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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Hang Gliding and Paragliding Blogs:

Send me the URL for your blog if you write regularly about hang gliding and/or paragliding.

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Here is the most recent posting from each of the 107 blogs being scanned:

Jamie Shelden2012-05-16T16:44:59.194-05:00

When in Dublin...

I may have found my real calling. I completed my training at the official Guinness school and I can now pour the perfect pint. Fortunately, I can't really drink the stuff.



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Uncommon SenseWed, 16 May 2012 21:35:51 +0000

Dr. Jack Kruse, Neurosurgeon, is a Big Fucking Liar

Now I know

I was admonished over and over. For months. By "People." Many..."People." Now, mind you: everyone lies. Really. But I've always been the sort to dismiss so-called "white lies," and hyperbole. Moreover, I sit as my own judge in determining for myself whether any particular lie rises to my own standard of outrage—because everyone should have their own standard of outrage.

Let's take progress pics, mine included: tan, suck in the gut a bit—not too much—suitable clothing, decent photography, etc.

Like this?

Screen Shot 2012 05 16 at 10 15 21 AM
Dr. Jack Kruse, Nov. 2009?

No, not even close, and anyone with just a small bit of sense would know immediately it's not only not Dr. Kruse, but most likely never will be. But can you prove it? Indeed, you can. So here goes.

I got emailed a link last evening, right here(if you don't click & look, you'll be a bit lost going forward). It's a screen clip of a photo posted at 7:02pm on May 9, 2012, to IPMG (International Paleo Movement Group)by Jack Kruse from his personal FB profile (not the one representing his blog/website). Yes, as my earlier post attests and is totally genuine, that group is awesome. But this is how I found out about it...not getting out, much. So, please don't let this post dissuade you in any way from enjoying the huge value that group is creating day by day.

Like I said, I knew immediately that was not Jack's back. And I could not imagine how someone could be so brash as to try to pass it off as such. Given events recently, the spoof/parody Twitter account, and still extending (expending?) every benefit of doubt I could until my eyes bled out, I noted that Jack's blog/website account is "Dr. Jack Kruse" and this was from "Jack Kruse," and with a different profile pic. Was he being spoofed, again? Well, it didn't take long to discover he has a personal FB as well, and he has a lot of posts on it tagged public, so you know it's him (plus, the who's who of friends he has).

I then joined IPMG, and scrolled for a long time (there are just tons and tons of posts there, every day) to get a single week back to assure myself that yes, Jack did, in fact, post this:

Screen Shot 2012 05 16 at 8 26 47 AM
Screen Shot 2012 05 16 at 8 26 47 AM

...And you know what? I have debated with myself, talked to "People" on the phone, etc. ...Over the last six hours, deciding first to give it a rest and deliberate, and so on. ...And then I look at those comments to that post.

And then I look at those comments to that post

And then, I look at those comments to that fucking post....

Every time I do, I feel more and more ashamed for extending the benefit of the doubt, getting in huge arguments with "People"...even telling some "People" to fuck off, including one of the nearest, dearest and best "People" friends I've ever had.

Go look through the hard ass work some of these people are doing at IPMG and posting it, including women in their panties. Their own hard work; and then, imagine that someone just has to 1-up everybody; and even to the point where, because he's a doc & surgeon—and ought righteously to be above reproach—they innocently submit to him.

Evil? You decide.

Jack Kruse, in the end, asked more than I could ever give and I was willing to give a fuck of a lot. I was willing to put up with his over the top hyperbole as just an ethic: people put up with my over the top blogging in terms of being whatever it is people think of me. I'm paying back.

I've had numerous exchanges with him by text and phone. I always thought he was worth the effort.

But I'm done.

Blogging is being yourself. If you're playing a role, you have a website. I've been being myself and blogging about it—with all the stinky included, since 2003—and it 'aint worth Jack, or anyone else. BTW, giving Jack leeway wasn't unprecedented, even amongst the so-called "Paleo elite." Robb Wolf did, but he became impatient too. I doubt Robb would regret that I mention that he and I had a long email exchange over that, and the real gist is, it's a bummer. Jack is really dynamic and hype be dammed. He could help a lot, but this level of lying is just not something I can abide.

Yes, I did the reverse image search on the photo as well, as my final step of due diligence even though I knew precisely what I would find. If you have any further doubts, click here, courtesy of more good "People."

OK, so now I invite every single People or just people to tell me "I told you so." I guess I deserve it. The one thing is, I no longer have to take anyone's word for it and that's an important thing for me. Yea, I suppose I could have dug, so it's not a huge point.

Onward.

You might also like

  1. Jack Kruse: Neurosurgeon. Leptin Reset and Cold Thermogenesis. Controversy
  2. Dr. Jack Kruse Booted from Carnival 2012 Low Carb Cruise
  3. A Fucking Guest Post: Julien Smith, the New York Times best-selling author of Trust Agents
  4. “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”
  5. Cold Therapy and Adaptation, and Ray Cronise


(link)

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Earth Turns & Wind BurnsWed, 16 May 2012 20:14:00 +0000

Back in the SFBA

Back in the SF Bay area. Home for the foreseeable future. Why here ? Well... I am a techie and eventually I plan to get back into electronics, Silicon Valley is still a good place to be for this, and also has a decent selection of places to to fly and recreate. The downsides of expensive to live and perpetually busy are out-wieghed by my great friends, the beautiful coast and mountains nearby. I haven't seem to have found time to do my laundry yet, but had to get out of the house a couple of days ago.
I jumped on my bike and rode a round for a few hours.
I love the shades of fresh green up here, this time of year especially.
I found the Helliyer velodrome, a spot I've been meaning to check out. Who knows maybe I'll even ride on it some time. Looks fun. Also got to hang out at the fort yesterday, and contemplate life. First flight there this year.

(link)

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Corinna Schwiegershausen2012-05-16T20:55:19.782+03:00

German freezing Open at Tegelberg



This is what Tegelberg looks like tonight. Lots of rain and snow today, no task. For tomorrow the forecast is positive that we will fly, but it will definitely look like a week ago on Rauschberg when I sat up the Moyes RX3 in the snow. At least after landing it was nice and warm like summer last week and I met the legends of our XC cup, Peter Waldmann and Markus Ebenfeld. Peter is leading the DHV XC at the moment which is a remarkable achievement. Many years ago he had a severe accident, but he is able to walk and fly hang gliders again. He flies with huge wheels as he can´t land on his legs, but despite the wheels he flew huge FAI triangles last week and is now the XC Nr 1 in Germany - congratulations!
Meanwhile I have put a new sail on my Litespeed 3,5 s. Quite a lot of work to fit the stickers, but I like the result!
For the German Open, it looks like we will fly a task tomorrow and on Saturday, maybe not on Friday. The weather is difficult to predict at the moment. I just hope it warms up soon, it will be below 0 this night...



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Matt's Basic Life & Occasional Adventure2012-05-15T21:28:56.452-06:00

Crawford Mountain Hang Doggin!

Photobucket
Cody, Clover & I arrived on top of the Crawford Mountains Saturday to find a nice breeze blowing straight into launch under sunny, 65 degree skies.
Photobucket
We set up as conditions improved, and helped Clover get into her sweater and harness. She knew we were about to fly, and the excitement began to build!
Photobucket
With little delay, we launched and quickly started climbing, as Cody soon joined us. We had the air to ourselves, as we skyed-out together in a thermal which took us to cloudbase at 12,300' - about 4,600' over launch, and 6,100' over the valley! The views into the Bear Lake valley, and out to the snow-capped Uinta Mountains were spectacular.

As the strong thermals gave way to the magic glass-off, we were soon joined by about 18 other hang gliders, many of which flew right up until sunset. We reluctantly left our 3-D playground to safely return to earth in the landing zone below.
Airtime: 3 hours 45 minutes! Life's Good!

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Judith's blogMon, 14 May 2012 14:50:00 +0000

Podcast: Flatland Flying

Flatland flying with Steve Ham of flyPiedrahita. Steve Ham should need little introduction. He is a multiple record holder, former British champion and long term national team member. Since he discovered Piedrahita he has been a pioneer in the area and is now a legendary guide.

This podcast is about flying in flatlands, but also includes invaluable information for anyone wishing to go to the flying mecca of Piedrahita. 40 minutes. (May 2012)

Download the podcast: http://www.judithmole.net/podcasts/flatland_flying.mp3 (37Mb)

Flash version: Listen to it online

Subscribe to future podcasts: see the links on the right.

Please note: this, and all previous podcasts, are also available from the podcast page.

(link)

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Matjaz Tolmin, Slovenia2012-05-11T22:43:48.983+02:00

Quick dose of mountains

I got it all in 14 days. Greifenburg last week and a tourist flight in my home mountains. If I get it all together in a nice section of videos then you will get a taste of Alps also from my home site, again :) But every time different :) Our work schedule reduced now to work from 6pm till midnight so I have actually every day a chance to fly, when ever there is good weather. Very bad for my pocket but good for my soul :) Since I am used to one order with flying gear one change can make it that you forget something and come to the top with out vario. Again. This time I really did not mind. Sky looked good, so I did a 1.5h flight with out the vario again. So good to feel everything a bit in other way, I even found and thermaled out in the flat. Must be the good region to fly I would guess :D Today I borrowed my glider to Alan who showed the wish to test fly it. He flew about 60 km out and return and landed with the idea how relaxed the flying with Rs is. Looks like winter is coming again for a day, a 20°c temperature drop tomorrow, so the glider is in the garage waiting for new adventures when "ice men" pass over. This is tradition that say that this are the days when ice men come, mythical explanation of the days when sudden drop of temperature comes in this time. Guess something is still traditional with the weather, as everything else is not :)www.klemencicmatjaz.blogspot.com

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Life on the Lee-Side2012-05-10T16:17:02.238-06:00

Where the Micro Buses Go to Die

I know of a sanctuary of sorts. It's not for birds, tigers, or dogs. No its inhabitants are much less organic, but easily recognizable - the original Volkswagen Bus. The Type II Transporter was born in post war Germany. It evolved from a factory converted Type I (Beetle) that was used as an internal cargo vehicle. It became an icon of a generation in both the original split window form and later bubble window version.
I had a '73 Westfalia bubble window that defined my teenage years, emptied my wallet, and taught me how to work on cars. I drove it up and down the East Coast, into the Deep South, through the Rockies, and across the Northern Plains. All at a blistering Vmax of 60mph with a long line of cars, trucks, even mopeds angrily waiting pass.
My '73 Westy

