2002 News Summary

12/21/02
Talon Wins South African Nationals
Peter Van Den Berg writes:
The South African National Hang Gliding Championships ended yesterday, Saturday 21st December, and the winner was Johan Anderson flying a Wills Wing Talon 2002.
He won against stiff opposition from Anton Brown on a Lamouette 2 and John Woiwode on an Aeros Combat 2.
The New Talon caused quite a stir at launch and even more when Johan blew the opposition away on two strong into wind days.

Great Flying Johan!

12/18/02
Holiday Wishes From Wills Wing

All of us at Wills Wing wish you and your families a Safe, Healthy, and Happy Holiday Season!
Thank you for your support!
We will close for our annual break on December 19th, and re-open on January 6th, 2003.
Fly safely,
The Wills Wing Crew

12/06/02
Final Week! – Wills Wing Fall Specials on Hang gliders, Paragliders, and Rotor Harnesses
Only one week left to take advantage of Wills Wing Fall Specials on Hang gliders, Paragliders, and Rotor Harnesses!

11/19/02
Wills Wing Fall Specials on Hang gliders, Paragliders, and Rotor Harnesses
Free Upgrades On Hang Gliders
Now is a great time to order a new Wills Wing glider for next season! You’ll get a great deal on the highest quality gliders made, beat the long spring delivery times, and you will be helping us keep busy over the winter months.

The savings on a 2002 Talon are: Free – Slipstream Control Bar Upgrade with the low drag Aluminum Streamlined base tube, AND Your Choice of Custom Colors – (a $475 Value! ) on ANY NEW TALON 140, 150 or 160 ordered between November 15th and December 15th 2002.
The savings on Falcon 2s, Eagles, and Ultra Sports are:
Your Choice of two out of three of the following – ( a $262 Value ) Free on ANY NEW Falcon, Eagle or Ultra Sport ordered between November 15th and December 15th 2002.

• Free Custom Colors
• Free packing for shipment, including V-Board protection,
• Free upgrade to the folding base tube

Save $100 On Inventory Rotors
Order any Rotor harness from inventory between November 15th, and December 15th and save 100 dollars!

Save $100 on any Paraglider!
Order any Swing or Airwave paraglider between November 15th, and December 15th and save 100 dollars.

10/22/02
Airwave Paragliders Have Continued Success
The Airwave Sport, DHV 1-2, is becoming widely acknowledged as the number one all-around paraglider, worldwide, including Jérôme Daoust’s ‘Best Paragliding Equipment’ list. The success and acceptance of the Sport is the result of years of design experience and intesive development over 18 months (and many prototypes) of the Sport design itself.
The Airwave Magic, DHV 2-3, has continued to prove a very strong competitor in the two years since it was introduced, even against a variety of recent competing designs. Among the wins for the Magic this year were the British Championships, the Swedish Championships (2nd year in a row!), and the Dutch Open Flatlands. Each of these competitions demanded a different mix of skills and capabilities from pilot and glider, demonstrating the versatility of the Magic.
In other Airwave news, the Explorer paramotor wing was used to set a new altitude record, climbing from 540m to 5234m in 90 minutes!
AIRWAVE – The Choice of Champions.

10/14/02
Harness Delivery Times to Improve
We’ve managed to shift some resources over to our harness department and expect to significantly reduce existing delivery times. If you were thinking of ordering a Wills Wing Z5 harness, but were put-off by our recent long delivery times, you may wish to reconsider. Please call or e-mail Gene for new estimated delivery dates.

10/06/02
Talon Sets Two New Records in Brazil
Brazilian pilot Paulino Cambuquira, flying a Talon 140, broke the distance record for the state of Minas Gerais, flying 236 km (146 miles) on Sunday, October 6.
The next day, Leo ‘Maskara’, flew his Talon 150 211 km (131 miles) from Andrades to Ibiuna, a new distance record for Sao Paulo.
Great Flying Guys!

09/23/02
Kitty Hawk Kites Hang Gliding Spectacular May 16-19, 2003
The dates have been set for next year’s Hang Gliding Spectacular at Kitty Hawk Kites, Nags Head, NC. Visit the Kitty Hawk Kites Hang Gliding Spectacular website for more information.

