South African 2009 PPG Team in Czech Republic

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2010-12-12T12:55:00.001+02:00

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The comp in March

2009-11-05T16:23:00.001+02:00

Will any of you be keen to be part of the Machado Open? One thing though we need a comp director who is good. Some suggestions is to get one of the microlight SA team to do this or is there another person who is willing?
Keith were you going to continue flying comps? I know you said no more but I also know the thrill of just being a pilots is also very attractive.
If we are able to get funds for this the Michele Carne is willing to be one this is usually very expensive though.
Tony

Worlds Review from Tony and my new News letter

2009-09-30T17:07:00.000+02:00

From Tony Gibson

Regards
ŒFly Safe¹

Tony Gibson
CFI PPG, PPT & PPC
Flying Unlimited
Cell: 0829482001
Tel 012 6536546
Fax 012 6537789
tony@ppg.co.za
Www.ppg.co.za
Importer, school and manufacturer

Read this link for the ride of your life.
http://www.ppg.co.za/fly/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid
=2

World Paragliding Championships 2011 - South Africa

2009-08-27T12:36:00.000+02:00

Breaking News...
Ok for some not others.

While in China in 2007 we were asked to host the next WPC but were not capable of getting this off the ground so now we were asked again in 2009 in Czech to host the 2011 event. I am all for this and am committing to getting the ball rolling now to bring the event back to Africa.
After this last worlds a couple of key delegates were asked to be part of a meeting in one of the tents, I was part of this. The question once again was asked for me to get involved and be on the Cima committee, this time I said I would find out from the SA Delegate to put me forward for the PPG position. And then again they really expressed the fact that all the countries would support the bit for South Africa to host this event, so far as to pull any other bid for 2011 if we were prepared to host this.
I have thought hard and long about this and am going all out to get the next worlds to South Africa. So far I have been in contact with our SAHPA representatives and am getting full support from them to go ahead with there support and assistance. I have spoken to the SA CIMA delegate and he is over the moon to have me involved and that we are going to put in a bit for the worlds. Sahpa are busy with a sponsor and will approach them to assist with funding this event, if we can just land one big sponsor then we will have no trouble in getting additional sponsors for the event. If we play our cards right then the interactive competition can also be on the cards via GPS locators sending tracks back to a main server. This would add a level of Spectator value. But at the same time we are allowed to change the format of the competition to suit, on condition we make the rules and submit them to the CIMA meeting for approval. I have a few ideas for this and will share them later so we can draw spectators to the event too.

We now need a venue, My suggestion in the lowvelt area of Barbeton. This give us a Holiday small town environment and also it gives the visiting pilots a sense that they are in Africa, the game reserve is close and easily assessable to visit on the days before and after the event. Also many very successful PG events are flown in the town.
What we need from the PPG community is support with this event. Marshals and officials will be required in a big way, contacts for marketing this will be required, Sponsors will need to be approached, Media coverage for the event is essential, the bid and rules and tasks formulated, a steering committee organized and lost of smaller comps flown to find the next South African team to take part in this champs.
The fact that this comp is going to be in South Africa and at an altitude that will be easy to fly at for most pilots we need to then get our neighboring countries to also be involved. Namibia, Botswana & Zambia have pilots who are either flying or learning to fly.

Regards
‘Fly Safe’

Tony Gibson
CFI PPG, PPT & PPC
Flying Unlimited
Cell: 0829482001
Tel 012 6536546
Fax 012 6537789
tony@ppg.co.za
Www.ppg.co.za
Importer, school and manufacturer

Read this link for the ride of your life.
http://www.ppg.co.za/fly/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid=2

Traveling home

2009-08-13T22:35:00.002+02:00

The Team spilt up on the 10th August. Tony and Riaan headed South with Pavel from Nirvana (who placed 2nd in the PF1)and the rest of the team headed for some R&R in Prague. Riaan and I (tony) were driven to Zlin to visit the Nirvana factory and discuss business, this was rather hectic and we managed to assist in the design of some new product that will be coming to the market in about 24 months from now. Then we caught a train to Prague and even though we were in the same town as our team mates we were just too far apart to meet up before our next train via Austria to Zurich. This was a long trip and we managed to have a sleeping car so got a bad night sleep and arrived while the town was sleeping. Then after some walk abouts got back on a train to Luzern. A very nice place to visit. then again later the day to our hosts house in Egliswil (www.egliswil.ch)

More traveling then home on Sunday some time. Thanks everyone for supporting the SA team while we were out Flying we tried hard and did will in some sectors and others we blew it. One thing for the future i have to remember not to hold back as i tend to make mistakes then. Next comp full speed ahead.
2011 South Africa for the Worlds hosting the event, We need help.

Final team positions

2009-08-12T17:32:00.004+02:00

Posted by Pieter

Saturday we were looking forward to some "jollie patrollie" flying, but yet again the wind had the better of us. In strong wind conditions we all had short flights for old times sake. The rest of the day was spent stripping machines, sterilising and packing up. We were also eagerly awaiting the final team scores.

