• Medals at FAI FS meets
  From : Lesley Gale
• Congratulations Godfrey
  From : PG pilots of New Zealand
• Problems with the unification of Delta Wings and Parapentes
  From : Alex Diez
• Indoor Skydiving In Florida
  From : Patrick Keddy

Can you tell me if Dawn English winning the recent World Cup and Lise Aune of Deland Norgies getting bronze, is the first time a woman has stood on the rostrum at an IPC sanctioned meet in FS? And if not, which women have previously won medals at FAI FS meets.

Also - can you tell me when the last time the UK won any medal at FAI FS meets? I beleieve it might be 1981.

Just returned from a six hour retrieve, Godfrey Wenness announced his flight of 335km. Flown from Manilla, Australia on his Advance Omega 4.

Congratulations Godfrey, you deserve it.

Here in Guatemala, we are having problems with the unification of Delta Wings and Parapentes.

We are flying Deltas since 1978 and have made an asociation during that time and now we are receiving resources from the Goverment (Sport Federation authorities). Parapente pilots now want to join our association and they said - "We have the right to, because we are free flying gliders" - but they are just new to our organisation and they have not worked for the last 20 years for the sport like we have done.

For me the two sports are very diferent even thought FAI has united the two sports in just one category.

Can someone give me ideas how to deal with this ?

1. Hi Alex,
   This is not a big problem, all the world (as you can see) had this situation. You know, that little spot hanging on paragliders are humans too. Some of them are really nice guys (even choosing flying that gelatine !). Anyone has the right to choose their way of flying. There are nice guys flying hang gliders, gliders and paragliders, and we all can fly together. The sky is very big. Paragliding groups grow very fast. In a few years they will be more people than hang gliding pilots.
   
   Be friendly and fly high.
   
   Believe me, among paragliding people there are very nice people, and very organized groups.
   
   Soft landing for all.
   
   'Neko'
   Luiz Felipe Rodrigues
   HG-Brazil
   

   ---

2. Hello Alex
   
   Get joined up. Let them in. I was instrumental in doing the same thing in Britain ten years ago. Each side had to make some compromises, but now we are a big strong association and we all talk to each other. Also, I'm not convinced the sports are significantly different. I do know that the intermediate paraglider I use now flies a lot better than the hang glider I started on 26 years ago.
   
   Be many. Be strong. Be generous. Speak for all the free-fliers together. Good luck, and miss the hurricanes.
   
   Noel Whittall

   ---

3. Hello Alex,
   
   I can only support Noel's advice.
   
   Just to convince you a little bit more. FFVL was in the eightees some 6OOO members all hang glider pilots, when the paragliders came we were wondering the same way as you. But we finaly opened the door to them. Now we are some 30,000 members, but only 2500 hang glider pilots. Last year the Kytes pilots knocked at the FFVL door. We opened it to them. Of course for the moment they are not many of them and we have to share the governmental subsidies with them, but I am sure that in a couple of years we will be stronger.
   
   Good luck
   
   Olivier Burghelle
   CIVL President
   FFVL Vice President
   

Thank you everybody for your comments about what is happening here. I guess all are thinking on the right lines. For some of us, old hang gliding pilots, is not easy to accept or to join others not flying HG. We will try the unification of hang gliding and paragliding. In future I will let everbody know how things are going on in Guatemala.

I have good personal friends doing PG. The problem is not personal with paragliding pilots; the problem is about resources we are receiving from goverment, but we´ll see how we can share them without conflict.

I have heard that there are two wind tunnels in Fla. I am hoping you or your readers could tell me where they are, and any other info you may have heard ie. pricing, which one is better, etc.

Thank you for your time.