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Safety
Note – Aerodyne risers:
The
French manufacturer has informed that a number of risers used
in their gliders could present a weakness in the stitching area.
While tests and verifications are being conducted, Aerodyne decided
to replace all these risers and recommended that the gliders must
NOT FLY until the risers are replaced. The serial number of the
affected gliders appear on their website www.aerodyne.fr clicking
on the name of the model (Jumbe, Yogi or Totem) on the first page.
If your glider is concerned, inform your dealer as soon as possible,
or contact AERODYNE by phone: +33 (0)4 50 64 47 10 or by e-mail:
info@aerodyne-int.com.
More info: www.aerodyne.fr
Posted: October 20, 2003 |
Safety
note - Advance Bi-Beta 2:
This is the complete note released by Advance and published
by the DHV:
“After
approximately one thousand BI BETA 2s sold, we recently
heard about three cases of broken lines, on the 2nd level
cascade of the wing tip. The lines broke when making fast
360s, the gliders had more than 500 flights, and were used
for commercial flights with aerobatic manoeuvres at each
flight. In
spite of our own internal tests, the investigations made
by Liros, the line manufacturer, and numerous discussions
with the representatives of the DHV and external specialists,
we have not found a technical reason for these incidents.
The quality of the materials seems, according to us, not
in fault, but rather normal wear and may be a lack of maintenance
and inspection.
The
paraglider concerned is only the BI BETA 2.
Although
it has not yet been possible to establish the exact reasons
for these broken lines, ADVANCE has decided to undertake
the following safety measures as a precaution.
1.
All the owners of a BI BETA 2 must contact ADVANCE directly
in Switzerland (+41 33 225 70 10) or their local importer
or dealer. An e-mail can also be sent to support@advance.ch
with the reference “BI BETA 2” in the subject
line of the email.
2.
The pilots must send us their complete post address, serial
number of the glider and number of flights/hours.
3.
Advance will immediately send to the concerned pilots the
replacement lines (32) at no charge for self-fitting.
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Posted:
October 1st, 2003
The
lines should be replaced as soon as possible and we recommend
that pilots with these gliders not to make aerobatic manoeuvres
before these lines have been changed, especially for the gliders
that have been used intensively.
The new lines shouldn’t be considered as an update of the
glider and don’t exclude the general maintenance / inspection
or a replacement of all lines that would otherwise be necessary
due to use”.
Thun,
September 25, 2003
ADVANCE
Thun SA
Rolf Zeltner
Info:
www.advance.ch |
Hunting
Records in Northern Brazil:
Seven
experienced cross-country pilots are these days in the northeast
region of Brazil, flying and attempting to break one or
more paragliding world record/s. The expedition, called
“Nordeste 2003”, will explore different routes
and flying directions from the city of Patu, in Rio Grande
do Norte, until the end of October, to prove the high XC
potential of this region. Brazilian manufacturer SOL Paragliders
supports the project, in which their leader Ary Carlos Prady
is one of the “record hunters”. Also in the
team is Marcelo Pietro, who has a personal record of 400
km in Texas (USA), the second longest flight on a paraglider
so far (and the longest for a Latin American pilot).
During
the first 3 days of the expedition, the pilots have flown
as long as 150, 180 and 181 km. And they still have more
than 3 weeks ahead!
Details
of the expedition day by day, including the flights’
tracks, can be seen in their web page:
www.solsports.com.br/nordeste2003/home.asp
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posted:
October 1st, 2003 |
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A
flight computer in your Pocket PC!:
The inventor of the successful software “Compe-GPS”
for viewing the flights registered in a GPS unit, Ivan Twose (Spain),
works in the final details of a new version special for Pocket
PCs. This will allow the pilots to transform their pocket comps
in real vario-gps devices (with a wide, full-color screen!) to
carry in flight.
The
new program CompePocket-Air will be released in November or December,
and it will offer most of the features and advantages of the original
software, now to be used during your flights. Among these: It
will load the best map for your current position; it can draw
you an altitude-distance graph and calculate your glide and the
distance you will be able to fly before landing; shows the track
point in the map with elevation rate; displays a thermal turning
diagram, and a lot more info that the software gets from the GPS
and process to give you a better understanding of what’s
going on in the air.
