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Oz Report

topic: tandem (66 articles)

Tandem Hang Glider Death and Injury

Tue, May 31 2022, 7:04:26 pm MDT

Ed Levin

crash|David Jacob|fatality|injury|news|tandem

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/1-dead-in-Milpitas-hang-gliding-accident-17209180.php

A man died and a woman was seriously injured on Monday in a hang gliding accident at a San Francisco Bay Area Park, officials said.

The incident occurred at about noon at Ed R. Levin County Park in Milpitas when two people were tandem hang gliding and the glider crashed into a hillside, the Milpitas Fire Department said.

The pair took off from the 1750 launch site, the highest launch point at the park, the fire department said in a news release.

The man died on the scene and the woman was air lifted to a trauma center, the fire department said.

Google News search

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Hang Gliding Instruction in North Carolina

Mon, Nov 22 2021, 8:31:30 am MST

4000 tandems

aerotow|Craig Pearson|Facebook|instruction|Moyes Delta Gliders|North Wing|picture|scooter|tandem|Thermal Valley Hang Gliding|towing|video|Wills Wing

Craig Pearson «craig» writes:

We own and operate Thermal Valley Hang Gliding and operate in Lenoir NC. Our website is http://www.thermalvalley.net . We are on Facebook and Instagram and have been in business since 2011. We primarily aerotow tandem discovery flights but teach aerotowing, foot launching, and scooter towing. We have flown nearly 4000 tandems and are Wills Wing, Moyes and North Wing authorized dealers (although Wills Wing dealership status is unknown for now).

www.thermalvalley.net

https://www.facebook.com/thermalvalley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ika0wJDgjYs

https://youtu.be/2yJZTbQMiqk

Discuss "Hang Gliding Instruction in North Carolina" at the Oz Report forum   link»   »

Constant tension electric winch

Tue, Nov 2 2021, 11:42:49 pm MDT

The Vortex SmartWinch

electric|Instinct Windsports|Mark Dowsett|Nick Jones|Ryan Wood|safety|scooter tow|stationary winch|tandem|tow|Vortex SmartWinch

https://instinct.pro/collections/vortex

We are ready to announce this exciting project we have been working on all this season - we are manufacturing the first commercially-available all-electric hang gliding stationary winch!

We feel it could be quite revolutionary in the industry. The power is there to even tow tandem hang gliders. The intelligence is there to automate the winch operator's job to make it easy for new winch operators to increase your flying communities number of flights.

AND, the foundation is there for us to implement remote-control winch operating - imagine being able to tow yourself up where you want, when you want… all with no need for crew to assist you!

The key feature is the torque-regulated abilities… you just dial in the desired max tow tension and the winch moderates the speed the drum turns to automatically adjust to give the pilot a constant tow pressure, regardless of hitting a wind gust, thermals or sink while on tow.

It is also incredibly portable! There are three components - the motor/drum, the controller box and the battery. All are light enough that they can be taken in and out of an SUV trunk and mounted on your trailer hitch as desired. No storing an entire trailer somewhere - take your winch home and go out to fly where the conditions are prime - rather than relying on a dedicated club site.

We will be taking pre-orders right away with hopes of spring 2022 delivery. We have flight tested the prototype to our satisfaction but are making some alterations for the final configuration. Prices aren't finalized yet but are working on some accurate ball-park figures. As we add features and improve some components, the prices will only go up from what we have listed.

https://instinct.pro/collections/vortex/products/the-vortex-smartwinch

The Vortex is a tension-controlled winch. This is opposed to a speed-controlled (or throttle-controlled) winch.

A speed-controlled winch puts a great amount of responsibility on the winch operator. If they only have speed control, they have some work to do to manage the tension on the tow line throughout the tow.

Some hydraulic winches are smoother but hydro-static winches still require the winch operator to visibly monitor a pressure gauge and adjust their hydraulic flow to attain and maintain a desired tow tension. And the tension can and will change throughout the tow due to glider speed changes, lift/sink, wind gusts and thermals. With a tension-controlled winch, the intelligence of the winch takes care of all that… resulting in a much smoother tow and way more efficient with increased safety.

Scooter winches are notorious for rough tows. All you have is a gas throttle to adjust and most scooter-winches don't have a pressure gauge to monitor. This requires an even more skilled winch operator and often a very rough ride. For this reason, scooter winches are usually only used in low, smooth winds for rather low-tension training tows.

There are also winches based on the LSD (Limited Slip Differential) transmission of a car. These are strictly gas throttle controlled as well and have the same problems as a scooter. They do have the added feature of setting a max tension that the transmission will slip if that max tension is attained to limit the tow from going over the max tension. This adjustment is very hard to set and calibrate as you have to test manually with a gauge and is often set way too high.

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Valle de Bravo 2021-2022

Wed, Sep 1 2021, 5:31:55 pm MDT

Tours with Rudy

COVID|El Peñón Classic Race 2022|Rodolfo Gotes Navarro|tandem|Wolfgang "Wolfi" Siess|XC|Zac Majors

"Rodolfo Gotes Navarro" «rudygotes» writes:

Valle de Bravo, Mexico, has perfect flying conditions that allow us to fly all year round. El Peñón is one of the most consistent sites in the world.

Mexico is open to receive guests from all over the world, regardless of the COVID situation. We have been privileged because all our activity is outdoors and Valle has been very careful keeping all safety protocols.

If you want to escape the cold winter and experience a week of great flying, then we invite you to book one of our tailored hang gliding tours. Our tours run from November through March. It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced pilot, you will make the most of this adventure. You will do lots of air time, do small or big tasks or go XC. You can also enjoy the good food and beer at the landing area, where you can share your experience with the rest of pilots that visit us from all over the world.

We can do two to three flights a day. We offer tandem instruction flights and radio-assistance guided flights, to improve your level and skill.

This coming season, we will have international pilots like Wolfgang Siess and Zac Majors, helping us and training for our yearly El Peñón Classic Race from February 20th-26th, 2022.

After flying, Valle de Bravo’s town is worth visiting and walking through its cobbled-stoned alleys, eating at its restaurants or visiting its market and crafts shops, and it offers great value for money.

You can learn more at: https://vuelolibre.mx/en/tour/hang-gliding-tours/

Monarch Tandem »

March 31, 2021, 8:55:42 pm EDT

Monarch Tandem

A butterfly from both sides

Maria Garcia writes:

It was quite a success:

The test flight was successful and fun! Kacey was the tug pilot, Pedro was the pilot, Maria the passenger and Victoria was ground crew! Pedro is loving flying the new Falcon 4 Tandem (Paradise Airsports upgraded from Falcon 3s to Falcon 4s this year).

We had about 4 tandem flights yesterday evening and the passengers loved the colorful Monarch sail pattern too; we even had a "walk in" simply requesting information for future flights who then walked up to the glider just to take a couple of pictures of it parked at the pole barn!

We even had a photo shoot session and a mini-parade when we taxied passed the pilots waiting by the Magic Circle.

It was a small yet quite complete debut for the new member of Paradise Airsports' Fleet.

Discuss "Monarch Tandem" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Penn Jillette Goes Tandem

March 4, 2021, 8:34:39 EST

Penn Jillette Goes Tandem

With Owen Morse

Owen Morse|Penn Jillette|Tandem|video

https://vimeo.com/519370769

Owen Morse writes:

Pre-pandemic, Penn Jillette tells the story of hang gliding with me on his podcast, “Penn’s Sunday School”.

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birdlike hang gliding

Tue, Dec 3 2019, 7:48:20 am PST

Switzerland

photo|tandem

https://www.birdlike.ch/en/

https://www.facebook.com/flybirdlike/

Lennox Head incident

Mon, Nov 4 2019, 7:46:52 am PST

Failure to hook in

fatality|injury|news|tandem

https://7news.com.au/news/disaster-and-emergency/paramedics-devastated-as-lennox-head-hang-glider-crash-leaves-instructor-dead-and-tourist-seriously-injured-c-531150

From the Oz Report forum:

Tandem pilot didn't clip himself in, but did clip passenger in. Pilot fell to his death. Passenger did his best but crashed back into rocks pretty bad.

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Annecy video

Mon, Jun 8 2015, 7:41:51 am EDT

Stabilized

Francois Isoard|video|tandem|PG

Francois Isoard «Francois Isoard» writes:

Video clip of hang gliding over Annecy, filmed from tandem paraglider, testing stabilized cam with Gyro Kenyon KS4: https://vimeo.com/129864507.

Discuss "Annecy video" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Birds in Paradise fatal crash

Wed, Mar 12 2014, 5:30:01 pm EDT

Gerry Charlebois dies

Gerry Charlebois, Mark McKenzie

Birds in Paradise|fatality|Foundation for Free Flight|Gerry Charlebois|Michel More|Peter Michelmore|PG|tandem|ultralite|video

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/24945600/breaking-kauai-county-officials-investigating-fatal-ultralight-aircraft-crash-details-at-hawaiinewsnowcom

Firefighters have recovered the bodies of the pilot and passenger involved in Tuesday's aircraft crash in Waiakamoo Valley in Polihale.

Officials haven't released their names, but several friends identify the pilot as Gerry Charlebois, the owner of Birds in Paradise, a powered hang glider school and tour company on Kaua'i.

Friends say Charlebois was not just well-known and respected, but describe him as "Hawai'i's ultralight pioneer".

Peter Michelmore, the Hawai'i regional safety director for the U.S. Hanggliding and Paragliding Association, called news of Charlebois' death shocking.

"It would be like hearing that the best surfer in the world just died surfing. Gerry Charlebois was probably one of the world's top ultralight pilots," said Michel More, who has known Charlebois more than 20 years.

Birds in Paradise fatal crash

Tue, Mar 11 2014, 11:06:22 pm EDT

Gerry Charlebois's operation

Gerry Charlebois, Mark McKenzie

Birds in Paradise|fatality|Gerry Charlebois|tandem|ultralite

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Motorized-hang-glider-crash-kills-2-on-Kauai-5307730.php

Two people died Tuesday on Kauai in the crash of a motorized, seated hang glider owned by a company that markets itself to visiting travelers even though federal regulations prohibit the aircraft from being used for tours or thrill rides.

The identities of the victims aren't known, Kauai County said in a statement.

The light sport aircraft crashed on the side of a mountain near Polihale Beach, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said. The site is in Waiakamoo Valley below Kokee in the western part of Kauai, the county said.

The aircraft — an Evolution Trikes Revo — is registered to Birds in Paradise LLC, a company that advertises scenic flights for tourists billed as introductory flight lessons rather than aerial tours. A message left on the company's answering machine was not immediately returned Tuesday.

http://www.birdsinparadise.com/our-team.php

Over/under - new harness from Dustin

November 11, 2013, 7:53:56 PST

Over/under - new harness from Dustin

Improvements

Dustin Martin|harness|Quest Air|tandem

Dustin Martin <<flydustin>> writes:

I just replenished my inventory of over/under tandem harnesses. The latest cut with all options included. Butter-smooth AustriAlpin buckles throughout, ultra wide spreader bars, 420 diamond ripstop outer shells, and an improved foot ladder system that needs no adjustment for any passenger.

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Unhooked »

August 23, 2012, 9:15:37 MDT

Unhooked

As was always obvious

fatality|tandem|unhooked

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/08/22/bc-hang-glider-death-investigation.html

“The investigation concluded that the passenger’s harness was not connected to the glider on takeoff. The required 'hang-check' (or any other suitable method of harness/glider connection test) was not performed prior to the pilot committing to takeoff,” the association said.

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FAA/USHPA Tandem exemption extended to 2014

July 2, 2012, 8:10:37 CDT

FAA/USHPA Tandem exemption extended to 2014

We can still offer "instruction"

FAA|tandem|USHPA

"...for the purpose of sport, training, and recreation."

http://ozreport.com/docs/DOC062912.pdf

New USHPA tandem exemption operating limitations here.

Guatemala Maya Open

Tue, Feb 7 2012, 1:30:31 pm MST

An all included package

competition|FAI|Guatemala Maya Open 2012|Mario Palacios|tandem|transportation

Fly Guatemala «Fly Guatemala» writes:

Hang Gliding Guatemala Maya Open: FAI Class 1 and Sport Class Cross Country Foot launch competition from 4 to 10 March 2012

Maya Open Special offer: glider, all transportation, guide, entry fee and lodging: $400 a week

For more information contact Mario Palacios: «Fly Guatemala» or visit: http://www.hanggliding-guatemala-tours.com

Tandem pilot beginner's instructor wanted

ATOS tandem

Mon, Dec 12 2011, 9:19:04 am PST

Christoph and his wife

Christoph Lohrmann|tandem

Christoph Lohrmann «Christoph Lohrmann» writes:

My wife and I tandem flying at the "flight festival Tegelberg" in October.

Discuss "ATOS tandem" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Lift Coefficient of eight or ten

Sat, Nov 27 2010, 1:37:31 pm MST

Blowing air over the wing and out the flap

aerodynamics|landing|powered|tandem|technology

Rendering of proposed CESTOL aircraft. This computer-generated graphic shows a model of the cruise-efficient, short take-off and landing (CESTOL) aircraft design that GTRI researchers are investigating. Credit: California Polytechnic State University

http://www.designfax.net/enews/20101123/feature-3.asp

Over-the-wing (engine) placement is a key design element because it enables very high lift while still providing the engine thrust necessary for take-off and high-speed level flight. It also offers important reduced-noise benefits.

