Oz Report
topic: Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr (77 articles)
Zwecki
I finally got him a PayPal account.
Günther Tschurnig|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr
So you can now send him a few bucks.
It took a while, but with Günther Tschurnig's help Zwecki has a PayPal account at: «j.zwecki» . I know a number of you wrote in telling me that there were problems sending money to Zwecki, because he hadn't opened his account (this is sort of supposed to be automatic). Well, now it is operating.
Discuss Zwecki at the Oz Report forum
2 topics in this article: Günther Tschurnig, Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr
Zwecki
Mon, May 2 2005, 5:00:04 pm EDT
Thanks for your help.
Robert Reisinger
Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Robert Reisinger
Both Robert Reisinger and Zwecki write to express sincere thanks for your support. There is a problem setting up the PayPal account for Zwecki. Robert writes:
PayPal is not working yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I get any news regarding that. In the meantime everybody can send money to the account which Günther Tschurnig opened for the fundraising.
Here are all information you need:
Account Number: 10249 Bank-code: 34390 Account Name: Tschurnig Günther Spendenkonto Zwecki Bank: Raiffeisenbank Ohlsdorf / Austria BIC-Code (SWIFT) RZ OOAT 2L390 IBAN AT97 3439 0000 0001 0249
(editor's note: I'll be sure to get back to Oz Report readers when Robert gets this working.)
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1 topic in this article: Robert Reisinger
Zwecki
Wed, Apr 27 2005, 5:00:02 pm EDT
Someone that can use a little help from the flying community.
Robert Reisinger
Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Robert Reisinger
Robert Reisinger «r.reisinger» writes:
Zwecki was an Austrian Team-Pilot for a very long time. In 2002 he crashed on launch at the Zillertal Open in Tyrol. The situation now is that he is not able to walk or use his hands, but he can move his arms, and of course he needs permanent special help. He had to rebuilt his house as well as buy and pay many other tings that cost a lot of money.
Now he needs a special wheel chair which he can use on his own outside; a cross-country wheel chair which is very expensive. If you think that you can't go outside to take fresh air and have a look at your surroundings without having somebody with you to help, you know how important it is for Zwecki to get this feeling again. I really hope, that the "flying family" will help him!
Those of you who would like to help Zwecki out can use PayPal to send him money at «j.zwecki».
Discuss Zwecki at the Oz Report forum
1 topic in this article: Robert Reisinger
Zwecki
Tue, Apr 26 2005, 5:00:03 pm EDT
Needs a new wheel chair.
Robert Reisinger
Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Robert Reisinger
Former Austrian competition flex wing pilot Joseph Zweckmeyer is looking for a new very expensive wheel chair. Robert Reisinger asked for help for him at the Flytec Championship and pilots responded.
As I recall, Zwecki originally crashed on launch at the Alpen Open at Gnadenwald.
I've asked for a more detailed request from Robert, but in the mean time, those of you who like to help Zwecki out can use PayPal to send him money at «j.zwecki». A good number of the donations that came to the Oz Report during the Flytec Championship went to Zwecki.
Discuss Zwecki at the Oz Report forum
1 topic in this article: Robert Reisinger
Alpen Open - day 1
It clears up for the memorial day weekend.
Alpen Open
Alpen Open 2004|Belinda Boulter|Johann Posch|Manfred Ruhmer|Oliver Schmidt|PG|Robert Reisinger|sailplane|weather
Alpen Open 2004|Belinda Boulter|Johann Posch|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Manfred Ruhmer|Oliver Schmidt|PG|Robert Reisinger|sailplane|weather
The task and the flight on-line at the HOLC
Things are different in Europe. A lot different and I say, Viva Le Difference.
At the landing field we've got a beer hall set up to take care of all the pilots and drivers and all the spectators that will be dropping by for a bit of Saturday spectacle. Red Bull is here with their tent. Food is being served to all the folks coming to see the carnival. The army rescue helicopter will come in later in the late to simulate a paraglider pilot rescue from a tree.
The Alpen Open is three meets in one over three days: a paraglider, flex wing, and rigid wing meet. The paragliders will launch from a different launch and we will launch from right over the landing field in Gnadenwald, ten miles from Innsbruck, Austria.
The landing field at 2,800' is next to our pension, Pension Martinsstubben, and the small toll road to the launch at 5,000' and restaurant at the top is a few hundred yards down the road. Very convenient. There is a huge mastiff rising an additional over three thousand feet above and behind launch to the north. The valley runs east/west, with Innsbruck to the west.
Landing Zone from our pension.