The sanctuary is a final resting spot for hundreds of split and bubble window Type II's. It's secret location, just off I-25 north of Denver, is known only to a select few. Take Erie Parkway west to the stop sign. Make a left then the entrance is about half a mile on the right. If you see the dump you've gone too far. Oh and don't turn early into the RV storage before the stop sign. The "select few" is the entire '90's era readership of VW Trends Magazine, every VW Type II forum member on the planet, and anyone who's needed a used car part from Blake's Small Car Salvage.
Okay, the secret of Blake's has been out since the '80's rendering all the good bus shells long gone. Blake's will still sell you one for $1500, but you have to provide a replacement for either the junkyard wall or parts storage the shells have become. I frequent Blake's often for E30 and Tacoma parts. They aren't the cheapest, but they usually have what I need and getting to see the buses is a bonus.
Split Window

Bubble Window

Last month I needed a window motor for the E30. The seldom travelled side roads I take to get there would be a good opportunity rev the M Coupe, so off I went in the clown shoe. Blake's is a photographer's goldmine, especially if you like rusty, industrious subjects. I didn't have my SLR, but was kindly allowed to snap a few cell phone pics as we moved from bus shell to bus shell looking for a '88.5-'92 BMW E30 driver's side window motor. As we wandered the yard the sky darkened with ominous cumulo-mamatus clouds. The grey seemed appropriate for the scene, contrasting the shades of faded pastels and rust perfectly. I couldn't help but wonder how many miles traveled, adventures had, or shear tons of marijuana had been consumed amongst fleet.
Walls and Parts Storage



This One's Got Stories

This One Too

I got my parts and went on my way. Whenever I think of my old VW bus it conjures up happy memories. The freedom it offered me to venture out on the open road, to explore a newly accessible world. It taught me to appreciate things most people take for granted, like heat in the winter or a gear shifter with the number 5 on it. I'd like to build up another one day. Maybe something with a Subaru motor and luxuries like heat. Or maybe a bone stock split window with the original1500cc motor. Either way my relationship with the venerable Type II is still intact. And just like a Type II, a trip to Blake's leaves my wallet lighter, but my heart fonder.
Of Course I Had to Take a Few with the M Coupe


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Warren WindsportsMon, 07 May 2012 02:32:25 +0000

3 days of Spring in Autumn

Local Canberra site Spring Hill was on fire the last 3 days. (Quick vid below)

Starting with friday a few of us had a early mark and wanted to take advantage of the beautiful Autumn blue day. There were some gentle climbs to 4200ft amongst the light winds. And it was one of those days that you really want to outside getting amongst it.

I missed out on Saturday but the locals talked of similar conditions with plenty of fun flying.

read more

(link)

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Southern Ontario Parasport Club2012-04-29T09:18:36.707-04:00

We will be at the Stoney Creek Air Port today. Towing & ground Handling. Maybe Paramotoring. See you there??

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Norwegian hang glidingWed, 18 Apr 2012 23:06:13 +0000

I made the GoPro facebook cover shot

Check it out;

http://www.facebook.com/gopro

(link)

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Jim Rooney2012-04-14T18:48:55.594-07:00

Desert Rat

I am the desert rat.
I'm living in the desert that they call Arizona... just South(?) of Phoenix. For the next month and a bit, I'll be living in a little trailer on the airport grounds of a run down little airstrip called Phoenix Regional. The main runway's pretty cracked, so we use the taxiway instead. It's owned by the local Indians. I guess there's issues with who fixes the pavement or who pays for it or whatever. At the end of the day, it's a nice mellow airport.
There's a guy here that's getting back into teaching GA in his old Cessna 120, which for those unfamiliar is a tail dragger. My kind of plane :)So I'll be finishing up with him when he gets it all going this week.
Today, the wind blew. and blew and blew. It's supposed to back off tomorrow, which will be good cuz we've got a pretty busy day lined up.
Good stuff.Jim

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Cragin's flight (b)log2012-04-01T12:35:00.922-04:00

Kite Festival 2012

The Capitol club returned to the National Mall for the annual spring kite festival. This year is the second as an event of the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was also the 100th anniversary of the gift of cherry trees to Washington, D.C from the mayor of Tokyo.
Over the afternoon John M, Dan T, Matt G, and Karen C all spent time helping out, and Sheila G brought her girls down from Pennsylvania for to play DC tourists.
Mark C and Matt I Ready to Charm the Throngs

Glider and Booth
My Pulse glider with the child size harness was once more a hit among kids and their parents. Most of the afternoon little ones were happily swinging under the glider as parents snapped pictures.
Matt and I with the rider glider

Kites frame the Monument

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Terry from TorontoFebruary 26, 2012 Whew! Just got back from a 3-day whirl-wind tour of Las Vegas. We'd love to tell you all about what happened there ... but... ah ... sorry ... that "stays in Vegas".
                                    (Wendy and I hadn't been there since the fall of 1977. )  OK, well, ... there are a few pics on Picasa.

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Freeflying in Taiwan2012-02-23T16:37:22.082-08:00

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Dustin Martin2012-02-14T14:10:45.097-08:00

Zapata 2009

Digging through receipts while doing taxes, I re-discovered a notepad I had forgotten. Good times.


I like LIFT!




I like the abrupt ending - Hwy 20, 816pm, 5 miles E (of Big Spring)... then silence. I was almost at base, the sun was almost on the ground, and it was almost good enough. Laura, the legendary chase driver, was in the field near Ackerly when I touched down. Too windy to walk the glider to the car without wire assistance.

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Flying across the UK2012-02-06T16:22:22.389Z

Hang Glider Flying Video Mendlesham Suffolk England UK

A short video of hang gliding at the suffolk coastal floaters hang gliding club airfield in Mendlesham suffolk.The video was shot in June 2008, about a year after my last hang glider flight there.Hang Glider Video from Suffolk coastal floaters flying club, I have an Airwave Calypso.

I want to learn to fly a hang glider

This is the original url I used for my hang gliding web log in Jan 2005, but it got hi-jacked in Sept 2006, so I had to move my hang gliding blog toShola 's Hang Glider Blog about flying across Britain.The support dept at blogger.com helped me reclaim it, but I've decided not to move it back. Below is a summary of my hang gliding challenge. You can find more details at Hang Glider flying across

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Timo's Paragliding Blog2012-02-05T09:22:16.566-08:00

PWC Superfinal - The Final Task

The PWC Superfinal's final task was a very fast 76 Km. task. The winners were almost 40k/hr. and the top-60 into goal all flew faster than 35k/hr. average speeds. Josh and Nick were running in the lead gaggle and accrued many leading points, placing 22nd and 23rd. Eric found a hole and was slower, in 49th for the day. Scores for the final task can be viewed HERE.
Cumulative results are HERE. Josh maintained his hold on 5th place with Nick and Eric placing 22nd and 25th overall. BZ had some tough tasks in the last few days placing 95th and Jack sat out the last two tasks after landing under canopy on task 7. He finished up at 81st.
The US team placed 5th in the Nations standings - Congrats guys!
And finally, Big Congratulations to Peter Neuenschwander for flying well all week!








Click for larger graphic

Here are a couple of great videos from Task 8 - yesterday -

Valle task 8 part 2 from broers philippe on Vimeo.
Official sites
3D Tracking Official PWC site
Organiser's website
Paragliding World Cup TV
Pilot list
Live tracking
Taskboards
Live Leaderboard
Retrieve map
Results: Task 1 | Task 2 | Task 3 | Task 4 | Task 5 | Task 6 | Task 7 | Task 8 | Task 9 | Overall
Task Tracklogs: Task 1 | Task 2 | Task 3 | Task 4 | Task 5 | Task 6 | Task 7 | Task 8 | Task 9
Task Animations: Task 1 | Task 2 | Task 3 | Task 4 | Task 5 | Task 6 | Task 7 | Task 8 | Task 9
Twitter (in test): https://twitter.com/#!/ParaglidingWCup


Blogs:
in English: Nicole McLearn | Brett Hazlett | Nicky Moss | Andre Rainsford | Gin Team Blog
in French: Gin Team France | Team ABAC | Elisa Houdry & Ludovic Sivignon | Maxime Bellemin | Charles Cazeau
in German: Swiss Team | German Team | Pepe Malecki
in Russian: Russian Team
in Portuguese: Claudio Virgilio
in Slovenian: SFFA news
in Czech: PGweb.cz/Renata Kuhnova
in Italian: Italian Team
The feed from www.timospgblog.com

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Mark DowsettThu, 12 Jan 2012 11:49:08 +0000

6th Annual Poker Tourney

01/21/2012 19:00 01/22/2012 02:00 01/21/2012 19:00 01/22/2012 02:00 poker.jpg

66 Tradewinds Place, Kit. 519-585-0673
Click here for a map.
Here's the Hall of Fame (past years' winners)

We're moving it to January this year as the holidays are a crazy time to get people when they are free....so this year it's Sat Jan 21nd! We still ended up having three tables last year but I wouldn't be surprised if we went to four tables this year.

Last year we gave out money prizes to the top five as I don't want the stakes to get too high amongst friends and family. We had two teenagers in the money that were first time players - my point is...if you're willing to learn, please come. The game is easy and everyone is keen on helping. Here is the Dowsett Poker Hall of Fame (the winners).

The game is Texas Hold 'Em Poker. If you know the ranking of poker hands, the rest is easy. Here are some basic rules to familiarize yourself with the game.

I snagged a few of the more common poker terms that you may hear while playin. You don't need to know them but it sure helps make the game easier for you.

Here are the tournament rules. You may want to read to understand how it all works. You may be moved from table to table during play and this explains how it's done.

I also found this great poker chip calculator to figure out how many chips we need...you may find it handy if you organize one of these. And here is a great formula that I use to keep the tourney to about 4 hours.

I don't think anyone coming is a poker star so don't be afraid to join in regardless of your poker experience. Everyone helps one another to learn.