…single wing flap is used in tandem with a novel element based on circulation-control technology. A narrow slot, capable of pneumatically blowing out air, runs along the entire trailing edge of each wing, just above the flap. This system is powered by its own compressed air source located inside the wing.

This procedure, called flap-blowing, performs two functions: it increases air velocity over the top of the wing, and it deflects the ambient wind stream downward so that it curls under the wing. The combined forces generate a lift coefficient that can be two to four times higher than a conventional mechanical flap.

During take-off and landing, air flow from the slot interacts with the engine exhaust and pulls this powerful exhaust blast down onto the wing. This process, called entraining the exhaust, greatly increases the velocity of the air passing over the wing and results in highly augmented upward suction and lift.

"This strategy allows an aircraft to be flying at a very low speed, while the wing is seeing much higher relative wind speeds on its curved upper surface due to this blowing and thrust-entraining combination," Englar says. "We have measured lift coefficients between 8.0 and 10.0 on these pneumatic powered-lift wings at a level flight condition during testing. The normal lift coefficient on a conventional wing at a similar flight condition is less than 1.0."

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CAA takes over commercial hang gliding operations in New Zealand

Fri, Sep 3 2010, 4:03:56 pm MDT

Let this be a warning

tandem|tourism

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10668773

Seven years after the death of a Greek tourist triggered a re-write of aviation law, a new rule has been drawn up for adventure tourism sector flight operators.

All adventure tourism businesses will require "air operator certification" for tandem hang gliders and paragliders, hot air balloons and microlights, a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman told NZPA today.

The rule change will require approval by cabinet.

Until now, commercial hang-gliding and paragliding have been governed by CAA through the New Zealand Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association: all hang-glider and paraglider pilots wishing to fly in New Zealand have to be members of the association.

Earthbound - Wallaby Ranch in the movies

Thu, Mar 4 2010, 7:03:22 pm EST

Hollywood comes to Wallaby Ranch

movie|tandem

http://www.wallaby.com/articles/in the movies.htm

EARTHBOUND, a romance film directed by Nicole Kessell (The Woodsman) and starring Kate Hudson, Kathy Bates, Whoopi Goldberg, Gael Garcia Bernal, Treat Williams and Rosemarie DeWitt tells the story of a tough and disillusioned ad executive (Kate Hudson), who battles cancer and falls in love with her doctor (Gael Garcia Bernal).

As part of the story line revolving around her wish to fly, Kate Hudson's character (Marley) and her love interest (Julian) take simultaneous tandem discovery flights at "The Wallaby Ranch Hang Gliding School" and together enjoy an aerial ballet of sorts as they each soar with their tandem instructor.

Cowboy Up Tandem Clinic

Wed, Mar 4 2009, 7:58:40 pm CST

In May in Alpine, Wyoming

Bart Weghorst|Cowboy Up|tandem

Bart writes:

Cowboy Up Hang Gliding is conducting a Tandem Clinic the last weekend in May. Not Memorial Day weekend but the weekend following: May 30th and 31st (Saturday and Sunday). Ratings of T1, T2 and Tandem Instructor are available to qualified pilots who successfully complete the clinic. Email («fly») or call (307) 413-4164, for more details.

Discuss "Cowboy Up Tandem Clinic" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Flavia and Drew, sports heroes

Mon, Jan 28 2008, 1:56:43 pm MST

Flavia and Drew

Their picture used to capture the spirit of flight

Andrew "Drew" Harris|Jeff O'Brien|Quest Air|tandem

http://hang6.blogspot.com/2008/01/life-size-trade-show-photo.html

This is a photo of Drew Harris and Flavia flying tandem at Quest Air.

Thanks to Andrew Harris and Jeff O'Brien.

Discuss "Flavia and Drew, sports heroes" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Jack goes tandem for life

August 9, 2007, 7:46:38 CDT

Jack

Or at least that's what he said

Angela Slocum|tandem

Angela Slocum «angela.slocum» writes:

My brother, Jack, is an avid hang glider pilot. So much so that hang gliding was included in the wedding. You'll see a very well dressed hang glider pilot and his bride, Peggy, doing a tandem flight as their walk down the aisle at Harris Hill near Elmira, New York..

Tandem - continues to kill hang gliding »

May 23, 2007, 9:29:45 EDT

Tandem

They almost all bail out of teaching hang gliding

Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Jon Durand jnr|PG|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Tandem

I've been in touch with folks in Australia recently. Apparently, unlike in the US, the HGFA has a lot to say about whether any one can become an instructor. You have to jump through a lot of HGFA hoops before you can become an instructor. In the US is appears to be a lot easier.

I was speaking with Jonny Durand and he said that one problem was the almost all instructors quit instruction and just do tandems. This is definitely not true at http://www.hangglidequeensland.com.au/ where Jonny works sometimes, nor at http://air-sports.com.au/ with Tony Barton or at http://www.dynamicflight.com.au/index.html with Rohan Holtkamp or http://www.hangglide.com.au/index.html with Shaun Wallace, for example But you'll find that there are very few true hang gliding instruction outfits in all of Australia.

But the problem as Jonny pointed out many instructors soon learn that there is a lot more money in doing tandems than in doing instruction. When there is a competition for the scarce resources (hang gliding instructors), doing tandems is taking away resources that could be used for instruction.

This reminds me of the problem with paragliding, especially in Europe, where hang gliding instruction has collapsed because instructors could make a lot more money instructing paragliding and then selling paragliding equipment.

I'm trying to encourage the spread of a hang gliding instruction business model that can provide adequate income for the individual instructor. Matt Taber has pointed out how one who can afford to see the big picture (a larger operation) can make money from hang gliding instruction. Some people seem to be listening.

Discuss Tandem at the Oz Report forum     Digg This  Reddit  DelIcioUsdel.icio.us

Tandem pilots desperately needed in New Zealand

October 16, 2006, 7:24:06 pm PDT

NZ

Young people just want to have fun

job|PG|Simon Lynn|tandem

Simon Lynn at Queenstown Tandem Hang Gliding Ltd «gottafly» writes:

Tandem hang glider and tandem paraglider pilots wanted for our summer season in Queenstown New Zealand . Immediate start through to April 2007. Foot launch experience preferred .

The tandem accident report from New Zealand »

Wed, Oct 4 2006, 3:08:17 pm GMT

This is the accident report from three years ago.

NZ

fatality|Eleni Zeri|Steve Parson|tandem

https://OzReport.com/docs/o_hareparsonspolicereport.pdf

https://OzReport.com/docs/do_hareparsonssummary.pdf

Discussion of hook in failures is found here: https://OzReport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4247 and here: https://OzReport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4336.

Discuss "The tandem accident report from New Zealand" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Jim Rooney hurt in New Zealand

February 21, 2006, 2:40:15 pm CST

Jim Rooney

It's in the MSM on the Oz Report web site.

crash|injury|Jim Rooney|tandem

See more news here and here. Jim is a well known tandem pilot and has been a very active contributor to the Oz Report forum.

Boat Towing »

Fri, Nov 18 2005, 11:00:04 am GMT

Unlimited roads in all directions for payout winch towing.

Gregg "Kim" Ludwig|students|tandem|tow

Boat Towing

Gregg Ludwigg «Skycruiser3» writes:

For the last two years we have been towing (I like to say) an "old way a new way" with the MalibuLaunchSystem (MLS) on a large inland lake north of Houston, Texas. Our standard tandem tow is to 2,000' but usually ends up being 2,500-'3,000'.

This lake area is ideal because it is very hot during a long summer with little wind. We have had some students walk up and solo after three days and get their h-2/PL as follows:

- day one….3 tandems

- day two…..2 tandems

- day three..1 tandem check ride/ 3 solos

Some students will need additional tandems.

Having a boat and winch is much more expensive than just a winch but our "tow road" becomes unlimited with circle tows and we always are able to launch into the wind. We are also able to take or pick up tandems where the people are.

Arlan

Fri, Sep 2 2005, 3:00:00 pm GMT

Two very unnecessary deaths.

Arlan Birkett

accident|altitude|Angelo Mantas|Arlan Birkett|Cloud 9|competition|crash|fatality|Gary Solomon|Guy Denney|Hang Glide Chicago|HG & PG Magazine|Joe Gregor|John Licata|Krzysztof "Krys/Kris" Grzyb|Mike Haas|Nathan Martin|news|Peter Birren|PG|power|sport|tandem|tow|tug|weaklink

Peter Birren «peterb» writes:

It is with a sad and heavy heart that I report Arlan Birkett and a student died Saturday evening, September 3, during a tandem flight at Hang Glide Chicago. Arlan's family in Madison, Wisconsin has been contacted with the news and arrangements will be forthcoming.

From the south end of the NS grass runway, John Licata saw the take off. Arlan was towed to the north, across low power lines and a highway, then appeared to have a major problem with the glider. At a height of about 250 feet, the glider turned 180º and, John says, fluttered to the ground like a wounded bird, tumbling and spinning as opposed to a so-called lawn dart. The impact was in a corn field north of the airport. The student's girl friend was present and was interviewed by the police.

A few possible scenarios and situations can be imagined but they are only speculative. The description, however, seems to point to some sort of a structural failure. More information and suppositions will be available tomorrow when the wreckage is thoroughly inspected.

Arlan and Hang Glide Chicago were just this month featured with a nice 2-page article in Hang Gliding & Paragliding Magazine. Arlan had been an instructor for about 10 years (longer?) And contributed greatly to a sport he loved so much.

Angelo Mantas «Angelomant» writes:

I'm stunned. I'm having a real hard time processing this on a personal level. Last year Mike, then another good friend and former HG pilot was killed last month in a motorcycle accident. Now this.

I have very little info on this. Apparently the glider got off line, then the weak link broke at the tug. This happened around 250', according to the tug pilot, Gary Solomon. Despite the altitude, it sounds like they impacted at a fairly steep angle, although this information is third hand. John Licata witnessed this, but didn't want to talk about it anymore, which is understandable since he also witnessed Mike Haas' crash.

Given the time of day, conditions should have been smooth. There are some thoughts pilots have shared with me, but they are pure speculation so I won't mention them at this time. John and Kris Grzyb are supposed to look over the glider tomorrow.

Arlan was a great guy. He was involved with banking, but walked away from that to start a HG business because that's what he wanted to do. When I got recertified as an instructor last year, instead of seeing me as competition, he thought it would be good to have someone around to do hill training, and gave me an old but airworthy trainer. His efforts gave lots of pilots a great place to fly or just hang out. His quiet demeanor and droll wit will be sorely missed.

Nathan Martin «natdogg1» writes:

Easily the best man I've ever met died today and his student barely older than I (20s). Arlan Birkett and Jeremia died on impact today around roughly 6-6:30 PM. Apparently what can only be described as a freak accident occurred. The glider got out of whack and wasn't corrected soon enough, this progressed into a lockout. At this point no-one is yet sure why, but it is known that the weaklink failed to break (250lb) and as far as we understand the tow rope broke (400+lb test) they were at a high angle of roll and had no time to recover. This all occurred immediately after takeoff and they couldn't of been higher than a few hundred feet.

I had known this man nearly six years of my life and had never witnessed anything less than great respect and kindness to all he knew. Jeremiah was in his 20s I believe and was thought to be a slick pilot by other instructors and was expected to solo. Both will be missed greatly and the holes in our hearts will take some time to mend.

(editor's note: These are very preliminary observations. Guy Denney «guydenney» will be writing up a report and sending it to Joe Gregor and hopefully to the Oz Report. Recent reports indicate that there was apparently no problem with the tandem glider in advance of the lockout. I have asked Guy the following questions:

How heavy was the student? How heavy was Arlan?
How many flights did this student have before this flight?
How long was the tow rope? Was it longer than the regular rope used for towing regular pilots? Was it 300 feet long?
Could the tandem have hit the prop wash? Was the tandem below the tug?
Did Arlan have extra handles on the down tubes to allow him to have extra control (like they do here at Cloud 9)?
What was the strength on the tandem side of the weaklink? Was it stronger than the tug side weaklink?

Arlan used an over/under style harness and the student pilot was on the bottom.


Here is the tandem over/under harness setup at Cloud9.)

Discuss "Arlan" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

At the Moyes Factory

Mon, Nov 15 2004, 4:00:00 pm GMT

New developments hinted at by a Moyes factory pilot.

Moyes

Curt Warren|equipment|gear|Moyes Delta Gliders|tandem

Curt Warren «curt» writes:

I'm at the Moyes Factory today in Sydney, rounding up some equipment after being a tandem pilot/surf bum the last couple of months here in Oz. Wow, Gerolf and crew impressed me with all sorts of mods' to the gliders. I truly admire their focus, commitment and desire to continually improve these gliders! They just don't stop.

-Cleaner sails, stronger and lighter gliders, and easier to handle is the factory buzz right now. I won't go into specifics at the moment, not knowing what is ready to be publicly announced, but it's got me excited enough to dust off my comp gear.

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DHV tandem tests for the ATOS VX

A.I.R. ATOS VX|DHV|tandem

Fri, May 14 2004, 2:00:02 pm EDT

The "translated" version of the test flights at the DHV for the VX.

