Scorpion Helmets

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New Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corse

 

Abarth returns to track racing and it have chosen to do so with its new ‘500 Abarth Assetto Corse’, the baby supersports car from Abarth, due to be produced in a Limited Edition (49 cars).

The latest vehicle designed by the Fiat Group Automobiles Style Centre and produced by a team of Abarth Engineers and Designers will be the star of track races from next year and its creation confirms Abarth’s racing vocation. The Assetto Corse version of the petite 500 Abarth takes up the baton from its forerunner, the ‘595? that notched up numerous successes and great victories from 1963 and led to the coining of the description ’small but deadly’.

The auto parts sports a full racing outfit: wide track, white 17? special ultra light racing wheels, low ride, sports racing mirrors and a place for a number on the sides. Available in pastel grey with red Abarth side stripes, the ‘500 Abarth Assetto Corse’ reveals an assertive front end that houses a badge bearing the Abarth logo and, below this, wide bumpers complete with an aerodynamic spoiler and screen-printed grilles to replace the plastic louvres on the standard production version. In addition to the classic bonnet clips, the bonnet houses two carbon air intakes bearing the Abarth scorpion logo.

The rear part of the auto parts features a white winged spoiler, a badge bearing the Abarth logo and a twin exhaust pipe. The Abarth identity is expressed to the full with a thunderbolt logo on the side representing the brand’s racing image and a red band and four white chequers on the roof, just as on the winning Abarth 850TC version of the 1960s.

Inside, the ‘500 Abarth Assetto Corse’ is equipped with a roll-bar type-approved for racing that is completely hollow to make the car lighter and faster. The car weighs approximately 180 kg less than the road version. The anatomical seats, the steering wheel (special for racing) and the carbon door panels make the 500 Abarth Assetto Corse a real baby sports car with a indomitable character all of its own .

Abarth has also thoughtfully provided clothing set for the driver, which will be delivered in an original Abarth-branded leather bag. Owners of the ‘500 Abarth Assetto Corse’ will therefore be resplendent in overalls, helmets, gloves and shoes, all meticulously branded with the ultra-new ‘Assetto Corse’ logo produced for the limited edition of the car.

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Dark Judges

History

The Dark Judges were originally a group of lawkeepers from a parallel dimension. They were led by Judge Death, who had determined that all crime was committed by the living. Thus, by his logic, all life was a crime. Originally mortal, the four Judges encountered Phobia and Nausea (the Sisters of Death) in a cave. The Sisters were death cultists and mass murderers with supernatural powers, and the four Dark Judges became undead beings, subsequently murdering the entire population of their world.

Dimension-travelling visitors chanced upon the now ‘Deadworld’ and found the Dark Judges. After ‘judging’ (ie, killing) them and taking their dimension jumping warp devices, Judge Death travelled to Mega-City One, against the opinions of his colleagues, in order to ‘dispense justice’. Death was eventually defeated by the combined efforts of Judges Dredd and Anderson, his body having been destroyed, and his spirit form held inside Judge Anderson, herself encased in the miracle plastic Boing on display in the Justice Department’s Hall of Heroes.

Having sensed Death’s peril, his comrades Fear, Fire and Mortis crossed the dimension warp to rescue him. Released from imprisonment and with a new body created, the four Dark Judges continued their ‘judgement’ upon Mega-City One claiming thousands of victims. Dredd and Anderson intervened, and pursued the Dark Judges back to Deadworld using a Dimension Jump Globe liberated from the Dark Judges. There, the spirits of the Dark Judges’ millions of victims flowed through Anderson and seemingly extinguished their spirits forever.

However, the Dark Judges were not destroyed but merely weakened, and four years later, Judge Anderson was duped into returning to Deadworld, where she was forced to resurrect them. Armed with teleporter technologies, the four returned to Mega-City One, leaving Anderson for dead. Anderson survived, however, and used the dimension warp technology against the Dark Judges, consigning them to limbo, the void between dimensions. This is where they were to remain for the next few years.

Following Judge Dredd’s resignation and his replacement by the ex-Judge Kraken (recounted in the Judge Dredd stories Tale of the Dead Man and Countdown to Necropolis respectively), the sisters of Death – Phobia and Nausea – used their powers to influence Kraken and rescue the Dark Judges from Limbo. With the Mega-City One judge force under their control, the Dark Judges created Necropolis – the city of the dead, killing 60 million citizens. Judges Dredd, Anderson and Chief Judge McGruder, together with a handful of cadet judges, returned via The Undercity to defeat them – returning the Sisters of Death to Deadworld, imprisoning Fear, Fire and Mortis within secure containment, and executing Kraken, who had become a fifth Dark Judge. Judge Death eluded capture by hiding in the burial pits of the Cursed Earth, but was eventually captured by Dredd with the aid of Batman (see Judgement on Gotham).

The Dark Judges escaped and were recaptured numerous times, until on his last attempt Death beat Anderson into a coma so she couldn’t track him and escaped into the Cursed Earth. He then went on a killing spree, taking out Las Vegas, before seemingly being destroyed.

Character details

The Dark Judges are undead and, as such, cannot be conventionally killed. They are ghostly spirits that must first inhabit dead bodies in order to do physical harm. This involves obtaining recently deceased cadavers, which are subsequently processed by machinery that produces “dead fluids”. These fluids bring the corpses to “full ripeness”, prefatory to the spirits inhabiting and animating them. The incarnate Dark Judges are emaciated, zombie-like humanoids with sharp claws that frequently serve for them to stab their victims through the head or torso. All four speak with a hiss.

Once incarnated, the Dark Judges don uniforms, or “robes of office”, which reflect their identities. The uniforms are variants of the traditional judge uniform, with specific modifications based upon the judges’ personalities.

Judge Death appears in something close to a Judge’s helmet, though its modified visor resembles a portcullis. His mouth is pulled into a rictus. On his right shoulder is a pterodactyl, as opposed to the Judges’ eagles; his left shoulder pad and elbow pads are festooned with bones. His tunic is fastened with crude stitches rather than a zipper, and his badge and belt buckle are each shaped like a human skull with extended fangs, the latter with bat wings. Judge Death will most often kill his victims by reaching directly into their chests, squeezing their hearts until they burst.

“Gaze into the fist of Dredd!” – artwork by Brian Bolland

Judge Fear is an imposing figure with a black, iron helm obscuring his face, which he will open before his victims to frighten them to death with whatever lies within, often saying “gaze into the face of Fear!”. Judge Dredd, however, was able to resist long enough to punch Fear through the head, replying “gaze into the fist of Dredd!” The actual face under the helmet has only been seen once, as a mass of eyeballs – although no explanation was given whether it was his actual face, or a representation of Fear’s manifestation of the person watching’s greatest terror. Fear has an assortment of bear traps dangling from his belt, and is known to throw them at his enemies in order to immobilize them; it also holds an enormous padlock which he uses to secure his victims’ potential exit routes. He wears a thick robe with ornamental bear traps on the shoulders. His belt buckle is a shrunken head. A side note, in Progs 421 and 423 Judge Fear can be seen exhibiting the same powers as Judge Death, stabbing his hands through citizens bodies, though whether this is an additional ability or simply the artist’s mistake has never been addressed.

Judge Fire is immersed in flame, but otherwise his uniform resembles that of Death. He has a human skull for a head and wields a flame-spewing trident. As a human, he was an undercover Judge named Fuego who had infiltrated a resistance group, which he eventually led to the newly-created Judge Death to become his first kills. He earned the name Judge Fire when he was human, for burning a school down for breaking noise regulations at playtime.

Judge Mortis is in a perpetual state of disintegration, and his touch causes his victims to decay extremely rapidly. Like Fire and Fear, he spent his early years as a trainee Judge at Law School, Deadworld’s equivalent to Mega-City One’s Academy of Law, and graduated after Judge Death. He quickly developed an admiration for Sidney’s methods and beliefs and became one of his three lieutenants, sharing his comrade’s zeal for passing arbitrary death sentences. He is sometimes employed by Judge Death to prepare the Dark Judges’ host bodies. Mortis’s head is a sheep skull and he has a bony tail. His uniform’s right shoulder is a bird skeleton, and his left shoulder is protected by a perforated mantle. His badge is a stylized horse skull, with his name emblazoned in wood.

Additional characters

Nausea is a haglike, decayed humanoid with an assortment of gory tentacles, claws and eyeballs on her right shoulder and elbows. Her left shoulder has two apparently live human heads on it. Her badge is a human skull, much like Death’s. Both she and Phobia have supernatural and psychic powers, including the power to increase decay and darken the sun in areas. As spectral beings, they cannot be physically damaged and need only a psychic anchor in Mega-City One to attack.

Phobia looks much like her sister, but has an extended proboscis and live heads as earrings. Her right shoulder is covered by a large scorpion, and her elbows and knees by spiders. Snakes wrap around her arms. Her left shoulder is a mass of worms, and her badge is a spider.

The undead incarnations of Nausea and Phobia normally only appear as spirits, although they do appear in their mortal form in the Judge Death prequel story, Young Death: Boyhood of a Superfiend.

Judge Kraken, while a Dark Judge, was appropriately decayed. He suffered the loss of his right hand by inadvertently trying to use another judge’s lawgiver, thereby setting off its self-destruct mechanism. He wore the usual Judge’s uniform, though it was cracked and deformed.

