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| THE
RENOVATION OF SKY PARAGLIDERS |
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Some months after the introduction of a new logo and
color design for their gliders, the guys at Sky Paragliders
have more surprises in this "renewal" process for
the Czech factory. A process whose central purpose is to turn
the brand, quite unknown a few years ago, into a solid alternative
in the current paragliding market, thanks to distinctive aesthetics
of their own and a wide range of new complementary products
for free flight, in addition to the renovation of the gliders'
range for this year with the Metis tandem (see New
Paragliders), the perfo model Ares, a new beginners glider,
and a competition one. It is now much easier to spot a Sky
glider on the sky! They will also have their website available
in Spanish soon.
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Revel harness
A multipurpose model for cross-country pilots, of intermediate-advanced
or advanced level. The position is comfortable, semi laid-back,
and admits good weight shift, despite having ABS system. The
pilot can adjust the desired range of active banking with the
chest strap. In the design of the Revel, Sky gave special importance
to the pilot’s comfort and security, and that’s
why they placed the reserve container under the seat, with an
easy to reach handle for fast deployment, even with gloves on.
The accelerator has two levels and an elastic band to keep the
bar close to the seat during take-off. The Revel also has a
big pocket on the back with an internal pocket to place a 2-liters
Camelbag, and offers an aerodynamic shape to avoid drag. It
is built in Cordura and includes a dorsal protection of 17cm,
carabiners and speed-system. Available in all sizes, from XS
to XXL.
*We will soon test a Revel size L to tell you how it goes.
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Flying
suit “Streamline GL”
Besides its 4 lively combinations of colors, this
overall is waterproof, wind proof and breathable, thanks to
its special fabric Swan from DuPont, non coated but featuring
a special "sandwich" structure. According to Sky,
the shape of this overall is comfortable and respects "all
the pilot’s needs".
It has plenty of pockets; all with security loops to attach
your devices, and a special loop for the variometer on the
left leg.
It is available in winter and summer versions, in sizes S
to XXL. |
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| “First
Aid” kit for gliders, Repairer:
This is a complete emergency kit that will help you
fix any last minute accident in your gear. It includes
a multifunction tool, ripstop patches in two colors
and two sizes, repair material of A4 size, line for
brake line replacement, spare lines for upper cascades
and main ones, spare maillons for main risers and universal
use, a small speed hood, plastic insert for the main
riser maillons and rubber bands for re packing of the
emergency parachute. All this comes in a zippered case
to carry in the pocket of your glider’s rucksack. |
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|
| |
PORTER Rucksack
A paraglider backpack with a particular shape to offer maximum
comfort for the pilot whenever he/she has to walk with the
gear on the back, or for traveling. It has compression straps
on the sides, padded bands for hips and shoulders, and it
is made with high quality materials. Available in 2 sizes
(L and XL), it is provided as standard with all Sky gliders.
Info:
www.skyparagliders.cz |
RENOVATION:
The introduction of the new image of Sky
(logo, outer sails, website) was somewhat radical. Now that
the clients are more used to it, Sky’s marketing manager
Martin Nemec comments that “some people hated
it and some loved it, but everybody says that the new gliders
can be easily spotted on the sky, and that’s exactly
what we wanted to achieve”. As a result, they
have already noticed a slightly rise in the sales, and they
expect an increase of around 150 gliders more than last
year sold by the end of 2004. To accomplish this, the factory
is working at full capacity (85 persons in production and
25 at the offices) at the premises in Frydlant nad Ostravic,
Czech Republic. One of the advantages of their products
is a good relationship between quality and prices. The gliders’
designer is Alexandre Paux (CH) who works closely with the
feedback from test pilot (and Acro specialist) Tomas Lednic.
The design of the harnesses and other products is in the
hands of ex double Czech champion Milan Michna. .
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SKY
Team -
PILOTS WANTED
Sky paragliders want to form a good team of pilots
to represent them in international competitions, both
in Acro and cross-country. They offer benefits according
to the pilot’s successes, from the gliders to
money for the expenses involved in competing and traveling,
if the results are good. If you’re interested,
you must contact them and send your paragliding CV
together with your competitive plans for the season:
info@sky-cz.com
or fill in the contact form in their website: www.skyparagliders.cz
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|
18
Films compete at El Yelmo International Air Festival, Spain |
|
This
year, the “Spanish Coupe Icare”, as it
is known in France, will have 6 hours of cinema projection
during the 3 nights of the Festival, all films starring flight
and wind sports or activities. The event has become a big
international celebration of the aerial sports we all love,
with plenty of fun activities during daytime, a big commercial
fair, games, an impressive flying site for paragliding and
hangliding, aerobatic shows, an open air-cinema to show the
films in competition, and concerts and party every night.
