FOOTLAUNCH

August Meeting - this will be a scrub clearing session at Kettlesings followed by a drink, Wednesday 13^th August

Flying Diary Now online on the web page - it's dead simple to use so have a look at the website http://malvern-hang.org.uk/ and try it out!

(If you haven't seen it, the latest list is at the end of this newsletter.)

Safe T-Lines (Rob Davis)

Stirrups (No - we are not talking about horse riding!)

Stirrups are fixed length loops from the front of the paragliding harness. The length is adjusted so that your legs can rest straight with your knees locked.

They have 2 functions as far as I can see.

Firstly they help you wriggle into your harness after take off. This is a critical time and taking your hands off the brakes can be a bad idea. Hit

turbulence near the ground and you will want your hands on the brake handles, not holding the harness or risers to get yourself comfortable.

With a stirrup you just get your feet into it and push yourself back into your harness, keeping you hands on the brakes all the time.

Secondly they can help increase your comfort while flying. The stirrup gives you something to push against with your feet enabling you to keep

your legs straight. It makes a nice change from having them bent at the knee and dangling down.

Those are on the plus side. As with all things there is a down side too.

Firstly if you have a stirrup as well as a speed bar, confusion, tangling and tripping over them is a real possibility. Running at take off can be tricky.

Secondly if you are flying along using the stirrup, you are more supine than if you are sitting upright. If you have as asymmetric collapse you are

more likely to get twists as the supine body has less tendency to follow the canopy into the twisting motion. (Look at skaters - to increase

the ease of spinning they tuck everything in - to slow down they open their arms out).

I fitted a very amateur stirrup earlier this year to my harness. I find that I do get the benefits as above. Tangling and tripping can be avoided by

"organising" the speedbar position and the stirrup. My speedbar sits under my harness with a bit of Velcro at take off and than dangles down

until I need it. The stirrup had a piece of elastic attaching it to my ankle. This keeps it out of the way sufficiently at take off and landing. I have

not yet had a collapse and spin, so cannot comment on that aspect.

I will carry on using the stirrup as I feel that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

Landing a modern Paraglider

A request came from the MHGC Committee "how do you land a modern paraglider". As Safety Officer the request was actioned with my initials! Were they taking the Mickey?

Short answer - same as landing an older paraglider.

Slightly longer answer - Modern paragliders appear to have a slightly higher trim speed than older ones. I do not think that there is much difference in the stall speed. So if coming in to land on a modern glider you let the brakes fully up, you will be going faster than on an older style canopy. Pull on the brakes and (1) you need greater distance to slow down and (2) some of the extra speed will be converted into height gain. This may lead to problems when landing compared to an older style canopy

How to avoid these problems? Answer - set up and do your landing approach with a bit of brake to give you the same approach speed as on your older style canopy.

These are entirely my own suggestions and observations and may be utterly wrong! If anyone else has different ideas or opinions please let us hear them.

[I find nil wind landings only 'work' if I fly 'finals' (the last bit) with lots of speed i.e. bare minimum brake, then flare hard and fully just as my feet touchdown. That stops the canopy nicely without ungainly running and falling over. Don't be indecisive - but maybe on the other hand, er . . . A wrap isn't necessary but helps. The other way to learn is to take a hang-gliding course, which will teach you the meaning of a hard and committed flare. TC]

Ambushed by a Gangster!

I arranged a go on a demo Gin Gangster with Robin at Airtopia, and wondered whether this glider was going to be any good for general sport/XC flying as it's designed for acro. Rumours are that European pilots really love the way it flies and Gin can't keep up with the demand. Rumours also say it wouldn't have the performance to be sport pilot's wing and I was in two minds about even trying it.

So there I was on Frocester T/O sorting the risers etc as Howard from Cheltenham launched and found some good lift. I quickly clipped in and reverse cross-brake launched (normally I do straight brakes and swop) and the Gangster inflated and came up very easily, a quick dab to stop it, turn and away. A very easy launch straight into buoyant active air and the glider immediately felt perfect. The handling is spot on - easy to turn and responsive without being twitchy or nervous. Very little weight shift was needed to initiate or maintain a turn, and the brake travel and feel was pretty much how I wanted, not overly long or heavy.