Pustula, Ephemera and Dementia are the most recent characters to be introduced. They are three “cousins” of the Sisters. Pustula is an obese, boil and pus-ridden monster who spreads the “blisteria-101″ virus, which turns its victims, including robots, into a mass of boils. Ephemera is a naked ghostly figure with a mane of hair, who creates heavy poltergeist activity. Dementia resembles a normal human, naked, and surrounded by bats – covering her breasts and genitalia – and toxic mud on her hands, who inspires waves of suicidal dementia.

Half Life was a formerly human victim of the Sisters, before being turned into an insect-headed, poison-spreading monster. His toxic, disease-ridden spirit was turned into a psychic virus, one that Judge Death infected Anderson’s mind with when he defeated her in 2124. When modified by the insane Judge Fauster of Psi Division’s Department of Magic, it became a psychic infection, inspiring a wave of mass murder across Mega-City One.

Deadworld Judges

The Judges of Deadworld wore similar uniforms to those of Mega-City One judges, coloured black with red trim; and a pterodactyl device on the right shoulderpad. They were brutal and a law unto themselves: a recruitment poster exhorted candidates to join the Judges and offered such incentives as “Beat people up. Kill anyone you like (within reason). Good rates of pay. Plenty of graft. Vicious nature a plus. LUNCHEON VOUCHERS.” (Young Death: Boyhood of a Superfiend, Judge Dredd Megazine issues 1-12). Unsurprisingly they easily attracted psychopaths like the future Dark Judges; and in their last days applied the death penalty for even the merest of misdemeanours. When the Dark Judges seized power, the Deadworld Judges were inspired to join them and assisted in the massacre of the entire population before being killed themselves.

The Deadworld, despite having a Judge system and having some degree of future tech, did not possess City Blocks or most of the features the Mega-Cities do, instead being very much like 20th Century Earth. Dreaming was considered abnormal and dangerous, and those who dreamt repeatedly were often Psis, who were rounded up by the Judges.

External links

2000 AD profile

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Judge Dredd

Judges

Mega-City One: Judge Anderson  Judge Beeny  Judge Buell  Galen DeMarco  Judge Dredd  Judge Edgar  Chief Judge Fargo  Judge Francisco  Judge Giant  Judge Goodman  Judge Grice  Judge Griffin  Judge Guthrie  Judge Hershey  Judge Janus  Judge Karyn  Judge McGruder  Mechanismo  Judge Niles  Judge Rico  Judge Shenker  Judge Silver  Judge Solomon  Judge Volt

Other: Detective-Judge Armitage  Shimura  Devlin Waugh  Johnny Woo

Villains

Angel Gang  Mean Machine Angel  President Booth  Oola Blint  Judge Cal  Dark Judges  Judge Death  Rico Dredd  Armon Gill  Morton Judd  Kleggs  Judge Kraken  Stan Lee  PJ Maybe  Nero Narcos  Sov Judge Orlok  Shojun the Warlord

Characters

Chopper  Vienna Dredd  Fergee  Minor Characters  Yassa Povey  Jacob Sardini  Otto Sump  Walter the Wobot

Storylines

America  Apocalypse War  Block Mania  City of the Damned  The Cursed Earth  Democracy  The Doomsday Scenario  Judge Child  Judgement Day  Mechanismo  Necropolis  Origins  Oz  The Pit  The Robot Wars

Spin-offs

Anderson: Psi Division  Banzai Battalion  The Dead Man  Low Life  Red Razors  The Simping Detective

Crossovers

Judge Dredd vs. Aliens  Judgement on Gotham  Predator vs. Judge Dredd

Locations

Academy of Law  Brit-Cit  Ciudad Barranquilla  Cursed Earth  East Meg One  Grand Hall of Justice  Hondo City  Mega-City One  Mega-City Two  Pan-Africa  Statue of Judgement  Undercity

Publications

2000 AD  Dice Man  Judge Dredd Megazine  Zarjaz

Other media

Film (characters)  Dredd Vs. Death  Role-playing game  Pinball

Miscellaneous

2000 AD crossovers  Atomic Wars  Chief Judge of Mega-City One  City Block  Council of Five  Diktatorat  Lawgiver  Long Walk  Mayor of Mega-City One  Mutants  Organizations  Psi Division  Public Surveillance Unit  Space Corps  SJS  Sky-surfer  Technology  Wally Squad

Categories: Judge Dredd characters | British comics | Fictional undead | 2000 AD titles | 2000 AD characters

Taronga Zoo

www.zoo.nsw.gov.au/

Taronga Zoo entrance

Taronga Zoo is the city zoo of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Officially opened on October 7, 1916, it is located on the shores of Sydney Harbour in the suburb of Mosman. Taronga Zoo is managed by the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales under the trading name Taronga Conservation Society along with Dubbo’s Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

Divided into eight zoogeographic regions, Taronga Zoo is home to over 2,600 animals on 21 hectares, making it one of the largest of its kind.

Contents

1 History

1.1 Rustic Bridge

1.2 Later additions and changes

1.3 2000 Masterplan

1.4 Zoo Friends

2 Notable Events

2.1 Platypus Birth

2.2 Elephant Birth

3 Animals and exhibits

3.1 Wild Australia

3.1.1 Australian Wetlands

3.1.2 Australian Walkabout

3.1.3 Koala Encounters/Koala Walkabout

3.1.4 Platypus House

3.1.5 Australian Nightlife

3.1.6 Australian Rainforest Aviary

3.1.7 Australian Bush Birds

3.1.8 Creatures of the Wollemi

3.1.9 Helmore Parrot Aviary

3.1.10 Backyard to Bush

3.1.11 Other Wild Australia

3.2 Great Southern Oceans

3.3 Moore Park Aviary

3.4 Serpentaria

3.5 South American Aviaries

3.6 African Waterhole

3.7 Chimpanzee Park

3.8 Gorilla Forest

3.9 Wild Asia

3.10 Himalayan Mountains

3.11 Cats of Asia

3.12 “Dog Row”

3.13 Bear Canyon

3.14 Giant Tortoises

4 Transport

5 See also

6 References

7 External links

//

History

Giraffes in front of Sydney’s skyline.

Rustic Bridge in 2009.

The first public zoo in New South Wales opened in 1884 at Billy Goat Swamp in Moore Park, on a site now occupied by Sydney Boys High School and Sydney Girls High School. Inspired by a 1908 visit to the Hamburg Zoo, the secretary of the zoo, Albert Sherbourne Le Souef, envisioned a new zoo based on the bar-less concept. After realising that the Moore Park site was too small, the NSW Government granted 43 acres (17 ha) of land north of Sydney Harbour. A further 9 acres (3.6 ha) were later granted in 1916.

Taronga is an Aboriginal word meaning beautiful view.
Rustic Bridge

The “Rustic Bridge” was opened in 1915 and was one of Taronga Zoo’s earliest landscape features. It was the main way in which visitors could cross the natural gully that it spans. Early photographs show it as a romantic pathway secluded by plantings. The rustic effect was created by embedding stones in the wall and like the Aquarium, its design was reminiscent of Italian grottoes. A tunnel under the bridge that originally connected the Upper and Lower Aquariums has long been blocked at both ends and is also very popular.

Later additions and changes

A critical review in 1967 led to a new emphasis on scientific conservation, education and preservation. New exhibits were built starting with the Platypus and Nocturnal Houses, waterfowl ponds and walkthrough Rainforest Aviary. A Veterinary Quarantine Centre was built as was an Education Centre (funded by the Department of Education). Previous attractions such as elephant rides, miniature trains, monkey circus and merry-go-round gave way to educational facilities such as Friendship Farm and Seal theatre.

In the mid-1980s, a cable car was installed that allows visitors to view the zoo and Sydney Harbour. It runs from the bottom of the park close to the ferry wharf, and transports passengers to the top end of the zoo.

2000 Masterplan

In 2000, TCSA commenced a 12-year million master plan, the majority of which is being spent at Taronga Zoo. The first major master plan item was the Backyard to Bush precinct. Under the plan, the Zoo received five Asian elephants from the Thailand Zoological Park Organisation for breeding purposes, education, long-term research and involvement of conservation programs. The plan has met opposition from environmental activists in Thailand, who blockaded the trucks hauling the elephants to Bangkok International Airport for their flight on June 5, 2006. The elephants along with other Asian rain forest specimens are housed in the “Wild Asia” precinct which opened in 2006 and aims to immerse visitors in an Asian rain forest environment.

A marine section, Great Southern Oceans, opened in April 2008.
Zoo Friends

Zoo Friends offers support in form of volunteers and fund raising for both Taronga and Western Plains Zoo. Members are offered behind-the-scenes experiences at the Zoo and unlimited Zoo entry. Members are also eligible to volunteer to help at the Zoo.

Notable Events

Platypus Birth

In February, 2003 it became the second zoo in Australia to breed the platypus.

Elephant Birth

Luk Chai at five months old.

At 3.04am on July 4th 2009 Thong Dee, an Asian Elephant gave birth to a male calf named Luk Chai. It is the first calf ever born in Australia. Thong Dee is one of the 8 Elephants imported into Australia to participate in the Australasian Conservation Breeding Program. Taronga is expecting a further two calves to be born in the next two years. The baby elephant is a major tourist attraction, with thousands of visitors attending the zoo just to see him.

