Wills Wing
Flytec

Oz Report

Volume 18, Number 125
Monday, June 30 2014
Boise Riverside RV Park, Boise, Idaho, USA
https://OzReport.com
"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

to Table of Contentsto next topic US 2014 fatalities

Fri, Jun 27 2014, 8:19:14 am MDT
Something in common

USHPA

The USHPA writes:

USHPA Fatalities: 2014 Year to Date (May 1, 2014)

February 10, 2014 - Paul MacDonald

Paul MacDonald (34), achieved his P3 rating in 2006 but was not a current USHPA member at the time of the accident.  He launched in cloud conditions at a familiar site and suffered fatal injuries after contacting power lines.

February 23, 2014 - Ronald Carter

Ron Carter (54), a P4 pilot and USHPA member since 2008, suffered fatal injuries after becoming entangled in his wing while practicing advanced maneuvers.  Indications are that following the rapid inflation of his wing, which had dropped behind him, the subsequent surge sent Ron into his wing.  He was unable to deploy his cut-away style reserve due to being entangled in his wing.

March 21, 2014 - Bence Pascu

Bence Pascu (34), a P2 pilot since August 2013, suffered fatal injuries after his mini wing deflated, apparently caused by mechanical turbulence while flying in strong winds.

April 23, 2014 - Eric Hill

Eric Hill (31), a P2 pilot since February 2013, suffered fatal injuries after a major collapse of his mini wing while soaring during mid-day conditions in close proximity to terrain.

June 20, 2014 - Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith (57), a P4 pilot since November 1997, suffered fatal injuries after a major collapse within a few minutes of launching.  A spiral dive following the collapse resulted in the fatal impact with the steep slope of the hill.

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Sport Class pilots compared with Sport Class at the Worlds

Fri, Jun 27 2014, 8:20:04 am MDT
So are sport class pilots flying at the Worlds?

Christian Pollet|CIVL|Sté|Sté

Christian Pollet|CIVL|Sté|Stéphane Malbos|video|weather

Christian Pollet|CIVL|Sté|Stéphane Malbos|video|weather

Who among sport class pilots are flying in the Sport Class Worlds?

http://civlrankings.fai.org/?a=326&ladder_id=9&

http://airtribune.com/sport-hg2014/pilots/status

All the US pilots, of course.

Serge Mainente, Benoit Benier, Christian Pollet, Gabriel Cuisset, Jean-Marc Gourdon and Fabien Garing from France.

Erik Honings and Martijn Doeland from Netherland.

Soraya Rios

Natalia Okuneva

Fifteen out of thirty were actually sport class pilots (ie, flew in CIVL sanctioned sport class competitions in the previous two years).

Why were non sport class pilots allowed to fly in the Sport Class Worlds?  So that the meet organizers could not lose money.

Here's why they might have a hefty budget: http://dca.ffvl.fr/hg2014/index.php/en/148-d-day-minus-1-getting-ready

Volunteers! 

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Carnage in Annecy

Fri, Jun 27 2014, 9:32:27 am MDT
One after another

crash|midair collision|PG|Worlds 2014

The Worlds with over 100 pilots are being held along with the regular paraglider and hang glider traffic at Annecy.  So today we had a German ATOS pilot collide with a paraglider midair.  Both deployed their chutes and are okay.

Then we had a paraglider spiral into the LZ. He's still alive.

Then we had a Russian girl (not Julia) slam into a light post at the paraglider bomb out field, fall to the road below.  She's okay.

Be sure that your sprogs are set correctly.

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to Table of Contentsto next topic The 2014 Worlds - day four

A new Japanese top women pilot?
Fri, Jun 27 2014, 8:44:30 pm MDT

A.I.R. ATOS VR|Alexandra "Sasha" Serebrennikova|Chisato Nojiri|Christian Pollet|Corinna Schwiegershausen|Francoise Dieuzeide-Banet|Julia Kucherenko|Manfred Ruhmer|Suan Selenati|Worlds 2014|Yoko Isomoto

http://dca.ffvl.fr/hg2014/index.php/en/page-results-2014

Women Task 3:

# Name Nat Glider Time Total
1 Isomoto JPN Litespeed RX3.5 02:18:41 967
2 Walbec FRA T2 136 02:19:54 958
3 La Nube COL T2C 02:29:39 847
4 Petrova RUS Combat 12.8 GT 02:33:48 802
5 Kucherenko RUS Combat 02:38:14 787
5 Nojiri JPN Combat 09 02:35:02 787
7 Dieuzeide-Banet FRA Llitespeed RX3 02:48:07 732
8 Schwiegershausen GER Litespeed 02:49:42 722
9 Serebrennikova RUS Litespeed S3 02:48:08 709
10 Yakoh JPN Z9 03:53:33 455

Cumulative:

  Name Nat Glider Total
1 Isomoto JPN Litespeed RX3.5 2518
2 Dieuzeide-Banet FRA Llitespeed RX3 2269
3 Schwiegershausen GER Litespeed 2236
4 Nojiri JPN Combat 09 2230
5 La Nube COL T2C 2140

Sport Task 3:

# Name Nat Glider Time Total
1 Zin FRA Icaro Mast'r 01:35:56 861
2 Alonzi FRA Discus C 15 01:36:10 844
3 Ujhelyi HUN Discus 01:54:29 691
4 Woehrle GER Litesport 02:04:29 633
5 Mathurin FRA Litesport 02:06:14 618
6 Salvenmoser AUT Skyrunner XR 02:06:17 617
7 Pollet FRA Skyrunner 02:24:34 524
8 Preininger AUT Skyrunner XR 02:27:33 510
9 Mainente FRA Sport 2 02:49:13 436
10 Cuisset FRA   02:50:57 424
11 Fernandez Montero ESP Sport 2 155 02:53:37 421
12 Okada JPN Mast'R 02:53:37 418
12 Giammichele AUS Lite Sport 02:51:16 418

Cumulative:

# Name Nat Glider Total
1 Zin FRA Icaro Mast'r 2248
2 Alonzi FRA Discus C 15 2224
3 Ujhelyi HUN Discus 1971
4 Mathurin FRA Litesport 1709
5 Kovacs HUN Discus C 15 1604

ATOS Task 3:

# Name Nat Glider Time Total
1 Selenati ITA Atos VR 02:10:46 1000
2 Kirchner GER Atos VR 02:11:38 967
3 Friedl AUT Atos VR10 02:13:33 926
4 Geppert AUT Atos VR 02:14:13 903
5 Grabowski GER Atos VR 14 02:13:46 902

Cumulative:

# Name Nat Glider Total
1 Grabowski GER Atos VR 14 2506
2 Kirchner GER Atos VR 2486
3 Mayer AUT Atos VR 2392
4 Chopard FRA Atos VR 11 2362
5 Geppert AUT Atos VR 2322

Swift/Archaeopteryx Task 4:

# Name Nat Glider Time Total
1 Ruhmer AUT Swift Light 03:05:07 1000
2 Cox SUI Swift 03:09:27 911
3 Bott FRA Swift Light 03:14:42 859
4 Hediger ARG Archaeopteryx 03:18:41 815
5 Porter USA Swift 03:27:49 758

Cumulative:

# Name Nat Glider Total
1 Ruhmer AUT Swift Light 3844
2 Cox SUI Swift 3160
3 Bott FRA Swift Light 3106
4 Hediger ARG Archaeopteryx 2937
5 Ruppert E SUI Archaeopteryx 2583

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to Table of Contentsto next topic How many sport class pilots are in the top ten in the Sport Class Worlds?

Fri, Jun 27 2014, 8:57:18 pm MDT
How many pilots who have actually flown in a sport class competition previous to the Worlds?

Christian Pollet

That would be one: Christian Pollet

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to Table of Contentsto next topic The 2014 Worlds - Brian Porter

Sat, Jun 28 2014, 8:54:33 am MDT
Landing gear gets squashed

Brian Porter|Manfred Ruhmer

Brian Porter|Manfred Ruhmer|Worlds 2014

Brian Porter writes:

After the hard landing on the only practice day of the Worlds, the first day of the meet was a no-fly for me as the newly repaired landing gear still had some repair issues after the tow line broke, due to severe turbulence (3 Swifts had line breaks). My gear collapsed on landing, repairable, but not in the 45 minutes before the launch window closed.  On this day the ULM tow planes almost canceled the day due to dangerous tow conditions.

