We took a trip to Forbes last weekend to meet the guys at the Forbes Aeroclub.
We were greeted with open arms. The airport is a four an a half minute drive
from town. The guys really want to help us make this event work.
We stepped out the launch area which they will grade for us soon so that the
native grasses can grow before the summer. They will be clearing out a hanger
(pictured far left) so Bill can house the six tugs during the meet.
We will be able utilize the clubhouse for task setting. And they will loan us
the four wheelers for dolly retrieve. The meeting with the guys left us really
excited.
The weather was awesome; it was a relief to get out of rainy Sydney. Mid winter
and the cu's were popping by eleven am!
We met with the new owner of the 'Van' and he was happy for us to use the
function room as our headquarters once again. The pub has been renovated and
looks and feels great. They still have accommodation upstairs for A$20 per night
per person twin. Email: <info>
We visited Neil at the Apex Caravan park, and were given the royal tour. He has
not only camping (Powered site $22/night for 2 people) but ensuite villas
(A$90/night for 2 people) and Ensuite cabins (A$75/night for 2 people)
www.touristpark.com.au
Motel accommodation is around A$79 per night for a double, 3 to 3 1/2 star. The
motels we visited were the Lake Forbes Motel Email:
<enquiry>
Plainsman <comforbes>
And to the north of town, the Town and Country right next to the golf course
www.thriftymotels.com.au All
the accommodation options can be viewed at
www.forbes.nsw.gov.au. Everything is
coming together nicely. See you there!
I use personally and deal for the MotoComm folks. Their FG series
PTT switches work very well and were specifically designed with hang glider and
paraglider pilots in mind. You can get them with the correct plug (and resistor)
for most any brand of radio They still send them with a few more cords than
actually needed, however, better to have it and not need it than to need it and
not have it.
The company responds very well to pilot input. They changed the length of the
PTT switch wire at our request so that you can plug it up at the helmet. They
also changed to the smaller switch which is a great deal smaller than the
motorcycle switch they used to ship with.
Very good product for the price. $59.95 plus shipping. I highly recommend it.
Great bang for the buck.
Contact Lisa Kain at <questAir>
to order units that come with the special smaller button (this is the big button
- https://www.rflimited.com/images/ProductPDF/mc-ptt.jpg) that is much more
useful for hang glider pilots. She will respond promptly as always.
There is also a version that uses the single plug of the newer Yaesu radios so
you don't need the single to dual prong adapter. Lisa knows about this.
I have had great luck with the Motocomm units also and have all my spares that I
bought assuming that they would fail at the same rate as previous PTT units.
Type of record : Swift speed over a triangular course of 25 km
Course/location : Zapata, TX (USA)
Performance : 59.33 km/h
Pilot : Armand ACCHIONE (USA)
Hang Glider : Aeriane Swift Light
Date: 21.07.2006
Current record : 50.40 km/h (20.05.2001 - Davis STRAUB, USA)
Type of record : Paraglider out-and-return distance
Course/location : Sorica (Slovenia)
Performance : 228 km
Pilot : Alessandro PERUZZI (Italy)
Paraglider : Gradient Avax RSE
Date: 20.07.2006
Current record : 213.8 km (12.06.2003 - Primoz SUSA, Slovenia)
Awaiting files : 227.9 km (19.07.2006 - Gasper PERVC, Slovenia)
240 km (20.07.2006 - Marko NOVAK, Slovenia)
Simultaneous records : Only the best performance will be awarded the new
record. (FAI Sporting Code, General Section, 6.6)
Type of record : Paraglider sSpeed over an out-and-return course of 200 km
Course/location : Sorica (Slovenia)
Performance : 31.79 km/h
Pilot : Alessandro PERUZZI (Italy)
Paraglider : Gradient Avax RSE
Date: 20.07.2006
Current record : 28.8 km/h (12.06.2003 - Primoz SUSA, Slovenia)
Awaiting file : 34.07 km/h (20.07.2006 - Marko NOVAK, Slovenia)
Type of record : Paraglider speed over an out-and-return course of 200 km
Course/location : Soriska Planina (Slovenia)
Performance : 34.07 km/h
Pilot : Marko NOVAK (Slovenia)
Paraglider : Gradient Avax RSF
Date: 20.07.2006
Current record : 28.8 km/h (12.06.2003 - Primoz SUSA, Slovenia)
Awaiting file : 31.79 km/h (20.07.2006 - Alessandro PERUZZI, Italy)
Type of record : Paraglider speed over a triangular course of 50 km
Course/location : St Hilaire du Touvet (France)
Performance : 36.07 km/h
Pilot : Charles CAZAUX (France)
Paraglider : Gin Gliders Boomerang 4
Date: 26.07.2006
Current record : 24.1 km/h (26.05.2006 - Primoz SUSA, Slovenia)
Just a quick reminder that the National Fly In start on Friday,
down in Leakey, TX. This year in addition to superb weather, excellent towing
from Quest Air, and tons of fun, we'll be playing a few new games.
