Oz Report

Tin Cup

(This topic is in: <-- Apr.16 Apr.15 Apr.14 Apr.11 Apr.10 Apr.9 Apr.8 --> )

Nickel and diming (Cathedral City, CA, USA)

We don't ask for much, but we are among many worthies who ask for your support.  A mere pittance at $20/year for your subscription/donation to the Oz Report, but you have other mouths to feed.  Or we assume that you do.

It is not reasonable that we ask for your support?  Sure the internet is full of wonderful sites that are making money hand over fists (or so they say) from ad based income.  The Oz Report is not one of those sites.  It is catering to a very niche market.  A market that doesn't have broad appeal to the advertisers (other than our loyal hang gliding manufacturers and Flytec USA).

Scare and I do this in the tradition of hang gliding, for the love of the sport.  Scare even allowed himself to be appointed at the president of the Canadian hang gliding and paragliding association.  What has this world come to?

So reach shallowly into your back pocket and pull out an Andy Jackson for your poor relatives at the Oz Report.  You'll feel better for it.

Thanks.

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»

Kids Today (parents today)

They fear our freedoms (Boise, Idaho)

http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/

http://www2.nysun.com/article/73976

Left my 9-year-old at Bloomingdale's (the original one) a couple weeks ago.  Last seen, he was in first floor handbags as I sashayed out the door.  Bye-bye!  Have fun!  And he did.  He came home on the subway and bus by himself.

Was I worried?  Yes, a tinge.  But it didn't strike me as that daring, either.  Isn't New York as safe now as it was in 1963?  It's not like we're living in downtown Baghdad.

http://www2.nysun.com/article/74347

When I wrote a column in this paper last week, "Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Take The Subway Alone," I figured I'd get some emails — pro and con.

Two days later I was on the "Today Show," MSNBC, Fox News, and all manner of talk radio with a new title under my smiling face: "America's Worst Mom?"

Yes, that's all it took for me to learn just what a hot-button issue this is — whether good parents ever let their kids out of their sight.  But even as the stations (and Web sites and Web logs) were having a field day with the story, people kept pulling me aside to say that they had been allowed to get around by themselves as kids, and boy were they glad.

They relished those memories — and thanked their parents!  — and then in the next breath they admitted: They would never let their kids do the same.

Why not?  Has the world really become so much more dangerous in just one generation?

Where will the next hang glider pilots come from, if parents are so scared that their kids have no understanding of their freedoms and capabilities?

Discuss Kids at the Oz Report forum   link»

Dalby Flying and Ozzie speak

Tex gets air born (Dalby Airport)

Damien "Tex" Gates <drgates> writes:

I have been pretty well out of action now for nearly a year having only flown 3 times in the last little while due to other pressing commitments.  Two of those flights were on the same day with low weak link breaks that I never got away from.

After checking out the RASP (BLIPMAPS - http://ozreport.com/ozweather.php) for Queensland I decided I should test them out as they looked pretty good and I really needed some airtime.  Winds were forecast to be about 25kph out of the ESE.  We (Jase and I) were on the road and at the hanger by 9.30 greeting Bruce, Annie, Blaino, Smokey and some new faces for me - Jamie and Adam.

Jamie is just getting started in hang gliders though has trike experience and had under 10 hrs on a hang glider before this last week end.  Adam is down at Oakey from Townsville with the Army (though he is Air Force Avionics) and has done a fair few tows with Bill and the guys at Rylstone with about 40 hrs and a PB of 15km.  Jamie had previously flown a short XC from Dalby, not sure how far as the story ends with him being escorted off the property by a “Blockie” near Kogan on the end of a shotgun.

The usual chin wag at the hanger, but gliders were erected in good time and I was first on tow at about 1215 hrs in a borrowed C2 Light thanks to Yoda.  Blaino gave me a great tow straight up wind and we hit a nice thermal at about 500 but having not been flying much I thought I would hang on a bit longer to be sure.  After this we hit pretty bad air for a while and never really climbed until we hit a nice core that Blaino did a lap of for me and I was off in some nice lift.  My plan was to stay airborne!  This I did.