09/15/02
Scott Angel Flies Talon 140 to Become 2002 U.S. National Speed Gliding Champion at Lookout Mountain

Speed Gliding pilot Scott Angel flew his 2002 Talon 140 superbly through 8 rounds of competition to win the 2002 U.S. National Speed Gliding competition at Lookout Mountain, Georgia.
This is just the latest victory for the Talon, which also recently won the Brazilian Nationals, was in the top three in the Pre-Worlds, won the U.S Open, dominated the Torrey Pines Air Races, and placed very highly in several other competitions this year.
Great Flying Scott!

09/06/02
Nene Rotor Places 3rd in the 2002 Pre-Worlds Flying a Talon 140
Nene’s strong finish in this highly competitive meet, featuring the top comp pilots from around the world in 10 tasks, right after his victory in the Brazilian Nationals is a credit to both his world-class skill and his Talon 140’s world-class performance.
Nene reports that he loves his glider’s handling and the performance was matched by only one other competitor.
The Brazilian team finished second in the team standings, led by Nene, with Carlos Bessa, also flying a Talon, 3rd among the Brazilians.
Great Job, Nene and Carlos!

08/24/02
Daniel Velez / WW Talon win Colombian Nationals
Jose Antonio Mejía writes:
The Colombian Nationals were held in Roldanillo-Valle, 17-24 August, 2002. 8 days racing with tasks between 55 to 130 kms, 21 km/hour average speed with no wind, not bad for our level, we are learning.

1st place Daniel Velez 2002 WW Talon Medellin – Antioquia
2nd place Jose Mejía Icaro MR 700 WR Cali – Valle
3rd place Hector Corrales WW Fusion SP Medellin – Antioquia

Congratulations Daniel!

08/17/02
Nene Rotor Wins the Brazilian Nationals Flying a Talon 140
Top Brazilian Pilot Nene Rotor has won the Brazilian Nationals flying a Talon 140. This year’s field included some well-known, tough competitors flying a variety of gliders.
See Davis Straub’s Oz Report V6 #163 for details, and also recent Oz Reports for details on individual tasks in the meet.
Congratulations, Nene!

08/14/02
Technical Bulletin Issued: TB20020801 – Falcon Leading Edge to Crossbar Assembly
Recently it was reported to us that the crossbar to leading edge junction on a Falcon 225 became disassembled in flight. Fortunately the pilot and tandem passenger were not seriously injured.
Apparently, the bolt had been incorrectly installed upside down, with the castle nut and safety on the bottom, when the glider was re-assembled after shipping. It is possible that in addition the safety ring was deformed during installation, leaving the split portion of the ring open. The improper assembly orientation, possibly aggravated by the deformation of the ring, allowed the ring to be caught on the sail and eventually pulled out of the bolt, which in turn allowed the nut to loosen and come off.
On most Falcon models, this junction need not be and is not disassembled for shipping breakdown. However, on a limited number of Falcon 225’s produced at dealer request with optional 6061 leading edges, and on all Falcon Tandem models (which use 6061 leading edges as the stock configuration), it is necessary to disassemble this junction to break the glider down for shipping. This junction may also be disassembled on any Falcon during an inspection or repair process.
We have issued an advisory on this issue (see TB20020801 – Falcon Leading Edge to Crossbar Assembly), which applies to all Falcons – but applies especially to any Falcon Tandem model, or any Falcon 1 225 which was made with the optional 6061 leading edges. All applicable gliders should be inspected in accordance with the instructions in the bulletin to make sure that they do not have a problem in this area.

08/10/02
Chris Zimmerman, Talon 150, Wins U.S. Open Hang Gliding Competition
Chris Zimmerman has won the U.S. Open hang gliding competition at Big Springs, Texas, flying a Talon 150. Jim Lee, who led for much of the meet, and Terry Presley, also flying Talon 150s, finished 3rd and 4th respectively as well.
Congratulations, Chris!

