports (10:45) indicated good lift, but a ceiling at 1,800’.

The wind dummies are off at 12:30(as we will open the launch window at 12:45) and they report back lift at 250 fpm to 2,300 and then it stops. They take three or four thermals and then land. No good.

There are no cu’s nearby, and there are plenty of high clouds perhaps from the front that is supposed to be going through. We delay everything 15 minutes, while we wait for the ground to get warmer. We are also discussing whether to call the shorter task.

We can see the clouds to the south and hear the reports from the thermal techs that there looks like there is plenty of lift to the south. They also report winds of 10 to 12 mph at 30°.

We decide to let the first competitors launch at 1 PM, with start windows at 2, 2:15, and 2:30 PM.Ten out of the twelve pilots who launch slowly come back to land. The other three look like they are going to land, and we don’t know what to do. We ask pilots to voluntarily not launch for a couple of minutes while we see if everyone is going to come down. We can call to new task then if we want.

The three pilots still in the air don’t come down, but slowly climb out, so the secondary task – the short one with Chalet Suzanne is on. We’re thinking that this poor lift could be a local effect due to LakeApopkato the northeast, but it does look more widespread than that.

With time running out, and a few pilots staying up, suddenly everyone wants to get into the air. Now it is very important just when you launch, because everyone (almost) will try for the 2:30 PMstart gate, and some pilots will be launching just a couple of minutes before 2:30 PM. They won’t have time to get up to cloud base (and out 3 or 5 miles to the start circle circumference) before the start clock reads time to start.

I get off at 2,000, fly over to the thermal, and get up in a thermal that averaging 300 fpm. The day has gone from really weak to just fine in over an hour. We just needed for it to heat up. The inversion lasted much longer over Quest than Gary’s forecast indicated, not breaking up until around 1:30 to 2 PM. At 2:30 PMwe could climb to 4,500’. The switch over was very rapid.

The start will turn out to be very important today especially as we have such a short task. I’m feeling pretty good even though there are plenty of rigid wings that launchedbefore me and are now higher, as I’m situation in the perfect position away from Quest and climbing at a rate that should get me to cloud base just as the 2:30 PMstart time begins.

A few minutes before 2 L30, ten rigids further out come back to join Alex Ploner and I in our thermal just inside the start circle. Still a few of them, including Christian Ciech are 300 feet over our heads. Not good.

I head out first hoping to get ahead by getting to the start circle first just as the start time begins. If the pilots behind are waiting in lift, they’ll get a bit higher, but be a minute late. Still they come over me.

Alex in plunging ahead trying to find strong lift way ahead of the gaggle in order to catch up and get ahead of Christian. After the first thermal, the gaggle heads toward the sand minds just to the north of 474 as we head a bit west of highway 33 and on the course line. I try keeping a line to the east seeing if I can find a line that works better than the line chosen by Christian who’s about a mile ahead.

The lift lines are the same, so that strategy doesn’t work. I continue it as we approach Old Grade Roadand Dean Still just west of Wallaby Ranch. The clouds seem better to the east, but again the gaggle finds the good lift first, and I’m back with them.

We’ve picked up the flex wings who started 2 miles in front of us also at 2:30 PMand so the gaggle is a mixed bag of rigids and flexies. We are putting our gliders up into steep banks as the lift gets up into the 500/600 fpm range.

The Swifts tried to get out in front, but we catch them at I4 and get over them also. Just south of I4, we hit a strong thermal and climb at 600 fpm at 15 miles out from goal. It looks like this will be all we need to make it.

We head off from toward the goal from 4,500’. So far glides have been averaging about 20 to 1 over the ground with the ten mph tail wind.

At ten miles out I lose my GPS signal and also find 500 fpm, so I take a few turns. The IQ/Comp has already told me to go to goal, so I’m not worried about my elevation, but this lift should speed me along. I know where the goal is, so I don’t need to have the GPS signal.

After a couple of turns, I continue on the ten mile glide across numerous large lakes into goal racing with all sorts of other pilots, flexies and rigids to get there early.

Manfred will get to goal first, come in high enough to get back up, and fly back to Quest. That way he doesn’t have to break down the Swift. Christrian Ciech will be the first hang glider into goal. Oleg will just beat out Paristo goal.

Seventy seven pilots will make goal, quite a few for the very first time. A pilot will come up to me in the goal and say that he’s been reading the Oz Report for two years and this is the first time that he has made goal. He’s obviously incoherent.

Christof, who helps Felix build ATOSes, will make his personal best and his first time into goal. Other pilots will be delirious. Long time competitions pilots will be disappointed with the fact that the task isn’t enough of a challenge and doesn’t differentiate pilots enough.

The field is a very narrow north/south grass patch. Thank goodness the wind is right down the runway. I've never seen so many pilots landing at the same time. Mitch Shipley comes in a few feet over my head and lands ten feet in front of me two seconds after I land.

Class I:

1 BONDARCHUK, Oleg, 107 Aeros Combat 2 13 UKR

14:30:00

15:39:18

01:09:18

757
2 WILLIAMS, Paris , 1 Icaro MR700WRE USA

14:30:00

15:39:24

01:09:24

749
3 HAMILTON, Robin, 30 Icaro Laminar GBR

14:30:00

15:39:45

01:09:45

737
4 HARRI, Martin, 31 Moyes Litespeed CHE

14:30:00

15:41:06

01:11:06

712
5 BESSA, Carlos, 155 Moyes Litespeed BRA

14:30:00

15:41:34

01:11:34

704
6 CASTLE, Kari, 8 Icaro MR700WRE USA

14:30:00

15:41:39

01:11:39

701
7 OLSSON, Andreas, 27 Moyes Litespeed SWE

14:30:00

15:41:51

01:11:51

696
8 WALBEC, Richard, 83 Wills Wing Talon FRA

14:30:00

15:41:53

01:11:53

694
9 ARAI, Chris, 57 Wills Wing Talon USA

14:30:00

15:41:54

01:11:54

692
10 HOLTCAMP, Rohan, 15 Airborne Climax AUS

14:30:00

15:41:58

01:11:58

689

Class 5:

1 CIECH, Christian, 47 Icaro Stratos ITA

14:30:00

15:36:03

01:06:03

731
2 BARMAKIAN, Bruce, 17 AIR Atos USA

14:30:00

15:36:19

01:06:19

715
3 BIESEL, Heiner, 101 AIR Atos USA

14:30:00

15:36:39

01:06:39

702
4 TRIMMEL, Manfred, 113 AIR Atos C AUT

14:30:00

15:40:48

01:10:48

645
5 STRAUB, Davis, 50 AIR Atos C USA

14:30:00

15:41:07

01:11:07

638

Preliminary results are up on the www.flytec.com web site.

By the way, regarding the weather. Instead of 85°, we saw 96°. When the forecast from the weather service is that far off on a critical variable which determines the predictions for lift, then all bets are off.

Discuss "Flytec Championship – launch, go on final" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Final word on final glide

Fri, Mar 8 2002, 9:00:00 am EST

Chris Arai

I think that Chris Arai «chris» has figured it all out when he writes:

Peter's later comments on encountering sink during final glide show one of the reasons that the IQ/Comp is unsteady. We all assume that lift and sink will net out to zero during final glide. My understanding of the IQ/Comp method is that it calculates instantaneous (or maybe short term averaged) L/D or glide angle and then in turn calculates the destination altitude based on that angle. Thus it is now assuming that you will glide all the way to goal at that angle. Of course you then hit different air and a new angle is measured and the destination altitude is very different.

A way to visualize this is to try and point a laser pointer (or tight beam flashlight) at a wall 100 ft (30m) away. A small angle change in your hand and the light will move a lot. Now tie a string to a point on the ground 100 ft away and pull the string tight at head height. If you move the string up 6 inches, the angle of the string relative to the ground changes only slightly. These two different scenarios are analogous to what is happening with the IQ/Comp vs. the Tangent. The IQ/Comp gives a rapidly changing estimate that doesn't give you an overall picture of how your final glide is progressing, but an instantaneous one that may be overly optimistic or pessimistic.

The answer to why the Flytec jumps around even though the wind is manually input is that it also uses the short term glide angle measurement to calculate the destination altitude. I suspect that if one were to observe a final glide with the Tangent, IQ/Comp and Flytec at the same time the IQ/Comp would be more jumpy than the Flytec due to the GPS wind measurement errors during the final. The Tangent would appear to be asleep by comparison.

More info on the final glide and the GPS wind problem can be found in the Tangent online manual. Go to http://www.araidesign.com and click on the "Manual" button. Then read these sections:

Why Doesn't the Tangent Automatically Use the GPS Wind in the Speed-to- Fly?
The Final Glide Calculator Final Glide Techniques

The final glide

Sat, Mar 2 2002, 2:00:01 pm EST

Chris Arai|Mike Barber|Steve Kroop

Chris Arai|Flytec 4030|Mike Barber|Steve Kroop

Recently I’ve had an opportunity to go back and think about how various varios handle reporting to the pilot that its time to go on final glide if they want to get to goal in the least time. In a competition with all the pilots flying close together in the task, it is often the final glide that determines who is to win and who is to come in second.

If you talk to any of the (now few) pilots that fly with Chris Arai’s Tangent vario they will tell you that one of their favorite features is the final glide display (especially how rock steady it is). The Tangent displays the pilot’s current altitude and the altitude that they should climb to (if they are in a thermal) before they go to goal. The calculation takes into account the current climb rate and the head wind speed (manually input by the pilot after reading it from the Tangent and perhaps revising it to take into account the wind gradient). Of course, it also uses the glider’s polar, the distance to goal, the altitude of goal, and any safety margin input by the pilot.

When climbing in a thermal, say twenty miles out from goal, you can get to goal in the least amount of time by continuing to climb past the altitude that will get you to goal by gliding at your best L/D (over the ground) speed if the thermal is strong enough. You sure want your vario to tell you to stay in the thermal until it slows down. You should now fly to goal by the Speed To Fly speed that corresponds to the climb rate in the last thermal.

As you glide toward goal, the Tangent displays your current altitude and the altitude that you should be at in order to make goal flying at the air speed determined by your McCready ring setting (which should be set to the strength of the last thermal). Tangent pilots find it quite reassuring that these values change in a steady and predictable fashion.

Mike Barber refers to the display of these altitudes, as “Making the Numbers.” When his Tangent shows that he is at or above the glide path determined by the Tangent he is feeling pretty cocky. When he’s below it, he’s thinking about finding more lift if he is a ways from the goal. If he’s closer to goal, then he looks at just how far below he is, and if he’s within his 600’ safety margin, then he just might continue.

Pilots who fly with the Brauniger IQ/Comp or the Flytec 4030 do not report this same rock steady and predictable behavior of the altitude above goal display that the Tangent pilots reported. Instead they find that the displayed distance above goal changes quickly enough going from positive to negative and back to positive that it is hard to put much stock in the values displayed.

After going on final glide pilot should in general just fly there Speed To Fly speed for a speed ring setting for the last thermal, or at least their best L/D speed over the ground, and not be all that concerned about their height. But, of course, it is a very big concern, because you do want to come in low, but not too low. A pilot’s attention will be split between flying the best speed and staying high enough to make goal.

Assuming that the pilot reports are correct and that there is a difference in the steadiness of the displayed altitude difference, one wonders just what causes this. All the formulas for calculating these height values are well understood, so it is doubtful that any manufacturer would be making an algebraic mistake.

I asked Wolf and Peter at Brauniger, Chris Arai, and Steve Kroop to comment on these matters.

Chris Arai «chris» writes:

My understanding of the Brauniger is that it jumps around because of one or both of the following:

1. The goal altitude calc uses current sink to calc L/D, which will vary on the final glide. Every one I've talked to says that this is some sort of average sink, which would negate any turbine vs. pitot tube effects. If it isn't averaged, then I'm surprised the numbers don't change so fast you couldn't read them.

2. The goal altitude calc uses current airspeed and polar to calc L/D. Thus if you speed up your L/D drops and your goal altitude drops.

Either method, even if it didn't jump around, tempts the pilot to speed up in lift and slow down in sink.

The Tangent doesn't tell you height above max L/D slope, it tells you the altitude required, which you compare with the altimeter. In addition, it doesn't use max L/D unless you have the speed ring setting at zero. Instead, it uses either the average climb rate if you are climbing, or the speed ring setting if you are gliding.

The Tangent will tell you you need more altitude if you are climbing in a stronger thermal. Thus if you are climbing in 300fpm it may tell you you need 7000ft. If the strength improves to 600fpm it will to climb to 8500ft (I am guessing at those numbers.) Conversely, if you are climbing at 600fpm with it saying 8500 ft required while you only have 7500ft and the lift starts to drop off, then the alt required will come down.

When you leave, you should set the speed ring to the average climb when you left. If you can't remember this number, then you just adjust the speed ring until your altitude matches the altitude required. By comparing the alt vs. alt required you can see how your final is going and respond accordingly. Dropping the speed ring setting a bit will cause the alt required to go down, which can be used to give you a bit of extra margin.

Peter Brauniger «info» writes:

We never take into account a current or an average sink rate.

Assuming, a pilot is flying towards a goal at normal speed (a bit faster than best glide). Assume that there is no thermal activity in the air. The air speed turbine is transmitting constantly the True Air Speed to the vario. With help of the polar table stored in memory, the vario calculates the L/D in the current air mass at the current speed. Now this value will be multiplied with the wind factor (= groundspeed/ TAS) and you get the L/D over ground. This factor is 1 with no wind; it is smaller than 1 with headwind and higher than 1 with tail wind.

With this calculated L/D (ground) our vario calculates the loss of height to goal and displays the height over the glide path which is also the pre-calculated height over goal when conditions remain stable (i.e. using the assumption of no net rising or sinking air on the way to goal).

If the pilot speeds up (because he is in sinking air) the new L/D (air) found in the table and calculated L/D (ground) are worse than before, the pre-calculated height over goal also is less. If the pilot changes his speed to make the height over goal be zero, he would glide exactly on the glide path to goal. The displayed value showing the maximum height over goal corresponds to the speed which in turn corresponds to the best L/D of his glider.

Now, why the jumpy value for height over goal?

Did you ever driven your car with a GPS-receiver activated? If so, you have surely observed, especially when stopping the car, that the groundspeed shown at the GPS display needs several seconds until coming down to zero. We found out that the GPS time constant (the delay in showing a new speed) is about 4 - 5 sec. Further more, most GPS-receivers transmit new data only every two seconds. All Magellan, MLR and also the Garmin 12 can be set to 9600 baud and transmit every second a new sentence of values (this would help a bit).

When the pilot speeds up in sinking air, his turbine at once transmits the faster air speed to the vario, but the slow time constant of the GPS is still holding the old ground speed value. Our vario now calculates a stronger headwind, determines a worse L/D over ground and a lower height over goal. So, whenever you change speed, for some seconds you get bumpy results. In the latest versions of the IQ/Comp we could calm down this effect by averaging the turbine's speed with the same time constant as the GPS.

Climbing in a thermal before the final glide.

Unnoticed by the user, there is another averaging vario (with a time constant of 30 seconds) built inside the IQ. It samples the average climb rate of the present thermal. In addition to the table for the glider’s polar we have another table in the vario called "speed to fly". For every possible climb rate of this vario (= McCready ring) this table shows the S2F.

With help of the polar table the vario knows the L/D corresponding to this S2F speed, corrected with the wind factor (while circling in a thermal the vario can find out this wind factor) it knows the L/D (ground) to goal. The target symbol will show up in the lower right hand corner of the vario screen when the pre-calculated height above goal gets positive. Leaving the thermal in this moment enables the pilot to reach goal as fast as possible; but it wise to circle up a little more to compensate an unexpected sinking air mass or a stronger headwind.

The Tangent requires that the pilot input their predicted head or tail wind going into goal. It calculates a wind speed for the pilot, but requires them to enter the value back into the Tangent before it uses it in the final glide calculation. Therefore, it doesn’t have the particular problem referred to above by Peter.

Chris writes:

You are right about why the Tangent doesn't jump around. Another reason why the pilot inputs wind is so that compensation can be made for wind gradient. If you calculate final glide based on a 20mph tail wind at 10,000’ but it doesn't stay 20mph to the ground, you come up short.

It is nice to know how the IQ works. I can see only one flaw, and that is the method of calculating the final glide while climbing. That is the S2F table he uses gives the speed to fly for zero wind. He corrects the glide angle based on wind, but the S2F speed should be higher for a headwind, less for tail. His one dimensional table looks up S2F for each climb, but not for wind. A two dimensional table would be required, or the actual formula. So the altitude calculated is accurate for the speed, but the speed is not optimum, therefore the altitude isn't optimum.

Peter writes:

When should a pilot leave the thermal to fly versus his goal?

During circling up, the invisible 30 sec averager vario knows the S2F and tells the pilot in the display the "Pre-calculated height over goal" with a minus sign before the number. This is the display of how many meters he still should climb to reach goal in the shortest possible time. If the thermal is a good one (about 2 m/s average or better) he also knows that the vario has already calculated this height value using a high air speed and a lower L/D over ground; so he could actually start his final glide when the vario displays only a small positive number of meters over his glide path.

Even if he would run into sinking air during his approach and lost some altitude, he still has quite a reserve because he could slow down until the McCready pointer goes down to zero. It is very helpful that the pilot can without touching his vario always knows how high he could arrive at goal for different speeds.

It is very different when the last thermal is weak. The vario would send the pilot on his way toward goal much earlier in order to be the fastest one but the S2F is very close to the speed of best glide and if now he would run into sinking air the possibility of not reaching goal is great. In consequence of these principles we recommend to leave a thermal for the final glide with much more additional height over the glide path when the last thermal is weak.

Now to your questions: The vario by itself cannot know if there is a future sinking or lifting air mass. It only calculates without this, or lifts and sinks cancel each other out. It's the experience of the pilot to know that on the way to his goal he will have lift or not and if there is a wind change in between.

Assume, a pilot is flying towards goal, trying to keep his McCready ring needle at 2 m/s and his pre calculated height over goal is close to zero; if he now hits sinking air of 1 m/s the McCready pointer also goes down to 1 m/s ring. He now knows, he will not be able to maintain the McCready ring of 2 m/s. So long he is not flying with a negative McCready reading he is still faster than speed of best glide. Because of the additional lost height passing the sinking air mass, he will detect that to continue with a pre-calculated height over goal of zero, he only can make it with a McCready ring of maybe 1,5 m/s.

Wind influence: A pilot is circling up under a cumulus cloud and has set his GPS to a Goto waypoint. During each full circle there is a moment when the transmitted track and bearing are the same. (Always when the glider nose is pointing towards goal +/- 20 degrees). Only in these moments does our vario check the wind component. (= ratio groundspeed divided airspeed) Now the IQ-Comp. knows about the flyable L/D over ground towards goal.

Because of the delay of the data coming from the GPS the displayed wind direction could be wrong by max 30 degrees. A jumpy reading of the pre-calculated height over goal comes about for the same reason. This occurs only if the glider is changing air speed, not when the GPS is sending different ground speeds.

Even though the formulas that are used to calculate final glide are quite simple, it turns out that getting the data and properly applying the formulas in the real world is a bit more difficult. I don’t know if the discussion above really addresses why the Brauniger IQ/Comp and the Flytec appear to display a value for height above goal that jumps around quite a bit more than the height values that the Tangent displays. Especially considering the fact that the Flytec, like the Tangent, also uses a wind speed value that the pilot inputs.

I would suggest that this problem bears a great deal more thought and investigation. This particular feature on the Tangent has proven to be very pilot friendly, while pilots appear to complain about similar features on the Brauniger and Flytec. I, for one, would like to know what is going on.

I fly with a Brauniger IQ/Comp, and I certainly climb in the last thermal even after the Go To Goal target shows up. My mind remembers those times when the assumption of no changes in the wind speed (especially at Mt.Beautyairstrip) were wrong. Often I find myself coming in too high at goal (thank goodness for virtual goals or goalies that know me from 2000 feet above them) because I don’t trust the values of height over goal displayed on the IQ/Comp. Perhaps I would have more trust in a Tangent.

Oh, and remember that out and return day at the 2002 Australian Nationals (OzReport.com/Ozv6n8.htm). I came in first and high with a Brauniger, Mike came in fast with a Tangent, Gerolf with a IQ/Comp came in thirty feet short.

Class I 2003 NTSS points:

Sat, Feb 2 2002, 6:00:05 pm GMT

Bubba Goodman|Carlos Bessa|Chris Arai|Curt Warren|Gary Davis|Glen Volk|Jerz Rossignol|Jim Lee|Kari Castle|Mark Bolt|Mike Barber|NTSS 2003|Paris Williams|Robert "Bo" Hagewood|Steve Rewolinski|Wayne Sayer

2003 US Flex Wing Ranking 2001 Meets 02 OZ Open 02 OZ Nats 02 Bogong
Rank Pilot Total Points Points 0.75 0.95 0.82
1 Williams Paris 2163 627 536 374 626 358
2 Barber Mike 2136 571 554 452 559 0
3 Rossignol Jerz 1809 528 370 393 518 0
4 Hagewood Bo 1559 493 464 324 87 278
5 Zimmerman Chris 1511 488 292 419 312 0
6 Castle Kari 1462 383 379 231 469 228
7 Stinnett James 1335 364 323 247 345 303
8 Warren Curt 1159 345 327 0 487 0
9 Lee Jim 939 510 429 0 0 0
10 Volk Glen 902 505 397 0 0 0
11 Bolt Mark 892 474 418 0 0 0
12 Davis Gary 862 475 387 0 0 0
13 Presley Terry 814 471 343 0 0 0
14 Sauer Richard 804 446 358 0 0 0
15 Arai Chris 739 498 241 0 0 0
16 Rewolinski Steve 687 354 333 0 0 0
17 Goodman Bubba 673 412 261 0 0 0
18 Sayer Wayne 664 346 318 0 0 0
19 Bessa Carlos 662 386 276 0 0 0

So this is now things stand in the flex wing category. Jim Lee will need to place well to get back up to the top of the list after not attending the Australian meets (which have become an adjunct of the US meets for top US pilots).

Discuss "Class I 2003 NTSS points:" at the Oz Report forum   link»

World Gliding Championships

Wed, Jan 2 2002, 1:00:02 am EST

Chris Arai|Worlds

Chris Arai «chris» writes:

You prompted me to go check out the World Gliding Championships and I found out that Pete Harvey, former longtime member of the UK HG team, is now flying in the Open class in a Nimbus 4 and doing very well at 3rd place. I had an email from him a few months ago informing me that his wife was due in November and he was off to the Worlds in December. He's better organized than I am!

Looking at the numbers

Sat, Sep 1 2001, 6:00:01 pm EDT

Chris Arai|Ghostbuster|Jim Lee|Manfred Ruhmer|Mario Campanella|Martin Harri

Encouraged by Jerz Rossignol and Dave Seaburg, I decided to extend and further refine the analysis that I carried out on the Nationals data originally started by Dean Williams. I went back and looked at similar data for the 2001 Flytec Championship and the 2001 Wallaby Open.

I'm not doing a statistical analysis of the data, but rather using the data and what I know about what happened on various days that might effect the average values, I'm looking to see what the data suggests.

What you see, depends on what you are looking for, i.e. what questions you are asking. We would love to be able to answer the question, what is the best flex wing glider, i.e. what flex wing gets to goal the quickest in a contest. This is a difficult question to answer, as the pilot has a lot to do with it. Still if we had equally skilled pilots, with equally slick gear, we would be able to approach answering this question.

The contest answers the question, who is the best pilot, but our analysis will give us a better idea of what it means to be the best pilot.

I won't go through everything in this article, but publish a series of articles that will look at these contests in depth and perhaps give us a better idea about the current state of hang gliding development.

First, let's look at the results of the 2001 Flytec Championship. Pilots only made goal on four days, so we have a lot less data than we do for the Nationals. Here's what a massaged version of the data looks like:

 

The average speed of the fastest two pilots to goal on each glider type.

The Laminar and the Litespeed pilots are the fastest. You may remember that the Talon pilots were right up there with them at the Nationals. Well, this is the prototype Talon in the spring of this year. A few of the pilots flying the Talon (Jim Lee and Chris Arai) hadn't ever flown one and all Talon pilots were flying the latest prototype which had been only out for a couple of weeks. This would suggest that the Talon has improved since the spring and that the Talon pilots are better able to fly it.

Manfred is flying the Laminar and he is the world's best hang glider pilot. Gerolf is right behind him, and so are the two fastest Litespeed pilots. In fact, they are within 1% and essentially indistinguishable using the speed data for four days. Of course, Manfred distinguished himself by winning the competition.

The ATOS pilots showed themselves again to be just slightly better in terms of speed to goal than the fastest pilot on a top flex wing. The difference is quite small.

Brian, in the Swift, does significantly better than the ATOS pilots, but not nearly so much better as Robin (or Robin and Brian combined) did in the Nationals. This shows that when two Swifts are flying and not being held back by the hang gliders that they can do much better. At the Nationals Robin continually flew his Swift at a level commensurate with its superior performance and thereby pushed Brian to do likewise.

I looked at the data in a number of ways and finally came up with this picture as the best view when it came to answering our questions. But, I had to do a little massaging to get there. First, you'll notice that I left out the Stealth pilots. Well, that was because on one day no Stealth pilots made it to goal. As you can imagine on a difficult day it was a slow slog and on that day the average times were much slower than on the other three days. If I had included in the analysis the Stealth pilot's average for three days, and everyone else's average for four, then the Stealth pilot's average would have been biased unfairly high.

If I looked at just two days that all four flex wings made it to goal, I found that the two fastest Stealth pilots were just 3/10th of a mile an hour slower than the fastest two Talon pilots. The fastest Stealth pilots were also slower at the Nationals.

Overall the fastest two Litespeed pilots flew faster than the fastest two Laminar pilots, but I decided to not count Tomas and Martin Harri's flights on one day (but took the next two fastest Litespeed pilots). The reason was they were very smart and took a different direction and better line and flew much faster than the lead gaggle and almost all rest of the field. They basically flew a different task.

I would have kept these flights in the analysis if I wanted to answer the question who were the smartest and fastest pilots, but I'm trying to answer the question, which gliders are the best. I would hope to have the same pilots flying the different gliders in the same way, but I can't have this, so the closest I can come is eliminating obvious "tricks" like this.

You'll also notice that the Ghostbuster pilots seemed really slow. They really aren't this slow. This is due to a very slow time on the last day when Mario Campanella is the only GB to make it into goal and he is an hour behind anyone else. If I look at the data without this last day, the Ghostbuster pilots are just about as fast as the Talon pilots.

Given that Manfred is a superior pilot, and that Gerolf is very close to him in skill level, etc. I think that this data and the Nationals data published earlier suggest the following:

The Laminar and the Litespeed are very similar in performance. We can't tell from this data if one is better than the other.

The Talon at this point in the spring has a ways to go, as do Talon pilots.

Either the Stealth isn't quite as good at the Litespeed or Laminar or the Stealth pilots are just not up to Gerolf's and Manfred's skill level (or maybe they have draggy gear).

Given the likely level of ATOS pilot skill, the ATOS is a few percent better glider than the very best flex wing, likely in the neighborhood of 5%.

Brian is being held back by the lack of real competition for the Swift.

Next time I'll look at the 2001 Wallaby Open.

New US NTSS ranking

Fri, Aug 24 2001, 5:00:00 pm GMT

Chris Arai|Mike Barber|Bruce Barmakian|Heiner Biesel|Mark Bolt|Campbell Bowen|Richard Burton|Kari Castle|Gary Davis|David Giles|Bubba Goodman|Bo Hagewood|Jim Lee|Mark Mulholland|Brian Porter|Johann Posch|Terry Presley|Steve Rewolinski|Jersey Rossignol|Richard Sauer|Wayne Sayer|David Sharp|James Stinnett|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Michael Williams|Paris Williams|Jim Yocom|Jim "JZ" Zeiset|Chris Zimmerman

Now that the US Nationals are complete, there are a few changes in the US pilot ranking. I'll post the latest ranking up on the web in a few days. You'll find it at http://www.davisstraub.com/Glide/2002ntss.htm.

Latest Class I ranking:

1 Williams Paris 2184
2 Barber Mike 2005
3 Lee Jim 1846
4 Hagewood Bo 1770
5 Volk Glen 1643
6 Rossignol Jersey 1597
7 Sauer Richard 1484
8 Castle Kari 1456
9 Presley Terry 1423
10 Zimmerman Chris 1364
11 Bolt Mark 1361
12 Rewolinski Steve 1309
13 Stinnett James 1253
14 Arai Chris 1246
15 Goodman Bubba 1215
16 Sayer Wayne 1164
17 Davis Gary 1132
18 Williams Michael 1074
19 Burton Richard 996
20 Giles David 824

Mike Barber didn't attend due to an earlier injury to his shoulder, but this didn't affect his standing. Kari Castle instead went to Austria to speed glide. This allowed Glen, Rich and Jersey to gather enough points to pass her. Chris Zimmerman moved up five places.

I spoke with Kari before she decided to go to Austria. While she was uncomfortable about missing the US Nationals for the first time in over a decade, she realized that with the Worlds two years away, she had plenty of opportunities to obtain a high ranking in time for her to get on the US National team again.

Latest Class II ranking:

1 Porter Brian 1887
2 Posch Johann 1498
3 Straub Davis 1416
4 Sharp David 1354
5 Yocom Jim 1208
6 Barmakian Bruce 1116
7 Mulholland Mark 1047
8 Bowen Campbell 985
9 Zeiset Jim 982
10 Biesel Heiner 925

The only change in the top ten of Class II is that Bruce Barmakian has moved up from ninth to sixth. The Class II Worlds will be held next July in Chelan. Based on the current ranking the US team would consist of:

1 Straub Davis
2 Sharp David
3 Yocom Jim
4 Barmakian Bruce
5 Bowen Campbell
6 Zeiset Jim

Brian and Mark would fly in Class IV at the Chelan Worlds. Johann flies for Austria in the Worlds.

Discuss "New US NTSS ranking" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Pilot ranking for 2001 US National team

Mon, Apr 30 2001, 2:00:00 pm EDT

Bo Hagewood|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Bubba Goodman|Campbell Bowen|Carol Sperry|Chris Arai|Chris Zimmerman|CIVL|Claire Pagen|David Sharp|Davis Straub|Dennis Pagen|Gary Davis|Glen Volk|Greg Dinauer|James Lamb|Jamie Shelden|Jamie Sheldon|Jersey Rossignol|Jim Lee|Johann Posch|Judy Hildebrand|Kari Castle|Lisa Colletti|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Bolt|Mark Gibson|Mark Mulholland|Mike Barber|Mike Degtoff|Nancy Smith|Paris Williams|Richard Burton|Ron Gleason|Steve Rewolinski|Tip Rogers|Wayne Sayer

Pilot ranking for 2001 US National team

The Florida meets made a few changes in the composition of the US Class I National team that will represent the United States in the 2001 World Championships in Spain starting in mid June. The US Class I National team consists of the six highest-ranking pilots, 45 days before the World Championships begin. As Glen Volk most likely won't be able to travel to Spain, Chris Arai would take his place.

Current Class I ranking:

1

BARBER Mike

2005

2

WILLIAMS Paris

1939

3

LEE Jim

1847

4

HAGEWOOD Bo

1658

5

CASTLE Kari

1456

6

VOLK Glen

1406

7

ARAI Chris

1365

8

ROSSIGNOL Jersey

1352

9

REWOLINSKI Steve

1261

10

SAUER Richard

1182

11

PRESLEY Terry

1131

12

STINNETT James

1111

13

BOLT Mark

1057

14

GOODMAN Bubba

1025

15

ZIMMERMAN Chris

995

16

SAYER Wayne

918

17

WILLIAMS Michael

917

18

BURTON Richard

914

19

PAGEN Dennis

801

20

DAVIS Gary

755

As the World Championships are part of the 2001 World Air Games, we can send two additional pilots whose scores will be counted for the WAG Championship. Jersey is eligible to go, but if he doesn't go, Steve Rewolinski can go. In addition, Claire Pagen, our second highest ranked female pilot, will be going to Spain.

Current Class II ranking:

1

PORTER Brian

1575

2

STRAUB Davis

1289

3

SHARP David

1214

4

POSCH Johann

1062

5

BOWEN Campbell

924

6

MULHOLLAND Mark

905

7

YOCOM Jim

903

8

BARMAKIAN Bruce

852

9

ZEISET Jim

835

10

GIBSON Mark

504

11

BIESEL Heiner

499

12

SHELDON Jamie

465

13

ROGERS Tip

460

14

DINAUER Greg

442

15

LAMB James

424

16

POUSTINCHIAN Mark

410

17

DEGTOFF Mike

368

18

GLEASON Ron

251

19

ZIASKAS Mike

247

20

GRYDER Brad

210

The top four ranked Class II pilots will represent the US in the World Championships and Jamie Sheldon, the top ranked female Class II pilot will be added to the team to compete for the World Air Games Championship.

We are not sure who is actually going to the WAG among the Class II pilots. Last October, Steve Morris wrote, "The Valkyrie achieves its maximum performance with a full-fairing and flying it in competition unfaired is ridiculous."

We assumed at the time that this meant that Brian Porter wouldn't be going to the Worlds in Spain because CIVL won't allow him to fly with his fairing/canopy. I've heard that Brian is in fact going to the World Air Games. We'll have to wait and see if he is flying the Swift or something else (both without full fairings).