Animals and exhibits

Taronga Zoo has about 340 species and over 2600 individual animals. They are housed in a large variety of exhibits, including:

Wild Australia

Australian Wetlands

Black-necked Stork

Little Pied Cormorant

Brolga

Australian Pelican

Royal Spoonbill

Pacific Black Duck

Chestnut Teal

Blue-billed Duck

Australian Wood Duck

Australian Shelduck

Plumed Whistling Duck

Water Whistling Duck

Black Swan

Cape Barren Goose

Magpie Goose

Australian Walkabout

A Peacock displays to male Red Kangaroo, 2007.

Red Kangaroo

Tammar Wallaby

Swamp Wallaby

Agile Wallaby

Red-necked Wallaby

Emu

Koala Encounters/Koala Walkabout

Koala

Short-beaked Echidna

Quokka

Platypus House

Platypus

Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat

Water Rat

Spinifex Hopping-mouse

Australian Nightlife

[[Tasmanian Devil

Red-tailed Phascogale

Bilby

Long-nosed Bandicoot

Long-nosed Potoroo

Brush-tailed Bettong

Common Ringtail Possum

Squirrel Glider

Yellow-bellied Glider

Feathertail Glider

Greater Stick-nest Rat

Black-footed Tree-rat

Plains Rat

Spinifex Hopping-mouse

Ghost Bat

Tawny Frogmouth

New Caledonian Giant Gecko

Australian Rainforest Aviary

Rainbow Lorikeet

Musk Lorikeet

Eclectus Parrot

Australian King Parrot

Crimson Rosella

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot

Paradise Riflebird

Wonga Pigeon

Topknot Pigeon

Superb Fruit-Dove

Emerald Dove

Brown Cuckoo-Dove

White-headed Pigeon

Red-browed Finch

Blue-faced Parrot-Finch

Buff-banded Rail

Black-breasted Buttonquail

Regent Bowerbird

Eastern Whipbird

Noisy Pitta

Black-faced Monarch

Pacific Koel

Australian Bush Birds

(Now removed to build Walk-through Avairy)

King Quail

Painted Buttonquail

Green Pygmy-Goose

White-browed Crake

Banded Lapwing

Pacific Golden Plover

Black-winged Stilt

Laughing Kookaburra

Sacred Kingfisher

Forest Kingfisher

Rainbow Bee-eater

Pheasant Coucal

Glossy Black-Cockatoo

Musk Lorikeet

Little Lorikeet

Turquoise Parrot

Swift Parrot

Superb Fruit-Dove

Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove

Wonga Pigeon

Topknot Pigeon

Emerald Dove

Bar-shouldered Dove

Peaceful Dove

Brush Bronzewing

Crested Pigeon

Noisy Pitta

Eastern Spinebill

Noisy Friarbird

Blue-faced Honeyeater

New Holland Honeyeater

Striped Honeyeater

Crimson Chat

Variegated Fairy-wren

Eastern Yellow Robin

Hooded Robin

Grey Shrike-thrush

Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike

Silvereye

Clamorous Reed-Warbler

Eastern Whipbird

Diamond Firetail

Red-browed Finch

Plum-headed Finch

Double-barred Finch

Chestnut-breasted Mannikin

Satin Bowerbird

Regent Bowerbird

White-browed Woodswallow

Creatures of the Wollemi

Platypus

Short-beaked Echidna

Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby

Australasian Grebe

Hardhead

Masked Lapwing

Bush Stone-curlew

Little Pied Cormorant

Laughing Kookaburra

Sacred Kingfisher

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Gang-gang Cockatoo

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet

Eastern Rosella

Superb Parrot

Red-rumped Parrot

Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove

Wonga Pigeon

Brush Bronzewing

Dollarbird

Australasian Figbird

Noisy Pitta

Superb Lyrebird

Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike

White-browed Babbler

Satin Bowerbird

Regent Bowerbird

Striped Honeyeater

Regent Honeyeater

Diamond Firetail

Eastern Water Dragon

Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard

Cunningham's Skink

Eastern Water Skink

Southern Leaf-tailed Gecko

Eastern Long-necked Turtle

Helmore Parrot Aviary

Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Short-billed Black-Cockatoo

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Major Mitchell's Cockatoo

Gang-gang Cockatoo

Backyard to Bush

Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat

Red Kangaroo

Eastern Grey Kangaroo

Spinifex Hopping-mouse

House Mouse

Guinea Pig

European Rabbit

Sheep

Goat

Pig

Emu

Budgerigar

Cockatiel

King Quail

Chicken

Wild Turkey

Children's python

Diamond Python

Red-bellied Black Snake

Coastal Bearded Dragon

Lace Monitor

Shingleback

Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard

Eastern Snake-necked Turtle

Green Tree Frog

Dainty Green Tree Frog

Green and Golden Bell Frog

Splendid Rainbowfish

Pacific Blue-eye

Redback spider

Golden orb-web spider

Huntsman Spider

Bird-eating spider

Wolf Spider

White-tail spider

Net-casting spider

Black house spider

Daddy Long Legs

Desert Scorpion

Rainforest Scorpion

Praying Mantis

Black House Ant

Meat Ant

Grasshopper

Phasmids

Giant Burrowing Cockroach

American cockroach

Centipede

Garden snail

Mealworm

Other Wild Australia

One of the Dingos at Taronga (2007)

Red Kangaroo

Eastern Grey Kangaroo

Tammar Wallaby

Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby

Goodfellow's Tree-kangaroo

Emu

Malleefowl

Sacred Kingfisher

Southern Cassowary

Eclectus Parrot

Red Lory

Rainbow Lorikeet

Purple-crowned Lorikeet

Red-rumped Parrot

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

Diamond Dove

Common Bronzewing

Blue-faced Honeyeater

Regent Honeyeater

Striated Grasswren

Saltwater Crocodile

Great Southern Oceans

Leopard Seal

California Sea Lion

Australian Sea Lion

Australian Fur Seal

New Zealand Fur Seal

Australian Pelican

Fiordland Penguin

Little Penguin

Moore Park Aviary

Northern Palm Squirrel

Mandarin Duck

Lady Amherst's Pheasant

Swinhoe's Pheasant

Luzon Bleeding-heart

Serpentaria

Freshwater Crocodile

Komodo Dragon

Mitchell's Water Monitor

Short-tailed Monitor

Eastern Water Dragon

Coastal Bearded Dragon

Chameleon Dragon

Central Netted Dragon

Tawny Crevice Dragon

Frilled Lizard

Basilisk

Sailfin Lizard

Green Iguana

Rhinoceros Iguana

Fiji Banded Iguana

Fiji Crested Iguana

Gila Monster

Anaconda

Jackson's Chameleon

Veiled Chameleon

Scheltopusik

Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard

Night Skink

Hosmer's Skink

Land Mullet

Cunningham's Skink

Giant Cave Gecko

Rough Knob-tailed Gecko

Tuatara

Reticulated Python

Amethystine Python

Green Python

Boa Constrictor

Taiwan Beauty Snake

Rhinoceros Viper

Eyelash Viper

Egyptian Cobra

Corn Snake

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake

Taipan

Red-bellied Black Snake

Black-headed Python

Stimson's Python

Collett's Snake

Fierce Snake

Desert Death Adder

Broad-headed Snake

Arafura File Snake

Star Tortoise

Elongate Tortoise

Matamata

Eastern Snake-necked Turtle

Northern Snake-necked Turtle

Broad-shelled River Turtle

River Cooter

Saw-shelled Turtle

Short-necked Turtle

Green Tree Frog

Red-eyed Tree Frog

White-lipped Tree Frog

Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog

Green and Golden Bell Frog

Cane Toad

South American Aviaries

Brazilian Agouti

Green-winged Macaw

Sun Conure

Nanday Conure

Brown-throated Conure

Razor-billed Curassow

African Waterhole

Sun Bear

Pygmy Hippopotamus

Brazilian Tapir

Common Zebra

Giraffe

Bongo

Barbary Sheep

Ostrich

Egyptian Goose

Helmeted Guineafowl

Chimpanzee Park

Chimpanzee

Gorilla Forest

Western Lowland Gorilla

De Brazza's Monkey

Wild Asia

Asian Elephant

Silvery Gibbon

Francois' Langur

Fishing Cat

Binturong

Oriental Small-clawed Otter

Chital

Malayan Tapir

Grey-headed Flying Fox

Green Peafowl

Kalij Pheasant

Golden Pheasant

Red Junglefowl

Chukar Partridge

King Quail

Buff-banded Rail

Mandarin Duck

Ruddy Shelduck

Water Whistling Duck

Cattle Egret

Glossy Ibis

Royal Spoonbill

Sacred Kingfisher

White-bibbed Ground Dove

Luzon Bleeding-heart Pigeon

Superb Fruit-Dove

Nicobar Pigeon

Pied Imperial Pigeon

Red Lory

Australasian Figbird

Red-whiskered Bulbul

Metallic Starling

Clamorous Reed-Warbler

Pekin Robin

Tri-coloured Mannikin

Java Sparrow

Koi

Rosy Barb

White Cloud Mountain Minnow

Medaka

Himalayan Mountains

Red Panda

Snow Leopard

Himalayan Tahr

Cats of Asia

Fishing Cat in Taronga (2007)

African Lion

Sumatran Tiger

Binturong

"Dog Row"

Dhole

Fennec Fox

Pygmy Hippopotamus

Meerkat

Bear Canyon

Kodiak Bear

Giant Tortoises

Aldabra Giant Tortoise

Andean Condor

The Taronga Zoo ferry wharf

The latest addition to Taronga Zoo is the newly awaited Meerkat pups.

