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topic: Mart Bosman (25 articles)

Mart blows up his glider

July 20, 2012, 8:58:59 CDT

Mart blows up his glider

Way beyond maximum rated speed

Mart Bosman

I received the following on my smart phone from an apparently Australian phone number:

Mart Bosman broke his Airborne C4 on final glide at the Belgian Nationals here in Laragne on Thursday. He deployed his parachute without a problem. He didn't break any bones, but was in the hospital overnight.

It looks like the crossbar broke. He was overtaking a British pilot flying an ATOS that was doing 115 km/h (71 mph) which is far beyond the design VNE (50 mph) when the glider folded up. The side wires were okay as was the pullback. I haven't checked the VG yet.

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Helmet⁣s - the CIVL Bureau should form a working group »

Thu, Aug 11 2011, 9:26:49 am CDT

Following the petition for a suspension of the requirement for certified helmets

CIVL|Gerolf Heinrichs|helmet|Mart Bosman|Scott Barrett|Zac Majors

There has been a movement to form a Working Group of CIVL to review the requirement for certified (EN 966) helmets in Category 1 competitions. This became a very controversial issue at the last Worlds and many pilots (the overwhelming majority of pilots at the Worlds) have asked for a suspension of the rule for the 2012 pre-Worlds. To address the issue of what to do about the rule after the pre-Worlds, pilots are asking for a Working Group that will address the issues of certification and the appropriateness of the EN 966 certification for hang gliding. The point is not to come up with a new certification for hang gliding helmets but rather to choose an appropriate path for the future of helmets in hang gliding.

I have listened to a number of pilots make recommendations for members of the Working Group and I have the following suggestions:

Scott Barrett (see his previous article on being allowed to use helmets with "higher" certification than EN 966), Gerolf Heinrichs (he raised the issue at the Worlds and feels that EN 966 is not appropriate for hang glider pilots), Mart Bosman (concerned that pilots were placing certification stickers on non certified helmets), Zac Majors (felt that other helmets were more appropriate for hang glider pilots), and Hagen Lobitz (an engineer who felt that the modification made by pilots and allowed at the Worlds were making the helmets more dangerous).

I ask the CIVL Bureau to appoint these interested individuals to a Working Group to work on the helmet certification issue and to immediately suspend the existing rule for the 2012 (January) pre-Worlds.

2010 Dutch Open »

August 10, 2010, 5:05:03 pm GMT+0200

2010 Dutch Open

At Montecucco

Dutch Open 2010|Gerolf Heinrichs|Jamie Shelden|Mart Bosman|Trent Brown|Tullio Gervasoni

Jamie Shelden blog /task tweets here
Jamie's tweets
http://rich-lovelace.blogspot.com/

Others?

Daphne Schelkers <<ladeesse7>> writes:

The Dutch Open started yesterday with eighty pilots from fourteen nations at Montecucco. The biggest Dutch Open ever! The competition blog (in English) can be found here: www.zeilvliegen.nl.

The results can be found there also.

Monday:

# Name Nat Time Total
1 Alexandre Trivelato BRA 01:50:56 1000
2 Pedro Garcia ESP 01:51:58 968
3 Trent Brown AUS 01:53:08 945
4 Mart Bosman NED 01:53:28 938
4 Gerolf Heinrichs AUT 01:53:30 938
6 David Brito Filho BRA 01:55:12 915
7 Tullio Gervasoni ITA 01:55:18 914
8 Vanni Accattoli ITA 02:00:26 866
9 Vladimir Leuskov RUS 02:01:03 864
10 Hans Kiefinger GER 02:01:23 857

Looks like there airspace problems after all with the second task. I don't know what the height of the lower limit is. I had assumed 8,000', which we never got to at the pre-Worlds.

The 2010 Women's and Rigid Wing Worlds at Neuschwanstein castle

Sun, May 16 2010, 9:00:06 am EDT

Snow on launch

CIVL|Kurt Meyer|Mart Bosman|Rigid Wing Worlds 2010|weather|Women's Worlds 2010

Forecasted temperatures near Fussen (in the valley) for Monday and Tuesday - 45 to 50°Fahrenheit.

Mart Bosman «Mart Bosman» sends:

We went up to launch this morning to see if it was on today. I took this photo of Kurt Meyer from CIVL on the start ramp. There was 200mm snow on take-off with 60km/h winds and -7°C. I feel really sad for the organisation of this comp, who have done everything in their power to make this a successful and enjoyable competition. Luckily they also organised plenty to do besides flying.

The Bavarian country is among the most beautiful in the world for culture and nature. In the evening we have been to parties, tonight there is a movie night. Unfortunately, organizing the weather is not in their power, as we have seen in various comps around the world. (Bogong Cup blown-out this year, Dalby washed out and even Hay has had in the past comps canceled due to five year drought breaking rain.) Anyway, I can't see what we can learn from it. I just hope we can keep finding enthusiastic people who are willing to do their utmost to organise a hang gliding comp. I big "thank you" from me to the organisation.

I think Mart must be referring to an earlier Dalby as this year it seems to have gone off well, or did I miss something?

Can't learn anything? Hmmm?! How about not calling for comps at Tegelberg in mid May. But perhaps that would be too obvious (given what happened last year). It's not like they didn't have any warning or anything.

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Pay up for the⁢ 2011 pre-Worlds »

Tue, Jan 12 2010, 5:43:01 pm AEDT

Just a few more days to send in the money

Flavio Tebaldi|Pre-Worlds 2011

Flavio Tebaldi «Flavio Tebaldi» writes:

I would like to remind you that in order to confirm your place please pay and send the organisation the payment receipt no later than the17th January. Confirmed pilots whose receipt of payment does not reach the organizers by 17th January, will be moved to the bottom of the waiting list. All other pilots accepted afterwards, will have 10 days to pay the registration fee before their place is reallocated to another pilot.

pre-Worlds - update »

Sun, Jan 3 2010, 8:49:03 am AEDT

150 out of 250

Alessandro "Alex" Ploner|Corinna Schwiegershausen|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Pre-Worlds 2011|World Pilot Ranking Scheme

The preliminary pilot list has been updated with the latest WPRS rankings. You'll find it here: http://www.cucco2011.org. Click Pilot Info, then Pilots List. If your name is on the list you have until January 17th to pay your entry fees in order to hold your place on the list.

As of Sunday night there are 150 pilots listed: 145 male, 5 female. Gliders: 58 Moyes, 38 Aeros, 23 Wills Wing, 21 Icaro, 5 Airborne, 3 Laminar, 1 Aeros, 1 unspecified.

  • ARG: Marcelo Chaves
  • AUS: Jonny Durand, Steve Blenkinsop, Cameron Tunbridge, Rod Flockhart, Bruce Wynne, Trent Brown, Neil Petersen, Tony Lowrey, Richard Heffer
  • AUT: Manfred Ruhmer, Thomas Weissenberger, Robert Reisinger, Michael Friesenbichler, Manfred Trimmel, Wolfgang Siess, Günther Tschurnig, Christl Elmar, Christian Tiefenbacher
  • BEL: Michel Bodart
  • BRA: Michel Louzada, Alvaro Sandoli (Nene Rotor), Jose Lessa, Konrad Heilmann, Eduardo Oliveira, Alexandre Trivelato
  • CAN: Brett Hazlett
  • COL: Mike Glennon, Eitan Koren
  • CZE: Radek Bares
  • DEN: Nils Dalby, Bo Klint, Johnny Christiansen, Jens Henrik Badsberg
  • ECU: Raul Guerra, Rafael Arcos
  • ESP: Blay Jr Olmos Quesada, Pedro Garcia Morelli, Daniel Martin Mota, Jose Antonio Abollado, Lucio Nelli
  • FRA: Mario Alonzi, Gianpietro Zin, Luis Rizo-Salom, Antoine Boisselier, Laurent Thevenot, Eric Mathurin, Eric Wyss, Fabien Agenes
  • GBR: Carl Wallbank, Gordon Rigg, Bruce Kavanagh, David Shields, Richard Lovelace, Dave Matthews, Anthony Stephens, Gary Wirdnam, Graham Phipps, Nigel Bray
  • GER: Gerd Doenhuber, Lukas Bader, Corinna Schwiegershausen, Tim Grabowski, André Djamarani, Markus Ebenfeld, Roland Wöhrle, Stefan Boller, Christian Zehetmair, Joerg Bajewski, Hans Kiefinger, Konrad Schwab, Monique Werner
  • GUA: Giovanni Vitola, Jose Herrarte, Dieter Meyer, Rolando Mansilla, Mario Leon
  • HUN: Attila Bertok, Endre Kovács, Attila Kis, Zsolt Balogh
  • IRL: Shaun O'Neill, Geoffrey McMahon, Philip Lardner, Justin Beplate, Kenneth Hickey
  • ISR: Amir Shalom, Ron Wiener, Yaron Levin
  • ITA: Alex Ploner, Christian Ciech, Elio Cataldi, Davide Guiducci, Tullio Gervasoni, Anton Moroder, Arturo Dal Mas, Filippo Oppici, Paolo Rosichetti, Fabrizio Giustranti, Sergio Bernardi, Suan Selenati, Edoardo Giudiceandrea, Vanni Accattoli
  • JPN: Koji Daimon, Hiroshi Suzuki, Takahiro Matsumura, Shogo Ota, Keita Kokaji
  • LTU: Justinas Pleikys
  • NED: Mart Bosman, Martin Van Helden, André Disselhorst, Joost Eertman, Erik Van Keulen
  • NOR: Vegar Hansen, Petter Peikli
  • POL: Dariusz Perenc, Sebastian Olifiruk
  • RUS: Vladimir Leuskov, Artur Dzamikhov, Anton Struganov, Natalia Petrova, Julia Kucherenko, Maxim Usachev, Oleg Andreev
  • SLO: Primoz Gricar, Stanislav Galovec, Iztok Jarc
  • SUI: Roberto Nichele, Christian Voiblet, Francis Gafner, Chrigel Kuepfer, Carole Tobler, Beat Howald
  • SWE: Hakan Andersson, Joakim Hindemith
  • TUR: Tugrul Yilmaz, Halil Caner Atilgan, Kamil Demirkan
  • UKR: Dmitriy Rusov, Pavel Yakimchuk, Sergey Semenov, Dmytro Teteretnyk
  • USA: Zac Majors, Dustin Martin, Jeff O'Brien, Davis Straub, Jeff Shapiro, Derreck Turner, Ben Dunn

pre-Worlds - who's going? »

Sat, Jan 2 2010, 6:58:31 pm AEDT

150 out of 250

Ben Dunn|Davis Straub|Dustin Martin|Jeff O'Brien|Jeff Shapiro|Pre-Worlds 2011|Ubaldo Romano|Wills Wing T2C|World Pilot Ranking Scheme|Worlds 2023|Zac Majors

The best guess so far: http://www.cucco2011.org/test_romano/ Click Pilot Info, then Pilots List. Based on December 2, 2009, WPRS ranking, will change when January ranking is available. US pilots chosen to go to the pre-Worlds, so far:

Zac Majors, Wills Wing T2C-144
Dustin Martin, Wills Wing T2C-144
Jeff O'Brien, Wills Wing T2C (144 or 154)
Davis Straub, Icaro Laminar MR1000
Jeff Shapiro, Wills Wing T2C-144
Derreck Turner, Moyes Litespeed S5
Ben Dunn, Moyes Litespeed

Each nation gets up to five pilots independent of WPRS ranking. If more than five pilots from one country apply for the pre-Worlds, then the top five in that nation as per their January 2010 WPRS ranking are allowed in. When all those nations' slots are taken (some nations won't have five slots because less than five pilots pre-registered from that nation, for example, Turkey), then the remaining slots are available by WPRS ranking to the pilots who pre-registered.