Howard and I worked the first broken thermal more or less straight away and on the Gangster it was easy to play 'hunt the lift' as I constantly searched around for the best climb. The climb rate was good, no problem at all to climbing out from T/O and a sailplane from the gliding club joined in as we circled back. He actually flew off a short distance and marked a better core, flew back to me then back to the thermal which I took as an indication to follow so I duly did. Top bloke, I waved a cheery wave and climbed to base as we drifted over Nailsworth. I found the ride very relaxing, enough feedback without being too much (for me), possibly less than the Aspen but it could have been the conditions.

We reached Tetbury, and looking across at the PFA rally at Kemble where the grass areas were completely covered with light planes, you'd think they couldn't cope with any more arriving. Boy were we wrong on that one! Just after Tetbury we flew across the designated routes into Kemble and there were literally dozens of light aircraft, line astern, buzzing past one after the other. I bet Howard was really glad he decided to go XC with me - I'm sure I could see the nervous sweat on his brow!

Short of Swindon we both got quite low over some dark fields after a long glide. The air got a bit lumpy so there was definitely something kicking off. The Gangster really came in to its own working the gnarly low down lift; I could instantly respond to the punchy cores, wind it in hard, straighten out or reverse the 360 pretty much without thinking. We both got back up climbing pretty much together and headed towards Swindon, looking over at Lyneham by then, worrying about airspace. We shouldn't have though, I heard later that a microlight on its way to Kemble got lost and tried to land at Lyneham by mistake. They were firing red flares at it from 50' (probably shouting 'Go away you imbicile!') and it was last seen heading for Filton. I bet Lyneham rang ahead to tell them to get the flare guns out with extra ammunition.

Off we went, yippee, but it was soon time for another low save. The acres of concrete didn't seem the place to get low; we split up and Howard landed at around 40km. Luckily I got a strong climb upwind of Liddington and cruised overhead the dozen or so PGs struggling on the hill. Bet they were brassed off. I headed downwind for a sailplane that was banked over in a tight 360 under a bit of raggedy Cu and was rewarded by another good one. On the transitions I was regularly using half-bar through the sink without any twitches from the wing, as you'd expect. I didn't use full-bar as it wasn't needed and I was out for distance rather than to explore the Gangster's full 12G potential! Flying through the grotty air at the edges of thermals produced plenty of feedback without ever loosing a tip as you usually do so it seemed pretty solid.

A couple more thermals saw me towards Newbury where I reached that drastic moment when you need a pee and you're about to fly off the edge of your map. I pulled it out and unfolded it but it was a nightmare as the wind caught hold, flapping it around like a mad thing in my face. So I gave up and crammed it back in. I gave up on the idea of refolding my map as well!

Soon gravity finally won out as it always does and I made a perfect approach and landing in a small grassy field. Again the top handling made this completely stress free - you want to turn there, it turns there, you want to skim that tree, you skim that tree, no sweat.

Three hours and 72.5km - not bad for a test flight. I didn't go over the glider with a fine-tooth comb but the construction looked good and neat. Four risers so good for ground-handling and B-lining, with 3 lines per riser and one cascade. No split risers or big-ear tabs to get tangled up, all very clean and functional and just how I prefer it. Performance figures - don't need no stinkin' figures Meester! The biggest difference is which way you point it. This glider is 100% enjoyment, just pour it out of the bag and go have fun.

XC Landing Fun

'Well that's it. Looks like I've lost it so I'd better find somewhere to

land. I notice a farm with black barns, so fly over it, just in case. As I

get closer I realise the farm has a microlite strip, but as there are

microlites at the end of the runway I choose to land in the newly cut field

full of giant shredded wheats. Wow 44km. Not bad. I eat a quick bite of

lunch , pack up the glider then think about getting home. Now I realise I

should have done this from the air, but I can't see a way out of the field.

It's surrounded by an 8ft high solid hedge. I walk to a likely looking

corner but there's no exit. I mentioned that the field has just been cut. What I

didn't mention is that half the field has been cut. There's an electric

fence down the middle with bullocks in the other half. It dawns on me that

if I follow the tractor tracks there must be an exit. So under the electric

fence and on towards a farm house. The bullocks are inquisitive, but not

dangerous. The tractor tracks head to the farmhouse and a barbed wire fence,

with a barbed wire gate. Beyond is the garden and the exit, an 8ft solid

wooden gateway. I call 'hello' and a woman comes out.

