Update on Task 1

I just spoke with Corinna by phone and it looks like there were 5 girls in goal and probably all, or close to all of the rigids. Here's the unofficial lineup of girls:

Natalia (Russian - don't know which one)
Kari Castle
Corinna
Natalia (the other Russian)
Carol (Swiss)

I'll see what I can find about the rigids. In the meantime, here's a shot of today's Swift winner, Robin Hamilton (flying for the UK) relaxing under his glider.

Worlds Task 1

The rigids and the girls had the same task today, oddly enough. It was somewhere in the 60 mile range with goal down south to River Ranch. Pretty pitiful excuse for a rigid task if you ask me. The Swifts went a bit further returning back here to Quest. We had fairly strong wind out of the west, making for rough towing conditions. And, it seems at times it was a bit hard to stay up. Alex Ploner had 2 tows, Robert Reisinger had at least 2, possible 3 and David Chaumet had at least 2 or 3. If the likes of those guys can't stick, I don't know how the girls managed to stay in the air ;-) (oops, that sounded a bit sexist). Overall the launching went well, despite the rough conditions. A few girls opted to stay on the ground though after multiple rowdy launches :-/

This just in: Robin is first in to goal a solid 15 minutes ahead of Manfred (they took the same start!). Armand (Canada) and Steve Cox (Switzerland) were in next, a ways behind Manfred. So far no siting of Brian or Mark.

I also hear that there are at least 20 gliders in goal at River Ranch, but I don't know how that is divided up between rigids and girls. I do know there is at least one girl - Corinna - hopefully more!

More later.....

2006 Worlds Opening "Ceremonies"

The meet starts tomorrow after a great little party this evening. Technically, it was the opening ceremonies, but really it was just dinner and a good time. In keeping with the down-home American theme, we had Texas BBQ and a blue grass band. But, the big draw was the aligator wrestler that came out and gave us a "safety-briefing" in case we landed in the swamps ;-) Bottom line is, take a roll of duct tape to tape their mouths shut. It was very timely as we have had three people killed by alligators in Florida over the past week.

The alligators seemed to be a real hit and everyone got to hold one and have their pictures taken. After they left we did a bit of square dancing to the calls of Charlie the German team photographer. What a hoot. Charlie didn't have a clue about calling and neither did anyone else, so it was a good laugh for everyone.

The comp starts tomorrow and we've been promised a rain-free forecast for at least the next five days out. Unfortunately, we don't have a wind-free forecast. This has been an unusually windy spring and we can all just hope that it mellows quickly.

Read My Lips -- Al - ee - gay - tor

Kermit the Frog was afraid of alligators and used to say that. I guess only mom and dad will appreciate that ;-)

Here's Alex with one of them!

Baby Ruhmers

This is little Thomas Ruhmer. What a sweetheart this little guy is. He seems to just love whoever he is with at the moment and let me cart him around for an hour during the opening ceremonies without a bit of fussing - had his eye on my iPod though, so I finally had to give him back to his daddy.

Someone suggested that I drop him and see if he flies ;-)

American Girls Team

David Glover and the Hamilton Boys

Don't they look just like Robin!!

Men in Kilts

The Red Elvises couldn't make it this year, so we had another band we were calling the Green Elvises. I forget their real name, but they were great. Classic rock music with a twist - bagpipes! Everyone loved them and danced all night!

The Day After

Ok, I've fallen a bit behind. It's Sunday afternoon and we look like the walking dead. The party went on very late last night with a final poker game, gymnastics by the French and a lot of foosball! I'm too lazy to write much of anything, so I will just post some pictures and write later. I won't bother posting scores because anyone who is really concerned can look on the Flytec website for official results. Anyway, top three in the end (and beginning and middle) were Oleg, Brett and Jonny.

Day 6

The weather forecast was super iffy today- the task committee was really unsure of what to call. But, they went with a 102km out and return to the north and back to Quest. Its about 4pm now and the sky is looking very dark and overdeveloped to the west, so we're not so sure how its going on course. I just got a radio report from Glen and he is about 20 miles out. So, we won't have to wait too long to see if they can get all the way back.

