Wills Wing
Flytec

Oz Report

Volume 11, Number 53
Friday, March 16 2007
Quest Air, Sheets airfield, Groveland, Florida, USA
https://OzReport.com
"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

to Table of Contentsto next topic On Line Contests (OLC's), ATMOS

Thu, Mar 15 2007, 7:57:03 pm EDT
ATMOS
The global flight database of the future?

On-Line Contest

http://www.fai.org/fai_news_03_07

FAI has decided to expand its mission by creating a worldwide digital archive of flights, covering all air sports.  Naviter has enthusiastically supported the project, generously contributing the database design and software.

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Quest Air Thursday some flying

Thu, Mar 15 2007, 7:58:43 pm EDT
Quest Air
The overdevelopment cometh late

Dr. John "Jack" Glendening|Dragonfly|Dustin Martin|Jim Rooney|Quest Air|record|Rhett Radford

You'll notice that Quest Air is back as an Oz Report sponsor/advertiser.  Great to have them on board.  Of course, they have always been very supportive of the Oz Report and of hang gliding in general, especially the competitions and the national fly in.

Maybe they felt that they had better get their ad back in the Oz Report just in case any one was spreading a little lie that they were closed down.  By the way, the office is now open seven days a week.  It used to be closed on Wednesdays, but there was always a tug pilot on site and on duty.  The tug pilots love living here.

I love living here.  Last night we went out to the enclosed pool area and took a hot tub in the new hot tub.  103 degrees.  Perfect.  Black night, stars, $5 million dollar view (in the day time). Great place to bring your trailer and fly.

Rhett Radford is here with his Dragonfly, working on it and soon to get it N numbered.  He's studying for all sorts of tests as an examiner, instructor, mechanism, etc.  for Light Sport aircraft.  Flavia is here from Brazil, so is Jim Rooney, and plenty of skilled instructors and tug pilots.  Kevin and Dustin are here running their cross country clinic.

This was a good day to watch yourself and the forecast carefully.  Dr. Jack's RUC pictures showed spotty lift to 2,700' and the winds 17 knots out of the south.  I had a doctor's appointment for my yearly physical exam (got to check out the PSA) at 9:45 AM, and when I got out at 11 AM the low cu's filled the sky.  It was a day to be in the air by then, but I had a ten mile bike ride yet in front of me.

With so many spots in the forecast you've got to look at what you actually see in the morning.  The wind was 15 mph out of the south on the ground at Quest, which is certainly launchable, but you've got to be ready to hold own tight.  The Tjadens broke down.

The cu bases were actually plenty high for this early in the morning and showed lots of lift.  With the wind it would have been easy to head north and hang on light lift.  The bases rose during the day and the congestion didn't happen until 6 PM when the rains began.

It seems like a day that would have afforded long flights, but not record flights.

The clinic students had a short late afternoon flight before the rains came.

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Tin Cup, in maintenance mode

Thu, Mar 15 2007, 8:33:24 pm EDT
Tin Cup
Making sure that the editor can keep the engine running

Davis Straub|donations|Quest Air


Did you ever notice the hospitals and clinics are women's places?  Designed and run by nurses.  The male doctors are just guests.  As are male patients.  No wonder men don't feel comfortable in these places. 

Looks like I'll be around for another year to bring you the news from hang glider land.

You can send $20 or more for a yearly subscription/donation.  To pay for your subscription with your credit card or PayPal account:

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Davis Straub (Not to the Oz Report)
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These are our supporters (if you are not on the list and have donated to the Oz Report, email me and I'll make sure that you are recognized): http://ozreport.com/supporters.php. Some of you who I've missed in the past did write to me and made sure I knew just how important the Oz Report was to them.  If I've missed you, please do tell me.

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Scooter Tow - On-line

Thu, Mar 15 2007, 8:33:44 pm EDT
Scooter Tow
Wills Wing puts up the instructor's manual and video

Blue Sky|Mike Meier|Paul Voight|Ryan Voight|Scooter Tow|scooter tow|Steve Wendt|video

Mike Meier «Mike» writes:

The Scooter Tow Resources Page is now up and active on the Wills Wing web site at: http://www.willswing.com/learn/scooterTow/

The page contains a link to the written manual (pdf) on Steve Wendt's Blue Sky Scooter Tow methods and equipment, a streaming video produced by Ryan Voight featuring Steve demonstrating the material in the manual, an equipment list with sources, and other information.

I'll be sending out a general announcement later on to our dealers and to the registered participants for the upcoming April clinics in Florida.

Now let's step back and consider what has happened here.  Mike Meier and Steve Wendt have written a manual for hang gliding instructors on the Steve Wendt Blue Sky scooter tow system and they are giving it away free.  Steve, Mike and Ryan Voight have produced a video that displays Steve's methods and they are streaming it for free from the Wills Wing site.

They provide you with a list of equipment that you need to be able to set up a scooter tow operation, and it's available up on the Wills Wing site.

Now you can go on-line and get the benefit of methods developed by an instructor who has used these techniques to run a successful business and provide 16,000+ tows.  All without any cost to yourself.

You can also attend one of Steve's clinics (if they are not already filled up) here in Florida in April.  See here: http://willswing.com/news.asp?newsSeek=285.

If you are interested in building a successful hang gliding instruction business, then check out this material.

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to Table of Contentsto next topic Flytec Race of Champions

Thu, Mar 15 2007, 8:34:52 pm EDT
Flytec Race
Right after the Flytec Championships

Jim Rooney|Quest Air

Jim Rooney «jim» writes:

Just wanted to get a reminder out to those planning their vacation time.  If you can stay a few days beyond the end of the Flytec Championships (April 23rd), then you can witness the Race Of Champions.

Directly after the Flytec Championships will be the Flytec Race Of Champions.  We're taking the 30 best pilots from the Championships and pulling out the stops.

We're simplifying things.  We're getting rid of team strategies, we're getting rid of staggered start clocks, we're just letting them race…and race hard…we're getting rid of "easy" tasks.  Oh yeah, and we're getting rid of 10 pilots a day.  If you can't keep up, you go home.

Lots of pilots are coming to the Flyec Championships just so they might be able to compete in the Race Of Champions.

More info can be found on our ROC page: http://questairforce.com/flytecROC.html

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The Oz Report, a near-daily, world wide hang gliding news ezine, with reports on competitions, pilot rankings, political issues, fly-ins, the latest technology, ultralight sailplanes, reader feedback and anything else from within the global HG community worthy of coverage. Hang gliding, paragliding, hang gliders, paragliders, aerotowing, hang glide, paraglide, platform towing, competitions, fly-ins. Hang gliding and paragliding news from around the world, by Davis Straub.

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