'I've just landed my paraglider in that field and wondered where the exit

was'

' Yes I know. I've been watching you. The farmer will not be happy, you've

really upset the calves'

They didn't look overly upset, and certainly no more upset than other calves

I'd met on walks through other fields. But then I admit I'm no expert in

animal husbandry and they could have been upset.

'I'm sorry about that, I landed in the field that's just been cut and

couldn't find a way out'

'Well there are no footpaths round here, you shouldn't be in that field'

'I had to land and this was the best field'

'We have all sorts of problems with people like you'

I decide not to loose my rag, because I don't want to upset the neighbours

of the microlite strip. It turns out there's also a drop zone for parachutes

at the strip which may explain her frosty reaction.

'What's the best way out of the field? I just want to get out and don't want

to cause any damage in the process'

'That's not my problem. I'm not opening any gates, go back the way you came.'

'I can't the paraglider doesn't have an engine'. (We went round this loop a

number of times, but once is enough for now)

'That's not my problem. I'm not opening any gates. Haven't you got a mobile

phone.' I shouldn't have brought my knackered old Motorola phone. I should

have brought my mark ZXA1 communicator. I could have radioed Scotty and

asked him to beam me up.

'Never mind'. I said, exhibiting an excellent level of self control, even if

I say so myself. I turned away and looked for a way out.

Luckily I found a tree growing over the hedge and barbed wire fence. I

climbed this and jumped down into another field, thinking how ironic it

would be to fall and injure myself fence climbing.

After a quick walk to the microlite field (Redlands) I spoke to the lads

there and apologised if I was causing trouble for them. They told me not to

worry and offered me a lift to the railway station. They said that mid-week

it was OK to land on the crosses for the parachute drop zone as they

operated mainly on the weekends. So overall a damn good flight followed by a

very amusing landing.

Mike Riley

XC Landing Fun Part 2

So there I am standing by the Severn a few miles outside Newtown after an excellent flight from the Malverns. It's a long hitch back and I pack up and walk out to the small road. In the distance I can see lots of traffic on a much larger and faster road. However, on the way down I made a conscious decision to land next to the smaller one as fast traffic rarely stops for a hitch-hiker. A few cars pass, I optimistically hold up my 'Paraglider' sign and after maybe 5 minutes a passing social worker takes me as far as her office in Newtown. After a 10 minute walk I'm at a roundabout on the road leaving Newtown towards the Mynd, holding my sign out. Less than 5 minutes goes by before a pick-up stops, I chuck my gear in the back and the driver takes me to Church Stoke just West of the Mynd. I'm aiming for the A49 and again within 5 minutes a sporty soft-top MG stops. "I won't fit in there without the roof down!" I tell the girl driving, so we flip it down and I cram myself in. Next stop Ludlow on the A49 and within a short space of time a builder picks me up and takes me to where the A417 branches off at Hope-under-Dinmore. Not much later the prospective MP for Worcestershire stops and takes me as far as Newtown, on the Worcester road. I park myself on the junction and very soon an artic lorry stops "Shouldn't give lifts really, it's against company rules but I was a Para in the army," the driver tells me and takes me as far as The Trumpet. Again only a couple of minutes pass before a bloke going to Ledbury picks me up, and soon I'm at the traffic lights on the Malvern road out. A van stops, the bloke is a scuba diver and keen on anything sporty. He takes me back to Kettlesings car park, where we arrive at 7:30pm. I had taken off at mid-day, had an 88km and 3 hour flight and it took 41/2 hours to hitch back. Pretty good I thought. My 'Paraglider' sign on a laminated A3 sheet certainly helps, it's amazing how many people say they wouldn't have stopped if they hadn't seen it. Keeping a flying suit on works (if the weather's cool!). I also seem to get lifts much quicker wearing decent clothes rather than tatty shorts and tee-shirt - honest! I heard a pilot in the States wears full DJ and bow-tie but I'm not sure that would work here.

TC

Sick Websites!

