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SAFETY
NOTE - HARNESS SKYLINE PHASE AND PROJEKT BI
  
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During
a safety training, a pilot tried to deploy her parachute but could
not take it out from the Tube-Container in her harness, a Skyline
Phase. She tried many times but it was impossible, her glider
got out of control and she finally impacted on the water, getting
heavily bruised. After an investigation, the DHV and Skyline concluded
that the deployment of the parachute in such a harness with a
Tube-Container is very hard or impossible if the release handle
is pulled in a certain direction. This, because the velcro fastener
of the outer container flap, loaded on shear now, prevents a complete
opening of the outer container. The inner container with the parachute
gets stuck in the velcroed flaps of the outer container; and the
deployment of the parachute is blocked. Pulling out the inner
container in any other direction is possible, though.
In the safety note released some days ago, the DHV says: “On
the harnesses Skyline Phase and Project Bi, the velcro which
is responsible for the blocking of the outer container has to
be made ineffective from the front corner to the beginning of
the handle (ca 11cm). This is done by a velcro counterpart,
which is put on or by removing the velcro”.
Skyline will provide the velcro counterpart and mounting guidelines
free of charge to the owners of these harnesses. More info:
www.skyline-flightgear.de
; info@skyline-flightgear.com;
Tel +49-8642-5979-0; Fax +49-8642-5979-29
Posted:
September 1st, 2003
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FAI
PARAGLIDING RANKING
The
competition season 2003 is near its end, with only 7 FAI
events remaining on the calendar. Up to now, Alex Hofer
(CH), followed by Norman Lausch (GER) and Helmut Eicholzer,
leads the FAI ranking. Jean-Marc Caron (FR) remains 4th,
Achim Joos (GER) gains 2 places to 5th, Christian Tamegger
(AUT) climbs up 14 places to 6th, Tomas Brauner (CZ) raises
another 2 places to 7th. In the 8th place is Scotty Marion
(USA), the unfortunate pilot who disappeared in the Alps
20 days ago. Also 8th is Tadano Shiochiro (JAP). Jimmy Pacher
(ITA) goes up 18 places to complete the top 10.
In nations, Switzerland is the leader, Japan rises 3 places
to become 2nd, and Austria rises 1 place to 3rd. France
drops a place to 4th, Germany falls 3 places to 5th, Australia
remains 6th, UK leaps 7 to 7th, South Africa gains 2 to
8th, Italy remain 9th and the Czech Republic falls 2 to
complete the top 10.
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1º
Ranked: Alex Hofer (CH)
UP Targa
The
latest competitions added for this ranking were the World Champs,
British Nationals (Piedrahita), Portuguese Douro Superior, Russian
Open, YU PG Open, French Champs, Bornes Open.
More
info at the official FAI website: www.fai.org
Posted:
August 28th, 2003
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Happy
Birthday, St. Hilaire!
It’s
been 30 years since the first edition of the Coupe Icare,
currently the biggest free-flight event in the world, and
the organizers are determined to celebrate the anniversary
with very special activities. More than 8000 pilots of all
sorts of aircrafts are expected to attend this year’s
festival in St. Hilaire du Touvet (French Alps), from the
18th to the 21st of September, and enjoy one of the most
exciting and massive festivities dedicated to the air.
This
year, aerobatics will have a major place in the Festival’s
program. One of the main attractions will be the Speed-Glide
competition reserved for some of the best hanglider pilots.
They will race down at high speeds along a course consisting
of a series of gates, which will be placed at a low level
over the ground. A very fast and exciting race!
There
will also be all kind of d-bag paraglider jumps from hot
air balloons, tandems or helicopters, and aerobatic shows.
But
the “monster challenge” for this year will be
the flight of the Ariadna’s Thread: Seven paragliders,
each representing a continent, will take off attached to
a 7-km-long ribbon, decorated by the children of St. Hilaire
with texts and drawings about peace.
More
than 100 companies related to aerial sports will have a
stand in the Aerial Sports Fair, one of the biggest in Europe
and a good place to check out the latest products available
in the market.
By night,
the action will move to the big screen –as usual-
for the 21st Free-Flight Film Festival, and also for the
launch of the first Festival of Aerial Advertising, sponsored
by the French magazine Aerial. After the films, the pilots
can go to Turbulences, a music festival with bands and djs
who are also pilots, at the southern take-off area.
And,
like every year, the big attraction of the Coupe Icare will
be the disguise contest for para and hang gliders, one of
the funniest gatherings of extravagant ideas that even fly!