Transport

The Taronga Zoo ferry services are, for many tourists, the preferred mode of travel to the zoo.[citation needed] Passengers disembarking at the ferry wharf, located on Bradleys Head Road, can enter the zoo via a cable car or connect with local State Transit bus services. Sydney Ferries offers combined “ZooLink” tickets covering ferry fares, park entry and cable car ride.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Taronga Zoo

Western Plains Zoo

Taronga by Victor Kelleher, a work of fiction using Taronga Zoo as its setting

References

^ adb online

^ The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8, page 181

^ National Multimedia

^ Daily Telegraph staff (July 25, 2008). “Taronga Zoo’s new seal and sea lion show has a messages”. The Daily Telegraph. http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,,24073097-5006009,00.html. 

^
External links

Official website

Zoo Friends, a supporter of the Zoo, offers membership and volunteer opportunities

Daily Telegraph feature-section on Taronga Zoo

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Sydney landmarks

Buildings and Structures

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Zoos, aquaria, and aviaries

Types of zoos

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Lists

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Animals

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Other topics

Animals in captivity  Animal training  Behavioral enrichment  Captive breeding  Frozen zoo  Immersion exhibit  Nocturnal house  Zookeeper  Zoology

Categories: Zoos in Australia | Visitor attractions in SydneyHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from September 2008

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Powered Hang Glider

History

Main article: History of hang gliding

Summary: Some glider flights have been recorded as early as 875 AD. Most early glider designs did not fulfill safe flight; the problem was that early flight pioneers did not understand the underlying principles that made a bird’s wing work. Starting in the 1880s technical and scientific advancements were made that led to the first truly practical gliders. Otto Lilienthal, a German engineer, duplicated some of his contemporaries’ work and greatly expanded on it from 1874. He rigorously documented his work, strongly influencing later designers; for this reason, Lilienthal is one of the best known and most influential early aviation pioneer. His type of aircraft is now known as a hang glider.

In 1951 Francis Rogallo and Gertrude Rogallo together applied for a patent for a fully flexible wing, the flexible wing or Rogallo wing, which in 1957 the American space agency NASA began testing in various flexible and semi-rigid configurations in order to use it as a recovery system for the Gemini space capsules. The various stiffening formats and the wing’s simplicity of design and ease of construction, capability of slow flight and gentle landing characteristics, did not go unnoticed by hang glider enthusiasts. Some designers soon adapted Rogallo’s flexible wing airfoil onto elementary hang gliders, producing the most successful hang glider configuration in history.

Adding propulsion

The Ente was the first rocket-powered aircraft. Germany, 1928.

Icarus V hang glider powered with a G8-2 rocket engine, 1979.

John Moody’s powered Icarus II. Southeastern Wisconsin Aviation Museum.

Motolotnia – White Eagle backpack flown by Tony Prentice on a Wasp Falcon IV glider. UK, 1985.

The reaction of most pilots would be to say that powered microlights (ultralights) developed from hang gliding in the late 1970s, but it was not that simple. In fact, microlights are a rebirth, a return to the love of low-speed flight which the earliest aviators felt so keenly, but which was subsequently lost in the quest for military superiority. For a second time in aviation history, during the 1970s, motorization of simple gliders, especially those portable and foot-launched, became the goal of many inventors and gradually, small wing-mounted power packs were adapted. These early experiments went largely unrecorded, even in log books, let alone the press, because the pioneers were uncomfortably aware that the addition of an engine made the craft liable to registration, airworthiness legislation, and the pilot liable to expensive licensing and probably, insurance. Inventors from Australia, France and England produced several successful microlight motor gliders in the early 1970s and very few were portable wings.

Surprisingly, what really launched the powered ultralight aviation movement in the USA was not the Rogallo flexible wing but a whole series of rigid-wing motorized hang gliders. The Icarus V flying wing appeared with its tip rudders and swept-back style wing – a rigid biplane designed by teenager Taras Kiceniuk, Jr, while Larry Mauro’s Easy Riser biplane started to sell in large numbers. Hang gliding record holder Don Mitchell fitted his BF-10 with a motor, though he still used the pilot’s legs as undercarriage, an arrangement which persisted until his B-10 Mitchell Wing appeared. Then there was the Manta Fledge IIB, the Pterodactyl series, and the Quicksilver created in 1972 by Bob Lovejoy. But foot-launched powered hang gliding -as we know it today- had been unsuccessful prior to 1976 because three basic elements were unrefined:

Most hang gliders had poor performance.

Small engine technology was underpowered and unreliable.

Piloting skills and experience were limited.

In 1963 and during his free time, aeronautical engineer Barry Palmer built and experimented with a foot-launched powered hang glider at Bloomfield, Connecticut. It was powered by a 7 hp (5 kW) West Bend engine and mounted on top of a Rogallo-type flexible wing hang glider; the propeller was 3 feet (1 m) in diameter and was made of balsa wood, covered with fiberglass and mounted in pusher configuration. But the engine was quite underpowered and the craft could not achieve flight. It is now estimated that a modern flexible Rogallo wing hang glider requires at least 6 hp (4 kW) at the prop shaft and about 45 lbf (200 N) of thrust just to maintain level flight. Barry Palmer build during 1967 what is likely the first weight-shift powered trike aircraft.

In 1973, Australian Bill Bennett, who was one of the most skilled pilots of the time and the largest U.S. hang glider manufacturer, was following in Barry Palmer’s footsteps and attempting to motorize a flexible hang glider. Bennett built a McCulloch engine backpack that drove a small caged propeller. It did not, however, work particularly well, as the prop was almost completely masked by his back, and what little efficiency remained was further reduced by the thick wire guard with which Bennett was prudent enough to surround the propeller. In practice, when used with the best hang glider of the day, it was nothing more than a glide extender. In the late 1970s, light two-stroke engines started to become more powerful and reliable and hang glider pilots were developing their skills to such an extent that they no longer considered it normal to crash each time they flew. The only unanswered questions were where to fit the engine, the size and pitch of the propeller and how it was driven.

On March 15, 1975 John Moody successfully added a 12.5 hp (9 kW) West Bend engine with a 71 cm (28″) propeller to an Easy Riser biplane hang glider designed by Larry Mauro. Moody opened the throttle and ran until he lifted from the frozen surface of a lake west of Racine, Wisconsin and he flew for 30 minutes. Then on July 27, 1976 John Moody demonstrated ultralight aviation at the annual EAA fly-in convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin with a foot launched McCulloch 101 powered Icarus II in front of thousands of aviation-loving spectators, starting the modern ultralight aviation revolution in the USA. Later he added wheels to the aircraft and by the end of 1979, there were almost 100 competing companies selling powered ultralights (microlights) but very few were foot-launchable.

During the mid-1970s in England, Steve Hunt experimented by fitting a Scorpion glider with a McCulloch chainsaw engine driving a keel-mounted ducted fan via a reduction gear unit, but he stopped development “because it was too heavy”. However, he visualized the need for a clutch unit to facilitate starting and to reduce shock loading on the drive system. Meanwhile, powered hang glider flight was progressing in the United States and in 1977 the Soarmaster company located in Scottsdale, Arizona, produced the first commercial foot-launched powered hang glider, the Soarmaster. The unit was recommended for fitting on an Electra Flyer Cirrus or Olympus hang glider, as the mounting brackets and thrust line calculations had been done for these two gliders only. The Soarmaster company had developed a two-stroke engine unit with splash box-lubricated chain reduction system, clutch and long drive-shaft that bolted just below the hang glider keel. It produced about 10 hp (7 kW) for about of 80 lbf (360 N) of static thrust and sustained climb rate as high as 150 ft/min (0.762 m/s). The keel-mounted transmission rendered the aircraft pitch unstable under power so a fine balance existed between applying too much power, causing the aircraft to overtake the pilot or not enough power for flight. Though marginal and difficult to fly, the Soarmaster was an encouraging development, until strange accidents began to happen; when the pilot pushed out or stalled the wing, propeller-related injuries to their feet ensued, earning it nicknames such as ToeMaster and SawMaster. It turned out that when the pilot went weightless or stalled under power, the glider would tuck forward violently because the line of thrust was well above the centre of gravity.

In 1979, a powered backpack called Motolotnia – White Eagle, designed by Jerzy Kolecki, became available for sale. It consisted of a 90 cc McCulloch chainsaw engine with a direct drive 61 cm (24″) wooden prop, producing a quoted 77 lbf (340 N) of thrust; the rate of climb was about 150 ft/min (0.76 m/s) and flight duration was limited by the small fuel tank and engine overheating after several minutes. Other powered harnesses to reach the market in the 1980s were The Ranger and the Relax 220.

Mosquito powered harness.

The JetBug. UK, 2003.

The first truly successful foot-launched powered harness was the Mosquito. It did not have a keel-mounted motor, but the complete power unit was incorporated in the harness’ frame. The harness was hooked on to the glider by a regular hang strap, placing the center of mass well below the keel, the ideal position for effective weight-shift control and thrust transmission. The Mosquito was designed and produced by Swedish inventor Johan hling (Swedish AeroSport). hling’s Mosquito flew first in 1987, but it had only 10 horsepower and a few problems had to be worked out. When the Mosquito was released again in 1990 with a reliable 15 hp (10.2 kg, 118 cc) go-kart engine its appeal grew first amongst European and Australian hang glider pilots, and it was not until the late 1990s that the Mosquito started to become somewhat popular in North America, that by then, was obsessed with larger and heavier ultralights and undergoing a decreasing hang glider pilot population. hling’s Mosquito was later redesigned and released in 2000 as the NRG.

