2010 News Summary

11/24/10
Thanksgiving and Christmas Closing – Wallaby 2011 Dates

We will be closed on Thursday November 25th and Friday November 26th for Thanksgiving. We will also close down for our traditional two week Christmas break on Friday December 17th, and re-open on Monday January 3rd.

Our Wallaby 2011 Demo Days and Fly-In will be held Wednesday, March 23rd through Sunday March 27th, with our traditional party and dinner on Saturday night March 26th. This year Ryan Voight will be hosting one of his very highly regarded landing clinics on Thursday and Friday, March 24th and 25th. The clinic will include video and analysis of your landings and is free, other than the cost of your tows. Participants can get a reduced rate on tows during the clinic by pre-registering – just send an email with your name and “Landing Clinic” in the subject line to mike@www.willswing.com. (You should plan to provide your own glider for the landing clinic – availability of demo gliders will be limited.)

We hope to see you at Wallaby in 2011!

Our sales in 2010 have returned to pre-recession levels and are up 10% over last year. We have been particularly pleased to see the continued increase in popularity among advanced pilots and competition pilots of the T2 and T2C this year, and the increasing success of the glider in competition events. As we come to the end of a very successful year and prepare for the holiday season, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to all of our dealers and customers. We are reminded every day that our success depends on all of you, and we’re very thankful to have your continued support.

09/14/10
Wolfi wins Gaisberg Speedrun on T2C 154
Wolfgang Siess has won the Gaisberg Speedrun last weekend flying a Wills Wing T2C 154.

Gaisberg Speedrun 11 September 2010

Race 18:30 – 19:00 Uhr

1. Wolfi Siess 3′ 08″
2. Primoz Gricar 3′ 21″
3. Günther Tschurnig 3′ 24″
4. Gerd Dönhuber 3′ 28″
4. Steffen Hertling 3′ 28″
5. *Tom Weissenberger 3′ 33″
(disqualified: Gate II missed)
Training 11:30 – 12:00 Uhr

1. Primoz Gricar 3′ 34″
2. Wolfi Siess 3′ 37″
3. Gerolf Heinrichs 3′ 50″
3. Christian Tiefenbacher 3′ 50″
5. Gerd Dönhuber 4′ 01″

09/10/10
Wills Wing Covert Hang Gliding Harness in Production
The new Covert competition and cross-country harness is now in production and available for ordering. Orders for the Covert must be placed through an authorized Wills Wing Dealer.

09/02/10
Malcolm Brown and Gary Wirdnam Take 2nd and 3rd on T2C’s in the 2010 British Nationals at Laragne
Malcom Brown, on a Wills Wing T2C, won one of the three valid days, and placed 2nd on another en route to a 2nd place overall finish in the 2010 British Nationals, held at Laragne, France August 22nd to 28th. Gary Wirdnam, also on a T2C, finished 3rd overall among British competitors. Six of the top nine British finishers in the meet flew Wills Wing gliders. Among competitors from all countries, six of the top twelve finishers were on Wills Wing gliders.

Malcolm had this to say about his T2C, which he had picked up at the end of the Pre-Worlds:

“I have to say it’s a great glider. Light handling, easy to fly and very competitive when climbing and gliding. Many thanks.”

09/02/10
Three on a Falcon

Judy Leden writes (July 2010):

Many thanks for our fabulous new tandem hang glider. Its maiden flight was for a TV film where a peregrine falcon was to take a lure from the hand of a presenter in the air. I have been working with the bird trainer for months to train Lucy, the falcon (using the Sport 2 & our solo Falcon) and we were confident she would perform on the day.

At the first pass, Lucy took off and grabbed the lure from the presenter perfectly with some spectacular footage from the on-board cameras. During the second try, we hid the lure as she got to the hang glider and she neatly perched on the Falcon, one foot on the wing wire, one on the pouch (strapped to the downtube) where the lure was concealed. She hitched a ride for several minutes giving us a wonderful view of this beautiful creature. Eventually, we got the lure out, she took it and flew off to eat her reward.

So…….3 up on a Falcon!

08/21/10
Wills Wing Pilots Sweep 2010 Big Spring US Nationals
Wills Wing T2C 144 Pilot Zac Majors has won the 2010 Big Spring US Nationals. WW pilots took the top four places in the meet and two of them, Zac and Larry Bunner, each won three tasks. Third place pilot Chris Zimmerman finished very consistently from day to day to earn his place on the podium.
Excellent flying, guys!

