By David Brindle

A simple thermal marker and vario backup
Rolli Lieberherre of St-Gall in Switzerland has devised a cunning way to mark thermals, which can also act as a backup vario. He has fixed a roll of toilet paper to the chest strap of his harness! Once in a thermal, he tears off a few pieces, and instantly the currents of air become visible! Of course, it's also handy for blowing your nose, cleaning your sunglasses, etc, etc.

The easy way up the training slopes
What's the worst thing about learning to hang glide? No, not the hangover caused by blown out days spent in the pub, but carrying that awkward single surface glider back up the hill again and again. No wonder they opt for paragliding. At Millau in France, at the 'Evasion' school, they've taken the sweat out of this problem - by building a lift on the training slope! It's a miniature funicular railway 130m long, rising 60m in height. The carriage can take a fully rigged glider and the pilot, and is hauled up by an electric motor and cable in a couple of minutes. Jean Blasco and Roland Thurel spent a lot of their own time and money constructing it, and the benefits are impressive. Every pupil is now guaranteed at least seven flights in a morning. The comment was made that going up is now easier than coming down, and the paraglider pilots (who still have to walk) are naturally casting envious eyes...

Sunshades for your glider
It could be just the thing for the next hot summer. Italian designed by VIP 2000, it's a glider shaped awning made of a tubular frame covered in strong fabric. Once erected, your glider, ULM or rigid wing can stay parked under it fully rigged, protected from the damaging effect of UV in sunlight. No price is given, but contact VIP 2000 in Italy to find out more; phone 0586 829 068 or fax 0360 902 055

100 km in Norway
During the excellent summer, which reached as far north as Scandinavia, Frode Halse took the Norwegian paragliding distance record to over 100 km by flying 105 km in nearly 5 hours. Cloudbase was between 2,400 and 2,900 m. Two years ago, Frode managed to fly up and land on the summit of the Galhoppigen, the highest mountain in Norway.

The Voodoo lives on
Just as Airwave were phasing out the Voodoo to be replaced by the Samba, a Swedish pilot took his country's distance record to 135 km under a Voodoo 21.There are no reports of a change of heart by Airwave...

The Class 2 World Championships
The first proper World Championships for rigid wings took place at the same time as the deltas. Noel Bertrand, the editor of Vol Libre, proved that he is no armchair pilot by getting second place, winning two of the four stages!

Fly and Glide is 20 years old!
Yes, twenty years ago the first 'Drachenflieger' (as it was then called) appeared. On the cover of the September 1975 issue, which cost about l Pound, appears a Rogallo being flown seated by a pilot who just has to be Bavarian - splendidly equipped in shirt, braces, lederhosen, and long socks. Fly and Glide digs out a few black and white pictures of those early days (showing the usual hippies with long hair, torn jeans and home made gliders!) and interviews Fritz Kurz, the editor. Judging by the 'then' and 'now' pictures, Fritz has also had a haircut since 1975!
'At that time, there were maybe a hundred pilots in Germany. Most of the gliders were home made - often from nothing more than a picture in an American newspaper. There were no reserves or helmets. Pilots flew on a child's swing seat with no back - quite often they would tip out backwards, to be left hanging by their knees! To fly a curve was a difficult manoeuvre. The only source of information was conversation in the pub. We needed a newsletter of some sort. By chance I heard that Walter Zuerl had the same idea, so we got together. The first issue was with black and white photos to save cost.'
'Now it is all different. Pilots are no longer pioneers working from a garden shed, but colourfully clad people. Paragliding is almost a consumer sport - a bit like windsurfing, it's all been done(!).' Obviously a man for whom, once it's been done, it's time to look for something new. After parting from Zuerl, Fritz has since followed a career in journalism and TV reporting, covering the war in Sarajevo, and now works for ZDF (Zud Deutsche Rundfunk).

Quicker pickup by boat
Only boats with electric motors are allowed on the Achensee for environmental reasons of noise and pollution. A good thing, but if you've just landed in the water after collapsing your canopy in a SIV, you might prefer that a Johnson 100hp outboard rather than a motorised pedalo was on its way to pick you out! After a couple of fatalities where the time to recover the pilot played a part, Helmut Walder (director of the local school) has negotiated permission to use a petrol engined boat for standby during safety training. Pilots will probably be very reassured.