Thousands of pilots from Spain and abroad will travel to the
south of Spain to attend this year’s Festival in the
area of El Yelmo (Jaen, Andalusia), on July 8th to 11th. |
|
The
main attraction of the event is the Air-film contest –that
has succeeded to promote the film creation in Spain with quality
productions related to flying. Among the 18 films selected
for the Festival from the 26 that applied, 9 come from Spain,
6 from France and 3 from Austria –the rest being English,
Swiss, US, Brazilian, German, Canadian and Italian. The titles
will sound familiar to some of you, as there are films already
seen in St. Hilaire last year or at the last Free Flight in
Garmisch, like “Parahawking”
(see review below), “Acro Base”,
"The Race" or “Farengi
Amora”, while others have been recently released,
like the adventures in “The Never Ending Thermal”
(see review below) or Ozone’s exciting promo “Future
Style” (also reviewed here, see Archive).
This year, the Festival will also host the first Forum for
filmmakers specialized in extreme sports, flight adventures
and birds, with interesting subjects to be discussed by the
guests during their meetings.
The
French invention “Bionic”, a
uniquely shaped paraglider, will be awarded the Festival’s
prize to Innovation and we’ll have the chance to see
it flying above the festival location, at the football field
of the Andalusian village of Cortijos Nuevos.
At
Ojovolador we are preparing some surprises for our stand at
the Festival, which we hope to show you personally there.
Visit us in the big tent of the fair; we’ll have something
for you...
See you at El Yelmo!
+Info:
www.elyelmo.com
Posted:
June 9th, 2004 |
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| New
Flying Suit
SKYWALK - “Systemoverall” |
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|
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The paraglider manufacturer Skywalk has just released a new
type of paragliding suit, formed by a jacket and trousers that
can be worn connected by a zipper for maximum protection against
the cold, or separated for use in other outdoor activities,
like skiing, mountaineering or trekking.
The
Systemoverall is water and wind resistant, made in 100% high
tenacity fabrics, with Cordura reinforcements in shoulders,
knees and seat areas, and warm and breathable inner fleece.
You
can order it from the Skywalk online shop or from their dealers:
www.skywalk.info
Posted:
June 9th, 2004 |
| DVD
“Never Ending Thermal”
|
|
It’s
good to receive a visual production of such a good technical level
related to the sport we like the most, Paragliding. Not very often
a flight film combines good direction, a consistent script, spectacular
images in unusual landscapes, a soundtrack specially created for
the story, and an edition that rounds all the elements up in 47
minutes of documentary. Certainly, these guys have set a very
high standard for the ‘Acro-road-movie style' productions
that have so proliferated lately. |
|
The Never Ending Thermal is a journey across
incredible flying sites that go from the Dune of Pyla and the
festival of St. Hilaire in France, to the Little Dolomites in
Italy, Acro championships in Slovenia and Switzerland, the Moroccan
desert, the Nepalese prairies and the inner region of Venezuela.
In it we follow two pilots while they find the adventures and
the radical flights they have gone to pursue to those remote places,
facing diverse conditions and meeting people who share the same
passions. Up to here the argument cannot be called original, as
we’ve already seen various versions of the paraglider ‘road-movie’.
Nevertheless, the script succeeds to discover for us the sense
and reasons for this apparently crazy trip to places as distant
as the valley of Pokhara in Nepal or the great Venezuelan savannah,
turning the film into an interesting
document about the extraordinary power that the dream to fly exerts
on some beings. The narrator explains opportunely
what the free flight is, why we fly, and how a paraglider can
cause unsuspected adrenalin levels and emotions, whereas the pilots
themselves tell us their experiences on the road.
Doubtlessly, the objective of the film is to reach the general
public and not only the rather small community of paraglider pilots.
Behind the production there’s a North American TV station
that provided the necessary means to achieve a product of remarkable
quality and market potential in television. The scenes were carefully
planned according to a story-board designed some months before
the trip by director Sean White (CAN; a fan of
adventure sports, including paragliding) with the help of the
Venezuelan pilots Herminio Cordido and Jorge
Atramiz, and also Claudio Mota, who
collaborated as tandem pilot for the aerial footage and shares
with Herminio the stunning flight sequence from the Angel Falls
(the highest water fall in the world).