There is an airport in Innsbruck, obviously, and very restricted airspace. As our task will take us in that direction we'll have to be sure to stay up on the mountain side to stay out of the airspace. There is a glider port right next to the commercial runway and I do get to see a few gliders using it.
This is the sixteenth annual Alpen Open, and they expect about 100 pilots total. It is a fun meet, only three days, but the winner gets to qualify to go to a meet in Rio if they do well in another meet also, so it is somewhat serious. There is something at stake other than bragging rights.
There is supposed to be a pilots' meeting at the landing zone, but it just turns out to be instructions for the paragliders to get into the waiting taxis, so we drive up to the top in Ron's leased van. There are a bunch of hang gliders already setup so we (Ron and I) know that we've been wasting our time. We set up right away next to the restaurant.
Things drag on and the meet director doesn't call the task and the pilot meeting until about 1:30 PM. The task consists of three turnpoints, a race start, and is basically an out and return to the Gnandenwald landenplatz, 105 kilometers. It takes a while to get the weather report and to input the task.
Once we are done, the problem is the start window opens in forty minutes and we've got to get forty pilots off of launch in time to get them to have at least half an hour each to get high in the start circle. This is not going to work. Thankfully Ron and I are setup right at the end of the short launch lane (one of two).
We immediately get dressed up very warmly. I've got two pair of long pants on, and six layers on my upper body with two balaclavas over my head and a pair of Flytec neoprene gloves. I usually wear football receiver gloves, but I'm looking for the extra warmth. They work great. It is supposed to be about 18 degrees at 10,000'
The launches don't go very quickly. Many pilots are allowed to cut into the line. Favorites are played with some pilots getting in. There is not time enough to launch every one even before the start window opens. It is a disaster.
Ron and I launch at about the start window time. Ron will get low and land as will Johann Posch. Six of the eighteen rigid wings will land without going out of the start circle. A number of flex wings will land also.
Belinda captures me launching
The pilots that got the relatively early launches will get high before the start window opens. I'll leave the start circle at launch height after messing around for fifteen minutes trying to get up over launch. Running down the ridge/course line I'll find 200 fpm and stick with it until I'm to 2,500' over launch. I figure I've got a half an hour penalty as it is for the late launch, so just stay up and make the course.
The wind is about six mph out of the east north east, a little over the back. I'm really frightened about rotors here in the Alps, but everyone is saying that it looks great for today with light winds and good thermals. Cloud base is a little over 9,000'. There are plenty of thin clouds over the mountains and none out in the valleys.
After a slow start I stay above 7,000' getting almost 9,000' heading west to a control point which is a huge hotel on the plateau above the main river valley where you'll find Innsbruck. We then have to go six miles further to a house on a much higher plateau at 6,000' away from the mountain sides. All the pilots stick as close to the mountain sides as possible before heading out to take the turnpoint.
I've noticed that the air is pretty turbulent for a day that is supposed to be nice. I'm flying a C/V (protoype V) from AIR and thoroughly enjoying the glider. I'm glad I'm not on my VX.
Coming back into the head wind the turbulence factor increases. I've already left a few thermals that didn't please me, but this time I have to stay in one that it far too powerful and not at all smooth. I'm averaging about one thousand feet less than on the way out.
Just passed the hotel control point on the way back Oliver Schmidt almost hits me without ever seeing me. I didn't see him until he almost hit me. I race ahead and get a bit low, where I encounter Mr. nasty, and then run for the Wall, next to the airport.
The lift is coherent and pleasant to fly in there and going up a a moderately reasonable 350 fpm. I can get to back over 6,000' which is comfortable, although well below the ridge line, and with bits of lift coming up the face facing south, I can maintain altitude just trying to make it back at 14:1.
I see a small sailplane turning right on the hill side in front of me and I figure he wouldn't stop for the weak stuff. I go over to the spot he just left and climb another thousand feet in three minutes, nine miles out from goal. I've got less than 10:1 to get to goal so I pull into a narrow valley behind a jutting rock face and straight line it to goal.
After landing and downloading my 5030, I file a protest for the day and Ron joins me in the protest. I find out later from Robert Reisinger that Seppi has also filed the same protest. The pilot meeting was held too late to have a start window at 2:30 PM. No word yet on how the protests were dealt with. I did it with a smile and told them I was having a great time, which I am. Did I say how much I was enjoying the ATOS?
Many pilots complained/remarked also about how bumpy the air was. I was scared a few times and left lift often, but I was assuming that was just me. The AIR ATOS C/V felt great. I was very glad I had it instead of the VX. Manfred Trimmel was flying the VX.