Turns out a lot of pilots from Italy pre-registered and they have a lot of good WPRS rankings, and so fifteen pilots are coming from Italy. Derreck Turner and Ben Dunn got in with their WPRS rankings. Many US pilots did not.

Everyone has to get their entry fee in with ten days (January 17th) or they go to the end of the line. Starting on the 17th, pilots are chosen for the now empty slots by pre-registration date.

The actual five man teams will be decided at the competition.

Update: The January WPRS ranking it up and the pilot list will be updated soon.

It looks like a successful ⁢Corryong Cup 2010⁣ is in store »

Thu, Dec 31 2009, 6:12:44 pm MST

Oversubscribed

Cameron Tunbridge|Corryong Cup 2010|Mart Bosman|sailplane|William "Billo" Olive

Wendi Herman «Wendi Herman», the meet organizer, has apparently been very successful when it comes to organizing a competition that lots of pilots want to attend. This year it seems like there is enough demand that she could have organized two Corryong Cups and filled them both up. Cameron Tunbridge tells me that she is a very focused and driven meet organizer and knows how to get the job done. (I'm happy to provide the scoring program and act as a consultant to the score keeper.)

The Corryong Cup is like the Team Challenge, a competition put on with the express intention of bringing new pilots into the competition community. More experienced pilots attend it with the intent of teaching the new pilots the skills that they need to be safe and compete in the "higher grade" competitions.

The meet has been so successful that the South Australia hang gliding club is now considering running a second version at the same location (Corryong) and starting it the week before the regular Corryong Cup. That way there will in essence be two Corryong Cups to try to meet the demand for more of these types of competitions.

I was discussing "Sport Class" with Billo over dinner a few nights back. He referred to it as "The Future of the Sport" Class.

Cameron, Blinky, and Hadewych were down at Corryong a couple of days ago, and reported great flying conditions. Steve (Blinky) was apparently able to fly over Mt Kosciuszko (actually within two kilometers) with Mart Bosman, taking off from Bright, in a sailplane below him.

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Over 200 pilots sign up for⁢ 2011 pre-Worlds »

Fri, Nov 6 2009, 8:58:57 am PST

The limit is 150

Pre-Worlds 2011|World Pilot Ranking Scheme|Worlds

http://www.cucco2011.org/

Apparently hang gliding is not dying at the level of World competitions (or at least pre-Worlds) The Italian based pre-Worlds is over subscribed already, just a few days after opening the registration to the waiting list. The local regulations state:

Registration will open on 2nd November 2009. Priority will be given to national teams of up to 5 pilots per country.

Places will be allocated starting from 7th January 2010 to pilots on the waiting list.

Allocation will be based on WPRS ranking on 1st January 2010 followed by order of registration for any unranked pilots.

As from 7th January, all confirmed pilots will have ten days time in which to pay the registration fee, in order not to lose their priority position in the pilot list.

Therefore, confirmed pilots whose receipt of payment does not reach the organizers by 17th January, will be moved to the bottom of the waiting list.

All other pilots accepted afterwards, will have 10 days to pay the registration fee before their place is reallocated to another pilot.

The pre-Worlds, day seven

Wed, Jul 2 2008, 2:27:12 pm MDT

Pre-Worlds - seven

Scott Barrett wins again on an Airborne C4 13.5.

Andreas Olsson|Bruce Kavanagh|Davis Straub|Flytec 6030|Gary Wirdnam|Jamie Shelden|Jeff O'Brien|Mart Bosman|PG|Pre-Worlds 2008|Robin Hamilton|Scott Barrett|Tullio Gervasoni

Results

The official pre-Worlds blog

Jeff O'Brien's blog

Jamie Shelden's blog

Wednesday, July 2nd

The task and the flight.

Notice the emphasis in the tag line above. Why do I start off with Scott Barrett winning the day? Because it is news! It is news because it is against type, against expectations (general expectations, anyway). It shakes up our view of the world. It isn't supposed to be happening, but it is. This is a guy who has never flown here, for example. He's flying on a glider from the smaller and less celebrated of the two Australian hang gliding companies. He's a designer at that company (and stands in stark contrast to the designer at the other company).

So it's news and that's why it is the lead.

The forecast was for a windy day. Not as windy as the day that was called off, but a good 14 knot south wind at 4,000' and 18 knots at 8,000'. But the organizers have a different forecast that says that the winds aren't as strong. Of course, south winds make for easy launches.

There was not supposed to be any over development over the valley, just over the mountains, and it looked like it would be a bit more stable that the last three days. There were no cu-nimbs at 10 AM, for example, in fact few cu's at all then. Lift should be a bit lighter also.

The launch opened at 12:30. There had been wind dummies and paragliders in the air for an hour but they were just ridge soaring, so this was not encouraging, but the forecast said as soon as a certain temperature was reached things should be good. I could see one hang glider wind dummy getting up under cu's five kilometers to the west, so I was willing to launch and did so about fourth in our line. There was a steady light thermal at the house thermal spot and a bunch of us just took our time and circled up as the day built.

Soon there were cu's every where over launch and out toward the the turnpoint to the northeast, so it seemed like the day would go well. It was easy to get to 8,400' and get prepped for the fast glide to the first turnpoint at SAVOURNON CARREF.

At least a hundred pilots took the first start time (there were only two). The two Jeff's, Zippy, and Scott held back with Balasz and Attila, among others waited for the second one while the rest of us tried to avoid each other.

We raced from just north of Orpierre, and some of us found lift just on the west side of the volcano. Those of us who stayed with this lift got to see half the field dive into the ridge line to the north past the turnpoint and away from the next turnpoint to the south, ANTENNE DU ROCHE.

Three of us got high enough that we were able to jump south to the south side of the volcano without having to go back to the north to get up. Now we had to do the valley crossing, while those behind us would use the ridge line to get up, go east, jump over to the lower hills on the east side of the valley and then work their way south.

We found good lift over a cement plant in the middle of the valley and this was enough to get us up on the small hills on the east side of the valley. We were heading into a 10 mph head wind.

The hills really worked and we found strong lift that allowed us to plow forward against the wind. The folks behind us got high and caught up with us but we were pretty close to the lead, maybe a minute behind.

We got really high and made the tower turnpoint. As soon as we turned around we were blown downwind at a rapid pace. I didn't find any lift that was better than 200 fpm so I just kept on going searching for better, not finding any on the hillsides that everyone got up on, on the way out. I jumped over the gap to the west side of the valley next to the turnpoint at CRIGNE. I didn't know exactly what the landmark was that was the turnpoint, so I went past it up the ridgeline looking for lift. I found some weak stuff and thermalled back to it.

Scott was high over this turnpoint as I was 100' over it. I decided to continue heading west, ninety degrees to the course line in order to get up and to get under the clouds on the west side of the valley. Scott and Balasz headed east back to the course line and back to where we just flew to the second turnpoint. There were no cu's there.

I worked the ridgeline behind the volcano and did everything I could to stay upwind of the ridge and away from the volcano. I could go over it only if a got high enough, and I wasn't getting super high. There were a couple of pilots with me.

I worked southwest to a cloud out in the valley behind the volcano and it was rough but I got up. I was now on the western edge of the volcano where it is lower and there was a cloud street over that area. I got over 7,000' and pressed upwind toward the cloud street in the lee side of the volcano. The air was rough.

I pressed ahead and as I came to the black cloud the vario was screaming, but I was too scared to turn. It was too rough, the glider was going sideways. There was plenty of clouds ahead, I had a tight grip on the bar and I was pulled in.

Finally I got to let the bar out a bit as I hit more lift, but the strong stuff was gone. There were broken cu's ahead toward Laragne and Laragne-Chabre. I slowed down, went into search mode and mellow flying mode, going slow in the weak sink and weak lift, under small clouds, looking all around.

There were a few pilots around and we found light lift as we pushed toward Laragne-Chabre. Finally we were able to make it over the ridge line and we found 700 fpm to 8,100'. The 6030 said I had goal by over 2,000', but it was a long ways away at this point, twenty kilometers, fourteen of them upwind.

I headed out over the valley toward the turnpoint. I could see the goal field, with four gliders in it. I had to fly seven kilometers past the goal and then come back down wind. The 6030 kept saying that I had it no problem.

Scott and Balasz were in goal first with Scott just barely ahead of Balasz.

Two kilometers from the turnpoint, I stumbled into 400 fpm up. I gained 500' and the 6030 kept saying I had goal, no problem. After four turns I said okay, I'm heading out. But I also said to myself, you'll regret this.

In the next five minutes I lost 2,500' going to the turnpoint and coming back. The glider was falling not flying. The turnpoint was tucked in behind a south facing hill side and I was in the rotor, although I didn't have time to assess that.

I was about to splat into the ground and I was looking at landing in a field or in the river bed a few hundred feet lower. I raced along the edge of the river bed and suddenly there was lift, where I had seen Mario turning a few minutes before, when I was plenty high.

I grabbed a hold and held on as this thermal went skating to the north. I just prayed that this was enough to get me to a safe place to land and maybe to goal.

Six turns and I lost it but the 6030 said I had goal by 700'. I was five kilometers away but running away from the south facing hillside and toward the north/south running hill side. My luck held and I made it across the line into goal with a few hundred feet to spare.

Numerous pilots landed just short. The meet officials have been told that the task committee doesn't need to call a waypoint in the leeside of a mountain, especially one where you are likely to be low.

Attila landed in a river bed. He had his brother drive the car down and it got stuck. Last we heard they were trying to arrange for a crane to lift it out.

