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Open Cirrus Association Newsletter First, our apologies for such a long time between newsletters. But, hey, that's what you get from a free, volunteer "organization", eh? (Funny, that's the same first line in the LAST newsletter, just about a whole year ago!) Book Review A lot has happened. In July, I was delighted to receive, after a nearly three year wait, a copy of "Gliders around the World", by Hiroshi Seo with Peter F. Selinger. The book is apparently difficult to buy in the US, as it's not listed in any of the internet bookstores - at least not yet. It's ISBN4-902113-02-3 C0653; published by Airworks, Inc., 2003, #905, 2-7-15, Hamamatsucho, Minatoku, Tokyo, 105-0013, Japan. Their website is, sadly, only in Japanese - see http://www.tp-airworks.com/ - but you can get the gist of it using Babelfish or a similar translator. You can e-mail them at airworks@mua.biglobe.ne.jp, from which I think its available for 3,500 Japanese yen. It is published in both Japanese and English. Many of you already know both Peter Selinger and Hiroshi Seo as "names" in soaring. Peter has written several outstanding works on sailplane history as well as many other articles, and Hiroshi is a fixture at gliding rallies and contests all over the world, taking incredible pictures. They have teamed up to produce a slim volume with over a hundred lovely photographs of gliders, tracing their history from the primaries of the thirties to the state of the art racers of today. Some/many/all of the narratives were written by Peter, and the photographs are by Hiroshi. There is an introduction by Ingo Renner. The Cirrus picture, which appeared (with Seo's permission) on the cover of the April, 2001 SOARING magazine, was there of course. Another minor note - the serendipitous juxtaposition of the Cirrus picture (on page 73) opposite the ASW-12 (on page 72). The nose-to-nose set is reminiscent of the battle, in 1969, between Wally Scott (flying the ASW-12) and George Moffatt (flying the Cirrus) in the US Nationals. George won. The Cirrus V1 Prototype My good friend, fellow Club member, and American Airline pilot Fred Mueller recently visited the Schempp-Hirth factory. In addition to several enjoyable meetings with Tilo Holighaus and others, he got a tour of the facilities and, lo and behold, there was the Cirrus V1 prototype in the shop being restored!
Changing Hands/New Listings/Corrected Listings Chris Reed, chris.reed@qmul.ac.uk, in the UK has imported No. 11 (now BGA KEA, formerly HB-911).Chris flies with the Rattlesden Gliding Club, in Suffolk. Steve Cameron reports the sale of No. 37 (N5557) to one of his fellow Club members. Although I've actually MET the new owner, I've not yet recorded his name and address! Number 78 (LV-DHM) is owned by Daniel Bassi who flies it at Miramar, Argentina with the Tandil Gliding Club. Walter Mueller, walterm@telusplanet.net, has purchased No. 82 (C-FMBX) from Bryan Florence. Curiously, Walter is "82 years young" when he purchased it!! Well done!! Jurg Holland, juerg.holland@gmx.de and Ralf Blaschke, ralf.Blaschke@rolls-royce.com, have purchased No. 92 (D-0481) and are now flying it at a club just south of Berlin. Mark Roberts, mdrw@robertshome66.fsnet.co.uk, reports that he purchased, with is father, No. 127 (BGA CVE) in late 2001 from Ian Stanning. Eerwin Lorenz, Lorenz-gumpersdorf@vr-web.de, reports that No. 137 (D-0739) was sold in 2001 to Paul Booms in the Netherlands after Erwin had rebuilt it, over a period of 8 years, following a midair back in 1986. Mishaps, Accidents, etc. We understand from an e-mail from Bob Kuykendall that Bill Allen's No. 39 (N3839) was very seriously damaged in April, 2003. The full accident report can be read HERE. Last we heard, AIG insurance had the wreckage up for salvage bid, but we don't know who - if anyone - bought it and/or what the plan to do with it. Mailing List Reminders Several Cirrus owners have been able to exploit the Open Cirrus e-mailing group to share information on repairs, restorations, and other topics. If you're not on the list, check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Open_Cirrus/, which describes it and explains how to get added to the list. I also continue to snail-mail out hard copies to those who are interested. If you didn't get a hard copy, and want one, e-mail me at Jim@Kellett.com with the address and I'll add you to it. (If you're reading this as hard copy and do NOT want to get any more, same deal . . . .) Note: I am now using a fantastic spam program, ChoiceMail by Digiportal.com, that challenges senders to any of my e-mail addresses if they are "unknown" to me - that is, anyone from whom I have never received an e-mail. If you get such a challenge, please respond (it's simple - it's just a check that insures that the mailer is not a machine!) so that I will know that you are a real person and not some spammer!
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