More coming soon....
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At Goal

Result (unofficial). They're still landing, but here it is so far:

Oleg
Bruno
Curt
Brett
Robin
Jonny
Mario
Joerg
There are a few others coming in too, but I can't really tell who they are. More later!!
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Task 5

The task committee felt that they had completely undercalled the task yesterday, so they went for a slightly longer one today (although even then Davis worried that today would end up being undercalled too). The sky looks beautiful and we can see the convergence setting up to the west of us. They are out now doing a 79.3 mile square to the south and west. We're expecting the first of the rigids in in less than an hour with the top flexies close behind. It will be interesting to see if Brett and Jonny can finally get past Oleg ;-)

There's been some complaining of cloud flying going on on course. The problem is that those witnessing it aren't willing to actually report the offending pilot(s), so there's really nothing to be done. Jonny announced that he would be flying with his video camera today and filming anyone he sees cheating. Then Curt stood up and asked who was cloud flying. Of course, the offending pilot(s) wouldn't fess up, well, not all of them anyway. Bo immediately jumped up and said he was in the clouds yesterday. That got a good laugh out of everyone.

Here's a shot of everyone's favorite German, Joerg! David joked this morning that he is likely a serial killer, but no one would ever believe it because he's just so nice. He always has a smile on his face, even after a less than great landout/retrieve the day before yesterday. We love having him here.

I'll post the unofficial results from the Crackberry as the guys are coming across goal in a little while!

Nice Landings

We had so many in goal yesterday and it was great fun to watch. Many excellent landings (which wasn't much fun for the paparazzi ;-) and here is my favorite. Bruce from the UK came in with his zipper stuck. Thanks Bruce for calling out to those of us on the ground. I got the entire progression of him coming in fully prone at 5 frames per second. Can't post all the pictures here of course, but this is the grand finale. It was a perfectly executed belly landing!! (That's Oleg watching)

David told at the briefing this morning that yesterday was a first for the Quest crew (and pilots too, I suppose ;-). We had 85 competitors and exactly 85 launches. No weak link breaks, no relights. Pretty nice for those working so hard on the ground to get everyone in the air.

Corinna Landing at Goal

For Dick and Doris

Clubhouse Blogging

Here are some random pictures! This one is Chris Smith, our up-and-coming top US pilot (flying a Litespeed, of course)!

Task 3

Standing at goal, the first three just flew over. Looks like Oleg, Brett and Robin Hamilton with Jonny about 30 seconds behind. Nice tight finish. There are heaps more coming....looks like there will likely be plenty into goal today!!!

Later on today.....

Lots of happy campers today. 46 in to goal. I'm in the clubhouse now blogging while I watch the poker game. David is drinking considerably less than last night, so I can't say that he is nearly as entertaining. But anyway, the clubhouse is jam packed full of bloggers, foosball and PS2 players.

Here are the overall standings after three tasks:

Oleg
Brett
Jonny
Robin
Didier
Kevin
....

...and I can't remember the others.

Yesterdays Winners

Windy Cancelled Day

Kevin Barely In

Results So Far

Oleg in to goal first, with Brett a minute or so behind. Jonny came in about 5 minutes or so later. They all took the first start. The next group should be coming in soon!!
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Day 3, Task 2

Although there was still a bit of wind today, it was lighter than yesterday and a bit more out of the north. So, they called a 70-some mile task straight to Avon Park. After staging, the sky looked pretty overcast, so they moved the start times up a half an hour hoping conditions would improve. They did! The sky looks beautiful now, but it is probably the hottest day we've had this year. Starting to feel a bit more like late April.

They're all on course now and I'm on the road hoping to beat them to goal. I'll give an update when I get there!
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Results Day 1

Just back from a long day of retrieving everyone under the sun. It was a bit windy and difficult, so Russel Brown in a rigid was the only one to make goal. We don't have any official results yet, but it appears as though Bruce a Pommie may have made it the furthest and won the day for the flexies. But, he only made it maybe 2km from where most of the other top pilots landed....all were likely within about a 3 or 5km circle. So, the scores will be fairly close and low I would expect.

They're saying tomorrow might be too windy for a task (please, please, please not another Florida Ridge :-( We'll see!