Gunther Tschuring got beat up on the way back at 6,000', flew immediately out into the lower valley and landed. I had thought that with the light winds we would have a good day, but apparently we did not. Pilots thought that this was a very bad day for turbulence. I'm feeling pretty good, because if this was as bad as it gets, then I'm feeling like maybe I can handle this.
No word on scores or the protest yet. The Alpen Open web site (http://members.chello.at/drachenflieger/Aktuelles.htm) doesn't seem to have anything posted.
Zwecky was just here in his powered wheel chair. He looked good. Came by to visit his old pilot friends. Has a girl friend I hear.
Discuss "Alpen Open - day 1" at the Oz Report forum link»
9 topics in this article: Alpen Open 2004, Belinda Boulter, Johann Posch, Manfred Ruhmer, Oliver Schmidt, PG, Robert Reisinger, sailplane, weather
Zwecki
electric|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Oz Report|Thomas "Tom/Tomas" Weissenberger
Thomas Weissenberger <tomtom@direkt.at> writes:
Two weeks ago I and the other Austrian pilots celebrated Zwecki´s birthday. We all met at his home which is in a small village in a little valley in the middle of nowhere. I would call it the Austrian Tigerland.
Zwecki is now back home from the rehabilitation center in the lavish care of his parents and his girl friend. They renovated his house to make it suitable for him to move in his electric wheel-chair. He is still sitting in the chair, but his mind is totally clear and full of optimism! The most significant thing in my eyes is that he still thinks and talks with us about flying. He is listening curiously to hang gliding stories, he talks with us about flying and he takes part at some of the Austrian pilot meetings.
He might be away from the comp scene physically but he is watching it fully interested. Next week end we have a comp in Austria where he will be involved into the task setting and briefing. With his left hand he can use the computer and he is also reading the Oz Report!
I am writing this to let everybody know about Zwecki´s whereabouts and that he is happy about any support of all the pilots who know him!
Zwecki is now 34 years old. Birthday greetings to: <j.zwecki@aon.at>
His next goal is to fly sailplanes. See you in goal Zwecki!
Discuss "Zwecki" at the Oz Report forum link»
4 topics in this article: electric, Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr, Oz Report, Thomas "Tom/Tomas" Weissenberger
Zwecki
crash|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Oz Report
Manfred spoke briefly about Joseph Zweckmeyer today to tell us that he is doing well and recovering. His mind is back to normal (whatever was normal for Zwecki) and he wants to fly.
At the moment I can’t find my original article on Zwecki’s crash as the Oz Report search isn’t working correctly due to update we are going through.
Discuss "Zwecki" at the Oz Report forum link»
3 topics in this article: crash, Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr, Oz Report
WPRS »
Sarah Bowyer|Alessandro "Alex" Ploner|Andreas Olsson|Antoine Boisselier|Anton Raumauf|Attila Bertok|Betinho Schmitz|Bruce Barmakian|Christian Ciech|David Chaumet|Davis Straub|Francois Isoard|Gerolf Heinrichs|Gordon Rigg|Guido Gehrmann|Johann Posch|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Manfred Ruhmer|Mario Alonzi|Michael Huppert|Naoki Itagaki|Oleg Bondarchuk|Oliver "Olli" Barthelmes|Paris Williams|Richard Walbec|Robert Reisinger|Rohan Holtkamp|Steve Elkins|World Pilot Ranking Scheme
http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/class1/
http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/class5/
Sarah Bowyer at CIVL got right on the case and got the new world rankings out right after the Worlds:
Class 1:
Position | Name |
1 | Ruhmer Manfred |
2 | Heinrichs Gerolf |
3 | Boisselier Antoine |
4 | Rigg Gordon |
5 | Bondarchuk Oleg |
6 | Gerard Jean-Francois |
7 | Alonzi Mario |
8 | Reisinger Robert |
9 | Gehrmann Guido |
9 | Olsson Andreas |
11 | Williams Paris |
12 | Holtkamp Rohan |
13 | Walbec Richard |
14 | Richardson Ron |
15 | Palmarini Jean-Francois |
16 | Schmitz Betinho (Carlos) |
17 | Durand Jon Jnr |
18 | Zweckmayr Josef |
19 | Baier Bob |
20 | Barthelmes Oliver |
20 | Bertok Attila |
The 2001 Australian Meets were dropped, so the Australian pilots suffered a bit.