08/19/10
Carbon Keel Stinger for T2/T2C

The Carbon Keel Stinger is the latest parasitic-drag-slaying accessory from Wills Wing. The stinger has a smooth taper, organic curves, and adds significant finishing “BLING” to your wing. The team has aerotowed on rough surfaces and pogo-sticked them in the ground on landings, and they’re robust.

The carbon keel stinger is available for the T2 and T2C models. Upgrade price to include the stinger on a new glider is $225 (01A-B3) and retrofit price for an existing T2 is $375. If retrofitting, it is necessary to drill two holes in the aluminum keel, one on each side for button springs (see Instructions).

Contact your local dealer or Wills Wing to order.

07/29/10
Wills Wing Supports Tow Taxi Testing of SpaceShip Two
Wills Wing was recently contracted with by Scaled Composites to design and manufacture a tow and release system with a high working load for the tow taxi testing of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip Two*. Steve Pearson and Mike Meier collaborated on the design and fabrication of the system, and Mike travelled to Mojave Airport on June 14th to install the system in support of the tests. Well known hang glider and paraglider pilot and author Mark “Forger” Stucky was one of the test pilots participating in the testing. Per Scaled Composites release (http://scaled.com/projects/spaceshiptwo_ground_tests ) on the testing:

Photos of the tow testing at Mojave Airport are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/virgingalactic/page2/

*SpaceShipTwo is the prototype for the world’s first commercial manned spaceship, destined to take private astronauts into space and paving the way for space transportation.

07/25/10
T2C Pilot Dave Gibson Wins King Mountain 2010
T2C pilot Dave Gibson has won the 2010 King Mountain hang gliding competition. King is the only sanctioned open-distance meet in the USA for 2010 and a host of seasoned competitors were on hand for this classic contest of strategy and endurance. Dave’s total mileage (best 4 of the 6 flyable days) was 331 miles. Dave also earned the Eiji Yokada Memorial Trophy with the longest flight of the meet, a 119-mile out-and-return.

Congratulations Dave!

07/25/10
Wills Wing T2C Sweeps Trofeo Guarnieri Deltaplano
Pilots flying Wills Wing T2C hang gliders took first through fourth in the XXVII Trofeo Guarnieri Deltaplano in Italy over the weekend, reports Francesco Rinaldi, adding that winner Suan Selenati was flying a T2C 144 for the second time. The 128 km task in the Dolomites demanded good piloting skills and great glides.
Congratulations WW pilots!

07/03/10
WW Pilots Have Done Well in the British Series
Bruce Kavanagh writes:

The Wills Wing pilots have done well in the British Series this year. I was second overall and there were 5 WW pilots in the top 8. Overall results are here: http://bhgc.wikidot.com/2010-bos:start

We had good flying in the last round in Shropshire last week, flying every day and I won 2 of the 3 valid tasks. In both cases I flew under another pilot who was above and ahead on the way into goal, and they told me afterwards that they couldn’t keep up!

I’m really pleased with the way the T2C is going and I consistently seem to have an advantage on final glide.

Good Job, Guys!

06/16/10
Wills Wing PilotsTaking Home Trophies

Wills Wing crew members have been taking home competition hardware recently.

At the East Coast Championships, hosted by Highland Aerosports, Larry Bunner captured the top spot after 5 solid competition days and Tom Lanning was a close second. Both were on T2C 144’s.

Here’s a brief account from Larry Bunner:

Hey all, just got back from the ECC. We finally had some excellent weather this year and managed to fly in relatively good conditions on 5 of the 7 days. It was a lot of fun hooking up with old friends and meeting some new ones as well.

Both the Sport Class and Open Class were well represented and it’s not an exaggeration to say we all had a blast. Rich Cizauskas flew impressively, but my consistent performance allowed me to end up the overall winner!

There were a couple of key lessons learned: Ridgely typically isn’t conducive to racing although there are occasions where we can put the hammer down. Two long delays on days 3 and 4 were the keys for me. I could have given up and settled for less however I changed my strategy when the conditions got dicey and just concentrated on flying as if it wasn’t a comp day. This suppressed the urge to get going. Another key for me were the starts. All five days I left the start circle at or near cloudbase right as the start clock ticked over. This is somewhat meaningless when you don’t make goal, however it is something I will concentrate on in the upcoming meets.

