tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147401322024-03-07T15:32:50.660-06:00Jamie Wanders...there is no going back now!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1234125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-49125245267234151032018-12-30T20:48:00.001-06:002018-12-30T20:48:33.691-06:00Forbes 2019 Day 2<div style="text-align: justify;">
Similar windy conditions today, so the safety committee delayed everything by 20 minutes and then another 20 minutes. So we ended up starting around the same time as yesterday - pretty late. The task committee wanted something slightly more challenging, so they set a dogleg with the first leg straight downwind and the second two very much cross wind. After the second 20-minute start delay, they decided it was getting too late to go with the original task given the relatively long crosswind leg, so they shortened it slightly. It was a good call as, even then, there were only around 15 at goal. </div>
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I drove all the way to goal with very little in the way of mobile phone coverage only to arrive at goal and find that my team had all landed short. Pippo came down at the tow paddock for a second tow, but landed downwind in the middle of a dust devil and broke an upright. We sped back to the house and got him a new upright, but he didn’t get back into the air until the end of launch. So he was way behind the gaggle. He and Vanni managed to get less than 10km short of goal. But, poor Tyler landed quite short and had to wait out in his field for nearly three hours before we got back to him. He had a great story about facing (or more like screaming and running from) a snake snuggling up to his harness. It sure was a beautiful spot though. </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-47098351613601783372018-12-29T16:30:00.000-06:002018-12-29T16:30:25.482-06:00Forbes Flatlands 2019<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m back in Oz at the Forbes Flatlands again. Missed last year, but it’s good to be back in the hot, dry, super consistent conditions this area offers. It all got started yesterday with a dogleg downwind and then crosswind to the town of Stockinbingal. With pretty strong wind in the morning that was predicted to settle down a bit, launch didn’t open until 2:45. Even then, the north wind was anything but light. But the task call may have a little light - 34 of the 39 open class pilots flying made goal. This might be the smallest Forbes Flatlands I’ve been too. There are 44 in the open class and 8 in the sport class. It’s a pity, because conditions are looking great for the entire week and we’ll likely get eight task days. Whew...that’s tough on the drivers here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s fun to see Mario Campanella here with the Dutch team. He seems to pop up at comps everywhere, but this is his first time at Forbes. Unfortunately, his glider made it, but his harness did not, so he didn’t get to fly yesterday. Hopefully it arrives today and he’ll get in the air. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So far, today looks quite similar to yesterday but with the added complication of a lot of high cloud. A front is pushing through and we’re not entirely sure what it will bring other than slightly cooler (high of only 37C/99F) temperatures. </span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-8090606029931731942018-04-12T12:06:00.002-05:002018-05-04T15:12:07.467-05:00Bringing it Back<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAmNEipHfkzIl7oSUBjISCLh48g_9CmvDgTZJ8w8yqqnRbSys7v5TFeqlTKZFVlJiCEnxIt6d0awRpyj6-OECdwgU-usrLBDDaLQUwTIqtBYQ4eCFkLHjTaeSjfOiJxGNWOR1/s1600/IMG_3280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAmNEipHfkzIl7oSUBjISCLh48g_9CmvDgTZJ8w8yqqnRbSys7v5TFeqlTKZFVlJiCEnxIt6d0awRpyj6-OECdwgU-usrLBDDaLQUwTIqtBYQ4eCFkLHjTaeSjfOiJxGNWOR1/s320/IMG_3280.jpg" width="320" /></a>I was running past the Thursday beachside farmer's market this morning and bumped into my UPS driver. He gave me a big hug and we caught up on what we've both been up to for the past year. He is the example I always use when I tell people how much I enjoy the community I live it. Even though I'm not home nearly as much as I would like, when I come home, it feels like home. This is the first place I've ever lived - and I mean ever - where I know all of my neighbors and many other random people in the community. I know the manager at my Publix supermarket, I know my UPS driver and I know the guy that works at the post office who asks me every time I walk in where I've been on my latest travels.<br />
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It struck me what a contrast this kind of interaction is with what we have become accustomed to in the age of social media. About six months ago, I deleted my Facebook account after getting tired of spending too much time scrolling through political and religion stuff I didn't want to have anything to do with and spending far too much time on my phone in general. Since then, I've had friends from various parts of the world call, text and email me asking if everything was ok. A former work colleague called to check if I had run off and got married after seeing that I disappeared from Facebook and I hadn't posted anything on my blog for a while. Nope, no marriage, just a happy, busy life.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgUPkW-_J7XxLDx0wyGrF_Z1uMCTEYFLERrG9TCRL-hEkb5pE6jZQQOISxd1slCvI-mfBtN97mLCaV_zPrgsDkrtHrSR8ckIhrgNu-fKkordrM9iTa3gJ2sKNnq0IJsZxWKX3eQ/s1600/FullSizeRender-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgUPkW-_J7XxLDx0wyGrF_Z1uMCTEYFLERrG9TCRL-hEkb5pE6jZQQOISxd1slCvI-mfBtN97mLCaV_zPrgsDkrtHrSR8ckIhrgNu-fKkordrM9iTa3gJ2sKNnq0IJsZxWKX3eQ/s320/FullSizeRender-1.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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Funny thing is that there is something I really miss about Facebook and that is the diary/journal like quality of our FB timeline. Between Facebook "memories" and occasional flipping back through old posts, I could look back on my life, good times, bad times, fun, passing of friends and family, silly pictures of a travel adventure, etc. It had become my daily journal/scrap book that my blog once was. That made me resolve to get back into the habit of updating my blog more often. I've had so many trips and amazing life events over the past year that I wish I had blogged about. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMecd48E7-21lwAIBY1wwUCn68xZzTCFCRb3jvbX87Ut21Co04sbSPpLgXGgd-fpZ0ehSxFImMCr3U8ChJZBXKpR1OSHJ6GURg1CN43WBtJ-rwylMYGwTZC27-uNZFemDMaOL_A/s1600/IMG_4867.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMecd48E7-21lwAIBY1wwUCn68xZzTCFCRb3jvbX87Ut21Co04sbSPpLgXGgd-fpZ0ehSxFImMCr3U8ChJZBXKpR1OSHJ6GURg1CN43WBtJ-rwylMYGwTZC27-uNZFemDMaOL_A/s320/IMG_4867.jpeg" width="320" /></a>So, the quick catch up goes like this: After my mom's passing at the beginning of last year, I've become even closer to my exceptionally beautiful family. Dad and I have been able to travel together on several super cool trips including road trips to visit my baby girl and playing in the Gulf of Mexico with my nieces and nephews. I also got to hike into the crater of a volcano in Martinique, roam around my bucket list city of Buenos Aires and ride a camel in the 116 degree heat of Morocco. But, the highlight, by far, of my recent travels was the nearly month long trip around Ireland with my dad, sissy and brother in law. Sissy took a DNA test that, to our surprise, revealed that we're 66% Irish!? This was news to all of us and dad decided we absolutely must go back there in honor of mom. We went to all of her favorite places from our last trip there and we even spread some of her ashes at Blarney Castle, the Cliffs of Moher and the Karrick foot bridge in Northern Ireland. Dad and I are already talking about going back again this summer.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-63388590762034730252017-08-18T11:49:00.002-05:002017-08-18T11:49:50.893-05:00Final Task - This is it!<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="s1">Waiting for the task briefing to start today, I had a chance to speak with Petr Benes from the Czech Republic. The Czech team did very well in the European Championships in Krushevo last summer, but they seem to have come blazing out of nowhere here in Brasilia. They are currently in second place in the team competition, just 335 points behind the Italians. In the individual scores, Petr is just 6 points behind Alex Ploner in first going into the final day of the comp. The top five positions are actually so compressed on the final day that it’s going to make for a really exciting finish. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Petr is an interesting, quiet guy and this is the first time I’ve every really spoken with him. I tried to get a video interview for the FAI CIVL Facebook page, but he did little more than flash a shy smile and shrug his shoulders. So, I thought I would just sit down with him and ask about life in general to try to coax him into talking about the competition here. Turns out he is an artistic blacksmith doing restoration work in prestigious places/buildings in Prague. Compared to many here, he’s a relatively new hang glider pilot, having learned just about 13 years ago starting out in sailplanes at age 17 (reminds me of a certain American world record holder). Petr went on to tell me why he thought the Czech team was so successful. He explained that conditions in the Czech Republic are very rarely strong or consistent. So, from the very start of their flying careers, they must learn to stay up in the most difficult conditions, rarely getting all that high above the terrain. That makes sense - the Austrians have historically been a very strong team, with Austrians having similar difficult conditions much of the time. </span><span class="s1"></span></div>
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<span class="s1">It’s going to be fun to be in the Esplanade watching them come in today. With only 66 points separating the top four pilots, the gold is there for any one of them to take. I guess the question is whether Alex and Christian will race against each other and risk losing the team gold for the Italians. I spoke with Flavio on launch just a while ago and he’s one nervous team leader. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Best of luck to the Italians and the Czechs, and even better luck to team USA who are just 8 points out of third place with only today to steal the bronze medal from those pesky Germans!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-77081898737470979942017-08-17T08:44:00.001-05:002017-08-17T08:44:55.512-05:00USA Third!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
It's been a tough few days with lighter, more difficult conditions all around, but team USA has at last moved into third place after yesterday's task. </div>
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Gone are the days of 100 pilots in goal. With somewhat low inversions and lighter lift, the number at goal has decreased significantly. On Task 6, in fact, just one lone Japanese pilot made it in. Thanks to Bruce and John getting relatively close that day, the team started a campaign to move up onto the podium. The Italians and Czechs have all but sealed up their first and second place positions (although the possibility of a swap is still very real). But, third place was open to the USA, Brasilia, Australian and German teams. Only 30 or so were in goal yesterday's and Zac, Robin and Bruce made it in reasonably fast, moving us up into third with about 225 points over the Germans in fourth. </div>
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Aside from that great news, there's been much grumbling about guys making very dangerous approaches into the Esplanada on several days. I mentioned one such approach in one of my earlier posts, and they have continued. The field just adjacent to the Esplanada landing field has been approved for landing in situations where the Esplanada has many other pilots coming in at the same time. However, as this field just to the north is the first one you reach on a low approach, a few guys have used it because they couldn't make it in to the Esplanada and a few have come straight in on final, landing downwind having just barely made it over the buildings, trees and very low power lines. </div>