Class 5:
Position | Name | Country |
1 | Ciech Christian | Italy |
2 | Ploner Alessandro | Italy |
3 | Posch Johann | Austria |
4 | Straub Davis | USA |
5 | Raumauf Toni | Austria |
6 | Chaumet David | France |
6 | Huppert Michael | Switzerland |
8 | Barmakian Bruce | USA |
9 | Elkins Steve | UK |
10 | Itagaki Naoki | Japan |
The Worlds, the Europeans, the Floridameets, and the Australian meets count big time for WPRS points. The top rigid pilots didn’t fly in the Europeans, and too few flew in the Australian meets, but they did fly in Floridaand at the Worlds in Chelan and Spain. It is clear that the Floridameets and the Australian meets should be as valued by CIVL as the Europeans. They are international meets.
The pre-Worlds in Brazilshould be well attended and that will affect the Class 1 ranking. Again the Brazilian pre-Worlds should be considered as valuable as the Europeans.
Discuss "WPRS" at the Oz Report forum link»
30 topics in this article: Sarah Bowyer, Alessandro "Alex" Ploner, Andreas Olsson, Antoine Boisselier, Anton Raumauf, Attila Bertok, Betinho Schmitz, Bruce Barmakian, Christian Ciech, David Chaumet, Davis Straub, Francois Isoard, Gerolf Heinrichs, Gordon Rigg, Guido Gehrmann, Johann Posch, Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr, Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr, Manfred Ruhmer, Mario Alonzi, Michael Huppert, Naoki Itagaki, Oleg Bondarchuk, Oliver "Olli" Barthelmes, Paris Williams, Richard Walbec, Robert Reisinger, Rohan Holtkamp, Steve Elkins, World Pilot Ranking Scheme
Zwecky
Josef Zweckmayr
Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr
Saskia «staffbox» writes:
Zwecky is still in the hospital in Austria. If anyone would like to send Zwecky a card or letter you can do it at the following address:
Josef Zweckmayr
Kienberg 10
A – 4453 TRATTENBACH
AUSTRIA
All the E-mails I received from Zwecky’s friends have been forwarded to his family. Thank you all for your concern.
Discuss "Zwecky" at the Oz Report forum link»
1 topic in this article: Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr
Zwecky⁣ in a coma?
Josef Zweckmayr
Josef "Zwecki/Zwecky" Zweckmayr|Mark Mullholland
I have heard 3rd hand that Josef Zweckmayr, well known Austrian competition pilot, blew a launch and is hurt bad. He is reported to be in a coma (may be put into the coma by the hospital like what they did to Mark Mullholland). The prognosis is that he probably won’t walk again.
Discuss "Zwecky⁣ in a coma?" at the Oz Report forum link»
2 topics in this article: Josef "Zwecki/Zwecky" Zweckmayr, Mark Mullholland
1000+ Hang Gliding Pictures - $20
David Glover|Flytec Championships 2001|picture|record|tandem|US Speed Gliding Nationals 2001|World Championships 1999|World Record Encampment|World Record Encampment 2001|World Speed Gliding Championships 2000
David Glover «dhglover» writes:
A thousand pictures are worth… - Enjoy the people, places and things of:
The World Championships in Italy 1999
First World Speed Gliding Championship in Greece 2000
Flytec Championships at Quest and Wallaby comps 2001
Zapata/Flytec-World Record Encampment 2001
US Speed Gliding Nationals 2001 (includes a QuickTime Movie)
All on CD-ROM. See what it's all about, re-live the experience, use as a screen saver. $20 for US residents (outside the US only $25) prices include shipping.
Bonus Pictures: How to get a "Free" tandem in Florida.
Send credit card info, US$ check or money order to: David Glover, 416 E. Dale St., CO Springs, CO, USA 80903-2925, 719. 630.3698, fax# 413.460.5708, «david»
Discuss "1000+ Hang Gliding Pictures - $20" at the Oz Report forum link»
2001 Worlds »
Alessandro "Alex" Ploner|André Wolfe|Attila Bertok|Betinho Schmitz|Christian Ciech|dust devil|Gerolf Heinrichs|Gordon Rigg|Guido Gehrmann|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Luiz Niemeyer|Manfred Ruhmer|Martin Harri|Paris Williams|Roberto Nichele|Robert Reisinger|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Tomas Suchanek|Vicki Cain|weather|Worlds 2001
Vicki Cain «vix001» writes:
The last day's task was an 85.8 km task with goal at the Villamartin airstrip
TP 1 Montellano Castle
TP 2 Horacio Airstrip
TP 3 Puente de la Nava
The day looked really promising with pilots getting strong lift and high over launch 2200m, but once out of the mountains the conditions were quite different with weak scattered thermals where they battled to just stay up. Gerolf said that he and Manfred both got way low at one point, about 50 m. Attila won the day when he and Tommy flew 3 km back to the launch after the last turnpoint to make goal.