The current ranking for US Women's National Team is as follows (as best I can tell, as I don't always know from the name who is female):

5

CASTLE Kari

1456

23

PAGEN Claire

627

26

CAMERON Patti

511

36

HILDEBRAND Judy

351

42

STURTEVANT Cj

263

48

PERMENTER Raean

185

50

WHITE Eva

149

52

SMITH Nancy

139

63

SPERRY Carol

113

88

COLLETTI Lisa

55

The full current ranking of US hang glider pilots can be found at http://www.davisstraub.com/Glide/2001ntss.htm. If you find any errors, please contact me.

Florida meets - post partem depression

Sun, Apr 29 2001, 5:00:00 pm EDT

Aeros Combat|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Dave Sharp|Davis Straub|Gary Wirdnam|Gerolf Heinrichs|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Malcolm Jones|Manfred Ruhmer|Paris Williams|Quest Air|Steve Elkins|Tomas Suchanek|Wallaby Ranch|weather|Wills Wing

Florida meets - post partem depression

Actually it isn't that bad. We've been on a high from flying ten of the last fourteen days in a very intense competition. Many (if not most) of the world's best pilots have been here in Florida. It has been like a Worlds at a place with superior conditions and flying.

Quest Air and Wallaby Ranch turned into little Olympic villages with so many pilots coming from Europe and South America. It was great to hear all these different languages in dinner. Pilots and friends really love this hang gliding community.

There were quite a few British pilots here (they are not able to fly in their own country these days). Johnny Carr reminded me that lots of British pilots read the Oz Report and he wanted me to mention what a great guy he is. At least he realized that foot landing the Swift was a special event.

We are now slowly packing and cleaning up after ourselves. Repairs are the order of the day. The strong east winds with high and low clouds have stopped any possible flying, so we are entertaining ourselves in other ways. Soon even the holder overs will be gone and the Ranch will seem far too quiet.

There is nothing more fun than a friendly little hang gliding competition. It was great to have Tomas Suchanek back and flying well. It was great to see Paris Williams do so well, after doing so poorly on his last glider at the 1999 Worlds in Italy. It's great that Manfred still dominates, but that others are pressing him hard. Gerolf came in second and came close.

Lots of ATOSes were sold here after the competitions. Seven so far and one is still available, having been brand new, flown only once, before the pilot brought it here. The pilot chose not to fly on a number of windy days, also. Shipping is still quite a barrier, so it is nice to be able to sell your glider after coming to the United States.

I'll be checking on the web site logs to see how many clicks I'm getting on yesterday's special naked hang gliding issue. Too bad I can't identify who clicks on the pictures and downloads them to their special folders.

On the sixth day of the Wallaby Open the Dragon fly pilots flew a special formation in the morning. This is what it looked like and these are the tug pilots:

With this many Dragonflies and a good number of trikes it is possible to hold a major competition at an adequately sized flight park for probably 150 pilots and still get everyone off in time. The Wallaby Ranch is a little small and the new extensions will help quite a bit.

Even Quest Air is a bit small, but adequate for these numbers. You have to be right on top of the organization and do a lot of planning in advance. Getting pilots to launch earlier is crucial.

Both the Wallaby Open and the Flytec Championship could use better organization. The pilot meetings were held too late at the Wallaby Open. They need to be moved up an hour. On the two days that we didn't fly, we probably could have if we had been out at the flight line earlier and had adequate time to launch in reasonable conditions.

The Wallaby Open organizers should have been more cognizant of the launch time validity rule that invalidates a day if there is not adequate time to launch everyone. Starting earlier and applying this rule (like they did at the Flytec Championships) would have reduced the amount of emotional decision making.

Both organizers did not rely on their committees as much as they should have. They tended to take them as advisory, when I find it best to let the pilot task, safety, and protest committees make the decisions. The organizers can then just implement the decisions. This worked spectacularly well at the last Bogong Cup.

The task committee at the Wallaby Open was a bit more emotional than the one at the Flytec Championship. One member in particular had quite a few feelings about which task should be run. Other than the 95-mile square, most of the tasks were under called at the Wallaby Open.

Scoring at both meets was not quite up to the high standards set in Australia. It is nice to have the author of the Garmin checking program as your score keeper at the Forbes meet. In the end the scores did get figured out, and with more experience on all their parts, things will get better.

Overall the emotional content of the launch or not launch decision has to be considerable reduced. The emotions rule both the pilots and the organizers. I believe that we need to plan ways to keep these emotions in check so that our best thinking can be in charge.

Reporting the weather in certain ways feeds into this emotional atmosphere, and after a few days, I tried to watch my words carefully for their emotional content.

Final Results Class I:

1

RUHMER, Manfred

Icaro MRX2001

AUT

4499

2

HEINRICHS, Gerolf

MOYES Litespeed

AUT

4345

3

SUCHANEK, Tomas

MOYES Litespeed

CZE

4193

4

WILLIAMS, Paris

WILLS Wing Talon

USA

4179

5

SCHMIDT, Betinho

MOYES Litespeed 4

BRA

4056

6

REISINGER, Robert

Icaro Laminar 14ST

AUT

3960

7

MOREIRA, Lincoln

Icaro Laminar Mrx 14

BRA

3958

8

ARAI, Chris

WILLS Wing Talon

USA

3881

9

WIRDNAM, Gary

AEROS Combat

GBR

3664

10

ZWECKMAYR, Josef

Icaro Laminar ST14

AUT

3601

Final results Class II:

1

PORTER, Brian

BRIGHT Star Swift 135

USA

3633

2

TRUTTMANN, Hansjorg

A-I-R Atos

CHE

3400

3

SHARP, Dave

A-I-R Atos

USA

3020

4

ELKINS, Steve

A-I-R Atos

GBR

2871

5

STRAUB, Davis

A-I-R Atos

USA

2797

Malcolm Jones feels that the prize money should basically go to the top guy in his competitions. This philosophy is quite a bit different than what we saw at the Flytec Championship, where there was a wider and deeper distribution of prizes:

Class I:

First Place Manfred Ruhmer $4000.00 (Original Design Medal)
Second Place Gerolf Heinrichs $1500.00 (Original Design Medal)
Third Place Tomas Suchanek $500.00 (Original Design Medal)
Fourth Place Paris Williams Brauniger IQ Comp Vario (retail value: $1000.00+)

Class II:

First Place Brian Porter $1111.11 (Original Design Medal)
Second Place Hansjoerg Truttmann
Third Place Dave Sharp

Unfaired Rigid Wings only:

First Place Hansjoerg Truttmann $1500.00 (Original Design Medal)
Second Place Dave Sharp $300.00 (Original Design Medal)
Third Place Davis Straub Rotor Kickass Harness (Retail value: $1000.00+)

Total Value of Prizes Awarded: $10,911.11

First Place Class II $1111.11 provided by Super 8 Motel
Third Place Class II Rotor Harness provided by Nene Rotor
Fourth Place Class I Brauniger IQ Comp provided by Wills Wing

Malcolm wanted to separate the faired from the unfaired rigids given the stark difference in their performance potential. Therefore the top three unfaired rigids received prizes. My prize wasn't actually a prize, as Nene and Carlos had already asked me to try one of their harnesses. I agreed to do so, under the condition that it stay their harness and that at a later point I would give it back to them or make other arrangements. Still it was nice to be in third after Brian was pulled from the rigids' scoring.

Full results at www.wallaby.com.

Wallaby Open – no task today.

Wed, Apr 25 2001, 4:00:00 pm EDT

Chris Arai|Gary Wirdnam|Ghostbuster|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Manfred Ruhmer|Peter Gray|Wallaby Open 2001|Wills Wing

Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Gary Wirdnam|Ghostbuster|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Manfred Ruhmer|Peter Gray|Wallaby Open 2001|Wills Wing

Aeros Combat|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Gary Wirdnam|Ghostbuster|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Manfred Ruhmer|Peter Gray|Wallaby Open 2001|Wills Wing

Aeros Combat|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Gary Wirdnam|Ghostbuster|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Manfred Ruhmer|Peter Gray|Wallaby Open 2001|Wills Wing

Aeros Combat|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Gary Wirdnam|Ghostbuster|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Manfred Ruhmer|Peter Gray|Steve Elkins|Wallaby Open 2001|Wills Wing

Aeros Combat|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Gary Wirdnam|Ghostbuster|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Manfred Ruhmer|Paris Williams|Peter Gray|Steve Elkins|Wallaby Open 2001|Wills Wing

Aeros Combat|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Gary Wirdnam|Ghostbuster|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Manfred Ruhmer|Oleg Bondarchuk|Paris Williams|Peter Gray|Steve Elkins|Wallaby Open 2001|Wills Wing

Aeros Combat|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Gary Wirdnam|Ghostbuster|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Manfred Ruhmer|Oleg Bondarchuk|Paris Williams|Peter Gray|Steve Elkins|Wallaby Open 2001|Wills Wing

Chris Arai|Gary Wirdnam|Ghostbuster|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Manfred Ruhmer|Peter Gray|Wallaby Open 2001|Wills Wing

The front is here. The sky is completely overcast, but the sun is bright in the background and the sky is milky white and bright.

While there is no flying today, Peter Gray can fix the problems the scorekeeping and get out the results.

Class I:

Third day results:

1

HEINRICH, Gerolf

MOYES Litespeed

AUT

03:34:33

1000

2

RUHMER, Manfred

Icaro MRX2001

AUT

03:43:20

925

3

WILLIAMS, Paris

Wills Wing Talon

USA

03:45:09

911

4

ZWECKMAYR, Josef

Icaro Laminar ST14

AUT

03:46:38

899

5

SUCHANEK, Tomas

MOYES Litespeed

CZE

03:46:51

894

6

WOLF, Andre

Icaro Laminar

BRA

03:47:10

889

7

ROTOR, Nene

MOYES Litespeed 4

BRA

03:54:04

828

8

SCHMIDT, Betinho

MOYES Litespeed 4

BRA

03:54:08

825

9

MOREIRA, Lincoln

Icaro Laminar Mrx 14

BRA

04:02:42

824

10

ARAI, Chris

Wills Wing Talon

USA

04:05:30

811

Cumulative:

1

RUHMER, Manfred

Icaro MRX2001

AUT

2772

2

HEINRICH, Gerolf

MOYES Litespeed

AUT

2692

3

SUCHANEK, Tomas

MOYES Litespeed

CZE

2595

4

REISINGER, Robert

Icaro Laminar 14ST

AUT

2451

5

WILLIAMS, Paris

Wills Wing Talon

USA

2394

6

SCHMIDT, Betinho

MOYES Litespeed 4

BRA

2347

7

MOREIRA, Lincoln

Icaro Laminar Mrx 14

BRA

2334

8

ARAI, Chris

Wills Wing Talon

USA

2262

9

BONDERCHUK, Oleg

AEROS Stealth Combat 14

UKR

2216

10

WIRDNAM, Gary

Aeros Combat

GBR

2183

Notice how well Paris is doing on the new Wills Wing Talon. Chris Arai is doing well also. Will Gerolf have a chance to over take Manfred. He was forced by circumstances to take a different path than Manfred and Tomas yesterday. He raced faster when he thought he was behind after he got low, only to slow down when he found out that he was ahead.

Looks like Oleg is doing well. There seem to be quite a variety of top topless gliders in this meet and all are performing well.

Class II:

Day 3 results:

1

PORTER, Brian

BRIGHT Star Swift 135

USA

03:12:58

981

2

Straub, Davis

A-I-R Atos

USA

03:44:20

785

3

SHARP, Dave

A-I-R Atos

USA

03:45:15

771

4

ELKINS, Steve

A-I-R Atos

GBR

03:56:22

721

5

TRUTTMANN, Hansjorg

A-I-R Atos

CHE

04:25:02

653

Cumulative:

1

PORTER, Brian

BRIGHT Star Swift 135

USA

2269

2

TRUTTMANN, Hansjorg

A-I-R Atos

CHE

2091

3

SHARP, Dave

A-I-R Atos

USA

1959

4

STRAUB, Davis

A-I-R Atos

USA

1847

5

ELKINS, Steve

A-I-R Atos

GBR

1746

ATOSes currently hold positions 2 through 11. The first rigid wing hang glider other than an ATOS is Diego Bussinger (the world"><spans Class II number one ranked pilot) in at Ghostbuster in fifteenth.

Full results (when available) at www.wallaby.com.

Discuss "Wallaby Open – no task today." at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Wallaby Open – we circle the square

Tue, Apr 24 2001, 5:00:00 pm EDT

Aeros Combat|Belinda Boulter|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Dave Sharp|Gary Osoba|Gary Wirdnam|Ghostbuster|Hansjoerg Truttmann|J.C. Brown|Jim Yocum|Johann Posch|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Manfred Ruhmer|Paris Williams|Quest Air|Steve Elkin|Steve Elkins|Wallaby Open 2001|Wallaby Ranch

Today we played in the Green Swamp. A ninety-five mile task with three turnpoints that were supposed to keep us out of the worst parts of the Green Swamp. Still, that is where we go to have our fun.

The first day at Wallaby Ranch.

The flex wing pilots have been complaining about the rigid wing pilots. The meet director is setting the start times for the rigid wings first with the last start time shared with the flex wings. The flex wing pilots are complaining that Manfred just goes first and uses the rigid wings to go fast when they glide and then sits on top of them in thermals. The other flex wing pilots want to make it so Manfred can't keep using the rigid wings.

The meet director, JC Brown, decides to spilt the classes, with the rigid wing pilots doing the task counter clockwise and the flex wings clockwise. The task is Wallaby Ranch, to Quest Air to Cheryl airstrip to the Intersection of 98 and 301 and back to the Ranch. The reverse for the flex wings.

The forecast for the day looks great. Here is what Gary Osoba reports:

Probably the best day I've seen unless the moisture transport from the Atlantic is more saturated than what is shown. Good looking sounding, good looking wind stack with honest southeast winds feeding into a convergence line which should form through the middle of the state and extend into southeastern Georgia. Moisture profiles in the boundary layer show lots of latent heat adding to the lift. Thermals should be very strong but not violent. Well organized, powerful climbs. Lots of clouds. A real day for racing.

The start window opens at 1:15 and closes at 2:15 for both groups. It looks like an early start might be the ticket given the length of the task. Pilots are still a bit reluctant to get into position to launch, so pilots are still launching after the second start time.

The hot pilots in the flex wing category take the 1:15 start time. A few rigid wing pilots, including the Swift, take the 1:30 clock. Hansjoerg, Dave Sharp, Jim Yocum, Diego Bussinger, and I take the 1:45 start. We are half an hour behind the flex wing guys, but going the opposite direction.

The sky is full of cumulus clouds and there is plenty of vertical development. The sounding shows that it won't go high enough to over develop except in isolated cases. The six of us are gliding together and starting from cloud base. After three miles Diego in a Ghostbuster is quite a bit below the ATOS pilots (the rest of us).

While it is a cakewalk to Quest Air for Dave, Hansjoerg and I, I hear that 1/3rd of the rigid wing pilots go down on this first leg. We are lucky to get the timing right. We scrape off Diego and Jim and pick up an ATOS pilot from the earlier gaggle at Quest.

It is a 15-mile leg to Cheryl to the northwest. Six miles out from Cheryl we spot Brian flying straight to the turnpoint just over us, but quite a bit higher. Maybe we'll catch him.

We approach the turnpoint down below 3,000' and I scoot under a cloud street just before the turnpoint that turns out to be barely working. Hansjoerg is lower and not getting up. Dave and I are barely climbing.

Hansjoerg is trying the ATOS winglets on today. They seem to negatively effect his performance. We have no trouble gliding with him.

Suddenly we lose GPS coverage. We won’t be able to get the turnpoint if it doesn't return soon. Heck, we can't even find the turnpoint as we don't have an arrow to follow.

After a few minutes of weak climb, the GPS coverage returns and Dave and I can get to the turnpoint. We should have gone there first as there was a thermal there out in the sunlight and not under the clouds. We've scraped off Hansjoerg.

As we climb out at the turnpoint the flex wings start diving at us coming in from the south. Looks like there has been good lift along their flight path. Dave and I head out and find good lift all the way to the next turnpoint 25 miles to the south. We are on our own high over the Green Swamp.

Making the turnpoint south of Dade City and getting up at the west side of the Green Swamp, we are sitting pretty at over 6,000' and at cloud base. We now have to cross the Green Swamp going east for ten miles. It turns out to be one long glide with no lift over the Swamp.

We get so low that Dave drains the ballast from his ballast tanks. He's down below 1,500'just as we get to the east edge of the swamp.

I've been watching a cloud just to the north of our line and I find a little bit of lift under it and call Dave over. We climb out to cloud base 17 miles from Wallaby.

There is pretty much of a cloud street back to Wallaby and we just take it home.

We've been getting reports all along from Belinda at goal. The flex wing pilots who started much earlier are coming into goal (Of course, Brian is there long before anyone. This will completely screw up the scoring for rigid wing hang gliders by devaluing their times to goal and not putting much differentiating between other rigid wing pilots.)

Gerolf will win the day by 9 minutes. I remember seeing him launch early. He was on a mission.

Paris Williams will blast around the trees to come in low and fast for third for the day.

Having jettisoned his ballast Dave comes in a little behind me. Much later Steve Elkins makes it, then much later Hansjoerg, and finally just as goal closes Michael Hubert comes in. Another all ATOS finish at goal.

A total of 27 pilots make goal (much better on the goal crew after 73 yesterday).

Here are the preliminary results (I pull these off the goal keepers time sheets, so I'm unsure of the pilot's start time):

Class I:

Gerolf – Litespeed
Manfred – Laminar
Paris – Talon
Zwecky – Laminar
Tomas – Litespeed
Andre – Laminar
Chris Arai – Talon
Nene – Litespeed
Betinho – Litespeed
Reisinger – Laminar

Class II:

Brian – Swift
Davis – ATOS
Dave Sharp – ATOS
Elkins – ATOS
Hansjoerg – ATOS

Second day results:

Class I:

1

Ruhmer, Manfred

Icaro MRX2001

AUT

01:46:22

887

2

RAEMY, Kilian

MOYES Litespeed 4

CHE

01:44:00

863

3

SCHMIDT, Betinho

MOYES Litespeed 4

BRA

01:49:46

843

4

SUCHANEK, Tomas

MOYES Litespeed

CZE

01:49:47

841

5

HEINRICH, Gerolf

MOYES Litespeed

AUT

01:49:58

836

6

WIRDNAM, Gary

Aeros Combat

GBR

01:45:20

830

7

ROTOR, Nene

MOYES Litespeed 4

BRA

01:50:44

826

7

WOLF, Andre

Icaro Laminar

BRA

01:50:44

826

9

MOREIRA, Lincoln

Icaro Laminar Mrx 14

BRA

01:51:24

814

10

REISINGER, Robert

Icaro Laminar 14ST

AUT

01:52:06

805

Class II:

1

PORTER, Brian

BRIGHT Star Swift 135

USA

01:26:56

756

2

TRUTTMANN, Hansjorg

A-I-R Atos

CHE

01:45:39

590

3

MEIER, Richard

A-I-R Atos

CHE

01:49:58

532

4

YOCOM, Jim

A-I-R Atos

USA

01:51:38

521

5

SHARP, Dave

A-I-R Atos

USA

02:01:14

514

5

POSCH, Johann

A-I-R Atos 140

AUT

02:01:14

514

Full results (when available) at www.wallaby.com.

Flytec Championships – Round Four »

Fri, Apr 20 2001, 9:00:00 pm GMT

Aeros Combat|Bobby Bailey|Bo Hagewood|Brett Hazlett|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Dave Sharp|David Sharp|Davis Straub|Flytec Championships 2001|Gerolf Heinrichs|Glen Volk|Icaro Laminar MR|Jim Lee|Johann Posch|John "Ole" Olson|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Kari Castle|Manfred Ruhmer|Mark Mulholland|Martin Harri|Oleg Bondarchuk|Paris Williams|Steve Elkin|Steve Elkins|Tip Rogers

Tomas sneaks around the lead gaggle to win the day!

We have a conundrum during the task committee. There are two different forecasts for the winds. One says winds at 20 mph out of the east and the other says 10 mph. The task committee can't decide what to do. We look outside and the winds look light out of the southeast.

We send Bobby Bailey up in a tug and he reports 8-10 mph out of the southeast with the cloud base at 4,500'. There are cu's every where (except on the forecasts).

We decide on a 92 mile task due north, so we'll have a cross wind most of the way.

The launch window opens at 1 PM with the first start time at 1:30 so things start happening really quick. The last start time is 2:15, so they only have an hour and fifteen minutes to get everyone in the air and high enough (cloud base) to get the last start gate (which most people want anyway).

Bo gets launched first and takes the first start time. The ground crew and the tug pilots get going right away and the field goes bananas as everyone realizes that they need to go right now. Quiet one minute, the next the place is blasting with engine noise.

Just before 2:15 there are almost a hundred pilots at cloud base or in cloud base 4 miles north of Quest. It is hard making sure that you are high but not too high at the start time and at the start circle circumference. We are near 6,000'.

At 2:15 it is a race straight north as we head toward Leesburg and the lakes to the northeast. We turn to go up wind a bit, but it looks like there won't be any clouds or action down wind of the lakes to our north.

I'm a bit behind today so I get to see the action. Manfred and Betinho are on the left side of the spread of pilots. Tomas and Martin Harri are pushing more up wind to the right and east. I'm following them.

I watch Betinho and Tip Rogers in an ESC. Tip started earlier and is taking a thermal and drifting to the west. I focus my attention on Betinho as he begins to search an area and as he hits something I go toward him. Tomas and Martin will find something in a minute and I see them going up also. But, we are in lift and there are cu's every where around us.

I'm thinking that we had better head a bit to the west because the wind off the lakes is cutting the lift to our east. I'm also thinking that we probably want to be on the west side of the Ocala National Forest so that we should fly to the north west.. It's no fun going down in the forest.

I drive west to the next cloud as soon as we get up and the rest of the pilots seem to think that this is a good idea. We are rewarding with strong lift to cloud base. Now we've got a bit of a blue hole to the north, but lots of open areas that look like thermal producers below.

I lose track of Martin and Tomas, although I do spot some pilots further to our east heading up the west, and downwind side of the lakes. They look low.

We pass over some rigid wing pilots who've gone down earlier west of Leesburg, and it is slow getting up to Bellview. Still we don't get below 2,000' and the gaggle is hanging tight.

Once we get north of the lakes, we get into better lift and start getting back above 5,000'.

I'm not able to stay in front like I did on the previous day, so I have to do a bit of following from below. Still it is possible to stay up with the lead gaggle, and even get in front a few times to lead. I seem to like to be in the lead even if sometimes it is a bit costly in strategic points.

We get strong lift all along the Ocala National Forest and are ripping up the sky. The lift has been strong and often quite a bit too strong and turbulent. I think that courage is the word for the day. I have to keep calling up my courage to get back into rough thermals, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one. I just don't want to hit anyone.

At thirty miles out I'm out in front with Betinho and Manfred but a few hundred feet below them. I can't see them so I miss it when they start working something. We are in a big blue hole and I have to keep running to the clouds to the northeast. I find 800 fpm in a smooth thermal at 1,600' over a clear-cut area. The clouds now fill in to the north all the way toward goal (or it looks that way from here).

The lead guys get away from me as I make the low save even as I climb out to 7,400' in strong lift. Dave Sharp and Johann Posch take the lead and get high twenty miles out. Manfred, Reisinger, Zwecky, Gerolf, and Betinho are now a bit behind them to the east.

Dave and Johann head toward goal at Keystone airport thinking that they will find something within the next twenty miles. Brian Porter goes with them. Thirteen miles out they are down to 1,500' with Brian 500' over their heads. He picked the wrong folks to pimp off of.

Manfred and crew are doing much better just a couple of minutes in front of me. I can now follow them from back and below.

We find good lift all along the way unlike Dave and Johann who get stuck. Brian is able to get away from them and get to goal.

Sixty pilots make goal. Glen Volk and Chris Arai head for goal when the Tangent tells them to go, but the air doesn't cooperate and produce no net negative lift. They land 3 miles from goal.

Bo makes it into goal first with the first start time. His speeds are a bit slow, so he doesn't get a lot of bonus points, but he does get enough to put him in third place.

Tomas and Martin make it fast to goal beating the rest of us by almost 20 minutes. They flew on their own and must have found some better lift lines out over the National Forest.

Steve Elkins on an ATOS left 15 minutes earlier, had a good run and got the early bonus points to place first for the day in Class II. Brian and Mark have ballasted up their gliders so that they wouldn't be able to foot launch or land them, and they used the high weights to their advantage on this strong day.

Here are the results:

Day 4:

Class I:

1

Suchanek, Thomas

Moyes Litespeed

Cze

02:30:56

897

2

Harri, Martin

Moyes Litespeed

Che

02:33:06

866

3

Hagewood, Bo

Wills Wing Talon

Usa

02:57:54

792

4

Ruhmer, Manfred

Icaro Laminar Mr 2001

Aut

02:49:36

763

5

Heinrichs, Gerolf

Moyes Litespeed

Aut

02:49:40

760

6

Schmitz, Betinho

Moyes Litespeed

Bra

02:49:42

758

7

Zweckmayr, Josef

Icaro Laminar Mr 2001

Aut

02:50:34

752

8

Reisinger, Robert

Icaro Laminar Mr 2001

Aut

02:50:49

749

9

Hazlett, Brett

Moyes Litespeed

Can

02:52:10

742

10

Bondarchuk, Oleg

Aeros Combat

Ukr

02:54:28

730

Class II:

1

Elkins, Steve

Air Atos

Gbr

02:49:54

937

2

Porter, Brian

Bright Star Swift

Usa

02:49:08

928

3

Mulholland, Mark

Bright Star Millennium

Usa

02:49:28

914

4

Yocom, Jim

Air Atos

Usa

02:49:54

906

5

Straub, Davis

Air Atos

Usa

02:51:24

892

 Overall:
Class I:

1

Ruhmer, Manfred

Icaro Laminar Mr 2001

Aut

2691

2

Heinrichs, Gerolf

Moyes Litespeed

Aut

2554

3

Schmitz, Betinho

Moyes Litespeed

Bra

2506

4

Zweckmayr, Josef

Icaro Laminar Mr 2001

Aut

2470

5

Suchanek, Thomas

Moyes Litespeed

Cze

2453

6

Hazlett, Brett

Moyes Litespeed

Can

2441

7

Lee, Jim

Wills Wing Talon

Usa

2396

8

Williams, Paris

Wills Wing Talon

Usa

2369

9

Wolf, Andre

Icaro Laminar

Bra

2319

10

Castle, Kari

Moyes Litespeed

Usa

2275

Class II:

1

Porter, Brian

Bright Star Swift

Usa

2844

2

Straub, Davis

Air Atos

Usa

2682

3

Sharp, David

Air Atos

Usa

2568

4

Elkins, Steve

Air Atos

Gbr

2529

5

Posch, Johann

Air Atos

Aut

2473

Complete results at www.flytec.com.

Wills Wing Talon »

Mon, Apr 16 2001, 5:00:02 pm EDT

Chris Arai|Jim Lee|Paris Williams|Wills Wing

That's the name of the new Wills Wing curved tip glider. You can order it now from Wills Wing. I got to fly a bunch with Chris Arai, Paris Williams and Jim Lee yesterday. They did quite well flying into the wind and competing against Laminars, Litespeeds, and Toplesses.

I would look at the results of the competitions over the next two weeks to see if you can reassure yourself that the Talon is as good as any other top end topless flex wing glider. It sure looks like it has a chance to do well here, especially after Paris did so well in Brazil (3rd).

Flytec Championships – Day 1 »

Sat, Apr 14 2001, 8:00:00 pm GMT

Aeros Combat|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Dave Sharp|David Sharp|Davis Straub|Flytec Championships 2001|Gary Wirdnam|Gerolf Heinrichs|Glen Volk|Jim Lee|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Manfred Ruhmer|Mark Mulholland|Mike Barber|USHGA

The forecast called for winds 10-15 mph out of the west. The sounding showed moderate thermal strength with consistent winds (in strength and direction) all the way to above cloud base at 12-15 mph out of the west. The task committee went bananas (I'm on the committee so I can critique it), and called a 62 mile task.

First, there is a leg to the north, northwest 21 miles at 325°. Unfortunately that's 12 miles into the wind. Next comes a leg to the northwest, which includes 10 miles downwind. Finally and then a return leg with a few miles downwind.

The idea was to do basically an out and return at 90° to the west wind (can't go east here unless you want to go into Orlando airspace). The leg to the west was thrown in without sufficient thought regarding the strength of the winds and the moderate nature of the thermals.

Flying, we basically take two steps forward and then two steps back. Here's a look at a track log near the first turnpoint, showing the drift.

Later, I asked Mike Barber what he was showing for winds. He said that earlier in the flight he was measuring 14 mph out of the west. Later, around 3 PM, his Tangent showed 20 mph. My Brauniger was showing 12 mph at 240.

Not only did we have a hard time getting any where, because of the strong head winds going to the first turnpoint, but we also couldn't get very high, 3,800' was the highest, and we didn't climb very quickly, with maximum climb rates averaging between 300 to 400 fpm.

Here's a chart of altitude gains going to the first turnpoint.

With all this wind you would have thought that the air would have been very turbulent, but this was not the case. Perhaps do to the light lift, there didn't seem to be any sharp edges to the thermals. It wasn't always easy coring up, but it was possible even from low even in the strong winds.

Many flex wing pilots were only able to make the minimum distance or less with 40 out of 70 pilots given the minimum distance. Six of the twenty-nine rigid wing pilots got the minimum distance.

I was flying with Dave Sharp and I first heard from him on the radio 13 miles out from the first turnpoint. I was 18 miles out. Half an hour later both he and I were 13 miles out from the first turnpoint. Gives you an idea of the degree of difficulty the task presented.

As we got closer to the first turnpoint, the proportion of rigid wings increased. Many flex wing pilots had gone down before the first thermal on the course. Brian Porter in the Swift, Mark Mullholland in the canopied Millennium and Greg Dinnauer in the faired Millennium were all together 12 miles out.

Manfred, Dave Sharp and Gerolf made the first turnpoint. Gerolf lands a mile and a half beyond it, Dave lands 5 miles below it, and Manfred is able to make the second turnpoint and get some of the way back.

Given that flex wing most pilots didn't make in the minimum distance, the day was very devalued. Rigid wing pilots got a few more points, but not many, as no one made it half the distance of the task.

The charts below show distance and points in the last two columns.

Class II:

1 Sharp, David Air Atos Usa 27.9 211
2 Porter, Brian Bright Star Swift Usa 23.2 189
3 Straub, Davis Air Atos Usa 22.3 185
4 Yocom, Jim Air Atos Usa 20.0 171
5 Mulholland, Mark Bright Star Millennium Usa 17.7 158
5 Meier, Richard Air Atos Ita 17.7 158
5 Dinaur, Greg Bright Star Millennium Usa 17.7 158

Class I:

1 Ruhmer, Manfred Icaro Laminar Mr 2001 Aut 43.8 131
2 Heinrichs, Gerolf Moyes Litespeed Aut 24.8 102
3 Zweckmayr, Josef Icaro Laminar Mr 2001 Ita 19.4 93
4 Wirdnam, Gary Aeros Combat Gbr 18.6 91
4 Cook, Steve La Mouette Topless Gbr 18.6 91
6 Walbec, Richard Wills Wing Talon Fra 17.9 89
6 Lee, Jim Wills Wing Talon Usa 17.7 89
6 Hollidge, Andy La Mouette Topless Gbr 17.7 89
9 Arai, Chris Wills Wing Talon Usa 17.6 88
10 Raemy, Kilian Moyes Litespeed Che 17.4 87
10 Barber, Mike Moyes Litespeed Usa 17.4 87
10 Volk, Glen Moyes Litespeed Usa 17.3 87

Complete results at www.flytec.com.

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Discuss "Flytec Championships – Day 1" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Pre-Meets

Wed, Apr 11 2001, 5:00:00 pm EDT

Brett Hazlett|Carbon Dragon|carbon fiber|Chris Arai|Florida|George Ferris|Ghostbuster|Manfred Ruhmer|Martin Harri|Martin Henry|Mike Barber|photo|Quest Air|sailplane|weather

Brett Hazlett|Carbon Dragon|carbon fiber|Chris Arai|Florida|George Ferris|Ghostbuster|John "Ole" Olson|Manfred Ruhmer|Martin Harri|Martin Henry|Mike Barber|photo|Quest Air|sailplane|weather

(?-i)John "Ole" Olson|Brett Hazlett|Carbon Dragon|carbon fiber|Chris Arai|Florida|George Ferris|Ghostbuster|Manfred Ruhmer|Martin Harri|Martin Henry|Mike Barber|photo|Quest Air|sailplane|weather

Brett Hazlett|Carbon Dragon|carbon fiber|Chris Arai|Florida|George Ferris|Ghostbuster|John "Ole" Olson|Manfred Ruhmer|Martin Harri|Martin Henry|Mike Barber|photo|Quest Air|sailplane|weather

Day after day of perfectly soarable weather. Cumulus clouds everywhere. Light winds. And lots of competition pilots here checking out their equipment and taking advantage of the conditions. We've been calling tasks and a whole group of pilots will fly together – just like a meet, but cheaper.

