What's this rumor I hear (nothing official, of course). I hear that there might
be a two teams per country (six members each) limit for the pre-Worlds. I hear
that registration will open at noon East Coast Standard Time on March 15th. That
the pre-Worlds will be held August 6th through 12th, just a rumor.
Who knows how the pre-Worlds and the Big Spring Open will be held together. The
USHGA Competition Committee has already sanctioned a Big Spring Open, with Class
5 (launching first), flex wing class, next, the Sport and Single Surface
Nationals, launching after the flex wings. This will all be taking place at the
Big Spring airport in Big Spring, Texas.
If you are a top pilot you might want to sign up right at noon. US pilots should
also sign up right away.
Get free wireless internet access. We had Bonnie put in wireless internet for
the pilots a few years ago and finally she figured out that it needed to be
included in the price of the room or hookup. Free breakfast. Stay in a cabin:
http://www.txrvpark.com/lodging.html or classic trailer. Of course, we will
be in our own trailer.
The RV Park is located on the back streets away from the freeway (but near
highway 87, unfortunately) and it is easy to get to the airport from the park.
We've stayed here every time we come to Big Spring. We're here now (Friday
night.)
Nice indoor pool, filtered water, showers and laundry. Many pilots have stayed
here, camping in tents also.
I just got back from Florida for the first ever USHGA supported
scooter tow clinic. Though the first three days were blown out and the last two
hit low temperatures in the 20's it was still a success. The weather on the last
day was perfect to simulate a students first day using Steve's methods.
With no wind and blue skies we started out towing the Wills Wing Condor 330. It
was amazing to have enough control with the 50cc scooter to keep the pilot in a
"moon walk" for 500 feet. The next tow was 3 feet off the ground for 500 feet
and so on. We all took turns towing each other until things heated up and got
too switchy.
I really liked how the system builds confidence in small safe steps. Since the
tow starts out with 1000' of line in front of the student lock out is not a
possibility as pressures are low and angles are shallow. Also towing in the
horizontal plane requires a nose high attitude which puts a student in the
perfect position for a wheel landing should they get out of shape or wander off
course. Just ease off the throttle and put them down on the ground with out the
typical concern for the student or your gear.
I hope that all instructors are exposed to this training technique as it is safe
and reliable and a perfect compliment to traditional methods of teaching . The
experience has reenergize my program and changed the way I teach hang gliding
forever.
Unfortunately the first clinic was only half full as I suspect many instructors
were faced with the same challenges that almost kept me from attending. First
Florida isn't the most central or convenient location in the US and air fare is
expensive. Add in a rental car for the hour long trip from the airport, lodging,
and lost time at work and you can see why only the most enthusiastic instructors
are willing to make the effort.
Fortunately for me I belong to a great local club who sees the value in
supporting its instructors and the future of hang gliding. So I would like to
say thank you to all the members of Cloud Base Country Club in Washington State
for funding my air fare and for your support. I would also like to thank USHGA
for taking steps toward our goal of sustainability and hope that we can find
ways to make this program even more accessible to all instructors.
Thanks to Steve Wendt and Quest Air for hosting the clinic and thanks to Davis Straub for helping to get this process started.
Click above for a bigger version of Lisa Coletti being towed by Matt Taber.
Five rounds out of seven thus far with one more day still to go. Good conditions and some excellent flying. Nikolay SHORKHOV is heading for $3000 first prize. He has a good lead that could be lost on the last day.
The Flytec Meet is over subscribed. Steve Kroop writes:
Bo had an idea to get more pilots to sign up for the Nat’s. We
would add five spots to the Flytec meet that would be awarded to the top five
finishers that do not already have a spot in the Flytec meet. The five spots are
space only they would still have to pay fees.
This would give incentive to pilots further down our waiting list reason to sign
up for the Nats. The beauty is that they will have a reasonable chance since
they are not competing against the Brett's and Oleg's (because they are already
in the Flytec meet).
Pilots already on the waiting list can still get a spot in the meantime via
normal competitor drop-out.
Here's a link to some pictures of coastal flying south of Adelaide
taken last weekend. Http://members.ozemail.com.au/~pbolt/public_html/. The first take off
was from Cape Jervis - opposite Kangaroo Island. (My flight was about 15km of a
total approx 25km -normally only soarable in (Oz) winter).
Apart from cliffs, the views take in wind turbines and a ~1.5km water crossing
past the end of a long jetty at 'Rapid Bay'.
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Gerry makes the Oz Report portal much smarter. He is a web consultant and a PHP expert. He's the brains behind the Oz Report, so contact him for PHP programming services. David Glover heads up the Oz Report Radio
The Oz Report, a near-daily, world wide hang gliding news ezine, with reports on competitions, pilot rankings, political issues, fly-ins, the latest technology, ultralight sailplanes, reader feedback and anything else from within the global HG community worthy of coverage. Hang gliding, paragliding, hang gliders, paragliders, aerotowing, hang glide, paraglide, platform towing, competitions, fly-ins. Hang gliding and paragliding news from around the world, by Davis Straub.
US Nationals - signing bonus
