Hang Gliding Record Distance Flight Story

On Sunday, January 13, 2013 11:04:43 AM UTC-7, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 07:59:41 -0800, Mike the Strike wrote:



As an ex hang-glider pilot, I also thought that the story was well

researched and nicely written, without the usual inaccuracies.



One interesting note - the article says that pilots had to land before

half-an-hour after sunset for the record to be valid. Is this true and,

if so, why do they get half-an-hour longer than glider pilots?





In the UK, anyway, a glider flight must take place during the day, i.e.

may not start or finish at night. The following definitions apply:



night ends 1/2 hour before astronomical sunrise

night starts 1/2 hour after astronomical sunset



...where astronomical sunrise and sunset must be calculated for a

specific lat/lon and day of the year. IIRC for the purposes of this

calculation the world is assumed to be a perfect ovoid, i.e. the effect

of nearby mountains between the sun and the required location is not

taken into account.



As this is an aviation definition of the start and end of night time, I'd

assume the same calculation is used in the USA.



This is why the article talked about the need to land before sunset + 30

minutes.


Out here in the US west, we are limited by the available daylight in summer and are very annoyed by the requirement to terminate flights by sunset - a typical requirement in sanctioned contests and also used by OLC.

We have attempted several times to address this issue, but no success so far. The problem appears to be several inconsistent regulations pertaining to definitions of night in the Federal Aviation Regulations.

I believe that the main problem is that aircraft are required to carry lights after sunset and, since most gliders don't have lights, flight after sunset is considered illegal. I assume that carrying a strobe permits hang-gliders to circumnavigate this requirement?

Mike

On Saturday, January 12, 2013 8:02:54 PM UTC-8, Sean F (F2) wrote:
Sponsors? Because we don't try...

Sean,

Many of us have done lots of trying. BHP shipped 8 US gliders to New Zealand and back for no charge for the 1995 WGC. I now use BHP steel products in my building projects. Network General ( now McAfee) wrote a check for $2500 for my expenses the same year. Peter Deane received a very large donation for his participation in Slovakia in 2010.

Richard Walters
US Team Committee

On Monday, January 14, 2013 12:31:29 AM UTC-5, wrote:
On Saturday, January 12, 2013 8:02:54 PM UTC-8, Sean F (F2) wrote: Sponsors? Because we don't try... Sean, Many of us have done lots of trying. BHP shipped 8 US gliders to New Zealand and back for no charge for the 1995 WGC. I now use BHP steel products in my building projects. Network General ( now McAfee) wrote a check for $2500 for my expenses the same year. Peter Deane received a very large donation for his participation in Slovakia in 2010. Richard Walters US Team Committee

And a few others:
The 2001 Club class team was completely sponsored and had a surplus of a few thousand dollars.
The over spending at the Last French WGC was paid off by a sponsor.
One sponsor donated about $75K to help fund the WGC in Uvalde.
That same sponsor contributed a significant amount to the USTC specifically to support the Club Class team and the Junior team.
This generous individual has quietly donated over a quarter of a million dollars to US competition over the last dozen years or so.
This started by asking for a bit of help.
UH

These contributions are fantastic and it appears they are doing it for the love of the sport. When you view WGC events it stands out that the US is unique in not carrying sponsor logos on the fuselages. Is this a market we are not pursuing?

Lane

On Monday, January 14, 2013 7:02:27 AM UTC-8, wrote:
These contributions are fantastic and it appears they are doing it for the love of the sport. When you view WGC events it stands out that the US is unique in not carrying sponsor logos on the fuselages. Is this a market we are not pursuing?



Lane

Lane
My Discus wore a Network General billboard on the fuselage in 1995. More common is a sign on the trailer- less drag and more exposure.

Richard Walters

On Jan 12, 2:51*pm, John Carlyle wrote:
Very good read about Dustin Martin beating Jonny Durand during a 475 mile hang gliding world distance record, with Gary Osoba providing the day's forecast.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/sp...y-the-silent-r...

-John, Q3

Two more comments on this thread. 1) I am often amazed how one story
gets hijacked into something else. The thread went from celebrating a
good article about hang gliding in a non-flying publication to a
discussion of how to fly past sunset. 2) more importantly - For those
who just read the article on the web and didn't get to see it in
actual print - you REALLY missed the impressiveness of this article!
A friend of mine who reads the New York Times sent me a the section of
the paper with the article... the Sports Section. The story occupies
the majority of 5 full pages, including the front page. Page 1 has a
full half page color aerial photo, which really gets your attention.
The center section page has a full 2 -page wide color aerial photo
that fills the top 1/2 of the pages. There are 9 color photos in this
spread and 10 well-done drawings that show much about the flight and
how hang gliders work, including a full 2-page wide barograph trace of
both pilots' flights. Plus, the whole story is VERY well done and
VERY complimentary about the sport of hang gliding.

The sport of soaring would do well if we could convince this author to
do a story on Dick Butler, his Concordia, and the World Meet in
Uvalde.

Bob
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