After being in 5th position for most of the comp we were sad to see that Italy over took us on the very last task.

Final team standings (PF1 - Solo Foot launch): out of 16 Teams

1st - Czech

2nd - Britain

3rd - Poland

4th - Spain

5th - Italy
6th - South Africa

PF2 - Tandem Foot launch (Anton & Mias) - 6th

PL1 - Single Trikes (Riaan & Paul) - 5th out of 8teams

Much was learned by all, and the unanimous feeling is on of "if only". The bottom line is that at this level of competition there is just no margin for any error. As a team we have improved on the 2007 worlds performance from 9th to 6th. The level of experience is constantly improving but we definattely need to have more local competitions if we ever want to be a podium contender in the world arena.

Keeping in mind that SA and Brazil (with only two team members) were the only Southern hemisphere teams, and secondly that most European teams have 10 to 20 times as many pilots in the country than SA, we surprised many other countries.

Ricky waxes the last task

2009-08-08T17:43:00.003+02:00

On Friday afternoon the last task (figure 8 slalom) of the competition, was flown.

Ricky had some engine trouble and missed his slot. He managed to get airborne again and had to wait for the full field to complete before he could do his task. With the current leaders going last the crowd was chearing for the top-dogs. They had no idea what to expect from the unknown South African comming in after the world's best.

After an outstanding run Ricky managed to score the second best time of the comp for the task and received a huge cheer from the crowd. We'll done Ricky! Unfortunately rulles are rules and he got penalised with 20% of his score for missing his slot.

The SA positions for the task.
Ricky - 11th
Tony - 32nd
Pieter -35th (Also received 20% penalty for missing his slot)

Upity, up, up and a miss

2009-08-07T12:11:00.002+02:00

Post by Tony

This morning was a rather interesting task calling for the Triangle Circle Task. We had a wind blowing in from the North this morning at 4:45am and take off was 6am. The first pilots through from SA were Peiter on Deck 2 and Mias and Anton in on deck 1. Both had incidents and pieter was able to run his task again after another pilot cut him off. Our Tandem Marathon team have decided the half Matathon run is easier to get off the ground and they flew the task but some how managed to clip there prop and decided to bail the task and return to the landing deck. Paul had his throttle get stuck at full power as he rounded the Pylon and had to kill his motor and then land in the task area for saftey reasons. He is fine and ready for the next task to be flown. The rest of us had great flights with some of us getting all the pylons and kick and some missing one or two.
i got a big scare when i kicked the first padded pylon it folded over and grabbed my speed bar and pulled me over forward before releasing again. I still continued to the next and eventualy missed the same pylon that grabbed me to finninsh with an OK time . Kieth i think did the bets out of all of us on this with closed trims and full speed bar.

the wind is around 35km/h now and the task window has been open for 1h30min and we are still sitting here waiting for somethin to happen. no one seems interested in taking the risk in flying this. But dont get me wrong we are rearing to get ing the air because this task is easy point as it is a waypoint hunt and we are fast so can collect them fast.

Tention running high as comp nears the end

2009-08-07T09:52:00.003+02:00

Posted by Pieter

Task 10 score is in. It was a slow/fast run task where you first do your slowest possible run, kicking four sticks and then do your fastest possible run kicking four stick again. All done in a straight line.

Well done again Keith for a 6th place over all for this, Tony in 8th and Ricky at 18th. Keith & Tony had 20 & 21km/h differences between slow and fast with Ricky at 18. The task was done in gusting wind conditions again which made it very tricky. (I had a fair slow run but then had a full speed hovercraft landing at the start of the fast run)

Worth mentioning is Michel Carnet of the British team's first place with an awesome 29km/h difference. Noting that the second best was only 22. Taking into account the wind conditions at the time that was outstanding.

The SA team is still placed 5th out of 16 but with Italy & Canada close on our heals. The Polish team at 4th is more than 3000 points ahead of us and definitely out of reach now. The organisers will be trying for two last tasks on Friday.

Keith second best in Worlds for clover leaf slalom

2009-08-05T16:46:00.002+02:00

Well done to Keith for a second place with his 47 sec. clover leaf slalom task. The task was won by Grezgorz form Poland with a 43 sec. run.

The task was run in fresh wind conditions which made it difficult for all pilots. Keith could have shaved a couple more second of his time but had to take some avoiding action not to fly the marshall table (which was very badly placed) to pieces.

Ricky & Tony also did quite respectable times with 54 & 57 sec. respectively but were penalised for missing one stick.

Callie got the second SA position with a clean run of 1:11

500 photos of our trip on this link

2009-08-05T16:45:00.000+02:00

click on the link for the 500 photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Flyingunlimited/WPC2009#

More on technicality woes

2009-08-05T16:29:00.003+02:00

Posted by Pieter

I've posted before about the small margin between hero & zero in this comp. Another small example herewith.