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Cid, the Meet Director, gave a warning to all pilot several days ago, mentioning that there would be no more warnings, that dangerous approaches would, from then on, be penalized. The problem of course, is that everyone wanted some objective criteria for what would be considered dangerous. Cid went with the "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it" answer, but promised to work on outlining some criteria. Meanwhile, the same day, two pilots came into the adjacent field very low over the power lines, one landing downwind. This was a day that many guys stopped short of going over the city and landed at the field at the end of speed section, having heeded Cid's warning not to make dangerous approaches over the city. Initially, the two pilots having what many considered dangerous approaches, were not penalized and there was quite an uproar over that, particularly from the pilots that turned back and landed at the end of speed section. Eventually, Cid decided that a penalty was in order and those two pilots were basically scored as if they had landed back at the end of speed section. At the same time, it was decided that although there was no perfect solution, the best criteria for what the Meet Director would consider a "safe" landing was the ability to make a circuit (downwind-base-final) approach prior to landing. Coming straight in on final and landing downwind because no other turns could be made beforehand, would be considered a dangerous approach and would be penalized. So, this is what we are using now and this guideline will be used for duration of the comp.</div>
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Here's a shot of young Brit pilot Ollie Chitty launching. He was on a roll yesterday and charged ahead, leading for first 2/3 of the task. We were all gunning for him to win a day and it would have been pretty cool given that this is his first worlds. Unfortunately, he must have pushed a little too hard because he lost it about 30km short of goal. All the girls were heartbroken. </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-71765435509469270312017-08-13T14:14:00.002-05:002017-08-13T14:14:41.067-05:00Brasilia Worlds Days 3 and 4<div style="text-align: justify;">
Team USA is finally getting into the groove here. Zac seems to has found his mojo and is blazing in again the way we're used to seeing him. Robin is ever consistent and inching his way up the rankings He is in seventh now, just 191 points out of first place. Actually, after yesterday's task, the top 13 places are only 270 points apart, so scores are rather compressed. Feels a bit like a paragliding comp ;-).</div>
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We've had a few interesting incidents here the last couple of days. On Task 3 a pilot strayed one and a half kilometers into the airspace in the most unfortunate of places and ended up landing on the grounds of the Presidential Palace. He was arrested and taken into custody for a short time. Fortunately, the PR person here at the competition happens to know people in the Brasilian Secret Service or FBI or something along those lines and managed to get him released. On the downside - very big downside - this caused big problems for the organization who has spent a great deal of time and energy getting permission for us to land in the middle of the capital city. Because of the small risk of having the entire competition stopped and the bigger risk of having our permission to land at the Esplanada revoked, the Meet Director made the decision to penalize the pilot not only for violating the airspace with the required zero for the day, but also by suspending him from flying the next day. The pilot is a very very nice guy and some felt the penalty was too harsh. Many others recognize that straying so far into the airspace in this location where our permission to land was so carefully secured and tenuous warrants a strong penalty, showing the authorities that the infringement was taken very seriously. There is concern that the incident could place the entire site in jeopardy.</div>
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The other problem we're seeing here nearly every day is that pilots are making dangerously low approaches into the Esplanada. The landing field is actually quite large, but when 30 pilots are coming in together, things get interesting. And, as would be expected in a world championship, pilots have the singular focus of getting there at any cost. Each day it seems that at least one guy comes in barely above the buildings and just eeks it into the field with absolutely no margin for error. The Meet Director and the safety committee are looking for ways to solve this problem. They've talked about having a minimum altitude for arrival at the Esplanada. They've also discussed having the penalty for making the end of speed section but NOT making the goal field much smaller (or no penalty at all). There is no perfect solution for regulating reasonable, safe behavior. It would be great if pilots would take personal responsibility for that. </div>
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Here are a few Esplanada landings. This first one is a guy that came in crazy low over the tops of the trees and power lines into the field next door...downwind, and moving very very fast across the ground toward four lanes of traffic. He pulled off an impressive downwind landing just a few feet short of the road. Traffic is heavy and it was just luck that I didn't get a car in this picture. Had there been a car in the picture, it would have blocked the pilot and half of his glider - that's how close he was to the road. The tow pedestrians are on our side of the four lane road. The picture makes it look much safer than it was. </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-59315388449971580482017-08-11T10:34:00.002-05:002017-08-11T10:34:54.438-05:00Brasilia Worlds Day 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
Day 2 was a tough one at launch. The early birds had terribly light conditions. After getting scored minimum distance on day one for top landing for a relaunch because his instrument froze up, Wolfi launched first. He fought and fought to stay up, but found absolutely zero lift and ended up in the bottom landing field - the one with the three hour retrieve. Poor Wolfi is just not having his best comp. </div>
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So, after he and another pilot landing below, no one particularly want to take off. Corrina was brave enough to go and we watched her scratch just above launch height until conditions finally kicked in. She is exceptionally good at staying up in the lightest of lift and she really showed the boys how it's done. After probably 10-15 minutes of scratching, the day turned on and everyone piled off the hill into some pretty darn tight gaggles. I wouldn't have wanted to be up there. </div>