The buy-in is a mere $10 and we'll have a time limit for additional buy-ins if you chose. We'll split the money up amongst the winners (probably top-five this year).

It's a fun and social night - come for drinks and snacks. It's a co-ed event and kids are welcome if you are unable to get a sitter. The basement is usually the kid-zone.

Please RSVP (call, online or on Facebook) so we know who's coming. We'll most likely need chairs so bring folding card-table chairs if you have them.

(link)

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North Devon Hang-gliding & Paragliding Club2011-12-31T19:39:13.317Z

Mountain Road, from 500m above Take-off

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Dave Hanning2011-11-30T23:43:50.415-07:00

Look I found interesting opportunity!

Hi friend!I was almost ready to call it quits this allows me to spend my paycheck the way want to im back in control of my life just trying to help out a friend http://nintendo.osonae.com/profile/99AndrewKing/see you.

Re: Fwd: Your question...

hi there!give it a tryhttp://g102052ryo.sakura.ne.jp/profile/99PhilipMorgan/ttyl

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Will Gadd2011-11-24T20:20:50.685-08:00

Moved to willgadd.com

Moved to willgadd.com as of November 25, 2011.
I'm putting this blog along with all my various old websites, blogs, etc. together on willgadd.com, come on over and check it out! New post up on a mixed climbing accident/video, interesting.
http://willgadd.com/?p=600

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Ray Helman2011-10-23T00:01:05.111-07:00

It was a nice fly day. I was about an hour+ late, but it was some sweet air,,,maybe tomorrow I'll get some real airtime !

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Jonny Durand2011-09-13T01:28:52.454+10:00

Brasilia Day 6 Video

Brasilia Day 5 video

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Larry Bunner2011-08-28T15:53:48.066-07:00

2011 US Nationals - Big Spring, TexasAfter an abominable world championships in Italy, I was excited to be heading to the US Nats in Big Spring, TX. This area offers the most consistent conditions in the country. I have flown there for at least 5 years now and cannot recall more than a day or two that was cancelled during the entire period. Interestingly, it rained from Dallas to Big Spring on the morning of the practice day. This was the first rain received in over 6 months. The area is very dry which is very good for us hang glider pilots.
Day 1 I am on the task committee. Davis is doing the weather. It looks pretty weak for today with quite a bit of wind. We call a 110km task northwest to Ackerly, then northeast to Gail and west to Lamesa. Unfortunately, we never got very high and no one made goal. Joe Bostik flew over my head high just past the first turnpoint and almost made it to goal. I landed in the same field as Davis Straub but squeaked past him to take second. With nobody at goal, the point values were very low. I am happy with second though.
Day 2 The good conditions return and we call a 164km slight dog leg to the north. The dog leg will keep lesser experienced pilots away from unlandable terrain before going the last leg over wide open farm fields. It has been so dry here that ½ the fields are barren. If you don’t irrigate you don’t have a crop. I took the second start at 1400 and had two nice climbs to 9000’msl on course. I left the group I was with and headed to an excellent cumulus cloud. I flew right under it but found no lift. I saw smaller cu’s on courseline to the north and headed to their way only to see them dry up just as I arrived. I now was down low in rough terrain (how ironic) and lost a turbulent climb down low finally putting the glider down in one of the few open fields in the area. Years ago, I would have been very upset with such a bad flight but my attitude has changed somewhat. I came to this competition with the objective to win it. I flew hard on this day and perhaps just a tad too fast as I never was in synch with the thermals. Of course as I was packing the glider, I looked up to see a number of gliders fly over my head thousands of feet higher! My nephew Zack is driving for me, Tom McGowan and Dave Proctor. He picked me up before I was finished packing (Excellent job!). Both Tom and Dave made goal. I couldn’t have been happier for them with just a few remorseful pangs for my pitiful performance. I finished 29th today and am in 24th overall. Davis won the day flying very fast.
Day 3 The task committee calls a record 380km (236mi) task to Parma and a backup task to Muleshoe (yes we are in Texas) of 242km (150mi). The reason for two tasks is that the weather models aren’t consistent. They all predict good strong winds but are not in agreement about the cumulus clouds. Some pilots are grumbling about calling such a big task because we won’t get back until very late. The committee changed the task to Muleshoe when the expected clouds didn’t materialize. I takeoff around 1300 and leave on the third start clock at 1400 in a good climb to 8700’. I hold the hammer back a little after landing early yesterday and find myself struggling again in the same area. I finally claw my way back up to 9000’ and connect with three good strong thermals at 700fpm as I follow the courseline north. There are no clouds to mark the lift but there are huge dust devils in the barren fields below that show where the good climbs are. Just past Lamesa I catch a group of gliders from an earlier start. They are flying around a huge dust devil but I don’t find the strong climb and decide to leave. A couple km’s later I hit a strong thermal over 800fpm at one point and top out the lift at 9500’. After a long glide, I spot Davis circling down low to my left and fly to him. I eventually catch 600fpm and get to 9700’. There are cumulus clouds to our north marking the way and I fly to them. The climb rates stay the same but it is obvious cloudbase is much higher. I take three climbs to 11000’ and one last climb to 13000’ before going on final glide to Muleshoe. I arrive at the airport to find no one there! Woohoo, I win the day! When asked to describe my flight at the pilots meeting the next morning, I tell the group that I flew the same as I did the previous day (when I finished 29th) only this time I made it to goal. I move up to 9th overall today.
Day 4 The winds are much lighter today so the committee calls a 143km task to the northwest to Patricia then due east to 11T and finally south back to the airport. Gary Osaba reports from his sailplane that the conditions are the best yet. I launch and get to 10000’ just before the 1320 start. This was the highest I had been this early. I thought I needed to leave early today to get around the course before the conditions started to wane. This was a miscalculation on my part as conditions stayed strong late into the evening. I flew with Mitch around the first turnpoint where I got low and had to dig out above a football field. The lift turned on to the best climb of the day at over 1000fpm to 10500’. Two more excellent climbs put me under a building cloud street. I was flying east to the next turnpoint into a south crosswind. Although the clouds looked better to the north, I was worried about drifting too far north and then having to struggle upwind to get the 2nd turnpoint. I elected to fly to the southeast where there were fewer clouds. This was my mistake for the day as I struggled in two climbs before finally getting up high again. I made the last turnpoint and headed on to goal. Two more good climbs put me on final glide to the airport. I finished 11th for the day and maintained 9th overall. Dave Proctor also made goal today climbing in one last thermal at over 700fpm at 1900 in the evening. Unbelievable!
Day 5 We call a bigger triangle task of 202.6km. The committee discusses the current world record speed for the course. The conditions are going to be so good that we think the record could fall. It is held by Attila Bertok from Hungary at 42km/hr. Gary reports from the air that the conditions are better than yesterday. Wow, how can it get better? This time we fly northeast 66km, west to Lamesa 65km and southeast to Big Spring 70km. I’m in good position to start at 1340 but Zippy signals me to hold back for a later clock. The start clocks are 20 minutes apart. At 1400 we start right at cloudbase at 10500’ which is the best start of the week for me. The course is long, I expect it to take about 5 hours so I pull the bar in and fly fast from thermal to thermal to the first turnpoint. Zippy gets out ahead of me but on the second leg to Lamesa I hit 5 climbs around 1000 fpm and catch him and many others at the 2nd turnpoint. I hit 800fpm at Lamesa and top out 2000’ above ten other gliders. I continue on as I’ve had excellent luck on my own this flight. The headwind is significant, up to 15mph as I glide toward goal. I climb up in three more good thermals and have the numbers (10:1) to get into goal. I pick up the speed but end up plummeting in strong sink and have to slow down to find another climb. Eight km from the airport, I’m down to 1500’ searching and hearing David Glover in my head saying “It’s better to come in a few minutes late than it is to land short”. I finally find a climb that eventually turns on to 700fpm. I take it up until my instrument shows that I have a 7:1 glide into goal. I turn on the afterburners crossing the finish line at 600’. I am the first into goal by 10 minutes; only five pilots make it. My task time is 4:20 which equates to 46.6km/hr possibly a new world record! I now move up to 5th with two days to go.



Nearing cloudbase over west Texas
Day 6 We poll the pilots this morning to see whether they want a short (2hr), medium (3hr) or long (4hr) task. The group is split so we opt for a short to medium task north to TBar and then northwest to Levelland airport. It takes me awhile to get in good position before I start on the 5th clock at 1440. Zippy and Davis take the same start and we are off to the races. Zippy gets a good line and leaves the rest of us behind. I miss a climb and end up behind the rest but continue to push north. There are no clouds to mark the skies but there are many dust devils in the fields. Half way to TBar I hit 1100fpm and take it to 11000’ and catch Davis and Bill S. I am now catching pilots who took an earlier start. I glide toward the turnpoint and just before it hit another 1100fpm climb. There are a number of gliders below. The final glide is off to the northwest and I have a tailwind. Two more solid climbs and I have the numbers to make goal. I race in as fast as 88mph and finish 2nd for the day four minutes behind Zippy. What a fun day. I made good decisions and pushed myself to fly fast. I moved up to 4th overall.
Day 7 Windy, windy windy this morning. I saw one of the planes that tows us up get a wing lifted and it took three guys to pull it down. The spot landing contest was to take place at 0900 and many of the locals were out to watch. The winds were just too strong so it was delayed to 1200. The task committee picked a couple reasonable tasks but the winds continued to blow hard. At 1300, the Safety committee decides to cancel the day. The conditions were just too strong to guarantee that the 30+ pilots could safely launch and land. An hour later the winds did die down some but they were predicted to ramp back up in the evening. I was charged up to fly as I was climbing up the rankings very steeply after my day two fiasco but alas it wasn’t to be. You can’t be a national champion by blowing a day. All was not a loss however as my poor start motivated me to push harder than I ever have before. I now know that I can compete with the best in the world whereas in the past I only believed that I could.
Recap for the week: I finished 1st twice and 2nd twice, accumulated over 21 ½ hours and 930km (575mi) in the six days of flying. Big Spring is the best hang gliding site in the US and possibly the world.

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Canadian Paragliding World Team 20072011-08-02T00:34:32.441+02:00

Thank-you

The Worlds is over.