As of 2008, there are a few harness designs similar to the Mosquito/NRG, each sporting unique strengths, and produced by other FLPHG manufacturers. The latest generation of powered harnesses bear names such as Wasp , DoodleBug, Raven, X1, Zenon, Explorer LD, and Fillo.

On April 30, 2003 a modified DoodleBug named ‘JetBug’ took to the skies over England while powered by a 95 pounds force (420 N) thrust gasoline turbine engine. The JetBug was produced in collaboration between Flylight Airsports Ltd. and MicroJet Engineering; it was piloted first by Ben Ashman and then by Stewart Bond. Its flight autonomy was only of ten minutes at 1 Liter/min. The JetBug is an occasional guest at air shows across England.

World records

La Fdration Aronautique Internationale (FAI) is the international standard-setting and record-keeping body for aeronautics and astronautics, so it also oversees the official records by foot-launched powered hang gliders, currently under the RWF1 category. The Medium Ropuleim microlight piloted by Yves Rousseau holds the official foot-launched altitude and climb records. Rousseau made use of a 42 hp (31 kW) Rotax 447 motor and performed a foot-launch:

Place

Date

Aircraft

Class

Record

France

18 July 1992

Medium Ropuleim

RWF1

Altitude above sea level:

5230 m (17,159 ft)

France

18 July 1992

Medium Ropuleim

RWF1

Climb time to 3000 m:

24 min (410 ft/min = 2.08 m/s)

Unofficial FLPHG World Records – Confirmed but not validated by the FAI.

In October 1977, Trip Mellinger successfully flew his Easy Riser from mainland California to Catalina Island some 42 kilometres (26 mi) offshore.

On 5 August, 1978 French pioneer Bernard Danis mated a Soarmaster unit to this 168 square feet (15.6 m2) SK 2SS wing and climbed to 1,825 metres (5,990 ft) above sea level at the Southern Alps.

May 9th. 1978, David Cook becomes the first pilot to cross the English Channel while flying on a foot-launched powered hang glider; he used a VJ 23F glider.

In 1979, American pilot Larry Mauro flew 162 kilometres (101 mi) on a foot-launched Easy Riser powered hang glider.

Gerry Breen – London to Paris in FLPHG. August 25, 1979.

On 7 May, 1979 British pilot Gerry Breen set a new distance record for FLPHG of 325 kilometres (202 mi) from Wales to Norwich, a non-stop world distance record that still stands today; using a Soarmaster, the flight took about 4 hours with a tailwind of about 25 knots (29 mph) and reportedly consumed 25 litres (5.5 imp gal) of fuel. Three months later, on August 25 through 28, inspired by the film “Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines” and sponsored by British Airways, Breen flew his powered hang glider from London to Paris: Wishing to use a British made aircraft, Gerry Breen and Steve Hunt set about building with their version of the powered Soarmaster, but had no clutch. The unit, including glider, was considerably heavier than the Soarmaster and Olympus glider combination but the wing was much more robust. The hang glider was a Hiway Super Scorpion with a 10 hp (7 kW) McCulloch 125 cc engine mounted on the keel just forward of the hang strap. The journey was plagued with mechanical failures but Breen overcame them and completed the trip.

In July 2002, Italian hang gliding champion and conservationist, Angelo d’Arrigo, guided a flock of 10 endangered Western Siberian Cranes, bred in captivity, with an Icaro hang glider equipped with an NRG powered harness 5,300 kilometres (3,300 mi) from the Arctic circle in Siberia, across Kazakhstan to the shores of the Caspian Sea in Iran, avoiding Afghanistan and Pakistan where they fall victim to the abundant guns. For the most part, he relied on the sun and wind for propulsion in order to teach the young cranes to soar long distances. This exhausting 0,000 USD experiment lasted for six months and finished in winter 2002. If repeated a few times, scientists hope the new migratory route will be passed on from parent to fledgling for generations of cranes to come.

In 2005, Chris Street soared his Explorer harness and Litesport hang glider over Mt. Cook, in the Southern Alps, New Zealand, at an altitude of 4,114 metres (13,500 ft) above sea level (ASL) while aided by mountain wave lift.

On April 24 2005, English pilot Stewart Bond flew his DoodleBug and Aeros Discus-14 glider in still air at an altitude of 3,706 metres (12,160 ft) ASL.

On July 16 2005, American pilot Bruce Decker performed a 3,048 metres (10,000 ft) high density altitude takeoff in Colorado, USA using an X1 harness on an ATOS 146 rigid wing hang glider; the wind was only 4.8 kilometres per hour (3.0 mph).

Patrick Laverty – altitude world record: 5,348 metres (17,550 ft). U.K., May 24, 2009

On May 24, 2009, Irish pilot Patrick Laverty broke the foot-launched powered hang glider altitude world record. He used an Aeros Discus 15 hang glider coupled to a supine custom-made harness equipped with a 29hp ROS 125 engine with the Tuna carburation system on a WB32 carburettor. Takeoff was at sea level and he flew to an altitude of 5,348 metres (17,550 ft) ASL over Talybont, Ceredigion, Wales, UK. He carried oxygen and 10 litres of fuel, per U.K. regulations; his variometer indicated 30 to 50fpm climb rate at the time fuel ran out.

Construction

Currently, there are two harness configurations: prone (face down) and supine (sitting). Both configurations allow the pilot to takeoff and land on his/her feet. Foot-launched powered hang glider (FLPHG) harnesses are built around a light metal frame with the engine and propeller mounted on the rear in a pusher configuration. Current powered harnesses weigh 22-32 kg (50-70 lb) not including the safety parachute and fuel, and fold neatly into a 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) long harness bag with a handle. Most powered harnesses in production are equipped with the ‘Radne Raket 120′ two stroke engine which is based on Husqvarna XP3120 chainsaw parts. It has a displacement of 118 cubic centimetres (7.2 cu in) and produces about 15 hp (11 kW) at 8900 RPM if equipped with a tuned exhaust; when coupled to a 1:3.5 belt-driven reduction drive and a 52″ x 22″ propeller, it produces about 100 lbf (440 N) of static thrust. For heavy pilots or pilots operating from higher than 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) MSL fields, a powered harness equipped with an 18 hp (13 kW) engine is recommended. It is now estimated that a modern flex wing hang glider requires at least 6 hp (4 kW) at the propeller and about 30 or 40 lb of thrust to maintain level flight at ‘best glide’ speed.

FLPHG with a folding propeller.

The motor is supported on the ground by two retractable skids, holding the propeller just off the ground. The 4 Liter aerodynamic fuel tank is attached to the top of the control frame or is enclosed in the harness. Getting into the harness requires passing both legs through padded straps and wearing the harness like a vest, with a zipper and/or buckles at the front. The powered harness is hooked to the glider via a regular hang strap. The whole aircraft is easily maneuvered on the ground into takeoff position with the pilot buckled into the harness and ready to start the unit by themselves either with a manual or with an electric starter. The throttle is activated during takeoff by means of a mouth-throttle in order to have both hands free for proper weight-shift control. Once airborne, a foot throttle, thumb throttle or cruise control can be used. Zipping up the harness also retracts the rear skids, which are then clipped into clamps on the side of the harness. The propeller is locked in place while soaring power-off, as a windmilling propeller has more drag than a stationary one: Expect a 10 to 20% decrease in glide performance with a windmilling propeller (clutched units) and 2 to 4% decrease with a locked propeller. A folding propeller is often preferred by pilots who want optimum soaring and cross country performance with the engine turned off.

Engine controls – Hang gliders are controlled by simply shifting the pilot’s weight, but a powered harness must have engine controls and the pilot must know exactly where they are, without having to look and find them. Engine controls are ergonomically positioned at the sides of the harness, chest or shoulder straps and generally consist of throttle, choke, propeller lock, recoil starter handle or electric starter button and decompression valve. During training, it is very important to hang the harness from a solid location, climb in and practice often so that the pilot can automatically reach and activate any engine control without first looking to find it.

Training & safety

Good gliding weather: Light wind and cumulus clouds with dark flat base.

Hang gliding is an extreme sport but perhaps often viewed as a higher-risk sport than it actually is. Nonetheless, there is great potential for injury for the reckless or ill-prepared. Unlike powered paragliding, it is absolutely essential that the aspiring pilot first take lessons in an unpowered hang glider at a certified school and achieve some solo experience in order to develop all needed skills to perform automatic control inputs and consistently safe landings. Tow is the best launch method for progression to FLPHG. Basic aerodynamics, flight concepts, some meteorology, local regulations, field choice, safety and emergency procedures must also be learned during training.

It is sometimes said that the factor which most affects safety is pilot attitude. A large proportion of accidents involve over-confident novices failing to heed advice, or pilots flying beyond their limits. Flying often can keep the pilots’ skills current. A major safety consideration is simply having a large enough field that is free of obstructions. The pilot must not assume how fast he will climb or that the engine will not quit. The pilot needs to have a way to safely turn back or land at all times during every flight.

Safety precautions include: Certified training, equipment maintenance, pre-flight checks of glider and harness systems, helmet, safety wheels at the lower end of the control frame, helmet, a hook-knife (for cutting the parachute bridle after impact or cutting the harness lines and straps in case of a tree or water landing), and a special emergency parachute (Note that unlike skydiving reserve parachutes in which the main canopy is cut away before deployment, hang gliding & paragliding reserves are designed to open at low speeds and deploy with the glider still attached to the pilot.) Water, knee pads, gloves a mobile phone and/or a transceiver radio are also desirable.