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.a-i-r.de%2Fpages-d%2Fa_402_DHVTestflugATOSVX.htm&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=Unknown&oe=ASCII

http://www.a-i-r.de/pages-d/a_402_DHVTestflugATOSVX.htm

Flytec Championship - day nine »

A tough day, made that way by the task committee (on purpose).

competition

Sat, Apr 24 2004, 7:00:00 pm GMT

A.I.R. ATOS|A.I.R. ATOS VX|Aeros Combat|Aeros Combat 2|Aeros Ltd|Alex Ploner|Brett Hazlett|Brian Porter|cloud|competition|Eric Paquette|Flytec Championships 2004|Flytec Championships 2005|gaggle|Jacques Bott|Johann Posch|Just Fly|Kraig Coomber|Manfred Trimmel|Mario Alonzi|Ron Gleason|Swift|tandem|Worlds 2004

The results will be posted here: http://www.flytec.com/flytec_champ_04/index.html

We are back to east winds again like for most of the meet. The winds are forecasted to be higher at higher elevation, up to 19 knots. It also looks like the clouds will be thin or not there at all. The top of the lift is forecasted to be 7,400' with lift at 640 fpm, so it should be strong and high enough to come back into the wind.

We hold everything back half an hour as there are clouds forming and we want them to fill in a bit. The rigids will start at 2 PM and the flex wings at 2:30. The clouds do start to look good just on the north side of Quest.

The flex wing contest is very tight with Mario Alonzi in first by less then 40 points over Oleg Bondarchuck. Both these top two pilots are flying Aeros Combat L's. Of course, Bo who won yesterday, is flying the Aeros Combat 2 (not the L). So this day could determine who wins the meet.

The rigid wing contest is not particularly tight (for first at least). Alex had hoped to be 1000 points ahead so that he could go tandem on the AIR ATOS VX today, but he was only 600 points ahead of Worlds Number 1, David Chaumet, on the Tsunami. Alex has won every task. Ron Gleason has a chance to move into fourth behind Eric Paquette (see below), if he does really well today.

We get reasonable climbs to cloud base at 5,000' staying out of the fourteen mile start circle centered around Kokee, 19 miles to the west, northwest. One flex wing, maybe Chris Chris Zimmermann is the only one to go with us, unlike Bo the day before. The rest of the flex wings will wait until later to start.

I'll go down early missing the second thermal, so I'll get a chance to see how the rest of the crew does waiting at goal. Alex Ploner is the first pilot in, with Mark and Brian closely behind him (starting fifteen minutes later). After a bit of a wait David Chaumet comes in, followed by Jacques Bott, Eric Paquette and later Ron Gleason. Then it is a long time until Kurt Schumann gets home and a long time later Johann Posch. The question remains whether Ron will gain enough points to pass Johann for forth.

Now it is time to wait for the flex wings to make it. The sky has been washed clean of clouds for the last hour, but Alex says that he find plenty of lift on the way home. He said he struggled getting to the second turn point, but the guys who came along a little alter timed it perfectly and had clouds form out in front of them as they made it to the second turnpoint to the north at Coleman.

The winds were switchy out on the last leg into Quest from Coleman. So it wasn't as hard making it in as we had thought.

As we break down Alex's VX, we catch site of four flex wings coming in low and fast. In the lead is Oleg Bondarchuck, with Antoine right behind, followed closely by Kraig Coomber and Brett Hazlett. These four are the first gaggle and they are a good ways in front of the next group that includes Mario coming in low and fast just over the trees.

It looks like Oleg has been able to grab the lead back from Mario. It looks like for the first time the Aeros Combat has been the glider selected by the top two place finishers in a major hang gliding meet (outside the Ukraine, that is). Congratulations to Oleg, Mario, Bo, and the folks at Just Fly and Aeros.

The new AIR ATOS -VX, with the very excellent Alex Ploner piloting, it has proven to be the glider to be in in light conditions. It is still not clear what he will be flying at the Worlds in the Alps. Manfred Trimmel won the first day at Bassano in a VX.

Alex, Christian, ad David Chaumet have to be the top favorites at the Worlds coming up in six weeks. Alex and Felix will have an interesting decision to make.

Brian Porter has been flying a very heavily customized Swift with a much smaller cage. He will be flying this in the Worlds. Will this be enough to beat Manfred? We'll see.

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Tandem Clinic?

Tue, Jan 13 2004, 5:00:03 pm GMT

clinics

tandem

Greg DeWolf <DeWolf7@aol.com> writes:

Any interest in a Tandem 1, 2, Instructor Clinic for four days in mid Spring in the Virginia area? Contact me, please.

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Big Spring – Keep Hope Alive »

Sun, Aug 3 2003, 6:00:01 pm EDT

cost|food|internet|picture|radio|Swift|tandem|tug|Worlds

The US National Hang Gliding Championships was a big deal for the fairly depressed town of Big Spring. We’re holding the meet at the former air force base, so there’s one source of local revenue and people that’s gone. The refinery laid off a lot of people also, so there isn’t much in town in the way of jobs.

The town really expressed their support for having the Nationals there, and they are hoping for the Worlds (flex or rigid/women’s/Swift). They want us to come back next year, of course.

They served us dinner at the airport office on the first night, let us use two hangars, and the air conditioned airport offices as well as the taxi way. We got free high speed wireless and wired internet access from a local ISP (and thanks to Tim Meaney the super scorekeeper and network analyst. The Super 8 motel manager provided a lot of rooms gratis so that David could put up a bunch of the tug pilots and keep the cost of the meet down.

The mayor came out and welcomed us to Big Spring and he and his wife had tandem flights. There were many radio ads and sponsorship from the local radio station. There were billboards, and media from all over Texas there. Pepsi brought out their Aquafina blimp on the last day. There were food vendors every day and more on Saturday. There was a flea market held at the airport on the last day.

They setup bleachers with shading for spectators (although they should have put it closer to the action). They brought ice cream on the day they wanted us to fill out a questionnaire.

People were encouraged to come out to the airport for tandem and ultralight flights. This provided extra income for tug pilots (and owners), and delighted the town.

Chris Cheney, the local jeweler who last year came out, decided that he really did want to hang glide, took lessons during the year, and this year was aerotowing in a Falcon, worked the launch every day. Many volunteers from the town chased the carts and got us all lined up. Chris got a three hour soaring flight on the last day.

The owners of the Texas RV Park, where a bunch of us stayed, organized the dinner. They’ve got three cabins available next year for about $5/person. Air conditioned.

We may be nobody in the big picture but to a small town down in the dumps, we are somebody.

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Flytec/Quest Air WRE – blue day

Fri, Jul 11 2003, 1:00:00 pm EDT

Geoff Lyons|Paris Williams|Quest Air|radio|site|tandem|Zapata

See our ongoing Claudette coverage below.

With Claudette slowly approaching and with it the opportunity to fill up the reservoirs along the Rio Grande and its tributaries, we decide to pull up the tent pegs and decamp to Big Spring in the Texas panhandle for the final week of the WRE. It looks like the tugs will be flown to Leaky tomorrow half way to Big Spring, and then one will go all the way to Big Spring on Sunday. The WRE will commence on Monday at the site where Geoff Lyons flew 275 miles.

The T-skew forecast today had a blue day written all over it, with a strong inversion and a layer of dry air above that. The morning started with our wonderful Zapata low cu’s, but they quickly dried out. The winds were very light out of the south as Claudette kills the Bermuda high pressure ridge.

Scott, Paris, Dave Prentice, and George were flying although all got late starts. I could still hear Scott at 5 PM on the radio trying to get back to the airport. The tandem paraglider duo went down after a few miles.

Blue days are certainly rare here. There seems to be plenty of lift. The cu’s finally pop at 6 PM.

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Florida Ridge Alumni Fly-In

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

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

Marco Oliveira <marco@boston-tech.com> writes:

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

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

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

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

If you have any questions, please contact Marco Oliveira (<Marco@boston-tech.com>) or Dan Critchett (<Dan@Critchett.net>). And be sure to check your email late Friday evening in case we have to call the event for weather.

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

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Flytec/Quest Air WRE – a low save

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Youngest ever to solo aerotow?

Sun, Jun 29 2003, 5:00:04 pm EDT

aerotow|Brad Kushner|dolly|flight park|landing|Raven Sky Sports|tandem|Terry Kramer|USHGA

Brad Kushner at Raven Sky Sports <info@hanggliding.com> writes:

Gretchen Haraldson, daughter of instructor Janice Haraldson, solo'd on aerotow to 2,000 feet twice this evening at Raven Sky Sports' flight park in Whitewater, Wisconsin. She's 12 years, 8 months old and weighs a bit over 100 pounds (45 kg). Her two flights were excellent, from takeoff until landing. "She did everything 'textbook'," said tugpilot Tim Thompson, "from her takeoffs out of the launch dolly, to her landings back on the runway."

Gretchen benefited from hill-flying lessons with Raven's Falcon 140 and 170 training gliders under the tutelage of her mother, Janice, and did most of her tandem aerotow training flights with Terry Kramer, Head of Curriculum at Raven Sky Sports. She also passed the USHGA Hang 1, Hang 2, and Aerotow written exams with flying colors (prior to soloing). Hats off to Gretchen!

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Flytec/Quest Air WRE – a new world record

Sat, Jun 28 2003, 6:00:00 pm EDT

altitude|cloud|David "Dave" Glover|David Glover|Moyes Litespeed|Moyes Litespeed S|Quest Air|record|Robin Hamilton|speed record|Stewart Midwinter|Swift|tandem|triangle|world record|Zapata

The area around Zapata proved to be magical once again. It took a little prognosticating to figure out just what made sense to do for the day, but after that the conditions were just what you’d want for a triangle or out and return record attempts.

The winds were forecasted to be light east until about 4 PM when they would be out of the northeast at 13 knots. It looked like there was a good chance of over development late in the day, but not around noon to 2 PM. The FSL temperature trace (modeled data) predicted cu’s forming early and staying all day.

Since I wasn’t thinking of going 500 miles I got out to the airport around 10 AM. There were plenty of little cu’s dotting the sky already. I wanted to get up and just float around in the light super fun lift that we get here early and see how it went. Perhaps it would be plentiful enough for a world record task.

I was thinking about doing the 100 km out and return. For class 5 there is currently no world record for that distance. Stewart Midwinter and Robin Hamilton have set that speed record in Class 2, but Class 5 doesn’t have an entry. So it was wide open. I could attempt to set it in the early morning lift.

The lift was plentiful, but light and getting to only 3,000’ AGL meant it would be hard to go out 30 miles and back against the early morning 5 mph east wind. Also my zipper opened up so I needed to land after an hour ands get that fixed. Still, it was so nice just going out a few miles and climbing every so slowly to cloud base.

I took off again at 12:30 to give it another try. Junko was going to try for the Swift 25 km triangle record. Dave Prentice was going for the 50 km tandem paragliding record. Mikey was going to test fly the new Moyes Litespeed S. Ron was going to test fly his older AIR ATOS so that David Glover could fly it. Chuck was already up for his first flight and Rick from Salt Lake was about to launch his ATOS.

The climb out over the airport was smooth to 4,500’ near cloud base. On this 10 km task I’m actually allowed a 6,560’ height differential coming back to goal, so in this case I’ve given up 2,000’ of altitude that I could have used if I had been able to climb that high. It’s still a bit early in the day.

I cross the start point sector at 12:50 at 4,100’ AGL and there are cu’s spread out in front of me on the course line. I’m able to stay high and go at 23 mph until 21 miles out I’m down to 600’ AGL. For the next hour and a half I will work against the 10 mph head wind and average a little over 4 mph. I’m over areas that would require a bit of a walk out to get back to highway 16, so I’m concerned about staying up at all costs. Besides any speed sets the record.

Finally I get high enough to glide into the turnpoint near Hebronville on highway 16 and turn around to go downwind. Over the next 55 minutes I’ll average 34 mph heading back to goal. Overall the new world record speed over the 100 km out and return task for class 5 will be 27.6 km/h, not particularly fast. But you’ve got to start somewhere.

And certainly a lot of fun on a pleasant day in Zapata when the winds won’t carry you far to the north. The other day when I did fly north, my average L/D while gliding was 62:1. Today it was 13:1.

Junko will try again tomorrow for the 25 km triangle record for class 2. Perhaps we’ll get everyone out for a try at the 50 km or 25 km triangle records.

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Free promo – the Icaro 2000 Relax

Thu, Jun 26 2003, 6:00:04 pm EDT

Icaro 2000|Oz Report|tandem|Wills Wing

Saskia at Icaro 2000 <staffbox@Icaro2000.com> writes:

To the question “Is it possible to turn a paraglider pilot into an ATOS pilot in thirteen flights, and on their fourth solo?”

We from Icaro reply: “Yes, it is possible, if you have a short training period on a hang glider like, for example, the Icaro 2000 Relax.”

(editor’s note: Of course, Oz Report readers can go back and read my review of this wonderful single surface glider. The paraglider pilots in Spain flew tandem in Fly 2’s and then soloed in Wills Wing Falcons, before flying the ATOS.)