Flytec Day 1

The weather is close to perfect for the first day. Winds 5 to 10mph out of the west. The task committee (Robin, Davis and Jonny) called a 102 km task with two crosswind legs, first going north to the turnpike, then south to Dean Still Road (down near Wallaby) then returning to Quest.
Terry Reynolds came over in a little aerobatics plane and put on a short show right after the briefing.

I'll report again when they're all back at goal!

Drive-thru Internet Cafe

Although they have no wifi at the Florida Ridge (boy are we spoiled at Quest), there is an open connection at the resort where many of us are staying. It only works from the office area, so this has become blogging headquarters for most of us.

Its a funny site to see a bunch of cars parked around with people inside glued to their laptops.

Bo seems to be happy to be back competing :-)

The Cue??

Driving down to the Ridge

At Goal

US Nationals- Day 1

They called a 78 mile downwind task today in pretty stong wind. I think a lot of people were not exactly expecting a task as it was averaging 25mph. But, they pulled one off.

I am driving back from goal now with Jonny, Kevin, Brett and Dustino. All made goal except Dusty, he was a bit short. Looks at this point like Curt won the day and probably Oleg second. I'll get the top 10 on when I get a chance.

Everyone is saying it was a pretty rough day. Kevin says he was in the roughest thermal of his life today. Hard to imagine....Florida is not supposed to be like this. Jonny was chased away (at goal) by a lady waving a broomstick at him. I guess the organizers didn't secure the goal field in advance.....ooops :-(

I'll post some good pictures when I get home tonight!

More Manilla Photos

They held the paragliding pre-worlds here a month or so ago, so the road is nicely graded (although still quite steep) and Godfrey completely covered the west facing launch with astro turf. It's really nice and if the flying is no good, pilots could have a game of extreme football.

I had a really great flight on Sunday - and that was very welcomed after such a bad flight the previous day. They guys called a triangle task to the west, south and then back to Manilla and I just had a couple of hours cruising up and down the ridge and back and forth into the valley. I'm loving the glider (mine isn't finished yet, but I borrowed Gerolf's) and I could nearly fall asleep in the new harness....its so comfy and cozy ;-) The landing field at Godfrey's leaves a bit to be desired though. I had one of the roughest, wildest landings of my life and until the last 5 seconds, I was sure I was going to slam into either a barbed wire fence or tree. I'll remember to land someplace else next time! Anyway, here is a shot of the landing field from above and some pictures of the nice launch.

Sunset Flight at Manilla

We arrived in Manilla late in the day Friday and it was a bid windy for my taste so Gerolf had a little sunset flight and I just enjoyed shooting video of the kangaroos on the drive down the hill. (Can't post videos unfortunately ;-)

Sunset at Manilla

New Dive Buddies

Made some great new friends from the UK on my final dive trip last week. It seems the people traveling alone (all four of us) seem to gravitate toward one another. It was great and I hope to keep in touch with all of them.

Me and My Dorky Dive Master at the Reef

Pretty Aussie Training Hill

Mr. Gin

Jonny Launching a Paraglider at Beechmont

Back in Oz

Well here I am back in Australia. Not much to report really, but I have to post something to hush the constant complainers ;-) I've been doing little more than enjoying the Australia scenery (as seen in this photo). I've been beaching and shopping and even working a bit. I accidentally ended up at the Marti Gras parade on Oxford Street Saturday night. I didn't know there were so many gay people in all of Australia. Anyway, it was probably a good parade, but the streets were lined with people standing on little plastic stools that were for sale on every street corner, and so I couldn't see much of anything.

My glider and harness are still being built, but I hope to fly a borrowed glider at Stanwell Park soon. I will also take a little trip up to Cairns to do some diving, probably next week or the week after.

The Latest Toy

Well, I decided to come home for a little bit, get away from the Southern California fast life ;) There is surely nothing nicer than waking up to the sound of Dragonflies!! It was pretty overcast, so I didn't fly today. But, Joe convinced me to go out with him and see if we could get a bit of road rash. After my little desert tuck-n-roll, I figured, why not, I heal quickly ;-)

We have this new toy, and I've forgotten what it's called already, but it is something like a skateboard that has been cut in half so that each leg/foot can move independently. You just put each foot on its own metal plate with wheels. But, unlike skateboard wheels, they aren't side by side for stability, they're inline, like inline skates. So, it takes quite a lot of coordination and a strange sort of sweeping action with the back foot to get moving. They tend to try to force you into the splits ;-) and are pretty unstable, so I was suprised to come home tonight with no road rash whatsoever. I first thought it might be simpler if they just had some straps to go over the top of your feet. But, you see the first time you lose control that the ability to dismount quickly is key!

