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Posted:
November 16th, 2003 
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Achim
Joos is PWC Champion 2003:
After
5 tasks that brought some surprises to the final of the PWC,
the German pilot Achim Joos became the winner of this year’s
Championship, with the Swiss Stephan Morgenthaler in 2nd place
and Alex Hofer in 3rd. Petra Krausova became the female champion,
once again. Hofer leaded the PWC tour 2003 until La Reunion,
where he had a couple of bad tasks and ended 56th in the overall
results, losing his first place on the final PWC podium.
The
conditions in the French island proved to be sometimes tricky,
especially when the sun was not heating the competitors tracks,
which made it for an interesting competition, where anything
could happen. This 5th and last event of the PWC 2003, with
75 competitors, was won by ex world champion Jimmy Pacher (IT,
Gin Boomerang III), followed by Norman Lausch (DE, Gin Boom
III) and Bruce Goldsmith (UK, Airwave Proto). Lausch was the
winner of the last task of the PWC 2003, a fast race of 38,4
km with 8 turnpoints, flown under beautiful conditions that
allowed 43 pilots to reach goal. In women, Elisabeth Rauchenberger
(CH, Gin Boom III) was the winner, with Carol Licini (CH, Gin
Bool III) in 2nd place and Caroline Brille (FR, Advance Omega
6) in 3rd.
The
dates and places for next year’s Paragliding World Cup
tour will be defined soon, and the information published in
the official PWC site: www.pwca.org
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| New
Tandem World Record: |
For
each pilot of the expedition it was a unique experience, they
all broke their personal records and had the chance to launch
at amazing times of the morning, between 8:30 and 9 am, reaching
cloudbase only 15 minutes later. However, they did not enjoy
any classic day and so they are already thinking of “Nordeste
2004” to explore the region even further.
From Brazil, Claudia sent us her interesting story of
the adventure: READ
it here!
Posted:
November 10th, 2003
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300
km over northeastern Brazil!
 Andre
Fleury was not satisfied with his 283 km flight and
his new record to goal of 275 km in tandem (Oct. 8th), so he
kept on trying until he could fly 299,47 km
and set the new world distance record in tandem, on October
17th, only 9 days after his previous record. He and 6 other
pilots were part of the record-hunter expedition “Nordeste
2003” organized by the Brazilian factory Sol
Paragliders in the northeastern region of Brazil, near
the city of Patu. On the 17th, Andre and his passenger
Claudia Ribeiro (a hanglider pilot) took off
at 9 in the morning, finding thermals of +5 m/s
and cloudbase at 1200m over launch! During part of the flight,
he and Claudia had other pilots of the expedition near them,
like Christian who landed by km 190 and Fernando who followed
them up to km 112. They finally landed at Independencia (Ceara)
breaking the previous official tandem record of 220 km, achieved
by Richard Westgate (UK) also in Brazil (Quixada).
Andre
and Claudia flew in a Kangaroo II, a proto tandem specially
developed for this record attempt and based in the Eclipse,
Sol’s perfo model. “It was the best experience
of my life, we flew a total of 860 km overall and I never felt
threatened or afraid. The guy is a real bird, who flies knowing
exactly what he’s doing. Thank you very much Andre, I
learnt a lot!” says Claudia.
Details
of the flights made by the 7 pilots of “Nordeste 2003”
during the month spent at Patu (many of them longer than 180
km) can be seen in their website:
http://www.solsports.com.br/nordeste2003
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Firebird
Brake Handles
Many
Acro pilots add a small bar to their handles so they can have
a better control during the manoeuvres. Firebird likes Acro so
it’s no surprise they designed these handles, with an optional
light alloy bar “to ease circulation to a higher level,
as well as being the perfect grip to perform Acro”.
The bar weights only 63 grams and you can easily add or remove
it without undoing the brake lines. The handles are made of neoprene
that “sits comfortably around the back of the wrist
keeping strain away from the fingers”, to avoid the
usual problems with circulation after long flights.
Info: www.flyfirebird.com
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Gin
Rescue Parachute
This
new rescue system “One G”,
is based on the Pull Down Apex design and uses a new strap
system that links each panel for a quicker opening time.
According to the manufacturer, the One G #42 opens in 3.4
seconds and the #38 in 2.9 seconds. They also claim that
it is much more stable “with an incredible sink rate”.
It is also lighter than other parachutes, with 2,1 kg for
the One G #38 (weight range 80-100 kg), and 2,4 kg for the
#42 (weight range 100-130 kg). CEN certified.
For
this cold season, Gin has released a Polar Fleece
Jacket 2004 designed by Ex. World Champion Hans Bollinger,
and cut to fit “perfectly” when you
are paragliding. It has a special Lycra sleeve insert to
keep your hands warm and comfortable, and it’s available
in sizes from XS to XL.
Info:
www.gingliders.com
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Posted: October 30, 2003
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Trekking
Backpack
This
new glider bag has been specially designed with the traveller
pilots in mind. It is reinforced at the bottom and all the straps
of shoulders and ventral can line up in a zippered compartment,
for an easier transport in a plane trip. It is equipped with a
broad zipper on the lower part, which makes it possible for quick
arrangements inside, and also to place a tandem glider with its
2 seats. It will come with all the Trekking gliders in 2004, and
it can also be ordered separately, although it’s not very
cheap…
Info: www.trekking.fr
Posted:
October 30, 2003 |
Powered
Paragliding:
450 km in Saudi Arabia
Ahmed
Al zahraniI is one of the 25 paramotor pilots in Saudi Arabia,
and one of his dreams since he started flying was to cross
his country in one flight. On September 26th, he took off
from Dammam at 8 in the morning, to make the dream come
true. It was Saudi’s national day, and the news of
his record attempt attracted a lot of people and media to
the launch. Ahmed was under some pressure, but he found
good conditions with a slight back wind that helped him
to fly for 450 km to the city of Riydh, where he landed
at 6:10 pm in a football stadium filled with people waiting
for him.
“My
speed was some times 40 km/h, some times 15 km/h. There
were police cars with me all the way and the weather was
excellent. I am vary happy for the record!” says Ahmed,
after being in the front covers of all the national newspapers
for one day.
For
this flight, he used his Advance Alpha 3 paraglider, and
a paramotor from the Spanish manufacturer H-E with a spare
fuel tank of 35 litres.
Ahmed
is also a member of the European Paramotoring Team (Paraddax),
a professional team of PPG pilots –most of them Spaniards
and French- that offers aerial shows with fireworks, stunts,
and fantasy performances.
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News
in previous Archive: Safety
notes - Aerodyne Risers, Advance BiBeta2, Firebird Matrix M; Hunting
records in Brazil; CompeGPS for Pocket PC; Online video of 'Vertigo';
Gin DVD "Go Further". Click here to go!
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