More
info (in French): www.coupe-icare.org
St
Hilaire du Touvet
St
Hilaire du Touvet is located on Plateau des Petites Roches
(north of Grenoble, Isère, France) at an altitude
of 1,000 metres. It is one of Europe's top centres for free
flight.
The
village affords a breathtaking panoramic view of the Vercors
and Belledonne ranges, as well as Mont Blanc. To reach St
Hilaire from the valley, take the spectacular funicular
railway.
Information
on accommodation: Office du Tourisme de St Hilaire du Touvet
Tel.
: +33 (0)4 76 08 33 99 Fax : +33 (0)4 76 97 20 56
E-mail
: info@coupe-icare.org
Internet
: http://www.coupeicare.org
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New
in 2003:
•
Speed gliding: An
acrobatic hang-glider race, in which competitors race down the
slope through ski-style "gates" less than six metres
off the ground at speeds of up to 100 kph. The world's top HG
pilots will be taking part. They will carry smoke canisters so
you don't miss a minute of the action.
•
D-bag: Paragliders are dropped from other aircraft.
Pilots jump from paragliders, hot-air balloons and even a helicopter
before deploying their canopy!
•
Festival of Aerial Advertising Films:
This festival is organized by the magazine Aérial and awards
a prize to the best advertising film with references to ultralight
aircraft.
•
The world's biggest hot-air dirigible
in Lumbin: The dirigible that carries the Canopy
Raft will be stopping in Lumbin. It is the world's biggest hot-air
dirigible, 8,500 cubic metres in volume, 51 metres long and 20
high.
-
Rio's paper balloons:
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, thousands of people secretly make giant
hot-air balloons out of paper. Last year, one of them (Tura) presented
a film entitled "Rio's pirate balloons" in which he
was also one of the actors. He will be back again this year, bringing
several giant balloons to share their magic with the public, by
day and night.
•
Wing Suit: Sky divers
jumping out of planes and gliding thanks to a winged suit. They
too will be carrying smoke canisters.
•
Hot-air balloon contest in Lumbin:
Vol libre Montgolfière is organizing a contest for 27 entrants,
including three new balloons. Also on show is the Photoglobe,
a prototype dirigible for low-altitude photography.
•
New workshops for children:
-
Painted Indonesian-style kites
-
Flight design
-
Raptors and falconry
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The
season is still open!
In less
than a month the autumn will arrive to Europe, and we can already
feel that the conditions are getting weaker. But there are still
some interesting events where we can test our skills against
other pilots. There will be 7 FAI events in the following months
to choose from: In Semonzo, Italy, the Polish Open will take
place from the 1st to the 6th of September. A bit farther, in
Belo Horizone, Brazil, there’s the Pre PWC and Brazilian
Championship from the 6th to the 13th of September. Back in
Europe, on September 6th and 7th the Belgian Open will be held
in Rochehaut, Belgium. Laragne is a great place for cross-country
flights in France and it will host the British Open, from September
7th to 13th. The Greek Nationals will be held at Patras, on
the 27th and 28th of September, while in Australia the season
will be just starting with the Canungra Cup, from the 11th to
the 18th of October. Last but not least, the very last event
of the PWC 2003 that will give the winner of this season, will
take place in the French (and warm) Reunion Island, from the
9th to the 15th of November.
Check out our Calendar
to see all the relevant dates, click here!
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Other
interesting events: |
The
"VI Free Flying Rally of Madeira 2003",
an international free-flying event for paragliders and hangliders,
in the Portuguese Island of Madeira, from the 1st to the 5th of
October. The organizers claim that this is the best time of the
year for flying there, over some awesome landscapes. More info:
http://www.rallyvoolivre.pt.vu/
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The
“4th International Oludeniz Air Games”,
an open Air Festival “for all paragliders and air-sports-lovers”,
held at one of the most famous and hedonistic flying sites of
Turkey. The program includes a cross-country competition, Acro
shows with stars like Mike Kung, Markus Grundhammer (“Akrominator”)
or Michael Nesler, base jumps, hangliding and skydiving exhibitions,
and lots of fun. As they say “you don't have to be
a competitor to take part in this event”. More info:
http://www.babadag.com/ingilizce/indexing.htm
The “San
Flatland Challenge” is a special event for those
in pursue of new records. From October 30th to November 1st,
the competition will try to burn as many kms as possible, starting
from De Aar, Northern Cape, South Africa. 3 tasks will be flown
from a mountain launch and 3 from a winch launch, and it is
possible to fly in any wind direction. The organizers warn that
“it’s a desert out there!”, but one very good
for long distance flights and record breakings. More info:
http://www.pottiesbnb.co.za/ (click on “San Flatland
challenge” to know more about the competition and on “Paragliding
info” to know more about the site).
