John Roake's World News
	By John Roake Posted: March 2 2007
SCHEIBE ‑ GERMANY IS BACK IN BUSINESS after closing down last April (See http://www.scheibeaircraft.de/ You can now secure a new Rotax powered two seater with a very acceptable delivery time. EVER WONDERED WHAT WOULD HAPPEN if a powered aircraft ran into a trailing tow rope (mid‑air). Well ‑ the answer is all available for every one to see on 'youtube'. Try: hftp://www.youtube. com/watch?v=wTemKnL8X30 which has to be regarded as amazing. It illustrates a point about the poor visibility from inside high wing monoplanes and tow planes. It's a good illustration of the point to make to students that they "should not" concentrate just on looking at the tug ‑ but that a more general lookout "must" be maintained. THE NEW EW DATA RECORDER Tom Knauff tells me he has made a flight using the new low cost, EW Micro‑logger made in the United Kingdom. He was very impressed with its ease of use. No software required. I simply used a notepad to change the pilot name, glider, task, etc and after the flight, I plugged it into my laptop. The flight was downloaded automatically, so I could either send it off to the On‑Line‑Contest or file a world record with FAI. "I am definitely impressed" he said. It is a big step forward in taking the mystic out of electronic flight recorders. TASMAN TROPHY (Australia versus New Zealand) Kerry Claffey (Australia) won the trophy against New Zealand at Omarama in January. Kerry is only the third pilot in its 40 year history to take the trophy back to Australia from New Zealand. The other pilots were her husband, Tom Claffey and Jonathan Shand. LS‑8 NOW ON LIMITED PRODUCTION ‑ With the demand for the new LS‑10 exceeding the supply, the DG Flugzeugbau GmbH is about to switch some of its LS‑8 capacity to the LS‑10 line. I wouldn't wait too long now if you are planning on ordering an LS‑8. Indications are that the production of the LS‑8 could well be phased out. US SENIORS CONTEST IS PROVING A WINNER ‑ The contest is a huge success before it has even been flown. There is a long waiting list of those wanting to take part. The entry list has closed, 45