Oz Report

Tin Cup

(This topic is in: <-- Apr.25 Apr.24 Apr.23 Apr.22 Apr.21 Apr.18 Apr.17 --> )

Aerotowing safety (Francisco Grande, Casa Grande, Arizona)

This discussion continues and presents stark contrasts.  The HGFA towing manual hasn't been updated since 1999 and it does not match practice in Australia and the US.  The manual was based on the practices found at the time, but not necessarily on the best practices as we "know" them now, and most often there is not sufficient evidence to back up the practice.

I hope that we can come to some resolution on these issues, but we may not have enough evidence to come to a consensus.

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Discuss Tin Cup at the Oz Report forum   link»

Aerotow bridles - the HGFA rules

What is the reality on the ground and in the air? (Hughenden airport, QLD, Australia)

From section 3.3.6 of the 1999 HGFA Towing Manual:

Bridles used for aerotowing hang gliders are either "one to one" as shown previously, or may be a shorter bridle which is connected to the pilots harness at the chest or shoulders.

When aerotowing intermediate hang gliders, a "one to one" bridle is essential.

When aerotowing lightweight gliders the tow line is attached to the release using a metal ring only (with a weak link between the ring and the tow rope).

I and others have towed single surface and intermediate gliders with the pro tow ("...shorter bridle which is connected to the pilots harness at the chest or shoulders") bridle/release system.  I've done this many times.  Recently at the Dalby Big Air I used the "Moyes" type system for towing an Airborne Fun 190 behind a Dragonfly, but I have often used my pro tow bridle to tow the Wills Wing Falcon 3 - 170, Wills Wing Sport 2, Wills Wing U2, and Aeros Discus.  Pro tow bridles are routinely used for towing intermediate and single surface gliders by pilots who have sufficient experience.

This is the part of the HGFA towing manual where it is made explicit that the weaklink needs to go between the pilots' system and the tow rope.  It is expected by this description that the pilot's system ends in a metal ring and that the weaklink is supposed to be metal ring at the end of the pilot's system and the end of the tow rope, which I suppose, is supposed to end in a metal ring also, although this is not explicit here.

Section 3.5 shows the rings (although there are numerous "problems" with this diagram when it comes to aerotowing):

My experience and that of many other pilots with aerotowing in Australia and the US is with using the pro tow system that does not match these requirements.  So, in spite of the fact that these statements are being made in the HGFA towing manual, it appears to be the case that they are having little to no effect in the field. 

I look forward to any response from the HGFA or other interested persons.  Again, I have a direct personal and minor financial interest in the issues raised by this discussion.

Discuss Aerotow bridles at the Oz Report forum   link»

Short Packing

Taking your glider on the plane with you (Francisco Grande, Casa Grande, Arizona)

http://goflyxc.com/shortpacking

I used to hate the idea of flying (in a plane) to an event.  I had some bad experiences in the past when trying to take my hang glider with me.  I was young, naive, inexperienced but have since learned a thing or two.

Airlines don't like it, their first reaction is "we can't take that on the plane" but with a bit of planning to make sure you get on a plane big enough to load your glider, they don't have much grounds to refuse it.  Smiling always helps when checking in.

Materials cost me about $250 but are mostly re-usable .  It takes me about 2.5hrs to do on my own but having other pilots around help the process.

Jeff O'Brien <jeffobrien4> sends:

http://hang6.blogspot.com/2006/12/packing-for-journeyits-my-first.html

http://hang6.blogspot.com/2007/04/deja-vu-didnt-i-just-do-this-dr.html

http://hang6.blogspot.com/2007/04/12-way-there.html

getting off the plane

http://hang6.blogspot.com/2007/01/bogong-day-8clear-day-but-very-high.html

last photo

http://hang6.blogspot.com/2008/02/i-on-road-trip-post-of-epic-proportion.html

toward the bottom - Dustin short packing for Brazil

Jeff Shapiro <jkshapiro> writes:

Here are some other photos that I took but I have to say.  I just bought one of Nene's bags because the glider condom that I made would make it hard for airline people to open up the bag to look in it as opposed the them wanting to open it with a box knife.  His bag has a full length zip and padding (I think 3/8 or maybe 1/4" closed cell foam) integrated.  It cost about $60 to make my own and his cost me $250.  I probably could make my own that was close to his in material and design but it would cost me as much if not more and not turn out as nice as his.

http://ozreport.com/images/JeffShapirosShortPack

Discuss Packing at the Oz Report forum   link»

Span and aspect ratio distribution at the 2007 Worlds

Is there any correlation between these values and the results of the Worlds? (Big Spring, Texas)

Let's look at the top twenty:

	Name	Glider	Span	Aspect Ratio
1	BERTOK, Attila	Moyes Litespeed S 5	10.4	7.4
2	REISINGER, Robert	Moyes Litespeed RS 4	10.4	7.7
3	HEINRICHS, Gerolf	Moyes Litespeed RS 4	10.4	7.7
4	ALONZI, Mario	Aeros Combat L
5	PLONER, Alessandro	Icaro Zero 8
6	WIRDNAM, Gary	Aeros Combat L 13	10.4	7.9
7	COOMBER, Kraig	Moyes Litespeed RS 3.5	10.3	7.7
8	WALLBANK, Carl	Moyes Litespeed RS 3.5	10.3	7.7
9	BADER, Lucas	Moyes Litespeed RS 4	10.4	7.7
10	VYHNALIK, Dan	Aeros Combat L 15	10.7	7.8
11	CATALDI, Elio	Moyes Litespeed RS 3.5	10.3	7.7
12	OPSANGER, Olav	Moyes Litespeed RS 4	10.4	7.7
13	BOISSELIER, Antoine	Moyes Litespeed RS 4	10.4	7.7
14	DURAND, Jonny	Moyes Litespeed RS 3.5	10.3	7.7
15	SCHWIEGERSHAUSEN, Corinna	Moyes Litespeed S 3.5	10	7.5
16	MATTHEWS, Dave	Moyes Litespeed S 3.5	10	7.5
17	HAMILTON, Robin	Moyes Litespeed RS 4	10.4	7.7
18	RIZO SALOM, Luis	Moyes Litespeed RS 3.5	10.3	7.7
19	ROTOR, Nene	Wills Wing T2 144	9.8	7.3
20	VOLK, Glen	Moyes Litespeed S4	10	7.3

Spans: http://ozreport.com/12.75#1

Aspect ratio: http://ozreport.com/12.76#2

Discuss Span and aspect ratio at the Oz Report forum   link»

Ski rope? Why was that used for a bridle?

More on Bernie's accident. (Hughenden airport, QLD, Australia)

http://ozreport.com/12.78#2

From the HGFA accident report:

Inspection of the bridle system used by Mr.  Zwahlen showed that he had employed some non standard equipment which included a single standard chain link used as the weak link tow ring.  The bridle employed by Mr.  Zwahlen was found to be water ski rope, the type that is a weaved braid spliced at either end.

Don't these two sentences seem a bit weird, even a bit more than a bit weird?

A piece of chain link as a weak link tow ring?  What's with using a ring with a rough ridge as a weak link ring?

And then what's with the braided, spliced ski rope?

When I read this report the first few times I didn't get it.  I was only after I got a report from Peter Bolton that it became clear (well not exactly clear, but my perception changed greatly).  When I think of a ski rope I think of a thick poly rope with very loose braids.  No way could I imagine that this rope was actually pulled through a ring or snap link.  There had to be a three ring circus at the end of the bridle made of this rope.  Turns out that this was not the case.

Peter Bolton (http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11569&start=7)
wrote to me and stated that the ski rope bridle was actually pulled through the snap link to release the pilot.  No wonder it had a reasonable chance of being caught by the hook of the snap link in its loose braid.

But the question remains.  What kind of ski-rope was Bernie using?  How thick?  What material?  How loose the braid?