It was a competition marked by controversy, tragedy, and the omen of change to the landscape of competition paragliding.

Myself, Keith, and Claudio thank all who supported us along the way: Family, friends, the HPAC, the AHPA, and even strangers who offered the moral and financial support that we needed and appreciated so greatly.
Thank-you, everyone.


Brett

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WRE 5002011-07-07T17:19:47.697-05:00

THE END: Nine Years of Mesquite, Hurricanes, and, All Too Seldom, Fabulous Flying



Everyone else is gone and I am sitting with a beer looking out at Falcon Lake (Come for the jet-skiing, stay for the funeral) contemplating the likely end of a bitter-sweet piece of personal history. Nine years ago I first came to Zapata at David Glover’s urging. My objective was to set a world record, ideally “the” world record, the sport’s absolute distance record. Previously I had already invested five wonderful summers in Rock Springs,WY pursuing the record. But in 2001 Manfred Ruhmer blew out Larry Tudor’s existing 308 mile record set from Rock Springs. With that, I realized that it had become essentially impossible to break Manfred’s new 435 mile record in Rock Springs, and that if I were serious about record hunting I would have to go to Zapata to do it.
So, the following year, 2002, I began what was to become an enduring love-hate relationship with this place; a relationship that began astonishingly well. Within a week of arriving, Mike Barber and I had made a couple of quick “training” flights of 125 and 160 miles to get the lay of the land. To round out a pleasant week’s flying we then jointly set the declared-distance-to-goal record of 321 miles. Wisely, Mike kept going, flying 438 miles and informally breaking Manfred’s record. Half an hour slower, and behind Mike, I opted to land at our declared goal of Big Lake, Texas. Before launching we had been assured that the day only rated a “5” on a scale of one to ten. In the coming month we were sure to see another three or four days with conditions at least that good. Assuming that this was an only moderately good Zapata day, I thought it would be the coolest damn thing to land my hang glider 321 miles away, at a point declared to be my destination nine hours before.
Charlie Averitt
It was indeed the finest thing I have ever accomplished. Nonetheless, I have seldom regretted a decision as I do the one to land. Nine years later only one other person has even come close to breaking Mike’s record, Dustin Martin who went 410 miles three years ago. After our astonishing flights that year it began to rain. It rained in an environment where Gary Osoba’s meteorological research indicated that we should experience essentially no rain during the months of our interest. But history be damned, it rained; rained hard and often. Indeed an early hurricane put an end to that year’s campaign.
And so it has gone over the intervening years. A changing cast of characters has rotated through Zapata flying a variety of gliders. Many were world class competition pilots (Manfred, Mike Barber, Dustin, Alex Ploner, Jonny Durand, Bo Hagewood, and Paris Williams, to name some) while others were weekend warriors with dreams. We flew a variety of gliders: flex wings, rigids, Falcons, and Swifts, and, briefly, paragliders. Our guiding genius brought a succession of, first, ultralight sailplanes (which he kindly let me fly) and ultimately the uniquely heavy Gemini with which he set this year’s record. For a short while we flirted with towing from a dirt strip built for us on a local banker’s property twenty miles northeast of the airport. The objective was to give us a starting point further east to ease the basic early morning tactical problem of getting around Laredo’s airspace. Several pilots set triangle records (itself an indication that the winds were too light to go for the big distance), and several Swift and sailplane records went down. But the big conditions never returned in their entirety.
The Zapata Basics
Through it all there was several constants. Perhaps obviously, there was the airport. But much more importantly, there was, and is, Charlie Averitt the airport’s manager
Russell Brown - Quest Air, Florida
and in a very real sense our host in Zapata. The consummate aviator, Charlie has essentially placed his airport at our disposal for weeks at a time, allowing us to use his hangar for the tug and all manner of gliders that we’ve brought here. His kindness and concern for our quixotic quest has been touching, and without him I am not sure the WRE would have either happened or endured. Then there are the tugs and tug pilots. First among equals is Russell Brown who has towed us for countless years, and provided tugs for the ones when he wasn’t here. Steve Kroop for years also provided a tug (and was foolish enough to let me ferry it across four hundred miles of desert), while we had a host of excellent, indeed world class, tug pilots: Rhett Radford, Wiley, Bo Hagewood, and Armand.
Another constant is Gary Osoba, whose extraordinary understanding of the macro-meteorological aspects of cross country soaring provided the insight which unlocked Zapata’s unique potential. Ironically, the key to Zapata’s long distance potential lies in the consistent southerly wind that reaches from the Gulf of Mexico up into eastern Wyoming. It is precisely that southerly air flow in Wyoming that had blocked our record attempts from Rock Springs, over eleven hundred miles away. But I digress.

Davis Straub - OzReport.com
Davis Straub too has been in Zapata every year. He simply loves coming (although I am not sure the same can be said for Belinda) and he has accumulated a boatload of formal and informal records here. Jokingly, I ascribe to Davis the role of dark counterpoint to Gary’s optimistic daily weather forecasts. David Glover too has been here for the bulk of the campaign, filling a more amorphous role that combined driver, ringmaster and entertainment director.

DriversJust as tugs and pilots are essential, we simply could not fly over this country without dedicated and skilled drivers. Some pilots have indeed come here without a personal driver, but they have often paid a terrible price for it in extremely long retrieves from extremely long flights. No one has died, but there have been some near misses and horrible retrieves (Of course, there were good retrieves too: Rick Walker picked-up Jamie Shelden and her glider with a helicopter). Anyone who’s been serious about going far has been compelled to come up with a driver. But even then, there are drivers, and there are drivers. One infamous driver drove out some 250 miles, lost contact with her pilot and then drove home, leaving him out there on his own.
Gary helping me launch.

However, I have been blessed with two extraordinarily good drivers who combined the necessary intelligence, technical skills, and devotion to guarantee that I would get picked up no matter where I landed. Drew Holupka drove the most years (and had driven in Wyoming as well), and he had the worst of it. He experienced the nastiest weather as well as the worst of the evil mesquite walk-out retrieves while I learned my piloting trade. Once I became a better pilot, the bad retrieves diminished. But Drew was there for the early ones. Fortunately, Drew also experienced the finest of all retrieves: he was there within minutes when I landed at my Big Lake record goal, after which we drove on to pick up Mikey Barber at 438 miles. Those are literally world record retrieves.
My other driver was and is David Glover. In some respects it is nothing more than fitting that he got stuck driving for me as he is the individual who talked me into coming to Zapata in the first place. And David has proven to be every bit as good as Drew. However rooming with him is quite different as his tv watching tends towards Stephen Colbert and the Daily Show, while Drew and I watched the Tour de France and Maria Sharapova’s legs at Wimbledon. They may differ in style, but I have been exceptionally lucky to have two such friends willing to help me strive for my life’s dream…as well as being willing to help hike out my glider in hundred degree temperatures.
WeatherPerhaps the most constant presence at the WRE has been the weather and our obsessive attention to it. Perhaps better said, the weather has been the most inconstant presence. Obviously, the historic weather patterns are the reason we have continued to come to Zapata, and also the basis for the extraordinary number of records set here. But at the same time its maddeningly erratic behavior has provided the absolutely worst aspects of the Zapata experience. We have literally seen the desert cactus bloom. We have seen the prevailing winds reverse themselves, or simply stop blowing (good for triangle records, I concede). But we have all too seldom seen the weather provide all of the necessary constituent parts we require to set distance records.
The enormous scale of what we are attempting requires an extraordinary number of individual weather features to be simultaneously present over a vast area. We need morning Gulf moisture to produce the remarkably solid and reliable cloud streets that provide usable thermal conditions at 9:30 in the morning. We need a southeasterly wind direction that on the one hand brings in the moist air, but one that is not too easterly and driving us into Mexico. And that wind must continue for over five hundred miles with both a consistent direction and velocity. We also need cumulus clouds that continue over the entire distance. It is not enough that we have the morning overrunning clouds for a good start. We need them to become conventional cumulus clouds towards noon, and then they must improve as we continue northward. The climb rates must increase, and, critically, cloud base must continually rise for two reasons. Until cloud base rises significantly above the mesquite country it is impossible to fly very fast. Otherwise, we must fly too cautiously. And once one has left the mesquite plains behind, one hundred and fifty miles from the start, it becomes essential that the clouds continue to rise as one gets up onto the Edwards Plateau. For it is there, late in the day, that we can fly fastest. High clouds coupled with high winds and the presence of evening convergence clouds allow one to move extraordinarily quickly in the final hours before landing. Finally, this all must continue until half an hour past sunset, the legal limit of our latest landing time. Mike Barber’s unofficial record flight took eleven hours, and he needed every damn minute of it. I am occasionally still astonished by the audacity of what we attempt, and have achieved, here.
Throwing Chicken Bones and Checking Chicken Entrails, or Weather ForecastingIf the weather itself has been a constant, so too has been our obsessive daily preoccupation with forecasts, short- and long-term. I like to say that I just look out the window in the morning to see if the over-running is happening, but the truth is that Gary and Davis’ often contradictory insights are an invaluable part of my daily decision-making matrix. But sometimes I just have to walk away with fingers in my ears.
Tourists
An early constant at the WRE was the presence of what we perhaps arrogantly referred to as tourists. The dramatic early successes from Zapata created the misleading impression that it was “easy” to fly far from Zapata; that two hundred mile flights were low hanging fruit below mesquite trees. This resulted in an early surge of interest in participation by good local club pilots. During my first few years there were a considerable number of club pilots who had succumbed to the malign lure of Zapata. Very, very few of them had particularly good flights; indeed many never really left the hangar, and some experienced only short flights and nightmarish retrieves. WRE organizer Gary Osoba was placed in a quandary. On the one hand he needed a certain number of pilots to attend and help defray the considerable fixed costs of the project. On the other hand, it would be irresponsible to invite the participation of individuals who at best would not have fun, and, at worst, would be at risk flying in this unforgiving environment. In the end, stories of Zapata’s difficulties spread to deter the participation of almost all tourists. However, while that was good for safety, it rendered the WRE finances tenuous. There were years where little more than Davis, Robin Hamilton and I really flew. Zapata is a place that requires a unique mix of skill, attitude and opportunity, and at the risk of being elitist, that combination is a rare commodity.
The School of Zapata
I don't know why I'm smiling.
Finally, as I contemplate leaving Zapata, never to return, I am compelled to reflect upon its effect on me. Simply put, the experience has made me a much better pilot. Zapata’s principle limitation, the weak morning lift drifting across highly undesirable country, has taught me a patience and focus I never had before. Zapata’s reliability has taught me that you simply don’t have to give up until your feet hit the ground (or until you’re going to have to land in the mesquite). Zapata’s grand scale has allowed me to dream beyond previous boundaries. Most pilots have difficulty imagining a flight of more than five miles beyond their present position. Flying in Zapata teaches one to think not in tens, but hundreds of miles. My longest flight this year was a bit short of two hundred miles; but that was little more than half of the day’s declared goal. Most pilots can’t imagine doing it, but that is precisely what is routinely attempted down here. The scope of what we have attempted teaches patience on a grand scale. An hour’s groveling low under a temporary cirrus deck is merely a brief interruption in a long flight. It has given me something very special, the skills and outlook of a strategic pilot. I see beyond the horizon, and believe I can get there.
The EndWhile the Zapata experience may be trying at times, it has nonetheless also provided me with the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything. And, with all due respect to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it is not 42. It is,Cornswoggled

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Chris Santacroce2011-05-25T21:00:30.795-07:00

web site

Hi and thanks for checking in. I have a new web site www.superflychris.com ---> please check it out if you have a moment.