Swiss politicians get a taste of flying
This year it was paragliding that the 'aerial sub-committee' of the Swiss parliament investigated. They were hosted by the SHV in Interlaken. After the usual presentations and discussions came the best bit - dual flights courtesy of 'Paragliding Interlaken'. Surrounded by TV crews and press photographers, the politicians left the ground, and the event was widely reported in the media. 'lt was great; I'd like to do it again!' was the most common comment.

More fatalities to report
It is never nice to report fatal accidents, but there is usually something to learn. After a 100 km flight from Laber, Werner Posselt was faced with landing in the difficult valley of Samnaum. Local pilots always opt for a top landing. On his second attempt to get in he clipped some trees, and suffered fatal head injuries in the ensuing crash. Unbelievably, the glider, an SP12, only received a bent upright. During the Swiss Championship, Isabelle Piaget, a pilot in the Swiss league, tucked, and the glider folded up around her leaving her unable to deploy her reserve. The rest of the competition was cancelled. Finally, after a long layoff, Gerd Huber made a flight with his Impulse 17 from Ruhpolding and, flying too far back for the conditions, was rotored in, breaking his neck.

A variable area glider
What size glider to fly? You'd like a 13m2 floater to get up in that thermal - and an 11m2 racer to get to the next one. VB alters the sail profile a little, but doesn't alter the area. It's rather hard to swop gliders in mid air - but now here's something really new for hang glider design which makes it possible. Angelo Borsi has a glider with VB (variable billow) and VA! (variable area) By the way, fighter aircraft have had VA for years. He started with a standard Sirio Racer of 1lm2. The glider is fast, but because of the small area it cannot slow up without increasing the sink rate. As it happens, the double surface is connected at the trailing edge by elastic bands a la Rumour, rather than by a continuous seam. With Italian flair, he built flaps concealed inside the double surface that could be slid rearwards to emerge and increase the wing area. They are moved by a cord running down one upright. Slits in the flaps allow the elastic bands joining the main wing to be reconnected. To be strict, they are not flaps, since their angle of attack is the same as the main wing. They are single surface with plastic battens to stiffen them. When the wing area is extended, the glider goes slightly tail heavy, but this does not cause problems in flight and makes the final push out to land easier.
Apparently only Bob Trampenau of Seedwings has also experimented with variable area gliders, but no photos have been seen (...till now - see below). Angelo Borsi is well known in the ultralight world, and builds the 'Comer' delta minimum powerpack. His variable area glider is beautifully engineered - we might just see more of this one. This invention originally featured in an article in 'Hobby Volo' in Italy before being translated into German for 'Fly and Glide' and now into English for Skywings! Angelo's fame is spreading far...

Sensor 610 - with flaps
On a trip to Orlando's aerotow centre, the Ranch. in January this year, Skywings designer Colin Fargher spotted this Sensor 610 fitted with flaps. The flap-equipped 610 was released by Seedwings USA, to muted acclaim, in 1994. The pilot of the machine claimed the system enabled him to approach short-field landings with much more confidence and that he had also been able to improve his slow speed thermalling technique. He reported no noticeable pitch change in use. The mechanism allows a section of the inboard trailing edge to be pulled downwards, creating more drag, degrading the glide angle and slowing the glider down. The actuating arms for the flaps, fitted to the ends of the inboard battens, are attached by wire to the glider's cross-tubes so that 'full flap' is set when the VB is let fully off.
Recent (1994) FAI rule changes allow Class 1 hang gliders to have aerodynamic controls as long as the primary control is still by weight-shift, so the 610 is still 'in class' for competition. Seedwings' Bob Trampenau is one of hang gliding's most consistent and original innovators (the Seedwings/ Moyes/lcaro/Guggenmos bendy wing-tip is one of his many contributions to the art of glider design); will his latest attempt to further the state of that art become the norm in years to come?

German flatland record for 1995
From being a place where light flight was out of the question, Berlin is now a hot tow launch site! Andreas Becker launched by UL tow from Segeletz, north-west of Berlin, and in six hours flew 243km to land near the Polish/Czech border at Konigshain bei Gorlitz. This was the longest flight in Germany in 1995. To prove it wasn't a fluke, three days later he launched again by UL tow at Stolln and flew a 108km triangle.

Andy Hediger moves on
After five years' work, Andy Hediger is leaving Paratech, the Swiss paraglider company, for new challenges. He will work as a freelance test pilot, and hopes this will give him more time to devote to competition flying and experimenting with Class 2 gliders.

