Oz Report

Tin Cup

(This topic is in: <-- Apr.7 Apr.4 Apr.3 Apr.2 Mar.22'07 Mar.21'07 -> )

An initial spurt of subscribers (LA, CA, USA)

And then it trails off.  There are over 1,500 Oz Report readers that get the Oz Report delivered to them in their email.  There are many people who download/view issues of the Oz Report on the Oz Report web site.  There are more who just look at individual articles on the web site now that Scare has made it so easy to do.

So why do only a very small minority of these readers support the Oz Report through purchasing an annual subscription?  I'm sure that there are folks at NPR that understand this behavior and how to counteract it.  I don't have access to that information.

Shouldn't you pay for something that you find useful and that takes effort and resources to publish?  We only ask for a pittance.  I mean, what is twenty dollars these days?

Please, help us out.  Support something that you find useful so that it can continue to be there for you.

You can send $20 or more for a yearly subscription/donation.  To pay for your subscription with your credit card or PayPal account:

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Davis Straub (Not to the Oz Report)
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Come over to the Oz Report support web page and sign up to support us: http://ozreport.com/support.php.  Or click here:

Discuss Tin Cup at the Oz Report forum   link»

Cloud Flying in Competition

Using appropriate penalties so that they are actually applied (Big Spring, Texas)

http://ozreport.com/12.045#1

The current CIVL Section 7A Sporting Code (http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/documents/sc7):

2.  17.8 Cloud flying

Cloud flying is prohibited and gliders may not carry gyroscopic instruments or other equipment permitting flight without visual reference to the ground.  The organisers may include special instruments by type or name under this prohibition.  Proven cases of cloud flying will result in a penalty being applied; this will be a zero score for the day of the first offence and exclusion from the remainder of the competition for any subsequent offence.

The recent CIVL Plenary votes to leave this section unchanged.

The local rules for the 2007 World Championships in Big Spring, Texas (http://ozreport.com/bigspring2007afterCIVL.php):

FAR 103 and Cloud flying

FAR 103 (U.S.  Airspace Law/ Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Rule violations).

All competitors are required to comply with FAR 103 at all times.  A copy of FAR 103 can be provided to all competitors.  Any verified infraction will result in a penalty (see below) for the associated day or possible ejection from the contest. 
Pilots are expected to familiarize themselves with all controlled airspaces in the vicinity of course lines (maps will be provided).

It is illegal and un-sportsmanlike for competitors to fly into clouds.  Competitors who fly into clouds will incur a penalty for the day.  A competitor is deemed to have flown into a cloud if he/she is observed by a meet official or videotaped going into and disappearing into a cloud, or videotaped appearing out of a cloud, or: If two witnesses from two different countries near the accused witness the accused going up into the cloud and completely disappearing from their view, and attest to this fact in writing and if barograph or 3D GPS traces from the accused and a witness show the accused above the witness at the time of the incident.

If the accused cannot produce a barograph trace for that day or a 3D GPS track log from their 3D GPS, only two witness statements are required.  It is highly recommended for all competitors to fly with a recording barograph and they must fly with a 3D GPS at all times.

It is recommended that a pilot sucked into cloud who did not have the intention of gaining an advantage should perform a figure 8 maneuver once out of the cloud so that other pilots could see it had not been intended.

Witnesses should press Mark/Enter when they witness a pilot going into a cloud.  Any pilot found to be deliberately supplying false information about another pilot with respect to cloud flying will be removed from the competition.

The penalty - the offending pilot shall receive a 10% reduction in their score for the first infraction, 30% reduction for a second, and then a zero daily score for any further infractions.

Notice the vast difference in penalties provided for between the CIVL rule and the local regulations.  The point of the local regulations was that we wanted to make sure that the penalty was in fact applied.  We felt that if the penalty was too draconian the penalty would never be applied and pilots would not turn in any one for cloud flying.

Discuss Cloud Flying at the Oz Report forum   link»

TTT Mayhem Mini Meet

Mixing things up in the Sequatchie valley (Henson s Gap ramp, TN)

oliver gregory <olliettt1955> writes:

Hello Tree Toppers and flying friends, TTT is hosting a low key cross country meet and Fly In for the weekend of Memorial Day.  Registration will take place at Friday at 6PM on 5/23 and continue on the morning of 5/24.  The meet will run from 5/24 thru 5/26.

This will be a low cost meet with Team Challenge like handicapped tasks.  We'll also have fun spot landing and drop streamer bomb drop contests.  The gliders and pilots will be handicapped in the same format as the Team Challenge so everyone has a shot at winning!  We'll have prizes for the winners.  To enter the cross country contest, you must be a current TTT and USHPA member with a Hang 3 level rating.  Hang 2 Tree Toppers may participate in the bomb drop and spot landing contests.

The cost of the cross country contest will be $25.  The bomb drop and spot landing contests will cost $10 to enter.  Pilots may participate in all three contests.  We'll give every pilot who enters the bomb drop contest a personalized Arkansas Drop Streamer made by a real Arkansan, ME!  We still need a few more volunteers to help out, but the volunteers can certainly fly in the meet.  Volunteers should contact me at <olliettt1955>.

Here's how it will work.  We have online preregistration up on the www.tennesseetreetoppers.org site, so get on the list.  Just go to the website, click on the link for Mayhem and sign up.  The tasks will all be called to equalize the challenges for every skill level and glider performance with emphasis on fun and learning.  We may have an open distance Saturday or Sunday if conditions are favorable, but expect most or all of the tasks to keep contestants in the Sequatchie Valley with the goal being the TTT LZ's.  Low pressure and fun is what you should expect.  This will be a good warm up for those interested in the Team Challenge this fall.