You will really feel sick if you look at some of the sites listed at http://parapente.para2000.free.fr/links/index-webcams.html where you can see pilots

launching at various Alpine sites, or  http://www.babadag.com/ingilizce/indexing.htm for the T/O at Babadag.

Red Bull X-Alps Race

The task of Red Bull X-Alps is to cross The Alps as fast as possible by flying a paraglider or walking, starting at the Dachstein Mountain Range and finishing in Monaco - some 800kms away. The total prize money for the Alpine air race: 35,000 euros.

Each of the 17 teams consists of the paraglider pilot and his supporter. Wheeled transportation of any kind is forbidden for the pilot. The supporter can use any means of transportation except flying and helps his team-mate with supply of food, equipment or information.

Red Bull X-Alps started at 2.20 pm on July 14th. 17 paraglider pilots took off at 2700 meters above sea level trying to cross the Alps from East to West. Maximum duration for this project: three weeks.

Day 1 of the great adventure and there is already a clear leader: Kaspar Henny (Team Switzerland 1) has almost made 100kms. Five or six competitors behind him will try to start their second competition day some 35kms behind Kaspar.

Day 4, July 17^th was a complete hiking day and the pilots who realized this early had an advantage over those who hiked up a mountain to try and fly. A rain front was passing by which made paragliding almost impossible. Some pilots managed to fly up to 10kms but the rest were hiking with their back-packs up to 40kms on foot.

Kaspar Henny was the first one to cross the Swiss border having covered a total of 257kms of the race (188kms flying; 69kms by foot). By 18th July he is in the Rhein valley and is still leading the competition with 326kms from the start and still 444kms to go towards the finish line. David Dagault from France - former National Champion has the highest ratio of kilometers flowns versus kilometers hiked 88.5% / 11.5%. Some of the competitors have walked further than they've flown!

On Day 10 of the competition the wind blew into the faces of the pilots - so strong that only some of them were able to fly. Everybody is hoping for better conditions in the next days. The ranking: Kaspar Henny has 98kms left until Monaco. 100kms behind him Stefan Bocks (GER), Urs Loetscher (CH) and David Dagault are having a good fight for second place.

Day 12 was a great flying day, but the wind was a head-wind situation. The one who made the most progress was David Dagault, covering over 110kms towards Monaco. Andi Froetscher (ITA) and Gerhard Gassner (AUT) also rode the winds pretty well and covered 60kms each. It was not a day for the Swiss: the race leader Kaspar Henny gave up flying for today, he only made 20kms towards Monaco. His anger keeps him going: He intends walking through the night and flying from the last turn point on Mont Gros to the finish line 3kms away.

Monday 28th, 12.15pm: The toughest paragliding event in the world is

over. Forty-eight hours after the arrival of Kaspar Henny the race is over and only 4 pilots have made the finish at Monaco. Kaspar Henny, David Dagault, Stefan Bocks and after another unbelievable marathon hike Thomas Friedrich (GER).

David Dagault managed the best ratio of distance flown to distance walked with 83% of his 772kms in the air. Jon Shaw (UK) was walking for the largest percentage of his distance: 66% of his 263kms total. The marathon-man of the event is Thomas Friedrich: he walked 390kms in total (point to point distance). But how much did he really hike? At least one fourth can be added to this distance, which means Tom has at least done 500kms on his feet.

Although he ranked last, Jon Shaw is very satisfied with what he achieved. For him (as well as for most of the others) it was an immensely tough competition, but he is very pleased that he raced as hard as he could every single day. With all the experience he learned, Jon would give it another go the next time. For him it was clear that an Alpine pilot would be the winner of the Red Bull X-Alps.

"The experience was the crucial point of the race. I am very pleased for Kaspi. It's fantastic to lead a race from start to finish, especially in competitions which last for two weeks," says Jon.