Posted:
August 28th, 2003
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The
Spanish Champion 2003, Xevi Bonet,
GIN Boomerang III |
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3
Spanish records during the Nationals!
The Spanish PG Championship held at the rather unexplored
area of Pedro Bernardo in central Spain (province of Avila) showed
the enormous potential of the site for long distance flights.
Two
days before the event, 3 pilots did a "training" flight
of around 200 km, one being the longest flight reported in the
country so far: 206 km from Pedro Bernardo to Cuenca (southeast)
by Borja Rodriguez (3-times Spanish champion) in a UP
Targa. During
the Nationals, we suffered the heat-wave on the ground (40ºC),
but enjoyed good and unusual conditions for this area: light east
winds, that made us fly everyday to the west and sometimes above
the impressive Sierra of Gredos. On
day 5th, the official distance to goal record was broken by Javier
Arrieta (Gin Boomerang) in a 165 km flight, being the
only pilot who could complete that day’s task (to Caceres).
On
the same day, the national female distance record was broken by
Natalia Garcia (Venezuela, Firebird Hornet SP)
with 110 km. Next day, the Spaniard Beatriz Garcia Diez
(MacPara Magus) took it back home with 125 km and a new
official female distance to goal record: 98 km (to Plasencia).
Both
pilots and organizers were surprised by the highest rate of flyable
days for a National Champ in the last years: 100%, 7 valid tasks
and 8 flyable days out of 8. The
Spanish Champion 2002, Xevi Bonet GIN Boomerang III,
took the trophy home again this year. Only 5 women competed with
88 men in this championship, and the Venezuelan pilot Natalia
Garcia became the Spanish female Champion, also for a second consecutive
year. The
site is distant only 60 km from Piedrahita, on the south face
of the Sierra of Gredos (130 km to the west of Madrid), and a
lot of pilots are now paying a closer look at this area that offers
3 very wide launches (south, east and west), with signs about
the characteristics of the site, friendly locals, cheap places
to stay and eat, and nice sceneries around.
Posted:
August 18th, 2003 |
Posted:
August 18th, 2003
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Heat
wave – height wave… and landing on the Mont Blanc!
The
first half of August has been one of the hottest times ever felt
in Europe, but it came with some great days for flying, even in
England!
It
was reported that some pilots reached altitudes of over 5000 metres
in Piedrahita (central Spain), while the Alps also offered cloud-bases
at more than 4500 metres for several days.
On
one of those wonderful days, August 13th, 7 pilots (David Casartelli,
Yvan Boullen, Jean-Paul Bonfanti and some friends) took off from
Chamonix (2000m) and found the perfect conditions to accomplish
a pilot’s dream: they climbed up to 5200 metres in a thermal,
and landed on top of the Mont Blanc (4800m), only one hour after
launching, a record! They stayed there for a couple of hours,
all filled with joy and excitement, enjoying the views and eating
some French snacks, and also calling all their friends by their
mobile phones. Then, they took off again to land in Chamonix.
“The depth of ice and snow is so high that it is still almost
"Blanc!” Today the conditions return as usual for a
15th of August, low cloud base and some small rain”, said
David Casartelli who was the first to land on the highest mountain
of Europe. “Thanks to Mother Nature, who offered us these
perfect aerological conditions”.
They
have posted some pictures of the achievement on http://www.lesailesdumontblanc.com/
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More
News: 3 pilots completed the X-Alps; Scorpio Zicral carabiner;
Getting ready for Spanish Nationals; New Helmet Icaro2000; Foot-launched
Jet aircraft; One chute saves 2! Click here!
During
the last 5 months we have been editing and sending an informative
summary in Spanish of the paragliding + PPG news we receive, to
a growing list of subscribers - almost 500 at the moment. We would
like to try this in English too, as it is an excellent way
to help everybody be up-to-date with the news from our sports and
the updates in our website ojovolador.com.
Why we want to do this?? Because we believe in communication
as the best tool to make our sport grow and be safer, and also because
communication is what we have been doing for the past years, and we
like it! We do not have commercial purposes, and we are not
commercially bounded to any PG brand, although some of them might
be our clients in design or communication works. The information you
find in our website and in our Newsletter is taken from what we see
around, at take-offs, events, shops or flying sites, or received directly
from the manufacturers. Finally,
we keep all our susbscribers data as confidential information
and we do not give it away under any circumstances. We will not send
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To
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