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Flytec/Quest Air WRE – thick cu’s real early

Thu, Jun 26 2003, 6:00:00 pm EDT

Gary Osoba|landing|Lawrence "Pete" Lehmann|Quest Air|record|Ron Gleason|Swift|tail|tandem|world record|Zapata

There were good looking cu’s streaming over the Zapata County airport at 9 AM. These things had real vertical development to them. Not only that, they were blowing out of the south, not southeast, making for a bit of a cross wind over the 120° runway.

I haven’t seen this good a wind direction since I first came here three years ago at the first WRE. We used to have a problem with our static line falling over the fence to the east of the airport. It was so great to see these winds return.

We saw on the forecast that there was a front coming our way from the north about 300 miles out so it didn’t look like a world record day unless the wind calmed down a bit in the afternoon and permitted triangles.

Ron Gleason in an ATOS, Pete Lehmann in the Attack Falcon, and Gary Osoba got off around 10:30, knowing that the day would be cut short to the far north. Ron went 100 miles and never crossed interstate 35 which runs northeast out of Laredo. His heading was 306° which has never been accomplished here, quite far east of any track we’ve seen before.

Pete tried to chase Gary and felt foolish for it landing a short ways from the airport. Gary, in the Sparrowhawk knowing about the front stayed around helping Ron for the first few miles.

Junko took off at noon in the Swift Light for a couple of local flights while Bo had three tandem passengers, the first, an 85 year old lady who came out on her own and couldn’t wait to tell all her friends tonight at Bingo. He said she never tells her family about dangerous things she’s going to do, until she’s done them.

Later Ron told the story that after breezing through the first 55 miles in 70 minutes, he ran into rough air in front of the front. He went half inverted at one point. Thank goodness for the tail. We’ve never experienced a front down here and usually the air is very pleasant.

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WRE 500! – free hang gliding lessons for drivers

Tue, Jun 17 2003, 2:03:08 pm EDT

aerotow|Bo Hagewood|David "Dave" Glover|David Glover|instruction|Paris Williams|record|students|tandem|world record|World Record Encampment|XC

David Glover <david@davidglover.com> writes:

The WRE will be providing FREE hang gliding lessons (Tandem Aerotow) to a lucky few during the 2003 Flytec World Record Encampment. The lucky one or two students will get tandems in exchange for retrieval driving for WRE XC participants.

Instruction available from past National Champions and World Record setters - Bo Hagewood, Paris Williams, etc. Hang out and learn from the very best. To apply email <mailto:david@davidglover.com>. See https://OzReport.com for more info on this years Flytec WRE.

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Wheels for aero-base tubes

Tue, Jun 10 2003, 2:03:04 pm EDT

Blue Sky|Brad Kushner|competition|Dan Morris|Dragonfly|gear|harness|landing|racks|Raven Sky Sports|site|tandem|tow|wheels|Wills Wing

Brad Kushner at Raven Sky Sports <brad@hanggliding.com> writes:

Wills Wing has brought some really great hardware to the hang gliding market over the years, and the current airfoil 'standard base tube' on the Talon and the U2 is something that we would have only dreamed about a few years ago. Who would have thought that an airfoil speedbar basetube would trickle down to the recreational glider market so quickly?

Just one problem, that I see: There is no alternative round basetube option available, and there was no good way to mount wheels directly on the airfoil basetube until now. We've designed something really great to solve that problem.

(editor’s note: Actually Wills Wing has had wheels for the aero base tube for quite a while now. You can see them in the ad for Wills Wing above or go to their web site at www.willswing.com.)

Dan Morris, dba Blue Sky Fabrication (www.blueskyfabrication.com) is a competitor in the Midwest Regional Hang Gliding Competition this week, and he wears many hats around here at Raven. We taught him to fly here about 8 years ago, and he's quickly become one of the best pilots in our club.

He's also a gifted machinist, and he's built some really great things for us here, from launch dollys, to automobile glider racks, to the wheel pants and custom exhaust systems on our Dragonfly tow planes, to the Rascal Tandem Landing Gear on our tandem gliders which he personally test flies. He currently flies a Talon 140 with a Rotor Vulto harness. He's a staff tandem instructor at Raven, and gets to see his handiwork in use almost every day.

Dan and I collaborated on the WHOOSH TM * Airfoil Speedbar Wheel Hubs (Patent Pending) that you see here. The design criteria was simple, but the engineering was challenging: To fabricate a machined plastic hub that would be flexible enough to wrap around and close on the airfoil basetube like a clam shell, that wouldn't slide sideways, and that would accommodate either of the two most popular bolt-together wheel types in hang gliding use today. Oh, yeah, and it has to allow for the normal use of the VG line, without the need to move the VG cleat.

Since this part isn't injection-molded, each one has to be machined out of a solid block of plastic. We did everything that we could to simplify the machining of this part, so as to keep the production costs down. Still, like everything else in hang gliding that is built in batches of a few dozen at a time, and made in America, this wheel adapter will be fairly pricey. But, hey, this is hang gliding, need I say more?

We've got the first prototype pairs machined, and we'll be test-landing them this week during the comp. Any of your readers who are interested in more info, or want to buy a set, can email me at <Brad@hanggliding.com>. It would help us to know how many pilots might want them. We also hope to have some more photos and details up on Dan's website very soon, at www.blueskyfabrication.com.

* WHOOSH TM: Wheel Hubs, Out of the Ordinary, Streamlined Holes! (Patent Pending)

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Tandem paraglider balloon drop

Fri, Jun 6 2003, 2:03:02 pm EDT

balloon drop|Grkman Gregor|Miha Repovz|PG|Primoz Lajevec|tandem|TV

www.ipak.org/ipastaff/tandem

Grkman Gregor <gregor.grkman@elektro-ljubljana.si> sends this:

On Wednesday, 4.6.2003, two Slovenian acro pilots, founders of LOOP team, Miha Repovz (e-studentski servis) and Primoz Lajevec (axis mundi), performed a tandem balloon drop near Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia. Everything went well and the glider (wings of change, Chinhook) opened perfectly after 50m of fall. The event was well photographed and filmed, published on main TV in Slovenija. Photos are available at IPA agency, text on request.

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Man slaughter for tandem pilot in New Zealand

Wed, Jun 4 2003, 2:03:09 pm EDT

Alex Landels|Eleni Zeri|fatality|Stephen Richard "Steve" Parson|tandem

We reported on this when it happened. Alex Landels <alexlandels@yahoo.com> sent this to us:

“A hang gliding pilot from Chemainus, B.C., has been charged with manslaughter in New Zealand after his female passenger fell to her death.”

“Stephen Richard Parson, 52, was operating the tandem glider when Greek tourist Eleni Zeri, 23, became detached. Mr. Parson struggled to hang on to her, but she eventually plummeted about 70 metres to her death March 29.”

“"Our investigation led us to believe he had been negligent in caring for the safety of the passenger" said Insp. Phil Jones of Queenstown police”.

“The charge carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.”

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Florida Ridge »

Fri, May 23 2003, 3:00:01 pm EDT

flight park|Florida|Florida Ridge|James Tindle|tandem|tug

Marco Oliveira <marco@boston-tech.com> writes:

The Florida Ridge Flight Park is current looking for TUG/Tandem/Instructor/Manager pilots to fill a position vacant with the departure of Berry to Canada. The right candidate will have strong management skills and excellent customer service attitude to deal with many personalities. Call James Tindle at 305-2858978. Check our website at www.thefloridaridge.com

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Photo/caption contest »

Tue, May 20 2003, 4:00:04 pm EDT

John "Ole" Olson|photo|tandem

This is a classic from John ‘Ole’ Olson <JustaGlidehead@learntoflytrikes.com>:

My caption: “That will be an extra $50 for this tandem.”

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FAI Sporting License »

Thu, May 1 2003, 2:00:06 pm EDT

CIVL|competition|FAI|FAI Sporting License|Paula Bowyer|record|sport|tandem

Paula Bowyer <paula@fai.org> writes:

Since 1905, FAI has been the only body that can sanction International competitions - Category 1 World and Continental Championships as well as Category 2 events - and recognise World Records in all forms of air sport.

The word 'international' means 'amongst nations' and implies that when pilots fly in an international event, they represent the nations they come from.

These nations belong to FAI through the FAI member organisations, known as the < National Air-Sport Controls (NACs) > - formerly < National Aero Clubs >. On payment of their FAI membership fee the NACs obtain the right to organise International events and to participate in any FAI activity (such as international competitions and record-setting).

The FAI delegates to the NACs the privilege to issue FAI Sporting Licences. Nevertheless, these remain international licences. It is one of the benefits to NACs of their FAI membership that they are empowered to act as the agents of the international authority. The FAI rules state that a pilot must hold an international sporting licence to participate in any international sporting event. This is so that the NAC, the country's air sport authority at national level, can decide who should represent the country internationally. These rules are not in any way unique to air sports. They are applied by every single international sporting federation, and they ensure that only pilots who are recognised by their NAC may represent their country internationally.

The recent discussion has arisen because some NACs are charging pilots who wish to obtain an FAI sporting licence. We emphasize that this problem does not originate from FAI or CIVL, neither of which makes any charge for FAI sporting licences. It may be the case that some NACs charge the pilots more than the pure administrative costs of issuing the licence. But it should be remembered that all the money generated in this way goes towards promoting flying in the pilots' country, so this is an issue for you and your national association to address locally.

On a practical level, some organisers already run 2 meets simultaneously

- an A & B competition. Pilots in the A competition (which is internationally recognised) must have a Sporting Licence and score World Pilot Ranking System (WPRS) points, whilst those in the B competition (which has national status only) fly alongside them, but their scores are not counted for WPRS points. So it is the pilots' choice. If you want to encourage new pilots and have less formality, they can fly in a < B > competition with very little extra effort for the organiser.

The "penalty" fee imposed on organisers was a way of encouraging meet directors to check licences, without hurting pilots who did have licences.

We have recognised that the WPRS needs some revision, and we are now in the process of reviewing the system. The "new" system is running in tandem with the "old" system and very shortly a discussion board will be set up to consider the ramifications and any proposed alterations.

In any sport, there are various levels of competition. Often, there are club competitions, inter-club competitions, national level competitions, and Open International competitions, as well as World and Continental Championships. The lower levels do not require international sporting licences, but all international contests must be at least Category 2 events to be formally recognised. Organisers may choose to combine these with their Nationals (as Category 2 Open International events), and for these contests pilots must have an FAI Sporting Licence. It is not in any way the aim of CIVL to discourage pilots at lower levels, quite the opposite, but merely to make a level playing field for everyone at international level.

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Midwest regionals

Tue, Apr 29 2003, 12:00:07 pm EDT

aerotow|book|Brad Kushner|CIVL|competition|David "Dave" Glover|David Glover|Dragonfly|flight park|Garmin GPS|GPS|landing|magazine|NTSS|photo|Raven Sky Sports|safety|school|site|Swift|tandem|tow|USHGA|weather

Here is the official announcement that went to Hang Gliding Magazine. Brad Kushner at Raven Sky Sports <brad@hanggliding.com> writes:

June 7-14, 2003: 2003 Midwest Regional Hang Gliding Competition at Raven Sky Sports.

Purpose: to have a safe, fun and fair competition. Our focus is to have a relaxing and affordable meet that is a great time for everyone involved.

Dates: June 7 (Saturday) - June 14 (Saturday), 2003. Potentially an 8-day meet, weather permitting.

Sanction: USHGA Class B and CIVL / NTSS points Flex, Rigid, and Swift class.

Location: Raven Sky Sports Flight Park at Twin Oaks Airport. N463 County Road N, Whitewater, Wisconsin 53190.

Facility: World's first dedicated aerotow flight park. 4 Dragonfly tow planes are planned for this event. Additional aerotow vehicles may be added. We have 3 grass runways for launches in up to 6 possible directions. Days are 15 hours long with sunset around 8:30pm in June.

Meet format: cross-country race to goal with or without turnpoints.

Rules: 2003 USHGA Competition Rulebook, latest edition.

Registration: Begins March 12, 2003. Limit ~30-40 competitors (to be determined).

Entry Fee: $300, 50% deposit required to validate registration (add $50 after May 7).

To Enter: email: <comp@hanggliding.com> or by phone: (262)473-8800 or by fax: (262)473-8801.

Meet Organizer: Brad Kushner and Team Raven

Meet Director: David Glover

Safety Director: Bob Linebaugh

Score Keeper: To be determined.

Awards and Prizes: To be determined. Minimum will equal (# of contestants) times ($50), fairly distributed.

Mandatory Pilot Briefing: 5:15 pm - Friday, June 6, 2003.

Contingency Plans: No official rest days are planned. The meet will be up to 8 days in length, weather permitting. Sunday, June 15 will be a contingency day, to be added in the event that flight tasks are cancelled by the meet director on 4 or more days due to weather or other causes.

Other info: Welcome to our first-ever Regional/Points Meet, we aim to make it great. Volunteers will be greatly appreciated. Applications will be accepted in the order received until capacity is reached. Pilots who have not competed before must have approval of meet organizer, meet director and/or safety director. Prior experience in a USHGA aerotow competition is helpful, but not required. Pilots must have current USHGA Advanced ratings (or foreign equivalent) with aerotow and turbulence signoffs. Additional signoffs for restricted landing field and cross-country will be weighed favorably.