“We
have succeeded in loading most of the original program in the
Pocket PC, except the 3D part. This way we can now fly with Compe-GPS!”
says enthusiastic Ivan. The CompePocket-Air version will work
with operating systems PocketPC 2002 and 2003.
More
info in the Compe-GPS website www.compegps.com,
or
details here!!
posted:
September 22st, 2003 |
posted:
September 22, 2003
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Airworthiness
advisory: Paraglider Firebird Matrix
M
After
detecting a flight behaviour that deviates from the type certificated
for a Firebird Matrix M (stable spiral), the DHV and the manufacturer
have decided the following precautionary safety measure:
“All
certified paragliders of the type Firebird Matrix M, MZM GS-13-0X-XXX
having a serial number beginning with 13 03 100 to 13 07 800 must
be checked before their next flight.
The
airworthiness instruction comes into force when published in the
NfGH (Paragliding and Hanggliding News). The safety measures must
be carried out before the next flight made with the equipment.
The check will be carried out by Firebird Sky Sport AG, Schäfflerstraße
15, D-87629 Füssen, Tel: 049/8362/98320, Fax: 0049/8362/983219,
E-Mail: firebirdag@gmx.net.”
For
details you can also contact your local Firebird dealer.
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Images
of ‘Vertigo’ online
Miran
is an Acro fan who loves videos, so after the last edition
of the most famous competition of paragliding aerobatics,
Vertigo, in Switzerland, he went back home with a bag full
of amazing images he has put together in this video: “Red
Bull Vertigo 2003”. It lasts only 4 minutes and 28
secs but has almost everything you like to see in an Acro
show: tricks, manoeuvres, crashes, splashes, speed and rockandroll...
The website needacloud.com will be working soon and there
they will post this and other PG stuff collected by Miran
and friends. Meanwhile, you can download the video from
this link:
http://www.needacloud.com/videos/Vertigo.wmv
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Posted:
September 9th, 2003 |
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Brief
review: Gin DVD “Go Further”
One
of the secrets behind the success of Gin Gliders, at present one
of the most important paragliders factories of the world, lies
on its aggressive marketing that goes from a support policy to
competition pilots –both in cross-country and in Acro- to
a wide merchandising that includes all class of Gin articles for
the pilot. And there’s nothing better than the images to
express the spirit that inspires their designer, Gin Seok.
The
video “Go Further” is the result of a neat production
that included a trip with some of Gin’s competition pilots
to the remote grasslands of Mongolia, to capture images filled
with mysticism and stunning colours, in addition to a landscape
almost totally lacking of human influence. They could hardly go
any further!
Hannes
Arch and his team were in charge of the footage and edition. They
are experienced specialists in audiovisual productions for extreme
sports, like paragliding, hangliding or base jumps, and often
seen at Red Bull events. Hannes’ hand can be felt in the
incredible images taken and the fluent rhythm of the video, moving
on from the majestic flights of the Gin wings resembling coloured
birds over the green Mongolian meadows, to a more earthly approach
to the creative concepts of Gin Seok, sprinkled with some heartfelt
comments from his Team pilots.
It’s
moving to see the disappeared Scotty Marion saying how wonderful
is to fly and reach new goals. Other pilots, like Louise Crandal,
Patrick Berod or Hans Bollinger, also contribute to that vision
of flying as a way to be free and to explore our physical limits,
although the promotional intention of the video is never left
behind, with a couple of moments that could have been saved for
the non-Gin pilots.
We
also missed to see some more of that far-away place, specially
the faces of the people from those isolated landscapes when seeing
the Gin squad appear over their “Gers” (the round-shaped
tents where the Mongolian nomads live). Nevertheless, it is a
high quality video (in DVD format, even better), very well done,
and with impressive images that even the pilots who fly other
brands will be pleased to watch.
Qualification:
8 (1 – 10)
Posted:
September 1st, 2003 |
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