Flying

Takeoff

Common takeoff mistakes: 1) The pilot quit running before establishing climb and, 2) He is pushing on the control bar while still at low speed, generating too much drag to accelerate and climb.

Takeoff run: the pilot must lean forward and avoid pushing the control frame.

Launching and landing are done into wind. Though it is possible to launch and land in no wind, a steady 8 km/h (5 mi/h) breeze is ideal. A successful takeoff depends mostly on level wings, speed and precise control of the angle of attack: If the angle of attack is too low then the powered glider will simply not fly. If the angle of attack is too high, then excessive drag results in not getting the speed needed to fly and climb.

A committed and fast run is required with a smooth control of pitch angle throughout the run, similar to a shallow slope launch (see: aborting a takeoff). The pilot remains upright throughout the run–allowing forward acceleration to be gradually provided by the thrust, so the pilot does not use his legs to accelerate but only to carry the weight of him and the glider. By gradually increasing thrust, the pilot has time to counter the pitch-up moment introduced by the thrust with an appropriate counter pitch-down control movement. The pilot runs as long as necessary, taking strides of ever-increasing length (‘moon walking’) and during the last steps most of the pilot weight will be carried by the glider. There must be no noticeable change in pitch angle, and the pilot will have stopped running only after the last steps no longer touch the ground.

Failure to remain upright throughout the takeoff run is one of the main problems that experienced mountain-glider pilots suffer, as their normal tendency is to move towards prone position as soon as they feel the glider lifting. But on a flat-ground powered takeoff, one does not have the hill dropping away to help achieve flying speed – the pilot must keep running up until he is firmly established in a climb. What can often make the difference between a successful takeoff and settling back to earth are those last long ‘moon walking’ steps.

During the takeoff run, the thrust must be transmitted to the glider through the hang strap and not through the pilot’s hands to the control frame. By the time the glider comes off the pilot’s shoulders, he must pull in and move his upper body forward through the control frame so that the hang strap becomes tight and is angled slightly forward, all while he is still upright and running. Because the thrust force enters the glider right at the hang point, it only requires a light touch to control the pitch.

During takeoff, particularly if something has started to go wrong, a too-strong grip on the down tubes may cause the engine torque to be transmitted through the pilot to the glider. A tight grip can induce a roll which may require a rapid decision to abort the takeoff. A light touch on the control bar at all times can help to avoid this. Pull in and allow the glider to fly on ground effect for as long as possible in order to accelerate – the glider will climb on its own once it has the speed to do so; use of a speed bar helps to pull in more effectively at this stage. Resist the temptation to push out. Shortly after lift-off, many gliders will suddenly climb too fast – be prepared for this, pull in, and you will avoid a stall. The overall sensation and glider behavior is similar to that of being aero towed or winch towed. A powered launch is easier to do well if you allow the glider to achieve flight from the trim position – so you want to make sure this glider trim speed is fast enough for safety. If you are trimmed exactly at minimum sink (very close to mush/stall) then it would be advisable to move the hang point forward to where you have good roll response and control authority without pulling in (when gliding power-off). Setting the trim speed higher will mean you have to run a bit faster, but when you do get airborne it will be at a safer airspeed and there will be less drag for the motor to overcome.

Aborting a takeoff

Aborting a takeoff is an important procedure and experienced mountain glider pilots must note that this is an option for every powered takeoff. Unlike a mountain launch, where your best bet is usually to continue once begun, significant sorrow and money can be saved by aborting a powered harness takeoff if things are not going exactly right. To abort a takeoff do not just stop running; between yourself, the glider and the harness you will have a lot of momentum. First release the throttle while you continue running, then the drag of the harness’ skids will help you to bleed off the momentum that both you and the glider have achieved, sense the speed and flare to a stop. If that fails, settle the glider on its safety wheels while pushing out the control bar and roll to a stop, then hit the kill switch.

Learning to let go of the mouth-throttle is critical. When things start to go wrong, the general tendency is to clench up our jaws, which compounds the problem with unwanted thrust; letting go of the mouth-throttle is the equivalent of tow line release and must be done without hesitation when needed. It is very useful to practice releasing the mouth-throttle while under stress by using dynamic mental image.

Climb and cruise speeds

Powered harness on climb at full power. Salinas, Baja California, Mexico.

Low nose pitch and high speed is best for climb. Andy Buchan

Climb speed

In general, the pilot must use best glide speed for takeoff and climb. The pilot must not push out on takeoff or climb. Note that the glider will climb on increased speed. Using full VG from a safe height is beneficial to climb rate. Many pilots new to powered flying make this common error, they are tempted to ‘push-out’ on climb but that causes to fly too slowly. To an observer on the ground they appear to wobble around and lose directional control; to the pilot there is a feeling that the glider wants to wind into turns and the wing feels unstable. The cause is a lack of airspeed. Pushing out will decrease airspeed -just as when free hang gliding- and the wing may stall. Even if it doesn’t, it will certainly exhibit those nasty characteristics of slow speed flight – dropping a wing into turns and feeling unstable in roll, in short, the pilot will be in ush mode with very poor control authority.

As soon as it is safe, the pilot gets the feet into the harness for stability (or supine position if flying the DoodleBug). One must keep the wings level at all times, keep the control bar pulled in and be ready to correct any roll early on. Again, note that the best rate of climb occurs at higher airspeed and that most flexible wings climb well at 10 miles (16 km)/h above their stall speed. Today’s powered harnesses develop a maximum of 45 kg (100 lb) of static thrust, but the rate of climb also depends on weather conditions such as field altitude, air temperature, humidity, etc., and on glider size and wing loading. The harness’ thrust is adequate for a sustained 200 – 300 ft/min (1.0 – 1.5 m/s) rate of climb at full power even when flying at airspeeds well above minimum sink. If a powered harness experience an engine failure when climbing steeply, the aircraft will lose a lot of height before recovering; climbing at a flatter angle and at a faster airspeed makes recovery easier and safer.

Cruise Speed

Cruise speed varies between hang glider brand, model, size and wing loading. To cruise fast and level while under power, pilots apply about 75% throttle (~ 6600 rpm for the Raket 120) and increasingly pull in while glancing at the variometer until top speed is achieved without descending. Flight autonomy with 4 liters (approx. 1 Gallon) of fuel depends on throttle settings, but it ranges between 60 and 90 minutes of continuous engine use.

Control bar position

Adding the motor weight behind one’s feet in a prone configuration unit, moves the combined center of gravity lower on the pilot’s body. Because the pilot is now located farther forward in relation to the hang point, the control bar will appear to be further back by about 25 centimetres (9.8 in). This apparent bar trim position change occurs without the addition of power. Note that the actual trim characteristics of the glider have not changed, only the pilot’s position with respect to the control bar. Though this new bar position may be disconcerting to experienced hang glider pilots, it should be clear that the pilot must rely instead on feeling the bar pressure and remain aware of airspeed at all times. With more experience, the new powered pilot will learn the new bar positions and use them automatically when flying the powered harness. Replacing the base tube for a ’speed bar’ is quite recommended.

Turns

Even very experienced hang glider pilots will need to learn some new tricks when it comes to turning under power. Most hang glider pilots were taught to ‘lead with your feet’ in making turns. This is effective for un-powered flight, but adding weight and thrust to our feet changes things. Note that full power turns will become increasingly unstable with increasing roll angle so once the glider gains enough altitude, most pilots reduce the throttle for easier control during turns, especially on the early training stage.

Power on – Ideally, keep the harness (and thrust line) parallel with the keel of the wing so that the thrust pushes forwards and not sideways; some pilots simply yaw their body momentarily as that changes the thrust line and helps engage a turn. Most pilots use a combination of both weight-shift and thrust line to turn under power. Novice FLPHG pilots must not attempt powered turns at low altitude. Medium power and shallow bank turns at a safe height are recommended for the first few flights so that the new FLPHG pilot can get a feel for the effects of thrust on glider behavior. If the glider enters a powered ‘lockout’ simply reduce the power and stabilize the wing as usual. Shallow and medium bank turns must be well coordinated to prevent the engine from ‘falling’ toward the lower side and engaging the glider on a diving turn.

Power off – Turns in a prone unit hooked to a flex wing, require of a somewhat additional effort to weight-shift the center of gravity; because of the engine mass, some experienced pilots new to powered harnesses find that only the front half of their body moves, that is: they cross-control without an effective shift of their center of gravity. Keeping the body parallel to the keel for turns or corrections is easier than weight-shifting one’s feet. Shallow and medium bank turns must be well coordinated to prevent the engine from ‘falling’ toward the lower side and engaging the glider on a diving turn.

DoodleBug.

Limit Lines – The DoodleBug is a supine unit that uses limit lines at the rear to keep the engine & propeller relatively stationary; the port line is approx. 1 inch shorter than the starboard line, and are secured to the lower wing wire tangs so that sideways movement of the harness is restricted to 10.1 centimetres (4.0 in) approximately on each side of dead centre. As the pilot moves to one side, this arrangement moves the thrust line so that it actually pushes in the turn direction. It is evident that this setup is beneficial in helping to create a more coordinated turn and also in stability while flying through turbulence. Some pilots flying prone configuration units like the freedom of being able to control the direction of thrust as it gives them another way to fine tune a turn. Prone configuration units do not require of limit lines but they are recommended during the early training stages. Limit lines may also offer help when moderate thermal turbulence is expected as they help prevent the engine from ‘falling’ toward the lower side of the turn or provoke oscillations. On the ground, the limit lines might also prevent propeller strikes to the trailing edge of the wing.