08/05/02
Pilot Feedback: Scott Leonard on the 2002 Talon

Here is what Scott Leonard had to say about his 2002 Talon 150:
“Regarding my first impressions/flights… I towed 4 times on Sunday and had 2 flights that were ‘flight(s) of the day’… The conditions were South and generally light/stable but with some mildly ‘gnarly’ cycles… Just enough to make towing interesting at times. The lift was less than 200 fpm IF/WHEN you could find it… Sink was abundant/strong. The glider handled superbly… a bit ‘touchy’ at first perhaps, but I soon became accustomed to the VERY light handling/bar-pressures and by the end of the day felt sufficiently ‘dialed-in’ and comfortable. The quality of workmanship/materials/service/relations is excellent and customer satisfaction is extremely high. Please commend your staff for their efforts to satisfy this ‘fussy’ (discerning) customer.”
Hang gliding has touched my life, calmed my soul and excited my spirit…”

Sincerely,
Scott Leonard

07/29/02
Wills Wing Summer 2002 Demo Schedule

07/24/02
Pilot Feedback: Rob McKenzie on the Falcon Tandem

Rob McKenzie has logged more than 7500 foot launch tandems in his teaching career. Read his comments on the new Falcon Tandem glider!
“It is nice to finally have a tandem glider that performs well, has light and neutral roll response, and flares smoothly with full rotation without that feeling of pushing against a brick wall.”
Rob McKenzie

07/12/02
John Pitt Places 2nd in the Chelan Classic Flying a 2002 Talon 150
John had the longest class one flight of the comp at 152.5 miles. He won two days and tied for first on another day in the six day competition.
John’s thoughts on the demo he flew:
“It felt really stable in ratty air, and the more I flew it the better I liked it. The new Talon is an awesome glider. Bill Soderquist and I team-flew for most of the meet. He had a mylar Lightspeed and a very clean harness. I was flying the Talon demo with Hydranet and my Z-5. We did a bunch of glides together and our performance was the same. Need to get a cleaner harness (like the Vulto! – ed.) and see what happens then!
I think the 2002 Talon has a definite advantage in long flights. I credit this to the ease in handling and a superior glide.”
John Pitt
Congratulations to John for placing so well in the Chelan Classic!

07/09/02
Inventory Sized Rotor Harness Sale – Deep Discounts!
Sale On Inventory Rotor Harnesses
We’ve reduced even further the already low prices on our remaining inventory of internal parachute Rotor Kick-Ass harnesses! New harnesses are listed for $525.00 retail and used ones for $425.00! We currently have in stock several side mount Kick-Ass harnesses, and are expecting to receive some new inventory Vultos over the next few weeks. The first batch of customer Vultos have already been shipped.

06/20/02
Pete Lehmann Sets Distance to Declared Goal World Record!
Pete writes:
Hi Wills Wing,
You will be happy to hear that once again one of your company’s gliders, a Talon 150 in this instance, has been used to attain a hang gliding world record. On June 20 I flew 321 miles northwestward from Zapata, Texas to the declared goal airport at Big Lake, Texas. The flight took a bit under nine hours, flying in 400-800 FPM lift to heights that ranged from 3,500 MSL early to 9,200 MSL at the end of the flight.
The flight began shortly after ten AM when I was aero-towed up to one of the bizarre low-altitude cloud streets that form around here early in the morning. After a bit of crosswind flying to get around Laredo’s airspace the flight became initially straightforward. Cloudbase went up to 6,000 AGL and the clouds lined up well. However, I soon realized that the streets were lining up about 10 degrees south of my desired course line to Big Lake. That meant that I had to jump cloud streets towards the north, and the first two times I did so I wound up low and in trouble over truly inhospitable mesquite wastelands. And on both occasions my scratching, drifting saves again put me well off the course line. It was only once I got to about the 250 mile point around five o’clock that a fortuitously north-south oriented street of lovely high (9,000 MSL/6,500 AGL) clouds allowed me to drive ten miles crosswind to the north and back onto course. After that it was easy and I arrived at Big Lake high at ten past seven in the evening. Mike Barber, with whom I had left from Zapata, had beaten me to the goal by half an hour and chose to continue on. I knew that, unlike Mike, I was too late to beat Ruhmer’s absolute record and happily landed at Big Lake. Ten minutes later my spectacular driver Andrew Holupka pulled in to feed me beer.
It was one helluva good day, and thank you all for building the glider that made it possible.
Pete Lehmann
Hearty Congratulations to Pete

06/10/02
Robert Reisinger, Flying his Talon, Takes 2nd in the French Millau Classic !