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Chris Page2011-04-19T10:52:00.729-05:00

Powered Sport Flight Interview


Join us today on PSFR for an interview with Director Chris Page as he talks about the new award winning documentary "Into the Wind II". 12:30 pm CST, or listen to the archive from the same page after the show...
http://www.psfradio.com/

ITW II EARNS GOLD REMI @ WORLDFEST


"Into the Wind II, The Adventure Continues" accepted the "GOLD REMI" award for Feature Film - Documentary during the 44th annual Houston International Festival Saturday April 16th. The "REMI" is named after Frederick Remington, the artist and sculptor who created many western and Texas works. The awards dinner and banquet was held at the Marriott Westchase in Houston, followed on Sunday by a V.I.P. NASA tour and then a BBQ reception and boat cruse from the Houston Yacht Club. A busy fun filled weekend. Director Chris Page (right) and Narrator Dave Gorham (left) pictured.

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High Times2011-04-15T21:03:15.096-07:00

Dune Fly

It has been on and with all the daylight now there's plenty of time to get after it during the week!

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Simon KaySun, 20 Mar 2011 19:43:08 GMT

wow I flew

4th flight of the year, take off at 2.30. 12mins into the flight I was already at 1600m over Nudo take off; taking it slowly (this is a WW Falcon, right) I get to nearly 1800m East of Nudo, go for Colonna. Get there OK drop down to 1500m and decide to leave, bit of a thermal on crossing back, arrive at Nudo below summit but not low. Go round to Nudo TO and climb out in nearly 4up avg to 1980m, then head out to Cardana. About 1km short of the house, get to 1200m and decide to head back. Up to restaurant, 1200m over summit of Sasso, over to Nudo again, back to LZ but this time first low over Picutz. Very dodgy landing in very switchy winds, just make it because the Falcon is more like a paraglider to land... This adds to a 20min, 12min and 1hr flights so far for this year. (link)

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Cielito lindo2011-02-01T13:14:51.533-08:00

La suite d'opal

Ne pas laisser l'ancien blog d'Opal tomber aux mains de n'importe qui...

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Brett Hardin2011-01-11T01:55:46.934-08:00

It's been a long time

The Bright Open 2011 is less than a month away, and besides the Canungra Cup in October, I haven't flown much this year. A lot has changed since last year - the big one is we moved up to SE Queensland and are just now getting settled into our new house in Currumbin Valley...
A few other things have happened, one is I just passed by 1000 hours on a paraglider, it doesn't mean a whole lot, but it does mean I have survived a lot of crazy shit.
The flying in Canungra is quite different than Bright. Most of the years I was in Bright were during a drought, so the conditions were definitely strong, the last year in Bright it was very wet and so the flying was more pleasant, but the season seemed to be shorter.
It's very wet in Queensland, right now the flooding up north of us is making the world news, and of course the wet ground around Canungra means you have to have a whole lot of patience to go XC, and that is something I am not very good at but will be learning more about..
The harness tweeks I spoke about in my last post are paying off, the nose of the pod is pointing down finally and I like the feeling of the setup much better.
Hope you all are getting good flights.

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Linda Salamone2010-12-02T11:07:14.838-05:00

Wow, what a slacker I've been. It seems that Facebook has (temporarily) taken the place of blogging. Also, I haven't flown much lately, with the exception of the Arizona meet- the Santa Cruz Flats Race, way back in September. I flew my ass off there- and did some really stupid shit in the process. Note to self: find a happy medium between GOING FOR IT, and PLAYING IT TOTALLY SAFE. A mostly lackluster flying year for sure- coming back from an injury, getting totally skunked at Tegelberg on the heels of a so-so Florida comp season. But it seems that competitions are the only way at all for me to get the cobwebs out and fly fly fly. So many things seem to get in the way during regular life.
Anyhow... I had a decent winter flight last week, the day before Thanksgiving, after many weeks of being ground-bound. I had talked myself out of going a few times in the weeks before, and wound up kicking myself for not just GOING. So sitting at work, looking at the sunny, light (but COLD) forecast, I decided to just head out. I wanted to have something to really be thankful for! My son had borrowed my car so Mark had to get me from work and load our gear on. I brought along my freshly charged Thermic heated gloves to try for the first time since buying them in Germany. It seemed to be a mild enough day to try them out without the added hassle of rough air, and I was really anxious to see if all that money I spent on them was a waste or not.
The sun was shining brightly the whole drive down to Bath, NY. And while I set up the glider- still mild and sunny. When my son called to tell me I had to speak with his coach at 2pm (it was 1pm now, I was all set up and conditions were GOOD!), I was pissed to have to wait while Mark and Ed launched. Finally the call came and went and I launched myself into some really easy air and got right up. Launching and transitioning with the gloves was uneventful. Of course, by now, the sun had been pretty obliterated by a thick upper level scuzz, and I usually don't like flying in the cold sunless northeast. But the air was so sweet and easy and lifty and just absolutely effortless. Avoiding Ed was the biggest challenge I had while we climbed in a big boaty thermal just above launch, but once I got on top of him, I could drive around anywhere and take stock of my hands and how they felt with the lowest heat setting. I decided I wanted more warmth and it was simple to increase the setting to the second level in flight. I could zip into my harness easy enough even with a thick coat and a few layers of clothing on, but the dexterity of the gloves is not really good enough to use my push-to-talk easily. A few times I transmitted something to Mark but his volume was so low it was useless to talk. He called out that he was cold and landing on top and shortly thereafter I found myself sinking out. Doug had arrived and launched so Ed, he and I scratched around near the launches until I felt crowded and headed behind the church to land. The rolling narrow LZ there is not exactly my favorite choice of landing spots, and without wheels today I was even less thrilled, but I didn't even have time to stress out about it because I was staying up just fine on that piece of ridge. 10 minutes later a nice cycle got me plenty high enough to top land. I set the gloves to the 3rd and highest setting as the cold was settling in to my whole body and they felt nice and dry and only a little chilled. Nothing like they usually feel when I fly in 35 degree weather for an hour. So I flew around at 600 meters over the hill for a while and listened to Mark whine over the radio while his own hands thawed out. Before I could get too low again, I decided to land on top even though Ed and Doug still commanded the ridge. I didn't think either of them was high enough to land anywhere but behind the church but soon Doug begged to differ and did a landing on the knob behind launch. Nice to have a PG sometimes! My own landing was good and I took stock of my hands and how they felt as I carried over to break the glider down. Still warm, and dry, and ground handling is fine with the grip. Having cold hands is the main reason I dislike flying this time of year. I think I have that all solved now. These gloves were such an impulse buy, and a big expense, but I was nervous about the cold conditions in Germany and didn't want frozen hands to hold me back during the non-existent World Meet. Another pilot had heard I bought these gloves and told me then that they were terrible- she had tried them and found her hands were soaked and sweaty and raisin wrinkled when she landed some hours later. I didn't use then for more than an hour, and I didn't have them on the highest setting the whole flight, but let's see what happens when I test them out some more. For that experiment... I need some decent flying weather. Bring it on.
Flights: 1
Glider: old Litespeed
A2: 606m
Airtime: 56 min
Hammondsport

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KnumbKnuts' Hang Gliding Blog2010-10-07T08:16:45.348-07:00

Big O Loop:1, El Niño: 0

What a week... and the week before that was a lot of hard work. I spent a lot of cabbage cutting a road up to new launches and a fair bit on top of that, prepping it for the rain. That rain came with a vengeance... the wettest week in almost 15 years. Ugh.
The call for help went out here.
Mike Zeller, Rob McKenzie (in the rain especially), Owen, Carl, Flakey John, Kevin Greene, Megret, Rebar Dan, Kenny, Rod, Bob, the list of people who helped prep for the rains is bigger than that, but they are the ones that spring to mind at the moment. What a great team effort.
It held up against 8 inches (at least) of rain in 5 days... that's half a normal season. Lots of that came down in strong bursts that overwhelmed the terrain. The road needs more design work and a lotta "touching up," but it held.
The jute matting (straw / mesh) held well, as did the canvas. The hay bales were also a success. The home made straw rolls were basically worthless, the drains were a joke. Cutting trenches seemed to help, especially the deeper ones.
The culverts worked very well.
Here are some pics... Click on them to pop larger ones.

The F'O' Hundred Launch


Soft stuff washed away, leaving these monsters


Between the launches


Zeller's diagonal cut across Embree


Looking down the last climb after the last turn


These straw rolls didn't do much


The burlap strips and jute matting held the line... the slope held.


This slope was a concern


I was worried about a slide from the left... didn't happen.


10 dollar rolls of burlap... best bang for the buck


The drains sucked... only figuratively... this was the only visible one.


The mud in the middle pushed the water to the right (see next photo)


Under the bale and down the slope... this was the worst spot in the "Great White Slope" and still not bad. That jute matting was worth the $740... it save the slope.