Task 3:

# Name Nat Glider Time Total
1 Scott Barrett Aus Airborne C4 - 13.5 02:17:03 963
2 Balazs Ujhelyi Hun Moyes Litespeed S 4,5 02:17:06 958
3 Carl Wallbank Gbr Moyes Litespeed RS3.5 02:32:26 909
4 Hans Kiefinger Deu Aeros Combat L13 02:31:53 906
5 Endre Kovacs Hun Aeros Combat L 02:32:37 889
6 Dan Vyhnalik Cze Aeros Combat L14 02:45:18 833
7 Mario Alonzi Fra Aeros Combat L12 02:37:55 825
8 Jesper Hassing Dnk Aeros Combat L12 02:49:21 814
9 Hakan Andersson Swe Moyes Litespeed Rs 3,5 02:53:31 783
10 Christian Voiblet Che Aeros Combat L12 02:57:56 770
11 Davis Straub Usa Wills Wing T2 - 144 02:59:57 769
12 Fabien Agenes Fra Aeros Combat L13 03:03:00 758
13 Vladimir Leuskov Rus Aeros Combat L 03:04:21 751
14 David Matthews Gbr Moyes Litespeed S3.5 02:58:05 747
15 Gianpietro Zin Fra Wills Wing T2 - 144 03:07:20 735
16 Bruce Kavanagh Gbr Wills Wing T2 03:18:11 703
17 Fabien Zadora Fra Moyes Litespeed Rs 03:19:44 669
18 Laurent Thevenot Fra Aeros Combat L 03:19:50 668
19 Tanno Rutten Nld Wills Wing T2 154 03:21:10 666
20 André Disselhorst Nld Aeros Combat L13 03:36:07 662
21 Joakim Hindemith Swe Moyes Litespeed RS4 03:34:41 658
22 Francesc Vinas Esp Icaro Laminar Z8 03:36:32 644
23 Mart Bosman Nld Moyes Litespeed 03:31:53 641
24 Pedro Alejandro Montes Gentner Mex Icaro Laminar Z8 03:36:26 640
25 Nils Ole Dalby Dnk Icaro Laminar Z8 03:38:22 638
26 Luis Rizo Salom Fra Moyes Litespeed RS3.5 632
27 Andreas Olsson Swe Wills Wing T2 03:45:35 618

Overall:

# Name Nat Glider Total
1 Scott Barrett Aus Airborne C4 - 13.5 2717
2 Balazs Ujhelyi Hun Moyes Litespeed S 4,5 2539
3 Dan Vyhnalik Cze Aeros Combat L14 2513
4 Carl Wallbank Gbr Moyes Litespeed RS3.5 2463
5 Christian Voiblet Che Aeros Combat L12 2374
6 Mario Alonzi Fra Aeros Combat L12 2362
7 Fabien Agenes Fra Aeros Combat L13 2285
8 Luis Rizo Salom Fra Moyes Litespeed RS3.5 2213
9 André Disselhorst Nld Aeros Combat L13 2179
10 Andreas Olsson Swe Wills Wing T2 2101
11 Jeff O'brien Usa Wills Wing T2 154 2090
12 David Matthews Gbr Moyes Litespeed S3.5 2080
13 Bruce Kavanagh Gbr Wills Wing T2 2064
14 Hans Kiefinger Deu Aeros Combat L13 2048
15 Gary Wirdnam Gbr Aeros Combat L 2029
16 Tullio Gervasoni Ita Moyes Litespeed S 2003
17 Anton Moroder Ita Icaro Laminar Z9 1992
18 Francois Isoard Fra Aeros Combat L13 1946
19 Davis Straub Usa Wills Wing T2 - 144 1878
20 Robin Hamilton Gbr Moyes Litespeed Rs 4 1848

In spite of not making goal, Jeff O'Brien moved up two places to eleventh. I moved into the top twenty, after starting in 74th (after the first day). The US team has moved up into 7th place, just behind the UK B team.

Discuss "The pre-Worlds, day seven" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Pre-Worlds registration

January 10, 2008, 8:57:27 pm GMT+1100

Pre-Worlds

Some pilots on the waiting list are in.

Brett Hazlett|Bruce Kavanagh|Jeff Shapiro|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Jon Durand jnr|Mart Bosman|Richard Lovelace|Robin Hamilton|Scott Barrett|Zac Majors

http://www.chabre2009.com/index.php?page=/compRego/pilot_list.php

This morning emails went out some notifying pilots on the waiting list for the pre-Worlds that they have been accepted. Jeff Shapiro from the US is accepted. Also Zac Majors, Robin Hamilton, Hans Kiefinger, Mart Bosman, Bruce Kavanagh, Richard Lovelace, Brett Hazlett, and others.

Jonny Durand didn't pay in time, so he's not in. The only pilot from Australia who's in is Scott Barrett.

Replaying the Bogong Cup

Sun, Jan 8 2006, 8:05:48 pm AEDT

Replay

View the pilots as they fly at the Bogong Cup

Andreas Olsson|Ashley Wilmott|Attila Bertok|Cameron McNeill|Chris Jones|Conrad Loten|Corinna Schwiegershausen|David Seib|Davis Straub|Ferenc Gruber|Gerolf Heinrichs|Jack Simmons|Jon Durand snr|Kevin Carter|Mart Bosman|Oliver "Olli" Barthelmes|Paul Allen|Phil Schroder|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Rolf Schatzmann|Steve Blenkinsop|Trent Brown|Wesley "Wes" Hill

Gerry writes:

You can set how many seconds apart your screen will be refreshed. If it can't keep up it just does it as often as it can. Default=5. You can set how many times real time you want the replay played at with the " speed="parameter. Default=20 but I may up that, it's pretty slow. You can list the names of the pilot(s) you want to display, capitalized like in the list (Andreas Olsson, Andy Schmidt, Ashley Wilmott, Atsushi Hasegawa, Attila Bertok, Balazs Ujhelyi, Birgit Svens, Cameron Mcneill, Cameron Turnbridge, Carole Tobler, Chris Jones, Chris Smith, Conrad Loten, Corinna Schwiegershausen, Craig Dorich, David Seib, Davis Straub, Dick Heffer, Eduardo Oliveira, Ferenc Gruber, Fumihiro Sato, Gabor Sipos, Geoff Ward, Gerolf Heinrichs, Gunther Tschurnig, Guy Hubbard, Imre Balko, Jack Simmons, Jim Prahl, Joerg Bajewski, John Blain, Jon Gjerde, Jon Jnr Durand, Jon Snr Durand, Karl Ruckriegel, Kevin Carter, Len Paton, Lisa Miller, Lukas Bader, Mark Stokoe, Mart Bosman, Michael Friesenbichler, Nic Pallett, nozumu, Oliver Barthelmes, Paul Allen, Peter Aitken, Peter Leach, Phil Pritchard, Phil Schroder, Regan Kowald, Richard Breyley, Richard Olbrich, Rohan Holtkamp, Rolf Schatzmann, Sam Prest, Scott Barret, Shigeto Ishizaka, Siggi Schitzler, Steve Blenkinsop, Steve Moyes, Stuart Coad, Tony Kenney, Trent Brown, Warren Simonsen, Wesley Hill), with"+" signs instead of spaces, separated by commas.

https://OzReport.com/KML_track.php?data=2006+Bogong+Cup+day+1&names=Davis+Straub,Kevin+Carter&refresh=1&speed=80

Leave off the "names=…" and it'll display ALL of the tracks.

You can also start at a particular time (in GMT since that's what the track logs are in). Otherwise the replay starts at the time of the first listed person's track log, probably a while before they even get their butt off the ground.

You can get rid of the displayed names by adding "label=0". Default=displayed.

https://OzReport.com/KML_track.php?data=2006+Bogong+Cup+day+1&refresh=1&speed=50&label=0&time=2006-01-07+02:00:00

It would take too long to refresh the tracks each time, so if you want to see the tracks during the replay just have them loaded & displayed first. Yeah, all the gliders just point north, making them point sort of in the average direction they had been traveling in will happen later. And yeah, they're all the same color.

Discuss "Replaying the Bogong Cup" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Thanks to Oz Report readers!

Fri, Jan 16 2004, 5:00:02 pm GMT

Mart Bosman|Oz Report

Today the New South Wales Hand Gliding Club sent the Oz Report $100. Stephan Forslund also sent me $50 today. Alberto and Mart Bosman have helped out here at the Hay Open and Pre-Worlds. Numerous Oz Report readers have sent in subscription/donations over the last few weeks.

The Oz Report would not exist with out reader support. It's that simple. I really appreciate the support and do everything I can to earn it.

Discuss "Thanks to Oz Report readers!" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Dust Devil at goal on day four at Hay Open

Mon, Jan 12 2004, 12:00:04 pm EST

dust devils

Bart Doets|dust devil|Hay Open 2004|Mart Bosman

Bart Doets «bart.doets» sends:

Dutch pilot Mart Bosman mailed home about the dust devil at goal (he is also the pilot who lost a dolly wheel on day three as you reported witnessing):

From 20 km out we went on final glide at 125 km/h, when coming in to land it turned out to be quite turbulent, but what happened next was worse. I had just turned my glider around when a monster dust devil of at least 10 meter diameter entered the goal field from the side, it passed my glider and went straight over the glider of a Japanese pilot pulling it from his hands without much ado, and sucked it some 50 meters into the air.

Three times the glider seemed about to land but was taken up again by an invisible hand; at last the dusty let it go and the glider seemed to come down nicely, but then came to a full stall at ~7 meters, went nose down and drilled itself into the earth. Total loss. During this spectacle some 3 other gliders were turned over.

Discuss "Dust Devil at goal on day four at Hay Open" at the Oz Report forum   link»

2003 Class 1 Worlds – Manfred first, Paris second »

Wed, Aug 20 2003, 2:00:03 pm EDT

Aeros Combat|Alessandro "Alex" Ploner|Brett Hazlett|Class 1 Worlds 2003|Guido Gehrmann|Kraig Coomber|Manfred Ruhmer|Mart Bosman|Mike Barber|Moura Velloso|Oleg Bondarchuk|Oliver Barthelmes|Paris Williams|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Tullio Gervasoni|Wills Wing|Worlds

http://www.brasilia2003.com/results/default.asp

http://www.theleague.force9.co.uk/internat/brasil_2003.htm states:

The first two pilots in goal caught everyone by surprise and Manfred just took it from Paris Williams on the race into goal. A significant wait for the next guys…

There were some surprisingly late arrivals. Goal closes at 6 PM and we have not seen anybody arrive much after 5:15 but at 5:30 we could still see pilots in the distance thermalling under weak clouds. Eventually one broke for goal but it did not look like he stood much chance of getting in. After almost surfing the large government building across the road the glider cleared the street lights (so no penalty points) and we saw it was Mike Barber who had made the brave glide in. This inspired the others and another 4 or 5 made it, with a couple having to turn away and land. Dutchman Mart Bosman arrived in similar style to Mike to finish the day off.

http://www.dclaveno.com/Brasilia2003/Brasilia_2003.htm

Check out the URL above for pictures, results, and a report in Italian about the Italian team.