Here are some shots!

The Mount

Its a lot harder to get onto that you would think. The plates don't balance flat, so you have to either tip them up as you're starting off, or you have to have something to hold on to.

And here's one of the expert.

....and the dismount

I'm such a klutz!

Mojave Airplane Graveyard

The desert is by far the coolest thing this town has going for it. My parent's house is kind of on the edge of town, so it only takes a few blocks of running before I am out into the desert chasing jackrabbits through the sagebrush. I have been running nearly daily. It seems there's not much else to do in this town and I am still determined to lose that belly ;-)

Lancaster is the nearest normal sized town and I discovered on the first trip there (its about a 40 minute drive) that the airplane graveyard that Alex and I had so much fun visiting several years ago is no more than 15 minutes from Cal City. We were chased away by a security guard who called us "complete idiots" for not noticing the sign that said "Absolutley NO Pictures." Although he threatened to, he didn't take away our cameras, so we came away with some real close up shots of very large airplanes. Turns out, we were complete idiots because neither of us noticed the sign, even though it was quite obvious when he angrily pointed it out to us. Anyway, it's not exactly a graveyard. What I am told is that it is more like a parking lot for commercial airliners that are not currently in use. That makes more sense as many of them looked rather new and in good shape.

We get a gorgeous sunset nearly every night. Here's one taken from the back porch of mom and dad's house. Sometimes I feel like I moved from one bubble to another being here in our own little world. Mom and dad bought a house right in the middle of where everyone else is building their's. GW's is just across the street, along side Charles' (one of JB's co-workers at Sportvision). Dale (one of JB's childhood friends) is building his house right next door to mom and dad and Mark (my baby brother) is building his second one about 2 blocks away. JB's is apparently fairly close too, but I haven't been offered that tour yet.

They said "California is the place you ought to be"....

So I loaded up the suitcase and I move to California....City that is!!

Ok, a certain dork was complaining that I hadn't updated the blog in ages and he was sick of seeing pictures of girls flying in dresses. So, here I am with nothing to say and very little to even show. The point of the blog was to post pictures of my travels for the family to see. Well, here I am with the family! I doubt they want to see pictures of it. So, I'll have to make some stuff up!

Anyway, California City isn't a total hellhole. The Mojave Desert is kind of cool if you can get a little bit outside of town. There are Joshua Trees all around. From the time I used to rock climb in Joshue Tree National Park (pre hang gliding, of course), I have always thought they were the most beautiful desert trees, in a bizarre way. Apparently they are native only to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Here's a really nice shot of a Joshua Tree - not mine, I just found it on the internet.

Questivities

I'm here at home for a few months enjoying the slow life at Quest. After returning from Australia things were nice and quiet here, but they are starting to pick up again thanks to some gorgeous summer weather that just doesn't want to quit...even now in mid November.

We've had a couple of fun events here over the last month or so. The first weekend in November we had Quest's 10th Anniversary Party and fly-in. Lots of people showed up for a mini competition, barbeque and poker tournament. Everyone had a blast and Bo went home with all everyone's poker money!

Tammy Burcar is visiting here for a few months and she organized the first all-girl "formal" fly-in. We dressed up in our evening gowns and ran around the field looking pretty silly waiting for conditions to improve. Finally late in the afternoon it looked decent so we all took off in our dresses, each with bouquets taped to our uprights for the bouquet drop. It was great fun and I'm sure we'll have to do it again soon!

Fly Girls

Best Dressed Tug Pilot

I suspect there's no one that has been to Quest that doesn't know who the world's best tug pilot it!! It's Lisa of course - anyone who hasn't had a chance to fly behind Lisa, give a it try and you'll see what I mean! I don't think this girl can give a bad tow, period! (ok, ok, I know, I am her biggest fan!)

Nancy Smith Raring to Go!

All Dressed up and Nowhere to go (but up!!)

My job....ground crew ;-)