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Published: July 21st 2011
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Villa Pascolo I
Where the FAI officials, including myself, and the organisers are staying. During the last two days, the weather forecast was not good, so both days were called during the team leader briefings that take place at 9 o’clock every morning. But in spite of that, we are far from being bored.
There are quite a few issues that have to be discussed between organisation, officials, and pilots. In my opinion, it becomes obvious in many aspects that hanggliding is still a very young sport. It started in the 1970s, so we are just on the way of getting best practice examples in many areas. One example is how to ensure safety during competitions. I remember that three years ago when sprog measurement was introduced, big discussions came up whether or not this makes sense. The sprogs are metal parts on both sides of the wings that help to make sure a glider does not tuck, that is, make a rollover to the front, which is pretty dangerous because it usually makes the pilot fall into the sail, which breaks the glider. Needless to say that this is a dangerous situation you definitely want to avoid.
Anyway, when sprogs were measured during the Europeans in Greifenburg, Austria, three years ago, pilots
Villa Pascolo II
The view from my room. as well as manufacturers were questioning whether the sprog settings were really contributing to safety. Of course, there are other parameters that influence if a glider tumbles, for example, the batten profile or the shape of the sail. So many pilots held the opinion that the glider as a whole had to be taken into consideration and also that it was far from being proven that the sprog settings could prevent a tumble. DHV and CIVL officials along with other pilots, however, held the opinion that the sprogs had a big influence and therefore enforced the measurement and also tried to convince the pilots of the necessity of doing it. This was even more the case after a fatal accident that happened during the Europeans in 2008, for which a tumble was the reason.
Today, nobody really questions the necessity of measuring the sprogs, and to my knowledge, most pilots are convinced that adequate settings contribute to safety. The manufacturers deliver lists that contain the adequate sprog settings for their glider models. So now the question is more about best practice. What is the best method of measuring them reliably, but also efficiently? How can we make sure the
The jury car
A Fiat Punto. pilots themselves know what the sprog setting for their gliders are and how they can measure them? Do we really need to measure all the gliders before a competitions starts? How can we make sure the settings are not changed during the competition? If we check pilots randomly after a competition day, what is the best way of doing it? It is certainly not a good idea to measure in the windy landing paddock because that affects reliability.
Another issue this year are helmets. For many years, it was sufficient to just have a helmet and fly with it. However, during last year’s Europeans, it was mandatory to have a certified helmet, and this rule had been decided upon by the CIVL plenary. We have the same rule here at the Worlds. There is a norm according to which the helmets have to be certified, the EN 966. But most pilots make modifications to their helmets, usually by putting headsets into it, but sometimes also by drilling holes into them, by changing the padding inside the helmet, or by cutting parts off. So what modifications affect the certification and therefore the safety of the helmet, which don’t?
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general questions usually concern the rules and regulations. What are they, how do we interpret them? What rules can be changed before the competition starts, which can’t? How can we get pilots more involved into decision making?
So there are plenty of things to discuss. Addendums to the local regulations have to be made, approved and signed. And so on. But of course, we are not only working. On Tuesday, for example, I went to see the Grotte di Fassassi with Heather, Mart, and Nils. These are pretty amazing caves that are supposed to be amongst the biggest caves in Europe. Afterwards, we went to Genga, a little village not far from the caves that is fairly old. In the evening, we were all invited to an old castle that is a hotel now to have dinner there. Wonderful place, wonderful atmosphere. There is actually something going on every night. The day before, I was invited to have dinner with Heather, Mart, Francoise, and Nils, and afterwards, we went to the square in town where a band was playing jazz music. And they were really good! Yesterday, we had dinner at the Villa Pascolo, where the FAI officials and
the organisation team are staying. They cook fantastic food. Afterwards, we went to a karaoke and belly dancing party at HQ. And once more, I was amazed by Heather’s great voice. She is such a good singer.
We just came back from the mountain. We were trying to set a task, but the wind became stronger and stronger. Shortly before the task briefing, the wind speed was up to 50 km/h, so the day was cancelled. Some pilots flew anyway. But the takeoffs looked pretty exciting, and I think most pilots were glad that they did not have to take off in these conditions.
Please keep your fingers crossed for a good day tomorrow.
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