José Luiz Moura Velloso <jose.luiz@jlv.com.br> scorekeeper at the Worlds sends the following scores:

Sorry for the delay, some problems today with pilots who misunderstood the concept of "entry start".

Manfred and Paris did very well today, leaving in the first start (most pilots get the second start), and being more than 15 minutes faster than the other pilots. This gave them an advantage of almost 200 points over the 3rd pilot. With this result Manfred gets the lead in the competition and Paris climbed 26 positions

Day four:

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Pos.

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Nome

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Equipamento

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Tempo

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Total

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1

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RUHMER, Manfred

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Icaro Laminar MR

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2:04:04

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1000

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2

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WILLIAMS, Paris

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Aeros Combat 13

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2:04:09

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992

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3

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BOISSELIER, Antoine

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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2:19:44

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831

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4

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WARREN, Curt

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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2:20:31

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823

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5

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GUILLEN, Bruno

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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2:19:28

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791

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6

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NENE ROTOR

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Wills Wing Talon

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2:19:49

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786

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7

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BONDARCHUK, Oleg

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Aeros Combat 2

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2:19:53

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783

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8

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MATTOS GUIMARAES

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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2:20:01

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780

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9

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

Guga

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

Moyes Litespeed S3.5

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

2:20:22

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

775

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10

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GEHRMANN, Guido

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Aeros Combat 2

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2:20:28

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772

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

11

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SCHMITZ, Betinho

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

Moyes Litespeed S3.5

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

2:20:55

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

765

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

12

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

WOLF, André

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

Moyes Litespeed S4

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

2:20:58

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

763

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

13

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

MENIN, Marcelo Alexandre

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Moyes Litespeed 4

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

2:21:05

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760

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

14

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BESSA, Carlos

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Wills Wing Talon

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

2:22:03

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752

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15

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ALONZI, Mario

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Aeros Combat 2

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2:24:41

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735

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16

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GERVASONI, Tullio

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Moyes Litespeed S3.5

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2:24:49

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733

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

17

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OLSSON, Andreas

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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2:25:17

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729

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18

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COOMBER, Kraig

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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2:26:13

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722

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19

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BARTHELMES, Oliver

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Moyes Litespeed S4

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

2:27:26

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714

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20

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CAUX, Raymond

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Moyes Litespeed S3.5

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2:27:38

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712

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20

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MOYES, Steve

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Moyes Litespeed S4.5

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2:35:53

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712

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22

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HAZLETT, Brett

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Moyes Litespeed S4

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

2:28:55

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704

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23

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CROSSINGHAM, Grant

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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2:29:03

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702

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24

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PRITCHARD, Phil

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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2:31:52

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685

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25

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DURAND JR., Jon

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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2:34:51

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654

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26

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HOLTKAMP, Rohan

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Airborne C2 13

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2:44:21

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647

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27

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REISINGER, Robert

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Icaro Laminar MR 700

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2:37:52

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640

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28

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PUNET, Carlos

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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2:51:12

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612

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29

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HERRMANN, Gagu

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Moyes Litespeed S5

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2:47:21

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598

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30

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NAOKI, Itagaki

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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2:48:01

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595

Cumulative:

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Pos.

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Pilot

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Glider

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Country

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Total

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1

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Ruhmer, Manfred

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Icaro Laminar MR

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AUT

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3680

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2

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Schmitz, Betinho

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Moyes Litespeed S3.5

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BRA

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

3538

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3

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Reisinger, Robert

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Icaro Laminar MR 700

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AUT

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3414

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4

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Boisselier, Antoine

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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FRA

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3331

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

5

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Warren, Curt

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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USA

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3243

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6

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Gehrmann, Guido

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Aeros Combat 2

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DEU

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3224

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7

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Coomber, Kraig

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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AUS

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3167

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8

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Weissenberger, Tom

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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AUT

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3097

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9

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Nene Rotor

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Wills Wing Talon

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BRA

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3023

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10

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Olsson, Andreas

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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SWE

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2984

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

11

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

Guga

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Moyes Litespeed S3.5

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BRA

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2962

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12

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Ploner, Alessandro

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Icaro Laminar MR

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ITA

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2937

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13

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Bondarchuk, Oleg

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Aeros Combat 2

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UKR

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2933

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14

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Moyes, Steve

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Moyes Litespeed S4.5

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AUS

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2907

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15

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Caux, Raymond

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Moyes Litespeed S3.5

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FRA

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2863

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16

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Guillen, Bruno

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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FRA

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2854

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

17

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Hazlett, Brett

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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CAN

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2825

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

18

0in 5.4pt; height:13.2pt">

Pritchard, Phil

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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AUS

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2770

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19

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Barthelmes, Oliver

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Moyes Litespeed S4

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DEU

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2714

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20

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Haikan, Anderson

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Aeros Combat II 13

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SWE

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2691

Curt moved up to fifth coming in fourth today and starting early and Alex Ploner dropped to thirteenth by not making goal. The first guys in from the second clock came in close together but they had already lost two hundred points as Manfred was much faster and went early. The gaggle slowed them up, perhaps?

This shows the benefit of going out early as long as you can handle it and can go very fast.

Discuss the Worlds at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "2003 Class 1 Worlds – Manfred first, Paris second" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Getting your glider to Hay

Mon, May 5 2003, 6:00:05 pm GMT

Australia|glider transport|Hay|Mart Bosman|sailplane|transport

Mart <hmmb@xs4all.nl> writes:

Because Hay seems to be a "fait accompli" I am looking for ways to get gliders to Australia at the end of the year. I have an idea about that for European pilots. People can drop their glider off at my workshop in Rotterdam, Holland from the end of August until the end of September. I will put them in a container that will ship them to Oz at the beginning of October. It will arrive there beginning of November and be taken to Tocumwal sailplane field ( close to Hay and Bright) where it is possible to pick up your glider to fly the comp's and then drop it off again afterwards.

Sometime in February the container will be shipped back to Rotterdam so it is possible to pick up the gliders in March. The people from Tocumwal have agreed to help. They probably hope some pilots will learn to fly sailplanes when they are there. They have special courses for hangies. I went solo in two days. People who are interested have to e-mail me at <hmmb@xs4all.nl> before the 24th of May so I can arrange it and calculate the costs.

Discuss "Getting your glider to Hay" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Civil with CIVL?

Mon, May 5 2003, 6:00:03 pm GMT

CIVL|cost|FAI|FAI Sporting Code|FAI Sporting License|Florida|Flytec Championships 2003|Hay|Heather Mull|Mart Bosman|NAA|Oz Report|USHGA|US Nationals|Worlds

Mart <hmmb@xs4all.nl> writes:

I noticed that sometimes you are a bit negative about CIVL. I would like to say something about that. As with all democratic organisations some people will not be happy with some decisions made by CIVL but it is just impossible to please everybody. I for one don't agree with the high number of points awarded to the European Championships but to change the rules about that you will have to ask your national representative to put it on the agenda and than they will vote about that at the meetings.

(editor’s note: Please be aware that I have done this in the past. I have also personally contacted every one of the non-European CIVL delegates about this issue. I raise this issue in the Oz Report to make other pilots aware of the unfairness of the 50% bonus for the European Championships, so that they can contact their CIVL representatives and get them to propose and vote for dropping it.)

I know one thing for sure; most work for CIVL is done voluntarily by people. Heather for instance has been a steward at a number of big comps and had to do a lot of work, as stewards have to check everything. I have seen her get up very early and work until late the whole comp' for no pay at all and after the comp is over she will write a lengthy report (like 10 pages) on how it went with recommendations for future comps.

I have also seen the points she has made in the past to CIVL to make the future organisation rules better. These are discussed at the CIVL meetings and they have led to some changes in the rules. The points made to help comp' organisors are often not or only partly followed which has led to problems. I want to emphasize here that CIVL is an organisation where a lot of people do a lot of work for no money at all to make hang gliding better for all of us.

(editor’s note: Let me say that Heather and I are on the same wave length on this. Many people that I deal with think that CIVL should be destroyed or ignored. I feel, like Heather, that there should be reforms in its rules and regulations.

I, like Heather, point out what changes could be made to the current rules to make things better for both CIVL and for the world’s pilots.

I appreciate that CIVL is a volunteer organization. I have never attacked individuals at CIVL and only bring up issues that need to be fixed in order to make CIVL work better. I’m sure that everyone wants that. ☺)

The ranking system is another problem but by throwing out the licensing system and CIVL with it just to create a fairer system you will throw out years of experience and will very likely make a big mess where the person with the biggest mouth wins.

(editor’s note: I certainly haven’t advocated that. I have only advocated that CIVL implement its own WPR system, which they have already and was developed by CIVL.

I haven’t advocated that they throw out the licensing system, but go back to the nonenforcement policy of the past. I suggest that meet organizers will not apply for category 2 sanctioning if they are facing double fees.)

Paula wrote that the FAI licenses are for free so the best thing is to harass your own organisation to give them for free to or ask your rep' to put it on the agenda for the next meeting. If your rep' doesn't want to do that vote him out and get one who will.

(editor’s note: Let me take you through this one step at a time, once again. The USHGA (the US hang gliding organization) doesn’t give out FAI Sporting Code licenses. I wish they did, maybe they can, but they don’t. I am working with them to see if they can.

The NAC in the US is the NAA. Here it is in charge of the FAI (not CIVL, notice) Sporting License. You have to pay them $35/year for the FAI Sporting License. This is ⅗th’s of the cost of the yearly dues to the USHGA.

Can you imagine how many US competitions pilots are going to be interested in buying an FAI Sporting License for $35 to attend the Flytec Championship, the Wallaby Open, and the Us Nationals? I suggest zero.

Now, how do I get the NAA to give up the income from the FAI Sorting License and let the USHGA provide them at minimal cost? Have you got a solution for me? I’m working on it, but frankly this is not a big issue for most of the USHGA members (just the very small minority that would be affected).

I’m sitting here with the organizer of the upcoming US Nationals. He wants to know what CIVL is going to do if one person doesn’t have an FAI Sporting License. Are they are going to double the fee next year?

