winguu ° fly high ° land gently

The first event of the 2016 PWC season has come to a highly successful close in Castelo, Brazil, after 7 full tasks. Klaudia Bulgakow reports:

Thanks to great conditions pilots were happy to race on seven tasks, each about 80 km long. Pilots got to discover new areas of Itapemirim region and fly more than 2000 meters over breathtaking landscapes of rounded top black mountains. Regardless that not many top pilots from Europe were present, the level of competition was very high. The race was hard and fast. One mistake would put one out of the chance to place well in day ranking. American pilots have shown impressive racing skills. Due to that, the difference in points was very small and till the last day no one was sure his position in the final ranking.

Finally, the competition was won Felix Rodrigues from Spain, who show impressive high level and even with not arriving to goal on one task (landed short by 2 km), he maintained the lead in the competition. Five points behind was OZONE pilot Lucas Bernardine (FR) on his Enzo 2 and third place, by five points behind Lucas, Frank Brown from Brazil. OZONE team newcomer Hernan Pitocco (ARG) …read more

Source:: Ozone Paragliders

Razeebuss have released the final version of their Radicall auxiliary power unit. Version 4 has a “virtual cage” which also ensures the propeller unit remains at the optimal angle, and a Pi300 controller / engine management system. As with previous incarnations, the V4 Radicall is a carbon chassis built into a Sup’Air Skypper harness. The virtual cage is […] …read more

Source:: Cross Country – International Free Flying Magazine

In order to help them put the Arus (Automatic Reserve and Safety System) airbag-rescue chute harness into production, Swing are inviting pilots to complete a quick survey on their website. The Arus system is a harness with a dual-airbag and rescue chute system, intended to maximise pilot protection in the event of a reserve parachute being […] …read more

Source:: Cross Country – International Free Flying Magazine

Skywalk’s Alpine paraglider rucksack is designed to carry standard to larger volumes, with room for full pod-harness XC kits or bulkier extra-padded harnesses. The Alpine rucksack has a wrap-around zipper, which Skywalk say makes it easy to load up, and side compression straps to cinch it all in once it’s packed. There are external pockets and bungee […] …read more

Source:: Cross Country – International Free Flying Magazine

[See image gallery at paragliding.olympicwings.com] …read more

Source:: Paragliding Hellas

“Wind tunnel tests show that at trim speed, a faired pod harness has roughly half the drag coefficient of a seated harness.” Looking at the maths, this translates to a huge improvement in glide performance even for pilots flying EN B pilots. Skywalk’s research finds that the fairing at the rear of the pod is […] …read more

Source:: Cross Country – International Free Flying Magazine

“Always sample a lot of air. Nick Greece is one of the best climbers I know. Efficient fast gliding is no doubt the hardest aspect of flying far, but we can’t glide without climbs and Nick says his way to the top is by sampling a lot of air on the way up. Explore to […] …read more

Source:: Cross Country – International Free Flying Magazine

“Paragliders are not flat, and have a significant arc, which leads to two values: flat aspect ratio, when the wing is laid on the ground, and projected aspect ratio, when it is flying. “How do you measure A/R in practise? You can’t use the numbers published by manufacturers as they quote numbers that come from […] …read more

Source:: Cross Country – International Free Flying Magazine

“Sam couldn’t play today. He had a Skype meeting with the IT department and a latte with one sugar to enjoy”, writes Allen Weynberg in northern Australia. “So it’s just me, alone with my insecurities, poor phone reception and a continent the size of Europe with a population density only slightly higher than the moon….” […] …read more

Source:: Cross Country – International Free Flying Magazine

“The upwind stagnation zone is due to a ram-air effect. There is a localised area of high pressure that slows the wind on the upwind side…” In Cross Country 169, May 2016, Honza Rejmanek explains the micro-met you need to know to make accurate wind assessment. See what’s in Issue 169 …read more

Source:: Cross Country – International Free Flying Magazine