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The Esplanada goal field was like Grand Central Station with over 100 pilots making goal, many of them coming in and landing side by side in groups of 3 or 4. Like launch, I wouldn't have wanted to be coming in to that goal! But, it's a great place to end the day. The organizers have made it a big party with food vendors, lots of press, hang gliding rides for the kids and lots of happy pilots. They're encouraging everyone to spend the evening there. </div>
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Team USA had most into goal yesterday. Robin and John were fast, in the top 20 for the day. Zac hasn't quite found his mojo here yet, but he will...I fully expect the crazy good pilot in him to kick into gear today!!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-60645193488382506012017-08-09T16:39:00.000-05:002017-08-09T16:39:08.158-05:00Worlds Day 1<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's finally underway! Day 1 task was a relatively short one - 104km optimized. They put goal out on the flats, not at the Esplanada this time. I guess for the first day they wanted to make sure everyone was all warmed up before sending them to the most challenging goal field here. </div>
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Take off was quick - 131 pilots in 45 minutes. Conditions were perfect, blowing straight in the entire time. Hopefully it stays that way! We're all gutted for Wolfi who had an instrument failure and top landed to get another one, only to be told that there are no reflights :-(. Such a massive bummer for him, but he takes it all in stride. He re-flew anyway (just for fun) and came straight to goal to do some filming of everyone coming it. Gotta love a kid with a great attitude. </div>
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Sitting waiting at goal we heard on the team leader WhatsApp group that a Brasilian pilot deployed his chute after an apparent midair. The pilot is uninjured. The other pilot flew on to goal. </div>
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In the end there were probably at least 70 or more in goal. Former world champion Alex Ploner blazed in first with several of his Italian teammates right on his tail. I think I heard there were 5 Italians in the top ten. We got all of team USA in to goal, but with the exception of Robin, we weren't terribly fast. Robin was likely in the top ten. <br />
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Live tracking is <a href="https://lt.flymaster.net/bs.php?grp=2040" target="_blank">HERE</a>, but there is a 25 minute delay, so it's a bit behind the social media. I'm tweeting from goal every day from #naughtylawyer if you want a preview of what's coming on the Flymaster site.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-75906035069427775092017-08-09T13:37:00.001-05:002017-08-09T13:37:25.604-05:00It's Started!!<div style="text-align: center;">
Here is our Team US!</div>
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Derreck Turner lives in Fort Meyers, Florida and works as a hang gliding instructor, tandem pilot and tug pilot at the Florida Ridge flight park. Derreck was on the US team for the last worlds in Valle de Bravo, Mexico and he flies a Litespeed RX.</div>
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Robin Hamilton is originally from Scotland, but has been living in the US for many years now. We stole him away from team UK a while back ;-). Robin lives and works in Houston, Texas and flies out at Cowboy Up flight park in Texas. He was part of team USA starting at the worlds in Forbes where the team won a silver medal and he flies a Litespeed RX.</div>
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Bruce Barmakian is from southern California and holds several site records in California. Bruce flew ridig wings for many years and was part of the US rigid wing team for the worlds in Greifenburg, Austria back in 2003. He's been on the flexie team since the worlds in Valle de Bravo in 2015. Bruce is flying an Icaro Laminar. </div>
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John Simon is a 737 pilot based in the Washington, DC area and out of the blue he's started winning comps in the US left and right. Just a few years ago, he was flying a kingposted glider in the sport class, but now he's kicking ass on his Aeros Combat. This is his first time at the worlds. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEnfXLvKinO0uCSBAza9kqHDO3jWWL8I7imdZ_F0p0p43xLG-JY4iCD9eR75kpgUKaOsNkZtYbuGDxZ0k2fICoV0LeGjELenqMsgQHiwPSCiXXjEF6Y2cqOeKnoEB14Tq96UTS/s1600/IMG_9111.JPG.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEnfXLvKinO0uCSBAza9kqHDO3jWWL8I7imdZ_F0p0p43xLG-JY4iCD9eR75kpgUKaOsNkZtYbuGDxZ0k2fICoV0LeGjELenqMsgQHiwPSCiXXjEF6Y2cqOeKnoEB14Tq96UTS/s640/IMG_9111.JPG.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Everyone knows Zac "Zippy" Majors from California. Zac is a hang gliding instructor in California and has been on the US team forever. He's often our US National champion and he's just married the most gorgeous, sweet girl pilot that we all love as least as much as we love Zippy ;-) Zac is a factory pilot for Wills Wing and flies and T2C.</div>
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Patrick Pannese is the newest member of the US team, coming from the San Francisco Bay Area. Patrick is filling the shoes of Dustin Martin who had to pull out at the last minute and we're so lucky he could make it. He flies a Wills Wing, T2C.</div>
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Niki Longshore is our favorite up and coming world team pilot. She comes from Texas and Tennessee via Hawaii and does her flying all over the world! Less than a year ago, Niki was still flying a Gecko. She's been on her Litespeed RX 3.5 for less than a year now and she's flying so well on it! We have high hopes for her to be the top placing female pilot here. </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-63385029478793209212017-08-08T11:24:00.001-05:002017-08-08T11:24:27.199-05:00Getting There<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5AP6pkPTK3HrD4JzGxyFkwudjwpC2n1yhzg_KMjq_IU-bIWUxlCVox47jjDSNCyduKAxiSRPo7PiKFP6BW4Y6UPGaZiwrGrZFX4Z7SnIVC3uieTiwHKoT2DtsqioCXL0fR7Sh/s1600/FullSizeRender-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5AP6pkPTK3HrD4JzGxyFkwudjwpC2n1yhzg_KMjq_IU-bIWUxlCVox47jjDSNCyduKAxiSRPo7PiKFP6BW4Y6UPGaZiwrGrZFX4Z7SnIVC3uieTiwHKoT2DtsqioCXL0fR7Sh/s320/FullSizeRender-2.jpg" width="320" /></a>Getting here to Brasilia has been quite a journey. But I'm happy to say that all of Team USA is here and ready to get this thing underway. Niki and I left Houston on Tuesday night with three gliders on a direct flight to Rio. United never fails to come through for us. We checked in in Houston with zero problems and very few questions asked. In the end we paid a total of $200 for four oversized bags - three gliders and a harness that weighed more than the gliders. We laughed all the way through security and straight to the bar at the lounge were we celebrated with a bit of tequila. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKlfKckcHfsnMu0P4GHBEGbko3w_6uQAtKjGIB4iK5v3ZHQ3OmyfWcrlZQDjq6lE1T-L-SiMY4zTxi2RTrr3m0K-NkbgliuWHg6n3NqTaFMegHUwI5zcNQzJcZbzpSuAaaJNbp/s1600/F7BA1605-CCFE-4435-ACF8-56E3F3B5A7F1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKlfKckcHfsnMu0P4GHBEGbko3w_6uQAtKjGIB4iK5v3ZHQ3OmyfWcrlZQDjq6lE1T-L-SiMY4zTxi2RTrr3m0K-NkbgliuWHg6n3NqTaFMegHUwI5zcNQzJcZbzpSuAaaJNbp/s200/F7BA1605-CCFE-4435-ACF8-56E3F3B5A7F1.JPG" width="150" /></a>Derreck met us on the other end in Rio where things slowed down to a typical South American pace. About 2 hours getting the rental car and then preparing it to carry four gliders, then of course, the usual extra hour "sight seeing" (read "getting lost") in Rio before we started what turned out to be an eighteen hour drive to Brasilia. It's quite slow going generally because the first two thirds of the drive is on two lane roads going through small towns and over endless speed bumps. Just as we were enjoying a reasonable quick pace on the big divided highway nearing the capital city, we had some "car problems". </div>
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Although we laughed the whole time for being so stupid, running out of gas wasn't entirely our fault. The car's internal computer that tells how many kilometers we had left in the tank was completely wrong. Just a few minutes after seeing that we had 100 kilometers remaining, the car died....two hours outside of Brasilia, 22 kilometers from the nearest fuel and about two hours before dark. Despite it being a busy enough highway, Niki and I were surprised to find that no one wanted to stop and help two girls. Even down on her hands and knees begging, not a single car stopped for us. I actually thought at one point that my ever present guardian angel was looking after us when a truck going the opposite way dropped a ten gallon tank of some kind. It bounced down the highway toward us and we could see it was leaking liquid. We ran over, laughing our asses off, thinking what an amazing story it would be if God himself had dropped us a tank of fuel. But no, not this time....just water. </div>
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In the end, we finally got some help, thanks to Derreck's excellent Spanish that sometimes passes for Portuguese. We rolled into Brasilia in time for dinner with Bruce, John and Heather who had arrived a bit earlier. </div>
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I can't complain at all about the trip. There was a lot of laughing and the whole thing was an adventure with fun people who don't let themselves get stressed when things don't go perfectly. </div>
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Unfortunately, Zac and Patrick had more issues with their gliders. The gliders were removed from the plane in Houston and didn't make it down to Rio until the next day. So, they had to spend an extra day waiting in Rio and only arrived in Brasilia late Saturday night. Niki and I brought Robin's glider, so he had a pretty easy time flying all the way to Brasilia Saturday morning. We're all here now and so ready to do this!!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-1656936891482745612017-08-07T08:21:00.000-05:002017-08-07T08:21:00.439-05:00Brasilia Worlds Opening Ceremonies<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Brasilia Worlds kicked off last night with a very energetic and super fun opening ceremony at the National Museum. The museum is an iconic white domed building in the center of the city designed by Oscar Niemeyer. Teams were paraded down the dome's footbridge and greeted at the bottom by a Brasilian women's drum troop called Batala. They were amazing and managed to get most teams boogying down the ramp.</div>
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For once, the organizers kept the speaking to a minimum and really just put on a fun party for us. Only Dennis Pagen, jury President spoke briefly, officially opening this 21st FAI hang gliding worlds. Otherwise, we all just enjoyed the fantastic music, dancing and catching up with many friends from around the planet. I've thought so many times that this is the most enjoyable part of any worlds....no competition stress yet and so much hope and excitement. </div>
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There sure are a lot of dorks in hang gliding ;-) <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-17064488686995609072017-06-24T08:48:00.001-05:002017-06-24T08:48:35.902-05:00Dinosaur Day 5<div style="text-align: justify;">
We had a second day of predicted overdevelopment and wind. But, early on things didn't look like they would be as bad as expected so the task committee went ahead and set a task and launch was opened. No one was all that keen to launch and a half hour after the window opened the overdevelopment started back behind launch. There were also pretty strong windy cycles coming up launch which didn't make everyone feel very warm and fuzzy either.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeAOmSJ1c-FE_fx7L5qj6t7f-JE4UpOowRt3-C63ZCODMPJ3uaOmsmcJpG7uBpjyzIDtcS4oD88GkcUjeTi-GBS8vcZSUo1IfzG2kUZ_MSuAQi3BLpHVERkbFAYtHds0s4uyJT/s1600/IMG_3866.JPG.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeAOmSJ1c-FE_fx7L5qj6t7f-JE4UpOowRt3-C63ZCODMPJ3uaOmsmcJpG7uBpjyzIDtcS4oD88GkcUjeTi-GBS8vcZSUo1IfzG2kUZ_MSuAQi3BLpHVERkbFAYtHds0s4uyJT/s400/IMG_3866.JPG.jpeg" width="400" /></a>After some himming and hawing, we gathered many of the pilots and took an informal poll to see what they were thinking. Of course, it was already apparent that they were voting with their actions (NOT launching). Based on that, and the fact that launch conditions were quite rough, the decision was made to cancel the task. Although the sky didn't totally explode along course line, launch and landing conditions were very questionable. A few pilots went free flying, but we watched one glider get a giant wire slap and go negative not 5 seconds after launching and another just get tossed all over the sky out in front. It was a good decision to keep people safe on the ground.</div>
