Newsletter: November 2004 (Note: all external links open in a new window) Back to newsletter
Hang Gliding News
Edited by: Guy Harding
The AIR ATOS Evolution
Peter Wolfensberger <bopfi1> writes:
There is an actual thread in German on the DHV hang gliding forum about rigid wings. In this thread Adi Maierkord (who works at AIR) writes about the ATOS Evolution, but he doesn't give much information. Since the beginning of September he has made a few flights in the Alps with the Evolution.
Take off and landing of the Evolution should be easy, but he hasn't given any information about how the pilot gets up to hang next to the under surface of the glider. The pilot controls the glider with a stick.
Adi hopes that by the end of the flying season in 2005 the Evolution will flyable for the Average pilot. If we get more information from Adi, I will send it to you.
(editor's note: A few years ago I had a long trans Atlantic phone call with Felix about this very concept that he was thinking about at that time. He said that the pilot would launch with the control frame in the normal position and then rotate everything up.
I believe he felt at the time that a special harness would be needed, and if you think about it that would be true. The hang strap has to be able to be wrapped up as you get close to the undersurface.
It is quite unclear how or if the control frame is moved forward and up. The change in the angle of the control wires (if there are any) and their relationship to the pulley's in another issue.
Felix is a very clever engineer who designs mechanisms that in the end are very simple and also easy to maintain. I'm quite sure that he will succeed again with the Evolution.
The HG Worlds at Hay (Oz)
Don’t forget to keep up with what’s happening at the major meets in Oz this year via the Oz Report. Davis Straub will be at the Aussie Nats (Dec 28-3), Worlds (Jan 7-19) and Bogong Cup (Jan 22-29) reporting on the comps.
44km flight on the 17th October
Sunday turned out to be a good one for flying, despite what the weather forecast was predicting. Namely showers followed by a southerly front. A light westerly turning around to the south with a mostly blue sky greeted us overhead as we arrived at the Papawai airstrip. We could see good cus forming to the south. What looked to be the precursor to the southerly front.
Trev Gavin and I set up on the strip. While at Kourau, Grant and a few others were on their way up the hill. The plan was to meet up over Kourau and then head east in the light westerly, but of course things never quite go according to plan.
Trev ended up back at the strip after his first tow saying there wasn’t much over Jury hill, so I was expecting a similar ride. I released at 1000ft into a weak disorganised thermal. I worked this thermal for a good 15-20minutes finally getting to 3500ft when it gave up on me. I was going to go back to the strip after a quick scout further north, when I blundered into a better thermal that took me to 4500ft. There were now some nice clouds within glide to the north so it was time to go. Up high the drift was from the east so getting to Kourau wasn’t really on. I could see the gliders set up on the hill and by now a big cu had set up right over them. As I made my way round the western side of Masterton that cu was now getting real big. A convergence line was now setting up from Kourau heading NW. So after getting to 5800ft I headed a bit more NE to get under it. I couldn’t believe the height I was getting to, especially after sooo much rain, the air must have been real dry and there was no inversion. The next thermal things got even better as I climbed to 6500ft in a smooth 3-400 up. There was cloud around me but I was above base by a few hundred feet with just wisps forming below me. I don’t know why this thermal decided not to condense at the same height as the rest, but it was a great view. The southerly looked to be coming up behind me as more and more cus developed. It was about this time that I figured that I was riding the leading edge of the front. I was now a few km’s north of Masterton and climbing once again under a great looking cloud. It ended up taking me to 6800ft (bloody unbelievable!). I was still climbing when I got to the same height as the edges of the cloud but the middle of the base was still a few hundred feet above me. Very concave. So I stuffed the bar to get out, flying through the edge.
It now looked like the only chance of going much further was to head west of Mt Bruce. I was now out running the convergence line with nothing but blue sky to the north and the dwindling convergence line heading NW. So I followed it for a while, getting a very buoyant glide until I had to turn more NE again to avoid running into the Tararua range. It was looking like landing time as I flew over the Mt Bruce saddle with nothing but blue sky in front of me. I did fly into scrappy lift at 2000ft (only 1000agl) but the hands were numb after spending the last hour above 5000ft (hang on this is the Wairarapa, isn’t it!). So after working it half heatedly for a few minutes I went on a glide, landing just south of the bird sanctuary at Mt Bruce into a light NE. The cus south of Mt Bruce were seriously large by now, and I herd thunder a couple of times after packing up. Glad Trev and Gavin came and got me before the rain hit. We drove through it south of the saddle and a few of the hills to the side of the road had been turned white with some serious localised hail. Glad I wasn’t in the air when that lot dumped!
The distance ended up at 44km, and no, you couldn’t wipe the grin off my face that night!
I’ve never had much luck going xc in the Wairarapa, so to get a flight like this in October was something else. And I’ve got to say that being towed into the first thermal made it so much easier to get away. Roll on summer, and more towing at Papawai!
Labour weekend Hawkes Bay Cat 2 Comp
The strip below Zolas. Rigged and ready to go!