The blue line in the picture shows my track log, suppossedly crossing the end gate landing from left to right on task 5. Thing is, the thin, straight white line with red ends is unfortunately not realy vissible. The two white (L shaped) runway end markers are actualy vissible but they are actualy to be ignored.

If you studied the documentation propperly (all of about 45 394 pages of it) you would have known that the end gate is an immaginary line running North-South, intersecting the middle point of two red markers on the edge of the airfield. Obviously!

So, another of those task that you practised, preppared, flew and score Zero for because you mis the end gate by 20meters. At least it's the kind of mistake that you only make once. From here on it will only get better.

Task 9 - Such is life

2009-08-05T10:04:00.003+02:00

Posted by Martin

Today started out with another Navigation task. In this one we had to fly out to a point 10km away directly into a 12km/h wind. There were 3 sections to this task. Average speed over all three sections had to be declared.

The first leg was a straight upwind leg into wind avoiding no fly zones. The second leg was a deliberately give squigly line or meandering route that was 44km long. The last leg was a straight downwind run with the wind. All the different directions into and with the wind makes it very difficult to declare a average speed over the course. To help you make do this, you set up time markers all along the route. Theoretically if you hit each one on the right time, your average time will be spot on.

In international competitions such as this, i have come to realise, it is not as much the hot shot pilots who scores the best, but more those who consistantly does not mess up. With this in mind my tactic was to not push any individual task but to consistantly score in each task. This has worked fairly well for me so far. Yesterday there were some mishaps in the cloverleaf and even though i have a slow time there, i managed to claw my way to the first slot in the SA team (unofficially so far). Shortlived i have to assume since although victory, i was toaught, might just be around the next bend, dissapointment lurks around the next dark corner.

Halfway through this task that i believe i was nailing (navigation is my best skill),i realise that i have not switched on my logger, or my back up logger. This effectively means ZERO, ZIP, NADA score since there is no proof of my flight. Realising this i turned around and headed home.

Oh well such is life. Better luck next time and all that rubbish.

Photo galleries

2009-08-04T16:45:00.003+02:00

There are several online galleries of pics taken at the WPC2009.

See this gallery:

http://en.wpc2009.cz/?cat=6

Another one over here:

http://ojovolador.com/gallery/v/wpc2009/

...and a video here below:

Enjoy!

(Posted by Keith)

Prep for task and flying

2009-08-04T15:27:00.007+02:00

Tony with his new motor. (look Ma no cage lines)

Task Prep as a team

some pilots

Monday 3 Aug

2009-08-04T13:35:00.003+02:00

The mornings navigation task was cancelled due to weather and winds being bad. We therefore decided to do a bit of sight-seeing. We went through to Nachod to the Zamek (castle). This castle has 2 live bears in its fort. After that we quickly visited old world war 2 bunkers but we did not have enough time to explore. We will definately try get back there again.

In the afternoon, the clover leaf was completed.

Clover Leaf task Blow-out

2009-08-04T10:44:00.001+02:00

Post by Tony

Yesterday afternoon was the clover task and the wind was strong and dying off towards the evening. 8pm.
I was flying 3rd last on this task, this gave me a perfect opportunity to push the wing to it’s limits as the wind was almost settled.
I got airborne with my new riser system for the Plasma and tested it’s turn and speed for the first time only minutes before entering the task. The wing was rock solid and super fast now. My number appeared and from the holding deck I lined up and entered the task at full speed. I held a low track and as I hit the stick for the first time I realized the stick was heavier and harder than I imagined because it felt like some one belted my under my right foot with a bat. I did the first turn and all was good and again hit the stick again and again it felt like I was hit hard with the bat. My second turn was smooth with a slight drift outward but and easy correction and lined up for the 3rd kick. I hit it again, and with the shock of the hit I pulled my foot back a little and ballooned up so high I was unable to to make the turn in and kick the stick again so missed the next kick and then just finished the task with penalties. Unfortunately for me I blew it. The polish have a stunning time for this one and will be the leaders in the clover for another few years by the looks of things . Well done to them.

I was told after wards by a bunch of pilots that they all went out to the field to watch and back me for this event. Sorry I did not make it the show you all wanted. Next time chaps.

From Hero to Zero in a single turn

2009-08-04T09:43:00.002+02:00

Posted by Pieter

By now you've seen many report on our progres but not had much insider info. So here follows a short report on my woes.

At this level of competition the margin for error is just so smal that a single turn can drop you down from a pottentialy good score to Zero in a single turn.

Take task 3 for instance. Limmited Fuel, 50.8km distance,5 turnpoints, start & finish gates, 14 photos to recognise and mark en route. Map work prepparation for a task like this can easily take up to 1 and a half hours. Fueling procedure another hour, ordered take off sequence add another half hour. Flight time on this was about 1hr 15. In total more than 4 hours. Shortly before the task a new Now fly zone got published, with the edge being about 60meters of from our flight path. Although turnpoints have radiuses of 200 meters allowing for in-accuracies, No fly zones have a zero meter margin for error.