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Luckily, with everyone up on launch, it was the perfect day to visit some of the amazing landscape this area has to offer. The Dinosaur National Monument is just a few miles from the launch and it is breathtaking. Most of the crew and pilots went for a short hike out to a lookout point and then visited the petroglyphs and an air conditioned cave and met up at the river down below for a swim and a float in the cool 10+ knot current. It was a lovely rest/play day. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-46013227731143372462017-06-22T11:23:00.000-05:002017-06-22T11:25:26.880-05:00Dinosaur Day 4<div style="text-align: justify;">
Arriving at launch yesterday, we could see the start of overdevelopment to our west, so a task was iffy from the start. But, it seemed to not move or grow toward our task area, so the committee called a task to the town of Meeker. But, by the time launch opened, there were bits of development even out in front of launch - smallish, but enough for us to watch carefully. </div>
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It wasn't long after pilots got in airborne that concerns started. Just a few minutes after the first start, we got calls from several pilots saying the sky was blowing up along course. The task was cancelled and most enjoyed at least a half a rest day. Greg Chastain didn't have his radio on and his driver didn't get our messages about the task being cancelled, so he flew the task and landed at goal ;-). He reported some pretty rough air along the way.</div>
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I love weather....and I love the wild sky out here. This was the view driving away from launch yesterday after the task was cancelled. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-67872051815701391682017-06-21T12:18:00.001-05:002017-06-22T11:25:44.446-05:00Dinosaur Day 3<div style="text-align: justify;">
When scouting out the area previous to this competition, we came through Steamboat Springs a couple of times. It's a lovely little ski town to our east and a great spot for a long goal. Weather conditions cooperated yesterday for calling a task to Steamboat. It's just about 200km and the landscape along the way just gets prettier and prettier.</div>
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Despite some expected overdevelopment in the higher mountains that chased us most of the way to goal, we had ten in. We were welcomed by the local hang gliding club, the Steamboat Airforce. Unfortunately, the huge goal field was a bit on the wet side, making for a few fun splashdowns. But, everyone seemed pretty happy with the nice long task anyway. </div>
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We were treated to a beautiful stormy sunset on the three hour drive home.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-86300966230849841672017-06-20T20:54:00.001-05:002017-06-20T23:21:05.529-05:00Dinosaur Day 2<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thank goodness the weather forecast for day 2 was off. At the morning's task briefing we were told it was going to be a "hold on tight kind of day". After the rough air and whining yesterday, none of us wanted to hear that it was going to even more turbulent. But, they were happily wrong. </div>
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With light winds, the task committee was able to call an almost triangle bringing everyone back to Rangely where HQ is. It sure made life easier for the drivers and crew. The pilots were pretty happy too. There were 16 in goal in the open class with Zac winning the day with about 100 leading points. He had a big smile all night. </div>
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It's great to see new faces at goal. Wayne Michelson has been there everyday on his new Laminar. Danny Jones was quite pleased too. </div>
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Super fun to see Dave Aldridge win the sport class task on his beautiful Sport2C.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-8513574020326116522017-06-19T08:55:00.003-05:002017-06-19T08:55:43.187-05:00Dinosaur Day 1<div style="text-align: justify;">
Late June was chosen for the competition this year to try to avoid the sometimes scary overdevelopment they have experienced here later in the summer. Although conditions are typically quite strong in June, late in the month normally brings little precipitation. Before arriving here, we were happy to find the expected forecast for sunshine and no overdevelopment. Unfortunately, there were three decent sized wildfires burning and very strong wind (70mph) right here just a few days before the comp was to start. A temporary flight restriction was in place due to firefighting aircraft right up until 9pm Saturday evening. Luckily, it was lifted, the wind died down and other than some large sections of scorched earth, the fires are out and won't be effecting our flying.</div>
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I've heard stories of days of 1500-2000 fpm lift to 18,000+ feet here, but for Task 1, we got <i>slightly</i> more mild conditions. With the high pressure here at the moment, lift was forecast to be only between 600-800fpm with an inversion around 12,000. So, the task committee called a smallish (for this area) task east to the town of Meeker - about 110km. Turns out it may have been a little short - at least for those that were happy to hold on tight and endure the rodeo. The first pilots made easy time of it and the goal crew wasn't even able to beat them there. </div>
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It's interesting to see the reactions of various pilots to this kind of big air. Nene Rotor had a giant smile on his face at goal and seemed to genuinely enjoy the same rough air that Jonny and Ollie whined about all evening. Ollie said he was crying for his mommy at least three times during the flight and suspected that he may have crushed his carbon basebar holding on so tight. Some reported very turbulent air, others said it felt no different than Crestline in the summer and still others found it to be strong but not overly rough for the mountains. I suppose it all depends on the air you happen to be in. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRScysdvTc7g-9CQsS5NTtd3pMFC9cZElS6Rbfpfe0qC3IZQnJd9XI5_cFb3KzKnq-7eu9dKDRLhzmoN9CMznZAIH-VIIO7UCedOV9Z664Y3FuPHxfWqq5vKwexVYCZ90RrDi/s1600/JRS_2848.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1600" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRScysdvTc7g-9CQsS5NTtd3pMFC9cZElS6Rbfpfe0qC3IZQnJd9XI5_cFb3KzKnq-7eu9dKDRLhzmoN9CMznZAIH-VIIO7UCedOV9Z664Y3FuPHxfWqq5vKwexVYCZ90RrDi/s320/JRS_2848.JPG" width="320" /></a>Scores are slow coming - with very weak mobile phone service around here and pilots being rather spread out, it's tough to get scores posted as quickly as we would like. When yesterday's task is scored, it will be up on AirTribune. Meanwhile, it's likely that Zac won the day, although he was unsure whether it was him or Nene that crossed the line first. I also spoke with Christian last night and he came through very lifty air to goal and was fairly high - so it's even possible that he was above Zac and Nene and came in ahead of them. </div>