I just find this hard to imagine.  How could any one use such a rope with a snap link or even a light weight non locking aluminum carabineer?

Since I have not seen a report on exactly what the ski rope looked like, perhaps Rohan Holtkamp, who has promised to get back to me after his next set of students go through his hang gliding class, can tell us.

http://ozreport.com/9.188#1

Tracy and Lisa use these thick ropes at Cloud 9, but, as I recall, they have rings at the end of their tow ropes.

Discuss Bernie at the Oz Report forum   link»

Nene's T2C in Brazil

Supposedly the best glider in Brazil (Francisco Grande, Casa Grande, Arizona)

I've spoken with a number of pilots who mentioned how well Nene was going in Brazil on his Wills Wing T2C 144.  His glider is still in Brazil and he is borrowing a Wills Wing T2C 144 for the competition here.

They said that last year Nene was not gliding well against another top Brazilian pilot who as flying a Wills Wing T2 154.  Now he is doing much better and another top non Wills Wing pilot thinks that he is gliding as well as or even better than him (actually he said even more than this).

Well, that's why we have contests to see how well we do, and all the combatants are here.

That's the good news, the bad news is that Nene turns down his sprogs substantially.  He turns down the outboard sprogs four turns and the inboard sprogs three turns compared to how they come from Wills Wing.  But, then in Brazil, they is far from the only one that does this, so he is just trying to compete.

Discuss Nene at the Oz Report forum   link»

Quest Air busy

Tandems like crazy (Quest Air, Groveland, Florida, USA)

http://ozreport.com/12.075#4

Yes, it is that Nicole, the women who was recruited slowly into the hang gliding community.  Dustin Martin just got back from Quest Air where they did 35 tandems on Saturday.  They have never been busier.  And apparently Nicole is a major cause of this excitement with her personal skills dealing with customers.

Locals are becoming a big source of customers, for the first time.  Also they have added a second hang glider near the road to get the word out.  They also have new students.

Apparently there is a demand for hang gliding rides and instruction and if you just do a few simple things the demand is realized.

Discuss Quest at the Oz Report forum   link»

Stop the presses, Andre Wolf wins the first day - Santa Cruz Flats Race

The downloads weren't quite right but the scoring have been updated. (Francisco Grande, Casa Grande, Arizona)

The flex wing preliminary results.

Check out the new results (the guys who made goal):

1.	Andre Wolf	BRA	Moyes Litespeed RS 4
2.	Nene Rotor	BRA	Wills Wing T2C 144
3.	Dustin Martin	USA	Wills Wing T2C 144
4.	Leonardo Dabbur	BRA	Wills Wing T2C 154
5.	Filippo Oppici	ITA	Moyes Liespeed RS 4
6.	Daniel Valez	COL	Wills Wing T2 144
7.	Jonny Durand	AUS	Moyes Litespeed RS 3.5
8.	Phill Bloom	USA	Moyes Litespeed RS 3.5
9.	Konrad Heilmann	BRA	Moyes Litespeed RS3.5
10.	Chris Zimmerman	USA	Wills Wing T2C 144
11.	Glen Volk	USA	Moyes Litespeed RS 4
12.	Michael Williams	USA	Moyes Litespeed S5
13.	Brett Hazlett	CAN	Moyes Litespeed RS 3.5

We had a few problems with the downloads but those have been fixed.

Discuss Andre on day one SCFR at the Oz Report forum   link»

Gerolf when he read in the Oz Report that Nene won the day

Gerolf at the boneyard in Sydney

Discuss Gerolf at the Oz Report forum   link»

No one makes it back - Santa Cruz Flats Race, day two

The task committee over reaches, or maybe it is the fire on the border (Francisco Grande, Casa Grande, Arizona)

The flex wing results.

The rigid wing results.

With a stronger forecast and less winds in the offing, the task committee goes whole hog and calls an 83 mile parallelogram compared to the 63 mile triangle on Sunday.  Maybe Dustin and Jonny are trying to push their competition a bit too hard.