The team traveled with a number of cameras that were used for
in-flight recording from the canopy and the pilot during Acro
maneuvers, and a professional cam that Sean used from a tandem
glider, from a car or from any place where he could take the best
view of the journey without being noticed by the film’s
spectators. What you’ll notice is the good rhythm of the
action thanks to these very well produced images, supported
by an impeccable soundtrack designed by Roy Milner,
a young musician who seem capable to play any instrument, from
a piano or a flute to various percussion instruments. Specially
remarkable is the vocal sound for the sequence of flight in Nepal.
In our opinion, the only inconsistency of the Never Ending Thermal
lies on some scenes that are just too similar to the ones in other
Acro travelers’ film –a couple of them seem like taken
directly from that video, like the scene of the two pilots riding
their skateboards, or the comments from some Acro stars who seem
to be repeating the screenplay. We had a dejà-vu
feeling.
In any case, this is one of the
most interesting and complete DVDs we have seen
in the last years.
The extras include an extensive making-of documentary, worth every
second; video clips; trailers; the complete sequence of Herminio’s
flight from the Angel Falls; the full soundtrack, and more. You
can also select English, Spanish & French subtitles. The film
costs 30 dollars plus shipping.
+ Info: www.neverendingthermal.com
*Thanks
to Sean White for sending us the a copy of the DVD for this review. |
Posted: May 23rd, 2004
|
| DVD
“Parahawking” |
|
For
our criteria, a good film is one that touches or moves you somehow.
And this film doubtlessly achieves that.
Who
hasn’t dreamed about having a winged companion to guide
you in flight? That is basically the argument of the documentary
video ‘Parahawking', winner of the Best Debut Film award
in the prestigious Festival of Saint Hilaire 2003.
In
the ' 90s, an English pilot called Adam Hill travels to Nepal
and falls in love with the country. He meets Rajesh Bomjan there
and, after teaching him to fly, they create the Sunrise Paragliding
school. Up to this point, it’s a story that could have happened
to any of us.
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|
The
turning point is introduced by Scott Mason, an English falconer
who also succumbs to the charms of Nepal and is attracted by paragliding
flight. He takes a tandem flight, loves it, shares a beer with
the pilots and one idea takes to another and all lead to an unusual
project for the spring of 2001: The instructors of the school
will teach to him to fly a paraglider while they themselves will
learn the art of the falconry, only they will also apply it to
paragliding flight. This is how they invent “parahawking”.
From then on everything goes as in a dream; they buy a couple
of Pariah kite chicks (before they are eaten by a farmer), Sappana
and Shadoko –the stars of the film- and start a hard and
very well documented training process with the birds, from the
basic lessons and short soaring at the “school slope"
to high flights and thermalling. Meanwhile Scott also learns to
fly, but in a paraglider. The most important part was to make
the birds feel comfortable with the people and the gliders and,
believe me, they make it…
Watching
this movie makes you want to travel through those incredible landscapes
and see the peculiarities of the country by yourself, all very
well exposed in the 42 minutes of the production. The technical
work is remarkable (although the music choice is not all of our
taste) and the DVD has some interesting additional contents that
even include a short documentary about Nepal, with beautiful images.
It is also possible to view the film in 5 different languages
and hear it in Stereo. The English version is in Dolby Surround
5.1.
Surely
a DVD that every pilot should have in his/her collection (original
please, that is the way to encourage the good creation!). You
can order it from the Web:
http://www.hhc-nepal.org/ParahawkingFilm.html
More
details (and even book your paragliding or falconry lessons) in
Sunrise Paragliding website: http://www.nepal-paragliding.com/parahawking.htm
*Thanks
to Adam Hill for sending us a copy
of the DVD for this review. Good work!
|
Posted:
April 22th, 2004
|
|
Brauniger
Competino |
The
COMPETINO, recently
launched in the PG market, is a smaller and low cost version
of the integrated (vario+GPS) hi-tech instrument IQ-COMPEO by
Brauniger, developed to compete with other easy-to-use integrated
devices, such as the XC-Trainer. Among its features the Competino
has the same high resolution display of its big brother Compeo,
together with “some revolutionary” new ones like
three user selectable display representations, the “unique”
Track & Drop function for extremely accurate final glides
to goal, as well as a double power supply with normal or rechargeable
batteries.