The banks we built up washed away, but the matting prevented a slide.


Above the McKenzie launch


The slope to the East near McKenzie Launch


Nasty chasm in the loose sand... a few of these in safe spots.


Middle portion was safe


This deep ditch worked really well.


Above the first slope.


The rocks worked well


Bottom of culverts... great job Rob & Owen


Rob engineered a nice solution!


Bottom of Via Testes


Pretty deep ditch on the inside of the road above the Ranch House


Still there!


The road into the LZ had some nasty damage


Little worried going over this one

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Tommy Thompson2010-06-01T21:34:11.061-07:00

N7163E Kolb M3


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Paragliding Massala2010-05-15T06:13:37.288-07:00

Reflecting on the season .....

.... that just flew by
Its been an year since I acquired the then newly introduced Sprint from Gin and my flight log tells me that I have accrued 50 hours (49.7 to be precise ;) on it. What, a measly 50 hours in a whole damn year? It is nothing for an aspiring PG whatever (it feels funny to be called a pilot). In a moderately-ideal world, Nandi would have beckoned all weekend flyers, but not having it for any useful stretch of time meant that I had to travel to log some hours (well, obviously, not just to log). As most of these were weekend trips, these hours came at a cost, not just monetarily, but with the stressful late night and early morning travel involved. The past year was accommodating in a way as there were quite a few holidays which coincided next to a weekend. And it didnt help that the Bangalore airport (which incidentally is next to Nandi) is a pain to travel to. Of course, the alternative (the much better alternative), Yelagiri takes just 40 mins longer than to get to Nandi, albeit in a different direction (or bearing ;) - could not fly there much though ....... or as much as I would have liked. But thats life and I am pleased with my 49.7, which came off 63 flights from 17 different takeoffs.
So, where have I taken the Sprint to? Yelagiri, Bali, Bahau, Kamshet, Vagamon, Bir, Panchgani, Varkala and Pokhara. Of these a few were special - Varkala, as its just a little more than an hours drive from my real home; Pachgani, for its amazing teaching potential and its ability to force me to focus on the flying, specially afternoon flying in April; and Pokhara, for the varied possibilities and the vibe among the PG folks who land up there. The Pokhra trip felt like on steroids with the SIV course (and a li'l acro) and the flyable weather for all the days spent there. And yeah ... for the interesting people that you meet at all of these sites. The big disappointment of the year was Bir, with flying possible just for 3 days before the site was shut down due to (the incomprehensible) politics.
Great, so whats up? Though I have no clue on whats ahead, cant help but feel lucky for having finished the season without any physical damage to me or the glider, but as anyone who follows this particular sport knows, I am just delaying the inevitable - accidents will happen, more when the boundaries are pushed, conscious or not. Though keeping in mind these rational thoughts, I look forward to nail the big wing overs, yeah the really big ones, thats the plan :)
Cheers
Arabind

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Paragliding FanaticSat, 17 Apr 2010 06:05:00 +0000

This blog has moved


This blog is now located at http://paraglidingfanatic.blogspot.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

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Chris Smith2010-03-08T15:21:08.339-08:00

Moyes Litespeed RS4 - For Sale

Litespeed RS4 Fully loaded!
Carbon Fronts, Carbon Outboards, Carbon Sprogs, Carbon Battens, Smoke Sail, Zoom Frame, and Carbon Basebar.
Glider has been tuned by the best and is set up to haul ass...
Glider has less than 40 hours and is in mint condition... still crispy!


Retails for nearly 12k.
Asking $7200.00 OBO
xc bag included.
Glider can be shipped in Moyes factory box.
323.687.3720

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Rob ReynoldsMon, 28 Dec 2009 18:01:00 +0000

Cuv's Flight Tracks from the Alps


Rob "Stinky" Covington finally got around to downloading the GPS tracks from our 2 previous trips to the Alps over the weekend. You can find them posted here: http://robcovington.com/paragliding/paragliding.html.
The last flight on 8/20 at First is a really good map to the house thermals at this great site. We are headed back to the Jungfrau region again this summer because the flying was so consistent. Here's an album of my photos from our August trip.http://feeds.feedburner.com/GliderGearBlog (link)

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Keith MacCullough2009-11-19T21:12:08.921-07:00

Alberta Paragliding Website


Hey EvryoneIf you feel this website is of use to you then Paying Kevin Perry a small amount of money would help with the expenses that he incurred all on his own. There is a paypal at the bottom of the page to chip in to keep this going. I personally feel this is long needed to help pilots in Alberta. This is not a Muller Windsports project and I would like to keep it that way this is a page for pilots from a pilot. A site like this is only use full if everyone chips in with articles and information. SO lets encourage Kevin to spend his time and money by helping him out.


Hello everyone. albertaparagliding.com is up and running. We are continuing to improve it on a weekly basis. There is a home page with local news and useful paragliding links. I'm pretty sure the forum will prove to be the most useful item. In particular, the forum topic "the flying planner" where you can tell your friends that you're going out to the hill or ask friends to join you for some paragliding. Sign up! The more people that use the site, the more chances you will have to fly with friends rather than alone. We all need a local website where we can share information and plan on flying days and or vacations. I hope you find it useful. If you have any suggestions please post it on the Alberta paragliding forum.


http://albertaparagliding.com

http://forumpg.albertaparagliding.com/index.php


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Anthony Singh2009-11-12T22:32:38.072+10:00

oooh my new websites!
For the best corsets in Brisbane Australia go to www.iskyC96.com
For the best medieval bridal and formal gowns in Brisbane Australia go to www.moonstarmagic.com
Hell yeah!

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Alabama Hang Gliding Association2009-11-10T17:49:37.181-08:00


Four of us met at Dunn's last weekend. Bonko brought a paraglider and a HG. Ed Brashier (one of the founders of our new site and AHGA oldtimer) and new pilot David Howard both did sleds. I showed up just to work on launch thinking it wouldn't be soarable..........which it was the whole time I was making launch safe to launch. (It had grown up too much right in front.) The minute I had it clear to launch the wind subsided to about 4-8 and stayed there. The launch has improved recently due to more work and is very launchable right now in 5-15 mph winds. Remember this is the same ridge we've been flying since 1981...........just a new launch instead of Walkers Gap. The ridge is about 10 miles long and from 550-650 agl. Longest flight to date is about 105 miles to Tennessee. Let's go flying soon ......prefered winds from 160-185 degrees at about 10 + mph. Philip Dabney

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Karamveer Singh2009-07-31T04:50:25.483-07:00

Paragliding, Paramotoring & Parasailing Training And Joyrides



Site : "Ish-Krupa" Gajbhat, Near Fish Market, Agashi, Virar (W), Mumbai 401301, India. Tel: +91 250-2586764, 9822499281,9822311459
E-mail: samsondsilva@gmail.com

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Darren Darsey2009-01-21T14:07:06.545-08:00

RSS

RSS news feed is now enabled on the new (b)Log site. Update your bookmarks or subscribe to the feed if you're interested.
Lift,
Darren
www.darrendarsey.com/lift

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Scott Gravelle2008-04-27T10:44:09.343-06:00

Last day




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Paragliding Europeans 2006 by OjovoladorWed, 16 Jan 2008 10:16:10 +0000

Video: Paramotoring over the Great Wall - Paramotor sobre la Gran Muralla

With some delay, we finally put together a video of the Worlds with some of the best flying images taken in China: above the Great Wall or the Ming Tombs. Enjoy!

Con algo de retraso, por fin hemos terminado un pequeño video con las mejores imágenes de vuelo tomadas en China: sobre la Gran Muralla o las Tumbas Ming. ¡Que lo disfrutes!

(link)

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Wallowa Paragliding2007-09-20T11:51:32.283-07:00

Landing Zones



Landing zones are available on the moraine directly in front of launch between the lake and the green pastures. There is a small road that will lead you down to the lake or back to the tramway so no shuttle is needed. The first green grassy pastures at the base of Howard just past the treeline are also an easy option, but a shuttle will be needed.

The old landing zone at Wallowa Lake State Park is currently restricted and not allowed. Do not land there!

Wallowa Paragliding

Welcome to Wallowa Paragliding! I am creating this blog so that anyone interested in my current Mt. Howard project will be able to get immediate information.

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Brazilian Team2007-08-18T18:06:46.152-03:00

Attila Bertok, Campeão Mundial 2007


Attila Bertok (Hungria) - Campeão Mundial 2007
Apesar do tempo começar a melhorar em Big Spring, a comissão técnica decidiu pelo cancelamento da última prova da competição e com isto o húngaro Atila Bertok sagrou-se o novo campeão mundial de vôo livre, nesta décima sexta edição do FAI World Hang Gliding Championship.
Parabéns também à equipe inglesa, que conseguiu trazer para Big Spring uma equipe nova, muito coesa, e levaram o título de campeões por equipe. Apesar de não ter nenhum membro da equipe no pódium no campeonato, não deram chance para nenhuma outra equipe. Os europeus demonstraram que estão na vanguarda do vôo livre, conquistando as seis primeiras colocações por equipe.

A equipe brasileira, em reunião, fez uma avaliação do seu desempenho e chegaram a conclusão que o principal erro da equipe foi começar a competição muito confiante em resultados e na primeira prova decidir por voarem juntos para tentar fazer a diferença. Não contaram com o outro lado da moeda e ao colocar todos os ovos no mesmo cesto, não imaginaram a possibilidade do cesto cair. O cesto caiu e os ovos quebraram. Começaram a competição no último lugar. Porém, após os dois primeiros dias de competição os pilotos brasileiros conseguiram recuperar a auto-estima e foram gradativamente subindo posições, com destaque para o Nenê, que terminou em 16 lugar na competição e o André Wolf que chegou em segundo na última prova, quase conquistando o chapéu de cowboy, prêmio para os vencedores de provas.

Foi um resultado muito aquém do que todos esperavam mas a equipe está de parabéns por ter sabido encarar esta situação adversa e lutar até o final por melhor resultado. Pena que as duas últimas provas não aconteceram, porque a equipe estava em total ascensão e precisando levantar a moral dos nossos pilotos.