4 Hours of activity. Less than 1 minute veering of track by 50 meters drifted me onto the edge of the no fly Zone. In stead of a 16th place I dropped down to dead last with Zero score.

New video from Ojovolador

2009-08-03T19:13:00.004+02:00

See this awesome video of wpc2009 from:
Ojovolador.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbGS8fgGWD8

or click on the image below

They will have regular updates from the event, at:
http://www.ojovolador.com/eng/paramotor

Posted by Keith.

ppg motors in Quartine

2009-08-02T10:50:00.001+02:00

PPG motors waiting for us

Economy task 5

2009-08-02T09:12:00.002+02:00

posted by tony

Well this is a task for the 4 stroke motors and very hot PG type flying pilots and wings. The speed wings are not really suited to this task and we get really tired trying to fly them just above stall the whole time. 2h30 is usualy about our limit before we are so tired just holding your arms up is hard. But all said the weather looks stunning for thermals and we could probebly stay up without much trouble. The ceiling is 1800m but the organisers are trying to extend it higher. if they do the task could end 6 hrs later. we have to be on the ground at 17h00. the Clover task starts at 18h00 and is finnished at 21h00. ( our days are very long and we re feeling it here). Up at 4 or 5am and then in bed at 23:30 if we ar lucky.
Our gurus for this task are our PG pilots and they happen to be the tandem team. Anton and mias will have a tail today, just about all the team will probebly be following them aroung the sky. With Anton at the controls and feathers in his fingers we stand a goo chance of a great position today.
Every task we have flown this week from 11am has produced stonking thermals where pilots without reflexed wings are telling me they are seing the top of their wings so fun and games.

chat later

Day 3 tasks

2009-08-02T08:45:00.003+02:00

Day 3 is going to be an exciting day for flying.

First we start with a pure economy task where the pilots are given 2 litres of fuel. This is a soaring task to see if they can stay in the air with limited fuel for as long as possible without landing. They therefore have to catch thermals to try stay in the air AND avoid no fly zones! A trick to this is that they have to fly through a finish gate (which is an imaginary line on the map) and glide to land on a landing deck which is a little bit away from the finish gate. They have to do this on a glide so the height at which they come through the finish gate is important to make the distance to the landing deck.

P.S. Ricky said that he is not a moogoo but his engine is giving him grief and that is why he is scoring zero and he is not a moogoo.

The second task for the day is the exciting clover leaf slalom where our pro tony has some seriuos competition this year.

Task descriptions and scores

2009-08-02T08:32:00.004+02:00

Posted by Alison

For a more fuller description of tasks and scores please see the following web page:
www.flymicro.com/wpc2009

This is what we receive on the intranet at the competition site.

PF1 is the name of the class for the single pilot foot launch
(Tony, Pieter, Callie, Martin, Ricky, Keith)

PF2 is for the tandem foot launch pilots
(Anton & Mias)

PL1 is for our single pilot trikes
(Paul and Riaan)

Score update - Tandem foot launch

2009-08-01T15:52:00.002+02:00

Task 1
Anton and mias were placed 7th with a score of 285.

Take-off for task 2 was a bit hairy. Pieces of prop were flying and the fuel tank was badly damaged.

Anton and Mias managed to make a plan with a new "fuel tank" and replced their prop and fixed the air filter and were ready to try again. Unfortunately, any modifications have to be authorised and Anton and Mias failed to do so. Therefore, Anton and Mias unforyunately did not receive score for task 2.

Overall we are placed 6th of 6 country entrants.

Vasbyt - we will get there!

Score update - PL1 - Trikes

2009-08-01T15:49:00.002+02:00

Task 1
Riaan score 278 placed 14th
Paul 250 placed 15th

Task 2
Paul score 745 placed 10th
Riaan score 0 due to outlanding

Totals for Day 1
Paul placed 14th
Riaan placed 20th

Team SA PL1 5th overall

Nice Riaan and Paul!

Score Update - PF 1 - foot launch

2009-08-01T15:41:00.003+02:00

PF1
Task 1
Tony Score 500 Position 1
Martin Score 450 position 22
Callie score 250 poistion 30
Keith score 250 position 30
Pieter score 250 position 30
Ricky score 250 position 30

Task 2
Tony score 955 position 5
Ricky score 915 position 8
Callie and Martin score 829 position 12
Pieter score 0 due to outlanding. Position 43

Totals for Day 1
Tony 1455 overall position 3
Martin 1279 overall position 7
Ricky 1165 overall position 14
Callie 1079 overall position 25
Keith 879 overall position 31
Pieter 250 overall position 48

Team placement after Day 1 Overall placed 5th

Well done guys!

Task 4

2009-08-01T15:30:00.002+02:00

Posted by Alison

Task 4

Economy and Distance

This task is also a limited fuel (only 2 litres) task. The pilots have to fly around a circular course rounding the outside of 4 pylons. The course is about 3.8km. long. They have to do as many legs as possible and then land on a landing deck. If they do not land on the runway they score zero. If they land on the runway but not on the landing deck they get a 20% penalty.