From 1900 m with strong tail wind they headed off on final from 20 kms out. 20 pilots made goal. Attila, Manfred, Franc Peternel, Andre, Paris, Tommy, Carl Wallbank, Martin Harri, Ian Miskin, Bob Baier, Rafael Bossas Cerda, Jean-Charles Balembois, Antoine Boisselier, Robert Reisinger, Gerolf, Gordon, Jean-Francois Gerard, Mario Alonzi, Guido Gehrmann, Roberto Nichele. No Australians in goal! But 4 French and 4 British pilots so the French pipped us at the post for the 3rd place teams medal.
I didn't make goal to see Manfred come in but heard there was a huge cheer when he crossed the goal first.
Congratulations again Manfred!
Final Results:
1st | Manfred Ruhmer | Austria | Laminar | 5187 |
2nd | Gerolf Heinrichs | Austria | Litespeed | 4927 |
3rd | Robert Reisinger | Austria | Laminar | 4768 |
4th | Rohan Holtkamp | Australia | Climax | 4483 |
5th | Bob Baier | Germany | Litespeed | 4378 |
6th | Luiz Niemeyer | Brazil | Laminar | 4170 |
7th | Antoine Boisselier | France | Litespeed | 4134 |
8th | Attila Bertok | Hungary | Litespeed | 4120 |
9th | Guido Gehrmann | Germany | Topless | 4114 |
10th | Gordon Rigg | Britian | Litespeed | 4080 |
11th | Paris Williams | Usa | Laminar | 4079 |
12th | Jean-Francois Gerard | France | Litespeed | 4041 |
13th | Tomas Suchanek | Czech Republic | Litespeed | 4023 |
14th | Martin Harri | Switzerland | Litespeed | 3925 |
15th | Betinho Schmitz | Brazil | Litespeed | 3920 |
16th | Josef Zweckmayer | Austria | Laminar | 3898 |
17th | Andre Wolf | Brazil | Laminar | 3835 |
18th | Ron Richardson | Britian | Cheetah | 3818 |
19th | Steve Moyes | Australia | Litespeed | 3643 |
20th | Gustavo Saldanah | Brazil | Litespeed | 3636 |
Austrians 1st, 2nd and 3rd!
Team Results:
1st | Austria | 15175 |
2nd | Brazil | 13374 |
3rd | France | 12666 |
Class 2 Final Results:
1st | Alessaandro Ploner | Air Atos | 5240 | Italy |
2nd | Cristian Ciech | Air Atos | 4984 | Italy |
3rd | Manfred Trimmel | Air Atos | 4464 | Austria |
There was some drama on the hill before launch, with dust devils flying around. A big one got Viktor's glider, we watched it get lifted 50 feet in the air flip over and sail down the face of launch. Bobby and Steve are repairing it this morning.
Nene Rotor was not able to fly yesterday as he has a broken foot in 3 places. He was walking down to the task board and lost his footing and broke his foot! He has a plaster cast to his knee.
Well it's all over and we are all looking forward to the presentation this evening. Last night there was a rock festival on the local football field called Delta Rock 2000, with live rock bands, and stacks of people. The town of Algodonales has been fantastic, friendly and supportive of the competition in their town of 6000 inhabitants.
Getting use to the Spanish culture has been different. Siesta from 2-6pm where everything closes down except the bars and cafes, the streets are barren with everyone lunching and relaxing in the cool to escape the hottest part of the day. This was my first trip to a non English speaking country so the language barrier was fun, not too many people speak English, ordering a meal was sometimes by making animal noises! Moo!!! The organisation was excellent, Juaki and his team did the best they could with the difficult weather conditions, everyone keeps telling us the weather patterns have been unusual for this area. But that's life with hang gliding competitions.
I have attached 1 photo, and am more than a little embarrassed that I don't have a photo of Manfred! But I do have one of the Moyes boys at goal yesterday!
Class II teams: Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, Germany, France, Spain, USA, Great Britain
Find results at: http://www.algodonales.org/hgwag2001/resultadosing.htm
Discuss "2001 Worlds" at the Oz Report forum link»
22 topics in this article: Alessandro "Alex" Ploner, André Wolfe, Attila Bertok, Betinho Schmitz, Christian Ciech, dust devil, Gerolf Heinrichs, Gordon Rigg, Guido Gehrmann, Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr, Luiz Niemeyer, Manfred Ruhmer, Martin Harri, Paris Williams, Roberto Nichele, Robert Reisinger, Rohan Holtkamp, Rohan Taylor, Tomas Suchanek, Vicki Cain, weather, Worlds 2001
2001 Worlds – taking a hat »
Wed, Jun 27 2001, 6:00:00 pm EDT
Alessandro "Alex" Ploner|Andreas Olsson|Attila Bertok|carbon fiber|Chris Muller|Christian Ciech|Corinna Schwiegershausen|Gerolf Heinrichs|Ghostbuster|Gordon Rigg|Johann Posch|John Borton|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Luiz Niemeyer|Manfred Ruhmer|Oleg Bondarchuk|PG|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Vicki Cain|Worlds 2001
See latest reports at http://www.theleague.force9.co.uk/worlds/worlds.htm Apparently the best conditions so far, but due to airspace considerations, a short task was called. 70 pilots at goal. John Borton says that Paris may have won the day.
