Competition News

News from Otto Voigt (8/27/2003)

Hello Steve

The weather is changing to be colder and cloudy in the mountains. So flying becomes difficult. I have now to inform all the different hunter units to have a attention in finding Scotty. The hunting is going to start in the early September and a lot of person will have intensive observation all over the mountains. Also thousands of people will go mushrooming in the mountain forest now. This will be more difficult to inform them, because they are not so well organised.

Over all I completely forget to introduce the voluntary helpers in the last three weeks to you and here they are:

Flight Observers
Rosy Forrer: She informed the police, gave her apartment and her car to Jeff and Dustin and worry about a lot.
Michael Kobler: He allowed to use the infrastructure of XIX Paragliders for the organization to search. He is a very experienced XC glider pilot.
Jochen Tröger: Our apprentice and growing paraglider pilot
Alex Hofer: At the moment world best competition paraglider pilot. He flew 260 km on Wednesday after Scotty\'s disappearing and win the 5000 sfr prize from Ebenalp
Steve Cox: World top competition paraglider pilot
Jeff and Dustin Blomeyer: Relatives of Scotty came over to help us observing

Pilots
Jürg Segessenmann: Pilot ATPL SWISS, Helicopter, Instructor for Landings on glacier, Hang- and Paragliding, experienced climber.
Adrian Hunziker:Pilot PPL, Paraglider Instructor.
Michael Steinbach: Pilot ATPL, World top competition Paraglider Pilot.
Daniel Müller: Pilot Glider, PPL, Ski Instructor and climber, Rescue team
SAC: Swiss Alpine Club

Others
Federal Office of Civil Aviation BAZL
REGA: Rescue organisation of Switzerland
Swiss Air Force
Police Appenzell
All the unknown Helpers

BRgds
Happy Landing
Otto Voigt
Sales & Logistics
XIX GmbH Paragliders


News from Otto Voigt (8/25/2003)

Hello Steve

It\'s Monday the 25 August and we make a break in the search to take a stock of our activities. Jeff and Dustin [Blomeyer, Scotty\'s relatives] fly back today to USA. They have spent also many hours in watching out of the airplanes. Friday, Saturday and Sunday we were overflying the privileged ridges again, lower and watching intensive again perhaps to see a man without paraglider in a crack, creek, at the bottom of a wall. From Elisabeth we had some inputs of the mystic site by clairvoyance. The only selective hints were two nummbers 87.5 and 131. What could this mean? Perhaps a coordinate system on the GPS Display like Swiss Grid or others? Perhaps a track/bearing with a distance to a point? Or two distances to different waypoints? Some alert comes out of the puplic. All this times a helicopter of the governement was looking at. But always it was a natural explanation of the white things they saw on the mountain. Over all 25 flights had been done by airplane and about 10 by helicopter.

Anyway the amount of the searching is now at US$14,000 and I have to pay these people for their financial expenses they gave to the search. No time of anyone was paid but I allow me to add 10% to the flight expenses to the pilots for the car transfer for them and the helpers. They had to drive sometimes up to two hours and had some telephone charges. So it\'s about US$50 each flight. These pilots didn\'t know Scotty and it\'s a matter of course to give them the expenses they had. I had many offers of pilots with critical experiences keen on to get the minimum hours they need for the licence to hold. But this could not be the meaning of taking responsibility for everybody involved. Perhaps a few of them are sad about. Perhaps Jeff would like to fly closer and lower into the valleys, but there are many unknown wires of the mountain farmers. They caused every year bad accidents with airplanes and helicopters. In helicopter flying the copilot is only reading the special map for the cable and looking out for them. For myself I allow me to set the high expected telephone charges on my private handy as about US$300. I don\'t know if this will be enough. I will see it at the end of next month.

What is left to do? If there is a clear indication I am willing to search again, but our concept we saw a chance to find Scotty is done. I am so sorry that we had no success to find him. Looking behind every tree and stone to see a person in this big area is a tremendous effort and exceeds ours and your possibility by far. I have a realistic hope for the next three months Scotty will be found by anyone hunting for deers or mushrooms before the first snow will cover the alps under his white blanket.

So I ask you to send more money to your account to make me paying our debt. I had the hope not to need it. I will give you of course a detail list as soon as possible when I get all the bills. For the rest I hope you will find a dignified purpose. Perhaps a Scotty Marion Fund to help somebody in trouble.

The speculation that Scotty\'s life has ended in the Swiss mountains has become an overwhelming sense. But all I heard about him these days I realized when flying next to these incredible shining walls of rock he really lived his life, intensive and powerful not only in the sky, first of all with both legs on this earth between us. And this is what counts.

Thanks for all

Otto Voigt
Sales & Logistics
XIX GmbH Paragliders