Esta competição serviu de experiência para todos verem que para ser campeão, principalmente no vôo live, que depende de algumas variáveis além de equipamento e técnica, é necessário muita concentração e decisões rápidas, sem poder errar.

Agora é seguir em frente e continuar treinando e buscando resultados. Início de setembro já é a etapa final do Campeonato Brasileiro, em Brasília, e esta mesma equipe estará lá, agora como concorrentes, disputando o título nacional de 2007.

O próximo Mundial será realizado em junho de 2009, em Laragne, na França.

Obrigado e bons ventos,

Haroldo Castro Neves
Team Leader

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Stein Edgar Strandli2007-05-08T08:29:44.994-07:00

Tibet and Nepal

Nepal and Tibet are 2 incredible countries offering a culture very differnt from a western way of life. People are very friendly and if you are not used to travel, this place will give you a culture shook. But give it some days and you will see people are the same all over the world, they have only differnt ways of approching theire belifs and lifes.
The first picture is of the worlds highest mountain. Mount Everest as I fly by with an airplane, not my glider even though it would be fun to try that some day :-)
Picture 2) is also of Mount Everest, but from the monastry on the tibetian side only 5 km from the mountain.
Picture 3) I couldent help it but, I just loved this sign, some times short versions of words dosent always come out that good, tits in this sign actyally means "Turist Information Travel Service"
Picture 4) Kids are just great, they make the best fotoobjects ever, this kids are from Tibet somewhere where the bus had to make a stop becouse of a flat tire. Smiles are universal, you dont need to understand the language to have fun, smile on :-)
Picture 5) Sunrise over Mount Everest with the panoramic view of the mountains around. Temperature when taking this picture "Very cold!!"
Picture 6) Holy man from Nepal, actualy he might not be that holy since he is charging for the picture. anyway he looks cool. The smoke in the background is from the fires of the cremation of the deads next to a holy river in Katmandu
Flight reports: A very interesting place to fly I been told. My good friend Otto Baste had a expedition down to Nepal around 1994 I think in the Anapurna area. Also the famous Italian Angelo d'arrigo http://www.angelodarrigo.com/ made his flight over everst here in 2004. I did not find any hangglider pilots when I was there, but there are a Paraglider club/tandem operations in the Anapurna mountain range for those of you willing to check it out. You will be flying close to Pokhara and get an unparalleled view of “fish head” mountain and the Anapurna range, price (~$50-$75) for a tandem flight
I think this is one of the "Must come back places with my glider", but then spend much more time here.

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Hang Gliding in L.A.2007-03-14T11:54:55.831-07:00

First SOLO!

This is a catch up post.
I did my first SOLO in AUG, 2006.
That is EXCITING!
Air is very smooth up on the 3500 feet Kagel mountain.
I will be on radio with my instructor Joe all the time during the SOLO.
It is getting late, and I must finish the lanuch and landing before sunset, otherwise it will vialate the club rule and local residence will complain about it.
Take off is a little nervous but very smooth, I was in the air after around 5 steps of running down the sloop.
Joe told me the take off looks good and I replied that I feel good in the air also.
After talking back forward for around a minute, I can't hear Joe in the radio anymore!
I am on my own!
The good thing is, Joe practiced with me what to do if we have 'radio emergency', means if the radio is not working when I am in the air.
So, I feel more exciting instead of nervous.
I canceled the 90 degree left turn practice and go toward the gearing area directly. (Gearing area is where the gliders wait and then begin to do the landing process, pretty much like how air planes land at airport.)
Air is smooth, it is quiet 2500 feet above ground.
Then I saw Joe running toward the number, which is my eye target before landing.
So I am more confirmed that the radio is off and Joe is aware of it.


After reaching gearing area and circulating several circles, I saw Joe is waiving hands, that's the signal that my altitude is approperate to begin the landing process.
I fly alone the downwind leg, and keep my eye on Joe. He will give me next hand signal to begin end leg.
After that, Joe waived hands again, I turn left to do the final landing approach.
I am a little off to the my right side, which cause me to fly over a bush, Joe waive hand to tell me to correct it a little bit. I didn't do much, because making turn in low altitude is more dangerous than high above in the air.
I flied over the bush, and land come to me fast.
I keep my eye ahead all the time, not looking down the ground even in one second. I learned not to look down hard way, crashed twice at the beach training site.
My body position is not upright enough, and I don't have time to correct it.
So I did a wheel landing, and some small grass scrached one of my arm, don't remember which arm now.
As my first SOLO, it is pretty good, especially the radio is off.
I called Paul, my instructor at Dockweiler beach training site, tell him I did it successfully.
Without Paul, Joe, Lynden's help, I can't finish this SOLO in just 4 month time. There is another instructor, I forgot his name, a good one too, did the last tandem with me, give me full control during almost all the Tandem process, helped me lot too.
There are several Tandem training session I didn't describe here, some day I will come back to put them here.
Learning hang gliding is fun, you can feel the progress you are making, and it is pretty safe due to the experience of the instructor and well designed training process.
Hope some day later I will do more of it and get my H2.
Harry Liu
Jan 24th, 2007

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Kevin Carter2007-02-28T21:07:19.157-05:00

Flytec XC Clinic

The Flytec XC/Competition Clinic will again be at Quest Air March
15-18, 2007, led by U.S. team members Dustin Martin and Kevin Carter.
Four days of learning and flying with the first day dedicated to landing, towing, and equipment perfection.
The last 2 clinics were wildly popular. This year we want to raise the quality even higher by focusing on a smaller group for more individual attention. To maximize value for the hungriest pilots we will fly 3 to a group capping the clinic to 6 pilots.
The clinic will incorporate both general XC and competition XC skills. This will includes learning and refining GPS navigation, using the radio, perfecting XC technique, improving out landing skills, and practicing aero towing.
Pilots will be grouped with similar wings and skills to foster consistent group flying. Each day your group will rotate to a different instructor so you can experience a variety of techniques. This is an opportunity for pilots of all abilities and all glider types to take their flying to the next level. The clinic curriculum will be custom tailored to the pilots who commit in advance.
We want to encourage, support, and help teach our future champions and XC record holders in a safe, friendly, laid back environment that will also cram a pilots head with as much information he or she is ready for!
The cost of the clinic is 300 dollars plus tows.
One of the most popular aspects of last year's event was the landing clinic. This year the program will more tightly integrate several landing sessions in response to demand.
Each day will include
* Morning seminars on weather, thermalling, gps use, route planning, XC skills, landing, towing, foot launching, tactics, etc.
* Midday XC tasks. These will be flown as a group tailored to the needs, skills, and equipment of the students.
* Evening GPS scoring, flight analysis, and debrief.
To sign up contact Dustin at flydustin@hotmail.com or Kevin at heaviek@yahoo.com

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Paragliding formula air/gravity2006-08-29T16:02:22.426-07:00

Locked in paragliding spiral

Saturday August 26, 2006 I launched at about 5:30 PM and flew for about 1:45 at Mount Woodside in the Fraser valley of B.C. Canada. It was strong wind conditions on launch. I pulled up my wing and stepped into it while it inflated , then turned and lifted straight up. Andy and Darren were allready in the air. There was lots of bouncey lift near the mountain and quite lifty further out. We roamed out over the river and Andy went back by the towers into the bowl and almost got flushed into the trees. The lift was pretty smooth out over the river and I hung around out there for most of the flight. I decided to go out to the ranch and got down to about 520m. Over the last ridge I found that I could point my toes and hang right at trim speed for .1m/sec. lift. I worked that for about 20 minutes then the glass off turned on for some better lift that took me up to 800m over the ranch. I decided to pull a SAT and after checking for traffic I started my turn and arm lock. About 3/4's of a turn I buried the right brake and the SAT rolled on like a reverse tornado!. I rotated down about 13 turns and then got my arm off the riser and backed off the right brake. The wing accelerated into a locked in spiral with both tips fluttering and the wing inclined about 15 degrees in the direction of rotation. I went "hands-up" and there was no effect! I pulled a bit of left brake and the wing clunked straight down and accelerated more! I pulled back on the right brake and while I was releasing it I pulled the left and the wing blew out of the spiral at about 250m.
I checked my vario and it showed a maximum decent rate of 18.4m/second! Someone calculated the rotational velocity at about 20m/sec. so added to the decent rate the combined speed is 27m/sec or 98km/hr! With all the creaking and groaning in my harness, I believe it!
I landed and went to Jim's birthday party. What a hoot! Jim and Coleen sure throw a fun party!

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Fungi's PhotosSun, 13 Aug 2006 13:46:00 -0700

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Kagelites Invade Texas2006-08-13T11:13:45.823-07:00

On our way back

We're traveling back to California after flying some really nice XC in the big skies of Texas. Although we had some weather days, I think most of us had a pretty good time. I had some of my best comp flying yet and managed to make goal. I'm sure we'll have plenty of stories to tell back at Kagel.

Development

On our way through New Mexico, we can see the clouds probably in Arizona with tops likely to 35,000'.

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Neil's Paragliding Blog2006-08-10T23:26:15.353+01:00

First flights as a qualified pilot.