What happens to the other pilots’ WPRS ranking points (assuming that they have FAI Sporting Licenses) if one pilot doesn’t have a Sporting License? Are they counted or not?

Should the meet organizer tell the one pilot to leave because he messes up everyone else re WPRS points? What’s the story?

I would also like to write about the next Worlds. The majority voted for Hay. Maybe in America the guy that loses the election becomes the boss ;-) but not everywhere.

(editor’s note: Florida was, of course, heavily involved in this decision. ☺)

Apparently the reasons that Florida lost the bid were; a poor presentation (maybe they thought it was an easy victory), a much higher entry fee, problems which could not be explained about the 2 flight parks 37 km. apart and because of that there was going to be a cut. A lot of people do not like a cut.

You pay a high entry fee, fly a few days (at the Europeans in Laragne for instance 2 poor days) and you are out. You don't have to have a degree in physics to know that you are not going to win a bid when there is a cut, everybody who thinks he might not make it will vote against that possibility. (By the way; I asked my rep' to vote for Florida.)

(editor’s note: It is my understanding that the $20,000 prize money offered by the US bid organizers was subtracted from the pilot’s entry fees by the CIVL subcommittee, the pilots entry fees were very similar.

I agree that there were numerous problems with the US bid. What we have all found interesting is that so many pilots have said that they want to go to Florida and not to Hay (this irrespective of the problems with the bids). Manfred and Oleg even hinted that they wouldn’t go to Hay for the Worlds.)

Discuss "Civil with CIVL?" at the Oz Report forum   link»

The flex wing Pre-worlds »

Sun, Sep 1 2002, 9:00:00 pm GMT

Aldo Xavier|Andre Wolf|Antoine Boisselier|Attila Bertok|Bruno Guillen|Carlos Bessa|Davide Guiducci|Gerolf Heinrichs|Guga|Jerz Rossignol|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|José Luiz Moura Velloso|José Luiz Moura Velloso|Kraig Coomber|Leonardo Dabbur|Luiz Niemeyer|Manfred Ruhmer|Marcelo Alexandre Menin|Mario Alonzi|Mart Bosman|Moura Velloso|Nene Rotor|Oleg Bondarchuk|Oliver Schmidt|Paris Williams|Richard Walbec|Richard Williams|Robert Reisinger|Rohan Holtkamp

http://www.brasilia2003.com

Click the Resultados green button in the middle of the heading.

José Luiz Moura Velloso <joseluiz@jlv.com.br> sends the results:

Today there was a little rain in the afternoon, and nobody made goal. Oleg did the best, flying 82 km (task was 96 km). The forecast for tomorrow is rain again, with the weather getting better on Tuesday. So, it was decided that the rest day is tomorrow (Tuesday).

Day 6:

1 Oleg Bondarchuk Aeros Combat UKR 81,8
2 MANFRED, Ruhmer, 1 Icaro Mr 700 AUT 80,9
3 Boisselier Antoine Moyes Litespeed FRA 75,4
3 Heinrichs Gerolf Moyes Litespeed 4 AUT 75,4
5 Nene Rotor Wills Wing Talon BRA 74,9
5 Walbec Richard Icaro Laminar MR700 FRA 74,9
7 JEAN FRANÇOIS PALMARINI Moyes Litespeed 4 FRA 74,5
8 Carlos Alberto Schmidt Moyes Litespeed BRA 74,2
9 BRETT HAZLETT, Brett, 90 Moyes Litespeed CAN 73,9
9 KRAIG COOMBER, Kraig, 35 Moyes Litespeed AUS 73,9
11 PARIS WILLIANS, Paris, 62 Icaro Laminar MR700 USA 73,1
12 ALDO SANCHEZ, Aldo, 81 BRA 70,2
12 FRANZ HERMANN, Gagu, 31 Moyes Litespeed 5 CHE 70,1
14 MARCELO MENIN, Menin, 61 Wills Wing Talon BRA 69,0
15 MART BOSMAN, Mart, 46 Moyes Litespeed NLD 68,6
16 MARIO ALONZI, Alonzi, 7 Icaro Laminar 13 MRX FRA 68,5
17 GUSTAVO SALDANHA, Guga, 65 Moyes Litespeed BRA 68,3
18 ATTILA, Bertok, 33 Moyes Litespeed 5 HUN 65,7
18 MASSIMO TURIACO, Max Moyes Litespeed ITA 65,7
20 Rohan Holtkamp Airborne Climax AUS 65,3
21 ANDRE WOLF, Andre Wolf Icaro Laminar MR700 BRA 64,7
22 Reisinger Robert Icaro Laminar 14 AUT 64,4
23 GERARD JEAN-FRANÇOIS Moyes Litespeed 4 FRA 64,0
24 Konrad Heillman BRA 63,1
25 GUILLEN BRUNO, Guillen, 22 Moyes Litespeed 4 FRA 63,0
25 JERZ ROSSIGNOL, Jerz, 57 Aeros Combat II USA 63,0
25 MOCELLIN FRANÇOISE Airborne Climax FRA 63,0
28 Jon Durand Jnr Moyes Litespeed AUS 62,9
29 SHALOM AMIR, Lindo, 77 Icaro Laminar MRX 700 ISR 62,8
30 WEISSENBERGER, Tom, 80 Moyes Litespeed AUT 61,6
30 Leonardo Dabbur Wills Wing Talon BRA 61,6

Cumulative after 6 days:

1

MANFRED, Ruhmer, 1 Icaro Mr 700 AUT 5163
2 Oleg Bondarchuk Aeros Combat UKR 4924
3 Nene Rotor Wills Wing Talon BRA 4911
4 Boisselier Antoine Moyes Litespeed FRA 4748
5 ATTILA, Bertok, 33 Moyes Litespeed 5 HUN 4589
6 WEISSENBERGER, Tom, 80 Moyes Litespeed AUT 4579
7 REISINGER ROBERT, Robert, 78 Icaro Laminar 14 AUT 4573
8 KRAIG COOMBER, Kraig, 35 Moyes Litespeed AUS 4567
9 ANDRE WOLF, Andre Wolf, 39 Icaro Laminar MR700 BRA 4497
10 Carlos Alberto Schmidt Moyes Litespeed BRA 4493
11 HEINRICHS GEROLF, Gerolf, 2 Moyes Litespeed 4 AUT 4442
12 JON DURAND JNR,Dundee, 36 Moyes Litespeed AUS 4266
13 MIKE BARBER, Mikey, 73 Moyes Litespeed 4 USA 4247
14 GUIDUCCI DAVIDE, Guiducci, 51 Moyes Litespeed ITA 4168
15 WALBEC RICHARD, Walbec, 17 Icaro Laminar MR700 FRA 4147
16 ALDO SANCHEZ, Aldo, 81 BRA 4092
17 Rohan Holtkamp Airborne Climax AUS 4075
18 PARIS WILLIANS, Paris, 62 Icaro Laminar MR700 USA 4066
19 CARLOS BESSA, Bessa, 63 Wills Wing Talon BRA 4053
20 FRANZ HERMANN, Gagu, 31 Moyes Litespeed 5 CHE 4037
21 JERZ ROSSIGNOL, Jerz, 57 Aeros Combat II USA 3834
22 BRETT HAZLETT, Brett, 90 Moyes Litespeed CAN 3817
23 MARIO ALONZI, Alonzi, 7 Icaro Laminar 13 MRX FRA 3789
24 GUSTAVO SALDANHA, Guga, 65 Moyes Litespeed BRA 3777
25 GUILLEN BRUNO, Guillen, 22 Moyes Litespeed 4 FRA 3685
26 CURT WARREN, Curt, 40 Moyes Litespeed 4 USA 3675
27 ADAM PARER, Boo Boo, 55 Airborne Climax AUS 3580
28 JEAN FRANÇOIS PALMARINI, Moyes Litespeed 4 FRA 3551
29 Paulo Eduardo Baz Wills Wing Talon BRA 3381
30 Dorival Agulhon Junior Icaro Laminar MR BRA 3355

Here’s a suggestion to the guys just below Manfred in the standings, why don’t you get together and fly together as a team. Maybe, just maybe you’ll have a chance to take on Manfred.

Discuss "The flex wing Pre-worlds" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Short gliders got no reason to live

Tue, Mar 12 2002, 12:00:05 pm EST

Mart Bosman|PG|Worlds

Mart Bosman «mbosman» writes:

With the worlds inBrazil coming up a lot of pilots are going to travel by air a lot and with hang-gliders that's a major hassle. (The pre-Worlds in Brazil are taking place during our northern season and the gliders have to be sent by cargo in advance so you lose valuable hang gliding days and they might stay in customs for a while when the arrive.) The reason is that the gliders are a bit too long.

You might remember Aart the Dutch pilot who's a 747 pilot. Last Sunday he said that if gliders were able to break down to 3.6 meters (11 feet 9 1/2 inches) there would be no hassle at all (presumably getting the glider in a 747).

Apparently on most gliders the longest tube is just over 4 meters (13 feet, 1 ½ inches). Wouldn't it be great if manufacturers built gliders that are easier to transport. You could check them in like a paraglider pilot with your glider on your shoulder. Maybe a bit of extra thought with the design of gliders might be enough? I wouldn't even mind working 1/2 a day putting a glider back together.

Peace Now

Sun, Mar 10 2002, 1:00:05 am GMT

Brian Porter|CIVL|Dennis Pagen|Gerry Uchytil|Heather Mull|Mart Bosman

Heather Mull CIVL steward writes:

Well guys, this was just getting all so serious that I thought I'd try to lighten the mood with a contribution (even though Mart enjoys reading your spicy interchanges)! I'm not going to take sides against people, the following are just some of my observations from the CIVL meeting which I was at, and from during competitions with these people and from reading the Oz Report.

Dennis Pagen has done a huge amount over the years for our sport - often people complain and whinge about the status quo, but never stick their hands up to get properly involved to improve situations like Dennis has tried to do. "Rome wasn't built in a day." However, Dennis can at times rub people up the wrong way. I'm a firm believer in "if you can't say something nice about someone, don't say it at all." Of course this is up to the individual. It is also a fact of life that many people can't keep confidences.

Davis has provided a huge service with his Oz Report, I love reading it - sometimes skip the political bits -but always make my own judgments as when reading any publications. However,Davis can also at times rub people up the wrong way (& now Brian Porter's told me his version of the story too Davis!). Therefore Dennis + Davis = rams butting horns? It could also apply that if you can't write something nice about someone, don't write it at all. Of course this is also up to the individual.