Vicki Cain «vix001» writes:
Yesterday was cooler and less stable, clear blue skies. We heard early that it would be an open distance day and headed up the mountain early, but a task was called 120.6-km dogleg to Villanueva del Trabuco with the turnpoint at Estepsa. Steve was off first again at 3pm in the ordered launch, but no one pushed today! He took off at 3.30 pm, Gerolf made a push after Steve so the lane moved quickly. Once there are about 50 pilots in the air Juaki blows a siren to hold the launches on all 3 lanes until the congestion eases. Gerolf gets off, but the launch order is stopped just before Attila and Manfred. They wait about, I guess 10 minutes, but it's too long for Manfred, he's getting impatient. Then the siren goes off again and they are away.
We head down the hill and hear when we get to HQ that there was a mid air between a rigid wing and hang glider, following is a note from this mornings briefing. Accident: Yesterday there was an unfortunate mid air collision. We must again stress the importance of flying like you drive-watch out for the other guy! The two pilots who were involved in the accident were the Russian, Natalia Petrova, who suffered minor injuries and the American, Mark Mullholland, whose injuries were more serious. He had to be evacuated by helicopter and taken to a hospital in Seville. Although he is in ICU, his condition is stable and he is conscious. We thank the German doctor and Corinna Schwiegershausen for all their help.
Each pilot who was unable to launch due to the accident will receive the number of points which is an average of their scores for all the previous tasks. There are 16 pilots.
We head out on course and intend to go to goal. Molly and I in one car and Bill and Bobby in the other. We are on the Australian radio channel and hear that Phil is down so Bill leaves to pick him up. Shortly after I get a call from Brett for pick up. We all bought Spanish mobile phones from the HQ at about A$130 each, they are really handy for retrieve. We find Brett at about 8. 30 in a big open field between an olive grove and a sunflower field.
Neither car make goal to see them come in but we hear it was exciting. Luiz Niemeyer wins the day with a time of 2:38:53, Manfred is 14 seconds behind Luiz and Gerolf 4 seconds behind Manfred. It was cross tail to the turnpoint and tailwind to goal. 21 pilots make goal (sorry I don't have any Class 2 results )
Pilots to make goal: Luiz, Manfred, Gerolf, Nene, Zwecky, Attila, Reisinger, Oleg, Rohan, Gordon Rigg, Tommy, Ron Richardson, Romero Castrillon, Oliver Kalin, Paris, Bob Baier, Jean-Francois Gerard, Steve Moyes, Andreas Olsson, Richard Walbec, Jon Durand Jr.
Brett gets a call from Chris Muller who is at Granada for the Paragliding World's. They have a day off because of the strong wind and we meet up with them in Antequerra for dinner. Home by 1 am.
We find out this morning that Jonny is penalised 10 % of his score for aerobatic maneuvers over launch. He's not a happy chappy. Jonny has been playing games with the launch marshal that stands out in front. As he takes off he grabs the launch marshal's hat!!!
I just realised that from my report it looks like that Jonny was penalised for playing with the launch marshal, that was not the case. Another pilot in addition to Jon did a low pass out it front of launch, they were both penalised for that reason.