Four new Wills Wing prototypes came today. One came yesterday. Production models will be available in six weeks – they ordered the hardware (no longer cutting one offs in the factory) so, as they say, at least that part of the glider is fixed. Looks like there may sill be a few tweaks on the final design that come out of pilots' experiences here in Florida.

Gerolf is here at Wallaby. He along with Mike Barber and Brett Hazlett are fitting WW control frames to one Litespeed after another (they haven't finished making the Moyes carbon fiber control frame). Sugarman just brought in a bag of nicos for the 2 mm (or was it 1.5 mm) wires that they need to fix the control frames.

The Austrians are here and all they had to do was assemble their Laminars. Manfred has 1.5 mm front and back wires on his WW control frame, but they were all the way down to the base tube (well, close). The rest of the Austrians had 2 mm wires. Manfred says they all have to go to 2 mm for the worlds.

We hear that Jim Zeiset had his trailer roll while on the way to Florida. He apparently is still on his way (perhaps even with the trailer). The gliders, which were on the car, seem to be in good shape – and that's what counts.

Mark Mullholland is here at Wallaby with his fully canopied Millennium showing that he's no fool. After he showed up last year to compete in a "faired" but not a canopied Millennium, I wrote that only an idiot would try to compete in Class II in a non canopied Millennium. Guess he took that to heart.

Martin Harri (the Swiss pilot that I linguistically confused in with Canadian pilot Martin Henry in an earlier Oz Report) is here taking a few practice flights.

A couple of days ago we went over a hundred miles to the north at a leisurely pace. I flew for an hour after an 11:30 AM start then landed back at the Ranch and found Chris Arai who was willing to go out and play with me.

The air was rolling with tiny cu's for the first fifty miles until we got to the interchange of I 75 and the Florida turnpike, where it completely changed to solid lift under thick cu's. We flew at a very slow pace, I guess basically because the Litespeed that Chris was flying (in order to get ready to fly the WW prototype) had too much bar pressure. Still it was great to have a very skilled pilot to fly with.

Mark Poustinchan flew 172 miles that day after a late start. Bo mentioned that the clouds seemed to be better to the south than up by Quest. Actually, the clouds where better earlier, but they were better on the south side of I-4.

That day a classic convergence set up (as it was clear that it would from the Windcast). It was really well developed north west of Williston.

I hear that there is just as much activity up at Quest Air in this week before the Flytec Championships as there is here at Wallaby. The Flight Design folks are up there getting the Ghostbuster ready for the big Class II competition (which, of course, could be spoiled by Mark in his ultralight sailplane).

Speaking of sailplanes, Steve Arndt is down here flying his Carbon Dragon. He said that George Ferris was the only hang glider pilot who had been able to core up through him, and I sure wasn't able to. A whole lot of pilots were flying around in this great later evening lift with Steve.

 

 

A custom built ATOS control frame at Quest.

 

Photos by Dave Glover.

Bibliography from Hang Gliding Magazine

Tue, Dec 26 2000, 7:00:03 pm EST

Belinda Boulter|Chris Arai|David Glover|Felix Ruehle|Jim Lee|USHGA|Wills Wing

Belinda Boulter|Chris Arai|David Glover|Davis Straub|Felix Ruehle|Jim Lee|USHGA|Wills Wing

Belinda Boulter|Chris Arai|David Glover|Davis Straub|Felix Ruehle|Jim Lee|Larry Tudor|USHGA|Wills Wing

David Glover sent the following along to show off the database capabilities of the USHGA web site:

Speed to Get There First Straub Davis Flying Technique and Skill Speeds to fly February 1991
If Gravity is the Engine, Weight is the Fuel - Part I Straub Davis Aerodynamics How weight and glider size affect performance February 1992
If Gravity is the Engine, Weight is the Fuel - Part II Straub Davis Aerodynamics How weight and glider size affect performance March 1992
Making a Personal Polar - Step by Step Straub Davis Flying Technique and Skill Polars, Soaring theory May 1992
The Final Climb and Glide Straub Davis Flying Technique and Skill Final Climb, Best Glide, X-C skills June 1992
The Tortoise and the Hare Straub Davis Flying Technique and Skill More on speeds to fly January 1992
Getting Guated Out Straub Davis Story Flying in Guatemala Guatemala August 1992
Sky God Speaks - Brad Koji Straub Davis Pilots and Personalities Brad Koji February 1993
Sky God Speaks - Larry Tudor Straub Davis Pilots and Personalities Larry Tudor January 1993
Sky God Speaks - Tony Barton Straub Davis Pilots and Personalities Tony Barton June 1993
Sky Gods Speak: Chris Arai and Jim Lee Straub Davis Pilots and Personalities Chris Arai, Jim Lee May 1993
Pilot Profile: The Amazing Flying Belinda Straub Davis Pilots and Personalities Amazing Belinda December 1995
BS in the Internet LZ Straub Davis Story Stories from the internet January 1995
Pate Page Flies Again Straub Davis Instrumentation GPS, PC, navigation June 1996
Exxtacy Clinic - A Prophet Comes to America Straub Davis Flying Technique and Skill Rigid Wings, Exxtacy Felix Ruehle June 1998
The Wills Wing 26th Anniversary Celebration Straub Davis Story Wills Wing, Fun Flying June 1999
The 2000 Australian Nationals Straub Davis Competition X-C Competition Pilot Profiles Australia April 2000

This database will soon become available to the general membership. I'll be sure to notify readers when it is generally available.

Who's on the US Class I National Team?

Thu, Nov 30 2000, 2:00:01 pm EST

Bo Hagewood|Chris Arai|CIVL|David Glover|Florida|John Borton|Kari Castle|Manfred Ruhmer|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Rich Burton|USHGA|weather

Bo Hagewood|Chris Arai|CIVL|David Glover|Florida|John "Ole" Olson|John Borton|Kari Castle|Manfred Ruhmer|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Rich Burton|USHGA|weather

(?-i)John "Ole" Olson|Bo Hagewood|Chris Arai|CIVL|David Glover|Florida|John Borton|Kari Castle|Manfred Ruhmer|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Rich Burton|USHGA|weather

Bo Hagewood|Chris Arai|CIVL|David Glover|Florida|John "Ole" Olson|John Borton|Kari Castle|Manfred Ruhmer|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Rich Burton|USHGA|weather

Bo Hagewood|Chris Arai|CIVL|David Glover|Florida|John "Ole" Olson|John Borton|Kari Castle|Manfred Ruhmer|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Rich Burton|Slade Kennett|USHGA|weather

Bo Hagewood|Chris Arai|CIVL|David Glover|Florida|John "Ole" Olson|John Borton|Kari Castle|Manfred Ruhmer|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Rich Burton|Slade Kennett|Steve Rewolinski|USHGA|weather

Bo Hagewood|Chris Arai|CIVL|David Glover|Florida|Jersey Rossignol|John "Ole" Olson|John Borton|Kari Castle|Manfred Ruhmer|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Rich Burton|Slade Kennett|Steve Rewolinski|USHGA|weather

Bo Hagewood|Chris Arai|CIVL|David Glover|Florida|Jersey Rossignol|John "Ole" Olson|John Borton|Kari Castle|Larry Tudor|Manfred Ruhmer|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Rich Burton|Slade Kennett|Steve Rewolinski|USHGA|weather

In October 1999 the USHGA BOD voted to change the rules for determining who would represent the US on their National Hang Gliding Team at the worlds in Spain in 2001 (and in future world meets). Instead of taking the US pilot ranking as it stood at the end of 2000, pilots would be chosen based on their ranking at 45 days before the worlds.

What this means is that meets held in Australia in January and USHGA and/or CIVL-sanctioned meets that occur in Florida in the spring of 2001 could become quite important in determining who (in addition to Kari Castle and Clare Pagen) are on the US team at the worlds. If US pilots flew in CIVL-sanctioned meets in Mexico, Argentina or Brazil, they may also have enough points to influence their place on the US National Team.

At least one pilot, Jersey Rossignol, who is currently ranked fifth (and would thus be assured a place on the team under the old rules) (https://OzReport.com/Ozv4n169.htm), has complain vociferously and publicly on the hang gliding mailing list about the new rules. Apparently the USHGA Competition Committee has been taking his complaint seriously.

A number of US pilots who could possibly make the team under the new rules are planning to travel to Australia to try to earn additional points in the January meets. They include Paris Williams, ranked safely in second position, Bo Hagewood, currently in 7th one point behind Chris Arai, and Steve Rewolinski, only a few points out in 9th. I haven't heard if other pilots are going, but you can see how this would put pressure on Jersey to attend the Australian meets (as he has previously). Mike Barber (in third) has indicated that he will most likely not go to Australia.

Today I received anonymously a copy of a message (which I believe to be authentic) from an unidentified current member of the US National Team sent to the USHGA Competition Committee. The letter protests a recent vote that apparently was held by e-mail among the USHGA Competition Committee regarding changing the 1999 rules with respect to when the ranking is to be determined. I assume from the tone of the letter that the Competition Committee may not stay with the 45-day rule at least as it concerns the 2001 worlds (but it is really unclear to me).

I do have a bit of a personal interest in this as I am the volunteer who calculates (hopefully mechanically) pilot ranking based on the results of the competitions.

Here is what the message to the USHGA Competition Committee says:

I must protest the recent vote over the 45-day period. To claim that the rule is open to interpretation and guessing as to the intent of the Board goes too far. This rule was instituted over a year ago at the fall board meeting. Many of those board members now involved in the discussion were present at the board meeting over a year ago, and voted for the institution of the rule, including JZ. I proposed at the time that the team be chosen as of 30 days before the World Meet which was discussed and changed to the 45 day period in order to allow competitors ample time to purchase discounted airline tickets (typically 30 days in advance). As far as I remember, it passed unanimously (someone should look this up in the minutes). There was absolutely no ambiguity.

This is by no means the only rule change to have occurred in the middle of a ranking period. To change rules at the fall meeting has never been discussed as conflicting with the ranking period. I argued unsuccessfully for the rulebook to be open to changes at either of the yearly meetings during the 1993 fall board meeting which was also in Colorado Springs. My arguments included being able to change problematic rules (like what is being discussed now) whenever the board met. As I recall, (that was several years ago, but the subject matter is dear to me) it was felt that twice a year was too often to change rules, but the scoring period was never brought up during the discussion. It was a simple matter of once per year rule changes being enough. I still feel that the rulebook should be open to change at either of the meetings. However, the intent of the Board is very clear to me: rulebook changes will only happen once per year, at the fall Board meeting.

An even greater change to the rulebook a year ago involved the WTSS points earned at a comp. It went from a stair step function to a linear function based on a pilot's score compared to the winner's score. As a result, there are now many more points available to all pilots. There was a capacity for many more points to be earned in the second half of the ranking period compared to the first half. This was also discussed during the board meeting. It didn't happen, due to the weather devaluing most of our meets this year. Where's the outcry and discussion of this rule change in the middle of the ranking period? How about all the other rule changes at the meeting a year ago? (There were 12 major changes). If you're going to throw out one change because it was made in the middle of a ranking period, then you'd better throw out the entire 2000 rulebook and apply the 1999 rulebook. I can't begin to say who's on the team in that case. Davis would have to recalculate all the points earned for the year by every pilot in every meet.

It has also been stated that the pilots on the cusp of the team now were the same pilots of the last ranking period. This is not true. In the beginning of 2000, 5 through 10 were Ryan, Mark Gibson, Slade Kennett, Jersey, Glen, and Larry Tudor. The current ranking list shows 5 through 10 as Jersey, Chris Arai, Bo, Kari, Revo, and Rich Sauer. Quite a bit different. The way I see it is there is currently room for major shifts in the team order all the way through 12th position (including Rich Burton and Terry Presley). If say Rich Burton kicks all our butts in the Florida comps and earns enough points to be on the team, then HE'S THE GUY I PERSONALLY WANT ON THE TEAM! I can understand the angst felt by Jersey or others who presently see their name "on the list" to be on the team, but stand to lose that spot if things don't go well in the last two meets. (I don't count the Oz meets because I don't see them being worth enough points based on past attendance). But if Jersey continues to fly as well as he did last year, he's got nothing to worry about! On the other hand, if one of the other guys gives Manfred a run for his money and smokes me and everyone else, thereby earning enough points to be on the team, and proves it at a time when it matters the most (current gear, attitude, flying style etc.), well, again, he's the one I want to see on the team.

Most of the other nations choose their teams at the last minute, thereby picking the latest hotshots. And the results show that this method works. I have personally witnessed the hunger and all out attack attitude which results from this and which carries into the World Meet. Conversely, I have also witnessed our pilots cease to compete in the later part of the season, because they already had it locked up, unless they attended (and brought their points to) the last meet, screwed the pooch, and got passed by someone else. Which attitude do you think I favor?

Now, there are plenty of arguments against this rule as well. I am open to the possibility that this may not be the best way to operate our selection process. Especially if I am the only person now who feels this way. As competitive as I am, I would rather hang on to my valued friendships at these wonderful comps than be on a winning world team if it meant losing those friends. But I have a problem with the way this is being handled.

These rulebook changes happen once a year based on input and discussion of many people in a subcommittee, which gets reviewed by the comp committee, and then must pass muster in front of the entire board. These are, in my opinion, a good set of checks and balances. To open up further rule changes based on the vote of some 5 people or so based on "an interpretation of the intent of the board" or whatever, bypasses and invalidates this process.

If, however this whole vote thing goes through, my plan for the future becomes clear. Get one of my buddies to step down from his directorship, and name me acting director. Get my buddies to appoint me to head the Competition Committee. Have a between-meetings vote on World Team Selection, to make me Czar and Benevolent Dictator of the selection process. Disallow those who won't vote in my favor, and finally have what I always wanted: To Be The One Who Picks The Team.

(editor's note: This last paragraph contains an oblique (and a bit confused) reference to G.W. Meadows resigning his BOD position, letting in David Glover to take over this position. David is then elected by the BOD as USHGA president, and later appoints John Borton as head of the Competition Committee. The correspondent is apparently unhappy about the way that John is running the Competition Committee.)

George spins his ATOS

Tue, Aug 29 2000, 2:00:01 pm GMT

ATOS|George Ferris|Harry Sudwischer|James "Jim" Zeiset|Mark Bennett|spin|Worlds 1999

George Ferris sent to the rigid wing list and to me a report on his spin and crash of his ATOS. I have included it here. I have also included some updates from George, responses to a few comments, and additional comments. George wrote:

I have over 200 hours on my Atos and previous to this incident I have never experienced a tendency for the Atos to spin. There was no warning, like previously stated by other pilots. I had just initiated a hard turn to the left, high bank, with a lot of speed when the glider began spinning to the left.

(editor's note: I ask George: "What exactly do you mean by a hard turn?" He responded: "Going from a neutral position (bar centered) then jamming the bar to one side and push out slightly."

Personally, I have only once jammed the bar to one side on my ATOS when I had little ground. One day in Italy at the 1999 Worlds, I tried to whip the ATOS around like I would a flex wing as I came into land, jamming the bar out to one side, and pushing out. The ATOS turned real quickly, it also slid (or appeared to) on the inside wing. I had to jam the bar in the other direction to get it straightened out and level over the lz. I landed on my wheels with my hands still on the base tube. I haven't tried this particular maneuver since at any altitude.

I will move the bar to one side quickly, but I really don't push out. I certainly don't move my weight to one side as I'm just trying to deploy the spoileron quickly and not add weight shifting to the mix. I have never had the problem that George discovered with his ATOS other than the one day in Italy.)

The glider spun twice in a nose down attitude then went into a vertical dive, which it quickly recovered from.

(editor's note: I asked George, "How high a bank?" George responded:

"I meant to do a 90°, but it went past 90 because the inside wing stalled. When I first initiated the turn I felt the outside wing rise faster than normal. I thought it had entered lifting air, which may have happened, but it kept accelerating because I was entering, or entered a spin immediately."

George had initiated a very high-banked turn. Personally, I have never tried to initiate or even continue banking up to 90° or anywhere near it. In the strongest, smallest thermals, I couldn't be over 60°. Therefore, I haven't had occasion to experience what George has.)

This all happened about 200 ft above the trees in front of the ridge I was flying. It happened so fast that I felt that I was just along for the ride.

Did my inputs help the glider to recover? I have no idea, they were all reflexes, there was no time to think about it. It was all over in a matter of seconds.

When I recovered from the dive I was facing into the ridge 20 feet over the trees tops with no air speed and no room to pull in for recovery. If I had another 50 ft to spare I would have been able to get the glider flying again but that wasn't the case.

The glider stalled and I plowed through the treetops ending up on the ground. The only injury I received was from my knee hitting a rock as I made contact with the ground.

I really have no explanation on why the glider entered the spin after I initiated the turn other than I may have pushed out more than I normally would but I'm not sure. The snap turn at high speed, that I meant to do, I had done many times before.

The only advice I can give is not to initiate any sudden inputs, particularly at high speeds( 40+ mph), when in close proximity to the ground. I consider myself lucky, even though my glider is destroyed, to come out of this with a swollen knee.

Well, has anyone got any spare D-tubes and ribs for sale?

Dennis, <catapult@bendnet.com>, writes into the rigid wing list:

"Aw c'mon Suds, don't do an "unbiased journalist" number on us. Your CBRW bashing is no more credible for than Davis's Mill bashing. I was among the ranters and ravers back when Davis was claiming it was impossible to spin or overspeed a CBRW but the facts are out there now so let's try to be objective."

Oz Report readers are free to go back and check the record. During the time that I was reporting on the spins of the Millennium, and for almost a year afterwards, there were no reports of any rigid wing hang gliders spinning. My personal experience with the Exxtacy was that I could not spin it. The only spins that have been reported recently on the Exxtacy (we didn't have Ghostbusters and ATOSes at the time) have been deliberate spins. It still appears to be very difficult to get an Exxtacy to spin.

At the time of my reports on the spinning Millenniums, it was clear to me that there was a very distinct dividing line between the Millennium and hang gliders. Part of that distinction was the fact that the Millennium was easy to spin, and hang gliders, by and large, were very difficult to spin. Therefore, hang glider pilots, unlike ultralight sailplane pilots, did not have to be concerned with spin and spin recovery. This was another sharp dividing line between two separate pilot communities.

Now, that is no longer the case. Because the control frames of the Ghostbuster and the ATOS have been moved back relative to the Exxtacy, these hang gliders can be spun by pushing out. Pilots who fly these hang gliders, need to know something that only sailplane pilots needed to know before.

Harry Sudwischer<skywild@mindspring.com> writes into the rigid wing list:

"Davis keeps harping on his dislike for rough or sharp edged thermals . His love of big smooth lift Florida Style comes through in a lot of his writing. His instinctive dislike and avoidance of rough air while flying his ATOS is right on the money. All you CBRW pilots should take heed and modify your flying habits accordingly. You could do worse than emulating the "barefoot one" .Remember nothing succeeds like success :-)"

I, of course, have often thought about this issue. Is my dislike of rough air a function of my glider? Am I just a wimp? Having tasted the fruits of great flat land flying does the rough air often present in the mountains just seem second rate by comparison? Or am I getting older and wiser?

This is a very emotional issue for long time hang glider pilots, so even if I try to present a rational perspective, it threatens many entrenched feelings, life style choices, etc., etc. Recently I had an opportunity to exchange a few e-mail messages with Mark Bennett. He wrote how he hadn't moved to Houston in part because of the lack of access to the mountains for flying. He thought it was quite ironic considering our world record encampment in Zapata, and then the Lone Star Meet in Hearne, right next to Houston, and how great the flying was there.

Today I was talking with Jim Zeiset, long time Colorado mountain pilot, who spoke about how great the flying was in Hearne. He then said that he cut short a possible cross-country flight in the mountains, that he would have taken if the other pilot had stayed up. After that pilot went down he felt that it wasn't worth the effort to fly in the trashy air even though he had a retrieval driver.

As I recall my most vivid memory of how much I enjoyed the smoother air, was in fact not at a time that I was contrasting a mountain site with a flat land site, but rather the contrast between two gliders. I was in Australia flying a 166 Moyes Xtralight that I bought from Moyes. The glider was really too big for me, but it sure was fun to fly. I loved how it felt in the air, and had my longest flight up to that point on it, on a day that the task at Hay was called at 142 miles.

By the time that we got to Forbes for the next meet, by Icaro Laminar ST showed up, and I got a chance to fly a little racecar of the glider. The contrast was stark, especially because it had been so soon after my Moyes glider. It scared me a bunch of times. It just wasn't as enjoyable to fly it, even though I could penetrate a lot better with it.

Later I took this glider to the King Mountain meet, and scared myself a bunch more. For example, I continued to fly there on the day that the US number 1 pilot refused to fly his Laminar ST.

After thousands of hang gliding flights, my preference is to fly in conditions that are enjoyable. Others are free to make their own choices. I "harp" about flying in fun conditions because I want pilots to be aware that it is OK to fly in enjoyable conditions. You don't have to prove your "manhood" ever time you take to the air. That's not the point, as far as I'm concerned.

So I leave it up to the reader to determine whether they think I "harp" on the fun air of Texas, Kansas, or Florida, because I fly an ATOS. Maybe, but not likely.

Discuss "George spins his ATOS" at the Oz Report forum   link»

US NTSS "current" ranking

Sat, Jul 29 2000, 6:00:01 pm EDT

Chris Arai|Glen Volk|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Paris Williams|US Nationals

Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Paris Williams|US Nationals

Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|US Nationals

Bo Hagewood|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|US Nationals

Bo Hagewood|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|US Nationals

Bo Hagewood|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|US Nationals

Bo Hagewood|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Campbell Bowen|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|US Nationals

Bo Hagewood|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Campbell Bowen|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Kari Castle|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|US Nationals

Bo Hagewood|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Campbell Bowen|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Jim Lee|Kari Castle|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|US Nationals

Bo Hagewood|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Campbell Bowen|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Jim Lee|Kari Castle|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mark Mulholland|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|US Nationals

Bo Hagewood|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Campbell Bowen|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Jim Lee|Johann Posch|Kari Castle|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mark Mulholland|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|US Nationals

Bo Hagewood|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Campbell Bowen|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Jim Lee|Johann Posch|Kari Castle|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mark Mulholland|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Steve Rewolinski|US Nationals

Bo Hagewood|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Campbell Bowen|Chris Arai|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Jersey Rossignol|Jim Lee|Johann Posch|Kari Castle|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mark Mulholland|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Steve Rewolinski|US Nationals

Bo Hagewood|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Campbell Bowen|Chris Arai|David Sharp|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Jersey Rossignol|Jim Lee|Johann Posch|Kari Castle|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mark Mulholland|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Steve Rewolinski|US Nationals

Bo Hagewood|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Campbell Bowen|Chris Arai|David Sharp|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|Jersey Rossignol|Jim Lee|Johann Posch|Kari Castle|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Mark Mulholland|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Steve Rewolinski|US Nationals

After the 2000 US Nationals, the provisional ranking for next year's US National team has changed. While the US pilot ranking is fixed for a year at the end of the year, the "current" or "provisional" pilot rankings change as each meet with points occurs. Here's how things stand after the big upset in Class I at the 2000 US Nats:

Paris Williams moves up from fifth to third. Chris Arai and Glen Volk each move down one place. Bo moves up from 12th to 8th. I incorrectly reported his previous provisional position at 37th, although his official ranking is indeed 66th. Steve Rewolinski moves down a position, and Rich Sauer moved up from 16th to 10th.

Class I:

Lee Jim

1600

Barber Mike

1249

Williams Paris

1133

Arai Chris

1115

Volk Glen

1097

Rossignol Jersey

994

Castle Kari

949

Hagewood Bo

855

Rewolinski Steve

787

SAUER Richard

713

In Class II, the US Nationals were worth 103 points with only three pilots bringing points to the meet. The meet has a validity factor of .78, a bit better than the Wallaby Open, and quite a bit better than the ACC. None of the first four pilot rankings changed (nor did their total points change as the points scored were not enough to count for these pilots). Jim Zeiset was able to move up from sixth to fifth, displacing Mark Gibson.

Porter Brian

958

Straub Davis

779

Sharp David

635

Posch Johann

601

Zeiset Jim

509

Gibson Mark

504

BARMAKIAN Bruce

467

POUSTINCHIAN Mark

410

Bowen Campbell

409

Mulholland Mark

331

I don't have the results of the Europeans, so I don't know how many points Johann scored there (he was flying as an Austrian).

The full provisional 2001 US National team pilot ranking can be found at http://www.davisstraub.com/Glide/2001ntss.htm

You go, Bo

Mon, Jul 24 2000, 1:00:00 pm EDT

Bo Hagewood|Chris Arai|Florida|Jim Lee|Paris Williams|Quest Air|Rob Kells|USHGA|US Nationals|Wills Wing

Bo Hagewood wins the 2000 US Nationals. Yes, an actual US pilot won the US Nationals. And, yes, a pilot ranked 66th (the official 2000 USHGA NTSS pilot ranking system) wins the nationals. Now this is NEWS!

 

Bo, pre his haircut.

I can't imagine or remember a time that something like this has happened. This will certainly move him up from his 37th place ranking on the "current" 2001 NTSS ranking scheme (which counts the two meets in Florida this meet).

Bo Hagewood is a new comer to competition (other than flying last year in Class II in the Florida meets), and it is great to see someone with his skills do so well even with little competition experience. He flew the Wills Wing Fusion at the Florida meets this year, but was only twentieth at the Wallaby Open and twelfth at the ACC.

Bo was flying the flex wings for big distances during the spring this year from Quest Air Park. I highlighted a number of his flights in the Oz Report (https://OzReport.com/Ozv4n41.htm and https://OzReport.com/Ozv4n80.htm). At the ACC, Bo credited the Oz Report's coverage with getting him an offer of support from Rob Kells at Wills Wings. Bo, at the end of the line after Jim Lee, Chris Arai, and Paris Williams, got a new Fusion to use from Wills Wing, and, I assume some other support.

Any little bit helps, for a pilot who makes his living off being a tandem instructor and tug pilot. Bo really appreciated that coverage from the Oz Report, and the help that he got from Wills Wing. It made it possible for him to compete.

Now Rob and Wills Wing are rewarded with a great victory from a scrappy pilot who took on the big dogs and showed them how to fly. (Well, I wasn't there, so I'm just looking at the daily scores.) I did notice that the last two days were blown out. There were a total of four valid days, and this will cut down a bit on the validity of the meet, but no more so than the Florida meets.

Scores and official commentary at: http://www.justfly.com/pages/lvscores.htm.

"Official" Vs. "current" US pilot ranking

Sun, May 21 2000, 3:30:02 am GMT

Chris Arai|Glen Volk|Jerz Rossignol|Jim Lee|Kari Castle|Larry Tudor|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mike Barber|NTSS 2000|Paris Williams|Ryan Glover|WPRS

Jim Lee, <jlee@laplaza.org>, wrote to remind me that I may be causing some confusion when I publish the "current" US pilot ranking (https://OzReport.com/Ozv4n103.htm). Unlike the CIVL WPRS system, the USHGA NTSS pilot ranking system ranks pilots once a year and they get to hold that ranking for the next year. The purpose of this system (as far as the USHGA is concerned) is to select pilots for US teams (this is a paraphrase of the USHGA rulebook).

The "current" ranking that I've published is like the CIVL WPRS points, in that it reflects the results of the latest meets, but it doesn't have any "official" status with the USHGA. Just because someone is ranked at 1st in the "current" ranking doesn't mean that he or she is the "official" number 1 US pilot. It just means that he or she is ahead in the race for the first spot in the "official" ranking taken at the end of the year.

By the way, did you notice that "currently" Kari Castle is ranked in the number seven spot. She has the very real chance of becoming the first US women to be on the US National team (all she has to do is get into sixth, and she has a very good shot at doing that). (Tova Heaney was on the Australian National team, and Trish the Flying Fish is on the Kiwi National team.)

Here is the "official" 2000 NTSS points ranking for the top ten US pilots:

Lee Jim
Barber Mike
Arai Chris
Williams Paris
Glover Ryan
Gibson Mark
Kennett Slade
Rossignol Jersey
Volk Glen
Tudor Larry

You might notice that four of these pilots aren't even flying Class I competitions any more.

Discuss ""Official" Vs. "current" US pilot ranking" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Vario Survey

Sun, Apr 30 2000, 3:00:02 pm GMT

ACC|Chris Arai|Martin "Marty" Beckenbach|Robert Sweeney|vario

Robert Sweeney, <soarxc@earthlink.net>, asked me to do a rough survey of the varios used at the ACC to get some idea of what competition pilots were using. I thought that that was a good idea, and I went down the line, without a pencil or piece of paper, and tried to get a sense of the pilot's choices.

I would say that the number one choice was the Flytec. I didn't get close enough to check each model number, but I saw at least one 4005. I also saw some 4030's, and I assume that there were more than a few. Tony Marty, a Swiss pilot, told me that he unplugged his GPS from the Flytec, and doesn't live speed-to-fly, or fly glide from the instrument.

The next most popular, and quite popular it was, was the Tangent. This is definitely the competition pilot's choice if only because Chris Arai, one of the top US competition pilots, makes them. I guess I was at first a little surprised to see so many (given how much pilot's dislike their boxy shape), but then I was also gratified to see so many.

Next came the Ball Graphics Comp. Clearly there is a class of pilots that love the big screen, and the advanced functionality of the Ball GC. The one thing I did notice is that it seemed as though every pilot who had a Ball GC also had another (cheaper) vario on their other down tube. Ball GC's have a reputation for being unreliable (although I've had few problems), and this was a pretty graphic demonstration of how the pilots that fly with them feel. I couldn't swear that every pilot with a Ball GC flew with a backup.

The Brauniger IQ/Comp had the least number of adherents, perhaps 4 to 6. The fact that the Brauniger hasn't had great representation here in the US among hang glider pilots, may explain its low numbers. I understand that pilots in Europe and other countries are much more likely to use Brauniger varios.

So the vario of choice among the pilots competing at the ACC – Flytec. Go Team Flytec!

Discuss "Vario Survey" at the Oz Report forum   link»

ACC – Florida struts its stuff »

Sat, Apr 29 2000, 2:00:00 pm EDT

ACC|André Wolfe|Betinho Schmitz|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Ghostbuster|Glen Volk|Jim Lee|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Reto Schaerli

Results: http://www.justfly.com/pages/accscores.htm

Gary Osoba, «go777», writes:

1pm:

Winds at 100'agl, above the tree line, 10-15 mph from 305 degrees. They stay about there, gaining about 1 or 2 mph by the time you reach 6,000' and are about 5 degrees more westerly from 300 degrees.

Clouds won't predominate, but some should form around 6,000'. Climbs should be pretty good today.

5 pm:

Winds will shift about 10 degrees further west at the surface and 20 degrees further west aloft from about 280 degrees at 14 mph.

I would expect things to dry out and go blue the latter part of the task, but climbs should go higher to about 7,000' in the better thermals this afternoon.

The task committee is brave and calls a 65-mile crosswind task through the thin smoke of the fires to the south. With good climb rates predicted we expect to be able to get through the smoke in one jump.

A report from a wind dummy aloft tells us that the winds are a bit higher than predicted, at about 20 mph out of the west. We are going to have to battle upwind on our glides to keep from being pushed too far to the east.

The cu's start forming early, and they in fact do dominate the early sky, although they will thin out a bit later. During the launch there is actually a down cycle as the area around Quest gets shaded and a few pilots land while many others get quite low. Those of us who have yet to launch feel lucky.

The lift near Quest turns out to be spotty. For example, I join Paris Williams on a WW Fusion and Diego Bussinger on an ATOS south of the start gate, on course, in order to get reasonable lift. I have crossed the start line at 1:45 PM at 2,500' (way below most folks), but hope to be able to get back up and get the 2 PM start gate.

Fortunately, we all get up to at least 4,500' (not nearly at cloud base) and I'm able to swing around back to the north and go through the mile wide start gate. Thanks to Reto Schaerli through Glen Volk, for the notion/instructions of putting the ends of the start gate in as waypoints. Including these waypoints in the route puts a start line on the Garmin map and makes it easy to see when you cross it. I needed to have that reassurance as I rounded the eastern-most outside start gate point just after two. I saw Brain Porter on the Swift, Jim Lee on the WW Fusion, Jim Zeiset on the ATOS, and Mark Mullholland on the Bright Star Millennium 2,000' feet over me at cloud base.

As we all headed south, with many pilots taking the 1:45 PM start gate, the smoke of the fire loomed ten miles out in front. The big question was would it be thick enough to close out the sun's heat and the resultant lift for a large area. Being low and behind, I stopped half way for some 400 fpm and watched as I climbed. Moving on I saw one of the ATOSes that started above and in front of me low just north the Seminole airport. The fires were on the south side of the airport.

As I approached the airport I could see Jim Lee, Brian, and JZ circling slowly just north of the smoke. I caught better lift a few miles to the north and was able to climb faster. Sure is nice to have folks out in front to help you gauge the value of any lift. Flying over to Brian we circled a bit more to 6,500' and then headed south through the smoke.

I was to hear later that Paris Williams started at cloud base, flew through the smoke, and landed on the other side. Brian and I flew the two or three miles through the smoke (on the down wind side), found bits of lift, and were quite high on the other side. A couple of flex wing pilots flew a bit to the west of us nearer the source of the smoke, and seemed to do almost as well.

