News
HG Stop Press...
The Sting 3 is now available in two sizes: the 154 and the 168. Check out the reviews in the hang glider section of the web site.
Skywings Sting 3XC Hang Glider Test Download click here.
Airborne hang gliders have an enviable reputation around the world for their highly engineered finish, both in the sail work and the airframe. Each model comes in a variety of sizes and performance to suit different pilot weight and experience. Our gliders are constructed from super light weight 7075. From the sand dunes to cloudbase you can rely on Airborne hang gliders for strength and reliabilty.
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Jonas Blecher 1st Airborne C4 13.5 at NSW State Titles
Die NSW State Titles 2009 wurden letzte Woche in dem atemberaubenden Fluggebiet Manilla in der nähe von Tamworth ausgetragen. Insgesamt nahmen 55 Piloten aus der ganzen Welt teil. Neben Australiern starteten auch Spanier, Russen, Amerikaner und ich als, leider, einziger Deutscher.
Nach acht Tagen Wettbewerb hatten wir acht gültige Tasks auf dem Rankingboard stehen, was die NSW Titles zu dem besten Wettbewerb dieser Saison in Australien macht!!!
Gewonnen hat Jonny Durand. Zweiter wurde der junge und überragend fliegende Spanier Blay Olmos, welcher den Wettbewerb lange anführte. Den dritten Platz belegte Pedro Garcia Morelli.
Ich endete auf Platz 6., womit ich mehr als zufrieden bin. :)
Abschliesend kann ich nur sagen: eine Woche mit vielen, vielen geflogenen km, vielen Flugstunden und viel Spass mit all den lustigen Piloten in der Luft und am Boden.
Manilla, I will be back!
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Pre Worlds 2008 Laragne
Congratulations to Scott Barett, Winner of the Pre-Worlds 08 in Laragne on his Airborne C4 13.5!!!
Task 1
Blue skies and a forecast for a westerly wind kicking in. The decision was made to go to Aspres (W & S launches) in case the wind turned west before all the pilots T1launched, which would have been a problem at Chabre. The task was set at 129.5km, from Aspres to Laragne via turnpoints at Charance (Gap), La Batie Neuve, Dormillouse and Digne-les-Bains. Only seven pilots made goal, led by Scott Barrett, Australia in 3hrs 28mins, followed by Gary Wirdman, UK, 3hrs 49mins and Klaus Peter Wilming, Germany, 3hrs 53mins. The field was spread wide, with a couple of difficult sections, one close to Chorges, near the huge lake, Serre-Poncon, and another between the third and fourth turnpoints. This decked many pilots along a couple of isolated valleys between Seyne and Digne. Retrieve drivers were working late – so were the scorers! Team positions after the first task are: UK first, Germany second and France third. See the Blogspot for all the inside news and up to date photos and video interviews.
Task 2
It is still rather windy, but the forecast is more confident that the wind will drop and turn from north to west. The decision was taken to go to Aspres La Longeane, once again.
A task is set going from Aspres to St Genis, on to Gache and then up to Tete de Boursier, near Tallard, and then back to Laragne for 70km. It was a long wait on launch for the wind to turn west, but finally the first start gate opened at 16.45. The early launchers took advantage of good thermals, then the clouds dissipated and those who launched last landed first. Further south, the clouds were growing rapidly to storm proportions. The task was stopped at 18.42. There were already more than 50 pilots at the goal field, and the remainder of the field were recovered fairly swiftly. The storms just missed Laragne town itself, but there were several deluges just a few km away. The 15minute score back factor for stopped tasks came into play, which caught out a few pilots who thought they had made goal. In fact, pilots are scored only to where they were 15minutes before the task was stopped. Although gold medal holder, Attila Bertok (HUN) was fastest round the course, he missed out first place in the task to Andreas Olsson (SWE) who stacked up leading points.
The overall leader board has not changed, with Scott Barret (Aus) in top position, followed by Gary Wirdman (GBR). In the team rankings, France moves to second place behind UK.
Task 6
The weather forecast suggested a reduced risk of early storms than previous days but with an increasing south/south westerly wind. On Chabre launch a good southerly breeze under the low inversion gave us good launch conditions. The task commitee set an 80km route around the valley in case storms developed, with a goal at the Ribiers landing field. Under a better looking sky the window opened at 12:25. As the inversion broke and gliders in the air started to climb, there was a flurry to launch.
After three days of stopped and cancelled tasks, due to storms, finally we had a good day. With 26 pilots in goal at Ribiers, the task was deemed a success – short but challenging. There were some difficult stretches as the course turned south twice into a strengthening southerly breeze. Scott Barratt (Aus) was first in goal, giving him a substantial lead in the overall results. Balazs Ujhelyi (Hun) was second and Carl Wallbank from the UK was in third place today. There was an international mix of pilots in goal, from Denmark, Sweden, USA, Mexico, Spain, Netherlands, Russia and France.
The first female in today’s task was Julia Kucherenko from Russia, followed by Daphne Schelkers of Netherlands. In the overall rankings, Daphne is leading Julia.
The team competition has become fierce, with Britain barely holding its lead over France.
more info www.chabre2009.com
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Airborne Hang Gliders dominating the Delta Acrobatics on this years Vertigo
Samuel Duprat from France first on his Airborne Climax C2, Johny Neilson from Norway 3rd on the all new Airborne C4 13,5, and Flo Oerly from Austria 4th on his C4 13.5
Spain also in supremacy at Vertigo Swiss Riviera 2008
Ball wizards and flying champs: With two representatives in the solo discipline's first places, Spain was also in the spotlight at the eleventh edition of Vertigo Swiss Riviera. Horacio Llorens Fernandez won the title both in solo and synchronous ranking, Felix Rodriguez became second in solo. The Swiss Céline Barman wins the women's class challenge and Christian Maurer (also CH) finishes fifth at the men's.
read more about the Vertigo 2008 on the official webite www.vertigo.ch