Photo of Manfred, Markus (Gerolf's cousin and driver), Gerolf and Richard
Class I after five tasks:
1
RUHMER, Manfred Icaro - Laminar MRX 14 AUT 3632
2 HEINRICHS, Gerolf Moyes - Litespeed 4 AUT 3479
3 HOLTKAMP, Rohan Airborne - Climax 13 AUS 3254
4 REISINGER, Robert Icaro - Laminar MRX 14 AUT 3254
5 BAIER, Bob Moyes - Litespeed 4 DEU 3033
6 BONDARCHUCK, Oleg Aeros - Combat UKR 2975
7 NIEMEYER, Luiz Icaro - Laminar ST14 BRA 2924
8 MOYES, Steve Moyes - Litespeed 5 AUS 2834
9 SCHMITZ, Betinho Moyes - Litespeed 4 BRA 2761
10 BERTOK, Attila Moyes - Litespeed 5 HUN 2750
Class I teams:
Austria, Brazil, Australia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, USA, Spain, Ukraine
Class II after five tasks:
1
PLONER, Alessaandro Air - Atos - C ITA
2 CIECH, Cristian Air - Atos - C ITA 3820
3 TRIMMEL, Manfred Air - Atos - C AUT 3383
4 BUSSINGER, Diego Air - Atos - C CHE 3232
5 ITAGAKI, Naoki Air - Atos JPN 3228
Johann Posch was second on the fifth task. Diego Bussinger is doing much better in Spain on his ATOS than he did in Florida on his Ghostbuster. I wonder what "AIR ATOS C" stands for. Maybe the ATOSes with carbon fiber control frames? Two of the Italians state that their gliders as "AIR/Icaro ATOS." The Aeriane - Swift Prototype continues to do poorly.
Class II teams:
Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, Germany, France, USA, Spain, Great Britain
Team scoring now seems to be fixed. Previously only two pilots were being reported in scoring Class II.
WAG Hang Gliding web site: (http://www.wag2001.org/Hang%20Gliding/Main%20Frame.htm):
You can find results (if and when) at:
http://resultados.wag2001.org/hg_c1.asp
http://resultados.wag2001.org/hg_c2.asp
or
http://www.algodonales.org/hgwag2001/resultadosing.htm
http://www.algodonales.org/hgwag2001/resultados.htm
(Spanish)
22 topics in this article: Alessandro "Alex" Ploner, Andreas Olsson, Attila Bertok, carbon fiber, Chris Muller, Christian Ciech, Corinna Schwiegershausen, Gerolf Heinrichs, Ghostbuster, Gordon Rigg, Johann Posch, John Borton, Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr, Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr, Luiz Niemeyer, Manfred Ruhmer, Oleg Bondarchuk, PG, Rohan Holtkamp, Rohan Taylor, Vicki Cain, Worlds 2001
2001 Worlds (Championship and Air Games) »
Fri, Jun 22 2001, 1:00:00 pm EDT
Alessandro "Alex" Ploner|André Wolfe|Christian Ciech|Gerolf Heinrichs|Jim Lee|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Manfred Ruhmer|Paris Williams|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Steve Blenkinsop|Wills Wing|Worlds 2001
After three tasks in Class I:
1 RUHMER, Manfred
Icaro Laminar MRX 14 AUT 1883
2 HEINRICHS, Gerolf Moyes Litespeed 4 AUT 1747
3 HOLTKAMP, Rohan Airborne Climax 13 AUS 1737
4 LEE, Jim Wills Wing Talon 150 USA 1612
5 WOLF, André Icaro Laminar ST14 BRA 1569
6 REISINGER, Robert Icaro Laminar MRX 14 AUT 1549
7 BAIER, Bob Moyes Litespeed 4 DEU 1493
8 OLSSON, Andreas Moyes Litespeed 2001 SWE 1491
9 SALDANHA, Gustavo Moyes Litespeed BRA 1466
10 ZWECKMAYR, Josef Icaro Laminar MRX 13 AUT 1465
It looks like Rohan did make goal on the second day. Originally he was scored as missing goal by .1 kilometers. I've asked Vicki to check on what the story was. Rohan is doing great and this is a big leg up for the Airborne Climax.
Jim Lee is also doing very very well, while Paris Williams who was formerly hot on the Talon is not doing so well.
Andre Wolf is ahead of Betinho and Nene. Manfred is enough ahead, but not well ahead of Gerolf and Rohan who are almost tied. Four Laminars and four Litespeeds in the top ten.
These results would actually be formatted if the world meet organizers didn't insist on PDF files – those proprietary monstrosities.
For some reason the tasks are quite low in validity. Don’t know what the story is there. I'll try to track it down. I mean 1,800 points after three tasks? Weird.
After three tasks Class II:
1 PLONER,
Alessaandro Air Atos 2340
2 TRIMMEL, Manfred Air Atos 2205
3 ITAGAKI, Naoki Air Atos 2061
4 CIECH, Cristian Air Atos 2014
5 POSCH, Johan Air Atos AUT 1919
Gee, Air ATOS seems like the big winner here.