Wills Wing Team pilot Robert Reisinger, flying a Talon 150, won two of the three days of competition in the recent Millau Classic in France. Robert took second place overall in the competition.
Congratulations to Robert for Placing so well in this very competitive meet!

05/20/02
New Rotor Vulto Harness Released

Nene Rotor has designed an improved version of the Rotor Kick Ass he calls VULTO. (It means ‘shadow’, or ‘hard to see’ in Portuguese)
The photo above shows how clean it is even when it’s not zipped up!
The VULTO retains the innovative lever above the butt for pitch adjustment.
The VULTO features:

• 2.5 inch wider back plate that extends further forward to support the shoulder straps.
• Right side mounted faired parachute container.
• Left side Radio pocket / storage, filled with removable foam to fair the pilot’s arms.
• Hook knife pocket.
• LOTS of internal storage.

Suggested Retail $1150

Watch for more details in the upcoming Customer E-News.

05/16/02
Rotor Inventory Pricing Change
Effective immediately we are discontinuing the $200 retail discount on all inventory Rotor harnesses. However there are still discounted prices on certain individual harnesses, in some cases even lower than the previous sale price. Please refer to the inventory list for specific harness discounts.

05/10/02
Talons place 1st, 2nd, and 4th in Torrey Pines Air Races!
Airwave Sports place 1st and 4th in Serial Class Races!

Torrey Pines Air Races Results: Open Class Hang Gliders

Torrey Pines Air Races Results:Serial Class Paragliders DHV 1-2

Our congratulations to all pilots!
Our thanks to Dave, Maya, and Gabriel Jebb for sponsoring the races, and to all the volunteers, who allowed the race to go on!
If you haven’t flown Torrey in a while, you should. The Jebb family has done an amazing job with the site. Amenities such as a grassy set up area, a café with great food, and a nice pro shop make this a must-fly site.
Rob

05/07/02
Airwave Sport S Now Certified DHV 1-2
Now that the Sport S (65-85 kg pilot weight w/all gear) is certified the model size should be in full regular production within about 4 weeks. Many pilots have already placed orders and Airwave’s Bruce Goldsmith is confident that they’ll find the wait to have been well worth it when their gliders arrive.
There are now 4 sizes of the Sport that are DHV certified: S, M, L, & XL. The XS is the next size that will be certified. At Airwave, like Wills Wing, the different sizes of a model are not “just” scaled down or up versions of the first size – every size of every model is really a new design on its own, which adds time and effort to the prototype-to-production process.
Look over our Sport page to learn more about this responsive wing for the performance-minded pilot. Sport pilots were landing ‘all smiles’ after a great day of racing at the Torrey Pines Air Races last weekend, where a Sport won the Serial class, piloted by Josh Meyers of Airtek PG in San Diego, CA.

04/11/02
Call For Immediate Comment on the Sport Pilot / Light Sport Aircraft NPRM
We need your help. The 90-day comment period for the Notice of Proposed Rule Making on the Certification of Aircraft and Airmen for the Operation of Light-Sport Aircraft comes to an end on May 6th, 2002.

03/31/02
Santa Barbara Talon Pilots Report Great Flights

Speed Gliding pilot Scott Angel flew his Talon 140 from Ojai to near California City for a distance of 104 miles. Scott’s report:

Hey Steve,
Yesterday was good! I launched Pine Mt. and and landed 1 mile short of Hwy. 395, about 15 miles east of California City on Twenty Mule Team Parkway, where it turns into dirt . I was close to landing in Lockwood Valley – when I unzipped to land I hooked a screamer to 11,000′ and was able to get back on course. Once I made Mohave I glided to California City where I expected to land but got one last thermal to 9,400 and was able to glide 15 miles to break 100. It was my longest flight ever! 104 miles, 4hr 50 min. The sun was just setting.
Cya at the Nats

Great Flying Scott!

Just two weeks ago new Talon 160 owner Craig Warren flew his wing 101 miles from Santa Barbara’s ‘Eliminator’ launch for the site distance record. Excerpts from Craig’s report:
—–Original Message—–
From: Craig Warren
Sent: Friday, March 22, 2002 1:46 PM
Subject: Santa Barbara- 101 miles
Glider- Wills Wing Talon 160
Launch- Eliminator
Time- ~ 4 ½ hours
Distance- 101 miles

What a day!

