Flytec
Wills Wing

Oz Report

topic: spot landing (6 articles)

Spot Landing Contests - testing the "wrong" skill?

Thu, Dec 14 2006, 3:13:42 pm GMT

How about a run out before the flare?

Spot landing

Joe Greblo|spot landing

Do spot landing contests with their requirement that the landing spot be the place where you first touch the ground emphasize the "wrong" landing technique? That is do they say that the coolest landing skill is the ability to flare and then land with a no stepper, as opposed to touching down and then flaring?

Perhaps the landing first technique is a "better" approach. One that can be more consistently applied, is safer, more available to all pilots. If that's true, teaching pilots to flare first may just be pushing more pilots out of the sport and helping its demise.

Joe Greblo argues that the "landing first before the flare" approach greatly extends the flare window making a difficult skill, timing the flare, much easier to learn. The flare window opens up and the student can flare without the chance that they will flare up and off the ground.

Sure the flare first and then land technique looks cool, but is it really hurting the sport?

See here: https://OzReport.com/10.227#0 and for discussion here: https://OzReport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5096

Discuss "Spot Landing Contests - testing the "wrong" skill?" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Morningside Fun Meet

Fri, Sep 22 2006, 9:05:49 am MDT

I thought all meets were supposed to be fun

Morningside

camping|flight park|food|Jeff Nicolay|landing|Lynsey Haynes|Morningside Flight Park|Spot|spot landing

Jeff Nicolay «morningside» writes:

Columbus Day Weekend Oct 7&8,2006
Duration, Spot Landing, Bomb Drops, PRIZES
"Old Timers Day" Phil and Bobbie Haynes "Thanks for the years!"
Supper Extravaganza 40ft Enclosed Party tent, table and chairs, FIREWORKS, Family Fun, Camping Encouraged.
ALL ARE WELCOME! $20.00 Per Adult includes Flight Fee, Food, Camping. VHGA meeting

Discuss "Morningside Fun Meet" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Texas Open »

Sat, Jul 12 2003, 2:00:06 pm EDT

aerotow|cartoon|competition|Dan Bereczki|landing|scooter|scooter tow|spot landing|tow|tug|XC

Dan Bereczki <dan@danbarb.org> writes:

2003 Texas Open - July 18, 19, and 20th Leakey, TX

Come join us for most flying fun you'll have this summer at the best Fly-in in Texas.

HGs, PGs, RWs, everyone's welcome. Aerotow, truck tow, scooter tow - whatever your preference, we'll get you in the air. Not tow rated? Come out early, a Quest/Flytec tug is available Sunday 7/13/03. Contact me. We'll have platform and aerotow instructors ready to get you going.

We don't have a cool cartoon character tshirt, but we like ours just the same:

Can't make it out to Leakey? You can still get your very own Texas Open shirt

Click http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/store.aspx?s=hangdog.104328 to see the whole line of Texas Open wear

Don't like being told when to fly, what route to take, where to land? Relax! At the Texas Open, you are the task committee - you check out the day, choose your route and get rewarded for great piloting skills as well as decision making. Don't care to go XC? We've got duration, spot landing and bomb drop contests to show off your skills. See the rules page http://danbarb.org/txopen/html/gps.html for all the details.

The ultimate prize goes to the pilot who has the most fun. Our sponsors http://danbarb.org/danbarb/txopen/jsp/support.jsp have been quite generous, plan on being rewarded for having a great time.

Bring the whole gang - Leakey's in a beautiful spot in the Texas Hill Country. We've had plenty of rain, so the Frio river will be flowing, ready for swimming, tubing or just cooling of after a long flight.

Take a look at http://danbarb.org/txopen for more info.

Discuss local competition at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Texas Open" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Lakeview Festival of foot-launched Flight

Wed, May 7 2003, 3:00:05 pm EDT

Jules Gilpatrick|landing|magazine|Mary Ellen Fennessey|spot landing

Jules Gilpatrick <freeflite@centurytel.net> writes:

I'm a little late with this notification and too late to get it into the magazine but the annual Lakeview Fun Fly-In (aka the Umpteenth Annual Festival of Footlaunched Flight) will take place July 3 thru the 7th. Registration on Thursday July 3rd, fly the 4th, 5th and 6th, and awards (such as they are) on the 7th.