Brian stopped for 200 fpm (that later turned into 500 fpm) just south of the intersection of 33 and 474. I kept going to about 5 miles northwest of Wallaby Ranch to find 600 fpm to 6,500'. I was never to see Brian again as he kept to a more westerly track.

There was plenty of lift and lots of clouds marking the areas of lift. All the clouds were working. You just had to triangulate to figure out where you would hit the cloud given their high speeds out of the west. Every once in a while I would catch a glimpse of a pilot who started earlier out to the west of me.

The strong lift (600 fpm for the most part) was smooth enough to make the flying enjoyable and provided the power needed to fight the strong winds. Every once in a while I would turn up wind under an obvious street, but it would take only a minute to find a core and then I would be drifting backwards again.

South of Haines City an Aeros Stealth pilot showed me a great core and Betinho came in with us. We were now moving with great confidence, and jumping a bit of a blue hole just north of Lake Wales proved to be a cinch. I spied Campbell Bowen on a Ghostbuster just ahead and he helped me leave the lift early and follow from below to the lakes just to the south of Lake Wales.

I spotted Chris Arai high and my west over Crooked Lake and as Campbell Bowen had disappeared (he turned up wind under a cloud street, but was unable to find lift for a long time), I followed Chris from below heading to the south west, not bothering to climb up to his altitude. We spotted Mike Barber struggling up from the west side of Crooked Lake, and it looked like he was finally getting better lift.

Chris and I found an even better core which Michael didn't get into until later to Mike's south, and got plenty high. Going on glide with Chris to my right to the west we tried to get on the west side of Lake Clinch. Chris found the best core and we climbed at 700 fpm to a little over 5,000'. My vario said to go to goal from about 12 miles out. Chris was a couple of hundred feet over me, but his vario with his polar wasn't showing go to goal.

The glide in was strong with lots of turbulence that made the wires (such as they are) go slack. I was trying hard to make sure that Chris didn't catch me, as I've always been beaten out by flex wing pilots on final glide. Those jets just go faster than I.

I can see that there is one flex wing glider at goal. It turns out to be Andre Wolf who started at 1:45 PM, and beats my overall time by 2 minutes. A few seconds after I cross the finish line, Joel Rebbecchi zooms in right under me to be the second flex wing pilot in. I'm sure glad that he saw me, as I never saw him.

Bruce Barmakian in his ATOS comes in a couple of minutes later having started at 1:45 PM. Brian Porter is next in ten minutes later scoring the same points as Bruce.

Andre was in third place before the last day, but on the strength of his fast flight and early start he is able to jump into first place ahead of his countryman Betinho Schmitz.

Magic Wallaby

Tue, Apr 25 2000, 9:00:04 am GMT

Andre Wolf|Wallaby Open 1999

Andre Wolf writes:

I came here last year to fly the Wallaby Open expecting just another normal hang gliding competition. What I found was much more. The atmosphere of the Ranch amazed me. I simply felt as if I had found the best place on earth to be. The friendship and happiness were immediately contagious. My first thought was that I could never miss this meet from then on. I also remembered something I read about the Ranch: “You may never want to leave.”

This year these thoughts have even grown inside me. I feel that, in years to come, when I shall retire from competition I will still find myself a one-man comp and for sure it will be Wallaby. Even later, when I could not fly anymore, I would like to be here to help people feel all these emotions that I am feeling now.

At last I would like to address Malcolm a few words and I think I will be speaking on behalf of everybody here in this meet, especially all the Brazilian pilots and families. Malcolm, thank you for creating this little paradise and sharing it with us. Thank you, Malcolm, for all you have been doing for the sport of hang gliding. But above all, thank you Malcolm for being this nice and gentle host we all know that you are.

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ACC – virtually finished »

Tue, Apr 25 2000, 9:00:02 am GMT

ACC|Chris Arai|G.W. Meadows|Jim Lee|Mike Barber

G.W. Meadows also tried to test out the use of a virtual goal line. I'm a big proponent of virtual goal lines (no requirement on height), but I'm in the minority. I think that G.W. could have gotten away with it, but he made a strategic mistake, which others and I didn't catch before the pilots' meeting.

G.W. set a real goal line 500 feet behind the virtual goal line. He wanted a real goal line to back up the virtual goal line in case there was a problem with virtual goal lines. He had hoped that this trial method would encourage pilots to try something new. It backfired.

First Mike Barber, then Jim Lee, and finally Chris Arai objected. This was too much. The "new" G.W. knew he had been defeated and he quickly changed the program. Now the real goal line would be the goal line that counts, and the virtual goal line would be the trial.

I think now that G.W. could have won the day if he had only placed the virtual goal and the real goal in the same spot (I know why he didn't). This would have raised fewer uncertainties in the minds of the pilots.

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ACC – the flight »

Sun, Apr 23 2000, 12:00:04 pm EDT

ACC|Bo Hagewood|Chris Arai|CIVL|David Glover|dust devil|Felix Ruehle|Ghostbuster|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Joe Bostik|record|USHGA

ACC|Bo Hagewood|Chris Arai|CIVL|David Glover|dust devil|Felix Ruehle|Ghostbuster|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Joe Bostik|Paris Williams|record|USHGA

The Atlantic Coast Championships start tomorrow at Quest Air. Given the very light winds, no cu's, but predictions of good lift to 5,000', many of us decided to fly from the Ranch to Quest. It was quite warm, with cirrus at 20,000'. We had some huge dust devils at the Ranch after 1 PM, and there were still plenty of pilots here flying around (especially since no one had flown in the last two days).

Smooth, fat, 800 fpm thermals right at the Ranch got us all right on our way, and I believe everyone who tried made it 20 miles to the north to Quest. Now all our gliders are still set up, tied to the thick tied down cables at Quest.

Felix Ruehle, the Exxtacy and ATOS designer, arrived last night, and he flew his ATOS (which Hansjoerg had been flying) up to Quest. Paris Williams moved up to Joe Bostiks' WW Fusion (the all Mylar one). Bo Hagewood gets Paris'. It looks like there might be 20 rigid wing pilots are the ACC, out of 60. Mario from Flight Design takes over for Joseph on a Ghostbuster.

When we got to Quest, everything was very relaxed. The place has been cleaned up quite a bit, and I was very pleased to see that the stairs to the second floor of the clubhouse had been fixed up a bit. David Glover, USHGA President, is over at Quest making sure that they do their best to get pilots in the air quickly and smoothly. We all got a great dinner in honor of Mark P.'s record 192-mile flight, in the air-conditioned clubhouse (it was a bit too cold for my tastes).

G.W. is using 200-meter diameter cylinders only for the turnpoints. No cameras and no FAI photo sectors. He has a 2 mile start gate (so hopefully Chris Arai won't miss it this time). He is combining virtual goal lines and actual ones, and taking the times from the virtual goals, unless there is a problem with this method. He is also using the CIVL rules for canceling a day (scoring pilots were they were at at the time the day was canceled). We appreciate his willingness to be flexible and applying the rules to encourage and support the pilots.

Staff photographer: David Glover

Wallaby Open – the flex wing results

Sat, Apr 22 2000, 9:00:01 am EDT

André Wolfe|carbon fiber|Chris Arai|Glen Volk|Jim Lee|Joe Bostik|Kari Castle|Luiz Niemeyer|Manfred Ruhmer|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Rich Burton|Wallaby Open 2000

You'll find them at http://www.davisstraub.com/wallabyopen.

There were some interesting results in the flex wing category. Paris Williams, who was ninth, was the second US pilot after Jim Lee in sixth. This is the first time that Paris has been flying with a manufactured topless glider. He is flying a WW Fusion with the fancy carbon fiber control frame. Glen Volk did well on his Moyes Litespeed coming in tenth. And, Joseph Bostik, returning to competition after so many years of absence, was the next American at 13th, also flying a WW Fusion.

The top five pilots have been among the top pilots in the world of late. Two pilots flying Icaro Laminars finished first and second: Manfred Ruhmer and Luiz Niemeyer. Betinho on a Moyes Litespeed was able to beat Andre Wolf on an Aeros Stealth. Joel Rebbecchi did quite well on his Moyes Litespeed and came in fifth.

Kari Castle, after not flying hang gliders for a year, came back strong on one of the new WW Mylar Fusions and finished right behind Joe Bostik. Rich Burton, not known as a regular competition pilot, did well on his Icaro Laminar equipped with a WW carbon fiber control frame. This control frame may become the standard of the industry.

Mike Barber didn't do as well as expected, having flown one day without bothering to zip up his undersurface. Chris Arai missed the start gate on the third round and got the lowest points possible for the day. Otherwise he was flying with the front flex wing gaggle (or, at least was when I was there to see him on the last day).

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Wallaby Open – 70+ mile triangle

Thu, Apr 20 2000, 5:30:00 pm EDT

André Wolfe|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Dave Sharp|Gary Osoba|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Jim Lee|Manfred Ruhmer|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Quest Air|sailplane|Wallaby Open 2000|Wallaby Ranch

Wallaby Open – 70+ mile triangle

We should have made it 90 plus miles. Unfortunately, Gary Osoba and I call for no clouds, and there are in fact clouds for much of the course lines. The fastest times were about 2 hours and 40 minutes, so we got back about 4:30 PM.

The forecast was for very light winds out of the east, and a convergence in the middle of the state later in the day. The soarcast had a slight inversion at 2,800', but that was expected to break apart early with climbs to 5,400'. Moderate lift was the prediction.

The 8 PM windcast.

Because of the forecast of no clouds, the task committee decided to not call a 90-mile triangle. Yesterday was the longest task every called in a meet in the eastern US, and now they wanted to call the longest triangle. They decided instead to call a turnpoint at the west end of Deen Still Road, a turnpoint at Gator, north east of Groveland, and back to Wallaby Ranch. A real race. (Maybe this is the longest triangle called in an eastern meet?)

The meet organizers swapped the start times for the different glider classes today. For the first three rounds that rigid wing gliders have been launching first and taking the start gate at 1:30 PM. Now it was the flex wing pilots chance to go first.

The rigid wing pilots were quite happy to wait. Now we would have a chance to have all the flex wing pilots in front of us. Lots of thermal markers.

With good conditions, the launches went very quickly and we really didn't have to wait. By 1:15 PM we were ready to launch for a 1:45 PM first start gate, fifteen minutes after the flex wing's last start gate at 1:30 PM. We expected all the flex wing pilots to take the last start gate.

Paris Williams gets ready to launch

So does Mike Barber

Dave Sharp, Brian Porter, Hansjoerg Truttman, and I were the rigid wing pilots that got the first start gate, and there were plenty of flex wing pilots right in front of us, even though they were supposed to start 15 minutes before us.

Hansjoerg in his gear

We flew fast west down on Deen Still, passing small gaggles and looking for the best lift. We only needed one thermal to get us high enough to make the turnpoint. We could see another gaggle just past the turnpoint, so we knew it would be no problem rounding the turnpoint and getting back up.

Even that gaggle was a waste of time, and we continued on without stopping as the gaggle dissipated as we got there, still with only one thermal after the start gate passing flex wings right and left. Just before the Green Swamp I could see a sailplane turning. There were also twenty flex wing pilots out in front heading for that area.

The thermal that the sailplane showed us turned out to be 800 fpm, and that got us to 5,000', which was plenty of altitude to cross the Green Swamp without the slightest concern.


We four rigid wing pilots were now with the first gaggle, and there were no other flex wings in front to show us the way. We had caught the flex wings, who had started out fifteen minutes ahead of us, within the first twenty miles. This shows just how much quicker you can go if there are folks marking thermals out in front of you.

We had plenty of clouds on the first leg, but they were gone after the first turnpoint, and we had headed out toward Gator with the front pilots spreading out to search for lift. We (Hansjoerg, Brian, Dave, and I) are now flying with Manfred, Betinho, Joel Rebbechi, Andre Wolf, Jim Lee, Chris Arai, and other top flex wing pilots. We don't see any other rigid wings.

Just west of Quest Air we find another good thermal and with about a dozen pilots in the first gaggle, we can't work the core as well as we would like. Still we get high fast enough. I'm noticing that Manfred's advantage is that he can glide a little better than the other flex wings (even the very best pilots). He climbs at about the same rate as anyone else.

Without clouds we don't take many chances going to Gator, at one point flying toward a sailplane that really isn't doing that much. There is actually reasonable lift in spite of the lack of indicators.

After the turnpoint at Gator, some pilots head southeast toward highway 27 and the east side of the big lakes. Dave Sharp is out ahead heading straight south on the west side of three large lakes, but turns as soon as we see Betinho and Andre getting some lift.

We are now all east of the course line and heading south toward Clermont. Manfred finds the next thermal and then Betinho finds a better one to the south of the Citrus Tower. Dave who is on top tells me he is going to head straight for the Ranch, hoping to beat Brian Porter and Hansjoerg. We are twenty miles out. I keep climbing.

Heading south I can watch and listen to Dave's progress. Brian is out in front to the east. Brianhas made some substantial changes to his Swift (canting the tips) after three frustrating days, and it is flying much better. His glide is about the same as ours, but much faster. His climb is now a bit better and about the same as every one else's.

I move to the west a bit to get behind Dave, on a direct line toward the Ranch, and under the first clouds that are appearing after our run into the blue. Dave has missed the northern most clouds that form after he has gone through the area heading south. I find good lift and Manfred, Hansjoerg, and a bald eagle join me. The other flex wing pilots in the first gaggle have stayed east along 27 and they are doing ok, but we are doing better.

This thermal gets us high, it turns out to be way too high, as there is nothing but lift all the way to goal.

A convergence line has set up right on the course line and clouds are now forming like crazy between us at 15 miles out and the Ranch. Hansjoerg left the thermal early to go cover Dave Sharp ahead and low to the west of course line. Manfred and I, minus the eagle, head toward the clouds and are soon joined by three flex wing pilots from the eastern side. Brian Porter is five minutes out in front of us, low and heading fast to goal.

Manfred and I are pulled in as much as we can, and it is now very hard to get down. He opens his pod, spreads his knees, and takes off the VG. I rock up trying to put on as much drag as possible, but still I can't get as low as he can. I had thought about opening the harness, but that seemed a bit much. It wasn't.

There is strong lift all the way back and then it takes me forever to get down at the Ranch. Brian is first, then Manfred, myself, followed by three flex wing pilots, then Dave and Hansjoerg.

Fifty-two pilots make goal. Yes, the task has once again been under called in Florida. It’s just that kind of place.

Wallaby Open – short takes

Wed, Apr 19 2000, 8:00:02 am EDT

Chris Arai|Ghostbuster|Jim Lee|Kari Castle|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Paris Williams|Rich Burton|Wallaby Open 2000|Wills Wing

Chris Arai|Ghostbuster|Jim Lee|John "Ole" Olson|Kari Castle|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Paris Williams|Rich Burton|Wallaby Open 2000|Wills Wing

(?-i)John "Ole" Olson|Chris Arai|Ghostbuster|Jim Lee|Kari Castle|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Paris Williams|Rich Burton|Wallaby Open 2000|Wills Wing

Chris Arai|Gary Davis|Ghostbuster|Jim Lee|John "Ole" Olson|Kari Castle|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Paris Williams|Rich Burton|Wallaby Open 2000|Wills Wing

Chris Arai|Gary Davis|Ghostbuster|Jim Lee|John "Ole" Olson|Kari Castle|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Gibson|Paris Williams|Rich Burton|Wallaby Open 2000|Wills Wing

Paris Williams, the young guy on the Wills Wing team, is doing great, coming in eighth, five minutes behind Jim Lee, on day two. Chris Arai and Kari Castle came in ten minutes later.

Sugarman (Gary Davis) broke up his brand new (four day old) Laminar MR 2000 while landing at goal on day two. He swooped in low over the goal line going 70 mph over the ground, lwhipped the glider around, and was set up perfectly with his feet almost on the ground when everything went wrong. one wing went up and turned 180 degrees. Sugarman went through the down tubes, and hit the ground. At least one leading edge was flapping in the breeze. Fortunately, Rich Burton from AV8 is on hand with many spar parts. With the sail torn, Gibbo was able to patch it up and get the aluminum back together.

Mark Gibson pulled off his all green Mylar custom Ghostbuster sail. Now we'll no longer be able to spot him from 5 miles away. He claims that he put a hole in it landing in cactus. Given Gibbo's sail repair abilities, this doesn't really ring true. Mark P. says that he cored through Gibbo three times on day two in his stock Ghostbuster. It’s unfortunate, as Mark put a lot of work into making the Mylar sail work on the Ghostbuster, but is apparently was all for naught.

I went and asked Gibbo twice again about his sail. I told him that I was putting on my "Reporter from Hell" hat. He said that he put a hole in the sail landing in cactus. He said it with a smile, and I didn't believe a word of it.

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Flew the ATOS

Thu, Apr 13 2000, 5:30:01 pm EDT

Chris Arai|George Ferris|Johann Posch|Mike Barber|Wills Wing

Don't believe a word I say. Dismiss every word of this article. Fly any other glider. Stay with what you have. Don't take a demo flight on a rigid wing glider. Be happy with what you have.

I really could not believe it when I took off on my new ATOS today. After all the other rigid wing gliders I've been flying lately, I had almost forgotten how really great this glider is. Yes, I got a couple of flights on George Ferris's ATOS over the last month, but these were nothing compared with flying this new ATOS.

Maybe not ATOSes are the same. Maybe it's just this ATOS. Maybe all the rest of them aren’t this good. Maybe I can only say these things about my ATOS.

This ATOS seems quite light, a lot like the Top Secret (but not quite). I haven't had a chance to weigh it.

Its handling today in light conditions was very light, a lot like the Top Secret. I experienced it as a lot easier to handle than any other rigid wing glider. Maybe it was just the conditions.

I found a nice thermal on the north side of the Ranch and proceeded to climb through everyone in the vicinity, and I mean some of them started out thousands of feet over me. Only Chris Arai came close.

My new ATOS, with me attached and holding on, then proceeded to catch up with Mike Barber on his new small Litespeed. Mike was five miles away. In three thermals I caught him, beating him on glide and climb every time, and then passed him. Mike was complaining about some change he had made to his glider (Mike is always complaining, but we don't hold it against him).

Chris Arai on a Wills Wing Fusion and Jerzy Rossignol on an Aeros Stealth went after Mike also, but they couldn't glide and climb with the ATOS at all. Only Johann Posch on his ATOS came close.

We headed to the west end of Dean Still Road about 12 miles out from the Ranch. Chris, always the gentleman, found some lift to the north when I got low near the turnpoint and told Johann and I to come join him. We stayed while Chris again found lift at the turnpoint and we again joined him. Unfortunately, Chris left the lift soon thereafter while Johann and I got high enough to make the turnpoint and get back in the area of lift.

Jerz was landing just to the north of us at this point, Mike was struggling to the south, and Chris was low heading for the Green Swamp. Johann and I were able to dig our way out (me from 600 feet) and get up high as Chris landed.

While we had to fight our way to the west to get the turnpoint, this thermal would be all we needed to get back to the Ranch. Johann, who found the thermal, was on top well over 6,000' and started out in front getting a half-mile on me. Mike who joined him was just a little ways below him and left before I did. I was on the bottom at 5,500' as I finally joined them on glide.

You guessed it, the new ATOS smoked 'em. Mike's new small Litespeed is no Gerolf glider. He's going to have to work on it. I was able to catch and pass Johann by using a bit of stealth. I was ahead of him before he realized what was going on. He could have beaten me to goal if he had only watched what I was doing and flown faster.

Look, this was all a horrible accident. It doesn't reflect on the glider at all. The pilot just got lucky today. It means nothing. Wait until the real competition starts on Sunday. This is all just a bunch of drivel. Don't worry, be happy.

Big dogs at the Florida meets

Wed, Mar 15 2000, 3:00:03 pm EST

Allan Barnes|André Wolfe|Betinho Schmitz|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Dave Sharp|Davis Straub|Ghostbuster|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Jim Lee|Joe Bostik|Johann Posch|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Manfred Ruhmer|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Poustinchian|Mike Barber|Oleg Bondarchuk|Paris Williams|Richard Walbec|Robin Hamilton|World Pilot Ranking Scheme

The Florida meets have proven quite attractive to the top pilots. And since the two meets are only a day apart we expect pilots who attend the Wallaby Open, will most likely go up to the ACC meet also.

I've asked Malcolm and G.W for the names of the highest-ranking pilots who are coming to their meets. Here's what I've learned so far. The number following their name is their Word (WPRS) ranking.

The Wallaby Open:

In Class II:

Brian Porter (2), Johnny Carr (on a Ghostbuster and not a Swift) (4), Hansjoerg Truttman (ATOS) (5), Davis Straub (ATOS) (6), and Johann Posch (ATOS) (9). Also Jim Zeiset (18), Gibbo (Ghostbuster) (21), Campbell Bowen (Ghostbuster) (24), and Mark Poustinchian (Ghostbuster). Dave Sharp (ATOS) (1), according to Malcolm, is a strong maybe. I've heard that he won't be able to come.

In Class I:

Betinho Schmitz (1), Andre Wolf (3), Joel Rebechhi (4), Oleg Bondarchuck (5), Jim Lee (6), Manfred Ruhmer (8), Ron Richardson (11), Richard Walbec (13), Steve Cook (14), Sandy Dittmar (15) Robin Hamilton (20), Mike Barber (24), Chris Arai (28), Tony Marty (34), Pedro Matos (36), Luiz Niemeyer (40), Luis Rizo (41), and Gustavo Saldanha (50) have committed to the Wallaby Open. Joe Bostik, former US National Champion will also be there along with Paris Williams. Malcolm says that Allan Barnes (2), Steve Moyes (7), Gerard Thevenot (16), and Josef Zweckmayr (41) are strong maybes.

GW writes:

I've got over 40 people entered, but the top folks wait until the last minute - especially without the threat of the meet filling up. Quest is BIG and can handle lots of pilots. I expect a 60 –70 pilot show at this point. I've HEARD of ALOT of people coming – they just haven't told me for sure. Not unusual.

Hmmm, maybe folks should contact GW soon, as it looks like it is filling up.

At the ACC

In Class II:

Brian Porter (2), Davis Straub (ATOS) (6), and Johann Posch (ATOS) (9). Also Jim Zeiset (18), Gibbo (Ghostbuster) (21), Campbell Bowen (Ghostbuster) (24), and Mark Poustinchian (Ghostbuster). I'll bet some of the other rigid wing pilots that go to Wallaby will go to the ACC also.

In Class I:

Oleg Bondarchuck, Jerzy Rossignol, Joe Bostik, Tony Marty, Paris Williams, and I assume a bunch of others that make it to the Wallaby Open.

You can sign up for either or both meets. Just go to http://www.wallaby.com and http://www.justfly.com.

Gibbo spins his own tale

Fri, Mar 10 2000, 3:15:01 pm GMT

Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mary Ellen Fennessey|Mike Eberle|Russell "Russ" Brown|Sarah Bowman|Steve Kroop|Wallaby Open 1999

Mark Gibson, <GIBBOGEAR1@aol.com>, writes:

March 9, 2000, was the day the Georgia boarder was finally crossed!! Flying my spaceship (Ghostbuster) near cloud base looking down at the St. Mary's River was a very special moment for me.

(editor's note: Perhaps Gibbo is remembering ruefully another space ship that took away first place from him on the last day of competition at the 1999 Wallaby Open.)

I'm so busy now in my Trike shop that I'm only able to get out and fly on 100+ mile looking days and so many other pilots can shoot for it daily, luck would be on my side today though!

Mike Eberle arranged a small Ghostbuster get together at Quest Air and 4 of us showed up. I was of course a little late. Mark P, Campbell Bowman and Steve Kroop were already set up and preparing their harnesses. I begged them to wait so we could fly together, but they just laughed at me.

The day was looking so awesome by now that all of us thought we had an honest chance of making the border. Mike Eberle put his money where his mouth is and announced he would pay $1000 dollars to every GB that made the crossing today. Hmm, $1000. Steve Kroop (Flytec man) upped the pot with $300 or a new map GPS for the pilot who used a Flytec vario. Wow, lets go!!!

Quest Air has been getting a large share of the long flights this summer, because pilots are able to get on the unseasonably dry plains north of the flight park earlier, and thus can fly on the fastest part of the course line longer. We were taking off a little before noon and the clouds to the north look like 3:00 PM!

(editor's note: These plains are usually known as swamps.)

I launched last, but quickly caught the other GB's after getting released in a 800fpm boomer straight to cloud base. I pull in the flaps and go on 45mph glide…wow I'm already flying faster then best glide and its not even noon? Slow down Gibbo, I warn myself don't get to excited this early and bomb out!!!

Campbell and I break away a bit, he's in a bit of a racing mood too, so our S2F stays high. We make time to Ocala only getting to 1500 agl once and on more then a few occasions flying wing tip to wing tip in 800 fpm lift right to cloud base (Love the sound of my screaming Flytec!) On one climb we both whited out at the same time. My last view of Campbell he was letting off flaps and retracting them preparing for a dive to the NW. I was doing the same and diving for the NE.

(editor's note: Campbell and Gibbo are big boys, and have the ballast to outrun the other two featherweights.)

After Ocala, Campbell and I split up, he takes a route pretty much over I-75 slightly to the west. I choose to fly even more to the west under a nice line of clouds. When I get to them I'm a little late and they have spread out shadowing the ground. I end up making a real slow climb from 1200 agl back to cloud base.

(editor's note: In a southwest wind Gibbo has positioned himself for a downwind run to the Georgia border.)

I get some good air after this slow point and find myself SW of Gainesville at the beginning of a convergence line that is directly on course to the Georgia finger. For the next 60 miles I pretty much stay between 6100 and 4500 ft! As I'm cruising, I keep looking back to see if any other pilots are making it too, but the clouds are drying up behind me as fast as the are forming ahead. I'm finally fast enough to stay on the front edge of the convergence, unlike so many other attempts when I missed it and bombed out in the blue.

I ask my Dad, Albo, to get ahead of me and check out the LZ's across the state line because on the map it looks like only trees. He reports palmettos and slash piles for LZ's - not really desirable for a carbon space ship!

Luck would continue for me though and I would stay pretty high until St. George, Georgia, at this point I'm down to 2000 ft and its blued out every where. I start searching for a LZ. To the NW of town I spot a green field, awesome! When I get there, of course, there's a power line running right thru the middle of it, well beggars can't be choosey. I pull on the flaps and set up for landing gently touching down 140 miles form Quest and at the top of the Georgia finger!

Awesome!!! Getting the record now means I can work in peace while cloud streets are forming over my shop! ha-ah. I would like to thank all the guys that make my flying possible: Mike Eberle and the guys at Flight Designs for building and supplying me with the most advanced rigid wing on the market today (GhostBuster), Steve Kroop for the best and most reliable Vario/GPS combination and the coolest bracket (Flytec), and Russell Brown for the bitchin' 914 tug and awesome flight park (Quest).

Discuss "Gibbo spins his own tale" at the Oz Report forum   link»

US pilot ranking

Sat, Feb 26 2000, 5:40:02 pm EST

Chris Arai|CIVL|Jim Lee|USHGA|World Pilot Ranking Scheme

Chris Arai|CIVL|Jim Lee|John "Ole" Olson|USHGA|World Pilot Ranking Scheme

(?-i)John "Ole" Olson|Chris Arai|CIVL|Jim Lee|USHGA|World Pilot Ranking Scheme

Chris Arai|CIVL|Jim Lee|USHGA|World Pilot Ranking Scheme

Your editor, through a whole series of miscommunications, has screwed up regarding how pilots will be ranked based on their scoring in the competitions in the US in 2000. This is doubly embarrassing because he is also responsible to the USHGA Competition Committee for correctly calculating US pilot ranking. The fact that I wasn't aware of how pilot ranking is to take place in 2000 came to me as quite a shock.

First of all, it is how my understanding that there will be no difference between Class A and Class B meets in how US National Team Selection points will be earned for at least the year 2000. If you go to a regional meet, that is a Class B meet, or if you go to the Long Horn Championship meet in Texas in August, the ranking system used to determine the ranking points that you get from these meets will be the same one used for the Class A meets.

Pilots who attend the Pan American meet will also receive ranking points based on the same ranking system as used in the Class A meets. This is true even though this meet is CIVL sanctioned (Class I) and not USHGA-sanctioned. BTW, it is also true that if you go to a foreign meet that is CIVL-sanctioned, you will also get US NTSS ranking points based on the same ranking system.

None of the Class B meets in the US are currently CIVL sanctioned. Therefore, you can't receive WPRS points (world ranking system) from your attendance at those meets.

The ranking system used to assign ranking points to pilots based on their performance at a meet has also changed. All pilots who attend a meet that has at least one currently ranked pilot will get at least some points (if they scored above zero). This is true whether the meet is Class A or B or CIVL-sanctioned, because, again, the same ranking system is used at all these meets.

The ranking system used to award ranking points to the winning pilot of any given meet is the same as that used previously. It is based on the points brought to the meet by ranking pilots. You can find the formulas at http://www.ushga.org/comprule.htm. Go to section 12.5.

The system used to award ranking points to the rest of the pilots has changed. Now the non-winning pilot's ranking points will equal the (pilot's total score at the meet/winner's total score at the meet) x (winner's ranking points without the ten percent bonus). In other words, the non-winning pilot's ranking points will be a percentage of the winning pilot's ranking point (without the 10 percent bonus) with the percentage determined by the ratio of the non-winning pilot's score divided by the winning pilot's score.

Jim Lee, «jlee», coauthor along with Chris Arai, of this new ranking system, provides an example:

Lets say the winner has 8000 points at the end of a meet. A "pilot" has 7500 points. In the rule book example, where the winner earns 520 points, the "pilot" earns: (7500/8000)(520-10%)= (.9375)(473)= (443) The winner earns 520 points and "pilot" earns 443.

This ranking system will provide all pilots who enter a USHGA or CIVL- sanctioned meet in which at least one ranked pilot attends, with at least some points, if they fly. While you don't get points just for showing up, like you did under the old system, you do get some points if you score more than zero.

The miscommunication referred to above does not effect that rankings that I publish earlier this week.

The new Competition Rule Book which contains the new formula has not yet been publish (at least I haven’t seen it), and it is not yet up on the USHGA web site. The system of calculating the validity of a meet, has also been changed. It is now as follows:

MINIMUM MEET VALIDITY REQUIREMENTS

1. The only other factor affecting the NTSS points earned for a given placing in a meet is the meet validity factor, which is a measure of whether or not the final placings in the meet can be expected to accurately reflect the relative ability of the pilots who competed. The minimum meet validity assumes that the winner scored by the GAP system will accumulate at least 4,680 points in a valid meet.

2. VALIDITY PENALTY: If a meet does not meet the minimum validity requirements above, the NTSS points for each placing in the meet shall be reduced as follows:

a. Divide the winner’s points by 4,680 to obtain the validity factor.

b. Multiply this percentage by the NTSS points which would have been earned for each placing if computed without consideration of the minimum validity requirements.

For Example: If the meet winner of the sample meet computed in 12.5D3 had scored only 2,950 points, then the validity factor would be 2,950/4,680 = .630. This factor would be multiplied by each placing, so that, for example, first place would now be worth 328 NTSS points, etc.

You can find the latest version of the USHGA Competition Rule Book at http://www.davisstraub.com/Glide/competitionrulebook.htm.

Short takes »

Fri, Jan 21 2000, 5:00:01 am GMT

Chris Arai|Marty Michelsen|Rick Colson

Marty Michelsen, <US166@worldspy.net>, writes:

April 1-2: The 15th Annual Oceanside Open will be held at Oceanside Oregon. Sponsored by the Oregon Hang Gliding Association (OHGA) based in Portland, Oregon. Contact: Rick Colson, OHGA flight Director (503) 655-7378.

Chris Arai, <chris@araidesign.com>, writes:

I got a message from Angelo that a review of reserves came out in the Dec 99 issue of Vol Libre regarding a comparison of the Conar chutes with others that was quite favorable. He has the results on his website: http://www.metamorfosi.com.

I'm flying with one of Angelo's new parachute, so it is good to here this.

Discuss "Short takes" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Rotor Harness »

Thu, Nov 18 1999, 6:00:02 pm EST

André Wolfe|David Glover|Scott Rutledge|weather|Worlds 1999

Nene Rotor from Brazil has come out with a streamlined harness, one of many super slick harnesses that were on display at the Worlds in Italy last July and August.  At the time I wanted to do an article on the various cool harnesses, but I couldn't get enough pictures of pilots in the harnesses.  They all wanted to launch just as I wanted them to line down in their harnesses.

Gerolf Heinrich was flying a cigar-shaped M2 from Austria.  The Woody Valley harnesses from Italy had second skins that fit completely over the pilot and harness.

My Seattle-based flying bud, Scott Rutledge (proud owner of a Ghost Buster) finally got himself a new harness, after flying his rigid wing gliders with a mess of spaghetti.  He's pretty amazed about his new harness in the following article, and I'm hoping other pilots will write in about their new world-class harnesses.  Then you can discount some of the extra enthusiasm from each pilot.

Scott writes:

You may have seen a testimonial about a new harnessin this month's Hang Gliding Magazine (USA).

Andre Wolf, second-place finisher (World Championships), comments, "The Rotor harness is the most aerodynamic and comfortable harness I have ever flown."

I now posses a Rotor harness and let me tell you that this thing is a marvel.  The only protrusions that exist on the outside are one small chest buckle (the other waist buckle is inside the zippered area) and the chute handle.  The four externally accessible pockets for radio, cameras and drogue chute, are behind neoprene covered slits.  Even the aero tow loops that are sewn just below the shoulder straps have slits to allow them to be tucked inside when not in use!