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We're using Flymaster live trackers here rather than AirTribune for a variety of reasons. Although they are tracking well in this very remote area, we've had trouble with the interface - pilots show simply as a number, so unless viewers know everyone's number, they have no way to see who is who. We also haven't been able to get the task up on the Flymaster site. It's been frustrating, but we're working like mad trying to get it all fixed up so that people can watch from afar. </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-44863648495233066232017-06-19T08:02:00.002-05:002017-06-19T08:02:51.020-05:00Dinosaur Open<div style="text-align: justify;">
We've got a nice little group out here in the wild west - Dinosaur, Colorado - for the week. After a great competition in the mellow flatlands of Whitewater, many of us caravanned west together with some really fun stops boating towing on the Mississippi River and hiking in the Badlands. </div>
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Big air mountain flying isn't for everyone, but we have a fun mix of pilots from Mexico, Guatemala, Brasil, Australia and the UK. This year the town of Rangely and Moffat County are hosting us, so we had the opening briefing at the Automotive Museum in town. Who would have expected such a beautiful collection of cars in this out of the away place. We even had a visit from a strange T-Rex with a British accent ;-)</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-8572168683304724232017-04-29T16:14:00.002-05:002017-04-29T16:14:56.048-05:00Wishing I was a Highlander<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This past August I had ten free days between the HG and the PG Euros in Krushevo where I was serving as a CIVL jury member. For years I've wanted to check out Scotland - mostly just to listen to people talk. I probably could have been blindfolded the entire time and enjoyed it nearly as much. That accent is just plain beautiful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was lucky enough to find a house swap with a couple that live very close to the center of Edinburgh, so I had a fantastic place there that was so perfectly situated. A friend from the US met me there and we played tourist, mostly around Edinburgh. It's a city that is sooooo worth a visit. Aside from the usual castles, cathedrals and city stuff, we mostly just ate, drank a fair amount of Scotch and sat quietly listening to the locals. </span></div>
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The Scottish highlands were every bit as majestically rugged as I have imagined. I've watched far too much Outlander and I feared I had an unreasonable, totally romantic notion of the area and would likely be disappointed when I finally got there. Definitely not. It was magical. We drove from Edinburgh up through Glencoe and Fort William, then to Loch Ness, Inverness and then back down. We just cruised around enjoying the lovely highland landscape and even got a chance to walk through the monument at Culloden Battlefield - erie but beautiful. <br />
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Now I sit here in California, just eight months later, planning my next trip there later this year. <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-42299064548188871772017-04-04T00:24:00.001-05:002017-04-04T00:24:31.756-05:00Valadares Final<div style="text-align: justify;">
Big congratulations to Jonny Durand, David Brito Filho and Andre Wolf on taking the first three spots at the first of the Brasilian National series competition in Valadares last week. It's going to be fun to see whether either the Brasilian or Australia teams can challenge Italy at the worlds in August. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-81604225308053788132017-03-31T09:33:00.000-06:002017-03-31T09:33:30.225-06:00Jonny's pro-edge<div style="text-align: justify;">
Jonny is flying Gerolf's glider in Valadares this week. It has a cool sail material on the trailing edge. Moyes is calling it the "Pro-Edge". It makes me think of a fashionably faded t-shirt material. It's apparently wrinkle-free and they think it improves high speed performance. Jonny said they may start putting on the leading edge as well. I like the look of it!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-63375147264580132092017-03-31T09:24:00.000-06:002017-03-31T09:24:03.880-06:00Valadares - Task 3<div style="text-align: justify;">
Beautiful day yesterday with a 78km triangle that was probably a bit undercalled. There were 34 out of 44 in for a great party at goal. Filippo won the day, which always amazes me considering how little he flies. He averages about 17 flights a year and they are all in competition - no time for free flying for him. Jonny was just quick enough to take the lead from David. There are just 61 points separating them going into the second to last task. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-39577455968071372682017-03-31T09:11:00.001-06:002017-03-31T09:11:42.141-06:00Young RotorsNene Rotor's young sons Bruno and Guilhermo are here flying the sport class in their beautiful new windows U2's. It's great to see new young pilots coming onto the competition scene. <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-79526935445250596442017-03-30T07:37:00.003-06:002017-03-30T07:37:54.122-06:00Valadares Day 4 (Task 2)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-3gV80lznmNA8rZoi_IpqrEm4FFiP-Ffu0XV7gJKcq26HfOMttgDX7HL8ZKYS-15wYpTmwTIZ13pyYw2JO3i3vEb00ByXcxFjEehh3BP9w2bXCe6QPZG4sJRv9iIr3Yr4Elh/s1600/IMG_0436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-3gV80lznmNA8rZoi_IpqrEm4FFiP-Ffu0XV7gJKcq26HfOMttgDX7HL8ZKYS-15wYpTmwTIZ13pyYw2JO3i3vEb00ByXcxFjEehh3BP9w2bXCe6QPZG4sJRv9iIr3Yr4Elh/s200/IMG_0436.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