Register at the Chamber of Commerce office. Registration is $15. Jules and Mary host the "Adult Beverage Party" at their home on Friday, July 4th from 6:30 until ?? with snacks, soft drinks and adult refreshments. A mailer is being sent to all participants from previous years.

Fun competitions include the Sugar Hill/Lakeview trophy dash for hang gliders, cumulative distance contest for paragliders and spot landing contests for both.

This fly-in is designed for easy schmoozing with your buds and lots of flying in the friendly skies of Lake County, with its legendary friendly landowners. Competitions are just for fun and a few bucks and luck plays a big part in who wins.

For a laid-back good time with generally great soaring from 6 sites, come see us on July 3-7 in Lakeview, OR

Check out fly-ins at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Lakeview Festival of foot-launched Flight" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Young DraachenStein

Sun, Apr 27 2003, 2:00:03 pm EDT

aerotow|cart|cartoon|cloud|Cloud 9|competition|cost|David Maule|donations|Dragonfly|equipment|FAA|flight park|Florida|Flytec USA|food|foot launch|game|glide ratio|government|harness|instruction|landing|Maureen Grant|Moyes America|Moyes USA|parachute|photo|record|release|Rick Agudelo|Rob Kells|safety|site|sport|Sport Aviation|Spot|spot landing|storage|students|tandem|tow|towing|Tracy Tillman|training hill|transport|travel|tug|USHGA|weather|Wills Wing

aka the Dragonfly Cup - a new comp with a tall attitude and monster-size prizes.

by Tracy Tillman and Lisa Colletti

(from Reality Check cartoon series)

While working in the laboratory late one night, we created a new hang gliding competition for 2003, the Dragonfly Cup. The comp will take place at Cloud 9 Field in Michigan, home of the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club. The value of prizes to be awarded is over $6000. Major sponsors include Wills Wing, Moyes USA, Flytec USA, High Energy Sports, AV8/Icaro, and Cloud 9 Sport Aviation.

Hot Comps

Many of the most successful meets taking place across the world use aerotowing as the primary means of launch. At a good site, it allows launching into any wind direction, and enables a large number of pilots to launch in a short period of time (provided that there are enough tugs and tug pilots available). The large cross-country meets that have been hosted by our friends in Florida and Texas over the last five years are a great example of the popularity and success of aerotowing as a launch format. The mass launches are an awesome site to behold, and participation in those comps is an experience that one will never forget. By all means, one should try to get to one or both of the Florida meets, as a participant, tug pilot, volunteer helper, or spectator.

The good flying conditions and high-level of competition at these meets bring together some of the best pilots in the world. These are relatively complex, work-intensive, and expensive comps to run, which results in entry fees being near $400, not including tow fees. With travel, food, lodging, and support crew costs added, the overall cost for a pilot to participate in one or both of the Florida meets is significant. Never-the-less, registration for both of these meets fills up almost immediately after opening.

Despite the popularity of these meets, it has been difficult for some clubs to run a successful meet in other parts of the county. Here in the Great Lakes/Great Plains region of the country, poor weather and low pilot turnout has resulted in the cancellation of meets more often than not. We can experience great soaring conditions across the summer flying season in this part of the country, but the weather patterns are not as consistent as in Florida or Texas. Also, many average Jo/Joe hang glider pilots who live in this part of the country are more interested in participating in a lower-cost, fun-type comp, rather than in a higher-cost, intensely competitive cross-country competition; and, it may be difficult for some pilots to take many vacation days away from work to attend a meet.

The Dragonfly Cup

With these issues in mind, and after some discussions with Rob Kells of Wills Wing, we created the Dragonfly Cup hang gliding competition for the summer of 2003. Aerotow and hill slope will be the primary means of launch. The comp will be hosted by the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club (DFSC) at Cloud 9 Field in Michigan. It is a low-cost comp to benefit the DFSC, with large prizes sponsored by major hang gliding companies.

