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PWC
2004: Bad weather in Italy; big event for Abtenau |
Conditions
like these are in the expectations of the organizers of the
PWC and Edelweiss Cup in
Abtenau
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The
Paragliding World Cup 2004 has started in Monte Grappa,
Italy, on Monday 5th of April. The weather conditions have not
allowed for any tasks so far, and it’s even been snowing
over the mountains. The competitors have enjoyed the local hospitality
and practised ‘parawaiting’ at the Heineken brewery,
hoping that conditions will improve in the following days. Daily
reports are being published at PWC’s official website: www.pwca.org
The next PWC event will be held in Abtenau (province
of Salzburg), Austria, from May 2nd to 8th, and the organizers
are planning “exciting events” for comp and non-comp
pilots as well as guests, that will take place in parallel to
the PWC. One of them is the Edelweiss Cup, a K.O. speed run for
top pilots, on Saturday 1st of May 2004.
On Saturday and Sunday there will be interesting Acro shows with
some of the best pilots of paragliding aerobatics, including Mike
Küng, Acrominator Markus Gründhammer, the Salomon Acro
Team and the boys from the U-Turn team. Hannes Arch, the icon
of the Red Bull Akro Team will also show his skills flying a light
aircraft into some impressive tricks. Other guests are the Red
Bull Salzbug Military Sky Diver Team and the manufacturer of the
Atos rigid wings, A-I-R, that will have some of their models on
display, together with model planes, helicopters and sailplanes
that will come in for landing, so the public can see them up-close.
The organizers have invited dealers and manufacturers to show
their newest gliders and give the chance to the pilots to test
fly them at the site.
To finish off the PWC Abtenau, the organizers, together with the
local tourism board, have planned a DJ evening for Friday, May
7, and a rock concert for Saturday.
You will find all the info at: www.ikarus-abtenau.at/worldcup
Posted:
April 8th, 2004 |
| Frank
Brown wins Pre Worlds in Brazil |
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150
pilots from more than 20 countries (from Ecuador to Russia) fought
the Pre-World Championship of Governador Valadares, Brasil, from
March 13th to 20th. The test event for the Worlds, which will
be held at the site in March 2005, did not enjoy the best conditions
that have made the site well-known worldwide. Only 3 valid tasks
were flown in 7 days, none of more than 55 km. The Brazilian pilots
took the podium with the 4 first places: Frank Brown was 1st (Gin
Boomerang 3), Luis Santos was 2nd (Gradient Avax RSE), Fernando
Rocha was 3rd (UP Gambit C) and Luciano Bender was 4th (Gin Boom
3). In women (9 participants), the winner was Nicole McLearn (CAN,
Advance Sigma 5), followed by Brazilian Kamira Rodrigues (Sol
Eclipse) and Caroline Brille in 3rd place (FR, Advance Proto).
Full
results and pictures at the official website: http://www.2005worlds.com
Posted:
March 29th, 2004
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XC
with Top Pilots! |
This
an interesting idea for a XC course, from the German factory
UP. They are organizing clinics of distance flying, in which
you will have the chance to receive instruction, advices and
fly in a tandem with some of their team pilots (among the best
of the world) including World Champion 2003 Alex Hofer. During
the clinic, you will have a Top Pilot dedicated to you full
time for 2 days, during which he will teach you some of his
secrets to find the hidden lifts and fly the longest possible
distances. The clinics include all the preparation before the
flight (mental and physical) and cross country flights in an
UP tandem glider, in the mountains chosen by the passenger-client.
The price is 650 euros, plus transport and lodging if you want
the pilot to go to your local flying site. The places are very
limited, as the pilots’ agendas are quite busy during
the season, so if you’re interested book as soon as you
can. Other pilots you can choose as your guide/teacher are:
Oliver Rössel, Jean Marc Caron, Americo Sousa and Ronny
Helgesen.
+Info: www.up-europe.com
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Posted:
March 26th, 2004
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Paragliding
Videos |
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In the US television has been recently shown for the first time
the film “Never Ending Thermal”
directed by filmmaker and photographer Sean White, and starring
two Venezuelan pilots, Herminio Cordido and Jorge Atramiz. What
makes this film interesting is not the recurred subject ‘Acro-pilots-on-the-road’
(already seen too often in PG videos) but rather the neat and
professional camera work and edition for a film that apparently
has a history to tell and awesome images shot in France, Italy,
Slovenia, Switzerland, Morocco, Nepal and Venezuela, during 12
months. The director has a vast trajectory in the world of extreme
sports and has also collaborated with prestigious TV stations,
like Discovery Channel and National Geographic, among others.
If the video is just as good as the promotional trailer, it will
give a hard time to its competitors in this year’s Festivals.