GPS Tracks

There's a great animation of a bunch of hang gliders flying from Merthyr to the Malverns on Sat 28^th June, see it at

http://www.btinternet.com/~rigg/BHGS/saturday.HTML

Go 4 It 2003 Current Standings

Paragliders Totals

Tim Crow 88.2 72.5 48.4 46.7 42.7 35.6 28.1 24.1 14.5 10.0 410.8km

Bryan Hindle 51.3 15.2 66.5km

Chris Smith 16.6 8.2 24.8km

Flexwings

Derek Evans 59.3 28.7 88.0km

John Bevan 8.0 8.0km

Rigids

Nick Collins 133.6 60.0 14.0 207.6km

ADVERTS

Trekking Ritmo41 XL 90-120 kg. Sail in excellent condition with new lines (fitted in 1999 but only test flown for two hours since) ACPUL 12 A's. Would make a good paramotor wing or 1st time stable learner wing.
I am the only owner and know it's been looked after from new, flies great on a hill and winch launches easily (it's a really steady forgiving wing, I've used it for years without a reserve)

Open to sensible offers telephone me and we can organise a test flight view of the wing

Phil Cooper tel 07947 824370 email:PHILCOOPERALICE@aol.com

Woody Valley X-Act airbag PG harness. Medium, blue/black

(£460 brand new) less than 20 hours, looking for £225 ono.

dean.naylor@axa-tech.com

Freex Spear Large, Blue 20 hours, DHV 2

Freex Spear Medium, Blue 70 hours, DHV 2

Offers invited on both.

Ian Clague 0771 472 0583

UP paragliding harness, medium, excellent condition. C/w cross bracing and back protection,

£100 ono

Alan 01452 504000 (Glos)

Harley Sirocco (Large, 92kg-120kg) Acpul 12A rated, c/w harness; £250 ono

Dennis 07876 492406

AIRTOPIA

The shop

Full of all the latest equipment; Harnesses from Sup-Air, Gin, Airwave, gradient and Edel.

Helmets from Lazer, Charley and Icaro. Flying Suits, Instruments, radios, compasses, T-Shirts, reserves, boots, books, instrument mounts, flight decks and groovy sunglasses....even coffee and biscuits!

The Holidays.

Off to Spain again, 20^th September to 3^rd October.

One or two weeks of Alicante action, good flying from easy coastal to mountain thermal.

Second hand canopies

Edel Atlas small fab condition 65-80kg £600.00

Edel Atlas Med Good condition 75-95kg £550.00

Nova Xyon Large Good 105-125 kg offers

Edel Sabre Large Fair 100-120kg offers

The New Stuff

Canopies from Ozone, Gin, Gradient and Airwave, demo's available, part exchange a possibility! Demo's available at the Blorenge party, 26^th/27^th July.

Call Robin tel 01453 827202

Mobile 07973 844449

www.airtopia.com robin@airtopia.com

We are very easy to find, just off junction 13 of the M5, check out the map on the web site.....

Flying Diary

Wed 30th July Frocester NW4-6mph

This time there wasn't enough, a couple of us had a few exploratory hops then it went SW and rained. Lets hope August is better.

Frank T and a few others had some pleasant evening flying in light buoyant conditions.

27th July: Frocester W 10mph to SW 18mph

Mid-morning it was OK strength wise but there was not much in the way of clouds overhead yet. I saw the models and a few Martins hook one around the corner on the modellers ridge so took-off and flew round, straight into a very rowdy small core. Managed to get a bit of height before losing it and could not find another so landed a bit behind for a short walk back. Great clouds overhead by now but it picked up and went SW, I made the mistake of launching in a lull and immediately got pinned in front of the trees getting lots of small asymmetrics before flying well out and down to the bottom. Gave everyone else a laugh. Cracking clouds by then of course, but too strong.

15th July Kettlesings ESE

Got to Kettlesings about 5-45pm. Conditions very light, bluish skies with high cirrus, and clouded in well to the south (ie Chelt. Glous).

Evening convection started about 6-20pm. Took off and had gentle float up to the Beacon in scratchy conditions but up to about 400' ATO at times. Same on way back. Some ominous dark clouds forming with towers out in front and to south which I figured were worth keeping an eye on given the forecast - might not want to be in air later in the evening.

Back towards Kettlesings conditions got a little better so I pushed out in front in a steady climb. This started to get a bit stronger and now well out in front. A couple of pilots above me put in big-ears. Climbed on a bit and then decided that maybe given everthing going up I should see if I could stay down. I put in the ears. Ok for a bit but then going up steadily with ears. Carried on for a while heading out, looking at that big cloud... Mmm, time to B-line. So took out ears, put in B-line. That worked but wing was getting thrown around a bit with it.