It started on Thursday, March 14th…I pulled the weather up on my computer and the 6000 ft temp was predicted to be 32 degrees on Friday and the 9000ft temp was about 20 degrees. It did look good! [Friday] I got up early…We got up to launch about 9:40am. It was blowing down lightly at first (5mph).

I was the only HG, all the PG’s went to the Sky Port… I tried to get up at launch, but it didn’t work, so I headed to the thermal factory. I got a good one right over the towers and took it up with a PG to 5700…Glided to Ramero and got back to 5700. Never really got low, 4000 was about the lowest. Glided down to the Power Lines, dolphin flying all the way down there…I was a few hundred below the ridge coming into West Divide and flew into a nice bowl. I hit a nice thermal, I thought…but then I hit some really bad turb and just hung on…I am flying a 160, and with all that wing area, I really got thrown around. The glider handles GREAT, and I am able to handle the glider – I just need to stay on top of it a little more…My plan was to go down the ridges at Nordoff..Between the first and second bump I hit a BOOMER. I took it to 8500 topping out right over Nordoff launch. I was stoked! The air felt a lot warmer over Nordoff at 8500 then 6 grand in SB. I was high enough to cut the corner going to Santa Paula peak, plus there was a nice cloud street out in front of the Topa bluffs, over upper Ojai…I glided east…and pulled the glide to Oat mountain ridge…Once I hit Oat Mountain Ridge I started heading out towards Filmore…I topped out at 7500 about ½ mile to the SW of lake Piru’s boat ramp…I took…one to 6500 topping out a little to the NE of the I5 and 126 Intersection. At this point it was weird, I was totally stoked to be in this position, but there were planes everywhere! I wanted to move on and get out of their way. I probably saw 5 planes in about 15 mins, most of them flying below me.

There was a south wind, but a nice dark cloud street right down the center of the valley that the 14 heads east from I5. I headed SE. Not very many LZ, but I was stinking high (7500)…I flew about 5 miles and right over Bouguet road I got another thermal to 7000. I was getting snowed on. Then I noticed that my carbon fiber control bar wasn’t that cold. My hands were cold but not frozen like they have been in the past. Nice bonus for that carbon fiber bar! I started heading more east. I saw 2 South West Airlines 737 making their approach to land at Burbank, below me and about ½ mile to the east. I headed east watching for planes (like that is going to help)…I got high enough to make the glide to Agua Dulce Airport…I climbed out to a little over 9000 just to the west of the Hauser Microwave towers.

I was so stoked! I had Palmdale on a glide at this point…I topped out just about ¼ past the 14 and right over the 138, which is about 2 miles to the south of Palmdale AF Plant…I was trying to hold Ave O and it seemed the lower I got the stronger the wind got out of the SW. The last 2 ½ miles I was flying sideways going down Ave O (heading east). At this point I knew that I was close to the 100 mile mark, I just wanted to make it as far east as I could. I flew till I had a nice clear spot to land…I turned into the wind and was parked. I was coming straight down. I dropped the last 20 feet to the ground…I immediately jumped on the control bar and held the nose wires.

I stood there for about 20 mins thinking about what I was going to do. The wind came down a little bit for a min and I managed to unhook. I flew my glider over to the 1 cactus tree and tied the nose to the tree. I waited till Tom and Eddie got there to break down. I landed about 3:30-3:45. Tom and Eddie arrived at about 5:30.

I said to myself, this glider will work!

Craig Warren

P.S. A BIG thanks to Eddie for driving!!!
and
Thanks to Wills Wing for building such a GREAT glider!!

Great Flying Craig!

03/16/02
Robert Resinger Joins the Wills Wing Competition Team

World Class competition pilot Robert Reisinger has been here in California working with WW designer Steve Pearson on continuing improvements to the Talon. Robert is an excellent pilot, with lots of energy and good ideas. Watch for him at the major comps this year. Many other top pilots have chosen to fly on the team again this year. Jim Lee, Chris Arai, Nene Rotor, Richard Walbec, Chris Muller, Sandy Dittmar, Françoise Mocellin, Terry Presley and Jamie Stinnett will all be flying Talons. We are honored that these great pilots have chosen to fly our gliders!