There is a unique system of bungees inside the harness that allow cameras or radios to be attached, such that they will be pulled back into their internal pocket automatically.

A normal sized parachute is accommodated internally and sits inside a Mylar lined pouch just behind the lower back.  The chute handle is easily grabbed with either hand.

Another amazing aspect of this harness is in how many adjustments are possible.  The slider mechanism is a large diameter polypropylene rope, and the attachment to the fiberglass back plate can be repositioned via numerous adjustment holes to accommodate CG. The single point suspension attaches to a plastic tube around the rope, which creates enough friction to hold a head up or head down position, and still allow repositioning by pulling or pushing against the control bar.  The entire slider mechanism is concealed underneath a slit along the back.

Ingress and egress are accomplished with a single zipper track.  Down at the top, and up from the bottom via close and open strings.  Since there is only one zipper track, and no other lateral slits, it is easy to bring the two zippers together to stop any cold air leaks.

The shoulder straps and leg loops are adjustable, and the overall length can be altered via shims in the boot.  For added comfort there are foam inserts for lower leg rests.  These inserts are foam blocks that slide into pockets that can also be adjusted backward and forward.

The outside cloth is heavy-duty Cordura, while the inside material is finer pack cloth.  The foam material between the two layers is relatively thin.  There are huge full length zippered pocket areas inside for storage.  And I even discovered a previously overlooked smaller zippered pocket in the boot area.  Permanently mounting my camelback inside was easily facilitated with a Velcro closure for the top back inside pocket.

Overall harness weight has been kept very low, most likely due to the lightweight back plate, and slider rope.

The bullet shape, which is found to be more aerodynamic than a blunt boot, is held via a foam block in the boot.

The harness is custom built by body measurement, but because it is very adjustable it can easily be made to fit another person, if resale happens.

Since the weather has been so crummy I have only been able to hang in my basement, but even so I find that this harness is very comfortable.

I flew with my last harness for 10 years.  It has become increasingly obvious that with all its suspension lines, it had too much drag.

If you want to purchase a Rotor harness check out:

Contact: David Glover, (706) 657-8485, «david».

John Borton on the USHGA Competition Committee

Sun, Nov 14 1999, 11:00:05 pm GMT

Chris Arai|David "Dave" Glover|Davis Straub|G.W. Meadows|Jamie Shelden|John Borton|Kevin Frost|Malcolm Jones|Mark Poustinchian|Mike Barber|Rob Kells|Russ Locke|Sue Bunner|Tiki Mashy|USHGA

I was going to leave this issue alone after Malcolm's reply, feeling that I had given both sides an equal chance at presenting their cases. That was until I read John Borton's excellent analysis as published in the US Hang Gliding mailing list. The more I hear from John, the more impressed I am with his clear and unemotional thinking. I hope that we hear more from him and that he takes on more responsibilities in the hang gliding community.

Just to be clear, I am not in complete agreement with all of John's points below, for example, I do feel that Malcolm's actions were in the best interests of the pilots. I publish his statement because it is so well written and gives so many good insights. I encourage John to pursue a lucrative writing career.

Here is John's analysis of what happened at the USHGA Competition Committee meeting:

My work has me traveling with the Monday Night Football circus every week. Because of this I haven't had regular access to e-mail and this list. In catch-up mode, I have read the current story line regarding Wallaby, Malcolm Jones, Davis Straub, GW Meadows and "Anonymous". I attended every minute of every competition committee meeting during the Colorado Springs BOD meeting. As has become somewhat of a habit lately, I was attending the meeting only as a USHGA member. I am not a Regional Director, Director at large, nor Honorary Director. I was not a voting member of the committee. I do know however that both "Anonymous" and Malcolm, in his response, presented facts/stories from different perspectives (and what's unusual about that?)

Here is my non-anonymous perspective.

I love Wallaby. I think it is one of the most magical places on earth for hang glider pilots. If you asked were I would like to spend a hang gliding vacation (other than for record attempts) I would answer "Wallaby" every time. The place holds the charm it does because of Malcolm Jones and the fine people he surrounds himself with, period.

As a Tandem Instructor pilot with over 900 foot-launch tandems under my belt I will also add that I truly believe that Wallaby is the safest place on earth to hitch a ride in a tandem glider. The tandem and tug pilots at Wallaby are the best I've ever seen and the 'safety first' attitude is second to none. This too is a reflection of Malcolm and the people who surround him.

Mark Poustinchian says, referring to Malcolm's flight park efforts. <snip> "Let's get real guys, he is making a bunch of money doing it."

I've been to Wallaby numerous times. I've flown my own equipment. I've rented equipment from Falcons to Super Floaters. I've bought accessories and clothing items. I've brought friends and relatives and bought tandem flights for them. I have always settled my bill as I left and (as far as I know) paid posted prices. With those experiences in mind, my minimal business experience tells me that there isn't a chance in hell that Malcolm Jones makes money off of Wallaby. It's nothing less than a money pit. He does it for some reason other than money. Maybe his motives are altruistic, perhaps they are selfish, and perhaps he is an egomaniac who loves all the attention. I know in addition to the Ranch, he supports good people like Hollywood, Tiki and Mike Barber in their flying adventures. With that in mind I don't much care why, I just appreciate that he does.

Several people have commented on their less than ideal experiences at Wallaby. These comments are always from a perspective that Wallaby is a "business". Let's get past that right away. It's not and doesn't claim to be. It's a club. A club where one man decides (and rightly so) who gets to play and who doesn't. Most businesses want your money even if they don't like you. Not Wallaby. If Malcolm doesn't like you he doesn't care if you ever return. In fact, he'll likely make it so you don't want to ever return. If you look at Wallaby from this "one man's toy" perspective rather than from the business model, the varied experiences all seem to come together and make sense.

I regularly end up on both sides of Malcolm's like/don't like line. On one hand, I like the guy and get along with him quite well (hopefully this post won't change that). On the other hand, Jamie and I have seen and experienced the other side of the equation. After Jamie (on the comp committee) voted for inverted dates for the '99 Wallaby/Quest comps, he angrily told her that she couldn't come to the competition in '00 (forgetting that he can't selectively turn away USHGA members at a sanctioned event). After she voted for the same invert this year (thinking that the dates should be fairly alternated year to year), she had to spend a half hour on the phone listening to him literally yell at her. If you disagree with Malcolm, he can't just accept it.

Now, having said what's in my heart, the Competition Committee doings were very accurately reported by "Anonymous". Only the last paragraph was opinion (It read "Malcolm Jones proved that he was more interested in promoting Malcolm Jones than he was in doing the best thing for the pilots. All hail Malcolm.")

Davis, in his first report on the subject said he has unhappy that GW didn't recuse himself from the vote because of conflict of interest. I have seen GW recuse himself several times for just this reason. Why didn't he this time? I can only speculate. Malcolm and his bid were represented by Rob Kells and Jim Zieset. These guys (JZ in particular) supported Malcolm with their votes even as they cursed his inflexibility. Rob has every self-serving interest in supporting Malcolm and not GW since Malcolm is a big WW dealer and of course GW is not. Neither of these guys recused themselves so I would guess that GW felt that he would at least make it two against one rather that two against zero.

>Chris Arai calls Davis printing the Anonymous letter "tabloid journalism".

You may not like it any better Chris, but "mainstream" journalists quote anonymous sources regularly if these sources are confirmable. Davis went to the trouble to confirm the facts in the letter and told the readers so. Heck, it wasn't hard confirming them… there were a bunch of us that could, and even Malcolm in his response didn't try to refute them.

Both guys wanted the same dates last year. Malcolm got them. Both guys wanted the same dates this year.

>Kevin Frost says that Malcolm should be able to reserve dates indefinitely.

You may feel that way Kevin, but there is nothing in the USHGA sanctioning process that allows for that. Sanctioning has typically been awarded at the fall BOD for the following year. There are published procedures regarding this process that have worked quite successfully for some time. Last year, GW was told that preference was given to Malcolm's bid because his bid had been received first. This year GW entered his bid according to the procedures with request for these dates more than 2 months before Malcolm. The committee still voted to give the dates to Malcolm It hardly seemed like a fair decision by the committee to me, but a vote is a vote so I'm not picking a fight with it.

As Anonymous reported accurately, GW proved to be the flexible one at the meetings. He was willing to move six days if Malcolm would have moved only one. This is where I have a real problem with the way Malcolm Jones acted and the way the committee rewarded it.

Anonymous said "Malcolm Jones proved that he was more interested in promoting Malcolm Jones that he was in doing the best thing for the pilots." This clearly is not one of the reported "facts" of the meeting but rather Anonymous' opinion. I can tell you that this opinion was held by a number of people at the meeting, including me, and here's why.

Malcolm held a gun to the committees head by saying that he would hold his meet those dates with or without sanctioning. The question is, "what's best for the competition pilots that want to attend?" Clearly, the best thing for the pilots is for there to be a meet at Wallaby that is worth World Team points. Everyone wants to go to the Wallaby comp so the best pilots from around the world will all attend. Not awarding points for who wins against the world's best is just plain stupid, but that's exactly the situation that Malcolm forced the Competition Committee into. For a one day move, he held them hostage. This was all the proof I needed that in this particular situation, Malcolm was not concerned about the pilots.

In his response to Anonymous, Malcolm says: (and I summarize in my own words)

>GW stole competition materials from me.

I find it really funny (and telling) that Malcolm would publicly accuse GW of stealing competition materials. He would have been better off not bringing that one up, because here is the portion of the story that he didn't tell.

The great "competition material swap" as I call it began with materials from GW competition web pages showing up UNCHANGED on the Wallaby competition web page. GW called Malcolm and asked that these be removed. Davis Straub and Dave Glover even tried to convince Malcolm together that he was violating copyrights of GWs (source David Glover). Malcolm's exact words were (source, GW) "what are you going to do about it? Sue me?". GW decided that no, he wouldn't sue, but rather he called the Chair of the USHGA Comp Committee (Russ Locke) and told him in advance that he would be copying some of the Wallaby's materials to make a point. He told this to Russ to simply have a uninvolved witness. GW didn't need these materials. He had his own from the previous year and I don't pretend that two wrongs make a right. It's just a couple verifiable facts that in light of Malcolm's accusation should be out there.

A really interesting comment of Malcolm's involved the area maps that he accused GW of stealing, even going so far as to say that GW covered the Wallaby logo that was in the corner before copying. What he forgets to tell us is that the Malcolm's crew effectively covered the Rand McNally (or other) logo with the Wallaby logo when they copied it from the local atlas. Seem to me like Malcolm is saying "you can't steal it, cause I stole it fair and square".

In summary, go to Wallaby. If Malcolm likes you, you'll have the time of your life. If he doesn't, go to Quest where they seem to like everybody.

Discuss "John Borton on the USHGA Competition Committee" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Upcoming US competitions »

Tue, Oct 26 1999, 10:00:04 pm GMT

Brad Koji|calendar|Chris Arai|CIVL Bureau|Dave Broyles|Dennis Pagen|G.W. Meadows|GAP|Gene Matthews|GPS|James "Jim" Zeiset|Jamie Shelden|Jim Lee|John Borton|Kendrick "Ken/Kenny" Brown|Lawrence "Pete" Lehmann|Liz Sharp|Malcolm Jones|Michael Williams|Paul Klemond|Pete Lehmann|Quest Air|Ray Leonard|Rob Kells|Russ Locke|Russell "Russ" Brown|Scot Huber|USHGA BOD|Wallaby Ranch

At the USHGA BOD meeting last weekend, the competition committee decided (sort of) on the class A competition schedule for the next year. I've included the Chairman's (Russ Locke's) report below, with my comments. Undoubtedly I will make a few mistakes and there will be a need for a few updates to this preliminary report. As I write this I'm a passenger in my truck heading south on Interstate 5 in southern Oregon, and I can't get any further clarifications at this time.

Worldwide Competition Committee Report Fall Bod Meeting, October 21-23, 1999

Attendees: (in alphabetical order by last name) Mark Ferguson, Rob Kells, Paul Klemond, Ray Leonard, Dennis Pagen, Liz Sharp, Jim Zeiset, Jim Lee, Pete Lehmann, Dave Broyles, Gene Matthews, John Borton, John Greynauld, Jamie Sheldon

Voting Requirements: Long Term Committee members (per 10/18/99 Russ Locke Memo). Ken Brown (Ken sent voting proxy to Committee Chair), Mark Ferguson, Rob Kells, Paul Klemmond, Ray Leonard, Dennis Pagen, Liz Sharp, Jamie Sheldon, Jim Zeiset Pete Lehmann (Added John Greynauld at this meeting)

Minutes of Meeting: Old Business:

Speed Gliding WTSS System (Dennis & GW) - Done (see following)

Pagen 6/3/99 memo: First I believe, as does GW that the Canadian meet should count toward team selection because we have so few speed gliding meets. I also think the Preworld meet in Greece should count. Before you worry about it, note that the selection system I'm going to suggest will devaluate the Greek meet because it will have so many pilots that the US competitor will have less chance to gain points.

The system I suggest we use simply consists of using the WHGA round score system (it awards points of a different amount for each place on each round). Pilots who have three or more scoring flights are allowed to drop their lowest. Their total score is the average of their remaining scores. Pilots with less than three rounds will also receive their average score, but will not take precedence over pilots with 3 or more rounds until he has more than twice the 3 round pilot's score.

Because we haven't established a hierarchy and we always will have fewer speed gliding meets than X-C (I think), I don't believe we need as complex a system as for the X-C team. The WHGS scoring system drops off rapidly below first place which is why I use the half score value. Hopefully this system will induce pilots to compete in as many rounds as possible. On the other hand, it behooves you met directors to try to get at least 3 rounds so that a pilot can qualify (at least this year) at one meet. This is an abnormal situation. In future years, pilots will have more meets to choose from (and two years to do it). We may wish to change the number of scored rounds considered in the future.

Posting results on the USHGA Web Page (Russ) - On hold until validity #s decided.

New Business:

CIVL Stuff International Meet Schedule (see Attached)

Glider standards for Class Draft from CIVL (including Dennis' amendment) was discussed (see attached). Rob Kells formed subcommittee including GW Meadows, Jim Lee Pete Lehmann and Dennis Pagen. The subcommittee met to review the proposed glider standards for competition. Several changes, deletions and additions were proposed. These amendments were given to the CIVL Delegate (Dennis) to present to the CIVL Bureau and the technical committee in charge of this matter on behalf of the United States.

Editor's note: You can find Dennis' original proposal on the CIVL discussion board (http://board.fai.org/). Dennis was responding to an initiative from Austria made at the CIVL meeting earlier this year that would try to keep competition flex-wing glider closer to certification standards.

Class 2 vs. Class 4 The Competition Committee instructs our CIVL Delegate to inform the CIVL that we believe all definitions should remain tied to foot launch ability and land ability.

Editor's note: While it's not quite clear what this means (at least to me), it appears to be part of discussion about whether some Class II gliders (Swift and Utopia, for example) are pushing the envelope of foot launch ability as demonstrated at the World Championships this year in Italy. Do these gliders really fit into the CIVL definition of hang glider (for competition class and record purposes)?

This discussion also seems to sidestep the issue of farings and their use in competitions, although it may address them in an indirect fashion as a component of a limit on glider weights. Hopefully someone who actually attended the meeting will be able to give your over burdened editor further clarification on just what instructions the USHGA gave to Dennis on this issue.

Request to spend $1,100 to have the GAP 4.0 system altered to included miles (and other English measurements). No funds are available for this activity at this time.

Editor's note. I've passed along the request from the Race 4.0 author (Achim Muelller) for support from theUSHGA for the software which is used to score hang gliding competitions using the GAP system. The USHGA has not provided any support for the development of this program while numerous other countries have.

Now, as you'll see below, the USHGA will mandate use of the GAP scoring system, which for all practical purposes mandates our use of the Race 3.2 or 4.0 program. What if the author of the program asks that we not use his program without supporting it?

Hang Gliding World Championship's Report (verbal by Jim Lee and Jim Zeiset). Problems with team participation - recommendation to follow the rulebook in this case. Lack of strong Team Leader appointed prior to the Meet allowed other problems to surface between the Team pilots.

Editor's note: As I was on the US World (or is it National?) team this year, you'd think I'd have some idea about what the real problems were. I personally thought things went pretty well. The rigid wing component acted as a team (flew on the same frequencies, had our drivers picked each other up, worked out strategies). We had sufficient resources, and got good support.

The whole team could have used another retrieval driver (none of the five flex-wing pilots arranged for a driver and rejected arrangements we made to help them), and perhaps the whole team could have flown on the same frequency, but with nine members no one proposed that. I wonder what following the rule book means in this case. Perhaps I'll find out.

I felt that Chris Arai did an outstanding job for the team arranging for our lodging at the Villa Dama during the Worlds.

World Paragliding Championships. US Team withdrew because of safety reasons and the fact, not perception, that common sense and reasonable operational procedures were being circumvented. The Competition Committee directs our CIVL representative to strongly protest the events surrounding this meet. Team Leader to supply the CIVL rep with all pertinent data.

Editor's note: The disaster that was the World Paragliding Championships has been previously reported here in the Oz Report. You'll find Paul Klemond's story at http://www.kurious.org/usteam99/Fiasco.htm.

GAP vs. 1000 point systemDecision by the committee to apply the existing rulebook validity to 99 meets recognizing that there are rescoring impossibilities within the GAP system.

Editor's note: G.W. Meadows used the GAP scoring system for the pre-Pan American meet in Dinosaur, which devalued the meet a bit. GAP gives fewer points that the 1000 point system, so this may devalue future meets.

Speed Gliding WTSS Publish current standings. After discussion, it was decided that the current cutoff for the 2000 Team will be June 19th, 2000. The current scoring system will be in place through the 2000 Team. Between now and the cutoff date the system for deciding that a particular meet will count towards the Speed Gliding World Team will be:

1) That the meet is published in hang gliding magazine at least 30 days in advance (counting from the first of the month of the particular issue). 2) The meet must be approved by the Speed Gliding subcommittee consisting of GW Meadows, Rob Kells and Ray Leonard.

Class A Sanctioned requests (Hang Gliding):

Sandia Nationals, Late June - approved by committee.

Editor's note: This meet (formerly the Sandia Classic and not held last year after Brad Koji's death the year before) is now scheduled for late June, after years of bad weather in early June in Albuquerque. There was considerable earlier dissention regarding making this meet being turned into a Nationals (Sandia is no place to start your competition career), but looking at the other competitions, you've got to wonder which one could really be a "Nationals."

The front of the mountain at Sandia sucks big time in strong conditions or with a north wind. The proposal has been to add the launch at the towers, which can only make things worse. I can only hope that by moving the meet till later in the year, that conditions will mellow out, like they did this year at Dinosaur.

I hope that we can get an honest assessment of the likely conditions from the meet organizers, and an early description of their plans. Hopefully I will be able to get a copy of their proposal to the USHGA. As a long time supporter of the Sandia Classic, I would like to see this come off as a successful event, but I also want to report on the real situation.

Lone Star Championships - After discussion with committee, dates were changed to 8/13 - 8/20 and Jim Zeiset was added as Meet Steward - approved by committee.

Editor's note: No further word yet on this one. It is a tow meet, obviously, but just where? Russ Locke will send me a copy of the proposal by fax soon.

Notice that there isn't any word here about a meet at Quest Air (more on this later), and what about the Pan American meet at Dinosaur? I am following up on this as .I write this.

Contact info: Michael Williams, <michaelj.williams@ss.ps.ge.com>, 281-457-7878

No Sanctioned requests were received for Paragliding Meets.

Editor's note: I wonder why there aren't any requests for Paraglider meets.

Rulebook Changes

Editor's note: You are going to have to follow along with your USHGA 1999 Competition Rulebook to see what the following minor changes mean.

1) 1.4 Eliminate: "Any and all changes . at least 30 days prior to the board meeting. (process not followed) 2) 6.2B change "Observation" to "Obstruction." (typo) 3) 6.3E Eliminate all reference to "pins" and substitute "reported landing location" 4) 6.4B Change "recorded to the nearest 1/10th" to recorded to the nearest 1/10th of a mile or less". (GPS clarification) 5) 6.5 Change "Australian 1000 point per round formula described below." To "GAP system." Also change to read, "Each pilot's daily score will be computed according to the most current version of GAP available, but at least as current as that used in the previous year." Eliminate all 1000 point scoring references. Change "After examination of turnpoint photos.. " To read, "turnpoint verification. "Eliminate sentence "To provide uniformity." (new scoring system) 6) 6.6 Change to read, "Round Validity will be determined by GAP." (new scoring system) 7) 6.8A Change to read, ".valid task board photograph on film if used,." (gap upgrade) 8) 6.8C Change "pin placement" to read "landing verification" (gap upgrade) 9) 10.5B & C Eliminate in entirety. (reflects current processes) 10) 11.5B & C Eliminate in entirety. (reflects current processes) 11) 12.2B.1 Change to ".ranking used shall be the ranking as of 45 days prior to the start of the competition. (upgrade pilot selection system) 12) 12.2B2 Eliminate "as of the date. start of competition," and add the underlined in "procedures as outlined in section 12.5 and 12.B1., but substituting." (new selection points system) 13) 12.5B After ".throughout the year." Add, "except when ranked 45 days prior to a World Meet." (new pilot selection system) 14) 12.5D2b Change ".any placing." to read "..first place.." Change "..except that." to ".and.." (new selection system) 15) 12.5D3 Eliminate all starting with "The tenth place pilot would earn." and ending with ".24 WTSS points earned."" Replace with "All other pilots earn points based on the following formula: (Pilot's total score/Winners total score) X ( Winners points - 10% bonus). (new pilot selection system) 16) 12.E1 After ".pilot's ranking." Add "according to the most current PIRS ranking." Eliminate "The equivalent. ranking year, with" Add capital "T" to "the." (new pilot selection system) 17) 12.5F1 Change "USHGA 1000 point" to "GAP" Eliminate all numbers under "Full points." (new scoring system) 18) 12.5F2b Change "Divide the winner's points by 4,680 to obtain the validity factor." (new validity system) 19) 12.5F2c Eliminate.(replaced by 12.5F2b) 20) 12.5F2. Eliminate the example and the exception and replace with another example. (replaced by 12.5F2b 21) ?? Make sure there is a requirement for the World Team to have a Team Leader appointed prior to the meet. 22) Change all references of "World Team" to "National Team" and all references to "WTSS" to "NTSS."

Editor's note: This is the result of a proposal from Paul Klemond. He just felt it was kind of strange to call the US Team the US World Team instead of the US National Team. I'll have to make a few changes on the ranking spread sheets about this.

23) 12.2B Replace "Competition administration subcommittee chairman" with Executive Director or Team Leader." 24) 12.5B Change "At least two such meets must be from the most recent year" to "No more than two meet results may be considered from the prior year (Ranking will still be calculated on an calendar year basis, but the World Team selection window will be extended to 45 days prior to the Meet) (clarification) 25) 12.4A Replace "World Team Sub Committee" with "Team Leader." (current practices)

Committee would like to thank Jim Lee, Chris Arai and Paul Klemond for all their work on the needed changes to the competition rulebook.

Changes considered, but not approved:

1) Request to require wheels in competitions. After short discussion, request was voted down unanimously.

Editor's note: Notice how Russ had to emphasize the unanimous part. Well, I'm used to holding unpopular positions. You have to start some where. I figure with zero votes, I can only get more the next time (maybe at the CIVL meeting).

2) Requests to establish a Class 2 Speed Gliding Structure. Nothing prevents a Meet Organizer from doing this anyway. No action necessary.

3) Mark Ferguson and Paul Klemond requesting Meet Steward status be approved for the following pilots: Paul Ferguson, Dan Olsen, Scot MacClowary, Ken Hjorgensdon???? All four approved by Committee

Action Item(s):

1) Chair to make sure the current rankings are published in the Magazines. By 12/31/99

2) Chair to send approved Class A competitions to Editor. By 10/31/99

3) Office and Chairman to create Speed Gliding World Team Account

4) Chair, with email help from Committee members, to draft a purpose statement to be placed in the beginning of the rulebook. Chair to email to committee members and to be done by end of year to be included in the new rulebook. By 12/31/99

5) Get Speed Gliding Ranking on USHGA web site. Chair & Office By 12/31/99

6) Write up statement that covers situations with dual nationality of pilots. Dennis Pagen By 12/31/99

List Of Enclosure(S): (indicate responsible person, followed by a complete description of action, followed by action completion date)

Editor's note: These are paper documents, so I'll report on them as I receive them.

1) CIVL Competition Dates 2) Proposed Hang Gliding Safety Standards 3) Sandia Meet Proposal 4) Lone Star Meet Proposal 5) Quest Air Meet Proposal 6) Wallaby Meet Proposal

Reconvened meeting to discuss Wallaby and Quest Air meets.

In attendance (* = voting members): *Liz Sharp, *Mark Ferguson, *Russ Locke, *Pete Lehmann, *GW Meadows, Gregg Lawless, *Dennis Pagen, Russ Brown, *John Greynauld, Gene Matthews, *Jamie Sheldon, Jim Lee, John Borton, *Rob Kells, *Jim Zeiset, *Ray Leonard

Discussed several alternatives.

Motion by Pete Lehmann to vote to accept the Quest Meet OR the Wallaby - not both. Seconded by John Greynauld. After Discussion, Roll Call Vote Q=Quest, W=Wallaby, A=Abstain

Editor's note: Both G.W. Meadows (meet to take place at Quest Air) and Malcolm Jones (Wallaby Ranch) submitted proposals for meets to occur at the same time, the week after Sun 'n Fun in late April. Because both individuals wanted their meet to be the one with these dates, a vote was needed to decide which meet got the dates. At least that is how I read this.

Pete Lehmann = Q, Dennis Pagen = W, GW Meadows = Q, Jamie Sheldon = Q, John Greynauld = W, Liz Sharp = A, Mark Ferguson = Q, Rob Kells = W, Ray Leonard = W.

Wallaby bid is approved, 5-4 (1-A)

Editor's note: Wow, close vote! One thing, which you'll notice is the obvious conflict of interest that G.W. Meadows had in voting for his proposal to be accepted by the committee. This is clearly unacceptable. He should have recused himself.

Only two of the people voting in this committee on these meets actually attended at last one of them – Jamie was at the Quest Air meet only last year. Dennis was at both meets. The overwhelming consensus last year among the competition pilots that attended both meets was strongly in favor of the Wallaby Ranch meet.

G.W. Meadows reproposed his Quest Air bid with "to be announced dates" - not to interfer with other approved Class A sanctioned meets. Proposal approved 9-0 with 1-A.

Editor's note: It looks like G.W. will propose to have his Atlantic Coast Championships at Quest Air right after the Wallaby Open with one day in between. I'm very pleased if this is the case.

Discuss "Upcoming US competitions" at the Oz Report forum   link»

World Team ranking – 2000 and 2001 »

Fri, Sep 24 1999, 10:00:02 pm GMT

Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Bubba Goodman|Butch Peachy|Campbell Bowen|Chris Arai|David Sharp|Davis Straub|Dennis Pagen|Denny Mallet|Dustin Martin|Gary Davis|Glen Volk|Greg Kendall|Jamie Shelden|Jamie Sheldon|Jersey Rossignol|Jim Lee|Johann Posch|Jon Borton|Kari Castle|Larry Tudor|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Bennett|Mark Bolt|Mark Gibson|Mark Mulholland|Mike Barber|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Nancy Smith|Nelson Howe|Paris Williams|Ramy Yanetz|Reto Schaerli|Ryan Glover|Slade Kennett|Steve Rewolinski|Tip Rogers|USHGA|Wayne Sayer|World Team ranking

I've placed the current version of the US World Team rankings up on my web site. They may or may not be available from USHGA. You can find them at http://www.davisstraub.com.

Here are the top ten Class II pilots for the 2000 World team.

0in0in 0in">
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1

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Porter Brian

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565

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2

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Sharp David

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526

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3

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Straub Davis

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312

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4

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Zeiset Jim

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268

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5

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Posch Johann

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186

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6

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Yanetz Ramy

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150

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7

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Gibson Mark

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90

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8

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Mallet Denny

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60

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9

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Borton Jon

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32

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10

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Bowen Campbell

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13

Here are the top twenty Class I pilots for the 2000 World team.

0in0in 0in">
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1

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Lee Jim

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1754

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2

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Barber Mike

0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

1642

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3

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Arai Chris

0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

1394

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4

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Williams Paris

0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

839

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5

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Glover Ryan

0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

828

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6

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Gibson Mark

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686

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7

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Kennett Slade

0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

686

0in 0in 0in; height:12.75pt">

8

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Rossignol Jersey

0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

639

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9

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Volk Glen

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630

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10

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Tudor Larry

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583

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11

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Bennett Mark

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509

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12

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Howe Nelson

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487

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13

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Peachy Butch

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450

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14

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Martin Dustin

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449

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15

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Castle Kari

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427

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16

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Pagen Dennis

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390

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17

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Shipley Mitch

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360

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18

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Barmakian Bruce

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273

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19

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Goodman Bubba

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166

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20

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Rewolinski Steve

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162

The current rankings for the 2001 World team include only the best two meet scores in 1999. The rankings are as follows:

Here are the top ten Class II pilots for the 2001 World team.

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1

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Porter Brian

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432

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2

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Sharp David

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288

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3

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Straub Davis

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270

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4

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Posch Johann

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186

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5

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Zeiset Jim

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180

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6

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Gibson Mark

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90

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7

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Yanetz Ramy

0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

45

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8

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Bowen Campbell

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13

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9

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Rogers Tip

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5

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10

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Sheldon Jamie

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4

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10

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Yocom Jim

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4

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10

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Mulholland Mark

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4

Here are the top twenty Class I pilots for the 2001 World team.

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1

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Lee Jim

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940

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2

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Barber Mike

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638

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3

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Arai Chris
0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

571

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4

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Volk Glen

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497

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5

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Williams Paris

0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

482

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6

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Glover Ryan

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466

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7

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Rossignol Jersey

0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

405

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8

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Martin Dustin

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371

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9

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Pagen Dennis

0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

339

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10

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Castle Kari

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256

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11

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Rewolinski Steve

0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

140

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12

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Shipley Mitch

0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

135

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13

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Davis Gary

0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

98

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14

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Bolt Mark

0in 0in 0in;height:12.75pt">

97

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15

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Barmakian Bruce

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94

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16

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Schaerli Reto

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81

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17

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Goodman Bubba

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69

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18

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Sayer Wayne

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52

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19

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Smith Nancy

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45

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20

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Kendall Greg

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37

Discuss "World Team ranking – 2000 and 2001" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Competition »

Sat, Aug 14 1999, 10:00:01 pm GMT

competition

There has been a bit of discussion on the hang gliding mailing list about the state of hang gliding competition in the US. In Europe there is a competition just about every weekend during the flying season. Many countries have league meets which are used to determine the world team.

This is possible because there are just a lot more hang glider pilots per square mile in the middle of Europe, and it is a lot easier to get pilots from one country together for a meet than it is in the big spread out US. There are so many meets with so many countries putting them on and people go to other meets in other countries the way we would go to another very close by state or county.

This is the first year for the Gastein Open. Gastein is but one of 100 small valleys just in Austria, any one of which could put on such a meet. The local pilots organized it and made it into the National championships. They had at least forty sponsors, which made it possible to give good prize money to lots of pilots as well as rent a big LZ and put on a fair at goal with lots of entertainment.

Other than Manfred Ruhmer, the other European pilots are in about the same class as Chris Arai and Jim Lee (even Mike Barber when he isn't flying the worlds this year). We just needed a few more pilots of this caliber. Many of the best US pilots have recently quit flying competitions.

The US could be better at international hang gliding competition, but it would require a great effort on the part of the USHGA, the hang gliding schools, and the pilots to promote the sport and build a base of new pilots strong enough to filter the best to the top. It would require many more regional meets to give them experience, and cheaper national meets to encourage them to travel long distances.

We could certainly do it, but it requires a strong commitment to make hang gliding really successful as a sport in the US. Even in Austria, it is still seen as a hobby for guys who are a bit strange, and not a true sport.

Discuss "Competition" at the Oz Report forum   link»

The Austrian Nationals – there's a reason why it's green in Austria »

Wed, Aug 11 1999, 10:00:00 pm GMT

Austrian Nationals 1999

It's not hard to be green, when it rains all the time. Actually the rain didn't come till later today (and last evening), but it has been raining steady for the last three hours (since 5 PM).

When I drove out of Italy in the morning yesterday from the seaside German resort town of Pesaro it was 94° Fahrenheit (34 Celsius). When I arrived that afternoon in Bad Hofgastein it was 61 (16). Blue with a few cues in Italy, cues everywhere in Austria, many with rain underneath them.

The Austrian Nationals, otherwise known as the Gastein Open, started today, Thursday, with a low cumulus cloud base in the valley, higher cumulus clouds on the mountains tops, and then cirrus above. We looked down to the valley clouds 1000' below us from launch at the top of the ski lift at Dorf Gastein.

The Gastein valley is a little southerly climbing offshoot from a more major east west valley to the north. With Bad Gastein at the top, high luxury built on the steepest hills, Bad Hofgastein, down in the first flat lands, and dedicated to the hot springs, and Dorf Gastein, the place with a bar that encourages hang and paraglider pilots.

