Oz Report
Volume 18, Number 125Monday, June 30 2014
Boise Riverside RV Park, Boise, Idaho, USA
https://OzReport.com
"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
- In this issue:
US 2014 fatalities Sport Class pilots compared with Sport Class at the Worlds Carnage in Annecy The 2014 Worlds - day four How many sport class pilots are in the top ten in the Sport Class Worlds? The 2014 Worlds - Brian Porter The 2014 Worlds - day five The 2014 Worlds - Happy, happy Attacking the messenger - The French suck big time Phil Schroder takes a break from the heavy lifting of flying a Swift in Annecy The 2014 Worlds - day six
US 2014 fatalities
Fri, Jun 27 2014, 8:19:14 am MDTUSHPA
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.
1 topic in this article: USHPA
Discuss "US 2014 fatalities" at the Oz Report forum link»
Sport Class pilots compared with Sport Class at the Worlds
Fri, Jun 27 2014, 8:20:04 am MDTChristian 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!
- BERENI Antoine - Here & There
- AUGE Jérome - Scoring
- BARRUCAND Pierre - IT & media
- BARTHES Didier - Here & There
- BELIN Lou - Media & Social Network
- BESANCON Alain - Volunteers supervisor
- BODOT François - Tow Line
- BOISSELIER Antoine - Video
- BONNET Michel - Here & There
- BRIDEY Bernard - Here & There
- BRIEBA Alex - Take off manager
- CARTOUX Brice - Here & There
- CAUX Raymond - Safety Director
- CHARPENTIER Michel - Here & There
- CLAPE Jean-François - Medical Doctor
- COQUEREAU Nicolas - Lunch Packs, volunteers chef
- DEBIEE Jean-Louis - Event Director
- DEMANGE Thibault - Here & There
- DESCHAMPS Robert - Tandem Flights
- DOINARD Roger - Here & There
- ETIENNE Alain - Emcee
- FABRE Patrick - Media
- FAVRE Joel - Weather
- FOURNIER Cédric - Barman
- FUSELIER Alexandre - Finances & Scoring
- GEHIN Nadège - Scoring
- HALBERT Jean-Michel - Here & There
- HARRE Sébastien - Photographer
- HUCHETTE Jean-Marie - Here & There
- ISOARD François - Photographer
- LAUBY Denis - Here & There
- LEBON Gilbert - Here & There
- LEPENNEC Aldric - Tandem Flights
- LEROULEY Remi - Here & There
- LESONGEUR Michel - Driver
- LHOMME Christian - Here & There
- MALBOS Stéphane - Communication
- MAMERON Bertrand - Here & There
- MAMMERON Mado - Photographer
- MARCHETTO David - Here & There
- MART - Here & There
- MENAGER Guy - Logistic
- OLIVIERO Edouard - Ultralight Pilot
- PERNOT Michel - Ultralight Pilot
- PIQUE Gérard - Meet Director Assistant
- POULEAU Jean-Pierre - French Federation President
- POUSSIN Marie - Barman & Parties
- PRANDI William - Here & There
- PROST Laurent - Here & There
- QUITTE Lionel - Tandem Flights @ Parties
- SCHMIDHAUSER Jules - Here & There
- VARNIER Jean-Marie - Ultralight Pilot
- VITTET Philippe - Here & There
- VUILLERMET Marc Charles - Driver
- WALBECK Richard - Meet Director
- WANKERL Friedrich - Goal Marshall
- WEISS Yves - General Coordinator
3 topics in this article: Christian Pollet, CIVL, Sté
Discuss "Sport Class pilots compared with Sport Class at the Worlds" at the Oz Report forum link»
Carnage in Annecy
Fri, Jun 27 2014, 9:32:27 am MDTcrash|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.
4 topics in this article: crash, midair collision, PG, Worlds 2014
Discuss "Carnage in Annecy" at the Oz Report forum link»
The 2014 Worlds - day four
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 |
11 topics in this article: 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
Discuss "The 2014 Worlds - day four" at the Oz Report forum link»
How many sport class pilots are in the top ten in the Sport Class Worlds?
Fri, Jun 27 2014, 8:57:18 pm MDTChristian Pollet
That would be one: Christian Pollet
1 topic in this article: Christian Pollet
Discuss "How many sport class pilots are in the top ten in the Sport Class Worlds?" at the Oz Report forum link»
The 2014 Worlds - Brian Porter
Sat, Jun 28 2014, 8:54:33 am MDTBrian 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.
2 topics in this article: Brian Porter, Manfred Ruhmer
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The 2014 Worlds - day five
Sat, Jun 28 2014, 8:55:24 am MDTweather
The 2014 Worlds|weather|Worlds 2014
weather|Worlds 2014
Weather. Maybe tomorrow also.
1 topic in this article: weather
Discuss "The 2014 Worlds - day five" at the Oz Report forum link»
The 2014 Worlds - Happy, happy
Sat, Jun 28 2014, 11:15:29 am MDTPG
PG|The 2014 Worlds|Worlds 2014
PG|Worlds 2014
You'd think that this was a paragliding competition.
1 topic in this article: PG
Discuss "The 2014 Worlds - Happy, happy" at the Oz Report forum link»
Attacking the messenger - The French suck big time
Sat, Jun 28 2014, 11:16:00 am MDTCIVL|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?
6 topics in this article: CIVL, Facebook, Joe Schmucker, Sté, Stéphane Malbos, video
Discuss "Attacking the messenger - The French suck big time" at the Oz Report forum link»
Phil Schroder takes a break from the heavy lifting of flying a Swift in Annecy
Sat, Jun 28 2014, 6:57:36 pm MDTFacebook|Phil Schroder
2 topics in this article: Facebook, Phil Schroder
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The 2014 Worlds - day six
Sun, Jun 29 2014, 8:22:20 am MDTFacebook|The 2014 Worlds|Worlds 2014
Facebook|Worlds 2014
Rain. Should be flying tomorrow.
1 topic in this article: Facebook
Discuss "The 2014 Worlds - day six" at the Oz Report forum link»