(A good summer day at Cloud 9. Photo by Rick Agudelo)

To avoid weather cancellation issues, the Dragonfly Cup is running season-long, from May 15 through September 1 (Labor Day), 2003. To avoid weather-related cross-country task problems, there are five different task categories: Race, Distance, Duration, Spot Landing, and Glide Ratio. To avoid retrieve problems, all task landings are at Cloud 9 Field. To reduce expenses, the cost is only $10 or $20 per comp flight, depending upon the task(s) declared by the competitor, plus the cost of the tow for that flight. A pilot can enter and declare a flight as a comp flight as many times as he/she likes across the season. To enable any level of pilot to win, a handicap system will enable lower-performance gliders to release from tow at higher altitudes. Pilots will foot launch from the newly-constructed training hill at Cloud 9 Field for the glide ratio task, which will enable non-towing student pilots, and even paraglider pilots, to compete in the meet. (Note: It is not a large hill; using a light, slow, high-lift wing may offer an advantage for this task.)

Results will be recorded across the season. Those who finish at the top of each category will be eligible to win one or more of the major prizes available. So far, the prize list and sponsors include: (a) Falcon 2 hang glider, sponsored by Wills Wing and Cloud 9 Sport Aviation ($3075 value); (b) Contour Harness sponsored by Moyes America ($950 value); (c) 4030XL variometer sponsored by Flytec USA ($899 value); (d) Quantum 330 reserve parachute sponsored by High Energy Sports ($650 value); and (e) PVC storage/transport tubes sponsored by AV8/Icaro ($500 value).

The cost for declaring a hill flight as a glide ratio comp flight is just $10, which means that for as little as a $10 entry fee, a pilot could win a brand new Falcon 2 glider worth over $3000. The cost for declaring an aerotow flight as a comp flight is $20 (plus tow fee), but the pilot can choose two of the four aerotow task categories for that flight: (a) Race, which is the fastest out and back 16 mile round trip time to the neighboring Sandhill Soaring Club field; (b) Distance, which is the most out and back round trips to the Sandhill Soaring Club field; (c) Duration, which is the longest time aloft; and (d) Spot Landing, which is landing (by foot or wheel) within a prescribed circle. All landings must be on Cloud 9 field; out-landing flights will be disqualified. For the aerotowing tasks, the tow height limit is1500 feet AGL for rigid wings, 2500 feet for topless flex wings, 3500 feet for kingposted double-surface flex wings, and 4500 feet for kingposted single-surface flex wings.

(Lisa, Tracy, and DFSC club members. Artwork by Bob and Maureen Grant)

The DSFC will host comp parties on Memorial Day weekend, July 4 weekend, and the first weekend in August, to encourage pilots from other clubs to schedule a trip en masse to fly here with us. The grand finale party will be held on Labor Day weekend, with final results determined and prizes awarded on Labor Day.

The winners of each task category will have an equal chance at winning the major prizes. A drawing of the task winners' names will be held on Labor Day to determine who gets which prize.

We feel that events like the Dragonfly Cup can help the sport to grow, as do several major manufacturers and distributors. Wills Wing, Moyes, Flytec, High Energy Sports, AV8/Icaro, and Cloud 9 Sport Aviation are offering significant donations in support of the 2003 Dragonfly Cup. These companies are dedicated to supporting our sport with their excellent products and services, please support them in return.

Cloud 9 Field and the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club

If you have not flown with us before, please be aware that we have a specific operations formula that may be somewhat different from what you have experienced at other aerotowing sites. Because we have a nice site with a very active club, some pilots mistakenly think of our DFSC club site as a commercial flight park-it is not.

Cloud 9 Field is our sod farm, private airfield, and home. We purchased the land specifically with the intent of building a house, hanger, and private airfield, and to create a home base for the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club. We are on the executive board of the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club, and are the owners of Cloud 9 Sport Aviation, which is a supplementary mail order hang glider equipment business that serves Michigan and the Great Lakes region. We are also the owners of Cloud 9 Field, Inc. sod farm.