Got picked up on Monday morning at 11am - I took a day off work just for the hell of it! Headed over the string and checked out the wind at Dereneneach. There was a north westerly so we decided to travel to Catacol, one of my favourite places on the island. Being a club pilot now, meant that Zabdi could stay on the ground and do ground handling with some other students. It's a shame because I miss her chat!! So it was just Maurice and I that went for a hike up one of the hills at Catacol. We had to fight our way through the bracken and up to a site just south of Catacol Bay called Am Badan, about 100m high. On the way up I even saw 2 deer bound past, but I was too slow with the camera. The take off site was quite steep and there were trees and power lines immediately below. The wind was a strong north westerly but there were plenty of seagulls soaring and they looked to be flying smoothly. The underwear stayed clean and I felt confident about going off.
First flying site at Catacol. The shingle beach was the landing site. The hill on the other opposite side of the bay is where we went for our second flight.
Again, like the previous day, I got hoovered about a bit the first couple of times I tried to reverse launch. Although the heather was quite deep and it caused me to trip over (that's my excuse anyway!). I should have been expecting to run forward as I brought up the wing because the wind was strong, I was trying too much to control it just with the brakes. On the third (or was it forth?) attempt I managed to get the glider up and I turned and flew out from the take off site. I gained some height straight away so the power lines and trees weren't a problem. I did 2 soaring beats but I flew too far forward and came out of the lift band earlier than I would have liked. At this point I turned and flew towards the landing site on Catacol beach.
This is a view of the hill from the opposite side of the bay.
It was really cool flying downwind. I followed the road beneath me, there was a car directly below and I managed to keep up with it - how cool! I think it was a shitty citreon saxo, so no surprise there! I flew over the beach where there were loads of seagulls. They all took off as I approached, it was an amazing sight from the air, it was just like a wildlife documentary. I then flew back over towards the road and did a couple of turns to lose height. I didn't want to end up in the water so I crabbed in to land and kept myself directly over the beach. I managed to touch down softly exactly were I was aiming. It was a shorter flight than I was hoping for but it was still immensley satisfying! Total flight time was about 10mins. Afterwards I packed up and waited for Maurice to come down, he was soaring about for quite a while and another glider appeared and joined him. I was quite content to sit on the beach. I ate an entire packet of jaffa cakes.
You can just make out Maurice and the other glider soaring about the hill. At this point I was sitting on the beach stuffing my face.
The wind had picked up after we landed so we hung about for a while to see if it would calm down. The wind seemed to be coming in waves, probably rolling off the Mull of Kintyre. There were definate calm spells and then windy spells. By looking out to sea it was clear to see if the wind coming in was strong or not. You could see the 'veins' on the water where the strong wind was, Maurice said this means it's 'borderline', also when white horses appear that indicates stronger wind.
After about an hour or so Maurice, myself and Carl the kiwi went to climb up the hill on the north side of Catacol. When we got up there the wind was too strong but I felt that it was flyable if it died down slightly. It was all about choosing the right time to take off. Because I'm qualified that means I can go first, Maurice was going to stay on the hill and guide Carl off so it was up to me to get out there and test it. My first reverse launch was a bit of a mess, but I managed to get it up and turn to take off, but just as I was a few inches off the ground I felt the wing collapse asymetrically. Surprisingly i didn't shit myself, I shifted my arse the other way and let the brakes go, I managed to get back down and kill the wing, but had a tumble backwards. The reason it happened was because I hadn't committed myself to taking off and running forward. I had let off one of the brakes too much, so one side of the wing overshot and collapsed. I wasn't too bothered by it because I felt it and delt with it (kind of) and I wasn't really trying to take off at that point.
Controlling the wing nicely - just before I arsed it up.
My second attempt was better though, once I had inflated I turned, controlled it and pushed forward until I left the hill. Suddenly I was up in the air and it was nice and smooth. I soared the brow of the hill for about 15 minutes doing many beats back and forward. I did feel the air become a bit bumpy when I flew a bit too far north round the hill so I kept my soaring beats a bit shorter just stayed at the front of the hill. I managed to get a good bit above the take off site. Having the whole hill to myself was awesome! The sense of freedom is just amazing!
Taking off from the north hill at Catacol.


Again though I think I flew too far forward and eventually came out of the lift band. I need to work at staying in the lift band when soaring. Instead of working back up I thought I'd stop being greedy and let Carl take off for his first big solo flight. I turned downwind and flew up the valley. The view up the valley is breathtaking and it was fun getting some good speed downwind! I flew down to a big empty field, lost height and landed in the centre. There was a nice smooth headwind at the landing I almost descended vertically and touched down very softly. It was a great flight, I love being a club pilot!! It was worth taking the day off work!! Total flight time was about 25 minutes.
Soaring, looking west towards Cambletown. You can just make out the Claonaig ferry that crosses from Lochranza to Claonaig on the Mull of Kintyre, near Cambletown.

Me flying out to sea and out of the lift band.
Carl the kiwi came down and landed in the field beside me, he was totally buzzing from his flight. It's always great to see someone complete their first big solo flight. He did really well in the strong conditions too. Maurice took off and soared about for a while before the conditions picked up and he was came down to land on the beach. A great way to finish another brilliant weekend down on Arran.
Maurice landing on the beach at Catacol.

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Highland Aerosports2006-07-31T11:05:13.153-05:00

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Big Al2006-06-16T17:34:19.470-07:00

Venezuela 2006




Flew down to Venezuela at the end of Feb with Ty Trand for a 2 week visit to fly. Jorge hooked us up with Alejandro (Ambulancia) as a driver/guide and we set off on a two week whirlwind tour of flying in Venezuela. Place Val was first up and was really sweet. Moving on to Merida where the flying terrain is jungley or high alpine soaring in the evening sunset.
We drove almost to the Columbian boarder and hit up Jeron (the cryer) for some over water antics.
Our last stop was Turrin, flatland flying, weather wasn't so good but we still flew every day that we weren't travelling. A wicked trip really cheap and very friendly.

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CTC's paragliding experiences2006-06-13T09:32:56.886-07:00

1st hops

OK I'm now 2 days into my 10 day course , wow!! wat can I say , why didnt I take this up ages ago ?? what a buzz , 1st day was ground handling , flew about 10-15 ' up few turns , just getting a feel , day 2 we flew from mount caburn , ( thighburn ) wat a trip , followed my flight plan , over the tree line & towards my landing point , unfortunately I got taken over the tree line again by a gust , but soon recovered , gained height & returned towards my point again , nancy was "mirroring me " & carlo was giving support on radio , circled twice on my descent ( I didnt want to land ...really ) but sadly gravity took its natural course , & I landed bout 20' away from my marker ( sposed 2b 10' but hey ho ,1st day n all that ) really really enjoyed myself , Ive now booked 3 more days so " watch this space" )

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Tove Heaney2006-06-06T18:05:15.130-07:00

Hang Glide With Tove

Hang Glide With Tove

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Wallend-Air School of Paragliding2006-05-19T00:32:37.913-07:00

Paragliding, Paragliders, Paraglide

All you can eat paragliding!
We at Wallend-Air school of paragliding eat, sleep, breath paragliding.
We LIVE 2 FLY!!!
If you are a paragliding fanatic, whereever you happen to be, we would appreciate your stories and comments here on our blog.
We specialise in paragliding training,tandem flights, paragliding tours and holidays, equipment sales (we are importers for Swing and Advance paragliders), paraglider repairs and servicing. If it's got anything to do with paragliding we do it and we got it!!
If you think you need to get your feet off the ground visit us at:
www.wallendair.com
Paragliding, Cape Town, South Africa

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Paragliding Images by Greg Babush2006-05-12T09:26:14.950-07:00

Zulu Pics in Iquique, Chile













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Hamad2006-05-07T01:16:45.043-07:00

Hang gliding


Hang gliding is an air sport. It is both a recreational and competitive sport closely related to paragliding and gliding (flying sailplanes), but using a much simpler and less expensive craft consisting of an aluminum- or composite-framed fabric wing, with the pilot mounted on a harness hanging from the wing frame and exercising control shifting body weight.

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Franjo Kuzmic-Franco2006-02-23T13:10:44.123-08:00

Ravna Gora Croatia

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Trakoščan castle Croatia

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Franco2006-02-22T13:33:31.596-08:00

on the road again

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Cumbrian Paraglider2006-02-21T14:53:15.970-08:00

Last Flight

Little Mell Fell
Sun 19th Feb
2 min Top to bottom No wind at launch forward launched landed behind our house
Had to be at work by 1.
There was some wind on the summit about 10 mph NE but lower down where its steep enough
to launch the wind was less than 5. I reverse launched in a bit of breeze could have flown home
but felt a bit of lift and turned in it but lost height and had to side land.
Hauled the glider back up, but couldn't wait around for thermals as had to be at work, so forward
launched and flew down. Nice sunny day with cumuli.

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Kitty Hawk Kites2005-05-25T05:22:12.996-05:00

Francis Rogallo

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Flytec2005-05-02T22:31:53.310-05:00

Oleg - Speaks about the Meet.

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Winner Annouced to Internet First!

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Tjaden's - First at Goal!

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Task 3 Update - Pilots at Goal

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Last Day - Task/ Liz Sharp

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Last Day - Early Info / Linda Salamone

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Paragliding reports from the Dumps2004-12-15T06:11:41.603-08:00

test

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Dave's Paragliding Notes2004-07-24T13:06:53.750+01:00

Hill Qualified

Well now I have my hill endorsment and after not flying for a month I went off Eyam Edge on 18 th July and had 2 nice soaring flights one in morning and late afternoon. Wind was a bit strong midday.

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No entries within the last month:

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(24/107 sources checked this time: Andrew Beevers' paragliding blog http://paradiziac.com, Big Spring 2009 http://2009bigspring.blogspot.com, Bjørn Hammer http://bjorn.ellefsen.net, Brett Hazlett http://bretthazlett.blogspot.com, Chris Smith http://glidexc.blogspot.com, Cloud 9 hang glider inventory http://c9sc.blogspot.com, Evgeniya "Zhenya" Laritskaya http://leagull.blogspot.com, Flexwing's HG Web Log http://flexwing.org, Franco http://paragliding1.blogspot.com, Greg Babush http://gregbabush.blogspot.com, Jeffrey Farrell http://superflyinc.typepad.com, KnumbKnuts' Hang Gliding Blog http://knumbknuts.blogspot.com, Learning to Paraglide http://learningtoparaglide.blogspot.com, Life, Work, and Hang gliding http://hang6.blogspot.com, Paragliding Pictures http://stepya117.blogspot.com, Powered Paragliding/Paramotor Instruction, Sales http://flyaglider.blogspot.com, Shola Ogunlokun's Hang Gliding Photos http://meet-britain.org.uk/hangglidingphotos, Stewart Midwinter http://midtoad.homelinux.org:9080/frog/user/midtoad/category/12, The Bombout http://thebombout.com, Tom Lanning http://skyout.blogspot.com, Wallowa Paragliding http://wallowaparagliding.blogspot.com, XC Mag - Mads Syndergaard http://www.xcmag.com/category/mads-syndergaard/feed, XC Mag - Mark Hayman http://www.xcmag.com/category/mark-hayman/feed, flightblog@wonderwinds http://wonderwinds.com/flightblog.php)


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