Chelan Local Regulations: Proposed regulations for the upcoming Worlds were just that - proposed. They then went to the CIVL meeting for reviewing. In a perfect world comp' organisers would always write their local reg's by following the sample given in Section 7 as a guide. But if that doesn't happen, we're still happy that someone has at least offered to organise and run the comp'. The regulation reviewing was done by myself and others - including the CIVL officials who will be present at that meet. I believe that one of the recommendations is to have both task and safety committees, & there are guidelines about these in Section 7. In my opinion (coming from experience as a meet director, steward & comp' pilot) these committees are always advisory to the meet director.

Chelan Meet Directors: If the "Danny has a big ego that keeps him from listening" refers to Dan Uchytil - then he must have a split personality! I worked with Dan at the last Women's Worlds in Greece and thought he did a great job. Never did he not listen or not act on my advice (as Steward) and he worked really hard to fix potential problems to make sure the comp' ran as smoothly as possible for the women. I would be surprised if he didn't interact well with task and safety committees in Chelan. I'm not sure which background reasons may be involved if the organisers are not so friendly to the press?

Just in closing, it might be a bit simplistic but -hey guys- don't take life too seriously -among other things it's bad for your blood pressure! Take a step back and appreciate the things that really matter!

(editor’s note: I got to see Heather again in Australia in January and she turned me onto a great massage therapist in Mt.Beauty– her own massage therapist, so I’m deep in debt to Heather. Heather was originally assigned to be one of the meet stewards in Chelan – Dennis Pagen pulled rank and chose to take the Brazil assignment instead after indicating to Heather that she could possibly have the Brazil assignment for the CIVL travel club.

As I wrote earlier I sent out my comments about the proposed Chelan rules because I wanted to be sure that CIVL personnel understood the specific issues that I raised and I didn’t want any of these issues overlooked. I knew, of course, that the rules would be reviewed by CIVL. Of course, I like Heather am very happy that Danny and Larry are organizing the Worlds in Chelan.

I also value Dennis Pagen’s contributions to the sport. Just because I offer some constructive criticisms doesn’t mean I disrespect him, in fact quite the opposite, it means that I think that he can understand criticism and seriously consider it.

I’m very certain that Danny listened to you in Greece, and I expect that he will pay close attention leading up to the Worlds. I just want to make sure that he isn’t listening just to CIVL and CIVL stewards, because I think CIVL has got a few things completely wrong. I will be discussing those items in upcoming Oz Reports.

Heather is not as comfortable with a certain level of conflict, that's what I see going on here. Mart is and so am I.

BTW, I rub Brian Porter the wrong way on purpose, although I’m sure I run many many other people the wrong way inadvertently.)

Discuss "Peace Now" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Chutes – Porosity and Handling

Wed, Feb 27 2002, 2:00:06 pm EST

Angelo Crapanzano|parachute|Fred Wilson|Mart Bosman|PG|Simon Kay

You’ll’ find an article on repacking chutes in https://OzReport.com/Ozv6n33.htm

Fred Wilson «safety» writes:

The article refers to a study on skydiving repacking (reserves) which indicates that porosity (and lifespan) may be primarily dependant upon the number of times it is handled.

The study has left many unanswered questions… such as:

a) is it human body oil that is degrading the material? (If so, cotton gloves may be in order.)

b) is it the handling process itself (i.e. refolding, repacking) that degrades the porosity?

The real questions I would like to put to manufacturers are:

1. Does this factor into paraglider porosity degradation? (Given the enormous number of times a paraglider is likely to be repacked.)

2. Are some resin / color / sailcloth combinations more resistant to porosity degradation? (We are all aware that some colors of sailcloth degrade faster than others. Fleuro Pink being a classic example.)

3. Is the material used in sport parachuting (ram airs and reserves) similar to that used in our sports?

If porosity degradation rates are similar in our reserve parachutes, this article provides a strong argument to encourage pilots who own one to two decade old reserves to purchase some of the new generation reserves which have come onto the market in the past few years.

Angelo Crapanzano «angelo» responds:

The Belgian study refers to ram-air parachutes with "zero porosity" fabric. The fabric used looks the same as for round parachutes but the finish is completely different. As a matter of fact the fabric used for round parachutes is quite porous (if compared to paraglider fabric or modern skydiver's ram-air parachutes). Round parachutes need porous fabric to get stability and to reduce the opening shock to an acceptable level but, if the porosity gets too high, you lose on sink-rate. Different designs of round parachutes may need different porosity: do not measure the quality of a round rescue parachute looking at the porosity.

If measured with the standard (in Europe) porosity instrument made by JDC electronics, a good paraglider fabric, when new, has a porosity of 250-350 seconds; after two years it goes down to 60-100 seconds and the paraglider, normally, becomes dangerous at 5-10 seconds (depending on the model).

The fabric I use for my parachutes is among the lower porosity ones and, measured with the same instrument, gives a porosity around 1-1,6 seconds. The fabric used for round military parachutes has a porosity around 0,1 seconds.

Fabric for ram-air parachutes and round parachutes may look similar but need to have completely different characteristics. In my opinion the Belgian test has nothing to do with our rescue parachutes: pack your rescue chute as often as you like, but at least every three months :-)

Regardless of porosity a parachute life is limited because ageing affects the strength. For example a parachute fabric left to sunrays for a week will lose almost 50% of his strength! If opened as slow speed an old parachute will likely work as a new one of the same design, but will it hold a high speed deployment? In my opinion, even if carefully maintained and never used, it's better to replace your rescue parachute every 10 years.

Angelo Crapanzano «angelo» also writes:

Mart Bosman points out an important matter: the right compromise between sink-rate and opening speed (easy question but not so easy answer).

First of all I must say that pilots always speak about opening time but, in reality, we are only interested in opening distance (the altitude lost between throwing and opening).

To start we must know that given a certain model of round parachute in the same conditions:

  • The filling distance (distance traveled from parachute fully stretched to parachute fully open) is independent of speed (if not extremely slow or fast) and is a linear function of the diameter of the parachute (double diameter, double filling distance, four time the surface).
  • The impact energy is linear with the equivalent height (the height of a jump equivalent to the sink-rate) and is a linear reverse function of the surface of the parachute (double surface, half impact energy).

Of course filling distance is not everything: if we start from when the accident happens, we must add:

  • reaction time (time needed to understand you need a parachute. Very important matter but independent from the parachute size).
  • handle position and extraction (extremely important but depends mainly on the harness)
  • stretching time (dependent on throw force, parachute weight, and parachute dimensions; for simplicity we could consider it linear with the diameter of the parachute).

From what written above we see that a parachute (of the same design) which has double the surface of another one, will likely make us land half as hard and will likely need 40% more altitude to open. I say "likely" because, given the same parachute in the same conditions, there is quite a scatter in results if we make several tests.

Does this mean "let's use a big parachute" because we gain more in sink-rate than we lose in opening distance? Well, if you deploy your chute at 1000 m from the ground it's worthless to minimize the opening distance but if you have an accident 30 m from the ground it is then the sink-rate to become less important. (I must also add that, if falling at very low airspeed, a bigger parachute opens slower than predicted compared to a smaller parachute. Note this is just my opinion and is not backed from any research or testing).

We must also consider:

  • if your parachute opens very fast but your sink-rate is equivalent to a jump from 3 meters you would likely be injured.
  • if your parachute brings you down like jumping from 1 m high it would be totally useless to get a bigger parachute: you will be uninjured anyway but you'll need a longer opening distance.

In my opinion it is wrong to say that a given parachute is suitable for a certain weight: the same parachute will bring down at the same speed a young karate champion 1,9 m tall, or his grandmother 1,6 m tall, if they both weight 80 kg. The impact energy would be the same, but the time spent at the hospital would not! Here is another, less drastic, example: I weight practically the same since I started hang gliding 25 years ago, but my muscles and bones, unfortunately, are not the same anymore :-( :-(

It is a personal decision: get the parachute size which will give you the highest equivalent height you are likely to accept without trouble.

Here comes a problem: there is not enough information from the manufactures or the certification standards. What about printing a number on the parachute (calculated after the certification tests) which, multiplied for your weight, will give your equivalent height under that parachute? Each pilot could then make an informed choice. It looks to me very simple but I could not convince DHV or AFNOR of the utility.

Mart Bosman says "most accidents happen on a altitude that there is plenty of time". He is probably right considering those pilots flying in the flatlands but, out of 253 real emergency opening with my chutes (those I know of, including hang gliding and paragliding), almost ½ happened below or around 100 m (I've been told) and in several cases the descent under canopy lasted just a few seconds. I know for sure of three pilots (Robbie Whittal, Karl Reichegger, Andrea Patrucco) who threw the parachute below 30 m (100 ft) and the parachute would not have opened in time if bigger. On the other side, with my parachutes, I also know of 6 cases where the pilot got injured with something broken but, luckily, without permanent damages (of course I'm not counting bruises and minor damages).

About folding and repacking I do completely agree with Henry Helmich from Parasail when he says that it's extremely important that a parachute is dry and recently folded (but this has nothing to do with parachute size: it's mandatory regardless of it). I won't be so extreme but, in my opinion, a parachute should be packed at least every three months.

Simon Kay points out that the Belgian Army has conducted an extensive long-term study of ram-air parachute wear and concluded that handling during packing was much more detrimental to fabric porosity than the actual deployment and use. As a consequence from this study they increased the packing period from 120 to 180 days.

In my opinion this research is not directly applicable to our round parachutes because we use different fabrics with much higher porosity than ram-air parachutes (round parachutes needs some porosity to help stability and reduce the opening shock). As far as I know the porosity of the fabric used for round parachutes is not significantly affected by foldings but the fabric strength is affected by ageing and sunrays (that's why it's suggested to replace the parachute every 10 years).

Remember that the most important factor is dry! A wet parachute at low speed will take ages to open.

About packing and opening time, according to some test made long time ago by the US Navy, there is quite an increment in opening time from just packed and three months. After six months, the opening time doesn't change much (sorry, I could not find out in which book I've seen this graph). Remember: our parachutes often have to open at very low airspeed where things get even worse for a long time packed or wet chute.

Beef Up the ATOS

Sat, Feb 2 2002, 6:00:07 pm GMT

ATOS|Davis Straub|Felix Rühle|Mart Bosman|Robert "Bo" “Hillbilly” Hagewood

Jaime A. Ruiz <ruizlp@mediaone.net> writes:

I twice consulted with the designer, Felix Ruhle, prior to strengthening my Atos-c. Though he thought it unnecessary, when pressed Felix suggested to use one cf bi-directional tape 1.5” wide all along the outside D-spar corners (four corners), from just before rib #1 to rib #6 (spoileron rib). (The loads drop significantly after rib #6.) He told me to use approximately 0.25”-0.5” into the flap, and the rest up the D-spar using a Twill cf tape, 5.7 oz/sqyd of weight. One carbon fiber strand should lay parallel to the corner (0°) and the other vertical up the spar (90°).