03/06/02
Talon Demo Clearance Sale !
Save Up To $2100 !
We’re selling off the current demo fleet to make room for some shiny new ones! Check the website inventory list for some great prices on used demo Talons. Save $1200 to $2100 compared to new glider prices!

02/25/02
Save Hundreds of Dollars if You are Inventory Sized! – Rotor Harness Sale
Sale On Inventory Rotor Harnesses – Save $200 Retail
We’re running a limited time sale to clear out some of our inventory of Rotor Kick-Ass harnesses. We have a good selection of sizes and colors – some new, some used demos at reduced prices. From now through March 8th, you can take $200 off of the listed retail of any Rotor Harness in factory inventory. Click here to go to the Rotor inventory list.

02/16/02
Scott Angel Flies Talon From Santa Barbara to Kagel
Speed Gliding pilot Scott Angel flew his Talon 140 from Santa Barbara to Kagel (Sylmar) – a 73 mile flight – on one of the best SoCal flying days so far this year. After completing a friendly 10 mile out-and-return challenge with a couple of locals, the group headed inland since conditions were so good. The other pilots reportedly made just under 60 miles – excellent flights as well. Scott reports that he was flying “that same old 140 that got me first in Aspen and first in the first speedglide contest in Santa Barbara”. Congratulations! (see the  CSS Pilot’s Forum for a little more info)

01/28/02
Save Three Hundred Bucks On Any Hang Glider In Wills Wing Inventory
From now until February 21st, you can save $300 off the listed retail price of any hang glider purchased from Wills Wing factory inventory (when ordered through a participating Wills Wing dealer). The $300 discount applies to all brand new hang gliders listed at normal retail prices, and, in addition, it applies as an extra discount to the already reduced retail prices listed on a wide range of used factory demo hang gliders. Check out the website inventory list now.

01/25/02
Wills Wing’s 29th Anniversary / Wallaby Demo Days!

Mark your calendar, April 4th-7th we will be celebrating twenty nine years in business. For the fifth year in a row, Wallaby Ranch will roll out the red carpet, (along with six tugs) so we can all have a great time flying. Everyone should go to the Sun ‘n Fun fly-in at least once, and it’s happening at the same time just a few miles away. Sun ‘n Fun is the world’s second largest air show, and the largest gathering of ultralight aircraft on the planet.
We’ll have demos of all models and sizes, so plan to join us if you can!
Wallaby Ranch is located outside of Orlando, Florida, in the USA and boasts all the amenities, friendly service, and LOTS of airtime!

01/09/02
New Computerized Sail Plotter/Cutter

Nine years ago, in conjunction with our move to a new, expanded facility, Wills Wing installed a state of the art, computer controlled Autometrix sail-cutting machine. The use of this precision, numerically controlled cutter/plotter has given us the ability to produce prototype hang glider sails and harness designs directly from computer design files, while allowing us to achieve a level of accuracy and consistency in production that is far beyond what is available using manual cutting and marking methods. Since 1993, every prototype and production hang glider we’ve made has been cut on this machine. We also use the machine to precision cut harness components, and to produce custom sail inlays and other custom cutting jobs directly from digital files.

Over the last three weeks, we’ve replaced our original machine with the highly upgraded Autometrix AutoCut 7000 model. The new unit features rack and pinion drive mechanisms, three phase stepping motors, and repeatable accuracy to within ten thousandths of an inch over the entire surface of the fifty-foot by five-foot table. It is well known among designers and test pilots that dimensional variations as small as sixty thousandths of an inch over the thirty-two foot span of a hang glider can yield perceptible changes in flight characteristics, so this level of accuracy is a matter of practical importance in hang glider manufacture.

Our investment in the AutoCut 7000 reaffirms our ongoing commitment to apply the latest in technology and innovation to the job of providing the highest quality equipment for hang gliding and paragliding.

01/03/02
Airwave Sport L Released
Airwave has released the Sport L paraglider, which joins the Sport M. The XS, S, and XL sizes of this exciting new glider are due to be released soon. We will have Sport Ls available in the U.S. in several weeks.