There are plenty of large hay fields at the bottom of the valley for landing (along with lots of power lines down the middle of the valley). The valley is less than a mile wide at the base, but with the light winds we experienced today, it was quite manageable.

After setting up next to the ski lift, we waited around looking for any example of lift under the gray ski. It kept coming up the back or east side lightly, which didn't give great promise to the area in front of launch.

There are about 45 pilots signed up for the meet. For a meet that determines the Austrian champion, the organization seemed a bit low key, something on the order of the Chelan XC Classic. They did have a map with turn points, a big pilot number sticker, turn point co-ordinates, and film.

Around one thirty the meet organizers called a short task, 17 miles. First, back up the valley, 7 miles to a lower than launch turnpoint, down the valley to a turnpoint across from launch, but again lower, and than landing at the LZ below launch.

All the instructions about the task were, of course, given in German, and even though I can speak enough to get around, I suddenly felt very Japanese. Fortunately there were pilots who helped out and I got the word about photos and start times (we were timed from launch).

We only had 1 hour and 15 minutes to launch and everyone was crowded together a bit too closely to assure easy access to the launch on the lee side of the mountain (and facing into the valley with the task). Fortunately, the rigid wing's came up the lift a bit late, so we were all in back, located near a launch facing into the wind.

Recognizing my good fortune, especially that fact that this launch was a sturdily built wooden ramp compared with the carpet laid on the grass on the leeward side, I promptly turned my glider around, and became the head of the back line. All one had to do was launch, and immediately turn right to clear the ridge top and get back to the right valley.

I launched soon after Manfred. He had already ignored the few pilots who launched earlier and painfully got up just in front of the leeward launch. He headed right on the course line to find weak but manageable lift on a ridge to the north. Those few of us a bit behind him, took a similar course of action and were rewarded.

Stopping to work whatever lift there was, and there wasn't much, pilots were able to progress up the valley and stay high enough to get the first turn point which was about 1000 feet below launch height. Speed was not an issue, but survival was. There was filtered sunlight in the valley below.

A few pilots made it back to the second turnpoint and goal, include Manfred, Zwecky, and one rigid wing pilot. Over a quarter of the pilots went down in one field on the way to the second turnpoint, including Robert Reisinger (he flies a bit fast). The field sits next to a ridge that funneled the up valley winds which we encountered down low, and produced a good head wind as well as 900 fpm down. It started to rain soon after we landed.

The goal field is outfitted with a few large tents in order to provide entertainment to those sightseers who come by to check out the Gastein Open, which is advertised all over the valley. With at least forty sponsors, and lots of public activities to go along with the meet, it puts hang gliding in a favorable light.

There is a rock band on Saturday night (almost all the music on the radio in Europe is in English) in the LZ, and there is food and beer being served there everyday. This aspect of the organizing is quite advanced.

The weatherman calls for good weather on Saturday. We'll be here tomorrow, Friday, to see if we can get off another task like today. The contest lasts through Sunday.

Discuss "The Austrian Nationals – there's a reason why it's green in Austria" at the Oz Report forum   link»

The Worlds - reflections »

Sun, Aug 8 1999, 10:00:00 pm GMT

Worlds 1999

You can find the final official results for the 1999 Worlds at: http://www.fivl.it/mondiali/CLASSIFICHE/clasweb.html.

I hope that you didn't mind me going a bit overboard on the last Oz Report and sending out so many pictures. I wanted to give a feeling for the day of celebration. I feel the need to promote the sport and encourage everyone. I do that by trying to let everyone participate, even if it is just by seeing what is going on.

On Sunday after the competition we all marched again in Sigillo and we were saluted at the town square. The flag wavers came from Gubbio and put on a show that we unfortunately missed during the first march. The mayor herself spoke again, as did numerous regional and FAI officials. We got incredible support from Sigillo and from the regional Italian governments and sport agencies.

Here, David Glover, who provided all the digital photos during the Worlds, captures the flag wavers with their flags in the air in front of the Sigillo municipal building across from the central plaza:

Chris Arai mentioned that when they marched in Bishop at the Worlds in Owen Valley no one there even took notice. The Italians were much more into the pageantry and importance (self generated, of course) of the 1999 World Hang Gliding Championships as an event. It was great to be a part of it.

The town of Sigillo is well aware of the draw of Monte Cucco and built a hang glider youth hostel just to the north to provide cheap housing and food to visiting hang and para glider pilots. Adventure tourism for a site that has little other reason to draw foreign tourists other than the fact that it is not full of tourists.

For our third place as a team we (the rigid team) received bronze medals from both the FAI and the FIVL (the Italian hang gliding association). Of course this was a bit corny, but it felt real enough after the fact. We were definitely working hard to win the team championship during the last few days as we realized that we had a very good chance to win.

All the pilots took home a box of regional food specialties provided by the town, and we ended up with actually the best meal I had in Umbria, a lunch for pilots at the Villa Anita park in the center of Sigillo. I wouldn't have minded even a bit of regional dancing during lunch.

This was the first hang gliding world championships with a substantial Class II presence – 25 pilots from eight countries. The meet organizers responded to our interest and definitely made us feel welcome. We were more than happy to complete the tasks with a high percentage and quite a bit quicker (most often) than the flex wing pilots.

I expect that there will be a growing pilot interest in Class II gliders and that we will see them in future meets including the World Championships. I'll be at the Austrian Nationals starting on Thursday, and hope to entice enough Class II pilots to fly to make for a valid championships.

Monte Cucco had been described as quite windy during the previous competitions (1998 pre Worlds and 1999 British Nationals). The organizers moved the competition to a bit later in the year to address this problem. Apparently it worked because we had only three days where wind was even an issue and on two of those days we easily flew tasks (not so easy for me), and one was cancelled but turned out to be very flyable.

It was great to have a long meet, so that there were plenty of opportunities for valid tasks and no great pressure to get a task off every day if the conditions weren't right. The meet director may have cancelled the task on the last day somewhat before he took in all the information provided by the FAI stewards, but this was a relatively minor slip up.

While the Italians are reputed to be disorganized, I found them to be surprisingly well organized, if in an Italian manner. There were many, many volunteers, and everyone seemed to be happy doing their part to help us out. I got to speak with the computer guru and he worked hard to get out the results in spite of difficulties with the servers. On the last day every team leader got a CD-ROM with the results in HTML.

There were no major accidents during the meet. There was one tumble, Christian Ciech, flying a Laminar ST 14 (1999 model). The next day he flew the Laminar ST that was produced for Larry Tudor on the US team (Larry didn't travel to Italy), and decided to keep the sprogs in their factory position. He seemed to do better after that. ☺

In general, Gianni Hotz's boys did well on their Icaro 2000 Laminars, winning the top three places (Betino Schmitz was the third Brazilian in fourth place and he flies a La Mouette Topless glider). Laminars sell well throughout the world except in the US.

Those of who flew the AIR ATOSes really enjoyed them. Obviously they did well as Christof Kratzner won the meet on one, and 7 out of the top 10 finishers flew them. They do have little production/design problems still, especially the number eight rib (I broke my other one doing a perfect landing on the last day), but I'm sure that they will work all these little bugs out. Dave Sharp helped me fix both of the breaks, and they are much stringer now.

It was a great test of the ATOS to fly it at the worlds with the first production runs and do so well. The fact that the company principals were there flying in the Worlds and supporting the pilots speaks to their commitment to and participation in the sport. This is what it takes to make a great glider, and they certainly did that.

I flew the meet with a round base tube and plastic wheels (I usually fly with no wheels and my aero base tube). While this reduced the performance of the ATOS somewhat, it didn't account for any of my poor performance days. I really appreciated the wheels one day (not a task day) when I landed on them after making too quick a turn after my base leg. We had two spare down tubes with us and I don't recall any ATOS pilot requiring any new down tubes. Mine are as straight as they came from the factory.

I hope to fix the wheels so that they can work with my aerodynamic base tube. Perhaps I can make the wheels a bit sleeker also. I really appreciate the extra safety factor provided by wheels, and for me it is worth the tradeoff in performance.

The UK team flew as a team, and as a consequence did well (coming in second). The Austrians who had flown as a team at Forbes in 1998, and won the meet, apparently went without radio communication between pilots, and therefore slipped to third in Class I.

I got to land in some interesting fields in valleys that had no flat bottoms. Landing up hill in light winds was great, even if the vegetation turned out to be above my head. There were lots of oddly placed power lines, but there always seemed to be options, although I was pretty cautious about this aspect of flying here. Only now and then did I find a field that was actually level or flat except at goal.

I only experienced one small bout of substantial turbulence (coming into Mount Subasio on the southeast side) during all the flights, in spite of some often times reasonable winds. The air was quite thick and supportive and the ATOS always felt solid. I did get to see Christof's flex quite a bit as we raced to goal at 70 mph (without speed bumps). He beat me by 4 seconds (as I recall).

The Worlds were quite challenging due to the terrain, winds, and light thermals. Judgment was a big factor, and pilots had to stick together in hard times. There never was a day for all out racing (even if I thought so).

You could often race up and down the spines of the main range until you got near the canyons that cut through the range. If you had to go out in the valley for a turnpoint, either it was great as the valley was working even better, or it was very hard as the only lift was on the mountain sides. Sometimes you went fast, but you had to put on the brakes very often and assess the new conditions carefully.

I had the great fortune to go completely off course line to find lift on a dark day and thereby get almost to goal when many others failed to get the first turnpoint. This has often not worked for me, so it was great when it actually did work.

I learned a lot, and I'm sure that others did. Now I hope that it just sticks with me. The competition is not just for those who end up in first place, but requires the cooperation of everyone. We all agree to come here and test ourselves against ourselves and against each other. Both competitions are happening at once.

The world hang gliding community and their supporters around the world have once against produced a lively and interesting competition with lots of human drama and excitement. I hope that I have communicated a bit of it to you, and will try to improve my communication skills for future events.

One final note. Other than the Worlds, my other reason for going to Italy was to enjoy the food. I had previously had an opportunity to visit Venice, Florence, Rome and Sicily, and had a great time eating wherever I went, whether fancy or plain. There were numerous bests of life in all sorts of categories, including when we accidentally walked into Alfredo's in Rome.

I had hoped for a similar experience this time, but have been sadly disappointed by the regional cuisine (if you can call it that) in Sigillo. Mike Barber had complained to me before I left about the fact that you could only get pasta and pizza in Sigillo and Costacciaro. I thought this was a bit cavalier, and gave short shrift to the fine Italian pasta that I had experienced early.

Unfortunately Mike was quite right in his evaluation, both in its tone as well as its description. The pizza, a recent phenomena in Italy, is very cheap food, extra, extra thin crust like cardboard, with bad toppings. The pasta is mediocre by my standards (the fresher pasta you can buy at supermarkets in the US and in the local grocery stores). There is other food, but not the various types of eggplant and pepper dishes (other than at the grocery stores) that I had really appreciated on my previous Italian tours.

I felt that the Umbrians were a bit too prideful about their food, and that they should learn from their brothers to the south or in more traveled areas where foreigners have a more experienced palate.

The photos above were taken by David Glover (http://www.1800hangglide.com).

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World's wrap up »

Sat, Aug 7 1999, 10:00:00 pm GMT

Worlds 1999

The official results are in and Manfred Ruhmer and Christof Krtazner are indeed the World Champions.

You can find the results at: http://www.fivl.it/mondiali/CLASSIFICHE/clasweb.html.

Here's a shot of an actually happy Manfred at the awards march. Manfred flew an Icaro 2000 Laminart ST 14, and flew for the Austrian team (which placed third in Class I. The UK was second.):

Also Christof is quite happy winning in Class II for Germany on an AIR ATOS:

The US rigid wing team came in third place and received bronze medals from the FAI and the FIVL:

The Swiss rigid wing team was in first and wished to thank Felix Ruehle for his wonderful ATOS gliders which they all flew.:

Brazil was the winning team in Class I with three pilots in the top four and sprayed the crowd with Champaign. Andre Wolf made an impassioned plea for safety at competitions and thanked the meet organizers for running a very safe meet:

The photos above were taken by David Glover (http://www.1800hangglide.com).

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Manfred Ruhmer and Christof Kratzner – World Champions

Fri, Aug 6 1999, 10:00:02 pm GMT

Worlds 1999

Manfred Ruhmer, flying an Icaro 2000 Laminar ST, and flying for the Austrian team, has won the World Championships in Class I at Monte Cucco. When the last day of the competition was cancelled a great cheer went up from all the pilots who all admire Manfred greatly and felt that he deserved the championship. He was promptly covered with Champaign.

Here's a shot of Manfred coming in on the last task day:

We are as yet unsure why the last day was called, although there were issues with high winds forecasted for later in the day, which proved to be in error. A number of pilots flew the task and found it to be the easiest day of the meet. We found the smoothest lift out in front and pilots who ran the back range zipped up and down it without any problems.

Jim Lee finished 14th and Chris Arai was 24th as the top placing class I USA pilots (in fact the only class I USA pilots to make goal during the meet).

Christof Kratzner, flying an AIR ATOS, and flying for the German team, is provisionally the world champion in Class II, awaiting an appeal on photos from Johnny Carr. We will find out the final results tomorrow. Dave Sharp was the top finishing American at fourth and Brian Porter was fifth.

You can find the results at: http://www.fivl.it/mondiali/CLASSIFICHE/clasweb.html.

The USA rigid wing team was third. The first three team scores were very close (139 points separated us out of 10,000) and the Americans had closed quickly on the Swiss and Germans in the last few days.

The Brazilians won the Class I team competition and you would have thought that they had just won the World Soccer Cup.

The ATOS pilots did very well over all with seven of the top ten placings, to go along with Christof's first place.

The last task was called at Mount Subasio near Assisi as it faced into the prevailing south wind. The inversion broke late at about 2 PM. There was a wave cloud behind the mountain. The air in front, and apparently behind, was smooth and the climbs were easy in front for us.

After the task was called, Guido Gehrmann was doing aerobatics in front of Monte Cucco. On his his third loop his glider broke. The wires were attached up the down tubes a ways and he blew the down tubes out. He threw his chute, then shot his other rocket deployed chute.

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Big tasks, light day, some at goal »

Fri, Aug 6 1999, 10:00:00 pm GMT

Worlds 1999

On the next to last flying day of the Worlds, the meet organizers call two long tasks, one for rigids and one for flex wings. We are so happy not to have to fly together as the gaggles are thick. I have never seen such gaggles. Lots of folks don't seem to mind coming up really really close to you.

The tasks are long, 140 kilometers for the rigids and 129 for the flex wings. We launch from Monte Cucco, but our start gate is out in front and the flex wings start from a bit down the course line.

We are asked to go south along the range to a town to the south and east, then back to the turnpoint north of Gubbio, then to the towers north east of there back on the range, and then to Sigillo.

The weatherman calls for the inversion to break through just as we begin to launch, so they've added a few start gates later in case it is too hard at launch. Dave Sharp and I take off later. Jim Zeiset is suppose to get the first start clock at 1:15 PM, we get ours at 1:30 PM, and Brian Porter goes in at 1:45 PM.

Launching later I find much better lift to the right of launch and out away from the hill. All the pilots who've been floating around with light lift suddenly notice that someone is getting up and we have a party.

The American rigid team is still in third place, but due to Brian's big win in his ultralight sailplane, we are only 100 points out of second and another 100 points out of third. If two Americans make goal, we could go into the lead.

After Hansjorg fell down yesterday, Christoff Kratzner from German is in second behind Johnny Carr in his barely foot-launchable ultralight sailplane (he tripped on launch yesterday way down the run and had to restart from much lower. His knees had bandages on them today). Brian moved up to fourth and Dave Sharp down to fifth. Johnny Carr had his fitieth birthday today.

With the American rigid team with a chance to win the worlds, we are acting even more like a team. Now if only everyone's radios worked well enough to actually communicate. Jim and I are the only ones that can be clearly heard.

We catch Jim at the end of the valley (about 13 miles from the start gate) as we race down 25 miles toward the first turnpoint. We are with the flex wings for the first part of the run down the course. They will peel off to the right to go to Trevi, then Assisi, back to north of Gubbio then to goal. At the end of the valley Jim goes down. Soon after that many of the flex wing pilots go down near Nochera Umbria.

This is a notorious pass and it is often hard to get passed here if there is shading, you are low, or there is wind. The rigids get to go over the back to the east at this point to go to their turnpoint, so they don't have to deal with the problems that many flex wing pilots faced.

We are able to get quite high before we bail over the back, and work the next big ridge to the east. The turnpoint is at the end of the ridge a few miles after it peters out into low hills. We get stuck on the low hills until Dave Sharp tells me that he has made the turnpoint and found weak lift in the valley downwind of us. I zip around it, head for the valley and show the other rigid wing pilots where the better lift is. A bunch of us get up and out of there and on course back toward Gubbio.

With the west wind we still have to jump a range to get up into the main valley, but it presents no problem as we cruise to the west face, rigid soar moving along to the north until we hit a good lift. After that we still have the task of jumping into the wind to the next shallow ridge about three miles to the west.

By now we've heard of the carnage in the flex wing division. Chris Arai is down at Qualdo Tadino, Ryan, Paris and Jim Lee all go down at or near Nochera Umbria.

I take the back range (Monte Cucco) while Dave Sharp gets high at the windmills and heads out across the valley to catch the lip of the small ridge at 3,000' (1,500' AGL). I'm able to find a good thermal just north of launch, get to 6,700' and cross the valley to get good lift just south of Gubbio. I'm five minutes behind Dave now, and we are running in front. Hansjorg is just a few minutes behind.

Dave joins Christof and Johnny Carr at the turnpoint north of Gubbio. They find a hot thermal north of the turnpoint and climb to 7,200'. We had just passed Brian ridge soaring low at Gubbio accompanied by an ATOS.

I get to 6,200' just before getting the turnpoint photo and plunge off downwind to get into the great lift that Dave reported. He takes the altitude that he gained and uses it to get all the way to the towers at Mt. Norena, the third turnpoint. I don't find the lift on the course, and continue down wind to the base of the mountain and land.

Johnny Carr is the first glider into goal, followed by Christof and then Dave. Hansjorg comes in a half hour later and Alain Chauvet a bit later. No one else makes goal from the rigid wings. Brian Porter lands to the northeast of the third turnpoint.

A few minutes later Gerard Thevenot comes in first from the flex wing pilots. About twenty flex wings make goal. Manfred Ruhmer, who is in first, makes goal third, so he probably keeps his place. A number of Brazilians make goal, so their team is still in the lead for the World Championship.

Here's a shot of Gerard landing after crossing the goal:

The photos above were taken by David Glover (http://www.1800hangglide.com).

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Truttmann bombs, Fusions first for the day

Thu, Aug 5 1999, 10:00:00 pm GMT

Allan Barnes|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Dave Carr|Dave Sharp|David "Dave" Glover|David "Dave" Sharp|Felix Rühle|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Jim Lee|Johann Posch|Johnny Carr|Sandy Dittmar|Stefano Bricoli

Fits off, Brian Porter in his Utopia made it into goal 45 minutes before Johnny Carr in his Swift. It was then another 15 minutes before the first hang glider, Johann Posch, made it in. Johann is a neophyte competitor flying an ATOS for Austria.

Here's a shot of Brian waiting for the next competitor to arrive:

Hansjorg Truttmann, who is leading the rigid wing hang gliders, but is just behind Johnny Carr in the Class II division, flew a little too fast running down the range from the first turn point. He and Felix Ruhle sunk out together ten miles north of the turnpoint.

The task today was to take off from Mount Sebasio which is near Assisi, fly across the valley to the main range to the east, get a tower turnpoint 10 miles to the south. Then, run back up the range to the turnpoint just north of Gubbio which is a bit west of the range, and back to the goal field at Sigillo.

The rigid wing glider's start gate was at the old castle at Assisi at the northwest end of Mount Sebasio, while the flex wings started out in front of launch. We then ran the same task.

The launch at Sebasio is quite interesting and quite shallow. If there isn't any wind, you'll thin twice about starting to run on this very flat slope. And, I thought that the hill side at Mounte Cucco was flat.

It is not only flat right at launch, but for hundreds of yards in front of you. Perfect for letting the cows much in the high meadows. Danielle Bello, flying the Ghostbuster, had the opportunity to try to launch three times, getting lower on the hill each time. I got to see what I think was the second launch, as I flew back from the start gate over launch.

He started running, appeared to get air born, and then slowly rotated the glider to the left and back into the hill. It was al very soft and oh so level that apparently nothing was hurt because, from what I've heard, he tried it again before giving up.

Stefano Bricoli, flying the prototype Top Secret, also needed a couple of launches to get air born.

Hansjorg got a bit out in front with Felix. Dave Sharp and I followed Brian across the valley, as Brian appeared to continue to climb and we had to find lift as soon as we got to the mountain. The flex wings and the other riid wings were right behind us.

The weather man called for high pressure, but good lift and mostly blue thermals throughout the day. It would start weak at 1 PM, but get stronger. There was a bit of an inversion early in the day, but it was gone by the time we launched. We did in fact get some light cumulus development.

With no one to help Hansjorg and Felix flew themselves into the ground. Brian Porter stayed high and just blew up the range while Dave and I worked our way up the range soon forming in the first gaggle, which kept breaking apart and reforming.

The air was hot, so need for a coat or bar mitts. We just kept hitting the good stuff as many pilots behind us hit the deck when the shadows would appear. The ATOSes stayed up with each other and the top flex wing pilots as we moved up at the best speed to fly speeds assured that we would find a strong thermal ahead.

We had to leave the range at Scheggio and move out onto the hills east of Gubbio to get the turnpoint. The valley was weak but as soon as e got to the hillsides in the sun, we were smiling. Final glide into goal from 13 miles out from 5,400' was no problem today. There was plenty of lift to blow through.

Of course, by the time we were making the second turnpoint Brian had been in goal for 45 minutes.

Soon we all started pouring in with gliders coming across the line very quickly. First Johann, then Sandy Dittmar and Jim Lee. A great day for the Wills Wing Fusions as they probably won the day (almost all the flex wing pilots started at the last possible time – 1:30 PM).

Here's a shot of Sandy at goal:

I got to come in with the bar stuffed with two other ATOSes. It was a real opportunity to see them flex in high-peed bumps are we went through a little turbulence at 60+ mph.

A few pilots who were near the top didn't make it in early Allan Barnes was a bit late, so he will probably drop from fourth. Manfred should still be in first, although he was a minute off at the finish.

You can find the previous days results (sometimes) at: http://www.fivl.it/mondiali/CLASSIFICHE/clasweb.html. I spoke with meet officials today and they said that they are having trouble sending results up to the server, it takes an hour to FTP them to the server.

Hansjorg didn't overtake Johnny Carr yesterday, and obviously didn’t gain on him today. His low finish lets other rigid wing hang glider pilot move up and have a shot at the top spot. Brian Porter moved up, but just how far, we don't know yet. The US team (rigid wing division) may have moved into second place, ready to challenge the Swiss. The flex wing division dropped far from eighth place after yesterday.

Chris Arai and Jim Lee both made it to goal today, so that should help a bit, but the top three members of the team count, and no one else on the flex wing team has made it to goal.

The photos above were taken by David Glover (http://www.1800hangglide.com).

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Manfred's birthday present to himself

Wed, Aug 4 1999, 10:00:00 pm GMT

Allan Barnes|Andre Wolf|Betinho Schmitz|Brian Porter|Chris Arai|Dave Carr|Dave Sharp|David "Dave" Glover|David "Dave" Sharp|Gerolf Heinrichs|Guido Gehrmann|James "Jim" Zeiset|James Freeman|Jim Lee|Johnny Carr

James Freeman writes that you can find the results of the Worlds at: http://www.fivl.it/mondiali/CLASSIFICHE/clasweb.html. This is sort of true. Check it out and see if they are up to date.

The second day of a high pressure brings a bit lighter conditions, and they are worried about a stable air mass coming in later in the day. When we first get to launch at Monte Cucco, there are no cumulus clouds, and lots of scattered cirrus.

After an initial attempt at a task call is called off after the whole task committee quits when the meet director calls a different task (after agreeing to the tasked called by the task committee), we get a shorter task – 80 kilometers, pretty much in front of Monte Cucco.

As we begin to take off around 12:30 PM, a rigid of high clouds comes in and really brings the dark shadows throughout the valley in front of launch as well as up the hill. Still there is a nice breeze at launch and pilots are slowly climbing out to 5,500'.

Here's what the launch looked like just before we launched:

We are asked to fly south down the range about 15 miles and take a photo of a factory out in the valley. The next turnpoint is to the north on the west side of the valley, although every one runs back to the range to get back up. This turnpoint is at the south end of a low range on the west side of the valley, and it is followed by a turnpoint at the north end of this low range.

The next turnpoint is back to the east at the Monte Cucco range 4 miles north of goal at Sigillo, which makes for a short final glide.

With almost complete shading, we head south along the range, working light lift and every now and then finding 600 fpm. It's easy to make the factory to the south.

Working back north along the range again presents lots of opportunities to get up, but no one gets real high. About half way back to goal it is time to head out into the valley with little hope of getting up.

The lead gaggle heads into the gloom with those of us 5 minutes behind watching to see what happens as we work on getting high before taking the plunge. There are about 15 gliders still hanging on a bit to the north of me on the range also waiting.

As I cross the valley and get to within 2 miles of the castle on the low range, I spot a couple of flex wings circling in zero to a bit up. I join them as I watch other flex wing pilots deck it in the dark near the turnpoint. Chris Arai, Gerolf Heinrichs, Guido Gehrmann, and many others are going down. Dave Sharp is out in front with them down to 150 feet.

I hang with the flex wing pilots as the gaggle at the wind mills comes and joins us. The gaggle is now full of ATOSes with Hansjorg, etc. We continue hanging in zero to a little bit up and gain maybe 300' over 15 minutes.

We slide a bit to the north, find another patch of lift in the darkness, and then run to the turnpoint, before heading to the south end of the ridge. There are gliders way below us turning so there must be something.

We work the top of the ridge line and the dark begins to lift a little, and we start getting up better as the pilots 2000' below us also work whatever they can find. As we continue working the low ridges and moving north, we get more sun and we are able to get up to 5,500' and it feels like the slow times are over and we are back to hang gliding.

The rest of the task goes well with plenty of sun on our west facing hills. Dave Sharp gets up and gets going really well just south of Gubbio. Brian Porter who went over first with Dave, drifted back over the valley to the Monte Cucco range, got up really well, and was able to fly right back to us and join us in a good thermal just south of Gubbio.

We blaze down to the turnpoint north of Gubbio, and then have no problems making it to goal Almost all the rigid wing gliders make it into goal within a half hour of each other.

Here's the results from today for Class II:

Hansjorg came in first today overall and in Class II. This means that he will probably be in the lead overall again, after the lead was taken by Johnny Carr in the Swift yesterday. Johnny Carr flew very conservatively today.

Dave Sharp came in third and should move into fourth place overall. Jim Zeiset decked it just after the second turnpoint as he was out early and in front of everyone.

Manfred came in second to goal today, but we don't as yet know just when he started it is our understanding that he got the fastest time and should move back into first place. Oleg decked it by the second turnpoint.

Here's the placing at goal for today for Class I:

With Andre Wolf in soon after Manfred he should move from first down to second place. Betino Schmitz came in right after Andre, so the Brazilian team should continue their dominance of the Worlds. Allan Barnes had a good finish, which may move him up to third.

Jim Lee was the only American flex-wing pilot to make it into goal. As of yesterday the top five places who Laminar ST (Icaro 2000). Also team Wallaby Ranch is not doing too badly with Manfred first, Andre Wolf second, Allan Barnes third, and Betino Schmitz in the top ten.

Oh yes, Manfred is thirty four today.

Padro Matos who was leading until today, Manfred happy after completing his task, and a faired instrument package.

The photos above were taken by David Glover (http://www.1800hangglide.com).

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Ghostbuster reappears at Worlds

Tue, Aug 3 1999, 10:00:01 pm GMT

Ghostbuster|Worlds 1999

We were surprised to see one of the Ghostbusters return to launch today. We asked Daniele Bello what the story was. He had told us earlier that he had problems with the flaps and with the speed bumps.

It seems that yesterday when he landed out, he had company. Francois Chamoux flying the ixbo, landed on Daniele's Exxtacy 99 and broke the leading edge.

With a broken Exxtacy, Daniele decided to go back to the Ghostbuster. Francois didn't seem to have any problem with his ixbo and was up there flying it today. We think that Daniele is flying factory gliders from Flight Design, especially now that he has ordered an ATOS.

Berndt Weber's special ATOS nose, the weather giy who called it right today, and the gliders on Monte Cucco launch with Monte Cucco in the background.

The photos above were taken by David Glover (http://www.1800hangglide.com).

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Manfred storms back »

Tue, Aug 3 1999, 10:00:00 pm GMT

Worlds 1999

Big air, big task, high altitudes, big finish, a big day.

When I go outside in the morning I see that Sigillo and Monte Cucco has returned to the conditions that we first experienced here two weeks ago. It’s warm, there are no clouds in the morning, and the air is still. It looks like it will be a good day.

Finally we get to take off from the main Monte Cucco launch facing west out into the valley that contains Sigillo and the Villa Dama. Clouds are forming by 10 AM as we start setting up.

The task is 72 miles. We are asked to head down the range to a tower 30 miles to the south, jump out in the valley to the Basilica at Asissi, and back to the LZ just below the launch just north of Sigillo.

The rigids get two start times 1 and 1:15 PM, and the flex wings get the same start times, plus a few more to spread them out a bit.

Unlike every other day in this meet so far, we immediately start climbing at launch and get to cloud base at 6,700' MSL (5,200' AGL). The main problem is waiting long enough to take the second start gate. Christof and Juerg Ris don't wait and get out on the course as the first rigids. Most of the flex wing pilots hold back.

With strong lift running down the range is a piece of cake. I get a later start then most as I run out to the valley first looking for lift that turns out to be false. Oh, well, just trying to get ahead of everyone puts me a bit behind.

Dave Sharp is running with Hansjorg as the rigids are in front of the flex wings who start a bit later. Johnny Carr on the Swift and Brian Porter on the Utopia are catching up with the ATOSes 15 minutes in front of them and finally catch them at the first turnpoint.

Manfred starts late and Joseph Zweckmayr starts early so he's out there with Dave and the other rigid wings. I've turned the risk factor way up on the Ball Vario and am working with a bunch of flex wing pilots hoping from one 500 to 700 fpm thermal to the next trying to catch up. Until today, 300 fpm was great.

The course line is full of thermal markers and it makes it easy for racing as we blow down the course. Brian is now in front with Johnny Carr and Dave is with Hansjorg. They are catching up with Christof and Juerg. The flex wing pilots for the most part are just behind them.

The jump to Asissi, which has its own big mountain out in the valley, can be taken from a point further north off the range to the east, or in a straight line from the turnpoint. Those pilots who stay high can get up on the mountain first and blast into Asissi. Dave and Brian are blasting, I get low and have to work the sunny side of the mountain, but get to cloud base very quickly at 7,600'.

Johnny Carr gets to goal first to win the day. Brian lost him and makes it in 24 minutes later. Then the ATOSes start coming in with Dave Sharp in fifth and Hansjorg in fourth. As they started later than Juerg and Christof, they are the winning Class II "hang gliders" for the day.

Josef Zweckmayr comes in after Dave as the first flex wing pilot, and soon behind him Manfred. Manfred got a much later start and wins the day.

More pilots pour into goal and probably 100 flex wing pilots make it in. Almost all the rigid wing pilots get to goal. I'm slow having made Asissi late, and having to work the range low back 20 miles to goal.

Bettino appears to be the top placing Brazilian for today in 22nd, but it looks like the total scores will again completely change. Here are the totals in the flex wing class after yesterday:

There were three Brazilians in the top four places yesterday with Allan Barnes from the UK in third. Manfred had been moved down to a tie for sixth with Oleg. Steve Moyes had moved into tenth. Here's a shot of Andre Wolf who was in second:

The Brazilian team is doing well and appears to be leading in the team competition. I say appears because we aren't getting provisional team scores.

Jim Lee and Chris Arai made goal for the US team. All the US rigid team members made goal.

I have asked the meet organizers to get the daily results up on the web, but it doesn't appear to be happening.

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The Worlds – Day Eight »

Mon, Aug 2 1999, 10:00:00 pm GMT

Worlds 1999

A very challenging day indeed. The meet organizers send us to the west facing launch up at Monte Cucco (finally we go to the main launch), knowing that it is blowing down (light). Hmmm!

We wait around with our gliders on our racks, until finally we get the word to go around to the east-facing launch about 1 km away, where, what do you know, it is blowing up lightly. We set up in another huge launch area with lots of well-chewed grass.

The meet organizers have given up all pretense of separating class I and II, as we can now setup wherever we like, we have the same launch times and start gate times. Of course, this means that we class II pilots have to suffer the infernal gaggles of 194 pilots over launch in weak conditions.

With high clouds blocking the sun at launch, but cumulus a few miles to the north predicted to OD, it looks like a tough day for a 76 kilometer task to the north and back to the LZ on the west side of Monte Cucco.

The multiple start gates does provide a small bit of spread in the field, but most of the pilots take the 2:15 PM gate and run the east face of Monte Cucco heading to the next valley and the west face of an even bigger mountain. Wherever you go the place is packed. Slide up within a few feet of the hillside, and you still find yourself with lots of "friends."

