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The Tangent Takes it's 5th US National Championship Title Jim Lee became 1999's National Champion at Quest Air. The Tangent has been on the US Champion's glider in 5 out the last 6 years. The best pilots make the best decisions.
Here is a list of Tangent Competition Results
| Meet | Places | Tangents in Top |
| 1999 Pre-Pan American | Jim Lee 1st, Mike Barber 2nd | 2/10 |
| 1999 US Nationals | Jim Lee, US Champion | 7/20 |
| 1999 Wallaby Open | Jim Lee, 3rd | 8/20 |
| 1998 US Nationals | Chris Arai, US Champion | 8/20 |
| 1998 Wallaby Open | Mike Barber 1st, Chris Arai 2nd, Jim Lee 5th | 8/15 |
| 1997 US Nationals | Chris Arai, US Champion | |
| 1997 East Coast Champs. | Nelson Howe 1st, Jim Lee 2nd, Pete Lehmann 3rd | |
| 1997 Bassano | Chris Arai 2nd | |
| 1996 Pre-Worlds | Nelson Howe 2nd | |
| 1996 Women's Worlds | Kari Kastle, World Champion | |
| 1996 East Coast Champs. | Pete Lehmann 1st,Brad Koji 2nd, Nelson Howe 4th | |
| 1995 US Nationals | Chris Arai, US Champion | |
| 1995 British Nationals | John Pendry, UK Champion |
Nelson Howe Wins the East Coast Challenge, Tangents take top 3 places. Nelson flying his Laminar with a Tangent bolted to the upright takes the five day event. Jim Lee and Pete Lehmann in 2nd and 3rd also with Tangents. Mark Gibson in 5th and Mike Barber in 7th. All in all it was 5 out of the top 10. Congratulations to all!
Chris Arai Takes 2nd Place at the 1997 Bassano Meeting. Flying the new topless Wills Wing Fusion (and a Tangent of course) Chris takes second behind Manfred Ruhmer and ahead of Gerolf Heinrichs. Only two days of competition allowed Chris to perform well without time enough to make his customary mistakes. Chris is now a millionaire (lira) and the owner of a hideous trophy that his girlfriend refuses to allow in the house
Michael Champlin Breaks the Florida State Record. On his second flight with a Tangent, on a rented glider, Michael flew 147 miles from Wallaby Ranch to break the Florida record. On his first flight he climbed out from a 500' tow to fly 71 miles. Michael's comment was "The Tangent seems to work GREAT in light lift..." Our congratulations to Michael!
Nelson Howe Takes the Individual Silver at the 1997 Pre-World Championships in Forbes Australia. Nelson manages to hold on in the face of adversity in fickle conditions at the first towing Pre-Worlds. His choice of weapons: A Laminar ST and a Tangent Flight Computer. Congratulations Nelly!
US Team Brings Home the Team Bronze at the 1997 Pre-World Championships in Forbes Australia. Congratulations to the eight member team: Mike Barber, Kari Castle, Nelson Howe, Brad Koji, Dave Sharp, Larry Tudor, Glen Volk & Chris Arai. Of those pilots, Mike, Kari, Nelson, Glen and Chris were using Tangents.
20% of the Competitors at the 1996 US Nationals at Dinosaur were flying with Tangent Flight Computers. We are the youngest instrument company in the sport, but we are proving popular with pilots who want performance.
Kari Castle Wins the 1996 Women's World Championships Flying With A Tangent!!! Kari started flying with the Tangent only 3 weeks before the start of the Worlds. She easily adapted to the Tangent's sensitive vario and found the refined Speed-to-Fly and Final Glide features indispensable. Kari says, "It's addicting!"
Pete Lehmann wins the East Coast Challenge using a Tangent. Damn it Pete, good work. Brad Koji took second and Nelson Howe 4th, also using Tangents. They were all flying with the latest GPS interface upgrade of the Tangent.
The Tangent Flight Computer Helps Retain the US National Champion Title Two Years in a Row! Tangent designer Chris Arai on a Wills Wing XC keeps the title of National Champion at the 1995 Nationals in Chelan Washington. In fact six of the top ten spots went to pilots using Tangents, including Jim Lee in the place behind Chris.
John Pendry of Great Britain Wins British National Title with the Tangent!! John switched to a Tangent just before the '95 World Championships in Ager, Spain. He then clinched the national title at the League in the Yorkshire Dales. Congratulations John!
The GPS Upgrade to be Available Now! The GPS upgrade to interface the Tangent with the Garmin 38/40/45/90 series, the Trimble Flightmate Pro and others is available now. Combined with the Tangent all GPS units with NMEA data ports will be able to automate Final Glide and calculate head/tail wind component.
Final Glide Calculator Now Working! Finished in time for the World Championships, the new Final Glide Calculator has proven its power. Calculating the altitude required to make goal based upon the distance from goal, the climb rate of the last thermal, and the head wind the final glide calculator allows optimal finals that can trim minutes off a final glide. At the World Championships Manfred Ruhmer tried to trim those minutes without a Tangent and lost the World title because he came up 30 meters short. That night Chris was constantly queried whether he had asked Manfred if he wanted to buy a Tangent. At the US Nationals Chris beat Tomas Suchanek to a goal on a final glide even though Tomas was 30 meters higher than Chris in the last thermal. Tomas didn't know he could make it nor did he know what speed to fly to trim off the extra height. For rookie and pro alike, the TFC Final Glide Calculator is an essential tool.
Top Pilots Flying with Tangents at the '95 Ager Worlds: Chris Arai, Mark Bennett, Mark Gibson,Nelson Howe, Brad Koji and Jim Lee of the Bronze Medal US Team. John Pendry of the Great Britain, Steve Blenkinsop and Steve Gilmour of Australia. Pendry, always a glide master, said "on one flight I decided to listen to the Tangent and fly slower than I was tempted, letting Manfred and Tomas race ahead. I arrived at the next thermal 300 feet over their heads. " Congratulations to Tangent pilots John Pendry and Jim Lee for 7th and 10th at the 1995 Ager Worlds!
Arai Design Now a Garmin Distributor We have obtained a distributorship for the Garmin GPS 38, 40 and 45. Our main purpose is to be able to offer "turnkey" Tangent/GPS packages. We will also retail the Garmins, but our emphasis is on bundling the Tangent and Garmin GPS.
Arai Design Garmin Bracket We now sell a nice bracket for your Garmin GPS. The Garmin mounts to a plate which provides good impact protection, essential if you mount your Garmin on the base tube. It allows access to the data port and will mount to base tube or upright and has a 4 degree-of-freedom swivel clamp.
The Tangent continues to prove that it is the vario for the XC pilot. If cross country flying is your passion (or becoming your passion,) you will love the TFC.