The
Competino was specially developed
for Paraglider pilots.
+Info:
www.brauniger.com
Posted:
April 20th, 2004
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Technical
Data:
• Total integrated flight instrument with 16 channel GPS
receiver and integrated patch antenna
• Robust ABS housing, aerodynamic with soft edges
• High precision pressure sensor for a very sensitive variometer
• High resolution graphic LCD display 160 x 240 = 38.400
pixel with automatic and manual contrast adjustment, important
for map function
• 2 separated battery units each with 2 Mignon (= AA) cells
(Alkali or NiMH) providing 2 x 20 hours of usage. Automatic battery
switch over always allows a complete use of the battery capacity
- never again half empty batteries!
• Automatic or manual Start/Stop of flight recording
• Variable record interval 1... 30 sec allows recording
up to 120 hours
• Continual display of GPS and battery status
• Input for a vane-speed sensor
• User selectable fields for: Alt 1 Height above msl; Alt
2 Difference altitude; Alt 3 Cumulative altitude
• Air pressure QNH in hPa
• Temperature °C or °F
• Time and flight time
• Wind direction and strength
• Distance and direction to a waypoint
• Required glide ratio (L/Dreq) to attain the chosen waypoint
• Automatic and manual volume control
• Memory for 200 waypoints
• Memory for 20 routes up to 30 waypoints
• Input of different cylinder radii for a competition route
• Automatic alarm and switching over to the next WP when
crossing the circumference of the actual WP (competition route
only)
• A recorded flight conforms completely to IGC-rules (including
the digital signature) and is fully compatible with accustomed
evaluation programs like "Seeyou - CompeGPS - Maxpunkte -
GPSVar - IQ-Online" for announcing flights at OLC
• PC-program "Flychart" allows easy set-up functions
as well as down- and uploads of waypoints, routes and flight tracks
• Three different Displays can be selected by the user:
1) Normal flight with round analog vario scale, Alt1, Speed, and
more
2) Flight to a GPS goal with bargraph vario-scale and a graphic
final glide calculator. A crosshair shows flight direction and
altitude above the path of best glide
3) Real time map display with track and waypoint names, cylinders;
with Zoom In - Zoom Out function
• Interface cable to a PC (serial RS232 port)
• Dimensions: 165 x 70 x 36 mm Weight: 270 g (with batteries/without
clamp)
|
|
Airworthiness
advisory Paraglider Mistral 2.22 |
|
|
The DHV has released an airworthiness advisory
regarding the paraglider Mistral 2 size 22, manufactured by Swing.
“A
further case of a Mistral 2.22 going into a deep stall has been
noted, after this glider had been subjected to recall testing
due to the airworthiness safety notice from 26.02.2003.
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|
Due to construction parameters, flying characteristics of the
Mistral 2.22 may permenantly deteriorate, either through use or
storage. (Further details may be found under www.dhv.de/typo/Safety.21.0.html
)
All affected canopies show the following non-typical behaviour:
- Poor inflation & start properties
- Entering a deep or parachutal stall, particularly when using
"big ears"
- Delayed trimspeed recovery after exiting from a B-Stall
- Reduced brake-input range
Together
with Swing Flugsportgeräte GmbH, the DHV is now issueing
the following preventive Safety Warning:
All Mistral 2.22 gliders must be re-checked by the manufacturer.
Mistral 2.22 gliders should not be flown until they have been
re-checked.
Should deteriorated flying characteristics be determined, Swing
offers Mistral 2.22 pilots either a repair or an exchange.
In addition to this, Swing makes all Mistral 2.22 owners, irrespective
of re-check results, a part-exchange offer for an alternative
glider, as a part of its customer care program.
These airworthiness requirements are valid from publication of
the NfGH Notices for hang- and paraglider pilots. The safety requirements
must be fullfilled before the equipment is re-used.
For re-checking and/or exchange contact:
Swing, An der Leiten 4, 82290 Landsberied, Tel: +49 (0)8141 3
27 78 88, Email: info@swing.de
Website: www.swing.de"
Gmund,
31.03.2004
Klaus
Tänzler
Managing Director
Posted:
April 8th, 2004 |
News
in our previous Flying World Archive #9: PWC
2004 Italy and Austria; Frank Brown wins in Brazil; XC with Top pilots;
Paragliding videos; Advance Test Centre; Winch Harness; Pro-Design Move
light harness; Factories updates.
Click here to go!
|