Landing

Pilot semi-upright with one leg in the harness’ boot for stability during final approach.

As usual, the pilot must plan the landing approach and execute it as planned in order to avoid sharp turns or sudden changes in aircraft attitudes. The FLPHG pilot must get ready at higher altitude than usual in order to set a landing configuration: turn off the engine (optional), lock the propeller, the harness’ legs have to be un-clipped and the harness unzipped, and it is a little more work than a normal pod harness, definitely not something to be trying to do on final. The engine may be left on idle (if equipped with a centrifugal clutch) during final glide and if the pilot decides to abort the landing, then the propeller brake is released and the mouth throttle activated.

But the landings are surprisingly easy: keep the speed up as usual and keep one leg straight and snug in the harness’ boot for as long as possible to prevent the motor from swinging sideways. Bleed off speed on ground effect and when you feel the harness’ legs dragging, wait for the flare window appropriate for the glider and flare mildly. Your forward position and extra mass give you more flare authority than you are used to. The mass of the motor still wants to continue forward, so expect a feeling like a nudge from behind after you have landed, and be prepared to take a step or two.

Alternatively, running out the landing is possible as the rear skids generate enough drag against the ground to slow down the aircraft.

Soaring

Although it started out as simply gliding down small hills on low performance wings, hang gliding over the last 120 years has evolved to the ability to soar for hours with hawks and eagles, gain thousands of feet of altitude in thermal updrafts, and fly cross country over distances of hundreds of miles. If the pilot finds lift, he/she may wish to shut off the engine and soar. While soaring, the propeller is locked or folded to reduce drag. In-flight engine restarts can be a powerful didactic tool for learning or improving thermalling skills, as the pilot does not have to land every time he does an incorrect decision and loses the lift. This brings about significant increase in soaring airtime and opportunities needed to better understand lift, usable cloud life, sink, drift, ridge lift, timing transition glides, etc.

While soaring a prone unit power off, the biggest difference will be the extra mass at one’s feet when roll for a turn, which requires additional effort at stabilizing the wing during mild or moderate turbulence. Unpowered glider pilots can stay airborne for hours. This is possible because they seek out rising air masses or lift from the following sources:

Thermals

The most commonly used source of lift is created by the sun’s energy heating the ground which in turn heats the air above it. This warm air rises in columns known as thermals. Soaring pilots quickly become aware of visual indications of thermals such as: cumulus clouds, cloud streets, dust devils, soaring birds and haze domes. Having located a thermal, a glider pilot will circle within the area of rising air to gain height. In the case of a cloud street, thermals can line up with the wind creating rows of thermals and sinking air. A pilot can use a cloud street to fly long straightline distances by remaining in the row of rising air.

Ridge lift

Another form of lift occurs when the wind meets a mountain, cliff or hill. The air is deflected up the windward face of the mountain forming lift. Gliders can “surf” and climb in this rising air by flying along the feature. Another name for flying with ridge lift is slope soaring.

Mountain wave

The third main type of lift used by glider pilots are the lee waves that occur near mountains. The obstruction to the airflow can generate standing waves with alternating areas of lift and sink. The top of each wave peak is often marked by lenticular cloud formations.

Convergence

Another form of lift results from the convergence of air masses, as with a sea-breeze front.

More exotic forms of lift are the polar vortexes which the Perlan Project hopes to use to soar to great altitudes. A rare phenomenon known as Morning Glory has also been used by glider pilots in Australia.

Hang Glider Selection

An ideal glider would be an intermediate model that has a low stall speed, easy handling, good penetration and of the correct size. Consider that by adding about 40 lb to the hook-in weight, the free flying stall speed is increased by about 7% or 8% so a glider of appropriate size (hook in weight range) should be used. For first glider, the best choices are flexible gliders with single surface (novice) because of their low stall speed, ease of landing and gentle handling characteristics. Examples: Falcon II, Mark IV, Pulse, Eagle and Target, to name a few (2006).

Low stall speed – very important, especially for a beginner to FLPHG. Lower takeoff speeds are safer and less intimidating. Also good for higher altitudes.

Easy Handling/Roll Stable – roll stability is important, especially for a beginner. A spirally unstable glider (some high performance gliders have been tuned that way to help initiate turns into thermals) will be more of a challenge while climbing under power.

Good L/D (Lift/Drag ratio) – for maximum climb rate and best glide ratio. A fast rigid wing will climb better than a floater. Good L/D is useful to pilots who enjoy soaring cross-country power off.

Short to moderate root chord – for propeller clearance. All powered harnesses require the glider keel to be cut be cut off no further than 119 centimetres (47 in) behind the hang point; the cut off section can be sleeved and refitted to help rig the wing.

Medium and high performance flexible hang gliders may also be used but only by well experienced pilots. Most “rigid wing” hang gliders such as the Exxtacy, Axxess and ATOS accept the powered harness readily. Some pilots believe the Exxtacy to be the ultimate hang glider for flying with a powered harness because of its docility, high wing loading, penetration, ease of control with minimum weight-shift and the advantage of flaps, making the landings much easier.

Instruments

In order to maximize a pilot’s understanding of how the hang glider is flying, most pilots carry a series of small instruments, often interconnected. The most basic being an airspeed indicator, a variometer and altimeter. Many pilots also use two-way communication radios and some also carry a map and/or GPS unit. Some pilots also make use of a small tachometer to ensure the engine is developing full power prior to takeoff. Hang gliders do not have instrument panels as such, so all the instruments are mounted on the control frame of the glider, except for the radio and tachometer which are mounted on the harness.

Variometer

Vario-altimeter

People can sense the acceleration when they first enter a rising thermal, but they cannot detect the difference between constant rising air and constant sinking air, so they turn to technology for help. A variometer is a very sensitive vertical speed indicator; in other words, indicates climb or sink rate with audio signals (beeps) and/or a visual display. These units are generally electronic, vary in sophistication and often include, an altimeter and airspeed indicator. More advanced units often incorporate a barograph for recording flight data and/or a built in GPS. The main purpose of a variometer is in helping a pilot find and stay in the ore of a thermal to maximise height gain, and conversely indicating when he or she is in sinking air, and needs to find rising air. Variometers are sometimes capable of electronic calculations based on the ‘MacCready Ring’ to indicate the optimal speed to fly for given conditions. The MacCready theory solves the problem of how fast a pilot should cruise between thermals, given both the average lift the pilot expects in the next thermal climb, as well as the amount of lift or sink he encounters in cruise mode. Some electronic variometers make the calculations automatically, after allowing for factors such as the glider’s theoretical performance (glide ratio), altitude, hook in weight and wind direction.

2 meter band radio

Radio

Pilots use radio for training purposes and when traveling on cross-country flights. Radios used are PTT (push-to-talk) transceivers. Best range is achieved with FM VHF 2-meter band (144148 MHz) radios. Usually a microphone and earphones are incorporated in the helmet and the PTT switch is strapped to a finger.

GPS

GPS (global positioning system) is a necessary navigation accessory when flying competitions, where it has to be demonstrated that way-points have been correctly passed. More common uses include being able to determine drift due to the prevailing wind, providing position information to allow restricted airspace to be avoided, and identifying one location for retrieval teams after landing-out in unfamiliar territory. It can also be interesting to view a GPS track of a flight when back on the ground, to analyze flying technique. Computer software is available which allows various different analyses of GPS tracks. More recently, the use of GPS data, linked to a computer, has enabled pilots to share 3D tracks of their flights on Google Earth. This fascinating insight allows comparisons between competing pilots to be made in a detailed ‘post-flight’ analysis.

Pros & contras

Some compromises and advantages when comparing a FLPHG with unpowered hang gliding:

Pros

Glider launch autonomy. No crew required.

Multiple takeoff areas available. No long drives.

No need to invest a whole day in order to fly.

Easy to face the wind for takeoff, regardless of wind direction.

Ridge soaring new places without land access to the top.

In-flight restarts allow the pilot to soar cross-country downwind and then fly under power back to his departure point.

Restarts can also be a powerful didactic tool for learning or improving thermalling skills.

Significant increase in soaring airtime and opportunities needed to better understand thermals, usable cloud life, sink, drift, transition glides, ridge lift, landing approach, etc.

Ability to fly in non-thermal days.

Contras

By far, the largest disadvantage is the engine and propeller noise: about 90 dB at 1 m (3 ft) and about 58 dB at 760 metres (2,500 ft) AGL.

The added harness weight can increase injury in case of a severe nose in.

There is a slightly longer set-up time with a more complex preflight.

Requires some basic knowledge of two-stroke engine maintenance and repair.

Fuel and oil transport.

Slight drag increase when on glide.

Increased effort required to weight-shift a flexible wing.

Prone configuration units are more difficult to coordinate a sustained high bank turn.

Additional training.

In development

Powered hang gliders’ technology is quite young and continuously evolving and improving.

Ducted fan

Advantages:

A ducted fan offers greater propulsive efficiency and a smaller frontal area.

By reducing propeller blade tip losses and directing its thrust towards the back only, the ducted fan is more efficient in producing thrust than a conventional propeller advancing at low speed (80 knots).