Yoda towed next and got off pretty early drifted and climbed a thermal downwind from me and when it got good he called me over just as I was leaving to go there.  By the time I got there he was at base and gone.  That’s is about all I saw of him.  So I reiterated my complex flight plan to myself.  STAY UP!  And like a butterfly, I did.

Jamie, Bruce, Adam and Blaino had all had a snig and cleared the area just as quick.  So for a while I just floated along enjoying the view trying to help (or hinder) Jamie with a few tips as he was just behind and lower than I.  By the time we got out to Macalister I thought I better not let the novice in a Sting get too close lest I end up like Bruce, who had taken him under his wing also, Jamie took the advice and then flew off when Bruce got some good sink to ponder in the paddock out past Warra.

Adam and Blaino made it a fair way out also.  55km for Adam a new PB besting 15km in his Sonic.  Jamie muscled on in his Sting.  Me?  I was at base – ZEN “I am a leaf” the glides got longer and base got higher.

Jamie set a New World Record (unofficial until ratified by the FIA yes FIA) for a Hang Glider Pilot with under 10hrs and flew 105KM.  I managed to prolong my own malingering flight out for 150 or so.  But the distance was really moot given I had just had 3.5 hours of some of the most enjoyable relaxing flying I had ever experienced.  I had some very nice climbs and floated along near base long enough to even forget I was flying somewhere as I enjoyed the scenery and perspective, in view and mind, only available at altitude in a hang glider.

A few refreshing ales with the pick up crew partiers as we then proceeded another 110km (260km) to Roma to get Jase after he gave the local races an impromptu air show at altitude before flying off to land in a paddock up the road.

A vary mEshy and extremely funny retrieve followed.

Sunday was much the same (better sky really with clouds like the homepage photo) Doggie and John showed for some action.  They all lobbed off down the road for some air time but with bad timing as it seemed some isolated Cu dropping showers to the north suck some goodness out of the sky and a blue hole near Warra and they all hit the deck around there except for Yoda who had zoomed past the bad patch earlier for a snappy 120km to Miles.  Oh Adam just boated around at Base for a while in the 20kpm SE’ers before landing back at the Hanger.  Jamie and I sooked out crying sore shoulders and heavy heads for an early day home.

What can one say, bang for your buck that place is the bomb LOL

Discuss Dalby at the Oz Report forum   link»

Twenty five years ago on Mt. Bogong

Staying overnight (Mt. Bogong, VIC, Australia)

Steve Blenkinsop <blenkinsop> writes:

Congratulations to Craig, Phil and Olli.  Mt Bogong is a magic spot.  It has been twenty five years since John Penery and I overnighted on Bogong after launching from Buffalo.  From the archives: http://members.ozemail.com.au/~blenkinsop/Bogong photo album.pps.

Discuss Bogong at the Oz Report forum   link»

A different kind of hang gliding video

Short Cuts

David Glover <<david>> writes:

A different kind of hang gliding video from Michal Cipra.  Just some short cuts of some of his work.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13S1uz82_5Y

Michal would appreciate your comments and ratings.

Discuss Different at the Oz Report forum   link»

Exotic Trikes

Strange wings

Gerry F.  <<pedey1>> sends:

I was surfing for images of exotic trikes when I came across this circular wing.  Unfortunately, there is no information on it in that web page:

http://www.trikebuggy.com/othertrikes/index.htm

Discuss Trikes at the Oz Report forum   link»

Live Video Blogging in conjunction with Google Earth

Video blogging as we walk along.

Dave Glover sends:

http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2008/04/seero_releases_live_video_with_gps.html

Seero - the new live geo-located video broadcasting site, which GEB mentioned two weeks ago went out of beta, has now released some KML content for their site that has interesting implications.  First, they have KML files for each broadcaster which show placemarks for locations of each video they have at Seero.  See for example, Craig Stanton's video content in a KML who has lots of videos from a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, and is currently starting a hike across Japan.  Craig is using Seero to show live videos which are GPS tracked as we

Discuss Live blogs at the Oz Report forum   link»