Oz Report

Tin Cup

(This topic is in: <-- Apr.15 Apr.14 Apr.11 Apr.10 Apr.9 Apr.8 Apr.7 --> )

Running on empty, running behind (Cathedral City, CA, USA)

Oz Report readers continue to send in subscription/donations to us via PayPal and we really appreciate it.  I haven't received the mail yet (except for a few letters last week), as it has to be forwarded from my Pensacola, Florida forwarding address to my father-in-law's in Cathedral City, CA.  Thanks to all of you who understand the need to actually support those who your rely on.

We'll be heading east to Arizona in a little over a week to attend and cover the Santa Cruz Flats Race.  I hope that you are looking forward to the coverage of the first big contest of the hang gliding season in the US.  We'll get mail today and maybe next Monday and then it will be a couple of weeks before we get more snail mail.

Thanks, again for all your support.,

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

If you’d rather just send a check for $20 (US Dollars, only please) or more, please feel free to do so.  The mail gets forwarded to me wherever I’m at.

Payable to:

Davis Straub (Not to the Oz Report)
PMB 1889 PO Box 2430
Pensacola, FL 32513

These are our supporters (if you are not on the list and have donated to the Oz Report, email me and I'll make sure that you are recognized): http://ozreport.com/supporters.php.  Some of you who I've missed in the past did write to me and made sure I knew just how important the Oz Report was to them.  If I've missed you, please do tell me.

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»

Landing on Mt. Bogong

What a great place to go (Mt. Bogong, VIC, Australia)

Olli.Barthelmes <olli.barthelmes> sends:

The weather here in Bright, Victoria, Australia has been awesome the last week.  Nearly no wind, smooth 3 m/s thermals, lift up to the clouds everywhere.

The other day Craig Collins, Phil Schroeder and I flew from Mystic to Mt.  Bogong (second highest peak in Australia) and landed on top.  Craig in his paraglider landed first to check out the wind and the options to take off again so it was easier for us and more safe.  It has been done before, but for us it was the first time and therefore really exciting.

There is plenty of space and it was easy to land and launch again, but there are no roads and it's a very long walk out of there in case something goes wrong.  For me it was a good option to change the empty batteries in my camera and change the mounting position.

Next season I am planning a few cross country clinics in late spring and early autumn to show interested pilots the nicest places of the Victorian Alps.  We can fly to places even pilots of the Bogong Cup haven't seen before.

Discuss Mt.  Bogong at the Oz Report forum   link»

2008 German Open

Towing near Berlin (and a proposed site for the Worlds in the future) (Niedergörsdorf, Germany)

http://www.dhv.de/typo/fileadmin/user_upload/monatsordner/2008-02/GO_2008Proclamation1.pdf (In English)

Henry.Maek <henry.maek> writes:

GERMAN OPEN 18.Aug - 23.Aug.08

I am the organiser of the German open in „Altes Lager” an old military airport which is about 60 km (38 miles) south of Berlin, the major city of Germany.  The take off will be only by microlight towing ( because of the lack of mountains).

We would like to apply for the World championship in Hang gliding in 2011 for Germany.  For this reason we are looking for this first test run for international pilots.  More information here: http://www.dhv.de/typo/German_Open_HG_2008.4683.0.html

Discuss Open at the Oz Report forum   link»

Steven Pearson on hang glider quality and innovation

Steve from Wills Wing says, Gerolf, not so fast (Wills Wing Factory, California)

Steven Pearson <<Steve>> writes:

I can't help but feel that the comments from Vicky, Gerolf and Steve Moyes are somewhat misleading and unfair, especially if they are intended to suggest that Moyes is the only company to innovate in hang gliding design, and that everyone else is merely copying.

As a matter of history, Moyes did not introduce carbon tubing to hang gliding.  UP flew and extensively tested an all-carbon Spider in 1979, WW subsequently made a carbon leading edge Raven which we considered putting into production, and most notably UP and its successor companies produced several generations of all-carbon production gliders well before the first Litespeed.

Most major manufacturers introduced carbon cantilevered crossbar systems following the LaMouette Topless.  Wills Wing, Acme Glider Company, and Moyes certified their first topless gliders at the same HGMA meeting.  To the best of my knowledge, only Wills Wing has proof tested every carbon spar that we have every produced, a practice that, although expensive, is the only practical way to guarantee the integrity of a composite component.  Our spars are made with 100 deg C, aerospace quality pre-preg.

Wills Wing introduced the first carbon pre-preg, high-temperature high-pressure closed-mold, competition control bar, which Gerolf, Bill Moyes, Brett Hazlett, and many other Moyes pilots purchased before Moyes developed their own competition bar.  This bar also features a very low drag airfoil section which I designed for this application, with wind tunnel tests that have been posted on our website for many years.

It also featured innovative aerodynamic corner fittings unlike anything that had been available previously.  Low drag control bars also require adjustments to the downtube and basetube angles which I first made to our competition bars in 1982 long before any other similar configurations existed.