Dave Sharp and I follow Oleg (a familiar strategy) and hook up with Jim Lee on the west face of the bigger mountain a few miles to the north of launch, and start working the broken and jagged lift to 5,400'. The task is 20 miles to the north, a large tower on the top of a high mountain. It is possible to get the turn point photo from below the top of the mountain as long as the tower is still in the picture.

Once we top out I head east to jump over into the valley on the east side of the mountain. I had just seen a couple of pilots try the west face further to the north, and they plummet. Everything is in shade as we are now under the over development.

Forty pilots cruise along the east side of the ridges, trying to find zero sink and hoping to stay up as we lose 2,000'. After ten minutes of this, I break off from everyone heading slowly down, but toward goal, and head out east into the valley about 3 miles to a land fill that looks like it has been in the filtered sunlight for about 10 minutes at least. It is a very small bright spot in a twenty-mile square dark area.

At 200' off the ground, I start working zero, which turns into fifty. I'm flying with Dave, but he's still hanging on the mountain, until he gets my report. Fifty turns into a hundred, then two hundred, and finally, three hundred, as I climb 4,000' and drift back toward the course line.

Many other pilots have maintained on the course line, and now they are in trouble. All the Austrian team, including Johann Posch, Manfred Ruhmer, Robert Resinger, and Josef Zweckmayr go down by the first turnpoint. Oleg and Gerolf are down there also.

Dave and I work our way toward the first turnpoint, but we are high and get up again to 5,400' over the previous day's first turnpoint, just 6 miles south of today's turnpoint and high on the ridge. Working now the west side of the ridge line, we are watching the sun shine on the valley's to the west, as small gaggles work light lift over sunny fields below us.

After dropping 1,800' I catch some broken lift on the rocks below the turnpoint and start working back up. After a few turns, twenty of our friends come over from the west to join Dave and I as we climb out to get over the tower. Down below at the base we can see a field with at least twenty gliders, and there are others plastered on the steep hillsides next to us.

Five hundred feet over the top, we swoop to the turnpoint about a mile away, rounding the base of the tower at about 200'. We then skim along the top of the mountain on our way back out to our previous thermal and toward the next turnpoint to the west just north of Gubbio.

No one is at goal yet, and it looks like this is the remnant of 194 pilots - about 20 to 30 pilots. The gaggle includes the British team, which is flying very much as a team. Dave and I have been flying together and as a team, but we are having difficulty communicating with Jim Zeiset (who lands at the first turn point), and Brian Porter, who is way behind because he forgot to take a photo of the task board.

We glide for 5 miles, and then work zero sink that gets better as we make our way out of the hills and into the Gubbio valley. We finally get enough lift to get us back to 5,400' and on our way strongly to the turnpoint. Dave goes on a head missing the last thermal, but finds the best thermal of the day to the south of the turnpoint. We climb to sixty five hundred feet. Working together we are able to leave twenty flex wing and two rigid wing pilots behind.

Dave has a lead foot and goes on final 11 miles out. I go with him but reluctantly as I feel that it would be better to head south to the next set of clouds and then get into goal from the west. There is a strong east wind at goal: 10 to 15 mph. None the less, I overrule my gut and go with Dave. The pilots behind us go south toward the clouds. The Brits are working together.

Dave and I don't find any lift coming into goal and we both get low. At 300' AGL Dave pulls rabbit out of the hat as I land less than 2 miles from goal. Dave comes in to goal as the fourth rigid to goal. I get the distinct displeasure of watching all the pilots I climbed through and out glided pass over my head to goal.

Dave and I are again the top placing American pilots (as well as American rigid pilots) as Brian Porter isn't able to get to the first turnpoint. Chris and Jim Lee land by the first turnpoint. Ryan goes down on the leg from the first turnpoint to Gubbio. Mike Barber goes down by the first turnpoint.

Five of the six first crossings to goal were British pilots. Here is a shot of Allain Barnes who was the top placing British pilot after the third task:

Johnny Carr won the day in his Swift. He gets to goal just as we start our final glide. The top two rigid wing leaders – Hansjorg Truttmann, and Christof Kratzner, did not complete the task. They landed by the first turn point. The Brazilian flex wing pilots did very well with three Brazilians at goal. We think that Pedro Matos who was in second, is now leading the flex wing competition. The Brazilian team may be leading the flex wing team competition.

Andre Wolf, another Brazilian, who was in 6th, may be in second, or perhaps ahead of Pedro. Carlos Niemeyer, a Brazilian who was in 9th, is now in the top five. I'm guessing a bit on these results, as the score keeper is not getting out the scores to the Internet or to the team leaders in a very timely fashion.

Seven of the top ten flex wing pilots did not make goal. Everything is turned upside down, and this is a meet that Manfred and Oleg will head to battle back to win. Chris Arai was in fourth place after yesterday and Jim Lee was in 16th, as the highest placing Americans in the flex wing category.

Andre Wolf was placing bets at 5 or 10 to 1 that Manfred would win the Worlds. It doesn't look like a good bet at the moment.

Gaggles over Tre Pizzi, rigid wing gliders line up, Paris Williams launches at Tre Pizzi.

The photos above were taken by David Glover (http://www.1800hangglide.com).

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ATOS cracking their ribs »

Sun, Aug 1 1999, 10:00:02 pm GMT

Worlds 1999

We've got Dave Sharp, Berndt Weber, and Felix Ruhle here at the Worlds, so there couldn't be any better support from the manufacturers and their US representative. This is great because we are breaking quite a few ATOS ribs. Berndt says that he fixed 5 yesterday. Dave fixed a cracked rib on my glider the day before, and a mushed one on Johann's today.

Some of the problems come from pilots pounding in, and some from pilots not properly folding in the ribs, but there are too many problems to all be the fault of the pilots. The eighth rib is especially easy to crack by a hard landing or an improper folding. Berndt says that they will fix this by putting in a plastic pin that will flex. On the Exxtacy the final rib had bungies. It's great that it is so easy to fix carbon fiber ribs.

The ATOS doesn't have cams on the wing tips like the Exxtacy, Ghostbuster, and E7. This makes for a bit of unpleasant grunting and groaning. I bought some clear green plastic hose to put over the tips to protect the strings. It looks pretty nice (wish I had some red hose also for the left tip), but it sure wish I had cams.

There is already wear on the sail, and some of it came from bolts on the spoilerons actuators. I told Berndt to turn the bolts around to reduce the wear and to cover the bolts tops with Velcro (which I did). Felix first wanted to blame the pilots for not releasing the spoileron wire before swinging the ribs, but it was in fact a manufacturing mistake.

The sail zipper is still hard to zip up although it is getting better. I really had a hard time with it at first.

I wish there was a way to keep the outer three ribs closed when you break down the glider so that they could be in the most protected position. The fact that they can swing out easily (a feature actually), may make it easy to crack the eighth rib.

It is hard to insert the spoileron wire after setting up the glider without pulling out the pin that connects the base tube and downtubes. It is a very clean connection, but still this is a problem. Felix recognizes this and says that he is coming up with a solution.

The bag is much bigger on the ATOS than on the Exxtacy, so that is much appreciated. It is now easy to get the glider in the bag. Still, it would be nice if there was a bit of extra padding around the nose, which wears on the bag. Thank goodness it has two zippers unlike my Exxtacy bag.

It is not all that easy to roll up the tips and get the spoilerons to fit nicely in the bag. I still haven't figured out how to do this, and Felix couldn't provide any good advice.

I put a crinkle in my whack tube sleeve because it is easy to have the turnbuckle sit in it when you open the wing. You had to be careful about this on the Exxtacy also, but it seems easier to screw this up on the ATOS. Well at least my Exxtacy and ATOS match. I much prefer the nose wire clip on the ATOS. It definitely won't come off.

I almost wore through a flap rope on my first ATOS flight. This was because the pulley was reversed at the back by the keel. I put a new rope on and I haven't had a problem with it since.

Felix mentioned that he was able to stall the ATOS when he was banked up in a turbulent thermal and he pushed out hard on the outside corner bracket in an attempt to reverse the glider. The glider started shaking and he pulled it in to gain speed. Unlike the Exxtacy, Felix built the ATOS with the bar back further, so it is possible to stall it.

I still need to put my hang point further back in order to reduce the bar pressure when I push out. It was very easy to get the ATOS flying fast into goal and I pulled away from the two flex wing gliders that were with me.

I did get the ATOS to slip a bit when turning into final when I really whipped it around. This surprised me because I was use to the Exxtacy, which you really can't whip around. I flattened it out quickly, but it was a bit of a scare.

I'm really enjoying flying the ATOS (but, then I liked my Exxtacy also). It is very nimble and has great performance, although not so great with me at the controls. All the problems I've had are minor relative to those I originally had with the Exxtacy. I sure hope that Berndt and Felix listen as well as they have this week to pilot feedback. It is great that they are here and can see what is going on.

I asked Berndt if it is true what I had heard which was that he wanted to produce a glider with soul. He said yes, and that he thought that they had done that.

Felix and Berndt at goal (although neither flew there today), Hansjorg at goal, and Dave Sharp fixing Johann's 9th rib at goal.

The photos above were taken by David Glover (http://www.1800hangglide.com).

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Italian world team abandons Ghostbusters

Sun, Aug 1 1999, 10:00:01 pm GMT

Worlds 1999|Ghostbuster

Yesterday we noticed that there were new Exxtacy 99's on launch, but no Ghostbusters. Today we went and asked the Italian pilots who were flying the Ghostbusters what was up.

They said that they were too scared to fly them anymore. They kept getting speed bumps at not very high speeds on their previous two competition flights. They are now flying the new Exxtacies instead (which also experience speed bumps, but at much higher speeds).

We previously reported that there were problems with speed bumps with the Ghostbusters and that according to our sources these were inherent in the design. We'll see, but right now, there are no Ghostbusters at the Worlds.

I have been accused of favoring one rigid wing glider over another in an unfair manner. A few pilots have written to say that I wouldn't write anything bad about the glider that I am flying (see the next article). Apparently their memories are a bit short, but they can easily refresh them by looking are my long article discussing all the problems that I had with my Exxtacies. You'll find it on my web site. It hasn’t changed since I wrote it almost two years ago.

When there are problems with gliders I write about them because I want to put the fire to the feet of the manufacturers to get them to fix the problems. I am especially interested in doing this to manufacturers of the glider that I'm flying. I mean it is in my interest to get my glider fixed.

The Ghostbuster appears to have a number of problems, and I am reporting both their successes and problems. I'm sorry if some people think that is biased, but too bad.

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The Worlds – Day Seven »

Sun, Aug 1 1999, 10:00:00 pm GMT

Worlds 1999

Finally, a good day. Light winds, although they are over the back at Monte Cucco, so once again we are sent to Tre Pizzi with its east-facing launch. This is not the Monte Cucco worlds, but the Tre Pizzi worlds.

Hansjorg Truttmann in his ATOS finds out just how light when he takes off and the glider gets away from him without going up. He takes out a downtube and bottom bracket. Felix Ruhle switches gliders with him and fixes Hansjorg's glider on launch and launches a bit later. Hansjorg is leading class II, so Felix wants him to continue winning.

Hansjorg had moved to the right of the main class II launch to launch and it was a rounded hill that didn't provide any ground effect to the wings. Perhaps that is why he didn't get off.

With the light winds and weak thermals due to the high cirrus, many of us are stuck low over launch as the class II and class I gliders have the same launch and start times. We work weak lift until a few minutes before the last start gate opens at 1 PM and then head out low to a thermal over the start gate 2 miles in front of launch in the valley.

The task that is called asks us to fly north back to Monte Cucco through the mountains and away from the valleys, and then head further north to a big building high on an upper plateau. Next we have to head west to a small lake north of Gubbio, hit the Monastery above Gubbio, and then southeast against a head wind, back to the LZ at Sigillo – a 50 mile task.

After getting the start gate Dave Sharp and I ignore the light lift in the valley and run back to the ridge north of the launch. There we find much better lift (200 fpm) to get us up to over 5,000' MSL (3,500' AGL) and now we're ready to jump back into the mountains to the north. There are a few pilots out in front of us, but many are still left over launch with its weak conditions Probably a third of the field hasn't even launched yet. We hear that Jim Zeiset, Ryan Glover, Paris Williams, and Mike Barber are down near the start gate. Brian Porter is behind us in the air trying to get his GPS to work.

Dave and I race to catch up with the ten pilots in front of us. Since we started on the last start gate, we assume that everyone is racing from the same start time of 1 PM, and you know exactly where you are in the race. Fifteen miles later we are over the launch at Monte Cucco, but on the east side or back side of the launch. We are 500 feet over launch, but below the top of Monte Cucco, and we have to slide around the east side of it with our wing tips in the grass. Thank goodness the winds are light. Jim Lee and Chris Arai are with us and flying well.

I make a wrong guess as to where a bit of lift is and get 200' below Dave, Jim and Chris. They will use that extra altitude to leave me way behind as we approach the 1stturnpoint.

I climb to 6,500' 5 miles out from the 1stturnpoint, which we can see high up on the plateau to our north. Dave Sharp climbs to 6,500' 3 miles from the turnpoint and is able to glide into it and get around it with 4,700'. I don't find lift to take me to 6,500' that close to the turnpoint, and get lower as I head upwind toward it. Christian Chiech and Bettino Schmitz, both of whom are top flex wing pilots, are in front of me and well below me as we head for the turnpoint. They are not going to make it on a glide.

There is a narrow gorge between the turnpoint and us and Christian Chiech is running along the north side of the gorge heading east below the turnpoint. Suddenly, I see what appears to be another glider next to him, then I see that it is a parachute. He falls a few hundred feet and then lands gently in the trees, 1000' up the gorge from the main road. I call in his position and he is later retrieved with no problems.

Not getting any lift and falling fast, I head east to a cloud over the town on the east side of the gorge. It works, I climb to over 5,000' and am able to snap a shot of the red roofed building as I pop over the top of the mountain and then plummet into the valley to the west. By now, Brian Porter and Johnny Carr in the Swift have caught up with me, and they head north up the valley, while I fall to the south with four flex wing pilots.

We start working 50 fpm up 800 feet above a small town next a little ridge, hoping for anything to get us out of this valley which is far off the main roads from Sigillo. We work forever to get up enough to dive into the hills on the back (east) side of Gubbio, and then again I get stuck working ridges with zero sink, while I wait for something to change.

Half an hour later, the sun comes out and I suddenly find myself going up at 200 fpm and there appear three flex wings who enjoy my newfound fortune. Meanwhile Dave Sharp has made it into goal having found more lift than he could deal with after the second turnpoint. Hansjorg and Christof were the first and second class II gliders into goal.

Manfred and Oleg were the first gliders period into goal with Oleg just behind Manfred, as is his want. Here's a shot of Manfred and Oleg discussing the task, which they agreed was too easy:

The flex wing pilots are I are able to climb out to over 5,000' and get to the clouds north of Gubbio for the second turnpoint, and another climb now to 6,500' just after the turnpoint. Foolishly, I thought this was enough to get me to goal, as Dave had reported too much lift in the convergence getting to goal.

I lose 2,000' getting to the turnpoint at Gubbio 4 miles to the south, and almost another 2,000' running along the west-facing hills south of Gubbio and am forced to drive into the sunlit valley south of Gubbio and west of Sigillo, downwind from the goal.

A couple of us work 200-300 fpm, drifting away from goal, but getting up enough, 4,500' to try once again to get up over the hills between us and Sigillo. We see a flex wing and a ATOS low in the hills, but turning. The ATOS turns out to be Felix.

Felix continues forward and lands about 3 miles from goal on the hillside. I and two flex wing pilots stop at the crest and work weak lift, that finally gets us up to 4,100' (2,600' AGL) 4 miles from goal, and lets us pull in against the 15 mph head wind, and make it to goal quite late. Only one other glider makes it in after us.

30 or 40 pilots make goal out of 194, so there are a lot more happy faces than on previous days. Johan Posch again makes goal for the third time in a row. Perhaps his film will work out this time.

I reported yesterday that Gerolf had hurt his knee. It wasn't hurt too bad and he was flying today.

I don't have results yet and they seem to be pretty slow about putting up the results on their web site. It would appear that Manfred is now leading Class I as Gerard Thevenot came in quite late. Hansjorg Truttmann got his film problems straightened out and is now in first in Class II. Brian Porter landed just short of goal, but Johnny Carr in the Swift made it to goal (he had a hard time getting down). Christof is probably in second.

Chris and Jim Lee make goal, with Chris scoring well. Chris was the fourth flex wing into goal. Jim broke his nice new carbon fiber downtube.

It is not clear yet how many points the day is worth as many flex wing pilots landed very early by the start clock. About half the rigid wing pilots made goal. The one IXBO made goal along with all the ATOSes.

Here are the Class I results before that last task:

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The Worlds – Day Five »

Fri, Jul 30 1999, 10:00:00 pm GMT

Worlds 1999

In the morning it is blowing over the back again at Monte Cucco (which we have yet to launch from), but the only clouds are on the hills, so we are headed for Tre Pizzi with its east launch. By the time we get to launch, at 10:30 AM, the clouds are right at launch and we can't see 100 feet, but the wind is less than ten miles per hour straight up, so we set up.

The clouds clear and the day looks great, even with the low cloud base. Finally, they call a task which both Class I and Class II gliders will attempt, 55 miles, up and down the ridge with little forays out into the valley for some turnpoint photos.

The rigid wings are the first off again with a start gate at 12:45. The flex wings will follow with three start gates beginning at 1 PM. With the flex wings starting 15 minutes behind, the best flex wing pilots will soon be catching the slower rigid wings.

We gain a few hundred feet right off launch, but it is mostly ridge lift. Most of the us work it down the ridge to the start gate where there is a convenient thermal that gets the first ten rigid wing pilots out on course and headed 19 kilometers to a small church on the hill side (the first turnpoint). There is reasonable lift and staying away from the ridge works as we work the thermals in the valley and smaller hills.

With a northeast wind, there is plenty of head wind on the way back to the second turnpoint north of the launch. Hansjorg Truttman, Christof Kratzner, and Brian Porter are in the lead, with Felix Ruehle, myself and another ATOS pilot just behind them. As the first three pilots make the second turnpoint, the second gaggle gets stuck low on a ridge just before the turnpoint, and have to find a thermal out in the valley. Just as we enter it, Manfred Ruhmer and Johann Posch in an ATOS join us. We climb to 4,800' (3,300' AGL), which is quite high for this meet so far, and race to the second turnpoint.

One piece of advice: if Manfred is turning in weak lift, stay with him. I don't and land soon there after. Three rigid wing pilots and Manfred keep turning at the second turnpoint in broken lift. Johann and Manfred (at least) make goal.

Manfred was the first flex wing pilot to launch and got the start gate at 1 PM. Therefore, he was able to catch the second gaggle of rigid wing pilots about an hour into the flight.

Here's a shot of Manfred just before he launched:

Dave Sharp got low early but was able to slowly work it up. He makes the second turnpoint about ten minutes after the second gaggle, and continued on course, but was unable to get to goal landing at the last turnpoint. Felix Ruhle made goal along with a number of other ATOS pilots. Jim Zeiset landed early after the first turnpoint.

Hansjorg, Chritsof, and Brian (in the Utopia) battled it out for the lead working their way toward the turnpoints out in the valley, and scooting back when they didn't have enough altitude to make them. They would then gain altitude back at the ridge, before making another try.

Hansjorg was finally able to get away, and while Brian was doing a few extra turns wondering where the goal field was, he flashed into goal to win the day. Brian figured it out, and came in next.

Here's a shot of Hansjorg at goal:

After a few more ATOSes made goal, Manfred came in alone only to be followed by more ATOSes. It was a very long time before another flex wing made it into goal – maybe an hour or more before Gerard Thevenot came in followed by about ten flex wing pilots. Chris Arai was the only American flex wing pilot to make goal.

It looks like Manfred might jump into the over all lead after being 97 points down after the first day. Hansjorg should jump into first place in the rigid wings, as Johnny Carr, in the Swift, came in quite late (for a rigid wing pilot).

There may be results at: http://www.fivl.it/mondiali/cucco99.html

The three small shots above: Pilot meeting, Jos Guggenmos's red E-7 with winglets, an ATOS launching.

The photos above were taken by David Glover (http://www.1800hangglide.com).

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The Worlds – Day Four »

Wed, Jul 28 1999, 10:00:00 pm GMT

Worlds 1999

The day is called at 9 AM before we have a chance to go up to launch.

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The HG Worlds – Task One (Day two) »

Tue, Jul 27 1999, 10:00:00 pm GMT

Worlds 1999

Late Monday afternoon the rain stops, the clouds rise, and we head an hour north of Sigillo for a later evening light thermal and rigid lift flight that gets us 800' over and back to Villa Dama at 12:30 AM.

There are no clouds on Tuesday morning, and we take off down the hill toward town around 9:30 AM heading toward Trapezi an hour to the south east, assuming that with the north east wind they will move the competition to this site. Amy is still in the team leaders meeting and contacts us on radio to confirm our launch location.

We are the second van to launch, and have to climb a couple of hundred feet up to the east facing launch. The rigid wings get the first and a bit lower launch, well the flex wings get to go around the corner a bit more directly into the wind. It matters not.

There are two Ghostbusters here and a prototype Top Secret (it looks a lot like the ATOS that Gerard saw at the Wallaby Open, but no sail over the front of the leading edge, and folding ribs) from Gerard Thevenot. We all swarm around the lower launch, and get ready quickly because we will be launching first. Our launch window opens at 1:15 PM and closes at 1:45 PM. The start tarp comes out at 2 PM, and it is a race.

Dave Sharp and I get off at 1:35 PM and we are among the first 5 to launch. The launch is actually closed before all the rigid wing pilots get off. The last ones force their way through the launch director. There will be some kind of penalty.

We are great wind dummies for the flex wings as we climb right out 1000' to cloud base. Oh, boy, what is the deal with this 1000' to cloud base business? The winds at launch were about 15 mph out of the northeast.

After getting the start gate 5 miles south down the valley we catch a thermal in the middle of the valley and drift back toward the ridge. There proves to be sparse and broken lift there, but we need to work whatever we can. Lift was good at launch, but weak thereafter.

I geek it at the first turn point, not even finding it, given that the GPS co-ordinates are ½ mile off. Jim Zesiet lands about ½ mile from me. Dave Sharp continues on then, misreads his GPS or vario. Thinks he's way high coming into goal, then realizes he's not anywhere near goal, and has to go on final anyway. He lands short

Brian Porter also misses the first turnpoint, has to go back after going ten miles north up the valley, and gets another shot of the turnpoint. He makes goal, but stalls his Utopia on landing and hurts it pretty bad. We'll see if he'll be in action tomorrow.

We think that Christof Kraztner in an ATOS wins the day, but he will be getting a penalty as he launched late. Twelve rigid wings made goal out of the two dozen or so here at the Worlds.

The flex wing gliders take off after us, but no one launches until ½ hour into their launch window. Then they dribble off the hill. Conditions are now quite weak. They have a slightly longer task, and no flex wing pilot makes goal. Gerard Thevenot may have won the day.

Results may or may not be up at: http://www.fivl.it/mondiali/cucco99.html.

Tomorrow looks like it will be blown out. The next day looks like rain. Maybe Friday will be good.

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Cold and wet in Monte Cucco »

Sun, Jul 25 1999, 10:00:01 pm GMT

David "Dave" Glover|Worlds 1999

It's hard to remember back to Tuesday and Wednesday when we were bathed in lower ninety degree temperatures with plentiful cues and great flying. On the day before the start of the 1999 World Hang Gliding Championships, it rained here most of the afternoon. Today, the first day, has been called at 9 AM as the clouds are well below launch, with full coverage of high clouds above, and strong winds parallel to launch. At 11:45 AM it begins to rain. Five days in a row of non-flyable conditions here at Monte Cucco.

On Sunday night there was a pilot reception and parade through the center of town at Sigillo. We arrived back from Asissi at around 6 PM to find that the only through street in town had been blocked off in preparation for the festival and parade.

We didn't march until 10 PM, after the parishioners of a local church held their march. While the town is small, and our parade was short, we kept stopping and waiting. I couldn't figure out what was going on, and there were few, if any spectators.

Finally, we approached the central square, and I saw what the problem was. The whole town had come out to greet us and the parade route was squeezed down to single file. As we marched through the central plaza, the town's people, all cheering for each country, mobbed us. It was really moving.

There were speeches by the mayor of Sigillo, and the president of the local region. The Korean ambassador to Italy was there. Then a whole pageant began.

A woman dressed in white robes hung from a rope that came out the bell tower of the municipal building, and danced across the face of the building missing the pigeon spikes. Two women wearing masks and long hooped skirts stood 12 feet tall and moved through the crowd. Two fifteen foot diameter helium balloons painted to represent brother sun and sister moon, carried dancers above the crowd. A light show played on the municipal building's wall.

Photo credits for the last few Oz Reports go to Dave Glover at http://www.1800hangglide.com.

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Will's Wing streamlined control frame »

Wed, Jul 21 1999, 10:00:01 pm GMT

Chris Arai|control frame|Jim Lee|Rob Kells|Wills Wing

Tired of being behind Manfred and Oleg, Chris Arai and Jim Lee have asked Wills Wing for a streamlined base tube and down tubes for their new all mylar Fusions. The control frame that they received is a piece of art. Curved aerodynamically shaped fittings connect the broad downtubes and control bar. Here's a shot of the corner bracket:

Can you actually buy this control frame? We don't think so, but ask Rob Kells at http://www.willswing.com.

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Arriving at Sigillo »

Mon, Jul 19 1999, 10:00:04 pm GMT

Amy Whitfield|Belinda Boulter|Chris Arai|David "Dave" Sharp|James "Jim" Zeiset|Johann Posch|Paris Williams|Worlds 1999

After enjoying the camaraderie at the beer hall at the LZ of the Alpen Open, we get an hours drive toward Italy, and our eventual destination, Sigillo, a small resort town at the base of Monte Cucco, site of the 1999 Worlds. We heard from Jim Zeiset's report that it looked like a 200-kilometer day at Gnadenwald on Monday.

We finish the drive the next day at around 6 PM and check in at the American team's villa, the Villa Dama, situated across the 5 mile wide valley from Monte Cucco. The view from the pool takes in the length of the valley and gives the guest pilots a good idea of the coming tasks. Later in the evening Jim and Amy join Chris Arai, Dave Sharp, Johann Posch, Belinda, and I here. We expect Jim, Kathie, and Rachael Lee tomorrow. Paris Williams is already setup at the camp ground.

Monte Cucco towers about 3000' above this high valley, rounded and grass covered at the top. It appears that there are launch areas for hundreds of gliders. The wheat and hay fields below have been harvested and they sit golden brown and reassuring to any cross country pilot. The stories about the venturi and turbulence in the narrow valley to the south are true according to Chris, but from here it seems like just an extreme story. Perhaps when the winds kick up, it will be more of a concern.

Nikki Hamilton told us that 26 rigid wing glider pilots are signed up for the worlds.

Pictures will follow.

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British Nationals at Monte Cucco

Mon, Jul 5 1999, 6:00:02 pm EDT

Allan Barnes|André Wolfe|Betinho Schmitz|Blue Sky|British Nationals 1999|Gordon Rigg|Jim Bowyer|Jim Lee|Jim Page|Justin Needham|Kathleen Rigg|Mike Barber|Monte Cucco|Richard Walbec|Steve Elkin|Steve Elkins|Wills Wing|Worlds 1999

Jim Bowyer reports on the British Nationals:

A good entry - 95 pilots from GB, Belgium, Brazil, Columbia, Denmark,France,Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, the USA and Venezuela.

This will definitely be serious practice for the forthcoming World Championship with the entire French national squad here plus other world class pilots from national teams including Gerard Thevenot, Jim Lee and Mike Barber, Betinho Schmitz and Andre Wolf, Lars Bo Johansen amongst others.

BRITISH NATIONALS - Monte Cucco Day 1

Day 1 dawned with mainly clear skies but some signs of early cumulus over the mountains. After three practice days with the wind on the northeast side of the hill a light breeze from the southeast was very welcome and the task was set from the main Monte Cucco launch.

No met forecast was available but the day looked set to improve from a weak start and a 102 km task was set. The route started off 41 km south to the aerials at Pale di Foligno, 16 kms out west to Assisi and a difficult 32 kms north to Gubbio before the short run back into goal at Villa Scirca.

The sky always looked better well to the south but the launch area and first part of the course was under clear blue and pilots were in no rush to get started. Eventually a few launched and the climb out, although not looking easy initially, improved as the afternoon wore on. As they headed south a large cu-nimb could be seen developing down there; fortunately it was behind the main line of mountains and never really threatened the task. However, many found the conditions down towards the first turnpoint difficult and some failed to climb there to photograph it.

The struggle out to Assisi claimed a few more but the leg from Assisi to Gubbio was always going to be the difficult one and lack of time dictated that pilots had to take the direct route, rather than the longer but probably easier one back to the mountain chain. The lead gaggle developed into two and Justin Needham dropped out to land about 10 km short of Gubbio. The remaining mix of French, Brazilian and British pilots (plus Gerard) pressed on and eventually three could be seen approaching goal.

Allan Barnes was first across the line with Gerard Thevenot and Betinho close behind. A few minutes later a larger gaggle appeared, with a couple of stragglers behind and needing a little more height. Steve Cook and Jean Francois Palmarini led this group in with Steve Elkins, Richard Walbec and others following. Eventually the stragglers made it, Ron Richardson, Jean Francois Gerard and, some 15 minutes later Lars Bo Johansen. It was then 6:15 and the day had pretty much died off at this point leaving Gordon Rigg to land at Gubbio with a feeling of dejavue - he landed in the same field as he had towards the end of last year's pre-Worlds when the day closed down on him at Gubbio.

The start gate timing was by data back camera and provisional timings have shown that Betinho played his usual racing game from behind and made the fastest time, followed by Gerard and Steve Cook. With two Brazilians, four French and four British pilots among the 13 in goal the French team Envoi DuBois lead the team comp and Francoise Mocellin leads the ladies rankings from Kathleen Rigg.

The conditions had not developed quite as well as expected and made the task a challenge. However, with a good quality field to show what is possible a lot of good flying was done and some of the lower ranking British pilots took advantage of the possibilities to show up well in the task results.

Day 2 Report

No met again today so WYSIWYG for task setting. Light southerly wind on the main Monte Cucco launch and blue out front. No met means no info on possible cu-nimbs so stay in front of the ridge. The task was set as a 84 km elapsed time race starting with a 20 km run north to Mt Petrano then back 41 km south to the factory at Colle before racing back to goal at the Monte Cucco south landing.

Despite the blue sky and slow climb outs for the gliders early to launch most pilots soon found booming conditions along the course. There were some minor delays as they returned from the first turnpoint and topped up at Monte Cucco for the run south. Early pilots through were Andy Hollidge and Carl Wallbank who had taken advice to get around the course early and hope to follow the fast guys through some of the sections as they caught up.

However once they had joined up they raced each other and were surprised not to get caught until they were half way to the second turnpoint. Here Gordon and Kathleen Rigg overtook them after getting much better air across the Fabriano gap and arriving above them. Gordon eventually arrived in goal 17minutes before the next pilot - Carl.

From then on the goal marshals had their work cut out to keep track of the packs of gliders racing across the line. Goal was a happy place with well over 70 pilots getting in and results are going to be all about time points. Most of the top pilots had recognized this early on and climb and race was the order of the day.

Risks were taken and the most high profile casualty was Allan Barnes who took a dodgy final glide and decked it just short of goal. Happiest pilots were the lower ranking ones making goal with new league pilot Jim Page hugging his borrowed Laminar and Claudia Mejio last in but almost speechless with excitement at making it for the first time.

Results after 2 tasks

1 66 Richard WALBEC 1,846 Fusion
2 9 Steve COOK 1,775 Topless WC
3 100 Betinho SCHMITZ 1,749 Topless
4 62 Jean-F PALMARINI 1,733
5 89 Gerard THEVENOT 1,708 Topless
6 64 Jean-F GERARD 1,655 Laminar ST
7 7 Ron RICHARDSON 1,655 Cheetah
8 78 Andre WOLF 1,638 Laminar ST
9 2 Gordon RIGG 1,588 Laminar ST2
10 72 Lars Bo JOHANSEN 1,535 Laminar ST
11 56 Koji DAIMON 1,526 Topless
12 55 Jim LEE 1,525 Wills Wing Fusion
26 71 Mike BARBER 1,271 Topless

Full results can be found at;

http://www.theleague.force9.co.uk/national/2ndleg.htm

The Worlds - behind the times »

Fri, Jun 25 1999, 4:00:00 am GMT

Manfred Ruhmer|Worlds 1999

I feel like I'm going to a third world country heading into the wilds of central Italy for the 1999 Hang Gliding World Championships at Monte Cucco.. Yes, I realize that that is part (or all) of the charm, but still I have grown so dependent on sophisticated communication technology, that I'm wary of what awaits me.

No only will it be difficult to connect back to the rest of the hang gliding community to report on what's happening, but it appears that the meet isn't up to date on the latest innovations in competition technology. In fact it is quite a bit behind the competitors.

The use of GPS turn point verification has been proven in at least three Australian meets and two US meets over the last 9 months. Competition pilots and meet organizers have raved about this innovation that makes everyone's life so much easier.