It was only two years ago that I finished dead last at the ECC. It is very gratifying to have come from the worst to first!
On the European front, Trofeo Zanchettin 2010 has concluded in Italy with Wills Wing pilots Elio Cataldi and Arturo Dal Mas capturing second and third places respectively on T2C’s. Davide Guiducci took home top prize. Congratulations to all who competed! Wills Wing has been heating up on the European front, capturing more and more top competition spots. With the European Championships and the Pre-Worlds back to back in Europe next month, watch as the stage is set for the two highest-caliber meets of the year.

Great going boys!

05/06/10
2010 Flytec Race and Rally

Immediately following the Rob Kells Memorial Competition, the Flytec Race and Rally began in south Florida and traveled throughout the week to finish in Moultrie, Georgia. Pervasive light lift conditions challenged pilots’ patience and performance.

Wills Wing took the majority of day wins again, capturing the top spot four out of five tasks, but the seasoned skills of Jonny Durand prevailed by the narrowest of margins over T2C pilot Dustin Martin in the end. US team member and Wills Wing pilot, Zac “Zippy” Majors rounded out the top three. James Stinnet on a T2C was a noteworthy fifth place finisher as well as day winner.

Congratulations to the many Wills Wing contenders and World #1 Jonny Durand for their excellent performance at the festive Flytec Rally.

05/03/10
2010 Rob Kells Memorial Meet

The 2010 US competition season began with the Rob Kells Memorial at The Florida Ridge.

Wills Wing monopolized the well attended Sport Class, with every scored competitor flying Sport 2’s, U2’s, and T2’s. Of the fourteen competitors, Mark Bolt captured first on a U2 160, Ben Haug utilized the Sport 2’s easy handling and considerable performance to finish a strong second, and Dave Alford rounded out the top three on a U2 160. Congratulations to all the sport class competitors and thank you for flying Wills. We look forward to following the progression of these pilots as they gain competition experience.

Open class caliber was high with #1 and #2 world ranked pilots Jonny Durand and Carl Wallbank in attendance. Out of five scored tasks, Wills Wing pilots captured four day wins on T2C’s, however the consistency of Jonny Durand allowed him gain the top spot as the meet concluded. US Team members Dustin Martin, Jeff O’Brien, and Jeff Shapiro finished second, third, and fourth respectively keeping the rest of the stacked field at bay. Congratulations to Jonny Durand for his tenacious performance.

04/23/10
Wills Wing Pilots Placed Well at ‘Trofeo Montegrappa 2010’

Wills Wing pilots placed well at ‘Trofeo Montegrappa 2010’ (Bassano) finishing 2nd, 6th, 8th and 13th in a field of 87.

Robert Reisinger writes:

Hallo Steve,

Thank you for the good glider!
Climbing very good, gliding very good, handling good. My second time flying the T2C was the first task in Bassano.

I was flying the whole second task in Bassano with Manfred Ruhmer. Manfred was under pressure and pushing very hard to keep up with me. We were able to lead out at the beginning and the distance to the chaser was going longer during the task. I was climbing with him and I had sometimes a slight advantage in gliding.

The T2C does have an advantage in small and strong thermals against the Litespeed RS (aspect ratio).

Last year I lost the motivation because I had problems in thermaling the LS RS. Paining shoulders the whole time because of the big aspect ratio of the LS RS. I was not flying for 5 months in the last winter, was going to Bassano, flew the comp and had no pains in my shoulders. It is the perfect glider for me.

Trofeo Montegrappa 2010 – Overall Results

04/07/10
Michel Louzada Wins Paulista Comp with T2
Wills Wing T2 pilot Michel Louzada has won the Campeonato Paulista in Brazil

01/31/10
Sport 2 175 Is Now HGMA Certified
The Sport 2 175 is now officially HGMA certified. (Remember, you can always check the current HGMA certification status of any glider at www.hgma.net )

01/15/10
Daniel Vélez Bravo Sets Colombian Open Distance Record on T2C 144
On January 15th, during an unscored day in the Colombian Open Hang Gliding Championships, Daniel Vélez Bravo broke the Colombian Open Distance record with a flight of 171.5 km on his T2C 144.

Congratulations Daniel!

01/05/10
T2 Wins Again
Bill Degen writes:

Hi Steve,

I think I just won the NZ XC Champs again (as long as no late entries come in that I’m not aware of), my new T2 is going real well now, I have it tuned real nice so I can grovel in light air as well as control it when things get rough.

Anyway, thanks for the great glider. It’s a huge improvement on the earlier T2 I had. Definitely better handling by far so I’m in control more, able to use the vg and even happy doing aeros again.

Cheers,
Bill
Congratulations Bill!