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Finally a second task here at Valadares. We had one day of off-and-on rain and a second day of steady rain all day. Many of the city streets were like little streams. But, flying was back on yesterday and they flew a nice out and return of about 90km that turned out to be more difficult than expected due to - yes - more rain!</div>
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Most landed between the turnpoint and goal where the clouds were heavy and the ground shaded. But, Jonny and David made goal first and apparently got to pack up in heavy downpours. Pippo, Andre and Konrado came in nearly an hour later after waiting out the rain. But, other than those, no others made it in and in fact some big names landed quite short near the turnpoint (Davide Guiducci and Nene). They're using an end of speed section goal here and another pilot, Jose, made the end of speed section but not the goal cylinder. Under Brasilian rules, when a pilot makes the end of speed section, but not the goal cylinder, he gets no arrival or other points - it's as if he didn't make goal at all, other than getting points for his distance. This is different than the score he would get using the current version of FS with GAP. </div>
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Yesterday's task puts Jonny in first just ahead of David, with Andre another 150 points back in third. Behind them is about 300 points, so under normal conditions it may be tough to catch these three. Scores <a href="https://www.cvlb.com.br/compes/competicao-57/" target="_blank">HERE</a>. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-20768292784591588982017-03-27T09:26:00.002-06:002017-03-30T07:05:36.008-06:00Valadares Day 2Weather isn't exactly looking beautiful for Day 2. Thunderstorms and a bit of rain are in the forecast, but relatively small chance and off and on throughout the day. The organizers initially said they would hold on going up to launch until 10am, but the pilots tended to be more optimistic and most came up anyway. <br />
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It's a bit grey, but the sun is peeking through here and there and they have set a task...an interesting one. There will be a 30km exit radius on the start and pilots need only leave the start and come back to the goal field. They can go any direction. It should be pretty fun to watch and see who follows whom!<br />
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David Brito Filho was yesterday's winner - not Andre as I reported earlier on Facebook - owing entirely to his leading points. Andre and Jonny were second and third. There's a good sport class here and young Guilherme Sandoli (Neno Rotor Jr. ;-) won yesterday's tasks. He's one to watch!!<br />
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Daily scores can be found <a href="https://www.cvlb.com.br/compes/competicao-57/"><span id="goog_317990090"></span>HERE<span id="goog_317990091"></span></a>. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14740132.post-63144076537522562062017-03-26T10:38:00.003-06:002017-03-26T10:38:37.665-06:00Governador ValadaresAfter a tough rainy winter in California, I got the opportunity to pop down to Brasil for the first of the two-comp Brasilian Nationals series. The plan was to report the competition from the HG Outlanders blog, but we seem to be having some technical difficulties with it, so for now, I'll be reporting here. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8k3P3qFl8cgNlaLo4GcmKYb2rubQUmKS74G6-uA9qHsORaB9Dl4oZ3ikHbVOI8zB9VrMKJC2sinQ5o9viBnnZmOzRKEQsemaYjwDU_dDO6xXHP7YtZHwG6VVw0kZ-uaGKMMyx/s1600/IMG_0401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8k3P3qFl8cgNlaLo4GcmKYb2rubQUmKS74G6-uA9qHsORaB9Dl4oZ3ikHbVOI8zB9VrMKJC2sinQ5o9viBnnZmOzRKEQsemaYjwDU_dDO6xXHP7YtZHwG6VVw0kZ-uaGKMMyx/s320/IMG_0401.JPG" width="240" /></a>It's a long (time, not distance) drive from Rio de Janiero up here to what feels like the middle of very rural Brasil. But it's worth every bumpy, pothole filled hour...all nine or so of them. This part of the country looks like nothing I've seen before. For 360 degrees the landscape is nothing but pretty little round, green hills. Even way off in the distance, there are curiously larger rounded mountains....nothing like you see in Europe or the US. <br />
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Launch overlooks the city of Governador Valadares with two lovely ramps and plenty of green grassy slope to launch in both directions. I'm told that conditions here would remind me of Colombia - relatively soft and smooth with short distances between climbs. I do wish I was flying! Meanwhile, reporting from up here is not too shabby either. With a cafe and free wifi, it reminds me of Greifenburg, but without the rain. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivj3BJTz-OUuhZDEzRXGUhONXtRCYmV8iangt_61Kz8F2sQzbinmZK9QK1usTEyIG_t_oMn9l0mecywgxb5mewLjD3ojRVsh05rzh-u24r44_eeotwi_Wzqgot-hayZE4CQE3i/s1600/IMG_0414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivj3BJTz-OUuhZDEzRXGUhONXtRCYmV8iangt_61Kz8F2sQzbinmZK9QK1usTEyIG_t_oMn9l0mecywgxb5mewLjD3ojRVsh05rzh-u24r44_eeotwi_Wzqgot-hayZE4CQE3i/s320/IMG_0414.JPG" width="240" /></a>Two practice days gave us plenty of time to get acquainted with the steep drive up to launch, the busy city and the pretty scenery. But today was the first actual task. All the top Brasilian are here of course, along with Jonny Durand and half of the Italian team preparing to battle it out with the Brasilians at the end of the summer at the worlds. <br />
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Task 1 is a 115km run toward the NE and returning to a goal field just behind launch. The first start was about 5 minutes ago and everyone was easily off the hill and is ready to go on course in lovely looking conditions. Thunderstorms are expected either tomorrow or the next day, so I'm sure they're happy to get a good task to start things off.<br />
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Everyone is tracking with FlyMaster live trackers and you can see each competition day <a href="https://lt.flymaster.net/bs.php?grp=1877" target="_blank">HERE</a>. It doesn't look like they have the task up today, but you can see where everyone is anyway. I expect the task will be there soon.<br />
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<span id="goog_633855416"></span><span id="goog_633855417"></span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0