After much research and phone calls, I could not find Twill tape in the web less than 20” wide. When cutting this width, the strands break up making a 2” tape all but impossible to cut. Nobody makes 1.5” carbon fiber tapes. All 2” cf tapes sold are plain—too stiff to drape around 90° corners—or uni-directional. I needed bi-directional twill so it draped well around the corners. It took me a month of negotiating and cajoling with carbon fiber manufacturers and distributors to finally get one manufacturer to sell it to US COMPOSITES (561-588-1001, 5101 Georgia Ave, West Palm Beach, Florida) who in turn sold it to me. They were very cooperative, helpful and gave me good service. I recommend them.

I had seen my previous Atos, and the one Davis Straub used in Australia, break their wings at 4’, 8’, 8’, and 9.5’ from the root. On my own, I decided to use a shorter and narrower (1.25” wide) first tape of cf up to 10’6” from the root to further strengthen the first section of the D-spars. The second longer and wider tape (2” wide) recommended by Felix would overlap this first tape—both in width and in length—starting at the much stronger root spar, creating a diminishing staircase of carbon fiber strength from the root to the wing tip similar to the suspension coils you may have seen in old pick-up trucks.

A. Materials: about 32 yd of 2” wide, cf twill tape, 5.7 oz/sqyd from US COMPOSITES; EZ-LAM 60 epoxy and hardener (is hot in Miami, Florida, in colder weather use EZ-LAM 30); cotton “flox” from Aircraft Spruce to strengthen corners with small radius; several 1” wide brushes from Home Depot; Rubber-Maid small plastic containers from Wal-Mart to hold and mix the epoxy resin; plastic spoons/forks to mix epoxy; cheap latex gloves from Wal-Mart; blue masking tape; good shear scissors from Wal-Mart; wax paper roll; 1” wide foam rollers bought at Home Depot; blue masking or duct tape; and several rolls of toilet paper.

B. SET-UP & PREPARATION: Remove the sail and open the wings about 10 ft at the end; using masking tape on the top fuselage mark the beginning (2’3” from the root just before rib #1), end of first tape (10’6” from the root), and end of second tape (14’6” just after rib #6); carefully remove the small metal safety rings on the lower part of the ribs; tape temporarily and out of the way all the strings and wires up the spar with masking tape; mask tape the retaining holes and rings where the ribs pivot on so epoxy doesn’t fall in them or between the rib and the flap

Photo with masking tape on it while the epoxy resin is still wet.

Final photo after removing the masking tape.

(I did not remove the ribs, however if you do make sure you mark them carefully so you can put them back again correctly); using 220 grit sandpaper carefully sand the flap and about 2.5” up the spar to take the shine out of the epoxy but without getting into the carbon fiber (use a dust mask against breathing the carbon dust); brush away the carbon fiber dust off the spar and flap; clean the area again of any remaining carbon dust using cotton or toilet paper with rubbing alcohol.

C. TAPES: Measure and carefully cut two tapes at a time—one 8’4” and one 12’4” long. I used a sliver of masking tape at each ends so the strands don’t break up. Place masking tape all along on 0.75” of the first narrow cf tape lengthwise to cut it later on as you lay it up so that it remains only 1.25” wide.

D. CORNER’S STRENGTH: I noticed that the corner radius on the upper D-spar where thick and wide, meaning structurally strong. I also noticed that the corner radiuses diminish from the root to the tip, probably according to the theoretically expected G loads. But the lower corners had a much smaller radius—almost 90°—meaning structurally weaker. I am sure that this was done in manufacturing by design to build less weight in the areas that theoretically would have lower loads. However, my intended purpose was to strengthen the Atos. The small added weight from strengthening is entirely secondary in my book. Using previous experience in building Long-EZ wings, canards, and spar caps with fiberglass and foam, I decided to strengthen the lower corners using a mixture of 1-to-2 epoxy-to-cotton flox prior to laying the cf tapes.

E. FLOX LOWER CORNER: Mix 2-1 flox-to-epoxy in a cup, pour into cake frosting receptacle with a cut in lower part, lay a small bead of wet flox all along the corner itself, spread evenly with your gloved finger.

F. IMMEDIATELY LAY THE NARROW TAPE: Measure and mix the 2-to-1 epoxy and hardener carefully; brush mixed epoxy all along the corner, from beginning to end. Wet thoroughly the shorter-narrower tape of carbon fiber tape laid on a spread out roll of wax paper. Bring the wet tape to the corner with the wet side down facing the corner. Lay from beginning to end while stippling the epoxy (not brushing it) into the dry side of the cf tape facing you. Orient the short-narrow tape with one strand parallel to the corner and the other at 90° to it. Use only 0.5” onto the flap and the rest up the spar. Cut the masking tape side with the scissors leaving only the wet narrow tape on the spar. Make sure no wet tape interrupts the ribs pivoting motion.

G. IMMEDIATELY LAY THE WIDER TAPE: No need to wet one side of the long-wide (2” wide) tape upon the wax paper since it will suck the epoxy up from the previous wet tape underneath as you stipple it with a brush. Bring the tape over in a roll, and unroll it right over the narrow one, overlapping it width like, finishing several feet more, and stippling the epoxy with the brush making sure to wet thoroughly the whole carbon fiber. Roll the 1” foam-roller all along the flap and the spar pushing and spreading the resin evenly into the carbon fiber. Along the rib pivoting points, carefully push any cf tape up the spar with a dry screwdriver, a brush or your finger that might impede this rib pivoting movement later on, and immediately dry any resin that fell into the rib pivoting points or safety rings. (These parts should have been covered previously with the masking tape mentioned.)

h. DRY EXCESSIVE RESIN: Slowly roll a roll of toilet taper pushing it into the flap and the spar to absorb excessive resin. Throw the wet paper away. (All resin above and beyond wetting the tape only makes your wing heavier, not stronger.) Wait 24-48 hrs for it to dry hard. (See photo below for final lay-up. The first narrower cf tape lies underneath this wider one.)

I. Do the other lower corner on the other wing behind you. Wait 24 hrs for it to dry. Then turn the Atos over and do the top two corners without the cotton flox (if their corner radiuses are wide).

J. SHEAR RIBS: While at it, I added white Velcro sticky-back shear strips (from Home Depot) on both upper and lower side of the ribs, and the sail. This may reduce the likelihood of “wandering pitch pressure” and “speed bumps” while giving the Atos a more solid feel of stability when flying very fast. (This, of course, has nothing to do with the structural strengthening per se but with aerodynamic pilot “feel”.) See photo.

K. SOME FINAL NOTES:

a. I will let you know how much more weight I added after I finish working. My guess is less than 2 lbs.

b. Though I don’t have static test data to scientifically support my statements, I do believe that this carbon fiber lay-up significantly increased the capacity of my Atos-c to sustain positive and negative G loads, increased its VNE, and reduced the likelihood of both wings breaking up in mid-air due to spins, tucks, and tumbles. How much, I don’t know.

c. On my conversations with Felix Ruehle, he stated that this strengthening was unnecessary. (I already said so.)

d. However, I feel emotionally and intellectually more comfortable (and safer) flying my stronger Atos-c now. This peace of mind alone is worth a lot to me.

e. We will never know if this strengthening would have prevented the breaking of my Atos when Bo Hagewood spun it at Quest Air, or Davis Straub's when the dragons made him go into an inverted tuck.

f. But we can reasonably infer that, at the very least, this strengthening could have given either or both pilots 1 to 10 more precious seconds to maneuver out of their precarious position, or even just to throw their parachutes.

g. I believe that this strengthening should be done at manufacturing time. This would allow placing the corner tapes also on the INSIDE of the spar, which obviously I don’t have access to now. It would also allow the manufacturer to lay the corner tapes in a straight line prior to placing the rib holding foam squares on the D-spar flap. (As it is, I had to lay the tapes going up and around these rib-holding squares.)

h. I am sure that, if done at manufacturing time, the designer could cut the length, width, and weight of the carbon fiber and resin that I used while still boosting the structural strength of the D-spar and its resistance to breaking in spins, tucks, and tumbles for less than two pounds weight increase.

i. Don’t do it yourself if you don’t have extensive construction experience with fiberglass, carbon fiber and epoxy resin. There are many steps not mentioned here.

j. If you decide to do it, seek the work of a proven expert and have him do it for/with you. Plan ahead. Do only one corner at a time. Go slowly, methodically and carefully.

k. This strengthening does NOT suggest that you may intentionally spin the Atos or do aerobatic maneuvers. Do not spin the Atos or attempt any aerobatic maneuvers with it. Fly the Atos fast in turbulence, while thermaling, and below 500 AGL. There is no need to fly the Atos slow.

l. Use a 20-gore parachute always. (Perhaps a Conar HG18/20 or Lara 250 Gold?)

m. You don’t have to agree with what I did or said. Follow your own compass.

n. Good luck!

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Chutes and ladders

Wed, Jan 30 2002, 1:00:05 am EST

Angelo Crapanzano|Mart Bosman|PG

Angelo Crapanzano«angelo» writes:

Mart Bosman points out an important matter: the right compromise between sink-rate and opening speed (easy question but not so easy answer).

First of all I must say that we always speak about opening time but, in reality, we are only interested in opening distance (the altitude lost between throwing and opening).

To start we must know that given a certain model of round parachute in the same conditions: the filling distance (distance travelled from parachute fully stretched to parachute fully open) is independent of speed (if not extremely slow or fast) and is a direct linear function of the diameter of the parachute (double diameter, double filling distance, four time the surface).

The impact energy is linear with the equivalent height (the height of a jump equivalent to the sink-rate) and is a linear reverse function of the surface of the parachute (double surface, half impact energy). Of course filling distance is not everything: if we start from the accident we must add:

- reaction time (extremely important but independent from the parachute size).

- handle position and extraction (extremely important but depends mainly on the harness)

- stretching time (dependent on throw force, parachute weight, and parachute dimensions; for simplicity we can consider it too linear with the diameter of the parachute).

From what written above we see that a parachute (of the same design) which has double the surface will likely make us land half as hard and will likely need 40% more altitude to open. I say "likely" because, given the same parachute in the same conditions, there is quite a scatter in results if we make several tests.

Does this mean "let's use a big parachute" because we gain more in sink-rate than we lose in opening distance? Well, if you deploy your chute at 1000 m from the ground, to minimize the opening distance is not so important but if you have an accident 30 m from the ground it is then the sink-rate to be less important. (I must also say that at very low airspeed, a bigger parachute opens slower than predicted compared to a smaller parachute. Note this is just my opinion and is not backed from any research or testing).