It was fine for the 3 days before Labour weekend and it is now fine again the day after, but the 3 days of Labour weekend in the Hawkes Bay was mainly overcast with some rain thrown in, and an hour or two of sun. I guess you could have put money on that! But we had to hold a category 2 comp (international), to get a few pilots qualified for the worlds. So we met up at the tow strip below ‘The hill formally known as Zolas’ and began setting up the trike and around 12 gliders (almost as big a turn out as the Nats last year) under an overcast sky with only one or two knots of wind from the NE. It was, if nothing else a perfect day for some of the pilots who hadn’t done much towing, to get to grips with it. We had a couple of early lock outs but it wasn’t long before everyone was feeling pretty relaxed about getting into the air under tow.
The first task was to the Waipukurau air strip. We towed up into the smooth conditions, so the task ended up being more of a glide ratio contest than anything else. But, hey, we were still flying. Those on the topless gliders predictably took out the top spots.
In the mean time Grant had taken some of his newer pilots up the hill for a fly. For these guys it turned out to be much the same as the tow boys, only minus the tow fees. Andrew, however, had a better idea and headed straight for the peak and was rewarded with some decent air time. Good on you Andrew.
We did make a trip to the strip on the Sunday but the rain arrived after half an hour of standing around, so we headed back to Havelock North for more coffee and gossip. The day actually got a little better that afternoon, with the sun making a brief appearance, but by then beers were being consumed, so that was that.
Monday dawned, well, bloody average. Fully overcast, with a reasonable southerly cooling things down and rain threatening. But we had to get another round in so it was off down to the strip to be greeted with a cool 10+ knot southerly and mostly overcast conditions.
Burma Rd had a paraglider soaring, so Grant again did the selfless thing and took the non-towing pilots up there. This was a good option as they made pigs of themselves in the soarable conditions. You’ve got to make the most of it when it happens.
Back at the strip and things were not looking so bad as Trev and I took a tow to sample the conditions and found a large lift band out in front of the south face. So we spiralled down and set and task to the peak. But wouldn’t you know it. By the time the task window opened the wind had started to drop and the good lift band began to melt into thin air.
First to launch was Matt Barlow from Blenheim, who seemed able to maintain for a while at the 2000ft release height. But it wasn’t long before he started to descend to around ridge height and sometimes below. But he didn’t give up. Pilots would launch, some would try for a glide and an increasing number would loose the lift and end up landing and trying with another tow. But through it all Matt hung around the ridge waiting for a descent thermal. 2 hours latter, and almost last on the ridge, Matt finally decided to go, only being able to get back up to the 2000ft release height. Reports were coming in of gliders landing up to half way to the peak, so there were at least one or two thermals out there, despite the overcast conditions. Matt however overflew them all, and 2 hours after leaving Zolas, he flew over the peak and into goal. We all agreed it was a pretty awesome effort, and showed the rest of us what is possible. Particularly on a day that you wouldn’t normally bother getting your glider out for an xc fly.
This won him the comp and a spot on the world team. Well worth the trip to Blenheim I’d say.
As an aside, over the weekend Matt told us stories of the excellent flying he’s been having around Blenheim, particularly Havelock, over the Spring. His latest effort the Thursday before the comp, was a four hour thermalling flight in light winds, flying the valleys around Havelock. I have driven these valleys several times and always thought what a great place they would be to fly.
He has offered to pick any of us up from the Ferry if we are keen to fly there. I for one would certainly like to take him up on the offer. Maybe we should organise something for the near future. Let me know if you are interested.
Weekend flying 6-7 Nov
We again had more good flying at the Papawai strip over the weekend. Saturday began overcast, but was forecast to clear. And it did, but then cloud came over again shadowing the western half of the valley. This was good however for Brett, Shane and Adrian, who are new to towing, enabling them to have a few reasonably smooth tows. Although there was enough happening to keep us up for a while.
It was discovered that we all still have a bit to work on with our Take off and landing techniques. Don’t we Trev and Grant! These boys should know better. In saying this, offcourse, I’m guaranteeing myself a broken DT or 2 in the near future.
Sunday was an even better day. Hot and blue for the most part, with a few cus developing during the heat of the day. Most managed to get to around 4000ft, including yours truly who took off in a t-shirt expecting the first tow to be quite smooth. But as is always the way with these things, a convergence line set up over the strip from west to east providing wide spread lift, so I had to resort to some serious spiralling to get back down and avoid becoming a popsicle. In the mean time Fraser, who had dressed appropriately was having a ball.
As the day wore on the convergence line evaporated, but the thermals were still around so we ended up getting and hour or 2 air time for the day in very pleasant thermals.
Toward the end of the day I saw Gavin head south so assumed he was off for an xc. I dutifully followed along. After the next thermal he headed west back to Greytown, but a cloud further south enticed me to continue. After another climb Trevs’ house in Kahautra was in glide so I was off to a spot I knew would have a beer. I ended up just making it in to the paddock beside his house after my glide was killed running into a moderate SW. So a good day was capped off with a modest 18km xc, but it was worth it to get the first beer of the day. We finished the day off with a barbeque at Trevs’ with a bit of skeet shooting thrown in. It was just as well I got the xc in, as the boys put me to shame with the shooting. Lets just say the ground broke a lot more than me!
Pictures
There’s lift here somewhere! Overlooking Wellington 20/10/04.
Email Guy with any hang gliding news you may have!
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"Once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned forever skyward, for there you have been, and there you long to return" Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