Intermediate rated pilots (with appropriate experience and skills) may be allowed at the discretion of the meet director. Foreign pilots will be required to have USHGA 90-day competition membership (available on site at time of contest). Approved Garmin GPS units may be required (to be determined). Aerotows for recreational flying and tandem lessons will be available every day, but will shut down (in favor of the competitors' needs) during the competition launch window.

Photo of airport (looking southeast) was one that you published last summer, showing our main runway N/S, and our shorter E/W runway (at bottom of photo), and our newest NE/SW runway, then under development…we seeded that runway in the autumn, and it's greening up nicely this spring.

Competitors can book reservations at the local AmeriHost Inn, only two miles from the flight park, at special discounted rates. There are also two other motels in Whitewater, but they have neither a swimming pool, nor a hang glider with mannequin to hang over it (photo). Purple and White are the school colors at UW-Whitewater.

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Micro Marketing

Mon, Apr 28 2003, 3:00:08 pm EDT

Eric Crutchlow|sport|tandem

Eric Crutchlow <ecrutch@appweb.com> writes:

When it comes time to work on my glider, I take it across the street from my condo to the park. Every time I have done this, invariably people come up and ask me about the sport.

In the beginning, I told them about how long it takes to get a rating (especially here in the bay area) and that they needed to be committed. Giving this some more thought, I decided to alter the pitch.

I got the business cards of a local tandem pilot and every time I go to the park, I hand them out with a wonderful description of soaring next to the ocean. My tandem friend has told me that several of these people have followed up. So at worst, this method gets tandem pilots some more customers, and at best, we've added to the hang gliding community.

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Four tandems all in a row

Mon, Apr 28 2003, 3:00:04 pm EDT

Brad Kushner|Dara Hogan|gaggle|gear|Ghostbuster|landing|Raven Sky Sports|students|tandem|tug

Brad Kushner at Raven Sky Sports <brad@hanggliding.com> writes:

Four tandems thermalling together in the same gaggle, that's the kind of day it was! Tim Thompson and Brad Kushner were the two tug pilots. Lots of Wisconsin Hang Gliding Club members showed up to fly. At first, it looked like it would be a light and scratchy thermalling day, but the lift got great in the afternoon, and remained great until almost 6pm! Those who had gotten 'enough' airtime and folded up their gliders at 3 or 4 pm were surprised to see almost all of the other pilots staying up after 5pm, and then after 6pm.

We had a group of almost a dozen newbies come out for intro tandem flights, plus our usual contingent of Raven Sky Sports' students-in-training. They showed up at around 3:30, got through their paperwork by about 4, and the first tandem flight of the afternoon went up at about 4:15. Within a few minutes, we had three tandem gliders up and soaring. Mark Furst took the fourth tandem glider and took Dara for a thermalling tandem lesson. It was shortly after this, that all four of Raven's Northwing T2 tandem gliders were stacked in a single thermal over the UW-Whitewater athletic complex with Pete Berney in his Ghostbuster 2,000 feet above everybody else in the stack. Whatta day!

Our four Northwing T2 tandem gliders, each one set up with tandem landing gear, High Energy over/under harnesses, Quantum 550 reserves, and in-flight cameras…pre-flighted and tied down, waiting for the students to arrive.

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Young DraachenStein

Sun, Apr 27 2003, 2:00:03 pm EDT

aerotow|cart|cartoon|cloud|Cloud 9|competition|cost|David Maule|donations|Dragonfly|equipment|FAA|flight park|Florida|Flytec USA|food|foot launch|game|glide ratio|government|harness|instruction|landing|Maureen Grant|Moyes America|Moyes USA|parachute|photo|record|release|Rick Agudelo|Rob Kells|safety|site|sport|Sport Aviation|Spot|spot landing|storage|students|tandem|tow|towing|Tracy Tillman|training hill|transport|travel|tug|USHGA|weather|Wills Wing

aka the Dragonfly Cup - a new comp with a tall attitude and monster-size prizes.

by Tracy Tillman and Lisa Colletti

(from Reality Check cartoon series)

While working in the laboratory late one night, we created a new hang gliding competition for 2003, the Dragonfly Cup. The comp will take place at Cloud 9 Field in Michigan, home of the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club. The value of prizes to be awarded is over $6000. Major sponsors include Wills Wing, Moyes USA, Flytec USA, High Energy Sports, AV8/Icaro, and Cloud 9 Sport Aviation.

Hot Comps

Many of the most successful meets taking place across the world use aerotowing as the primary means of launch. At a good site, it allows launching into any wind direction, and enables a large number of pilots to launch in a short period of time (provided that there are enough tugs and tug pilots available). The large cross-country meets that have been hosted by our friends in Florida and Texas over the last five years are a great example of the popularity and success of aerotowing as a launch format. The mass launches are an awesome site to behold, and participation in those comps is an experience that one will never forget. By all means, one should try to get to one or both of the Florida meets, as a participant, tug pilot, volunteer helper, or spectator.

The good flying conditions and high-level of competition at these meets bring together some of the best pilots in the world. These are relatively complex, work-intensive, and expensive comps to run, which results in entry fees being near $400, not including tow fees. With travel, food, lodging, and support crew costs added, the overall cost for a pilot to participate in one or both of the Florida meets is significant. Never-the-less, registration for both of these meets fills up almost immediately after opening.

Despite the popularity of these meets, it has been difficult for some clubs to run a successful meet in other parts of the county. Here in the Great Lakes/Great Plains region of the country, poor weather and low pilot turnout has resulted in the cancellation of meets more often than not. We can experience great soaring conditions across the summer flying season in this part of the country, but the weather patterns are not as consistent as in Florida or Texas. Also, many average Jo/Joe hang glider pilots who live in this part of the country are more interested in participating in a lower-cost, fun-type comp, rather than in a higher-cost, intensely competitive cross-country competition; and, it may be difficult for some pilots to take many vacation days away from work to attend a meet.

The Dragonfly Cup

With these issues in mind, and after some discussions with Rob Kells of Wills Wing, we created the Dragonfly Cup hang gliding competition for the summer of 2003. Aerotow and hill slope will be the primary means of launch. The comp will be hosted by the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club (DFSC) at Cloud 9 Field in Michigan. It is a low-cost comp to benefit the DFSC, with large prizes sponsored by major hang gliding companies.

(A good summer day at Cloud 9. Photo by Rick Agudelo)

To avoid weather cancellation issues, the Dragonfly Cup is running season-long, from May 15 through September 1 (Labor Day), 2003. To avoid weather-related cross-country task problems, there are five different task categories: Race, Distance, Duration, Spot Landing, and Glide Ratio. To avoid retrieve problems, all task landings are at Cloud 9 Field. To reduce expenses, the cost is only $10 or $20 per comp flight, depending upon the task(s) declared by the competitor, plus the cost of the tow for that flight. A pilot can enter and declare a flight as a comp flight as many times as he/she likes across the season. To enable any level of pilot to win, a handicap system will enable lower-performance gliders to release from tow at higher altitudes. Pilots will foot launch from the newly-constructed training hill at Cloud 9 Field for the glide ratio task, which will enable non-towing student pilots, and even paraglider pilots, to compete in the meet. (Note: It is not a large hill; using a light, slow, high-lift wing may offer an advantage for this task.)

Results will be recorded across the season. Those who finish at the top of each category will be eligible to win one or more of the major prizes available. So far, the prize list and sponsors include: (a) Falcon 2 hang glider, sponsored by Wills Wing and Cloud 9 Sport Aviation ($3075 value); (b) Contour Harness sponsored by Moyes America ($950 value); (c) 4030XL variometer sponsored by Flytec USA ($899 value); (d) Quantum 330 reserve parachute sponsored by High Energy Sports ($650 value); and (e) PVC storage/transport tubes sponsored by AV8/Icaro ($500 value).

The cost for declaring a hill flight as a glide ratio comp flight is just $10, which means that for as little as a $10 entry fee, a pilot could win a brand new Falcon 2 glider worth over $3000. The cost for declaring an aerotow flight as a comp flight is $20 (plus tow fee), but the pilot can choose two of the four aerotow task categories for that flight: (a) Race, which is the fastest out and back 16 mile round trip time to the neighboring Sandhill Soaring Club field; (b) Distance, which is the most out and back round trips to the Sandhill Soaring Club field; (c) Duration, which is the longest time aloft; and (d) Spot Landing, which is landing (by foot or wheel) within a prescribed circle. All landings must be on Cloud 9 field; out-landing flights will be disqualified. For the aerotowing tasks, the tow height limit is1500 feet AGL for rigid wings, 2500 feet for topless flex wings, 3500 feet for kingposted double-surface flex wings, and 4500 feet for kingposted single-surface flex wings.

(Lisa, Tracy, and DFSC club members. Artwork by Bob and Maureen Grant)

The DSFC will host comp parties on Memorial Day weekend, July 4 weekend, and the first weekend in August, to encourage pilots from other clubs to schedule a trip en masse to fly here with us. The grand finale party will be held on Labor Day weekend, with final results determined and prizes awarded on Labor Day.

The winners of each task category will have an equal chance at winning the major prizes. A drawing of the task winners' names will be held on Labor Day to determine who gets which prize.

We feel that events like the Dragonfly Cup can help the sport to grow, as do several major manufacturers and distributors. Wills Wing, Moyes, Flytec, High Energy Sports, AV8/Icaro, and Cloud 9 Sport Aviation are offering significant donations in support of the 2003 Dragonfly Cup. These companies are dedicated to supporting our sport with their excellent products and services, please support them in return.

Cloud 9 Field and the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club

If you have not flown with us before, please be aware that we have a specific operations formula that may be somewhat different from what you have experienced at other aerotowing sites. Because we have a nice site with a very active club, some pilots mistakenly think of our DFSC club site as a commercial flight park-it is not.

Cloud 9 Field is our sod farm, private airfield, and home. We purchased the land specifically with the intent of building a house, hanger, and private airfield, and to create a home base for the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club. We are on the executive board of the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club, and are the owners of Cloud 9 Sport Aviation, which is a supplementary mail order hang glider equipment business that serves Michigan and the Great Lakes region. We are also the owners of Cloud 9 Field, Inc. sod farm.

We allow DFSC club members and guest members to camp on our property (temporarily, not permanently) at no charge, and bathrooms and showers are available in our hanger for members and guests to use. The hanger has a second-floor club house/game room/kitchenette and observation deck overlooking the field. Our airfield is flat and open, and allows smooth cart launches and foot or wheel landings in any wind direction on mowed and rolled sod grass. Last year, we also built a 30 foot training hill on the edge of the field with the help of several club members (thanks Rick, Mark, and Jim!).

(Cloud 9 Field hanger and DFSC club house.)

The DFSC has been active since 1997, and has been flying from Cloud 9 Field since 1998. Even though we gained prior approval from the local, state, and federal government for the establishment of our private airfield for aircraft, ultralight, and hang glider operations, the local township government reacted to complaints from a neighbor about our towing operations, and sued us to prevent us from flying. As a result, we purposely kept a low public profile (but did not stop flying) while battling the lawsuit over several years.

Since that time we have learned how common it is, all across the country, for legal action to be initiated against people who own or establish airstrips and conduct flying activities. We also discovered that it is very important to find attorneys who are well versed in the appropriate areas of law, and who really care about your case. At a significant cost to us, we settled the lawsuit last year. In addition to having a great pair of attorneys working for us, one of which is a hang glider pilot and now a DFSC club member, we also had to do a great deal of work to help them develop an understanding of the case and to build a solid legal argument for the court. We learned a lot, but it was very time-consuming, stressful, and expensive.

During this process, we were inspected twice by the FAA. Their visits and reports supported our legal argument by helping to verify that we are not a commercial flight park operation, that we are operating properly within FAA regulations and exemptions, and that we are operating safely and relatively quietly. After getting to know us and the nature of our operations, the FAA asked Tracy to serve as an Aviation Safety Counselor for the FAA Detroit FSDO region, which also had a positive impact for us in court.

We are both ultralight basic flight instructors, and airplane private pilots. Lisa is the main tug pilot, and Tracy is the tandem hang gliding instructor for the club. We have two Dragonfly tugs, one with a Rotax 914 engine, and one with a Rotax 912 engine. We also own a Maule STOL airplane, painted in the same colors as our Dragonfly tugs.

In consideration of our neighbors, we have been successful in significantly reducing the engine/prop noise generation levels on both of our tugs. We use quieter and more reliable 4-stroke engines, custom-designed Prince propellers that provide increased thrust and reduced noise, after-muffler silencers with exhaust stacks that direct the noise upward, and towing/flying techniques that minimize noise levels on the ground.

(Tracy and Lisa with one of their Dragonfly Tugs)

Our operations formula has been refined over time to best meet FAA, IRS, USHGA, USUA, and other federal, state, and local laws, rules, and regulations. As such, all of our hang gliding instruction and flying operations take place via the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club, Inc., which is a not-for-profit, mutual benefit organization to promote safe hang gliding and instruction. Club members share in the cost of our operations for their mutual benefit, such as site preservation and maintenance, tow operations, and instruction. All flights conducted by the DFSC are considered instructional flights. Instruction is free, but the club collects membership dues and fees from each member to cover their own specific towing expenses (non-member pilots can fly with us a few times a year as guests of the club without paying membership dues, but club members pay less for tows).