We must also consider:

- if your parachute opens very fast but your sink-rate is equivalent to a jump from three meters you would likely be injured.

- if your parachute brings you down like jumping from 1 m high it would be totally useless to get a bigger parachute: you will be uninjured anyway but you'll need a longer opening distance.

In my opinion it is wrong to say that a given parachute is suitable for a certain weight: the same parachute will bring down at the same speed a young karate champion 1,8 m tall, or his grandmother 1,6 m tall, if they both weight the same. The impact energy would be the same but the time spent at the hospital would not! Here is another, less drastic, example: my weight is still practically the same of when I started hang gliding 25 years ago, but my muscles and bones, unfortunately, are not the same anymore :-( :-(

Get the parachute size, which will give you the highest equivalent height you are likely to accept without trouble.

Here comes a problem: there is not enough information from the manufactures or the certification standards. What about printing a number on the parachute (calculated after the certification tests) which, multiplied for your weight, will give your equivalent height under that parachute? Each pilot could then make an informed choice. It looks to me very simple but I could not convince DHV or AFNOR of the utility.

About folding I do completely agree with Henry Helmich from Parasail when he says that it's extremely important that a parachute is dry and recently folded (but this has nothing to do with parachute size: it's mandatory regardless of it). I won't be so extreme but, in my opinion, a parachute should be packed at least every three months.

Recently the Belgian Army conducted an extensive long-term study of ram-air parachute wear and concluded that the handling during packing was much more detrimental to the parachute than the actual deployment and use. I don't think this research is directly applicable to our round parachutes because we use different fabrics with different porosity.

Remember that the most important factor is dry! A wet parachute at low speed will take ages to open.

According to a test made long time ago by the US Navy, there is quite an increment in opening time from just packed and three months. After six months, it doesn't change much (sorry, I could not find out in which book I've seen this graph). Remember: our parachutes often have to open at very low airspeed where things get even worse for a long time packed or wet chute.

Mart says "most accidents happen on a altitude that there is plenty of time". He is probably right, considering those pilots flying in the flatlands. Out of 253 real emergency openings with my chutes (those I know of, including hang gliding and paragliding), at least 1/3rd happened below 100 m (I've been told). I know for sure of three pilots (Robbie Whittal, Karl Reichegger, Andrea Patrucco) where the parachute would not have opened in time if it were bigger, and several others where the descent under canopy lasted just a few seconds. On the other side, with my parachutes, I also know of 6 cases where the pilot got injured with something broken without permanent damages (I'm not counting bruises and minor damages).

Folding Chutes

Sun, Jan 27 2002, 10:00:02 pm EST

Mart Bosman

Mart Bosman«mbosman» writes:

I would like to address a problem that you mentioned in your report, which concerns the parachute. During the worlds in Oz my teammate Aart de Koomen had a mid-air where a pilot hit his glider on the top breaking his crossbar. The glider stayed more or less intact, but obviously didn't fly anymore so he threw his chute. He still had a high vertical speed although he was going down under his glider with chute. He landed on his feet in a grassy flat field with a parachute roll but still bruised both his ankles. He straight away bought a bigger chute. Like with you, his decent rate had really scared him.

We are obligated here to buy new chutes every 10 years, so 2 years ago mine was due and I bought a big one, too. Last year when I was in Oz, Conrad bought a small chute and I asked him why he did that. He said that a smaller chute opens faster and he would rather break a leg due to a bit faster decent then be on the ground after a low problem with an unopened chute. That sounds logical but most accidents happen on a altitude that there is plenty of time and I know of one pilot who died after a heavy landing and breaking his leg due to internal bleeding in his leg.

I couldn't decide what was the best option. So last year when we had our annual chute folding night just before the flying season with our club I asked Henry Helmich from Parasail. He works for the army, making and folding parachutes and he makes parachutes for the Dutch and German hang gliding marked. He was very clear.

The difference in opening time for a larger or smaller chute for your weight is in tenth of seconds, if measurable at all. The only thing that really counts is that the chute is dry and recently folded. Chute material absorbs moisture from the air, which makes the material stick to each other and folding it regularly keeps the material fluffy. When doing tests manufactures fold the chutes on the spot. Chutes don't wear from folding and he recommended folding them once a month in flying season. To put it extreme he said that he would rather have a recently folded tandem chute when low in trouble, then a small one that hadn't been folded for half a year.

George on the ATOS

Fri, Apr 23 1999, 4:00:02 am GMT

David "Dave" Sharp|Felix Rühle|George Ferris|Malcolm Jones|Mart Bosman|Michael "Hollywood" Champlin|Peter Radman

George Ferris came down to Florida to see Felix and fly the ATOS. This is his report:

We all know what a brilliant designer Felix Ruhle is, but we were unaware that he is also an artist. I had looked over many pictures of the Atos and admired its sleek appearance and striking look but when I saw the Atos for the first time with my own eyes I truly stood in awe.

Pictures don't begin to do it justice, it's truly a work of art. I have been going to the Ranch for 3 years now. I noticed that Malcolm Jones never seems all that interested in gliders other than his tandems which he uses to teach hundreds of students but the day the Atos arrived it put even Malcolm into a trance. I noticed him gawking over it like a kid in a candy store. He commented how sexy it was.

Each morning while the Atos was being set up he was unable to pass by without stopping to admire it, taking time away from his busy schedule.

Talking about setup… The set up of the Atos is very similar to the Exxtacy but quicker, mainly because the flaps and the spoilers are never removed from the sail. This saves about 7 minutes and a lot of hassle. The ribs attach to the trailing edge by levers and the finish is impeccable.

Talking about finish, Felix went as far as contouring the spoilers so they sit flat onto the sail and the flaps are set into the sail becoming part of it. It's hard to explain but you will see for yourself. The control frame, uprights and control bar, are a dupe of the Exxtacy frame (this may change to a lighter material in the near future) but with more refined fittings.

The dacron sail material used on the ATOS has a different finish than the dacron used on Exxtacy. Felix states that the sail will last longer and doesn't have as much of a tendency to wrinkle. Felix made several Pegasus sails out of this material that are quite old now but have proven themselves.

After admiring it's art I was very curious to find out what it actually weighed in pounds. I went to Wal-Mart and retrieved a scale and Hollywood and I weighed it. It is truly 73 pounds. Davis and I weighed it again so he could take pictures that you will see or have seen on the Oz Report. Its static balance is almost perfect and the wing lifts effortlessly while running into the wind, with half flaps, before you take four steps.

George at 145 pounds:

George with the ATOS at 218 pounds:

Thanks to Felix, Dave Sharp and Peter Radman I was able to fly the Atos three times. The first flights were in the evening and there was no lift. I could not determine any thing concrete but it seemed that Atos had a much better glide and a somewhat better sink. (Time will tell.)

My third flight was at 11 AM. I towed to 2500 ft where I released and flew around finding light lift. Thermals were just beginning to pop. The Atos, remarkably, tows easier than the Exxtacy and I would not have believed it if I hadn't been on tow myself. The Atos like the Exxtacy fly's straight ahead, hands off, like it's on rails.

I pulled on some speed to feel the pitch pressure which appeared to be more than my Exxtacy ( this could be because of the CG location). The pitch pressure was the same from 20 to 60 mph. Looking at the wing on the ground, and noticing how much shorter the cord was than the Exxtacy, and with the span of 42 ft, I was thinking the Atos most likely would have a tendency to slip in high bank turns.

I entered a thermal and initiated a left turn with a moderate bank and let go of the control frame. The Atos carved a beautiful turn on it's own. I changed directions several times going from 45 to 45° banks. Like the Exxtacy it takes longer than a flex wing to do this maneuver but like the Exxtacy the initiation is immediate. I was still in the thermal and had gained 1000 ft and decided to see what she felt like in high bank turns. I kept increasing the bank angle in each 360 until I achieved 90°. There was no tendency for the Atos to slip at all and she carved the most beautiful turn. I did several 90 deg 360's in both directions and the Atos was solid all the way. My fear of her wanting to slip was gone.

The other thing I noticed is the Atos feedback is so easy to read. It's right there all the time and gives you a real secure feeling. I left the thermal and circled down to 1200FT. I raced back toward the Ranch and entered another thermal. This time during my climb I used different flap settings. The lift was light and like my Exxtacy the Atos appeared to climb better (in light lift) with some flap.

I have found, flying the Exxtacy, as a rule of thumb, that the stronger the conditions get the less flap you use (of course, this could be personal preference). I would guess that the Atos is the same, but that's only a guess, for I never got to fly the Atos in strong conditions. Also, the Atos seems to turn quicker with flap.

Maybe Dave will give us a write-up on his perceptions after the Nationals. Does the Atos fly just like the Exxtacy? Well it's similar but there are some differences that I can't put into words in the short amount of air time that I have on it. If I was to say anything it would be the Atos fly's more like a flex wing , high siding need. Well I'll leave it to Dave's two-week experience to describe the differences.

Do I have any concerns? Yes! It seems that the Atos does not fall out of the sky with full flaps like the Exxtacy. It's only a first impression but I don't think the glide is diminished as much as the glide on the Exxtacy at full flap. It was time for me to land, and Dave was waiting patiently. It was only one hour before start time. I had landed the Atos twice before this flight and the landings were straight forward and easy, similar to the Exxtacy.

It was my last day at Wallaby, I needed to return to work. I was elated that I was given the opportunity to fly the Atos seeing that only one arrived, not two. I left the thermal and circled down checking out the wind sock, which was light north the same direction as when I had taken off 30 minutes earlier. I decided to make a long and conservative approach into the wind. I wasn't aware until I was cruising 10 feet over the ground that the wind had switched 180°'s and I now had a tail wind.

At 10 ft off the ground I noticed that my ground speed was not slowing but increasing. Ten seconds later and with no room to turn for correction I flared hard. My feet hit the ground first and with the momentum the glider had I knew that she was going to beak. My mistake was not letting her do so. Normally I let go of the down tubes and if I'm going to fall forward I let myself do so with out touching the uprights. The result is always the same. No damage to the glider and no damage to me.

This time, I was desperate not to beak this work of art that did not belong to me and held onto the uprights hoping to prevent the obvious. I knew walking out of the field that all the people that didn't know who I was were all familiar with my name now. I ended my stay at Wallaby helping Felix, Dave, and Peter, who had been so gracious to me, fitting the Atos with new uprights. Now there… is a short VA_CA I won't forget. SO-oooooooooooooooo what's your most embarrassing moment!

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