Good Luck!

Task 3

2009-08-01T10:47:00.003+02:00

Posted by Alison

Day 2 has two tasks, Task 3 and Task 4

Task 3

This is an economy and navigation task. First of all, the guys needed to completely empty their engines of fuel. They are then given their pre-measured fuel while the Spanish team members check. The SA team also check the Spanish team and all of this takes place in a quarantine area. Once the machines are filled they are placed in another quarantine area.

They have only 5 litres of fuel to fly 50km. They are also given 14 photos and have to mark on this route where they see these landmarks. The landmarks are 200m from a track that can be followed which is given using turnpoints. There are also certain no fly zones that they are not allowed to fly over. Amongst these 14 photos are other photos of landmarks that are more than 500m away from the track. These have to be ignored. If they are marked on their map they get negative scores. On top of all of this (following a track, looking and marking landmarks) they have limited fuel that they use and need to get back to the airfield. If they land out they get zero score.

Once (and if) they return, they mark where they saw landmarks on a sheet provided and this is scored.

Good Luck Guys!!! (and no outlandings please - the manager is "tired" of fetching and seeing the beautiful countryside where they drive on the wrong side of narrow roads!)

Task 2 - Nav planning

2009-07-31T17:05:00.002+02:00

Yesterday and this mornings nav planning was quite hectic. Each had his own strategy, but team cameraderie was good and the best of all ideas was shared. 2hr Turnpoint accumalation calls for hard and fast flying but turnpoint were far appart so called for critical routing.

More on the post report later.

Who's who

2009-07-31T16:55:00.003+02:00

Many people doesn't now all the team members.

Front, left to right: Mias De Klerk, Tony Gibson, Paul Jackson(with son Shaun),Rian Struwig.
Back, left to right: Martin Calitz, Callie Calitz, Anton Naude, Keith Pickersgill, Pieter Wolmarans, Ricky Boyd

Manager working hard

2009-07-31T16:51:00.002+02:00

Posted by Pieter Wolmarans

Managing this team is realy hard word. It's been a long day for Alison

Tony task 2 Track

2009-07-31T16:08:00.002+02:00

Task 2 is a pure navigation task and we have completed it. We still have to hear how it was in relation to the scoring. My track on Map Source is 105.1km and it is also the same on the Quest. I think i have completed it within the 2 hour window. The track log does indicate this and if so this will be good. Holding thumbs.

Results of Task 1

2009-07-31T15:14:00.003+02:00

Posted by Alison
The following are the results of the first task of precision take-off and landing:

PF1 (Foot launch):
Tony Gibson 500 Position 1 (Full score - Well done!!)
Martin Calitz 450 Position 22
Callie Calitz 250 Position 30 (Landing penalty)
Keith Pickersgill 250 Position 30 (Landing penalty)
Pieter Wolmarans 250 Position 30
Ricky Boyd 250 Position 30 (Landing penalty)

PF2 (Tandem foot launch)
Anton Naude and Mias de Klerk 175 Position 7

PL1 (Trike)
Riaan Struwig 278 Position 13
Paul Jackson 250 Position 14

Well done guys - we have all put score on the board!

Other results are to follow...

Wind forecasts at the airfield

2009-07-31T09:20:00.001+02:00

To check the wind forecasts at the airfield, visit here:
http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?vs=1&sc=201133

First task done

2009-07-31T08:47:00.003+02:00

Posted by Keith Pickersgill.
The first task is over.
It was a precision launch and precision landing, starting at 06h00, with absolutely zero wind and soaking wet (and slippery) grass. Launching was tough, but our team did OK with most nailing their first launch. Landing for the foot-launched paramotors involved killing the engine at minimum 600 feet, then gliding to kick a soccer ball and landing immediately after that. If one landed before the ball or missed the ball, then they scored the distance from the ball. The trikes had to land on a series of Five lines with the center line being the target.

Next task starts at 11h00 and is Pure Navigation, distance accumulation via own choice of turnpoint sequence, maximum 2 hours from start-gate to end-gate, ending no later than 17h00. Weather forecast looks great! Wish us luck!

Opening ceremony

2009-07-31T07:33:00.004+02:00

The registrations are complete and the practice days are done, Thursday was the opening ceremony with an awesome airshow of WW1 replicas doing aerial combat, many microlights and aircraft. Here is a short video of the teams lineup at the ceremony.

First Video Compilation

2009-07-28T21:48:00.005+02:00

Click the picture to view the streaming video, or download the original video: wpc-video1.flv

Registered, checked and flying

2009-07-28T10:59:00.006+02:00

Posted by Pieter

All now registered, photographed and checked. There's just so much paperwork for registration, insurance, docomenting all electronic devices, personal photos, etc. Alison is doing a great job while we're all preparing and flying.