Our field is a private airfield for non-commercial use, not a public flight park for commercial use; therefore, all pilots, students, and visitors must contact us prior to coming out to our field to fly---on each and every visit. We try to be available for flying on most good days, but will be away from the field on occasion, so call before you come. Our season runs from May 1 through October 31. We are available to tow after 10:30 AM six days a week (not on Tuesdays), and on weekends only after Labor Day (when Tracy has to resume his faculty duties for the fall semester at Eastern Michigan University). We conduct tandem instructional flights in the evening, in conditions that are appropriate for students.

Everyone who flies with us must be a DFSC club member or guest member, a member of USHGA, sign our club waiver, and follow all club rules and procedures. We are very safety and instruction oriented, and expect pilots to do what we ask of them. Anyone who does not, will be reminded that they are at our home and on our field as our guest, and will be asked to leave. We would hope that pilots understand that there are many complex factors and issues involved in the establishment and operation of a successful aerotow hang gliding club, which mandates that we do things in certain ways. So far, our approach seems to work--we have an excellent safety record, a great group of pilots, a lot of fun, and a good reputation among students, pilots, and FAA officials who know us.

In spite of the cost and effort (on top of our regular professions) that it has taken for us to create and maintain the field and buildings, equipment, and club operations for the club, we support the club and its members because we love hang gliding and flying. We have had good success in bringing new pilots into the sport and we have helped to improve the flying skills of our club members.

Now that we have settled our township-related problems, we can be more open about our club's flying activities. We are hoping that more pilots will come to learn and fly with us in 2003, and we are very much looking forward to hosting the Dragonfly Cup this year.

Instruction and continuous improvement of flying skills and safety are the prime directives of our club. We take that very seriously. Accidents and injuries are not fun-safe flying is more fun for everybody. We will continue to focus on helping all of our club pilots improve their flying skills throughout the year, and we think that the Dragonfly Cup is a great way to help make that happen.

We are looking forward to having a great flying season ahead. Come fly with us, and enter the Dragonfly Cup - you've got a good chance at winning big!

For more information about the DFSC and the 2003 Dragonfly Cup, visit our website at http://members.aol.com/DFSCinc, email us at <DFSCinc@aol.com>, or call us at 517.223.8683. Fly safe, Lisa and Tracy.

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The USHGA on marketing hang gliding

Sat, Apr 26 2003, 1:00:04 pm EDT

aerotow|Dan Nelson|environment|equipment|FAA|Jayne DePanfilis|magazine|Oz Report|picture|power|PPG|school|sport|Sport Pilot|students|tandem|USHGA|Wills Wing

Jayne DePanfilis <jayne@ushga.org> writes:

Thank you for the wonderful suggestions regarding marketing you made in the recent “Oz Report.” The USHGA staff thinks along the same lines as you, believe it or not. During my 12 years in the industry, before I joined the USHGA, I managed the single largest marketing budgets for hang gliding in the industry. I learned a great deal from these experiences, including the fact that we must conduct effective marketing on the regional level. Schools must be marketing in their own back yards. The marketing plan must be a long term one. We won't really have an effective national marketing medium or venue until we have a way of connecting national campaigns with schools in specific regions. We don't have a way to translate national exposure into more students and tandems at the school level or regional level. We need this mechanism.

I've also learned that there is no effective substitute for public relations. None of us have a large enough marketing budget that would enable us to wage an effective national campaign the way we are organized now. I am not disheartened, though. I don't have a gloom and doom view of these things. I've just become more realistic over time.

The strategy that I proposed to the USHGA board was to facilitate the development of more aerotow flight parks around the country. These aerotow flight parks might conduct towed hang gliding, towed paragliding, and PPG operations. Imagine what it would mean to Wills Wing or to the other manufacturers and schools if we were able to open a new school that taught and certified 100 new h2s and P2s this year. In my opinion, this is the way to grow the sport. We don't have schools strategically located throughout the country. Imagine 100 new pilots spending money in our industry and living the flying lifestyle.

I completely agree that we should be marketing our sports to these “niche” markets. Indeed, we are talking about reaching out to compatible markets and not just to the “world at large.” No doubt that no one has enough resources to reach out to the world at large.

Hang gliding and paragliding could benefit from a major motion picture like skydiving did. Our sports would benefit if a very well known personality went flying and learned. The media would have to be interested in covering the story or experience. It wasn't long ago that I watched a famous female actress talk about her hang gliding experiences in Rio on a popular late night talk show and the host didn't ask her a single question about hang gliding. He simply wasn't interested.

Dan Nelson, the USHGA's Communications Director and Editor, had meetings recently with a well-known magazine publishing company about coverage for free flight in their publications. We are going to be conducting “brand” seminars and focus groups to identify our market position and needs. We conducted the first one at the recent board meeting. We talked about our sports as lifestyle sports and we spoke of market segments. We had a great time. We plan to attend the largest outdoor retailer trade show in the country this year, Outdoor Retailer. We need to create a unified identity for our chapters. We have about 100 chapters and they could be carrying and exemplifying our message. We need a way to extend our identity through these chapters as logical extensions of the national association and our sports.

I think we should stop and consider for one moment what we would do if suddenly 500 people wanted to learn to hang glide or paraglide, where would they go to do it and how long would it take them to complete a training program? It is not “easy” to learn to hang glide or paraglide. And Paul, you are right, most of the people we know personally don't think like us. Hang gliding and paragliding are “dangerous” sports. We have found ways to significantly improve the way we teach, the equipment, the all-around pilot knowledge and skill, improved written tests and practical tests too. There has never been a better time to be in our sports than today.

The USHGA does not have a marketing budget yet I am working on a new budget now and we are hoping for $8,000 for the first year. The USHGA's budget is tight, very tight: a $4,000 initiative is 0.5 percent of our budget. I've been able to keep expenses down by significantly cutting the overhead in the office and by providing continuous diligent business management but any single line item initiative can be difficult to manage.

This year we are going to incur a significant expense for moving folks around the country to address the Sport Pilot Rule, the FAA's desire to adopt the USHGA's tandem standard as their industry standard, the development of the tandem PPG standard. The USHGA needs to seriously consider changing our articles of incorporation to facilitate our association with power, even aerotowing. Just these initiatives alone will stretch our resources within the USHGA's $950,000 operating budget. I would hate to see our cash flow position erode but it may slip just a bit this year due to the management of these important initiatives.

I agree with most of what I have read on the Oz Report about marketing our sports. Most of it is just good common sense. We have no shortage of great ideas, but we do have a shortage of folks to implement them. As I said, we have no budget for marketing at the USHGA and I hope we can change this. Dan and I are both proven marketers to the outdoor industry. I plan to continue to try to focus on marketing even in light of budgetary and manpower constraints even in light of the challenging regulatory environment we are faced with today. We really need to implement some creative strategies and I think Dan has ideas for some of these strategies. Feel free to send your thought and ideas directly to him at <Dan@ushga.org> or to me at <Jayne@ushga.org>.

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Dragon Fly addons

Sat, Apr 19 2003, 5:00:06 pm EDT

Blue Sky|Dan Morris|Dragonfly|flight park|gear|landing|Oz Report|Raven Sky Sports|tandem

Dan Morris at Blue Sky Fabrication <Dan@BlueSkyFabrication.com> writes:

Blue Sky Fabrication has come up a clever piece with to keep the spring time mud off of the wings on Raven Sky Sports' four Dragonflies. The wheel pants (fenders) have been on since the beginning of the season, and so far they have worked great. There is no flutter, buzz, or vibration, and no tendency to rotate out of position. They come in a variety of colors and are a five minute install, requiring no drilling or modifications to the landing gear. We will be offering complete kits in the future and the approximate price will be $150 plus s/h.

Another new product being tested is a 'standardized' exhaust system, specifically engineered for Dragonflys equipped with the Rotax 912/912S engines. We've designed an exhaust system that has two interchangeable pipes. In other words, the pipes for cylinders 1 and 4 are identical, as are cylinders 2 and 3. This means a flight park operator can stock just two spare pipes in the event that a pipe gets damaged or cracked. This would allow them to swap out any one of four possible pipes in the field in just a few minutes. This exhaust system was engineered specifically for the "B" model Dragonfly and uses a standard Rotax muffler which is mounted under the engine.

Blue Sky Fabrication has produced a variety products for Raven Sky Sports and other flight parks, including custom launch carts for aerotowing, custom radiator installations for Raven's Dragonflys, and the Tandem Landing Gear for hang gliders that were featured in Oz Report Volume 5 #119.

Anyone interested can visit www.blueskyfabrication.com for more info.

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Chad

Sat, Apr 12 2003, 6:00:03 pm GMT

aerotow|cart|Chad Elchin|donations|Douglas Henderson|Dragonfly|flight park|G.W. Meadows|Gary Collier|helmet|Jayne DePanfilis|job|John Harris|Kitty Hawk Kites|National Geographic|Oz Report|PG|Quest Air|record|Russell "Russ" Brown|sport|Steve Kroop|students|tandem|tow

Gary R. Collier <grincloudbase@yahoo.com> writes:

4- 5 years ago I was at Quest Air learning to aerotow, Chad was there learning to tow so that he could open his own flight park, As I remember I was the first pilot that Chad towed up. I was not ready on the cart quite yet, and then all of a sudden Chad took off, I yelled back to Russell Brown and Steve Kroop. Well, I Guess I am ready NOW. I can hear their laughter even now.

It turned out to be a great tow. He was smooth and slow, and took me to a thermal. Chad was always good to me, and was happy when I had a good flight. I talked to him on the phone just 5 days ago about a helmet I ordered from him, and told him that I want to come back East and fly at his Flight Park some day. I really did want to fly with him.

Douglas Henderson <eagle220132@yahoo.com> writes:

Thanks for reporting. Everyone in our area cherished Chad. He was a wonderful pilot, person and mentor to many.

Jayne DePanfilis <jayne@ushga.org> writes:

I worked with Chad Elchin for about 5 years while I was the Director of Marketing at Kitty Hawk Kites. He was an Advanced Hang Gliding Instructor on the training hills/sand dunes at Jockey's Ridge State Park, he was an ATP, and a Tandem Instructor too. He eventually managed the aerotow program too. He was so dedicated to his job and to his students that he decided to move away from the beach to a trailer park on the mainland just across the street from the Currituck County Airport where aerotow operations were conducted.

As has been reported, Chad broke the hang gliding loop record last year with 95 consecutive loops in a hang glider. His best friend, Sunny, towed him up for the record attempt. Chad was supposed to try to break his own loop record again this year during the Hang Gliding Spectacular at Kitty Hawk Kites in May.

Most of the instructors at Kitty Hawk Kites would look the other way when they saw me walking down the hall at Kites because they knew that I usually needed their help with a marketing project. I was always asking the instructors to set up a hang glider and distribute brochures somewhere on the Outer Banks. Chad always obliged. He was kind and soft spoken. Chad participated in my hang gliding training, we flew together many times, we flew together for National Geographic and other public relations events and we flew together just for fun. Chad flew with me when he knew I wasn't confident enough to fly by myself even though I was a well trained pilot. He never wanted me to get too far away from "that flying feeling."

Many other hang glider pilots commented that "Chad was a natural hang glider pilot", he was a natural aviator, and he was. Chad was in his early 30's and he was co-owner of Highland Aerosports Aerotow Hang Gliding Flight Park, Ridgley, MD.

My deepest heartfelt sympathies go out to Sunny/Paul Venesky, his business partner and closest friend, his brother Adam, who is also a hang glider pilot and to the rest of his family as well. In fact, KHK employed Chad and Adam as hang gliding instructors at the same time that their sister managed the kayak ecotour program. I will miss Chad very much.

I would also like to share John Harris' comments about Chad with Oz Report readers. I don’t think John will mind. John's hang gliding program at Kitty Hawk Kites has cultivated really good hang glider pilots and really good instructors, too many to count. I've always felt a part of the Kitty Hawk Kites family and for those of you who have shared in this experience, you know what I mean -- or you have flying related families of your own. We have lost one of our own today…

John Harris of Kitty Hawk Kites writes:

"Jayne, Well said. Chad was a solid individual. He always took great care of his students and could always be counted on. He and Sunny have done a great job growing the sport in Md., producing many solid pilots. What a loss-of a friend and to hang gliding. He will be missed by all of us at Kitty Hawk and the many people he touched."

G W MEADOWS <gw@justfly.com> writes:

I wanted to take a moment and share with your readers what a great community of people hang glider pilots are.

Since yesterday's Oz Report went out - approximately $1000 of donations has come in - to support Highland Aerosports. Truly, we are among the greatest group of people on the planet.

I often explain to folks that if you put all the hang glider pilots in the whole world into a professional football stadium, it wouldn't even fill it half way. That's a little scary. The flip side of that is that it would be the coolest group of folks ever assembled.

Thanks to all of you who have donated so quickly. Also, others, please consider a donation.

I'd like to share with you some of the comments from some of the donors and wellwishers. I'll leave their names off because I didn't ask permission to reprint.

I just received notification of a $1000 donation. I wasn't given permission to give out the name of the donor, but I would like to just let the hg public know the status of what's going on with this fund.