The DVD will be on sale within some weeks and Sean has promised
to send us a copy so we can give you our impressions here as quickly
as possible. Meanwhile, you can download the trailer from: http://www.neverendingthermal.com
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The
members of the expedition Andes Crossing
2003 are also working hard to finish their video
about the experience lived during their trip in Chile and Argentina.
US pilots Chris Santacroce, Othar Lawrence and Will Gadd (CAN) spent
3 weeks in the “heart” of the Andes to try and cross
this huge mountains from Chile to Argentina. The strong winds and
the lack of roads played ball, but in the end Will and Chris managed
to fly 25 km from Portillo, a Chilean ski resort near the border,
to a valley below the Aconcagua peak, in the Argentinean province
of Mendoza. The video will be released this summer and in it we’ll
see the hardships and rewards of bivouac flying in some of the most
difficult mountains in the world. *Hopefully, we'll find the time
to post some of the beautiful pictures of the trip soon, together
with Will's comments... |
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Acro
Base DVD:
this
video won the Jury’s Special Award and the Public’s
Award at St Hilaire’s International Film Festival 2003.
“Acro Base” was made by French pilots Denis Verchere,
Damien Dufresne and François Bon, members of the team
Acro Base “a new generation of adrenaline hunters, always
eager to jump off about anything (paragliders, cliffs, hot air
balloons, hangliders, helicopters, bridges…) with all
sorts of equipment”. So they say.
More
info and orders: www.acro-base.com
Posted: March
26th, 2004
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Advance
Test Centre in Annecy |
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March
19th is the official opening date for the brand new Test Centre
of the Swiss factory in the popular site of Annecy (France). There,
they offer you the chance to demo any of their gliders, and also
see all their products, and even get your gear repaired or checked.
The idea is to create a meeting point for the pilots, where they
can relax and have a drink after a nice flight and maybe buy some
Advance product too… “Our aim is to be closer
to the pilot and gather your experiences to still improve our
gliders”, say at Advance.
The ATC is located near the Planfait – Perroix landing field
(Firemen’s building) and the opening hours will depend on
the weather and season. You can contact them to book a demo session
for your club and they’ll “welcome you like VIPs”.
Email:
annecytestcentre@advance.ch
+Info:
www.advance.ch
Posted:
March 9th, 2004
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| Paraparts
Winch-Harness |
This
is an invention coming from Denmark for those
who don’t have easy access to mountains and don’t
have a tow operator available on the flyable days. The idea
is to give the pilot total freedom to launch from a flat field
by using a winch incorporated in his harness. The harness has
a small 2-stroke engine and a throttle to control the tension
of the line. This makes it heavier than a normal harness, about
10 kg extra to your gear. You just have to anchor one tip of
the towline to the end of the field and drive / walk back until
it’s fully extended in front of you (you can use a 2000m
long rope). Then, start the engine, take up slack with the throttle,
inflate as you give gas and start climbing as in a normal tow
launch – only you’re in full control of what is
going on all the time. The prototype has already been tested
by pilot Mads Syndergaard and you can read his comments in Paraparts
website. When landing you will have the extra weight of the
towline, but they say it’s lighter than flying with a
paramotor. They expect to have the winch-harness ready for this
flying season in the Northern hemisphere.
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More
info: www.paraparts.com |
| Pro-Design
MOVE Light |
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The Austrian factory have decided to build a light version of
their Move harness, following the trend towards less weight for
the flying gear. They did not give many details about this new
Light Move because the “changes are currently under procedure”,
but they expect to release it in May.
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New
‘Look’ for Sky Paragliders
The Czech manufacturer Sky has decided to perform a complete
face-lift of its corporate and gliders image and has just introduced
the new brand logo, a renewed website, and a fresh new aesthetics
for the gliders sail design. The idea is to place the brand
among the most competitive ones in the market, a goal they have
nearer every year thanks to their well-round gliders, very balanced
in terms of performance and quality -but that did not outstand
in the sail / colour design, so far.
Now, they will surely not be overlooked!
They are also considering to put their website in some other
languages.
See
the new logo and the new look of the gliders in www.skyparagliders.cz
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A
modern and fresh style for a new SKY era...
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| SOL
DHV certified
The Brazilian manufacturer Sol has gone one step further in its
internationalization with the recognition from the DHV as a certified
paraglider factory. “The DHV (German Association) since
some years is certifying factories with rules to check if the
factory has capacity, ability and check controls to produce the
DHV certified products. This way there’s no need to check
the products again in Germany or Austria”, say at Sol.
The certification process concluded with the visit of DHV Director
Hannes Weiniger to the factory in Brazil. Sol will release new
paraglider models (DHV certified, of course) very soon.
Info: www.solsports.com.br |
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News
in our previous Flying World Archive #8: Manufacturers
Contest in Gourdon; Flycastelluccio new website; Airwave in Spanish;
Stubai Cup 2004; Pre-PWC in Dominican Rep; Black Skins; Risers with
pre-flight checklist.
Click here to go!
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