Steve Blenkinsop «sblenk» sends in this British web site for the worlds. It comes with the little British oriented commentary. A little behind the others, but at least it uses HTML!: http://www.theleague.force9.co.uk/worlds/worlds.htm
WAG Hang Gliding web site: (http://www.wag2001.org/Hang%20Gliding/Main%20Frame.htm):
You can find results (if and when) at:
http://resultados.wag2001.org/hg_c1.asp
http://resultados.wag2001.org/hg_c2.asp
or
http://www.algodonales.org/hgwag2001/resultadosing.htm
G. W. Meadows «gw» writes in after the first task's results:
I'd like to report to you that the winner of Task 1 is Sergey Drobyshev. Sergey is the main designer at Aeros. He has been the main push behind all of the Aeros high performance flex wings. I've said for years (since seeing him fly at the Turkish World Air Games in 1997) that he's a great pilot, but they can only send one pilot to most international competitions from Aeros. I'm very proud to see my friend Sergey's name at the top of the list.
The next day Sergey finished 101st.
The Italian Class II pilots seem to be out in full force (well almost) at the Worlds. The Italian Class II team is in first place. It does appear as though few of the top Italian flex wing pilots are here. Boycotts are tough to sustain.
13 topics in this article: Alessandro "Alex" Ploner, André Wolfe, Christian Ciech, Gerolf Heinrichs, Jim Lee, Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr, Manfred Ruhmer, Paris Williams, Rohan Holtkamp, Rohan Taylor, Steve Blenkinsop, Wills Wing, Worlds 2001
Mike Barber second at Millau
Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Kathleen Rigg|Manfred Ruhmer|Martin Harri|Mike Barber|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Wills Wing
Of course, let's not forget that Manfred was first (but then this is not news). That Mike Barber was second is. He was flying against good competition also, although many of the top pilots weren't there. This is prep meet for the Worlds, coming soon.
Bo was in eighth, but that hot shot Paris, who was doing well on his Wills Wing Talon (which btw now comes is the 140 edition -www.willswing.com) at the last meet, didn't look so good on his new Laminar coming in 16th. Wonder what the problem was?
1 |
RUHMER, Manfred |
AUT |
3295 |
2 |
BARBER, Mike |
USA |
2816 |
3 |
HARRI, Martin |
CHE |
2547 |
4 |
ZWECKMAYER, Joseph |
AUT |
2239 |
5 |
GUILLEN, Bruno |
FRA |
2150 |
6 |
HOLTKAMP, Rohan |
AUS |
2070 |
7 |
ALONZI, Mario |
FRA |
2032 |
8 |
HAGEWOOD, Robert |
USA |
1965 |
9 |
MOCELLIN, Françoise |
FRA |
1951 |
10. |
RIGG, Kathleen |
GBR |
1927 |
You can find the full results at: http://www.domchauvet.com/delta/millau-classic.htm.
Discuss "Mike Barber second at Millau" at the Oz Report forum link»
8 topics in this article: Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr, Kathleen Rigg, Manfred Ruhmer, Martin Harri, Mike Barber, Rohan Holtkamp, Rohan Taylor, Wills Wing
Florida meets - post partem depression
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.
18 topics in this article: 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
Wallaby Open – we circle the square
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.
20 topics in this article: 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
Flytec Championships 2001 - Results »
Flytec Championships 2001
Flytec Championships 2001|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr
Overall in Class II:
1 | Porter, Brian | Bright Star Swift | Usa |
2 | Elkins, Steve | Air Atos | Gbr |
3 | Straub, Davis | Air Atos | Usa |
4 | Posch, Johann | Air Atos | Aut |
5 | Bowen, Campbell | Flight Design Ghostbuster | Usa |
Class I:
1 | Ruhmer, Manfred | Icaro Laminar Mr 2001 | Aut | 3326 |
2 | Heinrichs, Gerolf | Moyes Litespeed | Aut | 3229 |
3 | Schmitz, Betinho | Moyes Litespeed | Bra | 3136 |
4 | Williams, Paris | Wills Wing Talon | Usa | 2913 |
5 | Zweckmayr, Josef | Icaro Laminar Mr 2001 | Aut | 2718 |
6 | Suchanek, Thomas | Moyes Litespeed | Cze | 2682 |
7 | Hazlett, Brett | Moyes Litespeed | Can | 2633 |
8 | Lee, Jim | Wills Wing Talon | Usa | 2563 |
9 | Wirdnam, Gary | Aeros Combat | Gbr | 2451 |
10 | Castle, Kari | Moyes Litespeed | Usa | 2428 |
Complete (but not updated, yet) results at flytec.com.
Discuss "Flytec Championships 2001 - Results" at the Oz Report forum link»
1 topic in this article: Flytec Championships 2001
Flytec Championships – Round Four »
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.
26 topics in this article: 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
Flytec Championships – Day 1 »
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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Davis Straub
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