At this stage I still wasn't very high above launch, no more than 1500'. I thought maybe a more positive maneuver would be better than b-line, maybe a spiral dive. Took out the B-line - vario screams at me! 15up and accelerating! Yup, Spiral a good idea! As I start the spiral the vario is still going and I've gone up to over 2500' ATO in no time. Wound off about 700', came out, did another small spiral, came out and found the sink, 7 down - I decided to just sit there for a little while and watch others. Most were diving for the deck but a few were getting hoovered still - to 7000' I guess. I wondered if they were happy/oblivious/damn fine readers of weather conditions and forecasters.

I had now pushed out to beyond the 3-counties and still had a good 1000' ATO in moderately sinking in air do decided to try to get to the Plume (as I'd always fancied that trip) and made it. Nice landing on the corner of the common across from the pub. Packed up and started to head back when someone offers to give me a lift back to Kettle - now how good is that! In evening light as I headed home I could see many towers of Cu all about, seemingly still working.

Nigel D.

Tue 15th Kettlesings ENE

Two fantastic days, Magic lift on Mon evening it was hard to get below 1000ft ato. More magic lift Tues evening. Hmmm . Well there I was at 3000ft going 10up with big ears and full speed bar, Graham Steel and his mate Jonny went over my head 2000 ft above me, they got more than 7000ft ATO . Now that's what I call Magic lift. !!! PS shorts and tee shirt all day

Taken from the Avon diary by Howard

Sunday 13th Castlemorton 7pm SE light

Well it was on with a steady breeze in the evening so after cooking all day surely the convection would be working - wrong, everyone launched and went down like a lead balloon. How can it be too strong all day and then not work at all?

July 11 2003 Frocester NW 5-12mph

Newly repaired Sigma4. Couldn't get out till pm. Wind felt good and the news was Tim and Howard had already done great things, so convinced Gary to give it a go. Cycles coming through, launched into a reasonable one and slowly worked light thermals up to 300' ATO. Then started going over back a couple of times before hooking what felt like a good one. Gary and I worked this together, drifting over the windmill with barely 1K ATO but still going up. I think we eventually made base above Minch common! From there to Tetbury avoiding Kemble (though fun looking down on lots of light aircraft!) then to Malmesbury. Then sunk out, but I'll take the 15miles (23km) :o)

Nigel D

July 11 2003

Mynd too strong for floppies. Up to 30mph, before it calmed down a bit. Had to be home for 17.00hrs, so tried to fly home to Bewdley. Got to base at 3300 ATO, but still only managed to get to Ludlow (half way home!!)

John.

Fri 11th July Selsey W 15+

Just couldn't get out of work earlier so didn't arrive until 5:30. I always find it bumpy at Selsey and I wasn't disappointed today! Had about 1 hr gale hanging until forced to land before got sea-sick. Max 350' ATO.

I met Howard who had set off with Tim. He managed Swindon I think. And no airspace infringements in that busy airspace I hope ;-)

Chris

Fri 11 July Frocester NW 5-12mph

Test flying Gin Gangster at Frocester. Over the back past Kemble and boy, it was pretty busy. No problem though, good vis and plenty of separation from all the light aircraft buzzing past. Top glider, super easy to fly and a really nice 'feel'. Thermalled along nicely past Swindon, Hungerford etc and landed at Newbury 72.5km.

Fri 5th July NW 5-8mph

Frocester first but it looked to N so we all went to Selsley where it was too W. Lots of high overcast but ragged cu's were drifting through and it was definitely cycling so a few had tentative hops. It was very turbulent though - ground handling alone resulted in lots of collapses. A couple of buzzards drifted in something and Wayne Seeley went off into light lift. He stayed with it and fair play to him, he climbed away drifting towards Kemble under a very grey sky. 30mins later he rang to say he nearly reached the ATZ before flying back towards T/O and landing on Avening golf course. If only it had been Saturday!

Sun 6th July Beacon

The Beacon wasn't the place for today! Arrived at around 12 to find Graham there. We then spent the rest of the day doing lots of slope landings in v light W breeze with few thermals. Max I got was 100' ATO then drilled into the car park. Still, nice to be out.

Chris