Now how's this on the CV, "I was the first pilot a the 2009 WPC to brake a prop". Taking of in a fresh and variable wind I got some rotor at 1m up, luckilly the undercariage was still out so I dropped onto my feet but ended on my knees, knoking the prop into the ground. Luckilly the cage had no dammage.

After fitting the spare I got up aesily end ended the day with an awesome 45km 12v turn point practice.

Most of us have now had at least 3 flights. Unfortunately Anton & Mias will only receive their machine totday. Via public bus from Prague!

Bit of rain in the air today, so we're all doing blogs and map prepparations

Flight from Cape Town to Jhb

2009-07-27T12:08:00.004+02:00

The Four Cape Town pilots had a great flight from Cape Town to Jhb to join the rest of the team for our onwards flights.

Here is a timelapse video of the flight.

Arriving at the Destination

2009-07-27T07:14:00.000+02:00

Post by Tony
This morning I was awake at 3:30am with the sounds a strange dream I was having and then was unable to fall a sleep again. So back on the internet and browsing web pages and catching up on some emails. At 7:30am we headed down for some Breakfast and was treated to an awesome array of food. Wow the Black Elephant hotel is really great and very well priced. The team assembled and headed off for an uneventful drive to our Airfield for the competition in Nove Mesto nad Metuji. We followed the ‘Man with the Red van’ and decided to let him get lost as the Nuvi in our van was telling us to take another route in one of the un-pronounceable name towns. We had Ricky trying his best to stay on the correct side of the road and us babbling away with all sorts of instructions from the back. The Nuvi was in the rear of the Bus because it was the only power adapter available. You see Keith is making some incredible time-laps fotos for all of you to see on this Blog page some time soon. Stunning stuff. We arrived at the field to find our Crate and the other three Boxes perfectly ready for us. Ricky and Keith were like little kids with new toys at Christmas, opening there brand new Pap Boxed containing the new Motors they had sent to the field. I opened our crate to find everything in good order. Anton got his new Advance Bi-Beta4 Wing and unfortunately has to find a way to get his motor from Spain to the airfield as it was sent back once it arrived in the Czech Republic the other day. Tomorrow it will be send again.
We arrived at the hotel later to book in to an OK Hotel, but not like our other one. We settled in for 30min and then headed out testing the area for lunch. Food was good and the Beer on tap is great and half the price of the Beer in Prague. The food is 70% cheaper than in Prague. We got back to the field later the afternoon and settled down to build all the kit. Well yes, it would have been great if it was so simple but in the end everyone with kit, managed to put all there motors together then Riaan managed some how to destroy his new Carb butterfly arm. I told him to strip down my motor we brought as a spare and while working that one into some type of a contraption managed to unravel a strand of cable in the sheath so now the cable is also jammed in the sleeve. For him we have a nightmare unfolding already. Alison has been working with Jana and is now up to speed with everything and even has more info than them. They said they might call on her if they need info. Go Alison! We have sorted out the 3rd party insurance and we are set for some flying now. Ricky, Keith and Pieter have already had a small test flight but the rest stayed grounded for now. Callie and Martin managed to do a Full service on Martins motor as he had damaged it just before Packing for the trip. I think it will be fine now. My Motor will only arrive later as you know but I am having so much fun Chatting to all my old buddies from around the world. I have met Mr Piere Dudek himself when he came waking over to me and we had a short chat about the incredible wings he is making . David from Canada is already here and again stunning to meet him and his team. My other friends from Japan, Thailand, Poland, Germany, Slovenia, and the Czech Rep were arriving. Richard the Meet Director was also some one to arrive today. Again we stood chatting about the comp and his incredible Trip across the channel he flew yesterday in a Microlight with 100 other pilots in recognition of the first channel flight done to the day 100years ago. We also chatted about the Epic flight over Everest he was involved with towing a Hanglider and then also flying in the Himalayas on his Microlight trike. Some great epic tales and interesting for me, as I have just watched the DVD with Alison only 2 Weeks before. Dinner tonight was well and adventure. We never found a place that would feed us at 10:30pm on a Sunday, so the team ended up driving to another town and ate bread rolls at a filling station before returning home to get some sleep. I am now typing this after 12 am and am now ready to turn in, but can still hear the other chatting away creating video footage and fotos for you all to view of the trip we are experiencing. This is going to be hard work, flying hard from a 6am to a 9:30pm sunset and then to keep the bloggs flowing for all of you to experience the thrill of this trip. We will do our best to keep you on top of the day to day adventures. Hold thumbs for us and we will be pulling out the stops for SA.

Regards
‘Fly Safe’

Tony Gibson

Photos link

2009-07-26T04:15:00.003+02:00

Posted by Tony
Click Photo and go take a look at Day 1 &2 Traveling to Czech Photos.