Altogether, there is no basis for suggesting that our experience with carbon composites is less than that of Moyes, or that we copied their components.

As further examples of innovation, Wills Wing fought convention (and economy) for many years as the only major manufacturer to produce 7075 airframes, long before Moyes adopted 7075.  The now industry-standard leading edge configuration with a large 62/60mm front leading edge reduced to a 52/50 rear leading edge was developed by Wills Wing.

As far as I know, Wills Wing is the only manufacturer who has operated an in-house sail-loft since 1973.  Our sail loft has been under my direction continuously since 1977.  I made my first Mylar sail in 1980 and Wills Wing was the first manufacturer to use Polyant PX style Mylar laminates which were subsequently adopted by Moyes.  Wills Wing is the only manufacturer who has developed a laminate with a special UV resistant polyester film on the outer layer which is unprotected by internal UV coatings.

Wills Wing was the first company to certify a production model using the fabric shear ribs system that is essential today to the stability and handling of high percentage double surface gliders.

Wills Wing first proved the effectiveness of the internal keel configuration that has since been adopted by every other manufacturer.  When Bill Moyes first saw the HP1 he told me, "It will never climb, mate".

Wills Wing certified production gliders using the since widely adopted kingpost hang system when Moyes was using French-connections to reduce pitch and roll pressure.

Wills Wing introduced the cable supported, universal joint, leading-edge bracket outboard sprog system when other manufacturers, including Moyes, had over-the-crossbar systems.

Wills Wing is the only manufacturer who has owned and operated an aerodynamic test vehicle continuously since 1980.

Wills Wing was the first manufacturer to install a CNC sail cutting system.  We've subsequently installed a CNC 3-axis machining center to optimize the design and strength of our hardware.  Certainly choices like this are more expensive than purchasing cast fittings and other outsourced solutions, but they are examples of our commitment to producing the highest quality products.

Moyes has earned a well-deserved reputation for many years as a leader in international competitions, and as a result many competition pilots in recent years have chosen Moyes gliders.  Over the same period, Wills Wing has chosen to allocate our resources across a broader spectrum of products and services for the hang gliding community, from primary training gliders like the Condor through many generations of high performance intermediate gliders like the Sport 167 (which even Gerolf owned) and to support many other essential and beneficial industry programs that go beyond mere product development.

Today, more and more competition pilots are choosing the Wills Wing T2 or T2C for competition, having seen for themselves (and reported to us) that the T2 and T2C compare very favorably in quality and competitive performance with anything else available.  Most competition pilots do not choose based on price, but based on what glider they feel will give them the best overall competitive performance.

The ability to save a substantial amount of money on even a fully loaded T2C, when compared to some other brands, is a nice bonus, but is probably not the determining factor for most pilots who purchase this class of glider with the intent to compete at a world class level.  For performance minded recreational pilots, where that last fraction of a percent in performance that the more exotic carbon component options offer may not be as important, we see a lot of pilots choosing to save even more by purchasing the lower priced T2 over the T2C.  We're excited about the increasing sales of both of these models, and happy to be able to offer a top quality competition class glider at a lower price.

Discuss Innovation at the Oz Report forum   link»

Folding your wings

When the side wire snaps (the launch site, Llanadas, Columbia)

Daniel Vélez Bravo <danielvelezbravo> writes:

This is a new young hang glider pilot, trained by his dad, an old timer on hang gliding and parachuting.  They were doing his first high altitude flight on an old Airwave Vision.  As you can see, just as soon as the pilot is aloft, one of the side cables snaps and the pilot crashes hard just before leaving the mountain.  Fortunately only minor injuries on what could have been a fatal accident.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Q87zbYWps

This was last weekend on Colombia, South America, http://soaringflight1.tripod.com/sites.htm and http://soaringflight1.tripod.com/llanadas.htm.

Discuss Folding at the Oz Report forum   link»

Help beta test Reli Search and Rescue

Using your mobile phone to tell folks where you are

Moshe Valenci <moshe.valenci> writes:

http://www.logelog.com/utils/

I wrote this little app which can be very useful for hang gliding and paragliding pilots.  It broadcasts SMS with pilot position and allows a ground crew to locate the sender.  I'd like to run a beta test for it and probe for feedback.

I have been beta testing this utility.  It is a great idea.  So far no luck getting it working here.  It doesn't run on my Samsung ATT Windows Mobile 6.0 Blackjack II.  I will be downloading .NET 3.5 to see if that helps.  .NET 2 is already installed in ROM in Windows Mobile 6.0.

Moshe has it running in Israel on a ASUS P525.  and HP iPAQ h4150. 

You'll want to have a phone plan that includes SMS.  I find the additional cost of SMS on cell phone in the US perplexing.  On my pre-paid phone in Australia the costs of an SMS message was 1 cent.  The cost of a minute of talk was 35 cents.  This seemed to be to accurately reflect the cost of providing the level of service that these means of communication required.

I have a data plan that costs $60/month.  But that strangely doesn't include SMS messaging

Discuss Reli at the Oz Report forum   link»