Please donate what you can to:

The Chad Elchin Fund

This paypal account: <chadfund@justfly.com>

or

By Mail: Chad Elchin Fund attn: June Livesay BB&T {Branch Bank and Trust) North Croatan Highway Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina 27948

100% of the money raised here will go to paying the bills directly associated with this flight park. Please donate what you can.

----------

Thanks for reaching out to the pilot community and letting us know about this tragedy and how we can help.

As a father of 2 small kids, I think about the potential consequences of our sport often. HG & PG is such a part of who I am that NOT flying is not an option. May God watch over all of us as we fly. My deepest sympathy for Chad's family and all those who were touched by his life.

----------

I'm unemployed so don't have much money but I do own a Dragonfly and appreciate what you are doing for his family and business. God Bless

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

I know money cannot replace a friend, but I hope that this little bit that I can do will give you the time you need to grieve the loss we all experienced today. If there is anything else anyone can do to help, just ask, we will all come together and be there for you as you have been there for us. With deepest sympathies

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

Under the best of circumstances, we seldom get to hang around this planet as long as we want. Some of us leave way too soon. Chad sounded like the kind of friend that should of hung around, perhaps for "one more loop…"

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

GW, thanks for having the presence of mind to get this fund going so quickly. We can't ease the pain of losing Chad, but maybe we can mitigate the financial hit on Sunny, Adam, and the rest of the guys.

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

I recently was injured and I am financially strapped at this time, but as soon as I am able, I will send you all that I can to help Chad's family and Sunny. As soon as I get the OK to drive and fly again, I would also offer my services to Sunny as a Tandem Instructor.

Discuss "Chad" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Chad Elchin »

Fri, Apr 11 2003, 12:00:04 pm EDT

accident|aerotow|Chad Elchin|Dragonfly|fatality|flight park|Highland Aerosports Flight Park|instruction|record|school|sport|tandem|tow|towing|ultralite|USHGA|world record

https://OzReport.com/Ozv5n135.htm

G W Meadows «gw» writes:

I would like to take a moment to introduce you to a great person who died today. Chad Elchin started hang gliding at Kitty Hawk Kites about 12 years ago. He was originally from Pennsylvania. During his time at Kitty Hawk Kites, Chad became quite the hang glider pilot. He could often be seen out soaring the dunes or towing up from the flight park. During his tenure there, Chad achieved his instructor rating as well as his tandem instructor rating and managed the flight park for a year.

It was at KHK, that Chad met Sunny, another tandem instructor and fellow Pennsylvanian. The two of them together, decided to start a flight park. After much searching for the right location, they settled outside of Baltimore - on the 'eastern shore' of Maryland. Ridgely Maryland became the home for "Highland Aerosports". This was about 5 years ago.

Since starting the business and living on a 'shoestring' due to the nature of hang gliding schools in general, the guys grew the business until they had two Draggonfly's and had just purchased a FlightStar for 'side by side' ultralight instruction. These guys tried very hard to reinvest into the hang gliding community every way they could. They produced dozens of hang glider pilots and supplied not only product but friendship to the pilots in the area.

At this moment, Sunny must truly be wondering how he can go on without his partner. I can tell you that running a hang gliding business is a 'high wire act' of cash flow management.

It is for this reason, that I have opened a 'Chad Elchin Fund' for the hang gliding community to donate to this much needed flight park. Today, a great guy passed. Chad was a fellow who you could always depend on to be there for you. No questions asked - you needed him - he was there for you. During his accident, a $40,000 tow plane - specifically purchased for towing up tandem instructional flights was destroyed, so now not only has a major partner in the business died, but also one of the most important tools of the trade has also been rendered unusable.

We have way too few people teaching hang gliding as it is in the U.S. I am asking that we rally around Highland Aerosports and Sunny, Adam (Chad's brother) as well as the other people who have dedicated their recent lives to show the masses the beauty of our sport.

Sunny does not know that I have decided to do this and he is not asking for money. I am just intimately familiar with this (and other) hang gliding schools and I know that catastrophes like this can put them under. We need this hang gliding school to survive.

Please donate what you can to:

The Chad Elchin Fund

This paypal account: «chadfund» or

By Mail: Chad Elchin Fund attn: June Livesay BB&T (Branch Bank and Trust) North Croatan Highway Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina 27948

100% of the money raised here will go to paying the bills directly associated with this flight park. Please donate what you can.

We have lost a truly great person today.

Chad Elchin has been teaching for 10 years. He holds USHGA Advanced Pilot, Advanced Instructor & Tandem Instructor ratings along with the United States Ultralight Association Basic Flight Instructor rating. Chad is also a Tandem Administrator and Aerotow administrator for the USHGA. He has taught over 3,000 tandem lessons and towed more than 5,000 gliders in the Dragonfly. Chad is the world record holder for consecutive loops in a hang glider - 95 loops from 16,000 feet!

(editor's note: By passing the hat we raised $2,400 here at the meet.)

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Put flight parks on the sectionals?

Mon, Apr 7 2003, 2:00:05 pm EDT

airspace|altitude|EAA|FAA|flight park|Florida|general aviation|Geoff May|maps|Miles Fagerlie|Orlando Stephenson|photo|radio|Richard Heckman|safety|sailplane|school|tandem|towing|USHGA

Geoff May <GMay@MarathonOil.com> writes:

A couple of years ago I came out to Florida, visiting the Ranch for a couple of weeks before moving on to one of the flying schools at Kissimmee to train for my pilot license. None of the instructors at the flying school were aware of Wallaby and were certainly unaware of how busy the air above it could be. Indeed, Wallaby's location just clear of the Orlando airspace meant that this region was frequently used by the school aircraft for practicing various maneuvers. I don't recall seeing Wallaby marked on any of the FAA charts I flew with at that time.

It seems ridiculous, maybe reckless, that somewhere as busy as Wallaby is not marked on the FAA air maps and has not been widely publicized among the many flying schools in the area.

Richard Heckman <hekdic@worldnet.att.net> writes:

On the marking of Quest and Wallaby on sectionals, there should still be the procedure to do this through the USHGA. I set it up when I was the interface to the FAA. A request should go first to the Regional Director who would forward it to the National Coordinating Committee. The NCC Chairman, if the request is approved, then forwards it to the relevant FAA Office that handles sectionals. I forget which it is since we set it up in the early '80s. We got a number of busy sites marked back then. The FAA then decided to use the sailplane symbol to mark them rather than use a new symbol.

Bill Berle <auster5@earthlink.net> writes:

You can contact the NOAA, which I believe publishes the sectional charts for general aviation. Although not specifically required, you might get a designation put on the charts a little faster by doing the following (doing their work for them):

Submit an identical "package" to NOAA charts division and the FAA local FSDO office containing;

Well done aerial photo of the flight park, marked with North line and the runway headings, and ID'ing the local streets and highways

A "sample" piece of a current sectional chart marked with the designators you want to have on there. The proper designator for a non-tower grass runway is a plain red outline circle (not solid) with the name, field altitude, runway length, and CTAF or common radio frequency.

The most important part is to have them add their little hang glider icon in a couple of places around this "airport" designator… one right next to the airport and another one at the "house thermal" if there is one.

Also, mark on there in small red type "Caution: Intense Hang Gliding and Air-Towing Activity Within 3 Miles of (airport name) sfc to 5000 msl (or whatever) between 0800 and 1800 local time daily (or whatever)"

If you can follow the pattern and style that is used at other major HG or sailplane fields, and do their work for them, you should get the results much sooner than if you just called the local FAA and asked them to do something.

If you are really in the mood to save lives, you can make up a flyer that has all this information, and post it on the bulletin boards at as many nearby GA airports as possible, next to their airport restaurants, on the door to the rest room, etc. You can also combine this with marketing efforts by offering to have someone make a presentation to local EAA chapters, pilot groups, airpark association meetings, at the local FAA safety seminars, etc etc. Offer a 20 minute or an hour presentation about "hang gliding today", give out a discount coupon for a tandem ride or something, have a "fly-in day" where the local GA airplanes can fly in for a breakfast and spend the day watching the HG operations, etc.

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ATOS VX

Thu, Apr 3 2003, 10:00:02 pm GMT

control frame|cost|Florida|landing|Oz Report|tandem|Vincent "Vince" Endter

Vince Endter <vince@vincenancy.com> writes:

I just got off the phone with Felix. I had called him about something else, but he brought up his new tandem Atos. It has a span of 14 meters (46 feet) and a wing area of 16 sq meters (172 sq feet). The tips are canted up to give more ground clearance on takeoff/landing.

(editor’s note: See the last Oz Report for the pictures.)

There is not much that is interchangeable with the Atos-C. The spar is bigger as are the ribs. The control frame might be the same. He said he took it on a test flight solo and it has a sink rate of only .5 meter/second (100 feet/min). Felix hooks in between 240 and 250 pounds. He probably will not make it to Florida because he wants to finish up the design.

(Editor’s note: I find it hard to believe that this is only a tandem glider. Molds cost $30,000. Hard to recoup your costs on the mold with tandem glider sales.)

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Hang gliding tandem passenger death

Mon, Mar 31 2003, 7:00:06 pm GMT

Eleni Zeri|fatality|Steve Parson|tandem

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3301362&thesection=news&thesubsection=general

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Wills Wing Talon 150 »

Sat, Mar 29 2003, 9:00:04 pm GMT

aerotow|Airborne C2|ballast|cloud|Florida|landing|Lawrence "Pete" Lehmann|Rob Kells|Steven "Steve" Pearson|tandem|towing|trike|tug|Wills Wing Talon 150

www.willswing.com

Too big for me at 195 pounds hook in weight. With no ballast this glider is a handful even in Florida air. Why would anyone want to fly a glider that was flying them? That required that they react to what the glider was doing on its own, rather than control what the glider is up to?

Apparently some people think that is what hang gliding is all about. Get on a real hang glider, that is one that is over powering and then suck it up and fight that glider as you would fight mother nature to control it. Well, let ‘em.

I had flown the WW U2 160 in light conditions and though I thought that it would have been too big, in the light conditions it wasn’t bad. Given that experience I thought I might be able to handle the Talon 150.

On aerotow I found that the pitch pressure at ½ VG was about double that of the U2’s. I couldn’t keep the glider down low enough to keep the tug’s wings on the horizon. I remember that I was having similar problems with the Airborne C2. It was a big glider. See these articles re trike towing the Airborne C2:

https://OzReport.com/Ozv6n237.shtml

https://OzReport.com/Ozv6n238.shtml

https://OzReport.com/Ozv6n239.shtml

Finally, I pin off next to Rob Kells doing a tandem flight and start circling up in broken 100 to 200 fpm with bits of 500 fpm.

The glider is being knocked about and I’m being knocked about with it. I’m not happy. I’m climbing up, but I’m thinking what is the point of this? I’ll go and land.

No. I’ve got to write up a report on the Talon 150, so I’ve got to give it a chance. I’ve been flying single surface and intermediate gliders and here I am on a big topless glider and it’s a handful partly because I’m not use to it. Just relax a bit.

So I do. Things calm down. I let the bar out to where it wants to go with the VG off, far in front my head. I climb out to cloud base. I notice that I can put the VG on and I don’t have to bump the bar around to keep it in the turn like I did on the U2 when the VG was half on. That’s a nice touch.

I also test the bar pressure with various VG settings. It is about double that of the U2 (which, after all, is my benchmark).

I count and find that it takes me eleven pulls on the VG to go from none to full. Rob says it is the difference between the CAM VG on the Talon and the standard VG that pulls back the cross bars on the U2. Steve Pearson says it is also a function of the spectra line used on the U2 which has less resistance going around the pulleys on the U2. By contrast the VG on the U2 was like a flick of the wrist.

As you may recall from my last article on the U2 and its VG, I was surprised by its VG and how I know part of the reason. The Talon VG is the VG as I recall it (see articles above about the Climax). It is quite a haul to go from no VG to lots of VG, and after a while it is too much of a bother. This VG just says to me, I’m too much trouble to deal with.

Sure if you’re a competitor, it is worth it to get every bit of performance and then handling out of your glider. I’ll just bet that most of the time most pilots just pull a little on here and let a little off there. And, wish that the VG would be a simpler matter.

I test the whether the glider spirals in at different VG settings, bank angles and speeds, and it doesn’t. Doesn’t appear to have a turn either. In turns it is steady as she goes, and just push way out on the bar. I was doing only a little bit of high siding now and then.

Still it was stiffer than the U2 in turns and “felt” heavier. A bit of yaw it seemed. (BTW, I spoke with Pete Lehmann who got a new Mylar Talon 150 and he is quite happy that it doesn’t have any of these characteristics, but is so sweet and easy. He wonders if it is the sail cloth.)

The Talon 150 has a great glide and I felt confident when I was five miles away from the Ranch that I’d make it back with out a problem. With the VG full on the bar pressure was a little more than double the U2’s bar pressure at full stuff.

I was concerned about landing the Talon after all my other good landings on the single surface and intermediate gliders. Would they screw up my flare timing? Of course, there was no wind in the landing zone, as there was no wind in the air.

I came in fast got down into the ground effect and whacked it in. No damage to the glider, me, or the nose nappy. The next landing I saw on it was worse.