Bautek v. DHV
An ugly dispute is continuing between Bautek, makers of the Milan Racer, and the DHV. The Racer was Bautek's first glider without a bowsprit, a design they had formerly had been faithful to but which they realised was becoming unpopular. The Racer represented a significant change in design philosophy for the company and was the design they pinned their future on. Shortly after it was released, Konrad Jost was killed in an accident flying one, and the DHV issued a 'grounding' order. There was concern about the rigging lengths and the sail stability. After some months it turned out that these fears were completely false and had nothing to do with the accrident at all. The grounding was lifted, but the damage to the sales of the Racer, and the image of Bautek in general, had been done. Now, nearly two years later, Bautek is pursuing a claim against the DHV for two million DM (not far short of lm GBP) damages.

INDUGA 1996
The annual indoor festival of flying fun is coming round again, and once again it will be held in Augsburg. Dates are 29th February to 3rd March 1996. The usual mix of trade stands should be there; for more information contact the organisers AFAG Austellungsgesellschaft mbH, Messezentrum, D-86159 Augsburg, Germany, telephone 0821 257 690 or fax 0821 257 6985.

The deal's on the table
You've got to hand it to Peter Geg for confidence! He runs the OASE school in the Allgau and also deals in paragliders. Selling Edel, UP, Pro-Design, Nova and Comet paragliders, he'll offer a trade in on your old canopy. In his advert in Fly and Glide he tables nearly fifty canopies sorted by trade-in value. Check your canopy and you've got a trade-in price!

Sell your wing to a power pilot
Still in the second-hand market, an interesting trend was noticed at PULMA, the third meeting of lightweight ULs and powered hang gliders at St. Secondin. Powered hang gliders used to consist entirely of baggy old Tecmas and similar single-surface ships, relying on brute engine power to stay in the air. Finally, the charioteers have realised that a little Klipo or Kopulcim motor actually goes much better under a double surface glider. And the second-hand adverts are full of nearly new gliders for sale which fit the bill perfectly for motorisation!

Dual paragliding under power
It's not the first, but with powered paragliding (hopefully) soon to be legal in Britain, Gerald Buttner has a potential market niche for his double-size powerpack. The Crazy Plane Duo has a Hirth F33 motor putting out 30bhp through a 1.25m diameter prop. Weight is 30kg, and under a UP Pickup dual canopy, a total take-off weight of 200kg is possible. Gerald is no newcomer to the motorised scene - he has been advertising in Drachenflieger for years. You can contact him in Germany on 05724 3424 (phone) or 05724 51101 (fax).

Steerable reserve video
Want to know how to fly your steerable reserve? Or simply don believe that they fly at all? Pro-Design have released a video in which test pilot Jurgen Stock put the XS360/Help through its paces. He flies the reserve with his main canopy in different states - open, partially collapsed, and cut away. Ask for the video through your local Pro-Design agent.

Quick connect camera holder
If you want to take quality photos (a la Ulrich Grill or Dennis Thorpe) instead of turnpoint snapshots, then you should be using a SLR camera rather than a compact. Trouble is once you've added the right lens filter, and power-winder it's not the size to slip into your pocket. There's a gadget from Novoflex which might be the answer. A sort of bayonet adaptor is screwed permanently into the camera tripod thread. The other half is on a belt that you wear, so the camera can be attached and detached single handed in an instant. While it's on the belt the camera hangs lens down, and with a bit of practice you can even open the back and change films in flight! In fact the belt ha two mounts, so you could tote a colour and a b/w, or a tele and a wide angle... The complete setup costs around 80 GBP but don't forget to add a safety lanyard. Phone Novoflex Fotogeratebau in Germany on 08331 88888 or ask at a big photographic dealer.

Avoid Almunecar!
The reaction to the paraglider invasion of Almunecar in southern Spain has been swift. Fed up with cars blocking roads, the local farmers have put the boot in. Access is only allowed for the local schools, and free flyers are met with a notice (in English!): 'Do Not Trespass - Private Flying Zone - Flying Prohibited Without Authorisation'. You might be happy to avoid the area anyway because there has been a surge in thefts of paragliders, mostly from cars parked at the Herradura landing place. Merry Christmas!

With thanks to Vol Libre and Fly and Glide

Return to Home Page