Posted by tony

2009-07-25T21:33:00.001+02:00

Post from Tony Gibson (25th July 2009)
You have all realized we are on our way and thanks for all those who call us and gave us your well wishes. We left for the airport really early to make sure we were on time and sat in the coffee shop waiting for the whole team to assemble. Clearing customs and then boarding the plane went as planed and we flew off to Turkey in an ‘OLD’ Airbus A340-300 so no fancy toys to play with in the plane. At lest it was empty and Alison and I became pretzels and intertwined our limbs together to sleep relatively well for the flight out. At 3 am we were woken up for breakfast that was very good. Feeling rather groggy for the rest of the day while waiting for the next flight in the airport we really had a hard time waiting for the next flight out. The Free wi-fi in the airport isn't free as we found out. Again the food was superb and as in the first plane I ate little Sean’s food again, he is not able to eat most foods. Turkish airline food is great but the entertainment on board the planes is not good at all.
In Prague we were collected by the ‘ Man with a Van’ and deposited at our stunning little Hotel the is on the Unesco heritage list, it is a restored House and is now a 16 room hotel and is awesome. No Lifts but some very steep stairs and we have taken 7 of the rooms for the team. It has internet for us so this is how we managed to send you this letter. The Hotel is right on the Old Town Square and walking distance from Everything. It has been a very busy sight seeing day and we are really buggered. The sun just set and it is after 9pm at night.
I got confirmation from Jana from the organizers that the South African container has arrived at the airfield so all is well for us to arrive there tomorrow and start assembling the trikes. My own PPG will only arrive on the 28th so I have to borrow a motor from someone until Nirvana come to the comp and bring my New Instinct.
Chat again have fun and
‘Fly Safe’

Tony Gibson

In need of sleep

2009-07-22T23:47:00.003+02:00

Posted by Pieter Wolmarans

Wow, what a rush. The last month has just been so hectic with all the prepparations. All the time and effort at comp task planning and in the harness is only half the story. The second half is to try and prepare for a business & family to run smoothly for three weeks while we're away.

Sticking to the flying related portion, there are three major portions to this.

1. Paramotor service and maintenance:

Some of the guys are flying the comp with brand new motors being delivered at the venue. Some of us did some major service & maintenance work. All I can say is that my motor now runs better than when brand new.

2. Flying:

Theres quite a few newly released wings being flown by the team. Martin and myself opted for the new APCO Vista Hp. We were running on a very tight schedule with this wings as it only received certification a month or two ago (Thanks for the effort Keith). In three weeks I managed to get in 11 flights and just short of 7 hours air time on the wing. I've spent a lot of time plotting a new power curve and at slalom flying. I'm now very comfortable with the wing and know it's behaviour & caracteristics well.

3. Task planning:

More about this later. In short. The task catalogue covers 22 sample tasks for the three types of tasks. That is Navigation, Precision & Economy. This information combined with the mapwork involved is enougth to keep you busy for a very long time.