The Archaeopteryx, which climbs and glides similarly to the Swift, is said to have a slight glide advantage at lower speeds (like Atos gets 20 at 20 mph), but I haven't seen it yet.  In very light lift they likely can climb when Swifts can't (probably). But in normal conditions all the Rigid's appear equally matched in performance.  The Swift would appear to have the glide advantage at speed.  The mountain conditions here, near Annecy, where pilots are frequently in very close proximity to each other and the huge mountain ridges (which run most north to south), glider types are constantly swapping places.  In the fly condition we are experiencing glider types appear evenly matched.

The second day started with hopes for clear sky's and high ceilings.  A task was called for 144 (very optimistic) miles.  At the witching hour 10 minutes before the start it appeared the day may not be as good with too much moisture and potential hazy sky's making for a 6 hour + task for the best pilots (but no time for a last minute task change).

All Swifts and Archaeopteryx's made the start and the task went well for the first 75 miles but 35 miles out from the last turn point the sky on course were clouded over and shut down the lift.

The Archaeopteryx's which as a group were in the lead, for the most part were shut down by the shadowed conditions and landed out.  As did Jacque Bott in his Swift near the last turn point 50 miles out.

Steve Cocks and I managed to stay in the air by fingering the sun, flying off the course line as we headed south.  Separately, we all flew to the west where the sun still shined but we went back on course too soon and eventually we landed near the last turn point (I arriving at the airport to find Bott landed)

Manfred who had the good fortune of making a mistake and getting stuck low and behind in the mountain arrived late, where the conditions had completely reversed with sun and lift enough to make goal.  Making for a 6 hour flight.

It's curious that the Archaeopteryx with their light air advantage, were mostly out distanced by the Swifts on this light day.

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to Table of Contentsto next topic The 2014 Worlds - day five

Sat, Jun 28 2014, 8:55:24 am MDT
Cancelled

weather

The 2014 Worlds|weather|Worlds 2014

weather|Worlds 2014

Weather.  Maybe tomorrow also.

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to Table of Contentsto next topic The 2014 Worlds - Happy, happy

Sat, Jun 28 2014, 11:15:29 am MDT
Only positive news from Annecy from now on?

PG

PG|The 2014 Worlds|Worlds 2014

PG|Worlds 2014

You'd think that this was a paragliding competition.

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Attacking the messenger - The French suck big time

Sat, Jun 28 2014, 11:16:00 am MDT
Well, at least Stephane Malbos does, but there are others.

CIVL|Facebook|Joe Schmucker|Sté|Stéphane Malbos|Stéphane Malbos|video

In case you weren't aware of this, hang gliding is dangerous.

If you've been following the Oz Report reports on the 2014 East Coast Championship, you'll remember the stories of the accidents there and the reasons for them, especially the long series with Joe Schmucker and his attempt to get back to the airport.  I convinced him to write about it and after much begging got him to publish his video.

https://OzReport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37786

https://OzReport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37685

Please remember that I was the meet director at the ECC.

Lately I've published reports from on site observers on some accidents and difficult conditions at Annecy at the Sport Class Worlds, etc.  Well, it appears that this is making the organization very unhappy (they told pilots to stop being so negative in social media postings). I'm not the only one publishing reports that might not be totally flattering.  You can find the reports on Facebook and in personal blogs that I've linked to.

Even the Annecy safety director has reported: https://OzReport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=131232#131232

That was before he pulled out of the Oz Report forum.  Interesting.

Now I've looked back over some blog postings from on site observers and checked to see what has happened to them and found them to be scrubbed of bad news, the news that I quoted.

Can you say censorship?

What are these guys afraid of?

CIVL has an incident database that they ask meet directors to contribute to. I wrote to all the pilots that had incidents at the ECC and had them fill out reports.  One wasn't able to at first as the CIVL database was down.

Will the meet organizers continue to put pressure on pilots to keep smiling?

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Phil Schroder takes a break from the heavy lifting of flying a Swift in Annecy

Sat, Jun 28 2014, 6:57:36 pm MDT
On a day that you can actually enjoy yourself

Facebook|Phil Schroder

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to Table of Contentsto next topic The 2014 Worlds - day six

Sun, Jun 29 2014, 8:22:20 am MDT
Cancelled

Facebook

Facebook|The 2014 Worlds|Worlds 2014

Facebook|Worlds 2014

Rain.  Should be flying tomorrow.

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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.

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