05 Januar 2011

Good-bye to some legends..


I just got to know about the deaths of Jos Guggenmos and Craig Worth, two hang gliding legends - both have done a lot for our sport.
Jos Guggenmos from Allgaeu has dedicated most of his life to the development of glider design. He was one of the first to experiment with a glider without kingpost. He has also been a successful competition pilot for many years and has helped me to improve my landing skills - even though I could never pull it off as smoothly as he did. Jos has had a heart condition and had been wearing a pace maker for many years, that´s why he had stopped flying a few years ago. My thoughts are with his partner Rosi Brams.
Craig Worth has done a great deal to push hang gliding in Australia. He has run the Australian HG and PG Federation for many years and he has also organized the Women´s World Championships in Australia in 1996 which is where I met Craig for the first time. We´ve had our clashes ("we don´t want Mickey Mouse tasks, so no women on the task committee..."), but it was good to see somebody so involved and dedicated to push our sport. Just last January I talked to Craig when he had briefly taken over the HGFA matters again while they were looking for a new manager. I heard that Craig had suffered from cancer for a while.
These two guys were some real characters who pushed our sport a lot and loved flying. I will miss you.

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