Things get exciting in the launch paddock when Rhett Radford, tug pilot extraordinaire, clips the top of my glider and breaks the leading edge of Larry Bunner's glider in front of me.  I think that sends Rob Kells scrambling for a new glider for Larry.  Kraig Coomber very nicely comes over and checks my glider to be sure that the aluminum and carbon bits are okay and that it is just a mark on the sail.

Rhett came in close to get to the Dragonfly down in front of the line and hit a bit of sink.  When he hit the throttle it stalled instead of taking off.  Hitting the throttle does that.  You need to ease it on according to Russell Brown.  There was damage to the tug also.

We were launching in light cross winds.  I got on the cart but noticed that the back was too high.  I ignored it and off we went.  Then the glider was stuck to the cart.  I finally jiggled it off the cart, but zoomed right up and blew the weaklink.  Now I had to land down wind or cross wind.  I tried hard as I could to get the glider to turn into the wind, but no luck (as I was only twenty feet high).  So I just flared at the last second and that worked, although I was covered in dust.

I was not the only one breaking weaklinks as it seemed for a while every third pilot was having this problem.  You've got to get the keel cradle set right.

Back on the cart again after a clean up and this time through the dust and into the air only to be knocked off the tug (I pulled the release) at 600'.  The tug was going one way and I was going the other.  The lift was broken and light in spite of what I might have thought from the theatrics on tow, so I had to hold on and be patience as I thermalled over our trailer and Oz Report World Headquarters.

Finally I got up and joined the rest of the pilots as we slowly worked the weak and broken lift to over 5,000' MSL.  I saw a few pilots over me heading in the direction of the edge of the start cylinder so I tagged along.  This is usually a bit dangerous as I have no one to keep an eye on below me as we left thirty glider behind.

Sure enough I don't find much and go in search mode on my own.  Fortunately, I found a great thermal that got me up fast to 6,400' MSL, the highest I would be all day.  It was almost time for the start window to open, but sure enough no one wanted to go.  I lead out hoping to entice some folks to leave with me but it didn't work, and as I didn't want to go on my own, I went back and lost two thousand feet looking for lift.  Ridiculous.

I took a low start at the second start time and it turned out that pilots still waited for later start times.  This was a long course up wind.  Maybe they thought the day would get better, as the forecast had predicted, but it wasn't to be.

There were a couple of pilots out on course but not much help.  I thought that this was supposed to be a race?  I got low (600' AGL) pretty quickly and had to settle for a tractor in a dusty field.  Fortunately a few little dust devils did appear near it and I was able to get back up, but not high, 3,500' AGL.

Low again after the turnpoint at La Palma, I was down to 300' AGL and looking at where to land.  But I was over a big open field and was feeling a bit of lift (that turned out to average 50 fpm), so I just kept turning until I spotted a dust devil nearby and that got me out of there.  It was especially nice that the wind was blowing out of the north at 10 mph toward the next turnpoint.  Still no one around.

I could not get high and I had to keep working dust devils low to stay in the game.  As I drifted toward the Red Rock turnpoint to the southeast I was squeezed in between some peaks and the winds from the south west picked up to 15 mph.  But I did finally find some good lift and got up to 6,200' MSL.  This was four miles before the turnpoint which would put me directly back into the wind.  So it was nice to get high before the turnpoint.

Unfortunately, I didn't get much lift after that and coming into the turnpoint I  was down in 2,200' AGL.  Ahead I could see that there was a long stretch of difficult retrieval into a 14 mph head wind.  I decided to go as far as I could and then turn around and land back at Red Rock close to the road.

Many pilots landed just a five miles up the course line and it was a mere twenty miles in to get to them.

Check out the results above.  Brian Porter was the only one to make it back on his Swift.

The winds were stronger than forecast, the lift was lighter, and the altitudes reach by most pilots were not as high as forecast.

Discuss Day two SCFR at the Oz Report forum   link»