Hey, more later. I need to go and pack, tick tock tick tock

Organising so far

2009-07-22T09:30:00.002+02:00

Post from Tony Gibson (team captain)
From day one that we heard the World champs was on, it has been a roller coaster of note. Choosing the team from performance and strengths in certain disciplines, to selecting the strongest possible Solo PPG, Solo trike and Tandem PPG team was difficult. We had unhappy pilots and very happy pilots too. One of the criteria was that from the selection only pilots who were able to afford to pay there own way could actual go with.
This team has its specialists and those who are consistent right through the range of tasks. The specialist are going to go flat out in the best events and the others will make sure that points are consistantly being added to the board. The objective of our team is to fly as a team and get a podium position for South Africa. If we are able to get podiums for the individuals that would be an added bonus.
This was incase we never got any sponsorship. This is exactly what happend. We recived R11000 from SAHPA for the contribution to the purchase of the clothing. this is R1000 per pilot. This is huge and we are very gratfull to SAHPA for this. I am now incuring as much cost as the other pilots because they are having to ship their aircraft to and from the event. Mine is sponsored by Nirvana and Dudek respectivly so have my motor waiting at the airfield already. with 15 hours of runtime on it when i get there. Thanks very much to Nirvana for supplying my Motor , Helmet, and Reserve for the event.
The team logo is great and looks stunning on our new team Flight suits (part sponsored by Flying Unlimited) the Luggage Sticked were donated by DMB signs for the team and will make it easier to recognise our luggage and kit as it comes off the planes.
I feel alittle numb right now with 2 days before departure and still organising spares and my work in the office. We are flying out from OR Tambo int at about 7pm on Friday the 24th July and will be at the airport from between 12pm (cape Pilots) and 2:30pm (gauten and other pilots). this will give us time to combine and check our luggage into The Turkish Airline check-in. Turkish airlines was the only Airline that would give us confirmed in Writing via Pen travel an additional 10kg of Sporting luggage free and an additional 10 kg for only 90 Euro if we require this per person. No local or other airline was willing to help, so from the team a big thanks to the Airline and Pen Travel in Hatfield for this.
2 weeks ago we finninshed testing the new Trikes the two Solo pilots (Riaan Struvig and Paul Jackson) are going to fly and litteraly just got them into the crate intime by one day for collection by Airmark and sent off to the Air field at Nove Mesto nad Metuji via Paris and then Prague. Our Kit is destined to land in Prague on the 23rd and delivered on the 24th to the field and stored for 2 days before we arrive. Anton and Mias our incredible tandem Duo have decided to purchase a new motor from H&E and have it delivered for them at the field it gives then enough power to fly tandem and then also to have weight shift in the thermals and for the slalom tasks. We made them a new Green Mamba with the New Simonini 2 Evo motor. There comments were it has stunning performance and unbelivable fuel economy but not enough weight shift from the harness so makes a great passenger tandem but not ideal for the tight turning comp flying. I am happy with this because i expect my pilots in the team to be up to the tasks and happy with there kit. The team all have new wings with stunning reputations and performance and have had some time not much to get to grips with them. They come from different manufacturers, Mac para, Apco, Ozone, Advance and Dudek so a broad spectrum of styles of wing are on there way with our team.
The team maember have had to pull finger in getting things organised so we can go over to have a fantastic comp. this includes organising, Air tickets with extra weight, visas, Documents for visas, 3rd party insurance, oil, accomodation, transport, fuel, entries to event, clothing (flight suits desighned and made, SA team clothes, data loggers, radios that comply to the comp standards, navigation software, maps, frieghting of equipment, collection of visas, international drivers permits, FAI licenses and currency of SAHPA licenses, shipping everyone there Clothes once recived and then also the air tickets, and many more smaller things. You have to know we are all buggered and we have not even arrived there yet and we are still having to work our normal jobs, train student to fly and try squeeze in a training flight every now and again. Alison(team manager) has taken alot of flack from the team because of the frustration of things not happening or being delayed due to some issue. She has been driving around collecting and organising and sitting for hours in the travel agency to get the best deal possible. Keith managed to save us a huge amont of time and money with some of his reserch and feeding it back to us as well as organinse a second data logger per team member for a very low price from Richard. paul has managed to get us the crate for shipping and also got great deals on frieghting. he also purchased the maps so we have a digital version ot the comp maps that we will be flying with and is busy stitching this together now so our nav planning will be better. Then he has also organised a few other things plus he was doing the whole advertising for his clients for the confederation cup at the same time and then just about every weekend he was out training his skills while the rest of us were teaching students working.

Well now the time is close just two days to go before we leave. The pressure is no off for organising as i think we have everything covered but are just needing to get there now.

Tony

Almost ready to go

2009-07-22T07:05:00.001+02:00

Video Updates

2009-07-20T14:38:00.005+02:00

We will be posting videos and photo's when we find the time. Here is a test video taken during training, testing an HD Helmet Camera.

(Updated 26 July - better copy uploaded)

Welcome!

2009-07-20T02:47:00.006+02:00

Posted by Keith Pickersgill.
Welcome to our very first post!

This is the blog for the South African 2009 Powered Paragliding team participating in the 2009 Powered Paragliding World Championships.

Where: in the Czech Republic, at the airfield outside the town of Nove Mesto nad Metuji (roughly translated to: New City on the Metuji River).
When:
Depart South Africa: Friday 24 July 2009 (via Istanbul and Prague)
Official Practice Days: 27-29 July 2009
Competition Days: 30 July to 8 August 2009 (10 days)
Prize-giving & Closing Ceremony: 9 August 2009

Each pilot scores for himself, but also for his/her national team. Individual champions and runner-ups are announced for each class, plus a national winning team and runner up countries in each class.

There are Four "classes", where each class may have 6 competitors (maximum 5 males), though seldom are the classes filled.
The SA team comprises 11 members:
Alison Gibson - Team Manager (not competing)
Class PF1 - Foot-launced, Solo
Tony Gibson (Team Captain)
Keith Pickersgill
Callie Calitz
Martin Calitz
Ricky Boyd
Pieter Wolmarans
Class PF2 - Foot-launced, Tandem
Anton Naude (Pilot)
Mias de Klerk (Navigator)
Class PL1 - Trike-launched, Solo
Paul Jackson
Riaan Struwig
Class PL2 - Trike-launched, Tandem (empty)

Sponsorship opportunity!
In 2007, the SA team had extensive sponsorship to compete at the Beijing World Championships and the sponsors enjoyed extensive media coverage including several SATV inserts.

This year, we have been unable to secure any sponsorship as yet, but are keen to discuss sponsorship opportunities and media coverage with interested parties. Please email sa2009ppg@gmail.com if you have any sponsorship proposals or suggestions.

More info available at (official website for event)
http://en.wpc2009.cz

All competitors will have access to an intranet for regular posts and updates from the organisers of the event. This is mirrored at: http://flymicro.com/wpc2009 in case you wish to follow.

Kindly forward this blog address to any friends, family or colleagues that might be interested.

The address to forward is: http://SA2009PPG.blogspot.com