Waypoint Tag! Don't just blunder downwind on that great XC, collect waypoints to
earn big points and cold hard cash. Many thanks to David Wheeler and
Tiger Tag for the idea and
technical support of this comp.
Bird Brain! Can you really fly or is it just those great instruments from
Flytec? This competitions will show off those pilots that really know how to fly
- like a bird - unaided by any instrumentation. Last one down wins!
What would a Fly In be without a Spot Landing? This year we'll catch you on film
to jugde not only accuracy, but that ever important style as well.
We have just implemented the Oz Report feed. You'll find it at
www.paragliding365.com. One of
the German magazines already joined the "news from the paragliding and hang
gliding scene" and so did www.entfolgend.de
as you can see on the feed. The Favicon is directly linked to the Oz Report
homepage and within the article there is a link to
OzReport.com to full coverage.
Spanish encampment has well started with the indicated flight. It
is 398 km in a non FAI triangle or 383km Out and return or 405km in 3point
circuit. Unfortunately the day has started to finish at 19:00 which his unusual
in Spain.
Ever since the legendary European Championship in 92, Vaga has
kept the reputation of a very special flying site. The 2006 version of Vaga Open
was no exception. The Nordic and the Norwegian championship and the
International competition Vaga Open 2006 was held last week and the weather and
the Norwegian nature showed itself from its best side.
We managed to have 6 out of 8 competition days. Tasks were between 57 – 92 km.
The average speed on the winners was around 50 -60 kph, very fast for Norway.
Olav Opsanger is the winner of the Nordic and the Norwegian championship. He won
all the tasks during the competition. Olav was very satisfied with his victory
since he has been in 3rd place the four last years in the Norwegian
championship. Bjorn Joacimsen took second and was the biggest element of
surprise this year. He have only been flying for five years and have a little
more than 125 hours in the air in total. Jon Gjerde came third and Nils Aage
Henden on fourth place.
This year we also had a free flyers “spot landing and pylon” competition with 15
participants. The winner was Terje Solberg.
There was also a photo competition and the winner picture was taken by Kjell
Keogh You can see the picture
here. Other pictures are available
here.
In total there where around 100 pilots in the area during the competition. The
Vaga Open 2006 committee welcomes everyone who where there and wishes also other
pilots welcome next year!
A favorite pilot dies in his sleep.
(Ellenville flight park)
Paul Voight writes:
Ellenville N.Y. pilot Scott Jewell passed away in his sleep on
Monday morning, 7/24/06, at age 42. The cause of death is still a mystery after
an initial autopsy was performed. He just didn't wake up. He was in a hotel up
in the Adirondacks with a flying buddy on their way to Canada to do some flying.
Scott was the Ellenville site's "Peter Pan".... a guy who lived to fly, never
grew up.... and who would help anyone, anytime with anything. He was an
instructor who graduated many pilots off of Ellenville. He will be missed by
all. A service is being held at 1:00 on Saturday 7/29/06 at WM R Chase Funeral
Home. More
here.
Frode Halse, nick named Nimbus, has once again tested his oxygen
limits as he was sucked up by a nimbus over Vågå Wednesday July, 26th, 2006.
Apparently he was skimming in the outskirt of a nimbus when he lost control and
ended up in the strongest lift. Frode then rocketed up with max climb of 19,1
m/s (3,760 fpm) with a sixty second averager, peeking at 23,5 m/s (4,540
feet/min) reaching a maximum altitude of 6098 masl (20,000 feet). All recorded
by his Competino instrument.
Starting to black out he was kicked out of the nimbus and could start gliding
away totally covered by ice, which melted as he glided down into a more
hospitable part of the atmosphere. He then glided out his altitude and landed
soaking wet, and presumably very relived, some 40 km away from the nimbus.
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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.