We allow DFSC club members and guest members to camp on our property (temporarily, not permanently) at no charge, and bathrooms and showers are available in our hanger for members and guests to use. The hanger has a second-floor club house/game room/kitchenette and observation deck overlooking the field. Our airfield is flat and open, and allows smooth cart launches and foot or wheel landings in any wind direction on mowed and rolled sod grass. Last year, we also built a 30 foot training hill on the edge of the field with the help of several club members (thanks Rick, Mark, and Jim!).

(Cloud 9 Field hanger and DFSC club house.)

The DFSC has been active since 1997, and has been flying from Cloud 9 Field since 1998. Even though we gained prior approval from the local, state, and federal government for the establishment of our private airfield for aircraft, ultralight, and hang glider operations, the local township government reacted to complaints from a neighbor about our towing operations, and sued us to prevent us from flying. As a result, we purposely kept a low public profile (but did not stop flying) while battling the lawsuit over several years.

Since that time we have learned how common it is, all across the country, for legal action to be initiated against people who own or establish airstrips and conduct flying activities. We also discovered that it is very important to find attorneys who are well versed in the appropriate areas of law, and who really care about your case. At a significant cost to us, we settled the lawsuit last year. In addition to having a great pair of attorneys working for us, one of which is a hang glider pilot and now a DFSC club member, we also had to do a great deal of work to help them develop an understanding of the case and to build a solid legal argument for the court. We learned a lot, but it was very time-consuming, stressful, and expensive.

During this process, we were inspected twice by the FAA. Their visits and reports supported our legal argument by helping to verify that we are not a commercial flight park operation, that we are operating properly within FAA regulations and exemptions, and that we are operating safely and relatively quietly. After getting to know us and the nature of our operations, the FAA asked Tracy to serve as an Aviation Safety Counselor for the FAA Detroit FSDO region, which also had a positive impact for us in court.

We are both ultralight basic flight instructors, and airplane private pilots. Lisa is the main tug pilot, and Tracy is the tandem hang gliding instructor for the club. We have two Dragonfly tugs, one with a Rotax 914 engine, and one with a Rotax 912 engine. We also own a Maule STOL airplane, painted in the same colors as our Dragonfly tugs.

In consideration of our neighbors, we have been successful in significantly reducing the engine/prop noise generation levels on both of our tugs. We use quieter and more reliable 4-stroke engines, custom-designed Prince propellers that provide increased thrust and reduced noise, after-muffler silencers with exhaust stacks that direct the noise upward, and towing/flying techniques that minimize noise levels on the ground.

(Tracy and Lisa with one of their Dragonfly Tugs)

Our operations formula has been refined over time to best meet FAA, IRS, USHGA, USUA, and other federal, state, and local laws, rules, and regulations. As such, all of our hang gliding instruction and flying operations take place via the Draachen Fliegen Soaring Club, Inc., which is a not-for-profit, mutual benefit organization to promote safe hang gliding and instruction. Club members share in the cost of our operations for their mutual benefit, such as site preservation and maintenance, tow operations, and instruction. All flights conducted by the DFSC are considered instructional flights. Instruction is free, but the club collects membership dues and fees from each member to cover their own specific towing expenses (non-member pilots can fly with us a few times a year as guests of the club without paying membership dues, but club members pay less for tows).

Our field is a private airfield for non-commercial use, not a public flight park for commercial use; therefore, all pilots, students, and visitors must contact us prior to coming out to our field to fly---on each and every visit. We try to be available for flying on most good days, but will be away from the field on occasion, so call before you come. Our season runs from May 1 through October 31. We are available to tow after 10:30 AM six days a week (not on Tuesdays), and on weekends only after Labor Day (when Tracy has to resume his faculty duties for the fall semester at Eastern Michigan University). We conduct tandem instructional flights in the evening, in conditions that are appropriate for students.

Everyone who flies with us must be a DFSC club member or guest member, a member of USHGA, sign our club waiver, and follow all club rules and procedures. We are very safety and instruction oriented, and expect pilots to do what we ask of them. Anyone who does not, will be reminded that they are at our home and on our field as our guest, and will be asked to leave. We would hope that pilots understand that there are many complex factors and issues involved in the establishment and operation of a successful aerotow hang gliding club, which mandates that we do things in certain ways. So far, our approach seems to work--we have an excellent safety record, a great group of pilots, a lot of fun, and a good reputation among students, pilots, and FAA officials who know us.