Ducted fans are quieter than propellers: they shield the blade noise, and reduce the tip speed and intensity of the tip vortices both of which contribute to noise production.

Challenges:

Complex duct design.

Requires of high RPM and minimal vibration – Electric or Wankel engine needed.

A significant weight increase even if constructed from advanced composites.

Tradeoff between additional power and drag increase during glide (power off) and also, at an angle of incidence of 32o, parts of the duct would be stalled and producing drag.

Electric motors

On 1979, Larry Mauro added a landing gear to an electric Solar Riser hang glider; although it was the first solar airplane, it may not be universally held as the first foot-launched electric powered hang glider. Advances in batteries, solar cells, and ultracapacitors are being considered for bringing electric powered paragliders and hang gliders to practical and affordable use.

Designers Csaba Lemak and Patrick MacKenzie constructed a powered paraglider powered by 112 Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries and a 17 hp (13 kW) custom wound three phase motor weighing 1.5 kg coupled to a 3.6 to 1 reduction drive. Their electric powered paraglider flew for the first time on June 6, 2006 in Ontario, Canada. With flight autonomy of only 35 minutes, it has many advantages, such as ease of operation, minimum maintenance and power output is not altitude dependent.

Richard Kruger-Sprengel (Helix Propeller) and German designer Werner Eck, have produced at least two electric powered paraglider (EPPG) prototypes , their first machine flew in 2001 for 3.5 minutes and was the first EPPG; their latest prototype was tested again on March 2008 and it uses a motor described as: LEM 200 / Fa. Lemco, brushes disc / 5.5 kg, direct current, 10 kW at 2.200 rpm, 50 Volt at 200 Ampere. Controller: Fa. Brusa, 48 V / 500 A / 1,7 kg. Battery: 14 accumulator Saft 35 Ah connected in series 14 x 3,6 V = 50,4 V. Lithium-Ion-Technology. Weight: 15 kg. Time to charge: 20 min to 2 hours. The latest efforts are described on Werner Eck. Since 2007 Werner Eck is using a personal brushless direct drive outrunner; it is visible on website SLS

ElectroPropulsion Ltd. and Electric Flight Systems Ltd. have teamed up with the British Defence Academy scientists to assist in research and development of electric powered flight optimised for the leisure aviation market.

Advantages:

Superb reliability.

Extremely easy re-start.

Simple operation and maintenance.

Small size components.

No flammable fuel or oil required.

No exhaust gases.

Minimal cooling required, allowing for better aerodynamic profile.

Noise produced only by the propeller.

Challenges:

Battery weight, cost, and recharge method.

Flight autonomy time.

Timeline for electric-powered foot-launched gliders

1979 April 29: at Flabob Airport, California, Larry Mauro flew the Solar Riser with an electric motor powered by storage batteries charged from the sun. The Solar Riser was a modified Easy Riser hang glider.

2001 Richard Kruger Sprengel electric drive for paraglider.

2005 June: Werner Eck began work on his electric drive paragliders.

2006, June 6: in Canada, Casaba Lemak takes off using an electric paraglider.

2006, December 19: Prototype electric paramotor from Helix-Carbon GmbH shows electric motor during the Coupe Icare in Saint Hilaire, France.

2008: Foot-launched electric-powered ATOS hang glider Electric Atos Hang Glider

2007 at the German Free Flight Trade Fair in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Werner Eck and Jochen Geiger displayed electric drives for hang gliders and paragliders.

2007 Razeebus Aircrafts

The E-Lift hang glider system by TONI ROTH, Fronreute, Germany

2009 E-flight Expo displayed some electric paragliders. E-Flight Expo at AERO Friedrichshafen 2009

See also

List of personal aircraft

Hang gliding

Paragliding

Powered paragliding

Powered parachute

Human powered aircraft

Glider aircraft

Ultralight trike

Ultralight aviation

Power kite

References

^ Abbas Ibn Firnas flights in 875 AD near Cordoba, Spain. (Ibn Firnas crater on the Moon is named in his honor).

^ Gottlob Espenlaub -Ente images:Diagrams and images:

^ Jet powered Hang gliders from the 1970s: http://www.rocketbelts.americanrocketman.com/OFM/HANG_GLILDER.jpg

^ The Southeastern Wisconsin Aviation Museum

^ In 1898 Augustus Moore Herring adapted a compressed air engine to a weight-shift biplane. Images:

^ French aviation historians on FLPHG:

^ British Microlight Aircraft Association, History of Microlighting

^ In April 1946 Mitchell completed construction of his ‘Flying Wing’ (not the Mitchell Wing hang glider which was developed in 1975). The American FAA issued an Experimental Airworthiness number for it. The wing was flown as a glider by Mitchell, Bolwus and Paul Tuntland. Then Mitchell mounted a Nelson 2-cycle engine on it and flew it as a powered glider with wheels for landing gear.

^ In the early 1940s Don Mitchell first became involved with flying wing glider design and construction. But WWII interrupted his research and experiments. Then in 1974, with the advent of hang glider mania, the Mitchell Wing resurfaced. It was at that time Dr. Howard Long took an interest in the half-forgotten project and asked Mitchell to make him a flying wing hang glider. The result was the foot-launched Mitchell Wing, controllable by a ‘joystick’. The Mitchell Wing astounded the world of hang gliding. George Worthington, holder of eight world records in hang gliding and author of the book In Search of World Records, wrote in the book…”I predict that the Mitchell Wing will be the highest performance foot-launhced hang glider we’ll see for a long time.” He was right and it was from this preliminary design that Mitchell developed his later powered models: The B-10 and Mitchell U-2 Superwing.

^ Don Mitchell – U.S. Pacific , B-10 Photos:

^ Flex-wing hang glider technology underwent a performance jump in 1980, when Ultralight Products released the revolutionary Comet hang glider.

^ Interview with Gerard Farell on Jan. 23-24, 2007. “Foot launched powered Para-wing around 1963, 7 hp (5 kW) West Bend driving a 3-foot (1 m) dia. glass over balsa propeller. Main structure is 6061-T6 aluminum tubing, 4 mil polyethylene. The craft was not particularly portable, the wind was always coming down the slight slope in Bloomfield, CT, and the project was terminated as I was re-engineering it with a bigger engine and as I got a job offer to move to Miami and design, build and fly the wheeled wings (trikes).”

^ Recorded by the FAA as: Palmer Parawing D-6, serial 1A, N7144, was registered on 4/24/1967. No limitations were noted.

^ Article in PDF format: Powered hang glider, you can launch it any where

^ Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Icarus hang glider development.

^ Power Up Company, United States Patent # 4546938

^ Powered backpack Motolotnia 80 White Eagle photo of advert in Flight Line magazine, march-June 1982

^ Jerzy Kolecki, founder of Kolecki New Aviation Engineering, Sweden)

^ The Ranger, designed by Bruce Hudson, UK. Powered by the Solo 210 cc engine:

^ Relax 220, designed by Yves Rousseau.

^ Radne Raket 120, 118 cc, 15 hp (11 kW), 10.2 kg + exhaust and reduction drive

^ FLPHG manufacturers:

^ Wasp designers: Ed Cleasby and Chris Taylor – Wasp Flight Systems and Sperwill.

^ DoodleBug designer: Ben Ashman – Flylight Airsports Ltd.

^ Raven designer: Randy Haney – Powerplanes

^ X1 designers: Kenneth M. O’Sage II and Dave Little – Hidden Mountain Flight.

^ Zenon designer: Sotos Christoforou – Sky Gear.

^ Explorer designer: Bob Bauer – Airtime Products. Created in 1997; discontinued in 2004 and released again in 2007 as the ‘Explorer LD’

^ Fillo manufacturer: Milan Vita.

^ FAI microlight world records, RWF1 (Weight-shift control, foot-launched and flown solo)

^ Bernard Danis

^ French aviation historians on FLPHG:

^ Interview with Gerard Farell on November 2006.

^ This powered hang glider, registered G-BGNL, is now held by the British Hang Gliding Museum.

^ Despite this achievement, Breen and Hunt recognized the deficiencies of the keel mounted engine and when Breen saw a picture of Roland Magallon’s trike in the French hang gliding magazine Vol Libre, he mentioned that the days of the Soarmaster ‘were numbered.’

^ Interview with Angelo d’Arrigo:

^ Siberian Crane Flyway coordination.

^ The altitude was recorded by a digital altimeter, a GPS and the flight was filmed as well; Video:

^ 18 hp Harnesses such as the ‘X1′ or ‘Wasp Venom’ equipped with the Vittorazi EVO 100 cc for about 130 lbf (580 N) thrust at 7,000 ft (2,100 m) MSL

^ British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association Ltd. – FOOT LAUNCHED POWERED AIRCRAFT (FLPA) TRAINING SYLLABUS – POWERED HANG GLIDING

^ Pelan project

^ A Guide to the Morning Glory at www.dropbears.com

^ e.g: CompeGPS.

^ Jon Longbottom – Mechanical aeronautics, thesis in PDF format:

^ Electric Paramotor home page.

^ Werner Eck, designer of an Electric PGG

^ History of Solar Flight

^ Werner Eck, Electric Paramotor Efforts

^ Electric PPG Description

^ Electric Paramotor Flies and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3pgGDQIgjM Electric Powered Paraglider inventor - Csaba Lemak ]

^ Helix Propeller

^ E-drive developments

^ Razeebus

^ Back to the Future

External links

Wind-drifter Powered harnesses’ technical details, articles, etc

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