Unfortunately, CIVL, the governing body for the Worlds, decided at its last meeting to stick with photo turn point verification. This is really too bad, as those pilots who have been exposed to the new ways will find the old ways so creaky. Manfred Ruhmer in his rumors column mentioned how he would like to see GPS's used at the Worlds (for turn point verification).

Also, there appears to be a rule that may disallow the use of the Automated Pilot Tracking System and the netcast. Now it will be difficult to do the netcast at all, as we are not sure if there is a digipeater anywhere near the site. But to keep pilots from using this simple means of telling their drivers where they are would be most unfortunate.

The Worlds seem to have the least amount of flexibility and innovation of any of the many meets that I've attended. It would appear that the CIVL BOD mechanisms just aren't up to snuff. I truly hope that we can get around these problems and work with the stewards and the meet organizers. My experience in Australia doesn't leave me hopeful, but maybe that was just a case of an extraordinarily bad meet director.

I, of course, have exchanged numerous e-mail messages with CIVL BOD members as well as the organizers. I politely point out these issues and hope for the best. Perhaps if you are a World Team pilot for your country and want to be able to use GPS turn point verification, you can have your team leader bring up this issue. You might take a look at the rules as published on the World's web site (http://www.fivl.it/mondiali/cucco99.html) to see what I'm getting at.

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Gary Osoba speaks: Don't fly at Speed To Fly »

Thu, Jun 17 1999, 3:00:01 pm GMT

Chris Arai|Dave Broyles|William "Gary" Osoba jr.

Gary has rewritten the following article, so it is now co-authored.

The essence of Gary's approach was to evaluate the relative value of 3 different factors as they impact XC speeds and/or distances. How important is:

1) Flying at the correct Speed-to-Fly? 2) Flying with a good tailwind component? 3) Flying the best Microlift route?

Using a polar construction from data I have flown on my Exxtacy, exact figures for various combinations of these factors were derived by Gary. As we huddled inside a hangar with graphs laid out on the tail surface of Dave Broyles' Superfloater, the wind howled at 30-40 mph outside. The results provided by these analyses were sometimes surprising, and quite revealing.

In this installment, the first of the above three factors is reported on.

A few years back I wrote an article for Hang Gliding Magazine, as a rebuttal to Chris Arai's earlier article on Speed To Fly. It was called, Speed to Get There First. The purport of that article was that the penalty for going a bit slower on glide in between thermals than the optimum speed was quite small, and the benefit of decreased risk was quite large.

In other words, first the curve of optimum inter thermal speed was quite shallow, and significant departures from the optimum speed did not have great effect on the total time over the task. Reducing the inter thermal speed significantly raised the altitude that the pilot entered the next thermal with.

While I felt the arguments in the article were convincing, I believe that Gary has added a number of interesting additions and quantitative refinements to the argument that would make it difficult for any competition or cross-country pilot to ignore the argument.

The polar for an Exxtacy tells us that the best speed to fly between thermals, assuming that your climb rate in next thermal is 600 fpm, is 42 mph (the accompanying sink rate is 318 fpm). If your climb rate in thermals over the course is consistently 600 fpm, your average speed over the course (excluding final glide) would be 27.5 mph. (The best speed to fly speed can be determined by drawing a line on a polar chart from the Y-axis at 600 fpm tangent to the Exxtacy polar.)

If you were to fly at 36 mph between thermals (214 fpm sink rate) instead of 42 mph, then your average speed over the course would be 26.5 mph, 1 mph less, on average. While this is certainly enough of a difference to make the difference in a race, it is a much smaller difference than the difference in your inter thermal glide speeds. (It is about 15% of the difference in glide speeds.).

The reason that you can significantly slow down your inter thermal speed (by 6 mph) and only lose one mile an hour off your overall speed, is that you spend less time thermaling because you have entered the thermals higher by flying slower between them. Entering the thermals higher also means that you are taking less risks. In the most extreme case, you enter the thermal at an altitude high enough to climb back up from and the other guy never makes it to the thermal at all. He's sitting on the ground, watching you fly on by.

In our example, if you were to hit three equally spaced 600 fpm thermals over a course of about 27.5 miles, you would enter them 900' higher flying at 36 mph than you would flying at 42 mph.

Of course, in the real world entering the thermals 900' higher each time would often put you in a stronger part of the thermal with faster climbs.

One measure of the decreased thermaling time and decreased risk is the reduction in time spent thermaling per mile of course covered. If you were to fly at 42 mph between thermals you would spend 0.76 minutes thermaling per mile on course. At 36 mph between thermals, you would spend 0.61 minutes thermaling per mile.

Another way to look at it is this: every time you fly a cycle of 4 climbs and glides, the pilot flying the strict speed to fly will have to find and fly a 5th thermal. If he happens to miss any single thermal in the string of 5, he's on the ground.

Finally, we have assumed that each thermal on the course gives you a climb rate of 600 fpm. But how safe an assumption is this? As Gary pointed out, one of the problems with classic speed to fly theory is that it is deterministic, while the atmosphere is stochastic. So a more correct approach with a speed to fly theory would be a probalistic one. Examining the impact of this mathematically yields results, which are quite counterintuitive.

With classic speed to fly procedure you set your speed ring to 600 fpm for the expected climb rate in the next thermal and fly at the indicated speed.

Let's assume that you are able to reach a new thermal after each glide but that at that point you have to climb in what you find, and that the thermals you encounter do not have the same strength, which is more of a real-world assumption. And you find some thermals that you have to climb in are say 300 fpm thermals, then your speed to fly speed is reduced. Assuming, for the sake of argument, that half the thermals have a climb rate of 600 fpm and half at 300 fpm, you might reckon that you should set your speed ring at 450 fpm (splitting the difference). This is not the case.

In fact, to optimize your speed you need to set your speed ring much closer to 300 fpm than to 600 fpm; in this case, 400 fpm would be correct. With an equal distribution of different rates of climb you'll find that the proper speed to fly calculation gives you a lower speed than if you just took the averages of the speeds to fly determined from each climb rate. This is not because of the previously mentioned benefits of flying slower than the strict speed to fly due to the shallow nature of these curves, but in addition to it. This solution is driven simply by the laws of probability. Here are the correct probalistic settings, given the above assumptions, for some different values of thermals with equal likelihood of occurrence.

200/600= 300 fpm, 200/800= 320 fpm, 400/600= 480 fpm, 400/800= 533 fpm, 300/500= 375 fpm, 300/800= 436 fpm

How does all of this apply to the Wallaby Open?

During the Wallaby Open the pilots in the lead flew fast between thermals. Winning any given task required beating the next guy by a few seconds. Did they fly at best speed to fly speeds?

The Wallaby Open was an example of a meet in which most of the days required all out racing to get to goal first. On most days, there was little chance of going down before goal (at least for the top performing pilots), so it was pretty clear that you could fly at the optimum speed and not worry about making the next thermal.

The top pilots were racing right next to each other, and as long as they gauged their actions against the other top pilots, and all acted in concert, then it didn't matter much just what they did. As top pilots they still tried to optimize their speed, so it was unlikely that other pilots behind them would engage in radically better actions that would allow them to overtake the leaders, perhaps undetected, and scoot by them at the end.

Often the leading pilots formed the first gaggle, as most pilots left the start gate at the same time, and those who went out earlier were easy to catch. The strategy involved leaving thermals soon after they began to weaken, and if one pilot left, all leading pilots would go with him in order to stay in the same conditions.

Any speed a leading pilot set between thermals was monitored and often matched by the other pilots in the first gaggle. There was too big a penalty for letting the guy get away from you. If your glide ratio and climbing ability wasn't up to those of the leading pilots you soon found yourself falling back and not longer able to stay in the same conditions as the lead gaggle. You lost the great advantage of having great pilots help you find and center on the next thermal.

It is my recollection that while we flew fast, we often didn't fly at speed to fly speed, but somewhat less. So monitoring speed to fly speed was less important than matching your actions against those whom you were flying against. You were most concerned about staying with them, then trying to out climb them, then hopefully out gliding them while staying at the same speed as them. Letting them speed ahead, get to the next thermal first, and get above and eventually away you was your biggest concern.

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Manfred's rumors

Thu, Jun 10 1999, 6:00:01 pm EDT

Manfred's rumors

Icaro 2000|Manfred Ruhmer|PG|Quest Air|record|Wallaby Ranch|weather|Worlds 1999

Icaro 2000 has added as new magazine to their web site.  With kudos to the Oz Report, they've decided to take their destiny in their own hands, and get Manfred to give his own opinions about what's what.  You'll find it, as well as a contest to name their first paraglider at their web site http://www/icaro2000.com.

Saskia Cavotta, at Icaro 2000, asked me to put Manfred's first article in the Oz Report:

Introduction

I am about to introduce you to our new initiative, here at Icaro 2000; it consists of a periodically report written by Manfred Ruhmer, about his life and views.  As most of you know, he is presently the best ranked pilot and has been among the best in the world during the ‘90’s. He started flying in 1986 and entered his first international competition in 1989 –World Championships in Fiesch (Switzerland)– where he came in 44th. In 1990, he participated in the European Championships in Kranjska Gora (Slovenia), where he came in 2nd: ever since he has been in the top –during 9 consecutive years.  His perseverance and devotion are admirable.  During the ‘90’s, in the Europeans he has always placed among the first 5 and in the Worlds among the first 10, added to the innumerable competitions, national and international, that he has won.

Manfred is a naturally talented pilot and an incredible individual.

I often talk with him about several flying subjects, he has a lot of knowledge, experiences, opinions and information about hang gliding; therefore, I think it is great that this project intends to share it with you.  I will be collaborating with him and organizing the issues.  I hope you will find this web page appealing and am interested in knowing what you think about it; therefore, looking forward to receiving your suggestions in order to improve it. Since it is an experiment, it is very important to receive lots of feedback.  Besides, this project also gives you the opportunity to write directly to Manfred and ask him about the aspects of hang gliding that most interest you.  Your questions, and their respective answers, will be published because they may be what others would like to know.  It will also help us decide the topics to review.

The aim of this work is to present Manfred’s points of view in a clear way; these are Manfred’s ideas, as mentioned above, and does not mean they are always shared by Icaro 2000.

We will dedicate this first issue to Manfred’s recent trip to the U.S., where he flew 2 competitions and won both of them.

Claudia Lucía Mejía de la Pava

Icaro 2000 – Italy

The Wallaby Ranch Open & the U.S. Nationals 1999.

The Wallaby Ranch Open was held in Florida, from April 18th until April 24th. Many pilots have agreed that it was one of the best meets they have ever attended to, and I am among them.

The facilities were excellent for towing, landing and relaxing, the organization was superb and the weather great!  It was my first time flying in Florida and, even though these flatlands are not like the Australian ones, they are good enough to satisfy demanding pilots.  This competition was very close to being a perfect meet; it has set standards that will be very hard to beat and I am looking forward to the next year’s Open!  Even though I was satisfied and the outcome was totally positive (I even came in first!), there are a couple of comments that I would like to make, which may help improve the meets.

Something I lament from every U.S. meet I have attended to, is the fact that the Americans have been reluctant to adopting the GAP Scoring System.  This is the most suitable scoring system for hang gliding meets, any other system used will not satisfy the needs of the competition nor those of the pilots.  I noticed, for instance, that the lack of the Early Bird Bonus (extra points awarded to the pilots who start the task earlier in compensation for the risks implied by flying in front of the others) and of the Early Arrival Bonus(points awarded to the first pilots in goal), influenced the pilots’ choices.  Such bonuses encourage pilots to start early and try to finish first because you do not need to be the fastest one in order to get them; these extra points may help you climb positions, though.  Without this type of motivation, every pilot waited until the last minute to start; therefore the air was very crowded, increasing the hazard of a mid-air collision.  These are not the only advantages of the GAP system, maybe the most obvious ones, but it is certain that any respectable, mid-size competition must use it.

The organization provided GPS transmitters, which were placed inside the glider’s sail, in order to always know the path flown by the pilots.  This system is commonly used in sail plane competitions.  It was pretty nice to fly with them and, hopefully, they will be used in every decisive competition (i.e. Worlds, Europeans, Air Games…). Scoring may be done much faster since you do not need to wait for picture developing, -only if you want to have a back up camera but these will only be considered in case of problems with the transmitters.  It was even possible to make a live broadcast via internet, of the daily tasks, thanks to these gadgets!  The transmission interval can be set by each pilot, going from intervals of 5 up to 30 seconds, depending on your GPS model.  Intervals of 15-20 seconds are all right as you make the transitions (flying from one thermal to the next one); you must be careful, though, when you want to track your flight around the turnpoint, especially if you are a fast pilot who usually takes the pictures very close to the trunpoints.  It happened to me once that the line traced between the two points, showed by the transmitter, was very close to being out of sector.  I could have lost a lot of points even though I did fly around the turnpoint properly!  The solution to this is either setting the GPS to a 5sec.  interval (which will give you 2.8hrs of recording), or, marking your position as soon as you are in sector.  This is done by pressing "mark" and then "enter" –within 5 seconds–.

The organizers mentioned planning to set a rental service of these devices, it would be interesting to have them during the Worlds!

The WR Open counted with good prize money, which was great and encouraging.  Prize money is a big motivation for pilots and a step forward in getting the sport to be known; hang gliding needs to become a more commercial sport and organizers should be able to sell it as a product in order to get some real sponsorship.  If the WR Open organizers keep up their good work maybe they will be able to make of it a BIG event, with TV coverage, spectators and much more!

Unfortunately, for the U.S. Nationals organizers, this meet was held right after the WR Open (April 25th – May 1st) and, as I said before, the standards set by the WR was very hard to meet.  Anyway the good weather conditions –only 2 days cancelled–, the excellent flying facilities plus the effort of the organizers made it worth flying; the people at Quest Air (another flying ranch in Florida, place where the nationals were held) gave their best to make of the Nationals a good competition, and they succeeded!

I was never really 100% happy with the way the U.S. Nationals I have flown in (’96, ’98, ’99) were run (I was happy to win every time, though). I regret the lack of the GAP Scoring System, mentioned above, and the high costs this competition involves for the participants.  We all know that the United States is huge; therefore, it costs a lot to get to the different places where this competition is held.  The entry fee is extremely high, for a national competition (between 250-350$, while in Europe we pay between 50-150$), plus the films for the main cameras were not always included!  I have never really been thrilled by this competition, my decision to attend relied on marketing convenience and, like this year, how easy it was for me to be there: since I was already there for the WR Open it was quite simple to go to the nationals because Quest Air is very close to the Wallaby Ranch and it was one competition right after the other one.  I must admit it was a good strategy, knowing that a lot of pilots would go to the WR Open the organizers made it easier for them to attend to the nationals too!

I was definitely satisfied with this trip to the U.S., as I said, the only major drawback was the scoring system.  I also mentioned another couple of things which I retain would only help improve the meets.  During these 2½ weeks I spent there, I was able to fly a lot and get to know a new location: the Florida flatlands.  These are not as dry as the Australian ones (which I know well and use as reference); –Florida has lots of swamps, the famous ‘Everglades’–, has somewhat weaker conditions –thermals up to 6-7m/s– and do not offer the opportunity to fly extremely long distances (I doubt being able to break the world dist.  record there). Still these flatlands have good weather conditions, are excellent for x-country flying and for hosting great competitions; moreover, Florida offers the advantage of being flyable during February and March, months that in Europe do not offer conditions to fly good x-country making it even better because meets in Florida will not overlap with the European ones.

First combined FAI 1 + FAI 2 hang gliding competition in Europe

Fri, Jun 4 1999, 4:00:01 am GMT

A.I.R.|Bernd Weber|Bob Baier|Christof Kratzner|Guido Gehrmann|Hans Bausenwein|Jos Guggenmos|Lukas Etz|Martin Henry|Oliver "Olli" Barthelmes|Ralf Miederhoff|Rosi Brams|Worlds 1999

by Hans Bausenwein

The German Hang Gliding League meet from 22nd of May to 30thof May was the first real European competition, where flex wings and rigid wings flew against each other.

The first task was launched from Hochfelln, a mountain in the south-east of Germany, famous for it's XC-potential. The transport up to the top was by a two section cable car, that only had the capacity to transport 5 flex wings or two rigids at a time. This was the main reason, why the competition was moved to another site after just one task. The rigid wing pilots were just complaining too much about the lack of easy transport.

Task no. 1 was a 93 km flat triangle with only 5 pilots out of the 55 competitors at goal.

There were 8 rigid wings and 47 flex wings in the competition. The rigid wings were 3 ATOS, 2 Guggenmos E 7, 2 Exxtacy and 1 Ghostbuster. Among the 47 flex wing glider were only 3 king posted gliders. The task wasn't a very valid one since 17 of the pilots, which were on the course early, had to land after only 15 km, among them half of the rigid wing field. Christof Kratzner on his first thermal flight with the ATOS was winning the task for the rigids, with Bernd Weber, managing director of A.I.R., coming second on his ATOS. Bob Baier on his Laminar ST was the overall winner of the task and with 3:25 hrs. almost one hour faster than Christof.

In spite of the Bob's brilliant result it was obvious, that the flex wings had no chance to keep-up with the "stiffies". Therefore it was decided to run two separate scores for the "flexxies" and the "stiffies". This is why I cannot give you a combined results list.

We moved to Zell am See in Austria. Schmittenhöhe was our launch site for the next three tasks. And what amazing tasks these were going to be! Schmittenhöhe is 2000m asl, 1250m above the wide open valley floor with spectacular views to the main range of the eastern Alps, called "Hohe Tauern". Jo Bathmann has launched his 205 km World Record FAI-triangle from there. Transport for gliders was easy, but expensive in a big cable car with ⅓ of each glider sticking out of the window. Launching is possible to any direction. There is enough space to rig hundreds of gliders at a time.

The 2ndtask was a flat triangle with 70 km. The day was under called because it appeared to be too wet in the beginning because of the thunderstorms on the previous day. It was a race to goal with 34 "flexxies" and all 8 rigids in goal. Christof Kratzner was winning again with 48,6 km/h and Bob Baier in the flex wing class with 44,27 closely followed by Hans Bausenwein..Christof's and Hans' times showed a difference of 15%. Both pilots had very similar performances during the past years. Later tasks showed a similar difference between the ATOS and a well tuned Laminar ST, which can be understood as the performance difference of these two gliders. The E7's and Christian müller on an Exxtacy, that was Felix Rühle's private one (which tells me, that it certainly is very well tuned) showed similar performances, less than the ATOS. Christian müller is a paraglider competition pilot, who hasn't flown hang gliders for 6 years and just started to fly his Exxtacy.

Task no. 3 was the biggest closed circuit task ever set in a hang gliding competition, a 210 km flat triangle, set along the race course of the "Pinzgauer Spaziergang" (Pinzgau walk). Christof Kratzner was smoking (he really smokes in flight) down the course on his ATOS and again winning with an amazing 46,4 km/h average. 7 of the 8 rigid wing gliders made goal and 11 of the 47 "flexxies". Jobst Bäumer was winning the flex wing competition with an as well amazing average speed of 42,95 km/h.

Task no. 4, the last task of this competition, to me seems to be a valid task to look at the performance differences of rigid wings and flex wings again. The task was a 106 km FAI-triangle followed by an add-on part of 24 km, total task distance 130 km. Very consistent conditions over the whole task and flying time. The task was set to beat the existing speed over a 100km FAI triangle world record, set by Martin Henry from Canada on 22-07-98 with an average speed of 34,81 km/h (FAI 1).

Again all 8 rigid wings made goal again and 18 of the flex wings. Christof Kratzner on his ATOS (who else?) was winning again averaging 42,47 km/h, best flex wing pilot was Jobst Bäumer with 37,96 km/h closely followed by Oliver Barthelmes and Hans Bausenwein. Jobst's average over the course of the triangle was 35,62 km/h, so he claimed a new World Record, as well as Rosi Brams (29,22 km/h) in the feminine category. Christof and Hans did not have their barographs turned on.

The next day, after the comp was over, Hans went up again to beat Jobst's World Record of the previous day with all the documentation well prepared and an official ÖAeC observer at site he managed to fly the course all by himself averaging 36,43 km/h, a new World Record.

So let's look at performances again:

Christof Kratzner ATOS: 42,47 km/h
Hans Bausenwein Laminar ST: 37,46 km/h
Christian müller (Felix Rühles Exxtacy): 38,01 km/h (second fastest time of the day)
Kurt Schuhmann E 7: 37,55 km/h

The result shows a performance difference between Hans' and Christof's gliders

(Christof and I are convinced it is the gliders and not the pilots) of appr. 14%. If the Laminar has a glide ratio in between 14 and 15 than the glide ratio of the ATOS can be calculated to be in between 16 and 17. Many of my friends, who fly hang gliding competitions agree, that the performance of a good Laminar ST is in between 14 and 15. Flying next to Christof's ATOS even lets me believe the performance difference is bigger, than what I unscientifically calculated. The performance of the E 7 is similar to a very well tuned Exxtacy and somewhere in between the ATOS and the Laminar ST, but closer to the ATOS. This was also what I could see when I watched Bernd Weber on his ATOS and Kurt Schuhmann on his E 7 doing a long valley crossing together.

So what about the Ghostbuster? Lukas Etz did not seem to do too well with it. He only flew it in the first two of the 4 tasks. The glider suffered by some transport damage and Lukas did not dare to continue to fly it anymore. He changed to an Exxtacy. I also would not want to evaluate the performance of this Ghostbuster. It was the first one made, the one which was presented at the FREE FLIGHT exhibition mid of April in Garmisch and it looked pretty prototypish too me.

German Hang Gliding League 99 FAI 2 total scores

position pilot's name glider task 1 task 2 task 3 task 4 points
1 Kratzner Christof Atos 575 617 940 774 2906
2 Weber Bernd Atos 548 454 557 473 2032
3 Guggenmos Josef Guggenmos E 7 303 423 754 458 1938
4 Hoffmann-Guben Marcus Atos 107 433 681 605 1826
5 Schumann Kurt Guggenmos E 7 107 406 651 541 1705
6 Etz Lukas Ghostbuster 100 422 615 505 1642
7 müller Christian Exxtacy DNS 363 646 572 1581
8 müglich Dieter Exxtasy 107 114 229 463 913

The first four pilots of this list will be the German Hang Gliding National Team FAI 2 for the 1999 World Championships at Monte Cucco Italy.

German League 99 FAI 1 total scores

position name 1.task 2.task. 3.task 4.task 5.task 6.task points
1 Baier Bob 636 294 443 710 830 812 3725
2 Baeumer Jobst 828 197 374 128 941 932 3400
3 Barthelmes Oliver 591 195 118 553 826 910 3193
4 Bausenwein Hans 560 155 118 640 817 888 3178
5 Bolz Holger 616 195 DNS 631 895 674 3011
6 Woll Gerald 479 168 118 606 835 681 2887
7 Kausche Peter 502 160 251 527 794 437 2671
8 Miederhoff Ralf 497 146 353 425 584 593 2598
9 Rauch Thomas 417 154 202 498 566 756 2593
10 Hertling Steffen 458 109 199 451 702 666 2585

As by 30-05-99, the German National Team FAI 1 for the Hang Gliding World Championships 1999 at Monte Cucco in Italy will be:

1. Guido Gehrmann, La Mouette Topless

(the current World Champion, who could not fly the League this year, because he is trainee Lufthansa pilot)

2. Bob Baier, Icaro Laminar ST
3. Jobst Bäumer, Aeros Stealth
4. Hans Bausenwein, Icaro Laminar ST
5. Gerald Woll, Icaro Laminar ST
6. Oliver Barthelmes, Moyes CSX 5

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US pilot ranking

Fri, May 7 1999, 10:00:01 pm GMT

Aaron Swepston|Andrew Pryciak|Bob Kranz|Bob Mackey|Bo Hagewood|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Bubba Goodman|Buddy Cutts|Bud Melaney|Butch Peachy|Campbell Bowen|Carol Sperry|Chris "Hawkeye" Giardina|Chris Arai|Chris Filer|Claire Pagen|Craig Woodward|Dave Seaberg|David Sharp|Davis Straub|Dean Funk|Dennis Harris|Dennis Pagen|Denny Mallet|Donn Denman|Don Netlow|Duncan McBride|Dustin Martin|Eric Beckman|Eric Shiever|Floyd Frontis|Gary Davis|George Stebbins|Gerry Pesavento|Glen Volk|Greg Dinauer|Greg Kendall|Jack Simmons|Jamey Meier|Jamie Shelden|Jamie Sheldon|Jersey Rossignol|Jim Lee|Jim Yocum|Jody Lazaro|Johann Posch|John Beckley|John Ryan|John Sylvia|Jon Borton|Jon James|Jon Lindberg|Jose Pereyra|Judy Hildebrand|Kari Castle|Kelly Harrison|Ken Brown|Kerie Swepston|Kerry Lloyd|Kim Albarran|Larry Costanza|Larry Tudor|Laszlo Babarcsik|Lisa Verzella|Marion Moody|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Mark Bennett|Mark Bolt|Mark Gibson|Mark Grubbs|Mark Mulholland|Martin Gruber|Mike Barber|Mike Degtoff|Mike Eberhardt|Mike Glennon|Mike Zidziunas|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Nancy Smith|Nathan Whelchel|Nelson Howe|Nick Kennedy|Nick Thomas|Paris Williams|Patty Cameron|Peter Welch|Ramy Yanetz|Reto Schaerli|Richard Burton|Robert Lane|Rob Kayes|Ron Roose|Russell Brown|Russ Locke|Ryan Glover|Simon Kurth|Slade Kennett|Steve Lee|Steven Desroches|Steve Refsell|Steve Rewolinski|Steve Stubbendick|Tim Denton|Timothy Washick|Tip Rogers|Tom Webster|Tracy Tillman|Tyson Richmond|USHGA|US Nationals|Wayne O'Sick|Wayne Sayer|William Vogel|Zac Majors

Now that the Wallaby Open and US Nationals have been completed, the competition pilot ranking has changed to reflect the results of these meets. Pilots can use the current ranking to gauge the point value of attending further meets.

To view the results in more detail, or to download the Excel 95 spread sheet that is used to calculate these results, go to http://www.davisstraub.com/Glide/2000wtss.htm. These are preliminary results and they await any corrections from Russ Locke, USHGA competition chairman.

US pilot ranking for the year 2000 World Team, as of May 8th, 1999:

Class II:

1 Porter Brian 565
2 Sharp David 517
3 Straub Davis 312
4 Zeiset Jim 230
5 Posch Johann 186
6 Yanetz Ramy 150
7 Gibson Mark 90
8 Mallet Denny 60
9 Borton Jon 32
10 Bowen Campbell 13
11 Sheldon Jamie 8
12 Richmond Tyson 6
13 Rogers Tip 5
14 Yocom Jim 4
14 Mulholland Mark 4
16 Hagewood Bo 3
16 Denman Donn 3
18 Beckman Eric 2
19 Filer Chris 1

Class I:

1 Lee Jim 1796
2 Barber Mike 1741
3 Arai Chris 1274
4 Williams Paris 874
5 Glover Ryan 870
6 Volk Glen 696
7 Rossignol Jersey 688
8 Gibson Mark 686
9 Kennett Slade 686
10 Tudor Larry 583
11 Bennett Mark 517
12 Howe Nelson 487
13 Peachy Butch 450
14 Pagen Dennis 445
15 Castle Kari 441
16 Martin Dustin 419
17 Shipley Mitch 391
18 Barmakian Bruce 300
19 Goodman Bubba 166
20 Bolt Mark 165
21 Schaerli Reto 164
22 Netlow Don 151
23 Davis Gary 98
24 Harrison Kelly 83
25 Rewolinski Steve 80
26 Sayer Wayne 73
27 Smith Nancy 65
28 Refsell Steve 65
29 Lee Steve 64
30 Seaberg Dave 56
31 Ryan John 52
32 Pagen Claire 51
33 Kendall Greg 47
34 Pryciak Andrew 36
35 O'sick Wayne 34
36 Yocum Jim 33
36 Majors Zac 33
38 Frontis Floyd 31
38 Simmons Jack 31
40 Denton Tim 30
40 Pereyra Jose 30
42 Cameron Patty 27
43 Shiever Eric 24
44 Kayes Rob 23
45 Stubbendick Steve 22
46 Kennedy Nick 21
46 Brown Ken 21
46 Pesavento Gerry 21
46 Tillman Tracy 21
50 Lane Robert 20
51 Welch Peter 19
51 Eberhardt Mike 19
51 Kranz Bob 19
54 Dinauer Greg 18
54 Sperry Carol 18
56 Meier Jamey 17
56 Glennon Mike 17
56 Beckley John 17
59 Gruber Martin 15
59 Bowen Campbell 15
59 Kurth Simon 15
62 Sylvia John 14
62 Sturtevant Cj 14
62 Lloyd Kerry 14
65 Burton Richard 13
65 Lindberg Jon 13
67 Cutts Buddy 12
67 Giardina Chris 12
67 Mackey Bob 12
67 Funk Dean 12
67 Lazaro Jody 12
72 James Jon 11
73 Whelchel Nathan 10
73 Woodward Craig 10
75 Hildebrand Judy 9
75 Harris Dennis 9
75 Swepston Kerie 9
75 Moody Marion 9
79 Webster Tom 8
79 Vogel William 8
79 Swepston Aaron 8
82 Thomas Nick 7
82 Brown Russell 7
82 Degtoff Mike 7
85 Washick Timothy 6
85 Albarran Kim 6
87 Grubbs Mark 5
87 Verzella Lisa 5
87 Locke Russ 5
87 Desroches Steven 5
87 Williams Mike 5
92 Stebbins George 4
92 Mcbride Duncan 4
94 Costanza Larry 3
94 Roose Ron 3
96 Melaney Bud 2
96 Zidziunas Mike 2
98 Babarcsik Laszlo 1

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Worlds? »

Mon, May 3 1999, 3:00:02 pm GMT

Worlds 1999

I found the following at the World's web site:

We regret to inform you that as the World Championship tasks assignment has been delayed, we are not in a position to supply anyone with further information regarding registrations, invitations and references.

Therefore, we suggest all the teams, which intend to take part in the Championship, to contact Mr. Vittorio Zardo (Aeroclub d'Italia General Manager) fax no. ++39.06.519.57.034 phone no. ++39.06.519.59.760 in order to receive specific information.

We will inform you on our web-site, as soon as the AEROCLUB will decide about who will be concerned in the practical organization of the Championship, and who will be the people in charge for it.

We apologize for the inconvenience, which is due to the "well-known" bureaucracy of the Aeroclub d'Italia, the unique Italian Deputy by the FAI.

http://www.fivl.it/mondiali/cucco99.html

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Northern California aerotowing clinics

Mon, May 3 1999, 4:00:02 am GMT

Dragonfly|Moyes America|USHGA|Vicki Cain

Vicki at Moyes in Australia sent me the following notice:

Moyes America will be hosting a two weekend tow clinic June 4-14 to introduce aerotowing to the pilots of Northern California and to demonstrate the feasibility of the establishment of a Dragonfly Tow Club in the area. We have been invited to utilize the beautiful facilities of Jim and Connie Indredo, Crazy Creek Soaring, 3 miles North of Middletown California. 'Hungary' Joe Sazarli will be providing the Dragonfly and Aerotow seminar material.

All current USHGA member, hang 3 pilots are welcome to attend. The registration fee for the two day clinic is $250. Attending pilots receive two complete days of Aerotow instruction, 5 slow climb tows (to maximize tow time) to 2500', use of glider, all tow equipment, site use for two days one night, two soda-pop tickets and tons of fun.

Tow clinics are limited to six pilots. Each day start promptly at 7 AM with a mandatory Ground School. Clinics are scheduled for the following dates. June 4-5, June 6-7, June 8-9, June 10-11, and June 12-13. Dates subject to change with notification.

All pilots are welcome to drop in for a look and aerotow rated pilots are encouraged to tow up for a flight behind Hungary Joe's Dragonfly from the beautiful Crazy Creek Gliderport. First tow is 25$ (covers site use fee and tow to 1500') all subsequent tows are $15 to 1500', $20 to 2500'. Onsite camping is available for $10 per night, per car.

Send the $250 clinic registration fee to Moyes America 1795 40th Ave SF CA 94122. Include your name, address, phone #, email address, USHGA #, hang rating and desired clinic dates with second choice. A package of study info and local area info will be sent upon receipt of registration fee. Cancellations after May 31, 1999 will incur a $50cancelation fee.

A Dragonfly Tow Club Party will be hosted by Moyes America June 12. Pilots, friends and family are invited for an afternoon of flying, eating and late night BS sessions.

<flyamoyes@aol.com>

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The Oz Report at the Worlds

Mon, May 3 1999, 4:00:01 am GMT

Worlds 1999

It looks like the Oz Report will be going to the 1999 Worlds in Monte Cucco, Italy. They'll take place the end of July and the first week of August. We'll know for sure within a few weeks.

The US is sending a ten person team (6 Class I pilots, and 4 Class II pilots). We are still checking to be sure that there will be enough countries (4) at the Worlds to hold a valid World meet in Class II. Germany and the US are definitely committed to going. We are hoping for Switzerland and Austria at least. Please encourage your country to send at least one rigid wing pilot to the Worlds.

The Worlds last for three weeks, with one week for practice and two weeks of competition. This means I won't be able to cover the Canadian Nationals personally, but I hope to have a correspondent there.

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