Discussions de vol libre au Québec

From: Gerald E. Myers

Sent: Friday, August 01, 1997 2:24 PM

To: Hang Gliding List; Bapa Mail List

Subject: Penguin's Paragliding Proverbs

PENGUIN'S PARAGLIDING PROVERBS

1. Takeoffs are *always* optional.

2. Land your body, not your wing.

3. If you can hear the wind in the trees behind launch -- don't.

4. A bad day flying beats a good day at work.

5. Wind talkers usually lie.

6. If the locals are sitting on launch, sit with them.

7. The site working really great today is always at least 100 miles away.

8. Try to always fly with better pilots than yourself -- this is real easy

for some of us.

9. If the local sky god decides not to launch, you probably shouldn't

launch either.

10. Never forget the second word in the phrase "wind dummy".

11. Site specific proverbs take precedence.

12. The air does not know you are an expert.

13. Sometimes, zero sink is a real good deal.

14. Turbulence is nature's way of reminding us we are not birds.

15. You learn more flying new sites than old ones.

16. Work is permanent, good flying weather is transitory.

17. Being an hour early on launch is infinitely better than five minutes

late.

18. If the crows are soaring, you probably can't.

19. If you are in the LZ, your lunch is on launch -- and visa-versa, of

course.

20. Never co-pilot with a tandem pilot wearing a cast.

21. The phrase "wind technician" is an evil plot of the locals.

22. The safety of an aircraft is inversely proportional to its mass.

(R.Bach)

23. The altitude above you doesn't count.

24. You're not a real pilot until you have to hitchhike back to the LZ.

25. Anybody can fly when it's not raining.

26. When nature is generous with altitude, accept her gifts. (P.B.

MacCready, Jr.)

27. The pilot that lands out is always the one without the radio.

28. Don't look at your wing in turbulence.

29. The only thing more important than minimum sink is maximum go.

30. Being ambivelent in the air is a great recipe for trouble.

31. Work is for people who don't fly.

32. You can see a spread out wing in the boonies easier than a walking

pilot.

33. The longer you kick dirt on launch, the more likely you are to blow it.

34. When you are flying and the stuff hits the fan, the fan usually

increases in speed.

35. You should have been here yesterday.

36. Landings are *always* mandantory.

The author of the above list, Gerald "Penguin" Myers, hereby places

"Penguin's Paragliding Proverbs" in the public domain as non-copyrighted

material August 1, 1997.

Penguin

From: Stewart Midwinter

Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 1997 12:34 PM

To: paragliding@lists.utah.edu; hang-gliding@lists.utah.edu; europg@psychol.ucl.ac.uk

Cc: randy@keyinc.com; haneyaire@cdc.it; dmoore@lightspeed.bc.ca

Subject: Canadian PG Championship Results

Finally, a meet at Golden! After two years rained out, we were getting a

bit worried. Particularly when we discovered that the unlucky rodeo crowd

had moved to our weekend after continually being rained out on theirs. But

it all worked out in the end and we had two valid rounds of good flying.

Saturday, there were clear skies in the valley after Friday night's

torrential downpours and two thunderstorms, but low clouds obscured the

launch. A few windows formed from time to time and some pilots free flew

(I had a nice thermalling flight up the side of a small cu) but there was no

competition.

Sunday, clear skies - a classic Golden day, though it was stable lower down

and only one hang glider could get up from the ramp launch so their day was

invalid. Up at the summit launch (a mere 45 min. hike!) we were above the

stable layer, and by 15:30 pilots were launching into thermals and heading

off on the open distance task.

Down the range, lift was up to 6-7 m/s (1400 ft/min) at times, with

cloudbase of the scattered cu's at 3200m (10,700'). The going was slow in a

light S wind, but this gradually abated and by sunset a light N wind was

evident on the valley floor. Pilots were aloft for up to 5 hours, with some

landing at 20:45. Those that got high and stayed high did well, with the

longest flights being the following: Hugo Tschurtschenthaler, about 75 km;

Glen Derouin, about 0.5 km less, Bernard Winkelman, about 72 km, Chris

Santacroce (US) & Stewart Midwinter (tie), 69.6 km; Hermann Tanner (Swiss),

about 67 km. Chris Muller was another 10 km or so back, on his second

flight of the day, having sunk out quickly after launching quite early on

his first flight. Quite a number of pilots landed near Brisco, about 60 km.

A tandem pilot with a female passenger ran into turbulence and sink on the

south side of Kapristo and landed high up the ridge in trees, shredding the

glider but leaving pilot and passenger unharmed. The glider was abandoned

on the ridge. And a pilot running backwards on launch tripped and rolled

down the hill, suffering bruises but no injuries.

On Monday, skies were again clear, and a little drier. There were no clouds

on the range until late in the day, but thermals began a little earlier, and

from lower down: this time two hang gliders got up early from the ramp

launch (plus another two or three later) and the first PG competitor was off

about 15:05. Thermals were topping out over 3400m with a light S drift at

lower elevations and a light W drift at higher elevations. Getting past Mt.

Kapristo was a bit difficult, as usual, but once on the range the more

observant pilots noticed they could almost ridge soar along for a few km at

a time.

Once past Tower Peak at Parson, the more adventurous began their final glide

to the goal at Harrogate. Hugo was first to goal, followed by Chris Muller,

then Bernard Winkelman and Glen Derouin. Altogether 11 pilots arrived

within the one hour timing window after the first arrival, though another

ten or so arrived later to get distance points. I was saved by a light N

tailwind on the valley floor on my final glide, while Peter MacLaren had a

squeaker over a long forested stretch just before goal.

First female pilot to goal was Senko from Japan, who, while flying an Edel

Sector with comp lines, had her very first x-c flight earlier in the week

and was overwhelmed with emotion at making goal.

The 600-point scoring system was used; because only 1/6 of the 69 or so

competitors made goal, there were not many speed points available: the

fastest pilot received 600 points, while the slowest, an hour later,

received about 540 points. Accordingly, the distances flown on day 1 were

the determining factor in the competition. So while Chris Muller flew fast

to goal, he could not make up for day 1's distance. And since none of the

other top pilots failed to make goal, the top places didn't change.

Final standings in the 1997 Canadian PG championship:

1. Hugo Tschurtschenthaler, CAN, Omega 3, 1191

2. Glen Derouin, CAN, Omega 3, 1155

3. Bernard Winkelman, CAN, Zen-2, 1143

4. Chris Santacroce, USA, Cult, 1139

5. Stewart Midwinter, CAN, Soul, 1113

6. Steve Amy, USA, Escape, 1058

7. Kevin Alexander, CAN, Xyon, 1037

7. Chris Muller, CAN, Sentra/Futura, 1037

9. Hermann Tanner, CH, Xyon, 985

10. Kerry Grant (flying tandem!), CAN, Edel Galaxy, 919.

Females:

1. Senko Ono, Sector, JAPAN

2. Tina Pavlik, Saber , USA

All in all, an enjoyable and safe meet, with no injuries, lots of good

flights, and quite a few personal bests.

A separate report will follow on the very successful week-long Golden XC

Challenge that preceeded the Championship.

Stewart Midwinter

Nova Gas Transmission Ltd., Calgary, Alberta, Canada

These views are likely mine and not my employer's.

... Umwelt schuetzen, Rad benuetzen! ...