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Queenstown, NZ »

Sun, Mar 23 2003, 8:00:10 pm GMT

tandem

Tourists go to Queenstown, New Zealand on the south island to do things that they have never done before. It is the adventure capital of the island. This is where you want to have a hang gliding and paragliding tandem operation – where people are willing to spend money on an adventure.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6163-2003Mar21.html

Of course, the whole south island is one big outdoor adventure (mostly in the rain). Instructors really need to think about setting up operations in such special places where people go to have fun. I hear that even with seven paragliding operations in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that they can’t keep up with the demand. A great place for a towing/tandem operation, I’d say.

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Oddities of flight

Thu, Mar 20 2003, 8:00:10 pm GMT

3D|book|Daniel "Dan" Gravage|tandem

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385120532/qid%3D1048136392/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/104-7284017-2658359

Dan Gravage <dang@mcn.net> writes:

Here's another one for the "…or Whatever…" category that readers may find interesting. This from a book published by the AOPA (1974) titled Yesterdays Wings, in a chapter labeled Confusing Control Systems. Properly categorized no doubt!

The craft is described as an early ancestor of the present-day "Rogallo Wing", with a single thickness of cloth. The leading edge mast has a 24' span, held in shape by a cable. To lower the nose, both hands are raised. To raise the nose, the pilot lowered both hands simultaneously. Easy to figure out how roll works from there. A careful eye will note that the main sail attachment at the rear of the keel must be able to shift also. Wouldn't it be fun to see one of these skimming the dunes at Kitty Hawk!

Looking through the pages of this interesting book, I've also noted one thing common to many of our earliest flying buddies: they all wear suits and ties while performing demonstration flights for the public eye. Our tandem glider concessionaires should take note. :-)

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USHGA - Commercial liability insurance »

Tue, Mar 18 2003, 8:00:08 pm GMT

insurance|Quest Air|tandem|USHGA

The USHGA insurance doesn’t cover commercial aviation operations. For example, Quest Air doesn’t have commercial liability insurance. Their approach is it isn’t worth anyone’s time to take them to court.

USHGA insurance has apparently never ever covered commercial hang gliding operations. It does not cover flight instructors. They are exposed and running bare if they don’t have their own liability insurance. Given the price of this kind of commercial liability insurance, it is probably a good thing that they are naked. Otherwise no one could afford to take lessons.

Maybe the liability issue is a major, if not the major, factor restraining the growth of hang gliding. Maybe looking around at all the other issues is irrelevant, if this is the major impediment to growth in the sport.

Many landowners require that pilots flying on their land be covered by liability insurance. Instructors giving tandem flights are not covered. USHGA members flying at the site and who are not engaged in giving lessons (i.e. not engaged in the commercial activity), are covered.

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Learn to fly in Costa Rica

Fri, Feb 7 2003, 6:00:02 pm GMT

Bob McFee|David "Dave" Glover|Dragonfly|tandem

David Glover <david@davidglover.com> writes:

We are flying everyday now. Dragonfly and Aircam are out of customs after much finagling by New England Aerosports owner and visionary Jonni Benson.

We are all staying at Bob McFee's beach house. Everyone is surfing (or trying). Jonni is getting tube rides right out front, I am getting worked. The amount of creatures is astounding. We are thermalling with storks, frigates, eagles, pelicans, etc. Lizards of all shapes and colors, one we have named Jesus, who can run across the nice cool pool on its hind legs at the house. A bright red dragonfly visits on the veranda daily. Banana, papaya and coconut trees on the property provide afternoon treats.

The grass strip we are flying off of looks like a Photoshoped tropical postcard. 500 meters from the ocean, mountains behind us, rivers, palm trees, etc. you get the picture you should come down and visit.

The AirCam (Mike Water's Jungle, Volcano, Waterfall Safari tours) got the engines and tail surfaces on today. Jonni has 2 new tandem gliders down here on gear.

The weather is consistent. If someone has a friend who wants to learn and enjoy a Central American vacation at the same time we can guarantee multiple flights a day in the warm climate and cool adventurous nights (we are a few miles from one of the hippiest resort destinations).

We will send some pics soon. We can hook people up with low-budget accommodations. Contact Jonni by telephone from USA dial 011 506 778 8710. Park the snow shovels and come to Costa Rica!

David’s new phone # from USA Call 011 506 778-8710

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1000+ Hang Gliding Pictures - $20

Tue, Oct 23 2001, 5:00:09 pm EDT

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»

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Weaklinks

Mon, Dec 20 1999, 6:00:02 pm EST

aerotow|battery|crash|dolly|job|movie|NASA|nylon|power|powered|record|sailplane|tandem|tow|towing|transport|tug|TV|Wallaby Ranch|weaklink|winch

Mark Stucky, «stucky_mark», writes:

Many months ago I wrote to you with the idea of trying to do some hang glider aerotow testing, the intent of which was to define the actual loads encountered under differing conditions of tugs (low and high power), gliders (beginner, intermediate, and advanced), and pilot weights (single and tandem). Due to the magic of your Straub Report, instant interest was gathered and Malcolm at Wallaby Ranch was quick to call, leaving a message that he would be glad to sponsor the testing.

The brains behind the effort was Jim Murray, a NASA engineer who specializes in flight dynamics and is a true-life "Maguiver" with a reputation of being able to instrument a gnat's knee. Early in the Eclipse (aerotowed F-106) program, in which I was the test pilot, the computer simulation revealed the existence of an oscillatory tension mode in the towrope. The computer predicted something like a 12,000-pound steady-state tension value but overlaid on top of it was a continuous cycling value of several thousand pounds. In some cases this "bungee" mode would grow unstable and eventually exceeding the 24,000-pound weaklink. The level of bungee present was dependent upon the two aircraft, the stability characteristics of the tethered pair, the towrope attachment points, and the towrope itself.

Like the Spectra line used in many hang glider tow operations, the exceptionally strong Vectran towrope we were planning on using had low stretch characteristics. This meant low shock absorption and increased chances of encountering the bungee mode. At the other extreme a nylon towrope would have been too springy and it too could result in dramatic (traumatic?) bungee oscillations. The computer predicted a certain level of stretch would give the best tow characteristics. For our initial flights we planned on adding a 50 foot section of nylon strapping in the middle of the 1000 foot length of the ¾" diameter Vectran rope.

There was some skepticism about the mere existence of this bungee mode. The Germans had towed unconventional aircraft during the war years -- large troop-carrying transport aircraft, even multiple aircraft were towed. They also towed the swept wing Me-103 Komet, the first rocket-powered fighter. Pilots hated towing the Komet and a USAF test pilot who got the lucky straw to tow a captured Komet described the tow as the scariest experience of his life. Even NASA's predecessor, NACA had towed a propeller-less P-51 Mustang in an aborted attempt to compare it's real world L/D to what had been obtained through wind tunnel testing. The steel tow cable broke wrapping around the aircraft, interfering with control, and resulting in a crash.

In all these tests there was never any mention of any bungee mode - did it really exist or was it some computer artifact? The answer was to run the simulation using conventional glider and tow aircraft numbers. The simulation indicated the bungee mode existed in normal everyday towing of sailplanes. Some of the old-time sailplane pilots expressed doubt over the simulation because over their years of towing experience they hadn't noticed any bungee mode. One said, "I've never felt no stinking bungee" (or words to that effect).

So Murray made up a couple of battery powered instrumentation packages, each about the size of a lunch box. We put one in a rented Pawnee tug plane and one in a rented Grob sailplane. The one at the front of the towrope read tow tension (using a solid state metal link at the attach point). The package in the Grob read longitudinal acceleration.

We launched in early morning conditions and the tug looked for level flight in smooth air. We flew at a couple different speeds and tow positions but most of the data was gathered at 55 mph, which was published L/D max for the Grob.

The data showed the bungee mode was very evident and I swear I could feel it. It was always present to a minor extent but was easily excited by turbulence or maneuvering, in which case it took several cycles and perhaps twenty to thirty seconds to reduce it back down to it's normal small oscillations. Probably the greatest excitation of the bungee occurred during the takeoff roll, most likely due to bumps in the dirt runway.

So what about the issue of the bungee mode and its effect on the Eclipse program? We found that as predicted, there was a stable region on low tow where the bungee was minimized and where the F-106 was extremely easy to fly on tow. Outside of that stable region the bungee became more of a factor and the F-106 became more and more of a handful to fly. In fact, in a conventional high tow position it was quite unstable and if I wasn't extremely careful the weak link would fail within several seconds.

Without doing any dedicated tests with hang gliders I can only guess but I think it is reasonable to expect the bungee mode is present in hang glider towing. In fact, I think we've all felt it while platform towing, the surging of tension that occurs when the drum is slowly unwinding at the end of the tow. I attributed the pulsing in tension to the difference in the static and dynamic friction coefficients of the disk brake. While this may partly be true, the cycle itself could be caused by the bungee mode of the towrope.

So what does this mean to hang glider towing and weak links? It means that a weak link that is the perfect value on a spectra towline would be the wrong value on a polypropylene rope. It means a weak link that is perfect on a 150 foot towline could be less-than-perfect on a 200 foot length. It means that a weak link that is perfect on a large-diameter wheeled dolly on a concrete runway could be too weak on a rough runway or a less absorbing dolly. It means a weak link that works with a lightweight tug won't be right for a high-power, high mass tug. It means the towrope attachment point can be critical and the effect may be exacerbated if not in the proper tow position or if flying tandem.

It means that towing may be easier and weak links less prone to breaking if a small amount of shock absorption was added to low-stretch towlines. Perhaps a few feet of nylon rope on the end next to the pilot would be sufficient. I remember the smoothest tow I ever had was on a stationary hydraulic winch in Canada. I attributed the smoothness to the hydraulics but perhaps a contributing factor was the twenty feet of ½" nylon rope that was added to the end of the towline so it would hang down below the inside wingtip during turns on a step tow.

One last point to make is the breaking strength of rope is very dependent on the radius of any knot or bend in it. A weak link that is looped around a metal ring will fail at a higher value than one looped around a narrow loop of nylon.

Obviously, the correct weak link depends on many variables and identifying what works best would take a bit flight research (perhaps just a single day worth of smooth air flights). This did not occur because several things happened since I first wrote to you. First, Jim Murray was shipped off to the east coast to work a temporary assignment on the "Mars Flyer" -- a remote aircraft designed to fly in the atmosphere of Mars on the centennial anniversary of the Wright brothers first flight. Secondly, I decided to leave what on the top surface was my dream job as a NASA research pilot to pursue a job with the airlines. There were many reasons for this decision, not the least of which was NASA's continuing aeronautical budget cuts, emphasis on unpiloted aircraft, and their seemingly inability to get things done.

The NASA administrator's "Faster, Better, Cheaper" mantra has become a joke in the industry, reminding me of Jack Nicholson's presidential proclamation in the movie "Mars Attacks" when, in the midst of mass destruction, he gets on national TV and says something along the lines of, "I know I promised you these three things but hey, two out of three ain't bad." Unfortunately, with NASA's current record the quote would be more along the lines of "hey, none out of three ain't bad."

Until we ever do a real hang glider aerotow research project we can only make semi-educated guesses on the bungee mode and its effect on the towing of hang gliders. The intent of this writing was to point out some of the issues and to apologize for my failure to follow through with the research that I hinted at so long ago. A number of pilots sent emails to me at NASA asking me about the status of the project and encouraging me to pursue it. Unfortunately, when I went to retrieve all of those archived messages in my last week at NASA I found I had already been locked me out of the email system so I can't answer those emails individually.

Someday I may be able to get together with Murray and do the research. In the meantime, if you are ever flying the "friendly skies of United" look for me in the right seat of a Boeing 737 (especially if you are flying any of the west coast "Shuttle" routes).

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Rigid Wing News

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

carbon fiber|cost|Exxtacy|Felix Ruehle|Ghostbuster|news|side wires|site|tandem|towing|USHGA|Wallaby Ranch

AIR, manufacturers of the ATOS, have a new, as yet incomplete, web site:

http:/home.t-online.de/home/felixruehle/index.htm. You can also see ATOS photos athttp:/www.davisstraub.com/ATOS. We hope to add photos of other rigid wings, also.

The latest word on the production schedule for the ATOS is that we won't see the first couple here in the US until April. Hopefully just before the Wallaby Open - April 18th - 24th.

Felix Ruehle will be at the USHGA meeting and show in Knoxville at the end of February to show off the ATOS. There is a possibility that ATOS towing close to the site of the show will be available.

I spoke with GW Meadows (http:/www.justfly.com) today here at Wallaby Ranch. He said that he expects to see the new rigid wing glider from Aeros also available in April. Only a few details are available. It isn't flying yet. 78 pounds. There will be lower side wires to the wings to cut down on the weight. Control surfaces will be activated at the hang point. 39 foot span. 143 square feet. High aspect ratio. Carbon fiber construction with a cross bar. We expect it to come in at a considerably lower cost then other rigid wings, as per the Aeros tradition.

Matthias Betsch at Flight Design (http:/www.fun2fly.com for the US distributor) has announced the Ghostbuster as well as modifications to the Exxtacy for 1999 (should be on the new ones that have arrived lately in the US). We don't know if the Ghostbuster is flying yet. See below for more details.

QuestAir has a tandem/wheeled version of the Exxtacy. Perhaps you can contract with them for conversions.

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