In spite of the cost and effort (on top of our regular professions) that it has taken for us to create and maintain the field and buildings, equipment, and club operations for the club, we support the club and its members because we love hang gliding and flying. We have had good success in bringing new pilots into the sport and we have helped to improve the flying skills of our club members.

Now that we have settled our township-related problems, we can be more open about our club's flying activities. We are hoping that more pilots will come to learn and fly with us in 2003, and we are very much looking forward to hosting the Dragonfly Cup this year.

Instruction and continuous improvement of flying skills and safety are the prime directives of our club. We take that very seriously. Accidents and injuries are not fun-safe flying is more fun for everybody. We will continue to focus on helping all of our club pilots improve their flying skills throughout the year, and we think that the Dragonfly Cup is a great way to help make that happen.

We are looking forward to having a great flying season ahead. Come fly with us, and enter the Dragonfly Cup - you've got a good chance at winning big!

For more information about the DFSC and the 2003 Dragonfly Cup, visit our website at http://members.aol.com/DFSCinc, email us at <DFSCinc@aol.com>, or call us at 517.223.8683. Fly safe, Lisa and Tracy.

Discuss competition at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

Discuss "Young DraachenStein" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Manfred’s Rumors

Sat, Jan 29 2000, 11:00:01 pm GMT

Aaron Swepston|Betinho Schmitz|Gianni Hotz

Gianni Hotz at Icaro 2000, <staff@Icaro2000.com>, asked me to publish this issue of Manfred's Rumors in the Oz Report. If you looks at Manfred's comments below about the world pilot ranking system, I think you'll understand why.

Competitions Summary

High Level

It was held in Rio de Janeiro at the São Conrado beach, there were 48 pilots in total, some foreign pilots (approx. 6) and 4 women. The competition consists of man-to-man flights and then landing on the beach. There are two possibilities, depending on the weather conditions; every task is worth 1,000 points.

The idea is that two pilots, starting together, fly around a small course with some (3-4) turnpoints; the fastest pilot gets 900 points. The remaining 100 points are awarded for landing precision (spot landing) and manner (no crashes allowed, not even small ones!). If during the task the weather conditions are not good enough for you to complete the course whoever flies the furthest down the course or whoever is able to stay up for, exactly, 40 minutes gets the 900 points. If both pilots are very close, either in the racing or duration flight, it will be the 100 points available for landing which will allow you to win.

A set of rules have been specifically written for this competition, that makes it possible for the pilots to decide after take off, the best strategy to use. Of course this also means there is the risk of making the wrong decision and blow up your chances of winning. For instance, if you reach the second turnpoint in 30 minutes and there are still 2 more to go and the conditions are not good and getting worse, you may decide to fly back to the landing area and land in time to complete the 40 minutes.

Well, it can be the right choice if your contender does not fly past the second turnpoint and flies longer, or less, than 40 minutes…but if you land and he reaches the third turnpoint or finishes the course, well, then not even the 100 points for landing will help you much!

It is quite complicated and it took us a while to understand, I hope you got the picture. Unfortunately, the weather was not great and often we flew half-way down the course and then decided to make it a duration flight; only on the last day, for the final and semi-final rounds, we had good weather and were able to complete the set courses.

I came in first, second was Beto Schmitz and third Tomas Suchaneck after flying against one another on the final round. Tomas said this would be his last competition with a hang glider, I was sorry to hear this because he is a great sportsman plus can still be a very strong rival in competition, with the right equipment and motivation. I hope to still have several occasions to fly, against or with him, somewhere.

Aaron Swepston was in Rio to attempt breaking last year’s record of 76 consecutive loops by an American known as “Mad Mitch”; unluckily the organization was not able to engage an experienced pilot with a powerful trike who could tow Aaron up to the required height. He did fly some aerobatics, though. There were a lot of spectators on the beach and there was a lot of media coverage, it was a good competition to get sponsors interested in the sport. I really enjoy this competition a lot and hope to go back for it later on this year!

Discuss "Manfred’s Rumors" at the Oz Report forum   link»