The Tree Toppers will have a nice dinner on the Saturday before Memorial Day.  We'll have a covered plate dinner provided by the local TTT supporters and anyone who can help with a dish.  With the Mayhem Mini Meet, we'll get to work up hearty appetites!

There will be other fun things to do for pilots and friends too.  One will be the Calcutta Auction of Pilots for the XC contest with winning "owners" receiving valuable prizes.  All proceeds will go toward the TTT's many projects including the Revamp the Ramp Project and the Landing Field Fund.  It's gonna be a blast!  I might be flying in it!!!!

Stay tuned to the Oz Report for updates and check out our website at www.tennesseetreetoppers.org for even more info on treetopper events like Team Challenge 2008.

Discuss TTT at the Oz Report forum   link»

On-line US sectionals

Easy to access

http://skyvector.com

thanks to Doug DuBois at http://questiongravity.com.

Discuss Sectionals at the Oz Report forum   link»

Retail Glider Prices

The manufacturer really can't dictate prices. (Wills Wing Factory, California)

Mike Meier <Mike> writes:

You wrote (http://ozreport.com/12.64#1) :

A recent US Supreme court ruling gives manufacturers the power to set and enforce their list prices at the dealership level if they so desire.

To the best of my knowledge and understanding, the effect of this decision on US law regarding manufacturer control of retail selling price is quite limited.  In the past any discussion of retail pricing was automatically assumed to be an act of restraint of free trade, and therefore illegal, with substantial penalties and aggressive prosecution sure to follow.  The one specific exception was that if a manufacturer had a program of sponsoring advertising for its retail dealers, it could then require that the dealers not advertise a price below a certain minimum advertised price, or it could withdraw the advertising sponsorship.  The manufacturer could still not control the actual selling price, only the advertised price.

Under the recent decision of the court, it is now the case that each act of a manufacturer that relates to retail selling price will be looked at on a case by case basis, instead of being automatically assumed to violate the law.  However, if it is found that manufacturer policies result in higher consumer retail prices than the market would otherwise determine, then those manufacturer policies will be illegal.  It is still a cornerstone of the law that nothing shall stand in the way of the consumer benefitting from the lowest price the market will allow for, as I understand the law.

For the record, all of Wills Wing's policies regarding dealer interaction with their customers are based on safety and not on selling price.  We require that a customer take delivery personally from the dealer on any product that requires any knowledge or expertise to use safely, and that the dealer ensure that the customer has that knowledge and expertise prior to delivering the product.  We do not make any effort to set or control the retail selling price of any of our products.

Discuss Retail at the Oz Report forum   link»

Wills Wing European Distribution

Lots of authorized dealers for Wills Wing in Europe (Wills Wing Factory, California)

Mike Meier <Mike> writes:

Bart Doets wrote (http://ozreport.com/12.64#2) :

Distribution of WW in most of western Europe has been shifted to a new company, Seagull Aviation.

This is not quite correct.  What has happened is that Wills Wing has granted an exclusive distributorship for Holland and Belgium to Seagull Aviation, and also granted them the non exclusive rights to market WW gliders in Germany, and part of France.  Markus Villinger of Airwave Gliders, a valued business partner of Wills Wing for 25 years, remains the exclusive distributor for Austria and Italy, and shares the rights to market in Germany.  We also have many other authorized dealers in Europe who are quite active in the other European countries, including Switzerland, France, Norway, Sweden, etc.  Our dealers can be found listed on our website, both for the US and worldwide.

We welcome Seagull Aviation to the WW family, and we also especially welcome Harald Zimmer and Bautek to our distribution network.  I had the opportunity to spend several days with Harald, along with Ton Draaijer and Diederik Meeussen of Seagull Aviation at the recent Free Flight Show at Garmisch in Germany, and all of us at WW are quite excited about the future prospects for WW sales in Europe

Discuss Europe at the Oz Report forum   link»

Wills Wing 35th birthday party and demo days at Wallaby Ranch

Good weather and great flying (Wallaby Ranch, Florida, USA)

Mike Meier <Mike> writes:

We've just concluded our 2008 Wills Wing Wallaby Demo Days and by all accounts this was our best event yet.  The 2008 event was our 11th consecutive annual demo days at Wallaby and we celebrated our 35th anniversary at this year's event.  We were fortunate to have Chris Wills and his parents, Bob and Maralys Wills in attendance this year, along with a huge crowd of pilots and family members.  Chris gave a great video presentation of the early bamboo and plastic days when he and his brother Bobby and Chris Price were figuring out simultaneously how to design and fly early Rogallo type kites.  Maralys even took a tandem flight on Sunday morning with Malcolm Jones.

During the four days from Wednesday through Saturday we have virtually perfect weather, and launched 656 aero tows.  More than 75 pilots had multiple opportunities to take demo flights on our complete line of gliders.  We wrapped up the official event with our traditional dinner party on Saturday night, and those with enough energy to continue on had live music and dancing late into the night.

Our most sincere thanks go out to everyone who made the trip to attend the event, (some from as far as Tahiti and Japan!), and most especially to Malcolm and the superb Wallaby staff who worked so hard to make the event possible, and to make it such a success!

Kelley, Peter P <peter.p.kelley> writes:

I took a long weekend and went to WW Days at Wallaby.  The whole Quest crew came by for the Saturday party.  The flying was tremendous both Friday and Saturday with high base on Friday around 6000' and ridiculously easy to stay above 5000' all afternoon.  On Saturday nights' party Rob Kells said they'd had something like 660 tows so far for the week without incident.

Pictures to follow.

Discuss Wills Party at the Oz Report forum   link»